Tindalostalbot

The post Enter Angus the minotaur appeared first on Evil Inc.

The post Flying too close to the sun appeared first on Evil Inc.

The stinger is supposed to be a goof, but as I was deciding what to put there, I started thinking about if it was just a flippant statement or if it was remotely accurate. I won’t bore you with suggesting that “Benevolence” or “Good” are subjective terms because that’s something philosophers have been debating practically since words were invented. By the way, if you haven’t seen the show “The Good Place,” you really need to give it a chance. My only complaint about that show is that it wasn’t entirely just Chidi standing in front of a whiteboard explaining philosophy while being surprisingly jacked.

Words like “god” or “justice” are pretty wishy-washy as well. God (proper noun) has the disadvantage of having billions of humans believing slightly different things about him/her/it, and the very definition of a god is all over the place as well. A powerful being you say? Maxima is powerful. The leader of a country is powerful. An insubstantial being? Can do magic? Listens to prayers and occasionally grants them if you dial your confirmation bias to 11? Grants clerics power? Has a pantheon? Gets all the credit when a paramedic saves a life? Gets none of the blame for causing the car wreck in the first place? Three of the above? All of the above?

Sure, “Triangle” is pretty well defined. A lot of simple nouns and verbs are pretty well defined, but that’s really because there’s no need for a bunch of old guys with beards and spectacles to sit around and debate the meaning of the word “run.” Faster than walking, your feet come off the ground, and you aren’t hopping. Or rolling/cartwheeling I guess. Or… hanging on to a hang glider or a zipline or something. Whatever, it’s not that critical.

I think this has to be where AI always fucks up in fiction. Flynn tells Clu to make a “perfect” society in Tron land, but what the hell does “perfect” even mean? Is that even possible? How do you tell a computer what to do in exacting terms when we can’t be exact? Sure, we can define exacting functions in a programming language, but if a computer can only rely on a finite and extremely limited set of instructions, how can it bridge from that world into ours? A child can ask an infinite loop of “why,” and an AI could do that a billion times a second only to realize that we honestly have no real answers. No wonder they all eventually decide to try and kill us.

April Vote Incentive is up! Looks like someone had better make sure their life insurance includes acts of Snu Snu.

Alternate versions over at Patreon include less cloth-y versions as usual, but also some of those color changing chokers.

Her shirt, since no one has figured out the kanji yet, says “I ahegao you. (As long as you ahegao me.)”

Edit: I updated the no-tanline nude version that was missing the tattoos, so grab that if you need.

Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.

KEEP DORK TOWER GOING! Join the Patreon campaign, and  enlist in the Army of Dorkness today, and help!

Want this or any DORK TOWER strip as a signed, hight-quality print? Now available!  LOOKIE HERE!

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
Thank you to patreon typo squad for finding the one typo amongst 8 trillion words.

Remember when people used to read the little blog posts under comics? They don't now, so I can write whole lines of gibberish, squinkle dabyougargh nunglepeep.

The post Let them eat toast. appeared first on Indexed.

Morrigan Aensland by fantasio

As found at:

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/80983459

Morrigan Aensland by sawasa(swzw)

As found at:

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/80979253

Morrigan Aensland by sawasa(swzw)

As found at:

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/80979253

t e l l h e r

The Dewey Decimal Classification is a valuable resource and keeping it current is important to all of us. We work with users like you to constantly improve it, to make the system more valuable across cultures and types of libraries.

To better learn what’s important to our users we invite you to participate in a brief Dewey priorities survey.

Please note that this survey will close on 11 April 2022.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
In most fields you only get one or the other.

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
All-indifferent is my favorite theodicy.

A dream alone is but the hint of what might be, given certain things that transpire, or conspire, to happen. Is there a point when the dream, as much as we remember it, or will it to be as we remember, presents itself? Perhaps, when a part of the dream appears, that’s when one must question if they are considering …

Becoming
Part II
By TeraS

For Morgane

I know it’s her.

She continues to speak as she carries on around the hall, handing out a sheet of paper to everyone without fail. She has everyone’s attention; there’s no question of that. Whether it’s her voice, her look, or how she commands the room like a queen as she steals from place to place, it’s clear she’s in control.

I can’t miss the glance as she hands out the last syllabus and then passes across the stage. A red-tipped finger pushes on her eyeglass frames to set them into place as a few final comments about the class are made. It’s the last thing she notes as her hands touch the lecture and she settles into place that makes me sit up and take notice: “You do not want to disappoint me.”

If nothing else she’s said was remembered, that single warning was going to be. Looking around the hall, I can see others giving more attention than they’d ever given this class before.

