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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · 2d

Musing on LOTR as a kind of cold war between the Maiar. Gandalf's need for hobbits as similar to the use of human assets, below the radar and deniable. He ~could~ have started zapping armies, but then Morgoth would have started unleashing balrogs, etc. etc.

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · 6d

A scene burned in my mind part of me longs to recreate in an RPG is from Day of the Triffids: holed up in an apartment, the characters spy a distant light across the darkened city. They scratch the window to mark the direction, and in the daylight they see it came from a distant building. 💙

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · 14d

I would never, but every time I empty my electric razor I think, hey, you could flock a Nurgle army with this as static grass. Eww

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Reposted by Michael Prescott (Trilemma)

Trans Rights Commission Toronto @trct-cdtt.ca · Sep 12

We're counterprotesting a hate rally attempting to target trans kids' healthcare.

Details in the poster.

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Reposted by Michael Prescott (Trilemma)

Judd Karlman (he/him) @juddthelibrarian.bsky.social · 28d

As often occurs, was looking at @evlynmoreau.bsky.social's patreon art for one thing and was inspired to grab a different piece for an entirely different thing.

Swordmother, inspire us to protect our communities.

Art: Evlyn Moreau's Swordmother in an Eastern European looking dress with a close fitting hood, birds and flower details and padding, holding a scabbarded sword.

Words: PROTECT YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Sep 5

Yes, exactly. I'm wondering what a second successful attempt might look like!

Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Sep 5

Folks were joking about what the upcoming Alien: Romulus sequel could be about (who could guess?!) and I had the thought - could they hop genres entirely and do 'Spotlight', plucky journalists exposing Weyland-Yutani quarantine violations - but as a real thriller, not just scenery for xeno attacks?

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Sep 5

Examples: the 'political instability' in the Star Wars prequels (before Andor did it properly), or Alien: Earth's island of Dr. Moreau, both of which are kinda unconvincing on their own, just a stage for light saber fights and xenos getting people.

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Sep 5

You know when a franchise dips its toe into another genre to try to add depth, and all it achieves is a cardboard backdrop for the main dish? Is there a name for that? 🧵

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Sep 5

The bones tell me nothing!

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 28

Accidental cosplay at the optometrist. She gave me these crazy steampunk lens holders, they looked so odd I had to take a selfie. But with the mask I was already wearing, I looked like a tusken raider!

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 24

I wonder if putting a few random choices in squad creation helps. There's no analysis paralysis, but you're ~involved~. (In mini games this has some limitations.)

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 24

This can backfire. "Come play this mini game that I love with me, I have four full pre-painted armies!" Now the new player gets the experience without the prep, so the game is denuded. However, the prep can a) be slow and b) require the players to make choices they don't understand.

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 24

Musing on the investment that players get in a game from the pre-play prep. Miniature wargames can feel consequential and interesting when you're crossing off the last damage box on the .50 cal MG you thought would dominate, even if the game itself is mediocre. 🧵

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 24

Oh man, that's rough. I saw the pea soup vomit scene from the Exorcist at that same age, it was on mid-afternoon for some reason. Im not sure if his mother sucks cocks in hell in that edit, but the spray sure left an impression.

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 23

Savoring the idea that somewhere out there is a couple that picked *Together* as their first date movie.

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 21

Sorry, B/X = Basic/Expert D&D
DCC = Dungeon Crawl Classics, which gives players four level 0 characters to play as a little posse, only one of whom makes it to level 1.

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 21

Is this something outside or on the border of narrative analysis, like your character in FPS video game, or does this fit in somehow?

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 21

Is there an archetype that describes these that fits into the same taxonomy of Iconic vs. Dramatic characters? Are they something else? I think of them a bit like a cursor in a document, a probe for a participant to explore the _setting_, but who may emerge as another type of character later.

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 21

@robindlaws.bsky.social your segment on falling damage got me thinking about Iconic vs. Dramatic characters and how neither really describes the likely-doomed 1st level B/X PCs, members of DCC "funnels", or perhaps even the died-earlies like John Hurt in Alien or the many victims in slashers. 🧵

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 18

He only interacts with about four people, there are no demands on his time; he tells us how smart he is but we only see him condescend; he holds the threat of confinement but the androids are free to do the most dangerous thing ever. It may change, but so far Van Horn vibes!

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 18

"Van Horn" setups feel smalltime, relevant only to those stuck in the same tidal pool. Trapped in mediocrity for lack of a ticket out. "Nathan" setups feel like the isolation is a temporary containment of powerful forces that could explode onto the scene and affect everything.

"Boy Kavalier" sits with his bare feet up on his desk, still from Alien: Earth.

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 18

Contrast with the terrifying implied threat posed by "Nathan" and his AI research getaway in Ex Machina, where Gleeson has to walk an unstable tightrope trying to further or protect his of career while avoiding outright violence or possibly becoming forever trapped, like Nathan's other playthings.

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 18

In Twin Peaks, the scenes in the Van Horn brothers' office felt like being a captive observer to eccentricity, a kind of claustrophobic dragginess that can be revisited endlessly precisely because it doesn't change very much.

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Michael Prescott (Trilemma) @fuseboy.bsky.social · Aug 18

I'm watching Alien: Earth, and reflecting on how some "isolated eccentric" setups are really tense, others drag. 🧵

Scene from Twin Peaks, in the van Horn brothers' office.

Domnhall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac on a tense elevator ride, movie still from Ex Machina.

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