Best posts made by mietze

Thanks for putting Hemlock Grove on my radar. I am enjoying it!

@Jennkryst to be clear, I will never make a for profit or fee based mush. Ever. I owned my own business for many years, it is a lot of work. I also though that process became aware of some of the more annoying things about private contracting, reporting online income, how my municipality and state expects the same to be collected, ect.

I also think staffing on a volunteer basis can be bad enough with people's entitlement and pressure, the last thing I want is some kid chasing me around screaming "I PAID my two dollars!!!"

I enjoyed CP, but luckily I'd known a few people who'd seen it first, so I was prepared for the fact that it's a frock drama more than horror. It was beautiful. But definitely not on the level of Pan's Labyrinth for story, or even Pacific Rim. I do kind of think that Crimson Peak is a little like Pacific Rim except for frock romancey drama Rebecca-light folks rather than kaiju movie people.

I think people are first writing up stuff, but then waiting, so that they can edit what they've written if other people are doing stuff way different, because nobody wants to be the weirdo that gets things wrong and now it's awkward because of all the other simultaneous posts that either make it look like you copied or misinterpreted OOCly like whoa.

Now that I have had my crying jag about it, I had a pretty bummer day at work today which was ok but what really turned the day into a shitty day was my van dying on the way home.

Tow costs unexpected car costs, I was already out a week of work due to workplace injury a couple of weeks ago. We have 3 tuition bills to pay. Im stressed. But what I cried about is potentially telling one of my kids I can't come visit him at school (I had to miss his university family weekend because of my stupid workplace injury!!! We had rescheduled for this sunday) Until the van is fixed.

I miss my kids and I fucking hate worrying about $$$ and my leg i hurt at work is very painful bc of workday plus extra time on my feet trying to figure out the damn car.

@Goblin I really really like the pose order for pose in, 3 pr afterwards!

Just feeling like a shitty everything tonight. Maybe the feeling will pass, maybe it won't. Maybe it's just the new state of being.

@Derp said in MU*, Youth, and LGBT+ Identity:

There is a certain degree of "unrealisticness" that you have to accept in any sort of fiction endeavor. The intention is the more important part, and whether the character is being played as some sort of cringey gag or is legitimately being played to hilite a certain topic. The line there is sometimes blurry, but I assure you, there is a line.

Totally agree with this.

To launch from it, I think that not only is unrealisticness to some degree need to be accepted, you also probably need to be able to purposefully adapt some things to a mush setting, especially for professions (not so much culturally, though that can happen too!)

I've seen this more with military/cop/medical PCs and players of them who do have that background and get really hung up on how accurate things are in the game. (This is not a majority of players who are part of those professions by far.) Most people I know with those backgrounds who also play a PC from a similar background are often pretty amused by it or the game mechanics around it. But like if you cannot OOCly bend at all, I think it will not make for a happy play experience. I have as a GM had to spend a long time trying to talk a few people down from their distress and anger over combat mechanics, because they were insistent that things don't work that way in RL, ect. Which is totally true! But there's being annoyed and rolling one's eyes and grumbling (totally fair IMO but best done maybe privately with a buddy instead of holding up a scene or venting oocly to the room after every turn), and then there's being very rigid in how things have to look on the game or else one is compelled to fight and lecture, ect.

More broadly, we do have this discussion pop up frequently around racism/homophobia in particular and "historic era" or "history era inspired" mushes too. That's an often uncomfortable one to negotiate too, but again eventually the staff or gamerunner are going to pick the parameters and they may be realistic in some ways but not in others, and the players are just going to have to deal with it or not play there.

That's why I often do try to just sit and be with my discomfort when I encounter stuff that irritates me, unless it's starting to branch out into OOC behavior--and even then ultimately it's not my call as to what is or isn't tolerated by the game! If it's too uncomfortable for me, I can walk away, no harm no foul. If I decide I'd rather stay, then I need to be mindful in how I engage and what my expectations are.

But while I have run in to people who are problematic pretty commonly, I personally would say that for the most part people mean well, and the people who are going to be problems for that game are going to manifest many types of behaviors beyond a hyuckity-yuck stereotype in RPing that will draw attention to themselves.

If real firearms are allowed to be part of production (there's no reason for them to be) then bluntly i think it is every handlers responsibility to know basic gun safety and to at least do the final check themselves.

