Posts made by Auspice

Geez, @WTFE, be more careful.

A man from Shaanxi was shocked to learn that the "nutcracker" he has been using for the last 25 years was actually an old hand grenade.

This seems like the best spot for this...

Courses at Udemy are $10 today. There's a shit-ton of stuff there. I'm mostly looking at the programming languages, myself. Picking up one on Python and one for C#.

@Lithium said in Roleplaying writing styles:

All I care about, is that someone gives me something to roleplay with.

Pose length doesn't matter, so long as the person is engaged in the scene and furthering RP.

Give me something to play off of and I am good. In the right situation someone shaking their head, or making a noncommital(sic) sound can still further RP.

But...

People can write huge poses that add nothing. They can write small poses that add nothing.

Both of these are equally frustrating.

Those people are what I have referred to in other threads as 'furniture.' They are set dressing. They are there for their entertainment and no one else's.

RPing with them is upsetting because it is emotionally draining to carry an entire scene on your own. I know people who I really do like OOC, but I cannot be in a 1-on-1 scene with them because it will just wear me out to be the only one actively contributing.

@ThatGuyThere said in Roleplaying writing styles:

@EMDA said in Roleplaying writing styles:

B) Carl approaches Rick, sidling around to stand between the other man and the nearest exit. Crossing his arms, he asks, "Where were you on the night Christy was murdered?"

I'd want to play with the Carl in B way more than the Carl in A.

While I somewhat agree on your point on pose style, in a scene I would have huge issues with pose B. The reason for this is the assumed success that impacts what my character can do, by getting between Rick and the exit. To me this is power posing, granted not a horrible example of it but still unless you are dropping dice on the athletics roll pose the attempt let the other PC pose weather it succeeds or not.

This is why, when I'm doing such in a scene, I'd write it as:

"Carl approaches Rick, sidling around in an attempt to stand between the other man and the nearest exit."

That way there's the opportunity for the other player to decide if successful or not and to what degree. But it clearly depicts the what/where.

So I used to get 1-2 hours in the morning sans-migraine. Gave me time to get settled in for work, shower, maybe eat.

...now I wake up with it already there.

@Bobotron said in RL things I love:

@Auspice
Which is good, because Martin isn't presenting the most... fan-friendly face forward. Like, there's active arrangement of a WW boycott.

A WW boycott would not surprise me, at all.

But I also enjoy their product, so while yes, I will avoid anything Zak S. touches, I am also happy to try to encourage and aid change.

@Bobotron

It's all good! I just wanted to clarify that yeah, it wasn't like a form-letter 'this is our press release' kind of reply. It definitely had the feel of someone who is there, who wants to and has a limited capacity to make things happen.

@Bobotron said in RL things I love:

@Auspice
Actual WW or OPP is having you send over writing? Because WW has been fully in support of Zak's hiring and has plans to have him working on Vampire 5e. If actual WW, your response represents a big spin from what they had posted prior.

Reply was from a Manager within White Wolf. There was no direct 'We don't support this,' but it was kind of a read between the lines because they mentioned two openly-trans writers that have freelanced for them in the past, and included how they'd love to see more diversity themselves.

It felt less of a 'this is an official press release response' and more of a 'If you've got the stuff, I would love to be able to put it out there.'

She also gave a form that I'm happy to pass on where people can submit to be considered for their pool of folks: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf4kO-9mnBjDjAJ4xYDiz8V_lX2uMOWM0mxZ4MCxG7P-FVQ5w/viewform (Edited to add: this form is for the whole spectrum: writers, musicians, and visual artists)

The feel I get is they're not getting a spectrum of diversity applying (may be due to past issues) and some of them desperately want said folks.

@Admiral said in RL things I love:

Welp, I won't be buying any products this dong contributes to. Thank you for making me aware of his existence.

I especially 'liked' learning that he tries to attribute the disdain he's earned to 'people just hate me because I did porn and they're shaming me.'

No, no, buddy, that's not it. People dislike you because you're a sexist tool.

@Cupcake said in RL things I love:

Wonder what Brucato would have to say about it.

Quite a bit, I bet. The wording on the email I got back had this hint of 'Yes some of us are very bothered by it too and we desperately do want more diversity here.'

So I do not think there's widespread approval of Zak's hiring at WW.

I wasn't sure where else to put this...

...but any of you who have used Patreon, what's your experience?

I've considered starting one. I do a lot of short story / flash for school. Stuff that gets filed away either for the portfolio I'm building or to just sort of gather digital dust.

But would people actually be interested in helping support my poor ass in exchange for random written word shit?

I'm in this weird spot. If it was someone else, I'd be like 'Yes, written word has just as much validity as visual art or music and people succeed with Patreon for those all the time!' But because it's me it's like 'is my writing even worth that?'

Someone I currently RP with sometimes uses 'you' in her poses, but I think for her it's probably more a holdover from games where it was standard.

This, largely, is because I've seen her do it in a scene of three people. The other night, for example, three characters were in a kitchen, talking, while she prepared dinner. Her pose had a 'She places glasses in front of both of you.'

But I've also got a char in an IC relationship with hers and it's never come across as skeevy in the ways it has in... well, situations like @Ghost is referencing.

So the people that argue 'well it might be they used to be on games where it's the style' - I agree. But I can now say that it is very obvious when it's style/habit and when it's because they're blurring the lines between IC and OOC.

