Brandon O’Brien | National Pray For A Bredren Month (extended)
@therisingtithes.bsky.social
🇹🇹 Poet, SFF writer, TTRPG designer. Worldcon 2025 Poet Laureate.
@rascal.news columnist. Podcaster @speculate.bsky.social & @skiffyandfanty.com.
Author of CAN YOU SIGN MY TENTACLE? and other things.
Thank God for words.
https://www.brandonobrien.xyz/
@rascal.news columnist. Podcaster @speculate.bsky.social & @skiffyandfanty.com.
Author of CAN YOU SIGN MY TENTACLE? and other things.
Thank God for words.
https://www.brandonobrien.xyz/
Pinned
Brandon O’Brien | National Pray For A Bredren Month (extended)
@therisingtithes.bsky.social
· Oct 29
Brandon O'Brien's Afternoon Tea
Thoughts on media, the curiosities of our world, and things that may make us smile. I made this cup just for you.
brandonobrien.xyz
If you're new here:
Hey folks. I'm Brandon. I'm a poet, science fiction writer, and TTRPG designer from Trinidad. I have a lot of feelings about elegies, lagahoos, and Kamen Rider.
Find out about my writing and game design, and sign up for my very infrequent newsletter, here: brandonobrien.xyz
Hey folks. I'm Brandon. I'm a poet, science fiction writer, and TTRPG designer from Trinidad. I have a lot of feelings about elegies, lagahoos, and Kamen Rider.
Find out about my writing and game design, and sign up for my very infrequent newsletter, here: brandonobrien.xyz
I've been so distracted while traveling that I didn't even notice this happen... 👀
After a pause, we are once again accepting pitches for games.
If you've designed a TTRPG (especially one built on PbtA, Forged in the Dark, or Fate) that's near-complete, you can find details about how to pitch us (and the services we provide) here:
evilhat.com/game-submiss...
If you've designed a TTRPG (especially one built on PbtA, Forged in the Dark, or Fate) that's near-complete, you can find details about how to pitch us (and the services we provide) here:
evilhat.com/game-submiss...
December 12, 2025 at 8:34 PM
I've been so distracted while traveling that I didn't even notice this happen... 👀
I obviously cannot verify this, so I welcome those who can to do so, but yet again as a foreign writer who loves going to cons, one of the ways we make cons safer in the US is for fandom to not only reject policies like these but do whatever they can to provide avenues of safety to travelers.
NEW: Five years of social media history is only a fraction of what the US Government will shortly demand of overseas visitors.
The full requirements will end tourism in the United States.
Below is the full, mind-blowing list.
🚨THEY. WANT. YOUR. DNA.🚨
1/
The full requirements will end tourism in the United States.
Below is the full, mind-blowing list.
🚨THEY. WANT. YOUR. DNA.🚨
1/
December 12, 2025 at 3:28 PM
I obviously cannot verify this, so I welcome those who can to do so, but yet again as a foreign writer who loves going to cons, one of the ways we make cons safer in the US is for fandom to not only reject policies like these but do whatever they can to provide avenues of safety to travelers.
as an aside: now that Exodus has sent an email to mailing list signups about their TGS trailer, I’ve checked back in my email and they did in fact announce their TTRPG book preorder via mailing list in *August*
I WAS IN SEATTLE WHEN THEY SENT IT
I WASN’T CHECKING NO EMAILS DAWG
I lost out 😭
I WAS IN SEATTLE WHEN THEY SENT IT
I WASN’T CHECKING NO EMAILS DAWG
I lost out 😭
They stealth dropped it a couple months ago for a very limited pre-release, I think it's coming for real in 2026 (maybe to go along with the game?)
ttrpg.store.exodusgame.com
ttrpg.store.exodusgame.com
EXODUS™ TRPG Store
Explore the world of EXODUS™ with official TRPG books. Discover books, news, and exclusive editions for the upcoming tabletop role-playing game.
ttrpg.store.exodusgame.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:24 AM
as an aside: now that Exodus has sent an email to mailing list signups about their TGS trailer, I’ve checked back in my email and they did in fact announce their TTRPG book preorder via mailing list in *August*
I WAS IN SEATTLE WHEN THEY SENT IT
I WASN’T CHECKING NO EMAILS DAWG
I lost out 😭
I WAS IN SEATTLE WHEN THEY SENT IT
I WASN’T CHECKING NO EMAILS DAWG
I lost out 😭
GAIN, ALLYUH.
