Neko

Noa's Diary: Blog Posts, Essays, and Musings

MARCH 2024
3/25/24 - My First Renfaire

As I mentioned before- I went to my first Renaissance Faire on Sunday! (And I went with my lovely girlfriend. smiles) Even though my parents were always into this kind of thing they never took me along, so it was my first time. There was definitely a bit of a road trip to get there but the drive was pretty scenic and nice! The line to get into the parking lot was crazy though. Once we were parked it was pretty seamless to get in. It was about noon.

Almost immediately after we got in and wandered through the shops and tents for a little bit, a joust began. I actually got a few pictures of the jousters and I uploaded one of them to my Piclog, it’s a pretty nice action shot! It’s always cool seeing horseback stunts and tricks and it was kind of awesome seeing the joust basically right after we came in, and getting to pet the winning horse!

After that my girlfriend went off on a quest to get us a turkey leg and some street corn, since the huge turkey legs are a pretty iconic part of Renaissance Faires and I was told I was obligated to get one at least once. I went to go take a bathroom break in the meantime, got lost for a little while, and then we reconvened. (The turkey was delicious.) It was fun wandering around while snacking and gnawing on it. I was pretty glad I didn’t opt to wear any makeup that day because what a mess that would be...! I also got a cup of mead and it was pretty alright! Not my favorite ever but it was definitely tasty.

Apart from seeing all the cool jewelry and leatherworking, a lot of the memorable things we saw were live animal related exhibits. We saw an elephant, a horse dressed up as a unicorn, a little show with birds of prey (one of the falcons was PISSED at being taken out of its box lol), and there was an EXTREMELY cute petting zoo with an adorable calf that tried to eat my lacey black sleeves.

My girlfriend was looking to get a cool ring so we were also on the lookout for interesting jewelry. She ended up finding a cool bat ring with a beautiful Labradorite stone and it looks AMAZING on her <3 My biggest purchase was at a stall featuring very cute posable handmade pet dragons made of silicon. There was this whole little adoption process where we picked out our dragons, tried them on our wrists (ours were also glow in the dark which was really cool!!!) and we were encouraged to think of names. My dragon was dark royal blue with lots of glitter so I named him Orion since I thought he looked like the night sky and it was the first constellation I could think of. My girlfriend got a black and red dragon, I think we eventually settled on Brimstone. I’m quite pleased with my purchase, it’s so cute and you can have them as bracelets or wrapper around lamps and stuff. The immersion of the whole adoption process was a nice touch too. Orion is currently wrapped around an old wine bottle I use as a vase for my black roses.

Of course after a while we eventually left, after enjoying some bubble lemonade and sitting in on some singing performances. We had a full day and left merry- there were so many costumes, sights to see, and just everything was so delightful. I spent the night at her place and then came home after lunch the next day. So to conclude I think I’m a fan now, this was one of the most fun weekends I’ve had in forever and I definitely want to come next year! It also really makes me want similar-ish events for stuff like Halloween or other themed stuff. I just love a themed area, in general.

Also, game status update- the “default build” is totally complete, apart from the audio, I’ve got a couple ambient tracks for the different areas I want to get implemented. After that it’s down to making the various builds of the game, giving each horse its own unique NPC dialogue, collectables, etc. And then I’ll need to get a Neocities supporter account, and hopefully everything should work perfectly? I’m really thrilled with how well it’s come out. All the areas are almost exactly like how I imagined them, all the sprites scaled how I wanted them, and it’s just so fun to explore- and, I mean, I made the damn thing! So it makes me wonder what it would be like to play with fresh eyes. It’s all very exciting stuff! So probably expect it by the end of April? Probably sooner but I like to be generous with regards to time estimates. Only thing I’d really worry about is if the AGS web export somehow ends up not working when I host it on my site, and if that happens I’ll probably host it on Itch.io or something like that... Hosting on my own website is always preferable though.


3/22/24 - The Influences on Clovenglade’s Horse Designs + Game Status Update!!!

Since I’ve been working on a Clovenglade-related project again, one which involves drawing a lotttt of horses, I got thinking about the various horses I featured in the cards as well as in the stables. And I figured it’d be fun to make a quick blogpost about the influences behind them, since they’re pretty closely based on what I remember of playing with and collecting the real life Bella Sara cards when I was a kid- both in terms of extending credit for my inspirations as well as giving a little “behind the scenes” taste.

Oskar - Oskar is “that horse”, the one you probably rode if you got riding lessons as a kid, the one who's by far the most patient around younger riders and maybe a little on the older side. You're like 7 years old so you probably gravitated towards the cooler or prettier horses but the instructor directed you to “that horse” instead- I wanted to tap into that energy for Oskar since he's the horse you have by default when you first visit Clovenglade. His breed is Norwegian Fjord, so picked because of one I used to work with IRL. But the interesting thing is that Oskar is repurposed from a previous project/idea/thing, an outline I had written up for a “Pokemon-like” story driven horse game where Oskar was the default “starter” horse as well. A lot of plot elements like the princess character and the Wellspring area were (loosely) brought over from that original idea, though the setting of that concept was more cold and Scandinavian aesthetically. Also, Fjord horses just look really cool!

Juliana - Juliana is more of an expy of pre-existing Bella Sara characters, she's based on my half-remembered impression of both Jewel and Fiona (hence the name). I’ve mentioned before I got into Bella Sara through the books, and Jewel’s book was one I owned back in the day. Juliana is also based on the “blood bay” coat coloration, and I think her red coat is really striking! Due to Fiona’s influence on the design, she has a bit of a fire motif as well.

Toby - Toby is the more rugged “western” design archetype within horse media to contrast with all the more flowy designs, as he’s a relatively normal horse (he shares this appeal with Oskar, but Oskar is “softer” while Toby is more tough and pointed, in an abstract sense). And paint horses are just cute and Mustangs are a really cool breed. I think his charm point is definitely the streak in his mane, it's very cute to me. I initially added it to his design as a highlight color but I became so smitten with it that I kept it. I also think he’s got probably the cutest of the stable sprites tbh?

Flash - Flash is very much a “horse movie” horse, the unstable and skittish horse that bonds with the main character and then wins every race through their friendship. Flash is similar to Juliana, though, in that (mostly design-wise) I based him on my half-remembered impression of Thunder (another Bella Sara horse), with the twist being that he’s a fraidy-cat rather than being strong and courageous. I feel like all horse media has at least one Fresian somewhere... Flash is also, of course, named after Adobe Flash Player, which is actually his full name. (This is canon.)

