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tigerkirby215 · 2 years

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5e Zeri, the Spark of Zaun build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Alex “alexplank” Flores. Made for Riot Games.)

Holy shit I really like Zeri. But man are my teams always trash when I play her. Zeri has reminded me how much I hate ADC, the role that doesn’t get to play the game for the first 15 minutes of the match. And in soloqueue where your teammates DC in the first 5 minutes playing her has got me thinking about oh the misery. At least playing her top is fun. Ranged top bad btw.

Uhhhh what were we talking about again? Oh right D&D! Zeri has a backstory that almost feels tailor-made for D&D. I mean, a magic girl who fights against the unjust government to help her people? I’m sure you’ve already got some ideas what her build is! Dunno if my build will align with yours because I already know Doran's & Dragons built her differently than me. But there’s more than one way to build Zeri: AD or AP. It’s up to you!

GOALS

Quick feet, quick trigger - Stick a current through a proper wire and it can really pack a spark! We’ll need to be able to run and gun our foes down with a custom-made blaster!

Ayy, this is cool; lotsa places to run! - In terms of overtuned Season 11 champs dashing through walls isn’t that bad, I guess. No worse than Akshan’s 200 word passive.

I am lightning! - When caught in the eye of the storm we’ll need to be able to overcharge and go all out!

RACE

Zeri may be human but she has innate magic within her. That combined with the fact that Monsters of the Multiverse updated a bunch of races gives me a great reason to use the Air Genasi! For one Monsters of the Multiverse made Tasha’s Ability Score improvements standard, so increase your Intelligence by 2 and your Constitution by 1.

You still have Unending Breath to keep cool under pressure, but you also have 60 feet of Darkvision (which I only mention because it’s new), 35 of movement Speed (which I mention because it’s more than the baseline), Lightning Resistance (which felt very in-character for Zeri!), and most importantly you can charge up your passive thanks to Mingle with the Wind.

Your innate casting of Levitate is now relegated to 5th level but you instead get Shocking Grasp at level 1 and Feather Fall at level 3, for some more defense and safety! And the best part is you can now cast these spells with your mental stats, meaning you can make Intelligence your casting modifier instead of Constitution.

IF YOUR AREN’T USING MONSTERS OF THE MULTIVERSE RULES: Unfortunately the Air Genasi from EEPC really doesn’t offer much to make it worth picking over another race. You can take the Mark of Passage Human if you’re in Eberron, but realistically just take the Variant Human with the Sharpshooter feat with a +1 to both INT and CON still.

ABILITY SCORES

15; INTELLIGENCE - Zeri’s a smart kid, even if she’s a bit of a newbie with her powers. Yes Zeri would technically be a Sorcerer but we need Intelligence for a very particular class.

14; DEXTERITY - Repeat after me: something something medium armor, and even though a breastplate would channel electricity your race’s natural resistance means you could probably fashion a medium electricity-resistant jacket.

13; CONSTIUTION - Health is always nice and we don’t need other stats much. Feel free to invest in other stats if you want better stats but worse health though.

12; CHARISMA - I mean, I like Zeri. But again feel free to swap your lower three stats around as you wish.

10; WISDOM - Zeri’s inexperienced and lets her ambition get the better of her sometimes.

8; STRENGTH - Zeri is a child. Well, teenager. But still a child.

BACKGROUND

If there was ever an example of a Folk Hero in Runeterra (who isn’t Poppy or Braum) it would probably be Zeri. That’s why we’re replacing her background skills with Acrobatics and History, right? (Acrobatics to zip around the streets of Zaun, and History to remember her family’s teachings!) I’m giving Zeri History proficiency because she’s the Intelligence character, but feel free to take a skill proficiency that’s more appropriate for roleplay.

Honestly you can take whatever tools or languages you want because what I mainly wanted was the Rustic Hospitality background feature. This makes it easy for you to find friends in the streets of Zaun who’ll be willing to help you fight the Chem Barons! As long as they don’t have to stick their neck out of course, but you wouldn’t want anyone to feel like they have to fight for you.

(Artwork by @naiaru on Twitter.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ARTIFICER 1

Starting off as Artificer because of course your family made your gun for you, and you keep it working yourself! But also for proficiency with Constitution saving throws, the Arcana and Investigation skills, and Smith’s Tools. Also Tinkerer’s Tools and Thieves’ Tools, which I don’t mention enough about Artificers!

As an Artificer you get Magical Tinkering, which is like Prestidigitation but only on small items and also kinda useless. You can do a bunch of small things like charge the item to glow with electricity, play a recorded sound, make sounds, or display a message. Try to find creative use for your lingering static charge, but really we’re here for the full-on Spellcasting.

You can learn two cantrips from the Artificer spell list: Guidance is also good when surrounded by friends, and I’m going to suggest you use your static discharge to zap your foes with Ray of Frost for now. (Don’t get too comfortable with it: we’ll swap it out later!) Also don’t forget that you get Shocking Grasp as an Air Genasi!

You can also prepare a number of spells equal to your Intelligence modifier plus half your Artificer level (rounded down): for now that means you can prepare Faerie Fire to highlight your foes with static, Detect Magic to... detect magic, and Cure Wounds for the Heal summoner spell. (Even if Barrier is kinda better for Zeri.)

LEVEL 2 - ARTIFICER 2

Second level Artificers get Infusions! These are magic items made by the good folk in Zaun that can help you give it your 110%. And guess we’re not taking: the Repeating Shot infusion! Put simply we’re going to be getting that for free, so make a Mind Sharpener, Enhanced Weapon, Goggles of Night, and... well the Bottle of Boundless Coffee is a downright overpowered item from Strixhaven that you can craft. (And for legal reasons this is a joke.) But I dunno make a Bag of Holding or Rope of Climbing: realistically you should keep the Mind Sharpener and Enhanced Weapon active, only turning on the Goggles of Night if you think you’ll need them.

Speaking of turning it on when you need it: Absorb Elements is great in a pinch if you get zapped by an element you don’t resist! Remember that Artificers are prepared casters, so you’re more-than-welcome to swap your spells around to what you think will be the most useful in the moment.

LEVEL 3 - ARTIFICER 3

Third level Artificers get a proper rifle to channel their spark thanks to the Armorer specialty! You can turn any suit of armor into Arcane Armor, allowing you to wear it regardless of your Strength and also use it to cast your Artificer spells. (And a few other cool features that I won’t elaborate on as they’re not important.)

You have two Armor Models to choose from and for a lightning gun choose the Infiltrator armor! You get a Lightning Launcher with a short range of 90 and a long range of 300; it does a d6 of Lightning damage but once per turn you can do an extra d6 to an enemy you hit. You also have Powered Steps for 5 extra feet of movement (which as an Air Genasi adds up to 40 feet total!), and a Dampening Field for advantage on Stealth! Practically for free! Sure if you’re wearing armor that causes Stealth Disadvantage that cancels it out, but you can use this trait with a Breastplate or something similar to keep sneaky while also being hard to hit!

You also get new Tools of the Trade. Seeing as we already have Smith’s Tools... Calligrapher’s Supplies? Regardless of what you choose you can use The Right Tool for the Job to make... the right tool for the job with an hour of work to make them appear right at your fingertips!

Finally you get both Magic Missile and Thunderwave added to your spell list as Armorer spells: you can flavor Magic Missile as your passive (without a slow), and if you want to do Lightning Crash’s damage look no further than Thunderwave! Speaking of spells you are allowed to swap cantrips when you level up, so replace Ray of Frost with Spare the Dying to help those in need. Oh and don’t forget you learn Feather Fall as an Air Genasi, in case you slip while skating on sump pipes!

LEVEL 4 - ARTIFICER 4

4th level Artificers get their first Ability Score Improvement, and with an uneven Intelligence that leaves you wide open for the Telepathic feat. Keep to team chat in your head while increasing your Intelligence by 1, as long as you’re within 60 feet of your friends and they know what you’re saying. You also get Detect Thoughts added to your spell list, and cast it once for free without using a spell slot.

Of course more Intelligence means more Artificer spells, but we’re going to wait for...

LEVEL 5 - ARTIFICER 5

5th level Armorer Artificers get Extra Attack, to attack twice! Mash that Q key as fast as you can! You also get Mirror Image and Shatter added to your spell list as Armorer spells, both of which fit Zeri very well to either dish out damage or keep yourself safe!

You can also prepare more spells like Aid (assuming no one else has that spell available), and Vortex Warp from Strixhaven! I’d personally flavor Vortex Warp as zipping your allies (or enemies!) around at the speed of an electrical current, but I understand that you may not think that makes sense for Zeri (or might not own Strixhaven.) I just think Vortex Warp is a really cool spell, but if you want something else feel free to prepare something else! Heat Metal is once of those spells that never “fits” despite being insanely strong.

(Artwork by @DanE_javik on Twitter.)

LEVEL 6 - WIZARD 1

Time to get your AP half with some Wizard levels! Should Zeri be a Sorcerer? Yeah probably but we were taking Intelligence anyways. Regardless Wizards get Arcane Recovery equal to half their Wizard level rounded down; I’m bad at explaining this ability so just read it yourself.

But what we’re really here for is Spellcasting! You get three cantrips: take the Wizard grab-bag of Prestidigitation, Mending, and Mage Hand. You also get 6 spells from the Wizard list: take Disguise Self for the cosmetics you don’t have, Distort Value to make some coin in Zaun, Identify to tell how much coin something is worth, Jim’s Magic Missile for some unstable magic (very fitting for Zeri!), Tenser’s Floating Disk if you find any scrap worth saving, and Shield. Because it’s Shield.

LEVEL 7 - WIZARD 2

Second level Wizards get to choose their Arcane Tradition and I’m going to stack some buffs from the Transmutation school. For now all you get is Minor Alchemy which lets you turn any wood, stone, iron, copper, or silver into another one of the listed materials for an hour, as long as you keep concentration. Sure this trait is a little weird but you’d be surprised how many interesting solutions come up by making a wall into wood so you can cut it down. And if all else fails you can turn some wood coins into silver and short-change some chem-barons!

Oh and you get two more spells: take Detect Magic and Comprehend Languages which are both nice rituals to have in your pocket at a Wizard. Don’t you need Transmutation spells? Well Transmutation Savant will make getting those spells cheaper. And don’t you already have Detect Magic as an Artificer spell? Well you can prepare something else instead.

LEVEL 8 - WIZARD 3

Third level Wizards learn 2nd level spells like Blindness / Deafness to play dirty with the dirt if you want the upper hand on your foes. You can also grab Misty Step. For Flash.

LEVEL 9 - WIZARD 4

4th level Artificers get another Ability Score Improvement and yeah: Intelligence kinda makes everything better so increasing it by 2 would be ideal.

You can also learn another cantrip: I’d recommend grabbing Mind Sliver to zap foes with high armor and low magic resistance to lower their MR even further. And to top if off you get two more 2nd level spells! Take Spider Climb to grind on some walls, and Rope Trick in case you need a bail out plan. But truthfully the reason for Wizard levels will make sense once we get...

LEVEL 10 - WIZARD 5

5th level Wizards get 3rd level spells and honestly I just want Haste and Lightning Bolt. Sure casting Haste on yourself is extremely inefficient because if you fail your saving throw you self-stun yourself, and all it grants you is a bit of AC and an extra attack with your dinky d6 + 5 Lightning Gun. But it’s the best representation of Zeri’s ult (minus the AoE damage) and the best way to be faithful to Zeri letting it all out before tiring herself out.

(Artwork by Jeremy Anninos. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 11 - ARTIFICER 6

Quickly hopping back to the 6th level of Artificer for two key Infusions:

Radiant Weapon - Literally a direct upgrade from the Enhanced Weapon if you have the Attunement slots, although I wouldn’t recommend holding onto it forever. Along with a +1 you can use it as a flashlight (rub your feet on the ground to light up your gun!) and in a pinch you can even blind someone trying to hit you! Just be sure to evaluate if the blind is worth it over the Shield spell.

Spell-Refueling Ring - IE a Pearl of Power hold the pearl, because more spell slots for more Lightning Bolts and Haste is great value now that you actually have third level slots.

Feel free to replace some of your older infusions with options like the Boots of the Winding Path, Boots of Elvenkind / Cloak of Elvenkind (this should go to a friend, not yourself; you already have Stealth advantage!), Lantern of Revealing, Repulsion Shield, Resistant Armor... Hell, even the Cloak of the Manta Ray or Gloves of Thievery are nice in a pinch.

You also get Tool Expertise. For expertise with tools.

LEVEL 12 - WIZARD 6

Back over to Wizard: level 6 Transmutation Wizards can turn their natural magic into some buffs, as long as they have their Transmuter’s Stone! While you got the rock in your pocket you can get 60 foot darkvision (which you already have, but your DM might allow to apply on top of your darkvision?), a 10 foot movement speed increase, proficiency in Constitution saving throws (which you already have), or resistance to one of acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage.

Two of these you already have but 10 feet of movement on top of the 10 from your race + armor equals 50 feet of movement total, which is pretty freaking fast! And damage resistance is always useful in a pinch, especially since you can swap the stone’s effect by casting a Transmutation spell! If all else fails and you have no use for your cool rock you can also pass it to a friend; I’m sure someone will appreciate the Constitution save proficiency!

Oh and you can grab two more spells: Thunder Step is a bad spell but it fits Zeri well, and Melf's Minute Meteors is a weird spell that fits Zeri quite well! Sure it takes your Concentration for a couple of Bonus Action attacks, but it does more damage than a Fireball overall and you can split the damage up! But I mean, feel free to take something like Blink or Fly instead I guess.

LEVEL 13 - WIZARD 7

7th level Wizards get 4th level spells and if you want to dash through a wall then Dimension Door is probably your best bet. Other than that there’s a lot of great spells at 4th level, but I’m going to suggest good ol’ Storm Sphere to keep to that lightning motif and zap the power straight out of everything!

LEVEL 14 - WIZARD 8

Finally with 8th level in Wizard you can get one last Ability Score Improvement: now that your Intelligence is capped off I’d suggest the Sharpshooter feat to make your shots more accurate and more deadly!

If you went for Variant Human and already have the Sharpshooter feat Magic Initiate (Wizard) can be a decent choice. Get Shocking Grasp from there along with another cantrip you think is fun, and something like Feather Fall as your 1st level spell in case of an emergency. Yes I am basically saying “if you weren’t a Genasi take the Genasi spells from Magic Initiate.”

And finally you can grab your last two 4th level Wizard spells: after this you’ll have to either spend cash to get magic or bust! Again there’s a lot of great choices at 4th level but I personally chose Elemental Bane (in case your opponent can resist your Lightning blaster!) and Greater Invisibility, which perhaps isn’t something Zeri can do in-game but it makes some sense and is very strong.

(Artwork by @art_kageyuki on Twitter.)

LEVEL 15 - ARTIFICER 7

7th level Artificers get Flash of Genius, allowing them to use their magic to help those around them... or themselves. If an ally (or you!) need help with an ability check or saving throw you can use your reaction to give them +5 to the roll, since your Intelligence is at a 20 and all. This does only have a range of 30 feet though, and you can only use it 10 times (double your INT modifier.) And remember that it is taking your reaction that you could be using for Shield or Absorb Elements (or Feather Fall, I guess?)

Speaking of spells I’ve kinda been ignoring the Artificer spell list huhn? You got some Intelligence increases (and some spells that you should probably replace) so I’d suggest grabbing Kinetic Jaunt (it’s from Strixhaven if you don’t have it) to zip around the battlefield, Enhance Ability to... enhance the abilities of yourself or an ally, and Heat Metal. Because if Avatar The Last Airbender taught me anything, it’s that Lightning is secretly just really good Fire.

