211: Merritt K Goes Guesto Mode

[00:00:26] Welcome to Anime Sickos, it's the podcast for geniuses and the only podcast, can you believe it, on which we talk about the four pillars of modern misery. What are they? They're anime, gaming, posting, and jobs, of course. I am Tom, an Anime Sicko.

[00:00:42] I am Joe, an Anime Sicko. There's also another pillar, it's called going to the doctor.

[00:00:47] Yeah, we do that a lot these days. The funny thing about going to the doctor is they don't make, it doesn't get better.

[00:00:52] I got an MRI last week. It took extra long and it hurt a lot. And then today I got a call, they're like, so.

[00:01:02] The part where the machine is loud and makes half-life noises, like we turned that part on.

[00:01:06] But the part where it gets a picture of your shit, we forgot. So you gotta do it again. So I feel insane.

[00:01:14] Yeah. This is the first episode of the new year, it's 2025 folks. Round of applause.

[00:01:19] I don't want to say anything because I remember we started out just before the pandemic and there's a lot of stuff we have on record that like, in retrospect, it's like, oh, how ironic.

[00:01:27] So I'm not going to say anything. I'm not going to put anything on record to jinx it that you can listen back to later and be like, oh, how awful, how ironic.

[00:01:37] But what I will say is that I feel like 2025, I have a good feeling that it's probably going to be the year with the lowest ever chance of me or my loved ones dying of bird flu.

[00:01:46] I really am confident about this. We have one new patron to thank. It's Electric Gaunt. Thank you for patronizing us. That kicks ass.

[00:01:53] It's so cool when you give us money.

[00:01:54] You can Patreon-ing us by looking at fucking Google with the keywords that you think you would use to find anime sickos in Patreon.

[00:02:01] We have a guest this episode. This is a guest episode. I'd like to welcome Merit K. to the podcast. Hello, Merit.

[00:02:08] Hey, thanks for having me.

[00:02:09] It's an honor. Who are you? What's your deal? Describe yourself.

[00:02:14] Summarize yourself in like a nice little package, please.

[00:02:17] Sorry, I have to open up.

[00:02:17] This is a job interview.

[00:02:18] I'm going to open up Twitter and do the new profile summary feature.

[00:02:23] And it says, Merit K is an account that posts insightful but critical commentary on...

[00:02:27] Oh my God, why did they do this?

[00:02:30] That's a real feature that exists now.

[00:02:32] And in case you don't want to actually use social media and just have a robot tell you what someone is.

[00:02:38] Wait, straight up. I have not been using Twitter.

[00:02:40] I'm not joking. That's not a joke. It's not a bit. That's a real thing.

[00:02:44] I check Twitter like maybe like once every few days at this point and have, you know, it's a barren wasteland, a blasted hellscape.

[00:02:51] And they've just added some new robots to sort of like scour the remains of human life that are retreating ever deeper into the underground of the rubble.

[00:03:01] It's like half bots, right?

[00:03:02] It's just all bots.

[00:03:04] It's just all bots. Everything that if you think it's a human, it's just like a long con machine.

[00:03:08] We're fully in dead internet territory.

[00:03:10] But I'm an alive human for real, 100%, not a robot sent from the future.

[00:03:16] And I don't know. Yeah.

[00:03:17] What is my deal?

[00:03:18] I guess I post a lot, which is a kind of a grim realization at this point in my life.

[00:03:24] But I, yeah, people might know me from the Land Party book that I put out last year, which was a coffee table book of Land Party pictures, which is the last good thing that Twitter gave me, I think, because that book only exists because of Twitter.

[00:03:39] Because a post about that idea blew up and I took it to a publisher.

[00:03:44] Or what else?

[00:03:45] Yeah, I just put out a game with two colleagues and it's called Fledgling Manor.

[00:03:49] Some people might have heard of that.

[00:03:52] And yeah, I used to work at a site called Fanbyte for a few years.

[00:03:54] That was really cool until, you know, it became good and wasn't allowed to exist.

[00:04:00] It exceeded the threshold of like positivity or like utility or fun and had to be cut down by the remorseless scythe of progress because it wasn't...

[00:04:11] Isn't that funny how that keeps happening?

[00:04:12] Yeah, it's great.

[00:04:14] It'll end soon, right?

[00:04:14] Like we'll just get past it and things will get better.

[00:04:17] Yeah.

[00:04:17] Eventually the machine will be full and it will be like, I don't need any more blood.

[00:04:21] Yeah, you'd think the tank would fill up.

[00:04:24] But no, I think Peter Thiel just keeps drinking it and he'll never be sated.

[00:04:32] So we're doomed.

[00:04:33] So I didn't know he was a...

[00:04:36] I knew Musk is South African.

[00:04:38] I didn't know Thiel was as well until recently.

[00:04:40] And I got to say, yeah, that makes sense.

[00:04:43] What?

[00:04:44] Wait, is that for real?

[00:04:45] They're all fucking white South Africans?

[00:04:48] Wait, really?

[00:04:49] Joe, are you giving me misinformation?

[00:04:51] I'm Googling this.

[00:04:52] I'm looking this up.

[00:04:53] That would explain a lot, I think, right?

[00:04:55] I don't know.

[00:04:56] I saw Nosferatu last night and I'm just like, wow, this is like...

[00:05:00] This is just Peter Thiel.

[00:05:01] It's Brian Johnson.

[00:05:02] It's all these guys.

[00:05:04] Just gotta just suck that blood right out of the hearts.

[00:05:07] This is a human life cycle.

[00:05:08] Oh my God.

[00:05:10] I'm on his Wikipedia.

[00:05:11] In 1977, the Thiel family lived in South Africa.

[00:05:14] Peter changed elementary school seven times due to always killing small animals during recess.

[00:05:19] That part I ended.

[00:05:21] You had me for a second.

[00:05:23] You had me.

[00:05:24] But he did change school seven times.

[00:05:26] I wonder why.

[00:05:27] Probably wasn't something normal.

[00:05:28] Yeah, he was too great at making friends.

[00:05:31] Too normal.

[00:05:32] Everyone loved him too much.

[00:05:33] He was 100%ing every school so quickly.

[00:05:36] Yeah.

[00:05:37] He disrupted the learning experience because the kids wouldn't pay attention because he was too good at hanging.

[00:05:42] Like the chill vibes never ended.

[00:05:44] Exactly.

[00:05:45] Yeah.

[00:05:47] My read on you, if I were to be the AI that summed this up, I'm about to read the dumbest fucking joke I thought up right before we started this.

[00:05:58] And it's not good, but I'm so happy about it.

[00:06:00] I said, merit strikes me as a polymath, which sounds like being in a relationship with a bunch of numbers and Greek letters.

[00:06:08] Wow.

[00:06:09] Yeah, that's, I mean, that's probably better than most stand-up today because stand-up is not so much about even telling jokes anymore as it is about, if YouTube is any indication, I mean, it's just about saying like, can you believe that?

[00:06:23] And then you fill in the blank of like your hated social group and then people are like clapping, whoop at you.

[00:06:29] So there's a lot of crowd work.

[00:06:30] So you'd be pointing at someone in the crowd.

[00:06:32] Look at this guy.

[00:06:32] He's gay.

[00:06:33] And then like, you just leave the stage and get your big check from Elon Musk.

[00:06:37] Right.

[00:06:38] I want to talk about your game fledging manner because it is a visual novel, if I'm understanding.

[00:06:45] That's correct.

[00:06:46] So under the strict definitions set down, I feel like 10 years ago by Gamergate, it is not a game, technically speaking.

[00:06:55] But not even a walking simulator.

[00:06:57] No, you don't walk.

[00:06:58] It's like a reading simulator, which, I mean, it's not even simulating it.

[00:07:04] It's like I'm really reading a book.

[00:07:05] You're just reading.

[00:07:05] Yeah.

[00:07:06] It's just, bro, where's my leveling up?

[00:07:08] Where's my stats?

[00:07:09] Where's my grind?

[00:07:11] But yeah, it's a visual novel.

[00:07:13] And it's, I don't know, that's a genre that I don't play a lot of.

[00:07:17] And so it was interesting to work on one thing.

[00:07:20] So I don't either.

[00:07:21] I'm late to the ends in general.

[00:07:23] Right.

[00:07:23] I just, I, this is maybe unfair to say because you just released one, but I associated with perverts.

[00:07:27] Oh, absolutely.

[00:07:28] A hundred percent.

[00:07:29] Yeah.

[00:07:29] It's like there is some really cool stuff that people have done in that genre.

[00:07:33] And at the same time, historically, a lot of it is just like dating sim stuff, right?

[00:07:38] Like it's like Japanese PC stuff.

[00:07:41] And some of that stuff, again, is cool, but a lot of it is just like, what if you were an average school boy and you could date any of these like busty teens?

[00:07:52] And, but then you get like the sort of other, like the pushback on that in the last like few years, especially in the West of like, we understand the tropes of this genre.

[00:08:01] We're going to subvert them a little bit and get really weird.

[00:08:04] And it's like, how about you're dating and then you're just like looking furiously like around your office, like a fake plant.

[00:08:10] What if the fake plant was a guy that you were dating?

[00:08:12] What if this video game controller was a sexy lady?

[00:08:15] And it's like, okay, this is how we get the KFC dating sim, which was a real thing that came out like four years ago.

[00:08:23] So, so we're kind of in between.

[00:08:24] I don't know.

[00:08:24] We were sort of like trying to make an interesting story that isn't like, we're, we're much more sophisticated than all of this, like this horse shit.

[00:08:34] Right.

[00:08:34] You don't want to like, how do I put this?

[00:08:36] Make it seem like you're better than the genre you were doing.

[00:08:39] Yeah.

[00:08:39] Yeah.

[00:08:40] Yeah.

[00:08:40] It starts the art off from a place of smugness, which is like, well, this is now my end.

[00:08:46] Like I'm neat.

[00:08:47] I'm the first thing I'm doing is looking for something to like deflate the smugness and defeat the game.

[00:08:53] And it's like, no, no, no, no.

[00:08:54] A hundred percent.

[00:08:54] No.

[00:08:54] It's fun.

[00:08:55] Like sometimes.

[00:08:56] And again, this is going to sound out of character, but I'm still right.

[00:09:00] Sometimes it's good for someone to just be horny.

[00:09:03] Like, okay.

[00:09:03] Sure.

[00:09:04] It can.

[00:09:04] Yeah.

[00:09:04] It's fine.

[00:09:05] It can.

[00:09:06] Yeah.

[00:09:06] I mean, I think that's totally fine.

[00:09:07] It's just like everything is at this point in like a really specific way too.

[00:09:13] I'll take variation, you know, that's, that's even that would be.

[00:09:16] It would be good.

[00:09:17] Yeah.

[00:09:18] It's the sameness.

[00:09:19] It's the, I mean, this is the thing I have with a lot of bad, low quality anime shit.

[00:09:23] When people like, like are huge heads for like a gacha game and like, I got like Shimuzu.

[00:09:29] Look.

[00:09:29] Yeah.

[00:09:29] And it's just like, it's a three star.

[00:09:31] This is like the, this is like the default model of like anime girl character creator.

[00:09:36] How do you have strong feelings about this?

[00:09:38] This is, this is the default.

[00:09:40] And like, yeah, a lot of horniness is the default.

[00:09:43] Like how about, what if you're never going to believe this?

[00:09:46] What if we put big bouncing boobs on this extremely thin child?

[00:09:50] And it's like, okay.

[00:09:51] Yeah.

[00:09:51] Like, all right guys.

[00:09:53] Like, I don't just, it's like, it's old.

[00:09:54] I feel like, I don't know.

[00:09:56] I was looking at steam earlier today and just like, wow, there's a lot of that still, huh?

[00:10:01] And a lot of it now is AI generated too, which creeps me out because like the idea that a computer is like, like at least if someone drew it, there is, even if it's just like really bottom of the barrel, whatever shit.

[00:10:14] It's like someone drew this and like a human put work into creating something that would make someone horny.

[00:10:20] When a computer does it, it's like you're being tricked into the matrix.

[00:10:23] Like how do you, how do people not see this?

[00:10:25] Like, oh, AI generate to me a horny lady.

[00:10:27] And it's like, just like plug your fucking brain into the computer at that point, homie.

[00:10:32] And like some people probably want that, but it's just like, I refuse.

[00:10:36] I refuse.

[00:10:37] Much like Rohan Kishibe.

[00:10:40] I refuse.

[00:10:41] Very good.

[00:10:42] As I've become more of a guy in my 30s, the visual novel format and genre, I feel like it's grown in my estimation.

[00:10:52] As a college student, I'd be like, you can't play Team Fortress 2 on that.

[00:10:55] Boo.

[00:10:57] But especially, I mean, especially being a creative person, it's just like, and like having played Disco Elysium, which is essentially just a visual novel with a little bit of set dressing to make it seem more like a RP treat.

[00:11:10] But it's a visual novel.

[00:11:11] Let's be right.

[00:11:12] Yeah.

[00:11:12] I love it just because it's like freebasing writing.

[00:11:17] And it's really hard to do that these days because of all the problems.

[00:11:25] And like, yeah, especially because like we love on this show to do fucking sketches and skits, which no one likes or people like, but they're the outliers.

[00:11:34] But it's a hostage situation.

[00:11:36] Yes.

[00:11:36] Yes.

[00:11:36] So like, I feel like visual novels are the sketches of video games, if that makes sense.

[00:11:42] Yeah.

[00:11:42] Yeah.

[00:11:43] You skipped them on the rap album.

[00:11:45] I understand.

[00:11:47] But like, but the artist, they're for the artists, right?

[00:11:49] Yeah.

[00:11:50] Yes.

[00:11:50] Yes.

[00:11:51] It's so good.

[00:11:52] The most recent one I played is Ace Attorney, which doesn't really count.

[00:11:55] Oh, yeah.

[00:11:56] I've actually been playing Phoenix Wright for the first time.

