"LOUD Engines and Deafening Brakes" Reaction

Original post by Ivann Baloran: http://ivannbaloran.blogspot.com/2018/05/loud-engines-and-deafening-brakes.html

This post is in need of cleanup.

In case you don't know, I am obsessed with watching MandJTV and his other channels, Michael Groth and MandJTV Classic. (Sorry, JubileeBlais, but I'm too lazy to watch Shiny Hunts. Your Top 10s are great though, especially the one on PokéGirls) I constantly watch his My Opinion on Every Pokémon, Raccoon Man series, and, most relevant to this blog post, his rant called The WORST Drivers EVER! I freaking love his voice and his rants--I mimic him almost every day (especially Raccoon Man).
Groth (2017, I think) mentioned in that rant that he hates when people are "driving cars with stupidly loud engines".
And it just so happens that my brother Ivann recently posted a rant of his own that specifically focused on those "stupidly loud engines". He even made the "loud" word all caps, which suggested a strong emotion that made me want to read it more.

I'm gonna react paragraph-by-paragraph in chronological order, but I'll minimize direct quotes to avoid plagiarism and spoilers.

Paragraph 1

To be honest, if you're not a professional (not street) racer, there's no advantage to having a luxury car other than "looking cool".

Sure, they're faster than the average city car, but thanks to road laws, like speed limits, it's difficult to take advantage of a luxury car's full potential. Also, when making a turn, especially on busy roads, other cars can appear out of nowhere and intersect the driver's path, causing an unexpected crash.

Plus, to me, luxury cars give the impression of excessive greed, parasitism, and corruption.

And, Ivann, good to know that you prefer walking and cycling. Cars are overrated and harmful to both travel time and the respiratory and circulatory systems.

Paragraph 2

First of all, how in the muffins is it possible to get a car...without getting a job and a house first? No, inheriting money and a car from family and friends doesn't count--not everyone can, let alone will, do that. Regardless of your counter-arguments, why did you laugh at my brother?

Then again, I suppose, to them, it is a norm to get a car before getting a house and a job. Or maybe they laughed because Ivann didn't mention any kind of car.

(If you ask me, though, I'd get a simple sedan. It's not like I need anything "specialized", anyway--I just need something basic. I'd rarely use it though because I'm obsessed with cycling.)

By the way, Ivann, I disagree with your guess as to why your classmates laughed. If your reason was true, I think they would have been TRIGGERED instead.

No particular paragraph because I'm lazy, but this is about "stupidly loud engines"

I'm pretty sure there's an ordinance on our barangay (village) that says loud engines are not allowed at night.

But, I'm wild-guessing that there's a 5% chance per night that a motorbike passes our street at high-speed, shocking me, especially when I'm asleep, playing video games, or working in the store.

There's a freaking speed limit of 20 km/h on our street, noobs. I went exactly 20 km/h here while having driving lessons, and my engine was not disturbing any neighbor at all.

But what do you expect from a barangay whose tanods (guards) sit comfortably on their plastic chairs as they smoke, talk smack, and stare almost lazily at the road? I rarely see any patrol vehicles on our street.

Here's another experience of a "stupidly loud engine" that is at the opposite of high speed. An old-looking, lime-green car parked in front of our store, and it spent about 3 minutes messing with the engine in such a way that it could split my ears in halves. When it actually moved, it moved VERY slowly, but just as noisily.

Right now, I want to beat up the owner of that potentially lethal-sounding car. Like, how do you even survive the harsh noise of your car? What's stopping you from buying a new car or having your old one fixed? Besides, new cars are faster, have more durable engines, are more eco-friendly, and cost just as much as a super-old car.
Thank goodness that's the last I've seen of that car.

Deafening brakes

Other than video games and Ivann's bike, I rarely hear screeching brakes, to be honest.

I could imagine it though :p

I got super lazy, so I'll end with:

"You could say that it's a bumpy ride... *budum-ching*" TRIGGERED

And it's "ba-dum tsss", not "budum-ching".

Edit: i admit that this is one of my lazier/cringier blog posts (intentional bad grammar)

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! Reaction

Initially, I took the leaks of Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! with a grain of salt, because, of course, it didn't come straight from The Pokémon Company itself, and I've been a victim of fake leaks before. I didn't even care about Serebii.net talking about those leaks.

But man, my mind was blown. Today, the official Pokémon YouTube channel released a trailer for Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! and it gave me a lot of things to talk about.

I'm gonna be discussing these from the start of the video to the end.

