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Brenden Sparks

@brendensparks.bsky.social
130 followers 331 following 348 posts

Anti-fascist. Web and UX designer in #HigherEd.. Polyam, feminist, AuDHD. Hobbyist dev|editor|cartographer. Game enthusiast. Sometimes aka hafengrim.

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Reposted by Brenden Sparks
John Rogers @johnrogers.bsky.social · 12h
A billion dollars is the socio-political equivalent of a loose nuke, and we should work as ruthlessly and diligently to prevent the acquisition of the former as we do the latter.
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Luna P. @satelitesnaturales.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
🌟
A pink and gray poster: featuring a guillotine shaded in black halftones. The words "IT ENDS HERE", and an arrow and a manicule pointing towards the head hole of the guillotine. A white star in the middle of it. at the bottom of the poster, a painting of flames in turquoise, with the words "nothing to lose" and other embelishments in pink.
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Nathan Black, Drifter in the Void @nathanblack.com · 26/09/2026
@bigbadcon.bsky.social isn’t shy
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
There's a much deserved shoutout to Karen Twelves on this post. I attended her "Improv for GMs" workshop at the last BigBadCon and scene editing was one of the core exercises. She's got a book, "Improv for Gamers", available on Evil Hat's store that is worth getting: evilhat.com/product/impr...
evilhat.com
Improv for Gamers 2nd Edition - TTRPG Instruction - Evil Hat
Improv isn't just for the stage! Become a more confident TTRPG roleplayer, level up your character creation, and more with our Improv for Gamers resource book.
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I only had to drink one glass of water to generate this image.
A hasty edited photo collage featuring a zoomed in highlight of the words "Spawning Stock Biomass per year" with a reaction image of Patrick Star rubbing his hands together, but with a rough cutout of a Tyranid creature's head superimposed on his.
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Kristin 🌙 @dominolucky.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Heyyyy go check out their book! I’ve done three commissions for this series so far and I loved working on them 🥺🥺
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Sophie Lagacé @evilanemone.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I worked on most of these and I'm super proud of them. (Though of course the majority of the coolness comes from the respective authors and artists, and the gorgeous graphic designs by @crislv.bsky.social, @deadlyfredly.bsky.social, and @olddog.games.)
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Olivia Hill @machineiv.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
People asked where they can get #iHunt. This is the RPG. But if you follow through to our Itch page there, you can find all the novels, other games, and the 30+ #iHunt zines. And if you cannot afford it, I am glad to give you a copy. File sharing is file caring.
machineage.itch.io
#iHunt: The RPG by Machine Age Dreams
Killing Monsters in the Gig Economy
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
There are so many cool details on this piece that I really like. The green patina of the underside of the wings, the little corgi-esque shorter front legs...
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
A tech company with a technocratic oligarch as CEO is basically a dungeon with a dragon.
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marina grlica 🌱 @dovesplants.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
see you space cowboy tim curry
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Ten thousand years of festering ideas and you wind up with Pietr de Vries.
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Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
have we tried releasing the beavers into capitalism
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
It sounds like Reacher is just modern day AU Minsc.
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Likewise.
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
This is a fascinating read, but I think of all the instances of videos of "low-skilled workers" demonstrating absolutely bonkers feats of physical prowess. The dichotomy of high-skilled / low-skilled is capitalist propaganda, but even my mental replacements center The System. The rot goes deep.
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ECP @ecppdx.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
omg I found the picture ❤️
An image of The Villeneuve Scale of Air Pollution (aka the Milleneuve)

Arrival
< 100 milleneuves
(normal particulate levels)

Prisoners
200 milleneuves
(chimney smoke and rage)

Sicario
300 milleneuves
(gunsmoke and drugs maybe?)

Enemy
600 milleneuves
(C'mon, Toronto, you used to be cool)

Dune
750 milleneuves
(stillsuits are a must!)

Blade Runner 2049
900 milleneuves
(omg why are you even outside, Ryan Gosling??)

