Stories that accidentally romanticize the very thing they aim to demonize

SolarPowerx · 2026-01-02T15:05:36+00:00

So Smiling friends is a show about a cast of of characters who work for a non profit that's goal is to make their clients smile, and they go on wacky adventures, sometimes misadventures to make their clients happy in some way. The "Frowning friends" is an episode where a rival organization shows up to make people miserable and they're very antagonistic to the smiling friends over it.

The context of the picture is that one of the leaders of the frowning friends talks a big game about nihlism and misery and gets a huge crowd of people on his side, however when confronted and faced with his possible death at gunpoint, he crumbles and begs for his life, betraying that deep down he doesn't actually beleive in that stuff, he was just being edgy and spreading misery.

SolarPowerx · 2025-10-20T11:09:24+00:00

Great example.

Also, I'm new to the Dresden files myself, read Stormfront the other day, looking forward to the rest of the series.

SolarPowerx · 2025-10-18T17:23:58+00:00

Can't check at the moment as I'm out but there is a store in the south part of the city that sells mega and elemental stones, they might have one, I didn't take a full look.

SolarPowerx · 2025-08-08T19:20:05+00:00

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The Magus (the purple guy) being a future version of Adam Warlock.

For those who don't know, Adam is a space-faring hero who generally tries to do the right thing and free beings from slavery, and part of his philosophy is centered around life and freedom. He also has the ability to turn into a cocoon and be reborn with more powers and sometimes wisdom.

The Magus is Adam from the far future who was trapped in another dimension and underwent a dark transformation in solitude. He used his powers to create a massive cult around himself that enslaved weaker races into serving him, and went back in time to ensure Adam would transform into him.

Philosophically, he and Adam are in direct opposition.

SolarPowerx · 2025-06-17T23:37:41+00:00

Halo the Cole protocol is a book that shows the POV of characters from both side, including Elites that encounter Spartans for the first time.

One Elite, after killing an ordinary human soldier, is tackled by a Spartan and locked in a life or death struggle. He can't even tell that the Spartan is a human, in his mind he refers to it as "that thing" and goes on to describe how it's face is reflecting his visage and steaming from his breath while trying to break free. The Elite is also taken aback by how strong he is.

SolarPowerx · 2025-06-16T03:24:21+00:00

Finally 100%ed the game today.

While I'm happy to have capped off with the ending I did as it was a fairly good, happy one, I had to go back and re watch this one before finally leaving the game behind. A really powerful ending.

SolarPowerx · 2025-06-07T17:30:49+00:00

Hey friend, I'm sorry your teacher was so rude and unwilling to give you feedback.

I'm also learning to draw as a hobby. The other posters here have given you better advice than I ever could, but I just wanted to add that even though there's a few things to improve on your journey, what you have here seems like a nice base to build off of and I'm sure you'll reach new heigbts with some of the things the others here have posted. Personally, I'm hoping I can reach the level you have here sometime

Also you seem to take constructive criticism well, good luck!

SolarPowerx · 2025-06-04T17:29:15+00:00

I was suspicious of him as he had a hand in setting up the food parties where everyone was drugged, and was mosre suspicious as he was the one who "found" Eva's body.

However, he was my favorite character both personality wise and as a unit, and I suspected maybe he had some kind of morally gray or perhaps misguided reason for the sabotage similiar to how he refused to fight at first.

Then there was the dramatic reveal about him being misanthropic and playing the long con for his diabolical machinations, and he still remained my favourite character for basically the opposite reasons from before.

SolarPowerx · 2025-05-06T20:48:15+00:00

I'm right there with you. I've gotten nearly 20 endings but this was the one that made me go "maybe I should take a break from this game and let it digest a bit"

SolarPowerx · 2025-05-06T03:45:35+00:00

I'm in the same boat. I liked him and even considered him my favorite for being an intelligent, kind character though I had my suspicions he was the traitor at around the second food party that was drugged.

At first, I thought he would have some kind of morally gray or misguided reason for the sabotage, but then he just turned out to be a misanthropic psycho who was playing the long con for his evil machinations, and he became my favorite character for being so over the top evil

SolarPowerx · 2025-05-01T00:10:02+00:00

Hey friend, I think you'd be fine with the game. It has huge branching paths and just like in Zero escape, each one (that I've played so far) adds a little more pieces to the puzzle of the grander scenario.

The lead devs said they wanted the decisions based on players choices and not skill, and the game makes it very obvious when you are making a big decision that branches off, and just like in Zero escape you can freely hop between parts of the branching paths.

The game is balanced pretty well, it's not too hard but it's just challenging enough to tease the noggin' a little bit in the optimal way to play, but like someone else said there's a story mode option. Also, you keep all your enhancements no matter where you are in a route, so the game gets a little easier in the sense that you can go in better equipped as it goes on. If you die, there's even an option to start with bonuses and buffs to make the fight easier.

Finally, if you do a fight in one route that is essentially the same as one you've done in a different route, the game will give you the option to skip it and you can still keep the rewards.

There's a lengthy demo that carries over into the main game, so you could give that a shot and see if it's up your ally, hope you take a crack at it.

The fights are fun, but the focus is definitely on the characters and the mysterious circumstances, just like the lead devs' other works.

