Some reasons why Vampire the Masquerade 5th edition is a good book

…I played Vampire: The Masquerade when it first came out, and I do remember the first manual talking about group cooperation and comfort zones.  But it was in more vague terms, simpler advice for a simpler time.  To see these things explicitly stated in an RPG resource book is absolutely fantastic, and shows a great deal of sensitivity and support for various types of players and various types of playing styles.

And yes, I do mean what they did is supportive even for that last snippet. It takes a great deal of strength to turn away from the seductive allure of empowerment through cruelty toward others.  Support doesn’t always mean “wearing kid gloves when handling someone” or avoiding a confrontation for a much-needed discussion.

Roleplaying, like writing, is all about the fiction.  The make-believe. The “let’s pretend!”  Roleplaying is group cooperative storytelling wherein each person is invited, and meant, to contribute to the story as a whole.  To make the story better for everyone, more enjoyable.

Unfortunately, things like fascism and supremacy/nationalism movements aren’t fiction. They are things that create real-world evils with real-world people being severely harmed by them, these days.  It’s not a game, it’s not funny, and it’s neither conducive to group cooperativeness nor good storytelling. It’s not heroic. 

People who do these things are not the heroes of the story, and they never will be.  Not in real life.  Not ever.

Pretending otherwise is a bigger piece of fiction–and a more poorly written one!–than anything any professional author has ever published.  Even the worst piece of literary drek that has ever gone viral isn’t as bad as that sheer level of lying to yourself.

So do put down the roleplaying book, and go call someone you trust who isn’t involved with whatever Dark Side of the Force hole you’ve descended into, to help get you back out again.  We want you to actually be heroic in real life…and not someone who is basically nothing more than a wanna-be murderer.

Real life isn’t a story.

Real life isn’t a game.

Real life has consequences.

Mad props to Vampire: The Masquerade, for acknowledging this, & being supportive enough to be blunt about their creation not being meant for the kinds of people who think that creating horrors in the real world is “acceptable behavior.”

It never was, and it never will be.

Oh hey, this is my writing! Getting notes! On the Tumblr! I’m really glad people liked my safety notes and essays in V5. I’m super proud of them.

And yes, you can check, “Jacqueline Bryk” is listed as an author in the PDF version that has these essays.

If you’d like to follow me for more safety-conscious games and horror stories, check out my Itchio, my DriveThruRPG author page, and my Twitter. I almost never post on Tumblr any more.

“People are naturally lazy and will never do any kind of work for free.”

Minecraft Players:

this is from actually from 2014! here’s what this year’s version looks like.

hi what the Fuck

why limit yourself between choosing between a pretty feminine aesthetic or a dark one? if persephone can be the goddess of spring & queen of the underworld at the same time so can you

This is both against the gender roles that God put forth and in favor of the worship of pagan God’s. This is blatant satanic blasphemy

frollo has logged tf on

Reblog if you too are against the gender roles that God put forth and in favor of the worship of pagan Gods.

(via outofcontextdnd)

The small business Saturday Lucky Packs are now available in the Etsy store.

Option A: deluxe headdress or boater hat or witch hat, necklace, and a corsage or two-way clip Or Option B: regular headdress or custom beret, sash, and a corsage or two-way clip

The lucky packs will be made to order and to match a jsk, op, or outfit(s) of your choosing.

#lotvdesigns #lolitastyle #loliafashion #gothiclolita #indielolita #jfashion #luckypack https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqkm0nmHsXj/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15227r7kdzxhf

Crows - Acrylic and gold leaf on wood

I like how in olden times dudes used to paint past historical events with the clothing and surroundings of the painter’s current day, like some medieval monk painting Jesus and friends in a tunic and hose. I think we should bring that back. I want to see Caesar crossing the Rubicon in crocs.

me: facebook is horrifying isn’t it

them: how?

me:

me:

what are these from?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolemartin1/2018/11/20/facebook-files-algorithm-patent-to-predict-who-you-live-with/#6873af283544

this

remember to pay your respects to those pretending to be straight today

ive already had to pass up on one gay joke so as to not expose myself

i’m oscillating between dimensions y’all want anything

Every time somebody refers to vampires as “draculas” I picture, like, a vampire suburb, and the Draculas are that one family that’s conspicuously wealthier than all the other families that everybody low-key hates. They roll up at a neighbourhood social and folks are like “oh, fuck, it’s the Draculas, okay, gotta play nice HEEEEEY VLAD!”

(The Draculas are, of course, embroiled in a long-running passive aggressive feud with the Wolfmans down the block. Naturally neither family would ever openly acknowledge it, but everyone knows.)

