#underground boss clay

[darkpunkrocker]

📏

(( @underground-boss-clay at 5'8"))

Huh.

Didn't know you were so shor- I MEAN that I was... slightly taller.

[piers-official]

Yup, that's me! My big bro was the Gym leader before me, hehe~

It's nice to meet you, Ms. Celia! Can I ask what sorta pokemon ya like? I like dark and fightin'!

Oh, hi there! I came by to check on Mr. Clay's blog and there's a new person here!

I'm Marnie, a friend of Sigmund! May I ask who this is?

🖤M🖤 ((-@piers-official))

Hm?

Oh hello there! You are the new Gym Leader in Spikemuth, yes?

My name is Celia. I'm Sigmund and Lacey's mother. It is such a pleasure to meet you Marnie!

[ballonleastadiumofficial]

Bede? Ya all right?

((@underground-boss-clay ))

Clay.

Why wouldn't I be. I feel positively chipper, in fact. How wonderful to finally get to have a civil conversation with that whelp. I'm so glad he made himself known to me so I could lose my cool and utterly pour my heart out. And allow the entire world league to see. This.

How. Wonderful.

[shiftgear-engineer]

21. What are your plans for this weekend?

--Sig ((@underground-boss-clay ))

Oh uh, nothing really.

My weekends are usually pretty boring if I'm not doing busy work or coming up with new designs.

[officialheartbreakercharles]

Hey~ happy birthday big guy!! ✨ 🎂

... Right yeah, what she said. Happy birthday Charles.

((Mildred and Clay from @underground-boss-clay ))

Hey there, Clay & Mildred…

Many thanks…your birthday greetings…are appreciated.

Hope things are good…at the company…and gym.

💔

[watered-cress]

it’s halloween season.

time to get spooky

Ahhh~✨ The Halloween season is nigh. You know what that means~

[icys-junkyard]

Unova Battle Subway maps

My personal preferred map of the railways (one with blue markers, one with color coded markers)

An alternate map, taking the in-game subway map slightly more literally. (Bonus map with a few non-canon markers I added purely to help myself make sense of the seemingly pointless shapes of some of the routes)

Bonus extra map of the routes taken by Ingo, Emmet, or both of them, for those who want a more specific visual of those routes on their own. (Of course Emmet's line goes through the Pokémon World Tournament lmao)

Misc notes/thoughts under the cut

I'm not a train person, take all these musings with a grain of salt lol

Canon map note: I imagine this map only shows the large, intercity railways. Cities like Nimbasa, Castelia, etc likely have smaller, more complex subway lines all over the city like we tend to see IRL.

Canon map note 2: In an IRL setting, these rail lines are likely far less straight and angular than on these maps and could probably make a lot more sense if drawn with a freer hand and consideration for the landscape, but I tried sticking somewhat close to how it's presented in the game.

International (wi-fi) line: In the game it's the wi-fi line. In a non-game context I imagine this line is one that actually leaves Unova and goes to a neighboring region.

Subwayness: While not all of these lines are 100% underground like they might be in the cities, I like to think quite a few of them are partially or primarily in tunnels. Many lines go across water without a major bridge* on the map, or straight through harsh environments like mountains or deserts, some of which may be more convenient long term to go under rather than through. With the technology of the Pokémon universe, I imagine large stretches of underground train tunnels are entirely possible. (*Maybe there's smaller unshown bridges for the trains, but at least the line that goes right through Castelia's port to an island I'd like to believe could be underground under water)

Battle Subway: The Battle Subway itself likely only runs on these intercity lines.Assuming IRL distances rather than in game walking distances, depending on the length of the line, a lap or two could be a full days work for the bosses. Non-battle trains likely use these same tracks.

Anville Town: The branching path on the Anville line is strange, as it doesn't seem to point toward any known location. It could be pointing toward some unlabelled town or landmark, though I've seen some people posit that it stops at the Celestial or Dragonspiral towers (though they seem too far away for me to agree). My personal headcanon is that rather than the large branch shown on the original map, it's actually two branches going to Anville Town; a large alternate rail to help with rotating/moving trains going in and out of the rail yard there.

