#also can we talk about how OFTEN

[greyeyedmonster-18]

(in another life, i'd be a swimwear designer, because full coverage does not just mean ugly ass one pieces.)

#also can we talk about how OFTEN #plus size swim collections are full coverage? #like hello just because body is bigger doesn't mean they want to cover it up?? #it just means they want the bikini string to like...fit all the way around their body! and be able to tie! #im out here trying to prep for summer #and --the UGLIEST options #until you get down to the teeny tiny bikinis and then they're so cute #but like no thank you you know

[gulducock]

look at this pic i found on twitter

#mine #hi heres my star trek take for today #does anyone else feel a little teeny bit weird when peeople talk abou t #wait ok hold on spoilers for s7 of ds9. dont read ahead ok #does anyone feel weird when peopeple joke about how kai winn and dukat were such a good couple when he like. raped her #like i know why they do but did no one think about that whole story arc hard enoigh to realize what he did to her #explicitly stated on screen. like thats verbatim unconcensual sex what happened and everyones liek its funny because dukats funny #and kai winn is a bitch which she is but also idk. does this make sense #ok thats my thought this have nothing to do with the abive image #i just didnt want to make this into a text post :| anyohe else get scared when dukat is on the scren #okay goodbye. im rewatching viyager btw not fr im just putting it on for comfort whenever i feel sick which is often LOL! but like on n off #can we make the doctor more popular than data =. keep going warriors

[theblacktiecacti]

jay went to clown school. let’s talk about that

#art by me #jrwi riptide #jay ferin #i was drawing wherever the wind took me #and it took me to clown school jay #the best destination i could’ve hoped for #i feel like so much could be explored or expanded there in fanon #but i barely see anything #welp if there is none make some #sound off in the comments if you ever think about how jay rarely retracts into herself when faced with conflict #but instead goes to clown school or hitches a ride with the loserest boy she can find #and it’s the rare (and most impactful) moments when she responds differently #shutting down after the phone call with her grandmother #or blowing up after learning about lizzie and ava #or crying as she’s told to shoot her friend in the chest #but the every day conflict almost always gets humor as a response #which leads to very out of pocket moments but we love jay for it #oooooough jay ferin the way you express emotions is so important to meeeee #ALSO the fact that often it’s insult based humor or overly confident in self humor #let’s dissect that jay how do you relate to your friends in the hierarchical structure of the navy academy #did you feel like your humor had to subtly place you at the top? or you would not be enough? jay? #your relationship with kira hinges on fixing this structure by being better than it hm? let’s talk about that #let’s talk about how your life centered a lot around being the best even if not directly or intentionally #should i do a full analysis on this? #i kinda wanna do a full analysis on this

[1960z]

how people go about interpreting dr bashir I presume? really frustrates me sometimes ngl especially the “jules bashir died” scene.

like that whole scene is about julian revealing the depth of how deeply his augmentations fractured his sense of identity and who he is - which feeds into the themes of the whole episode surrounding how disability and then by extension disabled people are often viewed as a problem to be solved and because of that are often denied the ability to have fulfilling lives because the able bodied people around them don’t believe that they can.

but… idk, when the fandom talks about it there’s always seems to be a push to read a trans allegory into it that I don’t think is really there? I keep mulling over this post in my mind and when I initially reblogged it I didn’t really want to talk about this because the post is about how stories about racism can be hijacked by white people to be made about their own transness and it felt like as a white person, using that post to complain about ableism would be missing the point. but it really helped me articulate in my mind why the trans reading of this episode feels off to me because the same general principle seems to apply and that is taking a story trying to discuss a specific type of marginalisation and putting a trans reading above it because you can relate more to it personally.

