Bo Thompson
@gaudipern.bsky.social
Retired Educator / Learning Scientist
Solo Game Developer
Pixel Artist
Worked on a bunch of JRPGs back in the day
Male presenting NB
Pronouns: Nobody/Nothing/None - any if you must
Avatar alt: Pixel art of a male presenting Black person in glasses.
Solo Game Developer
Pixel Artist
Worked on a bunch of JRPGs back in the day
Male presenting NB
Pronouns: Nobody/Nothing/None - any if you must
Avatar alt: Pixel art of a male presenting Black person in glasses.
Pinned
Bo Thompson
@gaudipern.bsky.social
· Feb 5
For those who don't know me: I exist in a liminal space of wanting to engage and talk to people about interesting things but abhor being observed. It makes my skin crawl. As a result, I guard how people interact with and about me fairly tightly.
If you're not sure and you want to be careful, ask.
If you're not sure and you want to be careful, ask.
I think I'd enjoy more stealth games that explored asymmetric gameplay. Let me operate the panopticon while players try to sneak through. Don't even give me a body, let me be the man in the seat setting up my arena, luring them into traps, fending off their hacking, and catching them with drones.
November 11, 2025 at 7:00 AM
I think I'd enjoy more stealth games that explored asymmetric gameplay. Let me operate the panopticon while players try to sneak through. Don't even give me a body, let me be the man in the seat setting up my arena, luring them into traps, fending off their hacking, and catching them with drones.
Whenever I tell students that their homework is to introspect about what motivates them (or doesn't) about something they think they want to make into a career, they're always shocked. There can be few more empowering tricks to mastering a craft than harnessing your true reasons for pursuing it.
November 11, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Whenever I tell students that their homework is to introspect about what motivates them (or doesn't) about something they think they want to make into a career, they're always shocked. There can be few more empowering tricks to mastering a craft than harnessing your true reasons for pursuing it.
The thing about a testudo formation is that if someone in the formation is lowering their shield, it is literally better to cast that person at the feet of your attackers than to trust that this time, unlike the last time, they will hold their shield strong in the face of your enemies.
The sooner we get past internal recriminations and back to fighting united, the better off we all are — the likelier our victory next November.
November 11, 2025 at 3:45 AM
The thing about a testudo formation is that if someone in the formation is lowering their shield, it is literally better to cast that person at the feet of your attackers than to trust that this time, unlike the last time, they will hold their shield strong in the face of your enemies.
Every time I peep Joyce Carol Oates dunking on Musk, I recognize a kindred soul. Yes, this is how you can tell when I'm fed up with someone; I don't curse at you, I take a good, long, slow look at the totality of what makes you a person and then I tell you exactly what I see about you worth hating.
November 11, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Every time I peep Joyce Carol Oates dunking on Musk, I recognize a kindred soul. Yes, this is how you can tell when I'm fed up with someone; I don't curse at you, I take a good, long, slow look at the totality of what makes you a person and then I tell you exactly what I see about you worth hating.
Reposted by Bo Thompson
We are doing a pilot survey about how prospective PhD students in PSYCHOLOGY make decisions about applying to grad programs. If you are thinking of applying to a program in the future, and have 2-5 minutes to spare, could you take this survey? 🫶
northwestern.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
northwestern.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
November 10, 2025 at 3:29 PM
We are doing a pilot survey about how prospective PhD students in PSYCHOLOGY make decisions about applying to grad programs. If you are thinking of applying to a program in the future, and have 2-5 minutes to spare, could you take this survey? 🫶
northwestern.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
northwestern.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
I tell younger folks all the time: Do not worry about losing the respect or presence of people who can't or won't accept you doing things that bring you joy. The only relationship you are guaranteed will last until you die is the one you have with yourself. Don't let yourself down.
One thing people kind of tell you, but not really, about middle age:
One day you'll be like "oh [thing] looks fun but people will think I'm a loser" about a thing
And then you'll say. Wait a second.
Fuck 'em
One day you'll be like "oh [thing] looks fun but people will think I'm a loser" about a thing
And then you'll say. Wait a second.
Fuck 'em
Darn Tough turned me on to Cute Socks and I've never looked back
November 11, 2025 at 1:40 AM
I tell younger folks all the time: Do not worry about losing the respect or presence of people who can't or won't accept you doing things that bring you joy. The only relationship you are guaranteed will last until you die is the one you have with yourself. Don't let yourself down.
I once had a student who questioned why study history and geography. Finally, I calmly looked him in the face and said: You awaken to a boom. You are one of the few survivors to a citywide bombing. None of your family survived. Who did it and why? Worse, will they come back? Suddenly this matters.
November 11, 2025 at 1:24 AM
I once had a student who questioned why study history and geography. Finally, I calmly looked him in the face and said: You awaken to a boom. You are one of the few survivors to a citywide bombing. None of your family survived. Who did it and why? Worse, will they come back? Suddenly this matters.
Knowing what I know about food photographers, it's a huge red flag if I see some weird health food product and I don't see a single photo of unwrapped food.
There are people who can use vaseline, rubber cement, and makeup to make a turd appetizing and you couldn't find a single glamour shot? Yikes.
