I think I used to do the absolute opposite of this in 7th grade English class when I hadn't read the book.

I'd sit incredibly still, look towards the teacher but avoid direct eye contact, and pray to any God that would listen to make me invisible.

The Terrified Tyrannosaur, maybe?

My favorite part /was/ the occasional pops of blue in the army, but /now/ it's how the ribs are subtly visible through the fabric on this model. Really cool effect.

The thing about these novels I'm captivated by is how real the people feel. My fan theory is that each series explores an aspect of mental health. Farseer explores trauma and healing. Rain Wilds explores relationships. Fitz and the Fool explores growing up and aging. Etc.

Also, that piece is interesting. He suggests Chalced doesn't fit his thesis well, and chalks it up to 'sometimes fantasy is fantastical', but I wonder if perhaps instead the Traders Society is America at its best, while Chalced is an amalgamation of America at its worst.

That's a great suggestion, thanks! That's the kind of thing I've been looking for.

I just read his piece 'An Update to “Moving Beyond Tolkien’s Medievalism”' and it ended with a reference to a Hobb FB post from 2023 announcing she's working on a new book, so bSky continues to deliver joy!

Oof, some fan I turned out to be 😬

#RobinHobb *

The nationalist president of post-apocalyptic America uses that slogan in Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler, and it's chilling.

Earthseed is an incredible series, but hands-down the scariest thing I've ever read.

I support non-AI art, but I bet your respondents may not be representative of avg TTRPG players. 5e/PF2e has a broad customer base, and avg folks use AI themselves and might not avoid AI art.

But! If you're creating something for very engaged audiences, this poll is really informative.

I really like the paint schemes. I've been wrestling with how to paint Tau, and this gives me some inspiration for where to put color and what to leave muted.

Ironsworn in all of its incarnations by @shawntomkin.bsky.social and the mods and hacks by the fan community.

I've been thinking about starting a campaign in the Pirate Isles from Robin Hobbs' Realm of the Elderlings setting using the Sundered Isles expansion.

One of the coolest aspects of TTRPGs is the ability to explore characters without being constrained by narrative structures like other forms of media are.

Stories are important of course, but in a book a detour without a payoff is jarring, while at the table it could be the best part of the night!

I've been printing up figures for Five Parsecs From Home. I prefer true-scale for humanoids, but I love nids sculpts and aliens can be any scale you want! Plus they're super fun to paint and try different techniques to achieve a similar result.

I think a decent chunk of your audience would be into it, and there is a whole other audience that would find it and might then find your other work. You're not getting around that time problem though, this show would take a lot of research prep I'd imagine.