#guess im livebloggin shield now

[spkmth]

          finished  SHIELD’S MAIN GAME  and  POSTGAME,  as well as  THE ISLE OF ARMOR STORYLINE  and  CALYREX’S STORYLINE.     some more thoughts.

OLEANA.     here’s another character i couldn’t stand before playing the game  ( and meeting @oleasters​ of course ) ... but came to love as i interacted with her.     she’s a boss ass bitch who also has a lot of dedication both to her job and to rose,  to the point that she begged me for help when it was clear that he’d gone off the deep end,  even though i’d just given her a solid ass-whooping.     i love her,  and though her team went down easily i really enjoyed every minute of that fight.

ROSE.     that battle theme was genuinely intimidating!     his team went down like a sack of potatoes against my cinderace and mudsdale,  but i still felt threatened because of the setting and the music.     also despite his weird ass reasoning and timing  ( seriously,  right before i’m gonna beat up leon? ) ,  rose is a good guy ;   it goes without saying that i really like him,  even if piers wants him to take a long walk off a short pier.

LEON.     as i thought,  it was super satisfying to beat him up.     the battle wasn’t easy either :   his aegislash gave me a good bit of trouble,  and if i hadn’t literally just caught eternatus i would have had nothing to counter his dragons.     ( that little gimme kind of bothered me ;   why give me a legendary right before facing the champion?     but i’m not complaining since i needed it lol. )     coalossal one-shot his charizard because i hate that pandering son of a bitch.     i still had more trouble facing down steven stone in ruby,  but leon was a formidable foe.     and as a bonus,  he did become less obnoxious as i went along!     i have yet to play around in the battle tower because i’m working through the dlc,  but i look forward to facing him as a more chill and mature adult,  with an added awesome outfit.

SORDWARD  and  SHIELBERT.     wow did i hate these two.     grating personalities,  obnoxious dialogue,  horrible hair ... there is nothing to like about these two except that they ended up in prison after i had to deal with them.     though i genuinely laughed when they called themselves celebrities in front of piers and he acted like they’d shot him.

MORE PIERS!     i knew that i’d get to battle alongside piers in the postgame,  and i was pleased as punch every time i got to be around him.     i felt like he was a beleaguered dad keeping two wild kids on those backpack harness things,  strolling along behind me and hop as we sprinted around like a couple of dumbarses.     his curtness with the sword / shield bros gave me life,  and his irrational concern for marnie despite spikemuth not having a power spot was precious.     this man ... i couldn’t love him more if i tried.

ISLE OF ARMOR.     first of all,  i adore kubfu.     getting to run around with that cute baby made me so happy after work.     i went with the tower of waters because i still can’t get a good water-type to save my arse and i have too many strong dark-types,  and i really love my urshifu.     that entire mini-story was super fulfilling!     as for the rest of the isle,  its pretty neat!     its nice to ride around in the ocean and take sharpedo to the face.     the diglett thing is super tedious but a nice way to get those alolan mons i love ;   even got a litten with intimidate out of it!     mustard is a genuinely intimidating foe and i struggled with him more than i did leon!     the dojo trials were silly and i felt genuinely gross about avery,  but overall i enjoy the isle quite a bit!     it did give me some of my favorite mons back after all.     / side eyes lycanroc

CROWN TUNDRA.     thus far,  i’ve caught calyrex and am working towards finding the three musketeers.     this environment is right up my alley!     calyrex’s storyline hit me right in everything i love :   ancient myth,  humans losing belief in a legend,  pokémon that can speak ... it was awesome.     i went the spectrier route and kind of regret it because that was a tough catch,  since i couldn’t false swipe him into submission ... but spectrier just looks so gorgeous man.     what an awesome horse.     love the mare inspiration  ( mare as in nightmare ) ;   really wish glastrier could have been a kelpie of some kind.     calyrex’s massive head bugged the shit out of me when i first saw it,  but its grown on me!     i’m so fucking ready to face the legendary titans.

          anyway,  thanks for listening while i ranted about this game.     i haven’t enjoyed a game this much since ruby.     i’m not a gamer  ( not at all ),   but pokémon was my childhood and continues to be a great source of comfort and enjoyment for me.     if you’d like to add me,  here’s my friend code :   SW-3981-2972-3793.     let’s go on some adventures together!

