Bulbagarden Forums - Blogs - adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/ Bulbagarden - The original Pokémon Community en Wed, 22 May 2013 00:42:39 GMT vBulletin 60 http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/images/styles/Millenium/misc/rss.jpg Bulbagarden Forums - Blogs - adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/ Well, I finally did it. http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/well-i-finally-did-57366/ Sat, 06 Apr 2013 09:23:21 GMT I finally worked up the nerve to revive my old fanfiction.net account. To be perfectly honest, my ego could use the boost.

I just put up chapter one of the fic I've been posting here, Heart of Crystal. I've made some small revisions to the first chapter, but I'm still really nervous. I hope its received well - I haven't been to ff.net in about five years, and honestly I was kind of unsure whether or not I should revive the account or not. But I'm ashamed to admit that I'm a bit of a review addict, and even though I don't anticipate any actual feedback from there, just getting responses of any kind should help motivate me to keep going.

You can still read the fic here, though, and the latest chapter is here. ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/well-i-finally-did-57366/ Wait a second http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/wait-second-57278/ Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:08:34 GMT Where did the separate sections for signups and startups in the RPG section go? I've JUST noticed it's gone...seems a bit odd, I thought that was one of the better ideas the section had. ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/wait-second-57278/ Do I have some kind of magical thread-killing power or something? http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/do-i-have-some-kind-magical-thread-killing-power-something-56762/ Thu, 14 Mar 2013 01:26:53 GMT Seriously, it feels like whenever I step into a thread, conversation immediately dies - even when I play mafia games.

In other news, I did things. With words. If anyone still cares. And another thing that's barely fit to give a five year old. But it's supposed to be that way, so...yay? ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/do-i-have-some-kind-magical-thread-killing-power-something-56762/ Another year http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/another-year-55292/ Wed, 02 Jan 2013 03:07:29 GMT Well, it's 2013 now. A time to look ahead to what the future holds, but also a time to look back and reflect upon the events of the past. I had to make a lot of decisions about a lot of things this past year, but I still feel like there are a lot of things in my life that are no clearer now than they were when they first came up.

There were good things that happened; I graduated college, have two B.A. degrees, and got to visit @Ryuutakeshi; not once, but twice. We got to spend Christmas together, go see both The Hobbit and Les Miserables, and I successfully wielded the power of baked goods to bribe his family into liking me. But there were also a lot of negatives. I finally came back to The War Room after the drama regarding October of 2011, but I didn't exactly find things the way I'd left them, and while I stuck it out through the initial backlash, now I feel like I can't say or do anything in there without every single person there getting extremely angry with me. My computer wouldn't connect to my home's internet for about four or five months. My fic, Heart of Crystal, went on hiatus during that time, and now I'm having problems coming back to it. I've barely gotten any other writing done. I got a job for a magazine that's just starting up and doesn't have all its legal kinks worked out yet and where my boss straight-up told me he didn't want to guarantee people a fixed minimum amount for their salary (and instead wanted to pay people an amount based on a percentage of the magazine's profits, no matter how high or low that amount would be), so I'll be quitting next week even though I've been working for him since August and received absolutely no compensation and won't get any before I'm gone. I'm starting to wonder if anyone here is actually going to read this, let alone if they would notice or care if I left the forums altogether.

I've done a lot of reflecting about my place in the way of things and whether or not I belong, and I still don't have much in the way of answers. But I haven't been going anywhere with anything anytime soon, and that's probably something that's going to continue for at least a little while longer. So for now, I hope you all had a merry holiday, a happy New Year, and a joyful Bak'tun. Welcome to 2013. ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/another-year-55292/ Hiatus http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/hiatus-51133/ Wed, 15 Aug 2012 03:36:28 GMT My fic, Heart of Crystal, is going on an indefinite hiatus. The computer it's being written on is having internet trouble. For some reason, it won't connect to my router's WiFi, even though it'll connect to an ethernet cable (though that requires me to be in my dad's office instead of in my room...) and will connect to other WiFi sources (like the Apple Store's WiFi when I took it in last week to get this looked at and temporarily fixed). I don't feel comfortable using a USB drive to write it on my mom's laptop (where I am now) because frankly I don't like to show my parents what I write anyway and I'm certainly not about to start with showing them Pokemon fanfiction. My parents are considering getting a new router and/or upgrading our current plan, but since the main desktop computer is in for repairs, they can't do anything until they get it back. So until I can get this issue fixed, my fic will be on hiatus, and my own availability will be limited.

On the upside, this should give you plenty of time to check out my fic if you're interested in reading it. I've been told the length of the chapters can be intimidating, but now you can catch up at your own pace without worrying about getting left behind. The link to the beginning and latest chapter can both be found in my sig. If you do read, please drop a response, good or bad, at the end! ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/hiatus-51133/ Collecting pony requests http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/collecting-pony-requests-48030/ Sun, 03 Jun 2012 03:06:03 GMT You.

