little wilson

I wouldn't define any of those shows as sitcoms. A sitcom (by definition, a "situational comedy") is more like Friends, New Girl, and Arrested Development. Those types of shows aren't dark. The TV world would classify shows like The Mentalist, Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, etc, as dramas, and dramas often delve into dark places. Daredevil is a drama. In terms of darkness, I don't think comparing Daredevil to other TV dramas is the right way to go about things anyway, since there are viewers who don't make a habit of watching dramas like Breaking Bad or Dexter. But most viewers who are watching Daredevil have probably seen Agents of SHIELD and watched at least a few Marvel movies. They're familiar with the MCU. That's what should be used as a basis for dark comparison, and Daredevil is significantly darker than anything out in the MCU right now. To be honest, I was shocked at how dark it was. That's probably because I'd watched it after marathoning Agents of SHIELD, and even at it's most violent (which is weak violence), SHIELD makes sure to throw in comedy right and left and change scenes so that way it's not focused on anything dark for too long. Daredevil doesn't do that. It goes from torturing someone for information to beating a person to death and doesn't bat an eye. I wish I'd known that was the case before watching it. Not that it would've stopped me, but I would've at least been mentally prepared. *Spoilers are mixed in from here on out, so if you haven't watched the show and don't wish to be spoiled, stop reading. Just to make something clear, I'm fine with violence. Blood and gore doesn't usually affect me, unless it adds sound to that--the cracking of the bones and other bloody, violent sounds. Real sounds. Most shows/movies don't do that--at least not on a consistent basis. Daredevil did, and I have a feeling it focused on the audio aspect of the violent scenes because Matt is blind, and if that's true, it was a brilliant move on the part of everyone involved with that decision. But it was also very disturbing. I couldn't stay in the room during the scene with Fisk and Anatoli. I bolted the second Fisk started in on him because I knew it would get worse. I knew Fisk was going to kill him, and it would be brutal. Yet even though I couldn't see what was going on, I could sure still hear it, and that was almost worse. This isn't to say that I disliked the show. On the contrary, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot was fantastic and the character development of all the characters was just as fantastic. Even that scene where Fisk kills Anatoli added a ton of character development for Fisk, and it wouldn't have been able to do that nearly as well if the violence had been toned down there. It didn't matter how sympathetic he seemed a little later as I learned more about him, I couldn't feel any sympathy at all for him. "I don't like violence for violence's sake" (that's not an exact quote, but he said something very similar to that), and all I'm thinking is "You decapitated a man with a car door because he humiliated you. In front of a woman who you'd gone on one half-date with! How is that not liking violence for violence's sake?!" It was fantastic that the worst scene in terms of violence came from the first time we saw Fisk in action. The entire show was similarly brilliant, and despite my shock at the violence, the show needed that grit. I'll definitely watch the second season when it comes out, and I'm definitely recommending the show to people who like the MCU, but I'm doing so with a clear "This show is very violent" warning.

I'm jealous of your tears. I've never been able to cry for that scene. I blame this partially on the first time I watched it: I was sick with a terrible bout of bronchitis and I'd watched the entirity of Season 4 in a day and I used up all my tears on the previous episodes so I had none left to give. I also think his end was so brilliantly done that there's simply too much closure for me to feel sad for him. And it's not just that final scene in the TARDIS. From the second he steps out of the radiation room, the episode just continues to get better and better with every person he goes to see one last time. It's a phenomenal montage and then with the Ood singing his theme? Best farewell for a character ever.

We're ahead of you. I'm not going to help them GM (I don't have the time for that right now, at least in terms of creativity), but I am helping them. We're just working on the item calculations and a few of the last details with some players, and the PMs should be out. That might be today, but I can't guarantee anything. Once the PMs from the night turn are out though, things should run a lot smoother. I'm getting things a little more set in the spreadsheet, and after I do that I'm probably going to start fiddling with a formula for the item calculations, and if I succeed with that...well. It'll be really quick.

