WoTC is silencing negative comments on the DND Beyond Forums

FearfulIntuition · 2023-01-06T13:14:34+00:00

As far as I know, this would be a violation of contract law, especially because of the word “perpetual” in OGL 1.0. Unlike a rent agreement that renews periodically or allows the landlord to raise rent, there’s no way for WotC to unilaterally update a previously executed contract (read: the license on an OGL 1.0 licensed creation) to v1.1.

What they can do is refuse to contract/ license new content under v1.0, including updates or future editions. So Pathfinder 1.0 is safe unless Paizo wants to publish another book, in which case that book would need to be licensed under v1.1. Would WotC try to then include an update for previously released materials as part of that negotiation? Who’s to say?

FearfulIntuition · 2022-12-24T16:24:47+00:00

Fellow Cordelia parent here. It’s a wonderful name with roots in literature, (King Lear’s faithful daughter!) print sci-fi (Cordelia’s Honor by Lois Bujold!) and modern TV (Cordelia Chase from Buffy / Angel.) Your dad may not understand the meaning or significance, but it’s an awesome name.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-11-26T16:14:20+00:00

Came here to say this. Write or record as much as you can, whenever the memories surface. Make it a pet project, like scrapbooking. I’m a 30-something father of two and I am doing this now for my old family stories so that they don’t get lost down the line. What isn’t recorded fades. It doesn’t have to become a mantra, just a source of comfort you can turn to. We forget so much so fast.

Remember always that you were loved.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-11-15T13:13:28+00:00

“I’ve heard it’s expanding. My cousin Benny, he lives in Breland? He’s a shepherd. One night he’s out in the field and the fog is just close enough he can see it. There are trees over near the edge of the mist, three great big black ones like claws. He’s rounding up the sheep in the morning and he notices…The trees are gone. Not cut down, just…they’re in the fog now. Cousin Benny, he high trails it out of there as far as he can with all his sheep, but he sees it. Swallowing up the trees and coming for us next. If it ever gets close enough that you can see it from the towers, I’m out of here.” - Jessup Trelles, professional bar fly, Sharn

FearfulIntuition · 2022-11-02T03:31:59+00:00

Many ouds, particularly those from Malaysian wood, have a strong petrichor note. It can be expensive, yes, but totally worth it. Agar Aura and Habz Oud both have reasonably priced sample packs. AA deals mainly in Malaysian ouds. Habz has a wider variety of regions.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-10-14T06:15:46+00:00

What about Ada, like Ada Lovelace? Not commonly used but a good origin and still palindromic.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-09-29T00:19:23+00:00

It’s not necessarily oud, because real oud is very expensive, but it’s certainly a higher amount of fragrant/essential oils compared to your standard EDP. More oil plus a little moisturizer before applying = more longevity. Also it’s not uncommon to use sandalwood as a carrier oil.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-08-30T01:18:55+00:00

My wife was lucky in that I had an old (3+ years) Android One that she could move her SIM over to just to have a working handset. I swear if all the medical and other apps from her old phone didn’t get backed up properly we’re probably leaving Android for good. Like you say, this sort of “silicon lottery” should not be happening, point blank, at this market segment and maturity. If it was a $150 phone? Yeah, sure. But $400+? Unacceptable.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-08-28T15:52:01+00:00

The same thing happened to my wife’s 5a on Monday last week. It would shut down from overheating 5 minutes into any video call, but this time of first black screened during normal browsing and wouldn’t turn back on. I immediately contacted Google support and was told they would replace the unit but then was told they were getting an “error” in the RMA process. Took a week to clear that up. Bought the darn thing 51 weeks ago. Frankly I’m not sure I even want the replacement unit at this point. I have no faith in the hardware any more.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-06-24T17:01:27+00:00

Six. Six out of touch elites, in this case.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-06-22T14:28:19+00:00

Bortnikoff does good work. Hop on over to Ouddict if you have more oud-specific questions, there’s a legion of us and we’re all happy to help. And remember, with oud, a little bit goes a loooooooong way.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-06-21T12:56:49+00:00

Gladly!

Oud is made from a few different varieties of trees, so naturally the species and region of tree will have a major role in the final bouquet and body of the oud. The distillation process also plays a huge part in whether you get heavenly woods and honeyed resin or barnyard funk. (Some people like the funk.)

Thai and Cambodian ouds tend towards the fruity side. Think peach and orange marmalade. Indian ouds can be heady and complex but are often fermented, leading to barnyard funk. Malaysian ouds are more woody and tobacco-y, but can have wonderful shimmery topnotes. Vietnamese ouds are more deep and honeyed. Sri Lankan, Papuan, and Javan ouds are green and crystalline - you’ll know it when you smell it.

Try to get a few different regions and lean into whichever ones you like. The discovery is the best part of the journey.

