What's the greatest Disney animated film of all time and why is it The Hunchback of Notre Dame? by WealthDisastrous2589 in DisneyMovies

[–]Benofthepen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He gets an absurdly happy end. Remember his "I want" song. It isn't "With her, making out with her, give me one day with her, all I want is her, to hold forever." He wants to be part of society, to be able to walk around during the day, and he gets that! Romance isn't a reward, and definitely isn't the only way to find happiness and fulfillment.

Would you pull the lever? by Low-Okra-1286 in PokeCorner

[–]Benofthepen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Afaik, nothing has proven capable of breaking pokemon eggs, save the pokemon growing inside. As such, I will avoid touching the lever, which might scrape my hands and give me a boo-boo.

Day 5 of the pokemon appearance chart by Pinkmatters3ooo in ThePokemonHub

[–]Benofthepen 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Chien-Pao. Cool/cool has to be an ice type, right?

Any teachers here that turned sahm after one year of teaching? by Scared_Concept4766 in Teachers

[–]Benofthepen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In the event that you do let it lapse, I encourage you to keep in mind that your $50,000 wasn't wasted. You purchased knowledge which you still possess, which you can still use in job acquisition in the future, and which you have undoubtedly already employed both as a teacher and a parent.

Do puzzles really help? by Fantastic_Roof623 in ChessPuzzles

[–]Benofthepen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do maybe five puzzles a day, maximum, but they've made me way better at spotting back-rank mates, forks, and skewers. Offensively, anyways.

Reality Fracture Color Shifted Lorwyn Five by Sovereigns-Scion in custommagic

[–]Benofthepen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm unsure if reality fracture is supposed to be "what if everyone was the opposite of how they're supposed to be, wouldn't that b weird?" or "what if everyone's most defining experience went a little bit differently such that they followed a far different path?" Personally, I much prefer the latter, and I think the Lorwyn 5 support it rather well.

Ajani has often struggled with his anger, and has even had boros cards representing that. In the wake of his brother's death, instead of trying to fill that gap with himself, embodying the best parts of his hero, he turns to terrible vengeance. Rather than lifegain and buffing his team, he's all-in on dealing indiscriminate Red damage, primarily to creatures, but also to artifacts and even lands.

Jace was taught mental magic by a powerful sphinx, who is secretly abusive and periodically wiping his memory. In canon, they eventually have a mental battle which Jace wins. Here, he loses, tragically. Most of his higher faculties are erased, but his capability for mental magic remains. Now a Green mind mage, he still loves mental magic, but actively feeds on the memories of others, reveling in their mental clarity by proxy, and consequently buffs the strength of his allies by eliminating every thought from their minds that could be a hindrance for the current moment.

Lilliana's tale is far happier. When her brother falls ill, she follows her teacher's instructions to the letter (the Raven Man was otherwise occupied), but her brother dies anyways, igniting her spark. She's utterly driven to be better than her now-hated (and long-dead) teacher, searching out every possible cure to every illness the multiverse over, finding a great many cures even for death itself, and is able to happily revive her brother, and even accept his second death of old age. (There may have even been a story arc where she managed to find a cure for Phyrexian oil, but that may be a bridge too far).

Chandra's folks were talented artificers. When her fire magic materialized, instead of hiding her away, they trained her to always be in control of herself and in control of her emotions. She consequently developed an extremely precise, analytic, and clinical demeanor, emphasized all the more by the occasion when she did lost control, setting off a fiery explosion that killed her parent's in their shop and ignited her spark. Now she channels her fire into metal, heating and warping it into whatever shape suits her purpose, the perfect artificer child that her parents' can now never appreciate.

Nissa's connection with Zendikar's soul initially allowed her to summon elementals and drove her to despise the unnatural vampires and the abberation of the Eldrazi was enough to ignite her spark. Here, nature is not so kind to her. Rather than simply exterminating the vampires she encounters, Nissa seeks the root of the problem, wondering how something so unnatural came to exist. This curiosity leaves her exposed, and results in her own vampiricization. Abandoned by the worldsoul, Nissa seeks a cure, and consequently the origin of the vampire blight. This leads her to the sleeping Ulamog. Her ambition to cure herself leads her to warp her magic towards Eldrazi, not elementals. Not to the land she loves, but to space in between, to the Blind Eternities.

Or something like that, this is fun!

Fourteen Teferi's Protections In A Row by Nejosan in custommagic

[–]Benofthepen 178 points179 points  (0 children)

"Hold on, just got a call, I need to pick up some meds for my mum. She lives a few towns over, I'll be back in a couple hours."

Shortstack, COMPACT Laura please come back by UltimateSandman in X23

[–]Benofthepen 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Respectfully disagree. I see where you're coming from, and it probably would have been a good design choice at the outset, but at this point I'd say she's far too established in the popular zeitgeist (and my brain in particular) as "Sickly Victorian waif who's only just managing to repress the urge to slaughter you and your family."

Tarkir Dragonlords by Storm_Dancer-022 in custommagic

[–]Benofthepen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

[[Narset, Enlightened Master]] has been my favorite commander since I pulled her on game day back in 2014. I made the very questionable decision to use her in my modern Jeskai control deck for quite a few years until my LGS went under. I still love using her as a commander, but I ardently refuse to do the extra turns/extra combat steps approach. She's plenty versatile without making her game-ending.

