#and i don't mean takes on the merits of the game or the flaws of the studio or w/e i mean. the lore. the characters

[gender-euphowrya]

wouldn't it be nice. if people made sure they knew what the fuck they're talking about before talking about it

[skaruresonic]

Oh boy, more bullshit. My favorite.

Ngl, it really sucks to be an SA2 fan these days. Between the hype and the hype reactionism, it really seems like no one's giving the game a fair shake.

I feel like I have to either defend the game from people who deride it as utter trash that you'd have to be nostalgia-blind to appreciate (because that's not insulting at all), or pop the hype bubble for people who can't bother to remember its most basic plot points.

Both of these stances ignore what SA2 actually is in favor of some strawman version of SA2. I shouldn't have to painstakingly list its flaws to be allowed to love a janky game without people assuming I'm huffing nostalgia.

I don't understand why people always say "high-speed sections only make up 1/3 of SA2" as if that means anything. Folks assume it's just a given that the game's only worth lies in the Sonic/Shadow stages.

Never mind how, according to those standards, SA1 boasts a greater mediocre-to-quality ratio for only featuring speed-based gameplay for 1/6th of the game.

If you don't like the treasure hunting and mech stages, you don't actually like SA2. Which is fine, different strokes for different folks, but don't go around assuming your experiences are universal.

By now, you guys probably know how I feel about the "hasn't aged well" argument; it's a bunch of semantically null bullshit that borders on revisionism and neglects the historical context in which games are made. It doesn't impart any objective metric of criticism; it's just a reflection of ever-fluctuating audience taste.

No one can predict the future, much less game developers. In that vein, it could be argued that many aspects of SA1 have aged just as poorly as SA2.

Don't really see the point in comparing the two because despite hosting the same title, they were aiming for different experiences. Both have merits and flaws as unique titles.

Sonic fans don't saddle their endearment with caveats about how much they know the series sucks, actually.

The underlying implication that SA2 fans appreciate the game for the aesthetics is actually pretty insulting to me as well.

The introduction of Shadow and the Crush 40 songs certainly don't hurt, but they're not the only reasons I could possibly ever like the game. To imply otherwise is to imply I'm nostalgia-blind and lack discernment.

Shock and surprise: I like the game because I enjoy the experience that it offers, rough edges and all. It's one of those games where its idiosyncrasies are inextricable from its identity.

"Slither" of good?

Once again, your argument fails on the basis that it could easily be turned against SA1 by only having 1/6th of the game consist of high-speed stages. You are also assuming your experiences are universal, which they are not. While many prefer SA1's treasure hunting stages, I actually prefer SA2's treasure hunting stages.

I hate how Knuckles controls in SA1, I hate the radar (what does blue even mean?) and I hate how the level layout is literally copy-pasted from Sonic's level design. SA2 at least offers you unique stages.

I also literally do not understand what, exactly, there is to complain about the treasure hunting aside from an unwillingness to engage with the stages. Rouge and Knuckles control just as tightly as Sonic and Shadow, and the objective of their stages largely remains the same: achieve your goal in the fastest time. You are, by design, intended to master the stages until you can memorize them.

You're allowed to dislike that, but if you do, you'd also have to admit you dislike a core design conceit of the game: replayability.

The point of a treasure hunt is to hunt. If you don't like the exploration aspect coupled with the speed-as-mastery angle, that's fine, but your subjective tastes not aligning with the game's design is not inherently a fault of the game. It's unfair to portray it as such.

And it's weird because I actually agree that some hints are needlessly obscure.

"Take an age to complete" sounds like a skill issue, bud. Most, if not all, of SA2's treasure hunting stages are designed around three tiers orbiting a central hub. The layout is not that complicated.

Honestly, I feel like the same kind of person who criticizes the mech stages for being "slower" than the Sonic-Shadow stages would also complain about Marble Zone taking place after Green Hill Zone. They simply don't get that Sonic games use the feeling of speed as a reward for mastering the game. That is to say, speed in and of itself must be earned; the games don't instantaneously grant it to you.

And you are lying through your teeth if you don't think racking up combos in the mech stages is fun. real SA2 fans complain about the shitty kart racing instead

Like... do Big, Gamma, and Amy's gameplay styles fare any better? Gamma may have been more floaty than Eggman and Tails' mechs, but that didn't make his stages any less stressful.

Hmm. Can't help but notice a conspicuous lack of Big fishing nestled amongst all this "SA1 was soooo much better you guys"

"Many boss fights are just the equivalent character from the opposite story" - wow it's almost like SA2 built its mechanics around themes of dichotomous rivalry and mirror reflections. gee it's like ST incorporated those themes into the gameplay or something. golly gosh, how incredibly odd and strange.

Imagine taking issue with the rivalry mechanic when the boxart juxtaposes the characters next to each other. If you think this is a legitimate criticism that can be leveled at the game in good faith, then nothing I say can help you.

"which is pretty dull since you can just spam leap on their head." - Yes, because being forced to fight Chaos 4 three times in a row is so much less tedious.

"They aren't mandatory to play as" unless you want to beat the game. Tell me you haven't beaten SA1 without telling me you haven't beaten SA1.

You can switch between Hero and Dark stories anytime you want in SA2 as well, goofball. You can also jump to any cutscene once you've cleared a Story, which you cannot do in SA1.

Jesse.

Whyyyyyy do people act like Knuckles doesn't move just as quickly as Sonic in SA2? I don't get it, man. Based on the way people talk, you'd think he moved like molasses.

You would only be entering the Chao Garden after each level if you picked up the Chao key in the stage and held onto it. And it's not like those Chao boxes are absolutely in your way and you have no choice but to pick up the key - you'd have to go out of your way to track them down.

This is such a "you" problem, dude.

I don't know. In hindsight, it's weird how Sonic got sidetracked from looking for Tails following the Tornado crash, to escorting Amy around town, to looking for Amy after Zero abducts her, to not finding her, and then serendipitously stumbling upon Tails in the process. In the two hours or so since losing Tails, we almost forget about him.

It's funny because, as iconic as Speed Highway is, it doesn't really have much reason to exist in the overall narrative. I'm just saying, weird pacing and stage placement are not solely SA2 problems.

Just because SA2 lacks a hub world doesn't mean there is no connective tissue between stages; it's just incorporated into background elements instead.

Knuckles comments on feeling gravity shifts in Meteor Herd, which only occurs because Sonic is concurrently throwing gravity switches in Crazy Gadget.

"People are looking back with rose-tinted glasses" - my brother in Christ, you just wrote an entire piece praising SA1 without mentioning Big's fishing stages even once. Perhaps don't call the kettle black?

"it isn't weighed down by gimmicks" - What gimmicks? The same ones SA1 has? How come you don't consider the inclusion of the Chao Garden and kart racing gimmicks when SA1 does them?

"The only thing it's missing is Shadow" - Fuck all the way off with that. Don't you dare start.

SA2 is gimmicky trash, fine, whatever. You're entitled to your opinion. But do you not understand how insulting it is for other Sonic fans to assume you only like your favorite game because there is nothing to appreciate about it other than aesthetics and nostalgia? That we're too stupid to recognize that this 23-year-old game "hasn't aged well"?

At this point I'd really rather folks just rip the Band-Aid off and call me a rube instead of espousing this "huehuehue you SA2 fans don't even know how trash the game really is, you probably like the buttrock, don't you" rhetoric. It'd be so much less condescending.