[00:12:01] I, some reason, like I played the second and third ones, you know, back in like the late 2000s.

[00:12:07] But the first one, I think it had like a really small print run when it first came out and I could never find it.

[00:12:13] And then I realized like, I just, I think I had like bought it for my mom a few years ago, but she never played it.

[00:12:19] So I have a DS in Phoenix Wright and I've just been going through it.

[00:12:22] I'm like, oh, damn, this game is like still really, really good.

[00:12:24] Like they nailed so much of this and it just gave me like a lot of ideas for a follow up.

[00:12:31] And I think the thing with a visual novel too is like there is a certain element of, at least for us, it was like we're three people who made this in like six months and none of us are coders.

[00:12:42] So like I don't like making computers try to do things.

[00:12:45] And it was sort of like, okay, this is like the smallest scoped thing that we can accomplish in less than a year.

[00:12:53] And so like now we're looking at, okay, like what if we did something more like Disco Elysium with like, you know, a world you walk around in and stats and stuff?

[00:13:00] Because I like that stuff too.

[00:13:01] Like it's cool.

[00:13:02] It's just like, it's more, you know, more work, more like learning how to do stuff.

[00:13:08] And yeah, I don't know.

[00:13:10] I think people, I've seen a lot of people play it who are like, oh, I don't play visual novels.

[00:13:13] But like I like this one because it, it isn't, yeah.

[00:13:17] Like people who are like, it's not like what I think of when I think of this.

[00:13:20] Because I think a lot of people do think like, oh, it's like a dating sim.

[00:13:23] And it's like, it's really, this one is really not.

[00:13:25] I guess we haven't said what it's about.

[00:13:26] But for people who don't know, it's basically about Big Brother.

[00:13:29] If everyone is a vampire and you were killed instead of just having to leave the house when you get.

[00:13:35] You say Big Brother, the TV show, not Big Brother, the indie for concept.

[00:13:39] Right.

[00:13:39] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:13:40] The, you know, the TV show.

[00:13:42] Sort of, I guess people compare it to Danganronpa a little bit.

[00:13:46] Although it's not like investigating things really.

[00:13:48] It's just like if you're voted out, then you're killed.

[00:13:50] I think that's kind of a subgenre at this point now.

[00:13:53] This like death game kind of, I mean like squid game.

[00:13:55] Like all kinds of things where it's like a game show where you're killed if you lose.

[00:13:59] But.

[00:13:59] Hell yeah, hell yeah.

[00:14:00] So you probably don't know.

[00:14:02] We, for our patrons, patrons on Patreon, we call patrons because I fucking misspeak all the time.

[00:14:09] Uh, we have been noodling around with a visual novel, uh, engine that is like all open source.

[00:14:16] Easy to use.

[00:14:17] We made a Deadwood game that was like two months long and it was just like da da da da da.

[00:14:21] But I, I've been working on a bigger one and it's not out yet.

[00:14:26] We're still, I'm still waiting on the art.

[00:14:27] Uh, gonna be done by Tom McHenry.

[00:14:28] Oh hell yeah.

[00:14:29] Yeah.

[00:14:30] Yeah.

[00:14:30] Yeah.

[00:14:31] Yeah.

[00:14:31] If you, if people haven't played a horse master, if that game is still around, it's like one

[00:14:36] of the best games that came out of the twine era that has ever been made.

[00:14:41] It is still around.

[00:14:42] I, okay, great, great.

[00:14:43] Yeah.

[00:14:44] Cause a lot of that stuff has fallen off the internet, but Tom is a fucking genius.

[00:14:48] I've never met someone with a greater disparity between his obvious genius and his own conception.

[00:14:57] Do you not see the ducks you're drawing?

[00:14:59] Right.

[00:14:59] Like you are drawing crazy, awesome ducks.

[00:15:02] Right.

[00:15:02] Do you not see them?

[00:15:04] Like every time he's like, oh, it's been so long since I put anything out.

[00:15:07] Like, I, I guess I'm, I guess I'm terrible now.

[00:15:09] It's like, buddy, you, you can make a duck.

[00:15:11] Like, like you're God, like you're basically better than God.

[00:15:14] Anyway.

[00:15:14] Yeah.

[00:15:15] If people haven't read, like played horse master or like read Tom McHenry's comics,

[00:15:18] uh, uh, also Sarah, um, her stuff is amazing too.

[00:15:23] They put, I think they have like a joint, um, Etsy where you can just download all their

[00:15:26] stuff.

[00:15:27] Uh, highly, highly recommend it.

[00:15:29] You can also buy a patch and or sticker, uh, based off of Sarah's incredible,

[00:15:33] good grade and therapy.

[00:15:34] Oh yes.

[00:15:34] Yeah.

[00:15:35] Um, they're great.

[00:15:37] They've also both been on anime.

[00:15:38] Seikos go listen to them.

[00:15:38] If you haven't go back in the back catalog, look up anime.

[00:15:41] Seikos, how I'm and Sarah McHenry on Google and you'll find it because that's how it works.

[00:15:44] Unless an AI gets you first.

[00:15:46] Ooh, spooky.

[00:15:47] Uh, the point being, so I'm working on this.

[00:15:49] It's not done yet as someone who has just completed and released a visual novel.

[00:15:54] Uh, I just want to make sure that I have the right idea about what's going to happen

[00:15:57] when we're done.

[00:15:59] So, uh, my conception is that when you release a video game, you become,

[00:16:03] become immortal and become made of gold.

[00:16:05] All of your creative ambitions are fulfilled totally forever even.

[00:16:09] Uh, and the sense of triumph you earned fills the hole within you finally, uh, rendering you

[00:16:15] complete.

[00:16:16] So I guess my question to you is, uh, is that, is that fun?

[00:16:21] Are you bored?

[00:16:21] Yeah.

[00:16:22] Yeah.

[00:16:22] I mean, it's like, um, it's like that Simpsons episode where, uh, Homer, you know, is like,

[00:16:29] uh, imagining what he, what it would be like if you were out the quickie mart.

[00:16:33] And, uh, yeah, it's, yeah.

[00:16:37] I feel like I'm conflating two things.

[00:16:39] There's one where he's like, he's made of gold.

[00:16:41] And then there's the one where he's like sitting on his porch, right?

[00:16:44] Like, oh, yeah.

[00:16:45] And like Marge is just go, go dancing next to him.

[00:16:48] Yeah.

[00:16:48] Uh, it's, it's both, both of those things, which is what's so great about it.

[00:16:51] But, uh, yeah, honestly, it has been really cool because, you know, you make something

[00:16:57] like this and it's like, I don't know, no one's heard of us as a studio before because

[00:17:02] we just started it to do this.

[00:17:04] Obviously, like I have a bit of an audience coming into this and my, my co-writer and

[00:17:08] the artist on the game have a bit of an audience as well.

[00:17:11] But, um, I was like, we basically talked before we released it and we're like, you know

[00:17:16] what?

[00:17:16] We put about a thousand dollars into this thing just to commission music and for, for a

[00:17:21] couple of, of, uh, you know, PR things and stuff like that.

[00:17:24] And like, if we make that back, we'll be happy.

[00:17:27] And it's like, we did.

[00:17:28] And like have, you know, it's not made a lot of money, but we sold about 800 copies so far,

[00:17:33] which is pretty cool.

[00:17:35] So it's like seeing reviews, like, honestly, like I can, you know, I have brain problems.

[00:17:42] I feel like most of us, uh, where like Tom, you know, uh, where it's like, oh, but like,

[00:17:48] uh, now I have to do something else or like, oh, this isn't good enough.

[00:17:51] Or here's all the ways in which this fell short or whatever, whatever.

[00:17:54] Um, but then like you read reviews from people who are just like, wow, this was like an incredible

[00:17:59] story or like the craziest thing for me has been like, we've had like a handful of reviews

[00:18:03] from Chinese players who are like, like I had to look up some words in this, but it

[00:18:08] was like really incredible.

[00:18:09] I'm like, holy shit.

[00:18:10] That's fucking cool as hell, man.

[00:18:12] Like someone in China was like playing this despite the fact that there is no like Chinese

[00:18:16] translation available.

[00:18:18] And like, you know, probably just translating it.

[00:18:20] I'm sure they like, maybe they knew some English or they were like running it through a translator

[00:18:24] or something.

[00:18:25] Um, but it's like, wow, you put a lot of work in to like play this, this thing that I made

[00:18:31] like that, that kicks ass.

[00:18:33] Yes.

[00:18:33] Uh, it's, yeah, it's just, it is really humbling and cool to see that.

[00:18:37] And, uh, you know, there, there's, I think always this fantasy of like, yeah, it'll be,

[00:18:43] we're going to do the next like weird breakout Tumblr hit where people are like obsessed with

[00:18:47] it and drawing stuff.

[00:18:49] And there actually has been some fan art and fan fiction, which that also is crazy.

[00:18:53] Um, when people sit down and draw things, you may write for fun, for free.

[00:18:58] Like that, that is like, oh, okay.

[00:19:00] That is the, the creative dream, right?

[00:19:02] Yeah.

[00:19:03] It's, it's really, really wild.

[00:19:05] Um, and, uh, I think now I'm just in the space where I'm kind of like antsy because we

[00:19:09] put it out like close to the beginning of December and then it, you know, it was the holidays

[00:19:15] and now I'm just like, okay, I want to like get back to doing something.

[00:19:17] I feel like this compulsion to do that.

[00:19:20] So, um, yeah.

[00:19:22] Yeah.

[00:19:22] Like, I, I, I totally agree.

[00:19:25] And, uh, I think we share that mindset of like, when you're making art and you're making

[00:19:32] something creative, like if you're expecting, if you, if your metric of success is financial,

[00:19:37] it's like you got born in the wrong fucking world, asshole.

[00:19:41] Like, sorry, we are in hell time.

[00:19:43] Like if you are not turning the crank on the blood machine, like you are fucked dollar bill

[00:19:48] wise.

[00:19:49] Speaking of Joe, how's the job search going?

[00:19:52] Like, I, I'm going to, uh, I'm going to just live in the sewers.

[00:19:59] Yeah.

[00:19:59] Uh, that's my plan as well.

[00:20:01] Uh, oh, which is a, the, the, like the, the way to do it is as you say, like what, like,

[00:20:06] what is the point of this?

[00:20:06] The point is to have some creative fulfillment and like reach someone.

[00:20:11] And like, if that wasn't, if like we hadn't like internalized that as like our goal, we'd

[00:20:16] have gone insane a few times, a few projects.

[00:20:18] I was like, maybe I've had that same thought.

[00:20:20] It's like, maybe it will be the breakout thing.

[00:20:22] And when it isn't, I like, I feel bad.

[00:20:25] And it's just like, why did I like that feeling bad?

[00:20:28] I caused it.

[00:20:29] Like, yeah.

[00:20:29] Yeah.

[00:20:30] It's a perfectionism issue, right?

[00:20:31] Like you are always changing the parameters on yourself a little bit.

[00:20:34] Like, even if you're like, oh, I will be a success if I do X.

[00:20:37] If this is how I am anyway, X rolls around and I'm like, you know, actually it was a X

[00:20:41] plus two.

[00:20:43] Yeah.

[00:20:44] It's like, it's such a bad like way to approach this stuff that we're all trained to do.

[00:20:49] Like, we still all kind of believe like that we could win the lottery of artistic or creative

[00:20:56] work of like, oh, well one day like this person will listen to my podcast or, you know, this

[00:21:02] person will post on Instagram about like my book or something and then that will catapult

[00:21:06] it to success.

[00:21:07] And I guess for me, what I've tried to think about in the last couple of years is like,

[00:21:12] okay, say that does happen.

[00:21:15] Then what?

[00:21:16] Like, even then, like, is the idea then, oh, then I'll be materially secure and thus

[00:21:20] happy forever.

[00:21:21] Like, rich people are fucking miserable.

[00:21:23] And obviously it would be nice to be like at least baseline secure and not worrying about

[00:21:27] money all the time.

[00:21:28] Like that, there's a difference between that and like, you know, having way too much money.

[00:21:32] But like, if you're not doing this stuff for the process, then you are setting yourself

[00:21:38] up to constantly be miserable.

[00:21:40] Like regardless of how it does.

[00:21:42] I think even if it does well, if you're in that brain space, it's never going to be good

[00:21:46] enough.

[00:21:47] Yeah.

[00:21:47] And an interesting, not that interesting, but an angle we're bringing up at least briefly

[00:21:51] is like, to our eyes, like you're like a big poster.

[00:21:56] You are like, we've discussed this.

[00:21:57] I'm an asymmetric.

[00:21:58] Yeah.

[00:21:59] Oh, that's a big sin.

[00:22:00] And to our conception before we were like talking to you personally and like, oh my

[00:22:03] God, she's a real person.

[00:22:05] Merit K, like to me, that's like, again, like an image of an anvil on a civilization map.

[00:22:11] It's like, here you will get resources from.

[00:22:13] Like, if you see this picture, there will be a post there and you're just like, yeah.

[00:22:16] And like, it used to be that like being a big poster truly was like a guaranteed road

[00:22:23] to money.

[00:22:24] You could get shit my dad says.

[00:22:25] Right.

[00:22:26] Now it seems like it's purely like pure self-armed to have an account with five digit

[00:22:33] followers or more.

[00:22:36] It's yeah, it's weird.

[00:22:37] I don't know.

[00:22:38] Like, I feel like it definitely is less meaningful than it was maybe 10 years ago.

[00:22:44] Like Twitter.

[00:22:45] I mean, obviously Twitter is worthless now.

[00:22:46] Like it means nothing to have an account on there.

[00:22:49] I guess maybe Instagram still kind of means something, although less than it did.

[00:22:52] And then TikTok is really the only social network where like people actually care about it.

[00:22:57] But like, even then, most people on that service are not making money, even if they have a big

[00:23:05] account.

[00:23:05] And like, it's strange to like see this stuff change because I think for a long time, I

[00:23:11] was convinced that like, oh, like Twitter is like getting me opportunities and stuff.

