This Week’s Topics:

• Rundown Preamble Ramble: Revenge of Editing Hell
• TSF Showcase 2024-13 A Gender-Bent Maiden and a Confession Under a Starry Sky [Nyotaika no Musume to Hoshizora no Kokuhaku] by Poriuretan
• The Embracer Fire Sale Continues! (Take Two Buys Gearbox Entertainment For $460 Million)
• SHOW ME WHAT YOU’RE MADE OF!!! (Sonic Heroes Remake/Remaster is Maybe Happening)
• Relic Entertainment Goes Indie! (Sega Lays Off 240 People, Sells Off Relic Entertainment)
• Credits Are Vital, Yet Often Suppressed (NetEase Announced Marvel Hero Shooter, Marvel Rivals)

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Rundown Preamble Ramble:
Revenge of Editing Hell

I finally finished drafting the first two acts of Verde’s Doohickey 2.0, and the last thing I want to do is immerse myself into that world, from the start, and correct all the mistakes I made along the way.

…Unfortunately, that’s exactly what I NEED to do in order to get this story into an acceptable shape. I have not proofread it, grammar editor’d it, and probably made some slight continuity errors along the way. But I’ll only be able to correct that if I go through every damn chapter with a fine-tooth comb, helped by Google UK English Female voice.

I have gone through editing hells before— in January 2020, June 2020, and January 2022 just based on Rundown titles. However, the largest of those hells was 139,000 words with PBF 2222. And, for those who forgot, acts 1 and 2 of VD2.0 are 370,000 words long. How am I gonna maintain motivation to edit all of that shit?

I honestly have no clue, as I can mentally only stand to look at my own work for so many thousand words a day. I was damn miserable when I tried to re-edit Verde’s Doohickey in TWO DAYS for the Session Extra expansion. I spent weeks chipping away at the 2021 re-edit for The Saga of Vincent Dawn, a 95k word novel. I simply do not want to do this stuff, as it requires me to assess myself for work I did months ago, look for my flaws, and bid a personal project goodbye. I’m happy to be done with Rundowns after giving them a once over. I have no problems doing this with my novella-sized TSF Series entries. But actual novels? Those just are not fun for me to edit, and editing is easily the worst part of the process.

Editing is a considerably more strenuous process than creating the art and header images. That takes up a lot of time, as I need to consider factors within my limited art style and how to frame them, along with new design elements. But I can just put on a video essay, documentary, or podcast and power through that shit for an eight-hour-day. Or until my wrist starts hurting…

Anyway, I bitch because that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re stressed, but I will try my best to get this done. I always do, and when this is done… I can work on a smaller, more focused, more violent story.

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TSF Showcase 2024-13
A Gender-Bent Maiden and a Confession Under a Starry Sky [Nyotaika no Musume to Hoshizora no Kokuhaku] by Poriuretan

Well, it’s time to end the first season of TSF Showcase of 2024! …Sadly it’s still my busy season at work, and I have other writing projects in the pipeline. So instead of ending things with a bang, I’m going to showcase another TSF artist I’ve been following for a few years, Poriuretan.

My first choice for a showcase candidate would obviously be the three-part Aoi Kemuri series, which follows a character as a TSF transformation just… destroys their life. It takes away their home, their family, their freedom, and decimates their sexuality after they are abducted into a sex slave compound. It’s amazing. And dark. And artistic! However, I already talked about it in Natalie Rambles About TSF Comics. So instead let’s talk about… the one where two lovers have sex under the stars! …Yeah, Poriuretan has some real range. That’s why I like ’em!

The comic begins by introducing Kaoru and Seiji, the only two members of their university’s astronomy club. A pair of close male friends who share a romantic love of the stars and the multitudinous mysteries it holds. Messing around in their club room, going out stargazing one night, and remarking on how, even though the stars seem static, unchanging, they have come and gone over millions of years. That change is inevitable. …Which leads to Kaoru, the more bookish and reserved of the pair, to turn into a girl in the next panel.

