Codin' Away

Hey!

So a lot has been going on, and I've been a little too busy to make blog posts in the last couple of weeks.
Another reason for that is related to learning programming--you might be able to guess what I'm getting at, but nevertheless I will explain that below. I still have every intention to continue my blog though, and I have many things I wish to post about (including many unfinished draft posts! ><) First of all, I'll mention some things besides coding. But first, let's talk about coding:

Coding, yay!

Okay.

So July is one of those months for me that are jam-packed with important birthdays; My brother's is July 19th, My girlfriend's and her twin sister's is July 20, and my friend Johnny's is on the 24th. Not to mention, another friend's was on the 25th (but he was off being awesome; he was off in Japan, and then to a few other places, and then to work in like...Silicon Valley!?). To make it even more insane, my close friends and I had another close friend for a while (long story, but we don't really talk to him much or anything now and he's not even in the city anyway), whom we chilled with a great deal when I was in first year--and his birthday was on July 26th!

Two awesome parties took place quite recently. My girlfriend and her sister had another one of their gaming feast-parties--and oh man, the fooooooood. My friend Johnny (of WakeGaNai) and his girlfriend celebrated his birthday with a party of their own, and the case with that was pretty similar. Both parties were an awesome way to get together for some fun and reward ourselves for hard work. In my case, I'm starting to actually feel like I deserve such things. That is,  頑張っています～～（GANBATTEIMASU~~）

ＳＯ！

So I've been doing a lot of programming lately, though I'm still just learning the basics. I took a Python-focused course in school before (though back then I couldn't really focus on it, nor did I even intend to become a programmer--unlike now!), and later when I came back to programming and, in a fortunate turn of events, stopped everything I was doing and turned it into my absolute career path, I started learning Python using Codecademy (awesome site!).

I went on to learn more at Codecademy, and I intend to keep on using it. The first course I fully completed was on HTML and CSS (that's right! I can build some basic websites!! I need to practice though). Now, by this time, and fortunately for me (because learning alongside others is great), Johnny had also taken up programming. In particular, he loves to spruce up his blog and learn how to make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible whilst implementing as many other optimizing elements as possible. That's a major thing that I like to do as well, and I'll be doing a lot of that too, pretty soon.

The reason I'm less motivated to make a lot of posts here is because I'm going to keep learning, keep practicing, and pretty soon just code my own blog. I might do this through Ghost or something, but it will still be fully customized by me and I won't have to deal with anything dumb that comes with blogging as a non-code monkey.

Right now I'm working through the Javascript course. One of my main focuses is learning languages, some versatile and some more focused, expand my potential web design/development capabilities. I'm pretty much running down a list I've jotted down from personal research and fused together with a list given to me by a knowledgeable friend. After finishing the Javascript course, I will work through several fun little web-related tutorials on Codecademy while I supplement that with working my own real website project (which I will discuss in another post sometime). This will allow to to refresh and enhance my skills with HTML and CSS while also looking for ways to implement Javascript, stuff from Bootstrap, and eventually JQuery once I learn about that too. And of course, I will go back to my unfinished Python course and finish 'er up.

I actually have various person project ideas, but I'll get into that another time. Another language I'll be learning too is C. Yup! So I'll learn and practice Python some more before I get into that. Python knowledge has been helping me to easily understand Javascript, and I think that once I'm through with learning about the basics of Javascript, I'll be even better at mastering the rest of Codecademy's Python course. In fact, although for some reason I thought that Javascript was going to be a little easier than Javascript, I'm no longer feeling so sure; The loops and lists and double-nested loops (for-if-for) I've been learning already at the 1/3 mark in the Javascript course is what I remember learning a fair bit later in the Python course, not to forget nested lists and dictionaries.

For some reason, the passing of time and/or the learning of Javscript (albeit only for a few days so far) in addition to the study and practice of pseudo-languages like HTML and CSS, has really sunk in, leaving me with a clearer and more confident mind about programming.

I am ready to take it all on!

~Yukigami

Ren'py: Visual Novel Resources?

Hello~
ヤッハロー～
雪神だ。

Today I want to talk about Visual Novels (and Dating Sims, sure, same $hy7)

I am currently learning the Python VN-engine called Ren'py.
I've gone through the tutorials and stuff, and today I spent a little time downloading sounds.

Do you guys know where I can find some really good pictures for this kind of game? I have some, but some of the sites I've been referred to and/or bookmarked contain only extremely amateurish art or art for platformers--anyway, stuff like that!

I need some character pictures (background-less characters) for a school anime kind of story (in other words, obviously the pictures need to look like anime, since this is a Japanese-style VN we're talking about).

I'm taking my still-unfinished Love Lilycove side story, and for a change of pace/to practice making a game (still not sure if this will end up counting as "practicing Python", but making a game would be really really awesome! So far, it looks easy!) I'm turning that side story into a VN game.

Now, first off I'm planning to make a "kinetic novel"--that is, there will be no choice making or stats, just a story with sounds, music, full body character images with emotional ranges and poses, background art, special effects, and what have you. I may be able to manage short voice clips (basically just voice-sounds), but obviously I can't get any voice acting for my game. But that's fine! I've played various VN that didn't even have voices.

