Dragon Cobolt

Currently at a point where 15 print backers or a few people going for the big tiers would do it. I gotta make plans for the stretch goals, we need that print run

The population outflow of undesirables from *multiple* solar systems, chucked in via a prisoner barge and those barges were one way, they sure weren't sending guards in with them, just dumping criminals in barely functional ships through the gate.

Meanwhile, MENACE has this great premise for why there's so many goddamn pirates and lunatics: the Wayback has had an incoming warp gate for 100 years...and no *outgoing* warp gate.

So, the Terran Congressional Republic has been dumping criminals there.

For 100 years.

Battle Brothers takes place in a superficially low fantasy, quasi-realistic germanic style European land but, like, when you actually play it, it rapidly becomes apparent that approximately 90% of the human race in that game are unaffiliated, unmotivated bandits that subsist on nothing.

before I go to bed, @rvengefulobster.bsky.social got me thinking about MENACE and one of the things I really, really, really like about it is that it's full of things that overhype studios clearly were thinking on how to fix from Battle Brothers...and one of those is justifications.

oh, no, it was in an unrelated conversation, with some star trek nerds about The Borg

Every single element of life is either more deadly, more expensive or more inconvenient (often all three) today than it’s been in decades & it’s purely because our robber baron overlords decided to dedicate the entirety of the US apparatus to doing barbaric & culturally suicidal white nationalism

my first few run ins with the rogue army, my butcher's bill got INTENSE

you get better at them! their special weapon team are Darby food, once she's properly kitted

worst feeling ever!!!

i recommend to anyone reading this to instead choose to get intransigent and assume you're right and everyone else is stupid, which feels much better than the dawning realization you've wasted a bunch of people's time for no reason

MENACE

Jesus Christ the Rogue Army is brutal!

Bugs and Pirates? Easy mode.

These guys show up with actual armor support.

I'm so glad I was paranoid enough to invest in medevac.

all right time to mute that thread and go to bed

really embarrassed at how I managed to totally fuck up explaining what I was thinking in a way that annoyed everyone since I'm...pretty sure that I agree with everyone IN the conversation, i just did it bad

I mean, this stick I picked up in real life feels more meaningful than weapons in Skyrim

It is the space future, they have cool space smoke

it can't be worse than what happened to Homeworld 3!

If you want to have them represent something - an abusive relationship, or the fears of communism or imperialism or the dangers of technological advancement without ethics - you can depict them as that by altering how you write the show that they're in.

But...I guess because I'm addicted to talking: what I mean by "Change the Borg" is, as a writer, you can change how you depict and portray the Collective, by giving alternate perspectives or even just...saying they've changed due to the history of the show, or the will of the collective.

I'm going to bed, man

Headsfalloff response to my tweet is basically what I thought and was trying to say, and I clearly fucked it up beyond all possible repair, so I'm just going to call it a wash, I'm sorry for being inarticulate, confusing and obtuse

oh well! I should have gone to bed an hour ago anyway

how many times do I have to say "change the borg" ???

Genuinely?

Am I just not doing a good job at this or what?

Yeah, I agree with all that and...I thought that's what I said, but I clearly am just not explaining myself well?

...did you not read the post I was responding too or did you just...forget how to scroll up?

Also, like, the human perspective is wide enough to encompass literally all art we've ever made in the entirety of recorded history, it's not like it's lacking for storytelling or intrigue.

I am incredibly cynical of the ability of almost any writer to actually write "nonhuman perspectives", because I can count the number of plausible times i've seen it done, and it was by novelists who didn't need to cram a character into weekly latex.

I dunno, the term "too liberal brained" and "collectivism" muddied the point in my read...but, like...that's why I have repeatedly underlined that you either change how the Borg are depicted or you tell a story about finding individualism in the space liberalism of Star Trek.

Once again, sorry to break it to you: Everyone in pop sci-fi like Star Trek is a human being under like...at best, one layer of metaphor. More often, it's half or a quarter.

You can want to write a story about a truly nonhuman perspective, like Blindside, but Star Trek won't do it.

Star Trek is a morality play about modern life in a sci-fi jacket and telling a story about how "actually, the evil conquering force that stole your life, personality and made you into a killing machine that steals other people's life and personality WAS your whole life" is...fucked?

Yeah, and if you want to depict a hive mind in a way that's not a halfwit's critique of socialism, go right ahead.

Did you miss the part where I said, "you can either change the borg or not do that"

And how I said, "This is how the borg are depicted"

I.E, you can change how the borg are depicted

That's not how assimilation has been depicted from any of Star Trek's, have you not...watched the episode Family in the past, like, 15 years? We have an extremely intimate portrayal of what being put into the "hive mind" of the Borg is like and it's, uh...it's not what I'd call consensual

I thought flamethrowers were still legal?

(but also, good point)

...though I...I don't think the laser weapons can blind you any more or worse than a gun can, since if you're shot in the face with one, you're taking the same damage as a bullet. Or autocannon round.

which is the main thing about war crimes...requires a treaty!