One time, we played it at my grandparents and I was the Sheriff. My cousin and my sister were my deputies. My brother was the Renegade. He tricked me into killing both my deputies. Somehow, I still won. I have no idea how. Most of the time I play, the Renegade makes it at least halfway through. It's infrequent that they win though. Which is sad, since it's my favorite role. I know exactly what you mean about becoming desensitized by Cards Against Humanity. It's a great game and I love it to bits, but it's a lot more fun when the cards played are more of a surprise.

Not just Peter posting, but on that first page alone, Brandon posts twice. And it's hilarious. I loved this comment of his: He's such a troll.

In a cursory search on TWG, here's a topic started in September 2007, a year before HoA came out. The third post in that thread is actually Brandon, so he's probably forgotten that people were noticing it earlier. Or maybe he's not counting the forums.

I adore Bang! My brother's best friend keeps up on the European games of the year, so he's got a lot of foreign games in his collection. Since he's also a family friend (he used to live in our basement), I've played a great deal of them. Or I did about 10 years ago. Bang! was among those. It's been interesting to see the progression of it, from the first edition to the second and onwards, and the addition of Dodge City and the Bullet. Personally, I like the base game the most. With the addition of Dodge City if you have a huge group. Early editions as well. That friend has the first edition and most of my family has the second edition (which I think is the best edition). Some of the cards added/changed later in the base game sort of take away the old Western feel. But it's such a fun game. Other great cards games: Cards Against Humanity, Munchkin, Fluxx, and Dix-It. (There are more, but those are the ones right off the top of my head) As for true board games. Scotland Yard is great: a group of detectives chase a criminal around London using different modes of transportation. I also rather like Betrayal at House on the Hill, Ticket to Ride, Risk, Monopoly, Stratego, and Carcasonne. I've played Settlers twice and I enjoyed it, but I was introduced to it very late, so I tend to avoid playing it with groups of people who have all played for years. The only time I did that, the group was very serious about their playing, and it took all the fun out of the game. Games shouldn't be played if they're not fun. I've played Forbidden Island once, about a month or two ago, and that one was a lot of fun.

If you dredge into the depths of the TWG Archives, you could probably find it. I can guarantee people noticed it before Warbreaker and Stormlight. I noticed it after just reading Elantris and the first Mistborn, since I noticed Hoid in both. Eric/Chaos has since said that I was one of the first, but I highly doubt that I was the first, since that was in like 2008.

I love that 17th Shard business card placed so casually on all of the shelves.... My collection is minuscule compared to Josh/Rubix's. I've got paperbacks of Mistborn 1-3 and Elantris, and hardbacks of Alloy of Law, Warbreaker, SA 1-2, Rithmatist, and Reckoners 1-2. I've also got Emperor's Soul, and Defending Elysium/Firstborn. All of those (except Firefight) are signed. My only first editions are WoR, Rithmatist, Steelheart, and Firefight, and all of those except Firefight are numbered. For other swag, I've got a few of the things in Josh's last picture: the Steelheart postcard, the 7 Stormlight Archive quote magnets, and the Windrunner/Lightweaver pins. I also have some pendants from Bedali--a Windrunner necklace and a Lightweaver keychain. Two Szeth shirts (one from the WoR midnight release party) and an SA shirt, with the Radiants glyph. And I think that's it. I'll try to post a picture of it all later.

It's times like this that make me appreciate this site....I'd tell you to give a truly "glowing" review, but it occurs to me that he didn't provide a name. Probably specifically for this reason. You should call the school and figure out who he is. I'll bet they'd tell you, even if he wouldn't.

Once a month works for me. Come fall, we could see if people want to increase to twice, but for the summer, I don't see much point. There were only three of us there last night.

That would work. And then if a game doesn't have any regular villagers, they could try the pinch-hitters (if they want to try anything). That's probably what I'll try for my MR, since everyone will have roles in that game.

