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Reblogged bubbleharp
Reblogged dduane
In my household we talk about "pathways in the brain" being like deer trails in the woods -- the more the deer walk along one route, the more their hooves wear down the grass until it's just a strip of bare dirt.
But if the deer start traveling a different way, the grass grows back.
But if the deer start
traveling a different
way, the grass grows back.
Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.
Patho questions! 2, 3, and...hmm, I think you played P2 first if I remember right, but I'd still be interested in hearing if you have any thoughts on 8, the Powers That Be. Or 9, Rat Prophet.
2: Wildest theory I'd defend? Man, Pathologic's plot is so canonically wild that I'm hard pressed to think of a theory that feels like a stretch. We've got multiple universes/timelines divided by both character we're playing and which game we're playing, under various layers of what is real vs what isn't, and whether reality really matters in the face of our choices. The consistent theme I think is that it's all about managing what we can and cannot do against death, whether we really are the healers, parts in a play, toys in a children's game, or the players seeing through the healer's eyes, it's all about wrestling to find out what we can and cannot do to change things, and the inevitability of sacrifice as a result. What are we willing to give away in the face of change, and what does it say about us? 3: Favorite Nameless/Minor NPC Hmm. Maybe the first Herb Bride we meet in Patho2, the one who carries the skull of a bull that many townsfolk are running in terror at the sight of. I think it's the first of the Kin (outside of Artemy's dreams) we meet in the game, and while she doesn't understand what the ruckus is about, Artemy can warn her that even if she's not doing anything wrong with carrying a skull (which might somehow be her skull?) around, she might get in trouble by appearing so strange to the humans. The next day, all we find of her is a child playing with the skull, no mention of what her fate is. 8. How did you react to the Powers That Be: You're right, since my first time was Patho2, my reaction to them was a bit understated vs first time players who discovered them in game 1, but I think ultimately they're another level of the layer cake of metaphor the game operates on. There's the Kin and the Earth, the Town, the Kains and their utopian creations, the Theater and Immortel, The Powers that be and Us, the players who see all of this through the eyes of the characters, and prod them to react a certain way in the face of all this. 9.Who/What do you think the Rat Prophet is?
The Rat Prophet is a concession of the Theater to answer the problem of Death. If we die in the game, the Prophet appears, and the more times we die, a tumorous structure it calls its house manifests as we grow weaker and weaker. Because, in a story where the problem of death is so very paramount, us being to come back from it is a concession to the medium, that we are playing a game and operating on videogame rules. And every appearance of the Prophet is sort of spotlight on this problem of Death, how it should be definite, but with the growing influence of the Prophet, its influence is held back at the cost of things becoming Wrong in multiple ways. For the player, you grow weak, and lose the ability to embrace others or worse, opening the door to an ending where all your eforts are for naught. For the rest of the world, a building sized tumor shows up in reality, you have the option of silencing screaming ghosts into some strange void, and other strange things, and yet, because it is ultimately a concession to the medium, the Rat Prophet is ultimately a child or small person in a mask, fulfilling their role in the story.
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It’s been a year since I last asked this. Always curious to see where people’s thoughts are. For the uninitiated, a brief description of the outlined paths under the jump.
Once again Ancients wins with a near quarter of the vote, but the numbers seem to be changing a bit this year with Devotion pulling up ahead of the other oaths, with Oathbreaker, which was a big contender last year, much lower in the rankings. Thank you all for participating
Reblogged ereborne
it's hilarious how if you do any amount of research into life or death melee combat the prevailing themes that emerge are that
- you're gonna get tired very quickly
- tired leads to injured, injured leads to tired, tired leads to—
- you're not gonna be as composed as you expect
- humans are more fragile than you think and also more durable than you think. both are true and neither stop them from dying of an infection later (DO NOT GET BITTEN)
- DO NOT GET STABBED (generally good life advice)
- DO GET A SPEAR
- knights are faster than you think
Other favorites from history:
- Humans are very good at *pretending* to fight each other in hopes that the generals way in the back are buying it so nobody has to get stabbed.
