I Still Like Pokemon

 I'm stealing this from Arren. He's playing by the rules (1 like = 1 answer). I'm NOT [boom] PLAYIN' [boom] BY THE [boom] [boom] [boom] RULES!

(follow my boy ArrenSol on Twitch or Arren Sol on Twitter)

1. Favorite Pokemon

Treecko.
            It's fast, cute, and relatively badass to all the other tiny woodland creatures in these games.

2. Favorite Pokemon Game

Pokemon Ruby.
            There were so many cool innovations and a lot of "patchwork" kinda stuff added to gen 3. In my opinion, significant improvements to the game wouldn't happen again until Gen 6. A lot of stuff that was added later (GTS, hidden abilities, Victini) was really cool. However, I don't think the games significantly improved upon the increasingly mundane formula until X and Y with Super Training and shared Exp. Share (yes, I'm calling shared Exp. Share an improvement. If you don't like it, turn it the fuck off).

3. Favorite Pokemon Spin-off

Pokken Tournament.
            I've always wanted a Pokemon fighting game and was shocked when they not only made it but got Tekken devs to make it. What I've really always wanted was a dedicated Pokemon Smash Bros. but that's never going to happen. In its own right, Pokken is still pretty good and the closest we're probably ever getting to that idea.

4. Favorite Legendary

Mewtwo.
            Mewtwo was my favorite Pokemon until recently. I realized I'd been lying to myself and others to be a bigger edgelord. It was never Mewtwo (after Ruby came out). It was always Treecko. Anyway. It's an old one but I think we can all agree that Mewtwo has one of the most badass backstories of any legendary. Now there are five million legendaries and most of their stories are way more hamfisted or nearly non-existent, especially if we're counting mythicals. I also really liked playing as Mewtwo in Melee more than most characters even though he's hot garbage.

5. Favorite Mega Evolution / Dynamax / Gigantamax

Mega Evolution: Mega Mawile.
            This is the only mega that I think didn't just look like "this one but worse".
Dynamax: Aren't these just big Pokemon? I didn't play Sword and Shield.
Gigantamax: Hatterene.
            Butterfree is a close second since they are the only two I like at all. I like how abstract Galarian Hatterene looks and I think the overall vibe and color palette of Hatterene works with this blobby design. It looks like a Trix yogurt nightmare.

6. Favorite Regional Variant

Hisuian Zoroark.
            I didn't play Legends: Arceus but these fuckers are so badass. It's constantly just wisping around but still looks like a silly little mammal. This was a really good way to introduce Normal/Ghost type too. I like Pokemon with fucked up Pokedex entries. Doesn't get much edgier than Hisuian Zorua and Zoroark.

7. Favorite Starter

Still Treecko.

8. Favorite Region

Hoenn.
            I could probably draw an overview of this region from memory with at least 80% accuracy. I fucking love how it's laid out. It's not as easy to traverse as Unova, Alola, or Paldea but it's less of a pain in the ass than Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, and because of how much movement sucks in XY, Kalos. I also think it's one of the most varied (you're simply not making a "too much water" joke) regions. Its layout plays along with the setting and plot better than most of the regions in Pokemon as well. It's got good creatures. The gym leaders are all interesting. The elite four looks cool. Pacifidlog was a sick fucking idea they did very little with. I'll shut up about Hoenn now.

9. Favorite Pseudo-Legendary

Hydreigon.
            I don't know why I love this goofy fiend so much. It's so silly and terrifying. If past evolutions count, I would probably pick Larvitar but I think the final forms are the actual pseudos so I'm picking Hydreigon. It's also pretty close to the Randomrings color palette. That's probably why I like it.

10. Favorite Mythical

Victini.
            Victini is part of the issue I have with this franchise and how it handled mythicals after Johto. However, Victini is fucking adorable and just wants to have a good time. It can't help that it's powerful and can learn a lot of different moves.

11. Favorite Rival

May.
            May was very different from Blue and Silver but still a rival. I personally feel that she kind of set a standard for rival characters that had more direct plot involvement (Barry, Cheren, Bianca, and the fucking hundred of rivals in XY definitely have more dialogue and related characters than Blue and Silver). This might be seen as a bad thing but May was the pioneer of this concept. I could make a whole-ass video essay about Pokemon rivals but I think May hits the sweet spot between being a good character, being a good skill check, and being a likable rival that services the plot well. Also, her design is just as iconic as Dawn and I will die on that hill.

