Mike Martens | Clear Keep
@clearkeep.bsky.social
he/him. UX & TTRPG. Visiting weird vistas. ENNIES & IGDN award winner.
Creator: Planet Raygun, Sunken, The Wassailing, Tourist Hole
Contributor: Butter Princess, Dark Designs in Verdigris, Trophy, Public Access, Silt Verses RPG
clearkeep.us
Creator: Planet Raygun, Sunken, The Wassailing, Tourist Hole
Contributor: Butter Princess, Dark Designs in Verdigris, Trophy, Public Access, Silt Verses RPG
clearkeep.us
And this is butting right up to the edge of the rest of the episode’s plot.
January 2, 2026 at 5:33 PM
And this is butting right up to the edge of the rest of the episode’s plot.
There’s an X-Files episode (s11e7) whose pre-credit sequence is about an AI chatbot whose social posts are so horrifyingly inappropriate that it’s shut off.
Grok has *literally* done everything that bot did or worse.
We are beyond the X-Files rubicon.
Grok has *literally* done everything that bot did or worse.
We are beyond the X-Files rubicon.
January 2, 2026 at 5:26 PM
There’s an X-Files episode (s11e7) whose pre-credit sequence is about an AI chatbot whose social posts are so horrifyingly inappropriate that it’s shut off.
Grok has *literally* done everything that bot did or worse.
We are beyond the X-Files rubicon.
Grok has *literally* done everything that bot did or worse.
We are beyond the X-Files rubicon.
May all your mayhem be bright
December 25, 2025 at 6:57 PM
May all your mayhem be bright
Ripper deep cuts @themountaingoats.bsky.social show last night, ending with the non-Darnielle all-timer Sweet Jane.
And Nicole Lawrence adding a whole new dimension across the set 🤘
And Nicole Lawrence adding a whole new dimension across the set 🤘
December 15, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Ripper deep cuts @themountaingoats.bsky.social show last night, ending with the non-Darnielle all-timer Sweet Jane.
And Nicole Lawrence adding a whole new dimension across the set 🤘
And Nicole Lawrence adding a whole new dimension across the set 🤘
No Boring Murals.
Gary Friedman for LA Times, 1981. Part of UCLA Library Digital Collections.
Gary Friedman for LA Times, 1981. Part of UCLA Library Digital Collections.
December 6, 2025 at 9:44 PM
No Boring Murals.
Gary Friedman for LA Times, 1981. Part of UCLA Library Digital Collections.
Gary Friedman for LA Times, 1981. Part of UCLA Library Digital Collections.
1974.
"We stock imported S.F., Occult, Comics, Mysticism, UFO, Fantasy, ROCK, Underground, etc. If your taste leans to the far out, check us out."
"We stock imported S.F., Occult, Comics, Mysticism, UFO, Fantasy, ROCK, Underground, etc. If your taste leans to the far out, check us out."
December 4, 2025 at 1:48 AM
1974.
"We stock imported S.F., Occult, Comics, Mysticism, UFO, Fantasy, ROCK, Underground, etc. If your taste leans to the far out, check us out."
"We stock imported S.F., Occult, Comics, Mysticism, UFO, Fantasy, ROCK, Underground, etc. If your taste leans to the far out, check us out."
If you can somehow find yourself a group of people still playing Wordle in 2025 and can convince them to share their guess patterns …
The best and most fun way to play is guessing based on the pattern grids.
Got this in 2. But all the info for 1 is here.
The best and most fun way to play is guessing based on the pattern grids.
Got this in 2. But all the info for 1 is here.
December 1, 2025 at 6:49 PM
If you can somehow find yourself a group of people still playing Wordle in 2025 and can convince them to share their guess patterns …
The best and most fun way to play is guessing based on the pattern grids.
Got this in 2. But all the info for 1 is here.
The best and most fun way to play is guessing based on the pattern grids.
Got this in 2. But all the info for 1 is here.
DrivethruRPG is (currently) using terminology that’s broad and vastly more accurate … even in the name of the service itself.
“offset print option” might be the equivalent of a grocery store a “canned and boxed food store” by the local newspaper.
“offset print option” might be the equivalent of a grocery store a “canned and boxed food store” by the local newspaper.
November 30, 2025 at 3:24 PM
DrivethruRPG is (currently) using terminology that’s broad and vastly more accurate … even in the name of the service itself.
“offset print option” might be the equivalent of a grocery store a “canned and boxed food store” by the local newspaper.
“offset print option” might be the equivalent of a grocery store a “canned and boxed food store” by the local newspaper.
Wrapped production of the second expansion zine for The Wassailing!
And what is this? @jesseross.com contributed an entirely new rules component where a cursed forest can take over the Manor … if you ask too much of it, which you will, because you're a sicko.
(Art by @oxsago.bsky.social.)
