bijan
@bijan.bsky.social
haunted
writer @compulsiongames.bsky.social, music critic @thenation.com, playing characters on @funcityventures.bsky.social
bijanstephen.blog/about
writer @compulsiongames.bsky.social, music critic @thenation.com, playing characters on @funcityventures.bsky.social
bijanstephen.blog/about
fuck it. ape escaping in a ford escape
December 1, 2025 at 8:01 PM
fuck it. ape escaping in a ford escape
bar bathroom said it so u know it’s true
November 30, 2025 at 6:48 AM
bar bathroom said it so u know it’s true
Reposted by bijan
Getting stuck causes players to explore the world.
Dying causes players to think about what they're doing.
An "impossible" situation causes players to learn how the game works and eventually achieve the impossible.
We need to be able to design *some* games around these fundamental ideas.
Dying causes players to think about what they're doing.
An "impossible" situation causes players to learn how the game works and eventually achieve the impossible.
We need to be able to design *some* games around these fundamental ideas.
November 28, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Getting stuck causes players to explore the world.
Dying causes players to think about what they're doing.
An "impossible" situation causes players to learn how the game works and eventually achieve the impossible.
We need to be able to design *some* games around these fundamental ideas.
Dying causes players to think about what they're doing.
An "impossible" situation causes players to learn how the game works and eventually achieve the impossible.
We need to be able to design *some* games around these fundamental ideas.
perfect day after thanksgiving blog
An illuminating conversation with the man who was Willem Dafoe's stunt penis defector.com/willem-dafoe...
An Illuminating Conversation With The Man Who Was Willem Dafoe’s Stunt Penis | Defector
For years, a rumor has floated around about the length of Willem Dafoe’s penis. Willem Dafoe’s penis is said to be extra-large. It is allegedly so big, in fact, that after filming nude scenes in the 2...
defector.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:41 PM
perfect day after thanksgiving blog
after careful consideration, deliberation, and focus groups, ive decided to call this the “chris kyle”
got the new special at the bar. think this is definitely gonna hit the spot
November 23, 2025 at 6:11 AM
after careful consideration, deliberation, and focus groups, ive decided to call this the “chris kyle”
got the new special at the bar. think this is definitely gonna hit the spot
November 23, 2025 at 3:30 AM
got the new special at the bar. think this is definitely gonna hit the spot
too stubborn to die without trying it first
November 23, 2025 at 1:25 AM
too stubborn to die without trying it first
love seeing the melody that lets you know you’re gonna be ok
November 22, 2025 at 1:42 AM
love seeing the melody that lets you know you’re gonna be ok
cuomo could never have pulled this off, ya gotta admit
I think this clip is the key to understanding why Trump acted the way he did with Mamdani. His world revolves around TV ratings.
"I tell you, the press has eaten this thing up."
"I tell you, the press has eaten this thing up."
November 21, 2025 at 10:29 PM
cuomo could never have pulled this off, ya gotta admit
game devs: i'm looking for resources on storytelling in different genres for my own personal edification. anyone got anything they'd rec?
November 21, 2025 at 8:25 PM
game devs: i'm looking for resources on storytelling in different genres for my own personal edification. anyone got anything they'd rec?
checking in on my heritage tabs (tabs i've had open for more than a month)
November 21, 2025 at 6:53 PM
checking in on my heritage tabs (tabs i've had open for more than a month)
man 2025 is crazy i just learned theyre still making fmv games
November 20, 2025 at 9:30 PM
man 2025 is crazy i just learned theyre still making fmv games
happy international men’s day
November 20, 2025 at 2:41 AM
happy international men’s day
Reposted by bijan
Demonschool: Is OUT. It's out. Finally it is out. We hope you enjoy it.
store.steampowered.com/app/1900250/...
store.playstation.com/en-us/concep...
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
store.steampowered.com/app/1900250/...
store.playstation.com/en-us/concep...