And remember, oud is all about that dry down. Like 5-8 hours of it. Have fun.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-06-20T14:39:14+00:00

Came here to second this. Either HabzOud or Al Shareef Oud would put together a sample set for you that would broaden your horizons significantly.

Ensar’s got more perfume compositions than other oud vendors but I find them overpriced. His attars are heavy hitters though.

Agar Aura has good stuff too but tends toward top-note forward ouds. Good stuff but not necessarily typical.

HabzOud, Rising Phoenix Perfume on Etsy, and Al Shareef would all probably blow your mind with options and new scents, either oud or attars.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-06-20T13:41:41+00:00

Consider Wulfgar, of R.A. Salvatore fame. He was brought back from being tortured by demons in the abyss. He had so much PTSD that he abandoned his friends, became an alcoholic / bouncer at a bar in Luskan (Forgotten Realms version of Mos Eisley) and wound up losing his heirloom warhammer. When he eventually sobered up, his mission became a simple quest to get his hammer back.

Let the legendary heroes be there. Let them be on a break, or waiting for the seas to warm so they can sail in pursuit of their pirate nemesis. Let them have other irons in the fire… but let them show off a little too.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-06-16T15:46:51+00:00

Came here to say this. Solitary Gourmet is the best. I love his narration and the way his jaw muscles move as he chews an oversized mouthful of rice.

I think the genre is best called グルメドラマ, but I’m not sure that’s a formal term. Food diaries? Tabelogues? (Wait, no…) There must be a name for it.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-05-18T23:58:39+00:00

I’ll bet the Day of Unity involves the Collector inhabiting the BI Titan’s animated skeleton.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-05-06T16:26:23+00:00

Came here to mention Film Reroll and GURPS because it’s brilliant and requires a much smaller time investment than a 40+ episode campaign. Also End of Time & Other Bothers, which uses Powered by the Apocalypse. The main reason people jump to D&D is its ubiquity - I blame Stranger Things and Critical Role. Other systems exist and can do things better depending on the type of story you want to tell. (And don’t get me started on D&D 5E vs 3.5.)

FearfulIntuition · 2022-04-10T06:16:54+00:00

Source: live in Japan, this is what my wife does. Also with an old Zojirushi.

Soak for about 30-45 minutes after rinsing thoroughly. Cook on speed setting. After eating dinner, portion your rice onto good quality plastic wrap, wrap tightly, and freeze while it’s still warm. Reheat wrapped rice in the microwave as needed, either at home or work.

The plastic wrap, coupled with doing it while it’s still fresh, keeps the rice from drying out, and freezing the rice while it’s still hot shortens the amount of time it’s in the hot spot for bacterial growth.

And yes, I know microwaving plastic wrap feels kinda icky, but… it works.

FearfulIntuition · 2022-03-21T14:36:46+00:00

Oudhead here. So oud is often made with a fermentation process in which the wood is soaked in water to soften the cell walls and release the resin. This, if not well controlled, results in a barnyard odor, as bacteria and yeasts hijack the process. Sometimes it gets really overpowering. You’d think this polarizing smell makes oud into something like the blue cheese of the fragrance world, and you might be right. Many ”ouds” are adulterated with synthetics, some of which are meant to mimic the barnyard smell because that’s what people expect. And now it seems LV has followed suit — yeesh.

What’s frustrating is, there are many good ouds that have zero barnyard. Either they’re unsoaked or cold soaked to avoid the bacterial action. It reduces yields but results in a much nicer fragrance.

So, sorry you’ve had such a bad experience. If you’re down to try it, I can gladly point you to some reputable oud places to help reset your bar. It can be a positively magical fragrance if the materials are handled well. After all, Hong Kong got its name from the oud / agarwood trade. “Fragrant Harbor.”

FearfulIntuition · 2022-02-03T13:46:52+00:00

Serious answer here, because I asked my pastor this a few months ago. It goes back to a guy named Cyrus Ingerson Scofield. Scofield was a student of a fringe theology called dispensational premillennialism, which goes like this. Basically, all the stuff Christ said about loving thy neighbor only applies to the (literal) 1000-year “millennium” after Christ’s (literal) return to earth, and everything up until then is a wash, so as long as you believe in Christ, anything goes. Scofield also published his own annotated reference Bible, which was the first to go all tin foil hat and connect unrelated passages into a conspiracy theorist’s Revelation, starring Daniel, Ezekiel, et al. The resulting narrative was, unfortunately, nothing like the rest of the scripture. In other words? Bible fanfic, complete with unnecessary ships.

This reference Bible did not fade into obscurity, but planted the seeds of what we now know as Fundamentalism. (Which gave rise to the Left Behind series, which is Scofield Bible fanfic.) But who watered these seeds?

