#Pokemon as a franchise actually means a lot to me

[shima-draws]

Listen y’all I just. I jsut *clenches fists* I love Pokemon so much,

It’s just a fun game with little critters!! You can name them! And form bonds with them! And battle with them!! And you can witness a story unfold! And travel throughout so many fun and distinct regions, each with their own history! And make friends and enemies alike! And it’s a game that can be played differently by anyone! You can strategize and take on hard challenges! You can play silly minigames! You can be a completionist and fill the entire Pokedex! It caters to everyone! And the mainline games are only the tip of the iceberg! There’s so much to do! It’s so fun! It has brought the world together!! I LOVE YOU POKEMON!!!

[masterhallmark]

Credit for discovery: @misscloudiedays

So a lot of people are confused as to how Epic Mickey Rebrushed meaning Disney probably isn't getting profits works, so let me explain real quick:

What's the Sitch?

If you go to the Steam Page, Disney is not publishing EM Rebrushed themselves like they did with the original EM games, another company ,THQ Nordic, whom Disney does not own is.

This likely means they sold the licensing rights to that company rather than accepting profit cuts.

How this works

Copyright holders often do this if they think the product would make less profits than what they sold the licensing rights for. For example, this happened with the author of the Witcher books, who thought the games would flop and sold the licensing rights instead of accepting a percentage of the profits. He later acted like the victim when the games actually ended up being wildly successful. This also happened to the writer of the American Pokemon Theme Song, who didn't know the Pokemon franchise was going to go on for decades and remain popular, though he was more chill about it and worked something out.

Basically, Disney likely had so little faith in the game, they chose to sell instead of accept profits, which would mean whether you buy or pirate the game wouldn't affect them, since they would have already gotten the agreed upon amount, and they'd probably piss themselves if the profits Purple Lamp gets is more than what they sold it for.

Would they actually do that?

For anyone who questions if Disney would really be dumb enough to do this, REMEMBER THIS IS THE COMPANY WHO:

SHUT DOWN AND ENTIRE VIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENT COMPANY JUST BECAUSE EPIC MICKEY 2 DIDN'T MAKE AS MUCH MONEY AS EPIC MICKEY 1

THOUGHT PEOPLE WOULD ABANDON CONSOLE GAMING IN FAVOR OF MOBILE GAMING

THOUGHT KINGDOM HEARTS COULDN'T POSSIBLY HAVE SEQUELS

HAD A CEO WHO THOUGHT ADULTS DON'T ENJOY CARTOONS

AND THE MOST RECENT BLUNDER OF ALL, THOUGHT DISNEY FANS WOULD PREFER A LUMA KNOCKOFF OVER STARBOY IN WISH, BECAUSE THEY WANTED A MARKETABLE PLUSHIE

Yeah, I think they're that dumb.

Bottom Line

For those participating in the Disney boycott, it is probably safe to get the game, and will not be a breach of your boycott. Buying the game would instead show support to those who actually care about the game while not benefitting the company that abandoned it.

That being said, this is not guaranteed to be completely correct. Keep an eye on things as it develops, and make your own decisions on the matter.

[meruz]

hi!! im sure ppl have asked this b4, but i scoured your asks tag for an hour or so looking to see if you answered anything abt it and couldnt find anything, so i was just wondering if youve made any posts on your process for making n selling merch b4? and how you know which franchises you can make merch for w/o getting into trouble w copyright n trademark stuff (hopefully that makes sense, im not sure,,,)

hi! got a bunch of asks abt merch stuff lately im gonna put it under a cut.

preface: i don't know if i'm the best person to ask about all this stuff because I'm doing merch on a strictly hobby basis LOL. I have a fulltime job which takes care of the bulk of my finances, I don't really make big quantities of anything and my main priority at cons is to just make enough money to see my friends in different cities at minimal expense. i pretty much always get a refund when i file my con taxes because my profit after all the deductions is like fucking..nothing.. lmao. So if you ultimately lose money following my advice don't blame me. OK NOW lets get into it

my process for making merch: when I have an event scheduled that I want to make merch for I start by brainstorming a bunch of stuff I wanna make. for mgscon this is what I wrote down in my sketchbook lol

i made a legend to denote which ones are actually just reprints. it gets easier to plan out merch when you already have merch. out of the new merch ideas here i actually only made like 4 of them. and out of the reprints i only reprinted like three. i also came up with like 4-5 other merch ideas after writing out this list that i actually did do. LMAOO UM. my point here is that nothing rly goes as planned.

when i get a merch idea i start with thumbnails what i want it to look like (sometimes this is based off merch ive seen before so its very realized and sometimes its really vague bc im kind of pulling it out of my ass)

then BEFORE i go into making the final art I research how I'm going to make the merch. whether its printing/constructing it myself or looking for a manufacturer. There's a lot of different places that you can get custom merch made, i used to go shopping around at local printing shops but nowadays it's really common to do it all online. For both these jet tags and the washi tape I did some of my own research into manufacturers and also asked friends for their contacts/referrals/recommendations etc. most manufacturers either have their specs/template publicly available or will give them to you when you ask. so once I've locked into a manu and gotten the specs I'll start designing the final art.

then it's sending it off and waiting! easier said than done.

i will say this process is a lot lengthier for some types of merch than others LOL. for prints... I've been doing prints for like a million years and I plan out almost none of it. I draw everything at print resolution so a week before I have a con scheduled I'll simply go through all the files I've accumulated since my last con, squeeze whatever drawings I want into standard print sizes lol (ie. 8.5x11, 11x17, 4x6 etc), and print them at a local shop. takes like a couple hours max.

how you know which franchises you can make merch for w/o getting into trouble w copyright n trademark stuff?

I mean. honestly I don't know. selling fanart is the kind of thing that IP holders kind of just let slide as long as they don't think they're losing a substantial amt of money on it. there ARE a couple franchises people avoid because they've been known to send IP lawyers after fanartists... disney is the big one and they're known for being pretty petty abt it... that's why you don't really see people selling fanart of the disney princesses at cons. ive heard pokemon will also crack down if your project seems to be making a lot of money lol, part of why i think a lot of pokemon fanzines operate on a charity basis. I do feel like the pokemon company has bigger fish to fry than someones artist alley table though so i wouldn't sweat it too much.

it's also generally considered impolite/bad taste to sell fanart of small franchises. webcomics and indie games especially if they only have like 1-2 devs who rely on the income that game makes.

I'm not a lawyer so you shouldn't consider this legal advice BUT I will say... I don't think you should let IP law stop you from selling fanart lol. especially if it's low quantities/not mass produced and you're not making crazy amts of money I think you kind of have a leg to stand on. Besides, most cases it seems like the worst you'll get is a cease and desist.

you Will notice that when people start turning their artist alley endeavors into a real business they'll generally ease up on selling fanart (the case most prominent in my mind is omocat lol). but i love fanart and thats why i will never make money and thats a promise [snake saluting gif]

SORRY IDK IF ANY OF THIS WAS HELPFUL. I've been doing merch and cons for a long time (10+ years lmao, you can find record of this on this very blog) and i think im kind of old fashioned about it. i recognize the artist alley/merch scene is a lot more demanding now than it used to be but start small at local low-risk events, online sales etc and work your way up and remember to have fun and itll be ok i believe this wholeheartedly.

its literally just layers of acrylic like any other dinky charm. I'm sure pretty much any manu that does acrylic charms could do it but this specific charm/template i did order through a group order server. they're pretty well known! heres a link to their twitter

@wheatormeat sorry for taking a full month to answer this... anyways. This is tricky because I've actually been changing up my sticker manu everytime LOL IDK if I've found one I actually love.

these ones i ordered thru an alibaba manu because I was jumping on a friend's group order to save on shipping. it was ok. they arrived a liiiitle late and printed a lil dark but i think thats kind of my fault LOL I use dark colors i always need to lighten things before i get them printed and i think i just didnt lighten these enough. otherwise i rly love the quality!

i realized i never posted these online and also this is not a good picture (the lighting in my living room sucks rn) but i printed these tmnt stickers thru stickerninja they feel really solid but they needed kind of a lot of space for the cutline. but their customer service was very nice and helpful!

these ones i got printed at washimill and i was so impressed with how fine their cutline is... pricing and quality of the sticker itself is alright they feel a lil flimsy? idk. but i do like the printing. i kind of elected to go with them solely because i was already ordering washi tape. A LOT of my manufacturing decisions are made based on how much money i can save on shipping tbh.

and thats my sticker manu reviews dont forget to like comment subscribe idk if i have one im gonna stick with forever or anything im rly indecisive. ideally id like a manu based in the u.s...? because im based in the u.s. and international shipping is pricey. but idk if i keep ordering washi tape maybe ill keep using washimill. who knows...

[factual-fantasy]

25 asks! Thank you! :}} 👹

I have it in the back of my mind, but I haven't actually made any steps in making more master posts.. 😔

ReBLOGGING is good! Its a feature of Tumblr and helps more people find my artwork! Very nice :))

RePOSTING is stealing my art and posting it on your own account. Giving you and only you all the credit. That's theft and no good!