Pokémon World Tournament: Located in or very near Driftveil City, it was added in BW2 by Driftveil gym leader Clay. Considering Driftveil is a city, it could have multiple subway stations, one of which just happens to be close to the PWT. Alternatively, it could be a bit of a distance away and thus have it's own station.

PokéStar Studios: Located in or very near Virbank City. As the major intercity lines don't quite hit Virbank itself, I imagine Virbank only has one intercity station near the studio if it's within Virbank itself. That, or it has no intercity stations and one must travel the distance between Virbank and the studio to travel further.

Unity Tower: Literally this train goes through a port and right into the ocean to reach an island. This island is only accessible by boat. I'm convinced this train goes under the seafloor. That or it has a super cool Marine Tube situation where it's a subway tunnel, but the tunnel is transparent and the ocean and water pokémon can be seen out the train windows.

[darkpunkrocker]

🌸

(( @underground-boss-clay ))

Hey there Clay! Let's see...

I admire your workmanship. You're a very hardworker and always do what's best for ya workers which is also admirable.

You're a great dad. 'Nuff said. Comin' from someone who had shitty parents, I can tell ya obviously care about your kids and actually love 'em.

From what I hear, you're a great trainer too! I mean, obviously, your a gym leader after all, but I hear your tougher than the shit ya mine! Would love a chance ta battle ya sometime, hehe.

[thezombieprostitute]

The Arrangement - Chapter 3

Summary: Jake's done a lot of things to keep his sister, and then his niece, safe from his parent's influence and manipulation. If he wants to keep them safe, he has to marry you.

Warnings: Bad parents, Implied physical abuse. Let me know if I missed any!

Chapter 2 -- Chapter 4

Series Masterlist

You spend the car ride in silence. If your brother taught you anything about angry men it's that you don't speak to them without permission. You wince at the memories of his wrath which you saw matched in the eyes of Jake, your husband, throughout the wedding. So you keep yourself quiet and small, dreading your wedding night together.

Jake kept himself silent. He could feel your disappointment with him as your husband. You were likely plotting how to control him, make him miserable. He'd let you have the control if that's what you wanted. He can play the role as you need, or as your families need. But it was the private stuff that had him wanting to break. Would you let him play his video games? Would you constantly make fun of him, like so many others, for being himself? How much of himself will he have to sacrifice for the safety and security of his real family?

He pulls into the underground parking garage for the penthouse and parks. Not wanting to get lectured so soon, Jake is immediately out and going to open your door. He doesn't know that you only didn't open it because you weren't given permission. You step out and keep your eyes down so as not to anger him. As much as he's not looking forward to a life with a woman who drains his soul, it still hurts that you're so disappointed in him you can't even look at him.

The elevator ride is worse than the car ride. At least in the car you had buildings and people you could look at. Now it's just you and your eyes on the floor. You should be grateful he hasn't tried to touch you, but the fact that he puts as much distance between the two of you as he can speaks volumes. Jake tries making himself small in the hopes that you won't yell at him for taking up your space. The fact that you refuse to acknowledge him tells him a lot. When the doors open, Jake rushes into the entryway of the penthouse, the silence and tension was suffocating him. You hide your wince and try to make yourself smaller so you don't make him angrier at you than he clearly is.

Clay is waiting for the two of you in the entryway. He smiles, "good to know my pinto's got better speed and mobility than that fancy model they got you driving." Jake scoffs as he unlocks the door, using a keypad with the code he wants to change but knows he'll never be allowed to. Clay turns to you, "I know we were introduced earlier, but the whole thing was rather rushed. I'm Clay, Jake's boss, for lack of a better term." He holds out his hand and you shake it, you try to smile so as not to appear to be rude, but the day is weighing heavily on you.

Jake holds the door open for the two of you.

