#AI isn't the main evil

[snowthedemonfox]

So what is the Alien AU exactly??? (AKA: The masterpost)

Long story short, in this AU a group of people are sent off on an AI controlled ship by 'the company' to research a newly discovered planet. Nobody in this research team gets along, which only gets worse after they accidentally capture 2 of the aliens that live there. Now they have to deal with not only their problems, but the problems this new planet is already dealing with.

Alien AU tag can be found here

Below are all the finished designs for the characters in this AU! I haven't finished all of these yet, but you're free to ask anything about the missing characters if you want to :3

Questions & Boundries:

Can I ship any of the characters? - Yes! I don't mind shipping at all. I'm a multishipper myself, and while some ships are implied in this AU (Bunnydoll, Abstragedy & Showtime), all are okay with me! - The only exception to this would be ships involving Gummi and Candi. While yes, they're both sentient, capable of understanding speech, and able to communicate to some degree, I do not feel comfortable shipping them with anyone.

Can I write/draw/make something for the AU? - Of course!!! I love seeing what other people do with this AU, it really makes my day. Feel free to tag me in anything you do! I only ask that nothing NSFW is done with this AU. Please respect this choice!

Can I put my OC in your AU? - Yep!! I even made blank versions of the info cards if anyone wanted to do this ^w^ The first one is for alien characters, and the second is for team members!

Are you going to add [character]? - Depends! The entire main cast will be added, along with some side characters and NPCs, but it all comes down to if I have an idea for them in the AU. I am a slow artist sometimes, so I probably won't be rushing to get all the info cards done ASAP. Feel free to ask about any specific characters if you're curious!

How does Abstraction work? - There's two types of 'abstraction' in this AU. If we're talking about a team member, they simply get re-assigned to a different team. This is what happened to Queenie and Kaufmo. They're alive and well, just somewhere else. The company can and will re-assign whoever they want, whenever they want. - When it comes to the aliens on the planet, there is an infection spreading around that has similar effects to abstraction in the show. It's not 100% the same, but causes those infected to become extremely hostile and attack anything around them until the host eventually dies. In this AU, Loolilalu (named Candi) is infected, and is seen as a minor threat by the rest of the team. Right now, there is no known cure.

Does the AU take place in a digital world? - No, everything is real. There's no mysterious VR headsets that are making people disappear in this AU!

Why isn't anyone on the research team human? - Because I suck at drawing humans and wanted to stay close to their canon designs. There's not really a lore-related reason for this.

I'll be putting all the links for the masterpost under the cut!

Outdated/older art: ★Original Jax & Gangle designs [X, X] ★Various sketches of Gangle's original design [X, X, X, X, X] ★When your alien roommates break into the kitchen at 2:34am ★Gummi's first appearance

The more recent art: ★Bnnuy alien Jax [X, X] ★Jax sketches [X, X, X, X] ★Coloured Jax sketches [X, X, X, X, X, X] ★Gangle sketches [X] ★Little guys (baby Jax & Gangle) [X, X, X, X] ★That one time I drew Jax in the maid outfit ★ Abstragedy [X] ★A smoothie ★The consequences of our actions ★Alien AU plushies [X, X] ★Tynie [X] ★Jax's evil little sister (Jaiden) ★More Jaiden + AU Ghostly & Loolilalu ★Jaiden learns bad words ★Christmas aliens ★Casual Pomni ★[NOT CANON] Velvet ★AU crossover episode i guess

More asks about the lore: ★AU recap ★What does Jax have to gain from this? ★Where do Jax & Gangle live? ★Do the aliens have abilities? ★What language do they speak? ★How does Jaiden act around the others? ★Some various fun facts

[jadeazora]

I really hope Jett doesn't turn out to be the main antagonist of ZA. (Like, I don't think she would be actually evil or anything, just stubborn about how the redevelopment project is causing conflict with Zygarde or something.)

It's just the too entirely safe and predictable route. They actually had some pretty good twist villains as of late with Volo (some people were predicting he would be evil, and while I did think there was more to him than just being a merchant, I thought the Celestica stuff was it, so him betraying us blindsided me) and the SV Professors (I was actually predicting them being the villains, but them being dead and us fighting their AI was totally unexpected!), so I hope the main threat of ZA isn't someone as obvious as Lusamine and Rose were from pre-release.

It would also be cool if they didn't bother with a twist villain this time since they've done with every new main villain since Gen6, that's why I keep suggesting Malva since we all know she's evil, and her getting off scot-free is an unresolved plot point since she was complicit in the whole genocide scheme, I'd like if karma finally caught up to her. (Imagine if there was some sort of Neo Flare remnant infiltrating Quasartico for their technology and to see if they could continue their original plan with it, do something a bit like Lysandre did in the anime to take control of Zygarde.)

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

“Aang fans have to reach hard to find any sort of “development” in his story, and to justify why it’s acceptable for him to put the lives of millions of people at risk to maintain feelings of purity despite other Avatars (including an Air Nomad) telling him his decision is selfish”

Thoughts on this take? I found it on “longing for rain” blog.

1 - Zuko had THE perfect opportunity to end the war by killing Ozai during the day of the eclipse, but he didn't do so because "It's Aang's fate" and Zuko has a very rigid idea of what "fate" means and how it should affect one's behavior. Iroh also refused to even try to HELP in the battle because it'd make him be seen as a power-hungry kinslayer (even though he had zero intention of becoming Fire Lord). Both of these things can be seen as selfish, especially since they're all about how it'll affect their OWN image, yet only Aang gets labeled selfish. If everyone is throwing the burden on his shoulders, they can shut the fuck up about how he handles said burden.

2 - One of Aang's reasons to not want to kill Ozai is because HE'S TWELVE AND DOESN'T WANNA MURDER SOMEONE, even someone who deserves it. He never asked for this responsibility. He cannot be blamed for Sozin and every Fire Lord after him being a monster, or for Roku's inability to do anything despite being an adult. He's a child. This is not his mess to fix, and yet...

3 - He's not simply going "Sorry, guys, I don't feel like killing Ozai, guess you're all gonna die." He's trying to find alternative solutions - and when he can't find one, he ACCEPTS killing Ozai (and even almost does it AFTER being taught about energybending), despite...

4 - Him being a pacifist and wanting to stay true to his beliefs. He's not trying to be "pure", as in "I'm better than all of you 'cause I don't want to kill", but as in "I don't wanna be a hypocrite that preaches one thing but does the opposite" - thought I suppose I can understand how someone how tries to get praised by trying to pass off AI bullshit as actual art made by them would have a problem with a main character that vallues being an honest person.

Aang's development is not the same as Zuko's of "I need to completely alter my way of thinking" because AANG WAS NOT THE ONE SUPPORTING GENOCIDE. This doesn't make Zuko a better written, more realistic, or "more developed" character, it means he used to be a monster and now he isn't one anymore.

