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Latest Posts by snadwick

The Depreciation of Shiny Pokemon in the Switch Era

(forgive me I am at work so cannot format this properly)

So if you know me, you know I am an avid shiny hunter in the post-game of Pokemon Violet. Almost every time I log on I’m slapping herba mystica onto a sandwich and running around like a lunatic for thirty minutes loading in pokemon to try to snag the shiny versions.

But recently, I’ve been hyper aware of exactly how easy it is to get shinies in this game. Like, it’s almost stupid easy at this point.

A sandwich paired with a mass outbreak (and shiny charm) gives you a 1/512 chance of encountering a shiny for 30 MINUTES. I noticed that when I enter the outbreak area, I can get probably 10-14 outbreak pokemon to spawn in. This means if I reset the spawns (run away to respawn and come back) and it takes me approximately one minute to check and respawn them at the 10 pokemon spawn level, I’ll encounter 300 or so pokemon within the sandwich period. That’s almost a 3/5 chance you will get at least one shiny within the 30 minutes!

When you go online to battle other trainers or participate in Tera Raids, you’ll see an outstanding number of shiny pokemon that people are using. It is commonplace to see an entire shiny team during the online battles. It’s at the point where I don’t even notice the shiny’s presence; just a quick “nice” and that’s all I think. I’m not impressed like I used to be.

Now, I never played Sword and Shield, and from what I heard, it had pretty janky shiny hunting mechanics that made it easier to get one. I could be wrong, but it makes me think that this is a Switch Era issue, not just gen 9. I have played Legends Arceus, and it is noticeably easier to get shinies as well, but not nearly as easy as the sandwich method from SV.

Any pokemon in the mainline switch games are practically losing their shiny value. For instance, when I was playing BDSP, I got a shiny Magnemite full odds, which I personally found impressive, but due to Magnemite being on the roster of Pokemon Violet, I just haven’t felt the need to transfer it over. It’s not like people will know it’s origin game unless they look at it off my screen in the summary section. Whereas my shiny Shaymin, I transferred it over with no problem. Shaymin is not in SV, and seems to have been limited to events in Switch era. Thankfully for me, Shaymin was shiny locked in Legends Arceus, and to even get it you need a copy of Let’s Go. I spent twelve hours shiny hunting this thing, so I’m so glad I can show it off.

So what do we do now that shinies are losing their value with every new Pokemon game that releases?

My top guess is marked shiny pokemon.

Recently I’ve been attempting to get more shiny pokemon with unique marks. Like shinies, a player can visibly see when your pokemon is marked, as it is announced in line with the pokémon’s name when sent into battle. This helps your pokemon stand out like being shiny does. Not to mention, it can be hard to get some of the marks as they are rarer spawns, especially on a shiny.

I have to say though, shiny hunting in SV is fun. Making sandwiches with friends, and selecting a cute pick to put it all in place is a slay for Gen9. I don’t feel as mentally exhausted as I did all those encounter resets with good ol’ Shaymin (I wanted to give up). I absolutely love running around with the Academy Special to see if anything comes my way.

And that’s enough of my rambling. I need to get back to work. Would love to know what you guys think!

LORAH

Psyduck goes to therapy.

i care him so much!

Collar x Malice: Full Review

Console: Nintendo Switch

Total Play Time: 60 hours

Lorah Game Rating: 9.5/10

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I finally did it; I stuck with one single otome game, and finished it up!

Although CxM is my first blog post, I am not new to otome. I like to think I have a fair bit of experience to chalk up a decent review about these games, so this is my go at it!

SYNOPSIS: Collar x Malice takes place in a quarantined Shinjuku, Japan, where citizens live in fear of Adonis, a criminal organization that believes it will revitalize Japan with its own warped sense of justice and judgement. The story begins when Ichika Hoshino, a rookie cop, is attacked and has a poisonous collar placed around her neck by Adonis, who declare they are testing her as they believe she has potential to be one of their sympathizers. Ichika must now work with a group of ex-cops to discover the truth behind the Adonis crimes and to remove her collar.

TIME TO BEGIN THE REVIEW!

I was absolutely blown away by Collar x Malice. Don't get me wrong, I love all the otome games I play, but this one topped the charts for me. I am very, very peticular when it comes to what I like and dislike about otome. I absolutely can't stand when the story is boring, but also don't like when the plot takes away from the romances with the love interests. I think CxM has perfected the balance of story-to-romance. I found myself both wanting to solve the mystery of the game while also loving the time I got to spend with each of the LIs. Of course, some routes I found better than others, but that's to be expected! I genuinely enjoyed each of the LIs and what they had to offer. Usually, there will be a LI or two I'm not too fond of, but let me say, all these boys have replay-ability. I will be revisiting this game again.

