#poor glitchy

[vivyen-qwq]

Poor Error. :<

Happy Error day.

[beps-brainrot]

They won't let me rest.

Happy 16th, everyone. I'm in my Sun feels and wanted to try something different. Still images below-

[r0semultiverse]

Digital Circus AMA Notes

Digital Circus is getting a season 1 at some point!!!!

#webcore aesthetic board for the series design

Pomni was going to be a frog originally. 🐸

90s toys Zooble inspo

Caine is an antagonist, but not by active choice, he doesn't know he's not helping. He doesn't feel a whole spectrum of human emotions (he's an AI).

"Caine canonically just lets things happen if he thinks it's funny."

Characters eat like Chao in Chao garden in Sonic. The characters can eat the food, but they can't digest it.

Jax's favorite food is spaghetti.

Pomni likes salmon.

Q "Was the ending a 'Last Supper' reference?" A "in a very superficial kinda way yeah." Religious stuff is sometimes just used for the funny.

Gooseworx tumblr sketches MAY or MAY NOT be canon to the series, so it's up in the air for every single one.

People can abstract from feeling too much pain if it breaks their mind from it being too much. Characters feel pain from things, but not as intensely as they would in real life.

Zooble is gonna swap parts every episode (implying they have spare parts) except their body & head.

Jax chose his own name & gooseworx likes to think he chose Gangle's name.

Ragatha was named "Emmy" originally.

They (the cast of characters trapped in the circus) can't change their clothes but Caine can. It's part of their skin sorta kinda.

There's empty space under Pomni's hat because video game model physics.

Spamton was partially inspo for Caine, Caine's VA did Spamton dubs.

Gangle only has 2 masks. Why's it (her hapiness mask) break all the time? Mental state, but the "real her" is "harder to break."

Kaumfo was gonna be part of the main cast originally before Jax.

Kaufmo's model has nothing below the waist at this time, but was made for that promotional image on twitter.

Q "What kinda person was Kaufmo?" A "He was the same as Ragatha in a sense, goofy & cheery, sometimes toxic levels of positivity."

I'm paraphrasing for the sake of note taking in real time, go watch the stream playback for more context & details if you want.

[maximura]

HEESEUNG | ROCK IN JAPAN FES. AUGUST 2024.

[jasminesilk]

Brady, Dean, and sleepy Joy!

[mr-molded]

Franco's secret hobby is magic

[s4moongiuk]

lucas ran into a girl named melodie in simbucks. and waiting together for their coffees to be ready they just started a conversation... that went on for hours.

it was surprising for both of them to find that they had a lot of things in common.

safe to say they really hit it off.

[jimmy-johns-was-taken]

Can I please get some glitchy red headcanons? I just want to know your take on him, love your writing by the way, you're awesome! :)

RAHHHH I LOVE U! Thank you so much :)

I hope these aren’t bad

Glitchy Red Headcanons

Fun fact, I don’t think I’ve actually ever written for Red, so this will be new !

Plz don’t hate me if this is bad I’m sorry :((

Anyways

So appearance wise? Going with the canon Pokémon Red trainer guy with some blood and stuff (I’m going to talk about overall style later)

Probably aro/ace

I use he/him for Red

Personality? He’s a bitch

But unlike characters like Jeff who are just an asshole becuz why not

Red has reason

Red especially hates popular pastas and most of the other gaming pastas

Reason? He’s jealous

Red’s whole thing is “I’m not a joke” and to not be a super popular pasta he feels like everyone thinks he is

Like when you think of gaming pastas, BEN, Lost Silver, and Herobrian are probably the ones that come to mind

So Red’s just jealous

Absolutely despises Silver and other Pokémon themed pastas

But he doesn’t hate everyone !

Him and Liu get along fine, as well as Bloody Painter

Mainly becuz Liu actually acknowledges him (a personal headcanon of mine is that for awhile Liu felt overshadowed by Jeff) so Liu relates to him

Bloody Painter likes his style

Red has one of the coolest styles tho

It’s kind of a retro-gaming theme, so his room is covered with posters for older games

And his dressing style is kinda like a grunge but instead of band shirts it’s old retro game shirts like Pac-Man!

Red grew up in the 80s and 90s (Pokémon red came out in 1996 and he’s about 16ish so)

He’s got that old but vintage and trendy style

As a partner and stuff?