I think I remember wanting my sona to be an object head of some kind. I think I doodled probably a dozen different ideas before I got frustrated and just scribbled my most recent attempt out.

But then it hit me. I doodled two little white eyes on the scribble and I knew I had found my sona XDD

@xxthedragonrebornxx

XD Thank you for remembering my boundaries and respecting them! :)) And THANK YOU FOR THE CUPCAKE!! :DDD

I haven't read it, but I've seen it blowing up all over tumblr. It must be pretty cool! :00

@milk-powrit

<XD I won't lie, Bill is a fantastic villain. I just "hate" him because Stanley is my favorite character and Bill put his family through hell 💀

Most of the team: "Aww 🥰💞💞"

Gloria: "WHO ARE YOU AND HOW ARE YOU HOLDING ALL OF US UP AT ONCE"

@pink088

<XD These past 2-3 days have just hammered me health wise, but I can at least say that I've been sleeping enough!

And thanks for the check in! I wish you the best :))

(Pokemon violet comic(?))

:DD Thank you!! I'm glad you liked it!! :)))

If I ever really go into those series I would :00 But I cant remember the Godziilla movies- plus that would be really hard to draw <XDD

There's so many sonic medias that i wouldn't know which one to go by- and I've seen playthroughs of Poppy playtime but it never really grabbed my interest.. <XD

I'll do my best to keep up with all that <XDD Thank you!

(Frank butterfly post)

Oh there's no need to worry about Frank! It might be hard to tell- but that was actually a moth! Frank had bags under his eyes because he was out late studying moths :))

<XD Well considering Homes intentions are intended to be unknown- you're free to imagine that! :D

@skywillow28022

ohmygosh the third movie is so good I actually cant watch it anymore lest I burst into tears 😭😭😭💞💞💞 10/10 WOULD recommend cars 3--

Anyways- I ADORE the cars franchise and absolutely would have drawn them more.. if cars weren't so hard to draw <XD Plus my favorite thing to draw is angsty cuddles and hugs and big droopy eyes and tears- that's kiiiind'a hard to pull off if your characters are cars-

Of course I could always draw them as humans like many other artists have.. but idk, it just doesn't feel the same you know? <XD

Also thank you! I hope you day goes well too! :))

@neo-metalscottic (Welcome home post(?)) (Octonauts eye study) (Oxem and Pepemijo comic)

AAAAA Thank you sop much! :DD I'm glad you've been liking my recent posts!

As for Oxem and Pepemijo, I cant show images because of the stupid 30 images limit-- But Pepemigo is based on/inspired by the Year of the dragon mask, and Oxem is based on the current season of Duets seasonal guide mask! :00

I imagine there are other dragons out there, like that other sky dragon that I made one time-- <XDD I don't really have any ideas for their powers or their story, but I had intended that Pepemijo at least knocked the krill out in self defense. Thankfully they wont be hunted by krill following that event- Oxem got them to a safe place and he knows that he should steer clear of krill territory in the future <XD

And of course! I'd love to see any critters that you've made! :DDD

@sussyhahag

uhg, always disappointing to see.. thank you for letting me know though 😔

*VERY LOUD CARTOON BROKEN HEART SOUND* (I LOVE THISSS)

<XD yup.

Also even though that disclaimer is there for FNAF and Octonauts, I still get people harassing me anyways!.... :')

@vesselofmanythings

AAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! :DDD And I wish you luck on your slime rancher creative adventure!! :}}}

AAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DDDD That means a lot!!! :))

@starsbee

This shouldn't have made me laugh as much as it did XDD

@wolfie-777

Oh no.... THAT MUST BE ME WELCOME HOME AU COMING BACK--

@anikakitty11

Somethin ain't right with that dog <XDD

@edelgeist (Referencing this post)

oooh :00 I wasn't aware of that- thank you for the info! Perhaps I should invest in a cooling pad <XD

I have not <:( But after googling it- I love the artstyle! :DD

[epicspheal]

Where's My Sister's Purrloin!? A Hugh Analysis

"Yeah… OK! Let's go get your Pokémon! There's something I have to do! And to do that, I need someone I can trust besides my partner Pokémon. A person I can trust! That's right! I'm talking about you! You seem like you've got good instincts!" <- Meeting Hugh outside of Aspertia City

Oh Hugh! Definitely one of the most misunderstood rivals. Also one of my favorites (also that seems to be a trend with the characters I like but that's a topic for another day). Hugh is our sole rival in BW2 and he's a rival with one of the most unique motivations for a rival character in the franchise.

Let's start by looking at Hugh's name which is rather straightforward. In all of the translations it's a homophone for the word Hue which is a major property of colors in color theory. He follows the naming conventions of Cheren and Bianca in that there all color themed which harks back to gens 1 and 2 where the main characters have color names (which makes sense as gen 5 was a bit of a soft reboot to the franchise in some respects). Of note his German, Spanish and French names of refer to the famous painter Henri Matisse who was known for his Fauvism style which opted for strong colors, again reinforcing the color symbolism. Interesting to note that Hugh as a given name that has mix of Irish and Germanic origin meaning "mind, intellect and spirit" with it actually being an anglicized version of Gaelic "Aodh" which means "fire". Hugh is certainly very intellectual, spirited and fiery especially when it comes to getting his revenge on Team Plasma and getting his sister's Purrloin back.

Next to look at his team. Like many rivals, he gets a traditional starter, but it's one that he raised from an egg. One that's actually stronger than your starter on the type chart. But honestly I think his signature Pokemon (based on what we see in Pokemas) is his Bouffalant. Bouffalant is described in a few Pokedex entries as be wild and reckless charging at everything. Which is quite reminiscent of Hugh during much of the game when it comes to Team Plasma. Indeed when you take a look at the rest of his team members you'll see that often times Hugh opts for high-risk, high reward moves such as Wild Charge on his Eelektross and Bouffalant (which gives recoil), Giga Impact on his Unfezant (forces the user to not use any move after atacking, leaving it vulnerable), Fire Blast/Hydro Pump/Leaf Storm on his starter (high powered but not 100% accuracy).

Which when you look at his character overall, makes a lot of sense. He's very passionate but the passion veers into recklessness in many respects.

Hugh gets a lot of flak from the community for going on and on about his sister's Purrloin. But people do that forget this is his driving motivation. And also most Pokemon characters tend to repeat themselves (which is less a symptom of them being bad characters, but of the writers not knowing how to vary dialogue that gets the point across without being repetitive).

But yes Hugh's very unlike most rivals in that he really isn't concerned about the rivalry. It's not that Hugh is a jerk. He's very kind to the player and generally respectful of others outside of Team Plasma (to whom he does not show a lot of mercy to in the beginning). It's just his primary goal isn't besting the protagonist. Rosa/Nate just so happen to be friends that he challenges to see if they can keep up with him while he takes down Team Plasma. In many ways he expands on the role carved out by Silver, who also was more concerned strength for the sake of defying his father than dealing with the protagonist but just didn't mind antagonizing them when they crossed paths. And Gladion and Marnie also fall in this trend as being more concerned about a goal that's not just "I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was".

"You're a little worried? Are you KIDDING me?! Your Pokémon might be lost forever! Whatever! I'll look! ! Help out!" <- On Flocessy Ranch

This a line that sticks out to me as it occurs when the owners of the Floccessy Ranch lost their Herdier and Hugh is extremely upset…more upset than Herdier's actual owners. At this point in the story he hasn't revealed the whole bit about his sister's Purrloin but this line is good foreshadowing to the eventual reveal. He's seen the trauma first hand of a stolen Pokemon can do and it causes an immediate reaction

"Shut it! You guys are the worst! You talk about saving Pokémon, but you're just Pokémon thieves! Don't think I'll ever forgive you!" <- Meeting Team Plasma in Virbank

Now I know Pokemon isn't known for writing but I honestly feel like they were doing a good job in slowly revealing more about Hugh and his motivations as we continued to encounter him during the journey. Once again we're adding more to Hugh, that not only has he probably seen a Pokemon get stolen, but that Pokemon was stolen by Team Plasma. But more importantly you can see a major flaw of his. That he is struggling with forgiveness as we see that he constantly references not forgiving Team Plasma throughout the game

"Five years ago… Team Plasma stole my little sister's Purrloin. It had been given to her as a present. I was only a little kid… I couldn't do anything… So… So that's why I have to get stronger!" <- Nimbasa City

And here's the big reveal. Now what sticks out to me is how powerless he felt. Of course this is a common trope with young characters who have been in serious situations to feel powerless and become hellbent on getting stronger to the point it kind of blinds them in a way (cough Paulo cough). But it's nice to see this in Pokemon with Hugh. It fits into the underlying theme of BW2 that deals with progression and how the region of Unova as a whole progresses from the events two years prior.

Given that Hugh states that Purrloin was taken 5 years ago that means that Team Plasma had been starting their public operations 3 years prior to the events of the original Black and White Games (we know of course N had been groomed by Ghetsis to be king as a young child but this gives us confirmation of them starting more public operations earlier in the timeline). Hugh, his sister, and countless others in Unova had been suffering the loss of their Pokemon for half a decade and that's heartbreaking.

