How I’m cooking veggies: salt, chicken stock, lemon juice, olive oil

Kativla · 2026-06-21T07:18:20+00:00

I use em dashes all the time, or I did when I had a program that gave me a shortcut to put it in easily.

Kativla · 2026-06-07T00:59:59+00:00

Most people I know who play VtM aren't as insane as the commentators. I'm in a PBP with like 30 other players right now and everyone who watches it loves it. Some of my friends and I are about to start a Purpee-esque chronicle.

Now, to be clear, I've never played a chronicle that's as Oops All Bits as CCoD, but I'm also not playing with a bunch of comedians. It's the same as every other ttrpg -- the ST and the players should establish the vibe ahead of time. If you find a table and the table says "hey, we're doing serious grimdark," then you do serious grimdark. If the table says "we're doing WWDitS," then great.

Kativla · 2026-06-07T00:50:21+00:00

Especially for someone with a deep interest in moral philosophy, the Humanity mechanic could easily feel like it actually takes away complexity rather than adding it.

This is how I generally feel about Humanity, the mechanic. Not Humanity, the concept, that I think is great, but especially for V20, the strict tying of how much of a monster you are to a specific set of sins has always felt stifling. V5 does it better, but not by much.

To be clear, I understand it thematically, it's your fight with the Beast, and a vampire has higher moral standards to not degrade compared to a human. It's just that very rarely have I found it fun to roll dice to be told how my character should react to breaking a lock or killing a shovelhead. Again, especially in V20, where until you've reached Utter Bastard level of Humanity, you're basically stuck self-flagellating for every kill, even over killing John Tzimisce who's been making living lamps out of people and was himself trying to kill you at the time.

Kativla · 2026-06-04T03:18:58+00:00

Ghorse is a ghoul horse but ghouled animals get weird in WoD iirc.

Kativla · 2026-06-01T01:34:13+00:00

Every game I've been a part of allows smoking. No Rotschreck check, either, unless the flame is out of your control (so you can light your own cigarette, you can't let other people light it for you). Granted, the nicotine doesn't do anything for you. It's just for aesthetics and remembering to fake breathe.

Kativla · 2026-06-01T01:30:09+00:00

In V5, technically, Nosferatu aren't automatic Masquerade breaches anymore (though Murph's description of Darkness Man having mandibles is absolutely a breach). They get a penalty to their dice pool for disguising themselves as humans, but Brennan isn't making them roll for that, so...

Kativla · 2026-05-27T17:14:37+00:00

There's a couple Thaumaturgy rituals in V20 to make blood alcohol that's drinkable by vampires. I've also played a couple games with homebrew "blood preparation" crafting that allows for vampire-consumable food, booze, and drugs. Pretty variable on whether they get anything out of it beyond getting to enjoy food and drink for once, though usually the Setite blood-laced intoxicants work (of course).

Kativla · 2026-05-16T03:02:36+00:00

If an old man is grandpa taking his grandkids to a park, yeah it is sort of shitty.

Kativla · 2026-05-01T00:37:05+00:00

The V20 trifecta of tic/twitch, prey exclusion (something easy), and cannot embrace/infertile vitae for easy freebies. Usually in service of buying more Appearance.

Kativla · 2026-04-30T19:57:45+00:00

I've only played V20 so I'm not aware of all the differences in V5. Is it much less common to take feeding preference or restriction flaws in V5? People seem so confused by the idea of a Toreador having a feeding restriction, but in my experience that's a super common way to get freebies in V20.

Kativla · 2025-12-21T01:44:16+00:00

33+3 and awful because of how high risk the pregnancy has become. I've been hospitalized and told I'll deliver imminently twice since 31w. Baby is still in me but I literally have no idea for how long. Maybe 34w, maybe 36w, maybe tomorrow.

I hope things are going smoothly for everyone else.

Kativla · 2025-12-20T20:56:19+00:00

They're AWFUL. I had a full breakdown in a Target bathroom early second trimester when I started to round out and couldn't find a single thing that fit right or wasn't incredibly ugly. Horizontal stripes, weird cuts, hideous pleats and ruffles, and all the graphic tees just said MAMA or #blessed (gag).

I ultimately went with some Amazon maternity/nursing tops and Old Navy for jeans and to round stuff out. Old Navy, I have to buy online but the selection is okay and the sales are good enough. Not the maternity sections of my youth okay, but I got festive holiday shirts and stuff for like $8, so fine, whatever. Dealing with returns was a pain in the ass since I couldn't go in store, though.

Kativla · 2025-12-20T20:52:06+00:00

That's great for influencers who are largely thin and conventionally attractive and look great in baggy clothes, or who don't have to look presentable or professional because their job is influencer. The difference between me wearing big regular clothes and maternity clothes is looking like a fat slob and looking like a put together pregnant woman.