LEVEL 16 - ARTIFICER 8

8th level Artificers get another Ability Score Improvement and by this point there isn’t much that we particularly need. So I’m going to be boring and take the Fighting Initiate feat and take the Archery fighting style, because put bluntly a 10% higher chance to hit is pretty huge numbers-wise.

You can also prepare another spell but I’d suggest waiting for...

LEVEL 17 - ARTIFICER 9

9th level Artificers can (finally!) prepare 3rd level spells like Hypnotic Pattern and... Lightning Bolt? Hey didn’t we already have this one? Ah well you can prepare your other Wizard spells instead: did you really want to wait until total level 17 for big electric zaps? Anyways I’m going to cop out and suggest you take Revivify, mostly because there isn’t much for Artificers at 3rd level that we need. Carry some diamonds in your pocket and use your electricity to jumpstart their heart!

But most importantly Armorer Artificers get Armor Modifications! Along with turning your one suit of armor into 4 separate items that can be infused (armor (the chest piece), boots, helmet, and the armor’s special weapon (I think most DMs would’ve let you infuse that even without hitting level 9)) you can now have two extra infusions! They have to be on your armor but I’m sure if you use that armor to help people no one will mind. You know your infusions so pick whichever ones you think will help you the best. I mean, it’s not like we’re going to get the ability to fly or anything crazy like that.

(Artwork by @MiushuStudios on Twitter.)

LEVEL 18 - ARTIFICER 10

10th level Artificers get new Infusions that allow them to fly and crazy things like that. The Winged Boots may not fit Zeri but are you really going to pass up flight? Other than that the Helm of Awareness is very good, and something only you can make. The Alert feat on a stick is good for just about anyone.

I’d also suggest replacing the Radiant Weapon with your plain old Enhanced Weapon by this point, as it’s now a +2 weapon. +15 to hit is nice enough and freeing up an attunement slot is good too! I’m going to suggest replacing it with the good ol’ Cloak of Protection; you should probably give the cloak to a friend who’ll be taking hits since the +1 to both their AC and saves will add up! But if you don’t want those infusions for whatever reason there are other good choices too:

Eyes of the Eagle (probably not for you but a friend can make good use out of that increased vision!)

Gauntlets of Ogre Power (your Strength is at an 8 so this is an effective +5 to your Strength modifier!)

Headband of Intellect (maybe for a friend?)

Periapt of Wound Closure (for your more reckless friend; maybe that reckless friend is you?)

Again Artificer is great because you can pick and choose infusions that will help your party. After all your attunement slots aren’t infinite... but Magic Item Adept does give you another attunement slot, as well as the ability to craft Common and Uncommon magic items easily.

Oh yeah and to top if off you can prepare another spell, and (finally!) learn another Artificer cantrip! For your leveled spell Blink may require you to get lucky but it’s good to evade some hits. And for your cantrip I dunno; you don’t have a Light source anymore?

LEVEL 19 - ARTIFICER 11

11th level Artificers can keep their mana in check by simply putting their spells in a Spell-Storing Item. You can stick a 1st or 2nd level Artificer spell into a stick to allow your friends (or yourself) to cast it a number of times equal to twice your Intelligence modifier. Now I know it can be hard to resist sticking 10 Shatters into it but consider your options: you have a couple of great spells that are amazing to give to your friends or to just have in your back pocket without spending spell slots:

Blur - Even at this level not all enemies have magic vision, so this can be a great buff to your Fighter’s AC!

Enhance Ability - A good buff that’s made better by allowing a non-caster to cast it on the party!

Heat Metal - This spell is dumb and kinda objectively overpowered ngl. Give it to someone who doesn’t have a good use for their Bonus Action; 2d8 Fire damage isn’t much but disadvantage on all attacks is!

Invisibility - Really doubt I need to explain why “become invisible” is good.

Kinetic Jaunt - One of the new ones from Strixhaven. This is great if you have someone in the party like a Rogue who gets value out of going zoomies!

Lesser Restoration - In case of emergency please break glass.

Levitate - Sure you can do it, but your friends can’t. It can work as a pseudo-disable or pseudo-flight!

Mirror Image - The main one from your subclass. Good on just about everyone. Give your friends the chance to take 3 hits without taking damage.

See Invisibility - Useful in a pinch on the party.

Vortex Warp - Another amazing utility. Being able to reposition an ally really opens up teamwork in this team game. I recommend this video for some ideas why Vortex Warp is useful.

But this isn’t a Spell Storing Item guide. Don’t let me stop you from sticking 10 charges of Shatter into a stick and going ham with it. I’m just saying you do have better options.

LEVEL 20 - ARTIFICER 12

Our final level is the 12th level of Artificer for one last Ability Score Improvement. Again I don’t have any particular feats I want so I’m just going to cop out and suggest good ol’ Alert to keep aware on the streets.

Honestly if you want going for 9 levels in Wizard might’ve been worth it for 5th level spells, and 10 levels would’ve gotten you the purest form of a “free” Polymorph. Hell, even 2 levels in Fighter would get you Second Wind, Action Surge, and another Fighting Style. (I’d personally go for Defense if you already have Archery from your feat. Alternatively you could just take Archery from Fighter and grab Alert with your level 16 Feat!)

But I chose to stick to Artificer as it felt the most accurate overall. And because you can prepare one more spell, such as the “in case of emergency please break glass” spell of Lesser Restoration.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Run fast, charge up, shoot the bad guys - You’ve got plenty of ways to keep away from the baddies, be it blinking out of the way, running along walls, or zooming straight through them!

Come on Zeri; fight to win - Your spell slots go far above the average Artificer, maxing out at 7th level. Sure you only get third level spells but a lot of them are quite strong when upcast: Aid, Lightning Bolt, Shatter, Heat Metal; all of these spells still pack a punch when cast with something big. And Arcane Recovery gives you even more magic to spare!

Gun could use a little tinkering - Regardless of situation Infusions can help you and your party in a lot of ways. Use your infusions smartly and pass your Philosopher’s Stone around too to give back to the people of Zaun!

CONS

If I can just... get this to work...! - You don’t have the insane damage output of other ADCs I’ve built. Sharpshooter helps out yes but you don’t have any good damage-increasing spells nor abilities like Sneak Attack to max out your DPS late game.

Come on; charge already! - The point of an ADC (or rather a “martial” character) is to provide constant DPS without question, and unfortunately your spark can run out with extended use. You have a lot of Long Rest resources that can ware out quickly.

Ugh, might've rushed that one - This build kinda falls off a cliff in the late game where your spells outrun your infusions. Sure two extra infusions for your Armor is nice and all but if your DM gives you a couple of magic items it really won’t matter. This build is best around Tier 2 when your Wizard spells give you the nimbleness to survive with your Artificer damage output.

But you only need to start the movement: your can move even the biggest machines with the smallest spark. Zip around your foes and pepper them with bullets to inspire your fellow Zaunites to blast them alongside you! As long as you know when you contain your spark you’ll be able to change the world for the better. As long as you make sure not to go berserk!

(Artwork by @JayalSantos on Twitter.)

#dnd #dnd 5e #dnd build #dnd guide #League of Legends #zeri #League of Legends Zeri #lightning #gun #dnd artificer #neon valorant

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dhaaruni · 3 years

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i saw a take from a leftist that was like "we need to abolish private schools" and ??? i don't agree??? obviously public schools need way better funding, and people who are anti public school like b*tsy d*vos are evil, but i think abolishing private schools is a bad idea for many reasons. (like just off hand what about disabled kids who aren't getting the support they need in a public school?) idk it rubs me the wrong way for the same reasons "abolish private healthcare" rubs me the wrong way.

cont. (to clarify i am 100% against vouchers and the whole conservative "school choice" movement that takes funds away from public schools, i am just saying that leftists wanting to abolish private school entirely is a bad idea)

I agree with you like I'm a public school kid and my public school was excellent but I know I'd have probably had a better experience in private school with smaller class sizes and more personalized attention since I struggled a lot mental health wise and I sort of wish my teachers had done more to help. My AP Lit teacher was awesome though, he gave me extensions without my even asking and even gave me alternate assignments because I missed pretty much all of the poetry unit and couldn't write an essay on classwork I didn't do. My AP Biology and AP Stats teachers on the other hand.... nope.

Like I agree, we need fund public schools, especially in underprivileged areas, and we should ensure that ALL kids, no matter their race or income background, have the opportunity to get a good education and go onto a 4-year-college if they want to. And of course, not everybody wants to go that route so we should also build up trade schools and give people the opportunity to get associate degrees etc. which is why Biden's plan to make 2 years of community college free (and 4-year public college for families making below $125k) is excellent and necessary. If you don't see the magnitude of difference no post-secondary education and 4-year-college at like the University of Iowa would make for some kid in a podunk town whose family can't afford to send them to college even when they have the grades and motivation to get in, I can't help you. That measure would do so much to bolster the middle class, and help boost and keep people out of poverty! Plus like, when white women get educated, they stop voting Republican so there are electoral advantages to this to for Democrats as well.

Like, Hillary Clinton has always a big proponent of education, like she built a charter school in the Bronx for Black and brown kids in their own neighborhood to prepare them to go to college and be the leaders of tomorrow. It's technically a "private" school since it was targeted to a specific community and had specific goals that were different than public schools surrounding it but I'm not going to throw hands that a powerful woman used her social clout and white privilege to educate children and gave them opportunities they wouldn't have otherwise had! That's why I also push back on the "HRC is a white feminist" accusation like going back to the 1970s, she's been focused on boosting up Black and brown communities through education and personal advocacy (the Mothers of the Movement endorsing her in 2016 really got me on board with her campaign) and that matters to me a lot more than "Pokemon go to the polls" being ~cringe. @taylor14firefly suggested that instead of calling people white feminists, we call them white supremacist feminists, and I think that's a great idea.

Side note, I really push back on the idea that schools need to stop teaching calculus in high school for instance since "Black and Latino kids can't do it" like that's just pure racism. Black and Latino kids are just as intelligent and capable as white and Asian kids! I'm not going to accept that kids can read and analyze Shakespeare like experts and can't take an integral since basic calculus isn't probabilistic theory, which I can't even do. America fails its students, especially its female ones, in mathematics and I refuse to believe otherwise but I digress.

#answered #anonymous #politics #hillary clinton

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fenweak · 4 years

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High School AUs

College/University AUs

⭐ A+ fics (imho) | All of the recs

High School AUs

High Scores by popfly ⭐

Kaner is a DDR master, Jonny is ultra-competitive. Bollig just wants to make out with Shawzy.

Dynamical Systems by jezziejay ⭐ - math geek patrick! jock jonny!

Jonny’s plenty smart, but there’s hockey practice just before a double math period every Tuesday and Wednesday morning. He gets to class on time. Physically, he’s there. But his mind is still on the ice. Throw in a kidney infection that keeps him home for two weeks, and Jonny’s struggling. Not failing, but that C is dragging his GPA down, and his mom is making clucking noises. The same noises that mean hockey time is coming up for review.

There’s a note on the student boards advertising tutoring.

promise i'm worthy (to hold in your arms) [One and Only series] - teenage angst and american douchebags ft. ryan kesler

"So come on and give me a chance to prove I am the one who can walk that mile."

love is a contact sport by hazel, mermaid ⭐ - high school soulmates!

"And the tragic reality of Patrick's life is that even though they broke up over a year ago, he and Johnny still play beautiful hockey together."

A high school AU, featuring dream-fish, bad movie dates, and a little bit of magic.

Movie Nights or Five Times Jonny Wanted Popcorn (and One Time He Didn’t) by CoffeeKristin

Patrick had only been working at the movie theater a few weeks when a noisy bunch of boys from his high school burst through the doors just before the last showing of Captain America: Civil War and come tumbling into the lobby, whooping it up. He sighed and put down the containers of popcorn he was counting, mentally preparing himself for the asshattery he was likely to endure.

“What can I get you?” he asked the crowd, and true to form, no one was listening so he waited another moment. Finally one of the boys got pushed to the front, stumbling into the counter. “Fuck, Duncs, not so hard,” he said, and oh. That was Jonathan Toews: Captain of the high school soccer team, president of the student council, son of the mayor. Basically, everything Patrick wasn’t.

do it how you want it done ⭐

(very vaguely) grease-inspired high school au.

yeah, i went there.

kissing your honeyed eyes by forochel

The one that's the British boarding school AU.

This Is What A Love Song Sounds Like by fourfreedoms ⭐ - reunion fic but god the flashbacks! the angst!

When he came out after his freshman year of college his mother said she’d always known, and he’d had to fight down the bizarre wave of paranoia that maybe everybody knew, maybe they’d all just been letting him sweat all those years. It was crazy of course, there was only one person who’d known, who had any idea.Patrick Kane.

Ten years after they fucked around in high school, Patrick and Jonny meet back up at their high school reunion.

roll with it by hazel ⭐

The one where a bunch of Blackhawks inexplicably go to boarding school, Tazer is the world's meanest DM, and Pat doesn't know why anyone would think cutting the head off a hydra was good idea.

Light Me Up by sahiya - where they both went to Shattuck!

Being serious about hockey always meant Patrick would have to leave home. For a long time he thought it would be for juniors and a billet family. But things don't go as planned, and he finds himself at Shattuck-St. Mary's.

His roommate's name is Jonathan Toews. He can't keep his water bottles on his side of the room, and he's unfortunately, stupidly hot. Because Patrick's life sucks.

boot theory by mentalistecbm - teen angst, break up

Everyone knows that they're broken up.

glory days by liketheroad ⭐ - soulmate, teen angst

He never expected his destiny to involve anything but hockey, never thought it would show up in flip flops, but when Patrick smiles at him across the locker room, quick and surprised, Johnny lets his priorities shift and change without a hint of reluctance or regret.

There's Only Blood Running In My Veins by mikarala - pwp

Patrick and Jonny are making out in Patrick’s bedroom when Jonny says it. “I--I,” he stutters out, in between a moan, “I want you to fuck me.”

Gold Seeking Ends by liveinfury - Flipped AU

“Wanna go on the tire swing with me after?” Jonny asks.

“No,” Patrick answers.

“Oh,” Jonny says, looking deflated. “What about the jungle gym?”

“Nope."

“Um, okay,” Jonny says, shrugging before walking away.Sam giggles some more. “I can’t believe Jonny, the dirt eater, likes you.”Patrick smirks at him. “Everyone likes me.”

(or Patrick and Jonny meet in the second grade. Jonny's instantly smitten, Patrick is...not. Ten years later, things start flipping.)

Keep Calm and Don't Think of Star Wars podfic by exmanhater ⭐ - A Clueless AU

After I once again assure Abby that Johnny and I are not, NOT related (by googling the difference between half-brother and stepbrother because jesus fucking christ am I am the only knowledgeable one around here?), she agrees to help.

but i can write a song

“We’re not going to be called Jonny and the Patricks,” Jonny says, sounding entirely too put upon about a name that’s clearly awesome.

[or; the high school band au you probably didn't ask for]

lost in brightness - pat, jon and a crowded train

“You’re gonna get caught one day,” Jonny sighs, herding Pat in front of him as they squeeze onto the train, the crowd thicker than usual. It’s been raining on and off, fall well and truly taking the city in its grasp. Jonny’s already looking forward to meeting Pat by his house every morning, red-cheeked and rugged up, his face barely visible between his toque and scarf.

you're mending what's broken - a stats nerd Patrick story

The guy who sits behind Jonny in AP Stats wants to know how many shots on goal he had last Tuesday. Or at least, that's how it starts.

