Jordan Meiller
@noplotr.bsky.social
Writer (https://certainofeventualfailure.com), musician (https://soundcloud.com/noplotr), photographer (the banner is one of mine), guy who yells about stuff online.
Pinned
Jordan Meiller
@noplotr.bsky.social
· Feb 1
My Best Posts of 2024 ('cause why not)
I've decided I'm going to do 2023 as well, which means these are going to be out of order but whatever.
It's time for Tunes Tuesday, because I'm feeling productive this week. Since this isn't an official Music Monday the format's a bit looser, I'm thinking we're gonna go through some singles, and maybe an EP or two.
To start with, we've got two singles from Mega Mango.
To start with, we've got two singles from Mega Mango.
It's time for Music Monday, where appealing the "Adult Content" tag with "Man, it's just an album cover" apparently doesn't work.
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...Mal Blum—The Villain (2025)
malblum.bandcamp.com/album/the-vi...
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...Mal Blum—The Villain (2025)
malblum.bandcamp.com/album/the-vi...
November 25, 2025 at 2:48 PM
It's time for Tunes Tuesday, because I'm feeling productive this week. Since this isn't an official Music Monday the format's a bit looser, I'm thinking we're gonna go through some singles, and maybe an EP or two.
To start with, we've got two singles from Mega Mango.
To start with, we've got two singles from Mega Mango.
Just noticed there’s a cloth in my bathroom that isn’t mine, so I guess they sent someone to fix my sink today? And didn’t tell me? Slightly creepy? But efficient? Assuming it’s actually fixed?
(Been getting an occasional sewer smell, no apparent clog or leak so not even sure what the problem is.)
(Been getting an occasional sewer smell, no apparent clog or leak so not even sure what the problem is.)
November 25, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Just noticed there’s a cloth in my bathroom that isn’t mine, so I guess they sent someone to fix my sink today? And didn’t tell me? Slightly creepy? But efficient? Assuming it’s actually fixed?
(Been getting an occasional sewer smell, no apparent clog or leak so not even sure what the problem is.)
(Been getting an occasional sewer smell, no apparent clog or leak so not even sure what the problem is.)
Reposted by Jordan Meiller
Okay I've seen this going around and I know the colloquial understanding is "obscure bit of trivia" but I've been thinking about what it means for knowledge to be useless.
i was going through my X archives and found this by @superpodsaga.com, which I qrt'd at some point years ago
so, let me bring the question back: what is the most useless piece of video game knowledge you know?
so, let me bring the question back: what is the most useless piece of video game knowledge you know?
November 24, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Okay I've seen this going around and I know the colloquial understanding is "obscure bit of trivia" but I've been thinking about what it means for knowledge to be useless.
It's time for Music Monday, where appealing the "Adult Content" tag with "Man, it's just an album cover" apparently doesn't work.
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...Mal Blum—The Villain (2025)
malblum.bandcamp.com/album/the-vi...
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...Mal Blum—The Villain (2025)
malblum.bandcamp.com/album/the-vi...
November 24, 2025 at 2:52 PM
It's time for Music Monday, where appealing the "Adult Content" tag with "Man, it's just an album cover" apparently doesn't work.
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...Mal Blum—The Villain (2025)
malblum.bandcamp.com/album/the-vi...
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...Mal Blum—The Villain (2025)
malblum.bandcamp.com/album/the-vi...
Got an email from my old high school band director reaching out to build an alumni database, which, whatever, but weirdly it didn't come to my main email that I've had since middle school or my gmail that I literally created for high school, no, somehow it came to the email for @rhac.bsky.social.
November 24, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Got an email from my old high school band director reaching out to build an alumni database, which, whatever, but weirdly it didn't come to my main email that I've had since middle school or my gmail that I literally created for high school, no, somehow it came to the email for @rhac.bsky.social.
I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about <redacted>* so I got up and opened my computer to try to distract myself and then ended up spending the next 2.5 hours mostly still thinking about <redacted>* and only just now did I process that that entire time I was sitting in front of this image.
November 23, 2025 at 12:42 PM
I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about <redacted>* so I got up and opened my computer to try to distract myself and then ended up spending the next 2.5 hours mostly still thinking about <redacted>* and only just now did I process that that entire time I was sitting in front of this image.
As clunky as it is in basically every instance, I do appreciate that companions will pick up their “passing the time while we explore” dialogue where they left off if they’re interrupted by combat or other triggers. Would love to see that implemented in other games (but maybe less awkwardly.)
Ok whoever did the character portraits on the party selection screen in Veilguard…I strongly disagree with your artistic vision. And also maybe your actual vision if that’s what you think Harding looks like.
November 22, 2025 at 9:11 PM
As clunky as it is in basically every instance, I do appreciate that companions will pick up their “passing the time while we explore” dialogue where they left off if they’re interrupted by combat or other triggers. Would love to see that implemented in other games (but maybe less awkwardly.)