[cornertheculprit]

okay. see. imo the thing about godot is like. if you're going to call him a misogynist then first of all you can't really use the "kitten" nickname as suitable ammo because he doesn't just refer to women with it. he calls ron delite a kitten as well. he passes out condescending nicknames like candy to everyone i'm not sure what anyone expected. i think the only real ammo anyone has to say that has any real merit is this exchange:

Franziska: Enough! I believe I have the measure of you. You are the very worst kind of prosecutor. What could be more important than a trial?

Godot: ... Who's the wild mare, Trite?

Phoenix: This is Ms. von Karma. She was the acting prosecutor in your absence today.

Godot: Ha...! Well, I guess I owe you one then. But you can go now, princess. It's time for the big boys to take the reins.

Franziska: Just who do you think you are!? This case is my...

Godot: Hey, Filly. Know your role, and shut your mouth. I can't stand women like you. I'm only going to say this once, Lady von Whippingberg. Go home!

and he DOES start being very misogynistic here. there's no way around that. and i think all i can really say about it is that. i can kind of understand why he's being so nasty? he's a chronically ill man who just spent like 36 hours trapped on a small chunk of freezing cold land after being wounded and having to commit murder in order to save the little sister of the woman he loved (and her life was only in danger in the first place because of his dumbass idiotic ridiculous excuse of a plan but that's not what this post is about) and then some nineteen year old comes up and starts trying to preach at him about how he's a terrible fucking prosecutor because he didn't show up for a trial (because of the reasons listed above). and. i mean. i would probably start getting nasty too. does it excuse the language? no, but looking at any ace attorney character with the rose-colored glasses of "this person better have SQUEAKY CLEAN MORALS AND LANGUAGE or else i'm TOSSING THEM OUT ON THE STREET" would eliminate pretty much every character in the trilogy.

and in that same vein if you're GOING to hold those lines against godot (which people are perfectly within their rights to do. i Get It i Understand) i think you also have to hold other people's lines against them for THEIR misogynistic language. take edgeworth for example. he not only calls mia a bimbo, he ALSO refers to franziska as a "wild mare" (EXACTLY like godot does). but when people bring that up it's either to joke about it or to say how it's alright when he says stuff like that to franziska because they're siblings. and it's like! no! that's a double standard! edgeworth can just get away with more because he's a fan favorite (and the fact that he's one half of the biggest ship in the fandom doesn't hurt either). but imo if you're going to hold one character accountable for speaking like this, you have to hold them ALL. and given that the trilogy was a series of games made in the early 2000s, that could take...literally all day lmao.

i don't particularly know if i have a point to this? i just think that trying to make him out to be the Woman Hater Supreme like i've seen some people do is not only an injustice to his character (which is MEANT to be flawed) but it's also just. wrong imo. and besides if we're going to flatten his character into one sentence i don't think it would be "biggest misogynist of the series" i think it would be "sad and funny coffee man." does this post make any sense

[sapphire-weapon]

It’s been pretty much given in terms of remakes we’re getting re5 next but I was wondering why a group of people are so passionate about code Veronica being next? Wouldn’t re1 remake (yes again because as much as some people wanna deny it I don’t believe it’s enjoyable for younger players, I mean talking from experience I played through but I wasn’t exactly having fun) make more sense first then re cvx? Re5 story is a little confusing without knowing re1 lore sure but re cvx just straight up doesn’t make any sense if you haven’t been watched or played re1 or does it?

sorry i'm in the "don't remake REmake" camp. as far as i'm concerned, REmake is a perfect game.

i'm about to be really annoying about this, actually LOL sorry

bc that's not a title i give lightly. there's a whole list of games that i consider to be the greatest games ever made (RE4, OG FF7, uncharted 2, yakuza 0, devil may cry 3, xenogears, diablo 2 -- just to name a few off the top of my head) that are not perfect games. they all have flaws, they all have things i can and will bitch about if asked.

REmake and hades.

that's it.

those are the only two games that i consider to be perfect, without a single flaw or thing to complain about. i sat here for like 20 minutes and wracked my brain for another game to put on that list, and i can't find one.

everything about REmake from art style to level design to atmosphere to pacing to enemy design to sound design to voice acting to writing quality to atmosphere to controls (now that 3D controls have been implemented) -- all of it is flawless.

any remake of REmake would be a lesser experience. there is nothing you can do to make that game better.

if it was still using the old tank control system, i would maybe agree with you on the accessibility aspect for younger audiences, but 3D controls modernize the game completely.

you personally may not have liked the fixed camera angles, but there is an artistic merit to them in REmake specifically that would take away from the overall experience of the game if they were to be removed and replaced with an over-the-shoulder camera.

this game released in 2002.

it is older than or as old as a decent chunk of my followers.

do you realize how fucking insane that is, for this game to be that old and still look like this? there's not a single other game on the planet that holds up artistically 21 years later the way that REmake does.

for reference, other games that released in 2002 include vice city, morrowind, bloodrayne, eternal darkness, and kingdom hearts 1. none of them hold up. not a single goddamn one.

and it looks this good because of its art style, which includes pre-rendered backgrounds that you can't do/use without fixed camera angles.

in fact, part of the reason why RE3make was received so poorly is because RE3 doesn't work without fixed camera angles, either, because of the way that nemesis and his encounters were originally designed/developed. he's not a 1:1 comparison to Mr. X in RE2. nemesis encounters were highly scripted and made use of the fixed camera angles and limited visibility in order to make them tense. taking those things away just turned nemesis and his encounters into minor inconveniences rather than the setpieces they were meant to be.

like... RE3make was fine. but that's all it was, because it really lost something in translation.

even RE4make has real legitimate criticism to be leveled at it in terms of the change in art style leading to a change in atmosphere from OG. RE4make does not feel the same way OGRE4 does. something got lost there in the environment and sound design. RE4make just happened to add more than it lost, which RE3make didn't pull off -- and a re-REmake would fall short the same way.

that is why people are calling for CVX to be remade before RE5 and not RE1.

because there is no reason to remake REmake. not a single goddamn one. it can't be remade to be better. it just can't. because remaking it would cause it to lose more than it would gain. because it is already a perfect game.

[snugglyporos]

Victor, or my wildest Vampire the Masquerade Muse

// Okay so I have a few minutes this morning, let me recount to you the tale of my wildest Vampire the Masquerade character, Victor.

Let me preface this that this dovetails nicely with my previous post on my beliefs in how to play characters in rpgs, namely, don't get too attached while playing them. Instead, it's better to move fast, break things, probably get them killed in the process. And no character I've ever written follows that as much as Victor.

So let's give you some quick backstory. Victor was, background wise, meant to be no one. He was a gang banger who had a very wild side, died while attacking a rival hideout alone that was run by a vampire, and whose sire, a Gangrel, sired him and left him figuring that was a good reward for being so brave and stupid.

Keep in mind, this character was never meant to live long. He was actually my first vampire the masquerade character, which was why I went as crazy as I did with him. No better way to learn the rules than by making mistakes!

Here's where things get wild. See, I gave him some rather nasty flaws. First being a death wish. Now, not just any death wish. He wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. Less oh woe is me and more to valhalla! His mentality was that he'd already died once, and life never meant much to him while alive, so any time he had now was just extra. Furthermore, I gave him one flaw and two merits that were, uh, extra.

