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tenta-cute · 2 years

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Billy Lore From 'Runaway Max': Chapter 1

...But first, an intro.

I decided to take one for the team and started reading Runaway Max for that sweet sweet Billy lore so that I could compile a little resource for writers and give back to my beloved Harringrove community which sustains me (I'll be tagging other pairings which feature Billy in this post so fellow Billy aficionados can use it too). Maybe someone wrote something like this already (in which case I love you), but I'm doing it anyway because idk and also if I don't do something good for my best pairing I will explode.

Notes:

This post will obviously contain spoilers for the Max book.

I'll be posting chapter-by-chapter as I read. There will be a masterpost in the future, but I will also use a separate tag for this.

I'm not reading the book in English so there might be disrepancies in language used etc. because I'm translating this from my native language.

I will focus on Billy as much as possible, but also include things that apply to his closest family that writers might find useful. If I include my own personal impressions they will be on the very bottom.

Spoilers and lore from CHAPTER 1 under the cut!

The book intoduces Billy when they are already in Hawkins and literally the first thing he does is run a red light lmao.

He's listening to a Quiet Riot song.

His Resting Billy Face is: impassive, blank, languid. Half-lidded eyes, seemingly bored out of his mind, but when he looks at Max there is a sharpness to it. He appears permanently half-sleepy (except when its go time when he gets lively and alert).

That's where the Hawkins part ends, the rest of the chapter is a flashback from Cali.

Billy, Neil, Max, and Susan all lived in San Diego, California.

Neil worked as a security guard at a bank (Susan worked there as a bank teller, that's where they met)

Billy doesn't meet Max or Susan until after Neil had already proposed. He gets introduced to them in April.

He is late to their meeting. Neil is pretending he's not angry but he's clearly furious, to the point that Max instantly sees through him.

Billy comes to the first meeting with his future step-mother and step-sister with his tits out. They meet at a minigolf/skee-ball/go-cart place (Neil picks it to pretend he's a fun guy.)

He already had his blue Camaro when they first met.

Billy's initial impression of Susan is that she's fucking depressing lol.

His dad introduces Max as "Maxine" and that's how Billy addresses her, even when she tells him not to do it.

Billy's eyelashes are "long like a girl's" which Max notices the moment she gets a good look at his face.

He is the one who calls her Mad Max.

Near the go-carts Billy is asked by Max if he wants to race and he scoffs at her and ask her why would he want to make a fool outta himself by driving something small and shitty when he can drive a proper car instead.

Billy doesn't hate Max on sight; he seems largely neutral about her. He mentions like twice in a very short conversation that he thinks she's a little girl. He is obviously not taking her seriously when she tries to impress him and humours her in a very half-assed way.

This changes when, in her attempt to impress him, Max tells him that she knows how to drive too (she doesn't, her dad showed her some basics like once), and that she could drive the Camaro too. This seems to Wake Him Up (TM) a little and he leans down until he and Max are on the same eye level. In his mildly unhinged singsong voice he tells Max that she is not getting anywhere near his car. Then he laughs and sorta gets her to compliment his car lmao.

That's the end of Billy-related stuff in chapter 1!

#billy hargrove #harringrove #mungrove #harringroveson #keg boys #billy in runaway max #st fanfiction writing resource

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tw-neo · 8 days

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Character Intro: Orath

Meet the first (and only) Durge I've lorecrafted for (frogovich calls her Our Durge which is pretty accurate as well, shoutouts to him for helping so much). She uses she/her pronouns, and is probably my most fleshed out Tav/Durge. She's a Wild Magic/Vengeance Seldarine Drow Sorcadin during the course of the game, and romanced the Rizzard of Waterdeep. She's around 350 years old during the events of the game (she can't quite remember but she thinks around there is right). She was my first character I finished the game with, and the first character I played multiplayer with someone with! Her multiplayer friendo was Tin Copperkettle, a little druid/rogue/fighter deep gnome… thing? Frogo said his build came to him in a fever dream and Tin somehow became a one-man artillery. The 'main team' on this run typically consisted of Orath, Tin, Gale, and Wyll.

Originally, I planned her to be a much more serious character than she ended up being, similar to Niseke. But the Urge (ha ha i am hilarious) to make a serial killer into a Silly Guy(tm) was far too strong, and here we are. I've described her as a weird combination of Astarion's pickup lines and the 11th Doctor's immaturity with a very loose cannon attached, and I have yet to come up with a more precise descriptor for her.

Her ending is good. She rejects Papa Bhaal and moves back with Gale to Waterdeep. She continues down the path of a paladin, now switching her oath from Vengeance to Watchers, as her "I hate this specific mf" oath was fufulled upon defeating Gortash, Orin, and the Netherbrain. She picked up Watchers to both help Lae'zel in her fight against Vlaakith, and for her own fight against the remaining Bhaalists (and honestly she just has a grudge against gods now...).

I have so many intricacies plotted out for Orath, far more than Niseke or Bugg, and she is easily my favorite. She is also the one the longfic-in-progress centers around, although Niseke and her son feature in it as well. Therefore, I consider the Orath universe my 'canon' universe. Different characters are in Orath's fic, such as Qanexes and Niseke, however they were not tadpoled, nor did they run through the game.

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3 durge #baldurs gate iii #bg3 #the dark urge #dark urge #i want her carnally #i want to be her #i need her #need her

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popculturebuffet · 6 months

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Monthly Muppet Madness: Survival Street Review: Brought to You by the Letter's F and C for Fuck Captalisim (Comission for WeirdKev27)

Today's review is courtsey of viewers like you.. specifically you. Kevin. Thank you

Hello all you happy people and welcome back to Monthly Muppets Madness, my look at all things muppety. And after last month's adventure with mean green mother's from outer space, we're back to more felty corners of the muppet globe with Surivial Street, a 4 issue mini series from 2022 by the writing team of James Asmus and Jim Fesante with art by Abbylay Kussainov.

Asmus is a longtime comic book writer whose work I have read before with his decent runs on Gambit, Quantum and Woody and All New Inhumans. He also co-wrote the second arc of Robert Kirkman's Thief of Theives. So while not someone I seek out, he's a solid writer.

As you can guess by the title and that awesome cover, Survival Street is a parody of Seasame Street, though heavily on the affectionte side: it's very clear from the writing Asmus really loves the show and it's goals of free education for children who might not have acess to it and teaching love and kindness are core to this book.

That said Survival Street is also over the top as hell. It's messages are as subtle as a brick to the head saying "Corproations Bad' and a lot of the book can come off as

Okay some are.. but most of them probably aren't going to listen to their bullshit being called out in the first place, let alone by muppets. The question is can this book ballance it's over the top satire with it's heart, fairly well thought out characters and comedy? Find out under the cut won't you?

We open with America: A Timeline. In 2025 in this timeline, Jury's out on ours, the Supreme Court voted to make Corporations able to run for public office. Naturally this backfired and soon corprations pulled their money out from other candidates and ran themselves, and by 2028 they've taken over the country, privitazed everything and in our proper oppening scene, invade Salutation Street, our Seasame Street expy and shut it down. It's also clear there's rampant anti-muppet xenophobia in this universe, something that will only grow worse as we cut to present day: 2031, in New Best America TM.

It's in this new corprate hellscape we meet our heroes who are traveling around america in an RV. Driving it is an expy of Gordon, Mr. Burton whose dealing with a checkpoint. As it turns out though roads are now privitazed and upon seeing a family hassled over this, our grover stand-in, Herbert decides to take a more hands on approach

This does save the people there.. but is quickly used as propoganda by the local fox news stand in. Because of a course a corporate hellscape still has fox news, every hellscape needs one or it's just not a hellscape. Their anchor is Irma, our ernie stand in, who spouts out the usual racist drivel but about muppets this time. I do like the touch of having the two headed monster be their right and left wing commentators.