- Most of the dying only happened after a side broke and tried to run, because then the rich assholes on horseback got to start running them down.
- When you do get a bloodthirtsy force, it gets bad real quick (see the battle of Adrianople, 378 CE, and the battle of Cannae, 216 BCE)
- SUPPLY LINES FFS
- Uuuuuuuh wow professionalization matters a lot actually
- There's a lot of dust actually
- Horses Will Not run through opposing infantry, but they will run at other horses
- Elephants are not worth it, tbh
- Shields matter a lot if you want to not die but good luck finding a balance between being too heavy and not protective enough
- Anything is a projectile if you throw it hard enough
- Always have a knife
- Do Not Fall Down - you will be trampled
- The guy with the biggest hat/plume is the leader
- Release The Hounds
- Valleys are BAD NEWS
- Uphill is much nicer than downhill
- A retreat route to boats on the sea is only helpful when you're already ready to sail
- Forests are torches waiting to be lit
- A professional soldier does a surprising amount of sitting around and day labour on massive projects
- The army has always been a good place to become an engineer, it seems
- Ffs, pleasr listen when the sergeant tells you something. He's always right
- If you've got a shit general, make sure you've got a good tactician/strategist
- That rich guy really doesn't know what he's doing, huh
- Drowning is awful and being in the navy is certainly A Choice, but your wife will not be happy with you
- Damn, all this shit is heavy :(((
- Attack the baggage train >:)))
- Uhhhh, sarge? The battle line broke. I'm going home
- Why aren't the enemy running and screaming back at us? They're just ... walking towards us. I will not be sticking around to figure out whatever fuckery they're up to.
- Blood is actually really slippery :(
- I did not clean my blade and now the blood has dried and glued the sword and scabbard together :(((
- Tf you mean we're gonna fight during harvest season. I think tf not.
- I Hate This. All Of This.
- Fuck me, battle is LOUD despite the fact I can't hear shit in this helmet
- You're better to be down an arm than down a leg, tbh
- Desertion rates are not as high as you'd think, but if you let the troops starve and get sick, they will abandon you en masse
- WHAT MADE YOU THINK CROSSING THE MOUNTAINS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!
- The fewer pieces to armour the better is usually is (with the exception of chain and scale)
- Skirts and loose-ish clothes actually help conceal the lines of your body in combat
- Don't wear too much armour in a hot place because you will be sweating until you pass out and die
- CHARIOTS ARE SO COOL
- Falling off a chariot is Less Cool
- You're less likely to get stabbed than you are crushed or run over
- Leather resists slashing damage, silk/linen resists piercing damage and wood/ceramic disperses blunt damage
- Ceramic armour is actually so effective at defending its wearer that we still use it in bulletproof vests and tank armour (though once its broken it needs to be replaced)
- A blade lodged in bone can actually be really hard to get back out
- If your belly is cut open, you're already dead to an infection
- Unless they hit a major artery, bleeding out takes a long time
(a) Supply lines. Supply lines. LOGISTICS. Never take your eye off the logistics.
(b) The best battle is the one that doesn't happen. The night before, meet up with the other side's quartermasters and buy up their mercenaries' contracts. (And don't try to get cheap about it. Odds are the other guys know within 10-20% how much cash you're carrying. Get pissy about the terms of the buy-out, and they may decide it makes more sense just to go ahead with the battle and take it all off you for disrespecting them.)
(c) Don't be tempted onto bad terrain. (And [c1]: All terrain is bad in at least one way. Maybe more.)
(d) Maslow is a better guide to the responsible management of armed forces than Kubler-Ross.
(e) LOGISTICS.
