I love gacha reaction videos, I really do.. But sometimes they push my buttons a bit too much.
Not the best thumbnail? Idm!
Fairly basic character designs? I prefer the ones with good designs but basic doesn't mean unwatchable!
Out of character slightly? That's fine, everyone sees the characters differently!
Out of character to the point it's not the same character? Fuck off I'm not watching that bullshit even if your telling me it's an AU. AU can have differents that change how characters act but it's crossing the line when it makes them a completely different person.
Watermark/something on top of the video? I'll find where you live and make you repost that shit with it correct done.
Audio completely bugging out? It's varies and i do get wanting to avoid copyright but when I can't even tell what song it is, we have a problem.
Also I don't mind if there's like a scene that focuses on a certain character/characters that's like them figuring things out.. But that's between videos stuff, not in the middle of reaction with the video playing in the background half visible as the camera focuses on one dude. I like watching the videos their reacting to since it's a good way to find new artist to follow along with I might have not seen that video yet.
Slow dialog? Sure, plenty of time to read and watch the video!
Fast dialog and multiple people speaking at the same time? ...Did you even play back the video while making this? Who the hell reads a whole ass sentence in a second before it switches to a different person???
At this point I'm making my own gacha reaction videos. Especially considering how much the freak circus designs some people have are pissing me off.
I'll either complety embarrass myself with the design or show that it really isn't that hard. (I have used gacha life/club/2 before so I'm not starting completely from scratch)
I'm about to start crashing out, so yk, I just casually started playing honkai star rail like few days ago and today I got myself to lvl 21, but omfg. I've done 60 pulls. SIXTY. for one 4 star character.
Her name is Quinaife, she's my baby that refuses to hop on the train and come home.
I'M CLOSER TO PULLING A 5 STAR THAN HER.
I'VE PULLED THE CHICKEN ULTIMATE GIRL TWICE, LYNC 3 TIMES AND SOME RANDOM 4 STAR CHARACTER THAT WASN'T PART OF THE BANNER???? DUDE I JUST WANT MY FIREWORK GIRL. NOT SOME HEALER OR A CHICKEN GIRL, WHERE ARE MY EXPLOSIONS?????
I'VE DONE WHAT I CAN FROM THE EVENTS ENDING TODAY BUT I CAN ONLY GRIND THIS GAME SO MUCH BEFORE MY PHONE OVERHEATS. I HAVE LIKE 5 HOURS OR SMT TILL THE NEW PATCH COMES OUT MEANING A NEW BANNER WITH DIFFERENT 5 STARS AND 4 STARS. MY FUCKING BABY'S GONE IN FEW HOURS AND I WON'T SEE HER AGAIN TILL SHE APPEARS ON THE BANNER AGAIN OR I GET LUCKY AND PULL HER WHEN SHE'S NOT ON IT.
I hate gambling. (99% gambles quit before they hit it big)
I'm getting that girl even if she's the last character I get. I'mma start saving up just to be able to pull for her once she appears again.
Omg i love baby killers, especially baby nurses!!???
Like i just met a baby nurse that did their best to chase me but they clearly new to nurse consider they just kept chasing and only used their blink when i was too far away.
But omg imma start straggling these survivors bc why the hell yall tbagging a newbie when YOU ACTUALLY END UP GETTING HIT???? The only reason i got hit was because the nurse surprised me but they weren't that hard to avoid, especially how they didn't use their blinks much.
I just wanted to play as Bill quick bc i need bloodpoints and he got few random add ons my main ran out of just to end up all men team which, yk what? Sure, why not. BUT WHY YALL SO RUDE, STOP TBAGGING THE NEWBIE????
Like these ppl cry and whine when the killers are tryhards without mercy with op perks, then they go and bully the baby and fun killers. LIKE I WANT TO FIND FUNNY KILLERS BUT I NEVER FIND THEM BECAUSE YALL BULLY THEM AWAY??? And when yall just tbag and bully the newbies they then just refuse to play killer which then only leads to ppl only playing against experienced killers you only escape by pure luck.
I recently got my ps+ back so i can play dbd again and OH MY GOD. I DID NOT MISS THESE SURVIVORS AT ALL. first match doesn't go well bc i forgot the run button, thats my fault.
