Humdrum Places - BlogFlock

📺 The Media Guide S7E8 - foofaraw

2026-05-19T02:30:32.000Z

Big changes once again to The Media Guide this week. We've been working on a lot of website improvements to make things a bit more fun and stylish—and a lot more are on the way. If you're reading this via email, you won't really notice a difference, but if you're reading on the web, there are a ton of cool flairs.

I beg of you, click around and wander, as there are wonders and sparks of delight hiding around every corner so I'll be keeping the writing short this week so you can check the new web page in all its glory.

📺 Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed Season 1 — Apple TV

Tatiana Maslany is incredible. Between her performance(s) on Orphan Black to the underrated She-Hulk, she always delivers. I don't know if she's picky or just hasn't been able to do much outside of those shows, but she deserves to be in everything. So I'm stoked rot see her in a show on Apple, who have squarely solidified themselves as the second best streamer this year in terms of quality shows, hot on HBO's tail. There's a lot of fun happening in the trailer, but I think I'd recommend going in blind and just enjoying the ride.

🎬 I Love Boosters

The second feature film from Boots Riley after the terrific I'm Sorry to Bother You is here! I sadly haven't gotten around to actually watching I'm a Virgo since it was on Amazon, but that doesn't mean I'm not extremely excited to go see this one completely blind, just on Riley's name and the terrific cast, which includes Keke Palmer and LaKeith Stanfield.

📺 Rick and Morty Season 9 — Adult Swim

The prodigal son returns. I tend to get seasons mixed up quite a bit, but I feel like last season improved on a few down years, so I'm hopeful they've found their rhythm again after losing one of the creators and producer extraordinaire Mike Mendel, who passed away.

📚 Odin #1 — Image Comics

The latest Tiny Onion book from James Tynion IV, where he is joined by writer Marguerite Bennett, artist Letizia Cadonici, colorist Jordi Bellaire, and letterer Tom Napolitano. They're billing this as Green Room meets Midsommar, which honestly, if you're talking about horror, that's right up my alley. In this one, a reporter goes undercover with some neo-Nazis to chase down a story as they try to summon Odin and achieve their promised "white destiny".

📺 Game Changer Season 8 — Dropout

Dropout does some of those most fun things on screens everywhere and Game Changer is their flagship show; full of joy in every episode.

Also this week:

Mating Season Season 1 — Netflix
The Boroughs Season 1 — Netflix
The Chi Season 8 — Showtime, Paramount+ with Showtime
Bad Thoughts Season 2 — Netflix

Tuesday

Margo's Got Money Troubles (Apple TV) S1:8
Half Man (BBC One) S1:4
Widow's Bay (Apple TV) S1:5
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed (Apple TV) S1:1-2

Wednesday

The Boys (Prime Video) S5:8
The Testaments (Hulu) S1:9

Thursday

For All Mankind (Apple TV) S5:9
Your Friends & Neighbors (Apple TV) S2:8
Hacks (HBO Max) S5:9

Sunday

The Audacity (AMC) S1:7
Euphoria (HBO) S3:7
Rick and Morty (Adult Swim) S9:1

🎵 American Stories by Rostam

I think Rostam is one of the most creative musicians around, but I don't know that I really need him doing his own albums and singing himself. As a complementary musician and producer, he knocks it out of the park with whoever he works with—every single time. While I still find a lot of the musicianship and songs on this album to be fun, they just don't work the same when he's making music solo.

Also this week:

Fondness, Etc. by Shakey Graves
Beam It Back by Yellow The Sun
God Save the Kelvin Wheelies by U.S. Highball
Learning to Be a Cowboy on the Horse That Broke My Arm by Trinity Ace
Gentleman by Towa Bird
A Blue Dot by The Spatulas
Sandbox by The All-American Rejects
The Last Balloon by Tank and the Bangas
Same Fangs by Spencer Krug
Pigeons & Planes Presents: See You Next Year 3 by See You Next Year
PERFECT BE THE ENEMY by Sari Jordan
BUZZARD by Potionseller
MASK by Porches
Good To Go by Occrasy
Shedding Velvet by Nymphlord
It Comes in Waves by New Constellations
Tearless, thoughtless by Nara's Room
Bridge Over Cumberland by Mad Honey
Little Wide Open by Kevin Morby
Give Up Together by I'm Kingfisher
Cicada by Emma Beko
Of Earth & Wires by Dua Saleh
Electric Pollen by Doctor Bionic
Degler by Degler
Active Child by Active Child

📚 Of the Earth #1 — Image Comics

A neo-noir eco-horror mini-series from writers Chris Condon and Andrew Ehrich, along with artist Charlie Adler of Walking Dead fame.

📚 Death Fight Forever #4 — Image Comics

Is it worth me continuing to beat the drum about Death Fight Forever? I don't know, but here we are. Go read it.