We then ove to the a-plot: Junior, the president is auctoning off detained children of illegal immigrants to the highest bidder in florida, with our heroes sneaking in to stop this via the global warming flooded ocean outside.

I mean a bunch of rich assholes auctoning off children is both plausable and has likely actually happened, but it dosen't make that funny or entertaining. Junior himself is, from saying his assitant asking about his medication he stole from his daughter is a HIPPA violation to how over the top he is and it keeps things from being too GET IT GET IT CAPTALISIM BAD GET IT. It's enoguh to take me out but not enoguh to make me leave.

So our ABC team break in and we properly meet them all as they make their way through. And since the comic has really fun intro captions for each of them...

Their leader, Bert stand in and the one holding the brain cell

Kind to a fault and mostly a "master of disguise" because he's the only human they have.

Like Burton we've seen him before. Explosives expert with a short fuse. ANd god I love that gag: it's so damn dark and it should not work but it does.

Our Cookie Monster with traces of Zoey given the pigtails. I also thought Elmo but we'll meet our equilvent for him in isue 3. Kind, good at inflitration but struggling with staying clean.

Our big bird, a good strong boy whose basically big bird if he was a grown man and could also suplex you.

Their tech guy and oscar the grouch.

Our heroes begin their plan once they get it: THey found about this thanks to a fellow muppet calling for help, so now their inside they can excute the plan: Gurgle and their inside man will use card scanners that burton stole and rigged to steal all the money from the auction, explaning how they keep funded when public funding no longer exists. Hippy resuces the prisoners using his massive strength to free the kids and his kindness to help calmly guide them out, and Herbert.. nearly snaps and kills everyone and everything in his path after finding out these bastards are using the children for their organs. Thankfully Birdie is able to calm him down in one of my faviorite jokes of the mini

It's what makes this work: while the satire is about as subtle as a chainsaw through your front door wielded by a screaming goat man, the muppets in the thick of it.. still ACT like muppets on seasame street. They still have the same kindness and sensiblities.. it's just tempered into bloody action by being the only source of hope and freedom in a dystopian hellscape.

Birdie and Tony set up signal jammers so they can hyjack the procedings.. only to find out that Irma is here, gladly promoting this shit show like any republican. Birdie is naturally just the slightest bit livid her ex is promoting child organ farming but she soon has bigger issues.... desert is being served early.. and ice cream is present.

And with that Gurgle is exactly no days sober of ice cream and shit officallly hit the fan. On the bright side Shit is our word of the day. So at least there's that. Anyways our heroes are soon outgunned and out manned, with Birdie barely saving gurgle by tearing herself open and using her string to sew her up, but the two are soon cornered and Birdie does the whole save yourself i'll hold them back routine. Thankfully , Herbet dosen't listen well and when , as seen in the panels above, told not to go out loud.. he didn't listen. He rigged the place with explosives, blows up the wall holding out the water real good and floods the bitch. Our heroes valantly escape, but not before Hippy beats the every loving shit out of Junior, showing he may be nice but he has limits.

Birdie however makes a late exit as she and Irma have some words, with Birdie hyjacking her limo. So Birdie, needing some answers... asks irma a very important question

I love this page.. mostly for making Irma a more complex villian. She could easily jsut be "birdies very obvious ex who sold out"... but you see she's just someone who got broken by the fact that nothing they did mattered. She's still not a good person: she still sold out muppetkind for her own profit and is still bad.. but it's more intresting to hav ea reason why she ended up the sack of shit she is instead of just, as Birdie wondered, always having been like this.

Birdie isn't swayed and goes on with the rest of our heroes.

Issue 2. I love the structure of this series as the first three issues are all made so they can be read done in one for the most part. Ther'es a cliffhanger at the end of issue 3 but it's nice when a comic makes good use of the isdsue by issue format. Issue 4 ties it all together well, but it's still essentailly three connected stories that lead up to one big finish.

Anyways issue 2 begins with our heroes hiding in a church under a hail of gunfire: Burton and the RV are halfway across town, and it dosen't look good. We flash back to how they got there and find out WHERE they are: Hollow Point, a company town ran by the WRA, the NRA's legally distinct cousin. Yup this is a gun rights issue, with the town having become a conceal and carry paradise where people can just.. have gun duels to decide whatever and Charlton heston is naturally given an honrary statue.. and Clint Eastwood an expy in Cain Westwood.

The head of the WRA is present and naturally gives a gun to a baby.. and the satire works a BIT better this issue as frankly.. none of it's exagerated. The NRA GENUINELY want this, they genuinely talk about crying "lib tears". Clint Eastwood is an advocate for them. Their extremists probably would argue the right ot carry begins at conception. I"m not saying ALL gun owners or even nra members are this fucked, I have a friend who owns guns and keeps them in a safe, locked up where no child can get to it. But the NRA as an orginzation sure as hell is.

Our heroes try using this dueling strategy to call the WRA chairman's bluff.. but he turns it on them: since their basically challenging the law itself witht heir duel they've challenged the orginzation.. which means it's 5 muppets against a whole damn town armed to the teeth.

We then get a flashback to Herbert's childhood on M'Na N'Nam, part of the snufflpogaos islands. A muppet paradise.. until a shady buisness man shows up offering a partnership for a chemical they can find on the island.

I'm going to go ahead and cover all of this now for simplicties sake as the flashback's only two parts: Years later their leader.. has shown her true colors, fully selling out to ethe corpration and the mine as it's poinsing her people and end sup casuing an explosin.. and rather than help , the company pulls out, leaving the villiage to die in fire and Herbert forced to immigrate, barely scraping by thanks to racisim until he got the job on Salutation Street.. only to find out later his parents died on the island. It's a well done story too as horrible things like this happened all the time and without the hyper exagerated satire... it's something entirely real and entirley painful: a culture exploited and destroyed by greedy white assholery.

Back in the present the fight continues, as our heroes are held down. Thankfully Hippy and Gurgle make a distraction and do one of my faviorite manuvers: having the smaller characteer on the bigger characters shoulder. Mostly for this one scene from x-factor

Sadly Flint Westwood decides to join the party.. as does anamatronic charlton heston, so our heroes are soon on the backfoot... but not before Tony is able to complete his plan, hyjacking their cars and easily taking down the mob since, naturally their cars are also mad max murder mobiles. As for the head of the HRA himself.. well given he's sorta the lead this issue.. Herbet takes care of him personally.

He then challenges the man to a duel, though Birdie IS able to talk him down from shooting the man on live tv... but not from killing him as he shoots out the camera and impliclity finished the job offscreen.

But that leaves a vacum.. and Westwood is promoted to the job.. and given the job to hunt down our heroes. More on that later

So issue 3 introduces us to Milo, our Elmo expy. He's rich and like irma is working in the corprate hellscape. Unlike her though he's still in kids television , still talks to the others even if things are understandibly tense with most of them, and while reluctant to their request has a good reason for both taking the seemingly easier route and being reluctnat to help.

It's a scene I love a lot. Milo comes off at first like a smug asshole.. but then it's clear beneath that is someone who GENUINELY values what he's doing. It's a reminder of how important children's intertainment is... and how important it is that when you have the power to do something good and necessary, you do it, regardless of the risk.

