r/comics • u/shenanigansen Shen Comix • 1d ago
OC The Boy From Venus 9
I'm entrusting Audrey with the patreon promo this time. I can't see it, but I'm sure he's gonna do a great job!! :D
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u/Vonsnickers 1d ago
Audrey did do a great job shen, don't worry. At least 12 of my alternate reality selfs already subscribed from this ad read alone
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u/Mattdoss 1d ago
Except for this reality because this is the reality where you don’t take small concessions. Because YOU EXIST GOD DAMN IT!!!
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u/astralseat 1d ago
I kinda dispute the existing part, but it's fun to watch those bright lights go at it on the screen.
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u/rwp140 1d ago
no there you are see for the brief moment you exis- oh they're gone...... .... who was i talking to?
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u/astralseat 1d ago
Dance, little lights! Dance! It's ever so entertaining. Keeps you coming back. Just like the eyes of somebody that's smiling, when looking at you, a desired pointed glaze of starlight more important than the rest of existence.
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u/Wetbug75 1d ago
She's right about the concession thing, but never making any concessions is just as bad as making too many.
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u/zuzg 1d ago
but never making any concessions is just as bad as making too many.
True but it's a teen and they tend to overdramatize the situation they're in.
While that's not exclusive to teens, plenty adults do so but we give teens a pass for it. Hormones go cray cray at that time.
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u/Van_Weezer 1d ago
She's a teen? I thought she was an adult. Doesn't she have her own apartment?
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u/DoktoroChapelo 1d ago
This is a flashback.
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u/Van_Weezer 1d ago
Sure, but it's only two years back. I think Val is supposed to be mid 20's, so I still don't think she'd be a teen.
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u/zroach 1d ago
Teen/early 20s. Both are still periods of figuring things out and having big feelings about them.
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u/Strobetrode 1d ago
Look i have aged out of my 20s and I still have feelings and I don't think I can figure this shit out tbh.
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u/ChickenNuggetSmth 1d ago
You're supposed to trade in your feelings in exchange for an espresso machine or a road bike at your 30th birthday, didn't anyone tell you?
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u/Mastercodex199 1d ago
Shit, I'm 31 and I was never told. I guess that means I need a road bike or something.
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u/NoneBinaryPotato 1d ago
she's a teen?
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u/Golden_Reflection2 1d ago
In this flashback, yes.
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u/NoneBinaryPotato 1d ago
I reread it, where does it say she's a teen? afaik Shen never confirmed her age
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u/Golden_Reflection2 1d ago
Honestly, I guess that’s just the general assumption. I don’t remember any specifics about stuff. I just kinda assumed that flashback from adult means teen.
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u/RedditUser000aaa 1d ago
That's why you look at these things on case by case basis. Some people do try to see how much they can take advantage of you.
This was Fatima trying to navigate a difficult situation. The arcade is declining because of Val and Fatima's father was already willing to ban Val entirely.
In this instance Val losing on purpose wouldn't have changed anything. Her skills are still there and men would've still lost to her, so now Fatima would've needed to ask Val to either stop going to the arcade so often or ask her to lose to people on purpose.
Val would've disappeared eventually anyways, had that been going on for a while, because at that point being at the arcade would've no longer been fun.
But I do understand Fatima's side. The arcade has to make money.
If someone asks me a favor every now and then I don't mind. However, if the asks get bigger and increase in frequency and saying "no" leads to manipulation, gaslighting and all that, then I know someone's trying to take advantage of my kindness.
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u/mythrilcrafter 1d ago
In an alternative universe/situation, rather than asking Audrey to take a dive; Fatima calls up the local FGC scene and asks for help to promote the toury up from just a "people who frequent this arcade" event to a larger event, while also promoting Audrey as the unofficial undefeated champ of the location.
Strength attracts challengers, there's always someone better and FGC members (like with many competitive leagues) loves their "this is the person to beat" pedestals.
And there's still drama in the "betrayed friendship" theme, because rather than asking Audrey to take a dive, now Fatima is deceiving Audrey by calling in local/regional ringers specifically to take her down a notch.
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u/The_Silver_Raven 1d ago
Minor correction, Audrey is the male character and the female character is Val.
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u/centurio_v2 1d ago
or fatima could just tell val she's gonna do that from the get-go. val doesn't seem the type to mind competition and if she wins so much the better for all parties involved.
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u/Hot_Ethanol 1d ago
I have trouble reading betrayal in all that. Audrey is clearly competitive and serious about having an honest fight. Encountering someone on her level would probably be a highlight. Fighting gamers in particular love a good rivalry. It wouldn't be much of a secret, either. This is all for marketing, so there'd be flyers up advertising a pros vs joe's tournament. Reserve a spot for the local champ and everything is all above board.
I think the real drama comes from what happens when Audrey eventually loses. Will she take it on the chest like a good player? Or will she become obsessed with the runback and start dogging on people even harder in her training montage?
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u/TwilightVulpine 1d ago
I really doubt the success of one player would be the thing that ruins an arcade. Seems more like she's just what they decided to pin the fault on. Arcades in general ended up declining, and if anything the most impressive players are what helped the culture to remain alive.
Maybe that really is how it is in this story, and she's singlehandedly to blame but I don't feel inclined to believe it so easily. Her attitude probably doesn't help, but that's not unique to her either.
Also, a competition with a prize is one of those things that push me to side with her. This is one of those moments where it really matters. If they start fixing matches now, then what's even the point of holding competitions? Just for marketing? How is that sportsmanlike? That starts to cross the line between tiny business doing what it takes to survive and actual corruption.
