Dose Two: Addendum

For as long as I can remember, I've been in the habit of carrying around all manner of spare tools and supplies for whatever minor emergencies life might throw in my direction.

Since downsizing from a backpack to a messenger bag, I've had to give greater consideration to the volume and weight of such items; but this has only served to gamify my choices!

(Heck: I've modified my current bag multiple times, to better organize the contents; and now I'm planning to construct a new bag from scratch, to hold everything exactly the way I want.)

The following are always in my bag:

Hedgehog best friend;

Keys (on a retractable winder);

Wallet and checkbook;

A6 notebook(s), pencil, ultra-fine marker;

Hairbrush, hair ties;

Netbook and charger;

Folder of miscellaneous papers;

Spare N95 masks and hand sanitizer;

Tissues, spare pad¹.

There are two optional item sets that I include unless traveling light - a personal care bag:

Nail clippers, nail file, tweezers;

Hand lotion, lip balm;

Travel toothbrush, flushable wipes;

Medications;

Basic first-aid supplies (i.e. Band-Aids, pain relief).

...And what could broadly be termed a 'repair kit':

Multi-tool², bit driver, additional bits;

Needles, thread, safety pins;

Universal charging cable³;

Emergency rain poncho⁴.

¹ I'm a great believer in the idea that trans girls should carry a spare pad, in solidarity. However, this also proved personally helpful during my lengthy period (no pun intended) of post-reassignment healing.

² Once used to fix the latch on an ornery stuffing machine at a Build-A-Bear.

³ Each year I attend a convention with my friend; and one of the major highlights is a puzzle-solving activity - the research for which can quickly drain a phone battery.

⁴ Prompted by a situation in which I had to cross a small distance through driving rain, and did not have an umbrella with me.

@ people who carry bags everywhere what do you put in them what is there to bring other than chapstick, keys, phone and maybe a tampon why are you packing a suitcase to be outside for 5 hours

There have been a number of particularly insightful additions to this chain. Courtesy of crazy-pages:

...Relative to the dollar value of labor, video games are cheaper than they've ever been. It's just that the inequality distribution of wealth has changed so much, and cost of living along with it, that the cost of games relative to people's discretionary income after necessities has skyrocketed.

...And robotsandfrippary:

That's where your $60 goes. To the corporation and CEOs, not the devs... It's killing games, and none of us know what to do about it because we're busy scrambling to find work and feed our families.

...And nerdlingwrites:

Approximately 9,000 people in the industry were laid off in 2023, and so far this year there's an estimated 8,000... I think we've gone past crash, and now the entire industry is imploding.

The pandemic was (I know, I know; Apollo's gift of prophecy) a once in a lifetime event; and for all of the disruption, devastation, and deaths it caused, some industries - such as those offering entertainment at a time of mass quarantine - made out extremely well.

Unfortunately, America's particular brand of short-term, shareholder-centric capitalism demands that the Lines Goes Ever Upwards (even when the explanation for a much-needed correction is as simple and easily-digested as "We experienced an unexpected windfall due to one-time exterior circumstances").

This is why the price of games goes up, even as consumer purchasing power goes down; why massive layoffs are occurring across multiple industries (even as companies report record profits against a background of sustained economic growth).

The entire system is sick, and growing sicker; and until such a time as we stop treating share price as an objective measure of value, it will grow sicker still.

As for what this means for the video game industry at present? Hard to say; although this wouldn't be the first time the medium has nosedived due to mismanagement on the part of major players.

Historically, the industry has bounced back from prior crashes (and often with new captains at the helm). I imagine however that this will bring little solace both to the developers that have lost their jobs, and the consumers that can no longer afford to engage in this pastime.

Unironically I think we might run into another video game crash like back in the day

As weapon rules go, combi-weapons are one of the most intuitive:

“This is a boltgun* and a special weapon taped together. Each shooting phase, fire one or the other.”

I’m all for streamlining in 10th; but this seems like an unnecessary change.

