Confession of my obsession

If you've ever talked with me on Skype or some other more private chat, you probably know I have this habit of going on rambles about things I tend to be obsessed with at the time, be it a show, game, some youtube channel or anything really, though often it is a game. Pokémon, Laser Lords, Rayman, stupid old edutainment games, Rollercoatser Tycoon... I could probably list tons of things if it weren't for the fact that I seem to go through so many of these things that I tend to forget about them not long after my obsession wanes. Which is what this blog is about! Who says it's too early to go all meta and ramble about rambling in a rambley blog?!

Whenever I find one of these things I obsess over, it feels like I want to know all about, experience as much of it, and if possible, share it with others and talk about it. Which is rather hypocritical, considering I generally don't like it when others do that with me, unless it's something that is or becomes a mutual interest, that and the fact that I get the impression many others feel the same way too.

Having some kind of outlet makes the whole process just much more enjoyable, which is why I appreciate having people with whom I can talk about MLP, or how I could record my MARDEK playthrough while beta-testing the new one and have the developer of both actually read and reply to it! Meanwhile, there's some other stuff I'd like to talk about but don't end up doing, either because it's part of some ongoing series which means I don't have too much to say, or there's nobody to really talk about it with.

But for as much as I seem to deeply enjoy those things, those interests rarely last, leaving me a sense of emptiness. When I was nearing the end of MARDEK, I was getting tired of it. When I was nearing the end of Rayman Brain Games, I was getting tired. I have tons of games where I am stuck somewhere around the lategame; Pokémon games stranded at 7 badges, Final Fantasies stranded in the middle of the world map leaving me unexcited to ever come back due to having no clue what to do, and just generally playing trough something for like 70~90 percent but never seeing it through to the end, or it being a slogfest if I do!

But the most annoying part seems to come after that. Once that ship has stranded, it's like I am on an island desperately looking for some new boat to travel with, assessing all the possibilities, be they new interests or trying to rekindle an old one or even taking something old and starting anew with it hoping to finish it this time... A rather tedious process marked by long periods of sitting online and just taking in content there in a very underwhelming way compared to really getting into something.

Since I currently have exams to focus on, it provides me some way of feeling like my day's not been wasted like that, just doing nothing I consider 'of value' has no appeal to me, but after that it's three months of summer break, and even though I hope to get some kind of job, it still leaves much free time, time I wonder what to do with. I could buy some games, perhaps chat with a friend and arrange something, and there'll be shows that start airing again, but is that enough? Will I need to make some kind of strict schedule ordering my day in segments during which I do things, perhaps having segments for finishing old stuff?! I did it once, and I think it worked really well, but since then attempts at it never went anywhere due to me not following the schedule, with mixed results.

It sounds so bizarre, most people would love to have more time, yet for me it's like I have all this time left, and I'm not sure what to do with it. Maybe I should get out more, but to do that you need to make plans, and it's not often that I am in the mood to actually get out. Hm.

At least I have this place to rant about it like this, though, getting it off my chest like this at least feels like I'm doing something of value. One thing I'd like for myself to do with this time is make more quests, actually get things done unlike how it usually goes, but that's not even possible right now. I wonder whether at some point I could talk about some of my quest ideas in more detail if I feel like they're not going anywhere and are as good as scrapped, something like "Level Zero" for example, for which I had all these ideas but only minutes of actual quest gameplay.

Anyway, for now I just hope to pass my final two exams in one go so I have my bachelor, after which I'll need to really get to work on finding a job to get working experience and hopefully make some moneys. I'd hope having an income will make me more generous with spending which in turn means I can actually just afford to buy games and not just emulate them, having paid for something just makes me want to finish it more, it seems.

Pokémon Sage

I was just Skyping when the topic of Pokémon came up, and rather than ramble on and on there about a discovery I made related to Pokémon, I'll ramble here where fewer people will notice, goodie!!

I've already mentioned recently coming across a fan-made Pokémon game called Pokémon Sage, made by 4chan's dedicated Pokémon board. It looked a lot better and much more authentic than I expected, there's already 229 mostly finalized designs, tons of spites, art assets, implemented mechanics and much more! Though it doesn't sound like it'll be ready anytime soon, certainly not this year, I do want to keep track of it in case a new demo comes out, the last one was 2 years ago, but it seems they have progressed a lot since then.

So, I could talk about pretty much all of it and how much I adore pretty much everything about it, I think I'll just stick to linking to some of my favourite Pokémon from the game just so I can get the excitement off my chest.

Floressum

This is the final form of the Grass starter! It's Grass/Flying and it's totally adorable! I want one and I want to hug it and listen to it chirp with its cute red cheek and whatnot. The only other really cute final evolution I can think of is Meganium, and I couldn't for the life of my justify using Meganium. But I could use this any day of the week, eeee!~

Pengliff

While most Pokémon games start out in a temperate climate with Ice Types being rare until around the seventh gym, at which point you really already want to have your finalized team, this game actually starts in an icy area! It's certainly unique, and it means there are earlygame Ice types! Earlygame Pokémon tend to be cute, penguins tend to be cute, and I tend to like Ice Pokémon, so it's little surprise I like Pengliff! Just look at it!

