Cortex is a TTRPG system that's meant to be a universal system.

Ok, quick explanation: in TTRPG space there are two design paths. First path, design a system to represent relevant player actions in the setting which the game is meant to take place. This is exemplified by D&D, where the system accounts for magic and spells because the setting is meant to have magic and spells.

Second path, design a universal system meant to be used to resolve story conflicts that is setting agnostic. Systems such as FATE, GURPS, RISUS and Cortex are all such games.

And sure, Cortex Prime might have won tons of awards for game design and presentation, but also...no. So I'm going to vent about my problems with Cortex.

( Cortex is an over designed piece of crap with crunch in all the wrong ways. )

So. In conclusion, Cortex is an overdesigned piece of crap.

Previously, I yapped about fixing Druid, but was basing it on the 2014 rules. Now that I've read up on the new 2024 rules (which severely nerfed Wild Shape for Druids), I'm back again to fixing Druids 2024-edition. Grrr...

( FFS, just let Druids be awesome. )

Circle of Land is in a much better place in 2024 edition, so I think fixing core Druid traits will fix a lot of things.

It's been bugging me a while now that even in the eyes of most Druid players, Druidcraft really pales in comparison in RP utility compared to the equivalent cleric/wizard cantrips (being Thaumaturgy and Prestidigitation respectively). And I'd say that a huge part of Druidcraft's weakness comes from the fact that not only does it generate fewer and weaker (aka less useful) effects, the effects also don't last nearly as long. So, my proposed fix (with justifications explained):

( I definitely spent way too long thinking about a single cantrip, wtf self? )

Rangers are broken in a bad way in D&D. And plenty of people have tried their hand at fixing the Ranger, but I really don't think adding yet more complexity is really the way to go. The real complication is that no one can agree what a ranger archetype looks like: is it the Aragorn? US Army Ranger? National Park ranger? Beastmaster? The martial expy of the Druid? The explorer pioneer?

I propose that the one unifying fantasy of the Ranger archetype is "outdoors expert". That one person you want with you if you're stranded somewhere far from civilization. That set of skills to get you through the wilds alive without the amenities of technology or protection of supernatural patronage.

With that in mind, here are my proposed simple fixes for the Ranger. (Sub-class fixes are...a whole other kettle of fish.)

( Ranger hack )

Writing this here because my therapist said writing things down solidifies commitment so...here's to committing?

I've attempted some original fiction before and have written some fanfic that were so AU they became practically original fiction. But now, I'm going to attempt writing some stuff set in a world I've made up from scratch (although it's probably better described as a world with cool stuff I like thrown together tailored to my taste). This is probably the most self-indulgent exercise ever, but I've not been doing creative writing for too long (world building isn't the same as writing creatively), so I'm gonna see if I can't get back into the swing of things.

Expect (even more) nonsense ramblings in the future. (Also yes, Nezha2 has made me want to pick up creative writing again. Just maybe not in Chinese bc literary Chinese is hard. And editing is difficult.)

I can get replacement nibs for my Kaküno! Omfg! You have no idea how happy this makes me. This means I don't have to worry about breaking my Kaküno nibs by accident anymore! I can keep using my Kaküno until the pen body falls apart.

Kaküno is the GOAT of fountain pens!

I maintain the best fountain pen remains the Kaküno. So much love!

Am reminded it's once again the annual "let's shift everyone's clock one hour ahead of the natural sleep-wake cycle", aka Daylight Savings Time is kicking in.

And it's deeply stupid.

Credentials? I spent my graduate career studying this shit. It is terrible. Permanently shifting the social clock to de-synchronize with the light cycle leads to all sorts of health complications, such as metabolic diseases, obesity, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and decreased attention. (And we really don't need any more sources of attention attrition because smartphones have already eroded our ability to focus.) We have literal decades worth of data supporting these conclusions. I mean, I'd link papers, but just do a quick search on PubMed and it should give you plenty of review papers on this subject and they all point in basically the same direction: Get rid of Daylight Savings, it's terrible and bad for human health.

You know how China handles the different time zones? Everybody uses the same clock and starts the day during different hours depending on geographical location. More Western locations start the day later (such as 9:00am or 10:00am) while Eastern zones start earlier (such as 6:00am or 7:00am). And then you stick to the same time all the time. Unified clock and flexibility for local differences plus avoidance of having to deal with changing clocks twice a year.

Seriously, Americans, it should not be this fucking hard.

So this blathering brought on by thinking too much about Wuxia tropes and feeling a bit triggered by one guy yapping on Bilibili.

Context: I think there's not an insubstantial amount of people who think of the classic Water Margins (《水浒传》) as an Ur-Wuxia, or proto-Wuxia. And unsurprisingly, people who consider Water Margins part of the Wuxia genre tend to also admit that they just ignore the second half of the novel...for some reason.

And I have problems with this.

Any analysis of Water Margins that ignores half of the story and tries to focus only on the first half is erroneous. I mean, yes, you can argue that the author just gave up for the second half, but it doesn't change the fact that the second half is still canon and thus still need to be taken into account when critically examining the themes of the novel. Just as you can't really talk about Lord of the Ring themes by ignoring Return of the King, you can't talk about Water Margins by ignoring the second half where the outlaws reintegrate back to civil society.

