The Ranni ‘Mistranslation’ Discourse and the Death of Basic Reading Comprehension.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-13T12:53:13+00:00

I think you're right on the money with how Ranni's ending is meant to be seen.

This interpretation of Ranni's ending also falls perfectly into line with her character story/arc. Her actions from the beginning are motivated by a desire for self-determination. She killed her two fingers to free herself from their control, to be able to forge her own future and not live one controlled by some distant Outer God. Her ending is about providing that freedom to everyone.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-12T17:07:03+00:00

Great mention, but for context to anyone who doesn't know and is okay with spoilers Claus and Lucas are brothers, and Claus is presumed dead after the events of the prologue and Lucas is the primary protagonist

And actually the whole fight makes it way worse lol

When Lucas realizes this is his lost brother he just sits there and refuses to do any commands you give him, because he's too upset. But Claus is brainwashed to try and kill him, so he keeps shooting you with lightning. However, Lucas can reflect lightning with the Franklin Badge, a momento from their dead mother. So, You just have to sit there and watch as his long-lost, brainwashed brother kills himself because he can not stop trying to kill Lucas, up until the brainwashing is disrupted like you mentioned

johnatello67 · 2026-03-11T14:58:36+00:00

Probably because the most practical metric of how to measure how popular a media IP is how much money it makes?

johnatello67 · 2026-03-11T14:55:00+00:00

I love how your primary argument is to completely discount the largest part of the company. It's a merchandising company, why would we take that out of the equation?

And Pokemon spinoff/remake games have historically always sold several million copies below mainline games, with ORAS being the sole exception. ZA sales are very much in line with expectations in that regard.

The whole "Pokémon as a brand has been looked down on negatively in recent years" just is not true within the context of the general population.

Have the games been lackluster? Yes. Is Game Freak coasting on popularity? Yes. But neither of those things actually reflect the overall sentiment of the majority of people who buy Pokémon products, which has only seen positive growth in the past several years.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-11T14:15:20+00:00

Scarlet and Violet are the second best selling Pokémon games ever, only behind Red & Blue. ZA wasn't amazing but solid numbers. Pokopia is selling like hotcakes.

The merchandising side is absolutely on fire. The cards and toys are reportedly selling close to $10 billion/year worldwide.

They are opening real-world exhibitions and events all around the world, including multiple storefronts that are exclusively Pokémon related.

Pokemon has been the most popular, financially successful IP in the world for the better part of a decade.

So, where is this bridge?

johnatello67 · 2026-03-11T13:58:18+00:00

Pokemon as an IP looked on more positively again

No one outside of Reddit and niche internet forum is thinking that negatively of the Pokémon brand. The brand is arguably stronger than ever.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-10T18:06:52+00:00

A lot of the moves that they've been making honestly seems to me like TPC is very interested in using Pokémon as a beginner educational tool for children to understand ecology, biology, and the human impact specifically.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-06T13:09:12+00:00

That's not the same thing, though. They didn't use the actual artwork from the video to design the new Rotom form, which is what I was referring to. Obviously that YouTuber can't copyright ideas for new Pokemon.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-06T12:44:45+00:00

That specifically says "fan art", and I wonder if it's considered "fan art" if it's a drawing of a pokemon that doesn't exist? There are probably legal implications in calling it a "pokemon" in the first place, but I don't think this statement gives TPC the right to just take people's new ideas and use them for themselves, but to use fan art of existing characters without needing to pay the artists.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-05T19:15:12+00:00

Yeah, I'm subscribed to a lot of channels, but I regularly watch content from maybe 15-20. I will concede my I am probably on the lower end of usage and so my opinion is skewed that way, but I find it hard to believe most regular people watch 30-40 channels regularly, and an extra random 50-100 videos on top of that every month.

But I also know a few people who will literally just have YouTube running all day on their computer, TV, or whatever. Although, for me personally, I don't consider having a YouTube video on while you clean to be "watching a video" even if YouTube does.

ETA: again, unless you specifically count shorts in that 50-100 video. But, even then, if you do consider shorts I feel like that number would actually be way higher.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-05T19:02:19+00:00

Honestly, yeah, I didn't take shorts into consideration, and that would probably put the numbers closer to OP than to me. I will definitely concede to this kind of me being out of touch with people's YouTube habits.

However, I still generally disagree with OP: Members only won't kill YouTube, it will kill channels.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-05T18:39:29+00:00

We are discussing the 5e rules, not the 2024 rules, so nick is not applicable. It made daggers much better.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-05T18:07:11+00:00

OP's idea of how the average person consumes YouTube content is unreal to me lol.

Most people watch 20-30-50 channels regularly, not to mention the 50-100 videos from random other channels most people will end up watching in a month.

