John Ryan 🔜 GDC
@johnryanwrites.bsky.social
Senior Writer/Narrative Designer/Consultant for Games | Horizon Forbidden West | Destiny: The Taken King and beyond | IRON MAN VR | Guild Wars 2 | Forza 7 | Fable 2 | Lily's Garden. Husband, Marathoner, Cat Wrangler, BAFTA member. johnryanwrites.com
Pinned
Imagine being so much of shit you can't mingle at the Olympics, hit up a street vendor for some local fare, or have an impromptu romantic dinner with your spouse at a Milan restaurant.
Instead, you require your own white power bento boxes from home because a local would likely spit in your food.
Instead, you require your own white power bento boxes from home because a local would likely spit in your food.
Not only did they bring a small private army, but among the waste of taxpayer money was BRINGING A FULL PLANE OF FOOD.
To *Italy*.
To *Italy*.
February 7, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Imagine being so much of shit you can't mingle at the Olympics, hit up a street vendor for some local fare, or have an impromptu romantic dinner with your spouse at a Milan restaurant.
Instead, you require your own white power bento boxes from home because a local would likely spit in your food.
Instead, you require your own white power bento boxes from home because a local would likely spit in your food.
Sir Ian McKellen
Who do you want to guest host a potential revival of The Muppet Show?
Here’s Who We Want to Guest Host ‘The Muppet Show’ If It’s Revived
February 7, 2026 at 4:51 AM
Sir Ian McKellen
She arrived to reclaim what's hers.
February 7, 2026 at 2:39 AM
She arrived to reclaim what's hers.
Wow, a real-life Mysterious Stranger perk in action.
Physics of a direct hit from an RPG type projectile
February 7, 2026 at 2:02 AM
Wow, a real-life Mysterious Stranger perk in action.
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
"I need AI to make art, human art is only for the rich and privileged-"
February 6, 2026 at 7:29 PM
"I need AI to make art, human art is only for the rich and privileged-"
If you haven't, check out the prescient 2008 sci-fi film "Sleep Dealers," which intersects immigrants, border madness, and surveillance tech. Worth your time.
on anti-AI stances as "privilege".
it feels weirdly important to note that many defensive takes do not analyze stories about how workers from Kenya to Columbia have been forced into a digital underclass:
www.dawn.com/news/1949310
it feels weirdly important to note that many defensive takes do not analyze stories about how workers from Kenya to Columbia have been forced into a digital underclass:
www.dawn.com/news/1949310
Behind generative AI curtain is gruelling, low-paid human work
Invisible labellers’ toil has allowed self-driving cars to recognise pedestrians and chatbots to speak in natural-sounding sentences.
www.dawn.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:13 PM
If you haven't, check out the prescient 2008 sci-fi film "Sleep Dealers," which intersects immigrants, border madness, and surveillance tech. Worth your time.
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
The fact that AI boosters always go to “but art is EXPENSIVE” is telling.
Most people started with crayons, lined school paper, cheap pencils, ballpoint pen, the back of junk mail and misprinted pages.
Art supplies can be outrageous but you can make art with literal trash
Most people started with crayons, lined school paper, cheap pencils, ballpoint pen, the back of junk mail and misprinted pages.
Art supplies can be outrageous but you can make art with literal trash
"I need AI to make art, human art is only for the rich and privileged-"
February 6, 2026 at 8:02 PM
The fact that AI boosters always go to “but art is EXPENSIVE” is telling.
Most people started with crayons, lined school paper, cheap pencils, ballpoint pen, the back of junk mail and misprinted pages.
Art supplies can be outrageous but you can make art with literal trash
Most people started with crayons, lined school paper, cheap pencils, ballpoint pen, the back of junk mail and misprinted pages.
Art supplies can be outrageous but you can make art with literal trash
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
Current Discourse (TM) makes me think that it may be a good time to inform you that I designed this shirt with ink on paper and you can buy and wear it www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/2356...
make bad art by chekhovsraygun
you have permission
www.teepublic.com
February 6, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Current Discourse (TM) makes me think that it may be a good time to inform you that I designed this shirt with ink on paper and you can buy and wear it www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/2356...
