#best binary options system

[cripplerage]

I'd like to talk about this:

{Image ID: A cropped screenshot of an online form with a purple background. The question is "What is your gender identity (click all that apply)." The options are "Woman," "Man (disqualify)," "Feminine-Identifying," "Non-Binary," "Transgender," "Unsure," "Prefer not to say," and "Other." The other option has a text box, and they all have unchecked check boxes. End ID.}

This is an application form for an advisory/advocacy group for the intersectionality of woman/female experiences for disabled people. If you somehow figure out WHICH group this is, please do not contact them in any way. I would like to have the opportunity to calmly and politely give my feedback to them, and an accidental harassment campaign would not help. And of course, they're not really doing anything wrong, they're trying their best, etc. my intention with this screenshot is to use it as a learning example.

Here's the thing... They are clearly trying to be inclusive and acknowledging the gender spectrum, but they're acting as if it's a bar that they can just take one half and leave the other. But as a non-binary person who is also sort of a trans-man, who appears fully as a woman and is perceived as a woman by the general public and the healthcare system, this just doesn't seem to work.

For the form I only ticked non-binary, and I listed my pronouns as they/them, when I usually use he/they. And I don't think of this as lying because my gender is a bit fluid, but also I sort of think that it would be my right to lie in this situation because I deserve to participate in this discussion?

I think we as a society seem to forget that most trans men were raised as women, and do have women-aligning experiences. And most of us don't have male privilege, and the few that do have it immediately negated in situations like healthcare. Being transmasc never prevented me from experiencing ableism or medical mysoginy. And I don't know for certain but I imagine some intersex men, even if they're cis, deserve to be part of this conversation, too.

I think what I'm saying applies to more intersectionalities than just disability, but I don't think it's really my place to talk on that. And don't get me wrong, I do think that discussions about feminine intersectionality are important. Here's what it comes down to - I think we need to just let individuals decide for themselves if they are eligible for certain discussions. I don't know for certain what the best way to do this, but I suggest something like the following:

"This group is centred around the experience of intersectionality between femininity and disability. You may be eligible for this group if you are a cis woman, transgender, or intersex."

I'm open to suggestions or feedback on that.

Tl;dr: gender identity and gender experience are different. Someone's gender identity does not necessarily mean that they should be excluded from discussions regarding lived experience of another gender.

[theresattrpgforthat]

hi! have you seen the TTRPGS for Palestine bundle yet? and do you have any recommendations from it

https://tiltify.com/@jesthehuman/ttrpgs-for-palestine

THEME: TTRPGS for Palestine

The TTRPGs for Palestine Bundle is going from April 12 to May 7, so there's not much time left to get it, but here's some recommendations of some really awesome games that you can find in it.

Gubat Banwa, by makapatag.

GUBAT BANWA is a Martial Arts Tactics and War Drama Tabletop RPG where you play as martial artists poised to change the world: Kadungganan: the cavalry, the wandering swordsmen, the tide turners, the knights-errant, the ones to call in darkest night in a world inspired and centering Southeast Asian folklore.

Witness, grand warriors, honorable gallants that trudge and toil under kings and haloes. Witness, KADUNGGANAN, that refulgent name. That blasted name: WITNESS NOW. The end of days is upon us: and the new world MUST BE BORN. Bear your blades, incant your magicks. Cut open your tomorrow from the womb of violence. Inscribe your name upon the very akasha of this world. 

Gubat Banwa is designed for fans of 4th edition D&D, with in-depth character abilities that make you feel both unique and powerful, in a colourful and flavourful world full of vibrant cultures and clashing conflicts. The game uses an action economy with different action options carrying different weights, which also reminds me quite a bit of Lancer. If you want a game that pushes you to strategize with your friends and weigh your advancement options carefully, you want Gubat Banwa.

Gun & Slinger, by Nevyn Holmes.

GUN&SLINGER is an RPG geared for short, episodic sessions about a weapon and a wanderer. A Maestro and two players (Gun and Slinger) set out into a dead planet mutated by a god's forgotten child and hunt strange bounties, investigate the world and unlock hidden powers. During play, they seek to learn the nature of what’s hunting the Slinger, figure out why the Gun is sentient and discover how the world died.

This game is specifically for three players, using the rules of Go Fish as a resolution system. Gun & Slinger is all about using your resources to the best of their ability, and your resources might exist on your character sheet, but they also exist as cards in your hand.

What really intrigues me is the lore that’s baked into your character sheets. One of you is a wanderer in a twisted world, tempted by strange powers that guarantee to change you into a monster. One of you is a sentient magical gun, borne by that wanderer and designed to deliver death and pain.

Gun & Slinger has expansions included, allowing you to instead play as a wanderer possessed by a demon, a mech and a pilot fused as one, or someone who bears a cursed sword. I think the fact that it requires a small table and the fact that the characters’ lives are tied together makes this a high-stakes, terribly intimate game.

Apocalypse Frame, by Binary Star Games.

In a ruined and terraformed world where most of humanity is under the yoke of a brutal regime, the former workers of a once-remote factory - now known as The Collective - have risen up to create a future of freedom from oppression. You are an Ace - a highly skilled pilot referred from a Division in The Collective and assigned a humanoid combat vehicle known as a Frame. You and your Strike Team of fellow Aces must take on The Collective’s greatest threats, ensure its survival, and carve a path for its continued success.

Apocalypse Frame takes mechs and fits them into the LUMEN system, which centres competency as well as fast but effective rounds of combat. The game includes a variety of different threats, allowing you to tailor your campaign to your group’s tastes, and the tailoring doesn’t stop there. You choose both a division that your character belongs to, and then one of three mechs within that division, allowing players to share similar fighting styles but differ in weapons. You can also modify your basic frame, adding general modular systems alongside systems and armaments that can come with your mech, making character creation and progression exciting for folks who love tweaking and tailoring to their heart’s content.

If you’re a fan of Armored Core or Battletech, you’ll want to check out Apocalypse Frame.

Here, There Be Monsters!, by wendi yu.