Hugh: "Wait! I just remembered. Clay… Why? What's the reason? Why have you forgiven Team Plasma?" Clay: "There's always room for folks to grow and change, ain't there? And, if ya only go after what ya think is right, ya might end up rejectin' all thoughts and opinions other than yer own. That's mighty dangerous." Hugh: "Hmph… Is that one of those compromises adults are supposed to make? Whatever! I'm gonna fight Team Plasma! Oh yeah, what were you wanting to show us?" <- Clay and Hugh after the player wins the Quake Badge from Clay

This exchange is really important as while Hugh at the moment isn't truly ready for forgiveness from Team Plasma…it's shows he's not so closeminded to the idea as if he were, he wouldn't have even asked Clay why he had forgiven them. He's still resistant to the idea of forgiving Team Plasma as we see in later moments he's vary wary of working with ex-Team Plasma members to fight off Neo Team Plasma, but all hope is not lost. This is an important first step in his overall growth.

"That's the ONLY Purrloin in the world that my late grandpa caught for my little sister!" <- On the Plasma Frigate for the second time

This is a huge line for me. I've seen one too many people joke over the years "It's just a Purrloin, LUL. Why can't he just go get another one for his sister" and it lowkey irks me. Like his late grandfather went out of his way to catch that Purrloin for his sister. That's special. And even if their grandpa was still alive, or if someone else had of caught it, it doesn't change the fact that Hugh's sister bonded with that Purrloin. That's not a bond you can simply replace. Who knows if another Purrloin and his sister would've bonded the same way. It shows a great deal of maturity on Hugh's part to understand what that Purrloin meant to his sister compared to those (both in-universe and out) who say it's just as easy as replacing the Pokemon with another one.

"Wh-what? Don't mess with me… That's someone else's Pokémon!" "Sorry… This situation is messing with my head… I just don't know what to do… I finally found my sister's Pokémon, but now it's glaring at me… Why?!" "… … Hey… … If we let Team Plasma do whatever we want… There'll be more sad Pokémon like Purrloin and Kyurem…" <- On the Plasma Frigate for the third time upon finding his sister's Purrloin

This is such a poignant moment in BW2 for me because Hugh finally finds his sister's Pokemon…only for it to glare at him because it's now used to being under the Shadow Triad's control. You can feel his hurt through his words because this was his goal. This moment. And now he's not even sure he can bring this Purrloin back to his sister. Give Hugh a hug because he deserves it.

"Thanks to you, I accomplished what I set out to do during my journey! I wish I could've shown you my little sister's huge smile! This is my thanks!" <- Victory Road

We get a chance to meet Hugh in Victory Road and we get to hear some good news. His sister and Purrloin have been reunited! It's really touching to see such a good ending for him and his family. Hugh's dialogue is also much more relaxed in Victory Road now that his mission is over. It's good to see him more at ease after him being so wound up the majority of the playthrough

"What? I heard that Team Plasma left many Pokémon behind when they fled. And I'm helping find their real Trainers… That aside… Since you're here, you should have a battle with me before you go!" <- In Driftveil for postgame rematches

And even better? Hugh's begun to forgive Team Plasma (well at least the part that was genuinely following N). This is a huge step forward for someone who was pushing Team Plasma grunts out the way earlier and being hellbent on vengeance. Hugh honestly has one of the most satisfying conclusions for a rival in my opinion. He gets his goal, he learns a valuable lesson in accepting that (some) people can change, and he doesn't have to feel inferior to the player who is constantly beating him.

But Hugh's not done there! When he arrives in Pokemas we get to see him featured in two prominent stories. The first one is Revel In Rivalry where he gets into beef with Bede. It shows that while he has grown he still is a bit quick tempered seeing how easily provoked by Bede he was. But he learns to calm down and come to a truce much faster than he did with Team Plasma (granted there were more dire circumstances there) showing how he had grown from his journey.

Then of course there's the Unova Villain arc where this time it's Hugh that has his partner Bouffalant stolen. And to make matters worse he's been captured alongside N. What I loved about the Unova Villain arc is the focus on Hugh's growth. Yes, he's still very hotheaded. But he's learned to trust and forgive seeing as how he figured out N's identity well before Ghetsis told him in an attempt to break the partnership the two had formed while in captivity. Pre-character development Hugh would've flipped his shit on N. But hearing him talk about the people who spoke so highly of N (referencing the fact that Hugh works with the good part of Team Plasma to get the stolen Pokemon back to their trainers) and him saying he trusts N shows how much he's grown. It's really heartwarming to see him and N team up against Ghetsis' sorry ass.

So yeah, Hugh's a great character that I feel like needs more love in the fandom.

[otakween]

Digital Monster X-evolution

If those janky Digimon World cutscenes were a whole movie, it'd be this. To be fair, I think outdated CGI has a lot more charm than a lot of the higher quality but soulless stuff they put out nowadays. Plot-wise it was nothing special, we've seen this plot a zillion times by now. They just injected it with some new gimmicks. I did find the main character charming enough. I honestly wouldn't mind seeing another attempt at an all-CGI movie as long as that didn't become the new default (slippery slope lol).

Notes:

Although the plot of this film was really simple they managed to add some convoluted lore anyways...because Digimon. Just when I was thinking "that was confusing" I saw that this wiki has a 900 page long (not really lol) explanation/play-by-play. Maybe I'll read it when it's not my bed time: https://wikimon.net/Digital_Monster_X-evolution

Of course they had to open the movie with Leomon dying (really?) Why is that a thing? I've never felt emotional seeing any Leomon die tbh lol

I think Dorumon and his digivolutions have really strong designs. His rookie form kinda looks like a furry version of Monodramon. I've been playing Digimon RPG (the MMO) and just by chance ended up with him as my partner (I actually thought I was getting Impmon lol). Fate!

Not a lot of levity here, the script took itself very seriously and the characters spent most of the film just being existential and talking about the meaning of life. Kinda heavy for a silly little monster battle film.

Legit got a little emotional when Dorumon was being bullied, but it's really easy to feel sad for a furry little creature

The CGI actually held up better than I thought it would for the most part, the mecha digimon especially looked awesome. The only "AH! KILL IT WITH FIRE!" moment was Andromon -shudder-

(Of course, Andromon is ugly in any form, but this is definitely his worst).

Weird seeing Omegamon vs. WarGreymon. I was also surprised to see Magnamon in the Royal Knights. He just seems more beast-like to me than the other knights.

Tokomon was one of those "is it cute or is it annoying?" baby characters. I'm leaning more towards cute, but there were moments where I was like "alright, that's enough of him" loi

Dorugamon kinda reminded me of Toothless. I wanna pet his big nose :3c

They just couldn't resist, they had to call something in this franchise "Yggradsil" didn't they

(They also used other Norse names, the same ones used in Ah! My Goddess).

The funky X-forms of digimon were fun, very angular. It reminds me of the newer Pokemon games how they keep adding new gimmicky forms. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of these. I guess in a way, this is a more realistic "evolution" since it has to do with the digimon reacting to their environment by developing antibodies.

I saw people complaining that Frontier only had two Royal Knights, well I guess they made up for it a bit here. Are they always gonna be working for the villain side? I wanna see a series where they're the heroes!

It was neat seeing Silphymon again. I get excited when 02 characters show up cuz it's kind of the underdog season in my mind.

The villain digimon (aside from the royal knights) weren't very well explained they just kinda showed up, caused havoc, then went away. The only reason why I have a name for any of them is cuz I read the wiki. I guess it would be hard to naturally fit in all the names...

The name "Alphamon" was kind of an eyeroll. They're running out of epic names lol. (Also, it just makes me think of alpha bros nowadays). The design is nice tho, it's got the black w/ gold highlights thing that I liked in Frontier.

Lots of badass cape shots in this (see my final screenshot above)

At the end of the movie the digital world was destroyed and then restored (Frontier much?) It wasn't really clear what that meant for the digimon. Did they all just resurrect via digiegg? Were they recreated exactly as they were before the world's destruction? -shrug-

Pretty sad that this movie never got any love in the states. I wonder if there's a fandub out there somewhere.

Apparently Digimon World 4 is related to this movie so I'll be playing that next!

[heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon]

Jesus fucking Christ I fucking hate "The Doll Community" especially Monster High and g3 monster high, I really do...

I was just watching a video of this big name doll youtuber reporting on doll news, as they do, and they were covering the new Beetlejuice Skullector Two Pack, but what got me is they how said some pretty Anti leaning shit that was just unnecessary?

Like they literally said: "Obviously NO ONE ships Beetlejuice and Lydia so NO ONE would promote this as a romantic thing.. But if it's a wedding set that's set to release Valentines day then la de dah blah blah!"

And like? I honestly didn't know if this person was just saying this to just like, cover their own ass so THEY didn't get harassed by other tenderqueers because they were young, or if *they* genuinely believed what they were saying? Because from what I've watched from their channel, they're young and don't seem to know or care a lot about horror as genre in general? Like I don't mean to gate keep, but they're one one those obnoxious Monster High fans I made of fun of in my one post where it's like, "knows nothing about horror, just learned who Elvira is, only got into mh as a kid as the 'alternative' to their conservative ass parents who already believe pokemon is The Devil letting them experience Actual Horror and just never stopped consuming the dolls and Skullectors regardless if they're even familiar with the source material" kinda people? And yeah, that gets really annoying?