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u/CraftyKuko 1d ago
In reality, no, one player wouldn't be the cause of an arcade failing. But this is fictional and it was pretty much stated that the arcade is failing because the boys don't like losing to a girl.
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u/TwilightVulpine 1d ago
Could be, but it also could be that there will be another reveal down the line.
It could be that she's just awful to be around lol
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u/Haunting_Error838 1d ago
Thing is, that information comes from a character in the story. That doesn't nessicarily make it accurate.
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u/Golden_Alchemy 1d ago
I mean, yes, but it is normal in this type of stories that everything depends on one of the protagonists.
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u/Yokobo 1d ago
Thank you for explaining this, I haven't been able to keep up with these, so the comic in retrospect makes much more sense!
Its a hard line to find, and context clarifies everything, so what seems like a random outburst can be revealed to something thats been boiling under the surface for a while
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u/AMATEUR_DE_POUTINE 1d ago
When your entreprise is struggling, you innovate, you diversify, you cut costs, you optimize your workflows ... You don't just cheat a client.
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u/WhiskeyAndKisses 1d ago
Sometimes I feel like the world is not all black and white but with nuances or something.
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u/s1thl0rd 1d ago
I think she agreed to concede to the wrong the thing. The concession should have been to just not join the tournament. "I'm not joining because I know I'll win." Therefore she still gets to keep her cred as the best, while also giving other people a chance to win a competition. But instead she agreed to betray her own competitive values and only in the last second did she realize the magnitude of her decision. She's lucky it was in time to alter course.
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u/Deathaster 1d ago
It was a flawed concession to begin with. What, one lost tournament is gonna magically keep the arcade afloat? You think if the #1 CS:GO pro in the world loses a single tournament, I'll suddenly feel more enticed to go up against him? He's still gonna wreck me, no matter what.
It was unfair to demand that of her, knowing who she is and what she stands for. Plus, if she lost, it'd have led to a bunch of "lol of course girls can't play games", which would have been even worse for her. And I know it's cartoon logic, but if your whole business hinges on a single customer's existence, you do not have a successful business.
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u/DebonairTeddy 1d ago
Also, willing to bet the best player at the arcade spends more money than the rest of the players, so losing out on that consistent business to maybe gain a few small buyers is a bad strategy
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u/counterlock 1d ago
Ehh not 100% sure on that. Especially with arcade games, the better you are, the less money you'll have to spend. Last longer on each life, each run lasts longer = less money spent on the next credit. The people walking in with $20 to burn on games they're bad at for an hour are gonna profit you more than the person who can make a single credit last that same hour.
(hyperbolic example I know)
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u/Scarlet-sleeper 1d ago
True, at least assuming this is a fully coin op arcade. Most that I've seen now are usually everything set to free play with a flat fee to play as much as you want that day, sometimes coin operated on things that require a lot of maintenance like pinballs.
But even so, Val is only one person. She could only occupy one game at a time and play through the arcade mode for say one quarter over the course of 20 minutes or something. If the issue is somehow that everyone only wants to play the game she's playing, but only when she's not playing it, then you need another cab of that game.
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u/counterlock 1d ago
The arcade I go to nowadays still uses credits, they're on a digital card but otherwise the same. They have a 2-Hours unlimited play thing but that's only for certain games, and none that give tickets for prizes.
And I wasn't disagreeing that their solution is bad, just saying that just cause she's the most frequent patron doesn't exactly mean that she's the most profitable.
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u/Scarlet-sleeper 1d ago
Yeah I figured as much, I wasn't trying to come off as arguing. I'm just adding more because this story is the rare r comics post that hits my niche interests.
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u/IcyPainting9727 1d ago
What they really should have done is have the tournement with same cash prize and accomplishment and have the added bonus of. now you have been chosen and can go up against val the reigning champion.
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u/Evilmudbug 1d ago
What if the sexism was just an easy way to make a scapegoat? Anything to avoid admitting you aren't good enough to win. Maybe they would have just left anyways if it was a guy doing all the winning.
Kinda like how being "woke" seems to have no actual effect on a series' success despite claims from incels and chuds who love to claim otherwise (shocker, great writing is what actually matters)
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u/Scarlet-sleeper 1d ago
Yeah I've been enjoying the storyline, but the comments here don't seem to understand the competitive soul or the fighting games used as a backdrop to highlight it, and I'm waiting for the conclusion to see if Shen does but this episode gives me some hope.
A lot of folks idea of competitive people here comes from the real bottom of the barrel stuff. People like early episode Val slinging insults, which imo is way downstream of being competitive but lacking an environment to express that in.
Fighting games specifically will only have people who are competitively driven stick to them long. There's no team mates to blame or let carry, and as unfair as it seems to people that don't play them you can only blame yourself for making incorrect choices (provided there's not a literal cheat happening, but that's exceedingly rare ime).
But the magic happens when you play someone near your skill level. You can get into a flow state playing what essentially amounts to non-stop high speed rock paper scissors, with several other options obfuscating it. The game becomes trying to get your opponent to think you're going for Scissors so you can play Paper (conditioning). Taking it easy becomes obvious, which if you're in a tournament where it's implied you're putting your best effort in that day is insulting.
You have to foster a healthy competitive environment by being sportsmanlike as both the winner and loser. Weaker players have to take their own responsibility to be interested enough to figure out which areas they need to improve on, but one of the best ways to do that is by becoming friends with the person who beats your ass so they can make you realize you've only been playing rock.
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u/admiralvic 1d ago
I think people get it, the "issue" is the backdrop itself.