Moonshadow - Moonshadow is a fantasy unicorn, rounding out the various horse archetypes. Bella Sara had a big emphasis on magical fantasy horses so I knew I had to include at least one, and unicorns are one of my favorite mythical creatures, so it just worked out. Dappled grey coats are my favorite to design, so I included that as well, and I like how she turned out. I feel kinda bad having put a cool glowy unicorn in the stables though since everyone I’ve asked has said they picked her over the other horses... Ah well.

Dawnbreaker - So, back when I still had my Bella Sara cards, my favorite one I owned was named Zephyros, which was all holofoil and shiny. Dawnbreaker’s pose on her card is closely based on that card’s design. As the first winged horse I designed for this project I also made her intentionally contrast with Moonshadow’s design as well, since they were both mythological horses.... And then I designed more winged horses and unicorns afterwards, of course. She’s the princess’s horse, so her orange and purple pallette is intentionally reflected in colors associated with the royal family (you’ll see these colors featured in some decor in the game- more on that later!)

Dandelion - Dandelion is closely based on my horse from Breath of the Wild, who I had from nearly the start of the game. She was loyal and strong and we fought Ganon together, and most of my fond memories of BOTW and TOTK are horse-related. She’s living a nice life with maxed out stats in TOTK :)

Mircalla - Mircalla is based on this image I saw months ago, of a horse looking in a mirror inside of a room with red walls. And Bella Sara always had some creepier horses mixed in with the pretty ones, so why not a vampire horse with no reflection?? I'm a huge fan of vampire media as you can probably tell lol

Amora - Vague memories of cards like Anemone and Rosebriar. The design is pretty simple, but her rose bracelet is a cute detail.

Daisychain - Felt like designing a foal, and I think her braid is a fun detail even if it is hard to draw... Thinking back, the pale grey coat and black mane is pretty reminiscent of Wings!

Lurelei - Based directly on a Bella Sara toy I owned back in the day, a little fuzzy miniature of Mermaid. I still wish I had ist but to this day I still don’t know what I ended up doing with my tin of cards and stuff. Ah well. There are also more than a few cards of ghost horses lurking by the water, so Lurelei is based on what I remembered of those, as well as myths of creatures like Kelpies. I really like fish horses/merhorses in general so I’m surprised I didn’t design more.

Speckle - We love spotty horses!!! And since the “plot” of Clovenglade takes place during a celebration/festival I wanted to theme a card around that, so the playful and silly Speckle has the honor.

Shatter - Needed more dark, edgy horses. So, we have Shatter. Not much to say about his design since it’s by far the most simple, but I imagine he lives in the woods and can talk to wolves.

Amalthea - Based directly on the unicorn from The Last Unicorn, and the art is referenced from one of the famous Unicorn Tapestries, which is also featured in the film’s opening. Amalthea’s design is based on the film, but certain details like her seafoam color and the lilac wood are references to details from the book.

AND AS PROMISED: THE GAME STATUS UPDATE... Nearly all of the graphics are done, I just need to finish one more room backdrop. I’ve also started tinkering with Adventure Game Studio and learning how to use it, and I do have my first playable build of the first room, I have an NPC working, I have a collectable working. And that’s a big chunk of what functionalities I’ll have in the game (still need to figure out switching between areas and editing some of the movement since the default controls are a tad.... slidey?), so I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to get everything working smoothly. I’m also intending to bring my computer with me next week-ish? When I go to visit my girlfriend, so we can work on the game together, as she’s the one who recommended AGS to me.

So, once I finish that initial version, it’s just a matter of making different edits with the different playable horses, as well as their exclusive dialogues and items and such, and exporting them for use on my website. So, unless something goes horribly wrong, the game should be pretty easy to finish up once I’m into the swing of things. It’s really exciting to be making a “real game” and I’m excited for everyone to be able to walk around in the world of Clovenglade just like how I was able to in North of North in my youth. I’m really really excited for this project, it’s one of the most ambitious things I have planned for the site.

Also in a couple days I'm going to my first Renaissance Faire so I'm super hyped for that as well! I'll be sure to write up a huge blog post about that too :D

UPDATE FROM 3/23/24 - Wellwellwell I decided to try and test out my first build on Neocities to make sure everything's compatible and, uh, whoops- turns out that most of the associated files are supporter-only! So it looks like I'll need to get a supporter subscription to host my game. I'm not too upset, I'd been meaning to for a while and getting to host stuff like audio and stuff myself rather than externally will be very nice, but I would like to take a moment to plug my Kofi. If just one person decides to send me a donation per month, that's the whole cost covered, which is pretty sweet. No pressure of course and no one is obligated to donate! But since work has continued to cut my hours and all that I just wanted to mention it :)


3/14/24 - The End of My TamaNOTchi Journey

Awfully dramatic title, but as of today I’ve officially “100%ed” TamaNOTchi, in that I’ve raised one of every species + gender variant and got them every equip item (the highest is the Candy Dip, at 5k clicks). I started on my journey around when ownership of the site got transferred, I think last June? with my Pixmao Bela, so it took around 9 months to do this. You could definitely do this faster since earlier on I was averaging about 50 clicks a day, but later I tried to hit a stride of around 250. I have been... weirdly invested in getting All Of Them. Well, now my 6th tamanotchi, Caper, has hit the milestone! Yippeeeee!

Also also! Looks like I hit more than 3,000 unique visitors on my site, that’s really exciting...! It’s hard to imagine 3,000 different people, it’s really an unfathomable number for lil’ ol’ me. I’m truly thankful!

Also I had a lovely date today, showing my girlfriend the true jank of Wolfquest 2.5, snuggling, and we also went to Olive Garden :) I had a delicious berry sangria and a tasty tiramisu and some alfredo and salad and everything. I LOVE SANGRIA. Sangria and cider are like, the top two alcoholic drinks ever, to me.

Not much else to share, but the progress on the next update to Clovenglade is chugging along nicely! Most of the graphics are done which is probably the most time consuming part, I hope.

I dunno, I’m just in an awfully chipper mood right now :)


3/8/24 - Small March Status Update

OOF I haven’t blogposted in quite a while!!! (Partially because I spent part of the last week being sick and miserable lol) Well since I have several projects cooking up I should probably ??? share what’s going on and what I’m working on.

So, the third creepypasta is still being worked on. I have the beginning bit and the ending bit finished; the middle connective part is what I’m struggling with. I know what happens but writing everything out is the hard part! But I try to work on it a little every day, so it’ll get finished eventually.