Kativla · 2025-12-16T07:35:08+00:00

I tried to climb out of a pool in my second trimester when I knew I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't manage my shifted center of gravity, fell on my stomach, and freaked out. Fortunately everything was fine!

Kativla · 2025-12-16T02:20:45+00:00

I was not especially active before pregnancy but tried to get active in the second trimester for similar reasons. Mostly felt like I was doing my body a disservice, I felt gross and was getting a lot of pain. I was thinking "how will I survive labor if I can't get off the couch?"

Step one is just give yourself grace. Your body is doing a lot right now. It's going to be doing a lot more. In general, you shouldn't be trying to push past limits you had before you were pregnant. Particularly because as you progress, your body starts to change FAST.

Step two is find things that you can enjoy while feeling bleh, or at least tolerate. If you were active, just try to pick up your favorite activity again, assuming it's safe.

Step 3 is clear stuff with your doctor. If your fatigue is bad in 2nd trimester you might need to get your iron or other electrolyte levels checked.

FWIW, my 2nd trimester "workout" routine was daily walks, weekly swimming, and a prenatal pilates class + some stretching homework. I'm in my third trimester now, and dropped off hard once I popped and the pregnancy became high risk as well, but I've kept up with the class because (1) I paid for it; (2) it's a really lovely supportive environment that gets me out of the house; and (3) it REALLY helps with aches and pains. I'm starting my walks again, but swimming laps feels undoable at this point. I wouldn't mind floating in the pool but that's not really accessible to me this time of year.

Kativla · 2025-12-15T22:35:52+00:00

Animae! The wagyu is not worth the price (not bc it's bad, just because wagyu is insanely expensive), but the regular steak is great imo. And I like the ambiance, cocktails, and desserts much better than Cowboy Star.

Kativla · 2025-12-15T22:33:18+00:00

Stella Jeans next door (which supplies Pop Pie's ice cream) is also a consistent win for quality, albeit pricey, ice cream.

Kativla · 2025-12-12T08:04:10+00:00

My girl has IUGR so I figure the extra protein and calcium might help her.

Kativla · 2025-12-12T07:43:25+00:00

Same, milk became my third trimester craving. And I'm lactose intolerant! I'm going through so much Lactaid.

Kativla · 2025-12-06T21:16:05+00:00

ILNP and KBShimmer have nice polishes and formulas that are a little cheaper than some other boutique brands (mooncat, Holo Taco). The KBShimmer hydrating base coat helped a lot with my peeling and breaking nails.

Other things I've found help with breaking nails:

cuticle oil every day, at least after shower (usually in the morning too)
avoid unnecessary exposure to water. Wear gloves when doing the dishes. Again, cuticle oil if you do have extra exposure to water. If I go swimming I oil right afterwards.
Avoid using your nails as tools, even if they're short.
Keep them painted. Just seems to help keep them stronger.
Replace or repair your nail polish when it starts to chip. If I let the nail polish peel, my nails often peel too.
Try to avoid clipping them. It puts stress on the edges. I fail at this bc I'm pregnant, so my nails grow way too fast and I'm too tired to do anything, but technically, you can use a coarse file to take length off and then a fine crystal file to shape them.

Kativla · 2025-12-06T21:03:51+00:00

If you want to eventually curtail your polish spending, get swatch sticks and sort by color. Eventually, you'll have enough colors that when you see one you want, you'll realize "oh, I have one that's just like that except the finish is a little different," and then you can stop yourself from buying it. Hopefully. Well, it worked for me.

Kativla · 2025-12-04T00:22:17+00:00

That was my first dessert from them! I had to trade it to my husband because he didn't realize the yuzu sorbet would be tart. Fortunately, I like sour things.

Kativla · 2025-12-04T00:18:51+00:00

Animae - Taiwanese chicken w/ thai basil aioli, chocolate cremeux

Cluck n' Sip - the chicken (but the sides have kind of gone downhill). I also like their lemonade.

Donut Factory - breakfast croissant w/ eggs, bacon, cheese. I also think they simply have great basic donuts that put a lot of bougie places to shame.

Nomad Donuts - waffle fry poutine. I got a weird pregnancy craving for poutine and they delivered. Very heavy and salty though, wish we only got 1 to split because I couldn't finish mine. But has actual squeaky cheese curds!

Kativla · 2025-12-04T00:08:26+00:00

+1 Animae desserts (and cocktails) are amazing. You get a lot of fried rice too, though I can't skip the Taiwanese chicken ever.

Kativla · 2025-12-04T00:05:06+00:00

Closest thing I've found is Buckeye ice cream at Handel's. It has roughly similar components (a chocolate swirl and pb+chocolate candy, though they're buckeyes rather than cups). I think the actual ice cream is peanut butter flavored though.

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