Bubble UP and Dystopian fantasy

Note: I haven't posted on this blog since 2013 mostly due to work, life, and all the things that get in the way of writing. Currently it's December 24, 2017 and ALOT of things have happened.

Grievance: Banks pumping up the housing bubble...AGAIN!

Pop that American Dream Goldman Sachs!

Cause nothing says "I love you" like foreclosing on people who don't even have a mortgage on their home from your bank. That particular article has a happy ending because the bank got foreclosed on by the people they tried to victimize but imagine if those folks didn't have the time, money, or energy to resist? You think I'm joking but what about all the folks whose homes were foreclosed without any media attention? At this point home ownership, once the bastion of the middle class, is no longer affordable to newest generation of Americans. That's right boomer mom and dad your grandkids can't afford a new home because their being forced into low paying jobs by college loan debts. They will actually be financially worse off than you. And if the vast majority of Americans can't afford the new suburban McMansions guess what happens to the housing economy? If you said bubblegum crisis than give yourself a cookie!

Praise: Shadowrun Returns & Dragonfall

Never make a deal with a dragon...

Speaking of dystopian cyberpunk fantasies...HOLY CRAP its a sequel to my favorite PC game from 2013 and IT'S AWESOME. *AHEM* Sorry about that fanboy moment but yes Shadowrun: Dragonfall and its predecessor Shadowrun Returns will always have a place in my heart. Even if William Gibson, the grandfather of Cyberpunk, does not like the setting. I get it, they added traditional fantasy elements (other races, magic, and hong kong wire-fu to name a few) to an otherwise believable cyberpunk future. But that niche was already taken by other systems so the creators of Battletech had to do something different to grab players attention: and it worked! This sequel takes you eastward from the mega-sprawl of Seattle, Washington to Berlin, Germany and brother it is worth the trip. Conspiracies, both magical and mundane, hover over the return of one of the first dragons to appear in Europe. And boy did she do a number on the place, think Smaug from the Hobbit, the book not the movie btw. And guess what chummer your team of shadowrunners took a job that just placed you all squarely in her sights. But what really steals the show are the other NPC's and they are characters with their own lives and backstories. One was so tragic that I shed a few tears because of it. Go play this game and if you like what I have written down so far you will not be disappointed.