William Hughes
@plumberduck.bsky.social
Staff writer for The A.V. Club, co-host of Everything To Guppy on the Duckfeed podcast network, creator of the idea "What if John Wick fought Dracula?"
Pinned
William Hughes
@plumberduck.bsky.social
· Nov 15
For new followers, my posts on here fall into three categories of various levels of irritating:
1) Posting pieces of my A.V. Club writing I think didn't completely suck.
2) Letting people know what I'm streaming on Friday/Saturday nights
3) INTRUSIVE THOUGHT DISPOSAL
1) Posting pieces of my A.V. Club writing I think didn't completely suck.
2) Letting people know what I'm streaming on Friday/Saturday nights
3) INTRUSIVE THOUGHT DISPOSAL
The "Obsessively Watching Cutthroat Kitchen To Getting Back Into Baking" pipeline is going strong. (Coconut cream pie!)
November 11, 2025 at 7:39 PM
The "Obsessively Watching Cutthroat Kitchen To Getting Back Into Baking" pipeline is going strong. (Coconut cream pie!)
No Kings (except Conrad Bumpus the cat)
November 11, 2025 at 7:05 PM
No Kings (except Conrad Bumpus the cat)
Grace and compassion are beautiful things, and there is no greater expression of either than when I dump a 30-second word salad ramble of ideas onto an interview subject's doorstep and they graciously respond to it like it was an actual question.
November 11, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Grace and compassion are beautiful things, and there is no greater expression of either than when I dump a 30-second word salad ramble of ideas onto an interview subject's doorstep and they graciously respond to it like it was an actual question.
Interesting thread! Paet of why Balatro is cool is because it demonstrates that poker is a much more fun "game" once you give players tools to break free of chance as a determining factor - i.e., what makes the game lucrative as a gambling operation. Which I don't think most of its imitators get.
Feels very weird how some devs seem to now look at direct implementation of mechanics that simulate real gambling as being fine so long as they aren't the mechanism that directly siphons takes real money from you. I'm not sure I really agree with that principle personally.
November 10, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Interesting thread! Paet of why Balatro is cool is because it demonstrates that poker is a much more fun "game" once you give players tools to break free of chance as a determining factor - i.e., what makes the game lucrative as a gambling operation. Which I don't think most of its imitators get.
In which we ask: Is IT from IT: Welcome To Derry un-scary and too camp by accident, or on purpose? www.avclub.com/it-welcome-t...
Why isn't IT from IT: Welcome To Derry actually scary?
Why isn't IT from IT: Welcome To Derry actually scary?
www.avclub.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:03 AM
In which we ask: Is IT from IT: Welcome To Derry un-scary and too camp by accident, or on purpose? www.avclub.com/it-welcome-t...
Reposted by William Hughes
Back on @theatlantic.com's SNL beat today, discussing the firehose approach to the political cold open and how it's tailored to James Austin Johnson's skillset
SNL Has a Cold-Open Fix for the Trump News Cycle
James Austin Johnson has become the linchpin of the show’s catchall approach to political satire.
www.theatlantic.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Back on @theatlantic.com's SNL beat today, discussing the firehose approach to the political cold open and how it's tailored to James Austin Johnson's skillset
Oh I get it, Vince Gilligan has imagined a world where EVERYBODY acts like they're in a Vince Gilligan-style "People quietly and efficiently doing something extremely complicated and process-orientated" cold open.
November 9, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Oh I get it, Vince Gilligan has imagined a world where EVERYBODY acts like they're in a Vince Gilligan-style "People quietly and efficiently doing something extremely complicated and process-orientated" cold open.
Streaming tonight at 8 p.m., as our battle against Baby Steps' Man-Breaker continues. Current stats:
2.5 hours of climbing time
65 falls
2 men broken (came that way)
2.5 hours of climbing time
65 falls
2 men broken (came that way)
November 9, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Streaming tonight at 8 p.m., as our battle against Baby Steps' Man-Breaker continues. Current stats:
2.5 hours of climbing time
65 falls
2 men broken (came that way)
2.5 hours of climbing time
65 falls
2 men broken (came that way)
A basic thing you need to know about me is that I love spite. I don't, in the real world, like when people act on it, because I recoil from people being hurt. But the spiteful impulse is so beautifully human to me.
In the book, he very much kills people (including a bratty rich boy) out of spite.
November 8, 2025 at 7:02 PM
A basic thing you need to know about me is that I love spite. I don't, in the real world, like when people act on it, because I recoil from people being hurt. But the spiteful impulse is so beautifully human to me.