Very tricky, but once you’ve got him he’s never going to let you go

Needs constant reassurance that he’s not a joke and that you think of him

Totally takes you around the Pokémon world and like you have your own team and outfit and everything and it’s so cute and it’s living my dream-

Anyways that’s all I have rn, I’m sorry it’s so short :(

[sec-heriablangel]

(TW: Beating) Blake and Silver vs Two Reds (Detective AU)

[purefandomonium]

Glitchy Red Oneshot

This is NOT canon to Connection, I just got carried away with the writing again and this became its own thing. It might as well be an AU for my AU. I was writing little oneshots to figure out some characterization and while I really like this it doesn't fit the version of Red I'm working with at all. So here we are. It reads more in-line with OG Glitchy Red from the pokepasta in terms of the way he torments the player, except he's not as direct here. Couple warnings: psychological torture, mild suggestion of suicide (it doesn't actually happen but because it's technically mentioned I'd like to let people know), trauma

This was inspired by my recent fascination with glitches and how they work on the OG games. I LOVE learning about how old games run and handle the programming and all that. Don't understand a lick of it but fascinating nonetheless. I sorta fell down the rabbit hole watching different YouTube vids on the subject and that got me wondering: holy fuck that shit must be traumatic for someone in Red's shoes. I kept imagining a scenario where a player was exploiting the game to that degree and this was born.

Writing below the cut

This particular player was very infuriating. It appeared that he was deliberately trying to get as many glitches as possible. Not just Missingno or ZZAZZ—but any and every error that would cause the game to grind to a halt. Crashing it and corrupting text boxes wasn’t helping; this particular player seemed to enjoy it even more when that happened. He even had the audacity to tell RED he was a joke when asked.

Fine. If he wanted to test limits, so be it.

After a long day of monitoring and recording Pokémon Red’s many faults, Sebastian was hungry, tired and stiff as a board. A quick trip to the microwave followed by a shower was all it took to fix two of his issues. Last on his list was to get ready for bed. He dozed off thinking about how impressive it was that the developers were able to make something so complex work, despite the multiple setbacks their methods introduced. The game may be old and an obvious first-step for people unfamiliar with computers, but it held up surprisingly well given the broken nature of the code. It was fascinating.

Before he knew it, he was out cold.

Sebastian jolted awake and shot up in his bed, shirt and hair damp and clinging to him. It took him several seconds to orient himself and realize that he was still in his bed, in his room, away from… whatever that was. He couldn’t for the life of him recall what he’d seen that scared him awake like that. In a way, that fact brought a strange comfort to him. He reached for his phone to check the time. His eyes strained to make out the smaller-than-usual numbers.

That was odd… He couldn’t read the time. He recognized the symbols as numbers and a part of his brain knew what they were but… it just wasn’t registering. Ah, well. The darkness that filled his room was a good indicator that it was still nighttime. Some cold water and a quick trip to the bathroom would clear his head enough to fall back asleep.

As his feet touched the floor he felt an unusual sensation. The normal coolness of the floor was still present but it felt different somehow, shifting beneath him. Almost unstable. Like he was walking on sand or something. It was enough to put him on edge.

He was morbidly aware of how thick the darkness felt and, despite the coolness beneath his feet, his lungs began feeling warm and heavy. Something akin to a sudden burst of extreme humidity.

He shook his head and took even steps out of his room, refusing to let some childish nighttime fear get to him. The heaviness in his lungs didn’t leave him as he trekked to the bathroom. By the time he reached his destination, it felt like there was something inside his chest that was pulling the air out of him as soon as he sucked it in. His breaths were heavy and labored yet he felt like he wasn’t even breathing. He reached for the light switch.

The bathroom was bathed in an ugly shade of orange. Sebastian wasn’t worried about the abnormal lighting, instead focused solely on what should have been his reflection.

The face that peered back at him wasn’t his own, nor did it look like anyone that he knew. In fact, it could hardly be called a face. If it weren’t for the vague appearance of hair on its head and the pair of eyes that was wrong, wrong, wrong he would’ve thought it some kind of prank. But who would break into someone’s apartment just to—paint?—some messed up abstract of a human face on their mirror? The eyes suddenly blinked and he realized he hadn’t taken a breath since turning on the light. He tried to gasp but no air reached him.

It felt like his lungs were pulled out by a powerful force.