[00:23:14] And it was for a while.

[00:23:16] Like I, when I lost my job in 2018, after the company I was working for, Verve, basically

[00:23:23] it got bought by AT&T or like Crunchyroll got bought by AT&T and then like they shut down

[00:23:27] Verve.

[00:23:28] And, um.

[00:23:29] Isn't it funny how that keeps happening?

[00:23:30] It's yeah.

[00:23:31] It's just like everything keeps getting gobbled up.

[00:23:33] At some point there won't be anything to eat anymore.

[00:23:36] And then what's going to happen?

[00:23:37] It's like best not to think about it, I guess.

[00:23:39] But.

[00:23:40] That's when Anime Sicko sweeps in and fills the void.

[00:23:43] We'll be the one thing no one wants to buy.

[00:23:46] But like at that point, and this is partly a function of like the media ecosystem changing

[00:23:52] as well, you know, I got scooped up within like three weeks.

[00:23:56] Like someone reached out to me on Twitter and was like, hey, I just like got laid off.

[00:23:59] Do you like want a new job at this site that I've been like developing and like we have

[00:24:03] funding and stuff?

[00:24:04] And when I got laid off from that site in 2023, you know, I have not found a full time job

[00:24:10] since then.

[00:24:11] And it's like partly Twitter has become less useful.

[00:24:14] Partly media jobs have fallen apart and like the economy has changed in a lot of ways.

[00:24:18] But I think I still am like tied into this legacy thinking of like this is really important

[00:24:24] and like it's where connections and like jobs and stuff come from.

[00:24:28] And it's like, no, it's not.

[00:24:30] It's just where numbers come from at this point.

[00:24:31] And like I need to work on maybe weaning myself off of numbers.

[00:24:36] I think the issue and this is my problem, too.

[00:24:38] I mean, I'm not in a position where I'm like getting opportunities.

[00:24:41] But like for Twitter for so long was the way you described.

[00:24:43] And because I spent so much time on it doing time theft at work, in my heart of hearts,

[00:24:50] there's like a part of me that always thinks it's like that still.

[00:24:54] Like there's something there that's like worth the save.

[00:24:57] And it's not.

[00:24:58] It's garbage.

[00:24:58] It's absolutely shit.

[00:25:00] And I guess it's just like remorse from, I guess essentially like the thing when it

[00:25:06] really was shitty and Blue Sky was not up and running and not to say that Blue Sky is like

[00:25:10] amazing or anything.

[00:25:11] But it just felt like, OK, well, I invested a lot of time.

[00:25:13] Not that I did this for a productive reason.

[00:25:15] But at the end of the day, this is like an MMO I put a ton of time into.

[00:25:19] And now they're shutting off the server.

[00:25:21] Yeah.

[00:25:22] Yeah.

[00:25:22] It's like I never got to the end.

[00:25:24] I mean, never get to the level cap.

[00:25:26] Right.

[00:25:26] I have a few cool items.

[00:25:28] And it's like you tell me the items are gone now.

[00:25:30] It's like.

[00:25:31] They should have been NFTs.

[00:25:32] Then I could take them to another game.

[00:25:35] Oh, my God.

[00:25:36] I love that.

[00:25:37] It's like you can get a gun in Call of Duty and then put it in Mario.

[00:25:42] That was the dream.

[00:25:43] The beautiful dream of NFTs that was never realized because now we're on AI.

[00:25:48] Do you think anyone ever asked Zuckerberg like, hey, I forgot why is the company called

[00:25:52] Meta anymore?

[00:25:53] Do you think he gets embarrassed having to explain that?

[00:25:55] Like I remember when Muller, she wrote, got on Blue Sky and everyone was like roasting

[00:26:00] them like, get out of here.

[00:26:02] Get out of here.

[00:26:07] Fly to them and said, who's the only like it ever got was from Branson Reese.

[00:26:13] Thank you, King.

[00:26:14] I know if no one got my back, you got my back.

[00:26:18] Just because like what like what would the process be for them to explain why like who

[00:26:23] Muller is?

[00:26:24] And it's like, is that not embarrassing?

[00:26:26] At one point in the explanation, like what facts are you going to leave out to make yourself?

[00:26:32] Also, he voted for Trump for sure.

[00:26:33] Oh, yeah.

[00:26:34] Yes.

[00:26:34] Yes.

[00:26:37] Well, that Trump, he outfoxed me and so he will be able to outfox America's enemies

[00:26:41] because I, Jesus Christ.

[00:26:43] I feel like social media is a little bit cooked and everyone is like slowly catching up to

[00:26:48] that except for the people, except for the follow for follow people on Blue Sky who are

[00:26:51] just like, this is the most important thing in the world is to like expose myself to the

[00:26:55] firehose of like misery and like insanity.

[00:26:59] And like if you don't follow me back, then you're a war criminal or something like it's very

[00:27:05] strange.

[00:27:05] Yeah, it's weird.

[00:27:06] This is morality.

[00:27:07] I don't know where it's coming from.

[00:27:08] There's like this Puritan thing regarding the rules of following.

[00:27:13] It's clearly coming from a place where no one has control and they're trying to feel something.

[00:27:18] Absolutely.

[00:27:19] My take, so this is my read on this situation, or rather the read on why these follow for

[00:27:25] follow people are so intense about it.

[00:27:26] I mean, because we realize that to do this is insane because if you have 50,000 followers

[00:27:33] and you want to follow 50,000 people back, you're going to have to click a button 50,000

[00:27:37] times, which is an activity that will cause you to go insaner.

[00:27:43] And then also you're going to have to look at the timeline of 50,000 people.

[00:27:46] Two prongs here.

[00:27:47] One, I think that these people think that the timeline is the news.

[00:27:52] And then in order to be an informed citizen, you have to read the news.

[00:27:56] And the news has to be 50,000 resist libs.

[00:27:59] Like that's the only way you'll know.

[00:28:01] Otherwise, you're going to be ill-equipped to deal with the rising tide of fascism.

[00:28:05] Number two, and they believe that the front line in the battle against the rising tide

[00:28:10] of fascism is entirely contained within their own brain.

[00:28:15] The only, like what is the main thing to do to resist?

[00:28:18] Well, not even main.

[00:28:18] The only thing you do to resist is you look at the right posts.

[00:28:23] The entire game is if I must put my brain under extreme posting stress.

[00:28:28] And then once I've accomplished this, Trump will become a dead guy.

[00:28:34] As ever, bearing witness to injustice automatically fixes it.

[00:28:38] The fact that I drove myself insane was the noblest thing I could ever do.

[00:28:42] Yeah.

[00:28:43] Yeah.

[00:28:44] I don't know how we got here exactly.

[00:28:47] I have a vague sense of it, of just like everyone getting on Twitter in 2016

[00:28:52] and Facebook sort of collapsing and those people moving onto Twitter.

[00:28:56] And yeah, it's just really dire.

[00:28:59] Like, and I feel like it is mainly like older people in their 50s and up,

[00:29:05] like who are, who think this way.

[00:29:07] I saw it described as like the best way to get interaction right now on blue skies

[00:29:13] to criticize Gen X.

[00:29:15] Yeah.

[00:29:16] We drank from the hose, damn it.

[00:29:18] We drank from the hose.

[00:29:19] I think too much is stupid.

[00:29:21] You know what I think it fucking is?

[00:29:22] Because, so because, I mean, and I'm feeling this already.

[00:29:25] The front line for resistance is going to be young people as it has been since the fuck,

[00:29:30] since there was something to resist, you know?

[00:29:32] That's always the truth.

[00:29:33] And these Gen Xers are getting old.

[00:29:37] And like all people who are getting old, they do not want to admit it.

[00:29:40] And so they're like, no, we're the front line of resistance.

[00:29:44] And the way we're going to do it is we're going to like all chant a spell.

[00:29:48] Like we're going to cast a spell.

[00:29:50] And this, and like our magic is going to save the day.

[00:29:53] And the magic is posting based.

[00:29:56] Because like there's no other, there's so like self-serious about it.

[00:30:00] And like I put a screenshot in this.

[00:30:03] It's like some, like Drill made a joke about Jimmy Carter.

[00:30:07] And some, one of these people is like,

[00:30:10] oh, I thought we left the garbage like Drill back on Twitter.

[00:30:14] I'm like, I'm sorry, the most beloved comedy writer living?

[00:30:17] Is he garbage to you that you wish you could leave behind?

[00:30:21] Because he's ruining the spell.

[00:30:23] Because he's not chaining the words right.

[00:30:26] Yeah.

[00:30:26] So can we ask you now, if you are an anime sicko,

[00:30:29] can we ask you the dreaded question?

[00:30:32] Yeah.

[00:30:34] Wow.

[00:30:35] God.

[00:30:36] I mean, I have been.

[00:30:40] I have been an anime sicko at times in my life.

[00:30:42] I think I was an anime sicko when I was a lot younger.

[00:30:46] And I just kind of just fell off at some point.

[00:30:49] Like I don't watch a lot of anime anymore.

[00:30:51] I am watching Jojo part five right now,

[00:30:54] which I read like, you know, 10 years ago,

[00:30:57] the terrible fan translation of it.

[00:30:59] But I am really just sort of into Jojo

[00:31:03] and like a couple other things.

[00:31:04] Every few years I'll watch something.

[00:31:06] Like I have seen a few shows,

[00:31:08] but, and then I have a lot of friends

[00:31:09] who are deeply, deeply invested.

[00:31:12] And so I'll pick up stuff like through osmosis.

[00:31:15] So like, I kind of know,

[00:31:16] also just being online now,

[00:31:18] it's really weird as someone who grew up

[00:31:19] when anime was like a kind of weird peripheral thing

[00:31:23] to now be like, oh, it's cool now.

[00:31:26] I think we made a really big mistake actually

[00:31:28] in like normalizing anime.

[00:31:30] Like it's, I don't want pro athletes to be like,

[00:31:33] yeah, I love Goku and whatever.

[00:31:34] And it's like, that's fucking weird dog.

[00:31:38] Like, and not even like I suffered.

[00:31:39] So like you have to suffer if you're in anime.

[00:31:41] I'm like, no, I think it's just, I don't think.

[00:31:43] It just puts it at the right distance

[00:31:44] if you're just, if you're approaching it like that.

[00:31:48] Yeah, like when I saw the Anderson Horwitz article

[00:31:53] in the fall that was like, anime is the new AI.

[00:31:59] What the fuck?

[00:32:00] Oh, did you guys not know about this?

[00:32:01] Did you guys not know about this?

[00:32:02] No.

[00:32:03] The A16Z, there's like a whole like article

[00:32:07] on Anderson Horwitz about how anime is the next AI

[00:32:11] or metaverse or whatever.

[00:32:14] Anime makes money though.

[00:32:16] Yes, yeah.

[00:32:17] It's, but they're like, we're going to have AI anime companions

[00:32:20] and VTubing and user-generated content platforms

[00:32:24] like Roblox to make anime.

[00:32:26] And yeah, so it's like, I think it's done.

[00:32:28] I think it's going to like go around

[00:32:30] and we're going to go back to like being marginalized again, maybe.

[00:32:35] But I was in Japan for the first time recently

[00:32:39] and had an experience there that was actually pretty nice.

[00:32:45] But when I, so I got to Japan and was like, oh fuck.

[00:32:50] I have an anime tattoo and I, and okay.

[00:32:56] So I guess that actually answers the question in one sentence.

[00:32:59] Like, yes, I guess, yes is the answer

[00:33:01] because I have a fucking anime tattoo.

[00:33:02] This has happened so many times to the guests.

[00:33:04] It's just like, I don't know.

[00:33:06] Oh, am I really an anime sicko?

[00:33:08] Then five minutes later, they're like, it's like,

[00:33:10] technically I'm legally married to Goku actually.

[00:33:13] It's like, what the fuck?

[00:33:14] Yeah, yeah.

[00:33:14] Goku is my legal husband.

[00:33:16] And yeah, so, okay.

[00:33:18] So like ages ago, I got really into Jojo

[00:33:20] like in like 2012, 13, around there when the show started airing.

[00:33:27] And then a few years later, I got a, for some reason, I was like,

[00:33:32] well, I'm never going to have an office job

[00:33:34] or like need to work anywhere where anyone cares about how I look.

[00:33:38] So yeah, I will get a Killer Queen hand tattoo.

[00:33:43] That's sick as hell.

[00:33:44] It's so, folks, you didn't see.

[00:33:46] It's so sick.

[00:33:47] That's it.

[00:33:48] Thank you.

[00:33:49] But like here, no one, you know, very, very few people

[00:33:52] will clock it as an anime tattoo

[00:33:55] because it just looks like a skull.

[00:33:58] And then when I was in Japan, I was like, oh, fuck, wait.

[00:34:01] I have an anime tattoo on my head.

[00:34:03] I look like a fucking typical American weeb.

[00:34:06] And like everyone's going to be like just making fun of me.

[00:34:10] And the only interaction I ever had around it was I was on a train

[00:34:14] and there was this like high school age girl who was sort of like,

[00:34:18] I don't know, had the vibes of like a cookie monster pajama pants

[00:34:22] kind of person, but was wearing like a sort of-

[00:34:26] She would say anything to anyone?

[00:34:26] Yeah, like wearing like a suit that sort of didn't really fit right

[00:34:29] and then had like the tie that Kira wears in part four

[00:34:33] with the Killer Queen logo on it.

[00:34:35] And we were just on the train and, you know, everyone's very quiet

[00:34:38] because it's the train in Japan.

[00:34:39] And, you know, I didn't strike up conversations

[00:34:41] with a lot of people there because it's not super common,

[00:34:43] but I turned to her and go,

[00:34:46] and then just like point to my hand.

[00:34:49] And she was just like, like her eyes like just light up

[00:34:52] and was like, oh, like, can I take a picture?

[00:34:54] And I'm like, yeah, yeah, of course.

