#''she can heal herself by thinking about sonic'' ''this is a technique she uses while chasing after sonic''

[sonknuxadow]

writing wise theres a lot of things i like about sonic battle but the way theyre handling amy so far is kind of um. uhhh . i havent actually gotten to amys episode yet just interacted with her briefly in other characters' episodes so maybe things will get better eventually but um.

[pokemaniacal]

Poplio, Brionne and Primarina

Time for Alola starter number 3: the Water-types, Poplio, Brionne and Primarina.  I have something of a history of being distressingly lukewarm on Water-type starters, whom I’ve often put in the “fine” basket with little further comment, and for a while it looked like Poplio was going to go the same way, if not worse.  I know I’m not the only one who was less than enthusiastic about Alola’s Water-type starter initially.  After all, we’re onto our fourth pinniped Pokémon now (that’s seal, sea lion and walrus Pokémon, for the uncultured masses), they’re all Water-types, and this is even the second starter among them.  But even Poplio has design elements that show a different direction to Dewgong, Walrein and Samurott, which only continue to diverge through evolution, and this has turned out to be one of those Pokémon that feels weird to me at first, but makes more sense the longer I keep looking at it.

Poplio, Brionne and Primarina, above everything else, are performers.  They progress through different performing arts as they evolve, which can give the design a sort of patchwork feel when you look at it from certain angles, especially the middle stage.  On the other hand, the progression from frivolous clownishness to “high” art, along with the fact that all three forms are appropriate to seal Pokémon in different ways, helps tie it together.  Poplio is a typical performing seal who entertains crowds with ball and balloon tricks, with the twist that her powers let her create bubbles of water where a real performing seal would use a rubber ball.  As Brionne, she picks up a sort of “tutu” and becomes a dancer, though she doesn’t lose her clown nose, which… y’know, ballet clowns are totally a thing, right?

…okay, I googled it and I’m just not even going to question this stuff anymore.

Primarina takes the final step on this “career” to become an opera singer, who controls her bubble attacks with her voice.  Balloons and bubbles, to dance, to opera feels a bit pasted together at first, but I’m beginning to warm to it; Poplio’s tricks are exactly the kind of thing we expect from a performing seal, and seals undeniably have the grace (in the water, anyway) to be appropriate as inspiration for a dancing Pokémon, while Primarina’s songs have a more indirect link that we’ll get to later.  The three stages are also tied together by their shared attitudes to life and their respective arts.  As performers, these Pokémon emphasise looking and sounding perfect for their adoring public.  We’re told that Brionne will never let herself appear sad in front of anyone but a trusted trainer, maintaining a happy pop idol persona at all times regardless of her true feelings, while Primarina is, well, a prima donna.  According to the Pokédex, Primarina’s trainer “must prioritise the daily maintenance of its throat at all costs,” presumably by taking pains not to overwork her voice, and… I don’t know, maybe using some kind of throat spray to relax the vocal cords?  It’s a line that paints a picture of a very demanding, high-maintenance Pokémon, much like a pop idol or a famous opera singer.  In fairness to Primarina, her song is what controls her Water-type techniques, so if she sings herself hoarse, it’ll all be over before the proverbial fat lady gets to her first note.  As with whales, their songs are shared amongst their social groups so that different colonies have different musical traditions, like different human languages or cultures – a core part of their identity.  It’s not really clear what all these different kinds of performances are actually for, though we could imagine (as with most animal traits that seem manifestly impractical) that they originally formed part of mating displays, and have now been adapted to new purposes with Poplio’s integration into human society.  I’m writing this from Sydney, Australia, where I’m applying for a Greek visa (don’t ask), and just yesterday saw some sea lions perform with their keepers at Taronga Zoo.  There’s something almost doglike about their playfulness, intelligence, and willingness to take commands (which sort of makes sense, since pinnipeds are related to dogs).  What’s really striking, though, is how much they seem to revel in the attention of spectators – I imagine this is more a product of their upbringing and training than anything innate to the animals themselves, but still something that Primarina captures and exaggerates in quite an interesting way.

