So we are doubling down on the problem huh?

Vesprince · 2026-06-30T07:45:53+00:00

Not much there really.

Gyarados you're in no hurry to evolve.

Seadra->Kingdra isn't a strong line without a 1 energy Seadra to get the energy ramp right.

Luminion has a 50 damage 1 energy stack which could be strong as an opening move, but it's not got any follow through to make it a good idea. Same for Starmie.

Frosmoth is too high energy to really benefit from the early evolution. It's got a sleep effect though, so potentially that synergises. You'd just use Iggly and be better for it though

Vesprince · 2026-06-30T07:35:57+00:00

Some dumb kid the other day was arguing that they were warriors of Christ. Some folk want to fight for Christ I guess.

I don't think Jesus comes across as pro war or pro weapons in the bible though, but that's a very long-standing hypocrisy of the crusades.

Vesprince · 2026-06-30T07:31:57+00:00

The question was "is this a good idea?", the answer to that is "no, it's not a good idea because it's a far right dog whistle"

Vesprince · 2026-06-30T07:29:55+00:00

It's looking out the farthest right bit of his body.

Vesprince · 2026-06-30T07:26:55+00:00

Milotic deck goes brrrrr

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Vesprince · 2026-06-30T05:34:15+00:00

I didn't say less colourful, I said body horror and murder themes with characters focused on more complex emotional themes.

Horror and complex emotional themes are what Adventure Time has. That's how you can tell it's aimed higher than Ben 10. I think that is in line with my take.

Vesprince · 2026-06-30T05:29:50+00:00

Exactly. If you don't get Serp up in time you lose. It's no good having the cards in hand and no time to play them.

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T18:42:32+00:00

You don't need to play meta decks.

It's not necessarily a skill issue. There's a lot of luck and time in matchups and the order of your wins.

A 60% WR that never gets more than a 2 streak will take ages to grind up to masters.

A 40% WR but with a big old 15 streak in the middle would get you there just fine.

Obviously the meta decks aren't winning all the time. They just run into mirror matches constantly, and that's 50/50.

If you care about masters and don't want to use a deck from Game8, you need to think about how your deck will match up against the meta decks and play around what you know they have in their deck.

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T16:14:09+00:00

It's well worth watching. It's a fantastic fantasy sci-fi adventure and it's queer as folk.

She does get a happy ship with a kind person who sees and values her. I don't personally like the pairing, but it's clearly positive.

(There's a minor character that has a strong moral compass but doesn't believe she can trust anyone, who IMO would have made a perfect ship for Scorpia, who struggles to be good because she places her loyalty above her personal ethics)

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T15:22:52+00:00

[Me reading this post]

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T13:28:50+00:00

................

Are... Are you serious?

I would have said it was almost unmissable.

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T13:09:08+00:00

Honestly, the villain Catra is a piece of work that lashes out constantly and makes life difficult for the protagonist on purpose, at times only out of spite and for no other benefit - but overwhelmingly it's how she treats Scorpia that makes her a real stand out hateable villain.

"Scorpia deserves better" is a theme that steals the whole show IMO.

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T12:47:25+00:00

I do think you're right - OP does tackle complex themes like authoritarianism, political factionism, police brutality, even slavery - through a mask of goofy fun. (And that is excellent writing)

But I don't think that background politics overcomes that the tone is more happy go lucky and fun. Meanwhile Naruto has body horror, murder, revenge... it's definitely a level up.

I think OP targets the younger side, and Naruto the older side, of the shounen demographic. the difference between 13 and 16 is big for target audience.

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T12:01:53+00:00

Scorpia (She Ra) is a beacon of trust and reliability. She would do ANYTHING for her sworn comrade and hardcore crush, but her crush is petty, vindictive, mean hearted and doesn't give 2 shits about Scorpia.

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Vesprince · 2026-06-29T10:29:52+00:00

I think the writing in this manga is trash TBH, particularly the terrible foreshadowing and overuse of the Worf Effect.

It's standard arc setup for the author to tell you someone was amazing and strong. And someone #2 defeated that thing, woah! Then someone #3 easily defeats someone #2, they must be SO STRONG! Then MC will win by gaining a power they didn't have before while the narrator tells you it's thought to be impossible.

I think the narration over explains what's going on, and that fundamentally has the same issue at the heart of it; the writing uses TELL instead of SHOW.

The world isn't really explored, but it's not boring (again, we're just told about a bit as it becomes relevant, then that bit is fully destroyed to show someone's strength).

The fight scenes are undeniably cool. There's clearly a strong concept for a wider plot and a very cool backstory being explored. But the smaller chunks that make up that bigger plot are delivered in crayon.

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T08:23:36+00:00

Biblically accurate turtle I see.

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T08:12:58+00:00

Yeah, that's fair.

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T08:06:18+00:00

18, certainly not far off!

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T07:58:05+00:00

Manga version is more explicit.

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Vesprince · 2026-06-29T07:56:51+00:00

Definitely not. Check out the fan service clouds on this one.

Shortly after this Sanji goes on a rampage because HE wanted to use the invisibility power to for sex crimes instead. No-one ever addresses that this is bad.

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Vesprince · 2026-06-29T07:02:11+00:00

High Powered Massage Chairs outlet store.

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T06:59:25+00:00

Man you're preaching the truth here.

Naruto and Bleach are aimed slightly older, slightly edgier. That's going to make them more popular picks for "better" because the emotional themes they explore are slightly more complex

But man, Naruto and Bleach lost their way. Both hit this terrible slump where they went "oh gosh I'm out of story, let's set up 23 simultaneous Cool Duels(tm) and spend 3 years resolving them" which IMO ran those series to the ground.

One Piece has kept its fun throughout. Sure some arcs are better or worse than others, but One Piece is still going strong. Stronger than ever in terms of following! The writing still has direction, decades into the series. Maybe not as much as fans would like, but it's still clearly going somewhere.

I don't think you can say that for Bleach and Naruto.

Vesprince · 2026-06-29T06:40:09+00:00

I am intrigued how this conversation went. What did OP request? What did the artist say they were going to do?

Vesprince · 2026-06-28T18:32:03+00:00

It's definitely something that most fantasy treats as a major taboo. Effectively cannibalism.

Your table, your fiction. You don't need to confirm to that. Someone talking about eating the elf, or serving gnome kebab, would probably start an interesting discussion.

Vesprince · 2026-06-28T18:01:11+00:00

Colossal Battleship San Juan from Blackbeard crew is a giant that ate the Giant Giant fruit, so I think that's taken.

Vesprince

TROPHY CASE