ophionswill

[ophionswill]

Poorly drawn Pokemon of Myth

[ophionswill]

We've lost a lot to the onslaught of enshittification but I can think of none more brazen than Discord getting rid of the send button

[ophionswill]

Personally I think that battle sims like showdown would still be a thing in the pokemon world. Cuz like picture this: you are ten years old and the only Pokémon you have access to is the elderly family Sunflora. You love Sunny to death but also literally every media you consume involves Pokémon battles and champions and cool ass fights. Sunny is too old to fight and your neighbor’s Gothita is too young. One day on the playground your friend tells you about this cool website that lets you battle pokemon on the computer. Later that night you boot up the family computer and instantly realize that this website lets you play as GROUDON (!!!!). There’s no going back from there.

[ophionswill]

A tutorial on a (bit cheating) way of creating fictional maps.

Open your editing software (RECOMMENDING Krita, since it's free and it's very good).

Step 1: Google "X country silhouette" and copy it.

Paste it onto the canvas.

Step 2: Separate the silhouette from the background you copied with it! You can do that by using magic wand selection tool or by making a gradient map with black on 49,9% and transparent on 50% on the slider.

Step 3: Repeat several times with numerous countries and/or islands, cities, municipalities, communes, continents et cetera.

Step 4: Combine, mesh, stretch, rotate, mirror - go ham, make it work.

Step 5: Erase and add.

Step 6: Have your map outline ready, copy/paste it several times in the same doc on different layers and edit in different ways like biomes, kingdoms, mountains and other.

Step Mountains+: To figure out mountains, make another layer on the doc and do something like this:

-and then in every polygon you add an arrow.

Where arrows meet or transfer onto continents, add mountains.

Color the sea with a couple layers of depth and you're done :D

[ophionswill]

homestuck tumblr please tell me im right about this

[ophionswill]

shoutout to the gay couple at the grocery store where i work that were staring at the shelves and shelves of cereal brands, looking so concerned, and the one of em that whispered "this is the hardest decision of our lives"

[ophionswill]

So I watched the new Spiderverse movie a couple weeks ago and all of my friends just immediately wanted to make spidersonas (I had no idea what that was at the time lol). Anyway, their little sketches ended up inspiring me to make my own!!! Basic idea behind this guy is that in his universe, it’s the not-so-distant future and the world kinda ended? But like everyone lives underground in cavern cities now. To counteract the gloomy atmosphere of subterranean NYC, most of the lights are all neon, to make a really pretty nightlife. Also, the whole city runs on chemical energy, so it fits the vibe. Anyway, this guy here also fits the vibe of the city with a funky neon suit! Also maybe neon powers? IDK I’ve barely figured out their powers or the whole worldbuilding lol But yea, I’m not very good at art, so I’m really proud of how this turned out!!! I think it might be my favorite piece of artwork I’ve ever done, so I hope you guys like it too!

[ophionswill]

The Psychic Type Paradox

It’s been questioned on many occasions as to why Psychic type Pokemon, or at least some of the more hyperintelligent ones, were not the ones to become the dominant species on Earth, as opposed to us flimsy, powerless humans. Psychics boast unimaginable intelligence, or brains so powerful they are capable of manipulating the world around them with nothing but a thought. A firing of a neuron, and bones shatter. A single line of thinking, and the world around them moves to the beat of their neural drum. So why have they not taken over?

Unfortunately, this comes down to a debate between philosophy and biology. The philosophers say that it’s because they have no need to, for what purpose could building a civilization have to a society of people who have no need of machines, tools, or vehicles? What is the need for any of those things when you can teleport great distances in the blink of an eye, use mental power to craft whatever you need, and require absolutely nothing of the physical world save for food and water, and shelter? Philosophers claim that psychics simply have no ambition for such things, and life freer, more content lives than most humans ever can.

Biology has a far more disturbing opinion. However, context is required. Roughly 70 years ago, a group of scientists took up a study on the behavior of humanity’s closest relatives: the lineages of Infernape and Rillaboom. Both are extraordinarily powerful species with a great deal of intelligence and emotional comparisons have been drawn in their behavior to us. Infernape in particular has been shown to exhibit the same five major personality traits that we have: extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness, as well as an extra trait for aggressive dominance, fitting of a fighting type. They display the power of language, communicating both in normal Poke-speak as well as using hand-gestures. They have cultures, music especially in Rillaboom’s case. They build shelters, they make tools, they sing, dance, and fight amongst one another for dominance. 

