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axisandallies ][ david corenswet ]
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axisandallies ]
May the prison you liberate have more than seven prisoners.
Trick or Treat MJV Week [Oct 3rd - Oct 9th 2025]
Jul. 15th, 2025 11:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
30or40yearsold posting in fandomcalendar
We've now played four half-day sessions of our "Stars Without Number" campaign and I'm having a lot of fun.
Our party owns and operates a mining ship, and our first two sessions featured quite a bit of asteroid mining, and also a rescue mission and exploration. Then the space pirates attacked! Not us directly but the space station we are currently based at, so we helped fight them off. And then our latest session was mostly shopping & intel gathering & planning: it sounds like there's an entire fleet of pirates, likely from outside the system, and they've sabotaged and possibly taken over several stations/planets/routes. We'll find out more next time!, which sadly won't be until September because of vacations.
I really like my character. I'm a teleporter! (Talk about wish fulfillment.) Partial psychic/partial expert, because I thought being a full psychic would be overwhelming and I was mostly interested in one discipline anyway. Being able to teleport is so cool. I can teleport 1000 kilometres already and take three people with me.
I'm also really happy with my role in the party. In our main campaign I'm the youngest cat in a group of older and more headstrong cats, which I found difficult sometimes. This time I decided to play a character with more authority, and I've enjoyed it a lot. While all of our party members own the ship together and have equal say, on the bridge I'm the captain; and more importantly, I'm the one keeping track of our money and inventory. (Idk why our GM was surprised that I made a budget and business plan after the first session ^^ )
Our DM told us to prepare back-up characters in case we die, and I did, but I really hope I survive. I even ordered a nice mini figure for her :) As a party I think we've good odds of survival: we have a medic, a biopsionic (=healer), and I can teleport us out in emergencies. Fingers crossed.
I also really enjoy the system, both the setting and mechanically. Playing in a sci-fi world is a welcome contrast after around three years playing in a fantasy world as cats. And playing someone with supernatural abilities feels especially cool after three years as a non-magical archer.
One thing I didn't expect to enjoy this much is leveling up. In our previous system we earn adventure points and we can spend those on improving abilities/skills/etc., but it's more gradual, which tbh makes more sense in-universe. Buuut, leveling up just feels cool. Especially when I can pick new abilities.
What I like less is how ship combat works. So far it's been a little tedious as it seems like half the party always has very little to do; but I suspect that's also because our combat options as a mining ship are limited. We'll see how it goes. We just upgraded our weapons because of the pirates.
Once again our GM has underestimated how long it'll take us to get through his plot so we'll have to see how far we get/what happens when our fifth cat comes back from her year abroad. But until then I really look forward to our next adventures.
Our party owns and operates a mining ship, and our first two sessions featured quite a bit of asteroid mining, and also a rescue mission and exploration. Then the space pirates attacked! Not us directly but the space station we are currently based at, so we helped fight them off. And then our latest session was mostly shopping & intel gathering & planning: it sounds like there's an entire fleet of pirates, likely from outside the system, and they've sabotaged and possibly taken over several stations/planets/routes. We'll find out more next time!, which sadly won't be until September because of vacations.
I really like my character. I'm a teleporter! (Talk about wish fulfillment.) Partial psychic/partial expert, because I thought being a full psychic would be overwhelming and I was mostly interested in one discipline anyway. Being able to teleport is so cool. I can teleport 1000 kilometres already and take three people with me.
I'm also really happy with my role in the party. In our main campaign I'm the youngest cat in a group of older and more headstrong cats, which I found difficult sometimes. This time I decided to play a character with more authority, and I've enjoyed it a lot. While all of our party members own the ship together and have equal say, on the bridge I'm the captain; and more importantly, I'm the one keeping track of our money and inventory. (Idk why our GM was surprised that I made a budget and business plan after the first session ^^ )
Our DM told us to prepare back-up characters in case we die, and I did, but I really hope I survive. I even ordered a nice mini figure for her :) As a party I think we've good odds of survival: we have a medic, a biopsionic (=healer), and I can teleport us out in emergencies. Fingers crossed.
I also really enjoy the system, both the setting and mechanically. Playing in a sci-fi world is a welcome contrast after around three years playing in a fantasy world as cats. And playing someone with supernatural abilities feels especially cool after three years as a non-magical archer.
