335 réponses à ce sujet

[HuldraDancer]

Lol sounds like something I would say/think.

 

Ha! Yeah my social skills are pretty zero and I much prefer it when I can just focus on doing something rather than dealing with people. As far as I understand part o the job asks me to just not talk to the customers so sounds perfect for me

[Jorji Costava]

Some random stuff that I found amusing:

 

1. Psychologists have discovered a general factor of intelligence in dogs. Some researchers are calling this "dognitive ability."

 

2. A study on why it's good to be nice on the internet.

 

3. This one's a bit older (2009), but it's a study on the "average hotness" of various academic disciplines. Philosophy (my discipline) made the top ten! Of course, every discipline is still below average, but let's just forget about that for now.

[HuldraDancer]

Found out about half the uniform I'd be expected to wear if I get the job where I'm aiming for and am pleasantly surprised that I have half of it already so it won't have to be taken out of my first pay check (assuming the shoes I have count) and my work clothes still fit shockingly enough. I will never buy anything exactly my size ever again my love of baggy clothes has saved me some extra bucks. I'm assuming a lot but I have been told quite a few times I wouldn't be hard at all to get me this job when I move.

[Lady Artifice]

We're finally having big, proper rainstorms. I mean, it's actually a little too much because we're having some flooding and mudslides, but at least it seems like that terrible drought is over.

[Donk]

I love rainstorms

Especially since I live out in the desert.

[HuldraDancer]

Just spent maybe 10 minutes today watching a squirrel climb around the trees outside my window, chattering with every little move it made. An adorable chunky orange one. Time well spent.

[Natashina]

The guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000 have been doing something called Rifftracks for the last few years now. They take mainstream movies, and riff over them, which you do have to pay a little bit to hear. They even did the first Jurassic Park with Weird Al.

That's cool, but what makes me happy is that Rifftracks has their own show. It's on the National Geographic channel, where they make fun of a lot of the old "Wild Kingdom" and "When Animals Mate and Die" type footage. I tried to drink coffee three times during the hour long show, and every time I nearly had coffee coming out of my nose every time. I'd highly recommend it.

[Biotic Apostate]

^THANK YOU for that, I've just watched this and it's just too good!

[Natashina]

You're quite welcome.

[nightscrawl]

Being able to crank out some good descriptive prose makes me very happy. I probably tend to get carried away, but seeing the mental image in the words is so satisfying.

[Lady Artifice]

These flowers are amazing. 

 

http://blog.flowersa...irdest-flowers/

[nightscrawl]

These flowers are amazing creepy. 
 
http://blog.flowersa...irdest-flowers/

Fixed that for ya. I mean, one has a FACE in it! x_x

[Lady Artifice]

Fixed that for ya. I mean, one has a FACE in it! x_x

 

But it's a cute little monkey face!

[Natashina]

Destroying the difficulty in Chrono Cross without breaking that much of a sweat. It's pretty long, but for CC fans, totally worthwhile. I'll put it in spoiler tags.

TL;DR Trap high end elements from bosses early on; kill a couple of dragons; do a companion sidequest; go through an optional boss fight and exploit it's stupid AI; kill another optional boss for an accessory. The game isn't that hard, but this is the best way to remove most of the challenge from the game without cheat codes.

Spoiler

How to Break the Difficulty of Chrono Cross Without
Cheating.

Step 1: Buy a lot of traps before the body swap. I usually buy 5 of each, with 3 summons. The summons aren't needed for this strat, but it's nice to have for later. I do this just before I enter Ft. Dragonia.

Step 2: Trap 5 of each of the following in Ft. Dragonia: Holy Light from SonofaGun (Blank face,) Inferno from Bunyip (First form.) There is several others that are handy (such as Gloop having Iceberg to trap,) but the red and white elements are valuable for an upcoming boss strategy.

--Remember, you can run away and still keep any elements you've trapped. It'll reset the fight, but you can do this until you have what you need and/or until you're bored. I'd still recommend 5 of the above mentioned elements.

Step 3: Trap 5 Ultra Novas from Mega Starky (when he's in critical) once you can get to him as Lynx.