But this never applies to other species. They never try to show dominance over another species, other than maybe a territorial display. They do not desire power over their environments, they never try to hoard resources, and do not hunger for bloodshed and death. Not even in humanity’s closest relatives have the traits of humanity been seen. Why is this?

The theory: a mental block. In the minds of most every Pokemon (plenty of exceptions can be made for apex predator Pokemon, such as Tyranitar and Hydreigon, or generally malicious species), there is a mental barrier which prevents these feelings. They are more content with their lives, at peace with their surroundings. The reason why we don’t have it any longer is because we are severed from the elemental powers we once had. It was a failsafe to keep the world safe, but we abandoned this failsafe in exchange for our abilities. Thus, psychic types such as Alakazam, with a supercomputer for a brain, or Gardevoir, with enough raw power to collapse reality into a black hole, cannot use their powers to advance, to become civilized, or build their own societies.

The question is obvious: why do Pokemon have this failsafe?

And what, or rather, who, put it there? 

[ophionswill]

Rock types and Ground types are heavily intertwined in both public perception of them and in biological terms (referencing several species, namely from the far East in regions such as Kanto and Johto), as many argue there was no need to separate them at all, and in fact, exist as the same typing. Yet, that glosses over the reason why they were separated in the first place. 

Granted, both typings control and manipulate inanimate earth, or generally parts of the Earth’s crust. However, considering the two the same declines both types the nuance which gives them distinction. Yes, species of both types often have tankier, more defensive battling styles, sometimes even coming paired with overwhelming offensive capability. However, it’s what part of the earth that is manipulated which provides the distinction, as well as some biological factors regarding the aforementioned defensive capabilities.

Rock types focus on what is completely and utterly solid. Stone, crystals, fossilized remains, or in one particular case, tar, of which this is the main exception. Rock types embody these solid, sturdy traits and require serious offensive power to either crack their rock bodies or pierce their thick, stone-like hides. Meanwhile, Ground Types control earth, but the more particulate kind, sand and soil being the primary examples. Ground types are just as defensively oriented, but are more bulky with their flesh as opposed to the natural armor of rock types. For example, a Coalossal may be covered in large coal blocks that shield it from harm, but a Seismitoad is bulky and has a thick layer of fat to help absorb direct hits.

What’s especially interesting is how this makes the two, at least in a defensive standpoint, complete opposites of one another. Rock types, with their thick armor, are more adept at shrugging off more piercing, slashing, or energy-based hits, while taking severe damage with blunt collisions that could crack their armor. Meanwhile, Ground types with their bulkier builds are better made for countering those same blunt attacks, while slashing and piercing, as well as energy-based attacks, do significant damage. 

Despite the differences, this is still a heavily debated topic in the scientific community, and yet another reason as to why the typing system is in desperate need of maintenance and reform, as to better classify all Pokemon within its bounds. 

[ophionswill]

I think my absolute favorite kind of game has to be class-based co-op horde shooters. Games where you, preferably in a party of friends, mow down waves of enemies, but specifically where you've picked a particular class, so you have abilities or gadgets that others do not.

A great example of this is Deep Rock Galactic, or DRG, where the gadgets of each class compliment and work with others. For example, the Engineer has a platform gun, which can be placed on cave walls, so that the Scout, with the grappling hook, can get those previously unaccessible resources.

Another example is the Borderlands franchise, though the classes less "work together" and more "have different ways of slaughtering as many enemies as possible." In Borderlands 3, one character has helpful pets that draw attention away from the player, with skills that focus on critical hits, survivability, or upgrading your pet. Meanwhile, another character has a large, tanky mech suit, with skills that focus on high damage output, explosion damage/radius, or becoming a glass cannon.

However, as much as I love these types of games, to a certain degree, you are locked in. You choose the class which you enjoy playing the most, and are locked into that in your party for the extent of either the full story or that particular round/mission, only helping in the ways your class can.