Second, and this is the huge one... I think near the beginning of the year I mentioned wanting to make some kind of walkaround/riding game for Clovenglade... Well, plans are underway, since I found a perfect tool for it that I can use to make it playable in-browser and everything: Adventure Game Studio! I’m working on getting all the assets done first so that when I actually get into the coding bit I have all the pieces I need, plus I’ll be sunk cost fallacied into not getting too intimidated to finish it. Because I drew all those sprites, you know? I’m halfway done with the player character sprites but those are definitely the most complicated ones so it should be smoother sailing after that. Creating something that replicates the feelings I had for Bella Sara Adventures will be so fun and exciting! Fingers crossed that I learn the interface quickly and easily haha. But once I figure out the basics of “put NPCs and collectable items in a room” and “let the player move between different rooms” it should be easy peasy. It’s something I think that would really “complete” Clovenglade. (And if I really take to it maybe I’ll make more point and click stuff for the site? Could be fun.)

The Pokepasta shrine I’ve been talking about wanting to make is on the backburner until these two projects are completed, but to give you an idea of what it would be like, it’s probably going to be most similar to The Wolf’s Den in style and format. But once I finish that, I was thinking about making an interactive digital witch altar where you could click and drag stones and plants and stuff around, and it would come with a spellbook of silly “digital spells” simply because I think it would be fun and cute.

I put in an availability request at my job so I might get more hours, so I may end up being more busy. We’ll see, we’ll see. But the aim there is to gradually ramp up how much I’m working in a week as I prepare for Getting A House Maybe(?!?!?!?)

I feel like early this year I haven’t really been super focused regarding web stuff simply because there’s just a lot going on in my life but it feels good to be getting back into the swing of things and having a big project to work towards. Like, I have direction, which is nice. We’ll see how it all shakes out ^_^



FEBRUARY 2024
2/27/24 - Pokemon Day! Wahoo!

I woke up like 15 minutes before the annual Pokemon livestream so I watched it then and there. As far as announcements go, there surprisingly weren’t very many, beyond the usual “we have an event going on on our Apps” stuff and what have you. The actual new stuff was a TCG app (which I don’t really have much interest in) and... a Legends game taking place in Kalos?! HUH?

All throughout the stream i could have SWORN they were teasing Johto, but I guess I was wrong! And I’ve never been so pleased to be proven wrong, honestly. Kalos kind of needed a revisit, fans have been lamenting the lack of a “Pokemon Z” for years, and seeing beloved mechanics like Mega Evolutions return will be pretty nice. Lumiose seems to be the hub city similar to Jubilife. Other than that, and the title, Legends Z-A, they’ve been fairly sparse on details. No gameplay footage yet. I've also seen some speculation that it might be taking place in the future rather than the past...! We'll have to see.

HOWEVER... The most exciting thing to me? The 2025 release date, especially since there aren’t any other upcoming games in 2024 from Gamefreak, meaning Z-A will get all the focus and dev time. It seems like the rumours about wanting to reduce the blistering release schedule are true, and I hope they take all the time they need to make Z-A as best as it can be. They might actually be listening! (Watch as it comes out in January and I have to eat my words, lol)

So my overall thoughts are that it looks promising and I hope they take their time.

ALSO I finally finished all the research tasks for my Hisui dex! Yay!! So I have the Shiny Charm now :) So now all that stands in the way of 100% completion are the last few Path of Solitude quests and the final star rank which I need around 5,000 EXP to get. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?! ...Right?

My new GBA has been treating me nicely as well so I’ve been playing some Leaf Green, I intend to finish the post-game quests at some point so that’s my goal once I’m finished with everything in Arceus. I’ve also been playing Pokemon Pinball RS because I was like “well why not?” and loaded it onto my flashcart. It’s pretty fun when I’m bored.

Ah, other news... Peeper has a hole in him D: It’s where his incision was made, the stitching came loose so we are going to have to restitch him next time we see each other. His fabric is made of a kind of weird faux fur material so it keeps stressing me out even if the hole is pretty small. The initial stitching was a bit rushed/sloppy according to my gf so we are going to give him a tighter, stronger ladder stitch, which should hopefully hold up better to snuggling. It’s only a small issue but my brain is of course taking this seed of worry and planting a whole garden out of it -_-

Edit 2/29/24 - Peeper has been repaired! He's nice and sturdy now and as a result of the strong stitching one of his legs is very cutely off-kilter. He looks like he's prancing, it's adorable!

That’s all for now. Nothing huge to report with regards to my job or anything, Still working on the third and final chapter to my loose creepypasta trilogy, but writer’s block is a bitch rn..!


2/24/24 - Bella Sara Divination (A Very Silly Idea)

I was talking about my personal tarot readings with my girlfriend and came around to joking about using trading cards for divination (for example Pokemon) and then I mentioned that Bella Sara feels almost purpose-built for that kind of idea, what with the inspirational quotes and everything. So just for fun I decided to make a sort of “guide” for reading Bella Sara cards. Since there are so many cards I mostly wanted to make a framework that would apply to any card if pulled, and for whatever spread you like.

-The quote is the most direct communication of the card’s message. Motifs within the card can be used to clarify its intent or interpreted to apply to your life.

-Is the horse in motion or is it still? A horse in motion can indicate that the message is to be applied to a future change and upcoming chaos; a horse that is still or serene may indicate meditation on your current situation.

-Does the card feature the sky, the sea, or the land most prominently? The sky can represent external emotional conflict. The sea can represent internal emotional conflict. The land can represent the physical and material.

-Color motifs, though this is more up to interpretation, what does the color make YOU think of? How does it make YOU feel?

-Is it night or day? The day is exuberant, the night is introspective and quiet.

-The presence of other beings or creatures can indicate outside assistance or influence from those in your life.

-Holofoil or shiny elements mean that the influences of the card are particularly strong and wide-reaching.

For example, let's take this Thunder card. Say the person reading it is on the verge of taking a new job which pays better, but would have to leave their current employment, which has thus far been stable and reliable.

Thunder’s message indicates facing this with courage, the stormy sky and the red color indicating the chaos of the change. Thunder is in motion, but moving in a controlled and poised way, he is walking forward with determination rather than galloping with his head reared- he is handling the chaos.

This card could indicate to move forward with the change, but keep level-headed about it, as it may be tumultuous.

This was mostly just for giggles but if anyone does decide to use this idea please let me know how it works for you.


2/22/24 - The Last of the Birthday Revelries (+ the story of peeper the wolf)

Though my birthday was like half a week ago, some celebrations yet remained, as I had still yet to receive gifts from my Beloved Girlfriend... God I just want to gush about how sweet she is and how considerate her gifts are.

