Summer isn't over yet!
Jacob Riis is an historic and modern day LGBT beach at the south east end of NYC. The beach is free. It is easy to access by mass transit, and one of the most inclusive and fun places in the world! While I would love to meet up with friends from the message boards, you don't need my invitation. Just show up, and there is an amazing party going on every nice day, especially on weekends. Bring sunscreen, a towel, and sunglasses - there is a lot to see there!
Cindy - I'm sorry your parents are being such jerks about this. That is really a failure on their part. You can't pick your parents, but you can pick your friends. It sounds like you did a great job of building relationships, and making a family that loves you. I hope you can find happiness regardless of others ignorance. And Happy Birthday!
Kifaru wrote: ...He is very political, very outspoken, and very poorly informed. At least once a week he goes off about something he heard a fringe political pundit opine about. He will take an already skewed story that he only partially listened to and take it to a whole new level.... This has become a sadly common issue in this day and age. I have always enjoyed discussing politics, and generally used to find that people's views were complex and often didn't fit with stereotypes or party politics. 10 years ago, I think the vast vast majority could have a civil discussion, and go enjoy a beverage together afterwards. In the last few years, that tragically seems to have changed. There are fundamental aspects of reality that some refuse to accept. Discussing rational beliefs can be enlightening, but arguing about basic reality is just infuriating! Many people avoid discussing politics because it is likely to devolve into a debate about whether the sun revolves around the Earth. I wish I had some great advice for your situation, but my games were often dysfunctional s%$@shows. We had some great times, but also many wasted nights of arguments and weirdness. In hindsight, I probably could have had a lot more fun at a different table. The most insightful thing I can say is that what is going on with "Bob" is a much more broad issue then you can be expected to fix or deal with. There is a national (and international) wave that is breaking now, and your group is being affected.
Irontruth wrote: If my dad robs a bank, and leaves me the money, should I keep the money? Hell yes! The banks are faceless corporations that have been robbing the masses for generations. "In 2005, JP Morgan Chase, currently the biggest bank in the US, admitted that two of its subsidiaries - Citizens' Bank and Canal Bank in Louisiana - accepted enslaved people as collateral for loans. If plantation owners defaulted on loan payment the banks took ownership of these slaves. JP Morgan was not alone. The predecessors that made up Citibank, Bank of America and Wells Fargo are among a list of well-known US financial firms that benefited from the slave trade." Now if your father robbed the people, the way the monarchy did, then you should absolutely make an effort to return the money.
The Queen that I like had Freddie Mercury as the lead singer. No Queen has ever rocked harder!* *May not apply to stone giant Queens
I wasn't at GenCon or any other similar event, but I'm home sick with Corona right now. I'm vaxxed and boosted, I should also point out that there is a lot more to Corona's impact than just a body count. Looking into the long term health effects is pretty scary. The shocking number of "long-haulers" who suffer extended or permanent physical and mental effects is going to have ramifications for all of society. I think there are many common sense options for making events safer that are not nearly as extreme as total cancellation. And remember, it is not just those attending, but also working and volunteering at such events as well. For many, it isn't really a choice to be there, it is a job requirement. Just off the top of my head, it would be a good idea to have some sort of mechanism in place for people who get sick right before or during the event. Maybe a free pass for next year if you have to bail for medical reasons. It would also make sense to avoid dense crowds, and for situations like autograph sessions, have the signer stay behind glass from the (spaced out) lines of people. No handshakes or other contact. I was just a kid when the Aids crisis really hit, but even I could see that our societies response of mostly just ignoring it was horrible. No one likes masks, distancing etc., but the sooner we make some small adjustments to the way we do things, the faster all this s!$~ can be basically put behind us!
So that DM has gotten really into Iratus, Lord of the Dead!?!
It's funny, I really would not be bothered by beer and pretzel games, poor world building, or situations where the party had to deal with beings capable of godlike control (like old Star Trek episodes). If, and this is a huge IF! IF the GM just had a sense of awareness about it. And yeah, the "Well, you didn't ask if your character was still breathing!" kind of statements are just a joke in this day and age. Good on you Mark for giving it a try, then stepping away before things got worked up. Feel better DMCal!
