James
@forthewhimsy.bsky.social
42yr old primary school teacher. Nerd. I love reading, miniature painting, board/miniature/card/video games. Heart belongs to Star Wars, head to Star Trek.
Pinned
James
@forthewhimsy.bsky.social
· Nov 20
Guess I should do a hello post on here.
I'm a UK primary school teacher, all round nerd into reading, miniature painting, tabletop gaming and being a part of the Woke Mob.
I'm a UK primary school teacher, all round nerd into reading, miniature painting, tabletop gaming and being a part of the Woke Mob.
Sadly I'm retreating from BlueSky. I get all the reasons for choosing it over Threads, but over there I see way more posts about things I'm interested in, get a lot more engagement with my posts and it has a spoiler text/image feature which is SO needed across all social media.
September 1, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Sadly I'm retreating from BlueSky. I get all the reasons for choosing it over Threads, but over there I see way more posts about things I'm interested in, get a lot more engagement with my posts and it has a spoiler text/image feature which is SO needed across all social media.
I caved and read the transcript of Brandon Sanderson doing a reading of Ghostbloods.
A tiny snippet but enough to tide me over for a little bit. Three years to go...
A tiny snippet but enough to tide me over for a little bit. Three years to go...
August 29, 2025 at 8:10 PM
I caved and read the transcript of Brandon Sanderson doing a reading of Ghostbloods.
A tiny snippet but enough to tide me over for a little bit. Three years to go...
A tiny snippet but enough to tide me over for a little bit. Three years to go...
It's been a while since I stayed up past 3am playing video games. Enjoying it while I can, back to work and routine next week.
Tempest Rising is as good as you could get for an unofficial sequel to Command and Conquer.
Tempest Rising is as good as you could get for an unofficial sequel to Command and Conquer.
August 29, 2025 at 2:29 AM
It's been a while since I stayed up past 3am playing video games. Enjoying it while I can, back to work and routine next week.
Tempest Rising is as good as you could get for an unofficial sequel to Command and Conquer.
Tempest Rising is as good as you could get for an unofficial sequel to Command and Conquer.
That episode of Strange New Worlds (Four and a half Vulcans) was hilarious. Then made even more so by that post-credit scene :D
August 28, 2025 at 12:45 PM
That episode of Strange New Worlds (Four and a half Vulcans) was hilarious. Then made even more so by that post-credit scene :D
Really enjoying Tempest Rising, the borderline spiritual successor/copyright infringing RTS based on Command & Conquer.
I am a simple man, all I want to do is build an impenetrable base and overwhelm the enemy with a swarm of drones. I never get bored of it.
I am a simple man, all I want to do is build an impenetrable base and overwhelm the enemy with a swarm of drones. I never get bored of it.
August 27, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Really enjoying Tempest Rising, the borderline spiritual successor/copyright infringing RTS based on Command & Conquer.
I am a simple man, all I want to do is build an impenetrable base and overwhelm the enemy with a swarm of drones. I never get bored of it.
I am a simple man, all I want to do is build an impenetrable base and overwhelm the enemy with a swarm of drones. I never get bored of it.
Dreamt I had a pupil progress meeting tomorrow. Stupid brain, I have one more week left of the summer holidays, dream up something cool please!
August 26, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Dreamt I had a pupil progress meeting tomorrow. Stupid brain, I have one more week left of the summer holidays, dream up something cool please!
Definitely feel more nervous for my daughter's GCSE results than I ever was for my own.
August 21, 2025 at 4:45 AM
Definitely feel more nervous for my daughter's GCSE results than I ever was for my own.
My 16yr old is about to run her first D&D session. She's baked a cake for them all to share. Hope they all have fun!
August 18, 2025 at 11:45 AM
My 16yr old is about to run her first D&D session. She's baked a cake for them all to share. Hope they all have fun!
Cinder loves a good stretch when cuddling.
August 17, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Cinder loves a good stretch when cuddling.
In honour of assembling my first Gundam, I have decided to start watching the original TV show. Man I'd have eaten this up as a kid. The closest I got was Starzinger which my mum bought a VHS of when I was maybe 8, I think it was a few episodes of the show edited as a film.
August 10, 2025 at 10:30 PM
In honour of assembling my first Gundam, I have decided to start watching the original TV show. Man I'd have eaten this up as a kid. The closest I got was Starzinger which my mum bought a VHS of when I was maybe 8, I think it was a few episodes of the show edited as a film.
Finished Red Rising. 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it on the whole, with two main exceptions that stopped me giving it a higher rating. One is that at no point did I ever feel like Darrow was 17/18. Similar to how I felt about the main character in Will of the Many.
August 9, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Finished Red Rising. 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it on the whole, with two main exceptions that stopped me giving it a higher rating. One is that at no point did I ever feel like Darrow was 17/18. Similar to how I felt about the main character in Will of the Many.
Donkey Kong Bananza is deceptively addictive. "Just one more banana gem" I tell myself.
Suddenly 3hrs have passed.
Suddenly 3hrs have passed.
August 9, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Donkey Kong Bananza is deceptively addictive. "Just one more banana gem" I tell myself.
Suddenly 3hrs have passed.
Suddenly 3hrs have passed.
For those concerned that all I'm doing this summer is laying on the sofa with a cat and reading, I have also been laying on the sofa with a cat and playing Donkey Kong Bananza.
August 7, 2025 at 10:13 PM
For those concerned that all I'm doing this summer is laying on the sofa with a cat and reading, I have also been laying on the sofa with a cat and playing Donkey Kong Bananza.
