#i'm not gonna blame any specific devs

[burning2know]

i read the jason schreier article. It's mostly stuff we nerds pieced together already before, but jason has more authority than our collective left brain lobe.

it's funny to me that people think the ME contingent did a good job with the ending because it was Not It. 😭 The best parts were undoubtedly in the 3rd act, but those parts had a distinct dragon age flavor that was completely absent from the "emotional" ending.

I feel so bad for the DA nerds because their company and leaders just did not get them. And yeah, not being supported in your work is going to hamper the quality your output.

[eternal-auditor]

😡 I saw the mention of the WHB wiki situation and wanted to grumble about that 😡

First of all, the person who was building and contributing to the wiki were doing that all on their own and that's a very big of a deal, because filling up a wiki takes time and effort and assets extraction seems like a pain in the ass for me and now all of it is gone? But also no one knows what happened for sure? And their blog is down too?? Like are they okay???

Idk if PB themselves have anything to do with it, but if that's the case then I don't see what's the problem even. I've never seen any fandom wiki being dismantled like that for no reason, it's not like posting this content breaks any law or smth

Also as an artist this made me very frustrated, because there are barely any references to use in the open

PB don't even post full body sprites in their announcements and some just stay in the game where you can see only half of the body. How am I suppose to draw the rest then? Play the guessing game it seems which I'm gonna do with one of my wips

For certain details you'll need to grind the likability comics anyway, and if you need the loading screen comics you're gonna constantly reload them to find the specific one, not to mention they were all in good quality and now we don't have it

Also if you don't play from the start you won't have some of the event CGs in the album

I hope the situation will resolve somehow, but right now I feel confused and angry, because I'm very meticulous person, so I always try to draw fanart as close to the original design as I can and now I'm gonna have hard time doing that

I don't blame the contributor though, they must have had reasons to take images down, I'm just letting my frustration out on how sometimes there is not enough easily accessible material to use from the devs, but If someone has info on the situation or will get an update can you guys inform me?

[raasturi]

You know what, the Fairly OddParents fandom has been quite tame. Let's spice things up a little bit.

Doesn't anybody else get that silly feeling when you see fanart of Peri being like a father to Dev, like... where's the rest of you 😍? Don't be shy, show us where Dale is. Or are you too scared? (I wouldn't blame you, I was too at first)

Small warning: this post includes slight swearing and many brain-numbing headcanons. I'm not responsible for any mental anguish you may experience

I would like to quickly apologize to the 6 people shipping Peri with Dale. I thought I was the only one but it seems like I've finally found my people. Anyways, back to the topic.

Now that you're here, I may as well show some more art of these two goobers +some silly headcanons. These are my AUed* versions of the two in my odd semi-realistic style that I completely ditch whenever I don't have the patience to draw faces (I often suck at drawing them. No wonder all my OCs are furries)

Note: him being slightly chubby and him having mobility issues are both headcanons I have shamelessly borrowed from others in the fandom. Also am I the only one who thinks Peri WOULDN'T be 6 ft tall? In the series he's like 5 apples tall, so wouldn't it make sense for him to be a bit short?

Note: there's like a bunch of lore explaining the reason why Dale looks so fucked up in my version. I scarred him for life, oopsie! But at least he has Peri now who "forces" him to go to therapy 😍. I may need to make a seperate post where I only talk about him and his past if I have the motivation.

I know a lot of you don't even know the pain of trying to convert a stylized character into a realistic style and still making them look good and kinda recognizable. I envy you who have less realistic art styles.

*And yes, I did say AU. More specifically I'm talking about the "Missionaries of Eden AU" (by me). I'm not gonna go into detail now, but basically it's a semi-biblical and more serious take on FOP, where the fairies are angels, anti-fairies are demons and pixies... I think they can stay as pixies, or maybe they're ghosts, bees? (There's a lot of things I still need to figure out) Their tasks are to work as missionaries on the planets of Eden (planets where life exists). There's a bunch of other lore (some of which I've explained on my casual/personal account on Instagram), but it's best I leave it for another time.

Btw: if you've seen me talk about a "Below the Stars AU", "Bible AU", "Ager DLC" or something else, it's all just the same thing. I just had a hard time coming up with a good name for it lol.

Also speaking of which, I have another post coming up (hopefully) where I explain my reasons for shipping Peri and Dale. It can honestly, out of context, seem like a toxic yaoi crack ship, but believe it or not but I managed to make it the opposite; plausible AND healthy. I want to enlighten you all plus I really want to yap about them.

It feels super funny to ship such a underrated ship. I'm used to shipping semi-popular ships, so to now be all alone feels kinda fun! They have so much potential and so few are seeing the vision?? Though to be fair I'm also glad it's not that famous lmao.

Ps. Ignore the fact I haven't posted anything here for at least half-a-year. All my mutuals are on Instagram, so I don't have a need to post here, though now I've decided to dedicate this account to hyperfixation slop so maybe you'll be hearing from me much sooner.

Ps. Ps. I currently have a 22-page-long google doc filled with lore and info about almost everything I've thought of for the AU, but it's 80% in Finnish so sharing it is useless.

Man, I love writing unnecessary long posts knowing I'm the only one reading them❤️😍 though if you HAVE gotten this far, here's a little treat:

My body refuses to draw Dale in his original outfit. I like to pretend Peri helped him change a bit (most notably taking off his goddamn shoes, though they do have some lore that I've created. GGHHRRAAA EVERYTHING HAS LORE ATTACHED TO IT GRRRR). Also Dev isn't actually grumpy, he just likes to act tough.

My art style looks probably so inconsistent❤️

[conspicuous-clown-car]

what a morning,,,

here's a rant about the pressure community

I've been kinda lurking on pressure twitter for the past few weeks while all this shit went down and i just gotta say... jesus fuck.

I practically had a heart attack as soon as i opened my phone when i woke up and saw zeal was trying to sell pressure. Considering how he changed his profile last night to a strictly corporate one and then this? It seemed like a really hasty decision, and something serious was going on with him.

And yknow what, with all the hate being directed at him right now i don't blame him one fucking bit. I'd probably end up doing the same thing if i was in his shoes. Being autistic as well, i would just want to completely distance myself from this overwhelming bullshit. I think that's why he started to distance himself from the community in the first place (which unfortunately is kinda what led to some issues getting overlooked).

The tweet was deleted and pressure isn't for sale anymore thank GOD, but I'm honestly more worried about the actual people behind pressure than the game itself.

I agree that there's issues they need to fix, but its not an entirely black and white situation, and its pretty fucking complicated. With the sheer amount of people in the community its crazy to expect them to handle and manage everything themself, especially since they blew up in popularity in such a short amount of time, how the hell would they know how to deal with this???

Yes, there are certain things they need to actually address and take responsibility for that they sort of haven't, but attacking them to where it gets to this point isn't the fucking answer.

I wouldn't blame any of the devs if they never touch the game again, the way the community has treated them and has completely blown things out of proportion is insane. I feel like the main issue is the discord server itself but that's just me. From what I've seen its mostly just the community self cannibalizing, attacking each other, sending death threats, and doxxing people over shit that literally doesn't matter at all.

I'm not one to really delve into fandom drama, but this whole issue with certain possessive Sebastian fans and those who took it upon themselves to attack those fans is the stupidest fucking conflict I've ever seen in any fandom. Especially when this stuff reaches the people who work on the games who have nothing to do with it.

I agree that this is something the devs need to talk about head on with full transparency, no matter their feelings on it, because a main problem I've seen with them is lack of community management.