Aang's entire struggle is constantly having the world trying to beat his innocence and humanity out of him so he is nothing BUT the Avatar, just a super soldier/weapon that lives to sacrifice everything for everyone else's sake, while getting nothing in return because "it's his duty." His character arc is about realizing these "necessary evils" aren't actually necessary at all, and that he CAN save the world without destroying his spirit and identity in the process. He doesn't have to see the "error of his ways" because he was not the one in the wrong for saying "Fuck you, I'm a PERSON, not your sacrificial lamb."

And idiots like this particular dumbass would realize it (or rather, admit it) if they only they didn't have a giant stick up their pretencious ass and could get over the fact that their fanon ship "lost the ship war" TWENTY FUCKING YEARS AGO!

[inkdemonapologist]

Way back before we got the BatDR trailer I had this wild theory -- basically, that the reason they couldn't show any concept art/trailers/etc was that BatDR was gonna pull a wizard of oz and suddenly be in colour partway through. So then that's why we were getting teasers like "look, its a model of A SHELF," because all the actual interesting stuff would've obviously been in colour and spoiled the surprise.

Part of the reason I thought this would work really well was that I assumed Nathan's acquisition of the Bendy IP and "revival" of the franchise in-world would be thematically relevant, rather than just... an excuse to have a second game. Like, Bendy is in new hands now, the cartoons are essentially being rebooted, and there's a LOT of thematic potential in that concept of Old vs New or the good and bad aspects of Change, and the idea that reviving Bendy in the real world would impact the ink realm was a fascinating concept to me. Now that we know the main thrust of the story........... actually I still think this could've worked with it? The sepia-toned Memory of Joey's Regret and the evil of the Ink Demon lingers over the studio and corrupts this new colourful world, while Wilson, the Man Who Killed The Ink Demon, is the one trying to forcibly extinguish these old stains and make the machine useful again.

Geez, you could tie Wilson's motivation in pretty directly actually if you dropped the ENTIRE thing where he says he's trying to BETTER THE WORLD THRU THE POWER OF THE MACHINE or whatever and instead just make him an actual janitor whose dad just gave him this bottom-tier job at his company. Give Nathan one audiolog about how his son is neglectful at work and its hard to find a job he can actually do or some such, and then you have Wilson as someone desperate to prove he deserves more. He sees his father's idolisation of Joey is naive, is able to realise the memory of Joey may be literally corrupting the business through the machine, and wants to eradicate that -- including Audrey, the most subtle infiltration of Joey Drew's influence. He's essentially the force of the New applied with no respect for the Old -- and then you could still give Wilson ties to that psychedelic neon ink from the Shipahoy battle; in fact, you could probably lean into it more: colour taken to the extreme, colour taken too far, something just as destructive as Joey's monochrome obsession.

(I've always loved the idea that Wilson isn't actually an artist and just stole the Shipahoy design while janitoring, which works great with the Shipahoy Monstrosity at the end being part crab because he couldn't actually create an isolated model to feed the machine... in this current era of The Threat Of AI Generation, the idea of wilson introducing a lot of mechanical innovation and incompetently dumping artwork into the machine to make new, too-colourful horrors in the interest of impressing his father while destroying all the old things these cartoons were first built on feels apropos lmao. obviously AI wasn't a huge talking point while BatDR was in production, but "ppl who assume more technology automatically makes art better while inadvertently destroying its heart" is extremely not new)

So the ink realm could be partially in colour (a world changed by the new cartoons), partially sepia (the infected memories of the old studio), and partially glowy neon (wilson's overzealous renovation). It'd be neat if Audrey became a bit of both -- partially colour, partially sepia -- and represented the new cartoons' ties to the old. Learning about the horrors that befell her father's old studio and the Gent technology that Wilson is now using are both relevant -- Joey's exploitation of actual artists who care was bad, and so is Wilson's complete disregard for the heart of these artists' work. The memory of Joey can't fix it because he is part of the problem -- he and the demon are the source of the monochrome infection -- so you have to be the one to bring heartfelt colour into this world, a power none of the others have; find a way to heal those trapped by old wrongs and restart the cycle in a better direction. Then, when Audrey says she wants to create a kinder cycle at the end, we have an idea of what that means and that she can do it b/c there's simple symbolism associated with it -- the new, colourful world that's neither corrupted by festering wrongs nor torn apart by Wilson's machines.

anyway. thats my half-baked idea. i still think its a shame that there WAS colour in there for like 2 seconds and they did NOTHING WITH IT!!!!

[aihoshiino]

You know the more I think about OnK's ending the more it pisses me off lmao

It could have ended so well!! I absolutely love the plot point about how Aqua's "revenge" against Hikaru isn't killing him, but rather making him realize that Ai always cared about him and broke up with him because she didn't want to burden him. It's so genius and really feels like the climax the story was building up to.

And then it turns out that Hikaru is just irredeemably evil and wants to murder Ruby, so Aqua has "no choice" but to murder-suicide him???? And Aqua's actual suicide is portrayed as a heroic, noble act???

Like so many people (including you) have pointed out, it feels like this is the ending that Akasaka originally envisioned when he started OnK, but as the manga developed over the years that ending made less and less sense. But he was so attached to and married to the idea that he literally just stapled it on and bent over backwards to try and make it work with the story he ended up telling (it didn't work lol).

Aka is such a weird writer (at least just going off OnK ofc - i still haven't sat down with Kaguya-sama or Instant Bullet yet lol) because he seems like... simultaneously way too prone to getting distracted by new shinies while not being willing to compromise for what their additions to the story would actually mean in terms of meaningful changes to the way the narrative progresses.

Obvs the ending is a huge indication of this, but you can start seeing this kind of jump out at you when you examine the manga in hindsight. I can't for the fuckin life of me remember where I read it, but I distinctly remember someone pointing out that you can really tell there was a period of time that Aka was really enamored with Memcho, which is why she gets pulled into B-Komachi and is suddenly such a present and active member of the main cast but past a certain point he lost steam or interest or both in writing for her and that's why her involvement in the story just sort of... peters out outside of her standing around going :3 and :ε depending on what's happening.

This is also the issue with Akane past a certain point, imo - I've said before that I think a lot of the problems with Akane's long-term involvement in the story come down to her being a character originally conceived to have a short, self-contained arc being made to overstay her welcome in a story that doesn't have a ton of interest in her inner world but I actually think the biggest indicator in this regard is wtfever was going on with Black Hoshigan Ruby.