But I obviously didn't want this to be my cutting off point for watching their channel because ... Doll news?

So, I just wrote up the most, civil. neutral comment I could possibly articulate explaining how the Beetlejuice fandom's been practically built off of nothing but shipping for 36 years and how people can think whatever they want but Winona Ryder does ship it and it was quite frankly unprofessional of them to alienate Beetlebabes who might want to grab the two pack by implying there's a right way and a wrong way of interpreting the movie and the relationship between these iconic characters and they should respect the older fanbase and all the history that came before the musical?

And I was about to post it, but then I got nervous when I remembered, that I once purchased a doll from this person, which meant that they had my address at one point, which meant if they didn't like what I was saying, they could like, maybe dig it up and dox me? Or at least threaten to and I'd have cause to panic over it being like, legit or not? And I tried to brush it from my mind like nuh nuh they're cool they're cool... They're not on *that* level of Anti...

So then I just tried to check and refresh the comments to see any more overt ship bashing was taking place and of course, I just immediately find this:

So then I do this little blackout thingy for the usernames so that none of this can get back to youtube, and I go to screencap my comment so I can at least post it here in a vent, but I lost my comment trying to get the screen cap thingy to work and accidently clicking the youtube refresh button... 😔

... I just...I hate having such a lil' ghost face moment right now, but just like... I hate you legit fake horror fan Monster High collectors who can't appreciate horror having romantic subtext when that's the entire point yet you keep hoarding all the dolls anyway, I hate you little faggity boys with broccoli haircuts and split dyes who pressure girls into sending you nudes and the retired Mommy Vloggers who enable you, I find you extremely annoying XCanadensis, I hate you for your extremely annoying editing and intros zombiexcorn, I like you Lookin' Bratz but I hate your bratzline podcast cohost for fully admitting to doing a binge watch of all the Harry Potter movies in the franchise for "the first time ever" in fuckin' 2024 with absolutely no disclaimers or acknowledgment of the elephant in the room there and thinking that was a good idea to disclose something as quite frankly as disgusting as that and ruining what could've been a nice gothic doll chat for me and putting sour taste in my mouth about listening to the rest of your podcast...

And I especially hate that one dude with the ugly live action beauty and the beast dolls with the pink hair and the bowl cut and the glasses who for some reason keeps insisting every time she's brought up that Ghoulia Yelps can't be disabled/autistic because she's supposed to have some type of racial coding...

They're HEADCANONS!

They're PIECES OF PLASTIC!

GROW UP! 💀

(I love you weirdo OOAK Doll Artists, you're the only Real Ones left! ❤🫶)

[crimmothy]

Who's making Mario and Luigi Brothership?

I'm really really excited for Mario and Luigi Brothership! I've been with the series for a long time and to finally see a completely new entry that so faithfully emulates the style of the past game while still having unique character design, and really good animation has me hyped! But after watching the trailer and screaming for a bit I had one question. Who's actually making this game? Alpha dream went bankrupt in 2019, and the studio has been gone since. As to where their staff ended up we know that Hiroyuki Kubota is at Monolith Soft, Yoshihiko Maekawa supervised the Super Mario RPG Remake and according to Stealth40k on Twitter several of the senior staff that worked on Dream Team still work with Nintendo. The director of both the Superstar Saga Remake and the BiS remake ended up working at ILCA as quality assurance support on Sand Land. The point being is that the Alpha dream staff are scattered about the industry and aren't really at one studio. It's possible that some of them are working on Brothership but we most likely won't know until release. So I started to research Nintendo development partners that have experience with RPGs and here's what I've come up with so far. -Monolith Soft( Most notable for their franchise Xenoblade but also worked on Baten Kaitos, they're notable since they've provided support for a lot of recent Nintendo games including Splatoon 3 and Tears of the Kingdom) -Intelligent Systems ( Notable mainly for FE, but recently developed the Paper Mario Thousand Year Door remaster) -Genius Sonority( Developed Pokemon Colloseum and XD Gale of Darkness, are currently working on the New Denpa Men that was announced in the direct) Camelot ( Though they're known for their more recent works on Mario Sport titles, they made the goat Golden Sun) ILCA (Recently worked on BDSP, has an former Alphadream director as well as other staff) Arte Piazza Ltd. (Has a lot, and I do mean a lot of experience on RPGS and were recently on the Super Mario RPG remake) My best guess so far would probably be ILCA? Since I don't believe they're working on anything outside of porting One Piece Odyssey to Switch, they have several previous Alphadream staff and they have at least worked on a Nintendo Franchise before being Pokemon. But it could also be a brand new studio that Nintendo hasn't worked with before or an inhouse team! We really won't know until the game releases. But I can't wait to find out who made this game so I can thank them profusely for bringing back one of my childhood favorites.

Here's the sites I used if y'all wanna learn more! Plus the link to Stealth's tweet and other resources https://www.mobygames.com/ https://www.mariowiki.com/List_of_Mario_%26_Luigi:Superstar_Saga%2B_Bowser%27s_Minions_staff#Producers https://x.com/Stealth40k/status/1803226827080491008

Video on every Nintendo Dev Team: https://youtu.be/95oj9_eF25c?si=4sJW7iaqEvSHDHYg

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Oooh! Fnf hypno huh? Can I request headcanons of Lost silver fnf befriending a Child Y/N who somehow got teleported in the game and is a huge horror fan headcanons?I can just imagine the surprise of meeting a child who actually likes blood and horror and isn’t scared by your appearance-

Growing up, you were always a sucker for horror. You liked watching movies and playing games with a lot of blood in them--it was never a problem for you.

As much as your peers might’ve been concerned, you’re doing fine, actually. You just like scary stuff. Plain and simple.

That being said, you also liked creepypastas and knew several from the Pokemon franchise.

On Halloween, you hoped to spend it trying out a horror mod for a rhythm game.

However your computer was acting rather odd while trying to boot the game up--and it suddenly crashed, but instead of the usual restart screen it glowed with an eerie light you were tempted to touch-

And it sucked you into the game itself somehow.

You wake up in a void and that’s when you meet the person from the infamous “Lost Silver” story.

A very much dead and dismembered Gold.

After the initial shock of being inside the game passes, you approach him, curious.

His usual frown twists into a look of surprise upon seeing you rather than Boyfriend. And he realized you didn’t belong here. He was scared.

So he screamed, his facial features stretching in such a way that would’ve surely terrified you.

But...it doesn’t.

You’re like “woah!! You can do that????” with such an awestruck look.

Immediately Gold is confused, and the ? Unowns end up surrounding him. Though you understand what he means.

“You don't scare me. I think you're pretty cool honestly.” You reassure him, though you see him turn away, on the verge of crying bc he thinks you don't mean that.

You caught him on a bad day. He tried befriending a young Pokémon trainer and they ran away screaming at his appearance...so it's hard for him to believe you. He's been sulking in this void ever since.

“Stop lying...” He rasps heartbrokenly.

But then he feels your comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I'm not lying. I'm not afraid of you, Gold.”

“...you should be.”  Turning his head slowly, you see him crying bloody tears, glowing red dots in his sockets, and his mouth stretched unnaturally long. You swore his heart was somehow visible in his throat.

Though all you did was smile. “C’mon, it takes more than that to scare me off.” You chuckle.

Finally convinced, he fixes his looks just as Celebi appears to use Perish Song. But Gold stops it, considering you a friend.

You thank him for that before explaining your situation.

Long story short, you spend a while in the game as your PC in the real world takes its time rebooting.

But until then, you kept Gold company, getting him to smile more and more outside the void.

He's just happy there’s a kid his age in another world who doesn’t fear him.

[ferhog]

Getting into Metroid This Past Month:

I first learned about Metroid (as well as most Nintendo franchises that weren't Pokemon and Mario) through my friend's copy of Smash Bros Brawl at around the age of 9. Samus being a hot lady underneath the cool set of power armor left enough of an impression for me to try and draw her from memory, but I otherwise had no interest in actually playing her games for most of the following decade and a half. In that time I learned a bit of her lore from Smash Trophys, Game Theory videos, and watching the first few minutes of Other M cutscenes to hear the lady from Smash Bros talk, but it wasn't until shortly after the release of Metroid Dread when I watched some late game cutscenes from the game and GameXplain's Metroid movie pitch video that I became interested enough in the story of the games and Samus as a character that I decided to downlo- I mean obtain copies of Zero Mission and Fusion for my Visua- I mean Gameboy Advance, which I held off on starting until I worked through my gaming backlog more, and it was earlier this summer that I decided the time had come.

