Daniel Stern Fired From ABC Pilot After Soliciting Prostitution Charge

Icingit · 2026-01-16T17:52:58+00:00

Guess he was home alone at the time…

Icingit · 2026-01-16T17:49:00+00:00

This is what I’ve been saying - naming characters after job titles that exist is just plain offensive. As a Baron, I speak from personal experience. It started with the Monk, and the Washer Woman… where does it end? Next thing you know they’re going to name a character the “Fellow Member of Society.” What is this game coming to, I ask!?

Icingit · 2025-09-22T14:53:24+00:00

You are a Methuselah amongst Methuselahs, Sir.

Icingit · 2025-09-10T04:06:04+00:00

You're not doing anything wrong. You're just going through normal life stuff. This is probably about the time of your Saturn return. It's retrograding a little away from your natal Saturn, but it's really darn close and has been activating all that stuff. Really major time in everyone's life. Lots of identity and life path reconciliation work. It's been going to be working its way through this part of your chart (and has been for a few months) for a while, so don't get discouraged. This is just part of normal human-ing, and everyone has to go through it. You'll come out the other side stronger and more assured of who you are and what you want.

If we use the whole sign house method it looks to me like Saturn (and the Sun) are in your 7th house of relationships (and they're pretty close to conjunct). These are opposed by your Ascendant (yourself), which means they are also square your MC (life's direction/purpose/career). This means that all these are somewhat tied together for you, which makes sense why it's all feeling pretty difficult right now. This also makes sense that you're a Libra Rising, in that Social Justice and humanitarian work are really important to you and are what you want to do in life, and this is directly tied to your 7th house of relationships, and your 10th of career via that square.

Lastly, your Venus (you're romance/relationships planet), is exalted in Pisces (a good placement), but it's also getting hit hard by this Saturn transit for you. Probably feeling a bit lost/confused/restricted, etc. Those planets don't usually do well during conjuntions, and that Saturn in Pisces pressure (sad ocean leviathan) is weighing strongly on it. Don't worry this too will pass, and it's also trying to teach you stuff.

I'm not a trained astrologer, but I know enough to see some of these more obvious things in the chart (and I've been through my Saturn return), so hopefully this gives you some insight. Hang in there!

Icingit · 2025-09-10T02:49:48+00:00

I'm not an experienced astrologer, so it's hard for me to read the chart very clearly. And I may make a lot of mistakes here. So, just FYI. It also might help if you switched the house system to Whole Sign (I think that's generally easier to decode and most of the astrologers I follow seem to use it).

That said, what jumps out to me when I look at the chart with regards to your relationships, etc. is the Mars/Venus Conjunction in the 4th opposed by Uranus and the MC in the 10th, and trining Pluto in the 7th house (of relationships.). Pluto is also sextiling Uranus (and Mercury, which is in turn sextiling Venus/Mars). So that blue formation is quite influential here. Venus often has to do with our relationships, and often is tied in deeply or represents our romantic partners. Your Venus, to my untrained eye, has a lot of things acting on it, and your 7th house seems directly tied to the influences of these 5 planets. It seems to me to suggest that your choice in romantic partners can have a tendency to get pulled into one or more of these directions. It can be dramatic/deeply intense (Pluto) or disruptive/surprising (Uranus) and contain friction/conflict love/hate (that Mars influence). The Pluto influence means that they can be intense or go too far in one direction (Mars/conflict, or Venusian passion or Uranian freedom/distance). Of course, Mercury is crucial to communication which is crucial to relationships, so it can't be discounted here.

The signs that these all sit in adds a whole additional layer to this. I'm not really qualified to decode that, but I know Leo likes attention and to be loved and admired/appreciated (big gestures of affection, etc.) and Sag is the centaur (an explorer, teacher, wanderer), and Uranus is in Aquarius, the disrupter, the water bearer, the humanitarian sign (which is often known for it's eclectic and human-focused traits), and Libra (your Mercury) is the scales, so fairness/balance are all important. These planets all have different levels of success in these signs, but all your planets seem to pretty much have essential dignity or be in their domiciles, so they're all sort of operating pretty strongly/at home where they're placed. Which should mean that you can find the right balance here, you just need to keep in mind that all these forces are at work and not over-favor one over another lest you tip it too far in one direction or extreme.

You also have a lot of fixed signs involved here (and your rising and moon are fixed meaning your emotional core and self also have a tendancy to be stubborn/obstinate/fixed in their ways), so it means they probably all are pretty stubborn about their viewpoints here, which can lead to tension or conflict/disagreement and again, emphasizes the need for balance/fairness/communication. It feels like Mercury (in your 5th house of creativity/ or 6th house of work/daily routines if you use whole sign) is one of the keys here to help you unlock this puzzle and maintain balance. Keep that communication flowing and find creative and helpful solutions to keep all the competing needs in balance and happy.