So I have an idea. I want a fantasy, class-based, co-op, PvE game that allows you to have multiple classes.

Let's say you the maximum party size is the four, as is common in these kinds of games. Before you jump in, you each get to pick three specialties or proficiencies out of a long list, perhaps 20-30 or so. Each "class" is simple, having a few small perks, but you're free to build your character however you want. Progression works by playing with that class equipped, and your abilities in that class slowly grow stronger as you play with it and they level up.

Some classes would also naturally compliment one another, but you could mix it up for variety in case you want to do multiple things. For example, you could dedicate yourself fully to support, picking three classes which specialize in 1. party-wide healing, 2. single-target healing, and 3. offensive buffs. OR, you could mix it up, picking 1. single-target healing but also 2. bulkiness (for health and armor) and 3. self-buffing defense, to become a benevolent healing tank.

Parties could customize the skills they want to take in a particular session, working together to make something overpowered with every person playing what they want to play, without being limited by whatever the class' intended limits are, instead deciding for themselves what pros and cons they want to live with. The classes would be locked in, but there would be opportunities to swap them out at regular intervals so you weren't fully stuck. Customize, make the fantasy character of your dreams with all the features you want!

(Side note: this could also apply to a sci-fi setting as well, but I personally like the idea of a fantasy setting more).

[ophionswill]

sometimes i think about the fact that the name i chose a couple years ago to be the name i'd be known online as (ophion) happens to be shared with a giant, hypermuscular, dad-bod, scaly-ass dragon from some japanese mobile card game and it haunts me at night

[ophionswill]

Bug types (a personal favorite type of mine) are often underestimated, due to the plethora of weaknesses known to it and very few advantages, which are mostly only useful in specific battling rings or matchups. However, this is partially due to the way that standardized battles are structured in order to create fairness in our League Circuits and Conferences. One-on-one, up to three-on-three battles are all sanctioned by the league, and the amount of Pokemon has be equal on either side. However, this has created significant weaknesses for a couple of Pokemon types, which can be exploited. For example, rock types thrive in this environment, being fully capable of defending themselves on their own, as many rock types live solitary lives finding food and caring for themselves, only living with other members of their species when they are a mated pair, or are caring for young.

Bugs and Dark types are the polar opposites of this. They are often considered frail, having low defense stats in most cases, and often cannot survive long-term, one-on-one engagements. They are not meant for this kind of battle, instead, where they excel is teamwork and numbers.

Bugs are in roughly 90% of species, social Pokemon. They might exist in a small swarm of 3-10, or in a massive hive with thousands of members. Bug Specialists are limited to their 6-Pokemon capacity, often having to focus on bugs that are naturally strong, or are more suited to solitary lives, such as Scizor, Pinsir, Volcarona and Drapion (yes, this isn’t technically a bug, but since it suffers with the third type problem, I’m including it). However, a truly talented bug specialist might have a range of 7-10 Pokemon all suitable and trained for the standardized arenas of the Leagues, while on a personal space, having tens, if not hundreds of smaller bug Pokemon that all work as a part of a trainer-fostered “hive,” as a community, to be unleashed upon a series of targets on a whim.

This has been witnessed several times by bug specialists in the present and the past. A more modern example is Elite Four Aaron of the Sinnoh League. When members of the Sinnoh League were dispatched across the region to try and wipe out any Galactic Bases (the most notable of which is Sunnyshore Gym Leader Volkner, who wiped out an estimated 75% of all bases eliminated by the League on his own), footage of Aaron’s battling style was unveiled to the public: he did not use his signature team as his only fighters, instead unleashing a gargantuan swarm of an estimated 10,000 bugs to infest the base (comprised of Yanma, Ninjask, Ariados, Combee, Venomoth and Beedrill), systematically eliminating anyone (save for civilian hostages) found inside. 

So next time you see a bug, don’t underestimate it, as while it may be weak on its own, the swarm might be in another nearby bit of trees, listening for the cry of distress that will invoke the wrath of the collective.

