Emily C Taylor

@pentapod

Game designer in Edmonton, formerly EverQuest2 “Domino”, formerly BioWare, now Spry Fox. Mostly I share cat photos, Edmonton stuff, food, pottery, covid info, & other nerdy randomness including reading, SciFi, mycology. Also found at @pentapod@mstdn.ca.

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Emily C Taylor@pentapod· 20d

Whoops, it's Tuesday again so I'll be checking out more player housing in #SpiritCrossing in about 20 minutes, this time on a different cohort (server), so all new houses! 🤩 Come join me on twitch.tv/pentapod if you like #PlayerHousing and/or cozy games! 😀 (And come try it yourself on Steam!)

Screenshot of a player standing on green grass in front of a modest home covered with ivy. Light is shining out of the doorway and windows.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· 23d

Been playing the #EQLegends beta and feeling extremely pleased with myself that I managed to get a level 1 froglok all the way from the Rathe Mountains to Ak'Anon without dying a single time. 💪 #flex I wrote a little blog about the beta when I started: tradeskill.blogspot.com/2026/07/ever...

A level 1 froglok named Scaphiopus standing at the entrance to Ak'Anon in EverQuest Legends.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· 24d

The lightning storm early Wed morning blew a fuse in the HRV, fried a circuit board in the furnace/air conditioning, fried 2 switches and a cable modem, and toasted the base unit of the Nest thermostat. No internet for 1 day, no A/C for 3 days, still no bathroom fans. This was a hot & pricy week. 🥵

A short-haired dark tortoiseshell cat sprawled out with her front half stretched out on a crocheted blanket and her hind legs still in a shallow olive/brown plush cat bed. Her front paws are outstretched and her eyes mostly closed - basically she has melted in the heat.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Jul 5

Haven't had much time to play due to traveling, but I've got my Iksar necromancer/druid to level 7 so far in #EverQuestLegends. Kind of amazing how much knowledge is coming back after so many years. Highly pleased I remembered how to pet pull so I didn't get Dorn B'Dynn coming after me here! 😁

A screenshot of dervish camp #1 in the Desert of North Ro, in EverQuest Legends. Blocky graphics show a group of pitched tents in a desert. A Dervish Cutthroat (an orc in a yellow-orange breastplate and reddish kilt) stands in the middle of the tents. Very close by, peeking out of the tent on the right, is a dark elf in blue armour whose name shows as Dorn. The targeting ring is on the orc. Various spells and stat bars are visible around the sides.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Jul 2

Gotta say I have never seen so many people what I can only describe as AGGRESSIVELY dressing in Canadian red and white colours and flags on Canada Day this year. Like, 80-90% of people I saw downtown yesterday. I asked my dad if it was always like this and he said no, it’s just since Trump. 🇨🇦

Tried a local “Elbows Up” beer last night. Photo of a large beer can on a table. The label is bright red on cream, with a maple leaf on the left side. The text (cream on red) reads:

BREWED IN CANADA
BY CANADIANS
FOR CANADIANS
WHO LOVE THEIR COUNTRY
(and beer)

ELBOWS UP
PILSNER

Let’s show them
“Howe” it’s done

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Jun 30

No twitch stream from me today because I am on holiday visiting the parents, and also spent this morning touring a passenger liner older than the Titanic. At least until there was a tornado warning. Eventful day so far! 😅

Photo of an interior deck of the Keewatin, with an ornate carpet, beautiful carved and upholstered wooden sofas around a grand piano, and a brass staircase in the background leading to a higher deck. The ceiling is open to reveal the deck above with plants lining support beams across the opening. Elegant lights and iron handrails are visible on the deck above.

Photo from the front of a large passenger ship painted white and blue docked beside a railing. The name on the prow reads Keewatin. The sky above is pale blue with a thin cloud layer moving in.

