Star Wars suits the warscape engine a lot more and it may be fun given the theme. I want a pike and shot total war however I don't trust CA with historical titles anymore. As long as the "warscape" engine is in place they will just make the same old games anyway. At least with a star wars total war it could be theoretically fun.
CA's strategy is to play it safe and always use the same engine but with different textures. I'm going to put up with that and just see how their star wars game turns out.

Hi All
​
After reading lots and lots of questions and answers on this Subreddit, i completely lost my thoughts. I have a good understanding of how investing works, why i should do it, and the power of compounded interest on long term, combined with the ease of an ETF like Iwda. I have a quite complex situation which confuses me a lot when it comes to investing and saving money. I already saw a lot of 'professional' explanations and theories here, so i would like to ask an objective opinion.
​
This is who I am:

• 24 y/o male, works in as production-and planningcoordinator - net income =-2350 / month + benefits
• i have a girlfriend, we are living together in a house of mine (situation will be explaned below).
• +- 150k in savings, doing nothing on the bank at 0.5 % interest.
• +- 25k in stocks and etf's
• i have 2 houses on my name, 1 i live in myself together with my girlfriend, the other one is the house in which my grandparents are living in ( = vruchtgebruik, have been gifted the house a couple of years ago).
• I don't have any debts and don't have that much common expenses.
• Don't have kids, probably not before i reach 30 as i want to figure out where i will get financially to provide a stable situation for a kid. (girlfriend is fine with it).

​
I think i'm in a quite well situation given my age, and that's why i want to seize the opportunity as thoughtful as possible.
​
when i was 19, i started putting 5k in seperate stocks, mainly tech and Uranium as i am a strong believer of nuclear energy. That's doing very well as it's already 18k now.
​
invested another 5k in iwda last year, which is doing well aswell.
​
Reason why i am stuck:
I don't know what to do with my cash.
I want to invest some money for long term (10 a 15 years +) I want to invest some for very long term to retire comfy I have the houses, 1 renovated, bungalow from '60, which is now beginning EPC C, so quite efficient for the age. Only large expense for the future: removing asbest roof and replace it with shingles. Note that this house is with our future in mind, to start for the first 10 years or so. My final goal is to renovate the house of my grandparents in the future, to make it as good as possible for the rest of our lives (my girlfriend is fine with the situation, it's beneficial for her too). It's a 'landhuis' on a larnge plot of land. So i guess it will take arround 150k to renovate the house.
​
The approach i am thinking off:
I invest another 15k in Iwda as lump sum and DCA from now on 300 euro's a month. I keep my own money to live from and to invest When i would ever renovate the house of my grand parents, i could get a loan for renovation purposes and use the bare minimum as downpayment. Then i renovate the house, and will live in it afterwards. The house i live in now is modern, detached , and easy to rent out. I would use the rental income from this property to pay off my loan I got to renovate the other house. I could eventually do a downpayment to make the rental income more than the loan, so I get let's say 200 euro's spare which i could park on a high yield growth savings account. This amount would come in when i have a cost at the property which is rented out. In the meanwhile i still have a filled savings account which keeps all roads open for investing oppertunities or to increase the value of the property i will be living in, in let's say 10 years or so (I hope it takes as long as possible as I love my grand parents, i want them to live as long as possible and stay at home while they can.) Once the renovation loan has been paid, i still have a lot of savings, so has my girlfriend, so in the further future, we could eventually buy an investment property together aswell.
​
Would you change strategy? Or come in mind with another strategy that could work for me? I am willing to take moderate risk. I don't want to invest all in individual stocks as they are too volatile for me, especially sectorbased like energy. But ETF's, i am fine with. If it crashes, everything crashes, and after a crash, it will climb anyway in the long run.
​
My goal is not to stop working or so, or to retire at 40, but i want to be able to say 'fuck it' and do something I really really enjoy, even though I would earn half the money. I never want to stress about money. I am quite economically-minded and think a lot before i purchase something expensive. Working 4/5 when i'm around 40 and 3/5 when around 55 would be ideal i think.
​
My main motivation; based on the lifestyle of my grandfather, i like to walk arround on my property, thinking how beautifyl it is, washing the car on saturday, play with the kids, take them for a ride in a old porsche 911 (passionate about that car since when i was 6, posters all arround my room, till to date haha, that's the life strive for, the life i WANT to work for . not to sit at home at 50 all day long as everyone i know will still work then.
​
Thank you so much for your insights
​
Cheers
​
​

So I play Fortnite mobile on my Google pixel 7a, and I have this 'glitch' where if I shoot I move instead, and when I press the edit button I can't edit! While I also play on my Samsung Galaxy S10 lite I don't have these problems. Anyone know how to fix it? Or at least get the old joystick back?
Oh yeah and can anybody teach me how to get stretched resolution on my phone? Thanks In advance.

And oh my God, I am tearing my hair out at how bad it is.
Alia, shut the f- up and let me play the damn game and figure it out. I got on just fine in X, X2, X3 and X4 without a mile long lecture each time I unlock a damn Maverick power-up.
The time limit in the game is actual BS. I was fine with it being 16 hours, because that meant I can visit each stage once, beat the Mavericks there and revisit each stage with the power-ups to collect all the collectibles…Until that asshole Dynamo showed up and forced me to use an hour, which means I’ll not have enough time to collect all the power-ups unless I go online and collect all the power-ups in one stage. And that’s not including any future setbacks.
And Volt Kraken…Ohhhhhhhhhh! Volt Kraken has got to be the most shittiest stage I’ve ever played across all the Mega Man games. I was already a hater of Jet Stingray from X4 and Frost Man from 8 for having the infuriating motorcycle segments, but Volt Kraken takes it to a new level of frustration. (Ready? Die! Ready?) And that’s not even the end of the stage! Then you have to unlock gates by hitting the keys over and over again and when there’s two, you have to hit both at the same time. And that segment with the electric barrier is so damn annoying! And if you die at the next parts, you get sent all the way back there. You know it’s bad when I had some R&R fighting Volt Kraken himself. Usually the boss is the most challenging part, but not this time!
Those who defend X5 with a burning passion, your time has come. Please sell me on playing this game more, because I’ve only gotten my third power-up and already think it’s the crappiest Mega Man so far.
Edit: Also, wtf Tidal Whale, using Bubble Crab’s theme?! The music was one of the things I love about all Mega Man games, but reusing old Mega Man themes is unacceptable.

If you have a rules question, meta questions about the competitive aspect of the game, are looking for painting tips and techniques, have small quick questions, or are just excited about getting the game then this thread is for you to ask ALL those questions you have, and more! Old players, please jump in and answer the questions, and generally show our new players a good time!
If you have a question about what to buy, we recommend Crabbok's buying guides.

