#is this a metamorphasis reference

[lucabyte]

you dream of devouring your friends whole

[evorathesylvurr]

there are no yi sang references

the faust references are everywhere

(character is actively being compared)

no the stranger references.

no red chamber references

no wuthering heights references.

no moby dick references.

no dantes inferno reference

no sinclair book (i think its called demian) reference

no odyssey reference

no metamorphasis reference.

still more than i expected tbh

(( Did you know there’s a meguca who has canonically read Crime and Punishment & considers herself similar to book rodya

// WHAT

[xendoodle]

Ok!! Unfinished Miraculous Ladybug animatic based on @peachcitt‘s Metamorphosis!

I wish I could have finished the whole song, but I got covid during the couple of days off I was going to do most of the work on it. Almost didn’t post it its so unfinished, but I’m trying to be better about showing stuff that isn’t perfect!

[ialwaysknewyouwerepunk]

This is just a wild guess, some might even guessed it as well. I dunno if Harryween will have 2 nights like before but since Harry has been including references to Alice in Wonderland and Metamorphasis while making his new album. I wonder if Alicerry and Fairrry (since fairies do have butterfly wings) would be Harry's costume this year.

i would Kill for harry to be alice i am not joking. it fits in perfectly with everything he's been hinting at. it would also just not surprise me at all if he does the exact opposite from last time and appears in a fucking chinchilla costume yk.

some other wild predictions bc why not: ziggy stardust, virginia woolf, any character that actor steve mcqueen has played, the rabbit from alice in wonderland, freddie mercury in the i want to break free mv (with comeback of mustacherry)

[hazbincalifornia]

Twix walks into hell to see her friend “so Stella, when’s that trade supposed to kick i-WOAH” and she’s looking up at Stella whos several inches taller with the biggest rack she’s ever seen in person, and covered in all sorts of weird combo baby owlet fuzz and adult owl feathers.

I assume this is the trade you're referring to and I can only imagine Twix went through her own fucked-up-puberty thing already (she had a molt/brief metamorphasis, it was a whole thing) and it plopped her potential tiddy-meat all on Stella at once.

Honestly, considering it's Twix, she's probably caught between thinking it's funny and thinking it's kinda hot.

[elvishprincess25]

#Linktober Day 2 Prompt is "Their Companion." This one was a little tricky so I will give the backstory from last year: My OC Elya, last year, had a Dragon Fey companion that you needed to essentially find all the pieces to in order to complete him, and when you did it unlocked this power that was needed to assist link and zelda in fighting off Ganondorf. When she did this she had to sacrifice herself (her body) to allow this dragon fey to be a host and in the aftermath had become a great fairy that claimed and created a nearby fountain that healing magic flowed from. (One of her most prominent traits was using natural healing techniques in her life) With all of this and this new story, with the Manifesto stating how the world is set up, I thought of a way to bring her back, upon doing so she cannot separate herself from the dragon fey, as they are one now and her own original body was destroyed. She is still herself now, but has him inside her still kinda like how Fi speaks to Link in SS. She has the ability to harness some of his powers and when she does so, glowing runes and eyes, and the dragon fey wings reappear on her body for the time she has it activated( Kinda think of the metamorphasis ability for demon hunters in WoW if you understand that reference) She always has the horns on her head which is why she wears a hat, so as to not draw as much attention if possible to this quirkiness. I know its a bit complicated but for me to make her work from last year it had to still make some sense so this is what i got LOL Thanks guys!♥♥♥

[abimee]

poisoniumz replied to your post “did jevil really say ‘’metamorphasis’’ anywhere cause if so im...”

i believe metamorphosis is a reference to the line stickers hes based off of but also *eyes emoji*

yeah ur right i just thought maybe like double meaning. i just love the concept of chaos theory and it would be hella interesting if it had a play in ut especially considering all this stuff about choosing your destiny and how that can equal to the similarities of a condition changing a system  ( system = fate? idk its math)

[undeadimpulsereviews]

Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni) First Impressions

There is something that needs to be cleared up before we begin. The characters in the manga are pretty much all gender ambiguous. Though, for the sake of making things simple for me, I will be referring to most of these characters as female. It’s a lot more simple than saying it; the only exception to this rule is the leader. I believe that this character is male, but again it is a little unclear. None of the characters are human from what I can tell so gender is not really a concept. Also I’m going to try and restructure the reviews moving forward, they’ll convey the same idea, but I want to attempt making these shorter and easier to read. With that said let’s proceed.