12. Favorite Professor

Professor Kukui.
            I don't blame anyone for skipping Gen 7 but you missed some fun fucking characters. Kukui is the only Pokemon Professor that has a natural and well-written addition to the main plot and the region's lore. In Alola, you are actively watching history unfold in this specific region that has nothing to do with whichever dragon or giant bird is causing a mini-apocalypse that year. Don't get me wrong, I like Oak, Elm, Birch, and Juniper and they aren't unimportant to the plot but Kukui might as well be main cast.

13. Favorite Gym Leader/Elite Four/ Champion

Gym Leader: Jasmine
            Jasmine can defend herself and uses that power to help Pokemon and others around her. She also does so with poise and peace, never forgetting to try to bring people together before using her resilience to tear people further apart. Her stint in Johto's plot is short but always stuck with me. I know this is too deep for a "1 like = 1 answer" thing but I think Jasmine was one of the only role models I really had as a kid under the age of 10. Today, I just really like her design but maybe I'm trying to mask that a Nintendo character makes me want to become a better person.
Elite Four:
            Okay, the short answer is Phoebe. She's one of my favorite character designs in the whole franchise.
            My top 4 are Lorelei, Phoebe, Rika (don't judge me), and Caitlin (the Psychic one from Unova).
Champion: From a character writer standpoint: Cynthia. Aesthetically: Iris.
            Looking at the champion list, most of the champions are kind of fucking weak. They're strong trainers, weak characters. Fighting Blue, Drake, and Steven feels satisfying but inevitable. Alder and Iris are underrated but still kind of do their thing toward the end of the game. I think Diantha's plotline was literally unfinished or something? Nemona is a good character but a hamfisted champion. Cynthia's really the only one that has a positive and mysterious impact on the story. I don't really like Sinnoh but I think I get why people love Cynthia. I think. If nothing else, she's a good character.

14. Favorite Villain Team

Team Skull.
           Team Skull has one of the coolest B-stories in the entire franchise. They have so much direct impact on the story and how the legendaries unfold. For once in the franchise's run, there's some subtlety to the Team Rocket stand-in. Rocket, Aqua, Magma, and Plasma were really only as cool as the people leading them. Team Star actually comes close to this but Team Skull carries this unique aesthetic that Sun and Moon had as a whole.

15. Favorite Character Overall

Uh. May? You'd think I would have a real answer for this.

16. Favorite Route / Town / City

Route: Route 117 in Hoenn.
            Hatchin' eggs or grinding Amy and Liv?
Town: Seafolk Village
            Mina lives here and I want to be her neighbor.
City: Olivine City
            This is the first place I think of when I think of Johto. I love the look of this place. I would totally live here and play Mario Party with Jasmine.

17. Favorite Soundtrack

Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

But also listen to Colosseum and tell me that isn't the fucking tits.

18. Least Favorite Pokemon

Binacle? I dunno. I really like Pokemon.

19. Favorite Battle

Kyurem.
            This is more of an "encounter" but fuck it, they're all battles. There are tiny breadcrumbs leading to Kyurem but it's purely optional. Getting to where Kyurem sleeps is daunting in its own right, then when you get it, it kicks your ass (unless you get lucky with a Quick Ball). They gave this legendary the mythical area treatment and it's what I wish they would do instead of mythicals from now on. I'm not even joking. If they stopped making mythicals, I'd be 100% okay with that. Unova's legendaries and mythicals, for better and worse, are my prime argument for that.

20. Favorite Type

I guess Grass?
            My older cousin was the one that mostly got me into video games and certain franchises after the fact. I couldn't beat him in battle until Ruby and Sapphire. He always picked the Water starter so I thought I would at least have a leg up with the Grass one. I didn't.

21. Favorite Mobe

22. Favorite Ability

Synchronize
            Why don't you also feel poison then? You bitch.

23. Favorite Item

Running Shoes

24. Favorite Z-Move / Max Move

Sinister Arrow Raid

Close second is Twinkle Tackle because it's funny.

25. Favorite Shiny Pokemon

Probably Sylveon.

