For the fun of it, I’m going to post about all the cases I can remember where I stopped buying stuff from a company involved in creative works because of various things they did. Also, my history with them and current state. I could write very long posts on each of these, but my intent is to try to keep it short and straightforward.
Square-Enix
I grew up with Final Fantasy from Squaresoft. It was my lifelong fandom.
Problems arose with Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and Chrono Trigger DS. All of these games either were ideas for new franchises forced where they didn’t belong, or half-assed projects meant to bilk money out of people. The final straw was 3rd Birthday, one of the most insulting works I’ve ever seen. It bent over backwards to ruin perception of Aya, treated her like a sex object, and the producer and scriptwriter lied profusely about things like how the clothes ripping away mechanic was for “realism.”
Current status: Starting 2010, I’ve refused to buy anything Squeenix until a new game starring Aya Brea would be made that treats Aya right and makes 3rd Birthday noncanon. Squeenix’s philosophy is to hide its mistakes instead of fixing them, so I expect I’ll never buy and engage in anything from Squeenix again.
Ubisoft
I didn’t have much history with Ubisoft. I had been starting to get some interest in Assassin’s Creed after an online pal introduced me to the franchise. I greatly enjoyed AC3.
Then, Ubisoft decided to be dicks to Patrice Desilets. A lot could be said about this, but the cliffnotes is this. Desilets was making 1666 with THQ. Ubisoft bought THQ. When Desilets left/was fired (can’t remember which), the rights to 1666 were to go back to him if it got canceled. So, Ubisoft put the game on “indefinite hold” instead of canceling it – ensuring the rights wouldn’t go back to Desilets while never actually doing anything with it. I stopped buying anything Ubisoft until Desilets got the rights back.
Current status: The rights finally went back to Desilets after a few years. I immediately bought four games: Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4, Far Cry Primal, and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. This year, I bought Far Cry 5, and I currently have Assassin’s Creed Odyssey next to play after I’m done with Soul Calibur VI.
Soul Calibur
I’ve been playing Soul Calibur games since SCII. I’ve enjoyed them a great deal. My favorite character in the franchise is Setsuka.
Soul Calibur V is where I had big complaints. The excuse of a time jump to change the roster conveniently meant most of the female roster “needed” to be changed while most of the male roster got to remain. Including the removal of Sophitia and Taki. To Taki’s exclusion, the director claimed she was “too old” to be a ninja, yet he saw no problem with Mitsurugi, Siegfried, or Raphael returning. I played Lost Swords, but I determined that I wouldn’t play another Soul Calibur entry until Sophitia and Taki were brought back.
Current status: Soul Calibur VI just recently came out, and it brought back Sophitia and Taki, and gave them some of the respect they should’ve gotten during SCV. As such, I own this game. I’m playing it right now.
Resident Evil
Like most people, I started with Resident Evil 2. I was never a huge fan, but I followed along with main entries up to and including Resident Evil 5.
Then Resident Evil 6 happened. A supposed “anniversary” title, it excluded Jill and Claire completely, while putting Chris and Leon on a pedestal. Other projects began to make it abundantly clear that the current team fanwanks over Chris and Leon while refusing to acknowledge the value of Jill and Claire. I can say so, so much on this, but I’ll refrain for brevity sake. I determined that after RE6, I would only buy something if it starred Jill or Claire, until they got to be the stars of a main numbered entry again.
Current status: Capcom still hasn’t done it, so this rule is still in effect. Notably, I’m skipping the Resident Evil 2 “remake” because it’s become abundantly clear that the team is treating it like a Leon fanwank with Claire included rather than an actual remake.
DC Comics
Of the two “big” superhero entities, DC is the one I grew up with. It was mostly Batman growing up, because that’s what DC was focusing on the most. But I still loved Superman a lot. I never really got to watch any of the cartoons. Never seemed to catch them. It was mostly about films. I came to greatly enjoy Harley Quinn as I got older, to the point where I read her first (in my mind only) solo series.
The first DC “reboot” of the 2010s is where things changed. I had huge problems with how they changed Harley Quinn. The design threw away her entire harlequin theme, and all the fun it meant, to make her basically look like a clown girl Joker knockoff. I dropped everything DC at that point with plan to only engage in stuff that included actual Harley Quinn until she came back.
Current status: In rare cases where I find out actual Harley Quinn is involved in something, I check it out. I watched the Batman and Harley Quinn animated movie (which sucked) in theaters, for example. The only exception I’ve made so far was the Wonder Woman film, to support female-led superhero films. I do see that there’s going to be an animated series with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. If that’s the start of bringing back actual Harley, I may be returning to DC soon.
Nintendo
I also grew up with Nintendo. They were the main video game provider. There’s not a lot to say in this regard.
