Moltz20

Not much.

[orteil42]

given the current climate this pride especially i feel i must mention that i love my trans friends, i stand with trans people in the fight against transphobic legislation and those who would enforce it, and this blog is not a good place for you to be if you do not vibe with that

[drawloverlala]

Proto-queen 🖥️⌨️

I wanted to draw regular Queen in these, but the green color reminded me of some of her concept art, and I thought it would be super fun to draw her as her prototype version :D

[lynarc]

Echidna

Small adjustments

[moltz23]

Fire Emblem Three Houses Trivia: Per interviews, the game by mid-2018 was already in its "final stages of development", given its Japanese title had been decided during this period. In spite of this, its release date was later delayed from Spring 2019, to Summer 2019.

[kynimdraws]

...Has it really been that long?

May 5th 2011 does not feel that long ago, yet it is. While I was working on my nuzlocke Pokemon White comic, I have drawn an anniversary pic more or less around this time of the year (browse the tag here). I stopped after I finally finished the project on Dec 24th 2017.

Revisiting this tradition again made me very nostalgic. While some stuff will probably sound repetitive, gonna yap about it under the cut.

I was a bored college student back in early 2011. I had just finished playing a nuzlocke of Pokemon Diamond, and had been nearly done drawing that comic. While I thought I was going to play HeartGold next, various technical difficulities with regards to the game made me pivot to playing something different. Coincidentally a new generation of Pokemon was coming up, and a nuzforum friend gave me a copy of Pokemon White (JP translated version). The info about the gameplay was scant due to Pokemon not yet implementing global releases, but I didn't care. Still played it as a nuzlocke for fun.

Despite all the flaws of the game (that I noticed some time after my first playthru), I had a great time. And it gave a good premise of what I wanted to show from a narrative standpoint. My first nuzlocke comic was a shitpost fever dream (not literally but does feel like it lol), I wanted to try my attempt at a slightly more serious story. And tbh, while the forums back in the day mostly had joke-y/comedic runs there were many who were receptive to such things. Probably helped I was one of the first gen 5 nuzlocke runs being posted then.

Compared to some of the more current nuzlocke/nuzlocke-derivative works I have been catching up on, my stuff is VERY basic. I guess that is why some people consider it a "classic" nuzlocke because I just sort of drew it without changing TOO much of the main game story beats. I did adapt things I picked up over the years being in the nuzlocke forums community (changed a lot since I joined, and still evolving!) but again, not super innovative. Just mostly solid story with mild case of infodumping but I was drawing it assuming I would never do professional works! I am still a hobby artist and in terms of direct financial profits, I have made nothing LOL.

GIven how I had finished the other comic in a few months, I had naively thought it would take me 3 years to get it all out.

...It would actually take me 6 years.

I think me going through different life changes definitely affected my pacing for drawing Myths of Unova. No longer I had the free time or the energy of a college kid. I decided to go through medical school and graduate school and would finish the main nuzlocke story late 2017, years before my actual MD/PhD graduation. I had hoped to make/finish a "minisequel" called Episode Grey before completely graduating...you'd think I would learn that such fast turnaround was not going to happen but lol. Post-doc woes/COVID fucked up a lot of things too, making me take breaks for mental health reasons. Now I am in a more stable life situation and "back" on the project but it is significantly slower. But I am stubborn and will work on it until the end. I still got my files of the next pages and it is being worked on slowly!

Even when I change fandoms and interests, I will always look back at this project fondly. Sure not all the stuff I wrote/drew aged well but hey, it is a time capsule of my work. The number of people who told me (anonymously or not, through various means) this comic made a positive impact means a whole lot, and I am not kidding that I have tried to save most of the comments/fanworks you guys have sent me.

How long will it finally all end? I have no idea. But I hope (whether you joined my wild ride from the beginning or more recently) that you had fun experiencing my creative works.

PS: drawing my "old" comic style was a wild ride god it is a jumpscare to me

[jsketch12]

doodle

[lynarc]

[glorianas]

[lenfanttterrible]

[thatkindoffeminist]

[kiwinning]

[sensoryoverloadistry]

The Grad Student Shuffle- Christ Fleming

[throesofincreasingwonder]

[saiykik]

Tiki

[suppermariobroth]

In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, blending new drinks at the Starbeans Cafe causes E. Gadd to appear in seven different scenes, one for each drink. However, the game's files reveal that the scenes were actually meant to each feature a different Nintendo character cameo, with E. Gadd merely being the first. The other six would have been Wario, Fox McCloud, Captain Olimar, Samus Aran, an unnamed Excitebike racer, and Link.