That's one of the things I was sort of thinking about. A short list of people aren't in the spec doc and stay out of game discussion for that purpose. It's the only thing I can really think of that would take care of the problem without adding a whole new set of problems along with it. And I'm guessing the pinch-hitter would be added to any and all PMs the inactive was a part of (assuming they were in any), just to keep the information on that role flowing.

So I've thought more about the idea of having spectators take over for inactives. I'm not so sure it'll actually work. Here's why: Fair Play. We have rules in place about players not in the game talking strategy and other stuff with players actually in the game. The spec doc gets into strategy and suspicions and stuff. If a spectator then joins the game, even if their access to the spec doc is cut off, they've still seen what's been said, and some of that could change the outcome of the game. For example, in Quick Fix 6, let's say that Wyrm hadn't confirmed the lawmen guesses. I pegged Clanky and Fel fairly early on, and my evidence against them was pretty good (particularly against Clanky). No one in the game saw the comments that I'd seen them make (or at least, they didn't pick them apart like I did). If someone in the spec doc had taken over for one of the inactives, they probably would've mentioned the things I'd said, and depending on the reaction of the active scoundrels, that could've ended with Clanky and Fel getting lynched and that would've completely changed the outcome of the game. Because of one spectator who didn't even join the game. Now, I don't even really know Clanky and Fel's playstyles, so that was just mere guesswork for me. But there are players who are rather familiar with other players because of how often they've played together. Players like Wyrm and Kas, Maill and Joe, etc. Players who can make a very educated guess about what alignment the other is because of that familiarity. Any spectator added to the game after that would have more reason to go after that player based on those comments. This isn't to say that I think this is a terrible idea. I like the idea of finding some way of replacing the inactives, since the GM balances the role/faction distribution based on the number of players who have signed up and and that balance can get seriously tweaked when a couple of those players go inactive (particularly since those inactives are most often villagers). It gets even worse when those inactives have important roles. Inactives happen. That's just a fact of the game. Most of the quicker games have a built in mechanic to take care of the inactives, but the longer games lack that, and I've never been a fan of the killing roles killing off the inactives. I know other players like that idea, using the idea that it gives the eliminators less places to hide, but for every example they can give of an eliminator hiding among the inactives, I can give at least 10 more examples of the inactives being villagers per one of the "inactive" being an eliminator. Hence, I think finding something to replace the inactives in the longer games would be good, if only to keep the balance the GM used, but I don't think taking from the spec doc is it.

For anyone who didn't come because Zach wasn't there, just know that we had Slab Pizza. And it was delicious (as Slab always is). We should probably organize the next one more like we did the first: figure out how many people are coming and then bribe them with food. I will gladly provide the pizza next time. Or whatever.

So today, I went to the allergist. Finally. They did a full panel pollen test, which means that they marked up my back and pricked it with a ton of allergens. To be specific, there were 19 types of trees, 8 types of grass, 16 types of weeds, 3 types of molds, and 6 types of environmentals (cat/dog dander, cattle, etc). Then we waited for 15 minutes to see if I would react and what to. About 10 minutes in, I noticed my throat starting to contract. Not getting hard to breathe, but I could tell there was some interior swelling going on, which rather concerned me because I've never had an allergic reaction like that. Ever. It was the grass. You know how I said they tested for 8 types of grass? Guess how many I reacted to. If you guessed 8, you got it right. Anyway, how they calculate allergies is by how big the reaction is in that 15 minutes time frame. I'm assuming it's based on millimeters, but I'm not 100% certain. All I really know is that it has to be at least a 3 in order to count as an allergen. The nurse said the biggest reaction she'd ever seen was 53. My lowest reaction of the grasses was a 6. My highest was a 33. And Kentucky Bluegrass--one of the more common grass types used for lawns--was a 20. I'd known for a while that I had reactions to grass, but a lot of people react to grass when they're sitting on it for a while, right? They get scratches and rashes and stuff. I didn't really think much of it. Though I suppose I should've, since sometimes my legs will get pretty scratched up simply by walking through a field of uncut grass. I guess that's not normal.... On the plus side, I have drugs now. The doctor said it should clear most of it up in 3-4 days, and if I continue using it, it should stop it altogether. I hope he's right, because if he's not, then he's recommending allergy shots, and that just doesn't sound fun. Seriously, though. Why grass of all things?! Grass is everywhere. Why couldn't it have been mold? I didn't have any reactions to that. I'd take a severe mold allergy any day over every friggin type of grass. How does one exist without coming into contact with grass? Is that even possible?

