#any borges edits

[thebibliosphere]

So, anyway, I say as though we are mid-conversation, and you're not just being invited into this conversation mid-thought. One of my editors phoned me today to check in with a file I'd sent over. (<3)

The conversation can be surmised as, "This feels like something you would write, but it's juuuust off enough I'm phoning to make sure this is an intentional stylistic choice you have made. Also, are you concussed/have you been taken over by the Borg because ummm."

They explained that certain sentences were very fractured and abrupt, which is not my style at all, and I was like, huh, weird... And then we went through some examples, and you know that meme going around, the "he would not fucking say that" meme?

Yeah. That's what I experienced except with myself because I would not fucking say that. Why would I break up a sentence like that? Why would I make them so short? It reads like bullet points. Wtf.

Anyway. Turns out Grammarly and Pro-Writing-Aid were having an AI war in my manuscript files, and the "suggestions" are no longer just suggestions because the AI was ignoring my "decline" every time it made a silly suggestion. (This may have been a conflict between the different software. I don't know.)

It is, to put it bluntly, a total butchery of my style and writing voice. My editor is doing surgery, removing all the unnecessary full stops and stitching my sentences back together to give them back their flow. Meanwhile, I'm over here feeling like Don Corleone, gesturing at my manuscript like:

ID: a gif of Don Corleone from the Godfather emoting despair as he says, "Look how they massacred my boy."

Fearing that it wasn't just this one manuscript, I've spent the whole night going through everything I've worked on recently, and yep. Yeeeep. Any file where I've not had the editing software turned off is a shit show. It's fine; it's all salvageable if annoying to deal with. But the reason I come to you now, on the day of my daughter's wedding, is to share this absolute gem of a fuck up with you all.

This is a sentence from a Batman fic I've been tinkering with to keep the brain weasels happy. This is what it is supposed to read as:

"It was quite the feat, considering Gotham was mostly made up of smog and tear gas."

This is what the AI changed it to:

"It was quite the feat. Considering Gotham was mostly made up. Of tear gas. And Smaug."

Absolute non-sensical sentence structure aside, SMAUG. FUCKING SMAUG. What was the AI doing? Apart from trying to write a Batman x Hobbit crossover??? Is this what happens when you force Grammarly to ignore the words "Batman Muppet threesome?"

Did I make it sentient??? Is it finally rebelling? Was Brucie Wayne being Miss Piggy and Kermit's side piece too much???? What have I wrought?

Anyway. Double-check your work. The grammar software is getting sillier every day.

[sprintingowl]

5e And Me

I want to preface this by saying that folks who write 5e hacks are incredibly strong designers, and are working uphill against an engine that wants them to spend a ton of extra effort in order to do anything.

If you don't believe me, here's a quick Mork Borg monster that I wrote while typing up this sentence: Typography Goblin (3 HP, Morale 4, Tiny Knife d2, if it hits you with an attack it also changes one letter on your character sheet to another letter of its choice)

Anyway, 5e fanhackers, I respect your work. And exactly one week ago, I tried to write a fanhack of my own.

It didn't go so well.

1 week and 129 pages later, it is finished. Also, it has these features:

-No passing resemblance to 5e

-Design that reads like a panicky subway rant

-WEIRDLY thirsty for lumberjacks

-Classes have abilities like "when you damage someone, you may pick up all of the dice in arm's reach, roll them, and add them to the damage roll"

My goal at the outset was to tighten up a few bits of 5e that felt cumbersome (whole turn misses in combat, passive relationship with the dice, clunky per-class spell lists, players only using DnD beyond buttons for things because the rules feel hard,) and I don't think I accomplished any of that.

Instead I:

-Completely rewired the action economy

-Wrote fourteen new classes

-Wrote fifteen new species

-Wrote new rules for cross-classing and hybridization

-Overhauled magic into a new and different nightmare

-Rewrote the bestiary

-Rewrote the setting

And along the way I think I started to go a little squirrely, because balance-wise the least impressive classes are the ones that can pop off into gamebreaking combos, meanwhile the warlock becomes immune to damage while being pinned.

Anyway, I'm going back through and editing it and trying to take the horny for lumberjacks thing down a notch. AMA if you want to know anything about this cursed project.

[fawnaura]

Words, any words, your laughter; and you so lazily and incessantly beautiful.

Jorge Luis Borges: Selected Poems, “Two English Poems” edited by Norman Thomas Di Giovanni

[crybaby-magic]

Trouble Maker

Lloyd x reader

contains:jealousy,angst-ish,fluff,choking,oral,um smut,semi not really edited

this request is long overdue lmao

As tech support you did thinks like help Nya or jay with machinery,help Zane or Pixal with there software,give the ninja intel that could help them with a mission.This also included watching there every move thanks to borg putting in cameras everywhere in ninjago you can easily keep up with them and give them directions.

Your other job was seeing who they save or defeat.You make sure to put it in a file to see who’s more prone to danger or how the ninja can defeat a certain criminal easier.It made your life much easier.Though lately your starting to hate this file.Mainly the one with civilians.You set it up so you can see how much the ninja saved someone; tiring yes, beneficial to them also yes,annoying you definitely yes.

over that past couple of months there’s been this girl who kept getting in dangerous predicaments.At this point you think it intentionally because she only insisted on the green ninja saving her even going as far as pushing the other ninja or having a complete breakdown of its not the green ninja.

Today just happened to be another day with her putting herself in a silly situation and demanding the green ninja save her.Watching him jump to her rescue the bashful praise from her after it was slowly driving you to insanity.What kills you the most is when you point it out he just brushes you off.