Primarina’s magical song also has a hint of the siren or mermaid – alluring creatures whose beauty, enchanting voice, or both (accounts vary as to whether they are really attractive or simply possess enthralling magic) can bewitch sailors into veering off course and wrecking their ships on jagged rocks.  The sirens of Greek mythology originally seem to have been birdlike in Greek art, but subsequent ages have morphed them so that they often appear more like mermaids today, and they give their name to the order of marine mammals that includes manatees and dugongs, the sirenians (as well as, for that matter, Primarina in Japanese – Ashirene).  Now, Primarina is obviously much more seal or sea lion than dugong, but on the other hand, Dewgong (or Jugon, in Japanese) makes it quite clear that Game Freak’s designers have never really known what a dugong actually is, so I’m not going to lose too much sleep over that one.  Besides, seals have their own mythological link to mermaids, sirens and the like via the selkie, a Celtic water spirit who can shed her seal form to become a beautiful woman, and will be forced to stay with any man lucky enough to find her skin before she puts it back on and returns to the sea (because, you know, what better foundation is there for a relationship than stealing someone’s skin so you can hold them against their will?).  Primarina’s sort of a kid-friendly version of all this, with neither seduction nor abduction coming into it, but bears a distinctive mermaid-like tail and feminine-coded characteristics.  And of course I keep calling Primarina “she ” even though the Poplio line, like all starters, have a 7:1 male-female ratio in the games.  Maybe we should think of her as a drag queen – after all, if nothing else, it would fit the theme of performance (not to mention sassy prima donna personalities)…

Turning now to her gameplay characteristics, Primarina’s Water/Fairy type combination invites comparison to Azumarill, but with a look at her stats it’s clear she’s trying to do something quite different.  Primarina has one of the most skewed stat lines of all the starter Pokémon (who are typically very rounded), with the highest special attack and special defence of the lot, and tied with Incineroar, Swampert and Empoleon for second-lowest speed (after Torterra).  She’s much too slow to sweep a team on her own, but can help wear down your opponents to clear the way for another member of her team.  Her Moonblast can blow massive holes in just about anything that doesn’t resist Fairy attacks (and not much does), and her Water attacks, Surf, Scald, Hydro Pump and Sparkling Aria (more on which later) will hammer almost anything else.  You’re sort of almost fine with just two attacks, but Primarina has a surprisingly thin support movepool, so most likely you’ll end up loading a couple of coverage moves onto her.  Ice Beam and Psychic are both viable choices for the Grass/Poison Pokémon that resist both of her main attacks (Psychic is probably to be preferred because it hits Water/Poison as well), while Energy Ball gives her a nasty sting for rival Water-types.  Shadow Ball is also there, but isn’t conspicuously great against anything that Primarina needs to watch out for, unless for some reason you’re particularly worried about Shedinja, who is immune to all of Primarina’s other attacks.

Primarina’s support movepool, again, is surprisingly lacklustre, and you don’t want her massive special attack stat to sit gathering dust, so she lends herself more to being a blasty tank than a supporty one.  If you want to fit some utility into her moveset though (and you probably can, if she’s not using a Choice item; she’s got pretty fantastic baseline neutral type coverage from Moonblast and Water attacks), Reflect can shore up her poor physical defence, or Light Screen can push her special defence to ridiculous levels.  Encore is cute, but better on a fast Pokémon, Sing is garbage and always has been, and Perish Song is wonderful thematically but just doesn’t work without a trapping move or ability.  She also gets Misty Terrain, which is worth noting purely because it’s still a fairly exclusive move; only a dozen Pokémon can learn it.  It’s not a great field condition because its benefits are almost wholly defensive, and its dampening effect on Dragon attacks doesn’t help the Fairy Pokémon who actually learn it, since they’re immune to Dragon attacks anyway.  Moreover, if you do want Misty Terrain, you’re almost certainly better off using Tapu Fini, who is the same type, gets Misty Terrain as a passive ability, and has better stats for a support role anyway.  Probably the most conspicuous absence is that Primarina has no healing aside from Rest (well… I mean… and Aqua Ring… I guess…), which again makes her very much a blasty tank.  She can take most special attacks all right (physical ones are another matter, but fortunately her weaknesses are to types with few powerful physical attacks), but she can’t recover from them, so play her cautiously and try to avoid taking unnecessary damage.

