I can't think of a clever title rn

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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
say-hi-intrepid-heroes
setaflow

The dichotomy of Brennan helping with ability score rolls for newer players:

  • Titan Takedown: Preps high-level base stats for the cast, with everyone having a 20 in their two most relevant ability scores and no one really having a genuine dump stat (no one's character has below a 14/+2 modifier in any ability), which allows the players to play to their class strengths and not have to worry about fucking up as much in a shorter, tighter campaign.
  • Fantasy High: Ally Beardsley rolls a 4 for Kristen's Dex and has to live with with the consequences of that for 6+ years
D20
noodlesarecheese
anipgarden

Some of you may have heard about Monarch butterflies being added to the Threatened species list in the US and be planning to immediately rush out in spring and buy all the milkweed you can manage to do your part and help the species.

And that's fantastic!! Starting a pollinator garden and/or encouraging people and businesses around you to do the same is an excellent way to help not just Monarchs but many other threatened and at-risk pollinator species!

However.

Please please PLEASE do not obtain Tropical Milkweed for this purpose!

Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica)--also commonly known as bloodflower, Mexican butterflyweed, and scarlet milkweed--will likely be the first species of milkweed you find for sale at most nurseries. It'll be fairly cheap, too, and it grows and propagates so easily you'll just want to grab it! But do not do that!

Tropical milkweed can cause a host of issues that can ultimately harm the butterflies you're trying to help, such as--

  • Harboring a protozoan parasite called OE (which has been linked to lower migration success, reductions in body mass, lifespan, mating success, and flight ability) for long periods of time
  • Remaining alive for longer periods, encouraging breeding during migration time/overwintering time as well as keeping monarchs in an area until a hard freeze wherein which they die
  • Actually becoming toxic to monarch caterpillars when exposed to warmer temperatures associated with climate change

However--do not be discouraged!! There are over 100 species of milkweed native to the United States, and plenty of resources on which are native to your state specifically! From there, you can find the nurseries dedicated to selling native milkweeds, or buy/trade for/collect seeds to grow them yourself!!

The world of native milkweeds is vast and enchanting, and I'm sure you'll soon find a favorite species native to your area that suits your growing space! There's tons of amazing options--whether you choose the beautiful pink vanilla-smelling swamp milkweed, the sophisticated redring milkweed, the elusive purple milkweed, the alluring green antelopehorn milkweed, or the charming heartleaf milkweed, or even something I didn't list!

And there's tons of resources and lots of people willing to help you on your native milkweed journey! Like me! Feel free to shoot me an ask if you have any questions!

Just. PLEASE. Leave the tropical milkweed alone. Stay away.

TLDR: Start a pollinator garden to help the monarchs! Just don't plant tropical milkweed. There's hundreds of other milkweeds to grow instead!

thebashfulbotanist

Spring is on its way, so it's time to bring this up again before we all go out buying plants.

If you live in the US, do not buy this plant!

image

This is tropical milkweed! It's beautiful, but not native to the US, and causes spread of disease and failure to migrate in monarch butterflies.

HOWEVER. Note that if you live in central to southern Mexico, Central America, or South America, this plant is native and okay to plant! I've seen native monarchs and close relatives using these plants in Mexico and Bolivia (where I took this photo).

Look up the native milkweeds in your area to find which are best to plant! OP mentions a few resources and species. Some popular species out east in the US include swamp or rose milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), and whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata), as well as the most famous, though maybe not the prettiest, common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). Showy milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, is native to much of the west. If you're in the southewest, Asclepias subulata, the desert milkweed, is probably a better option.

onyxior
eldritchbauble

The queer community needs to declare a state of emergency, especially for trans people.

eldritchbauble

I realize this post alone is not very meaningful. I don't have the energy nor clarity of mind to elaborate rn. I will.

eldritchbauble

  1. No queer gets caught alone. We go out in packs. At minimum, in groups of 2-3.
  2. No queer gets caught defenseless. We carry a weapon for self-defense at all times. We educate ourselves and our friends on self-defense basics.
  3. No queer gets caught unaware. If approached or harassed by police, we start filming. We educate ourselves and our friends on how to interact with law enforcement.
  4. No queer gets left in the cold. We pull people in to strengthen the community network. All discourse and identity policing stops right now.
  5. No queer goes without a roof, plate, or connection. We pool our community resources. We work to ensure that every queer has a safe place to stay, meal to eat, and ear to listen.

