#overwatch 2 was a huge mistake

[mlgneverdies]

Hot take:

People who say NASB2 should've been an update don't know shit about game development

And I don't either, but I don't actively pretend to know

FFS, 98% of it was rebuilt from the ground up

[academari]

It looks like you have stumbled upon my study blog, fellow wanderer. What brings you here?

Still reading? Well then, let me start by introducing myself a little! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡

My name is Mari, I am a first-year law student and I’ve decided to create a studyblr hoping that, by interacting with others, I’m going to motivate myself to study harder than ever! (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧ This is my secondary blog, my main being @marilogs​ which I’m going to use to interact with others in the future. I wanted to create a studyblr for a pretty long time, however I was really nervous to do so, since I had no idea where to start from. There was also the faculty’s entrance exam, which was really important for me and I couldn’t bring myself to start a blog like this at that time, thinking that I would lose my focus. Now that everything settled, I’m happy to start interacting with others in hopes of finding out more about different learning tips, school experiences and so on (I am a huge procrastinator, so any advice is welcome!). ৻(  •̀ ᗜ •́  ৻)

Now that my small introduction is over, I’ll probably add a little section for small facts! Proceed if you dare muahaha (งᓀ‸ᓂ)ง

Facts:

Fellow INTP – T

I like listening to lofi music when I’m studying, since it’s really calming

My wish is to start annotating books (I have no idea how at the moment, but I’m not rushing)

I have a small maltese dog named Miki

English is not my first language, so if there are any grammatical mistakes, my apologies!

(There isn’t much to put here honestly, so I’ll stop here for now haha)

Interests:

Reading

Video games (usually playing them to pass the time, Overwatch is a favorite of mine at the moment)

Watching anime (Spy x Family Part 2 let’s go!)

Art (I don’t do it as often as I used to, but it’s a great way to calm my mind)

What to expect on this blog:

The usual academia photos, study notes, books, coffee, all that jazz

I’ll sprinkle some anime gifs from time to time (it’s all about the aesthetic (¬‿¬) )

Maybe sprinkle some video games-related stuff as well? Nothing much, but small posts that remind me of certain things ( Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to tag these posts)

I will try to post about the books that I’m reading if I have the time to do so (maybe try to discuss about the books in question as well)

I want to try my hand at writing small affirmations from time to time as a way of motivation, so bear with me on this one haha

And that’s pretty much it for now! Thank you for reading this if you’ve come this far and I hope that I get to meet a lot of great individuals on this platform! Cheers ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧₊

[lillygene]

Introductions

Prepare for trouble!

And make it double!

To protect the world from devastation!

To unite all peoples within our nation!

To denounce the evils of truth and love!

To extend our reach to the stars above!

Rat!

Cel!

Team moob_enthusiasts_316 blasts off at the speed of light!

Surrender now, or prepare to fight!

Hello hello and welcome to our blog! A quick spur-of-the-moment decision sparked the creation of this account, though we are both excited to see it through! The main focus of this account is to simply share our drabbles for whatever fandoms we may be interested in that week, and to post some of our fanfiction ideas that we never really got off the ground. At this time we are both open to most fandom writing requests, simply because we’d love to expand our horizons on that front. Below you can read about both members of this account, their interests, and some excerpts of their writing!

For starters, hello, I’m Rat! My pronouns are She/It/They, and I’m pansexual! I’ve been writing for many years now, though I've never had the confidence to actually post anything. I remember a bit over a year ago I had attempted to make a personal tumblr account, but I never went through with it. Thankfully Cel was kind enough to pressure me into this <3. On top of writing I’d love to share my current musings about the Jack Reacher books, as I’ve recently re-discovered them after a few years of not looking into them. Lee Child is a huge inspiration for me, and I hope to convey that through my semi-obnoxious posts about his books 💔.

Currently I’ve been fixating on a few pieces of media, consisting of 

Overwatch 2

Call Of Duty (Though you’ll never catch me supporting the games messages.)

Psych

The Jack Reacher book series by Lee Child

I also occasionally bounce back and forth between JJBA and WC.

Fandoms I have written for before consist of

Haikyuu

Genshin Impact (Sadly…) 

Final Fantasy

Hunter x Hunter

Bungou Stray Dogs

Fairy Tail

Marvel and DC (Also sadly)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

If You Have Any Requests, Be Sure To Check This Out!

My requests are currently open for any fandoms mentioned in both sections above! I dabble in a bit of everything,

Character(s) x Character(s)

Headcanons 

Character(s) x Reader

I’ll happily write 

Fluff

Angst

However I absolutely will not write anything bordering on pro-shipping, incest, noncon or pedophilia. Any requests containing these topics will be refused.

That’s all from me, I’ll let Cel take it away!

Hai I’m Cel! I go by any pronouns. My intro won’t be as fancy as rats because I’m a newbie. I’ve only been writing for a few months, but I’m eager to improve. I’m a sucker for women so there will probably be a lot of fem x fem, sometimes (sadly - Rat) I like to write about big giant hunks with fat boobs 😞. Lmk if there are any mistakes in my work or things that will help me improve! (>‿◠)✌

Fandoms I would write for (There could be more!) 

Dc

Overwatch 

Apex

The last of us 

Twd 

Dead or alive 

Ace attorney 

The Arcana (visual novel)

Borderlands 

Bioshock

Sally face

Resident evil

Arcane 

Death Note  

Pokémon (The beginning was my idea :)))

Requests Info

My requests are currently open for any fandoms mentioned above :)

Character x Character

Headcanons 

Character x Reader

I like to write 

Fluff

And lots of…Smut ;))

 Will not write anything bordering on pro-shipping, incest, noncon or pedophilia. Any requests containing these topics will be refused.

We hope to update this with a link to our ao3 account when it becomes approved!

[hdmason]

This gif represents both me being super excited to write with you all and Mason’s general vibe lol Hello friends! I’m Eddie, they/them, and in PST! Here is a little rambly introduction to Mason Lee! 

Profile~~~ Playlist~~~ Pinterest~~~Points

sorry for how long those are too

tw death, bullying

born in Hackensack, New Jersey in the United States

calls himself a “first and a half generation American”, with his dad being a first generation American and his mom being an immigrant from Korea

just him and his little sister (wc??)

growing up, Mason was a bit of a handful. He could never focus unless it was on his favorite subjects and he had trouble with many social queues, causing him to get bullied a lot by his peers. His parents had him looked at and he was diagnosed with autism. Once he got a name for what he had, they got him some social training and therapy and he was finally able to make some friends.

However, when Mason turned eleven, his grandmother died. In order to help ease her father’s pain, Mason’s mom moved them all back to Korea.

Mason was an American, and obviously so, and he didn’t really know social queues and customs and etiquette of this whole new country, and once again, was a social outcast.

That was until his mother enrolled him in a dance class at the local studio. Mason not only made new friends, he had a new passion and a new special interest; kpop and dancing.

He threw his entire life into kpop. He got decent enough grades, but his passion was clearly in his after school dance classes. He knew then that he wanted to be an idol.

There were auditions for Wonder Nation when Mason was turning thirteen. Mason begged his parents to let him, and they said he could if he got his grades up. He worked harder at school than he ever had before and got... better grades, but even he couldn’t work miracles. Still, they improved, and he got to audition.

He sadly didn’t get chosen, which broke his heart, but Mason wasn’t going to give up on his dreams that easily. So, he kept his grades up and auditioned again the next year, and the next, and... well, you get the idea. He finally got his dream and that wonderful callback in August of 2020 when he was 18. Pretty late, but better late than never, that was certain.

Despite loving music with his whole ass heart, Mason was not a natural singer, leading him to lean more towards rapping. Even though dancing was his best talent, he thought that he would be more likely to debut if he was an all rounder, but pretty early in the training process, he realized specializing would probably be best. So he worked on trying to be the best dancing Wonder Boy, thinking if he was one of the top ones, he’d have to debut soon. It’s only a matter of time... right?

He has a following on twitch. Well, he thinks of it as a following, even though its only three hundred people. He spends his streams playing Minecraft and Overwatch 2, swapping between English and Korean. 

His username is “the-stone-mason” and his fans even called themselves “stoners”, which he finds hilarious, but knows that probably won’t slide when/if he debuts, but until then, he’s going to roll with it.

