Whimsey's Throne

Thoughts about stories, games, and story games. More or less.

[whimseysthrone]

Fatherhood and masculinity, 7/2/26

Becoming a father has changed my experience of my gender. I think it’s a good change, but it (like most parts of parenthood) also feels like more work. (more…)

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Room to grow: Lootbound (demo)

The Lootbound demo fascinates me. It scratched a series of my itches, handily eating an hour and a half of my Saturday evening and keeping me up past my bedtime. Days after playing it, I find my mind returning to gnaw at its design choices. It is not, I think, the game for me. But it might be the game for you. (more…)

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The Creator (2023)

I finally watched The Creator, a movie directed by Gareth Edwards (the director of Rogue One). I’m a fan of Rogue One. I’ve also long loved stories that use AI and cybernetics to dig into our tender, fleshy explorations of humanity and the soul. I’m clearly the target audience. If anyone were to love a movie about one person caught up in the conflict between AIs living in syncretic coexistence…

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Teaching storytellers: recipes, ingredients, how to cook

How do you go from “Running a game of D&D sounds fun” to “I have some idea of what to do”? You could do what I did: play enough RPGs at an early enough age that you don’t remember  feeling daunted by or awkward about the transition from playing to running games. I figured running games was just what you were supposed to do. I paid attention to how my siblings ran games, and I tried to replicate…

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Spider-Noir, first impressions

My literal first thoughts after finishing the first episode: mmm mm yes, that is FUN! I want more! Spider-Noir is not a modern-styled piece. Spider-Noir is not trying to be a modern-styled piece. It is very obviously reaching for classic noir while holding onto its modern sensibilities. It isn’t a pitch perfect match for actual historical noir, but this loving homage feels right. It also might…

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Middle Grade & Adventure Fiction, 5/21/26

I received really helpful feedback last year alongside a rejection of Bury’em Deep. The agent said (I paraphrase) that she really liked the story, but wouldn’t represent me because she didn’t know an editor who was looking for it. She went on to say that middle grade was an exceptionally difficult market at present; acquiring editors were extremely picky, and she didn’t have the right contacts…

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Pain, progress, & Truby, 5/14/26

Success! Since my post last week, I’ve prioritized prep work during my writing time. It’s been good. I haven’t had that much writing time, and I haven’t answered all my questions. I definitely shouldn’t jump back to the story yet. But I have identified several problems that were eating at my subconscious, and I may have resolved one of them. Unfortunately, that resolution could be painful. This…

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Cooking, writing, prep work 5/7/26

Here are two scenarios. First, you’re in the kitchen. You need to make dinner—food for tonight, and leftovers for several days. You’re working from a recipe that you haven’t read before. You haven’t done any prep. You’re sure you have most of the ingredients you’ll need, but you haven’t even pulled any of them out of the cupboard. Second, you’re in the kitchen again. You still need to make…

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Distractions, 4/30/26

I’ve once more been waylaid by other things this week. I’m excited to see my friend’s book coming together (she’s working on book three of three). I’ve enjoyed reading another friend’s current work in progress (they’re retelling Lady & the Tramp as lesbian werewolf romance, and it’s great). My own writing has suffered the usual fate of being sidelined by other life duties… and when I do have…

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Collaborative worldbuilding #3, theme tags

I mentioned ‘theme tags’ in Collab World Building pt2, but didn’t explain at all. They’re a simple concept tied to a character, place, or idea: e.g. noble or nobility, priesthood, gods, thieves, crime, trade, The Thousand Year Empress, ancient relics, treasure, corruption, etc. Each tag reminds me to connect or reference thematically linked elements. I find that tracking these tags works well in…

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Squirrel Moon, 4/16/26

From over a month ago Today is a day for being behind. Rotavirus, congested sinuses with modestly colorful snot, yet more interrupted sleep, being on sick-baby duty: not a few of my favorite things, but certainly a list of things I’m experiencing this week. The pictures on my phone are ever-more full of baby, and less and less full of flowers. Perhaps spring will change that balance a little…

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Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

I’ve finally seen Kubo and the Two Strings, and I loved it. Yes, the story’s themes are well-trodden classics. Yes, I could see the twists before they arrived. No, I didn’t care—Kubo and the Two Strings knew what it was setting out to do, and it delivered that with skillful and focused storytelling. Plus, it’s gorgeous, and its presentation is stylish as hell. This is not a perfect movie. I…

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Project Hail Mary (book and movie)

I have read the book. I have seen the movie. I love both. Despite this, I find the movie a more appealing piece of art. Why? It comes down to emotion. Continue reading Project Hail Mary (book and movie)

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Eat your candy! Finding the fun in your games

Eat your candy. ASAP. I don’t mean your literal candy. Heck, I don’t eat much candy. When I do eat candy, I eat it in small amounts. Even ice cream, which I love, I eat sparingly. But when it comes to RPGs I think everyone should eat their (figurative) candy right away, even if that means sharing your character’s “secrets.” Continue reading Eat your candy! Finding the fun in your games

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The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal

“To put this into perspective… The Sirius has 5,600,000 parts and close to a million systems, subsystems, and assemblies. Even if everything was 99.9 percent reliable, that would still be 5,600 defects. It wasn’t a question of if something would go wrong on the way to the moon, it was a question of when and what.” Page 329, The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal This book has been on my…

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Collaborative worldbuilding cont., deferred exercises 3/12/26

I’ve deferred my Love/Hate connection experiment for at least one more session. I could do this differently; I could use that experiment now to improve my players’ understanding of their own PCs, as well as bettering my understanding of their relationships with the rest of the setting. I deferred that experiment yesterday because I wanted to get a session of play under our belts, whet my players’…

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A more secure basis, 3/5/26

Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government, and feudal lords tossing coins to the poor when they feel like it is no basis for an economy. If you’ve been listening to economic news… Continue reading A more secure basis, 3/5/26

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