But again, y'all are forgetting the devs are REAL FUCKING PEOPLE, people who are bound to make mistakes, and get overwhelmed, and not know how to deal with suddenly having a giant fanbase. Harassing them and sending death threats is going way too fucking far and wont solve anything, because clearly all its done is made things worse.

Also god forbid they have boundaries and don't want to see certain things in the discord server. I'm not gonna get into the specifics, but as a queer trans person I think some of y'all are reading too much into the things they don't allow, seriously.

Reminder, I'm saying all this as someone who self-ships with Sebastian, and who's not entirely thrilled about him being canonically married. BUT PRIORITIZING A FICTIONAL CHARACTER OVER REAL PEOPLE????? THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YALL???

And to the people I've seen disappointed in zeal's response to all this on twitter, I'm with you, not seeing whats happening in the community doesn't mean these problems don't exist. But think about the shit he's going through, put yourself in his shoes and genuinely try to understand how fucking overwhelming this whole situation is, for him and the rest of the team. Especially after what's happened in the past 24 hours.

Tangent, but am i the only one who's seen a drastic change in the way fandom communities operate in the past few years? Like after lockdown fandom spaces have gotten more and more hostile, and people are just being so fucking mean to each other over the most trivial shit??? Listen I Get being chronically online, because i am, but at a certain point you just gotta log the fuck off and touch some grass, man. christ.

I really hope the devs take a break, they need it. I was excited about the update that was supposed to come out this month but I don't think it will now, and I honestly don't think we deserve it.

TL;DR: Pressure fandom, do better. Speaking from both points of view, no matter the various mistakes the dev team has made, the majority of this is on y'all.

And lastly, I'd honestly rather keep pressure exactly the way it is with no updates and no new stuff ever again than for it to turn into roblox slop like most of the games that are sold off on that platform.

[numberonenarinderhater]

Why i made this stupid blog

First, I have NOTHING against what people do in a fandom. I do NOT care if you ship narilamb or whatever the fuck you do with your blorbos. I do not ship it and I don't engage with that content but I'm not here to mock creators' hard work or demand they make me understand why they make it.

I don't like Narinder because of things I felt the game and the canonical material didn't do (or didn't do very well).

Make no fucking mistake tho. I am a hater. I am here to be a hater on the hater website. HOWEVER!! I'm not gonna reblog anyone's posts to bitch about why i don't like it or talk smack about any specific person. I have no intention of targeting anyone in specific or harassing creators. I might complain about what I see as generally held ideas in fandom but none of it is meant to be personal or even a criticism of anything's quality.

For context:

I didn't hate him at first but I was super disappointed that he wasn't, y'know, a wolf. But what the fuck do I know.

I have only briefly played the game on single-player mode. For the most part, my partner and I play a co-op file together (on the Nintendo switch).

I understand that the game started as a very humble project and that there might still be added content in the future. Any criticisms I have of the story so far are just that, criticism of the story so far.

I like the other bishops!! I think they're awesome and they have great characters, flaws and all. I think Narinder is the outlier in terms of writing quality.

Some of my dislike is petty and doesn't stem from anything. Some of it I can support with an actual argument. Again I'm a hater.

Most of my complaints come down to the way he's portrayed in-game. I don't consider headcanons/fanon/fan content to be evidence of his canon personality. (Listen!! I like fanfic and I support artists' license to reinterpret things, but that's not rly what I'm here to bitch and moan about)

I understand that characters have flaws. I'm not an idiot, I promise. But I'm also not required to find characters endearing.

I am willing to hear people out!! But don't hold your breath. I am, after all, a hater.

Why I think he sucks:

The way he attacks his siblings didn't feel like a "crime of passion", so to speak. It feels deliberate, cruel, and calculated- more in line with the image of a cold-blooded sadist than someone who has been deeply hurt and betrayed and is lashing out. He finds amusement in what he's done to them and the game never indicates that he has any regrets about it. (Or, at least, I can't find any textual evidence suggesting that ever did)

When he becomes a follower with higher loyalty, the little things he says to Lamb don't come off as cute to me, they come off as creepy. The devs seemed to have removed special follower missions from Narinder and replaced them with generic dialogue instead. For... whatever reason, some of the things Narinder says include things along the lines of "I love you" or "How's your day going?" It doesn't come off as cute to me and it only succeeds in making him seem creepy and bland. I would really really like special follower quests to be put back so that he doesn't wander around confessing his feelings for me several times a week like a sad old creep with memory problems.

AFTER YOU DO FINISH RESTORING THE BISHOP'S SEVERED BODY PARTS (THAT HE TORE OFF HIMSELF) HE STILL OFFERS VERY LITTLE. This is what sent me over the fucking edge. The other bishops give you rich, emotionally textured dialogue that really makes you understand why they all did what they did and act how they do. It's great writing!! Narinder's own monologue consists of: a reminder of how he was hurt (AGAIN), deflecting blame/explaining why he won't explain himself (THE ONLY THING I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HEAR), a vague sentiment about how times goes on (sure man), concluded by: 'here's this relic'. The relic is admittedly pretty cool but its a total failure to characterize him when the game had a chance.

Speaking of failing to characterize him!!! I have no idea what motivates him. What does he want?? Why did he start resurrecting people?? Was he aware that he was threatening his siblings' authority?? Did he care about that?? He never offers his own side of the story and I, for one, refuse to fill in the gaps for him.

He could be really cool????!!!! But he's so boring???!! Again I think this could be slightly improved by putting his follower quests back and making him a more interactive character. As it is now he's a dull follower who does very little.

He is a lot cooler if you do choose to kill him instead of sparing him and making him a follower. At least then he seems to have a complete narrative arc. I don't consider his character on the other story path to be nearly as complete considering he seems to be floating in an uncomfortable space between redemption (something that would require that he apologize even once) and antagonism (something that requires that he be an active presence in his own story which he isn't once he is indoctrinated).

I'm not gonna cinemasins ding Narinder for all the dramatic things that the narrative asks him to do even if it makes him look really bad or stupid. (i.e: why did wait this long to make the last sacrificed lamb into his vessel when he could've started right away, why didn't he just resurrect those lambs considering he can resurrect the player character? why didn't he just amass a huge army of vessels to lead his cult all at once if he needs believers that bad?) At the end of the day, I can overlook it.... BUT the absence of these answers is really felt the more you think about it. As far as the writing on the wall is he is selfish at heart and if he isn't stupid then I guess I have to assume that he's way weaker than he says. laaaammee!!

Small gripe but the game developers seem to really really want the player to spare Narinder and it annoys me. If players do kill Narinder then they get a second chance to spare him from the mystic seller, something that no one else gets afaik. It makes the decision feel much cheaper and less dramatic, as if it didn't really matter the first time and he could have been revived on a whim.

Also speaking of that, the devs really seem to push the idea that Narinder has some kind of feelings for Lamb. It's funny at first but then it just annoys me because it makes me feel like I'm forced to deal with something I didn't ask for. Like I said before, the combination of him thinking mushy thoughts about Lamb and giving generic follower lines like "I love you leader" make him come off as kinda pathetic if you don't choose to pursue him as a spouse. Like man... I'm just not into you like that.

I'm sorry but he really did need to be a wolf. Am I the only one thinking this?? C'mon.

That's probably not the extent of it but this is what comes to mind. Sorry for the long ass post but no one else seems to share my opinion. That's a big reason why I made this blog, just to see if anyone else agrees or if there's something I have just SEVERELY misunderstood. If you wanna dog on me or explain then feel free to send an ask.