Yeah, the comic kind of skirts around the whole cause for this transformation. It was probably the same Rapid Onset Nyotaika Syndrome that Poriuretan, and many other mangaka, like to play around with, but it really doesn’t matter. All that does matter is that Kaoru is now a girl with a curvy figure, thick thighs, and messy shoulder-length hair. A veritable cutie if I’ve ever seen one, and one currently in the midst of acclimating to their new life. Dealing with their reduced upper body strength as they schlep equipment, only to drop it. Being scolded by their, comparably plain, mother for not being ladylike enough with their beauty routine or casual wear. Getting their first period and feeling like crap, while wanting to hide this fact from others.

It’s all a lot of little things, and they’re all pretty obvious changes, though I consider that to still be an important part of most TSF stories. Seeing people deal with the new requirements of the body they have been pushed into. The boons, the banes, the new standard they are upheld to, and how it impacts their everyday life. The reactions to this say a lot about the character and their values, and help make them feel more realized, which is always important in a short-form comic like this.

Naturally, this includes Kaoru’s relationship with Seiji. He’s kind to Kaoru, though he is more distant, giving him space rather than getting up into his face, and being less conversational, allowing awkward silences to build between them. He wants to be available for Kaoru, wants to be their friend, yet does not know what they’re comfortable with. Meanwhile, Kaoru tries to act like nothing’s changed… while knowing that their relationship is different and feeling different about Seiji. 

The comic could just present this with Kaoru longingly thinking about him or merely sniffing the scarf he leaves in the clubroom. …Instead Kaoru gets aroused by their friend’s musk and masturbates. I could call this scene gratuitous, but it does show Kaoru becoming more indulgent in his body, open to their sexuality, and the execution of the scene is very… subdued. Kaoru only makes quiet moans, feels themself through plain underwear, and awkwardly lays themself on the couch. It’s grounded, reserved, fast, and lays the foundation for what is to come next.

Things then jump back to the opening splash page, with Kaoru staring out into the stars, by themself, wishing to go back to the old days. Where they and Seiji were just a pair of dudes with a shared love of astronomy. Or, at the very least, let them be with Seiji. On cue, Seiji then arrives, chiding Kaoru for going up here, at night, alone, as a girl. Kaoru tries to seem frustrated, but they appreciate the thought.

Once they are finally out stargazing, Seiji channels his inner romantic, voicing how much he wants to reach out to the sky and snatch the stars, even though it seems impossible. It touches a chord with Kaoru, mirroring their own impossible dichotomy, and they collapse, dropping a hot pot of coffee as they break out in tears. Seiji can sense the frustration in his friend and make a playful gesture to boost their mood, before kissing Kaoru on the lips.

Seiji apologizes, saying he does not want to just be friends, that he loves Kaoru. Faced with an acceptance they thought they would never have, Kaoru hugs him and contemplates what they want. If they really want to go through with this. To embrace the life of a woman even though they don’t know so much, and pursue love. Or fight against it and lose their first true friend. In the end, Kaoru chooses love.

The two then go to a… structure that looks like a gazebo, but with chest high walls and a built-in bench. I’m not sure what to call it. In this not private, and likely freezing, place, the two share their first time together in something too long, emotional, and deliberate to just call a sex scene. It is the two figuring out their comfort levels as they embrace each other and try to make each other feel good. They’re not sure what they’re trying to do, what their comfort levels are, or even what they like, and need to figure this out on the fly, all while having a back and forth.

Kaoru, wanting this to work out and not wanting to disappoint Seiji, pushes herself forward as she begins feeling more urges, easing herself into the role of a woman. Having herself embrace Seiji’s penis, going with her body’s urges, and asking Seiji to help her while she helps him. She fluctuates between being infatuated, frustrated, frazzled, and afraid as she pushes herself through this. While Seiji is more brazen about this, he (generally) asks for permission for most things. Communication like this is important to make a sex scene feel like two people making love, and this fits the bill about as well as I could expect from an erotic comic like this. Very effectively… before slightly losing the plot near the later fourth.

