Closed Orchid's Mysterious Garden

[Okido]

Hmm. Hi!

I've spent the last week or two attempting to finish my National Pokédex in Brilliant Diamond, without the use of any touch trading. It's been... surprisingly fun, and not nearly as much of a chore as I thought it would be. My Natdex was already about 2/3 of the way full, and since I play GO pretty actively now, a lot of the remainder could just be sent up through HOME or otherwise obtained through the GTS. It's been an alright way to pass the time, especially since I do really want (more like need) that Shiny Charm at the end of all this.

Except now I've hit a slight roadblock. I'm currently at 489 caught, and the only ones I have left to register are Celebi, Deoxys, and... Spinda. Fun fact: Spinda is the only Pokémon regularly obtainable in BDSP that just... cannot be put into nor taken out of HOME. Really.
Because to my understanding, in BDSP only, there's a glitch involving the data that calculates Spinda's spots. Basically, a Spinda transferred from any other game will have completely incorrect spot locations when put into BDSP (and vice versa, a Spinda caught in BDSP will have incorrect spot locations when put into HOME). So to avoid this, they just made any Spinda completely untransferrable between BDSP and HOME. No one gets in, no one gets out. Spinda jail.
So... I've just sort of been... waiting for the daily swarm to perhaps, by some miracle, land on Spinda one of these days, so I can just catch one and get it over with. T_T
(Meanwhile, Celebi and Deoxys can't be traded on the GTS, and the only way to obtain them in BDSP is to transfer them up from a previous generation via Bank. Which would be fine, except um, my 3DS has gone missing in my own room, so I can't find it to do that. Oops??)

On the bright side, I finally finished my Let's Go Eevee dex, after having stagnated at 149 for almost three years because I couldn't be bothered to get a Golem through GO until now. XP I haven't done any more hunting yet, but I hope to get started soon, since there's so many lovely Kanto shinies that I'd like to train for an online team.

Anyway, that's most of what I've been up to. I overslept terribly today but I'm drinking coffee right now so life is good.
I kinda can't wait until it's December so I can put whipped cream and Christmas sprinkles on my coffee; I started doing that a few years ago and now it's just kind of a seasonal thing for me. ...Every day I become more like Noelle Holiday.

 

[airmail]

I kinda can't wait until it's December so I can put whipped cream and Christmas sprinkles on my coffee

and you plan to share it, right?

Still wishing you good luck with getting that shiny charm, though! Your 3DS is around there... somewhere...
But, uhm, I don't actually have much to say I just wanted to bug you............

and prompt you to prove your Noelle Holiday similarities by talking about glitches in Pokemon games! >=] You've told me about a lot now, but are there any you haven't been able to talk about yet that you want to?

 

[Okido]

and you plan to share it, right?

NO!! NO!! I SAID NO!!!

...prove your Noelle Holiday similarities by talking about glitches in Pokemon games! >=] You've told me about a lot now, but are there any you haven't been able to talk about yet that you want to?

I've been ruminating on this one for a while, and I'll get back to you in a couple hours when I'm at my computer. I'm kind of running out of ones to talk about that I fully understand in-depth (and I do not want to accidentally get something wrong!!!) but I'll do my best to think of something interesting and put it in my next post later today.

But just so you know, I do NOT appreciate you enabling my special interests so much, I look like a dork when you trick me into talking about hex values and memory addresses and experience underflow, in fact I think you are EVIL and I will not stand for this any longer. (just kidding you're nice I say this to him all the time it's fine and I love being asked about obscure niche trivia)

 

[Okido]

Well it's definitely been a couple hours.

Since my last threadmarked post, I have been intermittently shiny hunting in LGE now that I have the charm. On my first day I both found the shiny Diglett I've been looking for since February 2020 (yay) and accidentally ran away from a shiny Slowbro because I was literally not looking at the screen (wtf). I've been alternating between hunting Squirtle, Porygon, and Koffing, but so far no luck at all since then. That Slowbro probably placed a curse on me but whatever. OTL

Boring life stuff that I'm deciding to spoiler if you don't wanna read it:

Spoiler

As of yesterday, my birthday is now just three months away, so it's officially the time of year where I have to decide how I feel about that. 20 is a somewhat alarming number, but right now I am feeling... ambivalent... maybe?