Sebastian jolted awake and shot up in his bed, shirt and hair damp and clinging to him. It took him several seconds to orient himself and realize that he was still in his bed, in his room, away from… whatever that was. He couldn’t for the life of him recall what he’d seen that scared him awake like that. In a way, that fact brought a strange comfort to him. He reached for his phone to check the time. His eyes strained to make out the smaller-than-usual numbers.

That was odd… He couldn’t read the time. He recognized the symbols as numbers and a part of his brain knew what they were but… it just wasn’t registering. Ah, well. The darkness that filled his room was a good indicator that it was still nighttime. Some cold water and a quick trip to the bathroom would clear his head enough to fall back asleep.

He tossed the covers aside and made his way to the bathroom. He flinched at the blinding light and had to wait a minute as his eyes adjusted. He half-assed his matted hair, did his business and reached for the sink to wash his hands—

Only for an eardrum-shattering screech to send him stumbling into the tub. He hit the back of his head on the way down, but the only pain he was capable of registering was the horrid high-pitched shriek that continued to pierce his ears and echo in his mind. His hands couldn’t block the noise and he was in so much agony he couldn’t think, let alone will his body to go turn the damned thing off. Even opening his eyes caused immense pain, the sound somehow registering as massive, discolored distortion where the water was starting to overflow.

Before he knew it, he was drowning.

Sebastian jolted awake and shot up in his bed, shirt and hair damp and clinging to him. It took him several seconds to orient himself and realize that he was still in his bed, in his room, away from… whatever that was. He couldn’t for the life of him recall what he’d seen that scared him awake like that.

Somehow that terrified him.

Ever since that horrible night, every subsequent attempt to sleep was met with the same fate. He’d end up in a never-ending nightmare, each one worse than the last as some unknown force taunted him. To keep his mind off the time he focused on things that would keep him awake. Watching loud, obnoxious action movies at a volume just below what would be considered respectful for his neighbors. Doing random jumping jacks. Watching internet videos that irritated him. He only took freezing cold showers, well-aware that anything remotely warm would lull him to sleep, right into the hands of his unknown demons.

Last but in no way least, he continued to play Pokemon Red. If he was going to stay awake for ungodly amounts of time, why not spend it doing at least one thing he actually enjoyed? Despite having knowledge of the game’s code and knowing way too much about the intricacies of the Game Boy, there were just so many ways the Red cart could glitch out. Some of the things he’d never even heard of happening. He was making—an admittedly small and niche—history!

The first time he witnessed the unusual ‘glitches’ he assumed he’d been scammed and given a hacked version. After all, who had ever heard of the game ‘screaming’ that something hurt? It wasn’t just the text that told him it was suffering; the demonic cries and crackles it made during every crash only aided in proving its point. The corrupted tiles of the background seemed to show pleas of agony that he could almost make out if he had more time before the game crashed.

If the extent of the corruption was anything to go by after he’d managed to force the old man glitch, this was no mere hack. On the Red version, Missingno didn’t normally wipe the entire save and permanently corrupt the intro cutscene.

It didn’t briefly show what appeared to be a face, frozen in pure agony. Or perhaps anger.

He simply had to keep going, he had to learn more. So he played and played and played, trying all sorts of ‘experiments’ as the hours ticked by and he fought off sleep. Anything else felt like such a chore. Work, eating, even hanging out with friends and family left him watching his phone until the minute he was allowed to leave.

He simply had to keep playing. All he wanted to do was worry about the damn game but people had to constantly badger him, question what he was doing, pester him to get out of the apartment. He just wanted to play his game.

The days and weeks that followed—maybe it was more than that, he couldn’t keep track anymore—were not getting easier. He was exhausted all the time, irrationally short-tempered, and something somewhere was always aching a solid seven out of ten. His social life suffered immensely—he’d lost pretty much everyone, save for a few ride or die friends—his work ethic suffered to the point of losing his job, his physical and mental health were in the dumps. Things were not good.

The only thing he had to do with his spare time these days, weeks, months, was continue to test the limits of Pokémon Red’s code. See how far he could push it before the game stopped running. The answer was pretty far.

Sleep no longer came to him. The few times he’d tried, he’d wake up in a panic over some horrid night terror, just to experience another. It was somehow far worse than it had been in the beginning. Now they were vivid and unforgettable, burning images into his mind and leaving lingering sensations in his nerves. Again and again and again and again he’d ‘awaken’ until he found himself sprawled on his bedroom floor sometime in the afternoon, tears staining his cheeks and sweat sticking his clothes to him like glue. Sometimes there was blood, but he didn’t like to acknowledge that. If he didn’t think about them, it was as though the scars didn’t even exist.