Reblogged ereborne
Q: I recently adopted a paladin from a shelter. he didn't have a breed label but they said they thought he was Helmite? He seemed pretty happy with guarding the stuff I put in his enclosure for a few days, but recently he's been escaping to herd the neighbor's children around when they get in the street. He also doesn't seem as alert as Helmites are supposed to be? I don't know if he doesn't like something about his enclosure or if the shelter misidentified him. Picture included. A: This actually looks like a paladin of Torm! People unfamiliar with paladin care frequently confuse them because of their similar markings. Like Helmites, Tormtar are a guardian breed, but they tend to be less high-strung and don't form the same attachments to their territory and toys. If your paladin is leaving his enclosure, he's probably bored and looking for more appropriate stimuli. Try taking him on a heroic quest, or giving him more active tasks around the house. Tormtar are also more social, so if you have the resources I would consider adopting another Triadic paladin. (Be careful not to keep him with an actual paladin of Helm. Despite their visual similarities, they have a tendency to fight, and since you picked this guy up from a shelter you don't know whether he's been socialized to get along with Neutral paladins.)
Reblogged criticalsorcery
here have this grond meme that my partner made
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Karlach - Sun🧡 tarot card for @bg3tarotdeck I also have BlueSky now!
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An Angel Awakens…
A portrait of Vediah, Aasimar Conquest Paladin and my new D&D character for a Curse of Strahd game! Sent down to the Material Plane to chill for a bit as a statue for getting a /little/ too into the whole smiting evil thing, she has awakened to face a new threat and prove herself again.
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Wanted to make my own Pathologic ask game with questions I love directing at my mutuals:
- Favorite flaw of Pathologic?
- Wildest theory you’d defend?
- Favorite nameless/minor NPC?
- What made you giggle hardest?
- How did you pick your first ending?
- Which character surprised you most?
- Headcanons you forget aren’t canon?
- How did you react to the Powers that Be?
- Who/what do you think the Rat Prophet is?
- What do you think the Changeling’s story was really about?
- What do you think the Haruspex’s story was really about?
- What do you think the Bachelor’s story was really about?
- Niche trivia everyone & their grandma should know?
- Give a character who could use more love a shout-out.
- Any character who reminds you of someone in real life?
- Have you ever tried to explain Pathologic to the uninitiated?
- Which character do you see yourself befriending IRL?
- Dearest in-game friendship/platonic relationship?
- Do you think Pathologic is worth adapting into other mediums?
- How did you feel about the depiction of older characters/children?
- Favorite niche, obscure character? (ie named characters outside the Healers and Bound)
- How much of the story were you able to piece together on the first run?
- Character you love in Pathologic you wouldn’t stand in another story/real life?
- What was your craziest misconception/funniest misunderstanding while figuring out the lore?
- If you could play a role in any part of the development (besides narrative), what would it be?
- If you played more than one route/series entry, how do you think the order shaped your experience & feelings?
- What other media (plays, novels, films, shows, games, et cetera) does Pathologic remind you of? This can be personal and subjective.
- What was Pathologic like in your first language? If it isn’t available in that, how do you imagine it would turn out? What did/might it add to the story?
Hello! My name is Jarl and I've been following your blog for a few years now. This is going to be a strange request and I fully understand if you decline or ignore this ask. I wrote a book! My second book, in fact. This one is about, among other things, a holy warrior bound by oath to bringing peace and rest to the undead. There is also a romance involved.
I've done a few rounds of editing but at this point I've done all I can do on my own. What I need now are beta/proof readers. I've tried contacting friends and such, but life has been getting in the way of them sitting down to read it. Would you be willing to proofread it for me? I'm working on a couple other projects, so you'd have a few months to read it before I'd have time to return to it. I mostly just need someone to let me know what they think is fine as is and what needs work. It is 90,000-ish words.
I'd be delighted to get your opinion, as someone who enjoys holy fighters bound by sacred oath Here is a picture of the knight in question in case that helps:
Intriguing. Well, I appreciate you reaching out and I would love to assist a writer in making a better story. I’ll certainly do my best with what time I can spare to read and construct something helpful.