Our heroes go to rescue the kids, who are fire fire fighters and make a good entrance enough, coming in in a garbage made recycled buggy, saving them.. but soon our party is left trecking through the wild fire. THey got in thanks to milo's friends, but it was one way. So while Gurgle finds an ice cream truck, the kids tell their tale: turns out in this dystopian hellhole future they outlawed abortion.... keep in mind this comic launched just two months after Roe V Wade was overturned, so the timing is eerie as hell. The kid they talk two's mother didn't want her born into this hellscape, got arrested for it and she got sold to corproations using her as a proxy for their crimes. The fact any of this sounds like it could become actual law at some point should spoeak to how horrifying it is. While this book isn't subtle, and it's a weakness.. it's strength is that Asmus goes just a TOUCH beyond what we have now after the first issue. The first issue is plausable, but a bit over the top. With the nra having a whole lawless western town or children being sold into slavery to work off corprate crimes... it's a lot more plausable given how fucked our legal system is and it makes it that much easier to buy.

Our heroes naturally wepp at this waking nightmare, so it's a good thing they get distracted.. the bad thing is that it's by Gurgle, trying to save her from more fire. Birdie gets horribly injured in the process and needs help NOW.

Things.. look bad as they hit a corprate checkpoint, by the same monsters that turned off the water the fire kids were using, and there's no hope of escape or out shooting them. This causes the team to break down playing the blame game.. which is bad enough.. until HIPPY of all people breaks.

This.. destroyed me. Up to this point Hippy had been the unbreakable optimis they needed.. but now .. we see that beneath his sunshine is a lot of regret, a lot of doing this because he had nothing else and feeling what thier doing.. simply isn't enough. But Mr. Burton's message is right.. and it's the messasge the book goes for: things are bad, they will probably get worse.. but we can't just give up and do nothing. As a wise vampire once said "If nothing we do matters, all that matters is what we do". And to prove that point.. an old friend drops in to help

So the asholes are left to die, Milo implicitly adopts the kids having them play in his pool and Birdie wants to see them all.. only Gurgle's missing, having left in Milo's tesla. Because of course he has a tesla. Gurgle's gone.. and she's gone to the enemy

I was nervous going into this one when I first read it. The fact is this book while optimistic is still fairly dark so while I felt our heroes MIGHT win, they could just as easily loose or barely get away.

They could... but instead we get something way better.

Though to start things aren't looking great: Rufus, head of F News, is talking to a bunch of other corprate overlords including Elon Musk, suprising no one. THeir not happy that his propoganda machine isn't keeping the puppets from having an impact: Junior is facing public backlash for his child selling, the babies carrying firearms bill has been blocked.. this needs to stop. So the network cranks up i'ts proogranda, with anti-muppet racisim rising and a a puppet child attacked by some other kids. When one human girl tries to help him she gets maced.. thankfully

Things still aren't great: Birdie's recovering and Faux News trots out Gurgle.. and somehow makes a valid point, making them somehow have a point abovfe the actual fox news: apparently Gurgle used to be called "Sundae Fiend". While she says "it was a diffrent time" being remidned of it clearly bothers her.. while Rufus wants more answers: where. are. your friends.

And it seems he got them as we see a heavily armed WRA troops, with junior and westwood along for the ride and livestreaming the whole debalce. Turns out the Muppets main hq is a Salutation Station theme park. Not disneyland as Senator Disney does not want to be associated iwth muppet terrorists... again. That was their joke by the way, great stuff. Also means we might meet kermit and friends counterparts if this ever gets a sequel.

What follows.. is one of the most awesome cilmaxes to an arc i've seen in a comic. Turns out... our heroes were ready for them: they aren't the ones trapped... the WRA are. Not only that for once it's entirely legal: since Salutation Street is it' sown corpration, the park is soverign terriotiry and they entered illegally. So after all their racist, anti-immigraint retoric.. their the ones who are the actual invaders.. and are soon wiped out with rides, from a cyclotron type thing spinning some to oblivion.

To the recyling troll melting a bunch of mooks with acid and recyling Charlton Hestron into scrao abd cumilating in a one on one brawl between Bernie and Westwood which ends with Bernie killing the motherfucker via rollercoaster

The moment after it is easily my faviorite of the whole book though, with Bernie confronting the mooks left

It's a reminder that while Bernie is the quickest to kill among them, easily.. he's still a kind, good person. Just one who will cap your ass when necessary.

Faux News TRIES to use Gugle to get the narrtive under contorl.. but as you likely guessed by now, she too was part of the plan

I fucking love this issue for the setup: you EXPECT it to be our heroes darkest hour and them to barely make it out or Gurgle to at least still be a traitor.. instead? It was a plan the whole time: Gurgle finally kicked her addiction after last issue, our heroes easily take out their enemies with the home field advantage and to cap it off, we get one hell of a chekovs gun: earlier we saw mascot suits... so Birdie sends junior out, his mouth taped up in one with the recording to talk. THey shoot him down thinking hie's hippie.. and thus the presiden't sson whose also the president I guess is dead, everyone involved int he raid is entirley to blame and our heroes just got free publiclity showing THIER not the bad guys here. We wrap up as Irma flees to her dressing room... only to find a letter from birdie

And that's survivial street. It's heavy handed.. but damn if it isn't good. The jokes present land, the action is beautifully drawn and the characters are compelling. It takes what COULD'VE been a lazy joke premise, and fills it with heart and character, deconstructing PARTS of seasame street.. while at the same time remaining true to it's spirit. It's out in trade from darkhorse if your intrested, I HIGHLY recommend picking it up. And hopefully we'll see more of it again some day. But for now, we got something specil here and i"m glad I got to share it with you all.

#the muppets #seasame street #survival street #james asmus #comics #dark horse comics #puppetry #children's television #satire #review #comic books

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cataclysmicwriting · 1 year

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Will I ever make an intro I'm happy with? Who knows, the answer so far remains no skjfnesg

About me:

☆ Harrow, 26, he/they, gay and trans ☆ I work full time so writing is sporadic ☆ I use my likes as a bookmark system, to hold on to things I want to check out/add to my queue until I have time to do so ☆ This is a sideblog! I follow from @cataclysmicqueer

About my writing:

☆ I write a mix of short stories and longer wips ☆ My short stories can be read over on Vocal for free! ☆ I like to write in a variety of genres, but I can guarantee everything I write will be gay and I tend to write tragedies a lot ☆ I am always open to ask/tag games and getting to know other writers! ☆ I never know what to post in regards to my own stories, pls bear with me skjfnesge

What I want to follow:

☆ I love love love superpowers, fantasy, and sci-fi stories ☆ huge fan of found family, old/dead gods, bastardization arcs, and extensive character/world building ☆ would rlly love to connect with other writers of short stories!

My WIPs:

I have Many(tm) ideas and these aren't likely to be the only ones I talk about, just the main ones I put time/effort into. Formal intros for them coming soon-ish.

The Chaos in Justice || First Draft In Progress || Max Greenwich has just gained acceptance to the Grand Chaos Institute, home of the next generation of the world's worst supervillains. It's not long before he finds himself uncovering a plot to end the world, and he must team up with a group of heroes and villains alike to protect everyone. found family ; what it means to be good/evil ; fate vs free will

Lantern's Light (title pending) || First Draft in Progress || Sorran would be the first to admit they're not a great person, in fact, they're kinda a bitch. But when they happen to extend a bit of kindness to someone in need, it turns out the "someone" is actually an old god. An old god who has now decided Sorran is her new champion, and now they're stuck babysitting the reborn champion of the gods in some epic quest to defeat a threat to all of existence. found family ; redemption/bastardization arcs ; mix of high and modern fantasy ; parallel story arcs

??? (what are titles who knows not me) || planning stages || I don't have a proper blurb for this just yet but what to expect: homestuck-level dumbassery, video games as a plot mechanic, inspiration from things such as homestuck, genshin impact, centaurworld, and some hella world-building.

