#guilty as sin? EDDIE CORE

[mazzystar24]

Listening to TTPD thinking about how it’s written (mostly) abt Matty Healy:

Listening to TTPD as if it’s written abt your favourite ships and characters:

[vulpinesaint]

venomposting again to make myself feel better. anyway i am always saying that they never let us talk about eddie brock catholicism but at the core of his character the way that he perceives himself is so DEEPLY catholic to me. people talk about catholic guilt as a huge thing and it is! don't get me wrong! but at the rotted core of the issue is the way that catholicism makes you think about Yourself. when the first thing that you learn is that You Are A Sinner and You Are Unworthy, it becomes very difficult to conceive of the thought that you are, at your core, a good person. you can sin by having a jealous or covetous thought, you can sin by slipping up, by not guarding your every thought or sight or movement, and the guilt consumes you not really because you've done that bad thing but because the fact that you did that bad thing is just further and further and further evidence that You are rotted. i don't experience a lot of catholic guilt, but it's not because i really unlearned the concepts that i was taught as a child. what i did at fifteen was come to terms with the fact that i Was going to go to hell and that i was not a good enough person to keep up with the demands of Being Good even if i wanted to do that. in my heart and my soul i detach myself from that guilt not by letting go of the thought that those things are guilt-worthy but by accepting that i am a fundamentally bad person. and like. it's not okay to be a bad person. but i am not a good enough person to feel guilty about that, you know? so when i sin even now there is a little voice that points it out to me. little white lies on instinct are things that i Notice. but i'm already a bad person, y'know, so what's the point of obsessing over it? except that at the core of all that is Still the values that i was taught as a child and Still this slow-beating heart of guilt because thinking that i am a bad person is, fundamentally, a guilty frame of mind. and that's how i see eddie brock's thoughts on himself. he is always talking about how he may Try to be good but will never achieve it, how there is something that makes him fundamentally incapable of being a hero, how he is Not Good deep down inside of him. despite having worked for so so so long to help people. because ultimately it doesn't come down to your actions out in the world. it comes down to you. you are a sinner. and as long as you are violent, as long as you are hateful, as long as you are not following the catholic concepts of what it means to follow god's word, you are Not Good. and this is not to say that i think his outlook is expressly religious. but i gave up on being a good person years ago in my daily life even as i continually try to be considerate and kind and beneficial to the people around me. cause it doesn't matter how much good i do if i'm not good inside. and that view of myself is something that's built into me, religious situations or not. which is all to say that even though they refuse to say more about eddie brock's relationship with religion beyond the fact that he was "catholic as hell" i think that it shows in the fundamental structure of his character. uh. i don't think i explained this well enough. post over

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: When Guilty Gear Xrd SIGN was first announced;

Were you hyped as hell?

What was your first thoughts on Sol, Ky, Millia and "Eddie" (before it was revealed to be Zato instead)?

Did you have some hopes and concerns about the returning cast before they were revealed? Like if their redesigns were too readical or they lose aspects of their character outside of gameplay?

I reacted in a great many ways, but most significantly I felt like a long drought had passed.

As for the characters that got announced at that time, I wasn't particularly "engaged" with that aspect (you know me, I don't have a favorite character, so I don't focus on individuals per se).

If anything I was more interested in any "new" characters they would reveal (which was eventually Elphelt, Sin, Bedman, Ramlethal, and Leo Whitefang at that time).

As for Xrd in the context of how I felt back then... hmmm...:

It had been a long gap between Accent Core and Xrd, so you have to understand that just having a "new" Guilty Gear was a very exciting thing. It didn't really matter what it looked like or who was in the game to me, what mattered was that I could finally play GG with friends in modern times again.

Xrd was also the first major Online GG in terms of netplay battles for a lot of people... even if you count Reload on the X-Box, that was a small gathering by comparison.

But, time has passed, and Xrd has been dwarfed by Guilty Gear Strive in terms of recognition and netplay accessibility.

Comparing older games to newer ones, of course some people like that more "artistic" look older games had, but you can't really fault the efforts they made to make GG characters look much more cinematic than they were previously.

And we're still not even DONE yet! We're supposed to get even more content in March this year!

[marcia-elena]

Eddie Begins - 3x15 meta

There's something about Eddie Begins that stood out to me but that I haven't seen anyone talk about yet. And that's how much birth imagery this episode had.

