Pokemon Legends: Z-A

This post will include game and storyline spoilers for Pokemon Legends: Z-A. If you're worried about that kind of thing, I highly recommend not reading this post. You've been warned.

I have honestly been taking my sweet time playing this game. It's a lot of fun and really quite chill. I've personally been referring to it as "Pokemon Ooh Shiny!" in my head... which is funny because I have yet to catch any shinies other than the "Government Mandated Mareep." (There's a side quest where you find a shiny Mareep for someone and get to keep it.) But seriously, the amount of random crap to pick up as you're running around the city is insane. I've been pulled off course at the drop of a hat by the random little yellow shinies to pick up.

Lumiose City is labyrinthine. The graphics may not be the best, but the setting feels lived in by its NPCs... which there are a lot of. I honestly don't look for absolutely excellent graphics in my Pokemon games. I have seen artist renditions of realistic Pokemon and, while fun to look at, I don't really need that in my games. Character customization is back with a vengeance. The only thing I have to complain about on that front is the inability to mix and match pieces outside of their "sets." For example, I wanna wear a leather jacket with a t-shirt and you can only swap the t-shirts with "shackets" and wear a leather jacket with a sweater. I get why all that is, but I miss being able to swap indiscriminately. But hey, I was able to put together another Carmen Sandiego cosplay, so I'm overall happy on that front.

I could honestly take or leave the story line. I'm really here for collecting the Pokemon and running around. It's interesting to be running around, saving Pokemon from weird Mega Energy spikes and collecting the Mega Stones, but the rest is honestly just fluff for me. I barely read the text and just kind of... go along with it. The story line is not where my interest lies. I'm too busy doing side quests and catching Pokemon. Boy, are there A LOT of side quests. Some of them are kind of fun, a good chunk of them are battles. Speaking of battles, you have to do A LOT of them, too. Trainer battles to earn the Challenge Tickets for the Battle League or whatever it's called. Honestly... it's a grind.

Which then brings me to the controls. I have issues with the controls. I'm not sure if it's lingering muscle memory from Legends: Arceus or what, but... I don't find the controls very intuitive. I very much dislike having to use the "focus" button during battles. Like, dude, we clearly need to target the Pokemon and keep targeting them, so why, in one-v-one battles, do I have to "focus" exactly? Any Pokemon that uses something like "Take Down" runs through your Pokemon and you lose "focus" on them and have to readjust your avatar to readjust your "focus," which I think is dumb. Corbeau's Gyarados about killed my Pokemon at least twice on separate occasions because of this exact issue. Much frustration. Aaaand your Pokemon will also attack bushes and things during a battle instead of the Wild Pokemon you're trying to attack... not great. Little bit silly. Mostly frustrating. But hey, they have Pokeball Return Guys at all the Pokestops, so you can get back Pokeballs you missed with, so that's cool.

Really, honestly, Pokemon Legends: Z-A is fun. It's open world enough that you can just kind of go wherever at any given moment, but structured enough to keep you on-task when you need to be. From what I've seen in my corner of the internet *cough* Threads *cough*, I'm not the only one who thinks so. There are a lot of people who're having fun just taking pictures of their avatars with their Pokemon. It's pretty great.

I'm not sure where I am exactly, in terms of the main part of the game... I did just hit Rank B today. But I'm having a lot of fun. That's the main draw of this entire franchise for me: how fun it is. So... yeah.

From the Pokemon Museum

From the Pokemon Museum

 

In Other News

I finished my Magnadramon X project over on OviPets. Took me a year and three months to complete these guys. They're part of my Mega Digimon Project. 

The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan

So… I did enjoy this enough to keep reading until the end. It’s not incomprehensible and the characters are still enjoyable enough… I’m just not vibing with The Wheel of Time. There’s just a lot going on to keep track of and the writing style just isn’t meshing in my head… I dunno. This just isn’t what I’m feeling right now.

All that being said… I like Faile. I wasn’t keen on Perrin deciding he wasn’t going to call her what she wanted to be called (stop being a dick, Perrin). I kind of enjoyed Egwene exploring the dream world.

