#anyone here an og pokemon fan?

[an-intronerd]

Prologue 

Ash Ketchum is monumentally, severely, completely fucked. 

He leans against the fireplace of his childhood home, partially hidden by the couch and the not-so-small group of people littered around him and spilling into the adjoining dining space.

His head thunks against the wall as his friends and family clap and cheer, shouting over each other as they hurl congratulations and compliments, surrounding the two figures in the middle.

Though Ash’s eyes are closed and his hat is pulled low over his face, he sees clear as day the wide cerulean eyes and a beaming smile. The blinding glint of a diamond ring slipping onto a dainty finger. 

He sees brown eyes staring warmly at a joyous face. Sees the strong arms wrap around a slim waist and show no signs of budging. 

Ash can’t stop it, can’t stop seeing the moments burned into his mind, watching as his oldest friend, his best friend, stares in shock as her boyfriend of seven months drops onto one knee, pulls out a small, navy blue box, and asks the woman in front of him if she’d do him the honor of becoming his wife. 

He can’t stop replaying the moment that a breathy, elated yes slips out of soft, pink lips.

Misty Waterflower has just gotten engaged.

Misty Waterflower is to be married. Has agreed to it in front of everyone she cares about and more. Is wrapped up in the arms of a man she’s been with for all of a year, blushing and laughing as those around her, her sisters, her friends, Ash’s mom, all congratulate her. 

What a time to realize you’re in love with your best friend, right? 

So, yeah. Fucked.

[adobe-outdesign]

thoughts on the voltorb line?

There have been a lot of various mimic Pokemon over the years (Foongus, Gimmighoul, etc.), but Voltorb is the OG. As a mimic, it's not a bad concept: it's known for being perpetually angry and having a penchant for casually exploding. There's something really interesting about the idea of a mimic not being a camouflaged predator but more akin to a living bomb that goes off if you fall for its disguise.

Which is really the only problem with this line: I think they're too big. The only reason they ever worked as mimics in the original games is because of the simple sprite view; in-universe, no one would ever mistake them for pokeballs, and this is an issue that immediately crops up in open-world Pokemon games as well. It feels self-defeating to have a mimic that can't ever trick anyone, let alone the player.

That aside, there's obviously nothing wrong with the incredibly simple design; just a pokeball with a face and no circular button area. I like the general shape of the eyes and eyebrows, and I really like that it has no mouth, just one kind of implied by the position of the divider line.

I will admit, however, that I'm not a huge fan of Electrode. I guess the idea of flipping Voltorb's colors upside-down has some merit—it's kind of like the polarity of the electrical charge getting reversed—but it just feels like a rather bland evolution that doesn't differentiate itself enough from its predecessor. It's not like it would've been hard to come up with a more unique concept for this line. It could have easily become a better type of pokeball, like an ultra or great ball, or maybe it could've opened up a little in the middle to reveal teeth or something.

It does have one unique thing going for it other than the colors flipping, which is the face; it now sports different eyes, a more smirk-like expression, and a mouth. Honestly, I kind of feel like this is a downgrade; I like that it has more personality besides just being angry, but the eyes feel drawn-on and less organic than Voltorb's, while the mouth feels unnecessary.

It's not really terrible or anything; but it does feel unnecessary, and I do feel like this line could've gotten away with just being a one-stager.

Also, side note: can we talk about the fact that Electrode can float for some reason??

PLA brings us Hisuian Voltorb, which I like quite a bit. It works perfectly with the historical context and different Pokeball designs of PLA, and making it grass/electric only makes logical sense with Pokeballs being made of wood during this time. I also think this has some interesting lore implications, as it indicates the line started off mimicking apricorns and probably evolved into being more like pokeballs over time as a form of mimicry. Granted, I do wish they explained why it had the half-and-half coloration, however. Some form of countershading, maybe?

Anyway, lore aside, the design is pretty solid. The texture of the wood on the bottom half adds a little bit of detail without being too much, and the subtle curve of the dividing line reflects its newfound personality: it's actually extremely jolly. This makes it really endearing, and serves to further differentiate it from its original design.

The hole at the top mimics the same hole in the old-school Pokeballs used in this game, and I think it's neat that it can release electricity from it, mimicking the firework effect after you catch a Pokemon in this game.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the very angular brow; it feels more metallic in nature than wooden, and overall feels less natural than original Voltorb's brows. I do love that the pupils are hollow, however.

And Hisuian Electrode... exists. Technically speaking, it has all the same elements as Hisuian Voltorb—the wood patterning, the inverse expression, the carved eyes (which, as a side note, I do like more than regular electrode's—they feel like they're actually part of the body here instead of drawn-on). And, in that respect, it's fine.

However, it suffers from the same blandness problem that regular Electrode has. Regional lines have worked to different too-similar evolutions before—the Alolan Grimer line is a fantastic example of this done perfectly, so I had high hopes for this evo. Instead, we got the exact same thing again, with the exact same changes made to it.

Here's a few designs that I thought were really interesting, creative, and still similar to Electrode while giving it more of a unique flair:

This one, based off of firecrackers:

This one, which takes the idea of it having seeds and gives it a Bonsly to match:

And another one based off of firework bombshells:

All of these designs are so fun! They keep the general idea of Electrode but actually do something with the new typing and concepts in a way that differentiates them from Hisuian Voltorb. What we got was more standard—but was pretty disappointing in my opinion.

So overall: Voltorb is a solid Pokemon with a good design, hampered only by being too large to be a successful mimic. The Hisuian version works perfectly as a regional and changes up the design in a way that makes sense thematically. Electrode, however, has always been a bit too similar to Voltorb even if it has some fun expressions, and the Hisuian version unfortunately doesn't fix that.

[pokepalsarchive]

New Years, New plans +Thank you note to everyone

Hey guys, Admin Mega here, happy new years PokeAskblog community! Hope this year has been wonderful for all of you, even if it had troublesome moments! As 2024 is on the horizon I wanna talk about the resolutions me and OG have for the blog and what to expect in the near future. Regarding Activity: I'll openly say this, I haven't been that active in the community lately which is unfortunate, but starting 2024 I'm hoping to get right back in and finish all the asks that have been left unattended. This means I'll try and participate in, aside from asking other blogs, community events hosted by anyone like the sinsibgala and bad end AU event. The Characters: As of typing this resolutions post, Skarla is undergoing a redesign as I feel somewhat unsatisfied with her current appearance, alongside an art style change that doesn't heavily utilize the Pokemon art style and just stick to the art style I have, something that's unique to me without always going on model for others like I have in the past. For new characters, while they haven't been unlocked yet we have teased quite a few and we still have some behind closed doors that me and OG would love to reveal one day! A w.i.p preview of Skarla's new design:

About the Blog: Previously stated, activity for the blog has been very slow due to a multitude of reasons, such as dealing with problems in real life, lack of motivation and direction, bogged down by other activities, etc. Story and lorewise me and OG are at work fleshing out the entirety of the Pokepalsverse, that being important moments in it's history, relations between humans and Pokemon along with the main cast, the aforementioned background organizations, and deities that would be present or have an important role in the world. On a side note, given that this blog is essentially a miniblog it doesn't have many benefits compared to a main blog, so me and OG are in talks of possibly rebooting the askblog, meaning that we'll have to start over on a new blog format and delete this one. Possible sideblog?: During my long hiatus writing for the askblog, an idea popped into my head about starting a sideblog that revolved around the company that Skarla works with and the many shenanigans that go on in the organization. Maybe it might happen, maybe it wont, who knows! But in the meantime keep on the lookout. What to expect in the future:

When activity kicks back up, we'll try and focus on making more art of the characters, make some minicomics detailing their history and backstory, possibly many more. But before I can close this post off, I'm gonna give some thanks to some of the community members that I like, admire and influenced me.

Many thanks:

Nori (@harmonia-university): Thank you for being the main askblogger that aspired me to become an askblogger myself. I'll never stop saying this, your cast of characters and world setting is very unique and I love everything about it! You're also a very wonderful person to watch and talk to, and I wish I can spend more time with you and the others! I look forward to what you have in store for the Harmoniaverse. Mikey (@askdeoxys): You sir are a driving force of encouragement, you have brought an entire community together and you have hoped for the best for many askbloggers, including us! Your words are extremely aspiring and it helps us strive to bring our askblog to the potential it deserves, and I couldn't thank you enough for that Mikey. You are awesome! Aro (@ask-the-shiny-pokemons/@aro-pokeverse): You are the first big follower/fan of our askblog the moment we opened up. Thank you for sticking with us and this blog, you're a cool person and I appreciate your company! I look forward to seeing more from the Virbank Baddies and other cohorts your world has. Migmog (@ask-the-royal-absol/@singularity-and-co): A massive shoutout to you for your great worldbuilding and colorful cast of characters. It's fun having chats with you during your streams on discord and watch you draw out your panels! Thank you for making a very intriguing world that leaves people wanting to see what happens next! Edge (@casteliacityramen): Thank you for the advice on some aspects of the lore, I really appreciate it! Like everyone I've mentioned, I hope to interact with all of you more in 2024, get to know all of ya better! Jean (@ask-casteliabounce): Another blog worth checking out, thank you for the further drive and inspiration for upcoming works for the blog! I really like Max, he's a cool cat weasel. Oh and one more thing, a final word from OG: "Thank y'all so much for the great 2023! Without y'all, askpokepals would just be a mere concept, lol. You guys are swag, epic and amazing in that order! Here's to 2024!" And that's pretty much all I have to say. Thank you for reading this, and thank you to the wonderful PokeAskblog community for it's chill atmosphere and positivity. See you all in the new year! With love, MegamanNick, Co-Admin of the blog.

