a blade of kindness

wielder of the black blade, recovering writer.

[nucultchic]

just a girl and her girl's rifle

[nucultchic]

if you’re cool w/ sharing, what are some of your favorite books? Of all time, or just recently, however you feel like answering

well of course there's House of Leaves, which is talked about constantly on here, and for good reason. everyone should give it a try. it's really not that difficult of a read, especially in the ways people say it is.

for fantasy I really loved the first Baru Cormorant book. haven't started the others but Baru is very good. it's refreshing having fantasy that's about people and race and power and not like. elves and dwarves and bullshit that frankly doesn't matter at all. if you want something darker and edgier I've also been enjoying Black Company so far but I'm still early and it's dated in a few ways. for high fantasy / sword + sorcery I recommend the elric books bc elric rules.

scifi is a blind spot for me bc most of it, frankly, sucks. Hitchhiker's Guide is fantastic though, really timeless and funny and interesting stuff in all those books (but restaurant at the end of the universe is my fave). for hard scifi I heard people liked three body problem but I fell off of it because all of the characters are practically Automatons and not people. the metamorphosis of prime intellect is also really good, but short. I think an unnecessary sequel is in the works.

most Brandon sanderson sucks. do not listen to goodreads. snapshot is a pretty fun detective short story though.

for better detective fiction I recommend The Yiddish Policeman's Union, which I adore so far. If you want a long running series then read Dresden Files, which is urban fantasy detective fiction. it's very Buffy. the first two books are the worst by far, and since there's 18 of them I genuinely recommend you just skip #2 and keep in mind that #1 hasn't "grown its beard" yet. certain aspects of the magic system aren't working as they will be later, and it's a lot more dependent on noir tropes than the rest of the books. also Harry's Chauvinism is less of a character flaw and more of the writer's actual views at first before he gets better at writing women. even then, it takes him a while to really Get There. all that said I still adore the series. the latest book is genuinely probably the best one? that or book 13. iykyk.

any disabled person should also read something by Porpentine Charity Heartscape, an insect with a lot of insight and range. there's genuinely at least one PCH story for everyone out there, you just need to find it. Serious Weakness is long, but fantastic. Cunt Towards Enemy is really fun and will keep you guessing in ways you will either adore or despise. Your Mother Has Fallen Out of Love With You or Cupbearer to the Gods are some of the most gripping writings on child abuse in fiction. plus many many many many short stories. also, it has a game coming out soon! definitely check that out.

for classics I recommend James Baldwin, just. anything by James Baldwin. god. his fiction is as sharp as his nonfiction and political writing. William Faulkner also has a lot to offer, specifically with the Sound and the Fury. that book's use of PoV should be studied by any author.

aaand I also gave Piranesi, The Water Dancer, and Orientalism next to my bed rn to start soon, but have not done so. id also recommend all of these. I haven't read as much Ta-Nahisi Coates as id like, but excerpts from his essays were my FAVORITE to dissect and discuss in my college English classes.

I could probably also give a list of just theoretical works to read, but I figured you were primarily asking about fiction, and this post is long and rambling enough as is atm

[reachartwork]

project card souls

[thydungeongal]

I have seen a lot of "Good GM" hunting and come to understand that 5e poisons GMs the same way it poisons players. Since I've been working on a game i've figured many ways to cure poisoned players, some of which include beating players for expecting anything from their entitlement.

Although dealing with Poisoned GMs is a more pressing problem that is also different and seems more difficult. What are things I can employ in a tabletop game system to make Poisoned GMs not struggle with managing my game?

I think it's good of games to actually communicate what is reasonable to expect of a GM and what GMs conversely should not do! Apocalypse World by Vincent and Meguey Baker has some really good advice in its MC section which very clearly and candidly communicates what the MC should do with the game (while also being clear that its advice is not universal, but simply the best approach for Apocalypse World). Similarly, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy by @anim-ttrpgs is similarly opinionated about what play should look like and a lot of its advice is aimed towards making sure Narrators do not bring in approaches from other games that don't fit Eureka (while also pointedly saying that its approach is not universal: it's simply the one that Eureka mandates).

