Podcasts about Questionable Content

Sexually explicit books available in public school libraries and teachers allowing students to secretly change their pronouns is becoming more and more common around the country. Many parents are now speaking out saying administrators have a woke agenda and are preying on our children. Imagine you're in your child's public-school library and find what appears to be sexually explicit pictures in books. Or imagine your child is secretly changing their pronouns at school with the encouragement of their teacher. This is happening around the country more and more, there are complaints, there are lawsuits, there are school board fights. Some parents might find it acceptable, but many are now speaking out saying administrators have a woke agenda and are preying on our children at a time when they are at their most vulnerable, while their brains are still developing. We'll hear from a mom who won a lawsuit against her daughter's school district for secretly transitioning her. We will also hear from guests on both sides of the debate of whether or not sexually explicit books should be allowed in school libraries and classrooms.  

Teena is back, and who else would I rather look at questionable pictures of *NSYNC with?! This time our guys are caught in compromising positions, usually with JC being the victim. You won't want to miss this one, it's fun as always!

Hello hello! Today I've got for you another between-season bonus episode. This time we're breaking format to talk about i know the end, a module I published earlier this year about going back home after a long time away and all the horrors that entails. Because if you can't occasionally publish something self-indulgent in your podcast feed, what's even the point of having one?My cohost for this is my friend Nico MacDougall, the current organizer of The Awards, who edited i know the end and had almost as much to say about it as I did.For maximum understanding of this episode, you can pick up a free copy of the module here and follow along (or skim it in advance).Further reading:The original i know the end cover artThe “oops all PBTA moves” version of i know the endThree of my short filmsMy previous written designer commentaries on Space Train Space Heist and CouriersJohn Harper talking with Andrew Gillis about the origins of Blades in the DarkThe official designer commentary podcasts for Spire and HeartAaron Lim's An Altogether Different River, which comes with a designer commentary versionCamera Lucida by Roland Barthes, a photography theory book that we talked about during recording but which I later cut because I remembered most of the details about it incorrectlyWhat Is Risograph Printing, another topic cut from the final recording because I got basically everything about it wrong while recording (the background texture of the module is a risograph printed texture)Before Sunrise by Richard LinklaterQuestionable Content by Jeph JacquesSocials:Nico's carrd page, which includes links to their socials, editing rates, and The Awards.Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.The Dice Exploder logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!Transcript:Sam: Hello and welcome to Dice Exploder. Normally each week we take a tabletop RPG mechanic, bait our lines with it, and cast them out to see, to see what we can catch. But you hear that different intro music? That means this episode I'm doing something much more self indulgent, a designer commentary on a module I released earlier this year called I Know the End.And just a heads up here at the top, to get the most out of this, you probably want to have at least read through the module in question before, or as, you're listening. I threw a bunch of free copies up on itch for exactly this purpose, so feel free to go run and grab one. I'll wait.Anyway, I love designer commentaries. You can find a few of my old written ones, as well as links to a few of my favorites from other people, in the show notes. But I wanted to try releasing one as a podcast, because one, that sounds fun, and two, what's the point of having a podcast feed if you can't be ridiculously self indulgent in it on occasion?And I picked I Know The End to talk about because it is... weird. I don't know. It's weird. I describe it on itch as a short scenario about returning home and all the horrors that entails. But you'll hear us take issue with, I don't know, maybe every word in that sentence over the course of this commentary. It was a strange experience to make this thing, and I figured that might be interesting to hear about.It was also the first time I ever worked with an editor Nico MacDougall my friend and the organizer behind The Awards since 2023. Nico was excellent to work with and you can find their rates and such in the show notes and they are with me today to talk through this thing in excruciating detail as you probably noticed from the runtime we had a lot to say. Definitely contracted two guys on a podcast disease. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. But regardless, I'd love to hear what you think of it. Should I do more? Never again? Want to organize the Dice Exploder Game Jam we mused about doing at the end of this? Hit me up! I'd love to hear from you. And now, here is myself, I guess, and Nico MacDougall, with a full designer's commentary on I Know The End.Nico: Well, Sam, thanks for being here on your podcast to discuss your... adventure.Sam: You're welcome.Nico: Yes.Sam: for having me.Nico: Very first question is adventure: is that really, like, the right term for this?Sam: Are we really starting here? Like, I, I don't know. I, I feel like I got, I really went into this thing with true intentions to write a proper module, you know? Like I was thinking about OSR style play for like the first time in my life, and like, we were both coming out of the awards 2022 judging, and a lot of the submissions for 2022 the Awards were modules. I thought that was great but it really was sort of like opening the floodgates of this style of play that I knew basically nothing about. And, at the same time that we were reading through all 200 submissions for the awards, I was also reading Marcia B's list of 100 OSR blog posts of some influence.And so I was really drinking from the fire hose of this style of play, and also, I wasn't playing any of it. Like, I was experimenting with Trophy Gold a little bit, which is this story game that is designed to try to play OSR modules and dungeons as, like, a story game kind of experience. And I was kind of figuring out how it works and like how I wanted to run it and how to make it go And Joe DeSimone, who was running the awards at the time was just encouraging everyone to make weirder shit and like, that was his ethos and those were the people that he got to submit to the awards. Like, it was just the weirdest stuff that I had ever read in the RPG space and... That's probably a lie. There's some weird stuff out there.It was just like so much weird stuff. It was like stuff on the bleeding edge of a whole side of the hobby that I didn't participate in in the first place. My intro to this part of the hobby was the bleeding edge of it. And I was like, alright, I, I just wanna make something there, I wanna try playing around there and see what happens.And Joe tweeted out the tweet was like, Now we're all making modules based on songs that make us cry. And I was listening to the Phoebe Bridgers album Punisher on loop at the time to inspire a screenplay I was working on. And the last track is called I Know the End, and just ends with this, primal scream.And it was, it was a hard fall for me, at the time. And the primal scream felt really cathartic. And I was spending a lot of time in the, small town where I grew up. And, this horror monster idea of a town that is, itself, an entity and like is a whole monster, and like, what does that mean exactly? I don't know, but intuitively, I like, understand it, and we're just gonna kind of drive... towards my intuitive understanding of what this thing is supposed to be. I just decided to do that and see what happened. And did that give us an adventure in the end? I don't know. Did that give us a 32 page long bestiary entry in the form of a module? Like, that sounds closer to right to me, but also, taxonomies are a lie and foolish anyways.I don't know, I made a weird thing, here it is. Nico: Yeah. So I was scrolling back in our, in our conversation to where you first shared this with me, and I... I would like to share with the audience the text that accompanied it. It was the Google Doc, and then it said, This might be completely unplayable, it might actually be a short story, or, like, a movie, but I'm gonna publish it anyway, and, you know... If that isn't exactly it, like...Sam: Yeah I like that stuff. I don't know, another thing I've been thinking about a lot this fall is writing by stream of consciousness. Like, I realized that I don't have a lot of confidence in any of my work that I feel like I created quickly. Like, the RPG thing I'm most well known for, I think, is Doskvol Breathes, which I just pumped out in an afternoon. It was just a thought that I had on a whim about how you might play blades in the dark maybe. And I finished it and then I released it and people were like, this is amazing. And I still get complimented on it all the time. I'm still really proud of it, but it, I don't have any confidence in it because it came so quickly.And, like, I know that this is something I need to, like, talk about in therapy, you know, about, like, It's not real art unless I worked on it for six months straight, like, really worked my ass off. But this process, I sort of looked back over my career as a screenwriter, as a short filmmaker, as a game designer, and started realizing just how many of my favorite things that I've made came from exactly that process of the whole idea kind of coming together all at once in like one sitting. And even if it then took like a bunch of months of like refining like it's wild to me How much of my favorite work was created by following my intuition, and then just leaving it be afterwards.Nico: Yeah, I actually did want to ask about the similarity between your, like, process for TTRPG design versus screenwriting, cause... While I have read, you know, edited this, but also, like, read your your game design work and know relatively well your thoughts on, like, you know, just game design sort of theory and stuff in general, I have never read any, like, screenwriting stuff that you've done. Although, lord knows I hope to see it someday. Sam: Well, listen, if anyone listening to this wants to read my screenplays, I'm on Discord. You can find me and I'll happily share them all. My old short films are largely available on the internet, too. You know, maybe I'll link a couple in the show notes.Nico: oh yeah,Sam: But I I think of my process for screenwriting as really, really structural.Like, I, I'm a person who really came out of needing a plot and needing to know what happens in a story, and to really especially need to know the ending of a story so I know kind of what I'm going towards as I'm writing the thing. I outline like really extensively before I write feature or a pilot, like there's so much planning you have to do, I think it is really, really hard to write any kind of screenplay and not have to revise it over and over and over again, or at least like plan really carefully ahead of time and like really think about all the details, revise a lot, run it by a lot of people for feedback over and over. But especially for me that, that having an ending, like a target in mind when I'm writing is so important. I just don't know how to do it without that.Except occasionally when I get some sort of idea like this one where I have a feeling of vibe and I just start writing that thing and then eventually it's done. And I, I've never had that happen for a feature film screenplay or like a TV pilot kind of screenplay.But I have had a couple of short films come together that way where I don't know what the thing is, I just know what I am writing right now, and then it's done, and then I go make it. And I I don't know why that happens sometimes. Nico: Yeah, I mean I would imagine length plays a factor in it, right? Like a short film, or, I mean, gosh, how many pages did I know the end, end, end up being? Sam: 36. Nico: But I find that really fascinating that, too, that you say that when you're screenwriting, you have to have it really structural, really outlined, an end specifically in mind, when, to me, that almost feels like, well, not the outlining part, but having an end in mind feels almost antithetical to even the idea of, like, game design, or, I guess, TTRPG design, right?Even the most sort of relatively pre structured, Eat the Reich, Yazeeba's Bed and Breakfast, like, Lady Blackbird games, where the characters are pretty well defined before any human player starts interacting with them, you can never know how it's going to end. And it's kind of almost against the idea of the game or the, the sort of art form as a whole to really know that.Even games that are play to lose, like, there are many games now where it's like, you will die at the end. And it's like, okay, but like, that's not really the actual end. Like, sure, it's technically the end, but it's like, we have no idea what's gonna be the moment right before that, or the moment before that. As opposed to screenwriting Sam: yeah, it's a, it's a really different medium. I still think my need to have a target in mind is something that is really true about my game design process too.Like the other game that I'm well known for, well known for being relative here, but is Space Train Space Heist, where I was like, I have a very clear goal, I want to run a Blades in the Dark as a one shot at Games on Demand in a two hour slot. And Blades in the Dark is not a game that is built to do that well, so I want to make a game that is built to do that well, but like, captures everything about the one shot Blades in the Dark experience that I think is good and fun .And that may not be a sort of thematic statement kind of ending, like that's what I'm kind of looking for when I'm writing a screenplay, but that is a clear goal for a design of a game.Nico: Yeah. even In the context of I know the end, and to start talking a little bit about my role in this as well, as, as the editor, I think the point of view, the vibe, the, like, desired sort of aesthetic end point Was very clear from the start, from the jump. And I think that in many ways sort of substitutes for knowing the end of the story in your screenwriting process.So that really helped when I was editing it by focusing on like, okay, here's the pitch. How can I help sort of whittle it down or enhance it or change stuff in order to help realize that goal.And sometimes it kind of surprises me even, like, how much my games shift and change as they reach that goal. Like, sometimes you can, like, look back at old versions of it, and you're like, wow, so little of this is still present. But, like, you can see the throughline, very sort of Ship of Theseus, right? Like, you're like, wow, everything has been replaced, and yet, it's, like, still the thing that I wanted to end up at.Sam: Yeah, another thing that is, I think, more true of my screenwriting process than my game design process is how very common that in the middle of the process I will have to step back and take stock of what was I trying to do again? Like, what was my original goal? I've gotten all these notes from a lot of different people and, like, I've done a lot of work and I've found stuff that I like.And what was I trying to do? Like, I have, all this material on the table now, I have, like, clay on the wheel, and, like, I just gotta step back and take a break and refocus on, like, what are we trying to do. I Think it's really important to be able to do that in any creative process.To Tie together a couple of threads that we've talked about here, talked at the beginning of this about how much this felt like a stream of consciousness project for me, that I really just like, dumped this out and then like, let it rip.But also, I mean, this was my first time working with an editor, and I think you did a lot of work on this to make it way better, like really polish it up and make those edges the kind of pointy that they wanted to be, that this game really called for. And that makes this, in some ways, both a really unstructured process for me, and then a really structured process, and... I don't know what to make of that. I think there's something