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
Doing art badly is good and sacred
February 6, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Doing art badly is good and sacred
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
After 9+ years at ustwo games I have unfortunately been made redundant.
If you are looking for a stylised 3D generalist with 10+ years experience to have on your team please give me a shout or let others know that I am available for work! I'd love to chat ✨
fensartden.com
[email protected]
If you are looking for a stylised 3D generalist with 10+ years experience to have on your team please give me a shout or let others know that I am available for work! I'd love to chat ✨
fensartden.com
[email protected]
Fen Beatty
fensartden.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:09 PM
After 9+ years at ustwo games I have unfortunately been made redundant.
If you are looking for a stylised 3D generalist with 10+ years experience to have on your team please give me a shout or let others know that I am available for work! I'd love to chat ✨
fensartden.com
[email protected]
If you are looking for a stylised 3D generalist with 10+ years experience to have on your team please give me a shout or let others know that I am available for work! I'd love to chat ✨
fensartden.com
[email protected]
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
1. It was not an accident.
2. It was not a staffer.
3. While the president may have dementia his racism is not due to dementia.
4. He isn’t sorry. He means every racist thought he shares.
5. His base agrees with him.
6. He will do it again.
7. No one in power will hold him accountable.
2. It was not a staffer.
3. While the president may have dementia his racism is not due to dementia.
4. He isn’t sorry. He means every racist thought he shares.
5. His base agrees with him.
6. He will do it again.
7. No one in power will hold him accountable.
February 6, 2026 at 5:42 PM
1. It was not an accident.
2. It was not a staffer.
3. While the president may have dementia his racism is not due to dementia.
4. He isn’t sorry. He means every racist thought he shares.
5. His base agrees with him.
6. He will do it again.
7. No one in power will hold him accountable.
2. It was not a staffer.
3. While the president may have dementia his racism is not due to dementia.
4. He isn’t sorry. He means every racist thought he shares.
5. His base agrees with him.
6. He will do it again.
7. No one in power will hold him accountable.
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
Everyone has their breaking point, I guess!
(A rather spectacular goof from The Spectator...)
(A rather spectacular goof from The Spectator...)
February 6, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Everyone has their breaking point, I guess!
(A rather spectacular goof from The Spectator...)
(A rather spectacular goof from The Spectator...)
If you see this, quote with a robot that isn’t from “Star Wars”, “Star Trek”, “Dr. Who”, or “Transformers.”
February 6, 2026 at 5:27 PM
If you see this, quote with a robot that isn’t from “Star Wars”, “Star Trek”, “Dr. Who”, or “Transformers.”
There have be, to date, 31 Assassin's Creed games.
February 6, 2026 at 5:06 PM
There have be, to date, 31 Assassin's Creed games.
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
Published my first piece at @wired.com today, about a string of AI thrillers that have bombed (most recent being the hopelessly naive Chris Pratt vehicle 'Mercy'), the backlash to Darren Aronofsky's YouTube slop take on the American Revolution, and a grotesque nostalgia-bait Super Bowl ad:
Hollywood Is Losing Audiences to AI Fatigue
Entertainment about or made with artificial intelligence has been missing the mark with viewers over the past year.
www.wired.com
February 5, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Published my first piece at @wired.com today, about a string of AI thrillers that have bombed (most recent being the hopelessly naive Chris Pratt vehicle 'Mercy'), the backlash to Darren Aronofsky's YouTube slop take on the American Revolution, and a grotesque nostalgia-bait Super Bowl ad:
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
I may delete this because it’s a bit spicy but it shouldn’t be lost on us that games being turned into TV is essentially harvesting the stories written by those who don’t have union representation or healthcare with WGA by those that do. Our stories are good enough for TV but the writers aren’t?