I kind of reached an impasse in the process of getting those therapy appointments/assessments that I need, and now I'm back to the state of being... not really sure when any of that is going to happen. Which sucks, because I'm basically stuck, in every sense of the word, until I can get that over with. I'll live, but it'll continue to be a weight on my shoulders until then.

Right now I'm vaguely rotating some art ideas around in my head. In particular, I'm starting to think I want to officially flesh out the fan-region that I've been conceptualizing off and on since 2011 or so. (The only issue here is the fact that worldbuilding is kind of a slog to me. I just like making the Fakemon designs, along with hard technical data like their base stats and learnsets; I'm a character designer/programmer, not a writer lol. But, if I do get around to it, maybe another blog is in order, if that's something you guys would want to see that is.)
I'd also like to figure out how to draw Regidrago, for reasons.

And lastly, the song I've been listening to on repeat this week is: "Chapters", by Better Luck Next Time. It's actually not my favorite by them (nor even one of my top five), but I've been entirely hung up on the very last line: "you could say this all seems like a chapter, and it's neverending."

I also promised @Hawthorn I'd say something here about glitches in Pokémon games so here's that too. This won't be too in-depth but it'll be under this cut anyway.

Spoiler

Right now I'm probably most interested in 4 4, a glitch Pokémon exclusive to Yellow. More specifically, I'm fascinated by the "4 4's true cry" effect.

To keep things short: upon encountering 4 4 in the wild, the game will crash. Its front sprite is so incredibly massive that it overwrites tons of RAM, overflows into SRAM, and corrupts the address of the current sound bank — which almost always results in an immediate, anticlimactic crash, and not much else.

But back in 2013, this was unexpectedly discovered by TheZZAZZGlitch (volume warning, seriously, it's loud):

Pokemon Yellow: "4 4's true cry"

I was playing Pokemon Yellow, minding my own glitchy business. Suddenly, I used the wrong special stat, and encountered 4 4 instead of 4 4 Hy. Surprisingly, ...

www.youtube.com

And to this day, the effect seen here has never been replicated, ever again.

There's been tons of research put into figuring out just how this could have happened (as seen in the follow-up video from 2017, four years later) — there is even an automated script running on a virtual machine right now, constantly saving states and starting new encounters with 4 4 every second, in an attempt to somehow reproduce that cry — but as far as I'm aware, still nothing has ever come of it. The exact source of this sound still has not been determined.

unsettling, isn't it.

Okay, see you later.

 

[Blanc]

I kind of reached an impasse in the process of getting those therapy appointments/assessments that I need, and now I'm back to the state of being... not really sure when any of that is going to happen. Which sucks, because I'm basically stuck, in every sense of the word, until I can get that over with. I'll live, but it'll continue to be a weight on my shoulders until then.

I know this ordeal all too well myself, it's an uphill battle especially because medical professionals (in my experience, anyway) don't seem to send referrals for this kind of stuff until you start badgering them. I wish you luck Oki, the road to recovery is a hefty one, but we'll be on it together!

Right now I'm vaguely rotating some art ideas around in my head. In particular, I'm starting to think I want to officially flesh out the fan-region that I've been conceptualizing off and on since 2011 or so. (The only issue here is the fact that worldbuilding is kind of a slog to me. I just like making the Fakemon designs, along with hard technical data like their base stats and learnsets; I'm a character designer/programmer, not a writer lol. But, if I do get around to it, maybe another blog is in order, if that's something you guys would want to see that is.)

You should totally do it!! Who cares if you're not a writer it's fun! I'm usually shy about these kinds of ideas myself...but I feed off my friends like you and get inspired, so I'll no doubt see your ideas, get excited and channel it into energy for myself too. Of course, go at your own pace, but it's exciting to read your ideas, I think!

And to this day, the effect seen here has never been replicated, ever again.

I don't know how to describe it, I don't know why but I LOVE learning about shit like this, I find this kind of stuff so fucking fascinating. The part about it dumping into SRAM too... I'm honestly surprised this video doesn't have more coverage, but I guess it takes particular kind of people like us to find interest in this topic.

unsettling, isn't it.

A spooooooky event for a spooky month!

 

[Okido]

Yesterday, I got my second vaccine booster. Thankfully no bad side-effects like I got from my initial shot and first booster, but wow my arm HURTS at the moment. Also everything kinda tastes weird??

