Surviving the Quarantine: Post 6
I’m still here, and presenting my Surviving the Quarantine Post 6. Depression hangs over me clawing at my consciousness. But Anxiety is now in the driver’s seat and taking control of my thoughts.
Hopefully the Coronavirus Lock-down will not last another 17 weeks, but to build a true habit, I hypothetically need to write that many more articles. Be sure to check out parts one, two, three, four, and five. I tend to reference the older articles in the new ones.
Financial Woes:
I might be inching closer to finding a job, but that does not help put a dent in the more than 1200.00 I owe. Do the math. Right now I earn only 60.00 every two weeks Fun times, especially since I still need to eat.
Sickness:
My physical health has started to be uprooted by my mental. When I am extremely stressed out, I start getting rashes on my arms and legs. Those patches are starting to form. And they itch. They irritate my skin like fire ant bites. In a world where simply touching your skin causes onlookers to judge you, I am not in a good place.
Also, I am pretty sure that I am developing a hernia in my abdomen. Every so often, usually when I move suddenly while sleeping, I feel a tear under the skin. These sensations are extremely painful and I have cried out a few times during the night. Of course, I’m broke with no insurance. I won’t be able to get that looked at.
Politics:
Speaking of things others are doing, please wear a fucking mask when you are around others. There nothing courageous by refusing to wear one. There is nothing about exhibiting freedom by choosing to ignore medical guidelines.
By refusing to wear a mask, you actually are denying freedom from others. Then again, I am convinced that those who are part of this bandwagon do not care about anyone’s freedoms but their own. If only the knew the truth about freedom, and the fact that it doesn’t exist at all.
The Riots:
Ok, let’s dive into the new and hottest issue that is neither a new issue or the hottest issue. Take a guess what I am talking about. I’ll give you till the end of this paragraph. Ok, ready for the reveal? I’m talking about the riots.
It’s truly amazing that the white men that Martin Luther King constantly cautioned against are using his quotes for their agenda. Its an insult to his memory. The fact of the matter is that people seriously are putting property above human lives.
Let’s be real, there is a large part of the country including our president calling these oppressed people “thugs”. I’m not going to get into all the ways that Trump threatens the entire world every day that he is not in prison. That deserves a blog post all its own. So let’s focus on the violence and rioting instead.
More on the Riots:
“Rioting is the voice of the unheard” Boy oh boy are these people unheard. Police can kill them with no threat to their livelihood. Racism never left this country. The laws just changed to make it legal from different angles. Hell, white supremacists entered government buildings armed to the teeth which is by definition terrorism, and nothing happened.
Meanwhile, innocent black men are continuously killed for being black. The protestors peacefully point out that this is a problem and get shot for their efforts. Is it really any surprise that the protests turns violent?
And to these poor unfortunate souls who are losing their property in the riots: get over your fucking selves. Lots of people lost everything because of the Coronavirus. Lots of people lost everything when Trump started undoing everything President Obama implemented. You are not special. You just don’t like that you have been knocked down to the level of everyone else.
Here is a controversial hill that I will die on. I disagree with Martin Luther King’s original message about peaceful protest being the way. This only works when the people in power are not sociopaths. However, we do not live in that world. The only language that fascists, hate groups, and terrorists understand is violence. The fact that the president is threatening to kill them is only proof that this is the only way.
Twitter War:
Well I originally promised that I wouldn’t talk about Trump again, but I need to point out one more thing. Trump managed to finally get Twitter to react to his hate mongering. After threatening violence for what seems to be the hundredth time of the day, his tweet was removed, but archived so others can still read it.
Unfortunately, the president is on the Narcissistic Personality Disorder Spectrum to some degree. He doesn’t care who he hurts, just so long as he gets what he wants. And any slight against him is a threat to his ego. Thus he is now using the power of the president to fight an ego war with Twitter. My only hope is that Citizens United ironically is what puts Trump in prison when he fights an enemy far too powerful for him to defeat.
Anxiety:
Well, what a political tangent that was. But remember, at the start, I mentioned anxiety. Just like the depression that makes its home in my head, this other debilitating condition I bear found something to latch onto. Something that I cannot ignore no matter how hard I try.
Depression keeps filling my head with thoughts about being single and alone for the rest of my life. Anxiety meanwhile keeps me awake worried that my cat will die. I have had trouble sleeping lately because of hearing sounds that make me fear for my little friend’s life.