This "kinetic" version is just for practice, I will make choice-based games and/or games with personal stats (like a typical, if not retro archetype of Dating Sim many of us may remember?) as soon as I've got the more basic things down!

I'm not just telling Orlando's back-story though this VN, I'm just starting there. Once I'm done, I'll show it to my friends and stuff and show it here somehow, but I'll then return to finishing chapter one of the main Love Lilycove story, and just have it come long before the side story. I'm planning to have "side stories" occur throughout the regular story as a tangential but non-separate part of the story.

So, do you have some good art resources I could use? Any *great* links?
Thanks a lot~ Bye now!

~Yukigami

P.S. Another little update about the Hoenn Elite Four in my Love Lilycove story is, well to keep it vague for you and not reveal too much yet, basically the Elite Four changes up at some point due to certain events, and two new Elite Four members join the fray. Eli Stormwil is a boxer-cum-rocker and uses electric and fighting types. Shun Tsuchimura is a brainy user of ground and poison types, like a Giovanni team, but stronger and with a much more strategic and synergistic style!

D&D Character Creation: Altea Luna Denerian Update #3: Name and Parameters Alteration

Hello!

This is simply an update on the D&D character of mine, Altea Luna Denerian. Previous posts about her can be found here, here, and here.

First of all, her name is changed from Altia to Altea, the same first name given to the Elite Four member of my Love Lilycove AU Pokemon fanfic by the name of Altea La Sylva (Pokemon-style pseudo-French).
Early posts on the Elite Four of my Hoenn can be found here and here.

Secondly, we have changed the way we are assigning our stats; just as I had originally suggested, we are going to use the point-buy system. What this means is that we start off with 10 on each stat, then distribute 15 stat points as we choose among any number of stat parameters. Additionally, up to 2 stats can be removed from the default 10 on a stat in order to increase the total that we can allot elsewhere. Finally, as a human, I add +2 to a stat of choice. Some rules for point assignment: Cannot exceed 18 with a starting level 1 stat, unless the race bonus puts it higher (max total is then 20). Cannot reduce a stat to less than 8 (cannot drain more than 2 points away from each stat in order to increase point pool for distributing).

Here's what I did with Altea, which includes my race bonus built into the CHA (charisma) stat:

That's all on that for now! Stay tuned for talk of a Zelda world D&D adventure! Johnny has stepped down this time and asked if I would like to try my hand at DM'ing a story, suggesting I do a Zelda story. And I thought that would be awesome!!

The adventurers must lift the curses on a doomed island. The tentative title is...

The Legend of Zelda: Doomwake Island (or maybe Curse of Doomwake)

Bye for now!


~Yukigami

Love Lilycove: The Champion of the Elite Four (pt.1)

Hi!

So while doing something totally irrelevant, I managed to come up with the champion of the Elite Four--that is, the person who will be the current champion at the time Love Lilycove (Jaden route) begins.

As mentioned in the first post on the Elite Four of this story's Hoenn, the Elite Four are as follows...

I will include some very minimal points about them in addition to their names, types, and Pokemon.
Here goes: (I will mention the champion after summarizing the E4!


Elite Four #1: Cindy Umbra

• Specialty: Fire and Dark types
• First battler: Houndoom
• Mid-battle: Charizard, Arcanine, and Hydreigon
• Trump Pokemon: High-level Umbreon (E4 members here use 5 Pokemon)
• The intimidating first challenge, and not necessarily the easiest one
• Signature stage: a castle chamber
• Adult, age 20-40, self-proclaimed "mage", mysterious
• Lots of black/red/purple clothing, red or dark eyes, bred/black/otherwise dark-shaded hair
• Passionate
• Dark, shady
• Mage/witch-like
• Slightly shrouded
• Mischevious, a little seductive
• Intimidating, grandiose, epic
• Starts a little quiet and ominous, later becomes fiery and passionate
• Makes constant references to magic, and to books and legends
• Frequently assesses the challenger's magical qualities and coolness, aloud.
• Example quote: "Your coolness was too much, and I finally got put out. Your confidence reached a godly level, and that allowed you to release a lot of dormant magical power, too much for me to gauge. Alas, I was defeated at my own game. Compared to my flame which was dimmed out by my own darkness, yours was roaring. Pure, and shining. You shall move on. But allow me to warn you, so that you may do justice to my defeat--even a fire of your magical magnitude will not be enough to get you past the next challenge. And remember this, kid: do not underestimate your opponent, no matter what. ...Now, be gone."
• Closest matches: Karen (Johto E4), Malva (Kalos E4), Grimsley (Unova E4), Caster (Fate/Stay Night), a little bit of Rider (Fate/Stay Night), Rias (Highschool DxD), Angela (Princess Waltz), Sabrina (Saffron City Gym Leader)

