jeremys-blogs

[jeremys-blogs]

Okay, this could just be a me thing, but has anyone else ever been really bothered when they're watching a cereal advert on TV, and then we get that cliché shot of the milk being poured in? Does it ever get under your skin when it just gest dumped on and the milk flies off everywhere, probably making a big mess you'd have to clean up afterwards? I really hope I'm not the only one who just couldn't stand watching that kind of thing, because trust me, I seriously couldn't ^^;

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Something I like and appreciate about the IDW Sonic comics is how they delve into the aftermath of what happens in the world after the big threats of the story are resolved. It's something you can't really do in games as beating the bad guy is the usual endpoint. But in the comics, we actually get a good look as to what these characters need to do to get the world and its people back on their feet after Eggman and other baddies have been thwarted.

It's not a "happily ever after" for these characters, it's more along the lines of "the guy causing the mess is beaten, now let's clean up the mess". And it's even better when we see that they aren't always having an easy time of it, which is pretty realistic given that winning the peace can often be as much of a struggle as winning a war. Especially when you consider that characters like Sonic, who thrive on having a bad guy to fight, will often not know what to do with themselves when said bad guy isn't around at that particular moment.

It's a fascinating angle, and while IDW hasn't been perfect with this franchise, what it has done with Ian at the head of it has been pretty fascinating to see play out :)

[jeremys-blogs]

You know, Cream the Rabbit doesn't get anywhere near as much respect from Sega as she should. Back in the 2000s, she was quite prominent in both the games of the time and the Sonic X show, to the point where she could arguably be considered one of the main core Sonic cast members. But nowadays she's almost wholly absent from the games, with the IDW comics being the only time she's ever given any attention.

And yeah, the comics are nice, but as long as her presence is only felt in spin-off material like that, it really does feel like the poor girl is being deliberately side-lined :(

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A lot of things said by characters in the early Pokémon games were, of course, likely just intended to be throwaway bits of dialogue meant to flavour the characters. Things we're not meant to give too much thought to. But, one line in particular, when I went back to replay those older games, really stood out to me. The electric gym leader, Lt Surge, remarking about how he was involved in a war.

Now, the franchise is no stranger to such conflict, but they tend to be ancient affairs where only the legendary Pokémon have any real recollection of them. For someone like Surge, an ordinary human living here and now, to have apparently been involved in battle, suggests that the Pokémon world had a war relatively recently. Now, countries as we know them don't really happen in this world, but we do have the various regions, like Kanto and Hoenn. So the assumption has to be made that the war in question was between two or more of them.

And it's especially disturbing when you consider that the Pokémon themselves were likely involved, given Surge's comments about how one saved his life during that time. Being a war, it's unlikely that the typical rules of Pokémon battles were at play, knockouts and so on. And that's pretty terrifying to consider when you realise what these animals can do.

Imagine being struck by the horn of a Rhydon, or burned by the flames of a Charizard, or slammed with the full force of a Machamp. I don't want to go all Game Theory and focus on dark lore or anything, but assuming Surge's backstory hasn't been made non-canon in subsequent instalments, then we have to accept that this fun and colourful world had a pretty serious moment in its recent history :(

[jeremys-blogs]

Given that the main trait of these two guys here is to take the abilities of their enemies and turn them back on them, I wonder what a fight between them would look like? Or would it be like that one Metapod vs Metapod fight from the early Pokémon anime where they just stalemate each other for eternity? ^^;

[jeremys-blogs]

I'm not normally one to pay much attention to fan-made games of big franchises, but one of them absolutely caught my interest in the last few days. A game by the title of Pokémon Evolved, which basically gives us the Gen-1 game, but with the twist that the various Pokémon species keep evolving past their canon stopping points. Now, families have five stages as opposed to the usual three, even in the case of the legendaries.

I haven't kept up to date with the new Pokémon for quite some times, but making additions to the pre-existing lines? Now that definitely made me look closer. The game's not finished yet, but I'll certainly be keeping my eye on it :)

[jeremys-blogs]

Out of curiosity, I decided to look into what generational group I'd belong to. Turns out that I, a guy born in 1988, apparently get classified as a Millennial. Don't know what I was expecting, but that definitely wasn't it ^^;

[jeremys-blogs]

To anyone having a bad day, here's a picture of a puppy. Enjoy :)

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Did you guys know there's apparently a legit question mark out in space? Because I feel this is the kind of thing people should be discussing more ^^;

[jeremys-blogs]

When I was very young, my family went to Paris for a few days on holiday, and, of course, we had to visit the famous Eiffel Tower as part of it. And let me say, I was not ready for just how enormous the thing was. I knew it dominated the Parisian skyline from all the pictures I'd seen of the city growing up, but actually standing at the foot of the thing and looking up just left me utterly gobsmacked. The scale was unlike anything else I'd seen, and it unnerved me to the point of absolutely refusing to go up it.

It's a monumental creation, and Paris should 100% be proud of having it, but even so, structures like this have, in the years since, always left me uneasy ^^;

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Me: *Sets alarm so I can wake up early* :)

Also me: *Wakes up on the hour, every hour, because I know an alarm is coming* :(

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In any long-running video game franchise, there's always that one boss that's held up as the prime example of what final conflicts within those games should be like. Battles that the fans can point to and go "okay, this is it, this is the standard the rest of them have to live up to". I've played many games in my time and have several bosses that could qualify for that kind of standard. But, there are plenty of game franchises I've never touched, so if anyone has any peak-level bosses they'd like to talk about, I'm all ears :)

[jeremys-blogs]

I adore moments when I learn just how weird and wonderful nature can get. Case in point, this is a photo of Sorvagsvatn, a lake from the Faroe Island, situated right on the edge of a cliff that overlooks the sea. One more for the bucket list I guess :)

[jeremys-blogs]

To anyone out there who also has their birthday on this fine February 20th, I hope you all have a great day :)

[jeremys-blogs]

Sci-fi films have a long history of putting big things on screen that utterly dwarf anything the protagonists have on their side, but for me, no giant object from space ever sent chills down my spine in the way the ships from Independence Day did. Their arrival scene is still a masterwork of cinema, and this shot right here, comparing it to the size of New York, was the first moment of true scale that really had my jaw drop as a child. The film might be just a stone's throw away from being 30 years old, but boy, do some of these moments still hold up :)

[jeremys-blogs]

As much as I adore Final Fantasy X as a game, there is one small detail that always had me scratching my head when I was younger. When Tidus, the lead character, uses his ultimate attack (Blitz Ace), one of the female party members, like Yuna as seen here, throws him a ball to kick at their opponents. Now, what confuses me about this is why it's them doing that and not Wakka, the actual blitzball player among them, who straight-up uses a blitzball as his weapon. Have it be like a combo between him and Tidus.

In fact, you could have gone further. Since Wakka can equip a number of different types of balls for himself for varying strengths and effects, why not use that? Have the effectiveness of Tidus' attack be influenced by whatever ball Wakka was equipped with in that moment. And before anyone asks, yes, I have indeed been thinking about this for many, many years by this point ^^;

[jeremys-blogs]

Just learned this recently, but apparently, this right here used to be the original logo for YouTube back when it was being used on certain devices. No idea which ones, as I was fairly late into the game when it came to smartphones, but I kinda like the old-time TV look for it. Not as iconic as what the site has now of course, but still pretty great :)