atomicshoreline's recent activity
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on How do you find new anime to watch? in ~anime
atomicshoreline Link ParentYeah I never really managed to shake the student mindset despite being out of university. Unless something feels at least vaguely like school its hard to justify it as an activity in my mind. Also...Yeah I never really managed to shake the student mindset despite being out of university. Unless something feels at least vaguely like school its hard to justify it as an activity in my mind. Also in general I have a strong compulsion to organize things into webs of connections.
Anime in particular is rather conservative about introducing new ideas and tends to recreate plotlines, characters etc. wholesale so tracing its influences is usually an exercise in finding the earliest anime featuring an example of a trope. Something that a contributor to tvtropes.org has likely already done the legwork for (Taiga Aisaka being an expy of Shana from Shakugan no Shana) or its very self-evident from my personal knowledge (Dungeon Meshi being heavily influenced by early roguelikes such as Nethack).
However if you recursively map tropes/references far enough, eventually you leave behind well documented 20th and 21th century work and start getting into the murky water of folklore where its a lot harder to find authoritative sources for but its also where a lot of the most obscure and thus most interesting connections are.
For example I was really interested in the connection Japan had with foxes after reading The Helpful Fox Senko-san and Tamamo-chan is a Fox!. In my reading I discovered that there was this strong tension between foxes being described as divinely good (likely stemming from their role in keeping pests out of rice fields), anxiety about foxes as outsiders/prostitutes who threaten social stability, and some in between like a fox that is a doting mother until their true identity is revealed (This trope that also applies to other creatures like the Yuki-onna. There is some interesting feminist analysis about male anxieties in folklore there but that's another topic)
Senko-san in particular is really aware of all three types and all of them influence its characters. Senko is of course the doting mother, and the anime in particular does a fake out where Nakano this she abandoned him. Shiro has the visual trappings of a divine messenger such as the white fur but mixes it with modern sensibilities by adopting magical girl motifs at certain points. Sora has the most prostitute like appearance and intrudes to destabilize the situation (side note there is evidence of competing brothels in the Edo period using yokai motifs for branding in a similar way as a modern maid cafes but that's also another topic).
Seeing Shiro's magical girl antics reminded me of watching Madoka Magica which led to me digging into what the deal was with Japan and witches was and the short version is that they had their own version of witch hunts that had some level of influence on the popular perception of witches even into the 20th century but sentiments were significantly influenced be the the TV show Bewitched getting dubbed and released there which softened perceptions and led to the creation of the show Sally the Witch which was foundational to the magical girl genre and as well as other positive depictions of witches like Kiki's delivery Service which is part of the canon of Studio Ghibli films that helped influence the whole anti-industrial cozy game genre.
Everything is connected and a even a niche work, dropped into the timeline at the right moment can have its influence grow over time as people imitate it and then are themselves imitated. It kind of makes me wonder what currently niche pieces of media are going to have a long term impact.
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Comment on How do you find new anime to watch? in ~anime
atomicshoreline LinkI like being in on the jokes and references so I if I like an anime I will use my existing knowledge of a works influences as well as its Shoutout page on tvtropes.org example as a jumping off...I like being in on the jokes and references so I if I like an anime I will use my existing knowledge of a works influences as well as its Shoutout page on tvtropes.org example as a jumping off point to explore other media. I treat it as a sort of mapping project. For particularly reference dense work like the above example this can take a long time but I enjoy the process of gaining a more comprehensive view of a work.
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Comment on What are your current pain points with Linux? in ~tech
atomicshoreline (edited )LinkPain points Being forced to choose between heavy desktop environments with sensible defaults such as automatic screen blanking after some time if media is not being played back versus minimal...Pain points
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Being forced to choose between heavy desktop environments with sensible defaults such as automatic screen blanking after some time if media is not being played back versus minimal desktop environment where you have to script those small bits of functionality yourself. My ideal would be something like i3/sway with just a few key bells and whistles from a larger DE.