The first and most impressive one: a GBA SP! I had been needing another means to play my GBA games since my DS Lite’s GBA slot is a bit fucked. And it’s so cute, it’s dark blue with a yellow star pendant attached to it, almost like a beautiful night sky. AND she also got me a Pokemon Silver copy to test it out with and... GUYS she totally Lost Silver’d me!!! The classic prank. (the save file being “...” and being totally empty except for a Cyndaquil named HURRY made me smile a lot). Gen 2 always kind of stressed me out to think about playing because it’s sort of ticking time bomb with regards to the save battery but I think 7ish years is more than enough time to enjoy the game and use one of the many, MANY methods to back up a save file when the time comes (there are definitely warning signs for when the battery starts to go, from what I’ve read). I feel like digital impermanence is something I stress about a lot compared to most people. I have a lot of empathy for inanimate or digital things. I dunno, just some thoughts I’ve been kicking around lately :P

I also received some Pokemon cards (and I pulled a holo Zoroark which made me smile) and some hand sanitizer (always wanted/needed since I’m a bit of a clean freak with a handwashing compulsion :P) an Amazon gift card, a delicious sushi dinner, and, the most “Noa-specific” gift ever: Peeper!!!

Peeper needs some explaining. So, as some attentive readers may know, WolfQuest is one of my favorite games ever, and my gf also dabbles in wolfing and questing, mostly to play multiplayer with me. Well, we wanted to do co-op pup rearing, and what they don’t tell you about that is that it’s definitely balanced around more than 2 players... Our poor litter of puppies was easily fed and mostly well defended... Until the stranger wolves. They picked them off one by one as we struggled to keep up, diligently keeping our remaining offspring fed and protected, until there was one: our little brown puppy Peeper. And we defended him with our lives.

However... Just as we were on the verge of finishing the final mission of the game and reaching “Endless Summer”... The Rescue Creek pack attacked once more. I was away on a hunting patrol, and while carrying a freshly-killed fawn back to the territory... Peeper was slain before I could return. And because he was our last pup, we lost the game, and we were promptly booted out of the session.

We mourned. My gf hadn’t thought to make any saves while we were playing, so we assumed he was lost... until we remembered the deeply ephemeral autosaves. If there was one where Peeper was still alive he may yet be saved. And so, we scrambled to rescue him. There were two autosaves, one mere moments after he was killed, and one mere moments before. And so she reloaded, and we snatched him from the jaws of death. With our ritual, Peeper finally was able to live once more! (And we made sure to make a proper save.)

Anyway, why is this story relevant? Well, one of her gifts was a plush wolf with an SD card containing the save file, screenshots, and our messages to Peeper stitched inside (+ a tea bag so he smells like the tea we had on our first ever date (Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice)... He smells SO GOOD I can’t stop sniffing him ToT). She apparently put the SD card inside him during a candlelit ritual and I find this like, so deeply profound? Like he’s our pup. In the flesh. He’s gone beyond an in-game construct, he is a sort of spirit given effigy. (This definitely ties into my general feelings about empathy for the inanimate and digital preservation, it’s something that’s very important to me...)

Peeper lives; Peeper is an idea; Peeper is eternal.

Peeper is the cutest wolf pup in the entire world.

ALSO I couldn’t find where to put this but YESTERDAY in Legends Arceus I finally found a shiny Zorua! My dream shiny!!! He’s so cute, I named him Angel and he is now my best friend. I don’t intend to evolve him, but if I find another shiny I may evolve that one into Zoroark. (I’ve been finding a lot of shiny ghost types in Legends lately...)


2/19/24 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEE

Yay it’s my birthday :) I’m going to pick out a cake later today and I’ve already opened the presents from my family... Though of course the biggest present is one I was already allowed to open (my new laptop!!!) so all the ones left to open today are smaller gifts since the laptop was quite expensive.

The spoils included a dragon figurine, several books including an illuminated manuscript style Pokedex, and a Sandman collection, a mouse for my new computer, and new JoyCons for my switch. I’m surprised I’ve managed this long without having to replace them! The amount of drift on my old ones is manageable and mildly annoying but it’s nice having new ones, particularly since they’re the orange and purple ones :D Pairing them to my switch this morning was a bit of a wakeup call with regards to how bad the drift had actually gotten though, and how much I had trained myself around it lol

I’ve already been out for an early birthday dinner at a local French restaurant, and enjoyed some escargot, scallops, and profiteroles. But I’ve also got plans to go and have a big sushi dinner with my girlfriend later this week, which I am quite excited for!!!

But I think the real birthday gift is knowing how much promise this year holds. Finally moving out feels like it’s really in reach and a lot of things in my life are seeming like they’re on the right track.

I love you all! Have a nice day :)


2/15/24 - FIRST ANNIVERSARY!!!!

IT’S OFFICIAL- My website is now one year old!!! It’s surreal to imagine keeping this going this long, especially trying to put myself in the shoes of when I first started the site (exactly a year ago). It’s kind of funny how much things changed over the past year for me.

I just want to say thanks to everyone who visits and supports my creative endeavors, I’ve put a little bit of my soul out for you to see, and you’ve all been so kind.

As a special treat, here’s a picture of my website around when it first began... Isn’t that such a garish purple?! The contrast on those links... Is just awful. It’s kind of cute.

Well, here’s to another year. And five more, and ten, and as many as I can keep the site going come hell or high water >:) Happy birthday, wygolvillage.neocities.org!


2/10/24 - Theorizing about what’s to come in the current Warrior Cats arc

Since the Warriors website has finally- FINALLY!- revealed the blurb, title and cover for the upcoming 6th book in A Starless Clan (before we even got book 5 no less) I figured I would write down my theories for how things might end...

First, I think Frostpaw will become a leader. Riverclan has very few interesting characters who feel like leader material, and she’s by far the most central character in the arc’s drama. Seeing her rise to dethrone Splashtail would be extremely narratively satisfying, and it would make a lot of things in the arc, like her connection to Riverstar and the fact that the leader chosen will be an “unexpected” candidate (like an apprentice who never even got a full name, perhaps?), make a lot of sense and click together. It’s also nice to see that sort of progression, with the main character going from a naive apprentice to a strong leader ready to lead Riverclan into a new era. I mean, she’s on the cover of the last book, and it IS called Star...

If not Frostpaw, I think Nightheart might be the candidate, but I think I would like it a lot less, mostly because it feels like his arc is kind of dependent on him realizing he wants to remain in Thunderclan. I do see it as a possibility, though, with how he was chosen by prophecy to be Frostpaw’s companion on the journey to the park cats, and how he would be equally “unexpected”. But I feel like having his arc end with him becoming leader like Firestar would either be cool in a sort of “living up to the legacy not by upholding tradition and imitating his forebearer, but rather by being himself” way, or being extremely lame in an “everyone was right to expect this of him” way.