[alanshee-keeper-of-realms]

Hey, OP! It's been five years since you've made the post, but is the offer to learning Ninjago Fandom Lore still open? You were there when the ancient scripture was written, you are a relic and lorekeeper of the past, and I am sitting criss-cross apple sauce and willing to hear ye olden tales. That is to say, I watched the show before s3 was even a concept, up until s5 started where I dropped it due to a combination of reasons, but I never forgot how I did want to watch it. And now over a decade later I learn this silly lego show of my childhood had a FANDOM, and I have missed all the moments with the community. Which seems very entwined with fan-show creator interactions to the point they throw OCS into their works and have fans send voice requests to sing the theme song and put it into the show finale. It's like the fandom is that child whose birthday you missed through being totally absentee. A shame :') this is my Pokemon, it's to us what Pokemon is to 90s kids. A show you could've been there since the Pilots and most of everyone is in your age range.

Of course I will always be up to speaking on the lore of the Ninjago Fandom!

Now for the newer anti groups this is your warning. We were the Wild West Kids so we did a lot of stuff that the Modern fandom would be ick about.

I guess that can be the first lore, the OG fandom had crackshipping everywhere, but some of these actually became a thing. One of the original now controversial ships that road a popularity wave alongside Jaya and, yes, Colya, was Greenflame.

Garsako was lovingly taken care of LadyMarissaGarmadon like they absolutely were crazy for it.

I was hiding in the corner with Zaya or Snow Phoenix as I called it

Bruisehipping was huge there was an artist called Blakkycat who was in the Tumblr side known for their Bruishipping Art I actually adopted their OC Chua, more lore

Serpentine Babies EVERYWHERE like everyone had a Serpentine Oc istg it was awesome Blakkys Bab Chua was one of these but he was popular due to his Shenanigans here's some Art for ya

That's Chua! So yeah I'm his caretaker now since Blakky left years ago. Blakky and I actually came up with a very Popular AU let's see if some of the Olders Remember this

Overlord Nya, and yes she's pulling a Katara and using the water in Blood to control it Blakky and I would talk for hours over this AU and the Fandom loved it just as much for a bit, Blakky created the Art I supplied Ideas.

This was I would say 2013/2014,

Season 3 oh man that was a trip, we actually Mourned Zane like held a funeral its funny now thinking it especially with how many times he's died and come back. We all really thought you know logically he was 100% gone

The Love Triangle thing was rough suddenly the Colya and Jaya fans were at each other's throats....people actually got hurt and friendships badly shattered a bunch of us were horrified like outsiders called us the most toxic fandom at least until Voltron stole that crown and we had Season 6 confirm Jaya. But this is why some wince at these ships

Nindroid Jay oh goodness Prpledragon created him and the Fandom was head over ass with AUs with this version I'm pretty sure you can still find the Comic Prple made partially for the AU

Then season 4 ohhhhhh man

I remember fondly the Tournament of Elements held here on Tumblr, like the whole fandom dozens of artists forming their own Art Tournament in honor of it

Then Zane was brought back and it was like we'd won the game celebrations everywhere lmfao

And the uproar that was Garmadons death

Ahaha I can continue but this is getting long so just let me know if you wish for more. I do indeed hold the texts and I'm more then happy to share

I have been Agent Alanshee, The Guardian Alanshee, The Winged Guardian Alanshee

And then Alanshee Keeper of Realms

For anyone who might recognized me

[rougekithes]

I just watched a video about Pokemon Artstyle changes, and lowkey, it makes SO much sense.

Like, I don't think I'm as bad as some stereotypical genwunner but I'm not fond of Gen 5 (tho they've grown on me), 8 or 9 pokemon. But I couldn't tell you what it is, that bothered me. Me thinks Gen 6 was very much marketed towards older fans in terms of pokemon designs and Gen 7, while very round, isn't all that offensive to me, with a few exceptions (but half of the "new" gen 7 pokemon were just alolan forms of kanto mons so lol)

But apparently people took some of the new pokemon designs and put them in early pokemon artstyle and they look so much better!

old artstyle crabrawler looks so good actually versus new artstyle Vulpix being lowkey ugly.

If anyone's interested, here's the OG reddit thread about it. They made another lil comparison in the comments and it's like, a game changer lmao.

[drifloonz]

💜hai! i'm wispy among other names.

🪀he/they primarily. | am 18 babey !! | pokemon has been my special interest since i was small. im autistic but rlly what pokemon fan isnt /hj.

my requests aren't closed but do understand i dont reply to them that often bc i have executive dysfunction. i do see them and plan to. eventually hopefully, but don't expect anything 100%

Im Really Autistic about Steven. my interpretation is very personal to me. obviously i write headcanons and x readers and he mostly draws from canon or canon implications, but do understand he is very personal to me.

he helped me thru a lot of bad times and i selfship w him etc etc but i am here to give people Food and things to chew on w him ... and sometimes other characters. i'm very picky about how people interpret him ( i hate fanon i hate fandom hes not a yaoiboy stttoppp ) which is straight up why i made the blog or one of the reasons . although the more clingy i get with steven the less i feel like updating the blog due to feeling very weird when i feel like people are using my interpretation . which is stupid. but is one of the many reasons if you ever wonder about it.

character masterlist | im updating this later probably with things like rules or boundaries but basically don't be a freak or a pr/shitter.

canon pokemon characters that arent like idk red/blue/rosa/the protags bc theyre easy to write, etc Are harder for me to write but i can write anything and anyone if i lock in enough.

i write things for pokemon/pokepasta! all headcanons and writing posts where the reader is inserted are gender-neutral by default unless said otherwise.

hello! this is my pokemon/pokepasta ( mainly pokepasta bc im fixated rn ) sideblog where i may write and draw. feel free to send requests ( mainly for writing i do not draw shit for free unless i rlly feel like it but u can still try ig ) . i looove steven strangled red he is my bbygirl. glitchy red as well. the sillies. mostly, the hyplull interps of them. i can and will write things up for them ( imagines, x readers possibly bc i am a little fruity, and gay, among other things! just ask . ) .

this also extends to the other hyplull characters just to a lesser degree . i may read up on it / actually watch the associated game if i get requests 4 the others i know less abt ( eg lost silver ) lol . i may be able to write for the ones i know less abt but it may take me a while cuz' i'll have to read up on them! i know the basic Gists abt most of them tho.

🕯 writing will be under #wispy-writes and art will be under #wispy-doodles . textposts r just wispy chatters as seen From this post. this is mostly for my own future reference lol.

🎠 please please pleaaase send me requests or questions or headcanons in my askbox i wont bite ( i will )

i will sometimes reblog those posts tht r like "send an ask in for the blog owner to answer a specific question" . as long as you link the post ( if its far back ) i Will answer those bc i love those. mostly will reblog writing and character based ones :3

i can and will write nsfw but only for characters that are over 18, obviously . ( mainly steven. and glitchy. and red ( the older version in like alola, obv ). bc im biased for those 3 particularly. steven/glitchy being based on the hyplull mod where They are 18/over. i won't write for nsfw of red or steven in timeperiods where they're implied or canonically underage, like steven before the accident or red during his og journey or on mt silver or w/e ). i'll probably block minors who int with the posts so apologies in advance for that. these will be tagged properly and have the mature content thingy on

i don't like the concept of y/nderes bc they're a demonization and hyperbolization of bpd, which i have, but i like writing possessiveness and other traits that those 'interpretations' have, which is similar but without the hyperbolization and gross fetishization or murder ( usually ) . so just say like. possessive / easily jealous [ character ] instead of y/ndere Please.

ok thank you :] plz have fun.

[ also ofc, prosh/tters, t/rfs, bigots, etc, dni! ]

[lesbiangallagher]

Fandom tag!! thank u for tagging me @suchagallabitch 🥰

Your First Fandom(s): i wasn’t going to do this but fuck it, here’s all the fandoms i remember being in: south park, left 4 dead, pokemon, homestuck, the book of mormon, les mis, the lorax, camp lazlo, one direction, shameless us (there’s more but i do not remember currently)

How did you first get into fandom? i liked writing self insert fic and i used to spend hours on youtube watching AMVs to like, bullet for my valentine in 2007 lol i found ffnet and deviantart soon after and the rest is history!

