SolidArf

Was honored to be a voter on Sight and Sound's "Best video essays of 2025" this year! Also honored to have TWO(!) of my videos named on the list - alongside so many fellow creators I admire.

everyone who ever said "Palette Swap will never publish a review in the style of a tasting menu" lookin pretty silly right now😂😂😂💯💯💯

Got to review Stupid Never Dies for @paletteswap.site -- in a way only Palette Swap would have allowed! Lots of thoughts on the game, so go check out the piece! Helped me digest some feelings. 🍔

die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow

Man...Playstation really is going full scorched earth on this one, huh? You know times are bad when the companies that keep insisting everything is totally fine continue to do lay-offs out in the open, but on top of that they're torpedoing the brand itself every week to keep investors happy.

🎬⚡New Video! 👘⛩️ In the latest of my NPC photography series, I take an extended look at the NPCs of Ghost of Tsushima. Had a lot of fun comparing how ancillary characters are used / framed in the game to how they were used in the Kurosawa films that inspired it: youtu.be/m6fq6p6Bg8k

We achieved a major milestone of the process today by submitting the docunents needed for Nina's application to the org helping us out. Fingers crossed that it's smooth sailing from here on out! Donations to help with costs are still very much needed and appreciated!

all my interactions with ai are miserable and nonconsensual. it is the reason my programs are running slowly, why my weather report is inaccurate, why I always get connected to the wrong department of any automated call service. I would pay a lot of money to be rid of it.

Film you've watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, Marvel, Disney, or Ghibli.

Please help out Nina if you can - signal boosts appreciated too!

Good Evening, “video games” was a 45 year sociological study conducted by hardware development industries. We are now complete with our study. Thank you for your time.

This has such a huge impact on people in rural areas who have to deal with ISP monopolies with unusable speeds. The industry wants to act like the infrastructure is there for this to be the way forward, but big tech is just trying to leave poor people behind.

I personally wouldn't announce killing off physical media in the same week that digital purchases have been delisted from accounts without refund but

what’s a moment that feels like a “boss fight” in a game with no combat? The minefield in ABZU. They can't kill you, but man do you feel the weight of what they *do.*

Persepolis was a life-changing read. RIP to a real one.

Wolverine just healing factor'd his suit. I love videogame logic, man

Looks like the Horizon Wiki updated its page on Tilda's mansion after my video. Feels really cool! (And validating!) Before / After

🏡🏹 New Video! 🏹🏞️ Last year, I went up to see McWay Falls in Big Sur, CA and learned a bit about the history of the land there. Turns out: Horizon Forbidden West is doing something with that history - in maybe its weirdest scene! youtu.be/g-pCrqkDrAg

gorgeous write-up of @rasheedabueideh.bsky.social’s game about the Nakbah, made by a developer in the occupied West Bank and crowdfunding now. please, please support this vital creative work 💜 www.rockpapershotgun.com/palestinian-...

it's my birthday today and all I ask is that you subscribe to the Palette Swap Patreon: www.patreon.com/PaletteSwapMag even if you can only afford one month, it helps! if we hit 69 paid members today I will smile a big birthday boy smile and say "nice"

Why Was I Invited To An Island Off The Coast of Costa Rica By A Genetics Company? (With apologies to Dan Olson)

I think GenAI garbage is sort of the end goal of needing every part of your artistic process to be "perfect." We are not perfect. Art is not perfect. There'd be no point in discussing or creating art if perfection has been achieved. By chasing perfection, you start seeing art as a problem to solve.

"A prelayed game is good, but a bad game is game forever"

just. fuckin. HANG IN THERE, man. make your bullshit because you have the brain disease that is art. do it for no money and gripe the whole time and seethe with jealousy over the expense accounts of the past and i’ll be right there with you but we do it because we have to not because it’s lucrative

i agree it’s scary the extent to which arts & media are all having their funding slashed and burned but think about how many aesthetic icons looked or sounded the way they did because there was no money to make them conform with the standards of the time

DLSS stands for Don’t Look, Shit Sucks

"We are not powerless, every action matters" - Indie studio Speculative Agency returns Microsoft Xbox funding and urges others to boycott www.eurogamer.net/speculative-...

🪡🎬 New Video! 🐝🦋 Silksong's bosses have some pretty unique names, so I wanted to thread through them and see what patterns emerge. Also: Why? Shares and reposts appreciated! youtu.be/FKl3WJ5lxmI

🎬🧠 New video! 🧠🎭 I've had a lot about Psychonauts 2 on the brain for a while. One of those things? youtu.be/bc5SaIRl96k #Psychonauts #VideoEssay

Bump for the weekend!

With more people getting the opportunity to play Metal Gear Solid 4, it means more people will understand one of my favorite posts online

🎬🧠 New video! 🧠🎭 I've had a lot about Psychonauts 2 on the brain for a while. One of those things? youtu.be/bc5SaIRl96k #Psychonauts #VideoEssay

Hey Bluesky! Do you want to help a trans woman move to a safe place so she can be with her loved ones? Boy do I have an opportunity for you! I continue raising money to cover all the immigration expenses (and there's a lot of them) ko-fi.com/zeitgeistmis... Donations and reposts are appreciated 💙

Nina and I are working hard to complete get all the documentation and everything else we need for immigration in order to get her here into Australia permanently! There are still many and more expenses involved in this thing besides just the visa though, so any continued support would be welcome!

We are now hosting a One Shot session of REALIS by @austinwalker.bsky.social check it out hang out and donate!!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucYK...

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT This and next weekends @darkfry.bsky.social and I are hosting the final two streams to help me raise enough funds to move to safety and marry my amazing @deviousbec.bsky.social New quiz shows, a bunch of guests and the entire Wolfenstein trilogy included. Come say hi!

Some former students are trying to get a cool sci-fi film about media archival and preservation funded. Consider checking it out! seedandspark.com/fund/future-...

One of my favorite things I worked on this year!

honored to vote in Sight & Sound’s annual video essay poll this year 🙏 and REALLY proud to have my work recognized! major thanks to @solidarf.bsky.social for the nomination! check out some of 2025’s greatest videos here, including my own nominations 👀 www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so...

Delighted to say that the BFI's Best Video Essays of 2025 poll released yesterday, and I was delighted both to participate as a nominator and to be mentioned myself! A brief thread: 1/ www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so...

Stream number 2 is starting very soon! Please help Nina escape from a transphobic country where she lives in constant risk, by sharing, tuning in, or donating if you can! At 12pm AEST (about 11 hours from now) I'll be playing in the TTRPG intermission segment, so come check thst out maybe!

i've had to head out for today, but the stream is still going for a while!!! keep your eyes on and keep the donations coming, she's so close to her initial goal!!! 💜

My amazing fiance @zeitgeistmistress.bsky.social will be running two 24 hour fundraiser streams on the 6th and 13th of December to help her escape a country where her very existence is considered a crime, and join me here in Australia so we can get married. Please share this around and donate!

I'll be on this Sunday morning (EST) - and also lots of cool folks all throughout! Nina has spearheaded so many fundraisers by this point and is just one of the kindest, most supportive people in the video essay space. Let's come pay it forward!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT On Saturdays December 6th and 13th @darkfry.bsky.social and I will be hosting the first two 24 hour fundraisers with a bunch of cool guests to help me move to safety and finally marry @deviousbec.bsky.social Oh yeah, and we'll be playing Signalis! Info below:

I have worked harder on this than on any previous video. I'm going to bed now. Goodnight 🌱❤️ youtu.be/pLYD3CG-5BQ