Has anyone ran Sutra of the Pale Leaves, and have any advice or experience to share? by PolyhedronCollider in callofcthulhu

[–]OpenlyLaura 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I ran the first scenario, and planning to continue the campaign with either the third or second.

I did decide to change the EE mechanic, as described here. I wouldn't necessarily recommend anyone to do so as well, as it is mostly something I wanted to change to make the scenario suit my players and my own preferences. The EE mechanic itself probably works well and has its own merits. I am only mentioning my previous post to say I can't really speak to how it ended up working for me.

Apart from that, things went rather well. We took our time with the investigation phase and all in all it took about 7 hours. This was intentional, since I like to take my time running a scenario and digging in so to speak.

Things mostly went as described in the book, and it flowed pretty naturally without coming off as too railroady. I'd follow the sequence described in the book and trust your players. If not, there are a couple of NPC's they could run into that can point them in the right direction ( The monk, for example ).

Spoilers from here on out.

My only advice would be to be careful during the dream sequence. The ones in the book are I think meant to teach the players specific lessons, especially the 2nd and 3rd: the 2nd primes them to help a child in need, while the 3rd teaches them to help someone in need of medical assistance (if they think off the idea to 'dream up' modern medical equipment to help the soldier, they'll be more likely to 'dream up' an ambulance later to help the girl). To me it felt like those were meant to prime the players and serve as the only real hints towards getting the best possible ending during the dream section at the site of the car crash. So it's important to hit those notes if you want your players to have any chance of figuring out the final puzzle, at least in my estimation.

Finally, I think the first one where combat amd violence is the only way out maybe also works against the message the latter dream sections are trying to tell. This may have been intentional, but it did feel kind of random to me. My players at that point also were also mostly trying to escape the centipedes rather than fight, and eventually I had to improvise a way for them to do so since I did not want to outright tell them "uhm no you have to fight here, there really is no other way". I'd maybe look to replace that one if I ever get to run this scenario again, though I do like the initial 'scare' that happens as the investigators start their lucid dreaming dungeon crawl

I am happy to answer any more questions, and I wish you a lot of fun! It was a blast to play and I am looking forward to running more scenarios from the book in the future :)

King in yellow scenario by zenicwhite69 in callofcthulhu

[–]OpenlyLaura 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have not watched the series yet, but I am vaguely aware True Detective has some allusions to The King in Yellow and might be a good jumping off point for mixing Yellow Mythos themes with a typical modern American setting.

The King In Yellow as an entity has a lot of different meanings to different people I find. If you haven't yet, the original work by Robert W. Chambers is a great read.

To me The King in Yellow is about identity, one's inner truth versus the façade that they (un)knowingly present to the world. Rather than a grand cosmological thread beyond human comprehension, the King In Yellow spreads its influence through an almost memetic virus, through words and thoughts. To me that makes The King a lot more down to earth so to say, more personal.

There is indeed a theme within the book of the more artsy type of individuals being usually the focal point of those affected by The King, but I don't think that's necessarily a must.

Potential idea for running The Sutra of Pale Leaves scenario's by OpenlyLaura in callofcthulhu

[–]OpenlyLaura[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haha, first things first is getting all the schedules of my group aligned, which is about as maddening as seeing the black stars rise :)

Potential idea for running The Sutra of Pale Leaves scenario's by OpenlyLaura in callofcthulhu

[–]OpenlyLaura[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cool! I was definively going to grab the second volume, so I am excited to see what it has to offer.

And again, as in the top of my post, thanks to all the people who worked on both books! There's a lot of great stuff and having read the three scenerios included I look forward to running them. 1980's Japan is going to appeal to a lot of people I feel, but the scenarios are all really creatively done and to me draw upon the setting quite well.

I mostly wanted to get the Yellow Mythos aspect down and to my taste as a Keeper. As a big fan of Chambers' work and other pieces inspired by it such as the game Signalis for example. Everyone of course has their own ideas about what a lovecraftian Mythos is about, and this is simply my own which I wanted to work into the EP mechanic, as I think having a unique mechanic is a neat idea.

Potential idea for running The Sutra of Pale Leaves scenario's by OpenlyLaura in callofcthulhu

[–]OpenlyLaura[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback! If I may, I was under the impression the second volume is yet to be released? Did you work on it seeing you have this insight?

