BOO

after seeing the godawful trailer, I did a reread of the Electric State and i cannot physically understand how the russo brothers did not "see potential" in the story

i'll admit, i underappreciated the writing on my first read! going over it again there is so much richness to the character building and the dread of the atmosphere. There's a vibe that I can only describe as desiccated americana and i love it. The world is rotten and dying, and there is really nothing left to do but go on for going on's sake.

anyway i'm doing a very large essay on Stålenhag's whole body of work, but the Electric State holds a special place in my heart as the first of his books I discovered and the most resonant to me, so i just had to share my thoughts right after the reread.

This is less about the artwork, which i could talk about for ages, and more just a general overview of the story themes specifically!

(Moderate general spoilers? i don't go into much detail, and it's not a story overly reliant on its plot twists anyway)

The hopelessness of The Electric State is rather unique among Simon Stålenhag's works - his other books, set in Sweden, are much more fondly nostalgic, though they of course offer strange horrors of their own - but of a much more physical, immediate level.

The Electric State is different. It takes place in an alternate 90s US even more drowned in consumerism and blind greed than our own. A civilization that is crumbling, not from nuclear war or global crises or meteors, but by its own hand, by capitalism driving itself into the ground. The perfect pleasure machine, the neurocaster headset, leaves people twitching, comatose creatures whose minds lie in vast Silicon Valley servers as their bodies are left to starve.

Michelle does not have the privilege of escapism. She is one of the few left to wander a silent world, an apocalypse without people to see it. She is privy to the horror of watching the inevitable trajectory of a world falling to its death, and feels only recognition that it's probably better this way.

Michelle is never sad about the end of America. She doesn't ever reminisce about how good things used to be, or how we should have "appreciated it while we had it." But she certainly does reminisce.

She has the memory of her foster parents, who derided the government "coddling neurine addicts" like Michelle's mother. She has the memory of her grandfather coughing himself to death in their tiny apartment, irradiated from his lifetime of underpaid work assembling gigantic war drones. She has the memory of her mother overdosing on a drug the government hooked her on during her service in the military. She has the memory of her first and only love, a love which the world hated, how it kept her alive in her foster home of Soest City, and how it was ripped from her by the pastor.

Unlike Stalenhag's other stories, there is no element of nostalgia or quiet undertone of hope. Only disgust for what came before, and quiet fear for what comes next.

The horror of the Convergence, the eldritch machine god hivemind, is not even very relevant to the story - if anything, it's a side plot. When Michelle faces actual danger, it's never from giant robot gods in the mist; it's from cops and hotel clerks, from doomsdayers hoarding guns and a FBI agent hunting her down. She lives in fear of other people, of people who say they want to protect her.

But when she sees the gigantic silent machines wandering through the mists of Oregon, she isn't afraid. It's almost peaceful. The Convergence is beyond understanding. It grew out of the servers where millions of minds seeking oblivion from the world went to escape, and they converged into something unknowably vast who wanders the world in a hundred million thoughtless bodies. It's otherworldly. It does not fear, it does not dream, it does not hope, it does not hate. Maybe that's better.

I was scared. But I also felt something else when that thing stepped out of the mist in front of our car. I can't think of a better word than awe. Like when you suddenly become aware that you've walked into the wrong part of the woods and come face-to-face with a gigantic wild animal. Beyond the grotesque, there was also something else - something majestic.

And in its wake, the citizens of Point Linden, hundreds of people linked together, their neurocasters connected to the oily god in the mist, floated across the ground in front of the car, and they looked almost happy. Calm and peaceful, they moved past the car and formed a single group again behind us, and soon disappeared into the mist again.

[ID: Tweet by @ Nash076 with a cartoon profile pic of a man with a beard and the name "A Nash by Any Other Name Would Still Be a Bot" the tweet reads as followed. "Five Nights At Fuck Y'all Forgot That Homophobic Motherfucker Throwing Money at Republicans END ID]

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dont make me tap the sign

I'm honestly surprised that even a small part of gnf apologists are finally opening their fucking eyes but the ones who still turn a blind eye and act like its just drama of the week piss me the fuck off.

