#first design iteration don't expect to be final

[lurkingshan]

Love for Love's Sake Episodes 7 & 8

Well holy shit, that went in some directions I never imagined, and it was very dark indeed. I can't believe this intriguing little show is already over. So let's unpack what happened here.

My interpretation of everything we learned in these final episodes is that Myungha already died by suicide in the real world after a series of hardships, including the death of his grandmother, a long-term struggle with depression, and rejection from his ex and his mother, and the author gave him a chance to live again in the game world. The ending suggests he will now stay in the game world with Yeowoon and get another chance at life where his core objective is to make himself happy, and any expectation we had that he would have to return to the real world is out the window, because his life there has already ended.

But what exactly is this game world? I don't think we'll ever fully know for sure. Certainly, the show did not explain the how of it, or tie together all the vignettes we saw of Myungha and the author discussing their philosophy on life in a clear throughline to how we got to the game. The game world was purportedly based on the author's fictional novel, but all along it has taken on the features of Myungha's real life, including all the significant people we saw in his first life flashbacks. His grandma is here, his mother is here, his ex is even here in the guise of Yeowoon's agent. Myungha's memories and consciousness seem to inform the way this world was built, even as he did not create it. The author is given the role of Creator, somehow designing this world for Myungha to try to find happiness via seeking to make someone with very similar experiences to his happy.

Now, on this point, I don't think everything that happened in the original iteration of the game totally holds up. The way the author was messing with Myungha and forcing cruel choices on him really does not track with a desire to help him find happiness, and the point where Yeowoon seems to discover the game and somehow intervene to pull Myungha back in was lacking some clarity. And I wish the show had grounded us in Myungha's experiences earlier on rather than holding everything back for the sake of mystery--I do think that choice got in the way of a more coherent emotional arc for our protagonist.

But despite those quibbles, I still was able to connect with Myungha's struggles. This is a boy who has been so mired in his own misery that he doesn't know how to let anyone else in. He is too afraid to trust and let someone care for him in the way he cares for others. I wanted to reach through the screen and strangle him when his own emotional paralysis caused him to destroy the game--Yeowoon was telling him exactly what he needed, but he couldn't find the strength within himself to give it to him. And this is why knowing Yeowoon is exactly what he needed to see a different path for himself, because Yeowoon has experienced many of the same hurts but still finds within himself the ability to trust and rely on Myungha. Yeowoon is the stronger of the two of them, and Myungha needed to learn from him to overcome his own cowardice. Their happy reunion in the game world felt earned, and I believe in Myungha's ability to try again at both life and this relationship without holding back this time.

This show definitely wasn't perfect, but it really did some interesting things and left us with a lot to think about. I am looking forward to reading everyone else's interpretations of these final episodes, and Myungha and Yeowoon will be staying with me for a long time.

[angelofthepage]

Okay, so lately I've been seeing a lot of mixed feelings (namely on Twitter) about the announcement of Bendy: Dreams Come to Life getting a graphic novel iteration. There is a LOT to talk about when it comes to this thing, and maybe I'll discuss it more another time, but today I wanna talk about the thing I've been hearing the most: strong feelings about having canonical designs for the human versions of some of our favorite characters.

In Dreams Come to Life, we have physical appearances from the following BATIM characters (that I can remember off the top of my head, I may be missing some):

Joey Drew

Sammy Lawrence

Norman Polk

Thomas Connor

Allison Pendle

Bertrum Piedmont

Wally Franks (this one I'm unsure on, it's been a hot minute)

This means that for the first time, we're gonna know what all of them look like as humans in the minds of the game developers, since, let's be real, if they're doing this thoughtfully, there is likely a lot of communication with the artist they got for this book. Making sure these characters fit their vision is a very probable priority.

In this fandom, we have had the freedom to design whatever the heck we want for the human versions of these characters. And that has been so much fun. You've had all sorts of takes, from characters mirroring their voice actors to completely original things that you never would have expected. Some things would pop up consistently in fan designs, and others would be an occasional pleasant surprise. We've seen a lot of things tweaked over the years, sometimes because we latch onto designs we like from artists we've met in the fandom and incorporate them into our own. Sometimes it's because we get new information in the canon, like Sammy confirmed to be blonde in The Illusion of Living (EDIT: I was extremely wrong on this, he is not confirmed blonde in this book, but he does have long and floppy hair that Joey thought should be slicked back more, and also Jack had some wild fashion), Allison is platinum blonde in DCTL, Wally having a hat as of his YouTube audiolog, Shawn and Tom wearing belts as of Boris and the Dark Survival, Tom being a wall of a man, Bertrum being a bear of a guy, etc. But even before Wally was confirmed to have a hat, a lot of us gave him a hat anyway, because the idea of him with a hat is fun! Bertrum being large, Tom being really tough! Heck, I saw a number of blonde Susies and Allisons before we got that bit on Allison, because it's fun to contrast their looks with that of Alice. That's the spirit of all of this, we make these designs because it's fun! You have characters all across the board in terms of race, sexuality, gender identity, age, body types, etc, because it's fun to imagine the possibilities for all of them with this cast that we love (and sometimes connect with them on a personal level), regardless of what's "canon" or not.

One of the things I'm hearing a lot is that some people don't want canon designs, and it sounds like it stems from a fear that they can't make their own designs anymore. And for those people, I'd like to ask, when has that ever stopped us? I mean that as a genuine question, I'm not here to mock anyone. Like, my first big fandom experience was over with Sonic as a teenager, and I never dreamed of deviating from the canon because I just, did not have any experience with that at the time. Bendy was really good for showing me that there's a LOT of ways the fandom experience can go, especially on this front. When Bendy and the Dark Revival came out, and we got two really major reveals for character designs: Memory Joey and Henry Stein. Henry, a character fans have been designing for YEARS, a character shrouded in mystery, finally got a confirmed design, and you know what happened? We started drawing this new design, but we didn't stop drawing our fan designs just because we got this new one. BATDR Henry has kind of been adopted into the fandom the same way we do designs for AUs, he's just another AU guy that happens to be canon to the sequel game. Heck, I love seeing art where fandom takes on Henry are interacting with BATDR Henry, it's really sweet honestly.

And that's exactly the attitude I have towards this graphic novel. It does not matter how these characters are designed, we are still valid and allowed to make whatever the heck we want. And if people really try to gatekeep it and scream that you're only allowed to draw the canon, I think that says more about them than it does anything else. Go draw what makes you happy (so long as it's not hurting anyone, obviously there is some nuance here but that is a whole other can of worms)! The only thing that this actually changes (or at least, what I'm guessing will change) is what's gonna fly when it comes to stuff like the fan art contests and challenges/what the devs might choose to retweet in terms of fan art. But that's only one part of the fan art scene. Otherwise, go fandom your way! No one is stopping you, draw what makes YOU happy. I am still going to draw a pointy blonde disaster of a music director however I please, even after we see Sammy in canon. Because darn it I like my Sammy, he is my strawberry blonde (depending on the world, sometimes it's more ashy) buffoon, and one new version of a book doesn't change my love for that.

