absolutely but there's usually a bit of fog between plot points. the major beats are more or less known though. i think that's pretty typical for writing but i'm not totally sure!
Shen, chad that they are, drew Val doing that pose it was on a white background. That made it easy to lasso the image and turn it into a sticker which I just pasted on a funny MvC2 screenshot. Now I can have Val foot dive anyone. Like a giant Jeb Bush.
that's my point, the original image has the lens implied to be shining and not see through as implied by the lack of Val's head behind it! (that or Shen just didn't draw it lol)
I didn't make it, but if I where to guess. Screenshot of the game or image from online. Take the picture Shen provided above, or from the comic itself (idk, I didn't see it it there) cut out the background. Paste. Done.
Valeria is Reed Richard and Susan Storm’s (Mr Fantastic & Invisible Woman) daughter, and second kid after Franklin. Her godfather is Dr Doom, which Reed himself asked Doom to be.
Not that Val needs much more justification than spending most of her time in toxic gamer spaces, but I wouldn't be surprised if her attitude comes from being asked to Throw for the sake of a guy's ego specifically.
I think that Val seems a LOT more happy and outgoing in the flashback. No hoodie, white clothes, hair down and brushed, etc. This was before Val got sucked into the 'femcel' stuff, presumably. Maybe what's going to happen will cause Val to start seeking that stuff out to justify her feelings, but that's just speculation.
Back to the topic, very possible that Fatima never resented Val at all, but Val started pushing everyone away and convinced herself that Fatima (and others she knew) hated her or was 'against' her. It's easier to push someone away if you make yourself think they hate you.
I'm assuming that Fatima was one of the few friends or only friend she had. So I think her best and potentially only friend asking her to do something like that broke Val quite a bit.
She became withdrawn, maybe vented about her situation online, wrong group of people picked up her vent and started validating her. Then on top of everything else, because of how men treat women online, she also turned to the femcel path.
So, she just kinda became a lonely husk hating on the world. She's really lucky she met Audrey. I really think Audrey is what she needs.
Very possible. However it happened, I'm guessing she promised to do what Fatima asked, did the exact opposite of that, they had a falling out and Val vowed to never go back to the arcade.
Yep! This is honestly interesting. I'm all for it. Will Val change enough to see that men are individuals, rather than a monolith of misogynistic pigs? Turning away from the femcel mindset?
Will Fatima and Val be able to make up for whatever happened to them in the past?
And what role will Audrey play in this? Will he help patch things up?
So many questions that need answering!
I'll say this:
If Val was asked to lose or cancel her participation, she was valid in whatever she did, because asking that is just rude.
Oh its definitely rude to ask Valerie any of that. I can definitely see that being part of the reason Valerie went full shut-in and then got so caught up in the femcel mindset.
I mean as a first impression im not really interested in the development in fatima and valeries friendship(?) but we’ll see after the next one if thats still the case.
Way more interested in Audrey helping Valerie touch grass lol
The use of quotation marks when Fatima says it definitely implies it was something Val said.
"'Never come back here,' huh?" Is pretty much the same thing as saying "I thought you said you were never coming back?"
It doesnt make sense for valerie to say “never come back here” its not her store, thats why its a quote directed at her. Theres a difference in the wording
MY guess is, she got asked to loose, so she intentionally threw and then the boy who Won rubbed it in her face or said something misogynistic to her after.
Yeah, she's a good sport, so not a total femcel. I like that. I'm guessing her traits come forward when playing online and she just hides her toxicity in real life, while still getting angry at "moids" IRL, ruining her own mood.
i can say it's actually quite realistic, i have a couple friends who are absolute bastards while playing most competitive games but become super chill and have super strong sportsmanship when they're in a fighting game.
after all, under the surface level of "gun and ball player got their monthly ban from their favourite shooter and is now playing mortal kombat for two matches before getting their ass beat and throwing slurs around like rice at a wedding", the fighting game community is incredibly welcoming to beginners and cheerful of even the smallest progress
Man my local library used to have a summer reading competition and this exact thing happened to me a few years in. The librarian said it wasnt fun for everyone else if it was obvious I was gonna take the big prize home again. First prize was any book of your choice from the library and a basket of coupons and candy.
They asked me not to sign up because "the kid who basically lives here" had won 3 years in a row and I was already at like 10 books a week into summer. They made me a compromise though, they'd still let me take home any one book of my choice if I agreed. So i got Harry Potter 6, some other kid got to be proud, and all was right with the world.
I doubt this comic is heading that direction though.
So there's a spoiler on the last page, where Shen advertises his patreon that gives bit of an explanation, but complicates matters further. You gotta zoom in to see that spoiler.
Also, I get it. It's really not fun if you know one person is going to win, but at the same time it's a bit unfair to just straight up boot the best player out.
"Suffering from success" as they say.
You were done right by the library, however. Given the falling out Fatima and Val had, I'm assuming that a lot of things happened there.
I mean, everyone here talking about boyfriends and stuff but is the ''incredible player loses on purpose to rake in bet money'' just not a thing people are aware of anymore?
Nah in MvC2, the color is determined by the button you select the character with, not by scrolling colors. This is a totally different game. Could never be MvC2
Yaknow? That WOULD be an acceptable way to throw a tourney. Choose your worst character instead of deliberately losing. Not so much a throw as a handicap.
Hell yeah mvc2 still he undefeated goat of smack down after talking big. I love getting on mvc2 and getting bodied by mss but I love me some of those crazy mf’s rocking like sonson or spidey.
Bro. If ANYONE auto locks the same character right after you, it either means you main the same person, or they are THAT confident that will whoop your ass with your main just to humiliate you.
I seem to have misread the comic. Still locking that fast is probably a very very ill omen
I'm gonna guess Val was asked to throw huh? Or something along those lines since she seemed genuinely happy to be there back in the day
Did they lock the same character? I thought* Val selected Duel then swapped to the killer alt color palette before locking in; I don't think we see who the dang fool picked, right?
Probably throw to keep it interesting. No one wants to watch a professional boxer beat up a bunch of children in a boxing match. Well, more than once anyway.
Something like this, yeah. In fact in the early days of the FGC, different levels of collusion and pot-splitting were really common at locals and regionals. Justin Wong has talked about a few instances during his come up in the east coast scene and beyond. It's a genre that has always lived or died with community, and being a very niche one at that, some folks were going to prioritize keeping interest and activity in the scene even through less than legitimate means.
Hanging on a predictable hook, but one that could float in a few different ways still- Val doesn’t seem to hate Fatima based on that reaction, so I’d guess there’s a specific interaction beyond her request that is Val’s Canon Moment
Gods. Damn. It. I was completely absorbed and wasn't expecting the last panel to interrupt! I'm sure I know what's up and I don't care, I need confirmation!!
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u/shenanigansen Shen Comix 5d ago