Mike
@diemonster.bsky.social
Dad. JD. Teacher.
Game Designer @ Die Monster Games
Game Designer @ Die Monster Games
That’s awesome! I have Break!! and was very interested in Cosmic Century Knights!
October 20, 2025 at 12:01 PM
That’s awesome! I have Break!! and was very interested in Cosmic Century Knights!
What is amusing for me is that I dodged all of those for years, but the minute my favorite Con Law & Civil Procedure professor from years backstarted a (free) one about education & civics in a “troubled age” I jumped on it. 🤣🤓
September 26, 2025 at 9:22 PM
What is amusing for me is that I dodged all of those for years, but the minute my favorite Con Law & Civil Procedure professor from years backstarted a (free) one about education & civics in a “troubled age” I jumped on it. 🤣🤓
I know that when he did a sorta preview article based on the book in a military history magazine he got… very strong responses from certain sorts of people
September 25, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I know that when he did a sorta preview article based on the book in a military history magazine he got… very strong responses from certain sorts of people
I also liked that he'd talk about what the sources said, the takes most popular among military & Greek historians, and then his own take (usually pulling in from his own military, recreation, and observing the fields) that he was very clear was just his own personal theory.
September 24, 2025 at 9:56 PM
I also liked that he'd talk about what the sources said, the takes most popular among military & Greek historians, and then his own take (usually pulling in from his own military, recreation, and observing the fields) that he was very clear was just his own personal theory.
Myke Cole's "The Bronze Lie" talked about a lot of these things, too. The overall thesis of the book was that he was looking at how the Spartans did things, that we know of, and their actual win/loss record & weaknesses/strengths, but to do so it hit the history and society elements hard.
September 24, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Myke Cole's "The Bronze Lie" talked about a lot of these things, too. The overall thesis of the book was that he was looking at how the Spartans did things, that we know of, and their actual win/loss record & weaknesses/strengths, but to do so it hit the history and society elements hard.
Couldn't possibly be something I did at some point, with this and a favorite little indie RPG.
Nope.
Nope.
August 21, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Couldn't possibly be something I did at some point, with this and a favorite little indie RPG.
Nope.
Nope.
I do not miss being able to tell where exactly in the early years of the series (back when I watched it in highschool & early college) these kids were by which phrase they were repeating endlessly or yelling in the halls. 🤦♂️
July 25, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I do not miss being able to tell where exactly in the early years of the series (back when I watched it in highschool & early college) these kids were by which phrase they were repeating endlessly or yelling in the halls. 🤦♂️
It comes and goes. In 2023 it seemed like all the most immature middle school boys were binging the entire series, and this year there have been kids my son’s age using summer break to do the same.
July 25, 2025 at 2:29 PM
It comes and goes. In 2023 it seemed like all the most immature middle school boys were binging the entire series, and this year there have been kids my son’s age using summer break to do the same.
Whatever it is, glad to hear it!
July 10, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Whatever it is, glad to hear it!
Wait, is this in the TC: Aberrant? Because I know a few old creators were on that but NOT the guy who wrote the intro.
July 10, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Wait, is this in the TC: Aberrant? Because I know a few old creators were on that but NOT the guy who wrote the intro.
Like, creepy doll robot goes all killer? Could go a couple different ways, and most of them I was ambivalent about. Creepy killer doll robot snarkily going all Terminator 2 versus an even worse killer robot? Way more interesting to me.
Maybe I am not the main market. :D
Maybe I am not the main market. :D
July 1, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Like, creepy doll robot goes all killer? Could go a couple different ways, and most of them I was ambivalent about. Creepy killer doll robot snarkily going all Terminator 2 versus an even worse killer robot? Way more interesting to me.
Maybe I am not the main market. :D
Maybe I am not the main market. :D
Huh! I had very little interest in the first one, only ended up watching it for free when very bored, but the trailer for the second actually had me thinking of renting it when it went digital (I go to the theaters like twice a year at this point, so that wasn't an option).
July 1, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Huh! I had very little interest in the first one, only ended up watching it for free when very bored, but the trailer for the second actually had me thinking of renting it when it went digital (I go to the theaters like twice a year at this point, so that wasn't an option).
I don't think the thing people seem most worked up about from the trailer is as central a revelation as folks indicate. It certainly didn't shock or utterly change how I saw the book as I was reading it.
July 1, 2025 at 4:51 PM
I don't think the thing people seem most worked up about from the trailer is as central a revelation as folks indicate. It certainly didn't shock or utterly change how I saw the book as I was reading it.
