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john's avatar

I have my nerdy things, and you have your nerdy things. Everyone is a nerd about something.

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Lauren Duca's avatar

Fair enough, John! (What are you most nerdy about tho?)

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john's avatar

I own ~1400 board games and run a board game convention.

How is that for nerdy?

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Lauren Duca's avatar

Ahah I would say you have the nerd game on lock... and gotta ask what a few of your all-time favorite games are now? I've never been to any kind of convention, unless you count the fact that I grew up in Game Family lol

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john's avatar

I will give you a range...

(Now you have a nerd talking about his passion!)

These are all games I like, and will play, anytime. The most accessible for people just wanting to play a game are Acquire, Bazaar, Ingenious, and Blokus.

If you all want to win together, or lose together, there are some good cooperative games, my favourite one is Sentinels of the Multiverse.

Heavier games, are games that are more involved, longer and with more choices. In this line I like Age of Steam, Power Grid, 1856, and Die Macher, and Civilization (The Frances Tresham one).

I will leave it at that, with ten games, from easily accessible ones that play under an hour to games that take 4-6 hours.

I hope your weekend was great

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Ron Hogan's avatar

Oh, that settles it, I’m definitely bringing the Thoth deck to read for you when you’re in NYC in a few weeks. It also has Adjustment at 8 and Strength (or Lust, as it’s renamed) at 11.

The reasons why those two switch places basically have to do with secret society gurus swinging their dicks trying to establish their syncretic magickal correspondence charts as the One True Knowledge. (I’m being glib, and maybe a bit uncharitable, I suppose.)

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Lauren Duca's avatar

Yes, please! And... tell me more?! And do it uncharitably, I only want to hear the most petty gossip about secret society gurus haha

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Ron Hogan's avatar

So the technical reason for Waite moving Strength and Justice around from their original positions has to do with decisions about linking the major arcana to the Hebrew alphabet and the 22 paths on the Kabbalah’s tree of life, along with other astrological, elemental, and numerological correspondences.

The petty dimension is that the Golden Dawn had a lot of internal power struggles, and Aleister Crowley can just about always be found at the heart of them. As the Golden Dawn fell apart and splintered off, Crowley makes a big deal about how much better he is at magick than all his jealous peers, so putting Lust and Adjustment back in their original places is one way of showing the world how Waite got things wrong.

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Lauren Duca's avatar

An Adjustment of Lust!! Thank you for sharing, and, to be clear, don't you bring that scary ass deck to my show hahah

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Ron Hogan's avatar

Ha! Good thing I’ve got the Modern Witch deck on hand, too.

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RJ's avatar

Nice! Yea, read the card like a Rorshach. Have you seen the Tarot of the Drowning World? And even better, Dr. Falke's Oraculum?!! Had to get 2 copies of the Oraculum, one to stash untouched forever!!

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Lauren Duca's avatar

Holy fucking shit Tarot of the Drowning World, RJ!! I think we just became best friends

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RJ's avatar

LOL!! I wish!!

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Lauren Duca's avatar

Okay, but for real! The Hierophant in their Carnival deck is my obsession!! And now I can own the whole thing? I have to pause and pray before I even look at the Store again lol

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Maria Schonert's avatar

Ooh, gonna read this later when it’s dark and spooky 👻 😻

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Lauren Duca's avatar

Yesss, light a candle even!

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