Also this week:

Seven Wives #1 — IDW Publishing
Absolute Green Arrow #1 — DC Comics
Young Hellboy: Thrilling Sky Adventures #1 — Dark Horse Comics
Exquisite Corpses #13 — Image Comics
Kill All Immortals II #5 — Dark Horse Comics
End of Life #4 — DC Comics
Narco #3 — Image Comics
Rogue Sun #34 — Image Comics
American Caper #7 — Dark Horse Comics
Super Creepshow #3 — Skybound
Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #9 — Image Comics
G.I. Joe #22 — Image Comics
Powers 25 #9 — Dark Horse Comics
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #8 — IDW Publishing
Catacomb of Torment #11 — Oni Press
Usagi Yojimbo: Kaitō '84 #3 — Dark Horse Comics
Alias: Red Band #3 — Marvel
The Umbrella Academy: Plan B #4 — Dark Horse Comics
Absolute Flash #15 — DC Comics
Batwoman Vol. 3 #3 — DC Comics
Catwoman Vol. 5 #87 — DC Comics
Lobo Vol. 4 #3 — DC Comics

🎬 Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

This is going to be an interesting premiere for Disney and Star Wars. For the most part, Star Wars and Lucasfilm have struggled to do anything of merit and success outside of the Skywalker saga, which still was met with mixed reviews, and the absolutely terrific Andor TV series. Both The Mandalorian and Boba Fett TV shows have gone downhill, and I'm not sure it really translates to the big screen—this coming from someone who still really digs a lot of what Jon Favreau has done and continues to do as a filmmaker. But I just can't find myself getting excited for this.

🎬 Passenger

This looks like a fun little horror flick—a bit of a mix of The Ring and It Follows or Smile, or other similar things in that vein. I don't think it's going to blow anyone away, but hopefully there'll be some fun and scary moments in it.

Also this week:

The Ghost Essay - foofaraw

2026-05-18T04:14:39.000Z

“Shame on you!”

Those are the last words my father said to me. Shouted across 3,600 miles, as the crow flees, a few months before Barbenheimer.

He's not dead, mind you, though he may be by the time you read this. Take that, r/LiminalSpace!

((And thanks, “Monster Talk,” for talking to Lana Hall, who name-dropped that subreddit recently.))

As soon as I ghosted him (r/ghosting), my old man started haunting me. This is tricky because I don't believe in ghosts, spirits, or even souls. And remember, he's still alive.

The temporal problem is no problem at all if you're familiar with East Asian folklore. Maybe you know through family. Maybe you know through predatory student loans and an unleverageable undergrad major. I'm in the latter camp. No, not those camps where they rounded up Japanese Americans—two-thirds of whom were, ahem, U.S. citizens—during World War II. I never visited Heart Mountain Relocation Center while working as a beat reporter in Wyoming. I did, however, see Ryan Park, where POWs were forced to work in the timber industry.

But I really learned about Japanese ghosts between racy late-night talk shows and “The X-files” as a foreign exchange student abroad. My host mom shared moody tales late at night between her umpteenth cigarette and half-bottles of Chivas Regal. Probably. I was shit at Japanese, usually drunk myself, and desperately trying to hide active bulimia—especially after the plumber cleared the bathroom shower drain. Twice.

Another twice-told tale: My host mom took care of her own mother, who suffered from dementia. She'd cook her mom's favorite food and reheat leftovers whenever the lady was having a bad day. “Oh, that's my favorite!” her mom would beam and calm right down. Quality quality-of-life hack.

My original, vaguely Orientalist understanding of East Asian ghosts comes from Viz and Tokyopop manga. I got 'em at the mall, from Waldenbooks, back when “The Jerry Springer Show” was king of trash pop culture.

Hey, I went to school with someone who ended up on that show as the proverbial “other guy.” Contradicting today's AI Overview, he confirmed he got a cash bonus, backstage in the early 00s, after throwing a punch on camera. “But I'm smart,” he insisted. “I put that shit in the bank.” He knew me as the guy with the horse who was his pen pal from a neighboring elementary school. I had no horse. Homie asked about the horse all through high school—before and after his local celebrity turn—despite my protests. The saga ended in the mall food court near a Wendy's within spitting distance of a Claire's. I admitted, through choked back tears, that the horse died and I didn't want to talk about it anymore.

Actually, I learned about Japanese ghosts from Maiko, a Japanese foreign exchange student at my high school. (She never appeared on “Jerry Springer.”) She was an atheist like me, but had had mystical, woo-woo experiences with spirits she sangsonged about with wide-eyed eye contact.

All that's to say this: Strong emotions create a shadow; energy has a life of its own, apparently.

Ever heard of Stone Tape theory? The idea that ghosts replay like movies on a loop? They project onto reality like that “Pokémon GO” feature everyone but kids turned off to save battery life. Emo energy ghosts, however, are interactive so they can't be the same thing.

If I had therapy money, I'd try EMDR. That's that trauma therapy with eye movements and bilateral tapping that Prince Harry does. Dr. Allan Botkin describes a further application in his book, “Induced After Death Communication.” Could that help me grieve a live relative? “Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf” podcast has a great memoir-nested take on family trauma in its season four premier of the same name.

Back to Dad's ghost.

He looks like me. He has the same beard I religiously shaved off my face until I had enough gray hair to distinguish myself. But his voice is different. After decades of getting harangued by my inner critic/inner child/self parent/parts about everything from getting bullied and popping boners in primary school to shitting my pants for no particular reason as an adult, there's finally another voice in the mix.

And I couldn't be happier.

At last someone's interested in me. Interested in what I think and have experienced. Sure, he's horrible, but so is/was my actual dad. And now that all that negative self-talk is externalized as a sad, abusive god-like father figure, I can finally put some of it to bed.

And maybe now I can get back to sleep.

Wait, what was that horse guy's name? Oh, there he is. Huh, Mike. Just like Dad. But—oh, shit—he died in 2023.

I just heard something in the other room.

No, wait, that's just the hirsute, dementia-riddled, violent, negligent elephant in the room.

🎙️ H.C. Ricci - foofaraw

2026-05-17T17:42:00.000Z

Read H.C.'s story, NO SOLICITORS, now!

Do you have any desire to live out in the middle of nowhere?

