#the one about the fuckin

[txttletale]

shadowrun: hong kong is one of my favorite games! what do you like most about it?

oh thank you for asking me this there is so much to like about it! first of all i really really love how much the game accomodates for build diversity. for a game that is ultimately still very much focused on combat, they make every skill incredibly rewarding -- biotech unlocks some of the best and most interesting quest resolutions in the game. you really feel able to roleplay as a decker or an adept when making these character choices unlock not only the obvious combat advantages but also really cool dialogue options and ways to entirely circumvent problems. it just rewards you for building and playing a character in the way the best CRPGs do

oh, and the characters are incredible. each party member's arc is so easy to get invested in and their personal questline rule so much. racter is (in my opinion) a really wonderfully nuanced and careful depiction of someone with low empathy. i saw a lot of the ways i thought and felt in him, i like how the game really doesn't judge him for it but presents him on his own terms. gobbet and is0bel are so fucking cool and interesting and i love their dynamic--i love in CRPGs when you can tell that some party members have a long history together. they should have kissed. two of my favourite video game characters ever written. although gaichu unfortunately falls victim to the very overwhelming and specific weirdness that cyberpunk has about japan specifically in, like, his whole concept, he's still otherwise a really well-written and likeable character--he's charming, he's funny, he has a quiet melancholy to him that's really moving.

not to mention the side characters! jomo, auntie cheng, crafty, fucking. MAXIMUM LAW--all really memorable. duncan is there

the player character, too, gets to be interesting--i really like the way that the game threads the needle between having a prewritten plot to slot your character into while also still letting you decide who they are. the broad strokes of your backstory are painted for you but you get handed the brush to fill in all the details inside that--the flashback scene where you get different dialogue options to tell duncan why you're leaving and some of them are identical except for the indication that one is honest and the other is a lie is incredible storytelling work. it's a really really good compromise between the CRPG blank slate tradition and the desire to integrate the PC's past into the plot in a way that is Cool and not Dumb (i'm looking at you fnv dlcs).

i also find it really really refreshing for a piece of cyberpunk media to ditch the weird fetishised Yellow Peril 'oh what if the usa became more scary and asian' shit, cut the middleman, and just actually set itself in asia and be about asian characters. obviously i can't personally speak to whether or not it provides an accurate representation of hong kong, but it definitely feels like it's interested in engaging with hong kong as a setting and what makes it unique as a place and culture rather than just as set dressing.

and finally i like that you can go on the computer and read BBS posts. nice time on the computer simulator :)

[nikkisticki]

RULE

[inkskinned]

the thing is there's like, a point of oversaturation for everything, and it's why so many things get dropped after a few minutes. and we act like millennials or gen z kids "have short attention spans" but... that's not quite it. it's more like - we did like it. you just ruined it.

capitalism sees product A having moderate success, and then everything has to come out with their "own version" of product A (which is often exactly the same). and they dump extreme amounts of money and environmental waste into each horrible simulacrum they trot out each season.

now it's not just tiktokkers making videos; it's that instagram and even fucking tumblr both think you want live feeds and video-first programming. and it helps them, because videos are easier to sneak native ads into. the books coming out all have to have 78 buzzwords in them for SEO, or otherwise they don't get published. they are making a live-action remake of moana. i haven't googled it, but there's probably another marvel or starwars something coming out, no matter when you're reading this post.

and we are like "hi, this clone of project A completely misses the point of the original. it is soulless and colorless and miserable." and the company nods and says "yes totally. here is a different clone, but special." and we look at clone 2 and we say "nope, this one is still flat and bad, y'all" and they're like "no, totally, we hear you," and then they make another clone but this time it's, like, a joyless prequel. and by the time they've successfully rolled out "clone 89", the market is incredibly oversaturated, and the consumer is blamed because the company isn't turning a profit.

and like - take even something digital like the tumblr "live streaming" function i just mentioned. that has to take up server space and some amount of carbon footprint; just so this brokenass blue hellsite can roll out a feature that literally none of its userbase actually wants. the thing that's the kicker here: even something that doesn't have a physical production plant still impacts the environment.

and it all just feels like it's rolling out of control because like, you watch companies pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into a remake of a remake of something nobody wants anymore and you're like, not able to afford eggs anymore. and you tell the company that really what you want is a good story about survival and they say "okay so you mean a YA white protagonist has some kind of 'spicy' love triangle" and you're like - hey man i think you're misunderstanding the point of storytelling but they've already printed 76 versions of "city of blood and magic" and "queen of diamond rule" and spent literally millions of dollars on the movie "Candy Crush Killer: Coming to Eat You".

it's like being stuck in a room with a clown that keeps telling the same joke over and over but it's worse every time. and that would be fine but he keeps fucking charging you 6.99. and you keep being like "no, i know it made me laugh the first time, but that's because it was different and new" and the clown is just aggressively sitting there saying "well! plenty of people like my jokes! the reason you're bored of this is because maybe there's something wrong with you!"

[novelconcepts]

The defintion of hell is knowing a show is incredibly well-received in its first season, but if people don’t become machines churning out tweets, content, and rewatching 24/7, there’s no likelihood it’ll get a chance to tell its whole story. This shit is madness. Shows in different genres shouldn’t have to pit-battle for dominance. First seasons are MEANT to be baselines establishing worlds and characters, not complete storylines. The idea that this golden age of television has turned into “get it done in one or get out” is revolting.

[tinkkles]

I really do love the fresh take on the dead wife aspect in scavengers reign like. She didn't die in some terrible accident or at the hands of an evil third party, she died because of you. Because of your ambition and carelessness and because you didn't prioritize her enough to even look for her as the ship was going down. You will carry this guilt for the rest of your life. She will haunt you forever. Pray that her ghost is enough to change you for the better.