But yeah… I don’t really have anything else to say about The Dragon Reborn. I’m definitely gonna at least take a break from The Wheel of Time right now, though. Might come back to it at a later date, not sure. Much shrugging. 

Favorite Line

 "Prophecies are fulfilled as they are meant to be, not as we think they should be." - Moiraine

Cerulean Sins by Laurell K. Hamilton

2025 Reread Review: I'm gonna go ahead and say there are spoilers past the first paragraph, so... you've been warned.

Cerulean Sins honestly kind of feels like a bunch of stuff was thrown at the wall to see what stuck in order to form a semi-meandering plot that went on for too long. I understand there were some loose ends that needed tying up from previous books and character work that needed doing... but... I'm going to repeat myself and say that it felt too long. It felt like a lot and then someone threw the kitchen sink in and the kitchen sink was too much.

The entirety of the vampire politics thing was just so, so tiring. I hate vampire politics. Nonsense rules on top of rules… much like dealing with royalty, I’d imagine. Old school royalty, with the power to kill you as soon as look at you. Musette is a little bit hilarious and a lot annoying. Both she and Belle Morte were jealous of Jean-Claude and Asher which just led to... basically nothing. I suppose that's a bit of a spoiler, but random power-creep happened and suddenly Belle can't touch Jean-Claude because of the rules. Also, how does one suddenly become soudre sang and not even notice? How... what... the way these vampires work is occasionally perplexing. I don't remember this ever being brought up in a satisfactory way and now it'd gonna bug me.

I forgot how goddamn pushy Belle Morte is, the jealous bitch. She also must not have a Human Servant or specific Animal to Call, if she’s able to give Anita the marks. Feels very weird for such an old and powerful vampire not to have either. I was questioning the timing of Belle suddenly seeming to want a Human Servant, but it is heavily implied she's planning to go after Marmee Noir so... guess it makes sense to want to add a bit more power to your base at that point. Still, the timing felt weird.

Oh yes, Marmee Noir is becoming a thing now. Got the interesting vampire/lycanthrope hybrids hanging around, though, again, something that got thrown in that isn't really ever addressed again, that I remember. I can't really discuss much about this because it's ridiculously early days and everything that's popping to my mind is spoilery for later in the series. But yeah, Marmee Noir, put a big ol' pin in that.

Dolph can very seriously take a flying leap off a very tall building. A) if someone tells you they’re too sick to come in, you leave them the hell alone. B) you don’t get to act like a raging lunatic in a professional environment, even if you just saw something absolutely horrendous. His whole blow-up surrounding Jason was also super uncomfortable. And look, I get that we don't really get a whole lot of what is actually going on with Dolph, because I bet it's a lot more than the two things we get from him, but like... he hardcore crashed out at work, causing the largest scene we've ever seen him cause, and... Dolph needs to take a very long break from his job and get some goddamn therapy. He does take a leave of absence after this, but I still needed to rant about it.

I think the line “You’re always sorry, Richard” is profound. He just stuck his whole stupid head in it this book. I think the only thing I can say that I haven't said before is that his decision to "take back the wolves" was just stupidly timed. I agree with Anita, don't pull that shit when the enemies are at the door, dumbass. Anita may not hate Richard, but I certainly do.

Not sure how I feel about Anita and Asher’s “come to Jesus” bit. On the one hand: yes, set and keep those boundaries. On the other hand: Asher definitely has a point, which Anita admitted to Nathaniel earlier. She keeps back parts of herself and that’s not necessarily great. And also, Jean-Claude can keep his head enough in the moment to reiterate consent, but Asher can’t? I dunno, the whole thing is messy. Anita is woefully inexperienced with messy at this point. I also think some of my feelings about this are colored by Asher’s later behavior, which is not great so… yeah.