As for Sunbeam... I think with the way the arc has been playing with the idea of her viewing her own value and place in the world in the context of idealized romantic relationships (as well as overcoming that fault), my biggest hope is that she breaks things off with Nightheart but remains in Thunderclan, as well as close friends with him due to their shared experiences. I think Berryheart will probably come back as a secondary threat, and Sunbeam will grow into her own and express her opinions and defy Berryheart more openly, and be given the big moment of defeating her mother once and for all, or at least that’s my very idealistic theory for how it plays out. Realistically I think she might remain mates with Nightheart, but I do think she’s going to remain in Thunderclan with how much emphasis has been put on how much it feels like home to her. I also hope that Sunbeam and Frostpaw get some kind of interaction, I think a side effect from the split POV between the clans is that the authors, like, forget to have the main characters interact with each other (see: Bristlefrost and Shadowsight)

Curlfeather... I’m kind of intrigued by her since a lot of attention has been given to her loving Frostpaw despite the ways she had lied to her, and how she has given Frostpaw visions while being a Dark Forest cat. I think that she might posthumously redeem herself after seeing how Frostpaw was hurt by her ambitions? I dunno, we’ll see. I think she’s a fascinating character, all signs point to her having a lot more nuance than people think. I don't think she will be purely good, but I do think that she will likely try to atone for her involvement with Splashtail. Maybe she’ll be able to give a life to the cat who becomes Riverclan’s leader?

Also I really hate to say it but I’m so worried that Squirrelstar is a fakeout and that she didn’t get her 9 lives. The framing of her ceremony seems so odd, and I really hope not because I’ve been waiting for her to be leader for YEARS she really deserves it.

Well, that’s all for now. It’s kinda funny I think I’ve been “fandom posting” a lot more on my blog lately, i wonder if that’s because I would have otherwise posted this kind of thing on Tumblr in the past...?


2/9/24 - Some exciting stuff!

WELL WELL WELL I have some really good news, and that’s that it’s looking likely that my girlfriend and I will be able to live in a house for $1200 a month, which is not bad at all :0 We had been hoping to get an apartment but the surprise Possible House is even better. It’s right in the area we already live so I don’t have to worry too much about changing where I work or anything, and it’s a really nice place. It’s just a matter of if/when the current resident moves out... Fingers crossed!

My job is going okay but I’m not hyped for this weekend, given that it’s the Super Bowl and inevitably everyone’s gonna want their chicken tender sub @_@ I have two 8 hour shifts this weekend and everything. Woof. I’ve also been getting less hours lately, and I like having time off and it’s normal for it to be slow season rn, but I kind of wish this wasn’t happening as I’m gearing up to get moved out (HOPEFULLY). If I really need to I’ll ask my managers about it, they’re pretty nice as far as managers go.

My Hisui dex is going good, I’ve finished the entries for 152/242 Pokemon, so there’s still a ways to go but it’s nice to relax and unwind by working on 5-10 dex entries every day. I’ve also done every sidequest apart from most of the path of solitude ones. The Ultimate Balloon Race was really tough but a lot of fun to finally triumph over :) It’s kind of funny I basically put the game down as soon as I had caught Arceus at the time that I had gotten it, but it only makes returning all the sweeter :D Also also! I found two more random shinies!!! A Drifloon and a Haunter... I swear my shiny luck isn’t rigged... (Still hoping for a shiny Zorua someday)

Also if you haven’t seen it yet, a second Pokemon creepypasta has mysteriously appeared in the library oooooh... I’m really glad I’ve been getting back into writing, for years I had such extreme writer’s block that it just feels good to finish something.

And... My website’s birthday is coming up!!! And mine as well lol. The 15th and 19th respectively. It feels surreal that a year later a project I started on a whim is still going strong <3 It's also hard to believe we're also already a third of the way through february already...



JANUARY 2024
1/24/24 - NEW COMPUTER!!!

An very brief, late night update- I’ve gotten one of my birthday presents a bit early, which is a pretty expensive high end laptop. Not exactly a Gaming Laptop but it can run WolfQuest a lot smoother than my old desktop. This means I’m not sharing my computer with my sibling anymore and I have a lot more time to update and work on things. It’s also nice being able to snuggle up in bed with my computer!

I feel like a lot of my plans and ideas I outlined in my new years posts have gotten out on the backburner. I very suddenly got my interest in writing back, so a lot of what I’ve got cooking up is related to that. I’m also weirdly fixated on edgy Pokemon creepypastas right now so I’m considering making a shrine page... We’ll see we’ll see. I’m also nearly at a month without social media now which is pretty exciting. Mostly I’m just chilling.

huh I thought I’d have more to write right now. Can I just mention how weird setting up a computer is now? So many preinstalled programs I’ll never use @_@


1/21/24 - Another Day, Another Goth Concert

Welp it's been a good while since early October but I’ve finally attended another live music event (featuring one of the bands from the music festival I went to, Astari Nite!!) Like usual I’ve refrained from looking too deep into the opening acts I wasn't familiar with prior, and the two opening bands (IAMYOU and Obsidian) did not disappoint.

The venue was particularly fun since it was split in two halves, a bar and restaurant and then the actual live music area itself. So we got to have dinner before the doors opened, and I had the absolute crispiest, tastiest cuban I’ve had maybe ever? Before we went I was looking at the menu and someone left like an 1000+ word essay about how good the cuban was and honestly I get it. After dinner we got into the concert hall and on the way in the singer from Astari Nite said hi to me, which was really cool... I just said “hey!” back but internally I was quite starstruck lol

The first band up was IAMYOU which is notably pretty hard to track down online and they were selling thumb drives with their music at the merch table, lending an air of mystique which I respect but... Oh my god please get on bandcamp... ANYWAY their dark synthetic sound and frantic, pleading vocals were really atmospheric and the first thing that comes to mind is “being trapped underground and being extremely cold”, at an emotional level. The performance with the large mirror was particularly memorable. I wish I could share their music with you more easily!

Obsidian I was also not too familiar with but HOLY SHIT that has to be goth rock at its absolute pinnacle. Every note felt absolutely perfect and I was dancing like crazy (apparently my dancing earned me a thumbs up from the keyboardist so that's Noa Gets Starstruck Moment #2 of the night). Also can I just say I love goth rock with metal-esque screaming? It’s not common at all but it always sounds AMAZING, not something you’d expect to be such a match made in heaven.

Astari Nite was the headliner and they were just as good as they were at the music festival, it was nice to see them perform again and they played some of my favorites which was really nice.

All in all an amazing night! Shoutout to live music!!!


1/16/24 - A Short List of Favorite Songs

So, real oldheads(?) will remember I used to have a page called “the Record Box” where I filled up an SCM player widget with a bunch of music I really like, until Youtube broke it, because apparently they hate the idea of playing youtube videos outside of their website. (Has anyone else noticed that? Like, lately when I try to play an embedded video it doesn’t work most of the time and just tells me to open it in youtube.) So, yeah, the Record Box is long gone which means I have no giant list of favorite songs on my site any more. A simple blog post may have to do... But this time it means I can write a short description of why I like each one, which is a little full circle, since that was my initial concept for my Record Box page before I found out about SCM player. I think I’ve narrowed down my list a bit...