Woman A Leading Authority On What Shouldn’t Be In Poor People’s Grocery Carts Maybe that guy was related to the woman in the article? While I usually go out of my way to mind my own business, it really pisses me off when people go after low-paid employees who are just doing their jobs. Good on you DungeonmasterCal! Standing up for someone can make a world of difference! [I should include the obligatory disclaimer to watch out for whackos, and that situations should not be escalated to violence.] [Clenched fist salute] to all the underpaid workers who have to put up with the public's BS!
"Boy, the way Glenn Miller played
Reminiscing about a golden age that never existed is as American as apple pie. The best advice I can give is to find the humor in the dissonance, or it will bring you down.
Freehold DM wrote: Hello Alison. Hello Fergie. Freehold! Only a little over a month before Jacob Riis Beach officially opens!While I usually don't get out there until later in the season, I hear there is a good time to be had during Pride day/week/month. I'll post in the LGBT thread to invite Paizo folks in the Fall, but don't wait for an invitation, there is always a party, and you're always welcome! EDIT: Last June there was a big event for Trans Youth organized by Brooklyn Liberation. Brooklyn Liberation is a QTPOC grassroots collective that organizes in the name of Black Trans Liberation. While an event for 2022 hasn't been announced yet, check the website brooklynliberation.com for an event later in the Spring or early Summer.
[Tiny clenched rat fist salute]
If they are the the penultimate SJW, I can't help but wonder who the Ultimate SJW is? Oh come on Not Gorbacz, what did the communists ever do to Poland?
I can't speak for the OP, but I think experiencing anxiety and stresses related to gaming can affect players and GMs in similar ways. Many of the solutions might also be universal. I have found that the less often I engage in specific activities, the more I tend to stress beforehand. With all the pandemic stuff, many things that I would not have thought twice about now require getting psyched up for. Usually, once things are underway, I don't know why I was worrying in the first place. I don't have any amazing insights, and can really just say that it is probably more common than most people talk about.
thejeff wrote: Auto-filling might be okay. I thought I recall some issue popping up related to auto-filling of fields for aliases? Perhaps that was auto filling from account info or something? Also, quick question for Brian or anyone else in the know:
Thanks for looking into this Brian! I haven't really thought through all the implications, but my initial idea is to have a field tied to the account that would be labeled "pronouns:" and offer 25 characters. This would be set to display along with username and portrait (although it could be left blank). Ideally, it would be similar to the portrait, in the sense that when you change it, it changes every post you made with the account. As for aliases, I feel like this is less relevant (but that may be more how I use aliases). Ideally, aliases would have the same options as the prime account, although I strongly lean against any information from the prime account auto-filling aliases. Note: Wow! Used to do this kind of stuff many years ago with CSS, XML, etc., but after many years away from it all, I'm as rusty as a commoners dagger! EDIT: Love your portrait by the way!
Phillip Gastone wrote: There could be a thread... I think the mods are telling us to give those threads a rest for now.
I hesitate to do this, but I think it would help some understand the kind of attitude and demands that have been going around since the announcements about slavery. Demand for continuation of slavery content
Yes, there have been some rather strongly worded and adamant posting demanding a continued focus on slavery. This was not a one-off thing. Please accept that it is a topic that gets people worked up, and don't make more work for the mods during their time off. EDIT: Several posters were making hard demands, and several expressed that they would boycott Paizo over the issue of lack of slavery content. The link to the above poster is the only one who threatened legal action.
I think if we do have new, more specific guidelines, they should include something like: Don't start an account, post once about gaming, then 80 times in a single day about how you think, good things are good, and bad things are bad, it's just,...[nitpicking, pedantry, tone policing, theoretical exceptions, flat featureless plains, Cosmik Debris*, etc. ] And REALLY don't come back and do it if you have already been banned for intolerance! * Not all dogwhistles are bad! Zappa Rules! And a shout-out to the poster who used "crux of the biscuit"! the other day!!!