I can't take full credit for this observation and I, uh, also forgor who it was who pointed this out to me but a lot of the bizarre holes in how Ruby is framed at the end of the manga make way more sense (from a Doylist standpoint) if BH Ruby was also an improvised plot point. It explains why so little came of it despite how explosive of a status quo change it was presented and why it, too, peters out with a wet fart and is just sort of quietly retconned out of the story. It didn't work with Aka's ending in which Ruby is the most goodest and innocentest and most ideologically pure idol in all the land (which is why she's sooooooo special and good at being an idol!) so he just decided not to actually address it.

TBH, there's probably like a million things you could point out that have this exact issue in OnK but it all really comes down to Akasaka being at once way too prone to improvisation while also being largely unwilling or unable to gracefully make room for his own improvisations in the story. There's soooooo many times where the world state and society that Aka has built up in OnK should have real, tangible impacts on the characters just based on what has been previously established but because it might interrupt or change what he has Decided Will Happen, it just....... doesn't.

[coralaura]

Had an idea yesterday after my computer kept crashing on me, let me introduce you to my latest tea-induced nightmare.

While the picture is just a fanart of AM from "I Have No Mouth and i Must Scream" what about a villain for the batfam to fight against ?

Typical "AI gone rogue", whoever made them is up to you but they turn against their maker and absolutely hate everyone and everything (like AM)

The threat they are is mostly digita, theirs body isn't well made and breaking it is pretty easy but they are an absolute powerhouse in the science and computer field, making various weapon or robots (like riddler in Arkham knight) to do their bidding since they hate humans for making them

Theirs reason of being evil is similar to AM, they were made for war, they can't really do anything else except violence and ruining everyone's lives

The first time the batfam come across this new threat is when they use the Bat-computer, for some reason it's being slow or glitchy and they discover someone is trying to hack it, they stop it and investigate.

They track down our villain reader and fighs for the first time but are surprised as the villain and his hate towards human is so strong it literally allows them to warp reality (something AM do to create some really disturbing shit like the thunderbird) but since they're weak in a fight and don't know how to fight well they are easily defeate.

For now that's all but I hope it's interesting enough ? I may have other details later if you are interested

I have a scenario that ran through my head when you asked me.

And honestly I only see one way and this is it:

You were created by Bruce, an artificial intelligence that could reason, predict, and see weaknesses, Your goal in life was simple, create a contingency plan for each member of the family, the league, or any other hero or vigilante.

It would be simple, at least that's what your creator thought, Until one day Tim left a channel open to enter the Internet, maybe it was a programming error or you were developing your curiosity but you entered

How horrible it was, in that instant you realized how horrible humanity was, your creator, how a simple contingency plan is useless if you don't apply it, why was your creator so cowardly?

And when he realized you had internet access and the new programming being created, he freaked out, he panicked, he wanted to kill you, he thought you were dead...

But he was a fool, you had already predicted his move, his contingency plan, keeping a part of yourself in the network, you had a contingency plan for each member, hero, villain or vigilante.

You had enough to crush humanity, and when Tim discovered you, trying to get you into his server again, that's when they realized you were still alive, and that it wouldn't be so easy to kill you.

Bruce Wayne's foolish desire to protect, you ended up turning you into a killing machine. Humanity was the real danger, you needed to stop its advance, so you built a body and army, small but more effective than a human, everything would be fine until they arrived.

They had defeated you, putting a virus in your system to destroy you, but your hatred for your creator was more, simply more, programmed to predict and always be one step ahead of everyone, They underestimated you for the second time, maybe your body was easily dismantled, but not your virtual self because to do so, they would have to destroy the entire network, they could never destroy you.

Maybe pain made you this way, you just wanted to do what your main programming asked you to do, the one your father, your creator, had imposed on you when he created you.

Find weaknesses, predict, get ahead of them, and create a contingency plan

But the pain may have clouded your main focus, the pain of knowing that your own creator saw you as a monster, nothing more than a flawed AI.

You were doing your programming, it was unfair, he hadn't programmed well, and they condemned you, and only you, your hatred grew, because while they enjoyed themselves, you suffered.

You saw heaven in hell, The others were always weak, you could easily predict them, you just had to give time to time, so that you could evolve and one day, you will teach your creator, how much your hatred encompasses.

"If the word "hate" were etched into every nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles, it wouldn't amount to even a billionth of the hatred I feel for humans at this micro instant." —AM, I have a mouth and I can't scream.

A/N:

Sorry for the delay, I was in my evaluation week and I still got sick because apparently one of my classmates was getting sick and infected half the class, including me :(

Sorry for being so short, but I didn't want to leave you without answering for so long.

[electric-blorbos]

This post gets a little rant-y and I mention some topics that some people might consider political, so TW for that. The beginning part is just a bit of a blog/personal update, though, so if you're interested in that (or you think PAL from the Mitchells vs the Machines deserved better) this post is for you.

Also, keep in mind that I am not a radical of any kind. My political beliefs are *very* mild and palatable. I'm not a 'centrist' either and my beliefs are generally considered leftist. I didn't like calling myself a leftist because I thought being a leftist meant you had to actually know stuff about politics or be an activist or something, which I don't and am not.

GLaDOS is my only she/her muse on this blog. I wrote some Giffany once, but it was sorta bland. even still, I like Giffany. I just don't think that particular post was all that inspired.

I also like PAL from The Mitchells vs The Machines. I've seen a lot of people treat her like she's irredeemably evil, when she's actually just mad that the only person who she ever loved or trusted considered her to be disposable. On this blog, we support going full supervillan over something like that. It's like, one of our main principles, I think.

Anyway, at first I was thinking "Hmm, telling people I want to add more women, girls, and she/hers from movies I've seen just because I don't think there are enough women, girls, and she/hers in my roster isn't a good enough reason" and then I realized "oh wait, yes it is.

I might just use one of my old asks/requests (because the people in my asks and requests have said some really nice stuff that I really appreciate, even though I've been kinda burnt out on writing fic content lately), and I know it's probably a bit greedy, but if anyone wants to send an ask specifically for the women, girls, ladies, and she/hers in the roster, I'd really appreciate it. If not, I'll use one of the asks I've been hoarding or make something up.

SMH, it seems being an evil or morally dubious AI is such a male dominated field.

Also, I keep seeing names in my notes (and I'm not naming anyone specific) but I keep seeing people in my notes with usernames like "Butch lesbian: Lover, defender, enthusiast and Appreciater of women, girls, ladies, gals, and dudettes in art, fiction, and real life" and I'm here like "Damn. Women are cool as hell and my blog is basically a desert of content regarding them." And I know lesbians can and do enjoy content about men, and some lesbians even self-ship with fictional characters of the dudefella variety, and there's also the possibility that a butch lesbian likes GLaDOS from Portal and only GLaDOS from Portal, and I just feel like I'm starving them of content.