• Armada - What to Buy First on a Budget - Empire - 2023
  
• What to Buy First on a Budget - Star Wars Armada Rebel Alliance - 2023
  
• What to Buy First on a Budget - Star Wars Armada Galactic Republic - 2023
  
• What to Buy First on a Budget - Star Wars Armada Separatist Alliance - 2023
  
• Armada Clone Wars - Buyer's Guide and Review
  

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- - - - -
Ceele strolled through the damp grass along the outskirts of the village, a spring in her step and the dwindling scent of dew following behind. It rained yesterday, which had prevented her from going out to gather supplies, but the mild morning air had been accommodating enough for her to get an early start and make the trip. She was glad she did.
One hand clutched her new prize to her chest, while the other held a fraying wicker basket filled with herbs and some edible roots she gathered by exploring the forbidden forest. Despite her reservations regarding where she chose to go, her excitement now lingered like a steady thrum of shifting stones, giving her energy that defied how long she had been walking. She all but pranced beneath the burgeoning night's sky, gleefully toeing the line between the dirt pathways of the settlement’s outskirts and the trees of unclaimed land. Normally, her path back home would never be so close to the village, but she was far too gleeful to mind. She had come back with a sense of fulfillment and a rare object—or if not rare, then hopefully of great value.
It was hard to point to any one specific reason that she came across the orb. There had always been a ‘draw’ during her travels, urging her that there was something missing in her life, yet it was no more than a mild whim to walk in a particular direction more often than not. Once she reached this part of the continent, she was compelled to wander, never quite able to explain why she obliged the sensation besides having nowhere in particular to be. Even when she finally settled somewhere, it stayed in the back of her mind, suggesting that she was close to whatever would make the pit of vacancy go away. She ignored it, purposefully distracting herself with her work and responsibilities, yet that could only last so long. When she awoke this morning with plans to resupply, and all of her newfound spots had been picked clean by wildlife, she turned to the depths of the forest where she was warned not to tread. It was all too easy to follow the subtle tug in her chest through the loose justification.
The urge to be somewhere grew unbearable with every step closer to the forbidden area. That sense of having a direction she needed to go became stronger and stronger, until she was well into land long since forgotten. She came across an overgrown depression in the hillside, and was entranced by the foreboding image. Something about the cave just…beckoned her. She was far too weak to resist.
Horrible tales echoed into her ears as whispers of fearful voices, warning and unending, yet but a dull drone compared to her hammering heart. She navigated the trees and brushed aside unkempt vines, stepping into the cavern with a mix of expectation and trepidation, then laid eyes on the small obsidian stone perched atop a crumbling pillar. The feeling of needing to travel somewhere…stopped.
The pull was absent, which was why she held the orb close instead of placing it into her basket. She wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but she recalled overheard tales of hidden gemstones, deep cavernous expanses, and the untold terrors that lay within. Comparing the scenes of those fables to the cave seemed foolish now; it wasn’t some torturous chamber, but a dusty depression in a small hillside. Besides, anything this pretty was sure to be worth a fair sum, and she needed the coin. Yet the thought of selling the precious-looking stone was a conflicting one. She shook off the thought for the time being, turning her attention back towards where she was going.
Shadows stretched and faded as the moon stole the last of the illumination afforded by the sun, replacing it with a calming glow that caressed the log frames and thatched roofs of various homes. A star-filled sky came into prominence as clouds lazily drifted away, revealing the promise of tomorrow’s fair-weathered arrival. It was too late for anyone to notice her treading on the edge of their town while lost in thought, but she was still careful not to get too close to the houses or livestock pens where people might be finishing the evening’s duties. It was best that they didn’t see her returning from a place she was told not to go. Still, her feet carried her near the dwellings as she took in the noises.
Ceele enjoyed the comforting chatter from a distance. Indistinct words floated freely. Meaningless gossip and warm goodbyes were exchanged between friends and family. Places of various occupations were dark and quiet, only the faint contented mewls and clucks of livestock coming from their pastures as they ate what was recently put out for them. No metal rang throughout the streets as it was struck inside a centralized smithy, no heated bartering came from an overactive trade house, and the crunch of dirt beneath transport or merchant wagons was absent, replaced by the rapid steps and yelps of children rushing to their homes before it got too dark out. It was all just gentle conversation and life drifting through the wind, taking the rustle of leaves along for the ride, just so she could hear it. Tranquil, in a word.
She wondered what it would sound like if she were yet one more voice within that crowd of kindness. Would it be loud like the larger cities? Would she struggle to maintain a thought with so many stray topics floating about? Would she once more yearn for the peace and quiet of solitude that she had grown used to, or would she immerse herself, free of judgment and laughing like the carefree young that scampered about? Did thinking about it even matter?
Her smile fell from its genuine intensity—still worn, but not as fully. She glanced downward as her stride lost its jubilant bounce, her tail losing its sway as her grey eyes examined the dry black scales that adorned her body against her wishes. It was the ugly hue of tarnished oil, unlike the skin of any other kobold she had met. Some had reds or greens, yellows or whites, while most were between a sandy tan or earthen brown. The rainbow of peculiarities was displayed by the lucky few, and she was one of them…
…Yet she was different in the worst of ways.
Even if she would rather any other colour, she supposed it was that way to make sure no one came near without accepting the unspoken risks. That was what her mother always said, anyway, though the woman hardly feared much of anything in her old age, and dedicated herself to giving her offspring all the love she had left to give—a perk of living a full life. She would always help her daughter bathe, complimenting the colour of what most were unnerved by. That was more than a decade ago now, however. Ceele’s parents had passed on while she was still young, and she took to travelling not long after, working at what she could to afford what little she needed. Never for long, though—just enough to get to the next town between where she was and where the urge to go lay. There were certainly moments she looked back on fondly, but the journey had taken its toll.
The crude material of her ‘dress’ was coarse, old, and heavy, but it helped ease the worst of spring's chill—even if it was more of a modified sack than proper attire. Still, it was all she had after the last of her clothing fell apart, and giving the repurposed material a name that reminded her of something else made it less uncomfortable to wear, somehow. It would have to do until she could afford a pitying seamstress or the like. Until then, she would pretend she didn’t look so desperate, even if it only highlighted her status and made finding work difficult.
But it did. The dishevelled garment was a far cry from the wonderful silks or breathtaking designs she had seen some women wear, harshly marking the distinction between herself and those of affluence. The clothing of commoners was also a leap in style and quality, so she couldn't say her attire was up to even modest standards. No matter how hard she squinted, and no matter how much she fantasized otherwise, she seemed every bit like the vagrant she was, down to the soil embedded in the curvature of her claws and the stains throughout her fabrics. She looked like a serf from the more oppressed lands, yet they too wore crude cottons, which said a lot about how she appeared to those who had never lived a life of servitude. It was obvious that she was an outsider. That she didn't belong amongst the rest. It made changing something as simple as her appearance all the more difficult; prospective employment always saw a young woman who seemed more likely to steal or swindle than make an honest day’s living.
There was one good twist of fate in recent memory, however, and she came upon the result of it after leaving the slowing bustle of the village behind. Her steps carried her through a small copse of trees on the outskirts of town, the small shaded path leading to the back of a large, carefully pruned clearing, a scattering of fruit-bearing trees providing even darker shadow than the already dim moonlight. She skirted along the aging fence on the border that kept predatory animals away, carefully hoisting herself over the barrier where a large vegetable garden she was responsible for tending resided. If one were to tell her she would be living in such an area several months ago, she would have smiled politely and walked away, yet here she was.
A modest, warmly lit home occupied the middle of the clearing, sitting front and centre when one approached from the village path. It looked quite cozy, surrounded by berry bushes that were just beginning to bloom as the last dregs of winter slipped away. A front patio displayed a nice table and well-loved chairs, the rustic appearance only adding to its charm as a place where friends and family spent the warm summer afternoons. A smithy to the left of the house functioned as an additional heated building during the colder months, but usually served as a storefront and to muffle the sounds of hammered iron, though that had become less common. An old stable was nearby, close enough to be accessible, but not so close as to disturb the once occupying animals with sounds of iron craft. It hadn't seen a horse in quite some time, apparently, so it was mostly a workshop for whatever tasks didn’t require fire or metal.
There was a long history attached to each little detail—from the scuffs along the wooden siding to the depressions in the ground where daily routine wore into the earth. Every fault suffered throughout the years was matched by a thousand quirks that made it feel welcoming, like the house itself was merely waiting for the next friendly face with one of its own. She knew that the inside of each building would look just as cared for.
Her concern lay outside, however. It was a comparatively miniscule space just barely visible through the sheltering trees, true, yet it was where her efforts turned into tangible results, and where a stranger’s trust was painstakingly repaid. Once overgrown grass had been laboriously trimmed, the weeds plucked and disposed of, and now nothing distracted from what she could claim she had done.
The small plots of rock-bordered soil had little buds of growing vegetables, a sense of pride never failing to bloom in her breast with the knowledge that it would be barren without her touch. When her troubles and concerns grew heavy, and fears of the future or spectres of the past loomed over her head, she could look at where she had brought life where it wouldn't otherwise be. Some days, that was enough. She smiled in appreciation at what was admittedly amateur work, the night’s sky helping to hide any inevitably made mistakes.
She enjoyed the sight for a moment longer, then turned to walk towards a neglected old tool shed that was well out of sight within the trees, far away from whatever warmth and comfort the larger house offered to everyone and anyone. She put a hand on the degrading wood of the entryway, giving one last sad smile at the garden as she dismissed selfish thoughts of taking the eventual harvest for herself. A breath cleared the uncertainty from her voice, and she pushed open the door.
“I'm home!”
= = = = =
It took a while for Altier to adjust to his situation, and even once he accepted that his mana wasn't being siphoned, he was still reeling from confusion. He had spent centuries with every year passing by without his notice, yet now he was painfully aware of each creeping second languidly dragging on with the expediency of growing grass. It was as disorienting as it was painfully nostalgic.
Time was something he was never good with, and it only got worse as a dungeon. He'd get lost in creating rooms, corridors, creatures, and whatever else needed doing, only pausing to watch or listen to the few adventurers he became interested in. There was a stint where he spent what felt like hours agonizing over new abilities or options while he let the system manage things in the background, though he supposed it might have been much longer. So many wasted days, yet he still hadn't managed to try everything he had gained access to. Some abilities were simply too niche, came with concerning titles, or held descriptions that made him wary. Anything with ‘Decay’ in the name was instantly ignored—he didn't need more reasons to fear his affinity, and from the few he took the effort to read through, they were always vile.
But his existence for the moment was no longer like those endless stretches spent pondering the minutiae of what would help his adventurers grow stronger. Now, he could follow the rhythmic sounds of footsteps and steady breathing that set a calming pace. They were someone else's, yes, but they contextualized how easy it was to slip away without the subtle noises of life that he had long since surrendered to help his family. Of course, there were more differences that he noticed since being removed from his crumbling cavern, and his sight was the newest change.
He never gave much thought to how far he could see before. Why would he? As a man, his world extended as far as he could fathom, yet was also confined to the room where he spent his days, and as a dungeon… Well, who was he to consider distance when an event happening miles away could be seen with a flicker of thought? Nothing was too far when it was within his creation. Or his ‘body,’ he supposed. Sadly, his entire perception currently consisted of the small sphere of his obsidian core, and maybe a finger's length beyond it—which is to say, not much. He could make out the fine details in the dirty burlap he was held against, and how pale moonlight slowly took over the blurred reds of sunset, but hardly anything more. It was all just frosted colours after a certain point, and he found it infinitely frustrating. He just wanted to peer beyond the haze and scaly hand holding him to confirm that the sky he remembered was still there. Alas, the sunlight faded at too quick a pace, yet one oh so agonizingly slow.
The ensuing darkness gave him nothing to do but think about where he was, not that he had any ideas. He was too curious about why he wasn't dead to bother much with his blurry surroundings after the soft-spoken kobold abducted him, thus why he only belatedly noticed how limited his worldview had become. There might have been a forest beyond his cave, but the greens and browns were gone, and the sounds of steps through brush was replaced by the distant din of a village. An idle curiosity pondered if he would recognize any descents of his ‘family tradition’ adventurers there, but he was being carried by what most considered a monster, so likely not.
That short musing was short-lived, however, and he brought his focus back to the matter at hand. He supposed he was being taken somewhere specific, but that was an obvious deduction, considering he was taken at all. The why of the matter was less so; for what purpose would someone want a Decay-aligned core? He hadn’t heard of them before…well, before he was made into one, but he couldn’t imagine many uses. Maybe he was being sold? His…kidnapper? His sudden companion seemed rather pleased by their discovery of him, so that might be the case, and it was morbidly amusing to think that a frail, sickly young man might one day become a coveted, highly valuable item. His abduction could also be a part of some cult’s nefarious activities, but he didn't want to think about that too hard. He experienced enough odd ceremonies from the adventurers who took the time to tell him their tales.
Either way, he wasn't in the dungeon anymore, and he couldn’t see where he was going. He tried to query his menu to glean an answer, but was met with a scrambled mess he suspected read ‘Synchronizing…’ and little else. It gave him a headache trying to make sense of it—which he didn't know was possible anymore—so he dismissed the text and distracted himself with blurs from whatever diluted senses he still had. There wasn’t much to observe other than the constant footfalls and the flicker of shadows on his companion’s burlap garment. They might have travelled through brush again, but it was too dark to really say for certain.
Eventually, there was something new. He heard an old latch rattle and rusted door hinges groan, then a shuddered clack that confirmed he was now in a building. His kobold acquaintance gently cooed at something before moving about the nearly pitch-black space, finally setting him down on a… He wasn’t sure what it was, besides old and wooden.
[D$#@m$n E@$*ded]
The headache from before became a blinding migraine that suffocated him under a flash-flood of suffering. Seconds passed in abject torture until it blissfully abated, the mental blinks clearing his mind enough to notice a change in his existence. Specifically, he could actually see something besides the rotting wood grain he was placed on top of.
And it wasn’t anything promising…
He was more or less in the centre of a room no bigger than twelve paces by maybe ten. Not a terrible size for a space, but it was clearly never meant to house someone. His resting place looked about as neglected as he surmised; it was an upturned feeding trough, he supposed, since calling it a table seemed too generous. The surface was rife with holes and degraded iron, so it was something that once saw regular use before being replaced and tossed into storage, never to see the light of day again.
Actually, most things in the room seemed to fit that description. The window shutters were installed with metal hinges that had since rusted them closed, the misalignment letting in a draft—and whatever weather was outside as well, most likely. A poorly carved bowl sat on the floor, the stain beneath it hinting that it collected any rainwater that slowly dripped from the leaky roof. The wooden floorboards looked old, splintered, and in need of maintenance or replacement, though an effort had been put into abrading it somewhat smooth lately.
A tiny and decrepit fireplace was to the left of the door upon entry, its brickwork slowly crumbling due to weathering and age. It was sized more for keeping the room warm during mild days than to keep away the frigid chill of night. Its base only held cold ashes, but there was a collection of deadwood and scraps nearby, so that would probably be rectified soon. A small wheel-less cart had been turned into storage against the opposite wall, some herbs and other foraged items stowed away in it for future use. Various things he remembered seeing his father and brothers use in the fields were scattered about, too. It was nostalgic to see, honestly, even if his recollections had blurred over time.
Bundles of tattered blankets formed a pair of nests in the far corner, the smaller of the two had a pile of rough plants nearby. That answered his silent pondering of the room's purpose somewhat, though he was pretty sure the bedding material was salvaged, and there didn’t seem to be any hay or padding underneath whoever was sleeping on it. He didn’t know what to think about the weeds; they were purposefully placed there, and whoever did so had taken the time to wash them, but it was still strange.
He couldn’t see a doorway besides the entrance, yet most of the hallmarks of residency were put where space could be afforded, however crude. All in all, he surmised that it was a gardening shed of sorts, and his new acquaintance apparently lived here. He wasn't sure what he was expecting when a creature he had only read about came into his dungeon, but it wasn't being brought to a rundown and decrepit shack for unknown purposes.
Even if he had been raised by parents who made a humble living at the best of times, and they had emptied their coffers for unsuccessful attempts to ease his ailments, his acquaintance's living space made him uncomfortable. His family's house was never anything fancy, true—it shared some of the worn qualities that inevitably gathered over the years—but it was never this bad. His home benefited from a father's touch keeping it robust and a mother’s love keeping it warm, whereas this place had seen neither in quite some time. Oh, there was evidence that such was once the case; a wall was adorned with carefully made and well-spaced hangers for the various gardening tools, though the implements themselves had become a victim of neglect. That being said, he could make out the fresh soil and recent scratches exposing furrows of silver, so they were seeing use again.
A scrape and clack of flint drew his attention to his kobold companion. They were kneeling in front of the fireplace, methodically sparking life back into a dead flame with twigs and dried leaves. A slow, steady breath into the reddened base illuminated its face with a dull orange glow, revealing its weary visage and the permanently etched smile that rested beneath its cold grey eyes. The black-scaled kobold looked tired, if he were to guess—much the same as Altier did when he spent countless days watching everyone living a life he could never have through the mossy window of his bedroom. He was probably humanizing it too much. Still, he was surprised by the muted pang of sympathy, and how he would feel much more than blithe curiosity after spending so much time alone in the crumbling crypt of his own making.
A mental breath cycled through him as he looked at the odds and ends yet to be observed. Hardly anything else was of note—everything else was degraded and neglected, too. He did notice a nest of blankets move though, which was as good a distraction as any. The answer to his previous ‘pile of weeds’ inquiry poked a tiny nose from a crease in the fabric, then rapidly pawed at the blankets to dig itself out. Altier stared at the creature in both recognition and confusion.
It was a rabbit…or at least it looked like one, assuming you were to also describe a porcupine and a sea urchin as well. He was pretty sure he didn’t remember any hare that had jagged metal-tipped fur, nor that had said fur arranged into a row of spiked horns that flowed down its spine, terminating at a large fluffy tail, which was equally bizarre to see. The whole of its coat could double as a weapon, with semi-sharp barbs sticking off seemingly at random, yet he remembered an adventurer saying most animals used that sort of thing defensively. He increased his focus as he tried to make sense of the odd creature. Surely he would have heard about—
[Hoppittttttt#%%÷ — Ferro-o-orabbit-it (Ma%$le)
Abil—]
[Null]
[Er0Rrrrrrrr—]
[Und#$f—]
He bit back the pain caused by the sudden intrusion of his menu, blanking out the text and mentally retreating to hide from the source. Did he just inspect something? How? Shouldn’t his entire…‘framework,’ was it…? Yes, that was it. Shouldn’t that have been corrupted? Why could he see the creature’s information when his entire framework was damaged? That was the first ability he lost, so why is it the first to be functional? How was it functional? Was it? It did just spit garbled text at him, but it was something, and that was more than he had gotten from it in a very long time. If it was somehow working—no matter how poorly—then that left the question of why he hadn't heard of anything called a ‘ferrorabbit’ before, assuming he read that correctly.
A soft thud vibrated the tro— table, startling him out of thought. He turned his attention to the button nose wiggling erratically at him, the short, stubby muzzle leading to surprisingly expressive and curious red eyes. Dull brown fur jutted off in random tufts and patches, changing to a darker tint on its paws and the upper half of its ears, while the tips of its spikes were a muted hue of iron. It still seemed just as soft as the less pointed variety he remembered, if a touch dirty. Upright ears twitched this way and that way as its head vigorously shook, eventually settling on pointing in his direction when it calmed down enough.
It was apparent that he had its undivided attention…for all of a few seconds. His scaly companion called something out in their foreign tongue, and whatever conclusion the pointy-furred animal came to, it seemed more interested in the kobold, parting from him after nudging his core with its nose.
[Cre-e-e—]
[Errrrrrr0r: Undefiiiiiiii—]
[Acceeeeep-t-t-t??]
[Yeeee— s s / Nnnnnnn—]
He winced at the intrusion, but the contents detracted from the pain. He couldn’t remember the system ever asking him a question without his explicit intent being involved. It wanted him to…accept something? Was it the system prompting him, or the animal? What was he to accept?
[Creatuuuuu—]
[Acce-e-e-%#@ed!]
…What?
= = = = =
“Hoppit, that's not food!” Ceele admonished half-heartedly, placing a larger branch on the burgeoning flame before she got to her feet. She wasn’t actually that worried; the stone was as big as his head, and she was pretty sure he couldn't bite into it. Hopefully. “Come here, momma has a treat for you!”
The ferrorabbit playfully bumped the gemstone and jumped off the low table, landing with a soft thud that belied how heavy he was for his tiny size. He wiggled in excitement, his ears flailing and releasing a slight clack whenever the two connected. It got even louder when she grabbed her basket and put away the useful herbs, taking out a specific item that she had gathered just for him. The little bun wasted no time in scurrying over and standing tall on his hind legs to judge if the offered plant was to his liking—and it was, based on how he dug in with enthusiasm. She stifled a laugh as she contentedly watched him nibble away on the treat, ignoring the guilt that came with knowing she couldn't afford proper vegetables for him. He had a hard life too, and it tore at her to have so little to give.
She came across Hoppit a year ago, during a storm that worsened while she was travelling between towns. The day had darkened to night in spite of it still being about noon, but the weather didn't care for how bright it was supposed to be. Wind and rain became a typhoon, forcing her to seek shelter in a thankfully abandoned den of what was probably a larger animal. She was fine with waiting out the squall, since the stone roof over her head was more than she usually had back then, but the sounds of dull bangs and thuds near her hideaway was followed by cries of animals yelping in pain. Curiosity won over reason, and she left the safety of her shelter to see what was causing the disturbance. Truthfully, she was hopeful that she'd come across scraps or the like, her hunger driving her forward, and she could always turn back if it seemed dangerous. Yet when she arrived at the source of the commotion, she found herself thinking of anything but food.
Two predators had fought over a small burrow, both trying to dig out a meal and taking offence to the other doing the same. What they didn’t know was that they were assaulting the home of ferrorabbits. Specifically, the home of an angry, protective, and well-fed mother that was keeping her newborns safe from the storm when predators decided to try their luck. From the scene Ceele came across, it was certainly obvious why most people dislike trying to hunt the creatures.
Sadly, the rabbit didn't survive an attack from two predators, but she did make their victory pyrrhic; neither could do much about their hunger with their bodies full of cuts and holes, and it was only a matter of time before they succumbed to blood loss or infection. The mother's sacrifice meant that the babies had avoided the imminent threat, but they were left unattended as a consequence, and it took an opportunistic bird swooping down to shake Ceele out of her shock. Despite her subsequent hurry, she only acted in time to save one of the orphaned young. The warren was new and barely dug out, which meant that it didn’t take much effort for the kits to be found—by both her and hungry maws. All she could do was scoop the ball of fluff into her arms and run back to the cave before anything else tried to eat it.
In retrospect, it was a stupid decision for a number of factors. She barely had the resources to supply herself, and an attempt to raise offspring of any type would only make the inevitable heartbreak worse. But when she saw how quiet and scared he was… How his tiny, shaking body calmed in her arms, those terrified red eyes seeking comfort… She should have just walked away when she knew there wasn’t going to be anything to fill her stomach. She should have put the baby animal down and let nature take its course…yet the preciously furry face stole her heart far too quickly for it to grow so cold. The next day was spent backtracking to the nearest town to get him something suitable to eat, which used most of her meagre savings. Still, it was worth every coin.
Hoppit had been accompanying her ever since. He grew quickly, transitioning from something she saved that stormy night into a presence she had grown to love like a child. The little lagomorph would bounce along beside her during her travels, then ride in her arms as he rested—though the latter happened with worrying frequency as of late. She hadn’t learned much about the springy herbivores, but she knew enough to say that he wasn't as big as he should be, nor was his fur as sharp. No matter how startled he was, his spiky coat never managed to do more than stiffen slightly, which was apparently a side effect of poor diet, according to snippets of conversation she had overheard on the topic. She wanted him to be healthy, but she didn't know what he needed. Not many farmers raised ferrorabbits, and those that did were far away, so she didn’t have anyone to ask what she should be doing. Her best course of action was to give him what little she had.
Ceele was well aware of how he would be better off on his own, but he followed her whenever she tried to set him free. Hoppit just kept launching into her arms and wiggling his ears, ecstatic that he was with her again, uncaring that food was scarce and that they spent most of their days travelling. No amount of cold nights spent bundling up under the tattered blankets she managed to find ever dampened his spirits, and he was content to eat the grass or flowers whenever he felt like it, oblivious to the fact that he wasn’t getting enough nutrition. He would dig and excitedly drag back oddities that he found, and the one time he found a plant that looked particularly good for him, he insisted that it be shared with her.
A black pit still lingered in her chest when she recalled how pleased he was while he munched on the rare vegetable he discovered, then how distressed he became when she wouldn’t have any as well. He bumped and nipped at her, all but begging her to eat. His ears pinned back against his head, his fur bristled in a way she hadn’t seen since. It was only when she took a small bite and let him inspect the new teeth marks that he seemed to calm down, but perhaps she had been looking too deep into the actions of her tiny friend. All she could say for certain was that he was scared she was going hungry.
A morbid thought wondered if his first mother had refused food shortly before being attacked, and he—as small and simple as he was—had connected the two events in his mind, making him absolutely terrified that something would happen if Ceele didn’t have something too. All of that fear, and desperation overwhelmed him, just because she was happier watching him eat. She was determined to erase that issue. She would find something that needed a worker and earn enough to feed them both. One day, she would be able to smile at how big and healthy her little fluffy boy had become, but until then, it was becoming increasingly difficult not to think about how she was spending so much time growing vegetables and fruit that he couldn’t have…
Every morning was an exercise in tending to the gardens while actively shoving down images of a pleased ferrorabbit happily eating the results. That never went well; no matter how determined she was to complete her duties without a single selfish thought, most tasks were done while picturing his full belly and delighted bounces. There were a few weeks until the fastest of the crops would be ready for harvest, and Ceele would have to collect them while fighting the urge to bring back just a few for him.
She couldn’t, because she knew exactly how quickly that could escalate. It would start small—A vegetable here, a fruit there—but seeing Hoppit happy was one of the precious few good things she had in her life. Crossing the line would only become easier each time. They couldn’t risk losing their new home over greed, and she was already betraying the trust given to her by housing a wild animal, especially one known to be a pest for crops. She didn't want to know how angry it would make her benefactors if she was caught taking their vegetables for one.
No matter how tame and precious Hoppit was, and no matter how well he listened, they would only see him as the same creature that ruined harvests in droves. Thus was why she had to tell him to stay cooped up by himself while she was working or scavenging. And to her surprise, he did.
Honestly, she had made the initial request with the expectation of needing to carry him back into their home until he understood that she wasn’t leaving him forever. There wasn’t much she could do to stop the ferrorabbit from digging through the old wooden building if he wanted to get out. He wouldn’t need to damage anything either—a rotting board on the door only needed a little push to nudge it out of the way, and his natural curiosity made sure he was aware of it. But no, Hoppit was well-behaved as always, keeping hidden until she walked through the door, where he would leap from the shadows to personally show her how good he was and how he stayed put like she asked him to. It never stopped amazing her that he had such a surprising level of understanding despite being an animal, and that was to say nothing of how young he was.
All that intelligence, joy, and companionship he offered her…and yet the best she could give back to him was the weeds from the garden and the odd plant she found while scavenging…
Soft clacks of flicking ears dragged her from her pondering, her mind returning to the present. Hoppit finished his treat of the small plant, then bounced in place and scurried over to his bowl of water, perfectly happy to have eaten only that. He was so joyful with how little she provided, approaching every day of scarcity with the same enthusiasm she could never muster, as if certain that everything would be alright.
“It’s bedtime, Hoppit,” Ceele announced through a soft sigh, stoking the fire with enough branches to hopefully last the night. The ferrorabbit perked an ear in her direction, then sat on his haunches to extend the rest of himself up, his two little forepaws adorably held to his chest as he inspected the room like he always did. She smiled and made sure everything was stored away, then laid down on her bundle of blankets, covering herself with the warmest one. Hoppit bolted over to snuggle once he decided everything in the shed was up to his standards, throwing himself to the floor in a dramatic flop of comfort. Her quiet laughter subsided as they both settled in for the night, her tail completing the rabbit’s encompassing cuddle, but her eyes fell towards the obsidian orb on the table, her thoughts following suit.
It sat there, just as she left it, as benign as anything else ever placed atop the improvised furnishing. Yet there was a sense of ease and purpose as well. The old wooden trough seemed…important with its adornment firmly laid upon its surface, and she couldn’t puzzle out why. She was starting to doubt her earlier excitement.
Should she sell it? Would anyone know where it came from? Would anyone know what it was, or if it was worth anything? If she could get even a modest sum for it, she would be able to buy clothing, food, and new bedding. It would be easier to convince someone to give her work if she was dressed better and wasn’t so thin, and then she would have the income to slowly improve both of their lives. She could pay for a wandering merchant to ask a ferrorabbit rancher about the animal, even if it would take time to get back to her, or maybe she could hire a local if they needed to go near one for some reason. The cost didn’t matter to her as long as it happened.
But there was something else bothering her about the idea of selling the stone. She had travelled so far with a tug in her chest, only for the feeling of wanderlust to dissipate as soon as she held it. Was that a sign? She was never one for things like ‘fate,’ but a niggling doubt in her mind discouraged the idea of making a profit off her discovery. Even if what she could gain was so very tempting, and even if Hoppit would be happier if she did…
She tore her dampened eyes away and closed them, ignoring the burning trails running across her face. It would be another early morning, and she needed to sleep so she could take care of the garden. Decisions like this could wait. Once she had nothing else distracting her, and she had time to properly think about it, she would see how she felt about the stone.
Eventually, she dozed off with Hoppit pressed against her chest, and a longing in her heart.
Next
—
A/N: Patreon and Ko-fi will be 1 chap ahead this time around, and I've set it so everything from the lowest tier up can read the newest trashfire! Anything above that is sheer show of love. Hope you enjoyed!

