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Megan Farokhmanesh Profile
Megan Farokhmanesh

@Megan_Nicolett

21,444
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senior writer @wired covering video games. previously @axios , @verge . bad tweets only. email: megan_farokhmanesh @wired .com

NYC
Joined February 2009
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
The person who started Sweet Baby Inc Detected says he's not actually played some of the games he claims he detected a "pattern" in
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
I spoke to the folks at Sweet Baby about the current harassment campaign against them: "You can't convince the conspiracy theorists."
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 month
I talked with some of the devs behind breakout hit Content Warning, which has my favorite process ever for creating monsters
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
5 months
I spoke with members of The Game Awards' Future Class who are questioning the program's purpose: “Do [organizers] actually care about the needs of marginalized game devs, or are they simply using us as diversity tokens for their promo shoot?"
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
if I were trying to convince everyone I was not part of a harassment campaign I would simply not tweet things like this at writers!
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
NEWS: Roughly 300 quality assurance workers at Microsoft's ZeniMax Studios are organizing to form the company's first union
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
A salient point made by Take This: "As political rhetoric heats up ahead of the US presidential election later this year, this kind of online activity is going to ramp up and it’s important to understand that these phenomena are interrelated."
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
ICYMI: I wrote about Sweet Baby, the narrative consultancy at the center of an ongoing harassment campaign trying to brand itself as GamerGate 2.0. "They're treating this like a holy war. It is taking on a cult-like vibe."
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
NEWS: QA testers at Blizzard Albany have won union recognition with 14 votes in favor. They are the second major union to form within North America -- and Activision Blizzard.
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
realizing a dev I just spoke to in A Loud Bar was probably telling me the game he worked on was not called "table"......but "sable"
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
going on week 2 of my mentions just being unreadable: there's no point in trying to argue with people spewing conspiracy. there is also such a fundamental, willful misunderstanding of how development, journalism, etc work that it's no longer ignorance, it's just stupidity
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 month
the same gamergate-obsessed washed up dev repeatedly go after female reporters he doesn't like is pathetic. their relevance is all this guy has to cling to and truly what kind of weenie shit is that
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
a video game where instead of physically ripping monsters apart you can only use deeply personal and emotionally devastating insults
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
frankly my mentions are too full for me to even look at and I’m pretty busy but I assume everyone is being very normal and kind! thanks for your support, generous comments, and rational takes :)
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
please enjoy my magnum opus, an interview with one of the actors from the failed fake wonka event, where I had to mute myself multiple times to laugh
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
28 days
this is the first hate read i think we should cancel someone over. slow walkers will never see the kingdom of heaven i refuse to be normal about this
@delia_cai
delia
28 days
Stop walking so fast you're not nearly that important (hate read # 16: fast walkers)
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
NYT published a piece about a major industry that intersects tech and entertainment where workers are making groundbreaking strides in labor rights. They've decided to begin like this
@katienotopoulos
Katie Notopoulos
1 year
I’m dying to know for who this sentence was written. Who said “ah, yes ok, interesting…. Video games you say…. Played by adults?”
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
this kirby talk is
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
I wrote about the resurrection of Cart Life, a game gone missing nearly a decade ago and revived for a new release after two developers made an unlikely connection on a 4AM phonecall
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
herb-ass decision to deprioritize news and have the staff focus on content churn
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
NEWS: Proletariat, the third group attempting to unionize within Activision Blizzard, is withdrawing is petition for an election. A statement from one of the company's software engineers:
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
9 months
Talked with Super Mario Bros. Wonder's devs about changes they made to make it feel less Zelda-like, prototyping deadline-free, and this very good explanation for why we didn't get Mole Mario (I mean I would have wanted Mole Mario)
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
11 days
"Young people are seeing something brutal, and they are freaking out about it, with and without nuance...This is, quite frankly, where they should be in this moment, as they are opening their eyes to what that world actually contains."
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
this is such a bizarre and bad way to write about a tv show?? what is it about video game properties that make critics lose their damn minds no one needs to be reminded every three seconds it's also a game
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 years
did not expect it to be the video game parody accounts leading the charge on why paying for verification is bad
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
6 months
if you tweet ~learn to code~ at journalists losing their jobs, you're a fucking loser!
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
As Activision Blizzard employees form a second union in Albany, tensions between workers and mgmt continue to rise. "It has become tradition for employees to respond to the management announcements in Slack with an emote that says ‘fucking unionize."