What are Ayden's stats in Pokemon?

 I saw this prompt from Out of Context Pokemon on Twitter. It actually might have just been a meme and not a prompt. Either way. They said, "fuck Pokemon battles what are YOUR stats?" So I overthought that.

Ayden
Cartoon Bitch Pokemon

Type: Normal / Poison

Abilities: Punk Rock, Compound Eyes, or Sturdy (hidden ability)

Gender ratio: 50% androgynous / 50% female, unbreedable

Catch rate: 100 (21.7%)

Egg group: Human-like

Hatch Time: 5140 - 5396 steps

Height: Wouldn't you like to know

Weight: 150 lbs / 68.04 kg

Base experience yield: 137

Leveling rate: Fluctuating

EV yield: 1 Speed

Shape: The bipedal one without the tail

Pokedex Color: Gray

Base friendship: 35

Base Stats:

HP: 40

ATK: 40

DEF: 60

SP. ATK: 35

SP. DEF: 45

SPD: 87

BST: 307

Now you can add me to your romhack and laugh at how much I suck at fighting your Pokemon.

Updates on Everything

 I was going to make an update video but I think I want to put my time into other stuff for right now. So here's your 2022 Randomrings update.

Life (skip this part if you don't care; I don't blame you)

Last update I talked about having a lot of burnout. I don't think I'm completely out of it. It might just be depression there. I've been making more stuff and enjoying making it. However, I'm severely depressed. The mysterious stuff that happened at the beginning of the year is something I've more or less overcome. It still affects me a little but I'm functional in regards to that. Many other things have affected my overall well-being and I'll be honest; I'm at a very fucking low point in my life. I won't vent about how I feel about it, I'll just tell you what's up.

I live in Redneckia, USA and I'm openly queer. I no longer feel safe using the bathrooms at my job. Most of the people at my job are bigots or just incredibly unknowledgeable. Also, everything is very expensive. I used to be able to live fairly comfortably part-time at the same job. I make more hourly now and can barely make rent at the end of every month. This is the poorest I've ever been and I have the biggest credit card bill I have ever had (save for buying my guitar but that was knowing I would be able to pay it all off at the end of the month, anyway). I am trying to find other jobs that won't destroy me and will give me insurance. I am also trying to find jobs that do that and utilize my bachelor's degree. I've been doing physical labor for too long and it's starting to take a bigger effect on my body and mind than I have ever consistently dealt with. My BFA is in writing. Most writing jobs these days don't pay well enough for me. I had an interview and it was mostly just the hiring agent at the company berating me for not having enough recent customer service experience and treating me like an idiot for needing a new job in 2022.

So the fact that I've been able to regularly stream at all is kind of a testament to my overall resilience and how much I like doing what I do online for people. But in all honesty and full transparency, I'm rarely finding joy in anything tangible. Everything I do enjoy now just has a constant looming dread attached. I can't think away poverty. I can't smile away the risk of homelessness. I'm fucking terrified. I'm not just depressed, I'm fucking terrified and that's not helping my mental state. Taking care of myself is a chore, also because eventually, I will run out of resources to take care of myself which will put me in greater financial debt. I am scared of running out of toothpaste, makeup, clothing, the whole nine.

But hey, what kind of silly little things am I going to make for everyone to consume?!?!?!? Continue reading to ffiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnd out!

Randomrings Channel

I might have a game review out soon. I might occasionally do those again. We'll see.

I am going to do a whole series of Randomrings Let's Plays videos. Right now, only two episodes are out. There will be 12 total! Or 11! Not sure yet! It's of my Pokemon SoulSilver stream series. Each episode is roughly 24 minutes on average and covers a major point of the main story of the game. The exception is the final episode which will be a bit over an hour long, covering the Elite Four. Fun sidenote; I beat the Elite Four using an all-Water-type team (Feraligatr, Quagsire, Gyarados, Lapras, Lanturn, and Slowbro).

I'll talk about it more in the next section of this blog post but we're probably streaming more Pokemon SoulSilver pretty soon. I didn't do any of the Kanto stuff. So we gotta do that, right? I will probably edit that into a kind of sequel series. So in other words, if the Johto arc ends on P11, the Kanto arc will start on P12.