[ophionswill]

Poison types already had a bad rap before the Rocket Age, despite what many seem to claim. Poison types are widely considered to be an “evil” type, among Dark and Ghost types, for the reason that many species of poison types naturally have “toxic” personalities. These species are considered reclusive, territorial, and in some cases, sadistic, taking enjoyment out of the suffering of their prey or enemies under the influence of poisons, toxins, or venoms.

However, this is a stereotype that has been unfortunately applied to all poison types, regardless of demeanor, especially after the infamous Rocket Age, where the grunts primarily used specific normal and poison type Pokemon, which were known for reproducing easily, or were extremely common at that point in time (Grimer and Muk being prime examples, as many cities at this point in time were struggling with pollution and litter). As a result of this, and several other terrorist organizations to sprout up in the following years, such as Galactic and Flare, poison types gained a horridly bad rap that the public could not shake off.

Despite this, poison types, while often considered difficult and mostly suited for highly skilled trainers, are mostly comprised of loyal Pokemon, if not completely average Pokemon, that simply use poisons, toxins or venoms in their arsenal. For example, one of the most loyal and incredibly beginner-friendly Pokemon is the Nidoran lines. If you bond well to a Nidoran, it will often carry young trainers through at least their first few badges, if not well into the League (there have been quite a few documentations of Indigo Conference participants having Nidokings or Nidoqueens on their rosters).

Another incredibly beginner friendly Pokemon is Gulpin and Swalot. These Pokemon have gelatinous bodies, which are not actually poisonous at all. Instead, their poison comes from their incredibly potent stomach acids, which is one of the highest grade acids on the globe, with a pH of 0.04. Despite this, all you need to win a Gulpin’s loyalty and affection is a steady diet of basically any kind of food or organic substance that tastes remotely good (most of the time, they’re not picky, though they do appreciate better tasting foods). As many have described them, they are a budget Snorlax. Be warned though, while Gulpin are mostly safe, Swalot does upgrade its poisonous capabilities by sweating out excess stomach acid it generates, which can be weaponized.

But the point stands, poison types are incredibly versatile, and do not deserve the reputation they have garnered by human factors. 

[ophionswill]

this guy gets it

Humanity’s Place in Pokemon

Ok, hear me out.

Humans are weak as hell.  Compared to Pokemon, they’ve got no semblance of a chance in a fair, one-on-one fight. Pokemon can breathe fire, or control nature, or shift the earth with merely a thought. Humans? We can… punch, I guess. Kick. And it’s far weaker than any fighting type.

When humans evolved in a world of Pokemon, they needed to find other ways to even the odds. Tools, first. Then makeshift weapons. Then machines. Civilizations sprung up out of necessity, specifically in places where humans could have a chance of surviving: breeding grounds. Fertile areas, full of resources, food, and great places to nest made these little areas less prone to extremely strong Pokemon, places like the Indigo Regions, or Hoenn, Unova, Kalos, etc etc.

And that’s probably it. These little places on the coasts of great continents, carved out of the wilderness with back-breaking effort and so so much time are the only bastions humanity has against the terrifying, powerful depths of whatever lies outside the borders. Crossing the wilds is unthinkable, it’s suicide. The only option for travelling between regions is by sea, or by air (excluding Kanto-Johto). So these regions are all that humanity has. Little islands of safety in a world of unimaginable power and strength.

TL;DR: Humans are survivors, and had to MAKE their place in the Pokemon World, because otherwise they would have gone extinct a LONG time ago. 

[ophionswill]

Alright, it's two AM, and I need to ramble, so forgive me if this is awful. Yes, this will contain lore spoilers for the following game.

ULTRAKILL.

It is by far my favorite shooter of all time, and I like to put in at least one or two cybergrind runs every day (my record, considered modest in comparison to many of the far more skilled ULTRAKILL players, is wave 42) and I am at least half-decent at it, something I am quite proud of.

However, I don't know if anyone else realized this, so I need to share.

Gabriel's monologue in 6-2 was an emotional, riveting and overall incredible addition to the game (thank you, Gianni). However, one part of it made me stop in my tracks and think.

"Limbo. Lust. All gone. With Gluttony soon to follow."

This line hit me with such guilt and regret. "Wait... was this my fault? I didn't want this." And I didn't know why, but I think I've figured it out.