So I gave him the flaw overconfidence, while giving him the benefits common sense and daredevil. Functionally this meant that he had three voices in his head arguing about the best course of action, but it meant that overconfidence and daredevil agreed and thus he'd take the most insane actions possible, while getting bonuses from the Daredevil perk.

So what you're left with is a vampire whose prime directive is to have a natural inclination towards self destruction whenever it seems like it's going to end in a giant explosion. Ironically, his nature was that of a loyalist, because he'd sign up with anyone if it meant getting into trouble.

I should now inform you that this was a Sabbat game. For the unaware, the Sabbat are basically vampire supremacists, who reject their human nature, revere Cain, and who take every opportunity to be evil bastards as they away the end times. Usually, you don't sign up with them, you get embraced into them, because anyone on the outside is the enemy.

Victor, being insane, signs up with them by agreeing to undergo the shovelhead ritual, which is where the Sabbat mass-embrace people, bury them alive, and then see who comes up hungry, before hitting them on the head with a shovel to knock them out and deliver them to wherever they need to be sent at the enemy human wave style.

Victor, unsurprisingly, survives this, and soon becomes the guy you go to when you need a distraction. No one works better as a distraction than the guy whose idea of a good time involves setting himself on fire. I should also point out that Victor took 'being dead' to a rather far extreme; he realized that, for example, he didn't need to eat, so his stomach was basically a place to store things. Upon realizing this, he filled his stomach with gasoline, so that he could smash his teeth together and make a spark (having had his non-fang teeth coated in metal), so that he could, at will, vomit up a fireball. Most vampires are afraid of fire. Victor saw it as a benefit.

Now there is one thing I need to point out. Normally, vampires are not this durable. They would usually take lots of damage and end up dead. Victor, being a Gangrel, had fortitude as one of his natural disciplines, which meant that he would soak damage, and I put all his points into that. High levels of fortitude mean that you soak lots of damage, and we went with the rule that fortitude 5 meant you could blow willpower and just ignore damage. Having put all my points into fortitude, I then put all my points into buying willpower.

Here is where I give a warning to new players: it can be very tempting when you're new to just follow other people and try not to make waves. But the problem is that you'll end up following someone like Victor. I say this because again, this was my first character, we were in a group of people who were all new, and they ended up deciding that since I was the only one willing to do things, that they should follow him. This was, in my opinion, a bad idea, because following Victor was intended to be hazardous to everyone around him. But it's important for the next part of the story.

Victor, somehow, managed to gather followers, meaning other players, and this became a sort of quasi-pack where they gathered around him because they didn't know what to do. There were two such groups in our game, and one play session was us having to track down and kill a werewolf.

Victor, being the only person in this group with any ideas, decided that the best way to kill a werewolf was to hit it with a semi truck. Now, the group decided that the one to drive said truck was Victor, because he was the only one who had any skill in driving, which was probably not a good idea, because he was also slightly intoxicated, as he tended to feed on drunks for blood.

So the group decided that the one to drive a semi truck was the semi-intoxicated psychopathic vampire hell-bent on dying in the most extreme way possible. Why they got into the vehicle, any vehicle, with him behind the wheel, I don't know, and even at the time I was surprised that they were going along with what I felt was an intentionally bad idea.

Because Victor couldn't steal just any truck, he stole a gas tanker, reasoning that even if he missed, the fireball would probably hurt the Werewolf, and he might be fine, and even if he wasn't, nbd.

Cut to later, where he attempted to hit the werewolf, missed, and drove the gas tanker into a gas station, resulting in a giant fireball that would have killed everyone had they not jumped out of the speeding vehicle right at the time they realized Victor's 'plan.'

Victor, unsurprisingly, was ejected from the burning wreck at high speed and landed atop a nearby building, entirely naked. Victor, undaunted by this, immediately jumped off the building, and proceeded to fistfight the werewolf naked in the street.

Luckily, other people arrived to stop Victor from dying that night of bad decisions, much to his chagrin. Ironically, other people were much more concerned about keeping him alive than he was.

But this is why I have the mentality around making muses that I do; I can't remember anything about anyone else's characters. But I have stories like this, where my muses somehow managed to do something nuts, because it was entirely outside the bounds of rationality.

[emmythespacecowgirl]

Hey babe <3 I know I asked for a Band of Brothers ship before (Dick Winters), but I didn't ask for a Pacific ship, so I thought I'd cover all my bases <3

About Me: – your gender/pronouns: Female, She/Her, but really sort of indifferent.

– your sexuality/gender preference: Also indifferent, but for the purposes of the ship, men.

– your main flaws and most defining traits:

My friend said it was my stubbornness, but my most defining traits based on her assessment are my hardworking behaviour, my hyper-independence, and my intelligence. I also like to think I have a pretty good sense of humour (wry/observant/playful) and am secretly quite giving and warm. For example, if someone does something for me, I'm old school and will usually write them a physical thank you note, or make them cookies.

I also am pretty solid at shooting down anyone who tries to go toe-to-toe with me, and I can usually read people pretty well. I easily cut off people who I mistrust or who think they're pulling one over me- I pretty much live by "If I cut you off, chances are you handed me the scissors." I don't sweat the small things and small slights. But if someone thinks because I don't sweat the small stuff they can walk all over me, they're sorely mistaken (I'm not a serial killer, I promise).

– your hobbies and pastimes: I like culture, so anything surrounding literature, history, architecture, you name it. I also like long walks in nature and sports/weight lifting (I used to play elite-level volleyball before my knees/ankles gave out (cause I'm old, wahay), but I like to just get outside in fresh air now and listen to music/make playlists on long walks. I like good coffee shops and places where it's just quiet and civilized.

•Optional: – your appearance: 6'0, athletic, just past shoulder-length ash brown hair with some face framing blonde highlights/money pieces. People say the prettiest part of my face are my eyes, which are pale green.

Some people who don't know me well see me as "aloof" or "intimidating"- probably just based on the fact that my Dad is Eastern European and I have natural RBF, but you get to know me, I'm sensitive and described at work as a "positive" person who's a "delight" to have around (their words in my quarterly review- not mine lol).

– your personality type (example: ENFP; Enneagram 7 or 7w6): I'm an INTJ , and an Enneagram 5. I forget what my wing "officially" is, but I feel Enneagram 5w6 is more fitting. I used to be more of the "philosopher" type in the past, but I feel life has forced me to bring practical solutions to the forefront.

I'm also a Virgo, but with a Leo Moon and a Leo Rising sign. Which basically means I like things organized and neat and plan ahead, but people assume I'm gregarious and probably more a "Leo" than I actually am. I can fake being an extrovert, while needing time on my own to decompress.

I've also always been between a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw. I like learning for my own sake, just like the only person I'd be in competition with is myself. I'm never the type of person to step over someone else in order to accomplish my own goals- I work hard and let my work speak for itself, and let others who might be jealous or try to take me down fail on their own merits. I'm not a game player and I think it's honestly petty and stupid when people are, because I'm a good judge of character and 99.9 percent of the time I can see through someone's behaviour.

– any pet peeves: People who mistake kindness for weakness, people who don't smile at people when they make the effort, people who don't respect basic manners. Basically, people who are unnecessarily cruel for no reason.

– your love language: I just took this- acts of service, followed by works of affirmation. But I'm going to be honest- my heart swells when even coworkers or someone who's a friend does something to take something off my plate, or pays me back in some way by getting me a coffee or tea. (I'm a cheap date, what can I say).