I wouldn’t normally do one of these because I don’t want to get in the way of the actual artists but I am entirely unable to resist a pun.
November 22, 2025 at 3:50 AM
I wouldn’t normally do one of these because I don’t want to get in the way of the actual artists but I am entirely unable to resist a pun.
Ok whoever did the character portraits on the party selection screen in Veilguard…I strongly disagree with your artistic vision. And also maybe your actual vision if that’s what you think Harding looks like.
November 21, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Ok whoever did the character portraits on the party selection screen in Veilguard…I strongly disagree with your artistic vision. And also maybe your actual vision if that’s what you think Harding looks like.
Honorable Mentions: Every other character in Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector.
November 21, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Honorable Mentions: Every other character in Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector.
D:OS2 as “the ultimate puddle-management simulator” is so correct oh my god. And like, kind of one of the things I dislike about BG3 is it inherently has less of that because it has to fit its environmental interactions into 5E rules.
Okay, in fairness, this is only my own work and not the result of a conference. But in unfairness: I thought it would be funniest to just plant this flag as soon as possible.
azhdarchid.com/the-sao-paul...
azhdarchid.com/the-sao-paul...
November 21, 2025 at 2:28 AM
D:OS2 as “the ultimate puddle-management simulator” is so correct oh my god. And like, kind of one of the things I dislike about BG3 is it inherently has less of that because it has to fit its environmental interactions into 5E rules.
Reposted by Jordan Meiller
Those Legend of Zelda live-action stills and the reactions to them got me thinking a lot about video game adaptations and here are some of those thoughts in some sort of order or possibly no particular order:
November 20, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Those Legend of Zelda live-action stills and the reactions to them got me thinking a lot about video game adaptations and here are some of those thoughts in some sort of order or possibly no particular order:
A legitimate question(s) I have for genAI art enjoyers (who presumably will not see this but hey) is, how do you talk about the art? Like, when you’re talking about an AI image you like, how do you express your appreciation of it? What aspects of the image do you highlight?
November 18, 2025 at 10:28 PM
A legitimate question(s) I have for genAI art enjoyers (who presumably will not see this but hey) is, how do you talk about the art? Like, when you’re talking about an AI image you like, how do you express your appreciation of it? What aspects of the image do you highlight?
@timclare.bsky.social listening to the first episode of But Why Vikings? and a supplementary note I’d add to the conversation about introducing people to RPGs is you could even start by playing games that lend themselves to role-playing but are not strictly speaking RPGs.
November 18, 2025 at 12:05 AM
@timclare.bsky.social listening to the first episode of But Why Vikings? and a supplementary note I’d add to the conversation about introducing people to RPGs is you could even start by playing games that lend themselves to role-playing but are not strictly speaking RPGs.
It's time for Music Monday, somehow.
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...San Fermin—Your Ghost (2022)
sanferminband.bandcamp.com/album/your-g...
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...San Fermin—Your Ghost (2022)
sanferminband.bandcamp.com/album/your-g...
November 17, 2025 at 2:06 PM
It's time for Music Monday, somehow.
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...San Fermin—Your Ghost (2022)
sanferminband.bandcamp.com/album/your-g...
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...San Fermin—Your Ghost (2022)
sanferminband.bandcamp.com/album/your-g...
- comedies that make you cry
- heist movies where they don’t lie to you about the twist (any movie with a plan and a twist is a heist movie)
- animated movies so beautiful that they pierce your soul
- actors making choices
- we’re going to spend the next three hours talking about this
- heist movies where they don’t lie to you about the twist (any movie with a plan and a twist is a heist movie)
- animated movies so beautiful that they pierce your soul
- actors making choices
- we’re going to spend the next three hours talking about this
What are your top 5 movie genres? Mine are:
Existential Soviet Cinema
French hipsters play at acting and movies
Screwball cynicism meets Capraesque heart
British flamboyance and theatrics that are resolutely antithetical to the British moral majority
Arnie being Arnie
Existential Soviet Cinema
French hipsters play at acting and movies
Screwball cynicism meets Capraesque heart
British flamboyance and theatrics that are resolutely antithetical to the British moral majority
Arnie being Arnie
- Films from 1932 in which three chorus girl gold diggers who share a flat try to survive the Depression
- Craggy former gunslinger bleakly confronts his life’s work
- Miscarriage of justice documentary
- Half-arsed ‘80s buddy comedy
- Holly Hunter whispering
- Craggy former gunslinger bleakly confronts his life’s work
- Miscarriage of justice documentary
- Half-arsed ‘80s buddy comedy
- Holly Hunter whispering
November 17, 2025 at 2:42 AM
- comedies that make you cry
- heist movies where they don’t lie to you about the twist (any movie with a plan and a twist is a heist movie)
- animated movies so beautiful that they pierce your soul
- actors making choices
- we’re going to spend the next three hours talking about this
- heist movies where they don’t lie to you about the twist (any movie with a plan and a twist is a heist movie)
- animated movies so beautiful that they pierce your soul
- actors making choices
- we’re going to spend the next three hours talking about this
Maybe it’s just because I haven’t played anything attempting photorealistic graphics in a while, but going back to look at Horizon Forbidden West footage I’m actually kind of gobsmacked. As much as I slightly hate the game I think maybe I didn’t give it enough credit for how good it looks.
