#i can't guarantee ill watch something you recommend

[goldenlyrad]

It's that time again! Gold is having a strong hyperfixation fade and needs recommendations

Hand over media pretty please :3

[arc-misadventures]

The Newest Ace

Weiss: Ohhhh~! I can't believe we're doing this!

Yang: Okay? Am I missing something? Cause, Weiss isn't the type to bounce up, and down in excitement.

Weiss, who had been bouncing on her feet in excitement suddenly stopped. She brushed the creases in her skirt as she tried to regain her composure, but the deep red blush across her face wasn't fading anytime soon.

Ruby: For this mission we're being accompanied by a group of, Specialists! One of them happens to be, Weiss's big sister, Winter!

Yang: Oh! Looking forward to spending time with your big sis, eh?

Weiss: I can't help it okay! I rarely get to spend time with her! And, lately whenever I try to spend time with her, she's always busy helping one of the other, Specialists!

Blake: Which, Specialist?

Weiss: I don't know, she didn't say who it was.

Yang: Maybe we'll get to meet them while on this mission; The reports did say we would be accompanied by two, Specialists.

Ruby: I wonder who it is, I hope it's Harriet; I like, Harriet, she's cool!

Blake: I hope it's, Clover myself. It's nice to have a guaranteed good luck charm around you.

Ruby: Clover has been spending most of his time around, Uncle Qrow when on missions. If anyone needs a good luck charm it's, Uncle Qrow.

Yang: Can't argue with that...

Weiss: Well it doesn't matter. I get to go on a mission with my... Winter!

Weiss, shouted out her sisters name as she ran over to, Winter, and hugged her, who reciprocated her hug in kind. They embraced one another for a while until, Weiss pulled away from her sister with a beaming smile.

Weiss: Sister!

Winter: Hello, Weiss. How are you doing?

Weiss: I'm doing well sister. Better now that I get to see you!

Winter: Yes, I am sorry I've been so busy. We recently got a new member on the, Specialist Team; I've been showing him the ropes, and going on missions with him when he's going outside of, Atlas.

Yang: A new member?

Ruby: Is he anyone we know?

Winter: Why yes, it fact it's...?!

: Sorry I'm late, Winter! It took me forever to get these drones from the supply sergeant. He didn't understand that when they said he was, 'responsible for them.' That it meant he was responsible for keeping innovatory, and filling out the proper paper work of who last took them out.

: Poor bugger thought he was financially responsible for them if anything got broken on the field.

A man called out dressed in blues, red, and an all too familiar set of white armour came forward hefting two large suitcases in each of his hands.

Blake: Is that...?

Yang: Since when did...?

Weiss: It can't be...?

Ruby: Jaune?!

The individual carrying the two large suitcases stopped as he heard his name being called, for it was their friend, Jaune Arc.

Jaune: Oh? Hello, Team RWBY.

Ruby: Jaune, is that you?!

Jaune: Yes, I am, Jaune.

Yang: What's with that outfit?!

Jaune: It's my, Specialist uniform.

Blake: You're the, Specialist that's been assigned to us?!

Jaune: It appears so.

Weiss: You're the, Specialist bastard that's stolen my sister away from me?!

Jaune: Uhhh...? Some context please?

RWBY: What the hell, Jaune?!

Jaune: Haa... Okay, let me explain some things to you...

Jaune: Yes, I am a, Specialist. I became one about... a week, and a half ago at, Winter's recommendation. I haven't... stolen your sister, Weiss. She's been mentoring me on my duties as a, Specialist. And, we both have been assigned to this mission as your handlers.

Ruby: Handlers? What's that?

Blake: That means he's the boss.

Winter: We are here to keep you in line. To make sure you didn't do anything... ill-advise.

Yang: Ill-advised?

Jaune: Stupid.

Yang: Oh...

Yang: ...

Yang: Hey?!

Jaune: Alright, alright if you have anymore questions, you can ask them on the bullhead. We have a mission to do.

Ruby: Alright.

Yang: We're going...

Jaune watched as the members of, Team RWBY climb on to the bullhead, each one of them giving him an odd, and almost untrusting look. Jaune shrugged it off, and grabbed the drone cases, and walk up to, Winter, and asked her a simple question.

Jaune: Did you know we were going to be assigned with, Team RWBY for this mission?

Winter: No. Will that be a problem?

Jaune: Not to me it will.

