Stephen Lea Sheppard
@stephenls.bsky.social
"Harris" on Freaks & Geeks; "Dudley" in The Royal Tenenbaums. (Why is one "on" a TV show but "in" a movie?) Developed/wrote/edited various White Wolf/Onyx Path Tabletop RPG books. No one special now. @SLSheppard on Twitter (inactive). He/him
Pinned
“Then we must do without hope.”
Reposted by Stephen Lea Sheppard
The default assumption should be that they’re lying
February 13, 2026 at 10:33 PM
The default assumption should be that they’re lying
People talk around COVID instead of addressing it because there’s no easy way to avoid COVID infections without foundational lifestyle changes. Masking means quitting restaurants in specific and social eating in general; it means inviting social and maybe professional censure. Nobody wants those!
February 13, 2026 at 10:24 PM
People talk around COVID instead of addressing it because there’s no easy way to avoid COVID infections without foundational lifestyle changes. Masking means quitting restaurants in specific and social eating in general; it means inviting social and maybe professional censure. Nobody wants those!
Reposted by Stephen Lea Sheppard
My doomer-worry about AI is not that the LLMs become omnipotent and take over the world but that the wealthy and powerful use it as a means to consolidate power and marginalize or lay off skilled workers and also everything about our technological and political and social life gets worse
February 11, 2026 at 8:20 PM
My doomer-worry about AI is not that the LLMs become omnipotent and take over the world but that the wealthy and powerful use it as a means to consolidate power and marginalize or lay off skilled workers and also everything about our technological and political and social life gets worse
Not the first person to make this observation but I really like how by the end of DS9 Worf is this fuckin' rando from a disgraced House serving as a lieutenant commander or whatever in an entire other navy but whenever the Klingon Empire is in its hour of greatest need he shows up...
February 11, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Not the first person to make this observation but I really like how by the end of DS9 Worf is this fuckin' rando from a disgraced House serving as a lieutenant commander or whatever in an entire other navy but whenever the Klingon Empire is in its hour of greatest need he shows up...
Reposted by Stephen Lea Sheppard
it drives you insane how much erosion of freedom is justified by concern for kids when the people who actually hurt them will never face consequences
February 9, 2026 at 2:42 PM
it drives you insane how much erosion of freedom is justified by concern for kids when the people who actually hurt them will never face consequences
Reposted by Stephen Lea Sheppard
Throwback to something worth repeating.
February 7, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Throwback to something worth repeating.
It occurs to me that in my description of fascism here I am engaging in a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus by which I am portraying them as at the same time too strong and too weak. Huh.
Andor makes the argument that people in that position doing that job cannot help but be that kind of clown. Fascism eats itself; it will do tons of damage to innocent bystanders in the process and must therefore be fought tooth and nail on every front, but it's not ultimately capable of competence.
February 5, 2026 at 12:44 AM
It occurs to me that in my description of fascism here I am engaging in a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus by which I am portraying them as at the same time too strong and too weak. Huh.
Been thinking about the Luthen Rael vs. Grand Admiral Thrawn discourse and it's made me reflect on the way the interesting and cool thing about Grand Admiral Thrawn is kind of the lame and dumb thing about Grand Admiral Thrawn.
February 5, 2026 at 12:36 AM
Been thinking about the Luthen Rael vs. Grand Admiral Thrawn discourse and it's made me reflect on the way the interesting and cool thing about Grand Admiral Thrawn is kind of the lame and dumb thing about Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Reposted by Stephen Lea Sheppard
DOCTOR: I told him he needed to get out to a show, that was how he would cure his depression.
CHOTINER: So you learned this technique in school?
DR: No, not— listen it was good advice. Pagliacci was in town.
C: Right. Is it standard to give advice before learning a patient’s name?
DR: Now look
CHOTINER: So you learned this technique in school?
DR: No, not— listen it was good advice. Pagliacci was in town.
C: Right. Is it standard to give advice before learning a patient’s name?
DR: Now look
February 2, 2026 at 3:58 AM
DOCTOR: I told him he needed to get out to a show, that was how he would cure his depression.
CHOTINER: So you learned this technique in school?
DR: No, not— listen it was good advice. Pagliacci was in town.
C: Right. Is it standard to give advice before learning a patient’s name?
DR: Now look
CHOTINER: So you learned this technique in school?
DR: No, not— listen it was good advice. Pagliacci was in town.
C: Right. Is it standard to give advice before learning a patient’s name?
DR: Now look
Last iPhone I owned was the 7 and now I have a 14 so I guess the next one I’ll let myself buy is the 21.
January 26, 2026 at 5:43 AM
Last iPhone I owned was the 7 and now I have a 14 so I guess the next one I’ll let myself buy is the 21.
This also applies to the internal
cultures of slave states. Any society that develops violent repression of an underclass necessarily becomes extremely status conscious and deploys repression against its own non-slave “lesser” classes and…
cultures of slave states. Any society that develops violent repression of an underclass necessarily becomes extremely status conscious and deploys repression against its own non-slave “lesser” classes and…
depths of wikipedia usually posts totally random shit, but not tonight
January 26, 2026 at 3:07 AM
This also applies to the internal
cultures of slave states. Any society that develops violent repression of an underclass necessarily becomes extremely status conscious and deploys repression against its own non-slave “lesser” classes and…
cultures of slave states. Any society that develops violent repression of an underclass necessarily becomes extremely status conscious and deploys repression against its own non-slave “lesser” classes and…
Reposted by Stephen Lea Sheppard
depths of wikipedia usually posts totally random shit, but not tonight
January 25, 2026 at 6:44 AM
depths of wikipedia usually posts totally random shit, but not tonight
Reposted by Stephen Lea Sheppard
great. The cats have knocked the jar over and broken off a piece of the lid. I’m sure I’ll find the missing piece somewhere. At any rate, let me just turn forty-five degrees and take a single step (barefoot)
January 25, 2026 at 7:45 PM
great. The cats have knocked the jar over and broken off a piece of the lid. I’m sure I’ll find the missing piece somewhere. At any rate, let me just turn forty-five degrees and take a single step (barefoot)
January 25, 2026 at 5:25 PM
If you believe the public is just stupid sheep it must be impossible to conceive of them self-organizing.
