talesofweirdfl's recent activity

  1. Comment on ACCESS.bus: The forgotten USB competitor in ~comp

  2. Comment on ACCESS.bus: The forgotten USB competitor in ~comp

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    Hell yeah. I have a feeling we would have been buddies back in the old times. Now if you tell me you played DnD, skateboarded, and loved you some 'tendo. I'd have to start to question whether or...

    Hell yeah. I have a feeling we would have been buddies back in the old times. Now if you tell me you played DnD, skateboarded, and loved you some 'tendo. I'd have to start to question whether or not I have a clone...

    1 vote

  3. Comment on ACCESS.bus: The forgotten USB competitor in ~comp

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    But we were wizards back then. I remember vividly getting free candy from a friend because I could rewrite his config.sys and autoexec.bat to squeeze out just enough conventional memory to run...

    But we were wizards back then. I remember vividly getting free candy from a friend because I could rewrite his config.sys and autoexec.bat to squeeze out just enough conventional memory to run Wing Commander and his Sound Blaster card.

    JFC, listen to me... I think I just aged 5 years in one post.

    6 votes

  4. Comment on ACCESS.bus: The forgotten USB competitor in ~comp

  5. Comment on ACCESS.bus: The forgotten USB competitor in ~comp

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    Holy shit, you weren't kidding. That video had like everything I remember from my senior year of high school. It's hard to believe that we used to do everything with serial and parallel cables. I...

    Holy shit, you weren't kidding. That video had like everything I remember from my senior year of high school. It's hard to believe that we used to do everything with serial and parallel cables. I remember parallel "dongles" for certain insanely expensive software products too.

    3 votes

  6. Comment on What low-stakes drama is going on in your circles right now? in ~talk

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    This is really good advice. Thank you! I will consider checking that PD again. Fist bump Astigmatism friends!

    This is really good advice. Thank you! I will consider checking that PD again. Fist bump Astigmatism friends!

    2 votes

  7. Comment on What low-stakes drama is going on in your circles right now? in ~talk

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    Ugh. I'm pretty sure you are right. I think I'll give this a try next year. Just too much going on in my life to go funhouse mirror mode right now. Thanks for the encouragement though!

    Ugh. I'm pretty sure you are right. I think I'll give this a try next year. Just too much going on in my life to go funhouse mirror mode right now. Thanks for the encouragement though!

    1 vote

  8. Comment on What low-stakes drama is going on in your circles right now? in ~talk

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    I am both amazed and horrified. Off to google I go! Thank you.

    I am both amazed and horrified. Off to google I go! Thank you.

    10 votes

  9. Comment on What low-stakes drama is going on in your circles right now? in ~talk

    talesofweirdfl
    Link
    I have the olds. My single vision glasses are no longer working for me when it comes to phone and e-reader viewing (damn you, iPhone). So now I have progressives. For those who don't know, these...

    I have the olds. My single vision glasses are no longer working for me when it comes to phone and e-reader viewing (damn you, iPhone). So now I have progressives. For those who don't know, these are like slapping funhouse mirrors on your eyeballs. I have felt like I wanted to vomit twice so far. Listen, I get it, it's hell getting older and it does beat the alternative, but... is this really the best we can do? We put people on the moon, created vaccines, split the atom, etc. We can't fix my crappy eyes with magic lenses? Sigh.

    14 votes

  10. Comment on What did you do this week (and weekend)? in ~talk

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    I just snorted tea all over my desk. Thank you for providing material for a future book.

    I just snorted tea all over my desk. Thank you for providing material for a future book.

    3 votes

  11. Comment on What did you do this week (and weekend)? in ~talk

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    Well if that just isn't capital news I don't know what is. Way to go, papa! Mine just hit 18. I get called, but just for money.

    Well if that just isn't capital news I don't know what is. Way to go, papa! Mine just hit 18. I get called, but just for money.

    9 votes

  12. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    The man has a few hot button items. His favorite evil incarnations are paintings, dead bodies/things, puppets, art, wall stains, empty houses, and paintings. Did I mention paintings? :) All...