Like most Alolan Pokémon, Primarina has a signature move: Sparkling Aria.  This is a Water-type special attack, as powerful as Surf and with the same range in a double battle.  There are basically two differences, both of them fairly subtle and one of them a little bit useless.  First: Sparkling Aria is a sonic attack, which means that it bypasses Substitutes (neat, since Primarina is otherwise the type of Pokémon to get screwed pretty hard by Substitute) and is blocked by the Soundproof ability (potentially useful if you pair Primarina with a Soundproof partner in doubles).  Second: for some reason, Sparkling Aria cures burns.  Not Primarina’s burns, but the target’s burns.  There are occasions when you might want to heal an opponent’s burn, because a couple of abilities trigger while a target is burned, but if that’s actually important to a Pokémon’s strategy it’ll probably carry a Flame Orb, which will immediately inflict another burn at the end of the turn.  In doubles you can use it to cure your partner’s burn… at the cost of hitting them with a strong Water attack from Primarina’s impressive special attack score.  “Well,” you might be thinking, “at least I can use it to cure burns on allies with Soundproof or Water Absorb,” but no, that would clearly be much too useful; if you’re immune to Sparkling Aria’s damage, you don’t get the healing either.  I don’t quite understand what this is for; the upside and the downside are both so tiny that they shouldn’t really influence the choice of Sparkling Aria vs. Surf, Scald or Hydro Pump, so all it really does is force me to waste time evalu-

…

…well played, Game Freak.  Well played.

Liquid Voice, Primarina’s hidden ability, is just as weirdly specific.  It turns all of her sound moves into Water moves, which… well, might be useful for a Pokémon that didn’t already get Sparkling Aria.  I guess a Water-type Hyper Voice is nice in doubles because it doesn’t damage your partner – but if you go that way, you’ll miss out on Sparkling Aria’s totally sweet burn healing effect!

I can’t tell whether I’m being sarcastic anymore; it’s time to stop.

Overall, I’m fairly happy with this one.  Poplio, Brionne and Primarina have flaws.  I think Brionne could have used some more work to make the transition from Poplio’s playfulness to Primarina’s stately elegance a little smoother; there’s elements of the design, like the ‘tutu’ and weird bubble-string ears, that don’t seem to go anywhere.  On the mechanics side, that signature move and hidden ability seem more like they’re here for the sake of giving Primarina something nominally unique than because the designers actually had an interesting role in mind for either of them (having said that, I’m glad Sparkling Aria exists, because it’s thematically important; I just wish it posed more interesting trade-offs, and weren’t somewhat redundant with Liquid Voice).  But honestly, most of that is fairly minor quibbling.  I don’t think there’s anything seriously wrong with any of them, even if Poplio did seem a little on the derpy side at first, and they take some characteristic of real sea lions in an interesting direction while distinguishing themselves from previous Pokémon of the same kind.  So yeah.  Good job, Poplio.

[theparaminds]

No matter the period of one’s life they find themselves within, it is individualism which consistently grants them security. The strength to ward off external weights with personal expression. If this isn’t the byline to Silver Sphere’s artistic output, little else could be as defining. As at the core, she is an artist bearing her soul without the fear of outside ideology infringing upon what she knows to be beautiful and honest.

In that vein, Silver Sphere is developing a sonic landscape of personal freedom. The space exists without pre conceived notions and prescribed abilities, blossoming into an environment of connectivity instead of competition. This is the space that most artists hope to find when beginning on their journeys, only to realize it’s faint non-existence. Yet here it is as open and accepting as ever, stemming from an artist so keenly empathetic to artistic differences and complexities. 

And to herself, Silver Sphere is simply staying true. The veils of yesterday are now ripped from their roots, replaced with the blinding light of artistic honesty. Few winds can sway the tree of her artistry, few winds even shake her branches. And as time goes, her truth will remain untouchable, further reminding others that it is only within their truth, artistic or not, that happiness and answers can be found. 

                                                    -

Our first question as always, how’s your day going and how have you been?

My day’s going great! Had a session to finish up one of the songs on my next EP. And overall I’ve been good, just constantly traveling and working on new stuff.

As an originating thought, what would you say is your greatest childhood memory and why does it hold significance to you?

Wow, I can't believe this is what came to mind, but one of the only memories I have from when I was very young and still living in California is the time I jumped in the pool with my mary-jane shoes on. I just remember my mom saying “don't you dare jump in with your new shoes on” and me looking her in the eyes as I jumped in. I think I like that memory because I wasn't really a rule-breaking kind of kid and that was the first time I ever felt defiant.