@Faceless said in Mental Health and Grown Up Stuff:

@Auspice said in Mental Health and Grown Up Stuff:

@Ganymede said in Mental Health and Grown Up Stuff:

@Auspice said in Mental Health and Grown Up Stuff:

So long as you're buying. I'm too poor for bar drinkin'.

We're doing this some place cheap, right? I mean, me and @hedgehog are supposed to meet up in Dayton, Ohio some time. You should come with. Booze be cheap down here; I be drinking double Blantons neat for under $10.

I haven't been to Dayton in about a decade.

Because it's...Dayton. That's reason enough.

I jest.

I lived in/around Cincinnati from 2004-2007. So there were some trips up Dayton-ways. Some. Not many. That drive sucks.

So... White Wolf recently hired Zak S. to write for them.

If you're not familiar with this guy and his "ew girls don't belong in games" style of sexism, here's some reading material (more easily found via Google).

Anyway. A good friend who is in the gaming industry (she's worked for SOE, Green Ronin, is now working for Mayfair Games to be the big marketing / Con person for Catan, runs her own tabletop gamng con) encouraged people to contact White Wolf about this.

I decided I would, because... shit. They've got enough issues. And hiring a guy who is a known problem in the industry is just lame. My argument was that a large part of their fanbase is female and this guy won't be helping. And, hey, there's awesome female (or LGBT, or POCs, etc) writers out there that would probably love to work for them. ...including myself.

...I've been asked to send over my writing portfolio. Which... I just happen to have been working on getting a solid one up and running.

So not a guarantee, but hey. Maybe something awesome will come of this.

@Ganymede said in Mental Health and Grown Up Stuff:

@Auspice said in Mental Health and Grown Up Stuff:

So long as you're buying. I'm too poor for bar drinkin'.

We're doing this some place cheap, right? I mean, me and @hedgehog are supposed to meet up in Dayton, Ohio some time. You should come with. Booze be cheap down here; I be drinking double Blantons neat for under $10.

I haven't been to Dayton in about a decade.

By Fall, I'll be living in the DC region. You should go there. >.>

@Ganymede said in Mental Health and Grown Up Stuff:

@Auspice said in Mental Health and Grown Up Stuff:

Do you realize how much liquor you have to get into me? No one wants that bar tab.

I'm rich, biotch.

So long as you're buying. I'm too poor for bar drinkin'.

Woah, who's volunteering me to sing?!

Do you realize how much liquor you have to get into me? No one wants that bar tab.

@Ganymede

I think we're on a similar page here. I misunderstood your previous post as trying to say that those platitudes are a good thing to be saying. And it might help the person themselves, but I think people (esp. when it comes to physical health) need to scale back on repeating them to the people involved.

I mean, a 'I hope things improve soon' once is alright, but constant 'Oh I'm sure it'll happen tomorrow!'

And you're doing the right thing with your partner. As someone who gets panic/anxiety attacks, nothing makes me feel worse than being told 'Just calm down' or 'It'll be fine.' Because deep down, yes, you are aware of that, but it doesn't stall/stop the tightness in your chest and the struggle to breathe... so you do start to feel like a failure.

And having been close to people who also suffer it, there is that huge desire to do something for them... The best you can do is be supportive. Does your partner have a favorite comfort food? Bring it by for them the weekend after they've had an especially difficult paper or test. Just swing in and be all, 'Here's that food you love, wanna watch a movie?'

Us anxious types... failure, esp. public failure is the worst thing. You can tell us you won't think less of us if we don't learn a new skill right away or if we get a C instead of an A on a test... but because we feel like we failed ourselves, we'll also feel like we failed you, and we don't want to hurt your image of us.

It's.. a really difficult thing to live with. On both sides. You want your partner to know that you support them no matter what. The best way? Through action. I'm sorry it's hard right now, but you are doing it right.

@Ganymede said in Mental Health and Grown Up Stuff:

@Lisse24 said in Mental Health and Grown Up Stuff:

This very morning, as I explained the situation with my niece, a friend said, "Well, she'll be home soon!" No. No, she won't and it sucks. We're tired and grumpy and telling us to look on the bright side delegitimizes the struggle that we're going through right now.

They are saying this to comfort themselves. Folks don't want to admit how easy it is to fall on hard times. They still want to believe that everything will be fine if you pick yourself up by the bootstraps.

It's dangerous to the people in the thick of it, tho. It's like that article even said- that woman had people in a cancer group who were the most optimistic people she'd ever met. Which, props to them for being positive. It's hard in that state.

But the whole mindset of 'Just be optimistic!' leads so many of us to either squelching the sad/upset or even berating themselves for it. It's OK to feel like something sucks when it does.

I'm sorry to hear, @Lisse24. Esp. your niece. That sort of situation is hard on everyone.

This is more frustration at myself than anything.

After my lease here is up, I'm moving in with someone (save money!) who has two cats. One of their cats is on a special diet for health reasons. So I was switching my cat over so she'd be well-used to the food (since their cats and mine 'free feed' on dry food).

...despite it being a limited ingredient food, it's been upsetting her stomach. She's never had problems with food before and has been a pretty 'eats whatever she's given' cat, so I thought, when she first began throwing the food out of the bowl to get at the old food (since you generally slowly transition in the new) that she was just being picky.

But it's been about a week of just the new and she's avoiding eating and when she does, has puked. I wanted to give it a few days to be sure she wasn't just being bratty, but no.

I've gotten new food that I know she tolerates and likes, but I still feel bad that I put her through that.