That said, I am really curious how the teams behind this series imagine these characters. I feel the same way about it that I do my fellow fan artists. To me this really is just another AU, the DCTL AU. I think I'm less curious about the game characters and more about the characters native to this book, and that's got more to do with, well, I don't see a lot of people designing them! There's some, but they're not flooding my timeline like the game characters do. Like, I've designed the DCTL art department before for a Sims game, but I haven't gone much farther than that. I wanna know what Abby looks like, give me her fashion! I wanna see Buddy, Dot, and Jacob! I'm still keeping my Jacob design regardless, I love playing with him, but gosh do I wanna know what Jacob looks like in canon. Same with Dot. I have a lot of hopes for both of them, and I'm trying to lower my expectations so as not to be disappointed if it doesn't turn out that way. Like Dot has potential to be our first plus sized Bendy character given how she's described (also the first to wear glasses), of COURSE I want to see that! She's my writer girl that's super sus and incredibly interesting to me personally, I love her! And then I have more information to consider when I go to design my dolls (because believe you me, dolls based on the books have been on my list for a LONG time). I'm curious how much input Adrienne Kress will have here as the author, like I would love to know what's going on in her mind with these characters!

Whatever happens next, the most important thing to remember is that you're free to create whatever you like. Go make things that make you happy. That's all the devs are doing in the end, and if it's good enough for them, it's more than good enough for us. Bendy is made the way it is (hopefully) because that's what they wanted to make. Like why make an indie project that makes you miserable, you know? I don't know what to think of this new graphic novel, but whatever happens, I'm gonna take it with a grain of salt and keep doing what I always do: make my own fun out of what we're given. That's what fandom is, a place to enjoy a piece of media. And everyone enjoys this sort of thing differently. Find what works for you.

[the-eeveekins]

January/February Gunpla

HG Gundam Lfrith Jiu

Certainly a neat design for a Gundam, especially the shell unit making up the face. The kit itself is solid like most G-With builds, but also suffers from those awful C clip ankles. Honestly my biggest issue with the kit is the same one I had with the Calibarn: the clear plastic for the shell units is just too dark, and while that may be more accurate, it unfortunately keeps the colorful permet lines from standing out.

You can, however, flip off people with the big arm.

SDEX Gundam Aerial

My very first SDEX kit, and I'm in love with this little Space Oomfie. From what I've gathered, it's a bit of a step up from previous SDEX kits (the backside is fully designed, even with color correcting stickers), and it looks great sitting on my desk. My only caution is: I spent more time applying stickers to this kit than actually building it, and while it certainly looks good with most of the stickers properly applied, it needs A LOT to reach near color accuracy, and poorly applied stickers can definitely hurt it. If you want to paint it accurately, you're in for a long project.

HG 105 Dagger + Gunbarrel

I've wanted this kit for years, and it finally got a reprint! As a lover of funnels, bits and all manner of remote weaponry, I've always loved the Ganbarrel Striker; it's my favorite of the bunch. The kit itself certainly shows it's age (2004) with basic part design, limited articulation and poor color separation, but the simplicity was almost refeshing after building nothing but modern WFM kits the past year. I had to paint a lot more details than I initially expected, but the results were worth it.

Absolutely in love with the Gunbarrel Striker though, and of course I had to attach it to my favorite OMNI suit, the Windam.

HG Rising Freedom Gundam

Oh, I love it. The body itself is probably my favorite iteration of the Freedom series of Gundams, and if it wasn't for the wing stripes and lack of Dragoons/Wings of Light, it would be my favorite of the Freedom line. The kit itself is well designed, although back wings for the MA mode interfere with the wing articulation. 90% of those stickers are for the backpack (and the rest are basically for the gun), and if you don't intend on transforming it, they can be pretty safely ignored. I think it looks WAY better without the white stripes on the wings.

[thatfrenchacademic]

do you have any advice for someone going into writing their bachelor's thesis? I'm having trouble pinning down a topic that seems manageable.

Hello!

This will be highly field dependent, so my advice will be most relevant for social sciences and humanities - anyone from STEM, fell free to chip in as well!

Let's see, if a student came in at office hours and asked me this, I would probably break it down like this :

Get familiar with the expectations

A thesis the first big, semi-independent work you will have to conduct, so it's uncharted territory. Get rid of the anxiety by looking again, and again, and again, at any guidelines set by your course director, school, college. How long is it supposed to be ? Is there a set structure ? Is there a first draft due before the final draft ?

Look at dissertation from previous years! Ideally, find at least 3 so you can have an idea of how diverse the work can be.

2. Talk to your supervisor

And don't bullshit your way into impressing them. If you are absolutely lost - tell them. If you already have an idea - tell them. If you hesitate before three topics - tell them. That first meeting is where you lay down all the ground work. In all likelihood your supervisor barely knows you, so give them something to work with !They want you to do well!

3. Start broad, then narrow it down, narrow it down, narrow it down

"Pinning down a topic" is an iterative process, but the good part is that it's also an introspective one, in my opinion. It's the art of peeling back layers to figure out what, EXACTLY, is it that you want to know.

For example: let's say you want to broadly talk about accessibility in higher education. Ok, great ! But what exactly, is it that makes it interesting to you ? Have a sit down with yourself. Are you wondering how higher education defines disability ? Or is it about how disability impacts entrance into higher education ? Or specifically access to teaching resources ? It could be about the architecture and physical design of campus spaces, or it could be about the lived experience of disabled students ?

Some of these you will not be that interested in, some of them you are interested in but not in an "academic" sense, ... so you can start to narrow it down. Some you may already have a vague answer in your mind, so then you play the three year old toddler with your self, by asking "but why", "but why" until you feel like you have reached the real crux of the issue.

Throughout this process, you can 1) take peaks are the relevant literature to help you move the thought process along and 2) talk with your supervisor so they can steer you in a productive direction.

Because...

4. You are looking for a Good Bachelors Dissertation Now (TM).

Broadly this is what you want to keep in mind :

A good bachelors dissertation for you, with this supervisor is not a good PhD dissertation, not a dissertation that would be great with another supervisor, not a dissertation that doesn't fit your degree... It is good in its context, and that context is :

you + your supervisor + now

Don't feel disappointed or frustrated if you are steered in a slightly different direction - it may be one where your supervisor can actually help you better. Or if you are asked to downscale or scope down: better a narrower dissertation where all is properly covered than a too ambitious one that you will not able to carry out properly give the limits of the format.

Hope that helps!