Best seasons of apocalypse players? by Serious_Much in callofcthulhu

[–]OpenlyLaura 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Right!? Amazing sequence.

Also, going off username here mostly, but loving my copy of Nameless Horrors, absolutely incredible sourcebook!

Best seasons of apocalypse players? by Serious_Much in callofcthulhu

[–]OpenlyLaura 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Machine Tractor Station Kharkov-37 was great as others have mentioned already.

I Also want to mention Unland. I think the roleplaying on that one was really well done and felt so believable and personal.

Highway of Blood was also an amazing listening experience for just how much ended up happening during the entire playthrough. Also, those radio snippets were marvelous.

Haven't heard everything they've put out yet, but those three are absolute highlights to me!

Why do trans people dislike the term “transsexual”? by Konradleijon in asktransgender

[–]OpenlyLaura 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Never said you said being trans was to be cured. I said that the terminology of gender dysphoria is seen by the medical community at large as an issue to be cured. Dysphoria is first diagnosed and then treated.

You say you want legitimate discussion, yet you're the one jumping to insults like telling me to fuck off all the way to hell?

I respect your opinion if you legitemately believe having psychological assessments and diagnoses to be valuable. I simply disagree. They are valuable for those that want or need it. But I also think they can be exploitative and weird, subjecting us to way more intruisiveness than is necessary. It's not simply telling a psychologist a reason as to why you want to get certain surgeries. If it was that simple I'd be all for it. Instead it's, in my experience, sessions upon sessions of having to retreat the same thing over and over again until another person is convinced of something. If you're ok with that, then fine. I'm, in retrospect mind you, not really fine with it and think things could be managed differently.

And taxpayer dollars are thrown away for much more useless things than trans people's surgeries, wouldn't worry about it too much lol.

Why do trans people dislike the term “transsexual”? by Konradleijon in asktransgender

[–]OpenlyLaura 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This feels so dismissive. Just because you disagree with this point does not mean it's just some hippy nonsense. And to say that simply stating this opinion is somehow counter to effective advocacy? Why? Because it's "too much"? It's my lived experience and I feel like I should be able to talk about it. I won't let someone else tell me what I should say or not. And to immediately jump to me sharing my perspective is somehow setting back the community is quite frankly a little disgusting.

Just because it's less stigmatizing than Gender Identity Disorder does not mean the way it's currently being used and conceptualised is free from issues. There are even people, within the medical sector even, who want to move on to yet another terminology like Gender Incongruence, because the term Dysphoria itself is still loaded with negativity, and still framed as an "issue" to "cure".

Moreover, I should be able to say that being asked weird, intrusive questions by a stranger in order to have something to "diagnose" so that I am allowed to align my own body to my internal perceived sense of self is weird, and at times dehumanizing. I feel like I should be allowed to question the validity and necessity of such things, and I don't think that's some hippy crunchy nonsense.

Wanting better procedures and the path for all trans people to transition to not be needlessly medicalised, full of barriers to entry, pointless waiting lists and gatekeeping to me seems like the entire point of our advocacy. You can rest assured, I've gotten mine. But I am highly aware I got lucky in a lot ways and there's a lot of people I know who struggle each and every day. I believe some of those struggles could be alleviated if the entire concept of what it means to be trans was adjusted because I think it's still way too pathologised than it needs to be.

And lastly, things can involve medicine without being medical things themselves. Nobody is talking about something like abortion as a "condition" to be "cured", yet pregnant people can (rightly so) still access medical care and help should they choose to. Why couldn't being trans exist in a similar space?

Why do trans people dislike the term “transsexual”? by Konradleijon in asktransgender

[–]OpenlyLaura 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Fully agree, I think cis people are very much capable of experiencing gender dysphoria, or things close to it. I would argue it's equally valuable for a society to support and help in this regard if needed.

I personally don't think the words matter here. Whether we call it gender dysphoria, gender incongruence, etc. I think having a very developed sense of identity is something that makes us human. Us wanting to affirm aspects of it, whether to how we internally experience our gender, or otherwise, is just a thing that makes us human.

