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Willa Harlow Ross

@willaharlowross.bsky.social
365 followers 123 following 1.9K posts

Filmmaker. E-jock. A Sheik main called Worst. she/her 🏳️‍⚧️

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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 7h
The difference in opinion quality between people with the critical framing "1v1 competitive games are about beating as many of your opponents as possible" and "1v1 competitive games are about improving towards beating more of your opponents" is enormous.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 7h
'Final Fight's combat feels simplistic even for its time, and by today's standards it feels far too limited to be really engaging, and the game is practically impossible to complete without continues.' Yeah you know what other game has a very simplistic set of rules and inputs? "Go".
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✧Mirai✦ @starrymirai.moe · 03/10/2026
SM fans just play SM till the end of time but SotN fans get to play SotN 7(+1) different ways and will foam at the mouth for more In fact its the reason we're in this mess
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I think the FINAL FIGHT -> STREETS OF RAGE 2 Mania -> SPIKEOUT Linda arc might be real folks…
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eva (^_^)/ @eva.computer · 02/10/2026
TIL that this recurring TNG minor character was played by a stealth trans woman she’s in 43 episodes and several of the movies
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Cannot stop thinking about sitting down to casually co-op credit feed ALIEN VS PREDATOR a few weeks ago with @dagscott.bsky.social, who doesn’t play arcade games, and getting the inputs all mapped to his controller. Then when we started playing he said “one of the face buttons doesn’t do anything.”
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helen @homotoptheory.northsky.social · 01/10/2026
tumblr post:
weepingchoir
Aug 31, 2023
Every time some fash posts about Real Art vs
Duchamp's Fountain it's like lol that urinal has been kicking your ass for a hundred years