Screenshot of a phone lock screen showing one of MANY emergency alerts that were sent out in the early afternoon. The text reads:

EMERGENCY ALERT /
now
ALERTE D'URGENCE
Environment Canada has issued a marine tornado warning for this mobile coverage area.
Take cover immediately if threatening weather approaches.
Tornado Warning, 12:56 p.m. EDT
Tuesday 30 June

(text repeats again in French)

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Jun 30

I want that Palia player to meet this Spirit Crossing player 🤔

A screenshot of two characters on a fishing pier in Spirit Crossing. The character on the left is wearing a white sleeveless undershirt and black underwear and wearing a wooden bucket on his head. The name of his character, displayed over his head and on the interact prompt is “bald wraith stole my lunch money”.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· May 26

Streaming #SpiritCrossing again on my personal channel (www.twitch.tv/pentapod) this afternoon ~ 4pm MDT (3pm Pacific). I'll be visiting some folks' new homes in game to see all the cool new decorations. Come join (in game or on twitch) if you wanna check things out too! 🤩 #cozyGames #indieDev

Screenshot of a moment in game with a large number of players are sitting or standing around a bonfire talking and playing music. A character in the foreground is saying "Nice to meet you!" and offering to meet one of the strangers nearby (stranger appearances are semi-hidden by a dark shadowed shader, which is removed once players meet).

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· May 17

Happy #caturday from a sleepy Pansy who has finally decided her new cat bed is not an assassination trap. Probably. #cats

A short haired dark tortoiseshell cat asleep in a grey hard-shell domed cat bed with all her little pink and black speckled toebeans sticking out the front.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· May 6

Trying to read Murderbot but Harmony demanded attention so there is a snoring purrito assisting with my read-through. 🙄

A sleeping torbie cat head poking out of a fuzzy grey plush blanket tightly wrapped around her. The blanket-burrito is being held by a bare light-skinned arm, the hand of which is also holding an e-reader.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· May 6

OMG I almost forgot until I saw my preorder payment go through... today is ... NEW #MURDERBOT NOVEL DAY!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳 🎉🎉🎉🎉 Time to revive this meme I created the last time @marthawells.com blessed us with a new novel! 😂

Version of "Distracted Boyfriend" meme where the boyfriend is labeled "me", the old girlfriend is labeled "my work", and the boyfriend is looking at Murderbot (image from the old novella covers, not the Apple TV show version which is newer than this meme) and which is labeled "new Murderbot novel".

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· May 5

Gonna try streaming #SpiritCrossing, playing the alpha version of the new player experience (release 14.9) before we update it soon! Come check out the #CozyGame I'm working on, if you're interested in cozy lo-fi multiplayer life sim type games. Find me on www.twitch.tv/pentapod in about an hour!

Concept art from Spirit Crossing, showing a red trolley-type vehicle gliding through clouds against a background of mountain peaks and human-build structures and a fishing dock, while a group of spirits and humans stand on top of the trolley looking outwards. In the background clouds swirl and three small figures glide on hang-gliders.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Apr 26

#Caturday Pansy displaying her murder-talons to the camera. #Cats

A short-haired dark tortoiseshell cat in a black plush cat bed on an olive covered couch. She is lying on her stomach facing the camera with her head and ears up and alert, and her tail draped over the bed edge. Her right paw is stretched out front towards the camera, showing all of her claws unsheathed as they dig into the olive covered couch.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Apr 25

RIP to my catmint plant which I managed to keep alive in a pot all winter, only to put it outside last Tuesday when it reached a glorious 20C and clearly I should know better 😫 #YEGwx #YEG

Photo of two snow-covered dead plants in snow-covered plant pots sitting on what is clearly a wooden surface where the snow has fallen through gaps between the planks in a series of parallel lines, revealing that the snow is about 1-2cm deep (so far).

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Apr 21

#ToebeanTuesday greetings from Pansy to all those who celebrate. #cats

A short haired dark tortoiseshell cat lying asleep in a black plush cat bed on an olive green cotton throw, with a crocheted orange and green blanket in the foreground. The cat has her hind legs extended and hanging over the side of the cat bed, with her pink and black speckled toebeans facing towards the camera.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Apr 1

Just another Wednesday morning in the source control check-in notes (we have all been there ...!) #GameDevProblems #SpiritCrossing #indieDev

Screenshot of a series of check in notes from Unreal Game Sync, which shows a series of incrementing changelist numbers and 8 check-ins with timestamps from between 3:23 PM to 3:44PM GMT (full names are obscured to protect the guilty).