“jules bashir died in that hospital because you couldn't live with the shame of having a son who didn't measure up!” this scene is the culmination of julian expressing his pain about what was done to him as a disabled child by his parents due to how they viewed his disability. but often when I see it being discussed, people aren’t really interested in talking about that. instead supplanting it with a trans reading instead which, in my opinion is an allegory that doesn’t even really work when you think about what’s going on in the broader context of the scene.

julian didn’t stop going by jules because he came to the conclusion on his own that the identity didn’t suit him similar to the way a trans person questions or rejects the gender they were assigned at birth, he stopped going by jules because he felt like the identity attached to that name was taken from him because of what his parents did. it’s not julian affirming who he wants to be it’s grieving over who he can’t be and to me at least, it’s honestly kind of harrowing.

and as an aside: when people read transness into a story about parents who change their child’s body and mind at a very young age without consent, which is literally a narrative projected onto trans people by transphobes to justify the curtailing of trans rights, that also doesn’t sit well with me. I think people latch onto this reading because of the idea of “killing a name” but again in the context of the whole episode the trans reading really doesn’t feel appropriate.

I think it’s okay for people to have trans headcanons about julian of course or literally any character they want to really, but I think saying that specific episode codes him as trans isn’t all that great honestly.

#shut up abe #julian bashir #ds9 #star trek #I’m nervous to post this tbh and I’m not trying to come for anyone specifically #this is just a general trend I’ve noticed and have been frustrated w for a while #and I’m not trying to say that like you can never relate to a narrative that’s textually about a marginalisation you don’t experience #like something that fascinates me about spock is how his arc is written in a way that is relatable to many different marginalised people #and that overlap in experience is interesting to talk about #but we also shouldn’t forget that *textually* a lot of what spock goes through is a metaphor for being biracial #and I’ve seen people get frustrated bc like. people often do forget lol #it's just a thing where I think we should think about what readings we give the most attention to and why yk

[thedreadvampy]

The thing is. Bad/gross food is rarely a DISH - when food is bad it's because it's been badly made, whether because of skills or available ingredients. but a dish p much only exists recognisably and has a name because someone likes at least one version of it.

which is to say. there isn't really a way of naming a dish, school of dishes or specific food culture and going EW ISN'T THIS DISH UNILATERALLY CONCEPTUALLY DISGUSTING without denigrating quite a lot of people.

like you don't have to like it in any form. but it's eaten and shared because it's good to a not insubstantial number of people when cooked right.

(and I don't really understand how you approach that with total incuriosity when it's a dish you haven't tried like. ARE rocky mountain oysters good? Maybe! I would very much eat some to find out!!!!)

this is actually something the British food poll did in a way the American ones I've seen haven't really - they described how the food they're imagining is, specifically, badly prepared (grey meat and veggies; unseasoned shepherd's pie). which is wildly tipping the scales by calling it British Food but. like. that is an on point definition of why that food is gross.

(this also applies to American chocolate, which like. Broad category but I think most of us understand this refers to low-cocoa high-sugar chocolate, probably with bucolic acid. so we are being invited to imagine Badly Made Chocolate not. the concept of chocolate)

personally I just think it's very rarely a good or funny idea to shittalk how gross any given food culture is. partly because food is important and culturally evocative for most people, partly because it's very...alienating? to be like WHO COULD EAT SUCH A THING? just because you wouldn't, and largely because to be frank it says more about you than about the food that you have so little imagination or curiosity that you can't imagine why a food might be enjoyable to folks who aren't you.

yes this includes jello salad, I would like to try it. ONCE. if it wasn't appealing to someone it wouldn't be so widespread.

#red said #like. as if talking shit about people for eating offal or offcuts particularly hasn't always been hugely loaded in race and class terms #ewww can you believe filipinos eat tripe. can you believe Chinese people eat pig feet? #YEAH I CAN AND YOU SHOULD TOO. Those are normal parts of an animal to eat and it's weird that you think it's weird #but it's also. a really common racist trope right? like. how often does racist rhetoric mention food being 'weird' or 'smelling bad'? #because shitting on someone's food and calling it gross is a really good shortcut to shitting on them and their cultures #implying they're dirty or animalistic or cruel or undiscerning or have bad taste #this isn't crying RACISM AGAINST WHITE PPL btw #just saying. maybe in general we should shut the fuck up about finding entire schools of cooking gross #and it's interesting you know. bc Americans in the notes of the American food posts recognise there are race and class sensitivities there #but not that there might be similar sensitivities around mocking another country's food