[chilly-lily]

whoever popularized the “amity wants hunter dead” fanon is literally my worst enemy. like look at this. they’re buddies. imagine being wrong about Everything

and the fact that amity is second to the airship before they realize that hunter wasn’t actually taken.. she does not hate that boy!! they are friends!!!

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 302

Look, when they had decided to reincarnate with Tucker this cycle they hadn’t exactly expected this. Tucker didn’t either, so thank fuck it’s apparently not a normal thing, but still! The matching gold eyes are pretty cool, and at least their fangs and claws have stayed but like, everything else? Ugh. So very not good. 

At least all four are together still, even if it’s in this absolutely crazy scenario of rich cults, undead child assassins, and wow this is like some sort of ridiculous novel or anime scenario when you put in the whole reincarnation thing… 

Alright, so they’re getting out right? Yeah they can all agree on that- and thank fuck these new bodies of theirs are Liminal or else they wouldn’t be able to communicate. Seriously, who slits kids’ throats? The cult people, apparently, so honestly fuck them. They're getting out of here.

[j-em-g]

[waltricia]

More on letters, color theory, and magic fuckin candles later. For now, I’m just here.

[deoidesign]

[absolute-hooligan]

Fun fact: I found out David tennant has a podcast with a guest that cycles out each episode (it’s very good, you should go listen) and one of them has Neil in it!

You can yell at me if this is old news now but this little bit about “have a nice doomsday” and episode threes cold open is so… agh, I love it

(hearing about Neil’s writing process in general is also incredibly neat)

[inkskinned]

"it's so embarrassing you like that popular thing" "oh ew that geeky/strange thing is so cringe lol" "oh it's kind of weird you get excited about that harmless shit"

dude i love how ironic and jaded you are and that's so cool and sexy of you. and i am so so glad to tell you - you won!! we all had a meeting and we decided that you won, and we are writing your name on the inside of a burger king crown. the marker smeared, sorry, but we knew any form of real effort is ugly to you. but anyway. congrats! you are officially the coolest, most ironic, most jaded person in-the-world-right-now. we would throw you a party but you would think it was totally boring - and besides, we're weird so we wouldn't have been coming. we would have brought our love of beetles and of baking and of little canapes. we would have brought our artsy videogames and pages of writing. we would have written a poem with you, our hands covered in ink, and spread out a canvas to dance on, the night so lurid and pink.

but do not worry. we will not throw the party. we will just get you a ringlight and that crown i mentioned. it is a nice crown, except for where one of us dropped it.

the vote was a really hard one because we had so many cool ironic people to pick off the shelves. all of you have hands that rot fruit, how strange is that - you can't look at something without destroying it for other people. you like it when you can squeeze a person into a pinpoint - all us small ones scampering our little feet around our ugly joys. the vote was also a hard one because we kept our voices down because you don't like it when we talk too loud. you were on your phone at the time, talking to people other than us. you are a ghoul of every moment - half in, half out, you resent us for being here without shame or embarrassment.

so good news! we have invented an island for people like you. you get to go there and speak into the air things like if you still like watching harmless twitch streamers in 2023 you're fucking boring. you will say things like liveplay podcasts are fucking ugly and it's kind of awkward they try to make everything gay. on the island we made you, all of your words will have weight. they will form in the air like icicles, large white behemoth letters that will crumple in anvils around your feet. maybe we will send someone there once in a while to sweep, but honestly you might be there for a while, alone, waiting. we are busy being outside looking for mushrooms and flapping our hands and humming. we are busy kicking our little heels while we watch cringey tv. we are busy - sorry! as an apology, we have pre-filled the island with every bland, mediocre, unscented thing we could find. the island has the texture of american cheese. the island has an ocean that never gets angry. the island is perfect for you, trust me. you will be so happy there - as happy as you can be, ironically.

we want to say we are sorry for doing harmless things that you find annoying, childish, or unappealing - but we are not sorry. we thought we could help you, because we don't mind laughing at ourselves, but it turns out you are allergic to color and noise and atmosphere, so this is the best that we can do for now. we are all making a big shirt that says i voted in the ironic monarchy. we got you one that is just a fast fashion buttondown. i am so excited for you and this island and the big life you have won. you have a cool jaded grey life and miles of irony to roam. i love you! be well.

now leave us alone.

[forestshadow-wolf]

Soap and ghost share food all the time

And by share I mean soap always offers some of whatever he's planning to eat to ghost (because that's how he grew up showing love in his family). And every time, without fail, ghost takes the world's biggest bite, and devours anywhere from 50%-78% of it in one fell swoop.

[tubbytarchia]

Sorry for forcing yall to look at a very indulgent cryptid dragon but anyway um. its an attempt!! I'm so iffy on the colors but urgg. I wanted it to be an approximate mix of Grian's various "lives". I wanna draw dragons!!! So bad!! I love dragons!!!!!!! So much!!!!

Some other lifer dragon concepts/sketches below cut

If people still wanna see me dragonify lifers then sure!! These are just quick ideas I wanted to get on paper

[knifearo]

daily gentle reminder that the words we use to describe ourselves are labels. they're not immutable states of being, they're not all-encompassing, they're not permanent, they're not universal; labels are just words that we use to indicate something about our experience that we find important enough to communicate to others. if your experience with attraction is significantly different enough from a typical allo experience then aspec labels are there for you to use as long as you want them; and conversely, what aspec labels communicate is just that someone's experience is aligned enough with what we describe as aromanticism/asexuality to warrant telling people about it. you never need a label, you never need to keep a label, you never need to justify a label, and you never need to use a label for anything besides what you want it for. it's not a contract. it's an adjective that you can choose to use or not to use. all it needs to do is be useful for you. 💚🖤

[ricky-mortis]

I’m thinking about supernatural spies again…