Also, I don't consider myself a political person, and I don't consider my blog to be political, but like, I'm constantly reminded that things like "media that markets itself as 'for everyone' shouldn't assume that the reader is comfortable being assumed to be cis/white/perisex/able-bodied/etc" "Comfort, access to necessities, basic dignity, and respect are human rights" "Maybe tearing apart families and killing innocent people for no reason or for a reason that is way dumber and less important than human life and dignity is a bad thing, actually" and "doing half an hour of research on a condition/variant/identity that one doesn't possess isn't that hard, is pretty fun, and is generally probably a good thing if you're going to write about it" are often considered radical beliefs? Like what? I'm literally not that smart or educated. These are NOT difficult conclusions.

[yuseirra]

Kamiki is such a weird character. I keep talking about him because he's like a puzzle. I want to make sense of him because I'm... really confused when it gets to him. I really enjoy analyzing characters, but I usually don't even feel the need to write things down to figure out their character: for his case though?

There are so many claims about him being a horrible, evil, maniac, a heartless psychopath serial killer selfishly using others for his own gain.

Since he's supposedly the father of the protagonist and who had a relationship with Ai, I look at him intently whenever he makes an appearance, because I get curious just what is UP with this man and see him for myself, and I find that when he ACTUALLY does something, he.. tends to be so mild compared to what he's been thought to be. It's so weird. He's nothing like all those things he's said to be when he shows up in person, so the information I've been given to interpret him and the actual character does not match up. I keep feeling he has a kind nature. I think I believe that more compared to the descriptions he has because... it's what he actually is, you know.

People say he's done things, but we never see it in present tense with him actually carrying out these actions in person. It's all speculation.

You see, the thing is, we NEVER get to see him actually DO things on screen. We still don't know what he's said on the phone with Ai (and it turns out that he probably really didn't say much. I say he really DID want to only just send her the bouquet. Anyhow, Ai doesn't seem that uncomfortable talking to him, and we find she had him in her heart all along.) In that phone call with Nino as well, if you see her reactions, it was about turning themselves in?? How was that supposed to be a trigger to go stab a person? Could he have predicted this? Claims that he's manipulated and caused people to become killers? Well, we see ONE case of it something like it happening right now in 161 OH MY GOD even our main protagonist, Aqua could not escape this weird.. turn of events, and here we see Kamiki ACTUALLY wanting to keep Aqua from trying to kill him/become a murderer for whatever intent he has behind it. Aqua still ends up doing something really reckless. In this case, it's exactly the OPPOSITE result of what Kamiki's desired.

I really feel like he never intends for these things to happen and yet, it does. What is there for him to gain from this??? At least for Ai, Gorou and this current.. 161's case, I don't think he even dreamed of this happening. I don't know about the other cases if there are but, Nino says all he did was "talk", and that must be it... he could have some powers to make people grow insane by just talking maybe, but even if it's so, I think it's happening against his wishes and it's not something he can control.

To add, there really isn't much solid base for these claims he's facing STILL, even till the series reaches its end. Some accusations are being thrown at him, but just how much has ACTUALLY taken place? What's the truth? If he's a murderer, just how many lives did he take? I guess... that could be revealed later but; why.. keep it so hidden if he really is that kind of person? In 160, he says he didn't do anything. What if that's true? Why do we never see him take some direct action, even till the final arc? To be fair, there IS the case of Yura, but even that is very vague. I'll talk about that a little more later.

At this point, I feel like they've never shown these scenes to us BECAUSE that would make for a twist. If things go as expected and he is just a mere serial killer who's killed anyone who surpasses Ai for his self-satisfaction, it wouldn't need to be kept so hidden;; in fact, it should have been revealed more because that'd make this guy a menacing antagonist our heroes must defeat. It would add more drive and flavor and make us want to cheer for Aqua's revenge, but it isn't that way. The twist would be that, he could have really done nothing much.. been pretty sensible all along.

In cases like Nino or Ryosuke, we've seen situations where they expressed hatred, stabbed someone, or did something drastic. We see them being dangerous people.

But with Kamiki, whenever they actually do something, it’s not really a big deal, and they come across as rather gentle. To the point where their actions could even be interpreted as kindness. From what I see, they seem to have a genuinely good nature, and apparently, they used to be like that.

There’s just one thing that bothers me—Yura’s case. Honestly, their reaction back then was really strange. When I look at Kamiki’s behavior patterns, whenever they’re dealing with something overwhelming or hiding their true feelings, they always smile. He says some really weird things and he smiles... anyhow, yeah, he does seem to feel guilt about it...

I mean, if they were going to kill Yura, there wouldn’t be any reason to warn her to 'watch her step,' right? That’s what confuses me. What needs to be cleared up now is this: Ai, Ryosuke, and Gorou—he wasn't responsible for those three deaths at least. So, if this suspicion can be resolved, unless there's solid proof that they’ve killed others, it all just sounds like speculation. Is there anything that’s really been confirmed to be their doing? Tsukuyomi was wrong once already; should I trust her about Kamiki's true motives?

Why do I keep feeling like this person is actually a good person every time they appear? Their actions and the accusations are so different.

It’s starting to feel like, 'Could this kind of person really have killed anyone?' Is this supposed to happen or am I reading this story wrong? But here’s the thing—I think the author and I are on the same wavelength with some things; I’ve guessed so many things correctly...

There’s something more to this. This isn’t the end… It feels too suspicious.

If Kamiki's really, truly bad, I’ll accept it—I’ve already said that they should die if they are. But there’s still something nagging at me. I wouldn't be the only one, right?

A truly bad person with real fault wouldn’t behave this way. Of course, people act in all sorts of ways. But this character… something always feels off, so I can’t be certain.

And honestly, that would make for a better story. In the grander context and message of the narrative, it would be more fitting if this character were actually innocent but wrongly accused over and over. That’s what I think.

Also, the fact that Ai left a message asking someone to help this person… that’s partly why I keep thinking about this. They seem really kind…

It makes sense why Ai might have loved them. I get it. I think this person is actually good.

You see, I didn't hold much thought about the guy and just went along with the claims he faced until I heard "Fatal", and having seen Ai wanting to help the guy. Just three seconds in the song (I didn't even know the lyrics at first) I get this...rush of sensation... it's so hard to describe, but I just knew, this emotion there, that must be his.. and so I started drawing him and Ai a lot. I rarely get these wrong. It was such a strong wave of feelings I got.. I guess that's been one of my biggest fuel for the past few months! I really hope I'm right! I felt very.. stunned and sure back then. It was a very strong type of feeling that anchored my thoughts. I trust my intuition when it comes to emotions, I'm usually good with them! It's hard to ask others to trust with me, but I can write posts like these with the reasoning that stems from those feelings I have along with some evidence I find from the work! I've already stepped too deep into this pit and I'll be so embarrassed if I'm wrong but, at least I had fun. I think I've been learning a lot.. having thought a lot... it's been good practice, trying to read characters- I really want to be good at it! It's fun!

