The Hydra DM

The hydra has many heads, but I'll try to keep this account strictly to things that deal with games of all stripes - with a focus on tabletop RPGs.

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@Gingfacekillah Reminds me of Josh Waitzkin. Chess International Master at age 16 then 12 years later won the 2004 Tai Chi Chuan world championship. One very mental skill and one very physical. Wrote a book about commonalities in learning and performing both skills (The Art of Learning).

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@waketheents @mightydudbolt To be fair he did fall 100 feet onto bare metal. Twice. Considering that would kill us instantly we can probably give him a pass for not doing anymore backflips after that =P

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@mwebster1971 @JC_ParetsX Do you have an episode on your channel about what defined the 90s model book in terms of how to handle the stocks and their price moves?

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@TedHZhang Do you have any recommendations on resources for learning more about shorting?

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@mightydudbolt RotS is definitely the best prequel, arguably the best of the 6 (I think ANH clutches it, Empire maybe). It's swashbuckling like ANH and TPM, tragic like ESB, sticks the landing like RotJ, largest scope, best effects, heavily features Ian McDiarmid who's amazing, and so on.

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@AgustinLebron3 The very short version: unconditional positive regard (be genuinely interested & nonjudgmental), restate what they said in your own words (to ensure understanding), ask open-ended questions about their experiences, be visually engaged in terms of posture etc.

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@AgustinLebron3 I think "Active Listening" works well as a short introduction, then "On Becoming a Person" or maybe "Client-Centered Therapy." Professional-grade talk therapy is a bit heavy-duty for daily life but I think he does a great job explaining the process & value of good listening.

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@AgustinLebron3 You probably want the work of Carl Rogers for that if you haven't heard of him.

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@mwebster1971 I feel sometimes people who make comments like that are projecting their own insecurities onto the world. Tough to think of another reason someone would be so bothered by an innocent video about self improvement to leave a comment like that. Looking forward to the next video!

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@KarstResearch Indeed. Artes Liberales: skills appropriate for free people, those with citizenship rights who need a capacity for leadership, judgment, and to engage in philosophical discourse (on ethics, law, politics, etc). In democratic societies that means everybody to at least some degree.

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@mightydudbolt The first thing Stormtroopers do is breach a one-man-wide door covered by 8 soldiers and kill 7 of them for 2 losses. Then they round the corner and kill 5 more for 1 loss. They hit about 3x more of their shots as well. Performance on the Death Star is another story.

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@mightydudbolt I know some fans of brutalist architecture and I think they'd disagree with its "whole point" being oppression etc. They'd probably say it's good because it's modern and utilitarian.

(But they also think TLJ is the best SW movie, which maybe says a lot about their perspective.)

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@mightydudbolt The crazy part to me is it doesn't change Han's character at all. Greedo is always going to shoot him and he kills Greedo in self-defense. I think at most you can quibble that Greedo shooting and missing makes Greedo seem less dangerous because he's a bad shot.

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@mightydudbolt No comment on Hirsch, but color temp maybe also related to stories of original ANH saber props (which have visible plugs going down Luke and Ben's sleeves in some scenes). Those just reflected light from the set to appear as if glowing (vs. the final idea of colored in post).

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@mightydudbolt The brain area called the Amygdala (for its same resemblance to the almond) is responsible for fear. Perhaps a coincidence but it would certainly fit the character's role re: the hero's fatal flaw if so.

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@Citrini7 For what it's worth there is no "valley" in the Dunning-Kruger paper. Result is amateur self-rating lower than expert self-rating (directionally correct) but the difference in self-ratings is smaller than difference in skill b/c amateurs over-rate self while experts under-rate.

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@mightydudbolt The Vader murder spree in Rogue One is a more extreme version of the same impulse. Convinced if Lucas had done it he'd have cut away when the lightsaber turned on.

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@mightydudbolt Feels like our old Episode I pal, Symbiosis. Agent influences environment, environment influences agent. Who's to blame? Both. Feedback loops. "You mean it controls your actions?" "Partially, but it also obeys your commands."

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@mightydudbolt This sequence is a lot of character in a hurry. Both leap from a great height, but Obi-Wan lectures "Patience, use the Force, think." Not only hypocritical, but also the opposite of what Qui-Gon told Anakin in Episode I: "Concentrate on the moment, feel, don't think."

[The Hydra DM @TheHydraDM]

@mightydudbolt Just as Oedipus did, one often meets one's destiny on the road taken to avoid it!