Nick Vracar

Played through Gears of War Reloaded, was good. Its sequels were better, but the first Gears is still a solid action game to revisit with an emphasis on long range fighting over cover based shooting due how few shots it takes to die, and your character being built like a fridge.

Watched The Girl on the Train at Theatre Tallahassee, was good, despite the uneven British accents. It’s an interesting mystery that reminds me of Memento but mainstream. The stage production was impressive with its moving train set, even if it’s largely used between scenes.

“Let's get in a cab, I'll buy you a kebab
And I can't believe that I'm sharing a kebab with
The most beautiful girl I have ever seen with a kebab”
-“The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room” by Flight of the Conchords

Watched The Exorcist, was really good. I was surprised by how much of the movie was spent developing the priest and the actress while also being critical of both the financial cost of health care access as well as the invasiveness of medical diagnosis based on assumptions.

Virtual Bookish Events for October 27-November 2, 2025 The Virtual Bookish Events Newsletter is sent weekly and events are separated into four categories: For Readers - Free, For Writers - Free, For Readers - Paid, For Writers - Paid.

Reminder that I publish a weekly list of online author events and writing workshops! This week features 11 FREE events for writers! sarahnicolas.substack.com/p/virtual-bo...

Played through Anthem (because EA’s shutting down its servers), was mediocre. Flight is fun, but the action lacks impact, with a mission structure that doesn’t understand the open world experience, while also ruining the possibility of meaningful plot and character development.

Wah-ah-ah!! 🦇
It’s time for the Brainstoryum #Halloween Special.

Featuring amazing stories & poetry from:
@dennisone.bsky.social @nickleevee.bsky.social @madp03t.bsky.social @quantumfairy.bsky.social

Join the story brainstorms! And spook yourself out a little bit. ☺️

annatizard.com/brainstoryum

Last set for now

Third set

Second set

Photo modes in games are often tricky because they feel like they demand luck when timing character placement and action, but the photo mode in Cyberpunk 2077 is surprisingly robust and distracting from actually playing the game.

Even now there are haunted dolls living on the streets, needing a home. With just a small donation these tragic, yet terrifying, porcelain figures can be relocated to an attic, or a dusty basement corner to call their own.

Read Tex Murphy and the Romanov Enigma by Aaron Conners, was great. It’s a thrilling adventure on its own, filled with quite a few surprising twists and turns that also does an excellent job bridging the gap between Overseer, the Radio Theater episodes and Tesla Effect.

Things are getting spooky in tomorrow's Brainstoryum #podcast! 👻

The Socks of Destiny thank you for your word suggestions
@alexsbradshaw.bsky.social, Lee Stokie & Mariah

With amazing stories from @quantumfairy.bsky.social @nickleevee.bsky.social & others!

Get ready for #Halloween #writingprompts

Played the remake of Silent Hill 2, was really good. Bloober Team made a very faithful adaptation of the narrative while also making some interesting adjustments to the gameplay, most notably to the mannequin AI and the Abstract Daddy fight. Made for an excellent, spooky time.

Alien: Earth – Season One – People Are Back on the Menu, Boys Previously, if people wanted to discover how short their own mortality was in the presence of unknown hostile xenomorphs they traditionally would have had to travel to the fringes of space where de…

Wrote a review of Alien: Earth for the Twin Geeks, was great. The premise of a xenomorph on Earth is more a subplot to the main story about a group of on the nose Peter Pan metaphors, but it’s interesting and suspenseful. Hopefully there’s a season 2. thetwingeeks.com/2025/09/29/a...

Watched Late Night With the Devil, was good. A horror story taking place on a late night talk show is a clever concept, and David Dastmalchian is excellent as the host. The rigidity of the setup does slow the pace down, and it’s a shame it uses even a few seconds of AI content.

Played Dragon Age: The Veilguard, was mediocre. It’s a big game filled with meaningful content, built on a foundation of bland designs. It has interesting character moments in a story that sacrifices moral complexity in favor of a team building seminar against miscellaneous evil.

#90. To Handwrite Or Not To Handwrite? Plus a New Dreampunk Short Story Listen to the original show by clicking on any one of the icons in the right hand column --> Transcription follows below.

Your weekend is not creative enough without Brainstoryum!

* Microfiction from @quantumfairy.bsky.social @nickleevee.bsky.social Alessandro Bozzo
& @madp03t.bsky.social

* Zany #writingprompt game

* A new dreampunk tale with a touch of darkness, from me. 😉
⬇️
www.annatizard.com/show/90-to-h...

Rewatched Alien, was excellent. The set design was impeccable, the creature a work of art crafted in a time when the limitations of rubber suits meant there was less screen time for the alien, more screen time for atmosphere and dread, all held aloft by a fantastic ensemble cast.

Watched Superman (2025), was great. It’s a very lean superhero flick that’s labeled as a part one but feels like part three of a series, like grabbing the latest issue off the comic book stands. It’s a fun, wholesome Superman, with a fantastic entourage of side characters.

Watched Wreck-It Ralph, was really good. On the surface it’s a love letter to classic arcade games, but it’s more than just references and nostalgia. At its heart there’s a story about finding and understanding your purpose in life, and being appreciated for your efforts.

Watched Love Lies Bleeding, was really good. It’s a steamy romance that blends in samples of crime thriller, and body horror that draws from the same well of inspiration as The Substance. Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian are great together, and Ed Harris never disappoints.

#89. Forgotten Ideas, Imagination-Compost, and a New Haunting Short Story Hello imaginative people. I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 89 of Brainstoryum. ​ There’s a feeling of change in the air. It’s not quite the end of summer, but in old Blighty we’ve had...

Today's Brainstoryum (story brainstorming #podcast) includes amazing fiction from:

@quantumfairy.bsky.social @daletudgehumor.bsky.social & @nickleevee.bsky.social

And new dark fantasy from me. ✍️👀

Writers, is time to follow the white rabbit of your imagination!

www.annatizard.com/show/89-forg...

Read The Launch Party by Lauren Forry, was excellent. While it doesn’t fully embrace its science fiction aspect, largely limited to its setting isolated in a luxury hotel on the moon, its take on the Agatha Christie murder mystery is very intriguing and highly suspenseful.

Played through Viewfinder, was alright. It’s a very relaxing puzzle game that’s often a little too easy (some puzzles do get tricky). Its concept of applying photos to change the world is interesting, but lacks depth. The story takes too long to set up its own context.

Watched Hercules, was fun. The art was excellent, especially the hydra fight, and the music was solid (could’ve benefited from having the entire story narrated by the muses). The story is a very safe, self aware narrative that comes across like a less ambitious Lion King.

Watched Sisu, was alright. It feels like a modern take on the classic action hero, surviving against all odds in situations that are various degrees of implausible, but there’s still fun to be had watching action man beat up the bad guys.

The Toxic Avenger: Outsider Art, for Everyone Outsider Art is for the greater good. Troma has long stood by this principle, working in a rebellious mode of filmmaking that is against the market and operates on the fringes of good taste. The To…

Outsider art is for the greater good and that couldn’t be more true when it comes to The Toxic Avenger — The Twin Geeks review about Troma and what it means when a rebellious DIY brand seeks mainstream distribution. @seattlecritics.bsky.social

Watched Evil Dead Rise, was good. While it’s not the freshest take on the franchise, it does an excellent job embracing the series’ characteristic maniacal manifestation of horror, with fantastic practical effects and minimal CGI.