Stephen Michael DiPesa
@nocturnalchemy.bsky.social
Professional writer and developer of tabletop roleplaying games, semi-professional dog person, fully amateur suburban wizard
My website: https://stephenmichaeldipesa.weebly.com/
My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/stephenmichaeldipesa
My website: https://stephenmichaeldipesa.weebly.com/
My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/stephenmichaeldipesa
In the future, historical anthropologists are going to look back on the phenomenon of “Mar-a-Lago face” with words like “ritual disfigurement.”
November 21, 2025 at 10:07 PM
In the future, historical anthropologists are going to look back on the phenomenon of “Mar-a-Lago face” with words like “ritual disfigurement.”
I have received an ad for a “robotic puppy powered by AI.” This is a direct, personal insult on the broadest possible spectrum. It’s like slapping me in the face with a hand made entirely of aggressively spoiled raw fish.
November 13, 2025 at 10:17 PM
I have received an ad for a “robotic puppy powered by AI.” This is a direct, personal insult on the broadest possible spectrum. It’s like slapping me in the face with a hand made entirely of aggressively spoiled raw fish.
If you’re not listening to this music while playing Dungeons & Dragons on top of a beat up old folding table in a musty finished basement, the walls around you festooned with ratty blacklight posters, what even are you doing with your life?
Castle Rat - “WIZARD” (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Castle Rat
www.youtube.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:55 AM
If you’re not listening to this music while playing Dungeons & Dragons on top of a beat up old folding table in a musty finished basement, the walls around you festooned with ratty blacklight posters, what even are you doing with your life?
I just saw an ad that said, “Waking up in pain isn’t normal.”
Hello, advertisement writer—may I ask how old you are? It makes a significant difference as to your authority to speak on this subject, I promise you.
Hello, advertisement writer—may I ask how old you are? It makes a significant difference as to your authority to speak on this subject, I promise you.
October 24, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I just saw an ad that said, “Waking up in pain isn’t normal.”
Hello, advertisement writer—may I ask how old you are? It makes a significant difference as to your authority to speak on this subject, I promise you.
Hello, advertisement writer—may I ask how old you are? It makes a significant difference as to your authority to speak on this subject, I promise you.
I love the Jango/Boba Fett seismic charge effects—both in terms of visuals and sound design—but, having been an Auralnauts fan since Jedi Party, I unfortunately can’t ever watch that weapon deployed without having Bass Wars play all over again in my brain.
BASS WARS - JANGO vs OBI WAN - Auralnauts
YouTube video by Auralnauts
www.youtube.com
October 1, 2025 at 9:32 PM
I love the Jango/Boba Fett seismic charge effects—both in terms of visuals and sound design—but, having been an Auralnauts fan since Jedi Party, I unfortunately can’t ever watch that weapon deployed without having Bass Wars play all over again in my brain.
I just saw a comment on an old interview of Christopher Lee, claiming, “They don’t make them like him, anymore.”
My good man, they never made them like that—he was a fluke, a mold-breaking one-time deal. He was some kind of magical no-way glitch in the human character creation interface.
My good man, they never made them like that—he was a fluke, a mold-breaking one-time deal. He was some kind of magical no-way glitch in the human character creation interface.
September 28, 2025 at 6:16 PM
I just saw a comment on an old interview of Christopher Lee, claiming, “They don’t make them like him, anymore.”
My good man, they never made them like that—he was a fluke, a mold-breaking one-time deal. He was some kind of magical no-way glitch in the human character creation interface.
My good man, they never made them like that—he was a fluke, a mold-breaking one-time deal. He was some kind of magical no-way glitch in the human character creation interface.
By the way, right when people have just been killed by gun violence is the right time to get political about it, at least in part because someone is pretty much always dying by gun violence in this country.
September 10, 2025 at 10:03 PM
By the way, right when people have just been killed by gun violence is the right time to get political about it, at least in part because someone is pretty much always dying by gun violence in this country.
I will preface this by saying that I know basically nothing about how videogames are made, but if there’s one thing that desperately needs to change in videogame design, it’s that AAA franchises can’t keep taking a decade-plus between installments.