I have a second highlight video based on my friend Satellite's PowerWash Simulator chat show that he does on Wednesdays called "Say It and Spray It". He invited me on a second time for reasons God only knows. That should be out soon. I just have to throw a few images on the screen. Everything else is pretty much done. It won't be as extensively edited as the first one but it holds up on its own without me pushing it along with more intricate edits.

There will be an RLP video of Duck Dodgers Starring Daffy Duck for the Nintendo 64. Don't know how soon to expect that. End of the year?

I might put out a vloggy thing about Russian Doll Season 1. I recorded it and edited it. Let's see if I actually finish the video and render it without being overly embarrassed of myself.

I'm going to finish up RLP Timespinner P2 soon. I'll be honest, I'm not that excited for this series anymore. I just kind of want to be done with it. I really hope other people can enjoy it but the gender dysphoria with my voice is too real to enjoy long-term. I like the edits I made and everything. I actually had more planned for Timespinner P2 but ended up not doing the more elaborate things I wanted to do. I don't want Timespinner P2 to be my peak video. Like I said, if people enjoy it, that's great. It just kinda bugs me personally.

Remember the Spyro 2 video? That video has a sequel and I still haven't finished it! In fact, I haven't worked on it in months! But I still have all the files for it. Shouldn't be too much longer. Also, don't be surprised if I'm lying right now and it doesn't come out until next year!

Randomrings Streams

Pokemon SoulSilver will come back eventually. I beat the Elite Four but after that, you can go to Kanto and I want to see what all that's about!

I want to stream the new CODE Bunny demo but I haven't picked out a date for that yet. I want to schedule that in advance so people can expect it.

We're starting The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age in 2023! It will most likely be the first game I stream.

In 2023, time willing, we'll be doing a randomized Nuzlocke of Pokemon Omega Ruby! I think I'm going to randomize:
    - Pokemon spawns
    - Pokemon starters
    - Item placements, probably including key items
    - Pokemon Abilities (passives)
    - Maaaaaybe their moves as well

Lexi Karma

Music? I'm planning a Lexi Karma stream on May 6th, hoping I can actually pull it off. It'll be a live event on the Randomrings Twitch channel.

Self Titled Again is coming along. I need to finish up the vocals on it. I haven't recorded vocals on it in a while because I've been really fucking broke and depressed.

Fake and Stupid won't be out in 2023. It just won't be. God, I want to put it out but it is nowhere near done.

I'm writing new stuff a lot too which is part of the reason none of the stuff I've already announced is done. I've been really excited about taking Lexi Karma into a new timbral direction and I think these songs I wrote are going to really solidify that in a way that people will still enjoy. I'm really fucking excited about that.

Webcomic(s)?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Uh.... writing... of any kind at all?

I'm starting a portfolio for my writing. Rather, I've been sitting on stuff like this for a while saying "I have to get it to a certain point of quality before putting it out publicly!" It's just a portfolio. It's better than no portfolio. However, I've been running into technical snags getting them up now that I actually have a script to publicize and another one on the back burner. I'll probably make a separate blog post and talk about it in various places when I actually put up something readable.

Conclusion

I am very fucking depressed. You enjoying anything I slap out into this nutso world makes what I do feel worth it. Knowing that people enjoy what I do in any regard encourages me to keep doing all this stuff. Thank you for being a part of this. I only hope I can get my behind-the-scenes together so I can continue to entertain you all.

Thanks for listening,
-Ayden Iona

Randomrings Update March 2022

 Hey, gang! It's me! Ayden! I am fucking depressed! But like... more than usual!

I'm not going to vent here. Well. Basically no? Fuck it. My blog. Welcome to a kitchen of sulk.

Skip the first two paragraphs if you don't care why I'm a little baby uhteeheeheeeeee!

If you're thinking "pussy! So many things are going on in the world right now and you're worried about YOURSELF!!!" Whatever you're thinking of right now, I'm either unaware of it or also pretty distraught with that topic. In case I don't delete this later, we still have almost every problem that was a thing in like 2015, a lot of problems since way before then, anti-trans legislation where people are literally allowed to witch hunt trans children in Texas, cops running amok doing their cop things but more obvious, Disney's CEO being a pussy while still being a CEO, and Russia murdering a lot of innocent people. Oh. Also, COVID-19 is still a thing and I wear a mask to my heavily-populated job every day while everyone else doesn't. So yeah. No. Whatever you're trying to jam down my throat, I've already started swallowing. Thanks, though. (Why am I getting so defensive over an exaggerated hypothetical?)