The game contains finished graphics, animations, and even fully translated English dialogue for all of those scenes, suggesting they were scrapped late in development. However, it is missing other cutscene data such as character movement, timing, and the animations for Mario and Luigi.

The footage shows a fan recreation of the Wario scene using all available in-game data and filling in the gaps with reasonable educated guesses based on the game's other cutscenes, by YouTube user SeanMacProductions. Please note again that Wario's sprites and animations and the dialogue are official, while Mario and Luigi's reactions and the timing of the movements are not.

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings | Source: SeanMacProductions

[moltz23]

Fire Emblem Three Houses Trivia: One of the changes the script got through updates involved Edelgard's childhood with Dimitri, as all mentions of her past self calling him by name were removed. Three Hopes then used this to imply she's unaware Dimitri & his kid self are the same person.

4/04/2026: Quick amendment on this!

This change was made in version 1.2.0.

The change is referenced in Dimitri & Hapi's A-Support. It mentions Lord Arundel hid Edelgard's identity in the Kingdom, fearing that she could've been taken advantage of politically.

(This change is referenced in Fire Emblem Heroes as well).

[moltz23]

Made a quick amendment of this trivia, as the change had been referenced way before Warriors: Three Hopes had released.

[moltz23]

Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave got its PEGI page updated, meaning we should be getting news on it soon: Besides that, we have a confirmation the game will get DLC, and have blood + foul language (which was a given).

Still no developer listed though, which is a bit weird...

[slotumn]

adrestia: we're the empire founded by saint seiros which means we're the sole legitimate sovereign of fódlan

faerghus: we're the church's closest ally which means our epic based strong king has a sacred blessing

church: we speak on behalf of the goddess which means that we shape the social and political norms of the continent

leicester: dude we don't care we're a merchant oligarchy we're going to destroy your economy and debt trap you

almyra: let's go beat up leicester and trade with them

[moltz23]

Fire Emblem Three Houses Trivia: Claude's name being an alias was planned to be revealed during Verdant Wind before the idea was scrapped. Based on the context provided in interviews, it's implied this would've taken place in the story event "War Council: Lone Moon".

[eveotg]

Burn-in memory

[thankskenpenders]

IDW Sonic: On Lanolin the Sheep, and the problem with Sonic Twitter

A deep dive into the story of one of the most controversial IDW Sonic characters, and how algorithmic social media and fandom expectations m

Here it is! My deep dive into the story of Lanolin the Sheep, one of the most controversial IDW Sonic characters, and how algorithmic social media and fandom expectations made her so controversial in the first place. Yes, this is it, at long last: my big thesis on why the Sonic fandom on Twitter is like that, and my concern that it's starting to bleed into the comics.

[moltz23]

Mega Man & Bass' Story is Absolutely Hilarious, and it's a shame it's so wildly misunderstood.

Near the end of last year I replayed Mega Man & Bass and 100%-ted it. Sure, the difficulty at certain points was very overturned, but it wasn't exactly something shocking or anything, so... I still ended up having a ton of fun by the end!

What did surprise me however, was its story. Past me remembered little of it beyond having some dude named King as the main bad guy, and Wily showing up at the very end as the true mastermind in classic Megaman fashion.

Turns out, I got everything absolutely wrong about the plot. And if most Mega Man Wikis are anything to go by, I'm not the only one that made this mistake.

To explain what I mean, let's talk about King.

The king of robots.

To quickly quote megaman.miraheze.org, King "is a Robot Master created by Dr. Wily that wanted to rule a human-free nation". The general assumption I've seen about this guy in the fandom and even most Megaman Wikis is that the dude was a literal puppet king for Dr. Wily. And who would blame them? Wily did pull a similar stunt for Mega Man 4, 5 and 6, with Dr. Cossack, a fake Proto Man, and Mr. X respectively. So this development should be anything but shocking for anyone that's been into the series for a while.

The thing is, King for most of Mega Man & Bass' story is not that.