[spotsupstuff]

How is Spore in off-the-strings au? (post asendtion)

worse but also better- so Orion and her got somewhat a little bit together again sometime after the MA, but not really to the same distance as what they used to be. like they don't chat daily, Spore is still sorta kinda uncomfy and restless while speaking to him, she would rather listen and trust Gem n Expiation than him. that sorta stuff

but well, this is their positioning on the map (Expiation is right southeast from the Root)

so whether she wants it or not, the Iterator who will come collect her is Orion

not that she actually Knows what's happening at all. her comms are kinda spotty so she doesn't get the broadcast that Boreas sends into the group disclosing that what's happening (puppets getting loose off of the umbilical arms and retaining consciousness) is a group-wide thing and that everyone shall make their way to the Root (with outer rim Iterators goin first n slowly collecting others along the way). Spore just sorta gets separated from her Hivemind, falls off her umbilical arm and is So shaken up from that separation that she can't move from where she fell and doesn't know how to deal with this. so she's just terrified

then Orion makes it to her and the funny interpretation of the scene is this

and the serious sad interpretation is that he cuts his way through the shroom forest to her structure, climbs all the way up and finally makes it into her chamber and finds her curled into a ball and shaking in absolute primal fear

he slowly comes to her, announcing his presence and she gets both spooked and relieved by it. she had No idea someone was coming. she is So happy to see anyone at all that any bad feels she had against Orion get thrown out of the window and the moment he kneels next to her, she forces herself up, legs limp, and just nose dives into his chest

so they just sorta sit there for a long while, Orion hugging and comforting her to the best of his ability. he then explains things to her, that this disconnect is happening to everyone and that they are expected to meet up at the Aeolus Root

the next cycle they set off on the road, with Ori carrying her on his back since she doesn't know how to walk yet. he helps her learn whenever it's safe to stop and they always sleep in shelters cuddled up together. there is still a blaring pain of loneliness in Spore's mind, right there where her existence as a Hivemind without an Individuality is supposed to be, but her elder brother hugs her tightly and warmly and it's not so bad like it was back in her chamber

this build up closeness on their journey to the Root is why they!

almost constantly stick together in the Root's village n don't have issues sassing each other. they get back to being close siblings, even though both of them are different than they used to be Orion should be technically within the Root with Boreas as the "second in command" while Spore should stay in the house they designated med centre, but Orion doesn't really give much shit about the shoulds when Spore is on the line anymore

anyway, Sparrows arrival made Spore happier! she gets to have a patient again!!!! she adores taking care of her and is honestly willing to come between Spars n Boreas to keep her safe. it feels like having a purpose again

but she's also worst off because Gem n Expiation are hanging around and ofc Gem won't let up on her manipulative bullshit and even when Ori tries to talk Spore out of staying friends with them, he fails cuz Spore is still desperate for companionship

then also she's still infected by the fungi. Sparrows as a Mechanic offers to take care of her and rid her of all that, but again. Spore doesn't want to be alone. so she says no and disregards any logical factual reasoning Sparrows brings up. ofc one day this will be solved and Spore gets cured while staying safe from isolation, but yeah

[bitchfitch]

Idk, I want to talk about Lino's prosthetic.

He gets his first while in The Sun. the Leader gives it to him to 'celebrate' his birthday. Lino doesn't know when his birthday is, no one in the corona knows theirs because it was seen as outlandish and wasteful to celebrate oneself like that. That was what the Leader said when they were banned soon after the Sun formed. But the prosthetic .

The implants were put in too early. Lino is still fighting the same infection he got from his crush wounds not being treated right. A less obedient doctor would have taken one look at his femur and say they need to remove the whole thing if they're ever going to make a functioning prosthetic for him. The implants hurt. The bone they're supported by is weak and they're too heavy for someone Lino's size.

The leg itself was even worse. It was a perfect mirror of his other. It was warm to the touch and the skin felt real and it could move like it was flesh and bone instead of metal and silicone. He even had some sensation of touch through it. But it was so extremely heavy, and his implants so poorly done that using it was agony. It would twist his hips with every step and make him stand with his entire weight on the other. It looked perfect though and that was the point. It wasn't meant to make Lino able to walk again. It was meant to make him 'perfect' again. The fact it gave the Leader an excuse to remove Lino's chair from the picture and trap him more fully where he was needed for the image the Leader was trying to project was just an accidental benefit.

after he escapes back to the bunker Lino takes the leg apart piece by piece. Cannibalizing what he wants and discarding the rest. He's a tinkerer at heart. He has no formal training but he's gotten enough machines apart and put back together that he can reverse engineer the contraption. His first version is barely better than the original. Hes still trying to make it look like a leg and wasting a lot of weight to do so. His second is better, it's all skeletonized aluminum but still too heavy. his third, fourth, eighth, they all have problems. but each iteration gets closer and closer to what he needs.

until he finally has it. He still calls it a prototype, because he doesn't expect it to work so well. It's light, its cuff is designed so that the meat of his thigh takes some of the weight when stepping and standing so his implants don't have to do so much work. He wires up the touch sensors to help deal with the phantom pains, and the heater so he could still go outside in the winter without it getting unbearably cold where it meets his leg. It's an ugly, purely functional thing and he loves it so much more than the perfect leg he had been given.

[the-tzarina-alexandra-paracosm]

Some of my favourite art - a timeline

Part 2: 2010-2012

Cca. 2011 (aged 10). Mario fanart. This was my main fandom at that age. We can see the very first iteration of my signature (Alexandra D.* except with a drawn 5-point-star. I later simplified the design but otherwise kept the signature ever since).

2011 ish. Adventure Time fanart.

Mia and me fanart (does anybody else remember that show haha?). Cca. 2012

Mid-late 2012. Mario and Final Fantasy fanart. I was introduced to FF via the Mario Hoops game illustrated in the very first pic.

Late 2012. Final Fantasy I fanart.

Late 2012 or very early 2013. Final Fantasy XI fanart. One of the first documented attempts at drawing in an anime style, which will henceforth be the main influence of my artstyle for the next few years.

------

The main characteristics of this era are big heads contrasted with thin bodies and limbs. The eyes are at first simple ovals but eventually transition to an anime style. Bright colours but mostly in pencil this time; much smoother and intentional colouring than the previous years. More diverse facial expressions and poses than before, but still with significant anatomy mistakes.

From a more meta point of view, the most significant aspects of this era are 1. The development of my personal signature and 2. The intentional archiving of my art, as can be seen by the numbering system. Whereas around my tween years I had started to get extremely self-conscious about my art and threw a good chunk of it away on a whim because I didn't like it anymore, by the time I was about 11 ½ ish I developed a sense for the necessity of art preservation. Thus I stopped throwing old art away (and if I really hated half a drawing but loved another part I cropped it, hence why so many pieces of paper are visibly cut up). I was eventually very sorry that I had ever thrown out any art. While these are some well-preserved pieces, this timeframe is actually a lost media era of my art because of the sheer amount I disposed of, have away, or didn't put effort into keeping in a safe place. The first lost media era being ofc my earliest childhood drawings, which, ironically, were much more well preserved than my tween era drawings, but at some point we were no longer able to locate the box with my oldest stuff. One day I hope to find it again. I cannot say the same about my tween art, most of which I actively destroyed. This has been a harsh lesson I had to learn, and I urge any young artist to not fall into this trap, no matter how "cringe" you may think your art is. Having learned this lesson, starting around early 2013, I started keeping my drawings in a box and indexing them (hence the numbers. #4 means it was one of the very first drawings I preserved and a very recent one at the time of establishing my personal drawing box). I'm currently almost at 3000 if not already having passed that threshold. That's 3k pictures in a 12 year timeframe. And I'm sure that if I had never lost any piece of my art ever, the lifetime number of drawings would be double that.

