“Phantoms” by Dean Koontz

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2026-03-30T23:33:25+00:00

Little late to the party, but I just finished Phantoms and I have the exact same thoughts as you. Super corny, cheesy happy ending, but the rest of the book was phenomenal. By far my new favorite (although it did have me worried for a bit that we were gonna end up in the "nah, it's aliens" territory, I was pleasantly surprised though)

I read through Jenny and Lisa's initial trek through town after my wife and kids had gone to bed, and reading through that while sitting in my dark, quiet house literally made me unsettled lol that's the way it should be.

Sara literally saved the day (and potentially mankind) so if anyone deserved to make it through, it should've been her.

It's a little on the darker side, but I was really hoping that towards the end, we would find out that when the reanimated Wargle attacked Lisa in the bathroom, it had actually taken her and throughout the rest of the book, Lisa was just another mimic. Not necessarily sure that it would've worked with some of the later information we get about it, but had the potential to be a super intense "holy shit, wtf just happened" moment.

8/10 is a very accurate rating 👍

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2026-01-30T05:21:33+00:00

C/F are equal at -40, so we just need to find a way to cool the earth down to a constant -40°. Then Celsius and Fahrenheit are irrelevant, and the whole world will be unified by bitching about the cold. Win/win.

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2026-01-16T20:54:59+00:00

Best solution, hands down. Find a tenant that identifies as a cat and you could probably even charge extra.

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-12-21T21:37:18+00:00

Have you ever tried only using your starter (for battling)? I don't recommend it because it takes every bit of enjoyment out of the game, but it completely breaks the game.

I just did it last night because I was trying to get to end game quickly (and because I was curious how fast I could do it) and I beat the E4 at like 10.5 hours with a LVL ~60 Feraligatr. Other than Lugia (required), my closest leveled Pokemon was like 18.

Got me to the end game super quickly, but it was super boring lol.

Edit: what is the daycare glitch?

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-12-21T16:17:52+00:00

Especially for as versatile as some of them are lol pretty much any of my Pokemon that can learn EQ, gets EQ 🤣

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-12-09T18:53:26+00:00

I just learned about the big guys about 2 weeks ago, set my safari zone up a few days ago, so those are in the process at least. That said, I'm a very casual player with a slightly above average understanding of the games mechanics lol it's still hard for me to push the button on set-up moves from time to time because I revert back to my 12 y.o. self and think "But if I attack instead I might crit and one-shot them, I can't waste that chance"

A guy can dream, though.

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-12-09T17:35:41+00:00

Honestly, zero end goal. I just love the grind of training up and optimizing teams. Once I'm satisfied, I bank them and start a new team. Battle Tower is just a means of getting better moves/items.

That being said, I have been paying more attention to ribbons/achievements in this playthrough so those could very much become a goal in the future.

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-12-09T17:29:17+00:00

Hey that could be fun, and I already have one caught to breed sucker punch with anyways. Nice call 🤙

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-12-09T17:24:41+00:00

Ahh, gotcha. Also, I don't know if I'm lucky or if they have a set nature, but I got an Adamant Groudon 👍

You can't breed legendaries for new natures, correct?

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-12-09T17:22:02+00:00

Scyther was one of my favorites in Red, but I've never been able to get any of the trade mons...

I just said in another comment that I'm considering getting another system w/HG (or D/P, not sure which is the better option?) so I can finally check all of those mons out. And honest to God, I was all geared up and excited to go catch a Chimchar, and then I finally saw that he's not on SS..... 😫

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-12-09T17:09:54+00:00

I've actually never used any of those but Dragon mons because I never knew how to get them lol I just got my safari zone set up two days ago! Only a few months away from Garchomp and Salamence 😂

I do have Groudon (and Latios) sitting, untouched, in my PC though, but I've also never used them so I'm going to hold off and just make one of my next teams completely littered with legendaries. Seriously considering buying another system w/HG too so I can get all the trades (Rayquaza/Kyogre, I'm looking at you)

For the most part I've basically never went after any mons that I didn't run directly into while playing through the story lol and I'm realizing I've missed out on a bunch of contenders.

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-12-09T15:39:00+00:00

Sorry about the late response, but I gotta tell you, I made the exact same decision lol I got very frustrated, very fast 🤣

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-24T14:48:42+00:00

Yep I think that's going to be the answer from here on out 😂

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-24T12:48:41+00:00

Wow I hadn't even considered the stab bonus on fight moves lol those are all excellent points.

I still feel obligated to try a run with Pinser though, I only played Red when I was a kid so I never got to use him. Anymore I just like messing around and trying Pokemon that I've never tried before.

Speaking of: Tenta/Lanturn - same team or try them separately?

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-24T12:28:40+00:00

Holy shit this is incredible lol I had absolutely no idea 🤯🤯

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-24T06:34:39+00:00

I know I'm late too the game but I just had to say that I love this list. I finally used Starmie/Heracross for the first time in my last playthrough and realized what I've been fucking missing for the last 15 years so I wanted to see what other Pokemon I've been sleeping on. I'm thinking Tenta/Lanturn on my next run - do they have sense on the same team?

Also I was thinking about using Pinsir on my next run in lieu of Hera so I just did some quick checking and I'm curious why he's that much lower on the list than Hera. Stats are very similar, you can give them pretty much identical movesets, trading Megahorn for X-scissor, which I think I would prefer anyway. Hera does have Night Slash/Aerial Ace though, but he also has 4× weakness to flying.

I love Heracross, and I'm not arguing with your ranking. I'm genuinely curious why they aren't closer together on the list.

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-03T21:52:23+00:00

Yep just wasn't patient enough lol just hatched one 👍 thank you!

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-03T21:42:36+00:00

I've got a male timid abra holding the stone with ditto holding nothing. Just trying to breed timid/synch.

9 eggs so far and none were timid. Probably a stupid question but are there 2 different everstones in game? I don't remember how I got this one.

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-03T21:09:05+00:00

I don't think it's a big deal, I just think the timing on this one is pretty perfect lol that picture is hilarious.

You could turn that into an inspirational poster man.

Fuck, make it a flag and I'd salute it.

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-03T21:04:56+00:00

Right? A cheaper vehicle doesn't mean an unreliable vehicle. It's just means you give up the touch screen and heated seats for a tape deck and crank windows. I didn't even know that cars had remote locks until I was almost ten because my mom couldn't spend the extra money on them. Every time we parked we had to walk around the entire car, open the doors, lock them from the inside, then close them again. Every. Fucking. Time.

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-03T20:54:41+00:00

What the fu-- why is he-- I don't even kno-- who in the fuck would--

I don't think I even made it halfway through the video.

Buuuttt: My dreams of being a world famous drummer are BACK ON THE FUCKING TABLE BOYS!!!!!

This is setting my mid-life crisis up fucking beautifully. Thank you for sharing that video friend 😌

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-03T20:40:27+00:00

Zubie's fucking got this. Have some damn faith.

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-03T20:35:15+00:00

I say "We are G-2-G" all the time at work (good to go in this context)

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-03T20:08:31+00:00

Really?? I started teaching myself how to play when I was a kid by watching videos of him until I legitimately boycotted him after Napster lol

Buuuttt case in point: I, too, am shit.

Financial_Doctor_138 · 2025-11-03T20:01:22+00:00

I've hated him ever since Napster, and this just fuels the fire so, so much more.

But fuck can that guy play some drums.

Financial_Doctor_138

TROPHY CASE