I Was Really Expecting To Get Rickrolled

Hey, D&D players!

A Facebook acquaintance of mine is working on her PhD, which involves studying the experiences of people – and particularly women – who play Dungeons and Dragons. (Yeah, she’s living the dream.) As part of her research, she’s passing around three surveys.

1. Main survey (open to all D&D players; takes about 10 minutes tops)

2. This survey asks people about their characters - very quick

3. Finally, this survey is aimed at non D&D players.

Please pass these around – let’s help this fellow nerd get a robust dataset!  (2/11/20)

@randomitemdrop​, @prokopetz​, @dungeonqueering​, @battlecrazed-axe-mage​, @yourplayersaidwhat​, would you mind signal-boosting?

Irish dancing.

I have no idea what to do about the upcoming presidential election. I want to vote because I can, but I don't see either of the options as fitting for the role. Any advice?

Hey dear friend, at the risk of alienating others: I also don’t want to vote for either candidate. I think that’s a perfectly legitimate option, all the way up to the voting booth.

Here’s the thing. An American President only has so much actual deciding power, as there are checks and balances to limit what one official can do (though of course, their policies are certainly a factor in how you vote). But my main concern is that the elected officials in any government are part of a greater social influence that describes and decides who we are as a country and a people.

I think the question that I ask is: How will my vote affect the story and direction of our country?

We may not agree on this, but I believe it’s critically important that the face of our country must be someone who, at least to the best of our situation, is capable of calling us to our most reasonable selves. If an elected official is an enabler of destructive attitudes and a “dog whistle” for anger and unrest, then our culture will shift towards this particular mentality at the political and social baseline. This is a subtle shift, and perhaps I’m generalizing, but every President we ever had always empowered a particular voice in our nation to the detriment of others.

We’d have to ask: Is this candidate I’m voting for going to help defuse our current racial tensions? Is this candidate going to hold themselves accountable as an example? Is this candidate capable of proper foreign policy as well as bridging the divisions between American individuals? Is this candidate a step forward in the tapestry of progress and history? Is this candidate the kind of person who can address grief, loss, and prayers with sincerity and movement?  

I don’t mean perfectly, but I mean: Who are we more or less comfortable with in directing our social and cultural narrative?

To be completely candid, I voted for President Obama in 2008 because I believed he represented a monumental shift in our country that we so badly needed. It was the first time I ever voted, and as an Asian-American with parents who naturalized here, it was an especially emotional moment in our socio-political landscape. I did not vote in the previous election, because I had become very disillusioned by then, but I regret not voting. I want to vote this time, despite all my cringe-worthy reservations.

So I’m not trying to sway your opinion either way. I hope this is a fair assessment of our country right now (please tell me where I’m wrong, I’m open to talk). I can see how there are reasons to dislike both candidates, just as there are reasons why we might support them, too. The reason I don’t especially care for either is because I cannot imagine that they might truly repair much of the pain that our country is facing right now, without making it worse. But then, it is my responsibility to vote, and I must choose. Whoever is elected, I will be praying for that person, and rooting for them to do what is best. And regardless of any negative changes we may see, we’re still called to be politically and relationally active in the restoration of our people, as best we know how.

— J.S.

I was talking with some pals last night, and Mike told me that he got better at drawing by staring at this image until he “understood it.” (from Eric Goldberg’s “Character Animation Crash Course”)

The first image is drawing anatomical/construction first, gesture second. The second image is drawing the gesture/expression first, then the anatomy second. The first image produces stiff character acting, the second image produces explosive character acting.

I’m gonna stare at it too until I understand it. Come on, stare with me. 

four champions.

The Aztecs after realizing Hernan Cortes wasn’t their beloved god Quetzalcoatl, but rather Spanish conquistadors thirsty for gold and territory

I’m reading the Sandman right now, and a character talking to Julius Caesar praised him for giving the people cheap corn.

The Columbian exchange didn’t occur for a millennium and a half. Literally unreadable. Sorry Neil, I can’t continue reading this.

If your argument against gun control goes like this “what if a bad guy has a gun I need one to defend myself” then you’re already stating that a gun is a threat to the safety of those nearby. You’re tickling your ego by thinking you with your gun will be faster and smarter than the bad guy and frankly my life is not worth testing out your bullshit attitude. You already know guns are bad, you just think you with a gun is better. If they shoot you or you shoot them that’s the same number of people killed. You still believe guns are dangerous you just wanna feel cool idk what to tell you champ just stop sniffing the glue.