Ian Robberson

@microberust

RPG player, I occasionally draw, former Pentex exec before getting blowed up. About a year in, and this place is starting to feel pretty good. I tend to mostly repost art I like.

5.844 Folgt1.706 Follower2.495 Posts

Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir microberust.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Ian Robberson@microberust· 2d

Mantorok the Corpse God, Keeper of the Ancients

An amorphous red blob with multiple bloodshot eyes and spiked teeth at its top.

Ian Robberson@microberust· 16d

Speaking of ... (I really liked the movie)

Movie theater with film reel lights fixtures on the wall glowing orange. On the screen is a shot of the old French-Japanese cartoon Ulysses 31. A young blue alien girl, a man with a red beard wearing a space helmet, a young blonde haired boy with a similar helmet, and a red robot.

Ian Robberson@microberust· 20d

Porkon Cow Artwork by Jacob Blackmon of Prodigy Duck Studios www.deviantart.com/prodigyduck

The Porkon Cow. It looks like a brown upside down pig, with udders and hooves and a long cow-like tail. It has large antlers with multiple points, partly sunk into the ground. According to rpg.net:

Why is it upside down?
Because that's how Porkon Cows are.

Why does it have antlers?
Because that's how it gets around: Walking around on its antlers.

Neither the cow nor the pig have antlers.
That's addressed in Ken Whitman's sixth and ninth GM tips.

Do the antlers serve any purpose besides locomotion?
Much like a root vegetable, they gather nutrients and salts from the soil, leaving characteristic circular withered patches in grass like a Flying Polyp. You see all that white space around the grass up there? That's not artistic effect.

I fear to ask and yet must - what noise does it make?
"Moink."

Ian Robberson@microberust· 25d

This is the first super hero comic I ever bought, and I had no idea what I was reading. And yet it started my Marvel fandom for decades! Even today, all I remember is the cover, nothing about the story. (Was Mojo the villain? I think Mojo was the villain.)

X-Force Annual comic cover. Rob Liefeld. A screaming guy dusl wielding swords witg blue shoulder pads, a pony tail, and tiny pointy feet. In the background is a blonde woman with a flowing sword (probably Illyana Rasputin), a yellow techno organic guy with creepy long fingers, and Sunspot. Hes wearing a red onesie and totally black skin and glows yellow.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Jun 12

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

Game Cube graphics, an undead Roman legionairre. The face is a skull with dessicated flesh, white eyes, and no nose. The armor is mostly black with gokd highlights and red cloth. In the background is grey, carved stone.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Jun 8

IT CAN ONLY GOOD HAPPEN WOOOOOOO!!!!

Screenshot of Fidelity news headline for Monday June 8 2026. Two white male stock traders are smiling and chatting with blurred screens in the background. The headline says "Wall St opens higher as chip stocks rebound, Middle East tensions ease. Reuters - 32 Minutes ago"

Ian Robberson@microberust· Jun 6

"So what's your take?" "Yeah, agree, Carthage should be destroyed."

Helena/Portia from Vampire: the Masquerade. Black and white drawing of a woman with black hair, wraparound sunglasses, and dark lipstick.

Ian Robberson@microberust· May 24

Another thing, pretty sure they used stop-motion for the giant Droid guards, yeah?

Small model of an AT AT vehicle (four legs, a box like body, a moving head with guns) with a Mandolorian figure climbing up its side. Nearby is a Mandalorian and Grogu popcorn bucket. Its standing on a movie theater ticket counter.

Ian Robberson@microberust· May 23

Ready for some Mandolorian and Grogu

Photo from inside a movie theater. On the screen is Yoda and R2D2. Blue text says "Hey, what's that stank?"

Ian Robberson@microberust· May 23

Not as good as the original episode from TOS.

Title card for Star Trek: the Next Generation, featuring the Enterprise in space, along with blue title text: "Holo-Dracula's Revenge"

Ian Robberson@microberust· May 22

"Hello Greenland!"

Image from Monty Pythons Flying Circus of a giant hedgehog peering over a cutout image of a city.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Apr 22

... this is legit hilarious. It's like my only little blue checkmark showing I'm in the cool kids club!