[00:34:56] And it was just such like a cute interaction.

[00:34:59] And I was like, okay, I'm redeemed.

[00:35:01] This is fine now.

[00:35:05] But yeah, so yes, yes.

[00:35:08] Yes, yes, I am.

[00:35:10] Yeah, you're an anime seiko.

[00:35:11] Come on.

[00:35:11] I mean, also, I just want to make it clear.

[00:35:13] A lot of people, especially people who are not like our buddies for years,

[00:35:18] they hear anime seiko and they think it means someone who watches anime a lot.

[00:35:21] Right.

[00:35:21] We have not watched anime in like six years.

[00:35:24] Right.

[00:35:25] And Jojo is an anime.

[00:35:27] It's like its own category.

[00:35:28] Yeah, it feels like its own thing at this point.

[00:35:31] There's just-

[00:35:32] Yeah, let's switch gears completely and talk about Jojo now.

[00:35:35] It's fucking good.

[00:35:37] Yeah, so I'm a little behind.

[00:35:39] I haven't read-

[00:35:41] Well, to tell me how you define behind, I guess.

[00:35:43] But I haven't read part eight at all.

[00:35:45] Part eight's so fucking good.

[00:35:47] You're going to love that.

[00:35:48] Yeah.

[00:35:49] All I know is about part eight is there's another guy named Kira, and I think the main guy has three balls?

[00:35:57] Yeah, he's actually got four balls on account of he's two guys that have been merged together.

[00:36:02] Oh, holy shit.

[00:36:04] Yeah.

[00:36:04] I think that's like a spoiler, but you learned that really soon.

[00:36:08] And whatever.

[00:36:10] Also, like, what is that even-

[00:36:12] Right.

[00:36:13] What is that?

[00:36:14] Like, huh?

[00:36:14] Yeah.

[00:36:15] What do you freaking mean?

[00:36:16] It's all spoiled.

[00:36:17] Oh, the whole story.

[00:36:18] It's ruined.

[00:36:19] Yeah.

[00:36:21] But part five, I think we've talked about before we started recording.

[00:36:24] Part five is the part where he fully transitions into making the boys wiry twinks exclusively.

[00:36:31] Like no one will ever be buff again.

[00:36:33] And I love this.

[00:36:34] It's really funny to trace the progression of the style from like part three and just like looking at how Jotaro changes from like, you know, it's funny.

[00:36:45] Like he kind of ages in reverse because of it.

[00:36:47] Like when he's a 16 year old guy, he looks like he's like a 40 year old man.

[00:36:53] And then by the time he's in like part six, he's just like all of his like edges have been sanded off.

[00:36:58] And he's just like been in a rock tumbler for like 20 years and just looks like this perfectly smooth man.

[00:37:06] Yeah.

[00:37:06] There's been six generations that have gone past him.

[00:37:10] Yes.

[00:37:10] It's so good.

[00:37:11] Yeah.

[00:37:11] And when he like shows up in part six, it's like I know Jotaro.

[00:37:15] I know his shape.

[00:37:16] It's triangle.

[00:37:17] And he's like a skinny little guy.

[00:37:19] Like his clothes are like hanging off of him.

[00:37:21] I expect him to be like, Jolene, I have terrible news.

[00:37:24] It's terminal.

[00:37:25] I'm like, no.

[00:37:25] I have like, yeah, I have TB.

[00:37:27] Like I have a wasting disease.

[00:37:30] Part five is the best because it's Italiano.

[00:37:32] Yeah, it definitely is.

[00:37:33] And I forgot how Italian it is.

[00:37:37] But I always thought like they should have brought back Tonio in part five.

[00:37:41] The Italian restaurant guy.

[00:37:42] Yeah.

[00:37:43] Who's only in like one episode.

[00:37:44] And then he's just there's part four.

[00:37:46] There's just like a bunch of people who are just there for like one episode.

[00:37:48] And then they're like, yeah, you kind of got his thing.

[00:37:51] We love part four for it's like sort of meandering.

[00:37:56] Yeah.

[00:37:57] Like it's just sort of like, hey, there's a little town.

[00:37:59] Some shit's going on.

[00:38:00] And also the stakes are different.

[00:38:02] Like today we met a weird guy.

[00:38:04] Right.

[00:38:04] Yeah.

[00:38:04] I think it is my favorite part.

[00:38:06] But yeah, it's like it's funny how he tries to make these connections between each part to some extent.

[00:38:12] And in five, it's like, oh, I'll have a guy from four come and show up and be investigating Giorno.

[00:38:18] And let's make it just the most annoying guy that there was in that part.

[00:38:23] Like just this fucking like weird Gohan XP that I don't know.

[00:38:29] Does anyone like Koichi?

[00:38:31] I find him really.

[00:38:32] He's okay.

[00:38:33] I like that his stand talks and says rap words in a non-English speaker's cadence.

[00:38:41] That's good.

[00:38:42] My issue is he doesn't deserve a three-stage stand.

[00:38:45] Yeah.

[00:38:45] I like the idea of a three-stage stand, but he's just, like you said, just a Gohan.

[00:38:51] He's just a little.

[00:38:52] But not even fun.

[00:38:52] He's just a little shitty Gohan.

[00:38:55] And part four just has so many cool guys.

[00:38:57] And he's just like, I don't know.

[00:38:58] Okuyasu is like probably my favorite core ally.

[00:39:02] Is that the erasing space guy?

[00:39:05] Yeah, yeah.

[00:39:05] It's Zahanda where he's just like a big dumbass who just like yells all the time.

[00:39:12] And I don't know if this is still the case, but the wiki back when the part four anime was coming out,

[00:39:18] all the fan wikis for JoJo's were saying that the hand, the stand name The Hand,

[00:39:23] named after the hand on the stand that makes the power happen,

[00:39:27] were saying like it's a reference to the artist.

[00:39:29] It's a reference to the band.

[00:39:31] It's fucking not.

[00:39:33] Like, no, it is not.

[00:39:35] They don't all have to be bands.

[00:39:37] So one weird thing about being in Japan was that we were like, you know,

[00:39:42] while we were just like getting ready to go out or whatever, we just put JoJo on.

[00:39:45] I was there with my friend and we started watching part four from the beginning.

[00:39:50] And the subtitles, like we were watching it, you know, in Japanese, but with subtitles.

[00:39:54] And like the subtitles say the right names for the stands.

[00:39:58] And I was like, holy shit.

[00:39:59] Wow.

[00:39:59] Is this legal?

[00:40:00] Like, I guess it is in Japan.

[00:40:01] Like they don't fucking care about the copyright for like, like, you know,

[00:40:06] Pink Floyd isn't going to sue them for saying Shining or Crazy Diamond or whatever.

[00:40:11] Right.

[00:40:11] Like, yeah, it's like, oh, no, we can say it.

[00:40:14] Because it's like not in America where you'd have to go to Roger Daltrey and be like,

[00:40:18] can we call this the who?

[00:40:20] And he's just like, what the?

[00:40:22] Like trying to understand like what it is.

[00:40:24] Like, yeah, we want to.

[00:40:25] It's like, so.

[00:40:26] OK, so there's a guy and he makes another guy come.

[00:40:29] He stands next to him and he's named after your band.

[00:40:33] Yeah.

[00:40:33] So is this OK with you?

[00:40:34] Can we name it?

[00:40:36] Can we name it after this?

[00:40:37] He's just like, I don't.

[00:40:38] What are you talking about?

[00:40:40] Like, that's so silly because it's not like they're like if they were playing the music,

[00:40:45] that'd be one thing.

[00:40:46] But like, yeah, I feel like Diamond is just words.

[00:40:49] I feel like it must be just some lawyers being really overcautious because there's no way

[00:40:55] that that's actually a thing where like you can't say the name of a band.

[00:41:00] Like, I don't buy it.

[00:41:01] Yeah, I do like the legally distinct.

[00:41:04] Oh, I don't know.

[00:41:05] I think it's like it's like an added funness.

[00:41:07] Yeah.

[00:41:07] Some of them are good.

[00:41:09] Some of them are just like really terrible, though.

[00:41:12] And it's like you could have done better.

[00:41:13] I do like when we're watching part five, like they made craft work into arts and crafts.

[00:41:18] I was literally.

[00:41:20] Which is like, OK, you did.

[00:41:21] You did something there.

[00:41:22] You did it.

[00:41:23] You named it after like a record company.

[00:41:25] Like that's something.

[00:41:27] It's like not maybe as good as craft work, but like arts and crafts is like a real record

[00:41:33] label.

[00:41:34] It's like the broken social scene label.

[00:41:38] Like they put their first album out on.

[00:41:39] I didn't even know that.

[00:41:40] I just thought that was a funny way to do this.

[00:41:41] I don't know if they must have known.

[00:41:45] Like someone must have looked it up.

[00:41:46] But obviously, like the big one that everyone's wondering about right now is what they're going

[00:41:52] to do with Valentine's Stand in part seven.

[00:41:57] Right.

[00:41:57] Because I think have they announced that they're doing an anime of it?

[00:42:00] Oh, gosh.

[00:42:01] I don't know.

[00:42:02] I haven't kept.

[00:42:02] I always assumed that the part seven was unlikely to get anime because they would have to animate

[00:42:08] a lot of horses.

[00:42:09] Yeah.

[00:42:09] I assume they'll do CG for the horses.

[00:42:12] Like whatever.

[00:42:13] I can deal with it.

[00:42:14] That'll look terrible.

[00:42:14] But yeah.

[00:42:15] So like in the original Valentine's Stand is Dirty Deeds Dunderachie.

[00:42:20] And then in one of the early games, I think it was All-Star Battle, they translated it

[00:42:27] as Filthy Axe at a reasonable price.

[00:42:32] And so that's just like, it's so good.

[00:42:35] That's just so good.

[00:42:36] But then since then, they've mostly just called it D4C like in subsequent games.

[00:42:42] So it's like, please just like say it once.

[00:42:45] Like that's the thing is like, this is an official translation thing, right?

[00:42:49] Whereas in part four, I was kind of disappointed when they didn't do like the meme bits of like,

[00:42:54] I'm going to fix that spaghetti, right?

[00:42:57] Like because so there's the terrible fan translation that was done by some guy like some, I think

[00:43:03] some Chinese guy who translated Jojo part four for like his homework or something.

[00:43:07] Yeah.

[00:43:07] For an English class.

[00:43:08] Koichi really steals.

[00:43:12] And what a beautiful duong, obviously.

[00:43:15] And then famously, yeah, like in the Italian restaurant, Josuke is like, I'm going to fix

[00:43:20] that spaghetti.

[00:43:22] But then in the official, they're like, you know, he doesn't say that because that would

[00:43:25] be stupid.

[00:43:26] But this, but Filthy Axe at a reasonable price, that's an official thing they said.

[00:43:31] There's like a chance they could do it.

[00:43:34] And I feel like they have to.

[00:43:35] And it's a good joke.

[00:43:37] It's a great bit.

[00:43:37] But just like, I mean, the alternative is like the, I found some meme of D4C a while

[00:43:44] ago that was like it being drawn in increasingly shitty quality.

[00:43:47] And it just goes from like Jerry Deeds, Dendered Sheep to like Filthy Axe at a reasonable price

[00:43:52] to like money for bad.

[00:43:54] And then just like ain't gay, but $20 is $20.

[00:44:00] I think that of the, of the big shounens, JoJo's is the one that is like most, like its arms

[00:44:07] are open to stupid.

[00:44:08] Like, like, come on, like, give me something dumb, folks.

[00:44:11] Like the fact, it is so free.

[00:44:13] Like a lot of these series feel like they're very locked.

[00:44:17] Like we know what's going to happen.

[00:44:18] Like the story's locked in by a lot of the conventions of the genre.

[00:44:22] And just like what has been set up.

[00:44:25] JoJo is a freak show.

[00:44:26] You don't know what's going to happen at the carnival of freaks.

[00:44:28] It's, it's just weird.

[00:44:30] First of all, the fact that there are parts, like he just like, and the old cast, they're

[00:44:34] in the trash.

[00:44:36] All new freaks.

[00:44:37] Like that's insane.

[00:44:38] And then like the fact that he just starts off like, so this is the premise of the next

[00:44:42] part.

[00:44:43] And that's all I really know.

[00:44:45] And so until I figure out what I'm going to do next, it's today we met a weird guy.

[00:44:51] And then like, yes, like I love when they meet a weird guy.

[00:44:54] Like it doesn't need to be more complicated than that.

[00:44:56] Give the guy a funny beard that has a word.

[00:44:59] I don't care.

[00:45:00] I love this.

[00:45:01] Yeah.

[00:45:01] Just give someone like give them a really, really fucked up haircut and like clothing that looks

[00:45:07] like it was fired out of a gun at them.

[00:45:08] That's great.

[00:45:09] There is a guy in part eight.

[00:45:11] I'm not going to spoil too much, but I got to, I got to tell you about this because

[00:45:15] this will really whet your appetite.

[00:45:17] He's like a middle of the part random villain of the week.

[00:45:19] You know, you've seen this a million times.

[00:45:20] Like he, he, he's not a big plot point, but like he is notable in that like his stand

[00:45:26] is like actually very like chilling and scary.

[00:45:29] And he comes like really weirdly close to killing the entire cast for like a, you know, a random

[00:45:36] villain of the week who's gone in two chapters.

[00:45:40] Throughout this entire time when he's like doing his like scary near total party kill shit,

[00:45:46] he has pinned to his jacket a saxophone pin that is roughly two feet high.

[00:45:54] That's great.

[00:45:55] It's just like, no one does it like this.

[00:45:58] No one ever could.

[00:45:59] I made a really shocking discovery recently, which like real heads obviously already know

[00:46:04] about, but, um, I, I didn't realize until recently, which is that there's a guy in part

[00:46:09] seven named Ringo Road again, and his whole deal is based on a commercial that Charles Bronson

[00:46:18] did for a Japanese perfume.

[00:46:21] Whoa.

