Reading

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Another RPG Bundle - Coyote and Crow

This is a bundle of material for Coyote & Crow, an alternate-history science fantasy RPG set in the Free Lands of an uncolonized North America, with a mixture of technology and magic. I'm told that it's created by a First Nation (Native American) team and has some very positive reviews.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Coyote

~~At the moment I'm travelling and can't insert graphics etc or open the game due to a very old iPad and crappy internet access. I'll add more tomorrow night. It should be on line in an hour or so and~~ It looks like it might be interesting, and you get quite a lot for a very reasonable price.

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linkspam,
reviews

Quick rec

I’ve just done basic CPR training in 15 minutes with British Heart Foundation’s free digital tool RevivR. All you need is a smartphone or tablet and a cushion. It's boosted my confidence in first aid, and reminded me of stuff I learned on previous first aid courses.

https://revivr.bhf.org.uk/?shar=1

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Another repeat bundle - Sigil Stone

A repeat of a 2022 offer of Sigil Stone Publishing FRPGs which add modern rules to Old School Revival Adventures. One supplement is added from the original release, but if you bought that you will get the new material free so no need to buy it again.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Sigil2025

In 2022 I said "It's about 25 years since I last played a pure dungeon-bashing adventure, and to be honest I don't particularly want to go back to the genre. Both look reasonably well presented, and it's an unusually cheap bundle; if these are the sort of games you like it's worth a look." I don't think any of that has changed.

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book meme

Book Meme - 20

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you, 1 book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews: just covers.

The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy. The Golden Gate Bridge stretches out, in crumbling disrepair and empty of cars, into a yellow fog, the city of San Francisco in the distance.

The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy. The Golden Gate Bridge stretches out, in crumbling disrepair and empty of cars, into a yellow fog, the city of San Francisco in the distance.

That's all, folks!

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Another Fantasy Bundle - M.T. Black Games

This is a bundle of material for 5th edition games (e.g. D&D) from MT Black Games:

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/MTBlack

This is a genre I'm really not very interested in any more, but for those who are it looks like the price is pretty good.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/MTBlack

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book meme

Book Meme - 19

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you, 1 book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews: just covers.

Mockingbird by Walter Tevis. Against a glowing red sunset is the Empire State building, completely ravaged by time and disrepair, just a framework remaining. The caption reads: a love story of the far future.

Mockingbird by Walter Tevis. Against a glowing red sunset is the Empire State building, completely ravaged by time and disrepair, just a framework remaining. The caption reads: a love story of the far future.

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murderbot on tv

Murderbot on TV

If you are planning to watch the Murderbot TV series (starting May 16!) on Apple TV, if you could add it on your watchlist, that would be a big help. It's kind of like pre-ordering a book, it tells the publisher/streaming service that you're there for our show.

There's a link here for US viewers: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/murderbot/umc.cmc.5owrzntj9v1gpg31wshflud03

I'm pretty sure it's different for Apple viewers in other countries.

You can also see the trailer at this link.

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book meme

Book Meme - 18

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you, 1 book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews: just covers.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. A drawing of a man seated in a space suit with a sword laid across his lap. Behind him are various clocks and timepiece mechanisms.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. A drawing of a man seated in a space suit with a sword laid across his lap. Behind him are various clocks and timepiece mechanisms.

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Another RPG Bundle - Defiant

This is an RPG from publishers Game Machinery, set in a post-Apocalyptic world where supernatural beings including demons, angels, dragons and other entities collectively known as Defiant have decided to protect the last human survivors instead of killing them. The players take on the roles of the supernatural beings, trying to sustain a city and its civilization and keep things from falling apart - the humans are more or less unaware of the problem. The characters start powerful, and accumulate more power through intrigue, throwing the best parties, creating/recruiting more Defiant and overcoming obstacles. Rules prioritize style, intrigue and interaction:

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Defiant

This is an interesting idea, but since I'm not really the partying sort of person I'm not sure how attuned I am to the general game vibe - although having said that, something like a science fiction or games convention might be the sort of thing that a Defiant might think will set up the sort of atmosphere that promotes their goals. It's pretty cheap and I think it's worth a look.

Need a new PC

My Windows box is getting increasingly flaky, and I think it's a hardware problem rather than software. Briefly, it hangs on bootup more often than not, and goes into hibernation mode or shuts down spontaneously occasionally. I've had it for more than a decade and I'd prefer not to faff around trying to fix it so it's probably time to bite the bullet and get another.

Basically, I want a reasonably fast mini-tower PC (something like 3GHZ should be fine) with 16GB RAM, either a good built-in graphics card or room to add one, a network socket, lots of USB sockets (or room for a card with a few sockets) compatibility with older IBM keyboards (I still have an original AT keyboard and love it), and preferably a SSD drive for the boot drive, a bay for another big hard drive, and a DVD writer or space to put one in. I'm probably going to have to use Windows 11, and would want the full Pro version. I'm probably going to have to get a new scanner too, my current one is barely supported by Windows 10, but that's nowhere near as urgent.

Last time I got a Zoostorm box, but it doesn't look like they're especially good value right now. Anyone noticed any good offers recently? No urgency, I'm not going to be able to do much about this until after Easter.

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book meme

Book Meme - 17

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you, 1 book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews: just covers.

Cover of Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin, featuring a green, lizard-like alien smiling at a little blond child sitting in diapers. Behind them, on a rack, are a series of test tubes containing embryos.

Cover of Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin, featuring a green, lizard-like alien smiling at a little blond child sitting in diapers. Behind them, on a rack, are a series of test tubes containing embryos.

Published a year before A Handmaid's Tale!

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book meme

Book Meme - 16

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you, 1 book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews: just covers.

Kindred by Octavia E Butler. A young, Black woman in an antique white dress looks warily off to the side. The photo is in duotone, purple and white.

Kindred by Octavia E Butler. A young, Black woman in an antique white dress looks warily off to the side. The photo is in duotone, purple and white.

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book meme

Book Meme - 15

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you, 1 book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews: just covers.

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. The silhouette of a boy confronting a perplexing and haunting series of images in red in a hallway of mirrors.

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. The silhouette of a boy confronting a perplexing and haunting series of images in red in a hallway of mirrors.

Current Mood: artistic

Writing Time

I've been slipping in my 3000 words a day writing habit lately, and it's hard not to blame myself. However *gestures to the world in general* That's not very conducive to creativity, so I'm taking what I can get.

This morning I plan to work on The Unreachable Star for Raye - a scar worship Merthur fic. It's been slow going, because more intimate fics always are, but I'm getting there! Not sure if I'll finish it today, but I plan to make good progress!

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book meme

Book Meme - 14

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you, 1 book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews: just covers.
Generation X - Tales for An Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland, a neon green cover with the lettering in stark black against a cloudy black and white sky.

Generation X - Tales for An Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland, a neon green cover with the lettering in stark black against a cloudy black and white sky.

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Another short-term RPG Bundle - Between Clouds

This is an offer of the game Between Clouds, a game about mutant adventurers on another world in the distant future who live in a symbiotic relationship with giant flying animals. It's available for one week only.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/BetweenClouds

This looks interesting though I have a feeling that it might get a little repetitive with prolonged play - a lot of the time adventurers will be in situations that are caused by their relationship with the animals they ride, or the welfare of other animals they encounter. But it's very cheap and you get quite a lot for the money, so I think it's well worth trying.