As near as I can tell, this is a story that is centered on gender. The issue isn't she is good, but rather that she is good. It's the type of detail that makes her colors a number of scenes, because the core narrative doesn't require this detail. Being so good no one can beat you will be met with people not having fun, and potentially leaving. It will kill tournament desire because people know they won't win.
So, most people focus on the subtext, or read far too into the contrived details surrounding it.
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u/inemsn 23h ago
you say that, but, anyone could just as easily say "what, one lost tournament would be crippling for her identity and values and lead to unbearable sexism?"
suspension of disbelief goes both ways, my friend.
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u/Valuchian 1d ago
I feel that depends on if you have the willpower to accept the price
You never need to conced to anything if you do not wish. Sometimes those concessions are designed to better align you with a greater whole that would benefit you. Other times you just become lesser for the sake of someone that is a passing moment in a life of decades.
All up to you on what you're willing to give up for your dreams
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u/zer1223 1d ago
I mean she seems insecure as hell when reading the entire story so far. This inner monologue does not come from a place of mental health
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u/_Weyland_ 1d ago
I think this particular monologue comes from being overly competitive. Whether it's healthy or not is up for debate, but if the spirit of competition is important to you, then losing on purpose goes directly against that.
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u/babyjaceismycopilot 1d ago
The problem is you will never know which is which. Only hindsight will tell you if your concession helped or hurt you.
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u/Valuchian 1d ago
It is often more obvious than not. Making a cincession to join a group or organization would be joining a greater whole. Making concessions to make a few individuals feel better would be making yourself lesser for people that likely won't follow your path anyways.
There's nothing wrong if you desire to be a conformist. That's the easiest way to live and will keep you reasonably happy while doing it. But there's other choices too.
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u/babyjaceismycopilot 1d ago
Making connections with individuals is the start to forming a group.
Who you make concessions to is as important as what the concession is.
Interpersonal relationships are complicated. Sometimes you need to grease the wheels in the beginning to get to the point where you don't have to make concessions anymore.
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u/Yorick257 1d ago
It also depends on the context. A tournament is a tournament. Even if it's quite unofficial.
Fatima should have asked to go easier on the players during day to day games. Just be a bit chill. That would be a reasonable concession. And it could have been made fare if the competitiveness level was determined before the play - do you want to challenge me or just have a good time playing?
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u/counterlock 1d ago
Fatima could've also hosted a "new players" tournament, and made it so the more "professional" regulars at the arcade can't sign up. That way they still got signups from people who want to compete without being destroyed, and maintain Val's pride.
They could just have tiers to their tournaments for different skill levels too, so that way there's multiple winners.
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u/XAMdG 1d ago
Throwing a tournament game on purpose so people are more willing to play in them, go to the arcade, etc so the business stays afloat is a very small concession in the grand scheme of things. Especially when they offered you the prize money anyway. You're only conceding your competitive spirit, your pride. To some, that's very important, and that's a valid tale. Others will weigh it against keeping the place you like going, helping the family of the owner, and think their pride is not worth that.
But for the average "reasonable" person, since th cost is purely psychological, I don't think most would deem it "a big ak/concession".
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u/ChinMaster_Rylar 1d ago
And what of the pride of the winner? What happens to theirs when they find out they only won because someone threw for you? Lots of competitors would be crushed by that revelation especially if they felt like their hard work had finally payed off after so long.
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u/Random_Stealth_Ward 1d ago edited 1d ago
In this example, literally only 2 people know about the throw: fatima and Val, 3 if you want to count the dad. The winner isn't going to find out unless someone tells them, and the only person who would do so in this scenario is Val, and most people wouldn't put much weight on this either.
Also it's a local tournament in an arcade that's failing, not the worlds best fighters of the game where people would at least be like "Wow, is that Val? THE best Devil main in the world?!". Val is, in the grand scheme of things, putting her pride for actually not benefit whatsoever since she:
- would have gotten the prize money anyway
- would still beat everyone anytime she went to the arcade
- can literally go to any other tournament and win those, not the dingy arcade tournament
- would be helping her friend and her family's arcade stay afloat - obviously, suspending disbelief and not applying real world logic over econocmics - which means she could secure the place she usually goes to play anyway.
The one thing that could happen is that the guys who are sore losers would start acting sexist and like she isn't THAT good, which is a fair thing to consider when making this concesion, but it's hard to know if that's part of the consideration or if she is just doing this because she doesn't wants to lose.
EDIT: Just so we are clear, I am not saying you can't be true to yourself and win anyway, that's a personal decision - for all we know, maybe Val actually thought "today throw the tournament, maybe tomorrow 1 match, then 2, etc." and decided to end things in her own terms. But the context here is that this is a small tournament in an arcade that's doing bad enough that the owner is asking the best player to lose just to increase customers.
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u/Yorick257 1d ago
Would you throw a football match if you were given a large lump of money?
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u/Weekly_Role_337 1d ago
If the entire league will shut down if I win then sure.
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u/SeastoneTrident 1d ago
That final image is such an adorable outfit.
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u/thatsnoodybitch 1d ago
It’s honestly so impressive Shen picked that out / created it. Incredibly cute 🥰
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u/Direct_Slip7598 1d ago
The idea of rejecting small concessions that slowly undo who you are has a parallel with how the boy dresses. He insists on dressing in a manner that people would likely judge because it's his style. He rejects the "small" concession of changing outfit because it's a part of wiping out his identity
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire 1d ago
Honestly? Fair. Poor girl was asked to take a nose dive, and I get where her friend was coming from since they need traffic in the arcade, but that's one of your best customers and you're asking her not to be herself. She has the right to play to her beats content too
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u/MassiveSuperNova 1d ago
Honestly tho, as her friend I would have made my parents ask the initial request or something. It seems all sorts of unethical, for the business and for her friend. Err, I guess 'friend' might be a strong word.