Montegrew

I tend to like Pokémon that come in pairs, as well as Pokémon that are sort of gimmicky, which is why I like the idea of lovestruck Pokémon based on Romeo and Juliet that evolve into feuding and bitter Pokémon once they finally learn Attract. And they're called Growmeo, Tuliep, Montegrew and Capulilly. That's just great and amazing and they all look so good and agh, I wish the third demo was ready soon, it looks so good!

Macabra

I don't really have too much to say about this one, I just like its wicked smile and wolf in sheep's clothing look. It's apparently also Dark type except it was raised to ward off Psychic-type sheep that cause nightmares, which rather amuses me. It looks pretty huggable, assuming it doesn't bite me. Or claw me. Or choke me with its wool. Is that even possible though?

Fumighast

Isn't this guy a cutie-pie?! I bet a lot of people would dislike the design given it's based on chemical reactions and flasks and such, rather than some kind of animal, but I've always been fond of such designs, they've had a spot in the Pokémon world since its inception, giving more variety to the Pokédex as well as having interesting reasons for existing, whether they are based on some kind of obscure spirit that possesses inanimate objects, or given life due to artificial means, purposefully or not. There were a few of them I could pick here, but this one stood out the most to me! I just really like its design, it rather reminds me of a prop using in Pokémon Black 2/White 2 while filming a movie about erasing an ancient gaseous demon!

Cobrascet

Aww, back to another cute design! I love this design, it's adorable, it's silly, it's clever, I like it! I've always had a soft spot for serpentine Pokémon, and this one is definitely no exception, it rather reminds me of Ekans, except it's infinitely more interesting. There's not much else to say, the design just speaks for itself. 

Forthorn

When I saw there was a Pokémon called Koblin, I was ready to use one of my team and call it Klobin', but it was more Kobold-inspired than Goblin-inspired, but the ears on this Pokémon can't hide the very Goblinoid-looking Pokémon that lurks beneath those leaves and that mask. Its current Pokédex description says "Forthorn scares off people wandering in the woods to impress others, hoping they will accept it into the group." which just makes me want to catch one and hug it forever and ever. Also, it has two sets of arms, does it? I like to imagine it's two Goblins standing on top of each other, one on the other's shoulders. Now I want one even more!

Glocto

A Water/Fire type Pokémon! Well, one of two such families, actually, but I like this one the most! It just works so well, a combination of an octopus (Squid? Cephalopod? It does have only six tentaces, but whatever, spider Pokémon never had eight legs either.) and a lava lamp! It even has little lava-lamp like parts at the end of each tentacle, and you can see its molten innards and whatnot! It's definitely going to be my go-to Pokémon for Surfing, even if HMs have Key Item alternatives.

Howlequin

I had to save my favourite for last! And yes, this is my favourite out of all 229 designs! It's a Dark/Normal type and the evolved form of Chihaha. I really love all the punny names these Pokémon have, Anyway, Pokémon has had the Mr Mime family, which was really the only Pokémon that fell into the clown-archetype, as a Mime. I can't say I've ever been very fond of that family, but this one I just simply love, love, love! I tend to like clowns and jesters and mimes and harlequins and pierrots and such in games, even though it seems most people hate them! Really, they most often seem to be obviously plotting and backstabbing underlings, incompetent stooges who are more sinister than first appear, or in the worst version, they are NPCs which act as a blockade with various stupid riddles and games. (Agh, why is there no such NPC in Laser Lords?! Inconceivable!) But I always bring one along when they are a playable class, just like I like Bards and Dancers and Mimes. This design is just so perfect for a cross between a dalmatian and a harlequin, though, an idea which I already like on paper, and all the more in this execution! So that's why it'definitely my favourite, and I am probably one of the very few who would call it his favourite.

So yes, Pokémon Sage! It looks really good and I'm glad it seems like the project has already come this far and people still seem to be working on it. I hope the next demo comes out sometime this or next year! One more thing I want to link to is the regular trainer battle theme, because out of the music pieces I've heard so far, it's the one I like most. The regular trainer battle music's probably the music you hear most often during the game, and I imagine it's not easy to make it since it has to evoke a feeling of battle without seeming like some gigantic, epic theme. I think this track captures that feeling perfectly, kudos to the composer! 

https://soundcloud.com/dewdneym/pokemon-sage-trainer-battle?in=dewdneym/sets/pokemon-vp-battle-themes

You can also read more about the project on the wiki, and look at all the Pokémon designs through the following links:

http://capx.wikia.com/wiki/CAPX_Wiki
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/capx/images/0/01/WikiDex062614.png/revision/latest?cb=20141102172810

Anyway, that was my ramble about Pokémon Sage. It's nice being able to ramble in a blog like this rather than spamming it in a chat where things just get disorganized and people probably don't care, yes!

Brayn Gaymes with Rayman: Creation and Destruction.

I was just playing a good old, nostalgic edutainment game, the game in question being Rayman Brain Games, which teaches maths and language to people around the age 8~10, and it posed some interesting questions.