Hi guys, just need a few tips here and there. I'm an old player (skull rain) and quit from time to time due to having commitments for other games, just a casual player. Did came back around health-white noise period, played a number of ranked games before quitting. (placed in gold iv max). Tend to quit from time to time but decided to play seriously ever since steel wave. Again, quit in the middle. Bought a new acc since my cousin wants my skins so you might see some missing stats from those seasons
One thing I always get called out for from my solo rank exp is that they say I'm a KDA player, barely have 0 impact but only kills. I always thought r6 is basically whoever gets till 0 members alive, while the obj to plant is just a way to "secure" the win, especially passive players. Even now I tend to do the same thing again, but idk how to exactly play for obj, as I always observe enemies mainly camps near site or the site itself, so I just go for rush and kill
my acc is MaungPresident if you want to take a look. Thanks for reading

I'm tired of playing the victim in my own damn life. So much already happened this year. I really was hoping for a better year but we're still in our flop era unfortunately. Anyway, rock bottom isn't pretty at all. I want to get out of here. I never realized it could get this bad, you know? Like these emotions aren't new to me. I got sad before. I cried before. I got anxious in the past but never to this extreme. I can only take so much at once.
Been to therapy for a couple of years now but with little progress. I love my therapist to death, don't get me wrong. It's just how my life is going really. Month after month, it's like an unending marathon. Something always comes up. Something to worry about. It's been like this for years.
"It gets better" is what ive heard and ive told myself. I kept repeating it to the point that it doesn't hold meaning anymore? Everyday is the same. Problems kept stacking up. My mind filled with thoughts i never wanted to hear. It became dark very fast. Like I became a ghost of my own life – watching it pass by from an outsider's perspective. No control. I can't work, and function like a normal person. Ive become unable to feel any satisfaction. It sucks.
People ask "how are you" then I contemplate whether to say "I'm okay" or not because then it becomes a discussion, then them trying to give me advice and tell me all the same old cliche phrases that I've heard so many times. "You're so strong"... i hate it.
So after years of raw dogging life and subsequently getting deeply depressed, I finally took the step to seek help from a psychiatrist and get medicated.
I am hopeful for this journey because god knows how much i want to be better but if this isn't the answer, i dont know what else i should do.

Hi there! First post on reddit so please forgive me if i'm not using any fancy text.
I've been DM'ing now on and off for around near 5 years, originally I ran for 2 separate friend groups with Vastly different likes and dislikes. I had to stop one groups campaign due to work schedules and as the such (gotta love adult life ;-;)
So recently my current group consists of close friends so it is quite easy to get things across but it can also be very easy to lose control of the table if we start having jokes and a good laugh.
the above is not the issues I'm having as the DM however the stuff above i'm fine with as long as we are hanging out and having a good time. My issues span from multiple small issues which I will list below Beginning with myself as I know I make plenty of mistakes as I DM but I'm looking for advice to make sure i'm not going crazy and being a C**T with some of my table rules i've implemented
My Issues I need to work on: Note Taking - I lose track of my notes (this has been getting better moved to an app called obsidian which I have stuck with and this seems to be working wonders for me) but still needs work.
World lore - Kinda a addition to the note taking issue I have, I like to chop change some things but I still want it to make canonical sense to the worlds timeline which can be a little messy at times.
Pacing - Oh god I'm awful for pacing sometimes I'm too fast or i'm far too slow my players spend an entire 7 hour session on 1 street corner being my worst example.
Sometimes Retconning Small things - I Don't know if I think its okay to do this, I've only had to do it twice in total I Hate retconning stuff as I feel like if maybe a player that doesn't shine to often finally gets out their shell i'm worried if I retcon something It can really take away from that players motivation.
So above are my issues for sakes of time I'm going to copy paste a recent paragraph I sent to my players parts like player names will be edited of course. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So shappening dudes and dudets, DnD is going to be on the back burner for me for a Little bit cause personally feeling burnt out for a couple reasons that I'll get to in a little bit. So first things first the main thing I'm going to an induction day so I'm hoping I get this job (I got the Job whoop whoop) and DnD will be moved to every 2nd Saturday if thats gonna be a issue we can discuss that down the line. Now couple of mini Issues I want to get off my chest. So the Number 3 joke died ages ago for me and its just annoying so stopping that would be nice thank you, anyone that says it going forward you'll just take 3 damage. Unfortunately the interrupting and pacing is horrendous I'm gonna do my best to keep my focus on the game and I ask so do you. For the time being kinda a add on to the previous my max player count I can do is 6 no more, "Player Name" please let "His Partner" know I do not mind if she watches but I can't have her play not until I feel like the pacing is better and no ones shouting over each other. The Cards, They are fun but i'm gonna rejig them to be less annoying and alot less OP, (I'm removing that bag of holding card) personal thing - If I ask something to do with in the game could you please just acknowledge you have seen it, cause I've typed in plane text plenty of times before and it just doesn't get listened to it starts with one person then everyone else follows if you get me and it can make some little instructions that make things easier for me alot harder. As the DM I want a bit more control So one of the major ones that I ask is NO ONE calls "Roll a persuasion to persuade me" or anything along that lines, it is unnecessary and tbh I find it a bit rude. NO Rape or Rolling Cock size. (its just weird and its disgusting you'd think of it tbh)
There are a few more other things that personally bother me but those are the main ones, the minor ones just consist of 1. Don't Make up your own lore of my own creation and then treat it as cannon, I didn't ask and I don't care.

1. Don't ask for any more custom items, if I give you something be happy and let it be a surprise. 3."did we level up?" i know its a joke but tone it down before it gets worse.
2. If you create a backstory please give me the footnotes of the main points that I can work with, don't give me a lore book about how garfunkle the black white man slain a beast. I won't read it. (Edit - I don't mind if they give me a book to read I do like lore I just mean here that I'd prefer notes of the main points in their characters story)
3. I would prefer Game things are sent on discord concerning characters thats a personal thing, I created the discord for me to be organised and have it all in one place so if you please could just send me stuff on that even if its a dnd beyond link I would like it all in one place. I get this is gonna be alot to read but I hope I get my point across. I am the dungeon master and I want to create a game for you guys to enjoy but I have neglected my own joy for the game and have been more lazy with it because of this. I have alot of stuff to fix from last session especially and I'm gonna try to be more focused on the game and create a better experience and all I ask is please listen, pay attention and any question on the world so you can clarify things you may ask me, if there is any issues during the session call for a break if its that major so we may discuss at the table and if its a small issue we discuss it after the session. I may rule things wrong but i'll attempt to rule it in a way that makes sense and then I shall research and let you know afterwards, I'd rather not search rules in the middle of the game and taking half a hour per turn. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So context for some things the number 3 joke is from shrek "NUMBER 3 MY LORD" and I use magic the gathering cards for little 1 session boons they are a hell of a lot of fun and I'll post under this if anyone else play's DnD and MTG (I'd recommend using the Dungeons and dragons sets for Magic if you wish to try this out)
Revitalize x2 - Add a Medium Potion to Inventory
​
Treasure x3 - Add 100 Gold
​
Choose Your Weapon - Choose one for the Remainder of the Session
Archery - +2 to Range attacks
or
Two Weapon Fighting - +2 to Melee Attacks
​
Curse of Surveillance - You Grow an eyeball onto the palm of your hand, something or someone is watching you (The DM determines who) This curse is passed on
when someone else draws the card or removed with the "Remove curse Spell"
​
Improvised weaponry - You feel compelled to use the first random object as your weapon for the session.
​
Triumphant Adventurer - Roll a D20,
Even Numbers add 3 Platinum to your Inventory.
Odd Numbers Summons a Gold Plated Cocky knight to gloat how rich he is for 1 minute.
​
Hunters Mark - You Gain the Ability Hunters Mark for the Session it does not Require Concentration.
​
Contact Other Plane - You ask anything from the DM roll a d100 to discover the outcome.
​
Hoard Robber - The best robber in all the land has found you and took every bit of coin you have leaving a single fake gold piece.
​
Dawnbringer Cleric - You can Choose One to use throughout the session
Cure Wounds
Dispel Magic
Gentle Repose
​
Priest of Ancient lore - A old Dwarf appears in front of you radiating a holy light asking "Would you like to know the lore of this land?"
​
Boots of Speed - You Gain Extra 15ft Speed for the Session.
​
Silver Raven - A Unknown Vampires Raven Follows you.
​
Check for Traps - You becoming Increasingly paranoid of traps for the session the DM at Random will ask you to check for traps at your feet.
​
Blessed Defiance - You Summon A white Spirit, it says nothing, it is friendly to only you, it will follow and defend you for this session.
​
Chaos Channeler - A wild magic sorcerer Explodes from the multiverse, he looks excited as he transports himself again creating a Minor wild magic effect.

So this is a pretty large post But I am looking for advice on maybe rules I should consider going forward, how to keep proper control of a party of 6 and just anything I should improve as a DM and anything I can further communicate to my players at the table.

Saw the Dayton sculpture "Common Good" on an episode of "Applause," a PBS Ideastream production in Cleveland. It's in the second-to-last segment of the following episode. "Applause" often features Ohio artists, and this segment featured Jon Hudson Barlow, a graduate of the Dayton Institute of Art and former professor there, and whose sculpture studio is in his home town of Yellow Springs.
https://video.ideastream.org/video/music-in-prisons-kfcily/
I was very impressed by the statue, reportedly located at Cooper Park in Dayton behind Dayton Metro Library's main branch.
https://www.sculpturecenter.org/oosi/items/show/1502
https://www.hudsonsculpture.com/common-good/tcg-sculpture.html
Reading about Barlow, I noted he originally attended Urbana College, now closed, before transferring to the Dayton Institute of Art. I worry about the character of Ohio in coming decades as our liberal arts colleges increasingly fail and as Republicans continue to gut liberal arts programs at our state universities. I wonder what role Urbana College played in inspiring Barlow's career focus.
https://www.hudsonsculpture.com/art_sculpture_career.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Barlow_Hudson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbana_University
Anyway, this sculpture impressed me, more especially when I learned of its location behind a major library. Ohio's libraries also are suffering from state funding cuts, and librarians are among the most dedicated of public servants.
"Common Good" seems a unique, and very important Ohio sculpture. Too often we honor politicians and others of great public prominence, such as athletes. Too little we honor those relatively anonymous persons who are fundamentally important to our quality of life.
So, I am curious. How many persons in Dayton have enjoyed this sculpture? Is there plentiful parking at the Dayton Metro Library main branch?
https://www.yelp.com/biz/cooper-park-dayton
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=28078
https://daytonvistas.com/panoramic-cooper-park-and-old-library/

Hello again! I settled on 24cm/360 after some games and training and found some improvements due to VOD reviewing my gameplay, although subtle, I noticed visible improvements from my old sensitivity 60-100cm/360 and wanted to stay on 24cm/360! :D I have a full time job and a family, so playing much In a week Is a struggle. When I get time to play, I dont want to spend half an hour In KovaaKs you know? So I wanted to ask how much I would need to train to get consistent on such a high sensitivity, you know?
Thanks everyone :)

Hi all, sorry if it's been already asked, but I couldn't find any detailed info or tests. I'm in the market for a new laptop which would be used mostly for work, but it'd be a nice option if it could handle gaming too.
I'm a backend developer, so my workload tends to be more heavy on the CPU and the RAM side, but I'd also like to dip my toes to machine learning. Hence, a GPU could come in handy. Also, I like to travel, and it would be nice to play a game or two with my friends when I'm on a trip.
My current laptop is a 3-years old Lenovo Yoga with a great 14" OLED screen, a Ryzen 7 5700H, 16 gigs of RAM. It's a nice machine for general use, but not so much anymore for doing actual work. The issues I'd like to address with it are the following:

• a 14" screen is just a tad bit small
• 16 GB of RAM is not enough anymore, but since it's soldered...
• It can get quite loud under CPU-intensive loads

The way I currently work is that I run all resource-intensive workloads on my desktop machine, which is running Linux, through SSH. My desktop is a SFFPC hooked up to a MORA3 420, completely inaudible. However, I cannot use the desktop when I'm travelling, and if I try to run my work stuff on WSL, my old laptop is fighting for its life, with fans roaring. (My laptop is running Windows, for some workloads I NEED to use Windows due to connecting to some Azure cloud VDIs which is only possible from Windows or MacOS.)
So the way I see it, I can either buy one of those fancy M3 Macs, which would be awesome for most of my use cases (but no gaming), or I can try to find a beefy laptop, but those tend to be loud. I'm not price-sensitive, but I'm quite sensitive to fan noise.
This is how I ended up with checking out the XMG Neo 16, which seems to be able to cover all of my points, but I can find no noise measurements with/without Oasis (I don't plan on running GPU-intensive loads without Oasis). Are there any tests that actually measure the noise levels of the Neo 16 (if possible, with the 4090) under load?
I've also read this on the store page for Oasis, which got me thinking: "the water pipe is made from copper, while the rest of the liquid cooling loop (especially the radiator) is made from aluminum"
Does this mean that the pipes for the radiator are made of aluminium? Wouldn't that mess up the internals of the pipes really fast? Mixing metals in a liquid cooling loop is bad practice, for the best of my knowledge.
(also: what does the 2x Oasis option mean on the Neo's store page? Can you chain Oasis units?)

