This column is “It’s new to me,” in which I’ll play a game I’ve never played before — of which there are still many despite my habits — and then write up my thoughts on the title, hopefully while doing existing fans justice. Previous entries in this series can be found through this link. I’m familiar with the general purposes of an unofficial translation of a video game. Most often, it’s for a game that never received an international release — a Japan-only title, for instance, that English-speakers localize so copies of the game can be patched and played for an audience the game was never intended for.

This column is “It’s new to me,” in which I’ll play a game I’ve never played before — of which there are still many despite my habits — and then write up my thoughts on the title, hopefully while doing existing fans justice. Previous entries in this series can be found through this link. Tetris! Everyone knows Tetris, except for that one movie critic, anyway. It’s one of the best-selling video game franchises of all-time at 495 million sales, behind only the entirety of Mario and ahead of serious moneymakers like Pokémon and Call of Duty.

In her 1980 essay “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” Adrienne Rich outlined a theory of “compulsory heterosexuality” — often shortened to “comphet” — arguing that, in effect, many people cannot understand their own queerness due to the ways that society trains all of us to see heterosexuality as normal, to understand it as a default that we are all initially expected to adhere to. If you exist in a certain corner of the queer community — and especially if you spend a fair amount of time on Tumblr — you’ve likely heard “comphet” tossed around here and there, sometimes in a way that feels edifying and helpful but… usually not.

One thing I’m realizing as I scroll through Notes is how psychologically conditioned we have become to Twitter: Its “look,” it’s features, etc. Blech. Realizing I am an addict and need to wean. Like when I started replacing sugar in my coffee with cocoa (took about 3 weeks and now I’ll never go back) ncG1vNJzZmirpZfAta3CpGWcp51kjaK%2Fx5qpmqaXlr2xrY6npq2dX5h6coCUcmpqa2k%3D

From the desk of Ivan Throne By Ivan Throne In these early days of the Third World War you need real information. The gaps and opportunities you face are monstrous in scale and severity. We'll examine them here and show how you can better understand and take advantage of them. ncG1vNJzZmirpZfAta3CpGWcp51kjarCwKeroaqfo7I%3D