A high school AU featuring stats nerd Kaner and his Tragic Hockey Backstory (TM), without much time or inclination toward actual tragedy. Instead there is discussion of Corsi. And kissing.

Examine Other Beauties by kiwoa - theater kids!

"I," Jonny says, and he slips his headset up from around his neck to nestle over his ears, "am not an actor."

"Good thing I don't need you to act."

"No."

"Jonny."

"Patrick."

"Please?" Kaner cants forward and tilts his face up to blink at Jonny. In the fluttering light that filters in from the stage, his eyes look unnaturally pale. "Just read the lines, okay? I want to see how well I've memorized them."

Jonny scrubs a hand over his face. The motion knocks his mike askew. "One scene."

A/S/L ⭐ - 90s teenaged kids meeting on webcam omg

The internet is a dangerous place, or:

Patrick and Jonny meet, lie through their teeth, and fall in love. Mostly that last part.

Actual Prom King Brandon Saad by popfly ⭐

Patrick might be a little jealous of the new kid.

Sure Brandon is basically the prom king from every feel-good teenage movie Patrick’s sisters have made him watch, but that doesn’t mean Jonny wants that.

Sign it with your heart by tictactoews + podfic by exmanhater ⭐

Patrick loses a bet and is dared to plant an anonymous love letter into a random locker. It just so happens that the locker belongs to one Jonathan Toews, captain of the school hockey team.Meanwhile, Jonny finds himself in need of a math tutor, and following the advice of his teacher, he asks the new kid, Patrick Kane, for help.

a complicated kindness by liketheroad - young and figuring out d/s ⭐

Patrick still remembers how scared Sharpy looked, just for a second there. He remembers not understanding why anyone would back away from Johnny when he was like that, why they wouldn’t want to strain closer, pushing to see how much further he’d go.

What Comes Easy by impertinence - summer camp of angst

Kaner's determined to never grow up; Tazer's determined to grow up as quickly as possible. Over eleven years of summer camp, they learn to meet in the middle. Set in stlkrchk's Camp Quaquanantuck universe.

mathletes are totally athletes by ukiyo91, yukonecho

Mathlete Patrick Kane never thought that when he was assigned to tutor hockey jock Jonathan Toews that he would be swept up into a new sport...or into Captain Serious.

Toews was like the guild leader Patrick had always aspired to be in WoW, but more of an asshole.

i'll be the embrace that keeps you warm by longtime_lurker - huddling for warmth

It is like death, but it is not death; lovelier. / Cold, inconvenienced, late, what will you do now / with the gift of your left life?

Clumsy by CoffeeKristin - a short first kiss fic uwu

“Knock it off,” she hissed at him. “He’s looking at you!”

“Who?” Patrick said, his head swiveling around, resulting in Erica smacking him again. “Hey! Quit hitting me!”

“Then quit being an idiot,” she huffed. “Jonny Toews, you dunce. He’s looking over here, and you’re biting on the string of your hoodie like a moron.”

look around once in a while by achilleees

One man’s struggle to take it easy.

Based off of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” but instead of girlfriends and daddy issues, there’s hockey and pining. And daddy issues.

Summer Lovin' by CoffeeKristin - est. relationship insecurities

Patrick's home from summer camp, and Jonny's first on his list of to-do's. Somehow a little actual angst/plot worked it's way in. But mostly it's just porn.

Ninety-Nine Point Three Percent by jimtiberiuskirk - best friends mutually pining

The problem is, is that Patrick is 99.3% sure that Jonny knows all about his giant, embarrassing man-crush on him.

bring it if you really want it by staraflur - harry potter AU

It starts like this:

Well, okay, Patrick has no idea how it actually starts. But as pertains to him (in other words, the important part), it goes a little something like so:

America, being a nation composed in large part of a melting pot of immigrants who may or may not have taken over land already owned by others using less-than-savory means, doesn’t have much of a magical national identity. Much less a magical continental identity. There’s no grand heritage going back thousands of years. Magical families home-schooled all their kids until, like, the 1800’s, and tough for the muggle-born, apparently. Hopefully you got noticed by someone who knew what to do with you before you got burned at the stake. Since you probably can’t control your powers, sport.

(if you're feeling down) i can feel you up by hawkeytime

"Hey," Patrick said appreciatively from behind where Jonny stood, stoic as always, by the side of the pool. "Did you sit in a pile of sugar? Because you have a sweet ass.”Or: How Patrick Kane spent his summer hitting on the hot lifeguard with the help of some inspired (read: awful) pickup lines.

kiss and tell by hawkeytime

“Trust me,” Sharpy says, “this will be good for you.”And then, he shoves Jonny into what appears to be a mostly empty coat closet and slams the door shut behind him.

“What the fuck, Sharp!” Jonny calls, pounding at the door which is, of course, locked.

“Enjoy your seven minutes in heaven, Tazer,” Sharpy singsongs.Then, the bare bulb mounted on the ceiling flares to life, illuminating one Patrick Kane.

Fuck.

i know you are (but what am i) by booktubelover7 - always a girl!pat

Pat throws up her arms in celebration after Toews makes a beautiful goal off of Pat’s assist. She crows in celebration as Toews slams into her, shouting in her ear.

Pat’s playing, she’s playing, she’s playing. Not just that, but she’s winning too.When her line gets back to the bench, Pat leans over to speak into Toews’ ear. “Thank you,” she says. Her teammate just turns his head to look at her, a grin spreading across his face.

Love or Torture - a/b/o

Patrick Kane is too short, too Omega, and his heat too delayed for him to play hockey. Jonathan Toews has a plan to bring glory to both of them.

keep buying the stars by medusacascade22- teacher!Jonny

“Fuck,” Jonny groans. He props his elbows up on his desk and lets his head fall into his hands. It’s going to be a long fucking year.

(or, in which Jonathan Toews is Patrick Kane's teacher, and shit gets real.)

College/Uni AUs

cello suite no. 1 - THIS IS ONE IS A CLASSIC 👌

The first time Jonathan meets Patrick Kane is because he hits him with a lacrosse ball.

In Jonathan's defense, he threw a perfect pass to Seabs, who failed to just reach the one or two feet above his head to catch it.

"Oh shit," Jonathan says when he watched the ball arc across the lawn and whack a blond kid squarely between his shoulder blades.

"Heads up!" he calls belatedly.

this is how we do it series by staraflur ⭐ - frat bros AU!!!

He doesn’t think Zeus is supposed to have a sword, but their Zeus does. So now Jonny does, because of course he’s in charge. He looks, Patrick is drunk enough to acknowledge, far better than anyone has a right to in a grody old Halloween costume that’s probably soaked up the butt sweat of dozens, if not hundreds, of Theta-presidents past. Jonny wears it, Patrick gets the sword. Win-win.

AKA that time there was a frat AU (of course).

This Heart Is Not For Wasting by fourfreedoms - oblivious best friends

Patrick puts his head in his hands. “How could this get any worse?”

“Wait, it’s not like, a big deal is it?” Duncs asks, looking at him and Jonny in turn. “The way you and Jonny are weird about each other? She’s gotta have made her peace with it ages ago.”

A college AU.

love song for love songs by boodreaus ⭐ - angst, internalized homophobia

“Right,” Jonny says. “Cool.” He seems to hesitate, pausing when Patrick goes for the door handle, and then, right as Patrick’s bracing himself to run for the house, Jonny says, “You should come.”

Patrick turns back at him and is handed a piece of paper. “To our next show, I mean,” Jonny is saying as Patrick examines what turns out to be a flyer, thick black lettering taking up every square inch of space on the brilliant sunshine-colored surface. “It’s tomorrow night, at the showcase. Feel free to say yes or no or whatever. If you don’t know, it’s cool.”

“I’ll,” Patrick starts, and then stops, blinking up at him. Jonny’s just watching him, kind of, elbow resting on the steering wheel. “Maybe,” he finally says, and Jonny smiles.

yet we will make him run - some more angst, except more erudite

Kaner the English Lit major AU.

Sigma Chi series by hatrickane - frat bros hook up and then angst about it

Jonny and Patrick run into each other at a frat party. Patrick proposes a way to pass the time.

Can't Wait by LouLa - first time pwp

Pat's on a hair trigger.

when you flex like that - hookup in a frat party

Johnny isn’t drunk, but he does let Sharpy and a couple of frat-looking guys he doesn’t even know talk him into a contest of shots. It’s Sharpy’s fault — he appeals to the competitive side he knows Johnny can’t let go of at the best of times, and one of the guys, blonde curls, a lazy smirk of a grin, picks up on it pretty fast too.

Hope you don't mind by haroldslouis

“Oh, sorry, man,” the guy says, giving him a quick grin. “Thought you were someone else.” He taps the visor of Patrick’s snapback and just like that, he turns around and disappears into the crowd.Patrick doesn’t know how long he stands there, just looking at the general direction he disappeared in.

or, 5 times Jonny mistook Patrick for someone else + 1 time he definitely didn't

Room 4 Rent

Patrick stares at the ad for a while, clicking back and forth between the Craigslist page and his fantasy hockey league, chewing on his bottom lip.

3 bedroom apartment near Loyola. One room available, others occupied by two male students. Shared living room and kitchen. Two bathrooms. Rent split three ways. Email [email protected] or call 773-639-7812 for more info. No texts please.

are you buying what i'm selling? - frat party buddies

The Sigma Chi Halloween Bash is in a week, Jonny’s holding two tickets, and he has nobody to go with.

He had a somebody to go with, until that somebody decided Jonny’s student athlete life wasn’t worth hanging around for. Their relationship was already tanking anyway; Jonny’s more upset about potentially wasting a $40 ticket than that shit ending. Whatever.

Just A Spark by heartstrings ⭐ - magical realism!

In a desperate attempt to hide his feelings from the object of his affections, Patrick accidentally drinks a love potion that causes the people around him to fall for him. Too bad it seems to work on everyone but Jonny.

do you know who you are? by liveinfury - frat bros

“Sure, Cap. I’ll try to keep it quiet.” Patrick winks at Jonny. “But be honest, you like the noises I make, huh?”

“What? Of course not!" Jonny sputters. "I’m not gay!”

(or where Jonny can't figure out why he feels so uneasy when Patrick brings guys home to their frat house).

The Great Desk Assembly Project - they were roommates

“I’m going to nail some shit,” he says. “Jonny, come watch me nail some shit.”

“We share a room, I don’t need to watch you nail anything else.”

“That’s not what you were saying last night,” Pat says with a laugh in his voice. He reaches back behind him and punches Jonny in the shoulder for good measure.

No, It's Not A Secret by SimoneClouseau ⭐ - always a girl Jonny

Hey, hey, you, you, I don't like your boyfriend. No way, no way. I think you need a new one.

Jehanne Toews is dating a loser. Sometimes it takes a ridiculous awesome young star on the Blackhawks to see the light.

good form - always a girl Pat! ⭐

“Best head of your life?”

“Yes, he was better than you, you competitive motherfucker.” Hayds says it like it’s a joke, like it’s funny, like it’s not the single most devastating thing a girl could say to Pat.

“A hockey bro gave you the best head of your goddamn life? Am I in the fucking Upside Down?”

“Believe it, baby. Jonathan Toews: hockey bro and magical pussy-eating wizard.”

forever i'll try for you and i by staraflur - always girls Jon and Pat!

It’s extra great—whenever Jo’s losing, she always makes like their running point tally competition isn’t real. Tonight’s true to form: when Trish holds up three fingers and points at herself, then two before pointing at Jo, Jo actually scoffs as she pokes at a couple chicken breasts with the tongs, trying to find the best one.

remedial at love - jonny ‘i'm great at math but the math tutor's really hot so i'm gonna pretend i'm not' toews

There have been a lot of things Kaner’s done that could be considered suspect. He chose the Backstreet Boys over Nsync for the Kane Dance-Off Championship when he was 15. He opted to go to Disneyland instead of Disney World for his high school graduation present. He frosted his tips after coming out in 12th grade because he thought that was like, the obvious thing to do until he realized this was not, in actuality, the 90s.

But this one. Calling up ‘Jtoews’ and requesting tutelage in math when he was a fucking wiz at math was -- the most highly suspect of all.

Drink yourself under, fuck yourself over by Mythisea

Jonathan Toews is the sophomore captain of the college hockey team. Patrick Kane recently quit hockey before coming to college.

Jonny thinks Patrick would be perfect on his wing. Patrick would rather be drinking. Jonny does not approve.

Make The Moves Up As I Go by agirlnamedfia - tutor!Jonny with a dash of angst and pining

Patrick has his first Econ 202 class on the second day of the spring semester. It doesn’t exactly go well.

how to make boys-next-door out of assholes series by bessyboo, thisissirius - textfic

Yo man, Sharpy's having a party tonight. You up for it or you gonna be a boring shit and study???

it's only you and me by crystaljules - graduation blues

"We're so fucking stupid."

Overdosed on Confidence by runphoebe ⭐ - fwb, internalized homophobia

“Someone could -,” Jonny starts, breaking off when Patrick ducks down to draw Jonny’s lips against his, kissing him fever-hot and wet and desperate. Jonny’d be embarrassed by how hungrily he responds, but he knows Pat’s into it, moaning unashamedly into Jonny’s mouth when he tightens a hand around Pat’s neck. “Someone could see,” he finally gets out, voice rough, when Patrick pulls back, as if Patrick’s supposed to believe that that’s any sort of protest.

Patrick licks his lips, the hint of a smirk playing at the corners of them in that familiar way like when Patrick's got a particularly bad idea on his mind. “Guess you better be quick then, huh?” he says cryptically, waggling his eyebrows at Jonny. Jonny’s a second away from rolling his eyes and asking what he means when Patrick slithers off Jonny’s lap and onto his knees on the floor beneath Jonny’s table and - oh. Oh.

Silence Gives You Space by liveinfury - pining, misunderstandings

“Have you been avoiding me?”

“’Course not,” Patrick says. “I’m just letting you do your own thing.”

“My own thing?”

“Yeah, didn’t want to crowd your space,” Patrick blurts out. Fuck, he didn’t mean to actually say that.“You’re not…”

“Cool.”

tuck you in - getting together

“You sexiled again?" He smirks and stuffs down the fondness that rolls through him at theway Jonny’s hair is rumpled and a little bit wavy.

Jonny sits up slowly, groaning. “Yeah. Fuck, this is the third time in a week and a half.”

obvious from the start - radio DJs Pat and Jon!

It’s not like Patrick even likes radio, because he hasn’t really listened to anything that’s not on his iPod or his Pandora stations in years, but when he notices the red and white flyer advertising the student radio station on the ground, he picks it up with the excuse that he’s trying to be environmentally friendly.When he played hockey they told Patrick that he was too small, too short to be a hockeyplayer; that he’d never make it because of his size. Hockey is, was, his heart and soul, and he’d put years and years of his life into the one thing he knew he was good at; threw his very being into the best he could be to prove that he can do it, be the best, even if he was small.

Patrick supposes maybe he'll find something else that he’s just as good at.

stupid college boys series by 19trash88 - Jonny is the cute guy from Econ class

Patrick’s not one to wax poetic about a penis, but if ever there was a reason to, Jonathan Toews’ cock would be at the top of the list.