~

I got around to preordering a physical copy of Violet earlier today, since we're now officially one month from release.
Sprigatito is still my starter choice. I'm probably gonna start avoiding leaks a little more carefully in the next few weeks, because I actually want that feeling of seeing new Pokémon for the first time while playing lol. I feel like I haven't experienced that since Gen 6, for various reasons; SM revealed way too much in their trailers before release, and I didn't play SwSh until late December so I just looked up the dex before then. I'm not squandering it this time!!
(also you know you're getting old when you still instinctually append "Version" to the end of Pokémon titles even though they haven't done that for almost a decade now. it's Pokémon Violet Version to me dammit)

For posterity, and for those of you who care about Pokeani — the Masters 8 finals match is starting later this week, spanning from October 21 - November 11.
I am... slightly nervous about the outcome, though I'm pretty sure Ash will win this one. Moreso I'm paranoid about what will happen after that lol, but I'm excited regardless. I just hope that the next series doesn't start on SV release day; I really want Project Mew to get some closure, and then for the animation team to get some rest until at least next year.

~

Gonna work on... maybe drawing or compiling some stuff for the headcanon blog later tonight. There's some ideas rattling around in there, it's just a matter of putting them on paper.

 

[lisianthus]

I'm excited as always to see Oki creations!! Glad you're doing okay :)

 

[Okido]

ugh, been feeling blah since last night. I don't really know what happened, but as soon as I got a bunch of new ideas and was feeling pretty good, my mask fell off and I just lost motivation for... everything. I'm gonna go find a comfortable rock and live underneath it until I gain some of my confidence back. Maybe I'll finally fix my sleep schedule while I'm under there too.

re: the latest Pokeani (spoilered for length, and spoilered for spoilers, but nothing major):

Spoiler

I stayed up to watch this episode when it aired this morning. TL;DR it was pretty good.

I got kind of emotional seeing Ash walk into the stadium so confidently, because during that scene I had a random flashback to the Indigo League Conference opening ceremony, when he marched into the stadium really nervous and awkward like a total dork lol. It was a very "look how far he's come, I'm so proud of him " kind of moment.

Secondly, omg surprise appearance from my favorite Project Mew gang. Gou seems confident too, good for him. Gary seems... kinda like he's thinkin' about somethin'. (Also Tokio calls him "Shigeru-kun" awww he finally made a friend I called it)
I sincerely can't tell if that's the last we're seeing of PM or not. It almost feels like it, but I also doubt it somehow. Naive optimism, perhaps...

Oh, right, the battle. That was good too.
Gengar's Cursed Body activating was actually kinda awesome? It made my competitive player heart happy because that is exactly how cool it feels when I get Cursed Body to work in my favor lol.
And I love seeing Mr. Rime animated. Its voice is perfect for it, too.

Though if I'll say anything, just from this first impression, I do think it kinda sucks that Ash is allowed to use GMAX, Mega Evolution, and a Z-Move all in the same battle. I get that from an in-universe standpoint it's supposed to be a testament to Leon's confidence, but out here it just feels like Ash is kind of in a bad position either way, whether he wins or loses.
If he wins, I foresee the argument being that it "doesn't count" because he had an advantage; and if he loses, I foresee endless waves of ridicule on the horizon, for being unable to win even when he used all three gimmicks in one battle. Poor Ashy-boy can't catch a break, can he.

Conclusion: I'm excited for the rest of this match, I just worry I'm going to be burnt out by Part III or so.
leave it to me to say I have no motivation and then gush about anipoke for several paragraphs

I'm gonna call it a day now. Here's to a good weekend for everyone.

.: ~♡~ :.​

 

[Okido]

Good news: my sleep schedule has been mostly repaired. The bad news is, just my luck, it's because I caught a cold over the weekend. orz

The last few days have pretty much just vanished into thin air for me. I feel a bit better today, but still not at 100% yet. I wish I had something more positive to say around here lol, but them's the breaks for me this week.

I hope you're all well; see ya sometime later.

 

[lisianthus]

I wish I could combine multiple reactions... that alone warranted a , , gold star, and a bulbacare~

but I am glad you're feeling better oki. at least, sleep-wise. please rest more to get over your cold, it's good to see you!

 

[Okido]

Halloween is over. I've said before it's not my favorite holiday, and per usual I didn't do much of anything special, but I had an okay time I think.
Time to return all my profiles back to normal (until December, that is).

speaking of, it's November now. Strange to think the year's so close to being over when it still feels like it was summer just yesterday. Ah well, I think I'm ready to move on, so for once I don't mind.

