Now, I love me some Dark Phoenix. It's literally one of the things I can give a talk on for 20 min at the drop of a hat. I do, however, think it's given Marvel "Dark Phoenix Syndrome", however, where any given female character has a roughly 20% chance per month of obtaining ultimate power.

Our current cultural war leads to some weird twists, such as this recent desperate need by conservatives for the Melania documentary to be a blockbuster and for someone like Kid Rock to be relevant and popular... as if their entire self-validation is on the line. It's honestly fascinating to watch.

Saw this on FB - I would say Canada probably belongs in the red, and it was absolutely the first real source of "culture shock" I experienced moving to Australia. No question.

So you know that magical tabletop map projector you see advertised on Facebook constantly? I thought what the heck. I’ll try it. Got it. Was trying to focus and the entire lens mechanism fell out in 6 pieces and I have no idea how to get them back in. Sooo… yeah. About what I expected, honestly. 😑

Amazon Prime smirking as it says “oh here are a bunch of newer movies you can rent.” The smirk widens. “As well as a bunch of older shows which were free yesterday, but today?” Then the wink. “They’re EXTRA.”

Finished Wonder Man. Decent writing, decent performances... yet I can't help but wonder who this was for. Charmless. No hint of superheroics until the very end. More drama... which can be fine, as exploring different genres inside a superhero show can work, but it has to at least be INTERESTING. 🤷‍♂️

I haven't even seen Heated Rivalry, but the whole thing with part of its fandom escaping containment and blasting the only (known) queer cast member of HR with hateful accusations of pedophilia and grooming... sounds just like when the VLD fandom did the same thing a years back. It's so tiresome.

I watched “A Nice Indian Boy” on Amazon Prime, mostly because D&D got canceled today and I was bored… and, gosh, that was just what I needed. So sweet, so well done. When Naveen’s dad had that scene finally accepting Jay, I bawled. Such a good movie. ❤️

Yes, after a bit of drunken flailing, I realized you could call the Uber driver through the app. No idea how I found the function, buried as it is, but I did and he wasn't too far away so he drove back for me. He got a big tip.

Coming home from my NYE party, I did a dumb thing. I got out of my Uber and only after it left realized my keys had fallen out of my pocket into the back seat. Boy did I NOT need that shot of adrenaline, drunk and alone on the roundabout outside my apartment building at 3am. 😳

My brother and I were moaning about how it was so unseasonably grey and chilly during his visit to Melbourne. Then my Dad told us it's, like, -40C in Edmonton and we both decided to just be grateful instead. 😁

My brother laughed at me for saying “no”, “oh”, “banana”, “tomato”, and “capsicum” (which I didn’t pronounce weird, it was more that I had to stop and think what he’d know it as), so I guess the Australian is finally seeping in. 😅

Merry Christmas, everyone! This is normally a pretty quiet time of year for me, off in Australia, but my brother and sister-in-law are visiting and so I've been running around like mad showing them the city -- and cooking! We had Christmas dinner at my place! Unprecedented. 😊

I've always wanted to get a tattoo, but fretted at the idea of its permanency. I don't even like a song 30 days later, and I'm going to be happy with a tattoo design after 10 years? 20 years?? It'd have to be something with some real meaning, something that'd left its mark on me - in all senses.

Whoever's in charge of Apple TV's series should really be put in charge of their movies as well... because, holy hannah, what a stark contrast between the two. 😐

Finished Dispatch, since the last two episodes were released today. Gosh, how fun was THAT? The actual dispatch sim gameplay was the best part, I think, and I want more. Reactivity, too, but... yeah, I can see how that could get really expensive *really* quickly. As it was: solid season.

I’m rewatching Firefly, and there’s one part of the lore that makes me twitch: it’s all in *one solar system*. Sure, dozens of planets and hundreds of moons, but I don’t care HOW much you terraform them: if they’re not in a sun’s green zone, you won’t get Earth-like planets. 😡 Also: reaver zombies.

Sure, every* game company** is using AI... but using it well? Is it actually helping with ANYthing? Or is it driven by a need to have AI deliver early on the promise of substituting for human labour because there's no other problem it solves? * not every, not by a long shot ** as opposed to studio

I watched the latest season of the Witcher, and while there's been a lot of griping about recasting Geralt with the extra Hemsworth... I didn't mind it? He seemed awkward for about an episode and a half, and then either he relaxed a bit or I just got used to him. Either way, he was fine.

Final Fantasy 7 was so good that it pushed Bioware to reimagine what Baldur's Gate 2 could be. That & many other fascinating reveals are available in today's interview with @davidgaider.bsky.social, Trent Oster, & Ed Greenwood. Here's a clip regarding FF7 & the full link is below.

The interview is a celebration of Baldur's Gate 2 with @davidgaider.bsky.social, Trent Oster, and Ed Greenwood. DM Wyvern hosted the interview with me. Make sure you subscribe and hit the bell so you will be notified once it goes up! www.youtube.com/@SlanderedGa...