Green Light by heartstrings - friends to lovers

Patrick knows two things: he likes sex and he likes Jonny. If Jonny's newly single there's no reason not to combine the two. Right?

Everybody Wants to Touch Some(body Paragraphs) by Kerfluffle ⭐

Wherein Jonny writes the worst essay ever, and weirdness abounds.

Motivation by somethingnerdythiswaycomes ⭐ - pwp

Only Jonny could keep working on his LIT-110 paper while Patrick was getting himself off next to him. Fuck, but Patrick loved him so much.

Muse series by by somethingnerdythiswaycomes

So Jonny had applied for every damn job he was qualified for, even the "life model" one TJ goaded him into.So Jonny had received an email the next day asking for his availability to come in for a session.So, as it turned out, it wasn’t some random chick that was going to draw him. It was some random dude.

So "life model" apparently meant "nude model."

You Love Me, I Love You Harder So by leyley09 - overly competitive boys on the hockey team

Patrick circles around him at center ice. “Jonathan, my team is going to kick your team’s ass so hard your parents will be embarrassed without even knowing why.”“I’m gonna give you a lesson in goal scoring you’ll never forget.”“Toews, you couldn’t give me a lesson in long distance spitting. Anything you can do, I can do better.”“Oh yeah?”“I can do anything better than you.”

Jonathan Toews is used to be being the best. He has zero clue what to do with competition.

Especially when the competition is cute.

middle ground by boodreaus - college road trip, friends to lovers

Jonny, Patrick, and an excellent adventure.

Who Knew by themistrollsin

Jonathan and Patrick meet after they're forced to go to a party by their best friends (Adam and Brent respectively).

Night Moves by heartstrings - meetcute

After a series of unfortunate drunk events that lead him from falling into a snowbank to being laughed at by the police, Jonny meets Patrick in an elevator.

Ignite My Fire, Object Of My Desire by ThalassicThedes ⭐- theater boys!!!

A good ol' fashioned College Au in which the college itself is hardly even mentioned. Just... make of this what you will.

absolute beginners by heartstrings, thundersquall

That time Jonny walked into a diner and accidentally got himself a temporary fake boyfriend.

Like A Classic - royalty!Jonny

So: due to a series of complicated and improbable events involving some sort of life debt and signed promise from two generations ago, it was decreed that Patrick had to marry the Crown Prince of Canada.

Captain Oblivious by wantstothrill - royalty!Pat

Why would Jonny care about the American royal family visiting his university? He's Canadian. He hasn't paid any attention to Prince Patrick since he was a teenager. He's more concerned with the very hot guy he's just run into, who's name also happens to be Patrick. What a coincidence.

check out the high school AUs tag aaand the college AUs tag @ 1988rebloggedfic!

#patrick kane #jonathan toews #hockey rpf #blackhawks #chicago blackhawks #1988 #1988 fic rec #for any corrections and suggestions DM ME!!!#i think the best part of making these reclists for me is thinking up cheesy names for a theme and creating the banner lol

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dipplie · 3 years

Text

This is how I cope don’t @ me

1: Top 3 pets you wish to have Bunny, Mouse, pet bee 2: Top 3 Disney Movies Tangled, Zootopia, and a close tie between The Princess and the Frog and Wreck it Ralph 3: Top 3 OTPs Nick and Judy (I’m not a furry), honestly probably the other pairings from my 3 (4) favorite movies like Felix and Calhoun or Tiana and Naveen or whatever 4: Top 3 pick up lines Pick me up- no literally please just carry me around like sweep me off my feet no like ACTUALLY like ju- 5: Top 3 summer activities Lying in the grass, listening to music on the swings, drinking from the neighbors sprinklers because you didn’t bring water on your walk 6: Top 3 school memories -Once in 5th grade we were doing an egg drop, and I put mine off till the day before, so my parents just gave me a jar of peanut butter, and I just put the egg in the jar, and when they dropped it from the school roof it exploded all over the pavement and left a stain for years. -Another time in 9th grade, a couple friends and I wrote a giant “send nuds” in the snow beneath my friends next class’s window, and some other kids took a picture of it and spread it around, and like the whole school was talking about it for a day or two (though we denied it was us so we didn’t get in trouble). -And in 12th grade the last day of the 3rd semester, my AP Psych teacher said “you know you guys might not come back after spring break since the covid-19 virus might come to America.” And half the class was like: “I hope so we don’t have to come back haha.” And then we went into lockdown for a year 7: Top 3 things you find attractive Being looked at, Being talked to, Being touched at all oh my go d 8. Top 3 shops I dunno man can I say Build-a-Bear Workshop I’ve never been there 9: Top 3 romantic dates Theme park, Aquarium, Build-a-Bear Workshop 10: Top 3 drinks Milk, Milkshakes, the color purple

11: Top 3 spices/herbs oh my god im too white for this question I think doritios are spicy, SALT 12: Top 3 apps to use not tumblr 13: Top 3 months of the year not winter 14: Top 3 clothing items Skirt, Bows, Thigh-highs 15: Top 3 kinds of flower Daffodils, Buttercups, Dandelions (yes I’m aware they’re a weed) 16: Top 3 Christmas movies Home Alone 1, Those stop motion rudolph ones, the original grinch 17: Top 3 things you don’t/Won’t miss Angsty middle schoolers, Angsty high schoolers, Angsty people 18: Top 3 games Minecraft, Stardew Valley, All the Zelda games between 2002-2009 19: Top 3 binge perfect tv shows I really don’t watch actually T.V. shows I just watch anime sometimes maybe and youtube series man 20: Top 3 kinds of candy Butterscotch, Chocolate coins, Those little pebble chocolates that looks like fish tank rocks 21: Top 3 ways to exercise/be active Well I have an answer, but I don’t think I can say it~ 22: Top 3 spirit animals (I’ve heard something about this being possibly racist so I’ll approach this wish caution) Bunnies, Lambs, a pet rock 23: Top 3 petnames Honey, Muffin, Sweetheart 24: Top 3 places you’ve been to A yearly carnival my old town had once a year, Disney World even though I almost drowned there, The Arcade in my old town called Bananas 25: Top 3 most used websites Youtube, Tumblr (regrettably), Pintrest 26: Top 3 people you last texted My boyfriend, my friend, my co-worker friend 27: Top 3 hashtags you use imagine using the tags how they’re supposed to be used 28 Top 3 items you can’t leave the house w/o clothes (i’m really funny) 29: Top 3 guilty pleasures I write self-insert sometimes I guess 30: Top 3 subjects of study/classes to take Psychology, Sociology, certain art classes 31: Top 3 things to draw/doodle My OC’s, My friends, inappropriate stuff 32: Top 3 aesthetics Cottagecore, Bloomcore, Wonderland 33: Top 3 things you’d buy if you gained three million dollars Pretty things, Cute Clothes and stuffed animals, therapy 34: Top 3 ways to treat yourself Buying pretty things, Wearing cute clothes and holding stuffed animals, therapy 35: Top 3 cartoon crushes Kyoya from OHHC, Mako from Kill La Kill, Marceline/Marshall Lee 36: Top 3 things to do in the snow Draw in it, make snow sculptures, eat it 37: Top 3 accents to hear Russian, Spanish, idk spanish 2 38: Top 3 scents Vanilla, Cream, Strawberries 39: Top 3 things to do in the rain Sit in the car quietly, make out probably, cry 40: Top 3 cupcake flavors Chocolate, Chocolate 2, Chocolate 3 41: Top 3 fruits Cherries, Strawberries, Grapes 42: Top 3 holidays to celebrate Halloween, Christmas, Valentines 43: Top 3 embarrassing moments My friend jokingly revealing my weird self insert fanfic I wrote in middle school (that was gross don’t ask about it) to my friend group, getting a constant D- in AP Stats the whole semester and the whole class secretly knowing about it, wearing an oversized minecraft shirt in my 6th grade school picture 44: Top 3 crayola colors Seafoam, Canary, Cotton Candy 45: Top 3 things you hope to accomplish in college Get back into theater and actually be included and noticed, not cry in the bathroom, feel cared about by my classmates 46: Top 3 fanfictions you’ve read don’t ask me that you can’t ask me that the last fanfics i’ve read were in middle school 47: Top 3 people you miss right now My boyfriend, Two of my friends GJ, my dopamine 48: Top 3 fears Being hated, Being alone, Being abandoned 49: Top 3 favorite literary devices (oh god it’s been a minute hang on) Alliteration, Juxtaposition, Colloquialism 50: Top 3 pet peeves Saying one thing and doing another, trying to act like you’re being the bigger person by not choosing a side, constant self deprecation 51: Top 3 music artists AJR, 3OH!3, Fake Type 52: Top 3 bad habits BFRD OCD, speaking before I think, lately I’ve been lashing out 53: Top 3 ice cream flavors Cookie Dough, Bubblegum, Cheesecake 54: Top 3 meals you love Bread and cheese, cheese with bread, I like dairy and bread 55: Top 3 things you want to say to someone in your lifetime Where are we going, What are we gonna do, what are you doing onii-chan (im so sorry) 56: Top 3 dog breeds Small, fluffy, actually a cat 57: Top 3 TV shows from your childhood The Amazing World of Gumball, Courage the Cowardly Dog, y’all remember Might Bee??? 58: Top 3 languages you speak/wish to speak Better French, More ASL, I guess Spanish would be useful 59: Top 3 series (book, movie, television) I like the first couple Saw movies but then it went kind of downhill, I eventually stopped keeping up with SU ad AT but they have lesbians now and we love that, and I guess I read Warrior Cats in middle school. 60: Top 3 pizza toppings Cheese, ???, that’s all I need 61: Top 3 youtubers you’re subscribed to Markiplier, Erolds Story, Wilbur Soot 62: Top 3 tattoo / piercing ideas Little Flower earrings, Little flower tattoos, Little flower stuff 63: Top 3 awards you want to win love trust and affection 64: Top 3 emojis 🍄🐝🍋 65: Top 3 things you’d do differently have different parents 66: Top 3 places to be in the world In love, Back up, Purgatory 67: Top 3 things you miss about being a kid Lack of responsibility and pressure, Mental illness, Lack of shame 68: Top 3 baby names Penelope, Theodore, Sofie 69: Top 3 smoothie combos/flavors Grape, Strawberry, Cherry 71: Top 3 turn ons People being patient with me, People treating me equally, Being touched kindly at ALL 72: Top 3 turn offs looking like Tyler1 73: Top 3 recipes you want to try Sugar spice and everything nice 74: Top 3 dream jobs Primary School Teacher, Child Consoler/Therapist, I dunno being a storytime animator sounds nice... 75: Top 3 lucky items Fidget Toys, Stuffed Animals, Random Office Supplies (you know the ones)

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birlcholtz · 4 years

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Okay, I'll bite. How and why did you learn to code?

HI LIN thanks for biting this is a story that tells you quite a lot about me as a person

so some background: my parents are both in compsci. they're the late 80s, early 90s silicon valley crowd, they've both had their fair share of established companies and startup-hopping, and my brother and i grew up here

my brother is about 5 years older than me and took to coding like a fish to water (like a duck to water??) which is to say he started programming on scratch at the tender age of.... i don't even know, honestly, maybe 9? too young for me to really remember, and he's been a compsci prodigy ever since

but then. then there was me.

now i do love scratch. when i was little i always copied my brother (not in like a cute way, in a 'if he can do that i can do it too' mindset that meant my third grade teacher REALLY struggled to find book recommendations for me that i hadn't already read. since my brother was above his grade's reading level, and i would read whatever my brother read. yeah that's the kind of kid i was/am)

so naturally i did what he did. i programmed on scratch, i did advanced math courses, i was in CHESS CLUB (i am so bad at chess by the way. i am not good at it. let's establish that. i think i beat my dad once and i genuinely don't know if he let me win or not. i never beat my brother so in that respect i failed. but i'm better than my mom so there's that)

HOWEVER. around fourth or fifth grade i was like hey. maybe i want to like... forge my own identity. and not just turn my life into 'do whatever elder brother does BUT BETTER.'

and thus began my campaign to NEVER DO ANY CODING EVER FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE AND WHILE I'M AT IT FUCK MATH

this gets long so there’s more under the cut sjflsghf

there are two problems with this. the first problem is my inherent pride and the fact that, despite my best efforts, i am actually decent at math and too proud to intentionally fuck it up. so i wound up in honors math. that made part 2 of my independence campaign a little difficult.

the second problem is that my parents were just as determined for me to learn to code as i was to avoid anything to do with coding for the rest of my life

(the third problem was actually a serious problem for this goal. and that was that in seventh grade, when i had a required compsci class where we learned basic, i found myself... enjoying it. HORROR OF HORRORS.)

so i was quite vocal about my anti-math stance and my determination to explore other avenues of life, to which my parents responded by listening with bat-ears whenever i talked about my compsci class and/or my love of spreadsheets so that they could jump on it and say 'YOU KNOW, COMPUTER PROGRAMMING IS JUST LIKE THAT, I THINK YOU WOULD REALLY ENJOY IT' whenever i said something remotely applicable

and to which i responded, of course, by plunging ever deeper into performing arts because fuck compsci, except when it's basic, because then i understand everything because of messing around w scratch when i was little and it's easy and i'm ahead of the rest of the class and can stare into space while the rest of them struggle with closing their parentheses (which is not to say i never messed up my parentheses. i totally did)

now, my brother, because he's a nerd, went to compsci summer camps where you'd spend a week or two learning some program or language. he did things like java and c++ and then would come home and use this knowledge for robotics club. like i said. nerd.

but my parents sensed a golden opportunity. namely, 'if we can get birl to go to these camps, she will actually learn programming things (not just being ahead of the class and spacing out in basic), and we'll probably get her to agree since it's only a week and she can do cost benefit analysis'

and, because i CAN do cost benefit analysis, i agreed to that deal. i'd go to a few of these camps, and then we'd agree that i was done with my parentally mandated computer science requirement. i learned some 3-d modeling, i learned to use unity (which involved some c+ as well), and i learned some java, and all was well. the camps were like 5 days long. we mostly worked on self-directed projects so i could do whatever the hell i wanted (and i made some pretty cool maze games if i do say so myself-- one of them in unity and one of them as a text-based game in java)

and.... horror of horrors....... i didn't hate it.