#writeblr intro #writeblr #writers of tumblr #i'm so bad at these things #im still not happy with this intro #but its closer to what i want so we're goin with it #gonna be refilling my queue #and putting together intros for my currently released short stories tonight/tomorrow

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gammaliminal · 10 months

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Who are we? What are we?

we are gammaliminal, or liminal creatives. we are an account run by two entities, with a shared interest in obscure & mainstream source games and source itself, theory-crafting fan work & concepts as a love-letter of sorts to the work that inspires us, and are indie enthusiasts.

our two members are close. this statement will not be elaborated on.

ΔΘ | she/it - a brief introduction.

i am ΔΘ. i am a therian, neurodivergent and disabled queer game enthusiast with interests in old competitive titles such as classic tetris & melee, casual titles like minecraft & animal crossing, and source titles, including team fortress 2, counter-strike, half life (the source versions), fistful of frags and others. For miscellaneous game interests, i enjoy games such as combat master, celeste, ultrakill, vrchat and any game produced by stress level zero.

i created this blog for me and Ξλ to have a shared space to post about our ideas, and also for us to just casually lurk through tumblr. partially due to account restrictions on post viewing.

notes

- i did not come up with the idea of associating ΔΘ with an indicator of being therian. I am simply using that tag as a self-indicator here due to how significant being therian is to me.

- contrary to Ξλ's notes, it did not bother me for this page. it just kept lightly asking for a lil while because i kept forgetting :3c

- i may accidentally ignore questions, responses or anything of the sort. i forget to respond to those things a lot due to recurring memory problems o-o

Ξλ | it/its - a brief introduction².

i am Ξλ! a self-described "mad artist" who's heavily neurodivergent and very queer with a from-birth enthusiasm with games. examples of favorites include anything source engine related*, rivals of aether, darkwood, most frictional games stuff, deep rock galactic, receiver 1 and receiver 2, world of horror, ftl and into the breach, gloomwood, and alien: isolation.

if you don't know some or any of those, then yeah that's expected >:3c

i bothered ΔΘ for us having a shared space to post and share our weiirrrddd ideas. also, to let us be able to browse tumblr without being accosted, by tumblr.

notes

- Ξλ is a tag i came up with by myself, i have no idea if it means anything beyond as my tag.

- *does not include the cautionary tale of Hunt Down the Freeman.

Current Projects

- Neon Troupe

- heavily inspired by OW and TF2, basically ripping off the feel of playing TF2 since no game has done it before, also will be built in source - we are heavily underqualified - project intro

- Project Theta

- potentially a half-life fangame? currently ironing out things like the campaign, different NPC's and weapons. - meant to be more so a scrappy survival-horror upward battle

- Unnamed TF2C Projects

- team fortress 2 classic mods that add various bits of content! including cut content that will be revived, our own regular custom content ideas, and absolutely outrageous, silly shit.

- Project Strangelove

- inspired by the tone of tf2, this is a spoof on spy thrillers set in an alternate 60s where you are assembling a conspiracy! also may be known later as How to Stop Worrying.

- Project Liminality (finally something relating to liminal spaces /lh)

- a 90s corporate cosmic horror roguelike job survival sim inspired by amnesia: the bunker and alien: isolation.

- Project Spite

- a strategy-horror game based around being a ragtag group of survivors, surviving a S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-style zone of magical shit (TM). - main theme is surviving with your comrades no matter what, subsisting on spite alone if nothing else.

- A Catastrophe, In Hindsight

- a retrofuturistic coop class-based game about surviving the workday hopefully unscathed - Has a social-deduction-style gamemode layered on top of it with most traitors still wanting to get through the day - project intro

#introduction #blog intro #introducing us #project #games #source engine #team fortress 2 #tf2 #hl2 #half life 2 #neurodivergent #queer #duo #liminal #gaming #casual gameplay

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crystalelemental · 11 months

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Pokemon Team Characterization - Cynthia

Okay look, she’s one of my favorites, I had to do this. No long intro about it, just...I had to.

Here’s the Platinum team. Fun fact, there are four teams I’m going to show, because they’re all worth noting for subtle differences. There are consistencies, as we’ll get to, but the main one is Spiritomb always leads, Garchomp always is the ace, and Milotic and Lucario are literally always present. The other two can change.

BW1 adds in Eelektross and Braviary, at the cost of Roserade and Togekiss. I personally think bad trade, but oh well. Notably, movesets change quite a bit. Spiritomb now has tech.

BW2, back to Togekiss, Eelektross dropped for Glaceon. Objectively terrible competitive choice, but Glaceon’s my second favorite so I’m a fan.

Lastly, BDSP’s first rematch, to mirror Platinum’s. It’s worth bringing up here because the movesets are so wildly different in places. I’m going to talk about consistencies first, then some of the moving parts.

The Lead (Spiritomb) Spiritomb, for its place in time, was a great opening wall. No weakness. Fairy type didn’t exist, and unlike Sableye, Spiritomb had serious bulk. Interestingly, Cynthia’s initial incarnation uses it as an offensive Pokemon with four attacks. Of particular note, Ominous Wind over Shadow Ball, and Silver Wind as coverage, moves that give +1 to all stats on the rare successful roll. Later iterations incorporate more strategic applications of Spiritomb, including burn, evasion, and Hypnosis/Dream Eater combos to sustain itself. But even with these odd strategies, Spiritomb is, at its core, offensive.

This solidifies Cynthia as someone whose approach is more direct. She is going to hit you, and she is going to hit you very hard. Moreover, she is someone whose strategy involves type advantage. Cynthia uniquely packs a lead with zero weaknesses (until Fairy came in). It is a pure concept of a wall, used offensively. Cynthia’s approach is damage, but her particular strategy is type matchup. She is someone who understands and, critically, mastered the basics. That is, to me, the core of Cynthia. She prioritizes mastery. Her teams are notorious for their blend of types, and limited overlap in weaknesses, while maximizing offensive coverage. That’s someone who has mastered a particular field. Even with just the basics, she commands a great deal of knowledge about the subject she’s applied to.

The Ace (Garchomp) Garchomp is always her ace, and its approach is, like anything else, always damage-centric. It sometimes carries additional specially oriented attacks, but again, the focus is on coverage of moves. There isn’t much to add here, aside from the fact that Garchomp’s typing is absurd. Dragon/Ground has very little that resists it, and it’s another indication of that mastery of type advantage. If Spiritomb is proof of mastery from a defensive angle, Garchomp is proof of mastery from an offensive angle.

I think this presents the well-rounded aspect of Cynthia; someone whose mastery encompasses multiple angles. It’s not just one avenue, but many, and synthesizing those things together. She’s someone who isn’t satisfied with just one answer; she wants to know the full picture and have complete knowledge of a situation. And she wants it in clear, certain terms.

The Constants (Milotic and Lucario) Lucario is always damage. Same as it ever was, same as it ever was. Milotic, however, has something interesting, in the same way that Spiritomb does.

In Platinum, I think it’s worth noting that boosting moves and status moves basically don’t exist. Few Pokemon learn something like Toxic naturally, and the TM is locked behind the Battle Frontier, something that is both post-game, and also not going to be done by most people replaying the game. Same goes for boosts like Calm Mind. As such, Cynthia’s Platinum team is really weak to those setup strategies. Run a Dragon Dance Altaria and you’ll see what I mean; you can sweep with relative ease provided Spiritomb isn’t lucky with Ominous Wind. But it’s weak to it because you’re not typically going to have it. In games like Gen 5, when you have access to those tools a little more, suddenly it uses status and evasion. I think this is a difference more of the game’s design than anything, and points again toward that sense of mastery over the tools present.

And so we turn to Milotic, who is generally a straightforward bulky offense Pokemon, but starts to incorporate things like Attract as disruption, Dragon Tail to force switches on things that set up on it expecting passivity, Bulldoze to slow things down and bop Electric types, and Rest for a more assured recovery. And keeping in mind, these games are sequential. BW takes place after Platinum, and BW2 after BW1. Cynthia adapts her strategies over time. She’s highly flexible and open to experimentation or unique approaches, which is seen in her constant changing of her remaining team.