I did an hour-long lecture for another studio, which I’ve stressed about and fussed about for *months* …and it went great. Exactly on time, felt good, everyone seemed enthused and asked great questions! Now I am going to collapse in a puddle and think of nothing whatsoever. 🫠

I put some soy sauce in my bolognese, as opposed to Worcestershire sauce which I forgot to pick up, and… I’m a little surprised at how not terrible it turned out? 🤔

I'm disappointed that it took that long for me to guess Ella's little game: www.tiktok.com/@ellalowgren...

My favourite screen cap of @whatkatydid.bsky.social from the Summerfall Discord today. ❤️

The duality of man ✨ http://bit.ly/playmalys

Some lovely, and much appreciated, coverage of Malys! www.pcgamesn.com/malys/out-no...

I’ve never been to a restaurant that does one thing and one thing only, but dayum that was some fine steak frites! And the superb company certainly didn’t hurt. 😉 Thanks for the evening, Elie. Really appreciate it. ❤️

Spent most of my birthday doing absolutely nothing, wrapped up in fuzzy throw blankets and watching movies. Now I'm off to dinner in the city while it rains. Sad but serene, which is pretty par for the course.

The soundtrack for Malys, by the lovely @belindacoomes.bsky.social, is sooo good! I'm not tempted to turn off the exorcism music, even after all this time! Check out the title track, with music and lyrics by the amazing @actualmontaigne.bsky.social : www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKos...

A bit of Summerfall Studios lore: One day in 2019, and we were all very exhausted and punchy at the time, Liam responded to a long work thread on Slack with "praise Satan" but autocorrect corrected that to "praise Sarah" and the rest of us were VERY confused. Who is Sarah? What do you mean by that?

Malys is out of Early Access! The final release is out as of... right now? *checks Steam* Yes, right now! It's my birthday tomorrow. Me, I'll be collapsed in exhaustion, but if you could maybe check out our little game it'd be super appreciated. ❤️

I’ve playtested Malys so much this weekend I’m hearing the exorcism music every time I close my eyes. It’s so close. 🫠

Katy Perry as the new Barbra Streisand was not on my bingo card for this year... though, I suppose the difference is that Justin Trudeau isn't Prime Minister any longer and he can date whoever he damn well pleases.

we're making a demo

To those who say that "Ironic" has not a single example of actual irony, I would argue that Mr. Play-It-Safe finally getting on his first nervous flight - and it crashing - is plenty ironic... in the modern, if not classical, sense.

To this day, whenever I have sushi there's a solid 50% chance that I'll mutter "poison... poison... tasty fish!" right before I'm about to begin eating.

It's time... the candles are lit... 🕯️ Our exorcism roguelite Malys is coming OUT of Early Access into 1.0 on the 24th of October! There's so much more to discover, including the FULL story as penned by David Gaider, more demons, more cards, and more content.

I think my favourite part of this NZGDC was the gentleman at the after party, who was also bald and grey of beard, who told me how many people had complimented him this weekend on his great opening keynote… which he then passed on to me. 😆

Our latest update is LIVE!! 🚨 This will be the final update before our exorcism roguelite Malys enters 1.0 🔥 More on that soon 👀 Find out about the update's new content, fixes and MORE now 🖤

Watched the finale of Alien:Earth. On one hand, that was a staggering amount of stupid decision-making in order to ensure the plot happened. On the other, it was good to see the stupid people get their comeuppance. Not sure this needs a whole second season to wrap up, though?

Gave the NZGDC keynote with Liam this morning, and I think it went pretty well? Rewarding myself, after battling my way through the Wellington winds, with some Belgian beer and bitterballen. ☺️

The downside of always giving your tabletop players agency and multiple options of where to go and how to approach things is that they will discuss those options. At length. Exhaustively. While you sit there and quietly listen. 🫠

I'm now back at home, meaning I have the customary task of spending an entire day in an exhausted haze trying to do anything and everything but sleep - which is, of course, the only thing I WANT to do. Let's see how late I can go, compared to last time.

I think I... slept on my flight home? Not well, but considering I can count on one hand how often that's happened in my life (usually I can only kinda doze, at best), this is an exceptional development. NOT destroyed by international travel?! The rarity!

I have returned to the future! Which is to say: I am back in the Antipodes, resting my heels in the Auckland airport until my last short flight back to Melbs.

I'm quite comfy in my little business class cubicle, readying for the Big Flight, but maaaan there are WAY too many babies fussing audibly around me. Surround Sound Baby Whining. Apparently taking your infant onto a 14+ hour flight is in fad. 🫠

The guy at the Maple Leaf lounge hesitates, when he scans my boarding pass, like he's not going to let me in. "You're VERY early." "Yes," I growl. "I have a long layover. Not by choice." Reluctantly, he let me in. WTAF? 🤔

Made it through my list of “foods I need to eat whenever I’m home” and I only regret about one-third of it. Currently sipping on a frozen margarita in the airport as I begin the long journey home. Praying for this to not be air travel disaster #4 in a row. 🙏