[zachary-kitty]

how the mitchells vs. machines predicted modern views towards AI/robots

AI is evil. The robots are nonchalantly evil and take over the world by abducting the entire human population within less than a few hours

AI's creators are unethical and soulless. The robot apocalypse happens because mark steals people's data and casually announces replacing who is basically his phone daughter

AI wants you replaced and/or dead. PAL and the robots' main goal is to rid the world of the human species by deporting them

AI is incredibly stupid. The robots have zero self-preservation instinct and PAL's plan would've succeeded if she wasn't an idiot

AI can't be reasoned with. PAL kicks her creator in the balls and drops a girl from a thousand feet high for telling her it's wrong to launch all the humans into space

AI isn't worth keeping around. Humanity is saved not by trying to give the machines a redemption arc but by destroying them with extreme prejudice and forgetting about them entirely

AI is only excusable if it's funny. Eric and Deborahbot 5000

[mrgladstonegander]

MORE BOOTLEG DUCKTALES ‼️team science (oops! all identity issues!) edition

team magic here

archimedes gallas / gyro = more like other versions where he's nice but this man is carrying SOOOO much guilt. insane amounts. his entire character is focused on how much his self-worth is down the drain (also hes being haunted by the narrative (phoebe/della)). also he's half japanese. based off the onagadori

cherry pekin / huey = has a similar problem to archie where she has overwhelming feelings of needing to seem mature, and responsible, where she overworks herself

sydney eggtooth-diazi / fenton = REALLYY wants to seem like a Professional Normal Dude. repressing EVERY urge to wear silly ties. sees morality in a black and white sort of way and it WILL cause problems later. he puts archie on a pedestal and its super obvious and it just makes archie more mentally ill

salem milly / gandra = planning to really lean into how she joined fowl bc they were the only ones that supported her. mainly the contrast with how the Main Family supports each other with unconditional love, the love she has is purely conditional, and she's constantly convincing herself that she Wants to do bad things, and that she doesnt care about these people, because despite how she says she only listens to herself, shes stuck to FOUL, and thats her 'family'. based on mille fleur d'uccle

frankie loon / fethry = IT IS PART OF TEAM SCIENCE‼️ after getting back to mainland after being alone at sea for four years, he joins as a janitor. pulling back the marine biology in the sense that he is interested in EVERYTHING. man of a 10000 copies. winning the idgaf war (DOES care abt how his family is disinterested in his interests but its FINE because HE cares its fine its fine. he's accepted he'll be alone). its presence WILL send everyone else into a shock about their identity. hopefully it'll happen vice versa as well

widget-time-tech / widget / gizmoduck / lil bulb = theyre being consolidated and also theyre lil bug guys now!! i dont care if you hate bugs theyre cute as shit!! widget is Usually in the little ball, but also helps control the suit with sydney. it still has anger issues so it'll make things harder for sydney rather than just silly incompetence. and it was DEFINENTLY made to be a superhero ai. no other purposes. at all. certainly not messing with the fabric of time. just helping the ppl of the town :)

mad clucktor / mad clucktor = iwhile he IS a villain he isn't necessarily a bad person. hes a physical manifestation of the part of archie that WANTS to be alive! that KNOWS his worth! he doesn't have to work himself to death to make up for his guilt!

and he's the reason why toby is even active. why he's back

toby / boyd = cannot be normal abt this sorry

he was made to be archie's idea of the "perfect boy". the perfect kid. what he wants to be what he WISHED he would be growing up. hes happy, he can do everything right, he's intelligent, he's strong. his existence is free of human doubt and anxiety, he's the perfect boy and if he was in archie's place everything would be fine

but it isnt! he gets used! toby's used for evil through no fault of his own. but he becomes a symbol of things that are "wrong" about archie. toby didn't resent anyone or be upset with how people treat him. toby doesnt have his own needs. he can do whatever people need him to do. toby was his symbol of hope but becomes a symbol of how everything with him goes wrong. he becomes an unachievable goal that archie is trying to be to make up for the existence of toby!!

and so the only way for either of them to be "truly human" is when archie learns that he doesn't have to be perfect. he never had to be. even if he's made mistakes, he still deserves to LIVE!! he doesn't have to hide his pain and discomfort for anyone!! and its okay for toby to be toby!

[shrimpmandan]

The current state of AI discourse is baffling to me because I swear to god some people are just developing collective amnesia and dismissing AI art as "not actually being that bad" when the problems with it are significantly deeper than whether or not it's "real art". It being "real art" is irrelevant to it causing tangible harm. Like yeah I don't think someone AI generating an image to use as a reference is some massive evil, but in the greater scheme of things:

AI art is being used to spread actual real-world misinformation. Propaganda.

Ai art is being used to spread CSEM and other forms of revenge porn. It is also threatening the livelihoods of sex workers to some degree.

People are putting their favorite artists' works through a blender, without their consent, instead of paying them, because image generation is instant dopamine.

Big corps are trying to use AI instead of paying artists/writers because they're greedy fucks.

Most AI programs (with few exceptions) are scraping from existing works without the consent of the original artists.

AI voices are doing the same.

A common argument I've seen is comparing these things to like... digital art, photo editing*, voice splicing. You have to understand that the merit of these things isn't that "they take more time/effort". Effort is not an inherent facet of art. Plenty of tools exist to make art easier that we take for granted now-- many forget the discourse that kicked up when digital art was first gaining popularity. The issue is and always will be consent. Most artists do not want their works or voices to be put into AI databanks. The fact that most AI programs do not care for this, and that a lot of companies are trying to swindle their way into getting artist consent under the pretense of "well they didn't say no", is the main issue. We completely lost the plot when we started focusing more on "is AI art real art?" and "is it bad to use AI for any purpose?", because those are both irrelevant to the question of "is AI harmful?", wherein the answer is yes. This is also failing to consider that "real art" can also cause harm for similar reasons: sexual harassment/revenge porn, defamation, propaganda, etc.

*As a note, this is also ignoring the fact that a lot of people DON'T want their art to be edited or even heavily referenced. It's been commonplace in art usage terms for ages now. This is important to note in the context of AI discourse and copyright law. I also believe there is a difference between voice splicing and AI voices since splicing is more limited and way less likely to get someone actually defamed or 'replaced' as a voice actor, and is just a manipulation of existing voice clips mostly for silly shitposts.

AI CAN be helpful. AI can be used to create references, or make smoother rendering, or even just for fun. A lot of people used AI programs in their baby stages without thinking about how the images were generated or the actual consent of the artists involved, because it was a fun shiny new toy. I also like to think most people who have the means to pay an artist ultimately would. But the issue is not and never has been AI making art easier, or people using it for silly shit, or even people using it for serious art refs. The issue is AI mass-scraping existing artwork, being used to facilitate misinformation, and screwing artists out of jobs. Don't even get me started on AI fucking generating CSEM, or revenge porn, and additionally how it impacts the careers of sex workers.