[wastrelwoods]

mmmmm taz livebloggin for the first time in months and it feels sooooooo right

kravitz…..paloma….lucas…mine friends

LUCAS IS COMIN BACK GUYS OH WOW

uh I got an inklin abt that deal what kravitz struck and also where lup might have went

taako what the FUCK (okay I get it. I get it. I hate it. I get it)

mmm I thought taako would go for the new cycle but uh. Angus??? is his family too

fYUCK YEAH LET’S ROLL INITIATIVE

fuck shit dammit Angus rollin initiative my beautiful magic boy

DIBS

can’t believe taako has 20 intelligence I fuckin love it

the way Merle names his weapons is. iconic

Carey n Killian better have an Unkillable Lesbian Healing bonus, griffIN

okay but a centaur vs magnus on a rhino: who wins???

uhhhhh I’m not feeling good abt how Angus is doing???? protec

“Jesus, these rolls, guys,” they’re good high-level PCs, griffin,

boy, Merle can’t figure out healing, but he sure has gotten good at playing human shield and taking all the damage for his family, i love. him

lov that I know enough abt this game now to wince when I hear the phrase “5D8 fire damage”

magnus n taako pulling that legolas n gimli battle couple pun war shit. love to see that good good teammate shit

ughh!! Lucretia savin davenport n Barry!! Lucretia still protecting her crew

Angus??? picked up???? the umbrastaff? which ……. that’s mygirl friend lup. that’s her???!

uhhh if what i think is happening is happening….I have to sit down now

uuhhhhhOH NO??? THE UMBRASTAFF??!

oh jesus

oh my god .

this is all so much better than I was expecting

“"YOURE DATING THE G R I M R E A P E R???!??!?”“”

boy I hope they can strike the balance between genuine high-stakes danger and a satisfying story ending

whom else feeling like elements of the refuge arc were dankass foreshadowing for this finale? ‘by their sacrifice our home is made safe’? a girl spreading a protective bubble around the world? sometimes there are just decisions??

hey I just heard Merle call Davenport 'Dav’ so they were definitely dating before. for sure

uhh what? the judges are back?? boy I forgot John absorbed them a while back

splitting up the party mid-battle for the first time in the whole campaign

“nah, its fine. I’ve got magic powers!” *takes a flying leap off the moon*

thought we were going for one last elevator fight but I guess maybe not

are….are merle and john going to have a talk now

oh FUCK. well, that’s maybe as good a place as any to be for a guy with 9 hp

griffin I cannot name a single NPC I won’t be furious at you for killing but god damn it! not fisher!! not him!!

im mcfuckin weeping at this great great reunion

oh my god? best possible timeline for Johann, huh??? also for the rest of the known universe huh

[spkmth]

          more thoughts from my playthrough of shield.     i have now beaten opal,  melony,  piers,  and raihan.

•     OPAL.     she was great.     she’s my first experience with a strong fairy-type trainer  ( my last pokémon game was hgss so it’s been a hot second )  and i was super nervous but i handled her well thanks to my corviknight and my toxtricity.     her gym challenge was really unique and refreshing.

•     MELONY.     loved the unique take on the usual  ‘arena trap’  ‘fall through the floor’  concept.     her lapras was a bitch,  but toxtricity took care of it before it had the chance to really fuck me over.     her design is a+,  though i wish i could have fought gordie.     ( wanted to fight allister more than bea so i got shield. )

•     PIERS.     where the fuck do i begin.     he was everything i wanted!     his allure ... his confidence ... his fucking battle theme ... everything was perfect.     my own obstagoon + brick break took his down easily,  along with my mudsdale for skuntank.     i really struggled against his malamar,  and immediately went to find myself a contrary inkay afterwards because a contrary malamar + superpower is op as fuck.     sneaky sneaky dark-type gym leader man.     but yeah i adored every second of my fight against him.     i’m very relieved that so many of my headcanons,  which were solely based on research,  still stand up to the canon material now that i’ve experienced it!

•     RAIHAN.     what a lovable dork.     i genuinely felt under pressure when he was watching me battle his gym subordinates.     his battle was the one i dreaded the most,  but i was prepared ;   as i suspected,  my mudsdale wiped the floor with him,  and really his gigalith was the largest threat as i’m still struggling to get a strong water-type and my poor roserade wasn’t quite up to the task of challenging it.     having played through raihan’s arc in the game,  i can now very safely say that i’m disappointed in the depth the game could have given him,  as the champ’s  ‘greatest rival’ ... i’m really glad i can give him some of the characterization the game left out.     smh leon needs to give this man more credit.