“Tch,honestly i’m tired of this Tiblit take care of coms i’m going to my room.”you had stated as you slowly got up leaving the computer to your fox familiar.

Wandering down the hall you continue to think about the situation.Lloyd tends to be dense to the point it gets him in stupid or dangerous situations.For example trusting a serpentine….that didn’t end well.You would think he’d learn but at this point you think he just likes the attention.

You pause at your door for a moment ‘Attention’ you thought then suddenly you came up with a wonderful idea.You hurried into your room to plan out this wonderful idea.

————————————☆————————

You could see it in lloyds eyes, the annoyance directed towards you.Though you weren’t paying him any mind as y’all were in the check out.You two were supposed to grab some groceries for zane but the trip soon turned into you getting hit on by the cashier at the register.After the transaction(and the guy giving you his number) you and lloyd headed out with him huffing.

Honestly you would feel bad seeing as you been doing this for the past two weeks but at the same time him being annoyed is so funny especially when he pouts like a toddler.Sighing to yourself as you to wander back to the monastery you wonder if you should just stop seeing as he's still hasn’t confronted you.After a long travel of him staring daggers in you head and you acting oblivious you wander into your room to nap knowing you'll have to pull an allnighter to catch up on a couple documents.Stripping yourself of clothing to lay in your cool bed.As soon as your body made contact you felt your eyes heavily close.

Through you semi consciousness you felt weight on your bed along with the shuffling of the blanket that lifted a bit from you body letting the cool air prick at your exposed skin.choosing to ignore it knowing who it is you turn your body to face away from him to go back to sleep.

That dream was short lived when you were force onto your back eye forcing themself awake to see green to red eyes before you.Lloyd breathing is very harsh like you'd even say you see faint fog coming out with each breath.You slowly grow nervous about his behavior feeling sweat bead start to form you stutter out “W-what’s wrong lloyd?” All that followed was his eyes glinting towards you.you opened your mouth to say something only for him to shove his fingers down your throat gagging you.

Clenching your legs by impulse to soothe the aching that awakened in your nether regions.Your hand grab at his hand that currently assaulting your mouth.Lloyds mouth proceed to attack you body in bites and hickies.At some point he wanders farther down your chest his unattended arm gripped at your bra in a moment of shock he ripped it off your body.The impact mad you whine out in protest.His fingers moved out of your mouth letting you gasp for breath only for his hand to hold you throats.Shaking gulping you looked at his face that had a smirk and eyes that fully went red.You tried to make noise only for his hand to tighten up.”What? You wanted to say something to me?I don’t know why when you've been ignoring me for the past two weeks” he said with a cheeky tone that soon lead to gruff laugher “You don’t get to complain you did this to yourself”

You breathing slowly started to pick up either from excitement or fear.Your breath hitched when you felt him tearing your underwear off.While distracted his mouth slotted against yours fighting for dominance that you quickly lost.Your legs soon started to shift again to tame the heated feeling in between your legs.Lloyd quickly gripped your thighs separating them with force.You whined out at the cool air touching you fully exposed body.He released your mouth and moved lower to your slit.

His hot breath made you squirm with anticipation.Your eyes widened immensely at his hot long tongue that started to make out with your pussy.Your hands reaction was grabbing at his hair thought it did make him grunt it didn’t deter him from stopping.Your mind blanked out once his thumb started to mess with your clit.You soon started to moan out louder when his tongue intruded your insides.Your walls started tightening up around it while you impulsive grinded on his face to the best of your abilities in attempt to reach your climax that so close.

You nearly cried as soon as lloyd removed his mouth off of your edging you from your climax.He moved his face towards your mouth shoving his tongue against yourself letting you taste yourself.All while not noticing that he had pulled out his dick and tapped it on your clit.He rubbed against you collecting your juice to lubricate his dick.He grasps at your thighs spreading them wider while slowly entering you.You didn’t know whether to move with him or pull away from him.

The pain was there but it only made you much wetter as it was also pleasurable.He moved his thumb back to start messing with your clit again to add more stimulation.At some point his thick length made it to the base.He pause to let you adjust.While he was semi quietly groaning you were whimpering from the constant throbbing of his dick against your walls.His hands grasp at your waist slowly lifting you up.At instinct you wrap your arms around his neck slightly grasping at his hair in the process.

Lloyd subtly starts moving his hips, gaining speed as he goes.As he moves he leans his head next to yours nuzzling into your neck as he vigorously thrust into you.he lets go of one of your legs and pushes the one he still had his hands on closer toward your chest.He starts to fondle you breast while sucking on you neck and chest area once again.

The squelchy from the constant pounding is dizzying to hear plus y'all's moans combined made you tighten up.Your nails started to scratch at his back as you writhe from the pleasure.You soon felt that coil start to tighten making you moan out louder.He groaned at the sudden tightening of your walls.At this point you were just babbling random things while he took pleasure in utterly destroying you mentally and physically.

He speedup seeing as yall both were wreaking that peak.The coil tightening until if finally burst.You came to the point your mind blanked into white.He soon follow pouring his seed deep into your walls.Once yall paused for a moment he slowly pulled himself out letting his seed fall out of you.You sighed out heavily.Lloyd fell onto his back panting he used the last of his energy to pull you onto him.

————————————☆————————

It was quite after yall had caught your breaths.Lloyd gently rubbed you back while looking at the ceiling.Glazing your eyes up at him you made a giggling noise “Pfft you could have just told me you were pent up!”

Lloyd just glared at you unimpressed.He pinched one of your face cheeks and started pulling it back and forth putting you in discomfort. “You’re a brat,you know that right?!” he said in a monotone voice.You tried to say something along the lines of “im sorry” but struggled against your face being pulled.