I have more to write about, I'm fairly sure; but it's very, very late now, so I'm gonna get some rest and do that tomorrow when my mind is a little clearer.

.: ~♡~ :.​

 

[airmail]

Hi Oki!

Halloween is over. I've said before it's not my favorite holiday

It always makes me laugh that I love Halloween way more, but I wish I could take you trick or treating sometime. I know we're both kind of old to do that now, but it's the spirit of it.. free food and fun costumes while wandering around at night, right?

Strange to think the year's so close to being over when it still feels like it was summer just yesterday.

which means it's almost your biiiirrrthday! >=]
It really is strange though, isn't it? I feel that way, too; I swear this year managed to go both incredibly slow and bewilderingly fast. Maybe the new year will be a nice fresh start, but I admit I'm kinda.. nervous about it myself. But, you're right.. it'll be nice to move on from 2022 when the time comes!

Anyways, I just wanted to stop by and say hello! I definitely didn't track mud all over your blog or anything like that

 

[Okido]

It always makes me laugh that I love Halloween way more, but I wish I could take you trick or treating sometime. I know we're both kind of old to do that now, but it's the spirit of it.. free food and fun costumes while wandering around at night, right?

This is the second time now that a close friend of mine has been surprised that I don't really like Halloween. Do I just give off a particularly spooky goth vibe or something?? I know I can seem a little grim sometimes but I promise you I have more Christmas spirit in my heart than Hallmark and Mariah Carey combined.

anyways, I do enjoy how it gives me an excuse to wander around after dark in cosplay, but that's about the extent of it. You have fun without me. ^^;

which means it's almost your biiiirrrthday!

Okay but your birthday is in the same month as mine???

I definitely didn't track mud all over your blog or anything like that

i just mopped the floors in here you monster

 

[Blanc]

Do I just give off a particularly spooky goth vibe or something??

As a goth, yeah you radiate malicious energy won't you cast evil spells with me? jkjk, I think it's something about your name! 'Orchid' has autumn vibes, and you just feel like an autumn-y person...

I know I can seem a little grim sometimes but I promise you I have more Christmas spirit in my heart than Hallmark and Mariah Carey combined.

May you destroy Mariah Carey in combat once and for all, king.

I'm excited for it to get colder!! I want to wear my heavier coords!!

 

[airmail]

I promise you I have more Christmas spirit in my heart than Hallmark and Mariah Carey combined

..Hallmark, you say? As in the pinnacle of romance; the small town baker charming the big city tourist to fall in love with Christmas once again? That Hallmark?
but you're right, you have a lot of christmas spirit!! here's to reindeer decorations and sleigh bells

Blanc (hi! ) is right, though - you're not spooky, you're just.. an autumnal guy!

Okay but your birthday is in the same month as mine??

Yours is first, though! I'd feel silly saying "it's almost your birthdaaayy.. and mine too, but that's a couple weeks later.."!

I didn't mean to linger in here again, sorry sorry!
and instead of tracking in more mud... i'll toss leaves all over the floor.. bye!!

 

[Okido]

As a goth, yeah you radiate malicious energy won't you cast evil spells with me? jkjk, I think it's something about your name! 'Orchid' has autumn vibes, and you just feel like an autumn-y person...

Blanc (hi! ) is right, though - you're not spooky, you're just.. an autumnal guy!

hahah I guess that makes sense! It's true that I definitely put out that kind of vibe, it's no accident either. It still catches me off-guard though cause I always assume by default that I'm a bit more wintry? Maybe it's something to do with how autumn can actually be pretty freezing up here.
(and have we considered that shadowy energy could just be residual? you should've seen me a few years ago; there are still some Demonias in my closet.)

May you destroy Mariah Carey in combat once and for all, king.

I'm going to replace her and take over her throne. By the end of the month I will be the CEO of Christmas. this was always the plan

..Hallmark, you say? As in the pinnacle of romance; the small town baker charming the big city tourist to fall in love with Christmas once again? That Hallmark?

UGGGGHHHH

author's note: this is an ongoing argument between me and Hawthorn due to the fact that I genuinely can't stand Hallmark movies even a little bit but he thinks they're all cinematic masterpieces without flaw.

 

[lisianthus]

i am making my hello in here!

and i will say, oki feels very autumn. kind of like a sunny and warm autumn though, not a cold rainy one. i like the cold rainy days, but warm ones are nice and pleasant!