The Metroid Manga: Before starting Zero Mission as my first game I read the manga so I'd get a good sense of Samus' backstory before starting. Now I knew what to roughly expect thanks to the Gamexplain movie pitch adapting much of the story, but overall I enjoyed it more than I was expecting. I probably don't need to tell you that Ridley was the absolute highlight. His pure evil is matched only by Louie from Pikmin in terms of Nintendo villains and it got me very invested in his rivalry with Samus throughout the games. Aside from that, my favourite part of the manga was Samus' characterization and her relationship with her bird dads. I have a real soft spot for all adoption related tropes so I really like the idea that Samus was taken in by what was once the most important race in the galaxy and inherited their legacy of keeping the peace, which she basically turned into a job via bounty hunting. However a lot of what the manga does is better in concept than in execution, as the art is hard to follow a lot of the time and much of the story is sped through quite quickly, no thanks to how much time is spent with the extensive cast of side characters. When Samus started her zero mission I held off on finishing the story until I played the game, and while I'm glad that they went with adapting the game at the end because we got to see a climactic fight against Ridley it is super bizarre that they didn't commit to the idea and just stopped when Samus reached Mother Brain. The manga is absolutely worth reading but best thought of as a companion to Zero Mission, probably best read afterwards.

Metroid Zero Mission: My experience with Metroidvanias was basically just Hollow Knight, the first Dark Souls, and Bloodborne, and while I was excited to experience the same sense of adventure I also feared getting lost as per this franchise's reputation. However I surprisingly managed to make my way though the whole game with only one thing I had to look up, which embarrassingly was the same mistake David Jaffe infamously made in Dread, as I failed to realize I could shoot a ceiling open even with enemies there to hint that I could. I think the game has the perfect balance between freedom and guidance as someone's first Metroid game through the chozo statues that mark your next destination without telling you how exactly to get there. Combine that with it being a remake of the first game and I think it was just the perfect game for me and anyone else to start with. My biggest issue gameplay-wise was just the fights against Mother Brain and the two black Space Pirates were very frustrating, the latter because the combat just didn't feel designed for a fight that reflex based, at least not for a newcomer. After finishing the game I felt compelled to earn the Zero Suit Samus ending, which I accomplished by constantly scouting out the optimal routes and resetting so I could get through them as fast as possible.

AM2R: I wanted to play these games in story order so I knew I had to play some version of Metroid 2 next. After trying out the original Metroid that you unlock after beating Zero Mission I figured the pre-NES games weren't going to be fun for me so I wanted to play either AM2R or Samus Returns, and I went with the former as it would be easier to find and would be closer to the game I just finished. The game is a very impressive feat for a fan-made project, though I think it was the one I had the least fun with overall. A few hours into the game I listened to the Some Call Me Johnny review which mentioned it being very hard, and that made sense considering it was a fan project by big Metroid fans for big Metroid fans, but it did result in a few of the bosses being quite frustrating with how much skill they demanded, particularly with the space jump which I struggled to understand the timing of. I didn't feel like instantly replaying it as I did with Zero Mission but I really loved how they adapted the ending.

Super Metroid: "This SNES game probably won't hold up that well right?" Thought the guy whose first console was the PS2.

Super Metroid is one of the greatest games of all time.

Metroid Fusion: I was real intrigued going into this game given what I'd heard about its linearity and extra story focus compared to the prior games but it was still a shock going straight from 2 playthroughs of Super Metroid to this. It didn't even really feel like Metroid, especially with how you were essentially playing through levels via Adam sending you through specific locations with specific tasks. Eventually I got used to it and fully accepted it as a Metroid game as I was increasingly required to be more explorative, though I think of all Metroid games I've played it has the most needlessly abstract methods for mandatory progression. The example which I eventually gave up on and looked up was the yellow Space Pirate X which which could only be damaged with a shot to the back apparently? There was seemingly no visual hints for that and the doors didn't even open if you absorbed the X before they formed the Space Pirates. While I figured out the other examples on my own I just felt I had to blow up way more seemingly random walls than normal. The bosses were generally very fun except for everything about Yakuza. A super long lead up to a boss that kept killing me super easily before I figured out how to avoid its grab attack, followed by a struggle to regain health for the ensuing SA-X encounter with how little health you get from enemies that could fly in out of nowhere and do more damage to you than you were regaining. Speaking of the SA-X, it wasn't in the game as much as I was expecting, but each encounter was quite memorable, especially when I was hiding behind power bomb blocks and it dropped a power bomb. Overall I didn't like most of this game's choices, but I like it when franchises try new things so I wouldn't say anything should have been changed except for how much health you get from enemies. This was the 2nd game I didn't feel like instantly replaying.

Metroid Prime: As of writing this I am currently a few hours into the first Metroid Prime, specifically having just gotten the boost ball. The Metroid formula was very well translated into 3D and the visuals have aged amazingly. I may be playing a remaster but most remasters still don't look this modern. But curiously this has been the Metroid game I've spent the most time away from during a playthrough, going several days without picking it up again. It's not that I dislike playing it, I just don't feel as much of a strong desire to keep coming back to it. Maybe I just feel the need to catch up on other stuff after playing so much Metroid. I do think I'll get around to playing the rest soon enough.

One of my biggest impressions overall is that Metroid is actually quite underrated despite how iconic it is. Samus seems mostly remembered as a Smash Bros character and her iconic twist as one of gaming's first female protagonists, but it doesn't seem like that many people actually play the games. It's also funny that while Samus is famous as a sex symbol in the Smash Bros and general gaming fandoms, it seems that the actual Metroid fandom prefers their Samus cooler than sexy. Anyway I'm looking forward to eventually picking up Dread, the game which first hooked my interest into this franchise, and the other 2 Prime games. Maybe I'll even pick up Other M if I see it around.

[bethanythebogwitch]

Welcome back to the series where I talk about evey fish pokemon’s origins and their real-life inspirations, this time covering gens III and IV.  See here for gens I and II.

Staring off with Carvanha and Sharpedo. Carvanha is based on a piranha, specifically a red-bellied piranha.

"I'm mot really that scary" (image: a piranha)

When I say “based off of” I mean that in a pretty loose way. It really looks nothing like a piranha and more like an artistic depiction of a generic “scary fish”. Let’s talk about piranha because they are probably the world’s most slandered fish. Piranha are not the hyper-vicious super-predators that roam the Amazon devouring everything in their path that media depicts them as. They’re actually omnivores rather than obligate carnivores and mostly scavenge the dead. The stories of them attacking and skeletonizing large animals in minutes come from times when European explorers would be shown displays where schools of piranha would be trapped and starved for a long time to get them to act like that. Attacks on humans are rare and usually happen when the human gets too close to a piranha’s eggs, prompting a warning bite. If you still aren’t convinced that they aren’t fishy murder machines, check this video of River Monsters’ Jeremy Wade getting into a pool of hungry piranha and not getting bit at all

(this is not me telling you to go swim with piranha. Always be cautious when around wild animals)

Like piranha, Carvanha is much more dangerous in groups. Real piranha only school part of the year while Carvanha do it permanently. Carvanha is a river fish like piranha, but it also has a lot of shark features that fit its evolution. It can smell blood from far away (a feature of both piranha and sharks) and has the famous placoid scales or denticles of sharks. Evolving Carvanha causes it to go from bony fish to cartilaginous fish in the form of the franchise’s first shark. Sharpedo seems to be a generic shark similar to a great white (it even has countershading) but missing its back half. This is similar to the ocean sunfishes of family Molidae, most famously the Mola mola itself.

(image: scuba divers swimming alongside a mola)

This is funny because sharpedo, an active and very fast ambush hunter, could hardly have a more different lifestyle than the Molas, who are slow and mostly eat jellyfish. Sharpedo is also based on a torpedo, and in later games where it’s ridable it seems to function like a jet ski. Like sharks, Sharpedo has placoid scales that are exaggerated in its mega evolution and faces overfishing from people using its dorsal fin in food. Mega Sharpedo having denticles on the sides of its snout point to inspiration from the sawfish, a shark relative.

Easily one of the fakest-looking real fish (image: a sawfish)

Barboach is a loach while Whiscash is a catfish. Barboach seems to specifically be a pond loach, which buries itself in sediment to avoid danger (hence the ground typing), can sense changes in weather (a big deal in this gen), and are common food fish and aquarium pets. Loaches are long and skinny and have barbels like Barboach.

(image: a loach)

Barboach may also draw from the loach catfish, which is a catfish that looks like a loach, tying into its evolution. Wishcash may also be based on the loach catfish, but it look much more like a conventional catfish. Whishcash’s connection to earthquakes (both causing and sensing them) is inspired by a creature from Japanese legend. Namazu is a gigantic catfish living under the islands and guarded by a god who restrains it with a rock. When the god’s guard slips, Namazu thrashes about and causes earthquakes.

(image: a depicition of Namazu)

Both loaches and catfish have barbels that are used for sensing. These barbels help both groups of fish live in very murky water by making them less reliant on sight. Because of this, loaches and catfish can live in water with very poor visibility and lots of sediment in the water column. Barboach and Wishcash can likewise be found in very muddy water and other places of poor visibility, like caves. Them being found in caves in some regions may also reference blind, cave-dwelling catfish.

Feebas is a bass, though it’s more based on the story of the ugly duckling. Just like in the story, you start out with a ugly little creature and turn it into something beautiful. I’m going to be perfectly honest, I don’t really see much bass in Feebas, I think it’s based much more on Magikarp than a bass, who are often pretty powerful predators, something Feebas isn’t. like with Mgikarp, I won’t be discussing Milotic in this as I think it’s a sea serpent rather than a fish.

