favs.blue
Sign in
@sonofsuntzu.bsky.social avatar

Nick Drage

@sonofsuntzu.bsky.social
Most liked Most reposted
All time Last month
  1. 1

    The head of Count Binface seamlessly photoshopped on top of a picture of Wesley from The Princess Bride.
    Nick Gibbins @nick.gark.net
    He is not the real Count Binface; he inherited the costume from the previous Count Binface. The man he inherited it from was not the real Count Binface either - his name was Cummerbund. The real Binface has been retired for fifteen years and is living like a king in Patagonia.
    30 12
    Jul 8, 2026
  2. 2

    The original post, and Angus's thread, are worth your time if you've been struggling with... well... anything.

    We're all at the whim of enough stupid rules ( I am slowly coming to terms with my anger towards basic physics ) without trying to obey the arbitrary ones...

    Angus Johnston @angus.bsky.social
    "Do the thing you can do instead of beating yourself up over not doing the thing you're not doing" is honestly life-changing, even life-saving, advice.
    20 6
    Jul 26, 2026
  3. 3

    Cripes. "star names" should probably be in capitals, and glowing slightly...

    Chortle @chortle.bsky.social
    British autism sitcom attracts star names
    British autism sitcom attracts star names
    Fred Armisen, Penn Jillette and Patton Oswalt in audio comedy
    21 6
    Jul 21, 2026
  4. 4

    I think this is a key point... AFAICT... this isn't a policy specifically aimed against freelancers, it just doesn't really take them into consideration at all.

    We'll see how the consultation goes...

    The "But for me it was Tuesday" meme ( https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ButForMeItWasTuesday ) but with the following text over it: for you it was the administrative straw that finally broke your business - then - for me it was a tax policy invented in the taxi on the way to the meeting
    Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social
    I don't think this is about political perceptions, it's that the ministerial direction to HMRC, such as it is, is 'where's my revenue? Squeeze the collection gap more!' which results in a bunch of policies which hit that function but have negative externalities elsewhere.
    16 4
    Jul 19, 2026
  5. 5

    This very short video www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbhw... is an excellent summary by @diplostrats.bsky.social of the megagame format.

    What is a Megagame?
    YouTube video by DiploStrats
    4 3
    Jul 24, 2026
  6. 6

    something something generalists something

    Andy Famiglietti @afamiglietti.org
    If your college degree trains you for a specific job and that job goes in the toilet, you are FUCKED If your college degree trains you to be a broadly capable person, you have options!
    10 2
    Jun 27, 2026
  7. 7

    Reply

    Still on "Best of 2000 AD Volume 1: The Essential Gateway to the Galaxy's Greatest Comic", I'd forgotten what an interesting start The Ballad of Halo Jones had.

    2 1
    Jul 26, 2026
  8. 8

    Recommended, as always, especially the @nebula.tv exclusive question, there's always a lot of thought that goes into the answer given...

    @techaltar.bsky.social
    Trust me bro, our models went rogue Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/tfc-t... YouTube: youtu.be/kHSN5rIq7e0
    7 1
    Jul 24, 2026
  9. 9

    I assume that these "estate agent spec" lenses aren't available to the average citizen? Because some of the pictures on house search websites are amazing...

    A fairly normal small room in a British house, with a patterned carpet and wallpaper - but the estate agent taking the photograph has used a wide angle lens, making it seem weirdly distorted. A picture of an Ames Room... as per wikipedia: "An Ames room is viewed with one eye through a peephole. Through the peephole, the room appears to be an ordinary rectangular cuboid, with a back wall that is vertical and at right angles to the observer's line of sight, two vertical side walls parallel to each other, and a horizontal floor and ceiling. The observer will see that an adult standing in one corner of the room along the back wall appears to be a giant, while another adult standing in the other corner along the back wall appears to be a dwarf. An adult who moves from one corner of the room to the other appears to change dramatically in size." I'm struck of the irony in trying to explain this is alt text, when really it's something people recognise by sight. The "they're the same picture" meme.
    1 1
    Jul 23, 2026
  10. 10

    Reply

    Good morning. Finally finished "When the Clock Runs Out : 20 NFL Greats Share Their Stories of Hardship and Triumph", just started "Best of 2000 AD Volume 1: The Essential Gateway to the Galaxy's Greatest Comic".

    The cover of "When the Clock Runs Out : 20 NFL Greats Share Their Stories of Hardship and Triumph" The cover of "Best of 2000 AD Volume 1: The Essential Gateway to the Galaxy's Greatest Comic"
    2 1
    Jul 19, 2026
  11. 11

    Worth watching, as always, but especially for the extra thinking on the @nebula.tv version 🙂

    @techaltar.bsky.social
    It's official. OnePlus is gone. Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/tfc-o... YouTube: youtu.be/GFutwCA3cnA
    3 1
    Jul 17, 2026
  12. 12

    This is well put on "multi-table games", larger TTRPGs needing multiple GMs, and worth your time if you're looking at how to build something that big.

