tevans-living-life

[tevans-living-life]

Hi, I was looking at Pokémon character's ages and I think I found why you've had people say that Jessie is a teenager when he's 26. "In The Ultimate Test, Jessie falsely claims to be a 17-year-old idol (in Japanese) or diva (in English) as part of her disguise." So I think someone watched that episode and believed that to be her age.

Oh that's definitely one of the many reasons. There was a mistranslated line in Pokémon 2000 that, funnily enough actually CONFIRMED that Jessie and James were around 25. But because of the mistranslation, people got the math wrong, thinking that Jessie and James were implying they were only 5 years older than Ash when it was really 15 years older.

There was also a couple English only books from the 90s that stated that they were teenagers. The books were riddled with many other errors regarding the Pokémon themselves so uhhh, not the best source for info haha.

And finally there was a really popular tumblr post from like 10 years ago that had false screenshots of Jessie and James' ages saying they were 15. However, their bulbapedias only said they were 15 because one person was OBSESSIVELY changing their ages from 25 to 15. It apparently resulted in the mods just taking Jessie and James' ages off of their bulbapedia pages for a some time. But they're there now and have sources backing it up, thank god hahaha

There's a great post detailing a lot of this!

[tevans-living-life]

As I’m working on my homebrew setting for 5E, I wanted to make maps to show the whole thing off!

This is Armony, a land where 6 kingdoms live together in relative peace while also tackling their own individual issues. It’s heavily inspired by Magic the Gathering, and I’m excited to delve deeper in!

Here’s a map of territory borders as well! After this map, I’m making 7 more for each territory in Armony. Thanks for looking!

[tevans-living-life]

My first gemsona redesign, Emerald! I’ll have his second form up hopefully around Halloween! 🎃

That cracked gem hasn’t been kind to the hardworking farmer >,>

He’s come a long way, that’s for sure! These are some older drawings. Hope you like! 💚

[tevans-living-life]

Now making all cats in my worldbuilding rainbow. It’s your fault, thanks 💖

i scrolled down a lot please show us your pink cat again

this is the image some people use as evidence in their claim that my cat is "pink". i assure you these are incorrect assumptions

[tevans-living-life]

A new OC of mine, Merlin the owl harpy cartographer! He and his horse Wayfair travel the land day in and day out, charting what they see and painting the most beautiful spots to sell for a living. It’s honest work!

I may go back later and shade him, but the wings turned out so great that I felt satisfied once they were done 😌

[tevans-living-life]

I drew some fakemon for a short while, and would love to do it again some day!

Here’s my pre-evolution for Dhelmise! I have plans to draw a ghost ship-inspired evolution some day too!

Here’s my take on a Dewgong evolution, giving this forgotten line some love. Unicorn of the sea warranted the fairy type! 💖

And here’s a regional bergmite! My plan is to draw a water/fire type evolution some day. We don’t have enough of those! Thanks for stopping by! 💖

[tevans-living-life]

One of five regions I’m working on for a personal worldbuilding/ttrpg project! Here’s the basic map, and…

This is the map with each independent region colored differently. Hope all who see enjoy!

[tevans-living-life]

I took some historical sword-fighting lessons to make the fights in my novel more realistic - here’s what I learned.

To make the fighting scenes in my low fantasy novel more realistic, I went to see a trainer for historical sword-fighting last week, both to barrage her with questions and to develop realistic choreographies for the fight scenes in the novel. Since I figured some of what she told me might be useful for you too, I put together a small list for you. Big thanks to Gladiatores Munich and Jeanne for making time! (Here are some more pictures if you’re interested.)

Caveat: I’m by no means a sword-fighting expert myself, so take these nuggets with a grain of salt – I might have misremembered or misinterpreted some of the things Jeanne told me. If I did, feel free to tell me.

1.) Weapon choices need to make sense

Let’s start with a truism: always ensure your character’s weapons make sense for a.) their profession, b.) their cultural background and c.) the environment they’re going to fight in. A farmer probably couldn’t afford a sword and might use a knife or threshing flail instead, and someone who doesn’t want to be noticed probably wouldn’t be milling about sporting a glaive or another large weapon. Also, soldiers native to a country with wide open plains would be more likely to carry long-range melee weapons such as spears or large swords, than those from a country consisting of mostly jungle or dense forests. The same applies to situations: if your character is going to be fighting in close quarters (even just a normal house), he’d get little value out of a spear or even a longsword, as there’d be no space to swing it effectively.