How long have you been engaging with fandom spaces? 2007 so officially 16 years. i was 11 reading south park yaoi

How often do you read fanfics? i open ao3 every single morning to see if any of my favorite wips have been updated. i love wips, i used to not read them bc i was always afraid the writer would abandon it but now i’ll read absolutely anything. i love the journey of reading wips now. it’s like my morning newspaper

Top 3 characters from your current fandom(s): mickey milkovich, ian gallagher, and now retsuko from aggretsuko…i feel like i am in no fandom rn, just passin by. i’m like the old man that lives on the edge of town who still comes to the street events

Have you ever written a fic for a fandom? yeah i’ve written a bunch of drabbles on my blog and uploaded two finished works, both one shots for the spicy gallavich collab 2021 and 2022…i am particularly proud of this year’s spicy fic. somehow reached 11k words and it’s about lesbians mickey and ian 💃 search lesbiangallagher on ao3. but in the past i feel like i’ve written at least one fic for every fandom i’ve been in…and i’ve been in a LOT of fandoms lol but they’re all on my old blog that only og rocco fans know about

Have you ever drawn fanart for a fandom? if so, shout it out! nah i’ve never been a fanart type of creator. i’m sure i’ve drawn characters jokingly or something

Share a personal headcanon that you feel very strongly about: since 2014, i have a HARD and STRONG headcanon that mickey is a trans dude

You're trying to convince a friend to get into your current fandom(s) with you. what episode, clip, or scene are you showing them? i don’t want anyone to get on the shameless US train because it was a whole lot of suffering but if i had to: the episode where they steal the meat from the meat truck. for aggretsuko: the episode where ton and retsuko go at it at karaoke

And finally, what does fandom mean to you? it’s always been an ~escape~ for me, where all my unhinged thoughts are welcome. i’ve seen just about everything at this point, but i still love the idea of community who bond over One niche thing

SECOND TAG ok slay!!!

name: rocco

age: i’ll be 27 in may 😵‍💫

Where in the world are you? georgia, us of a

The meaning behind your URL: i’m lesbian ian gallagher

Your second favourite color: i guess it’s orangey yellow

any pets? my cat, minky and two birds merlin and mulder

favourite season? fall

Last thing you read: new update of dead meet🫣

Last song you listened to: lavender haze by miss swift

What are you wearing right now? black skeleton dress and cooking apron

A hobby of yours: i read a LOT, i’ll read practically anything lol. now that i have a new glasses prescription, i feel invincible

and finally, what are you up to today? currently making breakfast and getting ready for vacation this week 😗

i don’t know who’s all been tagged but feel free to do this!! i am always reminded of myspace with these lol

[diamagneticcoordinationcomplex]

hi hi its me u know that pink fan who dumped too many words in one comment instead of spreading it out by chapter like a normal person lmao

(psst it was to lure u into giving spoilers accidentally but damn it didnt work இ௰இ)

can i say im an og fan of yours??? i really really loved ur iwft series at first sight since im also more or less an emmet simp and at that time your iwft story was a sight for sore eyes! amidst all the angst and pain, a fun bamf emmet story was something i needed! and then you continued to pump out masterpieces one after another and as you can tell i've been ummmm verrry aware of you like keeping an eye out for something new from you aware-aware haha *refreshes subscription list like a maniac*

and oh i was not being anonymous at all as i thought haha (tbh i feel kinda honored you know me even as far back as my roxana phase the world needs more roxana tbh badass bitches rule my manhwa list btw have u also read the princess 's doll shop its my pfp i love her ヾ(≧▽≦*)o)

i dont usually comment in my favorite authors' stories (tho i should probably do it more often) but when i do its going to be more or less an avalanche of words

actually i do have more thoughts about wonderland simmering in my head but i didn't include it bc i was almost at ao3 character limit lmao so i'll just say it here

i wanted to include ghetsis in my speculations bc i feel like he had a hand in whatever issue the king was having and probably pushed the rift between nobori and kudari. we haven't heard from him yet so its a sneaking suspicion 🤔 i also wanted to include allusions to kyurem since i mentioned the forest of mirrors as a boundary between wonderland and the real world and guess who's the boundary pokemon idk bulbapedia said it was a husk pokemon idk who that is *wink wink nudge nudge* and since our resident amnesiac kudari was there maybe it means something? i also wanted to make some comparisons between kyurem and the king but i felt it was getting wayyy out of hand hehe

also also as you can probably tell i believe that wonderland is very much a real place but it is also a product of a dream since gen 5 had that dream world mechanic dunno how that's gonna fit in the story but its a nice thought

i also have thoughts on the memory hall and why the king restricted the place and why ingo got like conflicting memories but i am running out of words i need to soak my brain somewhere else first byeee have a nice day/night!!!

Hello, pink one! Good to hear/read from you again! I verrrry much appreciated the long comment in the latest Wonderland chapter! :D

(Heheh, gotta keep the secrets hidden~ It's kinda hard to reply to comments without accidentally revealing things lol)

I'm delighted to meet another Emmet simp! One of the big motivators behind 'I wish for truth' was for Emmet to not be a sad sad angsty depressed boy for once. Hence, him being a mysterious, powered up, bamf lol. I'm so very glad my story was able to provide that break from the *angst* that I myself was looking for.

I'm honoured to have someone so aware of my works! Communication on AO3 is relatively limited and I don't get much feedback aside from what's available on there (and social media ain't really my thing), so it's nice to know that there are people who notice and appreciate. The concept of having fans is still somewhat foreign to me cos all I'm doing is writing stuff... (that's all self-indulgent lolol). (btw, I still haven't shaken my habit of refreshing the Emmet tag on AO3 several times a day)

I will admit that my first moments of being a writer on AO3 were verrry... stalker-y? I'd just look at the profiles of anyone who kudo-ed or bookmarked my stuff, which is probably not that creepy? idk XD (I looove Roxana, she's so cool and gosh the art in that manwha is soooo pretty. Oh, I haven't heard of princess' doll shop! I'll definitely give it a look! Thank you for the rec~)

I don't usually comment on stuff much either (bc I'm kinda bad at doing that). So I'm honoured you decided to leave such a detailed, in-depth comment on my work! Thank youuuuu~♡

Oh, I was wondering if you were almost to the limit on AO3's commenting system. It was quite the essay! :D

Now onto Ingo in Wonderland:

Ohhh, speculations regarding gen5 stuff! Ghetsis and Kyurem and dreams hmm? Interesting thoughts you have there~

We'll just have to wait and see if the mysteries of Wonderland will ever come to light... (I have a lotta lore in my head but it doesn't always get onto the paper/document screen)

Oh, I'm excited to read your thoughts/speculations on the whole memory mess! I'll be waiting here (im)patiently~ (>w<)

Thank you for the ask! A good day to you too!

[victorystarvee]

★ Intro time ★

Victory Star Vee, ready to shine!

Not to brag but I don't think introductions are super necessary, I think anyone here is already a fan of me ;)

Still!! Guess I better say hi! ¯\_(ツ)_/��

I'm Vee, I'm 19 and I'm an idol here in Unova you may know for a couple things: tv appearances, modelling, a few hit songs, maybe even Tini and I's musical days if you're an og. Plus I can't forget being the trainer of the mythical pokémon Victini!└(^o^)┘(plus a sawsbuck & a mienfoo but I'm not really known for that (._.))

I started this blog so I could answer questions from some of my favourite people ever (you guys!! ~(˘▾˘~)) Plus give you all some super sweet behind the scenes updates on stuff I'm working on!!

Lookin' forward to posting!! ｡^‿^｡

!!my team!!

ooc: hello i am just an 18 year old who has decided a pokemon irl blog is the best way to spend their time. i hope you enjoy :] please feel free to interact!! Asks, reblogs, etc I don't mind

I don't have any specific rules about dos or don'ts minus no nsfw but I will add them here if I feel the need to! also if you have a problem with anything, please tell me!! shoot me a message and I'll do my best to sort it out

(follows from @ceezocico)

[shilo-sumac]

heyooooo imma Shilooooo!!!!

((This blog is in character in the Pokemon universe. This may trigger unreality in some people. Ask me to tag any extra triggers. Some topics may be emotionally heavy, but not extremely graphic, and will be tagged.))

((YOU DON'T NEED TO READ THIS ALL I JUST WRITE LONG INTROS SORRY

last change 10/8/2024, added link to new tag system

Pelipper mail is on!

Musharna mail and malice are on!

Mystery Gifts are on!

Tags I use

Current arc: none

ps: You are absolutely free to go through my blog and spam like and reblog i love that it makes me feel loved (no pressure to ofc just if you wanted to anyways)

Writing starring Shilo!

An Ache

The Hurricane | Followup DMs [More under "hurricane arc" tag, mainly an Alistair Takeover]

IC INTRO STARTS NAOW!!!!!))

hiya! im a pokemon rescuer, shelter, rehabilitator, trainer, uh. other things too! liiiiike ive made it into the Sinnoh Hall of Fame :3c ... uhhhhhh i try not to make too huge a deal about it aha........ me n my Pokémon partners are pretty strong and awesome tho. born in unova, currently in wonderful sinnoh.

she/they, in my mid 20s (i think...)

heres my og team!

Urtle, Monarch, Bess, Gadzooks, Bane and Bianca!

due to my passion and job i have a decent amount of 'mons that i can shift around as battlers as well as ones that are just pets. if i had to choose a team of six right now I'd probably go with these, but theyre subject to change!!!! yahoo options!!!