It is a hard way to learn that lesson, but if the choice is made to use firearms that should be the price of admission.

What happened was negligent. I dont think Baldwin is absolved of it, but I doubt he will be charged with anything more than minor slap on the wrist stuff (if he is at all).

I also wish that there were more universal and transparent rules around this but there's not. Sp this will happen again.

People negligently kill their children frequently with unattended/unsecured/improperly stored firearms and they're not usually charged with anything unless they meet certain qualifiers which none of the people involved in this incident meet.

I do think though that Baldwin and the company and that armorer are going to get the shit sued out of them in a civil court and I cannot say that I think that's bad.

@faraday When I sign up to GM a non-strictly-social plot scene, I feel an obligation to respect the players' time--and I expect other people to also. So if 15 minutes had passed with absolutely NO response (unless I knew this was a group of players who routinely take 30 minutes to pose--BTDT and planned the scene around it!), then I wouldn't feel bad about prompting/encouraging people to go ahead and pose, or else I'd just have everyone roll initiative and we could do it that way thorugh the initial scene set only (and just skip the non-responders after 15 minutes after everyone else had gone had passed), and go back to 3pr.

In most of the scenes I've GMed I outline attention/time standards (one of which is if you don't respond to my private page prompting for your action that round in 15 minutes I will move on to the next person--you're welcome to go to the end of the line, but if everyone has gone and you've still not responded, we move on to the next round and you lose your action; and that if I am given a heads up that you're going to be AFK I will try as hard as I can to preserve your action, maybe for an additional 15 minutes at the end of everyone else having gone). In fairness I also disclose these up front and try to incorporate those in the signup process so people know.

I am sure it does make some people avoid my scenes or get angry (after 3 rounds of non activity and no notice, I remove people from the scene--nothing bad happens to them, but that means they've usually had 90 minutes or so with no activity, no response, and no communication) and sometimes people will eventually notice and get hurt or angry (I try to be nice and professional in my communication with them up to/through/after the removal). But I also find that people who even might have gotten bumped often show up the next time better prepared to communicate (or they don't show up) and my other players feel like I care about their time/preserve their ability to play fully conscious (as opposed to scenes running super long with long periods of waiting--most people are fine if the action is steady with things going long, but I always ask!).

My derpy destructive but also ridiculously beautiful when he wants to be panther cat has racked up yet another destroyed thing to his tally. He is the most expensive pet I have ever owned. So far he has destroyed a large zojirushi rice cooker (getting caught trying to pull out the retractable cord, freaking out, and scrambling over the top of it and knocking it to the ground from the high shelf it was placed on), a wedding-gift tiffany vase (getting in a fight with his sister on top of the china cabinet and booty bumping it off even though it wasn't near the ledge), an antique snow globe (knocking it over while desperately trying to bite the corner of the mantle), a fondue pot and everything but the forks part of that set (freaking out at the clicking noise made when he bit and then tried to run away with the magnetic cord, and jumping into the pot and then knocking it to the ground in the pantry, scratching up the surface and bending the fork rest), almost everyone in the family's favorite coffee/tea mug (4 in total--all from opening up the cabinet we keep the drinkware in and inexplicably trying to squeeze himself onto the mug shelf. These were not done at once, but in 4 separate incidents), a dyson vaccum cleaner (chewing through the cord), and now my favorite duster length cozy sweater (going apeshit with biting, rabbit kicking, and generally being a hooligan after getting into some catnip).

His sister just lays around looking like the huge owl eyed fluffball that she is, farting, snoring, and occasionally attacking guests.

I personally wouldn't spring it on anyone as a general practice. It would more be like "hey guys we are 20 minutes in, if you were waiting on anything from me please let me know, I meant to have you go ahead and pose in/3pr until action started, sorry if that wasnt clear. If you need more time please let me know, or go ahead and pose, otherwise I might run a quick init, and I will make my way through that list to check in with you."

@greenflashlight there are a ton of different vegan butter products that have different things they're made out of, so you could see if a different product isn't as foamy.

I make batches of my own since I don't like the taste of most margarines and the products that are marketed towards vegans are well, usually stupidly expensive.

To be clear, I do not think that people are seeking out a passive way to be involved necessarily--they are just seeking ways that they will be valuable.

