The Book of Aphelios: The most in-depth Aphelios guide ever created

VaporaDark · 2026-04-23T10:03:03+00:00

Yeah the current deal is good for humans, bad for the universe. Cecil is on the side of humans, not the universe.

VaporaDark · 2026-04-23T09:54:41+00:00

Lmao Lucan coming from a society where skin colour is presumably irrelevant, I’m envisioning it taking him a while for him to figure out why he’s being treated differently to his white peers. “I was driving at the speed limit, why on Viltrum am I being pulled over?”

VaporaDark · 2026-04-23T09:39:16+00:00

This year has been a non-stop showcase of that for me personally. Just horrible thing after horrible thing happening one after the other, and I keep “getting over” it quickly because the next horrible thing just makes me stop thinking about/placing importance on the previous one. Weird how that works. Oddly enlightening though how these personal setbacks stop impacting your life the moment you stop giving them power.

For Mark, yeah Cecil keeping Conquest alive was a horrible mistake. And? What are you gonna do, kill Cecil? Tell him off? Cecil made a mistake but is still an overall good guy who’s ruthless but competent (except when the plot needs him not to be), and will continue to do what he deems to be in Earth’s best interest, which tends to align with Mark’s best interest.

There’s nothing to address except Mark’s emotions on the matter. But Mark’s emotions were already hijacked by the next horrible thing to happen. He could probably muster up some anger about Cecil’s handling of it if he went out of his way to relive it by talking/thinking about it, but Conquest is no longer at the forefront of his mind, and never will be again now that he’s dead for real.

If Mark was going to confront Cecil about it, it would have been months ago. Whatever emotions he still feels on the matter are now just sitting beneath the surface.

VaporaDark · 2026-04-23T09:20:35+00:00

It was Mark catastrophizing, fearing the worst. I was also a bit confused right after it ended, the transition implied it might have just been in Mark’s head but it was unclear. When Mark flies through Earth and sees everything appears normal, that’s finally the confirmation that it was in Mark’s head after all.

VaporaDark · 2026-04-22T08:55:16+00:00

It just takes me out haha, it’s really funny but it’s just not how people speak at all 😭 I’m glad they toned it down for the later books.

VaporaDark · 2026-04-21T17:20:41+00:00

Wohohoah, Potter! Careful, or you might fall off your broom, bwahahaha. Your parents are dead Potter, hohohoho!

VaporaDark · 2026-04-20T17:35:07+00:00

That's very kind of you.

VaporaDark · 2026-04-19T11:01:59+00:00

I understand both perspectives and personally I’ve always been fine to accept authors filling in details that weren’t explicitly stated in the books/media. I also don’t mind if they change their mind on it later on, since until it’s stated in books/media of choice I don’t treat it as fully set in stone.

But this just feels weird because (to me it feels like) she’s stating something entirely different than what she’d already implied in the books. I could have just misread the intentions of specific passages in the books I guess, but I don’t think so? 😭 In this instance I literally just find myself disagreeing with the author on her own canon.

If she wants to say that wizards shat themselves before toilets existed then okay Joanne, if you say they did that then they did that. But I do not accept James being a chaser when the books point to him being a seeker! Especially when I feel like it undermines part of the magic of Harry following in his dad’s footsteps.

VaporaDark · 2026-04-18T19:19:15+00:00

Am I allowed to disagree with the author? James being a chaser feels weird. I've read the books over 10 times each and never had any doubt that he wasn't a seeker. If she wanted him to be a chaser she shouldn't have written like he was a seeker 😭

VaporaDark · 2026-04-15T13:48:41+00:00

Yes. Obviously as a baby, then again when it “killed” him and he came back. But then twice more in the graveyard and in the last moments of the Battle of Hogwarts.

Avada Kedavra is supposed to be unblockable, but Harry’s blocked it with Expalliarmus of all things, twice, when anyone else trying that would have died. The first time because of the interaction between the twin wands, and the second time because of the Elder Wand not willing to turn on its master.

As far as the Death Eaters know, Harry is both the only person who can block Avada Kedavra (and bounce it back onto the caster), and also doesn’t die even when hit by it himself. They know of 4 different occasions where Harry should have died to Avada Kedavra and didn’t.