I think it’s no secret that the idea of solitude in nature possesses a strong romantic appeal. There’s a reason that the Wanderer above the Sea of Fog has been used as a bookcover for some of the most seminal works of the nineteenth century, including both Frankenstein and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Wilderness and desolation provide scope for the uncanny and otherwise unimaginable to occur. They also serve as romantic backdrops for adventure stories and useful literary devices for exploring the depths of a character’s psyche. From Heart of Darkness to The Mountains of Madness, and from The Shining to The Lighthouse, remote wildernesses allow us to ponder our place in the broader universe while also examining the human condition.

I myself have spent many glorious afternoons wandering through lonely hillsides or exploring empty coastline, and many weekends driving down desert roads into the remote badlands of Baja. And like a lot of people, the idea of becoming a hermit and disappearing into a far away wilderness serves as a sort of escapist fantasy, a psychological safe place whenever I feel overwhelmed with responsibility or bored by the drudgery of daily life.

What is it exactly the King in Yellow is trying to achieve?

It’s an essentially unknowable mystery, because to learn who the King in Yellow is and what he wants involves loosening your grip on sanity so much that you lose yourself entirely. To understand the cosmos through his perspective, you have to first let go of everything you think you know, casting away all pretensions of personhood. In the words of Rust Cohle from Nic Pizzolatto’s True Detective, “All you love, all you hate, all your memories, all your pain, it was all the same thing. It was all the same dream.”

The true horror of the King in Yellow is the possibility of dogma-shattering revelations rendering our entire understanding of the universe completely meaningless, leaving us face to face with naked nihilism. He embodies a sort of existential dread that humanity has been wrestling with for centuries.

One of the great terrors of weird fiction is the possibility of confronting an intelligence so much greater than our own that their motives are unknowable. It would be like an amoeba trying to guess at our desires and motivations.

How many times has this story been rejected by other markets?

Just once actually.

What’s a great short story you’ve read recently?

I recently came across a lit RPG short story on Dream Theory Media that I really liked by Michael M. Jones. It’s called “Training Day in the Blackdeep Dungeon” and you should definitely check it out.

What book are you reading right now?

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett. It’s my first introduction to the Discworld series, and while it took me a second to find my footing, I absolutely adore Pratchett’s sense of humor and the logical insanity that governs his world.

My story “Furthest Ilion” is now available in the Harvey Duckman anthology Knot On Tree, Fire On Stone: Curse On Axe and Bloody Thrones. A fun spin on the Homeric question, it’s about hope in a dark age.

I’m also excited to share that my story “The Wrath of Florida Man & the Quest for Interdimensional Hot Sauce” will appear in foofaraw’s printed anthology in the fall. I feel like every story I write feels like the best story I’ve written while I’m at work creating. It’s only after some time passes—after you set it down and start something new—that you can actually look at it at a distance and assess the merit of your own writing. I’ve written several stories since then and still rank it as one of my best, so I’m unbelievably excited to finally see it in print.

Also, on a completely different note, I started a Substack for work that deals with all things culinary which you should also check out: https://chefworks.substack.com/

Thanks so much to H.C. for taking the time to hang out with us

Rule of Thirds /// MLB - The Independent Variable

2026-05-15T19:13:12.000Z

threads.com via instagram.com

I try not to link to Threads (or the MLB for that matter), but these photos that play on the lines from the Rule of Thirds are just too damn good not to share.

🕴️ NO SOLICITORS - foofaraw

2026-05-15T00:45:05.000Z

Chazz Martin was a former New York City ad man, twice divorced, who’d spent his entire adult life living in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. To those who knew him, he was the epitome of a New York socialite—erudite, debonair, and ruthlessly ambitious—which is why it came as a surprise when he decided to quit the ad game, sell all his possessions, and move cross country to live in an adobe shack in the badlands of the Mojave Desert.

Chazz bought a two-story house with dirt floors, which once belonged to a famous artist who’d moved to the desert after the Great War in an attempt to recover his lost sanity. His only neighbors were a 300-acre date farm to the west and the sprawling Air Force base to the east.

The first year, Chazz left a handful of times to visit friends back East, but those visits soon grew few and far between. He spent his free time wandering the empty desert, making long treks to the shanty towns of the Salton Sea and to the desolate valleys of Indian Canyon. He reveled in the stillness, embracing the solitude which he had craved his entire life. And despite a successful career as a New York ad executive, Chazz would've died happy if he never saw another suit or heard another sales pitch for as long as he lived. Which is why he nailed a sign to his door which read “NO SOLICITORS” in blocky white lettering.

One October, a freeze fell upon the Mojave Desert that was more bitter than any cold spell in living memory. It felt as if the atmosphere had grown thin and the cold emptiness of space filled the desert. The roads were closed and the citizens of that almost uninhabited valley where Chazz Martin lived were ordered to shelter in place in response to an “unspecified disturbance” at the local Air Force base. Chazz bunkered down in his living room with a bag of pretzels and a case of cold beer while college ball played on the television. He never followed sports closely, but the sound of it playing in the background provided a sense of comfort on cold, lonely evenings. The warm glow of the television brought a touch of color to the shadowy adobe and the game’s commentary drowned out the creaking and rattling of the ancient house.

As he leaned back in his recliner, the doorbell rang. Dinnnng. Chazz ignored it. Then a minute later it rang again. Dinnnng. “Who the hell could that be?!” Dinnnng. “I’m coming! I’m coming!” Dinnnng. Chazz ripped the door open.