I recommend watching the trailer first before reading this post. Otherwise you might get spoiled. :D

I'm guessing, after the Pikachu jumps into the TV screen, it shows the Trainer getting his starter Pokémon from Prof. Oak's lab--I recognize the machines and the floor in the background from Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen.

Then it showed a scene of the Trainer running around Pallet Town.

The three original houses are still there, which is cool. I'm kinda disappointed about the outer appearance of Prof. Oak's lab, though. It looks too much like an ordinary house, but then again, Prof. Kukui has a similar lab (except it's jacked up).

Except for the more detailed shadows and textures, which is expected from the power of the Nintendo Switch (heck, in Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, every soldier and monster has a detailed shadow rendered, not just the generals), the graphics and terrain feel kinda like Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, with a bit of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. It's nowhere close to the graphics of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, if you ask me, so I'm expecting Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! to run at a steady 60 FPS.
Edit: Now that I think about it, I guess the graphics were meant to appeal to those who have played Pokémon GO and/or the Generation 6/Generation 7 core series games.

There's a scene with Prof. Oak being flocked by three Pidgey in Route 1--kinda reminds me of Dorkly's Pokémon Rusty.

"PLAY with ONE Joy-Con" "SHARE with FRIENDS" Say goodbye to buying two Nintendo consoles just to trade or battle competitively with your sibling. And besides, constantly holding the Nintendo 3DS XL can get tiring for my arms.

For some reason, two players catching one Pokémon at the same time combines the two Poké Balls into one. Does this increase the catch rate? And who gets to take the Pokémon? Oh well, I'd like to see MandJTV and JubileeBlais work together to catch an otherwise frustrating-to-catch Legendary Pokémon.

Apparently, wild Pokémon now randomly appear in the overworld (and not just a black blob like it usually happens in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire) and they can be approached to initiate a battle. I guess that's alright; it can help a tiny bit in looking for a rare or powerful Pokémon, or even during Shiny-Hunting.

Catching Pokémon works just like in Pokémon GO. It feels more realistic than simply picking up a Poké Ball from the Bag, but I still prefer the idea of damaging the wild Pokémon before catching it. Then again, at least the wild Pokémon can't sweep the player's Pokémon team if the player fails to catch, but in Pokémon GO, wild Pokémon can flee.

By the way, I wonder how "Nice!", "Great!", and "Excellent!" would come into play.
Edit: There are no standard wild Pokémon battles. Dang it. Oh well, I have no problem grinding up and evolving my Pokémon with Stardust and Candy respectively.

The 3D models look almost exactly like the ones used in Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (same with Pokémon GO). They have the exact same poses and animations, and probably the same polygon count, but no cel-shading. They also look more vividly colored.

It then showed a scene of two players on Route 24's Nugget Bridge, encountering a Bug Catcher and starting a battle which looked and worked just like in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. (It's a shame he only had one Venonat; he got rekt by the two players and their Pokémon working together.) This is great news for me, who has done traditional Pokémon battling for a very long time.

"CONTROL with Poké Ball" The Poké Ball Plus is an accessory and controller designed to work with both Pokémon GO and Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! and can be used instead of a Joy-Con. A Pokémon can be placed in the Poké Ball Plus, where it can be "taken for a stroll" in the real world. I wonder how this would work. Would it increase the Pokémon's friendship? Or make it stronger? Either way, it would be super fun to walk around my local park with my Eevee. This is as realistic as a Poké Ball can get.

It then showed the Pokédex entries. They were honestly disappointing because all three of the entries shown were recycled from Pokémon Yellow. I guess it would be a logical fallacy to say that if Pokémon Sun, Pokémon Moon, Pokémon Ultra Sun, and Pokémon Ultra Moon made completely new Pokédex entries for old Pokémon, it should happen to future Pokémon games as well.

"CONNECT with Pokémon GO" Apparently, Kanto Pokémon can be traded between Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! or Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! and Pokémon GO. That allows a huge head start for those who have played Pokémon GO for a long time.

"PLAY YOUR WAY" Now this is another montage of quick scenes.

Yes, Poké Ride returns. Begone, crummy bicycles and HMs. Plus, it looks so much better with the updated graphics. The Onix ride was unexpected yet epic; I wonder what else it does? Lapras Paddle also returns, and it reminds me of that "leaked image" with the big and blurry Lapras and the water resembling Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon; it turns out the actual footage looked very similar to the leak. And Charizard can now be flown around in the overworld? I mean, it's not close to soaring, but it's way more realistic than Charizard Glide. (Now that I think about it, which Poké Ride should replace Cut? Scyther would be amazing.)

