#focus your energy on YOUR OWN LOCAL POLITICS

[ramenheim]

OKAY BUT IT'S IN NOVEMBER

PRESIDENTIAL VOTING IS IN NOVEMBER

IT IS M A R C H

GET A SENSE OF FUCKING TIMING FOR YOUR POLITICAL PUSH OR SHUT UP FOR REAL.

Me: In November, either Trump or Biden will win. There is no third outcome, so we should vote accordingly for the option that will mitigate the most harm.

The people in my notes: Oh, so you think direct action is bad? You think voting is literally the only thing we can do? You hate activism? You love Biden and endorse everything he does and think nobody should criticize him ever? You think voting will just magically solve all our problems? You think protesting is wrong? You love the status quo and think everything is fine?

[dragonslaved]

All right, besties. I had my days of depression and (bad) ideations, I had my flare of anger. It's easy to fall into despair, but let's focus that energy to thinking further ahead. Firstly: by focusing on our health and eating.

You've probably noticed in the last few months, a lot of food recalls from the FDA. The majority of these, particularly the most recent ones around heavily processed chicken in ready-meals and beef in fast food restaurants, are a direct result of the 45th president cutting back health regulations in industrialized food production four to six years ago that we're just now seeing the results of as it's gone through the process and finally hit shelves.

Now would be a good time to start looking into your local farmer's markets and sourcing your meats and produce from locally owned farms you trust. Start developing a good relationship with your local farmers and butchers. When you go to see them, just get to know them and ask some general questions.

A lot of these places are family run, particularly if you're not close to a large metropolitan area. So when you go to see these folks and they make small talk (because they will, they want to know what brought you out, how'd you find their farm, what kinds of meats and cuts and whatever you're looking for, just genuine small talk), do not bring up politics or USDA regulations. Literally just tell them that you're interested in sourcing and supporting local agriculture and farming (which is true, you are wanting to get away from big corporate industrialized meat production).

If your area has a good farmer's market during the spring/summer/fall, absolutely hit that up. The one close by me not only has good meats and produce, but also honey, different kinds of cheeses, all sorts of things. Farmer's markets closer to a city or metropolitan area will usually only be on weekends during the warmer seasons so keep an eye out and check out any options you have.

I'll give a starting resource for you: https://www.localharvest.org/locations/

Any local farms or farmer's markets that are registered there in the mainland US will have some listings there with hours of operation, location and what they produce, as well as if they're a farm, a farmer's market, a grocery, or a local restaurant, as well as reviews. Use that and source further and find other farms that aren't registered on that site that may have more of what you're looking for. The farming community talk to each other and they know what's up with the other farms.

If you want to go out and pick your own produce (berries, fruits, etc), there's https://upickfarmlocator.com/ that will show you any "u-pick" farms and orchards in your area. It's a pretty in depth resource that I'd recommend using if you're able to go out and do that.

There are a few urban harvesting resources like fallingfruit, but I'm not as familiar with that so I can't in good faith recommend it until I've done some research into it myself.

I'm mostly familiar with chicken farms and fish ponds so I can't provide much insight to cattle or game meat, unfortunately. If anyone who sees this post is familiar, please feel free to add on. I'm also not a source for how to skin your meat or pluck your birds, so again, if anyone seeing this has any insight, please please add on to this.

Let's keep each other healthy and strong so we can fight the good fight ahead of us. The biggest advice I can give to anyone starting this journey is to research. Research anything you're interested in and don't give up.

I'll update this post with any other resources I find, or that others add on. This post is recent as of 2024-11-08.

(And yes, I know, before anyone comes rushing in, I understand this is not as easy for larger metropolitan areas or food deserts. Yes I know not everyone has the ability to go out and do this, and not everyone has easy transportation to haul goods back. This is where the "community" part comes if you can coordinate a group renting a car or someone who does drive to get everyone out there and back. And yes, before other folks come in, I understand sometimes it's better to grow your own produce and raise your own livestock, this is for the folks who don't have the ability to whether that's because of physical disabilities, lack of space [Hi, I live in a condo and have no space to grow my own in fact], or any other reason why they can't.)

[rabbitrah]

I've been thinking lately about how some social movements have potentially harmed themselves by putting an over-emphasis on people with privilege doing deep evaluations of their own psyche and all of the ways that they benefit from an unjust system and perhaps encouraging them to self-flagellate themselves into a perfect ally (but no one agrees on what a perfect ally is).

Now it's not that I don't think there's zero value in this. Learning as much as we can about an issue, thinking deeply about it, and carefully considering our role within the big picture is a good activity. BUT, when that becomes the focus of activism, how much does it really help?

I think that this unbalanced approach lends itself to the following issues:

individuals who think that feeling guilty or exposing themselves to upsetting content is somehow making them a better person and creating actionable change

similarly, individuals who don't want to feel guilty or expose themselves to upsetting content, and so turn against the entire movement

activists who put more stock in using the exact right language and having the exact right opinions than in taking steps for actionable change

similarly, so much fear and perfectionism that no action is ever taken

endless infighting, mostly online

pokemon-style oppression olympics

Anyway, daily reminder to everyone including me to take the energy you spend mentally agonizing or fighting online and do something tangible.

You don't have to watch videos of people being killed to send $5 to an organization or a person doing good work.

You don't have to get into an argument about leftist ideology to go work a shift at your local community kitchen.

You don't need to be up-to-date on every news story or preferred term for something to show up at a protest you support.

You don't have to develop an unshakable manifesto about how the federal government should be run to get together with some friends and pressure your local government into making one small positive change.

And give other people some grace as well. Where I live at least, it's the elderly church ladies with questionable political opinions who tend to do the most direct action that benefits the people who really need it. I think you have to match the years of volunteering and dollars of donating that Gertrude from your local baptist church does before you can complain about other people not being ideologically pure enough.

[femmefatalevibe]

Hey, I love your account!❤️ I started my journey of being the highest version of myself. I wanted to ask some tips on how to be more intelligent and do you have some suggestions on podcasts, people you can follow that active on politics/history? English isn’t my native language.

Thanks! ❤️

Hi love! Thank you so much <333 I can't think of any specific podcasts/blogs at the moment, but sharing some other advice below. Bisous xx

Here are some of my tips:

Read books, articles, blogs, studies, and journals from credible & fact-checked sources

Watch & listen to evidence-based documentaries and podcasts

Take expert-backed courses and classes (from universities, industry leaders/certified organizations)

Attend forums/lectures from industry leaders museums, libraries, etc. (Virtually or in-person)

Talk to people in different fields and from different walks of life

Travel (globally, domestically, or locally), explore museums, parks, and stores in your area

Ask for feedback on your creative or skill-based projects and work; or insights from trusted people in your life on different situations in your life, from your past, or their greatest life lessons

Remain curious and diligent regarding your pursuit of knowledge. Live as a lifelong student

For emotional intelligence:

Embrace self-awareness & self-reflection: Observe how you feel, behave, and how people generally respond to your words/actions in different situations

Practice self-regulation: Learn to differentiate between your feelings and the actions that would be appropriate in a specific setting or interaction. Internalize that feelings are fleeting and non-factual. You're in control of how you respond/(don't) act on these emotions

Engage in active listening: Pay attention to what others are saying with the intent of understanding, not responding

Focus on emotional differentiation: Understand where your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and opinions end and another person's identity/perception begins

Display radical empathy and acceptance: Understand that almost all people's words and actions result from their own beliefs, past experiences, and current life circumstances/priorities. Put yourself in their shoes when attempting to understand their choices, behaviors, and times they come to you to discuss a problem, success, or major life decision. Accept that you can only control what you do. Very little of other people's actions/the world's workings are personal. Things are happening around you, not to you

Let go of your ego: View yourself as objectively as possible with the potential for improvement. Abolish any superior complex or overwhelming desire to prove your self-importance in others' lives and decisions

Remain open-minded: Question your own beliefs and opinions. Stay curious as to why you believe them to be true/authentic to you. Allow your opinions to change or have the capacity to modify your beliefs upon hearing new information. Understand your worldview and values are valid, but they're not definitively correct beliefs, just because they resonate/feel comfortable for you

Be receptive to feedback: Embrace constructive criticism as a self-improvement tool. Approach it with curiosity and optimism, not as a personal attack

Differentiate between your feelings and capabilities: Your thoughts are not facts. Remember you can do things you don't feel like doing most of the time (work, waking up in the morning, working out, etc.). Learn the difference between being a slave to your emotions and genuinely running out of energy

[greenhappyseed]

Yesterday was a Very Bad Day for the Democratic Party, progressives, and leftists at the U.S. federal level. There’s no sugar-coating that America is, and remains, an extremely conservative country. As a result, the Republicans will control the presidency, the Supreme Court, the Senate, and possibly the House of Representatives (still being determined!) for at least 2 years.

What can we even do? There ARE a few things:

1. Do not panic. It’s highly unlikely that there will be internment camps or prosecution of people who worked in the Biden Administration. However, it IS awful and shocking that the chance is now greater than zero. Take some practical precautions where you can — save some money, take care of your health and get extra meds refills now, look for new jobs, evaluate where you might be able to move, consult lawyers, etc.