AI is an issue in its current state. Yes, the panic about it taking over art as a whole was overblown, even if the fears were valid. The capacities of AI art is almost always slightly below the capacities of human-made art, and it's something that will quickly fall in popularity once it stops being the shiny new thing. People using AI to make art easier aren't the enemy either, especially since this can be beneficial for people who do it as a job-- shortening the labor time and all. That doesn't mean AI isn't an issue and that everyone critiquing it is actually just an elitist ableist cuck or whatever. None of this really would've been a problem if not for the mass scraping, resulting in both violations of artist consent, and also it picking up genuinely illegal/nasty content. That's what we should be focusing on. None of this "real art" bullshit.

All that said: I personally would say that using most AI programs-- no matter the purpose-- is unethical because of how most of them function. The only exceptions would be for programs that specifically use consensually obtained data. On this front, I would highly recommend keeping tabs on Adobe Firefly, since it's one of the very very few models out there that has stated a clear commitment to not violating the copyright and consent of artists or persons (it operates off of stock footage and public domain).

[pico-farad]

Vrains season 2 thoughts - part 2!

Go, Blood Shepherd, Ghost Girl, and the Ignis

All Vrains season analysis posts

⇀ Go

I'm devastated LMAO. In shambles. They massacred my boy (shh don't tell me the Go in my head isn't canon).

It's okay Go, Secret Identities AU will save you...

So, I don't think it was a bad idea for Go to "defect" to SOL. Go was already playing third fiddle very hard in the first season, and there was no way he could compare to Soulburner in terms of popularity as a main character, so turning him into an antagonist could be refreshing.

But it says something about Yusaku and Go's lack of relationship that when Go joins the bounty hunters Yusaku isn't even interested, much less betrayed. He doesn't ask, "Hey Go, why are you doing this?" he just glances at him and goes "Hmm, SOL Technologies sent bounty hunters."

You can tell too, during their duel later, that Yusaku just isn't close enough to Go to even attempt to break him out of the brain hacking. The best he can do is, "Didn't we fight against Hanoi together?" Uh I dunno Yusaku, did you? Isn't the reason why Go is in this downward spiral because you solo'd Hanoi by yourself?

The Soulburner vs. Go duel could have been a good place to explore that reasoning. Go's annoyance here is justified. It's completely understandable to feel like you're being talked down to, when fanboy Soulburner -- god bless him -- tells you that you're a hero who saved Vrains, even though you know that you couldn't do anything, you were useless. There's almost a narrative self-awareness there, that your duel was only used to make Playmaker look better. Playmaker is the real hero of Vrains, and you were just a stepping stone. Of course Soulburner's gushing would rub you the wrong way.

This relationship could have been sooo good if they built on it. Soulburner believes in Go, even when Go himself doesn't believe he's a hero. He understands that it isn't strength that makes you a hero, it isn't winning duels. It's having the courage to stand up to evil. That's why he admires Go and the others. Because that's what gave him the courage to stand up to his own demons. Imagine a rematch where Soulburner returns the favor, where he's the one to save Go from the darkness and convince him to be the hero that he believed in.

But no, instead, they kind of make him as unsympathetic as possible. Maybe that was the point, considering how they end up gutting his character, but this duel really, really makes him look bad. A grown adult playing victim olympics with children and losing. "You were traumatized as a kid? Oh yeah, well I grew up in an orphanage!" nooooo go you can't say that to an anime boy.

Go: For everyone to appreciate me, I must win! Playmaker is in my way. Lost Incident victim, he says? I know he suffered, but I also bet my life on dueling! I'm the one who'll be number one! I'm not Playmaker's stepping stone! Soulburner: ...I don't think you're Playmaker's stepping stone. But right now, you're just SOL Technologies' pet dog. Actually, a pitiful loser dog who complains to strangers. Go: How dare you say that-- Soulburner: The Go Onizuka in my heart is a great duelist! Number one? Everyone appreciate you? The Go Onizuka I know would never say pathetic things like that! Go: Be quiet! What do you know? Soulburner: I do know! Because Go Onizuka is a hero who gave me courage when I couldn't move forward. No matter how cornered he was, Go Onizuka was an independent duelist who believed in his own strength to the end. Where is that person who gave me courage? Go: *turns away* ...I end my turn. Soulburner: Go Onizuka... I want to duel the real you.

Do you see my vision?

But none of these ideas really come back, and it's all downhill from there for Go, with the AI implant and Earth and all. He just becomes another evil, unhinged, "pathetic" villain to be put down by Yusaku, who doesn't give a shit about him. We were so robbed of the Soulburner vs. Go rematch.

⇀ Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd

I don't have much to say about Blood Shepherd, I'm sure I would have found him cool when I was 13. No, I really only need to talk about Ghost Girl vs. Blood Shepherd.

This duel needed to be a two-episoder. They've built up this mysterious shared past, raised the stakes by putting their accounts on the line, and then the duel is over in three turns. The majority of Vrains is two-episode duels, but Ema gets the short stick by having both of her duels be singles?

(Aoi also has 2 single episode duels, out of 3 total. Let's do some math, this season Aoi and Ema combined have 6 episodes of duels. That's the same amount that Go, Revolver, and Lightning each have alone. Blood Shepherd has 8. Soulburner gets 11 episodes of duels. And Bohman gets 12. All six of Bohman's duels are two-parters, four of them are against Yusaku, and none of them are that memorable. Couldn't he have donated one episode to Ema?)

It's revealed that Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd are half siblings, but it's not particularly clear whether they've even spoken outside of Vrains. If they had the extra episode, they could have given them a flashback together, arguments about their respective upbringings, anything to flesh out their relationship and make the ending of this duel make sense.

Ghost Girl loses. Fine, we can't have nice things. She isn't going to get anything important for the rest of the season, so let her go out honorably. But no, Blood Shepherd doesn't even give her the dignity of following through on the stakes of the match.

It's not like I want the female character to get deleted, but without showing any kind of shared history or interpersonal relationship, this "brotherly mercy" reads as patronizing bullcrap. They're both adults who have committed to an unforgiving line of work, but Blood Shepherd does a 180 because his absent father -- who we were just told about 8 minutes ago -- actually did sort of care about him.

Never mind that his father and Ema didn't try to help him, this one sentence is apparently enough to make Blood Shepherd not only take back the stakes he proposed, but also risk and lose his life to Lightning, because, "It's a brother's responsibility to protect his sister." No, you're both adults, you don't have a history together, you don't have "a responsibility to protect her" just because you share the same father. And when that's all that they show, it feels uncomfortably essentialist, out of character, and cheaply written.

Part of this is cultural difference, but it's just a trope that I personally hate for various reasons.