Winter nodded her head, as the two boarded the bullhead, and made their way to the drop zone.

~~~

Midway through the flight, Jaune turned on a screen display for the mission zone, and gave them a debriefing.

Jaune: Alright listen up people: The mission is a seek, and destroy mission. There is a cave system north of the port town of, Foxquinth. This cave is routinely filled with, Grimm, and thus team's of, Hunter's are routinely sent to clear it out. Now, since this cave has been cleared out several times it has been thoroughly mapped out as a result of it. The oldest map we have is from two years ago. As you can see from the map, the tunnel section is a long path, that breaks into two paths. Now, I brought along two drones; the drones will be used to explore each cave section. We'll be checking to see if there are any, Grimm, and if there are, we'll know what kinds of, Grimm we'll be facing. After the drones have explored the cave system, we'll start clearing it out. If there are, Grimm down both separate tunnels, we'll divide into two teams of three, and clear them out. If not, and the Grimm is only in one tunnel, we'll all handle as a six man team. Any questions?

Jaune saw the hands of each member of, Team RWBY raise their hands before he added a caveat to his question.

Jaune: Any questions about the mission?

And, all, but one hand went down.

Jaune: Weiss?

Weiss: If this cave is routinely filled with, Grimm, why didn't they destroy the cave system to stop them from coming back?

Jaune: The cave formation is made out of iron stone; It requires explosives at the best of times to mine through it. And, the amount that's needed to bring down this cave system is considered too costly for what it's worth. Does that answer your question?

Weiss: Yes it does. thank you.

Jaune: Good, any more questions?

Jaune didn't see any hands rise so he gave a tied sigh as he then looked at them, and reluctantly said.

Jaune: Any questions about me becoming a, Specialists?

Everyone's hands shot up.

Jaune: Okay... Ruby?

Ruby: How come you didn't tell us you became a, Specialist?

Jaune: Did I have to?

Ruby: Y-Yeah, we're your friends, you tell your friends things, right...?

Jaune: No, no we're not.

Ruby: What...?

Jaune: Yang?

Yang: First off: Love the new look.

Jaune: Thank you~!

Yang: Secondly, why are you in charge of this mission?

Blake: Yeah, no offense, Jaune, but shouldn't, Winter be in charge, she is your superior officer?

Winter: We're testing him; General Ironwood wants to see how good, Jaune is in a leading position. Both in his abilities to lead others into combat scenarios, and how effective his plans are.

Yang: Oh, that makes sense...

Jaune: Anything else?

Weiss: Winter, is he treating you well? He hasn't done anything untoward you?

Winter: No. no he has not...

Weiss: Okay, but what if he...?!

Jaune: We're landing! Get ready to depart!

Ruby: Alright! Let's do this, Team RWBY!

Winter: You don't want her to ask anymore questions about our relationship?

Jaune: And, what exactly kind of relationship do we have?

Winter: ...

Winter: Yes...?

~~~

Jaune: Hmmm...

Jaune, and Winter knelt down in the snow as they watch the camera feeds on the monitors of their respective drones they were each piloting. All the while, Team RWBY formed a perimeter around them.

Jaune: See anything, Winter?

Winter: No, the cave path that leads to the right is empty. What about the left?

Jaune: I've got a few... not too many... Just a bunch a, Sabyrs, about eight of them, and one, Alpha Sabyr. Not too much to deal with.

Winter: Any chance of there being any, Centipede's?

Jaune: No. The iron stone is too thick for, Centipede's to burrow through. Even, Alpha class, Centipede's can't dig through it. Alright, recall your drone, we'll move as soon as they're back.

Jaune hit the recall on his pad,, and stood up to brush off the snow from his legs.

Jaune: Okay, listen up everyone; We're dealing with at least eight, Sabyr's, and one, Alpha Sabyr. They're all in the same place so we don't have to divided up. As soon as the drones are back we will head inside. Yang, you, and I are on point. Winter, and Weiss will be in the middle, and Ruby, and Blake will take up the rear. Okay?

Ruby: What? Why am I stuck in the back?

Jaune: Yang, and I will take the front because we are frontline fighters. We're the heavy hitters, and we can take a beating. We'll keep the enemy at bay while the rest of you whittle them down.

Jaune: Weiss, and Winter, are in the middle to provide support with their semblances. Be that with ranged attacks, barriers, whatever else their rather versatile semblance can do.

Jaune: While you, Ruby, will be with, Blake, and protect the rear. You job is to make sure nothing comes up, and attacks us from behind. And, if anything does come too close, Blake will engage to keep them off the, Schnee's. While you whittle them down with your sniper rifle, and protect the rear.

Jaune: Understood?

Ruby: But, I want...?!

Jaune: Understood!

Ruby: Y-Yes...!

Jaune: Good. Let's go team!

Yang: Since when was, Jaune so... so...?

Blake: Commanding...?

Yang: Yeah... something like that...

Weiss: He was a team leader... maybe he was always like this, we just never saw it.

Ruby: Yeah... but, he never seemed so angry though...

Weiss: Well, I can think of several reason why he might seem...?!

Jaune: Team RWBY! Form up!

Weiss: Yes!

Yang: Sorry!

Blake: Was he always like this?!

Ruby: How am I supposed to know?

Blake: Well, aren't you his best friend?

Ruby: ...