[wonder-worker]

something I find especially entertaining about Edward IV's reign is how Scandalous™ it was lol

he married a woman “whose origins broke all established conventions for English queenship” in a secret ceremony without consulting any of his lords and then made it everyone else's problem. he committed regicide, he committed fratricide; he was accused of bastardry, he was accused of bigamy and a 19-year-long sham marriage, he was accused of using necromancy against his subjects, he was accused of being enchanted by witchcraft by both his wife and his mother-in-law (multiple times). his own mother was said to "rule the king as she pleased" in the early years of his reign. he knew he was hot and actively milked it for money. he was vain as fuck: “he was wont to show himself to those who wished to watch him, and he seized any opportunity that the occasion offered of revealing his fine stature to onlookers”. he knew everything about everyone. "he was more favourable than other princes to foreigners". he was “fond of boon companionship, vanities, debauchery, extravagance and sensual enjoyments”; he was "thought to have indulged in his passions and desires too intemperately”; "it was ever feared he was not chaste”. his subjects publicly gossiped about his sex life, his doctors thought he was insane. NOBODY understood how he was still competent despite all this.

honestly, who was doing it like him?

#(the quote is by J.L. Laynesmith) #Edward IV #my post #the original post was written as a drunken shitpost but it's still 100% true #henry viii could NEVER. Even Humphrey of Gloucester pales in comparison I'm sorry to say #(EW was also accused of controlling both Edward and the country but I don't want to get into the propaganda against her right now - however #true or false it may have been in reality - so I didn't include it. HOWEVER it's absolutely true that Edward gave her a great deal of #unconventional authority by appointing her in royal councils for the heir and spare in her own right during her tenure as queen. So there #was an existing basis for the accusations against her even though they were obviously ultimately extremely unfair and prejudiced #and meant to denigrate her) #Elizabeth Woodville #Cecily Neville #english history #its kinda funny how historians often emphasize his womanizing (which very obviously happened tho it's difficult to say to what extent) when #talking about his over-the-top lifestyle. But as we can see: Croyland - who was best-placed to know - emphasizes a wider variety of things #that worried/scandalized his contemporaries. Edward sleeping around was just one of many (and the last on Croyland's list) #I don't necessarily think it should be highlighted as much as it is #(also funnily enough 'sensual enjoyments' was also used to describe *Richard III* on his northern progress during his reign lol)

[transmascutena]

thinking about how akio sees his younger self in utena and wondering if there's any fondness there. doesn't change the horror of what he does to her obviously but i do wonder

#akio and utena #m #long ramble in the tags sorry: #the thing about akio is that he's so evil bit he's also so human #he has feelings. i just don't know what they are (if anything) toward his victims #he loves anthy at the very least i'm sure of that. even if he hates her too. just like she loves and hates him. the lines are blurry. #and i just. i have to wonder whether any of that extends to utena at all. we know anthy at times feels similarly about utena and dios #(and akio by extension.) the simultanious love and resentment. so it's not too unlikely i think. #like. even though he never had anything but bad intentions in getting close to her #i'm not sure it's possible to do everything he did and feel nothing #not that he has any meaningful amount of guilt or remorse for it. i don't think that. #and i obviously don't think he “loved” her in any of the ways she might have thought he did #but did he not care at all? did he not feel any kind of fondness or sympathy or just. idk. pity? for her? #whatever the case it wasn't enough to reconsider having her killed so you know. how much does that actually matter anyway #idk. i think about it a lot. how abusers are rarely entirely indifferent toward their victims #the role he's playing in her life is so fucked up but it IS a role he's playing and i wonder how much he you know... internalizes it? #how much does he believe the illusion of family that he invites her into? because akio DOES often buy into his own illusions. #(similarly i think it's possible that akio is fond of touga too. their mentor-protégé relationship is horrible and abusive #but that doesn't make it less real. you know? maybe real is the wrong word.) #when he talks in episode 25 about wanting utena and anthy closer that's obviously so he can continue to groom her #but is there something genuine there too? i don't know. #again. it obviously does not make anything he does better or even different. but it is interesting to think about to me. #on the other side of that coin does seeing his own past youth and naivete and desire to do good that he (maybe) once had #reflected back at him through her mean anything? #is there resentment there? that she is what he couldn't be? or more likely he just thinks that idealism is stupid. #either way it's something he wants to take from her. anyway ramble over. #i talk a lot about utena's feelings toward akio (familial vs romantic love and the way the two are intertwined in fucked up ways) #but not much the other way around. probably because utena is actually a sympathetic character whose feelings the show very clearly #wants you to analyze and think about. #which is... less true for akio i think. though he's still a complex character with complex motives. he's just harder to get a grasp on.