My suspicion is that GW isn’t worried about rules bloat here; but rather, that the new datacard format would need five** weapon profiles to represent whatever combination of boltgun / meltagun / flamer / plasmagun / gravgun the model might be toting.

(As psychic powers are now effectively ‘weapons’ and also have their own profile, I can see why datacard real estate would be a concern.)

* Yes, there are non-Space Marine combi-weapons; but I’m extending the cited example.

** Six if we’re being pedantic and counting storm bolters as combi-bolters…

So, this is going to ruffle some feathers...

Combi-Weapons have been simplified to the point of no longer having variety.

It might just be for the Terminator Librarian, but that seems unlikely.

When people were bragging about codex creep being undone in 10E, did they consider that would include Imperial factions -including Marines?

Or did they just want everyone else to stop having strengths that were better than Marines?

In any case; it appears Combi-Weapons are now generic, just like Chaos Terminators' Accursed Weapons.

...

How do I feel about this? Hmmm... I dunno: 'salright I guess. Not that big of a deal. Wounding all Infantry of a 4+ and dishing out Mortals on a 6+ to wound isn't a bad deal.

It will make Chaos Terminators and their limited ranged weapon options a lot better. Just give them all Combi-Weapons for bulk Anti-Infantry 4+ and Devastating Wounds - could be nice.

Probably the worst part of this, will be for Orks. Kombi-Skorchas were a way to mitigate BS5+. Now they'll lose auto-hits? And will it be a mandatory -1 to hit? So BS6+ in 10E?

Even when Imperials are nerfed, Xenos get it worse off.

The spackle technique looks great! The pattern scales perfectly; and the cross-hatching of the brush strokes reminds me of modern digital camouflage (and by extension, suggests that the Kroot received their cold-weather gear from their Tau allies).

This definitely seems like the direction to go in; and I'm very excited to see the finished result! 🙂

Work in progress shot of my first four Kroot.

Using Farstalkers as Carnivores simply because they have cloaks - my Tau are going to have snow bases, so the Kroot will match, and there is a limit to the amount of genetic cold weather resistance you can inherit by eating dire-lemmings, ice-ferrets and Valhallans.

Not at all happy with the snow camo pattern I botched onto these guys tho... Might have to go back to the drawing board.

Fever dreams

Between stress and a good old-fashioned rhinovirus, I've been having a lot of strange dreams; last night was no exception.

First, I dreamt that an Italian man was attempting to seduce me. (I'm not sure why my fevered brain opted for a Mediterranean origin - perhaps because I knew an incorrigible duo of Italian Lotharios in my younger years?)

Naturally, I rebuffed him - I'm a married woman!

Second, I dreamt that I was hurriedly pacing an unfamiliar street, with only an undersized towel to hide my modesty. I was of course then approached by several men with the intent to perpetrate a robbery at a gunpoint. (Most unpleasant stuff.)

Interestingly however: in both instances, I was incredibly aware that (a) I was trans, and (b) in the dreams themselves, fully physically transitioned (to the point that the aforementioned Casanova was mistakenly under the impression that I was cis).

Until now, my dreams have generally been modeled on my former identity and appearance; and it is both fascinating, and long overdue, to see them finally catch up!

Office space: addendum

Yep... yesterday's workout did a real number on my girl muscles. I've got minor strains in my forearms, shoulders, and weirdly, thighs (which is what I get for trying to be a human jack, I guess).

I realize now that I'm reluctant to tell the men in my life "I'm sorry, I cannot physically carry this; you need to do it for me" because:

It feels sexist;

Despite all the physical changes I've experienced this year, my frame is still the same - and I worry that people will extrapolate from this that I'm still equally physically capable.

I don't know what the solution is, but I need to figure something out before too long because I'm getting really tired of these injuries...

Orikan: *Rewinds time*

Trazyn: "...A single thread of fact within this tapestry of fiction you have woven."

Orikan: "BASTARD, BASTARD, BASTARD!"