2. Seriously consider not oversharing information about yourself both online and IRL. If people don’t need to know your religion, sexuality, etc., then consider if it’s safe to share voluntarily. Like if it preserves your physical safety, it’s okay to be closeted. Make sure you live to fight another day.

3. Lemme say that again: Live to fight another day. If you can’t resist or you’re too burned out to resist, that’s understandable. You are NOT failing if you’re not constantly organizing or writing letters to your elected officials. Take some time and space to take care of yourself. Be with loved ones and minimize time with people who make you feel less than human (or learn how to be okay with compartmentalizing if you can’t escape right-wing family/coworkers). Help others if/when you can.

4. When you have the spoons, focus on your state and local officials. Many states have their legislature, governor, and more elected on different cycles from the federal government. So vote in those! Your state governor, your state medical board, your state Secretary of State, etc can use the power of the state to stop federal overreach. Also look into trade groups and professional associations, which can engage in lobbying and public advocacy. Otherwise, there isn’t much any of us can do at the federal level. We have to let Trump and his cronies break some things, and we can’t spend energy fighting what we just can’t fight.

5. In TWO years, the federal House of Representatives will be up for re-election, as will a chunk of the Senate. The primary process for those elections will begin roughly a year from now. Get involved! Vote! If Dems can take Congress in 2026, they can block a lot of the Trump agenda. (But do expect that he will move fast in the next 18 months. The breathless news announcements will be exhausting so be prepared to ignore or compartmentalize.)

6. Anything Trump wrecks is temporary. Seriously. It might outlast my lifetime, but probably not yours. Even the Supreme Court can be expanded to 11 or 13 or 15 people if there’s enough political force behind it.

7. Going forward, focus on Democratic wins over social progress. The sad reality is that Americans prioritize their own wallet over LGBTQ rights, climate change, DEI, etc. so Democrats MUST make the financial and economic case that their ideas are better (and they will probably choose a white-ish cis straight man to deliver that message). It’s less about ACTUAL plans and more about making people BELIEVE Dems have better plans.

Once in power, Democrats can lowkey push for the social issues. But putting social issues front and center while trying to downplay the economy turned off a large numbers of voters — including many Black men and a landslide majority of the Latino population. Similarly, talking about international issues like Palestine, Ukraine, and Taiwan (as conservative as Kamala is on those issues!) didn’t resonate with half the country. As Bill Clinton’s campaign manager said in 1992, “it’s the economy, stupid.” Most Americans vote selfishly according to their own perceived prosperity…and that’s it, above all else. Contrary to what it says on the Statue of Liberty, we apparently do not care about the tired, the poor, the huddled masses, the wretched, or the homeless if we think we aren’t keeping up with our neighbors.

[dorianeverleigh]

I will never get over the fact that we, the human race, collectively chose this path of destruction.

We have known for a very long time that our way of life is detrimental to the one and only habitable planet in our peripheral. We know we can't just move to Mars or Enceladus as much as low IQ billionaires try to make it a reality. But the human race said "Fuck it, tonight we ride! We're here for a good time, not for a long time!" And now we are careening toward absolute total annihilation. All it would have taken was a little bit of change. But sustainability is not profitable. Green energy is not profitable. We could be living in a much better world, with a much brighter future, if we just stopped allowing capitalism to dictate our lives. We knew coal and oil were fucking things up. We knew what to do about it. We knew the best path forward, but we chose profits instead of future.

Imagine if all of the idiot wealth hoarders in the world were using the piles of money to create a brighter more sustainable future instead of buying a mini yacht to carry their helicopter next to their super yacht. Or instead of burning money trying to play irl space invaders and colonize Mars (because there's nothing left to colonize on our own dying planet); we could focus on saving our own planet. But no, let's shoot a car into the orbit just for funsies.

The alarm bells have been at full blast for so long, and the global "political" efforts to combat the effects of our dying planet have all been lies (as per usual) and now the scientific consensus is that it's too late. And it fucking sucks. I know that people as a whole are good. I know that compassion and empathy are more common than not. Even though the most rotten people in this world are the loudest, overall I do believe humans are good. But I also know we are sheep. We are followers and we need guidance. But don't be fooled! Just because someone speaks loudly, articulates properly, and displays confidence, does NOT mean they are right, moral, or just. And just because someone is in a position of authority does not mean they have your best interest in mind. And, I cannot stress this enough, being wealthy ONLY proves you know how to obtain wealth. Wealth does not equate to intelligence. Wealth does not mean you're an expert. And wealth definitely does not mean you're a good person. (Quite the opposite actually.)

My only advice is to just stop paying the billionaires and millionaires as much as possible. Shop local. Eat vegan (if you can). Buy an electric car (or no car at all). DIY and up cycle every chance you get. Reduce waste. If we stop feeding the machine it will die. Understand this though, it's not on us. Sure we've been roped into this terrible cycle of murdering our own planet, but most often we don't have an alternative. Remember when your grocery store shames you for not bringing a reusable bag it was THEM flooding the world with single use plastic. Or if coca-cola tries to make you feel shitty for not recycling, it's THEM producing the abundance of waste. Remember that Shell and Exxon are poisoning the oceans, not your little jalopy carting your back and forth from work. So yes, while each of us can do our part, it's better to spend your energy taking down the rich people who created this mess in the first place. Eat the rich!

[ailelie]

On Power

I wrote this as a response to a post on reddit asking how to do politics in worldbuilding.

---

I think the advice that says politics is about power is good to consider. However, I would add that it isn't just power for power's sake. Power is energy. If it isn't doing anything, it is only potential--something to account for, but not something that is having an active effect on the world. Politics is kinetic or power in motion.

Power allows its wielders to accomplish one of two goals: secure their autonomy or enact their agendas. These often, but don't always, go together. Sometimes, when they diverge, it depends on the source of the power. Note: Autonomy isn't just freedom, but is also the ability to meet your own needs.

For example, two students go to university; one cooks his own meals and the other eats in the dining hall each day. The latter has paid for convenience and possibly for more time to devote to her studies (fulfilling an agenda), but the former has more personal autonomy. If the dining hall suddenly shuts down, he won't be going hungry.

So, since sources can affect how power is used, I think it is most important to start with those.

Some major sources of power are tradition, religion, wealth, political structures (e.g. a constitution), access, influence (both broadly/culturally and singularly/personally), fear, might, and knowledge.

It is important to know how each source grants/uses, limits, and revokes power. By grants/uses I mean what are the ways a person can wield the power of the source? In political structures, one way is laws. In influence, one way is a whisper campaign or advising a friend. In religion, one way is declaring something anathema so that adherents avoid it. Each power source determines, to a degree, what a person can do with it. Most people and organizations cultivate multiple sources to widen their menu of actions and to compensate for limitations.

For example, wealth grants power by enabling the wielder to convert the wealth into a different type of power.

For example, they can buy off a priest for religious power or they can spend to be on the edge of trends for influential power. They can cultivate a salon of innovative ideas for both influential and knowledge power. The power of wealth only lasts as long as the money holds out, however. Anyone relying on wealth will find themselves powerless when the money goes, unless they've, for example, collected blackmail (fear-based power) or connections (personal influence; being someone others listen to). Another limitation is that power bought by wealth may carry the stigma of money (e.g., they bought their way in, etc).

Another example, political structures may elevate one person as ruler over the land, but they are limited by the description and responsibilities of their role. They may also need to work with other entities created by the same political structures. Many leaders cultivate another power source to ensure they can enact their agendas (e.g., influence, tradition, religion).

Also, note, no source is infinite. The fewer who draw on a source, the more power they have.

The next step is identifying who in your setting has power and what kind of power they command. Guilds have knowledge power--they're the ones who know how to do crafts. They may also have access power aka the decision of who gets to learn the craft. That access power could also belong to the local government, church, etc.

So, figure out who the players are and what kind of power they access.

Next, going back to the top of this post, think through what each player wants to do with their power. Is their focus fully on remaining free from any strictures and being able to meet all their needs, or do they have an agenda they wish to see fulfilled? Or is it some combination of both?

Also, what are they willing to lose to keep their power and to fulfill their goals? These are not the same. For example, a person may be willing to accept another's patronage (losing autonomy) in order to gain more cultural influence (gaining power). And, if goals conflict, which ones take priority?

Next, remember that there is a difference between the organization that consolidates power and the individuals who act upon it. Some people can cultivate power on their own, especially for personal or cultural influence, but often it is the organization that amasses power and the individuals who spend it. Those individuals all have their own agendas or desires for autonomy and so politics is a fractal.

Finally, power does not exist in a vacuum. It is all connected. Every move tugs strings that affect others. There is two major things to consider here--connections among power players and effects of actions.

Some players, in your setting, may be automatically opposed. This is usually because they are drawing on the same source. If the university starts teaching basic physics and machines, the guilds may be upset that the university is intruding on their knowledge-based power.

This immediate opposition has consequences for individuals as, in order to keep drawing on their institution's power, they must maintain the rivalry. A new guild master is best friends with a university professor, but they hide this because the guild would revolt if they knew or would expect her to use personal influence on the professor to make the university drop the coursework. Etc.

This conflict between the organization the draws and consolidates the power and the people who use it opens up a lot of opportunities for back-channels and manipulation.

The other type of connection to consider is effects. Every action has an intended primary effect and, often, intended secondary effects. Every action also has unintended secondary effects. Then think through who supports and opposes the primary and secondary effects and why. Also, the same player can oppose one effect while supporting the other. So then you need to think through how they act on that divided support/opposition.