Just copy this, paste this into a sandbox, then make a thread in the Trope Repair Shop linking to it. The thread shall be titled "Needs Help: Inexplicable Language Fluency".
A wick check for InexplicableLanguageFluency.
'''Why?''': InexplicableLanguageFluency seems to lump in examples of characters demonstrating fluency in a language they've never learned with examples of characters merely understanding a language they never learned. For one, it doesn't make sense for the latter examples to be there since the title has the word "fluency" in it. Secondly, many of the latter examples can be moved to BilingualDialogue or AmplifiedAnimalAptitude.
'''Wicks checked''': 50/72
'''Wick totals''':
* 21/50 wicks, or 11.5%, were clear examples of a character demonstrating fluency in a language they never learned. * 24/50 wicks, or 12% were examples of a character understanding a language without demonstrating fluency. * 4/50 wicks, or 2%, were written in a way that made it unclear whether they were being used correctly. * 1/50 wicks, or 1.5%, was an aversion.
[[folder:Characters demonstrating fluency in a language they never learned (21/50)]] * Characters.AtlantisTheLostEmpire: The Atlanteans are able to fluently communicate with the explorers from the surface in English and French. This is handwaved as their own language being a precursor to all other languages. * Characters.YaBoyKongming: ** Kongming finds himself immediately fluent in Japanese despite having never learned the language, and the Japan of his era was still a dwarf country that mostly only sent envoys to Shu's rival kingdom of Wei. Eiko points out the absurdity of how an ancient Chinese figure can suddenly speak Japanese, and Kongming himself is at a loss of how he can do this. * Characters.YellowjacketsCrashSurvivors: [[spoiler:She, and by extension others in the Antler Queen cult she forms, randomly speak French on occasion, which Lottie at least is ''not'' fluent in, indicating mental instability.]] '''If this is supposed to be an inversion, it's correct, but it should be rewritten to mention that it's an inversion.''' * ComicBook.Asterix: Gauls can speak to most foreign peoples without any difficulty. Either everyone can speak Gaulish, or the Gauls can speak other languages, but either way is downright impossible. * ComicBook.UltimateFantasticFour: ** Downplayed. Namor demonstrates this trope after spending nine thousand years of being sealed inside a sarcophagus prison. Being from an ancient civilization of Atlantis that predates the modern English language, he initially has no idea what his new captors are saying when they find him. However, thanks to his psionic powers he proves to be a frighteningly fast learner and is able to learn English within an hour to understand modern American English and casually deliver threats and demands. ** Happens again when the Four meets the Silver Surfer who is able to understand English perfectly the instant he arrives to Earth for the first time. He justifies this by stating can decipher electromagnetic signals in the air to learn alien tongues in seconds. * Friends.TropesFToJ: Zig-zagged. "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt" has her speaking with Joey's Italian grandmother, with Phoebe seeming as surprised about this as Joey. But in an earlier episode, Rachel's former lover Paulo calls her "bellissima" and she doesn't understand. ->'''Joey:''' Wow, Phoebs, you speak Italian?\\ '''Phoebe:''' Apparently. * Film.ExorcistTheBeginning: In-universe, the main characters note Cheche's sudden fluency in English after being brought to the hospital. Of course this is because it is Pazuzu speaking through him and not actually Cheche. '''This is DiscussedTrope, not InUniverse'''. * Film.{{Phenomenon}}: Downplayed. After a UFO encounter, George gains a form of superintelligence where he can learn complicated tasks and subjects quickly, to the point where he's able to fluently speak Portuguese after reading an English-to-Portuguese dictionary for twenty minutes. This was foreshadowed in an earlier scene where after usually fumbling to speak Spanish, he's suddenly able to speak it perfectly, to the point that his Hispanic coworker half-seriously declares that it's better than his. * Literature.ForgottenRuin: When Talker and Vandahar speak during the final stretch to the Hidden Cave, Vandahar speaks in what we would recognize as modern German, which of course makes communicating with him very easy for Talker but raises a few questions. * Literature.InCryptid: Of the GeneticMemory version. When Candice the Dragon Princess comes up against the LizardFolk wandering about the New York sewers, she's able to make them halt using a guttural language. She reveals to Verity that it's a inborn language all Princesses know and something the "Servitors" are meant to respond to. She's also never used it before as Servitors can only be created from a [[spoiler:living male dragon]]. * Literature.SeasonalFears: Aven is essentially in a coma all her life but, thanks to the alchemical knowledge tinctures of her father', she speaks perfect English even if there are some issues with definitions. * Literature.ShiversMDSpenser: Bubbie moves to France with her family and meets a new French kid, Jean-Luc, and can somehow converse with him without any language issues; at the end of the story she can hold a long conversation with a stranger in French, despite spending less than a week in the country. Previous books with an overseas setting will at least attempt justifying this trope (for instance, ''Terror on Troll Mountain'' has the protagonist's Italian family choosing to speak in English because they're anticipating American guests) but this one handwaves the issue until it's a borderline plot hole. * Recap.AsterixAndTheGoths: Getafix is able to speak fluent Gothic, despite being a Gaulish druid who has no logical reason to know it (especially considering how antagonistic the Goths are in this story). * Recap.FriendsS5E19TheOneWhereRossCantFlirt: Phoebe speaks with Joey's Italian grandmother, with [[InexplicableLanguageFluency Phoebe seeming as surprised about this as Joey]]. '''Joey:''' Wow, Phoebs, you speak Italian?\\ '''Phoebe:''' Apparently. * Recap.TalesFromTheDarksideS4E6TheGraveRobber: Aileen is surprised to hear Tapok speaking English when he wakes up, the mummy giving an offhand mention that he can speak the language of anyone who violates the tomb. * Roleplay.WanyaKingdomVSAwoofyUnity: Fragment has been shown to speak any language even if he has never heard it before. * Series.{{Llanargollen}}: In "Dirgelwch y Llyfr Coll", Prys and Barti speak to each other in Swahili. It seems incredibly unlikely that Prys would be fluent in that language, and Barti only speaks in unintelligible grunts with individual words thrown in. The other characters barely react to this. * VideoGame.EternalReturnBlackSurvival: The test subjects are able to work together with each other in spite of how one would presume that the vast majority of them would be completely unable to verbally communicate with most of the others. {{Averted}} by some of the achievement lore entries, which include statements observed from test subjects that some of which have a note underneath which states the words were translated by AI and will be reviewed and localized further in the future. '''Since this seems to be an implied example rather than a straight example, and it seems to be ambiguous InUniverse whether it's this or BilingualDialogue, I'll leave it here.''' * VideoGame.MegaManBattleNetwork2?: [=MegaMan=]'s translation system allows Lan to speak flawless Netopian after they arrive in Netopia. * WesternAnimation.{{Pocahontas}}: English explorer John Smith meets the alluring Pocahontas of the Powhatan tribe. Smith doesn't know her language, nor she his. That is, until Pocahontas takes a breath of magic wind. Suddenly, her English is better than his. [[/folder]]
[[folder:Aversions (1/50)]] * DarthWiki.{{Aquilaverse}}: ''Averted'' Not inexplicable, since her spell "Xenographus" let's her read any language she encounters for a limited duration. [[/folder]]
[[folder:Unclear (4/50)]] * Characters.FrightKrewe: His power makes him this. He has the ability to communicate with anyone and understand anything they say, whether its a [[InexplicableLanguageFluency person]], an [[SpeaksFluentAnimal animal]], or an [[NatureSpirit 'elemental entity']]. '''The way the example is written, it's not clear whether it's this or BilingualDialogue.''' * Recap.CreepshowS1E3BadWolfDown: Doc is shown to speak French and understands the language quite fluently, allowing him to translate the explanation of the werewolf woman's plight. '''You can't "understand a language fluently". Does he ''speak'' it fluently, or at least speak it better than he should realistically be able to?''' * Series.AlloAllo: Frenchmen, Germans, and Italians can talk to each other. This is never explained. '''In their own languages, or...?''' * WesternAnimation.SpaceChimps: The [[SpeaksFluentAnimal aliens]] and [[InexplicablySpeaksFluentAlien chimps]] understand each other, despite that the chimps have just arrived on their planet. '''Does one of them speak the other's language, or do they just understand each other's languages?''' [[/folder]]
!!!'''Characters being able to understand a language without demonstrating fluency (24/50) 12%''' [[folder:Amplified Animal Aptitude (7/50) '''3.5%''']] * Literature.MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNIMH: The animals can understand humans and each other, but can't talk to humans. This leads to a bit of FridgeLogic as to where exactly all these animals picked up English (justified for the rats, as they were taught it in the lab, but not for any of the others), and whether they can understand other human languages automatically as well. * Recap.TheSimpsonsS6E6TreehouseOfHorrorV: When Homer is sent back in time to a prehistoric era, and has to avoid stepping on anything to change the future, he ends up swatting a mosquito then asks for reassurance that it won't change the future. He is understood despite being in an era before English existed, since a sloth behind him shrugs and grunts as if to say "I don't know." * TheSimpsons.TropesIToM: ** In "Treehouse of Horror V", when Homer is sent back in time to a prehistoric era, and has to avoid stepping on anything to change the future, he ends up swatting a mosquito then asks for reassurance that it won't change the future. He is understood despite being in an era before English existed, since a sloth behind him shrugs and grunts as if to say "I don't know." '''Just checked and the sloth doesn’t say “I don’t know”, it just grunts with an intonation that indicates that that’s what it was saying. So, not fluent in English.''' * Tarzan.TropesGToZ ** Played straight when Jane talks to a baby baboon and he understands her. * TotalDrama.TropesHToP: Some wild animals--especially squirrels--can understand humans. * WesternAnimation.FindingNemo: Dory understands English. The fish in the tank understand English because they've been hearing humans all their life, but there's no reason for Dory to understand English. [[spoiler:Subverted in that ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' reveals she was raised in a marine life institute in California.]] '''Since it says “understand” and not “speak” I can only assume this is a case of TranslationConvention and AnimalTalk, which means they aren’t actually fluent in English.''' * WesternAnimation.SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron: Spirit, despite not having had any human contact before his capture, understands what the human characters are saying. [[/folder]]
[[folder:Bilingual Dialogue (11/50)]] * Characters.MashupWeekMegamixCompetitors: Despite the fact that all 3 members speak different languages (English for Scoop, French for Eric and Italian for Baba), they can be understood by each other and by others easily. * Film.NoTimeToDie: James Bond's 5-year-old daughter, Mathilde, understands English even though her mother Madelaine speaks to her in French and all the media she consumes is in French. * Film.Titanic1997: Jack and the Swedish men understand each other well enough that Olaf is able to bet his tickets for all Jack and Fabrizio's money. * FinalFantasyXIV.TropesGToI?: ** In ''Heavensward'', the Warrior and Alphinaud are startled by how they can understand the great wyrm Hraesvelgr, who only speaks the language of dragons. They learn that while other races may not speak the dragon's language, the inherent power and magic in a dragon's song essentially beams meaning directly into the hearer's mind. ** The Scions are shocked in ''Shadowbringers'' when they meet [[spoiler:Emet-Selch's recreation of the lost city of Amaurot, the home of the BenevolentPrecursor race. Although the ancient version of mankind spoke only in a StarfishLanguage of droning tones, the Scions born millennia after the world was sundered find that they're able to discern meaning from it.]] * Literature.CookingWithWildGame: Lampshaded. One of the few supernatural parts of the setting is that [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Asuta]] can understand its inhabitants' language (almost) perfectly. Nobody knows why, nor do they ever find out; it's essentially one of the AcceptableBreaksFromReality needed to get the plot going. * Literature.{{Fablehaven}}: After receiving magic from fairies, Kendra gains the ability to interpret their language intuitively despite never actually learning it. * Manga.MiriyaAndMarie: Aside of occasional GratuitousFrench, Miriya can understand all French and animal characters and vice versa. Blackey also tries to charge Miriya for massage in yen despite being French. * VideoGame.KnightsOfTheOldRepublic: Yes, your character understands plenty of languages, but there isn't anyone who ''should'' understand the language of the AbusivePrecursors. [[spoiler: Subverted. Turns out you'd been there before and learned the language, but just forgotten the whole thing between Malak's backstab and whatever the Jedi did to "rebuild" you]]. '''When moving this to BilingualDialogue, I would rewrite it as “Your character understands plenty of languages, but can only speak one.''' * WebOriginal.MashupWeek: In both tournaments, Flat Eric speaks French, but everyone can understand him perfectly. Same with Gigi, who speaks Italian. * WesternAnimation.JosieAndThePussycats: ''[[RecycledWithAGimmick In Outer Space]]'' has Melody encounter an alien creature that looks like cotton candy with eyes and flippers. The critter speaks in a series of bleeps, and Melody names him Bleep. [[InexplicablySpeaksFluentAlien She can also understand him perfectly, and acts as translator for everyone else]]. Also, Bleep seems to understand English just fine. '''I also think InexplicablySpeaksFluentAlien should be limited to people actually speaking Alien instead of just understanding it, but that’s for another time.''' [[/folder]]
[[folder:Other (6/50)]] * Characters.InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocusMultiverse: Upon looking at some files from the old phone Oscar picked up, he's somehow able to read ''Aztec glyphs'' just by looking at it. [[spoiler:This is probably due to his covenant with Agares, as one of Agares' ability is to let his conjurer read and understand different languages.]] * Fanfic.InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocus: Kaito is somehow able to read ''Aztec glyphs'' just by looking at it. [[spoiler:This is probably due to his covenant with Agares, as one of Agares' ability is to let his conjurer read and understand different languages.]] * Characters.YaBoyKongming: ** Kongming also demonstrates an ability to understand English, as he is able to tell that the English song Eiko sings to him is a love song, with enough comprehension to be moved by a vision of his old comrades due to the lyrics referencing being still alive and alone. Later, upon meeting Tsuyoshi Kondo after Eiko's performance at the Yoyogi Art Festival, Kongming easily translates his GratuitousEnglish for a confused Kobayashi, and he's even become friends with a foreigner in Roppongi, who speaks exclusively in English. He's capable of some GratuitousEnglish himself, to boot. * Recap/CreepshowS2E2PublicTelevisionOfTheDead: Goodman reveals to Ted, out of nowhere, that he can read Sumerian, allowing him to translate the Necronomicon's incantations and let Evil roam free once again. * Series.{{Carnivale}}: During the fireball show, Samson secretly passes an old Crusader fob up to the stage during Lodz's psychometry act. When Lodz touches it, he's struck by visions of a holy war and begins chanting ''"In hoc signo vinces!"'' Ben, an uneducated farmboy, surprises Samson by translating even though he doesn't even recognize the language is Latin: '''Ben Hawkins:''' By this sign we conquer... by this sign we conquer... * WesternAnimation.SpaceChimps2ZartogStrikesBack: Zartog understands the humans, despite having just arrived on Earth. He even understands Spanish, Hindi, and Xhosa upon hearing them for the first time, making the humans' inability to understand him even more hilarious. [[/folder]]