This Ascension - Ashes Don’t Burn: This is my default answer when someone asks me what my favorite song is. I even have a funny story about first discovering it via a youtube recommendation I clicked on a whim, and suddenly getting blasted by The Most Beautiful Song In The World. I really do love songs where the main emotional focus is just sheer passion- even now when I listen I feel like I’m hearing the sound of an angel breaking free of a mortal shell. That’s a bit pretentious, so let’s just say this- This Ascension is a really good band, and Ashes Don’t Burn is, indeed, my favorite song.

The Shroud - Prophecy: Another one I randomly found on youtube one day, specifically I remember this was around the time I was really diving into the wider world of goth music. After finding it, I listened to it on repeat as I took walks around my neighborhood at night, when the weather was chilly enough to do that. I did that with a lot of other songs by The Shroud too, but Prophecy is still my favorite. I love how the lyrics paint this picture of a tormented prophetess who just wants to be normal, you know?

All About Eve - End of the Day: Another funny story with this one, I remember years and years ago I was listening to someone’s goth song compilations and mixes on youtube and hearing this absolutely beautiful song that I vaguely remembered having lyrics about the sun and the day. I tried to find it again much later but the mix I heard it on had been taken down due to copyright, so I assumed I’d never hear it again... And then, much much later, as I was listening to All About Eve on shuffle to get a feel for their music, there it was. As soon as I heard the “A golden sky, a golden sunset” part, I knew: I had found it again. I hope the fact that I remembered it for years is a suitable endorsement.

The Cure - Lullaby: One of the first Cure songs I remember listening to and still my favorite. It’s got such a good groove too it and who doesn’t love a song about being eaten by spiders?

This Burning Effigy - Communion with Sophia: As you can probably tell I go down a lot of rabbit holes discovering music I haven’t heard yet, and this was one of them. One thing I like about This Burning Effigy is how big and echoey some of their songs can be, almost “gothic” in the “gothic cathedral” sense. God, what an awesome song.

The Mission - Severina: Not much to say honestly, just a really good song. Goth songs where the chorus is just howling some lady’s name always go hard for some reason...

New Order - True Faith: Again, not much to say, I’ve just always liked this one. I hear it on the radio a lot.

Cocteau Twins - Musette and Drums: One of my favorites of Cocteau Twins’ darker sound. The wall of sound and anguished vocals are everything.

Cocteau Twins - Persephone: See above!

Switchblade Symphony - Clown: Again, not much to say. Huh, I thought I’d have more. But I love how spiteful it sounds, like the song itself is mocking you.

The Changelings - Earthquake at Versailles: My mom gave me the CD for the album this one was on around Halloween years and years ago and I was obsessed with it ever after.

Bauhaus - The Passion of Lovers: My favorite Bauhaus song... I remember I was listening to it a lot when things were really ramping up in Dracula Daily in 2022 so I always sort of associate it with Lucy Westenra.

Oingo Boingo - Dead Man’s Party: The first song I remember considering as a “favorite”, when I was very very young (and literally in preschool... damn). And I still love it!!!

Autumn - How it Came to Be This Way: I discovered this band a year or so ago and their album “The Hating Tree” is absolutely to die for :)

Kate Bush - Cloudbusting: I thought long and hard about which Kate Bush song to include since she’s one of my favorite musicians EVER, but I ended up going with Cloudbusting because of the lush strings.

So yeah, that’s my list :)


1/11/24 - The Indigo Disc Review + Epilogue

I wasn't sure what to expect from Blueberry Academy when I booted up the new Pokemon DLC update about a week after it actually came out. I wanted to wait until I was really in the mood for Pokemon since I think that's when Pokemon really is the most fun for me. If you read my final 2023 blog post and kept up with my status updates you’ll have heard about a few of my exploits in the Indigo Disc, particularly all the shinies I found, but that really only scratched the surface of all the content in this second installment.

Perrin, the NPC who unlocks the Bloodmoon Beast for you, returns, now tasking you with catching 200 different Pokemon. Expecting something as breezy as her task in Kitakami, I set to work catching ‘em all as my first priority, since I suspected that completing her task would unlock something cool (and it did, I got two legendaries out of it in the end). But you can't just catch every Pokemon you see, you have to unlock more biodiversity in the Terarium by doing sidequests for BP. The system where you can upgrade the league club and receive cool bonuses by spending your BP is really neat in theory, but realistically if you want to catch the new legendary paradox Pokemon Raging Bolt and Gouging Fire, you realistically will need to put all your BP towards the steep 3,000 price to upgrade each biome, so I haven't gotten the opportunity to truly explore this system and all the interesting things I can get from it. The tasks themselves are simple enough and I especially like all the photography quests where you're tasked with photographing a certain kind of Pokemon, or one performing a specific action like swimming or flying. I will however take a moment to complain about how the raid exclusive paradox Pokemon aren't DLC content, as I assumed they were. When Iron Leaves and Walking Wake were first rolled out, I was actually unable to complete the raid to catch Walking Wake since the raids, especially the high level ones, are balanced around multiplayer. This wouldn't be a problem, except that on the Switch, multiplayer requires an online subscription, which I frankly refuse to pay for- this was a free service for the DS and 3DS. So I just gave up since I could barely get through half of its healthbar, and I’m still pretty sour about the experience where I could have potentially missed out permanently on such a cool Pokemon. Thankfully they returned to raids in late December so I could finally reclaim the paradox Suicune, but this shouldn't be the precedent, especially because you can capture the other two members of their respective trios whenever you want in the DLC. It's all fine and dandy now, but what happens once they aren't bothering to push out new raids every so often? I’ve always had this sort of problem with event Pokemon, and locking one behind being able to perform well at the game is itself somewhat even more user-unfriendly. Anyway...