Hey, you.

Have you ever wanted to be a pony?

Well, I'm bored and messing around on the Pony Maker on Facebook, and I got the bright idea to make pony versions of my peeps on Bulbagarden. If you want to be made into a pony, leave a comment here and then PM me a picture of you. Once I'm done with the pony, I'll PM the finished picture back to you. This is totally confidential, I won't share your pictures with anyone. If you've got any requests for your pony, make sure and let me know, and I'll see if I can find a way to incorporate them (I've got to work within the limits of the pony maker, though, so please don't feel bad if I can't fulfill your request - you'll still get a pony!).

If enough people are okay with it, I'll make another blog later on sharing the pictures. For now, here are some of the ponies I've already made to give you a taste of what I can do.

]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/collecting-pony-requests-48030/ Flareon bashing and why it sucks http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/flareon-bashing-why-sucks-47753/ Sun, 27 May 2012 08:22:23 GMT Ugh. I am sick and goddamn tired of seeing Flareon bashing everywhere I go. I know I probably have some bias (it being my favorite pokemon and all) and I realize that everywhere I see bashing is in a competitive sense, but come on. This is ridiculous. I go and check the Smog's new issue and I see an article on nuzlockes, which, if you know anything about my fic, you'll know are of particular interest to me. So I read it, and it's actually pretty interesting. It's got Smogon's usual bent towards complete powerhouse pokemon as a legit strategy (going so far as to recommend the use of death fodder in a nuzlocke...), but overall, a good article. Then I see that the author has given a personal rating of the games in order of difficulty for nuzlockes. Fire Red/Leaf Green are listed pretty high up on the difficulty list (due apparently to lack of the physical/special split and the lack of pokemon that can compare to the likes of Darmanitan or Tyranitar). And then I see this:

Quote Originally Posted by The Smog's nuzlocke article
FireRed and LeafGreen are often a bit difficult for some people due to the physical / special split not existing. This helps Pidgey though, making Gust physical. There is also a lack of amazing Pokemon; the Pokemon aren't bad, just none that demolish everything like Darmanitan or the like. All of the starters are pretty decent, but taking Bulbasaur will make the first 3 gyms so much easier. Eevee can also patch any holes your team has, just don't choose Flareon. Last but not least, the runt of a rat you can obtain early on, Rattata, is actually fairly good.
Holy goddamn fuck, come on. They're praising Rattata over Flareon. Flareon is not terrible in game. You've just got to be willing to spend a few TMs on it. Even then, this isn't a competitive setting. This is in game, where the best solution to ANY problem is enough level grinding. Yet they recommend Rattata and Raticate over it.

Look, using Flareon in FR/LG is simple. You get the Eevee in Celadon. You evolve it into Flareon. You get the TMs for Flamethrower, Iron Tail, Shadow Ball, and maybe Dig. You don't keep Flareon in on Rock, Water, or Ground types, and you really won't have to worry about it's low HP or physical defense. If speed is your issue, you level grind - you have to do it anyway to progress in the game, so why is it such a fucking big deal to do it for Flareon? Do people actually have such a low opinion of Flareon think that Raticate is a better resource for your EXP?

I'm not going to preach about Flareon's virtues in the competitive metagame, because yes, it's stats are flawed and it does have a very shallow movepool. If you're playing competitively, Flareon gets outclassed a lot, and I'm not going to deny that there's a reason it's scraping the bottom of the NU tier. But for a regular playthrough and for in game purposes, it pisses me right the fuck off that Flareon has earned such a reputation as a shit pokemon that fucking Raticate would get recommended over it.

Every pokemon is usable in game. Your regular playthrough is the time where, even if you're a hardcore battler, you can use pokemon that aren't necessarily the best just because you like them and still make it through the game just fine. The in game portions are about having fun and using the pokemon you want, and the nuzlocke challenge is all about helping players to discover the merits of pokemon they may never have used before. To discover that, hey, yeah, Raticate actually isn't that bad in game. Maybe Bidoof can be useful as more than an HM slave. And maybe, since I picked Bulbasaur as my starter and got unlucky with encounters, I can evolve this Eevee into a Flareon and see how well it does.

I realize that, because of the time I'm posting this (and because of the fact that it's apparently really fucking easy to ignore me), no one's going to read it. But it's just something I had to get off my chest. ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/flareon-bashing-why-sucks-47753/ New chapter! http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/new-chapter-46180/ Mon, 23 Apr 2012 02:06:50 GMT Chapter seven of Heart of Crystal has finally arrived! I actually put it up last night, but seeing as it was well past three in the morning, I forgot to announce it in any way. I suppose that's for the best - now people will actually see the announcement! :lol: ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/new-chapter-46180/ To readers wondering about Heart of Crystal http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/readers-wondering-about-heart-crystal-44633/ Tue, 20 Mar 2012 22:31:32 GMT Hey everyone. I know it's been a while, but I just wanted to give everyone a little reminder.