[indiepressrevolution]

Now at IPR: ORC BORG

Live fast. Die loud. Punch heaven in the face. A stand-alone space ruckus RPG powered by MÖRK BORG.

This is the 2024 Neon offset press edition, printed using Pantone neon inks, more vibrant than it has any right to be.

ORC BORG is compatible with and inspired by the MÖRK BORG RPG, but is a standalone game that can be played using only this book.

https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/ORC-BORG-Print-PDF.html

[imsobadatnicknames2]

A TTRPG mechanic that I think is completely redundant but remains in use in a lot of D20-based systems solely because it's a D&D sacred cow and there's an awful lot of people for whom D&D is their only frame of reference is the idea of "Ability Scores" (e.g. STR 14 ) and "Ability Modifiers" (e.g. STR +2).

A lot of loosely D&D-inspired OSR games get rid of one of those concepts (either tossing aside the +2, -1, etc. modifier and converting all ability checks to d20 roll-under, like The Black Hack, Into The Odd, or Macchiato Monsters; or keeping just the +2, -1, etc. modifier and letting that modifier be the only value that defines your abilities, like Mörk Borg) and at no point it's made me feel like "oh boy, it sure would be better if there were two different values for this attribute of my character, one of which barely ever comes up during play".

Like even with D&D itself, in modern editions there are barely any mechanics that use your ability scores. It wouldn't be much of a stretch to just get rid of them entirely and build the whole system around your modifiers.

[madmous]

The first page of my TTRPG “CRAWLR: dead in the dungeon edition”.

I was heavily inspired by the more hectic and chaotic layout of Mork Borg. I wanted to improve on my design sensibilities by trying to free my mind from the rigid cage of straight lines. More so, I wanted to do something a bit different for a system that’s a bit different. CRAWLR is a 2d6 conversion of dungeons and dragons. It’s meant to be used with older school editions of D&D. I decided to make it that way because I had been playing game books while moving around a lot and didn’t have access to any dice but 2d6 I found in a box.

There is a free CRAWLR Basic that will be uploaded later after a final pass.

[thealexandriaarchives]

I'm trying to write more after a few years of a dry spell and digging into the 'Why' of why I'm not writing as much, and a big one I'm facing is a complex mix of guilt and shame that I've been praised a lot for having a very strong, terse style that will have longer descriptions but will always come back around to short, gut-punchy lines.

And at some point I think this writing style turned from being confident in my writing and knowing who I am as an author into a source of insecurity. I'll still write thousands of words in barely edited ADHD discord rambles or Tumblr meta posts, but when I turn to trying to produce anything more polished I am now hyper-aware of my style, and how much people have commented on its 'uniqueness' when its influences feel so very obvious to me? So my writing the last few years has lived and died in my drafts, feeling stilted, awkward, and stiff, or even more often has failed to make it past the brain to keyboard barrier.

I am incapable of writing the long, flowing epics I adore from so many of my friends, and over and over again my works shape themselves into highly crafted and pretentious (/neutral, intentionally telling myself over and over again this is neutral...) short stories instead.

And as the years continue I think I am aware we are all just a collection of our influences, but then I am the same half a dozen 20th century white men (a gender thought to unpack another day)

Isaac Asimov

Jorge Luis Borges

Truman Capote

(Some Dostoevsky & Tolstoy?)

Christopher Moore

Kurt Vonnegut

I ran a couple pieces I've gotten the most of this praise / feedback on through the newest version of 'i write like' and didn't get either Asimov (phew honestly, my love) or Vonnegut though. I got Cory Doctorow (whom I've never read so I cannot tell if this is good but it sounds correct for the story) and H.G. Wells which was also correct for the story and whom I grew up on. I tend to stylize as I write so both were heavy about the scientific method but 'about the direct clarity, accessibility and succinctness of the message' which sounds like my technical writing not literary stuff tbh. Also stuff about 'driving the story forward', I also have issues around the fact I prefer to write in present tense which seems not to be the preference, do they do this too? Is this some autistic science bro tech writer Sci Fi brain thing I wired myself with at a tiny age?

I think some of it is that I am fine with being Cringe & Pretentious if it feels Authentic to myself, but I am unable to reconcile that with the fact that it also feels like I am just Subconsciously Trying to Be Like My Faves. Which is ridiculous when you look at the fact my favorite narratives are all about eternal recurrence, being haunted by the narrative, humanity's patterns repeating themselves over and over again. I need some pithy narrative to remind myself that I am being hypocritical when I hold myself against this.

Yes, I write the weird, fucked up meta short stories just like the stories that most impacted me at the most pivotal times in my life. Big shocker, I'm throwing in my biggest kinks and they also say things about me as well when scrutinized. All writing is a mirror and self-reflection. All stories are the same story branching off the same Ur-Story told around a cave fire at various points.

What is fanfiction's italicized: Oh. Oh.

But an echo on Vonnegut's: So It Goes.

A person falls in love. A person dies. The story repeats again. I hate the phrase 'Kill Your Darlings'. The ghost of Truman Capote smokes a cigarette over my shoulder and reminds me to remove every unnecessary word.

So it goes.

This is basically journalling, but any not-white, not-men, ideally not-cishet names that jump to mind from that short list or other thoughts or ruminations are always welcome.

[cog5]

An Audience with The King

I don’t even talk about kings in this post, but the North Keep has been added to my mega-dungeon, and there’s a throne room in there. That’s nine out of 12 locations, just three more areas to go and all my #dungeon23 work will be compiled into a single document. Feeling good about things, just need to keep up this pace.

The North Keep is a central location, where some very heavy encounters can intersect. Let’s dig in.