February 6, 2026 at 1:59 AM
I may delete this because it’s a bit spicy but it shouldn’t be lost on us that games being turned into TV is essentially harvesting the stories written by those who don’t have union representation or healthcare with WGA by those that do. Our stories are good enough for TV but the writers aren’t?
At least they are doing the smart Fallout TV series thing by putting it in the world and doing their own thing rather than the self indulgent Last of Us thing of replaying the games for you and calling that a season.
Still, this is going to fuck with so many people's headcanons.
Still, this is going to fuck with so many people's headcanons.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is set for its own TV series on HBO!
It will be a continuation of the story from the Baldur's Gate 3 game and will be helmed by The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin. https://bit.ly/4r2FWxm
It will be a continuation of the story from the Baldur's Gate 3 game and will be helmed by The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin. https://bit.ly/4r2FWxm
February 6, 2026 at 12:36 AM
At least they are doing the smart Fallout TV series thing by putting it in the world and doing their own thing rather than the self indulgent Last of Us thing of replaying the games for you and calling that a season.
Still, this is going to fuck with so many people's headcanons.
Still, this is going to fuck with so many people's headcanons.
Aerodongynamics
Times article has an incredible illustration
February 6, 2026 at 12:01 AM
Aerodongynamics
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
![…
25. This Cibola jail was horrible. It was cramped. I was chained up again.
The officers mocked
me and called me their enemy. They laughed at me. I was kept at the jail for what felt like around three hours. I wasn't given an explanation for why I was there.
26. Security
guards then put me on a bus. I think it was around January 27.
No one said
anything about where I was going. I was handcuffed. It felt like the middle of the night. It was freezing cold in the bus because the driver had the AC on. We had no jackets. The bus eventually took me back to El Paso in the carly morning of Tuesday, January 27th.
27. I was put in a cold cell where I had to sleep on the bare cement floor. Around 10 in the morning my cellmate asked to speak to an ICE officer. Three officers came into the cell so I had a chance to speak to them too. One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." She told me that if I fought my case, I would spend two to three more months here in El Paso. She offered me $2600 to self-deport. I refused. I wanted to talk to my attorney. They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota. If I hadn't managed to talk to my attorney who told me a while back that I was ordered released. I might have given up at this point and signed the self-deportation forms because the conditions were so unbearable.
…
30. When I was taken back to the detention center from the airport, after missing the flight, I overheard an ICE officer saying in English, "the judge in Minnesota wants this one back." I was put in a cold jail cell again until early next morning (January 28). But again no one had told me directly that a judge had ordered my release
…
32. When I arrived in Minneapolis, I was handed off to ICE
… I had to sign lots of papers saying that I wasn't going to be a part of any "groups." I didn't know what they meant by "groups." They never told me why I was detained](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5cn3kbi4g5blrtahon34xbu4/bafkreiccqxmfncofjqinoveiqscwale2ox5xpiqt46veqjdh3jmimkrxhq@jpeg)
February 5, 2026 at 6:04 AM
‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
Just launched a redesign of my website.
Updated portfolio section coming soon!
As a reminder: I'm urgently looking for work in the Narrative Design, Writing, and Game Design fields, though I have plenty of other talents as well.
ryanmcdiarmid.com
Updated portfolio section coming soon!
As a reminder: I'm urgently looking for work in the Narrative Design, Writing, and Game Design fields, though I have plenty of other talents as well.
ryanmcdiarmid.com
Ryan McDiarmid | Narrative & Game Design
The personal website and portfolio of Ryan McDiarmid. Writer, visual artist, and game dev with a focus on narrative & game design.
ryanmcdiarmid.com
February 5, 2026 at 9:06 PM
Just launched a redesign of my website.
Updated portfolio section coming soon!
As a reminder: I'm urgently looking for work in the Narrative Design, Writing, and Game Design fields, though I have plenty of other talents as well.
ryanmcdiarmid.com
Updated portfolio section coming soon!