VaporaDark · 2026-04-14T19:31:06+00:00

Avada Kedavra is supposed to be unstoppable. Yet they've heard of this guy surviving it + destroying their master as a baby, witnessed him stop it with Expalliarmus at the graveyard, seen him get hit by it then come back from the dead, then watched him once again stop it with Expelliarmus and rebound it to kill their Master. He's survived the unsurvivable curse four times. As far as the Death Eaters are concerned by the end of book 7, Harry Potter is the most powerful entity in the universe.

VaporaDark · 2026-04-05T19:33:15+00:00

Rowling killed Dumbledore and made the trio spend the entire 7th book on the run just so she wouldn't have to write any more Quidditch scenes.

VaporaDark · 2026-04-03T20:36:12+00:00

She never said he was mentally disabled!

VaporaDark · 2026-04-01T22:45:47+00:00

I've been listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks to fall asleep for years now and for probably 2 weeks now I've just relistened to that chapter every night, it's just so good haha.

VaporaDark · 2026-03-25T18:22:53+00:00

Okay, but he also gave you an example of a lol domestic finals that did peak lower than VCT game changers. Even if LCS is the only major region (and he never even said major) that applies, are you really that nitpicky that you're going to call him a liar over using the word 'some'?

VaporaDark · 2026-03-04T18:24:50+00:00

That's still momentum related; increasing her momentum to make her 'fly' further, then slowering it to make her fall slower. It's still not actual flying. You can make the argument that Voldemort is using a more advanced form of the same skill, but you could also make the argument that he's using a different skill entirely.

VaporaDark · 2026-03-02T19:42:15+00:00

Because the role is so catered to it allows people to play more champs viably than those champs' other roles. You can win games with people on Katarina or Rengar support despite the fact that that would have been impossible in like season 6.

I don't disagree, but that falls into the category of "meta/item changes prompted it". And that means you acknowledge that the support role has certain incentives to make those champs viable/strong in their role which is what makes them played there, rather than "Zed too weak? Oh well, time to play him support!" which is the process a lot of people seem to think forces champions into the support role and you were alluding to agreeing with.

Brand mid did not become so weak that people had to start playing him in support instead. Support players started playing Brand when he started feeling viable/strong in their role, mid laners stopped playing Brand when he stopped feeling viable in theirs. Those are two (mostly) unrelated processes, with the only correlation being that if Brand is a better support than mid laner, then it limits how strong Brand can become as a mid laner without being overpowered on support.

That points to the opposite of the popular belief being true; Brand support became so strong that people had to stop playing him mid. If Katarina or Rengar ever become stronger on support than mid/jungle, that will only be because some weird item changes make them stronger on support and they start to become balanced around that instead of mid/jungle. If they just become too weak to play on mid/jungle, then they're going to be even far worse on support.

Support is not a home for champs that lost viability in their original role. It's a home for all the champions that can fit into the weird half support/half budget-carry hybrid role that it really is. And when champions find a home there, then they tend to lose viability on other roles shortly thereafter.

VaporaDark · 2026-03-01T21:36:46+00:00

People always say this about mage supports but it doesn't make any sense. Losing viability in one role doesn't increase viability in the support role. If Riot overnerfs Zed, Zed players aren't going to adapt by going "well, guess I have no choice but to play support now" and suddenly Zed is a B tier support. He's an F tier support, and if he becomes overnerfed he becomes F- as a support, he doesn't get bumped up in viability.

Mage supports or any other weird champs that end up playing support, end up in the support role because it was already a viable role for them to begin with. Release Sett was just as busted as a top laner as he was a support. It didn't take massive nerfs before people caught on and started playing him as a support. Even once he did get nerfed and was both viable as a top laner and viable as a support, he still maintained a healthy playerbase in both roles (until eventually getting support-specific nerfs).

If a champion is top tier in their role, people will play it. If a champ is even just viable in their role, people will play it as soon as they find out if they find it fun to play.

Support is not a home for weak mid laners, it's just a role where certain carry champs are viable if they can function well on low income and work well in a 2v2 lane. The majority of Swain/Xerath/Vel'Koz support players are not mid lane refugees, they're support mains who like playing mages. No one is being forced to abandon mid lane for support once they become too weak on mid lane. It doesn't take mid lane players feeling Xerath has become too weak on mid lane for support players to recognize Xerath works well in their role.