There are people who can use vaseline, rubber cement, and makeup to make a turd appetizing and you couldn't find a single glamour shot? Yikes.
November 11, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Knowing what I know about food photographers, it's a huge red flag if I see some weird health food product and I don't see a single photo of unwrapped food.
There are people who can use vaseline, rubber cement, and makeup to make a turd appetizing and you couldn't find a single glamour shot? Yikes.
There are people who can use vaseline, rubber cement, and makeup to make a turd appetizing and you couldn't find a single glamour shot? Yikes.
Reposted by Bo Thompson
no quote about the US political system has ever gone harder than this one
November 10, 2025 at 10:02 PM
no quote about the US political system has ever gone harder than this one
Tied to this, my autism and narcolepsy made a fun pairing for being diagnosed with narcolepsy because I almost never fall asleep in front of others; narcoleptics can forestall sleep attacks when doing highly stimulating activities, and autism makes all socialization "highly stimulating." 🤪
The fun thing about narcolepsy is that sometimes I feel completely normal, and then others I feel my eyes stinging and my limbs dragging and my lids resisting my attempts to lift them... and these two times can be seconds apart.
November 11, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Tied to this, my autism and narcolepsy made a fun pairing for being diagnosed with narcolepsy because I almost never fall asleep in front of others; narcoleptics can forestall sleep attacks when doing highly stimulating activities, and autism makes all socialization "highly stimulating." 🤪
A lot of folks are basically replying "there's nothing scary or dangerous about nature, so long as you come aware and prepared and respect it and don't take risks and..."
Friends, comrades... I talked the same about teaching in one of the most statistically dangerous cities in the US for a decade.
Friends, comrades... I talked the same about teaching in one of the most statistically dangerous cities in the US for a decade.
You can always tell when folks who didn't grow up in nature are getting into a mystical nature kick because they talk about forests like they're these serene, perfect, peaceful places. No friend, nature is scary and tense as fuck and you're looking at a place where things live and die BY THE MINUTE.
November 11, 2025 at 12:09 AM
A lot of folks are basically replying "there's nothing scary or dangerous about nature, so long as you come aware and prepared and respect it and don't take risks and..."
Friends, comrades... I talked the same about teaching in one of the most statistically dangerous cities in the US for a decade.
Friends, comrades... I talked the same about teaching in one of the most statistically dangerous cities in the US for a decade.
The fun thing about narcolepsy is that sometimes I feel completely normal, and then others I feel my eyes stinging and my limbs dragging and my lids resisting my attempts to lift them... and these two times can be seconds apart.
November 10, 2025 at 10:57 PM
The fun thing about narcolepsy is that sometimes I feel completely normal, and then others I feel my eyes stinging and my limbs dragging and my lids resisting my attempts to lift them... and these two times can be seconds apart.
I swear by all that's holy, why the f* does autocorrect insist that half the words I type must be incorrect but I mistype the L in like and suddenly it's chill with a spelling mistake or two. 🤬
November 10, 2025 at 5:42 PM
I swear by all that's holy, why the f* does autocorrect insist that half the words I type must be incorrect but I mistype the L in like and suddenly it's chill with a spelling mistake or two. 🤬
College sits at that perfect cusp separating fucking around from finding out. This is something a frat at UNC Wilmington is likely to be finding out expeditiously since apparently someone decided it would be a fun pledge initiation activity to (I shit you not) jump marines and steal their CACs.
November 10, 2025 at 5:19 PM
College sits at that perfect cusp separating fucking around from finding out. This is something a frat at UNC Wilmington is likely to be finding out expeditiously since apparently someone decided it would be a fun pledge initiation activity to (I shit you not) jump marines and steal their CACs.
"Am I too old for --"
Are you dead? Then no, you're not too old for that. It may work differently, not everything may be possible, you may never be a "pro" at whatever it is, but if you want it there's probably a way for you to have it. Unless you're dead. And if you're dead? Ask fewer questions.
Are you dead? Then no, you're not too old for that. It may work differently, not everything may be possible, you may never be a "pro" at whatever it is, but if you want it there's probably a way for you to have it. Unless you're dead. And if you're dead? Ask fewer questions.
November 10, 2025 at 4:40 PM
"Am I too old for --"
Are you dead? Then no, you're not too old for that. It may work differently, not everything may be possible, you may never be a "pro" at whatever it is, but if you want it there's probably a way for you to have it. Unless you're dead. And if you're dead? Ask fewer questions.
Are you dead? Then no, you're not too old for that. It may work differently, not everything may be possible, you may never be a "pro" at whatever it is, but if you want it there's probably a way for you to have it. Unless you're dead. And if you're dead? Ask fewer questions.
Reposted by Bo Thompson
Feeling spicy might delete but I used to work with Chuck Schumer's eldest daughter, and when she was getting ready to go to Yale Law she was dissatisfied with her financial aid package so she made them do a three way call (at the office) with her and her dad to push for a better package
February 13, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Feeling spicy might delete but I used to work with Chuck Schumer's eldest daughter, and when she was getting ready to go to Yale Law she was dissatisfied with her financial aid package so she made them do a three way call (at the office) with her and her dad to push for a better package
I truly believe among those who dive into learning there are two general types: the Doers and the Thinkers. Doers approach knowledge as either a lever to achieve things or a new fulcrum through which levers can be applied. Thinkers simply want to know, disinterested in what it is "for" altogether.
