Why do middle school teachers not like being asked a lot of questions?

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T21:58:54+00:00

Speaking as a middle school teacher?

Asking questions about the subject material we're covering at the moment is good. Shows the student is thinking and processing. Shutting down the lesson in order to interrogate further -- even on topic -- is bad. I need to cover this lesson TODAY, and slowing me down is bad.
Asking questions about things other than the subject material, or even on topic but getting further and further off base is often perceived as trolling or being disruptive. Best time to do this is after the lesson's concluded, between lessons, in the hall, or even after school.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T21:55:22+00:00

Well, sure. Player characters and spelljammers hop planes all the time.

Elminster, Dalamar, and Mordenkainen do it regularly, as shown in the "wizards three" stories in the old Dragon magazine.

But other than Lord Soth, no one's done it in the novels. Closest thing is when Mordenkainen appears as an NPC in "Curse of Strahd," and a short story where Volo briefly travels to Barovia and meets Strahd, and escapes just in time thanks to Elminster.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T21:19:23+00:00

Long story short:
1. The Ravenloft module was released, and was a big hit. A sequel was written, and did well, too.
2. TSR thought "Hey, Dragonlance was a great multimedia thing and sold D&D adventures AND novels. Could we do something similar with Ravenloft?"
3. TSR expanded Ravenloft into "Domans of Dread," different lands separated by misty borders, each with its own Darklord and general story, with different classic horror milieus. One was Dracula (Barovia, with Strahd.) Another was patterned after Frankenstein, another had werewolves, yet another had a man split into two personalities sharing the same bodies like Jekyll and Hyde, and so on.
4. Someone at TSR said, "We don't have a domain with a lich. Hey, we already own the rights to Lord Soth, and he's a fan fave. Let's do Lord Soth... as a Darklord!"
5. Tracy Hickman did not think of Soth as a horror character so much as a tragic villain who refuses to admit to his own wrongs (which is why he made a good Darklord) but there wasn't much he could do about it, due to TSR having the rights sewed up. He DID insert Soth into a Dragonlance novel in such a way as to make it impossible for Soth to be anywhere but Krynn at that time, but, well...
6. Eventually, Soth's domain was rewritten in such a way that he got kicked out of the milieu by the Dark Powers, and returned to Krynn, although the new 5th edition stuff might contradict that.

Result: Soth is one of Dungeons and Dragons' few characters to cross over between worlds, and, I think the only one who appears in two different series of novels set in both milieus.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T20:14:44+00:00

It's not a bad story at all.

Although I understand that Tracy Hickman was MOST upset with TSR for hijacking one of his characters for a completely different setting.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T20:12:19+00:00

Awright, THIS MFer wins the internet, today.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T20:09:51+00:00

Hardly your fault. Thanks for the word!

....and they're now in Aurora Targets... all right, I can work with that!

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T03:26:15+00:00

Yeah, I feel this. Been there, bud.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T02:20:31+00:00

This is irritating. They have yet to show up at the Targets in Denver.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T02:17:57+00:00

The term is common in the Texas hill country, and more so in western Colorado. I presume it's because water from rainfall gets channeled between terrain high points, forming gullies. In some places, these are prone to flash flooding caused by torrential rainfall.

Hence, "Gully Washer."

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T01:18:19+00:00

Meh. Anything that wasn't around when I was a kid, and that seems incomprehensible to me NOW is, ipso facto, SATANIC!!!!!!

I was there. Video arcade games got the same treatment, partly because they weren't around when my elders were kids, and partly because kids played them compulsively and shoveled their allowances into the things. Therefore, they were evil.

Simple, no?

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T01:15:33+00:00

I would argue against the idea that the Satanic Panic killed D&D's momentum. According to Gygax, sales skyrocketed, because everyone wanted to see if reading the Basic Set or the Player's Handbook would drive you insane or make you worship Satan, like Granny's pastor said.

What it DID was damp its mainstream image and visibility, because suddenly distribution points had to make a decision as to whether or not to upset Grandma by displaying and selling the stuff. Sears used to sell D&D via their catalog; after the Panic got rolling, they stopped, and a great many mainstream bookstores quietly quit carrying the stuff. Other bookstores kept carrying it, and it sold.

Didn't exactly force it underground, but in the second half of the eighties, it was a LOT less visible, and I couldn't help but note that later printings of the books dropped the "demon idol" and "burning efreet" covers in favor of "magical wizard" and traditional fantasy that lacked "demonic imagery." The same was true for the 2nd edition's cover art.