Land of the Lustrous, or Houseki no Kuni in Japan, is a hard manga to place. It doesn’t share a lot of similarities to shounen manga; however, at the same time, it doesn’t have a lot of mature themes either to call it a seinen series. According to most sites the manga is considered a Seinen, Action manga. The story is written and illustrated by Ichikawa Haruko. This is the first series from Ichikawa that isn’t a set of small stories. Her work is currently being serialized in Afternoon magazine. The manga began it’s run in October of 2012.

Land of the Lustrous is an interesting series. While the story is not completely original it has a level of originality to it. It’s story is full of mystery that the reader begins to unfold alongside the main character, Phos.

It’s set in a post apocalyptic earth that is devoid of humanity and wildlife. The earth is vibrant, but the only life known of is that of the gems. At the same time there are creatures on the moon who attempt to hunt the gems and utilize their bodies for weaponry and decorations. 

Phos is one of the weakest gems and therefore is unable to fight the lunarians. Instead she is given the task of creating an encyclopedia with any interesting findings she can come across.

The story, essentially, is the idea of finding what remains of a society long dead. The old earth is a thing of the past and most of history has been shrouded in mystery for the gems. At the same time they must fight for their survival against an enemy that could appear at any moment. The interesting part comes from how this all connects with the present creatures. How does humanity factor into the existence of the gems? What are the lunarians, and what makes them tick? Can it all be traced back to the past, or are some thing better left buried? The pacing of the story is handled really well. As Phos attempts to find some new discovery, she and the other gems are met with new difficult dilemma that raise more questions. It’s a steady flow of answers and questions that provides the story with a good speed of development forward. The world begins to expand beyond the school the gems call home and we learn more about the land and sea of the current and past earth. The only partially untapped avenue is space, what knowledge is there about the lunarians? However, while the story does do a good job of progressing and developing, there lies a problem in the characters. Phos is a enjoyable character, but changes so drastically it comes as a shock.

The cast of Lustrous is main comprised of supporting characters. The gems each get their moments, but Phos is always the main focal point throughout the series. She’s an interesting character but due to many events and circumstances throughout the first four volumes of the manga her personality changes at the snap of a finger. Phos, or Phosphophyllite, is a gem with bluish green hair and a hardness of 3.5. she is the most fragile gem in the group and could shatter with the smallest force.

This is the reason her teacher decides she is unfit to fight and is much more suited to keeping an encyclopedia for the future. As the manga progresses she puts herself through experiments that changes her body and mind and the end product, as of volume four, is something that almost can’t be considered Phos. Instead of her normal lazy yet oddly determined demeanor; we are given a chaarcter that is now the complete opposite. She’s hard working, but at the same time feels lost and unsure of her current self. It’s not a terrible development, but one that dismantles a character that was originally so full of life. The concept of her metamorphasis is an interesting development, but it leaves readers with a certain feeling. Phos is no longer the same character readers once loved. Is that to say the “evolved” Phos can’t be enjoyable, no, but there should have been more time to ease readers into these changes.

As for the rest of the cast they each have their certain jobs, but there isn’t an abundance of development  for them. The interesting part about these characters is that each of them embodies a specific gem or mineral in reality. This may not seem like much but, to someone who knows little about gem hardness and other attributes, the reader could learn something from the cast they might not have ever knew before. Are all the facts about gems and minerals accurate? That’s hard to say; there may have been some liberties taken in areas, but ultimately it’s as close as the mangaka can get. For example there is  Diamond, or Dia as the other gems call her.