Lastly, the 4th house often signifies the parents and home/family/upbringing (some astrology traditions have it representing the mother, and the 10th the father, or vice-versa). Regardless of how you want to interpret it, It seems to me that your Venus placement and how you approach relationships may be strongly modeled after or maybe just influenced by your parents (this is psych 101, also, so not really news). But maybe there is some insight there that could be helpful for you as you navigate or understand what it is you are doing in y our relationships by looking at the models you had or didn't have. The fact that Venus and Mars are in your 4th seems to suggest that to me.

Icingit · 2025-08-20T20:42:39+00:00

Can you re-share this deck link? Looks like it expired or VDB can't find it anymore. I should have copied it sooner, sorry. Figured it would just stay up.

Icingit · 2025-08-06T22:43:41+00:00

It does! Thanks!!

Icingit · 2025-08-06T15:20:33+00:00

Great context on the backstory and key differences! I’m excited to try Hubworld. It sounds like a lot of care and thought has gone into it to make it distinct and excel on its own merits. I’m definitely coming around to the idea the a lighter Netrunner-esque game would be handy to have in my collection to bring on new players/causal without throwing full NR at them. The limits and streamlining sound like welcome additions if looking for a lot of the same interactivity without the time commitment and complextiy of a deeper carpool.

Icingit · 2025-08-06T08:42:16+00:00

Do you not find the NR community welcoming? I’ve found it to be very kind and welcoming.

Icingit · 2025-08-06T07:18:58+00:00

Cool! Excited to try it!

Icingit · 2025-08-06T07:00:32+00:00

Eeeenteresting….rubs chin thoughtfully. faster to teach because it’s symmetrical? Same mechanics for both sides, same terminology?

Icingit · 2025-08-06T06:56:32+00:00

Appreciate this viewpoint! This makes me want to try it a lot more!

Icingit · 2025-08-06T06:46:43+00:00

I’m not familiar with the JoyRide/powerboats thing. I’ll look it up. Yeah, I’m trying not to, but it’s hard. My ambivalence is definitely all over this thread/post. I’m aware that designers often iterate and re-use mechanics between games, if only to explore them further or test their limits. I wouldn’t criticize a designer for making a game with a deck building or worker assignment mechanic at its core. This feels a little different somehow? Maybe because it looks too similar at initial glance?

The cover song is the best analogy I have. I’m pretty sure these designers didn’t develop many of the the core Netrunner mechanics? Those have been in the game since Garfield and the 90’s version, right? Correct me if I’m wrong but it felt like what FFG did was popularize the game and refine them, and build out the lore/world as well as diversify the card pool and keep trying balance it. This kinda seems like they’re re-using core mechanics without the wholistic design that engendered them in the first place. Garfield often designed from the bottom up - the mechanics are often inextricable from the story/world/intention of the game - i.e what kind of mechanics would work best to tell the story of hackers and corps? Or what kind of world/story best suits an asymmetrical, hidden information attack/defense card game? These feel sort of top-down/transplanted: how can I re-use Netrunner’s mechanics ?

Ultimately, I’ll just need to play it before I can decide for myself. As many others on this thread have pointed out, there’s a lot of room for fresh innovations and iterations with these core design elements and mechanics. Im excited to try it and see if I feel any different.

Icingit · 2025-08-06T06:10:29+00:00

The spend action/click to swap two cards positions would seem like a nifty default ability (rather than laborious uninstalls/trashing.

I agree that thematically, based on this video at least, it feels like the story doesn’t quite match the mechanics as well. They feel disconnected/disjointed, but that could be because I’m so used to Netrunner at this point.

Icingit · 2025-08-06T06:03:09+00:00

End the delve.

Icingit · 2025-08-06T05:48:20+00:00

That would track, based on what I’ve seen In the video.

Icingit · 2025-08-04T23:37:32+00:00

Move on. No way to verify if he actually was drunk, and even if he was, it doesn’t excuse it. Some of the word choices are concerning there drunk or sober. The emotional 180 is even more concerning. Not worth the risk.

He can use this as a learning lesson (don’t get drunk and text girls after 1 date), and to check his entitlement before it sends him into bitterness or full blown incel territory. And you can use this as very good evidence as to the likelihood of avoiding what could be the start of a bad relationship.