You see, in the game itself, choosing the wrong answer leads to a painful, ignominious death, as you can see in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5eqLigNsmI They obviously playtested it, so there's no mismatches between right and wrong, although there are some wonky hitboxes in the game, but one level was about recognizing words from vocabulary groups, where the player has to choose the largest and smallest objects.

Most of these are pretty basic questions, which is the smallest, a snowflake, snowball or snowman? But then what if it asked for a snowSTORM? The game actually used thunderstorm and waterfall as objects, but how would you decide how large one of those is? Is it the area they cover? What would you choose as the largest, knowing if you picked wrong, a red spiky ball of death would materialize into thin air and kill you all killy like?! Now there's a brain game.

The level afterwards asked the player to pick two antonyms, words with opposite meanings, and picking any other word, of course, instantly kills you. When I saw the word Create, I immediately thought of Destroy which made me think of AF:C and by extension MARDEK. When I played this game all those years ago, I'd probably have classified Destroy as a bad word and Create as a good word, if I was that sort of kid and not the sort who'd not thought anything of it at all.

Nowadays, though, after spending time in the Alora Fane setting, I try to think up all these good things about Destruction and bad things about Creation, considering the former is a 'negative' sentiment and the latter 'positive', but as much as the human mind likes labeling, it also seems to like coming up with exceptions. Perhaps that explains why language is filled with rules and those rules have all these exceptions! And law! And society!! AND REALITY. Rayman Brain Games is a game about reality.

Really though, looking for things that betray initial impressions does seem to be a thing people do a lot, especially in fiction where averting stereotypes and such is like adding a twist, until the aversion itself becomes the stereotype. But even when the new stereotype is established, using the old stereotype seems to be a cliché. So then you have to really play around with a concept to make it into a twist, perhaps that's what keeps fiction so fresh?!

Anyway, yes, I suppose the relevant stereotype here is Destruction is Bad and Creation is Good, which of course makes me think of the old MARDEK with its whole Dark is Evil and Light is Good thing. While the former shows examples and aversions of the former, and I know I've wanted to mess around with it a lot in my quests, or at least in my imagination, the latter only seems to subvert the latter, despite stating Dark is not Evil. That seems to be a common thing, making 'good' things seem tainted seems more popular than making 'bad' things seem like they have some redeeming value?

Well, I suppose not exactly, there's enough grey areas in most media, but there does seem to be tons more PURE EVIL in fiction than PURE GOOD. Demons and whatnot are always just PURE EVIL, while angels and such are generally flawed if not downright overzealous and such. IT's always anges falling left and right, never any demons rising or whatever!! What, what do you mean a demon is a fallen angel, so it'd not make sense to have a risen fallen angel?! That does seem to be an obvious thing, you can always become tainted, but never untainted, it seems to be a one-way dealio, no matter how much you scrub yourself. Ohyes.

So I guess what I am getting at is that storms of red spiky deathballs create large destruction and causes the temperature to fall and not rise. Which is evil, EVILLLL!! Actually, the whole Death=Evil thing seems like another such weird thing to me which appeared in the old MARDEK with the Death God GALARIS being Evil even though he sounded like he was helping people through the whole afterlife process... But I could ramble on about that forever... SO I SHALL. AHAHA.

See, I recently actually saw a video of Disney's Hercules Action Game, a GOOD licensed game with a neat soundtrack and pretty much all things you'd want in a good game. Being based on the highly inaccurate Disney movie which doesn't seem very well-liked generally but I like because it has so much style, the villain, Hades, is, well, the villain, you see, comma, right? Which doesn't make sense, in the actual myths, Hades seems to be downright decent compared to the other gods, while it's Hera, the horrible wife of the horrible Zeus, who are his doting parents, which makes no sense since she was the actual antagonist! I get that they changed it, but why was it the Lord of the Underworld who has to be the villain? The god was actually in control of several afterlives, some good and some not so good, it seems like a rather lazy change. But that's fine since he's such an amazingly sleazy villain. Yes.

So that's that. I know about Hercules, yes. I actually translated some texts about Herakles in Greek class a bunch of years ago, about his works whatnot... Did you know one of his works was collecting the Golden Fleece? You know what other game also has a Golden Fleece?!

The Gongor. What do you mean "Gorgon?", it's the Gongor!

I should probably stop now, but this is a blog about driving Corelis insane, of course, so I had to put it in there.

Awesome Incorporated

This blog has been claimed for copyright infringement by Awesome Incorporated. We would like to thank M SkeoMyntan and M Alice for their notification.

Design

Isn't this design simply bland, uninspiring and templatey? The sort of design one would look at and go "..."? But silence is golden, and gold is yellow, and FFCC00 is yellow! So, you see, there is a deeper meaning behind it.

Look further than your nose is long! ~ Dutch pronoun

Hello world.

Greetings world. I am very happy to make your acquaintance. You are a nice world. I will hug you, world. It will be a long hug. A firm hug. And that's not all that will be long. And firm. It will also be our love. I love you, world. I love you. Please love me back... Please...