This is my finals week, so in a few short days, I will be done with the quarter. It's been a hell of a quarter, and I'm glad I took a break from writing - I wouldn't have been able to handle it. I got hit with one last sucker punch a few days ago, but it's mostly fixed now.

Therefore, it is my great pleasure to announce that Heart of Crystal will be returning from hiatus very shortly. :-) If you haven't yet read it, please go check it out - and don't forget to leave a review! Even if it's just "good job" or "this sucks", it really, really helps to know that people are actually reading it. ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/readers-wondering-about-heart-crystal-44633/ <![CDATA[It's finally here!]]> http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/its-finally-here-41716/ Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:41:09 GMT The long-awaited, much-anticipated Chapter 5 of Heart of Crystal has arrived. Please, if you're not already reading it, go check it out and tell me what you think. Any feedback, positive of negative, is greatly appreciated. :-) ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/its-finally-here-41716/ Happy New Year! http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/happy-new-year-41295/ Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:17:47 GMT Try not to get too depressed with all the media that will be constantly reminding us about how the world is gonna end! Try not to get too depressed with all the media that will be constantly reminding us about how the world is gonna end! ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/happy-new-year-41295/ Merry Christmas http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/merry-christmas-40688/ Sun, 25 Dec 2011 08:37:56 GMT It's that special day again :-) I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, or at least a wonderful Sunday.

@Jabber Claus
@Octy
@Santa in Plain Sight
@Rayne
@RikkiStar
@Thundagere

And a very special Merry Christmas to @Ryuutakeshi. I love you so much :-) Thank you for this wonderful year we've had together. I only wish you could spend today here with me, or I could be there with you. ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/merry-christmas-40688/ This week went by entirely too fast http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/week-went-entirely-too-fast-40553/ Sat, 24 Dec 2011 08:10:16 GMT So I'm back from my 5 day absence. I received a certain visitor in the form of my most amazing, wonderful boyfriend @Ryuutakeshi. I'm so glad he was able to come down to California for a visit, especially since our one-year anniversary of being together was on Monday. I planned out a lot of things for us to do, so how he managed to find time to completely kick ass in finishing off the Christmas mafia game and become MPV, I have no clue.

But alas, he's gone now. That means I've got to get back to my writing, Christmas or no Christmas. I put in a quick thing for the Christmas fanfic contest just because I could, but I really don't expect to win. Heart of Crystal needs to be resumed too, if for no other reason than I'm up to Whitney in the game, and I want to get back to playing it! :lol: I can also catch up with the RP I joined earlier, which just had the misfortune to start at a rather inconvenient time.

Oh well. At least I have things to occupy me until I can see him again. I probably won't be posting much this weekend because of Christmas, but who knows? Most of my extended family that we would normally go see on Christmas is either dead or unable to travel, so it's not like we're going anywhere. Since my grandmothers died, we've had no place to really congregate. Not that I mind it just being me, my parents, and my dogs.

Whatever you celebrate, have a good one. If you don't celebrate anything, have a great weekend anyway. ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/week-went-entirely-too-fast-40553/ <![CDATA[To anyone who's wondering where Chapter 5 of Heart of Crystal is...]]> http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/anyone-whos-wondering-where-chapter-5-heart-crystal-39829/ Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:49:07 GMT It's coming. It's ended up being a really long chapter, and I'm still in the process of writing it. However, Ryuu is coming down to California for a visit on Monday and will be here for a week :3 so I don't know how much writing I'll get done while he's here.

@GengarEatBanana @PkmnGreen @TheSpaceking @Lumos or Nox thank you all for your continued support of this story. It means a lot to me that you're all reading it, and even more that you're enjoying it. :-) I owe it to you guys to keep up updated as to why there hasn't been a new chapter for a while. I'll make it worth your wait. ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/anyone-whos-wondering-where-chapter-5-heart-crystal-39829/ I want to make a Sun team http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/i-want-make-sun-team-39329/ Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:45:50 GMT But Pokemon Online REFUSES to work for me, and I have no idea why. I just installed Snow Leopard and updated my Flash, so my computer should be capable of running it. I'm making sure to click the correct download link. It installs no problem. I can open it, make a team, and save it. But the instant I try to go online, I get the error message saying the server is not connected. EVERY time, mind you. On different servers. Even the tiny ones that only have like two people. The server just refuses to connect to my computer, and it pisses me the hell off. I really like making teams, but how am I supposed to try them out if I can't make PO work? I can't get PokeSav or anything to work, either, because every version I find is for Windows, and I've got a Mac.

And yeah, yeah, first world problems. Fuck that. I have a machine that expect to work in a certain way, I'm allowed to not be thrilled when it doesn't work the way I expect it to and I don't know why. ]]> adiosToreador http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/blogs/16494/i-want-make-sun-team-39329/