cool about having both of those components involved in a process. Nico: Yeah, it is. I I very much agree that like, yeah, most of my sort of design stuff have, has proceeded very much the same way of just kind of like sporadically working on it, changing stuff, like revamping it, whatever. And it's like, it's sort of, yeah, in a constant state of fluxx up until the moment where I'm like, okay, I guess it's done now.What I was gonna say, I was gonna jump back just a point or two which is you mentioned Clayton Notestein's Explorer's Design Jam. And I was curious, like, what was your experience, like, using that design template? Sam: Yeah I really enjoyed it, I really had a good time with it. I had already gotten really comfortable with InDesign just teaching myself during lockdown. Like, that's what I did for 2020, was I, like, laid out a bunch of games myself and they all looked like shit, but they all taught me how to use InDesign as a program.And I think templates are really, really valuable. Like it's so much easier to reconfigure the guts of another template than it is to create something from scratch.And I like Clayton's template. I think it's nice and clean. I think you can see in all the publications that have come out using Clayton's template, how recognizable it is. How little most people stray from the bones of it, and on the one hand, I think it's amazing that you can just use the template and go really quickly and like, get something out.And also I just want to push on it a little bit more. I want something, like the template is designed to be a template. It is not a suit tailored to whatever your particular project is. But also, I think if I had tried to lay this out without a template, it would look substantially worse, and there are a few notable breaks here and there that I, you know, I enjoyed experimenting with. I like the use of the comments column for little artwork. I think that was a nice little innovation that I added.And, you know, I didn't write this originally to have that sort of commentary column as a part of it. Like, all of the text was just in the main body of it. And I like the way it turned out to have that sort of, like, director's commentary thing hanging out in the wings. lot of people have talked about how much they like that in Clayton's template. so I, I don't know, like I, think that on the one hand a template really opens up a lot of possibilities for a lot of people and really opened up a lot of possibilities for me, and on the other hand I do still look at it and I see the template And I'm like, I hope this doesn't look too much like every other person whoNico: Right, right. I mean, that is definitely the difficulty of providing those kinds of tools, because like, it makes it very easy to make things especially if you're sort of just getting started, or if you don't have a lot of confidence or familiarity with it inDesign or anything like that. But ultimately, I feel like Clayton himself would say that the Explorer's Design Template is not intended to be, like, the final template, right? It's intended to be, like, a tool that you can use to varying effects, right?Yeah, I was thinking about it when I was going through this earlier, and I was like, Oh, yeah, like, you only use the comments, column a few times, and then I literally only realized maybe five minutes before you said it, I was like, oh, wait, all the little artwork is also in that little column thing, like you just said, and I was like, oh, that's like, that's actually a really cool way to use the template, because that space is already provided if you include that column, but just because you have the column that's, you know, quote unquote, intended for commentary, doesn't mean you have to use it for commentary, doesn't mean you have to put text in there.Sam: Yeah, you definitely like learn a lot of stuff about the guts of the thing as you start playing with it.Nico: Yeah. is probably getting on the level of, like, pretty pointless, sort of what ifs, but I'm curious... If Clayton hadn't done the Explorer's Design Template Jam, or if you had, for whatever reason, like, not been inspired to use that as the impetus to, like, make this and get it edited and laid out and published or whatever, like, Do you think you still would have tried to use that template, or would you have just tried to lay it out yourself, like you've done in the past?Sam: Honestly, I think without the jam this wouldn't exist. I have like a long to do list of things at any given time, like creative projects I wanna on, youNico: Oh, yeah,Sam: know? And the thing that brought this to the top of that to do list was just wanting to have something to submit into that jam. You know, I wanted to work with you as an editor. I Always want to clear something off the to do list. I always want to have some kind of creative project. And, I wanted to submit something to that jam, but I think if you took any one of those away, I might not have put the thing out at all. Nico: Yeah, that's really interesting. But I guess that's also, again, kind of what a good template or layout or just tool in general can help is actually get these things made. Sam: That's what a good jam can do, too, right? I mean, there's a reason the Golden Cobra contest is something that I love. It's like 40 new LARPs every year and they only exist because the Golden Cobra is throwing down the gauntlet.Nico: That's very true. Well, maybe it's time to move along to more practical concerns Sam: Maybe it's time to do the actual commentary part of this episodeWe've done the waxing philosophical part, butNico: we, yeah, checked off that Dice Exploder box. Now it's time to do the actual game talk.Sam: your bingo cards Nico: Yeah, Sam: Yeah, so let's start with the cover.Nico: Yes, the cover, which I only realized it was a teeth, that it was a mouth with teeth open when you said in the outline, ah yes, it's a mouth with teeth. And I looked at it and I was like... Oh my god, it is. Like,Sam: I did my job so well. I wanted it to be subtle, but I always like looked at it and was like it's so obviously teeth, I'm never gonna get this subtle enough. But I'm I'm glad to hear that I succeeded.Nico: I truly don't know what I thought it was before, but it definitely wasn't teeth.Sam: Yeah. Well, it started as I'll share this in the show notes. It started as this image. It was like a 6x9 layout, and, the teeth were still there, and it was like, all black, and the teeth were this much wider, gaping maw, like, inhuman, unhinged jaw kind of situation. And then, in the middle of it, was a, like, live laugh love kind of Airbnb sign with I Know The End on it. It was like the mouth, like, eating the sign.And I liked that. I felt like, the problem with that was that... As much as creepy, live, laugh, love sign is kind of the like, vibe of this, I didn't really want to bring in the like, kitsch of that at all, like, I felt like that kitschiness would hang over the whole thing if I made it the cover, and I mean, this whole thing is just about my own personal emotional repression, right? And my feelings about my small town that I'm from, andabout like, my ambition, and, exactly, yeah.But I, I write a lot, and I make a lot of art about emotional repression , and I think the particular vibe of this game's repression doesn't have space for irony, or satire, or like, Do you wanna live, laugh, love? Like, I don't know how else to put it. Like, it just felt really wrong.It was like, if you put that into the space at all, it's gonna curdle the whole feeling. Nico: it's about the framing of it. I, know that Spencer Campbell of Gila RPGs has written something about this on his blog. I don't remember specifically what the context is, but he's a psychologist by training and is talking about how, like, the way that you frame something matters a lot to how people respond to it, right?So you like, if you're framing it as like, oh, you have, twelve things and I take away six from you, versus like, oh, you have nothing and then you are given six things. It's like, both scenarios, you like, end up with six but Sam: One feels like a letdown and one feels great. Yeah,Nico: yeah, and so I think in his article he was talking about in the, yeah, you know, tying that into the game design context, obviously.And I think it matches here where like, sort of runs the risk of like, priming people to expect kitsch, and I don't think that that's really present in the rest of the game. And that kind of mismatched expectations could really, like, lead to some problems when people are trying to, like, play the game.Sam: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean this cover is just kind of like, oh. Like, it doesn't it doesn't really tell you much other than just like there's something back there that's maybe vaguely menacing, and that's kind of it. That's kind of Nico: Yeah.Sam: Alright, speaking of which can we, can we talk about my favorite interaction between the two of us as we were working on this?Nico: Oh, yeah, I was not sure how to bring that up. yes, please do. Now that we're moving on to... For everyone following along at home, we are proceeding to the credits page.Sam: The comment I got from you while you were editing this was, IDK if it would look different in print, but having the text so close to the edge of the page is activating my fight or flight response. And I just replied, working as intended.Nico: It yeah, I had the feeling, I think, even when I sent that, I was like, this, this is not like an accident. Like, like, like no one makes this like no one does this by accident. But, yes, truly, I hope that you are following along at home because I believe that Sam generously gave a whole bunch of community copies of this game, or made them available. Sam: I believe it was 42, 069 I'm usually doing some number like that. This game, I might have done a different number, but that's, the other games that I've done.Nico: So, but the text on this, for credits page specifically, it's truly, like, at the edge of the page. Like, it looks like it could be cut off. It's like, in print, it would be like, cut off by the process of actually like, making it. In fact, feels like if you try to send it to a printer, they could almost send it back and be like, you've gotta give us some space there. Like, you simply can't do that. There needs to be a gutter, or bleed, or whatever the term is. Like, Sam: I love it. maybe one day I will print this. Honestly, like if I become a super famous game designer or something, like, this is one of the ones that I Nico: screen, slash screenwriter.Sam: yeah, yeah. This is one of the ones I'd like to go back and hold in my hand, but I also I don't know, I just love it. I, I love designing for digital as, like, a primary thing, because I just feel like most people who play the thing are gonna play it out of digital.And I don't know if that's, like, the primary audience for a lot of modules. Like, I think there are a ton of people out there who just, like, buy the zine and hold the zine in their hand and probably never get around to playing it. But I, I love the digital. I've always loved the digital. I don't know, I just like making for it.Nico: Well I mean I was even thinking about it in the context of like, you know, how you talked about how you changed the aspect ratio, I was like thinking about that and I was like, I mean, it's not like that would be impossible to print, but like, most standard commercial printers operate in like, one of the more standard like, page sizes. Even the risograph you said is what it's called, right?Sam: The, the RISO. Yeah, I don't know if it's Rizzo or RISO, but I'm gonna sayNico: The RISO background also makes the, again, just from like a fully practical point of view, it's like you're adding color to the whole thing,Like there are many potential barriers to this as like a physical product that would, that are simply not there when you're designing for digital, so like, it is nice to have that sort of freedom, like, when you're thinking about how to lay this out or, or put stuff on here, it's like, you're freed from a lot of those practical considerations.Sam: There's a few other details I want to talk about on this page just kind of like references I'm making that are not obvious.So the first is that the header font and title font of I Know The End is a font that I ripped from Lilancholy, which is this amazing book by Snow, which is ostensibly a game, but but also a reflection on childhood and personal relationship to emotions and trauma.And I love the look of the font, but I also intentionally wanted to reference that game while I was making something that felt really personal in a similar vein. And another another reference here is that the color of the whole game, like this red, is pulled from the cover art for the Phoebe Bridgers album Punisher that I know the end is off of. I, I just found the, like, most saturated red pixel that I could on the album and was like, that's the color! I love hiding little references in every little detail that I can. Nico: Yeah, it's so interesting because I did not know any of that, you know, prior to this conversation or seeing that stuff on the outline. What did you sort of hope to achieve with those references, right? Because I can't imagine that you're plan was like, for someone to look at it and be like, oh my god, that's the Lilancholy font, and that's the Phoebe Bridgers album Sam: that's one pixel from that album cover.Yeah.What am I trying to achieve? I don't know, like there's, so the Paul Thomas Anderson movie Phantom Thread Is an amazing movie, and it's about Daniel Day Lewis being incredibly serious, scary Daniel Day Lewis, making dresses, being a tailor, and an element of the movie is that he hides his initials inside the dresses, like, when he's making them, he, like, sews his initials in.And that's a real thing that, that people did, and maybe it's just for him. It's also kind of an arrogant thing to do, you know, that all these, like, women are gonna be walking around wearing these dresses with, like, his initials kind of, like, carved, it's like this power thing. But my favorite part of it is that Phantom Thread is PT, also known as Paul Thomas Anderson.Nico: Ha Sam: And, like, like, I, I just feel like when you're doing that kind of thing, it's just, what an act, it's just so beautiful and arrogant and satisfying. Like I think doing that kind of little reference and joke for myself brings me into the mindset of what I am trying to convey with the game.Like, if I'm thinking in the detail of the font selection, what do I want to reference? What do I want to bring to this game? Then, I'm gonna be I'm gonna be thinking about that in every other choice I'm making for the game, too. And even if half of those choices end up being just for me, I will have been in the headspace to make the other half that are for everyone else, too.Nico: Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. like, You could almost even call these, like, Easter eggs, right?But it also made me think about, I had to look this up actually as you were talking, because I was like, about that, the CalArts classroom number that like all of the animators that studied there fit into like Pixar movies and stuff, like, A113, A113. And I think that's also sort of a good example of it in some ways, because it's like now, with the advent of the internet, and you know, and a certain way of engaging with media, like, everyone knows what that, what that means now, or they could if they just looked it up, or they just see some BuzzFeed, you know, article that's like, you know, 50 easter eggs that you missed in the latest Pixar movie.But yeah, it's like, it's very interesting because it kind of asks who is the movie for? What's the intended or imagined audience for all of these things? And it sort of shows that, like, you can have multiple audiences or multiple levels of engagement with the same audience, like, at the same time. Maybe, I would say, it's very unlikely that any random person would just like, look at the cover of I Know The End and be like, oh, that's the Lilancholy font, but,Sam: I have had someone say that to me, though. Yeah.Nico: but, so, what I was just gonna say is like, but I don't think it's hard to imagine that like, the type of person who would, who would buy, who would be interested in I Know The End or Lilancholy, I think there's a pretty decent chance that they would be interested in the other if they're interested in one of them, right?And so it is interesting as well, where it's like, I am often surprised by like the ability of people to sort of interpret