    ( the included definition of megagames is a bit wobbly... but also probably the best we have 🙂 )

    Grant Howitt @gshowitt.bsky.social
    A blog about writing and running 30-player, 6-GM games, why it's difficult, and why I refuse to learn from my previous mistakes: www.patreon.com/gshowitt/pos...
    TO DIE WOULD BE A GREAT (MEANING LARGE OR IMMENSE) ADVENTURE I have the DIE RPG to thank for this. Kieron Gillen, author of same, came with us to GenCon 2024 and had an idea for a big game of DIE that needed thirty people to work correctly, and we did what we could to facilitate that. It was the sort of metatextual onanism that Kieron loves as much as overwrought puns and 90’s alt-pop: he, the noble and valiant indie comic book author Kieron Gillen, was magicked into a roleplaying game by his evil alter-ego, also confusingly called Kieron Gillen, but this one wore a leather jacket so you knew he was a bad guy right from the get-go. He played both. The thirty players were divided up into six tables of five, each of whom played through the same scenario which involved rescuing their GM from an evil GM, I think? A microcosm of the broader plot, anyway, and - spoilers, I guess - each one of them unlocked one sixth of the magic word needed to defeat the malevolent Leather Gillen. ON WRITING DIFFERENT THINGS I get a bit caught up in this stuff, myself. Once I start writing - if things are going well - I get too many ideas, and I want to use them all. I want good bits in everyone’s game. I want to prove to them that I’m a great designer, and not only a game designer, I can design adventures too! I promise! Look! And: the relationship between what I write and what a player experiences is, perhaps, never more tenuous or brittle. You write a scenario, and you have to communicate it to a prospective GM in such a way that they can remember it, but not feel limited by it, but still definitely run it in a recognisable way. And then they communicate that to the players, who have their own agency, and there’s five of the buggers running around in different directions at any one time. And then we’ve got fucking dice to worry about, so there’s never a sure thing. That’s just a normal game - now, you do all that six times and have them cross over, and suddenly the GMs are sifting through your notes written four months previously trying to find a way to connect them to this hot afternoon instant in Indianapolis where half the tables have finished early and the other half are nowhere near the end. But the best thing, bar none, the highlight of my GenCon and most likely my year, was calling together all thirty players in a rousing chant of “DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!” (Doom is an important concept in Orc Borg, being as it is their deliverance to heaven, and as such people started slamming the tables and bellowing it with very little provocation.) I had uncovered the secret to running a good multi-table game: synchronised yelling. And why not? It works at football matches! It works in churches! And protest marches, and the military, and concerts, and the bit in Battlestar Galactica where they bark so say we all and you get a bit tingly about the scalp, and groups of people eight beers in outside my flat at 2am, and when you think about it, a solid portion of all human interaction after we worked out how to make noises with our mouths. Player characters are all shards of five reincarnated saints, or hallows, who’ve been called to the cathedral to defend it against the onslaught of flesh that the Heart is sending in to disrupt the summoning ritual (a ritual which ought to involve some yelling). We’ve got six different Seven Samurai-style defend the town adventures lined up, and all of them have something special going on. [DISCORD SCREENSHOT, message from Grant] "light update to the Heart scenario on the drive as Sillion has corrected me: the severed angel wings are now only used to power the red nightmare defence robot, not the magical escape moon train as originally intended"
    5 1
    Jul 16, 2026
  13. 13

    Reply

    Considering the ease of replicating the costume, I assume he can campaign "in parallel" with different versions of himself, especially if he sticks to a campaign on video doorbells only?

    Count Binface holding up a sign saying "vote binface", based on the popular meme picture from the film Love Actually.
    1 1
    Jul 9, 2026
  14. 14

    Reply to @sonofsuntzu.bsky.social

    A large frog head peers over the top of a row of houses. It is presumably the top of a hot air balloon. Above it, meme style, is the word "Soon".
    4 1
    Jul 8, 2026
  15. 15

    I'm reposting this later than I intended, if any europeans want an impression of the US celebrations last night, then this thread, and the one I just reposted, and worth scrolling through.

    Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social
    Hi hello I was going to do a full thread on the Great American State Fair later but it seems I'm starting early: why in the fuck are PragerU, Patriot Academy, and other far right groups the ENTIRETY of the Department of Education booth
    Two banners First banner reads: Welcome to the Great Experiment 250 years of American invention - a story still in the making Two hundred and fifty years ago, America made a bet: that ordinary people with extraordinary ideas could build a nation unlike any before. That bet is still paying off. The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention presents this exhibit in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Commerce - home of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the institution that turned creative freedom into economic fuel. At the Cade, we believe so deeply in thinking and acting like an inventor that we gave it a name: Inventivity.® This exhibit is brimming with it. The race is well underway, but it's never too late to jump in. So gear up, strap in, and take a lap GEORGE WASHINGTON April 30, 1789 - March 4, 1797 Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefito, and humbly to implore his protection and favor SERVICE "Let me serve voluntarily; then I will, with the greatest pleasure in life, devote my services to the expedition without any other reward, than the satisfaction of serving my country" RELIGION "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports." CHARACTER "To the distinguished Character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to add the more distinguished Character of Christian. "the journey continues from here" with QR codes to Wallbuilders, the American Journey Experience, Patriot Academy, PragerU, and AmericanMinute.com Stickers with a QR code to sign up to be a constitution coach with Patriot Academy
    1 1
    Jul 5, 2026
  16. 16

    I think part of working in public is sharing ideas that you decided not to follow up on... should I have tried building an online community for people affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder, but in the summer, not the winter?

    More here: blog.sonofsuntzu.org.uk/posts/deadpr...

    Dead Project - Community for the other SAD
    Image by AstroGraphix_Visuals from Pixabay This is part of a planned series of posts about dead or frozen projects - ideas I’ve had that I’ve decided not to follow up on. I’ll be writing these up for ...
    2 1
    Jul 1, 2026
  17. 17

    The "second breakfast" picture of two hobbits from Lord of the Rings, but the half-arsed meme text reads "some kind of pun about a second heat dome being inbound" at the top and "bleurgh" at the bottom.
    7 1
    Jun 28, 2026
  18. 18

    Good morning.

    Jordan S. Carroll 🌹 @jordanscarroll.bsky.social
    Steve Jobs predicted cities would be designed around this device, which was "as big a deal as the PC." Jeff Bezos called it "one of the most famous and anticipated product introductions of all time." don't let our tech lords fool you into believing they can predict the future.
    Segway scooter
    3 1
    Jun 27, 2026