[skitskatdacat63]

2012 Malaysian Grand Prix - Sebastian Vettel & Fernando Alonso

#it is like always palable shock whenever i notice how significant their height dif is #by significant i mean theyre both small to me so seeing that seb is actually noticeably taller is so ????????? #logically i know hes taller but still. it doesnt feel right #it just is not noticeable usually bcs theyre both often around taller men so to see proof of it breaks me #okay about these. they seemed pretty friendly with each other in early 2012 ngl 🥺 #its one thing being friendly when youre on a podium or something bcs its courtesy even if theres tension imo #but them walking together randomly hehehehe 🤭🤭🤭 #i wonder what they were talking about. i think they were prob going to the drivers meeting tbh #aaahh also there were other pics(but imago watermark ugh) and theyre just walking so close...pressed shoulder to shoulder #EEEEEEEEE seb always looks so pleased and happy and giggly to be talking to him #every day a catie in your area gets taken over by looking through vettonso pics. it is truly an epidemic. #you can only save her by talking to her about vettonso. ...might make it worse though. #sebastian vettel #fernando alonso #vettonso #f1 #formula 1 #formula one #we do a little bit of f1 #2012 malaysian gp #I LOVE MALAYSIAN GP SO MUCH BRING IT BACK ALL MY FAV PICS ARE FROM SEPANG AAAGAHHHH

[rawliverandgoronspice]

re: my last post, but I kind of have a good serving of criticism in my heart about the whole "gerudos as men r*pists*" trope that I've seen bouncing around in fandom since like 2008 at least (and before that I assume), but it's. not a particularly fun topic. so.

#thoughts #cw rape #gerudos #let's just say that #if we do need to go there #(and we Do Not need to go there particularly) #let's say this whole debacle ignores *a lot* of canon content that suggests where the power balance may actually lie #if it does lie anywhere #also the sexually aggressive/domineering brown people trope as another tool of dehumanization is not. yea #but idk I think it's an interesting takeaway to cultivate in the context of the overwhelming examples of #*hylians* being the ones to repeatedly overstep gerudo boundaries #gerudos don't capture men *men try to break in gerudo homes and get arrested* that's a pretty significant difference you guys #if gerudos were so aggressive about it wouldn't men rather be the ones to run away? #why are we keeping them out in the first place etc #anyway weird trope supported by almost nothing and often enabling VERY unhinged racist comments from its fanbase on the regular #can we talk about how the brown race is uncritically characterized as rapists --either ganondorf or his people #in spite of there being basically zero evidence anywhere in the games that this might be the case??? why is this an assumption we're making #idk man people be having weird hangups about all of this #also yeah sure the strong independant women has *got* to be man eaters that treat them like disposable garbage #and like #my dear Men of the Internet #maybe try to fix your anxieties surrounding women being self-sufficient and independant instead of projecting like crazy idk something #sorry the post is Unfun but it's been bothering me since forever #I remember being thirteen and reading a fic with this trope for the first time and being So Scandalized haha #but yeah I've been chewing on the thought ever since so here you go

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

so hard and lonely to be one of like five people in the entire world to see the truth (iron man 2 is a better movie than infinity war)