My first impressions were so-so; they are almost always completely based off of the LIs' designs (lol, a little bit shallow but what can you do). I definitely had preferences towards Yanagi and Okazaki initially. I was indifferent to Sasazuka, and did not feel like I would enjoy Enomoto and Shiraishi all that much. But let me tell you this.

DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER. PLS.

Mineo Enomoto

Honestly, I played this man first to get him over with. LOL. I hate to say it now. Enomoto gave off middle school vibes, and it wasn't for me in the beginning. BUT. He really grew on me! Honestly, for being THAT character, you know, the one with no experience with girls, it ended up being super cute. Once you got past the eyepatch thing, he was truly a really good guy and it was adorable to see his relationship develop with Ichika. Definitely not a story heavy chapter, and was a great light introduction to the game, especially with how the game gets darker later on. Enomoto wasn't my favourite, but I still am excited to play his after-story in CxM unlimited.

Takeru Sasazuka

Oh, Sasazuka. Your route was great.

This man was a tsundere if I've ever seen one. He was curt, he was rude, but he was such a good LI. I actually found Sasazuka's backstory to be really good, especially the role it plays in the plot. He had MEGA character development from the beginning of the route to finish. It was lovely to see him fall so hard for Ichika, who he had been calling stupid cat for half the game. Not to mention, Sasazuka's CGs are FINEEEE. I hit that Switch screenshot button a few times. Funny enough, when I went to go play Yanagi's route it didn't register my completion of Sasazuka's, so I actually had to play his route twice. Of course, I sped through most of the dialogue, but I did find myself stopping to replay and read the cute moments between him and Ichika. I enjoyed them as much as I did the first time. I really enjoyed both LI and plot in this route.

Kageyuki Shiraishi

I played Shiraishi's route fourth. At this point, I had a good gist of how the story was flowing, but I did NOT expect the plot twist of Shiraishi's route! I was hesistant to even play Shiraishi at all, because long-haired men (not to mention the cat aesthetic he has going on) aren't usually my thing. Personally, I loved the route's plot more than I did the romance with Shiraishi. This isn't me saying he was bad, but his story was so well done, it's hard to not like it more. I found with Shiraishi, he was slightly overhyped in online reviews. A lot of people say Shiraishi is their favourite from the game, but he wasn't mine. I think I went in with my expectations a bit too high, especially after how much I loved Okazaki's route. At the climax of his route, I felt things were a bit rushed because I was confused as to what was going on, but it was such a minor confusion that I figured things out pretty quickly. Again, I'm really looking forward to playing his after-story!

Aigi Yanagi

It took forever to finally get to Yanagi's route. Honestly at the point I finally got to play his route, he has been a side character for so long that it was hard not to see him that way (LOL, sorry Yanagi!). One thing I was surprised about was that Yanagi's route really put romance on the back-burner and put the story in the front. I get it, since Yanagi's route was the big reveal and finale, and honestly it really worked for the overall story. It's not like Yanagi's route wasn't romantic, but it was a little hard to focus on him when you could feel the Adonis leader's identity reveal just around the corner. Yanagi also had the longest route, with seven chapters instead of six. I would say he got some of the best CGs of the game, probably since he is the poster child of CxM. The whole Yanagi backstory is absolutely fantastic as well, and they did a really good job diving deep into his character.

Kei Okazaki

Of course, I had to leave Okazaki for last. Okazaki is by far my favourite Collar x Malice LI and may quite literally be overtaking Toma (Amnesia) for the top spot of them all. I knew I would love Okazaki from the start and I was right. I love his character design, the voice acting, aloof personality, route story, EVERYTHING. While I would not classify Okazaki as any sort of yandere (my favourite trope), he checked all the boxes I usually look for in my LIs (self-sacrificing, obsessive, etc). His entire life outlook changed after getting close with Ichika, and was it ever emotional seeing him go though all that inner turmoil. Let me tell you, this man had me RUNNING to Collar x Malice Unlimited for more. The amount of times he popped up in Yanagi's route made me want to just go replay his route again. Not to mention, his tragic love ending has to be the best in the game. I accidently got it by misclicking, but holy crap?? The CG was crazy! And once you get the tragic love end, you get the bonus CG, which also happens to be my favourite from the game. Anyway, this game has left me an Okazaki fan through-and-through, as well as clogged up my Switch library with screenshots of his face. I could say A LOT more, but trying to leave this spoiler-free for friends who potentially want to play.

Kei best boy <3

Do I recommend Collar x Malice? Of course!

The game really hits both the story component and romance component, and I definitely got my money's worth with over 60 hours of gameplay. Of course, there are some minor bugs (looking at you, Sasasuka route) where dialogue seems to be misplaced or the self-inserted name still comes up as Ichika, but believe me, this was so minor and infrequent that I don't think it affected the overall quality of the game.