The Terarium itself is... decent, I thought Kitakami was better. I think the four biomes could have benefitted from a little more diversity (maybe 6 or so instead?) but the actual designs are pretty cool. I especially like the bright blue water and barely visible coral in the Coastal Biome, as well as seeing Mandibuzz and Vullaby nests in the Savanna. When I heard we would be in Unova I was really excited because that's my “home region” so to speak, but Blueberry Academy and the Terarium reminded me more of Galar aesthetically if anything. Hearing new remixes of songs from Black and White did get me though. Obviously they couldn't have included the whole of Unova, but including a small section like the first few areas added in BW2 would have gone a long way. Maybe they're saving that for remakes (even though I’m still hoping for a Johto revisit first...) I was also surprised that there weren't any Unova character cameos afaik, considering how many of them would fit right in as teachers at the academy. I mean, Cheren literally is a teacher, and Lenora could teach archeology, etc... Felt a bit like a missed opportunity, considering how back in the DS and 3DS era there were tons of character cameos in other regions which made the games feel like a more connected world. I did notice Pokemon interacting and showcasing unique behaviours a bit more in this DLC, like seeing a Zangoose get into a fight with a Seviper, which is pretty neat. I also like the addition of the Syncro Machine, getting to run around as a Pokemon just makes me very happy. I also like that Meloetta is now no longer an event exclusive, and I hope this sort of thing continues like how Deoxys, Mew, Jirachi, Keldeo, Arceus and more can now be caught without limited time events through various means. I much prefer having them be special encounters in the DLC areas or rewards for having multiple games’ saves, especially because you can borrow cartridges from your friends to get most of those particular bonuses with little effort. Limited time content just sucks and I hope this pattern of moving away from time-limited mythicals continues.

The puzzles included for the elite four are pretty fun, I was surprised they were about on par with the minigames you get to play before the gyms in the main campaign. I quite liked the trading sequence in Crispin’s trial, the replayable flying minigame which makes me want to replay Pokepark Wii, and Drayton’s challenge to only use Pokemon you caught in the Terarium, though I wish that extended to his actual boss fight as well. The battles themselves were pretty fun. I always love double battling and they showcased some interesting strategies (the Harvest Exeggutor was a particularly memorable one)- I particularly like that they aren't monotype teams either, I wish all teams for gym leaders and such were like this and were more varied and balanced in this way. I also thought the battle against Kieran was also enjoyable (I especially love his unique dialogue if you decided to use Ogerpon! It's a nice attention to detail). His new haircut is a little goofy though.

With the league defeated, it's time to head to Area Zero next and finally find out what's the deal with that turtle thing? Area Zero is one of my favorite locations in the Paldea games so having the opportunity to explore further and discover more lore was definitely a welcome one. The new depths of Area Zero are pretty short but they're suitably pretty and mysterious as a set piece for the final act. And I loved how they finished Kieran’s arc, where he finally learns he isn't inferior- because his support is what allows you to finally triumph over the out of control Terapagos. And what else does he use but his ace Hydrapple- a Pokemon that evolves by learning a support move! It's just so smartly done and I think having the DLCs tie into each other was a really good decision. The ending is satisfying and all the battles are consistently quite fun. I particularly like how the final Terapagos battle has it switching type constantly without telling you which type, it was a nice challenge, and it just felt right catching it in a Dream Ball. (Whenever there's a guaranteed catch I like using my unique Pokeballs on that) You also get some nice bonuses for finishing the DLC story like the super fun legendary flight mechanics, unlimited tera charge, legendaries to catch (which I caught in all premiere balls because I am crazy), and some new story content. You also unlock the hardest mode for the flight course, which is a much faster way to gain BP.

When I reviewed the Teal Mask I said that whether the DLC was worth it would depend on how well Indigo Disc delivers. Well, I think it absolutely makes good on its promise. I really do think the best thing to do is to take your time and really enjoy it and all the new features and mechanics it brings to the table. I especially like how well it ties its story to that of the main game without feeling like too essential a piece of the puzzle, so those that don't have the DLC still have a complete story. And I especially liked how Kieran’s arc was handled. The DLC basically gave me everything I was hoping for! But the story wasn’t over yet. Today, a final epilogue chapter was released, featuring the new Pokemon Pecharunt.

...And, unfortunately, the “Mythical Pecha Berry” item to trigger it is a mystery gift, though there hasn’t been any indication it’s on “limited time”, this still kind of sucks, since it means an internet connection is required, and it may even be locked away if the Switch’s online functionality gets shut down. It’s really a shame that not only are Pokemon being locked behind events, but substantial story content as well!! Well, on to the content itself... I was already smiling as I realized that I’d be teaming up with Arven, Penny and Nemona again, my friends from the main story. It’s pretty nice seeing them all hanging out together again after everything that happened in Area Zero and just being kids and having fun. (I will add, this wasn’t an intentional addition of the new content but heading back to my house in the dusk on Koraidon’s back was just magical. The lighting in this game can be pretty at times...) It makes me kind of wish the main friend group was a part of the DLC, though I also kind of liked that the DLC told its own story. Seeing Kieran after his whole character arc was also really nice. I always forget how much I appreciate the characters in Scarlet and Violet, there’s something a bit cozy about seeing all of them again. The possession storyline was really silly and fun too, and the battles were a fun excuse to test out my newer team members- I particularly like how heavily the battles focused on poisoning, for thematic reasons. It was almost like a kid-friendly horror scenario with the whole mochi curse and I’m all for it. Kieran getting to be in a more heroic role was also nice to see. Arven being just lucid enough to be embarassed by the goofy possession behaviour also got a genuine laugh out of me. The super high leveled rematch against Nemona was also appreciated! Maybe I’m just high leveled, though, but the Pecharunt boss fight itself was a little easy- my shiny Kingambit shreds through that HP bar easily. As for Pecharunt itself, I think the concept of “evil mind control Momotaro” is just funny enough to work, and the way it ties into the lore of the Loyal Three and Ogerpon was neat. This is probably the most substantial story we’ve gotten for a mythical Pokemon in a long time and it’s definitely welcome, though the limited nature of Pokemon events very much is not.

So, yeah... Like I said in my Teal Mask review, I mentioned how I wish that this kind of stuff was just post-game instead of DLC, and in the past this sort of thing would just be post-game content. Still, even if you think about it that way, The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero would be one of the best post-games in the series. Is it worth it? Sure! Do I wish this wasn’t behind a paywall? Absolutely. It feels like whenever I want to gush about a new Pokemon related thing there has to be some huge asterisk, be it the matter of the mystery gifts or the DLC or whatever. It's an odd feeling.

Now that (presumably) all the story and content in Scarlet and Violet are finished, I think my next goal in Pokemon is to boot up Legends Arceus again and finally finish up my dex. While I have caught every Pokemon, I haven’t actually gotten every dex entry via research tasks, or my maximum Star Ranking, and I’ve really been hankering to play in Hisui again. I also have a couple ideas for other blog posts cooking up so be on the lookout for that.

And to my readers: thanks for putting up with me, lol


1/5/24 - Noa Continues to Ramble About Pokemon: My Vision for a “Legends Celebi”

Sorry for all the Pokemon related posts on the blog lately ;^_^ You know how special interests can surprise attack you out of nowhere... Well, I think I’ve mentioned before that Legends Arceus is one of my favorite Pokemon games. I think it’s got such a refreshing take on the Pokemon formula and truly brings the Sinnoh region to life. While Unova is my favorite region, Sinnoh and Johto are always neck and neck for my second favorite, and, hey, isn’t Johto due for a revisit sometime soon, like how Kanto got two remakes? I’ve been thinking a lot about how well Johto would fit the atmosphere and gameplay of Legends, and I honestly hope that “Legends Celebi” happens... someday.