A year ago, Mason was streaming his Minecraft hardcore world and he fell, and there was lag with his water bucket save. He raged, throwing his chair and screaming “I HATE WATER!” His fans started calling him “Water Boy” after that to make fun of him

he’s a tank main in OW2 (usually plays Zarya or Winston, but is starting to play Junker Queen) with a huge crush on Brigitte and a HATRED for Moira (he’s died to DPS moira too many times)

He’s fluent in both English and Korean, but when hes upset or overwhelmed, he’ll make grammar mistakes when speaking in the latter

Though he’s on the older side for a trainee, people joke that he’s the “unofficial maknae” of the Wonder Boys, a title he wears with pride

He’s... let’s just say... inexperienced in the love and sex department, so much so that hes not even really sure what his sexuality is? Like he’s always been really into girls, but he’s not counting anything out, at least not yet. But even though his work as a trainee comes first, he’d like to hold someones hand or cuddle once in a while...

Though, on the flip side, he’s one of those people who gives compliments out like candy, so he could be seen as flirting when he isn’t, but honestly, he could be flirting, he just doesn’t know how to besides doing what he always does and just be really nice.

He’s either one of your favorite people, or you think he’s the most annoying shit who hasn’t learned how to shut the fuck up, no in between lol

if you made it to the end of this god bless you lol

[mercyorangebeam]

i think valo is a more elegant game than overwatch and thats why it can feel like a better game. i think more than that itll mostly ocme down to other factors like personal preference or game funding/hype etc. but i think one of the things that can inform preference IS the streamlined feel of valo. you have fewer variables effecting each fight, so its 1) a more concise feedback loop 2) easier to learn 3) more punishing wrt mistakes. and all these three things are interconnected: more punishing -> more immediate feedback on decisions/performance + limited factors to consider -> easier to identify which factors contributed to a bad play -> easier learning.

like here are additional factors in ow that dont have as big of an impact on valo gameplay:

guns: every hero has a different gun in ow. that means in any given game, you will have five different kinds of guns on YOUR team alone and up to 10 different guns in a lobby. different range, damage, passive effect, SPEED, interaction with hitboxes. in addition some characters have an alternate fire on their gun that actually makes it so they have TWO guns. plus, guns are tied to characters, so when making compositional decisions, itll require considering gun type AND abilities.

abilities on cooldowns: all abilities are cds. that means within a single fight many different abilities can get used multiple times. so the fight is constantly being shifted by the cadence of various cooldowns. this same idea applies to ultimates. ults can be generated by damage/healing so they can be generated much quicker and have a presence in most fights.

respawn mechanics: depending on what gamemode it is/where on the map the fight is/overtime respawns can influence a fight in crazy ways. this is why 2cp was removed. it was so bad with the defending respawn advantage.

gamemode: different gamemodes have different rules. and different gamemodes play differently. this is also separate from map design . cause yes different metas form on different maps just like in valo.

verticality: alright i know there is some verticality in valo too. but u know its nothing compared to ow maps.

hitboxes: I FORGOT THIS IS HUGE THERE ARE DIFFERENT HITBOXES PER HERO!!

[trustarrow]

First radiant player valorant na

Valorant’s ranking system has already been through plenty of changes. The feeling of getting stomped by one player on the enemy team who outclasses the other nine people in the server is a lot less common nowadays… discounting the occasional smurf.īut there is one thing about the changes in Act III, changes which still remain, that I’m not a fan of…. The struggle is even more real for people who usually solo queue.Īnd so, I think that particular change in Act III, the one which limited rank disparities in Competitive, was excellent. For the rest of us, we have to play an intense game where one mistake could mean instant death, and where we must rely on four other players. Hackers are some of the only people playing Competitive Valorant on easy mode… until they get banned, anyway. In the immortal words of Reggie Fils-Aimé, “If it’s not fun, why bother?” So, it’s of critical importance for the Competitive climb to be as non-disheartening and -frustrating as possible. Ranked is one way how we show our love for a game when we’re not spectating, a way to get personally invested and involved with our favorite games. Even if Competitive Valorant is just something you and some buddies do to relax after work, with little regard for winning or losing, there’s no doubt that sick plays get the adrenaline and dopamine pumping. We play the same mode of the same game, and (at least try to) use many of the tactics we see our favorite players pulling off. Watching is entertaining, but playing feels like the real deal.Īnd even if you weren’t just watching the pros show their stuff on YouTube or Twitch, the ranked climb is an extension of the esports scene. Whether you were just checking out a FlowAscending video on YouTube and want to try (and fail, if my experiences are anything to go by) whatever whacky wall boost shot he pulled off this time, or just caught the Grand Finals of a VCT event, I think more than a few of you can relate to the feeling of closing all of your browser tabs (have to maximize those frames per second!) and booting up the game after that video or stream ends. The Competitive / Ranked mode climb is there in part to capitalize on this vicarious urge gamers often get to play after watching. The longer I watch pros play a game – whether it’s Valorant, Overwatch, Smash, Street Fighter, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Melty Blood, chess, or even football, disc golf, soccer, you name it – the more I get the urge to play that game myself. Instead, I’ll transition to a common phenomenon I think most of us have experienced in some game or another. It’s hard to keep myself from blogging just about Sentinels, since they’ve taken up a huge portion of my Valorant consciousness recently. A shocking, but honestly inspiring, development. This leaves them just one chance left to qualify for the upcoming exclusive LAN event in Reykjavik, Iceland – the VCT Stage 2 Challengers 2. After TenZ returned to Valorant esports and took the Stage 1 NA Masters title with the Sentinels, they experienced a shocking upset at the hands of Built By Gamers in Stage 2 Challengers 1. That trailer points to a renewed emphasis on Competitive that’s perfectly warranted after so many sick tournaments around the world have taken place in recent memory. Competitive Online Play as an Extension of Esports

[monstaxscenario]

Mix Up

This was requested by @teamwizardchalupa​ “Can you do a funny drabble with 2. And 6. for Changkyun please?”

2) "Why did you scream like that?"

6) "For some reason, I'm attracted to you."

Forgive me for the terribly long wait. To anyone else that has requested, I’ll be doing all of them this week. I promise. If I don’t do your request, it probably got deleted, from my side tumblr was acting weird. But hope you like this. I know this is meant as a drabble however, I always get carried away with writing. 

~Admin Angie (๑>◡<๑)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You stare blankly at your computer screen, watching the text cursor blink continuously. A blank page with only the word ‘The’ typed onto it. You were stuck and didn’t know what to write anymore. You didn’t even recall what you were even typing about. Your mind wasn’t in the mood to type, especially since you could hear your neighbor play Overwatch through the walls. Your neighbor had a tendency to scream and shout and voice out his gameplay. You sometimes just wanted to shut him up, more so when he plays at three in the morning. Yet, you never did.

Why?

He’s cute.

Ever since he’s moved in, you’ve had your eyes on him. However, you haven’t put yourself out there. Besides the small greetings in the elevator, meetups in the mailroom, and the community barbeque outing, nothing has happened. But oh how you wished something did.

Shaking the thoughts from your mind, you go back to focusing on that blank paper. As soon as you touch the keyboard, there’s a knock on your front door. You let out a sigh but are relieved at the same time. You walk out of the bedroom and go to the front door. You open the door and are met with no one. You look out and see no one in the halls. You look confused and take a step out but you suddenly trip forward. You let out a sound and manage to gain your balance after stumbling a bit. You let out a breath and are grateful that no one saw that. You look down at the culprit for almost giving you a rug burn. A cardboard box.

You aren’t expecting anything today, so why is a box at your door? You squat down to read the address label and then understand what happened. The box is meant for your neighbor. You pick up the long box, it’s somewhat heavy but not dramatically. You walk over to your neighbor’s door and knock on it. You stand there waiting less than a minute before the door is opened.

“Oh hey (Y/N)!” Changkyun greets with a warm smile. You mirror him. You take a few extra seconds to look at him. Before he caught on, you cleared your throat and gestured to the box in your hands.

“This is yours, they left this at my door by mistake.” You say as you reached out to give it to him but instead, he steps back and opens the door wider.