Second match? Two ppl in basement, third obsessed with one machine and refusing to leave it while im stuck tryna sneak into basement. The two who were hooked in basement and got saved? Dead minute or two later. The person obsessed with machines? Refuses to save me when im hooked and gets grabbed off machine.
Third match? Oh BOY. i was the first to get hooked because i lost track of the killer and didn't realise they were still following me. Guess what happens? I get left on hook. I watch as someone elsd gets hooked near me, that person gets unhooked and HEALED ON HOOK WHILE IM GOING INTO SECOND PHASE. i honestly just started failing all the skillchecks only to get saved the last second, i didn't even care anymore and just found the killer and got hooked.
I can't even play with my duo rn bc she got stuff to do and is only free after a week so im stuck with randos who are either newbies or got one braincell.
I'd be helpful, I'd unhook and heal if yall did the same back. But no one does so, they all just watch me die on hook while the killers no where near me.
Hey so incase anyone's unaware, i live in finland so snows pretty common in winter and so are the chances of snow melting and reappearing during easter...
I took this pic not even 10 mins ago, CAN THE SNOW GO AWAY??? I WANT MY WARM SUNNY DAYS BACK SO I CAN WEAR MY GOOD OUTFITS AND NOT HAVE TO LAYER 3 DIFFERENT SHIRTS AND TERMAL PANTS JUST TO SURVIVE. WINTERS DONE DO CAN THE SNOW STOP APPEARING????
Sometimes out of boredom i just start reading my old af unfinished stories and like 2/5 ARE ABSOLUTE PEAK. Like most of them are cringy af to the point i want to delete them, but i dont. Yk why? BECAUSE THE IDEAS BEHIND THOSE STORIES ARE TOO GOOD TO LOSE. IF I DELETE THE STORY, I DELETE THE IDEA. Theres no "write down the prompt" BECAUSE THE EMOTION WITHIN THOSE CRINGY WORDS IS WHAT MAKES THE STORY GOOD.
Like one story thats like reader insert has the mc drugged AND OLD ME WROTE IT PERFECTLY. THERE WAS AN ASTABLISTED WAY THE MC ACTED AND THEN THAT WAY OF ACTING COMPLETELY CHANGED WHEN DRUGGED. Not like "this is completely different person" but "oh fuck- you ok???" LIKE IT IS STILL THE SAME PERSON SOMETHINGS JUST OFF AND LIKE MMMMJMHMHMRMDKSWJJFRJCTRJVTTHWJWJ
Another one displayed survivors guilt AMAZINGLY. Like the mc constantly just thinking about what happened, what they could have done differently not to mention them getting flashbacks to what happened everytime they hesitate or look at the dead persons picture. Like one thing in the story is like the mc getting a friend to let their bff join the mc finally, just for the bff to end up dead and mc doesn't know how to tell the friend what happened to bff because they promised bff would be safe yet their dead. Their dead bc mc didn't pay enough attention, their dead bc mc froze up once they noticed, their dead because mc hesitated.
And my favourite one... A story where i managed to catch the feeling of betrayal turn into a hot ugly boiling anger. The type of anger that it doesn't matter how much pain your in, not even if you're bleeding or struggling to walk, all you care about is surviving just so you can show the one who betrayed you how big they messed up. Like giving up your whole life for them just to get betrayed type of anger. The type that never quite burns out, it just keeps sizzling till its poked and broight back to life in a never satisfied rage.
So often when im writing nowadays my writing feels so dull, but then i look back on my older wips and omg those are some unfinished masterpieces. And even me trying to shorten the stories into short prompts don't do justice to the raw emotion in those stories.
How almost real the drugged mc acted, how badly the mc regretted not doing something or how hot the anger boiled.
I can't justify the emotions in those stories without completely rewriting them here the same way.
Okay, i don't got an tiktok rant account so yall gonna read my rants instead.
Topic today?
Poppy playtime:
character designs and story!
Rant under the cut
(Also if ya got suggestions how to space things better, please tell me in comments or asks, or even dms! ^^)
Okay, so lets make something clear. I absolutely love poppy playtime with all my heart. I just wish they did some things differently. I know somethings that I'll mention might be things ppl have spoken about already but I'll still give my views on the matter.
Starting off with the character designs!