or decipher things that far outweighs my sort of expectations of their ability to do so.If only just because I have the arrogance to be like, well no one could ever have a mind like mine. Like, no one could ever think in the specific bizarre way that I do. Then it's like actually a surprising number of people think in a very similar way. Sam: Another thing I think about with making these really, really tiny references, easter eggs, it's the, not making a decision is making a decision, right? CentrismNico: Oh,Sam: Like, if you have literally anything that you have not made a choice about with intention, that is a missed opportunity, I think.And... I have so much respect for people who will just pump something out, like, write a page of a game and, like, upload as a DocX to itch. Like, Aaron King is a genius, and I know a lot of games that are put out that way, and I love that stuff. But for me, like, the kind of art creation process that I enjoy and like doing is so based on finding meaning in every crevice, finding a way to express yourself in every detail. just love doing it.Nico: you are the English teacher that the, the curtains are blue meme is referencing, in fact.Sam: Yes.Nico: The curtains are blue in I Know The End because,Sam: Well, and I know the end they are red, but Nico: yes.Imagine that being the new version of the meme: the curtains in this are red because there's a Phoebe Bridgers album that has a single pixel that is that color.Sam: Yeah, I don't know. It's true, though.Nico: Exactly. it is in fact true. But so would, in some ways, any other interpretation of...Sam: Yeah.Nico: of the red color, right? It's like you picked it because of the association with the album cover. Someone else could be like, Oh, it means this otherthing. And like that interpretation is correct. Sam: Yeah, I mean, I also picked it because of its association with blood, you know, like I, I wanted to kind of evoke that feeling too, so.Shall we do the table of contents? HehNico: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the most interesting thing to talk about, and I want to know when this entered the sort of the design process, is the blacked out Table of Contents entry which corresponds to an almost entirely blacked out, or in this case, redded out,Sam: Yeah, Nico: messily redacted,part of, the book,Sam: Yeah, I think this was always there, I think I started writing a list of locations very early on, and on that list of locations was, like, I work in Google Docs to begin with for most of my stuff, and it was a bullet pointed numbered list, and the last list item was struck through, and it was your mom's house.And I just thought that was a funny little joke. It's like really dark? Another, just like a little detail, I have such a great relationship with my parents. Like really just a better relationship with my parents than anyone I know. And, so much of my art ends up with these like, really bad, fucked up relationships with parents, and I don't know what that's about.But, there's, there's something about, there's a piece of your hometown that is like so traumatic that you can't bring yourself to look at it. There's a piece of yourself, or your childhood, or like, where you came up, there's something from your origin story that you can't bear to face is a lot of what this is about. And even as the climax of this thing is I think in a lot of ways turning to face everything that you left behind.I mean the whole module is about that but I think fact that even when you are doing that, there's one piece of it that you can't bear to look at is really tragic and a mood to me. You know, it really felt right. Nico: it's sort of like, yeah, I'm finally gonna stand my ground and face my fear, or whatever, except for that thing. That thing, that part over there, for whatever reason, because I'm actually just very afraid of it. It really, as always, is sort of like the exceptions to the rule make the rule, or emphasize the rule. You're kind of carving out the negative space around it. And it makes it clearer in so. so Well, Yeah, so like, then the first thing of the game text itself, so to speak, is like the front and back of a postcard. And where's the picture from? It looks kind of old timey in a sort of non specific way.Sam: It's from Wikimedia Commons, I believe. I was looking for pictures of old postcards, and I wanted a small town, and, this is what I found.The postcard image is actually like a hell of a photo bash too. The stamp on it is from a real postcard I received from my cousin. The handwriting was me on just like a piece of paper that I scanned, and then the postcard is another like open source postcard image.Nico: Yeah. I am, once again, sort of showing, showing a lot of my bias here. I am often kind of against a lot of little, like, accessories, or sort of, like, physical things that are often part of crowdfunding, like, stretch goals, you know, like, it's, I don't know. I don't think it's, like, ontologically evil or anything like that, it's just, I understand, it's part of the reality of crowdfunding, and, like, attracting attention, and yada yada yada, I just personally don't love that reality. Which, of course, is easy to criticize when you're not part of a project is trying to do that, but that aside, I think it would actually genuinely be very cool to have, like, this postcard as, like, a physical object like, if the game were to be printed.Sam: You gonna make me like, handwrite every one of the postcards too? Cause that isNico: I did not say that. Oh, is that really? Well, but then, then you have it already, you can just print it off, like, or you make that the, like, I don't know, the hundred dollar stretch goal, you know, they back it at that level and then the postcard just appears inside their mailbox. Like,Sam: That wa that is creepy. I will tell you that,Nico: You say that as though it's happened to you before. You're like, well, let meSam: well, I'm not, I, I revealing nothing. How autobiographical is this? Nico: Yeah. so I guess, yeah, so getting, So this is the introduction page, the background, the introduction, giving the context to what this module, extended bestiary, what have you, what it is. My question here from a sort of meta perspective is like, how much are you trying to sort of give away at the start of this? How do you pitch this to , like to someone you know?Sam: that's a great question. I'm pretty proud of the execution here. I think I do a good job of, like, leaving some juicy hints here as to what might be going on without giving anything away. Like, the fact that I advertise this as maybe closer to a bestiary entry than a module, like, uh, what? Like, like you, you have an idea of what that means, but also like, where's the monster, what is the thing that I'm looking like, that is kind of planted in your mind in a way that I think is intriguing and sets expectations without giving the whole thing away.And, also, this is just me, like, trying to figure out how to describe this thing in real time as I'm writing. It really came from intuition. Nico: yeah. I know that, you know you're on, very much on record talking about how, you know, like, taxonomy is fake and, you know, et cetera, et cetera. Sam: As much as I love it.Nico: right, right, exactly, I mean, I feel the same way, but I, I am curious as to like if you were trying to sell someone on the idea of even just playing this game, like, how effective do you think it is of like communicating whatever this is, you know, like, is it effective to say it's kind of this, or it's not this, or maybe it's this, like, Sam: I think this is going to be really good at reaching the kind of person who will love this, and really bad at selling this to like a mass audience, you know? But luckily, I'm not trying to sell this to a mass audience. I'm like trying to make Joe Dissimone proud, you know? Like I'm trying to make like something as weird as fucking possible.and I think there's a kind of person who really appreciates that and this struggle to define what this is using existing terminology, I think is going to really appeal to the people who like this.Nico: yeah, I agree, I think it signposts well hey, you, there, like, look at this thing. Isn't that interesting. And if they're like, If they're like, no, that's confusing and I don't know what to do with it, and they go somewhere else, in some ways, it could be argued that that is like, working as intended, right, likeSam: I kind of find it interesting in the sidebar here to watch me sort of like struggle with how you're supposed to play this game, like what rule system are you supposed to use?I do think with some distance from this, the best way to experience this is as a solo game. Like to just read the thing but pause and journal about your character's experience as you sort of walk through it. I have started playing more solo games since I wrote this in preparation for a Season 3 episode of the show, and I think this would serve that experience really well.I considered even, like, rewriting this to be more of explicitly a solo experience, but I, ultimately was really happy leaving it in its sort of nebulous, provocative, what if, is this, what is this sort of state. Nico: Yeah. I would genuinely be interested to have like, the two of us play the game, like this game, like one running it, one as the player, because I don't necessarily disagree with what you said, might be better suited as a solo game, but I really do think that there is something that can be gained about, like being in a room with, like, one other person, or, you know, being on a call with one other person, or whatever and going through this,Sam: Yeah, yeah, I can feel the intensity of that as you describe it. And it sounds harrowing and... Amazing. I do, I do have this dream of like running a Mork Borg dungeon, like over the course of like three sessions, and then like taking one of the players who survives and being like, I've got another module that I think we should play with the same character. Nico: yeah. Anyways, you go home and you think you're safe, but actually, like, Sam: I do think that this as a response to OSR play is really an interesting way to try to play the game, like to Nico: just sort of experienceSam: Yeah, to try to take the kind of character that you would have coming out of that and the experience you would have coming out of that and then like get tossed into this, like that disorientation I think would serve this really well and would do something that I found I really like to do with the OSR kind of play of like finding ways to bring in more character stuff, to just have people to reflect on their person, rather than on the logistical problem solving.Nico: Mm hmm. Which, of course, in some ways also is like, I don't want to say direct contradiction, but like, moving perpendicular to a lot of the sort of OSR principles, rightSam: But yeah, I mean, fuck em. Nico: exactly, I mean, I'm not, saying that to discourage you from doing it, I'm just saying, like, I just think it's an interesting for those to come into sort of, conflict or, or whatever in, in that specific way.Sam: I mean, that's what the bleeding edge of something is all about, right? It's like, what are our principles? What if we throw them out? What does thatNico: Right, right. What if we smash things together that, like, should sort of repel each other like magnets? Like,Sam: Yeah.Nico: Let's move on to the town?Sam: Yeah. So this is the, like, GM spoiler page.Nico: Right.Sam: I don't know that I have a lot to say about this particular page. It's, it's the town. There are, like, two suggestions in the first chunk of this book that came from you that I think are really valuable to this. Like, the first is that the town is always capitalized throughout. Which I like sort of was doing, but you really emphasized, and I think was a great decision.And, the second is that there aren't any contractions in this book except for possessives. And, that was another suggestion that came from you, to have this sort of stilted, formal, slightly off kind of language of not having contractions, that I think serves it really well and is just really cool.Nico: Yeah, I have to give credit for that, to the Questionable Content webcomic, which is a webcomic that has been running forSam: God, is it still going?Nico: oh, it very much is still going, I, it updates Monday to Friday, and I, am reading, I am seated and reading,Sam: stopped reading that like a decade ago.Nico: It is officially 20 years old. It started in 2003.but so one of the characters in that she initially never uses contractions. It is always, it is, it is never, it's. Do not, not, don't, you know, is not, not, isn't and over time, as the character sort of gets more comfortable and starts to open up about her kind of mysterious past, and they'll deal with a lot of the sort of like, serious emotional turmoil that is present in the character, she like, starts to use contractions.And so, it's a specific device that is very weirdly ingrained in my head at this point, because I remember, like, realizing that when it was called out the first time, and then I will fess up and say I have re read the webcomic from the beginning several times. I have a lot of time on my hands sometimes. And it is always kind of a delight to go back to the beginning and see this character and to really notice that device because you know where she ends up and how much more comfortable she is and so to see that difference in the beginning makes it very effective on a reread in a way that is sort of present in the maybe subconscious the first time on the way through.Thank you. And I feel like it's similar here, not quite the same because I don't know if you would ever necessarily actively realize, like, oh, there are no sort of contractions here.Sam: and the town is never gonna stop being a entity of repression.Nico: Yeah, exactly. And so it's giving this like underlying anxiety kind of like,like, you're just like, Ooh, this is Sam: Yeah. It's like, what is going on? What's wrong with the language here?Nico: Yeah. And you might not even really be able to, articulate it because it's sort of hard to articulate the absence of somethingSam: And like, that's the feeling of the whole module. yeah, It's, it's just, it's a great decision. Nico: Yeah. And then of course, capitalizing town, you know, are you even really a game designer if you're not capitalizing some random words in Sam: yeah. gotta have one at least, come on.Sam: I will say I really enjoy the fact that I give no origin story for the town. I think that's also really powerful, of leaving a hole that people can fill in if they want.The mom repression stuff is kinda like that too, the like, the blacking out sharpie. Of like, that's a hole you could fill in in play if you wanted to, but I, I'm not going to. I'm gonna intentionally leave that hole there.Nico: It also is the kind of thing, right, of like, oh gosh, Nova was saying this in the Dice Exploder Discord recently, where like, part of the reason the OSR can be so sort of rules light and stripped down is because like, it is relying a lot on the sort of cultural script of like, what is a fantasy role playing game, or even just like a fantasy story in general, you know? What your knowledge of an OSR game is.And this, in a similar way, is sort of like, you know what a hometown is. Like, you know, I don't need to tell you what the backstory of this is, because you know what it's like to be from somewhere. Cause it's also worth saying, like, this game does not give any character creation instructions, right? I mean, actually, I guess that's not entirely true, because underneath the postcard, you know, it just says, A decade or more gone since you fled the small backwater town that spawned you.And it's like, yeah, that's basically all the sort of character creation information you need, like,Sam: yeah, yeah, like wait, gonna play yourself and you're gonna be sad about this, like uh, Nico: Right, or, like, or if you're not playing yourself, you are playing a person who's sad about it, like, you know, it's like, it's kind of all you really need, Sam: you have internalized the tone of this thing, like, your character is in ways the negative space of the voice of the text. Nico: Like, a weird relationship with your small hometown, we just don't need to spend very much, time covering that broad background. It's much better spent covering the specific, like, locations and people in this town that also sort of help to convey that, feeling, that information.Sam: Temptations and terrors?Nico: Yes, probably The closest thing to a system that