Now that Frankenstein is streaming I will finally be able to find my true people: Those willing to admit that it gets a little boring any time Oscar Isaac isn't on the screen.
November 8, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Now that Frankenstein is streaming I will finally be able to find my true people: Those willing to admit that it gets a little boring any time Oscar Isaac isn't on the screen.
Streaming tonight at 8 p.m. We have reached The Manbreaker in Baby Steps. Man-breaking will continue until morale improves.
November 8, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Streaming tonight at 8 p.m. We have reached The Manbreaker in Baby Steps. Man-breaking will continue until morale improves.
Reposted by William Hughes
My Space Quest site, Roger Wilco's Virtual Broomcloset, launched 30 years ago this month. That makes it one of the oldest video game fan sites on the web.
To celebrate the milestone, I've updated the site for the first time in ages with tons of new content. Check it out! wiw.org/~jess/roger.html
To celebrate the milestone, I've updated the site for the first time in ages with tons of new content. Check it out! wiw.org/~jess/roger.html
Roger Wilco's Virtual Broomcloset: The Original Space Quest Fan Site
The web's first and most comprehensive Space Quest fan site, packed with Easter eggs, trivia, downloads, and retrospectives on Sierra's classic adventure series.
wiw.org
November 1, 2025 at 1:18 PM
My Space Quest site, Roger Wilco's Virtual Broomcloset, launched 30 years ago this month. That makes it one of the oldest video game fan sites on the web.
To celebrate the milestone, I've updated the site for the first time in ages with tons of new content. Check it out! wiw.org/~jess/roger.html
To celebrate the milestone, I've updated the site for the first time in ages with tons of new content. Check it out! wiw.org/~jess/roger.html
Reposted by William Hughes
Tried to dial in to why I had such a profoundly unpleasant time with ARC Raiders. www.avclub.com/game-theory-...
ARC Raiders is the most miserable a game has made us in a minute
ARC Raiders is the most miserable a game has made us in a minute
www.avclub.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Tried to dial in to why I had such a profoundly unpleasant time with ARC Raiders. www.avclub.com/game-theory-...
Tried to dial in to why I had such a profoundly unpleasant time with ARC Raiders. www.avclub.com/game-theory-...
ARC Raiders is the most miserable a game has made us in a minute
ARC Raiders is the most miserable a game has made us in a minute
www.avclub.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Tried to dial in to why I had such a profoundly unpleasant time with ARC Raiders. www.avclub.com/game-theory-...
Reposted by William Hughes
I watched this whole bad thing so I could write about it from an informed perspective, and it was bad.
collider.com/star-trek-ge...
collider.com/star-trek-ge...
After ‘Star Trek,’ Gene Roddenberry Tried To Launch a New Franchise With This Sci-Fi Take On Gender Politics
Gene Roddenberry created the sci-fi TV movie Planet Earth to replace Star Trek, but its dated approach to gender is likely a good reason it failed.
collider.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:00 PM
I watched this whole bad thing so I could write about it from an informed perspective, and it was bad.
collider.com/star-trek-ge...
collider.com/star-trek-ge...
I've been trying to poke at ARC Raiders but it turns out that an environment where you have to quickly determine whether actual human strangers want to shoot you (acceptable) or talk to you (panic attack) is not my speed.
November 4, 2025 at 5:59 AM
I've been trying to poke at ARC Raiders but it turns out that an environment where you have to quickly determine whether actual human strangers want to shoot you (acceptable) or talk to you (panic attack) is not my speed.
DUCKSTREAM IS COMING. HELP SUBSIDIZE THE MINOR EVILS I COMMIT ALL YEAR BY MAKING THIS ONE LARGE CHARITABLE GESTURE WORK
Save the Date! Duckstream 2025, our annual 48 hour charity stream, is happening from December 12-14. We will be raising money for @pointofpride.org, an organization that provides direct financial aid for trans people seeking care. Check out the post for more details! www.patreon.com/posts/142769...
Save the Date: Duckstream 2025 | Duckfeed.tv
Get more from Duckfeed.tv on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:00 PM
DUCKSTREAM IS COMING. HELP SUBSIDIZE THE MINOR EVILS I COMMIT ALL YEAR BY MAKING THIS ONE LARGE CHARITABLE GESTURE WORK
Played this last night and it's a very good Roottree-like. (Although setting a game like this in modern times introduces weird logistical hurdles; by the end I wanted to fire my assistant for sending me more clever fake Letterboxd reviews instead of cast lists for movies I was investigating.)
