Robert Rae

To be fair I first played it at 14 or so, when die-and-reload stamina was almost unlimited, and learned all the tricks. Probably the same reason I still enjoy replays of all that era's games. And why I could never play hardcore anything.

Great choices. Planescape: Torment remains probably my favourite game of all time, and the remaster (amazingly) genuinely just added some gentle QoL instead of trying to 'fix' the janky-yet-integral parts.

They went with the rest of me to get takeout, where did yours go?!

There's a reason it was always originally double-billed with Totoro as a chaser. My (now) wife and I saw it on a date - one of a series of spectacularly bad date-night film choices - and went straight home to eat a lot of ice-cream and cookies.

Or wear and tear, age, or adolescence, in this case.

I feel like you misspelled 'or' there.

Please let it be Infowars-style supplements, but they're all just gourmet onion powder.

It's the scoring that's statistically unlikely, not the club part! 😅

a sign that says what is even happening in front of a dumpster Alt: a sign that says what is even happening in front of a dumpster

Julian Schnabel? Good! Oscar Isaac? Gooood! Jason Momoa, John Malkovich, Al Pacino? Can't complain! Gal Godot?

Well see that's tricky now for those of us who like your intellectual output and want to inspire more ...

You say that, but if you're not discerning you'll end up with a Gerard Bulterian Jihad instead of a Judith Bulterian Jihad, heaven forfend.

So what you're saying is there are two genders, power and cartoons.

A still from the anime series 'Pokemon' in which a giant, jellyfish-like creature lays waste to a city centre.

Never underestimate the jellyfish!

I definitely have! Mostly academic texts (it's great for finding out about new releases in niche fields when you have interests wider than your actual established disciplinary networks!) but also a few fiction books here and there - I first heard about Margaret Killjoy here, for example!

Dome-mentia?

Gotta spend money to make money, am I right?!

A scene from the Simpsons in which Mr Burns demonstrates the 'sun blocker' to Mr Smithers.

You underestimate their power!

Reminder that now my PhD is done I’m available for work!

Writing, narrative design, historical and narrative consultancy, research etc.

I’ve got a PhD, 5 academic publications (another on the way), 3 shipped games (3 more on the way), lots of experience collaborating with cultural institutions

Very interesting! Would be intriguing to see a more comprehensive list - the Church of the Nazarene, for example, has ~500k members in the US, and I think there are some other possible candidates for inclusion too. Pew statistics have always been my go-to.

The Platonic Mafia have quietly silenced them. Resist Big Forma!

Man wearing glasses and smoking a cigarette contemplates the size of his boat when compared to the size of the massive great white shark he is hunting. He is standing at the stern. A nerdy scientist mans the wheel on the deck above him.

Attention @asle-us.bsky.social‬ members! We are launching an SIG on Ecogothic and Ecohorror. If you're drawn to haunted environments and creepy creatures, join us at #ASLE2025 (Wed. July 9, 5-6 pm)!

OR

Email Jen Schell (jschell5@alaska.edu) or Eric Anderson (eandersd@gmu.edu) to express interest.

This was a brilliant session. I learnt so much about how Catholic archives have(n’t) been curated & where to look for documents for place-based research. Hugely grateful to @catholicrs.bsky.social @carmenmangion.bsky.social @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social & #LawrenceGregory for sharing their wisdom.

Fantastic metal band by that name, too!

Oh, totally - I just find it curious that they would be so dead-set against longer works, given one presumes there would be a market for both longer and shorter.

I find that so odd - as a voracious reader, all I want is doorstops. More characterisation, more narrative, more of everything! 😅

It's just that there are no surviving copies of the first section, Paradise Nutz.

Transactions of the Fifth International Congress on The Enlightenment 6 / Utopias and utopians / Voltaire Foundation, 1981

Does anybody have this volume within reach? I need to access the table of contents.

I was just thinking that a government system nominally based on martial honour but in reality a giant citizen-killing grift isn't even that uncommon anymore.

When FMA came out, sure. Now, though? 😬

A panel from the "Girl Genius" comic by Kaja & Phil Foglio: Othar Tryssvassen (Gentleman Adventurer) attacks Baron Wulfenbach, shouting "Have at you, Tyrant!" The Baron, smiling bemusedly, notes, "Tryggvassen! Astonishing! I am actually pleased to see you! What a strange future this is!"

My sentiments whenever George W. Bush surfaces to criticise the current US administration.