January 25, 2026 at 4:08 PM
If you believe the public is just stupid sheep it must be impossible to conceive of them self-organizing.
Reposted by Stephen Lea Sheppard
This may sound stupid but it's evidenced-based.
If you're inadvertently exposed to something traumatic and you're able, take some time to play Tetris.
There is a known association between playing Tetris post-exposure and a reduction in risk of PTSD and distress severity.
(We don't know why yet.)
If you're inadvertently exposed to something traumatic and you're able, take some time to play Tetris.
There is a known association between playing Tetris post-exposure and a reduction in risk of PTSD and distress severity.
(We don't know why yet.)
January 24, 2026 at 4:28 PM
This may sound stupid but it's evidenced-based.
If you're inadvertently exposed to something traumatic and you're able, take some time to play Tetris.
There is a known association between playing Tetris post-exposure and a reduction in risk of PTSD and distress severity.
(We don't know why yet.)
If you're inadvertently exposed to something traumatic and you're able, take some time to play Tetris.
There is a known association between playing Tetris post-exposure and a reduction in risk of PTSD and distress severity.
(We don't know why yet.)
Reposted by Stephen Lea Sheppard
Transphobia is a cancer of the heart and mind.
It is a useless fear, based on ignorance and cruelty.
Trans people are not responsible for a single one of the problems we face.
Do the world a favor and grow the fuck up.
It is a useless fear, based on ignorance and cruelty.
Trans people are not responsible for a single one of the problems we face.
Do the world a favor and grow the fuck up.
January 24, 2026 at 3:15 AM
Transphobia is a cancer of the heart and mind.
It is a useless fear, based on ignorance and cruelty.
Trans people are not responsible for a single one of the problems we face.
Do the world a favor and grow the fuck up.
It is a useless fear, based on ignorance and cruelty.
Trans people are not responsible for a single one of the problems we face.
Do the world a favor and grow the fuck up.
Reposted by Stephen Lea Sheppard
With video of another street execution from ICE going around, a reminder that while video documentation of atrocities is important, you have no ethical obligation to watch videos of people dying. Traumatizing yourself isn’t advocacy. You do not have to watch the video to be outspoken against this
January 24, 2026 at 5:00 PM
With video of another street execution from ICE going around, a reminder that while video documentation of atrocities is important, you have no ethical obligation to watch videos of people dying. Traumatizing yourself isn’t advocacy. You do not have to watch the video to be outspoken against this
The Joja Mart guy really should have used the player character’s previous employment at Joja as a pretense to sign them up for a membership for free, thus securing permission to knock down the community center immediately.
January 23, 2026 at 7:24 PM
The Joja Mart guy really should have used the player character’s previous employment at Joja as a pretense to sign them up for a membership for free, thus securing permission to knock down the community center immediately.
I want it to be tomorrow morning already but I definitely don’t want to turn off the lights and lay in bed bored for the 30 to 45 minutes it always takes for me to get to sleep.
January 20, 2026 at 6:15 AM
I want it to be tomorrow morning already but I definitely don’t want to turn off the lights and lay in bed bored for the 30 to 45 minutes it always takes for me to get to sleep.
Reposted by Stephen Lea Sheppard
Warhammer 40k but you keep track of each player's dice rolls and adjust the final victory point totals by the percentage by which their dice totals are better or worse than what the statistical average would be.
January 19, 2026 at 8:33 PM
Warhammer 40k but you keep track of each player's dice rolls and adjust the final victory point totals by the percentage by which their dice totals are better or worse than what the statistical average would be.
I preordered a book seven and a half years ago, with an expectation of like a two-year turnaround. The preorder page is still up and says printing is expected to start in February of this year now. The latest email update makes it clear it’s still being written. I am annoyed.
January 17, 2026 at 6:17 AM
I preordered a book seven and a half years ago, with an expectation of like a two-year turnaround. The preorder page is still up and says printing is expected to start in February of this year now. The latest email update makes it clear it’s still being written. I am annoyed.
Reposted by Stephen Lea Sheppard
my official review of the 1993 film Falling Down
the guy didn't even fucking fall down. they should have called it Doing A Shitsload Of Walking
the guy didn't even fucking fall down. they should have called it Doing A Shitsload Of Walking
April 4, 2024 at 4:33 PM
my official review of the 1993 film Falling Down
the guy didn't even fucking fall down. they should have called it Doing A Shitsload Of Walking
the guy didn't even fucking fall down. they should have called it Doing A Shitsload Of Walking
You know, I've played through Control twice and watched multiple Let's Plays and I *still* don't understand why sometimes the floating chair enemies dodge Lift attacks and sometimes they don't. Do they have a state where they lose their dodge and I was inflicting it on them by accident?
January 11, 2026 at 8:46 PM
You know, I've played through Control twice and watched multiple Let's Plays and I *still* don't understand why sometimes the floating chair enemies dodge Lift attacks and sometimes they don't. Do they have a state where they lose their dodge and I was inflicting it on them by accident?