So what's my problem? :p
I won't tell you! But things have been leading to massive depression spikes leading to me occasionally sobbing like a Sobble. See, I made it cute so it's more tolerable to hear about! A lot of it has been just building up for a long time, I have recently realized. In various friend circles I have been in, with my relatives before I ditched them, and in other situations that my brain is too tired to think of right now, I have always been one of the people or the only person to take all the damage and stomach it. In grave and grim situations, I can keep a stoic disposition or silliness for others to cling to. I think sometimes when you're freaking out, just having one other person with you who isn't freaking out is nice. I pride myself on being that fucker and seeing what else I can do to help from that point. I have kind of tried to be doing that with all the bullshit I mentioned in the last paragraph. Sometimes I will go on a mad rant about it to my friends but beyond that, I've been able to keep the rage dick in my pants. Then over time, I was like "fuck, do I not care anymore? What's wrong with me?" Then I realized "oh no, I still care, I'm just fucking exhausted". I have lost a lot of self-love for myself because I just wasn't telling anyone about it so much so that I didn't even realize it myself. I am now trying to gain a lot of that back. Oh, also I have gender dysphoria! So I had that on top of all the things I already mentioned. Some personal issues have arisen that would have been pretty surmountable bummers had I not had all these other circumstances on my back. All that and everyone calling me "bro" is like so fucking cool! I'm getting angry typing this! Yay! So that's why I haven't streamed this month at all and when I come back, I'm going to say fuck schedules.

That's right! For now, I'm just not going to use a stream schedule. It's the number one tip for new streamers, right? Set up and stick to a stream schedule. Yeah? I still have low as fuck numbers after over a year of doing this! So I'm just going to do whatever I want whenever I want. I will play Bastion soon on stream so we can all do that! I also have this idea for a screenwriting stream that I was going to start doing weeks ago. Whoopsies! The idea is that I use this AI that writes a prompt for you based on phrases you put in. So I get two random phrases from the internet and put them in the AI, then write a script based on that with the hopes to continue that story in another stream. Cool? I thought so. I also don't know what the fuck I'm doing with that idea until it happens though. It could be the worst thing ever. Guess we'll find out.

Remember when I made videos? I'm starting to forget whether or not I actually did that! After the Disney Walkouts, I will put out a bigass video I made about Turning Red. It's not something I usually do. It borders on podcast material. I just talk about my thoughts on Turning Red and it lasts like an hour. Which is probably way too long. Oh well! It should be out on March 23 and then you can decide whether or not you like it! I don't want to promise much of anything else because every time I have over the past three years, most or all of those videos never come out. So you're welcome for not announcing those <3!

I'm still working on Lexi Karma, my music. I hate mixing and gender dysphoria related to my voice has slowed these projects down to a crawl! But it's still better than it was like last Spring! Improvement!

Anyway, that's pretty much it. Time to continue depriving myself of sleep!

Thanks for listening-- well-- reading!
-Ayden

Millennial Who Grew Up on Dial-Up Discovers Tumblr

 So I made a Tumblr account and a separate Tumblr account for my music moniker called Lexi Karma

Here's the Randomrings Tumblr: https://randomrings.tumblr.com/
Then the Lexi Karma Tumblr: https://lexikarma.tumblr.com/

I'm not sure what I'm doing with Tumblr yet. This may sound like I'm trying to think of something creative or purposeful to do with either or both Tumblr accounts. When I say I'm not sure what I'm doing with Tumblr, I mean it boggles my mind. I do not understand it. It makes me feel 70. But hey, if you're looking for freakos to follow on Tumblr, I have two fresh accounts for ya!

Randomrings' Tumblr is going to be a place where I put some Randomrings art. I might throw blogs there that I post here. Not sure yet.

Lexi Karma's Tumblr is going to be mostly promotional but I may post some audio snippets there as well.

That's about all I have to say about it because if I say much more, I will have divulged my understanding of Tumblr.

-Ayden, the fucker who makes Randomrings and Lexi Karma stuff.