Praise the Lamb. Glory to the Goat. Fuck that fallen bastard.

[fountainpenguin]

Rewatching A New Wish - "Stanky Danky" & "Peace of Pizza"

SDLKFJSDKLFJS, I missed that the news channel refers to Dale as "Billionaire non-philanthropist."

I missed that Hazel actually did wish "people would stop being trash monsters," but Cosmo and Wanda only heard "I wish trash monster"... In my memories, she had a nightmare about a monster that they wished to life. This is funnier because I can't really blame Cosmo and Wanda for granting that.

I like when Danky opens his lid one eyeball at a time. Also ?? his elbow pads?? He's a living dumpster and he wears elbow pads... He's safe...

Also, I've watched Dale's presentation a bunch of times because I think it's silly when he hops backwards, or kneels to talk to someone (This is what I was watching again today when I decided to take more notes).

He has some REALLY fun body language, including finger guns. I like his big-armed gestures. He really puts on a show and I think that's hilarious since he doesn't love being in front of people. But I don't know what I expected considering that he likes to dance when he's by himself.

I like that his logo here is a combination of the D for his name and two stripes like a dollar sign... which is interesting, because the logo people have on their phones is a D-squared for his alliterative name.

We do know he's advertising Dimmazon "in partnership with Dimmadome Global," so they're probably separate logos.

And I enjoy his baby talk and finger guns when he's talking to Danky later. I think I already commented this in my first-watch liveblog, but I like how Dale lures Danky in with a dog toy?? It's a squeaky bone. I have a hard time imagining this man going to the pet store, but ??

I missed the fact that he brought TWO single-use helicopters to the park... something is very wrong with him...

As much as I joke about Dale's extreme amounts of trauma, I hope he talks to Vicky like this-

- when they finally cross paths again so we can see where that gets him.

On the one hand, I think it would be hilarious if he had a complete mental breakdown because he's extremely messed up. On the other... Now that he's an adult, can he TALK to her like that??

Assuming he didn't panic when he saw her again, I feel like this is the natural direction for his character: smug and rubbing his success in her face.

I have to assume she'd wreck him since she yelled in "Operation: Birthday Takeback" about her dislike for him (That he was lazy, but went on to be rich and successful and never gave her a cut). She's unhesitatingly mean to Crocker because she doesn't have to keep up appearances around him...

But it would be funny. Against all odds, Dale is not an easily frightened man. He works hard, plunges into the unknowns with his wild risk-taking, and he's the smuggest boy... but he also has meltdowns on the floor when he loses money. I like that.

- Huh. I wonder if Timmy would've grown up to be a lot like Dale if he didn't have Cosmo and Wanda. I mean, Vicky pushed him around too. - I was gonna make a joke about how I think Dale should be as obsessive over Timmy as he is Hazel, but... It IS Dale who got himself out of his torment, not Timmy, so I guess not.

??? Tina's running every position at the news studio.

SKLDFJSLDFJSD, wait, Dale has a lemon slice, but he specifically has PINK lemonade, which he probably did not have to make considering Vicky never sold any in "Nectar of Odds"....... oh my gosh.

?? That might be another drink, but even if it is, I'm pretty sure that's a lemon?

Dale drinking lemonade despite banning Dev from drinking lemonade is the biggest "Rules for thee, but not for me" plot twist of all time... Oh I HATE HIM /affectionate.

oh my gosh, wait...

It's a LIME.

??? Somehow that is exponentially funnier. Tell us how you really feel.

His drink is very possibly a Paloma cocktail, made from grapefruit, lime juice, and tequila (No lemonade required, can be pink, and isn't weird to drink with ice cubes).

I like how both Dale and Dev like to slam dunk trash... even in different episodes... They are Related and live in the Same House...

I don't think I've said it yet, but I appreciate how the Dimmadome tower seems to reach impossibly high into the sky for no reason, considering Dale's statue seems to be the only thing inside it and the statue isn't that tall. It's a brilliant parallel of Doug's hat.

I particularly think it's funny when you see it on maps or in the distance of some scenes. It's just... there.

Geez. Say what you will about Dale, but he's a very hard worker who pulls things together INCREDIBLY fast. I mean... logically, I know him being a super hard worker who gets sucked into projects is his whole thing and that's why he's not there for Dev, but... ?? Holy one-man PR and marketing team running around this episode, Catman.

Lastly... apparently Dale likes to take over Dev's lounge when he's looking at profit charts, because that's where he's sitting when he has a meltdown about his stock dropping 5 million dollars... I mean, I guess it's both of their lounge, but you get me. And here's his thinking expression because it's funny:

Every time I watch a Dale episode, he gives me huge "Fandom's special boy" energy and I don't look forward to leaving my spoiler-free zone and possibly finding out that is Not True... skldfj. Look at him. He clicks his finger guns and slam dunks and he's getting by on fragments of his soul. We get him for free.

Notes from "Peace of Pizza" I thought of when I went to fetch Dev's trash scene

This vampire at Versaille:

Strat and Oppy change expressions during flashbacks, but Closer's the same... I don't know what I expected.

So ?? I keep going back to this scene because... I swear that's the April Fool, Flappy Bob, and the Sandman... Maybe not Flappy, but the only other clowns I can think of are his parents and Bobo, and none of them fit this either and Flappy already had a cameo in "1500 Minutes of Fame," so they're very aware of him. I'm gonna check.

That's such an interesting choice of characters to use as models?? I don't have anything to say about it.

Hazel specifically wished for Dev to have "extra milk he could share" for kindness day. He ends up with two (Cosmo and Wanda), but he didn't even have one milk carton on his tray because he's lactose intolerant, so... he didn't pick one up to begin with.

And we KNOW that, because he's on the way to the trash can when people stop him to talk. Also, during the close-up you can see he didn't eat his broccoli or carrots and I think that's funny.

?? So, in my 'fic worldbuilding, people generally go along with wishes if they're affected by them unless something REALLY tips them off that something's completely wrong. I like the implication that Dev instantly went on guard because he was confused as to how he suddenly had milk.

Oppy only pretends to be sad when Dev turns to look at him... He is the Optimism Captain to his core...

Strat is once again putting his hand on Oppy's shoulder... they are brothers... he loves him...

why were they even allowed to run around the school and bother children... why was no one supervising the billionaire's kid and questioning the intentions of these mysterious adults hovering around him...

Stackable:

It is their natural state of being... Also, from a budget standpoint, identical triplets whose distinguishing feature is their eyes & who are based on peas so they're simple to design was a brilliant Season 1 move. I hope we see them again someday, though I'm completely fine with them being very rare appearances.

?? Hazel has Class 104 after Guzman's class ("Multiverse of Jenkins") and Dev has it after lunch, is that what I'm getting here?

That is a different design than the other Room 104... oh :'D I guess they only have the one sign model.

Y'know........ that WOULD be weird if Flappy was at that treaty in the flashback. That doesn't seem likely... but it stresses me out that the Pe-Az have a magical briefcase that can hold large items without harming them...

... because Flappy's briefcase ALSO does that. He keeps his clown stuff, dioramas, and employees in there. It's the world's worst conspiracy... The intergalactic diplomats, friends of the Pixies who are all about paperwork and neutrality and raised Flappy... I'm connecting the dots...

omg, do you think the Pe-Az are the reason Fairies and Anti-Fairies decide who gets the godkids with an annual bake-off? They do like their treats. That WOULD be fun to work with in my war & truce 'fics. Oppy: Everyone loves cake and brownies! Strat: Brother, the Fairy King literally just lost his castle and son. Isn't celebrating with treats a bit insensitive? Oppy: Listen, I have one job in this team and I'm going to do it. Their ancestors, anyway.