ChickenParm wrote: I’m not sure it’s the best choice in a conversation about bigotry to link to a video that has a racist depiction of the Japanese. Oh damn! Forgot about that part! Yeah, 1943 might have been wise to fascism, but pretty rough in the racism department. Please feel free to delete that one.
To put it in rodent terms- The mice can't play when the cat is around. If you want to have spaces be more free and open for debates, and more prone to giving people the benefit of the doubt, you have to get rid of the cat first. This is how our grandparents got rid of the cat!
EDIT:
[clenched fist salute] Humor:
Perhaps taking a moment a moment to define "slavery" would help some here understand the issues a little more. In the united States, the word "Slavery" is almost always a term for the abduction of millions of Africans, who were brought to North America to be considered property by those of European ancestry. As "property", they were denied even the most basic aspects of humanity, and subject to unspeakable treatment with no recourse. This lasted for hundreds of years, and it's effects are still felt to this day. In the Colonies and later The United States, white slavery has always been illegal and rare. (other forms of exploitation of course have been common). So when you speak of Slavery here in the US, it goes without saying that you are talking about Black people enslaved by White people I realize that there are other, more broad definitions, although some used in this thread are laughably wrong. For example, no one considers mandatory military conscription slavery. I should also point out those making a "morals were different back then" argument that it only holds up if, like the oppressors of the past, you don't count the opinions of the enslaved. If you consider the victims actual humans with valid opinions of their own, there is no "morals of the past" argument because everyone who has been oppressed knows it sucks.
VixieMoondew wrote:
"My right leg is Thanksgiving. My left leg is Xmas. Come up and see me between the holidays" - Mae West Could make for fun all year round! As for religion, I have had good experiences with the local Unitarian Church. They are super inclusive, even of atheists and agnostics, and seem to basically be about the good aspects of religion, not the negative ones. On a more general level, I find that it is always better to put stock in ideals rather than organizations and individuals. Regardless of how good things start out, there is usually an "Animal Farm" effect that tends to drag the aspirational down by the negative aspects of hierarchy.
The moderation squad has asked us to contact them directly through email if we want to discuss moderation policy. I believe the concerns of the original thread have largely been resolved by recent efforts of the moderators. Good on ya The Inheritor! Glad that you had positive intentions in starting the thread. You also accepted new information and adjusted your opinions accordingly. If only all internet communication was like that! Finally, I object to the title of this thread because Braekin 2: Electric Boogaloo is a terrible film. It has a cliche plot, and the "romance" between the main characters is bafflingly implausible.
Sorry for the recent troubles. Reminds me of Don Juan de Doodlebug's stuff with La Principessa... Drama of the finest order! Bust out that editing, and then get some sleep. Everything is better after a good nights sleep. It's past 1am here, so I'm off to Lady Slumbers gossamer embrace. Sleep well, I'll see you in the morning! PS Lady Fergie is a skilled editor of many years! If you ever get in a jam and need help, let me know.
I think this would be a really good time to step away from the keyboard and have a hot or cold beverage. I would ask that everyone stop and chill for a minute before continuing. EDIT: Speak your mind, just give it an extra minute before pressing post... Robert Moses basically designed New York City, New York State, and modern infrastructure for several decades in the mid 1900's. Everyone answered to him. Tons of shady corruption, blackmail, media manipulation, etc. He pretended to be all capitalistic and thrifty, while really channeling government money into his own fiefdom. I highly recommend:
Also, check out Jane Jacobs, who did what presidents and governors could not- beat Robert Moses.
Sunderstone wrote:
For those not from the NYC area, the lower half of Westchester County, and the western half of Nassau County, and even Jersey City are "NYC", but Staten Island is a part of some other State*. (*Wu-Tang and Pete Davidson not included.) EDIT: I don't have much to say one way or another on the announcement, but what LuniasM wrote is 100%! Perceptions and feelings? Wrong direction!
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