“Good evening sir. I was hoping to tell you a story.” The man on his doorstep was shorter than Chazz and wore a yellow suit. His pale face shined bright as the new moon. He had high cheekbones, a thin mustache, and dark hair which he slicked straight back. His smile looked plastic and rehearsed, like something he wore, rather than something he felt.

Chazz pointed to the sign which read “NO SOLICITORS” and slammed the door in the stranger’s face.

Art by Tony Tran

Less than two minutes later—just enough time to make himself comfortable—the doorbell rang again. Dinnnng. Chazz bolted to the door.

“What don’t you understand about ‘no solicitors'? I don’t want to buy whatever it is you’re selling. Now leave me alone!” But as he was about to slam the door again, an inexplicable urge steadied his hand.

“But sir, I am not trying to sell you anything. I just want to tell you a story.” The man’s dummy-like features hardly moved as he spoke.

“Save it! I used to be in the ad game and can spot a sales pitch from a mile away.”

“But sir I journeyed such a long way to tell you my story and I really think it may be of interest to you.” The man’s face looked hard and plastic.

“I don’t care if you’re with the Church, the Shriners, or the goddamn Girl Scouts of America. I don’t wanna hear it!”

“If, after I’ve told my story you still want me to go, I’ll be on my way. But please sir, it is a very good story.”

Chazz glanced at his watch. “You’ve got fifteen minutes. That’s ten minutes more than you should need. At Wieden Kennedy I gave my writers just three sentences to sell me, but I’m going to give you fifteen minutes to pitch whatever the hell it is you’re trying to sell and not a second more. Then I’m going back inside to watch college football and drink beer. And if I hear one more ring or a knock on my door I’ll be holding a shotgun the next time I answer. Capiche?”

“Oh thank you sir! I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

Chazz stood gripping the door knob with one hand and checking his watch with the other as the stranger in the yellow suit told him strange tales from his homeland. He spoke of Cassilda’s Song and the beauty of Lake Hali. He described—almost poetically—the way cloud waves broke along the shore as twin suns set behind the lake. He talked at length about Camilla’s masquerade and the man in the Pallid Mask. But it wasn’t until he finally mentioned grim Carcosa that Chazz actually began to actually hear what the stranger was saying.

Chazz hung on every word as the man in the yellow suit described the dread city. He spoke of dark monoliths rising to meet black stars and a labyrinth of unlit alleyways with each path leading to the secret shrines of the Outer Gods, who lurk at the edges of space and time.

The stranger’s words possessed a strange melody—beautiful and terrifying. He spoke of the Imperial Dynasty of America, and finally the King in Yellow.

The stranger seemed taller than he had been a moment before. Slowly, the folds in his yellow suit unfurled into tattered robes, which grew and grew until they flapped chaotically in the midnight air. His face too began to shift in the moonlight. Chazz noticed a crease around the edges where it appeared to separate from the skin, like cheap plastic.

“Take off that mask! You’re freaking me out.”

“I have no mask.”

“No mask?”

An appendage, not an arm, reached into his robes and pulled out a folded piece of yellow parchment paper, which it delicately opened to reveal the Yellow Sign. Seeing the sign, Chazz Martin ceased to exist. Where he had once stood there was now only a bag of flesh and bones with the appearance of Chazz Martin, but whose body and soul now belonged to the King in Yellow.

H. C. Ricci is a marketing copywriter by day and short story author by night. His genres of choice include fantasy, sci-fi, and mystery. He’s continuously crafting new tales, which can be found in zines and creative forums across the Internet.

Walk the Line (2005) - A Humdrum Life

2026-05-14T19:03:50.000Z

It’s been absolutely forever since I watched this. Phoenix and Witherspoon are fantastic and I like that it’s not just a small snapshot.

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Remember The Humans (2026) - A Humdrum Life

2026-05-14T18:59:51.000Z

All around solid album.

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🚧 OBSTRUCTION #17 - foofaraw

2026-05-14T06:01:56.000Z

Catch up!

Matthew Burbridge

The story so far:

Brockmire (2019) - A Humdrum Life

2026-05-14T03:06:09.000Z

Improved over the craziness of season two. We got through an episode and a half of season four before giving up on it though.

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The Beatles: Get Back (2021) - A Humdrum Life

2026-05-14T03:02:53.000Z

Been meaning to watch this forever and finally got around to it these last couple of weeks. Just as great as I expected.

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New York’s rich lash out at ‘shameful’ Mamdani plan to tax second homes - The Independent Variable

2026-05-14T02:55:29.000Z

ft.com

“Can I afford the tax? Yes. Is it going to deter me? No. But I think it’s shameful,” he said. “I provide a lot of money to people who are blue-collar workers who work for me, servers in restaurants. If we’re not there, there are going to be less people being paid.”

Ken Griffin is such an idiot and I'm so glad he left my beautiful home town of Chicago. If you're not there driving up costs of real estate, then regular people can start to afford a home and a storefront to employ other people so all parties can make a reasonable living—rather than the minimum wage this asshole's restaurants—or whatever other businesses he owns—probably pay. You don't need to make billions in profit to be a "successful business person." Instead you can pay your employees a fair wage so they can live a comfortable life while still making a nice chunk of change for yourself at the same time.

Digg has (sorta) relaunched (again) - The Independent Variable

2026-05-13T20:15:26.000Z

kottke.org

This is embarrassing. It’ll probably be a huge success.