Ruby: Was I...?

~~~

The fight with the, Sabyr's was done. Barely even five minutes had past, barely anyone's aura's had been touched, and even if they were hit, it was barely even a drop from the bucket. All in all, Jaune thought the mission was a resounding success. However, there was one thing that he did not like.

Ruby: Yeah! We did it! We did...?!

Jaune: Ruby!

Ruby: We... d-did it...?

Jaune: What the hell were you doing?

Ruby: C-Celebrating our victory...?

Jaune: Really? Well, I think you should be celebrating the fact, that you got, Weiss killed.

Ruby: What?! She's just fine, she wasn't hurt at all!

Jaune: Luckily she wasn't. But, your job was to stay behind, and protect her in case she was attacked. And, here you are, with me, and, Yang, at the frontline.

Ruby: I-I was k-killing the, Alpha Sabyr...

Jaune: Really? You came up here to kill the, Sabyr? Did you not think, Yang, or I can handle it all on our own? Or, did you think that, Weiss, and Winter couldn't provide adequate support?

Ruby: N-No you guys could have handled it...

Jaune: Then why did you rush forward, and basically commit what others would call a kill steal? Blake stayed in the rear, she ran out, and covered, Winter when that, Sabyr tried to flank her. But, after she dealt with that, Sabyr she pulled back, and covered the rear, and continued to provide fire support.

Jaune: Of which; Nice job there, Blake. I didn't know you were that good of a shot. Nice job.

Blake: Oh... Thank you, Jaune...

Jaune: But, you, Ruby... What were you thinking?

Ruby: W-Well... All the, Grimm were dead... A-and, I saw an o-opening... so I took it...

Jaune: So you do think that, Yang, or myself couldn't deal with it then?

Ruby: N-no, I didn't say that!

Jaune: Vocally, no. But, your actions prove to the contradictory. We could, and would have handled this, but you had to come in because you thought you could do it better.

Ruby: No, I didn't mean to do that!

Jaune: So then you meant for, Weiss to get killed?

Ruby: What?! Of course not!

Jaune: Then why did you leave your post? If you did this while we were in the middle a fight with the, Sabyr's, and Weiss was mid casting, and a, Sabyr flanked her. What did you think could have happen?

Ruby: W-Weiss is a, Huntress! She can protect herself!

Jaune: Yeah, she is a, Huntress, and yes, she can protect herself. But, your job as a, Huntress is to protect people, and that includes your fellow, Hunter's. Your job was to stay in the back, and protect, Weiss. It doesn't matter if, Weiss can save herself, or the fact there was no more, Grimm around. You job was to stay in the back, and protect your friends. Do you understand that, Ruby.

Ruby: Y-Yes... I-I'll make sure it doesn't happen again...

Jaune: Make sure you do, least you live to regret it.

Ruby wilted under, Jaune's comments; His words were not harsh, nor cruel. But, they radiated the energy of a disappointed father disciplining their wayward child. But, what made it worse is that she knew he was right. She did screw up, and if she didn't listen to him, Weiss, Blake, or Yang. Anyone of them could have gotten hurt, or worse.

Jaune: Alright then... Let's get out of here. Winter, can you make the call for an evac?

Winter: On it.

The team of four, Huntresses followed behind the two, Specialists, and while they thought they should feel good about a job well done. They all agreed that they failed in another way, a way they did not expect that they would fail. Leaving the four, Huntresses in a sour mood all the way back to, Atlas.

~~~

Back at, Atlas Academy, in the dorm room, assigned to the members of, Team RWBY, a conversation was being held about the latest news they had just heard. And, one of them was quite upset about this latest development she would voice her rage, a fact she made evident rather vocally.

Nora: What?! Jaune's a, Specialists?!

Weiss: Yeah, he is...

Nora: Why didn't he tell us?!

Weiss: He didn't tell anyone anything.

Blake: He's been a, Specialist for nearly two weeks?

Yang: A week, and a half.

Blake: A week, and a half, Jaune's had plenty of time to tell us if he wanted to. But, he didn't...

Nora: But, why?!

Ren: ...

Weiss: Penny, you work with the, Specialists, how come you didn't tell us he joined them?

Penny: I do not spend as much time as you may think with the, Specialists. Unless ordered to by, General Ironwood, I do not get assigned with them on missions. Considering I have not spent any time assigned with the, Specialist as of late, I would not have been notified that, Jaune Arc was assigned to the, Specialists.

Ren: Did he say how this happened?

Blake: Jaune said, Winter scouted him ,and offered him a spot on the team.

Ren: When did that happen?

Blake: AS, Yang said: Jaune became a, Specialist a week, and a half ago.

Ren: A week, and a half ago...? Then he joined the, Specialists... the day after, Ruby's birthday, or it could have been done on her birthday...

Yang: Ruby's birthday...?

Penny: He did reject your invitation... so, maybe that's why he didn't show up?

Nora: But, why didn't he tell us anything about this?!

Blake: Did he have to...?

Weiss: What?

Nora: What does that mean?!

Blake: Jaune, doesn't consider us... any of us to be his friends. If he doesn't consider us friends, why would he have to tell us anything?

Nora: That's... no that's not...?!

Blake: And, look at how he scolded, Ruby! He's never done that before. It... it was... shocking...

Oscar: W-What did he do?

Yang: Jaune had a simple battle plan for this mission: Me, and Jaune would be in the front, being the tanks. Weiss, and her sister were in the middle providing support. And, Blake along with, Ruby take up the rear. Simple plan, and it worked flawlessly. But, Ruby then, broke formation...

Ren: She broke formation?

Blake: Ruby was meant to stay in the back to snipe any of the, Grimm, or to help, Weiss if one of them flanked her. When only the, Alpha Sabyr was left, Ruby saw an opening, and killed it. Jaune was angry that she broke formation, and left, Weiss exposed.

