Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 45m

Yeah.... I have definitely surpassed the "shriveled into an antisocial raisen" stage.

Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 3h

Every time I think I've clawed my way back off burnout'd ledge, something happens to throw me right back in. And it's been so long since I've been able to DM a good campaign—those games fuel me, and I'm keenly feeling their absence. I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about what we came up with today.

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Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 3h

I spent my miraculous 2 work hours today writing a scathing letter to everyone responsible for the Albertan teachers strike (ie all the government officials), and brainstorming a new D&D campaign. The latter might not sound like a good use of time, but it's my first joyful creative spark in months.

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 4h

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

violent alien @blipstress.bsky.social · 4h

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Jennifer Kretchmer @dreamwisp.bsky.social · 1d

Because it feels relevant as we continue to evaluate the media and our representatives’ statements, my favorite way to identify the active vs. passive voice.

A post by Rebecca Johnson:
“I finally learned how to teach my guys to ID the passive voice. If you can insert "by zombies" after the verb, you have passive voice.”

A tumblr respond from mightymur:
“The final, brilliant word on passive voice.
"She was killed [by zombies.]"<--passive
"Zombies killed [by zombies] her." <-- active”

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Keith Ammann 🔜 Gamehole Con @themonstersknow.com · 1d

TODAY'S THE DAY! Making Enemies: Monster Design Inspiration for Tabletop Roleplaying Games, with cover illustration by @kroovv.bsky.social and interior illos by @jencmars.bsky.social, is now on shelves!

Get it at your friendly local game store or through one of these links: spyandowl.com/making...

A hardbound copy of Making Enemies on a wooden dining table. On the cover, a huge, pearlescent arthropod bursts out of a subterranean crevice and drives one of its large barbed claws through a dwarf fighter's abdomen, while another dwarf cowers in fear. The book is surrounded by blue and red polyhedral dice.

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Keith Ammann 🔜 Gamehole Con @themonstersknow.com · 1d

"It’s a beast. A monster. A behemoth. But it’s a behemoth of the very best kind. It’s a CR 30 epic boss of a book with a treasure hoard of inspiration. I don’t know what you expected from Keith Ammann, but it was probably this."

Read the @scrollforinit.bsky.social review: scrollforinitiative....

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Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 1d

Random thought: I really wish all video games had an accessibility setting to turn scrolling/unfolding text into instant-appearing text because wowow the unfolding text makes my eyes hurt and my head dizzy.

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Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 1d

As quick example: this section outlines things to think about when designing a forest creature, and then gives specific applications for the aforementioned systems. So this book is HIGHLY flexible and really useful for way more than just D&D.

It's a chonky book (complimentary!) and very practical.

Keith's new book is opened to a page that describes using forests, then gives specific examples in the multiple systems listed in the previous post.

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Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 1d

Look what came in the mail today! It's @themonstersknow.com's new book! I'll dig deeper into it, but I already love how this book is about so much more than just D&D. He has specific advice in each section for Pathfinder, Shadowdark, Cypher System, and Cal of Cthulhu, in addition to 2014/2024 D&D.

Alyssa, a white woman with dark brown hair, holds up the book Making Enemies, by Keith Ammann.

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Kevin Carson 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇹🇯 @kevincarson1.bsky.social · 3d

Indigenous Nations Plan Tariff-Free Trade Corridor Across US-Canada border ino.to/agDxSX2

Indigenous Nations Plan Tariff-Free Trade Corridor Across US-Canada border

“We’re not begging for crumbs anymore. We’re demanding what’s rightly ours."

ino.to

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Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 3d

I'm too exhausted to form gooder words right now, but damn Alberta, way to show up. The huge crowds in support of the teachers already today before the official strike day tomorrow, and the reaffirmation of concrete support from so many other unions? That right there is some desperately needed hope.

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Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 3d

I would 100% read those essays.

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Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 4d

Well damn. See that blue pill in this morning's organizer that I only just noticed apparently got stuck and not consumed?

