Creative Director at Boss Fight (a Netflix game studio). Focused on MMOs, RPGS, social systems, monetization. Advocate for putting treasure behind waterfalls
Austin, TX
- Tweets 94,026
- Following 1,845
- Followers 17,525
- Likes 29,720
BREAKING: Joe Biden signs an executive order mandating all waterfalls in video games have something hidden behind them.
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Hi. Game designer here. I’ve seen the metrics.
While it’s not just you, there is a sizable number of players who spend huge amounts of time in character creation. Some will spend more than an hour there.
(Thread)
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AI-enhanced camera technology helps solve murder in Missouri abc7.la/4a6oWgw
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Love hearing about ‘the sanctity of life’ from the same people who have spent the last two years arguing that killing grandma is a small price to pay for being able to sit in an Applebee’s.
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“And every four years, we will have suburban housewives in Pennsylvania choose a new president.”
“Just Pennsylvania, sir?”
“And Wisconsin and Michigan. And maybe Arizona, as a treat.”
“No one else can vote, sir?”
“They can vote but it won’t matter.”
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Movie: .. and then Rey takes Luke and Leia’s sabers to Tattooine.
Me: Why?
Movie: So their spirits will be home. You know, closure.
Me: Leia wasn’t from Tattooine.
Movie: ....
Me: Leia primarily remembered Tattooine as the place where she was a giant slug’s sex slave.
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A lot of game devs are dunking on this, but if you're not a game dev it's probably not actually obvious why. So I thought I'd take a moment to answer a little more thoughtfully in hopes of giving gamers a little more insight on what we do.
the yellow paint is so unnecessary obviously a ladder is climbable obviously a crate is breakable why did they do this
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At first this seems like a stupid idea but when you sit down and consider it -- REALLY think about the ramifications of it -- then it becomes just absolutely mindblowingly stupid.
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The fact that the right is more interested in disqualifying Walz than Harris is fascinating. My head has run through several theories.
(Short thread)
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The last week on Twitter has been really an amazing string of WTF, even by the impressive standards of Elon. It's really funny when you put all the pieces together.
it's important to start at the beginning. Twitter's pretty broke.
(amusing thread)
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It's brilliant but it's brilliant because the banter FEELS like modern-day table banter of a fun, silly TTRPG group and also I firmly choose to believe the 'friend who plays a paladin who can only show up for one session a month' was an intentional vibe they chased.
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(As a side note, white men usually don’t understand the value and power of representation in games - or movies or comics or tv - because they’ve always had plenty of it. Seeing someone like you hits a lot harder if you’re a woman, or black, or gay, or have vitiligo).
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Me, reading a @dieworkwear thread while wiping cheetoh dust off on my t-shirt and pajamas with holes in it: "Fuck him up, Derek."
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3. Theory 3: Walz pointing out they are weird is much more dangerous to them. If a black, gay trans person calls ‘em weird, they can shrug it off, but Walz is solidly a normie dad. When HE calls you weird, it just sticks more.
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Also, in a dialogue-heavy game with a lot of NPCs like a DA or a BG3, you’ll need a wide wealth of options to create a world of options to make your NPCs not feel like pod people copies of each other, so the work is not just about appeasing that portion of the audience.
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And yes, many people will try to make themselves, and many people are delighted that they can. It makes them feel seen, which is more impactful in video games where they typically don’t have representation.
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That said, another large percentage will just slam the default or preset options (especially in slider-heavy CC screens where finding a good look is almost an art). Having good presets is CRUCIAL for those players who just want to get into the game.
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1. Theory 1: they know if they attack Harris, the MAGA base will go racist. (Don’t like this theory, it’s too smart).
2. Theory 2: They view Walz as a traitor. Straight white male, vet and football coach with a ‘keep govt out of our lives’ streak?
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But one thing we do a lot is focus group testing, where we watch players play our games. Nothing like standing behind glass watching someone take 45 minutes to try to open a door that you think is pretty obvious.
Thread of game design decisions I had to make on things that seemed obvious to me but werent during playtests.