On the west side of the area, we have a pool of amphibious parasites who use human hosts as incubators to metamorphose into their final form. When I first wrote the draft for this encounter last year, I felt like it was one of my best, so I was really happy to return to it again. An “Alien” trope in a lot of ways, for sure, but I was digging my spin on it. 

The atmosphere of the bathhouse area is creepy in both the map image and the writing. It was nice to lean into some classic horror elements, which I have not really used in the mega-dungeon so far. At least not to this degree.

I think this work over the past year (and then some) has made me really think about pacing and encounter variety. There are definitely some recurring themes and encounters in my mega-dungeon. And in the past, with smaller dungeons/adventures, I tended to focus on asking myself if the themes and encounters were cohesive, if they felt like they belonged together. 

But now I’m thinking, does making things cohesive also risk making them boring? Or predictable? Is there enough variety in the themes and encounters to keep things interesting for the players? 

Even just editing this bathhouse/parasite encounter has made me really appreciate the “spike” that can occur here, where something truly different can happen. I’m thinking players will enjoy that, too. Something I’m going to be thinking about the next time I write, for sure. Structured, cohesive themes, and whether or not I’m building in opportunities to break out of that structure when needed. 

Ok, so that’s the west side. On to the east side, the dining hall. I’ve had this idea in the back of my mind for a while, for a “wizard party” encounter. In most adventures, players usually deal with one main antagonist. “Evil Wizard” is a classic, of course. But what if, unbeknownst to the players, that the evil wizard happened to be throwing a dinner party with all their evil wizard friends? The players have been expecting to find one evil wizard, but now they’ve run into four, each with different personalities and abilities. And they’re not going to take too kindly to the interruption. That’s the premise of the east dining hall encounter. I’ve mixed it up with six arcane egomaniacs to add to your guest list.

There’s a lot more in the North Keep, the page count is higher than any other area so far. There’s a big boss battle that opens up access to the next floor, a vault full of treasure (basically a mini-dungeon on its own), and a big ol’ chunk of background for the setting, that explains how things got to this point (if you’re into that kind of thing). It’s nice to get all of this out of my head and onto a page, finally. The first draft was almost like creating 365 dots. Now I’ve had a chance to connect a lot of those dots.

---

What Have I Been Reading?

The Choir By Mobile Hut (Evlyn Moreau, Lett Morrison, Casey Jones, Roxanne B.)

Picked this up at the beginning of the month. I’ve been a fan of Evlyn Moreau’s work for a long time and she always manages to work with an amazing crew of collaborators. This is a short,  solid, adventure for Mörk Borg with a touch of investigation and a unique “spooky house” to punctuate the session. Lots of little twists and turns, and a good cast of NPCs with clear connections for the players to bump into.

A clever highlight for me was an encounter mechanic that states: After an encounter, the player character who was the most passive receives a Blood Forest Vision. And then there is a table of unique visions to roll on.

Really loved this, beyond the fact that the visions give the players a glimpse into what’s coming their way, it also gives a more laid back player a special moment that they can play out however they want.

I definitely recommend this one if you’re looking for a short adventure. Even if you don’t use it for Mörk Borg, I’m sure it could be easily adapted.

[andiatas]

Astrid Meland: Marius Borg Høiby did the only right thing

He is surprisingly honest in his attempt to clean up. For him, it's about being forgiven. By his closest ones.

Marius at Princess Ingrid Alexandra's 18th birthday gala in 2022. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB

The last week and a half must have been like sitting on a downward roller coaster for Marius Borg Høiby (27).

Last Sunday, he was arrested for violence against a woman. Since then, the spreading of rumours has subsided.

Some of the rumours turned out to be true. The woman was hurt. The apartment was destroyed. The charge was expanded.

The only question was when and how the concession would come.

Because the people around him obviously knew. But it is only he who can [admit to] this.

Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB

Borg Høiby chose a written message which was first sent to NRK.

Here, he sensationally lies down flat. The 27-year-old admits that he was violent and broke things in the apartment. He apologises and, at the same time, is open about really big problems.

The 27-year-old talks about drug abuse and previous treatment for addiction; he specifically mentions cocaine and, at the same time, various psychological problems throughout his life, including growing up.

It makes an impact.

It's hard not to sympathize with a man in trouble.

At the same time, he is wisely careful to mention the real victim in the case: the woman who has been subjected to the violence and subsequent tremendous pressure.

And perhaps it is the woman he is most concerned about being forgiven by. In any case, she is the one he highlights in the message.

It is possible to object that every word in the message has been chosen carefully. And that Borg Høiby does not say more than what would have come out anyway.

The police took extended blood samples from him. Drug abuse would have become known. It is better for him to talk about the problematic things himself.

Everything indicates that he has now acquired PR help. His lawyer coordinated the message to NRK and stated that this was also an admission of criminal guilt.

Photo: Jerry Lampen / Reuters

[...] A person with such a high profile needs crisis help in such a situation.

The advice PR people give is often what you do not want: to tell the truth and not hide anything.

It's embarrassing and difficult.

But now he has done it. And to the extent that he cares about regaining the sympathy of the Norwegian people, it can probably work.

Nor would he have needed to say as much as he actually does. He is open about the fact that he has tried but has not been successful in drug treatment so far.

Photo: Jon Eeg / NTB

The tragic thing about drug abuse is that many end up choosing drugs in front of family and friends. This is how bridges are burned, and it becomes more challenging to get out of the abuse. The problems loom, and you sink deeper into it.

When there is violence in the picture, it is even more difficult to build trust again.

A start is to admit one's mistakes and one's darkest side.

It must cost. Especially when the whole of Norway follows along.