Elite Four #2: Altea la Sylva

• Specialty: Fairy and Dragon types
• First battler: Sylveon
• Mid-battle: Goodra, Gardevoir or Whimsicott, and Dragonite
• Trump Pokemon: High-level Altaria (something special about it~ ~)
• Signature stage: A fairy-esque stage reminiscent of Diantha's room, but more pink and bubbly and with a large pool, sort of a dragon/fairy mixed environment.
• The unconfident, unintimidating second challenge who doesn't look like an E4 member
• Teen/young adult, age: 16-20
• Normal-looking clothing, school girl (possibly university), positive colours, sometimes dark uncharacteristic colours (a little twist there), hair yet to be decided, light eyes (light blue?)
• Kind and caring
• Airy, dreaming, a little immature sometimes, lala land, loves cool things and cute things
• Sociable and fun, but sometimes awkward or timid
• Student-looking, bright and colourful and sometimes dark-but-young (esp. when she is less timid)
• Fun-loving and funny, particularly when she is feeling confident
• A lot more faith in her Pokemon than herself, but truly powerful when she can believe in both
• Tends to start off unconfident and worried/talkative, but gets more boild and passionate at times
• Lots of personal potential, battling power can go unexpectedly high at times
• Example Quote: "You think that if you push me down many times, eventually I won't bother getting back up. Well, I did. And guess what! I'm finally back here again, and my beloved Pokemon partners and I are going to take you down and show you what the ground tastes like! This time, we're going to get you! Let's go!"
• Closest matches: Chii-chan (Hataraku Maou-sama), shy schoolgirl characters (but more hidden spunk, wildness, and humour), Jasmine (Olivine City Gym Leader), a hint of Shauntal (Unova E4) and Roxie (Virbank City Gym Leader, Unova) when bolder and more confident, Ayaka Sajou (Fate/Prototype), Mizore (Rosario and Vampire) when she is a mix of her two sides and a little older, Sakura (CCS/Tsubasa Chronicles), Phoebe (canon Hoenn E4 member), maybe some Yumi Hoshino (Kimikiss Pure Rouge), and Minori (ToraDora). Obviously this is a huge mix, but I have yet to figure out an existing character or even two who sum her up. Basically, a shy and unconfident school-aged girl with a sense of humour and a somewhat hidden dark/funky side and a little inner fire. When not timid (mood or permanent development), she shows more happiness, smiles bigger, is more silly, and a lot more confident and strong-willed.

Elite Four #3: Aaron Goldleaf

• Specialty: Steel and Grass types
• First battler: Klefki
• Mid-battle: Tropius, Magneton, and Breloom
• Trump Pokemon: High-level Aggron (something special about this one too~ ~)
• Signature stage: an amusement park
• An older E4 member aged anywhere from late 20s to early 40's, not sure yet. The other option is also making this character a young guy around Altea's age, but I think I might actually want to make him the older variant, because right now it just really works in my head with everything I'm imagining. So, for today, that's what I'll describe.
• Wears suits, is a little bit fancy, a little bourgeois, but not very pompous or arrogant
• Architect, very technological, but also talks and thinks about the environment; his niche as an architect and as a Pokemon trainer is the harmonious combination of nature and technology
• A bright and positive person, a bit fatherly, very knowledgeable and mentor-like
• Wears colorful (non-flamboyant) things and suits, contrasts sharply with Cindy, has some things in common with William but is nicer, less shady, less arrogant, warmer, more merciful, and more normal)
• Accomplished, a little fancy, and merciful but still intimidating (merciful as in, literally may let the opponent win because he wants to be more of a teacher or inspiration than a destroyer). Very wise and weathered as a battler and not a boring person.
• Very good with details and understanding materials, very technical and charismatic/sociable--a further combination within himself of his two Pokemon types.
• Doesn't usually demonstrate his full power; is perhaps no less weaker than, and possibly even stronger than, William.
• Brown or blond hair, probably green or silver eyes, usually wears suits or other formal attire.
• Solidly strong from the get-go, very consistent, and exceedingly strategic (almost Koga-style)
• Tends to test the trainer in battle more than seriously try to win. Gives helpful advice.
• Example quote: "Look at all that space. Just enough, yet not too little. Take a look at the beauty of those buildings, not to mention those wild rides! The structural solidity, the synergistic efficiency, the artistic schematics... Look around! I do hope that when you came in, and when you were battling with me, you were able to appreciate all this, if even just a little. Not everyone can notice or appreciate such things. That's why I am what I am; that's why it is I who got to design this place. Where do you think we are right now? We aren't just inside of an enormous indoor amusement park--we're inside the ever-grander Elite Four Headquarters, which... Wait for it... Happens to be the most massive building in the history of the world! And guess who designed it? If it weren't for becoming an architect, I never would have become a member of theElite Four. Thus, I owe my very being both to architecture and to my Pokemon--but I owe it all to them, really. They were with me every step of the way; they were there when I became an architect, they were there when I started challenging Pokemon gyms, and they're here with me now. These are the Pokemon who made me one of the greatest architects and most powerful trainers in the world. And you defeated this team of us. Bravo. You are truly a powerful trainer. The way you knew your Pokemon inside and out, and that passion... You beat me because you knew how to apply your Pokemon's unique features in battle, while at the same time analyzing and making the best possible use of your surroundings--that's exactlty what this stage and this battle were all about! If I could make one suggestion, it would be to think carefully about everything in your next battle, including the relationships between the various stats of each Pokemon, and how they effect the damage that is done by moves in battle. Congratulations, trainer, you have officially defeated all of the members of Hoenn's Elite Four. Be proud of it, ...But stay alert! Oh, and running around is not going to work so well in your next battle."
• Closest matches: Norman (Petalburg City Gym Leader), Mu La Flaga (Gundam SEED), Tokiomi Tohsaka (Fate Zero), Byron (Canalave City Gym Leader), aspects of Whitney (Goldenrod City Gym Leader), and Lancer (Fate Zero), but a lot more energy and charisma than these characters as a whole.