[each entry has a still from the film showing the sky color, from clear to deep orange]
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Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
This is a short story by Ray Bradbury, published in 1950, which takes place today. It’s beautiful, dark, melancholy, surreal.
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Murderblonde @murderblonde.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
People who parp about AI making them "so productive" - as if just making STUFF makes you better - should try to slam a salad with the diarrhea-causing lettuce. That will ALSO make you "productive," dude! (PRODUCTIVEMAXXING or something just as dumb)
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
I think it's time for all of us to apologize to Papyrus.
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Speaking of beautiful hybrids, Dr. Friedman has tee'd up the perfect blend of Game Changer + Dimension 20. If Sam doesn't make it happen AND bring her on for color commentary in video village as prescribed (can you imagine the Making Of video the week after???) then the world will be worse for it.
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Post a perfect album from the 90’s that isn’t Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, or Alice In Chains.
A monochromatic stemmed rose in stark red against a black background. The album cover for Depeche Mode's Violator.
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
@worldsbeyondnumber.bsky.social {I'm a little behind on the fireside} Per the Official SCRABBLE® Dictionary there are 14,837 words that start with the letter P. (I will not link to them because the ad slop crashed my browser) The alliterative ep titles in Burrow's End were definitely a BOAT.
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
I get that writing a long email response to decry the 2,000 word length of a newsletter rings a bit of hypocrisy, but in the end it was actually in the defense of the time and sanity of both faculty and our general website audience. You can lead an Ass. Dean to water but you can't make them think.
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Karla Ortiz @kortizart.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Hey #sanfrancisco and friends who use tik tok. If you see a video of a couple (man with dark curly hair, and woman with black short hair, tall, white) in San Francisco, crossing Chez Maman in Hayes Valley, they just pepper sprayed the entire restaurant, my mom, me and our foster dog. If you see
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Erin Kissane @kissane.myatproto.social · 17/07/2026
We need 2-3 more writers with a science-y backgrounds to help us turn news chaos into orderly information on @unbreaking.org's infectious disease control, food safety, and medical research funding pages. The commitment is a few hours every couple of weeks. Is this you? 🌱 unbreaking.org/how-to-help/
unbreaking.org
How to help — Unbreaking
Documenting damage and resistance. Unflooding the zone.
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Janna Sophia 🏔️ @jannaphia.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Please help me finish my thesis so I can finally be free of academia 🫶✨ aidetectionsurvey.carrd.co
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Slay-lor Kill-icity @rollforfelicity.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Narrative game: you play a little guy and they’re special OSR: you play a little guy and they’re not special Wargame: you control little guys and they aren’t special but you spent a lot of time painting them to look special Worldbuilding game: the world is your special little guy
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Indie Book Spotlight @bookspotlight.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
‘I asked ChatGPT’ Well, I asked Gandalf and he told me you should be silent keep your forked tongue behind your teeth because he did not pass through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm.
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Indrani @indrani.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
anyway play Venba :) store.steampowered.com/app/1491670/...
store.steampowered.com
Save 67% on Venba on Steam
Venba is a short narrative cooking game, where you play as an Indian mom who immigrates to Canada with her family in the 1980s. Cook various dishes and restore lost recipes, hold branching conversatio...
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Like tears in the rain.
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Daniel Sparks @jdsparks.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
perhaps the daily articles and reports on eroding public trust in higher ed lead to...more distrust in higher ed i keep coming back to this lumina report finding that students overwhelmingly value college and find it to be a transformational experience
luminafoundation.org
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Katherine Alejandra Cross @quinnae.com · 18/06/2026
A lot of the new grammar checks in Word and Docs are deeply inimical to poetic, eloquent, or flowery language--often preferring to flatten prose into a bland, doughy nothing. It may therefore be said that these tools are anti-human. In this essay, I will...
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jenn martin is not trying so hard @tenpenjenn.com · 17/06/2026
Get more and better quality sleep. Find relationships where you feel loved/cared for. Define success for yourself. Spend time playing.
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Kristin 🌙 @dominolucky.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
let’s goooo 🎭🌧️ artfight.net/~luckydomino #artfight #artfight2026 #teamtragedy
My art fight card (team tragedy) featuring my characters Yvaine, Aryses, Khiravash, Gideon, and Velis. It says I will do some revenges but not all! I tend to take art fight pretty relaxed 💖
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Dawn Xiana Moon @dawnxianamoon.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
The web should be accessible to people with poor internet connections & assistive technologies. As a UX designer, I will absolutely die on this hill.
mohkohn.co.uk
How building an HTML-first site doubled our users overnight
My client was a utility company, and they had a big problem...
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Jessica Ellis @baddestmamajama.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
I was just thinking about the LOTR movies, and for how a few years, literally hundreds of artists and musicians and artisans all over the world were making a living by crafting dwarven chainmail and singing Elvish verses and building models and painting murals of the same imaginary world.
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 05/06/2026
Batman breaking a rifle labeled “AI (Even if you’re making fun of it)” and saying, “THIS is the weapon of the ENEMY. We do not NEED it. We will not USE it.”
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Evil Hat @evilhat.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE PLASMOVISED It's your 🚨last chance🚨 to pre-order Blades '68 and still get in on the crowdfunding fulfillment. We'll be locking orders on Monday and gearing up for fulfillment in July/August A technicolor world of bold action awaits! blades-68.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
blades-68.backerkit.com
Pre-order Blades '68 on BackerKit
Blades ’68 is an official supplement for Blades in the Dark, moving the timeline forward 100 years to the swinging 60s. Rewards expected to ship out August 2026.
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Clark Valentine @clarkvalentine.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
That’s it exactly. The C-Suite is just waving their hands saying “AI” like an incantation, a handful of coders figure out how to make it useful individually but the C suite is immersed in mysticism and firing anyone who doesn’t spend enough tokens Also the cost of those tokens is about to [kaboom]
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
I used to play a game where you would enter a two-word search term to try and find only a single result. I believe it was called "Google-whacking." I believe this new game is a much better use of the term.
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Amy Hoy @amyhoy.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
delightful short story!
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Zach Leatherman @zachleat.com · 30/05/2026
what does the pope have to say about tailwind
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Brenden Sparks @brendensparks.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Manifesting
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Kim Hu @kim-hu.com · 29/05/2026
admitting through gritted teeth that all the german boomers who pixelated their houses on google maps, send a letter instead of a chat message, carry cash around and write everything in their paper planner were right
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Jonaya Kemper @violetriotgames.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
"They can't do calculus! How am I supposed to teach?!?!" I don't know fam, THEY CAN'T READ AND WRITE AT A COLLEGE LEVEL EITHER, MAYBE WE SHOULD NOT DEFUND PRIMARY AND SECONDARY PUBLIC EDUCATION. MAYBE YOU COULD TALK TO YOUR COLLEAGUES AND FIGURE OUT A PLAN. The SATs aren't going to fix this.🤷🏾
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Rob Donoghue @rdonoghue.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
It struck me that the damage that AI sycophancy does sounds very much like it inflicts the user with the confidence and capability of a mediocre white dude. It really IS a hell of a drug.
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