Step 4: Start the "Save Marbule" side quest. When you are still a cat (er, a smaller cat) on the casino ship, you'll need to go to Nikki's dressing room and watch the scene between him and Irenes.

--Bonus! The Sage fight is your first chance to trap Deluge and Carnivore. Use the trap you want to start his attack chain for that color. His attack pattern will reset to back to normal once the spell (Deluge or Carnivore or whatever you're trapping) is cast. Beats waiting for the Green Dragon or the SideSteppas much later in the game.

Step 5: When you get to the Dead Sea, trap Volcanoes from the Tragediennes (those are the pain in the arse ghosts inside the Tower of Geddon. The ones with the overly long introduction.) If you want to bring someone other than Fargo for the Dario fight (like Draggy if you got him in Home World Ft. Dragonia) this will be handy.

--Bonus! They are great for trapping Black Holes and Tornadoes early on. It makes that long as hell introduction mostly worthwhile.

Step 6: Make sure to visit Home World's Earth Dragon isle if you haven't done so already. Get to the dead end, then talk to the NPC right next to the sand boil up top. We'll be back here in a few.

Step 7: Once you get the Dragon Relic fetch quest, immediately get Marbule done in the Home World and defeat the Black Dragon (she's in Another World.) Don't forget to have Fargo steal the Black Plate!

Step 8: Take care of Karsh's Level 7 Tech quest at the Isle of the Damned.

--Bonus! Steal from Solt to get the "Forget-Me-Not-Pot." Useless for the boss fights, but it's the first time you can get one before Chronopolis.

Step 9: Now head back to the HM Earth Dragon Isle. You should be able to proceed and kill the dragon. Don't forget to steal that Yellow Plate either! You'll need it for the Sphinx! Otherwise, you are dead.

Step 10: Time to do the Dario quest, while using the Red Element Trick with a bit of a twist. My setup was:

--Riddel: Mythril or Stone Rod/Black Plate/Magic Seal/Sight Scope/Mythril or Stone Helm. Her physical damage sucks anyhow, so if you forgot to make a new rod for her, don't sweat it.

Stock her up with Ultra Nova (as many as you can, even down in the negatives,) Holy Light and others. A few healing spells is also there, but I try not to use them with her save for emergencies.

--Fargo: Stone Sword/Sight Scope/Silver Loupe/Dragoon Gauntlet. You'll want to keep him with high hit % and extra strength helps too.

He's not much of a caster, so he became my primary healer and buff bot. As a blue innate, he can use Cure All, which is very nice. He's got one of the Revive (set at elemental slot #2) spells you can get by that point in the game. For extra fun, throw Weaken on Dario and get Eagle Eye on Riddel.

I usually don't have him steal. The item and the counter attack (Weaken) isn't worth the effort. He's good for physical attacks otherwise.

--Lynx: Stone Swallow/Silver Loupe/Dragoon's Honor/Mythril or Stone Helm.

I gave him some more healing spells than Riddel, but loaded with all of the higher end Red Elements. He also has Revive in slot #2. If you're using Draggy instead of Fargo, give the red elements to Draggy and make Lynx the physical damage dealer and the party's healer.

--Riddel will get healed by ConductaRod when she casts her white elements. Lynx will only get Numble for using the Red Elements, Fargo is on heals.

--As long as Dario doesn't take out both Fargo and Lynx, just keep Fargo's elemental grid. Have him stick to physical attacks and heal if needed. If someone dies more than twice (or Fargo dying twice for example), just run away and restart the fight.

--Between Ultra Nova (which even at -1 was doing over 450dmg,) Holy Light and Inferno, he dropped in 5 minutes. Congrats, you're almost done kissing the difficulty goodbye in Chrono Cross!

Step 11: Lynx will need the Mastermune/Yellow Plate/Star Fragment or Yellow Brooch/Dragoon's Honor/Mythril or Stone Helm.

--Load up on Green Elements, strong Black Elements (since that's his innate) and healing. Head to Another World's Earth Dragon Isle.