I tend to be generally honest even with those I don't trust. I just use that honesty to spark up conversation so I can catch them if they're actually an eliminator. I've never outright lied in the thread (or a PM) about my role or how many people are on my team (like what happened in LG4). I'm not saying lying is a bad way to do things. It's not. It's just not something I would do, and when I see someone who doesn't hesitate to lie to the whole thread, it makes me far less likely to trust anything they say. EDIT: I just remembered LG2, where I staunchly held to the "fact" that I was Unsnapped, when in fact I was a Spiked Coinshot, but that's the only game I've done that on. For the rest, I mostly refrain from saying anything about my role in the thread.

Can you blame me? You're a pathological liar in these games.

I'd say an inactive would be someone who's not posting or PMing for 2 full cycles, as well as not using their powers either. Because some people feign inactivity. This would actually be a nice way to tell players who aren't sure if someone's feigning that they actually are. I'd probably add onto the whole taking-someone-from-the-spec doc idea that it work some thing similar to LG11 with the mistwraith list. So if someone doesn't want any chance of joining the game, they won't be suddenly chosen, but others who aren't certain can sign up and be chosen. That way, you could have a sort of honor system thing going where if someone in the spec doc figures out a bunch of roles because of people they're in non-game PMs with, they can take themselves off the list so as not to give one side an unfair advantage. And as for the people in the spec doc. Wyrm mentioned the emails. That'd be the best way to do it. And if someone doesn't want to give out their personal email, you can easily create a side account with your user name. That's what a lot of people did for MR1, when we required emails. I think this is a good idea, and it should definitely be tested. If someone hasn't done it before my MR comes up, I'll use it. I'll probably use it anyway (unless it fails terribly).

That'd be awesome. Christchurch is definitely on the list. I want to go to both islands and right now I've got us flying out of Christchurch back to the States. And eating is good. I like food.

