The Joy of Recommending Books

There’s something magical about recommending books to people.

I think the same magic can be found with recommending TV shows or movies or what have you, but there’s something weirdly distinct about books. Reading books requires us to be active. Unlike with a TV show or movie, and unlike with a comic book, books expect us to provide the vistas ourselves. We have to conjure up our own vision of the story and setting, and every reader will engage just a little (or very) differently with the text. Everyone creates their own version of the book, even more so than with a more visual medium.

Those differences each reader creates for themselves, and the similarities that remain, are where the magic lies.

Continue reading

Worldbuilding: Theft, Inspiration, & Homage

Culturally, we put a lot of emphasis and value on originality. An undue emphasis, as far as I can tell. I believe art (and yes, worldbuilding is art) is founded more on sharing and mixing and reinventing than it is on truly novel ideas. I think we should embrace that.

For context: this follows directly from last week’s post on worldbuilding. Last week I mentioned stealing inspiration and using pieces of other stories, but I focused on embracing inconsistency. I should have also referenced my old post about leaving blank spaces. This week we’ll focus on the stealing, sampling, and paying homage side of things.

Continue reading

World Building: Starting Skills

I was talking with a friend of mine recently about worldbuilding and how to teach the skill, and I realized that I’m not sure where to start.

I think my perspective is warped. I’ve been making up worlds for stories and games for so long, the whole process has become second nature. I haven’t consciously examined the process of worldbuilding in a long time.

Given that I’m planning to run a class for people who want to be DMs (or GMs, or storytellers, or whatever the hell you want to call the person running your roleplaying game), I think I need a clearer approach. I do have some ideas.

Continue reading

Megamind (2010)

I’ve now seen this movie a second time. I liked it the first time I saw it, and had fond memories of the movie. I don’t remember where I was the first time I watched it, though I don’t think I saw it in theaters. Regardless, it was years ago.

I just watched it again this last week with my niblings. I’m unsettled.

Megamind is a good, fun movie. Mostly. It’s so painfully close to just being a good fun movie, and it still can be if I only empathize with the main character Megamind. That’s probably what I did the first time I watched this.

This time around, I saw things from Roxanne Ritchi’s perspective. In so doing, I realized that Megamind is a horror movie. Now I can’t un-see it.

Is that a bad thing? Well…

Continue reading

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

It’s not a good sign for a movie’s longevity when my biggest takeaway from a film is that I really enjoyed some of the other films that it referenced.

After watching Deadpool, I was tempted to watch it again. Watching this movie, all I could think of was how I might want to go back and watch Logan, or maybe X-Men: First Class. I would even enjoy watching some of the other X-Men movies.

Previous Deadpool movies have managed to simultaneously deliver snarky commentary, cheeky references, large quantities of superhero movie violence, and plots that feel emotionally grounded enough and central enough to give me a sense of continuity and investment. This movie…

Continue reading

At camp, 8/8/24

I’m away at camp! No big post from me today. I hope you’re all doing well, and I’ll be back next week.

Road House (2024)

Road House was… fine. Is that underselling it? I’m not sure, the context in which I saw it makes it hard to judge. It did some things really well, but felt extremely predictable. Maybe my viewing experience was skewed: I watched this on the same flight where I saw Madame Web, and I watched the two movies back to back. Thus, I can’t talk about this movie without talking about Madame Web again.

Continue reading

Madame Web (2024)

Madame Web held so much promise. Instead, it felt… uneven.

Continue reading

Spectaculars, lightweight superhero fun

Spectaculars is a superhero RPG with a simple roll-under percentile die system. There are no cumbersome lists of modifiers, and the math required at the table should be accessible to precocious eight or nine year-olds. The game is clearly a love-letter to superhero comics, right down to players’ ability to invent backstory and create connections at the drop of a hat by spending “Continuity Tokens” to make up past issues with a relevant story detail. The game could also easily mimic the feel of superhero cartoons like Batman: The Animated Series, or any other episodic story where inventing background is expected or would be useful. Whatever your inspirations are, Spectaculars shines brightest when you’re playing episodic adventures in the context of a larger narrative arc. This is especially true if you’re more excited about your game’s larger story than you are about the gritty details of how a specific power works, or quantifying whose ”Mega Power Blast” is bigger.

Continue reading

A travel day, 07/11/24

I’m traveling today, so please enjoy this picture of Alex in all her majesty.