Energy drinks and stupid amounts of coffee were his new best friends. He needed something to replace the fakers who’d left him, after all. If he wasn’t poring over the old game’s glitches, he was chugging can after can and cup after cup. He never ran out. Despite his second addiction always being available, he couldn’t recall a single time where he’d gone out and bought more. He couldn’t recall doing much of anything besides play the game, really. But he had to be buying it. Every time he’d gone to grab another the cabinets were always stocked. He was still the only one in the apartment.

Despite the fact he could feel a heavy presence in the air that radiated anger.

Sebastian snapped to, grabbed a can of Red Bull, and went back to his room to continue the game. He never even registered having stopped.

His eyes burned. When he finally managed to tear his weary gaze from the tiny screen of the Game Boy, his phone had stopped buzzing from its place in the opposite corner of the room, on the floor. He, too, sat on the floor, hunched over and legs stretched out, the Game Boy heavy in his hands. His back hurt. His eyelids felt like sandpaper. He couldn’t remember how long he’d been sitting there, playing the little game as the world around him faded into nothingness. Was he still in his room?

For the first time in a long while, he thought about checking his phone. He wondered how all his old friends were doing, his former coworkers. He never had spoken to his parents much since telling them off… Maybe he should call them. When was the last time he even checked his front door?

A familiar chime pulled his attention back to the game. At some point in his pondering, the screen had gone dark. A simple text box stood out against the blackness and his mind struggled to comprehend it.

Tired?

His mouth didn’t work so he nodded numbly.

What’s the matter?

I thought you liked seeing how far broken things could go.

Don’t tell me you’re giving up already?

He was too mentally depleted to process that this was no glitch, that it had never been glitches. He felt his head fall forward and he jolted it up, trying to stay awake.

Do you even know how long you’ve been playing?

“…ile…” He blinked hard once, twice, and shook his head. “A while,” he managed, words slurring. His jaw felt like it was held on by string that couldn’t support its weight. Everything looked hazy. Like a cloud of static hung in the air. He felt empty, like he was so light he’d drift away. The only thing grounding him was how heavy his head felt.

Y’know, most people would’ve learned their lesson pretty early on.

But you just had to keep on breaking the game.

The words echoed in his mind, prickling the edges of his consciousness like they were the only things keeping him awake.

I guess some people never learn.

You thought it was funny, didn’t you?

The game presented him with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ option. Despite the bizarre situation, his battered psyche had him choose ‘yes.’ Somewhere deep in his subconscious he recalled that honesty was the best policy.

It didn’t remind him that being honest was what had gotten him into this mess.

Not laughing anymore, are we?

I can only hope the next poor sap isn’t as idiotic as you.

He squinted, the rectangular form of the Game Boy distorting into incoherent shapes. The game… The game had done all this to… punish him? For what? What did he do?

You know what you did.

“Wh… What… are you…? Why…?” He forced his eyes to focus on the screen, the first time in far too long he’d ever needed to be deliberate about it.

I’m done with you.

Move on with whatever is left of your pathetic life.

Just make sure you forget about me.

Feeling began creeping its way back into his limbs, constant pricks of blood flow like his entire body had fallen asleep. He was uncomfortably aware of how fast his heart was beating despite his sluggish state. He gasped.

The Game Boy clattered to the floor as his arms uselessly fumbled about, trying relearn movement.

He didn’t see the text box that simply displayed ellipses. All he could see was the room shifting and spinning as his body struggled to adjust to having free will again. He tried to get up or at least change positions but his limbs felt heavy and before he knew it he was face-first on the floor.

His vomit burned and tasted like acid and cherry-flavored medicine.

Sebastian couldn’t remember calling an ambulance, he couldn’t even remember being in the ambulance. He just woke up in the hospital room in a panic before everything caught up with him all at once and he fell back onto the bed with a tired groan.

He was made aware of the other presence in the room when a hand reached out to him. His voice left him as he tried to scream.

It was Mark, one of his longtime friends and the last one to keep trying to reach out to him until Sebastian simply refused to answer. Even in the state he was in, it was clear to see that Mark was deeply troubled by what had transpired. He wanted answers, and Sebastian didn’t know how to tell him he had none.

How does one explain that a stupid kid’s game made them throw away their life, chase away their friends and family? Who would believe him when he said the scars weren’t self-inflicted?