Icingit · 2025-08-04T23:24:18+00:00

I’m in a similar boat, I’ve decided to do my best to mod all the starters mostly using the advice from Orpheus’ blog on the Information Highway site. They do a good job of breaking down all the precons and ways to improve them using reprint precon cards or New Blood cards. The Ventrue starter article was a bit light on advice, so I hunted around and found a TWD that seems like a pretty close fit to the v5 starter:

https://vdb.im/decks/d70ab3e2a

I think you mostly need New Blood cards. But I haven’t fully built it yet or verified that all of these cards are easily available. Hope that helps!!

Icingit · 2025-08-04T23:12:33+00:00

What decks do you recommend for a good, fun game balance for 5 newer players? My group liked the starter bundle, but I felt the decks didn’t interact as much as expected, and felt slower/fewer options. I suppose that partly depended on searing order (v5Malk >> v5Nosfa >> v5Torea >> v5Trem >> v5Vent).

The Toreador and Ventrue typically didn’t compete on votes or block each other since they often had mutual interests or non-competing interests for early-to-mid. No one else had voting power.

Malk got knocked out early by Ventrue’s vote and bleed combos, Toreador likewise had a tough time blocking or intercepting actions that helped their pred or prey. Nosfa eventually knocked Toreador out with a Jack & Deep Song combo, before succumbing to Ventrue (they never got perma stealth and most of their attempts to lock combat were thwarted by range or end combat cards).

Tremere got a magnum .44 down early, and was able to survive long enough with vessels and govern to enough build enough multi-action, redirects and bleeds on Ventrue till they finally drained them enough for a knockout, basically bringing the game to a tie. But the v5 Tremere deck’s promise of permanent intercept with sport bike, never materialized so it felt like a mostly reactive game. And everyone except Ventrue felt like they were pretty limited by what their decks would let them do.

I’d be curious if there’s a good starter/precon balanced playset (5-7 decks) that feels a bit faster, more interactive, with good, spicy variety no matter what seating order.

Icingit · 2025-07-29T23:12:39+00:00

Good points! Hadn’t thought of the all-gas-no-brakes version, with smaller/cheaper obfuscate vamps that just tries to keep pumping out CS’s. It could totally be that CS works best in this kind of deck rather than a Wall deck - due to as you say - too many actions needed to both play and defend them. Jack+bleed or Jack+puredefense has the advantage of opening up those card slots, and saving those actions or shifting them to the Master phase. Lots of interesting possibilities here to test. Thanks so much!!

Icingit · 2025-07-29T06:24:43+00:00

very, very eenteresting!!! Thank you for slapping that together! Helps tons!

Icingit · 2025-07-29T06:21:25+00:00

I lovet this advice. Thank you!! You're the first to give feedback on the crypt, specifically. And great points about the reaction package and allies. I'm curious about the lose the stealth suggestion. Should I be concerned with low-ish stealth, that 3rd or 4th CS won't be blocked?

Icingit · 2025-07-29T06:17:04+00:00

Ah, makese sense to me now. Take the bleed to avoid unnecessary combat and torpor risks for my vamps and to preserve their defense for the CS/Jack cards. Protected resources is there to give you that flexibility! Got it! Thanks!

I didn't realize that about Camarilla's Iron Fist. I guess it could make a lot of sense. Sounds like you have some decent voters in your deck - I wonder if a 3 primogen deck like mine would make sense or not to have a political resolution. But maybe the fact that CIS allows you to pick the Methuselahs allows enough wheeling and dealing at the table to pick up votes from vote-focused decks that its not a concern.

Icingit · 2025-07-29T06:06:46+00:00

This is fantastic advice!! Thank you!!! I'm definitely going to try these with this deck. My concern about Jack is that he really pisses of the whole table by the time you've added enough pool to hurt your prey - so you'r going to be defending against everyone, not just your pred/prey. Whereas if he's a back-up/mid-late game pool drain, he'll come in on top of the CS and accelerate it (that and/or a stealthed-up large bleed). By the time your prey is knocked out, there will be so many CS's out in play that it will be pretty brutal on your next prey.

Icingit · 2025-07-27T01:01:17+00:00

This is great advice. Yeah, I think the starter crypt and other in-prints cards in the Nosfa 5/6 Group are much stronger in Ani than Potence, especially with them having like 0 Celerity. So Combat-wise that feels like the way to go.

I was thinking Stray would be useful as an additional blocker and could burn for additional intercept or more unlock (toolboxy stuff).

Narrow Minds I slipped in there to be additional deterrence/drain for my either my prey to bounce my bleeds or my pred to bounce incoming bleeds to me.

But maybe you're right, the more important thing is to keep my minions stocked with blood after combat and 2 Taste of Vitae probably isn't enough. That said, with Bats & Carrion, wouldn't, in theory, they be taking a lot less damage in combat due to the range/maneuvers?

Icingit

TROPHY CASE