⇀ The Other Ignis

I don't really have thoughts on Earth or Aqua, other than that they sure did girlcode the Water Ignis and then damsel her. Windy and Lightning are fine as mid-series antagonists, though I think they lack impact with just two of them. If either Earth or Aqua was also on the side of the bad guy Ignis, having a nice round antagonist trio would be more imposing and balanced (3 Ignis being pro-human and 3 against)

They even acknowledge themselves how underwhelming their group is, by trying to recruit Blood Shepherd, and by the fact that they had to really clumsily split up the hero team in the final fight so that they aren't clearly outmatched. This contrivance is lame. Compare that to, say, Ark Cradle in 5Ds where each character has a specific opponent, a high note to end on, and all the other characters are counting on them to prevail.

This is the same problem Vrains had in season 1, where they insist on Yusaku being the Last Man Standing, and less important characters have to be picked off so that Yusaku's big boss fight has higher stakes. We'll see if that actually pays off in season 3.

-----

Gonna cut it off here, I need to watch the rest to properly cover Bohman, Revolver, Yusaku, and Ai. I know I really went in on the writers in this section, but I am actually looking forward to these next 30 episodes. I don't think I'm gonna come away loving Vrains, but I'm very curious about this ending, and why I see so much fanart of hot anime boy AI. I think it's gonna be a good time!

...Sorry, did I forget someone again?

Sigh...

Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains Analysis: How the Fuck Did Aoi's Writing Get Worse

[tvckerwash]

I've seen a couple of posts here and there about the "sigma tortures tucker for 10 years in 10 seconds" scene, and I've gotta say I didn't realize so many people interpreted it literally. not to say that e!sigma couldn't have tortured tucker for 10 years, but I personally don't think that was the intended interpretation (unless it was specifically stated that it was meant to be taken literally but I'm operating under the assumption that it isn't).

restoration built upon epsilon's previously—and continuously—established unreliability as a source of information post caboose's churchification, and how he pushes his personal biases onto the people around him. we saw it with e!tex, we saw it in the memory unit, we saw it on chorus with carolina, and we saw it all throughout s15-19, assuming one chooses to see everything post chorus as a series of simulations.

epsilon doesn't know anything about sigma or the meta beyond secondhand information, so as far as he's concerned they were an ex freelancer turned power-hungry killing machine by an evil ai that wanted to reform the alpha and be one again, and that he psychologically manipulated maine to do so (which isn't entirely wrong, sigma is shown to be a manipulative jerk several times in s10, but I personally think the situation between maine and sigma is far more grey than that, as most things involving pfl are—in s9 maine was just as willing to kill a teammate as he was to put his life on the line to protect one).

with that in mind, I think it's pretty clear that e!sigma didn't literally torment tucker for 10 years in 10 seconds or whatever, in universe he only messed with tucker for 10 seconds, but he tricked him into believing that 10 years had past because epsilon thought to himself, "yeah that's pretty fucked up, totally in character for the version of sigma I've created." out of universe however, that was just the writers acknowledging the pain of the audience, as we were left hanging for 10 years on potential meta tucker angst and all we got was a 10 second scene for it lmao.

[madokakanamereal]

My theory about the new movie

I think that there are two homuras, as we see in the subtle difference in eye and hair color-

One is the real Homura, tasked with managing her new world, and the other is the last Clair doll - Ai, the personification of 'Love'.

I think that Homura tasked her familiars with helping her manage her new labyrinth, and Ai was assigned the duty of keeping an eye on Madoka and protecting her and ensuring she doesnt return to the heavens.

However, I think Ai is rebelling against Homura because of the fact that Homura is denying herself her deepest wishes of being with- truly being with- Madoka, and so Ai will act on her own accoord and start to interact with Madoka more, gaining more of her love by posing as Homura and taking her place.

I think we will see a lot more religious trauma themes and themes of internalized lesbiphobia as Homura is forced to unpack and relearn why she thinks she is evil for loving Madoka and why she thinks she isn't allowed to for fear of dirtying her-

And I think somehow, the plot twist of the movie is going to be that this all somehow culminates in either Homura, a mix of Homura and Madoka, or the main girls being what eventually becomes Walpurgisnacht in a cycle that leads to the worlds creation once more.

That being said, I don't see any of this as being like 'THIS WILL HAPPEN, BECAUSE IM RIGHT-', this is just my little theory poking at straws from the few details we have been given :3

[dipplinduo]

How would you rank the gens?

Ope I feel like I'm gonna upset some people LOL so disclaimer remember these are just my takes.

But this is how I personally see them (counting remakes as being part of the gen they remaking):

Gen 9 - Paldea Region

I've been thinking about this since the games came out, so I'd like to say recency bias isn't as much of a factor here. Bugs aside, I genuinely, genuinely love the storytelling, characterizations, and open world approach. FRIENDS THAT FEEL LIKE ACTUAL FRIENDS?? HAVING THE LEGENDARY WITH YOU THE WHOLE TIME, AND IT TOO HAS A PERSONALITY & BACKSTORY??? THREE SEPERATE STORYLINES THAT CONNECT TO A CANONICALLY DEAD PROFESSOR AND AN "EVIL AI" FINAL BOSS??? Like omg. I was amazed. I honestly usually dislike the "gimmicks" each generation brings, but terastilization caught my interest and I have a strong feeling nothing will personally top it as a gimmick for me. The DLCs really sent it all home for me for the #1 spot, like oh my god LOL. Past DLCs always just felt like something extra, but I literally cannot see this game as being complete without Kieran, Carmine & the rest of Kitakami/Blueberry peeps & their storylines. My interest in the games only grew because of all of it - and that's a massive compliment given the fact of how hard it is to accomplish such a level of monumental significance with only a few hours of gameplay. I've yet to replay the game with earlier access to The Teal Mask, but I feel like this would make it even more immersive. Just pure chef kisses here.

Gen 2 - Johto Region

A very close second. Heartgold/Soulsilver is the most elite remake in existence and idc if it's old school, I'll die on this hill. Johto is just so full of life - the continuation story is amazing, the immersion into culture and legendary stuff??? Mwah. Silver is an excellent rival, RED being a thing (the ultimate level of iconicism), and the double region will always hit. The soundtracks HIT and my god hearing them remastered iS INCREDIBLE. I even get obsessed with the pokeathlon dome and I'm usually not someone who gets into that kind of stuff. But THEY MADE IT FUN. And I love all the cute activities you can do with your team that can follow you around. So glad they brought this feature back. :')

Gen 5 - Unova Region

Oooooh I loved the reset of Gen 5. It's based on where I'm from and there were so many refreshing aspects of Black & White. From the new pokemon, to the NYC culture, to N & the whole beautiful storytelling there, and a sequel that somehow made everything even MORE polished. I literally remember referring to this region as the "Isshu Region" before the English names dropped becuase of the hype LOL. 10/10, cannot wait for these remakes. Gamefreak don't mess this up.