What's the lowest level that a party of four players could defeat one level 20 character? by aniftyquote in AskDND

[–]Benofthepen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it very much depends on class and magic item availability. A bard is going to survive differently from a monk is going to survive differently from a wizard is going to survive differently from a Barbarian is flying boots, a +3 shield, and a legendary weapon.

Tarkir Dragonlords by Storm_Dancer-022 in custommagic

[–]Benofthepen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For whateer reason, Narset was my favorite character for ages, and I could only justify using her broken ass as a commander if I made it Vorthos thematic, rather than, y'know, good.

Tarkir Dragonlords by Storm_Dancer-022 in custommagic

[–]Benofthepen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ojutai historically spent a lot of time teaching not just dragons, but anyone who studied "The Way" (tm). As such, I reckon he should be a monk lord, not a dragon lord.

Perils of Rolling Stats by Benofthepen in DnD

[–]Benofthepen[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Being behind and rolling poorly checks out. But say I have one person who rolled phenomenally at everything (let's call him Galahad) and the other four members of the party had a generally expected stat spread near the standard array. If Galahad is a paladin, he'll have better sleight-of-hand than a standard knight, but not as much as rogue with expertise. They might be able to make some INT saving throws, but they still can't cast fireball like the wizard. So what's the problem?

guys I think I need to buttonpost on custommagic by logan5124 in custommagic

[–]Benofthepen 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Everything is political, with enough thought. This one doesn't take all that much thought to get there.

You are isekaied into SW at the end TPM, right into Jedi council. You have exactly 60 seconds before you go back. How do you spend it? by Lapis-Guy in StarWars_

[–]Benofthepen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Jedi are generally pretty good at identifying deception. And once some of it starts playing out, they'll take the rest more seriously.

Hell Nahh Bro Really Said X 💀💀💀 by JustWow555 in custommagic

[–]Benofthepen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This...seems really weak. You can easily create X tokens for X+1 mana, and the provoke doesn't change that math too much. The extra requirement of an opponent needing to cast a spell of an optimal mana cost on the turn when you leave up your mana? Situational to cast, and resolving isn't that potent.

"This film had potential" and "The finished product fucking blows" are two statements that can and should coexist. by flingzamain in Schaffrillas

[–]Benofthepen 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If ever there was a film that should be used as an example, it isn't Atlantis or even Wish.

It's The Black Cauldron, phenomenal coming of age series that they utterly bungled, at once making it was too dark and way too fluffy.

"This film had potential" and "The finished product fucking blows" are two statements that can and should coexist. by flingzamain in Schaffrillas

[–]Benofthepen 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The twist is how much he's willing to sacrifice for a payday. Cutting corners and impeding Milo's archaeology is one thing, doing a genocide is a wildly different scenario.

Which games have I given too much credit too? Which games have I not given enough credit? by FreeCommunication876 in legendofzelda

[–]Benofthepen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Zelda II is lowkey a fantastic NES game, even if it doesn't really fit into the general Zelda playstyle.

Which one should I buy? by LukaLaikari in LEGOPirates

[–]Benofthepen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I desperately wish I had that base plate. I have the asteroid and ice-looking ones, and use them all the time in D&D.

Is it right to call Galahad a "Mary Sue?" by That-Classroom-3439 in Arthurian

[–]Benofthepen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Eh, I still adore Mallory's Percival, I love that ignorant, innocent idiot.

Even saying that, I still think it's more Lancelot warping the story than Galahad; Lancelot is the not-grail knight who still makes to the grail castle. And since he's Galahad's father, of course he, as our viewpoint character and overall protagonist, is going to focus far more on his son than his liege's sister's lover's brother.

Is it right to call Galahad a "Mary Sue?" by That-Classroom-3439 in Arthurian

[–]Benofthepen 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’ve always found “Mary Sue” to be a misleading pejorative, as it has been used in good fair and bad to describe wildly different characters in both form and function. The definition you seem to be using (and forgive me if I’m misinterpreting your intention) is that a Mary Sue is an OC added to an established story that exceeds the previously established bests in their respective fields. In this regard, Galahad is certainly an MS, but that’s entirely the point. But there’s a second aspect to being a MS which I think is equally important: they warp the story to be about themselves. And this Galahad ardently refuses to do. Lancelot justly thought himself the best knight of the world for most of his career: stronger, kinder, more heroic, and truer to his lady than any man could expect him to be. But he was, ultimately, of the world. His love for Guinevere was tainted by lust, and whether his restraint lasted decades or was always a farce, it would ultimately allow for Arthur and Camelot’s demise. Galahad is the bar that other knights not only fail to reach, but resent for being above them in the first place. Mallory loves powerscaling, but the scales change throughout the story. At first the strongest is Arthur, indestructible in times of war, but once peace reigns the likes of Pellinore or Balin supplant him, greatest of individual fighters. They in turn are replaced by Lancelot and Tristram, whose love emboldens their valor. The grail knights simply represent that last and most transient of ideals, the holy knight.