Posts made by BetterJudgment

@Tempest said:

ERRRRRR! Derail.

The fuck. A zombie MUSH? Any good?

Some people seem to be having a great deal of fun.

@WTFE said:

So even after the Rasheem meltdown in which not having off-site backups was a problem, no off-site backups of the site were kept? Lovely. That's what we call "learning from the past".

I get the impression that what everyone learned is that they just didn't want to dick around with WORA any longer.

@Misadventure said:

I also wrote maps and notes on fragile biological materials, so this may just be crazy.

Just to show that I have at some point in my life played tabletop RPGs, when I read the bolded section above I immediately thought "pizza crusts."

@FirePuff said:

I think that's why some games highly restrict apping anything higher than 'entry level'. Promotions are earned by those who have an interest in the game, longevity in their roles, room for learning code, and less 'Captain Kirks' about.

Every time someone asks to app higher on the Trek game I'm on (entry level starting required), it's always a request for command, and they always expect existing characters to magically want to crew under them.

Bullshit. That statement says more about your own limitations than about anyone else's motives.

I recently explored apping a NCO (that is to say, someone ineligible for command) in his late-30s/early 40s on a game like this. It was not because I wanted the character to be in a command position but because I like playing characters who are dealing with the changed expectations and career goals that come with age and for whom issues of rank and experience can help define their actions and personality. I couldn't get anyone on the game to understand what I meant, however; they seemed to think that the only reason someone would want to play an older character was to have a higher rank and a better sheet. At least they were up front about it, which I figure saved us all some frustration.

There is a line of tall, multi-branched shrubs with small silvery-green leaves and tiny yellow flowers about five feet away from the double set of window next to my computer. It not only obscures my view of the alley, but also is a hangout place for at least four different varieties of small birds.

I don't live in fucking Alaska or fucking Antarctica, and it is fucking snowing so hard that it is almost a fucking blizzard. It is May, and it is fucking snowing. Fuck.

@Bobotron said:

@BetterJudgment
Well, to be fair? Probably most of their stuff is Toklien by way of the movies, rather than Tolkien by way of the books. So y'know, DORF-ELF WAIFU and shit.

Not all of it is by way of the movies. Ollie@Elendor is one of the main people there, and Ollie is both accurate and loads of fun. Maybe I Speak Pidgin Elf was a one-off.

I don't think Elendor is playable without local culture admins, and it didn't look like there were any left when I last looked. A better solution would probably be Elessar MUSH, which is still active (I just checked).

Edited to add: Eh. I just looked at some of their logs and saw one of the most unthematically played Elves I've ever seen. Maybe not.

@Arkandel You never played with Gond@Elendor, who was brilliant. In fact, Elendor at when I played there in 2005-2006 was full of very good players. It was only later that people were allowed to play Clumsy Awkward Teenage Elf and Hurt Cuddle Child Elf (things that never would have been allowed before).

Damn it, if you're going to whine that my cornbread is so much better than yours, then don't ask for help making it and then argue with me instead of doing what I say to do (such as, "Please don't dip the measuring cup that's wet from the milk you just measured into the flour canister"). There are reasons that my cornbread is good and yours is oily and gritty, and those reasons are all the things you just refused to do. If I could still eat the stuff, I'd make it myself, but since I can't and you didn't ask me to, you're on your own, champ.

@EmmahSue said:

Try clicking on the 'replied about an hour ago' portion of the recent messages page?

That takes you to the first message of the thread.

WTFE, if you're looking for a "first unread message" link, there isn't one that works. You definitely want to lower your expectations for this message board system.

I think some of you are a little too conflict-adverse. Even with Cirno's posturing, this thread isn't all that bad.

If everything and everyone are clicking just right, I love big scenes, and especially big combat scenes, more than just about anything else. Otherwise, I like three to five people, although having some of those be NPCs doesn't bother me. One-on-one scenes can be awkward, especially if you get into one and discover that you're not really being very entertaining to each other.