After an excruciatingly long road to recovery, Sebastian soon found himself living some semblance of normalcy. As much as could be had with a newfound heart condition and when everyone close to him thought him suicidal. His parents hadn’t coddled him this much since he was a kid. It would have been nice if they weren’t so concerned he’d ‘do it again.’

The only hiccup was when someone brought up the cause of the whole ordeal, that damned Pokémon Red cart he’d gotten for cheap off of eBay. His only response was that he didn’t care what they did with it, so long as he never saw it, the Game Boy, or energy drinks ever again.

He loathed coffee.

I hope y'all liked it! In a way I really like expanding on the darker version of Red where he's far more dangerous than you'd think. I mean, the bastard could enter dreams in the OG story so I like to think as the years wore on, he got much more creative with his abilities. What else does he have to do when he's stuck in a game and the only interaction he gets are wannabe hackers? This is probably not the last alternate version I'll make either. I've got a ton more ideas that I'm not using for Connection and it'd be a real shame to let them go to waste... ;)

Also, fun fact: I like to think of this as an endurance test for the both of them. Red really gave the guy the chance to not fuck around and find out, but the SOB wouldn't quit. He was really hoping the guy would figure it out and try to stop interacting but then got ornery when he wouldn't quit glitching the game. So Red's just over there enduring shit just to torment this guy until one of them breaks. So... technically... Red caved first from how obsessive Sebastian was at breaking the game despite the torture. Win, I guess?

[arrietty-rune]

Those tags from my last post ommmmmg THANKS YOU ALL AAAA ╰(✧ω✧╰)♥

[sworcerie]

[ID: A tweet from Screen Rant, dated September 14, 2023. The post is accompanied by a link to their article. It also shows the character Bigby Wolf from the Fables comic series and its Telltale games adaptation, The Wolf Among Us. The tweet summarizes the article:

In a shock statement, Bill Willingham- the creator of beloved comic series #Fables - has released the franchise into the public domain. As the new owner, you have the rights to create Fables and #WolfAmongUs movies, cartoons, books, and more." End ID.]

HOLY SHIT WHAT???

[victorluvsalice]

-->Where, of course, it was RAINING. *sigh* Figures… I immediately hopped into Build/Buy to get the weather control machine and stick it around the back of the building, then had Alice go and clear the skies while everyone (including Marm, thankfully – at least traveling here did indeed fix him!) headed inside, away from the rain. Marm settled in to recharge their flagging battery (waking up once to try and read a book before I said “no, come on, you’re robot exhausted here”) while Victor and Smiler each grabbed something to read – I had Alice join them once the weather was successfully changed, and they all enjoyed their books while the clouds drifted away and the weather warmed up. *shakehead* I swear, I wouldn’t be able to do half the things I do in this save file if I couldn’t use that weather-changing machine…

-->Anyway, once the weather outside was sufficiently nice, I started properly preparing for the food sale! Starting with dragging the pumpkin spice milk out of Smiler’s inventory and having Victor make three copies of the bottle so Smiler would have plenty to sell to customers looking for a delicious way to cool off (as it was actually oddly warm in Copperdale for a late Fall day). Once Victor was done, I had him just chill for a second while Smiler drank some plasma fruit and Alice a glass of water, then attempted to send him over to the grilling area beside the nearby river so he and Alice could have lunch while Smiler set up their food stand. For some reason, he wouldn’t transportalate over there (that ability is fussy sometimes), so I let him be while I looked for the perfect spot to set up Van Liddelton Snacks –

And then noticed something. Over on the right side of ThrifTea, atop a little wood platform, mixed in with all the fake buildings that make the neighborhood feel more filled out, and right above a little eating area, there was one of the NPC-run food stalls. I was like “hang on, it’s Night On The Town – if I have Victor and Alice order something from here, will it be free?”

-->It sure would! :D Great, I had a nice easy way to fulfill that holiday AND make sure Alice and Victor had a nice lunch! After an exploratory check of the menu, I had Victor fly over on his broom (since he still wouldn’t transportalate), then had Alice run over and join him once she was done having a feral poo as a result of all that water she drank. :p I had them (and Smiler) change into something a little cooler to better reflect the warm weather (Victor and Alice put on their Sim Sessions t-shirts, while Smiler rocked their non-binary tee), then had Victor order a fruit cobbler and Alice a lobster roll.