Screenshot of @why.bsky.team saying User Blocking You

Ian Robberson@microberust· Apr 14

Without downloading any new images, what is your predator type?

A pair of books, one yellow and one grey. The yellow has the title "The Wheres, Whens, and Wahs of Wario Stadium." The grey is tiyled "Bullet Bills: FRIENDS OR FOE"

Ian Robberson@microberust· Apr 11

Theres a vTuber streaming watching the Artemis live feed (Henya the Genius), and that alone encapsulates the weird intersection of old and new visuals from this moment.

An pink anime cat girl vtuber watches a helicopter retrieving the Artemis II crew from an octagonal raft in the ocean.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Apr 5

We must return to the truest symbol of this day: winged church bells dropping chocolate eggs like a loot piñata.

Old french image of two young children gathering easter eggs being disgorged from a red flying church bell with tiny wings. One child is a girl in a pink dress, the other a boy in black shorts and white shirt. A grey chicken is nearby, and two yellow chicks are perched on top of the bell. Green grass is in the background, along wuth a church.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Mar 28

Las Cruces, NM. #NoKings

No Kings protest photo. A stone wall with a brown mosaic, with orange letters strung up saying "DEMOCRACY NEEDS YOU NOW! VOTE!" Next to it is a white sign with blue writing saying "REGISTER TO VOTE HERE TODAY" Under that is a sign saying "NO KINGS NO P2025 NO Gulags NO Military in our streets". Some white sandbags and an orange bucket sit in front. Nearby is a large crowd of people.

Picture of a plaza. A band is set up and playing music on guitars. A statue is on the left. Speakers have been set up. Trees are in the background, and large groups of people are clustered around.

A crow of people lining a street, holding protest signs. Some are seated in chairs. An individual is wearing an inflatable costume of Donal Trump riding a chicken. Signs depict the famous Tianemen Square photo, and the AI image of Donald Trump wearing a cowboy hat and aviator sunglasses, pretending to be from Apocalypse Now, with white lettering saying Enemy Within.

A crowd of people in a park holding protest signs. Trees are in the background, and the sky has some white clouds. A large banner saying "IMPEACH TRUMP" has been erected.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Mar 21

Thanks to @partyinthefront.bsky.social, the art prints just arrived and they look great!

Side by side art prints of Metroid. On the left is Samus in her orange and yellow classic space suit, walking through an alien landscape of floating rock, spiny creatures with glowing eyes, and a blue outcropping with a pink orb set into it. In the background is her floating yellow spaceship.

On the right is Samus with her helmet off. The lighting gives her purplish skin, and green hair. A metroid floats above her, and amoeba-like alien that is also green and pink. In the background are alien statues, lit in gold. Small green orbs float in the air.

Art print for Hardwired Island. Five people are walking along a yellow scifi crosswalk, as a homage to classic Beatle album cover for Abbey Road. In the background is a cyberpunk city. The figure on the far left is a woman in ragged clothes, with a robotic hook arm rising from under her cloak. Next is a man in a purple suit. Then a woman with pink and purple hair, with a bat resting on her shoulder, wearing a large green jacket. Next is a woman with purple hair, a guitar on her back, holding a green suitcase shaped like a trapezoid. Finally there is a black haired woman wearing torn fishnets, shorts, and a halter top.

Art print of a woman. Mostly green, reminiscent of Art Deco. Her torso with are hands on her hips is stylized like a circuit drawing. The piece uses a lot of geometric lines and shapes in its framing.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Mar 19

Savage Strangehollow art book arrived, along with a pencil sketch from @emilyhare.com Seriously love the art style of these monsters, this world, and the continuing development of Strangehollow!

Ian Robberson@microberust· Mar 10

Post your favorite Lord of the Rings character. Wrong answers only.

Classic Shadowrun cover. A white haired pale skinned elf in leather is hacking a glowing computer terminal. A white woman in a bikini and jean shorts is brandishing a large gun and her hand glows with yellow magic. A native american with red and white face paint is dual wielding uzis and firing at a group of figures taking cover behind a car. Skyscrapers are in the background, and steam emeges from a nearby grate.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Mar 7

I too am interested in bringing back traditional masculinity.