So if you, especially if you're a young artist, ever feel insecure, please don't throw away or destroy your art! And remember that progress takes time. I'm showing my favourite drawings across the years but please remember that it took my entire life + thousands of drawings worth of practice to reach my current level. Don't compare yourself to other artists, your art is worth keeping around even if not yet to the level you expect.

[purplekoop]

Okay so I was looking through the hero gallery reaffirming my favorite skin for each hero (and double checking I don't really like any Winston skins, which holds up), but I found something. Peculiar.

I was checking Symmetra's skins and noticed a peculiar name for one of her Rare skins (the blue-tier ones that are very minor recolors, where only four are made for each hero on their release and never any more). Normally, these names are very formulaic, very often just the color of the skin in the hero's native language, or some vague pleasant-sounding way to describe the color choice.

But then there's this Symmetra skin: Technomancer.

Her other three Rare skins are named Cardamom, Hyacinth, and Saffron, all different plants, so "Technomancer" sticks out.

But I think I know why...

Putting it simply, this was her beta design color scheme

Seems like yellow was meant to be Symmetra's main color before it was settled that her outfit should be primarily blue.

It even shows up in this concept art that I've shown before and will show again, along with several other heroes in their finalized and not-so finalized designs, along with some characters that never made the cut in general.

It's also worth noting that Symmetra is one of the oldest Overwatch character concepts, back in the MMO phase of the idea where each character was instead a class, with the class that became Symmetra being... okay it'd be cool if I could say it was also called "Technomancer", but no, apparently just "Architect".

(fun fact while we're here, "Architect" is listed as being able to deploy 3 sentries to distinguish them from "Mechanic"'s one large sentry, but Symmetra could deploy a whole 6 sentries until her second major rework, where it was reduced to the three that's both how we know it today and the original concept to distinguish her from what became Torbjorn. She also couldn't deploy a shield generator until her first major rework where it became her alternate ultimate, Symmetra 1.0 only gave allies a small portion of shield health directly, while now she has no equivalent shield-generating abilities. No, her ult doesn't count, that's a barrier, "shield" in overwatch terms refers to blue health. Unless it's Rein and Brig, those are also shields.)

...*ahem* anyways.

Was not expecting to uncover a beta design reference in the final game tonight. Haven't heard anyone acknowledge this before, though admittedly people don't tend to pay attention to Rare skins much at all.

Skins that are references to earlier design iterations are super neat but not something common at all as of now, with the only other exception (at least coming to mind now) is, ironically, Lucio, with his Equalizer skin, a reference to his earlier design as well.

This one's from Archives 2018 and is super neat. The contrast in personality despite the outfit being the same is particularly delightful, it's not too far off but it's juuust different enough to be noticeable when the Lucio we know and love is wearing his beta outfit, and it doesn't quite have the same vibe as the concept art.

If I haven't made it clear yet, I adore seeing development art stuff and seeing the ideation process, so seeing characters or other concepts that were scrapped come back later in official capacity is always one of my favorite things. Morpho Knight from Kirby is a prime example, and there's great examples from Sonic like Honey the Cat and the very recent inclusion of the rabbit design that was a scrapped concept for Sonic himself. These are just a couple skins and not whole characters, but it's still super neat. Wish they did more of these to be honest, especially with Archives. Considering the whole theme of the event is (was?) seeing heroes how they were in the past in-universe, it was cool to see Lucio in how he looked in the past in a more meta sense. As I comb through the old concept arts, I'll try to keep an eye for which ones I could think work as skins for the finalized hero.

...This post ended up being longer than I expected. oops.

[chronotsr]

Pre-G1 Modules, part 6: Reflections

This isn't a full on post or anything, it really is just random thoughts. This blog has basically 3 goals, in no particular order:

Show off some weird interesting ideas from older modules. This is why the bullet-point sections exist.

Look at all the obscure modules no one's ever heard and don't get discussed so they can enjoy more awareness. This is why it's module to module and not lists of cool things I've found.

Look at how modules grew as an art-form. Their design, layout, styling, writing, et c. This is why it's in release order.

So I'm going to ramble about all 3 in turn.

1. Coolest ideas

So somehow the coolest idea I ran into in this roundup was keep on the borderlands ~in the desert~. The mental image is just stuck in my brain and if you're one of my fantasy age players, you've probably inhaled some spoilers accidentally now. It's gonna show up eventually.

I was also really fond of the really lateral use of animated objects in Tegel Manor, particularly the battlefield painting that spits arrows as the events on-canvas play out. It's very fun and very goofy and I regret the yearly Samhain one-shot being so far away. I will find an excuse to use that random magic statue table eventually.

Third place goes to the pet sea monster of the invincible overlord. It's just really stuck in my brain

2. Coolest Module You Haven't Heard Of

Oh that's easy. Tegel Manor. 100% Tegel Manor. That was easily the most fun I had writing this column so far, even as the pagecount sprawled and sprawled. I think the haunted house is the single best starting location for a new player, it's part of why I'm so ride or die for Ghosts of Saltmarsh (and I do specifically mean the 5e iteration, they did an excellent job realizing Saltmarsh as a location. It's a crying shame people hate because they expect pirates and get, not pirates).

Happily, I don't think the move is actually to just, buy modern Tegel Manor. In fact, a spiritual successor to Tegel Manor would be just what the doctor ordered.

3. The Growth of Module Design

I am telling on myself hard but my favorite part of watching this go on is to see the art of keying slowly evolve and standardize around the familiar model of today. We are far away from the, I know I will get crucified for this, frankly better keying of 5e. Or even the significantly improved keying of 4e. We are in crusty-ass 1970s keying, where if it was typed, it was professional. Honestly Temple of the Frog's keying is a shockingly good first attempt. The keying solution that Vampire Queen went for is, kind of novel in its own way. I kind of wish that this table-style keying had stuck around as a sort of summary page for quick reference, it's…honestly kind of convenient, especially for particularly hack and slashy campaigns.

Watching JG recover from their tailspin of excessive loot was really fascinating. I do keep in mind that weight was a big thing about loot recovery in early DND but what exactly was to stop a party from just going back in and looting the place over and over again, anyway? Sure the monsters could move around, the loot could move, but they still know the layout. I really feel like you have to simply not provide that much treasure, and I get the sense JG worked that out too.

Finally, I am just kind of happy to see the focus on creating dungeons, as in combat rectangles is already starting to be threatened as the status quo. Arneson obviously understood why this was bad, and you can see some designers working it out too. Holmes also had a very good grasp of pacing and dungeon layout that it would take others (including Gygax) a while to catch up to.

So anyway, see you at G1!