Ruby: He wasn't angry...

Ruby's voice came out as a quiet whisper. Everyone turned to look at, Ruby, she had tucked her knees to her chest, and rest her face on them as she curled herself up in blankets as she tried to make herself as small as possible to hide away from the world.

Nora: W-What was that, Ruby...?

Ruby: Jaune wasn't angry at me... He was disappointed in me... His voice didn't show any rage, his voice was calm, smooth, and controlled... But, it radiated disappointment... Disappointment in me... He expected better of me... and, I failed him...

Ruby pulled the blanket over her face, but one could all tell based on how her body shook that she was crying, Yang walked over, and sat on the bed with her, pulling her sisters body against her as she gently rubbed her through the blanket.

Weiss: Has, Jaune... has, Jaune ever acted this way to you two?

Ren: No, no he hasn't. He's never been angry, or anything close to it with us... Annoyed at, Nora's antics yes, but who hasn't?

Nora: Hey?!

Oscar: So, Jaune's changed...

Yang: Yeah, he has... but, how has he changed...?

Blake: He grew up...

Weiss: 'He grew up?' What do you mean by that, Blake?

Blake: We keep treating, Jaune as if he's still that dork... 'Vomit boy,' from, Beacon. That dork died with, Pyrrha. He's been growing up all on his own since then. He's become a new person since then, and because we were never watching him... We never notice him changing...

Weiss: And, while, Jaune was growing up... and, we stayed the same...

Nora: ...

Nora: W-What can we do then...? There's gotta be something right?

Blake: We give up, Nora... Jaune's already given up on us... we just have to accept it...

Nora: N-N-No.... No we can't... w-w-w-we can't give up on, Jaune... No! We can't give up on, Jaune! We.. we can't.. w-we can't...

Nora fell to her knees as tears fell down her face like a water fall, Ren got up, and knelt down with her, pulling her into a hug.

It seems like now they would finally understand the harsh truth of the world.

Jaune had given up on them. Now, it was time to accept that. No matter how much it will hurt, they had to accept it.

[kdramalands]

year-end drama recommendation

3. Unmet: Aru Nogekai no Nikki (2024)

11 eps, 54 min each

Unmet tells a story of a young and promising neurosurgeon, Kawauchi Miyabi, who lost her memories after an accident. She can't remember anything from the past two years of her life, and, additionally, she can't retain any new memories. That means that every time she wakes up, not only she can't remember those 2 years, but she doesn't remember anything from the past day as well, loosing more and more of her life to amnesia.

Miyabi is a very determined, empathetic, and hardworking person even though the circumstances are not favourable, and I believe that makes her an extremely compelling character that you cannot help, but root for. We watch each episode as the doctors try to treat new patients, while navigating Miyabi's memory loss, uplifting her and challenging her, without patronising her or her condition. The chemistry between our main character and her co-workers was enjoyable to watch, as well as the secrets that unveil with each episode!

This jdrama shows us the essence of human condition — ups and downs of life, good and bad sides of humanity, and, above all, the meaningful connections that transcendent barriers.

I thought I should present something that made the biggest impression on me for the main course and Unmet felt like an obvious choice for me. The thing that made me most curious to watch Unmet is undoubtedly the concept of the main character loosing memory every day. And I'm so glad I did! Back in the day, there were a few popular fanfictions circulating in kpop fandom, and I remember the idea of anterograde amnesia being the topic of one, so deep down I always waited for this idea to get properly fleshed out in a better setting.

I think the visualisation of Miyabi reading her diary was a good creative choice, her opening it to read like a manual to "catch up with her life" and hundreds of pages shockingly materialising around her, fluttering around like a tornado. Imagine writing a super detailed diary that has to give you a good idea of who you are, what happened, what your likes and dislikes are, where that coffee shop you like is located, what your freaking order even is, and who people around you are, whether you even like them or not, and then taking time every day to get to know yourself anew from the notes you took. I cannot even imagine dealing with that kind of illness personally, but I can relate to memory loss related issues altogether, firstly dealing with Alzheimer and now dementia in my family. I'm constantly fighting with an unstoppable force for memories that are not guaranteed to last anyway. I can see myself in people surrounding Miyabi and that made this show extra special to me. I felt seen.

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 4

[thehubby]

Mike I need help. Every single time my players hit town they shop. Even if we had just gotten a bunch of stuff in the last session, and they swore up and down they didn't need *anything else*, they still go immediately to shop for more things and I'm getting frustrated and bored. We just had four weeks worth of sessions like this and I'm at the end of my patience. I had to shut the session down tonight before we even started because I said "we did a lot of shopping yesterday, so why don't we speed that up and leave town since there's nothing else you need." They immediately vetoed the idea and said no, actually, there was stuff they wanted to shop for!! Even though we just spent SIX HOURS shopping and talking to npcs yesterday!! My brain hit a wall and I had to tell them "I'm done, I can't do this anymore."

Help me MikeyWan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

Long post ahead.

