Empress of Mars: Undisputed @zebratron2084@awoo.space

@Leucrotta @anthracite I've tried, I really have. I just can't go home again. :(

OK, sounds like the consensus is that small private tabletop games are the best thing going.

Well, I do have that idea for a psychedelic-horror postfurry RPG kicking around, the one that tastes of Scanners, Altered States, The Prisoner, The Tomorrow People, Akira, Beyond The Black Rainbow, Upstream Color, and Plague Dogs.

But every time I've tried running one of these things with my own homebrew system—or none at all—it's gone up in flames. I need structure, somebody ELSE'S structure. Can anyone recommend a really good generic RPG system that might accommodate a weird, TF-heavy low-physical-combat game like this?

No "storygames," please. At least not the sort whose entire rule system is "write something on a card, take a white chip, and tell the group how it made you feel." O;p Like I said, I need STRUCTURE. :) In particular, I want something with really a really robust, flexible character creation system.

Something like GURPS, but that DOESN'T require an accounting degree. :) I keep hearing FATE is really good?

@hystericempress I'm not crazy about 5E, so I think you've inspired me to try Plan B: throw together that psychotronic, Prisoner-inspired transcendent horror campaign I've been talking about...

@hystericempress No real obligations besides wanting to get back into DiS! Lemme think about whether I can really make the commitment, since I don't wanna flake out on y'all if I do join in! 'Bout when and 'bout how long is your typical session?

(Thank you, sis! <3 )

@anthracite Honestly? I'd probably STILL check out a good IC/kink-friendly furry Discord channel at this point. A Buddha must embrace the spiriti of the age, and preach where the people may listen.</upaya_rant>

@anthracite Not a one so far! But you're not crazy, I half-expected that too! I think my friends group skews a little too old for heavy Discord investment, maybe?

@hystericempress You know I would FUCKING KILL to get in on one of your or Dai's games one of these years, right? I realize you probably got 'em lined up 'round the block. just going out on a limb, being bold, and expressing my interest for once 'cause... GOD DAMN, I have never seen such rich DIY worlds put together for the sake of a tabletop. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Are there actually places left where people have big messy-but-friendly group conversations?

Is there anywhere left where people actually immerse themselves in a character and roleplay?

I honestly can't tell anymore if things have dried up because:

(a) I'm just too shy
(b) I suck and everybody's sick of me
(c) I'm getting old and have lost track of where people go
(d) my depression ate it
(e) everybody's depression ate it
(f) I've outgrown it and should just shut up and focus on my day job my lawn or something
(g) the Internet just doesn't do those things anymore because half of us are too busy Instagramming their sandwiches and the other half are trying to get away from them
(h) the Freemasons, allied with the Greys and the NSA, have suppressed it
(i) an unforeseen side-effect of the overuse of neonicotinoid pesticides*

*this one might be a bit of longshot

I had a surprisingly long and coherent dream last night about fleeing the apocalypse and a zombie uprising with Archer. Given it's me, a not-surprising amount of it took place in restaurants and cafes, though we also had a really nice flying boat.

Just as we thought we were done with the damn zombies and had found some survivors, they all turned out to be vampires and Archer had just started selling us out to them and preening—with impressively on-point characterization—about what a handsome vampire he would make, and how he already looked good in black, when we woke up.

Asshole.</lana>

@joshua Oh, man. *hug* Yeah, I really enjoyed, even revered Ken Kesey and One Flew Over when I was a teenager, but it has NOT aged well, Chief Broom is basically the only decent character in it, and it needs a big ol' content warning the size of a billboard.

I do still love Chief Broom's vision of "The Combine," though. That was probably the #1 young influence on me becoming an anti-authoritarian leftist besides the Principia Discordia (whose author ALSO turned out to be a big jerkass *sigh* ).

I failed today's "Spot The Cafe Nuisance" puzzle. :(

I made the rookie tactical error of assuming it would be the Bible Study group—even though I only spotted them in the first place because of the suspiciously polite 14-year-old boy who held the door open for me. That should have been my tipoff that they were Friendly Up-With-People-Type Christians...

Today's actual puzzle solution, hiding in plain sight, was the libertarian who would go on to lecture the woman sitting with him about the "ridiculousness" of product anti-tampering laws in the wake of Tylenol poisoning "hysteria" in the 1980s.

@Austin_Dern Thinking of you— one of the solutions in the cryptic crossword I did yesterday (which had a theme of "letter I added to various phrases") was "DRESSCOATI"...

Peggy liked my idea of basing animated ad banners for Parallax on two of my favorite film trailers of all time. I'm so excited!

Breathless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQgODR1jZz0

Uzumaki: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9U4JqO5hxo [WARNING: brief but intensely gruesome body horror imagery—in particular, you may want to look away circa 0:39, the rest is mostly just red corn syrup :) ]

@joshua Some of my best friends are unicorns—I know the horn's there for a reason! :)

@hummingrain NO, THEY'RE VERY FIERCE.

(OK, Poori, the one on the left, is just cute! He's my little rescue. Long sordid story. ;> )

@001zlnv Yeah, but they're six really good fish. Also, um... Martians don't like to do a whole lot of unnecessary counting. *blush*

we are all gonna be in so much trouble when the dragon lady gets home 🐯​

#MartianUprising

i live in the tropics now somehow

in a city whose downtown looks like an amusement park

with colors and stuff

what the fuck

#LetTheWaterHoldMeDown

@Trouffee@mastodon.social Thanks!

@anthracite Sorry. :p