One thing I didn't expect to enjoy this much is leveling up. In our previous system we earn adventure points and we can spend those on improving abilities/skills/etc., but it's more gradual, which tbh makes more sense in-universe. Buuut, leveling up just feels cool. Especially when I can pick new abilities.
What I like less is how ship combat works. So far it's been a little tedious as it seems like half the party always has very little to do; but I suspect that's also because our combat options as a mining ship are limited. We'll see how it goes. We just upgraded our weapons because of the pirates.
Once again our GM has underestimated how long it'll take us to get through his plot so we'll have to see how far we get/what happens when our fifth cat comes back from her year abroad. But until then I really look forward to our next adventures.
Charts hold back chaos, and we should sing their praises!
Why Do I Love Charts? Let Me Count the Ways.
This new Hearts of Wulin Bundle presents Hearts of Wulin, the tabletop roleplaying game of Chinese wuxia action melodrama from Age of Ravens Games.
Bundle of Holding: Hearts of Wulin
If the new Superman movie had included Súperman es Ilegal (lyrics in English and Spanish in video), even just a little bit, I might've felt all the whiners were justified in saying how woke it is. It's a charming movie with compelling performances, but "woke" is a serious overstatement by people who can't handle characters who aren't white dudes doing things.
This Ma and Pa Kent were my favorite iterations of themselves outside of comics, and I fully believed that this Clark would say, "Dang."
If you like your superheroes a little too clean-cut and a lot too earnest, you, too, may enjoy this flick.
This Ma and Pa Kent were my favorite iterations of themselves outside of comics, and I fully believed that this Clark would say, "Dang."
If you like your superheroes a little too clean-cut and a lot too earnest, you, too, may enjoy this flick.
2005: The Ulster Volunteer Force struggles to grasp the meaning of the term “ceasefire”, Britain is astonished by the unlikely coincidence that every known WWI veteran is over 100 years of age, and in what some experts hope is a sign Britain has begun to emerge from chaos after the retreat of the Roman Empire, Dr Who is revived.
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2005 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Iron Council by China Miéville
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Market Forces by Richard Morgan
River of Gods by Ian McDonald
The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Poll #33355 Clarke Award Finalists 2005
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 34
Which 2005 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
View Answers
Iron Council by China Miéville
11 (32.4%)
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
11 (32.4%)
Market Forces by Richard Morgan
6 (17.6%)
River of Gods by Ian McDonald
9 (26.5%)
The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
14 (41.2%)
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
11 (32.4%)
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2005 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Iron Council by China Miéville
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Market Forces by Richard Morgan
River of Gods by Ian McDonald
The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
1. Murderbot! I deeply enjoyed the whole first season. I think they did a lovely job of translating from book into tv show, and Skarsgard has totally sold me on the role. (It helps that we know he loves the books too -- he wants to do right by them.)
2. Andor! I'm now seven episodes in and absolutely loving it. It feels awfully relevant to our moment. Also I am amused by the fact that this show also relies in part on the acting talent of a Skarsgard, just, y'know, a different one.
3. Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy by Martha Wells, published to celebrate the Murderbot S1 finale.
4. Cold coffee with milk and splenda, and a distant patch of blue in the cloudy skies.
5. All of my laundry is folded and put away. This is, as ever, a temporary state of affairs but it's a nice one while it lasts.
2. Andor! I'm now seven episodes in and absolutely loving it. It feels awfully relevant to our moment. Also I am amused by the fact that this show also relies in part on the acting talent of a Skarsgard, just, y'know, a different one.
3. Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy by Martha Wells, published to celebrate the Murderbot S1 finale.
4. Cold coffee with milk and splenda, and a distant patch of blue in the cloudy skies.
5. All of my laundry is folded and put away. This is, as ever, a temporary state of affairs but it's a nice one while it lasts.
⏩ Person who nominated Albin/Georges for La Cage Aux Folles: from what we can tell, the character who is named George in the play and musical is called Renato Baldi in the film -- is this who you mean to nominate? If not, please help us out with a clarification! (This question is still open -- the nomination was accidentally deleted, but if you are still interested, please re-nominate with the correct name, or with the same ones accompanied by an explanation here, and we'll take care of it right away.)
⏩ A reminder about RPF. According to the rules, "RPF is permitted for requests in a documentary fandom (Grey Gardens (1975), for example). In other cases, it will be subjected to moderator approval." Because the exchange is focused specifically on films rather than the people who made them, we are at this point not allowing RPF about the figures involved in making those films (actors, directors, etc).