Elite Four #4: William Snow

• Specialty: Psychic and Ice types
• First battler: Espeon
• Mid-battle: Starmie, Lapras, and Sneasel/Weevile
• Trump Pokemon: High-level shiny Gardevoir that can do Mega Evolution
• An older E4 member aged anywhere from late 20s to early 40's, not sure yet. A very rich, reserved, quiet, calm, and affluently powerful and well-known person. I have yet to fully figure out his job stuff, but I was thinking of having a dark twist, perhaps relation to an evil organization. Either way, however, he puts up a very convincing innocent front--he is princely and chivalrous, highly and bourgeois, very powerful in his city/in Hoenn, and a bit charming, despite being cold, intimidating, and at times condescending.
• Signature stage: an overly boring room, which on his whim (perhaps using his Pokemon's power or his own self-proclaimed psychic power, turns into a kind of bright, tundra-like battlefield. Despite seeming or acting like a cold realist, at times cynical and cold and at times charming and chivalrous, he represents escapism in a twisted sense, as if making a suggestion to the challengers/protagonists/heroes to accept their reality as hopeless and find a means of escape. It is he himself, however, who would seem to have taken this advice too far and fallen into the darkness. The darkness has twisted him not only into a corrupt and malicious person, but also into a multi-faceted, multi-faced faker. A lot of this was caused by the fact that he had little social ties, real psychic powers, and an oft-misunderstood personality. As a result, he developed in an N or Sabrina kind of manner, but also happened to gain great power--both of Pokemon battling, and of politics and affluence--and as a result, he has a strong effect on whatever he influences. His Pokemon understand him and know the goodness inside of him, and he loves his Pokemon as much as anyone else could love theirs. In addition, his personality quirks and inner complications allow him to battle with maximum power as though he has nothing to lose from doing so. What results then, is an extremely strong fourth member of the Hoenn Elite Four, and a person with a great deal of personality and depth despite his usual outward calmness and reserve, which could have been boring, provided he is dressed normally. But again, Aaron ,the Elite Four member coming before him, hides his abilities and may be no less powerful as a trainer than William is (emphasizing the strength of these two). Even if translated into normal Pokemon game power-levels, this Elite Four would be at least on the strong side of the bunch. But since this AU Pokemon world is more realistic (as I put it) and, for example, makes real Pokemon professionals far, far stronger than any casual trainers, and since it makes Pokemon like Onix and Wailord massively strong--as they SHOULD be(!!)--the result is that this Elite Four has fairly insane power (for, as you will eventually see/read, even the lower-tier gym leaders are each a ridiculous obstacle for aspiring trainers).
• He is calm, confident, grand, and condescending to the point of deep passive intimidation.
• Wears suits of the fanciest sort, never wears casual things, and everything he wears is at the very least of an unusual color (ex: blue, red, or purple suit)
• Whimsical and eccentric despite his collectedness; sometimes wears a surprising style of attire and.or acts differently than what is expected of him. Very deep and multi-faceted personality, very mysterious and at times, almost creepy. Very strange, but also very good at reading people, and very perceptive (he is "psychic" after all).
• His Pokemon types represent his coldness and inner oppressive and condescending nature. He has a superiority complex and he doesn't hold back in battle.
• He claims to have psychic power rivaling that of a Pokemon, and ice represents his inner loneliness
• He is very aesthetic (regardless of how whimsical his style is at times) and likes water Pokemon, but he likes ice-types (and psychics) more, which represents a kind of tainted, spoiled aspect of his personality, as ice is a twist on (form of) water that is solid (like a wall) and mercilessly cold and lifeless.
• He will hold some sort of important positions in terms of affluential and/or political power
• Very good with the abstract, the philosophical, the deep, the complicated, and the fantastic. Less of a realist than Aaron despite being colder and a lot less sociable (so he is like a twisted kind of artistic dreamer), more like a male, bourgois Cindy who is grandoise and fantastic, except dark and twisted in a more real and malicious way, rather than in a fun or harmless kind of role-playing way.
• Colorful appearance palette (undecided specifics).
• Example quote: "Haha, oh, that's right... Ideally, I'm just a stepping stone since you'd like to become the Pokemon Champion of Hoenn, right? Youre not wrong, as much as I like to think I'm pretty well unbeatable to the likes of you and all the other randoms who come trotting along on their merry way, ready to be tossed into a pit of despair after having gotten their hopes up by lucking out against the mediocres downstairs. Oh Aaron, you really are a cruel one... You, it's really for your own good that you lose to me and don't move on, that's all I have to say."
• Closest matches: Will (Johto E4), Lucian (Sinnoh E4), a hint of Giovanni (Viridian City Gym Leader, Team Rocket Leader), Some fanciness of Wallace (Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire Sootopolis Gym Leader, Pokemon Emerald Pokemon League Champion), Maybe some Volkner (Sunnyshore City Gym Leader, he contrasts some of what is described so far but I haven't 100% settled into my personality and appearance concepts yet), a hint of Elesa (Nimbasa City Gym Leader), Brycen (Iccirus City Gym Leader), Kurapika and Proto Saber (Fate's King Arthur, male ver.--especially if I do go the blond route), and probably more...

