Every player is a ST. If I could beat that into the heads of the entire community, I would. That means if you show up for bar-play and things get boring, someone (anyone. everyone.) should pose a jittery mf'er coming in to steal the cash out of the register. If you don't want to go dangerous, then a bunch of con-artists come in, two of them pretend to get engaged, and the third guy is stealing wallets while everyone watches the lovey-dovey duo. Something!

We are all STs, not just players, every single time we're playing. The world is full of things going on. Describe them in your pose and when someone reacts, keep it going.

ES

Crisis Text Line (www.crisistextline.org) is an all-ages welcome text-only anonymous crisis counseling line, stretching across the US and recently branching out into Canada as well. With the second season of 13 Reasons Why, and the various tragedies in schools going down recently, we're expecting an influx of younger texters. Crises stretch from someone worried about a break-up, to suicide, to wondering if running away from home is the right step, and everything in between.

If you're interested in volunteering -- training is free and takes roughly a month and a half to complete online -- from the comfort of your own home for 2-4 hours a week, give me a pm to discuss. CTL can always use people who know how to communicate through text already, and MUSHers can do that like magic.

ES

And if you need to talk to someone because you're feeling shaky, text HOME to 741741. A counselor will help you find a bit of breathing room.

I try to upvote all the Playlists because I believe transparency is important no matter who it is.

Also, that was years ago. I may not want to interact with you on a regular, personal sort of basis, but that doesn't mean I'm holding a bitter grudge or the like. Life goes on.

ES

Most of the time I consider it a Feature, not a Bug, that our community, our games, and our gaming, move in such cyclical ways. The fact that I'm not on a MU right now, and haven't been regularly in quite some time, doesn't mean I'll never play on one again. It just means I'm not playing on one right now. I'm not in the right place for it, no harm no foul.

The same goes here. If generic-you decides that MSB isn't the right place for you right now, that's okay. (If it's still here) in a few days, weeks, months, years, whathaveyou, then you get to glance in again. Maybe you'll be in a different space, maybe the forum will be; if you're still not jigsaw properly together, that's still okay. If you are, hurray! If you're not, please check in again in the future!

So if you're upset at Auspice, or Gany, or Ark: that's okay. They're not evil monsters. You're not one either. If you want them to improve, that's amazing, please keep trying. If you're done trying for improvement for a while, please come back later to see if it's still needed, when you're able. Almost no decision made here is permanent, the cycle will come 'round again.

The amount of emotion invested in improving this community is amazing. That doesn't mean it's always comfortable or pretty. That doesn't mean it's always going to change in a way you think is the right direction. You won't know if it's right for you until it is, and even then it'll take a while to be sure. If you have the energy to try to make it better, do it. If you don't, wait and see later.

This thread is definitely not comfortable, and certainly not pretty. But it shows people are trying, and as far as a burnt-out MUsher like myself is concerned, that's also a Feature.

ES

In order (with steps skipped if someone I don't want to play with happens to register early) and with the caveat that sometimes I get tired of it before I complete the full set:

• Do I have something scheduled?
• Do I have any ongoing plots to continue?
• Do I see a buddy I've wanted to play with who isn't already busy?
  ** Is this buddy someone I can ask to scene-set? Sometimes I'm not in the mood to do the heavy-lifting, but I'm only comfortable asking a friend to do it in my stead. I don't know strangers well enough to ask them for support.
• Is there a 'want RP' function on the game? If so, is anyone using it?
• Group channel requests at large
• Public channel requests at large
• OOC Room requests at large

Usually this is when I'd call it a night and go away to read a book instead. If I'm truly jonesing for the RP, I'll add in:

• Random +where scan, page someone who isn't idle to ask: "You look cool, I pretend to be cool, how about we RP?" Then I scene-set because I'm the imposition.

ES

Rick Sanchez has been banned. If you have any questions regarding this, please feel free to ask.

ES

I'll add to the list!

No surprises.

That is to say, very few of us handle change with nearly the amount of grace we ought. If you're going to change something on your game that has been established in the past, give warning and explain why. You're going to get grumbles, that's a given. But the grumbles about warning are significantly less of a heartburn than the explosions of HATE and FEAR that happen when the sky is suddenly orange instead of blue.

Leave yourself room to change your mind.