This is the second time now that a close friend of mine has been surprised that I don't really like Halloween. Do I just give off a particularly spooky goth vibe or something??

the curse of a scene kid

I promise you I have more Christmas spirit in my heart than Hallmark and Mariah Carey combined.

I will be awaiting your eventual Christmas cheer with great curiosity!

 

[lisianthus]

double post but i like Hallmark movies BECAUSE they're incredibly cheesy. it's funny to guess what silly thing will happen next~

 

[Okido]

Leave it to me to have posted something here way too early because I accidentally dropped a freaking orange on my phone. You saw nothing. NOTHING.

I was gonna make a longer threadmarked post last night, but I honestly couldn't think of a single thing to say. I had a very, very... tiresome day yesterday so my mind is still in a fog (as you may be able to tell).

I've been thinking I might make an SV travelog blog here once we're a little closer to release date — I wouldn't wanna spam up this one, probably. Though I might make it sooner, just to document some thoughts I have before it comes out; that could be fun to look back on later.

My day is only just getting started, so hopefully getting some art done later this evening isn't out of the question for me. (I say that a lot, don't I...?)

 

[Okido]

It happened! An actual post! And it only took four and a half hours to write it.

Spoiler: pokemon stuff (no actual spoilers here, don't worry)

There is so much happening in these next few weeks that I almost can't get a grip on it all. The most important battle in Pokeani history is concluding tonight, and SV is releasing a week from now, then my favorite arc that I'm way too invested in is being wrapped up after that, and then Journeys is ending and by then omg it's the holidays already. If you need me, you'll be able to find me in a sleepless caffeine-induced adrenaline frenzy until at least January.

I've been "avoiding" the big wave of SV leaks that have happened over the last 24-48 hours — and by that, I mean that I've been peeking at them through my fingers out of curiosity and then immediately running away again out of fear. Which has been working out well for me so far.
I've witnessed a little bit of it here and there, only the things that I desperately needed to know, but nothing that's really ruined the surprise for me (yet). I was fortunately blessed with the gift of an extremely awful short-term memory, so honestly, I already don't remember most of what I saw! There will be no mention or description of said leaks here, so you're safe; though I'll say that what I have seen thus far seems very promising, which is good.

Seriously though, The Finals IV is airing in a few hours and I don't know if I'm ready. I'm very much hoping that Ash will win — and I'm still pretty sure he will — but there's absolutely no saying whose match it is right now. No matter what happens, he'll always be First Place In Our Hearts to me.

For the record, at the moment, there has somewhat suspiciously been no announcement nor even a hint towards the next anime saga; when usually that gets announced a while in advance. Journeys was first announced in the middle of October 2019, about one month before it started... and if it ends this December 9th, I suppose there's still time to do that?
My guess is that the SV series will be announced on November 18th, which is both a break week and the Scarlet/Violet release date — but right now, just due to the current circumstances, I've noticed a significant number of us are flipping out about calmly considering the possibility of the entire series coming to an end... forever.

I just hope I can look back on this post and laugh rather than cry.

Spoiler: boring stuff?

As for me, I'm unfortunately feeling... below average. Mostly just tired, and very, very self-conscious lately. It's why I haven't had anything to write about here for so long — half of me has nothing to say, the other half doesn't really want to say anything at all. At least it comes and goes; I just wish it would go a little bit more often and for longer periods of time lol. I'd like to get back to doing the things I enjoy and enjoying them, but... right now, all I want to do is curl up in bed and sleep.

On another note, though; as you may have noticed, my username is a little bit... bolder now.
I didn't really want to draw any attention to myself, but it's been a couple days and after so many people mentioned it (I love you guys) I figure it's at least worth acknowledging here, for the future. ^^; I'm a super mod now — very exciting. I hope to give it my all and do an even better job going forward.

I haven't had a "song of the week" here like I usually do for a couple weeks in a row. I've been looping a few different songs recently, but I usually try to pick one that accurately captures how I've been feeling lately... which explains why I haven't been able to come up with one for a while. I usually take way too long overthinking the perfect choice and end up just not deciding on one at all.
That said, today's pick is: "Anything But Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne.

I'm gonna go get a small amount of rest before I have to get up again at 6:00.
If you're reading this, take it easy.

.: ~♡~ :.​