I am remembering that The Game Awards is just broken.
I am remembering that The Game Awards is just broken.
December 12, 2025 at 12:43 AM
GAIN, ALLYUH.
I am remembering that The Game Awards is just broken.
I am remembering that The Game Awards is just broken.
TIL one of the 2019 XXL Freshmen has since traveled to Europe, switched genres, and learned to play jazz trumpet. This is wild and I kinda dig it, and I have never listened to Comethazine *once* before this.
The Rebrand of Comethazine Was Not a Joke...
YouTube video by B Lee
youtu.be
December 11, 2025 at 1:48 AM
TIL one of the 2019 XXL Freshmen has since traveled to Europe, switched genres, and learned to play jazz trumpet. This is wild and I kinda dig it, and I have never listened to Comethazine *once* before this.
The Game Awards are tomorrow and I'm home and I haven't streamed in ages.
🤔
🤔
December 11, 2025 at 12:54 AM
The Game Awards are tomorrow and I'm home and I haven't streamed in ages.
🤔
🤔
catching up on Watson. Jeffrey Paul King wrote the Elementary episode 'Over A Barrel', as well as the Watson episode 'Livvy Sees The Doctor', which is essentially the same. He even uses the same introductory transition—a frustrated father waiting several months for our hero's attention. I am ENRAPT.
December 10, 2025 at 5:20 PM
catching up on Watson. Jeffrey Paul King wrote the Elementary episode 'Over A Barrel', as well as the Watson episode 'Livvy Sees The Doctor', which is essentially the same. He even uses the same introductory transition—a frustrated father waiting several months for our hero's attention. I am ENRAPT.
Reposted by Brandon O’Brien | National Pray For A Bredren Month (extended)
it's that time again
December 10, 2025 at 11:42 AM
it's that time again
The part that's depressing about that UOklahoma girl being made out by TPUSA to be a martyr is, among other things, that right-wing organisations are making it clear that they want their constituents to associate being articulate or having comprehension with being corrupted.
December 10, 2025 at 4:27 PM
The part that's depressing about that UOklahoma girl being made out by TPUSA to be a martyr is, among other things, that right-wing organisations are making it clear that they want their constituents to associate being articulate or having comprehension with being corrupted.
🚀
December 10, 2025 at 10:01 AM
🚀
this is neat as hell
in NYC you never know who’s gonna show up when you start rapping 😂 @LIFEOFTHOM
YouTube video by ARIatHOME
youtube.com
December 9, 2025 at 10:53 PM
this is neat as hell
I am admittedly very un-knowledgeable about Lorwyn as a plane, but I must say one of the things that has me hype to see more of Lorwyn Eclipsed is seeing art by Iris Compiet.
December 8, 2025 at 7:52 PM
I am admittedly very un-knowledgeable about Lorwyn as a plane, but I must say one of the things that has me hype to see more of Lorwyn Eclipsed is seeing art by Iris Compiet.
I love fan speculation, believe me, but I think we have crossed the fun rubicon on Destiny 2 Red Subclass discourse.
December 8, 2025 at 5:39 PM
I love fan speculation, believe me, but I think we have crossed the fun rubicon on Destiny 2 Red Subclass discourse.
I am about to watch an American family cut down a tree and take it back home with them.
I am experiencing the platonic ideal of Christmas. I feel like I’m in a cartoon. I am having a lot of feelings.
White Christmas is so weird, allyuh.
I am experiencing the platonic ideal of Christmas. I feel like I’m in a cartoon. I am having a lot of feelings.
White Christmas is so weird, allyuh.
December 7, 2025 at 6:26 PM
I am about to watch an American family cut down a tree and take it back home with them.
I am experiencing the platonic ideal of Christmas. I feel like I’m in a cartoon. I am having a lot of feelings.
White Christmas is so weird, allyuh.
I am experiencing the platonic ideal of Christmas. I feel like I’m in a cartoon. I am having a lot of feelings.
White Christmas is so weird, allyuh.