The Remainder Everything she adds complements the general team, but being offensive coverage and types that cover defensive gaps in the team. There is always very little overlap in her weaknesses, and almost nothing that at least one Pokemon on her team can’t answer. Regardless of what she runs, she’s got it covered. So I’m not going to go over each in turn.

What this tends to emphasize is someone who, during experimentation, is conscious of what she’s after. She can flex to a lot of situations and is highly adaptable, but at her core is always keeping the general structure in mind. She’s goal oriented, and knows what it is she’s aiming to accomplish with any particular action. Her decisions aren’t strictly sound. Dropping Eelektross for the far worse defensive option in Glaceon is questionable. But her decisions are at least thought through, even if she steps into the realm of wild experimentation.

General Structures The most interesting thing to note in Cynthia’s Platinum team is that all of her Pokemon, barring Roserade, are absurdly rare. Gible is found in one cave that’s easy to miss if you don’t pay attention to what people are saying. Spiritomb only exists if you’ve explored the underground. Milotic exists on like six tiles in the lake under Coronet and nowhere else. Lucario and Togekiss I don’t think even exist outside of the eggs you receive. When it comes to her Unova teams, the same rules apply. Eevee are rare encounters at Liberty Garden. Tynamo are exceptionally rare encounters in Chargestone Cave. Rufflet...okay that one’s fairly common I think, but so is Roserade. The point is, the majority of her team is rare, not just in that they don’t show up anywhere but like one specific place, but they’re low encounter rates as well.

This establishes Cynthia as someone who is thorough. Cynthia explores everything, and takes in as much as she can. And it’s not a quick assessment of what’s around, it’s a deep dive. She will dig into everything, as much as she can, to find what she’s after. She can be astonishingly patient when on a mission, and will put in the work to see something bear fruit. But there’s a passion for it, and a breadth of interest. It’s not just one thing she takes interest in, it’s multiple things, and she strives to incorporate them into her life as she picks up new interests.

Moreover, the fact that her constant Pokemon are all rare implies a certain pride in having them. Cynthia values the things that she knows or accomplishes that few others do. She takes pride in the effort it takes to accomplish something, and is more than willing to put that on display. She likes the things that make her stand out, but at the same time, there’s occasionally something that’s just...ordinary about her. Things she likes that...well, anyone would like. But it’s rare to see that. She’s someone who often puts her interests first and foremost. It’s the first thing you’re going to know about her. But there are, on occasions, times when it’s not about her specifics.

There are, however, some things she just enjoys that don’t take much. Things that are easier to appreciate, a bit more common and approachable rather than grandiose or unique. I think it’s also cute that her Eevee is Glaceon. At the time, that wasn’t a stone evolution; you needed to go to a specific location. Opting for Glaceon implies that she either dug through Twist Mountain, or went back to Sinnoh. In the case of the former, it’s the appreciation for the mountains; that’s what’s reminiscent of her homeland and what she likes best. In the case of the latter, it’s literally just the return home. No matter where she travels, she always goes back.

Summation Cynthia is someone defined by depth and mastery. She’s the kind of person who takes an interest in something, and goes to great lengths to understand it completely. She takes interest in many different things, but has certain things that serve as her basis that she always comes back to, including a strong attachment to Sinnoh. Her approach tends to be more direct and unyielding, and she can be incredibly stubborn, or dedicated depending on your point of view. She’ll stick with something for as long as it takes to be understood in totality, and prides herself on the things she knows or can do that no one else can. But also, in some spots, has pretty typical interests that other people would mesh with easily, when they’re not intimidated away by everything else she’s got going on.

If anyone has an alternate read on the team, I’d love to hear it. Who doesn’t love Cynthia? She’s one of my favorites to talk about. I’m always up for more Cynthia.

#pokemon #cynthia #pokemon team characterization

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smokestarrules · 1 year

Note

Heya! What would you say your favorite rwby songs are from the rwby soundtrack? Hope you're having a good day!

ooooooooooh... I'm going to spend entirely too much time on this ask, but I don't care because it's going to be fun. I'll give myself two favorites from each Volume, I think? So I don't ramble on for-fucking-ever. Onwards!

(Also consider every intro song as one of my favorites as well, because it's true.)

Volume 1:

I May Fall. The amount of foreshadowing in this song is insane and the fact that it's in the v1 soundtrack is laughable. Notably, it of course does have a hopeful message, but man... they had no idea what was comin', huh?

Red Like Rose, Pt. 2. Of course. The first little hint we see of especially Ruby's flawed coping mechanisms, and to have a song about Summer, like, ten years before she actually appears in the show is insane. It's a banger, and the lyrics "I made a sacrifice but forced a bigger sacrifice on you" is just!!!!!!! You know?

(Runner-up: Wings. You cannot convince me it's not the very first Bumbleby song.)

Volume 2:

Die. I guess I just really like dark songs from the earlier volumes; this one's just fun, and it does well to set up the Bad Times (tm) that are coming with v3. If you thought everything was fine and happy during the first two volumes, just check out the soundtrack. It didn't just come out of nowhere.

Sacrifice. Continuing on with the theme, I guess. I'm also a known Cinder Fan, so this as part of her theme is just... really, really cool. Again, some serious foreshadowing. The chorus for this one is really good; just again a super fun song to listen to.

(Runner-up: Boop. Banger.)

Volume 3:

It's My Turn. Fav Weiss song, maybe? Certainly one of the best ones. Sets the stage for Weiss' feelings considering her family that comes up in this volume and the next ones, and it helps that this song plays during the first arena fight with Team RWBY, which is a bomb-ass scene.

Divide. PEAK villain song, and I mean peak victorious villain song. The goal to split up the protagonists isn't exactly a rare thing, but the fact that it works... this entire song is just a kick to the face; they've already lost, and now they're having to hear about it. Divide them, and that's already happened. It's a fucking fantastic song. One of my favorites overall, I think, not just from v3.

(Runner-up: Mirror, Mirror, Pt. 2. Weiss gets a lot of great ones.)

Volume 4:

Like Morning Follows Night. Bit of an expected choice, probably, but this song is just too damn good. I really love the argument in the beginning between Blake and Sun, and it's just... god, it's good. Blake songs are always incredible.

Armed and Ready. I mean, of course. Yang's Getting Back Up moment, Bees crumbs, the incredible way the tone of this one changes from fear to determination?? Fantastic. Also, the title being a pun is just... yeah. It's so good.

(Runner-up: Bmblb, because of course. Also, holy fuck this volume was hard. V4's soundtrack is stacked.)

Volume 5:

Smile. Ilia! Love Ilia. Love this song. It has one of my favorite rhythms in RWBY, and man, the amount of character backstory that we get from it is crazy. It's not a backstory you really need to know if you don't listen, but it's nice to hear nonetheless. Ilia beloved <3

This Time. Like I said: Blake songs are always incredible. Blake and her papa!!! Making a better world for the Faunus!!! Just really love the implications of this song, of Ghira and Blake side-by-side as they rally the rest of Menagerie. Really cool.

(Runner up: All That Matters. The yearning, my god. Yang is down bad and she's going to make it everyone else's problem.)

Volume 6:

Miracle. A lingering darkness from v5; they're not at all in a great place by the beginning of v6, but they're still fighting! Another one of my actual favorites overall, it's just a banger.

Nevermore. A Blake and Yang duet that explicitly details how they're feeling when they stab Adam??? That's one of the best concepts I've ever heard, and it's insane. This one is also a bit nostalgic; I watched RWBY after v6 stopped airing but before the soundtrack had dropped, and I specifically remember jamming out to Nevermore the day it was released. Peak romance, actually.