•     BIKING ON WATER.     thought i would hate this because i am a surf / fly purist,  but holy hell is this convenient and seamless and awesome.     i’ve taken so many mantines to the face in the lake of outrage,  my current fave grinding spot.

•     THE SOUNDTRACK.     i want to take a minute to recognize how immersive the music in this game is!     everything matches the environment flawlessly :   the mysteriousness of glimwood tangle,  the ethereal beauty of ballonlea,  the regality of hammerlocke,  the intimidating punk rock vibe of spikemuth ... it’s all spot on.     and the music changing the closer you get to piers ... oh boy that’s a nice touch.     marnie’s theme is still my absolute favorite theme ;   i never thought anything would beat out the theme of the legendary titans   ( regirock,  regice,  registeel )   but marnie’s is right up there with it.

•     hop and leon are still fucking irritating.     but you know who i like a lot more than i thought i would?     SONIA.     man i thought i’d dislike the shit out of her but omg she’s precious.     i do wish she’d stop asking a couple of dumb ten year olds important research questions because those cutscenes are irritating,  but that’s not her fault.     in that same vein,  magnolia is awesome.     she’s the grandma i wish i had.

CURRENT TEAM:

•     i’ve had excalibur and coalossal ever since i started the game.     knew i’d need them to go up against leon,  so we’re grinding hardcore right now to get where we need to be.

•     got lucky with flea being the daycare toxel i received!     he’s my best friend and i love his goofy run in camp.     he’s currently my highest level mon at 67 and is a permanent member of my party.

•     working hard to get grendel up to level 70 before i challenge leon.     i know i’ll need a tough fairy-type.

•     sid was the fourth pokémon i caught.     he’s gotten me out of a lot of tough spots and is also my best friend.     he found me a ton of good shit as a zigzagoon / linoone.     he’s also one move away from knowing all the moves that my piers muse’s sid knows!

•     rose is my first ever shiny pokémon in a core game!     she was a complete surprise and the battle to catch her lasted half an hour.     roserade is one of my all-time favorite shinies and i consider myself really lucky to have gotten a shiny i actually like as my first!     i’m hoping to take her against leon’s inteleon   ( i started with scorbunny )   but i might leave that to flea and put a strong ice-type on my team to challenge leon’s dragons.

HOW DOES ANY OF THIS AFFECT MY RPING?

          for piers,  it only makes me love him more.     what a mad lad.     i’m in critical condition with piers brain now.     i will never understand why some people play him as this beleaguered put-upon depressed whiner.     he’s just so badass!     as for raihan ... my relationship with my own raihan muse hasn’t changed,  but i’m sad for canon rai.     they really put him in a box,  didn’t they?     i’m glad i get to give him some deeper characterization since the games clearly didn’t,  and i’m looking forward to fleshing him out more than i already have.     man cannot subsist solely on pokégram and the desire to beat leon’s ass.

[spkmth]

          more playing shield.     beaten kabu and allister.     more thoughts.

•     ball guy is the real hero.

•     love the unique gym challenges.     allister’s was cool but rip my poor trainer,  he must have puked.

•     i genuinely feel sorry for bede.     as i expected,  i love him.     a truly lovable douchebag.     i’m always drawn to the lonely outcast characters,  and his sense of self-entitlement is so twisted and endearing at the same time.     i’d looked into his backstory when i first got into the fandom,  and he was one of the characters i thought about rping ;   that thought hasn’t gone away at all.     maybe ...

•     dude the wild area keeps getting better and i am genuinely terrified every time i see a wanderer.

•     hop is still annoying.     i hate that i have to share my journey with him,  and that he eventually gets to own zacian.     i know he will get better,  but for now i loathe that boy.     leon too.

•     holy shit kabu.     what a great and underrated leader.     that was an annoying battle,  in a good way.     felt legitimately challenging!     allister was a bit irksome too,  but i had strong counters for all his mon ;   i started with scorbunny so i only had a barraskewda and my corvisquire to counter kabu.     now i have a stamina mudsdale so raihan better watch his ass.

•     speaking of raihan,  holy fuck man is  tall.     and sweet.     and genuinely everything i’ve wanted out of raihan so far.     the people in hammerlocke going gaga for him is endearing to me and annoying as fuck to my mental piers.     do not ogle his mans.

•     marnie is still hands down the best rival.     her battle theme is a goddamn bop and i can’t want to fight her brother just so i can bask in the glory of his unique theme.

•     also can we talk about team yell and that sleeping silicobra?     holy fuck adorable.     who let these dumbasses out of bed smh