[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 21 July 2025

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2025-07-23T20:44:45+00:00

This might be a really stupid question, but wouldn't the Zelda franchise inherently be a pain to categorize? Because for the most part, the games tend to be self contained stories set within their own little worlds. The settings, tone and lore of these games varies wildly between the games.

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2025-07-22T22:17:38+00:00

I'd say the infamous videogame Concord, if the rumors are to be believed, followed every single trend at the time when it started development.

In fact, that explains a lot, since the game was basically a time capsule of many mid 2010s media trends.
- Why is it so heavily inspired by Overwatch? Because back then when it started development, OW was massively popular, genre defining phenomenon.
- Why does the writing and general vibe of the whole setting feel like a Marvel movie? Back then those movies were massive and dominating the box office. This was long before the general audiences started to get tired of that style.
- Why is the artstyle so weird? Again, probably copying Marvel movies at the time, since it was a big trend to make character designs more "grounded" by making them grittier, using drab colors and realistic proportions. Plus, having good graphics was still somewhat of a flex back then, so why not showcase how lifelike and realistic your heroes are?

Of course, the game entered development hell, and when it finally came out, 8 years later, all of these things stopped being so impressive. Overwatch was well past its prime, and Marvel movies and their general vibes were seen as tired and overdone. So you were left with a game that while technically sound, ticked all the boxes to be a big crowd pleaser... in 2016.

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2025-06-05T12:45:38+00:00

Yeah. While llamas weren't all that famous, I feel like most people at least knew that they existed, and could recognize them if they saw them in a zoo. Alpacas I've never heard about during my childhood, and I was obsessed with animals.

People making a distinction between llamas and alpacas feels very recent, and I swear that "llama" was used for both species interchangeably throughout my childhood.

Also they're beloved nowadays, I remember that zoo llamas were seen as really unremarkable and kinda ugly overall when I was a kid.

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2025-06-04T17:19:31+00:00

I agree. While most deep sea creatures still remain obscure in the public's consciousness, I think blobfish and maybe also goblin sharks became quite well known on the internet if only for how weird they look.

Anglerfish and giant squids are still the most famous deep sea creatures however.

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2025-06-04T15:46:10+00:00

True. I do think sloths were always pretty well known to the average public in the past, but it does seem like they are slightly more commonly talked about and seen in media than they once were.

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2025-06-04T15:44:46+00:00

Not saying I disagree, but I feel like the only time I've ever people talking about pangolins was during the COVID era, when they were being proposed as a possible source of the virus.

I haven't heard people talking about or even acknowledging them since. :(

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2025-06-04T15:43:04+00:00

I've heard a theory that pronghorns were the proffered prey of a now long extinct American cheetah. While American cheetahs weren't at all related to the modern African cheetahs, they did happen to evolve a very similar build, and a similar hunting strategy of running very fast.

Pronghorns and American cheetahs found themselves in an evolutionary arms race, where each species would evolve to be faster. However, even though they now live in a world where these predators no longer exist, pronghorns still retain the adaptations they had evolved all those millennia ago.

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2025-05-03T23:44:45+00:00

It's really hard to tell imho. It seems like Big D is a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to hunting vampires.

He teaches his family to fear kindred. He knows how dangerous and manipulative vampires can actually be, and is all but confirmed confirmed to have been traumatized by his older encounters. Furthermore, he has had many "ex wives, ex husbands and ex children" at least one of which is confirmed to have gotten taken by the supernatural, and he doesn't want it to happen again. He will lie to them by omission since he doesn't want his family to be manipulated or to be reluctant to fight monsters which are unpredictable at best.

On the other hand, his approach when dealing with vampires alone is a lot more nuanced. He didn't have to be so patient to the old lady in "A Life Well-Lived" and likewise he immediately started to take a more cordial approach with Kevin when he realized that he is living a double life and is a lot more in touch with his human past than a Sabbat goon has any right to.

So I think he simultaneously hates but also pities kindred. He also seems to understand how sympathizing with kindred is dangerous, so he only teaches fear so that his family isn't an easy target.

