I'll admit it, I'm fond of the "alternate universe" trope. Fond enough of it that I decided to end my college Champions game by liberally borrowing from Champions in 3-D (the dimension-hopping supplement), and having the PCs wind up discovering that saving multiple realities was their purpose from the beginning... and also a handy rationalization ( Read more... )

The word "steampunk" niggles at me a little bit. I assume the etymology is such that it's a take on "cyberpunk," but it's an odd derivation. Does it really have punk ideals? Look at Girl Genius, for example; it's clearly of the steampunk genre, but it's not really very punky at all. There's not really the sense of rebellion against authority, the ( Read more... )

Okay, just to make sure I've got all my bases covered ( Read more... )

(Note: This is going to talk about D&D, and a not-so-gritty, unabashedly heroic version of D&D at that. Yeah, I know, morally simplistic when I can do so much more, but I've already explained the premise of the semi-nostalgic Easter game, and with the promise of having to move back to Atlanta in near future, I'm gonna glom onto all the optimism and ( Read more... )

I don't even want to think about how many times I've listened to the Persona 3 soundtrack working on Geist. But good goddamn, fire up "Adventured Act" or "Joy," and there we go. I like moodier "World of Darkness" music a little more often, which means there's also usually a lot of airtime for Brotherhood of the Wolf or Bram Stoker's Dracula or ( Read more... )

The tradition, when Easter rolls around and my parents do the rural hippie equivalent of the block party, is for me to run a Saturday game for any friends that show. And it's traditionally fantasy, too; horror I like for showcasing autumn, but I think raw fantasy is good for spring. It's kind of renewing. And it fits my belief that people find ( Read more... )

Sundance died this morning. Aileen sat up with him all night, and although he was very weak, he insisted on going out into the rain on the deck one final time. He was mercifully unconscious for the last of it. The other two dogs, the girls, wound up almost as affected by it as we were when they suddenly realized that he wasn't just sick, he was ( Read more... )

Of sleep.

Last night.

For me.

Oh, sweet sweet bliss. I like that much better than the three hours of the night before.

1. Laura Lynn (Ingles store-brand) pomegranate/blueberry juice looks great in the glass, but the taste is pretty much exactly like drinking chewable vitamins.

2. Our human facility to anthropomorphize things is frequently scientifically unhelpful, but as a basis for language, spirituality, compassion and art, it's one of the most impressive things ( Read more... )

HIGHLIFE!

(And that should meet my pop culture reference quota for the year.)