And what is this? @jesseross.com contributed an entirely new rules component where a cursed forest can take over the Manor … if you ask too much of it, which you will, because you're a sicko.
(Art by @oxsago.bsky.social.)
November 26, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Wrapped production of the second expansion zine for The Wassailing!
And what is this? @jesseross.com contributed an entirely new rules component where a cursed forest can take over the Manor … if you ask too much of it, which you will, because you're a sicko.
(Art by @oxsago.bsky.social.)
And what is this? @jesseross.com contributed an entirely new rules component where a cursed forest can take over the Manor … if you ask too much of it, which you will, because you're a sicko.
(Art by @oxsago.bsky.social.)
Name that film …
November 14, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Name that film …
2025's Wassailing holiday annual includes a whole new stable of contributors (and @signalstation.bsky.social sidling his way in again).
@sassylich.bsky.social! @xanderbimski.bsky.social! @iknowadamseats.bsky.social! @iamatrex.com! @loremistress93.bsky.social!
… and still more to be revealed.
@sassylich.bsky.social! @xanderbimski.bsky.social! @iknowadamseats.bsky.social! @iamatrex.com! @loremistress93.bsky.social!
… and still more to be revealed.
November 12, 2025 at 5:21 PM
2025's Wassailing holiday annual includes a whole new stable of contributors (and @signalstation.bsky.social sidling his way in again).
@sassylich.bsky.social! @xanderbimski.bsky.social! @iknowadamseats.bsky.social! @iamatrex.com! @loremistress93.bsky.social!
… and still more to be revealed.
@sassylich.bsky.social! @xanderbimski.bsky.social! @iknowadamseats.bsky.social! @iamatrex.com! @loremistress93.bsky.social!
… and still more to be revealed.
Completed another test of Folk last week, and it continues to generate truly gnarly folk horror histories.
It's a game of worldbuilding, community survival, and religious desperation.
In some ways, an essay on the folk horror genre in game form.
It's a game of worldbuilding, community survival, and religious desperation.
In some ways, an essay on the folk horror genre in game form.
November 11, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Completed another test of Folk last week, and it continues to generate truly gnarly folk horror histories.
It's a game of worldbuilding, community survival, and religious desperation.
In some ways, an essay on the folk horror genre in game form.
It's a game of worldbuilding, community survival, and religious desperation.
In some ways, an essay on the folk horror genre in game form.
I am sorry. I know this is your whole feed right now.
And I'm weak.
And I'm weak.
November 9, 2025 at 4:40 PM
I am sorry. I know this is your whole feed right now.
And I'm weak.
And I'm weak.
They don’t live in NYC.
Saved you a click.
Saved you a click.
November 4, 2025 at 4:39 PM
They don’t live in NYC.
Saved you a click.
Saved you a click.
November 1, 2025 at 9:03 PM
In my game design, I’ve always been interested in resolution mechanics as oracle of meaning.
- Sunken ascribes spiritual struggle into Trophy’s dice rolls.
- Planet Raygun’s bond dice evoke relationships across actions.
- Tourist Hole’s cards and dice conjure existential discovery.
- Sunken ascribes spiritual struggle into Trophy’s dice rolls.
- Planet Raygun’s bond dice evoke relationships across actions.
- Tourist Hole’s cards and dice conjure existential discovery.
November 1, 2025 at 2:48 AM
In my game design, I’ve always been interested in resolution mechanics as oracle of meaning.
- Sunken ascribes spiritual struggle into Trophy’s dice rolls.
- Planet Raygun’s bond dice evoke relationships across actions.
- Tourist Hole’s cards and dice conjure existential discovery.
- Sunken ascribes spiritual struggle into Trophy’s dice rolls.
- Planet Raygun’s bond dice evoke relationships across actions.
- Tourist Hole’s cards and dice conjure existential discovery.
And of course, occult rites are their own form of this as well.
Even in A Dark Song, Sophia undergoes the torment of the ritual experience because she CAN believe that gold flakes of redemption will fall from heaven over her grief.
Even in A Dark Song, Sophia undergoes the torment of the ritual experience because she CAN believe that gold flakes of redemption will fall from heaven over her grief.
November 1, 2025 at 2:48 AM
And of course, occult rites are their own form of this as well.
Even in A Dark Song, Sophia undergoes the torment of the ritual experience because she CAN believe that gold flakes of redemption will fall from heaven over her grief.
Even in A Dark Song, Sophia undergoes the torment of the ritual experience because she CAN believe that gold flakes of redemption will fall from heaven over her grief.
Countless attempts have to have been made and fail in order for the rules to be understood in the ways that Solomon purports to understand them in A Dark Song.
Failure is truly terrible in a ritual like this. Demonic, soul-eating, existence-voiding.
How many people must have ended in a slip?
Failure is truly terrible in a ritual like this. Demonic, soul-eating, existence-voiding.
How many people must have ended in a slip?
