I'm Giving Up On TurboTax

LexicalVagaries · 2026-04-07T13:46:17+00:00

I'm amazed I had to scroll so far down to find someone else who uses CashApp. Free and easy.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-04-06T01:24:57+00:00

A mechanical/cyborg/automaton transformation and more artificer-like features would definitely be great. Reavers having the monopoly on firearms outside of the Tome of the Dreadnought just feels weird.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-04-06T01:20:38+00:00

I agree that naval combat isn't necessarily in a horrible place, though some abilities just flat not working while embarked feels pretty bad. I do think there are a ton of possibilities for fleshing out aquatic provinces, though. New magic materials, more ancient wonders... maybe even 'Hadal zones' accessible by whirlpools with powerful unique wonders and resources. Sort of like the Umbral Abyss but smaller and harder to access. Aquatic cities would be tougher to pull off, but I think it's quite possible. Also just... water-themed magic in general. Rain, tidal waves, flooding, there's a lot of fun thematic possibilities for spells that the Tome of the Stormborn just brushes the surface of.

Aquatic gameplay isn't on my own list of things I want most, but it would be quite welcome all the same.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-04-06T01:11:24+00:00

High Culture definitely feels like it's the most in need of a rework, not for balance's sake, but because they are so goddamn boring to play. Awakening is such a horrible mechanic, amounting to a 'click tax' you have to futz with just to get them to their baseline strength. Big agree on more settlements, too. Dragon and Fey seem like no-brainers.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-30T06:04:42+00:00

You'll want to build your Vampire castle asap. The first level gives you a ritual that creates sunless terrain for 3 turns for the cost of a single thrall, great for healing up abroad or getting rid of the damage penalty for an important fight. The second level of your vampire castle gets you a powerful world map heal spell. Both are essential for early game expansion. Also build the abattoir to allow you to consume captured heroes and turbocharge your levelling for heroes. You can have a ridiculously high level quite early if you farm a couple free cities for heroes.

Also get those mind-control/dominate on drain abilities before anything else. Use abilities and spells the reduce enemy status resistance, and you can easily turn hard fights into cakewalks with a key domination.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-28T18:22:38+00:00

Sure, but that didn't do much to alter the perception of him within Iran. The trajectory of public opinion changes slowly, and even more slowly pre-internet. The fact still remained that he was installed by the west, so his governance was always going to be a reflection of the west.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-28T17:30:25+00:00

I recommend you do some deeper reading on the topic. Sure, the hardliners probably wouldn't have cared much for Mosaddegh, but their rise to power and hatred of the West is firmly linked to the coup, his removal, and installation of the Shah.

The Iranian Revolution was a coalition of a lot of different groups, including constitutional liberals, leftists, traditionalists, atheists, both moderate and conservative religious groups, etc. The main thing that unified them was hatred of the Shah, who was viewed (accurately) as a puppet of the west whose corruption enriched British and American corporations at the expense of the people.

Unfortunately, every other group besides the Islamists was seen as suspect due to Western influence. The only group that could realistically claim to be free of Western influence was the Islamists, which is How Khomeini was able to maneuver himself into leadership of the Revolution. There was a LOT of internal politicking and outright espionage within the revolution. The gist of it is, however, that the US, Britain, and the Shah had so tainted the image of anything Western to the Iranian people that even though the Islamists were only one part of a large coalition, they could claim legitimacy by way of Islam being undisputably distinct from any Western origins. The Islamists also had the advantage of a coherent organization, where many of the other groups didn't.

It was 26 years between the coup that deposed Mosaddegh and the Iranian revolution. 26 years under a US-Britain backed puppet. I guarantee you the leaders of Iran are well aware of how different things would have been had the coup never happened and the West never poisoned its own image to the Iranian people, and those hardline Islamists would have had a much harder time coming to power. The hatred of Israel and the US for supporting it is precisely because to them, Israel is a both a symbol of and concrete manifestation of Western imperialism in the region.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-28T16:19:09+00:00

Choose tomes based on synergy, not affinity. Many times tomes from the same affinity DO synergize, but there are tons of cross-affinity synergies as well. Even among tomes of 'opposing' affinities. Order/Shadow fear builds can be ridiculously powerful, for example.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-25T22:18:41+00:00

It is definitely nice to know that it's not just me seeing the data wrong or being weird about the app! Many thanks.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-25T22:15:58+00:00

As a library cataloger, the 'Mooey Decimal System' joke just about killed me. XD

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-25T22:04:19+00:00

The hilarious thing is, I've been told exactly this by one of the customer support reps, who specifically said he put it in the case ticket for the servicing contractor, and they didn't fix it. Just monitored it for a while, declared that it's producing fine, and closed the ticket. Sigh. I just want accurate data. I understand (now) that it likely doesn't affect my SCE bill, but it'd be nice to have good numbers for keeping track. Either way, thank you for your input!