No matter what they tell you, there’s still weirdness and wonder everywhere. You just have to know where to look. At the edges and cracks of ‘normal’ life we exist, we persist, and we resist: the monsters, the magicians, the anomalies, the freaks, and the outcasts. We gather in the shadows, trying our best to live our lives in a world that, when it doesn’t exactly fear or hate us, doesn't even believe in our existence.

here, there, be monsters! is a rules-lite response to monster-hunting media from the monsters' point of view. It's both a love letter and a middle finger to stuff like Hellboy (and the BPRD), the SCP Foundation, the Men in Black, the World of Darkness games and the Urban Fantasy genre in general. It is an explicitly queer, antifascist and anti-capitalist game about the monstrous and the weird, in any flavor you want, not as something to be feared, but to be cherished and protected.

Here, There, Be Monsters is a love-letter to anyone who has been made to feel monstrous, as well as an homage to media such as Hellboy, the SCP Foundation, and Men in Black. It’s urban fantasy meets organized power structures, and as the monsters, you’re here to burn those structures down.

This game uses descriptive tags to slap onto your characters to represent what they can do. You can choose from a number of different monster character backgrounds to give you guidance towards, and there’s plenty of monsters both in the base game and in the game jam wendi ran back in 2022. If you want a game of power, anti-capitalism, and punching up, this is the game for you.

Pale Dot, by Devin Nelson.

Pale Dot is a collaborative storytelling game for 2-5 players about a crew of non-human cosmonauts leaving their planet to explore a strange solar system, finding threads to unravel the unknown along the way. It is fantastical, surreal, and perhaps very unlike humanity’s own ventures in space exploration. Though one thing is universal: leaving home is terrifying, dangerous, humbling, and a catalyst for changing one’s perspective. 

Pale Dot is a GM-less game where players work together to create an alien setting and subsequently envelop it in cosmic mystery, embodying cosmonauts called Dustlings, as well as one of 5 different settings. During their journey they will be able to travel to 24 different locations within their solar system, each with several prompts for improvisational scenes. Each player will also have to manage the integrity of their cosmonaut and their shared ship while avoiding space's many perils.

The cover for Pale Dot gripped me the first time I saw it; a tiny creature in an astronaut suit, looking up in fear at something in the sky, as vegetation blooms inside their helmet. You play as the Dustlings, non-human but sentient species exploring the Cosmos, a strange, horrifying and wonderful universe that changes those who venture into it.

Mechanically, Pale Dot uses a GM-less structure similar to Dream Askew, but there feels to be a much bigger emphasis on the setting your cosmonauts explore, rather than the cosmonauts themselves. Your characters are assembled traits, drives and equipment, almost all of which can be expended to cause or solve problems. Each player is also responsible for at least one setting element, such as The Cosmic Wilderness, The Wondrous Endeavour, or The Omnipresent Danger. As you visit locations, different elements will be prompted to influence the scene, while your cosmonauts try to navigate the scene and try to finish the mission. If you want a game that is collaborative and evocative, I definitely recommend Pale Dot.

Fractal Romance, by Ostrichmonkey Games.

A never ending abstract landscape of rhythm and soft glamour. Wander the halls, rooms, and chambers. Encounter strange Denizens and get to know them better; befriend them, fall in love, just chill. Try and fill out your own blurred edges. Fractal Romance is a tabletop role playing hangout. You will pick up a character to play and explore the Fractal Palace, generating its infinite sprawl and the Denizens that inhabit it, as you play.

Fractal Romance is all about searching; for something you need, something you want, or even for who you are. It feels rather surreal, perhaps like a dream dimension that you are moving through. The game uses a deck of cards to generate rooms, as well as the denizens of this gigantic, dream-like palace. This game uses rather simplistic playbooks, each asking you to choose three descriptive words, and then uses cards to fuel your character’s actions: you have things you can always do, things that cost a card to do, and things that you must do in order to draw another card.

If what you want out of a game is a chill time with friends, moving from one vibe to another, and generating emotional stories for your characters, you might want to check out Fractal Romance.

Himbos of Myth and Mettle, by huge boar.

You are big. Big arms, big tits, big thighs, big brai- you're big where it matters. In addition to a heaving, throbbing body, glistening lightly with a thin sheen of pleasantly fragrant perspirant, you have one singular unifying trait  - come hell or high water, you are going to help.

Himbos of Myth & Mettle is a high fantasy, high camp role playing game of epic proportions (of body), for 2-5 players, one of whom will act as Game Guide.  The rules center around a simple roll under mechanic and prioritize narrative flair and cinematic descriptions. Himbos is inspired by many classic fantasy properties (and could be considered OSR adjacent) , but leans towards a more garish, salacious and queer (gay or odd, pick your fighter) style of play. It is designed with comedy and flamboyance in mind, but is not without it deeper and darker touches. It's definitely not grimdark, but there will probably be blood. Think classic fantasy pulp in style, but contemporary sensibilities, modern rules-lite mechanics, and a player philosophy centred in helping, kindness and being fucking hot.

I’ve heard rave reviews for Himbos, and I think the idea of leading an entire group of well-meaning but possibly over-ambitious adventurers is a great set-up for a game full of laughs. Himbos is very much designed for a light-hearted evening of fun, flirting, and fucking up (but in the best way).

Other Games from the Bundle I've Recommended:

Space Taxi, and Creation Myths, by GothHoblin.

Caltrop Core, by Titanomachy.

Souvenirs, by Rémi Töötätä.

Thunder in Our Hearts, by Marn. S.

Eldritch Courts of Some Repute, by AlanofAllTrades.

[taliabhattwrites]

My critique of cultural anthropology and academic transmisogyny, "The Third Sex", will be published in a few days. Here's the introduction.

This Machine Builds Fascists

Consider a mechanism whose sole function is to classify all inputs it receives as one of two categories: One and Zero. The inputs, it must be said, vary greatly in temperament, expression, embodiment, internality, and so on, but that isn’t as much of a hurdle for the machine as it seems. It has been programmed with a few simple lines of code that enable it to differentiate between Ones and Zeroes within acceptable margins of tolerance. Ones tend to look and behave like this, Zeroes tend to be like that. These truisms are crude, simplistic, and even reductive, true, but they work. As such, the machine chugs on, happily reducing complex inputs to a blunt binary classification, its delivery-day code having been deemed “good enough”.

