The canonical pronunciation for Voremon has always been to pronounce the "e" as if you're saying Pokemon. However, I've always wondered if there are people out there who pronounce it with a silent "e" instead, because in their heads that's how it should be pronounced because of the base words involved.

What would your reaction or response be to somebody who were to request a commission of you, but then after everything is figured out they finish with, "Oh, by the way. I'd like you to draw it using a mouse instead of a tablet pen."

*attacks an enemy with a 99% hit chance*
*misses*
*game immediately freezes*
Me: "Did... Did my character just rage quit for me?"

The ads. I don't think I've ever seen a single ad that even remotely represents the game, and it deeply confuses me how people can care when even the developers give so little of a crap that they can't even accurately portray their own game when advertising it.

Who's the genius who thought it was a good idea to make it so these inevitable zap traps can only be powered on and off by plugging or unplugging them, rather than having a power switch?

Greninja.
Pidgeot.
Furfrou.
Mismagius.
Serperior.
Yanma.
Staraptor.
Breloom.
Beedrill.
Delphox.
Vivillon.
After both sets of DLC, these Pokemon continue to wait in Pokemon HOME, eager to once more engage in battle. Although my Pidgeot and Beedrill builds are dependent on their mega evolutions to be effective, I may be able to come up with something different for them when the time comes.

Why do all the games you make nowadays look exactly the same?

It's a game that's been actively on my "want to play" list every since before it came out, but I've been withheld from doing so for various reasons ranging from it releasing on platforms I didn't have, to it finally coming to the Switch at a time when I wasn't in the best position to be purchasing it. But now thanks to finally getting around to spending some gift card money from last Christmas, I'm finally getting the opportunity to play this game that thus far is quite enjoyable, having so far beaten the first dungeon, if it can so be called.

Also, this probably goes without saying, but no spoilers please if you comment here. Because despite the game having come out like three years ago, I avoided looking into the game or seeing gameplay footage at all beyond the original trailer, so contrary to what some people might assume based on its old release date, this is a legitimate blind run of it for me.

The more I play, the more I realize how desperately Sword/Shield needs a feature for saving favorite outfits, or at least tagging individual clothing items as favorites. I've been gradually trying to purchase all the clothes, and when I do make a change it can be a hassle going back to what I was wearing before. Especially if I don't remember exactly what a particular article was called.

Their whole focus is pretty much always showing off their higher, fancier resolution, but how am I supposed to even acknowledge or appreciate that resolution during the advertisement if I don't already have the TV they're advertising, and therefore my TV can't display what they're trying to show me? I don't get it.

For anybody who's been wondering, yes I am still trying to work on the written version of Voremon. It's not a canceled project, just very delayed because of the next chapter. To summarize, I hit some crippling writer's block while trying to figure out how I wanted to depict certain parts of the chapter's events. That lead to lengthy delays that made it hard to come back to it due to feeling demotivated by the long mid-chapter break, and made it difficult to get back into the groove since the middle of a chapter is a poor pausing point. This, in combination with other stuff just going on in general, causes me to sometimes forget to keep coming back to it, then when I remember that I need to be working on it, I run into those same problems again of being demotivated by how long it's been in combination with the awkwardness of diving into the middle of a chapter. Still, it's coming along slowly but surely, and is currently up to the start of the chapter's climactic battle which I reached following some work just last week. Of course, it doesn't help that it's a very long chapter; to give you an idea if you've played the game, it's the Charizard episode where he saves the town, so a lot needed to happen throughout to keep with the theme of condensing each game stage into a written chapter.

Anyway, just wanted to leave this update.

But I wish the stages actually progressed naturally instead of being somewhat randomized, and putting such an emphasis in earlier stages. It gets rather tedious when every other stage is 1-1, especially when a match ends up lasting 15+ minutes. It would be a lot more fun if you just went through the game as normal, then if you beat the final level you'd loop back to 1-1.

And with it, my wait continues for a DLC fighter I can get truly excited about. So far we're 0/8. Can the streak last all the way through the second fighter's pass? Only time will tell.

Can I just say I'm sick and tired of them existing? Here I am spending hours of time, tossing dozens of wishing pieces into a den trying to get something specific, and the game keeps throwing random crap at me that's not supposed to appear in the den. Wasting my time, resources, and patience interfering with what I'm trying to do by tossing me stuff that shouldn't even exist at the location where I'm hunting. Especially now that there's no real reason anymore to need to be bothered naturally catching Gigantamax Pokemon (pretty much the only particularly rare finds that deserve events) when you can just turn them that way with soup, and this whole event nonsense really just needs to go away. They serve no purpose other than to add frustration for no reason.