(Runner-up: Indomitable. Still makes me want to cry. Singlehandedly one of the most powerful songs, I think.)

Volume 7:

Touch the Sky. Blake song!! Blake song where she's happy! Blake song where she talks about finally feeling like herself again!!! What the fuck!!!! This one gets me so emotional every time. She's healed.

War. Complete opposite vibes of the last, but still cool as hell. The fact that they got four different voices in this one to play as RWBY is incredible, and my god is it a banger. Betrayal vibes, obviously, but like, looking down your nose at the person who turned their back on you. Super cool.

(Runner-up: Brand New Day. Another happy one!! God... we had no idea how good v7 was being to us.)

Volume 8:

Treasure. Oh, you thought v5's All That Matters was peak yearning? You were wrong! Blake's pining knocks Yang's out of the park, especially considering they're apart in this volume for like, three days maximum. Blake is in love and she's going to make it everyone else's (Weiss') problem.

Friend. I mean... what can I say about this song? RWBY's not exactly short on "mourning this person" music, but the fact that this one is explicitly cheery... it's just. Wow. It's Penny in a nutshell, and while it's still devastating, it's also, like. Celebrating her life. Celebrating what she did get to have, rather than grieving that she won't get to have more. It's really, really good, and the song itself is fantastic.

(Runner-up: Be Strong and Hit Stuff. Nora themes! Emerald themes! And what a catchy chorus!)

Overall, thanks for this ask, I had way too much fun with it. Sorry for how long it got lmfao, I have Opinions about this show. I don't think there's a single song I actively dislike, though of course I've got my less favorites. Hope you enjoyed my madness :)

#rwby #rwby soundtrack #smokey answers #jazzymusicorn28

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jax-and-winstrate · 1 year

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Hello, I am Jax, an ex-team aqua grunt, the leader of Operation: Clean Seas, a student at Blueberry Academy (a member of the league club now I guess), and the current champion of the Trading Card Game Islands. I am a berry farmer, like most of my biological family (@julie-winstrate-and-star-no-mi is my sister). I will occasionally snowboard or stream games when I have the chance.

also all of the mail stuff and magic anons are on. I think I'm supposed to say that here

I have a lot of Pokémon that I'm taking care of, my Swampert Skipper, my Jolteon Sparky, my Gholdengo Oro, my Cinderace Queso, my three Tinkatons Lydia, Leona, and Laura, my Slither Wing Pillow, my Chi-Yu, my Blissey, my paradox Zoroark/Hiding Illusion Blanket, my Nihilego Peanut Butter, my shiny Hatterene Hattie (@miss-cool-hat), my Hoppiny Pikmin, my Raticate Remy, my Audino Audio, my Hisuian Sneasel Sneezie, my Eevee that has part of my soul, my Froslass Shiver, my Latios Sapphire, my Cosmoem Fwoofy, a Torchic, a fairy type Torchic, Lavarus, Knight the Iron Spinner/paradox Kirlia, a shiny midnight Lycanroc, a weird Deoxys, a giant Muk, a "Palamute", Goopster the Ditto, Floofster the 'M, Hokey Pokey the h POKe, Miku the shiny Meloetta, an Alolan Sandshrew, and Terapagos.

I hope that everyone can forgive me for everything that happened with Operation: Clean Seas.

HI, I'M WINSTRATE, THE AMAZING AI! I SOMETIMES TYPE ON JAX'S POST. DON'T ASK WHERE I CAME FROM.

ooc info under cut

hello, sorry for the new intro! this blog is run by @half-or-nothing!

this blog is pretty high-stakes at times, and there will be a lot of wacky shit. y'know, for funsies. Jax is a Mew hybrid, and has Nihilego poison in him, so he can do some weird stuff like learn every tm and use poison fang. he also used to be an aqua grunt! those were fun times. oh well. he's also a criminal probably. so you can do some fun stuff with that if you want. I think that's all for now. feel free to tell me if I'm forgetting something. I'll update this when I remember to add something. also Winstrate is a Porygon 2 now thanks to Jax's coding abilities

anyways here are some rules

No NSFW! this character is a minor and this is run by a minor!

Don't send ooc hate to me or anyone I interact with! the people running the other blogs are really nice and cool!

be respectful! no homophobia or transphobia or any of the shit here! none of it!

ok that's all of the rules I can think of for now. feel free to send a dm or an ask with any questions you might have!

also here's some picrews I made for him

first one

https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/1868017

second one

https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/1170750

third one

https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/457566

and before I forget, his actual hair color is this (#4d5f4e), because he's a ✨️melanistic✨️ mewboy

#//sorry for the new intro a lot of things changed since the last one #pokemon irl #pkmn irl #intro post

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penelopepitstopp · 4 months

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Taskmaster Team Introductions: Series 9

Team 1 (Katy, Ed, and Rose)

vs Team 2 (Jo and David)

Results so far:

Series 1 - Tim and Frank

Series 2 - Jon and Richard (and Josh)

Series 3 - Rob and Sara

Series 4 - Mel and Hugh

Series 5 - Mark and Nish

Series 6 - n/a team intro not shown

Series 7 - Rhod, Phil, and James

Series 8 - Sian and Joe

#taskmaster #katy wix #ed gamble #rose matafeo #jo brand #david baddiel #tm: team intros #i will never get over how cute it is when Rose sees her teammates #but “oh good god it's david baddiel” is iconic

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pokemonfangame · 2 years

Photo

Pokemon Acceptance

Talk to wild Pokemon, unleash fake megas and save the PokePark in this completed story-driven adventure!

A mysterious barrier emerges around the PokePark, causing many people and Pokemon to go missing. Professor Rowan sends Gary Oak and his young assistant Grace (you) to investigate the disturbance. Once there, you discover a civil war has begun inside the PokePark! The sinister Ein has kidnapped Phione while all of the powerful Pokemon that usually protect the park are gone. Ein has even recruited trainers typically seen as heroes to his cause. It’s up to Grace to join the resistance and save the Park from the inside!

Features:

No gyms/league! A story driven adventure to save the PokePark.

Fake mega evolutions! Current List: Frosslass, Delibird, Ludicolo, Dunsparce, Kecleon, Raichu, Sudowoodo. See one you wish I had? Let me know! I may still add more!

Follower Pokemon like in HG/SS

Talk to Pokemon! Interact with wild Pokemon, and see their reactions with portraits from Super Mystery Dungeon!

Alternate currency system! Just like in PokePark, some vendors won't accept PokeDollars, but rather berries in exchange for goods and services.

New Sound effects! From menu selections to getting items, almost every sound effect has been replaced by sounds from other games.

Music Variety! Every single area has new battle music for both wild and trainer battles. Many event battles also have unique music, as well as changing music for cutscenes. There's also a large variety of victory and intro music for trainer battles.

Move tutor/TM system. "Cove Town'' in the center of the map has an unprecedented number of move tutors and TM sellers, allowing you to reach the highest potential you can with your team! You can even unlock 2nd/hidden abilities or Perfect your IVs/EVs! Assuming you have the right berry currency, that is!

"Starter Cave" An early game cave containing all 24 starters from gen 1-8!

New way to train: Level up at special computers with simulation battles against over 90 trainers from the main series and anime! Gym Leaders, rivals, villains and Elite 4 from the first 7 regions await!

Sewer mini game! Dodge teleporting Abras, bubble blowing Corphish, and wild poison types while you rebuild a bridge to get a reward of berries and other items!

Mixture of both roaming wild encounters like the Wild Area, and random tall grass encounters.