August 28, 2025 at 1:43 AM
I will preface this by saying that I know basically nothing about how videogames are made, but if there’s one thing that desperately needs to change in videogame design, it’s that AAA franchises can’t keep taking a decade-plus between installments.
Willem Dafoe has an upcoming film in which he’s some manner of obvious creep who rents out the basement of an inhabited rural-looking house and seemingly does nefarious (and possibly supernatural) stuff down there, potentially while nude.
August 27, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Willem Dafoe has an upcoming film in which he’s some manner of obvious creep who rents out the basement of an inhabited rural-looking house and seemingly does nefarious (and possibly supernatural) stuff down there, potentially while nude.
This is how you reboot a cheesy 1980s sword-and-sorcery franchise.
Deathstalker - Exclusive Red Band Trailer (2025) Daniel Bernhardt, Patton Oswalt
YouTube video by IGN
www.youtube.com
August 27, 2025 at 8:30 PM
This is how you reboot a cheesy 1980s sword-and-sorcery franchise.
Just saw a video in which a couple of people tried to convince a young Republican voter that checks and balances exist for a reason, only to have said young Republican explicitly say, more or less:
August 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Just saw a video in which a couple of people tried to convince a young Republican voter that checks and balances exist for a reason, only to have said young Republican explicitly say, more or less:
Well… this looks amazing.
ANEMONE Trailer (2025) Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean
YouTube video by ONE Media
www.youtube.com
August 21, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Well… this looks amazing.
I fell off watching Cobra Kai, but YouTube has been helpfully catching me up on a lot of the critical plot points from where I sort of ambled away.
August 15, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I fell off watching Cobra Kai, but YouTube has been helpfully catching me up on a lot of the critical plot points from where I sort of ambled away.
Do you work in tabletop roleplaying games in any role that allows you to hire writers and/or developers, or to suggest names to those with that ability? If yes, I’m looking for freelancing opportunities. (I’d prefer a permanent remote position, but those are rare, so I’ll take what I can get.)
August 8, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Do you work in tabletop roleplaying games in any role that allows you to hire writers and/or developers, or to suggest names to those with that ability? If yes, I’m looking for freelancing opportunities. (I’d prefer a permanent remote position, but those are rare, so I’ll take what I can get.)
“Sean Bean” should very obviously be a name that rhymes with itself; clearly, we can all see that.
But—no—for some reason, it is not.
But—no—for some reason, it is not.
July 31, 2025 at 7:24 PM
“Sean Bean” should very obviously be a name that rhymes with itself; clearly, we can all see that.
But—no—for some reason, it is not.
But—no—for some reason, it is not.
I keep seeing all these events on the folk horror Facebook group to which I belong that I’d love to attend—invariably, however, when I scroll down to check the details, it’s somewhere in England.
July 31, 2025 at 5:10 AM
I keep seeing all these events on the folk horror Facebook group to which I belong that I’d love to attend—invariably, however, when I scroll down to check the details, it’s somewhere in England.
YouTube comments are frequently where useful discourse goes to die, but hell if the one I just saw about somebody needing to get on making a Sir Christopher Lee biopic wasn’t spot on.
July 26, 2025 at 6:03 PM
YouTube comments are frequently where useful discourse goes to die, but hell if the one I just saw about somebody needing to get on making a Sir Christopher Lee biopic wasn’t spot on.
As the American right mourns the death of Hulk Hogan today, let us consider our countrymen across the aisle and remember to vigorously rub their noses in the fact that they clearly can actually use someone’s chosen name when that differs from the name on their birth certificate.
July 24, 2025 at 10:12 PM
As the American right mourns the death of Hulk Hogan today, let us consider our countrymen across the aisle and remember to vigorously rub their noses in the fact that they clearly can actually use someone’s chosen name when that differs from the name on their birth certificate.
Disappointing.
I received a notification that an employer called “The Wolf Group” is looking for an editor. Upon clicking the link, I learned that it’s a tax firm, and not, in fact, a group of wolves in need of editing services.
I received a notification that an employer called “The Wolf Group” is looking for an editor. Upon clicking the link, I learned that it’s a tax firm, and not, in fact, a group of wolves in need of editing services.