I reckon the easiest way to befuddle AI and embrace more earnest fiction would also benefit many writers of colour:
write more books entirely in creoles!
No AI coulda ever decipher me!
Plus, more readers will discover they in fact can intuit the language rules of many creoles with facility.
write more books entirely in creoles!
No AI coulda ever decipher me!
Plus, more readers will discover they in fact can intuit the language rules of many creoles with facility.
December 7, 2025 at 1:19 AM
I reckon the easiest way to befuddle AI and embrace more earnest fiction would also benefit many writers of colour:
write more books entirely in creoles!
No AI coulda ever decipher me!
Plus, more readers will discover they in fact can intuit the language rules of many creoles with facility.
write more books entirely in creoles!
No AI coulda ever decipher me!
Plus, more readers will discover they in fact can intuit the language rules of many creoles with facility.
more people leaning into more curious language would be a wild time for AI. more archaic word choices! more wildly indulgent prose! carve for yourself a style so esoteric that AI develops the ability to become exhausted and surrender
I think it would be fun if writers who love language started intentionally writing more strangely as AI flattens written "content" into a mono-voice. it would cool I think if writers responded by focusing their individual efforts on cultivating a really unique voice that's hard to copy
December 7, 2025 at 1:18 AM
more people leaning into more curious language would be a wild time for AI. more archaic word choices! more wildly indulgent prose! carve for yourself a style so esoteric that AI develops the ability to become exhausted and surrender
Reposted by Brandon O’Brien | National Pray For A Bredren Month (extended)
This week, @santaragione.com released their game HORSES.
This week, two major PC storefronts banned (or maintained their ban) upon that same game.
My thoughts re: what this says about other media, about games, and the kind of industry we find ourselves in: gregbuchanan.substack.com/p/games-mora...
This week, two major PC storefronts banned (or maintained their ban) upon that same game.
My thoughts re: what this says about other media, about games, and the kind of industry we find ourselves in: gregbuchanan.substack.com/p/games-mora...
Games, Moral Panic, and the Banning of HORSES
Some thoughts in the aftermath of Santa Ragione's HORSES and its banning on Steam
gregbuchanan.substack.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:04 PM
This week, @santaragione.com released their game HORSES.
This week, two major PC storefronts banned (or maintained their ban) upon that same game.
My thoughts re: what this says about other media, about games, and the kind of industry we find ourselves in: gregbuchanan.substack.com/p/games-mora...
This week, two major PC storefronts banned (or maintained their ban) upon that same game.
My thoughts re: what this says about other media, about games, and the kind of industry we find ourselves in: gregbuchanan.substack.com/p/games-mora...
I'm only now learning more about the Horses situation and, while it is in a lot of ways dissimilar to the earlier game censorship situation, it is particularly telling how a lot of censorship overall is based on people with curatorial power being too squeamish about non-titillating content.
December 6, 2025 at 9:07 PM
I'm only now learning more about the Horses situation and, while it is in a lot of ways dissimilar to the earlier game censorship situation, it is particularly telling how a lot of censorship overall is based on people with curatorial power being too squeamish about non-titillating content.
I've been pleasantly surprised by how diverse this part of Connecticut is. Twice this week I have had roti--both times prepared by Trinis, even! When we talk about the value of diversity, this is what we mean: everyone has something substantial, comforting, & warm to share from somewhere.
I want everyone to know that @therisingtithes.bsky.social took us on a quest through the frozen expanse of southern Connecticut yesterday, and successfully found a place with actual roti. Even at sub twenty degrees, warm food can be found! :D
December 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I've been pleasantly surprised by how diverse this part of Connecticut is. Twice this week I have had roti--both times prepared by Trinis, even! When we talk about the value of diversity, this is what we mean: everyone has something substantial, comforting, & warm to share from somewhere.
I was today years old when I learned there’s a 2014 National Theatre production of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Gillian Anderson as Blanche DuBois.
👀
👀
December 6, 2025 at 1:42 AM
I was today years old when I learned there’s a 2014 National Theatre production of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Gillian Anderson as Blanche DuBois.
👀
👀
"dear mister powerful-bronze-baby, how about you give us some money and then we give you a heavy gilded half-scale soccer ball that doesn't mean anything so you can not feel bad about blowing up fishing boats and having unidentified black-bag-men beat up single parents for not speaking English?"