I am here for you, Anon. I feel your pain. Actually, that's unfair of me -- I understand your pain but have not experienced it myself because my table of players is very well balanced, and although one or two of them have an affinity for shopping, it's partly my fault for making so many homebrew items and letting them occasionally nab a few from shops. Still, the other players at the table keep them in line and keep the game moving reasonably. It sounds like your entire table (or at least the majority) is driving you crazy in this regard, which is a more difficult challenge.

Here are my suggestions. I can't guarantee that they will work against diehard shopaholics, but this general flow often works for obsessive player behavior in general (murder-hoboing, insistence on lots of combat, refusal to fight, power-playing, and so on). You may tackle any or all of these in whatever order you think will benefit your group. You know your players better than I.

Figure out and understand why your players are doing this. There could be lots of reasons. Some players, particularly long-time veterans (who were often brought up in "Monty Haul" adventures) or raised on modern MMOs and computer RPGs, become driven by the acquisition of items -- to them, if their character isn't adorned like a Christmas tree, they aren't a success. There are also players who have "big spender" syndrome, an actual behavioral condition that exhibits in tabletop and digital RPGS: the player believes that their rise to power and success as a character can only be evidenced when they demonstrate their wealth. Not to put on my Psych 101 hat, but this is sometimes a projection of the player's own worldviews and experiences with wealth (or lack thereof; after all, some people play games like this as an escape from the reality of their own hardships). In addition to staying at upscale inns (if they haven't acquired their own property) and eating fine foods (if they haven't sought out a private chef on retainer), their characters also interact with a lot of shopkeepers, who are generally pleased to see people laden with coin and interested in their wares. I mean, who doesn't like being able to throw around money for the latest glimmering bauble while the sales associate waits ever patiently? But for some, it goes much further, and can be every bit the same pleasure as getting the killing blow on that blue dragon. And finally, some players are really just there for the talking. That's their whole bag. They would be happy putting all their skill points into Diplomacy, Intimidate, Sense Motive and using every stat as a dump except Charisma. It's weird, given the combat-oriented nature of the game, but those people really do exist.

Understanding the motivation behind your player behaviors will give you the best chance of curtailing that behavior in a way that satisfies both you and them.

You said your players vetoed leaving town and immediately said that there were things they wanted to shop for. My question, were I in your shoes and with your level of frustration, would be to ask what such things were, and if the characters had a legitimate need for the items. If the characters know what they are looking for, you as GM can immediately determine if they're available in town, and if they're exotic, perhaps there might be some searching or wheeling and dealing to even find where they are sold. If the players are looking for typical fare like more healing potions or a replacement for those +1 arrows they used up, this is easily handled without a 20 minute chat-fest, especially if it's your third such today. If the players don't know what they want, and just want to see what's available, don't hesitate to ask them why they believe they are ill-equipped for their continuing adventures despite you or NPCs telling them as such.

Such behavior can also be forcibly slowed or even stopped through the world-controlling power you wield as the GM, although if not handled delicately, this can significantly raise tensions at the table. The PCs, having arrived in town after a week subduing trolls in the Sootblack Hills, find that the stores are all but empty of magic items. Even the most basic potions and scrolls are a crapshoot to find; they might scour the entire city in search of any place that even has a magic weapon available? Why? Plenty of reasons. War has broken out, and supplies for every city in a couple hundred miles have been bought up or seized by the warring factions. Perhaps the ruling monarch (or council or whatever) has decreed for unknown reasons that the manufacture and sale of magical items is forbidden, punishable by imprisonment. An ancient order may have been awoken and has begun the theft or destruction of arcane equipment -- except for their own, of course. These turns of events might cause the PCs' own equipment to become even more valuable (or a threat to their safety) -- but any newfound wealth will do them little good with nothing magical to buy. All of these and similar actions are only stop-gaps; eventually, the PCs would be expected to help resolve the war, overthrow the sovereign, defeat the ancient order, or whatever is in their way. And then you're back to where you are now.

Always keep in mind the Wealth By Level restrictions for characters. This represents how much wealth a character possesses at any one time for their level (some GMs take a more stringent view that it represents the total wealth a PC will have accrued by that point in their career, so if the players fritter it away on women and chimichangas, tough noogies.) Characters can only buy things if they have the wealth to do so. Selling items they don't want comes with a steep penalty. Even in great condition, shops rarely pay more than half price for an item due to taxes, restocking fees, how long it might take to sell, and so on. What this ultimately comes down to is that you control just how much these characters can buy and sell. They can only buy items if they have the coin, and they can only get the coin that you give them, or a lesser value for selling items they don't want. Become more stringent with money. At some point, the money runs out, and selling hard-earned loot for half its value stops being so fun. Do you really want to lose effectively 2,000 gold crowns for selling that +2 axe, or do you want to maybe put it to some use and come out more powerful than you would have buying some weaker item with the proceeds? If players decline to ever sell their equipment yet still expect to find new equipment, you can accommodate them by destroying their equipment. Enemies can sunder weapons and armor; a number of spells, magical effects or environmental hazards can deal damage to and potentially break anything exposed to them. This isn't being vengeful; it's being a good GM. [I remember watching Critical Role and over many episodes, perhaps the most traumatic and thrilling experience the players had (apart from character deaths) was when their beloved flying carpet was eaten by acid or lava or something. But it was a natural consequence of their actions, and they took it in stride, as they should.]

