Patrick Fiorilli

Up from the spray of thy ocean-perishing—straight up, leaps thy apotheosis!

After More Than a Decade, I Finally Saw a New Cutscene in The Witcher 3 I have a habit of setting games down and restarting them. No game have I played less of longer than this. I came of age in what now appears like the nadir of the so-called computer role-playing game ...

At what point, over 11 years and at least half that many restarts, do you decide a game just isn't for you? Asking for a friend.
www.patf.io/after-more-t...

opening shot of The Master, featuring a helmeted Joaquin Phoenix peering his eyes and nose over a railing, looking quite like the "Kilroy was here" graffito.

Pynchon Pals' first Patreon-exclusive bonus episode is up! We watched Paul Thomas Anderson's THE MASTER (2012) and talked about its relationship with V.. Kilroy, is that you? www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-...

Charlie Day in the famous scene from It's Always Sunny where he looks disheveled and stands in front of a big conspiracy board, ranting about a mail conspiracy.

Can we talk about the mail? We've been dying to talk about the mail. Pynchon Pals finally hits The Crying of Lot 49! Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: redcircle.com/shows/3c4720...

can't believe they made that one maria bamford joke into a real thing

Google chart showing the popularity of "nothing doing" spiking after 2021

anyone else get the feeling "nothing doing" caught on in American sports commentary following the spike in popularity of F1?

The Song, At Least, Remains the Same You know what still hits? Rock Band. I turned 30 to find out why. 18 years ago, I woke up on Christmas morning to find Rock Band—like Guitar Hero before it, just a few years prior—under the tree. It ...

Hey look, new post! Read how playing Rock Band with friends made me realize how much I missed not just Rock Band, but what Rock Band kinda stood for.
www.patf.io/the-song-at-...

Pynchon Pals | Patreon A podcast about finally reading Thomas Pynchon

If you'd like to directly support the work we do at Pynchon Pals and get access to monthly bonus episodes like future Q+A's, movie discussions, and whatever else we come up with, you can join our very own Whole Sick Crew for $5 a month at the brand new patreon.com/PynchonPals! Thanks for listening!

cover of Big Joe Turner's "Flip, Flop and Fly 1951-1955" featuring the singer at a microphone.

It's Pynchon Pals' V. Q+A episode! Thank y'all so much for all the great questions -- we had a blast answering them, and we can't wait to jump into The Crying of Lot 49 in a couple of weeks. Also, we have an exciting announcement! redcircle.com/shows/3c4720...

Screenshot from the cartoon-styled Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. On the open sea, protagonist Link and his small red boat is lifted into the air by a cyclone.

That's a wrap on V.! Last call to send in your questions for our Q+A episode, after which, we'll be zooming right along to The Crying of Lot 49. Listen: redcircle.com/shows/3c4720...

Screenshot of YouTube video "Paul Thomas Anderson Wins Best Screenplay." PTA in a dark suit stands on-stage as subtitles read "I stole a lot of words from Thomas Pinchon who wrote a great book"

game recognizes game. shout-out to Paul Thomas Anderson shouting out Thomas Pynchon (that's with a "y," Google) at the Golden Globes

@plante.bsky.social of Post Games and The Besties podcast for getting the lost experience Blippo+ conjures up:
postgame.substack.com/p/can-you-fi...

@patfio.bsky.social for the @gamerswithglasses.bsky.social review that made us feel seen down to our bones:
www.gamerswithglasses.com/reviews/blip...

The Red Room from Twin Peaks. Black and white chevron floor surrounded by tall red curtains. At the end of the corridor, the broken Venus de Milo statue.

New! Take a peek at the Things Behind the Curtain with us. Episode 08: In which Thomas Pynchon, like his cousin Taylor Swift, reflects on love (V. Chs. 14-16): podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/0...

Reposting for the Friday crowd: featuring Derrida, Tetris, and why we keep using words like "verbs" and "texts" to describe video games.

Screengrab from the movie adaptation of the musical "Rent" -- characters are dancing in a grimy bar.

Delayed Bluesky post! Dive into La (Whole Sick) Vie Bohème with Pynchon Pals Episode 07: In which a solid option for a V.-themed tattoo emerges (V. Chs. 12-13): podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/0...