--Bring along Fargo, but otherwise the third party member doesn't matter. Like with Dario this isn't worth a Star Level, but they don't need to live too long in this fight. They aren't really needed for this though.

Step 12: Start by having Fargo attacking the Sphinx instead of doing the riddle. Have him try to grab a Rainbow Shell. If not, don't worry about it. It's a rare steal and not worth restarting the fight for imho.

Step 13: The Sphinx will go apeshit and start spamming Earthquake and ThundaStorm. This is why the plate and the Star Fragment are needed for this fight. You can also trap up those spells if you feel like. I trapped Earthquake later on, and I've never used ThundaStorm much outside of Gaia's Navel, but it's up to you.

--His attack pattern goes: Earthquake -> ThundaStorm -> Earthquake immediately followed by Thundastorm->Attack x3 ->Earthquake (rinse, repeat)

Step 14: Beat the snot outta him with physical attacks, then pop off the green element (or black, since that works well.) When he does that standalone ThundaStorm, break up the field to where it isn't all yellow. Defend when he attacks. Heal if needed, but you'll get healed once the Sphinx starts his magical attacks.

Step 15: Rinse and repeat until it's dead.

Step 16: Equip Serge/Lynx with the Dragoon's Honor, the Sunglasses and a Power Seal.

Congratulations, you've killed most of the difficulty in the game! With that set up, 250-400 dmg right out the gatewith a fierce attack, everthing is very easy from here on out. With the Mastermune's high crit rate, you do a crapton of damage per hit.

Even the Dragon God is easy. Enjoy!

--Bonus! If you want to use the Viper Dragoon Glory glitch, put two of those on Serge plus the Sunglasses. Then proceed to cackle with maniacal glee.

I usually get 8 (three for the companions and two for the main character, since I never take off the Sunglasses on Serge) plus 10-12 more just for the cash. You'll still need a Specter Swallow for the NG+, and the gear itself is pricey. I did this because I didn't want to farm for cash as long in Chronopolis. Again.

[Lady Artifice]

David Gaider replied to my tweet to him. I so need a dumb "Senpai noticed me," gif right now. 

 

Also a better understanding of how twitter is supposed to work. I really don't want to embarrass myself. 

[nightscrawl]

^ What did you ask?? I must know!

[HuldraDancer]

Found even more Harvest Moon fans. Always makes me feel happy when I see other people who like that game.

 

And stupid brain is going back to the time I found out a guy I had a crush on was into those games as well, you stupid stupid brain

 

Anywho yeah very fun to see more people who like those simple charming games

[Lady Artifice]

^ What did you ask?? I must know!

 

 

I only wish I had asked something, but it was actually just a comment. A little while ago, he mentioned how skewed it is when people on the forums say that their freedom of speech is being compromised when they've been banned. 

 

So, I said:

 

It's even worse when people suggest that disagreeing them is violating their freedom of speech. That's a whole new low.

 

And he said:

 

Not unlike some folks who suggest not being allowed to oppress others is, in fact, oppression.

 

---

 

 

The odd thing is, I actually responded again, and my nerves about doing so were enough to give me a bad dream. You see, I replied, Like those who want to bully the NPCs into behaving the way they would prefer, or bully you into writing the story they want."

 

and I dreamt that he retorted something like, "I'll be sure to pass on your instructions for appropriate behavior." Basically the gist was that he considered me arrogant and out of line. In the dream, I was mortified. The kind of mortified where you wish the earth would just swallow you. It actually took me a little while after waking up to realize that David Gaider hadn't actually gotten angry with me. 

[Natashina]

Today is the 16th anniversary of sobering up off of meth and opiates. It makes me smile to see how far I've come. I went from being a junkie with a blood infection to being a happy housewife and auntie. For a couple of years after I cleaned up, the smell of meth was appealing to me. I wanted it. Thanks to some good friends, I was able to stay away long enough for the craving to go away.