The government passes a law that all laws will now be translated into every language in the empire so that no one may claim ignorance of the law. The intended effect is to stop that line of defense from a group of rebels. The unintended secondary effect is that this grants additional power to the university who house the most translators.

The rebels oppose the law because it limits them by reasserting the empire's control over them. The church also opposes the law because they do not want the university to grow in power. However, the church does support limiting the rebels. So, the church makes a show of supporting the law in public, but then works behind the scenes to revise or revoke it in favor of the church's solution to the rebels. Or, maybe, they support the law, but then appoint a few priests to reach out to the rebels in sympathy or take action to require all translators work through the church. Etc.

Anyway. These are just my thoughts on the matter. I hope they're helpful!

[eziojensenthe3rd]

Midnight Gaming: Take me home, country roads...

So last night I played Fallout 76 past midnight, checked socials... ok you know what we should talk about that a bit.

So the way in which I write these is thag around 8pm, I play a game with the aim to play it past midnight, when thats done I shut everything off, get into bed and use my phone to make notes and check socials for the news. After that I go to sleep and then tomorrow I check my notes and write the post for the day.

Its all to recreate a funny set of circumstances that created one of strangest coincidences i've ever seen. I played crime boss rockay city past midnight, trump got shot. I played fallout 76 past midnight, biden got covid. I played divinity original sin past midnight and biden stepped down with kamala harris now running. I recently played deathspank past midnight and now the us stock market crashed. All of this just to see what'll happen next and to give me something creative to build up for myself.

Thing is, im usually up at 2 or 3 am before I decide to say screw it and go to bed with nothing much to report for tomorrow. Atleast, nothing to report that isnt politics related, id rather Midnight Gaming not be too politically focused. So I ask you, anyone who is reading, would you rather I stick to this or would it be alright If leave checking the news to tomorrow instead of after midnight. Atleast that way I can have more of a selection on what to report for the news segment on these posts. Let me know in the comments whatd you perfer.

So Fallout 76, is it good? Ehhhh... is it playable? Yes. The game atm is playable and you may in fact get some enjoyment out of it. I just wouldnt call it good per se. Once you get outta the vault, the land of west virgina is available to you and to bethesda's credit, appalachia is one the better fallout locales to explore, the various zones from the verdant forest, the savage divide and the cranberry bog to name a few are distinct enough with their own look.

As you explore the world, your main focus is to level up so you can get perk cards and special stats to create a build. And there are a wide variety of weapons to utilise along with ways to build your character. You can go melee, go with sniper rifles or automatics. Go with explosives or use energy weapons. There is a variety to choose from and once you do, you'll want to equip the right perks to utilise them. It does start off running, but when you reach endgame, it does feel like you run outta steam.

The biggest dealbreaker for me when it comes to games is when im left with nothing to do or if what im doing feels too tedious to be worth it. I played warframe before, multiple times infact, on pc, on xbox and on switch. When I tried to get into warframe again, I linked all of my accounts into one and logged in only to hit a brick wall. I have all of my stuff, my warframes, my weapons, my mods. I have locales open and quests in my log. Im just sitting there on my orbiter asking myself "what do I do now?". I had no plan on what i wanted to do, on what i wanted to work on or even what I feel would be fun to do. Im just pacing up and down my ship feeling awkward and lost. Eventually I decided to just forget it and leave, uninstalled and did something else. I felt too awkward to do anything and as a result, it killed any momentum I had going into warframe, causing me to bounce right off.

I left warframe because I couldnt find something I wanted to do, feeling like I had forgotten how to swim and being dunked into the deep end, frantically trying to recall that knowledge. I would've perferred some way of easing myself back in so I dont feel too overwhelmed with everything. With fallout 76 i'm facing the other issue, I have all the gear, perks and weapons that I want that theres nothing left worthwhile to do. I've grinded for a union power armor set, i'm carrying 3 star heavy weapons that shred through most enemies, I have my build set up to allow me to do a lot of damage and resist a lot back. All i'm doing is bouncing between daily quests, daily ops and random events while gaining more levels to save up coins to level up legendary perks while rerolling my gear for more optimal loadouts.

I've done most of what I wanted to do that there isn't much else left to interest me, aside from maybe doing questlines for the stories but otherwise, I think im spent for the time being, no recent or upcoming update has been compelling enough for me to stay.

Fallout 76 is playable yes, the work has been done to improve on the intial launch, one that was buggy and unpalatable for many outside of those who wanted to just point and laugh, but if there was one thing about fallout 76 that was compelling, it was the original story involving you, the resident of vault 76 and the scorched threat.

You're a part of privileged few who got to avoid the horrors of the great war, living in the vault while training and being groomed for the ultimate task: reclamation. To venture back out into the ruined world and rebuild america. Shortly after the bombs fall, reclamation day arrives and you head out to find.. appalachia is fine, seemingly so. West Virginia isn't really a high priority target so its mostly untouched by nuclear devastation. You go into the nearest town to find plenty of evidence that people outside the vault have survived the end of the world and have already started on rebuilding their lives.... and yet no sign of life.. atleast... any that are living.

And then you find out why. A terrible plague that causes the affected to attack, infect and corrupt others, heralded by the winged scorchbeast that champions the sky, spreading its foul influence to assert its dominion on the land below. In your search to find a way to fight this threat, you uncover the ways in which many of the old factions fell, their distrust and unwillingness to cooperate with each other being their downfall, divided they were and conquered they became. Eventually you're led to the hidden nuclear silos, now having to use the very thing that destroyed the world you once knew, in order to save whats left of it.

Throughout appalachia you come across holotapes of your old overseer at various locales, detailing her journey across the new world. One of them seems to take place after the main story of 76, with her expressing complete and utter horror of the vault dwellers, of you, continuing to use the nuclear silos to wage small scale nuclear warfare on each other. She was given the secret task of securing the silos by herself, a near impossible task that forces her to ask her own people via holotape to help.

She wonders if that was in fact part of the plan, to get the reclaimers involved and aware of the silos. She mentions in one log of how she found out about the vaults being experiments but was convinced AND reassured that the experiments were necessary and that 76 would be a normal vault. Was that a half-truth, was it all just one big experiment to satiate some short-sighted curiosity. Were those selected for 76 chosen for being the best or for just being the most skilled and the most competitive. If you took your time and checked the computers in the vault, you can find they had to arrange small contests and awards to occupy the dwellers, one dweller even ended up losing a tooth in an act of spite from a sore loser. Was that foreshadowing of what would happen when the reclaimers gain access to nuclear arms? As she loses her faith in the company she served, she begs you the player to stop using the silos, to stop this madness, to stop bringing further destruction to appalachia.

The fallout series was a look into the cautionary tale of idolising and obsessing over the past. To be stuck recreating the glory days instead of moving forward. The 50's aesthetic that makes up the ruins of the post war america wasn't chosen for looks, but to serve the underlying message, that the jingoism and nationalist red scare was the enabling force of societys worst, most destructive flaws, culminating in total obliteration via atomic fire. That meaning does get lost as the ip becomes gentrified under bethesda. The dread of the cold war now just a bit for the brand, the blast of the atomic bomb not illiciting fear but joy as it could mean a unique boss is spawned to fight or unique crafting materials to collect. What was considered a morbid look into the damnation of humanity's foolhardiness, now just part of the marketing spiel with the phrase "war, war never changes".

But the original story of Fallout 76, before wastelanders brought the npcs back, it atleast had some promise. Of being alone in a post war appalachia with no other humans, with only the mutants, the self sustaining robots, the shadows burnt into the walls and the dying words of survivors as your only company. Of the lone holotape in a secluded shack, carrying the words of your overseer, pleading and begging you, the family she knew and survived armageddeon with.

To stop loving the bomb, and start worrying.

See you all tomorrow. Be sure to let me know what you want done regarding how I handle news. Feedback is appreciated, anons are currently on.

[dankusner]

The Dallas Morning News may have a bias problem, a look at its past endorsements reveals

The Dallas Morning News may have a bias problem when it comes to endorsements, at least according to some outside observers.

In 2016, the news outlet endorsed Hillary Clinton, arguing that Trump’s temperament makes him an “unreliable” candidate.

“Our determination is that, frankly, there is only one serious candidate on the ballot in November — and that is Hillary Clinton,” Keven Ann Willey, the DMN editorial page editor, said in an interview with the Texas Standard.

In 2018, DMN endorsed Beto O’Rourke over Ted Cruz, with the opinion piece citing the need for gun control and green energy as reasons for endorsing the Democrat over the Republican.

It also noted how he demonstrated the “inclusive and hopeful tone” of a formidable political leader.

“In this respect, O’Rourke is the stronger candidate,” DMN stated. “In conducting his campaign, he has displayed a demeanor that offers respect for each person and a humbleness that will allow him to open the door to working with those who hold political views different from his.

We believe O’Rourke is right in calling for rejoining the Paris climate accord, supporting the vast potential of renewable energy in Texas, and calling for universal background checks on guns.”

DMN’s apparent bias doesn’t stop there:

According to the outlet’s general election endorsement list in 2022, the majority of those endorsed were Democrats.