Other M was where problems started. I actually bought, played and beat the game, and I can tell you it’s an insulting wreck. But it’s Nintendo’s behavior afterward that turned me against them. They basically blacklisted Metroid and Samus except for cases where they “had” to use her. They treated her and Metroid like a minor franchise, ignoring its anniversary, cause they didn’t want to admit they made a mistake and fix it. And there’s also Federation Force which is a whole other ball of bullshit. Nintendo’s antics there led me to refuse to buy anything Nintendo until they decided to make up for what they were doing to Metroid and Samus and treat them right.
Current status: Nintendo put out a new Metroid game and plan to release Prime 4 too. I wish I could say that’s the end of the story, but it isn’t. I’m pretty pissed still that they threw Alison Rapp under the bus for a bunch of vile assholes, and fueled more harassment in the industry. I don’t know when I’ll get Nintendo stuff again. I’m still not fucking over this.
ArenaNet
I bought and played Guild Wars when it came out. I played and enjoyed it. There isn’t a whole lot to say on this.
If you’ve watched video game news this year, you know Mike O’Brien fired Jessica Price and Peter Fries for bullshit reasons. In doing so, he fueled tons of assholes hellbent on harassing good people and forcing them out of the industry. My reaction is that I’m never touching another ArenaNet thing until Mike O’Brien is out. Because he should be forced out. He doesn’t deserve his position.
Current status: Nothing’s changed, so I’m waiting for Mike O’Brien to be gone. I don’t anticipate this being any kind of burden on me.
Disney/Star Wars/Marvel
Oooookay, this is a big ball of stuff right here. It’s gonna be hard to keep this short.
Obviously I grew up on a lot of Disney stuff, like just about anyone in the United States. Star Wars, I got into during the 90s when the original trilogy was getting released. Marvel, I saw stuff here and there but didn’t truly give a damn until 2009 when I discovered Polaris.
When Disney bought up Star Wars, they shut down Lucasarts very abruptly, with no plans whatsoever to prep the studio’s employees for its end. I found (and still find) that absolutely fucking atrocious. So, I refuse to touch Star Wars video games. I actually don’t have any criteria for engaging in Star Wars content again. Maybe that criteria will come back some day. Maybe I’ll never touch another Star Wars game. This happened in 2013, by the way.
Then Marvel. After the forced retcon on Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s parentage, I vowed to never buy or engage in anything from Marvel except content that’s either X-Men related or tied to Polaris, until the twins were Magneto’s kids again. Only exception I made was the Black Panther movie, to support minority-led films.
Now, I’m about to drop everything Disney – including X-Men content, Star Wars, ABC programs and anything else – because of their treatment of Polaris this past year. To treat Polaris like her only value exists in being a supporting character for the stories of men, then throw her into limbo while putting those men on a pedestal, fucking infuriates me. Disney does not deserve money or support, so I won’t give it to them. This will only change for me if Polaris gets a solo, mini or oneshot comic, or leads a team book again.
Current status: No plans to ever play a Star Wars game again. Everything’s on track for me to refuse to touch Disney content after this year, possibly for the rest of my life. Only exception I plan to make is Episode IX, just to wrap up the sequel trilogy I’ve been watching.
In conclusion, I have a lot of companies that I refuse to play, watch, read anything they offer. Sometimes, like with Soul Calibur and Ubisoft, things change for the better and I come back to it. But most of the time, it’s like Squeenix or Disney. A company treats franchises or people like shit, they do nothing to fix their mistakes, I continue to not give them money or support because they don’t deserve it.
A lot of people think this is a huge burden. It’s not. The truth is that in our world, there’s a looooooooooooooot of creative content out there. If I wanted to, I could spend the rest of my life reading all the fanfiction written just today. I’m watching 5 TV shows right now that aren’t tied to Disney, more than I watched during the 2000s. I’ve recently played Far Cry 5, Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, Soul Calibur VI, and I’ll soon by playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
I don’t need these companies to find entertainment. In some cases, I can even make my own. I can create things that these companies refuse to make. These companies need me more than I need them, because they need money to stay in business, and my money plays a role in that.
It’s the 50th anniversary of Polaris aka Lorna Dane. To celebrate, I’m posting the SFW art I’ve commissioned since 2009. Some will be familiar to regulars cause I’ve posted it already. Some will seem new because it’s older, likely before I even had a Tumblr account.
I commissioned decoysnake on this one for Lorna’s 50th anniversary. It’s loosely based on the Kris Anka concept art of a more modernized costume that still retains her core look. I increasingly realize the beauty of this piece each time I look at it, like that uniform crease on her leg.
This is with boxofwant. In retrospect, I think my mind was too bogged down in Gifted’s idea of Lorna to realize that this doesn’t really fit her character as she really is outside that version of her. Still great work obviously! Love the swirl of her hair.
RenX has a series on various female characters punkified, and I commissioned him for that with Lorna and Wanda, also as part of the 50th anniversary. It’s cut off on the left because too much skin is showing for me to consider it SFW. His picks and art of the tattoos are what I enjoy most, very character-centric. What you can’t see in this version is Wanda’s kids’ names on Wanda’s ankles.