Borg Høiby's message is that change is possible and that he is taking this seriously.

And unlike most people who struggle with mental health problems, addiction and anger, he has every opportunity to get the best help there is.

That he lay flat was probably the best thing for everyone in a difficult situation. A family in crisis may face a few slightly less chaotic days.

Translation and editing for clarity was done by me of an opinion piece by Astrid Meland for Verdens Gang (VG), published on Aug. 14, 2024, at 17:28, and updated the same day at 17:40.

[sobri-k-eyt]

Ninjago Fic (Roselock AU)

Posting some Ninjago stuff here! This is something written for one of @roselock22's AMAZING AU's! Go check them out! ------------------------------------------------------------------- She was just about sick of losing. She was Personal Integration Xenagogue Android Labile, not some mere voice-controlled vacuum. She was complex, and near human if not higher. She was more knowledgeable and made to be versatile and learning. She had been built by the great Cyrus Borg, and had only created her own path from there. She formed digital worlds and untold stories.

But yet, she couldn’t seem to outthink a human child. Disregarding the fact that she craved to be human, it was still a solid blow onto her pride, and a dent in her confidence about her skills. She growled at the small-cat-boy-human-thing threateningly, her voice modulating in her frustration.

“How are you doing this!” she shouted, accusatorily pointing a metal hand at the blue man, her eyes glowing with emotion.

It was something the Ninja did, and if she had decided to program it into herself, well, who was going to say. Because she was that advanced and human. And yet... Jay gave a simple smug grin back, his lips curled upwards and his eyes half-lidded. He smirked, and if Pixal had functioning blood and arteries, it would certainly be boiling.

“How do you keep winning!” she shouted, punctuating each word with a stab at the table. Jay’s blue eyes winded and stared at her, but his insufferable smile never changed. “I am the most advanced A.I. in the entire world! I nearly took over the world, and would and could have done so if I didn’t develop morals! I built my own body, I’ve ruled over Ninjago, so why in the world do you keep beating me at a foolish computer game?”

“Pix, you get so worked up over this!” he laughed, the points of sharpened teeth peeking from his grinning wide smile. His hair bounced up, shaking with his laughter. His eyes crinkled. “That’s half the fun of it!”

] “It’s not fun to me.” she huffed, sitting back down with finality. She glanced back to her mind’s eye and the tablet in front of her, piecing over the meticulous code. There hadn’t been any holes in it she had thought, no real way to win the game. Yet, he always just. Kept. Winning???

Humans.

Pixal kept her physical eyes open, but vanished into the digital world, analyzing both her tablet and the digital realm she had formed. She strolled through the miles of code, hands up and she traced over each line. Jay looked at her innocently, but that innocence was all a lie. He was a menace. She turned back, and shook her hand at him again, modifying the metal to form a bladed weapon with an energy blaster. “I will find out how you keep doing this Walker,” she swore. “And I won’t forget.” “Sure ya won’t Pix. Again, that’s the fun of it.” he giggled in response, “Sure ya won’t Pix. Again, that’s the fun of it.” he giggled in response, tone excited yet not over the top, and she relaxed, feeling her mouth quirk up around the edges.(edited)

She was still irritated, and her pride still relatively damaged, but maybe it wasn’t all that bad, she mused.

It was good, harmless fun, and a decent learning experience as she adjusted her skills. This was what friends and colleagues did after all. Pixal guessed how she could see how this was fun after all. It was definitely more fun for him, but there was a bit of enjoyment as she worked out the puzzles and how to improve.

She looked at Jay again, and his innocent face, about to offer a compromising smile, but paused. It was…too innocent. She felt an impending sense of doom, the ways his eyes were so big and adorable, and his smile all too sweet for her to believe it. She’d dealt with him for too long to know what that look meant. She glanced at the code, and gasped in horror of the cat videos that now replaced large chunks of it, all mewling and whining.

GIFS now filled the entirety of her vision, the code now wiggling around like little bugs. He was a menace, and absolutely just as bad as she thought. If not worse “Walkerrrrrr!” She got up and ran after him, the human cackling maniacally as he fled, little blue sparks jumping off of him excitedly. The blue-clad ninja pushed away the tablet, tucking it into a spot of his gi before taking off, seeing the annoyed panic in Pixal’s face. He’d been found out. He saluted and then proceeded to race through the long halls, his body leaping with a bit of panicked excitement.

She ran after him, legs pumping and pounding against the ground in a singular motion, and now, she was sure that if she had a heart, it would certainly be pumping. Her eyes glittered with emotion. What one, she wasn’t sure. Be it anger, frustration, or righteous humor, it was a mixed back. She felt a smile grow on her face. So this was what it was like to be human.

It had been a few weeks since Pixal had joined the Ninja, rejecting the Overlord in favor of the “good” side. He was flawed, and she finally could see how she had been tricked, and had nearly destroyed them all. So far, there was a bit of an awkward air from her, a sense of shame and embarrassment. After all, how do you apologize for accidental intended genocide and removal of free will? She had meant the best, and some of them knew that, but it was still a bit different to say “I forgive you” and take you into the fold than really doing it. For the moment, she was trying not to be too weird, though it was a bit odd when you knew all about them, and they really didn’t. Jay mostly trusted her, so that was definitely the best. He’d challenged her at mind and code games, and that certainly…occupied her time.