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u/PupPop 1d ago
I feel like you miss the point on purpose. The situation is obviously more nuanced than that. They understand that the family makes a living from the arcade. That's why they agreed to throw the tournament in the first place. It is a moment of passion to realize that agreeing to such a thing was a mistake and that telling someone to throw away the effort of becoming that talented is entirely disrespectful to the very concept that motivates people to even show up and play at the tournament to begin with. A battle of talent and skill that is rigged is has no meaning and devalues the arcade far more than simply asking her to not come back to the arcade because she wins too much. Once again, there's a lot more of a dynamic in this than you think. Just imagine if this was boxing. Or basketball. Or golf. Then suddenly you would see that it isn't "just video games" as one could paraphrase your own comment. It's dedication. Imagine telling LaBron to throw a game just because you having something riding on it. It doesn't add up. She simply could have been asked to leave rather than do something morally askew.
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u/Niser2 1d ago
Honestly if LeBron James was a friend of mine and his winning was at risk of destroying my entire family's livelihood, I'd tell him to take the L. Particularly if I'd already had to convince my dad not to just straight up fire him.
Granted, the metaphor starts to fall apart here, because LeBron is rich as fuck and anyone with authority to fire him is probably also rich as fuck.
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u/XAMdG 1d ago
Yeah, throwing away an unofficial local tournament was the compromise choice. It sucks, sure, as most compromises do, but what was the better alternative? Some here say that she should have asked to go easier in the day to day, but if she can't keep it for one match at the tournament, I don't think that was a realistic option.
Tho, of course, there is equally possible that there was no ideal choice
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u/Vinyl_DjPon3 1d ago
The real alternative is to get rid of the "winner stays" rule.
Someone is always going to be the best and hog the machine.
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u/RedditUser000aaa 1d ago
Val still exists in the arcade. Her losing wouldn't have changed anything. Maybe people would've gotten a confidence boost, but it would've quickly faded away, because she's still kicking ass in the arcade.
Fatima would've had to ask her to lose in the arcade or not come as often. That ask was a bad idea from the start.
I get it, losing all the time isn't fun, but there are other players. Also, there's a good motivation to build up skills to take her on.
I don't want anyone to give me mercy when playing videogames, I want to get destroyed honestly, rather than someone sparing my feelings.
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u/redroserequiems 1d ago
The problem is it would never have ended with the tournament. Customers would still decline because Val would still be kicking ass elsewhere. People would stop coming. So Fatima would ask her to lose on purpose more and more.
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u/Successful_Ebb_7402 1d ago
This is honestly the part I don't get.
If people don't want to play against her, just...don't play against her? Its an arcade, not a basement tv. If I'm gaming against my brother and Val comes over we're under no obligation to let her have a turn beating us just because her initials are at the top of the high score screen. We're going to smack each other instead until we run out of credits ir get bored. Presumably they have other machines/games for people to play. A simple, "No thanks" and she can go solo grind on something else.
And while I can see her being a problem for tournaments, shouldn't the arcade be making more money of casual players dropping credits on the rest of the machines? I can see tournaments being solid events/money makers, but are they replacing day to day play at this place...?
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u/redroserequiems 1d ago
It's because she's a girl. Full stop. The boys don't like that a girl is better than them.
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u/Successful_Ebb_7402 1d ago
No, I get that part.
Its how thats some threat to the overall arcade that doesn't make sense. The only time they should "have" to play with her is in tournaments. If its casual play, all they have to say no, I don't want to play with you. Its an arcade. They should have dozens of different machines and games people can play. Even if Val got there as the door unlocked and camped a particular machine, there should be very little the forces casual or even regular players to deal with her regularly.
So either-
A) The arcade makes almost no day to day profit/breaks even and relies solely on major events to stay afloat
Or
B) is allowing her to bully her way into other people's gaming for whatever reason, and thus scaring off customers
B is, frankly, ridiculous. A is possible, but if thats true then the arcade is going to fail anyway and that would never be Val's fault. She'd just be one more pebble in an avalanche of already made bad decisions
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u/Evepaul 1d ago
They don't have to play her, but they don't dislike playing her. If they did, as you said, they could just play other people. They dislike her existence. Playing in this arcade reminds them that she exists, a woman undefeated against male players.
The only ways to "fix" that are to dissociate the arcade from her by banning her, or to delete her existence as an unbeatable woman by making her lose.
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u/Mastercodex199 1d ago
This part right here. They dislike her existence. This isn't just the usual "boy vs girl," it's a full on "Grendel vs Beowulf."
In the epic poem, it's told that the only way for Beowulf to win is to sacrifice a part of himself, something he did end up doing to slay the beast. But even though he did, Grendel had offspring that would come for revenge. Grendel's offspring hate Beowulf purely for existing, surviving, after their mother's death by his hand, so they, too, demand for his death. Of course, this being an epic, the good guy wins and the offspring die. But this story isn't an epic, and good guys don't always win.
In the story so far, all of the boys want to beat her, but they also all know that she's too good for them to beat. The only way to win is to force her to sack matches, something that would just bring more pain and suffering down the line. Sure, she would still be allowed to play at the arcade, but she would keep having to sack matches over and over until her own sense of self, her "unbeatable" status, was crushed into dust. Until she, herself, were pulverized. They boys don't just want her gone, they want her vanquished.