November 10, 2025 at 4:16 PM
I truly believe among those who dive into learning there are two general types: the Doers and the Thinkers. Doers approach knowledge as either a lever to achieve things or a new fulcrum through which levers can be applied. Thinkers simply want to know, disinterested in what it is "for" altogether.
It's not that I'm hardheaded, it's that by the time you hear words leave my mouth I've turned those ideas over and over in my head until they're as smooth as river stone. It's not that they're open-minded it's that they speak an idea as they think it and so share the task of examining it only after.
November 10, 2025 at 3:26 PM
It's not that I'm hardheaded, it's that by the time you hear words leave my mouth I've turned those ideas over and over in my head until they're as smooth as river stone. It's not that they're open-minded it's that they speak an idea as they think it and so share the task of examining it only after.
Friend: Why does it feel like you studied everything in college?
Me: Probably because I did a triple degree for my associates and a double degree with double minor for my bachelors and that was just my undergrad?
Friend: Jesus, was there anything you DIDN'T learn in college?
Me: Self love.
Me: Probably because I did a triple degree for my associates and a double degree with double minor for my bachelors and that was just my undergrad?
Friend: Jesus, was there anything you DIDN'T learn in college?
Me: Self love.
November 10, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Friend: Why does it feel like you studied everything in college?
Me: Probably because I did a triple degree for my associates and a double degree with double minor for my bachelors and that was just my undergrad?
Friend: Jesus, was there anything you DIDN'T learn in college?
Me: Self love.
Me: Probably because I did a triple degree for my associates and a double degree with double minor for my bachelors and that was just my undergrad?
Friend: Jesus, was there anything you DIDN'T learn in college?
Me: Self love.
I think one of the crucial marks of a skilled game designer is being capable of recognizing when a game doesn't appeal to them personally but *being able to build a critical lens to evaluate how its design works or doesn't for the people it WAS meant to appeal to*. It demonstrates mental agility.
November 10, 2025 at 2:10 PM
I think one of the crucial marks of a skilled game designer is being capable of recognizing when a game doesn't appeal to them personally but *being able to build a critical lens to evaluate how its design works or doesn't for the people it WAS meant to appeal to*. It demonstrates mental agility.
One day I'm going to design a male character with the kind of aesthetics jfighters do female characters. He's going to have an impractical leather belt squeezing his ass cleavage together and the only thing hiding his genitals will be an oversized belt buckle and thoughtful camera angles. 🤣
November 10, 2025 at 1:26 PM
One day I'm going to design a male character with the kind of aesthetics jfighters do female characters. He's going to have an impractical leather belt squeezing his ass cleavage together and the only thing hiding his genitals will be an oversized belt buckle and thoughtful camera angles. 🤣
Do I love this potential end to the shutdown? Fuck no, but I recognize there's complex factors around deciding when it best serves. My bigger concern is with the number of people who don't grasp that we're at a point where the only way to make change is to accept real pain and they don't seem ready.
November 10, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Do I love this potential end to the shutdown? Fuck no, but I recognize there's complex factors around deciding when it best serves. My bigger concern is with the number of people who don't grasp that we're at a point where the only way to make change is to accept real pain and they don't seem ready.
I think I live an incredibly good life, in large part because I recognize how easily my villain arc could have been entered multiple times in my life and yet it wasn't. Real modern day miracle IMHO.
November 10, 2025 at 12:48 PM
I think I live an incredibly good life, in large part because I recognize how easily my villain arc could have been entered multiple times in my life and yet it wasn't. Real modern day miracle IMHO.
I'm reading a story and thinking "Huh, if someone did me that dirty after I did a favor that saved the life of their loved one, and then they dared suggest their attempt to reward me afterwards was to repay the debt? I would tell them that until the day they died, their debt could never be repaid."
November 10, 2025 at 12:46 PM
I'm reading a story and thinking "Huh, if someone did me that dirty after I did a favor that saved the life of their loved one, and then they dared suggest their attempt to reward me afterwards was to repay the debt? I would tell them that until the day they died, their debt could never be repaid."
To be clear, folks who grew up in nature definitely get on a mystical nature kick but it sounds totally different. A forest isn't a place they associate with peaceful serenity, it is a place where life and death weave an invisible dance connecting everything past and present; powerful but dangerous.
You can always tell when folks who didn't grow up in nature are getting into a mystical nature kick because they talk about forests like they're these serene, perfect, peaceful places. No friend, nature is scary and tense as fuck and you're looking at a place where things live and die BY THE MINUTE.
November 10, 2025 at 12:28 PM
To be clear, folks who grew up in nature definitely get on a mystical nature kick but it sounds totally different. A forest isn't a place they associate with peaceful serenity, it is a place where life and death weave an invisible dance connecting everything past and present; powerful but dangerous.