When writing about why it supported Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s opponent, Mike Collier, DMN stated: “Collier, a Democrat, is an appealing alternative to GOP incumbent Dan Patrick, whose abrasive style of politics is focused on winning culture wars rather than on solving everyday problems. Collier can talk policy ideas in detail, but he’s not a doctrinaire.”

Notable Democrats on the list include Tarrant County Judge candidate Deborah Peoples, U.S. House District 30 candidate Jasmine Crockett, and U.S. House District 33 incumbent Marc Veasey.

As previously reported by The Dallas Express, local leaders are criticizing DMN for its alleged left-leaning bias.

“The news should be based on facts, not opinions. When media is clearly driven by political activism, most people are distrusting of it,” Texas Coalition for Kids President Kelly Neidert previously told The Dallas Express.

The Dallas Express reached out to DMN for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

LETTERS

Conservatives miss the point

Re: “Good to see your remorse,” by Larry Pivnick, and “Views and background matter,” by Tom Youngblood, Tuesday Letters.

The reaction to your “Bias to a degree” column has been entertaining.

The conservative faithful responded with righteous indignity as soon as they saw the word “bias.”

One writer said that this paper was a shill for “woke,” progressive causes and that almost every story is slanted left.

Another said that this newspaper has a blatant bias against our governor.

I’m not sure what newspaper these folks are reading.

This paper reports facts and the truth.

If “woke” means informed, isn’t that the purpose of the media?

And I’ve never seen any story in the news section that disparages the governor.

His own actions are, at times, offensive to many Texans.

Those actions should be reported; they are facts.

I believe that these reactionaries missed the point of Stephen Buckley’s column.

He said that at times the stories miss the conservative viewpoint because their leaders don’t want to be quoted or answer questions.

No response means that they want to keep the electorate in a state of willful ignorance.

If you want news that tells the truth, read this paper.

If you want something to just confirm your opinions, follow the news outlets that are awash in lawsuits for their misinformation.

Ted Felinski, Dallas

No bias, just reporting

Yes, The Dallas Morning News is biased — toward the truth.

Because oxygen is not given to lies and misinformation does not mean focus is given only to the other side.

It means there is no backing for falsehoods.

That is not bias. That is accurate reporting.

Gary Tutt, McKinney

Waiting for solutions to bias

Pivnick’s letter indicates that the exposure of The Dallas Morning News ’ biased journalism by ombudsman Stephen Buckley has opened up a hornet’s nest.

Will The News apply a healing ointment of fairness and respect for conservative and traditional values to its stings or will it just endure the pain?

It would be positive for good journalism if the editors would address how it will resolve its biased journalism, or will it stay in a denial mode?

Don Skaggs, Garland

[branded-perceptions]

Our motivations of what we think, argue, as workforce create, as market demands demand and focus our mind on

is fundamentally driven by (across group identities entrained) unconscious emotional habits

that we via our rational mind individually and collectively tend to self-justify

under a guise of rationality when actually much of our in-group justifications are rather superstition in a similar way as if one would see one's own identity name reflected in songs:

in objective reality these are just sound frequencies whose ambiguous spectrum can be interpreted in a variety of ways while we tend to interpret it according to the subjective unconscious emotional focus and predictions (📚free energy principle by Karl Friston) of our subjective minds

that as seen via seemingly "opposing" geopolitical in-group stories that actually use quite similar logic chains of argumentations just directed at and motivated by unconscious conditioning of "opposing" emotional focus on group symbols🎅 like Alice in Wonderland

or local political contrasts that tend to justify and rationalise and bend their perceptional interpretations according the unconscious emotional focus they got born into, conditioned at or are by society incentivised and rewarded for

while our heart evolved to similar like in romantic relationships via our motivations unconsciously prioritise more

the intrinsic motivates curious proactive consideration of any possible threats to and care for our shared causal presences' wellbeing

than any reductionistic laser beam argumentations or in-group identity constructs' naturally emerging apathy as usual similar like in all sorts of topics seen via the ghosted C-19 vaccine cardiovascular side-effects:

🎶Listen to your heart - Roxette

Essentially, as we technologically have the means to do otherwise, most causal issues of humanity come down to emotional issues of a

misguided motivational focus of our more unconscious emotional desires' formation and guidance of our conscious mind

and resulting peer-pressure and collective causal creation

while we can only take care of our life force in objective🌞 reality through agency of our subjective mind🌛 constructs.

[lonita]

Scrapitalism

Someone asked me what the first steps would be that I'd take to dismantle capitalism and its greed. Some of these are ideas on how to sustain people within the current capitalist system while working towards transition.

Understand, first, that I am not a communist. I think we need to move away from using such terms to using ones that are less divisive but still communally respective. Communalism, perhaps? Whatever the word is, people need to stop having a hissy over the community-minded aspects of any kind of socialism. No one wants to take your personhood away. We just need to recognise that hyper-individualism is partly why we're in the boat we're in, with more self-serving consideration than acceptance of what's best for the wider good.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and is subject to change, alter, augment, and grow, as we all should.

Let's start off with:

Make offshoring of wealth illegal.

Seize those assets for collective good use in the communities from which they were thieved.

Make it illegal and impossible for any private donations of any kind to any political party.

Dismantling of monopolies, and preventing them from existing in future.

Prevention of personal and corporate wealth over a certain amount, unless the corporate wealth is being put back into the business for its good.

Implement a wealth tax on individuals and corporations.

Increase minimum wage to a living wage and tie it to inflation.

Fully funded universal healthcare and education from cradle to grave.

Implement a basic income to ensure everyone a safety net.

And:

Promote worker cooperatives, democratic workplaces, and strengthen labour laws and workers' rights.

Implement strong environmental regulations and shift to renewable energy.

End the criminalisation of homelessness and decriminalise poverty.

Prevent the profit-based motives attached to housing, provide affordable housing and rent control.

Cease exploiting natural resources and promote sustainable practices.

End the privatisation of public goods and services, and transition to a system where resources and means of production are held in common, rather than owned by individuals or corporations

Promote community-based economic development, local ownership, participatory budgeting, and democratic decision-making processes.

Progressive taxation to redistribute wealth.

Invest in public services and social programs to address poverty and inequality.

Phase out any legal frameworks that allow corporations to exist as entities with rights and privileges.

Transition to a system where the primary goal is meeting human needs and sustainability, rather than generating profit.

Cancel all debts, both personal and national, and transition to a system that does not rely on debt-based financing.

Transition to a system where work is not seen as a commodity, and people are not forced to sell their labour to survive.

Phase out the marketing and advertising industries, which perpetuate consumerism and fuel the growth of capitalism.

Abandon pursuit of economic growth as a measure of success, and focus on sustainability, well-being, and social justice.

Limit executive compensation.

Implement policies to prevent tax evasion and avoidance.

[lindevi]

Running Your Best Convention One-Shot Part 2: Scenarios

At the 2021 Origins Game Fair, I experienced one of the best convention one-shot RPG sessions I’d ever played in—as well as the worst—back to back. This gave me a unique opportunity to compare and contrast what went well in the first session and what went awry in the second, especially in light of my experience as a tabletop RPG professional responsible for developing one-shots as well as demoing RPGs for convention play. Over the last ten years, I’ve run open and VIP tables at large flagship conventions like GenCon and Origins, regional cons such as AcadeCon and Con of the North, and local mini-cons on college campuses and at my own home. Over the years, I’ve also made my fair share of mistakes that I hope you can learn from.

Although there are many aspects to consider when planning and running an RPG one-shot at a convention, focusing on three elements of the session can give you a solid foundation and yield the best payoff per hour of prep spent. These three essential ingredients are: 1) exciting and accessible pre-generated character sheets, 2) a scenario that is optimized for one-off play, and 3) excellent player management at the table. In this second part of three, let’s take a deep dive into the next ingredient: the scenario.

The Purpose of One-Shot Scenarios

A one-shot is a roleplaying game session designed to offer an engaging play experience and tell a satisfying story within a single sitting. In most convention settings, a four-hour block of time is set aside for the game, but some “epic” sessions might last for six hours, while demos are typically designed to run for just one or two hours. With your regular gaming group, you might have a whole evening to play, without a hard cutoff point other than people’s energy levels.

I consider the play experience to be composed of two things: the GM’s primary motivation for running the one-shot, and what the players are expecting from the scenario. Are you trying to give players a taste of a game’s rules system? Are you looking to bring a set piece encounter to life with elaborate maps, minis, and terrain? Are you offering a chance to play a particular type of character that’s unusual, specialized, or high-powered? Are you trying to introduce or explore a particular setting, time period, or franchise? Or are you trying to entertain with an especially clever premise or mashup of different media properties? (“My Little Warhammer: Friendship is 40k,” I’m looking at you.) If you know what you’re trying to achieve, that can help you focus and prioritize your efforts.

Telling a satisfying story in a single sitting can be challenging, as it’s easy to try to cram too much plot or too many characters into the span of time available. There’s really only time to explore one main objective, a few obstacles, and a set of simplistic stakes. It might be helpful to treat your one-shot as if it were a single twenty-minute episode of a TV show—I often see folks try to cover the same amount of ground as a three-hou epic fantasy film, which just isn’t feasible. Here’s the basic formula I use when crafting scenarios:

When [a disruptive event happens], will a group of [adjective] [collective noun] be able to [adverb] [verb] the [noun] (to/from/at/in [noun]) before the [villain] [villain’s objective]?