I commissioned Dwight Sanchez in 2015 during a $25 flash sale for this piece.
This one comes from InCaseArt (NSFW blog) from 2011. There’s a NSFW variant where Lorna uses her powers to make her costume. I wish at the time that I’d considered having that touch for a SFW version too.
If you’ve looked at my actual Tumblr page, you’ve seen this one. It’s on my background. soaps is a great artist I’ve known since before I discovered Lorna, and commissioned Rosa from FF4 pieces back then.
In this case, the commission is a result of how All-New X-Factor #14 (where Lorna and Wanda got to interact as sisters) was coming up but @marvelentertainment refused to do anything to promote or support it. Since Marvel wasn’t going to do anything, I wanted to commission something to spread the word.
I still love how this turned out. Captures the fun mood well. I remember when it was first posted that a couple cosplayers said they wanted to reenact this scene. I wonder if it ever actually happened.
Our last stop on art I’ve personally commissioned is right here with MikazukiShigure from 2012.
At the time, Avengers vs X-Men was going on but Marvel was deliberately excluding Lorna from taking meaningful part in the event – despite the fact that the family dynamics were part of the story. The idea behind this art was for a mock-up cover of an AvX issue that should’ve happened but never did, where Lorna and Wanda face off.
My thought was Lorna going after Wanda because of all the pain Wanda unknowingly caused by getting depowered on M-Day. Headcanon, they’d fight but during the fight eventually come to an understanding before either of them could “win.” Then from there, have a much better relationship as sisters.
BONUS!
There’s one more piece here that I did NOT commission.
An online pal commissioned this from DarkShadowArtworks as a gift, in 2014. The “title” up top has generating some good discussion before of what a title font for a solo book for her might look like.
That’s all! This is what I’ve commissioned (or for the final piece, was gifted via commission) that’s SFW up to now. There’s still more to come.
Reblogging myself because Tumblr didn’t put it in search results.
It’s the 50th anniversary of Polaris aka Lorna Dane. To celebrate, I’m posting the SFW art I’ve commissioned since 2009. Some will be familiar to regulars cause I’ve posted it already. Some will seem new because it’s older, likely before I even had a Tumblr account.
I commissioned decoysnake on this one for Lorna’s 50th anniversary. It’s loosely based on the Kris Anka concept art of a more modernized costume that still retains her core look. I increasingly realize the beauty of this piece each time I look at it, like that uniform crease on her leg.
This is with boxofwant. In retrospect, I think my mind was too bogged down in Gifted’s idea of Lorna to realize that this doesn’t really fit her character as she really is outside that version of her. Still great work obviously! Love the swirl of her hair.
RenX has a series on various female characters punkified, and I commissioned him for that with Lorna and Wanda, also as part of the 50th anniversary. It’s cut off on the left because too much skin is showing for me to consider it SFW. His picks and art of the tattoos are what I enjoy most, very character-centric. What you can’t see in this version is Wanda’s kids’ names on Wanda’s ankles.
I commissioned Dwight Sanchez in 2015 during a $25 flash sale for this piece.
This one comes from InCaseArt (NSFW blog) from 2011. There’s a NSFW variant where Lorna uses her powers to make her costume. I wish at the time that I’d considered having that touch for a SFW version too.
If you’ve looked at my actual Tumblr page, you’ve seen this one. It’s on my background. soaps is a great artist I’ve known since before I discovered Lorna, and commissioned Rosa from FF4 pieces back then.
In this case, the commission is a result of how All-New X-Factor #14 (where Lorna and Wanda got to interact as sisters) was coming up but @marvelentertainment refused to do anything to promote or support it. Since Marvel wasn’t going to do anything, I wanted to commission something to spread the word.
I still love how this turned out. Captures the fun mood well. I remember when it was first posted that a couple cosplayers said they wanted to reenact this scene. I wonder if it ever actually happened.
Our last stop on art I’ve personally commissioned is right here with MikazukiShigure from 2012.
At the time, Avengers vs X-Men was going on but Marvel was deliberately excluding Lorna from taking meaningful part in the event – despite the fact that the family dynamics were part of the story. The idea behind this art was for a mock-up cover of an AvX issue that should’ve happened but never did, where Lorna and Wanda face off.
My thought was Lorna going after Wanda because of all the pain Wanda unknowingly caused by getting depowered on M-Day. Headcanon, they’d fight but during the fight eventually come to an understanding before either of them could “win.” Then from there, have a much better relationship as sisters.
BONUS!
There’s one more piece here that I did NOT commission.
An online pal commissioned this from DarkShadowArtworks as a gift, in 2014. The “title” up top has generating some good discussion before of what a title font for a solo book for her might look like.
That’s all! This is what I’ve commissioned (or for the final piece, was gifted via commission) that’s SFW up to now. There’s still more to come.
salarta 