I'm just trying to figure out if these people have absolutely no shame, or if they are embarrassed and do it anyway because they think they can make a buck off of it. As someone who watched Diggnation growing up, the direction Kevin Rose has taken his career with Web3, crypto, and this garbage has been pretty disappointing. But I guess that's part of it. That's why they tell you not to meet your heroes—not that Kevin Rose was ever a hero of mine, more an entertaining idiot. But I think a lot of these early internet successes are just people in the right place, right time, not necessarily as smart as society tries to give them credit for... *cough* Elon Musk *cough*.

A Review of Director Ka$h Patel’s FBI Bourbon - The Independent Variable

2026-05-12T23:34:01.000Z

mcsweeneys.net

It’s certainly a rare bourbon, the kind of bottle you only get by calling in lots of favors (or having something really damning on your supplier). But is the Director Ka$h Patel Kash Patel FBI Director edition Woodford Reserve bourbon destined to sit alongside a King of Kentucky 17-year? A Heaven Hill 22? Or a POTUS 47? We’ll have to wait and see. You’ll know because we’ll tell you. It’s doing a great job. It’s a critical part of your liquor cabinet. Even though you might not see it back there, hiding behind taller bottles, it’s suited for regular, if not excessive, drinking.

I love that the President who doesn't drink seems to have a thing for bringing on wimpy, whiny, alcoholic men who were bullied too much in kindergarten into his administration. Do these fools do anything all day besides attempting to convince people they shouldn't be fired?

Ai-enhanced writing process - The Independent Variable

2026-05-12T23:18:11.000Z

arun.is

And this process leaves me confident that I’m not falling into the trap I fell into before, where I was letting AI do the thinking and writing for me.

I get it, AI is useful in some areas. Hell, I'm being asked to vibe-code for my freelance client right now... but I still think Arun is using AI too much in their writing process and I honestly think it's likely to be a detriment to their writing and thinking process. Obviously "slippery slope" is a fallacy, but it's one I'd be paying attention to if I were Arun given it sounds like they've relied on AI for a lot more of their writing process in the past.

BuzzFeed sold to Byron Allen, who will take over as CEO in $120m deal - The Independent Variable

2026-05-12T20:56:58.000Z

theguardian.com

I honestly didn't see this one coming. Feels like a really weird acquisition for Allen, but I guess it's relatively cheap compared to its peak. I still think this whole idea of user-generated content being something that can deliver these millionaire profits is a pretty despicable business plan and strategy.

🕹️ Pirates and vampires - foofaraw

2026-05-10T21:42:46.000Z

🆕 On the Shelves

🤖👧 Pragmata

Developer: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Publisher: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.

Pragmata is a unique, sci-fi action-adventure game from Capcom. Follow Hugh, a member of an ill-fated investigation team, and Diana, a young android, as they navigate a lunar facility taken over by rogue AI in search of a way to Earth.

Pragmata has one of the most unique battle systems where you are forced to multitask your way through fights. You, the protagonist daddy figure, have standard weapons with which to take down the enemy droids: pistol, machine gun, shotgun, etc. However, at the same time, you have Diana riding along on your back, hacking into robots to make them pop open like faulty transformers. How this plays out on screen is a kind of Nokia 3210 snake game where you guide a line to the exit, stopping along the way to pick up power-ups and inflict more damage.

The game has been making the rounds on all social networks. For a variety of reasons.

First, Capcom sold 1mil units in its first weekend, which is a fantastic result for the company. Especially considering this is a brand-new IP for them—newsworthy, of course. Generally, reviews have been favourable sitting at 86 on Metacritic, and reviews on Steam are overwhelmingly positive as of time of writing. A big success for Capcom.

But, secondly, the game has attracted attention for some other, more sinister reasons. Kotaku writer Kenneth Shepard outlines one issue, starting the piece with:

The first time I played Pragmata was at Summer Game Fest 2025. After the demo, a colleague came up to me and asked what my reading was of Diana, the android made to look like a young girl. We’d only gotten to play around 30 minutes of the game, so I was honest and told her I didn’t have much of an impression of her yet. Then, like a baseball bat to my gut, she told me she was worried the character might be “pedo bait.”

Yeah, pedo bait…

For me, I find it very hard to believe that Capcom would go out of their way to promote a game towards (checks stats in private mode…) 1.2% of the population (that’s the stat I got at least…). For me, Diana represents a lil kid that a much larger portion of the population (yes, males AND females) would want to look after. Occam’s Razor guys. Occam’s razor.

However, yes, some people did have to ruin it for gamers by posting inappropriate content related to the game on the r/Pragamata subreddit. Another Kotaku post outlines the story:

Reactions to the infantile appearance of Pragmata‘s android protagonist Diana on the r/Pragmata subreddit have prompted one of its moderators to publicly step down from their role, with them citing the overwhelming influx of “pedo shit” as the cause. Another Pragmata community has been shut down altogether by Reddit over inappropriate posts.

The Pragmata community on Reddit has splintered into three distinct subreddits: r/Pragmata, the main subreddit, r/PragmataSFW, a self-described “attempt at building up a sub that isn’t plastered with pedophile dogwhistles,” and r/Pragmata_, which was just banned on February 18 for breaking Reddit’s “Rule 4.” For context, Rule 4 explicitly forbidsthe “sharing of sexual, abusive, or suggestive content involving minors.”

Another criticism raised against the game is that it continues a line of so-called “dad games.” Games where a capable male protagonist is paired with a vulnerable companion, often a young girl, creating a dynamic centred on protection, guidance, and growth (often, the emotional growth of the male protagonist). Games like The Last of Us, God of War, and Resident Evil 4 have helped solidify this trope as both commercially viable and narratively effective.