Of course, there is still the matter of how the machine should behave when its schema fails, when it is presented with inputs that do indeed prove to be too ambiguous to easily classify. For however high the correlation between traits, sometimes a specimen that simply defies easy categorization will confound its decision-making, often enough to pose a problem. Does the code need to be updated? Almost certainly, but legacy code is a stubborn thing, mired in dependencies and versioning faff, deeply resistant to the most perfunctory of edits. Too many now rely on this iteration of the machine, on this particular instantiation of its logic, and it is almost universally agreed that any changes are best handled downstream—at least, among those with the power to change it.

The machine and its users are thus forced to consider: In the case of an “error”, a “mistake”, so to speak, is it better to classify something as a One or a Zero?

Well, that’s an easy enough decision. The Ones, you see, are quite important, are believed to play a rather critical role in the affairs the machine oversees. The Zeroes … sure, they’re certainly important too, in their own way, in the way everything worth categorizing is—but the Ones! It’s really all about the Ones. You can’t quite go around just calling anything a One, you have to be certain.

So the module is attached and business proceeds without interruption. The machine spits out Ones and Zeroes like it’s supposed to, like it always has and supposedly always will, a binary system choosing between two options. Yet, anyone who knows a little too much about its inner workings is perfectly aware that the machine’s neat bifurcation isn’t all that neat. Truthfully, the machine has three outputs: One, Zero (with a degree of confidence), and “NULL”. It’s just that the exceptions are caught and sorted into the Zero-category, because that method of handling the machine’s limitations still keeps things running smoothly. It’s not much of an issue at all, and there’s no real need to examine the machine any further.

No need to pay attention to the way its NULL exceptions keep rising in volume.

No need to examine it for any shortcomings, oversights … or any weaknesses.

[multiplicity-positivity]

Here’s some positivity for systems with complex gender identities!

Being a system member can often come with confusing, complex, or conflicting relationships with gender. Many systems and headmates they find that traditional or binary gender options simply do not work for them, and that’s okay! This post is for all the plurals and headmates out there with complex or complicated gender identities!

🐠 Shoutout to systems who collectively identify as all of the genders of their individual headmates!

🌊 Shoutout to systems and headmates who are transfemmasc, transfemneumasc, are bigender, or are otherwise both masculine and feminine at the same time!

🐡 Shoutout to systems and headmates who are xenogender and/or use neopronouns!

🏝 Shoutout to systems and headmates who have difficulties articulating or accurately expressing their gender identities!

🦀 Shoutout to systems and headmates who collect or hoard genders and/or pronouns!

☀️ Shoutout to intersex systems, whether cis or trans, who have complicated or complex gender identities!

🦈 Shoutout to systems and headmates who have coined their own terms and labels to best describe their gender identities!

🏖 Shoutout to systems and headmates whose gender identities align with aesthetics, objects, concepts, animals, characters, or other things that may be considered unorthodox!

🐟 Shoutout to systems and headmates who are questioning, unsure, or who are still trying to figure out their gender identities!

There is no one right way to express or experience gender, and this is especially true for systems of all sorts! It’s okay to have a gender identity that is messy, conflicting, or complicated. You’re not wrong or bad for experiencing gender in the way that you do!

We hope that every system out there with unique or complex gender identities can come to accept themselves as they are and embrace their experiences with gender! Know that we will always support and believe you, and your perspectives on gender provide some welcome diversity to the plural community. Thanks so much for reading, and have a great day!

[jozor-johai]

there's a lot to wrestle with when it comes to Tyrion's thoughts on his own enslavement, and it's more complex than I know how to tackle, but I do have a few thoughts on it:

Tyrion thinks:

There has never been a slave who did not choose to be a slave, the dwarf reflected. Their choice may be between bondage and death, but the choice is always there.

I don't think Tyrion is meant to be right here. I think he's in the process of sorting some things out

One thing I find interesting about the "alternative to slavery is death" quote is how directly it ties into the Faceless Men origin story

That very night he chose the most wretched of the slaves, the one who had prayed most earnestly for release, and freed him from his bondage. The first gift had been given."

The Kindly Man tells the same story -- there is slavery, or there is death... except Arya points out that's not true at all:

Arya drew back from him. "He killed the slave?" That did not sound right. "He should have killed the masters!" "He would bring the gift to them as well . . . but that is a tale for another day, one best shared with no one."

I think Arya points out that Tyrion is kind of wrong here—he's being fatalistic and self-destructive. One other option is to not just die, but risk giving your life in favor of a rebellion to upend the system itself.

And I think a lot about Brienne and Arya in relation to Tyrion's attitude there, too. Brienne constantly thinks about what if she had taken the alternate path, and just been married and taken the simple life of obedience in patriarchal feudalism. As Tyrion says:

The most insidious thing about bondage was how easy it was to grow accustomed to it.

But even though Brienne has these sort of depressed thoughts about her place in the world, she also doesn't choose either of the binaries Tyrion imagines. Randyll Tarly tells her she should either go back home and get married or go out there and get killed and raped, but Brienne has successfully so far taken an entirely different, third route: to rebel against the system entirely and live the life of a knight. I guess with Tyrion, I wonder whether he's ever going to have a similar realization that the alternative to submission isn't death. Especially since he has resolved to live.

"You realized that you wanted to live after all." I have been there too. Something else we have in common.

[pro-endo-culture-is]

TO ANYONE REBLOGGING THIS CHAIN!!!

Hey, It's lia here. When froggo [op] posted that last night, it didn't really come out right. I suggest you check replies, as that explains it best. We are autistic, and bad at getting our point across. What they were trying to convey was that neurodivergency has become so intrinsically linked with the concept of disorders, that some non disordered systems may be uncomfortable using the term. They meant that there should be another word, as an option of a self label for those who don't want to use the term. Not that anyone would be forced to use it, not that anyone would be forced not to use it.

The same way they, as a nonbinary person had become uncomfortable using the word trans because of the binary connotations, they felt that it may be the same with some non disordered systems.

