#mild rant

[dr-spectre]

Hey all, so i wanted to discuss something a little bit different compared to my usual Splatoon ramblings because i have something that's been floating in my brain for a while now and I really wanna talk about it! But don't worry, I'll tie it back to Splatoon in this blog post!

So i have been seeing a lot of criticisms towards the new "hit game" Concord and a lot of it is very VERY well deserved. And one of the MANY criticisms is aimed towards the character designs and mostly on these characters who have become punching bags for the entire gaming community.

NOW! Let me come and say it, i am NOT going to be defending these designs at all, i am NOT a professional character designer but, these designs are flat-out dogshit and it's not for the reasons you think. I am not saying these character designs are bad because "WAHH!!!! FAT PEOPLE!!! WAHH!!! I HATE BLACK PEOPLE!! WAHH!! I CAN'T GOON TO THIS CHARACTER NOOO!!! WAHHH!!! I ONLY WANT STRAIGHT WHITE BARBIE DOLLS TO JERK OFF TO!! WAHH!!" If you're someone like... ahem.... asmondgold. And whine about how you can't goon to these characters and you're scared of fat and black people. Then you need to fuck off and genuinely go outside. And like... Idk, jump into a pit of lava.

The reasons why these designs suck is because they have terrible silhouettes, poor balancing, too many random colours that have no harmony whatsoever, lack of strong shapes and a lack of any clear cut qualities to tell us who the fuck these characters are. A good character design will tell you who a character is based on looks alone.

Let's take a look at how to properly do character design in a video game, shall we?

We will first start off with an iconic tank character, Heavy from TF2.

Heavy has a strong use of squares on his body, arms and hands, showing us that he is a strong and meaty character. Squares are used in larger characters to show that they are durable and strong. Heavy also has appropriate accessories on his body to show us what kind of character he is, like his bandolier, pouch, fingerless gloves and tactical looking vest. His legs are also small compared to the rest of his body which tells us that he probably isn't the fastest runner out there.

All of these simple design decisions the characters designers chose to include add up to create an iconic character who you can gather that he is a large and in charge weapons expert from the design alone.

Tell me something, what the FUCK do you get from this character?

He's a big person... That's it. I can barely gather any sort of character traits from this character. There's nothing. THEIR GUN IS FUCKING BORING TOO! AT LEAST HEAVY HAS A BIG ASS GUN! THAT'S JUST A BASIC BITCH ASSUALT RIFILE!

Now let's look at another iconic tank character. Reinhardt from Overwatch.

Reinhardt has a VERY strong silhouette, with his iconic helmet with the 3 spikes/horns, his giant shoulder pads, the pointy tips on his boots, his... groan... flap? thingy? idfk what that is but anyways, Reinhardt is an iconic tank character because his design is super well balanced, his concept of a futuristic knight is dope, and the lion emblem on arm showcase Rein's personality and origins.

I genuinely get nothing from this design. Like... Fuck all, i get NOTHING!!!

They are a tank character with a big gun... Okay? Is there... any cool details? Uh... there's a tiny flag.... What the fuck is that supposed to tell me about the character? The silhouette is boring, the character looks like a Fallout knock off. It's just... BORING!!

I could talk about the other tanks in Overwatch and how incredibly well designed they are compared to Concord's "anchors" and other classes but i don't wanna be here all day. Just know that D.VA slaps, Doomfist slaps, Ramattra slaps, ALL OF THEM SLAP HARD AND HAVE SUPER GOOD SILHOUETTES AND COLOURS!!

Now for our final "tanky" design, let's roll it back to Splatoon and talk about a character who is bigger compared to the rest of the cast.

BIG MAN!

His silhouette is actually so well done and is a masterpiece in character design, it is so incredibly distinctive and unique from other characters. He has a unique headpiece too, he has these droopy eyes that give him a relaxed look. He has some cool patterns, he's just a really well designed character that you can gather his personality from really well.

The reason why Concord's character designs fail is because it feels like Sony brought in a novice fashion designer to make characters in an hour and call it a day. The only designs from that game i can say with my full chest are okay are these guys, and even then they have ISSUES!

Haymar is supposed to be this fire user yet nothing tells me that they use fire. It's so easy to... oh i don't know... USE MORE RED?!?!? ADD FIERY PATTERNS?!?! WHY IS SHE COVERED IN FUCKING ANAL BEADS?!??! HELLO?!?!??

Roka is just.. fine, her colours suck but... I guess i like the helmet?