“Thanks for bringing it over, if you don’t mind, can you bring it in and leave it on my table? I have Cheeto fingers right now.” Changkyun replies, slightly embarrassed. You nod your head, not minding at all, you aren’t in a hurry to go back to your condo.

You step into his condo and naturally let your eyes look around. His place is rather clean and has a color theme, which is aesthetically pleasing. You see cat towers at the corner of the room and wonder how many cats he has.

You find the table and set it down. You turn around to look at Changkyun. “This is the first time they mix up our add- AHH!” you scream and immediately turn around.

“What!? Why did you scream like that?” Changkyun asks, turning himself around to look behind him. You're glad your back is facing away from him because your face feels very warm.

“Uhhh . . . you’re . . . n-not wearing any pants.” You stutter as you fiddle with your fingers. You try and control your quickened heartbeat with breathing subtly. You couldn’t believe what you just saw. You couldn’t believe that just happened.

“Ohh . . .” you hear Changkyun groan. “Let me go and put on some pants. Umm, in the meantime could you also open the box for me, please?” He asks of you. His footsteps get farther away from you and you also hear him grumble out words you couldn’t comprehend.

When you hear his bedroom door close, you let out a huge breath and place your hands on the table. Your head can’t wrap itself around this situation. However, half of yourself wasn’t complaining but the other half of yourself wasn’t ready.

After a few more breaths you focused on opening the box. When it was opened, you took a peek inside. Upon figuring out what it was you erupted into a giggle. A hand reached around from behind you to grab the item from in the box. You jumped slightly and placed a hand over your chest. You looked over and saw Changkyun standing next to you. You probably didn’t hear his footsteps because of your giggles.

“Awesome, I’ve been waiting for this to come in.” Changkyun looks at the item in his hand as if he were a child receiving their favorite toy. The look in his eyes and the smile on your face causes you to smile and let out a soft chuckle. He notices this and looks at you.

“What?” You make eye contact with him, your eyes looking fondly into his dark brown eyes. You feel as if your heart is racing a thousand miles yet at the same time have fallen in a serenity-like trance and the only thing on your mind is of him. Your mouth doesn’t stop you from spilling out your flowing thoughts.

“For some reason, I'm attracted to you.”

[flickwatches]

Toronto vs Vancouver: Civil War

I decided to follow an Overwatch league on here for the season.  I wanted to avoid a team with too many favorite players, a top tier team, and an APAC team (I gotta sleep).  I thought about Vancouver, Boston, maybe even Houston.  Boston released Soon, pissed me off. Third Impact 7k buyout leaks with Vancouver came out but I let it slide.  I like too many players on Houston and I stopped believing in them.  But than I saw Toronto and its rebuild.  KDG, Heesu, Sado, Na1st, Michelle, and Lastro.   Power pieces on an unproven team that wants to be good.  I didn’t know which team to choose still so I let the first game of the season for Vancouver and Toronto decide who I would pick.  

Vancouver Pros:

I love Dalton.  Dude has been grinding for a very long time and deserves every bit of success he has earned.  Huge fan of Teru from O2 Blast.  Even bigger fan of FRDWNR for surviving this long.  Dude is a nut.  I still remember Frdwnr winning the Second Wind 1v1 tournament.  Roolf is a veteran.  Fire gets a chance to be the main main support.  Linkzr rebirth on a team in need of firepower. 

Vancouver Cons:

I’ll keep it short, Shredlock is a weakness (I hope he improves) but I really don’t want to be writing about Shredlock the entire season.  Also the Org is scummy.  Cut Runaway.  The official original #1 Fan Favorite Runaway.  How you release the most loved team in the history of Overwatch.   And when you wanted to start small you wouldn’t pay out a small 7k buyout for all of Third Impact.  Sigh. 

Toronto Pros:

After trying to build a team from scratch.  After trying fan favorite local talent.  You invested money in proven coaches and players.  The org wants to win.  The org wants there fans to be happy.  Toronto is trying to do good things.  Shoutout to Karq, Agilities, and Fran for being content creators for Toronto.  Now lets list the roster.

Aztac

Ansoonjae

Lastro

Sado

Beast

Michelle

Na1st

Logix

Heesu(god)

Will get more into each player later on but I just wanted to list them as Pros for now. 

Toronto Cons:

I miss Agilities and Surefour.  I wish the pandemic didn’t exist so I could consider traveling to there local events even though it would be quite a drive for me. I don’t have a lot of cons they seem to be willing to invest in the team.  Could of done more for the last 2 rosters and staff.  They struggled to keep it together last 2 seasons. 

The Battle:

Vancouver vs Toronto.  The Battle for Canada.  The Battle for my love (and hate).  I can’t keep avoiding this.  I knew Heesu mite be special this season when he was playing over Carpe at the end of last season. I knew how good Na1st was on Fusin Uni back in the day.  Happy to see him in OWL.  Sado is a veteran and looks much better on a non-contender for best team in OWL.  Michelle got perma benched on Seoul for some reason.  Logix is good and great when its online play. 

Wow, ok.  I’m just talking about how amazing the Toronto roster is.  

Map 1: Busan

I want to point out that Shredlock didn’t look that bad on Wrecking Ball.  Toronto looked strong.  Heesu started to showcase his future Role Star level of play.  Toronto dominated the meta Rush and Dive plays.  Vancouver struggled with objective priority.  Which player would be responsible with contesting the Objective. When playing Wrecking Ball and Tracer usually one of them is responsible for touching point.  This problem showed thruout the entire match.  At one point neither Shredlock (Ball) or Dalton (Tracer) touched point while Na1st (Tracer) was capping. Forcing Linkzr to roll onto point to contest the cap.  Forcing FRDWNR to peel for Linkzr which left Roolf alone as Zen.  Toronto contested point and in the same motion turned onto the suddenly lonely Zen and killed him.  While Shredlock and Dalton only attacked the Toronto backline.  Toronto traded faster and more efficiently.  While taking point control.  

Toronto hard dominated Vancouver first map.

Map 2: Eichenwalde

If Vancouver was your average team the timebank they created on defense would of made the map winnable.  But Toronto is obviously better than Vancouver (especially at Rush).  And dying efficiently isn’t enough to win. Vancouver at least show cased its ability to lose fights and start the next fight well.  They played as a team.  Toronto at one point spawn camped Vancouver so long during Streets that the payload rolled back to first point.  The Castors coining the phrase “Touch the payload challenge”.

Toronto walked away with this win even if they were forced to walk a little slower than expected. 

Map 3: Watchpoint Gibraltar

Some people would say Toronto threw this map by playing its bench but KDG and the coaching staff wanted to make sure every player got to play first game.  They put out Heesu, Logix, Beast, Michelle, Aztac, and Lastro this map.

This was obviously Vancouver’s best map. Double Bubble meta with no Rush.  Linkzr had more power over the map as hitscan on high ground.  The biggest factor was the payload almost getting to the end of Shuttle phase forcefully making Vancouver play the objective correctly. 

Both Frontlines played the Double Bubble positions and cooldowns very well.  A lot of great plays and team fights broke down correctly for both teams.  Winstons making correct jumps, getting the bubbles, using there own bubbles correctly.  Solid cleave and good primals.  Zaryas played really well and Anas supported extremely well.  The DPS had a field day with how well fights went for both teams.   

Titans played there best and won there first map of the season.  Even Shredlock looked good. 

Map 4: Hanamura

Look at us, playing a map 4.  Vancouver looked like they had a chance.  They didn’t.

Hanamura was hard Rush vs Rush.  Toronto was good at Rush and Vancouver was bad at Rush.  FRDWNR tried really hard to hold it down but with no Cooldowns and too far away they eventually C9′d the match away.  

Toronto played the Meta better and had the better team.  Don’t be surprised if Toronto is a top 5 team in the West this season. 

Conclusion:

Hello Toronto. Hello Defiant. And most importantly, Hello Heesu.  I cannot wait to watch every Toronto game this season.  Heesu and Na1st look strong. Lastro is still great.  Big fan of Beast even if everyone else is down on him.  Logix will get his chances on certain maps and metas.  I hope they commit to this team and staff long term in Toronto.  Not sure which jersey I’ll be buying this season.  I’m not sure what the Defiant catchphrase is but Lets Get Rebellious or something. 