Rather than just ending on the climax though, Kaoru pauses to look Seiji in the eyes, saying that while her body changed, her feelings for him will never change. A romantic note to end on… that the story immediately follows up on, showing Akoru and Seiji, both notably older, revisiting their stargazing sight along with their young son. It’s a petty minor thing, yet I cannot help but adore small epilogues like this, as they make the story at least feel larger than it is, while leaving a lot open to one’s imagination.

This comic’s by far the sweetest thing Poriuretan has ever done, and probably one of the best showcases of their skills as an artist. Whenever I’m looking at something Poriuretan drew, I can tell it’s Poriuretan’s work. Faces emote in a unique and endearing way that captures their intense emotions while retaining humanoid proportions. Characters look like they have a more realistic weight, proportions, and texture to them, just from the way they stand, move, and how their skin and fat bends. They manage to draw a line with the cuteness and expressiveness of a more standard anime aesthetic and something a touch more real. More grounded. And for as much as I love the fantastical part of Trans-Sex Fantasy, sometimes this sort of thing is just what you want.

I also have to say that I love the choice to go with a winter aesthetic. Characters are covered in layers of deliberately detailed clothes that hang off them, emphasizing their forms. They keep going for hot drinks. And the isolated rural mountaintop they visit is given just enough detail to evoke a chilly, windy feeling. Where it’s not quite freezing, but it’s definitely cold. 

All in all, I love this little manga, and I would love to end this by talking about the work Poriuretan is currently doing, a manga called Our TSF Story. …Unfortunately, I cannot find an official page where it’s hosted, and according to TSF information repository, ts-f.info, the comic was only available for purchase during a limited time period. …Which really sucks.

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…Also, what did I just say before that? Did I stumble upon a Japanese TSF comic, game, and JAV review site… that also features the owner’s own original writing? …And the site design is way more professional looking than anything I ever whipped up? I did not expect to end this season like this… but now I know there are Japanese people doing what I’m trying to do with TSF Showcase. Cool!

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The Embracer Fire Sale Continues!
(Take Two Buys Gearbox Entertainment For $460 Million)

…Yeah, I should have figured things would play out this way.

A trim four weeks after Embracer let Saber go independent (they were bought back by a founder), Embracer has followed up on news I’ve been expecting for… six months. As part of the fire sale going on after Embracer got screwed over by Saudi Arabia, Embracer is shuttering studios, doing big layoffs, canceling projects, and selling off developers they’ve assembled over the past decade.

The latest studio on the chopping block was Gearbox, a studio that Embracer bought in February 2021 for a whopping $1.3 billion and built up as a major pillar in the ensuing three years. They bolted on the Texas-based studio with Gearbox Montreal a short while after, along with various other subsidiaries. These include Perfect World Entertainment, Lost Boys Interactive, Eidos Shanghai, Captured Dimensions, and Volition before they got murked. …However, Embracer is only selling off Gearbox developers in Texas, Quebec, and Montreal. All of the publishers, and Lost Boys Interactive, will remain under Embracer. Weird.

So, how much is Embracer selling Gearbox, this prized asset, for? …$460 million.

…Wow. 3 years and the studio lost 64.6% of its value despite being bigger, having more assets at its disposal, and having several more years of work done on Borderlands 4.

So, who is the lucky buyer who snagged Gearbox for such a bargain? Well, it’s none other than the Borderlands series publisher 2K Games! Or rather, their parent company, Take Two Interactive.

…It’s a predictable outcome, albeit one that feels pretty shitty, as Take Two is becoming so much more powerful for what amounts to a bargain price. Which sucks, because Take Two is just as scummy as any other major games publisher. Just pointing at the egregious microtransactions in NBA 2K should be damning enough evidence. They have their own damn graveyard of developers who they did dirty for no good reason. They are the inheritor of every bad thing Zynga ever did. Every speck of abuse that happened at Rockstar or under Ken Levine was permitted under them.