2.) Boldness often beats skill

In real swordfights, recklessness was often more important than technique. The fighter less afraid of getting injured would often push harder, allowing them to overpower even opponents with better technique.

3.) Even a skilled fighter rarely stands a chance when outnumbered

While a skilled (or lucky) fighter might win a two-versus-one, it’d be extremely unlikely for even a single master swordsman to win against superior numbers, even just three and if they’re below his skill level. The only way to plausibly pull this off would be to split the opponents up, perhaps by luring them into a confined space where you could take them on one by one. The moment you’re surrounded, you’re probably done for – because, unlike in Hollywood, they wouldn’t take turns attacking but come at you all at once.

4.) Dual-wielding was a thing

… at least in some cultures. I often heard people say that people using a weapon in each hand is an invention of fiction. And while my instructor confirmed that she knew of no European schools doing this—if they did, it’s not well-documented—she said it was a thing in other cultures. Example of this include the dual wakizashi in Japan or tomahawk and knife in North America. However, one of the biggest problems with the depiction of dual wielding in novels/movies/games are the “windmill”-type attacks where the fighter swings their weapons independently, hitting in succession rather than simultaneously. Normally you’d always try hitting with both weapons at once, as you’d otherwise lose your advantage.

5.) Longswords were amazing

Longswords might seem boring in comparison to other weapons, but they were incredibly effective, especially in combat situations outside the battlefield. The crossguard allowed for effective blocking of almost any kind of attack (well, maybe not an overhead strike of a Mordaxt, but still), the pommel was also used as a powerful “blunt” weapon of its own that could crack skulls. Though they were somewhat less effective against armored opponents, the long, two-handed hilt allowed for precise thrusts at uncovered body parts that made up for it.

6.)  “Zweihänder” were only used for very specific combat situations

Zweihänder—massive two-handed swords—were only used for specific purposes and usually not in one-on-one combat as is often seen in movies or games. One of these purposes was using their reach to break up enemy formations. In fact, one type of two-handed sword even owed its name to that purpose: Gassenhauer (German, Gasse = alley, Hauer = striker)—the fighters literally used it to strike “alleys” into an enemy formation with wide, powerful swings.

7.) It’s all about distance

While I was subconsciously aware of this, it might be helpful to remember that distance was an incredibly important element in fights. The moment your opponent got past your weapons ideal range, it was common to either switch to a different weapon or just drop your weapon and resort to punching/choking. A good example of this are spears or polearms—very powerful as long as you maintain a certain range between you and your opponent, but the moment they get too close, your weapon is practically useless. That’s also why combatants almost always brought a second weapon into battle to fall back one.

8.) Real fights rarely lasted over a minute

Another truism, but still useful to remember: real fights didn’t last long. Usually, they were over within less than a minute, sometimes only seconds – the moment your opponent landed a hit (or your weapon broke or you were disarmed), you were done for. This is especially true for combatants wearing no or only light armor.

9.) Stop the pirouettes

Unfortunately, the spinning around and pirouetting that makes many fight scenes so enjoyable to watch (or read) is completely asinine. Unless it’s a showfight, fighters would never expose their backs to their opponent or even turn their weapon away from them.

10.)  It still looks amazing

If your concern is that making your fight scenes realistic will make them less aesthetic, don’t worry. Apart from the fact that the blocks, swings and thrusts still look impressive when executed correctly, I personally felt that my fights get a lot more gripping and visceral if I respect the rules. To a certain extent, unrealistic and flashy combat is plot armor. If your characters can spin and somersault to their heart’s content and no one ever shoves a spear into their backs as they would have in real life, who survives and who doesn’t noticeably becomes arbitrary. If, on the other hand, even one slip-up can result in a combatant’s death, the stakes become palpable.

That’s about it! I hope this post is as helpful to some of you as the lessons were to me. Again, if anything I wrote here is bollocks, it’s probably my fault and not Jeanne’s.  I’ll try to post more stuff like this in the future.

Cheers,

Nicolas

[tevans-living-life]

I would love to make art like this. I mean… I don’t see why I couldn’t try. Perhaps I’ll do some studies in environment design over Christmas break.

 Art by Davood Moghaddami

[tevans-living-life]

Sketch of a D&D map I’m working on, already with plans for changes. This is one of 5 countries central to this campaign world, but I’m focusing on this one for now. This country is divided into 9 provinces which will warrant their own maps soon too, as soon as this one is done.

Still deciding if I want to color it or not. If you have any thoughts, feel free to pitch your ideas!

[tevans-living-life]

Never forget.