When the best looking characters out of your fucking 5V5 HERO SHOOTER are just... eh? You know got a massive problem. If we take a game like TF2 you can see just how well the designs are at showing the player what kind of personality and traits they have.

Scout has rolled up pants with tight socks on, bandages on his hands and a cap on his head, showing us that Scout is a fast and somewhat reckless character who gets into trouble but can get out due to his speed and wit. Medic has a simple pallet of white and red which are common colours used in hospitals and doctors. I could go on but you get the point.

If you're going to create a new hero shooter with a large roster, for the love of god, actually have characters with better silhouettes, colour balancing, accessories, etc.

Take a page out of their books and come back with a better fucking game. Or not. Sony... You piece of shit. You ain't beating the "PS5 has no games" allegations with these wack ass games. (This is coming from someone who has a PS5.)

[badly-drawn-pigeon]

I have some very mixed feelings about My Time at Evershine graphics. I see people praise Pathea for "finally learning how to model humans", but to me, stepping away from goofy, heavily stylized characters for the sake of generic mobile gacha pretty anime people feels like a downgrade

[zito-the-deino]

Drawing Maxie and Archie, just finished beefing with Maxie’s outfit. Made it a sweater vest.

[hsr-hell]

As big a fan as I am of the Sunday + Welt father-son duo, I feel like some people are infantilizing Sunday in that regard. Yes, he’s unsure of his place in the universe after being unable to achieve his one goal in life. Yes, he seeks guidance from others he deems more experienced. Yes, he’s not knowledgeable in how things work outside of Penacony, because he’s lived there for most of his life. But he’s an adult, and he should be portrayed as one when imagining Welt as a father figure to him.

[martialartslover7]

Weird Wednesday Headcanon: Inner Sakura is a STAND!

Let's be honest, guys, the only reason why the female characters in Naruto got held back so much in their overall potential and fighting prowess, was because of Kishimoto's, very likely, and I mean, VERY LIKELY (we don't even really know, all I am saying is, everything that happened so far in his material, and some of the things he said in interviews about the female characters, doesn't do him any favors), underlying misogyny, since...

Off-topic, but c'mon. Demon Slayer would like to have a word with him. The entire IP was written by a female mangaka, and yet she managed to make both males AND females in her story, equally as interesting and compelling. Sure, it was more on the simplistic and straightforward side, it's Shonen after all, but it was really well done, regardless. And even the "housewife" archetype was done in an appealing fashion, with Tengen's three wives, who were more than stay-at-home housewives, they were his bodyguards too, they kept active to not lose sight of their, now sadly, physically handicapped husband. Sometimes, you don't need to make every single aspect of your IP so deep and philosophical to be good. The point, "more is less", exists for a reason. And once again, because this is a mentality I kept seeing on Reddit and Twitter, just to remind you all, who will try to get all smart on me:

THIS. IS. FICTION. YOU CAN WRITE, ANYTHING YOU WANT! NOTHING LIMITS YOU! ESPECIALLY NOT WHO ARE YOU!

Like, this is fucking ridiculous, you really mean to tell me, that, just because you have a penis, all of a sudden, you can't relate to the problems of women, as though, they are an entirely different species from you? WHAT NONSENSE IS THIS? If you write, you write, nothing should be limiting you, unless maybe, you tackle serious, real-life problems, then it's best advised to do a little research first, before tackling them in a tactful way, but aside from that, NOTHING should hold you back.

Anyway, venting over, back to the topic at hand.

You know what'd be a serious buff to Sakura, overall? Outside of gaining access to the 8 Gates, thanks to Rock Lee and Guy?

...taming Inner Sakura, and turning that joke character into a dangerous weapon. And the way it works, at least if you were to go off of what the 2000s PS2 era was showing off with her, Inner Sakura is an inner, astral projection, manifesting in the real world, and making you eat her dust. Not convinced? Check it out:

C'mon, people! There is no doubt about it. Sakura. Is a STAND USER. And that stand of hers, is like if you were to fuse the lady that King Kong kidnaps, with himself. It just makes you ask: Why wasn't regularly used by Sakura? It could just be a unique extension to her Genjutsu toolkit, in that, her Genjutsu, is so painful, it has real-life effects on you. Basically, her anxiety and delusions are so strong, along with her wild, livid imagination, her mind ends up creating this astral projection of her inner turmoil. And with that, Genin Sakura, buffed to hell. And before becoming a healer, she is mostly a wrecking ball.