Anyhow, work your magic, sweetheart, and thanks again <3

Hi again @currahee :)) I would love to give you a TP ship! I hope you like this one :)

I ship you with:

R.V. Burgin from The Pacific!

Ship theme song: The Woman in Me by Shania Twain

this man admires you sm and has the most respect for you <3

you have no idea

you are the love of his life

but also just like a really good role model in work and life

and Burgie really likes that in a person

for Burgie, work and family are of equal importance

so he completely understands your inner drive to do well at work

and he doesn't mind taking on more of the domestic side of life while you go out and conquer the world

the first time that you take down some sexist prick in an argument

you can bet that Burgie totally had a hard on haha

"I literally married the hottest, most smart lawyer lady in the world!!"

is what he's screaming in his head the whole time

he also just loves when you start unraveling y'all's kids' arguments

y'know lol once they get to that precocious little goblin-mode age

this man will literally make some popcorn and just sit at the dinner table and watch it happen

basically, anytime that you're using your intellect or being objective in an argument is when Burgie realizes that he's so in love with you

he's the kinda guy who memorizes your coffee order

and then goes home and makes it for you exactly to your liking the next day

he also loves taking you to scenic places to go hike around Texas

he would 100% agree with your co-workers:

you are a total delight and the most positive person he's ever met

and the most beautiful ;)

your pale green eyes captivated him the first time you met

I'm pretty sure that our sweet Burgie is also an INTJ :)

you're both pretty good at hiding behind your "extrovert mask"

but at the end of the day, you both enjoy just staying in and reading to each other on the couch

Burgie isn't much of a game player either tbh

his mama taught him from a very young age to be intentional in his actions

and he is very much intentional with you

Burgie's mama also taught him that "please" and "thank you" are the bare minimum

he's a Texas Gentleman after all!

Burgie is also an acts of service kinda guy

he's incredibly handy

so any kind of household item that needs repairing

he's your guy to do it

or car stuff

he's all over that

his heart swells 3x when you write him a sweet thank you note

or make him his favorite dessert

Burgie considers himself the luckiest lad in the world to have you!

[calebscalamity]

So... the critic scores for the Mario movie are finally coming out, and to say that there's been a less-than-favorable response would be an understatement. Usually don't delve too deeply into topics like this, but with all the misinformed takes going around I think I gotta throw my own hat into the ring, ya know? Before we start the match, Obligatory disclaimer that ya'll are entitled to your own opinions regarding the Mario movie and don't have to engage with every criticism thrown its way, nor should you. Don't let what some random internet stranger says online deter your enjoyment of the film and whatnot. With that being said, some misconceptions definitely do need to be cleared up.

Starting off small, it seems like a lot of people don't actually understand how sites like Rotten Tomatoes work. They'll pull up critic reviews from other media seen as bad by the vast majority as evidence that the critics don't know what they're talking about, but it's not so black and white. RT works as a reference site for viewing different critic reviews. They add up different assessments from multiple professional critics on a specific movie and spit out a general percentage of the amount that rated it positively vs negatively. When RT says a movie got a 53% rating, what they really mean is that only 53% of the critics who reviewed it rated it positively. It's never the exact same people reviewing different movies, which is likely where the disparity comes from. Jumping off of the critics themselves, the arguing points many of them bring up regarding the flaws of the film are met with plenty of scrutiny from others. I've seen a lot of backlash and mockery over the flaws that they do mention. However, looking at some of the reviews myself, I don't think a lot of them were being too unreasonable, and they're likely just the result of them having different expectations as critics. For example, the most commonly cited critique I saw was the overall plot of the movie. The general consensus seemed to be that they found the story to be far too formulaic and uninteresting to have any significant appeal, and that most of the entertainment came from the abundance of easter eggs and game references found throughout the film. While this on its own has incited a lot of backlash from fans of the movie, I think the enjoyment factor from critics vs audiences is an overall interesting talking point that I unfortunately don't see spoken about much. At the end of the day, this is a film targeted towards children and fans of the Mario series. While that's not necessarily a bad thing depending on who you ask, it does have potential repercussions on how people outside that demographic will react to it. I'm sure the two groups I mentioned before will probably have a blast with this movie and see it as a pretty great outing, but would a person who isn't familiar with the games or isn't even a gamer feel the same way? I mean, I've dabbled with a few Mario games from time to time and did enjoy them, but I don't really hold any significant attachment to the franchise in general, and it doesn't seem like I'd gain a whole lot from this movie as a result.

Comparing it to the Sonic Movies, while I did indeed naturally enjoy the first two films as a fan of the Sonic games, I can also acknowledge that I personally find the story on its own to be well-structured and easy for others to follow regardless of their relationship with the Blue Blur. This movie in contrast is likely made especially for the fans to enjoy. As a Mario movie? It's probably a solid outing and a delight for the people within that fanbase. But as a movie on its own merits? That seems to be what a lot of the critics are judging it as and many of them aren't finding much substance within it.

And I know that people will come in saying that I shouldn't be expecting some super deep story from the Mario series and that the games are known for having simplistic stories, but that's precisely the problem. You can usually excuse a bare-bones plot in a video game because most people are there for the actual gameplay, the story is just a nice bonus. But when it comes to such a radically different medium like film work, you can't get away with having a non-existent story in such a way, and there needs to be a tight structure of some sort to garner people's interest. Furthermore, I also don't think we should be overlooking these critiques with defenses such as the source material or younger audience. Something being made for kids shouldn't be an excuse to not try, and I feel like the best kids media are the ones that don't talk down to children and feature genuinely good writing in their stories that other demographics can naturally also come to enjoy simply because it's good writing. The Lego Movie and Puss in Boots were also marketed toward children, but they both also had good writing that many other demographics were able to appreciate. Like I said before, I don't think the Mario movie primarily being aimed at fans of the franchise is necessarily a bad thing, but it can certainly leave a lot to be desired for someone who might want the movie to be able to stand on its own detached from the source material.

All in all, I feel like people are massively misinterpreting information and the job of critics in general when it comes to debates such as these. I won't deny that critic scores alone shouldn't be your only indicator of quality when it comes to media like video games and movies (The aforementioned Sonic movies are sitting in the mid to high 60s on RT, but lots of others hold them in high regard), but I think it is worth analyzing their problems with said media and how that might impact your overall enjoyment. Let's just try not to see things so black and white all the time. To anyone planning on seeing the Mario movie, I hope you guy's have a great time and fully enjoy yourselves!