[00:46:22] I didn't know that.

[00:46:23] Tell me more.

[00:46:23] Okay.

[00:46:24] So he, he's supposed to look kind of like Charles Bronson.

[00:46:26] Um, and then his stand is called Mandam, which is the name of a Japanese like perfume and

[00:46:34] like, uh, grooming products company.

[00:46:37] And, uh, Mandam is a really strange name.

[00:46:41] So his stand operates like the commercial?

[00:46:42] I don't think it like does.

[00:46:44] I think his thing is he just like goes back in time 30 seconds or something.

[00:46:47] Yeah.

[00:46:47] He's the Omega 13 from Galilee.

[00:46:49] Right.

[00:46:49] Yeah.

[00:46:50] Yeah.

[00:46:51] But like, uh, when I discovered that like two weeks ago, I think, you know, it's pretty

[00:46:54] well known, but I just hadn't read part seven in like 10 years.

[00:46:57] And then just, um, my friend Sean wrote an article about this Japanese commercial, uh,

[00:47:04] with Charles Bronson putting on perfume and was like, what the fuck?

[00:47:08] Like this is what's like Iraqi was just like, Oh yeah, this one, this one is going to be

[00:47:13] based on, uh, the guy from death wish.

[00:47:16] The time that he did a commercial for some easy money in Japan.

[00:47:20] And that was the thing that people did a lot of in the seventies and eighties.

[00:47:23] I figured Mandam was just like some classic, it was like mountain, you know, like a classic

[00:47:28] rock band that you never heard.

[00:47:29] And it's like, I bet they are kind of, I'm not going to look into this.

[00:47:33] Yeah.

[00:47:34] No, it's a, it's a, wow.

[00:47:36] The other thing about Jojo that I think is just a unique aspect of it is it, is it's got

[00:47:42] just wild body horror.

[00:47:44] Do you agree with this?

[00:47:45] Like it just, it gets really gross.

[00:47:48] Not consistently, which is I think kind of fun.

[00:47:50] Cause like sometimes a stand will be boring.

[00:47:52] Um, and then I think like the, at least for me personally, like the, the one I think about

[00:47:57] in terms of like, uh, this is fucked.

[00:47:59] It's just the Metallica one, like hooks come out of your skin.

[00:48:02] Uh, uh, you know what I mean?

[00:48:04] Like it's, it's just like obscene.

[00:48:06] Like it's just, uh, an actual nightmare and it's just like a one-off, you know, it's so as

[00:48:12] soon as he like put the first healing stand in, he's like, Oh, okay.

[00:48:18] Oh, I can just fuck these guys up.

[00:48:19] Like it's like, um, Toriyama, like, you know, inventing senzu beans, except in Dragon Ball,

[00:48:24] like people don't get fucked up.

[00:48:26] Like they get just kind of bruised and like occasionally I think someone's hand or arm

[00:48:31] gets cut off maybe, but like for the most part, they're just getting like punched and

[00:48:35] stuff.

[00:48:35] No one's like getting a, like a hook into their eyeball or like their skin like deflated or

[00:48:43] whatever.

[00:48:43] Or like a thousand razors shoot out of their mouth.

[00:48:46] Yeah.

[00:48:46] Yeah.

[00:48:46] He just like gushing blood and like bodies turning into cubes and just, it gets really,

[00:48:53] really weird.

[00:48:54] Uh, which is cool.

[00:48:56] Cause yeah, I feel like a lot of maybe, I don't know.

[00:48:58] I think that's changed.

[00:48:59] I think like a lot of Shonen now has been influenced by Jojo.

[00:49:03] Like there's a few things where they just sort of basically do stands at this point.

[00:49:07] They're like, yeah, this is what people like stuff where there's like complicated rules and

[00:49:11] you have to like, uh, figure out how these powers interact.

[00:49:15] And it's not just straight up like the old style of Shonen, which is sort of what Jojo

[00:49:19] started as where it's like two buff guys, like punching each other and like, I believe in

[00:49:23] myself more.

[00:49:24] Yeah.

[00:49:25] And like, I win because I have the power of friendship.

[00:49:28] Like, all right, well that, you know, that was cool, I guess for a while, but we've kind

[00:49:33] of moved beyond that as a, as a culture.

[00:49:35] So one of our favorite shows, Hunter x Hunter is like exactly that in the sense that it is

[00:49:41] just like how, what if everyone's power was extremely complicated and had a deep rule set

[00:49:47] that took two pages of text to explain.

[00:49:49] And then in every fight, we really dug into all the edge cases that, that could possibly

[00:49:54] be extrapolated from that initial, uh, rule set.

[00:49:58] And like, it's so dumb.

[00:50:00] Like, I understand why a lot of people don't do that.

[00:50:03] Uh, but man, I love that shit.

[00:50:06] I like, like, I'm anti-homework in general, but I am a sucker for like a crunchy rule system.

[00:50:12] Not because I like the rules for nerd reasons.

[00:50:14] It's just like, I like to see, like, for example, the reason I think Ned is a fun system from

[00:50:22] a writing perspective is like, he sets up this system of powers and then he gives himself

[00:50:26] this wonderful out that's like, oh yeah, then there's this category called specialist

[00:50:30] and that's whatever the fuck I want.

[00:50:33] Yeah.

[00:50:33] That's the guys for whom all those rules don't apply.

[00:50:35] I like that.

[00:50:36] And it gives a lot of juice in that way.

[00:50:38] But the thing with JoJo compared to Ned, which I think about Ned a lot is like, do you

[00:50:44] think about making your own stand ever?

[00:50:46] Cause like I, there's something about JoJo that it's just like, okay, I will now imagine

[00:50:50] my OC.

[00:50:51] Yeah.

[00:50:52] So I do have to tell you that at some point, I think it was like eight years ago, probably

[00:50:57] at this point I did commission someone to draw a stand for me.

[00:51:02] I don't think I have it on this computer, but it was called Hounds of Love.

[00:51:08] Like the, the Kate Bush song.

[00:51:11] And it was kind of like a golden, like, it was kind of sort of, it's a sort of typical

[00:51:15] kind of like humanoid type stand, but I didn't like come up with powers or anything for it,

[00:51:20] but it was, um, like just had like a, almost like Egyptian kind of like dog head and was

[00:51:25] like all gold.

[00:51:27] Um, and, uh, yeah, I, I gotta dig that up actually.

[00:51:30] Cause that kicked ass and I was like, that's a really good, I feel like Hounds of Love is

[00:51:33] like a really good name for, for a stand too.

[00:51:35] Oh my God.

[00:51:36] And it's, I was like, oh, I would name it after like my favorite song and you know, there

[00:51:41] we go.

[00:51:41] So how about, how about you?

[00:51:42] Have you, have you thought about this?

[00:51:44] So I, uh, back in my younger days, what I think like, you know, around 2014, same sort

[00:51:50] of time you got your, uh, killer queen tattoo.

[00:51:53] Uh, I got in my head that I was going to make a Jojo RPG because at that time that was the

[00:51:59] thing.

[00:52:00] Everyone makes, everyone needs to get into game design.

[00:52:03] Turns out it's extremely hard, especially when the first project you take on is as thorny

[00:52:07] as Jojo's because I was like, well, I want to make it like the real Jojo's where it's

[00:52:11] not about like doing damage and like hit.

[00:52:14] It's two Columbo's trying to like figure it out first.

[00:52:18] Yeah.

[00:52:18] Yes.

[00:52:18] Yes.

[00:52:19] A Jojo's fight, there is one attack ever and it is the one that takes the enemy from

[00:52:24] full health to zero.

[00:52:26] And the entire conflict is, yes, how can I be Columbo and figure out the method by which

[00:52:32] I can hit them one time?

[00:52:35] And turns out it is really hard to have a mystery solving action tabletop RPG.

[00:52:43] So that didn't fucking work.

[00:52:44] But the fun part that I actually spent most of my time doing was coming up with, uh, sample

[00:52:50] enemy stands to fight against.

[00:52:51] And I did have Hounds of Love as one of them.

[00:52:53] And my, this was my power set for Hounds of Love.

[00:52:55] Hounds of Love was, what do you call it?

[00:52:57] It was like a, a swarm of like tiny little like mites.

[00:53:01] And it could go into, you could shoot one into a civilian.

[00:53:05] You would be able to possess that civilian and then manifest from them a sort of generic

[00:53:11] stand.

[00:53:11] And they would speak as you and say, this is my stand Hounds of Love.

[00:53:15] And so you could like create the Hounds of Love.

[00:53:19] Meanwhile, you're just sitting reading your paper.

[00:53:21] Uh, no one knows that you're the one doing it.

[00:53:23] That was fun.

[00:53:24] And I gotta say though, that a, uh, Anubis Head Golden God type is a better look.

[00:53:31] Um, you could probably come up with another band name for, uh, for that power set.

[00:53:36] Here's the thing I really love is when a band finds out that they're in JoJo and is like,

[00:53:43] hell, like, yes.

[00:53:44] Like I'm the Pat Matheny group who did, uh, Last Train Home, the ending song for part three,

[00:53:53] like put the foot, put like the Polaroid of the Stardust Crusaders going like, yeah,

[00:53:58] like as the cover art for like, uh, yes.

[00:54:01] For like one of their compilations that had Last Train Home on it.

[00:54:04] Wow.

[00:54:04] Um, cause they were like, shit.

[00:54:06] Yeah.

[00:54:06] I love this.

[00:54:07] Like that and getting a Weird Al song or the two biggest honors, right?

[00:54:11] Yeah.

[00:54:12] Yes.

[00:54:12] Yeah.

[00:54:14] I think the only, one of the only musical artists from our world that is canonically exists.

[00:54:20] Oh, right.

[00:54:20] Yeah.

[00:54:21] Uh, JoJo's.

[00:54:21] Because in part three, he mentions like who sang, uh, Eat It or, or what was the title

[00:54:27] of the Weird Al's parody of Beat It or whatever?

[00:54:30] So funny.

[00:54:31] Like how, cause yeah, the, the, the conflict is like, is Joseph Joestar possessed by Dio or

[00:54:37] is he himself?

[00:54:38] What's something only he would know?

[00:54:40] Who sang Eat It?

[00:54:44] There's no way Dio would know he was in a coffin during Weird Al's parody day.

[00:54:49] Uh, oh God.

[00:54:51] There's, I also know that Robert Fritt from King Crimson knows about King Crimson and has

[00:54:55] a King Crimson like toy.

[00:54:58] Which I, that is so, he, again, I, I have described him in the past and the future as the chief

[00:55:04] autism officer of King Crimson.

[00:55:06] And it's so like, it just makes so much sense that he would hear about that and like learn

[00:55:11] the power set and be like, indeed.

[00:55:13] Yes.

[00:55:13] That is quite apropos.

[00:55:15] He's like, yeah.

[00:55:16] But he's like, it just works, you know, it just works.

[00:55:19] Yes.

[00:55:28] Merit, my understanding is you play magic or have played magic.

[00:55:32] The point is you did the crime at one point, right?

[00:55:34] Yeah, I'm, I did it.

[00:55:36] And now I will do the time of talking about it.

[00:55:38] Exactly.

[00:55:39] Okay.

[00:55:39] So here's the thing about magic.

[00:55:41] As far as I can tell, the point of playing magic is that you get to complain about magic.

[00:55:45] It's like the main thing.

[00:55:46] Uh, is the game good?

[00:55:48] I don't know.

[00:55:48] Who fucking cares?

[00:55:49] Like the point is we get to complain.

[00:55:51] Uh, magic, even if I'm having a good time, it's still always the game where I will not

[00:55:56] get enough lands and then lose and like nothing doesn't matter.

[00:56:00] Uh, it's just for that reason.

[00:56:02] I just always feel like there's an instant one third chance to have a bad time.

[00:56:06] Even if you built a deck, right?

[00:56:08] That said, you actually do like the drafting and the tournaments like in person, right?

[00:56:12] Or you have.

[00:56:12] Yeah.

[00:56:12] Um, I started drafting again, uh, like this summer and I've been taking a bit of a break

[00:56:20] because I am in a place now of just like what you're describing of like, wow, I kind of

[00:56:24] fucking hate this.

[00:56:25] Like, this is like an excuse to get out of the house and talk to people because I'm living

[00:56:30] somewhere right now where I don't really know anyone.

[00:56:32] But, um, just being like, oh, and actually like, there's like two people here that I like

[00:56:36] talking to and the rest, uh, I not, not, not so much.

[00:56:41] So it's like, is it worth going still?

[00:56:42] I don't know.

[00:56:43] But, but yeah, I have been doing it in person because I can't do magic like on arena or anything

[00:56:48] because, um, at least in person, I can see a human being and, uh, be like, okay, you,

[00:56:57] you're like a complex person with hopes and dreams.

[00:57:01] And even if you're beating my ass right now, like, you know, I can tell that you have,

[00:57:06] you will not wish death on them.

[00:57:07] Yeah.

[00:57:07] You're a human, you know, we're basically all in this together.

[00:57:10] And then online it's like, okay, I'm facing an entity of pure malice.

[00:57:17] It knows no, uh, remorse.

[00:57:20] It, it can't be bargained with.

[00:57:22] It's basically the Terminator.

[00:57:24] Uh, and I just get so mad and like, I get into a thing of like, oh, I lost that one.

[00:57:30] I have to keep going tonight until I win a game.

[00:57:32] And then it's like, oh, that's a bad cycle to be in.

[00:57:36] So I've gotten so mad at arena in the past that I have not only uninstalled arena, but

[00:57:41] uninstalled the Epic game store so that I couldn't reinstall arena.

[00:57:44] But now it's on steam and it's like, okay, well.

[00:57:47] I used to play, this is not magic, but it's Richard Garfield designed.

[00:57:51] I used to play a ton in person.

[00:57:53] I had the similar experience where it's like, there's one of the two of these people I like,

[00:57:56] but the rest of them are ponytail guys who I could take or leave.