I don't think I said this in my first watch, but I really like Closer. He's fantastic. Shows up, selectively mute because he's saving his voice for when he needs to throw tantrums and asking the same question repeatedly to bug people, super thoughtful and well-prepared, considered the best at what he does, gets meme'd on by a 9-year-old iPad kid and loses everything. Flawless character.

He's one of my favorites in all New Wish. They all are; I love their dorky shorts and brotherhood.

I really like how Closer insists he'll be done with negotiations in "30 minutes or less" because his whole thing is pizza. But Dev broke this man in like, 20 seconds:

BROKEN HEART!!!

Also, Strat... <3 He's such a ping-pong ball of a person.

For some reason, it's funny to me their language is themed around arrows. That's brilliantly clever for a negotiating species; it kind of reminds me of how the Yugopotamian language is in swirls patterned after their exposed brains.

Also, Some Three Guys having the ability to simply "turn pizza off" for the entire world is such an insane plot set-up and I think they played it perfectly.

Oppy kicking up his leg & Closer's expressions:

Extremely funny to me that when I heard "pea pod aliens," I went on immediate defensive expecting "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" vibes, but they're just cute little guys who like treats and bribery. why do they dress Like That... The suits and ties, the teeny shorts, the white socks pulled high above black shoes... did they get picked on in school?

??? They're just one-offs, but they have so much character and they all have unique body language and speech patterns... love that for them. I want to write something for them. I have no clue what, but I think they deserve to be children negotiating on the playground or looking after one another.

Strat and Oppy I think I can get their vibe as children - the planner and the enthusiastic one - but little kid Closer would be interesting.

What's a good thing to negotiate over when you're a kid... Were they kiddos who made graphs and presentations while arguing over which TV channel to watch or who would bathe first, y'think?

I think "baby Pe-Az in the bathtub" is exactly the type of content people follow me for.

Wanda's face here cracks me up...

... and shout-out for Dev getting instantly weirded out with stranger danger when Cosmo pats him.

I love how when the O-pairs pick the Pe-Az up by their heads and put them down again, Closer's dizzy and he sways back and forth even though his brothers are fine... lmao. I guess people don't usually mess with him?

Also, when Dev switches from playing around to serious talk, all three Pe-Az instantly put their folded hands on the table. They are ready for a Meeting...

That is all.

[handsome-jacks-bottom-bitch]

So I ranked vault monsters and my personal take on how difficult they were to fight on a first run through. So now, I'm gonna rank weapons. Not just weapons, but the weapon manufacturers specifically, based on how useful they are, and just how fun they are to use. I'll be including all brands, including brands that only show up in one game, like S&S Muntions. As per usual, these are purely my own opinions, and based more so on my personal playstyle. I will also be taking into account the manufacturers playstyles across all games, as some change, like Tediore or Maliwan weapons.

I'll also include some fun little tidbits about each manufacturer for anyone obsessed with Borderlands lore like I am. Buckle in, cause this is gonna be a long one.

12. S&S Muntions

So S&S Muntions isn't a super interesting manufacturer. These weapons provide larger magazines and long reload times. Featuring about 5 or so legendaries in the game, one of which to this day is still bugged, these weapons don't offer much, aside from a small damage boost compared to other weapons. They didn't add anything that made their use fun.

I also rank this one so low due to the fact that it's only in one game, and was never really expanded on, like say Tediore or Torgue was. According to the games lore, S&S munitions was run out of business by BANDIT weapons on Pandora, and SCAV weapons on Elpis, hence why it was never seen again.

As a fun little extra lore drop, S&S Munitions still technically exists in the games, as the radios in Borderlands 3 can play an add for the newly rebranded "S&S Accessories", which are responsible for the little lines of light that come out of the weapons on the ground, that are deactivated when the weapon is picked up, and reactivated when the weapons dropped.

At the end of the day, S&S weapons just don't impress me all that much, but that doesn't mean they still aren't useful. The Orion sniper rifle will always hold a special place in my loadout, regardless of the character I'm playing.

11. Eridian

So I was originally going to put Eridian last, but the weapons themselves are just so fascinating that I couldn't quite place it there. Now I know I'm putting both Borderlands 1 exclusive manufacturers at the bottom two, but unfortunately neither of them were really ever expanded upon to warrant higher placements.

Now the reason I put them above S&S is because of the way that these weapons work. While I personally rarely use them unless as a last resort, Eridian weapons have saved me once or twice, and that's because they have unlimited ammo. You never have to worry about running low should you find yourself depleted. Now the downside to them is the reload, or more accurately, the recharge. Eridian weapons have a recharge on them, that can still go even if you aren't actively holding one. Therefore, if you equip four, you can just keep swapping and essentially never have to wait for a recharge.

Now what's even more interesting about them is their rarity. While nearly all Eridian weapons come in a green rarity, they're technically rarer that normal green weapons. Even rarer, is the legendary Eridian weapons, which are rarer than some pearlescents. In all my time playing Borderlands 1, I've only ever managed to get my hands on one Eridian legendary, which was thr Eridian Mega Cannon. While it's not exactly an impressive weapon by any means, it can still have it's uses in a pinch.

Now I'm not entirely sure why Eridian weapons were discontinued after Borderlands 1, though one could easily assume that it was because they, well.. sucked. Most people did not like them, and I don't blame them. Their shots are slow, and they don't really do all that much. Come Borderlands 2, these weapons were essentially replaced by E-Tech weapons, much like S&S being replaced by BANDIT and SCAV, though no lore or dev comments state that E-Tech was made as a replacement for the missing manufacturer, it's just an assumption.

The only time we ever get to see Eridian weapons come back to the Borderlands games is in Borderlands 3, with the Eridian Fabricator or, as the fan base has taken to calling it, the "Gun Gun". It's cool in concept, but it's only real use is a quick cash grab. In late 2020, it was given an alternate firing mode that allowed you to pay it 250 eridium and have it shoot a legendary or unique weapon, and it's drop pool only excluded 4 legendaries and 2 unique, so while it could be used to try and spawn that legendary you've been looking for, it gets expensive real fast.

10. Dahl

So this one is where my own playstyle really affects this placement. Dahl weapons have a high recoil reduction, but terrible accuracy. In earlier games, they has special firing modes. When you aimed down the sights, these weapons would have burst fire, as compared to the full auto when you free fired. A pretty simple concept.. unless your a sniper like I am.

I love sniping in Borderlands. I love keeping my distance and one shotting most enemies with the most overpowered rifle I can find.. but Dahl is where that falls flat, as when you aim down the sights, it burst fires. Sniper ammo is already a small pool as it is, being the weapon with the lowest possible ammo count that you can carry, so when it burst fires, couple with the weapons low accuracy.. well, sniping doesn't become fun anymore, and leads to way more missed shots and wasted ammo.

However the one weapon I will give this manufacturer that I include in EVERY build I've ever used, is the Toothpick. An Effervescent assault rifle added into Borderlands 2 with the Commander Lilith DLC. This weapon especially holds a place in my Axton build, coupled with the Mouthwash artifact. This weapon is glorious, and I will forever defend it until my dying day. Unfortunately, that one blessing of a weapon alone isn't enough to change my opinion on this manufacturer.