Diamond has a hardness rating of ten which is the highest among the gems. This is the same for an actual diamond in regards to the Mohs scale hardness. However, Diamond is still as very fragile gems regardless of this fact due to her toughness. She can hit hard, but tends to break easily under the force. Diamond’s is kindhearted and loving of the other gems around her; including Phos, who is usually somewhat shunned. However she wishes to be stronger like the other diamonds she fights with; she feels like a hindrance due to her toughness but can’t make any progress on getting stronger. Each character has their specific role, and all of them follow the ideas of hardness and toughness, making Land of the Lustrous a very intriguing and informational read.However, while these two factors give the series a lot of unique atmosphere among other stories there is one thing that sets it apart from other things in the genre.

Ichikawa’s style is something that just works. While she does an amazing job at world building through the story and characters; the true gem of this series comes from her illustrations.

Ichikawa’s style deserves all the praise it receives. In an industry that has many of the same old artistic choices, this is the diamond in the rough. Where does one begin to describe all the ways the art works. Ichikawa’s use of white space and vice versa to create scenes is amazing. 

With this method there is a great lack of shading; however, the shading is hardly necessary. The art still pops out to the reader with how much of the background is going unused. A lot of her artwork has a level of minimalism to it that really makes the world feel vibrant. It’s mainly line work, but still heavily detailed.

Then there is the characters designs; in terms of the gems they are extremely slender and tall. This shows a level of movement and expression in the manga. it conveys a lot of emotions in our characters as well.

Though the gems aren’t the only unique character designs. There are also the lunarians and many others the reader may meet along the way. Which also show an amazing level of line work and detail in their design. 

There are so many moments and frames throughout this series that will leave the reader in awe. Each with their own level of artistic practices and design choices that just make this story stand out among the rest.

Overall Land of the Lustrous is a great read; however, as it progresses and the main character moves forward, there is a level of fear as to where Phos may go and what lengths she’ll go to. If there was one weak part to this story it would definitely be the development of Phos. It’s not a terrible development, but one that leaves somewhat of a disinterested feeling. There is still a lot of time moving forward and many more volumes to cover past four so only time will tell, but from volume one to four the story, characters, and art are something that really makes this something that feels original.

Thank you for reading this first impressions; I’ve seen this series and planned to read it, but once it started publishing here I decided to hold off a little and just buy it physically. I hope you found my review interesting, and hope to see you again next time. Up next we have the review for Smite. That will come before the end of the month; until then however, have a good one.

[andreavasqmore]

sFinal

Title: Metamorphasis

The materials used for this piece is a cloth sheet, book paper, acrylic paint and a night stand drawer. The sheet of cloth is hanging from the ceiling with multiple origami butterflies trailing up the folds of the cloth. The butterflies range from normal paper tones to a light pink colour tone. The cloth covered in butterflies is emerging from the open drawer. The drawer has four legs that allows it to tilt up wards, giving it an animate appearance. The whole piece is symbolic. The animate drawer is a reference to the film 𝐵𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡, an icon childhood film of magic and fantasy. The origami butterflies represents the hopes and dreams of young girls as they blossom into beautiful yound women. The colour of the butterflies reperesent the menstrual cycle, which also symbolizes the growth of a young girl. Overall, the piece is about the growth from childhood into adulthood.

[gorgojijijijito]

okay yeah no im not done with this

even tho the movie is camp there quite a few things i really hate about it and it doesnt feel right leaving this so positive sounding so i gotta complain some more, this time about more serious topics.

we'll start off with something lighter and talk about agatha's casting. PREFACE: I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH ANY WHITE CHARACTER BEING MADE A POC IN FICTION. thats not what im talking about, so if someone's mad about making agatha black, go look somewhere else. my problem is that shes WAY too conventionally attractive considering how agatha is described in the books. it becomes especially prominent when she is transported to the schools, where she's literally only made fun of... because shes a reader. after she gets changed into a dress, the ONLY thing separating her from any of the other evers is that she frowns. she doesnt stand out at all, especially compared to sophie in her scenes when shes surrounded by nevers. they literally had to cut away from her midsmile so that she could fail the beautification class 💀 at least the actress did an incredible performance tho

theyre reestablishing discriminatory stereotypes of ugliness in the year of our lord 2022. sophies metamorphasis was literally a huge hooked nose and aging, are you fucking kidding me? i thought we left THAT degree of antisemetic villains back in barbie. tedros' "never" form was literally just facial scars and nothing else. this was so uncomfortable to watch and the scene's only saving grace is the hilarious choice of music, which doesnt make it okay as much as it makes it a laughing stock. with all of the racial rep you'd think theyd actually paid attention to their portrayals of ugly, but considering i could only see one actress with dwarfism and one in a wheelchair in the ever crowd (both of them only once in the bg with no speaking lines btw), i regretable saw it coming a mile away.