Rin, Spooky!, Bianca, Gadzooks, Bane and Mym!

mmmm okay what else.... so um, im on a decently large plot of land with a handful of facilities to help me out. it's on an island off the coast of Sinnoh, and its all dedicated to helping pokemon!!! i mostly do my work alone, so i have a limited amount i can reasonably care for tho even with all the space. (... good thing sleep is for the weak >:3) occasionally i may be quiet for a while, the wifi here is........... temperamental

Rin-tin-tin the one eyed Zoroark also has access to the blog, she was the first friend i ever really had and ive known her for a real long time. she likes using human disguises to casually hang out in places that dont allow Pokemon. shes learned a lot of habits from humans, shes not the biggest fan of typing or texting though. she has personally assigned herself as my bodyguard and always is within hearing distance of me. shes the strongest Pokemon ive ever known!!! even though i met her first she didnt officially join my team until after i finished the championship. (league rules and all)

now for Alistair... oh Ali, youre such a... guy. lets just say he has the personality of a spoiled rich kid and the knowledge of the world of a quarantined homeschooled agoraphobe. he might talk here sometimes or i might mention him, he owes me one so he helps me out around here. yep, yet another blog with a roommate :p

btw im mentally ill af sorry in advance

((Extra Ooc stuff below cut))

~

Some Refs:

Random Muse/Her world Info

Ooc stuff here! Hiya! I'm Ri! whenever I talk ooc I'll usually do it ((like this)) or otherwise mark it as ooc!

Shilo is HEAVILY based on my run of Platinum, keep this in mind as her backstory slowly reveals. trying to write fanfic of it rn!

Main blog and follows shall come from Ridragon, you are welcome to follow me there, but it is not strictly a Pokemon blog, it's an all my interests and a diary all squashed together. I "spam" likes sometimes so lmk if you dislike that, and don't mind if someone "spams" mine. I'm touched when people care enough to read and like. :3

All asks and any interactions open, I'm totally new to this so throw them at me. don't be afraid to send stuff! worst i can do is say ehhh not feeling it

For my own reference and anyone else here's a list of her current Pokemon, separated by who she battles with and who are just pets/retired. the list may be subject to change, depending on if she adopts out or loses a Pokemon to circumstance or adopts/befriends another.

eventually i hope to make these links if i get around to profiles... we'll see! all pokemon are going to be tagged as [Their Name] the [Pokemon Species] without the brackets. Tumblrs search system sucks though so, hopefully they'll be somewhat organized.

Battlers:

Rin-tin-tin "Rin" - Zoroark ♀️[Best helper and bodyguard] *Alpha | Gadzooks - Garchomp ♂️ | Bane - Gliscor ♂️ [Likes to help in the greenhouse too! Especially with the edible plants.] | Bianca - Weavile ♀️| Spooky! - Mimikyu ♀️🌟 | Mym - Dragapult ♀️[Flying mount for off island excursions!] | Vampira - Crobat ♀️[Helps with connection to the Zubat network spanning across some regions]

[anyone without a specific detail likely just acts as island protection, or just chill unless battling, with battling being their main favorite thing]

Non-Battlers:

Urtle - Torterra ♂️ [Retired, battle injury] | Flower - Quilava ♀️[Apprentice egg-warmer] | Mr. Kabby - Kabutops ♂️ [Semi-Retired but keeps charge of watching to make sure the ocean around the island is safe] | Morgan - Espeon ♀️[Emotional Support] | Simon - Umbreon ♀️[Emotional Support] | Lucky - Rattata ♂️ 🌟 [Likes to help plant in the greenhouse, three legs and stunted tail, runt] | Char - Charizard ♂️ [Semi-retired after Pokenip Saga crystals ate his wing 3:] | ??? - Porygon-Z that took over her phone temporarily

Previous Pokemon:

Monarch - Vespiquen ♀️ [Returned to wild amicably] | Bess - Rhyperior ♀️[Lives off-island in wild] | Rattata Babies [raised and adopted out]

[itsclydebitches]

I don't think agree with that though. You can use a older franchise without it being made for the audience that grew up on it. The new pokemon series doesn't need Ash to be a adult in a "mature" pokemon story. A new teen titans doesn't need to be like the original or care at all about those who grew up on the originals. It's just a kids show using characters new to them in the same way the OG titans were new to us, even though even older fans grew up on the comics.

You absolutely can change up old stories — and creators obviously do — I'm just saying no one should be surprised if adults are disappointed in the creation when it airs. And I think that disappointment is valid. Really, I think we're talking about two very different things here. There's a massive difference between adults becoming so obsessed with children's media that they try to cut the kids out of it completely and adults who say, "Hey, you made a really bad cartoon and I wish you hadn't because the original means a lot to me." What this conversation hasn't considered thus far are the good reboots that please both adults and kids (and getting enjoyment doesn't have to be because it's "made for" the adults in terms of grittiness. Adults enjoy standard cartoons too): Scooby Doo, Batman, and She-Ra to name just three. In most cases it's not really about the adults feeling like the cartoon isn't allowed to change, it's about the adults recognizing that the creators were trying to get by on nostalgia and nostalgia alone. They didn't handle the material respectfully and they didn't create a new story that could stand on its own. To be blunt, it's just bad, and both kids and adults recognize that. There are, as said, absolutely outliers here who take their nostalgia way, way, WAY too far, but they are actually outliers. Most adults love getting new content for a beloved series, whether it's updated for adults or still aimed at kids... provided that story is treated well. If you're not going to treat it well, why did you mess with something an entire generation loved rather than just creating something new?

Take Cruella, for example. Who is this movie for? By all surface logic it's for kids. It's a Disney film based on another, beloved Disney film. Anyone who hears the most basic premise for this prequel would go, "It's about Cruella from 101 Dalmatians? Yeah, that's obviously for children. Who else would it be for? Why are all these adults up-in-arms over a kid's movie? Get a life!" But, well, it's not a kid's movie. Not really. The live action aside, it's now PG-13 (as opposed to G) and it's 2 hours 14 minutes (as opposed to 1 h 19). Take a look at the official trailer:

Are there reboots, prequels, and sequels designed to breathe new life into an old story and update it for the kids of today? Absolutely and often those stories are great. But there's also a trend of taking what was previously kid's media and not updating it for just adults, but actively trying to appeal to both. Which is when we run into trouble. This trailer doesn't look anything like a kid's movie. From the cinematography to lines like "I guess they were always scared I'd be a psycho!" it's very much aimed at adults, but the subject itself, this character, is supposed to be for kids. It's a Disney movie, but Disney is no longer synonymous with children. Perhaps most importantly, Cruella is getting... mixed responses, to be generous. As said, a lot of adults' reactions come down to whether these beloved stories are treated well and when they're not, people are rightfully frustrated. We can't use "It's not meant for you" as an excuse here because who else is a trailer like this meant for except adults? It's less "I don't want kids to have anything. This is my story. Hands off. It needs to appeal to me and me alone!" and much more, "The creators clearly want me to be a part of this audience, I am arguably their actual target audience as opposed to the kids, and now that I've watched this I'm... I'm extremely disappointed. You took something I loved and did it dirty. I don't like it, I'm not sure if kids can even watch this... so who is this story for? It was pretty clearly for me, but now I'm being told my opinion doesn't matter because it's actually just for kids."

At the end of the day yeah, any creator has the right to change up old franchises to their heart's content — and often times those changes do exceedingly well. Personally, I'm very glad they exist. But if they do badly, if the original spark is discarded, if there's no new and epic spark to replace it, if there's confusion about who is even allowed to criticize the story (is it really for kids?) then those creators shouldn't be surprised when there's pushback. They knew what they were signing up for. They deliberately picked those beloved franchises because of the nostalgia. The flipside of that is, if they get it wrong, adults will criticize the show rather than praising it like they'd hoped.

[tumbling-odyssey]

Games I played in 2020

Just felt like getting my thoughts out on all the games I played this year. I’ve been wanting to do something like this for years but I always let it pass me by. Well not this year! Fuck you laziness! 

I played the first half in 2019 but finished it in 2020 so I guess I'll count it. DQ11 was my intro to Dragon Quest and what a good starting point. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best traditional JRPGs on the market. Characters, story, combat, it all clicks in just the right way to make a flawless game... until the end credits roll that is. 

I have no idea what happened with the post game but by god does it dive off a cliff. It undermines everything you worked to do in the main plot. The characters act brain dead and it shamelessly reuses events from the main game. Please pick up and play DQ11 but for the love of god just stop when the credits roll.

Doom is a game I knew I'd like. The heavy metal ascetic and soundtrack were right up my alley, but I just never found the time. With Eternal on the way though and having found it on the cheap at a pawn shop I figured there was no time like the present. Needless to say but I was right. I loved everything about this game. The thrill of combat, the screech of the guitars, and the silent take no shit attitude of Doomguy. Make no mistake though, I SUCK at this game. I played on easy but still got my ass handed to me on the regular. But I don't care, I was having way to much fun.