Nominations close on 17 July! Countdown is here.
⏩ A reminder about RPF. According to the rules, "RPF is permitted for requests in a documentary fandom (Grey Gardens (1975), for example). In other cases, it will be subjected to moderator approval." Because the exchange is focused specifically on films rather than the people who made them, we are at this point not allowing RPF about the figures involved in making those films (actors, directors, etc).
Nominations close on 17 July! Countdown is here.
Played two games on Sunday. Think I played 2 games a couple of rounds ago, too.
On the whole, the body is hurting quite a bit more than it was last time. But I've been having a few aches and pains.
Good feeling: I scored a goal - a beautiful pass from the wing straight into the middle of the circle, and I (and a defender whose stick clashed with mine) reangled it into the goal behind the keeper.
Bad feeling: all the twingy, twitchy hip and leg aches for which I am going to see a physio this morning.
Apparently, Team 1 is down to 13 players (there's 11 on the field) and they were going to move some of T2 up (myself and my friend J, who came and played for the club last year because I was here and her team was being relegated to a competition in the southwest; she still plays with them for the masters/veterans competition) but we've got about three injuries ongoing on the team - including one fractured foot and one pregnancy, who is taking it fairly easy.
Yesterday, we were missing one of our 'young runners', and the other had period cramps really bad. Both inners (women about my age, so perimenopausal) were nursing injuries, and our pregnancy is on the wing. Doing well, but...yeah. She probably won't be running much longer...
Our forward line is simply not able to get the ball up there with any kind of strength, so we're losing 3-0, but we're doing a really good job at playing. I know that doesn't sound like we are with 3-0 losses, but truly told, we're playing amazing. Passing, calling, talking, we just can't get it into the circle and into the goal.
Anyway, we're improving and we're having fun. Even the not-so-nice team was okay to play yesterday.
Back to Team 1, they're probably going to try to get myself and J qualified for the team in the finals series. Which...eek. That means at least another 2 weekends with 2 games for me. Which...I can maybe do if I keep my fitness up? Oof.
But I may reach my holidays and be like "here is a pool and a nice hotel in Sinagapore and I AIN'T MOVING A MUSCLE"...
On the whole, the body is hurting quite a bit more than it was last time. But I've been having a few aches and pains.
Good feeling: I scored a goal - a beautiful pass from the wing straight into the middle of the circle, and I (and a defender whose stick clashed with mine) reangled it into the goal behind the keeper.
Bad feeling: all the twingy, twitchy hip and leg aches for which I am going to see a physio this morning.
Apparently, Team 1 is down to 13 players (there's 11 on the field) and they were going to move some of T2 up (myself and my friend J, who came and played for the club last year because I was here and her team was being relegated to a competition in the southwest; she still plays with them for the masters/veterans competition) but we've got about three injuries ongoing on the team - including one fractured foot and one pregnancy, who is taking it fairly easy.
Yesterday, we were missing one of our 'young runners', and the other had period cramps really bad. Both inners (women about my age, so perimenopausal) were nursing injuries, and our pregnancy is on the wing. Doing well, but...yeah. She probably won't be running much longer...
Our forward line is simply not able to get the ball up there with any kind of strength, so we're losing 3-0, but we're doing a really good job at playing. I know that doesn't sound like we are with 3-0 losses, but truly told, we're playing amazing. Passing, calling, talking, we just can't get it into the circle and into the goal.
Anyway, we're improving and we're having fun. Even the not-so-nice team was okay to play yesterday.
Back to Team 1, they're probably going to try to get myself and J qualified for the team in the finals series. Which...eek. That means at least another 2 weekends with 2 games for me. Which...I can maybe do if I keep my fitness up? Oof.
But I may reach my holidays and be like "here is a pool and a nice hotel in Sinagapore and I AIN'T MOVING A MUSCLE"...
I love my dad but...
( he's a cheapskate )
Otherwise, am making plans for places to stay in London, Bath, Porto, and Rotterdam, and finding things to do in those places, too.
Anyone done day tours in Porto, Portugal?
( he's a cheapskate )
Otherwise, am making plans for places to stay in London, Bath, Porto, and Rotterdam, and finding things to do in those places, too.
Anyone done day tours in Porto, Portugal?