When it comes to the ending of the book and the feeling of it being too long... I got through the climax of the vampire politics and the story really felt over. It just did. But there were those murders that didn't have a resolve... and then the baggage they ended up coming with... just... I wanted the book to be over and it wasn't. Spent another 11 chapters getting to the actual end. I get that it needed to be resolved and it needed to be resolved in this book, but it just felt detached from everything else, to be completely honest. I know part of that is also a function of the police side of things being so detached from the rest of Anita's life... but yeah. Felt tacked on, really.

So yeah... Cerulean Sins felt too long, even though it probably wasn't. There was a bunch of random setup here and a bunch of semi-random pay-off from Obsidian Butterfly. I hate Belle Morte. I hate Richard. So ready to move on to the next one. 

Favorite Lines

"Non, you would possess me again, and love is not about possession." - Jean-Claude

"No, but you assume that if I'm any good it has to be because a man taught me. That's so sexist." - Anita Blake

"If you throw the furry through a windshield, do they not still bleed?" - Anita Blake

"Legends say that the Amazons chopped off a breast to make them better at archery. I don't believe that. I think it's just another example of men thinking women can't be a great warrior without cutting away her womanhood, symbolically, or otherwise. We can be great warriors; we just got to pick the equipment a little differently." - Anita Blake

"If the law doesn't apply evenly to everybody, then it doesn't work at all." - Anita Blake 

Narcissus in Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton

2025 Reread Review
There are spoilers contained in this review.

Narcissus in Chains was a lot easier to get through than the last couple of Anita Blake novels. I pretty much attribute this to the inclusion of characters I actually care about and not ones I hate... though there is plenty of Richard's nonsense here as well. There is also a good deal of world-building here. More explaining of how the lycanthropes and vampires work, given different circumstances, most of which, honestly, are objectively horrifying.

The joining of the Marks was cool and all but… Micah!!!! Micah’s here! I really like Micah. I like that he's willing to be whatever Anita needs with little to no qualms about it. He's also quite patient with her, actually explaining things as they come up (for the most part anyway). I don't remember how I originally felt about Micah, but I am fairly certain he was a breath of fresh air after Richard. I also quite like the inclusion of Merle. He's the first in a long line of bodyguard characters I'm fairly attached to. He also brings a certain air of "elder statesman" to the mix, especially in those moments where I'm reminded that Anita's still in her 20s...

Narcissus being like “I would like to participate in community decision making but not be in the community and also get literal people in return for it” made me want to hit him. Seriously, dude. Get well over yourself. I feel like this really comes back to bite him in the butt as it's the rats and wolves that come to his aid in the end. Ya know, the community he doesn't actually want to be a part of. That said, these lycanthrope politics sure are a bitch. Like, all of it. I do kind of like that each "species" has their own internal politics, but having to "watch" Anita navigate more than one is... insane, honestly.

Nathaniel pre-relationship is adorable. It’s very cute how Anita already thinks “silence with Nathaniel was one of the most relaxing sounds of my day.” Awwwwww… I just wanna cuddle them together. Narcissus in Chains is really the book where Nathaniel comes more into his own. He's still not quite the person he's going to be, but you can see the scaffolding, essentially.

This is definitely when Dolph jumped off the deep end for me. Projecting onto Anita is really not fair. The stuff at Anita’s house is also well out of line. Her personal life is none of his business, especially when he’s supposed to be there in a professional capacity. I very much dislike Dolph in this book. I think we're kind of meant to. He was a father-figure for Anita in the first few books and I honestly feel like this "fall from grace," as it were, is par for the course in father figures. Either they don't like some aspect of the hero's life and check out or they end up dying. Dolph is clearly the former and crashes out a bit spectacularly. Oh, speaking of which, I dunno who needs to hear this but... Your children do NOT owe you grandchildren. Period. Be disappointed all you want, but don't act like Dolph and see it as the end of the world. Yeesh.

Ah yes, the ardeur bane of my not-spicy-loving-anymore existence. I literally skim and skip those scenes. Skim because Hamilton has a habit of mixing character development into them. For example: a sudden introduction of Belle Morte as a character. I mean, she’s been talked about before but hasn’t been “on screen” before now. Can’t just skip that, now can we? I also don’t really like the ardeur due to the questionable consent it causes. Anita has issues around it in this book where she, herself is concerned, though that will grow to include other characters later. It’s not always handled well, if memory serves.

