iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

There is alot going for it but it's going to be held back when it pins that label atop some juicy stuff. Could do with less snarky millennial-speak too. It overstays its welcome a bit too often

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Thing is for my RPing fiction, I like having a dark world to do the right thing in, the contrast is made all the sweeter. I like that the setting is unjust and there's no worldwide conspiracy making it so. I like the deconstruction of the masquerade, I like having a multi-monster party

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

It's the "being good is easy akshually" crowd who don't want to think about the times where doing the right thing isn't convenient for them. "Kindness is punk" but it's just holding the door open for someone (not washing the dishes though). The fair-weather friends of rebellion, if you will

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Struggling to hold onto your morals is not something they want to rp, that might mean re-examining their own beliefs. Say what you will about the -punk suffix but that's always implied some kind of struggle, it's why hopepunk rings so false to me;" its proponents don't want any struggle whatsoever

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Unlike its wod/cofd predecessors, your accursed squad is more akin to anti-heroes (not a problem in of itself tbc) than full on monsters but the fact that your characters can still have their monstrous moments is going to have them crying about how uncomfortable it is. That's too messy, too impure

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Curseborne has potential but it's gotta unshackle itself from hopepunk before it's too late. The hopepunk bitches don't like horror and they like playing characters with any sort of capacity for evil even less. You'd have to cut the entire sorcerer and most of the hungry lineages to appease them

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The simplest explanation is following the money I bet. With obsidian, they had a whole presentation about how deadfire didn't do as well as they'd hoped and they were chasing dos2's success. And it feels like nothing has been learned when the condition for making poe3 is a bg3-sized budget

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

One of my biggest peeves playing deadfire was the narrator, felt like they didn't think I could read, nor did it add any personality to the game (a thing I actually did appreciate about bg3's narrator). Thank goodness for mods lol

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

My most boomer take about crpgs: illustrated scenes with text like this still look good and charming years after release, moreso than bg3's 3/4 Cinematic™️camera for every conversation. It's fun if the imagination does some of the heavy lifting for a lighthouse-eye view kind of game. Less is more etc

Left: "The minecart moves downhill, and quickly gathers speed. On the next rise, it becomes clear that there is some form of enchantment upon the tracks - the cart loses none of its momentum." Right: 4 people in a minecart while it races down the tracks, all of them are at varying stages of holding on for dear life

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Dorian Dawes @doriandawes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

There really has never been a CRPG quite at BG3's scale and budget before and maybe never will again. As someone quite fond of this genre, thank fucking god.

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Would it have been better received if the gameplay around it was more fun? I don't know. Maybe it would get a few more defenders but I suspect the cozy crowd would still review-bomb it to hell and back for daring to be more than a breeding sim

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

You could argue they've changed course from the "non-violent" description in the KS but I had to go out of my way to find corrupted spots. And it's definitely not on the level of Dark Souls like some Steam reviewers would have you believe.

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Idk I'm not as down on the corruption update as some people are, just my critiques stem less from it killing the vibe and more that it's kinda boring? Neat concept, meh execution.

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I'd best describe the game as an open world survival with an emphasis on horse care. The people who insist it was meant to be "cozy" the whole time per the kickstarter are not being entirely honest or are misremembering: the word cozy only comes up once. To describe a sticker-sheet.

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Reading discord post after discord post about Legend of Khiimori has just strengthened my opinion that cozy as a videogame descriptor is so incredibly unhelpful. With one very specific exception: when you need to warn people about the discomfort tolerance of a given game's average player.

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

It's a roundabout way of saying it depends, but my take is you gotta actually engage with canon before you try to extrapolate on or "fix" it. Half my problems with Arcane's relationship to, and eventual replacement of, LoL's lore is the incuriosity about the characters they claimed to be improving

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I'm of two minds: worshiping canon and treating it like the law is constraining on the kinds of stories you can tell a the setting and with its characters (see: SW). OTOH, tossing everything your predecessors created into a fire makes me wonder why you didn't just make something new (hi veilguard)

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Doc Vivi Leandra【 VTC 】- Real-Life Scientist VTuber 🧬🖥️ @docvivileandra.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I think a lot of people who remain in fandoms for children's media as adults fundamentally misunderstand what we're saying when we criticize something being "for kids" Yes, children's media can engage with serious, mature topics. But it has to treat them like it's your first time hearing about it.

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Dane Braddy (he/him) @danebraddy.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Okay more ammo for my conspiracy theory that studios are trying to undermine artists and pretending that they used GenAI so their shareholders are happy

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

To keep using BG3 as an example, the evil choices in act 2 create a noticeably emptier game than if you chose the good ones, rather than becoming a different but equally compelling story. As if that's not really the intended way to play it but they felt obligated to include those choices

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

I would also add that another rpg specific side-effect of the "more writing" issue is that in a post-Bioware environment, rpgs are often praised for giving the player lots of choices that affect the story. It's an expectation of the genre, Western-side. However, not all choices are created equal

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Dragon Cobolt @dragoncobolt.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

my favorite example of this are all the stories, essays, and tv show episodes that seem to think Omelas is a math problem of some kind

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JP @jpbrammer.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

I'm exhausted with beautiful people. I don't want to see them anymore. you couldn't make Who Framed Roger Rabbit? today. the detective would have been some Hemsworthian flesh sculpture but with brown hair and glasses probably

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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Teachinge young people how to reade literature and poetrye and novels ys teachinge them how to access an olde and goode and powerful system for sharinge messages yn tymes of emergencye. Readinge literature ys key to the ongoing struggle for a bettir and more just worlde.