Finally, as with all things, you are the law. I always, always recommend talking with your players, either individually or as a table if needed, to tackle either your own frustrations or those of one or more players. But if push comes to shove, it's your game. You (presumably) respect the players by coming up with adventures, scenarios, NPCs, locations and all sorts of other stuff for them to tackle in a manner you expect to be fun. If they refuse to respect your preparation time and the time you spend at the table, by insisting to engage in continuous, pointless NPC discussions despite you expressing your dissatisfaction, then tell them you can't do it anymore. It isn't fun for you, and if the only way that they can have fun is in a way that is directly contradictory to you having fun, the game isn't going to work, period. If they sincerely change, fantastic; try to accommodate their need for shopping when you can and get on with the grand story at other times. If they refuse to change, leave them and get another table. That last part isn't always easy to do, and depending on your area, it might take a while to get another game going, but often a table where you're not having fun (and working hard to do it) is worse than no table at all. I wish you luck.

[drferox]

I just watched this video about a US veterinarian complaining about the rules of how rabies vaccines are administered. Essentially, the complaint was about how a 2.2kg dog receives the same dose as a 45kg dog, and that some dogs - I would assume it's the smaller dogs - are dying and seeing adverse effects because the dose is higher than they should be receiving. I'd never heard of this controversy and wondered if you had and your take on it. The video was of Dr. Jon Robb; I can't find the link.

Vaccinations are one of the most hotly debated topic in veterinarian medicine, not just by ‘natural’ websites but also by highly qualified veterinarians and immunologists which have dedicated their professional scientific careers to the topic and so actually know what they’re talking about.

So to have this discussion, I’m going to have to go over some of the basics of vaccines so we’re all on the same page. I also request that if you have something to contribute to the topic, you add it in a reply or reblog rather than submitting a separate ask, so the conversation can stay in one place. Otherwise readers get lost.

I actually attended an immunology conference in 2010, and most of its discussions was around vaccines. Over the week we attending veterinarians spent 38 hours discussing vaccines, schedules, reactions, complications and associated illnesses in depth, specialists and generalists alike. Then the last two hours were an open forum for questions which was attended by a member of the general public, who actually stood up and basically asked “What are vets doing about adverse vaccine reactions and why aren��t they doing more?”

It was very tempting to just point to the prior 38 hours that week we’d spent answering that question.

My point is that vaccines and immunology is not a quick or easy topic if you want to understand it and not just jump on a sensationalist bandwagon.

Why do all members of a species receive the same dose vaccine instead of a mg/kg dose like other drugs?

Most drugs are administered in a mg/kg manner, that is to say larger animals get a larger dose and smaller animals get a smaller dose.

This in itself isn’t even strictly true. To be most accurate, drugs should generally be calculates by a mg per surface area, but calculating surface area is a pain in the backside and so we generally only do it for drugs with an exceptionally narrow safe dose range, like chemotherapy. To make things faster, for most dogs we will use body weight to make our calculations, though some medications will have different dose rates for dogs above or below a certain size.

Vaccines and hormones don’t follow this rule. For these sorts of medications there’s not really a per bodyweight dose, just a threshold where the dose is ‘enough’. Double, triple or quadrupling a dose of oxytocin, for example, does not actually do anything once they’re reached that ‘enough’ point. Doubling a vaccine dose does not increase the protective immunity once the initial dose is ‘enough’.

This might seem counter-intuitive, especially when you look at the diversity of sizes in dogs. Surely a vaccine administered to a chihuahua will be more concentrated in its body than the same vaccine administered to a great dane? Well it probably is, but as long as we have an effective dose in both, it will still work.

What are adverse vaccine reactions and how do they relate to vaccine dose?

Vaccines actively stimulate the immune system, and like all medications in use everywhere (unlike homeopathy which is water and wishful thinking) they do things we want and things we don’t want. The things we don’t want are termed ‘adverse effects/reactions’, and they vary in their frequency and severity. They include:

fever (quiet or reduced appetite for 12-24 hours)

tenderness at injection site

anaphylaxis (swollen face and paws, like a bee sting reaction)

Immune mediated disease (eg IMHA)

Some cancers (sarcomas, specifically)

Death

But don’t panic!

Take a moment to consider the potential reactions on the list. Fever and tenderness is because the immune system is doing its thing, it’s responding (appropriately) to the vaccine. These adverse reactions are minor and often require no intervention at all, though some repeat offenders might get an antihistamine with their vaccines in the future. They are also both more likely in juvenile, small animals and so are potentially related to the dose of vaccine or adjuvant per kilogram body weight.

So if smaller animals are more likely to show tenderness and fever after a vaccine, which are indications that the body is responding, then they might still respond to a lower dose of vaccine.

More on that later.

Anaphylaxis and death are not dose or frequency dependent. They are an inappropriate response by the immune system, just like life threatening peanut allergies in humans. Because the immune response is blown so out of proportion, it doesn’t matter what the dose is, you will still get the reaction.

If a person with a peanut allergy eats a single peanut, the reaction is going to be the same as whether they ate a whole jar of peanut butter. Same with the vaccine. If it’s going to happen, it will.

