@rorystarr@mstdn.social
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

rorystarr

@rorystarr@mstdn.social

A writer with a website: https://varietal-literature.ca/

I was there for the collapse of LiveJournal, MySpace, Google Plus, and now Twitter.

I also host two livestreams a week. One where I read folklore with sfx & drama. The other where I write using Solo TTRPGs & live chat suggestions.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

rorystarr, (edited ) to story
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

A write-along/TTRPG Playthrough stream!

You have awoken on a planet filled with dinosaurs.
Craft, fight, & explore to survive the wilds of this strange planet!

Join our adventure LIVE right NOW: https://youtube.com/live/q38pz90wySc

#writingcommunity #writer #story #vancouver #indie #fiction #stream #livestream #litgames #amwriting #writealong #TTRPG #SoloTTRPG #DnD #5e #pathfinder #PF2e #dungeon #itchio #forage #cozy #cozyvibes #horizonzerodawn #arksurvivalevolved #Mesozoic #dinosaur

ladyteruki, to random
@ladyteruki@mastodon.social avatar

Not playing the game myself (and haven't played the first one either), but I keep running into videos lately, and it's fascinating to see how the content creators AND the comments seem to be fully roleplaying the "democracy ! liber-tea !" discourse of the human faction of the game. While being (I think ? mostly ?) aware of the propaganda behind it.
I don't see a lot of games where that kind of immersion happens out of game, especially fandom-wide.

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

@ladyteruki you're definitely made aware of 3 things
(1) you are the greatest hero in the galaxy!
(2) you are definitely the bad guys and have started all these wars with innocent creatures for capitalist reasons and
(3) (1) is a lie, you're just canon fodder for wealthy imperialists.

Canonically, in the game, when you die that character is actually dead. A new character is thawed and fired at the earth when you "respawn". It's like CoD if it had any self awareness.

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

@ladyteruki part of that, I think, is the whole game invites the player to be in on an inside joke and the internet loves in-jokes. The game is genuinely funny satire of that imperialist bravado I think all of us are exhausted by--so there's a kind of relief in being part of the mockery. That's my theory anyways.

As a person who cannot normally play these games because they so often are unironic fascism simulators, it's been surreal to play an ultimately anti-war shooter.

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

@ladyteruki There really is. I am an anti-war activist. It might be impossible to make an entertaining product that actually is anti-war--it still portrays war as a fun game, overall.

However, it undoes some lies in other games. CoD is obsessed with this idea of "precision operations" where only bad guys get killed. That preps people to accept in real life the concept of "precision airstrikes" etc. Helldivers instead shows war as chaos where friendly fire is the norm--like it actually is.

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

@ladyteruki Fingers crossed, I hope it sinks in on some level. It also captures the futility of war. We get these big orders that talk about how we are finally going to end the war! We succeed but then for some reason we wind up back where we started and the high command gaslights about how that was always going to happen. The endless war almost always at its end.

God, I hope some kids grasp the truth in that.

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

@ladyteruki The developers are Swedish, so I think there is likely at least skepticism about the extremes of capitalism. The bugs being oil is something that was hidden in lore for a bit (apparently more explicit in the first game), but just this week has been made more explicitly an element of the game. I wonder when they will reveal that the automatons were built by peaceful cyborgs we enslaved in our mines in the first game.

rorystarr, (edited ) to books
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

Folklore read live!

Everyone wants the "Victory Stone" in this Celtic fairytale!
Why though? What does it even do?

Find out LIVE right NOW: https://www.youtube.com/live/JSnUqYBL37w

#FairyTaleTuesday #WritingCommunity #storyteller #FairyTale #AmReading #reading #vancouver #indieWriter #fairy #folklore #folk #tales #stories #GrimmBrothers #dnd #dnd5e #pathfinder #pf2e #ttrpg #lotr #fantasy #ireland #celtic #padraic

ZhiZhu, to Palestine
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social avatar

"How does it feel to be a war-crimes reporter whose family bankrolled a nation that’s committing war crimes?

I can tell you.

I covered the genocide in Bosnia for The Post, wrote a book about it, and reported from Iraq & Afghanistan, among other conflict-ridden countries. Also, my ancestors were key funders of Jewish immigration to British-controlled Palestine."

https://wapo.st/3TUjTtp
(Click on link)

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

@ZhiZhu thank you for the link. It was very affecting read.

rorystarr, to random
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parismarx, to tech
@parismarx@mastodon.online avatar

In a newly released deposition, Elon Musk admits he used a burner account to tweet as his toddler and that he “may have done more to financially impair the company than to help it,” in reference to Twitter/X.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-didnt-want-his-latest-deposition-released-here-it-is_n_66133d2ce4b0d81853f9a766

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

@parismarx

Oh! Is his job NOT to financially impair the company? Wild. I thought he was doing great but clearly I misunderstood his job.

rorystarr, to Youtube
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

Discovered today that has removed the ability to block users--a decision only straight white techbros could love. Who does this help, really?

rorystarr, (edited ) to story
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

A write-along/TTRPG Playthrough stream!

