I believe the problem is that WOTC was incredibly hard to work with. They should have a lot more freedom with their own IP.

I can feel the difference between 71 and 73 in my house.

At 73, my kids room is uncomfortably hot. At 71, it has a perfect chill for sleeping.

Blandon Blanderson? Kidding.

He’s a great storyteller and a good-but-not-great writer. He excels in slow-burns with big payoffs. He hasn’t written any page-turners but the stories are very sturdy, well-considered, and rewarding.

His worlds are realistic in a sense because they aren’t full of whimsy and they’re not very inviting. But that’s what makes them feel real.

The characters aren’t 3 dimensional but they’re not flat either. I’d call them 2-dimensional in that they have flaws and a growth arc, but not a ton of complexity beyond that.

The dialogue and his ability to describe fights/battle tactics/magic physics are a place where he shines.

Personally, I probably won’t read any of his other books unless someone tells me he has written something entirely fresh and different than his other works. But I’m still very glad to have read a few of his works. They definitely set a new bar for creative magic systems. His magic systems are phenomenal.

It fucking knows what it’s doing.

As a devout lefty who thinks America and capitalism need a lot more checks and balances, I have to somewhat disagree with you.

When we talk peace, we are talking relative terms. And I suppose I should also add prosperity into the mix.

I think the West has enabled a period of relative peace and prosperity never before seen. And I think it’s getting, overall, better every day. Technology and capitalism, for all their evils, have lifted billions out of poverty and saved billions of lives.

Depends. He seems pretty out of it right now and I don’t know how much he would really accomplish. He’s also pretty old and unhealthy.

But if he comes back angry and the people around him are effective, then yeah we would start looking for other places to live. I’m not trying to live in a Russian-style handmaid’s tale.

I don’t think it’s dramatic to suggest Trump may actually put an end to our democracy though. Another Lemmy commenter summed it up best. They pointed out that we on the left may have disagreed with McCain or Bush, but we never once feared that they would seize power or leave NATO. We trusted them to at least keep the ship afloat and respect the basic tenants of our free and democratic nation.

With Trump, we don’t have that. All bets are off because he’s an unhinged narcissist. He would leave NATO and risk the Pax Americana that has stabilized the world for almost 100 years now. And he would do it for money, for negative attention, or just because someone told him he couldn’t. America has some pretty major faults but China and Russia are not ready to take the reigns. Say what you will about the West but we at least endeavor to protect human rights. I think anyone who isn’t trying to build on the current Western peace is incredibly dangerous in a very scary way.

My most common sin is inadvertently bringing up painful or offensive topics.

Someone’s dad died last week? You can bet I’ll forget and start talking about Dads on accident. In fact, it happens so often that I almost think my subconscious does remember and that’s how it ends up on my mind.

The band is Cunt Punter. This is the cover for their single, “Anything Fits in the Male Urethra (With Enough Force)”

Overall a very solid band. I like how the lead singer literally sucks in air through a Pringles can filled with pigs’ vocal chords. It’s a meta commentary on the misandry inherent in the art form.