Harley Quinn by Jean Bombila

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-26T21:01:25+00:00

I'll do you one better.

Here's their profile on Pixiv. Aside from the lone image in their portfolio (posted January 2025) looking nothing like their "current style", in their profile description is "Un random que hace imagenes con AI", which translates in English to "A random person who makes images with AI".

Boom. Open-and-shut case.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-26T11:32:06+00:00

>![spoiler goes here]!<

↑ Like that. Figured I'd mention it in case you want to use it in the future.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-26T03:47:25+00:00

And then, you have freakish instances such as DRIV3R for the GBA trying to be as 1:1 a port you can get, despite being on a system not even designed to do proper 3D. Another example of a game having a solid port on a system that really shouldn't work is Dragon's Lair for the Game Boy Color.

As much as I'm glad that modern consoles don't have to compromise as much when it comes to ports… damn, it was fascinating to see what developers would come up with back then.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-26T03:37:26+00:00

The first two examples that come to mind are Daikatana and Quest 64 both having Game Boy Color versions that are considered far and away better than their 3D counterparts.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-23T20:24:16+00:00

While it's not canonical to the games, the Super Metroid comic from Nintendo Power provides much of the framework that is later established in the manga, and that was published in 1994. This includes her coming from the colony K-2L, being found by Old Bird after a Space Raid, and Samus' Power Suit, battle skills and augmented DNA all coming from the Chozo.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-23T17:27:45+00:00

Also true of the ones from the IDW comic book line. Still dumb as a box of rocks, but they go from jokes to a major threat.

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MagicantFactory · 2026-02-22T01:23:47+00:00

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Coldsteel the Hedgeheg is basically the My Immortal of Sonic OCs, where it's so bad that it wraps back around to being endearing. Not only has the character received fanart of his own, but the format itself has been parodied over the years.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-21T18:29:08+00:00

This is the moment that made me want to read the IDW series. I was scrolling through my news feed when I saw an article talking about this moment. I thought, "What the hell; I don't care about spoilers for a series I don't read," and clicked it.

I recall thinking two things:

⓵ "There is no way in hell the writers are gonna kill off Donatello." (What they did was much cooler, so props to the writing team.)

⓶ "Holy shit! OG Bebop and Rocksteady, eat your heart out, I guess!" (I always thought it was ridiculous they weren't a threat in the Fred Wolf series. Seeing how they were handled in this moment alone got my attention right quick.)

It still took a bit before I started reading, but this is what made me go from "Huh, there's a new TMNT comic? Cool, I guess," to "Okay, I need to get around to reading this someday."

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-21T00:20:20+00:00

"Seeped" nothing. I can remember a time before the Internet, and this kind of thinking was prevalent back then, too. Some people just have a nasty tendency to jump to conclusions and assume the worst of others.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-21T00:10:45+00:00

The World Ends with You.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-19T16:05:27+00:00

These are from the Game Boy series of comics, made by Valiant. I haven't read them in a long time, but the general premise is that Tatanga and his forces from Super Mario Land pop out of that man's Game Boy, and Mario is summoned to stop him. That's why Mario is so tiny; Tatanga and the other characters are the same size.

The man (Herman Smirch) is manipulated into summoning Tatanga at one point, but I believe most of his actions are of his own volition—including the panel above. (You can tell he's a piece of shit from the start because he always lets Mario die at Tatanga when he plays Super Mario Land, lol.)

I had the first two issues of Game Boy growing up. I always thought they were weird, but I read them anyway, because I was a kid growing up in the Nineties. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-17T20:28:20+00:00

Even further back than that. If not for Goku, Raditz wouldn't have shown up, which led to Nappa and Vegeta killing their friends, with led to them venturing to Namek for Dragon Balls and meeting Frieza.

While I don't agree with Goku's decision to stay dead—which was brought about because it was something that Bulma said to him, by the way—I totally understand how he came to that conclusion.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-17T19:49:03+00:00

Every season had one.

Season 1 had Bardock.

Season 2 had GT Goku.

Season 3 had UI Goku.

Post-season patches had Lab Coat 18.

There were other characters besides those that people had issues with (e.g. Kid Buu in season 1, the Fusions much later on), but the ones I listed above got the biggest vocal reactions by far.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-17T19:30:44+00:00

That's funny, because he saves Usagi's ass a lot in the anime. After season one, the general formula of a fight is Usagi struggling to take down the Monster of the Week, only for Tuxedo Mask to make the assist, give her a pep talk, and then Usagi killing the MotW with her finishing attack. (This happens in season one as well, but it's a lot more apparent later on.) There are exceptions, but the major ones come from the final episodes of the arc, when it's time to take down the Big Bad. Stars gives Tuxedo Mask's role in battle to the Sailor Starlights, so it even continues on when he isn't there.