It's your first time seeing the place and you're immediately saddened by how much of it looks like your mother's tastes and preferences. It's overly crowded with useless, gaudy, overpriced things. You want to throw it all out. It's supposed to be a space for you and your husband, but it's just another reminder of how much your family still controls you. Jake groans as he looks around. Pulling out his phone, he quickly finds several "Internet of Things" devices that are easy to hack. Of course his parents would put in the fanciest refrigerators and thermostats without caring about the security risks. Jake doesn't need his refrigerator to connect to his phone, dammit!

Jake's groan makes you freeze. Clay asks, "what's wrong now?"

"I gotta do some serious cleanup for the sake of security," he grumbles. "Gotta make sure no one else actually gets to set the temperature of the thermostat, that I don't get text messages from my fridge, that my damn toaster doesn't get hacked!" He looks at you, "if that's okay with you, of course." His tone is bitter because he hates that he has to ask your permission for something so basic.

You nod, "of course." You keep your voice small, afraid of angering him any further. He really must hate you.

Clay looks at you, "how about you make yourself comfortable, little lady? I know it's your honeymoon and all, but Jake and I need to talk and who knows how long he's gonna be fixin' this internet problem y'all got."

You look to Jake but he's still on his phone so you ask, "is...is that okay with you?"

He gives you a confused look, "of course."

You make an internal note that, whatever Clay says goes. He's Jake's boss so you're best bet is to keep him happy to make Jake happy.

When you're out of sight Clay turns to Jake. "You best be gentle with that one, Jake. I think she's been through her own kind of hell."

"She's the spitting image of her mother, hasn't said a single word, can't even look me in the eye," Jake grouses. "She hates me and I'm likely going to spend the rest of my life never being good enough for her."

"I ain't so sure about that," he muses. "I get the impression she's afraid of you."

Chapter 2 -- Chapter 4

Series Masterlist

Tagging: @alicedopey; @ashdoctor; @delicatebarness;

@ellethespaceunicorn; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @ronearoundblindly

[the-drayster]

I think instead I'm just going to die. Thanks bye. Tell my Ma I loved her.

Grandpa's texting me. What wild ride are we going on today?

[shiftgear-engineer]

Pelipper Mail: a Poké Ball with a Tinkatink in it. There's also a note: "This might come in a bit early so sorry bout that. I know ya talked about wanting one but if she's too much with the little guys you can send her back and I'll take care of her until I come back. Happy Valentine's Day. --Sigmund"

Oh...oh dragons...I don't know what to say...

I mean that in a good way, of course. I just...I've never...arc, I really don't have words, do I?

Well...I have some...thank you. Really. I think this is one of the nicest things someone has done for me...ever. I'll do my best to take care of her.

Oh and uh not to sound needy or anything but...can't wait to see you again.

[better-page-sage]

What The Undertale?! Roles and Crap

THE SHITTY COLLAB PROJECT IS HERE! (And this is a long post sorry guys)

For those who don't know, my friends and I took turns choosing the roles. The result was this and regret. You're gonna regret reading this.

I will be providing some explanations to the roles, as y'all would be even more concerned without context.

Frisk is replaced with Hatsune Miku! She is the eighth pop star to fall Underground. Idk what else to say bc I don't know that much about Vocaloid.

Chara is replaced with Iono (Pokemon S/V)! Before she died due to unknown causes, Iono was more than happy to be an entertainer for the king! After death, she blames the Underground residents for all the suffering she went through.

Flowey is replaced with Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls)! Personality-wise, he's pretty much the same. Power-wise, he's kinda weak without the six souls. Skill issue lmao.

Toriel is replaced with Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney)! I chose this role with the intention of Phoenix Wright being Asgore, but my friend fucked with my plan oof. ANYWAY, Edgeworth was a former advisor to the king (Why an advisor instead of an ex? You'll see why soon....). He is incredibly protective of anyone who he sees as frail. He also has a more fatherlike personality than what I've seen in the few Ace Attorney videos I've watched.

Napstablook is replaced with Catnap (Poppy Playtime)! His appearance is more based on his normal form than his monster form. He's also a lot shyer than his original counterpart. He hides under his paws when nervous.