While their weapons are pretty decent, when you delve into the lore.. Dahl is a messed up company. From it being responsible to a lot of the bandit population on Pandora, to the fact that it nearly destroyed Elpis with its mining operations leading to the crackening.. they've got quite a bit to answer for.

9. Vladof

So Vladof is on a similar level as Dahl. High fire rate, reduced recoil, and low accuracy. The only thing that puts it a step above Dahl for me is the sniper rifles, and the Infinity pistol.

Vladof sniper rifles have potential to do loads of damage, and pretty decent stability, meaning less sway. Now in Borderlands 1, this doesn't have much effect cause most of the sniper rifles honestly suck, especially in the early game. Most sniper rifles in the early game, at least in my experience, always have very low rates of fire, which isn't ideal when you have 20 enemies on you, and they deplete all your shields and half you health while you load another round. That being said, sniper rifles were greatly improved come Borderlands 2, including Vladof.

Now the reason Vladof isn't higher on my list is because I don't use them very often. The rifles and weapons are good, but I just don't find myself choosing a Vladof over others. The stability is good, and rate of fire and increased ammo capacity is a nice touch, but it just doesn't quite meet my needs.

That being said, the Inifinity is always a good gun should you find yourself low on ammo. As long as you have at least one pistol bullet, this gun will fire endlessly, with no reload. On top of this, it can come in elemental variants, which makes it good for endless elemental damage. I always keep one on me just in case I find myself somehow out of ammo.

A fun little fact about Vladof, is that thr company is run and owned by a man named Ivan Vladof. If you play Borderlands: The Pre-Sequels DLC, and go through the challenge "A Bubble for Your Thoughts", you can actually find out that Nurse Nina is Ivan Vladofs long lost sister, which makes her conversation with her mother in the quest "Systems Jammed" all the more interesting, but we'll get into all that in another post.

8. Hyperion

Oh Hyperion, how you've screwed everything. Now as a concept, I adore Hyperion. I love it's backstory, I LOVE Handsome Jack.. but let's be honest, they aren't the best for weapons. Notably, the TERRIBLE stability. Sure, it becomes more steady the more the shoot, but GOD those first few seconds are hell.

Now don't get me wrong, Hyperion has some decent weapons. From the Bitch, to the Butcher, and the beauty that is the Morningstar berating you with every shot. However this company is also responsible for the Bane. That alone should put thos company at the bottom of the list, but alas, I'm merciful.. and biased.

Come Borderlands 3, these weapons got and added specialty, being the shields that they pop up when aiming down the sights, which are honestly.. useless. Especially if you've got enemies in all directions. While the terrible accuracy is a tad better in 3, it's still no great. Often times, Hyperion weapons rarely find themselves in my arsenal, and more than often find themselves right back in Marcus' hands for some quick cash.

Now while I've got plenty of fun facts about Hyperion, I'm going to save this particular manufacturer for its own post, as there's quote a bit of lore to delve into with this one. What I can leave you with though, is this. Did you know Handsome Jack makes an appearance in the Witcher 3?

In Witcher 3: Blood and Wine, if you take the story route that lands Geralt in prison, there's an inmate you can speak with by the name of Handsome Jacques, who will subsequently leave you to fight yourself when you're later attacked by other inmates.

7. Bandit/Scav

So I'm lumping Bandit and Scav together in the same spot, because they are exactly the same, just different names and weapon textures. So there's nothing exactly special about these weapons. While these are the direct counterpart to what was S&S Munitions, they do have some differences. These weapons have large ammo capacity, but suffer from long reload times, and exceptionally low stats all around.

Now based on that alone, these weapons sound like they suck, huh? Well.. yeah. They do. However, they're fun. They're chaotic, the legendaries special abilities can either turn the tide of battle if used correctly, or just make everything even more hectic, and I love it. From the crazy, grammatically incorrect names, to just the simple face that they're all made of spare parts, they're just fun, and because they suck, they offer challenge. That really make you fight for that win, and I adore them. Now will you find me using them very often? No, you won't. But I always keep a couple on me just in case I want to go buck wild and see what happens.

According to the games lore, Bandit and Scav weapons are what put S&S Munitions out of business, forcing thr company to change to S&S Accessories. Now one could assume, that since most bandits and scavs don't seem to have 2 braincells between the lot of them, that these weapons are being made by the ex DAHL workers left behind who turned to banditry to survive after being abandoned. This isn't confirmed or Canon in anyway, it's just a nice little assumption I like to have.

6. Atlas

So, Atlas didn't really become a good weapon brand until Borderlands 3. Why? Tracking bullets. That's also because aside from Borderlands 1 and 3.. Atlas weapons didn't exist. After Borderlands 1, Atlas fell into complete ruin, was bought out and dismantled by Handsome Jack, and revived by Rhys after the fall of Helios. Hence, why this brand didn't exist in BL2 and BL:PS.

Atlas weapons were decent in Borderlands 1, but I didn't often find myself using them. Come Borderlands 3, however, I adore them. Slapping down a tracker bullet and being able to fire with reckless abandon, knowing each of my shots will hit is always a wonderful feeling.

When it comes to their legendaries, the Rebel Yell is exceptionally handy is tracking a target, and depleting their shields like it's nothing. Now, I still don't ever really find myself using these weapons late game in Mayhem mode, but early game? These weapons were a god send, especially when I first made the transfer to PC, and had to relearn how to aim.

Not only all that, but these weapons have increased damage AND mag capacity, which just adds to their usefulness early game.

Now apparently, Professor Nakayama claims that he poisoned the original CEO of Atlas. Whether or not this was true is left to speculation, though if it was true, one could only assume it was done in an attempt to gain Handsome Jack's favor.. a lot of good that seemed to do.

5. Maliwan

Oh Maliwan.. how the mighty fall. I love Maliwan. I love elemental damage. I also love weapons with good accuracy. However what I don't love, is having to CHARGE MY WEAPONS in a FAST PACED GAME. Prior to Borderlands 3, Maliwan was a staple in my loadoutd, especially with my Maya builds, which all revolved around elemental damage and making the most of it. These weapons are a god send, even in Borderlands 1.

Then came Borderlands 3.. and they ruined it. Yes, these weapons can deal massive elemental damage, and I personally love using legendaries like the Quasar.. but the charge time. I despise the charge time. Especially when it comes to their sniper rifles. Sniper rifles should not have a charge time.

Now what I love about Maliwan, is they only produce elemental weapons, minus explosive. You will never find a plain weapon by them. Now unfortunately, there's only a few choice Maliwan weapons I'll ever use in Borderlands 3, but when it comes to Borderlands 2? I can't get enough of them.

Now weapons aren't the only thing that Maliwan produces apparently. If look closely at the beer bottles scattered across Pandora and Elpis, you'll find that some will have labels marked "Maliwan Black Label", a line of alcohol that the company seems to produce.

4. CoV

So CoV are the bandit weapons of Borderlands 3, with a major difference.. no reloads. All these weapons work essentially the same way Vladofs Infinity works, with own downside. Overhearing.

These weapons can overheat and break, causing you to have to cool it off and smack it back to working order. Now these weapons are great because if you play ot carefully, you can demolish groups of enemies in seconds with these weapons. You can also run out of ammo entirely without noticing. These weapons have plenty of pros and cons.

I love CoV weapons purely because I can just fire with near reckless abandon, and the damage on them is decent enough. They have essentially the same stats as Bandit made weapons, since.. they are. Just tweaked with engines and infinite firing power.

The vast upgrade in these Bandit weapons could be due to a few things. The CoV having access to a lot more, the merger with Maliwan, or maybe the bandits just got smarter. We'll never really know.

