Huh, a lot of drama it seems like today. And in the least surprising place possible.
I saw some posts regarding the thread and I figured I'd go ahead and give my own sort of reason for exiting the thread at this point, and why I don't blame others for not wanting to approach it either. I was very much the quintessential "Smash Bubble" fan leading up to Ultimate. Ridley, King K. Rool, Banjo & Kazooie, Isaac, and Geno were unapologetically my most wanted characters and I relied hard on their fandoms to justify seeing them get into Smash, and that has worked wonders for the first three, but it also revealed a lot of blind spots in how I perceived Smash as a game for a certain group of people as opposed to a much wider group. I didn't really quite realize that until Isabelle's reveal when I started putting pieces together of how lop-sided my own analysis of things had been and I started working to temper expectations in a lot of places because I realized I had been inside too long and been riding the hype train to an upcoming crash (which would later be The Grinch and the November Direct).
After Joker was announced at TGAs I started to realize how much potential there was in third party crossovers that I hadn't been considering before and I began to work my way through those ideas and embrace more of them. Dragon Quest was previously a series that I hated the idea of in Smash because I didn't understand its impact. But I played some Dragon Quest VIII on my 3DS and researched it to find out more about the series, and found an incredibly charming icon of the Japanese gaming industry. I was happy to see the rumors about it honestly after I spent my time re-examining it. But the Geno thread clearly did not see it that way, and I spent entirely too long and got too heated arguing for the series. The cracks in the ideas of the "most wanted Smash characters" really started to expand during that time as I saw people regard Dragon Quest with so little respect or even give it more than a passing thought. I really saw the "Smash Bubble" for the first time and felt the need to actively try to insert as much awareness of other things into my formerly favorite places as possible because it did really make things like the Banjo & Kazooie and Geno threads more unapproachable and unpleasant to be around. Again, I rather embraced this idea too much and spent way too much time arguing and probably contributing to the problems instead of making them better (and more could have been avoided had I just shut my mouth).
This has continued on and off basically since February, and if I'm being honest, I should have just exited the thread a long time ago given the fact I just mostly ended up arguing... but it felt like my home in the Smash speculation world and I felt attached to it despite those arguments. It was a place to talk about Smash and other related things too, so it didn't feel as bad to stick around...
But honestly, these recent events have finally convinced me that I'm just not going to align with the group enough to stay a part of the thread. I don't agree with many of the ways Fatmanonice has done things, and that criticism will continue to come out if I keep posting there. And I just don't want to have to explain why something like Nier Automata or any number of Square Enix titles/characters are actually relevant to the conversation as well and deserve a legitimate look. And I really just will never be able to agree with Super Mario RPG's importance on a more global level despite loving the game to death myself. I like Geno a lot as an idea for Smash, but I don't agree in many instances about the ways of supporting him and I don't have that same level of all consuming passion for him. I just don't enjoy it as much, and I realized being a part of the thread was impacting my enjoyment of Geno as an option for Smash. I've also just become so interested in exploring other options for Smash that it has become hard to stay so invested in just little old Geno when such big names and crossovers can be happening.
I will continue to support Geno in my own way, and I think we might genuinely end up with him by the end of Ultimate's life cycle (and if we do, I'll be sure to celebrate with the Geno thread and fans all the same), but I decided it was time to stop letting that thread dominate so much of my time and just do what I should have done ages ago. Just stop and walk away. I did enjoy many of the discussions I had in there and there were some really great people there as well (
Ovaltine
You are truly the best of us and your artwork always remains adorable, well drawn, and amazing. I was always glad to have you positivity in the thread, and for that I can't thank you enough). But just sort of as a reminder to any people why may want to support Geno, but the thread appears scary or just not your speed, just remember you can support him from afar just fine too and love him with others. A character support thread should never impact your enjoyment of a character you already love or are interested in, so just be willing to embrace him all the same in your own way.
Edit: I also just wanted to say, I plan to do this same sort of self-reflecting here and work towards more of a self-reflection as I feel I've contributed to some toxicity in this thread and around with my approach to things. So I do apologize for my own contributions to the problems with Smash speculation as of recent.