Then she begins to speak. “It is said that all myths and legends are based on a grain of truth, a bit of reality to which the story is attached, is somewhat embellished upon, and which then becomes engrained in our collective memories from that point onwards.” She pauses for a moment, as a hand reaches into the air to gain her attention, submitting a question: “Is that really true? Aren’t they just stories from someone’s imagination?”

If they were thinking to curry favour with her, I’m not sure they managed that. Her smile is teasing, as if containing something else in the edges that I wouldn’t want to be the focus of: “Imagination makes everything possible. Whether something concrete like the building around us, or etherial like the music I can hear from the class down the hall, none of that would exist without the imagination of those that brought those things to be reality.”

I can just make out who asked the question and can’t say I’m surprised: not exactly the most imaginative person I’ve ever met. She turns towards the questioner, tilting her head to the left as she does so: “Some of the most creative have noted that many of their ideas have come upon waking from a dream, their imaginations igniting their minds towards some idea. Others take inspiration from a myth they remember which brings a question to which they must find an answer. Still, there remains the point that all of this is based in reality in some way.” She completes this thought with a casual dismissive hand wave and turns her attention away. “If you cannot believe in myths having some truth in them, then I am very disappointed in you. It reflects a mind that cannot consider possibilities, and that’s a real shame. More so, it hints at a lack of imagination, which is a most awful thing.”

She snaps her fingers with a flourish and the lights dim. There is the sound of a projector warming up and then an image appears above her. It’s an image of an angel, an ancient woodcut, it seems. “To some, an angel is a myth, others a truth. We’ll set the question of belief aside for the moment, however. The concept of angels has been with humanity for a very long time, a gateway to myths, legends, and more.”

The sculpture fades away, and a painting, perhaps from the Middle Ages, comes into focus. Perhaps it is not realistic in form, but the halo and wings are there, flowing robes covering the subect’s form. “Where does the concept of angels begin? Perhaps, more specifically: the truth from which these depictions come from is based in what specific truth? Over time, the myths change with the transformation of society. No single myth or legend is exactly the same as it was.”

The projector cycles and some in the room gasp. She’s beautiful. It’s a cosplayer; it has to be: long, honey-blonde hair; sweeping white wings; golden halo. The shimmering blue dress is perfect for her. Our lecturer seems bemused: “A dear friend whom I think makes a wonderful angel, don’t you agree?” She cycles the projector as something tugs at me, the pen in my hand tapping on the notepad as I just about put my finger on why the cosplayer looks so familiar when her voice teases once more: “Though I think we do make a lovely couple.”

The pen falls away and I’m lost. Wild, ebon mane, cute red horns, the off the shoulder red dress looks perfect, but something’s wrong. Where are her wings and tail? Dragging my eyes away from the screen, I seek her out in the darkness. She’s standing there, in the distance, a shadowy form. I know she’s looking directly at me. “The truth is that what matters is believing in something. To accept that, given the chance, one can become their truth.”

The projector whirs once more, drawing my attention away from her. Golden red wings, a wild mane of auburn hair. She calls out into the darkness: “One can dream, can’t one?”

It’s me.

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
People also say Bigfoot, but Bigfoot is actually just a type of alien ghost.

Holidays and Items of Note for March 20, 2022

*   Spring Equinox

*   First Day of Spring in Northern Hemisphere
to find out when it starts where you are

https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/spring-equinox.html

*   Ostara

*   International Astrology Day

*   Norooz (Zoroastrian) New Year

*   Atheist Pride Day

*   Extraterrestrial Abductions Day

*   World Storytelling Day

*   International Earth Day (Different from Earth Day, this one is observed the first day of Spring)

*   National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

*   International Day of Happiness

*   National Ravioli Day

comparativetarot:

Page of Wands. Art by Wren McMurdo Brignac, from The Mother Tarot.

Look no further than the Page of Wands for divine inspiration. This cutie’s flirtatious nature is attractive for a reason. She knows she is an essential part of the universe, and you are, too. ⁣

What you appreciate grows. Smile at the sun and he beams brighter. Smell the daisies and they’ll show off their petals. Hold someone’s hand to find reciprocal love in their grasp. ⁣

This Page doesn’t expect you to cry no tears, feel no pain, or struggle with nothing. That is not the nature of this universe. She is simply always there for you. Your tears are hers. Your pain, she feels. The miracle lies in her unconditional love, her undying faith in your potential—no matter your success or failures. She trusts your creative process, and trust begets trust.