What else about growing up had a large impact upon you and truly your development into the artistic path you’ve pursued?

I was always a pretty happy kid. But around middle school, I started dealing with stuff at home and feeling super out of place at school. That's when I started really using music as an escape whether it was listening to music I related to or eventually writing my own lyrics to get out my emotions. It’s still the best way for me to process things.

In that sense, would you say there was a spark moment where it all came together and you realized that you had to go down that avenue, or had you always understood where you were as an individual?

I always knew I wanted to be a musician but it wasn’t until I actually got in a studio, started playing shows, and fell in love with the whole process of making music (as opposed to just writing in my room with my guitar), when I realized this was the one thing I could see myself doing forever.

Now in terms of your current work, and specifically this new EP, did you feel a sense of understanding that you needed to make the project, or was it more so an exercise in new sonic techniques and ideas?

I had no plan going into making the EP. It’s gone through a lot of stages, different songs being considered, and it’s been over a year of working and experimenting in sessions just trying to figure out what I wanted it to be. I have a million different inspirations and I listen to every genre of music, so the final EP is a really great representation of what's inspired me, and also what I’ve gone through over the last year or so. I’m so proud of it and I think it represents me, and the direction my music is going in really well.

In your mind, what are the largest steps you’ve been able to take as an artist through this process and what has it given you that didn’t exist before?

One of the biggest things I’ve learned throughout making this first EP is to trust my ideas and my visions. There's a lot of male producers out there that don't take girl’s direction seriously or don't respect their talent and skill. And at first, I questioned whether my opinions on my own music were valid. I’ve learned to spot that and make sure I’m advocating for myself in those situations, and also to surround myself with people who respect my hard work and my decisions during the music making process.

Who were the inspirations you resonated with throughout creating this new work and how did their artistic vision influence yours?

Again I get inspiration from all over the place. Songwriting-wise Taylor Swift, The 1975, Mitski, and so many more. Production wise its too hard to say, every song on the EP has completely different influences. And aesthetic wise I get inspiration from my friends. My friends in Chicago, Malcolm Ryshavy, Maya Cruz, and Sasha Rosenberg worked with me to create the videos and a lot of the visual elements around the project as well as my friend Drake Li who stepped up last minute and helped me make the I’ll Go Goth video when I was in New York and had the idea on a whim.

And in a way, do you feel as though your thematic vision has shifted through your new work? Are you feeling as though the topics you talked about in yesterday’s music are irrelevant or are the same questions still circulating in your mind?

Most of the songs on the EP are about my experiences in love. They were written while I was going through each experience so yes, in some ways the feelings are still relevant to me and I can still relate to them, but now I can reflect and look at how my perspectives have changed.

Is it important for you to resonate with others through your work or are you more so looking to answer personal confusions and to fulfill your artistic self?

A little bit of both! Everything I write is about an experience I’ve had. But I think that’s what makes people gravitate towards my songs. It’s funny because sometimes the lyrics I think are too esoteric are sometimes the ones that resonate with my fans the most. I feel like if I worried about making my songs relatable, they would lose the honesty that my fans appreciate.

If you could take this new work and have it soundtrack any movie ever made, which do you feel it fits with best and for what reasons do you see the connection?

This is such a fun question. Maybe Almost Famous? There's a lot of fun, and a lot of partying, but there's also longing, and heartbreak and self-growth. I’ve always related to Penny Lane. She’s addicted to fun, she’s smart, but underneath it all, she’s a romantic who has to learn she’s worth more than band boy’s approval.

To you, is music more so a healing process through creation or is it a simple way to express yourself and to be singular? Does the space allow you to become more so yourself or is it a place to speak about yourself in the 3rd person?

It depends on the day. If I’m going through something tough, songwriting really helps me process it. If I’m doing well, I like to use songwriting as a reflection on past experiences or a way to document that good feeling. I gravitate towards writing from my perspective, I never want to take myself out of the situation because I feel like I wouldn’t be able to tell the story honestly.

As a whole, what is the greatest goal and ideal with your art? What is it that you want it to stand for and to solidify itself as, whether or not there’s a higher purpose?