the just happened to conveniently leave out any reference go the main duo's ages, which lessens the gravity of the grooming plot targetted towards sophie. no, i dont like grooming plots, and i most certainly gagged during the kissing scene, but with this specific story, i think its imperative to establish the sophie is a TEENAGER getting MANIPULATED into evil by events she cannot control. especially since the story is about agatha's narrative that no person or character is truly "good" or "evil". with the way women, especially teen girls, are constantly accused to have caused their own trauma for the actions of other people, this message is especially important, as it tells the story of a character who, yes, is flawed and can be selfish, but was ultimately manipulated into causing major harm. i fear leaving the age ambiguous may enable unfamiliar viewers to assume sophie as a young adult and attempt to blame her for her manipulation more than she deserves.

alright so these are nitpicks mostly but the story was a bit all over the place. i understand, considering the original was a stupidly long book (affectionate) and this was only one movie, but some of the stuff they included and left unresolved just stuck out like a sore sthumb, especially since i can remember reading these scenarios as a kid, but dont remember what their resolutions were. why did agatha forgive and forget tedros’ murder of her friend so quick? they dont establish that those undead bird things are a species, so if we are operating off of the knowledge obtained from the movie specifically, who was the bird before the failed kid possessed it, and who will replace it to bring more readers? agatha found out all of the failed children were turned into the wish fish, so why was her recent friend turned into the bird? why did the girl she transformed back to human dissolve? did any of the other evers’ wishes come true? this is all just from one scene btw.

going off of the last point, one of my favorite aspects of sophie’s character was left out as well, and that was her subconsciously dubious intentions when she first befriended agatha. she did it because she wanted to be one of those “good” people that treated the “bad” people as equals, and her perception of agatha was just the same as any of the other townspeople. pity is the reason she became friends with agatha, and i think it’s a mindset that adds depth to her character. first, it planted the seeds of selfishness young, where if cultivated by the school of evil, she’d be incredibly malicious. without this aspect, the movie’s portrayal of sophie’s downfall mainly attributes it to pride in her appearance. her only “evil” action before arriving at the evil school was defending her friend against a stranger, so her quick hostility to the nevers seems to come out of nowhere if not for their insults at her looks and status as a reader. it is still enough to leave her the capacity to grow out of it and truly care for agatha, however - many children have this sort of phase where they make friends with unpopular people because they want to receive praise for being forgiving, and in sophie’s case, be percieved as more of a benevolent leader. since it was done when sophie was much younger, it would have been just in time for that morality building phase of her life, and can evolve into genuine friendship with agatha while also leaving a mental mark behind on how she first views those different than her.

by the way, her physical assault on a stranger for agatha in the beginning of the movie directly contradicts her actions in the trial by tale scene, where she is angry at tedros for needing help from her. she was so quick to defend agatha to the point of knocking out a grown man, so the switch she makes feels very out of place. in every other scene, she’s also shown to be extremely physically offensive if it’s for herself or agatha, so this spark of the moment change of habit is very out of character, at least the way i see it.

this is just a gripe i have with the book too, just have agatha and sophie date already. the “long lost twin sisters” trope is so old already and i forgot it even existed in the original books. YOU LITERALLY HAD THEM KISS. ON THE LIPS. AFTER SOPHIE SACRIFICED HERSELF FOR AGATHA. BOTH IN BOOK AND MOVIE. listen im aromantic and the “platonic love is just as meaningful as romantic” is a very nice theme, but theres a point where even as a child i thought sophie and agatha were in love with each other. and i feel it would hammer in the anti-classical fairytale dynamics theme even more, as they go back home together to live domestically once again, with no requirement of a prince for their true love’s kiss or happily ever after. also i felt NO chemistry between agatha and tedros in either book or movie they were so rushed and both of them make me roll my eyes

i was obsessed with the school of good and evil books 1-3 in middle school. i even wrote fanfiction for it on this one official fansite for it. because of that im not gonna say much about the movie remake netflix made because we're going to be here forever.