Oh yes, Damian exists. Didn’t even think about Damian in this whole “finding yourself” thing you did, huh, Anita? And now it’s all “gimmie my vampire NOW.” You got yourself all cozy with the leopards but left Damian completely out in the cold. Wtf even, ma’am. And dude, Jean-Claude is also to blame in this. Should have fucking reminded her that Damian was hers when she dealt with a goddamn crime scene involving him. Wtf even, sir. Ya’ll both suck. Honestly, I like being able to both love and hate my protagonists, so this was actually quite nice in terms of character building. Anita does have a lot going on, very much highlighted here, not just with Damian, but with the "power creep." Anita’s rapid power-progression is also something I have mixed feeling about. It’s a wonder this woman ends up being able to lead any kind of normal-ish life, with that much power being thrust upon her, no pun intended. Anita really did need that “come to Jesus” moment she had with Jean-Claude. Can’t just shirk your responsibilities, especially when they come with metaphysical ties and consequences you don’t like.

Okay, time for the "Richard Sucks" corner. Richard is SUCH an asshole here. Leave Anita the fuck alone about her life decisions. You dumped her, as is repeatedly pointed out. Circumstances have changed and you weren’t included because why would you be? Fuck ALL THE WAY OFF. Just cuz you hate yourself doesn’t mean you get to take that out on everyone else. Add to that the ending where he literally almost gets them all killed... No. Not allowed. Fuck ALL THE WAY OFF again. Even if it just meant the Triumvirate was going to be taken out, I would be fairly pissed, but Anita makes a point of it being the entire damn pack at that point. That's hundreds of people and, Ulfric or not, you don't get to make that kind of decision. I will say he probably didn't realize it would have been the entire pack, but still... therapy needs to happen sooner rather than later.

I don’t think I internalized (or even realized) how much of these books took place while people were incredibly sleep deprived. There are at least 2-3 major altercations and decision-making moments that happen while Anita's had little to no sleep... over, like, 3 days.

Complete side-tangent: I wonder what weredogs look like. What dog breed do they more resemble? How did we end up with weredogs when real dogs came from domesticated wolves? Or are these an African Wild Dogs kind of situation? I have many questions about this.

Finally, I am not entirely sure how to feel about Chimera. It’s an interesting way to do Dissociative Identity Disorder, I guess. It's honestly a very comic book interpretation of DID. Each personality has its own physicality, even in human form... which is weird and I'm really not sure how that even makes sense, but SOD, I guess. I do kind of like the panwere concept. It does set up a bit of stuff for the tigers later… and Anita… and others.

Overall, I really enjoyed Narcissus in Chains. It's a thick book filled with thick topics that actually manages to work pretty well. I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the series, now that a couple of my favorites have entered the arena. 

Favorite Lines

"That made him smile. 'Yes, those that hoard their power are often insecure.'" - Merle

"Sometimes no matter how hard you try, you can't save everyone." - Micah Callahan

     "We looked at each other in the darkened kitchen. She raised her coffee mug. I'd given her the one with a tiny knight and a large dragon that said, 'No guts, no glory.'

     Lillian said, 'Down with zealots.'

     I raised my own mug in the air. It was the baby penguin mug, still a favorite. 'Down with zealots.'" - Dr. Lillian & Anita Blake

"The only true happiness, Richard, lies in knowing who you are -- what you are -- and making peace with it." - Anita Blake

"On important stuff, your word is great, but when it comes to primping, you have no sense of time." - Anita Blake 

 

Just One More Thing

I don't know how many of you have heard about Audible's BS around paying authors, but it's actual BS. I am not the person to explain it, that would be Daniel Greene over on YouTube. LINK to explanation. However, I can share the link to the Change.org petition to try and stop them screwing over authors... so here ya go: LINK.