I think most of us at some people have experienced working very hard and receiving a lot of feedback that people enjoy the character, but little reciprocation or inclusion even after we have been proactive and inclusive, at least in our own perception. (this may or may not be shared by others though.)

I look at it more as people seeking ways to invest in a game and with a group that will also be opportunities for them. I do not see it as a negative at all, though I think by asking it that way a lot of folks arent really going to get the answer they're really seeking.

Does he perhaps know that his actions caused the bird to die regardless of how it was told to him? I find even very young children often know. They feel bones break or other aspects when they squeeze/drop/stuff and believe that it was related to their actions.

It is something to monitor/watch out for. I have seen young children also get more freaked out when they suspect that one thing is true but then are directed elsewhere by trusted adults, but granted this is more for preschool+ not toddler, and there's a spectrum as far as when that bridge happens.

What a tough situation though. I hope you guys are all on the mend soon.

I think the brothel bit would not cause most people to bat an eye. I do not know that I've ever seen a WoD place without at least one wink wink strip club or prostitution ring because there are a ahitload of people that love playing prostitutes and strippers. Unless they are outright banned, prostitutes either street level or courtesan concepts are very popular characters to make in almost every theme I have played.

Are there players that freak out about it even in places where they are allowed, yes. Are there cringeworthy PCs sometimes, oh hell yes.

But I dont think that brothel setting play will have trouble attracting players who will make PCs for it, and most of the time (despite the side eye) there is a lot more things going on than sex scenes.

And also, as someone who has worked for years in ECE (albeit with a huge gap) plus done a lot of volunteering with elementary age outdoor education and the like, i know that this can be a knife to the heart for a parent but it doesn't mean you did anything wrong or your kid is a bad kid! (I'm sure you know that!) It is common enough that the school i currently work for has a policy on how to handle supporting kids and families when a critter is accidentally killed or hurt (the playground is largely field/wooded and near a slough/protected area so we have lots of tiny bunny nests/bird nests/tree frogs/snakes/ect even in the fenced/mowed areas and sometimes stuff happens before we can run over/see it.

You're doing a great job just being calm and supporting them!

@DariRyu I don't even think that need be done on a highly structured type of game (military). An IC message/memo can just be written to the appropriate other commanders or people/staff regarding the incident and the consequences, leave it at that. "Blah blah blah, as of <date> <PC> is confined to station/will no longer be available for <x> type of missions/must have written clearance from <NPC/PC> before being allowed on any missions, ect."

That will still not prevent some people from blowing their stack, but they were going to do it anyway one way or another if they truly can't accept any consequences whatsoever, so either staff will need to remove them if they throw a shitfit, or if you know staff won't do that, then you have to just deal with it.

Personally I think the player of the PC who is being forced into imposing consequences should have this option no matter what, since it's not very fun to have to do these types of scenes for the disciplinarian end either, usually, and they're already going to be facing negative IC and OOC consequences of having to do so anyway sometimes.

Not really a recipe, but the real reason why I like(d) to do baked potato and chili bar dinners for game night is because I would always cook like 4 extra baked potatoes for baked potato soup the next day.

Leftover baked potatoes
About 1 cup of broth for each potato
1 cup of milk if not adding the remnants of sour cream from baked potato bar
1 cup shredded cheese)
Leftover baked potato bar toppings (in our house this is is usually chopped fresh chives, green onions, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, bacon, crispy onions)

Peel the extra potatoes, chop them up, put into saucepan, add broth, season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Slowly add and incorporate milk or sour cream, once well stirred use immersion blender or masher to achieve desired level of smooth/chunkiness. Slowly stir in cheese in batches until well incorporated. Serve with potato bar toppings on the side for people to add as desired.

If you like bacon (or guests/the fam ate all the previous night's chopped up bacon) then sometimes chop up a few strips and cook them up in the saucepan first, before adding the potatoes and going through the rest of the steps.

@Thenomain I only use it to create shareable playlists because it is free to all. I don't like that the listening end seems to involve forced shuffle for the free usage.

I think that is part of why it annoys me and feels like a pain vs the hours I used to spend making mix tapes/burning CDs and mailing them to people. Order is sometimes important to me, so I like having the option to.present an order than people can then shuffle if they want.