In 2004, I was at Ozzfest here in Denver. It was one of those weird summer days we can have up here, where it was 55 and raining in July. Anyway, any smells lingered heavily in the air, and someone was smoking meth. I no longer wanted it, I wanted to puke at the sickly-sweet burning plastic smell. I had never been happy to be so nauseous in my entire life.

[DomeWing333]

Meanwhile, I can't even cut down on sugars without relapsing...

[Natashina]

Meanwhile, I can't even cut down on sugars without relapsing...

Edit: This very long, so I'm putting it into spoiler tags to save on space.

Spoiler

When I was kicked out of my apartment for basically being a lazy junkie, I was dropped off at the hospital. I had a blood infection running up my arm, with the telltale little red streaks. I had scrapped my knuckle a few days before on a brick wall, though not severely. My immune system was so shot from doing a lot of meth and opiates (pills and smokeable opium) that it the infection went wild.

The doctors took one look at my arm and immediately put me on 3500cc of antibiotics. The very first thing they asked was if I had used meth in the last 48hrs. Which I had. I went through two bags in less than 90 minutes because I was so sick. The doctors told me if I had waited another 48 hours, I'd likely be dead. That infection would have reached my heart and well...that's all she wrote.

I had hit rock bottom. I was briefly homeless, with nothing but the clothes on back. No money, and most of my stuff was taken. My "friends" that had gotten high with me had all turned their backs. My best friend of now 18 years was one of two people that stood by me, but I couldn't move in with him. I had no choice but to call my parents and have them come get me. They didn't know what happened exactly, but they knew that I was sicker than hell.

I had moved back out 6 months later. I did tell them a couple of years later what had happened, and they were pretty compassionate. I know for a fact that I would have ended up dead if it wasn't for them. They took care of me during and helped me clean up. Even if they didn't know it at the time.

Anyway, I got back to my folks and I had some clothes that I hadn't taken with me. I took a hot shower, and put on an old nightgown. Then I saw my reflection and started to cry. I looked like Death was trying to creep up on me. I was 112 lbs and I didn't recognize myself. It was bad.

I knew it was down to two options: Get sober or die as a junkie. I didn't want to die, so with all of my resolve, I knew I was going to quit. I got back in touch with my old friends, got a job working with animals for awhile, and started to get my act together. Nearly dying was what really motivated to quit, and I'm happy I did.

It wasn't easy at times. One night in December of 2000 (so about 9 months after,) I was at a friend's house. Unbeknownst to the owner, someone was smoking tweek. I told my friend "You get my the f' out of here now." He did, thankfully, and I was okay. I had the shakes for awhile, but I made it.

I got out of the whole thing relatively unscathed. I lost my stuff, some of which was precious to me. However, since I didn't share needles and always used protection, I came out of it 100% disease free. No Hep A or B, no STDs. I'm grateful and happy that I got a second chance to not screw things up. A lot of people don't have that.

That's part of the reason why I try to be nice and diplomatic, offline and online. I believe in paying it forward. Sometimes, a kind word or a reasonable point of view can make all the difference to someone. Life's short and pain is long and we were put on this earth to take care of each other.

The Dude Abides.

[DomeWing333]

Jesus, that's a hell of a fall to be able to get back up from. I mean it sounds like you had a good network of support from your friend and family, but even still, it takes an incredible amount of willpower to be able to overcome such a pervasive evil in your life. Thank you for sharing. 

[HuldraDancer]

Depressing cat stuff aside for today I just remembered I found something pretty cool a while ago (I forget if I've mentioned this before if I have i"m sorry) a short little creepy manga type story called 'The Enigma of Amigara Fault' if you're into kind of creepy reads I would recommend it.

 

http://brasscockroac...ll/Amigara.html

 

Not sure if this is its official site area but it is where I found the whole thing. 

 

EDIT: If you do check it out it reads right to left just ta let ya'll know.

[Steelcan]

Meanwhile, I can't even cut down on sugars without relapsing...

here I am trying to drop a few pounds :/

[nightscrawl]

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I got a bag of the tiny eggs that they have for Easter and ate six in one go (recommended serving size: 1). I must show restraint with the rest, but it's SO HARD!

 

Their commercials are the greatest, too.