Assuming any Pokemon elitists even follow me, and happen to catch notice and check this journal, there's something I've been wondering recently while preparing a particular Pokemon for PvP battles. Now, I'm no elitist by any means. Heck, I don't even play ranked battles because I hate restrictions of any kind being placed into gameplay, whether it's restrictions on the game's natural rules, or things like bans, or even the more obnoxious things that have nothing to do with the gameplay itself like how some Pokemon games have required registration on some bullshit website to even play ranked, or how Sword/Shield requires you to erase moves of transferred Pokemon that can't be learned natively in Sword/Shield. But I digress. I'm not here to complain, I'm here to ask a question to anybody who knows and understands the deeper mathematical mechanics of the game, since my attempt on Google didn't really lead to any information actually relevant to my inquiry.

To anybody who qualifies, I was wondering which move is statistically superior between Drill Peck, and the recently created Dual Wingbeat. I don't know the math of these games well enough to know whether or not a raw attack power of 80 is better or worse than two blows of 40, which would equal that same 80. Is one simply stronger than the other, or are they about the same? Or would it depend on the circumstances, such as whether or not an opponent is using something like Disguise or Substitute, or even the stats of the Pokemon themselves?

Finally gave Streets of Rage 4 a try since my physical copy arrived today, and it definitely does a lot of things right, but one thing happened that blew my fucking mind. That moment when I was holding a weapon, moved to the next screen, and my character was still holding his weapon, I practically dropped my controller in utter disbelief.

It just occurred to me. Obviously the reason we don't have Amaterasu in Super Smash Bros. is because Nintendo fears the onslaught of anus screenshots that would flood social media as a result of immature kids who think it's funny that the detail is part of her character model.

Does anybody have hype for it? Or are people too annoyed that Game Freak isn't wasting our time with a pointless remake, but instead giving us something fun and original into our beloved franchise? Granted I'm not really a big MOBA player, having only ever played League of Legends years ago, but I'm definitely intrigued how this game will turn out. Not to mention the mobile/Switch cross play will open up possibilities of online play with friends who obviously have smart phones, but perhaps don't have a Switch, but rather have other consoles I don't, or play games on PC which I don't.

Why, from what I've read, do you need the Mobile version of Pokemon HOME to be claimed? What about those of us who don't have smartphones, but obviously have access to the Switch version of HOME inherently by owning the relevant Pokemon games?

Anybody else dissatisfied with the recipe change they did to Butterfingers? It had always been my favorite candy bar, and probably still is, but I'm really not a fan of the recent changes they made to it. The peanut butter flavor, while tasting more authentic than it did before, is completely overpowering, and is now pretty much all you taste. No longer do the flavors of the peanut butter and chocolate blend together, but now it tastes like it might as well not even have the coating at all. That overwhelming flavor also makes eating the candy bar in general less pleasant because it bombards you with its flavor, rather than being more subtle.

After many, many years of putting the series off, I've finally decided to give the "new" Ninja Gaiden game a try. And by that, I mean the Black version on the Xbox. It's fun so far. The controls are a bit wonky by modern standards, but I can imagine them not being a source of complaint back when the game first released, as opposed to if they tried releasing a game that controls like that nowadays, so it'll just take a little while to get used to. The most important thing though is that I died not just once, but twice to the first boss, so that's a good sign of things to come. Best way to get me hyped over a game is to show me that sweet game over screen within the first 30 minutes to let me know that the challenges ahead will be worthwhile. Am looking forward to seeing how it escalates from here.

In no particular order, here's a list of favorite characters, species, etcetera that I love as prey, either when RPing, or to see in art. Judging from art and opinions I've seen, some will be rather cliche, while others will be much more niche, but all are delicious in my book for their own reasons. The list is in no particular order, so don't assume anything based on that, since favorites depend more on immediate mood than anything else. I wanted to round it out to a proper 10, but after entry 7 I started struggling. I felt like I was scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with entries, and realized at that point they can't really be considered favorites anymore if it's a struggle to come up with them.

1: Amaterasu
-I know I said order doesn't matter on this list, but let's start off with a character that I strongly wish were more popular as prey. Although at the same time part of me is happy that it's so rare, because it makes such art all the more exciting when it does pop up. The Sun Goddess is a favorite of mine not only because of that delectable wolf body, but also for reason of that moniker I just mentioned. She's a goddess, and although I prefer male prey in general (this is due to the gender being more relatable to myself, and the role of prey being the perspective I primarily enjoy), the main element here is that status. I love the idea of an extremely powerful character who belongs at the absolute apex of the food chain winding up on somebody's dinner plate. It's demeaning, humiliating, and all that other good stuff which is multiplied tenfold by her status compared to if the meal's a lowly mortal. Being food is the last thing a god should ever be, and that aspect of her being prey is what excites me the most; not to mention the aspect of her knowing that with failure, the world will likely be plagued by darkness at the hands of the hungry demon looming over her. Combined with how extremely rare it is to see any other god-like beings I find appealing, since most deities in fiction are given bodies that don't appeal to me from a vorish perspective, and it's understandable why my feelings regarding the enjoyableness of that degradation label Ammy as an ideal victim.