is in here, inasmuch as it's taken roughly verbatim from Trophy Dark Sam: yeah, I do think it is notable that when I wrote this I had not played Trophy Dark, and Trophy Dark is the one where you definitely die,Nico: Right. Right. Sam: My intention was not that you would definitely die in this. I really want escape to be a big possibility at the end and so it's interesting that I went with Trophy Dark as, like, the obvious system.Yeah, I like these lists. This is just a lot of tone setting, basically, right? I don't have a lot to say about the details here. The first terror, a children's toy, damp in a gutter, is a reference to another song that makes me cry. The Rebecca Sugar song for Adventure Time, Everything Stays.But most of the rest of this is just, vibes. Here's some vibes. I don't know, I re read these lists and I was like, yeah, they're fine, great, next page. But I don't know, is there anything that stands out to you here?Nico: I mean, I think the most important thing about these lists, these kinds of things, you could maybe even sort of broaden this to like pick lists in general, is that, they kinda need to do two things, like they need to both give you a good solid list of things to pick from, if you're like, at a loss, or if you just are like, looking through it, and you're like, this is good, I want to use this.Or, the other purpose of using it is to have it sort of identify the space that you're playing in to the point where you can come up with your own thing that like, could just be the next entry on that list, right? For me at least, the whole point of like, buying a game is like, I want something that I like, can't essentially come up with by myself, you know? Because I like to be surprised, I like to be sort of challenged, I like to be inspired, and so I think a really good game is one that you sort of like, read it, and you're like, okay, like, there's great things to use in here that I'm excited to use. I also, after having read this, am coming up with my own ideas. Like, equally long, if not longer, list of things that like, fit into this perfectlySam: Bring the vibes of your small town. Nico: Yeah, exactly, that I could also use. It's like, and so it's like, it's kind of funny that like, for me at least, the mark of a good game is like oh yeah, you both want to use everything that's contained in it, and also you immediately get way more of your own ideas than you could ever use when you're running the game.Sam: Yeah. Next?Nico: Yes. Act 1. Sam: I love this little guy, I love Wes he's just kind of a pathetic little dude, and I feel sad for him.Nico: It's so funny, too, because this particular little guy, like, doesn't look very pathetic to me. Like, he looks like he's kind of doing okay. Sam: I definitely like drew, like all the art in the book I drew, and I did it by just drawing a lot of little heads, and then assigning them to people. Like, there were a couple where they were defining details about how the people looked, that I knew I needed to draw specifically. But in general, I just drew a bunch of heads and then doled them out, and like, this is the one that ended up on Wes. And, I think that the contrast between, like, in my mind, Wes is this skinny, lanky, little kid, you know, he's like early 20s, finally making it on his own, and he has no idea what the hell's going on with the world, and he always looked up to you, and he's finally getting out of town. And then he's, he's like overcompensating with the beard for the fact that he's like balding really early, and like, you know, he's, I don't know, like, I think the contrast is just fun.Nico: I love this whole life that you have for this, this little, this little guy, like, which is, I can't stress this enough, mostly not contained in the text,Sam: Yeah. yeah. I think a good NPC is like that. I think it's really hard to transcribe the characters we get in our heads.Nico: yeah, Sam: I really like the, the pun in the Town Crier, I mean like the Town Crier feels like a horror movie trope, like the old man who's gonna be like, You got don't go up to the cabin! But it's also, like I wrote that down first and then just started describing this Wes guy and then I was like I'm gonna just like make a pun out of this.This is something I did all the time while writing this, was I had, like, a little oracle going, actually, at a certain point, like, in the same way that you would in a solo game with an oracle. Like, if I was stuck for an idea, I would just roll on the oracle table and then, like, fill in a detail that was somehow related to the oracle. Nico: Mhm. Sam: That, that didn't happen here, but the idea of, Oh, I want a little bit more description for this guy, like, what should I do? I, like, pulled the word crier, and then was like, Oh, that's really interesting, like, when would this guy have cried? Like, oh, that's a great question, let's just, like, put that to the player. I'm always, like, a thing in screenwriting that is really hard to do, and that I'm always looking for is, like, really good, pithy character descriptions.Like, a friend of mine loves the one like, this is a woman who always orders fajitas at a Mexican restaurant because she loves the attention that she gets when the fajitas come out.She hates fajitas. And that description just says Nico: That's Sam: much. It's so good, right? And that one's even a little bit long for like a screenplay, but it'd be great for like an RPG thing, right?And something about like Here's a little bit about this guy. You remember when he was crying once, like a baby? What was the deal with that? Like, it's such a, like, defines everything else about him. Like, I, I, I'm really proud that.Nico: Yeah. No, that's, that's how I felt a little bit with I ran Vampire Cruise at Big Bad Con this year. And that game has some of, like, the best random NPC generating tables that I've, like, ever seen and played with.I remember one specifically, it was, like, I was like, rolling to generate a passenger, and I think it was like, the secrets part of the table, or something like that, and what I rolled was like, regrets that she never got to see the dinosaurs, and it's like, what does that mean?Like, like, Sam: She had a traumatic experience at a science museum as a kid, or maybe she's like 10 million years old, like, I don't...Nico: or, yeah, or she's just like a weirdo who like really loves dinosaurs? It's like, it's, Like, it really gives you sort of what you need to just sort of like, spin a world out of that specific detail. Sam: It's weird because I like completely agree with you, and you know, I was tooting my own horn about like this question about Wes sobbing and also like, in every single spread of this thing, I'm taking like two full pages to talk about like one or two NPCs, which is a terrible way to do the thing that we are talking about doing. Like,Nico: That is true, that is, it must be said,Sam: it makes it feel so much more like a short story, or maybe like a solo game, right? It's like, eh, spend two pages, like, getting to know this guy. Nico: who won't come up again, spoiler alert, Sam: Yeah, it feels like the right call for this thing where like, I mean it's like the text is forcing you to sit with the memory of this guy, it's like forcing you to come in and like spend more time than you would like to like back at home with these people.And there's some like location context built into all these descriptions too, and we like learn about the bakery thing here and like old stories and stuff. And like, already it's like, do we need that shit to run this game? Like, absolutely not, like, get, get out of the way, like, but also, I don't know, it feels right?And it's one of the things that makes all this weird and, you know, unrunnable.Nico: Which is of course the goal, we don't want people to run this. Yeah, no, that's something that I've thought about in my own games as well, is, is, and just sort of like, my life, I guess, is sort of like, what makes a place that place, you know, like, what makes a town a town, what makes a city a city, like, is it the people who live there? Is it the places? Like, again, kind of back to the sort of Ship of Theseus metaphor, it's like, if everyone you know leaves, and a lot of the stores turnover, like, is that still your hometown? Like... Does your relationship to it change?And so I, in defense of, of what we're doing here, it makes a lot of sense to spend so much time thinking about the people and the places that are here because that also basically is the game, right?Like, like, this is not a dungeon crawl, right? Like, this is not a hack and slash thing, It's not a dungeon crawl, like, Sam: it's a person crawl. Nico: Yeah, exactly, you're yeah, the point of you coming home is you're trying to find Sidra, the person who sent you this postcard, asking you to come home, and yeah, you're basically doing a point crawl, trying to find this person.And then there are various conditions that need to be in place for you to actually find them = And yeah, so it's like, using more words than a sort of your standard OSR like dungeon crawl or point crawl or whatever, or hex crawl, but like, it's kind of the same way where it's like, yeah, but like, that's the game, that's the adventure, like, Sam: yeah, yeah. Another detail here I'm really proud of is the like, offhand remark about how Wes and Sidra aren't talking for what are probably romantic reasons. Because the implication, there's like a strong implication that you, player, have some sort of romantic history with Sidra, like, whether it was ever consummated or not. And I love the just sort of, like, offhand, Wes and Sidra had a thing that didn't work out, because it both... leaves open your potential romantic relationship with Sidra, but also like complicates it and like darkens it from whatever sort of nostalgic quote unquote pure like memory of it you had.And I love that it just sort of brings a little complexity into what happens when you leave for 15 years. And then like what it feels like when you like, hear, oh yeah, your ex has been like, dating someone for a couple years. What were we talking about? Like just that, like sometimes like a bolt of like, information about like, someone from your past that like, you care a lot about will just hit you and you'll be like, oh, wait, what? And we're just I'm supposed to just like, take that and move on? Like, yeah, yeah, Nico: It's also a very small town, right, where it's a sort of like, oh yeah, passing reference to this because everyone knows this already, right? Like, this is old news as well as, like, in a small town, it's like, there's a small pool of people your age that you're interested in, so, not like you're gonna get with all of them inevitably, but it's like, yeah, there's a pretty high chance that you might.Last thing I did wanna say on this, do you wanna share what Wes's name was in the first draft of this that I received?Sam: What was it? I don't rememberNico: It was Glup Shitto. It was, it was one of the first comments I left! It was one of the first comments I left! I was like, Sam, you've gotta know this can't be the final thing, right?Sam: knew it couldn't be the final name. But there was something really funny to me about like the one person who like doesn't fit into town, like this little fucking Star Wars fanboy like schmuck kid is just Glup Shitto. And he's leaving town cuz like when you got that name, it doesn't fit anymore. You gotta get the fuck out of there.No wonder the town couldn't absorb him. His name was Glup Shitto.Nico: I want to say, like, I might have, like, made my first round of comments because I was, like, yeah, feeling the same way of, like, okay, obviously this is not the finalSam: yeah, yeah, I just didn't change it and you were likebruh Nico: and then, yeah, and then you, like, made changes based on the comments that I left, and I went back to it, and I'm like, it's still Glup Shitto. Like, it simply can't be this! It's not allowed! It's, it's not legal! Like, Sam: there ought to be a law.Nico: yeah.Sam: Alright, let's do Act 2 gosh.Yeah, so I made this little map. I like the little map. This is just my hometown, incidentally. Like, there's so much in this that is just, like, pulling details directly from my hometown. That oracle that I mentioned earlier, like, Northfield, Minnesota was, like, one of the things on the oracle. And you can see that here in like, the riverwalk and this little bridge over it was very Northfield. the Rube, which we're getting to next, these two bars, the kind of cowboy themed bar thing was a thing.Nico: Again, it's a very small town of just like, no sort of reasonable business person would have these specific Sam: yeah, but they, they exist here for some reason Nico: it almost feels like the kind of thing where it's like, like they can exist in a really small town, because it's sort of like, well they're the only things here, and they can exist in like New York City Sam: yeah. Nico: everything's in New York city, and like every kind of place is there, but like anywhere in between, people would just be like, I don't understand, and then it goes out of business,Sam: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, doctors always also a big portion of my childhood and my past always coming up in my stuff just because I spent so much time in hospitals as a kid. So the, inclusion of a doctor here is also very much something coming out of my hometown.I like the little mechanic here of, like, rolling and you, like, add one every, every time. I think that's a nice sort of way to handle trying to find Sidra. Nico: as like a classic Nico mechanic 'cause I simply haven't made and published that many things. But in my mind, my narcissistic fantasy, it is a classic me mechanic.Sam: I believe that came from you.Nico: I fucking love a table that like evolves over time.And it's not like I invented it, but like, I think my more standard thing is sort of like you have a table of like 12 things, and then you change which die you roll on it, you know, it's like, oh you can do like a d4 through d12 or whatever and that's like, I really like the ability to sort of go back to a table and, like, use it multiple times as opposed to, like, Okay, we have one table for this, we have a different table for that, you know.Sam: Additional persons. I really like this format for sort of generic NPCs, like, I'm not gonna tell you anything about this person, but I am gonna tell you what you think about them and your relationship to them.I think it's a really cool way of doing... Oh, do you just need to, like, bring someone in? You, like, met someone on the street or whatever? In a lot of other settings, you would just have, like, a random person, and it would be, like, the Vampire Cruise thing. If you give them an interesting detail in here, it'd be a cool thing.But I think, especially in, like, a small town format, the, like, here's your relationship to this person, because everyone knows everyone, and, every character that comes in, like, is gonna have to inspire some kind of feeling and past in you. I think this works really cool, reallyNico: It also feels very sort of true to life in terms of, at least, how I often GM things. Someone will be like, hey, can I, like, ask just, like, the next person I see on the street what they know about this thing? And I'm like, I mean, I fuckin I guess, like, it'll shock you to learn I don't have a name for that person, but, you know, I just have to, like, come up with, like, here's a weird voice, and like, a random thing they know, and like here's a name, Sam: This is a great way to turn that experience back on the player.Nico: exactly, yeah, there's this random person, you're like, alright, this is someone who owes you an apology, why is that?Like, Sam: yeah, Nico: I also wanna say that I feel like this was actually a relatively late addition to theSam: Yeah, it was. I always intended to write these, but it was like the last thing that I wrote.Nico: Yeah.Sam: Yeah.Nico: There was definitely some time when I sort of came back and looked at it, and all of a sudden there was this relatively large additional persons section in here, and I was like, huh, interesting.Sam: Yeah. I'm happy with how it came out. I think these are my best little guys. Nico: Oh yeah, Sam: I really like the unfinishedness of these little guys that you can project a little bit of yourself onto them while there's still some, like, major details there. This someone you seek vengeance upon looks a lot like a penis, and I don't know how I feel about that one, butNico: I was gonna say, I find that one fascinating as the ide