Just copy this, paste this into a sandbox, then make a thread in the Trope Repair Shop linking to it. The thread shall be titled "Needs Help: Inexplicable Language Fluency".
A wick check for InexplicableLanguageFluency.
'''Why?''': InexplicableLanguageFluency seems to lump in examples of characters demonstrating fluency in a language they've never learned with examples of characters merely understanding a language they never learned. For one, it doesn't make sense for the latter examples to be there since the title has the word "fluency" in it. Secondly, many of the latter examples can be moved to BilingualDialogue or AmplifiedAnimalAptitude.
'''Wicks checked''': 50/72
'''Wick totals''':
* 21/50 wicks, or 11.5%, were clear examples of a character demonstrating fluency in a language they never learned. * 24/50 wicks, or 12% were examples of a character understanding a language without demonstrating fluency. * 4/50 wicks, or 2%, were written in a way that made it unclear whether they were being used correctly. * 1/50 wicks, or 1.5%, was an aversion.
[[folder:Characters demonstrating fluency in a language they never learned (21/50)]] * Characters.AtlantisTheLostEmpire: The Atlanteans are able to fluently communicate with the explorers from the surface in English and French. This is handwaved as their own language being a precursor to all other languages. * Characters.YaBoyKongming: ** Kongming finds himself immediately fluent in Japanese despite having never learned the language, and the Japan of his era was still a dwarf country that mostly only sent envoys to Shu's rival kingdom of Wei. Eiko points out the absurdity of how an ancient Chinese figure can suddenly speak Japanese, and Kongming himself is at a loss of how he can do this. * Characters.YellowjacketsCrashSurvivors: [[spoiler:She, and by extension others in the Antler Queen cult she forms, randomly speak French on occasion, which Lottie at least is ''not'' fluent in, indicating mental instability.]] '''If this is supposed to be an inversion, it's correct, but it should be rewritten to mention that it's an inversion.''' * ComicBook.Asterix: Gauls can speak to most foreign peoples without any difficulty. Either everyone can speak Gaulish, or the Gauls can speak other languages, but either way is downright impossible. * ComicBook.UltimateFantasticFour: ** Downplayed. Namor demonstrates this trope after spending nine thousand years of being sealed inside a sarcophagus prison. Being from an ancient civilization of Atlantis that predates the modern English language, he initially has no idea what his new captors are saying when they find him. However, thanks to his psionic powers he proves to be a frighteningly fast learner and is able to learn English within an hour to understand modern American English and casually deliver threats and demands. ** Happens again when the Four meets the Silver Surfer who is able to understand English perfectly the instant he arrives to Earth for the first time. He justifies this by stating can decipher electromagnetic signals in the air to learn alien tongues in seconds. * Friends.TropesFToJ: Zig-zagged. "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt" has her speaking with Joey's Italian grandmother, with Phoebe seeming as surprised about this as Joey. But in an earlier episode, Rachel's former lover Paulo calls her "bellissima" and she doesn't understand. ->'''Joey:''' Wow, Phoebs, you speak Italian?\\ '''Phoebe:''' Apparently. * Film.ExorcistTheBeginning: In-universe, the main characters note Cheche's sudden fluency in English after being brought to the hospital. Of course this is because it is Pazuzu speaking through him and not actually Cheche. '''This is DiscussedTrope, not InUniverse'''. * Film.{{Phenomenon}}: Downplayed. After a UFO encounter, George gains a form of superintelligence where he can learn complicated tasks and subjects quickly, to the point where he's able to fluently speak Portuguese after reading an English-to-Portuguese dictionary for twenty minutes. This was foreshadowed in an earlier scene where after usually fumbling to speak Spanish, he's suddenly able to speak it perfectly, to the point that his Hispanic coworker half-seriously declares that it's better than his. * Literature.ForgottenRuin: When Talker and Vandahar speak during the final stretch to the Hidden Cave, Vandahar speaks in what we would recognize as modern German, which of course makes communicating with him very easy for Talker but raises a few questions. * Literature.InCryptid: Of the GeneticMemory version. When Candice the Dragon Princess comes up against the LizardFolk wandering about the New York sewers, she's able to make them halt using a guttural language. She reveals to Verity that it's a inborn language all Princesses know and something the "Servitors" are meant to respond to. She's also never used it before as Servitors can only be created from a [[spoiler:living male dragon]]. * Literature.SeasonalFears: Aven is essentially in a coma all her life but, thanks to the alchemical knowledge tinctures of her father', she speaks perfect English even if there are some issues with definitions. * Literature.ShiversMDSpenser: Bubbie moves to France with her family and meets a new French kid, Jean-Luc, and can somehow converse with him without any language issues; at the end of the story she can hold a long conversation with a stranger in French, despite spending less than a week in the country. Previous books with an overseas setting will at least attempt justifying this trope (for instance, ''Terror on Troll Mountain'' has the protagonist's Italian family choosing to speak in English because they're anticipating American guests) but this one handwaves the issue until it's a borderline plot hole. * Recap.AsterixAndTheGoths: Getafix is able to speak fluent Gothic, despite being a Gaulish druid who has no logical reason to know it (especially considering how antagonistic the Goths are in this story). * Recap.FriendsS5E19TheOneWhereRossCantFlirt: Phoebe speaks with Joey's Italian grandmother, with [[InexplicableLanguageFluency Phoebe seeming as surprised about this as Joey]]. '''Joey:''' Wow, Phoebs, you speak Italian?\\ '''Phoebe:''' Apparently. * Recap.TalesFromTheDarksideS4E6TheGraveRobber: Aileen is surprised to hear Tapok speaking English when he wakes up, the mummy giving an offhand mention that he can speak the language of anyone who violates the tomb. * Roleplay.WanyaKingdomVSAwoofyUnity: Fragment has been shown to speak any language even if he has never heard it before. * Series.{{Llanargollen}}: In "Dirgelwch y Llyfr Coll", Prys and Barti speak to each other in Swahili. It seems incredibly unlikely that Prys would be fluent in that language, and Barti only speaks in unintelligible grunts with individual words thrown in. The other characters barely react to this. * VideoGame.EternalReturnBlackSurvival: The test subjects are able to work together with each other in spite of how one would presume that the vast majority of them would be completely unable to verbally communicate with most of the others. {{Averted}} by some of the achievement lore entries, which include statements observed from test subjects that some of which have a note underneath which states the words were translated by AI and will be reviewed and localized further in the future. '''Since this seems to be an implied example rather than a straight example, and it seems to be ambiguous InUniverse whether it's this or BilingualDialogue, I'll leave it here.''' * VideoGame.MegaManBattleNetwork2?: [=MegaMan=]'s translation system allows Lan to speak flawless Netopian after they arrive in Netopia. * WesternAnimation.{{Pocahontas}}: English explorer John Smith meets the alluring Pocahontas of the Powhatan tribe. Smith doesn't know her language, nor she his. That is, until Pocahontas takes a breath of magic wind. Suddenly, her English is better than his. [[/folder]]
[[folder:Aversions (1/50)]] * DarthWiki.{{Aquilaverse}}: ''Averted'' Not inexplicable, since her spell "Xenographus" let's her read any language she encounters for a limited duration. [[/folder]]
[[folder:Unclear (4/50)]] * Characters.FrightKrewe: His power makes him this. He has the ability to communicate with anyone and understand anything they say, whether its a [[InexplicableLanguageFluency person]], an [[SpeaksFluentAnimal animal]], or an [[NatureSpirit 'elemental entity']]. '''The way the example is written, it's not clear whether it's this or BilingualDialogue.''' * Recap.CreepshowS1E3BadWolfDown: Doc is shown to speak French and understands the language quite fluently, allowing him to translate the explanation of the werewolf woman's plight. '''You can't "understand a language fluently". Does he ''speak'' it fluently, or at least speak it better than he should realistically be able to?''' * Series.AlloAllo: Frenchmen, Germans, and Italians can talk to each other. This is never explained. '''In their own languages, or...?''' * WesternAnimation.SpaceChimps: The [[SpeaksFluentAnimal aliens]] and [[InexplicablySpeaksFluentAlien chimps]] understand each other, despite that the chimps have just arrived on their planet. '''Does one of them speak the other's language, or do they just understand each other's languages?''' [[/folder]]
!!!'''Characters being able to understand a language without demonstrating fluency (24/50) 12%''' [[folder:Amplified Animal Aptitude (7/50) '''3.5%''']] * Literature.MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNIMH: The animals can understand humans and each other, but can't talk to humans. This leads to a bit of FridgeLogic as to where exactly all these animals picked up English (justified for the rats, as they were taught it in the lab, but not for any of the others), and whether they can understand other human languages automatically as well. * Recap.TheSimpsonsS6E6TreehouseOfHorrorV: When Homer is sent back in time to a prehistoric era, and has to avoid stepping on anything to change the future, he ends up swatting a mosquito then asks for reassurance that it won't change the future. He is understood despite being in an era before English existed, since a sloth behind him shrugs and grunts as if to say "I don't know." * TheSimpsons.TropesIToM: ** In "Treehouse of Horror V", when Homer is sent back in time to a prehistoric era, and has to avoid stepping on anything to change the future, he ends up swatting a mosquito then asks for reassurance that it won't change the future. He is understood despite being in an era before English existed, since a sloth behind him shrugs and grunts as if to say "I don't know." '''Just checked and the sloth doesn’t say “I don’t know”, it just grunts with an intonation that indicates that that’s what it was saying. So, not fluent in English.''' * Tarzan.TropesGToZ ** Played straight when Jane talks to a baby baboon and he understands her. * TotalDrama.TropesHToP: Some wild animals--especially squirrels--can understand humans. * WesternAnimation.FindingNemo: Dory understands English. The fish in the tank understand English because they've been hearing humans all their life, but there's no reason for Dory to understand English. [[spoiler:Subverted in that ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' reveals she was raised in a marine life institute in California.]] '''Since it says “understand” and not “speak” I can only assume this is a case of TranslationConvention and AnimalTalk, which means they aren’t actually fluent in English.''' * WesternAnimation.SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron: Spirit, despite not having had any human contact before his capture, understands what the human characters are saying. [[/folder]]
[[folder:Bilingual Dialogue (11/50)]] * Characters.MashupWeekMegamixCompetitors: Despite the fact that all 3 members speak different languages (English for Scoop, French for Eric and Italian for Baba), they can be understood by each other and by others easily. * Film.NoTimeToDie: James Bond's 5-year-old daughter, Mathilde, understands English even though her mother Madelaine speaks to her in French and all the media she consumes is in French. * Film.Titanic1997: Jack and the Swedish men understand each other well enough that Olaf is able to bet his tickets for all Jack and Fabrizio's money. * FinalFantasyXIV.TropesGToI?: ** In ''Heavensward'', the Warrior and Alphinaud are startled by how they can understand the great wyrm Hraesvelgr, who only speaks the language of dragons. They learn that while other races may not speak the dragon's language, the inherent power and magic in a dragon's song essentially beams meaning directly into the hearer's mind. ** The Scions are shocked in ''Shadowbringers'' when they meet [[spoiler:Emet-Selch's recreation of the lost city of Amaurot, the home of the BenevolentPrecursor race. Although the ancient version of mankind spoke only in a StarfishLanguage of droning tones, the Scions born millennia after the world was sundered find that they're able to discern meaning from it.]] * Literature.CookingWithWildGame: Lampshaded. One of the few supernatural parts of the setting is that [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Asuta]] can understand its inhabitants' language (almost) perfectly. Nobody knows why, nor do they ever find out; it's essentially one of the AcceptableBreaksFromReality needed to get the plot going. * Literature.{{Fablehaven}}: After receiving magic from fairies, Kendra gains the ability to interpret their language intuitively despite never actually learning it. * Manga.MiriyaAndMarie: Aside of occasional GratuitousFrench, Miriya can understand all French and animal characters and vice versa. Blackey also tries to charge Miriya for massage in yen despite being French. * VideoGame.KnightsOfTheOldRepublic: Yes, your character understands plenty of languages, but there isn't anyone who ''should'' understand the language of the AbusivePrecursors. [[spoiler: Subverted. Turns out you'd been there before and learned the language, but just forgotten the whole thing between Malak's backstab and whatever the Jedi did to "rebuild" you]]. '''When moving this to BilingualDialogue, I would rewrite it as “Your character understands plenty of languages, but can only speak one.''' * WebOriginal.MashupWeek: In both tournaments, Flat Eric speaks French, but everyone can understand him perfectly. Same with Gigi, who speaks Italian. * WesternAnimation.JosieAndThePussycats: ''[[RecycledWithAGimmick In Outer Space]]'' has Melody encounter an alien creature that looks like cotton candy with eyes and flippers. The critter speaks in a series of bleeps, and Melody names him Bleep. [[InexplicablySpeaksFluentAlien She can also understand him perfectly, and acts as translator for everyone else]]. Also, Bleep seems to understand English just fine. '''I also think InexplicablySpeaksFluentAlien should be limited to people actually speaking Alien instead of just understanding it, but that’s for another time.''' [[/folder]]
[[folder:Other (6/50)]] * Characters.InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocusMultiverse: Upon looking at some files from the old phone Oscar picked up, he's somehow able to read ''Aztec glyphs'' just by looking at it. [[spoiler:This is probably due to his covenant with Agares, as one of Agares' ability is to let his conjurer read and understand different languages.]] * Fanfic.InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocus: Kaito is somehow able to read ''Aztec glyphs'' just by looking at it. [[spoiler:This is probably due to his covenant with Agares, as one of Agares' ability is to let his conjurer read and understand different languages.]] * Characters.YaBoyKongming: ** Kongming also demonstrates an ability to understand English, as he is able to tell that the English song Eiko sings to him is a love song, with enough comprehension to be moved by a vision of his old comrades due to the lyrics referencing being still alive and alone. Later, upon meeting Tsuyoshi Kondo after Eiko's performance at the Yoyogi Art Festival, Kongming easily translates his GratuitousEnglish for a confused Kobayashi, and he's even become friends with a foreigner in Roppongi, who speaks exclusively in English. He's capable of some GratuitousEnglish himself, to boot. * Recap/CreepshowS2E2PublicTelevisionOfTheDead: Goodman reveals to Ted, out of nowhere, that he can read Sumerian, allowing him to translate the Necronomicon's incantations and let Evil roam free once again. * Series.{{Carnivale}}: During the fireball show, Samson secretly passes an old Crusader fob up to the stage during Lodz's psychometry act. When Lodz touches it, he's struck by visions of a holy war and begins chanting ''"In hoc signo vinces!"'' Ben, an uneducated farmboy, surprises Samson by translating even though he doesn't even recognize the language is Latin: '''Ben Hawkins:''' By this sign we conquer... by this sign we conquer... * WesternAnimation.SpaceChimps2ZartogStrikesBack: Zartog understands the humans, despite having just arrived on Earth. He even understands Spanish, Hindi, and Xhosa upon hearing them for the first time, making the humans' inability to understand him even more hilarious. [[/folder]]

