Michael Van Vleet (he/him)

Well now I wish I were actually going, but as my lawyer has told me to make clear, I will not be anywhere near the event, nor any open-windowed lodgings nearby, especially such lodgings where events occur that might be described as involving "foul play" or "bestial savagery" or "occult goings-on."

Are you going to PAX Unplugged? Want to meet up? Just leave your windows open.

Leave your windows open and if you should hear a voice in the darkness calling you by name, invite me in. Easy as that.

Just invite me in.

An Update from Big Bad Con Based on the current political climate, it is irresponsible to announce a physical convention in 2026. We assure you: Big Bad Con still exists. Things are happening behind the scenes. Internal conversations are ongoing and we are working hard on the future of our convention-what Big Bad Con will look like for the years to come, when we can return to hosting events, and what those will look like. We miss you too and from all of us at Big Bad Con, we hope you have a safe and peaceful holiday season. Our discord server is still available while our staff and volunteers rest for the remainder of 2025.

Big Bad Con announcement.

Santa wears those mittens because he has a staggering number of fingers on each hand.

Comic book panel. Man in green suit and tan hat, his back to us, says "They won't let you do it!!" He's speaking to an older man, white hair, round glasses, white long-sleeved shirt. The man in white has a dialogue balloon but we can only see the letter "P" because something has gouged into the comic book, obliterating the word balloon. There are colored layers and layers of pages revealed by the gouge, shrinking as the damage goes deeper into the comic book, like the walls of a strip mine. It looks as if the man in white's very words are able to destroy reality, that he's uttering something that pokes a hole in the universe, dangerous to observe, impossible to comprehend.

They won't let you do it.

my rules lawyer's gonna get me off, but my retainer budget's gonna be blown for 2026

That's what makes the post so hashtag relatable... could be anything.

screenshot of a mouse hovering over the Block account option for the post "Go Home and take a Nap, Old Man. You have already exceeded your Takes for this Day."

aww, dog, this RPGs got too many Capitalized Nouns

Capitalized Noun density limits exceeded

Randomly: it's always struck me as peculiar that "pettish" means "subject to fits of offended ill humour; childishly bad-tempered and petulant; peevish, sulky" and "proceeding from" a pet.

What sort of pets did the Elizabethans have that fits *that* description?

Oh, wait: "Synonym: men."

Screenshot of a bunch of movie posters from the CHC Haunt-along, but the pic is framed on the cover of From Dusk Til Dawn, where George Clooney points a smoking gun at we, the viewer, even though we didn't do nuthin'. Quentin Tarantino glowers in the background.

Better late than never.

[Me, stumbling out of my bomb shelter full of TTRPGs, looking over the blasted landscape devoid of life]: There's time enough now! Time enough at last!
So, uhhh, what's everyone's availability?"

Smouldering Skeleton Nearby: This month is actually really busy for me.

Save even more time by writing "They helled me."

Loyalty Cream

A Dark Song, Drag Me to Hell, Re-Animator, Near Dark, Raw, In Fabric, Deadstream, I Saw the TV Glow, I Saw the Devil, Noroi: The Curse, House of 1000 Corpses, Sissy, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Piece, Visitors

Dangerous Animals, The Vourdolak, Prey, Dave Made a Maze, The Exorcist III, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Bring Her Back, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Trouble Every Day, Late Night with the Devil, Jason X, Cuckoo, The Viewing

The 2025 #hauntalong class.

Somebody stayed home sick on picture day, though … 🤔

There's something very funny about people who play the "I've been running RPGs for 30 years!" card, like wow, you've been doing something with no barrier to entry and no qualifications and no assessment for competence for 30 years? Should we throw a parade? Should we invite 2d6 goblins?

Over on Mastodon, this thread gives some wonderful information about how the complexity of Vietnamese pronouns adds real flavour to Star Wars when watched there. Worth a read!

dice.camp/@BrianBinh/1...

Sprigs and Kindling An ongoing digital zine of community collected creative works for Carved from Brindlewood TTRPG games

I was busy doing things on my very favourite day of the year and forgot to promo this but VOLUME 5 of Sprigs & Kindling is OUT! HUGE thanks to our team for working so hard to get this done for Halloween!!!

Trick-or-Treat, it's TROPHY!
sprigsandkindling.com

There was a young couple ahead of me dressed in black clothes with skeletons printed on the front, but they were grabbing to-go, just like me.

Saw a guy walking his pitbull. He had a mask on the back of his head, so... safe from tiger attacks, I guess.

Four picnic benches in a tented area, each covered with a bright orange tablecloth that has white spiderweb patterns printed on it. The nearest table also has a rubber spider on it, along with the usual napkin dispenser and potted plant accent.

Kids don't come around our place, so Halloween is pretty quiet. Whole neighborhood seemed quiet, actually. Went for a short walk to grab a burrito and the taco truck's little picnic bench area was all decked out. A party with no guests.

To conclude this year’s #hauntalong, I’m meditating on A Dark Song, a film that’s haunted me for a long time.

And one that I hope you consider letting haunt you.

Once again if you wanna build a little tactics game or rpg with animal adventurers, tag me in.

I bring art and good vibes 😂

Added alt text

the elves are renowned for their swordsmanship

Y'all better go get this. And leave a tip! I highly enjoyed running this incursion last Halloween.

This is a brilliantly awful time.
Highly recommended! 🐝✨

Pumpkins with googly eyes and mouths - the sizes of which correspondence to different dilations.

Happy #Halloween! A few years ago, midwives at the Royal Oldham Hospital in Lancashire created "dilation pumpkins" - and I don't think I've ever seen anything scarier in my life.* 😂😩

*Posted with apologies to anyone who is pregnant.

A Warm and Pleasant Hum: A One-Shot for Trophy Dark by Michael Van Vleet A bee-filled scenario for Trophy Dark

Happy Halloween!

For today only (unless I forget to change it back), my Trophy Dark incursion A Warm and Pleasant Hum is FREE on itch!

Now get off my porch, a'fore I set the bees on ya!

signalstation.itch.io/a-warm-and-p...

Pumpkins

Steve is back!

(These are all delightful, each in their own way. Thanks for sharing!)