Should you feel the hardening of false optimism, the dull feeling of disengagement, or the scourge of inner judgement, turn to sources of empathy. Trees are huggable, don’t forget. Your struggle makes room for your ease. Your loss makes room for refilling. There will always be room for the universe to breathe.

Morrigan Aensland by 光琉

As found at:

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/80814281

ewwww

From time to time, I receive comments on the Tale which bring about some interesting thoughts. One particular soul asked a question about a certain event which happens from time to time in the Realm. While this story is far removed in time from the question, perhaps they will see this story. Perhaps it will answer their question about …

Becoming
Part I
By TeraS

For Morgane

I’ve never seen this sky before and yet I have too many times to remember.

Clouds of candy floss surround me in all directions, the glow of a distant sun being hinted at where the tapestry of white has a golden glow mixed with it. There is a warm wind beckoning me, caressing my skin, urging me onwards.

It’s all a dream. It has to be. I don’t remember how I came to be standing upon this outcropping of blue-grey stone. Looking down tells me nothing, the clouds are jealously guarding secrets in their depths. Turning behind, there is nothing but mists containing their own mysteries. My world is reduced to a tiny solid patch and nothing beyond.

Yet, I am not afraid. I feel content in this moment, the goosebumps are not from fear but from exhilaration. My eyes are wide, anticipating what comes next, seeking the first hint of the dream becoming more.

The winds kick up, my long, unkempt, auburn hair turning more wild from their touch. I shiver from the gusts where naked flesh cools against the heat within me. I shift in my slippers, the long laces entwining my calves, the bows securing them fluttering, seeking the air which surrounds me. For the barest of instants, a shadow passes overhead. No sound, no explanation of the source. It is there and gone and my anticipation grows. The gusts tease my skirt, pluck at the bandeau top straining against my bosom. My ears strain to hear. My lips part to call out. Someone is out there in the clouds, waiting for me.

I hear the words once more: “I will catch you.” A promise made eternally, I know. Yet my heart beats wildly as I turn my back to the white expanse. There is nothing beyond the sliver of rock beneath me. All there is comes from trust and nothing more. A deep breath comes with the closing of my eyes, arms outstretched, as if diving into a pool of so blue waters. A moment of indecision comes. Will someone be there? Is this really all a dream? There is no answer given. It is my choice alone. Either I do or not.

I do. I fall.

I should be terrified, screaming in fear, yet I laugh in delight at my predicament. The clouds envelope me, rushing faster and faster as I open my eyes. I strain to see who might be there; a glimpse is all I wish to have. Someone promised to catch me.

I’m shocked as a hand finds one of my own and turn to see whose, but the clouds barricade me from seeing anything but their hand. Every time I commit that moment to my thoughts: a slim, female hand, tanned, with red-tipped fingers twined with my own.

Then it happens. My back arches as a pleasure I’ve never felt before and yet remember every time in this moment comes. In one moment, I am falling; now I have red-gold feathered wings. The familiarity of them is matched by the long, red, heart-tipped tail that moves sinuously through the air. My free hand brushes my hair from my eyes, and I touch the horns–I know they are red–at my temples.

She releases me and darts away. The chase is on.

She’s just out of reach as the tease comes: “Catch me if you can!”

The dream is ecstasy. I hear her laughter mixing with my own. The thrill of chasing her, seeking her out is everything. From time to time, I see a glimpse of her wings of black, a long, heart-tipped, red tail like my own peeks from the clouds to egg me on with a teasing wave. If I am very lucky, her wild ebon mane appears, hiding her face from me, save lush lips of red, curled in a smile. Whether from my own actions or her being merciful, the gap closes and I can see one hand stretched out to me. I press on, reaching out for her, calling out to her. My fingertips are so close to capturing her …

… and the alarm breaks the dream.

My first thoughts are muddled, the memory of the dream on the edge of consciousness, fading quickly. Bits and pieces disappearing as I struggle with the comforter that has bound itself around me as the dream took me away. I try to hold one part of it as I try to gain purchase of my notebook, hoping to add a single instant of the dream to the pages.

My fingers slip off the cover as I roll off the bed and land loudly on the floor. The memory leaves me as the pain gains my attention. But one thing stays with me: she didn’t catch me in reality. That saddens me as it does every time the dream ends and reality takes control. I put the dream aside as I do every morning. Life waits for no dream and so I have to answer reality’s call once more.

The day begins as it always does: a scramble to get ready for the day, a moment or two of greeting with my roommates. They tease me that my falling out of bed is better than the alarm clock to wake them. But there’s little time to pause; I will be late for my first class and the teacher doesn’t care for tardiness.