You aren't going to be perfect. If you make a decision that turns out wrong, then for fuck's sake, reverse the damn thing. Acknowledge you made the mistake, figure out how to avoid it in the future (if possible), and follow through on explaining the situation to the game as a whole. A mistake is only a Problem if you make it a second time out of carelessness and lack of attention to fixing it the first.

Be the change you want to see in the world (tm).

You're the only one you can control, natch. The atmosphere, levels of adaptability, agreeableness, and general tone of your game start with you. It doesn't end there, of course. There are a bunch of people involved. But if the core doesn't hold, the rest of it will falter in due time. Be the player that you want other players to be; expect it of yourself and of everyone around you, even and especially the friends you'd normally give a pass. Even if you're upset, even if someone else is treating you shabbily, you're the center. Own it and it'll ripple outwards from you.

Recognize that you're not on the game to be or make friends.

That's not to say you shouldn't be friendly, or that you have to give up the relationships that you've built over the years. On a scale of -1 (hatred and loathing) to +10 (besties 4 eva), it means you need to treat the players on your game at a +3 minimum (courteous distance). You don't get to have extremely negative scale interactions, and the moment you do, you need to consider asking them to leave. You also don't get to have extremely positive scale interactions with a select few, because the moment you do, you're playing favorites and the other players will feel it and react with resentment. Headwizzing requires a certain level of detachment. I don't personally think that's a bad thing. If your friends can't handle the fact that talking to you as Headwiz is potentially different than talking to you as their buddy, then that friendship isn't nearly as true as one hopes.

Find your peers.

We are none of us great in a void. We are none of us great without feedback. Find the people who aren't afraid to tell you when you're screwing up. Find the people who aren't invested to a creepy degree in their character, who are willing to look at the game from a proverbially global perspective and give you opinions you can consider. You might go your own route anyway, but you do need to listen and consider first. Yours may be the final say, but that doesn't mean making decisions in a vacuum is a good idea.

ES

As of this morning at 10a, I am now an Augmented Human Being. @HelloRaptor says I can't call myself a cyborg because the pump is not actually installed in place of my useless pancreas, but I'll accept auggie instead.

ES

It's okay when I share it myself. It's not okay when others do (whether for their own use or telling to others). All else is questions about whether the painting is oil or watercolor.

ES

Ew.
Do not like.
ES

ETA:

MOD VOICE: I forked this topic because it shouldn't have been in Announcements. That's my bad! I started it off and I ought-not. Announcements go in Announcements, not conversations.

Late to the thread, but I'll mention that while Gloomhaven is not my most favorite game ever (currently swinging wildly between Betrayal Legacy and Pandemic Legacy, with a solid honorable mention for Qwirkle, Patchwork, and Kingdomino), I don't mind it. My parents luuuuv it with a million tiny hearts, but I'm not quite that far gone. I'd like it more if it could decide if it's actually co-op or not. Make up your mind, Gloomhaven! I don't have time for your dithering!

Anyways, long-winded sentences aside: if you want to spring for a copy of Tabletop Simulator (cheap at $10) and give Gloomhaven a game or two, before deciding whether you shell out the big bucks for a hard-copy, I'm game. Just give me a ping. I figure two games would probably decide most folks. Once to learn the ropes, twice to actually play through with some mild comfort.

• ES

71. Famous Artwork: Choose a famous painting and write about it.

When I see his face on the canvas, I know: there is no change. We did not speak every day before. We do not speak every day now. I thought of him in fleeting moments before. I do the same now, as the mood strikes. The light plays across the oil to set his eyes sparking, just as the light did across his face. There is no difference in the end. I thought there would be. When I caught him in the painting, it was to hold him to me forever. I was certain our love would stand the test of time, that having his image would help to cement what lay between us. But no, now he is only a silently screaming wraith trapped in fabric and I am left wondering if my new neighbor is thinking of me as I think of him. Perhaps true love will blossom there? So many have failed me, but this time... this time it will be better. I know it.

Crisis Text Line (www.crisistextline.org) is an all-ages welcome text-only anonymous crisis counseling line, stretching across the US and recently branching out into Canada as well. With the second season of 13 Reasons Why, and the various tragedies in schools going down recently, we're expecting an influx of younger texters. Crises stretch from someone worried about a break-up, to suicide, to wondering if running away from home is the right step, and everything in between.