Just copy this, paste this into a sandbox, then make a thread in the Trope Repair Shop linking to it. The thread shall be titled "Needs Help: Inexplicable Language Fluency".
A wick check for InexplicableLanguageFluency.
'''Why?''': InexplicableLanguageFluency seems to lump in examples of characters demonstrating fluency in a language they've never learned with examples of characters merely understanding a language they never learned. For one, it doesn't make sense for the latter examples to be there since the title has the word "fluency" in it. Secondly, many of the latter examples can be moved to BilingualDialogue or AmplifiedAnimalAptitude.
'''Wicks checked''': 50/72
'''Wick totals''':
* 21/50 wicks, or 11.5%, were clear examples of a character demonstrating fluency in a language they never learned. * 24/50 wicks, or 12% were examples of a character understanding a language without demonstrating fluency. * 4/50 wicks, or 2%, were written in a way that made it unclear whether they were being used correctly. * 1/50 wicks, or 1.5%, was an aversion.
[[folder:Characters demonstrating fluency in a language they never learned (21/50)]] * Characters.AtlantisTheLostEmpire: The Atlanteans are able to fluently communicate with the explorers from the surface in English and French. This is handwaved as their own language being a precursor to all other languages. * Characters.YaBoyKongming: ** Kongming finds himself immediately fluent in Japanese despite having never learned the language, and the Japan of his era was still a dwarf country that mostly only sent envoys to Shu's rival kingdom of Wei. Eiko points out the absurdity of how an ancient Chinese figure can suddenly speak Japanese, and Kongming himself is at a loss of how he can do this. * Characters.YellowjacketsCrashSurvivors: [[spoiler:She, and by extension others in the Antler Queen cult she forms, randomly speak French on occasion, which Lottie at least is ''not'' fluent in, indicating mental instability.]] '''If this is supposed to be an inversion, it's correct, but it should be rewritten to mention that it's an inversion.''' * ComicBook.Asterix: Gauls can speak to most foreign peoples without any difficulty. Either everyone can speak Gaulish, or the Gauls can speak other languages, but either way is downright impossible. * ComicBook.UltimateFantasticFour: ** Downplayed. Namor demonstrates this trope after spending nine thousand years of being sealed inside a sarcophagus prison. Being from an ancient civilization of Atlantis that predates the modern English language, he initially has no idea what his new captors are saying when they find him. However, thanks to his psionic powers he proves to be a frighteningly fast learner and is able to learn English within an hour to understand modern American English and casually deliver threats and demands. ** Happens again when the Four meets the Silver Surfer who is able to understand English perfectly the instant he arrives to Earth for the first time. He justifies this by stating can decipher electromagnetic signals in the air to learn alien tongues in seconds. * Friends.TropesFToJ: Zig-zagged. "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt" has her speaking with Joey's Italian grandmother, with Phoebe seeming as surprised about this as Joey. But in an earlier episode, Rachel's former lover Paulo calls her "bellissima" and she doesn't understand. ->'''Joey:''' Wow, Phoebs, you speak Italian?\\ '''Phoebe:''' Apparently. * Film.ExorcistTheBeginning: In-universe, the main characters note Cheche's sudden fluency in English after being brought to the hospital. Of course this is because it is Pazuzu speaking through him and not actually Cheche. '''This is DiscussedTrope, not InUniverse'''. * Film.{{Phenomenon}}: Downplayed. After a UFO encounter, George gains a form of superintelligence where he can learn complicated tasks and subjects quickly, to the point where he's able to fluently speak Portuguese after reading an English-to-Portuguese dictionary for twenty minutes. This was foreshadowed in an earlier scene where after usually fumbling to speak Spanish, he's suddenly able to speak it perfectly, to the point that his Hispanic coworker half-seriously declares that it's better than his. * Literature.ForgottenRuin: When Talker and Vandahar speak during the final stretch to the Hidden Cave, Vandahar speaks in what we would recognize as modern German, which of course makes communicating with him very easy for Talker but raises a few questions. * Literature.InCryptid: Of the GeneticMemory version. When Candice the Dragon Princess comes up against the LizardFolk wandering about the New York sewers, she's able to make them halt using a guttural language. She reveals to Verity that it's a inborn language all Princesses know and something the "Servitors" are meant to respond to. She's also never used it before as Servitors can only be created from a [[spoiler:living male dragon]]. * Literature.SeasonalFears: Aven is essentially in a coma all her life but, thanks to the alchemical knowledge tinctures of her father', she speaks perfect English even if there are some issues with definitions. * Literature.ShiversMDSpenser: Bubbie moves to France with her family and meets a new French kid, Jean-Luc, and can somehow converse with him without any language issues; at the end of the story she can hold a long conversation with a stranger in French, despite spending less than a week in the country. Previous books with an overseas setting will at least attempt justifying this trope (for instance, ''Terror on Troll Mountain'' has the protagonist's Italian family choosing to speak in English because they're anticipating American guests) but this one handwaves the issue until it's a borderline plot hole. * Recap.AsterixAndTheGoths: Getafix is able to speak fluent Gothic, despite being a Gaulish druid who has no logical reason to know it (especially considering how antagonistic the Goths are in this story). * Recap.FriendsS5E19TheOneWhereRossCantFlirt: Phoebe speaks with Joey's Italian grandmother, with [[InexplicableLanguageFluency Phoebe seeming as surprised about this as Joey]]. '''Joey:''' Wow, Phoebs, you speak Italian?\\ '''Phoebe:''' Apparently. * Recap.TalesFromTheDarksideS4E6TheGraveRobber: Aileen is surprised to hear Tapok speaking English when he wakes up, the mummy giving an offhand mention that he can speak the language of anyone who violates the tomb. * Roleplay.WanyaKingdomVSAwoofyUnity: Fragment has been shown to speak any language even if he has never heard it before. * Series.{{Llanargollen}}: In "Dirgelwch y Llyfr Coll", Prys and Barti speak to each other in Swahili. It seems incredibly unlikely that Prys would be fluent in that language, and Barti only speaks in unintelligible grunts with individual words thrown in. The other characters barely react to this. * VideoGame.EternalReturnBlackSurvival: The test subjects are able to work together with each other in spite of how one would presume that the vast majority of them would be completely unable to verbally communicate with most of the others. {{Averted}} by some of the achievement lore entries, which include statements observed from test subjects that some of which have a note underneath which states the words were translated by AI and will be reviewed and localized further in the future. '''Since this seems to be an implied example rather than a straight example, and it seems to be ambiguous InUniverse whether it's this or BilingualDialogue, I'll leave it here.''' * VideoGame.MegaManBattleNetwork2?: [=MegaMan=]'s translation system allows Lan to speak flawless Netopian after they arrive in Netopia. * WesternAnimation.{{Pocahontas}}: English explorer John Smith meets the alluring Pocahontas of the Powhatan tribe. Smith doesn't know her language, nor she his. That is, until Pocahontas takes a breath of magic wind. Suddenly, her English is better than his. [[/folder]]
[[folder:Aversions (1/50)]] * DarthWiki.{{Aquilaverse}}: ''Averted'' Not inexplicable, since her spell "Xenographus" let's her read any language she encounters for a limited duration. [[/folder]]
[[folder:Unclear (4/50)]] * Characters.FrightKrewe: His power makes him this. He has the ability to communicate with anyone and understand anything they say, whether its a [[InexplicableLanguageFluency person]], an [[SpeaksFluentAnimal animal]], or an [[NatureSpirit 'elemental entity']]. '''The way the example is written, it's not clear whether it's this or BilingualDialogue.''' * Recap.CreepshowS1E3BadWolfDown: Doc is shown to speak French and understands the language quite fluently, allowing him to translate the explanation of the werewolf woman's plight. '''You can't "understand a language fluently". Does he ''speak'' it fluently, or at least speak it better than he should realistically be able to?''' * Series.AlloAllo: Frenchmen, Germans, and Italians can talk to each other. This is never explained. '''In their own languages, or...?''' * WesternAnimation.SpaceChimps: The [[SpeaksFluentAnimal aliens]] and [[InexplicablySpeaksFluentAlien chimps]] understand each other, despite that the chimps have just arrived on their planet. '''Does one of them speak the other's language, or do they just understand each other's languages?''' [[/folder]]
!!!'''Characters being able to understand a language without demonstrating fluency (24/50) 12%''' [[folder:Amplified Animal Aptitude (7/50) '''3.5%''']] * Literature.MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNIMH: The animals can understand humans and each other, but can't talk to humans. This leads to a bit of FridgeLogic as to where exactly all these animals picked up English (justified for the rats, as they were taught it in the lab, but not for any of the others), and whether they can understand other human languages automatically as well. * Recap.TheSimpsonsS6E6TreehouseOfHorrorV: When Homer is sent back in time to a prehistoric era, and has to avoid stepping on anything to change the future, he ends up swatting a mosquito then asks for reassurance that it won't change the future. He is understood despite being in an era before English existed, since a sloth behind him shrugs and grunts as if to say "I don't know." * TheSimpsons.TropesIToM: ** In "Treehouse of Horror V", when Homer is sent back in time to a prehistoric era, and has to avoid stepping on anything to change the future, he ends up swatting a mosquito then asks for reassurance that it won't change the future. He is understood despite being in an era before English existed, since a sloth behind him shrugs and grunts as if to say "I don't know." '''Just checked and the sloth doesn’t say “I don’t know”, it just grunts with an intonation that indicates that that’s what it was saying. So, not fluent in English.''' * Tarzan.TropesGToZ ** Played straight when Jane talks to a baby baboon and he understands her. * TotalDrama.TropesHToP: Some wild animals--especially squirrels--can understand humans. * WesternAnimation.FindingNemo: Dory understands English. The fish in the tank understand English because they've been hearing humans all their life, but there's no reason for Dory to understand English. [[spoiler:Subverted in that ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' reveals she was raised in a marine life institute in California.]] '''Since it says “understand” and not “speak” I can only assume this is a case of TranslationConvention and AnimalTalk, which means they aren’t actually fluent in English.''' * WesternAnimation.SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron: Spirit, despite not having had any human contact before his capture, understands what the human characters are saying. [[/folder]]
[[folder:Bilingual Dialogue (11/50)]] * Characters.MashupWeekMegamixCompetitors: Despite the fact that all 3 members speak different languages (English for Scoop, French for Eric and Italian for Baba), they can be understood by each other and by others easily. * Film.NoTimeToDie: James Bond's 5-year-old daughter, Mathilde, understands English even though her mother Madelaine speaks to her in French and all the media she consumes is in French. * Film.Titanic1997: Jack and the Swedish men understand each other well enough that Olaf is able to bet his tickets for all Jack and Fabrizio's money. * FinalFantasyXIV.TropesGToI?: ** In ''Heavensward'', the Warrior and Alphinaud are startled by how they can understand the great wyrm Hraesvelgr, who only speaks the language of dragons. They learn that while other races may not speak the dragon's language, the inherent power and magic in a dragon's song essentially beams meaning directly into the hearer's mind. ** The Scions are shocked in ''Shadowbringers'' when they meet [[spoiler:Emet-Selch's recreation of the lost city of Amaurot, the home of the BenevolentPrecursor race. Although the ancient version of mankind spoke only in a StarfishLanguage of droning tones, the Scions born millennia after the world was sundered find that they're able to discern meaning from it.]] * Literature.CookingWithWildGame: Lampshaded. One of the few supernatural parts of the setting is that [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Asuta]] can understand its inhabitants' language (almost) perfectly. Nobody knows why, nor do they ever find out; it's essentially one of the AcceptableBreaksFromReality needed to get the plot going. * Literature.{{Fablehaven}}: After receiving magic from fairies, Kendra gains the ability to interpret their language intuitively despite never actually learning it. * Manga.MiriyaAndMarie: Aside of occasional GratuitousFrench, Miriya can understand all French and animal characters and vice versa. Blackey also tries to charge Miriya for massage in yen despite being French. * VideoGame.KnightsOfTheOldRepublic: Yes, your character understands plenty of languages, but there isn't anyone who ''should'' understand the language of the AbusivePrecursors. [[spoiler: Subverted. Turns out you'd been there before and learned the language, but just forgotten the whole thing between Malak's backstab and whatever the Jedi did to "rebuild" you]]. '''When moving this to BilingualDialogue, I would rewrite it as “Your character understands plenty of languages, but can only speak one.''' * WebOriginal.MashupWeek: In both tournaments, Flat Eric speaks French, but everyone can understand him perfectly. Same with Gigi, who speaks Italian. * WesternAnimation.JosieAndThePussycats: ''[[RecycledWithAGimmick In Outer Space]]'' has Melody encounter an alien creature that looks like cotton candy with eyes and flippers. The critter speaks in a series of bleeps, and Melody names him Bleep. [[InexplicablySpeaksFluentAlien She can also understand him perfectly, and acts as translator for everyone else]]. Also, Bleep seems to understand English just fine. '''I also think InexplicablySpeaksFluentAlien should be limited to people actually speaking Alien instead of just understanding it, but that’s for another time.''' [[/folder]]
[[folder:Other (6/50)]] * Characters.InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocusMultiverse: Upon looking at some files from the old phone Oscar picked up, he's somehow able to read ''Aztec glyphs'' just by looking at it. [[spoiler:This is probably due to his covenant with Agares, as one of Agares' ability is to let his conjurer read and understand different languages.]] * Fanfic.InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocus: Kaito is somehow able to read ''Aztec glyphs'' just by looking at it. [[spoiler:This is probably due to his covenant with Agares, as one of Agares' ability is to let his conjurer read and understand different languages.]] * Characters.YaBoyKongming: ** Kongming also demonstrates an ability to understand English, as he is able to tell that the English song Eiko sings to him is a love song, with enough comprehension to be moved by a vision of his old comrades due to the lyrics referencing being still alive and alone. Later, upon meeting Tsuyoshi Kondo after Eiko's performance at the Yoyogi Art Festival, Kongming easily translates his GratuitousEnglish for a confused Kobayashi, and he's even become friends with a foreigner in Roppongi, who speaks exclusively in English. He's capable of some GratuitousEnglish himself, to boot. * Recap/CreepshowS2E2PublicTelevisionOfTheDead: Goodman reveals to Ted, out of nowhere, that he can read Sumerian, allowing him to translate the Necronomicon's incantations and let Evil roam free once again. * Series.{{Carnivale}}: During the fireball show, Samson secretly passes an old Crusader fob up to the stage during Lodz's psychometry act. When Lodz touches it, he's struck by visions of a holy war and begins chanting ''"In hoc signo vinces!"'' Ben, an uneducated farmboy, surprises Samson by translating even though he doesn't even recognize the language is Latin: '''Ben Hawkins:''' By this sign we conquer... by this sign we conquer... * WesternAnimation.SpaceChimps2ZartogStrikesBack: Zartog understands the humans, despite having just arrived on Earth. He even understands Spanish, Hindi, and Xhosa upon hearing them for the first time, making the humans' inability to understand him even more hilarious. [[/folder]]

Just copy this, paste this into a sandbox, then make a thread in the Trope Repair Shop linking to it. The thread shall be titled "Needs Help: Inexplicable Language Fluency".
A wick check for InexplicableLanguageFluency.
'''Why?''': InexplicableLanguageFluency seems to lump in examples of characters demonstrating fluency in a language they've never learned with examples of characters merely understanding a language they never learned. For one, it doesn't make sense for the latter examples to be there since the title has the word "fluency" in it. Secondly, many of the latter examples can be moved to BilingualDialogue or AmplifiedAnimalAptitude.
'''Wicks checked''': 50/72
'''Wick totals''':
* 21/50 wicks, or 11.5%, were clear examples of a character demonstrating fluency in a language they never learned. * 24/50 wicks, or 12% were examples of a character understanding a language without demonstrating fluency. * 4/50 wicks, or 2%, were written in a way that made it unclear whether they were being used correctly. * 1/50 wicks, or 1.5%, was an aversion.
[[folder:Characters demonstrating fluency in a language they never learned (21/50)]] * Characters.AtlantisTheLostEmpire: The Atlanteans are able to fluently communicate with the explorers from the surface in English and French. This is handwaved as their own language being a precursor to all other languages. * Characters.YaBoyKongming: ** Kongming finds himself immediately fluent in Japanese despite having never learned the language, and the Japan of his era was still a dwarf country that mostly only sent envoys to Shu's rival kingdom of Wei. Eiko points out the absurdity of how an ancient Chinese figure can suddenly speak Japanese, and Kongming himself is at a loss of how he can do this. * Characters.YellowjacketsCrashSurvivors: [[spoiler:She, and by extension others in the Antler Queen cult she forms, randomly speak French on occasion, which Lottie at least is ''not'' fluent in, indicating mental instability.]] '''If this is supposed to be an inversion, it's correct, but it should be rewritten to mention that it's an inversion.''' * ComicBook.Asterix: Gauls can speak to most foreign peoples without any difficulty. Either everyone can speak Gaulish, or the Gauls can speak other languages, but either way is downright impossible. * ComicBook.UltimateFantasticFour: ** Downplayed. Namor demonstrates this trope after spending nine thousand years of being sealed inside a sarcophagus prison. Being from an ancient civilization of Atlantis that predates the modern English language, he initially has no idea what his new captors are saying when they find him. However, thanks to his psionic powers he proves to be a frighteningly fast learner and is able to learn English within an hour to understand modern American English and casually deliver threats and demands. ** Happens again when the Four meets the Silver Surfer who is able to understand English perfectly the instant he arrives to Earth for the first time. He justifies this by stating can decipher electromagnetic signals in the air to learn alien tongues in seconds. * Friends.TropesFToJ: Zig-zagged. "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt" has her speaking with Joey's Italian grandmother, with Phoebe seeming as surprised about this as Joey. But in an earlier episode, Rachel's former lover Paulo calls her "bellissima" and she doesn't understand. ->'''Joey:''' Wow, Phoebs, you speak Italian?\\ '''Phoebe:''' Apparently. * Film.ExorcistTheBeginning: In-universe, the main characters note Cheche's sudden fluency in English after being brought to the hospital. Of course this is because it is Pazuzu speaking through him and not actually Cheche. '''This is DiscussedTrope, not InUniverse'''. * Film.{{Phenomenon}}: Downplayed. After a UFO encounter, George gains a form of superintelligence where he can learn complicated tasks and subjects quickly, to the point where he's able to fluently speak Portuguese after reading an English-to-Portuguese dictionary for twenty minutes. This was foreshadowed in an earlier scene where after usually fumbling to speak Spanish, he's suddenly able to speak it perfectly, to the point that his Hispanic coworker half-seriously declares that it's better than his. * Literature.ForgottenRuin: When Talker and Vandahar speak during the final stretch to the Hidden Cave, Vandahar speaks in what we would recognize as modern German, which of course makes communicating with him very easy for Talker but raises a few questions. * Literature.InCryptid: Of the GeneticMemory version. When Candice the Dragon Princess comes up against the LizardFolk wandering about the New York sewers, she's able to make them halt using a guttural language. She reveals to Verity that it's a inborn language all Princesses know and something the "Servitors" are meant to respond to. She's also never used it before as Servitors can only be created from a [[spoiler:living male dragon]]. * Literature.SeasonalFears: Aven is essentially in a coma all her life but, thanks to the alchemical knowledge tinctures of her father', she speaks perfect English even if there are some issues with definitions. * Literature.ShiversMDSpenser: Bubbie moves to France with her family and meets a new French kid, Jean-Luc, and can somehow converse with him without any language issues; at the end of the story she can hold a long conversation with a stranger in French, despite spending less than a week in the country. Previous books with an overseas setting will at least attempt justifying this trope (for instance, ''Terror on Troll Mountain'' has the protagonist's Italian family choosing to speak in English because they're anticipating American guests) but this one handwaves the issue until it's a borderline plot hole. * Recap.AsterixAndTheGoths: Getafix is able to speak fluent Gothic, despite being a Gaulish druid who has no logical reason to know it (especially considering how antagonistic the Goths are in this story). * Recap.FriendsS5E19TheOneWhereRossCantFlirt: Phoebe speaks with Joey's Italian grandmother, with [[InexplicableLanguageFluency Phoebe seeming as surprised about this as Joey]]. '''Joey:''' Wow, Phoebs, you speak Italian?\\ '''Phoebe:''' Apparently. * Recap.TalesFromTheDarksideS4E6TheGraveRobber: Aileen is surprised to hear Tapok speaking English when he wakes up, the mummy giving an offhand mention that he can speak the language of anyone who violates the tomb. * Roleplay.WanyaKingdomVSAwoofyUnity: Fragment has been shown to speak any language even if he has never heard it before. * Series.{{Llanargollen}}: In "Dirgelwch y Llyfr Coll", Prys and Barti speak to each other in Swahili. It seems incredibly unlikely that Prys would be fluent in that language, and Barti only speaks in unintelligible grunts with individual words thrown in. The other characters barely react to this. * VideoGame.EternalReturnBlackSurvival: The test subjects are able to work together with each other in spite of how one would presume that the vast majority of them would be completely unable to verbally communicate with most of the others. {{Averted}} by some of the achievement lore entries, which include statements observed from test subjects that some of which have a note underneath which states the words were translated by AI and will be reviewed and localized further in the future. '''Since this seems to be an implied example rather than a straight example, and it seems to be ambiguous InUniverse whether it's this or BilingualDialogue, I'll leave it here.''' * VideoGame.MegaManBattleNetwork2?: [=MegaMan=]'s translation system allows Lan to speak flawless Netopian after they arrive in Netopia. * WesternAnimation.{{Pocahontas}}: English explorer John Smith meets the alluring Pocahontas of the Powhatan tribe. Smith doesn't know her language, nor she his. That is, until Pocahontas takes a breath of magic wind. Suddenly, her English is better than his. [[/folder]]
[[folder:Aversions (1/50)]] * DarthWiki.{{Aquilaverse}}: ''Averted'' Not inexplicable, since her spell "Xenographus" let's her read any language she encounters for a limited duration. [[/folder]]
[[folder:Unclear (4/50)]] * Characters.FrightKrewe: His power makes him this. He has the ability to communicate with anyone and understand anything they say, whether its a [[InexplicableLanguageFluency person]], an [[SpeaksFluentAnimal animal]], or an [[NatureSpirit 'elemental entity']]. '''The way the example is written, it's not clear whether it's this or BilingualDialogue.''' * Recap.CreepshowS1E3BadWolfDown: Doc is shown to speak French and understands the language quite fluently, allowing him to translate the explanation of the werewolf woman's plight. '''You can't "understand a language fluently". Does he ''speak'' it fluently, or at least speak it better than he should realistically be able to?''' * Series.AlloAllo: Frenchmen, Germans, and Italians can talk to each other. This is never explained. '''In their own languages, or...?''' * WesternAnimation.SpaceChimps: The [[SpeaksFluentAnimal aliens]] and [[InexplicablySpeaksFluentAlien chimps]] understand each other, despite that the chimps have just arrived on their planet. '''Does one of them speak the other's language, or do they just understand each other's languages?''' [[/folder]]
!!!'''Characters being able to understand a language without demonstrating fluency (24/50) 12%''' [[folder:Amplified Animal Aptitude (7/50) '''3.5%''']] * Literature.MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNIMH: The animals can understand humans and each other, but can't talk to humans. This leads to a bit of FridgeLogic as to where exactly all these animals picked up English (justified for the rats, as they were taught it in the lab, but not for any of the others), and whether they can understand other human languages automatically as well. * Recap.TheSimpsonsS6E6TreehouseOfHorrorV: When Homer is sent back in time to a prehistoric era, and has to avoid stepping on anything to change the future, he ends up swatting a mosquito then asks for reassurance that it won't change the future. He is understood despite being in an era before English existed, since a sloth behind him shrugs and grunts as if to say "I don't know." * TheSimpsons.TropesIToM: ** In "Treehouse of Horror V", when Homer is sent back in time to a prehistoric era, and has to avoid stepping on anything to change the future, he ends up swatting a mosquito then asks for reassurance that it won't change the future. He is understood despite being in an era before English existed, since a sloth behind him shrugs and grunts as if to say "I don't know." '''Just checked and the sloth doesn’t say “I don’t know”, it just grunts with an intonation that indicates that that’s what it was saying. So, not fluent in English.''' * Tarzan.TropesGToZ ** Played straight when Jane talks to a baby baboon and he understands her. * TotalDrama.TropesHToP: Some wild animals--especially squirrels--can understand humans. * WesternAnimation.FindingNemo: Dory understands English. The fish in the tank understand English because they've been hearing humans all their life, but there's no reason for Dory to understand English. [[spoiler:Subverted in that ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' reveals she was raised in a marine life institute in California.]] '''Since it says “understand” and not “speak” I can only assume this is a case of TranslationConvention and AnimalTalk, which means they aren’t actually fluent in English.''' * WesternAnimation.SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron: Spirit, despite not having had any human contact before his capture, understands what the human characters are saying. [[/folder]]
[[folder:Bilingual Dialogue (11/50)]] * Characters.MashupWeekMegamixCompetitors: Despite the fact that all 3 members speak different languages (English for Scoop, French for Eric and Italian for Baba), they can be understood by each other and by others easily. * Film.NoTimeToDie: James Bond's 5-year-old daughter, Mathilde, understands English even though her mother Madelaine speaks to her in French and all the media she consumes is in French. * Film.Titanic1997: Jack and the Swedish men understand each other well enough that Olaf is able to bet his tickets for all Jack and Fabrizio's money. * FinalFantasyXIV.TropesGToI?: ** In ''Heavensward'', the Warrior and Alphinaud are startled by how they can understand the great wyrm Hraesvelgr, who only speaks the language of dragons. They learn that while other races may not speak the dragon's language, the inherent power and magic in a dragon's song essentially beams meaning directly into the hearer's mind. ** The Scions are shocked in ''Shadowbringers'' when they meet [[spoiler:Emet-Selch's recreation of the lost city of Amaurot, the home of the BenevolentPrecursor race. Although the ancient version of mankind spoke only in a StarfishLanguage of droning tones, the Scions born millennia after the world was sundered find that they're able to discern meaning from it.]] * Literature.CookingWithWildGame: Lampshaded. One of the few supernatural parts of the setting is that [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Asuta]] can understand its inhabitants' language (almost) perfectly. Nobody knows why, nor do they ever find out; it's essentially one of the AcceptableBreaksFromReality needed to get the plot going. * Literature.{{Fablehaven}}: After receiving magic from fairies, Kendra gains the ability to interpret their language intuitively despite never actually learning it. * Manga.MiriyaAndMarie: Aside of occasional GratuitousFrench, Miriya can understand all French and animal characters and vice versa. Blackey also tries to charge Miriya for massage in yen despite being French. * VideoGame.KnightsOfTheOldRepublic: Yes, your character understands plenty of languages, but there isn't anyone who ''should'' understand the language of the AbusivePrecursors. [[spoiler: Subverted. Turns out you'd been there before and learned the language, but just forgotten the whole thing between Malak's backstab and whatever the Jedi did to "rebuild" you]]. '''When moving this to BilingualDialogue, I would rewrite it as “Your character understands plenty of languages, but can only speak one.''' * WebOriginal.MashupWeek: In both tournaments, Flat Eric speaks French, but everyone can understand him perfectly. Same with Gigi, who speaks Italian. * WesternAnimation.JosieAndThePussycats: ''[[RecycledWithAGimmick In Outer Space]]'' has Melody encounter an alien creature that looks like cotton candy with eyes and flippers. The critter speaks in a series of bleeps, and Melody names him Bleep. [[InexplicablySpeaksFluentAlien She can also understand him perfectly, and acts as translator for everyone else]]. Also, Bleep seems to understand English just fine. '''I also think InexplicablySpeaksFluentAlien should be limited to people actually speaking Alien instead of just understanding it, but that’s for another time.''' [[/folder]]
[[folder:Other (6/50)]] * Characters.InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocusMultiverse: Upon looking at some files from the old phone Oscar picked up, he's somehow able to read ''Aztec glyphs'' just by looking at it. [[spoiler:This is probably due to his covenant with Agares, as one of Agares' ability is to let his conjurer read and understand different languages.]] * Fanfic.InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocus: Kaito is somehow able to read ''Aztec glyphs'' just by looking at it. [[spoiler:This is probably due to his covenant with Agares, as one of Agares' ability is to let his conjurer read and understand different languages.]] * Characters.YaBoyKongming: ** Kongming also demonstrates an ability to understand English, as he is able to tell that the English song Eiko sings to him is a love song, with enough comprehension to be moved by a vision of his old comrades due to the lyrics referencing being still alive and alone. Later, upon meeting Tsuyoshi Kondo after Eiko's performance at the Yoyogi Art Festival, Kongming easily translates his GratuitousEnglish for a confused Kobayashi, and he's even become friends with a foreigner in Roppongi, who speaks exclusively in English. He's capable of some GratuitousEnglish himself, to boot. * Recap/CreepshowS2E2PublicTelevisionOfTheDead: Goodman reveals to Ted, out of nowhere, that he can read Sumerian, allowing him to translate the Necronomicon's incantations and let Evil roam free once again. * Series.{{Carnivale}}: During the fireball show, Samson secretly passes an old Crusader fob up to the stage during Lodz's psychometry act. When Lodz touches it, he's struck by visions of a holy war and begins chanting ''"In hoc signo vinces!"'' Ben, an uneducated farmboy, surprises Samson by translating even though he doesn't even recognize the language is Latin: '''Ben Hawkins:''' By this sign we conquer... by this sign we conquer... * WesternAnimation.SpaceChimps2ZartogStrikesBack: Zartog understands the humans, despite having just arrived on Earth. He even understands Spanish, Hindi, and Xhosa upon hearing them for the first time, making the humans' inability to understand him even more hilarious. [[/folder]]

