Cringe Culture
We are social animals. We rely on norms set by others to know how to behave.Shame actually serves a vital role in keeping us within the boundaries of acceptable so that we are not made outcasts. After all, in previous eras, outcasts were likely to die.…
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“Monster” as an Identity
Just as gender, cultural identity, and sexuality are critical aspects of a person’s identity, so can what I call monstrousness. Monstrousness affects our relationship with society’s rules regarding self-expression and creativity.…
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Favorite Gen 3 Pokémon
Continuing from my post on Favorite Gen 1 and Favorite Gen 2 Pokémon, let’s look at my favorite creature designs from Generation 3 and explain a little bit about why I like them.
Aron
Nubs! This Pokémon’s name always made me snort because it just sounds like a normal human dude name.…
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Designing a Monstersona
Wanna make a monster persona? Let’s do it! Monstersonas are awesome because there are no rules or restrictions – it can be almost entirely human-looking but with bizarre behaviors, or completely bestial, or abstract and surreal. Anything goes!…
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Favorite Gen 2 Pokémon
Continuing from my post on Favorite Generation 1 Pokémon, here are my favorite creatures from Generation 2 and my review on their design elements.
Crobat
This furious little purple demon is the final form of the blind, obnoxious Zubat, though I always thought it looked more like an alternative to the huge-mouthed Golbat.…
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Talking To Yourself
Do you talk to yourself?
Yes!
It’s not as weird – or detrimental – as some might have you think. I hear a lot of people, people with absolutely zero understanding of psychology, claim that talking to yourself is a sign of insanity. Really, it’s just socially awkward.…
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Favorite “Dragon Quest VIII” Monsters
Warning: this contains minor spoilers for plot events!
“Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King” is a PS2 game that I inherited a copy of from a family member with no context or prior knowledge of the series. I hadn’t even really played a JRPG before – I know, madness.…
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Favorite Gen 1 Pokémon
I love creature design, and few creatures are as famous and well-recognized as Pokémon.
I played Pokémon Blue on an original black-and-white GameBoy when I was a kid, and transferred my creatures forward to Pokémon Silver when it came out. I was heartbroken to learn that Silver and Gold were notorious for losing all save data after a long period of inactivity (which, to my understanding, is what sparked the release of SoulSilver and HeartGold), which meant that my very first Pokémon, a Venosaur not-so-creatively named “Viney” was lost to me forever, along with a then-ultra-rare shiny Golbat.…
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Favorite Spyro Reignited Trilogy Dragons
The Spyro Reignited Trilogy recently consumed my spare hours; the original was very close to my heart, and I still have my original PS1 discs of the games on my shelf.
Spyro the Dragon, the very first game, has you rescuing your fellow dragons from crystal prisons.…
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Favorite Pet Game Designs
Pet games were ALL the rage when I was growing up. You visit a website where you play Flash games to earn money, buy food from virtual shops, feed and play with your pet to keep its stats up – like a Tamagatchi or original Digimon, only with much fancier graphics, a billion different kinds of items, and, most likely, a crazy-inflated economy where users try to hawk rare items off for your life savings.…
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