[cats-of-eden-valley]

how do you come up with the traits of the cats? i kinda want to make my own xenomoggy project but i want to do it with some alien-like creatures and i'm not sure where to start in regards to designing the species

short answer: lots of trial and error

long answer:

it's easy to think that ideas come from a singular point of eureka. Romantic even! but the truth is that I've drawn 3759 cats, and each pride trait went through (is still going through) levels of trying stuff out and seeing what spoke to me the most. Goldspring were the first and the easiest, sorta because i already had an idea of what i wanted them to look, but many things about them changed regardless, including scale colours, location, and the inclusion of other traits that read as Goldspring (manes, short tails, powerful forebody) over the course of designing and then redesigning them multiple times (Cypress has like 5 different iterations and I'm still not 100% happy with her)

BUT. it's important to start somewhere. fortunately you only need one idea to start a design. after that, ideas tend to accost you whether you want them to or not. maybe as you're drawing, your sketch ends up looking different than you expected, in a way that you like. maybe you see some random creature art, and you get a little crazy about how the artist drew horns, so you tie that into the design.

it's a process, but that's what makes the stakes so low. you get to add and take away things at your leisure. you don't need to have the whole design all in one go, just find One Thing and let it carry you.

and finally, some things that might give you inspiration:

cool ass creature design art

real ass creatures in nature (get crazy about a random animal it's fun)

PREHISTORIC creatures (this is a wealth of shit that's weird because some of it simply does not exist in modern day)

environment (coldbank live in water, give em fish tails)

if you have a trait, what might pair well with it? (design wise, evolution wise, story wise)

culture (if one culture have guys that are viewed a certain way, how might their traits enhance or contrast that view?)

what they eat, who they fight, what they find attractive

[smokeybrandreviews]

Throne of Heroes II: Rank Up Quest

It has been quite a while since i touched on Fate/Grand Order, mostly because it's been an exercise in frustration. My new account is coming along swimmingly but it still pales in comparison to my old one. I feel like there is progress, but it's a real slog, man. That said, i am digging a ton of the new Servants. I've popped a few i didn't expect, Lancer Ryoma immediately comes to mind, and i felt like i needed to redress my favorites list. I need to retire a few to the Hall of Fame because, if i don't, this thing will either be fifty spots long, or just full of sh*t I've already posted. I'll probably make a separate All-Time list later but, for now, just know that Mordred will always be number one for me. All of her. Every last iteration. Actually, f*ck it! In no particular order:

Hall of Fame: Mordred, Rider Medusa, Demon King Nobunaga, Lancer Artoria Alter, Artoria Alter, Archer Gil, King Hassan, Shuten Doji, Francis Drake, Altera, Caster Nero, Semiramis, Gorgon, Abigail Williams, Ishtar

With that out of the way, these are the top servants in the current Fate/Grand Order Material!

10. Kriemhild

I don't care for Berserkers. They're glass cannons and never last long enough to matter, especially in the late game. Still, they have some dope ass designs for the Servants in that class and and Kriemhild has one of the best. She reminds me of Saber Alter in a lot of ways, but far more elegant. That's it. I just really like her design. She'd never make my party because of the Berserker thing, but she's real easy on the eyes. That also accounts for how low she is on this list.

9. Barghest

You telling me Nasu added the Celtic Hellhound to the Throne of Heroes? I can summon the Black Beast to my side? And she shows up as a massive, blonde, muscle mommy? Bro, sign me up! I've always been a fan of the Arturian legend so i was hoping we'd get all of the other, weirdly violent, tidbits which went along with those old Celtic legends. Color me surprised when we got The Lady of the Lake, Baobhan Sith, and Barghest, all in one fell swoop. Also, Moran le Faye but she's a Berserker so, you know, meh.

8. Anastasia

Anastasia is my favorite Caster, hands down. She has a dope design, powerful attacks, and a one of the best Noble Phantasms in her entire Class. I've been chasing after this chick for years, even before i lost my first account, to no avail. She's my Holy Grail right now and it sucks. Powerful Casters who actually do damage are rare and Anastasia, for my money, is the best of that lot. Also, she uses ice. I'm a sucker for those types. I blame Shiva from Final Fantasy IX for that.

7. Senji Muramasa

Hey, look at that! A goddamn Shirouface made to this list! I can't stand Emiya, man. Dude sucks. I get why Archer hates him so much, but it is real hard to hold Muramasa in contempt. It's the perfect Hero to manifest as Shirou. I may not like the character at all but i adore his Reality Marble. Unlimted Blade Works is my favorite attack in all of the Nasuverse and this version, Tsumukari Muramasa Baseless Blade Works, is my favorite version of that! There's just something about watching all of those infinite swords, fold down into one, which satisfies the violent, destructive, urges within me. It gives Genryusai Yamamoto's Bankai, Zanka no Tachi, levels of dope.

6. Romulus-Quirinus

This dude is a powerhouse. Absolutely unit. For a long time, after his release, Lancer Romulus was my go to for doing Archers dirty. Or anyone for that matter. His Skills are ridiculous and just bolster the already absurd destructive potential on hand. There is only one Lancer i love more and she ranks at number one on this list. That said, Romulus-Quirinus is a VERY strong number two. Plus, i dig the design. I'm a sucker for mecha so that golden armor he dons in his latter Stages really does it for me.

5. Kukulkan

Look, i fell in love with Type-Moon because of their intricate, detailed, lore. There is so much content here, it can be overwhelming. Kukulkan is one of the deep cuts. Obviously, the human for is a facade and it's true form is Ort. If you know your stuff, then you know that's a huge f*cking deal. Ort is the Archetype of the Ort belt, basically making it one of the most powerful entities in the Nasuverse. Like all Archetypes, they're basically eldritch horrors of immense power and i get to Summon the heart of one.

4. Amor

Caren Horetensia is my second favorite Master and there is a distinct lack of her in the Grand Orders. Sakura and Rin have a ton of love. Even Shirou has a few Faces out there. Not Caren. As far as i can tell, Amor is the only Carenface there is, and the only option i have to add her to my own roster. It's nuts because Caren has a slick ass design. She'd be a fan favorites if more people knew about her bu, alas, my darling Hortensia has been cursed to the forgotten because no one knows anything about Hollow Ataraxia. Still, i have Amor and that's enough. For now...

3. Larva/Tiamat

Tiamat is my favorite Beast. Ever since she was introduced back in the Babylon Singularity, i have LONGED for a proper Servant version. I watched as i got a Gorgon, Heaven's Hole, and even a Kama. No goddamn Tiamat! I was stewing about it for years but, eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, Nasu blessed us with Larva/Tiamat. Finally, i can add my favorite Beast to my roster, proper.

2. Draco

You're telling me Mother Harlot has finally made it's way into the Throne of Heroes? As a Beast, no less? AND she' a Neroface?? How can i not love this brand new monster? I was actually curious if we would ever be able to Summon a proper Beast class Servant. All of the ones introduced so far, pop out as the normal options. Like, Kama is an Assassin, Heaven's Hole is a Moon Cancer, and Tiamat is an Alter Ego. Not The Whore of Babylon. No, she appears in all her humanity crushing glory and i love her for it.

1. Melusine

I was always curious if Nasu would broach the entirety of Celtic mythology after leaning so heavy into Arturian legend and i wasn't disappointed. Barghest made this list because i was already a fan of those creatures from the legends but i didn't expect him to go full-on like this. Adding The Lady in the Lake was a bold choice, one that i absolutely adore because, not only is she dope overall and has an amazing design, but she transforms into a f*cking dragon during her epic ass Noble Phantasm! They basically turned Lancelot's mom into goddamn Bahamut and I'm here for all of it!

