mosstheboar

[mosstheboar]

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

ALT

The New York Times did a piece titled 100 Small Acts of Love and these are some of my favorites 💕

[mosstheboar]

Source: BIBLIOMANIA ビブリオマニア

Story by Obaru Art by Macchiro

[mosstheboar]

challenged myself to make as simple an iterator as possible

[mosstheboar]

Is PF2e a suitable dungeon-crawl system? Or would you recommend sticking to D&D? Iirc you rec specifically D&D before 5e (I don’t play D&D so the acronyms have been a struggle to keep straight). Better yet, for someone running their first dungeon crawl, what would you recommend? My players really like PF2e, hence my first question, but they also like exploring different systems, so I have two oysters. Maybe even several.

Okay so this is a really multifaceted question so I will try my best to answer it! :)

Pathfinder, to me, represents the same design and gameplay structure I like to broadly call "modern D&D" or "WotC D&D," which other people also call "neotrad." Basically, editions of D&D since the acquisition of the license by WotC have changed the game structurally to such an extent that while the games have not become exactly antithetical to dungeon crawls they have become somewhat harder for running a straight old-school dungeon crawl. For example, modern D&D is not very well suited to random encounters as a means of straining character resources owing to the fact that encounters can often take a lot of time to resolve.

Now, having said that, there is a place for dungeons in Pathfinder and other games in the modern D&D lineage: while the slow and methodical dungeon crawl is not fully supported by modern D&D, there is a place for what can be called a dungeon dive. This difference was articulated really well imo by @100-manslayer in this response to a post of mine:

The point being that you can absolutely have dungeons in a Pathfinder 2e and I in fact think Pathfinder 2e can be the perfect system for a dungeon dive: the sort of systemic design that Pathfinder represents means that a dungeon environment can act as a perfect microcosm of allowing players to use pretty much all the tools at their characters' disposal. It will be less like a slow, methodical crawl, but more like a romp in a cool puzzle dungeon. That I feel is where modern D&D and its kin shines.

A dungeon dive will basically end up looking structurally like a dungeon crawl, but specifically with "encounters" of various types already prepped in. I know Pathfinder 2e is very generous with encounter prep tools for GMs, so the best way to think of a modern D&D dungeon is as a way to structure content while giving players freedom in how they go about tackling it.

Now, if you want to go for an older edition and a proper old-school dungeon crawl my personal game of choice is B/X D&D, the B/X being a common abbreviation for "Basic/Expert." The game was released in a red box which includes both a Basic game and an Expert game, which together formed an extremely nice and coherent game, which happens to be my favorite edition of the game. It is a very straightforward dungeon game. Now, it is available digitally, but there is also a modern retroclone of it called Old-School Essentials, which basically takes the rules and mechanics of B/X, clarifies them, presents them with nicer layout, and makes them consistent (as there were some inconsistencies across the two sets). OSE is a fantastic game and it is also easy to expand upon, as it has a very active community producing content for it.

There is also Basic Fantasy Roleplaying which is an entirely free open source D&D clone. It is also a fantastic product, owing a lot to B/X in terms of its rules but having some modern touches.

But yeah, there is nothing about Pathfinder 2e that is entirely antithetical to dungeoning, but it is going to look like a slightly different type of dungeon!

[mosstheboar]

Repeat after me:

The first draft just needs to exist

The second draft needs to be functional

The third draft needs to be effective

The first draft just needs to exist

The second draft needs to be functional

The third draft needs to be effective

The first draft just needs to exist

The second draft needs to be functional

The third draft needs to be effective

Remember, the second and third can't happen if you don't have something to work with. Your first draft will always be shit compared to your third, but at least it exists. The worst first draft is an unfinished one. The best first draft is a just completed one.

You read books/stories not in their first draft form-- only in their finished form (third, fourth, sometimes fifteenth draft). So stop comparing your first draft with a final one.

So, just write--you can make it better later. Perfectionism is the greatest weight a creator can carry.

[mosstheboar]

Viktor, Sanctioned Psyker of the Astra Telepathica

[mosstheboar]

I've seen a few posts talking about how it doesn't make sense for romance to be added into the game because the characters are in the middle of an armed conflict and that they don't have time for that kind of thing, or that they're too traumatized to fall in love. I'd like to explain why I disagree with this position. Let me clarify though that this isn't me saying everyone should romance one of the Hex members. If that's not your thing then by all means, don't romance anyone, you're completely within your right not to. What I'm disagreeing with is that it doesn't make sense for romance to exist in this game and setting whatsoever.