German noble wearing early 16th century fashion, lookong at a document. White stockings with ruffles at the knees. A blue smock which sits like a dress. Orange ribbons on a sash.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Feb 18

It's the same picture.

Image from The Office tv show, of a young Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) dressed in a white shirt, striped blue tie, and wearing a blue fanny pack, staring blankly into the camera while shaking hands with a business man dressed in a suit, smiling blandly.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Feb 7

Weird email from Isaacman to NASA today. Says the agency needs to build up institutional engineering knowledge through direct hiring, rather than contracting it out. Thats ... a shift. To put it mildly. (Copied from Twitter)

Workforce Directive: Restoring NASA’s Core Competencies

Background

NASA’s ability to deliver on its mission has become increasingly dependent on external vendors and contractors for core functions and workforce talent—from engineering and operations to manufacturing and repair. While partnerships remain vital, this trend has eroded internal capabilities, increased program risk, reduced flexibility in addressing emergent technical challenges, and added well more than a billion dollars in annual overhead—diverting resources from science and discovery.

Factors contributing to this reliance include concerns over exceeding artificial civil servant hiring ceilings, and assumptions that outsourcing would provide greater workforce flexibility. Even if these assumptions hold in some cases, the overall effect deprives NASA of critical institutional knowledge, and limits resources essential for mission success.

As a result, it is not surprising that multiple programs have experienced suboptimal outcomes in cost and schedule. Multiple prime contractors, hundreds of sub-contractors, tens of thousands of contract employees, and duplicative layers of management create complexity and inefficiency. Variances in policies, tools, and systems across this spectrum further challenge budgets, timelines, and outcomes.

To achieve the President’s national space policy and maintain U.S. leadership in space exploration, NASA must urgently restore and retain in-house engineering, operational, and scientific excellence, and reclaim technical autonomy. This directive establishes actions to rebuild internal talent, strengthen contractual provisions, and foster a culture of technical resilience.

Vision

NASA will expand with a strong core of civil servants, staffed and equipped to lead the most complex engineering and operational challenges, ensuring expertise, resilience, agility, and innovation in every mission. This includes the ability to build and repair critical components to reduce external dependencies when necessary. Restoring and sustaining these core competencies is essential to steward taxpayer resources, align investments with agency priorities, and ensure mission success.

This foundation will be strengthened by contractors in non-core areas and for surge requirements, complemented by our extensive network of international and commercial partners. Together, we will deliver on NASA’s world-changing mission of science, exploration, and discovery.

(1) Directive Actions

NASA recognizes that contractors have and will continue to play a vital role in achieving mission objectives. This directive focuses on correcting over-reliance on outsourced engineering and staffing that diminishes NASA’s core competencies and resources essential to agency priorities. The future state aims to use contracted workforce primarily for limited-term assignments, surge staffing, and specialized functions outside NASA’s core competencies.

Within 30 days, Center Directors, Mission Directorate leadership, and the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer shall:

Conduct a Work Assessment: Identify engineering, operational, scientific, manufacturing, and other mission-critical work currently outsourced, and provide a proposal for what should be brought in-house, aligned with the workforce assessment.
Conduct a Workforce Assessment: Identify outsourced or missing technical and operational expertise and provide a proposal to convert core roles to civil service. Categorize proposal by priority, mapping to core competency and current contracting mechanisms. Emphasize solutions that enable mission execution without introducing additional redundant layers of management.