The vendor, Aleah, immediately left the stall and closed up shop. O.o I was like “what the fuck? Did I get here JUST as her shift ended? Well, that sucks!” The only silver lining was that attempting to order the food, even if they didn’t get it, fulfilled the tradition for the holiday (leaving Victor and Alice celebrating in front of the blind, amusingly). I thus resolved to wait until the next vendor showed up and instead had Alice take a wolf nap on the boards while Victor practiced practical magic nearby –

And then Aleah went back in the stall and opened it back up. I was like “…” Wondering what the hell was going on, I thus had Victor stop his practicing and try to order his fruit cobbler again –

Aaaand Aleah turned around and shut the stall. Guys, I don’t think the stall that spawns in that area actually works. >( Done with dealing with the vendor’s shit, I had Victor instead magically summon some garlic noodles for himself and some mac & cheese for Alice, and the pair headed down into the little sitting area to have their food. *shakehead* Good thing Victor has Delicioso as a spell, huh?

[sealpup9]

Sorry if u followed for baldurs gate content i literally just posted that one single screenshot. I wont be touching the tags until i beat the game or cave whichever comes first

[headfullofgalaxies]

Now that I’ve completed Pokemon Violet, I want to give an overview of my feelings on the game. The first part will be general feelings, such as playability and enjoyment. Then I’ll go into details about the story and characters under a cut to avoid spoiling people who haven’t finished yet or are waiting for the holidays to get their game.

I won’t lie- the game is glitchy. VERY glitchy. I wish they had delayed the release to polish up the game, because it is very rough. Luckily, none of the glitches I ran across were game breaking. They ranged from inconvenient (accidentally selecting the picnic button while surfing will punt you back to the shore) to hilarious (friends’ trainers showing up in cutscenes during multiplayer). There is, however, one glitch I ran across that is troublesome. At certain camera angles, the shadows in the game glitch and begin flashing in and out of existence. The flashing isn’t super rapid, but it is still very annoying. I don’t know if it is severe enough to harm those with epilepsy or similar conditions, but the game should be approached with caution nonetheless.

Music slapped, praise be Toby Fox. Except the glitch that made the first two measures of the Elite Four theme loop for all eternity instead of actually playing the track, screw that. Ruined my Elite Four experience and I am still salty about it. Like seriously, how does a mistake like that even happen?!

Navigation was alright but it wasn’t as good as Legends: Arceus. Riding, jumping, and surfing were fine and functioned the same as Legends. Climbing functioned the same, but the game didn’t give you the prompt to indicate whether or not a wall could be climbed, so there was a lot of me jumping and gliding trying to climb up walls. Not much of a problem, but a little bit annoying. Gliding sucked. It was just bad. Unlike Legends, where you descended at a consistent speed, this glide begins descending rapidly after a short distance, to the point where you just start falling. There is also no speed up or dive option. This means that gliding was okay for a short distance, but couldn’t be used to actually get anywhere, regardless of how high up you started.

I mentioned my frustration at the hair customization options when I was liveblogging, and my complaint still stands. Some new hairstyles are unlocked at the salon, but none of them are long styles. I don’t know why Pokemon can’t make long hair styles. They don’t seem to have problems with them on npcs, and if it’s an issue with the backpack, there are long styles that could easily go around it (like Miku-style pigtails. I loved those in XY). Also, clothing options were atrocious. I hated every one of the uniform options, as preppy just isn’t my style, and I hate how limiting the uniform was. I like my clothes to match, so the colors I had to work with for the accessories were limited to the colors on my uniform. Also I couldn’t wear a hat with the only hairstyle I actually kinda liked.

Picnicking was actually very fun. Sandwiches were useful for catching rare spawns and shinies, although, like everything else in this game, it’s glitchy and a bit clunky. Being able to wash your Pokemon was a fun and quick process. I did find the eggs somewhat annoying. Every time I picnicked with my Eeveelution team I ended up with dozens of eggs I didn’t want. Not extremely inconvenient, just annoying.

There is a lack of new Pokemon? Like, I know that’s not really the case, the actual numbers are about on par with other new gens, but driving through the region I felt like I didn’t see a lot of the new Pokemon. This wasn’t much of an issue in the earlier routes, but for some reason the later ones felt like they lacked any new Pokemon, and I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s because a lot of these new Pokemon were single stage or rare spawns, idk. I’m still trying to figure out exactly why I felt this way.