Ok so there is a good explanation for why a fish evolves into an octopus. I hoped I could find a good explanation for why a clam evolves into eels, but I simply have no explanation for the Clamperl line. Huntail and Gorebyss really have no connection to their pre-evo. I won’t talk about Clamperl since (and this is some high-level biology so I hope you can follow me) clams aren’t fish. Both final form are based on deep-sea eels and eel-like fish. Huntail seems to have some basis with the gulper eel as both are sit-and-wait predators with very large mouths, though Huntail is a more active predator as it does have some powerful teeth.

Turns out gulper eels are a lot goofier than you'd think (image: a gulper eel with its mouth inflated)

These teeth may draw influence from other deep-sea predators with massive chompers, like viperfish or the fangtooth. Its use of its tail as a lure is a reference to the various deep-sea fish that use bioluminescent lures to attract prey. This is an example of caudal mimicry, where an animal’s tail mimics something else to lure in prey. A cool example of this is the spider-tailed horned viper, which you should look up if you don’t like bugs, I promise it’s definitely not really creepy. Finally, Huntail’s general longness, color pattern, and crest are references to the oarfish, one of my favorites. This deep-sea longboi is a rare sight at the surface but is believed to be responsible for stories of sea serpents because of how huge they can get.

Long, long man! (image: an oarfish)

Gorebyss similarly has a complex origin for a very forgettable Pokémon. It seems to primarily be based on snipe eels, which are deep-sea eels with long, slender jaws.

(image: a snipe eel)

Gorebyss’s jaws are fused into a needle, which is similar to pipefish, a relative of seahorses with a very similar fused snout. Some inspiration could also come from the deep sea-dwelling long-nosed chimeras, some species of which have a long, conical snout very reminiscent of gorebyss’s head shape.

(image: a long-nosed chimera)

Unlike most of its influences, Gorebyss is an active predator and its habit of stabbing its prey with its snout and injecting digestive juices to slurp its prey dry seems to be in reference to spiders and mosquitos.

Hot damn, Hoenn has a lot of fish. The next up is Relicanth, which is a pretty straight-forward reference to the coelacanth.

(image: a rare picture of a wild coelacanth)

Both are very ancient fish thought to have gone extinct until they were rediscovered in modern times. This makes them examples of what scientists call a Lazarus taxon. Ceolacanths are pretty cool fish. Along with lungfish, they are the only surviving lobe-fined fish. These fish were separated from the more common ray-finned fish by having their fins seated on fleshy lobes extending from the body, usually with bones in them (lungfish have lost the bones). Also when I say that coelacanths and lungfish are the only surviving lobe-finned fish, that’s not exactly true. It’s a principle in taxonomy (the study of how groups of life are related) that you can’t evolve out of your ancestry. You belong to every group your ancestors belonged to, even if you started a new group they aren’t part of. Tetrapoda is the clade of four-legged vertebrates skeletally adapted for life on land and they evolved from lobe-finned fish. That means every mammal, reptile, amphibian, bird, and so on, including yourself, is a lobe-finned fish. Coelacanths are most famous for being rediscovered alive and seemingly unchanged when they were thought to have gone extinct millions of years ago. They are often called living fossils for how little they appear to have changed. This term is pretty misleading and many biologists don’t like using it. In fact the coelacanths of today are different than those that swam with plesiosaurs, pretty radically in some cases. Coelacanths are often used in arguments by cryptozoology enthusiasts for why their favorite  dinosaur/plesiosaur/megalodon/whatever could still be alive and unchanged today despite leaving no fossil record. However a fish remaining relatively similar to its ancestors due to living in a very stable environment that doesn’t have the selective pressures encouraging radical change is very different than an apex predator or massive reptile doing so in an environment that has undergone massive changes and multiple major extinctions. I’ll link a video for more on why the coelacanth is a red herring in these kinds of arguments.

Finally finishing out Hoenn we have Luvdisc, possibly the most unnecessary Pokémon ever. Someone please give this poor fish an evolution so it can finally have a purpose. Paldea gave us updates to Delibird and Dunsparce so it’s definitely possible for Luvdisc to get some love. Anyway, it’s a discus fish. These are thin-bodies cichlids whose dorsal and anal fins make them kind of look like hearts, though Luvdisc is missing the tail fin.

(image: a discus fish)

Like the discus fish, Luvdisc is a social species. Luvdisc's kissing behavior draws primarily from the kissing gourami. These fish engage in behavior where they press their mouths against each other. Scientists believe that this is a form of ritualized aggression, but people think it looks like they’re kissing so these fights have become a symbol of romance.

(image: two gouramis "kissing")

They aren’t the only fish that mouth fight. Another species that does this is the sarcastic fringehead, who looks considerably less romantic.

(image: two male sarcastic fringeheads fighting)

After the piscine flood in Hoenn, Sinnoh comes along and introduces a grant total of one fish line, though I will give an honorable mention to the Gible line for being shark plane dragons. Finneon and Lumineon are based on a variety of pretty fish often seen in aquariums, though their fish resemblance to butterflies indicates they are based on the butterflyfish. They have a much closer appearance to the freshwater butterflyfish than the more popular and unrelated saltwater butterflyfish. Both the freshwater butterflyfish and the Finneon line can glide above the water if they build up enough speed. The line’s bright colors may be a reference to brightly-colored tropical fish or aquarium fish like neon tetras. Lumineon actually bioluminesces to attract prey, but risks attracting predators at the same time, a behavior seen in many deep sea fish. it is said to dwell on the sea floor and walk on what I assume are its pelvic fins, which may be a reference to the deep-sea tripod fish.

That's it fro generations III and IV. Next time I'll cover generations V and VI. Hopefully it won't take me nearly as long to get that up.

[ecargmura]

Wonderful Precure Episode 1 Review - Very Wonderful

My review of the new Precure show is finally here! Thanks to Hirogaru Sky, I find the franchise quite entertaining! I can’t wait to see what this show has to offer as it has a different feel to its predecessor!

While Hirogaru Sky was a more high-stakes, fantasy/storybook type of story with princesses, knights and nefarious villains, Wonderful Precure feels more light-hearted as it seems to have low stakes. I don’t think it’s necessarily bad. Pokemon had its fair share of light-hearted anime series and so does Yugioh; I’m a fan of both franchises, so I know what it’s like to enjoy the mature, darker aspects and the light-hearted ones because both are precious. Remember that the target audience for Precure are little kids.

I love the animal themed premise of Wonderful Precure. It seems that everyone in Animal Town have animal companions and live harmoniously with them. Even the major characters have pets. Iroha Inukai owns a Papillon dog named Komugi. Mayu Nekoyashiki owns a cat named Yuki. Satoru Toyama owns a rabbit named Daifuku. There’s also the classic “other world” that Precure often has that is filled with animals too. The GaruGaru, the episodic villains, all seem to be possessed animals in a way.

The fight scene with the GaruGaru doesn’t seem to be as intense as its predecessor as Komugi doesn’t really do kicks and punches and prefers to use barriers and hugs to purify the enemy. Will this change? I mean, I don’t mind the hugs, but not all animals would be susceptible to them in the future if one were to make assumptions. 

The transformation scene is actually super short. I do like that Komugi moves around a lot in a short sequence. Not all transformation have to be minute long segments that is basically rinse or repeat. This sort of reminds me of the evolution scenes in Digimon Ghost Game where it’s not an entire segment, but a short, brief one that has good animation nonetheless. Given how choppy and messy some transformation scenes in Hirogaru Sky were (I’m looking at you, Majesty and Prism), sometimes, it’s best to keep it short and simple.

The series introduces its first animal Precure as Komugi is granted the power to become a Precure in order to protect her owner Iroha (note that while Tsubasa from Hirogaru Sky is technically a bird who can transform into a boy, he’s more of a bird fairy as he’s a fictional bird race and not an actual animal). As a dog, Komugi has typical dog traits from being a menace to their owners when its time to wake them up to having separation anxiety when apart. In Komugi’s case, her separation anxiety is very bad. She gets upset when Iroha leaves for school and even wishes to become human just so she can spend more time with her. As a Precure and a human, Komugi’s dog traits are still present as she says to the GaruGaru that being bad won’t get you treats and thinking running off means racing. She also speaks childishly given that dogs have the intelligence of a two-year-old, so it makes sense that her words and dialogue are a bit choppy. Since this episode mainly showed Komugi as a dog with crippling separation anxiety, I do wonder if her character arc is about overcoming it. Now, it pegs the question of whether Komugi will lose her Precure/human form towards the end of the series because the Mirror Stone/Wonderful Pact is the reason she is able to transform and become human. Losing it means she reverts back to her dog form, most likely. Given how light-hearted this show seems to be, I can’t help wonder how the depressing moments will come in when the time comes? Props to Toei for using a rather obscure dog breed as the main dog. I don’t think I’ve seen media where a Papillon dog is used as a mascot or as a character in a story. I’m not too familiar with Maria Naganawa as a voice actress, but her voice is super cute. It fits Komugi’s childish and cute nature perfectly; it makes her sound like a kid, which makes sense given dogs behave like children at times.