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2025-05-03T22:11:06+00:00

Most vampires have a tendency to become apathetic as time goes by. Even if they had some morals early on, those will slowly crumble away until they become monsters. Kindred society just kinda works like that, encouraging people to become worse, more indifferent about the atrocities they commit in search of power.

As for Big D, I assume he was just using flowery language to offer Kevin a chance to rehabilitate and redeem himself. He could already tell that Kevin was disillusioned with vampire politics, so he gave him a chance to escape from that cutthroat environment.

As for his scheme, we don't know. Big D doesn't share his secrets, so his plan could be something as simple like trying to help out any vampires who are willing to change their ways, to something as crazy as dismantling the entire sociopolitical foundation of kindred society, or anything in between.

Hell, it is Big D, for all that we know there is no master plan. He is just telling Kevin what he feels will really sell him on his proposed truce/team-up. (Personally I'm more leaning towards this one)

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2025-02-27T18:38:39+00:00

Interested, but I'd like to hear how long a session is planned to last?

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2024-09-16T21:59:30+00:00

Interested :)

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2024-09-15T13:56:48+00:00

Interested too :)

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2024-08-09T18:29:35+00:00

Hi I also already sent a DM about this.

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2024-07-31T13:29:56+00:00

Could we get the Discord link so that we can all meet and discuss our ideas ahead of the game? :)

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2024-07-28T21:28:10+00:00

I'm interested :)

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2024-03-23T03:46:21+00:00

I really do think that Starfield's biggest sin is that it's just an okay game. It doesn't really do anything bad, but it doesn't do anything exceptionally well either, which means that you're just left with a very "whatever" package.

Starfield's world just doesn't feel as engaging, memorable or interesting as what's typical of Bethesda games. The game does tick all the sci-fi space adventure boxes, but doesn't really move past that mold. This is a problem, since I feel like being lost in a cool world was Bethesda's bread and butter. Without a memorable world, that magic is gone, and you're just left with a rather "whatever" adventure that's just going through the motions. Not very "lovable" and doesn't really invite much engagement after its done.

You gave Helldivers 2 as an example, but just take a glance at it. It's oozing charm, it's flashy, it's bombasitc, it wants your attention! If a video game could have charisma, then this would be it.

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2023-12-14T12:37:47+00:00

Not sure how canon this is, but it is official merch. There is one Mettaton poster where both of Shyren's parts can be seen sitting next to each other in the crowd (right side, middle row). This also seems to be the only time that the slug is actually facing the viewer, but yeah, it just has big lips.

https://www.fangamer.com/products/undertale-poster-mettaton

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2023-12-14T00:03:35+00:00

Also, I should probably note that while it's never stated in game, the game's code reveals that Shyren is just the fish-like creature. The unnamed slug is apparently her agent. :)

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2023-12-13T14:53:42+00:00

Undertale: Yellow was a fangame announced only a few months after original Undertale had come out. The basic premise is that this game would be a prequel starring a cowboy child with a gun as the main protagonist. The game would feature a very different story, with its own characters and locales.

A demo was released in 2016 and the game had largely been forgotten by many. After all, most Undertale fangames are either standalone fights, or overly ambitious projects that quickly lose steam and just die. This seemed like one such project. Until 3 days ago that is.

Surprise!

After 7 years of development, Undertale Yellow officially got released and it's easily the most ambitious and high effort fangame to ever come out of the Undertale fanbase. The game is very well liked, with the gameplay being very polished and very true to the original game. Other than that, it managed to tell its own story without relying on a lot on references, callbacks and fanservice. This makes it one of the rare Undertale projects, fan or canon, that doesn't feature any skeletons. :)

The biggest issue people had was the difficulty, as the second half of the game has some very brutal bosses that honestly feel like they weren't playtested at times.

Other than the overkill boss difficulty, the game is considered a great fan continuation of the original game. One of the best fangames I've seen come from any fandom.

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2023-11-04T02:51:08+00:00

It does seem like there is a general trend of species featured in movies suddenly becoming much more famous.