And here’s that formula applied to a few different one-shots I’ve developed or written:

When a bounty hunter betrays a brutal crime syndicate, will a motley crew of scum and villains be able to capture or kill him before they become his next target? (“Under a Black Sun” for Star Wars: Edge of the Empire)

When a long-lost heir threatens to interrupt a politically crucial marriage, will a group of young samurai must choose see the match through, or call it off in the name of love? (“Wedding at Kyotei Castle” for Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying)

After a rival underhive gang kidnaps their leader, will a group of Escher gangers be able to rescue their champion and get revenge before one of them reveals themselves to be a murder-cyborg? (“Fall of the House of Escher” for Dark Heresy 2nd Edition, unpublished con scenario)

Time Constraints and Pacing

In my opinion, the primary consideration for a one-shot is the time constraint. If the game runs longer than its allotted time, you won’t have a chance to pick up where you left off the following week or session—you’ll have to rush to the ending or worse, not offer a resolution at all.

My rule of thumb is to plan on roughly one encounter, dungeon room, or scene per hour (from here on, I’ll use the term “encounter” to refer to any of these discrete RPG session elements). For a four-hour one-shot, I try to stick to this schedule:

Introductions (30 minutes): Players choose characters and unpack dice/dice trays, GM introduces rules and setting, answers questions. I try to make sure that the PCs understand their goal going into the first encounter before we hit the 30 minute mark.

Encounter 1 (45 minutes): In pursuit of their goal, the PCs confront an obstacle that might be solved with combat, social interaction, exploration, or investigation.

Encounter 2 (45 minutes): The PCs encounter their next obstacle, one more challenging or with higher stakes than the first. There might be a major twist or reveal at the end of this encounter.

Break (15 minutes): Bio break—let people use the bathroom, get a drink/snack, check their phone, or simply stretch their legs.

Encounter 3 (45 minutes): The PCs encounter yet another obstacle, and they might glimpse opposing sides of the dilemma or fully grasp the stakes.

Final Encounter (1 hour): This is the climactic encounter in which the PCs make a decisive choice and/or face their hardest challenge yet.

I typically have an extra encounter or two in my back pocket in case the PCs breeze through one or more or the earlier encounters faster than anticipated, but these encounters can be left out without hurting the players’ enjoyment or understanding of the overall plot.

Pacing refers to the rate of movement or progress. In RPG terms, pacing refers to how quickly the PCs move from encounter to encounter or experience the story. Bad pacing can make for an unenjoyable game—players might grow bored if they are progressing through encounters too slowly, or they could feel dissatisfied or confused if they are moving through encounters too quickly. You can also affect pacing through variety: a one-shot that’s solely combat, investigation, or social encounters can blur together or feel repetitive, so include a mix of the different types of encounters that feature in the game’s rules, as well as emotional highs and lows (juxtaposing comedy with horror, for example). But take care when stringing vastly different kinds of encounters together. Not having appropriate transitions between encounters can feel jarring, so if there’s a little bit of travel or if time passes, make sure that’s communicated to the players. Give the players time to react to big events and talk among themselves, and once the conversation has run its course, that’s your cue to move on to the next encounter.

It takes some practice and experience to get pacing right, but you can look to your players for signs that the pacing is off—are they tuning out and checking their phones? Chatting among themselves trying to figure out what’s going on? Remember, you can always “fast forward” using narration to get to the next bit of action or excitement (but beware taking agency away from the PCs—you shouldn’t skip over any major decisions that could affect the story). From a logistical perspective, if one encounter runs long, you’ll need to shorten one of the subsequent encounters. If the encounters go by too quickly, however, the session will end early, which usually isn’t too big a deal at big conventions where there’s plenty to do and see (and eat), but it can be a bummer when players paid by the hour for an event.

Agency and Choice

To me, great one-shots are those with multiple possible endings, such that I can run it for different groups of players and have wildly different outcomes. This isn’t always feasible in organized play circumstances, where a shared experience is part of the point. When considering alternative resolutions, you might ask: Do the PCs pursue their original objective, or do they turn on the person who gave them the mission? Do the PCs side with one NPC or another in a dispute? Do the PCs achieve their goal by talking it out, using violence, or employing magic to solve their problems?

Agency is “the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power”—in games, that translates to the idea that the PCs can affect the game or the game world, whether for good or ill. Unlike most novels or TV shows, games are an interactive medium, so giving players some choices that matter will help them feel invested in the story.

The worst one-shots are those where the players don’t have agency and their actions don’t matter—the NPCs are too powerful or the PCs too weak to make a difference, or the PCs’ efforts turn out to be futile. One-shots that feature many long, scripted narratives in which the GM is basically telling the story without the players’ input can be indicative of one-shots with little player agency. In these moments, there’s no opportunity for the PCs to interject or act unless they—gasp—interrupt the GM, which many players will not feel comfortable doing. Cut scenes have become less popular in video games over time, and many players skip them altogether. Avoid cramming your one-shot full of cut scenes—think about where in your story would benefit the most from one deep, evocative description, and use it there.

When creating dilemmas and offering choices, one of the biggest considerations are stakes: what will or will not happen if the PCs fail, as well as what will or will not happen if they succeed? Choices should have consequences: rewards or punishments, treasure or injury, fame or infamy. Decisions don’t always have to be an either/or choice. They might be a question of methodology (how the PCs achieve the outcome), or a matter of degree. What matters is giving your players a say in how the story unfolds. Designing a scenario that takes player agency into account and offers meaningful choices and multiple resolutions are much more likely to engage players emotionally and make your one-shot a memorable one.

Let the Pre-Gens Shine

If you followed my advice and carefully crafted your pre-generated characters to suit the one-shot medium, those can be your guiding stars for designing your scenario. Try to match up the skills and capabilities of the PCs to the challenges offered, so that you have at least one sneaky character if the mission calls for stealth, one bruiser character for combat, one investigative character for discovering clues and solving mysteries, and so on. If the PCs come from different backgrounds in the world, try to make those backgrounds matter to the dilemma at hand or the choices offered. If your game features scheming and backstabbing among the PCs, those backgrounds can potentially put them at odds, as can conflicting motivations or agendas.

Once you’ve figured out what your four-plus encounters will be, return to your pre-gens and check whether they’re capable of tackling those challenges as a group. Ensure every PC will be able to contribute something to every encounter, and let them bring something extra to one encounter that can be their moment to shine.

Critical Hits and Fails

One spot your one-shot can crit fail is right at the beginning—if the players don’t know what they’re supposed to doing, they’ll flail around until they find something concrete to pursue, raising the risk that they’ll try to do something or go somewhere you haven’t prepared for. Create a strong and simple hook for why the player characters are involved and what they’re hoping to achieve—one that doesn’t require a ton of explanation or background knowledge. Such-and-such faction needs you to acquire the MacGuffin, rescue the princess, or eliminate the target (and in this case, yours not to reason why, yours but to do or die). You want to plunder the dungeon or raid the cultists’ lair for loot and glory. You need to get off this island/space station/planet because if you don’t, you’re all dead. If you need to provide a ton of context for players to understand the scenario, simplify the plot down to its essence or save that particular scenario for a mini-campaign, where you’ll have more time to get into the weeds.

Another area where your one-shot can go awry is if you’re trying to make the game system do something it wasn’t meant to do, or emphasize a part of the game rules that isn’t well supported. If chases are really challenging to arbitrate in that game, either simplify the chase rules (at the worst, narrating them instead of trying to mechanize them) or avoid chases altogether. If you want to include psionics in a game where psionics are rare and work totally differently from regular magic, either make sure players know that up front and study the rules ahead of time, or avoid psionics in the first place. More egregious examples would be using a game that’s mostly a combat simulation to run intricate social intrigues. If you find yourself homebrewing rules for your one-shot, ask whether you’re making the game more accessible or more complicated. Players typically need some reminding how the normal game system works, much less how something they’ve never encountered before should function.

One place where your scenario can roll a critical success is with physical props. If you prepare relevant handouts, print off maps or terrain, or provide standees or miniatures, you’re adding an extra tactile experience to your game, which can provide novelty and engagement. Handouts could be representations such as illustrations of certain rooms or NPCs, in-universe artifacts such as mission briefings or newspaper clippings, or even small trinkets from your local thrift store to represent important artifacts. If the MacGuffin is a special necklace that needs protecting, how cool would it be to have a physical representation of that necklace on hand for one of the players to wear? If the PCs will be attending a masquerade party, you can enhance the immersion by providing some cheap masks for them to wear while they roleplay. (If it’s something a little silly, dive into it with gusto, and your players will likely follow.) I always think of the enormous “Treasure Island” diorama that gets set up at Con of the North every year, complete with minis and pirate ship and resin water, which looks like an absolute delight to play on and is not something I get to do at home. And some of the clubs take over entire rooms and decorate their space to suit their games, creating an immersive and unforgettable experience.

A few caveats: Regarding text-based handouts, just make sure they’re brief and to the point (journals with multiple entries or a collection of letters are often too much for a one-shot). If hand-outs are going to need to be deciphered, figure in plenty of time for the PCs to work out the solution and discuss the implications among themselves. Along those lines, be sure to give yourself extra time to set up or tear down any maps or minis or terrain, and consider how you’ll transport them to the convention (including through airport security) and how you’ll store those items between sessions, if you’re running the one-shot multiple times.

