Chris Gardiner

Though watching it back I see I did at one point describe history as “a big mess of crap happening to everyone all at the same time” which is the sort of scalpel-sharp philosophical insight I can be counted on to provide if you have me on your podcast.

Had a great time on The Convergence podcast talking with @bangbangclick.bsky.social and @danmaher.bsky.social about game narratives.

Bit of a AA bonding experience, and great to get to talk about differences and commonalities in our respective games’ approaches to humour, to lore, to character.

Errrrrr this sounds fucking rad?

An image of a statue of a bald, long-coated man sat on a grey bench. An elaborate bouquet of mushrooms has been placed in his lap.

I wrote this month's subscriber story for Fallen London – the first one I've written in apparently NINE YEARS.

It's an intimate story set on an eccentric, quiet square about how routine can trap us; and how isolation makes us vulnerable to our demons.

(With a bonus adorable beetle.)

[1/4]

our players are good

The textures on this one are especially great! I can practically feel it through the screen.

Thank you so much!

Thank you!

Very grateful to Michael Bunning for his insightful editing; to Paul Arendt for the gorgeous, haunting art; and to my youngest, Asher, who provided crucial bat consultancy.

Anyway. If it sounds like your sort of thing, it's in Fallen London right now.

www.fallenlondon.com

[4/4]

The cover of ‘Malá Strana Stories — a Week in a Quiet House’: a book containing some of Jan Neruda’s stories about daily life in Prague’s Little Quarter in the 19th century.

The cover of Jenny Odell’s book ‘Saving Time’.

The cover of Jenny Odell’s book ‘How To Do Nothing’

It was inspired by Jan Neruda's 'Malá Strana Stories' and Jenny Odell's books 'Saving Time' and 'How to Do Nothing' as well as a recent family bereavement, and my longstanding love of Fallen London's Clay Men,

[3/4]

I loved writing it. I hope it's a bit sweet, a bit sad, a bit hopeful. I wanted to write something that lived or died wholly on the strength of its characters.

A tricky one to structure: four separate stories that first combine into two paired ones, then merge again into a single conclusion.

[2/4]

An image of a statue of a bald, long-coated man sat on a grey bench. An elaborate bouquet of mushrooms has been placed in his lap.

I wrote this month's subscriber story for Fallen London – the first one I've written in apparently NINE YEARS.

It's an intimate story set on an eccentric, quiet square about how routine can trap us; and how isolation makes us vulnerable to our demons.

(With a bonus adorable beetle.)

[1/4]

Oh, congratulations, well done all of you, and welcome, Samuel!

Amazing! And well-deserved. I thiiiink it’s my favourite supplement of all time? I would would get so excited reading it I would have to take little breaks to digest what I’d read.

Who the fuck invented mosquitos?

A devil - it's Milton, from our game Mask of the Rose! - looks down at the viewer with an imperious expression in his amber eyes. He's wearing a smart, dark wool suit, red tie and pocket square, and has a sigil tie pin. He's holding a newspaper that has the headline ROGUE LAW RAMPAGE! followed by the strapline "London in more chaos than usual".

ɹɐǝp ɥo

A picture of a copy of PC Gamer mag, attractively draped over a fluffy golden cushion, open on a little preview of Mandrake. It reads: "Mandrake: Even Stranger Horticulture. Release TBA, Developer Failbetter Games, Publisher Failbetter Games, [and then a Steam link]. Failbetter Games does Stardew Valley is an irresistible pitch. The Fallen London dev has revealed a new game in which you plant seeds and harvest the results, explore the world, befriend a river, and take tea with a god. There are mines in which there's sometimes stone, villagers with important skills, a home to decorate, and lots of other life sim staples with a mythological twist. Don't go out after dark." There's a lovely screenshot of the Yolf in the tree outside your house accompanying the words. He's a big fluffy catlike bearlike creature.

cheers very much @pcgamer.com for the coverage on mandrake this month <3

Holy heck – this is phenomenal.

Yeah – no sources in government quoted as wanting to ban VPNs. Whole story seems to be based on this 3-year old story, which someone reheated and reported as new.

bsky.app/profile/hern...

Oh, this is fantastic news! I’ve these books!

I think there are insights and examples in here that can be applied to any form of storytelling: whether art, writing, etc.

Working with @erionmakuo.bsky.social is a joyous high point of my career, so I wanted to dig into why and how she’s so good at conveying character and setting through her art.

This is amazing! Congrats!

I think there are insights and examples in here that can be applied to any form of storytelling: whether art, writing, etc.

Working with @erionmakuo.bsky.social is a joyous high point of my career, so I wanted to dig into why and how she’s so good at conveying character and setting through her art.

I love New Edge’s stuff. They have become the shepherds for a whole genre.

I’ve been working my way through them, and there’s a couple of handy links, but less than is often the case. Possibly it’s a bit of a niche topic?

I’m not after very in-depth or academic material this time, too it’s not a topic I’m trying to go deep into, yet. Hoping for something more accessible.

Can anyone recommend any good, accessible sources on caravanserais? Their history, what they would have looked like when active, etc?

My basic online searching is just turning up tons of slop!

The sheer soaring exultance of the greatest “yeah” in pop music, three minutes and four seconds into Carly Rae Jepson’s ‘I Really Like You’.

Every rebuttal from an investor in this article in which they say ACTUALLY investors’ expectations are FINE ACTUALLY beautifully demonstrates how unreasonable investors’ expectations are.

A painterly portrait of a young white man with a large sandy moustache and coolly melancholy eyes. He poses in a light suit with a red necktie, against a red velvet backdrop.

You told us you wanted to know how an Exceptional Story plays before committing to a subscription. Sounds reasonable to us!

Now everyone can play the Exceptional Story 'Reunion,' for free. A piquant sample, containing much royal intrigue.

Enjoy!

www.fallenlondon.com

I work in layers. I put down the stuff that I can, with relative ease, and leave gaps for the rest. Then I fill in whichever gaps are easy. Then the next-easiest. Then the next-easiest. When it works, each layer feels easy, because I'm not trying to do all the hard bits at once.