weepingchoir
Aug 31, 2023
Marcel Duchamp kicked the bucket 55 slutty, slutty years ago and you can't get him out of your head.
You're half as old as he is dead and you are worshiping at his altar, you are drinking his piss. He won.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
In the same vein as my earlier SHMUP DOC, I've made one for Beat Em Up games I'm interested in playing someday. Thoughts and recommendations welcome! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
docs.google.com
BMUP DOC
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“If games don’t do this thing that alleviates difficulty, a lot of players might get frustrated or humiliated, and quit! Therefore, it’s bad or even irresponsible when they don’t” is an absolutely bizarre type of take to me. Saying things like this wouldn’t fly when discussing any other art form.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
the fourth dimension isn't time, it's diagonal
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Mason @finalmasonry.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
2026 really was the year of Final Fight! So many of us cleared it for the first time this year
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Kenny Lauderdale @kennylauderdale.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Me when I'm asked what I think of Super Smash Brothers Ultimate and have absolutely no reason to be diplomatic @foursidefights.bsky.social
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
playing batsugun again and i dunno... you dont even punch people in this game... and when i try to move into ships so i can throw them i explode...
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emily🤭 @em.ily.dev · 28/09/2026
laziness isn’t real
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Piracy preserves. Please give this a read!
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
FINAL FIGHT 1cc on hardest dips. Win/popoff clip here; full video linked in the next post. Will also do a commentary at some point soon.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Folks...
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
enjoy the suffering you fucking vampire @boghogstg.bsky.social
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Choked on Belger :(
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Today's FINAL FIGHT run attempts 😅
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Looking up histories and overviews of beat em ups and there's such a huge gradient between thoughtful enthusiasts of the genre's history and design trajectory, and stuff that is actively hostile to anything that seems specific to the genre.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
For many years I thought "Nobody puts baby in a corner" was metaphorical and that was such a cool way to say something like "nobody tries to force me into a bad situation" but then I saw the movie and it's about a person whose nickname is literally "Baby" being seated for dinner in a corner. :(
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D.W.A.P. (Ben) @andwap.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
When your gamedev friend shows you progress on their new engine.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
2cc baby here we goooooooo
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
ohhhhhh THAT'S how you're supposed to use the superjoy
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Extremely dispiriting how many game design talks are effectively a dev "Make sure there's no such thing as a game over. What you have to do is put on a scary game over mask, and play make believe with the player enough that they get just a little scared even though they know it's not real."
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Seems like FINAL FIGHT should not be played with autofire.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
no, a new film based on a play written in modern english in the 16th century, set in italy the 14th century, will NOT feature the actors speaking in old"e" english stop that
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A P *demon bursts out of my face* Clarke @apclarke.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I found these 4 lectures about cinematography, by @dagscott.bsky.social , to be wonderful, pragmatic, useful. He shows you in real time exactly what he means! It's great. So if you have interest in lighting in specific, or just cinema history in general, watch them! youtu.be/sKKQ0toDyYI?...
youtu.be
A Brief History of Lighting Motivation in Cinema, Part 4: The Digital Era [VIFF Film Studies]
YouTube video by Devan Scott
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Got a FINAL FIGHT run all the way to stage 6 with only one death yesterday, and today beat stage 6 in practice with only one death. A lot of practice left to do to get the consistency to make both of those things happen enough that a 1cc is viable, but so fun and gratifying to be so close.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I've realized that FINAL FIGHT actually won't be my first true beat em up clear because I beat BATTLETOADS without continues or warps like 17 years ago, a game that 1) is bad and 2) allows you to farm a ridiculous number of lives on stage 2 :(
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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
New blog post: How I Design Original Arcade-Style Games Arcade players kept telling me that Hyper Bun Buster's game mechanics felt arcade-like, despite it not playing like any existing arcade games. Here are some tips if you want to design arcade-like games too. duckberet.com/blog/how-i-d...
duckberet.com
How I Design Original Arcade-Style Games - DUCK_BERET
How I designed the original arcade-style game mechanics in my game Hyper Bun Buster: Rocket Hammer Action
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agus_ezs @agus-dev-for-value.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Hello everyone 🙂 I've been making this single screen game where you have to chase and kill 6 ghosts, while attempting to avoid the other enemies to win the level. I will be do some finishing touches and release a demo hopefully soon.
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Herbert @xxgr1llmast3rxx.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
you see a lot of really great examples in Illustrators as they age, compare how much less *drawing* mike mignola does in the much illustration on the right in his 50s, with imo greater impact than one from his 30s on the left
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Very interesting to think about Martin Scorsese and George Miller both blowing up assumptions about what "Old man movies" from major auteurs can look like, within a year of each other and in extremely high-profile ways.
Poster for THE WOLF OF WALL STREET. Leonardo DiCaprio stands in a suit in front of a raucous party atmosphere.Poster for MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. A lone figure next to a rusted, heavily customized car stands looking out at distant machines in the desert under a deep blue sky.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Been said before: A common excuse people give for not playing challenging video games is "I'm not good enough at video games to play ones like that." Another: "I'm too old, my reflexes aren't good enough anymore." Barring certain disabilities, the vast majority of the time these are false. Cope.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Whatever the next bmup I play is I'm definitely making sure I can play as a girl. STREETS OF RAGE 2 Mania Blaze?
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Spent about an hour just chilling out co-op credit feeding ALIEN VS PREDATOR hanging out with @dagscott.bsky.social, and even in such a casual unfocused environment playing a bmup with a gamepad for the first time in months I viscerally missed the feel of my arcade stick. Can’t go back 😭
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Has anyone here played TELEROBOXER? “The devs behind SUPER METROID make an intense Punch-Out-Like that gets mixed reviews for being too hard and having convoluted controls” sounds incredibly promising, especially with grayscale and in 2D.
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Devan Scott @dagscott.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Fucking finally
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This was mocking a particular class of would-be intelligentsia but there are pockets of art discussion where this kind of secondhand-takedown attitude is rampant and broadly socially accepted. (Some of my mutuals will instantly recognize patterns of arcade game discourse.) youtu.be/BATPzXjmV_s?...
youtu.be
Metropolitan (1990) clip - "What Jane Austen novels have you read?"
YouTube video by Philokales
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Cass (makes games) @cassmakesgames.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
New blog post: How to 1 Credit Clear (1CC) Arcade Games I get asked about this from time to time so I thought I'd write a post about it. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but hopefully it helps make arcade games feel a little less intimidating. They're just games! duckberet.com/blog/how-to-...
duckberet.com
How to 1 Credit Clear (1CC) Arcade Games - DUCK_BERET
Arcade games are fun! Here's how to learn to clear one of them without using any continues.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
One of the most exciting things about feeling like I'm finally at a threshold where I understand how to beat FINAL FIGHT and I just need to practice execution is that I'm extremely excited to play other beat em ups now that I can bring those fundamentals into them.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Zach Cregger will never say this in an interview but, considering his body of work, it’s plainly obvious that a major reason he didn’t use the most famous RE protagonists — Leon, Jill, or Chris — as his movie’s hero is that they are all cops.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Dunno if I've seen a starker example critics for major gaming outlets refusing to give a AAA game less than 5/10, as an absolute baseline, so long as it's: → Low-friction → Polished → Not literally overtly broken → Got a lot of progression elements With those in place, a 5/10 is the lowest score!
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Blader's Alt @bladerlbm2.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Regardless of what the developer felt, feels, wanted, or wants, the last word is with what was made Ironically, a game can turn out aesthetically interesting without the consent of the developer, as if the limitations were an invisible agent guiding the hand, through boundaries
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Sick and tired of people giving that planet a pass. Not “mighty” in the slightest degree.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
the worst thing about saying "I don't think OCARINA OF TIME is actually that extraordinarily good of a game" is when people respond with things like "Well you have to treat it like CITIZEN KANE, it was a big deal for its time." No dawg, CK is just an incredible, complete work, period. OoT isn't.
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Willa Harlow Ross @willaharlowross.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The game that dares to ask: what if an ocarina... was of time?
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