In fact, I would argue that the reason Water Margins became a classic is actually because of the second half of the novel. For context, the first half of Water Margins depicts people from all walks of life being forced into becoming outlaws in Liangshan. Halfway through the book, after gathering all 108 characters to form a band of outlaw brotherhood, the group surrenders to the government and become re-incorporated into society. Yet, the government betrays the group by sending them off to die on absolutely hopeless military campaigns, and the ones who manage to survive are assassinated, with only a few who ran off to become outlaws again managing to survive the purge. This novel is not about celebrating the heroism of these fictional characters. Water Margins is ultimately a tragedy about the suffering of regular people under the imperial rule.

The contrast between the relative freedom and self-determination of outlaw life with the ruthless exploitation of government rule is what highlights the injustice of imperial politics. To claim that the 108 characters are "heroic" is deliberately ignoring that a lot of said characters are very regular people. They're a mix of thieves, bandits, bullies, delinquents, and a handful of upstanding members of society who nonetheless have their own flaws and problems. I mean, for fuck's sake, the tactician is named 吴用 (homophone for "useless"). This is not a coincidence! The fact that his miscalculations fucks over the resistance multiple times is also not an accident. The author is deliberately making these characters unheroic because they are just normal people shoved into a terrible situation. At its heart, Water Margins is about the tragedy of humans who want to make a difference but can't overcome their basic human foibles.

Unlike Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which pits practically god-like heroes against each other in a struggle to grab fate by the horns and re-direct the political structure toward their own vision of the future, Water Margins is very much about how helpless individuals are in the face of the all encompassing and organized government bureaucracy that is focused on maintaining the political control of the emperor over the country. Three Kingdoms tells the story from the perspective of the ruling class. Water Margins tells it from the perspective of the ruled. (I bring up Three Kingdoms because the author of Three Kingdoms was the student of the author of Water Margins and was involved somewhat in editing and re-publishing the later editions of Water Margins. And yes, there are multiple editions of Water Margins with changes made to some plot details and characterizations.)

So using a Three Kingdoms mentality, one that is concerned with heroes and rulers and statecraft, to understand Water Margins is fundamentally flawed. Water Margins is not celebrating heroes. It's sympathetic to the tragedy of the peasants. And by experiencing that tragedy, we might come to the conclusion that maybe no one, not even actual gods who descended from heaven and reincarnated into humans, can overcome the very human problems that causes social strife. Water Margins is deeply cynical and depressing, it doesn't really offer an answer to how to fix the problem, because the author probably doesn't have one. The influence of Buddhist thought is very obvious given the only solution the novel has to the vagaries of human society is...well, become a star in the sky. There might be brief flashes of momentary justice (as depicted in the first half of the the novel), but those flashes will ultimately be subsumed by the inherent unfairness of the social order. Humans are social creatures, but we will always prioritize ensuring our personal interest first and foremost.

As you can see, this theme is in direct contrast with the typical Wuxia ethos, where a hero is someone who uses their position of strength to protect those who are weak and by doing so are able to change the course of society's trajectory to one that is more beneficial and more just. If anything, Wuxia is a power fantasy, one in which the individual is able to overcome the inherent flaws of human nature. It's a very individualistic perspective of the world, one in which the individual can make meaningful changes. In addition, Wuxia is ultimately a pro-establishment genre. Because unlike Water Margins, where a rebellion is crushed by the uncaring state and all these flesh and blood characters are sent into a meat grinder to benefit the rule of an uncaring emperor, the Wuxia genre's hero actually makes a difference and is able to use their heroism to change how the people in government use their power, sometimes going so far as to being able to influence the emperor's ethics. Heroes, with their bravery and sacrifice, are able to inspire the ruling class to be better; and if they fail, they will simply get rid of the bad apples and put the good apples in charge.

Notice in Wuxia the hero never leads a rebellion, establish a new state system, and govern with egalitarian rule that protects the well-being of the most marginalized groups. The hero never seizes political power for themselves, because governance is not in their purview. They merely exist to be a good moral influence on the people with power. There is no smashing of the pre-existing power structure to establish more systemic equity. (This is also why I find Wuxia to be a very immature and escapist genre. Which is fine, we need brainless escapism to protect our mental health, but Wuxia as a genre is not equipped to deal with meaningful social commentary.)

In many ways, Wuxia and Superhero stories share a lot of similarities. They are all products of people who have extreme discontent with the powers that be, but aren't able to really see how the system itself is the source of the injustice and would rather blame the problem on bad people rather than a bad system.

So...let me get this straight: Some brilliant egg-head at MCU studios decided to name the fourth Captain America movie after Huxley's late-stage capitalist dystopian novel and went the route of government conspiracy instead of mega-corporate hostile takeover of the state apparatus?

Like...seriously?

Wow. What a wasted opportunity.

OTOH, I guess no one really wants to see their superhero movie reflecting the reality they live in and be reminded of the fact that superheroes don't exist IRL and you can't punch fascism into submission when your fellow countrymen are overwhelmingly rallying behind it.

But still. What a waste.

It is officially the last day of New Year's!

Sweet dumplings! Lanterns! Uh...apparently also traditionally the day when Chinese girls are finally allowed outside the house to go meet guys. This is why a bunch of romance poetry is written about lanterns, because girls get one day of freedom to scope out potential love interests.

It's honestly shocking how the Chinese population managed to grow at all during the imperial era... (Hint: they had marriage laws that punished families for not making enough babies. Again, I'm very glad all that shit is behind us now. Except for how there's a few crazies left in government who want to bring back those marriage laws to counter the current population decline and it's like...wow. Glad they're still fringe at the moment. For now. 🤞)

(OT: I wish rulers would figure out that the way to deal with population decline is to import more immigrants. Like...FFS, there's so much labor that we could be bringing in.)