Memorize it.

No queer gets caught alone.

No queer gets caught defenseless.

No queer gets caught unaware.

No queer gets left in the cold.

No queer goes without a roof, plate, or connection.

Live it.

We cannot rely on politicians and legislation to protect us. Government does not give us the right to survive and thrive, and they do not get to take that right from us. There are more of us than them.

Queer people will always exist. They cannot kill us. They have never succeeded, and they never will.

Fascism is nothing but a fragile ideology. May it be crushed and left to rot. It has no right to exist.

You have to love each other more than you hate your oppressors, or you are doing their jobs for them.

Memorize it and fucking live it.

eldritchbauble

I have never been so angry in my life. This is what we do about it.

eldritchbauble

When communities strengthen, fascism struggles. We need to jam them up at all points.

candidateofloyalty
monsterfactoryfanfic

"your cool city needs a food supply" a worldbuilding game about getting people fed"ALT
Introduction I love worldbuilding games. I love making maps, I love imagining characters, I love planting rumors that grow into the seeds of something grand. But maybe because I've spent my whole life in the soybean belt of the US, I'm particularly interested in how celestial capitals and cyberpunk skyscrapers keep their denizens and workers fed. Keeping people alive is hard, keeping them happy is harder, and food is a critical part of both. And while food production is not quite as sexy as dragon caves or god- skeletons, I think conceptualizing the ways in which a world keeps itself alive will produce more interesting and varied opportunities to imagine culture, conflict, and community. What is this Game Trying to Accomplish? The purpose of "your cool city" is to get players to think about the ways villages, towns, and cities depend on their food supply, and how the maintenance of that food supply affects cultural, economic, and political factors. It wants you to build a community primarily through the lens of the way that group of people keeps itself fed. That setting can then be used as a foundation for an RPG campaign, fictional story, or other creative endeavor. Alternatively, the game can also be used to enhance an already- established setting, expanding your understanding of that world with additional detail. However, it is my hope that playing this game for pleasure alone will also be enjoyable.ALT
black and white image of a plow Briefly discuss the scope of your setting. While you could theoretically play this game until you have an extensive planet-spanning model of cultures and their food sources, you should probably be more judicious with your time. Decide whether the community you'll develop is a village, a city, or a nation, and roughly how many people live in that community. Keep this scope in mind when you plan Climate and Geography in a little while. . If you're creating a community larger than a hundred people, keep in mind that not all of your food will be locally produced. The game will be more interesting if you go into it with the understanding that there are people far away who are working very hard to keep people they do not know fed.ALT
Prompt Tables If you'd like some inspiration for various parts of the game, please take a look at these prompts and pick and choose which ones you find most interesting. Crops 1. Staple plant. What makes its flour so versatile? 2. Small reptile. What delicacy is its sweet nectar used in? 3. Space algae. What are its medicinal uses? 4. Predator eggs. How would you describe their texture? 5. Difficult flower. Why is it so prized? 6. Organ byproduct. How was its sour flavor first discovered? Growing Conditions 1. How do you water the rocky soil it thrives in? 2. What animal does it grow on the underside of? 3. Why does it only grow in vacuum? 4. What strange fertilizer does it demand? 5. How does the annual cometfall impact its fertility? 6. Why are its roots so fragile?ALT

As it was becoming clear the US was headed into trade war territory, I got really interested in farming and the logistics of keeping people fed. I turned that interest into "your cool city needs a food supply," available now!

it's a hack of "i'm sorry did you say street magic" and "Microscope," two gold-standard worldbuilding games. It was polished by Nico MacDougall, who gave me some great advice on how to make this game really align with the themes and ideas I had in the draft.

I've always been a sicko about logistics and agriculture (growing up in the US midwest will do that to you), and I hope this game helps people think about how great a privilege it is to eat.

ttrpg
pigeontakeover
thenatezone

"Joy is an act of resistance" is becoming a comparable phrase to "I'm keeping you in my prayers." It's a nice sentiment and it FEELS better than saying nothing but it doesn't actually require you to do anything so it's not especially helpful on its own. When I was a kid my mom was hospitalized for several months and our family got a lot of prayers but we definitely remembered the folks who backed up those prayers with a casserole. Make sure you back it up with a casserole in 2025.