🧵
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The tendency to try to make yourself also results in generic white guys being chosen but that’s mostly a function of white guys being the largest demographic for gaming, even though that is changing as gaming becomes more widespread and international.
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You know how ‘remasters’ are all the rage? A very non-zero amount of them start off with the publisher/rights owner realizing they don’t have the source code and assets anymore, and inquiring awkwardly whether any former devs have (illegally) a personal copy they shouldn’t.
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But mostly it’s just about roleplaying. You know, that thing that’s in the name of the genre? People want to create a character and decide how that character would react to the situations a game throws at it. Part of the fun is choosing a character you think is interesting.
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Toxic Fanboys: The thing about TLJ is that it cheapens everything about Luke’s journey in the original arcs.
Me: I disagree, but okay.
Movie: We’re resurrecting Palpatine!
Toxic Fanboys: Yay!
Me: Doesn’t that cheapen Luke’s...
Movie: It happens offscreen. In a game of Fortnite.
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Last but not least, if you don’t like certain character creation options, one great thing you can try is NOT CHOOSING THEM.
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And yes, gender bending is often part of the deal. This may be partly for thrill or curiosity. Sometimes it’s just better character art. Women often play men to hide their identities in games with multiplayer to avoid getting hit on.
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This is one of those counterintuitive cases where REALISM IS LESS IMMERSIVE. Immersion is not a measure of how realistic the grass looks, it's a measure of how much you are into flow of the experience. And while hot shit art can be a factor, game readability trumps it.
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A lot of people have taken pot shots at this but I want to go into a little more in-depth, because I think it's important to understand what people like Mira just do not get. Let's talk about writing, esp. game writing.
Everyone thinks they can write.
1/Thread
OpenAI's Mira Murati: "some creative jobs maybe will go away, but maybe they shouldn't have been there in the first place"
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Let's just start with the obvious: art directors all wish this guy was correct. And some art directors stick to their guns and either have no cues, or cues that only appear if you enter 'scan mode' or turn on 'spidey sense' or something. What in this screenshot is interactable?
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"I felt it was important to go on the record as someone who hates women, doesn't understand science, and thinks that it's supercool that a rapist can make 10 Gs if his victim tries to get rid of the baby."
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Lastly, a lot of people who like to see themselves in the game may not choose to PLAY themselves - i.e. they’ll then go create something else. They may choose an idealized version of themselves, or something that’s a complete 180.
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The push towards more realistic art increases the need for more unrealistic visual cues. Most obvious example is that if you have a level in a hospital, you might have a hallway full of doors but only one works.
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That character may look like the player themselves. It may be a transgender vampire queen. It may be the derpiest mutant the character creator lets you make for the lols. But yes, lots of people love a good character creator, and they are often the genre’s biggest fans.
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So what you’re saying is that Crowder was unhappy with how his body’s natural gender cues clashed with his sense of identity and sought out expensive but elective surgery to correct it.
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Movie: Lando sent out the call for help, and everyone came!
Me: But wait. Why did they come this time and not in TLJ? No one came in TLJ!
Movie: Because Lando! He’s a war hero!
Me: But last time, the call came from General Leia!
Movie: Uh...
Lando: On your left!
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Movie: “This place is IMPOSSIBLE to get to!”
Me: “Okay.”
Movie: “You need a special doohickey to find a thingamabob and there are ONLY TWO. SUPER SECRET.”
Me: “Okay.”
Movie: “Enough people do find their way here, though, to staff an Armada and fill a very emo soccer stadium.”
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Movie: We’re killing Threepio!
Me: No you’re not.
Movie: Look, he’s giving a big poignant goodbye speech!
Me: Uh huh.
Movie: He never even got to see R2 again!
Me: Uh huh.
Movie: We’re going to play the whole thing for laughs!
Me: Uh huh.
Movie: Psych! He’s fine.
Me: Uh huh.
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Movie: Hey, remember Hux?
Me: You mean, the head nazi? The fanatic true believer? Like, top guy for the First Order?
Movie: Yeah, he’s a spy.
Me: This is nonsense yet somehow predictable.
Movie: We’re playing it for laughs.
Me: Uh huh.
Movie: Whoops, you blinked, he’s dead.