I realize the tags say werewolves, but it’s funnier to me if the Wolfmans are also vampires but because they’re sensitive about their name they’re really conspicuous about being vampiric, which is probably the source of the feud because conspicuous vampirism is the Draculas’ whole -deal-.

Maybe the Wolfmans are vampires who turn into wolves while every other family in the neighborhood turns into bats, and they’re really touchy about getting called werewolves behind their backs – which of course everybody does, because suburban vampires are just awful.

@bellyrubhungrywishingwell replied:

The Draculas have a complicated relationship with the fact that their patriarch could transform into both a bat and a wolf. The neighborhood has quietly agreed to just avoid bringing it up in their presence.

So of course the Wolfmans bring it up constantly. Not, you know, as a topic for discussion or anything – it’s just downright uncanny how often that little fact seems to come up in passing!

@vonaether @tacticalnymphomania @liliturra we are running this, right?

I am no longer working with LotFP

(Preface: This is an update about my working relationship with a TTRPG publisher. Fair warning: politics, ethics, and LGBT issues are discussed).

For those who don’t know, I have had a three year working relationship with Lamentations of the Flame Princess (LotFP). I’ve been a fan of their books and a pretty big booster of them on social media. When it came time to pitch Blood in the Chocolate, I went to LotFP to do it. They published my first bigger budget book, which won an ENnie award later that year. It is fair to say that LotFP helped my freelancing career.

Earlier this week, this was posted to the LotFP Twitter and Facebook accounts.

This post has since been taken down and an explanation has been given.

Jordan B. Peterson is a man with a number of public opinions of transgendered people’s rights, the LGBT community, and left-leaning individuals (like myself) that I find morally repugnant. He has a large following among the alt-right (a political movement with ties to white nationalists, neo-nazi’s and other radical conservatives in North America). Regardless of what merit his works or his lectures might have, his statements on these matters are ones I deeply disagree with.

And then here was my publisher doing a photo op with him after attending one of his events in Finland.

Even if this was done as a marketing gimmick (LotFP uses a lot of shock value marketing), I think it implicitly sends the message that LotFP is a game that is accepting of Peterson’s fans, anti-trans people, and the alt-right. By posting this from the official LotFP account it signals acceptance of these people and their beliefs by the brand itself. These are things I cannot in good conscience be okay with or be associated with.

As of right now I will no longer be working with Lamentations of the Flame Princess as a freelancer or contributor.

What does this mean for my upcoming LotFP projects?

I am currently on contract to do the layout and design for one LotFP book: Courtney Campbell’s In a Deadly Fashion. The work for this book is half finished. As behoves me as a professional working in tabletop games, I am obligated to see this project completed. Once the final layout drafts are approved, my working relationship with LotFP ends.

The two books I was in works to do with LotFP are now projects I will be self-publishing.

What does this mean for Weird on the Waves?

Weird on the Waves is still progressing as previously stated. I will be adjusting it so that it is more of a system agnostic game setting rather than for LotFP specifically. An update email regarding this has just been sent out to pre-order customers.

What does this mean for you, my followers?

I have spent the past few years singing LotFP’s praises as an inclusive publisher. In light of these recent posts, and from the feedback of several people who have reached out to me with their dealings with LotFP and its fanbase, I cannot sing LotFP’s praises any longer with a clear conscience.

I firmly believe that trans rights are human rights. That LGBT rights are human rights.

I do not stand with the alt-right, and I will not knowingly work with a brand or business that, indirectly or not, shares their values or promotes individuals who do.

LotFP is free to conduct its business however it wants, to whatever end it wants. I will just no longer be a part of that. James and I have (at time of this posting) parted ways in a professional manner.

If you are a fan of my work, and want to see more historical fantasy stuff from me, just not under the banner of LotFP, I have a lot of things in the works. I hope you will continue to follow me.

Consider: a futuristic/mythpunk videogame in which you are a formerly human weapons platform who has been ‘selected’ to defend their Glorious Metropolis against technological foes modeled after goetic demons. You can shift between four different combat forms and those four unique modes each mirror one of the ‘four living creatures’ from Revelation, where: human mode= ‘neutral’ and also serves as your character’s face for interacting with civilians and npcs (and all they have left of their original humanity, really), ox mode= healer/defense, lion mode=melee mode, and eagle mode= stealth and mobility. i have thought about this a lot.

(sees communist revolution out my window) (brushing teeth furiously for 10 minutes straight because i know thats the last time when im gonna use my own personal toothbrush)

*me banging furiously on the door* MARX SAID ITS MY TURN TO USE THE TOOTHBRUSH