The episode literally starts with a birth--Christopher's--and Shannon pushing hard to bring her baby into the world. Eddie's there with her to welcome their son, and while he's not the first one to hold the baby he gets to cut the umbilical cord, an action that's required for Christopher to become a whole separate person; while he stills needs to be cared for, he's no longer physically connected to his mother. Eddie will 'cut the cord' twice more in the course of the episode, once literally and once figuratively.

The story shifts then to the rescue of a little boy who fell into a narrow well pipe and got stuck, and that immediately brings to mind the circumstances of Christopher's birth, who got stuck in the birth canal during labor--and yes, we don't see that happen in this episode, but I choose to view that omittance not as a continuity error but simply as having happened before the opening scene starts.

A tunnel is drilled parallel to the well pipe so the 118 can try to reach the trapped boy, Hayden, and Eddie volunteers for the task. Bobby tells him he has thirty minutes to find and free the boy, because the heavy rains they're under are making the tunnel walls unstable and flooding the underground system. Eddie is lowered into the tunnel and he finds Hayden, but there are unforeseen complications, and just as he's getting the boy out his team starts bringing him back up because the time he had is over, and he loses his grip on Hayden. Eddie doesn't want to leave Hayden to drown, so he cuts the line and slides all the way to the bottom, and now he's also stuck down there.

This is the literal cutting of the cord; in this instance, Eddie does it knowing beyond any doubt that his team will do everything in their power to help him and Hayden out of the trouble they're in. He trusts them with his life. In contrast, there's the flashback where Eddie's parents are urging him to relinquish custody of Christopher to them. Instead of showing pride in Eddie's efforts to provide for his son, instead of offering assistance, they try to make him feel guilty for not having been present in Christopher's life before. And it's here that Eddie cuts the cord in a figurative sense, by choosing to take Christopher to LA with him, away from his parents and whatever support system he'd had until then. He's freeing himself from them, following his own instincts. And it's in LA, with the 118 (and most specifically, Buck) that Eddie will find the kind of faith and support and unconditional love that his blood family failed to show him.

Underground, Eddie manages to pull Hayden all the way out of the well pipe, again mirroring a birth, and after Chim comes down to check on Eddie he takes Hayden with him back to the surface, into the safety of his mother's arms. Eddie's still down at the bottom waiting for a line when the storm that's been raging outside causes the walls of the tunnel to collapse, essentially burying him alive.

(Topside, Buck desperately tries to get to Eddie by clawing at the muddy ground with his bare hands; it's a futile endeavor, but one that speaks of the scope and intensity of his feelings for Eddie. The deeper the love, the more devastating the grief.)

The 118 doesn't know for sure if Eddie's alive or dead. And they're not giving up on him, but they're aware that the chances of saving him are slim. Eddie, in the meantime, is still alive but trapped. And he too will come to realize that his team can't reach him, and that he's going to have to fight for himself.

The water rises fast. The little oxygen that Eddie has runs out. He's faced with his own inevitable, and now imminent, death. But Eddie doesn't quit; just as he kept up hope in Afghanistan, just as he didn't give up on Hayden. When faced with certain death he doesn't surrender himself to it. Death will arrive, but while there's still breath in him Eddie chooses to try. That's what he's always doing--trying the best he can. And as it's often the case in life, for him now the only way out is through.

So Eddie takes a deep breath, and he dives into the water and swims. The cold is numbing and the air he's holding in his lungs won't last very long. Blackness threatens to engulf him. Eddie is now in a liminal space, poised on the very threshold between life and death. This, also, can be interpreted as birth imagery. Because what is birth if not a moment of transition? In the womb the baby is waiting, suspended in amniotic fluid where it's dark and quiet. As the mother's body goes into labor the baby is forced out into a larger world where light and noise await. The baby is alive in its mother's womb, but it's not until it's born that it can truly experience life.

There are also spiritual/religious undertones to Eddie's predicament--it can be said that Eddie is now in the underworld, a purgatory of sorts. An intermediate state where he might be purged of his sins before being allowed to rest.

Eddie relives key moments of his life, and they're all about the family he's made for himself and Christopher with Buck and the 118. It can be said that Eddie's greatest fear, and the core of his insecurities, is the sense of not being enough. It's what he confesses to Bobby when he talks about Shannon and how she'd asked for a divorce just before her fatal accident; it's what he tells his superiors in Afghanistan after saving the lives of his unit; it's what his own parents imply when they tell him that Christopher would be better off with them instead of Eddie. But here in this moment out of time, I think that Eddie looks at his accomplishments and his shortcomings and finally accepts and forgives himself. As long as he's giving his all, he is enough.