"Stop laughing Trazyn, I have a Gf, she's just from another dynasty"

My spouse and I just had the most wonderfully absurd exchange regarding a hypothetical scenario in which the titular protagonist of the 1968 musical Oliver! was portrayed by the (inexplicably and uncommented-upon) fully-grown actor, Henry Cavill.

This lead to the following delightful mental image:

There's a point of discussion that comes up periodically in transgender advocacy circles. To paraphrase:

Do you love transgender people? Or do you hate transphobes?

That is to say: those that claim allyship with the transgender community should be motivated by love; for love begets help and support.

Conversely: those that are motivated by hate will seek, first and foremost, to attack others. While there is a time and place for opposing transphobia (violently so, even), this cannot be the preeminent response to any and all issues.

...

Mat Ward's tenure as a named codex author drew mixed responses. His overhaul of Necron lore, for instance, is generally considered a positive turning point for the faction. (His heavy-handed promotion of the Ultramarines, less so.)

If you are motivated by a love of the Warhammer: 40,000 game and setting, then you might wish that some of Mat Ward's more controversial contributions be corrected. As his work was published in what is now the distant past, it is also likely that your wish has already been granted.

As such, it does not make sense to expend energy on what is effectively now a non-issue.

If you are motivated by hate, however, then you might perceive Mat Ward's failings as forever unforgivable; his mockery and harassment not merely permissible, but necessary; and his departure from Games Workshop, a hard-won victory.

...

In this respect, @ladymirdan's 'Mat Ward Test' is an excellent barometer of an individual's motivations; and whether they are rooted in a love for the hobby, or hate in search of a purportedly acceptable target.

With this in mind:

I strive to research an issue prior to rendering judgement. In this particular instance (the introduction of female Custodes), I made a point of leafing through the blogs of those most vocally opposed, looking to understand their motives and character.

Time and again, I came across posts in which these people openly delighted in the heartless ridicule of others; justified upon the flimsiest of pretexts.

They do not love Warhammer: 40,000; but rather, are simply seeking excuses to exercise their hatred - of which Mat Ward, and now those championing Custodian Calladyce Taurovalia Kesh, have proven aptly suitable victims.

So I didn't take my own advice and started playing chess with the pigeons.

And my ultimate litmus test for a 40k player once again proved to work. I didnt even have to bring it up (they alway do that themselves).

And that is their opinion on Mat Ward.

This test has never failed me. He is the alt-right 40k boogieman, they haaaate him with a passion for some reason, but they never know anything about him. He has literally written the most popular characters in all of 40k and is responsible for a shit ton of 40k computer games and he incidentally is the reason why they don't print the name of the writer (guess the fuck why. *hint they send Ward actual death threats for changing the lore).

It has gotten to a point that I just block people talking shit about Ward after one warning. Because people who have this opinion has gotten it somewhere. Usually from hanging out with guys like this who think representation ruins the hobby.

I still have to make that “Why people are wrong about Mat Ward and he deserves better”-post/vid.

This Author notes that a combination of Unicode superscript numerals¹ and the ❮s❯² formatting sub-type may be utilized concomitantly to approximate the divagate³ authorial style of noted poet⁴ E. E. Foot (for whom the ubiquitous ‘foot note’ is so named⁵).

¹ The first three numerals are - for historical reasons - located in the Latin-1 Unicode block; the remainder may be found in the aptly-titled Superscripts and Subscripts block.

² Lit.: ‘Small’.

³ Meandering, digressionary; from the Latin verb, divigari (“To wonder”).

⁴ …And ‘poet of notes’, as it were! (It should be remarked that Foot was, by day, a dutiful, detail-oriented customs agent; and it is oft-theorized that this choice of profession strongly influenced Foot’s idiosyncratically particularized approach to prose).

⁵ This is, factually-speaking, a fiction; but fictionally-speaking, a marvelous fact.

Tumblr’s lack of support for sub/superscripts is killing my need for footnotes in my posts😞