[00:58:00] And Netrunner has like asymmetric gameplay and like hidden information and like traps and stuff.

[00:58:06] Uh, so there's like an element of risk taking there.

[00:58:09] And when I'm playing against a ponytail guy, I'm like, I will never fear you.

[00:58:13] But online, I like get like terrified.

[00:58:16] And it's like, why?

[00:58:17] Like, I'm just like, oh no, what if I hit a trap?

[00:58:20] Like the fucking killing machine who makes no errors is trying to get me.

[00:58:26] Uh, and yeah, that really, I just bring this up to say,

[00:58:30] I completely agree and identify with that feeling.

[00:58:34] And it sucks now because online is the only way to play Netrunner these days.

[00:58:37] So yeah, that's just a dead game.

[00:58:39] Yeah.

[00:58:39] Too beautiful to live.

[00:58:40] Yeah.

[00:58:40] So do you play particular colors or is it based on just the set?

[00:58:44] Cause I, in general, I thought I was like,

[00:58:47] I wanted to be a blue player because that means you're smart.

[00:58:49] Yeah.

[00:58:50] Yeah.

[00:58:50] Yeah.

[00:58:50] No, I mean, I think that's like, it's like a big brain like thing, right?

[00:58:56] Of like, you start playing magic and you're like, oh, like red or green,

[00:58:59] like big creatures or like strong stuff or like black.

[00:59:01] Oh, kill stuff.

[00:59:02] And then you like, you get like a little smarter and you're, oh,

[00:59:05] oh, blue is like the true intellectuals color.

[00:59:08] And then you like get even further and you're just like, no, no, no.

[00:59:10] It's just red.

[00:59:11] Just like burn.

[00:59:12] Just like kill fast.

[00:59:13] Game over.

[00:59:14] Like, and end the game quickly.

[00:59:16] You don't need to have a strategy if everything's dead.

[00:59:17] Yeah.

[00:59:18] Like, I don't know.

[00:59:20] Historically, I have been like a blue player because I'm the worst.

[00:59:25] But yeah, magic is, I don't know.

[00:59:27] It's fucked because like there's one color that historically just gets to say

[00:59:31] no, that gets to say you don't get to play the game.

[00:59:34] Like if people.

[00:59:35] Which isn't fun.

[00:59:37] Yeah.

[00:59:38] Control decks are fucking miserable,

[00:59:40] especially the mirror match where you're both just like, okay,

[00:59:43] I play land.

[00:59:44] I pass.

[00:59:44] And it's like, oh, I'm just going to like wait for you to do something.

[00:59:48] Then counter your stuff.

[00:59:49] And it's like, God, that sucks.

[00:59:51] An execution that ends up being like two people not doing anything except

[00:59:54] fighting over the same bird.

[00:59:56] They keep like mind controlling.

[00:59:57] Right.

[00:59:58] It's.

[00:59:59] Yeah.

[01:00:00] I love that.

[01:00:02] It's just thinking about like the fiction of what's happening in a magic fight,

[01:00:06] which is like two epic wizards.

[01:00:08] Like my bird.

[01:00:09] No, my bird.

[01:00:10] My bird.

[01:00:10] Yeah.

[01:00:11] It's.

[01:00:12] I don't know.

[01:00:13] And so then it's like, okay,

[01:00:14] so they have to either make blue really weak to like counteract that or,

[01:00:18] or it's just like incredibly overpowered.

[01:00:20] And I don't know.

[01:00:22] I think they should add more colors, you know,

[01:00:24] like just really fuck everything up.

[01:00:26] Why not?

[01:00:27] Purple, yellow, orange, gray, brown.

[01:00:30] No one would want to play.

[01:00:33] That would suck.

[01:00:34] Brown's land is brown.

[01:00:35] Right.

[01:00:36] Yeah, absolutely.

[01:00:37] Like even Pokemon added types, right?

[01:00:39] Like Matt, you know,

[01:00:41] magic could just really screw the entire balance of the game.

[01:00:43] If they,

[01:00:44] I mean,

[01:00:44] at some point I bet Hasbro will force them to do that because at this point,

[01:00:48] like I'm kind of backing off the game because again,

[01:00:51] like complaining about magic is the most fun part of it,

[01:00:53] but they're doing this thing where they,

[01:00:57] for years now they have been doing like,

[01:00:59] Oh,

[01:00:59] we're doing a fallout set and it's just like its own set.

[01:01:02] It's not like in the standard tournament cycle.

[01:01:04] Uh,

[01:01:06] but people like fallout and it'll make money.

[01:01:08] So we'll do that.

[01:01:09] And then now they're like,

[01:01:11] Oh,

[01:01:11] guess what?

[01:01:11] All those sets,

[01:01:12] they are going to be in the game,

[01:01:15] like regardless of what format you're playing.

[01:01:17] And also that's fully half of what we're doing now.

[01:01:20] So like half of magic this year is like Spider-Man,

[01:01:24] final fantasy and,

[01:01:26] uh,

[01:01:27] some other stuff.

[01:01:28] And it's like,

[01:01:28] Oh,

[01:01:29] everything has to be everything.

[01:01:30] Oh,

[01:01:30] everything is slop content crossover now because money and magic is like

[01:01:36] the only profitable part of Hasbro,

[01:01:39] I think right now.

[01:01:40] Um,

[01:01:41] so yeah.

[01:01:41] And they're just like,

[01:01:42] well,

[01:01:43] we can definitely squeeze these little piggies and like get new people in

[01:01:49] by just making it Spider-Man.

[01:01:50] You know,

[01:01:51] we complain,

[01:01:51] but if they did a Jojo set,

[01:01:54] there are some,

[01:01:55] do you think you would have what it takes?

[01:01:57] There are some sets where I would like,

[01:01:59] even like a Star Trek one,

[01:02:00] I would be like,

[01:02:01] this sucks,

[01:02:01] but I am going to do it because I want to play.

[01:02:04] I want to like tap,

[01:02:05] you know,

[01:02:06] to blue and play engage.

[01:02:09] And then like,

[01:02:09] or like,

[01:02:10] it's like you're casting Riker.

[01:02:11] I'll respond with T Earl gray hot.

[01:02:13] Like I returned Picard for my graveyard to the,

[01:02:16] the battlefield.

[01:02:17] Um,

[01:02:18] and I get control of Riker because he has senior seniority or like,

[01:02:21] it's just like,

[01:02:22] it would be fucking stupid as shit,

[01:02:24] but I would do it.

[01:02:26] So like,

[01:02:26] I am a bit of a hypocrite in that sense.

[01:02:28] I guess I'm just like,

[01:02:30] I don't know.

[01:02:31] The fact that a lot of it,

[01:02:31] that it's like Marvel to start is like,

[01:02:34] this isn't even like fantasy.

[01:02:35] It's just like Spider-Man is here now.

[01:02:38] Like it's,

[01:02:39] it feels so naked in terms of like the,

[01:02:42] nothing can be its own thing anymore.

[01:02:44] Everything just has to like slosh over.

[01:02:48] Everything is undergoing a poochie.

[01:02:49] Yeah.

[01:02:50] Yeah.

[01:02:51] Marvel's especially bad example.

[01:02:53] Well,

[01:02:53] not a bad example.

[01:02:54] An egregious.

[01:02:55] A bad choice.

[01:02:56] And it's the choice they all make,

[01:02:57] of course,

[01:02:58] because like it is fortnightified itself.

[01:03:00] Like even like the core Marvel product is at this point,

[01:03:03] fortnight.

[01:03:04] Like I watched the fucking Spider-Man movie with the three Spider-Mans on an airplane.

[01:03:08] And I don't think I've seen a worse film in my fucking life.

[01:03:12] Just like,

[01:03:12] Oh,

[01:03:12] this is just look at my Funkos.

[01:03:15] And it's like,

[01:03:15] you are like,

[01:03:17] like you are the Spider-Man.

[01:03:19] Like this is as Spider-Man as it gets.

[01:03:21] Like you're real.

[01:03:22] Like you don't have to have it all be like,

[01:03:24] look at my toys.

[01:03:25] You're the thing.

[01:03:26] Like you,

[01:03:26] like,

[01:03:27] are you so unconfident that you,

[01:03:29] I mean,

[01:03:29] at this point I think they are though,

[01:03:30] because the juice has run out of the Marvel machine and it's falling apart.

[01:03:36] And I think Disney is probably going to start to panic soon because they've sort of squeezed those properties for as much as they're worth.

[01:03:44] But in three years,

[01:03:46] it'll be 20 years since Iron Man came out and then we're going to probably start getting remakes.

[01:03:50] So,

[01:03:52] uh,

[01:03:53] death.

[01:03:53] Well,

[01:03:54] death is coming for all of us.

[01:03:56] And,

[01:03:56] uh,

[01:03:56] that is like the one good thing,

[01:03:58] I guess.

[01:03:58] Yeah,

[01:03:59] that is good.

[01:03:59] True too.

[01:04:00] Right.

[01:04:00] That death is coming,

[01:04:01] but yeah.

[01:04:02] Speaking of death,

[01:04:03] uh,

[01:04:04] which will come for me,

[01:04:04] but only when I want it.

[01:04:06] The,

[01:04:06] my other issue with magic is that like really only black gets to summon skeletons.

[01:04:10] Like there's some multicolor skeletons,

[01:04:12] like a skeleton covered in like blood would be black and red or whatever.

[01:04:16] But in general,

[01:04:17] the skeleton production and utilization is strictly in,

[01:04:21] in black domain,

[01:04:22] which is swamps.

[01:04:22] And I,

[01:04:23] everybody should be in on skeletons.

[01:04:25] They're like the most fun thing you can summon.

[01:04:28] If you're a wizard,

[01:04:28] like that's the point of being a wizard.

[01:04:30] Yeah.

[01:04:31] To make a skeleton.

[01:04:32] Yeah.

[01:04:32] Um,

[01:04:33] yeah.

[01:04:33] And then it keeps coming back.

[01:04:35] It's a bud that never goes away.

[01:04:36] There aren't as many skeletons as I thought there were.

[01:04:38] I'm looking now.

[01:04:39] There are only 79 skeletons in magic.

[01:04:43] And there's probably like 500 zombies.

[01:04:45] There's a lot more zombies.

[01:04:47] I think.

[01:04:47] Yeah.

[01:04:47] Um,

[01:04:49] that's so lame.

[01:04:49] Yeah.

[01:04:50] Skeletons are,

[01:04:51] you know,

[01:04:51] cooler.

[01:04:52] Let me see zombies.

[01:04:53] There's,

[01:04:53] there's 586 zombies.

[01:04:56] What the fuck?

[01:04:57] This is like,

[01:04:58] I don't know.

[01:04:58] I'm going to like make this into like a woke thing somehow.

[01:05:01] Like,

[01:05:03] like,

[01:05:03] Oh,

[01:05:03] this is like skeletons are like a basic fantasy thing.

[01:05:06] There should be.

[01:05:06] Yeah.

[01:05:07] This is like flesh privilege.

[01:05:08] Right.

[01:05:09] Is like,

[01:05:09] wow.

[01:05:10] You think you're,

[01:05:10] we're both on dead,

[01:05:11] but you think you're better than me just because you have some scraps of skin and muscle clinging to your rotten form.

[01:05:16] Like embrace bone life.

[01:05:18] You know,

[01:05:18] if I were to take a pair of mallets up and down your torso,

[01:05:22] it would just sound like,

[01:05:23] yeah,

[01:05:24] it would be nothing.

[01:05:25] Where's my fun vibraphone melody?

[01:05:28] Nowhere.

[01:05:28] Yeah.

[01:05:30] I'm trying to think what set I played the most in terms of,

[01:05:32] just Joe putting money and time into it.

[01:05:35] I'm pretty sure it was the mirrored and block,

[01:05:36] which popular one.

[01:05:38] Yeah.

[01:05:39] Yeah.

[01:05:39] It was,

[01:05:39] it was,

[01:05:39] it was good for idiots too,

[01:05:40] because it's like artifacts.

[01:05:41] So like the,

[01:05:42] you can use half the stuff with any color.

[01:05:45] Um,

[01:05:46] I enjoyed it.

[01:05:47] Uh,

[01:05:48] I had my first experience of like,

[01:05:49] Oh,

[01:05:49] I have a fun thing.

[01:05:50] And then they're like,

[01:05:51] the skull clamp is banned.

[01:05:52] Fuck you.

[01:05:53] Yeah.

[01:05:54] You got to ban skull clamp.

[01:05:55] That's,

[01:05:55] that was one of those cards where they were like,

[01:05:57] Oh,

[01:05:58] what if we just didn't test stuff?

[01:06:00] Um,

[01:06:01] yeah,

[01:06:01] it was.

[01:06:02] And I always like playing decks where like the goals to make a bunch of little one ones.

[01:06:06] So like if you have a skull clamp,

[01:06:08] it's just like,

[01:06:09] okay,

[01:06:09] one ones turn into winning.

[01:06:11] We're going to put this on your head and you win.

[01:06:13] Uh,

[01:06:13] obviously I get why they,

[01:06:14] they got rid of it.

[01:06:15] Uh,

[01:06:15] it's,

[01:06:16] it was,

[01:06:16] it's a thing that's like,

[01:06:17] uh,

[01:06:17] equip it and then target creature gets plus one minus one.

[01:06:20] And if it dies,

[01:06:21] draw some cards.

[01:06:22] So it's like,

[01:06:23] okay,

[01:06:23] all these little guys are getting there.

[01:06:24] You basically kill your own little guys to draw cards was the point of that,

[01:06:27] but they just didn't realize that you could use it in like a really aggressive way.

[01:06:32] Right.

[01:06:32] And like,

[01:06:33] also there was an artifact.

[01:06:34] So every color has insane card draw.

[01:06:36] So like,

[01:06:37] if you're playing red,

[01:06:39] you're going to outdraw blue and blow them up.

[01:06:41] What about you?

[01:06:42] What is your most played block?