Overall, this is having a really bad effect on his mental health. I know no one is trying to argue, or start a fight, but it makes him feel really helpless that something they expressed wrongly may become some peoples main perception of them! I'm not asking you to stop reblogging, just please understand what they really meant before adding your own take on their oppinion! 🤗

Thank you for listening,

- Ophilia (Lia) 🩷🎀

[spanishskulduggery]

I did want to mention in addition to the BG3 thing that the non-binary words that people use only apply if you choose non-binary as your gender identity

If you play with your identity as male, the game uses masculine gendered articles to refer to you. Same with if you put your identity as female

You could choose the masculine body type and put your identity as female and the game will respect your pronouns; you have the option to decide your genitals too and it doesn't affect your pronouns [which would allow you to play as a trans character if you wanted]

The Spanish translation uses the same words just different forms of them, so if you play a male drow it's un drow, if you play as a female drow una drow, and if you play as a non-binary drow it's une drow

Most Spanish translations tend to have a kind of flag system in place where "if male, use this word" or "if female, use this word". My best guess is that they added a sort of non-binary flag that triggers the -e endings or causes you to be referred to as elle "they" instead of the binary él "he" and ella "she"

[worminterface]

thinking about it too much actually makes me nauseous, and so many lib mfs on this website are being so annoying about it, but thinking about it logically and strategically. yes. voting for Harris is most likely the best option. I don't really fault anyone who hates the idea, but think about it. what good would abstaining do. name one real benefit. no that's moral high ground. name one benefit to not voting for the damn cop that is likely and measurable.

istg I am not trying to talk down to anybody. I've noticed most people arguing over this bullshit on Tumblr rn are kinda preachy, condescending, and patronizing, no matter their take, and I'm not trying to do that. I am a sixteen year old on tumblr.com I promise you I do not think I have the intellectual high ground.

also while obviously she's been awful regarding the Gazan genocide same as any other member of the current administration (the "right to defend itself" bullshit & promises of a two-state solution), her intentions do seem better than Trump's for sure. Reuters notes that compared to Biden, she would likely be "harsher" on Israel, and she has called for ceasefire. Trump's two-state peace proposal in Jan 2020 would have had Palestine cede almost everything that they're fighting for, and besides that gave "near-absolute, unconditional support to Israel". He's also more recently said that Israel needs to "finish what they started" without elaborating much further. (sorry for linking to CNN.) please actually click on the links and read the articles.

endorsing her pisses me off to no end but imo as a U.S. citizen you have the responsibility to use your vote with harm reduction in mind, irt both within and without the country. also voting is not close to the end-all be-all of pursuing justice as an American citizen, nor even the most effective, I'd say. that's not a reason to not vote, but it is a reason to do more than vote if you don't like the morals of voting for The Cop. what that means is up to you and don't tell the FBI I said that. it's just annoying when people treat it as a binary

also that's not getting into her domestic policies. Idk it's a lot more nuanced than a lot of people are making it out to be I think. You can't absolve yourself from responsibility by calling the system out for being unethical and not participating. that is still a choice within the system. you are a citizen of one of the most powerful states in the world and must make your decisions accordingly.

anyway vote Hamas and Xi Jinping 2024 (they are running jointly)

[visenyaism]

I agree with the thesis of no Worst Mother poll. How about Victim of Misogyny poll though (either canon, fanon or by the author)

let me hold your hand and walk you through this. holding a competition to see who is the Best Victim is identical politics to holding a competition to see who is the Worst Bitch. because those are the two options patriarchial systems assign to non-men to deny them personhood. In order for there to be a Best Victim, everyone else must be a Worse Bitch. In order for someone to be the Worst Bitch, everyone else must be a Better Victim.

to operate within this binary even jokingly even as a means to criticize a text for its misogyny is to venerate that binary as true. we can’t do that and thrive. The only way THROUGH is OUT.

[forsetti]

On Voting: Read A Civics Book And Do The Right Thing

Once again, like the swallows returning to Capistrano or the sun rising in the east, Democrats are in full panic mode about the upcoming Presidential election. They go through this ritual every four years because, as a group, they are really, really bad at political strategy and basic civics.

Of course, they will never admit this because they think they are intellectually superior to their right-wing counterparts. In many ways, this is absolutely true. However, when it comes to elections and voting, their political opponents are much, much better.

The phrase, “The perfect is the enemy of the good,” was most likely coined by someone who has watched the left’s political strategies and voting histories.

Voting isn’t American Idol. It isn’t about who performs best on a stage at any given moment.

Voting isn’t a reality show.

Voting isn’t about who looks the best on television. I know the OpticsPolice™ love nothing better than to over-analyze body language, voice modulation, and speech patterns… over content and context. However, it is easy and intellectually lazy.

Voting isn’t about who looks the most energetic. We all have known bosses or colleagues who talk loudly and quickly and almost to a person, they are full of shit. Being verbally active doesn’t signal anything positive. This should be especially true when it comes to governing. I don’t want a used car salesperson running the country. I want someone who is thoughtful and deliberate.

Voting isn’t who you’d like to have a drink with at a bar. You aren’t voting for who would be a good hang. You are voting for who will do a good job. If my kid needs their brain operated on, I really don’t give a damn if the neurosurgeon has a great bedside manner. I care about if they can do the job.

Voting is about who, of the options available, will do the most good. Even if you believe in the idiotic view that a particular election is between “the lesser of two evils,” less evil is ALWAYS better than more evil. There is no moral calculus where letting more evil win is the ethical choice. I can’t even believe this is a thing but it is remarkable how many on the left use this “argument,” to justify their bad choices and strategies.

Voting for president in America, like it or not, is a binary choice. It doesn’t matter if you disagree with the fact America has become a two-party system or want it to be something different. It is. Any political strategy that doesn’t accept this and act accordingly is about wish casting, not reality.

Voting for president is about the agendas, policies, and people they surround themselves with, as much or more than the candidate, themselves. The makeup of administrations matters. The right/wrong Cabinet member or department head can make a world of difference.

Voting is often not getting a chance to vote for your favorite candidate. Democracy does not guarantee you get the opportunity to vote for someone you really love. Sometimes your favorite candidate isn’t a good candidate runs a bad campaign or isn’t as popular with others the way they are to you. Just because your pet candidate doesn’t make the cut doesn’t absolve you from your responsibilities, as a voter.

The first rule of voting is the same as the Hippocratic Oath -First, do no harm. If your vote or lack of vote brings about terrible consequences, you’ve failed to do your job as a voter. If voting for someone won’t benefit you directly but will benefit others, especially the most vulnerable in society, that is the right choice EVERY SINGLE TIME.