A really thoughtful essay on Murderbot: ‘Even If They Are My Favourite Human’: Murderbot Just Explained Boundaries
https://countercurrents.org/2025/07/even-if-they-are-my-favourite-human-murderbot-just-explained-boundaries/
“I Don’t Know What I Want”: The Line That Changed Everything
In the final moments of the season, Murderbot says: “I don’t know what I want. But I know I don’t want anyone to tell me what I want or to make decisions for me. Even if they are my favourite human.”
This is not a dramatic declaration. It is confusion wrapped in clarity. A sentence that holds discomfort and self-awareness in equal measure. It reflects a truth often ignored in stories about intelligence and emotion: that it is okay to not know, as long as that unknowing belongs to the self. In a world that constantly demands certainty, this line opens up space for uncertainty without shame.
* And a great interview with Alexander Skarsgård!
https://collider.com/murderbot-finale-alexander-skarsgard/
So, it just wants to start fresh and get away, and figure out who it is and what it wants. It doesn't really know that. I quite enjoyed that Murderbot didn't end up having answers to all the questions or knowing exactly what it wants. It's more messy and complicated than that. But it definitely knows that it needs to find its own path and make its own decisions, to make its own mistakes, and not have the Corporation or anyone tell it who it is or what it wants.
https://countercurrents.org/2025/07/even-if-they-are-my-favourite-human-murderbot-just-explained-boundaries/
“I Don’t Know What I Want”: The Line That Changed Everything
In the final moments of the season, Murderbot says: “I don’t know what I want. But I know I don’t want anyone to tell me what I want or to make decisions for me. Even if they are my favourite human.”
This is not a dramatic declaration. It is confusion wrapped in clarity. A sentence that holds discomfort and self-awareness in equal measure. It reflects a truth often ignored in stories about intelligence and emotion: that it is okay to not know, as long as that unknowing belongs to the self. In a world that constantly demands certainty, this line opens up space for uncertainty without shame.
* And a great interview with Alexander Skarsgård!
https://collider.com/murderbot-finale-alexander-skarsgard/
So, it just wants to start fresh and get away, and figure out who it is and what it wants. It doesn't really know that. I quite enjoyed that Murderbot didn't end up having answers to all the questions or knowing exactly what it wants. It's more messy and complicated than that. But it definitely knows that it needs to find its own path and make its own decisions, to make its own mistakes, and not have the Corporation or anyone tell it who it is or what it wants.
The first in a series of anthologies that assemble stories by Campbell Award (now the Astounding) finalists.
New Voices: The Campbell Award Nominees (New Voices, volume 1) edited by George R R Martin
In which we make another time jump, the Foundation is now in its monarchical phase, while Empire seems to approach its version of the Third Century Crisis. Also: Demerzel is still my favourite.
( Spoilers are explaining the Three Laws of Robotics and the Zeroth Law )
( Spoilers are explaining the Three Laws of Robotics and the Zeroth Law )
Shows: SGA
Rec Category: Alternate Universe - fork in the road
Characters: Teyla Emmagan, Evan Lorne, John Sheppard
Categories: Gen. John Sheppard & Teyla Emmagan
Words: 2012
Warnings: no AO3-type warnings apply
Author on DW:saraht
Author's Website: saraht on AO3, and more on DW
Link: Six crooked highways on DW
Why This Must Be Read: I'm a fan of post-Conversion bug!John stories and this is darker than most, but with a hopeful ending. In this, John is only partially restored by Carson's treatment, flees through the gate into Pegasus, and Teyla and Ronon have searched for him for months. Finally, on an off-world mission, Teyla, Ronon, and Lorne find a number of dead Wraith...
( Teyla and Lorne snippet )
Rec Category: Alternate Universe - fork in the road
Characters: Teyla Emmagan, Evan Lorne, John Sheppard
Categories: Gen. John Sheppard & Teyla Emmagan
Words: 2012
Warnings: no AO3-type warnings apply
Author on DW:
sarahtAuthor's Website: saraht on AO3, and more on DW
Link: Six crooked highways on DW
Why This Must Be Read: I'm a fan of post-Conversion bug!John stories and this is darker than most, but with a hopeful ending. In this, John is only partially restored by Carson's treatment, flees through the gate into Pegasus, and Teyla and Ronon have searched for him for months. Finally, on an off-world mission, Teyla, Ronon, and Lorne find a number of dead Wraith...
( Teyla and Lorne snippet )