PS Its 5am and I’m about to watch APAC.  Sorry for any mistakes.  

[smallhatlogan]

Why Nonbinary Borderlands Fans are Mad About Zer0′s Pronouns, In a Timeline

2012

Zer0 was introduced in Borderlands 2 as a character meant to be absurdly mysterious in almost every way.  Zer0 is apparently not their real name, they seem not to be human (but it’s unclear if they’re an alien, robot, or something else entirely), no one knows where they came from, etc. Still, in Borderlands 2, they defaulted to he/him, and was assumed male.  It’s worth noting that Borderlands 2 also featured Bloodwing, Mordecai’s pet alien bird. In the original Borderlands Bloodwing was referred to as he/him, but switched between games to she/her. This is explained outside the game by Burch, who says that Bloodwing’s species changes gender halfway through life.

2013

Gearbox released the Diamond Plate Loot Chest. In it was the “Pandoran Gazette” an in-universe newspaper. It included an “Ask Doctor Tannis” advice column, the last question being:

Dear Doctor Tannis,

I have heard you are acquainted with the vault hunter known as "Zer0". I have been meaning to ask - that's not really his true name, is it? Hell, maybe Zer0 isn't even a "he". Do you have any details on this mysterious figure?

- Curious in Old Haven

Dear Curious,

I am indeed acquainted with the towering stack of leather and poorly-written poetry that so many refer to as "Zer0". As you have correctly noted, "Zer0" is not the Vault Hunter's true name. Zer0's actual name and gender are (CONTINUED ON PAGE 9)

Page 9 was not included. To my knowledge, this was where it was first seeded that Zer0 may not be male. 

November 2, 2014

 In a panel titled “Playing as a female character panel - Does it Matter” during PAX Australia, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford discussed Zer0’s gender:

“The other things that’s interesting to me is sometimes when there’s characters that don’t have a gender or have an ambiguous gender I’ll choose them...In Borderlands 2 we left Zer0’s identity very ambiguous. What gender is he?” *crowd laughs* “We need better pronouns, don’t we? Don’t we need better pronouns?” (Timestamp) 

“What’s the gender of Zer0?….That says more about me than it does say about Zer0, the fact that I use the pronoun he when I describe Zer0. In fact, um, we purposely have left Zer0’s gender ambiguous. There’s a lot of folks at Gearbox that like to think that maybe Zer0’s of a particular species that doesn’t have gender- That is more androgynous.”  (Timestamp) 

(Timeline continues under cut)

November 25th, 2014

The first episode of Tales From the Borderlands was released. Anthony Burch answered this question on his Ask.fm: 

To my memory, tumblr blew up with excited nonbinary fans. Prior to seeing screenshots of this, I really didn’t have interest in Borderlands. The idea of a cool nonbinary character who used they/them pronouns, admist a virtual desert of representation, made me play through the entire series as fast as I could so I could catch up in time to see these pronouns in action. For a long time afterwards I’ve seen other nonbinary people expressing the same sudden interest in the series after learning this about Zer0. Because, yeah, it was a pretty big deal. 

2015: 

Zer0 appeared again in episode 5 of Tales, released almost a year later after the first. Their voice had changed to one that sounds more ambiguous in terms of gender, but Zer0 was still being referred to as “he/him”. Anthony Burch was one of the writers on this episode. Afterward, he answered this on his ask.fm:

Since he claimed it was honestly a mistake, nonbinary fans held out hope. There were posts going around tumblr clarifying that yes, Zer0 was still nonbinary, and still was meant to use they/them pronouns. It was just a mistake made by a thoughtless cisgender man. Of course, then some presumably-cisgender fan goes to Burch, and validates him, because clearly a character can’t just up and CHANGE pronouns! It’s not like anyone ever does that in real life! 

It’s not a fair point. It’s a dumb point from someone who has no stakes in this.  (Another thing worth noting is it has only been other characters who referred to Zer0 as he/him. Zer0 has never made a point of standing up for their own pronouns.) After this Burch just kind of gives up on the whole idea. 

This statement about characters being “progressive enough not to misgender someone” is weird, because the characters, even the sympathetic ones, in Borderlands have often blatantly failed to be progressive. The original Borderlands has the worst of it, it’s your basic 2009 edgelord shit. There’s blatant misogyny, not to mention the extremely homophobic joke surrounding Mr. Shank (and within that the transphobic joke about his girlfriend being a man in a wig). Burch only started writing for the game in Borderlands 2, however. It’s a huge step up, but there’s still a lot of bigotry. Captain Scarlett makes a “no fatties” joke. Mr Torgue fat-shames Ellie. Mr Torgue uses the R-slur. Multiple characters slut-shame Moxxi. Incest jokes surrounding Scooter, who also is implied to be a huge creep towards women.  Heck, there’s the entirety of Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt DLC is a racist, colonialist mess. Its antagonist is implied to be gay, one of two gay male characters introduced thus far, and he’s a pathetic, creepy stalker.  This is the game series where there are two common enemy types whose names are straight up ableist.  So citing characters as being “too progressive” rings hollow with this context.  Besides, trans people are often misgendered, even by people who’d otherwise be considered progressive.  Burch left Gearbox the same year, so he’s not entirely to blame for what anything afterwards. He just set a pretty bad precedent.

2019:

Gearbox did seem to take the “make a new nonbinary character” thing to heart.  They give us Fl4k, again a nonhuman character, who uses they/them pronouns. And okay, I love Fl4k, but like most nonbinary people I’m tired of all nonbinary characters being robots, aliens, or otherwise non-human in appearance (a trope that yes, Zer0 falls into as well). Still, Fl4k is cute and having a nonbinary playable character who uses they/them pronouns is cool! I definitely plan to play as them. Many nonbinary fans were suspicious though, it seemed likely that Fl4k might be meant to appease us and they could keep on using he/him for Zer0. We were proven right when they released the gameplay preview on May 1st. We hear Zer0 called “he”. None of us are surprised, but it still hurts, we felt like we’d been baited with Zer0.  Besides, why can only one character at a time be nonbinary? Why can a bird change pronouns but not a person? Why was a writer allowed to go out and promise this if it wasn’t going to be followed through on (yes, he didn’t use the word “promise” but telling a marginalized group something like that isn’t something you can just “forget” without people feeling betrayed)?

And that’s where we’re at, as of me writing this. I feel like there are some comments I’m bound to get on this, so I’ll answer them here: Why are you making such a big deal about this?

Me typing a few paragraphs isn’t making a big deal. But I feel misled and baited. After a few years of no clarification after Burch promising us they/them Zer0, a lot of people hung on to hope. A lot of people became big fans of Zer0 because they’re a fun, badass, nonbinary character. Their design is really, really rad! And heck, they were (at least for a time) the most popular playable character in Borderlands 2. Telling everyone, in-game, “actually Zer0 was never really a he, they’ve been a ‘they’ this whole time” would have been HUGE. Like how Blizzard made Overwatch’s poster girl, Tracer, canonically a lesbian, and then revealed their badass gruff guy (who fills the roll of your basic FPS protagonist), Soldier 76, to be a gay man. They/them are still not widely accepted pronouns. For us who use them, it’s difficult to convince people not to default to something gendered. Especially when we fail to appear completely androgynous. I’ve been told Zer0 can’t possibly be nonbinary because they have a deep voice and “masculine” body shape. But real nonbinary people come in all shapes and sizes with all kinds of voices! 

What about Fl4k?

As I said, I’m very happy about Fl4k. They fall into some problematic tropes even more than Zer0 (as Fl4k is verified beyond a doubt to be a robot, and has an “acceptable” androgynous shape to them). I don’t know their voice yet, I wouldn’t be surprised if it also fell into the category of “acceptably androgynous”. Fl4k is new and already “they/them”. Zer0 is an established character who already has a lot of fans among a bunch of different groups of people. There’s definite value in demonstrating a character can switch pronouns, since pretty much every nonbinary person who uses they/them haven’t used those pronouns their entire life. Besides, there can and should be more than one nonbinary character.  Fl4k being nonbinary but not Zer0 kind of feels like Gearbox expects us to shut up and be happy with what we’re given.