The second rule of voting is a corollary to the first: “Vote the way the most vulnerable in coalition votes. The most vulnerable in your coalition have the most to lose in any election. They know who and what is best for their situations. If you aren’t a member of this group, you don’t and should act like you know what is best for them. Listen to them. Follow their lead, even if it means voting for someone not at the top of your list.

Voting isn’t just a right, it is a civic, moral responsibility. What you do/don’t do has consequences. Voting for Jill Stein, Gary Johnson, or Hammurabi in 2016 is directly related to a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court and all they have done to roll back progressive laws and polices in the past few years. No amount of linguistic or logical gymnastics makes this not true.

Voting isn’t about the individual candidates as much as it is about their worldviews. Even if you vote for the right candidate and they win, sometimes they are unable to do what they want to do and what you want them to do. Presidents are not all-powerful. They can’t just do whatever they want. It’s a complex, complicated system of government, intentionally so. The Framers didn’t want wild fluctuations in laws and how the government operates. They opted for consistency over the ability to change course quickly. This limits what a president can/can’t do. Sometimes all the political stars align and a lot can get done in a short period of time. If/when that happens, you want the person most willing to make those changes.

I don’t care who runs against Trump in November. If that person loses, they will be blamed for fascism taking over America when the ugly truth is those responsible are every single person who voted for him and those who didn’t vote for his opponent. That is how American politics works. It doesn’t matter if you agree with or like it, that doesn’t change the reality. If you don’t cast a vote for the Biden/Harris ticket in November, you are directly responsible for whatever consequences follow. There is no moral horse high enough for you to straddle to avoid the consequences and culpability.

[centrally-unplanned]

As I have been sick over the past week+ (doing better now I think) I have put in *checks save file* over 100 hours into The Last Sovereign, the ero-kingdom-builder-RPGmaker indie game. I am as done as I can be with it pretty much right now - its being released piece-by-piece, from all plot suggestions it is right at its penultimate chapter. I highly recommend it - it's a full-on RPGmaker game and not by someone who is a tech or art wiz breaking that box's confines, so you have to be down for that aesthetic & design style. But if you are the game has one of the most detailed "politics of rulership" games I have ever played in the genre, and done very seriously through the hilarious ero-lens of you dealing with succubus migrant populations, church purity inquisitions, and orc intelligence uplifting experimental breeding pits. This plot concept lets the game be hyper-realist and irreverently funny at the same time, a welcome tone.

But it's me, so I am here to whine about some stuff!

The game has, as typical to the genre, "hidden variable" systems for resolving big political plot elements - you talk to people, make dialogue decisions, those get stored as variable counts or binaries, etc. More uniquely it also has a huge economic investment system, where you make choices balancing money-making, military, political, and social investments through cycles that give you more money and impact said political plots. This is all quite complex but it works really well in the beginning, when everything is contained.

Chapter 3 is you and your harem plotting a false flag-style insurrectionist takeover of a kingdom, Yhilin. You made some investments pretty much purely for profit in the last chapter, so you got some opening cash, you have some allies to talk to, decisions around orc recruitment, and a one-off political event. This is all pretty clear - the game even locks some of your money in a vault to make sure you spend it on military supply industries, so you can't screw up by under-provisioning. You know you are gonna invade Yhilin, and you know that you need a good army, good allies, you have a desire to minimize civilian casualties for morality reasons, and a desire to minimize damage to reduce rebuilding costs. Should you save some of your army strength at the expense of more civilian deaths? Whose to say what is better in the long run, but you know what you are choosing. This part works great, it's the best part of the game. The plot is linear, sure, you are gonna win no matter what, but based on your choices the Yhilin you conquer can be quite different.

In future chapters, particularly chapter 5, the scope is drastically wider; you are dealing with *does some head math* 10 countries in your main continent of Arlecent and ~7 nations on other continents, all of which have investments opportunities, political decisions, and hidden variables. Big plot events will occur where 4-5 different variable tracks from different countries will come into play. And the game is not built for this, for a few reasons:

Most importantly, Chapter 3's Yhilin invasion was ordered correctly; you were told you were gonna attack Yhilin first, then made decisions after. Each big political event after that is a surprise; you will have terroristic Incubus Kings attacking via magic portals three kingdoms with no warning, and your multi-track variable scores of each of those countries will impact those events.

The UI is just not built for this. Its RPGMaker, and all the variables are hidden; you can access a ledger list of investments but it doesn't tell you how important each is or anything, just money. I could track one goal in Chapter 3 around a concrete list of options and tasks; that same UI doesn't work here.

All of this would be fine if it was mainly plot, and every option was "equally good", like in some playthroughs Givini does well and Ardoheim does badly, that's cool. But it really isn't; if you know the plot ahead of time, time investments for each event, and so on, you do way better in the game, get bonus equipment and even characters. Hell it's an ero game, you get bonus sex scenes! I skip all those but I'm sure it's important for some of the players out there. So these hidden decisions are high stakes.

So yeah, all that combines to make what should be a "making tradeoffs" political management plot feel way more like a lottery system - and in practice the game is just ludomantically begging you to read a walkthrough. I tried for a long time to play the game sans guide, and as its scope expanded I gave up; I was essentially missing a lot of content because my decisions were suboptimal and I couldn't track all the decision points I ran across to make decisions between them (Also its combat is really hard and easily-missed items can make a huge difference, another guide-pushing factor).

I personally would fix this in the obvious ways; make these variables not hidden, and rewrite the plot to have less "surprises" and more telegraphed decision moments. And then make me actively choose between Ardoheim & Givini with known consequences instead of accidentally doing that (the game does have some decisions like that, its not amateur hour over here; its just out of balance).

But the more important thing to do is imo that UI, and 'conveyance'. Right now all the investment opportunities for example are discovered organically - you talk to a person in Gasm Falls (yeah, that's in the succubus kingdom, how'd you know?), she tells you about a religious order expansion opportunity, and if you wanna spend the coin you go back and talk to her. Again, fine in Chapter 3; but when there are over 50 concurrent investment opportunities across the globe in later chapters, I really can't track this all; I am making decisions somewhat arbitrarily. Instead I would have more structured events; at the end of each cycle you sit down with your harem-ministers in a room and go "here is the list of investments; if you select these 13 here is a loose summary of the bonuses each nation would get, expected revenue, etc." Since RPGs don't typically do that this game doesn't, but it's not a typical RPG right? Its UI needs to evolve with the game.

