The priority thing mainly relates to Link's down sword bounce thing. If you're in the air and use it, you basically just hold out your sword beneath you until you land and I believe it'll just hit anything that touches it. If you're doing that above someone else, I feel it's very inconsistent if they respond by attacking upwards with any move of their own. Sometimes I just win, sometimes we both take damage and otherwise they just knock me away as if I wasn't doing anything. I'm sure there's some sort of a mechanic at play here but it's felt pretty random to me so far.

it's hard to know precisely what's going on without seeing the interaction itself, but in GENERAL, it's not actually a bad thing to go for what you're trying to go for here

sword moves have what are called "disjointed" hitboxes

usually, when a character uses a move, like mario's forward tilt, not only does this produce a hitbox in front of him (during the move's active frames), it also extends mario's hurtbox as far as his leg gets kicked outward, which allows his opponents to smack him from a further distance than normal for the duration of the move if mario's spacing is poor

disjointed hitboxes, or simply disjoints, are completely detached from the character's hurtbox, because the move involves a weapon that is not part of the user's body, like a sword or whip or some such, meaning the move should always beat out any non-disjoint that comes in contact with it

it's actually kinda difficult to contrive a scenario where link's down air loses to anything, tbh, especially in midair, but if it's happening at all, it's either because of mistiming (overestimating how long the move is active, perhaps, or underestimating how many startup frames it has), or your opponent's attack was able to hit link without touching the sword during the move

or maybe the move you're trying to hit has super armor or something, i don't know, there's many variables

whatever the case, the rules aren't inconsistent, though something weird definitely is going on if link's dair is losing

Like, say you're knocked off the right side of the stage and are facing away from it. You float closer to the stage by holding left and at the right time flick left again to turn your character around just before using your up B (with like Marth or Lucina, for example). I've had it happen numerous times where the flick to change my direction just doesn't get picked up before the up B already initiates - causing me to execute the attack still facing in the wrong direction away from the stage.

i think this has less to do with input lag, and more to do with a misunderstanding of how doing a reverse up+b works

to do a reverse up+b does not involve any extraneous flicking; you simply tilt the stick diagonally upward to the left or right, and then press b, and even if you were facing the wrong way, your character should turn around in midair and perform the move in whatever direction you were tilting

merely flicking the stick to the left once before the up+b would almost certainly lead to mishaps, and there's generally no flicking involved in the process—if you're recovering to the stage from the right, facing backwards, you should be drifting to the left, and then holding diagonally up and to the left as you're recovering

it might seem strange to be performing an up+b with a diagonal input, but the game allows for it

if you're using a controller without a gated stick, it can be difficult (especially in the heat of the moment) to know exactly where an up+b input becomes a side+b input, so that will take some practice

if your controller does have a gated stick, however, you're in luck, as nesting the stick in the upper vertices should guarantee that an angled up+b is performed every single time (unless it's broken)

The one thing I know I'm still bad at is fighting off stage. I only recently started trying it and it more often than not just ends in me killing myself. I hop off, go in for a swing and by the time I can recover with up B I'm already so far below the stage I can't back. I suppose it's probably because I should try to walk off rather than jump so I keep that extra jump after the attack, and that I should be careful with holding down to drop faster as it'll put me very low before I can start recovering.

edgeguarding is definitely a great habit to start getting into, but characters like Link are unfortunately not well-suited for it, as far as jumping off the stage goes, because he has trouble making it back safely

it's not that he can't do it; you just have to KNOW that you'll be able to make it back if you're gonna commit at all, so maybe spend some time in training mode practicing jumping off the stage and seeing how low you can go before you can actually recover—both when your midair jump is used up, and when it isn't

and yes, sometimes running off rather than jumping is better (with link, runoff nair is probably his go-to edgeguard if you must get off the stage), and yeah, not fast-falling into a pit sounds like a bright idea to me

personally, if i'm link, i would probably try edgeguarding with his tools rather than his aerials, because i'm a coward like that

i've found that setting a bomb at the ledge is a pretty decent trap—even if they avoid it, you can generally predict how they'll do it, and punish them accordingly

garbage

third consecutive snow day

we don't have running water

Quote from: Verbatim on February 04, 2019, 11:57:01 AM

Quote from: FatherlyNick on February 04, 2019, 05:24:21 AM

Do you ever eat something non-vegan? In real life I mean, not in your dreams.