Even if you aren’t writing a one-shot scenario from scratch, you can use these suggestions to improve how you run published adventures. If there are too many encounters, figure out what you can change to cut the scenario down to fit in the allotted time slot. Add choice points or dilemmas if the module is overly linear. Adjust the pre-gens to be more usable, and figure out ways you can make those lengthy read-aloud boxes part of the action.

Stay tuned for the third and final part of this series on managing players at the table! You can be notified of when they’re posted by subscribing to my email newsletter here.

[climatecalling]

What Can I Do For Climate?

[Pinned post]

1. Inform yourself

2. Become politically active

3. Transform your own life

4. Spread the word

-----------------------

1. Inform yourself - Reading up on climate can be very difficult because the news is so grim, and it can be very upsetting. I do most of my reading focused on possible solutions. I try to know the basics of the issue as well, but I am aware of not pushing my boundaries. Upsetting yourself is not the goal. Knowledge is the foundation that leads to the other steps.

2. Become politically active - Some options:

1) Volunteer for and/or donate to campaigns of candidates who will support climate legislation. As unexciting as it is to support politicians who keep on disappointing, and to wade into electoral politics in general, these are the folks who will actually vote on legislation. Just the effort of replacing any Republican with almost any Democrat is worth doing, even if it makes one sigh. (Sorry, this is going to be US-centric.) Volunteering can include canvassing, phone banking, writing letters, attending campaign rallies and events. Act locally, but if you’re not sure where to start, Swing Left tracks the most significant US races.

2) Go to protests. Showing up is one of the most significant things we can do.

3) Join a climate activism group, like Extinction Rebellion, the Sunrise Movement, Fridays for Future, and participate in their events. If there is nothing near you, there are some things you can participate in online. Check their websites. Other groups you can help: 350, Rainforest Action Network, NRDC, Stop Line 3, Oxfam, stand.earth, League of Conservation Voters...  Use these organizations to choose actions to take (from signing petitions to sending letters to politicians to becoming an organizer). They have many to choose from. You don’t have to re-invent the wheel.

4) Avoid burnout or guilt. Do what you can, when you can. It’s okay if you can’t. It’s not all on you.

3. Transform your own life - Transforming consumption habits among the world’s more-affluent is necessary to reduce emissions. Collectively, our impact on heating the climate is huge. (People who make $38,000 a year and up are the 10% who contribute 50% of global emissions.) Each individual effort to reduce is so tiny it’s insignificant, but it’s part of a bigger whole that needs to happen. But again, you can only do what you can, and the choices involved are complicated. It’s okay if you can’t. It’s not all on you. (The super-rich are the ones who really need to be doing this, because their contribution to GHG emissions goes hand-in-hand with their wealth.)

These are the most impactful actions, adapted from various sources. “If possible” is implied in all of these:

1) Live car-free. Walk, bike, use public transportation. If buying a car, buy electric or used, and drive less. (”Used” because the significant emissions of manufacturing a car can be avoided by driving an existing car.)

2) Take no more than one short flight every three years and one long flight every eight years.

3) Switch electricity provider to one that provides solar or wind energy. More challenging: also convert your house to using only electricity (no natural gas) and install a heat pump.

4) Switch to a vegan diet or greatly reduce meat -- especially beef -- and dairy consumption.

5) Buy no more than three new items of clothing a year. Avoid buying newly manufactured things whenever possible. Use what you already have for seven years or longer. A big chunk of consumer emissions are embedded in the things that we buy.

4. Spread the word - This may be the most important and possibly the hardest. Do what you can. Avoid heated and probably pointless arguments. As a general rule, say your piece and then let it go, without expecting to change anyone’s mind right in that moment. I try to focus on talking about solutions, which many people surprisingly don’t know. And use your piece of the internet, write letters to the editor, comment on articles, etc.

[upthewitchypunx]

PBW Witch Shop & Zine Distro

The PBW Witch Shop is a curated selection of witchcraft and magic related zines, books, pin-back buttons, tarot cards and more.

We focus on traditional and folkloric witchcraft, animism, chaos magic, secular witchcraft, magical herbs and plants, queer witchcraft, tarot & Divination, witchcraft & magic in politics, history, culture, and social & racial justice,  and aspects of non-Wiccan forms of witchcraft, magic, and paganism.

Pre-Covid the Portland Button Works primarily made custom pinback button. Selling zines and books was secondary and more of a hobby for me to share things I’d like to read. Right now our business is pivoting to focus on books and zines that people can read in the comfort and safety of their own homes. Some items are from well known witchcraft and occult publisher and some are titles from small publishers with interesting items I don’t see in other shops but I’m excited to elevate.

Not everyone has income to buy books right now, we totally understand that, but I would love it if you were able to reblog this post or share Portland Button Works and PBW Witch Shop with your friends.

If you have been looking for a book about something specific, or if you think something would be a good fit for our catalog, get in touch. We can order almost any book in print, even if it isn’t witchcraft or magic related.

With that being said, here are some categories of items we carry:

Some good books to get you started studying witchcraft:

Grovedaughter Witchery by Bree NicGarran

Making Magic by Briana Saussy

Magical Power for Beginners- How to Raise & Send Energy for Spells That Work by Deborah Lipp

Weave The Liminal by Laura Tempest Zakroff

Some creative books to help build your witch craft practice:

Spellcrafting- Strengthen the Power of your Craft by Creating and Casting Your Own Unique Spells by Arin Murphy-Hiscock

D.I.Y. Magic -a Strange & Whimsical Guide to Creativity by Anthony Alvarado

Psychic Witch- a Metaphysical Guide to Meditation, Magick, & Manifestation by Mat Auryn

Urban Magick by Diana Rajchel

Standing and Not Falling - a Sorcerous Primer in Thirteen Moons by Lee Morgan

Tarot Books

Queering the Tarot by Cassandra Snow

Tarot for Troubled Times by Shaheen Miro & Theresa Reed

Modern Tarot by Michelle Tea

Tarot Decks

Next World Tarot (regular and pocket sized)

Science Tarot

Rider-Waite-Coleman Smith Regular sized and Mini sized

Crow Tarot

Modern Witch Tarot

Cat Tarot

Check out the tarot and divination books in our catalog and also check out tarot and divination decks in our catalog here.

Condensed Chaos by Phil Hine

Advanced Magick for Beginners by Alan Chapman

Chaos Protocols by Gordon White

Hands on Chaos Magic by Andrieh Vitimus 

Liber Null & Psychonaut by Peter Carroll

Other books in the Chaos Magic section

Anthologies: Becoming Dangerous: Witchy Femmes, Queer Conjurers, and Magical Rebels, Bringing Race to the Table: Exploring Racism in the Pagan Community, Shades of Ritual: Minority Voices in Practice

Magical Resistance: Witchcraft Activism by David Salisbury, Magic for the Resistance by Michael Hughes, Revolutionary Witchcraft by Sarah Lyons

Witches and Feminist Perspectives: Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici, Witches, Midwives and Nurses by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English , Witches Sluts Feminists by Kristen J. Sollee

Pagan Anti-Capitalism: Pagan Anarchism True to the Earth: Pagain Political Thology by Kadmus, All That is Sacred is Profaned: A Pagan Guide to Marxism by Ryhd Wildermuth, A Pagan Anti-Capitalist Primer

Queer Witchcraft: Witchcraft and the Gay Counter Culture, Sapphomanteion a Lesbian Oracle, Queering the Tarot

Check out the Witchcraft Culture and History and Witchcraft Politics and Resistance sections of our website.

Green Witchcraft: The Green Witch by Arin Murray-Hiscock, Green Witchcraft by Paige Vanderbeck

Plants and Herbs: Under the Witching Tree by Corinne Boyer, Under the Bramble Arch by Corinne Boyer

The Poison Path: Veneficuim: Magic, Witchcraft and the Poison Path by Daniel Schulke, Pharmo/Gnonsis: Plant Teachers and the Poison Path by Dale Pendell , Plants of the Devil by Corinne Boyer

Witchy Crafts: Pestlework: a Book of Magical Powders and Oils by Bree NicGarran, Sew Witchy by Rachel Henderson, Sigil Witchery by Lara Tempest Zakroff

Other books in our Plants, Herbs, and Magical Crafts section

Books on Atheopaganism

Godless Paganism (anthology)

Atheopaganism by Mark Green

Other Pagan Perspectives

Jailbreaking the Goddess: A Radical Revisioning of Feminist Spirituality by Lasara Firefix Allen

The Wakeful World: Anismism, Mind, and the Self in Nature by Emma Restall Orr

Circling the Star by Anthony Rella

All That Is Sacred is Profaned: A Pagan Guide to Marxism by Rhyd Wildermuth

All Other Pagan books

Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways by Gemma Gary

A Deed Without A Name: Unearthing the Legacy of Traditional Witchcraft by Lee Morgan

Crooked Path: An Introduction to Traditional Witchcraft by Keldon

Backwoods Witchcraft by Jake Richards

Besom Stand and Sword A Guide to Traditional Witchcraft the Six-Fold Path the Hidden Landscape by Christopher Orapello & Tara Love Maguire

Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South by Aaron Oberon

Folk Witchcraft by

The Flame in the Cauldron by Orion Foxwood

Craft of the Untamed by Roger Horne

Check out the rest of the books in our Traditional & Folkloric Witchcraft Section

What are zines? Small independently made magazine and pamphlets filled with stories and unique ideas that you won’t find from major publishers!