(of course i didn't want to go BACK any more than i had to but i also didn't hate every moment of those weeks)

so we were out of the woods right?

except no. we weren't.

because here's the thing. my high school ALSO had a computer science requirement. we had to take at least a semester. there were 3 levels offered: AP compsci, normal compsci, and then easy compsci (not its actual name) for the people who did not give a single shit

obviously i wanted to take the last one. my parents really wanted me to take AP but were willing to settle for normal. you will notice there was no overlap

i wrangled my way out of taking AP because that was a year-long course and i didn't have space in my schedule (my parents are wonderful in the sense that they didn't want to infringe on my actual interests to force me to do compsci which meant i had LEVERAGE)

but we literally wound up discussing it with the dean of students who was like 'well if you're capable of AP and just not taking it for schedule reasons then easy compsci would probably be boring for you!' which was an unhelpful take, thanks EVAN

but i did get my way by virtue of volunteering with a progressive tech organization in lieu of taking regular compsci, so i took easy compsci (in which i used scratch again, yay nostalgia, and also briefly flirted with html) and also wound up learning to use squarespace which is criminally easy but you can make it look like you're an expert

and all this while i was getting better and better with spreadsheets due to my own individual love for spreadsheets that near as i can tell, nobody in my family shares (my dad does have a lot of spreadsheets but his aren't as detailed as mine and he doesn't include data validation so HA)

all of which (plus my ap calc and stats classes) combines to mean that while i would not be able to just sit down and write you some code, if you give me access to stack overflow and tell me what language it's supposed to be in i can probably figure it out. especially now that i've become familiar with python by accident (well, more by my desire to write fic)

and because now i'm stuck in a rut, my current internship is with another civic tech company and that's probably what i'll wind up doing next summer as well. i don't actually work on software but i do comms which means i need to be able to have conversations with the engineers so i've been learning on the job. i know so much help

SO. with regards to my fic, my parents would both be thrilled because i taught myself some of a new programming language (python) and disappointed because i taught myself some of a new programming language with just stack overflow and some time and all i'm using it for is fic.

but near as i can tell we finished that battle long ago. it was a resounding victory for birl and i continue to expand my technical talents into areas like photo/video editing and CRM tools.

thank you very much *bows*

#birl talks #the-lincyclopedia

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ifdragonscouldtalk · 4 years

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I never realized how much I wasn’t bad at math but was assumed to be bad at math because it took more time and different methods for me to understand than other people until I took Calc I in college

For those that don’t know I go to a pretty prestigious liberal arts/sciences college on the east coast and Calc I or Stats I are required for graduation from ANY individual (yeah, even me, an English major). For literal years I had been struggling with math. The last time I had felt confident in math, it was in middle school when I first took Algebra, which I aced thanks to a lovely actress and mathematician called Danica McKellar. She wrote math books specifically targeted towards preteen girls struggling with math, and I absolutely adored those books even though they were math and I had always struggled with math.

I actually enjoyed doing math that year, I loved her explanations which made the math seem so easy and simple, and she had a lot of really uplifting quotes and advice for girls too! The reason I needed her books, however, was because they had placed me in the wrong math class -- instead of pre-algebra they had placed me in the one below it, and when my parents found out they were really pissed because i was a “gifted” child, so the school said said “well, she needs to learn pre-algebra over the summer” and my parents were like “consider it done”. And sucks to be the school, because I aced that fucking class.

Only math class I ever aced.

I had taken AP Stats my senior year of high school, and if I had taken the AP test for that I would’ve been able to skip the college Calc. If I had taken the test. I was so incredibly lost in that class -- and not just me, the valedictorian and salutatorian were in my class and they struggled -- that I seriously thought I was going to get a D or F in it. I’ve failed (like, 54% FAILED) math tests before, but never the entire class, and I had done early acceptance to my college. The stipulation on early acceptance is that your GPA doesn’t drop and you don’t get lower than a C grade in any class, and a C was pushing it, and I’ve been hovering at 76 the entire class. (Note, the grading system in my county is an 8-point based system, meaning you needed at 92 to have an A.) I called my college, panicking that they were going to kick me out, and explained that my teacher was really bad and I could give them testimonials from the other students in the class, but to please not kick me out that I was really trying. The person in the admissions office who I spoke to asked me which school I went to and then replied “Oh yeah, we’ve heard about your teacher, you’re fine.” Not exactly what my high school wanted to hear.

So the high school ended up letting a bunch of us drop the AP test, something they’d never done for any previous AP test, and refunded us. I decided in college that even the idea of taking stats again gave me so much panic that I wouldn’t take it, and I had done alright in Calculus, so that’s what I ended up taking, second semester of my freshman year with one of my friends who also struggled with math.

And that class changed my perspective so much.

Math in high school drove me to insanity. Hours long sobbing fits, panic attacks, depressive episodes, tearing up my homework and screaming into my textbooks. I was expecting something along those lines for college, because it was supposed to be even harder. Me and my friend walked into class the first day, both terrified because we remembered Literally Nothing from high school math, and our professor, a self-professed introvert and a very shy and kind woman, was insanely patient. Calc I, at least the section we took, was really for the liberal arts majors who just Did Not do math. She said she had never planned on teaching, had only been doing it for a couple years, but really enjoyed it.

Even when we asked stupid questions, she tried insanely hard to understand where we were coming from. If we were having trouble verbalizing what we were confused about, she never pushed us to go faster, she gave us the time to work out what we were trying to say, often ending up with us answering our own question. If we were confused, she was very good at explaining the concepts in a different way. She gave us big-picture ideas, what the formulas could be used for, but never tried to push us into thinking we might use these in our every day -- she flat out said we probably wouldn’t, but they were good to know anyway!

And we asked stupid questions. Like stupid questions in the sense of almost-every-one-of-us-couldn’t-add-4-and-9 stupid questions. But she never ever gave any indication of judgement for that fact. Sometimes we would confuse her -- how did they get 12 from 4 and 9? -- but never once did she get annoyed when we didn’t understand. And we didn’t understand a lot! We literally spent two class periods on one concept she expected to take twenty minutes, and she never got mad or tried to rush us along. Our questions were ALWAYS answered.

Not saying the class wasn’t hard, because it was. My friend and I would spend an hour every single day sitting at my desk, slaving over the work, my dad (a math major) on the phone trying to help us. We both got Bs in that class, and we were so overjoyed.

I don’t think I had a point to this post, but if I did, it would be math should be patient. Not everyone understands Shakespeare when they first try to read it, and not everyone understands math when it’s first explained. The idea that everyone should understand a concept when its explained the same way to every person is asinine. Not everyone learns the same way, and I know so many people who have gone into huge spirals over math. That’s not how it should be.

So many people don’t go into STEM because of the math portion. Because we’re afraid of it. But in a workplace, we have the time to double check and to ask questions and to try and understand, in a way that school never lets us.

I think I absolutely would’ve adored math and probably would’ve gone into Bio, if only someone had taken the time to understand that I didn’t.

tl;dr High school math, and especially with those standards of learning implemented, literally destroys students who otherwise just need a helping hand, not a bad grade

#long post #sorry lmao #dragon life #math

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klimp42 · 5 years

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Final Fantasy 8: An Amazing Story Hidden Behind Weird Mechanics

So it should be said that there is one thing that I love and that is some good narrative in gaming. I love it, give me a game with a good narrative and at least decent gameplay and I am in there, and a good narrative doesn't mean oscar level writing because I love Deadly Premonition, a notoriously weird game, but a golden game in my heart. Its story is weird and unique and at times outright strange, but it's endearing and I love how wild the story gets as it goes on. Now why am I talking about this? Why it's because of my lovely new bad gameplay good narrative obsession, Final Fantasy 8. That's right, gamer boys and girls we are going back to another old game, and that's because I just played it, and the remastered just got announced at E3 this year.

Alright so if you know nothing about the Final Fantasy series, let alone the 8th installment, let me help you out. Final Fantasy is an old franchise, it started in 1987 and got its name because the original name Fighting Fantasy was taken by a board game in the states, the myth of it being called Final Fantasy because it was a last ditch effort to make a successful game is just that, a myth. The game is prolific, being one of the granddaddy's of the JRPG genre and helping bring that good ol fashion turn based combat system popular in tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) to videogames. Final Fantasy 1 is a classic of gaming and also is kind of like D&D, you have classes similar to the previously mentioned board game; Warrior, Monk, Thief, Paladin; with a few of its own unique classes; Red mage, Black mage and White mage. The games story was very simple, worlds ending, killing these fiends and go back in time and stop Chaos from doing this over again, also at some point the game explains that you are from another universe and that's why you just start outside the beginning kingdom, Final Fantasy stories like to be a little wild at times.

Like D&D you gained levels in this game by fighting monsters, getting stronger with each fight and eventually being strong enough to be able to face the final boss on even grounds, or maybe a little above them if you grind out yourself to max level. This system, if you are into the RPG genre, is incredibly rewarding as you get to see your team of lowly nothings evolve into masters of combat who can slay gods. The best part, to me at least, is going back to the starting area or an area that gave you trouble and stomping on those monsters who thought they were so cool 20 levels ago. Now in Final Fantasy series this system is in most of them, fight monsters, get exp, level up and your stats go up with it, the special cases are Final Fantasy 2,6,8 and 10, and of these the worst offenders of weird leveling are 2, 6 and 8. That's right, I said it, 6 has a weird leveling system with level not raising stats and needing summons equipped to level stats, I personally don't believe that it deserves its spot as one of the best Final Fantasys but that is an article for another time. I could explain why each is weird and 10 is fun and different in a good way, but forget all that and let's get into the focus of this piece, Final Fantasy 8.

Now even though it is my new obsession in good story bad gameplay, my fascination for this game goes way back to when I was a 3 year old with a pizza hut demo disc. Yeah you bet that was a thing, you would order a large pizza and it would come with a playstation demo disc that had a couple of games, but the only one that mattered to little old me was the demo for Final Fantasy 8, or that game with the guy with the cool sword and big water snake, as I was 3 and couldn't read that well. Seriously, if you have played a Final Fantasy game before you would know that you can use summons by clicking the tab they are in and then selecting the one you want, well ol kid me thought it was random as I was just picking things at random. So what I am saying is, I have always had a special place for this game in my heart, so there might be a bit of bias.

So I spent some time flip flopping over what I wanted to discuss and explain first, story or gameplay, on the one hand I wanted you to know what FF8 had to offer narratively, but on the other hand I feel I should let you guys know what you're getting into when you play this. So I decided to compliment sandwich this one, but like a subway compliment sandwich where the teenager who doesn't really want to work there barely tries to cut your bread so the top part is like really thin. So thin that what I am going to give you is this, FF8 is a great story of a young man learning to overcome his own weaknesses to understand that strength can be found in companions, listen I know that sounds cliche but I need more space to talk about the amazing character development and got to tell you about this bad gameplay.

So remember when I said that old Final Fantasy's had a nice leveling system based on fighting enemies, getting exp and raising stats? Throw it all out the window, because like I told you earlier FF8 is one of the weird ones. So for some reason FF8 has a whole system based around equipping "Guardian Forces" (summons) and then through this unlocking the ability to junction (equip) magic to your stats; like strength, magic, hp and the other classics; while also being able to junction magic to element and status attack and defense, allowing you to be able to either protect or do damage based on said elements and statuses. Now you might be thinking how does this work, because magic is usually used based on magic points (mp) well there is no mp in FF8. This is due to the narrative stating that it is very rare for people to do raw magic instead they need to draw magic from nature and creatures/people and use it that way. This means that in FF8 magic is a finite resource and instead of regaining mp you have to spend time drawing magic that is randomized to be either 2 or 12 magic, so it can take awhile. If this sounds a bit weird and confusing, don't worry it kind of is, there are tutorials to explain it, but man is it a weird system. So why is this all necessary? Well unlike other Final Fantasy's, in FF8 leveling raises your stats by the littlest amount, so to be able to do decent damage and also defend against it you need to junction magic. Also to make things even worse, leveling can be a problem as monsters level with you, so if an enemy is tough for you at level 20, raising your level to 30 won't help you as they will be doing more damage and have more health. The game does try to offset this by making it so if an enemy had fire to be drawn at lvl 10, at lvl 30 they would have fira to be drawn, which would make it so that you can junction a more powerful magic and do more damage. FF8 also gives you the option to just cast magic instead of drawing it from enemies, and can be useful since most bosses have healing magic to draw from them meaning you can go in without a huge stock of cure's.

Alright so we have a confusing system with a bad mechanic of monsters getting stronger with you as you level, is that all that is weird? Nope. So remember the guardian forces I mentioned earlier? Well they are necessary to be able to junction spells to stats and make your party stronger, but there are a limited number of them and that usually means only three of the six party members will have guardian forces so you can make a decent party for fighting. The problem is that the game likes to switch around who is playable a lot, and while it is fun and interesting in the narrative, it sucks gameplay wise. The game does make it easy by letting you be able to switch who has what guardian forces in a menu, but it gets tedious after the 15th time you have to do it and especially when the game switches between two perspectives like 4 times in 30 minutes. Also sometimes you have dream sequences where you play as another team and when you come back to your main party everyone but Squall, the main character, has everything unequipped, so you have to go back and re-junction everything and it's just a waste of time. Listen I could keep going on the weird aspects of this game, but I don't want it to take up this whole article and we got cool card games to talk about.

FF8 does a lot of things in a weird and bad way, but that doesn't mean it doesn't do things really really right, and thats with Triple Triad baby! Triple Triad is the super fun card game that exist within FF8, a game so good that you can also play it in FF14. The game is easy to get into and can get pretty hard with each area of the game map have unique rules, yet you can game the system by going to areas and abolishing rules and bring rules from other regions to new regions. Well except for one region, it is the king of rules, no exceptions! The fun of this game is not just showing the npc's of FF8 why you are the Yugi Muto of Triple Triad, you see you can learn an ability to turn cards you win from Triple Triad into items, which in turn can be turned into spells, powerful spells, I'm talking spells you are not meant to gain until like lvl 45 or 50. This means that if you want to you can spend time in the starting area at lvl 7 and leave a powerhouse that level thanks to Triple Triad. But there is a problem, this method is not quick, it takes hours to do this and also to even be able to get the ability to do this you will need to get AP for your Guardian Forces, which means either fighting fights normally or carding enemies which kills them but doesn' give exp, it can only be done at low health so be careful not to accidentally kill them.

So I have given a decent way to have fun but let me give you guys, in my opinion, the best way to enjoy FF8's gameplay, cheats. That's right a game that's so weird that the PC port has cheats that you can add to your save. I'm not talking about the normal ones we saw when FF7 and FF9 were ported to modern consoles, like the ability to turn off encounters and have it so you don't lose health in combat and do max 9999 damage. I am talking about the ability to modify a save file so you start with most low and mid level magic at full stock on all characters, and let me tell you it is a blessing. On PC it also allows you to at anytime raise all magic stocks to 100 and max level Guardian Forces, and let me tell you guys if you don't have the patience for the grind or want to try and just enjoy the story I highly suggest using these cheats, it makes things so much easier and I hope that the FF8 port coming to console has these cheats too. Also I should let you guys know I didn't immediately use these cheats, I tried to play it legit about three different times and every time the grind burnt me out, honestly if it wasn't for these cheats I would never had enjoyed FF8's amazing story. Speaking of amazing stories, let's finish off this subway compliment sandwich and talk about the good stuff.

So let me give you guys the easy lore of this world, on this planet, there are two types of people, normal people and sorceress, sorceresses can use magic naturally and a lot of them use this power for world domination especially the last sorceress, Adel, who was in charge of the country of Esthar and almost succeeded, due to this the Gardens were created by a man named Cid with the sole purpose to be able to kill sorceress should one like Adel show up again. The thing is one will show up and I don't mean because of plots need for a main antagonist, I mean because a sorceress can not die until she passes her powers to another female. Our story follows the character of Squall Lionheart, a quiet and distant youth who wants nothing more than to be able to prove that he is strong enough to be on his own, so badly that he actively shuts out other people who try to get close to him. Our boy here is a SeeD candidate in Balamb Garden, which means he is close to graduating and being basically a mercenary for the Garden until the need to fight a Sorceress arrives. And from there that's how the story grows, you have a cast of characters that join over time each interesting in their own right, helping as you deal with a looming sorceresses threat. Sounds pretty standard right? Well let's be real even something standard can be handled masterfully and that is exactly what FF8 does. Before I get into that there are two more characters I need to talk about. Laguna Loire, a soldier of the Galbadian army, who Squall keeps having vivid dreams about, through these dreams you see piece by piece of what he went through and how these events shaped him and the world around him and also how he is connected to Squall. There is also Rinoa Heartilly, a young girl who wishes to free the city of Timber from Galabadian control and in the process acts as the catalyst to what motivates Squall to change, all do to a chance meeting. When you look at the plot of FF8 it is abit generic what with stopping a Sorceress from creating her perfect utopia and most characters, outside of the ones mentioned above, get little depth to them, but what makes this story so engaging and interesting is Squall.