If you're interested in volunteering -- training is free and takes roughly a month and a half to complete online -- from the comfort of your own home for 2-4 hours a week, give me a pm to discuss. CTL can always use people who know how to communicate through text already, and MUSHers can do that like magic.

ES

And if you need to talk to someone because you're feeling shaky, text HOME to 741741. A counselor will help you find a bit of breathing room.

70. Recipe: Write about a favorite recipe, or create a poem that is a recipe for something abstact, such as a feeling.

You're horrified. I know you are, but you needn't be. Don't you understand? When we do this, it's both more and less than a religious experience. More: we are taking the essence of Other into Self. We are absorbing, lengthening, continuing a vital chain of existence. Though us, what we eat does not die, but lives on! It uplifts both the consumer and the consumed in the act. But also less: we do it viscerally. We injest. Pause the next time you put something in your mouth; do it slowly. Gently. Inexorably. You are destroying what is within, reducing it to component parts and then massaging as you swallow. They say eating is like sex, but what they should be saying is that sex is like eating. You become practiced and comfortable with eating long before you ever learn how to fuck. I can see you flinching at the word, but that's the point, don't you see? It's raw and ugly and violent and so incredibly satisfying. In eating, we accomplish both the spiritual act of combination and the physical act of duality in destruction-creation. That's why you shouldn't fight so hard against the ropes. You're bruising the meat early.

69. Silly Sports: Write about an extreme or silly sport. If none inspire you, make up the rules for your own game. (Writer's Note: eSports count, right? This idea sprang out of the doll-prompt the other day.)

Solo-play game with other-player elements. Protagonist is a doll. Gameplay is adventure-puzzle, ala Monkey Island, with timed instances when 'living' antagonists are in the room. Avatars are featureless/hairless (wooden posing dolls), but character creation allows for a limited range of body-types.

At the beginning of the game, Player plays with an assortment of dolls, no faces. They can pose them, snap photos, interact with set pieces in the room, etc. Gameplay as Protagonist ensues. During cut-scenes and/or when a 'living' antagonist captures the protagonist, the antagonist playing with the dolls is a random other-player recording of that initial doll-segment. That is to say, Player A will have cut-scenes based on how Player C played with the faceless initial dolls. This is random, and has no identifiers as to who the other players are, but allows everyone just a little presence in each other's games.

Concerns: people are awful and it would be easy to get something X-rated in some random kid's game on accident.

Story Themes: Helplessness vs Actualization, Recognition of the Absurdity that is Most Life, Freedom of Choice, Small Actions Can Make Big Ripples

Story Progression: 1) Realization of self-awareness; 2) Finding other aware toys (positive and negative); 3) Discovering why dolls/toys became self-ware; 4) Chose whether to keep awareness or return to sleep

68. Random Wikipedia Article: Go to Wikipedia and click on Random Article. Write about whatever page you get. (Writer's Note: Link at the end.)

I know someone you don't know. I'll describe her for you.

Marge is a sweet lady. She'd never say so about herself of course, if you have to say it about yourself, it's not really true. But she is. Sweet, that is. She's got two kids, an older daughter... 7, I think? And a younger daughter, just turned 3. Marge is a stay-at-home mom, though she says she doesn't actually stay all that often. The girls like to go out to the park too much, and Angela -- that's the older one -- is a gymnastics fanatic. You mention it and she's off like a rocket to show you her mad tumbling skills. Marge is worried about Angie's little sister, Dorothy. Dot's all over princess, and pink bows in her hair, and talks in a ramble about how she's going to have ten babies and make cakes with unicorns on. She's only 3, right? So Marge isn't ready to get out the big guns, but she is a little concerned in a third-wave sorta way. Babies and cakes might make a strong woman, but they're an old-fashioned way to go about it. Still. Only 3. She's got time. Marge says that her husband Joe is her rock. She knows it's trite, but she laughs when she says it so it's okay. There's not a mean bone in Marge's body, and that's a bit trite too, but it's the truth so we'll go with it.