This is independent of dose and completely unpredictable, but rare. Death is especially rare. Some brands of vaccine might seem more or less likely to cause anaphylactic reactions than others, but the jury is still out on this.

Immune mediated diseases and cancers are particularly interesting, and have grabbed a lot of attention from sensationalist media over the last decade. There are lots of different ones that might be associated with vaccines, but I’m going to focus on the most common two from each category because I don’t intend to lecture you for 38 hours.

Immune Mediated Haemolytic Anaemia (IMHA) Is a very interesting disease where the body attacks its own red blood cells, destroying them and causing anaemia. Some quick and dirty facts about IMHA:

33% of cases occur within 3 months of a vaccine

50% of cases also have some sort of cancer (Haemangiosarcoma (HSarc) being most common)

Approximately only 50% survive

If IMHA was completely independent of vaccination, and the dogs were all getting a vaccine once a year, you’d expect 25% of cases to occur within 3 months of a vaccine. 33% is a little suspicious. But we can’t blame vaccination for all cases of IMHA, not even close, with all those nasty HSarcs around, which on their own only have a survival rate of a few months.

In a nutshell, IMHA can be triggered by any immune system stimulation at all. For many dogs, vaccines will be the most common immune system stimulus they encounter, but cancers and viruses can do it as well. It’s not fair or accurate to blame vaccines for causing all IMHA, but we also can’t discount the possibility in an individual patient.

Injection site sarcomas (ISS) are the specific cancer associated with vaccines, especially in cats. This cancer is slow to spread but difficult to remove, and seems to be more associated with the rabies, FIV and FeLeuk vaccines more than others.

Again, however, it’s not just caused by vaccines. Any injection in a cat can trigger this type of neoplasia, and so can cat bite abscesses. It’s just that the vaccines are going to be the most common type of injection your typical cat gets.

In both IMHA and ISS, they’re basically just bad luck when they occur, but they will be independent of the dose. They’re either going to do the thing, or they wont.

So reducing the dose of a vaccine will probably not save any animal lives, but may reduce the adverse reactions that owners most frequently complain about (fever and tenderness). It might benefit the patients somewhat, but it is potentially blown a little out of proportion.

That said - I have never administered a rabies vaccine in my life. That’s a perk of living in Australia, we just don’t have it here. I don’t have boots-on-the-ground experience of that specific vaccine, so perhaps the frequency of adverse events are different to what I see with our vaccines.

Why don’t we vaccinate with lower doses ‘off-label’?

Off label is a term we use when we use a drug differently to how the manufacturer recommends, in this case using less than a single dose of vaccine for a patient.

Basically, we can’t guarantee it works.

This is especially problematic for rabies vaccination, which is done not only to protect the vaccinated animals, but also humans they might bite in the future.

If a veterinarian uses a half dose, which has unknown efficiency and may not work, to vaccinate a dog, which then goes on to bite somebody but that person does not get rabies post exposure prophylaxis because they assume the dog is fully vaccinated, that human might die. 

You just don’t know whether it worked or didn’t, whether the dog and then human are safe or not.

Risking human health in this way is generally seen to be completely unacceptable by the wider veterinarian community.

So what do I actually think?

Congratulations if you’ve read all of this and you’re still here with me. You’re doing great, well done.

Personally, I think we could potentially lower the dose (or frequency) of some vaccines, but never off label.

I would like to see more vaccine research and development for more low-dose vaccines, specifically for juvenile or tiny patients. Most vaccines would be tested in beagle-sized dogs, I would like to see a whole slew of testing done on under 5kg dogs. If we can lower the dose for these tiny ones, it might mean we need to stock two different versions of a vaccine, but we’re doing that with trivalent vaccines anyway, and I think that’s how the future will go in wealthy and developed countries.

I think the future of veterinary medicine will include more single antigen vaccines, titre testing, microdosing and changes in vaccine frequency, but I will touch on all of those in another ask (hopefully) later today because this one is long enough.

So the Dr Robb discussion probably does have grains of truth in it, but not all of it and filtering it out is the challenge. Either way, there needs to be more research on adverse reactions in tiny breeds from the vaccine manufacturers, and public pressure/demand is the way to make that happen.

[0tivez]

Every message I sent on Tumblr I revise like an essay. I just need to activate Grammarly smh. And thank you for being so welcoming :D I think id probably need a bit of time to come off anon bc as of lately im insecure lmfao so maybe I can be 🥳 anon? Thats my favourite emoji bc of the details. Like the little thingies falling on it? a work of art

Everyone in AOT can die and ill be alright, but as soon as a KFC sign enters my field of view? guaranteed breakdown. Tbh, maybe its me being easily impressed by anything, but I've never seen better written characters than in JJK. Theres just something about them that's just, so beautifully fleshed out and so painfully human it hurts in a good way. Its so easy to see them as real people, which makes it even easier to feel for them and connect. My new goal is to be able to write characters like those in JJK.

I'm also bitter over aot. I don't know why. I think I just felt like the story went askew and I ended up hating it.