#why have i been thinking about this? #idk. consuming marvel content gets me through Many Tasks. but i do that a lot often so idk why this has been on my mind #but it has been. and it's true. i'm right. #i also feel like i maybe (unbelievably) am growing to appreciate iron man 2 even more #because it's a movie about a guy coping with stress by going apeshit on the self destruct button for his own life #which is awesome and relatable and more interesting than they will ever let anyone not named tony stark be... #anyway. i also just can't believe how pro infinity war people are #like even people who can talk normally about other movies and who don't think every mcu product is great before even seeing it #talk about infinity war like it not only was good but was a movie. like a real movie the way movies are movies #like people who i KNOW have seen other movies act like this #like we have to believe it to be an achievement because they put all the guys in it #no!!!!! no A's for effort!!!!!

[uncanny-tranny]

Do you believe in transandrophobia

I mean, I talk at length about being a trans man and the intersections of my trans manhood and interacting in a world which often doesn't want people like me to exist, so even if I don't really call my experiences that, maybe you might? I generally support people calling their experiences with oppression how they see it, which is why some trans men say they experience misogyny and some don't. Neither are "more correct" because we almost all experience transphobia, misogyny, and everything else slightly differently.

At the end of the day, trans liberation must happen with all of us no matter what their experience is. I've seen so much "discourse" surrounding terms like these when at the end of the day, we're still being oppressed no matter what we call our experiences. I think it's okay for people to label their experiences as they see fit, but I don't think that's the end-all-be-all. I guess my sole focal point is trans liberation before debating about what terms we have to use.

I always find asks like this to be very odd, mostly because I don't know what the context behind this is or why it's asked. If you want a more direct answer to my political or philosophical views, I really would at least like more details as to what inspired questions like these so I can clarify, expand, or discuss specific points.

#ask #anon #trans #transgender #lgbt #lgbtq #ftm #nonbinary #blog boundaries #(mostly for the last paragraph) #i think this ask is especially odd to me because i talk so often about being a trans man and what my experiences are #and also because 'believe in' is weird to me #like i follow a lot of other trans men* as well and other trans people who talk at length about trans lib and how they fit in with that #i think being able to engage with the idea that we must have each other's backs even if we aren't fond of each other is important #YES you're going to come across trans people you don't like or who use language for themselves you don't like... #...but how you treat them is more important. do you sacrifice them or do you include them in trans liberation? #are there trans people who you just don't like so you do your best to exclude them from trans liberation? #when i talk about trans liberation i don't mean that you have to like all trans people #hell *i* don't like all trans people. we're flawed and we can be plain TERRIBLE. but i don't exclude them from trans lib #not liking (and hating) people is part of the human condition 👍

[rebelband]

#[ooc] #i think there have been ups and downs with how often they're talked about? especially dependent on where you look #or whom you may engage with regarding any kind of interpretation #it feels as if they've been considered more often and also given how many years it's been - #- that there isn't. well. many that'll actively rotate them around. y'know? #sure there are ... the ... ''why did they get so much screen-time / i hate them'' remarks among other sentiments but. #well; i can see this poll likely leaning towards the ''not popular'' end of things even with that > <; #i mean. they're popular! in... the specific spaces that we have! either on this site or on the other one! and probably elsewhere! #ahh whatever just take the poll of minimal enrichment #honestly i want to ask more mundane things like ''do you think / has cap stolen candy from children'' but i shouldn't flood your dash. < <

[rotzaprachim]

you’re thinking about how easily massive numbers of the wildly antisemitic tankies would have been pulled into the actual political tenets of (esp early to mid 20th century) armed Zionism and you’re laughing?????

