Okay so hear me out. It’s 2350, right? Humanity has expanded to the outer reaches of our solar system. Humaniry is divided into three classes of people, Earthers, Martians and those who live and work in space, Belters.

Mars has become a free nation and is now in the middle of a cold war with Earth. Then one day a ship named the Canterbury disappears and someone named James Holden, an earther working for a Belt based ice hauling company says his ship the Canterbury was destroyed and points the finger at Mars.

They could call the new show something like The Void or The Space Between. 🙃

I appreciate the kind words.

Generally I don’t take these sorts of things at face value. The job comes with a lot of chirps and light teasing. Builds relationships and all.

I just generally don’t expect it to come from much higher positions than me. They should know better than to promote malicious behaviour.

Like you said, doubling down is sometimes the play. I certainly had my opportunity to do so this morning when we all got together as a group again and a few people approached me about being interested in playing or asked me about the hobby.

Annoying part was when I found out that this guy messaged another coworker and told them to “Sort me out.” Which is alarming. The rest of the crew didn’t seem so share the sentiment though and we all shared some laughs.

We laughed about it though and left it at “Well, I guess the boss really doesn’t like D&D lol”

Ha! Stole the words right out of my mouth. I try to take a diplomatic approach to these situations but yeah… Christ, some of these guys are dumb. I’m not the brightest crayon in the shed either but I can run circles around some of these losers.

Some if them are incredibly intelligent in their fields. Some of the most skilled. But my god it’s the only thing they know. Challenge them on anything outside their narrow understanding of the world and they resort to insults and vitriol. Sadly they gain strength in numbers. The more ignorant chuckle-fucks in a room the harder they beat their chests.

Oh god! Yeah that’s fair.

I think I watched an episode of The Panic Table playing Mothership and their DM actually pulled off a very convincing and I think respectful sophisticated Indian accent for one of the doctors aboard the ship. Brave but I think they pulled it off.

May have been… Episode 2 of Unaccompanied Miners?

Strange how that kind of stuff works, eh?

I don’t think I’ve met a single person in this line of work that doesn’t have some sort of hyper fixation or special interest.

I know guys who can tell what type of mechanical malfunction a vehicle is having based on smell alone or that defuse bombs for a living then go home and keep a flower garden for their bees.

It’s usually a safe enough environment as long as you pass the vibe check for them. I probably wouldn’t get away with my three syllable words and chapter books if I didn’t look like I could do my job.

Sad it has to be that way though. The hyper vigilance for who’s “safe” or not is exhausting. But like you said. It’s worth it to be better than that.

Oh that could be really fun. I always feel odd about adding in accents and such. Having a diverse table like that would be fun as a player.

Probably a nightmare as a DM though. “Oh shit… The German is going to say my accent doesn’t fit any regional dialect and that I’m just making vaguely german noises!”

That reminds me that at my mostly English speaking tables I like using the little polish I know for Fiendish or Abyssal. French is Elvish. A fellow player used his native Spanish for dwarvish and it slapped.

Diverse tables rule.

I’m in this picture and I don’t like it.

Ah yes, Tolkien High Fantasy but the Elves sound like Larry the Cable guy. 😂

I appreciate you sharing. It’s still something that gets my heart going a bit to tell the truth.

I’m used to being a contrarian or painting outside the lines. It’s the reason I ace all my performance assessments and get promoted ahead of peers. Big egos aren’t gonna stop me from being me.

I genuinely may be passing through Toronto on my way home in August. Might have to take you up.

Unfortunately I’m about 2400km away in a foreign country with a small group of my countrymen.

There are definitely outside alternatives. I’m still near a large city with several local shops. So I’ll just have to pivot or adjust.

I usually offer people to come lift weights with me and they usually shut up around the time the fourth plate goes on the squat rack. I know the sentiment.

They’ll come around. Ten years in this line of work and if I’ve learned anything it’s that people LOVE nerd shit. Even if they hide it.