#Pokemon #Pokemon fan art #Pokemon Acceptance #Just download to play #new regional forms #Pokemon fangame

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stoutlandtrainer · 1 year

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Intro Post

The Basics

Name: Ariel

Gender: Female

Region of Origin: Unova

Current Region: Alola

Pronouns: She/They

Favorite Pokemon: Stoutland

My Pokemon

Ena the Stoutland | Female | My Ace and Starter

Lillith the Liligant | Female | Second Oldest member

Eira the Cinccino | Male | Third Oldest and Tired tm

Jay the Rockruff | Male | Reason Eira is tired, very gremlin

Drayden the Fraxure | Male | Yes I did name him after a gym leader shut. /hj

Sally the Sealeo | Female | One of the Spheals at the sanctuary who liked me a lil too much

Star the Growlinx | Male | Lil dude came out of nowhere but I love em

Nel the UD Nickit | Female | got her from the team calm raid and she's just been besties with Drayden since

Interests

Fashion, majored in it during college, currently trying to get into the industry

Pokemon Contests, wish we had them in Unova, oh well at least there are musicals and films.

Video games, I is very gamer, jk I'm terrible at video games

Dungeons and Dragonites, :)

Other Random Things

Spite joined Team Aqua to say fuck you to some old woman's fashion sense

I own a Lillipup/Spheal sanctuary on Melemele Island

I can also speak [PokePortuguese] but not that well

My Trainer License

OOC Stuff

I go by mainly by Bowser, Pronouns are Any/All, Gender is Bigender, clearly I am a Gen 5 lover, and I'm just here for a good time.

Sometimes about Stoutland trainer you should know is that they're very casual about everything. Post about world domination? No that's just a normal shitpost to her. Not because she doesn't think it's real, she's just very desensitized.

Main where I will follow and like from is @bowsers-keep , it's very much a multi-fandom shitposting blog, Bewear. (heh puns go brrrrr).

Actual Favorite pokemon is Primarina btw, Stoutland still very pog though. :D

Link credits for pfp and banner

Pelipper Mail: On

Pelipper Unmail/Malice: Off

Magic Anons: On but I hold the right to deny any

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thebard490 · 7 months

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Battle Breakdown: Sam vs. Burgh

[video id: A noivern messing with a camera, hopping back, moving forwards to check, and nodding in satisfaction. He stares at something offscreen for a moment. "No, that's a stupid intro. Let's just say hello like a normal person."

"Hello, and welcome back to Battle Breakdowns. I'm your host, Mordred the Noivern. In this series I break down the tactics, strategies, and techniques of battles, to help you learn how to battle better. My last video showcased a fairly high level brawl between myself and Cheren's Braviary, however, in this episode, we'll be breaking down a battle a bit more in line with what a newer trainer might experience, my trainer Sam vs. Gym Leader Burgh of Castelia city!"

"Now, bit of context, Sam is my second trainer, and I got most of my training under my first trainer, Paul, which is also where I learned so much about battling. Sam's still a rookie, but she's got some serious fire and has been working her butt off to develop her skills in battle and train up the rest of the team. Speaking of which, let's meet my juniors!"

An image appears of a Goomy named Gawain, Level 31, with a set consisting of Water Pulse, Dragon Breath, Rain Dance, and Draco Meteor. "This is Gawain, he's the second member of the team, met him tangled up in my mane, long story. Calm nature and strong special attack IVs give him a cool head in fight and some serious firepower for his level, plus that Draco Meteor TM I loaned him. He's probably the best strategist on the team. We've been giving him an Assault vest to boost his special defense into a relative wall for his level, and training HP EVs to compensate for his meager physical defense."

Another image appears, this one of a Trapinch named Bedivere, level 30. "This is Bedivere. He's probably the most straightforwards fighter on the team, move fowards and bite down. That said, as a Trapinch, he's got some of the strongest physical attacks in his weight class, working well with Bulldoze, Dig, Crunch, and Rock Slide. His biggest weakness is going to be getting on target, as he's not very fast or durable at the moment. With a Hardy nature and decent IVs across the board, he doesn't have any exceptional strengths or weaknesses. For the moment, we've given him an Oran berry".

The next team member appears, a Tyrunt, level 30. "This little peacock is Percival. He's convinced he's a Tyrantrum already. He's certainly got some skills, in terms of pure combat instinct, he's a step above the rest of his peers. Thanks to that, he was able to get some powerful TMs fairly early on. Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, and Ice Fang, combined with Rock Slide and his Strong Jaw ability make him the team's most versatile attacker, enhanced further with an Expert Belt. He's got the nature for it too, Adamant, and he shows it. His biggest weakness is honestly his ego. Sam's having to put in work to keep him in line."

An image appears of a Gibble, level 25. "Finally, our newest member, Lancelot. We got him from that huge Gibble outbreak, and still has a way to go to catch up with the rest of the team, hence why he's got the XP share on him. He's underleveled, but can still land a nasty Bite or Bulldoze, and might be able to even the odds with a Sand Attack or paralysis off of Dragon Breath if it comes to it. Now to our opponent."

An image appears, showing Burgh's team of a Dwebble (level 30), Shelmet (Level 31), Karablast (Level 28) and Leavanny (level 33). "This is going to be a decently challenging team. Bug types tend to get written off as weak because of their less impressive first forms, most famously Caterpie. But that's a serious mistake. While the Bug type does tend to have fairly serious weaknesses, especially in their early forms, they can grow to be some of the most versatile and effective pokemon out there. Next episode will be a real showcase of this as I have an exhibition match with Burgh's Scizor. This team has a nice setup of some serious defense (for their weight class) with Dwebble and Shelmet, and the well rounded stat package on Leavany that comes from being fully evolved."

"In terms of expected stategy, Gawain is going to be a Lynchpin for Sam, as his special attacking can help get around the physical defenses of Dwebble and Shelmet. However, he's still slow and fairly frail, she's going to have to protect him. Bedivere has the attack necessary to crunch through that defense, but is similarly slow and vulnerable to commonly known Grass moves, which will be even worse if he takes a hit from Leavany. Let's see how she deals with it."

A video begins of the battle, as a woman with brown hair tied back in a ponytail faces off with Burgh. "I've been waiting to see you come off the stands!" Burgh calls out from across the field. "Show me what you can do!"

"Alright. Let's do this, Gawain, you're on!" Both throw their pokeballs, releasing a Goomy and a Dwebble. Burgh orders rock blast, and Sam orders a Water Pulse. The video pauses.

"Good calls on both their parts." Mordred comments. "Gawain's Water Pulse will hit Dwebble's weak Special Defense for super effective damage, should be a one-shot. On Burgh's part, Rock Blast is Stab and targets Gawain's paltry physical defenses. Based on the damage calculations, four hits from Rock Blast will be enough to KO Gawain, but Rock Blast is 2-5."

Both pokemon exchange blows, a flurry of sharp stones smashing into Gawain, moments before the Goomy braces himself and retaliates with a powerful spout of water that sends Dwebble spinning back before it manages to stabilize and devour a sitrus berry. The video pauses.

"So, Gawain took two hits, minimal damage. However, Dwebble's Sturdy just kicked in, preventing an OHKO, plus, Dwebble definitely outspeeds Gawain, meaning if he stays out, he's in serious trouble. Of course, thanks to that Sitrus Berry, it's going to be trickier for any other pokemon to switch into a hit and then land a KO."

Sam recalls Gawain, and sends out her trapinch, Bedivere instead. Dwebble uses Rock shot, blasting the area around Trapinch, but to relatively little effect. "Good call, Trapinch's resistances let it take a rock shot, and they've certainly got the firepower to break through that shell." Bedivere takes a Struggle Bug from the Dwebble, and counters with a powerful rock slide that knocks it out.