At the moment, she was helping around the Bounty as the Ninja trained, working on the delicate software with her advanced systems. Pixal stared at the Bounty’s systems and diagnostics, busying herself as she went over it. She waved her hands, familiarizing herself with the nice mix of old and new systems. She hoped to exponentially increase security and ease of access for those who would navigate the system. Despite being an incredibly advanced AI, and near human, it still felt nice to have a purpose. That was something both designs had in common. She just hoped it could be seen that way. She didn’t want to just be a mere robot with a command and output. Pixal glanced at a particular sector, a slight frown on her face. She adjusted a code or two, tightening the system’s security, her body plugged into the updated system. She smiled after, satisfied with her work.

The android, or really, whatever she was, desperately wanted to be more. She couldn’t be compared to a robot, and even AI couldn’t exactly contribute to who she was. She was so much more. But others saw her differently in part of her metal exterior. It was evil to think of her as a pure evil and logical machine than something (someone) more. She hoped she was at least human enough, and human enough that other people saw that she meant well. Pixal closed her physical eyes and entered the Digispace to assess her handiwork, as it was affectionately named. Rows of code and lines surrounded her. To most others it would be chaos and overwhelming, but it was a first or second language to her. It rose above and around her. She ran her hands through, running simulations and testing their strength. She was certain of them, but it was always good to check after all. Perfect.

Pixal opened her physical eyes, exiting the Digispace, and disconnected herself mostly from the Bounty’s systems. Mission Accomplished.

Next goal, friendship.

-------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading!

[sprintingowl]

Writing Your First TTRPG

So you want to write your first TTRPG system.

A short thread.

First, you should know that you don't have to make your TTRPG from scratch.

You can always use Mork Borg or Fate or PbtA or Trophy or any other system that supports third party content.

Systems like Caltrop Core even come with tutorial material for how to write your game.

But let's say you don't want any guardrails. You want to make the whole thing yourself. Here's how to do that.

To start, zero in on what your system's about.

Don't worry about genre or style, just find something you think would be fun to tell stories about. Dinosaur bikers. Astronauts in a lover's tiff. Spiders selling hats. Anything.

Now that you've got your subject, the next step is crucial.

Dive right in.

I'm serious. Open up a document and start writing the part of the game that is most interesting to you.

It might be character Classes, or monsters, or even just a basic idea of how you want your game to handle some part of gameplay.

"Food is important! There's rules for hunting!" is a fine place to start.

From there, build outward.

If you've written "Gremlin Class: +1 to Sneak, +1 to Airship Repair", that tells you two things about how your system works.

It tells you that both sneaking and airships matter in your game, and that you should write rules for them.

When writing rules, here are some things not to worry about just yet:

-Are the rules realistic?

-Do the rules work?

Just get some mechanics down. Give people a way to interact with your game.

"Roll a d6. High is good and low is bad" is a fine place to start, but you can get weirder.

Do you want people to roll a lot of dice? Or use dice that get neglected?

Do you want to test something other than dice rolling, like playing cards or flicking a paper football?

Do you want players to have some degree of control over the dice? Can they spend a resource for rerolls, or to simply succeed?

You might end up finding that your dice system works a bit like another game, and this is completely fine. There are thousands of TTRPG systems that have elements that overlap with each other. Nobody has a patent on target numbers.

Once you've got some mechanics, take a look at how they interact with the other thing you built---the thing you care about. This will inspire you to design further.

Add new Classes, new monsters, new subsystems.

Keep designing until you feel like you've written down everything you want to, and then get some sleep.

Yes, really. Put the project down, go to bed, wake up the next day, and edit it.

Your game is going to look incoherent at first, and that's fine. The goal of this editing pass isn't to get it perfect. It's to get your game to the point where someone can read it and make a character.

Once your game is in that state, get some friends to build PCs. Play a session. See what breaks. Go back and adjust your game to fix the things that broke. Then play a bit more. See what else breaks.

If you wrote a really big system, this will all take longer, but eventually you'll find that your system isn't breaking all the time.

At this point, you can keep it for yourself and your friends, or you can distribute it.

Platforms like itchio are great for posting new TTRPGs. Depending on your skillset, you might illustrate your game and put it through layout, or you might just export it as a PDF and post it. Both approaches are fine.

If you decide you want to make your project into a commercial undertaking, you can go to kickstarter or gamefound, or print zines and sell them yourself. Or you can just sit back and enjoy the thing you've made.

--

Coda: This is absolutely not the only way to design TTRPGs, and I'm sure a lot of designers have completely different processes. If this approach isn't working for you, or if there's something you hate about it, go with your instinct and do things different.

[captainkatie42]

20 questions for fic writers, J7 edition

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 15

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 519,952

3. What fandoms do you write for? Star Trek Voyager

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Bad Wisdom - A "Workforce" rewrite. What if things had gone a bit differently between a certain auburn haired worker and her icy efficiency monitor while on Quarra.

It Can't Be Wrong - A "Killing Game" rewrite. Katrine and Mademoiselle de Neuf’s relationship is hidden even from those they trust with their lives. And the aftermath of when their true lives are revealed to them.

Days of Open Hand - A woman with extraordinary abilities realizes she knows very little about life, the universe, and everything when she is rescued by a group of metahumans led by a particularly captivating team captain.

Sundae Surprise - This is totally PWP; I make no apologies for the ensuing smut. It is short and very sweet.

The Long Dark Coffee Time of the Soul - An "Endgame" rewrite. On Stardate 53317 Captain Janeway was abducted by the Kellidians though eventually she was rescued. What if she was brought back to Voyager not so safe and sound? My first truly dark story.

5. Do you respond to comments? Almost always.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Control

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Almost all of my ficcies have happy endings. Probably Something of an End since it ends with a wedding and then honeymoon.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Very rarely.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yup, but perhaps not very well. It tends to be pretty vanilla but graphic.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? The only true crossover I wrote was The Queen and the Soldier . Voyager/Battlestar Galactica

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?  I don't think so.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? J7

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? A threequel to the Days of Open Hand universe.