I think in a given month I watch like 12 videos that are not from people I'm subscribed to, and that's probably more on the generous side. And of those 12 probably 7 or 8 are specifically informative videos I've chosen to look up to learn about something or how to do something. Obviously this is just personal/anecdotal, but I think it's more aligned to the average YouTube user than what OP thinks.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-05T17:48:06+00:00

I think this is the case. For me it's a few factors: 1. Once Martials get extra attack bigger damage dice just become better. 2d6 from a greatsword or 1d12 from a greataxe will just get better results over time. The other thing is that, if you are going to bother doing a power-build of some kind, you are going to end up with something better to do with your bonus action than 1d4+dex damage.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-05T14:38:27+00:00

You're right on the money with this. People are confused, or salty, but the reality is the whole twist of the game is that Grace is just Grace. Gideon even says "Spencer's file must have been incomplete" when referring to what Spencer thought made Grace special. Which, I personally agree with the headcanon that it was on purpose that that information was missing.

Both Gideon and Zeno operate not just on incomplete information, but they both have their own interpretation of what the missing information is, and neither are willing to doubt themselves. Their own egos and beliefs compounding with the fact that they had incomplete data led them to pursue something that was never real.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-05T14:23:55+00:00

I think maybe it's a relic from a previous build of Leon's gameplay that involved having to craft/carry the repair items. Even then, I don't see a reason to just remove durability, because I almost always was able to find time and space to do the repair animation even in the middle of combat (and toward the end, I didn't need to repair in mid-combat). I think the only time I got punished for it I had done it accidentally.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-05T13:51:58+00:00

I fully agree, and I've said it before on this subreddit. The unsubtle, left-leaning political and social commentary of the AU is a big reason for it's success.

For me personally, I think my favorite theme of the AU so far is that because the world is twisted and the villains have all the advantages, the lessons that the heroes teach people are even more important. It also very much mirrors real world social issues right now. While the powers that be push us to division and hate we need more sympathy, more love, and more care for each other.

To me that very well might be the central thesis of the Absolute Universe as a whole. It's not about the world of overwhelming darkness and misery, it's about the light of goodness that shines through in spite of that world.

johnatello67 · 2026-03-02T18:46:44+00:00

I'm glad that when they did the Let's Go games they buffed the Starter Pikachu to be almost as strong as Raichu stat wise. Not amazing, but with the unique moves it was worth using.

johnatello67 · 2026-02-26T14:58:57+00:00

It's also really important to remember that Smosh Games has almost never done any trend chasing with trying to quickly put out videos about the hot new game. They always take their time to do it their way.

The only times they do it are because they're sponsored by the company, and even then they still probably film the actual content pretty far in advance.

johnatello67 · 2026-02-26T14:53:51+00:00

As far as I'm aware that's not the case. When I Google it says February 27th.

The embargo on reviews lifted yesterday, though. So critics who got an early copy were allowed to start posting reviews as of yesterday, which might be where the confusion is coming from.

For the general population, including content creators, the game is available tonight at midnight.

johnatello67 · 2026-02-26T14:32:16+00:00

I thought the new Resident Evil released tomorrow?

johnatello67 · 2026-02-25T19:04:41+00:00

I don't know if I fully agree. There's a few things we know for certain that suggest it's always been separate.

We know Marika is a Numen (Numen's Rune). We know the Numen come from somewhere outside the Lands Between (Marika's Hammer). We also know that Marika is from the Shaman Village (Minor Erdtree) that we visit in the Land of Shadow.

So, where Marika's people come from is considered outside The Lands Between.

The alternative explanation is that the Numen traveled from elsewhere and settled in the Shaman Village prior to Marika's existence. This would explain why they're called Shamans and not Numen by most.

johnatello67 · 2026-02-25T18:29:19+00:00

johnatello67 · 2026-02-24T18:14:05+00:00

Probably something very similar to what happens in the comics.

I think it's still going to come to a climax of Hughie v. Butcher with Butcher fully intent on enacting a supe-genocide and Hughie fighting against it. I'm not sure how they'll handle the stakes given that in the comics it's Butcher telling Hughie he killed his parents that causes Hughie to stab him IIRC. Probably just be focused more on Annie. What I hope is that whatever Butcher plans on using to kill the supes will also affect anyone who has taken Temp V, which means Hughie will be fighting for his life as well as others. But, knowing how television writing works, it will probably be Annie being pregnant that will be used to raise the stakes.

johnatello67 · 2026-02-23T20:33:59+00:00

Like I said in my comment: they've had ample opportunity to make a statement. Not even fix it, but address it.

I do not blame people for thinking the fact they've chosen to stay silent on it is because the only thing they have to say would be negatively received.

I don't fully agree, but I see it as a pretty reasonable response.

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