iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 23h

@aptshadow.bsky.social's Service Model novel feels like if Ionescu wrote Abott and Costello's Who's on First with strictly non sentient characters. It's different. In a good, absurd way.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

My manager agrees with your original assessment.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Damn gurl, them legs so long they go from your hips to the ground!

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

FWIW it literally translates to "thorny invasion" but the OG title was "Attack of the Vine" which I assume is either Sleeping Beauty's Vine of the Briar Thorn version of Disney's rabbit

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Store Story #2 Late 30s guy and dad came in, reminiscent of younger days collecting Pokemon cards. Yaddi Yaddi Yadda, dad bought 300$ worth of Pokemon cards and a booster box of Teenaged Mutant Ninja turtles collector's booster packs for the son's birthday. Note: Son plays neither games.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Store Stories: Uncle and Auntie want to buy The Hobbit Magic cards for an 11 yo nephew who collects cards but not playing yet. I sold them a pre-release kit. They then got one booster for each kid invited at the party. And 3 for the uncle because he sensed the addictive power of the game...

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

We're labeling our French products today to meet a set of guidelines behind an upcoming language law. We could stop ourselves with that particular product.

A French version of a Lorcana sealed product called "Invasion Épineuse" featuring Mike Wazouski, Sully, and Boo.

A white on blue "Fleur de Lys" sticker covers most of Mike's face.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Time for jorb! Week #3 starts. I'm really enjoying it. My friends and close ones make a point of visiting me on my weird "Monday-Tuesday" weekends, making its potential for loneliness feel less so.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I had a can of chickpeas I wanted to use without doing a bean salad or hummus. I ended up drying them, tossing them with all kinds of spices (including a curry wurst mix) and oven roasted them. Now I have crunchy snack and salad fodder.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

And that extends beyond the boundaries of game design

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Imposter syndrome is not something I would ascribe to being good in general, but a little pinch of it keeps us honest. Like I know I have talent for the thing, but I also see my biases. (Like my obsession with the PbtA engine).

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

A game design post inspired by @rdonoghue.bsky.social wisdom. Don't conflate a tendency to design games that appeal to your taste as "good design principles". I challenge any designer who didn't chain a bunch of peer recognized awards to actually sound credible when they say they are good.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Me: Mutant: Year Zero is 22$ Also Me: Oh it's a PC game, should I replug my gaming laptop. Steam machine: Arumph! (Spongebob voice: A leettle lateur) Streaming Mutant: Year Zero from my Steamn Machine to my M4 Mac Mini with the magic of a Gigabit wired connection!

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Also, Jonathank and I nerded out about some of his game design concepts, our families, growing older, and growing wiser without necessarily turning into our parents.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Today @firestorm-ink.com came over for coffee and handed me two Marvel Superheroic Roleplaying sourcebook I'd contributed heavily to: The Initiative (wrote the whole adventure) and Young Avengers-Runaways but didn't have copies. I'd forgotten I'd statted out the Hydra Helicarrier!

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I think I just "gay code switched" (I am an accent chameleon) and I don't know how I should feel about it. I didn't mean to imitate the client's tone but I noticed too late to switch back.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Also had two young First Nations men pick up their card orders under their Mohawk names. So cool! :)

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It's the Mr Bossy Pants subscription for 1999,99 a month. I'd likely pay for it.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Bravo, tu restes FDL à toi même! (Yes, I have been sitting on that pun for months)

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

My absolute favorite thing about being the assistant manager of Face à Face Games is meeting out of province Canadians and sharing this connection that shatters 50 years of "othering politics". Them: I am from (province), sorry. I forgot most of my high school immersion French Me: Welcome!

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I spent most of yesterday at the store's "front desk" handling pick up orders. I realized I was being paid to do dad jokes (no more "put money in the pun - dad joke jar" of the Ubisoft era!

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Which is why my specific type of brain loves it so fucking much. And how Ironsworn and its descendants turned the game engine into an algorithm so simple, it can serve as a templated tutorial to better understand the inner workings of its predecessors.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Viens faire d'lla drave ti-gars pis fait attention au diable!

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Gen-X are the bearded gold prospecting dudes. ;)

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

But, hear me out. What if you were a party animal, or a beast in bed?

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I don't kink shame, but these are spicy cookies.

Lu chocolate covered cookies named Mamie au top (dark chocolate) and Maman au top (milk chocolate). Could also be construed as "granny/mommy on top"

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

That is some beautiful art you dropped here Brian. It's been an absolute delight to see your style evolve and develop like ie has this last decade+. Proud of you!

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

It's the Manda-law effect, Jack. I'll see myself out. :)

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I see someone created a Bsky list called "Best Canadian TTRPG Starter Pack" and put me in it. I'll have you know I'm more of an Expert product ;) Jokes aside, Hi, I'm Phil and I have been a GM for 43 years now. I am a strong advocate of all kinds of TTRPGs, from the big d20 ones AND indies.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I won't lie, friend K, I was not planning on taking a 50% salary hit and work 5+ more hours a week including all weekends. But life chose otherwise for this 53 year old soul. Maybe something else will pop up, but in the now, this pleases me and gives me predictable security. :)

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

So far, so good. I have been a customer there for the last 15 years. It is my FLGS. I joke to the staff that I bought the company.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Absolutely, and he organized my office space too yesterday.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Got paid for my 1st week last night. That was not expected of my new job. Will allow making rent less of a budgeting Tetris as I transition from Employment Insurance.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Their Latino chapter is particularly hawt: The Grilled Cheeses

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

You know your manager cares a lot when he asks you to punch 30 min early to go help him pick potted flowers up for the store at the local public market. That or it's his flamboyant queerness :)

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I do not... Track my macros. That's why Excel has a help function. This joke brought to you by the letter X and the number 70s.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The following answer is very "me as a manager": If the work I assigned to you gets done with an error rate within acceptable accounting margin, I wouldn't care if you consumed media at the same time. And if you are underworked and you do it because you're bored, then it's on me. ;)

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Don. We both know YouTubing is research for writers. No shame.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Had a client at the store genuinely excited to play a myconid character in D&D. Me: You will be allowed to fart non stop at the table to roleplay your telepathic spores ! Her: Oh my god! Him: No burritos before the game for you!

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Ha ha. I mean I dated a friend for a while who was a huge Dom. She bit my tongue hard the first time we kissed. Wasn't a fan. Not the pain so much as the surprise of it.

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

My fractured realities are still sore. Also was asked if I was the owner of the store.. Twice. @muskratjohn.bsky.social was right, I have turned into Bill. ;)

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Today a guy traded a budget car's worth in Magic cards for sealed products (booster packs and boxes). We're talking near 5 digits. Also, one last round to the two headed giant prerelease tournament before I can go home #TCGStoreLife #LongDay

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Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM) @chattydm.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

We also have this customer who buys several boxes of boosters, opens them in the store, and gifts us back all his "chaff" which we enter in our singles inventory. Today he added a can of coke to his 900$ purchase. Me: The soda is on us. Him: Oh my gosh thank you so much! Me: Least we can do.

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