I flipped my shit when this game got leaked at the tail end of 2019. Zero 3 is my all time favourite game. To celebrate this getting announced I went and 100% Zero 3 as I hadn't done it on my current cart, and Zero 3 was still the first thing I played when I got this collection! I love that game to death and I’m glad to have it on modern consoles again. As I was under a bit of time crunch with other games releasing soon I only played 2 other games in the collection Zero 4 and ZX Advent. Until the DS collection those and 3 were the only Zero/ZX games I had so I have a lot of nostalgia for them. 

Zero 4 hold ups better then I remember. Not as good as 3 but a damn solid game with tweaks I honestly wish hit the series before its end. I remember having issues with the stage design and ya it’s not perfect, but it’s far from as bad as I thought. For ZXA this was the first time I beat the game on normal difficulty. For some reason the ZX games have always given me more trouble than the Zero games, so finally beating one on normal was very exciting. Maybe I can now finally go and beat ZX for the first time...

The Mystery Dungeon series rising from the depth to punch all those unexpecting in the face was a very welcome surprise. I had a lot of hype going into this one as I have very fond memories of my time with Red Rescue Team and even more with Explorers of Darkness. And the game lived up to it! The remastered music is great and crazy nostalgic, the 3D models are well used and don't feel as stiff as they do in the core series, and the QOL changes are near perfect... So why did I drop this game like a rock once I finished the main quest? 

Anyone familiar with Mystery Dungeon will know that the post game is the real meat of it. The story is short and all the really cool shit comes in after it's done. But I just couldn't bring myself to put more time in after I finished said story mode. I'm definitely chocking that up to me just not being in the mood then an issue with the game. Here's hoping we get an Explorers DX sometime soon. That will fucking hook me for all it's got.

Second verse same as the first. I loved this game and sucked at it horribly. Out of all the games I've played this year Doom Eternal is the one I want to go back to the most. I was not the hugest fan of some of the changes made and retained a stance that I liked 2016 better. First person platforming has never been a fun experience in my opinion and Eternal did little to change that. And I know this a lukewarm take at best but fuck Marauders!. They are so unfun to fight and ruin the pace. The Marauder in the last mook wave took me so long I was worried I wouldn’t be able to finish the game. But the more I've seen of Eternal after my playthrough makes me think I was being far to harsh. I haven't played the DLC yet either. Mostly cuss I haven't heard great things about it. Gonna wait for the rest of it to come out to see if it's worth getting. Might just replay to whole game at that point to see if it clicks with me better.

This was my second favourite game of the year, and was going to take the top slot until a certain other game came out. Addressing the elephant in room right away, I hated the ending. But I was expecting something like that, I think we all were. I won't let the ending ruin the rest of the game though. Not gonna let 1 segment colour everything that came before it. We have to see how the later parts play out to truly see if this ending was trash or not anyway. 

It took Square over a decade but they finally got an action RPG battle system that works and feels good to play. This may be my favourite battle system in an RPG period honestly. All four characters are a blast and it only gets better the more time you spend with it. Figuring out the nuances of each character’s skills and how to combine them not only with the skills of the others but how to enhance them with the right Materia set. This makes fights thrilling and satisfying when you finally best whatever was giving you trouble. Tis was the best way to bring 7′s mechanics into the modern landscape while also fixing the BIGGEST issue the OG had. The fact every character feels the same aside from Limit Breaks. 

All this on top of graphics that just look fucking stunning, a few glitched out doors aside. Fuck I still feel blown away looking at the characters models (mostly Tifa) and see how god damn pretty everyone is. Also Tifa’s Chinese dress is gift from the Gods and I still haven’t picked my jaw up from the floor after I first saw it.

In my circle of the internet there was a lot of hype for this game. So much so that I ended up buying it to see what all the hubbub was about. I had never played a Streets of Rage game before and my only experience with beat'em ups was playing a LOT of Scott Pilgrim and last year's River City Girls. Turns out Streets of Rage plays quite a bit different and it kicked my ass! So sadly I had to switch to easy to make it through but I still had a fun time with it. 

I started playing mostly as Blaze but once Adam hit the scene oooooh fucking boy. I didn’t play anyone else. There's a deceptive amount of content in this game. You can unlock almost every character from the previous games and all of them rocking their original sprites and moves. If I had more of a connection with this series I'm sure I would have gone nuts on unlocking everything. I stopped after my one playthrough and I was happy with that. Always glad to support a long overdue franchise revival.

To properly talk about P5R I think I need to air a lot of my feelings on the original game and the importance it has to me. You see, prior to 2017 I barely played games, only sticking to specific franchises. AKA Pokemon and Mega Man/Mega Man like games. Until 2016 though I still bought a lot of games. Eating up Steam sales and deals I found at pawn shops. This lead to a Steam library and shelf filled with games I've never touched outside of maybe an hour or 2. So in 2016 when I took interest in the newly released Kirby Planet Robobot I made a deal with myself. I could get the game but I HAD to beat it.  And I did just that, gaining not just a new fav Kirby game but a new rule for game purchases. If I knew I wouldn't beat a game I was not aloud to buy it. Now what does ANY of this have to do with P5 you may ask? Well... almost everything.

 I was immediately interested in P5 when it hit the west in 2017. I loved the 20 or so hours I but into P3 years ago and really liked the P4 anime I had watched around the same time. So of course with all the hype around it I wanted to dive into the series full force with P5. But I knew myself. Putting over 100 hours into a game was beyond me and I had a weird relationship with home console games as I was predominately a handheld gamer. Add in the fact I didn't even have a PS4 and I was convinced P5 would be something I always wanted to play, but never would. So when I went to the mall with a few friends and they showed me that P5 had a PS3 version, I had a dilemma on my hands. I knew I wanted to play it and I now had a way to do so. But doing that would require me to change 2 HUGE hang ups I had with games. Would I being willing to waste 60 bucks with so much working against me? Apparently I was. I immediately started going to town on this game. Making sure I spent no less then 2 hours a day playing NO MATTER WHAT. Which may not seem like a lot but it was to me... at the time.. I also had just moved to my current house, so coming home from my still relatively new job and going straight into P5 was the first real routine I formed during this heavily transitional part of my life. 

I of course ended up loving P5 and put 200 hours into it. As such my outlook on gaming was forever changed. Console games were no longer out of reach and I knew I could handle playing monster length game. I started playing way more games then I ever did before and trying out generas I never thought I would play. P5 is the main reason for this and why I'm able to make a post like this. To actually touch on Royal though? It's unarguably the better version of the game and Atlus learned all the right lessons from P4G. The new characters are great and the added section at the end is possibly the best shit Atlus has ever written. I only wish Yoshizawa joined the party sooner so I could play as her more. 

The release of this really came out of nowhere huh? Wayforward announced it was being made mid way through 2019, then there was its weird half release on the Apple store... and then suddenly it was out! Very little fanfare for this one. Is that indicative of the games quality? Luckily no. Seven Sirens is a solid addition to the series and follows up Half Genies Hero nicely. The game goes back to Shantae's Metroidvania roots and makes a TON of improvements. 

Transformations are now instant instead of having to dance for them (don't worry dancing is still in the game) making the game feel more like Pirates Curse in its fast flow. They also added the Monster Cards which take heavy inspiration from Aria of Sorrow's Soul system. A feature I'm happy to see in any Metroidvania since Aria is one of my all time favourite games. Sadly though the game does not take the best advantage of these improvements. 

Over all the game feels kinda empty. The dungeons aren't super exciting to explore nor are they challenging in any way. And the plot is very repetitive, with each dungeon repeating the same beats. Really this game feels more like set up for a better game down the line. The mechanics are all here and Wayforward has a solid art style with the sprites from Half Genie Hero. Hopefully they capitalizes on this for Shantae 6 and we get the best game in the series.

While it may not have been the most thrilling game, Seven Sirens really put me into a Shantae mood. So much so that I went back to play the 2 games in the series I had never touched. This being the first game and Risky's Revenge. Shantae 1 really is a hidden gem in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, it's the definition of jank, but there's a lot of heart to this game. The sprites are great, the soundtrack is good, and the characters are funny... but it's still on the OG Gameboy and that's a massive hindrance for any game. I'm hard pressed to recommend this with how poorly its aged but I think it's better then it looks. 

Risky's Revenge on the other hand was a game that shocked me by how little it had to offer. I know this game went through a hellish development and what we got was far from what Wayforward planned to make, but it's hard to imagine a world where this was the technical BEST Shantae game. It's not a bad game by any stretch... just a boring one.

For the record my ranking of the games goes Pirates Curse>Half Genie Hero>Seven Sirens>Original>Risky’s Revenge

Sword and Shield are mediocre games at best. I know, real steaming hot take there. I managed to make my Sword playthrough a lot more fun by not spoiling myself on the new Pokemon designs for the first time since Gen 3. Either way, I enjoyed myself enough that I didn't mind playing more of it with these DLC campaigns. Plus I love the idea of Game Freak switching over to this method as apposed to making a third version, so I wanted to support it. 

