Kevin Vibert
@kevinvibert.bsky.social
Lead writer for The Penumbra Podcast. Currently working on "Thirst," to be released Summer 2025.
Was so excited to return to the Lands Between to talk about the time Fromsoft finally listened to all my letters and phone calls to make Pro Wrestler Beowulf a boss fight. Hollywood Hulk Hoarah Loux rules and I always learn something about stories when I talk to Aysha. Check it out!
new All My Maidens! @kevinvibert.bsky.social joins us once again to discuss Godfrey, the lion boy himself. Topics include: exclusive Lands Between vape flavors, the pussy that makes you normal, Fromsoft cutscenes, and the number 1 question: is the Greater Will white people? Discuss.
November 15, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Was so excited to return to the Lands Between to talk about the time Fromsoft finally listened to all my letters and phone calls to make Pro Wrestler Beowulf a boss fight. Hollywood Hulk Hoarah Loux rules and I always learn something about stories when I talk to Aysha. Check it out!
Billionaires are like vampires in that a wooden stake through the heart will kill them
October 30, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Billionaires are like vampires in that a wooden stake through the heart will kill them
We've finally started uploading episodes to Youtube again, and I'm glad we are, but there is something uniquely galling about being given an AI-driven copyright strike saying we unlawfully used someone else's music, and when you check the clip in question the only sound is one of our actors crying
October 30, 2025 at 5:08 PM
We've finally started uploading episodes to Youtube again, and I'm glad we are, but there is something uniquely galling about being given an AI-driven copyright strike saying we unlawfully used someone else's music, and when you check the clip in question the only sound is one of our actors crying
The performative obliviousness around Zohran's "aunt" is especially goofy because white people will call fuckin anybody their cousin. Cousin's son? Cousin. Mom's cousin? Cousin. Guy who lived on your street and just showed up to three consecutive Thanksgivings? You better believe that's a cousin
October 28, 2025 at 8:51 PM
The performative obliviousness around Zohran's "aunt" is especially goofy because white people will call fuckin anybody their cousin. Cousin's son? Cousin. Mom's cousin? Cousin. Guy who lived on your street and just showed up to three consecutive Thanksgivings? You better believe that's a cousin
Absolute 100% indicator that a person has never made art before is when they tell you gen AI is "so close" now because "it's just the details that look weird". Buddy, the details are 90% of what we do. Everyone who has ever tried to draw a hand and ended up with a five-pronged tumor is aware of this
Oh my god some fucking tech dingdong posted this on Twitter with the caption "AI games are going to be amazing" totally seriously, you have to watch it. You have to. In full screen.
October 24, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Absolute 100% indicator that a person has never made art before is when they tell you gen AI is "so close" now because "it's just the details that look weird". Buddy, the details are 90% of what we do. Everyone who has ever tried to draw a hand and ended up with a five-pronged tumor is aware of this
Maybe once all these assholes get Raptured the rest of us can get something done for once
September 23, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Maybe once all these assholes get Raptured the rest of us can get something done for once
I love this show. It's my favorite thing I've ever worked on. I hope it speaks you, and please support us so we can keep making it!
Thirst Chapter 1: Icebreaker is out NOW for Early Access supporters on The Penumbra Special Edition AND Patreon!
Check out our video trailer... and then listen to the episode here!
thepenumbrapodcast.supercast.com
patreon.com/thepenumbrapodcast
Check out our video trailer... and then listen to the episode here!
thepenumbrapodcast.supercast.com
patreon.com/thepenumbrapodcast
July 6, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I love this show. It's my favorite thing I've ever worked on. I hope it speaks you, and please support us so we can keep making it!
It's honestly too weird to wrap my head around that we've been working on Thirst in secret for so damn long and some people are going to hear it in six days. Like... We sat on the novel for 5ish years before releasing it, but we knew people liked Juno. This is new and terrifying and so exciting
June 30, 2025 at 9:20 PM
It's honestly too weird to wrap my head around that we've been working on Thirst in secret for so damn long and some people are going to hear it in six days. Like... We sat on the novel for 5ish years before releasing it, but we knew people liked Juno. This is new and terrifying and so exciting
Thirst is rapidly approaching...
Feeling Thirsty? Once a week (and twice today, as a special bonus) we'll be showing off the main cast of Thirst, two-by-two.
Today's duo: Joshua Ilon (playing Dennis Cruz) and Melody Perera (playing Anouk Kalhara)! You'll find their bios in the replies.
Today's duo: Joshua Ilon (playing Dennis Cruz) and Melody Perera (playing Anouk Kalhara)! You'll find their bios in the replies.
June 10, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Thirst is rapidly approaching...
