I just realized that social media for me now is "I come out of my hole and if I see the shadow of facism, I have six more weeks of inability to work on creative things."

I'm sure that the continued escalation of blatant fascism inherit in arresting reporters for reporting on the facist actions of the administration will surely outrate a true opposition party's leaders to take definitive action. Yeah, I know, I'm not holding my breath.

I love Ready or Not and You're Next, and its Zazie Beetz, so I'm all in for this. That said, unless there are a lot more twists and turns, they really just laid out the plot in this trailer.

There was a G.I. Joe episode where Cobra took over all communications satellites and had their own channel they were broad casting, and specifically they showed that they changed the ending to King Kong to show him destroying all of the planes and just running rampant in New York.

The state of the world is such that I'm willing to risk Star Wars discourse instead of engage with reality. That said, I loved the update to the E-Wing in Ahsoka, and I wish this is the kind of thing we got with starship design instead of "70s prototypes of what we got in the OT."

I remember being in my 20s and hearing all of the rhetoric from Boomer conservatives about how Gen X was lazy and not driven enough to be responsible with any authority, and I remember this sense of dread about thinking I wasn't doing enough but not see what I could do.

I know it won't happen, but wouldn't it be hilarious if a president left the country for a summit and got arrested for war crimes? I mean, its okay to seize heads of state when they've committed crimes according to other countries, right? That's the precedent now, if I remember correctly.

In addition to being horrified at domestic policy, just being an American I feel like I need to apologize to every person I've ever been friends with outside of the country. The real American exceptionalism is how exceptional we are at letting our government spiral out of control.

I feel like it should be telling us something that Poland is talking about not appeasing a dangerous country's expansionist rhetoric.

I finally got to play my Githyanki Circle of Stars Druid in @brandesstoddard.bsky.social's game again. And I even used a Starry Form that wasn't The Archer!

Dungeons & Dragons 2026, How Did We Get Here (Part One?) It's been a long time since I posted here. The new year has me thinking about the state of D&D all the way back to 2014, because for whatever reason, 2026 feels like there are some important threads that lead back to 2014, but I will not go…

Why am I so sore this morning? Oh, yeah, the power went out at 2 AM and I've been sleeping in a steadily cooling house and I'm an old man. Mystery solved.

I swear if I hear anyone that supports this piece of shit president ever complain about participation trophies again, my head will explode.

Schumer isn't fiddling while Rome burns, he's complaining that the Republicans never gave him a fiddle so he could.

Provoke, provoke, provoke, oh, you didn't take the bait, well, we'll pretend like you did so we can do this horrifyingly illegal thing and act like we justified it. Its the exact same playbook. If you didn't care about Venezuala, you should have. It will be the pattern when it reaches your door.

Just to clarify, "we're going to keep murdering people until you quit calling it murder, and thank us for keeping you safe," isn't "almost fascist," it is absolutely fascist. Its not coming, its here, it just may not be on your block yet.

It would be the stupidest possible thing that could happen and completely in keeping with the trajectory of the world since 2016 if the next World War started because the President ordered an invasion of Greenland.

"Hey, its a new year, lets see if I can use social media to have fun and talk about pop culture and games and stuff I like again for a while." 2026: "Go ahead. Give it a try. See what happens."

If you're trolling your political enemies by "ironically" sounding like a Nazi with your official government agency account, there is no functional difference between you and a Nazi. "I'm for genocide and white supremacy, lol, just kidding, or am I."

I am in that very specific demographic that is old enough to get ads for cruises and also gets excited that the email is about something completely different when I see the word Viking.

Jared, what are you doing, reading the news, on a Sunday night, when you're already up too late?

So, wait. The DOJ is investigating someone over renovations, and its literally in the middle of the gold plated ballroom renovation of the White House? There are so many worse things going on, but its just, I mean . . . absolutely no shame at all.

After avoiding it for years I got Covid for the first time on Christmas. Do not recommend. I am very thankful that I've had boosters every year since the vaccines were released, because I know my experience was much less perilous than people that had to deal with the initial virus outbreak.

The only positive I can say about how 2026 has been developing so far is that it would at least be nice if someone that was the head of state for a country committing genocide was afraid to leave home because kidnapping leaders you accuse of a crime qualifies as legitimate foreign affairs.

Concept: Warlock with the Reaper patron that occasionally has to arrange Rube Goldberg deaths for people that escaped death as part of their pact.

Please, for your own mental health, do not watch the FX A Christmas Carol from 2019.