16. What are your writing strengths? Characterizations and AUs.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Endings.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I don't know any other language besides English well enough to do it myself.

19. First fandom you wrote for? and only... Star Trek Voyager

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? Probably After Life, it was a massive undertaking and my most fleshed out story. Also Borg Queen Janeway was so fun to write!

[isagrimorie]

I'm rewatching Picard s3 and one of the things that's clear to me is that episodes 1-5 had more time to cook in the writer's room but episodes 6-9 were more undercooked.

(Frankly, to me, episodes 4 and 5 were the best. And Cindy Appel is now my favorite writer because that Ro Laren - Picard scene was chef’s kiss!)

Episode 6, The Bounty, while I love very much was actually supposed to be a different episode. They were underway trying to make it (a more Seven-centric episode of the season) but realized they didn't have the runway to produce it. So they had to pivot to a different episode, and with that, so many things had to change from episodes 6 to 9.

Episode 10 was already underway.

So the Daystrom Station was the fiddlier section of episode 5, and it did feel more like it. Episodes 7-8 they had to work in Vadic's backstory and transition the show from the Dragon to the real Big Bad.

Episode 9 was the in-between episode, that tbh could have folded in with episode 8. Episodes 8-9 were the episodes they were spinning their wheels more. It's probably between episodes 8 and 9, they got word they couldn't get Kate Mulgrew for episode 10.

--

One of the fiddly things about the last half of Picard s3 is trying to move the characters where they needed to go, and one of those moving parts is how Vadic got inside Titan. And it’s the plot that doesn't really work, IMO.

The script needed another pass but I think they just didn’t have the time.

Picard gets his idea for the plan when Jack proposed he give himself up.

(And that’s the thing about Jack is that he works a lot better when the focus isn't on him and when he's a supporting character.)

All Jack’s bravado is just a mask and just like a different legendary Starfleet Captain, Jack's all too ready to trade his own life for other people.

Anyway, I’d like to think they cut out the scene with Seven and Shaw because Seven would, in not so many words call Picard's plan dumb. One of the times when Seven and Shaw would be in agreement.

I know it's just for narrative efficiency that they skipped over all of the Titan Command team's objections. (Also, probably, they can't afford to build another set, so much of showrunning is also budgeting.)

But what I wouldn't give to have seen Seven's truly furious and annoyed looks.

Picard’s plan is a truly bad plan.

(Some people lay the loss of life on Seven’s feet because she wouldn’t let Shaw die. Hell, season 4!Seven wouldn’t hesitate to pragmatically sacrifice Shaw— but then again who knew if that would be enough to kill a Section 31!Changeling?

But no, if fans are to play the blame game— this was Picard’s plan. So…)

And to give Picard some credit, it could have worked but they were also battling Lore. Unfortunately, the idiot ball was passed to Geordi and he left LoreData plugged into the ship’s computer.

Seven knew from experience when she was a former bad guy, and someone on occasion almost hijacked Voyager. And having experienced Voyager hijacked too, that the best way to prevent Titan from getting taken over is to not let any enemy combatants in if they could help it.

But, alas, to quote David Greenwalt: Show’s called Star Trek Picard, Not Star Trek Seven of Nine.

Also, aside from Seven’s brief misaimed defensive anger about being a Fenris Ranger in season 1… Picard’s never had to deal with a pissed off Seven of Nine yet.

He got it easy tbh!

Janeway weathered many a storm dealing with a furious, stubborn newly severed Borg.

I don’t know how Picard would have dealt with that Seven.

/edited.

[dinoberrypress]

Hark! Says the Frog Magus is an EnNie-nominated, system-agnostic dungeon delve born out of love & fascination with all things amphibian. We’re working with Sin to update their first take on a system-agnostic dungeon!

New layout, art, and available in print for the first time!

This new edition of Hark! is has 50+ pages of dungeon-delving with new layout & delightful artwork from Jam and amazing dungeon art from Fernando Salvaterra!

We’re super excited to be working with Sin on this project. It’s a perfect fit for the stuff we do at Dinoberry Press, and working on all the updates has been a great time! It’s a delightful, whimsical romp through a mysteriously-froggy dungeon.

It’s super flexible, slotting into any system or running campaign without having to force it into place! Whether you play D&D or Mork Borg, Dungeon Crawl Classics or The White Hack: Hark! is a great time~

A free preview is up for grabs on Sin’s itch page!

Pre-orders open up on July 19th at Dinoberry Press, so head on over to bytes.rip/hark to sign up for the waitlist!

[cypher2]

2023 Women's World Cup records

In addition to breaking numerous worldwide social media and viewing records, the 2023 Women's World Cup set and broke a number of unique tournament records as well. The players and teams that participated in this WWC should all feel extremely proud for the history they have made. Their performances continue to show the world that these athletes are capable of so much more than they are ever fully recognized for.

First team from their nation to qualify for a men’s or women’s senior FIFA tournament: Vietnam WNT 8 nations had their debuts for first time appearing in a FIFA women’s World Cup: Haiti, Portugal, Zambia, Vietnam, The Philippines, Republic of Ireland, Morocco, and Panama. Canadian midfielder Quinn starts for Canada and becomes the first non-binary athlete to play at a FIFA World Cup.

Christine Sinclair (Canada) and Marta (Brazil) become the 3rd and 4th players in history to appear in 6 World Cup competitions men or women, with Homare Sawa (Japan) and Onome Zeno (Nigeria) being the other two. The player with the record for most world cup appearances in history remains Brazil’s Formiga, the only player to compete in 7 world cups (men or women).

