Went to sleep early and had a *weird dream* that I just woke up from. And the worst part is, I know exactly what part of the day triggered it. Weird dreams are supposed to be more creative than that! Am I derivative even in sleep, now? (Dream me joined a cult, transitioning into a murder mystery)

Ooooh, Tales From Woodcreek Kickstarter for season 2 is doing a "secret" Kickstarter puzzle??? www.kickstarter.com/projects/woo...

Listen. I don't know if this is actually an ARG? But "Robert Downey Jr wore a suit covered in Latverian runes onstage at Comic Con, and fans cracked it thanks to a popup coffee event in London weeks prior" is a compelling enough statement that I'm interested in seeing what's next.

Prelude to Doomsday: Are We Getting an Avengers ARG? | ARGNet: Alternate Reality Gaming Network

Avengers Doomsday used a Latverian coffee popup and Robert Downey Jr's SDCC suit to teach fans how to read Latverian runes. But is that for an Avengers ARG, or easter egg?

argn.com

Somebody just searched ARGNet for the word "horse". The funniest part is, I know exactly what they're looking for and I didn't write an article about it.

When was the last year the internet felt "mostly good" to you, if it ever did?

One of the best reviews written all year.

A Game Changer Production Assistant Is My New Hero

Kaylin Mahoney is flawless anxiety-ridden introvert representation and my new hero

kotaku.com

Went to see a really fun puppet musical last night and they played a few other short films as well. This one stuck with me, I haven't laughed so hard in weeks. (The main event, by the way, was The Last Fifteen Minutes - loved it, bought the vinyl and everything) www.kickstarter.com/projects/shi...

"deadwood" - 🪵🪧 Puppet Short Film by rike

YouTube video by rikemind

youtube.com

On a train as a very drunk frat guy loudly explains the SCP Foundation, this is all I ask in life.

Wrote a thinkpiece about something I found interesting today. As part of that, I fell down the rabbit hole of researching the history of pollice verso, and our likely misconceptions around the term.

...okay, I got a ticket to see Jellicle Ball before it closes. I should still be able to fake my way through immersive street cred.

Is The Guild the first movie Kickstarter campaign to offer a custom popcorn bucket? It's such a genius move.

The Guild: Ren Faire'd

Help us celebrate The Guild's upcoming 20th anniversary by making the most epic renfaire movie of all time!

kickstarter.com

Really enjoyed @mjandersen.bsky.social’s post on the parallels between Kai Cenat’s “Streamer University” and blockbuster larps!

Streamer University and Thoughts on Education

Kai Cenat's newest event offered up three very different answers to the question of what a streamer's education can look like

open.substack.com

Watching more Streamer University videos and clips, and the "oh this is a blockbuster Larp" vibes are even stronger given how many blockbuster Larps are ALSO themed around academics and set on college campuses. This clip in particular felt so familiar.

Cinna & Valkyrae snitch on Bonnie to Kai and it turns ugly

YouTube video by PURPLE CLIPPER

youtu.be

No context needed.

Wait...is Streamer University just a flat out academic Larp, this year?

Maria is SUCH a good reporter, and this piece was a real joy to edit. My conlang assumptions (as a pure extension of canon *or* just about language learning and not the source material) were upended by this—it's a mix of that whole spectrum, and very community-oriented. Highly recommend this piece!

How Fans Make Fictional Languages Real

Na’vi, Klingon, and other conlangs get more use IRL than they ever have onscreen.

fansplaining.com

🧵 My annual @libraryjournal.bsky.social Horror Genre Preview is live. I will be posting about it tomorrow. Here is the article as it was printed: www.libraryjournal.com/story/The-Ar...

The Art of Tales That Terrify | Horror Preview

Fall horror showcases genre blends, the folk subgenre, and stories about motherhood and artistic endeavor.

libraryjournal.com

Seeing a lot of Daylight Savings Time discourse, and I think we've got it all wrong. What we need is MORE adjustments. Shift times quarterly, or even monthly! Shave off 30 minutes at a time so we barely notice it except when tech goes haywire!

Bulwer-Lytton may have ended, but at least we still have the Lyttle Lyttons! This entry in particular means the world to me. "It was 2016, the summer of Pokémon Go, but I was going nowhere." -Shena Parsons

Between Nick Kroll's "Spider League" and Lin Manuel Miranda's "I'd Eat That" group texts, I'm starting to be won over by hyper specific purpose driven group chats. Like how 90% of my messages to @novysan.bsky.social are "creative" abominations made with Malort or mad scientist Furby builds.

Big weekend for vicariously following nerd cons - ReaderCon, NPLCon, AND LitRPGCon, at the same time?

I'm glad the Fourth Wing fans are getting a conspiracy theory drenched new release reveal. I feel it's almost like a tradition for fandoms of a certain size, at this point.

Got a ticket to the Catieosaurus show in NYC this weekend!

I think this was my first time spotting a House of Hades Toynbee variant in the wild!

Here’s the thing—a while ago, I did some testing around how good A) humans, B) commercial AI detectors, and C) LLMs were at identifying AI-generated fiction. They were all bad at it, but while the LLMs explicitly got it wrong, they actually consistently identified a human “tell”: embodiment.

John Scalzi@scalzi.com · 4w ago

What notes What drafts

I am a "Chuck Tingle is Chuck Tingle" kind of buckaroo, but after finishing Fabulous Bodies I can't help but wonder about what led to this particular exploration of what it means to be an entertainer. It's a damn fine book, and I can't tell if it's also a personal one...but it feels that way.

Think I can get away with putting up an out of office message that says I am only available for conversations about Matt Dinniman's new cat Svetlana (of the Dinniman Imperium, First of her Name, Destroyer of Filth, Daughter of the Oak Fell, She Who Purrs)?

Anecdote of the day on "breaking news" and how the algorithm is killing context - In the wake of major analog horror adaptation news, a fan (whose handle I'm redacting out of courtesy) made up a tweet about Monument Mythos being picked up by Apple TV. It was likely done as a joke.

...whoops, my finger slipped and I got tickets in two weeks to the 10th anniversary Labubu popup in NYC, despite knowing next to nothing about Pop Mart's monster friends. Can't wait to see what they have in store, pun intended!

Nice to see Spielberg coming back to ARGs, again. I heard that AI thing did pretty well.

YouTube 'Mandela Catalogue' Turning Into Movie from Steven Spielberg, Scott Stuber

Scott Stuber's United Artists, Amazon MGM, Steven Spielberg have won the movie rights to YouTube Horror Anthology 'Mandela Catalogue'. Creator Alex Kister is directing the film.

deadline.com