What about nonbinary people who use he/him pronouns? Can’t Zer0 be that?

Those people are real and valid.  However, we’re talking about real people versus a fictional character. I admit I’d feel better if it was stated, in-game, “Yeah, Zer0 is nonbinary and uses he/him”. But even then, it’s REALLY EASY for cisgender people to ignore that information and write Zer0 off as male (And knowing gearbox, they’d put it somewhere easily missed. I’ve surprised so many straight people who’d played through Borderlands 2 with the fact that Sir Hammerlock is gay, simply because it was only verified in a side quest). And you know, we were promised they/them, so like, not doing that kind of sucks. Also I think it’s really important to normalize they/them.

So what are we supposed to do about this? What do you expect to change, anyways?

Honestly? I don’t expect Gearbox to fix this so late. In all likelihood, that’s way too much dialogue to re-record. But I still think it’s worth making our voices heard. We shouldn’t silently put up with this kind of thing. Other people will pull the same shit, being either unsympathetic or unaware of the harm they do. And heck, it’s unlikely, but maybe Gearbox will at least acknowledge their wrongdoing.

Also, it’s maybe worthwhile to ignore canon, and keep referring to Zer0 as “they/them”, or if this whole thing is news to you, it’s not too late to start. It would mean a lot to nonbinary fans, and make a point about how Zer0 is regarded.

[txt-daily]

𝔾𝔼𝕋 𝕋𝕆 𝕂ℕ𝕆𝕎 𝕋𝕏𝕋

Stage name : Soobin ( 수빈)

Birth name : Choi Soo Bin ( 최수빈)

Potential position : leader, rapper

Birthday : December 5th, 2000

Height :185 cm

He sees himself as a rabbit - his favorite colors are sky blue and yellow - nicknames: cucumber, soob, rabbit, mongolian wolf, binnie oppa - his hobbies are reading and listening to music - he used to dance with 14u’s gyeontae - he said that he can’t live without almond milk and that he would be happy if he receive it as a gift for his birthday - You can’t dislike him, he’s a sweet heart and he seems so passionate in what he likes

Stage name : Yeonjun ( 연준)

Birth name : Choi Yeon Jun ( 최연준 )

Potential position : rapper, dancer

Birthday : September 13th, 1999

Height :181.5 cm

Lived in the US for 2 years since he was 9 years old - his hobbies are dancing, eating, skating - he sees himself as a puppy - his favorite color is purple - he plays overwatch - he is the oldest member - he is a fashionista - he likes soju, beer and a mixture of both - He’s really good at dancing, and he truly loves the fans (he said his ideal type is the fans)

Stage name : Beomgyu ( 범규 )

Birth name : Choi Beom Gyu ( 최범규 )

Potential position : rapper, dancer

Birthday : March 13th, 2001

Height :179 cm

Master of aegyo - plays guitar - favorite food : rice cake with honey and stir-fried beef tripe from Daegu - his nicknames are bamgyu and cookie - favorite color : pink - good at claw games - he is shy and quiet to people at first but when he warms up, he can’t stop talking - he used to stay up all night writing songs for his members - He is charming and as well a sweet heart with his members

Stage name : Taehyun ( 태현 )

Birth name : Kang Tae Hyun ( 강태현 )

Potential position : vocalist (main for me)

Birthday : February 5th, 2002

Height :177 cm

His hobbies are swimming and football - he likes sweet things including caramel frappuccino - he likes photography - yeonjun says that taehyun is in charge of passion and fashion in the group - he is someone who focuses on the present more than worrying about the future - He is mature and passionate and has an amazing voice

Stage name : Huening Kai ( 휴닝카이 )

Birth name : Kai Kamal Huening 

Korean name : Jung Kai ( 정카이 )

Potential position : vocalist, visual, maknae

Birthday : August 14th, 2002

Height :181.1 cm

His nicknames are hyuka and ningning - he plays a lot of instruments - he describes himself as random and cool - he can play the piano and was interested in music since a young age and wanted to inspire people from it - he likes mint chocolate, chips, ice cream - he can speak in madarin, korean, portugese and english - He has a beautiful voice as well, he sees himself as a unicorn which is pretty accurate

Their title track is Crown, a catchy song with a strong and refreshing choreography, they already got some wins with this song. I would like to say that if they won those it’s because they are talented and of course being from bighit is helpful, but the song could have done a flop. You have to be aware of the pressure on idols in kpop, they are really young and following bts is huge goal/responsibility. So please, look forward to them in the future and in which way they will evolve . Also, I recognize the fact that they had a big fandom behind them before their debut, but now that they finally did it, I hope fans of txt will be called “fans of txt” (I’m still waiting for the fandom name :) and not just “army who are txt fans”. Don’t forget that they are five young boys who only want to fulfill their dreams.

Credits : gifs from allfortxt and ohtxt, also sorry if i made some mistakes, english is not my native language, hope you enjoy the post.

[hi-i-love-u-bitch]

Excuse me! But where is my Sanders Sides Gamer AU???

Voices in my head: Gee Bunny, it seems you have no problem writing a lot of other fics and stuff yet you still haven’t even finished the next chapter of your Spiderverse fic???

Me: SHUT THE FUCK UP DISEMBODIED VOICES IN MY HEAD!!! IF YOU WANT THAT FIC DONE SO BADLY TELL MY LOGIC AND CREATIVITY TO GET THEIR ASSES IN GEAR AND GIVE ME SOME GOD DAMN INSPIRATION!!!!

Voices in my head:.....

Me: Yeah, that’s what I thought! Anyways, idk if I just missed a memo or something but I haven’t seen any Gamer AU of my boys and that is a crime in and of itself! Like, how dare! But fret not, I am here to provide content (Read: headcannons) that you did not ask for! Let us begin! Or should I say start!

(please note that I am not a gaming expert so feel free to add or correct stuff)

NOW WITH A PART 2!!!!

MAIN SQUAD

Roman Rosewood

Obviously loves RPGs! Anything with a good story line really! Or has medieval fantasy aesthetic!

Skyrim, Diablo, Undertale, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Fallout, Red Dead Redemption, Undertales, Dragon Age, God of War Dark Souls, Assassins Creed, Earthbound, etc.

Played West of Loathing just so he could rip on it but actually ended up loving it and spending way to many hours playing. Then he found out there was a game called Kingdom of Loathing by the same creators and went down that rabbit hole as well.

He was iffy about getting into JRPGs but then Virgil convinced him to play Persona 5 and he absolutely fell in love with the music!

All the music in his phone is either from musicals or Video games!

Also really likes choose your own adventure games like Detroit: Become Human, Life is Strange, and Telltale Games

So much video game merch! Usually figurines because he likes to make little shelves and display cases for them.

He also really likes multiplayer games because he’s a social butterfly and likes to play with his squad.

Sucks at first person shooter games but still willingly plays Fortnight or Call of Duty or Left for Dead with his friends because he doesn’t want to be a drag and complain. But also they sometimes die in game in the most hilarious ways and it just leaves everybody wheezing.

Virgil Dante

Horror games, obvs!

All about that dark aesthetic!

Devil May Cry, Silent Hill, Fran Bow, Sally Face, Resident Evil, The Witch’s House, Amnesia, Little Nightmares, Bendy and The Ink Machine, Alice: Madness Returns, SCP-Containment, Pony Island, etc.

Yes, he’s played all the Five Nights At Freddy’s games. It’s a good series and it isn’t his fault the fandom is bat shit crazy and full of ten year olds! Fuck you Roman!

Every time the Walking Dead comes out he knows he’ll end up crying by the end of it. He and the squad make and event out of it.

Japanese horror games are usually his favorite because they deal more with the psychological aspects of horror instead of the jump scares

So, yes, he’s also a fan of Corps Party and Fatal Frame

Also really good at first person shooters because he has a really steady hand (you usually have to when playing horror games least you want to restart the level) and it pisses Roman off to no end every time Virgil randomly headshots him.

Usually likes to by merch in the form of posters, t-shirts, or beanies. He only buys figurines if it’s a game he really, really likes.

At first didn’t know why people kept bugging him to play Doki Doki Literature Club but then he finally caved and...oh...that’s why.