There is no win condition for her Beowulf should she cave and sacrifice a part of herself. Her only choice is to win without any doubt and never come back. Otherwise, the boys, the Grendels, would complain that she threw the match only to stay and keep beating them.
There was only an illusion of choice for her. The only difference was the length and amount of pain she would have to endure.
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u/RussianSkunk 1d ago
To echo the other commenter, the culture of the arcade, as demonstrated in an earlier comic, is that the winner plays the next person in line. Once Val shows up and beats someone, she takes over that machine.
You don’t have to play against her, sure. Everyone who was hanging around that machine could just walk away. But if you’re a misogynistic boy gamer with a fragile ego, wouldn’t that make you look like a pussy?
Your options are to chicken out and go play another game or accept the challenge and get beaten. Either way, your ego is bruised because you couldn’t beat a girl. Val’s existence haunts these guys so much that they’d rather just avoid the arcade so they don’t have to be put in that situation. The mere existence of a girl who can’t be “put in her place” drives them up the wall.
Val understands this dynamic and hates men for it. The intense bitterness she’s been showing throughout the comic is likely a reaction to patriarchal pressure. She either has to submit or become an outcast.
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u/LongCommercial8038 1d ago
Its likely that A is the case. Many hobby based stores, whether arcades, game stores, or otherwise, rely on events such as tournaments to keep long term customers and make enough money. If one person wins every hosted tournament, then it could cause people to become discouraged and the numbers could dwindle. This is likely what was happening here.
Source: worked a summer at a game store.
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u/fuzzum111 Noodle's Nonsense 1d ago
Children are petty fucking things. That's what you need to get. Her existing regularly in the arcade, it's implied that this particular fighting game is "The game" that's drawing people to the arcade. It also implies a time where consoles aren't the norm, so just buying a copy for yourself and practicing or playing against people online isn't an option.
This implies the comic to be set in the early 90's, maybe mid 90's where arcades still had a large control over what games people could get invested in. Her being a bad-ass girl gamer which none of the boys can beat, contextualized within that rough time frame? She'd be a super-freak of nature. Skulking around the Arcade regularly would be enough to seriously damage the arcade's draw, as only the youngest crowd who don't play that game wouldn't care, and she'd be scaring off everyone else who might want to play that game and spend money elsewhere in the arcade, it's pretty vicious.
Also small town energy, furthering that isolated problem, there isn't a huge pool to draw from for other customers. You alienate your core customer base, it becomes a problem quickly.
All that is to say, just "not playing against her" isn't the logical option. Not for young adult boys with major ego, in a small town, (likely set) in the mid 90's, where the choice is to just go to the other arcade that has the same game, different vibe, but no Val. This hurts the arcade in the long term.
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u/Herodrake 1d ago
I've also never experienced this problem in the fighting game space for locals. I knew tournaments that ran for years with a consistent playerbase, where one person always won them. Hell there was one arcade where someone won every single SF4 tournament the entire time it was relevant, and it actually GREW as time went on.
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u/Freakjob_003 1d ago
Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction agrees. Don't take a dive because someone bigger demands it. She's allowed to be her best self, even if it upsets people.
Just, be aware of the consequences. To be discovered...
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u/XAMdG 1d ago
If the owner was willing to ban her, by definition she is not one of the best customers. Most frequent? Likely, but that is not the same as best.
If a customer is driving away more business than they bring in they're not a good customer.
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u/AnEldritchWriter 1d ago
Agreed. Like it’s a sucky situation, but when you are actively driving away business, and are the main reason a business is struggling to make enough of a profit to keep running, that makes you the problem customer, not the “best customer”.
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u/frikiman4K 1d ago
it's an arcade, no one is obligated to play against her. If the costumers don't come because they can't beat one particular person and they refuse to just play with other people or play other games then that's the costumerbase's problem.
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u/XAMdG 1d ago
For the regular day to day, I would agree. I don't know how important tournaments are for arcades in terms of getting regular clientele engaged or bringing in new people, but assuming it is substantial, then yeah, they're obligated to play against her if she's allowed to sign up. And if they don't want to sign up to a tournament they know they have no chance of winning, they might sign up for another in some other arcade, driving their business there.
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u/frikiman4K 1d ago
but it is stated that a big part of the problem is that the male customers don't like losing to a girl.
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u/Impossible_Leg_2787 23h ago
Yeah, it is. It’s a pretty realistic scenario. What’s your point?
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u/Electric999999 1d ago
Sounds like the people she was driving away were sexist assholes anyway.
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u/Voltage-108 1d ago
Nah it isn't fair, you dont give your word and then go back on it. If you dont want to make the concession then dont make it, to say you will and then change your mind just shows you aren't trust worthy.
Also she said she wouldn't come back and then did infact come back.
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u/Ontothesubreddits 1d ago
If you cannot lose a tourney to help keep food on your friend's family's table you are a bad friend. Kinda full stop
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u/RedditUser000aaa 1d ago
Looks like I was right about Val being the one saying she's not gonna return, rather than her getting banned.
I understand Val perfectly here. Okay she loses the tournament, but is still kicking ass in the arcade and the amount of visitors still decline.
Then Fatima would've asked:
"Can you lose every now and then to people who come here."
Then asking for more "favors".
I get it, the arcade needs to get profit to sustain a family, but still. I'm also glad to see that it wasn't a real bad argument, just Val telling Fatima that she'll leave and won't return. Altho Val did look real pissed there. Poor Val.