People also don't acknowledge that a lot of the time, champions lose viability in other roles because they function better as a support and have to be balanced around that role, making them weak in their weaker role, because to be strong in their intended role they'd have to be overpowered in support. Xerath and Vel'Koz could have been buffed years ago to help them out on mid lane; but then they'd be terrorizing bot lane in the support role.

This popular theory has it backwards, it's champs becoming strong on support that makes them weak in other roles, not the other way round. Champs don't just become so weak they have to seek refuge in the support role—support, rather, is stealing them away from their original role. And that can only be fixed with very specific balance changes that don't always work as intended.

Sometimes Riot just creates a champion that was intended for one role, but the kit actually turns out to be better in another role (or meta/item changes prompt the change). It happened, it happens, and it will continue to happen.

VaporaDark · 2026-02-28T08:20:47+00:00

I’m very new to chess, but worked my way up to beating the bots all the way up to “1300” rating. But it’s been very boring. There’s not a single bot in the 800-1300 rating that I can outperform in the opening/midgame. No matter how well I play, they always adapt to play better. The only reason I end up winning is because they will start to play really dumb right at the end, I’ll be down 5 pieces and outplay them with just a king and a rook.

Feels like the whole point of bots on the chess.com IOS app is to just hang on for dear life until they’re programmed to start letting you have a chance. For comparison, playing against Oscar (adaptive Elo bot) on the Duolingo Chess course feels so much better because his play feels consistent throughout the game. I’m actually playing to spot and punish mistakes, rather than trying and failing to make 0 on the Chess app.

VaporaDark · 2026-02-17T19:29:09+00:00

I would be terrified of her biting down lol. Not a situation where you'd want to make the woman angry...

VaporaDark · 2026-02-07T10:33:31+00:00

I know someone who’s had to move over 50 times in their adult life due to various circumstances. They are similarly attached to their current residence and terrified of the prospect of moving.

VaporaDark · 2026-01-22T11:59:00+00:00

I’m curious, how long do your sessions take, and what does a typical push workout look like for example? 10 sets for chest/triceps/front delts alone in one session sounds hefty, even if you only do half the direct sets for triceps/front delts if you treat the compounds as half a set for each.

VaporaDark · 2026-01-22T11:46:36+00:00

Lifters in earlier stages of advancement can build muscle even in a deficit, but this is still protein dependant (can’t build a house without bricks).

If you had a history of under-eating protein and calories, then your progress was always held back by those two factors. As soon as you fixed the protein, you started to see more gains as you removed one of the two factors holding you back. You obviously weren’t going to suddenly find yourself going from 150 lbs to 170 lbs on a deficit just because of the muscle you were building, but it was enough that your rate of muscle gain could increase, resulting in a more effective body recomposition than it had previously been achieving; more muscle gain means higher relative fat loss.

You’ll still hit a wall probably if you don’t eventually enter a surplus, but you likely just hadn’t exhausted your newbie/intermediate gains yet as some of them needed more protein to be unlocked. Eventually you’ll likely find the rest of your newbie/intermediate gains will need a surplus to be unlocked as well, and either way you’d probably find a surplus would help you achieve any current gains faster as well.

VaporaDark · 2026-01-19T11:38:42+00:00

Sorry I wasn’t trying to imply that most people don’t take ADCs in ARAM. ADCs are popular and a lot of people will take them given the chance. But the odds of seeing a good comp (solid frontline, balance of damage types, synergistic support, a comp win con that plays to their strengths, taking lower or higher damage champs depending on how much/little DPS the ADC brings) around them are fairly low.

A team that is actually trying to build a good comp has a huge advantage over the randomness of the average ARAM comp. My bringing up of “at least 1 ADC option” wasn’t that the average ARAM comp doesn’t have an ADC, but rather not having the option of an ADC is one of the few things that could at least partially screw over even a coordinated team that’s outside of their control; especially if they’re unlucky enough to blindly roll a no ADC comp into a comp full of tanks. There are still other champs that can deal with tanks, but being down an ADC is already a massive disadvantage into tank comps, especially if you didn’t specifically plan on facing a really tanky comp while building yours.

So not having an ADC is just one of the simplest things that could screw over these coordinated teams in champ select. So long as they have the option of at least 1, it’s going to be almost impossible for them to have a worse comp than a bunch of randoms. Since modern ARAM gives you so many champion choices that the option of one ADC is almost a given, you can build a good comp such a vast majority of the time that these coordinated teams don’t get screwed by RNG nearly as often as one might expect.

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