Of course, these games are fun, and an interesting narrative concept. The problem is that comparable “mom-centred” narratives (where a mother is positioned as the primary playable protector) are far less visible, particularly in big-budget releases.

This imbalance reflects broader assumptions within the industry about target audiences and which relationships are considered marketable. The “dad and child” dynamic has become a familiar template, while alternative caregiving perspectives remain under-explored. As such, the criticism highlights not a flaw in these games themselves, but a limitation in the range of stories the industry continues to prioritize.

🏴‍☠️🌊 Windrose

Developer: Kraken Express
Publisher: Kraken Express

Embark on a PvE survival adventure in the Age of Piracy. Fight on land and sea, solo or with friends. Build, craft and explore vast open world filled with dark secrets. Master soulslite combat and take on challenging bosses, command your ship and plunder unspoken treasures!

This is the biggest indie breakout of April 2026.

A pirate survival game with oodles of charm. The big selling point is the co-op mode which sees you and friends setting up a server similar to games like Rust and Terraria (though more like the former).

It launched in early access mid-month and immediately went viral: over 1 million copies sold in under a week, with peak concurrent players pushing past 200,000 on Steam. Those numbers are AAA, not indie..!

What’s driving it is pretty straightforward:

Drop-in co-op chaos (like the game “Sea of Thieves,” but less polished and more unpredictable.
A heavy focus on emergent gameplay which means players create their own stories rather than following scripted quests, something I am a BIG fan of and is evident in games like Rust, Minecraft, and The Forest.
The kind of jank that actually works in its favor, which reminds me of the game series Just Cause.

📡 On the Radar

🔫 Saros

Sony Interactive Entertainment

Beneath the shadow of an ominous eclipse, Arjun Devraj (Rahul Kohli) is a Soltari enforcer who will stop at nothing to pursue answers on the shape-shifting Carcosa, a world of dark secrets and hostile inhabitants.

Master electrifying bullet ballet combat – intense projectile-focused gameplay with a unique, neon-infused esthetic – to overcome ferocious enemies and spectacular boss fights.

A third-person shooter that has strong roguelike elements and lots of action. From Eurogamer:

You know an action game has the magic when you come out of a sequence thinking “How the hell did I survive that?”

The roguelike element means that each time you die and are reborn, you get experience points to use to power up your protagonist. This allows you to have one more run at that boss you just couldn’t beat on a previous run.

Again, according to the Eurogamer article, Saros relies heavily on its mechanics to keep the player hooked, where the narrative part is less than perfect:

Saros’ action moves so fast that the rest of the game struggles to keep up at times.

As a fan of roguelikes, and as a PS5 Pro owner, I’m interested in this one, as I can have the full bullet hell spectacle running on my TV in 4k. No slow downs for me! 🤘

🍺 Nothing ever happens here

Developer: NoahsArkGames
Publisher: NoahsArkGames

A British life sim set in a real town, with a real Grandad at its core. Can you turn your life around, save his pub, and make something of yourself?

Having played the charming Thank goodness your here which also has a British slice of life (?!) vibe, I’m interested in this one as it offers a glimpse into my own upbringing. My dad used to play in a band—then a duo—in working men’s clubs around the county where I grew up, thus this one strikes very close to home. Though headlines write that the great British pub is in decline—the data shows that there is some stagnation—it’s not all doom and gloom. Pubs are slowly changing from “places where you go to smoke and drink” to eateries that are more open to a diverse clientele. Anyway, I’m getting a bit off-topic.

According to a Polygon article:

“The narrative will cover themes of loneliness, isolation, the plight of the working class, British subcultures in 2011, coming of age… the core of the story is redemption. Your grandad is disappointed and appears cold, but he wants the best for you,” Somers’ explained. By doing up the pub and restoring it to its former glory, you’ll have the opportunity to make your granddad proud.

🍄‍🟫 City of None

Developer: Noel & Liam Berry, Extremely OK Games, Ltd.
Publisher: Extremely OK Games, Ltd.

A metropolis crumbles into ruin as powerful Barons satisfy their greed upon souls lost in time. You are but one spirit, with a wooden body left to rot in the wild…

Coming from the team behind Celeste. Gorgeous pixel art graphics and an 8-bit soundtrack. I haven't played it yet, but it has a strong Hollow Knight aesthetic (Yet, the term "metroidvania" is nowhere to be seen).

🎮 In Rotation

🤓 Vampire Survivors

Mow down thousands of night creatures and survive until dawn! Vampire Survivors is a gothic horror casual game with rogue-lite elements, where your choices can allow you to quickly snowball against the hundreds of monsters that get thrown at you. Be the bullet hell!

Not a new game by a long shot—I’ve played it on both Steam and my phone—but I only just realized it has a co-op mode. That was enough of an excuse to pick it up again after finishing last month’s couch co-op game Reanimal.

My son and I have sunk about 20 hours into VS this month, and damn, it’s done some damage to my brain. I nearly got a migraine earlier this week, and I’m pretty sure VS was the cause. The on-screen flashing toward the end of a run is just insane.

But we can’t get enough of this “normal” game (a running joke in our house whenever my wife or daughter glance at the screen and think, “what the hell is going on?”). There’s actually a ton to do once you’ve cleared each level. The item evolutions are one of the biggest sources of that bullet-hell, dopamine-fueled chaos—taking a weapon from a rapid pea-shooter to a full-on Molotov-launching bazooka. And you can do this with four weapons each—eight beams of complete destruction.

The pacing helps a lot. Each level builds toward that 30-minute mark (and sometimes beyond 😉), with enemy waves growing larger and stronger, keeping the tension consistently high. And, the fact that each run is capped at 30 mins means that my brain and eye damage is only limited.