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isa 🔞 LBX 430 @babeyxiao.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

the word “problematic” has become such a corny and immature word to me i cannot take people seriously when it is included in discussions about artwork

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Kitti 🎀 ITS WEEN!!! 🎃 @kittileecreates.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

“People need to be nicer to each other online” and “people need to develop thicker skin because it’s not normal or healthy to get upset at everything you don’t agree with” are two statements than can and should coexist actually

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Full-Body Tendinitis ⚧️ 🏳️‍⚧️🏴‍☠️🇺🇦🇻🇪🇵🇸 @fawxdraws.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

I am sorry are people simply using "Dramione" as shorthand for enemies to lovers? Disgusting. Get out of my house.

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zay 🍃Kyoshi Thee Stallion🍃🪨 @indigofro.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

We are learning entirely too much about these films and shows before they happen

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

and it threatened to be interesting for a bit there, which gets my goat. When the thru-line for alot of the NPCs was they got screwed over by the gods and then come full release, it was all window-dressing. They'd lead to more complicated questions but the game just shrugs at you about them too

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Your failures in Pyre were another beat in the journey and the way it was structured made them feel more meaningful. And to reiterate, I really do think the presence of a conclusion made all the difference. And a rogue-like doesn't allow for that

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Definitely. I remember in the lead up to Pyre they talked a great deal about wanting to create a game where the story continued whether you succeeded or failed and both Hades games feel like that concept taken to the point where it did more harm than good.

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

*was willing. I guess I might have to say, depending on what comes next

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Maybe it's extreme but I do think I'd skip their next game if it was just Hades 3. I miss their more original stuff and I had a lot of respect for a studio that's willing to do standalone stuff when sequels and reboots are so common

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Hades being looser was mostly fine cuz the stakes were smaller more personal but in Hades 2 where it's these huge stakes with interesting friction between the MC's worldview and the NPCs she encounters? Nothing ultimately came of it. And they kinda couldn't because of the gameplay loop

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

I couldn't agree more. Both Hades games are fun to play but I do miss the writing quality that I saw in Pyre (Bastion and Transistor too), they benefited from having a real conclusion but also there was more of it? It felt like someone was asking how they could put LESS writing in the story

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headfallsoff @headfallsoff.com · 12/12/2025

have you seen how crazy they're going for leon kennedy. if you reveal 48 year old milf lara croft you would have the world in your palm

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Micah @rincewind.run · 31/10/2025

early elementary school report: kpop demon hunters has at last dethroned elsa as the costume of choice for little girls

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

What stuck out to me was how Gwen herself is promoted as the "monarch of Park Planet," and we have that montage with quite a few defaced images of her, plus the graffiti'd statue Andi flips off. She is as much a scapegoat as she is an icon for the company, much like how Disney treats their media

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Adam Makey @darkestadam.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

I was just thinking of Dungeon Meshi and how it's part of the tension that they don't know how long Falin has before she's (REDACTED) and all the things Touden Team have to do to survive to get to her. Especially when everyone thinks Laios isn't taking it seriously but we get to see it from his POV

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

If you see this, quote 10 games to get to know you by: 🐺 Okami 🔥 Pyre 🚀 Knights of the Old Republic 2 🌳 Pillars of Eternity ⚔️ Gladius 🌵 Weird West 🐲 Shadowrun: Dragonfall 🐝Hollow Knight 📸 Life is Strange 🔮Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

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Philby Bear (they/them) @philbybear.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

This is a great back-and-forth, and hits at why Harry Potter's imitators and alternatives and would-be replacements have failed at catching the public's imagination the same way. Putting aside the many literary criticisms you can lay at Harry Potter's feet? It's greatest selling point...

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Kat @longwayback.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

time for my new favorite tumblr post

A tumblr text post by user nitewrighter, set up as a dialogue.

Me: I don't get it. I thought I was doing a lot better than I was a few years ago. I'm like 10 times more on top of things than I used to be. How does everything feel terrible now?

The Tiny Me in OSHA-approved Hi-Vis Gear Who lives in my brain and pulls all the levers: Boss, it's the fascism. You're completely gunked up with cortisol due to the fact that your entire daily life is now underscored with a haunting awareness of the rapid erosion of your rights, dignity, and any and all social safety nets, and you're also bearing witness to the most vulnerable people immediately being persecuted. This creates a natural stress response that basically means you're going to continue having memory and organizational problems, as well as emotional imbalances.

Me: BUT I HAVE A BULLET JOURNAL AND I MEDITATE NOW.

Tiny OSHA Me: BOSS, THE FASCISM.

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Got linked to some of your excellent critiques of that c/ritrole ttrpg that weren't just worshiping the ground they walk on (for once) and decided to stick around

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Simon McNeil @simonm223.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

That the response of the American federal government to a leftist potentially becoming mayor of a major city is to threaten to strip him of his citizenship (and presumably deport him to an overseas concentration camp) should alarm literally everybody. But he's critical of genocide so Americans sleep

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Rose @narrativefox.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Trying to defend the future for everyone except himself. He's human but still beholden to Piltover and especially his patrons. I wonder, does he ever envy Viktor? Alone and stigmatized but independent?

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The Booksmith @booksmith.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

we ship everywhere! booksmith.com xoxo

booksmith.com

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gryphoneer @gryphoneer.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

important life hack for video games

With video game prices rising, AI is a critical tool for developers and gamers alike.

By seeing which games use AI, gamers can save money by not buying those games.

@TheZeldaZone@mastodon.social

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