Driven by his love for his son, Eddie finds the strength to swim all the way back to the surface. His time isn't up yet, and the kind of rest that he's seeking isn't the unbroken sleep of death or an idealized Heaven, but the comfort of home.

Water symbolizes, among other things, healing and cleansing and renewal. Rebirth. So as Eddie breaks out of the water and fills his aching lungs with fresh air it's as if he's taking his first breath all over again.

Buck and Bobby and Hen all rush to Eddie's side as he staggers toward them, and when he stumbles and falls from exhaustion they lift him back up. They're all supporting him, physically and emotionally, and Buck is not only helping Eddie stay on his feet, he's lending Eddie some extra strength and reassurance by also holding his hand, just as Eddie did with Shannon when she was straining to give Christopher his final push into the world. (Just as Eddie did when he held Buck's hand when Buck was pinned under the ladder truck.) With that simple gesture Buck is telling Eddie louder than the others: "I'm here; you're not alone."

Christopher has taught Eddie to be a nurturing parent; and from Buck, the person who's closest to him, Eddie has been learning that it's okay to need and receive support, to openly express his feelings. He's been reconciling those parts of himself, embracing the more tender aspects of his personality that are associated with a more feminine energy, eschewing the toxic masculinity and the pent-up anger that led him to the fighting cage.

Is Eddie a completely changed man now after this recent brush with death? Probably not. Growth doesn't happen all at once, so he probably still has a ways to go. And that's just fine.

This, after all, is only Eddie's beginning.

***

[hcgamez]

Guilty gear xrd revelator (2016) – 7GB

Giới thiệu game Guilty gear xrd revelator

Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- là hạng mục thứ 16 trong loạt Guilty Gear và phần tiếp theo trực tiếp của SIGN. REVELATOR lần đầu tiên được công bố cho quý 3 năm 2015 phát hành trên các mái vòm, bắt đầu từ một thử nghiệm vị trí vào tháng Sáu. REVELATOR sau đó được phát hành cho Arcades Nhật Bản vào ngày 25 tháng 8 năm 2015. Trò chơi được phát hành cho PS3 và PS4 tại Nhật Bản vào ngày 26 tháng 5 năm 2016, ngày 7 tháng 6 tại Hoa Kỳ và ngày 10 tháng 6 ở châu Âu.

Bạn là phan ruột của dòng game đối kháng Guilty gear, đừng bỏ qua series Guilty gear hấp dẫn này nhé. Click tại đây để xem danh sách: http://hcgamez.com/tag/guilty-gear/

Guilty gear đã trở thành một trong những tượng đài game đối kháng không chỉ ở Châu Á mà cả toàn thế giới. Có thể bạn không biết, đây là game xếp top 2 trong danh sách 20 game đối kháng hay nhất tại Nhật Bản. Game không những có hình ảnh, âm thanh nổi bật mà quan trọng hơn là game sở hữu những combo vô cùng đẹp mắt, tạo cảm hứng cho người chơi. Hệ thống nhân vật đa dạng, kèm theo đó là hệ thống vũ khí lớn, giúp bạn thoải mái sáng tạo combo.

Cốt truyện phiên bản Guilty gear xrd revelator

Những bí ẩn và mưu đồ đã đến đầu, kích hoạt chương mới nhất trong câu chuyện GUARTY GEAR. Đã một tuần kể từ khi Ramlethal tuyên chiến với tất cả nhân loại. Sol và thủy thủ đoàn của ông đã bắt đầu một cuộc điều tra để theo dõi Elphelt, người đã bị bắt cóc. Không có manh mối về nơi ở của cô ấy…

Đột nhiên, Sol nhận được một chuyến thăm bất ngờ… Đó chính là người đã tạo ra Gears, kẻ thù của Sol, “Người đàn ông đó”, cùng với một trong những trung úy của anh ta - Raven. "Người đàn ông đó" tìm sự giúp đỡ từ Sol để giải quyết điểm số của mình với "Universal Will".

"Universal Will" là ai? Và ai sẽ chiến thắng cuối cùng…?