3. Tediore

Tediore how I love you. Sure, Tediore weapons have the potential to eat through your ammo if you aren't careful, but oh if it isn't fun. Throwing your weapon as a grenade that does increased damage the more ammo in the? Who wouldn't love that!

Tediore weapons gave fast reload speeds, being that they just digistruct back into your hands after you chuck them. Now, throwing guns as grenades is fun.. but what about turning it sentient?

Come Borderlands 3, these weapons dont just get thrown to explode, they get thrown and become temporary allies. They will float or run around, firing a few rounds.. THEN explode, and it's glorious. I adore Tediore weapons, purely because of how chaotic they can be, and how high damage they can be if you're willing to spare some ammo.

Now they didn't do any of this is Borderlands 1, and what made them special is that their legendary weapons would regenerate ammo, which was about the only special thing about them.

Because of they way their weapons are made, which is typically out of plastic and fiberglass, Tediores weapons are cheap and disposable. Due to this, Tediore is often looked at as the laughing stock of all the corporations, and often overlooked and ignored. At least until New Tales, when they showed just how much of a threat they could actually be. Not such a stupid company now, huh Katagawa?

2. Torgue

(I ran out of photo spots for one post.)

I just have one question for you. EXSPLOSIONS?! Not only is Torgue just an amazing brand, it's also the company with a CEO that has the most involvement with the player. From Torgues battle arenas in Borderlands 3, to his head hunter DLC and actual full length DLC in Borderlands 2, Torgue is just sort of always there.

Now Torgue, much like all weapons in Borderlands 1 compared to the other games, didn't have much going to for them other than high explosive damage. Yet come the later games, these weapons did a full 180 and became quickly my top three favorite brands to use.

High damage output, good fire rate, at the cost of accuracy and recoil. At the end of thr day though, it doesn't matter, because since the bullets are explosive, even if they miss and hit the ground by the target, they can still do damage. It's great for firing with reckless abandon. Like playing Junkrat in Overwatch. Shoot and pray.

Plus, who doesn't love Torgue? He's loud, he's eccentric, he's respectful.. what isn't there to love? Now, is Torgue still CEO of his own company? No, he's not. He sold it for $12 and a high five.. but he still owns it in my heart. We love him, and he loves all of us. That's what truly matters.

1. Jakobs

Ok. Hear me out. I know this probably isn't what you were expecting to placed at number one, but I have my reasons.

So Jakobs weapons have always had low magazines, reloads and fire rate, but their damage makes up for that. Jakobs weapons deal high damage and have great accuracy. On top of this, their "fire as fast as you can pull the trigger" trait is perfect for saving ammo. You can easily control just how many bullets you fire at once.

Then come Borderlands 3, these weapons got an even better trait. Ricochet bullets. For every critical hit you land will cause 1 or 2 bullets to ricochet to nearby enemies, making sniping even more dangerous.

One downside, is that Jakobs doesn't make any elemental weapons, save for about 5 unique/legendary exceptions.

But when it comes to my ideal, keep my distance and snipe playstyle with most of my characters, this brand is perfect for me. Stability to aim, ricocheting bullets, impressive damage.. it's the perfect brand.

Plus, the corporation is run by an absolute gift of a man, Wainwright Jakobs. Sure, the company was overrun for a bit, but what corporation hasn't been overrun and nearly destroyed at this point. Very few can say they haven't. In the world of Borderlands, Jakobs is considered the least aggressive and problematic company of them all, and it's held that appearance for 300 years, and continues to.

I know this post was a lengthy one, and if you read it all the way to the end, thank you! I know my rankings probably aren't even close to what popular professionals would rank them at, but while I try to take into account mechanics, I also take fun into account, and just my playstyle preferences.

So, as always, let me know your opinions. Tell me if you agree with my rankings, or what you'd change. I'd love to know what your favorite manufacturer is.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

hi! feel free to disregard this if you feel its an intrusive question or you just wish not to respond.

i saw your response on the post about adhd reward systems and was intruiged and a bit inspired/validated/something. im an undergrad psych/human dev student right now aiming to get a msw and clinical license to do therapy and i struggle with managing my adhd for more than a couple months at a time quite a bit. i often question whether or not i will be able to be in any helping profession due to not feeling like i can manage my own functioning issues. it feels contradictory to me to imagine therapists (and especially possible future me as an lcsw) struggling with anything while still being good therapists. though i know logically that everyone struggles with things from time to time, it feels like one might feel unqualified to help others if they are not able to manage their own issues all of the time.

i was wondering if you had any wisdom about reconciling these things as a therapist with adhd. i was very interested in what you shared about how you manage days when you are having a harder time.

Awwww, rats hun, I'm sorry that you've been worrying about this! I really want to encourage you to reach out off Anon, cuz I'd love to chat more, one social worker to another 💚

That said, I'm gonna try and respond to your ask here as best I can!

First off, it's not too intrusive a question (for me) at all! I try to be really open about certain things in my life, and tend not to reference something on here I'm not comfortable talking more about. Even if it did feel intrusive, I'd answer what I *was* comfy with and declined to comment on the rest.

As for needing to have your own house in order to be able to help others, I mean....yeah, to some extent. But you're a human being, and so are the people on the other side of the chair, and we all benefit from learning how to fuck up safely and come back from that so like. I don't subscribe to the idea that therapists need to be flawless people. There are absolutely things to be attentive to/cautious about (including how we are impacting the person, the space, and the conversation, etc) but I've actually developed BETTER dynamics with clients who let me know I did something they didn't like or that hurt them, and being able to move forward together with a plan to better protect their boundaries in the space. And if the parts of you that you're worried about is outside the space, well. That's why most therapists have therapists. To process, reflect, and monitor ourselves for warning signs that we're sliding outside our boundaries. No one is perfectly under control all the time.

And with ADHD specifically, one of the biggest things people need and deserve access to is the safety to fail, the safety to drop habits and have to pick them back up after things pile up, the safety to not feel ashamed of their experience of the world. Without the active work of unwinding those feelings of shame, behavioral tools/accommodations are often a lot less effective for us. And for a demographic that specifically struggles with emotional security/consistency, that's often an intense process for us to go through. Knowing other people we perceive as successful and thriving may ALSO experience similar cycles and needs to us. If clients genuinely think therapists are perfect, it's easy for those of us on the other side of the chair to let the shame evolve into comparison as a way to self-blame for our perceived failure.

I got my ADHD diagnosis part way through my MSW, and didn't get medicated for it until after I had graduated. I was uhhhhhhhh

Obsessive. About my routines, my organization, my back up plans, all of it. It was hard to believe I could function if I wasn't meeting everyone's expectations all the time. But it's unsustainable. It **can't** last forever. Especially when everything is just. So overwhelming all the time.

So I definitely don't want you to think that the only way to get to your clinical license is to demand that you always operate at 100% capacity in order to justify not be flawless. A lot of us carry that burden with us well into adulthood, and truly? It's the other way around. The more comfort, ease of access to resources, and sense of security we have in our lives, the better we're able to make our way towards patterns that work for us.

I don't want to give the impression that the specifics of my coping strategies are A) comprehensively effective, and/or B) universally applicable. So I'm gonna kinda stick with the underlying philosophy.