Iroha is actually a lot different from what I expected of her. I didn’t expect that she’d be so outgoing and polite at the same time. I like that! She greets all the animals she sees but is still able to be a conversation starter as she was the one who went up to talk to Satoru without second thoughts. I do like that she has a strong sense of justice as she wanted to protect the boy and his St. Bernard dog by diverting the GaruGaru’s attention towards her; she also plays volleyball. She also seems to be a bit astute as she quickly realized that the girl standing in front of her is Komugi and that the whole situation became too wonderful for her, as she did wish to be able to talk to animals when she was younger. Oh boy, Iroha is gonna have A LOT of explaining to do with her parents regarding this newly bizarre scenario. Iroha is voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki. I’m quite familiar with the name as she voiced a lot of mainstream anime characters like Anya Forger from Spy x Family and Frieren from Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. I think Tanezaki is extremely talented as I cannot hear Anya or Frieren in Iroha. 

Satoru and Mayu make small appearances, but their personality is shown a lot. Satoru is a bit reserved, but likes to learn. He’s very interested in learning about the origins and background of the Mirror Stone as it’s called the Mirror Stone, but people’s reflections aren’t shown. He’s also the type that seems to get flustered easily as Iroha tells him that she hopes they’re in the same class together. It makes me wonder if they’ve been friends since elementary school. I’m also curious about Daifuku; that bunny is adorable with its basket and lop-ears. Also, I didn’t expect Takuma Terashima to be his voice actor. If you’re not too familiar with voice actors, Terashima is known for being the voice actor of Mahiru Shirota from Servamp and Shiki from Edens Zero. He’s married to Satomi Satou who voiced Tsubasa’s mother in Hirogaru Sky. In terms of magical girl shows, he’s been on one before this, as he was Gero Akoya from Boueibu (a Magical boy show that parodies usual Magical girl genre). Given that his voice actor is quite reputable, it makes me wonder if he’ll continue the trend of having male Precures. I do wonder who Daifuku’s voice actor is and what gender the bunny rabbit is because Iroha used “-chan” which COULD mean the rabbit is female, but it’s mainly used for pets regarding of gender.

Mayu reminds me a bit of Kokone from Delicious Party Precure with her shy personality, but they’re a bit different. Kokone doesn’t really mind being alone or not having people talk to her while Mayu is a nervous wreck around people. Her cat Yuki’s smug expressions are HILARIOUS! I can see why she’s being memed on social media. Mayu is voiced by Reina Ueda, who’s a rising star as of now. I know her as Kanao from Demon Slayer and Miyo from My Happy Marriage (an excellent show if you like supernatural romantasy). Given that Precure characters are expressive, I can’t wait to see Ueda’s range when it comes to voicing Mayu as it does fall into her usual reserved character tropes, but the first episode alone also disproves it. Yuki, the cat, is voiced by Satsumi Matsuda, who voiced Beryberie in Hirogaru Sky. It’s cool that they get voice actors who voiced characters in past shows in this one.

Iroha’s parents seem intriguing too. Yoko, Iroha’s mother, is A BABE. Holy heck, she is beautiful. I’m a woman and I find her dazzling. I do feel bad for her as Komugi doesn’t seem to like her as much as Iroha or her husband. Speaking of Iroha’s dad, he is JACKED! Wow, I guess Iroha’s athletic sense comes from him. It’s cute to see him in a frilly apron and cooking. Komugi does seem to like him a bit more than Yoko as he gives her food; dogs always obey those who give them food (I would know because my dogs follow my mom around thinking she’ll give them snacks or table scraps when they’re mainly loyal to me).

I’m curious to see what this show has to offer as it is a new Precure show. Will it be cute? Will it be depressing? Will I be able to see cute animals? What I am seeing so far is good, so I can’t wait to see more. What are your thoughts on the premiere?

[elendsessor]

ok ok didn’t know there was a new smtv rising revengeance preview so i decided to check it out and here are my thoughts

everything’s below the cut so if you don’t want spoilers at all skip this :)

first off MY WISH CAME TRUE!!!

your partners can summon demons!!!! i mean i don’t really know how to feel about partners taking up party slots but

hey they brought back a cool thing from 4a and i’m here for it look at the silly bird and dazai channeling his inner pokemon trainer

then of course there’s the new drip and imma be real (and this is not the last time imma bitch) this uh. doesn’t vibe with me. i mean it’s fine??? i guess??? the new move looks cool but something about the design doesn’t really fit the serenity of the nahobino’s design. i really liked not having some completely edgy vibe especially since it contrasted with the other nahos so well. feels like its being taken away. though this may be more aogami dominant or something idk. i like a lot of 5’s demon designs so this was a bit of a letdown.

side note i like how the protag and aogami sitting on a bench are included in a lot of press release screenshots it’s just. really funny to me.

now here’s a really hot hot hot take

i hate this. i hate that they brought mastema back the way they seem to be doing. hear me out for a moment—

it has a lot to do with the law bias megaten has. i like mastema in strange journey but god they fumbled him in the chaos route by turning him into another angel who openly admits they just want complete control and i’m really fucking tired of it. he was basically a drug dealer in 4 and did like. absolutely nothing and was a whiny bitch. i wouldn’t mind him returning as a strictly summonable demon, but due to his framing in the trailer, he’s either going to be a part of the main plot or part of a sidequest.

the problem is that due to how much megaten pushes “law bad” it requires butchering characters. a lot of it definitely has to do with japan’s history with christianity and whatnot which is 100% valid. i don’t think i need to explain how abrahamic religions have impacted the world pretty negatively due to the evangelicals, but the fundamentals of religion are actually well intended. what matters is who preaches them. how it is often portrayed in megaten is controlling and sacrificing individuality when law as a concept is a lot broader and also comes with other downsides often overlooked and also often depicted as being almost downright exclusive to abrahamic religions when that couldn’t be further from the truth. heck japanese society is conservative af and punishes “underperforming.” so basic capitalism. as such, many of the angels in smt are also often depicted as slaves to god’s system or wanting something to be gained, and a lot of law reps are either depicted as being blindly complicit with things they were shown to be against or be made just as mindless.

law has been done well before. getting amane’s ending not only makes a lot of thematic sense but leads to one of the best written scenarios in the franchise along with one of my favorite exchanges in gaming. dsrk2 handles law stuff in a completely unique way that asks a lot more questions than any mainline game has ever done. it’s just a shame that status quo tends to be kept.

i’m not entirely worried since there’s a chance he could be handled well. abdiel is still the best written angel of them all because she wasn’t looking for control, rather approval, even if it meant committing a taboo/tearing herself apart to please god, which is a perfect commentary in it of itself and fits her namesake. law in 5 was actually pretty tame and not nearly as extreme as it usually is. though, considering how mastema’s character has been reduced to being an untrustworthy ass as opposed to just being relatively hands off when it came to pushing the good word of the lord, i don’t think that’ll change anytime soon. again have to stress i don’t dislike his inclusion because i don’t like him as a demon (i really do), i’m skeptical about his inclusion because of his character being assassinated in the name of the generic law bad thing and he clearly is going to be given a role outside of possibly usable demon.

to end on a good note tho

the ability to play as nahobeeho is very welcome in every reality

and though i already made a post on them gonna show them again

I LOVE AMABIE!!!!

[getvalentined]

A-Z ask game: O(tailored) bc I would like to slide you a song[String Theocracy, Library of Ruina], R, U please!

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

I looked up the song and I'm assuming it's this!

I was gonna say that I was getting huge A Turtle's Heart vibes off this, then I realized it was the same person so that explains it. I'm not a huge fan of the track itself* but those lyrics!

I'm going with Genesis, for sure, specifically Genesis to Zack.

Cut it off, cut down your loss All that stubborn loyalty is gonna get you killed In a world built on convenient theories For the puppets on TV There is comfort in the strings If you're gonna control me At least make it interesting theatrically [...] Cut it off, you've already lost All that precious bravery is gonna get you hurt In a world that feeds on the minority May that self-centered belief lead you to peace If you're gonna replace me At least have the audacity to kill me thoroughly

I'm not sure there's anything I could say to explain that interpretation that these lyrics don't already say loud and clear. Thank you for sharing it with me!

* I'm not generally a fan of jazz, and this song is really jazzy; also the way Mili mispronounces words to fit a rhythm that they could have fit anyway is pretty egregious in this track, and that's the thing that keeps me from listening to more of her music. The combination of the two makes me a bit "ehhhh," but that's just me! It's a really solid track, just not my vibe. THOSE LYRICS THOUGH, GODDAMN.

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

Answered here! A little convoluted because for me, all ships are friendships regardless of whether there's a romantic context.

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

Oh this is a fun one!

1. Vincent Valentine (FFVII) is my favorite character in all of fiction and I've explained the why of that a couple times over the years, but suffice to say there is just nothing like finding a character with whom you resonate so intensely that you can love them even more after over a quarter century than you did when you first discovered them as a child.

2. Harle (Chrono Cross) is way up there! I love her entire character arc, starting as an agent of human destruction who falls in love with the very person she was created to kill, and holding that love so tightly that the horrifying superweapon she was fused into uses magic to sing him the song he needs to save the entity responsible for the destruction of her own people. Harle is my favorite female character ever, even moreso than Miyazaki's Nausicaä, which is saying a lot coming from me.

