Stunning clouds over work today

We were under a tornado watch for much of the day today, and with that came some pretty gnarly clouds all throughout the day. 

The Nintendo Switch and the End of the Road

There comes a time in every console's life where the developer makes a decision: Will it continue to live on as via backwards compatibility, prompting the adopter(Me) to retire the unite and possibly sell it off (which I am!), or do simply box it up and stash it away for later access should I want to play older games.

Luckily for me, Nintendo has decided to make the Switch 2 backwards compatible with Switch 1, meaning my time with the Switch has officially hit the end the road. Since it is highly unlikely I am going to want to replay anything that isn't brand new or a remaster of some sort for the next several months, I have decided to dock the Switch for good and play some old stuff via Retroarch, or maybe even Sonic Adventure 1/2 on Steam Deck to help pass the time.

C'mon June 5th! 

Brood XIV

This year has seen the reemergence of the Brood XIV of Cicada, and for the last few weeks, these guys have been coming up from the ground in the thousands every night and shedding their shells and then flying off. 

The last time this particular brood emerged was in 2008, but as chaotic as that was, it wasn't anything like it was this year! Their song is much, much louder, and the swarms have actually made it to my house this time. 

Hail, storm!

Yeah, definitely was not expecting a hail storm like that. Never experienced one before, so that was wild. 

COMMISSIONED: 'Rik the Wolf 1-Up Icon' by Osmoru

 

osmoru.bsky.social

I absolutely adore this piece. My friend surprised me with it after I expressed interest in commissioning it and I am just using it wherever I can!

Rik the Wolf :: Prologue Act 2: Azure Lake

The tribe looked on with jaws agape. A pack member leaving their native land and venturing into the world? Unheard of! The tribe elder, an old, amazing grey, approached the now sixteen-year-old wolf and looked him over with a warm and powerful gaze. His amber eyes looked incredibly young in comparison to the rest of the old wolf, and still, they maintained their ability to make tribesmen tuck their tails between their legs.

But something had changed in Rik over the years. Ever since the robots came and the giant egg floated into the sky that one fateful day eight years ago. The world was a much bigger place than any of the teachings within the Azure Lake zone. What little news did come from the outside painted only tiny slivers of the lands beyond the surrounding mountain ranges.

When word first made it into the valley about the Egg-Stratarestial species, inside the wolf erupted a volcano of whimsy and a burning desire to not only travel the world and catch these new, mysterious, and powerful species but to catch every fish species possible. A tall order, no doubt for any Mobian, let alone a single wolf living in one of the most secluded inland zones on the planet.

Now today, standing before the village elder and the rest of his tribe, Advrik “Rik” the Wolf was announcing his plans to depart the valley the following week at first dawn. The elder’s powerfully young-looking eyes finally locked with the much younger wolf’s crimson eyes. Advrik did not whimper, nor did he wince or tuck his tail. Not backing down to the village elder was a sign of maturity for his people. Something he realized long ago was just a little bit stupid.

Okay, it was very stupid. 

They lived in houses and bought their meals from the local grocery market, for cripe’s sake! A tribe, maybe, but they weren’t like the ancient race of Echidna from Angel Island that he’d read about. He had an air conditioner!

He wondered endlessly every night, following training sessions with Master Yip the Fox or during an extended late-night battle with a giant carp upriver. Was what he was doing going to set a bad precedent for those with children who wanted to follow the tribe’s ancient—and quite frankly severely outdated—ways? It would be spitting in the face of all those who helped raise him, but it was that fact and that fact alone that further bolstered his decision to stand before the elder now with his declaration to leave the tribe.

Rik the Wolf :: Prologue Act 1: When the Egg Dropped

The nightmare began when the first roboticized animal was unleashed onto the world. At first, the inhabitants of the planet Mobius were confused—rightfully so. But that confusion quickly turned to terror when more and more robots with animals trapped inside their metallic bodies started appearing.

Their presence was unsettling at first and mildly destructive at worst. Gardens were trampled, and outdoor decorations were destroyed. The Mobiuns fought back at first, freeing the animals and stopping the robots. But like the Hydra said to dwell somewhere deep in the Hidden Garden, when one robot was destroyed, two more appeared in its place!

Time went on, and the attacks became more and more dangerous—and widespread! All over the world, wildlife was disappearing, and robots were appearing in their place. The destruction moved from gardens and lawn fixtures to entire fields of crops and buildings. The robots became harder and harder to destroy as if their designs were being actively worked on on the fly. Each new wave was becoming progressively more dangerous and harder to break. 

The world was in a panic, but then he appeared…

The blue streak with an attitude that was way past cool: Sonic the Hedgehog! 

A Case of Mistaken Identity (A Rik the Wolf tale)

 

Mobius was saved! 

And then saved again. And again, and again, and again! Headlines were always ablaze with reports of the harrowing tales of the planet’s saviors, often led by a particularly popular and very speedy hedgehog. It felt like a year could hardly go by without some world-ending catastrophe rearing its ugly head, only to be thwarted again and again.

Be it a mad doctor with plans to turn all of the animals into robots or giant monsters born from the very planet itself. The notorious blue hedgehog was there, ready to clean up the situation with relative ease. Even when the issues arose off-planet, he was there. 

Sonic the Hedgehog. A household name all across Mobius. The fastest thing alive. Thanks to the famous blue blur, Mobius continues to exist in peace to this very day.

But that’s enough about him.

LOCATION: Green Hill Zone

The sun was shining brightly in the sky on this late spring day. The flickies were singing gleefully as they pounced from tree branch to branch, picking off the cicada nymphs as they attempted to shed the shell they’d spent the last seventeen years slowly outgrowing. The insects were emerging in the millions and would soon fill the peaceful serenity across Green Hill with a shrill buzz of their mating call.

They also made excellent bait for fishing, though the noisy red-eyed insect dangling from the hook might see things differently.

Advrik the Wolf, or simply Rik as he prefers to be called, is enjoying a peaceful bout of fishing beside a quiet lake somewhere in Green Hill. His slingpack tossed to the side and a small campfire smoldering just a few feet away from the water itself. The wolf, covered in a milk chocolate-colored brown fur and sliced up the middle with a creamy, buttery vanilla-like color, sat quietly, cross-legged with his blue fishing pole in hand. The bright yellow line tied to the tip of the rod hung limp as the bobber floated lazily atop the lake’s surface.

Rik had fished thousands of different bodies of water by this point in his life; having hailed from the Azure Lake Zone, he’d grown up fishing and knew all the ins and outs: What the fish would be looking for, how the time of day, weather or water conditions affected them. As an angler, these things became second nature after a while as one caught more and more fish.

However, that only applied to the known fish of this world. What brought Rik here today was something new, something… mysterious!