Before the lockdown, my cat kept vomiting and was unwilling to eat. After I took him to the vet and put myself in debt I could not afford, I found out he had a bladder infection. If I had kept him home, eventually he would have died.
Fearing for My Cat:
Now, every time I hear him start making specific noises, I panic. Anyone who has ever had a cat knows the noises I’m talking about. Not helping maters, a few days back, my cat did vomit again. Although since he has gone back to eating, I imagine he just ate too much food and regurgitated the extra.
Unfortunately, he also seems to have a stuffy nose. His breathing is louder than normal while he sleeps. I keep waking up covered in sweat in the middle of the night to check on him. I’m going crazy with nightmares where I wake up to a dead cat.
I hate being poor and unable to take care of problems. If I could afford to, I would take him to the vet immediately and find out why he has cold symptoms. Alas, I cannot. Money does seem to be able to solve most if not all my personal problems.
Well most of the negative above related to world problems and not things that plague my personally. I think that is a win. Anyway, let’s look at the positive things I did this week.
New Writings:
The first thing I want to reflect on is the fact that I started work on a short story that I kept putting off. I won’t get into too much detail since I would love for people to read my stories rather than read about me writing them. But know that I am creating an even stranger surreal take on Alice in Wonderland than the original telling.
Search For Eden:
Another minor creative detail gave me a small bout of happiness. For a while now, I have puzzled myself trying to figure out how one of my principal antagonists can be taken down given their unique skill set and powers. Then I realized that another character with an equally unique skill set is up to the challenge. Better still, said characters coming to blows makes perfect sense within the narrative.
I started mulling about what would happen in a clash between these two extremely powerful characters: A Marilith (Which I’ll change the name of so I am not sued) and a Lich if I was to name the mythological creatures they are based off of. Their encounter will be explosive with back and forth curb stomps. Made more over the top when one takes into account that both characters are at minimum, planet busters, and maybe even solar system busters. That’s a lot of power to throw around.
Video Games:
I’m playing Animal Crossing and Pokemon Go still. I enjoy both, though I like going outside and thus think Pokemon Go is more fun. Nothing against the other though.
Anime:
I have not mentioned this yet surprisingly, but there are a few Anime airing right now that I’m watching that I highly recommend. One of them isn’t a show you would expect me to watch either. The other two, are more in line with my tastes.
I’ll start with the weird one. My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! is not at all something you would expect me to watch. Its a reverse harem comedy show. But I needed something wholesome and funny. The premise of a person being reborn as the villain of a dating sim and trying their best to not killed or exiled was amusing enough to get me to watch it.
Anyway, the second show I’m currently watching, despite it being put on hold due to the Coronavirus is A Certain Scientific Railgun T. This one is an action show with characters with absolutely over the top super powers. Most of the better moments involve experiments going out of control and people making poor decisions due to horrible life experiences. The characters are also quite endearing.
Now, let’s talk about my favorite show airing right now. One you absolutely should check out even if you don’t like the sorts of things I tend to watch. I’m talking about Tower of God. This Korean Light Novel might be one of the best shows I have seen in quite a while. It might jump into my top 10 favorite anime. Its too difficult to try to explain what this show is about. You should just watch it.
Writer’s Meetup:
I took part in a writer’s meetup this week. Although many of my stories have downer endings and serve to brutally tear apart the heroes journey and related tropes, I still learned a lot from this presentation. It also helped me put together the character profile of my protagonist from Search For Eden during a time period in the series I had not properly solved.
Dungeons and Dragons:
I got to run 2 out of my three Dungeons and Dragons Campaigns this week. The Centrum Glacies one was a fun filled romp as the party explored a Red Light District. Party members got drunk, one of them got kidnapped and almost got human trafficked. An allied pirate helped her fight off pimps. They set a brothel on fire. Good times.
Meanwhile, Cycle of Millennia continued to get stranger as the party continued fighting against Dragons, Tentacles, and manifestations of their mind in a cavern filled with hallucinogenic gas. They finally broke free of the illusion and realized that they had not even taken a single step in this strange place. Despite such a setback though, their next goal came to them. The Entrance to a Drow City lies before them. Considering what they experienced in this cave, who knows what will happen in there.
Nuzlocke:
Ok, the small fry happiness is out of the way. Let’s get to the main event. Let’s do that Nuzlocke thing. You should watch it live on my Twitch Channel.