That's 55 of my 100mg methylphenidate prescription and the reason I was so damn antsy today.

Alyssa holds up a daily pill organizer with four slots. This morning's is open, and a blue pill is stuck.

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Trung Le Nguyen @trungles.com · 4d

We did not weather nigh two decades of “lazy millennials are destroying every single industry” to turn around and do this to Gen Z!!!

Fortune @fortune.com · 4d

“We millennials know that there’s no such thing as work-life balance. My career is my life, my life is my career. I would never be at peace if I wasn’t working so hard.” trib.al/suc3yU6

Astronaut says Gen Z often quits when things get uncomfortable—here’s the Jeff Bezos Blue Origin training that taught her to push through | Fortune

From space rockets to 13-hour workdays, this millennial astronaut reveals the mind trick that can make discomfort your secret weapon to success.

trib.al

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Jonaya Kemper @violetriotgames.bsky.social · 5d

Has anyone written a paper on investigating fandom's internalized racism, homophobia and sexism using Actual Play* fans reactions? If not, it's going on my list. 🤌🏽

*I wish my new line of research on performance and bleed didn't mean I have to occasionally read reddit, but here we are.

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 5d

My entire life can probably be
summed up by the way I'm flipping back and forth between two book series I'm reading: The Lord of the Rings (some of the best books ever written), and a monster smut series whose best passages honestly would rate a very generous C- in the best light only while high.

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Kikki Planet @kikkiplanet.bsky.social · 6d

Between Sept ‘22 and Sept ‘23, my kid’s high school population jumped by 600 students.

600. One high school.

Premier Smith has touted 3000 new teachers as part of this gov’ts offer to the ATA.

Here’s the catch:

#ableg

1/ 🧵

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Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 5d

My entire life can probably be
summed up by the way I'm flipping back and forth between two book series I'm reading: The Lord of the Rings (some of the best books ever written), and a monster smut series whose best passages honestly would rate a very generous C- in the best light only while high.

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 6d

Who would you like to hear talk about FOLKLORE in #ttrpg?

For our upcoming twitch panel, we're talking myth, legend & folk tales & folk traditions. Who should we invite to the table?

As always priority to PoC, & in the case specifically, to under-represented (or oft-misrepresented) traditions.

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Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 9d

It's REALLY well designed!

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Dr. Emily Friedman @friede.bsky.social · 9d

LET'S GO COVER TIME!

I am pleased to have written about the idea of "indie" in Actual Play for the edited collection now titled, PLAYING OUTSIDE THE MAINSTREAM: ESSAYS ON INDIE TABLETOP ROLEPLAYING GAMES -- now available for pre-order (tell your library)

Playing Outside the Mainstream - McFarland

Playing Outside the Mainstream Essays on Indie Tabletop Roleplaying Games Edited by Stephanie Hedge Series Editor Matthew Wilhelm Kapell 978-1-4766-9424-5 978-1-4766-5811-7

mcfarlandbooks.com

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Harbinger of Doom @brandesstoddard.bsky.social · 9d

Here's the free-for-everyone version, reposted to my blog!

www.brandesstoddard.com/2025/09/larp...

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Alyssa Visscher (she/they) @alyssavisscher.bsky.social · 9d

Honestly, the new starter set is really really well done, and is mostly very accessible for younger folks. As I've been going through it, I've had my 11 year old son in mind and I do plan to hand it to him when I'm done going through it.

The young adventurer's set is also excellent!

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Reposted by Alyssa Visscher (she/they)

Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 15d

"Wait, Ben Robbins is posting GMing advice? What year is this???"

arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/48...

The Star-Pattern: a Pitfall of GMing

When someone tells me about a session of a GMed game (like D&D) that they didn't enjoy, I put on my investigator cap and ask a bunch of questions about what happened. Because I like understanding why ...

arsludi.lamemage.com

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