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Movie: Chewbacca’s dead!
Me: Chewbacca’s not dead.
Movie: Totally dead! Off screen, but dead all the same.
Me: Chewbacca’s not dead.
Movie: And worst of all, Rey thinks it’s ALL HER FAULT!
Me: Chewbacca’s not dead.
Movie: LOL j/k, he’s fine.
Me: I hate you.
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Repeat after me:
1) 28.6% is actually pretty good odds.
2) Nate Silver was the only one who gave Trump odds those big.
3) Literally everyone was making fun of him at the time.
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One hidden reason why games industry has a huge crunch culture is simple. At some point, you're going to throw away a huge chunk of your game, and you have no idea what that will be or how significant it's going to be.
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Why? Well aside from the obvious (it costs time and money to model every room), it also breaks the flow of the player experience. What's meant to be a short sequeway between fights ends up being a long room-to-room search where players aren't having any fun.
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If you think that both parties are identical after the last 15 years of politics, you may be so politically naive that it’s hopeless.
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Yes, absolutely. I've always said the worst part of movies is that they're shared experiences and cultural touchstones everyone can relate to, discuss and dissect.
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Movie: Hey, remember Rose Tico? First woman of color to have a leading role in a Star Wars movie?
Me: Yeah?
Movie: Well, we didn’t.
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Ah, yes, famously Florida has never had any controversy counting votes that extended a month after the election and got the Supreme Court involved.
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This morning @unity sent a powerful message to all mobile game developers, and that message is ‘switch to Unreal, and do it immediately’.
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Love to hear about ‘the sanctity of life’ from people who think a steady trickle of dead schoolchildren is a small price to pay for their fetish-like gun hobby.
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This is also funny because a core promise of Twitter Blue is that you won't see very many ads! So Twitter Blue went from the feature that would make ads unnecessary to one where Blue users MUST be shown ads in order to succeed!
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A huge part of the problem is that advertising has declined massively. You've probably noticed that your ads are now less likely to be McDonald's and Acura and more likely to be Cheech & Chong's gummies and various wish.com level crap.
cnn.com/2023/02/10/tech/twit…
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*sigh*
Most video games are about violence because it’s the easiest thing to do. It is the ‘layup’ in terms of video game design. Let me explain
(Thread)
Game Devs can we discuss the movie Free Guy? Because the fact an above average Ryan Reynolds film can ask the question "Why are all modern AAA Videogames based around violence", yet we never mention it is... Unsettling.
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Movie: LIGHTSPEED SKIPPING!
Me: Hyperspace doesn't work like that. Han clearly laid out the dangers of--
Movie: TIE FIGHTERS ARE ALSO LIGHTSPEED SKIPPING!
Me: TIE fighters are short-ranged ships. In Ep4, they --
Movie: COMING SOON TO GALAXY'S EDGE: LIGHTSPEED SKIPPING THE RIDE!
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Actually, the thread nor the tweet I was responding to discussed this specific example. That said, scars in this general area are, in the United States, far more likely to be on cis people (mastectomies for example) than trans.
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90% of advice given like 'don't be pushy' really just means 'jesus, tone it down until you're not a creep'. You'll never get anywhere if you aren't assertive, but figuring out where the line between 'assertive but nonthreatening' and 'earning a restraining order' is critical.
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Film has a concept called 'shoe leather' which is a term for wasting the audience's time on inconsequential bullshit. Locking doors where there's nothing interesting happening is basically the same concept.
piped.video/watch?v=wV4-U76a…
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Movie: Okay, fair enough. Maybe Finn ISN'T in love with Rey.
Me: Okay.
Movie: Maybe he just has something really important to tell her. Something that can't wait.
Me: We ever gonna clear up what that's all about.
Movie: LOL, no.
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Movie: Anyway, this gal gives Poe a doohickey that is the only way off the planet.
Me: Right.
Movie: Seriously, only way off this planet. She can't leave. She's stuck here.
Me: Right.
Movie: Then the empire blows up the planet.
Me: She's fine, right?
Movie: LOL yeah.
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Movie: Oh, hey, we also gave Poe! A love interest!