The reason I disagree is that, put simply, humans aren't machines. We're not a set of directives that disregard anything that doesn't align with them. We're animals that have a lot going on at any given moment. We're driven by several purposes, some of which clash with each other. This creates tension, which is something storytellers have exploited in the name of creating stories about the human condition for millenia. Without it, stories are empty, sterile.

Here's an example:

You're fighting two factions that want to wipe out an entire city in order to save innocent lives. You've been doing it in a loop for a very long time, but that doesn't matter because saving civilians comes first. Eventually a powerful new ally from the future appears and helps you and your team change your fates and succeed in holding back both factions from overtaking the city. You're pleased and hope to continue working with this new person to keep on making sure no more civilians are killed.

Does this story sound compelling to you? Maybe a little bit, but it's missing something, don't you think? A little bit more flavor, a little bit of a spark.

Let's try that again:

You've been at war for as long as you can remember. You're tired, stuck on a loop that has no ending in sight, but you have to keep going for the sake of your companions and doing what's right. Enter a new person, a new variable in a sea of sameness. They're not just from the future, they have extraordinary powers that allow them to do extraordinary things, and they seem to be on your side. And they prove it by saving you and your companions from a terrible demise. You start to believe things might turn for the better, you allow yourself to hope for a better future. You wake up from your combat-induced slumber and you feel your attention drifting from the misery that blanketed your existence to things you'd neglected in the name of the common good, including your need for connection and belonging. Including your companions, who still struggle to see themselves as a team. Including your new teammate, who's interesting and merciful and just as starving for connection as you are. You're awake now, and you're going act like it.

Much better, don't you think? Does this story sound more unbelievable because the character has other needs beyond their main objective of saving their city? On the contrary, I think it gets closer to the human experience than the previous story. Your character, a random Hex member, gets interested in the new person, the Drifter, after being saved by them and the situation in the city gets under control, and thus reaches out to them and develops a relationship with them. And they do it because they finally have the space of mind to do it. And not just the Drifter, they also learn to nurture the bonds they have with the other Hex members, as is seen in the text messages when you rank up the syndicate.

What I'm trying to say is, it makes sense for the Hex members to get close to the Drifter, storywise. Hell, "love triumphs over indifference" is a major plot point! That's why it doesn't make sense to me when someone says the Hex doesn't have time for romance. It's like saying the Hex doesn't have time for friendship, or any relationship for that matter, and that goes against what the game's trying to tell you.

As for the characters being too traumatized to fall in love? I'm nowhere near qualified to be speaking about trauma, but what little I know is that traumatized people don't want to be defined by their experiences. They fight day and night to live fulfilling lives, and saying they can't fall in love because they're traumatized sounds downright disrespectful to me. Maybe trauma has permanently changed the way some of them relate to others, but this doesn't mean no traumatized person can ever fall in love as a rule. Everyone's experience is different, and we shouldn't generalize what a group of people are going to be like anyway.

This applies to other mental health conditions as well. Depressed people fall in love. Anxious people fall in love. People that worry about making ends meet fall in love. People that are burnt out fall in love. People at any point in their lives fall in love. There's always something else going on, whether that's something minor like a pending homework assignment or something major like a neverending war, but people still have time to feel all kinds of feelings in the meantime, including romantic love!

That's my take on things. Thanks for reading this far! If you disagree with what I'm saying here, feel free to leave a comment. It's healthy to consider other points of view. :)

[mosstheboar]

just anyu/eleanor things while i'm thinking about them

early into the spiral, he met "the scholar" who gave him a flask of alcohol that he became dependent on for years worth of loops (until thrax found where he stashed it). so when eleanor mentions the heavy drugs she takes to make her sleep, he can't help worrying about her

eventually when she trusts him enough, she lets him use transference on her to just sit in her head, methodically calming all the unwanted thoughts so she can rest without the drugs. it's bonding for them lol and sometimes they fall asleep together like that

the first time he gets injured in the field (because whump is always necessary), it's after the big new years rescue and he's on a mission with arthur. he spends a minute too long outside his frame, taking a bad glancing shot to the head. it causes a duviri trauma response and he void slings away when arthur tries to help, so eleanor has to psychically track him down to the alley he sequesters himself in and tell him that trust is a two-way street. that he's always gone to insane lengths to save other people's lives, and it's time now that he can feel safe in trusting them with his. picturing her ending it like, "besides, you're much more valuable to us alive," in a cheeky loving way uwahh

i think a side effect of using a warframe long term is that the operator goes somewhat nonverbal from the strain of dual focusing in a machine not designed to speak (so that'd be why even drifter doesn't have in mission dialogue like even during quests). he's so chatty otherwise that it unsettles the team that's used to noisy banter and status reports, so eleanor takes to making the important callouts for him when she's not on duty and keeping tabs on him anyway

gods all the hair braiding

cute dinner dates include taking her to the future to try the ~exotic~ foods there. it's not perfect cause he has to stay in transference but they're together and das what counts

ough i need more unlocked conversations

[mosstheboar]

these options made me laugh

[mosstheboar]

Title: Hey Eleanor, is it okay if I can ask you about the telepathy thing?