[idontlikeem]

f*ck Yohe ~ it was pretty obvious from his numerous articles, but "nice" of him to finally say it (in a comment of course, to keep article "neutral") ~ he wants Geno gone cause team won't win cup with Geno, however Yohe fails to offer path for team winning cup without Geno, so his "solution" doesn't actually fix the cup problem ~ so f*ck him and his "neutral" articles ~ have a pleasant day 😇

goodness! this is quite the message to send to someone! a friendly reminder to all that i don't know any of the pens beat reporters or have any connection to the team, and that aggression ABOUT something can easily be read as aggression TOWARDS the person you're messaging when you're communicating in a text-based medium!

i don't think it's quite as clear-cut as you're saying here, anon. i think you're actually pretty significantly misrepresenting what he said, both in his article and in the comment.

i went and looked at the comment (which i shan't be screenshotting because i don't want to get another copyright strike lol). what he's saying is that from a team perspective—from the overarching perspective of 'what is best for the pittsburgh penguins long-term, what gets them their next cup'—it makes more sense to look for younger talent that will come either cheaper or comparable to kris and geno. he did NOT single geno out in his comment at all, he very specifically named both of them. he (rightly) points out that with their combined current cap hits, you could sign up to four younger players that have considerable upside.

i'm not saying i agree with his take. but it's a valid one. it has merit. and i think you saying 'he wants geno gone cause team won't win a cup with geno' is not at all accurate. what he actually says is, and this is me typing exactly what his comment said, 'i don't think this core has another cup in it, so i would make changes.' that's significantly different than singling geno out as the source of the penguins' problems.

he also has this on twitter:

which actually contradicts what you've said he's saying via both article and comment.

something that i've found is that people, in defense of geno, can swing too far the other direction. they overcorrect, if you will. it's one thing to point out idiocy like 'sign him to one year at league minimum' (which is a literal take i've seen multiple times) or 'he's terrible at 5v5 all his points are on the power play and he ruins the system' (easily debunked with actual information). but he's not as good as he was at his best, there is decline in his play, and you can think that he's still far and away the best option for the team while acknowledging that. pointing out a flaw in someone's play is not the same thing as wanting someone gone or having a vendetta against them, and i'm not sure it warrants hatred.

people who are fans of a team are allowed to have different opinions on how that team should proceed when it arrives at a major crossroads. josh's conclusion, one he's come to via watching every game, is not one that i agree with at all, because i have looked around and i do not see good replacements out there. however, it's not an insane, irrational conclusion to arrive at, and people are allowed to have different opinions on things without any one person being right or wrong. someone disagreeing with you in a reasonable fashion does not mean they have it out for your favorite guy, it just means they disagree.

the bottom line is, geno is not the player he was in his prime. that's not a criticism, it's simple facts—he's not, and he won't be ever again. that's how aging works! however, he is still an elite-level center who galvanizes a power play and provides the team with depth down the middle. he is an asset to any team that picks him up and provides him with quality wingers to play with—he is at the point in his career where he can no longer elevate literal trash to an elite scorer, and expecting him to be isn't reasonable. sid can't do that either, at this point, and geno is not as good as sid. he's also coming off a second major surgery and still recovering and getting his conditioning back from that, so the truth of the matter is we don't actually quite know what he's capable of. it won't be 2012-level, we won't see that from him again, but it's still significantly better than most of the other options.

i frequently disagree with josh's game analysis and his takes on certain players, geno included. but i do think he's significantly more neutral and objective about gameplay and the team as a whole than, as an example, rob rossi. disagreeing with someone doesn't make them an enemy.

have a pleasant day 😇

[itsnothingofinterest]

Thanks for what you said regarding the bnha/LOV/society stuff, truly. I really don't think things like how bad hero society is and the quirk singularity would be brought up practically every chapter that really matters (overall plot wise) in bnha if hori. Was just going to hand-wave everything and say it all worked out because heroes never give up or friendship or something. Not that there's anything wrong with those things, they're essential. But even in a shonen manga, after all the build up and showing the villain's reasons and how the heroes despite saving people aren't really making things better, I don't think hori. Could possibly drop the 'actual change' ball? Right?

The lov can and should be 'saved' (and by that of course I mean live well after everything), but can I ask; if we're getting a mha part 2 like you said you think will happen, how would all of it come together, do you think? Would heroes and villains convince each other or...?

(In response to this)

Oh, well you're very welcome.

I get what you mean about “because heroes never give up or friendship or something” being essential, especially in a Shonen manga. I’d probably be okay with that in the context of being how the heroes beat AFO (instead of it being because they outnumber the villains like 50:1 + a backing of a ludicrous amount of money). I would not be okay with it in the context of resolving government corruption & prejudice. Especially when they’ve frustratingly not been shown to care until now, even when they’re affected by it. And don’t get me started on how that’s not a solution to the Singularity.

That’s all stuff they’ve gotta work to fix, y’know? They’ve got to put in that Plus Ultra effort.

As for what an My Hero part II would be like; well while I’ve long theorized it to happen, I suppose I’ve not thought too hard on what it’d entail. The concept seems so open ended and full of possibilities, and with the time to take exploring them, that I don’t want to get tied down to one cool idea.

...But if you’ll let me indulge myself on the possibilities just a tad:

I guess one idea I’ve had stuck in my head is the idea of, after this war and AFO’s defeat, Tomura taking the PLF (including the jailed members, thanks to Kurogiri) and setting up their own “Villain Society” somewhere. I mean we fans talk a lot about how great/terrible it’d be under Shigaraki’s rule; but this’d be an opportunity to see how that would actually go. We’d see in action; what they’d do better that Hero Society, where they’d struggle and need to improve, and what their own fundamental problems would be. And there's also the bonus of the development inherent to some very destructive people needing to be constructive in order to put their money where their mouths have been the last few years.

From there we’d have these two forces trying to rebuild and grow, probably plenty of opportunity for conflict there; but it also opens the possibility of both sides seeing their own flaws & the other side’s merits for their own eyes. And maybe reconciliation of hero society & villain society could come by way of them picking what each does best and melding them for a ‘best of both worlds’ approach. Something to that effect could be cool.

Also since you brought it up, the Singularity issue is probably something the villains would be best equipped to handle; since it would be a simple matter of reverse engineering Tomura’s singularity-proofing procedure. (And preferably making a deterrent that’s not months-long surgery.) Although if Hori wanted to make that more an end-game threat; maybe the hero side is the one with the technology to do this reverse-engineering, so they need to work together on this and it ends up being one of the big things to bring both sides together. But I’m really just throwing stuff out there now.

[enderexplorer1212]

Hot Ai Art Take

Oh no Scary!

I often see a lot of people, namely artists, complain about AI art, and while I believe there are merits to some of their arguments, I feel like usually a lot of arguments used aren't great. The only arguments I agree with are "AI art uses datasets made by other artists who aren't credited", which I feel should be adressed. However, one common argument I see is that AI art doesn't take skill or passion, so therefore its not real art. This is stupid IMO. First off, is photography art? I like photography because I have fine motor skill issues, so I'm really bad at drawing. Instead, I pursued photography, since it allows me to express myself without having to draw it. But you could interpret me photographing works as me being lazy and just taking a photo of something, rather than putting effort into it by drawing it. Of course this is a stupid argument, which I feel is the same with the argument against AI art. The other flaw with the argument is that of AI art not being art. This is a debate as old as time as to what is art. But I think that art is subjective. If you interpret it as art, then to you, its art. Was the works of Marcel Duchamp art when he took a urinal and claimed it as art? Was Warhol making art when painted Campbell soup cans? Besides, if AI art "isn't real art", then what does that mean? If something isn't art, then should it just be ignored? What should be done with it?

There was also that thing where an AI generated art won an art contest. Personally, I think there should just be seperate contests, similar to how photography is seperated from other types of art. But if photography is included, then I think that AI art is fair game.

Here's the real hot take section: Personally, I think a lot of artists get hung up about AI art because it feels as though it doesn't take effort or skill. I think this is related to another complaint many content creators experience. The miserable feeling when you pour your heart and soul into something, only for it to get no attention. But when you just make a quick little sketch, it suddenly blows up. This feels unfair, but ultimately, it is what it is. You can't decide which creation you make gets popular, it just happens. And I feel a lot of artists get annoyed at AI art for that reason, it feels like its getting more attention than it deserves, when they're putting much more effort, but getting no recognition. I don't have a conclusion or anything to make off of that, just an observation of mine. I also don't make art, so it's perfectly fine if you want to yell at me or something for not getting it as an artist. But my personal motto for this, which describes how I face most things in life, and isn't applicable to everyone, is "it is what it is".