Logan Mill

My boy loves puzzle and strategy games yo!

Legend of Zelda, Portal, Tetris, Unravel, World of Goo, Inside, Limbo, Pokemon, Shadow of the Colossus, StarCraft, Command and Conquer, Age of Empire, Heart of Iron, World of Warcraft, etc.

He likes Overwatch but doesn’t like playing with people online so he usual solos or asks the others to play. But that too usually ends in chaos.

Hates rage games because he gets frustrated easily and has broken at least four keyboards and two controllers

He still plays them anyways because he can beat it damn it! Just give him a minute!

Enjoys the God of War series despite all the mythological inaccuracies

He plays a lot of Minecraft to relax or destress and has build beautiful works of architecture and sometimes entire cities.

He thought it was stupid and childish and was embarrassed about it for a long time until the squad came over to his house one day uninvited and caught him playing. He was getting ready for them to make fun of him but they instead gushed about how AMAZING everything looked and how TALENTED he was for building all himself.

Logan ends up showing them how to play afterwards and they work together to make weird sculptures and complex tunnels underground.

He likes practical merch like backpacks, coffee mugs, pencil holders, notebooks, ect. as well as a few t-shirts and novelty ties.

Yes, he does collect Pokemon cards!

Patton Adley

Silly dating sims, farming games, and any cute game really! Plus a few side scroller games!

Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, Slime Rancher, The Sims, Dream Daddy, Animal Crossing, Kirby, Monster Prom, Hatoful Boyfriend, Scribblenauts, Night In The Woods, Ni Nu Kuni, etc.

Big Nintendo fan!

He made the mistake of playing Doki Doki Literature Club without reading the warning tags and regrets it immensely...still a good game though.

He did the same thing with Huni Pop but that one made him laugh more then anything and he kind of got addicted to it. Then he found out there was a sequel called HuniCam so he went down that rabbit hole too.

He likes a lot of phone app games too like Cut the Rope, Neko Atsume, and Candy Crush.

Loves trashy dating app games, he thinks they’re so funny and cheesy

He was addicted to Mystic Messenger for a long while

Just because he has his preference doesn’t mean he won’t try other games too, Logan got him hooked on World of Warcraft (though really he did that to everyone), Virgil showed him Hollow Knight, and Roman suggested he play Undertales.

Prefers merch in the form of plushies and key chains!

He likes to bake and decorate cookies, cakes and pastries in the form of his favorite video game characters.

RED SQUAD

Duncan [Deceit] Adley (Patton’s twin)

A lot of first person shooter and combat games!

Doom Series, Super Smash Bros, Mortal Combat, Halo, Fortnight, Grand Theft Auto, Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, Half-Life, Team Fortress, Destiny, Wolfenstein, Bio Shock, Splatoon, PUBg etc.

Patton was the one that introduced him to Splatoon and he won’t admit that it’s actually super fun.

Doesn’t mind story driven games and RPGs but he really just wants something he can zone out to and relax

He likes to troll people online, mainly assholes picking on little kids who just want to play.

He once teamed up with a group of kids on Call of Duty solely for the purpose of collectively kicking the asses of this groups of so called “real gamers” that were being jerks.

Has memorized all the combos! He doesn’t have time to sit and look up a cool finishing move, he needs it now!

Always mains the weakest/most useless character in fighting games and still manages to kick everyone’s ass.

Doesn’t have a preference in merch and usually grabs whatever he likes be it figurines, t-shirts, posters, plushies, or whatever, so long as he likes the game it comes from.

Has several tattoos from his favorite games

Emile Picani

Classic retro games, cartoonish games, and Nintendo are his jam broham!

Mario, Classic Sonic, Paper Boy, Transylvania, Spyro, Pac Man, All the Saga Disney games, Duck Hunt, Mario Kart, Galaga, Mega Man, Donkey Kong, Secret of Mana, Banjo-Kazooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, etc.

Absolutely fell in love with Shovel Knight when it came out!

Remy got him into all the indie pixel games: Towerfall, Terraria, Owlboy, Hotline Miami, Papers Please, Celeste, One Shot, etc.

Duncan was the one that introduced him to Cuphead and the usually play it together and see how far each of them can go without dying.

The game is difficult but the art is still so breathtaking!

Likes the occasional psychological thriller game

Bet Virgil showed him Alice: Madness Returns and Doki Doki Literature Club (after he’s played it of course)

Likes plushies and figurine merch with the occasional poster and coffee mug.

Likes to doodle a lot of his fav video game characters and cartoons and is actually really good at it. He helped design most of Duncan’s tattoos.

Remy Knightly

Likes a lot of indie games and old online flash games!

The Stanley Parables, Oxenfree, Inside, Firewatch, Super MeatBoy, The Binding of Issac, Donut County, Henry Stickman series, Impossible Quiz, Crush the Castle series, Hyper Light Drifter, etc.

He always gets everybody hooked on one game or another

He convinced everyone to play Undertales so for like a month they all went through a HUGE Undertales faze.

Was the actual, ACTUAL one that showed Duncan Cuphead because he knew the dork would be reminded of Emile because of the animation and would want to show it to him and play multiplayer (*cough* subtle matchmaker *cough*)

(Do not be fooled, he is a pinning boy himself)

Is up to date in all the gossip of the latest games and consuls, indie or mainstream! He’s in the know, know and if you need to know something chances are Remy probably knows it.

Weeds out through all the indie horror games for Virgil and recommends what he thinks are the best ones.

Same thing with Logan and his puzzle games, he’s usually is able to find very strange ones and Logan seems to likes those best.

Obviously has a lot of merch in coffee mug and thermal form as well as a few key chains.

Occasionally streams on Twitch with Duncan and Emile (sometimes inviting the main squad too), they’re commentary is usual hilarious.

[gwenchana-hwaiting]

Who am I?

I got some exciting news. Just two days ago the announcements were made, that my blog is now part of the Korean Study Network here on Tumblr. That is something I would have never imagined happening when I started this humble little mistake-ridden blog. I’m over the moon :D

So I thought that it is a good time to write a more detailed introduction to who the heck I am and why you should listen to me (Spoiler alert: you shouldn’t). So let’s begin! 

Name: My name is Jessica, but I prefer Jess. Age: Sweet, innocent 40 Pronouns: She/Her What I prefer to be called in English: Jess is perfect. If you forget GH for ‘Gwenchana Hwaiting’ is fine too ;) What I prefer to be called in Korean: Please never ever call me 아줌마. If you are older than me, please call me 제시카 or 제쓰. If you are younger than me please call me 언니 / 누나 or 제시카 씨 

Where in the world is Carm… no, wait. Where do I live? I live in Germany. Born and raised here but have moved across the country a few times, nowadays I reside in Berlin.

Partner: I live with my boyfriend of 17.5 years, sometime in the future we’re going to marry but since we are going to spend our lives together anyway it isn’t urgent to get to that stage. We met in an email Star Trek Roleplaying game 20 years ago. Yeah, the internet brings people together ;) 

Languages: I speak German (native), English (fluent), have been learning French for 3 years but forgot basically everything, and now learning Korean.

For how long have I been studying Koran: Since November 2018, but I’m a very slow self-studier.

Why did I start learning Korean? I wanted to understand dramas without having to read subtitles all the time so I can multitask. I am far from that, but I can understand a few things here and there by now. Makes me feel fluent every time! It also turned from just wanting to learn the language to also learn about the people, country and culture. I find it utterly fascinating to learn more and more. The good, the bad and the ugly.

So why aren’t you supposed to listen to me? Because I’m fallible! I am a beginner in learning Korean, I make mistakes. That is why I started the blog, to make those mistakes in public, to show that this is how we learn and that failing and making mistakes is not the end of the world. On the contrary. Also, I realized along the way that there is no one way to do things, to learn things. You experiment, try out things and then do what works for you. You can of course still listen if you choose to do, but having to deal with myself on a daily basis I can’t necessarily recommend. ;)

Hobbies: Writing (I’m an absolutely unknown author who doesn’t spend enough time on writing), Roleplay (pen&paper, email, Chat), KDrama, Geeking out, Computer Games (currently mostly Guild Wars 2 and Overwatch, sometimes Minecraft and some other games), 3D Meshing in Blender, Daddling in Photoshop. Is starting things I never finish a hobby? If so I am doing that a lot.