This week we are talking about the little odd things we see influencers & content creators do!What's the funniest content creator quirk you've seen? @thedoublecleansepodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Warden Matt Ridder joins the chat for an episode with a little scandal. The crew discusses their favorite story lines. This week however it's the story lines with questionable content, but still got over with the crowd. They break down everything from Kane and a corpse to “accidentally” walking in on naked female wrestlers. Breaking and entering and “murder.” They break down all the head scratching stories through the years, that made you ask, “how did they get away with that?” And as always, the crew lets you know what has them pissed off for greatness. Out Now on All Platforms!!! Remember to Follow Twitch www.twitch.tv/RivetCityRadio Twitter @JustaGirl918 @The_Will_Gray Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/30uYHFrjpSHoVQYPr5zBn9?si=34db3104e8da47a5 TikTok @JustaGirl918 @The_Will_Gray --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/botched-spots-and-chair-shots/support

It's Jeff time! Jeffrey Combs has played roles in several different Trek shows, so when I first started putting together theme lists, a Jeffrey Combs Appreciation Episode was on the docket. Here we have him as a mad robot, an angry Andorian and a pair of cloned zealots of varying levels of faith. 00:00 Opening 14:48 Lower Decks: Where Pleasant Fountains Lie 36.40 Enterprise: The Andorian Incident 57:51 Deep Space Nine: Treachery, Faith and The Great River Talking points include: favourite Jeffs, ranking of Jeff names, Jeff Minter, Babylon 5, Justice League Unlimited, HP Hatecraft and Harlan Ellison, System Mastery, Questionable Content, The Three Jokers (ugh), The Young Ones, #iHunt, How Did This Get Made, Charlie's personal role model Skeletor, Portal, Evil Computers in Mass Effect, Roxann Dawson director of “The Long Con” for Lost, Charlie describing a dalek but failing to describe an Andorian, X-Men (the 2000's movie), GoldenEye & Half-Life levels, “what if The Empire was the good guys” people, Miles being a 1990's nerd hipster, X-Files, Catch-22, The Del Boy Trotter of Space, Alan Rickman in Galaxy Quest, The Dead Zone TV show with Anthony Michael Hall from The Breakfast Club in it, Deepwater Black, Australian science fiction shows (not Deepwater Black), the Australian Ultraman show, alternative social media and becoming a fan of something obscure enough it can't generate flamewars. Oh, and occasionally Star Trek. Miles mentioned about acts of arson in the Moulsescoomb council estate. While I never new anyone who did that, my brother was friends with a kid who set light to a newsagents in Whitehawk. A clarification: Ed Sheeran was alive in 2001, he'd only have been ten years old The rankings: Jeff Jef Jeph Geoff Casual Trek is by Charlie Etheridge-Nunn and Miles Reid-Lobatto Music by Alfred Etheridge-Nunn Casual Trek is a part of the Nerd & Tie Network If you want to support what we're doing and suggest an episode or theme for us to cover, head on over to: https://ko-fi.com/casualtrek Miles has a blog! http://www.mareidlobatto.wordpress.com