I just want to make music that represents me and the way I’m feeling but also hopefully continue to inspire others and help them process their lives. There's a Maren Morris song, “There’s a Song for Everything” that says it perfectly. “When you were looking for the words, somebody said it first so you didn't have to, it was looking right at you.” There have been so many artists who have helped me understand what I’m going through with their songwriting and I want to be that for other people.

And what is one memory you hope to create this year and through your next shifts as an artist?

I really want to tour. I want to play shows and meet the people who are listening to my music.

Do you have anybody to shout out or promote? The floor is yours...

Hell Yes! LAN Party, Chase Alex, Harry Teardrop, Umru, and LISTEN TO 1000 GECS!

                                                        -

Listen to Silver Sphere’s New Song ‘sucks 4 u’

Watch the ‘sucks 4 u’ Music Video

Follow Silver Sphere on Instagram and Twitter 

                                                   -

Words and Interview by Guy Mizrahi

[atsooshis]

the bsdxace attorney and ace attorneyxbsd au no one needs but is here

bear with me i love both, this is super long and i’m clawing at grasps with the AAxBSD part but i tried

BSD x AA: still takes place in yokohama

the ADA is all one big law office and for some reason most of the cases they end up catering to are murder cases

fukuzawa is the big boss lawyer and values justice

kunikida is his apprentice, he learned most of his techniques from fuku. kinda stands as the boss whenever fuku isn’t around

dazai is kunikida’s co-council, but in the past he was a prosecutor who had pretty crooked ways- he was a mole prosecutor working under the port mafia before. he gave up his job after defeat at the hands of fuku and kuni who worked side by side on a case against him, where he was trying to indict a falsely accused defendant for the death of odasaku. he’s trying to become a defense lawyer under fuku’s discipline.

tanizaki and naomi are assitants of sorts in the office, they’re not interested in becoming lawyers or anything, they just really like the idea of bringing justice for people who deserve it

yosano’s an injury lawyer but for some reason she landed a job in the nutcase agency and has to take up murder cases, which she doesn’t mind. her additional medical knowledge helps her understand autopsy reports more.

kenji often drops by the office after fuku helped him with a property dispute in his hometown, often brings fresh produce and food for the lawyers. now knows legal lingo for his own good despite no actual interest in law as well

ranpo’s a private investigator of sorts, he’s not entirely hired by the agency, but he has his own desk in the agency because he helps them a lot, in return for fuku defending his ass in the past. he’s with the police department but tends to work on his own, as he figures out mostly everything out in a minute. makes the correct arrests. he helps the lawyers investigate cases they get even though he isn’t involved, but doesn’t really talk about the actual answers though, because he believes they should be doing their job instead of him handing them the answers.

atsushi’s a fresh law school graduate and can barely argue without crying, but fukuzawa is his inspiration as a lawyer after the man defended him against false charges after the murder of the orphanage headmaster. will fight for what is right and generally the phoenix wright of all of this, except internal tears are 100% present. he’s a good lawyer at heart and he does handle his job well but trembles after trials. believes in his clients.

kyouka’s a spirit medium from the kurain village despite taking on a different surname rather than ayasato (jp’s version of ‘fey’). atsushi had to defend her after she was accused for assassination, where she was framed by the port mafia. has grown close to him in the process and acts as a co-council of sorts for the new lawyer.

the port mafia is still there and they have moles in the prosecutor’s office and the police department

namely akutagawa, a prosecutor who has never lost a single case until atsushi comes along. while he takes on numerous cases, he’s respected enough to be able to pull strings to prosecute port mafia cases in order to indict wrong suspects involved in port mafia businesses

higuchi is in the police department as a detective, whom akutagawa constantly has to work with, much like edgeworth and gumshoe

chuuya’s also a prosecutor, while being a mafia executive

basically everything else with the mafia is the same just aku and chuuya’s in the prosecutor’s office

black lizard squad..... but in the police department. hirotsu’s a high ranking officer, tachihara and gin are officers that closely work with him

the guild is a smuggling ring honestly imagine that fucking smuggling ring in AAI god i hated that