And, after years and years of speculation and wishing for Pokémon following the player, similar to Pokémon HeartGold and Pokémon SoulSilver, it's finally back! I thought they scrapped it entirely due to hardware limitations and consistency with other Pokémon games.

I'm guessing a feature similar to Pokémon-Amie returns, based on that scene where the player petted Pikachu by moving the Joy-Con.

Pikachu and Eevee can also be dressed up. I mean, that's no surprise thanks to Cosplay Pikachu and Pikachu wearing Ash's caps.

Then it showed a bunch of move animations, which I'm guessing are: Pikachu using Charge Beam, Eevee using Swift, Dragonite using Hyper Beam, Blastoise using Ice Beam, Arbok using Glare, Cloyster using Shell Smash, Magikarp being hit with Seismic Toss (which made it look like it was Splashing super high), and Golem using Explosion.

And, finally, Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave.

At the end of the trailer, it said "You'll meet a Special Pokémon." and showed a present being opened in Pokémon GO, but it faded out.

Alternative Jobs

Quick update on my life: I worked extra hard on my studies this week, so there was little thought in my head for a blog post, not even "My Opinion on Every Pokémon".
(I should really try a Nuzlocke at some point; I usually don't have time to grind in Pokémon due to real life tasks, so I don't do Nuzlocke challenges)
But anyways, on to the actual topic.

Tacticians must know how to think ahead of the situation.
I know I don't do that sometimes, but if there's something I thought ahead of, it's careers.

Thanks to my love for video games, my first choice for a career is to start my own game development studio--I plan to design, code, and write the story for my own video game.
This is why I took up Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Studies (BAMS) in the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU). I recently completed a course called Principles of Programming, where I was introduced to Python, and I coded an "accounting program" with a hidden Miitopia parody as my final project. (I got a 1.25, which is solid.)

But, for the most part, I am a very lazy student--I've failed multiple subjects. So I'm getting second thoughts on continuing with BAMS; maybe I should just take courses on the Web since I hate traditional education and its excessive emphasis on grades and tests?

But what if I can't take Web courses? Well, I've made up some alternative careers since I was in, I believe, high school.

If you've read my previous blog posts, especially "Fighting Addiction", you'll know that I have a secondary interest in martial arts. My wild guess is that 70% of you will say I'll have boxing as one of my secondary careers, and to those who did guess it, good job. (To those who were wrong, I feel sorry to hear that--no offense.)
Although I'm nowhere close to being on the level of a professional boxer, I think winning against my friend YoSquid is already a solid sign of improvement and potential--I beat him by dodging and faking attacks to expose weaknesses.
And let's just say it'll be super fun to take my anger out on my opponent on the ring, where it's perfectly legal and I won't get arrested. (And before you ask, I can still fight well while raging; I can quickly block, dodge, feint, and counter-attack.)
And boxing doesn't require essay-writing or math. I do, however, research on the physics of boxing from time to time.
(I didn't choose MMA because I suck at kicking, and other martial arts have too many rules.)
Edit: I may have a better chance of succeeding in competitive boxing, thanks to Coach G-Force training me.

But what if I'm too weak, or boxing promoters won't hire me?
Oh well, I'm good at mimicking other people, so my third job option would be a voice actor.
Again, no essay-writing or math.

My fourth job option would be a teacher for the primary (elementary) school level.
Through the years, I've often taught people. Usually, I teach my family members about using computers, but on rare occasions, I've taught school subjects, and I've done so successfully. Last year, I wrote a ton of strategies for Lunatic Blade.
So I feel confident that I can formally teach.

And if all else fails? I guess I'll work at the Park. Or Lift With Your Back Moving Co. (because I don't know how to lift with my legs) Just kidding.

I'll just continue writing this blog. I could probably eat three pieces of bread and drink two glasses of water daily and pay off electric and water bills with just AdSense revenues...or can I? I'm wild-guessing our monthly bills add up to US$100.
I'm thinking of starting a YouTube gaming channel, but I'm not confident in my ability to do commentary, especially the intro. All I have in my head is "How's it going, fellas? The name's LunaticTactician, and we're back with (video title)", which is a common template done by many YouTubers, and it's quite unoriginal. (Ace Trainer Liam's "Whaddup, schmucks, it's Ace Trainer Liam" intro is pretty nice and original, though.)