Sure, they have a good branch with Private Division, publisher of The Outer Worlds, Penny’s Big Breakaway, and an upcoming Game Freak game that I will buy if it comes to PC. But I still don’t want them to get something with a billion dollar haircut.

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SHOW ME WHAT YOU’RE MADE OF!!!
(Sonic Heroes Remake/Remaster is Maybe Happening)

I probably shouldn’t cover this, as it is just something said by an infamous Sega/Atlus leaker, but the idea of it is so moist that my inner Sonic fan couldn’t resist chomping at the bit.

Word on the street, from some succulent slimeball named Midori, and the Spanish haven for Nintendorks, Universal Nintendo, is that Sega is working on a remake of Sonic Heroes (2003/2004). One built in Unreal Engine 5, targeting the Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.

Now, the question here is obvious: Why remake Sonic Heroes of all games. Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle could both highly benefit from remakes and are considerably more beloved. Well, I can theorize a couple reasons.

• One, Sega is still technically selling versions of Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 via PC and consoles. Bad versions that had to be fixed by modders, though that’s par for the course for any modern Sega re-release. 
• Two, Sega allegedly had Sega Shanghai work on a remake or remaster SA1 and SA2 about a decade ago, but plans fell through, so that wound is probably still fresh for some executives. 
• Three, SA1 and SA2 have a lot of unique gameplay styles, features, and environments that would require considerable work to recreate and possibly reimagine. Also, there is no way Sega could just upgrade them again, as these games got ported to shit and I’m assuming the original source code is just lost.
• Four, Sonic Heroes has just hit the 20 year nostalgia threshold and has not been re-released since then. …Even though there was a PC release that Sega could have just polished up. Like… why not at least put that shit on GOG at the least?
• Five, Sonic Heroes sold really well, largely because it was the only ‘real’ 3D Sonic game on PS2.
• Six, Sonic Heroes would probably be the easiest 3D Sonic game to remake or give a full remaster. …Except for Sonic Unleashed.

Now, point six might sound insane, though it is important to remember that Sonic Heroes is both the least intensive 3D Sonic game and the first to use Renderware. 

Sonic Heroes is a game largely made by 19 people. It might have 12 playable characters, but those are largely variations of three base characters who, themselves, all control kinda the same, just with different parameters. None of them are as different as, say, Sonic and Rouge in Sonic Adventure 2. Furthermore, the game only featured 14 base stages, each with 4 variants per campaign, and of those 14 base stages… really they were just two acts of seven zones. 7 special stages which… were just transparent tubes with flashy backgrounds, filled with glowing balls. And only four bosses. The Egg Hawk, Egg Albatross, Egg Emperor, and the Metal Sonic encounter. No, I do not count the enemy gauntlets or the team battles with braindead AI. 

Also, there was a challenge mode and a super hard mode, but those were minor variations at best. Same with the co-op mode, which they could reasonably cut or make offline only.

This is all basic in the world of AAA AA development, and while some considerable work would need to be done regarding certain elements— like the pre-rendered skyboxes— 3D assets are cheap. 

Okay, but why does RenderWare matter? Well, it was a widely used 3D game engine during the PS2 era. Meaning that the underlying technology of the game is widely understood and it would be easier to hand the project off to a third-party developer contracted by Sega. Using an existing engine also means there is a higher possibility in converting elements to a new engine. Now, I am talking outta my ass here… but there is some precedent for bringing RenderWare games over to Unreal. This is what happened with Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated, and probably other examples I don’t know about.

That all being said… I do not think Sega should be allowed to touch their back catalog for remasters or remakes until they prove themselves to be respectful of it. Sonic Colors is still a butchered port of what should have been a slam dunk success— largely because they should have just done an in-house upgrade to Hedgehog Engine 2. Sonic Origins is still worse than the definitive editions made by fans, because Sega hates giving people time and money. So… why would Sonic Heroes fare any better?

