Namaste, or: What Keeps Coming Back (in a Slightly Worse Mood) (Part 1)
We were almost at the top when we heard it. Not music exactly, more a pressure system. A low drone with delusions of grandeur, stretching itself between notes like a … Continue reading
A Dance in the Labyrinth (II): Heroes, Games, and the Supermarket as Mythic Space
We are fond of saying that we live in a mythless age. What we usually mean is that we no longer believe in gods. But belief was never the engine. … Continue reading
The Gentle Violence of Obsolescence Vs the Thingness of Stuff (Part One)
Nostalgia is often described as a feeling, which flatters it enormously. Feelings are flighty. They arrive late, leave early, and can usually be distracted with a cup of tea. … Continue reading
The Phantom Hitcher Hiker (Again)
Further thoughts – and new material – about a compulsive urban legend. The original essay is in the book ‘Haunted When the Minute Drag’ from my Book Shop. The Phantom … Continue reading
The Treachery of Doors
Doorways are where time goes to hesitate. Not dramatically. Not with any particular flair. A small, almost polite pause, like a sentence without its verb, your inattention assumed. A doorway … Continue reading
When the Future Becomes Administrative
At some point, the future stops behaving like a direction and starts behaving like an obligation. This isn’t dramatic. Nothing collapses. There’s no moment you could point to later and … Continue reading
The Spiral: Six Attempts to Notice While the System Keeps Running 6
VI EXIT OPTIONS, CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE Death is where the simulation’s documentation collapses into rumour, marketing copy, and contradictory FAQs. If this were a transparent system, the exit would come with clear … Continue reading
Haunted When the Minutes Drag 8: This is Not An Announcement
This is not an announcement in the conventional sense. There is no launch, no event, no expectation of participation. There is, however, a book. It exists because the thinking that … Continue reading
The Spiral: Six Attempts to Notice While the System Keeps Running 5
V. NON‑PLAYER CHARACTERS WITH ETERNAL SHIFT ROTAS The second clue is dialogue. Conversations in this world often unfold like you are selecting options from a menu that someone else designed. … Continue reading
The Spiral: Six Attempts to Notice While the System Keeps Running 4
USER EXPERIENCE ISSUES IN BASE REALITY If we are living in a digital simulation, the first clue is not quantum weirdness, déjà vu, or the occasional pigeon that looks like … Continue reading
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