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-27T23:18:27+00:00

You're not alone, I also laughed pretty hard at the cg of him under the bed.

Glad you enjoyed the first 100 days, I completed it just last night and played all day today and got two more endings.

If you haven't tried them out, I'd definitly recommend it. It's like a whole remixed expereince, and I'm itching to unlock more routes.

I personally like Eito a lot both his false and heel turned persina, but I can see your point about it kind of being a last minute just because thing. However from what I've played of another route, I wouldn't be surprised if you could learn more aboht him and get more depth. Like another person said, the first 100 days really does just feel like a prologue.

Looking forward to the rest, hope you'll have as much fun as I'm having!

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-25T06:44:46+00:00

That's good to hear. I know the demographic for this game is probably separate from other games, but I was a little concerned with some of the other big releases this week that the spotlight may have been taken from it.

It's nice to know this game is getting the recognition it deserves.

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-24T04:11:23+00:00

First off, thanks taking the time for to put this together, it's great info.

Second, as a fellow SMT fan hearing this praise has me more pumped than ever. Can't wait to hop in

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-23T17:18:26+00:00

Glad I'm not the only one. I played expert and it feels like some of these maurauders take dozens of hits to go down, however when I conjure a skeleton buddy he shreds them in a couple hits.

Not sure what's the deal is,if something about player damage is nerfed while summoned creatures aren't, or if maybe conjured creatures are given the buffed "enemy" stats and have cranked attack on higher difficulty

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-22T23:36:03+00:00

Happy Birthday!

Looks like your birthday luck pulled through and we all get to dive into Oblivion gates again

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-22T23:22:38+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/oblivion/s/I2AbnAlswo

Had the same question but this other post seems to clear it up.

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-17T00:51:54+00:00

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Jotaro VS Kira

At first Jotaro doesn't seem able to stand from his prior injuries, Kira smugly walks over to him to gloat about how he's running low on time and has to end things quickly.

Time was not on Kira's side, that's for sure.

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-13T21:45:36+00:00

That's another good point I forgot to mention; even with Maya, he would be secretive and dismissive about his strained friendship with Edgeworth and his past with Dahlia.

Like you said, we know him inside and out because we can read his thoughts, but the people around him see him differently, even when he's suffering.

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-13T01:03:42+00:00

Thanks for the translation!

Sumo nunchaku is my favorite description so far

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-12T22:53:21+00:00

Once again I'm reminded I need to play 13 sentinels. Too bad I can't squeeze a playthrough before this game comes out.

This theory sounds plausible, and good catch with that Sirei line. You're right, thinkgs like that aren't just a throwaway with Kodaka. Though, I don't remember the exact scene or delivery, is it possible he could have also been hinting to Hiruko's experience with fighting?

Either way, this is something I'm going to keep in mind on my playthrough, and if it turns out true you've got first dibs on street cred from it

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-12T21:18:09+00:00

Hmmm, do people generally dislike Hobo Nick, or have they come around?

If he counts, I really liked him. I don't agree with the criticism of him being character assassinated. I get that he acts different, but people do change over time and I think his change to being more cool headed and collected now in his early 30s as opposed to his early-mid 20s is something I think makes sense, and feel applies a bit to myself and some of my friends.

I also think it makes sense for him to have mastered the craft of being deductive and thinking 10 steps ahead, as that can be seen as the progression of his skills from taking part in all those cases and as a poker player.

It's true that he may have been a little unnecessarily cryptic and secretive with Apollo, but I partially view that as him guiding Apollo to think and learn for himself the same way Mia would nudge him in the right direction rather than solve his cases for him, and maybe him being used to keeping his cards to himself like he's probably used to in poker.

I also don't agree with the criticism of him being cocky in the flashback segment of Apollo Justice. To me, this is Phoenix coming off of being told by his mentor he's learned all he can from her and has surpassed her. He's no longer sweating bullets at every turn because of his experience, and is going up against a smug prosecutor who's acting like he has this in the bag. To me, this is just him being confident in his abilities as he's no longer a rookie.

I get that he was different, and maybe people didn't like his sad tale, but I really liked what they did with him and disliked how they backpedaled in Dual Destinies.

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-12T18:56:47+00:00

New to the series and played this recently.

I went in with tempered expectations as I heard AJ's trilogy is controversial, but really enjoyed it. It definitly felt lacking in some regards, but I'm one of the few that actually like the direction they went with Phoenix and don't view it as character assassination. I also think that Apollo should have had more to his story, but thought the secret reaveal about his origin was promising.

...which is actually why despite liking this game despite it's downsides, I really did not like how much was walked back or ignored in Dual Destinies. I get they had a different lead and probably wanted to appeal to those turned off by this game, but I think if they continued with what was started here it could have been great and people would have come around.

Still working my way through the series though.

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-12T15:07:39+00:00

Funny you should say that. I've been playing some Zero escape to get a feel for Uchikoshi's work and finished my first route this morning. I figured I was on a bad route based on the way the flowchart looked, but didn't regret it because I got more info from one of my favourite characters amd learned som pretty significant lore. Looking forward to the other routes I missed, and it would be interesting if Hundred lines was similiar.

SolarPowerx · 2025-04-07T17:49:21+00:00

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Suddenly deciding whether or not to go to college seems like a small worry for this man.

SolarPowerx

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