3. Turo (Pokemon Violet) will be my third. Not Professor Turo, mind you, the other Turo, the one who actually gave a shit about the safety of others, who loved the son that wasn't actually his so much that he gave everything to make sure the world he lived in would be safe. I have a soft spot for characters willing to give themselves up for love, and familial figures determined to set things right even if it means they won't get to live with the family they're saving will make me sob every single time. I'm not normally into mainline Pokemon titles (I like Arceus, Gale of Darkness, Snap, etc.) but Turo is literally what sold me on this one and it turned out to be one of the best story experiences I'd had in years (even outside his part).

I wanted to include a Zelda character, but I realized that's basically impossible because I love too many of them to choose one as a favorite. I managed to narrow it down in my head to Midna, King Rauru, or Nabooru, and then I thought of Mipha for .027 seconds and literally burst into tears because I love her so much and I can't not talk about her if I'm talking about favorite Zelda characters—and I decided I couldn't do that so I set that franchise down for this one.

[ for the A to Z ask game ]

[catchyhuh]

if you cheat at mario kart one more time we're kicking you out of the polycule

this is so specific. why the fuck would their stance on video games mean anything? i wrote it down anyway

lupin: 

has fun with ‘em but doesn’t really play too much. he’s busy! got places to be! but he doesn’t often say no if offered, and probably knows the most pop culture about them compared to the others. like he knows who kiryu is. he knows cloud.

he loves puzzles. especially like space distribution related ones like tetris and sliding blocks and shit, but really he’ll play anything if someone’s sold him on it enough. he doesn’t really care a lot about adventure, actiony types cuz he can just. go outside and do that. unless it’s absolutely batshit insane enough like. idk bayonetta. can’t imagine lupin the third would have an ulterior motive for liking bayonetta!!

does he actually cheat at mario kart: Yes. enough said there but he still gets 2nd place somehow?

jigen:

“i’m too old for that” this guy had a ds lite in 2009 don’t listen to him. of course he mostly had the boring shit and it was really more of a novelty to him than anything but still. it was the silver one.

console games are not really his thing. he could have a little fun at an ARCADE though and i’m not just saying that because of the like. ghostbusters shoot ‘em up cabinets. the ticket incentive would get to him. he knows it’s just junk but let’s be honest the idea of him actually working to “earn” some shit instead of just stealing it, and the earned bounty being a glow in the dark spider ring is priceless. and you know lupin LOVES to help with this

backseat gamer though. speaking of lupin, he fucking ALWAYS does this to him. “hey you missed that chest.” “that weapon is ass why didn’t you equip the one i told you too” “is this game that hard or are you just that friggin bad at this” until lupin snaps “OKAY DAMN! SHUT UP!” and puts in like wii music or whatever. he still insists he’s playing it wrong.

does he actually cheat at mario kart: usually sits out, so unless you call purposeful sabotage of “don’t fuck this up” talk directed at the ones actually playing REPEATEDLY through the lap cheating, nnnno. even when he does play he doesn’t really bother cheating. pretty content with 6th place and up. It's Just Not That Serious

fujiko:

depending on. whenever she was a kid/teenager since the timeline in this franchise gives me a headache, i’d bet solid money fujiko was bigger on them than you’d expect back in the day. definitely started that stupid fucking pokemon truck rumor in the day

now she’s kind of passive. it just doesn’t interest her like it used to, she’s got more intense passions than animal crossing can fulfill. she’s not like rolling her eyes and calling you a stupid child for offering to Game with her but she just kind of pauses. and shrugs. she might play in a group if it entertains her enough, but that’s more because of the human element than the game itself. she fucking LOVES competitive shit just because of the shit she can stir up with it. free comedy

does she actually cheat: fucking look me in the eyes and ask me that again. mains rosalina to look cute but also exploit the fact she’s the fastest heavyweight class. or was i think they nerfed her WHATEVER

goemon:

i know people are split on goemon’s actual level of technical ineptitude at times but i really think you could get this guy hooked on bejeweled or some shit. not candy crush. too gaudy.

have you ever (mostly directed at people with siblings) have you ever played a video game FOR someone else. like they tell you “let’s go in that cave” or “wait no choose this dialogue option” like it isn’t backseat gaming, it’s just them essentially using YOU as the controller? goemon does that.

you could maybe get him interested in a visual novel but he’d probably have an easier time just reading the damn thing

does he actually cheat: he’d get the hang of it easy, he can drive (ignoring that one gag and looking at like everything else HE CAN DRIVE) and it really is just like. pressing two buttons and turning the controller. he’s too focused in on the track to think about cheating, or even attempt to figure out HOW to cheat? he’s too invested in delfino square dude he can’t be fucked to save that bullet bill for when he’s in 3rd place.

zenigata:

he doesn’t insist he’s too OLD for it. but he doesn’t really have the patience for it exactly. and what’s REALLY lame about it is that he doesn’t even play like. the dull “serious type” games like windows 98 blackjack or whatever because, his reasoning, why wouldn’t he just. play it normally?? in real life?

definitely the kind of person who looks at you like you’ve grown a second head for explaining what a let’s player is, and even more so when you describe how insanely popular they are. because he really just does NOT understand why you wouldn’t just PLAY IT YOURSELF (the more you explain it the more stunned he is, just don't bother it'll only give you both a headache)

however. if you make ANYTHING a competition it’s a completely different story. freakishly high score in monkeyball. speedran through metal gear like it was nothing while still somewhat comprehending the plot. through the fire and flames on expert IT’S AMAZING WHAT THE RIGHT MOTIVATION CAN GET YOU WITH THIS GUY

does he actually cheat: he’ll deny for hours. it’s a semi-common lup gang truce, they’re at one of those bars that has a wii on the floor for some reason, and lupin is insisting, and you know EXACTLY who saves that bullet bill for when he’s somehow pushed his way to 1st place. arguments break out but he won so who cares! let’s gooooo team zeni!!!

wait should i have given all of them mario kart mains. speedrun for the others: peach (excuse to look at cute girl) or diddy kong (obvious joke), shy guy (specif black hood variant yes they bought the dlc), yoshi (inexplicably vibes with him) and uh. luigi? oh god i can’t think of zeni’s main. not bowser. easy “go karting with bowser” joke but no it's not bowser. MARIO. IT’S MARIO HE *WOULD* BE THAT GUY TO JUST FUCKING PICK MARIO

[kafus]

gen 3 has really transformed for me in general in recent times. i started playing pokemon with gen 3 (specifically FRLG, but i did also play RSE and even colosseum as a kid eventually) and i was completely autistically in love with it, but was bullied for it pretty severely at school ("girls shouldn't like pokemon" or whatever, it was the early 2000s) and i didn't know anyone else in real life who was into pokemon, so i never got to do any of the link cable features, which were pretty essential for getting the full gen 3 experience - i couldn't even complete my kanto pokedex on FRLG no matter how many times i played it, i didn't have the hardware to trade with myself or anything

then gen 4 came out and revolutionized the series with wi-fi stuff, i remember literally getting emotional and crying when i tried the wi-fi plaza in PtHGSS for the first time because seeing so many people into pokemon from all over the world in that little lobby meant the world to me even though i couldn't actually speak to anyone. despite pokemon being such a massive franchise you could have convinced child me that i was practically the only person playing it because of how lonely i had been prior to gen 4

i reiterate this Sad Backstory(tm) that i've talked about numerous times to contrast it with what gen 3 is to me now. as an adult i've finally made friends who are also into pokemon and it's really made me come out of my shell, both online... and in person, when i get the chance. gen 3 now represents tangible experiences with real people like it was supposed to be when i was a kid. despite not getting to do so often due to all my friends being online and having to travel and stuff, as an adult i've finally done a few trades and stuff with people in real life over link cable, and those pokemon represent physical, real life memories. it is meaningful to me that i've finally reached that childhood dream of simply connecting with someone enough to play with them in this game that means so much to me that is only possible through a real life interaction

i've also learned a lot about gen 3's postgame, glitches, and a lot of other really technical stuff which has expanded my ability to play the games and the things i can do in them other than resetting ruby or leafgreen for the millionth time as a child and as a result i have a lot of playtime in gen 3 and various accomplishments that i'm still very proud of and happy with. and of course i have a pokemon that was name after my late friend who passed away recently, that was named that while he was still alive...

idk it's just ironic that something that once represented my lack of connection with people and my loneliness now fills me with feelings about real people who i love and memories of meeting them in person, literally the opposite of before.

hoenn specifically obviously represents that generation and while i still have some complaints about the main campaign (the latter half of hoenn is a genuine slog, i rarely enjoy playing through it) my experience in emerald's postgame and the general online nerd culture surrounding people still playing gen 3 very actively in current times far outweighs any critical complaint i could have about them as games. my love for gen 3 and hoenn is very people oriented (though really, that gen 3 postgame is amazing if you're insane about pokemon gameplay)

idk i love gen 3 a lot and the tactile nature of it. i love its aesthetic and its pokemon but most of all the people it represents for me. i'm glad i've reached a point in my life where it no longer represents loneliness