Toots for thebrand@dice.camp account

Written by Brand_R on 2025-01-09 at 00:53

For no reason at all, I thought today might be a time when folks may remember that Facebook contributed to a genocide in Myanmar.

"Scholars, reporters, and United Nations investigators agree that the social media giant played a role in an explosion of ethnic conflict in 2017 that led to the death and displacement of hundreds of thousands Rohingya Muslims in Northern Myanmar."

Social media without moderation does, in fact, kill people.

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-08-07 at 01:41

So look, I am going to hell for this, and I am deeply ashamed of myself in every way. But it's been that day.

[#]politics #cursed

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-07-21 at 15:44

I learned a new saying today!

"Centrists are like dogs, they can hear tone but can't understand the content."

[#]politics

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-07-19 at 13:19

I'm reading His Majesty the Worm (as is pretty much everyone I guess), and it points out @Sandra and Blorb in its RPG ludography!

This made me happy, I wish more folks had good ludographies.

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-07-15 at 18:29

In Rome the fasces was a bundle of rods. Ultra-nationalists used it to represent strength through unity, giving their name: Fascists. A bundle of rods bound together cannot be broken, they said.

But to get a bundle of rods all the same size and shape, you have already broken things -- the tree, the wood, the original rod. It is unity in which the individual is broken and lashed to power.

Unity is powerful. Freely given it binds community. Taken it creates fascism.

[#]politics

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-07-09 at 23:34

In the 80s, my family was working class, Republican, Mormon, and the Satanic Panic was on. The thing my father talked to me about with concern wasn't devil worship.

It was sexism. He did not want his sons playing a game that had random whores and offered the possibility of sexualized violence against women. I had to assure him we wouldn't do sexual assault nor allow women to be disrespected in our games before he would let us play.

So that's part of the historical context too.

3/3

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-07-09 at 23:34

We must understand Gygax in the context of his time. When he was saying women can leave and women's lib can get stuffed, the ERA was up for ratification, with the support of the majority of America. Regressives would block it, and prevent the Constitution from prohibiting sex discrimination.

In that context, we may need to consider that it might not just be normal sexism. The past was not just all cave-dads talking about boobs, and "it was the 70s" just might mean it was actually worse.

2/3

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-07-09 at 23:33

The Making of the Original D&D is resulting in some folks asking if Gygax was sexist or not. And if we shouldn't understand him in the context of his time.

I'd like to use this thread to explore this idea, with a bit of historicization and then a personal story.

1/3

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-07-07 at 18:07

In other news, everything is very normal.

https://www.nbcnews.com/investigations/anna-wolfe-pulitzer-mississippi-welfare-scandal-phil-bryant-rcna159936

[#]politics

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-07-03 at 16:17

We are now being straight told that conservatives are planning a revolution. Don't hide behind "it cannot happen here" thinking. It can. And they are telling you specifically and exactly that it is their plan, believe them and oppose them.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4753439-heritage-leader-second-american-revolution/

[#]politics

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-05-21 at 14:15

There are things students are passionate about, enough to go to jail and be beaten for them. The institutions that are shocked by their "unwillingness to learn" are the ones having them harmed.

We have created a system in which we want people to not think, check the box, and obey. When they are passionate we fail them, arrest them, sideline them. And then, somehow, we are shocked when the survivors of this mill that turns them into machines look to machines to do this tedious work. 2/2

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-05-21 at 14:15

There is a lot being written about how AI is impacting higher education. One of the things that it highlights to me is not just a condemnation of AI.

Students not writing papers show they are not properly engaged in learning. People who are excited, engaged, and empowered usually want to speak. People who are checking a box for credit want to shortcut the work.

LLMs suck. But so does producing students who have so little say in their learning that they don't want to be involved. 1/2

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-05-08 at 20:52

I'm seeing a lot of my fellow Gen-Xers saying "When did we start thinking the police were the bad guys?"

Did you not come up on Fuck the Police? On Killing in the Name?

Or is this only because now that you have your little bit of shit and feel entitled that you want to remake it? To be safe for you, instead of strong for them? To become the generation we hated for not protecting us?

These kids are doing what we did. Being who we wanted to be. Help them, don't shit on them. Fucking cowards.

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-04-29 at 21:32

It's probably not a shock to people who know me that I am just a slight bit political. And that I also have a mild interest in RPGs.

If you also have a mild interest in RPGs, and a mild interest in politics, here are a couple of Kickstarters that could use some attention and love.

Lumberjills: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unrulydesigns/lumberjills-a-war-birds-game

Oceania 2084: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jochergames/oceania-2084-the-orwellian-ttrpg

Both are games that push boundaries, both of game design and politics. They may fit your mild interests.

[#]ttrpg #mild #kickstarter

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-03-13 at 17:32

Hey all, Nefertiti Overdrive is a fun game by a good fellow. It's going to be close on making goal, and any help would be appreciated!

I particularly love anything set in the 25th dynasty of Egypt. My favorite dynasty by far. #nerd #ttrpg

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1153118353/nefertiti-overdrive-20

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-03-10 at 12:19

wtf why is it an hour off today

why do we do this to ourselves

fuck you daylight savings time

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Written by Brand_R on 2024-01-23 at 19:56

I signed this, as @lincodega does the best RPG journalism I've seen, including pieces in the last two years that have changed the industry.

If you want quality games journalism, consider signing too!

https://twitter.com/lincodega/status/1749863265016987866?s=20

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Written by Brand_R on 2022-11-22 at 02:38

Introduction: I'm Brand, and I love roleplaying games. I play just about everything. I design scenarios every once in a while, but mostly work as a developmental editor for other, better designers. I also have special interests in history, philosophy, and religious studies -- especially the interactions between those fields and social justice.

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=> This profile with reblog | Go to thebrand@dice.camp account