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
November 19, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Demonschool: Is OUT. It's out. Finally it is out. We hope you enjoy it.
store.steampowered.com/app/1900250/...
store.playstation.com/en-us/concep...
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
store.steampowered.com/app/1900250/...
store.playstation.com/en-us/concep...
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
Reposted by bijan
A few months ago @thelocal.to got a promising pitch from a writer with bylines in whole bunch of reputable publications—The Cut, The Guardian, Dwell, Architectural Digest, etc. Then I started investigating. Here's a story about fabulists in journalism's AI slop era. thelocal.to/investigatin...
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 19, 2025 at 2:10 PM
A few months ago @thelocal.to got a promising pitch from a writer with bylines in whole bunch of reputable publications—The Cut, The Guardian, Dwell, Architectural Digest, etc. Then I started investigating. Here's a story about fabulists in journalism's AI slop era. thelocal.to/investigatin...
Reposted by bijan
I missed this study (anyone have a link?) but I'm not sure why we're supposed to be surprised. Average person prefers a Hallmark card to poetry, bland hotel art to challenging contemporary art, and paint-by-numbers fiction to anyone trying to do something new. I would expect this result.
Discussion on here this morning about 1)whether Gemini is good at "creative writing" and 2)a study showing people preferred AI imitations of writers to the writers themselves. I come back to my trusty all-purpose question: What problem are we solving when we outsource "creative writing"?
November 19, 2025 at 2:39 PM
I missed this study (anyone have a link?) but I'm not sure why we're supposed to be surprised. Average person prefers a Hallmark card to poetry, bland hotel art to challenging contemporary art, and paint-by-numbers fiction to anyone trying to do something new. I would expect this result.
man these guys really seem to hate free speech. wonder why
New: Reuters has tallied job losses, suspensions and investigations stemming from the reaction to Charlie Kirk's Sept. 10 assassination. Its findings: More than 600 Americans have been punished, and the figure is likely to be an under-count.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
November 19, 2025 at 12:46 PM
man these guys really seem to hate free speech. wonder why
bro shout out to editors. was one for a while but holy shit i never had to lift this kind of weight
November 18, 2025 at 2:00 AM
bro shout out to editors. was one for a while but holy shit i never had to lift this kind of weight
Reposted by bijan
bald emma stone really putting the bug in bugonia
November 15, 2025 at 1:26 AM
bald emma stone really putting the bug in bugonia
exact same way i felt about pandemic graffiti. environmental storytelling is just Like That
Again, to every videogame writer who wrote funny emails to read in an immersive sim/etc. where I rolled my eyes and said out loud, "lol like anyone would ever email something this on the nose", again, sorry, I was wrong, life sucks, you nailed it
November 12, 2025 at 10:56 PM
exact same way i felt about pandemic graffiti. environmental storytelling is just Like That
one of the most horrifying things i've ever read
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers
For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't kno...
www.apmreports.org
November 11, 2025 at 9:32 PM
one of the most horrifying things i've ever read
really excellent piece from amanda on ulta, which is fascinating
For the cover of Businessweek’s December issue, I wrote about the reigning queen of America’s strip malls: Ulta Beauty, the country’s biggest beauty retailer (yes, bigger than Sephora) and quietly one of the more fascinating retailers in the country. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
How Beauty Behemoth Ulta Conquered the American Strip Mall
The retailer built an $11 billion business by acting more like Home Depot than like Sephora.
www.bloomberg.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:08 PM
really excellent piece from amanda on ulta, which is fascinating
excellent piece on tolkien, the changing faces of d&d, and the history of ~fantasy racism~. good shit in here
The far right is obsessed with Lord of the Rings and Musk keeps posting about "hobbits" because modern scientific racism owes more to fantasy worlds and gaming systems than genetic science, and they see both as effective mediums for right-wing propaganda www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Why Elon Musk Needs Dungeons and Dragons to Be Racist
The fantastical roots of “scientific racism”
www.theatlantic.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:09 PM
excellent piece on tolkien, the changing faces of d&d, and the history of ~fantasy racism~. good shit in here