#This folks is why analysis of ideology and the structures of an ideology is important #Rather than just random ass ethnic signposting #A lot of people see Zionism as something suspicious and jewy that had to do with Jews - I don’t like them #But the reality of Zionism as an initially distinctly leftist branch of political ideology that sought to liberate an oppressed people #With that tiny niggly wiggly issue of the fact people might #Already have lived on that land???? Ohhhh boy #All these cottage core back to the land the world would be better if I could reject modernity and return to the ancient ways of Farming #Society is broken it cannot be fixed the only option is to found a New Tough society that will fix all our previous problems #And we’ll get round to it in heavily armed leftist commune farming settlements #Which we will defend with violence because any violence in the name of an oppressed people is justified and our legitimacy comes from the #Rifle!!! #The only reason you see this ideology as inherently removed and bizarre is antisemitism and the only reason you see yourself removed from i #Also antisemitism!!! #You would have done numbers in ahdut ha-avoda you would have called Ben gurion abbaleh/ #Remember: a bunch of the people who got sucked into this of ideology weren’t the *rich Republican aipac Jews*!*’ your head #They were broke often very secular Jewish leftists working dead end gig economy jobs in farms and sweatshops for whom the idea of a Brave #New World with a. Brave new culture was very appealing and liberating #It offered something new to the broken. #It’s important to talk about this stuff to talk about how it can be undone #But also. The world is not divided into the Oppressed and the Unoppressed #Your political ideology does not stop you from hurting others #No political ideology even anti capitalism or leftism is innately pure- all can harm others #No ethnic and cultural identity no matter how oppressed is free from the potential to subjugate others #No identity or ideology is greater than the right of other people to live freely #Cycles of oppression and the pyramid structure of many empires result in oppressed people harming other oppressed people #Many many goyim think that they’re removed from the logic of Zionism because they aren’t Jews because it’s something wierd and jewy #But I see a lot of the most destructive logics parroted by leftists every day

[elftwink]

been learning to play ironsworn (gritty fantasy ttrpg which you can play with a gm but is mostly suited for solo or small group co-op gmless play) after having the rulebook pdf for several years (stars finally aligned to remove invisible thing blocking me from reading it idk) because i'm on another solo ttrpg kick & i don't know what took me so long to get around to this game because it genuinely is exactly what i was looking for. years ago when i was playing through solo 5e modules i should have just been playing ironsworn (believe it or not, 5e isn't very suited to solo play and is extremely clunky when you try lol).

also though i have dabbled in some other solo ttrpgs, a considerable amount of them are journaling games which is fun but imo considerably more work (usually by the time i'm a quarter of the way through the journal entry, i know how to entire scene played out and i want to move on to the next gameplay thing, so i get frustrated and bored quickly. it feels like when you solve a level in a video game but don't have the coordination to pull off the necessary move so you have to spend 20 extra minutes doing something you already figured out), so i really appreciate like not needing to write something for the game to progress (ive been taking notes for my own record since im playing solo and thus am not really out loud roleplaying the way you do in a group, but i definitely could do that instead and not take notes and the game would still function perfectly)

& ive been playing by myself but also in the past ive played a lot of ttrpgs in very small groups which has been other games but is mostly dnd and like. we also should have been playing ironsworn so that having a gm was not necessary. have definitely played games where we had to adapt the rules soooo much to do something that is just base game included in ironsworn. plus it's rules-light enough to do pretty complex moves that pose difficulties in bulkier games (ever introduced someone to dnd and they tell you they want to do a sick backflip and catch something and then attack and you have to tell them that will require several different consecutive rolls and some creative liberties with how the rules are 'supposed' to let you move? you can just Do That in ironsworn. use the strike move and describe it. done!)

the one thing is that although it's rules-light enough to theoretically play any setting or genre (some with more difficulty than others), ive found so far that like... the grittiness and sense of threat is very built into the mechanics so that would be sort of difficult to work around or change (but i think it's great from a game design perspective). what i mean is like, okay: you start with 5 max hp. there isn't really a way to raise this max hp, you just slowly gain abilities (assets) that make you less likely to have to lose the hp in the first place, or that make it easier to recover. when you encounter foes, you rank them on a scale of 1 -5, and enemies on the lowest side of this scale do one harm to you, while enemies on the highest side do five harm to you. so even though encountering an epic enemy won't always be deadly due to the assets you have, they are ALWAYS capable of taking you down to 0 hp with one good hit. so the feeling of threat is much more present compared to games where your character starts to be able to just tank and push through a failure or huge threat.

