Explanation of why Dumpty wants to invade Portland. Yeesh, even the footage from 2020 was always framed to look way worse than it actually was. I don't even youtu.be/zIjJCowJaxM?...
Freelancer Rhiannon Louve (xe/xem) Author, dreamer, spiritual futurist πΎπ³οΈβππ³οΈββ§οΈ
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Explanation of why Dumpty wants to invade Portland. Yeesh, even the footage from 2020 was always framed to look way worse than it actually was. I don't even youtu.be/zIjJCowJaxM?...
This spider has decided that its web belongs at head height, blocking our back door. We have explained the situation and removed one web as respectfully as possible, but the spider is undeterred. I'm all for early Halloween decorations, but there are ripe tomatillos in out in the garden!
Good information vimeo.com/447225087?sh...
I missed yesterday's (wasn't on bsky all day). It says: A beaver doing nagashi soumen.
Nagashi Soumen, the Third Try (my translation) Woohoo! Soumen acquired! I had to look up ζζ¦ (chousen, challenge, which I translated as try in this context). I also did a little research to get a better vibe of the meaning in context. Hopefully I got it right.
I liked Discotheque a lot better, myself.
At protest today, tons of support from drivers passing by. But one loser in a giant truck made a point of buzzing by with his huge Jesus flag. Me with my protest sign, laughing: As if Jesus wouldn't be out here with us! Lady next to me: Maybe she is! π
Really grateful for this perspective. The main reason I watch this channel is not just that it's informative and careful about facts. It also consistently calms me down. Panic does not help one to take action. We need to stay grounded. youtu.be/Lzd8rv95RtI?...
I am so into footnotes. I remember hating them as a kid, but sometime in college they became like my favorite part. I use two bookmarks when books have footnotes, so I can easily flip back and forth to read them in context of the chapter.
The first one has this imperfect wild genius, so one goes into Bloodlust wanting _perfected_ wild genius, and it isn't that. It's so pretty, and it's not bad, but it's not wild genius, perfect or otherwise. It's easy to feel let down. At least, that was my take last time I watched it, years ago.
Serious time: No matter what else you think about politics, always be anti-authoritarian. Make that the core and the anchor of every other aspect of your political thought. Resist authoritarianism. Don't fall for it. Don't entertain it. Don't accept it. Liberty is a bulwark against cruelty.
I actually just bought it. We've had an uptick in fortunes, so I decided to celebrate with my first book purchase in months.
This is so cool. Also Sara Mueller is a writers workshop comrade and long time convention friend of mine. Check her out!
There _is_ useful wisdom here, but I was disappointed by the oversimplification. The conclusion felt arrogant and lazy. Who still thinks political philosophy is a single-axis spectrum? You can be an extreme anti-authoritarian, no matter what else you believe. Snobby moderates aren't special.
Anything that is so intrinsically valuable that people will do it for free, people will not be paid to do for a reasonable living in a capitalist society. This includes caring for loved ones, all art forms, and enacting societal progress. Basic income is simply an attempt to value what is valuable
He's more complicated than most people realize. Looks like an interesting book!
We don't want the tech bros' dystopian nightmares. We want a real future for all of us, all over the world.
It really is. π
"Beaver-san, I'm dropping the soumen now!" This one is again hard to translate. I didn't try to be literal, just to get the point across. What a nice lady!
Shockingly enough, there are really good things happening in the world! People are still out there working to save us all. I am excited about the organ transportation advancements, and about how cheap renewable energy is! Cleanse your soul with some meaningful good news! youtu.be/udrqjFYuGLE?...
If cars and other high-speed wheeled vehicles are run-of-the-mill in your game, then the hard part about a carriage is almost certainly the horses. Ride is far more relevant than Drive, for correctly utilizing reins and harnesses to steer trained horses, but Handle Animal may still be better.
If horses and carriages are common, and horse-management is common knowledge, then the relevant Dex skill for difficult carriage maneuvers is Drive. It's controlling the wheels and managing the physics of the cart that you're making your roll about. Everybody knows how to talk to horses.
Not as much discussion as I'd hoped, but I'll go ahead and give my answer: It depends on your setting. The horse-handling aspects are always Handle Animal (a Cha skill), but the Dex aspects of maneuvering a vehicle in stressful situations will vary with how common carriages are in your game.
I love that
Just add more languages to the mix! Eventually you get better at switching between all the pronunciations.
Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.