Vacations! Now this is a topic I adore. I traveled a fair amount when I was younger. My parents wanted us to see as much as we could, but with six kids, it kind of limits the travel options. We typically did a "big" trip every two or three years, with the off year(s) as a camping trip at Alturas Lake in the Sawtooth Wilderness in Idaho. Those were fun. I love camping. There's just something about being in the wilderness, keeping warm through a fire (and I've learned it's very relaxing to just stare mindlessly into a camp fire), and just all around not caring about your hygiene. So your face is dirty and your hair is greasy because you've been sleeping in a tent on hard ground away from facilities for 4 days straight. Oh well. Everyone else you're with is in the same boat. That kind of camping is ridden with no judgement. It's fantastic. I've been Disneyland twice, once when I was 7-8 and once when I was 16. I wouldn't mind going back, but I'd probably throw in Magic Mountain and Knotsberry Farm to make things more interesting and amusement park-centered. One of my first cool experiences on vacation was at Yellowstone. I think I was 11. This herd of buffalo came through the campsite, and one of them walked right next to our van. My brother tried to touch it, but my mom stopped him. What makes that experience so cool was that I didn't realize until then just how huge bison are. But seeing them almost right next to you really puts them into perspective. It's fascinating. If you want a bad experience for when I was younger, the worst probably comes from this trip we did to Seattle and British Columbia. While in Victoria, we went to the Butchart Gardens. Shortly after getting there, I got into a fight with my sister, and I think in the process of my mom trying to break it up, we both got ticked at her and for the rest of the time in the gardens, we refused to be in any of the pictures. We both were as far away from the family as we could be and still be in view. I think I mostly was in front and my sister stayed behind. It's almost amusing to look back at those pictures because one of them is clearly supposed to be a family picture, but two of us are missing. Because we were too angry. Oh, puberty, how I don't miss you. Another year, we were in Arizona visiting my brother who was in grad school in Flagstaff. That trip, we went to the Grand Canyon. We only hiked a quarter of a mile down the canyon, but that was far enough. I twisted my ankle. There was a group of foreigners (I think they were French) standing in the middle of the trail talking right at a switchback and while I was dodging around them, I also had to dodge around mule crap, and I misplaced my foot at the trail's edge (this was down in a wooded area on the Bright Angel Trail so nowhere near the edge of the actual canyon). Hiking back out was one of the worst hikes of my life. Still, gorgeous views, and my mom and I took it slow, so whatever. Some of the best trips we've done were, for some reason, to the Oregon Coast. I'm not sure why those are some of the best, but they have been. A couple trips to Seaside, one to Newport Beach, and a family reunion on Cannon Beach. The ocean may be cold there, but it's fun. On one of the Seaside trips, we went up to Astoria to see the Goonies house and ended up seeing the elementary school from Kindergarten Cop as well, by accident. We also went to Haystack Rock (another local landmark in the Goonies). I like the Oregon Coast. Might be because of Camp 18 though. That's a restaurant northwest of Portland. My family stops there whenever travel to the northern Oregon coast. They have cinnamon rolls the sizes of dinner plates. No joke. Their meals are huge. And delicious. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling through there. The quickest trip I've ever been on was to San Francisco in 2010. My aunt is a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines. We flew out from Boise, Idaho on my birthday, and flew back the next day. While in San Francisco, we went to Ghirardelli Square, which was quite awesome for a chocolate fiend like me. We also ate at this delicious little restaurant called Frjtz. They had literally the best fries and dipping sauce I've had in my life. They also had great crepes. The highlight of that trip, however, was that night. We went to Wicked, at the Orpheum Theatre. Somehow, my aunt got us front row tickets. It was amazing. That was the second time I'd seen a musical in its premier city. The first was Phantom of the Opera in London. That happened on my favorite trip thus far. 2009. England, Ireland, Wales, and France. I could go on about this one for a while, because I've got so many memories and experiences from it. Playing the pianoforte in Jane Austen's home. Biking in the rain on the Aran Islands in Ireland and getting literally soaked to the bone (which caused my bronchitis to come back). Walking into the Long Room at Trinity College and smelling this overwhelming and delightfully delicious smell of books. Eating my first Magnum bar in a stairwell at our Dublin hostel because I'd bruised the metatarsal bone in my foot and couldn't go out into the city. Talking to a Londoner in the Bermondsey Tube station for 2 hours one night with a friend. Watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Being entirely underwhelmed seeing the Mona Lisa (there are much more interesting paintings in the Italian painter's gallery at the Louvre).....as I said, I could go on for a long while. But I think I'll just say that I adore British castles and really just castles in general. I'm also convinced that the best experiences and memories we can create while traveling aren't through constant movement and seeing as much as we can as quickly as possible. The best experiences happen when we slow down and feel. When we connect, either with the place or the people. Those are the memories that really stick. Anyway, travel is sort of in my blood. I can't imagine a life without it. I have this desperate need to see all of the world that I can, and I fully plan on making it happen. I'm thinking my next trip will be Eastern Australia and New Zealand. Ideally, that'll happen next year with one of my friends, but I'm only in the early stages of planning that one, so we'll see. Should be a ton of fun if it actually happens.

Oh, fine. I caved. You get your wish. *le sigh*

I updated the link the very day you posted that. And the game description is staying. Mostly because I still have no idea how to sum up your game and all the mechanics.

I think he was referring to being put on the list for the next opening (as in, after Winter, so 10th in line, currently) in the Long Games, but I could be wrong....

I'll get you on the Long Game list. Done.