Jacen's Rants

Less structured and more rambly posts

Why does Jacen hate Gen 9? - The Pokémon Violet Rant

May 31, 2025

The rant I uploaded to YouTube explaining why I dislike the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games as much as I do.

How Good Was Classic Bandori Really? - BanG Dream! Season 1 Rewatch Reaction

May 30, 2025

Beware of "BanG Dream!" spoilers

Nostalgia can be a powerful but deceptive force. After watching Ave Mujica, I found myself yearning for the "good old days" of BanG Dream!, the musical idol franchise that captivated fans worldwide in 2017. But this begs the question: how good was classic Bandori really? Does the original anime that launched the phenomenon actually hold up nearly a decade later, or are my memories tinted by rose-colored glasses?

Only one way to find out: watch it back and chronicle my thoughts episode-by-episode, just like I did for MyGO and Ave Mujica. Join me as I revisit the origins of Poppin'Party and rediscover the "good old days" of BanG Dream! season 1, with fresh eyes and a decade of perspective.

The 2025 Penske Rant Continued

May 21, 2025

Once again, I'd love to be writing about literally anything else, but I can't help myself. A lot has happened over the past couple of days, and I'd like to make some clarifications and additions that I didn't put into my initial post.

From Discord - The Raildex Watch Order Rant

May 20, 2025

An excerpt from Discord discussing the optimal order to watch the Raildex anime.

The Penske Rant - 2025 Indy 500 Edition

May 19, 2025

Qualifying for the 2025 Indy 500 was incredible. We had Colton Herta's remarkable recovery after a crash during his qualifying attempt, Marcus Armstrong's own recovery in last chance qualifying after a Saturday practice crash, the climactic shootout between Dale Coyne Racing teammates Rinus VeeKay and Jacob Abel for the 33rd and final spot in the race, and Prema Racing's miraculous pole position thanks to rookie driver Robert Shwartzman.

Unfortunately, I don't get to talk about any of that.

Why Can't We Pay Fanwork Creators?

May 18, 2025

I've always wanted to be a writer. My mother was a journalism major, so I've been exposed to writing my entire life. I filled notebooks with my own stories and, eventually, my own fanfiction once I got into Star Wars and Pokémon. While I don't think my dream of being a writer is truly attainable for me, writing stuff on my website is about as close as I'm going to get.

All that preamble to say, I have a lot of respect for writers. This brings me to a question I've had for a while: why are people so terrified at the idea of giving money to fanfiction authors?

Destined Rivals Prerelease Recap

May 17, 2025

I attended a prerelease event for the upcoming Destined Rivals set in the Pokémon TCG. This was my second time attending any kind of live Pokémon event. Let's go over what I pulled and what I built.

IT Pro Tip - Practice Effective Communication

May 13, 2025

In my bio on Discord, I have links to No Hello and Don't Ask To Ask. Unfortunately, I can't do the same on Teams, so I have to deal with lots of inefficient text communication at work. Let's go over exactly why these pet peeves irk me so much.

The Rui Kamishiro Rant Redux

May 12, 2025

Back when I did my initial Rui rant, there was a detail that I wanted to include, but I chose to leave out. Now that I have more of the story, I feel I can revisit it.

People Can Tell When You Use AI

May 10, 2025

To be clear, I'm not anti-AI. I think it has legitimate use cases, and I think those use cases will continue to grow as the technology improves. Even if I didn't think that, I can tell that the genie is out of the bottle, and no amount of wishing or complaining is going to get it back in.

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