Geeky stuff: I’m a Huffleclaw / Ravenpuff, depending on the day and my brain functions. I love Doctor Who (classic and New Who, there is no doctor I don’t like but MY doctor is Ten), I have always been a huge Trekkie (since I was 8 actually - that does count as always, right?) and am part of a Star Trek RPG where I am a ship’s captain myself. The fantasy class of my choice is Magic Wielder/Wizard/Elementalist. I have more books than I will ever be able to read. I believe that Aliens exist, same goes for Spirits/ghosts. 

Misc: Favourite colors are teal, purple, red, deep green Favorite animals are turtles and pandas I don’t drink anything but water I had gastric bypass surgery last year which changed my life tremendously I love winter, autumn, and spring, summer is usually too hot for me I love the smell of rain (Petrichor anyone?) and freshly cut grass

Last but not least: I’m an over-sharer. I know you wouldn’t have guessed huh? 

So if you still want to know anything about me, comment, send me an ask, a message. I’m an open book! 

[parkerpup]

Everybody out here asking why Blizzard has made Overwatch 2 like it’s the dumbest mistake in the world when the whole reason they couldn’t add huge PvE expansions with story and lore in OW was because the game was built from the ground up and to add that would be far too difficult. They’ve stated it’d be like making an entirely new game. You know..like..

Overwatch 2????

[caden]

ohhh man okay ive said before i still play and enjoy overwatch (although less often now because the blizzard hong kong stuff is so gross) but anyways so im speaking as a fan and semi-involved member of the “““community””” here. literally no one fucking cares about the story and it’s a mistake to think they do. the game is fun because the mechanics are really really tight and relatively unique in the shooter genre. im cool with a dedicated co-op mode and the characters are... sort of charming sometimes but the writing style is so... fucking... earnest in the most misguided bland way... the world is poorly thought out and uninteresting and the characters are like cool as interestingly-designed archetypes with memorable lines (which is good for a class based shooter) but not as actual three dimensional characters. 

In the original game, where the story is completely secondary to the gameplay (even if the marketing says it isn’t, the design of the game is clearly oriented towards a competitive community and deep mechanics over a story since there isnt even a fucking story mode outside of some limited events) the only real purpose of any of the characters having a PERSONALITY is to instruct the player on how that character should be played. Like, for example, Zarya is big and strong because she should be played aggressively at the front line of the team. Every really good character design in the game is really good because it immediately communicates to the player how that character works, and I’m 100% convinced the design team knows this and leans into it-- the character designs probably come after the core mechanics have been developed. 

Anyways, the story could be good, who knows. I’ll be the first to forgive plot holes and inconsistent world building (which ultimately are superfluous 99% of the time anyways) if the actual narrative they’re telling ends up being interesting. They at least have a diverse cast and to some extent characters that I’m vaguely invested in already. But hopefully the real purpose of 2 is to revitalize the multiplayer community. 

That said, it also would be a mistake to dramatically change the heroes that are already in the game. The muscle memory of how to play them becomes so deeply ingrained in your head that, for example, when they changed the cooldowns on Zarya’s bubbles, or on D.Va’s matrix, I was like totally thrown off for the next few weeks of playing and had to unlearn some of the techniques I was using. And, unless the gameplay is REALLY different, many of the kits in the game really aren’t broken and don’t need to be changed. The whole “customizable character” thing is cool as long as it’s confined to the single player-- putting it into the multiplayer would hugely fuck with the way the competitive scene works and essentially alienate new players because certain “builds” would be more viable than others and probably would reward players who had leveled up more. It would just add a whole new, unnecessarily complicated meta to the game. 

Essentially my thoughts are that this would all be better if it was just, like, a 30 dollar story DLC add-on that gave us 10 hours of real co-op gameplay. Which it might literally pretty much be, except they slapped a “2″ on it so that it would actually sell (since the original game is near the end of its life)

[dotzines]

Artist spotlight: Lunarin-Arts!

✿ Commissions ✿ Instagram ✿ DeviantArt ✿ Twitter ✿ Tumblr

Header source: [X]  

Introduce yourself I am Lonneke! But online I prefer going by the name Rumii. I am currently 20 years old and I live in the Netherlands. In my spare time I like drawing (of course), Cosplaying and Gaming. I used to be really into anime, And I still have favourites like Kamisama hajimemashita, Black butler and hetalia. But right now I am more of an artist/ gamer. In which I play alot of Overwatch, which would be my main fandom. and Story rich games like NieR; Automata. I love meeting new people, and especially other artists. Even though I tend to be a bit shy at first //especially in large groups Nonetheless I hope we can get along!! And Im very excited to try out zines. as I have never done them before. When did you start drawing? Are you a digital or traditional artist? I started drawing in last grade of primary school, so around the age of 11/12. I primarily started out traditionally, but quickly picked up on digital art. Mainly using MS Paint when I just started out. Next thing I know I had a drawing tablet and extensively used Paint tool SAI. So I would say I am a digital artist. Though I do traditional as well, but I don't upload traditional art as much.  Do you use any traditional mediums? If so, which are your favorites? I have! for traditional work I just use whatever pencils I have around for sketching. Micron fineliners for Linearting. I don't color my works often, but have started getting some copic markers, pro markers and twin markers to try out. I like using the copic markers alot, they are very expensive.. but I can just feel how much better the quality is compared to my other markers.

image source: [X]   Why do you prefer traditional over digital? (or viceversa) I highly prefer digital, mainly because it's way more easy to manipulate your works, edit any smaller mistakes without having to draw them over again. and from lineart on, nothing you do is permanent. Plus I can use way more colors than I can on traditional mediums right now. What do you think is the most challenging part about being a traditional/digital artist? I think the biggest challenges for me were getting accustomed to my drawing tablet. I mean it really takes some time to get used to the pressure, and it really feels different than draiwng directly on paper. and after that getting familiar with the drawing programs. I just switched programs again and I am still figuring out all the tools. So even though I think digital mediums make things alot more easy, it takes a long time to get everything out of it. even years later you can discover a function you never knew of. which will elevate your art even more. What inspires your pieces? I take inspiration from various places, I like doing challenges, or just fanart. but also alot from music. it can get me into a certain mood or I can just see a piece that fits with the music. and then try sketching it out while listening to this song. I also like looking around for special things like 'mermay' for example. Look at the themes and just try to imagine what kind of piece I can do with that.

image source: [X]   Explain your "everyday" drawing process I kinda take I gotta explain how I get through an artwork? well, first of course I try to find my inspiration. Or I already have a vague idea of what I want to do. And I make a super super rough sketch. then I go over it and add slightly more details. My sketches are still usually very messy. but I love that when I lineart I can make everything pretty and detailed. and it looks better compared to the sketch. Which is obviously my next step. After that I lay down base coloring in seperate layers. Always starting with skincolor > Haircolor > eyes > bigger parts of clothes > smaller parts of clothes > details If I have background I try to go with the biggest parts like the sky or ground or whatever first. and move up from bigger to smaller things pretty much. I work very organized so I always have my layers in different maps. Usually one for each character, and for the entire BG. sometimes also different ones for different parts of the background. so it's easy to find back if I have to fix something in a certain part of my artwork. Besides this I also sometimes do more painted works, I have only done those in portraits so far. But in those I made the sketch > put colors below it > merge layers > start the shading part by part on top of it. usually working back to front on which colors overlap eachother Do you have an artist you admire (or more than one)?