I personally love every design from chapter 1 till 3. Huggy, mommy, catnap, ect. I love the design so much because they look like toys. Huggys a cute plush with a smile, mommy reminds me of an old plastic doll i used to had. It was an lalaloopsy if i remember correctly! Not exactly like mommy, but similar which only proves that mommy could be an real toy if she was made. And of course Catnap's a plushie!
They all feel like toys! But my main issue is with Doey. I love Yarnaby's design, if the toy counterpart doesn't have the head splitting in two, i could see it as an real toy! And as doctor and prototype aren't toys, their looks dont matter as much. But doey..????
I understand his thing is "play dough man" and i really love that, but it feels like he stands out too much compared to the other toys. Especially considering most toys have mini counterparts; huggy/kissy & mini huggys, mommy & daddy + baby, catnap & smiling citters, ect. Then theres... Doey. Thats it. Yeah the lore reason is that he's 3 ppl in one and even if they were mini doeys, he could just make them a part of him. But i just personly dislike his design even though i do love Doey otherwise.
Then we got the piping hot tea, ready to get poured into a cup once chapter 5 releases next week.
Lily lovebraids, or however her name is spelled ;-;
A part of me, likes the design but a bigger part just sees "mommy rip-off" "toy child". Let me explain what i mean by that. I feel like her idea of braids that can stretch and do whatever she wants feels way too similar to mommy, even in the trailer she counts down like in mommy's 'chase' scene. And she also looks... not like a toy, in a way.. like someone trying to make an child out of plastic. Like real life sized child, fully out of plastic. Her design feels so off to me.. but im not part of the design team so i can't do anything about it lol.
Then we have the other toys shown in the trailer. Im not exactly what they are, but they looked lot like the smiling critters to me at least. For now, i believe their like more broken and twisted version of the critters, not like nightmare which are just a different version. But more twisted, like broken and put back together with other toy parts twisted. (Mangle ref-) and because thats all i know about them, i can't judge them too hard. Because if my guess is right, their cool as fuck. But if thats what their meant to look in canon, like thats what the in world poppy playtime design team made? Thats... awful, those are not sellable toys, especially to children.
And as i believe ive went over most character designs, lets move onto story!
So to start this section off, I'll say this simply, my main and biggest issue is with chapter 4. Otherwise i don't have anything to say about the previous chapters. Okay, let's start!
I personally believe chapter 4 was the weakest chapter so far, especially story wise. I only like the ending of 4, the small tiny bit of the hours long chapter after killing doey. The tape you can find of Doey recording it to remember why he doesn't just leave? I love it. Especially the fact that we can only see that tape after killing him, its more impactful. Then we have the venduct scene with poppy running away and kissy losing her arm. I absolutely love that scene, its so perfect! The way it makes prototype seem like this "one step ahead" type of villain. Like he's playing chess with all the toys as chess pieces, or smt. I dont play chess.
And the way Kissy reacts? She can't speak but her body language, her looking around, shaking, hyper aware of every little noise? It perfectly shows off how she feels, she's absolutely TERRIFIED. yet even still, she tries to save the player. Also i enjoy Poppy's dialog and betrayal, its not my favourite but prototype's "don't worry, I'll find her!" All cheerful as if the vent isn't sbout the explode is hilarious to me. AND THE END CUTSCENE? THE TAPE? HUGGY RUNNING AT YOU ALL INJURED AND FURIOUS? I LOVE THAT.
But thats... the only bit of chapter 4 story i actually enjoyed. Which is sad, because those were the few if not only moments in that chapter where it felt like the earlier chapters. Like the player was the only way it was continuing. Thats the wrong word but the better way to explain it is:
Chapter 4 could have happened even without the player there.
I once heard someone explain that as "the story is moving around the player" or along those lines which is exactly the issue. Most scenes and areas could have happened with another character. Doey could have done a lot of what the player did in chapter 4. With the only expection being pretty much the doctor fight because doctor knows how to counter doey.
In earlier chapters, everything happened because of the player. The player entered the building, triggering the safety system which woke up huggy. Player freed poppy. Player played mommy's games, player killed mommy. Player got the train code. Player, player, player, PLAYER.