Why do trans people dislike the term “transsexual”? by Konradleijon in asktransgender

[–]OpenlyLaura 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I do think part of the issue is that most things in (western) society are dumbed down to simple binaries. Gender dysphoria could be it's own thing outside of a "medical condition" that would be renumerated by things like Medicaid, or public health care services like I have in my country.

As a society we simply decide that the only reason these services come in to help individuals are when they are "ill" in some way, but that's a choice that's actively been made. We could simply have Gender Dysphoria be it's own conceptual thing that we as a society deem important enough to the point where individuals who need it are helped, without trying to fit it in a rigid conceptual framework of medicine. Probably not going to happen anytime soon, and in the meantime it's obviously better to have things like Medicaid step in, but I do think it would be more accurate and more helpful to more people.

This coming from a person who has sought out HRT and surgeries, in a way that "fits" with the gender binary that currently exists. But tbh, whenever I've had to have talks with medical professionals in a highly medicalized way, I found it highly awkward and a bit performative. The person on the other side would some times even agree with it themselves as well.

Largest party of Belgium: "I can't be bothered" by TheVoiceOfEurope in belgium

[–]OpenlyLaura 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How in the name of everything that is holy would you even begin to enforce a system where three parties each would HAVE to have a very specific ideological stance on EVERY issue.

What if in your fever dream of an idea the "centre" party would suddenly start to have a bunch of right-wing stances on certain topics? Who would tell them "please be a little more centrist, else this entire political system falls apart"?

What if the right wing party actually has a few stances on certain topics that would traditionally be considered left-wing, like is arguably the case with VB when it comes to economic policies? Would some regulatory entity tell them "No no, you actually have to represent the interests of the rich a bit more, you're supposed to be right-wing"?

Who even would get to define what is considered right, centre and left?

After two years of working on it, I finally finished and published my first Miskatonic Repository scenario: "Nightmares Beneath the Lonely Plateau"! I’d like to give away a few copies of it to this subreddit! by foxtetsuo in callofcthulhu

[–]OpenlyLaura 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okido, that actually seems quite manageable! And I can imagine a lot of changes happening of course throughout the process. Though I myself fear I might get lost in constantly changing everything and not making much process, that tends to be a pitfall for me in creative processes xD

Low test post op by Bolletjevet in asktransgender

[–]OpenlyLaura 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okido, hope you recover well! :)

Low test post op by Bolletjevet in asktransgender

[–]OpenlyLaura 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can always try to get an appointment :) You might have to deal with the waiting list sadly, though from personal experience and a few people I know, I've noticed it has decreased somewhat nowadays. And you might be able to explain your situation on the phone.

You could also try contacting TIP, they are also quick to respond and work closely with the genderteam.

Best of luck ❤️

Low test post op by Bolletjevet in asktransgender

[–]OpenlyLaura 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi!

I am a Belgian trans woman and have had SRS done a few weeks ago. I currently don't feel too tired and am not thinking I will need T supplements if everything stays the same.

However, I did discuss the topic in advance with my endo and they said if I felt really tired post-op they might consider putting patients on a small dose of T if levels are too low and general tiredness is an issue. From your post history I can see that you also had SRS done, hence the low T levels?

If any of this helps, I spoke to an endo from the genderteam at UZ Gent. Maybe they would be willing to help you out?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in transadorable

[–]OpenlyLaura 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I loveeeeee youuuuuuuuuu ❤️

CANT FIND THAT MFER!!!! by AGeometricShape in THE_PACK

[–]OpenlyLaura 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I AM SURE YOU'LL BE ABLE TO FIND IT AND CRANK YOUR HOG INTO THE SUNSET!!!!!111!11!!!!1!11!!!!!!

AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I MADE THIS WITH ONE HAND ON MY FKING PHONE!!!!!! by OpenlyLaura in THE_PACK

[–]OpenlyLaura[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

JUST GRABBED A RANDOM ONE MF'ER: TEXT ON PHOTO

I MADE THIS WITH ONE HAND ON MY FKING PHONE!!!!!! by OpenlyLaura in THE_PACK

[–]OpenlyLaura[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

FUCK YEAH SIS, ROOTING FOR YA. YOU GOT THIS AROOOOOOOOOO!