Some topics you will find in zines we carry are Secular Witchcraft, the fantastic Fiddler’s Green Pamphlets and lots of zine on the places where Politics, Paganism, and Witchcraft intersect.

Check out all of our witchy zines here.

Other Stuff

witchy buttons

 magnets and hand mirrors

We carry more than just witchy books.

Here are some of the other titles we carry:

You Were Born For This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance by Chani Nicholas

When Language Runs Dry: An Anthology for People with Chronic Pain and their Allies

What is Gender Nihilism?

Be Gay Do Crime by The Mary Nardini Gang

Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher

You Black Friend by Ben Passmore

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Bound Blood (Cassandra Dimitrescu/Reader, Soulmate AU) Pt. 3

Fandom: Resident Evil: Village Rating: T+ for language and violence Warnings: Choking (kinda) Summary: Local feral human makes a friend, tries to sleep next to local mean vampire, then gets a taste of their own medicine Previous Chapters: 1: Sharing Is (Not) Caring; 2: Bloodbath, Baby!

3: Haunt Me Dearly

What a lovely crimson mess I’ve made, you think, watching as the last of the bloody water drained from the bathtub. There were still several splashes of red along the sides, where you had leaned on or otherwise touched. Frowning, you considered whether or not to clean up after yourself. Surely it wouldn’t be one of your captors doing the cleaning? In that case, you think, I don’t want to make any enemies out of the servants. First you had to finish binding your wounds. Wouldn’t want to risk getting them dirty so soon after washing them, after all. Except you weren’t even sure that you could properly wrap them on your own, considering the positioning of your injuries.

“Ah, fucking hell…” You muttered, scowling a little. Then you remembered that Cassandra had sent a maid to wait outside the bathroom for you. Maybe they could help? Nodding to yourself, you threw on your new undergarments and pair of trousers, deciding to save the shoes for later. Once you were ‘decent’, you slowly opened the door, peeking out from behind it. Before long you were making eye contact with an unfamiliar woman, who looked very confused. “Any chance you could help me bandage my shoulder? I can’t do it without help, and something tells me Cassandra’s not going to lend me a hand.” With that said, you gave her a friendly smile, hoping to make up for the awkwardness of the situation.

“Of course! It is my honor to serve a guest of my Lady,” the maid- servant, maybe- said, giving a short curtsy. Admittedly you’re a little confused by her response. Still, you gladly welcome her assistance, moving back into the bathroom to grab the gauze. Although you intend to do as much as you can on your own, the woman is quick to take over completely. “Please, allow me,” she continued, carefully beginning to wrap your wounds.

“Are all the workers here so polite? I can’t imagine anyone actually enjoys working here, all things considered,” you mused, squinting at the middle distance. At that, the servant tenses up, clearly not expecting you to speak ill of her employers. Well, she had called you a guest. “Don’t be surprised, friend. Less than an hour ago I was fit to be consumed by ‘your Lady Cassandra’. Only reason I’m not dead right now is because of a stupid blood bond,” you explained, tone dripping with irritation. This time the servant doesn’t flinch at all, instead nodding slowly, taking a moment to let your words sink in. During this pause, you decide to introduce yourself, just in case the two of you might see each other frequently.

“I… see. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, no matter the circumstances of your presence here. You can call me Daphne, though I must warn you that I am not one for, ahem, gossip about my masters,” she replied, finishing her binding of your shoulder wound. Next she searched through the cabinet by the sink, looking for a medicinal salve of some sort. Once she found it she was right back to work. The substance stung a tad on your skin, but you could hardly complain, seeing as it would help fight off possible infections.

“You sure about no gossip? What if we call it ‘helping me get acclimated to my new situation’? I’m a fish outta water here, Daphne,” you suggested, turning your head to look her in the eyes. At first she ignored you, focusing on rubbing the medicine into your skin. Eventually she meets your gaze, briefly, and releases a quiet sigh.

“You are free to ask questions-” you start to celebrate, though not for long- “just as I am free to withhold answers. Though I may be more responsive if you can tell me one thing… Why was Lady Cassandra’s dress wet?” Daphne asked, making you freeze in place. Of course she wanted the one answer you didn’t feel confident about giving. She’s quick to notice this, though, and laughs to herself. “Well, I suppose some things must remain a mystery. Now let’s get your face cleaned up…”

-------------------------------

By the time you make it to Cassandra’s room, the sun is starting to rise, leaking in through the castle windows. Exhaustion weighs you down, making you want to fall immediately into the nearest bed. As it stands, that was none other than your soulmate’s, though it was currently occupied. For a moment you hover in her doorway, contemplating whether or not you should steal her blanket. Floor can’t be too bad, you think, right? Before you can decide you notice Cassandra stirring from her sleep.

“What took you so fucking long?” She asked groggily. Now she’s sitting up, blanket clinging loosely to her body, and you realize that she’s not wearing a shirt. Though a blush rishes up your cheeks, you’re certain it’s too dark for Cassandra to notice. Or at least you hope so. Wanting to think about something other than what she was (or was not) wearing, you focus your energy on responding.

“Isn’t it obvious? I got invited to a sick orgy on the way back, and I wasn’t about to turn that down, so…” You trailed off, gesturing idly with your hands. The movement stretches your shoulder more than you’d like, resulting in an ache that lasts several seconds. It distracts you to the point where you almost can’t catch the object Cassandra promptly throws at you. “What the hell…?” It’s a shoe, as far as you can tell, that definitely would have hurt, had it hit its intended target. “Such a lovely gift, babe. I will treasure it for the rest of my days, forever keeping it as a reminder that you-” your tone shifts from a false joy to deadpan- “are a piece of shit. Now, seriously, where am I supposed to sleep? Is there a walk-in closet I can camp in? Or do I get the bed, while you sleep in a fucking coffin or something?”

Before Cassandra has a chance to respond, you’re walking further into her room, wanting to take a quick look around. There’s a large dresser that you quickly toss her shoe inside, as well as a window sill with a built-in reading nook. Trading your tiredness for sheer dickery, you throw open the curtains, letting the light pour in (and nearly blind you in the process). Half of you expects your soulmate to screech in response. Maybe even turn to ash. Instead, you hear her moving, and you turn to find her laying back down, facing away from you.

“When you’re done fucking around, come over here and sleep. I will knock you out if I have to,” Cassandra muttered, still sounding half asleep. As much as you wanted to know if she’d go through with her threat, you are exhausted. Begrudgingly you approach the bed. It’s certainly large enough for two people, even having enough room for you to be completely separate from each other. When you start to climb in, you find yourself overwhelmed for a moment, surprised at the quality of the sheet fabric. Exactly how rich were these vampiric assholes? This room alone seemed to be worth more than you had ever known.

This was, perhaps, the one bright side to your situation: A comfortable state of existence. Well, as comfortable as one could get in a place like this. So lovely on the outside, a muse worthy of a thousand artists, yet hiding far darker horrors within… much like the woman you now found yourself laying beside. Why me? Why her? What could possibly bring the two of us together, you think, other than a cruel fate? There’s a pain in your chest, dishearteningly similar to heartache. Damning the universe, and your blood bond, and yourself, you think ‘fuck it’ before sliding closer to Cassandra. One arm drapes itself over her waist, while you slowly lean your head against her back.

In an instant she’s tense, not even breathing, waiting for you to reveal whatever trick hid up your sleeve. But no trick comes, just your hand meeting hers, squeezing softly. Suddenly the tension is gone. None remains, not even lingering in the air, and the two of you soon drift off to sleep...

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Shaking, body made a wreck through tremors, tears staining her cheeks. Breathing comes hard, each shift of her lungs bringing with it a mighty ache. Someone’s holding her, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, fingers tracing circles against her back. But she’s lost in her dream, eyes clenched shut. Visions flash before her gaze like lightning in a storm. There’s no time to process, no opportunity to prepare for the thunder that follows. Every strike is a punch to the gut she can’t ignore. When release finally comes, it is not a gentle kiss to her forehead, or a reassuring hand on her own, but rather an intense surge of pain that jolts her awake.

Cassandra nearly screams as she sits up, hands reflexively going to hold her head. One of them stings, bad, and she notices what look like bite marks on the side. For a moment her confusion acts as a welcome distraction. Then she’s looking next to her, and the puzzle practically puts itself together. There you are, one hand in your mouth, an eyebrow raised as you stare at her. Ignoring the lingering memories of her dream, she turns all of her rage towards you. Quickly she grabs ahold of your arm, forcefully yanking your hand out of your mouth, even though it makes your teeth dig in a little deeper. It takes more willpower than she wants to admit to stop herself from strangling you right then and there.

“I didn’t know monsters could even have nightmares,” you taunted. Before you know what’s happening, Cassandra is lunging towards you, pressing her forearm against your throat. There’s just enough pressure to make talking difficult. Both of her yellow eyes are filled with hatred, aimed right at you, but you can’t help but laugh. “Ya know, I did try to wake you up nicely. I should have known you only respond to violence. Next time, though, I’ll remember to stay a safe distance away.”