The profusion of identical green tents at this spring’s anti-Israel protests struck many as odd. “Why is everybody’s tent the same?,” asked New York mayor Eric Adams. Like others, the mayor suspected “a well-concerted organizing effort” driving the protests. More recent reporting shows a concerted push behind the Gaza protest movement. But it is not as simple as a single organization secretly rallying protesters or buying tents. Instead, the movement’s most determined activists represent a network of loosely linked far-left groups. Some are openly affiliated with well-known progressive nonprofits; others work in the shadows.
The movement also draws on diverse but generous sources of financial backing. Those funding streams may soon be augmented by the federal government. As I chronicled last year in a Manhattan Institute report, “The Big Squeeze: How Biden’s Environmental Justice Agenda Hurts the Economy and the Environment,” the administration’s massive program of environmental justice grants seems designed to prioritize the funding of highly ideological local groups. The Inflation Reduction Act, for example, earmarks $3 billion for “environmental and climate justice block grants” intended for local nonprofits. Today, hundreds of far-left political groups include language about environmental issues and “climate justice” in their mission statements. If just a fraction of planned grants flows to such groups, the effect will be a gusher of new funding for radical causes.
As the Gaza protests spread across U.S. college campuses, many observers noted an eerie uniformity among them. From one campus to the next, protesters operated in disciplined cadres, keeping their faces covered and using identical rote phrases as they refused to talk with reporters. The Atlantic noted the strangeness of seeing elite college students “chanting like automatons.” Students held up keffiyeh scarves or umbrellas to block the view of prying cameras and linked arms to halt the movements of outsiders. At Columbia University and elsewhere, protesters formed “liberated zones,” from which “Zionists” were excluded. Around the edges of the encampments, the more militaristic activists donned helmets and goggles and carried crude weapons, apparently eager to mix it up with police or counter-protesters. We’ve seen these tactics before—notably during the “mostly peaceful” Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, when full-time agitators helped ignite riots, set up a police-free (and violence-plagued) zone in Seattle, and laid nightly siege to Portland, Oregon’s federal courthouse.
In a remarkable work of reporting, Park MacDougald recently traced the tangled roots of organizations backing pro-jihad protests, both on and off campuses. These include Antifa and other networks of anonymous anarchists, along with “various communist and Marxist-Leninist groups, including the Maoist Revolutionary Communist Party, the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), and the International ANSWER coalition,” MacDougald writes. Higher up the food chain, we find groups openly supported by America’s growing class of super-rich tech execs or the anti-capitalist heirs of great fortunes. For example, retired tech mogul Neville Roy Singham, who is married to Code Pink founder Jodie Evans, funds The People’s Forum, a lavish Manhattan resource center for far-left groups. As the Columbia protests intensified, the center urged members to head uptown to “support our students.” Following the money trail of other protest groups, MacDougald finds connections to the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Ford Foundation, and—surprising no one—the George Soros-backed Tides Foundation.
Of course, the current wave of anti-Israel protests also involves alliances with pro-Hamas organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine. Last November, Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies testified to the House Ways and Means Committee that SJP and similar groups have deep ties to global terrorist organizations, including Hamas.
For many keffiyeh-wearing protestors, however, a recently professed concern for Palestinians is just the latest in a long list of causes they believe justify taking over streets and college quads. In Unherd, Mary Harrington dubs this medley of political beliefs the “omnicause,” writing that “all contemporary radical causes seem somehow to have been absorbed into one.” Today’s leftist activists share an interlocking worldview that sees racism, income inequality, trans intolerance, climate change, alleged police violence, and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts all as products of capitalism and “colonialism.” Therefore, the stated rationale for any individual protest is a stand-in for the real battle: attacking Western society and its institutions.
In the U.S., this type of general-purpose uprising goes back at least to the riots at the 1999 meeting of the World Trade Organization in Seattle. In those protests, mainstream liberal factions—including labor unions and environmentalists—were joined by “black bloc” anarchists and other radicals eager to engage in “direct action” against police. That pattern—relatively moderate demonstrators providing a friendly envelope for hard-core disruptors—formed the template for many later protests: the Occupy Wall Street encampments in 2011, demonstrations following the police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014, 2016’s Standing Rock anti-pipeline movement, and of course, the calamitous summer of 2020.
These uprisings were not entirely spontaneous. In some cases, activists spend months planning mass actions—for example, against economic summits or political conventions—and can recruit street fighters from across the country. In others, an event, such as George Floyd’s death, sparks popular protests involving neophyte demonstrators. Those attract far-left activists, who swoop in to organize and expand the struggle, often tilting it toward more radical action.
That has certainly been the case at the college Gaza-paloozas. At Columbia, the New York Times spotted a woman old enough to be a student’s grandmother in the thick of the action as protesters barricaded that school’s Hamilton Hall. The woman was 63-year-old Lisa Fithian, a lifetime activist, who Portland’s alternative weekly Street Roots approvingly calls “a trainer of mass rebellion.” A counter-protester trying to block the pro-Hamas demonstrators told NBC News, “She was right in the middle of it, instructing them how to better set up the barriers.” Fithian told the Times she’d been invited to train students in protest safety and “general logistics.” She claims to have taken part in almost every major U.S. protest movement going back to the 1999 “Battle in Seattle.”
America’s radical network has plenty of Lisa Fithians, with the time and resources to travel the country educating newcomers about the “logistics” of disruptive protests. And these activists appear to have played key roles in the college occupations. The New York City Police Department says nearly half the demonstrators arrested on the Columbia and City University of New York (CUNY) campuses on April 30 were not affiliated with the schools. One hooded Hamilton Hall occupier—photographed scuffling with a Columbia custodian before getting arrested—turned out to be 40-year-old James Carlson, heir to a large advertising fortune. According to the New York Post, Carlson lives in a $2.3 million Park Slope townhouse and has a long rap sheet. For example, in 2005, he was arrested in San Francisco during the violent “West Coast Anti-Capitalist Mobilization and March Against the G8.” (Those charges were dropped.)
For a quarter-century now, Antifa and other anarchist networks have worked to refine tactics and share lessons following each major action. At Columbia, UCLA, and other schools, authorities found printouts of a “Do-It Yourself Occupation Guide” and similar documents. The young campus radicals are eager to learn from their more experienced elders. And, like the high-achieving students they are, they follow directions carefully. MacDougald asked Kyle Shideler, the director for homeland security and counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy, about the mystery of the identical tents. There was no need for a central group to distribute hundreds of tents, Shideler said. Instead, “the organizers told [students] to buy a tent, and sent around a Google Doc with a link to that specific tent on Amazon. So they all went out and bought the same tent.”
In other words, America’s radical class has gotten very skilled at recruiting and instructing new activists—even from among the ranks of elite college students with a good deal to lose. How much more could this movement accomplish with hundreds of millions in federal dollars flooding activist groups around the country?
From its first week in office, the Biden administration has trumpeted its goal to funnel more environmental spending toward “disadvantaged communities that have been historically marginalized,” partly by issuing grants to grassroots organizations. Previous environmental justice (EJ) grant programs were small in scope. But, with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August 2022, a huge pool of grant money became available. EPA administrator Michael Regan told reporters, “We’re going from tens of thousands of dollars to developing and designing a program that will distribute billions.”
More than a year and a half later, it remains hard to nail down just where the Biden administration’s billions in EJ grants will wind up. Money is being distributed through a confusing variety of programs, and the process of identifying recipients is ongoing. To help outsource the job of sifting through proposals, the EPA last year designated 11 institutions as “Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmakers.” These groups are empowered to make subgrants directly to community organizations, under streamlined EPA oversight. In all, the Biden administration has entrusted these outfits with distributing a staggering $600 million in funding. The money is expected to start flowing this summer.
The EPA’s grantmakers include a number of educational institutions and left-leaning nonprofits. For example, the EPA chose Fordham University as its lead grantmaker in the New York region. Fordham, in turn, lists as partners two nonprofits that oppose immigration enforcement. (One, the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, states on its website: “NJAIJ believes in the human right to migrate, regardless of citizenship or political status.”) Neither group claims expertise in environmental issues. Given that the IRA’s eligibility requirements for EJ grants are extremely vague, however, perhaps that’s not a problem. Almost any activity that could help “spur economic opportunity for disadvantaged communities” (in the words of Biden’s EJ executive order) might qualify.
Perhaps the most prominent—and problematic—EPA grantmaker is the Berkeley, California-based Climate Justice Alliance. The CJA is a consortium of mostly far-left activist groups. It describes its mission as working for “regenerative economic solutions and ecological justice—under a framework that challenges capitalism and both white supremacy and hetero-patriarchy.” The group is a vigorous proponent of the omnicause, embracing almost every left-wing concern as a manifestation of climate change. For example, the CJA website proclaims: “The path to climate justice travels through a free Palestine.” MacDougald notes that the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, one of CJA’s affiliated groups, “organized an illegal anti-Israel protest in the Capitol Rotunda in December at which more than 50 activists were arrested.”
The CJA website also includes a section dedicated to the cause known as Stop Cop City. It refers to an effort to halt the construction of an 85-acre police and firefighter training center outside Atlanta. Rag-tag activists from around the country have gathered around the facility since 2021. They have repeatedly battled with police—sometimes with fireworks and Molotov cocktails—and used bolt cutters to enter the site and torch construction equipment. (CJA’s Stop Cop City page features a cartoon illustration of three childlike activists; one brandishes bolt cutters.) The group also backs a legal defense fund for activists arrested in attacks on the training center or in other protests. For those looking for more inspiration, CJA links to an interview with former Black Panther and self-described revolutionary Angela Davis.
The Alliance is not an ideological outlier in Biden’s EJ coalition. On the contrary, when the White House assembled its White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC), a panel of outside experts meant to provide “horizon-expanding EJ advice and recommendations,” it chose CJA co-chair Elizabeth Yeampierre to help lead the committee. Like other members of the panel, she sees environmental issues through an ideological, not a scientific, lens. “Climate change is the result of a legacy of extraction, of colonialism, of slavery,” Yeampierre told Yale Environment 360. As a group, radical EJ activists tend not to focus on pragmatic ways to reduce pollution and carbon emissions; for them, the real goal is overturning what they see as an exploitative economic and political system. Since these are the voices the White House chose to help shape its EJ policies, we can assume this worldview will dominate grantmaking decisions.
In February 2023, House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer, along with fellow committee member Pat Fallon, wrote to EPA administrator Regan asking for more information on the EPA’s grant programs. They noted that the EPA’s own studies of EJ grants issued in previous years showed sloppy supervision. According to an EPA report, an earlier version of the program funded projects that did “not logically lead to the desired environmental and/or public health [result].” Without better oversight and more clearly defined goals, the congressmen wrote, the EPA’s EJ grant machine risks becoming simply a “slush fund for far-left organizations.”
Since then, the administration has done little to reassure skeptics. To the contrary, the EPA has put at least one far-left organization—CJA—in charge of distributing $50 million in grant money. No doubt, many of the EPA grants will go to worthwhile projects. But money is fungible. A group that gets a large grant to, say, clean up dirty parks or teach children about recycling will also be able to hire more staff and divert more resources to political action.
With graduation behind them, most of the anti-Israel college protesters have stowed away their keffiyehs and moved on to summer vacations or internships. But the peripatetic activists who helped guide and intensify those uprisings are doubtless already planning their next actions. After all, two political conventions are looming. This fall, the college protests will likely flare up again, though by then perhaps focused on a different facet of the omnicause. And, with hundreds of millions in fresh funding flowing through the activist ecosystem, the groups that quietly nurture extremists—like those who firebombed “Cop City,” or who chant “Intifada Revolution!,” or who block bridges in the name of “climate”—will be more emboldened than ever.
A Slush Fund for Radical Protesters? City Journal (city-journal.org)
​

Platform: Browser
Genre: DnD style (you had a character sheet with stats to choose when levelling up)
Estimated year of release: release could probably date back to 2000-2010s but i played it around 2015 i think
Graphics/art style: The site had this yellow parchmenty color palette with the intention of really making it look like old scribblings on a scroll i think but not sure if i remember this correctly. The art style was meant to be brutal and realistic with your character having a detailed but not too realish picture of gladiator and even though not sure i think the monsters you fought like rats for example had their realistic pictures as well.
Notable characters: you had the option to choose how your character looked like at the start but the main theme was always gladiators, what i mean is half naked man with armor pieces and weapons. I only recall fighting rats and seeing their picture(?) but no other characters than them
Notable gameplay mechanics: As i said it was kinda DnDish where u created a character and it gave you your character sheet with stats to level up and choose from. The combat also took place in an action log where it wrote "Anon attacked for 5 dmg" or "Rat took 6 dmg" and such but no animation or anything played it was all written out. You also got equipments i think from defeating monster and could equip them but im not really sure about that
Other details: It was my friend who recommended the game to me so I think there may be some online friendship mechanic that I was not aware of at the moment but again definetly not sure about this

EXTENSIVE Rebirth, Remake, and OG FF7 spoilers in here.
This is a continuation of What's Actually Going On in FF7R (The White Materia) where I attempt to make sense of everything the Remake continuity added to the OG FF7 story. It really is best if you read the other thread first, just because this will be easier if i've already explained my theory on the White Materia and it's associated spell, Holy.
Another disclaimer : This is, still, just a theory, aGameTheory. Don't hate me (or square?) in the event it's completely wrong, which it has a decent chance of being.