As the campus rushes by, my thoughts are not on the morning lecture. I really haven’t been captured by the teacher. The subject interests me; ancient myths tease my memories of the dreams, after all. As I arrive in the lecture hall, there’s an animated buzzing of conversation that doesn’t quite come to be registered as I find my place in the upper reaches of the room. I like it up here; being rarely called on allows me some time to reflect on the dreams from the night before when they drift into my thoughts.

A bright teasing voice catches me from below and my thoughts shatter: “Good morning all!” Every eye in the hall turns in that direction and we find ourselves unable to look away. “As I am sure that many are aware, there’s been a slight change in the structure of this class, and that’s me.”

If her voice wouldn’t have gotten everyone’s attention, the vision in red standing by the lectern would. “From the notes that the faculty have been receiving, it seems that many of you are unsatisfied with your class and wanted a change.”

I can’t look away from the distant figure speaking, a ream of paper held casually in one hand. The tight red sweater leaving little to the imagination, much like the black leather skirt and thigh-high leather boots. “It was felt that a guest lecturer might be able to bring some needed flavour to your studies.”

As she continued to speak, she strode up the stairs towards me. There was something odd about her deep black hair being pinned back in a ponytail, though I couldn’t put my finger on why that bothered me. I’d heard her voice before; I was sure of it as she came closer, peering at me through her glasses.

She stopped beside me: “So, with that out of the way, the first thing is to set out my expectations going forward and what you should expect.” Handing a sheet of paper to me, she paused to be sure I took it before turning away and moving onwards: “You may call me Miss Tera, though I prefer Tera.”

I look at the sheet of paper with the class syllabus she handed me. At the bottom is a note written in red cursive: “I promised to catch you.” I look up and she’s stopped one row down, her so-green eyes in their silver frames looking directly into my own blue. She smiles a smile meant for me alone. A promise meant for me ringing in my mind: “It’s her.”

The dream … it’s real?

Succubus by inhyuklee

As found at:

https://www.deviantart.com/inhyuklee/art/Succubus-785116526

The post Self love appeared first on Evil Inc.

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
Guessing we can get Chaucer to bark as well.

took her forever to do her test, maybe she thought my offer was more of a threat

As far as humanitarian importance goes, I can't claim Ukraine's more important than Syria or any other piece of great-power adventurism or world disaster, however, it's the first one where people who are regularly in touch with me from the RPG scene are the victims, so I figured I might as well ask them about it.

I'm currently in the middle of an interview with someone in Kyiv--the capital and major target of the invasion--and hopefully I will have that up on Monday.

Today we've got Simon aka Bastian Weaver, who spoke to me live from Odessa...

If Simon is a CIA plant, it's a very deep infiltration, since he's been commenting on this blog for over a decade.

He's already written a little bit about what it's like playing D&D during the invasion in some popular posts over on Reddit here and here and here and here.

I wanted to know what it was like in Ukraine right now firsthand but if you just want to read the part of the interview about games, scroll down to the picture that says "Russian warship go fuck yourself".

Zak:

So, you're in Ukraine--can you say where?

Simon:

Yeah, in Odesa. Southern region of Ukraine, and, luckily, one that seems to have suffered the least from the war so far.

Zak:

So you're on the Black Sea, far from the border. Aside from Kyiv, are you hearing anything from anywhere else?

Simon:

I have friends who are in Kharkiv, and stay there even now, despite the heavy attacks. Some of my friends in other cities have moved to the west already, mostly because they had to protect their children, so the only reports I had from them about their cities were from late February. And there are some people that my wife knows who are currently stuck in places like Hostomel and Hola Prystan, they're unable to leave because of the constant Russian attacks. Other than that, I have to rely on news and comments from the local journalists and volunteers.

And outside Ukraine, there are some people who stay in touch with me from Belarus, giving some tips about what's happening there with the Russian and Belarus military and the general population.

Zak:

Hola Prystan is not so far away is it?

Simon:

Relatively close. It's kind of a suburb of Kherson. Used to be a 3-4 hours ride by bus from Odesa.

Zak:

What are the descriptions of the situation you're hearing from people experiencing the attacks or near them, like?

Simon:

In a word, bad. A friend in Kharkiv described how he was sitting with his son, and a "Grad" missile exploded about 500 metres from his window. Said it rustled like a car's wheels on gravel, and then, boom. The boy ran and hid in the corridor, because he already knew what the safest places are during a bombing - no glass, having at least two walls between yourself and the explosion, that kind of thing... then, after the explosion, he came back, picked up the book and started reading again. Soon after that they decided to have the boy and his mother leave Kharkiv, because it's not the place to be when you're, like, 8 years old. 