And Now...

Announcing...

THE POKEMON CHAMPION OF HOENN!!

Hoenn Champion: Finley de Brina

• Specialty: Water types
• First battler: Vaporeon
• Mid-battle: Lantern, Milotic, Azumarill, Slowking
• Trump Pokemon: High-level Swampert that can Mega Evolve
• Intimidating, mighty, famous, powerful, confident, proud, very competitive, obsessive, masterful
• Signature stage: "anywhere you think you'll have an advantage"
• Adult, age 24-32, "goddess of water", self-proclaimed water master
• Older sister of Orlando de Brina
• Every range of colour and style of clothing
• Passionate, competitive, thoughtful
• Loves water
• Very sporty, very normal, but with a fierce personality and a refusal to lose
• Unforgiving, merciless, with a heart but not for those without one
• Attractive but doesn't try to me; just barely not too feirce and competitive to make her unappealing as a woman. About the same ferocity as Clair (Blackthorn City Gym), but a lot more powerful and more potentially ruthless and chaotic, and even more proud and strong-willed
• Very casual when Pokemon is not discussed or the focus of a situation. When it comes to Pokemon, she is a real pro, and it changes the way she behaves
• Likes to wear very casual, anticlimactic clothing even in battle. She has a lot of style sense without trying to have it. She is like Gilgamesh (Fate/Stay Night) when he wears stylish and casual human clothes, which creates a tastefully cool contrast between the his casual style and his extreme power and literal godliness (ie. his epic-ness, as his story and power are both pretty epic--or should I say, "epoch").
• Extremely competitive, but has a beautiful and more casual/sociable or feminine side that pretty much comes out whenever she does/talks about things not involving Pokemon, or things like swimming or thinking to herself.
• Gets extremely in the zone during battle, to the point of not hearing what's happening around her. She doesn't care to talk to her opponent, so mid-battle trash-talk is out of the question. She takes battling very seriously, and she loves and respects her water Pokemon to the point that to her, giving even 1% less than her maximum effort and focus in a serious battle means dishonouring her own Pokemon, and all water Pokemon 9since she claims to be a true master of them).
• Hair: probably some shade of blue, otherwise probably black. Eyes: Probably blue, but not for sure. Possibly blind, it's still all up in the air.
• Example quote: "You behave yourself or I will personally annihilate your headquarters using only water."
• Closest matches: a bit of Misty, a bit of Cynthia for coolness/style, power, and beauty, a lot of Clair (Blackthorn City Gym leader), a hint of Maylene (Veilstone City Gym Leader) for competitiveness, intimidation, and sportiness, Some of Elesa's mystique and charm, a bit of Sabrina (Saffron City Gym Leader) for some intimidation, a little darkness, and some class, Asuna (SAO, SAO II), perhaps a bit of Lorelei to her (Kanto Elite Four), many aspects of Saber/Arturia Pendragon (Fate) such as competitiveness, chivalry, seriousness in and about battle, focus on objective, power, and being attractive and graceful despite everything (also, blond hair is not counted out just yet, as it can also give her a "girl of the sea" kind of flavour).

Her name just kind of came to me randomly. Her name caused me to make her a pure water type. Also, I love water-type Pokemon (as you can tell from this data), and I wanted to make a water trainer who actually doesn't suck!! I also wanted to make a pure-type champion because it's an unexpected change from what I've been doing. It's pretty badass to succeed to her degree with only one type in this Pokemon world I've created. When possible, I've been giving the Elite Four members at least one Pokemon that is more or less their namesake (I didn't end up doing it for William Snow, but we can call him an exception since he is me, Yukigami! So he's aloud to stick out, or something...). I don't have that for Finley de Brina, but I do have Pokemon with fins! I chose her to start with a Vaporeon, and also have a trump card of Swampert. Also, I will flavour in that she had a Finneon. Even after becoming a Lumineon, it just wasn't powerful enough to be on her competitive team. Even though she loves it a lot and likes to have a team of favourite Pokemon, she had a lot of water Pokemon she loved, and was too competitive and ambitious to let anything hold her back. She still has her Lumineon. The other factor was that she wished to make a team of only Pokemon who are not restricted to battling in the water. As you can see, she has succeeded in making a team of that. Her team also has some balance as far as water Pokemon Go; she has Swampert for defense against electricity, she has Pokemon to use as physical or special walls, and she has decent type coverage as a whole. Combine all that with 'anything can happen" TV-style Pokemon logic, and her team can be plenty insane, about as insane as I can write it to be!

Here's some closest-match concept art, for fun~:




 Cindy Umbra

Altea la Sylva

Aaron Goldleaf

William Snow

If I do go the blond route with William Snow's character, I will most likely make him deceivingly princely, handsome, and chivalrous. Although he may have features of Kurapika in that case, and this picture in a suit is nice and fitting, he would probably look more gentle and approachable and more masculine, but also older. For example, like Fate 'Prototype' Saber/Saver, aka King Arthur (Fate-style), as seen in the last two pictures, below this one.