[skaruresonic]

About Sonic 3, I feel the only reason the fandom (and what I assume is non-fandom becayse most of their exposure to Maria as a character amounts to "she dies lmao") wants to see her death on-screen so much is because it'll be a "funni maymay" like "this kid-friendly movie has a freaking child get shot on-screen, funniest shit I've ever seen".

Like, remember the very first trailer for the first movie? Did you know that a good number of recent comments under it are actually sad that the movie didn't turn out as bad as it could have been and wasn't a "giant memefest" that people could "enjoy" in an ironic sense? It's just the lowest hanging fruit for those who just want to meme on the movie.

Tangent, but I'm actually interested to see how much this crowd overlaps with the crowd which swears up and down that Mr. Principles is Quintessential Sonic, and if you don't agree, something must be wrong with you on a moral and psychological level. Folks who cry the moral high ground the hardest tend to make for the biggest hypocrites lol.

Dead Maria jokes are nothing new. Fandom's cracked them since time immemorial. The thing is, though, I would think that 23 years since SA2's release, people would be past that and maybe try to follow in ST's stead of giving her life more importance than her death. Because there is absolutely merit to the idea that she only died to give the men around her something to angst about... But the solution to that isn't to voyeuristically focus on her demise to the point of making it a meme?

---

Like, remember the very first trailer for the first movie? Did you know that a good number of recent comments under it are actually sad that the movie didn't turn out as bad as it could have been and wasn't a "giant memefest" that people could "enjoy" in an ironic sense?

(and what I assume is non-fandom because most of their exposure to Maria as a character amounts to "she dies lmao")

Well, considering nonfans seldom respect Sonic as a franchise because of muh inconsistency, I'm inclined to not give their opinion any merit. They can come back when they've played the games. Not holding my breath for that one lol.

I'm just baffled that fans are also clamoring to see Maria get shot onscreen because it's like, et tu, Brutus? You should be past this kind of childishness by now. Much like how Shadow's backstory cannot retroactively become any Deeper by cramming in more pointless angst, seeing her die for the hundredth time will make her death seem more overplayed than poignant. At this point, asking to see her die is just a voyeuristic desire to see suffering for suffering's sake.

Also, if you think about it, neither X nor ShTH showed her explicitly getting shot. They just heavily implied it, to varying degrees of tastefulness (including the sound of the gunshot was... not ShTH's best decision, to put it extremely lightly, but at the very least the game didn't show the bullet going into her body).

I really don't mean to be the "don't have fun" guy. However, seeing everything about Maria online get boiled down to her death, her memory being dangled like a carrot to get a Pavlovian reaction out of Shadow, or her being dismissed entirely as a "generic" character really bugs me as a fan of the character. I'll be the first to admit her handling has flaws and maybe isn't the most fleshed-out portrayal around, but I also feel fandom exacerbates these problems by further objectifying her in this manner. Again, nobody's out here cracking Tikal stampede jokes every time her name crops up.

The whole point of Maria's character is that she's a normal girl, and it is a tragedy that her life was senselessly cut short. She isn't some great scientist like her cousin and grandfather, nor does she need to be. She represents humanity's capacity for goodness in spite of the horrors it inflicts.

Can you imagine the strength of character it must take not to hate the people who hunted you down and shot you, and instead retain your hopes for mankind's happiness? Where do you think Shadow gets it from? Gerald didn't give him a soul identical to hers for no reason.

but nah let's pop a cap in her ass so Shadow can do a cri

[petr1kov]

Hey what did you mean about how disco Elysium's "communist failure" speech can be taken different ways depending on how familiar with communism you are. I thought it was just kinda making fun of communist the same way it makes fun of other ideologies by saying "sure it's always failed every single time it's been tried, but I'm sure you'll make it work because your soooo Special."

oh they're definitely poking fun at that as well, but the linking of communism to failure goes beyond this scene so i think there's more to it than that. you even have to smell other people chasing the aroma of 'failure' in order to find other communists, later on lol

i think that makes it easy for someone who is already anti-communist to take it as a statement to how communism itself is an fundamentally flawed ideology, something that's always bound to end in failure due to it simply being a bad idea and etc

the game, however, really hammers the point that communist revolutions like the one that happened on revachol, for all the genuine flaws they had, don't really get to wither and die based on their own merits and demerits so much as they are brutally attacked and destroyed by the capitalist forces that feel threatened by its very existence - hence why it's characterized by failure, why it's currently 'dead', and why believing in it feels like you're setting yourself up for disappointment

[ryttu3k]

Meet Aleki, my 'canon' protag for Sins of the Sires!

14th generation Thinblood, originally (and unbeknownst to him) of Tzimisce background. Using a bit of gameplay-story segregation here, his only disciplines are a bit of Animalism and Auspex, and developing Insight. High-humanity, Certified Soft Boy(tm) (no seriously ended the game on 87% Soft). Used to be a history and literature student (he was only twenty-one at Embrace, not quite a PhD student yet) with a fondness for going out dancing. Hasn't done that in a while, he's become a bit worn down after ten years of working for/serving Markos, but meeting Gor is deeply inspiring.

Femme (cis but very gnc), forestcore aesthetic. Enjoys soft, generally dark autumnal colours, corduroy, frogs, mushrooms, and sunflowers, lip gloss, crop tops, and trying to make the Prince decide if he should be kicked out of Elysium or not. Bagger, has one of those insulated coffee cups covered in cute stickers that he keeps his blood in.

One of his strongest latent Tzimisce traits is that he just enjoys putting his bare feet in the soft soil and being at peace. Probably one of the few Thinbloods to genuinely be delighted with his status because it means he can see the sun again. Has emotional support bat famalus named Nyx and will make "I am the night" jokes at every opportunity.

Disciplines: Animalism 2 (Bond Famalus, Feral Whispers), Auspex 2 (Sense the Unseen, Premonition)

Merits & Flaws: Anarch Comrades, Discipline Affinity / Branded by the Camarilla, Bestial Temper

Predator Type: Bagger

Basically doing a hybrid version of like... four different endings/outcomes for his 'canon' backstory. Cut for spoilers!

So I'm using a smidge of version 1.0 here (with my not!Pyre version), mostly based on my... assorted attempts with Aleki himself. Version 7.0 is here, 7.1 is here, and 7.3 is here (we don't talk about 7.2).

Pretty much follows 7.0 up until Belgrade. Bonded with Gor, started a romance with him. Got Nyx the bat friend, spared Savvas because he could see himself in his place. After meeting Sophia, he was sent after Gor, went, "Um, no" and escaped with him to Belgrade. From there:

v1.0: Sees Kapriel in Belgrade, but he and Gor are able to evade him and escape.

v7.1: Aleki agrees to return to Athens with Kapriel to protect Gor and the others and to prevent a fight breaking out.

No actual version: Gor manages to evade Kapriel!

v7.0: Aleki is blood bound to Kapriel and taken to Sophia. The coup fails. The Prince brands Aleki with the Thinblood symbol.

v7.1: Aleki fails to convince Selene to stop. She (and Aleki's ex Nikos) still die in the explosion, but Vole is able to get to Aleki and hide him away.

v7.0: The SI descends upon Athens and takes out most of the Camarilla, except this time...