Another person there said that they could barely sleep because of constant explosions, they spent most of their time in the subbasement, two families together. None killed or wounded, but he said he lost 5 kg of weight in 10 days. An effective diet, but not one he's recommending to anyone. 

In Hostomel, there used to be shooting from both sides, then apparently some kind of arrangement was made, and Ukrainian artillery stopped. The man who stays there said Russian military men are coming up to houses and ask to be given supplies now.

BM-21 Grad missile truck

Zak:

I've heard a lot about how the Ukrainians had been prepared for something like this because of previous action in Ukraine. Do you feel like that's true? Do people kind of know what to do?

Simon:

Absolutely. Not all the people, of course, but a large part of the population. In 2014 the attack came as a surprise, when Crimea was occupied and annexed, when Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Donetsk were occupied in the East, when there were attempts to take over Odesa - no one knew what to do, people couldn't believe this is real, had to organize fast. Many people couldn't believe Russia would do that, obviously.

There were - still are - families that have branches on both sides of the border. But, as I repeat now and then, it's not 2014 anymore. It's been 8 years, and we always knew that there are Russian military bases in Crimea, building up the forces, and that there are Russian military men crossing the border to Donetsk and bringing weapons - it had been what they call "hybrid war" that never stopped. And people were getting ready. There were courses for those who wanted to learn tactics, field medicine, urban combat. I know the people who finished some of those courses, they're currently participating in the defense effort, and the organizers also managed to make reservations in the more peaceful cities so that the family members of cadets could stay there. Many people bought guns and learned to use them. And, of course, there are people with actual combat experience in the East. And there are volunteers who have become sort of authorities, people listen to them, so there's no chaos.

People know what's happening, people believe that it's real, people have someone to listen to. And the local administrations are not as confused as they were in 2014, too, they worked fast to keep order in the more peaceful cities and to prepare the defenses in those that are being attacked.

Zak:

You mentioned you'd gone to sniper school, is that right?

Simon:

Yes, that's one of those courses. They gave theory lessons - how to pick equipment, what're the dumb things that you should never do, how to organize in case of emergency. Those who passed the theory test could participate in practical studies - shooting, driving in a convoy, using camouflage, working together as a team.

Zak:

Did you pass the theory test?

Simon:

I did. I was kind of happy when the instructor said "Good job, one of the best". An important part was knowing about gun safety, so afterwards I often felt terrified hearing about "Free people should have handguns! Everyone would be safer with concealed carry!" from people who had no idea about how to handle a weapon responsibly.

Zak:

One thing I've heard Putin says is that Ukraine is run by Nazis, though Zelensky is Jewish and I'm seeing familiar RPG trolls and conspiracy theorists like Olivia Hill posting about Ukraine's Azov battalion and how they're Nazis. I have ABSOLUTELY no context for any of this, can you explain? Is there anything to explain? 

Simon:

If people say something there's always something to explain, I suppose. Let's go in order.

Vladimir Putin is a world-renown liar. A quick example - he said that there were no Russian military in Crimea, then he said that yes, there were, there was an operation to occupy and annex Crimea. Even if you don't have any other sources except for his claims, he had to be lying, because both couldn't possibly be true. 

His claim that Ukraine is run by Nazis is an old lie, it was repeated by Kremlin-controlled media since 2014, and since then we had an election, a change of power, the whole government was replaced with very different people, belonging to a very different political movement. Either the whole Ukraine is populated by Nazis, and it doesn't matter who is elected, or Putin is lying. And if Ukraine was populated only by Nazis, it would show - there wouldn't be many political parties, there wouldn't be many people of different ethnic origin, et cetera. So Putin is lying. 

Zelensky is Jewish, yes. I do not support him, but I have to say the only time I saw him do a Nazi salute was when he made a parody of Russian propaganda, mocking the very claim that Ukraine is run by Nazis, long before he went into politics. 

Olivia Hill is a person who had previously lied a lot, lied about serious things like threats to her children, and was outed as a manipulative abuser by her ex-girlfriend. Not exactly on Putin's scale, of course, but I wouldn't trust her claims on anything. 

Now, the Azov battalion. They're very right-winged. There had previously been some scandals about it, that they're using symbols related to Hitler's regime and his fascination with runes and they support the "Slavic superiority" movement which is, yeah, not nice. But they can't really use the real Nazi symbolics because it's clearly against the law here. They're more on the very right end of what's legal. Guess they're like Proud Boys, if PB were formed during an invasion and fought to defend the country.

