straightforwardly | 353 | books, Pokémon Shield, and a fic rec

► I am deeply, deeply delighted by how much response I got to my last post asking people to share five of their 5 star reads! It’s been so much fun—seeing what titles resonate with people, chatting about books, being reminded of books I also loved or am interested in checking out, finding new things I’d like to read. ♥ ~~If you haven't shared your five yet, please feel very free to head over and do so!~~

► Time for my unofficial weekly Pokémon Shield update! I haven’t gotten too far since last update—since then, I’ve beaten the third gym, went around catching a few Pokémon, and now I’m on the road towards the fourth gym. More thoughts in bullet-point form below!

I’m very, very fond of Kabu. I fully expected Nessa to end up being my favorite gym leader in the game overall, but nope, it turns out that Kabu is my favorite of those who I’ve encountered so far!

I reallyyy enjoyed the Dynamax portion of that battle. Centiskorch in Dynamax form reminds me so much of a dragon, which was very cool! Also, I used my Drizzile and the move Max Geyser, which summons rain as a weather condition, and it added to the atmosphere and drama in such a fun way. The burst of flame as Centiskorch collapsed down into a smaller size and fainted, set against the falling rain… the little ending animation where Kabu falls to his hands and knees in reaction to his loss, the rain falling down all around him… love it <3

My first impression of the Wild Area wasn’t a good one, but reentering it now, after the third gym, I actually had fun running around there? It actually reminds me a little of running around in Legends Arceus, though I still love Legends Arceus more.

Something about Raihan calling Sonia “Miss Clever Clogs” made me sit up and pay attention to their dynamic asdfghjkl; In general, I’m so intrigued by Sonia and the position she’s in! She has all these friends, rivals, acquaintances who were so wildly successful in their careers—gym leaders and champions!—while she… wasn’t, and in fact still doesn’t quite know what she’s doing with herself and her life, though she’s slowly charting her way. There’s something very raw and real about that, and I’m very invested.

A NPC asked me for an Applin, and this led me down a journey where I briefly considering adding one to my team, because I am weirdly fond of that line—but it turns out that there’s no Hydrapple in this game :( because it didn’t exist yet, and while I do very much like Flapple’s design, it doesn’t seem particularly great…? At least, not good enough to justify leaving off another Pokémon I might be interested in from my team. I’m kind of hoping that Applin will make it over in Wind & Waves now, though, because I did get my heart a little set on the idea of having a team with a Hydrapple in it, haha.

I also spent a few days trying to hunt down a Corsola! Mostly because I was waiting for the weather to become overcast so that it would appear at all. Relatedly, I am not a fan of how the in-game weather conditions only change once per irl day… I’d much rather the weather change slowly over time. I don’t want to feel like I’m logging in to do my dailies (even if the “daily” is just checking the weather)—I quit mobile games for a reason! And it also disincentivizes me from making progress in the game if I’m wanting a specific Pokémon I can only catch in a certain area in certain conditions, because I find myself waiting on that instead…

In any case, I got my Corsola! Not ideal stats, but I caught like three of them, and it was the best of the lot. I’m not fully settled on if it’ll be part of my main/endgame party, but I’m leaning towards it. I really love Corsola… I know the standard Corsola is one of the worst water-type Pokémon in terms of useability, unfortunately, but I had one in my main party back when I was a kid playing through Silver, and it still has such a special place in my heart. Galarian Corsola is definitely not as cute—it’s so unhappy!—but I do think it has what is quite possibly the neatest concept for a regional variation, and Cursola makes for such a great name. ~~Now give standard Corsola an evolution that has a great design and actually makes her good, please and thank you.~~

Finally: Drizzile has left his emo phase to grow up into a secret agent! By which I mean: he has evolved into Inteleon. Who is apparently over six feet tall??? Absolutely wild. Imagine standing next to one irl… That is a Pokémon who is all height and no mass. Also, I just went and checked right now, and Drizzile was only a little over two feet, so that was quite an increase!

► I have made no progress on Ghost Game, but I do come to you with a completely unrelated fic rec! I’ve spent a little over a week devouring this during my commutes, lunchbreaks, and illicit bedtime reading sessions, and absolutely adored it. The characters felt so vivid and human, and I’m struck by how, despite its length, it never dragged for me, always remaining engaging. The author absolutely ended it at the right point, but at the same time, a part of me felt like I could have continued on reading about Ursula’s life forever and ever. Very good, very satisfying.

The Winter of Widows (ASOIAF, OFC & Historical Ensemble, 583K)
When she awoke to a new life in Westeros, Ursula Mires nearly did the smart thing. Only a year away from becoming sworn to the Faith as a septa and being free to live in relative comfort and safety in one of the more prestigious Reach cloisters, she was content with her lot in life. Her advice, slowly fed to her father over many years, had enabled her family to survive the Dance and rise in station. House Mires had its legacy secured, until tragedy struck early that winter. Now Ursula is heir to a floundering House she does not want, in a war-torn land that she must drag out of the mud. Many ladies are in her position in what maesters would later call ‘the winter of widows’.

Only Ursula knows what is coming next, and she’s not sure if her house will survive it.