[01:06:44] Uh,

[01:06:45] probably a lore win,

[01:06:47] uh,

[01:06:48] which is dating me a little bit,

[01:06:50] but,

[01:06:51] um,

[01:06:52] it was like a fairy tale themed set.

[01:06:54] So it was like,

[01:06:55] uh,

[01:06:56] very like creature,

[01:06:57] focused.

[01:06:58] It was like,

[01:06:58] Oh,

[01:06:58] you have like fairies and,

[01:06:59] um,

[01:07:00] goblins,

[01:07:01] which were called boggarts and elementals.

[01:07:04] And they all lived in this fairy tale world.

[01:07:05] And then halfway through that set,

[01:07:07] they were like,

[01:07:08] and then,

[01:07:08] uh,

[01:07:09] there's this thing that happens in lore and we're like the sun like disappears or something

[01:07:13] every once in a while and everything just kind of like inverts.

[01:07:15] So like the elves become like,

[01:07:19] you know,

[01:07:19] before they were kind of like,

[01:07:20] they were black green and they were like evil and like cruel.

[01:07:22] And now they,

[01:07:23] they're like white green and they're like noble and righteous.

[01:07:25] Uh,

[01:07:26] righteous.

[01:07:26] And like the tree folk become more like white green before.

[01:07:30] And now they're like evil and fucked up.

[01:07:31] Like it's,

[01:07:31] it was a really cool,

[01:07:32] uh,

[01:07:34] set,

[01:07:34] but they've been saying they're going to go back to that for like ages and just

[01:07:38] haven't yet.

[01:07:39] And,

[01:07:40] uh,

[01:07:40] we got to do Spider-Man first though,

[01:07:41] guys.

[01:07:42] Like we got to get through Spider-Man.

[01:07:43] Then I promise maybe some final fantasy,

[01:07:46] maybe,

[01:07:46] uh,

[01:07:47] you know,

[01:07:47] I don't know.

[01:07:48] Some bluey.

[01:07:49] We got to do some blue.

[01:07:50] We got to do the blues.

[01:07:50] We got to do Squidward control.

[01:07:52] Uh,

[01:07:53] SpongeBob is going to happen.

[01:07:54] Squidward control deck is going to be really powerful in 2030.

[01:07:57] It's going to be the meta.

[01:07:58] We're going to have to hear about Squidward control over and over.

[01:08:01] Squidward control versus bluey aggro.

[01:08:02] It's like,

[01:08:03] these are the powerful,

[01:08:05] these are the metas versus like RBs mid range.

[01:08:08] Like,

[01:08:09] huh.

[01:08:09] I think this is why I stopped also doing drafts too,

[01:08:13] because like all this excitement that we're like,

[01:08:15] magic is fun.

[01:08:17] Like there's a lot of elements that are fun.

[01:08:18] And like,

[01:08:18] obviously I'm drawn to it.

[01:08:20] And then none of that fun stuff happens.

[01:08:22] You just lose three times.

[01:08:25] Yeah.

[01:08:25] It's,

[01:08:26] uh,

[01:08:27] that is the case a lot of the time,

[01:08:29] I think.

[01:08:30] Yeah.

[01:08:30] That's where I'm at right now.

[01:08:31] It's just like,

[01:08:32] Oh,

[01:08:32] do I like going somewhere?

[01:08:33] Like,

[01:08:33] do I like spending my Friday nights?

[01:08:34] Like spending basically four hours,

[01:08:37] uh,

[01:08:38] going somewhere with like a couple people that I like talking to and most of the rest I don't.

[01:08:42] And then losing at something like a lot.

[01:08:46] Like,

[01:08:47] I don't actually love that.

[01:08:49] I don't think.

[01:08:50] There is something sort of beautiful about like over the course of four hours,

[01:08:54] building a deck and just eating shit.

[01:08:56] Yeah.

[01:08:56] So what a fun time.

[01:08:58] Yeah.

[01:09:00] It is.

[01:09:01] It's very,

[01:09:01] it's like slapstick.

[01:09:03] It's like getting a piano falling in your head and your head pops out and you have the keys for your team.

[01:09:07] It's just like,

[01:09:08] I,

[01:09:09] it,

[01:09:09] there's,

[01:09:09] there's something admirable in the commitment to just like tripping and falling on your own face a hundred times in a row.

[01:09:18] Yeah.

[01:09:18] I wouldn't do it.

[01:09:20] But the fact that it is done,

[01:09:21] I respect.

[01:09:23] Yeah.

[01:09:24] Sickle mode,

[01:09:24] sickle mode,

[01:09:25] sickle mode,

[01:09:25] sickle mode,

[01:09:26] sickle mode,

[01:09:28] sickle mode,

[01:09:28] sickle mode,

[01:09:29] sickle mode,

[01:09:29] sickle mode,

[01:09:30] sickle mode,

[01:09:30] sickle mode,

[01:09:31] sickle mode.

[01:09:32] Merritt,

[01:09:33] you mentioned the book you wrote about land parties last year.

[01:09:37] That shit is like the photos of the land parties that you have compiled.

[01:09:45] Some of the most beautiful images that have ever been put to,

[01:09:48] to the screen or to the page.

[01:09:50] It's like how there's never been like a shark scene given birth.

[01:09:53] And now it's like,

[01:09:54] we got it.

[01:09:56] Is that true?

[01:09:58] Yeah.

[01:09:58] Wow.

[01:10:00] Damn.

[01:10:01] Wow.

[01:10:02] Or laying eggs,

[01:10:03] but making more sharks,

[01:10:04] I believe is a great,

[01:10:05] great fish,

[01:10:07] right?

[01:10:07] Yeah.

[01:10:08] Wait.

[01:10:09] Yeah.

[01:10:09] It's like a shark.

[01:10:10] That sounds fucked up.

[01:10:12] I can't.

[01:10:12] That's why we don't have pictures.

[01:10:14] So tell us more,

[01:10:15] I guess again about the book you mentioned earlier.

[01:10:18] It,

[01:10:18] it sort of came about naturally from like a Twitter conversation,

[01:10:21] uh,

[01:10:22] which is a really cool sort of organic way to,

[01:10:25] uh,

[01:10:25] start like a photography project.

[01:10:27] But can you tell us a little bit more about like the scene and the vibe?

[01:10:31] I,

[01:10:32] I associate this with like this type of lighting,

[01:10:34] like 2000 era,

[01:10:36] 2000s era,

[01:10:37] like Polaroid almost like shitty basement lighting.

[01:10:41] And it doesn't matter where you are.

[01:10:42] The lighting is always the same.

[01:10:43] No skin is not shiny.

[01:10:45] And you can't take pictures like that anymore.

[01:10:47] Like it was lost like Damascus steel.

[01:10:51] Yeah.

[01:10:52] Although it's funny you say that,

[01:10:53] but like I saw someone posted a few months ago on Twitter,

[01:10:56] like these,

[01:10:56] uh,

[01:10:57] photos that they took of a Halloween party and,

[01:11:00] uh,

[01:11:01] we're using like a point and shoot from the two thousands and they had some

[01:11:04] of those same qualities to them.

[01:11:06] I think they had staged the room to have like,

[01:11:09] I mean,

[01:11:09] maybe not stage it,

[01:11:10] but the room had like a PS2 set up and a bunch of stuff too.

[01:11:12] So that added to it for sure.

[01:11:14] But,

[01:11:15] uh,

[01:11:15] yeah,

[01:11:15] something about the,

[01:11:17] the way that older point and shoots rendered stuff.

[01:11:20] Right.

[01:11:21] And,

[01:11:21] um,

[01:11:22] and also just like the decor obviously is very different from like,

[01:11:26] from how computers and like multiplayer stuff looks today because.

[01:11:31] Everything is chunkier.

[01:11:32] Yeah.

[01:11:32] There's just a lot of chunky.

[01:11:34] If there's equipment in the shot,

[01:11:36] it's beige.

[01:11:38] Right.

[01:11:39] And it's,

[01:11:40] it's,

[01:11:40] it's doesn't look good.

[01:11:41] Yeah.

[01:11:42] Like aside from like the few people who are doing like,

[01:11:45] um,

[01:11:45] case mods,

[01:11:46] which at that point was only like pretty hardcore people.

[01:11:49] Uh,

[01:11:50] and also all their case mods are like just completely crazy.

[01:11:53] Whereas now computers are just kind of like,

[01:11:55] Oh,

[01:11:55] just LEDs and like,

[01:11:57] you know,

[01:11:57] black cases and stuff.

[01:11:58] But there are some photos in the book of just like totally sicko things,

[01:12:02] uh,

[01:12:03] that people have done.

[01:12:03] But yeah,

[01:12:04] it's just like,

[01:12:05] it's a bunch of really bulky equipment and it's kind of ironic that like

[01:12:09] the,

[01:12:10] you know,

[01:12:10] slimming down of computers in terms of like monitor size,

[01:12:14] but also miniaturization of components.

[01:12:17] So that gaming laptops are kind of a thing now,

[01:12:20] not kind of,

[01:12:21] I mean,

[01:12:21] they happened for a long time that kind of coincided with the rise of

[01:12:25] high-speed internet.

[01:12:25] So it's like,

[01:12:26] Oh,

[01:12:26] computers are more portable than ever,

[01:12:27] but it's also easier than ever to just play games online.

[01:12:30] And most people just like prefer to play games online at this point because

[01:12:35] of the convenience.

[01:12:36] Yeah.

[01:12:37] I will say I did like it.

[01:12:40] Not that I like gatekeeping,

[01:12:41] but I think if you want to play,

[01:12:43] uh,

[01:12:44] like a bunch of games with a bunch of other nerds in a room,

[01:12:46] you should have to lug a bunch of shit.

[01:12:48] Like that is like the,

[01:12:50] the,

[01:12:51] the filter.

[01:12:52] And now,

[01:12:52] like a light gaming laptop is not that you've not earned it.

[01:12:57] I also want,

[01:12:58] I mean,

[01:12:58] looking at those photos,

[01:13:00] the thing that it brought to mind that I have not experienced since I did,

[01:13:06] you know,

[01:13:07] bring computers to a place and play games all night is that like,

[01:13:11] there is a certain level of like total body malaise.

[01:13:15] Like it's hard to put,

[01:13:16] like,

[01:13:16] it's not drunk.

[01:13:18] It's not like,

[01:13:18] even if you like do drink,

[01:13:20] like if you don't,

[01:13:21] if you don't like black out,

[01:13:23] if you black out,

[01:13:23] obviously all bets are off,

[01:13:25] but like there's some sort of feeling.

[01:13:28] It's when your body begins producing the smash brothers chemical.

[01:13:31] I know they're not playing smash brothers,

[01:13:32] but it is the same.

[01:13:33] Yeah.

[01:13:34] Like,

[01:13:34] you know,

[01:13:34] it's like,

[01:13:35] Oh,

[01:13:35] smash tournaments smell bad.

[01:13:37] Like uniquely.

[01:13:38] It's because of the smash chemical.

[01:13:40] And if you are hauling a big tower to a place and then you stay there all night and like,

[01:13:47] you don't get like the,

[01:13:48] that the thing that kept killing me was the huge stacks of Mountain Dew.

[01:13:53] Because like,

[01:13:53] yes,

[01:13:54] that's what it is.

[01:13:54] It's like,

[01:13:55] you're like,

[01:13:55] there's no time to stop gaming and like deal with the demands of your body.

[01:14:02] And so you just ignore them in a way that no other activity allows you to.

[01:14:07] I mean,

[01:14:07] like you would always,

[01:14:09] even if you're like really,

[01:14:11] really depressed,

[01:14:11] you would eat a little bit,

[01:14:13] or at least like your depression would make it so that you don't really experience the hunger.

[01:14:18] But like the,

[01:14:19] the land party just gives you your brain this unique avenue to just like ignore all other things.

[01:14:26] And then when it all catches back up again,

[01:14:29] it's a feeling that's not like anything else I've ever felt.

[01:14:32] It's so like,

[01:14:33] you feel like you have grease like down to your bones.

[01:14:37] Yeah,

[01:14:38] that's accurate.

[01:14:39] I think.

[01:14:40] I think the most fun I've had at a land party was playing,

[01:14:42] actually,

[01:14:43] did you ever play fear?

[01:14:44] They're just like the,

[01:14:45] yeah,

[01:14:46] yeah.

[01:14:46] The,

[01:14:47] the multiplayer for that was,

[01:14:48] was good ish.

[01:14:49] But the,

[01:14:49] the reason I think I have a very fond memory of this is that game had melee where you could like jump kick and also like baseball slide people.

[01:14:58] So I just started only doing baseball slides.

[01:15:01] And then eventually like I had a cultural victory because everyone stopped using guns.

[01:15:06] It was strictly a baseball sliding simulator.

[01:15:10] Uh,

[01:15:10] you know,

[01:15:10] like 20 people doing this.

[01:15:11] It's just like,

[01:15:12] this is what it's all about.

[01:15:14] Hell yeah.

[01:15:14] Just like,

[01:15:15] yeah.

[01:15:15] What if we just,

[01:15:16] I mean,

[01:15:16] that would solve a lot of problems in reality too.

[01:15:19] Right.

[01:15:20] I think if we all stopped using guns and just started resolving our conflicts by baseball sliding into each other,

[01:15:26] like there'd certainly be a lot fewer casualties.

[01:15:28] I would much rather hear on the news,

[01:15:30] like tragedy and insert city eras,

[01:15:34] mass baseball sliding,

[01:15:36] injures dozens of things.

[01:15:37] It's the most humane melee.

[01:15:41] Yeah.

[01:15:42] It's how they do it to the cows.

[01:15:43] That's true.

[01:15:44] That's,

[01:15:44] they knocked them over.

[01:15:45] Yep.

[01:15:46] Um,

[01:15:47] but yeah,

[01:15:47] the book was,

[01:15:48] it was like a lot of fun to produce.