Sonic X Shadow Generations should be fine though. A lot of original devs have left for Nintendo, but Sonic Team is handling it, and they will need to TRY to botch it. …Oh shit. Are they going to do a remaster of Shadow the Hedgehog after Heroes? Because if so, I think I would need to legally need to do a launch day endurance stream of that. It is not a good game, but it is one of my biggest creative influences, and the reason why Abigale Quinlan exists! She’s just a Shadow the Hedgehog you can fuck. I mean look, they’re basically the same character!

…Golly, that’s some old request artwork of Abigale Quinlan. I’m not sure if I ever even shared it, because ONAT did some weird stuff regarding the skin color. Still, the best example I have other than sprite art.

…Also, after I went on this tangent, Midori decided to clarify that this Sonic Heroes remake is just “being considered.” …And then she stopped being an insider. Presumably because she flew too close to the sun and probably got caught by a higher up.

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Relic Entertainment Goes Indie!
(Sega Lays Off 240 People, Sells Off Relic Entertainment)

Speaking of Sega, the publisher announced this week that they were making big cuts to their European division. This includes cutting 240 jobs across Sega Europe, Creative Assembly and Sega Hardlight. A loss that is just another brick in the wall of the game industry’s callous disregard for workers and their livelihoods. Normally, I would not even bring it up, because the story about any set of layoffs is almost always the same. The executives should take price cuts before people are laid off. Stock manipulation is a way to obfuscate value to line the pockets of the wealthy elite. And due to the lack of uniform income across the world, losing a job can devastate not only a person’s life, but an entire family.

Instead, what I want to talk about is… Sega sold Vancouver-based Relic Entertainment, making the studio independent. For those not in the PC gaming space, Relic is a tried-and-true RTS developer behind Company of Heroes, Dawn of War, and Age of Empires IV. They started up in 1997, got bought by THQ for a decade, and spent the past decade in Sega’s stables, acting as a weird offshoot that did not really fit under the Sega brand. 

Also, their last release, Company of Heroes 3, is sitting with a 53% user rating on Steam, which is… not good. Same with Dawn of War III’s 48% rating. Based on this, I’m guessing that they don’t have much in the way of goodwill from PC players, and this may possibly be due to Sega’s interference. I do not know that though, as I know precious little about this community.

This marks the second time this year that a big AAA publisher has sold off a subsidiary to go independent (Saber was the first) and… I would like this trend to continue, please and thank you. AAA publishers are too big and bloated, as seen by how they shave off studios worth of employers when they’re feeling too fat. I trust an independent studio far more when it comes to managing itself and ensuring they release quality titles.

So, uh, good for Relic Entertainment. I would’ve hated for Sega to just shut them down after their 27 year history, but they’re still trucking along and will hopefully move onto greater pastures. Like… I dunno, Age of Empires V or something. I probably should have asked Cassie for her take on this. She’s European, so she likes war games.

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Credits Are Vital, Yet Often Suppressed
(NetEase Announced Marvel Hero Shooter, Marvel Rivals)

So, here’s an announcement that I would normally just shrug off. NetEase Games is developing a team-based 6v6 hero shooter based on Marvel heroes, dubbed Marvel Rivals. A title that, in both concept and aesthetics, bears a strong resemblance to Overwatch (2016). A defunct live service that Activision Blizzard replaced with Overwatch 2 (2022), a game built upon lies, terrible monetization design, and that is getting worse as time goes on. 

The game looks perfectly fine, clearly has a lot of work put into it given the presence of team-up attacks and destructible environment, though it probably should have been released around 2018 to maximize returns. Instead, it’s coming out during a supposed ‘Marvel fatigue.’ However, what I find interesting about it is how this is a NetEase production developed by a “team composed of global talent who previously worked on hit franchises such as Call of Duty and Battlefield.”

It has been a running joke on Natalie.TF Rundowns that NetEase has been opening up new studios left and right while not announcing or showcasing any new titles. Presumably, that was just because game development takes a childhood and building up a studio takes a village. However, the presence of these studios begs the question of who is developing Marvel Rivals. 