2: Dragons
-This is here for pretty much all the reasons explained above, so I don't have much more to add. In terms of mortal beings, dragons are regularly depicted as the mightiest of apex predators, so to have one as prey is the best kind of role reversal. Whether their flesh is consumed by the fangs of a peer, or a lower life-form that on any other day would be the dragon's lunch, I find it strongly appealing to see such a mighty beast fall so low. Their pride struck harder than any mere blade piercing their heart and ending their life in an instant could ever cause.

3: Eeveelutions
-I could easily just fill this entire list with Pokemon, but that would be boring, so I'm going to just bunch them all into this one entry. There are so many delicious Pokemon ranging from canines and felines, to rodents and birds, to dragons and all assortments of other creatures, that they'd wind up filling the entire list with repetition. So instead I'm just going to give a shout out to those eight quadrupeds that stand at the top for me, the evolutions of Eevee. As for favorites among them, it really just depends on my mood, but there are definitely some I tend to lean towards more often than others. The most common favorites being Umbreon, Sylveon, and Jolteon, but I also absolutely love Glaceon and Leafeon as well. The others I crave a bit less regularly, but each has its own delicious charm, and their number really comes in handy when wanting to RP with several of them in a single scene.

4: Simba
-Specifically as a cub. Lion King was still a fresh thing everybody was talking about when I first got into vore, and that timing made the future king of the Pride Lands into the very first canon character I grew attracted towards--beforehand I was just drawn to generic animals and mythical creatures. I even used to enjoy teasing the hyenas in the SNES/Genesis video game. Dodging their attacks without fighting back, letting them get as close as possible with their lunges while pretending Simba's verbally mocking them for their ineptitude until they finally get their claws on him. Unfortunately, most art I see of him is either of him as a predator, or if he is prey it's his adult form, which doesn't appeal to me at all. Something about the mane, combined with the lankiness of his torso and legs compared to the natural plumpness of his more shapely young body just turns me off.

5: Chocobo
-This kind of depends on the specific design, since some are a lot more rough around the edges when it comes to prey appeal. The very first design that ever drew me to consider chocobos as prey was that of Final Fantasy Tactics (as they're presented in-game). Before that they didn't much appeal to me, as their designs were bland, or made to look more rugged or badass in a way that didn't speak to me. Tactics though presented them in a way that I'd love to see plucked and basted like a turkey dinner, and the chibi version used in the Chocobo spin-off games went a step further by expanding with a similar design while adding to its deliciousness. Naturally, this made my favorite moments in some of the spin-off games those involving threats to eat the player. Mainly the Chubby Chocobo chapter of Chocobo Racing, and the Ultros statue in Chocobo's Dungeon 2 that gave Ultros the quote, "First I'll ink ya, then I'll eat ya."

6: Anthro Foxes
-Probably the most boring entry on this list, foxes are my favorite generic anthro character to see as prey. They're cute, natural predators, yet feel weaker and more vulnerable than larger predatory canines like wolves that makes them enjoyable for the role despite everything I said above about liking apex predators as prey. This is the one that's hardest to explain, but judging from how often foxes seem to be victimized in general around here, I don't think this really needs to be explained quite as thoroughly as some of the more obscure entries.

7: Kirara
-This is one I haven't really thought much about in years, but Kirara from the anime series InuYasha is still a delicious cat demon, especially in her transformed state. Similarly to why I mentioned Ammy and dragons above, Kirara is powerful and confident, and rarely shown on the losing end of things. In most fights, no matter how powerful their foe or how many there are, she's almost never shown to be taking any damage, even when needing to bare her fangs herself instead of just providing mobility for her companions. All that power blends that large, muscular body of hers into a true delicacy deserving of any fine dining experience.

They go through the trouble of finally giving Marth an English voice, only to then have Cloud still talking in Japanese. And unlike Marth, who's Japanese voice I always saw as a representation of how his game wasn't available in English at the time of Melee's release, there's no reference that I can think of for Cloud to speak Japanese instead of English.

And make it so that weather doesn't hide the beams shining from Max Raid dens. It's really annoying when you're trying to head to a den, and you wind up going right past it because you suddenly hit a standstorm, or the very first weather condition at the entrance is hail so you need to wander off to another location before you can even confirm where the actives dens are in the first place. There's literally no good reason for it to be designed this way when the beams could simply be brighter, or have their visibility not be affected by weather at all. It's player hostility and inconvenience for no other reason that to add complication to the simple matter of biking from Point A to Point B.

So, there's something I've been wondering about the service since pretty much the beginning. Basically, when you transfer Pokemon over, can you actually use Pokemon not in the Galar Pokedex in online battles, or at least use Galar natives with moves that they can't normally learn in Sword/Shield? Or is the service completely useless? It's not worth a penny unless access to transferring those Pokemon allows them to actually be used, and so far the couple of online battles I've engaged in since it became a thing have been against opponents using only Pokemon available in Sword/Shield, so I haven't been able to get a definitive answer yet from that source.