Hey folks! Board member Zach has written up a quick update re: how we are doing. Please check it out and share widely: critical-distance.com/2026/02/25/2...

Do we think Leon would go to Bread Loaf or Tin House and is this joke too much of my personal Venn Diagram

More writers should use “japes.” Japes is good. More japes.

Writer in Residence Evil

this piece is the first one in my loose series I’m hoping to do this year about women, writing, and games. I’d love to speak to more women game writers/developers about their work and experiences!

Just noticed that the bagels I buy now come in a pack of 5 instead of 6. Made me feel insane. Gaslit by the Trump economy.

She’s at it again

Local college student goes over word count, receives A for effort

food $200 phone $150 rent $800 all these fuckin animal crossing amiibos i bought because i feel bad that they're on clearance $4300 utility $150 someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my family is dying

I wrote about the gray zone in running and in gaming, and why I think we should stop praising games that mechanically engage but do not mentally excite.

Madame Web will return in REENTER THE SPIDERVERSE

Every time I see a quote like this, I think “I bet he delivered it in the most lifeless way possible.” I’ve never been wrong.

Turns out eating “lunch” at 10 has consequences for 2 o’clock and its relative hunger level

ICYMI: I made an argument against serotonin treadmills.

the state of *my* union is strong. i love my wife… thank you for your attention to this matter

There is a link between gaming culture and the culture of ICE. They're Call of Duty cosplayers who need their opponents to be children in order to feel like real men. Prosecute and abolish ICE. My new video is live now on Nebula and Patreon.

Remember when I got to quote Angela Carter when reviewing Spider-Man 2? No? Yeah, fine, that's fair.

At certain volumes, the email sending sound on my Mac sounds like a sorrowful wind, like the kind of thing that would be an ill portent in a novel.

King of Meat is what I call videogames in my fiction when I’m making fun of videogames

ICYMI: I made an argument against serotonin treadmills.

Dibs on the novelization of this

The only AI future I want.

I have an old pair of glasses in the car for when I forget my current ones. Every time I put them on, the world looks slightly wrong, like it’s suddenly rendered in 1440p.

I've seen your steam backlogs. Many of you should be hosting a Previous Fest.

Rebranding "I have too many tabs open" as "doing research"

I was on Twitter for the writers and the book recommendations, the essays, the poetry, the community. I am here now for the same. I’m a nerd. Please reply with a favorite recent essay or poem or story or book recommendation, and thank you.

This is exactly what marketing yourself on social media feels like, actually.

i admire this young writer's bravery

I replaced my desk chair a few weeks ago, and let me tell you, after two hours of shoveling this morning, it's true what they say: Replace your chair!!! Your back will thank you!!

How did I miss Northernlion doing an exceptional Nick Drake joke, my personal Venn diagram of content

A heater: “We don’t have to say something is good just because it feels good.” What a fascinating idea. There does often seem to be an impetus to testify to the “number go up” good feeling as if engagement alone were proof of value.

I wrote about the gray zone in running and in gaming, and why I think we should stop praising games that mechanically engage but do not mentally excite.

We often say “this would fix me,” but this would fix me for real

An entire generation is outsourcing their own capabilities to a subscription model. They are renting their own futures.

Not to be outdone, may I present: the floating muffin

Me: “Maybe I should stop using back pain as a critical lens” The aging gaming readership: “Never stop”

How I’m feeling after shoveling my sidewalk, my neighbor’s sidewalk, and another neighbor’s sidewalk

Snow status: the birdbath looks like a wedding cake

Me: “Maybe I should stop using back pain as a critical lens” The aging gaming readership: “Never stop”

I could do so much with $75k, including managing not to look like someone's little brother getting blackout drunk at the family reunion.

Blizzard plans: Make a soup Play Dragon Quest

To the twelve teens larping across the street before the blizzard: I salute you

1. Breath of the Wild 2. Link’s Awakening 3. A Link Between Worlds

My emotional state is “cried in public after flipping through a children’s book about a dog who dies and goes to heaven.”

Happy 40th Anniversary the Legend of Zelda ▲

The dog let us sleep in til almost 8, which is both great and also reveals the degree to which we’re dependent on her to keep the weekend on track

We continue to undersell how funny Dragon Quest can be

I’d really like it if every time I opened Bluesky, there was a trifecta of bad news affecting the world, my hobbies, and me, personally.

“Found homes” is cracking me up. Like products are pets. My iPhone found its home ❤️❤️❤️❤️ My Switch 2 moved out of foster care and into its forever home ❤️❤️❤️❤️

weeeeee I got to blog (??? If that’s the right word) some advice for mothership!!! this post is on using games and discord to keep in touch with friends and fam long distance