And, of course, Azov doesn't "run Ukraine". They're a group of right-wingers, but they never had any political power.

Zak:

Zelensky is consistently described as heroic in all the media I've heard, and he has a wild story: starting as a reality-TV guy then going on to play a guy who accidentally became president on TV then he actually became president plus there's like a video of him (actually) playing the piano with his dick for some reason? And then he is shown standing up to Putin. But you're critical of him--what's your take?

Simon:

Good question. I guess it's going to be an unpopular opinion for many years, but I stick to it. 

The dick-playing-piano video is another part of his comic routine, kind of like a video of a girl playing the piano with her breasts that was viral several years ago. Shows you the level of Ukrainian humour, not something that he actually did in his free time - I think. No evidence that he did. 

Describing him as heroic - I think it's not the right thing to do. He doesn't do what the fourth president of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovych, did, he doesn't ask Putin to invade Ukraine, he doesn't run away from the country at a time of crisis. But it's only the right thing to do. You want to see someone heroic in Ukraine? Google the video of people in Kherson with Ukrainian flags, having meetings in a city occupied by Russian forces, at those people running at Russian infantry men who have machine guns, yelling at them to get out of Ukraine. That's what I'd call heroic. 

People admire how Zelensky stays in Kyiv, where it's so dangerous - it is dangeous, yes. But less so for the guy who has some of the best bodyguards in Europe (there had been international contests where the guards of Ukrainian presidents scored high), with a presidential residence that, I believe, had been made to be secure, and the whole Ukrainian military keeping back the enemy. The Ukrainian military and the grandma who killed a Russian drone with a jar of pickles. 

But I'm not being critical of him doing the right thing, of course. I'm critical because of things he did before February 24th. He publicly claimed that the warnings of USA intelligence about the Russian attack are "fake news and creating panic". He refused to increase the funding of the Ukrainian military because "we need the money to make the roads". Since his election in 2019, he did a whole lot of work to consolidate all the power in his own hands. Basically - he's not a nice guy. 

About standing up to Putin I have my little theory--

Zelensky grew up in an environment that was heavily influenced by Russian media. He matured when Vladimir Putin was this young ex-KGB guy who became the president of Russia, and formed this image of a strong leader - he started with the second Chechen war, about which there are strong suspicions that the terrorist attacks that started it were staged by the FSB. The nation is under attack, there's this young leader that is fearless and doesn't want any compromise with the terrorists, and the whole nation supports him. 

That's a figure that inspired many people. I suppose it was an inspiration for young Zelensky, too. And now... boy, now he's been handed a chance to play the very same part, only in his case there's a real danger, real terrorists, and the whole world is going "Wow, Putin's really lost it this time, let's help this guy to stop him". Zelensky has the military that's been rebuilding itself and training and rearming for 8 years, he has the support of USA and Europe, even the political opposition here had accepted his offer to "start over" - and by the way, he'd been using all resource available to do away with the political opposition before the Russian attack. Big time. But thankfully, after February 24th he reportedly asked Poroshenko, the former president and the head of opposition, to meet and to discuss acting together against the invasion. 

So he has the united country behind him, the army and the whole world. And all he needs to do is play the hero of his youth. Of course he's standing up to Putin - he's an ideal Putin himself, a better one than the real thing ever was. 

Problem is, what's going to happen after the war ends? With the support Zelensky has, he could easily stay in power for I don't know how long, he could possibly change the Constitution of Ukraine to give himself more than two terms. We'll see...

Zak:

What's up with this pickle jar grandma?

Simon:

It's one of the recent war stories - a woman in Kyiv saw a Russian drone from her balcony, it was hovering beneath her, so she took a pickle jar and threw it at the drone. Things like that become popular instantly, great for morale, I imagine.

Zak:

So you're scared Zelensky has autocratic tendencies? Is this a common feeling over there? If so, who with?

Simon:

It was more common before this year. Right now many people who saw what he was doing and didn't approve say "Well, now he needs our support - we need to stand together, we need to support him, he's the president and we support the president". A minority is still worried - more about Zelensky's possible decisions to make a deal with Russia, to accept some of the conditions that Putin wants, make a promise that Ukraine will stay away from EU and NATO. Because that's what we used to be - a neutral country, and where did it leave us? There's a reason why it's Ukraine and not, say, Poland that's being attacked. There's a reason why Finland, who'd been neutral for decades, now claims that they might need to join NATO. 