—James

🔭 The Monster At the End of the Essay - foofaraw

2026-05-10T17:51:28.000Z

What was that? Up there, before you scrolled down. Did that say there's a monster at the end of this essay??? Shit no! My pockets and Pokédex are at capacity!!!

We need a hero (key of A minor), cuz heroes decapitate monsters, and a decapitated monster is, well, gross, but a lot less threatening. Unless you're spiking a Hyperborean rave with Medusa's head. That's from Pindar the poet, not Pindar the wrestler—whom, coincidentally, was ceremonially beheaded. (Sic and sick.)

Noggins aside, keep an eye out for a hydra situation. Cue the Indiana Jones meme: “Why did it have to be multi-headed reptilian quasi-immortals who embody the futility of raging against the machine sans artifice?” Yada yada “Archaeological Fantasies Podcast.” I've been jonesing to shoehorn in their “Indiana Jones and Pseudoarchaeology” episode. It's just within reach… I can get it… I can almost reach it.

Not-so-idle swap: One of the co-hosts, Dr. Jeb Card, also co-hosts “In Research Of,” which boldly seeks out the facts behind the plesiosaur necks and turtlenecks of Leonard Nimoy in “In Search Of.” The whole shebang (#!) was inspired by the delightful “Rachel Watches Star Trek.” I'm catching up on both at warp speed on a used, off-brand mp3 player. (Every time you order from Amazon, a biblically accurate angel deadbeat-fathers a nephilim.)

But you don't have to take my word for it.

Wait, that's the wrong trekker-cum-presenter. I Am Not Geordi La Forge also voices “LeVar Burton Reads,” which is like “Reading Rainbow” ASMR for adults except when he accosts an Irish brogue. Just to be clear, “LeVar Burton Reads” is the actual name of the podcast, not some weird flex or graffiti tag… yet.

Speaking of which, back in March, in a massive attack on fun, Reuters unmasked Banksy, inciting worldwide rewatches of “Exit Through the Gift Shop” and “House”-Not-Holmes—hey, I just got that. The former holds up. The latter is too formulaic for escapist binging. Quick Lupus to detour for the “It's Not” YouTube supercut. (Sic and very sick.)

Let's rejoin our hero quest. “HeroQuest”! You know, that “I Can't Believe It's Not D&D” board game from the 90s. You can enjoy other people enjoying it in the second season of “Danger Things,” a sidequest of the Pathfinder-helmed “The Danger Club Podcast,” in which British actors relive Gen X and Millenial tropes via Kids on Bikes. (Your dodgy German veterinarian mobile mileage may vary.) Ross Harmston, GM for this outing, is a national treasure.

I've cut three hundred-odd words here (#!) about my own “HeroQuest” experiences. I haven't cut the song my wife sang about the Les Edwards barbarian on the box though:

Thundernuts! He has the nuts of thunder!
If you dare fight him, you've made a fatal blunder!
Your heads he will sunder! Your villages plunder!
Thundernuuuuuuts!

Fair warning, this essay ends in a few paragraphs. The furry blue draught is that this is another rickety tour de nostalgia with media recs. (Ross Harmston also hosts “Sequel Pitch,” a shark tank-style movie-lover's podcast.)

Never turn down red pills. Take all the pills, duh.

You know who's “A Real American Hero”? Rafael Concepcion. He's the lone coder David fighting the We-Make-The-Rules-And-Fighting-Fire-With-Fire-Is-Against-The-Rules Goliath of ICE with the app-fuck-Apple's-App-Store-cum-website “DEICER.” WIRED ran a profile on him in late March, though you'll need Level One copypasta skills to step over the paywall.

But a pin-pricking app can't defeat bullies unironically playing Cowboys and Indians. The real challenge is contextualizing this uncivil warfare as something bigger than partisan hackery. The Coke vs. Pepsi turf wars and Yes! We Have No Banana Republics approach to American politics is gossamer thin. Both major parties—and the companies pulling their puppet and purse strings—have already sold your freedoms. Maybe that's a baked-in feature of modern nation states. But throwing out babies with bathwater is neither moral, palatable, nor historically efficacious. (You certainly won't catch me advocating it within earshot of a cellphone.)

Remember the hydra? The monsters are due on Sesame Street.

Well look at that! This is the end of the essay and the only ones here are Jon Stone and Mike Smollin, author and illustrator of “The Monster at the End of This Book.” But their children's classic is just one in a long line of meta-fictional narratives that clue readers into the rigged game. (Thanks, Mom, for reading that book over and over again. And thanks, Mrs. Dietrich, our elementary school librarian, for pushing the similarly self-aware “The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!” and “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales,” both by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith.)

Think Plato, not Play-Doh. λόγος, not LEGOs.

Someone on r/MandelaEffect insists there's a version of “There's a Monster at the End of This Book” that ends with a foil mirror. But if the real monster is you, the real monster is me, too. All of us are complicit.

Some more than others, though.

There's a self-published satire by Jeff Whitcher called “The Monster At the End of These Files”, featuring not Grover, but our second two-timer in chief.

Whoops (#!), I'm just another libtard reactivist with Trump Derangement Syndrome. (Sic and oh so sick of this bullshit.)

Oh, I am so embarrassed…

—Nicholas De Marino

Pokopia is my post-gender utopia - The Independent Variable

2026-05-10T17:06:18.000Z

mothership.blog

Friend of the foof, Ellie Black, with a wonderful webcomic for Mothership. Highly, highly recommend!