[01:15:49] And,

[01:15:50] uh,

[01:15:51] I guess,

[01:15:51] yeah,

[01:15:51] it got me thinking a lot about just the ways that I use computers today.

[01:15:54] And I don't know that I've changed a lot about that since it came out.

[01:15:58] Um,

[01:15:58] and I'm still like working on that,

[01:16:00] I guess,

[01:16:01] but just like reflecting on like,

[01:16:03] this seems so much more intentional than,

[01:16:05] and that's maybe a kind of trite thing to say,

[01:16:07] like,

[01:16:07] because I think if you could go back in time to that period and be like,

[01:16:11] Hey,

[01:16:11] do you want to just like not have to take all your shit everywhere and just like be able to play online?

[01:16:14] And people would be like,

[01:16:15] hell yeah.

[01:16:16] Um,

[01:16:17] but I think you're right though with the,

[01:16:19] in general,

[01:16:20] I feel like the intentionalness is just a problem in general.

[01:16:23] And I will point to,

[01:16:25] uh,

[01:16:25] how like what is Netflix is like designing stuff for like second screen viewing stuff.

[01:16:30] You're not even like watching really.

[01:16:32] And I guess because everything is so distracted,

[01:16:34] uh,

[01:16:36] maybe this is just my nostalgia for it,

[01:16:37] but it felt like,

[01:16:38] okay,

[01:16:38] I went to a place to like strictly game.

[01:16:43] Like I can game now,

[01:16:43] but I like go to the computer.

[01:16:45] I do other stuff.

[01:16:46] But like,

[01:16:46] this was like,

[01:16:47] I am making the choice to dedicate all of my HP to gaming.

[01:16:53] And in which point I will piss Mountain Dew and go home.

[01:16:56] Yeah.

[01:16:57] I will not stop until I'm flashing red.

[01:16:58] I think this is just cause of everybody being like mildly distracted and doing a hundred things at once all the time.

[01:17:04] It's just like,

[01:17:04] nothing feels like I'm sitting down with intention.

[01:17:07] Yeah.

[01:17:08] I mean,

[01:17:08] it's just too easy to look at a million different things at the same time,

[01:17:12] especially if you have two monitors or like a phone or whatever.

[01:17:16] Phone sucks ass.

[01:17:17] I think that's why I have the affinity,

[01:17:20] growing affinity for visual novels that I do is that it is a genre that sort of,

[01:17:24] I wouldn't say eliminates cause nothing could,

[01:17:27] but,

[01:17:27] uh,

[01:17:28] minimizes the call of the phone.

[01:17:30] Other games,

[01:17:32] like,

[01:17:32] no matter what it is,

[01:17:33] if there's like a lull and I can let just pause for a second and I don't feel any urgency.

[01:17:40] I'll pick up that damn phone.

[01:17:42] Won't I?

[01:17:43] But like visual novels,

[01:17:44] it's just like,

[01:17:45] I'm reading like,

[01:17:45] this is like a,

[01:17:46] like I,

[01:17:47] I'm,

[01:17:47] it's a book,

[01:17:48] but also I'm gaming.

[01:17:49] So it's fun.

[01:17:50] I mean,

[01:17:51] obviously I am a book fan,

[01:17:53] but I am also someone who lives now in the screen age.

[01:17:57] And the sad fucking fact is looking at pages for an extended period is becoming difficult for my brain to do.

[01:18:04] I'm not happy about it,

[01:18:05] but that's just the way.

[01:18:06] However,

[01:18:07] if the book is on a screen,

[01:18:09] we've got a professional motion machine going,

[01:18:12] baby.

[01:18:12] I'm going to keep on doing it.

[01:18:13] The phone is nothing to me now.

[01:18:15] What's the phone got on it?

[01:18:16] Some words.

[01:18:17] I'm looking at that already.

[01:18:18] Slam dunk.

[01:18:19] You got it.

[01:18:19] You,

[01:18:20] you tricked it.

[01:18:20] you found the way out.

[01:18:22] You beat,

[01:18:22] you won the stand battle against the phone.

[01:18:25] So can I ask a closing question about land parties?

[01:18:28] Did this make you miss it?

[01:18:29] Yeah.

[01:18:30] Yeah.

[01:18:31] I mean,

[01:18:31] I think it's hard for anyone to like,

[01:18:33] look at those pictures and not kind of miss that stuff.

[01:18:36] But yeah,

[01:18:36] like I was saying,

[01:18:37] like,

[01:18:37] I think it mostly made me miss like the intentionality of it.

[01:18:43] And I'm not someone who plays a lot of games online.

[01:18:45] Like I used to more.

[01:18:46] And then I kind of just realized I don't actually enjoy it that much.

[01:18:51] Um,

[01:18:51] yep.

[01:18:52] But,

[01:18:52] uh,

[01:18:54] it's funny.

[01:18:54] Like there's no reason why people can't really do this kind of thing anymore.

[01:18:58] Um,

[01:19:00] and,

[01:19:00] uh,

[01:19:01] I've seen like,

[01:19:02] you know,

[01:19:02] some people talking about the book being like,

[01:19:05] yeah,

[01:19:05] I'm going to like go hang out with my friend and like go play stuff on our steam decks or something.

[01:19:09] It's like,

[01:19:09] yeah,

[01:19:09] you should like that.

[01:19:10] That kicks ass.

[01:19:11] And it's easier now to do that in a lot of ways.

[01:19:14] It's harder in some ways because like a lot of games now don't even have like local area features.

[01:19:20] And,

[01:19:20] uh,

[01:19:21] that makes me say,

[01:19:21] yeah,

[01:19:22] there's server only.

[01:19:23] Right.

[01:19:23] When you have like a bud on the couch,

[01:19:25] that's like,

[01:19:25] are we going to play?

[01:19:26] And it's like,

[01:19:26] oh shit,

[01:19:26] guess not.

[01:19:27] Yeah.

[01:19:27] It's like,

[01:19:27] oh,

[01:19:27] we both have to connect to a server somewhere and then we can play it.

[01:19:32] And it's,

[01:19:32] there's a whole bunch of reasons that I get into in the book for like why that change happened.

[01:19:36] And some of them are good.

[01:19:36] And a lot of them are about a publisher or like some company having more control over,

[01:19:42] you know,

[01:19:43] your experience,

[01:19:44] but people are still doing stuff like this.

[01:19:47] And,

[01:19:47] uh,

[01:19:48] I think that is cool.

[01:19:50] And also we have seen kind of a small resurgence of arcades,

[01:19:54] at least in major cities in terms of like really weird artisanal type games,

[01:19:59] like Killer Queen,

[01:20:00] the,

[01:20:00] not the stand,

[01:20:01] but like the arcade game.

[01:20:03] And,

[01:20:03] uh,

[01:20:04] yeah,

[01:20:04] we,

[01:20:04] we are near Logan arcade in Chicago,

[01:20:07] which has,

[01:20:08] I think that was where like one of the first killer queen cabins were.

[01:20:12] And like all of the adult,

[01:20:14] uh,

[01:20:15] children in Chicago go to,

[01:20:17] I mean,

[01:20:17] I'm say this as one,

[01:20:19] go to Logan hardware all the frigging time.

[01:20:21] Uh,

[01:20:21] it is packed every night.

[01:20:22] Oh,

[01:20:22] that rules.

[01:20:23] So I think,

[01:20:24] yeah,

[01:20:24] I think,

[01:20:24] you know,

[01:20:25] people,

[01:20:25] some people do miss the stuff and,

[01:20:26] and do want to recreate that.

[01:20:29] And there is something nice about being in the same place as another person,

[01:20:33] uh,

[01:20:33] and not just being,

[01:20:35] you know,

[01:20:35] you can be on a discord call with your friends,

[01:20:37] but it isn't always the same.

[01:20:39] I think,

[01:20:39] yes,

[01:20:40] that is the key thing that,

[01:20:42] I mean,

[01:20:43] it's not even so much the,

[01:20:44] cause I'm thinking about like what games do we play at land parties,

[01:20:46] games that I sucked ass at and lost constantly.

[01:20:49] Uh,

[01:20:50] so like that actually wasn't the fun part.

[01:20:52] Like the fun part,

[01:20:52] then the thing that I like miss is like,

[01:20:55] like what if I could just be with all of my friends at once for like seven or eight hours at a time?

[01:21:01] Like now,

[01:21:02] like when I see my friends,

[01:21:04] it's like for dinner or for brunch.

[01:21:06] And then we go home because there's stuff we got to do.

[01:21:09] And it's so like,

[01:21:11] like Joe,

[01:21:12] Joe and I,

[01:21:13] we talk every day.

[01:21:14] I haven't seen Joe in real life in like four weeks.

[01:21:18] Ridiculous.

[01:21:18] Hate it.

[01:21:19] The land party.

[01:21:21] You know what else?

[01:21:22] You know what else?

[01:21:23] We've talked about this at length.

[01:21:24] I don't think on bike.

[01:21:26] So this will be the first time folks.

[01:21:29] There's one computer park company that's fighting the good fight for making shit ugly and disgusting.

[01:21:35] Like it should be.

[01:21:36] And you should be,

[01:21:37] you should be reminded that you're sinning.

[01:21:39] Yeah.

[01:21:40] This is knock to a,

[01:21:41] their,

[01:21:42] their standard color scheme is to have two main colors.

[01:21:46] One is come white.

[01:21:47] And the other is diarrhea.

[01:21:49] Brown.

[01:21:49] The worst two colors you could possibly have.

[01:21:51] If you want an all black fan,

[01:21:53] it costs more.

[01:21:54] They know what's up.

[01:21:55] It costs more.

[01:21:57] That rules.

[01:21:59] Good for them.

[01:22:02] We're the anime sequels.

[01:22:03] And we're here to say anime is bad in a war crime way.

[01:22:10] Folks.

[01:22:11] We're done.

[01:22:12] Over now.

[01:22:13] That was Merit K.

[01:22:14] Goes guesto mode.

[01:22:16] Merit.

[01:22:16] Thank you so much for joining us.

[01:22:18] I'll say it.

[01:22:19] Great.

[01:22:20] Big fun.

[01:22:20] Yeah,

[01:22:21] this was great.

[01:22:21] Thanks for having me.

[01:22:22] It was a delight.

[01:22:23] We would do it again,

[01:22:25] except we tend to just not have guests back.

[01:22:27] It's a lot of work.

[01:22:28] And there's nothing you do.

[01:22:30] It's just how it goes.

[01:22:31] Yeah.

[01:22:31] I understand.

[01:22:32] Anyway,

[01:22:33] if people want to know more about you,

[01:22:35] look at your stuff,

[01:22:36] read your stuff,

[01:22:37] play your stuff,

[01:22:37] et cetera,

[01:22:38] where can they go?

[01:22:39] What would they do?

[01:22:40] Yeah.

[01:22:41] So right now I am most active on blue sky.

[01:22:47] I'm meritk.com on there.

[01:22:50] And then the main other thing is to check out the game.

[01:22:54] It's on steam.

[01:22:56] It's called fledgling manor.

[01:22:59] It's also on itch.

[01:23:00] Yo,

[01:23:00] if you're one of those people who hate steam for whatever reason,

[01:23:04] you're just mad at Gabe for not releasing half life three.

[01:23:08] You just want to stick it to him.

[01:23:09] That's fine too.

[01:23:10] It's on itch as well.

[01:23:12] Fledgling manor.

[01:23:13] And yeah,

[01:23:15] we will probably be doing something new in the new year.

[01:23:19] So you can also follow the studio,

[01:23:22] which is called in secret places on,

[01:23:24] on blue sky.

[01:23:25] And I don't know if we're posting on Twitter anymore.

[01:23:28] We,

[01:23:28] I think I might be imagining that platform this year,

[01:23:31] but you can follow us on blue sky as well.

[01:23:35] And yeah,

[01:23:37] if you like the game,

[01:23:38] you know,

[01:23:38] keep an eye out for,

[01:23:39] for more soon.

[01:23:41] Hell yes.

[01:23:42] Fledgling manor.

[01:23:43] I'll say the title a few more times.

[01:23:44] It's fledgling manor,

[01:23:46] fledgling manor,

[01:23:47] fledgling manor.

[01:23:48] And the studio that made it.

[01:23:50] Uh,

[01:23:50] yeah,

[01:23:50] the studio is called in secret places and,

[01:23:53] uh,

[01:23:53] it's on blue sky in secret places.com in secret places.

[01:23:57] Okay.

[01:23:57] Uh,

[01:23:58] you got it.

[01:23:58] You got it.

[01:23:59] Absolutely.

[01:23:59] Like,

[01:23:59] like commercials.

[01:24:01] Yeah.

[01:24:01] Uh,

[01:24:02] thank you again.

[01:24:02] This was so much fun.

[01:24:04] It was a treat to have you on first,

[01:24:06] first episode of the new year.

[01:24:07] I think a great one.

[01:24:09] Happy new year.

[01:24:10] Hell yeah.

[01:24:11] Uh,

[01:24:12] anyway,

[01:24:12] uh,

[01:24:13] see you next time.

[01:24:13] I've been Tom and anime sicko.

[01:24:15] I've been Joe and anime sicko.

[01:24:16] Uh,

[01:24:17] I've been Merit and anime sicko.

[01:24:18] Hell yeah.

[01:24:19] See you next time.

[01:24:19] Bye bye.

[01:24:20] See you.

[01:24:22] Thank you for listening to anime sickos.

[01:24:24] I've been Tom,

[01:24:25] a sicko.

[01:24:26] You can follow me on Twitter at Tom Harrison 19.

[01:24:28] Joe was also a sicko.

[01:24:30] You can follow him on Twitter at Sharia uncle.

[01:24:33] You can follow anime sickos on Twitter at anime sickos or email us at anime sickos at gmail.com.

[01:24:39] Please leave us a review or something.

[01:24:41] I don't know.

[01:24:42] Tell a friend.

[01:24:44] Anyway,

[01:24:45] until next time.

[01:24:45] Bye.