In case you need a comparison, the Emperor never comissioned a Palpatine Class warship.

I already wrecked myself for the day by watching Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas first thing this morning. Nothing quite like remembering the first time I seriously conteplated the reality of death as a child when listening to When the River Meets the Sea.

For anyone else that has the Legendary Bundle from @dndbeyond.bsky.social, in the new Library section of D&D Beyond, is it showing the individual books from that as being shared with you, instead of being ones you own? I'm just kind of curious.

I am continuing to have a great time running my monthly Tales of the Valiant game, using @louanders.bsky.social's Thrones & Bones setting, as we continue through Fury of the Forsaken. I don't know how much I can say since I don't want to spoil anything if you're going to play through this adventure.

The Pilgrims weren't religiously persecuted victims looking for a home where they would be left alone, they were zealots upset that they couldn't impose their form of Christianity on others, and it was actually part of their reasoning that they could impose their religion on indigenous people.

Not every game needs to be based on the 5e SRD. But also, you could not buy it, talk about it, etc. You're not going to "reason" the target audience from buying it. If the publisher isn't saying "we're going to stop making the other version if this sells at all," sure mount your objection.

Miss the Heroes of Hovel’s Way? Part three comes out early next year. Until then our editor @clight101.bsky.social has the first episode of a Anthroanimal Noir murder story called Skritches out today. Check it out here. polygamero.us/skritches-on...

RPG Tip: Do a quick “stars and wishes” at the end. Celebrate what worked and learn what to add next time from both what people enjoyed and want to see in the future. #DnD #TTRPG

@flyingfox369.bsky.social Thanoi!

I wish Durbin wasn't retiring so I could primary his ass.

To add to this, if you're using a VTT, make use of the "handout" function and find evocative artwork that will set the stage for the thing you're describing. Even if its not physical, if its unique and intriging, it will tie that image to your description and make the whole thing more "real."

2025 has pushed me out of my previous routine of consuming game material I'm not using in a game that I'm running, so I've been bouncing back and forth between two game systems I've been trying to ingest and I need to just focus and finish them sequentially.

This morning we started Fury of the Forsaken by @louanders.bsky.social's Lazy Wolf Studios, using his Thrones & Bones setting. I really don't want to spoil too much, because there are a lot of fun ins and outs and mysteries that play into the plot.

A lower cost version of Fury of the Forsaken featuring just those maps appearing in the PDF/hardcover (plus a mead hall) and none of the variations of Day/Night, normal/battle has just gone up on @shardtabletop.bsky.social #ttrpg #dungeonsandragons #talesofthevaliant

I had a dream that Adam Brashear, the Blue Marvel, flew me somewhere, and I talked to him, and I cannot remember any details other than that, but I think when you have a dream where you meet the Blue Marvel, you should record it somewhere.

Enjoying Thac0 with Advantage and want some more? @whatdoiknowjr.bsky.social , that’s Jared, interviewed Kienna Shaw and Lauren Bryant-Monk, the folks behind the Tabletop Safety Toolkit, a resource providing gamers with access to a variety of safety tools. gnomestew.com/gnomecast-22...

If you've ever seen my political rants and want to follow them as I try to keep my social media less stressful, I'm trying to keep the ridiculous long form rants that I would put in multiple posts into a blog post form. If not, take solace in knowing that I built a containment field for it. 😁

RPG Tip: Let villains be charming. A smile and a kind word can be more unsettling than a threat. 🙂 #DnD #TTRPG

I an alternate reality, there is some poor mutant whose power is just like Gambit's, but he can only charge up sandwiches.

RPG Tip: Make monsters memorable with quirks. A troll that collects teapots is easier to recall than a stat block. Plus, having tea with a Troll would be pretty interesting. #DnD #TTRPG

Thac0 with Advantage #79 Playing Against Type #ttrpg #dnd #podcast Today we’re going to look at playing against type, why you may want to do it, and how sometimes it can be very similar to playing a rigid archetype. polygamero.us/thac0-with-a...

It's wild how much stories about dragons should have warned us about billionaires. "I deserve all of the treasure because I am a greater creature than all of you, and if you don't give me tribute, I will unleash unparalleled devastation. Once the gold is in my hoard, you're not seeing it again."

Trickle down draconomics.

My first takeaway from the 2024 era Forgotten Realms books is that there must be a Thayan lobbyist working on their public image. I'm perplexed at the degree of backing away from Thay as a major threat, and treating Szass Tamm as the unpleasant old guy running the country you just need to avoid.