Sans is replaced with Alastor (Hazbin Hotel)! I haven't seen Hazbin but I have a few friends who are obsessed, so I do know a few things. He's a lot less lazy than the character he replaces, but doesn't care if you kill most of the cast. There is only one person that you can kill that he gets upset over, but we'll get to that in the next role. Instead of running an illegal food stand, he runs a radio show where he talks about cooking. Only a few ingredients are illegal.

Papyrus is replaced with Lucifer (Hazbin Hotel)! Sorry, Radioapple shippers, but the ship is not canon in this AU. Instead, Lucifer and Alastor are frenemies. They also live in separate houses. Like I said earlier, I haven't seen Hazbin, so, unless a Hazbin fan corrects me, Lucifer makes all sorts of pastries using apples. He also makes custom duck figurines that he sells!

Monster Kid is replaced with Scott Howl (Monster Prom)! I don't know anything about Monster Prom. Sorry, guys.

The Annoying Dog is replaced with the Flerken (Marvel)! Not much changes here.

Undyne is replaced with Zooble (The Amazing Digital Circus)! They're a lot more chill than Undyne, but the reason that they're after Miku is because they want to set everyone in the Underground free. Nothing personal (unless it's the Genocide Route). At least they can swear here. After the initial chase scene, Zooble collapses with all their parts being scattered throughout the area, and Miku has to gather them and put them back together (the equivalent of pouring water on Undyne).

Mad Dummy is replaced with Clay (Pokemon B/W/B2/W2)! I haven't played B/W, but all I can say is that Mad Mew Mew is not in this AU. Sorry, anime catgirl fans.

Alphys is replaced with Gangle (The Amazing Digital Circus)! Thank god someone else in my friend group ships Abstragedy! During the initial encounter, she trips and breaks her comedy mask. As Miku helps her up, she asks if her limbs are slack (a reference to Snapcube).

Mettaton is replaced with Fizzarolli (Helluva Boss)! His Box Form is more akin to a Tamagotchi, but he's a lot happier working for the king than he ever was entertaining in Hell (he gets paid more and is treated better).

Muffet is replaced with Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel)! He still sells desserts, but they're a lot more...... interesting looking. He's pretty much the same as he was in the pilot.

Gaster is replaced with Professor Layton! Not much is known about him.......

Asgore is replaced with Skrawl (ChalkZone)! Now do you know why Edgeworth used to be an advisor? Personality-wise, he's blunt about his motive to kill you to free everyone, but he also wants to make sure you go out with as little pain as possible (he wasn't always that way). He pretends that he doesn't care, but he completely falls apart in the Pacifist Route. No, he didn't kill Iono.

Asriel is replaced with Luke (Professor Layton)! After the death of Professor Layton, he would cling to three people: Miles Edgworth, Iono, and Skrawl. The former two would be openly excited to see him, but Skrawl had a cold exterior with a warm interior. Of course, Luke died soon after Iono, with similarly unknown causes.

That's all for now. Gonna work on What The Deltarune?! soon. I told you you would regret reading this.

[shiftgear-engineer]

💭 ((@underground-boss-clay))

{I worry about you sometimes. You have so much pressure on your shoulders and all these people with the complete wrong idea of you, yet you hardly so much as pause for a breather.}

{I would've cracked under the pressure you're under...Arc, anyone would. It's hard to tell what's going on in your head, but I hope you're doing alright.}

{...you should take a few minutes to step away from all this, too. Ironic coming from me, but if anyone's earned a break it's you.}

[thetravelingymleader]

There WAS someone there you just couldn't SEE them!

Hey uhh Paldea?

Why are there so many dead people/wandering spirits that hang out at these tower things?

Just talked to whom I THOUGHT was a lost child, only to turn around cuz Sig said something, and then turn back around to see the kid vanished.

[miloscat]

[Review] Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo (GCN)

A pleasant day in.

I recently watched Aardman's new feature film, Vengeance Most Fowl, which is a follow-up to the plot of 1993's The Wrong Trousers, the second Wallace and Gromit short. But did you know that there was already a sequel in 2003, in the form of a video game by British studio Frontier Developments (mostly known for their theme park simulation games)? It's true! Anyway, I played it.