Klara is a fucking top tier Poke Girl both in design and personality and is probably the highlight of Isle of Armour. GF actually went out of their way to give her multiple expressions to sell her toxic bitch personality and I love every minute of it. She sadly drifts into the background for the second half of the DLC’s story which hurts an already rough section even more. Not more then having to grind Kubfuu all the way to fucking level 70 though! That put a serious hamper on my motivation to finish the story but I pushed through anyway. Having to solo the tower with Kubfuu was at least a fun challenge though, as was the final fight with Mustard. Fuck the Diglett hunt though. Ain’t no one got time for that.

Crown Tundra may be my fav of the 2 though even if there isn't a character as good as Klara in it. The hunt for the legendaries was just pure adventure and I had a fucking blast doing it. The joy I felt when I figured out Registeel’s puzzle put a smile on my face unlike any Pokemon game since I was a kid. The whole Regi stuff was honestly a nice Nostalgia trip to my times with Emerald. The story around Calyrex was enjoyable, even if I still hate its design. Not revealing the horses before release was a good call to as it gave an honest surprise. Having to chase down the Galar forme Birds in the overworld is a great way to evolve the roaming legendaries idea and I hope GF sticks to this. Plus the Galar forme birds are some of the best legendary designs since Gen 5 and I love Chocodos way to fucking much. 

Here we are folks, my GotY. I love Panzer Paladin so fucking much. A combination of mechanics from Mega Man, Castlevania, and Blaster Master? Sign me the fuck up! This game is tailored made for me and I knew I had to play it once it started making the rounds on social media. I'll admit though, I was a bit worried when the the first full trailer dropped and showed the weapon mechanics. Breakable weapons that you have to sacrifice for checkpoints and power ups? I'm not sure about that.... Luckily I was being a complete moron and those mechanics are near perfect. 

I love the set up of each boss being a mythological creature from different cultures. They didn’t just pull the easy ones either. A lot of these things I learned of for the first time here. I love how Grit controls. Using the upward stab as a double jump and being able to pogo off enemies Shovel Knight style just felt great and satisfying. Flame was limited but it made her sections feel tense. She does more damage then you think she could at first glance. Also the only way to heal Grit being to use pods that only Flame could access was a cool idea. 

I am begging you Tribute Games, you have to make more Panzer Paladin games. Slap some new upgrades on Grit and expand what Flame can do and you have an even better sequel  on your hands. Also maybe not have so many 'gotcha' moments with enemy placement. That's really my only complaint about the game. Great music, great sprites, giant robots, unique premise, and a reference to Canadian legends. The ultimate self indulgent game for me.

It felt super out of left field for Curse of the Moon to be getting a sequel. The games fucking amazing but it was really just a tie in for the main Bloodstained product. Not something I expect to get a continuation. Either way I was pumped. If this was even half as good as the original then I was in for a great time. Which held true... cuss this legitimately is only half as good as Curse of the Moon. I still like the game, quite a lot actually. I mean how could I not with a fucking Corgi piloting a Death Train Mech. 

Something was just missing here that never made this click like the first game. Maybe it was the stage design, maybe the bosses, maybe the fact that it's a bit to long. I'm not sure. All I know is I couldn't bring myself to play all the modes like I did in the original. . Stopping part way in to the one where you can get the first games characters. I want to go back some day... I just don’t know when someday is.

This was an announcement I never saw coming. A Gundam Verses game coming to the west? That hasn't happened in the entire time I've been a Gundam fan. I had played a bit of Full Boost on my old roommates PS3 thanks to him having a Japanese account and I played Force on the Vita a few years ago. But to have the latest version fully translated with open servers? Holy hell that's a dream come true. 

Having the open betas every weekend leading up to launch was some much needed fun during this shit hole year. I had a lot of fun just fucking around with different suits and seeing what I could do with 'em. Absolutely trashing two Bael players as the Kapool is a memory I'll keep with me for a long time. Fucking danced on their graves. This gave me some new appreciation for suits like the Baund Doc and Hambrabi, the later becoming a lowkey fav as it was my main.

I've fallen off with the game in the last few months but I definitely want to go back. I hope to start learning the game and take parts in tourneys when cons aren’t death sentences anymore.

It felt like everything in my life was SCREAMING at me to start the Yakuza series. From 2 of my friends playing 0 recently, a youtuber I following live tweeting as he played through the WHOLE series back-to-back, and Yakuza 2 having a run at AGDQ 2020. Plus the constant pleas to play this series you get from following Little Kuriboh on Twitter. I finally broke and picked up 0 in the middle of August. Boooooooooy howdy did I not know what I was getting in to. And no I don't mean the content. I knew Yakuza was a series of wildly conflicting tones between the main story and side quests. What I mean is the length. I legit thought this was gonna be a 20-30 hour game. When i reached hour 30 of my playthrough and realized I wasn't even close to a conclusion, I think I knew I had bitten off more then I was planning. That misstep aside I ended up loving this game and want to play the rest of the series.... I just need to rest up first before I dive into Kiwami 1.

 Let's actually talk about the game for a moment here. Kiryu and Majima quickly clicked as likeable characters to me and I cared about their stories. Combat is fun and the multiple styles are all great.... though both the default styles take a while to get there. The mad rush I felt at the end was fantastic and the last bosses are a joy to fight. Only real complaint is the pacing of the side stories. I loved being able to just stumble into various different events while on route to the next plot objective. But this became less common as the game went on and side stories started getting more tucked away. Also hot take here, the host club mingame is more tedious then fun and I like Kiryu’s business stuff as I could do that in the background. I’m excited to dive into Kiwami and probably Kiwami 2 this year... Though I’m not sure when just yet.

Just gonna say it flat out, I think this is better the the 2018 game. The smaller scale helps in this style of game and Miles just naturally has a better move set then Peter. I'm not sure if they actually tightened up the combat system or if they just threw less bullshit enemies at you but fighting feels so much better in this one. Traversal is better too,  simply because they changed the button for tricks. In the original you have to hold down 2 face buttons to enter trick mode??? In hindsight that was such a bad call. 

Having both the heal and venom powers run off the same meter was a good idea. Making the choice between keeping yourself alive guaranteed or potentially ending a fight quicker/disposing of a problem enemy is super fun. The player having to make small choices like this during combat is what helps it not be brainless. I love all the different venom skills you get. While they all achieve the same thing in stunning opponents, how you achieve that goal is up to you. Do you want to just slug the bastard, throw 'em up in the air, tackle the shit out of them? The choice is yours. 

Only real big complaint is certain upgrades being NG+ locked. I know you want to encourage replays, but this is a shitty way to do it I feel. Also can we retire Rhino for the next game. Man has had 2 shitty boss fights now and I need a break. Between this and Spider-Verse, I'm honestly starting to like Miles as Spider-Man more then Peter.

I got this game more on a whim then anything. I was definitely interested when it was first announced for the west. Vanillaware's beautiful art style in a story about giant robots beating the shit out of Kaijus? Sign me the fuck uuuuuu-oh wait it's an RTS? I had never played an RTS's before, mainly due to the sheer concept stressing me out. So I let it fall to the wayside. The game started coming up again though towards the end of the year with GotY on everyone's minds.  This revived my interest, especially as what I HAD planned to be playing around that time was... well. Cyberpunk. Don't think I need to say much more. Also I had worried for nothing as the Real Time Strategy was not that Real Time. 

This game really lays on the analysis paralysis once you're out of the tutorial. Do you want to fight, do you want to do story, who's story do you want to do, what branch should you follow, how much should you play with this one character? It's very overwhelming at first. I decided to not go ham on just one character and swap around all the time. The twists in this game are equal parts exciting and infuriating. Learning something new always came with the caveat of more questions, or something you knew 'for sure' being disproven. Like when I learned 1 characters was actually 4 separate ones! Anyone that's played knows exactly what I'm talking about. 

Natsuno ended up being my fav and not just because of.... obvious reasons. BJ was cute if unfortunately named and her relationship with Mirua was my favourite in the game. Not that there was much competition except for maybe Ogata and Tomi. I ended up really liking the combat but I can see why RTS fans say it's the weakest part. It's far from complex and I had a winning strat by the third or so real fight. Aka spam turrets and have the Gen 1′s gank all the bosses.

One quick thing I want to share was how I beat the boss at the end of Area 2. The one where Inaba is singing. I had Hijiyama use the limit break skill to bum rush the boss right off the hop. I took out half its health in one hit but Hijiyama’s Sentinel was on death’s door. Only thing that saved him was sending in Amaguchi to blow up a bunch of missiles. Hijiyama took it out on his next attack but lost his Sentinel at the same time. It was a real clutch victory and crazy fucking anime. 

The best way to really describe Carrion is that it's a fantastic proof of concept. Can you make a game where you play as The Thing? Why yes, yes you can. Carrion just needed a bit more tweaking to really bring this concept home and be the A+ game I know it can be. As it is now the game is a bit empty. The level design is super samey and the lack of a map is fucking brutal at points. I know it would make no sense for a blob monster to have a map but somethings you just have to gameify for convenience. The level design must have done something right as even though I was completely lost I still moved from area to area properly. Hell by the time I actually looked up a map I had 1 more item to get and I learned I was one door away from beating the game. 

