signalstation – Page 95

Mass Retweet: Paper or Plastic Edition

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THE DEPT OF MONSTER NAMES

AT THE DEPT OF MONSTER NAMES
A: Boss, there’s a monster in Loch Ness, and–
B: Loch Ness Monster. Bam!
A: …And that’s why you’re the boss!

—-

AT THE DEPT OF MONSTER NAMES
A: Boss, there’s a forest monster leaving tracks from its big feet–
B: Call ’em Bigfoot. BAM!
A: Amazing.

—-

AT THE DEPT OF MONSTER NAMES
A: Boss, there’s this Tibetan mountain ape?
B (cooking pasta): Is my spaghetti ready yet-y?
A: Yeti?
B: Huh?

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[originally posted on Twitter]

The Immersive Power of Fiction

There’s this tweet I quite like from Mike Rosenthal that reads: “What if your fiance said ‘smell ya later’ and then got his nose shot off in the War? I’m crying now, I hate the immersive power of fiction”

I thought of it often while watching YouTube personality Markiplier play a very simple game for an hour and, despite really simplistic graphics and a hard-to-swallow high concept, find himself completely absorbed in a game where he’s trapped in a cell and asked to simply stay happy and play video games.

The meta-narrative of also being in a room, alone, trying to be happy and play video games might have got to him. There are several points in the video where, in the embedded video Mark shoots of himself while he plays, you can see real emotion as the isolation of the game draws him in and forces a very human reaction, despite the limitations of the medium.

It’s a pretty amazing thing to watch. Be ready to see the immersive power of fiction.

Happy Anniversary: THE SPIRIT LEFT ME

One year ago, I released a short e-book featuring amusements, monsters… ghosts… like it says on the cover. A cover I thought looked delightfully retro when I designed it, looking like a library book that had lost its dust jacket, but in hindsight the design does not sell the wonders within at all. You can’t even see the high-resolution book texture behind the faux-stamped yellow text when it’s shrunk down to thumbnail size.

Anyway. For the 1 year anniversary, I’m offering the book for free for the limited time period of “forever.” This is a savings of 0% off the original price.

Mostly, this is just a reminder to myself that I should have made progress on something new in the last year. What the heck have I been doing?