all vegans slip up from time to time, it's not a big deal

What is your favourite guilty pleasure? Donuts?

yeah any sweet pastry that should be okay but isn't because of some ingredient that i can't even taste

would be watching the top 8 of ultimate's first supermajor right now but it's late as fuck

do you usually allow yourself to eat krispy kreme donuts

No

i'm just not vegan in my dreams

I'm working 3 jobs

why are you doing this to yourself

what is more important: how the child looks, or how old the child is? it would be one thing if the characters were obviously childlike (the main guy from TLA is a good example of that), but azula looks like a young adult to me. is it pedophillic to be attracted to Tom Holland playing a 16 year old boy, despite him having the appearance of a 22 year old man?

appearance is a good 90% of it imo

if you think tom holland is attractive, that's cool because he looks like he's in his 20s

if you think ariana grande is attractive, however, i personally find that questionable given that she looks like she's 14 (despite being an adult)

ender's still like 12 right

stay away from carson

Um okay?? I masturbated to images of her when she was fucking older than me. I've masturbated to a lot of things, and the age of them isn't what's getting me off. Jesus christ, I don't even want to talk about this. I'm not a creep, I don't sexualize ANYONE, and I definitely don't think of Azula in that way. She is not a child in my eyes, she is not someone I want to be with or control. I want to BE her. The fact I'm getting pedophile accusations is so fucked up and honestly Verbatim you and Desty can fuck off.

so what were you doing posting r34 images of her in anarchy as an adult

did you think anyone would like that

how do you think that makes you look to a normal person who has never masturbated to that

her age is meaningless

the reason I got off to her had nothing to do with her age

says every pedophile ever

no one who isn't a pedophile says things like "age doesn't matter"

the point is that it does

How do we feel about Piranha Plant

i think he's really fun and i could honestly keep him as a pocket character, if only for memes

poison seems busted in a good way, i like creative moves that do weird but cool shit

They nerfed Dedede's Gordo range

I can't

The range is the same, they're actually talking about the Gordo's hitbox. It's smaller now.

Lita Ford - Black
Indie pop
6th album

A periphery glance at Lita Ford's solo career will tell you that she was just yet another super tacky dime-a-dozen glam artist whose career took the alt-rock bullet in the early '90s, just like pretty much all of her contemporaries. In fairness, however, she did start out playing for the Runaways, revealing some tasteful punk roots as well, although she left the band due to creative differences with Joan Jett (and look who became more of an icon).

Because her particular brand of hard rock had become so passé in the mid-90sthat any attempt at revitalizing her career was a lost cause, this is the last album she made before promptly disappearing. In it, she jumps on the grunge bandwagon and makes a passable effort doing so, but (as you could imagine) it's absolutely nothing to write home about. I like it more than Extreme's attempt, I'll say that much, but all in all, I can't really give a strong recommendation to it. Maybe if you like glam metal for some reason, listen to Dancin' on the Edge or Dangerous Curves instead.

Or just... not, and listen to a respectable genre of music.

6/10

---

The The - Hanky Panky
Alternative country
5th album

Matt Johnson is a crazy motherfucker.

I was going through his whole discography, as I do, and I enjoyed to a certain extent all of the albums that I listened to (especially Soul Mining and Dusk). His style is rather unique and difficult to describe—it's post-punk, but it's also kinda like R.E.M. with those college rock vibes, and there's a little bit of new wave in there as well. Whatever it is, it's good-sounding and I like it.

Then he makes Hanky Panky, and my brain explodes.

This album is made up entirely of Hank Williams covers.

At first, I thought it was a fucking joke, but one look at the expression on Matt Johnson's face on that album cover will let you know right away that he's dead serious. And you know what the best part is? It's actually pretty good.


Now, if you're expecting "proper" country music on this record, you're gonna be sorely disappointed. Matt Johnson knows that a true cover is not a rehash, but a reimagining, so every cover here is done in pure, unapologetic the The style. This will probably mean that most of you will find yourselves HATING this record profusely, especially if you happen to enjoy Hank Williams or if you haven't heard any of Hank's music in general.