@louiestowell.bsky.social Consider yourself an influencer because I've picked up these for my class in September. I turned to a random page of Donut Squad and instantly had the giggles, I think this will be a good icebreaker book for my new Y4s.
August 6, 2025 at 2:05 PM
@louiestowell.bsky.social Consider yourself an influencer because I've picked up these for my class in September. I turned to a random page of Donut Squad and instantly had the giggles, I think this will be a good icebreaker book for my new Y4s.
That's Tress of the Emerald Sea finished. A lovely book. 3 books in two weeks, I love the summer holidays!
I'm torn between going back to and finishing Red Rising, or keeping on with my Cosmere track and going for Elantris which is the only major Cosmere book I haven't read.
I'm torn between going back to and finishing Red Rising, or keeping on with my Cosmere track and going for Elantris which is the only major Cosmere book I haven't read.
August 5, 2025 at 12:09 PM
That's Tress of the Emerald Sea finished. A lovely book. 3 books in two weeks, I love the summer holidays!
I'm torn between going back to and finishing Red Rising, or keeping on with my Cosmere track and going for Elantris which is the only major Cosmere book I haven't read.
I'm torn between going back to and finishing Red Rising, or keeping on with my Cosmere track and going for Elantris which is the only major Cosmere book I haven't read.
Putting this on my CV.
August 3, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Putting this on my CV.
I was just saying in a reply yesterday how music you forgot about is such a treat to revisit. I can't even remember how I came across it today, but looked up N.E.R.D. and gave their first album a listen. Instantly got chills of nostalgia with the first track, Lapdance.
August 3, 2025 at 8:24 AM
I was just saying in a reply yesterday how music you forgot about is such a treat to revisit. I can't even remember how I came across it today, but looked up N.E.R.D. and gave their first album a listen. Instantly got chills of nostalgia with the first track, Lapdance.
I wasn't sure about The Subway at first. But today I put on my nice headphones and listened to it a few times and I will now be listening to it on repeat for the foreseeable future.
August 2, 2025 at 9:34 PM
I wasn't sure about The Subway at first. But today I put on my nice headphones and listened to it a few times and I will now be listening to it on repeat for the foreseeable future.
Devoured Yumi and the Nightmare Painter in 3 days. Honestly blown away by it. Never expected romance from Sanderson. I sobbed through those last pages.
My favourite quote from it:
"Because art is, and always has been, about what it does to us. To the one shaping it and the one experiencing it."
My favourite quote from it:
"Because art is, and always has been, about what it does to us. To the one shaping it and the one experiencing it."
July 31, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Devoured Yumi and the Nightmare Painter in 3 days. Honestly blown away by it. Never expected romance from Sanderson. I sobbed through those last pages.
My favourite quote from it:
"Because art is, and always has been, about what it does to us. To the one shaping it and the one experiencing it."
My favourite quote from it:
"Because art is, and always has been, about what it does to us. To the one shaping it and the one experiencing it."
Finished Isles of the Emberdark today. 5/5, way better than I was expecting. I wish Brandon Sanderson could clone himself because I now want a sequel but also don't want him to stop writing Ghostbloods.
A must read for #Cosmere fans.
A must read for #Cosmere fans.
July 28, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Finished Isles of the Emberdark today. 5/5, way better than I was expecting. I wish Brandon Sanderson could clone himself because I now want a sequel but also don't want him to stop writing Ghostbloods.
A must read for #Cosmere fans.
A must read for #Cosmere fans.
I'm used to FB showing me AI slop but IG seems infested with it now. The videos/pictures are completely unrelated to the captions. It used to be rare to see anything but who you actually follow on there but now it feels like it's going the way of FB.
July 26, 2025 at 6:51 AM
I'm used to FB showing me AI slop but IG seems infested with it now. The videos/pictures are completely unrelated to the captions. It used to be rare to see anything but who you actually follow on there but now it feels like it's going the way of FB.
Hard to know how much I enjoyed Fantastic Four as the experience was ruined by a small group of teenagers.
I lost my absolute shit with them during the credits. Said they'd ruined it for everyone and that we all thought they were pricks.
I lost my absolute shit with them during the credits. Said they'd ruined it for everyone and that we all thought they were pricks.
July 24, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Hard to know how much I enjoyed Fantastic Four as the experience was ruined by a small group of teenagers.
I lost my absolute shit with them during the credits. Said they'd ruined it for everyone and that we all thought they were pricks.
I lost my absolute shit with them during the credits. Said they'd ruined it for everyone and that we all thought they were pricks.
19 chapters into Dungeon Crawler Carl and I think I'm going to have to DNF it. Great narrator. Some good ideas. But I'm finding it incredibly dull. Even given that this particular style isn't my thing, I'm honestly not seeing what justifies all those 5 star reviews.
Ah well. Plenty more books!
Ah well. Plenty more books!
July 22, 2025 at 4:13 PM
19 chapters into Dungeon Crawler Carl and I think I'm going to have to DNF it. Great narrator. Some good ideas. But I'm finding it incredibly dull. Even given that this particular style isn't my thing, I'm honestly not seeing what justifies all those 5 star reviews.
Ah well. Plenty more books!
Ah well. Plenty more books!
Loved the first 2 episodes of Strange New Worlds S3. I'm sure some won't like the second episode, but Trek has always had silly episodes and that was a fun one.
July 17, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Loved the first 2 episodes of Strange New Worlds S3. I'm sure some won't like the second episode, but Trek has always had silly episodes and that was a fun one.