Honorable Mentions: Lancer Ryoma, Space Ishtar, Ivan the Terrible, Grigori Rasputin, Durga, Taira no Kagekiyo, Yu Mei-ren, Lancer Artoria, Zenobia

[smokeybrand]

Throne of Heroes II: Rank Up Quest

It has been quite a while since i touched on Fate/Grand Order, mostly because it's been an exercise in frustration. My new account is coming along swimmingly but it still pales in comparison to my old one. I feel like there is progress, but it's a real slog, man. That said, i am digging a ton of the new Servants. I've popped a few i didn't expect, Lancer Ryoma immediately comes to mind, and i felt like i needed to redress my favorites list. I need to retire a few to the Hall of Fame because, if i don't, this thing will either be fifty spots long, or just full of sh*t I've already posted. I'll probably make a separate All-Time list later but, for now, just know that Mordred will always be number one for me. All of her. Every last iteration. Actually, f*ck it! In no particular order:

Hall of Fame: Mordred, Rider Medusa, Demon King Nobunaga, Lancer Artoria Alter, Artoria Alter, Archer Gil, King Hassan, Shuten Doji, Francis Drake, Altera, Caster Nero, Semiramis, Gorgon, Abigail Williams, Ishtar

With that out of the way, these are the top servants in the current Fate/Grand Order Material!

10. Kriemhild

I don't care for Berserkers. They're glass cannons and never last long enough to matter, especially in the late game. Still, they have some dope ass designs for the Servants in that class and and Kriemhild has one of the best. She reminds me of Saber Alter in a lot of ways, but far more elegant. That's it. I just really like her design. She'd never make my party because of the Berserker thing, but she's real easy on the eyes. That also accounts for how low she is on this list.

9. Barghest

You telling me Nasu added the Celtic Hellhound to the Throne of Heroes? I can summon the Black Beast to my side? And she shows up as a massive, blonde, muscle mommy? Bro, sign me up! I've always been a fan of the Arturian legend so i was hoping we'd get all of the other, weirdly violent, tidbits which went along with those old Celtic legends. Color me surprised when we got The Lady of the Lake, Baobhan Sith, and Barghest, all in one fell swoop. Also, Moran le Faye but she's a Berserker so, you know, meh.

8. Anastasia

Anastasia is my favorite Caster, hands down. She has a dope design, powerful attacks, and a one of the best Noble Phantasms in her entire Class. I've been chasing after this chick for years, even before i lost my first account, to no avail. She's my Holy Grail right now and it sucks. Powerful Casters who actually do damage are rare and Anastasia, for my money, is the best of that lot. Also, she uses ice. I'm a sucker for those types. I blame Shiva from Final Fantasy IX for that.

7. Senji Muramasa

Hey, look at that! A goddamn Shirouface made to this list! I can't stand Emiya, man. Dude sucks. I get why Archer hates him so much, but it is real hard to hold Muramasa in contempt. It's the perfect Hero to manifest as Shirou. I may not like the character at all but i adore his Reality Marble. Unlimted Blade Works is my favorite attack in all of the Nasuverse and this version, Tsumukari Muramasa Baseless Blade Works, is my favorite version of that! There's just something about watching all of those infinite swords, fold down into one, which satisfies the violent, destructive, urges within me. It gives Genryusai Yamamoto's Bankai, Zanka no Tachi, levels of dope.

6. Romulus-Quirinus

This dude is a powerhouse. Absolutely unit. For a long time, after his release, Lancer Romulus was my go to for doing Archers dirty. Or anyone for that matter. His Skills are ridiculous and just bolster the already absurd destructive potential on hand. There is only one Lancer i love more and she ranks at number one on this list. That said, Romulus-Quirinus is a VERY strong number two. Plus, i dig the design. I'm a sucker for mecha so that golden armor he dons in his latter Stages really does it for me.

5. Kukulkan

Look, i fell in love with Type-Moon because of their intricate, detailed, lore. There is so much content here, it can be overwhelming. Kukulkan is one of the deep cuts. Obviously, the human for is a facade and it's true form is Ort. If you know your stuff, then you know that's a huge f*cking deal. Ort is the Archetype of the Ort belt, basically making it one of the most powerful entities in the Nasuverse. Like all Archetypes, they're basically eldritch horrors of immense power and i get to Summon the heart of one.

4. Amor

Caren Horetensia is my second favorite Master and there is a distinct lack of her in the Grand Orders. Sakura and Rin have a ton of love. Even Shirou has a few Faces out there. Not Caren. As far as i can tell, Amor is the only Carenface there is, and the only option i have to add her to my own roster. It's nuts because Caren has a slick ass design. She'd be a fan favorites if more people knew about her bu, alas, my darling Hortensia has been cursed to the forgotten because no one knows anything about Hollow Ataraxia. Still, i have Amor and that's enough. For now...

3. Larva/Tiamat

Tiamat is my favorite Beast. Ever since she was introduced back in the Babylon Singularity, i have LONGED for a proper Servant version. I watched as i got a Gorgon, Heaven's Hole, and even a Kama. No goddamn Tiamat! I was stewing about it for years but, eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, Nasu blessed us with Larva/Tiamat. Finally, i can add my favorite Beast to my roster, proper.

2. Draco

You're telling me Mother Harlot has finally made it's way into the Throne of Heroes? As a Beast, no less? AND she' a Neroface?? How can i not love this brand new monster? I was actually curious if we would ever be able to Summon a proper Beast class Servant. All of the ones introduced so far, pop out as the normal options. Like, Kama is an Assassin, Heaven's Hole is a Moon Cancer, and Tiamat is an Alter Ego. Not The Whore of Babylon. No, she appears in all her humanity crushing glory and i love her for it.

1. Melusine

I was always curious if Nasu would broach the entirety of Celtic mythology after leaning so heavy into Arturian legend and i wasn't disappointed. Barghest made this list because i was already a fan of those creatures from the legends but i didn't expect him to go full-on like this. Adding The Lady in the Lake was a bold choice, one that i absolutely adore because, not only is she dope overall and has an amazing design, but she transforms into a f*cking dragon during her epic ass Noble Phantasm! They basically turned Lancelot's mom into goddamn Bahamut and I'm here for all of it!

Honorable Mentions: Lancer Ryoma, Space Ishtar, Ivan the Terrible, Grigori Rasputin, Durga, Taira no Kagekiyo, Yu Mei-ren, Lancer Artoria, Zenobia

[neoyi]

I'm not what you'd call a, multi-player online kinda gal. I largely prefer the single player experience, playing my game peacefully in my dark, dank cave, where I'm free to leisurely invest however I want.

So my reaction to Crash Team Rumble was - and still kinda is - lukewarm, I suppose. I've heard long rumors of the supposed "Wumpa League" for months on end, so already used to the whispers of What Might Be, I was prepared for the inevitability of a Crash Online Battle Arena Game.

I mean, I'll buy it, because I'm Boo Boo the Fucking Fool and Crash Bandicoot is my favorite franchise. And like, I guess I'll see how I'll take to the game as more information come along and once I actually play it.

Some other thoughts under the "Keep Reading."

I'm very glad they're sticking with the Crash 4 art style. Nicholas Kale's work is gorgeous and him and the rest of Toys for Bob's artists did a great job modernizing the characters. Like honestly, I think this is the first time I can genuinely say Crash looks adorable (precious iterations were hit-or-miss, personally.)