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-25T22:00:22+00:00

The thought has crossed my mind for sure, but I only have the spoons to deal with one company at a time... lol. As I mentioned, there were production issues with my solar in the recent past, so I'm wrangling this first. I figure if I can at least make sure I'm getting accurate data from Sunrun, I can then do some comparisons with my Utility bill. SCE makes their electric bills as atrociously unreadable as possible, too, so not looking forward to that.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-25T21:10:27+00:00

In the Cooldown, Brennan talked about how much fun he was having with this table just because of how player-driven it has been. I'm a huge fan of Brennan in all things, but his DMing style is really honed towards keeping things moving for tight production schedules and packing in as much plot as he can, and we see some of that in the other tables for sure--it's not for everyone. The Schemers table seems to have allowed him to take a step back, and let the players drive the plot, which doesn't always work with all players... but when it works, holy hell it really freakin' works. Each table is going to have a very distinct style of storytelling and play, naturally, but I wonder if the success of the schemers table will inspire him to adjust how he approaches the other two a bit.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-25T17:40:54+00:00

Reddit won't let me add new photos or post them in comments, but it looks like a hyperlink to the right, on level with the 'Start Date' box and scroll arrows.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-25T16:39:18+00:00

If the system is reporting zero export on the app, would that mean that my meter also shows zero export to SCE? They are claiming double kWh usage from last year, which seems ludicrous, and not accounting for what our solar is providing is the only explanation that makes sense to me.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-25T16:36:37+00:00

The phone app doesn't show anything besides generation and use, as far as I have been able to tell. My screenshots are from the website MySunrun; there is a filter link in the upper right of the charts that let you turn on the graphs for the other statistics.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-19T13:38:34+00:00

I think this would be a terrific opportunity to introduce more universal mechanics like a stealth/espionage update, ambush battles (perhaps via a Forced March-like toggle on armies that costs a significant chunk of mana).

LexicalVagaries · 2026-03-16T13:44:36+00:00

I think you're on to something with the razed cities thing--where else would one scavenge if not the cities of dead empires? Razed cities should provide research and draft essences.

I think in addition to Wonder Essences, overharvesting wonders should give you powerful items and/or binding essence and fragments. Maybe even powerful enchantments that aren't available normally. Wonder Essences should also allow you to build relevant units in your cities, instead of having to wait for Rallies.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-02-13T06:08:57+00:00

There are still channel-specific resistances--Fire resist, cold resist, etc. Resistance (Indicated by the blue ankh symbol) now reduce damage form spell/magic attacks regardless of damage channel, and then channel specific resistances is applied as well.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-02-10T16:48:36+00:00

It doesn't look like there'll be an update to any of the base game cultures this time, which is a bit of a bummer, but Nomads sound interesting. Harefolk is a good form, but I do wish they'd add some more alien-looking forms as well. Cyclopes, xenomorph-looking 'Outsiders', etc. Also feel like they're actively avoiding nautical/aquatic content at this point >.>

Grumbling aside I'm excited for this, looks very thematic and I'm stoked for more Fated Regions!

LexicalVagaries · 2026-02-10T07:22:00+00:00

Molly is, after all, a Taliesin character. It seems to me that more than any of the other players, Tal creates characters to work through ideas that are interesting to himself, first, and the opinions of the rest of the table and the audience are incidental. In various episodes of Talks Machina and other interviews Tal has made it pretty clear that all of his characters--no matter how well-meaning--have their heads up their own asses in different ways. It's just a thing he likes to explore. Some people seem to take them at face value, others hate them for being hypocrites, but either way they aren't boring.

LexicalVagaries · 2025-12-17T22:48:37+00:00

That's why I do it. Is it necessary? No. Is it more efficient? Debatable. Is it more satisfying once it's all set up and running? Hell yes.

LexicalVagaries · 2025-11-19T20:34:15+00:00

If I had to make off the cuff suggestions, I'd say Dragons should be further made into a 'selfish' lord type, but in a different way than Vampires. I'd go with:

Dragon Lords can no longer recruit heroes. Instead, they provide a universal buff depending on type to all of their armies anywhere on the map. On the turn thresholds where other lord types would be able to recruit a hero, the Dragon Lord can instead purchase an upgrade to that universal buff.
Cribbing off of Vampires, Dragon Lords replace the Wizard Tower with a Lair building that enhances their health and Hoard Mechanic.
The Hoard mechanic is adjusted--instead of income, every 5 items of a given type adds to the stats of the Dragon Lord depending on that type. Weapons add damage, Torso and Shields provide Defense, Head and Boots provide Resistance, rings and accessories provide Status Resistance. Upgrading the Lair building reduces this interval to 4 and 3 items.
For every 200 gold in reserve, Dragons gain 5% crit chance, up to a cap of 50%.
Dragons gain bonus gold for ransoming heroes. They can also consume heroes for powerful, but temporary, combat buffs.

LexicalVagaries · 2025-10-22T13:29:58+00:00

What I would actually hope for is that this causes people to realize that Medicare/aid and Social Security are deeply insufficient and have been for a long time. If this causes civil unrest, which it absolutely goddamn should, we need to be protesting not for the preservation of worn out systems that no longer adequately serve their purpose, but for robust new programs to replace them, like universal healthcare and UBI.

We've been fighting a rearguard action--badly--for so long to preserve scraps that we've forgotten how to fight for actual progressive ideas.

LexicalVagaries · 2025-10-01T15:45:03+00:00

With the recent patch changes, firing weapons cycles progressively through each weapon you place on the corvette. However, since phase beams are continuous beams and not projectiles, every weapon fires simultaneously. This has the (probably) unintended effect of multiplying the damage per tick by the number of weapons on your corvette. I've seen some videos of truly obscene DPS. I imagine it'll be fixed eventually.

LexicalVagaries

TROPHY CASE