Essentially, one of the most important things is that any strategies I rely on are capable of being picked back up without judgement or major disruption. So for example, I keep a daybook calendar. It was recommended by another ADHDer as an effective way of visualizing and navigating executive dysfunction. It's divided up into days, weeks, months, and quarter years. Most importantly, it's undated. I have had this (and been using the exact same) daybook for over 2yrs. Periodically, I lose momentum for days, weeks, or even months. But when I finally get back the bandwidth to pick it back up, all I have to do is turn to a new week and date it for my current week. I just picked back up yesterday after not using it since last summer lmao

There's this concept in behavioral training for dogs called "no failure" where essentially (deeply simplified!!!) you always mark and reward whatever positive behaviors you get from the dog as a process of positive reinforcement of what you want from them. And while you wouldn't reward unsafe or inappropriate behavior from the dog, the second they redirect, no matter what they were doing a minute ago, you mark and reward.

I've been training my dogs this way for a good 5-6yrs now, and everywhere they go people will hunt me down to ask me how I get them to be so polite and responsive.

People aren't dogs, obvi, but this positive reinforcement process still functions similarly. So like, when I work with kids and families on "behavior issues" I get families to like. Essentially remove proactive consequences. Natural consequences happen, because that's life, but you still shouldn't abandon them to figuring out a solution on their own. It's a lot of modeling, marking, and rewarding, and a lot of repetitive and continuous conversations about why certain rules exist or why certain expectations are had, etc. An example here might be a "behavior chart" with tiered rewards. Each day that behavior is in line with safety and meeting needs, you mark and reward it. Every week that this is true for all 7 days, you mark and reinforce with a slightly more valuable reward. And on top of that, you have "high value" rewards for cumulative successes. If you hit 28 days of success (even if they're not consecutive, rather intermittent with non-marked days across like. 3 months or whatever) the reinforcement reward has been earned and that's that.

Partially, this process helps reframe dysregulation from "failure" to "interruption." And partially, this ensures that every success builds on previous successes, making it easier to remember backwards that good and bad days both happen, even when we have a hard time remembering what "not now" feels like.

Everything I build for myself is like that. No failure, mark and reinforce. Sometimes I do it for myself, sometimes my wife helps me, and sometimes I learn to arrange positive and affirming natural consequences of my choices. It just sort of depends what makes the most sense.

Another pillar of the underlying philosophy here is that eveything is contextual. Any change in the circumstances might change how our needs around that circumstance presents. So if a strategy or tool isn't working anymore, it's not because I've failed, it's because something about my physical and/or emotional landscape has changed since the last time I sat with myself about what helps me function. Maybe it's a temporary change (just for the day cuz I'm tired or sick for example), or maybe it's long term (when we moved to the city it became important for me to get regular, intentional sunlight because if I wasn't proactive about it, I would isolate indoors and struggle more for example), but whichever it is, all that matters is that I acknowledge what's changed about my needs without judgement or self-shaming. It's a *straightforward* process, but certainly not an easy or time-sensitive process.

Anyway, hun, you're still in your undergrad. I absolutely ASSURE you, you will not be the same person by the time you graduate from your master's. It's like stone going through pressure and heat. *Something* is always gonna change. So cut yourself a lil slack about where you are now. You aren't pressed for time, I promise.

[yoongsisbae]

Asks for the askers:

My favorite fic of yours: That's always a tough one. You have so many amazing fics. Since ot7 is top tier for me I have to say, HOAL and RRR are my all time favorites. BV:ITS and Yoongi is a Rock are both huge runner ups but really, ALL your fics are amazing.

My favorite chapter in my favorite fic of yours: For HOAL literally all the chapters are amazing. I love each handshake and I love how they are currently all kinda trying to get close to her and the developing relationships. Chef's kiss🤌

For RRR, again all chapters are phenomenal. I have been meaning to tell you that I often think about this fic in the shower. Probably 50% of the time. And I'm a daily showered in the summer😅😅 so I basically think about it every other day. Idk what it is, something about that specific fic, it just comes up when I'm having existential thoughts I guess.

What made me the most emotional after reading: Well,was all the past lives in HOAL except Tae's were devastating. Especially Hobi's. So probably that. In RRR when yn thought Yoongi was a goner, I went into a spiral like yn did. That was more like a mental sadness pit though. Yoongi is a Rock was really emotional.

What I like the most about your writing: It's so good? You're genuinely one of my favorite authors on here. The character depth, the world building, the plots, the relationships, the flow of the stories, so well done.

A fic i'm excited for you updating/posting: I just saw The Snap? Sounds so interesting! And well any of your OT7 fics😅😅 I'm also looking forward to The Takeover and C!HOC.

A fic of yours that i've re-read: Like half of your fics. Obviously HOAL and RRR I've reread the most but also BV ITS.

A fic I didn't expect to like so much: Yoongi is a Rock. Meet Cute, Time Loop. V is for Villain (you had me rooting for Joonie then Yoongi and now Tae??? Might as well have them all, no?👀😅😅😅) Daydream. All fabulous fics✨️

omg you have no idea how happy you've made me 🥹🥹 the fact that you think about RRR in the shower is the best 😂😂 I love that, I will work out plot points while in the shower too lmao. again I am sorry for the pain I am gonna cause you lol 🙈 it's such a fun story to write so don't blame me too much, blame uhh dev, yeah 😅

to this day it amazes me that readers will go back and reread my stories and makes me so happy, I'm just so curious, I love analyzing stories myself, so I wonder how you view it differently after the first read. Sometimes readers mention about foreshadowing, and i'm so proud for them and for me lol 🙊

The snap hurts me. I want to finish it soon...but ow, it's painful to write lol. But you know, maybe I'll traumatize myself so much my brain will spare the RRR boys 🤣🤣

I live for all my readers ignoring Tae's red flags in V is for Villain 😆😆 also don't blame me when the red flags start waving 😅

I'm so grateful for your support of me. Honestly, readers like you make this so much fun for me and really motivate me to keep writing! see now I'm pumped, and gonna go edit now! thank you 💕 I love you!! 🍩💗

Fanfic Asks — For The Askers

[squidproquoclarice]

I'm the anon you replied to about Ch XIII - ok, now I get it and thanks for taking the time to explain. It's obvious now and I think it was always obvious to most people. I just saw what was to me inexplicably low chapter number and panicked. Sorry! Anyway if you care to elaborate on this:"Honestly, the more I look, the more flaws I see. Some very weakly written chars." I'd appreciate it. Replaying the game, I am noticing so much more than the first time.

Hi again, friend!  Nah, I get how it’s confusing, and even the chapter vs Chapter may not be easily straightforward.  We’re just gonna blame R* for using “Chapter” on this.  ;)The thing is, when you start looking hard at any media you love, you’re going to start seeing some of the seams and thin spots.  Me maybe more so than most given how long-term and extensive and canon-adjacent (if I can use that term?) a project Sunrise is--I’ve spent a year now looking pretty damn hard at the game.  No matter how masterful a piece of media is, there are going to be spots that don’t hold up well under scrutiny, and a huge project like RDR2 is definitely going to be prone to that due to so incredibly many moving parts.That is to say, this is not be going “The game is shiiiiiiiiit”.  I love the game, but there are flaws I see now that I didn’t before.  It doesn’t take away my enjoyment, but it does make me rethink some things of how to handle writing this sequel/alternate ending thing.I just did a bit more of an Arthur’s death-based endgame critique again in one of my posts over the weekend, so I’m not going to reiterate that, but I do think it’s not a terrible ending, but it’s almost exclusively RDR1 driven, and not the ending it could have and should have been for a rather magnificent and still progressing char arc.I also critiqued what I felt was a mismatch between deeply thoughtful storytelling and forced endgame regardless of char actions, and the repeated endless murdersprees of the late chapters.  For example, I’ve had to scale back death numbers some in Sunrise when I refer to those events, because hundreds of people couldn’t have been killed, and also having Arthur and Sadie deal with the incongruity of continued massacres while also trying to do some pure and selfless things.  I honestly consider the Epilogue kind of a narrative hot mess after the tour de force that was Chapter 6 and feel like it plays a lot more logically if you imagine Arthur as the PC rather than John, but that’s a whole ‘nother long meta.Charwise, since you asked specifically, balancing that huge a cast means some chars get short shrift.  I’ve remarked before that Molly gets nothing in-game, but in a way, that marginalization fits her tragic plot arc, and Molly still makes for a haunting figure.