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 month
talked with @nicolehe about her new game, a "thirst person shooter" where you play as a reality tv producer
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
when I say I want to be friends I mean I want to hang out in the same space while doing different things
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
5 months
ngl I think my tga fit this year was my best
@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
5 months
my feet hurt so bad good to see you all ♥️
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
happy valentine's day no game has ever come closer to ending one of my relationships than mario kart double dash
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
this is gibberish. you don't have to do this I swear
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
11 months
everybody just calm down we figured out how to cancel student loans after all
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
I spoke with QTCinderella about the impact being deepfaked has had on her personal and professional life. "At the end of the day, you realize this is all because of a pervert online. This is nothing that I signed up for."
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
wfh
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
6 days
if you work at a studio that could potentially be impacted by Xbox cuts and want to talk about it/the impact these sudden closures and periods waiting for news have on you, DMs open, signal available via request. RTs appreciated
@jasonschreier
Jason Schreier
6 days
NEW: - Xbox still isn't done cutting costs, sent voluntary buyout offers to some Zenimax staff - Why were Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks closed? Bad timing, perhaps - Activision purchase has ramped up scrutiny on Xbox And much more - here's my latest:
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
i am TAPPINg the sIGN
@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
10,000 word investigative piece on why geoff loves the muppets so much
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
The NLRB has denied Activision Blizzard's efforts to expand the Albany vote beyond just the QA department. This is a win for the union, which needs a majority decision only from the 20 or so testers for legal recognition.
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
A statement issued by CWA claims that CEO Seth Sivak "took the workers' concerns as a personal attack and held a series of meetings that demoralized and disempowered the group, making a free and fair election impossible."
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
apparently this is NOT how you play bocce ball and drinking on the courts is ✌🏼frowned upon✌🏼
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
today's my favorite day of gdc, where you find out who went out to parties last night and who's in their 30s
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
29 days
he’s been sitting like this for 10 minutes now, just staring out the window
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
Tears of the Kingdom is one of the year's most impressive games, which is why I asked its profoundly talented creators which Link smells the worst
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
5 months
my feet hurt so bad good to see you all ♥️
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
If you are an editor at a major, mainstream outlet, I cannot stress this enough: this framing is deeply embarrassing and out of touch. Instead of taking your subject seriously, you're beginning with some weird implied apology about how it's really dumb, sorry!
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
me: hi so the candles I bought from you keep exploding? company: so sorry about that. we'll send you a free exploding candle to make up for it
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
"extremely hardcore" might be the dweebiest way to tell your employees you plan to run them into the ground and destroy any semblance of a personal life, or else fire them. not content to be ruinously incompetent, he must also be embarrassing
@ZoeSchiffer
Zoë Schiffer
1 year
NEW: Elon Musk sent Twitter staff an email with the subject line “a fork in the road.” He said: “to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore. This will mens working long hours at high intensity.” 1/
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
NEWS: Roughly 300 QA workers at ZeniMax Studios have overwhelmingly voted to unionize, making it the largest US union to exist. Per its previous comments, Microsoft has voluntarily recognized the union.
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
one of the worst side effects of training for a half-marathon no one tells you is that you become incapable of shutting the fuck up about it
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
6 months
my friends love to keep me up to date on big news
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
are you tired of being nice? don’t you just want to go ape shitt
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
4 months
are you working on cool game projects this year? have interesting thoughts about game industry trends? have a tip about something happening within your company? generally want to talk about gaming things you think are a fit for Wired? let's chat! megan_farokhmanesh @wired .com
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
the best thing I learned from tiktok by far is attaching ear plugs to jewelry so you can easily pop them in and out at a show without losing them. plus, you know, they’re earrings
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
my first ever print piece for wired is in the june issue :)
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
me, a pimply teen: im not like other girls I listen to tool
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
10 months
ff16 creators convinced us it was final fantasy does game of thrones but it’s actually WWE all the way through and that’s so much better
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
not enough brooklyn men at this lcd soundsystem show have danced themselves clean
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
I talked to Hidemaro Fujibayashi about Tears of the Kingdom and speedrunning -- which makes him a little nervous, but the team "did create this game in a way that is meant to be broken."
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
5 months
this was the last E3 I went to. that banana taught me how to live :’)
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
went to go grab some old bylines from the verge and realized my author page is labeled former reporter as though I've died
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
11 months
really could not be happier with this coverup. the original tattoo itself was fine, but it was such a bad experience I really wanted to replace it. plus, a life hack: tattoo pain is nothing when you already have a pinched nerve in your back. napped through the whole thing
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
5 months
I was skating at the beach and this little kid on the back of a bike waved to me. I waved back and he gave me the finger!! I feel bamboozled!!!
