Shawn French, writer of stuff

A group of kids playing Dungeons & Dragons in the 1970s. In the background hangs a banner reading REDBANK ENRICHMENT PROGRAM. Bud Wellington was the program director who introduced all these kids in South Portland, Maine, to the world of roleplaying. Also, my lifelong writing mentor.

A close-up view of the big tabletop game setup in the previous photo. A giant hexboard covered with trees, rivers, bridges, and other terrain covers three cafeteria tables. Photo from the Redbank Enrichment Program in South Portland, Maine. Taken late '70s or early '80s.

Hard same. I only have a handful of gaming pics from back then. We used to play these elaborate, capture-the-flag miniature battles.

At a 70s con, John Wheeler ran the Orc-vs-Dwarf Hack & Slash that covered half a basketball court. Dozens of players, hundreds of minis, 5-6 DMs, and a 3-day battle.

Back in the 70s/80s, DMs Bud Wellington and John Wheeler had a two-headhole shirt they'd break out for ettin encounters. Them bickering back and forth as the two deeply stupid halves of an ettin while players try to convince them to turn on each other is one of my all-time favorite gaming memories.

A meme featuring three confused women with the text, "That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works."

It's always weird to me when ghostwriting gigs ask for examples of things you've ghostwritten in the past.

Yep. I'm glad I got to work in games for a decade, but it feels like that chapter is pretty well over.

Sorry to get radical but I don’t think it’s my job or yours to embrace, accept, understand - and certainly not to use - the thing being sold to us as AI. I don’t like any part of it, so I won’t. I’m missing out? Good, that’s what I want. You’re worried about me missing out? That’s fuckin weird, man.

It used to be when I liked something, I'd seek out other people who also did so we could discuss it. Nowadays, I find the key to enjoying something is to do the exact opposite. Modern fandom ruins everything.

Area 51 was always one of my favorite arcade shooter games to play John Woo-style (using both guns).

I had it open when they did it and it bumped back to the main menu, where searches for his name no longer found any matches. They removed it at 11:32 AM EST.

Over 50% of game developers now think generative AI is bad for the industry, a dramatic increase from just 2 years ago: 'I'd rather quit the industry than use generative AI' The latest GDC survey also found that managers are more likely to use generative AI than their employees.

"Our standing rule is: If one of us brings up using GenAI in any of our work, then it's safe to assume we've been assimilated by The Thing and should be burned alive by Kurt Russell," said a game design consultant in the US.

A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.

I’ve added the script for Wake Up Dead Man to my site. This is the final shooting script, so it has stuff that was cut and moved around, which I always think is more interesting to see than a conformed cleaned up version. Enjoy! www.rian-johnson.com/screenplays

Some serious NCIS energy going on there.

Back in my standup days, there was an old Italian woman in Boston who ran a tiny restaurant out of her house. She had seating for six, turned the room over every hour, and had no menu. You ate whatever she was making that night. Best meatballs I've ever had.

Scott Adams will not return in AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY

Yep, a vital part of the process. I think having at least a bit of acting experience is super valuable for writers.

Took me under 3 minutes to tell Discord that I would stop using Discord entirely if they chose to enshittify themselves.

The freelance market is as rough as I've ever seen it. The standard post-holiday rush of new gigs doesn't seem to be happening. I'm pivoting to running D&D games professionally, as that's the only storytelling market that isn't in flames right now.

recently my friend's comics professor told her that it's acceptable to use gen AI for script-writing but not for art, since a machine can't generate meaningful artistic work. meanwhile, my sister's screenwriting professor said that they can use gen AI for concept art and visualization, but that it won't be able to generate a script that's any good. and at my job, it seems like each department says that AI can be useful in every field except the one that they know best. It's only ever the jobs we're unfamiliar with that we assume can be replaced with automation. The more attuned we are with certain processes, crafts, and occupations, the more we realize that gen AI will never be able to provide a suitable replacement. The case for its existence relies on our ignorance of the work and skill required to do everything we don't.

it’s come to my attention that my tumblr post has been crossposted to bluesky, so I’m posting it on my account here #AntiAI #GenAI

I'm reminded of the friend interviewed by local TV who gave a thoughtful, informed response about raves, talking about harm reduction and a community that looks after each other.

What aired was his name along with Rave Partygoer and the entirety of his quote was, "Sure, there's drug use at raves."

Giants are using AI to hire a coach lmao

They’re gonna put in a request for a guy named Klimt Kubiok with six fingers on each hand

Every installment of this MTG rehabilitation tour feels like “Nice Scorpion Regrets Past Stings, Needs Help With River Crossing!”

I like JKR in the same way that a slug likes salt.

Just a thing about this: a common statement in writing is that you can fix crap, but you can't fix a blank page.

I have heard AI apologists claim that this is why it's fine to generate a first draft.

Now, to be clear, fuck this.

But also: an AI draft is a fucking blank page.

So look man if we're just gonna be online here watching all these big studios come out and lay down on the tracks about Gen AI going "I have to do this for some reason." then I think it's more important than ever to celebrate games from based devs who are out here openly posting "Nuh uh, fuck that."

Humble Audiobook Bundle: Shadows, Stars & Screams: Epic Audiobooks & Dramas by Realm We’ve teamed up with Realm for the latest Humble Audiobook Bundle. Chill out this winter with drama, comedy, storytelling, and more amazing shows and series!

Our Realm "heavy metal werewolf" podcast, Blood Forest is up on Humble Bundle to support World Central Kitchen!

www.humblebundle.com/books/shadow...

@finalrune.com @mxpalmieri.bsky.social @morgansylvia.bsky.social @shawnfrench.bsky.social @bobleblanc.bsky.social

I watched a whole section of the freelance fiction market totally vanish over the span of months, but those listings are starting to pop back up, often with a NO AI warning because the client just got burned trying to take that shortcut.

I am 100% pro Larian doing whatever pervert shit it wants and I can’t wait for another game where you can like, fuck a squid or whatever, but it really does further drive home the two-tier system of enforcement on storefronts. Bg3 contains basically everything small games get banned for

J.D. Cunegan's books are displayed over a dark red background. The notion of the image lists his website, jdcuneganbooks.com, and his Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Tumblr handles.

Holiday shopping for the book lover in your life? I got you. 👇 Paperbacks and ebooks wherever you shop for books (shop at @bookshop.org to support your local indie bookstores), and all royalties through the end of the year will be donated to Hampton Roads food banks.

Time person of the year cover for 2025

I guess it's fitting that it's a reimagined, worse version of someone else's artwork

A 60 year old author in 2025: but must I TikTok? Must I?

Sigh.