You are members of the National Parks Service. Also, you are wizards.

Come manage a magical park LIVE right NOW: https://youtube.com/live/Fhwc0N4CdvI

#writingcommunity #writer #story #vancouver #indie #fiction #stream #livestream #litgames #amwriting #writeyourstory #emergingwriters #writingadvice #writealong #TTRPG #SoloTTRPG #DnD #5e #pathfinder #PF2e #dungeonsanddragons #dungeon #itchio #plants #forage #cozy #cozyvibes #wizard #parks

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

If you want to play this yourself you can purchase it here:
https://ohlittlemoth.itch.io/wizardry-and-bureaucracy

[Also, since it is sometimes unclear--I just play the games. This is not my game nor do I have any relationship to the creators.]

rorystarr, (edited ) to books
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

Folklore read live!

Have you ever wondered why trolls turn to stone in the sunlight?

Hear a tale that illuminates this LIVE right NOW: https://youtube.com/live/v1kCyEWm16I

rorystarr, to random
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

So, I was born on April Fools at 7 am. For most my life, I knew the story of my dad being rebuffed by skeptical extended family when he was phoning around to announce it.

What I didn't know is my mom DID prank my dad when he got home after work at midnight that night--pretending to be in labour--then two hours later she actually went into labour. She felt terrible haha.

rorystarr, to folklore
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

Tis my Birthday this weekend and my sister bought me the game "Bramble: the mountain king".

The is "Little Nightmares" but with Scandanavian folklore. Overall, l'd say it succeeds. It is mostly inspired by folklore, with only about half of the creatures being lifted directly from it while the rest are only loosely based on folklore creatures.

However, it is a horror game. I don't understand why the only modern adaptations of is as horror. Folklore is uncanny, less so gruesome.

golgaloth, to random
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

Hitting the button on a day of relaxation and cake.

video/mp4

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

@golgaloth Happy birthday! Hope you have an enjoyable one

rorystarr, (edited ) to story
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

A TTRPG Playthrough stream!

By act of sheer will--and in mockery of a disinterested algorithm--I have reached the third anniversary of this silly channel (which also means it's nearly my birthday).

So, play a round of Swamp Troll Witches LIVE right NOW: https://youtube.com/live/EvUUci_Iggs

#writingcommunity #indieauthor #writer #story #livestream #litgames #amwriting #writealong #TTRPG #SoloTTRPG #DnD #5e #pathfinder #PF2e #itchio #books #plants #forage #cozy #cozyvibes #witch #witches

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

If you want to play this yourself you can purchase it here:
https://catshavenolord.itch.io/swamp-troll-witches

[Also, since it is sometimes unclear--I just play the games. This is not my game nor do I have any relationship to the creators.]

rorystarr, to random
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

Love and Food.

The rest is vanity, I think.

juergen_hubert, to random
@juergen_hubert@thefolklore.cafe avatar

"BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink warned of a looming “retirement crisis” facing the US and called on baby boomers to help younger generations save enough for their own futures.

That, he said, will prevent them from becoming disillusioned with capitalism and politics in coming years."

Because "disillusionment with " is the real problem here!

https://fortune.com/2024/03/26/blackrock-ceo-larry-fink-boomers-fix-retirement-crisis-millennials-gen-z-economically-anxious/

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

@juergen_hubert

Just saw this in our local paper. Notable here, the National Post is a right wing rag:

"A secret RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police - our federal police force] report is warning the federal government that Canada may descend into civil unrest once citizens realize the hopelessness of their economic situation."

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/secret-rcmp-report-warns-canadians-may-revolt-once-they-realize-how-broke-they-are

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

@mike805 @Wen @juergen_hubert if biohazard protection measures are the core of your gripe with the current state of life for the working class, then I think you have missed a great deal and I hope you reconsider. The problem isn't carbon taxes and mask mandates. The problems of worker exploitation, landlord dominance over housing, and voter alienation are far more prevalent issues for those of us in the working class, Imo.

kriswd40, to random

Wait is a game?!? Because the trailer is giving off Starship Trooper vibes like none other.

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

@kriswd40 it's explicitly based on the ideas and world of Starship Troopers (not literally though) but it also has a lot of Terminator and other franchises in it. I would argue it more effectively satirizes imperialist fascism than even Starship Troopers did. It's great fun.

rorystarr, (edited ) to books
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

Folklore read live!

Who the heck is "Pumphut?
And why does Germany have a dozen tales about him?

Hear the tales tonight LIVE right NOW: https://youtube.com/live/JwM0wZ28I_w

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

Tonight's stories will feature translations by:

@juergen_hubert

His Patreon is here: https://www.patreon.com/sunkencastles/​​

Please consider supporting the work of translators! You get great stories every month for a couple of bucks.

Storytellers like me really depend on translators, so if you like what I do, that's a major part of the infrastructure I need to do it!

rorystarr,
@rorystarr@mstdn.social avatar

@juergen_hubert yeah, I saw that on the Patreon. So far it's working great for me. Hope some update doesn't break it for you again!

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