Because even if he meant literally anything he said in that stream and he really was just a wittle innocent baby who just didn't know🥺 it was a misunderstanding🥺 Have you SEEN Caiti's stream when she was talking about this?

Caiti can't find joy in doing content anymore. There's multiple times where the mere attempt at recalling those memories make her burst into tears. It was soul crushing to watch and see just how much his gross fucking actions have affected and damaged her life.

How is George the victim here? How is Caiti at fault here? And fuck it, even if she was, how does that make anything okay?? "You got drunk and therefore deserve having severe trauma." Hello???

https://www.twitch.tv/caitibugzz/v/2085999722?sr=a&t=4s

watch this. I don't care if you already agree with me if you haven't seen Caiti talking about what happened in her own words please do it now.

I can't fanthom the thought process of anyone who thinks George is innocent here because it doesn't matter if it was intentional or not (it clearly fucking was. she got molested. this is sexual assault. treat it like an actual crime that severely harms people instead of a buzzword.)

Because no matter how you try to spin it in favor of him it doesn't make up for the severe damage it has done to her. If you somehow still try to defend George Davidson's actions then I seriously want you to think about why because there's some insane self reflecting to be done here.

Turkey Tom is Still A Racist Piece of Shit

Before I made this post I explored the turkey tom tag and WOW! the amount of people who are fans of this piece of shit is insane! How can anyone be fans of this piece of scraped off gum? Fucking disgusting.

Wanna know what would be a really messed up thing for Alan and his team to do?

SPOILERS FOR ANIMATOR VS ANIMATION 11 UNDER THE CUT ↓

Do those videos they make between every episode of AvA à la AvM but it's videos set before Mitsi's death showing the things Vic and Mitsi did to make Rocket Corp and the rest of the world. Just to break us down even more when we see them having a wholesome time knowing the inevitable.

i really don't have the words to express how viscerally unappealing the minecraft movie animals look

i'm so sorry they would do this to you minecraft sheep. minecraft alpaca. minecraft wolf

Project Dragon was a game that was in development for 3 years only to be canceled weeks from its announcement and its entire art and development team laid off. The game (which would have been called 'Everhaven' upon release) was intended to be a multiplayer sandbox rpg taking inspiration from both Minecraft and The Legend of Zelda, with an art style similar to that of the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, which some of the team members also worked on along with Crash Bandicoot 4.

According to character design/illustrator Nicholas Kole "Our cancelled project of the last 3 years is officially, truly dead as of today (internal attempts to save it failed), and the embargo on the whole body of portfolio work has been lifted". This means that the only way the game has a chance of resuming development is by raising awareness and spreading the word of it's development. More info from Nicholas Kole and #BringBackProjectDragon Even if you're not interested in the game itself, you can find the concept art, animations, 3D models, music and all other completed pieces of work for the game being shared by the team at either of these links, and I think are worth checking out. Some mounts and NPCs

4 of the 5 playable starter races (5th being human of course)

pcgamer

Dauntless developer Phoenix Labs lays off employees and cancels in-development projects, says it's 'the last resort to ensure Phoenix Labs c

At least one cancelled game was reportedly set to be announced in June.

Edit: the decision to cancel the game was made by Forte, a blockchain company that acquired Phoenix Labs last year, who later decided to cancel all other projects so that the studio could focus on Dauntless and Fae Farm, Phoenix Labs' other already established games, rather than take the risk with this new IP.

I advise against sending any sort of hate towards Forte or Phoenix Labs and instead recommend continuing to share love for Everhaven and what it could have been until they realize their mistake.

Also thanks for 10k notes.

Simon's name doesn't even show up in the trailer 😭

It's so over...

Sigh. Is nothing sacred.

Tales from the Loop was amazing but this is the kind of thing that I don't think lends itself to a film adaptation. Especially not with Crisp Rat, especially especially not one with Crisp Rat directed by the Russos. Tonal change from the book is inevitable I fear.

I searched the entire Internet for ideas of Stella's demonic form... I only like the naked skull of a bird, I didn't want to draw lots and lots of eyes like vivzipop, because I was already tired of seeing it in every character.