Writing-wise, the game was very solid. Definitely in the upper tier of Pokemon games for me, although still beneath Gen V. I think a part of it was the split paths forced the games to approach their formula differently. There were also small bits of dialogue between characters that were charming and made the characters feel more present than the cardboard cutouts some of the other gens have provided us.

One final qualm was that there was no voice acting. Every cut scene in this game would have so much more impact if Pokemon would just give it voice acting. I don’t think I need to explain why that is- just think back to Piers “singing” in Sw/Sh and the reason becomes obvious. However, I get the impression Pokemon has no intention of adding voice acting to their games, and I don’t know why.

Next I’ll be going into detail about the story and characters. Spoilers are beneath the cut.

Victory Road was very standard with nothing particularly special or interesting going on plotwise. I did like the gym challenges this gen. They were a bit strange, but I felt they captured interesting aspects about the gym leaders and towns in most of them. These past few gens’ gyms have begun to feel stale to me- just differently decorated rooms where you go through challenging trainers. Each of these challenges felt distinct, and I can easily tell you which challenges and gyms went with each town. The gym leaders were a bit hit or miss. Some didn’t have much of a presence, but there were some that interacted with their towns and felt like a part of the world. Same with the elite four. Being introduced to them earlier in the game, rather than having their first and only appearance be the Champion exam, made them feel like more of a presence in the world.

Nemona was a rather standard rival as far as her role in the story goes. However, the game did some interesting things with her that I appreciate. Having her actually be a Campion-ranked trainer that is canonically going easy on you to help you grow throughout your journey was a unique approach to the rival character and one I appreciate. This made it feel like her confidence was earned. The friendly rival newbie that recent gens had adopted always felt like their confidence was somewhat misplaced- after all, they lost every single battle with your character. This trait made more sense with the older aloof and antagonistic rivals, because overconfidence fit well with their characters.

Starfall Street was a very good twist on the recent rebel-type evil teams. Generally, these people would just be rebelling against society, which is fine but rather nebulous. However, Team Star’s rebellion against ignorant school authorities and the bullies they enabled was very personal to the characters and easy to understand and relate to. The character writing really shone through here. Normally evil teams amount to nothing more than faceless goons, and their admins always seem to dislike each other and constantly bicker- when they interact at all. However, the interactions between Team Star’s leaders really sold their friendship. The short flashbacks demonstrated them trusting and supporting one another, with occasional friendly bickering but nothing malicious. Writing their bonds to be convincing was very important to selling the central conflict of this path, and the writers did a good job.

Penny was my favorite character, and not just because she has a team of Eeveelutions (although it is a factor). Hacker characters have a special place in my heart, so Penny was sort of a shoe in. She also reminded me a lot of Futaba from Persona 5- extremely skilled, extremely socially awkward hacker. Her determination to make her school a better place, rather than simply leaving and allowing the bullies to win, is very admirable. The final scenes of this arc were very cute and I enjoyed the conclusion.

The Path of Legends was the best path storywise, and not just because I’m happy angsty boi got his best friend back T^T. This plot was very tightly tied to Arven’s character and to the postgame plot. Of course, any story about a boy going to such lengths to save his fluffy family member will always feel satisfying. This is the path that most people cried at, and, honestly, I can’t blame them.

Arven is probably the most important character plotwise because of his connections with the professor and the legendary Pokemon. Due to this, they made him a rather solidly written character. His motivations are very relatable and easy to understand, and his reactions to the plot developments feel real and believable. Him gradually opening up to you during the main story makes the postgame plot feel more personal.

The Way Home is probably the best postgame plot I can recall (although I hesitate to call it postgame, as it felt very much like a core part of the story and happened before the credits rolled, but it’s the closest thing we have to a postgame story so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). The slow reveal of the Paradox forms was well-handled, and the small interactions between the three rivals who join you helps fill the space and makes them feel even more like actual people. The mystery of the Professor’s fate was also well paced, at least if you’re like me and interact with everything in a room before leaving. The twist even managed to actually somewhat surprise me, a rare occurrence in Pokemon. I know the games tend to have darker elements hidden in the details, but I didn’t expect the Professor to be straight up dead. I really enjoyed the AI Professor’s character, although the interaction was more brief than I would have preferred (but I’m a sucker for cool AI stuff, so maybe that’s a me thing). Allowing the player to figure out on their own to send out Miraidon/Koraidon in the final confrontation was very nice- normally Pokemon games are very hand-holdy, so figuring out the solution on your own was refreshing.