THAT BEING SAID I NEED TO MAKE FUN OF THE MUSIC RN DSHFKJDS

WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY PLAYING BILLIE EYELASH AND OLIVIA RODRIGO THE ENTIRE TIME

and, of course, the scene that made my jaw drop and i had to pause the movie do tame my laughter and shock, the one, the only....

during the ballroom fight scene. they played. Britney spears. toxic. by britney spears. but edgy. oh my fucking god HOW DID THEY THINK THAT WAS AN APPROPIATE SONG CHOICE JFDKHG

YOU CANT JUST ADD HEAVIER ORCHESTRA, VINE BOOMS AND SIREN VOCALS AND CALL IT A CLIMAX SONG, THATS NOT HOW IT WORKS WWWW

[assignmentsolutions]

Metamorphasis

This essay will develop and support a thesis on Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis.”  A critical approach discussing Kafka’s sense of alienation and exile should discuss the author’s personal sense of isolation. You might want to explore Kafka’s biography to understanding his preoccupation with alienation. You must use appropriate secondary sources with in-text parenthetical references according to…

[fulltum]

opinions blease

so i’ve decided that i am definitely going to do a caterpillar growth drive - a little different from typical growth drives in that you guys are going to help him make his tummy big enough for metamorphasis!

each benchmark will have a doodle of the boy obvs but also a blurb that has him being filled up with all of the foods that you guys have stuffed into his little tum. it’s going to operate through likes, reblogs, and ko-fis, with each one being a different sized snack.

i don’t want him to fill up TOO fast - for reference, eating a large cherry for him would be a basketball sized belly on a normal human. 

so first question - plant foods or junk foods for people?

second question

if it’s plants, what kind would be the best?

here’s what i’m thinking right now (very tentatively)

like - some kind of seed

reblog - a blueberry (that’s the scale of a whole apple for us!)

ko-fi ($3) - cherry tomato or maybe a raspberry

thoughts?

[vyvesvi]

Hi, thanks for sharing your opinion! I'm a huge orbit so i know all the shit with mnet lmao.

My problem is that x1 hasn't debuted, doesn't have a song title, has only released about 16 seconds of their choreography, and orbits are harassing x1 stans on twitter and saying that they copied loona.

Mnet sucks, everyone hates them including x1 stans, but the fact of the matter is that you can't say "x1 copied loona" and then say "we aren't criticizing x1 we're criticizing mnet" because unfortunately for x1, mnet and x1 are too inextricably tied, especially when the basis of the hatred that...x1's entire group concept.

My other issue with this whole thing is that loona's concept doesn't even revolve around butterflies? they had one (1) song. And the most important part of that song wasn't even the butterfly motif??????

Loona, especially Butterfly, is more of an encouraging feminist manifesto (that sounds like a weirdly strong word to use but whatever) for marginalized people. The diversity in their music videos and previews, the message of the song- and that is so much bigger than the image of the butterfly.

Also not to be even more obnoxious, but looking at the lyrics of Butterfly, they literally didn't use any imagery specifically relating to Butterflies, just the phrases "fly like a _____" "wings, wings" "a small flap" and the word Butterfly. So what I'm saying is that in the lyrics they could've used any three syllable flying animal without any loss of impact, and you know what? It would still be an amazing because the actual concept- the diversity, and the encouragement- would be just as strong.

*I will allow that I don't understand korean so maybe there are more butterfly references in the song that were lost in translation

**The last paragraph ignores the idea of popular connotations, which is also a valid argument. But then again, popular [western] connotations for butterflies (change, metamorphasis, rebirth, renewal, revolution) are just what they are- popular. So they're public property...