You see Squall starts off as a character who I can say I was disappointed in and didn't really like, a character I had adored since I was a kid due to my memories with that demo. He is angsty, off putting and really annoying, hell it feels like half of Squalls Dialogue is "...", but the thing is, that's the point. Squall is like that because he is afraid of trusting people again, fearing that if he does he will get hurt again and abandoned like he was as a child, so he puts on this cold front to make it easier for him, he doesn't have to worry if people like and rely on him if he is cold and indifferent, they would all just hate him. It is through this premise and his chance meeting with Rinoa that we see how Squall grows and changes, a man who I started off hating and grew to love and it's because it feels natural. Squall isn't cold because he thinks its cool or because he knows he is better than everyone else, he is a kid, a sad kid who went through heartbreak way to young and is afraid to love someone again. He is thrust into a dangerous world and has to come to terms that his lifestyle will not work for him, that he needs and wants to rely on others and he can't just keep ignoring a part of himself. Through the course of FF8 you see a quiet kid with a broken heart, overcome himself and become a real hero and use his new strength to make sure he can protect those close to him as well as himself.

And now we reach a bit of a problem, I would love to explain more, I want to explain why certain scenes moved me so much and why Squall's journey brought me to tears, but then I would need to spoil parts of the story, and that is the last thing I want to do. This is a Final Fantasy story that has incredible character development and I want people to be able to experience it themselves, to see what makes it great. I should also at least mention that the story is not without faults and tropes with Rinoa starting off being your typical manic pixie dream girl and if Squall really wanted to be alone he would have left SeeD after completing his training, and of course the other characters are not given as much screen time as Squall and Rinoa. However, tropes are not always bad and can still have depth, and by the end of the story I would say that Rinoa sheds the trope but it is on the nose in the beginning.

I left a lot of stuff out and with the HD remaster coming out sometime this year I think that if this article intrigued you, pick up a copy and experience it yourself. Experience a masterpiece of character growth that I believe is held back by clunky gameplay choices. I sincerely hope if you do decide to pick up this title that you enjoy Squall's story as much as I did.

#final fantasy #final fantasy viii #final fantasy 8 #final fantasy 8 hd #final fantasy 8 remaster #squall #squall leonhart #rinoa #rinoa heartilly #laguna #laguna loire #article #look at at #discussion

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coconutknightshade · 5 years

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Fanfic Stats Tag Game

Thank you Maddy! @iloveyouthree-thousand You can read her wonderful MasterList of fics here! <3

Author Name: coconutknightshade (I have no idea where I pulled this from but it’s my AO3 name and I wanted to stay consistent lmao)

Fandoms You Write For: Marvel! Exclusively Irondad & Spiderson for the time being. And while it still fits within that realm. I’ve also written Harry Potter and Charmed (1998 series).

Where You Post: I’ve got a few posted on FF.net but all of my Marvel stuff is on AO3 under cocnutknightshade, though I do crosspost all of those fics here on Tumblr as well.

Most Popular One-Shot: So technically it’s The Hoodie™ where Tony shows up at MIT during family week to surprise Peter and overhears Peter tell his roommate that the MIT hoodie he’s wearing is his dads. But I’ve had a handful of requests that it become a series of one-shots that take place during family week, so as inspirations strikes me I’ll be adding more!

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: This is kind of funny because most of them are multi-chapter but I’m still working on the final parts. Going by kudos it’s Peter Parker’s Super Secret Snack Stash, in which Peter uses FRIDAY's system to have a conversation with Ned about AP History while he's sneaking into his super secret snack stash in the kitchen. Or in which Peter's spidey senses betray him in the most embarrassing of ways.

Favorite Story You Wrote: Probably definitely Peter Parker’s Super Secret Snack Stash but honestly I enjoyed writing Villain Origin Story so much. Basically the Avengers are embarrassing Peter before his date with MJ and he’s so mortified that he tells them all that the whole thing will be his villain origin story.

Story You Were Nervous to Post: I was really nervous about posting The Itsy Bitsy Spider Protocol. Probably because it’s the one I’m absolutely most excited and passionate about (I could talk about it all day). It focuses heavily on the dynamic between Peter and Tony/Pepper. And while it centers around all three of them, the second chapter is really going to emphasize the relationship Peter has with Pepper. I haven’t seen a lot of Irondad & Spiderson fics that heavily feature Pepper, so I wasn’t sure how interested people would be. But it’s done really well since I posted it a few days ago and it’s already got several hundred subscriptions, more than any of my others, so I’m stoked about sharing more of it!

How Do You Choose Your Titles: I pull lines from the fic that I really think will hook the reader as well as hint at the plot itself (with the exception of The Hoodie, because I wanted the title to really showcase the trope).

How Many of Your Stories Are…

Complete: Three of them. The Hoodie was intended to be a one-shot but may become a series of one-shots. Villain Origin Story is definitely a completed one-shot though. The third one is an old Attack on Titan one, lmao.

In-Progress: Two of them! Snack Stash and Spider Protocol one only have one chapter left. But I want to take a second to talk about the Itsy Bitsy Spider Protocol because while that particular one is nearly complete, it’s actually the first part of what is an outlined 5-6 part series. Each of them are connected to the other and they all heavily include Pepper in the dynamic and plot.

Coming Soon: I’ll list a few of them!! - Peter discovers through a school project that Tony is his biological dad and must now navigate the emotions surrounding that discovery- i.e. whether or not he should tell Tony, who he’s worried will panic and pull away when he finds out. Meanwhile, Tony is trying to find out why the kid is suddenly avoiding him and acting odd when they are together.

- Tony is a sophomore at MIT when, much to his fathers strong disapproval, he finds himself the babysitter of a wicked smart 10 year old who always manages to attract trouble. Not only that, Tony finds himself spending more and more time with the Parker family until ultimately he realizes that he’s stumbled upon a family he didn’t ask for but now never wants to lose. Several years later, lying in an Afghani cave with shrapnel fighting it’s way to his heart, he realizes that being a Stark in name doesn’t protect him from the infamous Parker Luck.(Follows the MCU beyond this point. Peter still becomes Spider-Man and Ben still dies.)

- While in class Peter’s phone blows up with news that Tony Stark has been in an accident. When he arrives at the Tower Tony is out cold and remains as such until late in the night. It just so happens that Peter is sitting alone outside the medbay, unable to sleep, when FRIDAY informs him that Tony is awake. It takes about twenty minutes for Peter to realize his mentor has a serious case of amnesia. Tony, for his part, now mentally back to his playboy persona refuses to be vulnerable and acknowledge to anyone that he has no idea what happened, where he is, or why the hell a fifteen year old (who shit, must be my kid??) is being so attentive to him.

Do You Accept Prompts: Fuck yeah! I’ve got 5 of them sitting in my inbox right now that I really need to get to

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: My IronFam one! One of the parts consists of Pepper making Tony and Peter take care of one of those baby simulator dolls and it goes about as well as you would expect it to lol. I actually have a dialogue blip of it posts on my blog! After that one, I’m really stoked about the DNA results one

Tag Five Fanfic Authors to Answer These Questions: So I’ve seen a lot of these floating around and honestly all of the people I can think to tag have already done it! D: @ironfamjam (I'm sure has been tagged like a million times, their stuff is phenomenal) @loubuttons (Probably also already done it, but we’ll wing it) @kitcat992 (Same lmao) @hailing-stars (I know for fact you’ve already done it but ily and I’m adding you anyways) @ladynerdynerd!!! <3

@softhairbarnes!!

#tag game #text #sorry for the wall #irondad #spiderson #ironfam #iron family #peter parker #tony stark #pepper potts #pepperony

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thedeadflag · 5 years

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Hey, pretty soon I'll be playing a friend of mine is gonna be DMing Tyranny Of Dragons for me and a couple of friends, and I can't decide whether I should play a Monk (probably Open Hand, maybe Kensei) or a Ranger (either Beastmaster or Horizon Walker), 'cause I've never played either of those classes, nor has anyone at the tables I've played. Can you tell me a little about your experiences with these classes?

The Ranger has been one of my favourite classes throughout the editions of D&D in terms of flavour, and I’ve had some fun with monks as well. In 5th edition, both took a fair bit of a hit in utility (individual and within group dynamics) and power at pretty much all ranges. The Ranger was propped back up a little bit in Unearthed Arcana in the revised ranger archetype, but both are still largely considered at best middle of the road classes, and at worst, the lowest tier of classes in the game in utility and character.

That’s not to say they can’t be fun and have a lot of flavour, and still find use. If you’ve watched Critical Role, you can see Vex and Beau weren’t useless by any stretch. No class is junk in 5e due to the improved parity compared to some past editions. So power and utility aside, if you feel drawn to any class/subclass, and you want to dive into its particular brand of flavour, then I say go for it. I would gauge the rest of the party’s makeup in making your decision, because group synergy is important, but you have to make yourself happy, too, right?

Anywho, I’ll break down my take on both.

When it comes to Monks, I like Open Hand the best. If you want to have a Monk-style gameplay with weapons, then Mystic or Fighter are probably better options with some more flair and utility involved than Kensei imo, but if that’s the route you want to take, it’d be alright. However, Open Hand has quivering palm, which is pretty incredible late game as far as damage and flexible timing from a single person through 3 ki pts and an action. If you do ever reach level 17, I would recommend multiclassing after that if you’re allowed, since the rest of the Monk’s class progression is kind of junk in comparison, and it could use some much needed utility from 3 levels of another class. Anywho, I like open hand not just for the flavor of being a class that’s capable of being an unarmed beast in battle, but also because of the way it can work in alignment with fighters who can also control the battlefield, like any fighter with a sentinel/polearm master. The ability to shove an enemy up to 15ft with one of your flurry attacks, launching them into the range of a fighter who gets a free opp attack against them and can from then on lock down their movement with a successful hit? That can be an excellent tag team. The Monk isn’t excellent for utility, but the Open Hand technique is probably the best at providing utility in combat among all the monk disciplines. Like, another option after hitting with flurry of blows is to steal all reactions for the opponent until the end of your next turn. This can be especially helpful against casters, as stealing reactions = preventing counterspells. And Monks can get a lot of attacks = lots of attempts to disrupt concentration of enemy casters, so the open hand monk is especially helpful at being a designated mage wrecker with having the mobility to reach casters and the ability to destabilize them. It’s arguably the one thing (aside from unarmed damage) that (this one kind of) monks do better than just about anyone else, arguably.

Now, to Rangers.

Honestly, I don’t like beast-focused Rangers. I think they’re a lot of work in order to get the mechanical payoff most other classes can achieve without a lot of thought or effort. Generally, any class that can let me focus more on flavour and RP is one I’m going to prefer, and beast master’s just…unwieldy. A lot of people say the class is junk, and if you run it without getting into the headspace for optimizing, it’s probably going to be more of a frustrating experience than you’d have hoped for. With BMs, you’re managing not just your character, but your companion, and you have to keep up with the different mechanics of both, you need to be 100% on top of choices made while leveling up, you need to have a strong understanding of battlefield control and your companion’s capabilities from the get go, and you really ought to be the kind of player who is happy to take a backseat to everyone else in and out of combat because the way you’ll shine is by helping everyone else do what they do with a little bit higher odds of success than otherwise. Personally, I like playing that sort of character, but I can do all of that with other classes a lot easier, and usually better, so this isn’t the kind of archetype I’d choose for a character myself. If you really want to, and think it’s cool, go for it, though.

The first thing I’d do is ask if you can use the UA revised ranger instead of the PHB ranger if you’re going the beast route (it’s “beast conclave” archetype in UA). If your DM allows that and insists you choose your companion from the list provided here, take the wolf (pack tactics is v helpful, same with 40ft speed and being able to send enemies prone after attacking) or ape (climb 30ft, melee/ranged ability, good stat baselines).

The second thing you’ll need is to lock down a quality companion, and that can take a bit of wheeling and dealing with your DM to let you use one of the supplementary books as a source, which is especially necessary if you’re not able to use the revised ranger class from UA. You do not want a hawk, mastiff, or panther, the PHB offers some shit examples out of the gate (panther and hawk are only conditionally good if you’re only ever going to have your companion rushing around the map using the ‘help’ action, or scouting to some extent, and the latter becomes less useful and reliable the higher level you become). Don’t choose a CR 0 companion, or one under ¼. If you absolutely must use a hawk for character flavor, then a blood hawk that at least has pack tactics would be a must. But if you are hoping for a companion that can do damage, look for something with certain damage if it hits, like added poison damage. Look for good AC if you want a tank. Look for versatility in mobility and senses. Look for special abilities (the boar having a relentless ability where it’ll go back to 1HP if it falls below 0; the wolf spider has web walk and web sense which can really help with casters using web if players don’t want to wade into the difficult terrain or are having difficulty finding enemies caught in the web; etc.)

But yeah, beast-focused rangers will be best when they’re spamming the help action with their beasts, using their beasts to get enemies out of cover, using their beasts to help control the field and give others advantage/take advantage, etc. You need to be quick mentally to know what you want to do with your character and your companion each time your turn comes around (most DMs, myself included, aren’t going to let you have as much time as you need to figure out what you want to do on both fronts, so if you can’t juggle two characters at once without losing a step, it might not be the archetype for you). This type of ranger requires you to know exactly what you want to be able to accomplish for yourself and your party right out of the gate, so you’ll want to gauge what your party members will be specializing in, what they want to be able to do, and see if there’s a way to shape your ranger to aid in that, particularly in choosing a beast that can be the most effective in ensuring that. Group cohesion is the name of the game with this form of ranger, so you’ll want to consider race selection a part of this process, too. I’ve had one player bomb hard as a BM and re-roll a different ranger, and I’ve had a friend who ran one who was the group’s unsung hero a lot of the time during their campaign. If you’re looking at Vex from CR as inspiration, keep in mind she had an excellent set of stats from lvl 9 onwards, and plenty of magical weapons to make up for much of any class shortcomings as characters scale up…look at how often Trinket was useful (very rarely) and understand that the bear was essentially just flavour for most of the campaign, and Vex would have been considerable underpowered compared to the rest of the party if not for some considerable DM intervention in ways that make things a lot trickier for DMs (adding magical weapons/items can easily unbalance a campaign, and it’s a matter of experience in knowing how to dole them out without throwing balance aside…Matt Mercer’s comfortable handing out flying carpets and multiple +2AC items and superpowered magical weapons by level 9, I wouldn’t give them out before level 14 or 15 and it would really only be if a player was severely struggling and refused to re-roll a more appropriate character while dying or nearly dying most combats). Other classes and archetypes have features and abilities that scale as you level, some earn specific spells as they level up that others can’t get, etc., but with beast conclave rangers, it’s their beast that slightly improves in a few meaningful ways. So if you’re going that route, you need to commit to a great beasts that’s a great fit for you and your party, and you need to commit to making the absolute most out of them and knowing how to make the most out of them.

Horizon Walker’s a simpler archetype that has some badass spells, but the flavour for the class can be a bit…strange in some adventures. It might not fit well with Tyranny of Dragons, I’m not sure how much planar travel’s involved in that adventure. Which might not be a problem for the DM, or you. I still prefer the UA ranger conclaves, but out of the PHB ones, this one’s probably the best of the bunch, even if it’s mostly going to lean towards being a melee build (which, again, check your party comp to see if that’s something that is workable).