It all happened because OF player. Its a chain of events that lead them into the area of chapter 4 and it feels like that chain just, disconnects there. Its stops being Player did this, it became player do this player do that. Like yeah, ealier chapters have had "player do this" but they didn't feel like fetch quests. It felt like moving along, like powering on the home thingy (i dont remember chapter 3s areas). Like yeah, poppy and ollie were there to tell us what to do but it felt more like guiding. Like "maybe theres something in the school that could help?" While chapter 4 goes "go get dynamite to blow up the foundations" I get that poppy had an plan for revenge but still. It just feels so disconnect from rest of the story.
Especially how threats appear as easily as they disappear. Yarnaby section? At least he gets an introduction but his area doesn't even feel like a stealth section as it should because of the amount of bugs it has. And the way Yarnaby just walks around casually? It feels like he's just wandering, not like he's hunting down prey. It feels so underwhelming with the only thing making people scared being the overpowered yarnaby bugs. Not to mention his death scene? At launch most people didn't even realise he was dying.
I once already ranted about yarnabys chase because it just annoys me so muchhh. Huggy's constantly moving around and you gotta keep an eye out for him because he's in front of you before you know it. Mommy's hands are reaching for everything so you gotta look out. Catnap chase scene leads into a fight so we are ignoring that, BUT DOGDAYS CHASE? HELL YEAG I LOVE THAT CHASE. so compared to other chases, Yarnabys chase feels so bland and underwhelming. It's a "turn your brain off" kind of chase.
We saw Yarnabys travel through vents, why not use that? Why not make him pop in and out of vents during the chase? I know in lore yarnabys just the doctors dumb loyal pet, but please make the chase at least interesting.... and his death is so underwhelming too??? Every death(expect piano) were so underwhelming to me in chap 4. Yarnaby, doctor, doey. Their all just... scream and die mostly. Compared to other deaths?
Mommy's scared, not scared of dying but scared of becoming apart of the prototype. Catnap quite literally dies worshiping the prototype. Miss delights death is sudden as she gets crushed. Dogday screams in agony as his body becomes a puppet. Every single death felt like something. Fear, worship, surprise, pain. It all feels real, at least as real as living toys dying can be.
But compared to chapter 4? Yarnaby dies struggling, sure, but it doesn't feel impactful. It doesn't feel like we just killed a living thing, more like an rabid animal trying to kill you and acting in self defence which it was to a degree, but with how underwhelming yarnabys section was? It's just plain. Doctor sends his robots after you which all just freeze once he dies. It's just.. meh. Sure Doeys mad, crying, ect in his death scene but it's not enough to make it impactful. The only thing making that even feel like something is the tape afterwards, because before the fight? There was just so little character you could see and connect with. (unless you watched every tape) he feels just like just a plain character with little personality even if he has quite complex one when looking deeper. Most people don't even realised he had multiple kids in him till his transformation in which he switches from sad, keeping things together, mad, crying, tryna be calm, screaming, ect.
Tbh, I had high hopes for chapter 4 after how good the previous chapters were but now I can only hope chapter 5 can be either as good if not better then 4 (which is a pretty low bar for my standards rn)
I know i missed a bunch of stuff in this rant but I kinda wanna go play silksong more then continuing to wrote this lmao
I want to write a story. Like a real, emotional, story. Not emotional through pleasure or joy, but through sorrow. Rage. A story that shares what its like to give and give with pleasure yet to get pushed away and used without mercy till you realise, it never mattered if you were willing to give. They would have taken it from you either way.
But thats just an oversimplified version of an vague idea. That doesn't share how i want it to feel.
I want the reader to read the story, read through the joy and excitement, mourn with the mc and feel happy for them. All just to make the twist more unbelievable. To make the switch in the tone of the story, a tone thats been in the background from the very start, the main focus.
Its not a story for joy. Its a story for shock. I want the twist to happen and the reader to cry, to refuse to believe it, to stop and think as their reading "is this really happening?".
But i know myself. I know i leave fics unfinished even before one chapter is finished. I start a project and abandon it just as easily. And to create this story, i cant just put the twist in the first chapter. I need to build up the mc and how they act, create side characters readers care about and get attached to. But doing that, requires multiple chapters. Readers get attached to things they enjoy, a small speck of enjoyment is not enough to get them attached to words on a screen.
An attachment that makes them mourn the digital character once its gone, once its dead.
That takes time and effort, to create a character others can get attached to, it takes love from the author. I need to create characters that are interesting and that i love like my own children. All just to create one name to bring comfort or discomfort to the readers.