December 5, 2025 at 6:30 PM
"dear mister powerful-bronze-baby, how about you give us some money and then we give you a heavy gilded half-scale soccer ball that doesn't mean anything so you can not feel bad about blowing up fishing boats and having unidentified black-bag-men beat up single parents for not speaking English?"
Any of the drinking parties Nick and Nora host in The Thin Man--mostly because they seem to have a magical alcohol budget, and mostly because I only ever have to go to just one.
What's a fictional holiday party you would love to attend?
My answers:
--the Christmas party from Fanny and Alexander
--the Yule feast in Nicola Griffith's Hild
--the Baileys' "welcome home" party for Harry in It's a Wonderful Life
--the office party in Die Hard; I'm sure nothing will go wrong
My answers:
--the Christmas party from Fanny and Alexander
--the Yule feast in Nicola Griffith's Hild
--the Baileys' "welcome home" party for Harry in It's a Wonderful Life
--the office party in Die Hard; I'm sure nothing will go wrong
December 5, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Any of the drinking parties Nick and Nora host in The Thin Man--mostly because they seem to have a magical alcohol budget, and mostly because I only ever have to go to just one.
I saw a post from a guy today that says ‘the world needs bad men’ because without them ‘there would be no heroes’, and I want to be sure.
The world needs less bad men. Whether we may hit net zero bad men is another story, but we need less.
We need more people lowering the bar for heroism.
The world needs less bad men. Whether we may hit net zero bad men is another story, but we need less.
We need more people lowering the bar for heroism.
December 5, 2025 at 12:22 AM
I saw a post from a guy today that says ‘the world needs bad men’ because without them ‘there would be no heroes’, and I want to be sure.
The world needs less bad men. Whether we may hit net zero bad men is another story, but we need less.
We need more people lowering the bar for heroism.
The world needs less bad men. Whether we may hit net zero bad men is another story, but we need less.
We need more people lowering the bar for heroism.
This is exactly as neat as I thought it'd be. Not only does its rules give effortless room for unlocking Doskvol's tone, but it is written so encouragingly to those who are daunted by writing poetry, which is my single marker of a good poetry game. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND!
🔪 LAUNCHED on ITCH 🔪
Gentleman Scoundrel, a Blades in the Dark solo+ poetry RPG! Become a Doskvol rogue who wields a pen as well as they handle a blade.
allisonarth.itch.io/gentleman-sc...
Gentleman Scoundrel, a Blades in the Dark solo+ poetry RPG! Become a Doskvol rogue who wields a pen as well as they handle a blade.
allisonarth.itch.io/gentleman-sc...
Gentleman Scoundrel | A Blades in the Dark Solo RPG by allison arth
A Doskvol poetry RPG for 1+
allisonarth.itch.io
December 4, 2025 at 7:02 PM
This is exactly as neat as I thought it'd be. Not only does its rules give effortless room for unlocking Doskvol's tone, but it is written so encouragingly to those who are daunted by writing poetry, which is my single marker of a good poetry game. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND!
Reposted by Brandon O’Brien | National Pray For A Bredren Month (extended)
🔪 LAUNCHED on ITCH 🔪
Gentleman Scoundrel, a Blades in the Dark solo+ poetry RPG! Become a Doskvol rogue who wields a pen as well as they handle a blade.
allisonarth.itch.io/gentleman-sc...
Gentleman Scoundrel, a Blades in the Dark solo+ poetry RPG! Become a Doskvol rogue who wields a pen as well as they handle a blade.
allisonarth.itch.io/gentleman-sc...
Gentleman Scoundrel | A Blades in the Dark Solo RPG by allison arth
A Doskvol poetry RPG for 1+
allisonarth.itch.io
December 3, 2025 at 6:56 PM
🔪 LAUNCHED on ITCH 🔪
Gentleman Scoundrel, a Blades in the Dark solo+ poetry RPG! Become a Doskvol rogue who wields a pen as well as they handle a blade.
allisonarth.itch.io/gentleman-sc...
Gentleman Scoundrel, a Blades in the Dark solo+ poetry RPG! Become a Doskvol rogue who wields a pen as well as they handle a blade.
allisonarth.itch.io/gentleman-sc...