Red Adventure Part 14:
Before going through Victory Road, I traveled to the power plant. On the way I caught Jessie the Magnemite. I gained a few levels from the wild Pokemon, but not enough to be ready for the Elite 4.
Returning to Victory Road, I felt confident that the trainers would serve as simple stepping stones on my path to being the best trainer in the world. Unfortunately, this led to tragedy. The very last trainer that stood between me and the Elite 4 took a valuable partner away.
Sloth, an invaluable friend and ally for almost half the game, was beheaded by a Kingler’s Guillotine. It was such a soul crushing moment, that I simply stared at the screen for a moment. I raged at the heavens at the loss of such a powerful partner and then killed the stupid Pokemon that dared do such a thing.
Red Adventure Part 15:
Now down one Pokemon, I returned to the Power Plant and used my Master Ball on a legendary Pokemon. Thus, Thor the Zapdos took his place at my side ready to avenge Sloth.
But not feeling confident and angry at the universe, I prayed to the Old God Missingno and gained its blessing. Blessed with Infinite Rare Candies, I set my team to the proper level. Not 100 for abusing the power of the Old God comes with a price, but to level 65, which put my power as equal to the Champion of the Elite 4.
Red Adventure Part 16:
Lorelei was up first and as a result, my first victim. The combined power of Thor and Fury crushed her entire team and warned her that a powerful challenger had come to take the Elite 4 off their thrones.
Bruno, the weakest of the Elite 4 was second. His team composed of Fighting and Rock types fell to Fury, Thor, Angrybird, and Psyconut. But while he was weak, I minimized wasted attacks, for the strongest trainers were yet to come.
Agatha the next of the Elite 4 normally would have been a challenge. But Drill Me slaughtered almost every one of her Pokemon. Thor took on the remaining members.
Red Adventure Part 17:
Lance was next and Fury countered his entire team. Not a single one of his Pokemon got a chance to attack mine. The Dragon Master made the mistake of fighting a 10 year old boy possessed by a 30 year old man who considers himself a Dragon Master. I don’t take slights lightly.
The final trainer in my path was Gary. I was quite accustomed to putting the little punk in his place. I couldn’t contain my laughter as he called himself the strongest trainer in the world before sending out a Pidgeot. What fool. My combined team of Drill Me, Fury, Thor, Angry Bird, Psychonut, and Spicy Bork set him straight.
Red Adventure Final Part:
Thus I forced a 10 year old to become Kanto’s champion against his will. He fought hard, lost some friends along the way, and even consorted with an eldritch abomination for the sake of power. His story might have come to an end, but that was not the end of the Nuzlockes.
Before I continue, we must not forget the fallen: Sux, BirdJesus, Mascot, Spores, Marcel, and last but certainly not least Sloth. Sleep well my friends. You have all been avenged.
Another Nuzlocke:
The first Nuzlocke featuring Gen 1 had come to an end. But that means I moved on to Gen 2. This time I possessed a 10 year old girl and set off on another Pokemon Adventure.
Crystal Adventure Part 1:
Selecting Bumper the Cyndaquil, I set out on my way. After being confronted by a red haired thief named “This Guy” I found my rival who stole a Pokemon that should have countered mine. However, I had level advantage. No dice.
After completing a couple story related things, I was able to start catching Pokemon. I got Lookout the Sentret on Route 29 and Rip Europe the Rattata entered this reality on Route 40. But these two were not the type of Pokemon I sought. But after I passed through Cherrygrove City, that changed.
I encountered AntiSpiral the Poliwag on Route 30 and instantly trained it for battle. Next, on Route 31 I met Corvid the Zubat and trained him as well. But the fun didn’t stop. I entered Dark Cave and caught DieMiltank the Geodude. This team was shaping up to be something fierce.
Crystal Adventure Part 2:
I entered Violet City but was not ready to battle the Gym Leader just yet. Instead, I went to Sprout Tower and caught Box Ghost the Gastly. After clearing this mini dungeon fully, I trained a bit more before finally taking on Faulkner, the first Gym Leader. I clipped his wings and claimed my badge.
I took a detour to Route 36 where I caught Hoonter the Hoothoot. Next I traveled to the mysterious Ruins of Alph where I encountered ??? the Unown. This Eldritch Pokemon will stay in the PC keeping the world safe from its strange influence. Finally I proceeded forward in the game.
