AdamB

[AdamB @abaxmanjr]

@skyesmithdotjpg The new crowd has lost the ancient vocabulary of the old forums

[skye lorekeeper @skyesmithdotjpg]

back in my day we called these one shots or drabbles or ficlets (depending on the structure) and they were the lifeblood of fandom

[AdamB @abaxmanjr]

@Prismatic_Ruby This actualy made my head hurt for whatever reason

[AdamB @abaxmanjr]

@KokueUwU Jesus Christ no wonder I felt like this didn’t do anything

[Tami Tamikuz @TamiTheBlub]

Off to work, but in my mind I will be here

[Strum Your Soul. @MaagicMushies]

god fortune’s weave is quickly becoming one of those games where im like “yeah there are very clear flaws, no i do not give a fuck about any of them”

[Chris V @djchrisv]

Me right now at work:

[AdamB @abaxmanjr]

@KookieKooker I have hit a staggering amount of low percent hits and have had more than a fair share of high percent misses. So I’ve just started going with the r vibe that if it hits it hits

[AdamB @abaxmanjr]

@KaiserWave_ I 100 percent agree but I do kinda like how Guzran is more like an og fe unit for me. Zero plot relevance zero connection to my party but he has become a beast on my team to the point that in chapter 10 or 11 he solo’d the left side of the map. He just here to get things done

[Harnidh Kaur @harnidhish]

Some very scattered thoughts on The Odyssey. Also, caveat that I know much more about Homer than I know about films, so this is very much a literature person reacting to a movie. SPOILERS AHEAD (how can you spoil a 5000 year old poem…)

- I don’t really care whether it’s “faithful.” There is no single faithful Odyssey. Every translation is already an interpretation.
- The music score was just…unremarkable. I kept waiting for the music ro do something to me and it didnt. It was just loud.
- Matt Damon will win the Oscar for the siren scene
- I wish Hollywood let women be this complicated more often.
- Penelope is one of the best parts of Homer and I was glad the film understood that.
- Matt Damon completely surprised me. I wasn’t sold on the casting. I thought he was fantastic.
- The weariness of the film is intentional. By the time Odysseus gets home, you’re exhausted too.
- The modern language didn’t bother me at all. Stopped noticing after 10 mins.
- Circe is one of the biggest departures from Homer. Instead of simply being a witch, she’s a woman responding to violent men arriving at her home.
- The biggest change is replacing divine punishment with guilt. In Homer, Poseidon keeps Odysseus from getting home. Here, it feels like Odysseus can’t forgive himself.
- The “Sea Peoples” bit gutted me because suddenly Troy feels less like a glorious victory and more like a gross violation. Originally the sack of Troy was sanctioned by gods but here it’s the violation of Xenia (Zeus’s law) so uhhh.
- The near absence of the gods was fascinating. Because they’re talked about constantly and they’re almost never present.
- the Athena reveal scene fucked me uuuup.
- I think Nolan is using Homer to say something about modern war. PTSD, shame, veterans unable to truly come ‘home’, innocents and bystanders dealing with the consequence of war.
- Tom Holland’s Telemachus was perfect. He’s a boy raised without a father. This is his coming-of-age story too.
- Robert Pattinson is delicious. More films should let him play pathetic little men.
- I still have absolutely no idea what Nolan was doing with the Laestrygonians.

Overall:
Enjoyed. Dont go for faithfulness or education. Go to be awed.

[helia @cIoudgf]

i hate having a job im supposed to be doing more important things like playing final fantasy games

[AdamB @abaxmanjr]

@beaukeyleths I also think that some people are missing that the show this season has shown that Vex is happy and content enough that Vax being doomed to die doesn’t quite register as she is always joking about what they do once he’s cured. Keyleth on the other hand obsesses over preventing it

[AdamB @abaxmanjr]

@WillingBlam @matthewmercer @finalfantasyvii It’s an honor to have you behind the VILLAN this go around. Looking forward to seeing how you bring this story home

[God Empress of Mankind @nuhre_]

Let’s talk magic, because this is where it really starts to fall apart.

In Dragon Age: Origins, magic is a system, not a gimmick. It’s rooted in the Fade—mages can cast spells because they have a stronger connection to it than ordinary people. Spirits and demons are real, possession is a constant risk, and the entire Circle system exists to control that danger.

And the variety actually matters. You’re not just “a mage,” you specialize:
• Primal (fire, ice, lightning)
• Spirit (mana drain, spell disruption, anti-magic)
• Creation (healing, buffs, support)
• Entropy (hexes, curses, debuffs)
• Arcane Warrior, Blood Mage, Shapeshifter, Spirit Healer, etc.

Magic is learned, studied, and taught. Mages train in Circles, pass the Harrowing—literally entering the Fade and resisting possession by a demon—and only then become full enchanters. There’s structure, risk, philosophy behind it.

And the Veil? When Solas created it, it separated the physical world from the Fade. Without it, it’s heavily implied that magic would be far more common—maybe even universal. That’s why ancient elves were so powerful.

Technology, meanwhile, is rare. Dwarves—who don’t have a connection to the Fade—are the ones pushing engineering forward. People like Bianca’s creator (and other surface dwarves) are outliers specifically because innovation is uncommon. Magic and technology are two completely different domains in Thedas. They don’t overlap.

And then Dragon Age: The Veilguard comes in and suddenly everything is “ancient magic,” “elven magic,” artifacts that function like tech, and organizations like the Veil Jumpers basically acting like magical containment units. It starts to feel less like a mystical system tied to the Fade and more like… fantasy-flavored technology.

Even the basics get weird. If you play as a mage, there are moments that treat magic like something you build or “graduate” with a project—when in the original lore, becoming a mage is about surviving the Harrowing. You don’t craft your way into being an enchanter. You face a demon, or you die.

Magic in Origins felt dangerous, spiritual, and deeply tied to the fabric of the world. It had rules, consequences, and identity.

Turning it into something that behaves like advanced tech—especially elven tech—doesn’t expand the lore. It flattens it.

[Brent Weeks @BrentWeeks]

I’ve finished writing the main plot for NIGHT ANGEL RISING. Now on to the difficult last third of the big subplot, making sure all weaves together as planned, and many, many edits. Big, ambitious book.
No announcement on pub date, but this was a major milestone.

[bells hells’ pr manager @transmogen]

i truly believe people have a hard time with c3 because, unlike c1 and c2, it requires fully paying attention the entire time. there’s no “you can tune out/need to tune back in” markers, and if you do, you miss huge swaths of nuance, characterization, development, etc.

[Wick's Strongest Soldier @JonnyRig]

The power scaling of Campaign 4 so far is a thing of beauty #criticalrole

[Robbie Daymond @robbiedaymond]

That’s a wrap on 35 appearances for 2025. That means I met roughly 10,000+ of you absolute legends. Not a single bad moment. Thank you all for sharing your time and talent. I’ll be charged up for 2026 in a few weeks, but for now… ya boy is very very sleepy. MUCH LOVE!!! 😴 ❤️💙

[Little Miss Developed Prefrontal Cortex @kaIasbra]

post-campaign empire kids is so perfect imo. level 20 wizard teaches magic 101 at local school while housing a war criminal. his bestie's the nation's chief prosecutor. her wife (200 lb evisceratron 2000 femme) shares dinner recipes w said war criminal. all his exes are there

[ias 🎃 @wiIdemount]

ah yes the realization that you can never escape critical role 🙂‍↕️ they were there for you even before you were there for them