So, whatever 5e-poisoned ideas you want GMs not to bring into your game, just say it! It's okay to write "don't write a story, because the story is what happens at the table." It's okay to write "The rules are this way for a reason and changing them will have knock-on effects."

[guelwaar]

it's insane how low the bar is for people to get credit as body posi or whatever like straight up entire debate conversations about this where even the staunch 'pro fat' side cannot and will not stake out basic positions like "being fat is not a magical exceptional disease state that converts starvation into a healthful activity"

[prokopetz]

It's not "incorrect" to treat tabletop RPG character creation as a guided OC creation tool – heck, it's not even novel; the first published tabletop RPG to explicitly frame character creation as a standalone solo minigame came out in like 1977 – but you do need to recognise that each character creation system is tuned to produce a very particular Type of Guy. Yes, even the ostensibly "generic" ones. This isn't a flaw – obviously you want character creation for a game to strongly push people toward creating characters who are both willing and able to participate in the things the game in question is about – but it's something to be aware of when using tabletop RPGs in this way. If you're trying to use Dungeons & Dragons as a creative framework for a character who would never under any circumstances voluntarily go into a dungeon to fight a dragon, you're gonna have a rough time!

[imsupposedtobestudying-whoops]

Art attack against @emmettkane and their mushroom knight(?) Mute 🍄🗡

[poetrylesbian]

[poetrylesbian]

I did not spend years of my life at university studying rome in classes that were over 50% women to let someone say "rome may be for the guys" on my post!!!

[winslowhomersimpson]

men aren't obsessed with Rome they're obsessed with being patriarchs who get to subjugate everyone around them. He doesn't care about Pliny the Elder, he's having wet dreams where he gets to be Caesar. It's unironically the new vegas thing, we're living in an age beyond on-the-nose satire. This was also mussolini's deal

[osimak]

[superchat]

[gnarlyghost]

Bounty Hunters of Limbo

[feverarchive]

[traniform]

it pisses me off that everyone proved women like miss forcefem and sam candles completely right

[traniform]

like these women among many others talked about how the specter of the pedophile is almost never used to protect actual children and csa victims. they talked about how the word "pedophile" is used as a trojan horse for harassment against vulnerable groups. they talked about how no one group is intrinsically evil, no one group is solely responsible for csa, and in the former case, that the sexual abuse of children instead stems from a larger problem within society where children do not have the autonomy to remove themselves from dangerous situations without putting themselves in an even more dangerous situation.

and you proved them right! you used them speaking up about this subject as an excuse to harass them. you made a spectacle of their every move, you branded them with words like "pedophile" and "predator" so that you had a justification to stalk them, to keep tabs on their every move. you saw that finally you had a woman you were ALLOWED to stalk without being called a fucking creep. you finally had another woman to put into your modern day freak show. and even so-called "feminists" took that opportunity with glee.

honestly there are no words in the english lexicon that could fully describe how fucking vile you people are. you act so high and mighty and throw tantrums when you get told that your virtue signaling helps nobody and makes it harder for actual victims to speak up. you stalk and pile up as many accusations as you can against the victims that call you out on your bullshit. you're so miserable that you need your fucking punching bag or you'll die. and god i wish you would die

[5mbreath]

1 // 2

artist: ｵｦﾀ1 (@/00990099ppcut)

[nonchalanz]

John Neil Rodger: “Walking nude with floral drape” (1999)

[amygdalae]

hey do u mind if I fetishize you. What why are you upset I'm doing it wokely and gayly. No you don't understand I'm objectifying you empowering style. You should be grateful someone like you is getting this attention like you shouldn't be looking a gift horse in the mouth with what you've got going on. Why are you mad

[escuerzoresucitado]

The time has come for France to own up to the massacre of its own troops in Senegal

One of the darkest moments of France’s colonial history has never been properly acknowledged. That could be about to change.

[dyslexic-asexual]

More info:

Thiaroye massacre - Wikipedia