Me: Sure.
Movie: It's a WOMAN. Wanna stress that.
Me: Lame but okay.
Movie: The chemistry is PALPABLE. They have HISTORY. She SMOLDERS.
Me: Okay.
Movie: Of course, you can't tell because she always wears a motorcycle helmet.
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But if there's a hallway with 10 doors but only one opens, how do you telegraph that to the player? Well, one easy way to do that is to do something like put a green light over that door, while ensuring the other doors remain dark or have paint that fades into the background.
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Me: So what was Palp's plan?
Movie: To kill Rey!
Me: Got it.
Movie: No, to have Rey kill him. It will turn her to the dark side.
Me: Got it.
Movie: Nope, go google 'force dyad'.
Me: Uh
Movie: Anyway, Rey kills him.
Me: Does it turn her to the dark side?
Movie: LOL, of course not.
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Yes, how dare someone who has made 30+ trips to the Titanic, helped fund/engineer craft capable of doing so safely, and sent mail to OceanGate begging them to pay attention to safety protocols signed by himself and many other sub vets answer questions on this topic when asked.
James Cameron couldn’t even wait a news cycle to tell us how much smarter he is than these guys were
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I see that Civ VII will have Gwendoline Christie as the narrator, and while I think that’s nice, they missed a real opportunity to get Philomena Cunk.
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Movie: And then Kylo Ren was REDEEMED.
Me: Why?
Movie: He helped DEFEAT THE EMPEROR.
Me: He didn't do shit. He showed up, got his life force sucked out, and fell down a hole for the rest of the fight.
Movie: REDEEMED.
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You could have players try every single door, but not only is it a waste of the player's time, it calls attention to the shortcomings of the situation. Sure, there are a lot of doors, but only one is openable? That's bullshit.
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Movie: Watch Finn ride on the outside of this Star Destroyer on horseback!
Me: Sure. Cool.
Movie: Watch Finn commandeer a Star Destroyer’s turret and shoot it at the Star Destroyer’s own bridge!
Me: Wait. You can control a SD turret from...outside? Space?
Movie: Uh.
Me: WHY?!?
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Twitter is 'we're being sued because we owe $500 million dollars of severance pay' level of broke.
mashable.com/article/twitter…
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While realism can be a factor to a game's immersion, it's often not necessary. Think of immersion as 'the factor that makes you look up and realize it's 6AM and you have work or school in two hours'. Games I'd consider immersive include Tetris and Candy Crush.
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Twitter got into this position largely by deciding that getting people to subscribe to Twitter Blue was the future, and would be enough to make Twitter less dependant on Advertising. Remember when they made the hard switch to get rid of old legacy checkmarks? No one converted.
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Movie: ... and the instructions to find this doohickey are on this ANCIENT DAGGER.
Me: The death star crashed there 40 years ago.
Movie: ... on this RELATIVELY RECENTLY MADE DAGGER.
Me: Nothing says sci-fi like a dagger that'd look at home in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
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Love hearing about the ‘sanctity of life’ from the same people who were passing laws encouraging you to ram your cars into protesters exhibiting their first amendment rights.
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Blue checkmarks were viewed so terribly that Elon Musk forced them on certain selected celebrities -- many of whom then felt obligated to stress to their followers that no, they would not pay for this garbage website.
slate.com/technology/2023/04…
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Also, if you think this sounds like a pyramid scheme or an MLM... yeah, kinda does! It's a transparent attempt to goose blue subscriptions with the promise that you, too, could be getting $25K checks instead of being one of the greater fools shelling out $8/month.
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Twitter is 'can't pay the rent' level of broke.
tech.co/news/musk-twitter-re…
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Movie: You're very cynical. You realize Kylo saved his true love.
Me: That redeems an evil person? A good person would look past his passions & save everyone.
Movie: TRUE LOVE.
Me: You know the Jedi code forbids 'attachments', right?
Movie: HE'S WEARING A BOYFRIEND SWEATER NOW.
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Movie: And to USE this dagger, you have to stand in a SPECIFIC SPOT.
Me: Okay, how do you find that spot?