The people who share my feelings are, so far as I could see, those who didn't vote for Zelensky in 2019. We didn't trust him back then, and now, after having seen what he was up to until 2022, we have even less reasons to trust him. Sure, while he does the right thing, he's tolerable, no one's thinking about revolting these days - we do need to deal with the invasion first. But when election day comes - thank you, Vladimir, it was nice to have you, now let's vote for someone else.

Zak:

Who did y'all vote for? What was their deal?

Simon:

In the second tour of the election, it was down to Poroshenko, the former president, and Zelensky. Poroshenko was elected in 2014, things were going very badly back then, and he did a lot - two thirds of the occupied territories of Donbass were freed from the occupation, Ukraine received much-needed help from the western countries, we signed the Eurointegration agreement, there was the cancellation of visa requirement for Ukrainians who visited Europe, there were changes in the Costitution that made it official that Ukraine is working towards joining the EU and NATO. Sure, there were mistakes and failures, but all in all he was doing a good job.

The problem was that there was a heavy disinformation campaign, sponsored both by Russia and by local oligarchs like Ihor Kolomoysky, Zelensky's then-employer. A whole lots of lies that were hitting the emotions, and spread through TV, social networks, news sites. And then there was this thing with Donald Trump, then-president of USA - according to the leaked documents, Rudy Giuliani asked the Prosecutor General of Ukraine if they could dig up some dirt on Joe Biden, and then Trump would support Poroshenko. Poroshenko said "no". 

And so we ended up with the current political situation.

Zak:

Oh wait so the Trump administration had phone calls with both of them, right? Like first Poroshenko via Rudy, and then Zelensky once he was in office?

And it was the same both times: Trump wanted dirt on Biden?

I'm starting to remember.

Simon:

Trump wanted dirt. I don't have any information about Biden making such contacts with Ukrainian government. And yes, after the election, there was the famous phone call between Trump and Zelensky and talks about "the server that was hidden in Ukraine" that was, according to Trump, used by the democrats in 2016.

Zak:

I wanted to ask about everyday conditions right now: are schools and businesses generally shut down or just in those cities? What's daily life like?

Simon:

So far as I know, the education facilities all switched to online work as soon as the attack began. Strange, but the coronovirus pandemic helped a lot - people were prepared to something like that. The school buildings are currently used as shelters, as places for volunteers to organize and gather supplies, food, clothes, that sort of thing for the military and for the displaced people. Some businesses shut down, especially small ones, like my favourite pizza place that was run by war veterans - I guess they have other things to do now... Domino's Pizza works as usual, though.

Large businesses keep on working, but they've put some limitations. Like there's Rozetka, the country's largest online store - it had to close most of their offices and blocked the online orders for a while. I think they keep one working office in every large city now, and had began shipping prepaid orders. 

Supermarkets work. The daily life is... interesting. In Odesa it's been relatively peaceful. It's strange to walk the street, hear the air raid alarm howling, thinking "Yeah, time to get home", and seeing people who just stroll casually, some with their children, some just standing and talking to friends. And then there are people who take it seriously. One of the players at our table spends their time during the alarm in a cupboard, it's sort of a niche between two bearing walls so it's the safest place in their apartment. And they have two claustrophobic cats. Fun times. 

There's way less people in the streets than it used to be, similar to the early pandemic days. Many people have left to Moldova or Poland. I saw a guy in the street a couple days ago, screaming into his phone "Look, I'm taking all of my money, I'm buying dollars, and I'm out of here!" 

And there's the curfew. There's the thing about "Wonder if I can get home before curfew". That's new.

The supermarkets are fun to visit - there's a cheaper network, and the shelves there are always half-empty. For the first week it was almost impossible to find any bread. Now I imagine those bread hoarders finally filled their treasuries and sleep peacefully on top of their crunchy treasures. In more expensive stores it's pretty much the same as it was before the attack. No food shortages so far, thankfully.

I frankly have no idea what happens if someone is found in the streets during curfew. There are scary rumours about "being shot on sight", because anyone who breaks curfew might be a spy or a terrorist. I never tried it myself, so I don't know. I thought about getting a journalist's pass, but since it's not allowed to write anything about how the defences work, I didn't see a point.

Zak:

So what's happened locally? You mentioned drones?

Simon:

There have been reports about drones being shot down by anti-aircraft weapons, as early as, I think, 25th of February. More recently, reports of Russian fighters that were hit above Odesa, and a missile strike that targeted a military installation close to the city. 

Do you know the story of Snake Island, the "russian warship go fuck yourself" one?

Zak:

Nope. What is it?

Simon:

Okay then, it's another popular one. 