All she needs to do, is catch you in her Genjutsu raidus, and you're toast. She will toss and punch you around, like a little kid, venting its frustrations on its plushie.

Just imagine how devastating that technique might look for reals, and the reason I am saying this...

...mentally replace Jotaro with Sakura, and just picture Inner Sakura bombarding, her opposition, who might be, hypothetically, Kabuto, who is tormenting Naruto from afar, so Sakura decides:

Kate Higgins. Chie Nakamura. I will pay you, real-life money, just to replicate this, while replacing the ORA with CHA.

PEACE.

[xia0mi-c0m]

"Why are you defending a trans character's identity? Who cares if someone refers to them as a she/he and misgenders them, it's not like they're real people, even the creator calls them the 'wrong' pronouns!!-"

Well then obviously, your completely oblivious to the dangers and the harmful effects of trans erasure, ESPECIALLY in anime fandoms.

And before anyone tries to go at my fucking neck, I'm transfem and consider myself a trans woman next to my transfeminine identity, I've been very aggravated about how people are erasing transgender characters, and sadly half of the erased trans characters are transfem and/or transgender.

Seriously, if you think trans erasure isn't a big deal, please reevaluate your mindset because that's ignorant of the problem at hand.

[ih8cisgenders]

How do I make everyone fucking shut the fuck up and fucking stop?

[mer-acle]

Train stuff incoming lol

So the little train I always take changes its announcement text literally ever two months (idk why it's not like anything but the actual information matters, who cares if they're called travelers or passengers?)

Anyway they changed it again this week, and managed to change it so it's at most technically correct still... There are people really struggling with going by train WITH clear instructions you really don't have to make it more confusing by calling the opposite platform "the same platform" bc you technically just have to walk to the other side.

Nothing big, I'm at most rolling my eyes but guys. Please spend your brain power on making things work rather than changing a perfectly functional announcement like every other month, I beg

[rescuebabiesau]

For The Record-

I don't normally let discourse within the fandom bother me too much because ultimately does it add to your life? No. But this personal situation I found myself in lately felt like it needed to be acknowledged.

I recently had someone comment several times over several months (I have since blocked them) on one of my fics about how frustrating it was to them that so many other people were "Shipping Wrong."

The fic in question was One Scary Night Alone, and it has some very, very light Whirl/Hoist in it, if you can even call it that. Like, the two just have a brief moment of being alone and checking on each other after what happened, not considered romantic and more just close friends... and this person decided that this was cause to complain because it wasn't Hotshot comforting Whirl.

According to them, because Hotshot is obviously the protagonist, that means that Whirl's destined to be with him and not anyone else.

I tried to be courteous and explain that everyone is free to their own opinions, but they were insistent that everyone else was wrong for having differing opinions. That having Whirl and Hoist be close was against canon (hello, they canonically work together making an "Earth Stuff Collection") and so to have them interact like that was wrong.

First of all, protagonists don't always get the girl. Read more books if you think that's true. Secondly, these recruits are not adults, they are children and thus aren't necessarily going to be looking at each other as potential romantic partners, even if sometimes the earliest signs of crushes are there.

To put the topping on the cake, after months of this, they then said "I wrote this story, but you shouldn't read it since you're obviously pro-Whirl/Hoist, but I would ask that you spread the word about it to the rest of your followers."

...Excuse???? After scolding me for months about how I was wrong and needed to accept your way of belief, you ask me to promote your story without even reading it myself???

Like Dude, get a better hobby than harassing artists and then expecting favors from them.

All I'm saying is that if you like two characters together and someone else likes a different pairing, that's okay. You can still enjoy the media and your own perceptions of things, even if that perception isn't perfect to the canon.

[dr-spectre]

So after my playthrough of Paper Mario TTYD, i obviously started looking at it's sequel on the Wii and doing some research. I remembered that there's this cool evil alter ego Luigi goes under called "Mr. L" and so i looked him up!

....guess what i saw frame fucking one....

NINTENDO HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR DECADES I'M GONNA EXPLOOOODDDEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME DUDE?!?! WHEN WILL THE MISERY END?!

2007 NINTENDO IS MOCKING ME!! /j

Hypno Callie has ruined everything for me. I can't see the word the same anymore. I can't take it no longer. I'm literally going insane. If i play Super Paper Mario I'm gonna have several ptsd flashbacks and laugh my ass off istg.

I hate you. I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING!!!