Anywho, those are my late night D&D ramblings. You can take my words with a grain of salt if you’d like, and as always the rule of cool applies…if you think it’s cool and you really want to go with something, go for it and I hope the DM will find a way to help you make it work, but yeah, these classes can be a bit of an uphill battle, though I suppose potentially a rewarding challenge if that’s what you’re looking for.

Best of luck with the campaign, I’m sure you’ll have fun!

#d&d #long post #Anons

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tigerkirby215 · 3 years

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5e Mordekaiser, the Iron Revenant build (League of Legends)

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

K-POP IS TEMPORARY; IRON STANDS ETERNAL!

Guess I just don’t really want to make nothing but K-Pop builds. Been playing Morde a lot and he’s fun, and Morde in D&D is actually a build I’ve been thinking about for awhile. I don’t have to use Tasha’s content either for this build so I figured I’d make something other than eGirls in anticipation for Pentakill’s comeback album.

Please for the love of god give us a new Pentakill Mordekaiser skin, and actually turn his mace into a guitar!

GOALS

Shed the frailty of flesh; embrace the cold edge of iron - The iron revenant needs iron, with a giant mace and armor that can block even the strongest sword. For iron stands eternal.

In my clutches! - Those who try to flee will be brought back by Death’s Grasp. There is no escaping fate.

Accept your demise - Tired of your foes running? Bring them to a Realm of Death where they’ll have to fight.

RACE

I know that Mordekaiser is technically a revenant but in my continued attempts to make my builds “Adventurer’s League legal” while not using Adventurer’s League rules we’re going to go with a Warforged, because of course we’d pick the race made of metal. As a Warforged your Constitution increases by 2 and you can increase another stat of your choice by 1: bump up your Charisma to be just a little bit scarier.

As iron stands eternal you have Constructed Resilience for advantage against being poisoned, resistance to the poisoned condition, immunity to disease, and no need to eat, drink, or breathe. You also don’t need to sleep and can’t be put to sleep by magic: instead to sleep you enter a Sentry’s Rest, where you stand motionless for hours but are still fully aware of your surroundings.

But most importantly to resist all blows you have Integrated Protection. It flat out increases your AC by 1, and also makes it so that instead of “wearing” armor you integrate it into your body. While the armor is integrated into you it can’t be removed by any means.

Finally you have Specialized Design for a skill, tool, and language of your choice. For your skill I opted for Performance to show that you’re the chosen: you are the guardian, the guardian. (But feel free to take something more practical.) For your tool a Lute is the closest you’ll get to a guitar to lead a Yordle city destroying band. And for your language choose whatever you think the spirits of the dead would speak: I opted for Abyssal personally. Definitely not because Abyssal is the first option alphabetically.

ABILITY SCORES

15; STRENGTH - Iron stands eternal, and iron is heavy.

14; WISDOM - Morde speaks in very sagely ways, and this is a rather big requirement for one of our classes.

13; CHARISMA - Charisma is tied directly to being the scariest revenant around, and indirectly tied to kick-ass guitar solos.

12; CONSTITUTION - Twice slain and thrice reborn doesn’t happen if you’re not a sturdy fella.

10; INTELLIGENCE - Being alive for eons means that you would know a thing or two about history.

8; DEXTERITY - Iron stands eternal, and iron is heavy.

BACKGROUND

There’s a lot of potential backgrounds for Mordekaiser (I honestly really like the Knight background because Retainers are fun) but the most accurate one for abilities and lore would be a Soldier. You gain proficiency in Athletics but I’m going to suggest swapping Intimidation out for History proficiency, since you’re an ancient being who was around for many wars. You also gain proficiency with land vehicles and a gaming set of your choice, both of which don’t matter much: see if you can maybe grab another metal instrument instead.

Your background with a Military Rank means that your followers recognize you as their general (or possibly a lower rank if your DM isn’t a fan of OP level 1 backstories.) They defer to you if they are of lower rank, and you can use your military influence to requisition supplies as needed.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - PALADIN 1

An oath sworn to death is still an oath. Paladins get proficiency in two skills from the Paladin list: this is where we’ll actually be grabbing Intimidation, and we’ll also take Religion. Yeah turns out that Morde’s obsession with death is actually a religion.

Regardless Paladins at level 1 have Divine Sense. You can spend an action to sense any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You know the type of being but not its identity, and you can also use this ability to determine if an area has been consecrated or desecrated. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier plus one, and regain all uses at the end of a Long Rest.

You also have some healing for your Indestructible body with Lay on Hands. You have a pool of healing power equal to five times your Paladin level that you can spend to heal anyone you touch (including yourself.) You can spend any number of your remaining hitpoints on the heal, or you can spend 5 hitpoints to cure a disease or neutralize a poison. You can stop multiple poisons and diseases at a time (spending 5 hitpoints for each) but seeing as iron resists poison and disease you should be fine. Your puny allies however may need the help.

Now may also be a good time to mention what weapons and armor to take. For a giant two-handed mace take a Maul, and for heavy armor take heavy armor. For now that will just be Chainmail (granted by default with Paladin starting equipment) but you can transition to Platemail in the future hopefully.

LEVEL 2 - PALADIN 2

Second level Paladins get to choose their Fighting Style to augment their non-abilities. To be completely unbreakable take Defense for another +1 to your AC.

You also get access to Spellcasting. You can prepare a number of spells equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level (rounded down.) The main spell we’re here for is Compelled Duel to force foes to face you and make it a lot harder for them to fight. It’s not a full 1v1 dimension but it works pretty well. Other than that if you want some Nashor’s Tooth damage Divine Favor will make your strikes a lot more painful, and if you want even more defense Shield of Faith will block any blow that may come your way.

Of course you can ignore all this and Obliterate your foes with Divine Smite, spending a spell slot and turning into magic Radiant damage. A smite with do 2d8 for a first level slot plus an additional d8 per slot above first, up to a maximum of 5d8 with a 4th level slot. If you hit an undead or fiend however the damage increases by another d8, for a maximum of 6d8.

LEVEL 3 - PALADIN 3

Third level Paladins get Divine Health which literally doesn’t impact you since you’re a Warforged, so instead we’ll talk about your Sacred Oath. As fun and flavorful as an Oathbreaker would be that subclass is kinda... bad? So instead look to the Oath of Conquest to shatter your foes!

You get the Armor of Agathys spell for some Thornmail, and the Command spell for Death’s Grasp. Telling someone to approach doesn’t have the same impact as grabbing them with a spooky ghost claw but it works just as well. You also get two Channel Divinity options. Conquering Presence will make everyone near you frightened, and Guided Strike will let you add +10 to an attack roll which will guarantee that you’ll hit in most if not all situations.

LEVEL 4 - PALADIN 4

4th level Paladins get an Ability Score Improvement: seeing as our Strength is uneven we can take a Feat like Heavy Armor Master, increasing our Strength by 1 and making it so that our foes’ puny non-magical weapons bounce off us like nothing.

You can also prepare another spell but we’re going to wait a bit on that.

LEVEL 5 - PALADIN 5

5th level Paladins get an Extra Attack, giving you enough attack speed to swing Nightfall twice before your opponent starts to run.

You also get access to second level spells. Oath of Conquest gives you Hold Person to keep your foes in place and Spiritual Weapon for a ghostly soldier to fight alongside you. You can also prepare a spell like Aid to further boost your health, making it even harder to slay you once more.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 6 - CLERIC 1

Despite being a big metal man Mordekaiser is an AP champ, but he also hits people quite a lot with his mace. Hence we’re going into the AP class that also hits people with a mace. Now you may think that we’d want to go into Death Cleric for a revenant... THAT’S WHERE YOU’RE WRONG FOOLISH MORTAL! IRON STANDS ETERNAL! FORGE DOMAIN! At level 1 you get Blessing of the Forge allowing you to turn a weapon or piece of armor into a magical +1 weapon or armor. My tip? More armor. Iron stands eternal.

As a Cleric you also get Spellcasting that relies on your Wisdom instead of your Charisma. You also actually get cantrips! You are the master of death and you choose when people die, so take Spare the Dying to make them not die. To make sure your subjects hear your words Thaumaturgy will let all hear you. And just because Mordekaiser is a melee champ doesn’t mean you can’t have a ranged damage option, so take Toll the Dead so none can escape what comes for all.

Check page something-or-other to see how many spell slots you have, but what’s important to know is that you can prepare a number of spells equal to your Wisdom modifier plus your Cleric level. As a Forge Cleric you also get Identity to find the perfect weapon, and Searing Smite to seal your foes away with Nightfall’s Kiss. To keep usurpers away Protection from Good and Evil will make it nye-impossible for them to harm you, and to command your allies as an army Bless will strengthen their weapons and resolve. Other than that? I mean someone should probably have Detect Magic. Truthfully there isn’t much we need from first level spells.

LEVEL 7 - CLERIC 2

Second level Clerics get Channel Divinity options that use the same Channel Divinity charges that your Paladin Channel Divinity uses. Luckily these ones are a little more situational: Turn Undead lets you... turn undead. (Please just read the ability’s description as I’m sick of explaining it in every Cleric build I make.) Artisan's Blessing meanwhile lets you craft something from eternal iron... or whatever other metal you may have. The cost can’t exceed 100 gold, but you can arm your soldiers with weapons and armor... within reason.

You can also prepare another spell but we’re going to wait for...

LEVEL 8 - CLERIC 3

Third level Clerics can prepare second level spells. As a Forge Cleric you have Heat Metal innately prepared, as well as Magic Weapon. This is why I suggested you use your Blessings of the Forge on your armor, because Magic Weapon will let you improve Nightfall. And Heat Metal is surprisingly one of the best spells to counter you, so good thing you have it in your arsenal.

Speaking of arsenal: for the power to carry all that iron Enhance Ability will make you the perfect being for anything you may wish to do. Warding Bond is perhaps not as useful for you, but strengthening your allies strengthens you through relation.

LEVEL 9 - CLERIC 4

4th level means more Ability Score Improvements. Strength is tied to just about everything we do currently (and is notably needed if we want Platemail) so increase that by 2, making Nightfall all the deadlier.

You could also prepare another spell but there isn’t much to take from second level either, so it would be good to wait for third level spells. You do get another cantrip though and even the strongest warriors can use some otherworldly aid, so take Guidance for that aid.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 10 - CLERIC 5

5th level Clerics can Destroy Undead of CR 1/2 with their Turn Undead Channel Divinity. Perhaps it’s odd for a revenant to destroy undead, but I’d rule it as culling the weak.

But more importantly you can prepare third level spells! Forge Clerics get Elemental Weapon for an upgrade to Magic Weapon, and Protection from Energy for an Adaptive Helm. May you rest in peace in Season 11. We’ve yet to get our passive yet, so to make Darkness Rise take Spirit Guardians to damage foes near you. And you know what we don’t have a lot of as an undead revenant? Undead minions. Animate Dead will bring forth your legion, so they can’t bring you down easily.

LEVEL 11 - CLERIC 6

6th level Clerics can use their Channel Divinity twice per Short or Long Rest, which is nice because this also affects your Paladin Channel Divinities. Additionally Forge Clerics get the Soul of the Forge for resistance to Fire damage and EVEN. MORE. AC!

And you can prepare more spells! Want to keep your domain safe? Glyph of Warding will deter anyone trying to stop you before you can awaken again.

LEVEL 12 - CLERIC 7

Level 7 in Cleric? Level 4 in spells. Forge Clerics get Fabricate to craft tools of war. But more importantly you can stop people from interrupting your 1v1s with a Wall of Fire! People can still butt in, but being surrounded by flames definitely makes it harder!

Additionally you can grab Death Ward, to stop anything from taking you down... at first. You may crack iron, but you can never break it.

LEVEL 13 - CLERIC 8

Level 8 gives another Ability Score Improvement which means it’s finally time to max out your Strength! This is great because you now also have Divine Strike to make Nightfall do an additional d8 of Fire damage on hit!

And how about more spells? Banishment is like your ultimate but you can’t join them in the Death Realm. And without you there isn’t much death. It’s honestly fairly harmless. But at least if they don’t belong in this realm you can hopefully lock them away for good.

Oh and your Turn Undead now can Destroy Undead of CR 1 or lower. So mind your minions.

(Artwork by Teddy Tarnando.)

LEVEL 14 - CLERIC 9

Who likes 5th level spells? As a Forge Cleric you know Animate Objects to bring unholy life to iron, and Creation to create said iron. For a burst of darkness that does Radiant damage Flame Strike is a good tool to level any battlefield.

LEVEL 15 - CLERIC 10

10th level Clerics may be blessed with Divine Intervention. You may pray to the god of death (or I guess the god of the forge too) for assistance before rolling on a percentile die. If you roll a number equal to or lower than your Cleric level, the gods intervene. If you receive aid you can’t use this ability for 7 days. If you aren’t heard the ability comes back on a Long Rest.

You know what else comes back after a Long Rest? Spell slots. You know what doesn’t come back after a Long Rest (normally)? The dead. So grab Raise Dead to bring the dead after a notably Long Rest. You can also add another cantrip to your list, and for times when iron doesn’t stand eternal you may want some Mending.

LEVEL 16 - CLERIC 11

11th level Clerics can prepare 6th level spells. Blade Barrier is perhaps not the most practical spell but it’s metal as fuck in more ways than one, blocking your foes with whirling death. Say it with me now: iron stands eternal! You can also now Destroy Undead of CR 2.

LEVEL 17 - CLERIC 12

At level 12 you get another Ability Score Improvement or a Feat... hey wouldn’t it be funny if we literally completely ignored our spellcasting modifiers in favor of just hitting things harder with our mace? This perhaps would’ve been stronger to take earlier but we’re finally grabbing Great Weapon Master for the hardest, most deadly strikes with Nightfall’s Kiss.

And more spells prepared? Well it’s perhaps not the most practical more undead minions from Create Undead will serve you well.

(Artwork by Sunny Pandita, Concept Artist at Riot Games.)

LEVEL 18 - CLERIC 13

13th level presents you with 7th level spells and damn there are a lot of good ones, but I’m actually going to suggest Regenerate to keep you or any allies in the fight.

LEVEL 19 - CLERIC 14

Another level, another spell. Even though there’s some really great stuff at 7th level you don’t have many spell slots there, so I’d instead suggest going back to fountain to resupply. Word of Recall (a 6th level spell) can help in a pinch to escape from danger and retreat to regroup.

Your Turn Undead now can Destroy Undead of CR 3 or lower. But most importantly: your Divine Strike now increases to 2d8 fire damage! So if Nightfall is a regular maul it’s doing 2d6 bludgeoning and an additional 2d8 fire damage on your first hit!

LEVEL 20 - CLERIC 15

15th level gives you an 8th level spell! You’ll only have one of these so make sure it counts! Clerics don’t have that many 8th level spells to choose from but you may be surprised to hear that I’m suggesting Holy Aura. Why? It’s the ultimate spell to stand eternally, making your foes attacks bounce off you like nothing while the weapons of your legion strike hard and strong!

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Flesh constrains; iron liberates - You know what’s fun? Having 20 AC with just (+1) Chainmail, and up to 22 AC with standard (+1) Plate! All I can say is that your DM will be thanking the gods that you didn’t decide to grab a shield.