Quick Rant Against Vulgar and Disrespectful Jokes

I have a really hard time keeping up with schedules--I'm so lazy. I haven't even worked out for weeks because I was brutally wounded after tripping on a speeding treadmill after running 20 km/h.

Since I'm still lazy, this will be very short with no TL;DR.

Most people with Asperger's syndrome have language difficulties. For instance, they can't understand the difference between jokes/lies and the truth/sincerity, and they take idioms literally. No offense to my fellow people with Asperger's syndrome.

However, I have a much better understanding of non-literal language than other people with Asperger's syndrome. I can understand puns, for instance. I can tell the differences between jokes and non-jokes through context clues, body language, and tone of voice.

What I really hate is how today's tweens, teens, and young adults are so good at twisting jokes to make them have no sign of humorous intent at all, especially if the joke is vulgar and/or disrespectful.

Here's an example of a joke I don't like that I will probably take literally and personally, from The Social Skills Picture Book for High School and Beyond by Jed Baker (2004, I think): "Man, you really stink at gym."

Using only the words (no body lingo or voice), this is not a joke at all--this is a straight-up insult.

Thankfully, in Baker's illustration, the guy being joked at asked, "Are you kidding?"
The other person replied, "Yeah. Sorry, you are not so bad."

On another note, my personal least favorite joke is an insult disguised as a compliment.
"Gerard, you're the best workmate ever!"
"Thanks for the kind words, Billy!"
"At being a complete IDIOT!"
 TRIGGERED 

So if you want to tell me something that I might take offense to, expect me to ask, "Is this a joke or a sincere statement?"

By the way, to those at my home Minecraft server, since I'm a Head Moderator: Avoid vulgar and disrespectful jokes regardless of context, or I might falsely punish you. Do not say "kys" to mean "keep yourself safe" or "kiss your sister" for instance, because it can be misunderstood as "kill yourself".

Side Note

I'm not into meme culture. I don't read 9gag or Imgur or reddit.

In fact, it's usually hard to make me laugh. The only times I remember myself laughing really hard are "how is prangent formed", TheSyndicateProject's GHOST CHILLI PEPPER CHALLENGE!, annoying my enemies, and videos of people destroying stuff.

I understand most jokes, but I don't laugh at them.

If you ask me something about whales or cows, for example, I'll answer based on my knowledge of the animals themselves, not the memes behind them.

I do like Pokémon memes though :D

My Opinion on Every Pokémon, Generation 2

After several days of waiting and slacking, I've finally posted My Opinion on Every Pokémon in Generation 2.

The reasons I delayed this are mostly because I'm lazy (I couldn't help but play video games), and slightly because of my overall opinion on Generation 2.

At least this was slightly easier because there are fewer Pokémon and forms in Generation 2. Generation 1 had a TON of Mega Evolutions and Alola Forms.

Go to row 198 for the Generation 2 Pokémon.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13e42CObOvpQ5TIRk1loo_5Uwch3bmYzA5nvjZvz3sCo/edit?usp=sharing

List of My Traits (based on The Sims 3)

This is a very old post and may contain some cringey stuff.
Being chaotic evil sucks.

This was edited on April 3, 2020 after I posted about my D&D alignment, sooo...
I stated in that post that I have a bad habit of identifying myself and other people based on traits from games. The emotional investment I have in those games helps me better in understanding myself and others.
But while D&D alignment is a broad representation on a person or creature's perspective towards ethics and morals, The Sims traits are more focused on specific parts of one's personality and skills. For example, telling someone I'm chaotic neutral does not indicate the fact I like exercise.

The Sims Wiki has a page on the traits in The Sims 3, as well as a list at the end.

Major traits are traits that I exhibit the most, while minor traits are shown less.

Major Traits

• Insane
• Athletic
• Computer Whiz
• Couch Potato (mostly with school work, not with exercise)
• Light Sleeper
• Hopeless Romantic (oh no, the ladies will hate this one)
• Night Owl

Why do you have 7 major traits?

The University Life expansion pack adds ways to get 2 additional traits.

Wasn't the Evil trait here before?
Yes, it was, but I was chaotic evil back then. Big special thanks to my good friends, including BoltOLightnin and Ghean, for partially contributing to my change to chaotic neutral.