I have a few people I know that inspire me, like Chance-To-Draw on DA ( https://www.deviantart.com/chance-to-draw ) And my best friend of mine who doesn't really upload her works anywhere anymore ;;-;; So I can only admire her through our discord server >< I also love Lord_Gris (https://www.instagram.com/lord_gris/) alot! And Rosuuri (https://www.instagram.com/rosuuriart/) ofc those are a few well-known artists. I follow alot more people with amazing art but gosh I can't possibly list all of them here >< I just like seeing a variety of different art styles and OC's Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why? Right now I'd say this one; http://fav.me/dd4acw5 I just..love how the coloring turned out. this was a really hard painted piece to do aaa >< especially her hair. But Im just so happy with it! I really feel like I have been improving my coloring again lately and I can't get enough of it jgkdhf

Do you listen to music (or tv shows/films/anything else) when drawing? YEees, I listen to vocaloid covers alot, actually. also covers from other things. just..alot of covers. or original fanbase songs ahah A few examples here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwMZhdyZHVI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNoy_b_JYU0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPMhkIiapIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPw-0vctJJQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tr014nQ4pk

image source: [X]   What makes art interesting for you? For me it started alot as a way to vent my emotions. It calms me down to draw when I am sad, angry or happy even. I love being able to look back and see the improvement. and know that in 2 years I will once again look back at the stuff I am currently very proud of. and know I can already do so much better than that! This is really what keeps it interesting to me, I think. What do you do when art block strikes? //Cry// Jk, To be honest. I either try to break through and search for any inspiration. Or I just call it a day and go game or listen to music. In the last 1.5/2 years I have had a massive art block. I was dissapointed in my own art. didn't know what to draw anymore. and didn't see the point of continuing. Just recently I found a new art program. which in this case helped me get out of this huge slump. and I'm ready to be a bit more active. and get into new projects and broaden my horizon's in general What’s the most valuable art advice you’ve ever received?

Well, I haven't asked for alot of advice before. but a while ago I sortof got the advice to use references more often. After which I feel alot less afraid to do so. and feel like my works are getting alot better. and I find it easier to start on things after searching for pose or background refs

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OWL Season 2 Preseason Ranking

20. Toronto Defiant

I really wanted to put Washington here because I have no faith in that team.  But the Toronto has a main tank I’m unfamiliar with and Main Tanks were extremely important in OWL way before goats meta.  I see Neko and Envy and it really inspires me.  I see Bishop and I’m like wow.  But Bishop doesn’t really have a history of winning in Overwatch lately.  From London to Cloud9 he really hasn’t been producing W’s.  I like the roster a lot and maybe the meta shifts heavily in there favor but right now I don’t think Neko can fix a frontline issue.

19. Washington Justice

I do not like this roster.  The late addition (they were all late) of Gido and Ado really inspires me but if Ado wasn’t enough to get Shanghai 1 W than he won’t be enough in what mite possibly be a more difficult season. 28 games and more down time in between.  Well rested players, highly practiced, and prepared for there matches.  Janus is really strong in this lineup and so are the coaches.  I guess this roster would do pretty good in NA contenders. 

18. Chengdu Hunters

I don’t trust the roster or the process.  Highest level league play does something to teams with potential.  It chews them up and spits them out.  Maybe this is the good side of the Chinese scene that Shanghai never showed us in season 1.  I probably have them ranked too low but what the Dragons did in season 1 worries me. 

17.  Guangzhou Charge

Either this team will be surprisingly good or really bad.  It really depends on the coaching staff and how well they are supported by the org. A lot of there season depends on Rio and how well he works with the different players on the roster. They mite catch themselves halfway thru the season and start playing well. 

16. Florida Mayhem

I like the roster a lot.  I know BQB was accused of boosting but he’s extremely talented.  xepheR is really good. Solid DPS, decent tanks, good supports (hopefully way better than last year).  Coaching staff and org staff still seems really small.  They could surprise people depending on the meta.

15. Boston Uprising

Huk, Could be worst team in the league.  Three main tanks.  Poorly coached and managed.  Extremely talented players. 

14.Shanghai Dragons

I don’t want to rank them this low but I’m floating 3-4 teams around this spot.  They haven’t won a game in OWL yet.  Hopefully they have a nice schedule of lower level teams and they can produce some quality wins.  Org seems ready to commit this season so I expect huge problems will be scorched away quickly. 

13. Seoul Dynasty

Fissure is cool I guess.  They have a balanced roster, experienced team, and a schedule system that will highly benefit them.  Older players mite not listen to new in game leadership this far into there careers. I’m not very confident in there synergy and I wanted to rank them a few spots back.  They do have piles and piles of talent tho.  

12. San Francisco Shock

If we remove all the DPS players from the roster and look closely will see some problems.  Mid tier off tanks and mid tier main tanks.  New season same problem.  One of there main tanks need to play at a higher level.  Off tank can exist well enough if there main tank plays well enough.  Support trio could be strong depending on the meta. 

11. Houston Outlaws

I have my personal disagreements with how they play.  I’m a fan of them and they upset me from time to time.  In a goats meta having someone like Spree who can slide into that 2nd DPS spot and play Zarya is amazing.  They won’t use Spree like that.  Houston is going to fuddle thru the season and end up worse than 11th.  Could easily reach top 8 if they make good decisions before matches even start. They prepare pretty poorly and depend to heavily on classic 2/2/2 roster lineups to play the game.  Polar opposite of what the Eastern OW scene has been doing lately. 

10. Atlanta Reign

May have similar issues with Houston.  Roster has built in solutions to potential problems but the team mite not use them.  I’m very big on the roster even without Dafran.  Front line has synergy.  Backup Academy front line also has great synergy.  Supports are questionable but Academy support duo is extremely experienced and reliable.  DPS is very solid for a trio.  Has 1 map sub potential which can be very powerful in OWL.  Team is built to work no matter what.  Mite not be lead in right direction to succeed.  

9.  Los Angeles Valiant

There mistakes finally show up in there results.  Remember when “development” was a big part of there OW decision making???  Suddenly you have an APEX coach and his players are at the top of the roster. This team goes as far as Kariv can take them while covering every hole on the roster. Honestly if this team finishes top 4 with Kariv starting at DPS he’ll deserve OWL MVP.  \

8. Dallas Fuel

I’m very high on them and very low on them at the same time.  Added players, added coaching staff, re commitment to the team on a whole. Schedule change will be huge for them.  New season same problem.  What happens when a projectile meta happens???  They’ll be able to play it but main players who aren’t as good as the bench players will have to play or bench players will have to step into major roles.  Could cause problems with how well they’ll play this season.  Dallas and Seoul need to remember how to win to be successful again. 

7. Vancouver Titans

They will have problems.  May it be there org or just how there playing.  They will struggle.  But this team has too much experience and inner support to just fall apart.  Where the org or players fail the fans and team will pick up.   They won’t get this far and go down without a fight. The talent difference will start to show throughout the season but they will overcome it as a team. 

6. Los Angeles Gladiators

I got a little down on them but than I remembered how well they play.  The support trio will play well no matter what. Surefour will show up.  Decay and R0ar will show up.  Void should be better this season if they don’t want to play Bischu.  Will win games like they’ve been here before. 

5. Philadelphia Fusion

I got a little down on them.  I love what Elk will bring to the team but he’s just a Lucio.  Poko is the only off tank.  When will Eqo run out of talent?  Will they even play Fragi during goats meta?  But they are a force of nature.  Carpe won’t give up.  Much like the Gladiators they’ve been here before and it will show. 

4. Hangzhou Spark

 I am extremely high on this team.  And also a huge X6 Gaming fan.  Krystal and Godsb (a widow god).  Ria and Nosmite AND Guxue if they want to mix up the main tank role.  I love this roster and its potential.  Mite step into the league like NYXL. 

3. Paris Eternal 

Maybe I forgot to rank them a few spots ago and just put them here (maybe).  I was very high on France in the OWWC and was a little disappointed.  The roster and staff is fucking stacked to the roof.  From Kruise on Support leading the team, Main tanks Benbest and Lhcloudy, and to the stacked DPS lineup of Soon and Shadowburn.  If OWL ever goes into a Dive meta they will near the top. 

2. New York Excelsior 

Hmmm.  

Hmm.

Could be #1.  They have the roster to go 28-0.  But its 28 games will bigger breaks between games this season.  I like to think that benefits the next team the most. 

1. London Spitfire

Back to back champions?  Barely any change to the roster and that’s ok.  The biggest offseason addition was the change to the regular season format.  Strong new teams should challenge London but I knew a few will bow before the world champions.  Look out for a repeat.  

Conclusion

I wrote this far too fast and without enough research (LOL I guess).  I’ve watched a lot of Hangzhou Spark players already on X6 Gaming.  We already know how good some of these teams already are.  This is mostly speculation.  And meta shifts could turn this list upside down at any moment.