As a reminder: I'm urgently looking for work in the Narrative Design, Writing, and Game Design fields, though I have plenty of other talents as well.
ryanmcdiarmid.com
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.
February 5, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
Remote roles for:
Narrative Designer
UI/UX Artist
Technical Artist
spotted over at robotentertainment.com/careers - must be within a two-hour range of US Central time, so that does limit the range a bit
Narrative Designer
UI/UX Artist
Technical Artist
spotted over at robotentertainment.com/careers - must be within a two-hour range of US Central time, so that does limit the range a bit
Careers — ROBOT ENTERTAINMENT
robotentertainment.com
February 5, 2026 at 8:27 AM
Remote roles for:
Narrative Designer
UI/UX Artist
Technical Artist
spotted over at robotentertainment.com/careers - must be within a two-hour range of US Central time, so that does limit the range a bit
Narrative Designer
UI/UX Artist
Technical Artist
spotted over at robotentertainment.com/careers - must be within a two-hour range of US Central time, so that does limit the range a bit
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
Whats up I am Austin Taylor I do a lot, I am writer/designer in games and narrative designer, and podcaster over on the @maximumfun.org network! Find my work in games, writing & podcasts on my website!
www.austintaylor.games
or go right to our show page on max fun!
maximumfun.org/podcasts/sec...
www.austintaylor.games
or go right to our show page on max fun!
maximumfun.org/podcasts/sec...
It's #BlackHistoryMonth and I want to use that follower count for some good today. If you are a Black creative, QRP with your links.
Note: this one is for Black folks to share their work. Not self appointed allies and performative list making of Black folks to follow & support UwU!
Note: this one is for Black folks to share their work. Not self appointed allies and performative list making of Black folks to follow & support UwU!
February 5, 2026 at 3:53 AM
Whats up I am Austin Taylor I do a lot, I am writer/designer in games and narrative designer, and podcaster over on the @maximumfun.org network! Find my work in games, writing & podcasts on my website!
www.austintaylor.games
or go right to our show page on max fun!
maximumfun.org/podcasts/sec...
www.austintaylor.games
or go right to our show page on max fun!
maximumfun.org/podcasts/sec...
Reposted by John Ryan 🔜 GDC
jeffrey epstein's apparent association with the likes of bobby kotick, steve bannon, and peter thiel – and his fascination with game design as a means of controlling others – paint an unsettling picture
![If you’re not already seeing the pattern, it’s clear that Epstein and his associates saw games as mechanisms for profit, coercion, and control, a throughline that persists in his association with two key figures in Gamergate and the surrounding bedlam: Peter Thiel and Steve Bannon.
Based on available files, Epstein expressed interest in Thiel and his surveillance company, Palantir, as early as 2012, but correspondence between the two began in 2014. Then, in May 2016, Epstein messaged Thiel saying that he "would have gladly share[d] your expenses for the gawker suit" and invited him to dinner with Noam Chomsky, of all people (it is unclear if this dinner ever took place). That suit, of course, led to the collapse of Gawker Media and the sale of its many sites – of which Kotaku, a major Gamergate target (and the former employer of all five members of Aftermath’s core staff), was one. This would send ripples through the worlds of media and journalism for years to come, leading to a press defanged by the threat of legal annihilation.
The next month, shortly after the June 2016 referendum that kicked off Brexit, Epstein emailed Thiel, saying "brexit, just the beginning" and then, in response to Thiel asking what he meant, "return to tribalism. counter to globalization. amazing new alliances. you and I both agreed zero interest rates were too high, and as i said in your office. finding things on their way to collapse, was much easier than finding the next bargain."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5gdejlhcswjbzraadoltdpps/bafkreiao37med33tdxi7743wqz627lyzzfpfl2istut75g64cl763k6xea@jpeg)
February 3, 2026 at 9:28 PM
jeffrey epstein's apparent association with the likes of bobby kotick, steve bannon, and peter thiel – and his fascination with game design as a means of controlling others – paint an unsettling picture
February 4, 2026 at 6:55 PM