There are only 2 things about FF7's Story that have fundamentally changed in Remake.
The White and Black Materia. Or more specifically, the Magic granted by them.

But what I want to discuss this time is (what I personally think, as of Rebirth) is one brilliant misdirection from Square Enix...in hindsight, anyway.

The Whispers

Oh no

"....What the hell was Square thinking?" -- You, probably, watching the ending to Rebirth and/or Remake

Well, they were thinking exactly what you were thinking. And they used it against you.
So getting right to it. TLDR;
The Whispers are exactly what they were said to be -- they protect fate by rejecting any changes to the Lifestream. The misdirection here is how YOU have been goaded into misinterpreting this information.
The White and Black Materia can fully explain their existence and purpose. And it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the OG FF7.
Let's start with what we learned from the previous thread about the White Materia:

So what does the White Materia ACTUALLY do in FF7R?
The White Materia (Holy) gives the user access to the Lifestream. Not just a piece of its knowledge, like regular materia....but the actual lifestream itself. In doing so, they gain knowledge, like all Materia allows them to do. Knowledge of the past, the future, and everything else in flux.
But this is NOT knowledge that you're not supposed to be able to actually do anything with, **because unlike casting Fire or Lightning....**knowing the future allows you to change fate.

Materia are orbs containing knowledge of the ancients. In effect, they contain information from the lifestream itself. The White Materia's magic (Holy) is special though. The magic it contains seems to allow the user to traverse the lifestream itself. This means, in effect, the ability to interact with (and take knowledge from) the actual memories of the Lifestream.
As we know, the Lifestream is everything, everywhere, and every time. All life comes from the lifestream, and when something dies, it returns there. And its memories stay there forever, as physical places within the lifestream.
This is something Tifa observed for herself in Rebirth. In her brief time floating with the WEAPON, she was reunited with her very own memories...in a very literal fashion.
Tifa, inside the Lifestream in the middle of the Gongaga Reactor
This is the Mako pool in the Lifestream underneath Gongaga. We literally watched Tifa fall in, and physically swim to this location........so why is Tifa's house here? Along with...the Nibelheim Mountians?
A Fragmented Nibelheim, including Mt Nibel and the Bridge that Tifa and Cloud almost died on in the past.
Tifa's memories are not only being played out here....they are physically real. This is because she's inside the Lifestream. She hasn't gone anywhere, she's still in Gongaga, but look at the extent to which this pool of Mako is able to interact with one person's memories.
And also....wait a second.
This space beneath the reactor is filled with White and Black Whispers.
...I thought we killed all the whispers? What are they doing here?
We'll come back to this later.
Lets back up a bit.

Why you [probably] hated the Whispers.

Hear me out.
The "OG Storyline" has never existed in Remake. It's not a thing. And the Whispers have nothing to do with it.
\"Oh, the Whispers came because Reno doesn't die in the original game\" -- You, probably

"The whispers were put into the game as a meta commentary on how the developers just want to create their own story, but the fans won't let us, so the party fucking KILLS FATE so that Nomura or Nojima or whomever is most annoying can write whatever they want." -- The Internet. Also you. Probably.

Everyone thinks the Whispers only existed in Remake in order to ensure that the story never deviates from the OG FF7 Storyline. Every time something important is about to happen that didn't happen in the original game, the whispers intervene and correct the timeline.
This is the typical, widely accepted "Meta Commentary" explanation of the Whispers.
But it's wrong.
No, not just because this theory says so. This interpretation was ALWAYS wrong.
So the whispers are canon police, but are just gonna IGNORE stuff like this?
FF7R's storyline is self-contained. If the whispers existed to "protect the old events", then why is even Remake chocked full of shit that never happened in the OG and would actively change the story if it did?
But don't be confused -- the writers ABSOLUTELY wanted you to think this way. It's what bothered me about Remake's ending. But they were actually clever about it, and Rebirth vindicates this decision.
"Changing the Future", "Defying Fate", and "The Future is Unwritten" has nothing to do the OG FF7.
Okay good we got this out of the way, I can stop talking about Meta Analysis and get to the actual good stuff.

What the whispers were ACTUALLY doing

Remake explained what the Whispers are verbatim.
They protect fate -- the Lifestream. From Aerith, and Jenova.
The Lifestream IS Fate.

Red -"Perhaps best described as arbiters of fate. They are drawn to those who attempt to alter destiny's course and ensure they do not."
Tifa - "And you're saying that flow is somehow...fixed?
Red - "Yes. For it is the will of the planet itself."

Barret then speaks about possible bad fates. And Red XIII says this:

Barret - "So if we're destined for a bleak future, these Whispers will try to keep us on that course?"

"....Now wait just a damn minute. How in the hell could you possibly know any of that? Spouting that cryptic stuff -- which could all be bullshit!"

Red - "When Aerith reached out to me...I found this knowledge of the Whispers."

In the previous thread, we explained how Aerith has been messing with the Lifestream by mistakenly using the White Materia to obtain information she has no business knowing. The Whispers are simply reacting to her blatant misuse of this, and act to correct it.
This is very consistent, even in Pt1. The Whispers in Remake ONLY appear when someone is either:

1. Using forbidden knowledge from the Lifestream
2. Manipulating events by sharing forbidden knowledge from the lifestream
3. When something foreign attempts to force its will on the lifestream

This is the only time they act. But the THIRD one is the most important. I'm going to go through a few examples in Remake and show exactly what's happening that is causing the Whispers to intervene, and explicitly why.
After I show you this, please go back and watch videos of all these sorts of events in Remake. You will see exactly what I mean.
Okay, buckle up kids!

Violation #1 Using forbidden knowledge from the Lifestream

Watching the first appearance of Aerith in Remake gives us full clarity of what's actually happening.
Aerith is attacked by an invisible force.
Aerith is being attacked by Whispers. This is because she possesses the White Materia, and has constant access to knowledge she isn't supposed to have. They are taking it from her.
Thing to note here. Cloud cannot see the whispers. This is because he is not violating any of the 3 rules.
Sephiroth makes an appearance here.
The appearance of the \"Mental Static\" used in both Remake and Rebirth
This is a Red Herring...in fact, this is THREE brilliantly placed Red Herrings. Because the "Memory Static" that appears here belongs to both Cloud AND Aerith, and serves to confuse you on what it actually means.

1. Aerith sees Cloud, and immediately gains knowledge about them both that she is not supposed to know. Also, if you pay attention, Aerith is NOT frozen during this sequence. This is her scene just as much as it is Cloud's.
2. Cloud has yet another vision of Sephiroth, caused by his Jenova cells. This is a huge misdirection, to eventually make you think Sephiroth is popping up in places he "shouldn't be."
3. This is where Remake starts to fuck with your head. They're using the same memory effect for two different characters, for two different reasons. But the result is essentially the same -- the characters involved are having their perception altered. Remake does NOT distinguish between static caused by Holy or static caused by Jenova. They are treated equally in Remake.

The biggest red herring here though is Sephiroth.
It SEEMS unnatural that Sephiroth is appearing here, this early in the game. But it isn't unnatural -- Cloud is plagued by these visions all the time in this continuity. This is why the game gave us a Sephiroth appearance immediately after the Bombing Mission.
Now. Notice how, despite being attacked by invisible whispers, Aerith mostly seems unbothered by this.
...Almost as if she's used to it. Similar to the way Cloud is equally used to visions of Sephiroth. They BOTH carry on with the conversation as though NOTHING has happened.
The game is explicitly showing you that both of these occurrences are seen as normal for these characters. Suggesting that they have actually been dealing with them for much longer than you would think.
Aerith has another Whisper attack. Cloud is once again very confused, until this happens:
Cloud's violation of #1 through contact with Aerith
Aerith touches Cloud.
We learn later that Aerith touching you gives you knowledge you're not supposed to have. Thus, Cloud is now in violation of Rule #1 -- Forbidden Knowledge. He can now observe whispers for the rest of the story.

Violation #2 Manipulating events by sharing forbidden knowledge from the lifestream

The Church Scene is a great example of this. In fact, most of the moments in Rebirth involve Aerith doing this to some degree.
The White Materia is explicitly the cause of the Whisper Attack in the church, and the game goes out of its way to make it very obvious.
Cloud Memory Static, this time it's Holy, not Jenova. (I don't have enough attachments to spell this out, so please go look at the scene after you read this.)
This is another VERY good example of Remake fucking with your head.

• Aerith brings up her White Materia in conversation
• Cloud looks at the back of Aerith's head. He has a memory static attack, and then immediately has a vision of the White Materia.
• Cloud ignores this phenoemon, because things fucking with his head is completely normal to him. He doesn't skip a beat, and suggests Aerith just doesn't know how to use it.
• Aerith playfully agrees.

The Red Herring here is obvious -- the vision of Aerith's Death. Yes, it was a vision of her death. But her death wasn't the important information the game was showing you in this scene. The White Materia was.
Regardless, the whispers did not intervene here, despite Cloud obviously glimpsing forbidden knowledge.
So why DID they intervene?
\"...Huh?\" - Cloud
Because Aerith couldn't keep her mouth shut.

1. She tells Reno that Cloud is her bodyguard. He isn't. Reno is.
2. She exposed that he was a Soldier. Reno explicitly does not like Soldiers.
3. She already knew that Cloud was doing mercenary work, and used this to persuade him.

Cloud told her none of this information. But it caught Reno's attention. And what was the result?

*Sizes Cloud up*

"Well, you're weird enough to be one."
\"What Class are you?\"
Reno doubts Cloud's Identity as a First Class Ex-Soldier. And Cloud violently reacts to protect it.
The whispers stopped Cloud from killing Reno, NOT because Reno survives in the OG game...but because Reno's life wouldn't even be at risk here if Aerith didn't instigate this fight.
And just like the Flower scene, Remake actually sets this one up with prior character information too. -- Cloud was shown from the beginning of the game to be prone to extreme violence. He would have also executed Johnny without Tifa's intervention. So we KNOW he would have killed Reno if the Whispers didn't intervene.
Hopefully you're beginning to see a pattern here.
Here is the most obvious example of this rule triggering the Whispers.
Aerith attempting to stop Barret from doing something....
In this scene, we see Aerith clearly knows something she isn't supposed to. She wants to share with Barret that killing the President isn't a good idea...And the whispers immediately appear, threatening her to stop. By this point, Aerith is beginning to become aware of why the whispers are harassing her so much.
I covered this scene in my last post, so I wont again...but this scene is crucial towards understanding what's happening in this game. Everyone should watch this scene again. Pay attention to what happens to Aerith the moment she says "Follow the Yellow Flowers". Aerith is clearly not herself as she says this. It's almost as if someone possessed her to say it. And the Whispers absolutely swarm her as a result.

Violation #3 -- When something foreign attempts to force its will on the lifestream

And here we go. The one that caused like 90% of the confusion in Remake. To be fair, this could only really be understood in hindsight after playing Rebirth.
There are many cases in Remake where the Whispers do something that seems...odd, given their explanations as arbiters of fate. Like attacking Sector 7, silencing Hojo, or literally helping Sephiroth at the end of the game. This is because although it's clearly whispers doing it...in Remake there is no visual indication of which Will any given Whispers serve -- The Planet, or Jenova's.
They all LOOK the same.
But they absolutely ARE NOT the same -- they are separate (black and white), just like in Rebirth.
But Remake included subtle clues as a nod to this reveal in Rebirth.
The Whisper Attack on Sector 7
This is another situation where you're expected to believe that the whispers are causing a ruckus because Cloud isn't going on the second bombing mission with Avalanche. Which is something we know he does in the OG game.
But that's just because we likely misinterpreted the clues that lead up to this moment that explain exactly why this is happening : The white whispers are attempting to correct the deliberate isolation of the main party by the black whispers.
A whisper is seen lurking around in Sector 7 the day before this happens. It's extremely easy to miss.
A whisper was present in Seventh Heaven. This was shown immediately after Barret told Cloud he wasn't on the next mission and has to leave.
See...if you're comparing Remake to the OG, then this whisper shown here is 100% going to force you to misinterpret what it's doing here.
In Seventh Heaven, multiple things happen that result in a break up of the entire main party.

1. Tifa is feeling anxious about the next mission. Jesse goes out of her way to voice concerns about her involvement, leading to her getting kicked off the team for the mission.
2. Jesse then tries to aim to get Cloud placed on the team instead. Barret refuses to do this because he "doesn't want the team leaning on him."
3. Barret pays Cloud, tells him he isn't wanted on the next mission, and kicks him out the bar.
4. A whisper will literally stop you from entering Seventh Heaven again after this happens to make sure you can't fix it.

The side mission with Jesse happens.....and then this.
A whisper with Sephiroth's voice trying to keep Cloud sleep
A Whisper with Sephiroth's voice approaches Cloud in the morning. He wants him to sleep through Barret, Jesse, and Biggs going on the mission. This would have likely isolated Barret, resulting in his death. Something Jenova tries again towards the end of the game.
She really does not want Barret to stay alive, because he is the glue of Avalanche, and the main reason the events of the story begin the way they do. Cloud also likely never would have met Aerith in the church.
Jenova's whispers are trying to prevent Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and Barret from getting together. This event would have succeeded in separating all of them.
That's why the whispers are at war with one another.
The Black ones are trying to isolate you. The white ones are correcting their meddling.
The game even STOPS you mid-combat to bring attention to the fact that the Black Whispers are being exposed.
Black Whisper being made vulnerable by something external

• You don't have to do anything to these whispers for this to happen.
• The entire screen gains a Static Memory effect....as though Cloud is being shown the truth. He even comments on it.
• After they go vulnerable, they become Black/Purple until they die.

They stop attacking after a whisper manages to isolate and injure Jesse, at which point the battle is over and all whispers leave.
And of course....there's most obvious example of this kind of massive violation from Remake....The Infamous Chapter 18.
But that's gonna have to wait for another post.
I'm out of attachments again.

TL;DR : FF7R is messing with your head.

Aerith using the White Materia in Remake is literally going through the events of the story the exact same way the player did -- with "forbidden knowledge" about how things are "supposed to be".
In Rebirth, the White Materia is empty. She no longer has knowledge of what's "supposed to happen", and thus has to accept that whatever happens, happens. This is why the "The Journey is Unknown." Not because the party killed the whispers, therefore the writers can do whatever they want. But because Aerith hid her knowledge of the future (Holy) from herself. She used to be able to know what was going to happen. Now she can't. The real Meta thing is that FF7R only really starts to make sense when you willingly abandon what you thought you already knew about the story. Those who look with clouded eyes see nothing but shadows.
Now go back through Remake with the new perspective and tell me that everything doesn't make way more sense.
Also, please tell me im crazy so I can stop writing these.
Otherwise, stay tuned for pt3 -- The Black Materia.
....Oh. One final hilarious mindblowing. Remember this?

This is where Remake starts to fuck with your head. They're using the same memory effect for two different characters, for two different reasons. But the result is essentially the same -- the characters involved are having their perception altered.
Remake does NOT distinguish between static caused by Holy or static caused by Jenova. They are treated equally in Remake.

Rebirth DOES distinguish the visual effects of memory alteration.
But only for the player.
Cloud still can't tell the difference.