July 18, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Disappointing.
I received a notification that an employer called “The Wolf Group” is looking for an editor. Upon clicking the link, I learned that it’s a tax firm, and not, in fact, a group of wolves in need of editing services.
I received a notification that an employer called “The Wolf Group” is looking for an editor. Upon clicking the link, I learned that it’s a tax firm, and not, in fact, a group of wolves in need of editing services.
My spam folder caught an email from some progressive organization or another, asking, “DOES TRUMP DESERVE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE?” and… like… my dude, as far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t even deserve the prize at the bottom of the Cracker Jack box.
July 16, 2025 at 5:04 PM
My spam folder caught an email from some progressive organization or another, asking, “DOES TRUMP DESERVE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE?” and… like… my dude, as far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t even deserve the prize at the bottom of the Cracker Jack box.
Looks like Jason Momoa’s not starving himself for movies, anymore—in his last few projects, he has a much more natural physique.
Chief of War — Official Trailer | Apple TV+
YouTube video by Apple TV
www.youtube.com
July 15, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Looks like Jason Momoa’s not starving himself for movies, anymore—in his last few projects, he has a much more natural physique.
Red Sonja is getting a new film, this year, it would seem, and that film, it looks… just… really bad. Like, almost certainly legendarily bad, and unfortunately probably not even entertainingly so.
How hard is it to make a solid sword and sorcery flick, people?
How hard is it to make a solid sword and sorcery flick, people?
July 10, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Red Sonja is getting a new film, this year, it would seem, and that film, it looks… just… really bad. Like, almost certainly legendarily bad, and unfortunately probably not even entertainingly so.
How hard is it to make a solid sword and sorcery flick, people?
How hard is it to make a solid sword and sorcery flick, people?
The word “masterclass” has lost all meaning.
It has no greater significance than when I say that a given brand of barbecue sauce is “awesome”—it does not actually inspire a sense of religious reverence, bordering on fear, but is instead just tasty.
It has no greater significance than when I say that a given brand of barbecue sauce is “awesome”—it does not actually inspire a sense of religious reverence, bordering on fear, but is instead just tasty.
July 7, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The word “masterclass” has lost all meaning.
It has no greater significance than when I say that a given brand of barbecue sauce is “awesome”—it does not actually inspire a sense of religious reverence, bordering on fear, but is instead just tasty.
It has no greater significance than when I say that a given brand of barbecue sauce is “awesome”—it does not actually inspire a sense of religious reverence, bordering on fear, but is instead just tasty.
“How Realistic is House of the Dragon?”
This is the question posed by a random YouTube thumbnail.
So… a show about a dynasty of blood-sorcerers who conquered a continent with dragons? I’m going to go with, “Not super-realistic.”
This is the question posed by a random YouTube thumbnail.
So… a show about a dynasty of blood-sorcerers who conquered a continent with dragons? I’m going to go with, “Not super-realistic.”
July 6, 2025 at 3:20 AM
“How Realistic is House of the Dragon?”
This is the question posed by a random YouTube thumbnail.
So… a show about a dynasty of blood-sorcerers who conquered a continent with dragons? I’m going to go with, “Not super-realistic.”
This is the question posed by a random YouTube thumbnail.
So… a show about a dynasty of blood-sorcerers who conquered a continent with dragons? I’m going to go with, “Not super-realistic.”
I owe an awful lot of apologies.
As it turns out, end-stage dystopia comes to America in precisely the sorts of trite and amazingly stupid ways predicted by a thousand bland, unimaginative, and utterly forgettable YA fad authors.
As it turns out, end-stage dystopia comes to America in precisely the sorts of trite and amazingly stupid ways predicted by a thousand bland, unimaginative, and utterly forgettable YA fad authors.
July 2, 2025 at 9:41 PM
I owe an awful lot of apologies.
As it turns out, end-stage dystopia comes to America in precisely the sorts of trite and amazingly stupid ways predicted by a thousand bland, unimaginative, and utterly forgettable YA fad authors.
As it turns out, end-stage dystopia comes to America in precisely the sorts of trite and amazingly stupid ways predicted by a thousand bland, unimaginative, and utterly forgettable YA fad authors.