I dig it mainly because I find Matt Johnson's brand of production very appealing, he's a great vocalist that I genuinely feel does Hank's poetry a lot of justice, and because I have a sense of humor. This album is really funny, and you kinda have to go into it recognizing that this is a very tongue-in-cheek kind of project. If you can't enjoy it, that's understandable, but for me, this was surprisingly enjoyable and may very well end up on my 3x3 when I'm all wrapped up with February '95.

7/10

---

Slash's Snakepit - It's Five O'Clock Somewhere
Hard rock
Debut album

Slash's Snakepit was a supergroup that aimed to combine the talents of Slash, drummer Matt Sorum, and guitarist Gilby Clarke (all from Guns N' Roses), bassist Mike Inez (from Alice in Chains), and lead vocalist Eric Dover (from Jellyfish). They put together just one album before disbanding, as supergroups tend to do.

Musically, the album is OKAY. Don't have a lot to say about it. Dover's vocals are the highlight. Slash's playing is boringly fantastic as usual. There are some rad cuts on it, like this one:


But don't expect the whole album to sound as good.

6/10

---

Belly - King
Jangle pop
Sophomore album

A Throwing Muses member Tanya Donnelly leaves the band to start her own, and proceeds to make better music than them before falling off the face of the earth, since this style of music was unfortunately not "in" at the time.

This one's probably my favorite out of this bunch, and is equal in quality to their debut, Star. Their sound can range from soft and serene to bursting and energetic, with some tracks (such as my favorite, the title track "King") managing to strike a perfect balance between these two moods. Donnelly's sincere and melodic vocal style kinda reminds me of Dolores O'Riordan (RIP), which is really cool, and it seems that Belly even toured with the Cranberries at one point. Which makes sense, as the influence is very clear to my ears.

If you love some jangle pop, this one (as well as Star) may just be a must-listen for you.

7/10

---

Nevermore - Nevermore
Power metal
Debut album

I label this thing as "power metal," but I'm not sure if it really qualifies, since it's a far cry from sounding anything like Stratovarius or Iced Earth or what have you. It's not quite thrash, it's not quite regular metal, and it's not quite unique enough to be its own thing, so I don't understand what the fuck it's trying to be. I went with power metal just because that's what Wikipedia has decided to call it, and it sounds about right to me, but I'm not an expert.

Anyway, I think Warrel Dane does a GREAT job on the vocals on this thing, but the lyrical themes are another story. Lyrically, this is about as corny as you could ask for when it comes to power metal, and you need not look any further than the song "Timothy Leary," which pays tribute to the famous druggie psychologist, to understand this.

A wise man came across the sea
In search of LSD—PHILOSOPHY!
With open heart and open mind
To find the goodness in mankind

Chemicals improve the view
Visions now have bloomed in you
Windowpane is suffered bliss
A psychedelic kiss
Show to me your ideology
Do you perceive or are you sleeping?

Dont get me started on the fucking chorus:

Timothy Leary, where are you now
The world needs you, we're going down

Just awful. And sure, maybe it's stupid to care about lyrics on a heavy metal record, but to me, they're always gonna matter. It's also the way he sings them that makes it so hilarious to me, as well.

Now, to be fair, I'm picking on the absolute nadir of the album. The rest isn't quite this bad, and there are indeed some flashes of greatness here and there, like the song "Chrome Black Future," which is by far my favorite.


This is really good, and I wish the album had more of this, but it kinda doesn't. Therefore, I'm overall kinda lukewarm on this thing.

6/10

---

February rankings:

#1. Slowdive - Pygmalion (7/10)
#2. Belly - King (7/10)
#3. The The - Hanky Panky (7/10)
#4. Stratovarius - Fourth Dimension (7/10)
#5. Slash's Snakepit - It's Five O'Clock Somewhere (6/10)
#6. Nevermore - Nevermore (6/10)
#7. Lita Ford - Black (6/10)
#8. The Pastels - Mobile Safari (6/10)
#9. Simple Minds - Good News from the Next World (6/10)
#10. Shania Twain - The Woman in Me (6/10)

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Next:

Trisha Yearwood
No Use for a Name
Blink-182
Tricky
DJ Quik

The Blink-182 debut should be interesting.