We didn't just go deeper. We, and all the other machines, have GENOCIDED the layers. We, as V1, (and V2, just ahead of us) cleaved a path of gore to sustain our need for blood, and the lesser machines? They followed us, picking off the scraps. Machines had already been in hell, feeding off of the lesser husks, but we condemned the layers to die as the survivors were picked off.

And then we defeated Gabriel. The guardian of the lower layers. No machine had made it past him yet. We opened the floodgates, and in our selfish quest for more blood, condemned the lower layers to the same fate as the first three as the streetcleaners, sentries, drones, swordsmachines, and mindflayers picked off the scraps.

The souls, they were already suffering, enacting their punishments... and perhaps the souls on the lower layer deserve it, that much is true. But Limbo? Lust? No, we'd already killed all humans off in the robot revolution. They'd already been forced to suffer at our hands.

And we just killed them again. We couldn't even let them find some form of peace in their somewhat sour afterlife. We did this.

Minos was right. Perhaps our punishment should be death, for our crimes are too great to be forgotten.

Perhaps we let the blood dry up.

[ophionswill]

A little bit of a color palette thingy

Hooboy alrighty

Elias, Talia, Hera, AND Reagan posting

These lovely things are characters belonging to myself and @ophionswill

Their story takes place entirely within the Pokemon worldbuilding project Ophion has been working on! He's been posting about it a bit, so I suggest taking a look :-)

[ophionswill]

Plant Pokemon are somewhat of a contentious subject among scientific communities. Are they a Pokemon, or something else entirely? How does their (and many other grass types) chlorokinesis work? This is still a subject being heavily researched by many top professors and scientists around the globe, though some common theories remain.

1. Plant Pokemon are not sentient flora, but instead are fauna who take on the appearance and attributes of flora. The theory states that sometime in a certain lineage’s ancestry, a line of fauna developed a kind of natural symbiosis with a plant. Over time, the two grew more intertwined, until the two were simply one organism. This theory has incredible merit, as we have multiple cases of flora-fauna symbiosis in nature. The most notable example is the Bulbasaur line, with each new member of the species being given a seed bulb which takes root in the Bulbasaur’s back. The two will then provide energy, minerals, protection, and a variety of other things symbiotically to one another. Thus, Pokemon such as Lilligant are simply Pokemon that have grown to become one Pokemon with their chosen symbiotic partner. It’s been observed in several different autopsies of plant Pokemon that their makeup is a strange mixture of both plant cells and animal cells. Plant cells typically comprise the exteriors of plant Pokemon as well as key appendages such as leaves or vines, while having a few key features of fauna such as nervous systems and digestive systems. 

2. Chlorokinesis is an advanced form of kinesis. It’s been proven that almost all typings have some form of psychic ability. However, more often than not, it is specialized towards a certain element. For example, Fire Pokemon generate heat and fire naturally (more often than not, in some specialized organ), but can manipulate and control it outside of the body using pyrokinesis. However, chlorokinesis does not work the way that other psychic abilities work. Instead of manipulating the already pre-existing substance, which is produced naturally, chlorokinetics instigate extreme, controlled growth in plants, even to the extent of making specific plants grow for specific purposes (ex: leech seed). This could be in their own plant appendages, or naturally existing plants. How this works is unknown, as the energy and minerals have to come from somewhere to instigate such insane rates of cell division and movement, but there are no current explanations for this.

3. All plant Pokemon are both autotrophs and heterotrophs. This theory has the most evidence for it out of all the theories listed, as studies and experiments have been conducted thousands of times across the centuries on Bellsprout in particular (being an ideal test subject for exhibiting both). Bellsprout was observed eating and digesting various meat samples, and later using the highly corrosive acids within the cup to break down the meat samples for protein content. Later, within an hour, it was observed taking large amounts of time to stand in the sun, conducting photosynthesis. Due to this dual nature, most plant Pokemon completely lack respiratory systems, as the oxygen produced as a by-product of photosynthesis can directly be used in cellular respiration, which produces carbon dioxide, and the cycle continues. Plant Pokemon do have stomata in case of an imbalance, but most of the time this is unneeded.

We may not fully understand plant types, or grass-type Pokemon as a whole, but at the very least, it provides plenty of interesting theories and experiments for years to come.