Which, btw, it is doing! So there are a bunch of political conferences throughout the game's story, and at first it was just talk to people, make dialogue tree decisions, hope you keep it all in your head and make it work. But for the last few one of the mages in your harem would cast a "display spell" making a little magic demiplane with characters who summarize all the information for you. Dealing with potential suitors for the new Queen of Ardoheim? Let's line 'em up and give you a summary of their current odds if you talk to them:

This is great, it's way better! Why aren't there more of these? I am pretty sure it's because, ya know, the creator didn't think of it until recently lol. It's an indie game, being updated live and serially. This is likely feedback in action; the events of Chapter 3 & 4 got too unwieldy, the creator realized that, so in the last few sequences in Chapter 5 improvements were added. But going back and adding these to already-completed sections? Ugh, that can't be a priority in comparison to finishing the damn game.

Which, as I often say, is why I don't judge a game harshly for these issues when it's an indie creator and their small team making their vision. The creator knows this is a problem, but fixing problems is hard! They can't do it all. It's actually very cool to see the game 'evolve' over time as they got new ideas for plot concepts, map design, and structuring political mechanics. That makes the game messier, for sure, but also more interesting; a tradeoff I normally will take.

[lilareviewsbooks]

Short SFF Books!

I know getting into SFF can be difficult because of the sheer size of series and books in the genres. So here’s a couple of speculative fiction picks that don’t require that much time to read :)

I’ve also made a part two for this, so check that out if you’d like some more short SFF!

This Is How You Lose The Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

209 pages

sapphic rep

standalone

This one is a classic when it comes to short sci-fis (thank you, Bigolas Dickolas), and that’s definitely for a reason! This Is How You Lose The Time War is a story in an incredibly unique format that will, to be honest, probably emotionally devastate you in some way or another. 

Time War follows Red and Blue, two agents working for opposite sides of, you know it, a time war. Their job is to travel through time to change the odds for their respective “agencies”. But, of course, they can’t resist leaving each other messages along in the way - in the most unique manners possible.

This queer novella will take your breath away. It will lead you through multiple timelines, split into two perspectives, Red and Blue, with a beautiful, lyrical writing style, which will make you so invested in our two main characters. The author duo treats us to these fantastical, vivid settings, which are sparkling with potencial and leave you wanting to dive deeper.

Silver In The Wood, by Emily Tesh

112 pages

achillean rep

duology

This is part of the Greenhollow Duology, but can absolutely be read as a standalone. It’s also one of my all time favorites! Silver In The Wood follows Tobias, a groundskeeper who lives deep in the woods. When Henry Silver moves into the house Tobias watches, things change - there’s something in the woods, and Tobias might just have to introduce Henry to it. 

It’s been a while since I read this, but I haven’t forgotten about it. I’m always thinking about this book. The vibes are simply immaculate, and so cozy. It will literally make you feel like you’re in the woods. The character work is excellent, and focuses on older protagonists, which is always a treat. The romance is well-constructed and the second book is completely optional, taking place almost as a side-quest for the main couple. 

I wish there were so many more of these, but unfortunately there are only two. But damn, are they great! Highly recommend, Silver In The Wood and its sequel, Drowned Country!

The Singing Hills Cycle, by Nghi Vo

100 to 128 pages 

non-binary and sapphic rep

series

The Singing Hills Cycle is a good one to recommend, because it’s very low-commitment. You can pick whichever one of the three books (there’s soon to be a fourth!!) draws your interest, you can start with that one, and then go from there. The series follows Chih, a wandering cleric, from the Wandering Hills Abbey, which is preoccupied with keeping records of the history of this China-inspired kingdom. Chih goes around the territory with his talking bird Almost Brilliant, collecting stories.

This series is beautiful! Every book contains in it a beautiful exploration of folklore, and bite-sized story that will always warm your heart. Chih is a wonderful character around which to revolve this story, and their commitment to keeping records and history flows off the page - which is hella important, let’s record our history, folks! The side characters that show up on a book-by-book basis are always the best, and their dialogue is always the best part.

I highly recommend listening to the audiobook - I did so for the last installment,  Into The Riverlands, and it was amazing! Just a 2 hour listen, if that sells ya!

The Murderbot Diaries, starting with All Systems Red, by Martha Wells

144 to 256 pages

queer rep of all kinds! yay!

series

The Murderbot Diaries is for those of us looking for a bigger committment. The series currently has 7 books, one of which is a full-length novel. However, you can read the first book as a standalone and decide if you’d like to continue on following Murderbot’s adventures! Most of the books are 150 - 200 pages long, and so are a pretty quick read!

This is perfect if you enjoy a snarky narration style and a compelling protagonist who’s trying to figure out how they fit into the world. Murderbot, our main character and narrator, is a SecUnit, that is, a security android, that must accompany a scientific expedition to a distant planet, to keep the explorers safe. But Murderbot has hacked its security mode, and enjoys watching TV shows and chilling by itself. But when the mission starts to go wrong, it might need to perk up and start - oh, no! - interacting with the humans.

Although I haven’t read the whole series yet, - I’m waiting for the mood to come over me, okay! - I have the first three books under my belt, and I’m so excited to continue. Murderbot has this spark and this snark which is just so entertaining to read, and so this book will have you laughing and rooting for it as it tries to figure out how to fit in in human society. Such a compelling character, and I’m happy there’s a lot of content out there for me to consume.

The Emperor’s Soul, by Brandon Sanderson

192 pages

no gay rep :(

standalone

The Emperor’s Soul is a part of Mr. Sanderson’s Elantris universe, but can be read as a standalone without knowing anything else about this world. It’s a bit of a different rec - Mr. Sanderson’s writing style is - and I mean this in the politest way possible - dry as fuck, and definitely not for everyone. But there’s something here I think is worth your time.

The magic system here is so unique and so fascinating. The Emperor’s Soul follows Shai, a Forger, who can copy objects flawlessly by re-writing their history. But, suddenly, she’s enlisted to do the impossible - Forge the Emperor.

I would give this one a try, even if it’s not like all the others one I recommended. It’s a good read, and Mr. Sanderson is, like it or not, a classic fantasy writer that’s a must-read for most fantasy fans. And, for me, this and then Mistborn were perfect stepping in points for his fiction.