On Route 32 I caught Nice! the Bellsprout before venturing into Union Cave. I caught Sand King the Sandshrew on my journey through there. When I arrived in Azalea Town, I knew things were amiss. But before I went to deal with those problems, I caught Peckers the Spearow on Route 33.
Crystal Adventure Part 3:
When I did search for trouble, I found Team Rocket and made it double. The boy I mind controlled in Kanto had failed to finish this team off. Good thing this new small child could serve as a worthy vessel to solve the problem. Once I scared the weak Grunts away, I caught Broooo the Slowpoke. Soon after, Bumper evolved into Quilava
After some training, I faced off against Bugsy and the many Bug Types of that gym. Scyther was no match for DieMiltank who fell to a single attack. Proving that I knew bugs better than this fool, I took the second badge.
Crystal Adventure Part 4:
Before I could enter Ilex Forest, I ran into This Guy again. He had more Pokemon, many of which were on my team too. But I am a 30 year old controlling a 10 year old girl. He stood no chance against that level of experience. So I moved him aside and carried on. Before I could do anything else though, Scrambled the Togepi hatched from an egg.
I caught Pest the Venonat in Ilex forest and got the moves Cut and Headbutt along the way. Next, on Route 34 I caught Sleeperz the Drowzee and finally reached Goldenrod City. This much larger town had a lot to offer me, including a casino where I won Not Uri the Abra.
I used my Fishing Rod and caught Angry Fish the Magikarp. With some preparations to make, I got ready to face Whitney and her deadly Miltank of love and hate. On the way, I caught Homer the Psyduck on Route 36. At the end of all this, Not Uri evolved into Kadabra.
Crystal Adventure Part 5:
Finally it was time to take on one of the most powerful and deadly trainers in Johto. I sent out Box Ghost who put a curse on Clefairy. The ironically named Pokemon fell to such dark powers leaving only one extremely dangerous cow to beat.
DieMiltank who had been trained for this very purpose came to bat. Things almost went sour. Only through sheer luck did I survive 5 Rollout attacks in a row as I failed to use a high power Magnitude. But after 3 used potions, I finally came out on top and dunked this legendary Gym Leader.
Whitney cried and I smiled. There is just something satisfying about feeding on the tears of wicked people. With her out of the way, I proceeded to the north. I decided to take on the bug catching challenge and was disappointed when I met Sadness the Weedle in the National Park. Along the way, Covid evolved into Golbat.
Crystal Adventure Part 6:
My next challenge happened to be a tree that was not a tree. This Pokemon, like Whitney almost claimed one of my friends. But through crafty techniques, I captured MorningWood the Sudowoodo claiming another victory.
One route stood between me and Ecruteak City. On Route 37, I met A Spider the Spinirak. Once in the city, I took on some Kimono Dancers and gained Surf. But until I bested Morty, the Gym Leader here, I could not use it. Knowing that Morty posed a huge threat to my team, I decided to train again.
I decided to go check out the nearby cave and route. I caught BlueMascot the Maril in Mount Mortar and cleaned the cave of all the valuables I could grab. Next, I caught WMD the Koffing in Burned Tower. While there, I fought This Guy again and crushed his ego. After besting him, I fell down a hole where I met three Legendary Pokemon. They didn’t have time to chat and ran away.
Crystal Adventure Part 7:
For the final leg of training, I caught Thats Right the Meowth on Route 38. This training regimen is starting to be a habit as I tour the land of Johto. But all practice comes to an end. I was ready to take on Morty and his team of Ghosts. Considering that AntiSpiral evolved into Poliwhirl, Box Ghost became Haunter, and DieMiltank became Graveler I was ready to stomp.
And stomp I did. Morty tried to put curses on me and even dared with his Gengar to put my Pokemon to sleep. However, I was ready and even this trainer who claimed that he had the power of foresight failed to predict his defeat. I claimed the Badge and went on my way.
Before I went further into the story, I made use of Surf to explore the waters of many locations I had visited prior. There were many close calls along the way. Some of the trainers were tough, but at the end, I am proud to say that I have not lost a single companion yet.
Be sure to check out the next part of this Gen 2 Nuzlocke in my next blog post. This adventure is not even half over yet.
Closing:
Well this turned out to be the longest blog post yet. That shouldn’t be surprising since I described two separate Nuzlockes. I am happy that so much positive is contained in this post. Even with all the political crap happening in the world, I have something to look forward to.