Writing – The Beige Moth

The Tainted Cup and the Good Empire

March 29, 2026 Robin VanGilderLeave a comment

Well, after saying last week that I don’t read very much contemporary fiction, I went and tore my way through a book from 2024 in like 5 days.

This isn’t really gonna be a review, but suffice it to say: The Tainted Cup is a real page-turner. I had a really great time reading it! Especially once I got going, the last 300 pages flew by like nothing. Maybe I’m not so allergic to modern stuff as I thought. But the ending really got me thinking about things, and thus I felt the need to get on here and Blog About It.

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Reading/Watching: March 2026

March 15, 2026 Robin VanGilderLeave a comment

Heyo, I thought I’d try something new.

Y’see, I’d like to get back to blogging again, but I always feel like I need either some big, elaborate project (like the Moby Dick thing) or some burning idea that I need to get out of my head. I want to turn writing back into a practice, not just something I do in a rush every now and then. So: I’m just gonna write about what I’ve been reading and watching lately, once a month. A nice, easy schedule. Gives me a broad topic to ruminate on and get some thoughts out of my head and onto the screen.

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Artificial Intelligence and Giving Up on Life

March 3, 2026March 4, 2026 Robin VanGilder3 Comments

Well, it’s been a while, but I am feeling the need to return to my blogging ways, if only to vent my spleen a bit.

Living in the year 2026 is to be assailed by countless stories of gloom and doom day in and day out. Hell, our idiotic and evil president just launched a war with Iran out of nowhere! The horrors are relentless. But there’s one thing that has been wearing on my last nerve for years at this point: so-called “artificial intelligence”.

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Romacing SaGa 2: Personified Empire

June 1, 2025June 1, 2025 Robin VanGilderLeave a comment

Alright, let’s try something else. Again!

Those weekly blog posts weren’t really working for me. I don’t like the pressure of having something to talk about, and then they always felt too big and unwieldy and unfocused. Not the kind of work I can look back on with pride, just kind of filling time, y’know? I don’t like to post just to post. Brings back bad memories of trying to unlock privileges on message boards as a middle schooler by making enough posts, haha.

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Week 2: Hashtag The Discourse

May 12, 2025 Robin VanGilder1 Comment

Well, here we are again, another week come and gone.

I’ve had some ups and downs lately. Trying to stay off of social media while I’m at work, which is nice because it exposes me to The Horrors less, but also makes me feel a bit more disconnected from the world. Kind of a trade off there, I suppose. Been swinging between an newly rejuvenated sense of self-confidence and some regular ol’ depression. I can accomplish anything I put my mind to, but it feels like that doesn’t matter a whole lot, y’know.

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Epilogue – But What Does It Mean?

April 20, 2025April 21, 2025 Robin VanGilder12 Comments

Well, here we are at last.

Friends, we’ve come to the end of the road. After this, there’s simply no more book to read. Oh, I may come around and do some sort of official wrap-up post, sum things up, but I would prefer to leave it all on the field, so to speak. Part of me can’t believe I actually got all the way to the end, much like when I read this book the first time, all those years ago. But I did! Or at least, I will shortly.

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Chapter 134: The Chase.—Second Day

March 30, 2025April 16, 2025 Robin VanGilder2 Comments

As we approach the end of this great tome, I find myself in a reflective mood.

Thinking back upon the story as a whole, its many detours and sidequests, and the thrust of its narrative. This past week I even went and read some other criticism of Moby Dick, to refresh my memory a bit. The… pacing of this project has definitely been lopsided, with my having covered more than half the book in the first year, and then slowly grinding out the last bit of it. But that feels appropriate, as Ishmael dithered and delayed in telling the end of his tale, so do I struggle to embrace the entirety of this enormous work with the inadequate span of my typing fingers.

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Chapter 133: The Chase.—First Day

March 23, 2025April 16, 2025 Robin VanGilder1 Comment

Ugh, man, I finally feel like I’m waking up again.

Last week I had some minor oral surgery. Nothing too serious, no teeth being removed or anything like that, but nonetheless I had to go under general anaesthesia; that is, I was knocked out cold. It’s always a strange experience, I haven’t had it since I had my wisdom teeth out, and I’ve been some time recovering from it. The last few days have felt a bit like an extended dream which I cannot fully sink into nor awake from. But now, I’m coming awake again, and none too soon: the hunt is on!

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This Shit Sucks So Bad, Man

March 18, 2025 Robin VanGilder2 Comments

So, hey. I need to get some things off my chest.

In recent weeks, I have found myself in despair over the current political moment which we are all currently living through. As an American, I was saddened when Trump won a second term, and I’ve been alarmed and feeling defeated and helpless as he’s run roughshod over the bureaucratic state built up over the last two hundred odd years, ripping out the copper wiring and selling it for parts.

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Chapter 131: The Pequod Meets The Delight

March 2, 2025 Robin VanGilder2 Comments

I’m on vacation!

Well, just about, anyway. I suppose it starts properly tomorrow, this is just a regular weekend where my sunday evening does not have any creeping dread. Or not for the usual reason, at least. I already feel myself decompressing a bit, able to open my mind beyond my usual routines. I always try to get completely out of the work mindset for these, though it can be difficult at times. Well, let’s get back to this ancient tome, I still want to keep this streak of posts alive.

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