The free market is a really questionable religion. I mean, I try to be open about people's faiths, but I just can't get into that one.
This looks like a useful site
In addressing this nonsense, one argument I like is to look at countries that aren't both and see which we have more in common with. China is a republic, but not democratic. The UK is a monarchy, not a republic, but it's also democratic. Which system is closer to our system's values? Democracy.
A couple of those would have stood out more if they'd gone last instead of first, I think. Breaking My Heart feels like it might have hit people's moods better if it had landed somewhere in the middle. I wonder if anyone has done stats for how song type interacts with song order.
A beaver, happy that a neighborhood lady came to help out. (my translation) So sweet! Today I could read all of it but I forgot how to pronounce neighborhood (θΏζ kinjo).
Here I could read the whole thing without a dictionary, but how to translate! A lone beaver doing nagashi soumen. Nagashi means sink or maybe flow. I have seen this done in anime before. I think you're supposed to catch it on the way down? Not sure. Looks very challenging by yourself!
Handle Animal was my addition to the question, but I did find Ride interesting. I told him to look online what others had done, but he didn't find much beyond a great and inconclusive forum discussion about chariot combat. I'll add that he wants his game to be able to apply to various settings.
As a GM, makes sense. My friend is making a sort of M&M-inspired system, but more fantasy-oriented? I think? He's currently working on transportation skill writeups and sorting vehicles between drive and pilot to write his own descriptions. He got hung up on carriages.
Surprisingly topical
OMGs, my first adventure assignment, they were like it's Xk words, write an adventure! I was like, um ... How do I do that? I'd done monsters, spells, classes, organizations, items, you name it, so they assumed I could do adventures. I think I got Ari to coach me.
Nah, in that timeline you're a superstar. They can't believe _they_ landed _you_.
I listen to Teresa & Maria most, of that list.
@mouseferatu.bsky.social @oakthorne.bsky.social @owenkcstephens.bsky.social A friend asked me this d20- based game design question: Is the skill for driving a carriage 1) drive? 2) ride? 3) handle animal? Discuss! (I did give an answer, but am curious what other designers think)
Oh, thanks! I appreciate it!
We drive out that way almost once a year, but I've never noticed stuff like that from the highway. Do you have to take a different route?
So cool! Where do you go to see them? Washington side?
I share this not to downplay the deeply authoritarian behavior going on, but to remind everyone that it is literally impossible for them to successfully occupy us. They can cause a lot of harm, but they cannot defeat the American people. This is our country. We will win. youtu.be/YEdAx4mPgag?...
I would argue that while capitalism is willing to profit from your individualism, it will only actually reward conformity. It takes a mutually supportive community to allow individuals to thrive as their gorgeously diverse real selves. Capitalism just wants to sort people into winners and losers.
I think a lot of people have traumatic backgrounds that make pointless online cruelty pretty hard to take. I've gotten a ton of "learn from criticism" dogma my whole life, and I can't say there's no value to it, but I think there's also value in offering other perspectives. Reality is nuanced.
Oh no!
Ooh, this looks useful!
They look hella metal
That sounds so cool! My friend and I just started designing a new game from the ground up last week. Wishing both games the best of fortunes!
I left a comment.
I'm so sorry to hear this
A beaver boiling soumen. I did need to look up the pronunciation of yuderu (boil).
That's deep, yo
Yay! You deserve I've cream.
Give people homes. I don't want to pay for the privilege of watching others suffer on the street.
Congratulations!
It's not even THAT uncommon a name! I meet other Rhiannons here and there, and I know it's even less weird in the UK. But it's like people panic when they see it, and instantly start flailing. There's an h! It's long! Is it Indian? Mongolian? People, it's Welsh. There's a whole Fleetwood Mac song.
Note to self: stop by Bandcamp tonight!
People have a very hard time with Rhiannon Louve. Louve is usually Love, but sometimes people get more creative. They can't seem to believe it's just loov, like it looks. And don't get me started on Rhiannon. It's very often Brianna. I don't know why. But people _struggle_ and squirm. It's alien.
In fairness, the face horns rabbits have a disease recorded since 1933 which may not even be on the rise now-- it's just going viral, and the corpses were swapped years ago, it's just back in the news because a judge denied an appeal, I believe.
Thing is, conservatives hate consent-based sexuality. They're disturbed by the idea of consent being the core of sexual morality. I think there's a lot of propaganda funded by deeply sexist sources that want marriage to mean permanent and unretractable "consent" (as if it works that way).