Các nhân vật trong game

Nhân vật ban đầu:

Sol Badguy

Ky Kiske

Millia Rage

Zato-1 / Eddie

có thể

Potemkin

Chipp Zanuff

Venom

Axl Low

Tôi không

Faust

Slayer

Ramlethal Valentine

Bedman

Sin Kiske

Elphelt Valentine

Leo Whitefang

Các nhân vật phiên bản trước

Johnny

Jam Kuradoberi

Dizzy (Console Exclusive DLC)

Raven (Console Exclusive*)

Các nhân vật mới

Jack-O' Valentine

Kum Haehyun (Console Exclusive DLC)

Cấu hình chơi

Windows Minimum Recommended Operating system (OS) 7, 8.1, 10 Processor (CPU) Intel Core i5 2.0 GHz System memory (RAM) 2 GB Hard disk drive (HDD) 12 GB Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 AMD Radeon HD 7770 DirectX 9.0c compatible Sound (audio device)

Download Guilty gear xrd revelator

Dung lượng: 7.6GB Fshare: https://www.fshare.vn/file/AF3SGMJHL7XT

File Cr@ck: Fshare: https://www.fshare.vn/file/3FMLSWVHGMEU

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Coi nguyên bài viết ở : Guilty gear xrd revelator (2016) – 7GB

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[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

The Vindication of Venom Part 7: Seeds of Evil

Part 6

Part 8

This is the part of this essay series I was simultaneously most keen and most nervous to write about. Initially I intended to make it the last and longest part but I’ve realized it’d be just way too big. To that end I’ve split it up to make each aspect of my argument stand out more.

However you should bear in mind that (even more so than the previous parts) all instalments from this one onwards are highly interconnected. You need to bear them in mind when reading consequent parts of this essay series.

With all that said, it is time now to bite the bullet and address the final point I discussed in Part 1, the one which cuts to the heart of people’s criticisms of Venom.

·         Eddie Brock’s motivations for hating Spider-Man are weak and make no sense

In brief, the key to understanding Eddie Brock and his motivations is to appreciate the fact that…he is crazy.

Well, actually that is oversimplifying it. Often times villains’ actions are hand waved on the basis that ‘they are crazy’, thus lazily justifying anything and everything they do.

However in the case of Eddie Brock the reality is that we can actually be a lot more specific than that. We can dive deep into his mind-set to explain why he does what he does in ASM #300 and why his origin does make sense from his own twisted point of view; let alone his core concept and intentions.

To understand this POV we have to appreciate that Brock is not only crazy when we meet him in ASM #300, but in fact might not have been a very nice person in the first place.

Whilst you could interpret it differently, for now let’s presume Eddie Brock was not truly mentally unstable before he lost his job. With that in mind, Brock comes off as highly ambitious based upon the above flashback sequence. Ambitious in fact to the point of being selfish and unethical.

He is also patently hypocritical (more on this later) and likely somewhat narcissistic too.* 

This is rather nicely illustrated in the canonically dubious Uncanny Origins #7 which retells Brock’s origin.

Again, this is what the character seems like before  his career and life falls apart and  before he gained the immense power of the Venom symbiote.**

In summation Eddie Brock seems to have always been a pretty twisted individual.

All this is eloquently illustrated in the above pages where Brock recounts his history with the Sin Eater. To begin with Brock is claiming to Peter Parker that he was a respected journalist, a potential sign of his own ego and narcissism. But even if you don’t buy that, consider the fact that upon being contacted by the alleged Sin Eater, Brock:

·       protected his identity 

·       told his story ‘compassionately’ (Brock’s own words) 

·       only revealed his identity after being pressured into it by the authorities and legal counsel.  

Remember the Sin Eater was someone who was (as far as anyone knew) a vicious and highly dangerous murderer who’d killed a respected female police officer, let alone anyone else.*** We do not know when  precisely Sin Eater contacted Brock, but in the previous instalment I speculated that it made the most sense for Brock’s final article to have been published closer to Gregg’s invasion of the Bugle. With this in mind it is likely that Sin Eater had already killed a priest and judge (both also respected by most of the public) when Brock was first contacted.

 This means that despite popular public opinion, very obvious journalistic ethical practices, common human decency and Brock’s own alleged Catholic beliefs he willingly and knowingly allowed a known killer continue to be at large and endanger other ‘innocent’  people.

And to listen to how he told the story, Brock might’ve allowed Sin Eater to remain free because he either felt sympathy for him or else because he knew writing such an article would garner a lot of attention and prestige. The latter notion is supported when you consider his articles became sensations and he clearly employed a general lack of fact checking supports the latter notion, or at least alludes to him being selfishly ambitious. After all why waste time fact checking when you have a hot story that could slip away any moment?