Shout-out to the Catbat character. According to Nicholas' tweet, he considered them non-binary when designing them. I'm not sure if the final product will reflect that since Kale only designed the character (he stated he has no idea what the end result will be), but I hope this will be the canonical outcome. This series was long overdue for an officially confirmed, queer character.

Okay, if I'm being honest, I'm not sure how long this game will sustain enough of a dedicated player base to introduce new modes, characters, and other doo-dads common in online multiplayer games. CTR: Nitro-Fueled hung on for, what, a good two years of extra content? But I kind of figured they always had an endgame in mind by slowly introducing as many of the previous Crash Bandicoot characters they could alongside complimentary racetracks based on or inspired by the series. It didn't surprise me that the developers stopped while the going was good. A battle arena game could potentially go on for years and years and like, while the Crash fandom is super dedicated, I don't think there's near enough staying power to keep enough interest the way a lot of other heavy-hitting online games (Fortnite, Final Fantasy XIV, etc.) have been doing for far longer. But I'm jumping the gun. I barely know what content will be in the game and what could possibly be brought forth to keep it fresh and interesting to sustain it. I guess my biggest fear right now is, what if they don't offer enough diversity? Bah, still too early for this kind of talk. It's not like I want this game to fail!

I got no guff with Alt. Universe Tawna, but this also makes me miss Original Prime Tawna. The remake games slowly worked to give her a personality and a purpose besides "Crash's Kidnapped Girlfriend", and I want them to keep doing that. I don't like the idea that Alt. Tawna automatically replaces her because I feel it undermines what Prime Tawna is potentially capable of. Can't we have both girls?

Also hell YES, Lady Tropy is in the game. God, I love her.

Look, whatever I feel about Crash Team Rumble, it's probably already gonna be a million leagues better than Crash Bash. That game was a tedious, boring disappointment. The bar is low, people!

I don't expect a deep plot for this kinda game or at least, for Crash Bandicoot, but will they set up a basic premise on why they're collecting these fruits? Enough that allies are fighting amongst each other? Or is this all in good fun? Is it gonna be like Crash Bash where they have to beat each other up because Aku-Aku and Uka-Uka has another bullshit rule or something?

Spyro as an unlockable playable character is inevitable, but my GOD, I feel so sorry for the Spyro fanbase. When will they get their Spyro 4?

Jesus fuck, how the hell am I gonna abbreviate this game? We already had a CTR! I can't call Crash Team Rumble "CTR", too! "CTRu?" "MOBA Crash?" Just "Crash Rumble?" "Cramble??????"

[screenduck]

A Review of Alien 3 (1992)

Spoilers, obviously.

I would consider Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) tied for my favorite movie of all time, both spectacular genre-defining films that leave you on the edge of your seat the whole time. I think any film fan would agree that these movies are some of the best ever made. And when you make a sequel to an already incredible movie that's as good, if not better, you're putting pretty high expectations for whatever comes after it. So when I first heard what happens 10 minutes in to Alien 3, it's safe to say I was already really pissed.

So, possibly unfairly, I came into this movie already mad about it before I'd even seen it. I even started the movie with a counter prepared of how many times I wanted to stop watching. At the end the counter reached 11, although I might have missed a few.

Let's start with appearance. I think that the set design, cinematography, and costume design continues the Alien franchise's track record of impressive visuals. Some specific examples were that the outfits of the Weyland-Yutani people at the end gave the exact impression of what we know the company to be, and the prison cafeteria had a futuristic style while still feeling human and realistic, which most sci-fi movies don't have. There were two versions of the xenomorph in this movie, one was the classic life size suit with incredible detail that we all know and love, and the other was a small puppet that was filmed in front of a blue screen and layered onto the scenes to look like its 7 foot counterpart. The former looked amazing, as always, but the bluescreened puppet looked horrifically out of place and weirdly green. The lighting didn't match up at all and it was so obviously bluescreened. But, in the movie's defense, this was the 90s.

When it comes to the characters, let's get one thing out of the way: Hicks and Newt are dead. I think this was a horrible choice and the biggest flaw of this movie, but more on that later. I think Ripley's character in this movie is consistent with her past iterations and still shows fantastic character development, with the help from the incredible Sigourney Weaver, of course. During the cafeteria scene where she's told she's at a table of people who...aren't too fond of women, to put it lightly...and she just sits down, I absolutely loved that choice for her character. But when it came to her relationship with Clemens, it felt very forced and passionless. Their "romance" didn't feel like it had any tension or lead up, and I didn't see a powerful connection between the two. Clemens himself was a decent character, but has nothing of interest to really point out. As for the rest of the prisoners of Fury 161, they're all terrible people. And they prove to be time and time again. They have no redeeming qualities and frankly made me really uncomfortable the whole time. This is fine in some contexts, but to me it destroyed the element of suspense and thrill in them being chased by the xenomorph, because I didn't care about them. When they were killed by the xenomorph I usually felt no strong emotions, and when I did, it was happiness. When Murphy was chopped up by the fan, I thought nothing other than that it looked cool. I consider this a major fault because this movie is basically based on the thrill and suspense surrounding the xenomorph, and I think that was ruined by my apathy towards the victims.

Finally, the plot. As stated previously, in the first 10 minutes (confirmed at around 7:25) it's established that Hicks and Newt died when their EEV crashed onto Fiorina 161. Along with these characters, this marks the death of all of the character development from Aliens and the importance of much of the plot. The most important thing to Ripley in Aliens was Newt's life, and now that that's lost, everything feels pointless. To me, it ruins the movie, because it so thoroughly fucks up the importance of the movie before it, which was incredible in almost every way, and it puts a somber and hopeless tone on the whole movie that never gets resolved. I find it hard to care about anything that happens in this movie because it feels like nothing matters in the franchise anymore. Aside from that, I think the plot is generally fine, it's a pretty basic xenomorph chase plot similar to Alien. It's obviously not executed as well, but it's decent and continues a lot of the same tropes established in the previous movies that are significant in the franchise. What I also disliked about the plot is the sexual themes with the prisoners. It made me really uncomfortable and felt generally unnecessary, although it did give Ripley some character development. It also, as stated previously, caused me to feel no empathy for any of the characters as they died. The ending was interesting in a lot of ways, and I liked how we saw the creator of Bishop's line of androids and his character.

Outside of the context of this franchise I would probably give this movie a 4/10 or a 5/10, because by itself it's surprisingly mediocre. But when you factor in what's been established in previous movies, it feels like a huge decline in the franchise and a betrayal to the glory of Alien and Aliens. With this in mind, I give this movie a 3/10. I didn't cover everything in this review because the movie is a whole 2 hours and 24 minutes long, but if you haven't watched it I recommend getting a mug of hot chocolate and preparing for disappointment.