November 14, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Maybe it’s just because I haven’t played anything attempting photorealistic graphics in a while, but going back to look at Horizon Forbidden West footage I’m actually kind of gobsmacked. As much as I slightly hate the game I think maybe I didn’t give it enough credit for how good it looks.
I did not know OpenGuessr could put you on a boat.
November 14, 2025 at 8:27 PM
I did not know OpenGuessr could put you on a boat.
Got back to my re-read(/actually finishing this time) of Ultrasylvania after a couple months away and immediately came across another stunner of a panel:
web.archive.org/web/20170912...
web.archive.org/web/20170912...
November 14, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Got back to my re-read(/actually finishing this time) of Ultrasylvania after a couple months away and immediately came across another stunner of a panel:
web.archive.org/web/20170912...
web.archive.org/web/20170912...
“Ew, you only know that person from their easily accessible contemporary commercial work and not their older/more obscure/more niche stuff that you would only seek out if you already knew about them
To me the thing about some kid knowing who Wallace Shawn is from Young Sheldon is
Hey, young people know who Wallace Shawn is, that's great.
Hey, young people know who Wallace Shawn is, that's great.
November 13, 2025 at 10:52 PM
“Ew, you only know that person from their easily accessible contemporary commercial work and not their older/more obscure/more niche stuff that you would only seek out if you already knew about them
I'd forgotten about this poem for like three years and then dug it out for an open mic last night and it went over pretty well so I guess it's actually not bad: certainofeventualfailure.com/2025/11/13/t...
The Body Poem
The Body Poem does not shower, but it does pee / in the shower.
certainofeventualfailure.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:22 PM
I'd forgotten about this poem for like three years and then dug it out for an open mic last night and it went over pretty well so I guess it's actually not bad: certainofeventualfailure.com/2025/11/13/t...
There are lots of games that should be on here that aren’t (Citizen Sleeper (despite me voting for it 3 times), Transistor, Dragon Age II) and yet somehow there was room for 9 Mario Karts and a plethora of Pokémons, but it gives me hope for humanity that Far Cry 3 is nowhere to be found.
Almost a year ago, I started this crazy project. And now, it's finally time to vote on "The Greatest Game of All Time!"
501 entries across all of gaming. Choose your Top 10 and let's see what ends up as the greatest! Voting will remain open until the end of 11/23!
forms.gle/Wg234Zt3GWvD...
501 entries across all of gaming. Choose your Top 10 and let's see what ends up as the greatest! Voting will remain open until the end of 11/23!
forms.gle/Wg234Zt3GWvD...
November 12, 2025 at 2:54 AM
There are lots of games that should be on here that aren’t (Citizen Sleeper (despite me voting for it 3 times), Transistor, Dragon Age II) and yet somehow there was room for 9 Mario Karts and a plethora of Pokémons, but it gives me hope for humanity that Far Cry 3 is nowhere to be found.
Continuing my college essay retrospective series, which is increasingly difficult to justify as I run out of things to say to satisfy the premise that I'm doing this as a teaching tool but I'm over halfway done so I'm gonna keep going: certainofeventualfailure.com/2025/11/10/o...
Office Hours #6: Let’s Exchange the Experience (Would’ve Also Been a Fun Title for This Paper But I Hadn’t Heard “Runnin’ Up That Hill” Yet)
I am, of course, completely avoiding the subject of whether or not words have meaning.
certainofeventualfailure.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Continuing my college essay retrospective series, which is increasingly difficult to justify as I run out of things to say to satisfy the premise that I'm doing this as a teaching tool but I'm over halfway done so I'm gonna keep going: certainofeventualfailure.com/2025/11/10/o...
It's time for Music Monday, despite everything.
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...Holland Patent Public Library—Songs to Fall Asleep at the Wheel To (2022)
hollandpatentpubliclibrary.bandcamp.com/album/songs-...
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...Holland Patent Public Library—Songs to Fall Asleep at the Wheel To (2022)
hollandpatentpubliclibrary.bandcamp.com/album/songs-...
November 10, 2025 at 6:46 PM
It's time for Music Monday, despite everything.
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...Holland Patent Public Library—Songs to Fall Asleep at the Wheel To (2022)
hollandpatentpubliclibrary.bandcamp.com/album/songs-...
Today's randomly selected album from my backlog is...Holland Patent Public Library—Songs to Fall Asleep at the Wheel To (2022)
hollandpatentpubliclibrary.bandcamp.com/album/songs-...