 The picture displayed on the left also features Saber's master, Ayaka Sajou, who would also make decent concept art for Altea la Sylva.










And last but definitely not least, Finley de Brina

If the other Elite Four members' Pokemon were to range from levels 40-50, with their trump card Pokemon having a max level of 60, then Finley's Pokemon would be around level 80, maxing out around lv. 90-95.
That's right, a ridiculous Pokemon Champion.
Who can beat her??

"I am a water Master. No, wait, that's wrong... Um... I'm a Pokemon Master. I am a Pokemon Master, who specializes in water-type Pokemon."

That's all for now!!

~Yukigami

P.S. Mega Metagross revealed!!!

The New Hoenn Elite Four

Hello!

I am still doing a lot of things right now, such as learning programming, doing stuff with D&D, hanging out, photoshopping, this and that. But another thing I'm still doing is writing--I'm still working on my Love Lilycove side story, after which I'll go ahead and finish up chapter one once and for all. I'm also planning to redo a lot of my previous posts about characters, story synopses, and whatever else I may have posted, except with updates and overall improvements. After finishing the first chapter of the regular story, I will "reward" myself by writing something really awesome...

What will I write? What's so awesome? Well, as you may have guessed, it's something to do with Hoenn's Elite Four. But I'm not talking about Drake, Glacia and all that good stuff. First of all, to match face with the dark realism of Love Lilycove as opposed to canon Pokemon, the evil organization is going to be actually really bad and do really dangerous and criminal things, and the Elite Four is going to be extremely strong. In fact, as will become apparent when at some point I post the "side story" I've been talking about (a back-story for a character named Orlando de Brina), even gym leaders will be mad strong.

As my story is futuristic (early 22nd century) and AU, I'm taking the bold liberty of "retelling" the story. By that I mean that the premise and events are different, but some canon characters will be featured here and there in a secondary manner. Most or all gym leaders, such as Flannery, will still be what they were despite this taking place in the future (though, do we really know when the real story would have taken place?). All or most of my main characters will always be made from scratch, and in this case, the same is true for the Elite Four and Champion, which I will detail below. Canon characters will not necessarily hold their original role, such as X City Gym Leader, Ash's companion, etc. Also, I won't age some canon characters excludively, but I may age the entire canon population as a whole (for example, everyone being two years older than their canon ages). I'll probably, for example, feature Kanto characters as their Pokemon Gold/Silver selves, whereas I may or may not have Flannery or other Hoenn people be of a different age. This is also because we can't say for sure which game corresponds to which year in the PokeWorld. For the time being, I have no plan to feature any canon character as being significantly aged or regressed--3-6 years is probably the maximum aging I may apply to anyone. For example, I like the older, more mature looking Misty/Kasumi, so if I do feature her, it will not match the season 1 style.

Early Misty (game style, but similar to show):

I have based the Elite Four on my friends and I :)

The first member of the Elite Four, along with the rest, follow a running theme of duel-type thematics I eventually develop in my story. The tentative (very tentative at this stage) name of the first of the E4 is named Cindy Umbra, and uses fire and dark type Pokemon. Her character flavour is a dark and passionate kind of mage-like lady, slightly reminiscent of Malva of the Kalos Elite Four and Karen of the Johto Elite Four.

Her first Pokemon is Houndoom, and what follows is Charizard, Arcanine, Hydreigon, and then her trump: a very high-level Umbreon.

I won't get too much into personalities for now, as I'd rather reveal all that in a more appealing manner.

Elite Four #2 is named Altea La Sylva (Pokemon-style pseudo French. And yes, I am reusing the name Altea, which is taken from my recent D&D character creation. She is (awesomely!) a fairy and dragon type user, and starts with a Sylveon. Next comes a Goodra, then either a Gardevoir or a Whimsicott (pending), a Dragonite (might make this just a Dragonair, I want to treat Pokemon like these as fairly epic beings), and her trump: a high-level Altaria. I have something special in store as well, which I won't reveal. Her character flavour is pretty normal, and in being so sets her apart from the rest of the Elite Four. She's young, normal, and not very confident (for now!), even though she is already powerful enough a trainer to deserve her position. Unlike the other members of the Elite Four, she will have some major involvement with the main characters at some points. (One or more of the other E4 members also gain some minor or very major relevance, but these aren't things I'd be willing to reveal just yet.)

#3 is named Aaron Goldleaf, and trains Steel and Grass type Pokemon. His character flavour is an architect, so with some bioethics background it is pretty suitable. In this case, it's like a mix of nature and technology, and in that sense a very artistic and real world relevant trainer style. His first Pokemon is Klefki, and next he uses Tropius, Magneton, and Breloom. His trump card is an Aggron, which like what can be seen from the other members, is more or less his namesake. He doesn't always use or reveal it, but his Aggron can Mega evolve. This is because he considers his position that of a judge of abilities rather than an all-or-nothing competitor.