I was introduced to the anime through a tiktok about Nanami and a cd drama that his VA did about an elevator? And...Yeah I really liked the voice so I decided to check the anime/manga. Wait no, I actually just went to Tumblr and searched "Nanami x reader" and AFTER THAT I checked the anime and the manga. I just remembered that's how it went I- I also went to google to check if he you know to see if it was safe to get emotionally attached...it wasn't safe to get emotionally attached but I dismissed it and now here I am crying over books I bought but haven't read yet

Shakespeare's tragedies have NOTHING on Gojo Satoru. That man is the best written, developed tragedy to ever exist in this essay I will...

Don't watch sweet magnolias. wouldn't recommend it now. its so I don't know. Netflix doesn't have the office in my country :,) but I do look at a random place irl all the time as if I was in the office if that makes up for anything :p I don't have the patience to watch anything anymore TT spoilers are right there and I have to retrain my attention span.

Using anime as escapism just became my go to ngl. Its better than thinking about college acceptance and the future bc I can be whoever I want in fics (I can literally be a housewife and have a househusband at the same time). ALSO! anime ops slap. Im obsessed with Komi can't communicate's opening! its so cute and I love it. JJK's opening just makes me cry (still really good)

Theres also this post which reminded me of your bio (? the place where u write things under the blog title? is that the bio?) but apparently I can't link or send media anymore when I'm on anon :,)

aot deaths just became so routine that i'm basically unbothered (except for a few ahem) but yeah i think a big reason why jjk upsets me a lot is the fandom and how they manage to dig up every single detail. i also fell in love with geto through fics lolol this fandom is just something else... gege is an incredible writer and with every new chapter, i'm just amazed at how he can come up with such creative characters. wish we knew more about him honestly, he's an interesting person himself. i mean look at fujimoto, a fucking lunatic and i love him for that. istg if we ever get a collab/interview of them together i would die

i know lots of people hate the aot ending but i found it appropriate and bitter. yeah it's not perfect but it's not as horrible as people make it out to be. i wish we had more chapters, it felt p rushed but still, thinking about all the other manga endings, aot falls to a decent place imo

my introduction to anime journey is long but for jjk, my best friend told me about it, we were watching aot s4 and jjk was still releasing. we didn't have time to watch it and stuff but i remember getting spoiled about nanami KMWKSEMDWSDF we nicknamed nanami as blonde daddy and megumi as jjk levi. i also remember being ahocked that megumi was 15 and gojo was 28 AND nanami being younger than gojo LMAOO i read the manga before watching the anime. i was thinking "if i read 2 chapters everyday, it won't hold me back from studying and i can finish it in summer".... yeah i finished it in a week

omg dont get me started on the camera thingy. i watched fleabag before the office and ugh i just keep staring into the void, it's so fun especially with how i constantly narrate everything in my head

anime is probably the best way for escapism. a big reason why i love evangelion is exactly this, it punched me in the face. i relate to shinji a lot in that way, it was like breaking the fourth wall lol. anime ops dont have to slap that hard but they do. my top listened song on spotify was boku no sensou since it got released lol it might be one of my favorite songs of all time. shinsei kamattechan is such an underrated band tbh. other than that, jjk openings send me to the orbit every time i listen to them. the new aot op??? orgasmic. a cruel angel's thesis? give me the mic and i will pour my soul into it. renai circulation??? it used to be my breakdown song. i would cry to it, not kidding.

have a great day/night babe

[obsessivedilettante]

I am not sure where I heard this, so I may be remembering it wrong, but does radiant office has a cancer (or some type of terminal illness) theme? I am out of things to watch and consider starting it but I strictly avoid cancer stories. I had enough of it irl so can't stand watching it in my shows. And also, do you recommend watching it, is it good? Thanks!

This is awkward to answer because it kinda does and it kinda doesn’t. There is a terminal illness plot device but what exactly that illness is we don’t know (for plot reasons) and it’s hardly referred to except for moments when it’s convenient for character motivation. There’s also a pretty strong contingent (myself included) who believe the illness will turn out to be a misunderstanding, which I refer to as my “Last Holiday” theory. But there’s nothing to say it couldn’t be revealed to be a cancer and that someone might actually die, although it honestly doesn’t feel like that kind of show. Then again, we’re not even halfway through yet, and everyone knows the latter third of a drama is when the angst hits.

It’s so hard to tell someone if a drama is good or not, since taste is so subjective. I personally like the show quite a bit, although I’m not sure how much stake to put in that since I’m often on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to how dramas are generally perceived by the fandom.

I find the lead character relatable in that wonderful-yet-painful Misaeng way, and the comedy suits my taste. I love the friendship between the characters -- it’s probably my favorite part, although Hoya’s adorable lowkey crush on his boss has me all in a flutter, but my obsession with minor secondary romances is totally just my thing and not something I should use to recommend a show to others. The main pairing is... okay, I guess, and I like that they’ve finally shown more of the male lead’s human side. I’m not invested in their relationship, beyond wanting to see Go Ah Sung’s character succeed and be awesome and respected for her awesomeness by this boss that’s been hindering her attempts so far. But then again I’m rarely invested in the main pairing just in general, so that’s not a strike against this show.

Overall, it’s a comfortable and enjoyable watch, and Go Ah Sung is an utter delight. I can’t guarantee the supposed terminal illness might not be cancer, though.