Dirty Little Zine /// Free 8-Page Printable Zine Maker - The Independent Variable

2026-05-10T17:04:03.000Z

dirtylittlezine.com via library.dirtylittlezine.com

Make a printable 8-page folded zine from a single sheet of paper. Free browser-based editor with photo layout, captions, and 300 DPI JPG/PDF export.

Awesome little tool to help you make single-page zines. More zines please!!! Rick also made a library so folks can share the zines they make with the tool.

🎙️ Maureen Bowden - foofaraw

2026-05-08T21:57:45.000Z

Read Maureen's story, Jigsaw, now!

Are you a big fan of jigsaw puzzles?

I don’t have enough time in the day to do them now but I used to enjoy them very much. I found them a relaxing escape from the stress and anxieties of today’s troubled world and there’s something magical about the emergence of a beautiful picture.

Did you ever run away as a child?

No. I was born and raised in Liverpool and I frequently run back there. I love Anglesey, where I now live but there’s no place on Earth like ‘The Pool.’

Do you have any children of your own?

Yes. My husband and I have a biological son and daughter and an adopted daughter; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandsons. If all goes well there’ll be another great-grandchild in October. We’re all hoping for a girl this time.

If so, have they ever run away from home?

No. We’re stuck with them, but the families all have their own homes now, of course.

If you were to live in the craft centre in Laurel Tree, what do you think your “job” or contribution to the commune would be?

I’d write songs for my husband to sing for the visitors, accompanying himself on one of his many guitars.

How many times has this story been rejected by other markets?

None. You folk were the first to see it.

What’s a great short story you’ve read recently?

‘Tightening the Knot’ by Richard E. Schell. It’s featured in the January 2026 edition of ‘Shelter of Daylight’ available from ‘Hiraeth Books’ website. It touched a nerve with me.

What book are you reading right now?

‘Unruly’ by David Mitchell. It’s the history of Britain. It’s hysterically funny and absolutely true.

Watch out for ‘The Sound of Gematria’ by my friend Judith Field. It’s available on Amazon and it’s a super scary, sad and funny book. I’m not saying that just because she’s my friend.

Humdrum Places - BlogFlock

📺 The Media Guide S7E8 - foofaraw

📺 Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed Season 1 — Apple TV

🎬 I Love Boosters

📺 Rick and Morty Season 9 — Adult Swim

📚 Odin #1 — Image Comics

📺 Game Changer Season 8 — Dropout

Also this week:

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Sunday

🎵 American Stories by Rostam

Also this week:

📚 Of the Earth #1 — Image Comics

📚 Death Fight Forever #4 — Image Comics

Also this week:

🎬 Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

🎬 Passenger

Also this week:

The Ghost Essay - foofaraw

Back to Dad's ghost.

🎙️ H.C. Ricci - foofaraw

Do you have any desire to live out in the middle of nowhere?

What is it exactly the King in Yellow is trying to achieve?

How many times has this story been rejected by other markets?

What’s a great short story you’ve read recently?

What book are you reading right now?

Do you have anything else you’d like to share?

Thanks so much to H.C. for taking the time to hang out with us

Rule of Thirds /// MLB - The Independent Variable

🕴️ NO SOLICITORS - foofaraw

Walk the Line (2005) - A Humdrum Life

Remember The Humans (2026) - A Humdrum Life

🚧 OBSTRUCTION #17 - foofaraw

The story so far:

Brockmire (2019) - A Humdrum Life

The Beatles: Get Back (2021) - A Humdrum Life

New York’s rich lash out at ‘shameful’ Mamdani plan to tax second homes - The Independent Variable

Digg has (sorta) relaunched (again) - The Independent Variable

A Review of Director Ka$h Patel’s FBI Bourbon - The Independent Variable

Ai-enhanced writing process - The Independent Variable

BuzzFeed sold to Byron Allen, who will take over as CEO in $120m deal - The Independent Variable

🕹️ Pirates and vampires - foofaraw

🆕 On the Shelves

🤖👧 Pragmata

Developer: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.Publisher: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.

🏴‍☠️🌊 Windrose

Developer: Kraken ExpressPublisher: Kraken Express

📡 On the Radar

🔫 Saros

Sony Interactive Entertainment

🍺 Nothing ever happens here

Developer: NoahsArkGamesPublisher: NoahsArkGames

🍄‍🟫 City of None

Developer: Noel & Liam Berry, Extremely OK Games, Ltd.Publisher: Extremely OK Games, Ltd.

🎮 In Rotation

🤓 Vampire Survivors

🔭 The Monster At the End of the Essay - foofaraw

Pokopia is my post-gender utopia - The Independent Variable

Dirty Little Zine /// Free 8-Page Printable Zine Maker - The Independent Variable

🎙️ Maureen Bowden - foofaraw

Are you a big fan of jigsaw puzzles?

Did you ever run away as a child?

Do you have any children of your own?

If so, have they ever run away from home?

If you were to live in the craft centre in Laurel Tree, what do you think your “job” or contribution to the commune would be?

How many times has this story been rejected by other markets?

What’s a great short story you’ve read recently?

What book are you reading right now?

Do you have anything else you’d like to share?

Thanks so much to Maureen for chatting with us about puzzles, family, and stories on this wonderful Friday afternoon!

Developer: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Publisher: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.

Developer: Kraken Express
Publisher: Kraken Express

Developer: NoahsArkGames
Publisher: NoahsArkGames

Developer: Noel & Liam Berry, Extremely OK Games, Ltd.
Publisher: Extremely OK Games, Ltd.