Thanks! It’s usually pretty easy to figure these people out.

Others will come around, feel excluded or not care either way.

I think it was mostly just one really old, crusty weirdo with a macho ego and an “idea” of what we should look like and how we should act. Their authority and position turned some weaker minds to their side while most didn’t even acknowledge anything.

I strive to be better than that.

Haha yeah… I’ve always known this.

When I first joined this line of work I was a deeply insecure teenager seeking approval and starved for purpose. I would have lashed out in the same way.

I can still be friendly with these people and the shitty attitudes will turn to playful ribbing into curiosity once they see I won’t be worn down for enjoying books and games.

It can be an interesting field sometimes. But you learn how to deal with people pretty quick. Especially at my level.

Hey, you’re right. That’s why I’m choosing to remember what I love about these hobbies.

Some of them will come around and I know some people didn’t speak up out of fear of getting ganged up on too. That’s totally okay.

Like I said in my post; I’ve played with some people you would never expect to play TTRPGs. I’m talking “I could tell you where I was for the last year but I’d have to kill you” levels of scary and like… They’re just chill people.

This group will come around as well. I refuse to be beat down by meatheads when I am one myself.

I’ve really been enjoying the lore of Warhammer lately and I have an insane recollection of the D&D 5e rules among some other rule sets.

My wife and I often fall asleep with some painting tutorials on in the background. There’s one artist on YouTube “Sorastro” who does some incredible work and his videos are so calm.

If you want some more pep in your step Louise Sugden from Rogue Hobbies has an amazingly cute art style and she does such vibrant brushwork. I just adore her work and her cheery disposition.

It’s people like that who remind me that games aren’t just for kids and that the world would be a miserable place if we all just read newspapers and stared at the walls.

I’m honestly just going to continue to unashamedly recruit anyone and everyone to play. I was too poor as a kid to play games like D&D, MTG, Pokemon and so on so I regrettably picked on some people for indulging. Now that I’m not an asshole I’d like to spread joy instead of malice.

I really appreciate that. I try hard and I’ve come a long way. I find it easier to apply these principles to others but I’m learning to respect myself as well.

I think this post was a little bit of self care in a sense. I think I suffer a lot from some sort of Rejection Sensitivity. So while I’m in tune to these feelings for others I struggle a lot with accepting rejection for myself.

Which is wild considering my line of work…

Nolite te bastardes carborundorum!

I wish it was made up.

I’m not going to lie and say this is like super traumatising. I’m a grown adult. Just sad to see like… A 50 year old man engage in petty bullying over hobbies.

Not American, no. Well, I guess North American. I’m Canadian.

I do agree it’s pretty backwards. Our job is pretty well founded in mutual respect, cooperation and recognising that our differences make us stronger. To see this behaviour promoted from someone who is supposed to lead by example is… Frustrating to say the least.

Funny anecdote: I watched the movie first then -in highschool- when our section on dystopian novels came up my teacher assigned Starship Troopers to me because as an avid reader I’d already read the others.

I genuinely thought Heinlein was a comedic genius. Wrote a whole 10- page essay on it for the end of semester assignment. My teacher had to explain to me that Heinlein may have been a little bit of a Juntist.

All that to say… I guess while the movie is tongue in cheek about it all the book(s) are quite literal at times about manufacturing war in distant places in order to rationalise genocidal behaviour masked as patriotism. Also I suppose a person’s prior programming may hardwire them to interpreting certain media in a different light.

I knew the society in Starship Troopers was messed up. I just thought Heinlein wrote it that way on purpose to make the point even stronger.

Haha same. That’s why I started with the other formats. I would hit the sheets, read a page then wake up to my alarm.

I cheat a little bit. I always get the paper, digital and audiobook of whatever I’m reading.

Nothing to do? Paper. On break at work? E-book. Cooking dinner? Audiobook at 2x.

That said, I read the entire first novella in one night in bed and then I downloaded/borrowed everything else.