Explore a haunted movie studio. Learn the fates of the tormented souls bound to it. End a 50-year curse inscribed in blood and celluloid.
KINOPHOBIA, my first piece of noncommercial interactive fiction in eight years, is now available to play.
brunodias.itch.io/kinophobia
KINOPHOBIA, my first piece of noncommercial interactive fiction in eight years, is now available to play.
brunodias.itch.io/kinophobia
Kinophobia by Bruno Dias
Explore a haunted movie studio. Learn the fates its tormented souls. End a curse inscribed in blood and celluloid.
brunodias.itch.io
November 3, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Played this last night and it's a very good Roottree-like. (Although setting a game like this in modern times introduces weird logistical hurdles; by the end I wanted to fire my assistant for sending me more clever fake Letterboxd reviews instead of cast lists for movies I was investigating.)
Reposting this because it's been a minute and there hasn't been much movement. Please consider giving her some help, she's been a wonderful friend to Olivia during some really crappy times and even kicking a few bucks in could help.
One of my wife's good friends is an educator here in Portland, she's looking for some help to finalize her immigration paperwork and cover some necessary medical procedures in this very scary time. Please consider kicking in a bit!
Donate to Help a Teacher Overcome Health and Immigration Hurdles, organized by Jade S.
LCS is an afro-caribbean teacher running from violence in her home coun… Jade S. needs your support for Help a Teacher Overcome Health and Immigration Hurdles
www.gofundme.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Reposting this because it's been a minute and there hasn't been much movement. Please consider giving her some help, she's been a wonderful friend to Olivia during some really crappy times and even kicking a few bucks in could help.
Streaming tonight at 8 p.m., as @tethilus.bsky.social keeps me company while I Baby Steps. Last week I spent two hours trying to accomplish something before failing at literally the last step. What will it take from me this time?
November 2, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Streaming tonight at 8 p.m., as @tethilus.bsky.social keeps me company while I Baby Steps. Last week I spent two hours trying to accomplish something before failing at literally the last step. What will it take from me this time?
You obsessively re-post Mr. Autumn Man because you like roasting friends in sweaters; I obsessively re-post Mr. Autumn man because I really, really miss working with @erikadams.bsky.social. We are not the same.
(READ ERIK'S CHAIR COMPANY REVIEWS)
(READ ERIK'S CHAIR COMPANY REVIEWS)
Mr. Autumn Man Walking Down Street With Cup Of Coffee, Wearing Sweater Over Plaid Collared Shirt
Mr. Autumn Man Walking Down Street With Cup Of Coffee, Wearing Sweater Over Plaid Collared Shirt
BOSTON—The twigs and acorns crunching pleasurably beneath his boots, Mr. Autumn Man Dennis Clemons, 32, reportedly strolled down Massachusetts Avenue on Wednesday wearing a gray sweater over a plaid c...
theonion.com
November 1, 2025 at 8:41 PM
You obsessively re-post Mr. Autumn Man because you like roasting friends in sweaters; I obsessively re-post Mr. Autumn man because I really, really miss working with @erikadams.bsky.social. We are not the same.
(READ ERIK'S CHAIR COMPANY REVIEWS)
(READ ERIK'S CHAIR COMPANY REVIEWS)
When assembling a last-minute costume the trick is to think of the scariest thing you can in the moment and just go with it.
November 1, 2025 at 3:30 AM
When assembling a last-minute costume the trick is to think of the scariest thing you can in the moment and just go with it.
Also, I'll probably column about it soon but I finished Séance Of Blake Manor, and after a rough start it won me over. Not the best mystery game I've ever played - it goes a little light on letting the player work out its big, cool epiphanies - but overall a very solid effort.
October 31, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Also, I'll probably column about it soon but I finished Séance Of Blake Manor, and after a rough start it won me over. Not the best mystery game I've ever played - it goes a little light on letting the player work out its big, cool epiphanies - but overall a very solid effort.
Reminder that I'm going to a Halloween party after my work shift tonight, so no streams. See you tomorrow, for the somber vibes of NOVEMBER
October 31, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Reminder that I'm going to a Halloween party after my work shift tonight, so no streams. See you tomorrow, for the somber vibes of NOVEMBER
You're already an RPG. Stop making me do parkour! www.avclub.com/game-theory-...
2025 is the year of the big, completely unnecessary obstacle course in video games
2025 is the year of the big, completely unnecessary obstacle course in video games
www.avclub.com
October 31, 2025 at 6:46 PM
You're already an RPG. Stop making me do parkour! www.avclub.com/game-theory-...