Reposted by Kevin Vibert
generating a large amount of dull bullshit is a solved problem. we've had that down since the dawn of time. the challenge is making anything at all that doesn't suck shit
June 4, 2025 at 4:20 PM
generating a large amount of dull bullshit is a solved problem. we've had that down since the dawn of time. the challenge is making anything at all that doesn't suck shit
If you have any interest in American horror - maybe movies in general - you HAVE to go see Sinners (preferably in a theater, if you can)
The whole thing is amazing, but one sequence in particular is one of the most beautiful and transcendent things I have ever seen on film. Holy shit. Holy shit!
The whole thing is amazing, but one sequence in particular is one of the most beautiful and transcendent things I have ever seen on film. Holy shit. Holy shit!
June 4, 2025 at 1:27 PM
If you have any interest in American horror - maybe movies in general - you HAVE to go see Sinners (preferably in a theater, if you can)
The whole thing is amazing, but one sequence in particular is one of the most beautiful and transcendent things I have ever seen on film. Holy shit. Holy shit!
The whole thing is amazing, but one sequence in particular is one of the most beautiful and transcendent things I have ever seen on film. Holy shit. Holy shit!
We're SO excited about this. RQ has already been unbelievably supportive as we're developing Thirst, and they're as hands-off on the creative process as it gets. We couldn't be prouder to join the home of some of the best audio horror around as we prep to launch the ridiculous and horrifying Thirst!
Today we welcome @thepenumbrapod.bsky.social to the #RQNetwork! JUNO STEEL is a queer cult hit about a PI investigating alien artefacts and a mysterious homme fatale. THE SECOND CITADEL follows Sir Caroline as she leads her knights against monsters… even ones they’ve fallen in love with.
June 2, 2025 at 4:13 PM
We're SO excited about this. RQ has already been unbelievably supportive as we're developing Thirst, and they're as hands-off on the creative process as it gets. We couldn't be prouder to join the home of some of the best audio horror around as we prep to launch the ridiculous and horrifying Thirst!
Catch me at the town limits where no matter how many times you talk to me all I say is "Welcome to Boston!" (If you're looking for me, I'll be right next to the big sign that says "WELCOME TO BOSTON")
Main character energy is OUT, this summer we’re bringing NPC energy. We’re posted up at the bar dropping lore and suggesting side quests. We’re leaning casually near a locked door and saying “I don’t think you have the key for that” when someone tries the handle. We’re staring at a tree.
May 29, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Catch me at the town limits where no matter how many times you talk to me all I say is "Welcome to Boston!" (If you're looking for me, I'll be right next to the big sign that says "WELCOME TO BOSTON")
Genuine question: can someone explain what joy is to be found by talking to something that has no interior self? Like... Isn't the point of idle chat to share ourselves with one another? I mean this in the most concrete sense. At this point, why not draw a face on a piece of paper and talk to that?
May 25, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Genuine question: can someone explain what joy is to be found by talking to something that has no interior self? Like... Isn't the point of idle chat to share ourselves with one another? I mean this in the most concrete sense. At this point, why not draw a face on a piece of paper and talk to that?
Lovecraft's favorite horror shortcut (besides, you know, racism): "the thing in front of me was indescribable" "it was a new color I can't describe" etc
Well, tell me something you CAN describe then, Howie, cuz you've clearly got a cool show going in your head and it'd be nice if we could join you
Well, tell me something you CAN describe then, Howie, cuz you've clearly got a cool show going in your head and it'd be nice if we could join you
and now for something free and easy: writing pet peeves! Nothing big, nothing problematic, just little irritants you personally hate
Mine - I never want to hear the sentence “I’m sorry, what?” or variants thereof ever again
Mine - I never want to hear the sentence “I’m sorry, what?” or variants thereof ever again
May 18, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Lovecraft's favorite horror shortcut (besides, you know, racism): "the thing in front of me was indescribable" "it was a new color I can't describe" etc
Well, tell me something you CAN describe then, Howie, cuz you've clearly got a cool show going in your head and it'd be nice if we could join you
Well, tell me something you CAN describe then, Howie, cuz you've clearly got a cool show going in your head and it'd be nice if we could join you
You can really tell we're in the late-game crunch for Thirst production because the squishy stress toy my therapist recommended I get has had the elasticity completely crushed out of it in... Uh, three days
May 16, 2025 at 7:45 PM
You can really tell we're in the late-game crunch for Thirst production because the squishy stress toy my therapist recommended I get has had the elasticity completely crushed out of it in... Uh, three days
NYT two months into term four: "This Summer's Hit Fashion? A Boot Stamping On A Human Face -- For Ever"
May 12, 2025 at 7:08 PM
NYT two months into term four: "This Summer's Hit Fashion? A Boot Stamping On A Human Face -- For Ever"
Reposted by Kevin Vibert
THREAD: How the threat of martial law exposes the weakness of Trump in this moment
Make no mistake: the Trump regime’s threat to declare martial law, invoke the Insurrection Act, and repeal habeas corpus is nothing short of terrifying. I won’t lie about that fact.
