John McQueen-Scott ✨🧙‍♂️🤘

image for the Hope Springs Eternal kickstarter, showing an infernis, a goblin gemfolk and a gigantic Wonderbeast

Hope Springs Eternal is live! My 1st ever crowdfund is a supplement for @darringtonpress.bsky.social's Daggerheart TTRPG made by talented writers and artists: @grahampayne.bsky.social, @alexsgamingcorner.bsky.social, @haclif.bsky.social, @nightjargames.bsky.social and Kalin Kadiev. #daggerheart

Fellow readers, please share your favourite books you read this year! I need to add to my 90+ long TRL 😂

One of my favourite reads of 2925 snuck in at the last minute ! I highly recommend checking out Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft. It checks a lot of boxes for me, many having to do with the megadungeon I've been working on. And despite being allergic to series' I can't wait to dive into the sequel!

Like, why give the man a stereotypical Irish name just to make him a bland nNth American?

Miles Mackenzie would be 1000% more endearing if he were a charming Irishman.

Good lord Shopify. Get it together.

Maybe if you weren't constantly laying off your dev and support staff, you'd have the resources to handle your shit when things go haywire. Just a thought.

Adopting the Black Friday tradition was a devastating blow to Canadian culture. We already had boxing day! We don't need two!

An unexpected feeling when you're getting old is the panic that sets in when you realize the members of the band you just started following are nearly 20 years younger than you.

Over the years I've grown pretty grinchy around Christmas, annoyed by the marketing and the music and needless stress and whatnot. But since having kids, seeing the wonder and excitement in their eyes, I've found a way to actually enjoy the season a little more.

Today my 4yo was sitting and looking out the window and I asked him what he was looking at. And he said "I'm just waiting for Santa" in the sweetest lil voice.

Shit like that blows my mind. Parenting is really tough sometimes, but it's full of these tiny moments that just make me melt.

I feel like Kobolds Ate My Baby by @9thlevelgames.bsky.social deserves a spot on this list! Some of the most fun I've had with weird little guys.

A fold out spread from the Voynich Manuscript. It's incomprehensible and written in an unknown script scholars have yet to decipher, but this particular segment resembles some kind of psychedelic, semi-organic building layout with lots of interesting patterns.

This is a dungeon, right? It's definitely a dungeon.

I've been looking through the Voynich Manuscript and you can't convince me this isn't a GM's campaign notes written in code to keep their secrets safe from their players.

Would anyone judge me if I quit my job and neglected my family so I could play Arc Raiders?

Because you can't really play those kinds of games casually. But I really want to play it!

Prime 4 looks incredible, and reviewers have been really positive about the gameplay. Regardless of whether or not there's an annoying side character, I'm just excited to play another Metroid Prime game.

I don't know much about this "comic relief" character everyone's complaining about in Metroid Prime 4, but I'd like everyone to just take a minute to remember that Paul Reiser was in Aliens.

I'm gonna write a Beeftiary where it's just different types of cows.

I'm teaming up with @bigbitegames.ca on a game where you play as super-powered rockstars to fight demons for game and glory.

If you like classic rock and heavy metal, you're gonna want to keep an eye out for this one. Check out Patrick's article to learn more!

#heavymetal #ttrpg #legendsofrock

A sullen figure with a large head and pointy ears looks upwards, as the world crumbles at his feet. Scratch that. The kiddo says it's a Christmas tree. I'm questioning my grasp of reality.

Here's a picture my 4yo drew yesterday. Is it weird to say it makes me feel something?

Pluribus looks like it's gonna be super weird, and I'm here for it. I haven't had my fill of weird ass sci-fi on TV in quite a while.

Gonna be honest, I had to google chisme! I thought it might be a typo 😂

But yeah, that's absolutely what this is. I was explaining the drama to my wife and she said it sounds like a reality show.

idk why but I'm completely obsessed with the current drama ripping through the stand-up comedy scene.

I'm not really a fan of stand-up, I don't listen to any of these people's podcasts or anything. Just following along via youtube gossip channels.

I need to have a word with whoever the fuck thought it would be a good idea to do daylight savings 2 days after every child in North America stocked up on candy.

But anyway it's not like I have time to write this, let's be real it's just going to end up in my drafts folder 😂

The main question I have, that I think I need some real science to answer, is at what speed would we approach a fixed spot in the cosmos. How fast is Earth's orbit plus the expansion of the universe? And how would astronomers and astrophysicists react and identify such an object?

Here's the basic premise:

There's an object fixed in space. It isn't effected by gravity or the expansion of the universe. But the movement of the Milky Way has caused our solar system to cross its path, and Earth's orbit puts us on a collision coarse.

True, but Ghostbusters isn't exactly hard science fiction. I would say it leans much further into the fantastical than what I'm plotting.

My story is somewhere in the nexus of Interstellar, Rendezvous with Rama, and Event Horizon. Although I'm considering dialing down the hard science, maybe.

This is misinformation. The Canadian government has only banned pickle imports. We need to support our domestic pickle farmers, so only Canadian-grown pickles are allowed in our supermarkets.

My concept is pure fiction, reality breaking nonsense, but I'd like to approach it with a lens of realism.

This is why I usually just retreat into fantasy. It's so much easier to make up magic and demons or whatever than it is to write about technology rooted in reality.

Question for folks who write sci-fi:

Is it more difficult to write hard sci-fi without a background in science?

I'm outlining a story right now and I feel like I need to consult with an astrophysicist. I'm really self-conscious of my wikipedia-level technobabble.