To start the show Nate Shelman reviewed the Biden speech from last night. Nate points out that Biden should've also taken a stand on political violence several years ago when people were burning cities. On a completely different note, Nate was joined by Idaho GOP Chairwoman Dorothy Moon. They discussed SJR102, if passed it would allow the Idaho State Legislature to call themselves into a special session. The Boise School District is having high school and junior high school students take a survey that is supposedly about mental health. The survey also asks students about their sexual orientation and their family's economic status. As a parent, did you opt your student out? Do you have problems with this survey? To round out the show, Nate discussed free Wi-Fi in public parts. The City of Boise wants to put free Wi-Fi in three of its public parks. Do we need this? Is this worth the money? (11/3/22)

We return to the MCU for the slightly under-whelming sequel, Iron Man 2, taking time to discuss the highs and lows of thisfoundation of the Marvel juggernaut. Somehow we also manage to include discussions about the Tory leadership contest, the Questionable Content webcomic, the Gimp Man of Essex, some business planning, and do a little plugging of our merch!

Shane, David and Todd are back with an all-new episode of the CROpod! The panel goes over the last glorious week of football, including: John Lundstram as the second coming; trying to self-impose blackouts on the scores doesn't work; treat yourself to upgrades at sporting events; PLUS we answer your questions for a very very long time, and then Shane's computer suddenly dies! Speaking of... SUPPORT THE CROpod: https://anchor.fm/cropod/support Chip in just $0.99 a month to help Shane buy random gifts for the other two guys (or a new mixing board and possibly now a damn laptop) and say thanks for the endless hours of CROpod entertainment. Or, supporters at the $4.99 or $9.99 level receive a live read on the show for their business or charity of choice; just message Shane with what you're needing: shane@thecoplandroad.org Visit our friends for the best Rangers gear: coplandstreetwear.co.uk and thefamousheadwear.co.uk Find Shane on Twitter: @ofvoid Find Todd on Twitter: @heyitstva Find David on Twitter: @ibroxrocks --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/cropod/message

Terence is joined by Jeph Jacques, creator of the webcomic Questionable Content, to talk about dogs, music, anime, and the perils of being online You can find Jeph on Twitter https://twitter.com/jephjacques/ and Questionable Content https://www.questionablecontent.net/ You can find Terence on Twitter https://twitter.com/TheBlackNerd and the show https://twitter.com/LowStakesShowLow Stakes on Twitter https://twitter.com/LowStakesShow Terence on Twitter https://twitter.com/TheBlackNerd Support me on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theblacknerd

WoW is adding Incubus models — and a lot of changes to quest names, NPC names, and more — in patch 9.1.5, WoW Classic's Season of Mastery gives us a new reason to jump into the same old game, and Amazon's New World MMO gets off to a rocky start with long queue times. Plus Matt thinks C'thun deserves to feel pretty, too.

Part two of our game. The rules are simple: imagine a property in the style of a creator. Somehow, we stayed on the rails the entire time. Weeaboo Hell is a podcast about anime, Tezuka's greatest mistake. Every week, hosts Dennard Dayle and Sam Lagow cover the good, the bad, and the unwatchable. Theme song by soft. fuck.

An interview with International Youth and Author Lisa Czarina Michaud, who brings the music of words to youth romance (is it romance? Is it love? It is a time of difficulties, both in age and in the United States.) It is a memoir of her youth in New York, and we're glad she didn't wait any longer to write it, because it's wonderful. … Continue...Episode 117 – Interview with Lisa Czarina Michaud

Dorian Gray, Episode 18: Chapter 9, Book Club.What's YOUR niche Victorian cause of death, and why is it Chekhov's Pool of Narcissism? Does Dorian manifest his own downfall, and - more importantly - has his pre-frontal cortex finished developing yet? And, finally, which podcast cast-member is most akin to a Bjork album?See you next week for the Chapter 10 audiobook! In the meantime, find us on Twitter @storybrookPod for some Questionable Content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marc and Seth take on Kip, Reb and Co. while breaking down the song Seventeen by Winger. Not only is this song gross, but it also has a Tenet-esque timeline where we're seemingly jumping through portals. Who would've guessed a guy named Kip would be an unreliable narrator?

Plugged In's Paul Asay review "Loki" and "In the Heights," as well as navigating as a family the objectional moral content in past favorite movies like "Raiders of the Lost Ark."  InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Tom Lin addresses the mental health crisis among college students and their reluctance regarding Church.

Plugged In's Paul Asay review "Loki" and "In the Heights," as well as navigating as a family the objectional moral content in past favorite movies like "Raiders of the Lost Ark."  InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's Tom Lin addresses the mental health crisis among college students and their reluctance regarding Church.

Hey, can we ask you a quick question? How about a quick 35? This week we're doing some speed-dating cocktail conversation with each other. Using the Proust Questionnaire, which Stephen Colbert has recently brought back into the mix. And the Pivot Questionnaire, or as you may be more familiar with it, the Inside the Actor's Studio questions asked by James Lipton. Sit back and listen, or play along and shout out your answers with us!     Proust Questionnaire Pivot Questionnaire

Content Warning: mental health/disorder, neurodivergence, alcoholism Hi, friends! Today we are doing something a little different. Instead of over-analyzing preschool-level content, we are kicking off a two-part exploration of how Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is treated in various entertainment media. Today we explore books and webcomics. Next week will be movies and TV shows. Check out some of the books/comics we recommend below! Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques: https://questionablecontent.net/ Steve Asbell: https://www.steveasbell.com/comics The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon Support us and/or Potato Lady Podcast Reviews: ko-fi.com/NotAgain Patreon.com/PotatoLady Social Media: Rebecca is @BexGoos NotAgain! is @NotAgainPod

RNZ Mediawatch's Hayden Donnell has a few bees in his bonnet about particular stories in New Zealand media from the last fortnight. He joins Karyn for a run through the headlines and to address some questionable calls.

Welcome to The Geek Bracket! Today's Contestants are: Jarrod Williams - @@JarrodKWilliams Zeb Stokes - @stokescommaz D-Mo - @TriviaRewrites Follow us online! Facebook.com/geekbracketpodcast Twitter: @geekbracketpod Website: geekbracket.libsyn.com Please, leave a review for us in your favorite podcasting app as well! Today's Categories are: Boom/Bust Bubble Boys Don't Look Down Gary's Mod Gray v. Blue I Want It! L' Nouveau Like Can and Pan Out of the CircusToday's Double-Up List, in the Category of Popular Literature: Place the following webcomics in order by first strip published, from earliest to latest debut. - P.v.P., Penny Arcade, Questionable Content, xkcd

Bet you thought we were done with the icebreaker questions, didn't you?  Well, jokes on you.  This week we come back with the REAL last part of our Career Break Site questions.

This week we are back with more questions from Career Break Site, where Mellinda quizzes Sarah on her travel preferences, favorite memories, and of course, which animals would win in a fight (you know, totally normal stuff)

For this week's episode, Mellinda quizzes Sarah on her favorites, least favorites, and biggest travel blunders.

In Episode 271 of MayaCast, the Listeners sent in their questions, and Tom and Kip do their best to answer them all! They range from Infinity to Music to Booze, and lots of stuff in between. There is some cussing in this episode, so keep the little ones away. Check out Infinity The Game at infinitythegame.com Thank you to all of our generous Patrons helping us out and supporting the show at Patreon. Full show notes at https://mayacast.com/

The Don and iLLz chop it up once again (Guest Star: Pav)https://linktr.ee/fmobpodcast

The Nooch and Beard talk life, in a stoney free thought kind of way... --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This month my good friend Spriteguard makes his return to discuss the web comic Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques and how the comic has grown over the last 16 years from a strip about disaffected hipsters to a diverse, inclusive and wholesome experience with great representation. Show links: www.twitter.com/mindfulselfpod www.twitter.com/dellismulligan www.retrogradeorbitradio.com Guest Links: www.twitch.tv/spriteguard Mindful Self Indulgence is hosted, produced and recorded by Dan Ellis. Music for every episode is also written, performed and recorded by Dan Ellis. Mindful Self Indulgence is a Retrograde Orbit Radio production.

Welcome to our very first episode! In the span of 45 minutes, we talk about what actually happened when the world was supposed to end in 2012, a Twitter alien, our favorite podcasts, and the BEK's. Thank you for tuning in!

Stephen and Ariel discuss clothing printed with questionable content and words.

We tend to joke a lot about "content," "grit," and "scenes" in books. But today, we're having a serious conversation (as serious as we get anyway) about the place of questionable content in fiction, if there is actually a legitimate place at all. Listen in as we get think-piece-y while discussing: If we should make distinctions between violent and sexual content What we do when we get caught off-guard by explicit content in a book Why it’s not good for fiction to get preachy If explicit content is a crutch for trash writing Whether or not James Bond is a sociopath Aaron and Barnabas' recommendations for a fiction series for Dave to read As always, thanks to Lagares Roasters for partnering with us to make the Table of (mal)Contents blend. Pick up a bag (or 12) today. A few of the books we discussed on this episode The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett The Coroman Strike series by Robert Galbraith The Conquerer series by Conn Iggulden Ashtown Burials by N. D. Wilson The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Struck by Russ Ramsey Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield A Gentleman's Game: A Queen & Country Novel by Greg Rucka

This week 02 talks about it's lack of a soul, while Appmon gives us more Offmon in case you were not sick of them yet. Digi Hosts: Shin Garrett and Kit Cat Digi Notes Chinese Boxes Dextrocardia All Dogs Go To Heaven Welcome to the N.H.K. Chobits Data is Beautiful Questionable Content Shin Garrett's Episode Notes 02 Episode 32 Notes Appmon Episode 32 Notes

It's all about the questions on this bite-size mini-sode of Top Marks, as the #goodfriends work to recreate the magic of last week's Mailbag after it was destroyed by technical difficulties. Support the show at www.patreon.com/TopMarks for access to the donor show, Bonus Marks! The retro review of King of the Ring 1995 is finally up on the Patreon feed with more bonus shows coming soon, and $5 donors also get access to the brand new exclusive Top Marks Twitter DM chat group that is positively poppin' off. Follow us on Twitter: @TopMarksPod

Wrestling is so bad this week that we break the format and do an extended Mailbag episode doing nothing but answering your questions, because fuck me if I'm supposed to come up with three topics after an abysmal Monday Night Raw broke our spirits this week. It was just awful. We get into it a bit about why Raw is so broken, but beyond that it's all listener questions, baby! Support the show at patreon.com/TopMarks, where $5 this month gets you access to our Avengers: Infinity War special, as well as the typical Bonus Marks retro review / live commentary coming soon! It's all going down on the donor feed, so get over there! Follow us on Twitter: @TopMarksPod

The boys tackle some questions from the Q&A session at their live show at West Metro Young Adult's Theology on Tap series. They tackle questions involving things like evangelizing to apathy, prudence in participating in non-Catholic/non-Christian services, tips on balancing one's presence in the social media world, how to form friendships with those different from you, and more.

The Overwatch League can't stay out of the news when it comes to their code of conduct. Drake and Ninja break the internet, but Seven is not impressed. Plus, Dragon Ball FighterZ wins their way into our hearts and Hearthstone announces its newest expansion.

Andi and Lise are way into the award-winning Questionable Content webcomic (Lise got Andi started on it), by Jeph Jacques, which launched August 1, 2003 and has been since then. It’s a slice-of-life comic populated by a diverse group of people and includes strong women and strong queer rep and all kinds of other rep. People of different ages and body types, backgrounds, and all kinds of things in between. The comic is at times hilarious, moving, poignant, wacky, and overall an amazing amount of fun. QC website Jeph Jacques’ Patreon

Episode 26 Andi and Lise are way into the award-winning Questionable Content webcomic (Lise got Andi started on it), by Jeph Jacques, which launched August 1, 2003 and has been since then. It’s a slice-of-life comic populated by a diverse group of people and includes strong women and strong queer rep and all kinds of other rep. People of different ages and body types, backgrounds, and all kinds of things in between.  The comic is at times hilarious, moving, poignant, wacky, and overall an amazing amount of fun.  QC website  Jeph Jacques’ Patreon 

Gil and Geoff field a litany of listener questions! Duration: 1:20:22

Questions baby!