In Brock’s defence, fact checking might have been easier said than done. Emil Gregg in the original Sin Eater storyline believed himself to be the Sin Eater since he lived next door to Stan Carter and overheard his audio diary through the walls of his bedroom, believing these recordings to be voices in his head and convincing himself that he was the genuine killer.

We do not know the details of what Carter recorded and by extension what Gregg could’ve conveyed to Brock. But presumably they must have been fairly convincing details only the killer would know or details that would otherwise line up with the real Sin Eater’s crimes. These unto themselves would’ve been fairly convincing, but even if Brock were to attempt to further corroborate Gregg’s story that would involve him:

·       meeting Gregg face-to-face, which would be incredibly dangerous if he was who he claimed he was

·       finding evidence to show that Gregg was in a different location at the time of the Sin Eater’s murders. Given Gregg’s mostly reclusive life this might not have been possible.

 Returning to Brock’s ‘compassionate’ account of Gregg’s story, there are two ways of looking at his decision to go for that angle.

The first way ties back to Brock’s overall selfish ambition. That is to say he might’ve sought to write a sympathetic account of Gregg’s situation specifically to win praise and popularity. Many real life authors’ before and after ASM #300’s publication have made a lot of bank off of getting into the minds of murderers and other such individuals. Gitta Sereny in her book ‘The Case of Mary Bell: A Portrait of a Child Who Murdered’, is but one example. 

Or to use a famous fictional example, in Frank Miller’s iconic graphic novel, ‘The Dark Knight Returns’, Miller criticizes such people through the character of Doctor Bartholomew Wolper. In the story Wolper presents a sympathetic attitude to the super villains Two-Face and the Joker, claiming them to be victims of Batman despite the former quickly returning to a life of crime following his ‘reform’ and the latter of course murdering Wolper on live television.

The second way to look at Brock’s ‘compassionate’ story is to believe he was legitimately sympathetic towards Gregg. This is corroborated by his protecting Gregg’s identity, only revealing it after being pressured. Logically protecting Gregg’s identity would land Brock in trouble with the authorities, raise questions amongst his peers and might even damage the reputation of the Globe. Revealing the identity of Gregg would not only avoid all that but also serve to boost Brock’s own career and prestige, not unlike Woodward and Bernstein. He could still tell Gregg’s story (compassionately or otherwise) and so further increase his reputation as a respected journalist.

The fact that Brock chose not to avoid those problems and not take up the advantages by betraying Gregg’s trust (until pressured to do so) heavily implies that Brock did in fact feel some kind of genuine compassion for him.

This was not entirely unreasonable on his part. Gregg was genuinely remorseful of his ‘crimes’, he had a history of mental illness he might have informed Brock about and he (like Brock) was obviously a man of faith.

Furthermore, Brock might even have agreed with Sin Eater’s crusade against people who were ‘soft on crime’.****

Most of these points could similarly apply to the legitimate Sin Eater Stan Carter, who’s mental instability, remorse and disabilities (caused by Spidey) were eventually all public knowledge.

 Together with his record of service as a police officer and agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Brock might’ve felt similarly compassionate towards him too. The latter point is somewhat supported by Brock’s respect for heroes like Johnny Storm as seen in ASM #362 which Michelinie also penned.

This is not to say that most people would naturally feel sympathetic to Gregg or Carter if they knew them to be violent serial killers. And of course it was wholly unethical for anyone to cover their identities in any way under similar circumstances. My point is to illustrate how it’s not a massive leap to imagine how Brock might have arrived at those feelings of ‘compassion’, hence his shielding of Gregg and his lack of condemnation of Carter.

 However, caring so much for the victimizer over his victims/future victims that he’d outright shield him reveals Brock to be a morally twisted (possibly mentally unstable) person.

 Indeed, Brock feeling compassion for someone who

·       Is mentally unstable

·       Has suffered in the course of their life

·       Is in a bad place in their life currently

·       Violently kills people he has judged as guilty based upon deeply held religious beliefs

·       Barely (if ever) acknowledges any innocent people he hurts in pursuit of his crusade

actually makes an alarming amount of sense given his future as Venom.

 In our next instalment we touch on an all too human trait vital to grasping Brock’s character: hypocrisy.