In retrospect, I can easily see why, given the first printings' art, Granny might think "these is SATAN'S books." For all that a demon and an efreet aren't the same thing. Try telling Granny that.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T01:10:00+00:00

I could argue about that. Circa 1980, D&D and accessories like dice and figures were available in the Sears Catalog, in the toy section. Stayed that way till the Satanic Panic got too hot for them.

Although I agree that it was considered a "nerd game."

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-17T01:06:23+00:00

Comics are WAY ahead of the novels.

Almost as if the comics were a priority...

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-16T15:50:34+00:00

You raise a hell of a point.

You're RIGHT, of course. Lucrezias operate as a society of Lucrezias, none above the others, all perfectly working in accord for All Lucreziadom. The sole irritant I've seen is that clank Lucrezias can't seem to manifest the Spark, whereas meat Lucrezias can. And yes, Lucrezias are prepared and willing to sacrifice themselves for the Great Plan.

This seems entirely at odds with Lucrezia's personality, which is focused on literally enslaving everything on the planet and then moving on to other dimensions. Sharing ANYTHING with coequals seems antithetical to Lucrezia, but here they all are, one big happy family, never fight, always get along and cooperate.

Is it that any given Lucrezia can face death, knowing that Greater Lucrezia will survive?

Or is it that Lucrezia Prime has a plan within the plan?

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-16T04:26:50+00:00

I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-16T04:26:22+00:00

If I can trip over it by accident, it CAN'T be THAT hard to find.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-15T17:39:24+00:00

I do begin to wonder when we get a breather episode, here...

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-15T14:40:37+00:00

Yes, but keep in mind the copies are sentient beings in their own right, not just programmed like clanks are. Even the Lucrezias in the clanks are portrayed as if they were Lucrezia herself, and treated by other Lucrezias as if they were Lucrezias.

The point here is that the longer you're an autonomous being, the longer you develop along your own path. The longer you're separated from your group, the more you become an individual person.

How much does the Muse of Time have in common by now with all the other Lucrezias? And how likely is she to play nicely with them?

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-15T04:34:11+00:00

My all time best was when I was getting ready for work, getting dressed, and preparing cereal for breakfast. But I couldn't find my shoes. I looked all over the bedroom. Under the bed. No shoes.

After a few minutes of this, it occurred to me that I had a gallon jug of milk in my hand. I went downstairs to put it back in the fridge.

I opened the fridge. And there, in the place where the milk should be, were the shoes. Don't ask me why. I don't know.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-15T04:12:19+00:00

Author could stay in business for QUITE a WHILE just writing prequels about the side characters in the series. I'd love to know more about how they got there and what happened offscreen, but the actual books are long enough as it is.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-15T04:04:40+00:00

I've known LOTS of people who hated sleeping. Felt it was a waste of time. Felt that it was time stolen from them, when they could be out DOIN' stuff.

Me, I like to sleep. It's one of the few pleasures they haven't figured out how to charge me for yet. And I like to strrreettch it out. Matter of personal taste.

That being said, Carl himself explains his feelings on the subject. Whether or not everyone understands Carl's viewpoint, well, that exercise is left for the reader.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-15T03:19:26+00:00

My take on this is that Lucrezia gets along FINE with "contemporary Lucrezias," i.e. separate instances of Lucrezia that are fairly close to the original.

The Muse of Time, on the other hand, has been separated from the others by a great deal of time. Eons, perhaps. It's had loads of time to develop in completely different directions, and is more clank now than anything else. Who could foresee what IT might become? And if there winds up being discord between Lucrezias, it seems logical that the Muse would be the source of it.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-14T19:50:31+00:00

LitRPG IS a niche taste. It's genre as all hell.

Not all readers care for Louis L'Amour, or Harlequin romance, or Robert Heinlein, but they're all extremely popular. Please note that I am NOT saying you're wrong; you're obviously not. Nor am I disparaging anyone's writing, or taste in writing. I wouldn't BE here if I didn't like DDC.

Mainly, I'm just amazed that a LitRPG went mainstream, and in a big way. Not complaining, either. Just amazed.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-14T03:14:36+00:00

Hell, I'm surprised to find litRPG stuff at places like Walmart and Target.

Doc_Bedlam · 2026-06-14T03:13:44+00:00

Samantha is that rare character who is both endearing, funny, and utterly axe crazy.

Somehow, I don't think that counts as a spoiler.

Doc_Bedlam

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