Take the damn upvote, and get outta here.

You can absolutely find a D&D group online. r/LFG is a good place to look. So is the Roll20.net website, and the Avrae.io Discord server.

I’d say so. Improv comedy groups are hard to find, but you know what isn’t? A Dungeons and Dragons group.

Many people who play D&D are writers themselves. Maybe not famous or published, but it’s a narratively creative exercise. Older and more experienced DMs will happily help you learn how to write a character that is interesting and unique. And as you play, you’ll get a feel for how to write a story that you like.

This is going to sound counterintuitive, but try writing fanfiction.

Fanfics aren’t necessarily the gorgeous polished final works you’d expect to find on a book store shelf. But what they can do is help put you into a certain mindset.

• How to write in character. You already know these characters very very well: their limits, their fears, their challenges, all of it.
• How to describe a place you can see. You know the setting where these characters move and work and live. Taking the time to describe familiar places gives you enough exercise to try describing unfamiliar places.
• How to move the plot. Is this too complicated for one episode? Then it might not be a short story, it might be a long one. Learning when to keep things simple and when to make them intricate.

Believe it or not, fanfiction IS real literature. Everything we “know” about King Arthur? Fanfiction and reboots. Dante’s Divine Comedy? Bible fanfiction. There is no shame in writing it. There’s no shame in reading it either.

It means that Lime will rent out their scooters in Israel.

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Ex-cult member here.

The only thing that snaps someone out of that spiral is an internal realization. There’s nothing we as outsiders can really do directly. Engaging with their version of reality (Christian evangelicals specifically) feeds into the prosecution complex and perpetual victimhood that validates their position. It’s a self-defeating tactic to confront them directly.

Focus on positive, normal, consistent interactions. Share your regular, everyday triumphs. If your lifestyle comes up in conversation, express being satisfied with it. Decline going to church with them. Don’t debate their stances on doctrine if you share a root faith. Deflect and redirect. When the opportunity arises, maybe ask a question that invites some introspection about the subtle (but structurally loadbearing) flaws in their worldview. But don’t probe too much. Again, bear in mind, they’re trained to take every perceived attack as a trigger to rehearse their dogma. Be subtle.

And above all, unless they are actively abusing you, don’t abandon them. That’ll seal them in and you’ll never get them back. Continue your hobbies and appointments, and keep a schedule (movie night, for example.) Eventually, they might feel vulnerable enough to express their insecurities about inconsistencies in their worldview. Be gentle with them, as this is a remarkably scary thing for them to even voice out loud.

If they love you–and I mean really love you–no preacher with an ego to preen will ever take them from you.

Like the French.

And he was still playing lacrosse?!?!

I don’t have that engine. But holy fuck, I forgot that was even possible. 😨

Literally Monarchy 2.0. “I’ll do anything for my king!” “We’ve found that ensuring brand loyalty in our core demographic is essential to maintaining our bottom line.”

A clock that only needs to be right once.

Cannot upvote this enough. Bruce Lee is a treasure to humankind.

36th Chamber of Shaolin is awesome!

Wow. That is clever wordplay. Thanks for that, I never would have picked up on it. 👍

Are eunuchs biologically agender?

Are intersex people with chimerism or cryptorchidism biologically two genders at once?

Are women who have had hysterectomies biologically male?

The answer to all of the above is, and I say this with all the respect in the world, a resounding ‘no.’

I’ve gotta rewatch that show. I’ve been on a B5 rewarch binge with my friends lately. I’ll see if we can add this to the list next.

VPN with a double hop ending in France or Brazil usually works for me.

inv.nadeko.net is the most reliable one, followed by yewtu.be. It gets broken every once in a while, but it always bounces back. I gotta admire that about the Invidious folks.