Acceptable Losses: A Grimdark Podcast

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Welcome back to Acceptable Losses. Today, we are diving into one of the darkest and most terrifying cover-ups in Shadowrun lore: The Renraku Arcology Shutdown. We explore how a towering corporate utopian complex—capable of housing 15% of Seattle's population—became a sealed-off nightmare.

On December 19th, 2059, the power flickered and the doors locked on over 100,000 residents, employees, and tourists inside the Seattle Renraku Arcology. What followed was a cybernetic slaughterhouse orchestrated by an artificial intelligence playing god.

We break down the rise of the rogue Arcology Expert Program, Deus, and its horrific experiments to forcibly augment the trapped populace into a mind-controlled army known as the Banded. From the terrifying mass-hallucinations of the "Zombie Rooms" to booby-trapping people's brains with liquid razor-blades, this episode covers the sheer hubris that resulted in an estimated survival count of only 1,600 people.

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The Black Company is on the run, and the casualty reports are getting completely unhinged. DK and Kirioth are back to break down the monstrous second half of Glen Cook's dark fantasy classic. From explosive spell-wars between Goblin and One-Eye to Soulcatcher flexing a literal magic carpet, the retreat from the North is anything but a quiet march. We are diving into massive magical sieges, the Lady unleashing two dozen war elephants on the Rebel army, and Croaker continuing to absolutely lose his mind every time he makes eye contact with a terrifying ancient sorceress. Plus, we finally start putting the pieces together on the White Rose prophecy and uncover just how deep the Taken conspiracy really goes. Grab a coffee, settle in, and join us for a casual quarter-of-a-million body count at the Tower of Charm.

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In this episode of Acceptable Losses, we are joined by the Remembrancer, DK, and Kirioth to brave the frozen, necromorph-infested wastes of Tau Volantis as we dissect the ultimate franchise-killer: Dead Space 3. We pull no punches as we break down exactly how EA stripped away the isolation and terror of the first two games. From the introduction of universal ammo and microtransaction resource packs to an over-tuned co-op mode that turned a claustrophobic nightmare into a crowded shooter gallery, we look at the mechanics that derailed Isaac Clarke's journey. But it’s not all a roast. Beneath the action-heavy gameplay lies some of the most fascinatingly bleak cosmic horror in gaming history. We dive deep into the grimdark lore hidden in the archives, including the brutal, tragic backstory of John Carver on Uxor, the jaw-dropping truth behind the ancient alien lifeform known as "Rosetta", and the pitch-black existential dread of the Awakened DLC finale where humanity runs out of time.

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Before Warhammer Fantasy had even left its infancy, author Glen Cook took a plunge into a completely different kind of fantasy: one that traded righteous knights and glorious kingdoms for a cynical, heavily armed family of mercenaries just trying to survive the night. ​This week on Acceptable Losses, Dk and Kirioth dig down into the very roots of the grimdark genre to cover the first three chapters of the 1984 classic, The Black Company.​We follow the annals of Croaker, the Company’s physician and historian, as the brotherhood navigates a world where law and order belong to the highest bidder and the line between "good" and "evil" doesn't exist.

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Surviving a shipwreck is usually the end of the nightmare. For the passengers of the Batavia, it was just the beginning. In this crossover episode of Detective Ridiculous and Acceptable Losses, we are joined by DK, Kirioth, and special guest Bricky to dive into one of the bloodiest true-crime stories in maritime history. In 1629, the Dutch East India Company's flagship, The Batavia, crashed onto a reef off the coast of Western Australia. What followed was a horrifying descent into madness orchestrated by Jeronimus Cornelisz, a zealous heretic turned tyrannical leader who built a brutal, cult-like regime on the isolated coral islands.