‘NetEase Games’ typically refers to the Chinese studios located in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hangzhou. However, NetEase also established NetEase Games Montreal and NetEase Games North America. The Montreal studio is a real studio, responsible for Nakara: Bladepoint— whatever that is. While North America is “in charge of business development, art, R&D, etc.” Which does not sound like a true development studio. I tried to see if I could figure out how much space they’re renting at their corporate office to gauge the side of the studio. I would probably need to call the realty company, or just walk into 790 East Colorado Blvd in Pasadena, California. Which is sorta far for a Chicago suburb gal like me….

So… where are the Battlefield and Call of Duty devs coming from? Is it BulletFarm? No, because they were just established earlier this year and were said to be working on an original IP. None of the other studios were announced with mention of veterans from these shooter series, so… where are they? How many studios are working on this game if the dev team is global? Are CoD and Battlefield devs just being contracted? I don’t actually care, because… I have a negative affection for competitive shooters. I just don’t like when companies obfuscate the studios who are developing their games. Not even the people. The companies!

Nintendo did this with both the Super Mario RPG remake and Princess Peach Showtime, refusing to say they were made by ArtePiazza and Good-Feel, for no reason! The state of credits is already dismal in online games, many of which lack any form of credits beyond leads, voice actors, high-profile artists, and composers. I worry this will get worse as time goes on, outsourcing grows more common, and development timelines grow more wild. Which blows wet hot shit outta a fat hairy ass. Credits are incredibly important, not only to the careers of developers, but to the history of the medium. 

I don’t have any numbers, but I know for a fact that there had to be thousands of developers who worked on games for some time, were never credited, and then just died. That’s horrifying from a historic perspective, and it has been going on for decades. Not only because of online games, but games that simply lacked credits, or credits that were… wrong. There have been dozens of stories about developers not being properly credited for their work, and in Japan… for decades there was a culture against crediting developers who left projects before they shipped. 

So, in conclusion… NetEase is being a cheeky little tart with their crediting here, and it made me spend an hour on this tangent.

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Progress Report 2024-03-31

As they say in my neck of the woods, another one bites the dust! If you make TF stuff for a decade and live in the west, there is like a 20% chance that you’ll wind up being some manner of trans, non-binary, or gender queer. So I can’t say I’m surprised to see the creator of Bodysuit 23 come out like this. Welcome to the hood! It’s lovely… except for all that genocide shit.

2024-03-24: I had the day off, so I played with Cassie for a bit but otherwise focused on editing VD2.0. Edited 30,000 words, the first five chapters which I think is the maximum for me. 

2024-03-25: Wrote the 850 word Sonic Heroes tangent and wrote this week’s 1,500 word TSF Showcase.

2024-03-26: Yeah, I sorta wound up working until 21:00 today. So I only edited 11,000 words of VD2.0. So, basically 3%. Not awful progress.

2024-03-27: I had a nine hour day that was structured like a 12 hour day. Wrote the 650 word NetEase bit, the 350 word Gearbox bit, and edited 10,000 words, finishing up Ch 6-03. Also, for the record, the word count of each chapter is dropping by 100+ words per chapter edited as I find stuff to remove.

2024-03-28: Wrote the 400 word Sega bit, edited 16,000 words of VD2.0, got this Rundown ret-2-go.

2024-03-29: Took care of the TSF Showcase, edited 10,000 words of VD2.0, and learned how to hate my boss on a whole ‘nother level!

2024-03-30: Edited about 22,000 words of VD2.0. I could have done more, but this is a marathon, not a sprint, and if I finish editing by April 30th, I’ll be able to hit my May 29th goal, no problemo. I’ll still try to get to chapter 20 by next week.

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Verde’s Doohickey 2.0: Sensational Summer Romp
Acts 1 and 2 Progress Report:

Current Word Count: 372,157

Estimated Word Count: 370,000

Total Chapters: 33

Chapters Outlined: 33

Chapters Drafted: 33

Chapters Edited: 13

Header Images Made: 0

Days Until Deadline: 59