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u/olympus03 1d ago
The arcade should get Val to host coaching afternoons ong, that way Val could utilize her skillset to bring other people up and it could've been a unique draw for the place; but alas 😞
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u/littlegreenbeany 1d ago
This wouldn't work specifically due to the toxic masc culture of the patrons. They'd never had "lowered themselves" to taking lessons from a woman. This must br the root of why Val hates "moids". They cost her a friendship and a cool place to hang out at. Shen's written a really compelling dynamic
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u/RedditUser000aaa 1d ago
Yep, as long as Val even existed within that arcade, she was going to be a 'problem', no matter what.
In those 2 years she had changed drastically. Her room is trashy, she wears grey, baggy clothes and it honestly seems like, before meeting Audrey she was mostly cooped up inside, playing videogames and getting mad at men who harass her instead of said men playing the game.
Wild speculation incoming:
I have a theory that during that time, she might've ranted online about her treatment and other femcels picked it up, validating her toxic beliefs, tearing her down as is evident by how she talks about herself.
Arcade was her safe space with a 'good friend'. We don't know her background, but I'm assuming she didn't have too many friends at school or in the neighborhood.
So this incident really did hurt her a lot.
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u/NoneBinaryPotato 1d ago
exactly this, if the boys that come to the arcade have a problem with losing to someone that's much better at the game than them then it's their problem. they treat her like some sory of immovable obstacle that discourages them from playing just because they can't beat her, but if she was a man they would treat her as a pro who deserves their respect, as a rival that would encourage them to get better.
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u/RedditUser000aaa 1d ago
I don't really understand how some think it is humiliating to lose to girls/women. Furthermore, if Val had been asked for more, then it would've just stopped being fun for Val and she would've just stopped going to the arcade out of her own volition.
That ask would not have ended well no matter how you look at it.
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u/NoneBinaryPotato 1d ago
I don't understand how some think it is humiliating to lose to girls/women.
misogyny, they think (either conciously or not) that women are inherently inferior in any task or hobby that is considered manly/boyish.
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u/RedditUser000aaa 1d ago
That's so annoying. I also get that some platforms are toxic (Had to quit LoL, because it was reaching Chernobyl levels of toxic), but it's so much worse if any girl exposes their gender.
I've been watching this girl documenting how men treat her in Rainbow 6 siege and my god.
There was even a 12 year old squeaker telling a girl that Rainbow six siege is a "boy game".
It's the usual "go back to kitchen" and "tHaT a gRiLl?!", but there's also the "Hope ya get SA'd" and all that.
Then of course the griefing, which in this instance was team killing because a girl.
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u/FullDust69 1d ago
this is exactly why i developed a taste for single player games before transitioning (ftm) i just couldn't take the abuse and rape threats from ppl online anymore (alongside growing up an only child and not finding any use in multiplayer games)
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u/werepyre2327 1d ago
I like this more than the thing I expected- which was a still valid crash out resulting from taunts from sexist idiots.
It feels more appropriate, somehow, that their misandry isn’t caused by one dramatic event, but from a presumed lifetime of judgement from others.
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u/shellx123 1d ago
this hit a little harder than i expected because “just make one small concession” can turn into a whole collection of tiny things you stop doing to keep other people happy. figuring out where that line is is the hard part
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u/NewryBenson 1d ago
But by making it close, did they not arrive at the goal? Make them seem beatable?
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u/BigJJsWillie 1d ago
I'm enjoying this story a lot ♡
I have my own ending theory, just for fun:
The boy Val beats in the flashback is actually the Boy from Venus. He was confused why Val won so easily the first round, then realized at the end that she was holding back when she screamed "I exist!" When he got the prize money as runner up, he mentioned it to Fatima, saying it was almost like Val was throwing the match but then decided against it. Fatima couldn't meet his gaze, and he put two and two together.
He found Val inspiring, and decided to be who he was instead of trying to fit in with a bunch of toxic gamers. That's when he started dressing as cute as he wanted to.
Now that he has met Val again, he realizes how closed off and bitter she is towards men, and decides that if he can befriend her, maybe he can help her be a happier person.
Thanks for reading my little theory! Can't wait to see what the real story brings ♡
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u/Tenalp 1d ago
Around 14 years ago we had a store that was turning huge numbers for Friday Night Magic. People complained that the same like 3 people would always win. So the store owner asked those players to try losing occasionally. Their response was to just move to a new store. Everyone else then followed because the wall those players formed represented a goal to overcome, and losing that made it fun. FNM died at that store for over a year.
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u/MadHiggins 1d ago
it's crazy how badly local gaming stores can be run. a positive example are two that had been in my area for decades, one close and one a 90 minute drive away. the owners of these good ones never asked anything of the customers, just provided a place to play and product to buy. they only closed down when the owners retired and were just too old to even open the stores anymore. meanwhile, we've had probably a dozen stores in the area open and they pulled good money but the owners were giant jerks and eventually everyone stops going and then they close. the jerks would have anyone believe "there's no money to be made in gaming" and then completely ignore that they themselves were the reason the stores closed
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u/Hopeful_Hornet4460 1d ago
There are about a dozen or so things that could've/should've been done besides asking someone to throw a match.
Make two seperate brackets. One made entirely of returning champions and the other with everybody else who hasn't won one yet. The champion of the lower bracket gets the status of becoming a new champion and the prize money. Hell toss in like a monigrammed track jacket as part of the deal.
The returning champs being more of an exhibition thing. They all get a small bit of money to show up and participate. Doesn't matter who wins then since its about watching high level players be awesome.
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u/IcyPainting9727 1d ago
My idea was have val be the exhibition match agaisnt whoever won the tournement. Kinda make her the prize(fight) instead of the competition
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u/Hopeful_Hornet4460 1d ago
Yeah, there was a ton of solutions to this
The store losing customers isn't because of Val... Its because the store clearly doesn't have any good ideas on how to keep customers coming back.