Article Screenshot: "Video Games Need a Theory of Language" by Patrick Fiorilli. "Introduction: How does a world emerge from language? This is the fundamental question posed by the medium of the video game, a form literally inscribed in code and in circuitry and thereby experienced as a phenomenal world. Yet this question goes unheard in studies of video games, and the fact that the video game can articulate such a quandary goes unrecognized in theories of language. The reason why is historical. The theories best suited to realize the potential of video games to imagine new relations between world and language were waning in influence just as the popularity of video games was on the rise. Where the link was located, in the niche area of game studies, it was only partially explained. How does a world emerge from language? This is precisely the question posed at once by video games and poststructuralism. Realizing this, we are prepared to conceive both apparatuses anew. Spend time in games-adjacent spaces and you will realize that this essential connection to language is not lost in discourse about video games. One often hears game designers and critics speak of video games in terms of “objects,” “verbs,” and other parts of speech. We talk about jumping in Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo R&D4, 1985) as if we were talking about the word “jump.” But despite the popularity of these turns of phrase, their meaning is most often uninvestigated. Why does it make sense to talk about video games as if we were talking about language?"

I've got an article in the new issue of Angelaki! It's called "Video Games Need a Theory of Language," and the big idea is that video games are actually a kind of writing. If you're unable to access it via a university library, you can use this link: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/JXIMV.... Take a look!

Hey look at that! Read me talk about the new word of the year on my newsletter: www.patf.io/friendslop-o...

Shout-out to @remapradio.bsky.social for the great discussions on the pod recently on the subject of genre! And of course to @annakornbluh.bsky.social for wading through the slush in the book "Immediacy."

"Friendslop," or, I Guess, the Cultural Logic of Slapstick Capitalism Inspired by recent discussions on Remap Radio and across the internet, as well as by my own recent time spent playing games, I wanted toss around some thoughts about friendslop. "Friendslop" is a buz...

Really pleased with how this post turned out! Thoughts on the term "friendslop," which I don't think is that bad, and on why its abrasiveness might actually help us think through some of the slushy, "immediate" aesthetics of contemporary capitalism.

www.patf.io/friendslop-o...

Hey, thanks a lot for the shout-out!

Mystery and Melancholy of a Street by the painter Giorgio de Chirico. Amidst a minimalist Mediterranean plaza depicted in conflicting perspectives, a silhouetted girl pushes a wheel. Across from her, another shadow stretches around a corner.

Pynchon Pals 06: In which the phrase, "history is like a sine wave," like a sine wave, recurs (V. Chs. 10-11) is now live! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/0...

Illustration for "The Masque of the Red Death" by Harry Clarke, 1919. A grotesque figure of Death stands next to a grandfather clock, holding aloft a tragic mask.

New (extra long) episode! Listen to Pynchon Pals 05: In which Forrest Gump is revealed as the Hegelian World-Soul (V. Chs. 8-9) podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/0...

Horror Movie Roundup 2025 Salutations from the other side of a not exactly planned hiatus! We now return you to your regularly scheduled program. Today, a dispatch from the far flung season of the witch and the werewolf. Octo...

Newsletter! Thoughts on Prince of Darkness, Altered States, The Keep, Zodiac, Scream, and The Shining. Not my biggest pool of horror flicks for the month of October, but the 5 new watches and 1 rewatch I got around to were pretty good! www.patf.io/horror-movie...

Man pointing at shortstop Luis Aparicio's gold plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Shout out to Luis Aparicio -- real V.-heads know!

Album cover of Gaucho by Steely Dan. Stylized man and woman dancing close together, framed in gold on a grey background.

A new episode of Pynchon Pals has arrived! 04: In which appear a bodacious cowboy, a Babylon sister, and several gentleman losers (V. Ch. 7) Listen now: redcircle.com/shows/3c4720...

man with a handlebar mustache in a blue plaid bathrobe, T-shirt, jeans, beanie, and wraparound sunglasses, holding a dog in an alligator costume

Pynchonesque Halloween ft. player-two palette-swapped Bob Ferguson and an alligator from V. -- listen to our podcast! pynchonpals.com @pynchonpals.bsky.social

An elderly puggle in an alligator costume.

In which an elderly puggle, quick change artist, does an impersonation of an alligator 🎃💀🐊 Happy Halloween!

Underneath Impact-font text reading NORTH CAROLINA MENTIONED, an anime girl wearing a North Carolina hat and a UNC Tar Heels sweatshirt holds aloft a box of Bojangles chicken and a bottle of Cheerwine. A cardinal swoops behind her amidst a lush autumn forest.

It's live! Listen to Pynchon Pals Episode 03: In which Andrew uncovers a conspiracy and North Carolina is mentioned (V. Chs. 5-6). redcircle.com/shows/3c4720...

Master & Apprentice: The Failed Mentors of George Lucas’ Star Wars Saga In Lucas' Star Wars saga, it’s not the teacher’s wisdom, but his failure, that drives the protagonist to his destiny.

“As far back as American Graffiti, George Lucas has posed the conundrum of teachers who fail their students. With Star Wars, he complicates the issue, considering students who fail their teachers, who fail their students, who grow into teachers whose students fail them and whom they likewise fail.”