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https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Piplup_(Phantasmal_Flames_27)#Gallery
This Full Art illustration rare features artwork by Jiro Sasumo, winner of the 2nd Pokémon Card Game Illustration Grand Prix (you can read an interview with them (which shows of their contest-winning artwork plus a few other pieces) as well as check out their Pixiv and Twitter.
In the aforementioned interview, Sasumo says
My goal is to draw illustrations that look like portrayals of a world where Pokémon really exist. I believe that Pokémon fans enjoy imagining how Pokémon would go about their lives if they existed in our world, and I’d be happy if my illustrations could help them imagine this scenario.
That sentiment really comes through in this illustration. And also, take note of the flavor text
A poor walker, it often falls down. However, its strong pride makes it puff up its chest without a care.
Ngl I did have a bit of a fall today, but I’m gonna try to be like Piplup and keep moving forward!
I enjoyed reading that. Especially the parts where the two artist got to gush over one another’s work.
Thank you for the good post. I’m glad you’re able/trying to pick yourself up today. I’ve been trying to be more resilient too. Doin’ OK-ish.
I’ve been trying to be more resilient too. Doin’ OK-ish.
Same here—glad you’re hanging in there. I feel like I’ve made slow and steady progress on this front over the last year or so, and a big part of that has been having more of a consistent routine. That way, even if I get knocked off course a bit, the routine keeps me anchored and prevents me from spiraling downward. I actually fell out of it for a few months due to a more major event, but I’ve finally slotted back into it these past few weeks and I can really feel the difference.
The main thing I learned outside having little routines to fall back to when I need to is realizing/deciding that when I’m anxious, sad, whatever I might as well feel that way while doing the work/chores that need to be done and not let it pile up. When I’m not getting stuff done I’m not actually any happier so I started just doing the work and getting it out of the way and at least feeling psychological relief from that, which is more pleasure than I’d feel being depressed in my bed or whatever.
I would crash out. Use that as an excuse to not do anything and put stuff on the backburner. And then feel even worse.
I 100% relate to this! It’s so frustrating…when you’re doing okay, you both intellectually and emotionally understand that doing some of these more unpleasant or challenging tasks will make you feel better afterwards. But when you’re feeling down, your brain tricks you into thinking that you’re just tooooo depressed to do anything, which can lead to things piling up, resulting in a vicious cycle of anxiety inducement. And yet, if you can ignore that voice and just start doing something, anything, it can really help to pull you out of that rut, and as you say, even if it doesn’t, you’ll at least feel better than if you were rotting in bed.
Yeah, having routines or protocols listed out helps me too. The only problem I have now is just getting out of bed.
The two things that have helped me most with getting out of bed were getting smart bulbs for my room and avoiding algorithmic/infinite scroll stuff on my phone in the morning. I know, I know, IoT stuff sucks (I have mine blocked from the internet, and if you’re comfortable fiddling with self-hosted stuff you can avoid that stuff entirely), but having those lights come on gradually in the morning has meant that I both wake up easier (i.e. not super groggy out of a deep sleep) and then stay up because the lights are on full blast when my alarm goes off. The algorithmic thing is also important. The best thing is honestly just to not look at your phone and jump out of bed immediately (sometimes I will literally count down from 10 and then launch myself), but I’ve found that if I just check my YouTube sub feed and watch a quick video or two, it doesn’t get me locked into bed in the same way that scrolling through Twitter or even Hexbear does. There’s a finite amount of content, and I will never intentionally start watching a 1 hour video before I get out of bed whereas I might unthinkingly start scrolling through a feed and lose an hour in the blink of an eye.
Of course, you may face different obstacles that make these less viable or relevant, but those two things have made a huge difference for me, so I thought I’d share.
Certified Cutie Patootie