My one complaint is that there still seems to be missing pieces. There was no third legendary, despite an “egg Pokemon” being specifically referenced in the old book about Area 0. The potential trio legendary (legendary dogs or swords of justice) that is referenced in the book also does not make an appearance. I get that they’re probably holding that content for a DLC, but since this kind of content was never locked behind a paywall before, I find it somewhat frustrating.

Overall, though, I felt the plot and characters were very solid and enjoyed the game despite its (many, many) glitches.

[revelboo]

I literally can't get enough of your writing like I need it like oxygen at this point 🙌 I am not above begging for more of Everything is alright or Over it now

My heart is literally hurting for Star because he genuinely didn't know, and he finally is starting to be vulnerable, and now he knows it's not going to last no matter what. And the inner turmoil of the reader being so torn between him and Soundwave? Wanting both but not being able to hurt Star after he put everything at risk?? It's so good but it hurts my heart 😭😭

And Jazz finally getting someone who would listen to his feelings and get to know the real him under all his masks?? The poor guy needs that so bad, and he's finally opening up (even if she can't understand what he's saying)

All in all, your writing is amazing, and you are literally amazing ✨️✨️✨️

Thank you! I have a lot of fun overthinking why the characters act the way they do and trying to get into their heads

Over It Now Pt 11

IDW Jazz x Reader

• “You could just let me take you,” he says as he watches you lock the door and do an awkward shuffle to put the keys away while trying to not drop one of your crutches in the process. Leaving him for work again. Wanting to help, but also knowing exactly how stubborn you are as you eye the stairs off your porch. He’d also figured out forgiveness was much easier to ask for than permission, reaching to lift you in his servos and carefully set you down in the driveway crutches and all bypassing the steps and then backing up to fall forward into his alt mode.

• Heart racing at being picked up unexpectedly, you warm watching his antics. Because he knows you struggle with the steps and he’d saved you from dealing with them when he didn’t have to. “We both know you have better things to do than chauffeur me around,” you say, trying not to laugh when he opens the driver’s side door and wags it back and forth in invitation.

• “Come for a ride, doll. I’ll behave.” Door still open, he fully expects you to walk past him to your own ugly car, so it’s a surprise when you slide in the driver’s seat and awkwardly lean the crutches in the passenger side. And then you’re right there and he’s more aware of you this way somehow than when he’s held you in his servos. You’re warm against him, soft hands brushing the steering wheel hesitantly as if not sure if it’s okay and he can smell your soap, your shampoo, you. “Alright,” he murmurs more to himself than to you, because it’s a small thing, but you’re entrusting yourself to him. And that means so much.

• There’s no way to not overthink that you’re sitting inside Jazz and it’s weird. You end up folding your hands in your lap so you don’t touch anything you shouldn’t. Inhaling as the shifter moves on its own and then the wheel spins as he reverses. “Doll, you’re going to have to at least pretend to drive,” he laughs and he’s right. Other drivers might notice you’re just sitting there so you just barely touch your palms to the wheel, letting it move freely against your skin.

• Primus, you’re precious. Eyes darting all over his interior, trying so hard not to touch anything. “What do you do normally? I mean a phantom car driving itself has to freak people out,” you mumble, shifting against him as he turns onto the road, wheels humming. Liking the feel of having you there, surrounded by him and safe, it takes a moment to actually understand your question. It’s not nearly the same as holding you in his hands, but still comforting to him that you’re there with him. It doesn’t take a lot of energy, but he does have to concentrate to create a holomatter avatar in the passenger side seat to show you what he normally does, not bothering to make it solid at all since your crutches are embedded in the avatar’s legs and torso and your head turns as it appears. He’s not sure what he expected, but it’s definitely not for you to scream and throw yourself against the inside of his door.

• “It’s me. It’s an avatar,” the glitchy thing in the passenger seat is saying in Jazz’s voice, holding up big hands as you nearly have a heart attack. “Doll, it’s okay. Sorry, I just-frag.” And the human shaped thing flickers and fades, leaving your heart hammering against your ribs. You’re still plastered to the door, hands curled into fists. “Were you going to punch me?” Yes. You absolutely were, because it had just been there so suddenly, a fixed grin on a fake looking face that was staring right at you, Eyes closing you lean your forehead against the cool glass of the driver’s side window and try to calm down and instead start laughing. Covering your face with your hands as he vents at you in exasperation, blowing warm air across your skin and you realize he’s never asked where you work, an address or anything. So how does he know where to take you? Has he been following you?

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