I have so many of these, guys. Like, literally, so many. So, let me know if you want more of these - I’ll write up another post! And if you’d more specific recs, feel free to drop an ask :) 

Also, check out my SFF books with queer-normal worlds list, if you’re looking for more gay stuff!

[flolife]

InZOI and The LGBTQIA+ Community

Disclaimer: This is not an attack on anyone involved here, and I really hope nobody else attacks them. Madi was nothing but helpful, and I’m sure the creators of inZOI aren’t being deliberate here. A summary of this article is at the bottom of it.

Background

Sims 4 and Expression

The Sims 4 may not be the favourite game in a long-running franchise, but it’s clearly got one thing right; Gender Expression and Sexuality. Although the game was originally built on a binary system, you could marry same-sex couples, and now with a recent patch, you can express a diverse gender range. They are actively working on being inclusive, and that’s great!

The Competition

A long list of coming-up competitors to the Sims features Paralives, Life by You, and now inZOI. It jumped up very recently, yet it is planned to release in late 2024, although it seems near finished now. It looks, and I don’t say this lightly, amazing. The graphics are stunning. The gameplay seems fun. It is one of the best competitors in a long time. But, in their own trailers, one thing seemed missing.

LGBTQIA+ People and inZOI

The inZOI marketing campaign is HEAVY. It’s almost unavoidable. One user now has access to an early copy, acottonsock is their username on YouTube. Madi’s been making videos for 3 years, something surprisingly impressive. They are a unique breed of Sims YouTuber now, as they do not appear to make ANY Sims 4 content, instead focusing on 2 and 3. Sims 2 and 3 do allow same sex relationships, however they do not allow any diverse gender options. 

This is a bit of an odd choice in terms of inZOI’s marketing team as, although Madi is honestly a great creator, and I do actually plan on watching some of her non-inZOI content, they’re not the most popular Sims YouTuber. There are an expansive number, but I am being honest when I say that inZOI could’ve reached a much greater audience by catering to someone like Plumbella, Vixella, or lilsimsie, who definitely would’ve been down to do it. 

I must admit, I’m glad they didn’t choose one of them. InZOI has made a deliberate move here, and it has calculated risks and benefits. One of the benefits of choosing Madi is the mutual benefit. Madi gains more followers, and inZOI gets to showcase their game. 

I posed 2 questions in my email to Madi, “Can ZOIs engage in same-sex relationships, or any LGBTQIA+ relationships?” and “Can ZOIs be anything other than Cisgender Male and Females?”

Madi responded openly and willingly, and I must admit that not watching the four hour livestream was partial bad journalism, but I didn’t have the time to do anything but a skim. This is wonderful, as Same-Sex Relationships appear to be receiving love in inZOI, but I fear that the gender expression beyond a binary system is sorely lacking, and unless they add it soon I don’t think they will ever be featured in inZOI.

Summary

InZOI is a notable competitor the Sims franchise, and it does feature same-sex relationships, but unfortunately the ability to have beyond the binary system of Gender is sorely lacking. I really hope that something can be done to combat this, before the games release in late 2024. I fear that if it's not, it will be too late.

[veetyuh]

Vent post to ramble about intersex issues.

Honestly I'm just now starting to feel intersex on an emotional level, despite having known for years. It has taken so much time to start working through the shame and sense of powerlessness built up over a decade, because the medical system is so fucking violent toward intersex people for NO reason.

Beyond forced "corrective" surgery — that's the big one everyone is aware of. Allowing parents to force their newborn through a sex change. Literally doing the hyperbolic conservative's worst nightmare about trans people and everyone's just fucking fine with it. But aside from that.

Since I was a sweaty, awkward teen with a five o'clock shadow, I've been told, "FEMALE‼️ DEFECTIVE FEMALE‼️ YOU WANT SURGERY FOR BABY⁉️ 👶 WE WILL GIVE YOU SURGERY FOR BABY, AND MAYBE HORMONES TO MAKE YOU LESS MANISH‼️"

I've told my doctor, my parents, any adult who asked, point blank, I never want children and would rather drink bleach than incubate one. But it's always, "You're still young, you might want that option in the future." As if I'm not enthralled with my infertility, as if pregnancy is the end goal of every female, as if I'm female to begin with.

And the shame of being classed as a disorder. One that so few doctors have seen that specialists have treated me like a lab experiment, and one even asked me to induce menstruation and come in while I'm bleeding so he can poke around. AFTER admitting that he didn't know what was going on down there. Just. "I'll have to refer you to a different specialist, but can you come in while you're bleeding so I can see what happens between your legs when there's ✨blood✨ involved?"

Or staring at the M/F boxes on ANY intake form, trying to decide which one is less humiliating. What kind of comedic relief do I want to be perceived as: a femboy who is uncommitted to the aesthetic, or a comedically masc woman like Doris from Shrek? I can count the number of times I've seen "other" or "intersex" listed as an option on one hand. And I can't describe the relief of being able to check it. It's beyond words, just to be fucking acknowledged — to have any sort of implication that my existence isn't supposed to be something else, and that my natural state is not fucked-up, or a failure.

But why is it okay for a doctor to push gender "correction" onto any intersex person, minors included, then turn around and act like trans healthcare is such a big fucking deal?? It's okay to shove progesterone into my hands despite me NOT FUCKING WANTING IT, but god forbid any transfemme person asks for it. Moreover, god forbid I ask for top surgery. It's fine for them to change my sex on my behalf, so long as fertility is the end goal: but if I want to modify my body on my own terms, then it's, "Are you sure??? Are you SURRRRE about that???"

God I HATE the medical system, I hate the insistence on a false two sex binary, and I hate troglodyte conservatives who harp on about middle school biology because they're mentally stunted and permanently at the age of 12 — when they're the same ones that bullied me in middle school so they should KNOW intersex people exist.

I miss being pre-pubescent, going into the doctor's office and knowing that my pediatrician had my best interest at heart. Even if it was shots, or gross medicine, or whatever, I knew that it was for healing me, and I could at least trust that. Now I go into a doctor's office and it feels like a fucking warzone, fight-or-flight is engaged, and I can't help but question their intent.