admittedly also i'm playing solo, im still learning how to balance combat, and also i built a character who has NO combat talents and iron (the close quarters fighting stat) is one of my lowest stats so i personally am under much more threat than if you built a character who knew how to fight or who could do deadly harm. but also the other thing about combat is it's extremely difficult to maintain control of the fight; you have to score a strong hit to do it on basically all moves, and there's a really limited pool of moves available when you don't have the initiative, and obviously none of them really favour you. i don't know that this makes combat genuinely more difficult, but it does make you feel like the fight is always about to spiral out of your control. every second you let it drag without decisive action feels like it brings you closer to dying. like i said, this is a feature of the game design and not a problem in any way. just thinking about it because when i was initially learning i was going to try to supplant it into a homebrew fantasy world of my own but the tone just wouldn't be right. and that it is somewhat difficult to replicate the kind of worlds that i typically play or run for dnd, which tend to lean somewhat sillier and definitely much higher fantasy

but i like to try new things and tbh especially in dnd i find that i very rarely feel that sense of threat and when i do feel it, it has nothing at all to do with the actual mechanics and reality of the combat and everything to do with how well the dm sells it to me and makes it sound and feel scary and dangerous. which is a testament to what a good gm can do for you but i do appreciate the threat feeling more built-in and also being actually real.

#good idea generator #kas plays ironsworn #am giving it a tag because i will continue to talk about this. its my blog #idk i just find in dnd like. players often FEEL threatened WAY before they actually are threatened #which makes it really hard to balance combat because players treat evenly matched fights like hopeless death traps #so instead they do underleveled combat that feels boring for some hard to pin down reason #but like. the reason is even though you're nervous about the dm's description and the things the monsters can do #there is no real threat. especially in bigger parties where the players DOMINATE action economy. they are always in control #so of course it gets boring. it drags out so everyone can take their turn but it never forces you to make difficult choices #or to totally exhaust all your abilities. after awhile the combats start to feel same-y #because even if the monster is different. you never have to do anything different to defeat it #ofc this is a subjective assessment and also if youre reading this and we play dnd together this is not a gripe abt our table i love u #i think it's really easy to get trapped doing this esp in tables which like rp more than combat #because its also like. once you're used to a certain balance of combat if your dm suddenly threw you a big one #you assume that this is a uniquely large threat in the narrative as well (rather than a rebalancing attempt) #and treat it accordingly. which is to say with way too much caution because it isnt actually that big of a threat #so then as a dm when you have to maintain the feeling of threat and the mechanical threat #(especially when sometimes the mechanical line between 'cakewalk' and 'tpk' is razor thin #and is more about the initiative order and luck than anything else) #you start to prioritize the feeling of threat. which is imo the right call always #but its just after awhile when you feel the threat but nothing ever happens to anybody. the dissonance starts to affect the table #also balancing dnd combat as a dm is really hard and often requires a LOT of on the fly adaptation #because sometimes the CR is useless and you don't know how it's gonna do until the dice are on the table already #anyway. my point is that im enjoying how ironsworn handles this problem

[icewindandboringhorror]

sometimes looking at like Self Help Strategies lists for the symptoms I'm having is always just like:

thing that I already do

thing I have tried 10 times

thing I already do

thing that I don't have the money to do

thing I already do

thing I've been doing since I was 10yrs old to no avail

thing that is impossible given my situation

thing that doesn't apply to me

thing that I already do

thing I have already tried

hrmm, oh wait, maybe finally- OH, yeah.. okay. thing that I already do but it was just phrased slightly differently