He's the main antagonist, and all his shtick of creating a kingdom for robots, separate from humanity, is genuine. Wily, as bonkers this might sound, is just the Final Boss.

The reason Mega Man & Bass' plot happens to begin with is because King straight up took over Dr. Wily's laboratory, and kicked him out of it.

The return of Wiley. Straight from the game's GBA manual: https://www.nintendo.com/eu/media/downloads/games_8/emanuals/game_boy_advance_8/Manual_GameBoyAdvance_MegaManAndBass_EN_DE_FR.pdf

Wait, Wily's on our side in this game?

Someone's been busy it seems.

For some reason, the localized script of Mega Man & Bass omits King attacked Wily's base and seized his resources as his own. Which is kind of huge, considering it is the in-universe explanation for why most of this game's enemy cast are returning faces from Mega Man 8.

Also, Wily's technically on our side for most of this game's story! Dude not having a home anymore explains why he sends Bass to clean his mess, and why he's willing to entertain a team-up with Mega Man to begin with. Heck, both in the original and localized script, Wily even thanks Mega Man for getting rid of King for him. 'Cause with King out of the picture, dude can resume his world domination shtick' right from his lab:

"But wait!", someone might ask. "Isn't Wily revealed as King's boss late into the game?."

This might not be what you think it is.

Not quite! As a quick recap, right before Wily berates a defeated King on his throne room's monitor for throwing the towel vs Mega Man/Bass, King reveals he can't be repaired conventionally because Wily, his creator (emphasis on this) placed an explosive fail-safe, likely to ensure the robot stays loyal to him (which uh... didn't quite work, as discussed by this point).

And as King complains to Wily that, and I quote, "Why do robots have to fight each other for the sake of the humans…?", Wily seizes the chance and brainwashes him with a machine from distance, setting him again against either Mega Man and Bass one last time, all while the doctor goes back to his lab and resumes whatever he was doing before the whole mess started.

Wily at this point in the plot isn't revealing himself at the mastermind.

Wily, in truth, is backstabbing Mega Man/Bass.

He fully expected to see one of the robots destroyed by King, and was expecting the robot monarch to come out weakened enough to be vulnerable to his brainwashing machine. It was supposed to be a win-win to him. But this didn't really happen so King's gets roped into once last fight much to his dismay.

"Wait, Bass? Why would Wily want to see Bass destroyed?"

Well...

Yeah.

Bass by this point in the timeline has proven himself to be a loose cannon and not at all that reliable when it comes to following orders, so no wonder Wily's willing to get him disposed if he can get a proper replacement in exchange (or best case scenario, given a proper control chip). Of course, for this to be possible to begin with, Bass had to be left in the dark as for what actually happened and who King really is. So no wonder dude assumes Wily came up with a highly elaborated chicanery just to get rid of him and/or put him under control.

And with Bass coming up victorious, Wily's got no choice but to come up with an excuse for why his own creation shouldn't blast his face. Hence the whole thing about the King mess being a secret test all along, and that he can rebuild the guy again and have him team-up with Bass and become unstoppable (before Proto Man shows up and ruins that idea anyways).

It's Mega Man 7 all over again, huh.

So yeah. Mega Man & Bass's story is surprisingly far more complicated that it seems at first glance. The fact Wily's unintentionally responsible for the events of the story and that one of his own bots, nay, his strongest secret weapon at the time, turned on him and went to do his own thing, is hilarious.

Even Archie comics list King as one of the many things Wily thought he controlled that Mega Man had to save him from. Granted, this comic's a different continuity, but still…

That being said, Wily could've easily not been involved at all in the story, and the game could've ended with just King as the final boss. Not unlike how that Wonderswan Mega Man & Bass sequel(?) handled things (if the wikis are anything to go by, even a manga adaptation of MM&B cuts Wily's involvement from the story altogether). But I guess the grandfather clause was strong with the development team back in the day, so...

tl;dr: Contrary to popular belief, King is in truth a rogue creation of Dr. Wily, and does not like him. King kicking Wily out of his lab is what kickstarts the whole story and the whole premise of the game.

Huge thanks to hondoori for providing a script of the game. It came out very handy. It turns out that, beyond removing the mention of King taking over Wily's house, the story's script is largely the same as the original.

Also Mega Man & Bass re-release when.