@VulgarKitten The last time I looked in on Elendor, it seemed to be completely moribund. Is it even possible to resurrect it?

@Cirno said:

2.) I have some familiarity with Medieval Poland, but @BetterJudgment is the Tenured Medieval History Professor, and I'll be goddamned if I'm going to usurp his position.

I know you're just yanking my chain, but I'm not tenured, and you probably know more than I do about medieval Poland.

Maybe you could pay for me to go to Uni and get a Ph.D. in medieval European history, though. Perhaps you could all pitch in; this appears to be a forum chock-full of Rich White People.

Hell, do what I did; work, take out loans, and accumulate far too much debt. It helps if you're not really suited for doing anything else.

I think Poland had serfs. I think that; it may not be true.

It is true; in fact, from what little I know, Eastern Europe retained serfdom far longer than Western Europe.

I missed this back in January; Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream) died.

@Thenomain said:

Can we please, as the Human Race, drop the 'skin tone' part of it and focus on the only part that matters: The culture that provides fuel to that bullshit? Like Chris Rock says, "The niggers have got to go.."

(n.b., I just love this bit, and this thread suddenly gave me an excuse to share it..)

I've never heard this bit before, and I didn't like it. (In fact, I skipped through the rest after three minutes, mostly because his delivery grates on me.) To me, his conflation of a racial slur with a set of behaviors that are markers of institutionalized poverty and racism is neither smart nor funny. Or, as someone smarter than me once said, "[Nigger] is a word used to describe our own wretchedness.".

One other. I suppose almost everyone knows this trick, but if not it's worth having on hand.

Nut Butter Sauce

1/2 large onion, diced
1/2 cup of peanut butter (it could also be tahini or cashew/almond/walnut butter)
3/4 cup of water or stock - I make a strong stock from instant vegetable broth powder
salt, cumin, cayenne, other seasonings
things to add when it's done: steamed vegetables, sautéd bean spouts, tempeh, chicken, etc.

Start the stock heating just to the simmer. Saute the onion in a little bit of neutral-flavored oil for about five to ten minutes. (You'll want to whisk it in the pan, so don't use a nonstick pan if you have a metal whisk.) Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the peanut butter, then whisk in the stock a little at a time until it is all incorporated and everything is smooth. Turn the heat to low and let it summer for about five to ten minutes. I always season it with a little salt, a good amount of cumin, and some cayenne. It really takes hot seasonings well, so ginger might be another good addition, as would stirring in some Sriracha.

This sauce is basically one of those things that you taste, think what would go good with what you're serving, and add some of that to it. It sticks really well to pasta. I've added sautéd tempeh and steamed summer squash and served it with spinach linguini or buckwheat soba, Diced cooked chicken and sautéd bean spouts would also be good.

This is from a cookbook called The Vegetarian Epicure. I'm not vegetarian, but I've taken this to every potluck for which I was supposed to provide a side dish and rarely have taken any back home. It's a great side dish for a roast.

Mushrooms Berkeley

1 lb. fresh mushrooms
2 medium bell peppers
1 red onion
1/2 cup butter

Sauce:
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup "mellow red table wine" (I don't know anything about wine, so I just get something cheaper than $12.00 that doesn't have a screw top)
fresh-ground black pepper
salt

Prepare the sauce: mix together the mustard, brown sugar, and Worcestershire until it's a smooth paste. Add the wine, lots of pepper, and a little bit of salt, and stir well.

Wash the mushrooms quickly and halve them. Wash and seed the bell peppers and cut them into rough 1" squares. Peel and chop the onion. Melt the butter (or half olive oil, half butter) in a large sauté pan or saucepan. Saute the onion until it is transparent, and then add the mushrooms and peppers. Cook them, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms brown and start to shrink, then stir in the sauce. Turn the flame to medium and simmer for at least 45 minutes, until the sauce is much reduced and thickened and everything has turned dark.