No actual version: ...Kapriel is captured and imprisoned.

v7.0: Aleki stays with Vole for the year to be weaned off the blood bond...

v7.3: ...then returns to Thessaloniki and finds Gor there.

Still kind of tense. Aleki is pretty traumatised after being captured, forcibly blood bound, branded, and failing to save his ex and a whole lot of others from death, and things between him and Gor are pretty slow to progress, both having trust issues (Gor's well-established, Aleki's brand new) and both paranoid that Kapriel will one day escape the SI. Still in contact with Vole, who Aleki is now very close to after spending a year recovering with him. Markos died in the SI raid, Persa supposedly survived but has since vanished. He thinks he saw her once, watching from across the street.

Helps Gor out in the refugee camps and squats. Tries not to think about the last eleven years in Athens. Sometimes still goes out dancing, and, if he can, will watch the sunrise before settling into day sleep with Gor. They're... getting there, one night at a time.

[askelectrochromic]

Since I finally managed to play Other M I somehow feel the urge to talk about it. Specially in comparison to how you changed the story in Cyanide.

First of all, I did not mind the original story too much. On the one hand because I read so much trash about it, that my expectations were below zero and on the other hand cause I was too busy grumbling about the controlls.

There were however a lot of missed opportunities, like the deleter stuff. This could have been interesting, but there were not nearly enough people on board to keep it that way. From how the game set them up, Adam and Anthony were never suspects to begin with and while they tried to make the player suspicious about Adam, it was too little too late to really be believable in the first place.

Making Adam the actual deleter does solve the „not enough people on board“ at least somewhat. It also makes his character a lot more (dark) grey, which in and of itself is a lot more interesting than the lawful good character they tried to make him out as in game. In adition it opens up a lot more opportunities for where the story could go.

Then there is the „paternal relationship“. Despite Samus outright telling us, it does feel a lot like she tries her best to convince herself as much as the player that this is how she feels about Adam. What we see however, looks very different. At least to my eye. Your take on that part suggests that I‘m not the only one.

A lot of people complain that Samus comes off as weak and whiney. I don‘t really see it that way. Confused, conflicted emotions certainly, but she is still good at her job (a lot better than the „elite“ soldiers) and pretty badass. Just because we don’t get to hear or read her thoughts in metroid II and super, does not mean she doesn‘t have any. Quite the contrary. Why else would she spare the metroid hatchling in the first place?

Which is also what I see in the way you write Samus. Competent and good at what she does, but still a person with flaws and feelings, that she needs to sort out in order to move on.

While I still prefer your Samus, I don’t think the way the game portays her all that bad.

It goes to show how some (not so) little tweaks can turn a mediocre, boring story in something a lot better and more intriguing.

Ok, that almost (?) turned into an essay. I will send it anyway and hope you don’t mind.

SableGear0: Don't mind at all, always appreciate someone taking the time to put their thoughts out there! (And Other M is definitely the kind of thing that merits long-form discussion imo. This one's gonna get long too, so strap in. I'm going to sort of work backwards, here...)

Honestly, I agree with you on a lot of points. As flawed as it is, Other M isn't actually that bad of a game, it just... the things it does poorly, it does really poorly. The story itself is fine, if maybe too close to Fusion's. The worst parts about it are the cutscene cinematography and the characterization. And even the latter is largely a product of the localization direction. It tried to go in a dramatic direction, which in itself isn't bad (worked in Dread imo), but it went overboard, and that particular flavour of melodrama doesn't really jive with the stablished tone of the series.

I personally dislike the surface-level depiction of Samus in OM, but I can see both the intended original vibe and respect it being read differently than presented. The thing is, if you dig into it, and think about it, it's not a totally unfair depiction, but the game's way of communicating that falls flat. I get why Samus is emotional and impulsive here, she's hurt! The Samus we see in OM is conflicted and grieving, she's lost and lacking for purpose, we should be sympathizing with her confusion and her outbursts. But her own narration doesn't entirely line up with her actions - and not in an interesting 'unreliable narrator' way, but a frustrating, dissonant way. She's still sufficiently badass the rest of the time, and when the combat controls in OM deign to behave, we see that clearly!

Her unspoken actions have so much more weight to me, too - not just what we can extrapolate from the 2D games, like her sparing the hatchling in M2, but in OM as well. Honestly I think the best characterization we see of her in OM is when she's interacting with the Bergmans; she's professional but compassionate, she's very gentle and understanding of how terrified these two women are given the circumstances, she gives them space, she protects them - even not knowing who they are, she places herself between them and danger both times we see them speak to her for any length. And that hits so much harder than any monologue, imo. Those are the moments of characterization we need.

I also, honestly, hadn't thought too hard about her claims about her relationship with Adam, but I really like your take. It does feel at points like she's trying to sell the audience as much as herself on that angle, but her version is really not what we see. And frankly it's not at all what I would have guessed from what little we were given in Fusion. (I am omitting the manga bc I didn't know it existed until well after I had played Fusion, so that was my only context for Adam.) Which begs the question, what's she afraid of admitting, if she can't convince herself?

As I'm sure I've mentioned in the past, Deleter!Adam is one of my favourite headcanons/alterations to OM. I would contend that there is significant support as-is for it to have been a plausible twist, but this isn't the place to expound on that. I will agree that it does seem like something the writers flirted with before either forgetting or dropping for time constraints, which is a shame to me. The series won't be allowed to have morally grey characters, and it doesn't line up with prior representations of Adam. I just think it's neat. And I think OM should have leaned harder in the thriller/murder-mystery direction anyway, regardless of what the truth was.

I'm always flattered when people like my interpretations, though. Working through changes like that really is a thought-exercise, both in the backwards "what would cause this choice?" direction and the forwards "what comes of this later?" direction. Which is why the series is getting so dang long, honestly. I'm doing my best not to leave too many threads unaddressed and keep things internally consistent. (I'm also piling a large majority of my headcanons about these two into it so that's a lot of material already!)

Thanks for taking the time to write in. It means a lot to me to have people engaging thoughtfully both with my work and with the source material. Like I said at the top, OM, although much (perhaps unfairly?) reviled, still deserves thoughtful consideration.

[pensive-and-cringey]

CPA TIMBER SPRUCE AU ? ?? GET BACK HERE

ookaaaay okay okay so Basically, This is an au where two main things change. 1. Sunset shimmer fails to steal the crown from twilight and decides that since her plan failed and she has a small window, she's going to go back to equestria and try to amass power there. What this results in is basically her suddenly going missing in the human world.

2. Timber is accepted into CPA on some sort of financial aid/scholarship program that he applies for on academic merit. So he goes to see if he can secure a financial future.

A lot of things result from this, but a lot of the au comes down to the different social circles he's in, how he reacts to his environment and how his relationship with Scitwi changes. A few big things: 1. Timber's natural resentment of institution and wealth is exacerbated by seeing the contrast between his life at home and the school, and the lives that these rich kids live

2. His already competitive nature is being rewarded, and since for him succeeding means providing for his family and having a future of comfort & security while failure means uncertainty, losing more than they already have, and struggling more, the stakes are higher. he wants to succeed, and he needs to. 3. his social standing! there are definitely people who don't accommodate him and don't want to see him succeed, due to classism, ignorance, and other prejudices (cinch is among them). But! he is charming and friendly and athletic and new, and so people gravitate to him and he makes friends.