I would also like to point out that loona's concept (the theories this time, not the message) have far more confirned complexity than x1 has. Here's what's comfirmed about x1:

Their logo (as in, their entire group concept, not just their debut song) is a butterfly. Because they came from the show pd X 101, and the x looks like a butterfly.

Their debut album is called "Quantum Leap" which. physics ig.

This 17 second video with Butterfly-like choreography because, you know, that's their entire concept.

That's it.

That's all we know about x1.

Everything else is a fan theory.

Let's be real. If x1 doesn't have a Jaden Jeong on their team, they can't go head to head with loona on theories and that's that on that, end of story. although loona also doesn't own the idea of doing theories either because bts did that before them and other groups probably before bts but whatever.

I'm honestly running out of steam writing this even though I have more to say so here's the greatly reduced summary of my remaining points:

There are no confirmed loona Buttefly Effect theories. Mobius strip and Parallel universes are the primary thrust of loona theories (as of now).

Sunmi is coming back with a Butterfly themed concept too, on the same day as x1 actually.

Orbits can't keep claiming to be the little fandom that everyone bullies after this. I'm an orbit but I'll say it: we can dish it but we can't take it.

Of course, the minority is always louder than the majority so I doubt that most orbits are spewing hate.

There are literally so many examples of misogyny in kpop and loona being treated badly (kakao M, mama, ect) but orbits choose to attack x1??? really??? its kind of unreal.

x1 has a larger korean fanbase than loona does but I'd be willing to bet that loona has a larger international fanbase than x1. the levels of iconic we could reach if we were friends...what a shame.

As I write this it has become more an open letter to twitter orbits than a response to you, so I apologize.

Thank you for taking the time to try to explain your point of view, even I fundamentally disagree!

orbits claiming that x1 copied loona because they have a butterfly concept...shut up. shut upp. shut upppppppppppppp

[karaokeandmime]

life update

Hiya. I’m Addie. Over the years this blog has slowly morphed into the hollowed shell of a fandom blog, and while I really wish I could scrape together some semblance of an apology for it doing so, I realized it wasn’t necessary.

This blog has slowly shifted from being fandom to personal, and thats okay. I’ve blurred the line separating the two and now they are very much intertwined. Nowadays I find my happiness in living with my boyfriend and playing all of the video games in the universe, watching all the shows, and all the movies, and slowly integrating them into my daily life. My current arsenal of references consists of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle lines, Brooklyn 99 punchlines, and medical terminology.

While I still struggle with depression and anxiety daily, it no longer consumes my whole being. I can function decently, even with an overwhelming lack of sleep. I have recently hit some large speed bumps but I have a wonderful network of friends who help me through them.

This was just a lil update for those who were curious! Enjoy the small metamorphasis from fandom blog to personal blog!

[freudspenis-blog]

References

Cranny-Francis, Anne 2008, 'Touching skin: embodiment and the sense in the work of Ron Mueck', in Anderson, Nicole Cultural Theory in everything practice, OXfor University Press Australia and New Zealand

* Mansfield, Nicholas 2000, Subjectivity: Theories of the seld from Freud to Haraway, Allen $ Urwin, St Leonards, NSW pp. 29

* Barker, Chris 2012, "issues of subjectivity and identity', in Cultural studies: theory and practice, 4th ed,. SAGE London, pp. 220 - 225

* Howes, David 2005, 'skinscapes: embodiment, culture and environment', in Classen, Constance The Book of touch, Berg, Oxford pp. 27

* Jeffrey, Scott (Unknown Year), "SAGE: You're creative identity, the whole page

* Dutton, Denis, 2003' Introduction', The Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics, Oxford University Press

* Hope, Daniel, 2014 ' Creative Influence isn't an excuse for plagiarism', Lit Reactor Online magazine.

* A. Bargh, John & Morsella, Ezequiel, 2008, The Unconscious Mind, NCBI website

* McLeod, Saul, 2009, Updated 2015, ‘Unconscious Mind’, Simple Psychology Website 

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhtBNxh6wM8

* Leav, Lang 2014, The Garden, “Lullabies”, pp. 83, McMeel, Andrews Publishing. 