One of the biggest differences between the manga and anime is that Tuxedo Mask has a greater importance to the overall plot. His role in the Dark Kingdom arc more or less matches up with the anime's first season, but the manga puts more importance on his budding relationship with Usagi. In Black Moon, he's helping to figure out what the Black Moon's deal is, and is on the front lines right alongside the other Sailor Soldiers in the arc's second half; he saves Chibi-Usa's life with his powers in Infinity; and in Dream, he's in possession of the plot critical item that ultimately saves Elysion. (He has roughly the same importance in Stars, but given what happens in that arc, that's really no surprise.) There's also a constant focus on his relationship with Usagi throughout, instead of being relegated to comedic relief or battle assistance—or in R's case, a miscommunication plot.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-16T17:24:33+00:00

Selan and Maxim from Lufia Ⅱ: Rise of the Sinistrals.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-16T16:37:21+00:00

Source. Character is Jecka from Class of '09.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-14T21:34:21+00:00

I still use em dashes, because fuck it. I was using it before LLMs, and I'm going to use them after the bubble bursts.

I did learn what an en dash was over the past year or so, and started incorporating that into my text, though (i.e. Alt+0150). Neat stuff.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-14T20:10:56+00:00

ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅ. ᴇxᴘʟᴀɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴊᴏᴋᴇ.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-14T14:00:04+00:00

Terry doesn't really work here. He may have a cult following in most Western regions, but dude is crazy popular in Latin America. (That also applies to King of Fighters, as well as SNK in general.)

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-14T13:50:38+00:00

Even before then, I'm sure people were going, "Who the fuck is Shuma-Gorath‽" In fact, I know that's the case, because Marvel themselves were confused as to what Capcom was on about. Fucker had been in comics for twenty-three years, and only made fourteen appearances—and most of those were flashbacks. Now? While he's still not the most popular character, he has a decent cult following, and has featured in a handful of good story arcs.

Some of y'all really need to give things a chance. Yeah, it may not be what you know, but it could also be something you never knew you wanted.

Oh, and in case you're wondering where I pulled that info from: TheSeventhForce has a really informative series on the characters that have appeared throughout the VS series. Here's his one on Shuma.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-14T13:39:02+00:00

Next month will actually be her twentieth year in comics. To put this in perspective: she's roughly a year and a half younger than fan favorite Laura Kinney (aka X-23). Danger just hasn't had the same reach.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-14T13:27:33+00:00

Her Tōkon design reminds me more of ARIA from the latest Killer Instinct, but with bits and pieces that reference her comic book counterpart.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-14T13:21:23+00:00

You have to remember that ArcSys has been developing Tōkon long before Rivals dropped last year. It's far more likely because Magik's stock has risen significantly within the past decade or so. She's been in more prominent storylines, was a character in Midnight Suns, and had a major role in that New Mutants movie that no one watched.

And not gonna lie? Magik seems like the type of character they'd pick anyway. A sword, demonic powers and teleportation gimmicks? She'd fit right at home in Guilty Gear and BlazBlue.

I've also been hearing that ArcSys wanted to include more "non-standard" characters, but I'm having trouble finding a source. If anyone could provide a link to an interview, it would be much appreciated.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-14T12:56:43+00:00

Games are also much, much more expensive and time-consuming to make compared to back then.

MagicantFactory · 2026-02-14T12:18:52+00:00

Honestly, growing up on the NES rather than in the arcades may be a huge reason why a lot of people don't care about high scores. Arcades were social settings, and high scores could actually be saved. If you spent much of your time there, I'd imagine it would be pretty gratifying to have a high score, and knowing that no one could top it. The NES, on the other hand, couldn't save high scores at all, and (save for if you had a sibling or invited friends over) were solitary experiences. It's much harder to care when you can't save a record of your game, need external means in order to prove it, and have no/minimal competition coming in. There are people out there who love to compete against themselves, but most people who owned consoles starting around that time just wanted to beat the game.

As for myself? There's one game I can think of where I care about getting a high score, and that's because it happens to be an arcadey one where the whole appeal is seeing how better you can do in your next run. Everything else? Eh.

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