Movie: ... luck, mostly.
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The things that break immersion are the things that break your flow in a game, usually because you know what you need to do but can't figure out how to interact with the game to do it. Biggest breaker of immersion IMHO is usually bad UI. Fighting with the controls breaks flow.
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Movie: And we know you all have been waiting for it! Finally! The KNIGHTS OF REN ARE HERE!
Me: Awesome! What do they do?
Movie: ..... honestly, not much.
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(As an aside, congratulations to the banks who loaned Elon money. You figured out a way to make Twitter profitable, at least for you! Good for you!)
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Love hearing about the ‘sanctity of life’ from the people whose national health care plan is ‘fuck you got mine’.
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Movie: Hey, maaaaybe Finn is in love with Rey.
Me: So a love triangle sort of thing?
Movie: Maybe!
Me: Will Finn ever materially interact or interfere with Rey and Ben's romance story?
Movie:... no.
Me: So he's just going to kind of mope around in the friendzone the whole time?
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Media Matters (@mmfa) did a pretty good roundup. Surprise, it's all of the right-wing dumbosphere that specialize in racism and homophobia/transphobia that Elon likes to interact with on a regular basis!
mediamatters.org/twitter/rig…
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See Tycho's thoughts on the subject. People turning this into a culture war thing are basically just telling on themselves, all for an option that is utterly skippable.
Let me be real for a second. I'm watching this Dragon Age discourse, and it's like... I know women who have "top surgery scars" because they had fucking cancer. Cancer. Okay? These women are in my family. They have "top surgery scars" because the alternative is dying of cancer.
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So who did Elon handpick for this program? Well, a high profile sex trafficker for starters.
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Movie: We have some Carrie Fisher footage!
Me: This makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable.
Movie: Here's more than you thought possible!
Me: Maybe I'm just squeamish because Rogue One kinda put me off with their plastic-faced CGI Leia.
Movie: We got some of that too!
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Movie: ... and then they give Chewbacca’s Leia’s medal for the Battle of Yavin! He finally got one!
Me: ... Leia didn’t HAVE a medal from the Battle of Yavin.
Movie: ...maybe it was Han’s
Me: What, did she somehow win Han’s medal in the divorce?
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Love hearing about the ‘sanctity of life’ from people who proudly defend a cop’s right to pump a magazine full of lead into a black teenager because they looked at him funny.
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The message is clear. If you want to make money from Twitter, be a right-wing influencer who regularly takes a shit on marginalized minorities.
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Movie: The Emperor has a MASSIVE, ANCIENT FLEET frozen in the ice.
Me: Why would you—
Movie: The Fleet is the MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED in the galaxy! Each one is a mini Death Star.
Me: How did these ships—
Movie: This Fleet is FULLY MANNED.
Me: ...
nitter.app/thelindsayellis/status…
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I’d like to thank Ben for summing up so succinctly how ‘debate’ with these pinheads is a bad faith exercise.
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All of this feels very much like a publicity stunt to try to keep their key influencers from leaving. But why would they feel the need to do that? Gee, that's a real puzzle.
/thread
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Movie: Hey, you know Ep 4 when they infiltrate the death star?
Me: Yeah?
Movie: We're gonna redo that.
Me: Cool.
Movie: Only this time they'll go in GUNS BLAZING.
Me: What.
Movie: JUST A HALF DOZEN DUDES RAIDING A STAR DESTROYER.
Me: That's suicide.
Movie: Oh, they'll be fine.
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Movie: Hey, you know how some people were really bothered they didn’t know where Snoke came from and why he was special?
Me: Yeah?
Movie: He was grown in a vat!
Me: That seems to raise more questions than answers.
Movie: Yeah. The Emperor even had, like, backup Snokes!
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Movie: And in a final act of sacrifice, Leia will reach out to her son.
Me: And kill him.
Movie: What?
Me: Leia’s final act will be to distract her son so he dies.
Movie: Lucky timing too!
Me: How is this not a dark side thing?
Movie: Look, it’s not like he stays dead.
Me: ....
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Advertisers are, of course, still pretty skeptical.
vox.com/technology/2023/3/23…
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