*Kafka, Franz “Metamorphasis” adapted by Kuper, Peter “The Metamorphosis: Graphic Novel” 2003, Random House publishing pp. 30 - 31

[nuzblog]

As promised, what follows are my thoughts on the 151 Pokemon in Gen 1 that I have something to say about.

#001: Bulbasaur I really appreciate this guy's concept. Reptomammals are dope and that's pretty much definitely what it is, and the concept of a plant and animal reaching this sort of symbiosis is definitely really awesome. The fact that Bulbasaur manages that while also being beautifully simply is great. Bulbasaur is great, and very good, conceptually. That said, I feel his design and especially his evolutions' designs are missing something somehow. Perhaps it's that the animal half of the pair is so plain? Perhaps it's that as it evolves, it only becomes uglier but not particularly cooler? I'm unsure. I do love them, but they aren't my favorite starter in this generation.

#008 Wartortle This guy is. Yes, the middle form. I love middle forms so much. Now, Squirtle itself is pretty simple. A tortoise that shoots water, big whoop, right. And I can agree with that. But Wartortle brings it to the next level. Besides getting a clear and distinct attitude, it also gets these beautiful ears and tail, that flow so elegantly with its design. They're definitely referential to the minogame, the legendary 10,000 year old Japanese turtle with a tail made of seaweed, likely a legend spawned by turtles that would swim through seaweed and carry it with them. The coloration and pattern of Wartortle's "fur" also makes it look like seafoam, and its Hermes-esque ears and trail of seafoam are the perfect fit for a fast swimmer like Wartortle.

#010-#015 Caterpie, Metapod, Butterfree, Weedle, Kakuna, Beedrill I really love the "larva-chrysalis-adult" evolution line as the game's tutorial for the mechanic of evolution, and I think having Pokemon that follow that evolution pattern so early in the game that evolve so quickly is a frankly brilliant design decision. I think here is the place that makes most clear that Pokemon's original inspiration was insect collection. The subversion of expectations with Beedrill is great too. I could mention other things about these guys, like how Caterpie is straight up a faithful recreation of a real life caterpillar, and how Kakuna has arms, but my main point is that these guys fill a great gameplay purpose. My only thing - they don't necessarily need to be Bug type insects every time, do they? Bagon in Gen 3 has already shown that insects aren't the only ones that follow the same evolution pattern. I'd be interested to see some other type of creature follow the same evolutionary pattern.

#024 Arbok Why doesn't Arbok's hood have different designs depending on what region it's caught in? They stopped even giving it different hoods based on the game it's currently in. That's so lame, yo.

#042 Golbat I don't... hate Golbat. I think his giant mouth is fantastic. But... it also loses Zubat's fantastic lack of eyes, AND after R/B it loses its fantastic giant tongue and tiny squinty eyes, the best alternative to no eyes for a bat. Like... what happened? Where did all of Zubat's charm go?

#047 Parasect This is my favorite Pokemon in Gen 1. Cordyceps is basically my favorite fungus, and I urge you to look into it as the real world basis for Parasect if you're unfamiliar. I also love that Paras is like... it's like a cicada with mushrooms on its back, but it seems like a sort of symbiosis, right, like Bulbasaur. But instead of growing together, Paras' growth is stunted and its brain emptied, its eyes losing their pupils to signify that it has become completely zombified as a puppet of this fungus that has grown through its body. This is the first hint in the Pokedex that Pokemon are actually absolutely horrifying, and I love it. I love it so, so much.

#050 Diglett I find the simplicity in Diglett's design absolutely perfect. It has exactly as many features as it would ever need, and it does exactly what you'd think it would. The fact that it's more of a whac-a-mole than an actual mole is brilliant to me, and I find the "what's it got underground" mystery absolutely brilliant as a design decision.