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
twitter may be broken but sadly no one can get me to shut the fuck up buddy
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
4 months
I wrote this story in 2021. I've been thinking about it a lot lately and how much has really changed. If you're a dev whose visa is now in jeopardy because of a layoff, I'd love to talk to you -- open DMs, can share signal, megan_farokhmanesh @wired .com
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
guy doing construction in the space below my apartment has been listening to "i wanna know what love is" on loop bro I just wanna talk
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
It's not hard to understand why the quality of games could suffer, especially in the coming years, as the industry continues to endure massive layoffs and brain drain. But people railing against Sweet Baby point to "wokeification as the problem"
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
look if people want to tweet very dumb things @ me that’s your call but I’m gonna start charging $5 each for me to read them
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
call me crazy but i'm starting to think the sun setting before 5 is bad
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
"They love games but hate the people who make them. They won't get games if there's no more people making them."
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
the cut story with the lady lamenting her inability to send her kid to private school OR put a tub in her master suite attic because she’s still shy of making $700k is why the guillotine was invented
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
8 months
When asked about how Unity would regain trust, Whitten said: “I can’t tell you that you should trust me. You have to decide that on your own.”
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 month
wore ear plugs at a concert i don't even recognize myself anymore
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
10 months
I talked with the devs over at Night School about their future at Netflix, the climate for indie studios today, and making a horror game with the perfect setting: your 30s
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
10,000 word investigative piece on why geoff loves the muppets so much
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
recruiting girls for a roller skate gang where we circle around our enemies in sparkly shiny skates and hiss at them
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
3 months
begging every journalist i've ever met to get the oral history of this event asap
@bene25_
Ben
3 months
This Willy Wonka story is incredible. What's going on here? What part of the film was this hahahahaha.
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
waiting for people to show up at the party you planned for yourself
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 month
one detail I really like: the ads that run in-game are actually about other video games. baby steps gets a very appropriate big butt ad
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
final fantasy vii rebirth is my favorite final fantasy game of the last decade, easily. everyone hurry up and finish so we can discuss The Ending please!!
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
If you can't treat it with respect why should your readers? There's literally no reason to explain that a lot of people play video games now. People know. All you're doing is demonstrating a lack of confidence and understanding, which to me says you don't know what you're doing
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
11 months
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
3 months
i once told a nurse i needed to lay down when i was getting blood drawn or i'd pass out and she goes "aww the BABY needs to lay down??" and then started mimicking crying baby noises
@adashtra
Ash "Activist Whore" Parrish
3 months
Why is it always nurses that are the meanest bastards you'll ever meet in life
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
10 months
I decided to grow my hair out as long as possible now, in heatwave summer, and I suffer for my hubris every day under this party city wig-ass bullshit I wanted
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
13 days
challengers soundtrack, all bangers no misses. i refuse to believe trent+atticus could ever make a bad song
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
The previous election date was delayed due to bad weather (lol @ a literal blizzard), but I've heard the count could happen as soon as Friday.
@WeAreGWAAlbany
GWA Albany
1 year
Update! Activision management's bitter attempt to silence our union has failed. The NLRB has officially denied @ATVI_AB 's request to impound our ballots. We are still waiting for our new election date, but we look forward to the impending ballot count without interruption✊🎮💙
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
15 days
looking for a bf and then a bf for my bf to see challengers
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
5 months
no time for a full outfit post, but if you somehow don’t see me mean giraffing above the crowd tonight you will definitely hear me
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
everybody is so focused on the morality of tlou finale we're forgetting the insane birthing scene it's like three seconds from her water breaking to that baby shooting out faster than a bullet
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
in another life i am still a blogger and this is an entire post on the verge
@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
mario's strongest power-up in the movie makes him 5'10"
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
I talked to the devs making Final Fantasy XVI, who say the game's attempt to walk a more mature road is a product of the team itself growing older. Plus: the creative freedom of an M rating
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
11 months
I haunt polygon in very specific ways
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
2 months
I need a beer bong but caffeine
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
11 months
landlord: we’d like to ✨offer you✨ a lease renewal at an increased rate with the additional perk of mice who whisper everything mean anyone has ever said about you while you sleep (fee mandatory)
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
5 months
IF YOU’RE AT TGA PLEASE GET A PIC OF GONZO BEING PUPPETED
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@Megan_Nicolett
Megan Farokhmanesh
1 year
bravely helping all my friends who've left twitter by sticking around to text them the good tweets
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