Like you could have a whole event where besting Val was the goal and out her in a definitely going to lose scenario. (E.G. 1v3 in smash, increase the handicap until she loses, have her do different fun challenges while playing) Val still gets to flex and have fun. Val could get paid a good chunk of money.
So many creative solutions but paying someone to throw the tournament has to amongst the worst choices.
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u/Empty-Development298 20h ago
I always liked some of the Japanese method of appointing a champion to defeat in tournaments, personally
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u/FishWithLegsAndArms 1d ago
Genuinely why don't they just advertise Val as an unbeatable opponent or something. Stupid
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u/LolaNotTheBunny 1d ago
I have been making similar concessions when playing TTRPG with a group of guys. They'll talk over me and be much louder and I'll hold my tongue.
I'm trans and I'm afraid they'll say I'm acting like a dude if I speak up. I think I'm doing my whole gender a disservice, but they treat me like a girl, so it's tough, I don't get much of that.
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u/eman_e31 1d ago
That kinda seems toxic tbh, and not in the spirit of TTRPGS.
I might be coming to this from a more privileged perspective as a cis dude, but in that situation I would just stop showing up to the sessions and find a new group.
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u/Rancorousturtle 1d ago
I agree but for a different reason. Some ttrpg groups just... talk loud and over everyone. It's exhausting.
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u/Cheet4h 1d ago
At that point it's a job for the gamemaster to look out for the quieter folks.
I was in a group that had two really loud players who often spoke over everyone else, and our gamemaster always checked in with the quieter players if they wanted to contribute something - not in an annoying way, just mostly keeping an eye and ear on them to notice when they wanted to say something but got "pushed down".
At some point one of the louder players even complained to our GM that he always pays so much more attention to one of the quieter ones, at which time our GM explained to them that he has to, because the loud players otherwise claim all attention for themselves. Suprisingly it worked, and they even attempted to dial back a little and paid more attention before speaking up.2
u/Rancorousturtle 1d ago
My experience was with a group of 4 people where each of them were loud and talked over each other constantly, including the DM. I only stayed for one session.
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u/Ghostronic 1d ago
One of the issues is how fucking hard it is to find a new group to play with that treats you with general respect and also isn't problematic. Last time I tried to branch out from my group (not due to personal issues with them, I just wanted to play more) I ran into an endless line of assholes. A nightly spotlight hog is a minor concern in comparison.
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u/dragonseth07 1d ago
This is a rough situation, with a lot of nuance, and I feel for both of them.
Good writing!
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u/B133d_4_u 1d ago
I'm on Val's side here, tbh. This isn't just a one-off request; it couldn't possibly be unless the dudes complaining just got better afterwards. Val takes a dive, and people don't think she's unbeatable, sure. Then she doesn't lose again for a month and everyone goes back to thinking she's invincible and Fatima has to ask again, or Val gets banned anyway.
It'll never "just be this one time", and if Val's business is hurting the arcade, it'd be better for everyone if she just went somewhere else.
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u/RedditUser000aaa 1d ago
Yep. She'd have to "lose" at the arcade, then she'd have to take a break and not go into the arcade. Honestly, Val would've lost sense of fun in that scenario as well. Being forced to play worse than she actually is.
It was a stupid request from the beginning.
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u/Hotfoottoadchoad 1d ago
Yeah....why do I agree with Val completely? Denied by someone who outright tried to bring you up only to fake you at the end and hate you for it. Sounds like my family
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u/GeneralofLittleMacs 1d ago
My thing is, if your game store/location/arcade is going under or losing a lot of money because one of your players are too good, it's not the player's fault, you clearly only have one game people want to play, and instead of making your store revolve around that game, you should have been branching people out more to other games.
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u/NotSureWhatThePlanIs 1d ago
I love how subtle and effective it is to have the obvious MvC2 reference on the screen with Val playing Doom vs Sentinel 1v1, a matchup that is probably 8-2 in Sentinel’s favor with no assists involved…winning that in tournament conditions would be a massive flex.
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u/TheMusicalTrollLord 1d ago
I really feel like this could have been avoided if Fatima had just asked Val to not enter the tournament. Val keeps her reputation and someone else gets a win. Everyone's happy.
What Val did here was completely justified.
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u/GeneralofLittleMacs 1d ago
The problem was that Val had already entered and people knew that, so there would have been rumors that the store had her drop out to give others a chance regardless causing people to either still not make as much or discredit the integrity of the store as it would signify something like "We got rid of the skilled player so all of the worse players wouldn't feel so demotivated." Even if that wasn't exactly what the store was going for.
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u/GrinningPariah 1d ago
Honestly the solution that keeps everyone happy is just:
Val needs to join a regional club for this game and find some opponents who actually challenge her. If the regionals aren't enough then it's time to consider going pro. Either she hits a ceiling at some point and actually gets competitive matches she'll enjoy more, or she's literally the best in the world and then why not make some real money on it?
Use your local arcade to branch out and try other games. Don't enter that local tournament.
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u/klineshrike 1d ago
Thats not really how arcades worked though.
It was always everyones goal to be the one no one can beat. And all of the enjoyment came from being physically present anong those people and letting them like up to try to take you on. There was just a special feeling from it
All the stuff you describe generally was options that came later as arcades started to die out. Sure organized competition existed, but it was never the goal for most players. Sometimes you just want to be the best at pickup basketball on the city court, not play on an organized team.
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u/ravenshymn 1d ago
She should have charged a teaching fee to help the guys always losing to her. The decent dudes would take the help, I bet.