Minor Traits

• Absent-Minded (due to my lack of sleep)
• Coward (I hate dogs and wielders of bladed weapons and guns)
• Dislikes Children (Having kids is way too big of a responsibility for my laziness and I see a lot of chaotic neutral and chaotic evil kids on my neighborhood and in the news, but I love my 4-year-old neutral good niece)
• Friendly (probably the most subjective and debatable trait on this list; after all, this is the most popular trait)
• Frugal (I sometimes feel reluctant to spend money, but sometimes I also get a desire to hoard)
• Genius (in Hytale, I guess?)
• Slob
• Eco-Friendly (Too lazy to save electricity because I'm a gamer, but I'm obsessed with minimizing plastic bag and car usage; this is also why I prefer my fists over weapons in real life, and stone swords over iron and diamond swords in Minecraft; oh yeah, I might turn off unused lights in a friend's house, for instance)
• Hot-Headed (probably due to living with a hot-headed family)
• No Sense of Humor (or at least minimal; I understand most jokes except for those related to a specific media franchise I don't know or are overly dark or sexual)
• Perfectionist (Don't rush me, pal, or I'll lose my temper. I also EV-train my Pokémon in playthroughs)
• Snob
• Vegetarian (I dislike super-specific types of meat)

Liked Traits

• Computer Whiz
• Couch Potato (from my experience, most people I know are almost always busy with something random and legitimately important, even during weekends, holidays, and summer vacation)
• Friendly (as long as it's objectively true; anyone can call themselves "friendly" but actually act like a jerk)
• Frugal (as opposed to those who spend so much that they leech money from others; some chaotic neutral and chaotic evil people do this money-leeching)
• Eco-Friendly
• Handy (Mind fixing my gear? Thanks, buddy)
• Uh, does the hidden trait Can Apprehend Burglar count?

Disliked Traits

• Absent-Minded (I just clearly explained something simple a few seconds ago, pal.)
• Disciplined (if a person with this trait expects me to do the same thing)
• Evil (absolute trashbags who do bad stuff to people because it's "fun", because they're desperate, or because they've sworn allegiance to a cult)
• Genius (too smart for my simple brain to handle, especially when a person with this trait expects me to be just as smart or is overly judgmental of less intelligent people)
• Good (specifically lawful good people)
• Perceptive (Stop probing me and mind your own business, will ya?)
• Slob (I know I have a messy room, but at least I'm not harming others with it, unlike some unhygienic fools who do stuff like spitting on the street)
• Coward (Hey n3wb, get back here and fight me)
• Hot-Headed (I usually like to stay calm, pal, thank you very much. Don't ruin it.)
• Kleptomaniac (like why the heck would you steal a car's side mirror)
• Mean Spirited
• Mooch
• Neat (Relax, I'll clean this up. No need to explode.)
• Party Animal (Just don't rub it in my face.)
• Technophobe (I ain't gonna look up Gadgets 101 for you. I got more important things to do, pal.)
• (Nothing conflicts with Genius, so I'd say I dislike not-so-smart brains because I'm too lazy to teach them)

May 12 - Start of Another College Trimester

Too lazy to write, to be honest.

In May 12, another college trimester (1/3 of a school year) will start for my university. Which means another 10 weeks of torture essay-writing and stress.

I'll be writing blog posts far less often, but I will consistently publish My Opinion on Every Pokémon, generation by generation, until Generation 7. (Trivia: Pokémon Crystal was the first game I ever played.)

I also have a ton of real-life quests to do before school starts, to make sure this starts with a bang. Examples include researching my courses beforehand, playing video games with YoSquid, doing more good deeds (probably), and general housekeeping to delete these bothersome to-do lists from my brain.

If I do plan to write on my blog, it may be either rants against traditional education, or rants related to my reading material.

Let's just say, for now, I hate that school focuses excessively on testing (Robinson, I can't remember the date).

Ever since I started high school, I wanted to make a video game for a living. As far as I can see, there is little to no academic writing involved in game design and development--just writing game ideas and story scripts. I can freestyle that with no problem, just like my blog--no parents or professors to tell me what to do.

My Opinion on Every Pokémon Generation 1

This spreadsheet contains my opinions on every Pokémon from Generation 1, including alternate forms, like Mega Evolutions and Alola Forms.

This idea was stolen from TheAuraGuardian (the original creator) and MandJTV.

Each Pokémon is rated on a scale of 0 to 10, along with a short explanation of my opinion. They're sorted according to National Pokédex number.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13e42CObOvpQ5TIRk1loo_5Uwch3bmYzA5nvjZvz3sCo/edit?usp=sharing

Generation 2 is coming next week <3

If I missed any alternate forms, please tell me :)

TheAuraGuardian's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APidmIf_Z2M

MandJTV's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-mLqTxZ4mI

MysticUmbreon's video (Generation 1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGTKL4nnDBk