Celebi is the perfect excuse to bring the player character through time, much like in Legends Arceus, and the theme of past and future also makes it thematically consistent with both Legends Arceus and the recent Scarlet and Violet. Rather than timespace distortions in the style of Arceus, where beings are pulled from the future, the player could be able to jump to different spots in time themselves (with “past” and “future” variants on specific areas in the game with their own encounters and settings). The Johto games have a strong emphasis on the passing of time and nature vs technology already. As for regional forms and new Pokemon, there’s already a beloved Pokedex full of scrapped Johto Pokemon from the Spaceworld demo! It would be a perfect opportunity to breathe some life into those old designs. But there’s also the question of which era the main gameplay would take place in. Would it take place in the timeline a couple decades before Gen I, with a much younger Giovanni as a key player? (Celebi does allow you to meet Giovanni in HGSS after all) Or would it take place much further in the past, with the story of the Unown and possibly even Sinjoh (to tie in with Legends Arceus)? Or perhaps even around the time the Burnt Tower was destroyed and the legendary beasts were reborn, which seems like the most likely candidate? Johto has such a rich and mysterious history that it’s really hard to decide. But with Celebi as the central Pokemon, the ability to travel between multiple times and their own story campaigns makes the possibilities infinite. This would probably necessitate a smaller world to explore than in Hisui or Paldea, since there would be multiple versions of that world based on which time period, but if it was detailed enough and the different times were exciting enough to engage with, I wouldn’t complain.

So my vision is this: The player character is from the era of Gold and Silver, and is pulled back in time by Celebi while wandering the Ilex Forest, to the era shortly before the Brass Tower is burnt (with the pre-death version of the Legendary Beasts being a newly introduced species of Pokemon, which are extinct in modern Johto apart from the ascended trio.) This is the era where the main gameplay takes place, and goals involving filling the Pokedex and fighting real-time boss battles akin to the Hisuian Nobles are completed, but when the player travels to certain locations during the story (possibly while trying to find Celebi in order to return home) Celebi will pull them into either the ancient past of Sinjoh with a cryptic story on the history of the Unown, or into the “future” (which is technically still the past for the player character, but it’s the most technologically advanced map you can visit) which chronicles how a teenage Giovanni became who he is and Team Rocket was founded. Late in the game (possibly when you find Celebi) you gain the ability to swap between maps at will, but before that it’s tied exclusively to story progression. I imagine it sort of like a flow chart, like if you progress a Major Plot Beat in the main time period you then unlock the portals to either ancient Sinjoh or future Johto, with the game allowing you to complete those in whatever order you wish, but you must complete both before you can make progress in past Johto. This would allow the game to maintain its pacing and not resolve any one plot thread before they’re supposed to.

Once all three plotlines have climaxed- the player finally discovers the truth behind the Unown and the ancient civilization; the player witnesses Team Rocket’s beginnings; and the Brass Tower is burnt down and there’s some sort of climax involving Lugia and Ho-Oh leaving their respective towers and the player pursuing them. (Possibly even with Lugia and Ho-Oh having been recurring characters within the plot before this, while they still lived in the towers as local deities)- the player can find Celebi at a final dungeon, a surreal version of Ilex Forest that’s kind of detached from time. Celebi or some other character there then reveals that something you did during the plot helped stabilize the timeline (possibly there’s some villain character in the past era who was trying to cause some kind of paradox or seize control of the power of the Unown?) but that returning to your own timeline is now impossible since you are similarly as “time detached” as Celebi is. After an exciting boss fight, Celebi becomes your partner Pokemon and you can now travel freely between time, but never return home, as a sort of bittersweet ending. Maybe as a reward for 100%ing the game, the player can capture Mew and Mewtwo with their own boss battles and explore a smaller-sized Kanto based map, similar to how you can unlock Kanto in Gold and Silver.

Those are just some loose ideas though, I think the idea of Johto getting the Legends treatment has a lot of potential. I really hope that gen 2 gets at least a small revisit. I know people are guessing that we’re going to get Unova remakes next, but let’s not forget we haven’t seen Johto since the DS era either!


1/2/24 - What the New Year Brings

Happy 2024!!! I’m excited to see where this year takes me. Since this is my first post of the year, I figured it would be nice to list out some things I accomplished and was proud of in the past year, and list some future ideas I want to tackle.

I accomplished a lot in 2023- I began working on my own website, I’ve begun making plans to move out with my girlfriend, I’ve gotten a job and a car of my own, and I’ve learned a lot of new ways to creatively express myself. I’ve created a lot of new and interesting online projects and have gotten really into having my own online journal and “home”. I’ve also, very recently, quit social media. Yes, for real! On the last day of 2023 I said my farewell to Tumblr, because it wasn't making me happy anymore and I have plenty of alternatives to what I used to get out of it. I’ve also generally become more happy with myself, and I honestly feel like I’ve grown a lot over 2023.

What will 2024 hold? Well, I don't have any specific projects cooking up just yet. But I do have a small list of concepts I want to explore in the future, though most of these aren't going to necessarily be in the next year.

I want to add more interactive stuff to the website. Particularly, I’d love to add a sort of walk-around game to Clovenglade where the player can ride their chosen horse through the countryside and enjoy the sights and some NPC dialogue and so on. I’m not sure how I’ll accomplish this, but I’d especially like to have it seamlessly display the horse the player has chosen. Making something that's mechanically satisfying while still being able to be compatible with the rest of Clovenglade will be a challenge. I’m not sure when I’ll start attempting to act on this concept but I definitely have some ideas on the backburner there.

I also want to make some kind of potion cooking game and have been wanting to for a while. I want to make it so the player can select 2 or 3 different ingredients and get a different result depending on which they picked, and each potion has a different “effect”. I’m not sure how I’ll go about making this but I’d love to create something like this for my Arcade page. I’d also love to make some kind of dollmaker at some point, the hardest part would probably just be making all the assets lol

I also want to look into Twine! The Dungeon was one of the first projects I even finished for the site and I think making an expanded remake of it using Twine would be really cool sometime. I also think it would be cool to make a 3D page someday, and add an Oekaki board... But I’ve always found all the tutorials for implementing those really confusing. I’ll have to investigate further.

Again, no promises that any of this stuff is for sure coming in the next year, but that's just what’s been swimming around my head. My New Year's was pleasant, we made a pie and some snacks and I spent the night with my girlfriend. 2023 has been one of the happiest years of my life so I’m excited for what 2024 holds.



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