If you need a pickmeup, Ukraine struck and destroyed a Russian data center last night, reducing Russian bot traffic by 50%, dropping online pro-AfD discussion to zero, cratering MAGA traffic, and making Elon big mad. Just in time for the mid-terms. Slava fucking Ukraini.

I hope to get back to my analysis of Weapons of the Gods soon. It's a fun process and I know folks were following it.

Is there a cleverer way that Ukraine could have hit back at Trump doing a dirty oil deal with Putin to help him with gas prices in the midterms than turning off the army of Russian propagandists posing as heartland Americans with concerns about trans socialists?

It is a delicate balance to respect the challenges facing queer folks in a socially repressive environment, while also presenting an honest picture of the past. As Moyra so elegantly writes, we are more important than the game, and she provides some useful guidance for telling queer stories.

Now, @warbirds.bsky.social and I share a similar design challenge between Lumberjills and Lonely Timbers; the suffocating heteronormativity of the era which make it difficult to tell the queer stories. It goes without saying that queer folks in WWII suffered terribly and we want to avoid erasure.

In Lumberjills, the emphasis is on how the women come to discover their own competence and agency despite the hardship they face. You play women forming friendships, finding joy in the off-hours dancing the night away, and growing as people.

Like the US Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) or Russia's Nightwitches, the desperation of the brutal war forced the patriarchy to allow women to perform these essential jobs.

The Lumber Jills were the women of Britain who went to the woods to cut timber as replacements for the men who were off fighting in World War 2. Prior to this point, only men would work in forestry and these women were literally blazing trails that other women would follow.

I mean, that is _technically_ correct but, ummm.

It also means that being flamboyant murder hobos, or being too lax with the enemy, could result in an elder dragon landing on your party and having you as an afternoon snack.

If you take precautions to ensure that the imperial forces cannot report back to their superiors through whatever means necessary, you will then reduce your heat value by the amount you rolled. This means that caution and ruthless efficiency are essential for the survival of the resistance.

I am happy the new Heat rules work in Dragon's Dungeon. When you attract attention, you increase your heat rating and roll 1d20. If you roll above your heat score, you are fine. Otherwise, imperial forces will confront you at the next opportunity, their strength based on the amount of your die roll.