The plot is slight but makes for a decent W&G premise. The duo are visiting the zoo for the birthday of Archie the infant polar bear, who they have a connection to through the zoo's sponsorship program. But oh no! Feathers McGraw, the penguin criminal mastermind incarcerated at this selfsame zoo, has taken over and has enslaved the animals, including Archie, to further his schemes. As you make your way through the increasingly industrialised zoo enclosures (and secret underground mines), you must free the animals and ultimately foil Feathers.

The game world has a nice cartoonish vibe that fits the tone of the claymation shorts, including the dark and shadowy parts. The characters and animation don't look particularly clay-like but they're on-model; the staff evidently invested a lot of polygon budget in making the major players nice and rounded, and the other animals are delightfully Aardman-esque. Along the way Wallace has plenty of amusing blather, voiced as always [until he retired] by Peter Sallis. Feathers has some fun mechs and machines that fill in as boss encounters, while basic enemy types are an assortment of animalistic robots, animal collaborators, and the occasional zookeeper (which are also revealed to be robots). What happened to the actual zookeepers is not explored.

The game plays out as a puzzle/exploration 3D platformer, with the player taking control of Gromit (ie. the competent one). Wallace follows along almost like Yorda in Ico; you can call him, and occasionally have to guard or guide him out of peril. He's needed to fix various contraptions to enable progress, although it's mostly just repairing panels to open doors. He does come up with weapons for Gromit at key points, silly G-rated things like a turnip launcher and porridge gatling. You also find a torch, fire extinguisher, etc. although oddly two slots on the weapon wheel are never filled and remain blank at the end of the game.

Apart from the weapons, Gromit has a surprising number of moves. A crouch jump, Mario 64-style side flip, a wall rebound thing that I never found a use for, as well as basic combat moves including a breakdancing spin kick. He can cling onto ledges which I always love to see. There's also a roll that gives you a bit more horizontal speed and chain into a long jump, but it's tricky to use effectively. There's not a huge call for this expansive moveset within the level design, though.

The levels vary in structure, which is interesting. The first world in the elephants' jungle enclosure is a set of three mini-hub style stages, like compact Banjo-Kazooie worlds with a lot of verticality. The mine, lava, and factory stages that follow are a bit more linear, although there is still plenty of branching and overlapping. The polar bears' icy zone was my favourite, an open and expansive playground. The game then ends with a very on-rails obstacle course, with lots of "save Archie from the timed hazards" going on. Between levels are boss fights and vehicle sections, some of which play out as rail shooters or an Asteroids-style fight against a submarine.

It's all impressively solid considering this is Frontier's first game of this type. And maybe I'm just projecting because they're British, but I got some Rare vibes from this game at times. From the BK-lite structure and Gromit's coin-nabbing celebration animations to a slightly Star Fox Adventures soundtrack, to minor things like the health bar mimicking Conker's Bad Fur Day's chocolate squares but with crackers, the DK64-style giant keyboard activity, and the boat-mounted turnip cannon having googly eyes for no reason. There's even a Donkey Kong homage with a barrel-throwing gorilla!

Otherwise there's some nice touches in here, like not having a life counter, widescreen support (not a guarantee in 2003), and the collectibles unlocking clips from The Wrong Trousers to view (as well as a short behind-the-scenes documentary). Sure the camera is janky but that's to be expected from games of this vintage. And because it's a 3D platformer from the early 2000s, there is of course a slide section. I think these were mandated by the government in this era. After this game, Frontier got brought back to do the tie-in game for Curse of the Were-Rabbit, but this one interested me more for its unique story and I wasn't disappointed. Like the Wallace & Gromit shorts and films themselves, it was a nice pleasant experience.

[roleplayroost]

Pokepark - Shout out a Pokemon IRL blog you really like!

I cannot just pick one. So... here's a non-exhaustive list!

@averagedualies

@ballonleastadiumofficial

@battlelegendsredandblue

@interregionalgyminspections

@legendsobsessions

@lovenpeace-pkmn

@normal-paldean-student

@rockstar-roxie

@swagtastic-bougie-pompadour

@underground-boss-clay