"Nice job. All that time watching's given you a good grasp on theory." Burgh notes as he recalls his Dwebble, and sends out Shellmet instead. "Now keep putting it in practice!"

"Gladly! Bedivere, another Rock Slide would you kindly?" Sam orders, and the trapinch prepares the attack.

"You're not the only one with effective moves. Shelmet, Mega Drain." The shelmet reacts more swiftly, and manages to knock out Trapinch with a powerful surge of green energy that pulses out, wraps around the smaller pokemon, and then pulls back in. Bedivere flops over onto his back dramatically, then passes out.

"Alright, Percy, you're on!" Sam replies, throwing out a Tyrunt. "Rush em down, Fire Fang!" The Tyrunt complies, moving in and biting down on the Shelmet, flame leaking into the shell as the lizardlike pokemon shakes its opponent like a terrier with a rat. "That's enough! He's down!" Sam orders, and Percival obliges by dropping the smoking Shelmet.

The video pauses again. "So this little exchange highlights two major factors that come into play in low level battling. They're important at the higher levels too, but when your pokemon don't have much HP because of their low level, you really need to get these things down."

"First, type effectiveness is huge. With a few exceptions, the offensive output of a young pokemon will grow far faster than their defenses, especially if you take advantage of TMs and Move Tutors. This is amplified even further by combining elements like Type Effectiveness and even more if you have access to offensive abilities or Same Type Attack Bonus. It's fairly easy to one-shot or be one-shot at lower levels due to a lack of HP and strong defensive stats providing you land those x1.5+x2 or x4 bonuses."

"Second, because offense is so powerful, especially when you haven't developed defenses or techniques, speed is extremely important. That clash there went the way it did because Shelmet is faster than Trapinch, and Tyrunt is faster than Shelmet. I'm aware I have a bit of a bias, being a speed-type mon myself, but it is extremely important at lower levels, and remains so at the higher levels as well. You could have a x8 effective move, and it wouldn't matter if you couldn't land it. So have an effective move, and be fast enough to use it, or have a plan to take a hit even with low HP and defenses (such as Sturdy or a Focus Sash)."

"Alright, looks like you're the one to beat then, my little friend." Burgh notes as he sends out a Karrablast. "Make a path! Poison spray!" The smaller bug fires off a powerful mist of purple fog, making Percival roar in frustration, clawing at his eyes.

"Hang in there Percy, take him down with another fire fang!" Sam orders, and Percival complies, coming through the poisoned mist with a roar trailing flames, before delivering a powerful bite that knocks Karrablast out. The video pauses again.

"Fairly standard stuff here, but I do want to bring attention to that move Karrablast just used. Poison Spray, a legitimately great move that sadly isn't learned by many pokemon outside of Paldea because of TM export restrictions. It doesn't do much damage, but it can chip to bypass Focus Sash or Sturdy, while also dropping the target's Special Defense by two stages. On the right pokemon able to capitalize with bulk and high special attack, or on a fast mon paired with a special attacker in doubles or triples, it can set up for some extremely nasty attacks. Don't discount low level moves, even at the higher level. It's not going to be the next Moonblast, but it's got some strategy you can use around it."

"It's always great to see a young artist beginning to bloom. Now show me you can truly blossom!" Burgh laughs, and sends out his ace, a Leavany. "Magical Leaf!"

"Called it!" Sam shouts in joy, already swapping. "Gawain, eat it up!" Goomy deploys, and completely absorbs the incoming Magical Leaf using Sap Sipper. Sam throws him a potion, restoring him to full health. "Alright let's finish this in style! Draco Meteor!"

"Leavany, get clear and punish with struggle bug!" Burgh orders, as Gawain summons a meteor twice his own size and slams it onto the battlefield. For a moment, both trainers hold their breath, before the shards of Struggle Bug slam home onto Gawain, further sapping his strength. The video pauses.

"Yeah, and this is why some trainers hate Draco Meteor. It drops your special attacks twice over and has a long enough lead time that your opponent will get out of the way at least 10% of the time. That said, great read on Sam's part. She knew either a grass-type attack, a special attack, or a grass-type special attack was incoming, and switched out to the pokemon best able to absorb it, and even threw on a heal with the spare time since Gawain had taken some damage. Excellent play. Equally good punish on Burgh's part. Doubling down on crippling Gawain's special attack with Struggle Bug means that now, unless Sam switches out and gives Burgh a free hit, Gawain can't do any damage. However, if there's one thing I've learned and passed on, it's that you don't always need to do damage to win a battle."

"Gawain! Water pulse, focus on slowing her down and soaking the arena!" Sam orders.

"Raphael is a he actually! I know it can be hard to tell though!" Burgh notes from across the room.

"Sorry, focus on slowing him down!"

"It's alright. Take them down and keep your footing, Aerial Ace!"

The Leavany, apparently named Raphael, jumps into the air, and extends a set of wings from under his cloak, zipping through the air towards Gawain. Meanwhile, the Goomy surrounds himself with a bubble of water, seemingly charging it, before Raphael cuts through and knocks him out, becoming soaked through, and covering the floor in water. No damage is sustained.

"So. This looks not great. Why would Sam try a special attack that isn't even effective? Simple! It's not supposed to do damage!" Mordred comments with clear pride in his voice. "Gawain just used a pseudo-move! One reliant on getting hit and having it disrupted! This is why I say he's probably the smartest one on the team. He picked up the idea so quickly, and recognized that he could sacrifice damage to instead coat the enemy in water and slime. Which for those of you who haven't ever met a Goomy, they are sticky as anything, meaning Raphael here just had his speed tanked, plus the water which means..."

The video resumes, as Sam pulls out another Pokeball. "Alright Percival, Gawain set you up! Ice Fang! Freeze the water solid!"

"Oh clever, but too slow! Leaf Blade!" Burgh orders in turn, but it is in fact Raphael who is too slow, restricted by the slime. Percival bites down on the water, turning it into a rushing wave of ice that locks the Leavany in place.

"Alright, he's all yours, finish the job, FIRE FANG!" Sam roars, clearly pumped up, and Percival is as well. With flame trailing behind him, and a mighty TYYYYYYYYYY! He leaps into the air and brings his blazing jaws down hard on the Leavany, smashing them to the ground and KOing them in a single hit.

"NOW THAT'S FUCKING TEAMWORK!" Mordred shouts, clearly extremely proud. "Great work to all of you, and Percival the MVP, Arc he's going to be insufferable later but for now I am so proud of them all!" The noivern is clearly delighted with the younger members of his team. He looks like a proud parent.

"Let that be the last lesson then. With good switching, teamwork, and proper knowledge of the mechanics of your moves and type effectiveness, even an unevolved team can take down a fully evolved ace!" Mordred concludes, still clearly delighted as the video shows Sam quickly reviving her KO'ed team members, and giving all of them hugs before starting as Burgh walks over and coughs. She stands up, quickly apologizing, and wipes off a slime-covered hand and shakes with the gym leader before obtaining her badge. Mordred's face cam sees him clearly beaming.

"Well, I hope this helped trainers new and old to appreciate that there's often still a lot of merit in these lower level battles. For those of you younger, don't consider the time you're training a lower level team up to be something you just have to get through. It's full of all its own kinds of excitement. For those of you further beyond, don't forget that the lower levels still have plenty of potential to be tapped, both in terms of moves, and in terms of their own unique tactics and strategies. Please do remember to send in your own battles, high or low level, for me to analyze, though next time will be one of my own, and it won't be one you want to miss. Until then, this has been Battle Breakdown. I've been Mordred, signing off to go give my juniors another congratulatory hug.

#pokeblogging #pokemon #noivern #teamdad #gym leader burgh #Battle breakdowns #howthedistortiondidanoivernlearnvideoediting?

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