 * The latter very much plays into his perception of himself as an ‘innocent victim’.

 **For many people obtaining the power the symbiote provided would likely have taken them on a huge power trip. But I will talk more about that in the Appendix.

 *** Jean DeWolff being female likely (at least in the 1980s) would’ve served to make the Sin Eater seem all the more monstrous to the public. The same is true of another of Sin Eater’s victims, an old black priest, a fact actually acknowledged in the original story.

 ****In ASM #300 Brock’s dialogue more than once refers to ideas of ‘the innocent’ and punishing ‘the guilty’, albeit not necessarily consistent in those strict terms. Of course these concepts would go on to be massive parts of Brock’s character in the future, for better or worse.

Part 6

Part 8

[gear-project]

Movelist Evolution History

With Guilty Gear Xrd Rev2's Second Location Test coming up around the 11th, I thought I'd give you guys a little History Lesson to ponder.

I won't be talking about characters that aren't in Xrd Rev2's roster, so that should simplify things.

[AXL] ---Considering the changes made to Sparrowhawk Stance in Rev2, I can see why they didn't want Axl to feel like a traditional Murakumo Unit in BlazBlue, originally, Axl's attacks as of his revision in GGX were all single hits, with no vacuum whatsoever and very few moves were meant to juggle opponents but just annoy them from a distance. ---Axl once had a move called "Angry Thrust" (Dototsu) that let him rush opponents like a Dust Attack, but it was a low rushing maneuver so it easily low-profiled a lot of attacks. [BEDMAN] ---Even if Bedman's lost his 6H, he still has his tiger-knee Task A' to keep opponents busy on wakeup... never underestimate the Bed! ---His new multi-hit 6H is reminiscent of Charlotte Colde's Multi-hit thrust move from Samurai Showdown!  This sometimes caused huge damage, especially in the corner... something to think about. [CHIPP] ---You wouldn't know it by his Xrd animation, but his Banki Messai (Thousand Ogre Destruction) Overdrive was originally his 6P attack done over and over and over... pretty silly right? ---Alpha Blade (his forward dash move) originally was its own projectile on startup that hit TWICE!  An aura of Ki would surround Chipp's body just as he began to dash forwards... this nullified a lot of projectile spam back in the day, but was most commonly used as an OTG relauncher for combo loops! [ELPHELT] ---Just be lucky she doesn't have Chris Redfield's arsenal of weaponry in UMvC3... his mines were a pain to deal with... plus the low-profile shot to boot. ---Don't forget about Cable's Viper Beam from MvC2... yikes. [FAUST] ---His Instant Kill was originally his Overdrive "Mad Operation" and was ACTUALLY a Command Throw of all things! ---His "Giant Mini Faust" in Rev2 is reminiscent of the giant monster doll mini-boss found in Guilty Gear Judgment's Survival Mode... it also has armor hits like the rare Mini Potemkin drop he originally had.  Something to look forward to. [I-NO] ---You wouldn't notice at first glance, but I-No still retains her old EX Mode's ground dash animation whenever she does grounded Dust combos, if you play as her in M.O.M. and equip the Cat Marked Pumps, she can use her ground dash as much as you want!  Combined with "Emergency Escape" and the "Teleport" item and she'd have a ridiculously high jump with tons of safe aerial options. [KY] ---Ky's new 6H animation is reminiscent of his original Zwei Voltage Instant Kill.  If you haven't seen it, you owe yourself the experience, it's quite pretty, even by today's standards. ---Originally, Ky's "Instant Kill" was a startup poke maneuver based on his Standing K, however regardless of whether or not it hit Mid or Low, Instant Kill Red Screens were considered nigh-inescapable unblockables and could be activated endlessly.  The "Red Screen" that Instant Kill startups are known for later made it's way in to GGXrd in the form of DANGER TIME. ---Much like Sol, Ky's current 6H in Revelator was originally his "standing" 5H, it was also 3H in Accent Core... it was a great meaty, so who knows if they'll keep it or not.  Ky's new 3H is a great tool too, and actually makes far Slash pokes useful. [LEO] ---Worth noting that Leo's 5H has a backwards hitbox which is a useful counter against crossup attempts (like Bedman's dash behind parry). ---In the future, Leo may get more sword-block moves like 5S,P... maybe even one to counter low normal attempts. [MAY] ---Back in GG1, May almost exclusively relied on her Aqua Rolling maneuver, since it could easily be spammed on the ground or in the air.  