It also exposes great weakness
Make no mistake: the Trump regime’s threat to declare martial law, invoke the Insurrection Act, and repeal habeas corpus is nothing short of terrifying. I won’t lie about that fact.
It also exposes great weakness
NEW: White House considering suspending habeas corpus, Stephen Miller says
White House considering suspending habeas corpus, Stephen Miller says
The move marks another escalation in the Trump administration's fight again the judicial branch.
www.axios.com
May 9, 2025 at 9:58 PM
THREAD: How the threat of martial law exposes the weakness of Trump in this moment
Make no mistake: the Trump regime’s threat to declare martial law, invoke the Insurrection Act, and repeal habeas corpus is nothing short of terrifying. I won’t lie about that fact.
It also exposes great weakness
Make no mistake: the Trump regime’s threat to declare martial law, invoke the Insurrection Act, and repeal habeas corpus is nothing short of terrifying. I won’t lie about that fact.
It also exposes great weakness
Man that twink from Hannibal is always finding himself in Situations
Elizabeth Holmes is in prison for defrauding investors through her blood-testing company, Theranos. Her partner, Billy Evans, is now trying to raise money for a company that describes itself as “the future of diagnostics.” nyti.ms/3FbtZm9
May 10, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Man that twink from Hannibal is always finding himself in Situations
Reposted by Kevin Vibert
this is maybe trite at this point but it is in your interest to find ways to create things. basically everyone wants you to be consuming nonstop. making stuff, from cooking to photography or whatever, can help you feel more in control. doesn’t even have to be something you share with other people
May 9, 2025 at 2:06 AM
this is maybe trite at this point but it is in your interest to find ways to create things. basically everyone wants you to be consuming nonstop. making stuff, from cooking to photography or whatever, can help you feel more in control. doesn’t even have to be something you share with other people
In my experience this is already happening Several of my old writing teacher colleagues have phased out long-term process writing for in-class essays on pen and paper. No idea how you're supposed to teach writing anything that would take longer than 50 minutes to compose, though.
the intrusion of ai and the problems it creates will eventually force schools to go back to paper hand written tests, i can’t imagine how they’d do anything other than move away from tech once it gets too advanced
May 7, 2025 at 4:37 PM
In my experience this is already happening Several of my old writing teacher colleagues have phased out long-term process writing for in-class essays on pen and paper. No idea how you're supposed to teach writing anything that would take longer than 50 minutes to compose, though.
It's depressing how little I'm surprised that the American educational machine, that prizes raw tonnage of work over quality, finds it easier to jump to "let's automate so nobody learns but more work happens" over "let's reduce the work to an amount people could actually, thoughtfully accomplish"
Why even have a brain, any ideas, any ability to express them, any kind of communication with other people, any desire to solve problems or invent anything, any reason to learn, any use for your eyes or your heart, or any reason to teach or create
May 6, 2025 at 4:08 PM
It's depressing how little I'm surprised that the American educational machine, that prizes raw tonnage of work over quality, finds it easier to jump to "let's automate so nobody learns but more work happens" over "let's reduce the work to an amount people could actually, thoughtfully accomplish"
Reposted by Kevin Vibert
The online-ness of this - the sheer indignity of having to respond with moral urgency to a fucking “fixed that for you” meme - is tactical. They want us to feel sheepish about taking them seriously. Don’t. There is no dignity in their depravity, only smallness of character that must be stopped.
April 18, 2025 at 3:47 PM
The online-ness of this - the sheer indignity of having to respond with moral urgency to a fucking “fixed that for you” meme - is tactical. They want us to feel sheepish about taking them seriously. Don’t. There is no dignity in their depravity, only smallness of character that must be stopped.
Look, I know the point of Death Note is that you're not supposed to use the Death Note, but
April 15, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Look, I know the point of Death Note is that you're not supposed to use the Death Note, but
Reposted by Kevin Vibert
Welcome to All My Maidens! In this first episode, I talk to @thefuzzymaskedman.bsky.social and @kevinvibert.bsky.social. Topics include: the meaning of Elden, who the Tarnished even are, Godwyn's huge face, Mohg beating the allegations, and the hawk tuah girl, for some reason.
April 13, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Welcome to All My Maidens! In this first episode, I talk to @thefuzzymaskedman.bsky.social and @kevinvibert.bsky.social. Topics include: the meaning of Elden, who the Tarnished even are, Godwyn's huge face, Mohg beating the allegations, and the hawk tuah girl, for some reason.