[tevans-living-life]

Thought I’d start sharing what I’ve been up to in my absence. No clue if I’ll stay for long, but what harm could it do?

Jesper Inkwell is an elf with a fine taste and a warm heart. Having begun life as the mindless puppet of a wizard of the same name, Jesper one day claimed a mind and a life of his own. He currently uses his freedom to manage a public lounge and cafe, catering customers and friends on the clock and enjoying creative pursuits in his free time.

Due to his magical origins, Jesper acts as a conduit for ambient magics in the world around him, channeling them for his own use. Specifically, anything he draws can be made into a real construct for as long as it’s close enough to him, and for as long as he hasn’t dispelled it. The more complex the construct, the more focus is required to keep it around.

Hope to have more soon! My skill as a digital artist has grown in recent months, and I really hope it shows. Thanks for your time, all!

[tevans-living-life]

I’m just gonna leave this here for reasons >,>

If there are any spelling mistakes, no there aren't. I just can't read or write.

The continuation of my clouds tutorial from last week.

[tevans-living-life]

Whoa, it’s been a while. Anyone remember that I’m here? I’ve been up to quite a lot since last I posted, but I hope everyone’s doing well.

[tevans-living-life]

Most of The Sims games from the 2000s are quickly becoming abandonware! Here’s where you can find them! Because FUCK Article 13! Dedicated to ANYONE who might be affected. (Updated NOV ‘19!)

Just to add onto @uglytownie ‘s post about The Sims 2, I know there are some of you out there that would also like rarer titles from The Sims’ massive back catalog. 

If anything happens to this blog because of this post: My NEW twitter handle is @nostalgiasim, my discord is SimWorld (this link never expires), and my personal Neocities page is myonlinepityparty.neocities.org.

PC Games:

The Sims 1 + All EPs

The Sims Life Stories 

The Sims Castaway

The Sims: Pet Stories

The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection

If any of these links do not work for any reason, whether you need technical help or those files are no longer available, you can also find these abandonware games at Games4TheWorld. However, The Sims 3 and The Sims 4 can also be found on that site and I do not publically condone piracy. G4TW world also has an extensive forum for getting these older games to work. You can look for help there. :)

All of the following games are emulator ROMS found on Vimm’s, a trusted website that has been around since the ‘90s. 

GameCube:

Bustin’ Out

The Sims

The Sims 2

The Sims 2 Pets

Urbz, Sims in the City

Gameboy Advance:

Bustin’ Out

The Sims 2

Urbz, The Sims in the City

The Sims 2: Pets

PlayStation 2:

Urbz, Sims in the City

The Sims

The Sims Castaway

Bustin’ Out

The Sims 2 

The Sims 2: Pets

Wii 

The Sims 3

The Sims 2 Pets

The Sims Castaway

Prima Guides

ALL Games - The Sims + All EPs, The Sims 2 + All EPS, The Sims 3 + Almost all EPs, Bustin’ out, Castaway, Medieval, etc. 

Extras (Updated!)

The Sims 3 Store (ALL CONTENT)

The Sims 2 Store

(Rare!) The Sims 2 Preorder gifts and Maxis Gifts from the now deleted TS2 Website!

Literally, if ANYTHING on this list goes down, message me. I’m not hosting any of it but I’ll absolutely put out another updated post!

Reblog for others! If don’t want it someone else might!

[tevans-living-life]

Am I the only one that’s been mostly unimpressed by the starter designs starting in gen 6? Not a comment on this redesign, of course, I just don’t like the heavily anthropomorphized approach game freak seem to have taken with the starters, especially in gen 8. Regardless of that, I still like the Chespin line. And I love pine trees so no complaints on these regional variants 💖

Here’s the Fakemon regional variants for Chespin, Quilladin, and Chesnaught! Not too much changes from the originals, but they still give off a different vibe that I think feels appropriate. 

Quilladin needed the most revamping out of all of them. I feel like it was a very awkward middle evolution that didn’t quite look related to the others in its line. Especially with the long nose. Here it makes more sense with how it transitions between the two.

I also had a bit of trouble with the shiny forms, as I found the colors didn’t look good on Chesnaught. So like the Charizard line, it gets switched out at the end to a nice color. I really need to start varying up my colors though. I’d like to make ones with white, pink, or yellow mixes in the near future.

EDIT: Fixed minor errors in the Pokedex entries for Chesnaught and Quilladin.

[tevans-living-life]

Who says you can’r celebrate Halloween in March? Especially with these cuties around~

Adoptable Pokemon Starters for a Halloween-themed Region!!

 All three for $20 USD! Comment to claim!