I love the idea of losing mass as you take damage and gaining more by eating people, but having abilities tied to size was a terrible idea. It just leads to tedium as I have to go and shed myself to the right size, do the puzzle, then of course I'm going to go back and rebuild myself to see if I can do the next segment at full power. Just make it so you can swap between abilities using the d-pad or something. I hope this game gets a sequel just so this sick ass concept can be fully realized.

[adobe-outdesign]

What do you think of the legendary birds? Both the regular and Galarian forms

I'm not a huge fan of the OG trio. They're not terrible or anything, but they're kind of boring. Especially old Moltres over here, which is basically the very first thing you think of when you hear "fire-type bird". Some of its earlier sprites make it look like the wings were completely made of flames, which would've been slightly more interesting, but not by much.

It's also weird because you'd think it would more of a phoenix, but instead our phoenix Pokemon is... Ho-Oh? Okay.

Also, it looks like one of those screaming rubber chicken dolls on fire. Just wanted to toss that out there.

Zapdos is slightly less literal than Moltres, but not by much, mostly just by being very yellow and spiky instead of literally having lightning come off of it. The legs look a bit weird--not sure why they're a different color--but otherwise it's serviceable, if not slightly predictable.

Anyone else notice that the eeveelutions mimic the trio, with a bland fire version, a spiky yellow electric version, and a blue diamond ice version? Weird. Anyway.

Articuno's probably my favorite of the bunch, just on the virtue of not overtly representing its type. One could argue that's a bad thing--this could easily pass as a water-type if you didn't know better--but it's certainly more interesting than the others, at least. The tail looks really cool, but it's kind of a shame the rest of the body is pretty normal save for the head crest. Feels like they could've worked the flowy aspect into more of the design.

Side note, one nice thing about the OG trio is that they at least all have different body shapes, so they at least don't blend together too much.

Right off the bat, I'll say that I much prefer the Galarian versions, on the virtue of not being bland as wheat toast. Overall they're more interesting conceptually and are majorly improved in terms of colors and overall design.

However, there's something weird about them that I can't put my finger on. I think part of it is the fact that the game calls them "imposter" birds, as if they're just separate 'mons that convergently evolved to look the same... except they're listed as regional variants in the dex. Which one is it, Gamefreak? You can't have it both ways!

The typing is also weird. It's like... for some reason they insisted on keeping them all flying-types, despite that being the least important type, then dropping the type they had previously. Then, because they dropped the main type, they really push to try to explain why they're named the way they are and look the way they do. Why bother saying "oh, it just has an aura that blazes like fire!" when you could just make it dark/fire and move on? It's a minor thing, but it drives me nuts.

Anyway, design-wise, this is a massive improvement over regular Moltres. The darker base color is super striking and adds some much-needed contrast, the flames are more interesting with additions like the two tails, and little things like the head feathers help make the flames look more purposeful.

Only complaint is that it's very odd that the beak and the face markings blur together with no dividing line. Also, the underbelly stripe really isn't needed; the stomach could've been black and nothing would've been lost. Also feel like the eye shape could've been more triangular, but that's not a huge deal.

Galarian Articuno is a bit weird because it adds a... supervillain theme? It's not bad, it's just odd because it's the only one out of the six that has a theme beyond its basic typing. Honestly, I would've guessed this was the dark-type and G. Moltres was a ghost-type if you gave me these out of context.

Design-wise, it doesn't improve as much as the others, but the wing shapes are very cool, and the black accents work better than the original white ones (though I do wish the wings had the same, instead of more white).

And I absolutely love G. Zapdos; all they had to do was make it a flightless bird, and suddenly it's way, way cooler, with a better design to boot that helps it stand out from the others. There's something natural about a fast-running bird and electricity. Little tweaks, such as the orange color and the shape of the black markings, really improve upon the original without needing to change much.

The only issue here is the body's a little messed up. The non-functional wings still need to be up on the shoulders, not on the back, and the neck doesn't connect to the body correctly, which is the only thing holding it back from being perfect.

Well, that and its typing. Fighting/flying when it clearly needed to be ground/electric, or even our first fighting/electric, just hurts.

Anyway, tl;dr is that the originals are boring and the new ones are major improvements across the board save for some lore issues and typing.

[punz4lyfe]

Pokemon Journeys Episode 46. Let’s review:

1. The little Pokemon World introduction done at the beginning of the episode by Professor Cerise was a nice little callback to the movies! Plus... TAPU KOKO!!! I know it was only a Mew Transformation, but PLEASE writers, let Ash see his second Alola father soon!

2. Oh, hi, Chloe! Nice to see you again! Now here’s to hoping the writers will give her more screen time starting with this episode so that her character and personality, as well as her relationships with others, can further develop and oh, nope. There she goes.

3. I honestly wonder if Goh’s captures of Mankey and Krabby are deliberate subtle references to Ash’s Primeape and Kingler from the og series. Kinda makes you think. Though, if Ash’s Primeape is any example to consider, that Mankey is gonna tear the closest person’s face off next it’s released.

4. I really love how, well, wild the Pokemon are in this episode. It’s quite interesting to see Pokemon behave in their natural habitats and honestly something I wish was seen more throughout the entire anime series.

5. I also like that Goh is actually using his Pokemon (that are not Cinderace and Sobble) for useful means other then for a glorified collection. Good on ya, bud!

6. Goh’s regular Pokeball actually failed on a non-Legendary mon? Freakin’ FINALLY!!!

7. Mewtwo’s floaty entrance was a nice callback to its movie. The classic music was also a nice tough as well.

8. Okay, so Ash and Pikachu recognize Mewtwo.... but Mewtwo doesn’t? Okay, knowing Mewtwo’s nature and personality, this is a good possibility it also remembers Ash and Pikachu, but chose not to say anything as there wouldn’t be a need to bring it up. And yet, going all the way to the Best Wishes series, when Ash and Pikachu are confronted by Giovanni during the Meoletta Arc, it didn’t really appear the two remembered him (while Gionvanni’s own memory of Ash was erased at the end of Mewtwo Returns), leaving it kinda unclear whether or not Mewtwo Returns (the last instance where Ash and Giovanni interacted before Unova) is canon or not. Look, I know canonicity isn’t really the anime’s strong point and all, but it would still be nice to have a little consistency across the series.

9. Sorry fellow Goh fans, but I LOVED the part where Mewtwo called out Goh on his goal of catching every Pokemon to lead himself up to Mew. Questionable canonicity aside, it’s a good callback to Mewtwo’s own development from the movies, in that Goh’s goal of collecting Pokemon might be off-putting to them, as it would be him just using mons as some sort of huge collection in Mewtwo’s eyes. And while Goh’s counter speech was a bit forced, he did get his point across that he still wishes to understand Pokemon and be friends, which Mewtwo understood to an extent.

10. Writers, if you’re gonna let Goh capture Legendaries, GIVE. HIM. LITERALLY. ANY. POKEBALL. THAT’S. NOT. A. REGULAR. ONE.

11. Okay, Ash’s speech of wanting to fight the strongest Pokemon literally came out of no where and ignore a lot of Ash’s own experiences from past regions. Like, well, y’know, TAPU KOKO.

12. Sure, Ash. Use the Pokemon whose offensive moves are all fighting-type, the type that’s NOT VERY EFFECTIVE against psychic-types.

13. Sarcasm aside, the battle between Ash, Goh, and Mewtwo was pretty well done. Ash and Goh’s mons pulled in their greatest effort, only to get absolutely curbstomped by the legendary angry kitty. Lucario’s Double Team-Aura Sphere was also a real beauty, almost like something you would see in Naruto. Mewtwo’s giant Shadow Ball finisher was additionally an awesome callback to the Pokken games.

14. Gonna be honest, it’s a little off-putting for Cinderace to no longer be outside of his ball almost 24-7.

15. As I read on Bulbapedia, the Pokemon Mewtwo was protecting on the island were all a reference to real world animal experiments. And with Mewtwo stating that these particular mons have been abused by humans, it really leads to some fridge horror that I’m sure many fans would get a kick out of. Let’s just hope Peta doesn’t get word of this because fuck peta.

16. “You are frail, fleeting, immature....” Oh-no. Please don’t tell me they’re making it seem Ash and Goh are technically equals to each other again, despite OBVIOUS evidence saying otherwise?

17. “Your journey... has only just begun.” Ugh.... Seems like they are...

18. “Yeah. We’ve still got a long way to go.” Yep. Looks like they are going that route. Sorry, writers, but LITERALLY NO. Yes, Mewtwo is a ridiculously strong Pokemon who rightfully stomped Ash, but think about it, would anyone else literally fare any better from what we’ve seen? I’m 99.9% confident Champions like Leon and Cynthia would struggle against Mewtwo because, well, it’s Mewtwo. And if Ash used other mons instead of glass cannon Pikachu and fighting-type move only Lucario, he probably would’ve still lost (remember what happened to Charizard, people?), but probably could’ve lasted a little longer than he did with Goh. Seriously, Ash has been through more adventures than Goh could count and is a REGIONAL CHAMPION! Yes, Ash is certainly not on the levels of the likes of Leon and such, but he is CERTAINLY and OBVIOUSLY way over Goh’s league! Please writers, you have the perfect opportunity of giving Ash a proper mentor role and you’re WASTING IT. ok rant over

19. Lucario and Cinderace carrying their respective trainer’s backpacks was cute and I live for that.

Overall, a solid episode with its little mistakes. The action was great and it was awesome for Goh to finally use his other mons for a change. The biggest problem, though, is the anime trying to emphasize that Ash and Goh are both only beginning as trainers, which is just blatantly wrong, but meh. Even if the anime tries to further dumb down on this, I’ll still enjoy it nonetheless. As they say, you can’t love something and not see a reason to criticize it. Nothing’s perfect, after all. Other then that, there were some missed opportunities of Ash and Mewtwo’s relationship as well and some lines of dialogue were forced/shoe-horned, but that’s really a common anime troupe that this series has done before, so I’m gonna hold it back because of that. I’d give this episode an 8/10. A couple of dumb character mistakes, but the action and world building made up for it.