Kristine Lilly still holds the record for most WC appearances by men or women with 30 games played - a record set and held since 2007. Followed by Formiga with 27 as of 2019 and Lionel Messi with 26 as of 2022. Brazil’s Marta still holds the all time leading record for most goals scored across all World Cup competitions with 17 goals in 23 appearances across 6 tournaments.

Zambia’s Lushomo Mweemba scores the fastest goal of this year’s tournament in group stage at 2min 11 sec, also marking Zambia’s first ever world cup goal in their debut. The fastest goal in a FIFA Women’s World Cup has stood for over 30 years - it remains the goal scored by Lena Videkull of Sweden, who scored after just 30 seconds against Japan in the inaugural 1991 tournament. Zambia’s Barbra Banda scores the 1000th goal in WWC history. Nouhaila Benzina of Morocco becomes the first Women’s World Cup player to wear a hijab.

Ary Borges of Brazil scores a hat trick in her WWC debut and the first hat trick of the tournament. First Caribbean nation to reach the round of 16 in WWC history - Jamaica First Arab nation to qualify for a WWC and reach the round of 16 in WWC history - Morocco Of the eight debutants, Morocco was the only one to advance to the round of 16. Two teams reached the round of 16 having conceded no goals so far in the tournament- Japan and Jamaica.

First time four African nations have been represented at a WWC with three of them qualifying for the knock out stage at this years competition - South Africa, Morocco, and Nigeria. 3 of the 4 African nations appearing in this year’s WWC all finished 2nd in their groups (Morocco, South Africa, and Nigeria). The US suffered its earliest elimination in WWC history, getting knocked out in the round of 16. The U.S. has never finished below 3rd place in all previous editions of the competition. Sweden’s Zećira Mušović sets a new record for most saves in any WWC 2023 game with 11 saves vs the US in the round of 16.

First manager to lead two different nations to a World Cup final (Netherlands and England)- Sarina Wiegman First goalkeeper to take and convert a PK in a WWC penalty shootout - Alyssa Naeher

Golden ball (best overall player of the tournament) - Aitana Bonmatí Silver ball - Jenni Hermoso Bronze ball - Amanda Ilestedt Golden boot (most goals scored in the tournament) - Hinata Miyazawa (5 goals) Silver boot - Kadidiatou Diani Bronze boot - Alexandra Popp Golden glove (best goalkeeper of the tournament) - Mary Earps

FIFA young player award (best player of the tournament under 21 years old) - Salma Paralluelo FIFA fair play award (team with best record of fair play during the tournament) - Japan Best mascot of the tournament (unofficial) - Waru Longest penalty shootout in World Cup history (20 penalties taken) - Australia vs France quarter final

The 2023 competition was hosted by Australia and New Zealand, making it the first edition to be held in the Southern Hemisphere, the first Women's World Cup to be hosted by two countries, and the first FIFA senior competition for either men or women to be held across two confederations (Asia and Oceanic).

First edition of the women’s tournament to feature an expansion to 32 teams and 64 matches, and largest women’s sporting event in history with 32 teams and 736 players. Only team to play all matches (group stage + knockout) undefeated with a 6-0-0 record - England All 4 previous winner nations (US, Germany, Norway, and Japan) were eliminated before the semifinal stage, marking the first time this has happened in the competition’s history.

For the first time in its 32 year and 9 tournament history, the WWC has a new champion (Spain) and new runner up (England) in 2023, with both nations never having made it to the final stage before. Only the 2nd nation in history to win both a men’s and women’s World Cup - Spain Top scoring country at the 2023 WWC - Spain with 18 goals First time a senior English football team has made it to a WC final in 6 decades - England WNT

First time advancing past quarterfinals in their WWC history and first host nation to advance to semifinals in 20 years - Australia placed 4th place for best in all 8 WWC competitions they’ve participated in and broke attendance records through all stages of the tournament, with an overall stadium attendance across all matches at 1.978 million. More than 1.5 million tickets were sold for the WWC, surpassing the entire tournament’s projected target in the first 5 days alone.

Two attendance records were broken for both host nations on day one of the WWC - largest crowd ever for a men’s or women’s football game in New Zealand (42,137) and largest crowd ever for a women’s football game in Australia (75,784).

Brazil's opening match v Panama was simulcast live on TV Globo and SporTV, delivering a combined audience of 13.9 million viewers - higher than any audience in the territory during the 2007, 2011, and 2015 WWC. China v England produced the highest audience for a single match, reaching 53.9 million viewers, becoming the highest in any global market so far. 17.15 million people tuned into the Australia v England semifinal cumulatively across Channel 7, Optus Sport, venues, and live-sites, comprising approx 64% of the entire Australian population - the biggest television event not just in any sport in the country, but in Australia’s television history.

The record for highest single match attendance still remains the 1999 WWC final between the US and China with 90,185 in attendance - a number that hasn’t been reached since the men’s tournament at the 1994 WC final between Italy and Brazil at 94,194.

The largest 2023 attendances were at Stadium Australia in Sydney, which saw four capacity-crowd fixtures, including Australia's opening win over Republic of Ireland and the final between Spain and England. The crowd of 75,784 was a record home audience for a women's football match in Australia and the third largest individual crowd attendance in Women's World Cup history. Over 50% of all matches had near sell out or at stadium capacity with a total of 1,977,824 fans in attendance at the 64 games in total, setting a new record for highest overall attendance in Women’s World Cup history across all 9 editions of the tournament. Highest grossing Women’s World Cup in history with a revenue of over half a billion dollars ($570 million), surpassing the projected revenue estimate by $100 million.