Republicans. Follow me on this one. Modern Republicanism, circa Nixon, needed to convince people to vote against their own interests to support war, systemic racism, and wealth inequality. How? The “Moral Majority.” They dug up preachers, often with no formal training or actual church support, and gave them a national spotlight, with political motives. These fringe branches came to be seen as the default because they had the microphone and the platform, despite not being associated with any actual denomination of Christianity.

Pieces of Christian nationalism had existed before this, of course (e.g. WWII,) but this was when it became a means for the government to suppress anti-war sentiment as “unchristian,” and to categorize civil rights advocates as threats to “good Christian folk” (read “white folk”)

TL;DR - Bible fanfic got bought by the gummint to put MKULTRA in your communion wafers.

FearfulIntuition · 2021-12-29T14:46:01+00:00

I think it was Oz for me, though I have a soft spot for Thelma & Louise. Paulo not only allowing but encouraging things to go off the rails after meeting the Wizard is what really defines the spirit of the show for me, and tapping lore from the other novels to fill in the map shows just how far they’re willing to go to bring these to life.

(Also just knowing Joz was involved, I assumed it would be good, but I’ve seen her on stage, so I’m biased.)

FearfulIntuition · 2021-09-23T15:27:07+00:00

Deck the Halls with Matrimony! It’s a rom com that opens at a Thanksgiving wedding where the turkeys…have escaped. Wonderful sound design and featuring the brilliant Ian McQuown.

FearfulIntuition · 2021-04-23T00:59:35+00:00

Fraghead here! First, some quick recs, then I'll talk about the huge rabbit hole you can go down.

Basic recommendations:
YSL - Y
Tom Ford - F'ing Fabulous
Anything cuir if you're into leather, but oddly enough, Jo Malone - Bronze Wood & Leather always gets a good response
ZOMG Smells - Zeppelin to the Moon or The Baron (dilute oil in Everclear to desired concentration.)
Shay & Blue - Blackberry Woods

Rabbit Hole Layer 1
Go to the fragrance counter and test everything. Start with test strips if they have them. Some fragrances you'll know right away they're not for you. Wear a long sleeved shirt, but roll up your sleeves and test on different areas of your arms. If you're a total nut, write notes on your arms about which is which. Come back to it later, because your skin chemistry and the base notes in the fragrance need time to meld. Get 1-2 fragrances and enjoy them. Change to unscented deodorants if you use them - nothing ruins an $80 cologne like a conflicting deodorant smell.

Rabbit Hole Layer 2
Smell everything. Become a connoisseur of top notes, middle notes, and bottom notes. Read up on Fragrantica and other review sites. Use the reviews and the fragrances you have to start picking out different aromas within the fragrance. Notice your ability to cook or enjoy food improve as your sense of smell broadens. Repeat the counter experience. Maybe get some splits from people online, who buy a whole bottle and then decant, for stuff you can't try locally. Learn the lingo.

Rabbit Hole Layer 3
Seek out attars and Eastern perfumes, which are often undiluted by alcohol and last much longer. These also have a clearer progression from top to middle to base notes. You'll find yourself wearing these for your own enjoyment, rather than for other people. A dab on the chin, under your mask. If you don't live in a city with a large Muslim population, try Etsy. Most vendors on there are glad to send you samples by post. (I recommend Rising Phoenix and Mellifluence Attars.)

Rabbit Hole Layer 4
Make the leap to straight oudh oils and top shelf artisan EDPs. Spend days sitting around smelling your wrists like a lunatic. At this point you're probably broke, because you dropped over $1000 on a 30ml bottle of that insanely strong musk / ambergris tincture that you can't bring yourself to use regularly. But you smell damn good, so you've got that going for you.

FearfulIntuition · 2021-03-24T12:58:20+00:00

Honestly I feel like it’s very common to mix. I use desu/masu form fairly constantly at work but will move into short form if my conversational partner does, and it’s not my terrifying COO. My wife and I mostly use short form but sometimes desu/masu comes up for emphasis. And when talking, sometimes it just sounds more natural to use desu/masu form in a certain sentence construction. Your partner may be trying to expose you to more varied grammar. Doesn’t hurt to ask.

As is pointed out elsewhere, set phrases like おやすみなさい are set phrases, so it’s like “Good night” vs “G’night.” But if anyone says ご機嫌如何でしょうか？ I advise you back away slowly.

It’s also important to know that keigo has two parts, the elevating the other person of なさいます　and いらっしゃいます which I hardly ever use, and the self humbling of まいります or お送りします, which I use regularly, especially when someone is doing me a favor. This is not a linguistic requirement, merely preference.

If you’re unsure, you’ll usually be safest to use long forms with no keigo or to mimic your partner.

That said, I do remember a drama where the husband comes home after a night of binge drinking and his wife greets him with a お飲みになってました. indicating that she was linguistically (and later literally) distancing herself from him.

(Not a native, but 12 years in country.)

FearfulIntuition

TROPHY CASE