Manta wanted to see some of my old attempts at drawing humans, so here we go. This is the spiritual successor to that art improvement meme I posted last year. Most of these are dated 2003-2006. You can probably see why teenage-me usually stuck with drawing Pokemon instead of people.


"Why am I half chibi?" Because that was the extent of my people-drawing skills at the time, probably. Case in point:

( More under the cut. Image heavy, obviously.Collapse )

And I think that's the last (pre-university) drawing that I have. By comparison, here is my recent stuff. Granted, my art still isn't great, but it's leaps and bounds better than it was before I took official classes. Thank goodness for life drawing and anatomy classes.

Nintendo, why do you have to make such awesome preorder bonuses for Alpha Sapphire? And why do you have to release the best ones outside of the US? All the Alpha Sapphire bonuses are Kyogres, which means I need them. I NEED ALL OF THEM.

Current list of preorder bonuses I want need:
- Primal Kyogre figure (UK version)
- metallic Alpha Sapphire box (UK)
- Primal Kyogre figure (Japan version)
- Primal Groudon figure (Japan version)
- metallic Primal Kyogre poster (Japan)
- Primal Kyogre/Groudon poster from Gamestop (US)
and they keep announcing more.

Thank goodness I don't really care about the Japanese art book. (It has more than just Kyogre and Groudon on the cover, which makes it "not Kyogre merchandise" as far as my collecting rules are concerned.) I've cared about a Japanese art book exactly once--the Fire Emblem 20th anniversary edition--and finding it for less than $60 was a nightmare.

( Collecting woes!Collapse )

I am going to end up with five copies of this game, four of which I won't be able to play because the stupid 3DS is region locked. I just know it.

PS - Hello new friends from the pkmncollectors friending meme. In case you couldn't tell by the username, I really like Kyogres!

In general, I have really bad luck with finding shiny Pokemon. It's been about 6 years since I found a wild shiny (chain fishing not included).

After logging 160+ hours on Pokemon X, I finally ran across a shiny in the friend safari:


I was watching the Olympics with my mother at the time, and I freaked out.

Me, after incoherent flailing: "I just found a shiny Charmeleon!"
Mom: "That's nice."
Me: "You don't understand. I JUST FOUND A SHINY CHARMELEON!"

His name is Drogon and he will be a beautiful Charizard soon. Shiny Charizard is my second favorite shiny Pokemon, right after shiny Ho-oh who I'm never going to get because I don't have the patience to soft reset for one. DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET A SHINY CHARIZARD? I hatched several hundred Charmanders in my gen 5 games using the Masuda Method, but ragequit after I got a freaking Mantyke instead.

I cannot believe I finally managed to get one. Not only is Drogon shiny, but he has a Timid nature and 3 perfect IVs! I will never complain about my shiny luck again. ;___;

Sorry that I've been so quiet on LJ lately and haven't been commenting. Between work and the crazy weather and me not feeling well, I haven't found the time/motivation to do much on LJ. I am a bad friend. Someday I will try to be a better friend and also post semi-interesting things again but it will not be today because I'm too tired.

Anyway, I'm attempting to list some figures on ebay, but I'm having a hard time because ebay changed their freaking layout AGAIN. I swear it changes every time I try to sell something.

The main thing that's frustrating me is the yellow box seen below.



I did some Google searching. Here are the things I discovered:
1. The official name for that box is the "condition description".
2. ebay is cracking down on people who provide an incorrect condition description. Right now mine is incorrect because it defaulted to the condition description on a previous item.
3. NO ONE WILL TELL ME HOW TO CHANGE THE CONDITION DESCRIPTION. Google pulls up nothing, and ebay's "help" page is less than useless. In the past there was an option to edit the condition description near the drop down menu for the "new"/"used" option on the listing page... but I'm not seeing it ANYWHERE on the new listing template.

Basically, I need to find a way to change the "seller notes" (ie, "condition description) to "very good with minor paint flaws". Failing that, I need to erase the condition description entirely.

( More ebay frustrations, with screenshots.Collapse )

Please help. I've been searching ebay and Google for over an hour and I still can't find a solution. I am about ready to throw my computer through a window or stab myself in the face or something. (I am only half joking about the bodily harm. That's how angry/frustrated this entire situation is making me.)

Edit: I found a way to add a condition description for new listings, but it only works with the "advanced" seller tool (meaning the listing template can't be more than 90 days old). It doesn't help when revising my current listings.

I completed my National Pokedex and obtained the shiny charm! Thank you, happyjolteon and pheonixxfoxx, for helping me out. And thank you to everyone else who offered to help. If anyone needs to borrow Pokemon for their own dex completion, I have most of them. The exceptions are some middle evolutions, some Pokemon that need items to evolve, and the legendaries. Now that I have the shiny charm and a complete Pokedex, I plan to start breeding a team for the Battle Maison even though I have no idea what I'm doing; I haven't played competitively since gen 3.

Unrelated: I discovered this video today and it's my new favorite thing. (My mother also agrees that it's pretty great.)