[valkyrieblogs]

haven't posted in a few days, so catching up! it's a little difficult to warn for... spoilers? given the open world nature of this game. anyway, some things i cover: los platos, mesagoza, artazon, first titan pokemon, first gym battle (brassius).

i paid so little attention to pokemon sv that upon seeing this wooper, i definitely thought it was a shiny or something until i saw that it was a paldean form.

finally got to los platos... i'm still playing on handheld right now, but honestly shocked at the fact that unless i'm practically right next to a character, the framerate on their walking animations or anything just gets absolutely wrecked. every time i exit out of the game, i keep prompting my switch to check it for updates. i would love to play a more stable version of this game...

i'm still trying to figure out which pokemon i'll use in this game... ideally i want my main team to be primarily pokemon that are new to this gen, just because they're new.

i was also originally giving all my pokemon nicknames... until i realized... i don't know the names of these pokemon from this generation yet, anyway. so walking that back pretty immediately. i'll let myself attempt to nickname pokemon once i feel like i have that down more!

OKAY, finally trying this out with my switch docked... it does feel immediately smoother to play. even just turning the camera feels better.

decided to actually advance the story (partially because i want access to more customization stuff ASAP) and battled nemona... didn't even know terastallizing was a thing in this gen since i've paid so little attention to it, whoops. it really does feel like they have to do some iteration of this in each gen now.

finally in mesagoza.

HAIR SALON. YES.

man, even with my switch docked, still seeing the incredibly choppy animations when i'm any distance from NPCs...

i just got so lost trying to find where the hair salon was despite my desperation. i did eventually find it, however! toned down my hair colour a little. i wish we had more hair options, but i'm assuming we'll get more as we unlock more locations. same too for the clothing options in this city.

mandatory new selfie.

hm, after getting my hair done, i'm also surprised to see i can't wear hats with what i assume is the style i chose? that's kind of limiting, given that our customization options are already limited to accessories.

just saw penny for the first time... i remember when i first saw her design, i thought she would be a class of trainers you'd run into? i'm happier if she's a unique character. she's so cute...

NEMONA...

one shopping trip later, i did finally make it to the school.

wow i wonder what reason that would be, nemona.

i did get spoiled on this from some friends, but i love how you get this far hanging out with nemona before you find out that oh, she's the champion, actually. which really reframes that first battle she had with you where she was fully about to unleash her champion team on a kid that just got their first pokemon.

wow, finally got to class and got to experience that scene where the game is just struggling as kids kick their legs.

after this i saw we also had... classes available? which i wasn't expecting. i just did one (a biology class) but i guess i'll have to go back and do more later... a friend of mine mentioned that you can get more cutscenes at the school, but i feel like the game doesn't do much to incentivize or point you to that, other than letting you know classes exist. maybe that'll change? we'll see.

honestly, the fact that the whole school is talking about me—not because of something the player did—but because they just so happened to show up with nemona is interesting. i sort of like that it frames the player as exceptional only by association.

hm. surprised that we had this big time skip. i feel like that first week would've been a good opportunity to actually do those classes or socialize with characters outside of the main story objectives? which could've been nice, especially since you're being presented with these main story objectives (or in arven's case, his dream?) and those characters having this level of investment in the player character would make more sense to me if they had more of a relationship before getting into that.

i'm talking to arven still and he's going into what his dream is and if i want to help him pursue it, and he's talking about these giant pokemon that guard the mystica herbs. i'm assuming that's one of the objectives. i'm not sure if you're able to tackle multiple? i would assume so, since it would feel strange to do this and then be cut off from the usual gym progression.

my guy you literally just gave me miraidon. (although i understand that miraidon isn't able to use its power for the moment.)

oh, there's beef. i see. i actually like that there's at least something a bit more antagonistic between the two of them?

god, okay, i love that arven just poured his heart out about his dream and then promptly goes running out of the room as soon as he's done. he's awkward and bookish and i love him already.

no real feelings about hearing from cassiopeia yet... i also went back and spoke to nemona, so now i've had everyone present their respective tasks to me.

god this scene of the player being torn between arven, nemona, and cassiopeia as they all present their separate tasks.

not insufficient incentive. i do think how he is about food is cute!!

i've just been running around the area from the east gate for awhile... i'm glad it seems like we can go all three routes concurrently? i was worried i would have to choose just to do one, and that i'd end up missing content.

i'm testing out the "let's go" feature a bit more... it's been nice as a more passive way to get EXP/raise my levels without having to be pulled into an active battle every time. my sprigatito evolved... trying to work on my team and hopefully round out the types i have.

i also checked out my first raid! i wish it would prompt you in-menu to connect to the internet when forming a party, rather than having to do so separately and then do that. so far i haven't had any issues forming parties online, at least. and i've only seen lower level raids.

finally got to artazon... i passed one of the pokemon for arven's quest on the way. i figured i'd just come back for it after i finally visit the city.

while i was in the city, i also ended up beating my first gym leader! it was cute running around the city gathering up sunflora.

the actual fight wasn't too exceptional. I MISS THE SWSH GYM MUSIC. it got me so pumped and i would genuinely go and listen to it even when i wasn't playing the game.

also no strong feelings about brassius himself... i feel like a lot of the designs in this gen (both pokemon and characters) have been a little hit-or-miss for me. or, at least, i enjoy them more in official art than i do seeing them in the game. this is another gym leader where i'm not as big on his design, and i was 100% a hubert von vestra (from fire emblem: three houses) fan.

anyway. that done, titan time.

ooh, okay, i like how when i'm hunting the titan pokemon, arven actually shows up to join me. that's actually pretty nice, since it makes you feel a bit less alone on the journey. i know nemona calls you after a gym leader, too, but! the presence of another character actually being there is nice.

also, man... i was looking up the customization in this game a little. it's honestly really disappointing that after all the customization we had in swsh that we just have four whole outfits in this game, even if we can get accessories. i went to a school that had uniforms!! i'm done with this!! and the second i would've been out of school and didn't have to adhere to a dress code (and been liable for detentions for uniform infractions) you bet i would've been wearing literally anything else. if this game gets an update at some point... i really hope they'll just give us outfits. (without it being paid dlc...)

oh... finding the herba mystica with arven and him immediately talking about how he wants to get "him" to eat some... interesting.

this feels very cozy.

honestly enjoying arven so far!! he's so into food and i love him just carrying around this book to constantly consult with it. ALSO THIS SCENE WAS REALLY CUTE where i chose to feed miraidon my sandwich, and then when i acted surprised about there not being any left for me, he gave my character half his sandwich lksjdlgj a good guy.

HUH... curious about arven's motivations and what he's feeding.

okay... stopping with this particular post for now, just because i've uploaded so many images to it. i've made a little progress since then... sort of? mostly i've been running around the world trying to get to more pokemon centers, and potentially get more pokemon. i'm still trying to round out my team, but i haven't been... that enamoured with a lot of the pokemon designs in this gen so far.

i'm currently just leveling some of my pokemon to take on mela, since my team didn't really have any pokemon in it that were great against fire types.

i also managed to get to another city... i tried looking up more about the customization and it looked like we don't get additional hairstyles (other than the very few seen at the salon) after all? if anyone has seen otherwise, please let me know ljslkjgdk i also found a bunch of other shops, and i'm also... not impressed with the accessory selection, either. just feeling pretty let down by the customization, which is a shame, because i'm having fun with the game otherwise!!

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