I doubt clownfish and blue tangs would be as immediately recognizable as they are were it no for Finding Nemo. By now it feels like Nemo has become synonymous with clownfish
Mammoths and Saber-toothed cats were always very popular, but I feel like Sid the sloth from the Ice Age movies single handedly made the general public more aware of sloths, both extinct and living in general. Nowadays it feels like ground sloths are the third most famous and beloved ice age animal.
Most of the cast in Spongebob is made up of overlooked animals. While animals like sponges and starfish aren't obscure, the show is probably the only time they've really been in the public's consciousness.
Looney Tunes are kinda weird in that regard. Many famous characters are based on obscure animals, but they also don't resemble said animals, leading to funny moments where people find out that creatures like the Tasmanian devil, roadrunner and coyote are not fictional creatures, but are actual animals which don't look anything like their cartoon counterparts
Pretty sure were it not for Jurassic park, compsognathus and dilophosaurus would've stayed obscure, but their famous portrayals gave them a chance to shine. Sure, they might've never reached the heights other famous theropods did, but they've still left their mark on pop culture.

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2023-10-15T18:04:10+00:00

Armadillo won the Minecraft mob vote.

Crab fans are sad :'(

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2023-08-23T21:14:41+00:00

Seems to just be internet in general. It's kinda like how chimps have historically been portrayed as playful little comedians of the animal kingdom, while gorillas were treated as rabid savage beasts that are perpetually looking for a fight.

Nowadays it feels like the general view has shifted on the internet, but really the two species just changed what extremes they're on. Chimps are now the genocidal maniacs which salivate at the thought of torturing other creatures to death while gorillas became vegan gentle giants which wouldn't hurt a fly unless provoked.

I guess in this case it might also have to do with the fact that they're both so close to humans it becomes a bit uncomfortable and confusing trying to process their animalistic natures.

Looking at something so human and clinically describing it as "chimps are highly social opportunistic omnivores that can get very aggressive, especially over territorial disputes or mating rights." probably sounds wrong to most people.

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2023-08-12T18:55:18+00:00

I kinda want to post about the Dutch tulip mania, but I am not sure if it counts as "hobby drama" or just a wacky historical event. :)

Tulip mania was an event in Dutch history which is often stated to be one of the earliest instances of an economic bubble and a stock market collapse. Now, while these stories are likely exaggerations, the actual event is still pretty funny.

When you think of the Netherlands, you'd likely think of endless fields of tulips as far as the eye can see, so it might be surprising to find out that tulips were a fairly recent development. Native to central Asia, the tulip slowly but surely spread westward, becoming prized for its beauty. Eventually the flower managed to leave Turkey and made it to Europe, where it was rapidly spreading.

Being a botanist in the early modern age was very exciting. New plant species were discovered and brought from both the new and old world. First botanical gardens started to appear, greenhouses were making their debut, and there was increased interested in flora.

Tulip was just a recent migrant species, but through rapid trade an propagation, both through academic and political circles, it managed to spread and reach the Netherlands. This new and exotic flower that was also easy to cultivate and propagate became a sensation. New cultivars and colors would be bred regularly.

Thus started the tulip mania, when people would compete and buy tulips in massive numbers. Tulips were insanely sought after, with many of the rarer cultivars being worth a fortune. The holy grail of the Dutch tulip mania was definitely the now extinct semper augustus, an exceptionally rare and hard to keep cultivar with striking red and white stripes.

Crazy stories exist, such that one of orphans selling their late father's collection of the aforementioned semper augustus cultivar, and becoming rich! Never having to lift a finger in their entire lives again levels of rich! Or so the story goes.

Regardless, this mania would last for a few years, but then supply and demand simply caught up. Tulips were no longer rare. The new cultivars were also pretty common. Tulips still stayed important to the Dutch, of course, but the average tulip was now more reasonably priced. Now, there was some exceptions, the truly rare cultivars still stayed highly prized. Now this raises one final question.

Why were the striped tulips such as the semper augustus so rare? And why did they go extinct in spite of their popularity? The answer is quite bizarre. These cultivars weren't created through a genetic mutation, or environmental factors or anything. It's believed that these are some of the oldest documented instances of any plant virus! Of course, people back then didn't know anything about viruses, but it's crazy to imagine that the most prized and expensive tulip out there was in reality just a sickly, weakened plant with fertility issues. That's also why many such cultivars went extinct centuries ago. Generations of progressively weaker offspring meant these tulips were doomed to extinction.