[mosstheboar]

Warframe 1999 Hex Accolade Glyphs

Proud to announce that I had the opportunity to work on these glyphs for Warframe!

I am very grateful that I had the chance to have something in-game as a longtime player.

[mosstheboar]

hc that jade shadows takes place after drifter leaves like 'meanwhile, in spaaAaAce,' and when they send notes to each other to catch up it's just-

operator: so, how was 1999?

drifter: well i averted the radiation wars and got kissed on new years. you?

operator: n i c e. i midwifed stalker's mutant warframe baby and now it's just out there somewhere

drifter:

drifter: oh

[mosstheboar]

The death of Smiad the Dragonslayer, the Empyreal Lord of Dragon Slaying, a guy whose entire deal is Slaying Evil Dragons, is so darkly ironic that it loops from a tragedy into a comedy, and also serves as a good illustration for the unbelievable gulf of power between gods and demigods. During the chaos of Godsrain, he recruited Gorum's divine servitor, a metal dragon known as Saint Fang, to kill as many evil dragons as possible before the dust settled.

Unfortunately, they drew the attention of Dahak, god of evil dragons, who used the cover of Godsrain to appear before the two and kill them with basically zero effort.

Saint Fang was consumed instantly, and poor Smiad the Dragonslayer, Slayer of Dragons, a demogod whose whole deal is "slay dragons" and whose entire powerset revolves around how good he is at Slaying Dragons, didn't even scratch Dahak's scales when he shattered both his arms swinging his weapon into the dragon god's side. Dahak didn't even give Smiad the dignity of dying to his breath weapon, and slew him with his claws.

[mosstheboar]

your life is not an optimization problem

[mosstheboar]

[mosstheboar]

Writing Notes: Psychological Reactions to Unfair Behavior

Things seem fair and just when we see that balances in rewards and costs are occurring.

But things seem unfair and unjust when rewards and costs are not balanced.

The preference for fairness has been proposed to be a basic human impulse (Tyler & Blader, 2000).

When we perceive unfairness, we also experience negative emotional responses in brain regions associated with reward and punishment (Tabibnia, Satpute, & Lieberman, 2008).

The experience of unfairness is associated with negative emotions, including anger and contempt.

Whereas fairness is associated with positive emotions.

Why Humans Believe in the Importance of Fairness

In part because if we did not, then we would be forced to accept the fact that life is unpredictable and that negative things can occur to us at any time.

Believing in fairness allows us to feel better because we can believe that we get what we deserve and deserve what we get (e.g., just world hypothesis).

These beliefs allow us to maintain control over our worlds.

To believe that those who work hard are not rewarded and that accidents happen to good people forces us to concede that we too are vulnerable.

A "Just World"

One way to create a “just world” is to reinterpret behaviors and outcomes so that the events seem to be fair and one way that people do this is by blaming the victim (Lerner, 1980).

Blaming the victim - means interpreting the negative outcomes that occur to others internally so that it seems that they deserved them.

When we see that bad things have happened to other people, we tend to blame the people for them, even if they are not at fault.

Examples:

We may believe that poor people deserve to be poor because they are lazy,

crime victims deserve to be victims because they were careless,

people with AIDS deserve their illness.

In fact, the more threatened we feel by an apparent unfairness, the greater is our need to protect ourselves from the dreadful implication that it could happen to us, and the more we disparage the victim.

Dehumanization

Infrahumanization - the tendency to see outgroups as less human or as having less humanity.

It refers to attitudes and beliefs.

Dehumanization - refers to behaviors that undermine the individuality, humanness and rights of others.

Denying humanity in others can lead to moral judgments.

Dehumanization may be a consequence, as well as a cause of harmful behavior against individuals deemed as immoral (Bastian, Laham, Wilson, Haslam, & Koval, 2010; Bastian et al., 2011).

Example: Someone who violates social, cultural, religious norms can be viewed as immoral, which can initiate sanctions (formal and informal) as well as violence.

Once an individual or group is found less human or immoral, treating them differently is seen as justified, ethical and natural.

For this reason, dehumanization is viewed as a central component to intergroup violence because frequently, groups or individuals who are considered immoral are treated unfairly.

Source ⚜ Writing Notes & References

[mosstheboar]

that one madoka rebellion scene (ref below cut)