The final member of the Elite Four is named William Snow. If I went the Japanese route, I would have called him Yukigami (surname) Toru (given name). Anyway, "Will" refers to the psychic type Pokemon he uses, and "Snow" should be obvious. 'William' is taken from part of my last name, and 'Snow' is in itself a real last name. His character flavour is basically similar to Lucian of Sinnoh's Elite Four, except more princely and chivalrous, as well as more cold and mysterious--very rich, fancy, and even a little bourgeois, but also stern and a bit dark. He is also extremely aesthetic, as his team might suggest. Furthermore, there is a lot more to him than just has position as the final member of the E4--but again, I won't be talking about this just yet ;p

His first Pokemon is Espeon, and the next three are Starmie, Lapras, and Sneasel (or Weevile, pending).

His trump card is a miscoloured (black) Mega Gardevoir (at least, it's black and looks like this in its Mega form and this in its regular form).

I have yet to decide on a Pokemon League Champion. (EDIT: I am posting this on a day inwhich I HAVE finally come up with a champion, so the post about the champion will follow immediately after this one!!)


Thanks for reading! More detailed summaries still to come.

~Yukigami

D&D Character Creation: Godann Wei'duk

Osu!

To follow up with recent D&D character posts, I would like to take a moment to go over the second most recent character of mine, with whom I've yet to begin any adventures (I have, on the other hand, played at least 1-2 levels' worth with Xino/Akiharu Shinomori and Covalius Darkwater, both of whom will be posted about soon. Altia/Altea is my next adventurer though).

The character I made before Altia was named Godann Wei'duk. I have yet to flesh him out a whole lot, though I remember my original inspirations. First of all, I wanted him to be kind of desert-y, almost Gerudo-y even, and I thought of these guys from Magi as a starting point for concept art:

Sphintus (lol I'm sorry but his name sounds like sphincter xD)

and Sharrkan:

But I also wanted some Gilgamesh in his personality and overall qualities, which I thought creates a pretty consistent yet diverse blend.

This, for now, makes up most of the visual concept I have in mind for Godann.

Let's move onto the naming! Well, he was originally going to be a Warlord, but eventually I settled on Blood Elf Sorcerer. He has Draconian lineage (blue dragon).
When I remember more of his back-story and greatly build upon it, I will post just as much about him as I did so far about Altia.

Since I originally conceptualized him as kind of an armoured warlord guy, I was thinking of military strategy. That reminded me of Go, which gave me a few additional words to work with including Go and dan (dan being a rank counter in Go; 30 kyu is the weakest rating and 1 kyu is the strongest kyu rating. Next comes 1 dan, aka 1st dan, which continues up to the highest possible amateur level of 7th dan). I ended up trying a few things but going with something like Godan or Godin (Din is the goddess of fire in Zelda, and her incarnation has a fiery personality and appearance resembling a Gerudo girl such as Nabooru, the Sage of Spirit from the Ocarina of Time game's final temple). In the end, I thought Godan, although slightly odd, sounded the best and was acceptable (I love unique, original names. I really love building everything from scratch!). Plus, it went well the the even odder srname I'd come up with: Wei'duk (duk gets a horizontal accent line on the u, but I'm too lazy to open up character map ;p).

Wei'duk ("way-duke"): I continued on the Go theme and used "wei" from Weichi ( 圍棋), the Chinese word for Go (also romantized as Weiqi, which I presume to be the Cantonese spelling), and the "duk" from Baduk (바둑), which is the Korean word for the game (Go is more popular in those countries than in anywhere else in the world. Although Go was brought to the west by the Japanese (who call it Go), it was invented in China thousands of years ago, and contemporary Go is completely dominated by Korea and China.

The overall sound of Godann Wei'duk's name, along with the apostrophe in his last name, gave me the feeling that his name would be suitable ethnic or foreign-flavoured, and hopefully suitable for this "desert guy."

I added an 'n' to Godan (making it Godann) just to make it less basic, though I've also been considering a solent 'h' or something like that instead (ex: Godahn or Gohdann).

That's about the best explanation for his name I can provide. In the end, I think most names just originate from nothing or from basic words anyways.


I may alter or completely redo his stats, so I'll wait before posting those.

This is actually it for now! Unlike Xino (Akiharu Shinomori) and Covalius, both of whom I'll be posting a lot about pretty soon, and Altia, Godann has yet to be fleshed out very far. More on him coming soon!

~Yukigami

Altia Luna Denerian: D&D Character Splash! Character Update #2

Hello! Yukigami here!

I've been learning a little about Photoshop lately, so it was the perfect time for me to use it for something to complement my recent posts. I went ahead and made sort of a splash of concept arts for Altia, along with some of her character information (including her human race bonus, which I've built into her Charisma parameter since I chose to use it there).

Here's the result:

My friends and I each rolled for each of our own parameter numbers (with four D6's, discarding the lowest number), then took our six numbers and distributed each of them to a parameter of choice. I happened to roll pretty high (average score something like 14.18 out of 18, or threabouts!) even though I was the one opposed to this system as opposed to a fair "point-buy" system, so I simply flavoured these all-high parameters into my story (flavour and back-story are very important to me, and perhaps the most fun aspect of all this for me too).

For example, to justify her 13 STR, I say that she has some combination of: (possibly) receiving a blessing of strength from The Light, and an exercise regiment she follows in secret due to the frequency and danger of attacks and threats on her by pursuers and dark organizations. Furthermore, because her story entails her having built up hatred and evil inside (to the point of developing a hidden, dark alter ego),  a workout routine is pretty instrumental for her in alleviating such emotions and extra stress. Previous info for her regarding this and more can be found here and here (albeit with some outdated parts, especially in the older post).