Now let’s get prepared for next week’s episode! Which looks like to be..... filler! (again, just because it’s filler DOESN’T mean it’s bad)

[mrfutureboy]

I would like to know when you started drawing and where your passion for fanart started 😊

Oh FUCK dude i did not see this i’m so fucking sorry this is so late 😭 damn you, tumblr, for not fucking notifying me!! Anyway buckle up this is gonna be much longer than you asked for <3

Honestly ive kinda been drawing all my life! I hope that doesnt sound dumb cuz obviously almost everyone drew pictures when they were kids, but i know that it’s been a consistent hobby for me since i was little. By the time i was in 3rd grade I was hoarding notebooks to draw in. Cuz that’s something fun about me: i had a real huge habit of drawing in things that werent sketchbooks. Through middle school and beyond I did buy/receive sketchbooks, but I started out with various kinds of notebooks. One I had from like 2nd grade was like a hardcover, stationary-type notebook that I drew cats in lol, and I have 2 velvet lisa frank notebooks from 3rd grade. In high school and college I had a really bad habit of drawing in the margins on my notes and on handouts the teacher/professor would give. Those classes where the prof just prints out all the notes beforehand and gives them to you to follow along? Oh man, I spent so many classes barely listening while I drew on them! I also used to draw on my physics homework and tests and sometimes I even got extra credit for them (thank you jeff :D). I actually have a folder of various drawings I’ve kept from that 8yr time period and a lot of them are on classwork 😂

Obviously, I’ve been doing a lot of digital art lately, which I’m sure is what u were more curious about rather than the shit about drawing on my homework. I got a surface pro as a graduation gift in 2016 bc prior to that i had a wacom tablet and a janky ass laptop, so the gift was kinda a 2-in-1: i can do schoolwork AND art easily! i like digital art a lot and honestly im still learning new things abt it every time i draw. I use Leonardo currently (i’ll skip that story) but I started out doing digital art on sketchfu WITHOUT the wacom tablet in maaaaybe 2012??? 2011??? does anyone on this site remember sketchfu? Honestly couldnt even tell u how i found that site hahah the internet was just full of wonders back in the day. RIP sketchfu. Once i got the tablet tho some time later i used sketchfu still (i think) but also gimp and krita i believe.

Oh i suppose I should mention that i took art all four years of highschool and also minored in it in college! So it’s something i did academically as well as for fun. I keep thinking about going to art school for realsies but idk. I’m already $$$ in debt from my first degree i dont feel like adding to that 😅😓

Ok now for the second part of your question: I’ve also pretty much always done fan art! Ive never really been one for OC’s, EXCEPT for the self-insert superhero double life “comics” i wrote about a poodle named Sassy when i was in third grade. And then the knock off “comics” i wrote at a later time which honestly it was weird that i did a knock off of my own thing rather than just adding them to the original or making it a spin off with at least one of the og characters. Cuz it wasnt a spin off!! But anyway there wasnt really much to any of these characters; i just needed vessels to get my weird ideas out.

So anyway yeah most of what ive ever drawn has been fan art or self portraits, because its just easier for me to take characters that already exist and bend them to my will (artistically). Well excluding art assignments in school i guess because i would usually have to draw something specific and therefore not something self indulgent. But yeah ive drawn for lots of fandoms like the earliest i remember is warrior cats. Then theres things like pokemon and warriors and random other books i read thru middle school (i used to read a LOT but now im practically illiterate); spn, sherlock, and marvel through high school; and then marvel and bttf thru the end of hs and beyond. Idk i also have always loved looking at other peoples fan art and so im like “shit i wanna do that too!”. Tho i will say marvel was my biggest fandom and the one i had the longest interest in, so that was probably where the passion REALLY came from cuz I was drawing marvel stuff for such a long time (tho not posting shdjsk u have to trust me), but ive been doing fan art forever :)

(Of course, a lot of the fan art i was making prior to recently was drawn in lined notebooks or on homework sheets or what have you, and I wasn’t posting really any of it, but i was still making it and a good chunk of it still exists. Oh i should also mention most of it was with pencils or ballpoint pens like i wasnt doing anything too fancy. There was some digital art in the highschool-college time frame but it also really wasnt…much. Honestly i barely posted any of it here but I know some of it’s on deviantart)

I cant pinpoint the exact time I started getting more “serious” about my art in general, but i know the first pandemic lockdown gave me more free time and i was less stressed about schoolwork so i just kinda had a good outlet. (Tho i will say that prior, I had been in a life drawing club for a short while, and i had also been working on a personal sketchbook project that had me pretty ~inspired~ to do art. Also i watched twin peaks around this time and it inspired a lot of Feelings and i was making funky collages and other art pieced that were sometimes related to that. Some of those are on deviantart)

Honestly I think the Big thing with my digital art was coincidentally getting back into BTTF the summer of the 35th anniversary bc the fandom here was THRIVING and i was like “oh shit wait i want to contribute!” But as i kept drawing i kept wanting to improve and that leads us to right now where im constantly trying new things (whether subtle or obvious) and challenging myself to do full body drawings with different poses, and doing screencap redraws and what have you for various reasons (backgrounds, proportions, pose, etc)

So yeah :) Basically I’ve been doing fan art forever (I didnt even get into all the mediums ive tried but that’s another conversation bc this is already so long and convoluted) and it’s kinda coincidental that ive suddenly really gotten back into it and have improved dramatically in such a short time. Thank you so much @rovermcfly for the ask and again im really sorry you had to wait so long for a response! Stupid tumblr

[vanisketches]

2020 Fanworks Highlights

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your favourite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Tagged by: @dragonidpyrus12​ TYSM <3

Tagging: @kuriboh-i-choose-you​ & Anyone who still hasn’t done this! Just say I tagged you! :)

Here’s a summary I did in the past~

1. The 4th blue-eyes white dragon

This is my post with the largest number of notes on it! I honestly didn’t expect it’d blow up this way, it came out very late into 2020 but damn it quickly became one of my favorite pieces I’ve produced. I feel like it was a nice way, to close such a shitty year man. I should definetely invest and consider doing more collages, like this in the future. It was also a nice little way to revisit pixel-art, which I hadn’t done since 2018!

2. Artober 2020 Day 5: Decay

Day 6′s entry may have garnered a lot more attention, than this one. But IDK man, I still like this one a lot more. Looking back on this piece, I feel like I could have added more details to it- but at the same time. I had so much fun inking and just, going so out of my usual stuff for this one.

3. 6 fanarts challenge

This is a special piece for me, because it was around this time I was starting to recover the confidence on my work after I went through a long time without drawing due to many things last year. It felt nice drawing some of my favorite characters, like this.

4. You’ll become the next pharaoh

This is another personal favorite of mine, simply because I always wanted to do something that involved my drawings in combination WITH collages. In college I used to do those all the time, in fact- I kinda of became known for them within my classmates. So I’ve been meaning to try this, in a long time. I don’t think this is my best work, in fact- I feel like the 4th bewd is a lot better than this one BY MILES in comparison. But y’know, this was my first time & I got to do something with some personal HCs/thoughts I had involving priest Seto.

Runner-ups:

5. AoE 2 cavalry

It’s 2020, and I’m suddenly invested in a game that was made in the late 90′s. This is another personal favorite of mine, not because of skills & other reasons. Rather, AoE 2 is very nostalgic to me, it was my childhood and it brought me back some comforting personal memories. Now this is what I call a personal project. This was also my very first time working with watercolors, so there was that.

6. Rivalshippingweek 2020 Day 3: Game night

This was WACKY to work on, I hONESTLY I didn’t expect I’d be doing something like this in the middle of a shipping art event. I want to make more stuff like this in the future.

7. Gym leader Morty

This piece was meant to be posted on my birthday, in order to celebrate the fact my favorite character from pokemon had been just released onto masters. This was also my last pokemon related piece, before I took my massive break from the franchise due to feeling burned out from it.

8. Yami!Seto AU

This is how I enter a new fandom. What’s up fuckers. I had recently met & began talking to @obsessedwithyugioh​, and MAN what a way to get into this fandom. I’m so happy people seemed to have liked this AU’s idea. And I’m especially happy, I had the fortune of meeting & befriending Mew. On top of having such a blast while discussing this story (nothing like doing a whole ass overhaul of the OG serie).