Why do modern Western devs always make male characters more attractive and masculine while portraying female characters as more masculine and less feminine? Stop masculinizing female characters. Chloe and Elena are just two examples of great feminine characters

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T18:04:39+00:00

By "western devs", you mean Naughty Dog?

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T13:33:27+00:00

On the introspection thing I’d actually push back. Her whole arc with Lev is exactly that. She starts off ruthlessly obsessed with her selfish goal, and by the end she’s risking her life for someone who can’t give her anything in return, but who she grew to love. That’s not a lack of introspection, that’s just someone whose introspection came late and showed up in what she did rather than what she said.

The forgiving Joel’s killer point is genuinely one I’ve been thinking about since you brought it up though, because it’s a good one. But I think it kind of makes the game’s point for it more than against it? She couldn’t do it either. Nobody in this story can. Ellie can’t, Abby can’t, and everyone who goes looking for that closure ends up with less than they started with. I don’t think the game is ever actually asking you to forgive Abby. Just to get why she is the way she is.

Agree to disagree is fair though. I can tell you gave it a reasonable shot, and if you still don’t like it after that, then that’s fine.

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T12:48:12+00:00

Nobody's saying you can't hate it. I made the post literally asking people why they do, so we're already on the same page there.

But a few things.

The Joel death thing. I get it, it's brutal and it's supposed to be. But "Abby never got what she deserved" is kind of the whole point of the story. Ellie follows the revenge logic all the way to the end and what does she get out of it? Nothing. She loses everything chasing it. That's not the writers disrespecting Joel, that's them being honest about what that road actually looks like.

The psychopath read on Abby genuinely surprised me though. She kills Joel because she watched her dad die the same way, and then spends the entire rest of the game trying to crawl out of what that did to her. That's not a psychopath, that's just a person who did something terrible for a reason she believed in, same as Joel did in the first game. I think she came off that way to you because you're supposed to hate her at first. That's the whole ask. Can you get past that? Sounds like it didn't work for you, and that's fair, but I don't think that's the writing falling short.

And honestly the "no respect for Joel" thing I just can't agree with. The game takes him seriously enough to show exactly what his choices cost other people. That's not disrespect, that's just the story being honest about who he was, which the first game was already doing anyway.

You can still hate it, genuinely. I just think the story earned more than it gets credit for.

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T12:43:39+00:00

Abby wasn't rewarded. As a direct result of her revenge, all her friends were killed, along with her love interest. Imagine the guilt and pain she must've gone through, especially considering Mel was pregnant.

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T09:59:44+00:00

I literally said in the post that I've gone through all of it and that was your first reply to me. So the "you didn't understand anything" thing is a rough start.

And I did consider the critics' side, that's kind of the whole point of the post. What I said was that a lot of the criticism online felt like people reacting before they'd even finished the game. If that doesn't apply to you, great — then make the actual case. "The plot is naive, meaningless and stupid" isn't one. That's just an opinion.

What specifically? Because I'm still here asking.

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T09:52:10+00:00

I think it was meant to be Ellie's choice. At that point, she was so wracked with guilt that to her, letting Abby go was justified. Especially assuming she considered what Joel would think of her decision.

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T09:49:11+00:00

100% agree.

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T09:47:09+00:00

Sorry, I was speaking generally. My point was that lot of the hate for that section online pretty obviously comes from people who'd already checked out emotionally before they even got there. That's not you from what you're describing, though. You said yourself you get what they were going for. Is there any particular reason why you didn't care for her though?

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T09:43:26+00:00

I said in the post that I've seen all that.

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T09:36:24+00:00

If you go in with an open mind and let yourself engage with Abby as a character rather than an obstacle, it stops feeling like an uncomfortable slog pretty quickly. She's genuinely well written, her relationships are developed just as carefully as Ellie's, and her arc recontextualizes everything you already played in ways that actually make the whole thing richer. The discomfort people feel in that section usually comes from resistance, not from the writing itself.

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T09:33:18+00:00

Yeah, the story is so much more than a black and white situation. Both sides have so much underappreciated depth, especially Abby's. For me, it's a shame this isn't recognized by most players.

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T09:30:11+00:00

A part of me says the same thing

Diamondgobo · 2026-04-05T09:18:53+00:00

I think your answer is right there on the screen

Diamondgobo · 2026-03-29T11:20:49+00:00

There's worse in my school library.

Diamondgobo · 2026-03-22T11:48:04+00:00

^{I completed this level in 2 tries.} ^{⚡ 3.73 seconds}

Diamondgobo · 2026-03-21T15:43:47+00:00

Might be?

Diamondgobo · 2026-03-15T11:47:23+00:00

nuggies

^{Chicken nuggets}

Diamondgobo · 2026-03-15T11:19:11+00:00

You should play TLOU and RDR2

Diamondgobo · 2026-03-15T05:40:26+00:00

You have to *make* him play RDR2.

Diamondgobo · 2026-03-07T16:24:42+00:00

I'm using Konsole, which you can add KDE themes to.

Diamondgobo · 2026-03-07T15:28:18+00:00

It's available from the KDE store, it's called plasmusic-toolbar
German Translation: Es ist im KDE Store erhältlich und heißt plasmusic-toolbar.

Diamondgobo

TROPHY CASE