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The constant battle of wrangling theming across applications. You have to deal with QT and GTK, crack open Electron apps and modify their CSS after every update (sometimes rebuilding the AppImage if its distributed that way). Deal with flatpak apps needing their own copy of the theme etc.
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Poor laptop support particularly in regards to power management.Nvidia optimus is such a pain.
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Poor handling of network drives. Its very easy for a process to hang while in uninterruptible sleep if copying large files over sshfs
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Poor security model generally and attempts to fix it like firejail are clumsy and require trial and error to figure out what permissions an application actually needs when error messages are cryptic.
Experience
Daily driver since 2018
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Comment on Twenty-year-old Xbox 360 game Blue Dragon now has a fantastic unofficial PC port that unlocks the FPS, goes 4K, and even adds mod support in ~games
atomicshoreline Link ParentI haven't played Pandora's Tower, can you elaborate on what makes its cursebreaking arc different from similar examples such as Shadow of the Colossus and Stardust Crusaders? Also do you know of...worthy of examination in the history of romance in games and the West's history of hesitance in accepting romance in games
I haven't played Pandora's Tower, can you elaborate on what makes its cursebreaking arc different from similar examples such as Shadow of the Colossus and Stardust Crusaders?
Also do you know of any interesting sources speculating on origins of the differences in perception of romance in games between eastern and western players. I have something of personal crusade in regards to getting video game romance stories to be taken seriously and an opportunity to hone my rhetoric is welcome.
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Comment on Who likes GTA? in ~games
atomicshoreline (edited )LinkAre you familiar with the Situationalists, particularly the concept of the spectacle? It posits that one of the consequences of mass media is a that individual lived experiences have been replaced...Are you familiar with the Situationalists, particularly the concept of the spectacle? It posits that one of the consequences of mass media is a that individual lived experiences have been replaced by partitioned and distilled images.
The Situationalists saw the physical geometry of urban environments as a driver of this partitioning and rebelled by vandalizing advertistments and staging highly public performance art
GTA taps into this same idea with its parodies of American culture (e.g. NASDAQ to BAWSAQ), and the highly permeable environment where you can enter any vehicle and drive it anywhere, upending the familiar urban environment in the process. Its basically a Situationist simulator and I think it scratches a itch for people that they often don't even know how to describe properly.
P.S. I am neither an avid GTA player nor an art history major so if someone with more experience in either of those things disagrees with my view I would love to hear it.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
atomicshoreline Link ParentI'm not sure if that opinion is a minority opinion about the two game but if it is consider me another party member in that fight. The thing that grated on me the most in TOTK specifically was the...I'm not sure if that opinion is a minority opinion about the two game but if it is consider me another party member in that fight. The thing that grated on me the most in TOTK specifically was the fact that you have a party fighting alongside you and they constantly teleport and block the camera. It was a constant nagging reminder that they had JRPGified the gameplay and broke the sense of isolation. I like a lot of what TOTK has to offer, particular in regards to the Depths mirroring the overworld (an element of the Zelda series I actually consider to be quite important) but I could just never get over it.
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Comment on Reminder to myself that my employer does not give a shit about me in ~life
atomicshoreline LinkDoes anyone else struggle to take PTO because the thought of figuring out what to do with the free time outside a typical routine is kind of painful. Its especially bad when I am on vacation....Does anyone else struggle to take PTO because the thought of figuring out what to do with the free time outside a typical routine is kind of painful. Its especially bad when I am on vacation. Whenever I am visiting my Grandparents I just end up hiding away in some basement room until some predetermined event like dinner happens. Its like I'm some kind of NPC with broken path finding,
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Comment on Keep Android Open in ~tech
atomicshoreline Link ParentFrom your description that sounds like Olauncher.just a wallpaper background an a list of apps by name down the left, can't remember which one it was
From your description that sounds like Olauncher.