I'm trying to complete the Pokedex on Pokemon X so I can get the shiny charm. Would anyone be willing to help? If Bank was released in the US, I would have a complete Pokedex already. Freaking Pokemon Bank delay, ruining all my plans.

Update: thanks for helping me out, pheonixfoxx! Here are the Pokemon I still need to borrow:
Raikou
Entei
Latios
Kyogre
Cobalion
Thunderus

In return I can loan: Xerneas, Slowking, Steelix, Scizor, Porygon-Z, any of the starters, and basically anything you can breed/evolve without an item.

In other news, I tried my hand at chain fishing. I am amazed at how easy it is. (Chaining with the Pokeradar, on the other hand, is infuriating.)

( Kyogres' chain fishing adventures.Collapse )

This past week was weird. We had a snowquake (also known as "an earthquake and snow/ice storm on the same day"). We had a tornadoquake too, a few years ago. Now all we need is a snownadoquake and I can complete my natural disaster bingo sheet. Ooooklahoma.

Anyway, I saw Catching Fire and Frozen last week, before everything shut down for 2-3 days thanks to snow.

( Thoughts on Catching Fire.Collapse )

( Thoughts on Frozen.Collapse )

I also started watching Breaking Bad. I just finished season 1 as of this post. It didn't seem like a show I would enjoy, but after I heard so many people recommend it, I decided to give it a chance... and it is surprisingly entertaining. Trying to explain to my mother "No, I swear this show is really good. It's about a chemistry teacher who starts making and selling crystal meth because he's dying of cancer" was... interesting. But to be honest, I think she stopped trying to figure out my taste in TV shows after all of our Game of Thrones discussions. (Her stance on Game of Thrones is "How can you like a show where they killed the puppy? And also there is too much sex and too much violence and every character you love dies.")

I have just discovered the wonders of trainer PR videos. I am going to waste far too many hours on this. FAR TOO MANY HOURS.

Is there a way for me to easily share my PR videos online (for instance, a way to save them to the SD card and upload them directly to Tumblr/etc like you can in ACNL), or will I have to record my 3DS screen with a camera? I am laughing way too hard at the videos I'm making. I want to share them with the world. Of course, it's highly possible that I'm the only one who finds them funny. I know that friends can request to see your video if you're online, but that relies on us actually being online at the same time.

Update: Looks like some other people beat me to the 'creepy Espurr video' idea and did it 100 times better than I could. Well darn.

PS - Some of you have amazing friend safari Pokemon. I'm sorry that mine (Floatzel and Octillery) suck in comparison. Apparently my third friend safari Pokemon is Frogadier!

I've been neglecting Livejournal (and the rest of the internet, and life in general) because all I want to play Pokemon X all the time. Adult responsibilities, what adult responsibilities? THERE ARE POKEMON TO CATCH!

My friend code: 3866 - 8181 - 2388
Trainer name: Nicole

That trainer name was probably a bad idea, but I couldn't think of a better girl name at the time. Besides, it's too late to change it now.

Does anyone with Pokemon Y want to trade version exclusives and starters? Right now I can breed Fennekin, Charmander, Amaura, and any version exclusives you can get up to the 7th gym. After I get a Ditto, I can also breed Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Froakie. I'd love to trade Vivillons too, but I have the Modern pattern (red), which no one seems to need. :/

( Pokemon X adventure log and thoughts on the plotCollapse )

Poor Animal Crossing is getting neglected. I may have to time travel to the past to insure that no one moves away during my week-long Pokemon X marathons.

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Work-related: working in the kids' section of the library has made me nostalgic for my favorite childhood books, so I decided to (re)read some of the more well-known ones.

I'm currently reading Animorphs, which is a series I never read as a kid (even though I wanted to) because my school library never had the first book. I'm only on book 5 right now, but I'm already highly impressed. It's one of the most fun and interesting series I've read in a while, and it's unexpectedly dark for a kids' book (which is a good thing). I'm kind of sad that I never got into this series when it was originally released. I like the books as an adult, but I would have adored them as a kid. Though, in retrospect, it's probably for the best. I doubt I would have been able to handle an Animorphs obsession on top of my Pokemon obsession and still had time for things like homework.

I also started reading the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels because multiple people have recommended them to me. (I know, I know, I'm late to the party by about 4 years.) I think I'm doing it wrong because I kind of hate Ramona, and Scott too to a lesser extent, and do not care whether they end up together or not. I'm on volume 5 right now. I keep asking myself "if you hate both of the main characters, why are you still reading this series?" The answer: Wallace Wells. Wallace is the best character in the book, hands down. He also has more chemistry with Scott than Ramona or Knives or any of Scott's other "love interests". Someone help me; I think I might ship it.

My Fire Emblem buddy Nami is looking for people to play ACNL with. Right now I'm the only one who plays with her, and that's just sad. Her friend code is 0490 5389 7360.

Her contact info:
Twitter
Livejournal (not sure how often she still checks this account)
Dreamwidth

Or you can comment on this post and I'll link her to it.