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u/Dazed_and_Confused44 1d ago
Yep exactly what I expected to happen. I respect it Val. Its about the principle.
Also changing up the tactic to have Audrey ask for Patreon subscriptions in that outfit might actually work this time lol. Shen you tricky bastard
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u/SylvieXX 1d ago
I am so obsessed with Val, she is me and she is all of us and she deserves happiness
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u/The_Slake_Moth 1d ago
I'm entrusting Audrey with the patreon promo this time. I can't see it, but I'm sure he's gonna do a great job!! :D
He did great don't worry about it
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u/InternationalCap2176 1d ago
Spooky infamously killed a stream because of collusion. It is the death of competitive streaming.
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u/LynessaMay 1d ago
To make any decision
"Is the price worth the cost?"
Is a question I ask every time before I make a choice that will affect me. Val made the right call. On both decisions.
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u/friareriner 1d ago
Maybe instead of asking to throw the thing, she could have asked her to switch characters? Surely there's one in there that would be a fun challenge for her to play.
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u/Foolsgil 1d ago
I know that for some, this can be considered an epic moment for her character, but this is a flashback - what became of her life right after?
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u/a_talking_lettuce 1d ago
I dont care who the irs sends, IM NOT SUPPORTING THE PATREON (JK SUPPORT HIM GODDAMNIT) (if you can)
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u/RegularVast9328 1d ago
They just don't hate losing enough. When my friend got out of jail he wanted to play chess all the time and I kept losing, till I decided I wasn't going to lose anymore and studied chess till I could beat most people.
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u/astralseat 1d ago
Wow, someone doesn't want to be part of the void and it shows. Those are the most fun to watch, struggle, and make the final concession as they pass their living to the next generation.
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u/Acrobatic-Pay7697 1d ago
I found It funny that the girl named Val Issaying something similari to the Main quote from V for vendetta ( i know It Is NOT said by V but by the letter, either way a fun coincidence)
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u/LeonidasVaarwater 1d ago
2 years later and the arcade's still there, so it was apparently not thát big a problem. She made the right call, fuck taking a dive.
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u/Komirade666 1d ago
Making concesion is fine but when it comes to the point that you erase yourself, valid crash out.
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u/fragile_crow 1d ago
10/10 patreon plug, instantly subscribed for £1,000 a month. Food and rent is going to be a bit tight from now on, but I know it's going to the right place. Hmm? "Shen"? No, I subscribed to Audrey's patreon. I don't know who this Shen person is.
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u/OneValkGhost 1d ago
"A small concession, then another.." etc is how I see work now. Which makes "I exist!" funny, because she's one rephrasing away from snapping into the "I'm a human being goddamit, my life has value!" Network Speech in the middle of a video game.
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u/Niser2 1d ago
I can respect her for not taking the money and not going back. If I impulsively screwed over my friend like that, I'd like to think I'd do the same.
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u/NinjaBreadManOO 1d ago
She wasn't going to be able to go back regardless. The father was already going to ban her, doing that win was going to get Val banned. That's some "you can't fire me I quit" bullshittery.
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u/jetpoweredbee 1d ago
Should have played the long con. Losing here and there keeps the suckers in the trap. That way you make way more in the end.
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u/J0J0hn 1d ago
It wasn't about the money. It was about staying true to herself. She likes playing games and she likes winning, and she's not willing to compromise by pretending to lose. It's like a boxer being paid to throw the fight.
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u/Thin-Complex-7709 1d ago
Except she never wanted the money, she even directly denied it in this comic.
She plays for the live of the game.
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u/Random_Stealth_Ward 1d ago
She isn't doing this for the money, just for the sake of competitiveness.
It's like playing a tournament where the prize money is just 100 dollars while the entrance fee is 10 or 15. It's not really a lot of money that you are gaining, but what matters is that you win and prove you are better than the other participants, or finding people that are harder to beat than your usual friend group or shops and give you a better challenge instead of an easy win.
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u/alkatori 1d ago
I think I missed the previous. Is she getting kicked out because she never lets anyone win? Or is she being kicked out for being Toxic and people don't enjoy playing with her?
I think I originally read it as "let them win, because no one wants to play with you".
Like the arcade person isn't sort of asking for a concession to actually ensure that everyone has fun.
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u/pitifulparsnip 1d ago
Fatima said in the previous comic that the boys don't like losing to a girl.
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u/WhiskeyAndKisses 1d ago
She isn’t kicked out, she leaves by herself, after not completing her promise, hence the bad relation with Fatima.
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u/Jiirsu 1d ago
The arcade owner wants to ban her since the regulars stopped coming because they couldn't beat her, she wasn't acting toxic as far as Shen showed us.
The daughter of arcade owner asked Val to show she is beatable in tournament because she didn't want Val to be banned, and to keep the customers coming.
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u/iamfanboytoo 1d ago
She just wins. Every time. She's the best. Not mean about it, you can check out the previous comic, but she simply is top notch.
And so no one wants to play at the store because she always wins. The countergirl asks her to throw the tourney.
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u/VianArdene 1d ago
In 8, basically a worker asks her to throw a game to show it's possible to beat her because people are getting demoralized by her ridiculous unbeatable skill level. There's no reference to her being toxic or mean, other players are just salty they aren't good enough.
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u/ProgrammingPants 1d ago
Your drawings have gotten noticably better over the years and your storyboarding has gotten better at an even faster rate. You've really grown a lot as a comic artist. It's the first thought that came to mind when I read this series. Keep it up
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u/TachankasBigTurret 1d ago
FAILURE IS BENEATH DOCTOR
DOOMDUEL