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Comment on Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is coming this fall in ~anime
atomicshoreline LinkI really struggled with this show. Its kind of hard to get invested in characters if you know terrible things will happen to them.I really struggled with this show. Its kind of hard to get invested in characters if you know terrible things will happen to them.
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Comment on Game testers wanted for science fiction game in ~games
atomicshoreline Link ParentSure, that makes sense. I am still interested in playing.Sure, that makes sense. I am still interested in playing.
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Comment on Game testers wanted for science fiction game in ~games
atomicshoreline LinkHello, I am interested in trying it out. I like to try out all possible paths so if you have a map of all the branching story paths you could also send I would appreciate that.Hello, I am interested in trying it out. I like to try out all possible paths so if you have a map of all the branching story paths you could also send I would appreciate that.
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Comment on Fitness tracker smart watches that work well without a smartphone app? in ~health
atomicshoreline Link ParentI am a long time user of the Garmin Instinct line. I can probably answer any really nitty gritty questions you may have about that line specifically. In addition I can also answer a good amount of...I am a long time user of the Garmin Instinct line. I can probably answer any really nitty gritty questions you may have about that line specifically. In addition I can also answer a good amount of more general questions about Garmin's ecosystem, including what app development looks like.
In general Garmin is likely your best bet for non-smartphone and there is an open source app (Gadget Bridge) that for supported models is able to create a local bluetooth only connection to your phone which allows for syncing of contacts, ringing the phone from the watch etc. if such a compromise works for you. Otherwise you can connect the watch to a PC via USB and copy the files that way (you may also be able to add apps to the watch this was as well depending on the model).
Let me know if you have any questions I can try and answer.
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Comment on Jmail - A Gmail clone where you're logged in as Jeffrey Epstein and can read his emails in ~society
atomicshoreline LinkReminds me of the The Good Life a project where you could sign up to receive the Enron emails to your inbox to relive what that place and time would have been like.Reminds me of the The Good Life a project where you could sign up to receive the Enron emails to your inbox to relive what that place and time would have been like.
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Comment on Looking for watch recommendations as my partners Apple Watch doesn't even last a day anymore in ~tech
atomicshoreline Link ParentRegarding your desire for syncing you will want to look at what devices are supported by the open source android app Gadgetbridge It syncs directly to the Android device, no cloud service...Regarding your desire for syncing you will want to look at what devices are supported by the open source android app Gadgetbridge It syncs directly to the Android device, no cloud service required. As mentioned Garmin a decent choice is good third party apps aren't a big deal deal to you.
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Comment on Looking for watch recommendations as my partners Apple Watch doesn't even last a day anymore in ~tech
atomicshoreline Link ParentHello, owner of a Garmin Instinct 2s here. Garmin tends to make exceptionally good hardware but their software lacks in certain key areas (on the Instinct 2s, other offerings may differ), namely...Hello, owner of a Garmin Instinct 2s here. Garmin tends to make exceptionally good hardware but their software lacks in certain key areas (on the Instinct 2s, other offerings may differ), namely
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Many functions of the watch such as setting calendar alerts rely on the a phone being connected which requires Bluetooth be on which drains battery. As far as I have been able to tell even third party apps can't access calendar events.
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Certain watch hardware such as the NFC chip and most uses of Bluetooth can only be used by first-party apps such as Garmin Pay. This means that sadly you can't keep things like Amiibos/Wifi connection details on your watch.
If none of these things bother you it does technically meet all your requirements and has extreme battery life, a month+ isn't unheard of, though given your looking at the Enduro and are an Apple user you are probably is in different price tier and have different expectations than me.