(I'm joking. my analyses of Hypno Callie have given me a strong appreciation of Splatoon 2's mid hero mode and have inspired me to take more care into the words that i and other people use. Because fun fact! Hypnosis is NOT brainwashing!!! But people think it is due to media and wikis pushing it so! YAY!)

[orangebunny]

That ppg cw trailer was terrible 💀

———————————-

I’m so happy it was canned

“Mojo & jojo” 😭😭😭😭

I was crashing out watching that trailer

How did they even get to filming before realizing it was that bad 💀💀

[the-goblinprince]

people dont understand the importance of making elias look boring. it makes all the fandom memes way funnier. just this normal looking grown ass man but everyone writes him as babygirling his way through life

[limbobilbo]

What crime did I commit in a past life for the turning wheel of samsara to curse me with a simultaneous hyper-creative mind and a good ability to visualise exactly what Im trying to talk about in my head but a chronic inability to draw, concentrate long enough to complete things and so much self doubt I am incapable of enjoying my own creations.

I feel like I need to go and kill a god to undo my curse or something fuck me.

[mistandshcdow]

as an author who largely just posts on ao3 rather than reading fics (other than authors i'm friends with/in the same fandom and know i'll enjoy their work), i was absolutely baffled when i read through the ao3 subreddit and learning all these rules readers have

let me be the first to say i'm incredibly picky about fics when scrolling and will click off for any stupid reason, so i fully respect the right to not be into anything for any reason, but i do find it funny how some readers have this entitled mindset about authors "respecting their time." sir/maam/th'mm, this is a wendys. this is a fanfiction website. you are arguably not respecting your own time by even being here, don't lie, are you at work right now??? read whenever and wherever you want, but don't act like writers have an obligation to perfectly cater to your unique wishes and requirements, especially as most of us are hobbyists.

[xia0mi-c0m]

Im gonna be real honest with y'all.. I'm a Curly apologist-

OKAY LET ME EXPLAIN PLSSSS 😭😭😭

!!TW: MENTIONS OF RAPE, SUICIDE AND DEATH. AND SPOILERS OF MOUTHWASHING WILL BE IN HERE!!

Press "Keep reading" at your own risk if you're triggered by these topics but curious.

Let's get this out of the way; Curly's inaction about Jimmy raping Anya will be the main topic of this post.

I think most Mouthwashing fans seem to not understand that why Curly didn't step in to the situation beforehand is because (if I'm correct) Anya told the news to Curly 1 day before the crash from what I remember.

Do tell me, how is he supposed to process this in 1 day? And before anyone says something about arguing, hitting, etc. It's obvious Curly would not do that.

And I've seen some Mouthwashing fans say that when Curly was laughing at Jimmy that Curly was "actually crying".

If you replay that clip, he's obviously laughing.

But I think it wasn't him JUST laughing at Jimmy, but also himself. For just finding out that his friend is a monster from hell, for his inaction when he had the chance.

I also heard a theory that broke me.

There is a theory that when Swansea brought the axe to Daisuke's face and the camera pans out and distances itself, that is wasn't just to spare the player from gore but it was also Curly's perspective during that scene. That explains why the room-like place the camera pans out to looks so similar to the infirmary, and why the POV looks more like it was Curly looking directly at the scene.

Idk I saw that theory and decided to share it cuz it broke me especially knowing that Curly also had to see Anya take her own life and I wanted to break you guys too.

Like, why did Curly bashing even become a thing? Bro couldn't do anything before he got fucking horribly disabled, give him a break Jesus 😭😭

So with this, I'm gonna say it..

JIMMY SHOULD BE THE MF WE BASHING ALONE, CURLY IS NOT FULLY INNOCENT BUT AT LEAST HE AIN'T LIKE JIMBO, BUT Y'ALL CAN JUMP J*MMY. FOCK YOU J*MMY!!!

I'M J*MMY'S #1 PROFESIONAL HATER

No one can make me hate you Curly 🙏

[mewhenthecat]

i have such disgust toward people who say things like “bro im actually sped” or “are you speddy??” and after a mistake or something stupid because it implies that people who need special education are stupid or lesser than anyone else. while i’m not sped (but have almost been placed in it), most of my close friends are, and i know for a FACT that they aren’t stupid or lesser than others and hate it when people say this too! people need to come to terms with their stupidity.

like no JANET, you’re NOT sped, you’re just STUPID! how about that, JANET? you don’t need an explanation or excuse, you can just be fucking STUPID! and no it’s not a funny joke because you’re not qualified to say it, JANET. that’s not your joke to make.

(i don’t know anyone named janet 😭😭)