Thus begins the slaughter - Ha ha Nightfall go bonk. If your sick of hearing people say that Martial classes don’t do a lot of damage show them a Martial character with Smites, Divine Strike, spells to boost their weapons, and Great Weapon Master to add a flat +10 to your damage! Not to mention that Guided Strike practically guarantees that you’ll land your blows, and you have two Channel Divinities per Short Rest!

I’m actually making a second paragraph for this: the most damage you can do in a turn (using two fourth level spell slots on Smites, a 7th level Elemental Weapon spell applied to your weapon, and assuming you use Great Weapon Master on both attacks) is... 4d6 + 36 Bludgeoning damage, 2d8 Fire damage, 6d4 Elemental Weapon damage (of your chosen damage type), and 10d8 Radiant Damage. This, on average, will do 130 damage! (Not accounting for Resistances.) To put this into perspective: Tiamat has 615 HP. A lot of resistances too yes, but not accounting for those resistances you in-theory are doing 20% of Tiamat’s health in one attack!

Power eternal - You may not have 9th level spells but you have 9th level slots, and tons of spells that will level the battlefield no matter how likely they are to hit. Buffing spells work regardless of your spellcasting modifier, and do so to great effect.

CONS

A fleeting delay of the inevitable - Hey you know what’s good to do as a spellcaster? Cast spells. Both your spellcasting modifiers are at the bare minimum required to multiclass. Perhaps see if you can build this character with Point Buy so you can dump every stat except for Strength, Wisdom, and Charisma. (Well Constitution is still good too.)

Such meaningless struggle - Dumping ability scores also means that your own saving throws are subpar, and unlike usual with Paladins you don’t have Aura of Protection to save you. Notably a -1 to DEX means you won’t be dodging any skillshots anytime soon.

Enter the crucible of anguish - You are a big, slow, bulky lad who needs to rely on a big smacc sticc to do just about everything. Anyone who can outrun you will quickly make you useless as you have to get closer to beat the shit out of people.

But you needn’t come to them: death shall befall them either way. They can stay away and hide from the inevitable, or approach and accept their fate. Nothing will break you, nothing will stop you. Twice slain, thrice reborn, you are Mordekaiser, and you stand eternal. Along with your kickass metal album.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

#dnd #dnd 5e #dnd build #dnd guide #League of Legends #League of Legends Mordekaiser #Mordekaiser #dnd paladin #dnd cleric #iron #stands #eternal #Iron stands Eternal #heavy #metal #heavy metal

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inspirited-goddess · 6 years

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Today at 12:07pm marked the LAST DAY OF JUNIOR YEAR!! I’M OFFICIALLY A SENIOR NOW!!

Honestly tho, when I really think about it, it’s scary. This time next year I’ll be graduating, then a few months later I’ll be going off to be on my own as an adult in college. Only I won’t be an adult, I’ll still be seventeen. It’s fucking terrifying. I really don’t think I’m ready for adulthood.

On the bright side, since summer is here I’ll have more time to devote to this blog, and I’ll hopefully be much more active. I am still working tho and I’m taking a college class, but I’ll still be less busy than I was during the school year.

Also I might have a fuckin’ 4.1 GPA because I damn near had all A’s this semester, only IN MY AP STATS CLASS MY TEACHER HASN’T SUBMITTED THE GRADES AND IT’S STILL SAYS D+. I’M HEATED. SHE NEEDS TO DO HER JOB OR IMMA EXPLODE

Anywho, yeah, summer is here!! I’m hoping summer ‘18 will shape up to be a memorable one. Summer ‘16 and ‘17 did me good; I can’t wait to see what this summer has in store!

#char.txt #personal #rambles #high school #im highkey stressing about graduating and it's not even time yet #but my brother graduates tomorrow tho :'))#and then I have to listen to my family talk about how its gonna be me next year UGH #honestly once you become a teenager life is just one big pile of stress #can't i skip this part of my life??

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your-dietician · 3 years

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Redrafting 2020 NBA lottery: Tyrese Haliburton rises

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/sports/redrafting-2020-nba-lottery-tyrese-haliburton-rises/

Redrafting 2020 NBA lottery: Tyrese Haliburton rises

The 2020 draft class was labeled a weak draft class by many experts and surprisingly, 80% of players drafted in the first round saw solid playing time and were productive on NBA rosters this past season.

Each year, we see a few players break out and play above their draft stock, causing some teams to regret who they drafted. If we could redraft the 2020 class, would Anthony Edwards still go No. 1? Where would James Wiseman fall, and would the 30th pick, Desmond Bane, sneak into the lottery?

After a few players outplayed their draft stock in their rookie seasons, here’s a look at Yahoo Sports’ redraft of the 2020 draft lottery. The 2021 draft lottery is 8:30 p.m. ET Tuesday on ESPN.

Actual pick: Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves

Edwards’ draft slot: No. 1, Minnesota Timberwolves

2020-21 stats: 19.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.9 apg

Some think Edwards was robbed of Rookie of the Year honors since he played the full season and LaMelo Ball was out 21 games with a wrist injury. Despite not winning the top rookie honor, Edwards completely backed his No. 1-pick status this season. Edwards avoided the “rookie wall” and actually played better in the second half of the season, averaging 27 points per game in the month of May (including a 42-point performance May 5). He had one of the best dunks of the year on Toronto Raptors forward Yuta Watanabe and provided endless entertainment in postgame Zooms and media interviews. Edwards’ future is bright on this Timberwolves team as they try to rebuild. He told Yahoo Sports on draft night, “I just want to be the best player to ever play basketball.”

Anthony Edwards dunks over the Blazers’ Robert Covington on March 14, 2021. (Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Actual pick: James Wiseman, Golden State Warriors

Ball’s draft slot: No. 3, Charlotte Hornets

2020-21 stats: 15.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 6.1 apg

The news of Klay Thompson’s season-ending Achilles injury came one hour before the NBA draft on Nov. 18. That’s not a lot of time to make changes to your draft board, especially if the front office feels confident taking Wiseman at No. 2. After seeing what Ball did this season in Charlotte, Warriors fans can’t help but wonder, “what if?”

Story continues

Ball led the entire rookie class in assists (313) and was named the Rookie of the Year, despite missing six weeks with a wrist injury. He delivered amazing highlights night after night and made his teammates better with his phenomenal passing. Ball is the type of player you can’t help but wonder what he would have done as a stand-in Splash Brother playing alongside Steph Curry in Thompson’s absence. No one knows how many more years the big three of Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green have left in them and Ball could have been the future to build around for the Warriors.

Actual pick: LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets

Haliburton’s draft slot: No. 12, Sacramento Kings

2020-21 stats: 13 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.3 apg

Haliburton was the steal of the draft at No. 12 to the Kings, and it’s still baffling to see how many teams passed on the 6-foot-5 facilitator out of Iowa State.

“It all worked out perfectly, I’m in the perfect spot. Coach [Luke] Walton called me and just talked to me about playing fast and that he loves my game,” Haliburton said.

He was second in assists out of all the rookies with 309 for the season and second in 3-point field goals made with 121. Haliburton has been a seamless addition in the backcourt to De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield. If the Hornets couldn’t have Ball, Haliburton would have been the second-best option. We might not have seen the full-court, underhand passes like we saw from Ball, but Haliburton can be just as deadly in transition and would have been excellent alongside Miles Bridges.

What if Tyrese Haliburton played alongside Miles Bridges? (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Actual pick: Patrick Williams, Chicago Bulls

Williams’ draft slot: No. 4, Chicago Bulls

2020-21 stats: 9.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.4 apg

Williams was the biggest surprise of the draft and the Bulls front office must have known what they were doing when they took the one-and-done talent out of Florida State as a top-five pick.

He had one of the most daunting tasks early on in his NBA career when he was assigned to guard LeBron James. Williams left an impression on James who said afterward, “I think he is going to be an exceptional talent. [He has] long arms. He has Kawhi-type of hands that I noticed out on the floor, so I knew I couldn’t play with the ball much. You can tell he is just laser-sharp on just trying to get better and better. I think Chicago has a good one.”

Williams was named to the the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie second team alongside Isaac Okoro, Immanuel Quickley, Isaiah Stewart and Desmond Bane.

Actual pick: Isaac Okoro, Cleveland Cavaliers

Okoro’s draft slot: No. 5, Cleveland Cavaliers

2020-21 stats: 9.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.9 apg

Just like the Bulls’ pick at No. 4, the Cavaliers got their pick right in the 2020 draft, too. Okoro might not have been the flashiest player in this draft class but defensively, he got the job done. His only double-double came late in the season in a loss to the Indiana Pacers where he put up 22 points (including three 3-pointers) and grabbed 10 rebounds. If Okoro can get more consistent from 3-point range, the Cavaliers will have a deadly backcourt with Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and Okoro.

Actual pick: Onyeka Okongwu, Atlanta Hawks

Stewart’s draft slot: No. 16, Detroit Pistons

2020-21 stats: 7.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 0.9 apg

Stewart led the rookie class in rebounds with 453 and was 31st overall out of the entire NBA. He was one of the most physically ready rookies coming in this season listed at 6-foot-9, 250 pounds and it paid off in a big way when he started to see consistent minutes on a struggling Pistons team.

“For me, I just want to continue to work and build on my game,” Stewart said after an April 16 win over the Thunder where he grabbed 21 rebounds. “That’s the most important thing for me. I watch a lot of film and am just trying to learn from all my mistakes this year and get better.”

Atlanta is in the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since the 2014-15 season. Okongwu has been out for the majority of the season with a foot injury. Everything has worked out so far for the Hawks, but having a healthy player who could contribute right away like Stewart could have helped win some games early on when they went 4-11 in February.

Actual pick: Killian Hayes, Detroit Pistons

Bey’s draft slot: No. 19, Detroit Pistons

2020-21 stats: 12.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.4 apg

What a season for the 3-and-D guard out of Villanova. Bey was, by far, the best rookie on the Pistons this season. He set the record for most 3-pointers by a rookie in franchise history with 175 made threes, passing Brandon Knight, who made 106. Bey was named to the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie first team along with Ball, Edwards, Haliburton and Jae’Sean Tate.

Point guard Killian Hayes missed half of the season with a torn hip labrum, and it will forever be a mystery as to why the Pistons took Hayes at No. 7 and passed on Haliburton.

Actual pick: Obi Toppin, New York Knicks

Tate’s draft slot: Undrafted, Houston Rockets

2020-21 stats: 11.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.5 apg

The 6-foot-4 wing has been one of the biggest surprises of the rookie class after going undrafted and playing for the Sydney Kings in Australia’s NBL last season. Yes, he’s 25 years old and significantly older than the other players in his rookie class, but he’s settling in comfortably in the NBA and proving to have a bright future on this struggling Rockets team.

The Knicks had a bounce-back season in the backcourt with RJ Barrett, Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley. Tate would have been just as productive off the bench after proving to be the best rebounding guard in this rookie class, grabbing 374 boards and shooting better than 50% from the field. He was named to the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie first team and will continue to be a key player as the Rockets start to rebuild in the post-James Harden era.

Jae’Sean Tate was named to the 2020-21 All-Rookie first team. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Actual pick: Deni Avdija, Washington Wizards

Wiseman’s draft slot: No. 2, Golden State Warriors

2020-21 stats: 11.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 0.7 apg

There were small glimpses of what Wiseman could be in a couple seasons with the Warriors. Unfortunately, Golden State is in a win-now mode and Wiseman looked a little lost on the court at times. He only played three collegiate games at Memphis and struggled to adjust to the pace at the NBA level.

His upside is still worth investing in with his 7-foot-1 frame and excellent shot-blocking mechanics on defense. There would be room for growth over time with the Wizards. The two stars of the team, Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook, are both ball-heavy guards and not a lot would be expected of Wiseman offensively.

Wiseman is rehabbing a meniscus injury and will hopefully bring some presence in the lane with the return of Klay Thompson next season.

Actual pick: Jalen Smith, Phoenix Suns

Pokusevski’s draft slot: No. 17, Oklahoma City Thunder

2020-21 stats: 8.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.2 apg

The Suns are in the Western Conference finals for the first time since the 2009-10 season and their actual No. 10 pick, Smith, hasn’t been a factor in any of the postseason games. Pokusevski, originally from Serbia, had a slow start to his rookie season, but quickly picked things up for the Thunder toward the end of the season.

The 7-foot forward can extend his game past the 3-point line, hitting six 3-pointers in his final game against the Los Angeles Clippers. At only 19 years old, Pokusevski could have given solid bench minutes for Deandre Ayton and has a sold pick-and-pop game that would have complemented veteran point guard Chris Paul.

Actual pick: Devin Vassell, San Antonio Spurs

Quickley’s draft slot: No. 25, New York Knicks

2020-21 stats: 11.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.0 apg

Quickley entered his rookie season and showed off exactly what he had been working on in the eight-month extended time leading up to the draft. His floater in the lane is definitely the best in the rookie class and one of the best shots for a small guard in the league. He exuded confidence early in the season, letting shots fly from all over the court and impacted the game no matter how many minutes he played each night.

Three years ago, he was coming off the bench at Kentucky and averaged only 5.2 points per game. Fast forward to his sophomore season in Lexington where he was the leading scorer in the SEC and then was a first-round draft pick. Quickley is a phenomenal shooter with a high release and would have been an excellent option on the wing alongside Dejounte Murray and Lonnie Walker.

Immanuel Quickley showed off how his floater in the lane is definitely the best in the 2020 rookie class. (Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports)

Actual pick: Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento Kings

Bane’s draft slot: No. 30, Memphis Grizzlies

2020-21 stats: 9.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.7 apg

Bane’s biggest criticisms coming into the 2020 draft were his size and length at the guard position. He’s listed at 6-foot-6, but has a 6-foot-4 wingspan. A lot of teams were worried about how he would defend the perimeter. Well, he did just fine in his first season in Memphis. Bane stole the ball 50 times and was a key rotational player for the Grizzlies during the postseason.

Bane complements Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks well, and he could have had the same impact in Sacramento playing alongside De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield. He finished the season shooting 43.2% from 3-point range and averaged less than one turnover per game for the season.

Actual pick: Kira Lewis Jr., New Orleans Pelicans

Anthony’s draft slot: No. 15, Orlando Magic

2020-21 stats: 12.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.1 apg

Anthony’s role in Orlando expanded immensely once Markelle Fultz went down with a season-ending torn ACL. Anthony rose to the occasion and hit two game-winners in his rookie season and had a season-high 37 points in his last game against the 76ers.

Anthony is an extremely competitive guard who will have a long career in the NBA. He could have provided support to Lonzo Ball in the backcourt this season, and we would have undoubtedly seen some lobs to Zion Williamson in transition, where Anthony is most dangerous. With reports surfacing that Williamson’s family is unhappy in New Orleans, it’s up to the front office to make some changes and bring in some players who will turn around the franchise and keep their star player happy.

Actual pick: Aaron Nesmith, Boston Celtics

Maxey’s draft slot: No. 21, Philadelphia 76ers

2020-21 stats: 8.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.0 apg

Maxey was instrumental in the Game 6 win over the Atlanta Hawks that forced the Eastern Conference semifinals series to go the distance. He finished with 16 points and was a +12 coming off the bench.

The former Kentucky guard was a little up-and-down at times this season, but he finished shooting 46.2% from the field and has a bright future as a shooting guard in the NBA.

The Celtics took the Vanderbilt sharpshooter, Nesmith, at No. 14, but he struggled in his rookie season, averaging only 4.7 points per game. Maxey’s playmaking ability complements Jayson Tatum, and he might not have the shooting range of Payton Pritchard, but he could end up being a better long-term prospect down the road.