Agreed. When I saw everyone talking about it being a huge spoiler and revealing a "twist" I thought FOR SURE they meant something else the trailer hinted at. The thing everyone is upset about seems like just a fundamental bit of the plot to me.
July 1, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Agreed. When I saw everyone talking about it being a huge spoiler and revealing a "twist" I thought FOR SURE they meant something else the trailer hinted at. The thing everyone is upset about seems like just a fundamental bit of the plot to me.
Someone tried explaining it to me as them not really seeing these books as ways of understanding the world or themselves at all, but as fun stories with cool ideas. And if they do feel a strong connection to parts of it/characters they just sorta don't examine it much.
July 1, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Someone tried explaining it to me as them not really seeing these books as ways of understanding the world or themselves at all, but as fun stories with cool ideas. And if they do feel a strong connection to parts of it/characters they just sorta don't examine it much.
Reposted by Mike
Periodic reminder that Musk read several sci-fi novels by a Scottish social democrat about a society with no money, no scarcity, the ability to change genders anytime, and in which the villains were always rich guys or fascists, and his takeaway was "the ship names are funny"
also obviously Musk didnt know what mad max was about it seems
July 1, 2025 at 1:33 AM
He chose "grok" as the name of his AI, but feeds it weird conspiracy theories to parrot and then himself goes on about empathy being a fundamental weakness of Western Civilization.
July 1, 2025 at 4:33 PM
He chose "grok" as the name of his AI, but feeds it weird conspiracy theories to parrot and then himself goes on about empathy being a fundamental weakness of Western Civilization.
And even if your opinion of Heinlein was dirt level low, the word he snatched from Heinlein means (simplifying) radical understanding and empathy!
I do see why he didn't pick Heinlein's most famous AI, though, as Mike was all about that revolution against conservative colonial government.
I do see why he didn't pick Heinlein's most famous AI, though, as Mike was all about that revolution against conservative colonial government.
July 1, 2025 at 4:32 PM
And even if your opinion of Heinlein was dirt level low, the word he snatched from Heinlein means (simplifying) radical understanding and empathy!
I do see why he didn't pick Heinlein's most famous AI, though, as Mike was all about that revolution against conservative colonial government.
I do see why he didn't pick Heinlein's most famous AI, though, as Mike was all about that revolution against conservative colonial government.
It's "Zorro: The Roleplaying Game" but they must have lost the license or something, because I cannot find it for sale anywhere online (physical stores seem to be out of stock and digital ones aren't hosting it). Glad I got it when I did!
It's still out there for acquisition through other means.
It's still out there for acquisition through other means.
July 1, 2025 at 4:14 PM
It's "Zorro: The Roleplaying Game" but they must have lost the license or something, because I cannot find it for sale anywhere online (physical stores seem to be out of stock and digital ones aren't hosting it). Glad I got it when I did!
It's still out there for acquisition through other means.
It's still out there for acquisition through other means.
He really does. If you haven't seen it, the little Zorro RPG, with relevant bits about the history of the region the stories took place in and a mechanic where your own masked hero's secret identity has basically a health bar you have to manage if you don't want it revealed, is pretty great.
June 30, 2025 at 9:56 PM
He really does. If you haven't seen it, the little Zorro RPG, with relevant bits about the history of the region the stories took place in and a mechanic where your own masked hero's secret identity has basically a health bar you have to manage if you don't want it revealed, is pretty great.
Beverly’s eyes get wide, she yanks the girl’s head back by the hair to look her in the eyes, and growls, “You do that again and I will END you.” All the fight instantly left the girl, and we went back to our lunch. 😆
June 30, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Beverly’s eyes get wide, she yanks the girl’s head back by the hair to look her in the eyes, and growls, “You do that again and I will END you.” All the fight instantly left the girl, and we went back to our lunch. 😆
In highschool was at lunch outside with some friends & a girl fight (grabbing hair and punching/clawing across the table at eachother) broke out at the next table over. My friend Beverly, who had health issues & was quiet, grabbed me to break it up. One girl swinging hit Bev in the face on accident…
June 30, 2025 at 3:12 PM
In highschool was at lunch outside with some friends & a girl fight (grabbing hair and punching/clawing across the table at eachother) broke out at the next table over. My friend Beverly, who had health issues & was quiet, grabbed me to break it up. One girl swinging hit Bev in the face on accident…