When she gets drunk -- a couple times a year, if that -- Marge talks about her college years. About how she spent hours debating the concept of the number zero. Then she asks you if you've ever really thought about it. The number zero, that is. A word to talk about nothingness. Two drinks and she'll just giggle. Three and she'll sigh, and go on a ramble (it reminds me of Dot just a little) wondering if talking about nothingness means it's not nothing after all. She's willing to talk about that sort of thing when she's not drunk, but it doesn't come up on its own. She's too busy with her life to let her mind wander that way. Angie's got a meet, and where did Dot put her yellow sun-dress? That sort of thing. If you walked in on it and you might forget about more esoteric things for a second too.

Once upon a time, I was out with Marge. On the town, as it were. The girls were spending the day with their grandmother, so we had a chance to get out. Get some coffee, a little browsing through antique stores. We don't ever buy anything, but we like to look, and talk about where it would fit in our mansion if we won the lotto. Marge doesn't play (her dad used to tell her it's a tax on stupidity, she admitted when I asked) but I've promised her I'll share my winnings. Anyway, we were out and an old man was standing in the middle of the store, looking awfully confused. Marge didn't miss a beat, she asked him if he was okay and offered to help him find somewhere to sit. That's how she is, you know? Always willing to help. I wonder sometimes why we're friends, I'm not that nice on my best day. Marge says that when the girls are both in school in a year or two, she figures she'll go find a charity to volunteer for. And take a nap every day, but I figure that's just something all stay-at-home parents want, so that doesn't count. She thought about volunteering for the PTA, but I think she'll be ready to give herself some space, and I told her so.

Anyways, Marge is looking for some friends here on Facebook. If you'd like to chat with her, let me know? She's just started one up for the first time, she'd heard some awful things about it, but I figure if I introduce her to good people, she'll be alright in the end.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_Maria_Mierscheid)

67. Dollhouse: Write a poem or short story from the viewpoint of someone living in a doll house.

The silent scream never ends; bite her feet, remove her head, pose her to your will, and still she cannot protest, only stare forward in blank and fathomless horror.

66. Name: Write a poem or short story using your name in some way or form.

It only seems like magic. In truth, it is the ultimate science. As the saying goes, if it is advanced enough... Take the waves created by a voice. They move through the air, breath translated through vocal chord vibrations into sound. They are pushing the world around us in infintesimally small ways, those waves. Pressure rides behind them, however slight.

Add to that the mind of a man. She lays meaning into those sounds, weaving denotation and connotation together in a grand tapestry. Both are key: without the sound there would be no physical presence. Without the meaning it would only be noise. The physical and the mental are merged in speech; do not doubt that sign language applies as well. Fingers and hands are another form of physicality after all.

We are all connected, entangled in countless variant ways. It is a quantum truth. So do not be surprised when she speaks a name and across the world, he hears it. She is only applying the pressure of her voice and the meaning of the name itself. He is playing the universe, plucking at those strings as easily as the guitar in her hands.

65. Telephone: Write about a phone call you recently received.

The Millennials are killing us. We were already dead, that's the long and short of it. But here we are, shut out twice over. Every time one of those dastards cancels their phone line, we lose another chance to connect. All those hard-lines, all those wires buried deep and swooping overhead: those we can touch. Those we can ride through, a physical body to compensate for what we've lost. What do we get through VOIP and cell towers? Nothing! There's no true bridge when it's waves in the air; we're dead, not wizards.

64. Sing a New Song: Take a popular song off the radio and rewrite it as a poem in your own words. (Writer's Note: What's a radio?)

The Time approaches, but
it will not be sudden.
It will grow as slowly
as the skies move;
the sign of our mother
to her rightful place of Partnership,
the King of the gods
walking alongside the
Lord of War.

The Courts above will dance
in stately grace,
together and unrushed.
Around them will swing the lights
that shine down upon us all.

The World awakens
to a time of untrammeled sweetness
and unbending light of joy.

The Voices will rise up
in delight
at their recognition that each
is a note woven together as one.
We cannot help but feel our
neighbors in our hearts
when we look upwards and sing.
There is no room for unrighteous anger;
no room for vicious lies;
no room even for those slights
that do not plunge deep but always
leave a wound.

The Sleeping will sigh softly
as they drift through the lands
of Nod on a gentle breeze.
Our minds will open to cast rainbows
as the waves cascade through us to
refract delight and truth.
Unfolded like the blossom
we have longed for so long.