It was so annoying she didn't even have to bother charging it.  Now she has to use her Dolphins more strategically. ---Her current Instant Kill in Revelator is actually based on her original IK "bye-bye", as she used a Dolphin to catapult her opponent to the stars.  So long, and thanks for all the Fish! [MILLIA] ---The "pin" (Silent Force) that everyone fears whenever Millia Jumps isn't really a Pin.  It's a dagger in her hair.  Also it wasn't originally a dagger... it was a Lance.  It was actually an extension of her "Living Lancer" maneuver which she could manually control (the manual inputs were called "Hungry Bee".  This was later replaced by the Bubble commands she currently has in Secret Garden. ---Her Tandem Top "disc" was originally called "Condemned Top" and had universal Wall-bounce properties and a knockback on startup, so it was actually safe to use as a stand-alone... almost like a DP reversal. ---Her "Lance" followup to her roll mixups is actually her "Forcebreak" followup to Lust Shaker, called "Longinus". ---Worth noting that Millia's Lust Shaker retains its 3rd animation change from Accent Core.  Originally it leaned forwards and had a huge hitbox in GGX, and in GG1, it actually had a surprising juggle-factor that could keep enemies in the air for a long time in the corner.  In fact, if you follow up a Ground Dust attack in to Lust Shaker, she can still do this a little bit. [POTEMKIN] ---Pote originally had a rushing command throw in Nitro Hook.  He'd dash forwards and grab his opponent and smack them backwards causing a wall bounce.  He may need it again if they plan on nerfing his Hammerfall with the new Blitzshield Cancels. ---His 6H was originally his STANDING 5H... which is ridiculous to think about. ---Slide Head was originally called "Graviton" and was fully chargeable, generating huge exploding shockwaves, not unlike Dizzy's Imperial Ray. ---His EX Mode had a stance called "Unbreakable Spirit" which gave him super armor in exchange for having total control to respond to an opponent's attacks.  He could respond with Nitro Hook, Judge Gauntlet, Pote Buster, Heat Knuckle... and he could Overdrive Cancel in to Heavenly Pote Buster to boot!  Talk about psychic reads... [RAMLETHAL] ---"Final" boss Valentine in GG2 had giant chainsaw elbow swords... her combos had a wide multi-hit reach too. ---Final Valentine also had a move where she planted her fingers in the ground and a volley of missiles would spring up in front of her (similar to Robo-Ky's Rocket Knee). [SIN] ---Hawk Baker wasn't originally a DP as far as I know... it was a trap catch counter (similar to Axl's Heaven can Wait).  It might be possible for Sin to get a move that lets him parry attacks with his Flagpole. [SLAYER] ---Slayer's "dash-around" Dandy step from Accent Core got replaced in Xrd with a "wider" dash step, but even that is still Jump Cancel-able... and it'd be overkill if he could followup with Pile Bunker instantly from a dash like that anyway. ---Rev2 first Loketest gave his Bloodsucking Universe command bite some counter-hit properties... as if the bite loop wasn't scary enough... [SOL] ---Sol's 6P animation as we know it only existed since GGX.  Originally, it was called a "Gamble Attack".  This was because Sol would have to step forwards to attack and take a risk (he would step forward and thrust his elbow downwards originally).  It was for this reason almost all character's 6P animations were changed to having Upper-body invincibility as universal Anti-Airs essentially, or in their Dead-Angle forms having full-invincibility despite having the same 6P animation. ---Speaking of Normal changes... Sol's 6H as we currently know it was originally his "standing" Heavy Slash.  If his standing H had that kind of reach originally, who knows how he would have evolved if they hadn't changed it! ---Sol also had a "Mini Riot Stomp" dash move (66K), it was safe on block for him so it gave him nigh unlimited pressure options.  It was renamed "Breaker Dash" and was added to EX Order-Sol's movelist in the Accent Core games, but was given a dashing headbutt maneuver instead and could also come out as a dashing jump Kick, though I'm unsure if that was an overhead or not.  It'd be pretty crazy if Sol kept this. [VENOM] ---Realistically, it's debatable how Venom should deal with Q-five (QV) as an input.  Originally, Ball Formation inputs were Half-circle inputs in GGX, and his move Dubious Curve was the equivalent of what is now Q-five but it was a reverse-DP input instead (421+button).  