thing I have already done

#I think maybe productivity tips help less if the reason you're unproductive is partially like.. physcial health and other extenral things #out of your control. rather than just like having trouble paying attention or spending too much time on tiktok or whatever #all the strategic to do lists in the world are not going to somehow prevent me from waking up with a debilitating migraine or whatever #or having external stressors or lacking resources and connections or other Productivity Essentials etc. #especially many tips involve stuff like 'cut off from social media' since thats the modern day time waster for so many poeple #and it's like.. lol.. i can hardly even maintain a blog even thuogh i actively WANT TO DO SO. 'shut off your smart phone!' already #done babey i fucking hate smart phones i shall never use an app unless i am forced to. 'delete tiktok' yep. already covered. tiktok and #all of those thinsg are my enemies. 'save money by cancelling some of your services' cool. already ahead of you. #who the fuck is out here paying for like 10 different subscription services. pirated videos uploaded to google drive and youtube to mp3 #my beloved. etc. etc. and so on. 'socialize less' .........LOL.. if only you knew.. mr.writer of the article. i can barely muster #talking to friends more than once a month and even less if I'm actively sick (often occurence) etc. etc. ... hewoo #I think maybe instead of generic productivity tips I need more like.. how to refocus and be productive anyway even if you have a headache #or are nauseous or etc. Not that those are always things to ignore. and of course you should let your body rest and etc. But plenty of peop #e have mild physical symptoms and just work through them. Ithink something about the way my body/mind is SOO hyper attuned to all #sensory information just makes it like... constantly 'GRR well I cant focus on WRITING right now because my lef #t ear feels weird and my socks are too itchy and my back has a strange pressure and I'm vaguely warm and my eye feels some ssort of #way it doesnt normally feel and I'm hyperaware of my breathing and also nauseous for no reason' and like half of those things I #think '''normal''' people wouldnt even notice or at least would be able to just live through. but for me it's like.. nealry impossible to i #gnore and soooo distracting always. like 'wahh.. nooo we can't draw or get anything done.. my legs feel slightly heavy or something!!' #like............. ok......... who cares. thats not even a PAIN sensation it's just something weird. but it's just like.. NO. constant #mental alerts about the 'heaviness' of your legs be upon ye. Though Imean like.. yes.. 70% of the time I am in genuine pain #or having some sort of actual ailment with trackable physical symptoms. but sometimes it's just like... we could totally be working right #now and ignoring this silly thing but my brain is fixated on it for no reason uncontrollably. etc. etc. I guess it's the same way that like #most people can go to a grocery store without the whole experience being so overwhelming and so much stuff going on at once #that they have to rest afterwards but like.. in my own HOME doing NOTHING i feel like I should be able to not get overwhelmed lol. ANYWAY #Rolling my bastard little rock up a dumbass hill and so on and so forth

[bmpmp3]

thank god for indie devs making like tiny little maximum 10 megabyte freeware games on itchio keeping the art of filesize optimization alive. ASSET REUSE FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#im watching a video about wario land music -> 'the bizarre music and sound design of wario land 4' by geno7 #good video so far! i like this guys stuff. he talked a bit about how they did some of the sound effects for warios voice #a very like. chopped and remixed sample style of doing his vocal lines. which is very cool 1) because it saves a bit of #precious space on that gba cartridge BUT ALSO 2) it just sounds cool and interesting stylistically #and man sometimes trying to keep a file size down really does give way for some really interesting stuff #on my own personal interests in games i ADORE rpg makers rtp and how people can find creative uses for it #i love that a bunch of games can draw from the same asset pool as one install on ur computer #no bloating your hardrive with a bunch of copies of the same assets - its just already here! #and from a developers perspective i love when they reuse old assets from other games in new weird ways #some small visual novel companies will reuse backgrounds and other assets #altho i dont mind a bit of bloat with VNs since a big draw can be the big pretty images and big pretty sounds #but its still cool when people find ways to get creative with space saving. and from a players perspective its also nice #space is cheap nowadays. but its not Free. we can swallow terabytes whole with micro sds and everything #but a lot of players dont get the chance or ability to upgrade their internal memory that often. so i think being considerate of filesize i #very important. and thats not even getting into the download bandwidth limits - a lot of people all across north america can only get like #internet from 1 provider and that 1 provider often likes to upcharge and limit shit because they can #we might live in a future where a lot of powerful technology exists. but access to that tech is another story #so remember the filesize. remember the filesize. #dies in your arms