I am actually sad that the game is over! I'm scared to finish Unlimited too, because what will I do then?!

Overall, Collar x Malice definitely left a lasting impression on me and has become one of my favourite otome. I had a blast playing it and will definitely be back to do it all again. I hope I can break free of my habit of comparing every LI to my favourite, because Okazaki will be hard as hell to beat.

Thanks for reading my review !

LORAH

Hey, just out of curiosity, if I like throw some strawberries into the ground, will strawberries eventually grow? They would, right? Like, that's how you garden?

The short answer is, yes, that’s the basic idea.

But it’s always helpful to know how things work, and that way you can boost your chances for successful germination – and you’ll end up with many more plants and many more strawberries. That’s how you garden.

Firstly, you don’t need to throw the whole strawberry into the ground. All the seeds of a strawberry are on the surface, so you can (carefully!) scrape off a bunch with a knife, while trying not to take too much of the fruit flesh. Then you can still eat the berries, because they’re both delicious and very good for you. Use them to make a smoothie or something.

Strawberry seeds also need to be cold stratified – gardening jargon which means that they’re more likely to germinate if you freeze them for a while first. In nature, this is because if they germinate before winter, the plants will die. So if you want to grow your plants soon rather than next year, put the seeds in an airtight container (ideally without any fruit pulp) and put them in the freezer for 3 or 4 weeks. When you’re thawing them out, keep the container sealed until it reaches room temperature. 

Then if you sow your seeds, they’re much more likely to germinate. Give each one plenty of space too, and more plants will grow to maturity. Maybe plant the seeds in flower pots or seed trays so you can take good care of them and make sure they get enough water and light. Then when they’re large enough, you can transplant them into the ground and let them go wild.

Incidentally, in nature, the whole fruit would be unlikely to just fall to the ground and stay there. They tend to get eaten by animals first. In fact they’re designed that way, which is why the seeds are on the outside. If a bird nibbles on one (and they always do, believe me) it’ll eat several seeds. The seeds will pass right through the bird undigested, and they’ll grow somewhere else after the bird poops them out.

[image source]

No offense summer, but 🖤🎃🍂🕷🔮🕸🌙👁🦇🔪👣⚰️💀🖤🕷🎃🍂🕸🌙👁🦇🕷💀🖤🎃🎃🎃🖤🕷🕸⚰️🦇👁🖤💀🕸🌙🍂⚰️⚰️⚰️🔮🍂🍂🍂🔮🔮🎃🖤🖤🕸💀👁🔪👣💀🖤🍂🎃 🕸💀👁🔪💀🖤🍂🎃🔮🕸🌙👁🦇🕷💀⚰️🖤🕷🖤🕸🔮🕸🌙🦇🕷🎃👣💀🍂🖤💀🕷🕷🌙🌙🎃🍂👣🍂🕸🌙👁🎃🎃🦇🎃💀🔮🕷🌙

Resources For Writing Science Fiction

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Space flight in science fiction

The weapons of Star Wars

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Realistic astronomy in science fiction

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Imaging over long distances

Relativity: Did Einstein kill steampunk?

Practical spaceship design

Exoplanets and habitability

Radio waves for sci-fi authors

Distance and legal systems in sci-fi

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Habitable atmospheres for authors

Gravity basics for SFF authors

The future of energy

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Enclosed ecosystems and life support

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Dimensions

8 things authors should know about viruses

Plagues in science fiction and fantasy

Rogue viruses in science fiction

Genetics myths in fiction writing

Mutation myths in fiction

Dispeling archaeology myths

Editing life in science fiction

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Chemical fallacies in fiction 

Explosions in science fiction

Nuclear radiation for writers

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7 things to know about cybernetics

Computer and internet myths

Medical misconceptions in fiction

How to write about biomedical researchers

Writing realistic research labs

The science of poisons

Proper lab technique for SFF writers

The 4 Do’s and Don'ts of Time Travel 

The Science in Your Science Fiction: Time Travel

An Idiot’s Guide to Teleportation

How To Explain Superpowers

List of Supernatural Powers and Abilities

Terraforming and Genetic Manipulation Both

Terraforming planets

Guide To Terraforming

Aliens, Creatures, and Robots

What Will Real Aliens Look Like?

Wildlife Biology In Fiction

Writing Outside The Human Box

Insects in fiction: what bugs me

Space bugs: microbes in outer space

The science of animal communication

Writing realistic spiders

A writer’s guide to cyborgs

Creating Aliens In 3 Stages

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Guide To Creating Aliens

Aliens: Relatives of Ours?

Everything You Need To Know About Writing Robots and AI

Alien Name Generator

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Earth Science Virtual Library

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The International Phonetic Alphabet – Audio Illustrations

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Gunn Center For The Study of Science Fiction 

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