The notes read, from oldest to most recent:

Author: C***** - Waystation wrap text
Author: A***** - [tc] more floating volume stats: this time on sizes
Author: A***** - [tc] fallbak when we don't have all the snapshot data Author: A***** - we want(?)
Author: A***** - [tc] next attempt at summoning snapshots!
Author: A***** - [tc] WILL THIS FINALLY WORK
Author: A***** - [tc] we still out here
Author: S***** - initial work for decor togglable lights
Author: A***** - [tc] the joy of a build engineer is sometimes it's too hard to test locally and that works 90% of the time and sometimes you look like a moron in the p4 history
Author: C***** - Non-unity build fix

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Apr 1

Happy #ToebeanTuesday from Pansy who is enjoying the weather getting warmer and days getting longer. #Cats

A short-haired dark tortoiseshell cat sleeping in a plush black cat bed on a green cotton throw. She is curled into a C-shape with her nose tucked under her front paw and her rear paws hanging over the edge of the cat bed with one set of black and pink toebeans facing the camera.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Mar 28

Not that you can really see the detail under the glaze, but oh well, it IS there on both, I have photographic evidence 😄

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Mar 17

Happy 6th anniversary to the single worst-timed purchase I ever made: this t-shirt, purchased with hopeful optimism in early March 2020. 😭 #StPatricksDay #CovidIsNotOver

A light-skinned woman with curly shoulder length brown hair and glasses, standing on one leg with the other leg outstretched and arms thrown out wide, in front of some built-in bookcases full of books and board games and a plant, and part of an aquarium visible on the right. She is wearing blue jeans and a black t-short with a sparkly green lip print on it, across which is written in white cursive font: “kiss me I’m Irish”.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Mar 15

Made a lime pie for pi(e) day yesterday. 🤤 Slightly modified from this key lime pie recipe (sallysbakingaddiction.com/key-lime-pie/), but had to use regular Mexican limes; still turned out good! #nom

A slice of lime pie on a green flower-shaped plate sitting on a white marbled countertop. The pie is topped by a swirl of whipped cream sprinkled lightly with lime zest.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Mar 10

This is my cat. This is my cat on drugs. Any questions? 🍳 #ToebeanTuesday #cats

A short-haired dark tortoiseshell cat stretched lengthwise on a green and orange/red crocheted blanket with a couple of cat beds and some food dishes in the background. Her front and rear legs are stretched out exposing her tummy to the camera and her tail tip is flopping limply into one of the beds. She is completely passed out (and was snoring).

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Mar 8

#Caturday complaints department, ironically named Harmony. #cats

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Mar 1

Ta da! @kristadb1.bsky.social One approximation at a neolithic pig mug. Some minor liberties taken. It ain’t perfect but it was fun to try. #pottery

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Feb 23

I glazed the interior of the pig with Mayco black walnut glaze, but left the exterior unglazed. It’s now waiting for its second firing. 🤞🏼 #pottery

A brush painting dark brown glaze into the interior of a terracotta pig-shaped mug which stands on a scuffed banding wheel on a grey table.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Feb 23

The larger pig seems fine though! I did take liberties with the tail - tried turning it into more of a handle. I’m a little worried it’s a bit thin to support too much weight, but too much bigger wouldn’t look tail-like. #pottery

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Feb 23

The pigs are now bisque fired but alas! Tragedy struck the smaller one - I had tried making this one a little thinner but it resulted in some cracks opening in the bottom. This will never be safe for use as a mug.

Photo of the underside of a terracotta pig sculpture being held by a light skinned hand. Two very thin vertical cracks are visible on each side between the peg legs.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Feb 15

Now the clay is leather hard, burnished it smooth.

Two pot-bellied pig shaped mugs standing on a banding wheel, surfaces slightly shining.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Feb 14

And after reglazing. Got a much better drippy effect at the bottom of the glaze, much happier about that.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Feb 13

Just for fun, experiment in progress. It is surprisingly hard to capture the expression of a pig in clay! 🤔 #pottery

Two terracotta clay mugs, still damp, shaped like round-bellied bowls with a pig-like eyes and snout and four small peg legs. They are sitting on a grey work table with smears of clay and various related tools and supplies in the background.

Emily C Taylor@pentapod· Feb 8

Another photo of our fuzzy guest for #caturday. He has discovered the pot of catnip we brought inside for winter… 😄 #cats