As for her charisma (CHA), I actually plan to distribute more and more points into it for the sake of character flavour (she is a very enlightening social speaker kind of shining figure person, or at least pretends to be). Here and there I'll make some increases on her WIS too, since it's a very important stat for her character and especially for her skills.


Here are some of the choices I've made for her (thus, I have not included any other race/class abilities she may have, such as Healing Word and the like):

"At Will" Spells:

• Sacred Flame
• Lance of Faith
• Astral Seal

"Encounter Prayers" (Encounter Spells):

• Shield Bearer

"Daily Prayers" (Daily Spells)

• Astral Condemnation

Trained Skills:

• Religion (Class Skill)
• Heal
• Diplomacy
• Insight
• Bluff (via Background: Faker)

Feats:

• Skill Focus: Bluff
• Power of Life

OH! And I'm actally thinking Altea ("Awl-tay-uh") might be nicer! What do you think??

That's all for now!

~Yukigami

Poke-Data From An Early HTML Practice Session

Hello yet again!

Today I'm posting quite a bit. Anyway, I just thought I would post something I worked on some time ago when I was learning to use HTML. This is a table that includes Pokemon data concerning my favourite Pokemon. I started off choosing a wide variety of favourites, but also came up with really strict choices I terms "Super Fav's." I'll just post this and leave it at that!

Yukigami's Pokemon Type Preferences
Type	Total Fav	Total Pop.	% of Pop.	Super Fav's	Conscious Pref.?	Top 3
Ice	11	37	29.73	2	+	Sneasel, Lapras, Cloyster
Fire	14	62	22.58	4		Arcanine, Vulpix, Ninetales
Water	27	121	22.31	6	+	Wartortle, Starmie, Blastoise
Fairy	8	39	20.51	4	+	Mega Diancie, Mega Gardevoir*, Gardevoir
Dark	9	48	18.75%	2	+	Umbreon, Sneasel, Absol
Electric	9	50	18.00	4		Flaafy, Raichu, Luxray
Dragon	8	47	17.02	3		Dragonair, Dragonite, Mega Sceptile
Poison	10	61	16.39	2		Nidorino, Nidoqueen, Nidorina
Ground	10	63	15.87	3		Sandshrew, Rhydon, Sandslash
Rock	9	58	15.52	3		Mega Diancie, Diancie, Rhydon
Ghost	6	44	13.64	0	+	Mega Sableye, Mismagius, Haunter
Psychic	11	83	13.25	4	+	Espeon, Starmie, Mega Gardevoir*
Grass	12	94	12.77	7		Lilligant, Ivysaur, Mega Sceptile
Flying	12	98	12.24	3	-	Dragonite, Butterfree, Noctowl
Normal	11	99	11.11	4	+	Meowth, Persian, Zangoose
Steel	5	47	10.64	1		Scizor, Jirachi, Skarmory
Fighting	5	51	9.80	0	-	Pancham, Mienshao, Mega Blaziken
Bug	5	71	7.04	3	-	Butterfree, Vivillon, Scizor

~Yukigami

Minor Blog Adjustments, July 3 2014

Hey! I'm just posting some changes I've made to the blog as a whole.


Tonight I'll be posting sort of a splash art made up of some of the "concept art" previously posted for my newest D&D character creation, Altia Luna Denerian. Within that image, some of her basic character stats and cool info will also be showcased. Coming soon!


Here are some changes I just made to the blog, some of which may be already obvious:

• Increased the overall font size by 4 numbers! It's extremely readable this way, though perhaps it is too big. We'll see!
• A lot of the links and things that used to appear light blue are now coloured in the light pinkish colour. That colour already existed in various parts, but I've increased upon it (my general overall scheme includes mainly black, grey, white, blue, a light pinkish colour, and a light yellow).
• The frame of pictures is now white instead of the light blue from before.
• The gifs and things along the right side of the blog now link to relevant places.
• FYI, since I probably never mentioned it before, the entire blog text is styled bold. Thus, as this is in place, you don't see any text more bold than other text.
• Obviously I have some much more important changes to make when I have the time and energy:
• A proper labeling (tags) system
• A complete top menu with proper linking and no empty items
• And eventually, more patiently written, high-quality posts overall.
• Ultimately though, this will all matter little once I have the skills to program everything myself.

Aside from all of this and patiently increasing on my novice programming skills, all I can really provide is a greater number and variety of blog posts. I'll do my best to keep posting about everything, such as Go, fanfics, other writing, MTG, D&D, my life, Japanese, anime, etc!

In the meantime, I'm also fitting in time each day not only to exercise a little ,but also to write Love Lilycove stuff. The side story I'm working on is pretty long (and awesome!), and it actually takes place (and is not to be posted until) much later. So basically, what I'm writing right now is not something I'll be even posting once it's finished.

However, once I finish it, I'll postpone editing it and go back to finishing chapter 1!

So basically, I have every intention of following through on the chapter one of Love Lilycove I've been promising (myself) for so long.

ADIOS!

~Yukigami