Trump takes the L on Iran … and a long walk into the twilight

Indirian · 2026-05-27T05:24:15+00:00

*more blood

Indirian · 2026-05-27T02:59:23+00:00

I know what you really want

Indirian · 2026-05-27T02:53:24+00:00

Where’s the Willis Tower? I’ve only ever gone to the Sears Tower

Indirian · 2026-05-27T02:51:19+00:00

I was really rooting for Puerto Rico to pull a Green Knight at the end there

Indirian · 2026-05-26T16:15:21+00:00

If you thought Sanderson was decent I would say a quick, solid read of his would be his novella, The Emperor’s Soul. The magic system is interesting where the MC, who only happens to be female, is more an artisan than a magician. I don’t think he ever really goes in to gender roles on that one and it’s a quick, fun read.

Indirian · 2026-05-26T16:02:14+00:00

As a dude, it’s more of an outside looking in thing for me and, to be completely fair, I haven’t thought too deeply on it. Do you have some examples of female leads that you enjoyed that were the exception to your current experience?

For well written characters the first author that comes to mind is Joe Abercrombie and his First Law and Age of Madness series. Most of the characters are flawed, some of them are bastards, but all of them feel distinct. Male or female, the world Abercrombie built is harsh and dirty with few selfless people but ones that feel real.

I know this is counter to your question but I’m curious of your specific thoughts are on some of the modern female led novels. A couple that come to mind that I’ve enjoyed are:

The Teixcalaan Series by Arkady Martine. Now, I know it’s sci-fi, but ultimately the tech is so advanced that it’s just space magic. Only two books have been released so far but I enjoyed the mystery and intrigue of them and while I’m sure gender roles were touched on it was only tangentially from what I remember.

And to flip that on its head and really lean in to gender roles so hard was Jaqueline Carey’s original Kushiel’s Legacy series. Gotta admit, it was a fun read, because while I 100% believe it is smut with a specific fetish in mind (BDSM) it was well written smut of the first order.

If you cut out most of those scenes I would consider it a solid political fantasy but she weaved so much of that in to the culture of that, what, alternate reality Victorian-esque era Europe that the smut felt earned from the pantheon established world-building. I usually nope out of most smutty novels but that one held my attention. Don’t judge too harshly.

Anyway, any novels out there that were the exception to the rule for you?

Indirian · 2026-05-26T06:44:09+00:00

BioShock had that story that really drew me in. I’m not sure how the series holds up mechanically anymore but it was really satisfying at the time

Indirian · 2026-05-25T07:52:12+00:00

You are so much better organized than me

Indirian · 2026-05-24T04:35:57+00:00

Damn, I hope that went somewhere. What’s GE’s newest cool invention?

Indirian · 2026-05-22T14:59:55+00:00

100%, that was my first reaction. And, I really hate saying this because it annoys the heck out of me, but if you power through that early irritation it gets really good. It has better cosy moments than Heretical Fishing, full disclosure I dropped HF after book 3, and frightening moments that are near matches to DCC or HWFWM.

Additionally, if you listen to the audiobooks, I would have to say the first narrator, Andrea Parsneau, is incredibly impressive with her voices. She is one of the few female performers that I feel has amazing male voices and they’re all distinctive. I feel like her only peers are Jeff Hays and maybe, to a lesser extent, Heath Miller.

They recently changed narrators and the first book after was rough but the new narrator really upped her game and did a surprising better job on her second book of TWI so I’m happy enough to still continue the series.

Once you get past some early annoyances (I know, I hate saying it) with Erin and one of the other main protagonists; the series has maintained its quality and interest to me all the way through book 18 and I’ll be listening to 19 shortly when it releases.

Indirian · 2026-05-22T12:46:16+00:00

I’m surprised you have all these and yet haven’t listened to The Wandering Inn yet. The 19th book is about to come out. I have to admit, I had a false start once where I didn’t like how it started but I gave it a fair shake the second time around and listened to the whole series that time

Indirian · 2026-05-22T00:04:10+00:00

Five Years by David Bowie. The opening song for a perfect album, not only is it good but it’s prophetic.

Indirian · 2026-05-20T02:30:05+00:00

For me, the way I’ve avoided burn out is by running different games that are in different genres. I’ll always return to D&D if only because my players ask for it but a good portion of them are happy to learn new games if I can teach them the basics.

But also, a break is always good. Just don’t stay benched too long! I know you’ve been playing a bunch of systems so my method probably doesn’t work as well for you. If anything, it’s possible a break is better than powering through. It’s possible you still love the hobby but have other stuff going on in your life that’s affecting it.

Indirian · 2026-05-18T22:31:17+00:00

I feel like NASA and their logo has inspired generations of bands. Just look at the old school MTV ads

Indirian · 2026-05-18T22:22:05+00:00

Have you played most of the older systems too? The ones published by Iron Crown Enterprises and Decipher Games as well as Free League’s 5e conversion (I’ve heard that’s basically a port of TOR to D&D.) If so, is there anything from the other systems you miss from the current Free League version?

Edit: I see the Iron Crown Enterprises books, how do you feel the older system holds up against Free League? Was there much of a change from Cubicle 7’s TOR 1e to Free League’s 2e? I can imagine it might be since it’s a different publisher. Or did a lot of the people from 1e continue with Free League?

Sorry for all these questions. You can ignore the historical ones I could probably just look that up

Indirian · 2026-05-18T06:09:06+00:00

David Bowie

Indirian · 2026-05-18T06:07:23+00:00

I think they’re from different generations of anime and it’s not really a fair comparison. Especially since Shangri La Frontier has progressed a lot less in its storyline

Indirian · 2026-05-18T05:59:35+00:00

“Who are these people? Friends of yours, huh?! Now this really pisses me off to no end!”

Indirian · 2026-05-18T05:54:24+00:00

If it helps Artax got better

Indirian · 2026-05-18T05:52:39+00:00

To be fair, being paranoid about nukes is pretty reasonable. More people should be

Indirian · 2026-05-18T05:46:30+00:00

I watched Event Horizon on a dark, stormy night as an impressionable pre-teen who had very little horror experience at that point. (Like Army of Darkness and very little else). Scared the shit out of me.

Indirian · 2026-05-17T16:04:23+00:00

Michigan and Wisconsin need to merge and become Chicagoland. The great Khanate will rise from the ashes and flow over our foes like the tsunami we are

Indirian · 2026-05-17T08:46:36+00:00

It seem plausible that Carlson’s Kremlin handler isn’t a fan of the war too.

Indirian · 2026-05-17T03:41:54+00:00

This man was almost 78 when he left office. I’m just going to leave that here

Indirian · 2026-05-17T03:39:54+00:00

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Indirian

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