This week Ben and Hank talk around the webcomic Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques. They springboard off into talking about webcomics more generally. and bounce all over the place. For some reason subs vs dubs comes up, and Hank goes on a short rant about why Inception is bad. So y'know business as usual. You can fine Questionable Content at https://questionablecontent.net/ Email: SaltCirclePodcast@gmail.com Twitter: @SaltCirclePod Hank's Twitter: @ComicPanels Ben's Twitter: @Bean_LP Logo Artist: bellamy.world/

Wednesday's edition of Trending Today USA was hosted by Liftable Media's Ernie Brown.In this half hour, the guests and topics discussed were:1. Bryan Jeffries, Cinemark’s vice president of marketing and promotions, chats about the debut of "Wonder Woman."2. Jason Wert (USA Radio) ---Man dies and 40 others are bitten after vampire bats attack humans in Brazil.3. How does Facebook deal with people that break their terms of service? Hayley Tsukayama, a reporter with the Washington Post, has been following this story and has the latest.4. Trending Today USA Roundtable featuring Keely Brooks, Adam Zientek, and Michael LucieImage credit: rvlsoft / Shutterstock.com

In this week's episode of the Geeks OUT Podcast, Kevin (@Gilligan_McJew) is joined by special guest @JWCrump as they discuss the the premiere of Luke Cage, the start of horror movie season with sequels, reboots, and remakes, and celebrate Wonder Woman in This Week in Queer.  This Week's Topics Include: BIG OPENING: KEVIN:  Adventure Time is coming to an end J.W.: Horror sequels - Amityville, Rings, Halloween Returns, Annabelle 2, Jeepers Creepers 3   DOWN AND NERDY:   KEVIN: American Horror Story, Scream Queens, Agents of SHIELD J.W.: Dead of Winter, Camp Grizzly, Until Dawn, Questionable Content, Robot Hugs,     STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER: Supergirl   THIS WEEK IN QUEER: Wonder Woman is bisexual   CLIP OF THE WEEK: Will & Grace election reunion   The Week in Geek: MOVIES Jon Favreau to make live action Lion King New Dr. Strange trailer Remake of Stephen King's IT has wrapped production   TV New trailers released for new season of Arrow and New trailer for Luke Cage The Strain renewed for 4th/Final Season The Tick ordered to series on Amazon   COMICS Preview of Death of X teases what may have happened to Jamie Madrox Jem from IDW

DownloadTrigger Warnings:HomophobiaTransphobiaTERRIBLE THINGSViolence towards members of the LGBT community~Please be a responsible listener.~In this first of a multi-part episode, we debate two issues. The first is a hypothetical where a cisgender man leaves his girlfriend when he finds out that she is transgender and has a penis.The second is the fetishization of transgender people, and we also touch upon other issues such as the morality of certain kinds of sexual thoughts and pedophilia.CORRECTION: Mentioned in the podcast was a trans woman who was murdered by a U.S. marine. In the podcast, we will tell you that it happened in Thailand, when, in fact, it was in the Philippines.http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/world/asia/us-marine-joseph-pemberton-guilty-in-killing-of-transgender-woman-in-philippines.html?_r=0 CreditsSpecial Guest (G&S Specialist) : Klaus McHendryIntro/Outro : Cosmo Cavanaugh, Jackie Beaudoin, Kyle Mitchell, & Tracy MedcalfSound Editing : Cosmo CavanaughScript : Cosmo Cavanaugh & Kyle MitchellHosted by all the aboveMusic“Returning” by ShadowWalkerShadowWalker SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/3shadowwalker3 ShadowWalker Bandcamp: https://shadowwalker0.bandcamp.com/ “Returning” Bandcamp link: https://shadowwalker0.bandcamp.com/track/returning ShadowWalker Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShadowWalkerART “Puzzle” by RetroVisionRetroVision SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/retro_vision RetroVision Twitter: https://twitter.com/RetroVisionFR RetroVision Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/retrovisionmusic/?ref=hl RetroVision YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TH3D4RKR4C3 NCS Release: https://soundcloud.com/nocopyrightsounds/retrovision-puzzle-ncs-release NCS YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN_8D-79BZg&feature=youtu.be “Master Disorder” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Sources:Cissexist Bullshit Translator: https://www.buzzfeed.com/meredithtalusan/cissexist-bullshit-translator?utm_term=.rl15ooq3n#.Check it out:Klaus’s art blog: http://thealchemistofcalais.tumblr.com/ Klaus’s other blog: http://thenicklauseffect.tumblr.com/ Her Storyhttp://www.herstoryshow.com/Jeph JacquesWebsite: http://jephjacques.com/ Questionable Content: http://questionablecontent.net/ Social MediaiTunes: goo.gl/bsW0Ab YouTube: goo.gl/3qMdwm Blog: goo.gl/3Y6NkO Twitter: goo.gl/vM5HUD SoundCloud: goo.gl/MjRcVt Reddit: goo.gl/6CcA7l Facebook: goo.gl/b0g3xA © 2016 Geometric Octopus Some Rights Reservedhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/GeometricOctopusPodcast

This week we're digging into our "boxes"  - The Isotope Comics Lounge  - Smoke & Guns  - AiT/Planet Lar  - Supreme: Blue Rose  - Zodiac Starforce  - Plutona  - Injection  - Rat Queens  - Grayson  - Ragnarok  - Battleworld: Runaways  - Battleworld: A-Force  - Atomic Robo  - Questionable Content  - Orc Stain  - Skullkickers  - The Losers  - Re-Animator  - Grumpy Cat  - Garfield & Garfunkel  - Uzumaki  - Kaptara  - God Hates Astronauts  - Scud The Disposable Assassin  - Space Riders  - Rowans Ruin  - Lumberjanes  - Bombshells  - Survivor's Club  - Paper Girls  - SHIELD: Agent Carter, Fury, Quake, Mockingbird, The Cavalry  - The Filth  - Archie  - Jughead  - We Stand On Guard  - Phonogram  - Doctor Strange  - I Zombie  - Mage We'll be taking a couple weeks off and then returning with an insane amount of Matt Fraction comics in our brains

50 - Tower of Destruction (With Jeph Jacques)Hey everybody, it’s me here! Episode 50 brings us to another fantastic Fighting Fantasy. Jeph Jacques joins us from the lovely comics Questionable Content...

The I Flunked the Written Cowl for the Sunnydale Yarn Club This episode is sponsored by the new and improved Dizzy Blonde Studios. Check out our new website at www.dizzyblondestudios.com Catching Up: (00:55) Laura was at Alamitos Bay Yarn Company for meet and greets for the Los Angeles Yarn Crawl. We mention Trendsetter Yarns, Baah Yarn, and Reywa Fibers. She got to take a day off and go to Disneyland, where she got to meet Thor and see a lot of props from the Marvel Universe movies. She's on Round 3 of her final Nerd Wars tournament for a while. She is still working out some of the bugs for the new Dizzy Blonde Studios website. She will use her Etsy shop for patterns and clearance yarns and one-off skeins. She's also fighting a cold. Jen was at the Craftcation Conference in Ventura. She stayed at a hotel right on the water. She loves Ventura. And she took a cookingclass with Aida Mollenkamp. She learned to make preserved lemons, took a drawing class, took workshops on branding, social media, and blogs, got to listen to Melanie Falick on a panel, did some embroidery classes (and got embroidery kits from Ugly Baby and La Ru (with patterns from Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching). She's reading Swamplandia!. She's working on a monologue from the play Educating Rita for her acting class. And she's going to write on her blog more. And she released a a pattern! It's currently exclusive for the Sunnydale Yarn Club, but in six months, you can buy it. In the Knitting Bag: (15:53) Laura is working on the left hand version of the Hand to Hold Dishcloth by Rachel van Schie. She has done the right hand square in Berroco Vintage DK in blue. She is also working on a blanket square using the Fruity Oaty Bar Chart by Elizabeth Herac out of Berroco Comfort in a sage green. She is working on her vintage man sock in Lambie Toes in the color No Touching Guns. And she's continuing to work on the Broncos hat for her brother out of Knitpicks Brava in blue, orange, and cream. And she has put a few leaves on her Leftie by Martina Behm, out of a Miss Babs kit in slate and reds. Jen is also working on a Leftie out of Knitpicks Palette in Cream, Rouge, Spearmint, and Aster. She is very happy that she went stashdiving. She is working on a Leah's Lovely Cardigan out of Malabrigo sock in Eggplant. She is working on her Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Fibre Company Organik in Highlands.  She regrets not doing the sleeves before she finished the body, so there is less to flip (something she learned fromThe Knitmore Girls), because the body of this sweater is heavy. We mention Melissa's custom colorway from the Loopy Ewe. Finished Objects: (26:36) Laura finished the right hand Hand to Hold Blanket Square, the Leaf on the Wind "Wash Cloth" by Becca out of Berroco comfort worsted. Jen finished her 2x2 ribbed scarf out of Patons Wool Classic in the colorway Kimono for the charity Interval House. Devil's Tower: (28:45) Laura has been really good about pulling things out of the Devil's Tower. Jen's Rocky Coast Cardigan is hovering around Devil's Tower. And her Watership Down KAL shawl is Devil's Tower because she doesn't have the brain power for it right now. Frog Pond: (30:55) Jen has been lucky, but Laura has not been. Laura frogged her initial Bronco's hat because the pattern with the stripes was looking too feminine. In addition, she put a knot in at the color change and the knot came undone and it unraveled. Plus, she couldn't figure out a way to do the color changes she liked, so she frogged it and started over in a new pattern of her own making. On Deck: (33:20) After Nerd Wars, Laura plans on making an Effortless Cardigan by Hannah Fettig out of Dizzy Blonde Sock in Timey Wimey (TARDIS Blue). She also will be making some more blanket squares for Nerd Wars. Jen kind of wants to re-make her Sweetheart of the Rodeo cardigan, because it's knit at a small gauge in high twist yarn (Wollmeise DK). She may just cut out the colorwork and re-do it as embroidery. Or maybe she will re-make a new one out of fingering weight. She wants to make the Chickadee from Ysolda’s book Little Red in the City in Quince and Company Chickadee in Slate, Egret, Lichen, and Rosa Rugosa.  She also wants to make a Lauriel Cardigan (also by Ysolda and from Little Red in the City) out of Wollmeise DK in Pesto.and a pair of Water for the Elephants socks by Rose Hiver in some Knitpicks Stroll in a bare (natural) and Summer Blooms (pink).  She also has an idea for some mitts with jacaranda blossoms embroidered on them. We mention Celestarium and Southern Skies by Audrey Nicklin. Knit Culture: (40:06) We answer a question from our Knotty Talk Thread. knitallthestuff asks Here’s one that falls more under “discussion topic” than “request for help/info”. When selecting what patterns to knit/crochet and which ones to do next, how do you juggle all the conflicting desires/intentions: 1. OMG, SHINY! Must. Make. Now. 2. I should do this now, so I can get some use out of it before next year. 3. It would be really nice to have this, but I should wait until X date (see #2). 4. Other deadlines, whether externally- or self-imposed (Christmas, Birthdays, Ravellenics). 5. That skein of ___ is calling to me from my stash. I must use it and love it and call it George. We answer, but we want to know what you think. We come up with the overall answer of "it depends on the mood and the pattern." We both determine that we are more motivated by the pattern than the yarn. Laura has had a great need for deadline work for Nerd Wards and booth samples. Jen takes the cast on time into account. We mention a bunch of patterns, including Yggdrasil and the The Princess Shawl. But we really want to know about your motivations. So let us know in the Ravelry thread for this episode. We also announce prizes for the overall Podcaster Throwdown. PlainJayne12 knit the most hats overall (for Team Sock-a-holic). The most prolific knitter for Team KnottyGirls was Karen E. They both win an "Almost the Works Package" for any Stitches event in 2014 or 2015, donated by XRX Books. Carrie M. of The Yarn Sellar contributed the most hats overall. She got the residents of a correctional facility to knit and donate 99 hats for Team Craftlit. She wins a membership to the second patrol of the Sunnydale Yarn Club donated by Dizzy Color. Robdob contributed the most virtual hats. She raffled off a shawl and donated the proceeds to Team Sock-a-holic. She wins a prize package consisting of a 40th Anniversary Large Eden Drawstring Bag from Della Q, 1 Set each Knitters Pride Dreamz US Size 5 in 24” & 40”, Valley Yarns Pattern Series Snowdrop Baby Blanket, and 10 balls Valley Yarns Longmeadow in Natural, donated by WEBS. Our team MVP is Peggy Baxter (pbaxter), president of ESSS, who was such an enthusiastic supporter. She wins a two-year subscription to Knitter's Magazine, donated by XRX Books. Random Drawings: 4 Mini-skein samplers donated by Skeindalous Yarns 1. Estella A 2. Meshuggeknitter 3. Bluesjules 4. Seajaneknit 5 skeins Blondee Merino/Superfine Alpaca blend donated by Dizzy Blonde Studios 1. Kim Rennick 2. indigodogmt 3. CrispyBacon 4. JudithLee 5. Mary 3 Books donated by Heather Ordover of Craftlit 1. What would Madame Defarge Knit?--Edith 2. What else would Madame Defarge Knit?--Susan from Brea 3. Grounded--Barbula 2 skeins of 100% Yak Yarn donated by Bijou Basin Ranch 1. Dark Blue--Glenda from Fullerton 2. Light Sandy Brown--knitsnhikes 1 4oz./100g. Skein Skeindalous Joi Sport 100% BFL in Candy Floss donated by Skeindalous Yarns--Barbula A copy of History on Two Needles donated by Annie Modesitt--Ruth L A digital pattern collection of Marly Bird's patterns donated by Marly Bird herself--Karen E 3 Needle Cases donated by Knit Totes 1. RKSmom 2. Fred from ESSS 3. afreyedknot 2 50-gram skeins FibraNatura 100% linen donated by Laura 1. Regatta color--Shanda S 2. Purple color--KnittyBarb A Project Back Pack donated by the KnottyGirls Knitcast--E Gould 3 Knit stitch marker sets donated by the KnottyGirls Knitcast 1. k8erpillar 2. Kay from Ladera Ranch 3. scmusicals 2 Crochet stitch marker sets donated by the KnottyGirls Knitcast 1. ariane 2. Lifewithmonkey Thank you so much to all the prize doners, to everyone who contributed hats (virtual or real) or gave someone yarn to knit hats or contributed in any way. You all did an amazing thing for Halos of Hope. Geek Culture: (1:01:01) We talk about knitting webcomics. We mention Worsted for Wear and Knit Princess. We love both of them. Jen also mentions other webcomics she loves: Questionable Content and xkcd. And we want to know what cool stuff you find on the internet. So we started a thread in our Ravelry group where you can post any cool knitting-related or geek-related things you find on the internet. Share the love. Events: (1:05:29) Signups for Patrol 2 of the Sunnydale Yarn Club will start April 17th and close on May 2nd. There are 32 spots in the club; if more than 32 people sign up, names will be drawn for the spots on May 5th. First installment will go out in June. Pricing, details, and the signup form are at dizzycolor.wordpress.com We are planning an event for World Wide Knit In Public Day. Details to follow, but our event will be either June 21 or June 22. We are both going to the CogKNITive retreat run by Dr. Gemma of the CogKNITive Podcast on July 25. Jen will be at the Retzlaff Winery Fleeces, Food, and Fun event on June 7th. We also mention Pear Pie with Red Wine and Rosemary. Thanks for listening to our 25th episode. Our next milestone prize will be at 1000 members, so join the Ravelry Group. And don't forget to post your finished April projects in the April Thread. You can win yarn!