But the few moments when I do feel intersex? When I don't feel like a defective perisex person? It's beyond description. Being able to have a box to check off. Seeing descriptions of intersex people in history, and knowing that we used to have a place in society. When shame has been beaten into you, having it removed even for a second is a joy beyond words. 🥲

[techav]

More Speed, More Power, Pretty Pictures

I added some crude functions to the ROM monitor on my Wrap030 project to read the root directory of a FAT16-fomatted disk and load binary files into memory to execute. This opens up a new option for developing programs and running them on the computer, and makes it easier to keep programs on-hand for loading when I demonstrate the computer.

So what new program do I build first for running from disk? The same Mandelbrot renderer I've been using all along, of course! All I needed to do to get it running from disk was adjust a few load instructions to use PC-relative addressing and then change the vasm output to raw binary.

It ran without issue ... mostly. I had been noticing some instability with the system in general. It's not really related to the programming work I've been doing, it just tended to show itself more when doing the kind of FPU-intensive processing required for the Mandelbrot program. Sometimes the system wouldn't boot at all, sometimes it would continually reset. Other times it would run fine for a while, but randomly throw a coprocessor protocol exception (especially when using double- or extended-precision floating point values).

I had a pretty good idea of where this instability was coming from ...

As someone on Discord put it, that's a pretty little antenna I've got there.

High speed computers don't like excessively-long wiring between components. I made the ribbon cables long because there were other boards I developed for this system. But, I'm only using the CPU board, the FPU + IDE mezzanine board, and the video generator board. All that extra wire is just making things more difficult.

A year ago, when I first put these three boards together, I had to bump the bus speed down to 25MHz to get it to run. I could run the CPU board up to 56MHz by itself, and I could get it to run with one expansion board or the other up to 40MHz, but with all three boards, 25MHz was the best I could do (out of the oscillators I had on hand). I have some 33MHz oscillators now, and while I could get it to run sometimes, it was obviously far more unstable.

It was time to trim those pretty little antennas.

I left room for one more card, in case I can get my DRAM card working later, but trimmed a few inches off. The result? Rock solid at 25MHz now.

... and at 32MHz.

... but 40MHz still doesn't run.

I am quite pleased with that result. My target for this system in the beginning was 25MHz. That extra 30% speed increase is very noticeable, especially when running a program like the Mandelbrot renderer.

But I had a thought.

My FPU is rated for 25MHz, and here it's running solid at 32MHz along with the rest of the system. But my FPU board was designed to support the FPU running at a separate clock speed from the rest of the system (the 68881/68882 FPU is actually designed to support this, so I implemented it when I built my mezzanine board).

What would happen if I tried running the FPU even faster? Perhaps using that 40MHz oscillator that I couldn't use for the complete system?

Surprisingly, not a problem running the CPU at 32MHz and the FPU at 40MHz.

... or 50MHz

... or 55MHz

... or 67MHz!

Once again, I've run out of faster oscillators. This computer is running stable with its FPU clocked at over two and a half times its rated speed.

The video above is a real-time capture of the VGA output of this machine running that Mandelbrot renderer (now modified to use 96-bit extended-precision floating-point arithmetic!) with the CPU & main bus clocked at 32MHz and the FPU clocked at 67MHz. Some frames take minutes to render. Some complete in as little as seven seconds.

I am in awe. While I had big dreams when I first started working on this project six years ago, I never could have imagined it running this well at that kind of speed. I am very happy with how this project has turned out so far, and can't quite believe I actually built something like this.

I typically wrap up these posts with a plan of where to take the project next, but the project has already exceeded my expectations. There is so much it is already capable of now that I have a permanent storage option available. I guess I could try getting that DRAM card running to expand the main memory beyond 2MB, or try adding a keyboard and some text routines to complement the video card. Both are good options towards getting a proper operating system running, which has always been a goal of the project.

Either way, I'm sure I'll have fun with it.

[captainjonnitkessler]

haven't people been putting forth cornel west and jill stein from the green party as a third option. making it clear, i'm not talking about how likely it is, because they aren't either of the usual parties known to reign over the us. but the fact that they're considered on the ballot at all means that is also another plan of action, however small the statistics. not on a scale of likelihood or what people consider as 'best', but based on sheer statistical probability, it is there.

on subjective opinion, one can still think 'well, that's unlikely, so there's no point', but because it's an opinion other people will always argue the point. i'm bringing them up simply because i've been seeing a lot of people bringing them up lately as the candidates to bat for, more so than i expected, so i want to see what you think on it.

it's reached my main timeline via multiple people i follow. i follow fandom accounts for the most part, and many usually won't talk politics, so it's interesting to see this unfold. grim given the context, but interesting times is a curse for a reason.

that said, if you read this far, i do want to say you bring a very good point about no one option being perfect. i've even heard criticisms about the third party i mentioned above, however much i hear they're better with policy than others. and when none of the available options are working, those who choose to fight against it anyway so often turn to revolt and revolution, for good or ill. so no matter what, there's going to be an awful consequence of some sort, and choices to a better world too often require stepping on living corpses. it's a hard road.

wishing you well.

I consider the election a binary choice not in that your options are "vote Biden or vote Trump" - because as you say, there are third party options available - but in that your option is "vote Biden (in an attempt to steer the country onto a less destructive path) or do not vote Biden (and let the country do whatever it's gonna do without your input)". "Don't vote Biden" can be accomplished by voting third party or by not voting at all, but the result is the same either way because third party candidates are simply not viable in our current system.

I'm a little jaded about third parties in general because I remember when Gary Johnson ran third party in 2012. Obama being re-elected was a pretty safe bet and Johnson was pushing HARD not for the win, but just to get 5% of the vote, so he would be eligible for federal funding in the next election. It was a pretty big movement, at least in the circles I was in at the time, to try to break down the two-party system and get a toehold for a third party to break onto the scene.

All that energy got him 1% of the vote in 2012, and when he ran again in 2016 against possibly two of the least-liked candidates in recent history he still only managed 3% (while Jill Stein of the Green party got 1%). And maybe they just weren't very good candidates, but there have only ever been about 8 third-party candidates in US history to get more than 10% of the vote, and almost none of those broke 20%. So I'm inclined to think breaking down the two party system is going to have to happen legislatively, rather than being accomplished by voting.