My biggest beef is with chars I feel are largely stereotypes to begin, and then don’t really have any char arc besides.  Swanson as the dissolute feeble clergyman is a stereotype, sure, but after Hosea dies and the flock needs a new shepherd, he steps up in a big way to become the man he wants to be.The ones that probably frustrate me most are Mary-Beth and Charles, because I feel like they deserve more.  Mary-Beth wouldn’t feel out of place at all written as an ordinary farm or city girl of the era, but her pie-in-the-sky romanticism and naivete feels out of place for a young woman who was supposedly orphaned and living on the streets, forced to become a pickpocket to survive, and generally was out of options enough to fall in with the Van Der Lindes as an outcast.   She just feels very sheltered, I guess, for me to buy her supposed backstory and place in this gang, and it’s like the devs decided they needed the “sunny good girl” to balance off the other women and forced that on her.  Then she has no real development.  She’s a dreamy, romantic writer in 1907 just like she is in 1899--the only thing that’s changed is she’s successful and published.  For Charles, I’ve critiqued how bizarre his Epilogue experience is and how forced it seems (and all the things he magically heard about in detail in Canada is nothing short of remarkable).  He’s a biracial man who’s oddly seen only as Native--his black heritage is totally ignored by everyone, even in the epithets he’s insulted with.  He comes across as a “stoic Indian” stereotype, which is really shitty given he could have, and should have, been a fantastic char with a lot of potential for numerous directions of development in a char arc.  Instead he’s more of a stereotypical plot device there to assist Arthur and then John, and that’s really, really disappointing.So yeah, stuff like that.  It’s not game-ruining by any means, but it’s just bringing different eyes to the thing, and does make you think about things a bit more, that’s all.  I’m sure I’ve made my own share of mistakes and pitfalls in Sunrise, so it’s hardly like I can claim any kind of high ground here.  ;)

[gronjon44]

Ok I need to talk about this. No hating me even though I know people will

Ok. So. I enjoy overwatch. It is, and I feel like it can be an amazing game in the future.

BUT

There is such a problem with it and I think I'm finally becoming depressed by it. Not clinically depressed but I'm just getting tired by it. I still enjoy the game and I love the variety of Characters in the game. But it's just becoming a big pile of shit. I mean everything I say in the nicest way possible. And take it with a grain of salt.

This game has by far the most toxic community that I have ever been a part of. The players in Overwatch just get too competitive, which I got used to. But its hard to get used to the fact that there are so many people who will throw matches for no reason, smurfs who just tend to ruin the game as a whole by sneaking their way into the lower ranks. And that's just the players.

I'm sorry. But Jeff Kaplan is the biggest idiot I've ever seen. He's done a decent job running Overwatch so far. But what isn't doing right is communicating with his player base, the very driving force behind the game.

IDC what you say. He doesn't care what we think, or at the very least doesn't care to listen unless his sales are dropping. He has gone above and beyond to appease the fans i admit that. But thats precisely what is ruining the game itself. He does whatever it takes to make the players happy, be it changing a map in a way it never needed to be changed or by ruining a character into the ground. Look what happened to Mercy and hog at the beginning. Hog went through hell and back because of his gun and Mercy has been ripped inside and out to make players happy. But instead of that, Mercy hsd become the most ruined character alongside Brig and Doomfist, Hog only recently got put into a place where he fits into everything. And that isn't the end.

Look at Reaper. He has always needed to be fixed. Shadow Step is by far the worst ability in the game it holds no combat advantage, and now he is the most deadly hero there is thanks to the change to his passive and to Armor. Hog and Winston, as well as every other tank, is now the ultimate battery for Reaper. And you know what, Jeff won't do anything to fix his permanent Damage boost, or the uselessness of Shadow Step. Because he won't.

Honestly the only person I've seen outside myself be willing to call Jeff out on his bullshit is BTC, or Blame the Controller. He is by far, the most in depth overwatch content creator on YouTube. He should be on the Dev Team doing Jeff's job in my opinion, because he seems more fit to run the game that Jeff. He brings up valid points, as well as alternative replacements for failing mechanics in the game. And guess what happens when he does. Jeff gets mad.

BTC gave so many alternate ideas for Reaper tk have a better setup. And Jeff responded with saying that his ability is meant to get him into the fight quickly and suddenly. It isn't supposed to be stealthy so stop asking.

I guarantee Jeff watched BTC and is getting upset at the idea that there are those who are more communicative with the community than he is, and have more effective ideas than he does.

To be fair this is all my own opinion. I just feel like Jeff isn't doing his job. I mean look at the lore. They are giving us toenail clippings for lore. It's been three almost four years and FNAF has a more consistent plot than Overwatch does, and FNAF is 80% theories. I've been dying to see something to do with the Swiss Base attack, or more specifically the Los Muertos. I want more lore and I see that some people could argue that the game isn't meant for lore. But you know what,

I DON'T RIGHTFULLY CARE

I am not the only one who enjoys the game for lore. I can get being the gameplay still but I mainly first entered the game for the lore and variety of story. But now it's just a big mess angry fans, ignorant developers, and such lack luster content that it's just getting old. And I think I, as well as many others are getting close to finding an alternative.

I won't be the first to admit it, but Respawn entertainment is doing MUCH better than Blizzard right now. In terms of a quality game, Titanfall 2 is by far the best game of it's year, even compared to Overwatch.

They have so far managed to keep a game as old as Overwatch in better shape with minimal changes, a balanced system with it's fair share of problems (but those problems arent cram fixed like what Overwatch does), and they actually release good games consistently. Case and point, Apex: Legends.

TBH, I was half expecting Overwatch or even EA to jump on the Battle Royale hype train. I was getting on a "Star Wars: Force Royale" or some other cheesey cash grab. But Respawn was a huge surprise honestly. And the shear quality of the game is astounding. I always played Fortnite over Blackout and PUBG, only because it was simpler and the art style appealed to me more. But Apex just hit all the marks. You don't need to have a mic to communicate with the Ping system; there's a decent roster of characters so far, small as it may be; the controls are smooth and there's no need of Building (thank God). And it's just an amazing game already and it's only been out for what a month?

I'll be short and sum this up cause I've made this pretty damn long. The point of all this is to say that there are much better alternatives to Overwatch. I have more fun playing Titanfall 2 in the span of 3 weeks cause I bought it recently finally since I missed out when it released. It is a much better game and it has yet to die and is by far a great step in the right direction. And let's not ignore the fact that they STILL HAVE A SINGLE PLAYER MODE, UNLIKE MOST GAMES NOW WITH ANY MULTIPLAYER.

I just think OverWatch needs to step it's game up or they're gonna start losing players real fast.

This is all my own thoughts so take it how you will. Hate me, agree with me, I don't really care cause I just wanted to vent all this