Venom players should consider what is most comfortable to them for charging inputs, as with this new "backspin feature" to Carcass Raid and Stinger Aim in Rev2... it may come in to play later. ---If Venom ever combined his EX Overdrive Tactic Arch with Bishop Runout, he'd have an instant maxed out Bishop and be crazy hard to deal with!  Just saying. ---Depending on how the 2nd loketest goes, Venom's new 2H crouching Heavy may actually be useful for Carcass Raid charging. [ZATO/EDDIE] ---Nowadays, nearly everyone has a projectile, so you'd think Drunkard Shade would be more powerful.  Originally, Zato could capture projectiles in his Drunkard Shade and "store them for later" when he needed them.  Something to think about for Zato's new zoning strategy. ---Shadow Gallery (his rising shark move) used to be called "Rise and Fall" and actually hit like Sol's Bandit Bringer if you can believe it!  Imagine if it was a telegraphed Overhead with YRC and ground bounce! ---R.I.P. Dark Sentinel... such an awesome move will be forever missed.... unless they bring it back that is! [DIZZY] ---Dizzy hasn't changed all that much from her GGX days if you can believe it... the only real improvement is her battle stance.  Originally it was at a "half view perspective", but this didn't match the perspective of other characters in battle, so in Xrd she got a 3/4th's view battle stance like everyone else! ---It's too bad they did away with Necro's Anger and Necro Install... she would've been super scary if they brought those back.  In fact: imagine if Necro had an archer stance and shot energy arrows at you from a distance!!! ---Dizzy's flame fish looks suspiciously like Sol's Dragon Install face from GG2 Overture... any relation? Sol? [JACK-O'VALENTINE] ---The Original Valentine actually had a really funky "projectile juggle combo" which was the equivalent of Mu-12 stone setups. ---Valentine also had a very cute "slap combo" at close range, which Jack-O' never uses. [JAM] ---EX Jam originally had a command grab called Shupo Senken which essentially hit like Kenshiro's Hyakuretsuken. ---She also had a long-range ultra-fast projectile Banri Senken which was like a Ki bullet with a Dragon motif... ---Also, her "puffball" (Hyappo Shinshou) translates as "100 Step Shining Bell", so it's actually a "bell" not a "puffball". ---Her charging stance would be ridiculous if she existed in the first GG... not only could she stance-cancel them... she could use them mid-combo... scary to think about. [JOHNNY] ---Originally "Zweihander" was called "Divine Blade" and was done with his hand, not his leg... it also didn't crossup... so he has actually gotten stronger. ---Mist Finer Level 3 used to be a multi-hit mixup, but because it threw in actual "low Mist finers" mid-strike, unless the opponent blocked it low, they couldn't block it at all at that speed... it was the equivalent of getting caught in Tachibana Ukyo's Sasameyuki (Rapid Snowflakes slash) from Samurai Showdown. ---R.I.P. Ensenga... well, the original animation wasted a good bottle of whiskey, so I'm sure Johnny's glad it's no longer needed! [KUM] ---Kum's thrust kick (Reverse Four Tigers Sword) is actually very hard to deal with as a DP, especially if player is good at the execution (rapid fire Tiger Swords... ugh)... this may get nerfed at some point if they spam it too much, so keep that in mind. ---It "says" 3000 palm strike is vulnerable to Overdrives, but it would be nice if Blitz Shield charge moves could hit him out of it too. [RAVEN] ---Originally as of GG2 Overture Raven had something like 10 or more additional "poses" he could do after Verzweifelt... so be grateful he isn't as flashy as he used to be (or is it sexy to you?) [BAIKEN] ---Baiken's new "Kuchinashi" is reminiscent to the leaping sword animation startup of her original Youzansen.  Youzansen was self-cancellable from the ground and could be spam-looped!  In fact, if you RC Kuchinashi in to Youzansen, you'd get the full original animation! ---Fishing fly (her hook grab) was originally called "Kamaitachi" and was strictly horizontal and did a followup horizontal slash instead of Tetsuzansen, though I think it's still combo-able if you do it right. [ANSWER] ---If Answer is anything like famous Ninja Hattori Hanzo or even BlazBlue's Hibiki Kohaku, expect a lot of command throws as the highlight of the match. ---Ninja Feint mixups are very hard to predict, even more so than Millia's guessing games at times, so you really have to rely on the habits of your opponent to get a read on things.

And that's it.  Hope you enjoyed the foray and my thoughts on the upcoming Loketest.