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Comment on Did NPR just shut down support for RSS? in ~tech
atomicshoreline Link ParentI saw that you got it mostly working but I was also having issues with the RSS feed even though I am an American so my solution was to use a cronjob that runs wget --mirror on their minimal text...I saw that you got it mostly working but I was also having issues with the RSS feed even though I am an American so my solution was to use a cronjob that runs wget --mirror on their minimal text based site text.npr.org and then uses python's built in webserver to host that mirrored the website
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Comment on CGA-2025-10 đšī¸â° đēī¸ đ¸ REMOVE CARTRIDGE âī¸ Chrono Trigger in ~games
atomicshoreline Link ParentI did enjoy it a little. My experience with JRPGs comes mostly from the downstream influence of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras that shows up in avant-garde RPGMaker games, mostly Yume Nikki and its...I did enjoy it a little. My experience with JRPGs comes mostly from the downstream influence of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras that shows up in avant-garde RPGMaker games, mostly Yume Nikki and its fangames. Although YN is probably old enough it qualifies for a slot in CGA in and of itself, I only played it a couple years ago so my perception of its release date is definitely skewed.
Anyway When I got to the future area for the first time(there is probably a proper name for it) I kept seeing things that reminded me of the barracks area in Yume Nikki and the sort of industrial wastelands that are common in YN Fan Games like .flow and Muma Rope. This made 2 things clear to me.
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Stopping to do battles is easily the worse part of the traditional JRPG gameplay loop for me. I just want to explore strange places. I don't mind if monsters chase you occasionally or something but I don't want to have to stop and fight.
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The random racing minigame they used to show off mode 7 is just the racing mini-game joke from this skit but 100% unironic in a bad way
I like to think of myself as someone who likes video games in general and can find enjoyment in any genre or time period but I feel like CGA is forcing me to confront the fact that both of those statements don't accurately describe me anymore if they ever did. I am still going to at least attempt to keep playing the CGA game each month though. I really like Playstation 1 and Playstation 2 games so maybe next month will be an improvement.
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Comment on CGA-2025-10 đšī¸â° đēī¸ đ¸ REMOVE CARTRIDGE âī¸ Chrono Trigger in ~games
atomicshoreline LinkAnother one I didn't finish. I wish I could stay at something for more than a couple of hours.Another one I didn't finish. I wish I could stay at something for more than a couple of hours.
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Comment on CGA-2025-10 đšī¸â° đēī¸ đ¸ INSERT CARTRIDGE đĸ Chrono Trigger in ~games
atomicshoreline LinkI played a little bit of The Last Express but Silksong and a Path of Exile league launch proved to be the priority. Games like TLE are a bit foreign to me which I think was a contributing factor...I played a little bit of The Last Express but Silksong and a Path of Exile league launch proved to be the priority. Games like TLE are a bit foreign to me which I think was a contributing factor though I might still play it in my own time. Since I didn't say anything in the TLE threads let me introduce myself. My video game background mostly consists of the PS2, Nintendo consoles since the GameCube, and PC gaming starting in the later half of the 2000s.
I discovered emulation when I started PC gaming and that helped me connect with earlier Nintendo games but my experience outside that space is somewhat sparse. These days I have a relatively period accurate retrogaming setup with an old CRT courtesy of my university's surplus store(only $5 because they wanted it gone) and an old Raspberry Pi setup to output composite video via its 3.5mm jack. I know its not enough for hardcore purists but it was dirt cheap and good enough for me.
I like to think of myself as someone who is a fan of retro games, though I spend more time getting game metadata and cover art to show up correctly in the game selection menu and collecting fan translations than I do actually playing games. Sometimes I think museum curator for some kind of video game history museum would be a dream job.
I don't have a ton of experience with JRPGs other than through adjacent media such as RPGMaker games and isekai manga so this will also be a bit foreign to me but I have already put an hour into Chrono Trigger and am enjoying it so far, though it took me awhile to figure out how saving the game works.
I played Night Loops a sort of Yume Nikki and Majora's mask inspired adventure game. I love the atmosphere and art direction of the game but its constant timer (which also doubles as your health bar) makes it kind of a struggle to get immersed in its setting because I was increasingly concerned with optimal routing to save time because I was worried that the ending might be tied to how many loops I took to complete things. Having gotten to one of the endings I don't think that's the case but the damage was already done.