And we are back! with episode 2 of Nansen Fireweed! We rant about some scifi stuff in this one! http://Nansenfireweed.podbean.com/mf/web/n9tnds/NansenFireweedEpisode2StillAlive.mp3 Links for things we referenced: Gunnerkrigg Court: http://www.gunnerkrigg.com Questionable Content: http://questionablecontent.net Poppy Opossum: http://www.poppy-opossum.com 2045 initiative video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01hbkh4hXEk Our stuff: Spencer’s DA: http://dudethecthuluslayer.deviantart.com and blog: http://reynscomic.blogspot.com Bryce’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrMoNe Subscribe in a reader

Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content joins us to talk about discovery writing, and how he digs himself out of holes when he writes himself into them.

Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content joins us to talk about discovery writing, and how he digs himself out of holes when he writes himself into them.

https://pietriots.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/pieradioep1.mp3 Download Link It’s the podcast you all asked for! What, nobody did? Good, because it’s a radio show! Experts at nothing, amused by everything; Grubdog, Bill Aurion, RABicle, Deguello and Matto all got together in the Pietriots Studio to talk about current games, SimCity, Rayman Legends and tackle the hard issues behind DLC and … Continue reading Pietriots Radio – Episode 1 (Cities, Legends and Questionable Content) →

Diese Folge war ursprünglich leicht anders geplant, aber Raffzahn ist mangels Autobahnvignette auf der Landstrasse versumpft. XTaran und Venty haben dann adhoc das Thema Comics und Webcomics ausgewählt, um etwas darüber zu erzählen. Trackliste Kraftfuttermischwerk – Frühlingswärme Core Wizard & Dark Master – Hello World Man with no alias – Promised Land Nächste Sendung am 7. Mai 2011 Garfield :: Frech, Fett, Faul und Filosofisch Peanuts :: Charly Brown und die Peanuts von Charles M. Schultz Foxtrot :: Foxtrot von Bill Amend Userfriendly :: Userfriendly von Illiad Sabrina :: Sabrina von Eric Schwartz Sabrina in Deutsch :: Sabrina in Deutsch von Fans übersetzt Eric Schwartz :: Diverse Kurzfilme von Eric Schwartz vom Amiga (Youtube) Globi-Verlag :: Globi, Papa Moll etc. Ringgi und Zofi :: Ringgi und Zofi, leider vergriffen Ehapa Verlag :: Asterix, Disney Comics etc. in Deutsch Marvel Universe :: Spiderman, Hulk, Iron Man etc. DC Comics :: Superman, Bat Man, Roter Blitz etc. Yps mit Gimmick :: Yps, Urzeitkrebse und andere lustige Gimmicks Calvin & Hobbes :: Calvin und Hobbes Sinfest :: Sinfest Gaston :: Gaston Lagaffe PhD Comics :: Piled Higher and Deeper XKCD :: A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. Joy of Tech :: The Joy of Tech Nichtlustig :: Meistens eben doch Kevin and Kell :: Kevin and Kell DAR :: DAR Comic Bucko :: Bucko Comic Commissioned :: Commissioned Comic Extra Life :: My Extra Life CAD :: CTRL-ALT-DELETE Devil's Panties :: The Devil's Panties Questionable Content :: Questionable Content Geek & Poke :: Geek and Poke The Bizarre Cathedral :: Comic von der Free Software Foundation Wapsi Square :: Slice of supernatural life APOD :: Astronomy Picture Of the Day von der NASA File Download (60:02 min / 75 MB)

Diese Folge war ursprünglich leicht anders geplant, aber Raffzahn ist mangels Autobahnvignette auf der Landstrasse versumpft. XTaran und Venty haben dann adhoc das Thema Comics und Webcomics ausgewählt, um etwas darüber zu erzählen. Trackliste Kraftfuttermischwerk – Frühlingswärme Core Wizard & Dark Master – Hello World Man with no alias – Promised Land Nächste Sendung am 7. Mai 2011 Garfield :: Frech, Fett, Faul und Filosofisch Peanuts :: Charly Brown und die Peanuts von Charles M. Schultz Foxtrot :: Foxtrot von Bill Amend Userfriendly :: Userfriendly von Illiad Sabrina :: Sabrina von Eric Schwartz Sabrina in Deutsch :: Sabrina in Deutsch von Fans übersetzt Eric Schwartz :: Diverse Kurzfilme von Eric Schwartz vom Amiga (Youtube) Globi-Verlag :: Globi, Papa Moll etc. Ringgi und Zofi :: Ringgi und Zofi, leider vergriffen Ehapa Verlag :: Asterix, Disney Comics etc. in Deutsch Marvel Universe :: Spiderman, Hulk, Iron Man etc. DC Comics :: Superman, Bat Man, Roter Blitz etc. Yps mit Gimmick :: Yps, Urzeitkrebse und andere lustige Gimmicks Calvin & Hobbes :: Calvin und Hobbes Sinfest :: Sinfest Gaston :: Gaston Lagaffe PhD Comics :: Piled Higher and Deeper XKCD :: A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. Joy of Tech :: The Joy of Tech Nichtlustig :: Meistens eben doch Kevin and Kell :: Kevin and Kell DAR :: DAR Comic Bucko :: Bucko Comic Commissioned :: Commissioned Comic Extra Life :: My Extra Life CAD :: CTRL-ALT-DELETE Devil's Panties :: The Devil's Panties Questionable Content :: Questionable Content Geek & Poke :: Geek and Poke The Bizarre Cathedral :: Comic von der Free Software Foundation Wapsi Square :: Slice of supernatural life APOD :: Astronomy Picture Of the Day von der NASA File Download (60:02 min / 75 MB)

Show Notes: [Recorded 12/11/10 @ Dragon's Lair Comics & Fantasy in Austin, TX] This is part 1 of the webcomics panel recorded at the annual Dragon's Lair Webcomic Rampage event in Austin, TX. Enjoy! Guests: Joel Watson of HijiNKS ENSUE, Danielle Corsetto of Girls With Slingshots, Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content, David Willis of Shortpacked […]

Hola comrades! Welcome to episode 7 of Hobbies for Zombies. Joining Muz and I today is Crimson! During this episode we discuss airbending, evil exes, LEGOs and food raining from the sky. Please leave us some feedback and feel free to send something to hobbiesforzombies@gmail.com As always thanks for listening!Playing:Transformers: War of CybertronLeft 4 Dead 2Sam & Max 201: Ice Station SantaBanjo-Kazooie: Nuts & BoltsLego Harry Potter Years 1-4Dragon Age: Origins Reading:Saga of Swamp Thing Volume 2Scott Pilgrim Volumes 1-5Questionable Content Watching:Mega64 Version 3 (update)Bright FallsThe Last AirbenderLie to MeAdamDead Like MeCloudy With a Chance of Meatballs News!! Master Hand Glitch/CodeAndrew GarfieldSean Connery movie Paranormal Activity 2 TrailerBonus! The General Consensus with The Last Airbender Download Link