#061 Poliwhirl Neoteny ahoy! I love the Poli line's tummy swirls, but even more, I love that Poliwhirl and Poliwrath are neotenous tadpoles, the exact opposite of what you'd expect from a game where just 50 Pokemon ago, real life metamorphasis was serving as the inspiration for an evolution family. Like, tadpoles are the second most instantly recognizable creatures that exhibit metamorphasis, and yet, these ones don't. And their visible intestines!!! So good. Such perfectly simple designs.

#069-#071 Bellsprout, Weepinbell, Victreebel Pitcher plants are awesome and these guys bear the perfect resemblance to them. I love that Weepinbell is more of a trap than a creature, with its tree hanging hook and its acid-slobbering mouth. I love that Bellsprout is a walking nozzle thing on these flimsy looking root limbs. I love Victreebel's angler lure, and understated teeth. I love that James had one that kept trying to digest him. I just... this guy rules.

#083 Farfetch'd "A duck comes bearing green onions" is an approximate translation of a Japanese phrase with two separate meanings: a fortuitous but unlikely happenstance (such as, while starving in the woods, having a duck approach you holding the perfect garnish for duck soup), and a fool ready to be taken advantage of (such as the duck itself, offering you green onions while being clueless to its own implied demise.) Farfetch'd is, fascinatingly enough, BOTH - it is an incredibly rare Pokemon granted to you in exchange for a very common Pokemon... but it is also a fairly weak Pokemon with low stats that is foisted upon you in exchange for a Pokemon that can yet evolve to greater power. Absolutely brilliant.

#091 Cloyster Okay, so, I've danced around this topic with the name Okeefe for my Sheller, but like... let's be real here. Cloyster looks exactly like a vulva. Some people might list this as a bad thing about Cloyster... but I would not. I think it's great.

#108 Lickitung Why don't more Pokemon have giant tongues? Anyway this guy rules.

#122 Mr. Mime This thing is so creepy... I love it. It's like a horrible marionette, and it takes mime powers literally by turning moves like light screen into the gimmick of the Pokemon. Its weird joints and suckered fingers are so brilliant and just... augh it makes my skin crawl in the most perfect way.

#124 Jynx Okay, so, here's the thing. Yes, Jynx definitely uses the same racist shorthand as minstrel shows or DBZ's Mr. Popo, and that's awful and changing it was a good decision. But beyond that, Jynx is also an aquatic seeming creature (given its fins, at least) that has long human like hair, and a body that resembles a long flowing dress, and has pretty plain breasts. It's also a creature that sings and dances and gyrates to manipulate minds. In other words, it's a SIREN, and not only that, but it's a siren that, rather than being some kind of pretty fish lady, looks to me a lot like a mollusc of some kind. There's so many parts of its lore that fascinate me, like its speech that supposedly closely resembles human speech but is in no recognizable language. Oh, and it also looks like an opera singer, and also some people seem to think it resembles a certain yokai (even though the only reference to some of the traits used to justify that resemblance seem to have been made up by the Pokemon fans trying to justify the comparison.) And, just as a side note, I think the fact that this mollusc, in trying to seduce humans, decided the most beautiful form it could try to emulate would be that of a short and rotund person of color is pretty fantastic. Like, yes, that absolutely is the pinnacle of human beauty, thank you for noticing, Jynx. Just, please do try to look a little less like a thing humans do to be racist.

#126 Magmar Boober.

#137 Porygon It is a tragedy that this guy has been basically banned from anime, since it's such an appealing design motif. Computer generated graphics as a concept for a Pokemon is clever in itself, and like... it's a weird red and blue duck thing! And it's so blocky and weird! I love it.

I actually had less to say about a lot of these guys than I thought I would. Let's real quick go over my top ten Pokemon in the gen:

#1. Parasect #2. Porygon #3. Victreebel #4. Scyther #5. Paras #6. Grimer #7. Diglett #8. Jynx #9. Cubone #10. Weezing

At least, last time I listed them out. This seems about right to me.

Anyway, that's my thoughts on the Pokemon of Gen 1. Maybe some day I'll talk about some others? But that's as much as I think I needed to before starting Gen 2.

Speaking of, I've already started playing Silver. Not sure when I'm gonna write and post that update though. I still have another entry for Blue in the process of being made still.