“You don’t know anything, dipshit. Anyone else would know better than to spout so much fucking ignorance, but nobody taught you how to behave, huh?” Cassandra growled, applying more pressure with her arm, leaving you unable to reply (for once). “You’re a goddamn mutt, aren’t you? Thrown to the street like the garbage you are, left to live in the gutter, feeding off of trash like a fucking cannibal. You should be honored to be allowed anywhere near me. You should be worshiping me, for fuck’s sake!” Black dots form in your vision, a dark halo edging into the corners of your eyes, as your lungs beg for air. But you’re grinning. You’re showing your teeth, bright and proud, knowing full well that you have won this round. As soon as realization dawns on Cassandra’s face she’s pulling herself off of you.

Still, you are left gasping, clutching at your neck as she hurriedly gets dressed for the day. By the time you can see properly again, she’s left without another word. Even as she stalks down the corridor, eagerly rushing away from you, she hears your laughter howling through the castle. It digs into her brain, taunting her. Soon enough you’ll stop, light headed, but she will still hear it echoing inside her mind. You’ll haunt her just as much as her wicked dreams. Hopefully more.

[lumelii]

PANDA ~|~ NANAMI x FEM!READER

Summary: Nanami and Yuuji stop into the local bakery. Nanami finds something he wants that’s off the menu.

Content warning: fluff, little bit of pining, child-parent relations, singledad!Nanami

Note: thanks again to Moni for beta-reading 🥰

word count: 1.6k

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“Daddy! Look!”

It was a bakery they had passed multiple times on the way home, living just next door to it. It was small, tucked into one half of the ground floor of the low building it occupied, sharing a wall with a pharmacy. It served reasonably priced pastries and sandwiches, as well as some of the best coffee in Tokyo. Nanami usually took Yuuji there once or twice a month and let him pick what he wanted for breakfast.

The window display was almost always the same, Nanami would have missed the slight change as he tried to juggle the various bags they had accumulated from their early Saturday morning errands if his young son hadn’t pointed it out. He looked over to see the small bag of fruit he had asked Yuuji to carry on the sidewalk, a lone apple rolling away while his son stood on his tiptoes, his nose practically pressed to the glass. 

Instead of the standard fare on the very top shelf, there was a row of buns in the shapes of various animals, with different fillings for each shape written neatly on cards next to each. Nanami had to admire the work, they were incredibly detailed. 

“It’s a panda!” Yuuji looked back at Nanami and pointed at the aforementioned bun in the middle. “Can we get one?”

Nanami caught himself before denying Yuuji outright. He had been especially good today when they were running their errands, not complaining once as his father dragged him through town and entertaining himself in the various shops without getting into trouble. And they could go to the park later so Yuuji could run off his energy. A little sugar wouldn’t kill him.

“Sure. Go pick up your bag, though.” He pointed to the forgotten paper bag.

Yuuji quickly ran to pick up the bag (as well as the apple, adding it back to the bag before Nanami could tell him no), and grabbed his father’s hand to all but pull him into the bakery. It wasn’t as crowded as Nanami would have thought for a Saturday morning, something for which he was grateful. When there was a crowd, Yuuji liked to use people as obstacles and run around and through them as fast as he could. Only the obstacles moved, and he usually ended up on his butt more times than he would have liked.

They were able to go straight to an empty table to drop off their shopping before moving to the counter, and after a few seconds, one of the workers packaging cookies turned around, and Nanami’s breath caught in his throat.

It wasn’t like the bakery didn’t have pretty women working there-there were several, ones who would shamelessly flirt and try to butter up Yuuji as a means to get closer to his father, but Nanami didn’t indulge or even notice them. He was polite, got what he needed, then left. He never played into whatever fantasies the cashier of the month decided to dream up. 

However, this time, it was hard to remind himself of that conviction when easily the prettiest worker he had ever seen there walked up to the register and smiled at him. Was she new? She had to be new, he’d never seen her before. He would have remembered seeing someone like you. 

“Hi, welcome in.” You greeted and leaned against the counter. “What can I get for you?”

“Panda!” Yuuji yelled, his nose peeking over the top of the counter as he looked at you. 

“Yuuji.” Nanami scolded and picked him up so he could actually see you. “Ask politely, son.”

Yuuji smiled at him then turned to smile at you. “Can I please have a panda bun please?”

You smiled and nodded. “Of course, sir.” You replied, making him giggle. Your smile widened and you finally looked at Nanami. “And for you?”

“I’ll just have a black coffee.” Nanami didn’t think he could focus on eating without choking if you were going to be walking around the bakery.

“Me too!”

“He’ll have a hot chocolate.”

“I want what you’re having.” Yuuji pouted. Nanami sighed and turned back to the counter.

“Make mine a hot chocolate too.”

You took his money and handed him a number for the table. “Give me just a second, I’ll bring everything to your table. Make yourself at home.”

Nanami nodded and lead Yuuji away from the big display case by the register back to their table, helping him out of his heavy winter coat when he was seated safely. He tried his best to listen to his son as he talked about a dog they had seen earlier today during their shopping trip, but he was finding it very hard to focus.

His eyes kept wandering back behind the counter, watching as you made their drinks and talked with the other workers, laughing along with them at a joke someone had said. He’d never felt this kind of attraction toward another person. It was irrational. He didn’t know you. Yet he still felt that draw.

There had been other women before Yuuji had come into his life, even a few dalliances on nights when Gojou would take him out and Toji would stay home to watch the kids, just to satisfy that primal need. There was even a girlfriend at one point. But Yuuji had declared he didn’t like her after several months, and that was enough for Nanami to end the relationship. There was no point in pursuing a woman who couldn’t to get along with his son.

So why was it now, after finding contentment in being alone for so long, that all he wanted to do was go up and ask you, a complete stranger, on a date?

“You boys are lucky.” Nanami looked up and saw you were now standing next to their table, placing their to-go cups in front of them as well as Yuuji’s panda bun. “This was the second to last one.”

“Do you normally sell out quickly on the animals?” He heard himself asking, like the back of his neck wasn’t on fire right now.

“We only just started making them this week, but for the most part, yes.” You straightened from setting the food down and hugged the tray to your chest. “The red bean panda usually sells first. I suppose people are more used to the flavor.”

“What’s your name?” Yuuji asked suddenly, taking a big bite out of the head of his panda.

“I’m Y/N.” You smiled at the young boy. “What’s yours?”

Thankfully, Yuuji took the time to actually swallow his food before speaking, which was uncharacteristic of him. “My name is Yuuji.” His son said proudly. “I’m five.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Yuuji.” Your eyes turned to Nanami expectantly. “And your name?”

“His name is Dad.” Yuuji told her before Nanami could reply. She laughed, and he thought he hadn’t heard anything quite so wonderful today.

“And is that your first or last name?”

“Our last name is Nanami.” Yuuji answered again, cutting off his father as he opened his mouth to speak. “We live in the building next door.”

“Really? So I do. I just moved in. We’re neighbors.”

“Can I come visit you?” Yuuji asked excitedly.

“Yuuji, let’s not take up any more of the lady’s time.” Nanami interjected, noticing another customer had walked in, but also slightly embarrassed at his son’s oversharing.

“You’re fine, don’t worry. We already had our big morning rush.” You leaned in closer so the young boy wouldn’t hear what you were saying. “I put a shot of espresso in your cup. It should help if you need the caffeine.”

Nanami merely stared back when you pulled back and smiled again. He didn’t know how to respond to this kindness from a total stranger. You didn’t even know him, yet you spoke and cared as if you had been acquainted for a lifetime.

“Y/N!” A voice from the kitchen yelled before Nanami could open his mouth to thank you properly. “We’re almost out of spritz cookies!”

“Coming!” You yelled back and bowed slightly to Nanami. “It was nice to meet you, Dad-san.”

You were gone before he could reply. “It’s Kento.” He murmured to himself. However, Yuuji heard him and fixed him with a frown.

“Your name is Dad.” Yuuji said resolutely.

“I had a name before you came along.”

“And now it’s Dad.”

They sat quietly finishing their drinks, Yuuji swinging his legs happily as he finished his bun and watched the people coming and going in the bakery with wide, curious eyes. Nanami tried hard not to stare at you behind the counter as you worked, but his eyes kept drifting your direction of their own volition. He’d never felt this kind of pull before. He had to be imagining it. He was being irrational.

His line of vision as he watched the door to the kitchen, waiting for you to come out again after disappearing several minutes ago, was blocked when another server came up and set a brown bag with the bakery’s logo on the table. Nanami immediately picked it up and tried to hand it back.

“We didn’t order this.” He told the teenage boy.

“They’re on the house,” was all the boy said before going back behind the counter.

Nanami looked behind the counter and saw you had appeared again, now watching them. When he caught your eye, you smiled widely and gave him a small thumbs up. Looking inside the bag, there was a pair of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, along with the last panda bun. When he turned the bag to put it in with one of the larger shopping bags from their trip, the black ink of a marker caught his eye. Pulling the bag back out, he noticed the same neat handwriting from the display case.

‘Thanks for coming in, neighbor ^_^’

He was truly fucked.

tags: @oikawaandkuroostan (let me know if you want to get added to my tag list-either for this story or any of my writing!)