AA x BSD: still takes place in japanifornia

anything detective agency, a specialized detective agency whose members have supernatural abilities

phoenix wright - Rise from The Ashes, heals him upon taking fatal injuries. gets hit by a car? no fucking problem. runs on a burning bridge and falls down more than 10 feet into cold rushing water? no problemo. kinda like yosano’s ability, but people and him just have to be fatally injured. additionally still has a magatama maya gives him

mia fey, maya fey, pearl fey - all three share the same channeling ability due to their fey blood. feys still have the fame from spirit channeling, it’s just not much big of a deal as it was in the AA universe. additionally, mia can manipulate her scarf. think rashomon, but not as harmful- more of a shield and an extra hand.

miles edgeworth - Logic Chess, allows him to realize what the person he’s talking to will say next depending on what he will say. also lets him deduct possibilities in a case which helps the agency in their cases. kinda like oda’s ability, but more on verbal probabilities, rather than probabilities in the future, plus ranpo’s super deduction, just super limited.

gumshoe.... is their actual detective, a private detective for them. not actually gifted, but aids edgeworth on his cases. he used to be a detective under the police department until edgeworth invites him into the agency after finding out that his failures in his job has cut his salary a lot. he’s bad at being detective, but edgeworth brought out his best after he stayed with the agency.

ema skye - a forensics expert, helps within the agency. sometimes tags along with edgeworth and gumshoe whenever she’s needed for her expertise. can see bloodstains without the use of luminol, but she has to wear her funky glasses. can also tell whose blood it is as long as she sees other comparative blood samples.

franziska von karma - a prosecutor that works with the skilled ministry. unnamed ability grants her super strength as long as she’s annoyed/angry, which is often.

godot - Fragrance of Dark Coffee lets him dispense drinks out of fucking hammerspace. any drink, really. but mostly dispenses coffees of his own blends. throws dark coffee at enemies honestly and it throws them off guard but man can he fucking fight

apollo justice - Chords of Steel, his voice enables him to unleash destructive sonic waves but he has it under control. still loud as hell but minus destruction unless he means to. additional perception ability from the gramaryes.

trucy wright - adoptive daughter of phoenix after her dad, a suspect in one of the agency’s cases, disappears. a magician still. Magic Panties lets her pull out anything and lets her put anything in it. even people. she can manipulate the space fabric containers honestly, but prefers to use the panties for her shows. despite her magic panties being her main ability, she still has the heart of a magician and devises all tricks as much as she can.

klavier gavin - Guilty Love lets him use any sound he causes to unleash destructive sound waves as well. same as apollo honestly, but more control. can make a needle drop more destructive than it should be. still a famous rock star.

thalassa - has the same perception ability apollo has. Siren’s Serenade allows her to enthrall people with her singing, making them focus only on her. not part of the agency but often visits for trucy and apollo.

athena cykes - resident psychologist of the agency. Mood Matrix allows her to hear the voice and turmoils of your heart. honestly the same thing in the AAverse, and can choose to switch her ability on and off with widget’s help. also, for some unknown reason, the agency’s best hacker.

simon blackquill - another psychologist in the agency but works with edgeworth sometimes to manipulate possible suspects into fessing up. no ability, but can cut your throat

clay terran - apollo’s best friend and assistant of sorts. not an ability user, but this guy has learned how to map the stars and impresses everyone in the agency with it. he’s actually very helpful to them and everyone appreciates him despite being not an ability user. sometimes spends time with ema and gumshoe.

juniper woods- is not part of the agency but a student in Themis Legal. has an unnamed ability that allows her to grow flora or reverse the growth of plants. generally plant-based ability, but it tires her out pretty quickly. visits the agency and gives them all treats from her garden in the mountains after they help her avoid being falsely arrested.

the Phantom - Phantomime... generally enhanced imitation ability. the same thing in AAverse honestly

nahyuta sadhmadhi - no ability but honestly has the power of the Holy Mother™. the whole defiant dragons and khura’in’s shitty history doesn’t happen so he isn’t a prosecutor or anything, but he does fly to the US to visit apollo to see how he’s doing in that weird agency he got himself into

rayfa khura’in - enhanced insights anywhere as long as there’s water she can dance around on honestly. her insights aren’t as dull as they were in the AAverse, and while she can let images appear in the water, she experiences the victim’s last moment herself within her mind, and this lets her make correct judgements whether a defendant is guilty or not.

idk what else i was gonna write more about the port mafia counterpart in this but this is so long already honestly and i have no idea what to do with that