Within 60 days, the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer, Office of Procurement, and Office of the Chief Financial Officer shall:

Develop Transition Strategy: Consolidate workforce assessments and create an implementation plan to convert or add targeted roles to civil service, addressing contract changes, renegotiations or terminations, timelines, and cost implications.
Establish Rapid Onboarding Process: Implement streamlined process that ensures candidates can be rapidly brought into civil servant positions without disrupting operational capacity, minimizing gaps in mission-critical support.
Strengthen the Talent Pipeline: In collaboration with the Office of Personnel Management, develop strategies to attract industry and academic talent and embed civil servants with industry partners to accelerate learning and knowledge transfer aligned with national space policy objectives.
Enhance Training Programs: Assess and develop internal training and mentorship initiatives to ensure continuity of knowledge and technical depth across generations of
NASA engineers, operations personnel, and technicians.
Focus Internship Opportunities: Develop a plan to expand the current internship program with a focus on standardizing and enhancing experience, to develop in-house technical talent focused on the highest priority agency requirements.
(2) Strengthen Framework for Technical Autonomy

Within 30 days, the Office of Procurement shall:

Ensure Repair and Operation Autonomy: Incorporate right-to-repair provisions in all future and applicable existing contracts, guaranteeing NASA access to specifications, parts, tools, schematics, software, and technical documentation necessary for internal manufacturing, repair, and operations.
Remove Restrictive Clauses: Eliminate contract language requiring NASA-fabricated replacement hardware to be returned to vendors for inspection after delivery of out-of-spec hardware.

Address Intellectual Property Barriers: To the extent reasonable under existing and ongoing procurements, review and propose modifications to eliminate IF restrictions that prevent NASA from performing internal repairs or redesigns, as needed to meet urgent Presidential space policy objectives.
Within 60 days, center directors shall:

Propose Makerspaces at Each Center: develop plan to create a makerspace at each center to enable rapid prototyping and proposal development. Include an assessment of potential funding mechanisms, such as sponsorships from partners and critical vendors, to support implementation and sustainability.
This Directive does not reflect any intent or commitment, implied or otherwise, to take any action regarding any particular existing or future contract with the agency.

Jared Isaacman
NASA Administrator

Ian Robberson@microberust· Feb 6

Vampire from the movie Salems Lot. Bald, pointed ears, greenish skin, yellow eyes, and crroked pointed teeth.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Feb 3

A good message of solidarity from @rpg.net

Screenshot of the website forum rpg.net, with a banner header saying: "RPGnet Stands With Minnesota
Minessotans, you have our unwavering support.
Our community has always been deeply against fascism and all its works. We've rejected Trump and ICE loudly before. We said that before this fresh hell of occupations, abductions, and executions on city streets.

The best way to help is by supporting the people affected. For Minnesota, the site standwithminnesota.com is compiling a list of local mutual aid organizations. You may have to do some vetting. It's worth it.

People need support across the US and worldwide. If you can help, please do.

Let's make some noise.

RPGnet"

The banner head is light purple, the message is on dark purple, and the rpgnet forums icon has the pride flag.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Jan 11

(art from @shenanigansen.bsky.social )

Comic of a figure with an enlarged head showing brain wrinkles (similar to other comic designs indicating a super genius) with incorrect mathematical formulas floating in the background (5+6=9, 2 x 11 = 27, square root of 5 = 5). Word balloon says "I'm doing 1000 calculations per second and they're ALL WRONG"

Ian Robberson@microberust· Jan 2

I would note there is a band of Bluesky age demographics that would probably have a higher chance of considering it an acceptable option.

Hudson, a Disney cartoon character from the show Gargoyles. Brown skin, wings,wearing armor. He has fangs, horns along the side of his head, pointed ears, a bushy white beard, and a scar over one eye cilored yellow.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Jan 1

Obvious image edit of Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor Twitter post with the text "Leprechauns are real and I'm going to cook one."

Ian Robberson@microberust· Jan 1

Ill take it.

Screenshot of Merriam Webster video scroll for Your 2026 Word, shiwing the word hopeful on a tourquoise to tan gradient background.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Dec 1

The duck actually turned out okay, but it was a lot more excitement than what we had planned for this year. We were very much in "Maybe we should just order Chinese" mode for a while there.

A cooked duck on a kitchen counter, with a red cup in the upper right hand corner in scissors next to it.

Ian Robberson@microberust· Nov 29

#sketchbooksaturday My own Stan Sakai sketch of Usagi, from Phoenix Comic Con 2016