    The man has a few hot button items. His favorite evil incarnations are paintings, dead bodies/things, puppets, art, wall stains, empty houses, and paintings.

    Did I mention paintings? :)

    All kidding aside. I teased him that I wanted to know who left him in an art gallery as a small child...

    Most of his books have that same slow burn feel. The only one that has deviated is All the Fiends of Hell. That one reads more like a thriller than a horror story, but with his highly poetic prose it doesn't rip quite as fast as it could.

    If you want more slow burn Nevill with a weird ending, I'd recommend "No One Gets Out Alive." Look for the connections to Last Days if you do. They're in there. It's subtle, but if you look closely you'll see them. The Nevill verse is highly connected. Enjoy!

    1 vote

  13. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    talesofweirdfl
    Link
    I write and read horror. Right now I'm on an Adam Nevill kick and am about 70% of the way through "Cunning Folk." It's folk horror with some nice pacing and a few good twists. Nevill paints with a...

    I write and read horror. Right now I'm on an Adam Nevill kick and am about 70% of the way through "Cunning Folk." It's folk horror with some nice pacing and a few good twists. Nevill paints with a very detailed brush. He knows words. He knows lots of words. But, the story is good, fast, and very well done. I can't say enough positive things about it.

    Also, an aside, he's a gem of a guy to interact with. I purchased a couple of hardbacks of his work online for a friend and asked him to sign them and he did, plus added a nice personalization to each.

    That's just good stuff.

    3 votes

  14. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    "if you try." And therein lies the rub, but that's a funny visual, Gygax in a cabinet booming his words out. Thanks!

    "if you try."

    And therein lies the rub, but that's a funny visual, Gygax in a cabinet booming his words out. Thanks!

    1 vote

  15. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    Wow! That's really cool. I have to go look up what a risograph is.

    Wow! That's really cool. I have to go look up what a risograph is.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on If you sharpened a particularly stiff carrot, could you kill a vampire with it? in ~talk

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    Came here looking for Bunnicula, was not disappointed. Thank you, Tildes, for being cool.

    Came here looking for Bunnicula, was not disappointed. Thank you, Tildes, for being cool.

    10 votes

  17. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    Dude! That's interesting. Where would I host such a thing?

    Dude! That's interesting. Where would I host such a thing?

    1 vote

  18. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    Thanks, buddy. Yeah. I feel like everything today looks like Neverwinter Nights or Diablo. I'm a novelist, so I greatly prefer the words to the pictures, but I get that I'm the minority. So for...

    Thanks, buddy. Yeah. I feel like everything today looks like Neverwinter Nights or Diablo. I'm a novelist, so I greatly prefer the words to the pictures, but I get that I'm the minority. So for now I'll keep working on puppets and try to get past the procrastination.

    1 vote

  19. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    Step one, acquire courage... Step two... Seriously though, I wrote a long post on reddit dnd way back in the before times about the road back to the game after 25+ years. I've included it below to...

    Step one, acquire courage... Step two...

    Seriously though, I wrote a long post on reddit dnd way back in the before times about the road back to the game after 25+ years.

    I've included it below to give you some context and to avoid a trip to reddit ;)

    Original post from Reddit... The long road back, returning to DnD after 25+ years away

    Wow, this was really hard to write.

    25+ years away from something will do that I guess. When I was into Dungeons & Dragons it was at the height of the religious objection period, so you'll have to forgive me if I regress into that teenager trying to quickly hide his DnD books under the bed.

    Fast forward 25+ years and my youngest child is old enough to start to show an interest in fantasy (How to train your dragon, Wings of Fire, etc) and I somehow find myself staring at the RPG section at the book store. Always keen to make sure I am alone, ready with a quick "It's for my friend's kid" response if someone makes eye contact. Yet here they are, a portal to my teenage years, waiting for me to simply pick them up. Sadly, the thought of the checkout counter was enough to freeze my wallet in its place. In the end almost a year went by without me doing much more than walking past them at the store. The siren call was strong, but not strong enough, old stigmas die hard.

