The tech bubble collapse has begun, with aggressive layoffs across everyone's least favorite large capitalists, from Amazon to Microsoft. The usual fascist scum are crowing about how this will weaken workers, end diversity programs, get them dates and any other Nazi fever dream you care to name, most especially halting the advance of organized labor.

The best time to organize was years ago; the second best time is now.

Layoffs come because companies have decided to shrink their business operations or because they think they can make the existing workers do all the work the previous staffing levels did. That means that anyone not laid off is even more critical than they were before the layoffs. Either you are in a more critical role than the folks who got shitcanned, or they've just made you more critical because you are now carrying the workload of whoever you're picking up the slack for, plus your previous load.

There is never a bad time to organize! Don't "consider yourself lucky", understand that the company needs you, now more than ever! Remember this: They just showed you that they are not your friends. They can and will thrust anyone they don't absolutely need to keep lining their pockets to the wolves. Remember that. The company is the enemy, but they need us. They need us, but we don't need them, and the union makes us stronger than they can ever hope to be!

Saying it's "kinda like Hollow Knight but not really?" is a really stupid description but it's the only thing I can think of. In some respects it feels like Prince of Persia but with a technical combat system and lots more schmoovement, some medium Celeste-style aerial platforming, so far a really interesting world that's on one hand bleak but on the other feels like it's actually populated with people and not just people-shaped signposts and vending machines, and it just plays really nicely in general. There's some busywork type quests of the "collect ten bear asses" variety but they serve to guide you places and once that's done the fetch quests seem to be just things to do while you're following main paths and plot threads (kinda SMTIV-like in that respect?). Besides all that, it's absolutely beautiful and the soundtrack is fantastic too, I could just chill and listen to it all day

So far, at least, it's extremely fucking good. I haven't played a new game that grabbed me like this in a while. Go check it out and give Shirakumo some love.