4. Speaking of! his friends! Indigo Zap pretty much scopes him first. he's smart and he's strong and Indigo sees a lot of potential in that for a new athlete. she's especially glad he's well-rounded because the games are coming up and they could use someone who isn't twig shaped. Being friends with Indigo kind of gives him an in with the popular kids, and he ends up getting along well with Lemon zest as well because she's friendly and energetic. He sometimes gets a bad vibe from the rest of the shadow bolts but like, he's not alone anymore! He's around kids his age! he has friends! and he's so excited about that that he kind of ignores it. (also they just like, start buying him shit. which is nice. it makes his life easier. he ends up having like a veronica sawyer, my fair lady moment.)

6. so. His relationship with twilight. Surprise: it's not great, actually. I always sort of like twilight when she has some of the character flaws that we see from prin. twi in the earlier seasons- the sort of dismissiveness and kind of know-it-all-ness. Before she met the mane 5, princess twilight was not very good with people and part of that was her own attitude, and I feel like since sci-twi doesn't have that development yet she'd retain that flaw.

So basically, it's a lot of miscommunication. Sci-Twi is kind of up her own ass about academics and is a stickler for the rules, and she's also pretty sheltered. When she sees timber with indigo so much, she kind of assumes that he got in on athletic merits, and so she's kind of dismissive of him. She ends up pointing out things she sees as him doing wrong or disrespectfully, she side-eyes him for being late(he had to bike here, he doesn't know the building layout), she gawks at the state of his books(they are thrifted or old, she doesn't know that). She's not malicious, she just doesn't know better, these things don't occur to her. Timber is already sensitive about his background though and keeps dealing with people who question whether he has a right to be here, and he Does Not Take This Well. He thinks she's pretentious and elitist, and none of his new friends seem to like her anyway so she must just not be fun to be around.

Basically, he sees her as this privileged trust-fund kid who keeps being rude and curt, who's obviously the principles favorite, and who clearly thinks she's better than him. To her, he's this popular athletic kid who hangs out with the school's mean girls and clearly cares more about sports and chatter than actually learning, and he clearly doesn't respect the school and its history. There's tension. They have beef. A lot of this au is actually about how two people who'd get along in one set of circumstances don't get along in another, and how that might affect them in the long run. (there's a lot more to this and also everything that's happening over in CHS, but this post is long! so. here's this for now.)

[busghost]

Hi. Off topic, but: someone on twitter said Mihoyo hates women, comparing Ganyu's trailer and Xiao's. That Xiao's trailer was "badass" and most they talked about Ganyu in her trailer was about her sleep habit. Ganyu is half adeptus while Xiao is an adeptus, kinda like a mythical powerful creature in Genshin's world, so she should be depicted as such too (powerful), but apparently since "Mihoyo hates women" they didn't show her badass side, and not only that, they couldn't give her a meaningful, deep trailer.

I couldn't stop thinking about Honkai, and that I think her statement isn't true. Right, Genshin is not Honkai. But if Mihoyo hates women, it'd be shown in all their games, wouldn't it?

In my opinion, there's a certain amount of fan service, something that I dislike in both games, and there's things they could do better when representing women, but still, to say that they hate women? Because a character trait is emphasized, does not mean that it is the only trait of the character...

Her tweet has more than 1,5K of likes. So many people agree with that?

I feel out of place, "defending" Mihoyo, a company that creates wonderful games, but at the end of the day it is still a company that wants your money...

So, in general: I think criticism is valid and it's good so Mihoyo can become a better company, I just don't agree with her opinion and wanted to see other point of view, when comparing Mihoyo's other games.

In your opinion, when having Honkai girls in your mind, is it true that Mihoyo hates women?

Firstly I’d like to say this.

Rather than be the Purity Police expecting perfection and constantly being disappointed or infuriated, I can recognize that something has plenty of flaws, but still has other merits and enjoy it. You can think parts of something are bad but still enjoy the whole.

To actually get started.

It’s hard to say anything about mihoyo as a whole because there are many teams at the company. The Honkai team, GGZ team, Genshin team, AI research group, that first-person shooter in development, their otome game, and other projects I’m sure I don’t know about.

I can only give my opinion based on my experience with Honkai Impact because I only played a few hours of GGZ and Genshin and just didn’t like the gameplay.

As for my take on that Genshin statement of hating women. I think it’s only a problem if it’s consistently happening to every female character. If they only advertised men as badass and then women on other traits that would probably be showing some favoritism for their male characters, or sexism rather if they showed the women as incapable of the same things as the men. There’s nothing wrong with advertising a character on their different traits I don’t think. You can’t advertise every character as being the most badass, that’d get boring.

But I don’t think I know enough about what happens in the Genshin community or Genshin itself to comment on what happens over there.

But I do know a lot about Honkai Impact and the Honkai community here, I’ve lurked on Reddit, seen plenty of youtube, and spent one terrifying moment on Amino.

So at the beginning (of Honkai), there was a lot of bad fanservice-y stuff that I really didn’t like, we could go on but I’ll just show you these pre-release Mei designs.

In-game on the left, pre-release on the right. 

In short, it wasn’t good. But they changed them so I can commend them for that, but these images are representative of some of the stuff that was in the game earlier. I am split on how if you touched the characters in inappropriate places on the bridge they’d kill you and log you out of the game. It is funny but probably not something that should’ve existed in the first place.

So there were definitely some bad approaches they took to the characters, but over time this started to change and I’m not sure what happened. I’m guessing that they really came to love and respect their characters as people rather than caricatures they could sell?

Don’t get me wrong, they are still trying to sell you something but it seems like ever since Honkai Impact began they’ve done so much better over time portraying women in their media as characters and selling the story they are part and the people they are of rather than selling you on fanservice of their boobs or other such silliness.

Sure outfits may be revealing still but they make sense and are overall super cool. They make the characters look amazing/powerful/beautiful without shoving them out of character or reducing them to sex objects. For example, the Herrscher of Thunder battlesuit is revealing, no arguing that, but it makes her look so powerful and awesome.

There are still bad ones, they aren’t perfect and their target demographic is people who are really into anime so sometimes nonsense sells. Looking at you, HoT outfits and Succubus outfits.

Even a character like Himeko or Rita isn’t out of character when she has mostly revealing outfits because it can come down to whether she is being sexy vs being made a sexual object. And sometimes they do cross that blurry line into “haha anime titties pls buy”.

The comics are a great example of their improvement, the first volume has a ridiculous amount of inappropriate angles with panty-shots and and idiot focus on boobs. You look at recent manga, esp after they switched the artstyle/artists there is none of that.

This wasn’t asked about but I’d like to discuss it too, the wlw representation in Honkai Impact is fantastic even working in the restraints of CN gov’t censorship. I don’t care if they meant for it to be or if they’re just trying to get my money, these characters feeling like people in love, for better and for worse, in healthy and unhealthy relationships. These aren’t stories about lesbians coming out or how hard it can be to be queer. These women are just in love and they explore the dynamics of that love just as they would for any straight characters. But my girlfriend wrote a much better post about this subject so I’ll link that if you want to read more.

I’m not sure if I worded this exactly how I wanted to but

I can’t speak for Genshin Impact but really believe the Honkai team at mihoyo at least loves and respects the women they write in their stories.