    I gradually forgot about D&D, days bled together and I became more entrenched in my role of grass cutter, bill payer, and he that fixes all things great and small with tape and glue. It was then, deep in thought replacing outdoor lights when I received a phone call from my mother. I was stunned. My mother called to tell me one of my old high school friends died suddenly overnight. Now I hadn't been close with this guy since High School, which for those keeping track was a while ago, but he was a frequent member of my gaming group. It was funny, at that moment I didn't remember him as a high school kid, I remembered him as his character. A true and sudden sadness came over me, I guess I'd always hoped like the Heros of the Lance my gaming group would meet up again at the "Inn of my old home" and play one last time. Well if we did, it would be without our dearest bard.

    That was the moment it hit me full on, standing outside on a ladder holding an old burned out bulb. I decided if I didn't at least try to play D&D again I never would. You see, the bard and I were the same age, almost to the day. We may have run out of time to play together, but it wasn't too late for me. The ghost of Christmas Future be damned. That night I stayed up late to order all the base 5E materials from Amazon. I must have agonized over it for an hour, even without a clerk to check me out I was still nervous.

    As luck (and Amazon Prime!) would have it, the package arrived the following day. Late that evening, with wife and daughter asleep, I carefully opened it. Quick to use a pair of scissors to slice the tape, not wanting to wake the two or four legged members of the house.

    There they were, fresh binding faintly cracking under my fingers, each turned page filling the air with an inky aroma slowly dulling my senses to the outside world. The players handbook, dungeon masters guide, and monster manual. They were far more beautiful than I remember my 1st edition Ad&d books, full color throughout, gorgeous illustrations, and paper just like you'd find in top shelf publications.

    That's when it happened. They say time is one directional, but at that moment the river ran backwards. I could remember all the campaigns, all the stories, all the adventures. I could feel the dice in my hands, in fact I would later discover I had unknowingly removed them from a hidden pouch I'd kept in my desk for the last 20 years. I may have lost all the books I owned, but here in my hands were the dice I used to slay a frost giant. Was it my imagination, or were they still cold?

    It wasn't until many hours had gone by and Tenser's floating disc raised my head enough to see the clock that I realized I was still a Dad, and still had work in the morning. I quietly put the books under the coach, then stopped, I'm old enough now to not be afraid. So I left them on the desk and went to bed.

    As the days continued I have spent my evenings reading each book, trying to remember the rules, and stories, the monsters. It's been liberating in a way I can hardly put into words. Each evening when I read and re-read the rules, classes, monsters, and spells I'm transported back to my childhood. Oh I still have my silver cord, however I'm smarter now than that first evening. Now I ask Alexa to warn me when I've been gone too long. When the alarm sounds it's a reminder that the real world exists and that I need to return to being a multi-classed Father, Husband, and Professional.

    So far reading the books has been a sort of catharsis for me. However, now I'd like to play again. I have to admit, though that I'm finding all the online options a bit overwhelming, there are graphics, interactive maps, grids, tiles, all things that either didn't exist, or we didn't have the money for as kids. The game online appears to be very different, is there a way to play online that is more like my "theatre of the mind" campaigns of the 80s and 90s? Any old(er) gamers out there reading this post and thinking, "yeah, I remember those times, I'd love to dip myself in those elysian springs and play again". Post here, or pm me, forgive my lack of understanding when it comes to things like discord, map grids, or fancy tiles. Let's have a chat and tell a story or two, who knows perhaps these dice can be giant slayers again.

    2 votes

  20. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    talesofweirdfl
    Link Parent
    Sure thing. DM me an email and I'll send you some pics. Yeah, I thought about that (ie why am i doing this) but my problem is that I don't know many (any?) people to game with and I thought this...

    Sure thing. DM me an email and I'll send you some pics. Yeah, I thought about that (ie why am i doing this) but my problem is that I don't know many (any?) people to game with and I thought this might help me break the ice.

    It's silly, I know, but it's also a great way to procrastinate and never actually get around to that thing you wanted to do but couldn't seem to get over the hump of actually doing.

    2 votes