November 1, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Countless attempts have to have been made and fail in order for the rules to be understood in the ways that Solomon purports to understand them in A Dark Song.
Failure is truly terrible in a ritual like this. Demonic, soul-eating, existence-voiding.
How many people must have ended in a slip?
Failure is truly terrible in a ritual like this. Demonic, soul-eating, existence-voiding.
How many people must have ended in a slip?
The ritual is, all of the time, convoluted, strange, and intensely precise.
There’s a bug here that crawled into my brain:
Allowing occult ritual to be real, how is it discovered to work?
There’s a bug here that crawled into my brain:
Allowing occult ritual to be real, how is it discovered to work?
November 1, 2025 at 2:48 AM
The ritual is, all of the time, convoluted, strange, and intensely precise.
There’s a bug here that crawled into my brain:
Allowing occult ritual to be real, how is it discovered to work?
There’s a bug here that crawled into my brain:
Allowing occult ritual to be real, how is it discovered to work?
The tone is dark, discomfiting. The ritual, much of the time, takes the form of abuse.
We have to wonder if Solomon is truly afraid of error or taking advantage of Sophia to live a fantasy of holding arcane wisdom and authority. Is that flake of light a sign or a tormented hallucination?
We have to wonder if Solomon is truly afraid of error or taking advantage of Sophia to live a fantasy of holding arcane wisdom and authority. Is that flake of light a sign or a tormented hallucination?
November 1, 2025 at 2:48 AM
The tone is dark, discomfiting. The ritual, much of the time, takes the form of abuse.
We have to wonder if Solomon is truly afraid of error or taking advantage of Sophia to live a fantasy of holding arcane wisdom and authority. Is that flake of light a sign or a tormented hallucination?
We have to wonder if Solomon is truly afraid of error or taking advantage of Sophia to live a fantasy of holding arcane wisdom and authority. Is that flake of light a sign or a tormented hallucination?
The film’s events are isolated, its scenes protracted. We are inside the process.
It’s not a one-room story, but it is a one-house story, and I can’t help but imagine how engrossing this would be staged as a live play.
It’s not a one-room story, but it is a one-house story, and I can’t help but imagine how engrossing this would be staged as a live play.
November 1, 2025 at 2:48 AM
The film’s events are isolated, its scenes protracted. We are inside the process.
It’s not a one-room story, but it is a one-house story, and I can’t help but imagine how engrossing this would be staged as a live play.
It’s not a one-room story, but it is a one-house story, and I can’t help but imagine how engrossing this would be staged as a live play.
Once Sophia and Solomon enter the home they’ve rented to undertake this months-long ritual, we watch it unfold, step by step, doubt by doubt, omen by omen.
This is the duration of the film.
This is the duration of the film.
November 1, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Once Sophia and Solomon enter the home they’ve rented to undertake this months-long ritual, we watch it unfold, step by step, doubt by doubt, omen by omen.
This is the duration of the film.
This is the duration of the film.
(No, it doesn't beat Jaws. But you'll still enjoy this novel direction for shark cinema.)
October 17, 2025 at 12:34 AM
(No, it doesn't beat Jaws. But you'll still enjoy this novel direction for shark cinema.)
In Jaws, it’s the inkling of doubt amid self certainty that shapes the hero’s journey. In Dangerous Animals, it shapes the villain’s fall.
The sharks in both films are ultimately the stakes and not the conflict. Even if they’re very good at chomping. And breathtaking to watch.
Enjoy the dive!
The sharks in both films are ultimately the stakes and not the conflict. Even if they’re very good at chomping. And breathtaking to watch.
Enjoy the dive!
October 17, 2025 at 12:27 AM
In Jaws, it’s the inkling of doubt amid self certainty that shapes the hero’s journey. In Dangerous Animals, it shapes the villain’s fall.
The sharks in both films are ultimately the stakes and not the conflict. Even if they’re very good at chomping. And breathtaking to watch.
Enjoy the dive!
The sharks in both films are ultimately the stakes and not the conflict. Even if they’re very good at chomping. And breathtaking to watch.
Enjoy the dive!
However, Tucker has caught a more dangerous creature than he expects in his net. Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) is an off-grid surfer and a survivor.
Despite holding control, Tucker’s performances toward Zephyr seem intent to prove his superiority. Something we can also tell he doesn’t truly believe.
Despite holding control, Tucker’s performances toward Zephyr seem intent to prove his superiority. Something we can also tell he doesn’t truly believe.
October 17, 2025 at 12:27 AM
However, Tucker has caught a more dangerous creature than he expects in his net. Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) is an off-grid surfer and a survivor.
Despite holding control, Tucker’s performances toward Zephyr seem intent to prove his superiority. Something we can also tell he doesn’t truly believe.
Despite holding control, Tucker’s performances toward Zephyr seem intent to prove his superiority. Something we can also tell he doesn’t truly believe.