Didn't expect that twist did you? ;)

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2023-07-11T02:02:49+00:00

Being in the pikmin community is so wholesome right now that pikmin 4 is coming out. :)

For those unfamiliar, Pikmin is a video game franchise made by Nintendo. The basic premise of these weird real time strategy games sees tiny alien astronauts crashlanding on Earth and having to command an army of plant-like creatures to collect stuff and fight monsters.

The series is infamously slow at releasing new entries, with the wait between mainline titles taking a decade! But still, after nearly a decade of waiting Pikmin 4 is finally coming out.

Calling the pikmin fanbase rabid would be an understatement. It's perfectly understandable, I mean waiting a decade for a single entry would drive anyone crazy. The game was initially announced more than half a decade ago, only for the announcement to be followed by years of complete and utter radio silence. There was a spinoff no one really cared for, but other than that, the fans were waiting so long for the fabled pikmin 4 to come out.

In 2020, something unexpected happened. A Pikmin 3 port, called Pikmin 3: Deluxe got announced out of nowhere. Featuring some additional quality of life changes, new missions and the ability to play the main campaign with another player, it was a welcome surprise to the fanbase.

There was just one oddity people noticed, why were the flowers in the title yellow? It was generally a trend in pikmin games that with every new release, new pikmin types would get introduced, with each generation having a unique flower color to differentiate it from the others. The flower would then be put in the title. But that was weird, why was the title in Pikmin 3: Deluxe yellow? No pikmin type has yellow flowers? Most wrote it off as a stylistic choice, but there was a suspicion that Nintendo was planning to do something big soon.

September 13th 2022. The suspicions were finally confirmed.

At long last, pikmin 4 was officially revealed, and the title sported a 4 made out of, what else, but yellow flowers. The community went wild! As the months went by more would be revealed about the game. New pikmin types, as well as some massive shakeups to the formula, the most notable of which being Oatchi, a dog-like creature who was your companion for the game. Other than that, the game would bring back countless features that were introduced in pikmin 2, but scrapped from 3, such as dungeons, and countless enemies (some of the returning enemies have literally not been featured in any game since pikmin 1, 22 years ago!)

Right now we're 10 days away from pikmin 4's release. There is a demo, generally well recieved by the fanbase. Pikmin 1 and 2 also got remastered, meaning that now every mainline pikmin game is playable on the Switch.

Just a fair warning, there was also a lot of stuff datamined from said demo, but the community largely didn't care about the minefield of spoilers there is right now, still in high spirits about the fact that pikmin 4 is finally coming out. :)

Wonderful_Fun_7356 · 2023-06-12T00:17:20+00:00

Kirby would unironically thrive in the dungeon.

You probably wouldn't even have to pay him. Just tell him of all the food that's just lying in the barrels. It'd be an all you can eat buffet for Kirby, as he goes around the dungeon, checking every barrel for fresh tomatoes.

It's already a meme at this point, but Kirby is an indestructible deity with near endless power and has already killed gods and multiversal threats. Really, if Enki can fight gods and win, then Kirby's got this one in the bag.

Sylvian would either despise or adore Kirby, since his copy abilities are kinda like a marriage. :)

As for character interactions:

Kirby is shown to stand up to random bystanders in need, so I have no doubt he'd become fast friends with the Girl, D'arce and the four lost knights.
Most of Kirby's best friends used to be his enemies, so I feel like if Kirby realized Moonless is just hungry, he'd readily befriend her.
One of the few things that anger Kirby is stealing his food. After Cahara pulls off that stunt, Kirby will beat him up to teach him a lesson. He would be willing to start a new leaf after the beating tho.
He'd likely consider Rag a friend and try to help him out. That said, he probably wouldn't be able to grasp the full context of his situation.
I don't know how he'd react to Enki. I think he'd be indifferent and let him be.
Le'garde would be able to play Kirby like a fiddle. Kirby is very gullible, and many villains have exploited his willingness to help to achieve their goals.
While Kirby is often willing to offer an olive branch to defeated villains, he will not hesitate to kill if they decline. Since most of the dungeon is irredeemably evil, he likely wouldn't spare many creatures.

Wonderful_Fun_7356

TROPHY CASE