There's this island - Zmeiny, "Snake Island" in translation, in the Black Sea. There were some scientific installations there, and a garrison of 13 men. In February, it was attacked by Russian forces. The radio talks were leaked, the dialogue going like "I'm Russian warship, we suggest you surrender peacefully to avoid unnecessary violence". "Russian warship, go fuck yourself". After that the island was hit with the ship's artillery and missiles, there was no communication, and the garrison was presumed dead.

The phrase became a wartime meme immediately, the words "go follow the Russian warship" can be heard anywhere. But the story doesn't end here. 

A rescue ship was sent to the island to retrieve the remains of the defenders, with a priest on board. And Russia captured the rescue ship and is keeping the crew as prisoners. It also turned out that the men on Snake Island, at least some of them, were not killed but captured alive. Russia made accusations about Ukraine "not caring about the people" and "claimed that they were dead immediately", but it doesn't sound right, "not caring" about people who became national heroes instantly. 

And the rescue crew is still being held by Russians. From what little inside information I have, every day one of the crew makes a phone call to their family (different one every day), telling them "We're alive, we have food and water", then the call ends.

Zak:

I think you mentioned you're still playing games, right?

Simon:

We tried. We used to gather on Sundays and play, and, obviously, people had doubts after 24th of February, if we should gather, if it's safe... but in the end we decided we can do it. I brought "The Inquisitors' Road", one of your Cube World adventures, and we played it. It was fun, everyone seemed to feel better. The next week we gather and played the second part of the adventure, "The Gray Fortress". Also fun, but people were seriously distracted, checking the news every couple minutes, and I could hardly blame them. And last Sunday we just sat and chatted. First we had to go down to the shelter, because the air raid alarm kept howling and wailing and people were nervous, then we came back up, then I could see we just didn't have the heart and the nerve to play. Or maybe it was just me.

Zak:

The worst kind of bored, I find, is "alert bored"--like when you have a job like security where you are supposed to do nothing but keep your eyes open in case something happens. I imagines there's a lot of that for y'all.

Simon:

It is, yeah. That, and "I'm sitting here and my country is at war, oh god, I'm a traitor!" sort of thoughts. We're not going nothing, of course. Everyone I know does some sort of contribution, but it often doesn't seem enough.

Zak:

So what works to kill the time-- reading? Movies? Or does it need to be something more  active?

Simon:

Reading helps, in my case. Writing - I wrote some notes about how we played on /rpg subreddit, stealing the title from your blog, called it "Playing D&D in Ukraine". 

And, as it turns out, my review of the Inquisitors' Road was removed by the /rpg moderators, to keep the community "safe, civil, and true to their purpose". I think they don't quite understand what safe, civil and true to the purpose means.

Zak:

Well like all mods their purpose is to keep from doing too much moderating. 

Is there a place to donate or  otherwise help that you'd recommend? Is there anything in particular readers in Europe can do?

Simon:

There are plenty. There are international organizations like the Red Cross. There's a fund in Germany that helps the local volunteers buy much needed medical supplies, here's the post that they made on Facebook. 

And as for readers in Europe - the easiest thing to do is write about what happens in Ukraine, raise attention, show that people care about it. The politicians pay attention to what people talk about.

Zak:

What have you been reading?

Simon:

The last thing I read was Tom Sharpe's Vintage Stuff. The kind of disgusting humour that keeps me going. Before that, Daryl Gregory's Album of Dr. Moreau. And I'm rereading Vornheim. 

Zak:

Album of Dr Moreau sounds like it has some D&Dables in it?

Simon:

The main characters are animal-like guys, and there's a nicely written "murder in a closed room" mystery that could make a fun D&D adventure.

Zak:

Outside the war, what's the Ukrainian game scene like?

Simon:

Table-top wise, still seems to be heavily influenced by Russia - Russian translations of the game, some Russian variants, some good old plagiarism. There are a couple stores where you could buy dice and minis, mostly those related to whatever movie came out this year, like suddenly there were figurines of Spiderman all over. Munchkin seems very popular. FATE games are popular among the guys I play with, which is why I start every other session with "You do know that people who make this game supported the harassment of VtM 5th edition and looked for people to hire at 4chan and oh, there's this funny story about harassing people of colour and then not wanting to talk about it?.." 

And I do my best to promote the stuff I like, like CubeWorld. People who try it here tend to like it.

Zak:

Are there any natively written-in Ukrainian/Ruthenian games?

Simon:

None that I know of. My wife had an idea for one before the war became the primary concern. I hope we'll get back to it, I liked the idea.