I think there are algorithm issues if you say it the normal way, so the word is pronounced weirdly to trick the algorithm into not suppressing it.
A beaver, getting ready (my translation) Today's animation has a lot going on! Exciting! I had to look up ζΊε today (junbi, preparations), and I shouldn't have because I've known that word for years, but I've had to look it up about 10 times now in various places. Doesn't want to stick in my head.
Please remember alt text for people with disabilities.
This is so frustrating, and scary. These people have been worked on, bit by bit for decades, until they don't believe anything exists say _because_ it's experts saying it. We need to find some way to protect people from predatory disinformation.
The message at the end of this video makes the whole thing with watching. We need a better world. We need to value human beings, and all living things, over profits. youtu.be/0AD78KulqHw?...
I've got a really full day that day. It would be madness to try.
If you hear anyone talking about the 6 wars Dumpty ended, here's the context. He was not super effective. youtu.be/FqTYMvbkDgY?...
So awesome! I'll have to dig out my copy and do the same one of these days! π
80s cartoon baddies: We're team evil! Tremble before us! People: no one ever really thinks they're team evil. Everyone always believes themselves to be the heroes. 20s GOP: We're team evil! Go cry about it libturd! People: ...
Ohhhh, like it's all one continuous weirdly-spaced banner. Yeah, ok. I'm still in favor of the time machine. Invest the refund money before you return to the future, make bank. π
I did as soon as I heard it. I remembered all of them as soon as I heard them, but yeah, I kinda liked Snap. It just took a jump start to bring the neural pathways back online.
Remember alt text! 50501 Labor Day Protest On 09-01-2025 Speakers at 12pm March at 1pm At Battleship Oregon Memorial, PDX
Alt text should read: 50501 Labor Day Protest On 09-01-2025 Speakers at 12pm March at 1pm At Battleship Oregon Memorial, PDX
Thank you! I didn't notice they'd forgotten alt text again. I'll add it to mine in a reply.
Free DC
My swype type consistently thinks "sounds" should be "Shiva". I'm always like ... Om Namah Shivaya and all, but phone, I'm just having a normal conversation here!
Coffee
I can't think of anything because I bring up everything I don't like. I think I might be a very annoying player. I do try to be courteous and never belligerent or overly blunt, but I mention everything that bothers me.
Pepper on apples! Imma try it. Hummus on potatoes is awesome.
Good practical list. (I vomit in my mouth a little when I hear the phrase "vote with your dollars", but the point is well taken. Lots of good bite-sized actions to take.)
This is a bad sign. I really don't think it's possible to have healthy social media for profit. We won't have something we can trust to look out for people over billionaires until we have a platform we build ourselves and co-own. It'll be a while.
Same.
A beaver starting to cut bamboo (my translation) I wonder where this is going
I think my feelings for these songs are reasonably well represented by how well they did, but I didn't hate any of them. I wish the creators and performers better success in future. And Break a Broken Heart is pretty good, really. Nice arrangement.
Appreciate the reminder. I actually quite like Break a Broken Heart, but had forgotten all the others.
That's very sweet
Wish I could! Sounds fun!
Labor Day!
My best guess is that it's supposed to be "We prize our liberties, and our rights we will maintain." Whether I'm right or not, though, their graphic designer is just terrible. They should invent a time machine just to go back and get a refund.
Yeah, when I tried to search for the video, I got super overwhelmed by the vast ocean of pro-corset videos. Yay! I had to search for another video she did (YouTube's Victorian ankle content is much less overwhelming), and go to her channel from there to track it down.
We need to give people homes. It's always cheaper in the long run to just be a good person.
The beach was fun, huh (Literally it says "ocean", not "beach", but I think in American English the meaning here is better conveyed with "beach". Anybody disagree?)
Our cat was like that. In an older cat it can be a sign of health issues, so be mindful. I always enjoyed finding new flavors for her though. We learned that Fancy Feast was good for when she really wouldn't eat other food. Normally we liked organic, etc, but sometimes we just needed her to eat.
Congratulations!
youtu.be/qjZZSpf0EW0?...
I watched a great YouTube essay recently, where a woman kind of tears apart a lot of misconceptions about corsets and how they used to be worn. I know from wearing them that corsets are comfortable and supportive, but she takes the myths even further to task. I'll see if I can find it again.
Have I mentioned that some of my friends call me Samwise? youtu.be/_gCDLmPIgk8?...
Yay! Thank you! π
Looks great!