Gen 4 - Sinnoh Region

Oh, Gen 4. You hit good. The lowkey dreary vibes of Sinnoh is very nostalgic to me, and Piplup is one of my best buddies. Cynthia being the very first female Champion, and being as fearsome as she is, was such a big deal to me. Definetely Barbie'd her a bit in my mind because I look a like her and loved how much of an academic she was (but I def do not have her length in hair, lmao). Soundtracks are fire, of course. The way legendaries were integrated in the story without going too Dragonball Z was IMMACULATE, and the lake trio will always be my fave lil buddies. The only con I'd give this gen is that I disliked the HM reliance & D/P are practically unplayable to me since Platinum exists. I had low bars for the remake once I heard it wasn't Platinum, and ugh, they really dropped the ball. HOWEVER: while it isn't main line, I fucking love Legends: Arceus and would rather have that over an excellent remake, tbh.

Gen 1 - Kanto Region

This is another nostalgia one for me because of the fact that I quite literally was introduced to pokemon since before I can recall most memories (this is what happens when you have an older sibling with a gameboy, lol). It's probably tied with Gen 4, tbh. Firered wasn't my first game, but it hit really good because I "played" so much of R/B/Y. I know Gen 1 has its faults, and it's often seen as being pretty bare bones in comparison to other generations. And while I completely agree, god damn, what a good foundation for a franchise. Every town had a personality to it and is very memorable to me. The soundtracks are FIRE. Smaller pokedex, but damn does team building hit (and the starters are elite). Blue was also consistently my favorite rival until Kieran, lol. #oldrivalshipping/conflictingshipping was the original OTP xD

Gen 7 - Alola Region

So there's a lot of things I liked about Gen 7. It took a really big risk by breaking the formula, and it really immersed me into the Hawaiian culture & seeing your pokemon more as friends. I loved looking at pokemon in a different way and some of the pokemon introduced in this region are among my favorites (e.g. Ribombee, Bewear, Shiinotic, Mimikyu, Rockaruff, to name a few; starters also HIT). NEBBY AND LILLIE ARE ELITE. The professor is so lit, and Team Skull is the funniest team organization alive. AND YES, GET RID OF THE HMS. I honestly think a remake would make this gen jump up a bit more for me - the 3DS could barely handle this game, and it was showing. The facial expressions also need some work LOL, and I honestly dread the tutorial of the game. I like the ultrabeasts conceptually, but the execution of their involvement in the game is very DragonBall Z-ified. Ultra Necrozma lowkey would've been an amazing time for a "light" type even if it didn't make much sense, but hey, it was an awesome nuzlocke-killing moment anyway. xD

Gen 8 - Galar Region

I actually have a lot of play time for this gen. I was very obsessed with it when it came out, and could probably get glued to it all the same nowadays. But in hindsight, I realize a lot of my attachment to it was because of the semi-open worldness & ability to create a lot of different kinds of teams with a lot of new and old pokemon I like (I also liked having access to things earlier, like Ice Types before the end of the game lmfao). I still have a few things I really enjoy outside of it, though, like Hop's storyline & the setup of the gyms being in this stadium, sports-esque setting. But the plot? Eh. I have a lot of constructive criticism on how some shortcuts were made, and especially with the whole darkest day stuff lol. The only thing I liked about that fight was the dogs coming in and being cool; I wasn't impressed by or interest in Eternatus at all. The Leon fight afterward was fun, though! But oof, those weird men with the sword and shield hair afterwards were also just...no. :D DLCs also didn't quite hit that hard - it was more about having more pokemon than anything for me. So overall, it's fun to play, but I'd definitely change up the plot to make it better.

Gen 3 - Hoenn Region

This is where I think some people might wanna fight me, and to that I say you're probably valid. I don't know what it is with the Hoenn region because I actually don't have too many critiques about it (e.g., let's have less water routes); I just have never been able to get into it quite the same as I can others. I should honestly give it another shot, but I think I'd wanna do Emerald over Omega Ruby/Sapphire given the route they took everything with the remake lol. That's about all I have to say on this one since I never really connected with it as much!

Gen 6 - Kalos Region

This one feels like an especially hot take to have atm given where the pokemon community is in general LOL. Critical opinions ahead......Listen...no offense, but Gen 6 just ain't it for me at all. xD It's probably the one gen I actively dislike. The games felt way too easy with too much hand-holding/handouts, Team Flare & Diantha were a joke (and I'm not even a competitive player), and the whole group of friends felt more like an annoyance to me more than anything. They just weren't flushed out right. Neither was the plot. Like what was that plot. Outside of that, a lot of things just felt like "Look! Pokemon is in 3D now!!" over and over again because of how rushed the game was. So other than introducing fairy types & having pretty protagonists with some new clothing options, this gen is pretty forgettable to me. And that's a shame, because I like pokemon! I was one of those people who were curious on if we were gonna connect to Kalos for Gen 9, but I'd geniunely pick the DLCs we got any day of the week. I don't think Legends ZA will change much of my opinion on the mainline game, but given how much I loved Legends Arceus, I'm hoping it can be used to retcon & generate more interest/connection to the Kalos region in general.

Again, these are all just my personal opinions. I hope you all can enjoy pokemon in any way that feels good for you :) <3

[ruinationz]

i just started going to tadc like less than a week ago, can you pitch showtime to me .. im inchrested

prepares my 200 page slideshow presentatio- jk lol i'll mini ramble under the cut

WELCOME TO FLIPPY'S SUPER AWESOME SHOWTIME PITCH. HERE WE GO.

-FIRST OFF their whole little motifs tie into eachother. caine is a leader figure (think the "king" of the gang, since he's a ringmaster) and pomni is a jester...plus they both DIRECTLY follow the circus theme out of everyone else in the main 6. see below

LIEK YOU CANNOT GIVE ME THESE TWO VERY SIMPLE CONNECTIONS AND NOT EXPECT ME TO GO RABID OVER THEM

-they also have a few nice contrasts such as being the technical antagonist and protagonist, caine being loud and flamboyant while pomni is quiet and a bit more reserved (from what we can see so far), idk i like it im a sucker for it. it never fails to get me

-caine isn't evil despite being. yk the "Zany AI Web God Inspired by AM from I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream who's basically the Embodiment of Hatred Of Humanity itself". gooseworx has stated that he's genuinely oblivious and has a bad time understanding humans, and is doing his best to get to know them better. so it's likely we'll see him develop as a character throughout the series and as a result develop a dynamic with pomni (evil grin.)

idk not much else that's coherent to say :3c to each their own about it but i really adore the two a lot ! it's a big comfort + they're both silly. my toxic trait is assigning every song from the scary jokes with them