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rbbalmung · 3 years

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Pokemon SwSh GPL AU: Get to know ______ P3

It’s time for THE BOYS. My biggest conclusion from putting this together is that while Raihan enjoys pushing everyone else’s buttons, Leon is the only person that can fluster the hell out of him. Please enjoy.

Get to Know: Leon x Raihan (TrueRivalShipping)

1: Who spends almost all their money on the other? Leon. He feels like the type of person whose love language is gift giving (ex. giving Hop Wooloo and Grookey, giving Gloria Scorbunny, Yamper, and Charmander, ect.). That being said, he’s terrible at getting gifts. He can tell exactly what type of Pokemon a person would want and catch it, but presents? He once got Raihan a charmander watch made for kids without even considering it wouldn’t fit him.

2: Who sleeps in the other’s lap? Leon. They’re both tall, but Lee’s the smaller of the two.

3: Who walks around the house half-naked and who yells at them to put on some clothes? Raihan would definitely strut around just to get a reaction out of Leon. Half the time his intentions are to get him into bed, but the other half? Embarrass Leon when he’s on Rotom calls with his mum (don’t worry, he wears pants for those instances).

4: Which one tells the other not to stay up all night and which one stays up all night anyway? They’re both night owls. They stay up either playing video games or watching Netflix (or whatever the pokemon equivalent to that is). They had to invest in a bigger couch due to how often they have passed out on it. (When I say bigger couch, I definitely mean a futon. They just straight up by the closest thing they can to another bed).

5: Which one tries to make food for the other but burns it all by accident and which one tells them that it’s okay and makes them both cookies? Hop inherited their mum’s cooking skills. Since Leon spent most of his young adult life as a champion who never really had time to stay at home and cook a real meal, it is up to Raihan to provide. Lee was permanently designated to cleanup duty after nearly burning the apartment down.

6: Which one reads OTP prompts and says “Oh that’s us!” and which one goes “Eh, not really”? Leon would say,” Oh, that’s us!” and Raihan would say,” Eh, not really?” just to spite him. There is a lot of teasing and playful banter in their relationship.

7: Which one constantly wears the other’s clothes? Raihan, but only because he would literally murder Leon if he borrowed one of his designer sweatshirts. There’s also the added benefit that Lee’s clothes are a lot comfier.

8: Which one spends all day running errands and which one says “You remembered [thing], right?” Leon isn’t allowed to run errands by himself because he’d get lost, so Raihan is usually the grocery-getter. Raihan will be in the checkout line and almost always get a last minute text from Leon asking for one more item. It drives Raihan bonkers.

9: Which one drives the car and which one gives them directions? Leon is the driver, and Raihan is the “direction giver” (let’s be real, he’s more focused on what song they play next than getting them to their destination). If it’s a group road trip, neither of them are allowed in the front because they’ll just end up getting everyone lost.

10: Which one does the posing while the other one draws? Ok, so I don’t really think one of them would draw the other. They’re much more of an “active, sporty couple” than an “artsy couple”. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened, though. During one of their dates, they decided to doodle each other on their napkins to help pass the time. They were both terrible and it got really heated when the waitress chose Leon’s drawing as “slightly less worse”.

11: If they were about to rob a museum, which one does backflips through lasers and which one is strolling behind with a bag of chips? Are you kidding? They’d both try to out-do each other. Both backflippers.

12: Which one of your OTP overdoes it on the alcohol and which one makes the other stop drinking? I feel like even though Leon has more body mass than Raihan, he’d be the lightweight of the two. Both have been in the League since they were in their late teens, but Leon’s public image had a lot more specifications than Raihan’s. That meant Raihan got to go to a lot more college parties on his nights off and build up his tolerance. Leon’s public relations manager didn’t let him even look at alcohol until he stepped down as champion. He had to “set a good example for his young fans”. (Sufficed to say, Gloria quickly got a new PR manager when she filled his role).

14: Which one keeps accidentally using the other’s last name instead of their own? Raihan learned that if he used Leon’s last name, he could get special treatment. It’s an abuse of power! Especially when they’re having dinner at the Hoffman house and Raihan casually slips in that he’s planning on taking Lee’s last name once they marry. Leon’s convinced his grandparents like Raihan better than they like him at this point.

15: Which one screams about the spider and which one brings the spider outside? Raihan, though he’ll go to an early grave before admitting that. He just doesn’t want them getting webbing on his new shoes! Yeah...that’s it.

16: Which one gives the other their jacket? Leon. It was mentioned above, but Raihan has to be in a really good mood in order to let Leon borrow his stuff. It isn’t that big of a deal, thankfully: The Hoffman boys are like personal heaters.

17: Who keeps getting threatened by the other’s overprotective older sibling? Ok, ok, ok: Raihan is slightly intimidated by Hop. He just wants the best for his big bro! If that means calling Raihan out of his shit from time to time to keep him in line, so be it. Raihan can’t fight back either, because that’s his boyfriend’s little brother! One of the only things Leon gets testy over is people bullying Hop, so Raihan has to do it when he isn’t around.

18: Who’s the first one to admit they have feelings for the other? Leon. It wasn’t one of those things where they’ve always liked each other, but after being friends for so long, their feelings blossomed into something new. Lee is a big flirt and never officially came out, so Raihan just figured he didn’t mean it whenever he complimented him. Leon literally confessed to Raihan at least five time before it sank in that he was serious.

19: How good would your OTP be at parenting? I think they’d actually be pretty good! Leon helped raise Hop and he definitely has the dad act down, so adopting children would be something he’d be super interested in. Raihan may struggle a little bit at first (especially with where the line of what he could and couldn’t post on social media was), but he has a big heart. They would always be there for their kids. If Gloria and Hop are the cool parents, Leon and Raihan are the embarrassing ones. Would tease their kid lovingly.

20: Which one types with perfect grammar and which one types using numbers as letters? Leon has sent a lot of professional texts because of his former position as champion, so he’d win by default. If they’re texting each other, it is all in numbers, emojis, and abbreviations. Sonia, Piers, and Nessa hate being in group chats with them.

21: Who gets attacked by a bully and who protects them? Lee is the more protective of the two, especially when it comes to people bullying Raihan online. Raihan tries to tell him that he doesn't have to do it, but he’s secretly very flattered.

22: Who makes the bad puns and who makes a pained smile every time the other makes a pun? Leon makes the worst dad jokes in the world. Sometimes he does it just to embarrass Raihan.

23: Who comes home from work to see that the other one bought a puppy? They take turns. Raihan will catch a Hakamo-o to beat Lee’s Aegislash, only for Lee to catch an Azumarill from the Isle of Armor a week later. It’s a never ending game of trying to one up the other.

24: Which one gives the other a piggyback ride when they’re tired? Leon. He’s pretty buff, so carrying Raihan around is nothing. He usually does it without asking if his boyfriend looks tired and flusters the heck out of him.

25: Which one competes in some sort of activity and which one does the overzealous cheering? Ever since Leon left he league, he makes it a priority to go to every one of Raihan’s matches. He often dons ridiculous disguises in order to not get recognised, but he always gets recognised. There is an online forum just made up of pictures of him in different, weird attire. He might’ve even been able to slip by public notice if not for the fact that he tries to make AS MUCH NOISE AS POSSIBLE to cheer his boyfriend on.

26: Who takes a selfie when the other one falls asleep on their shoulder? Is there even a possible different answer than Raihan? The man takes selfies as a living. You better believe he has 8 different folders of pictures of Leon.

27: Which one would give the other a makeover if they asked? Raihan. Leon is so close to having style, but then he’ll throw on his signature snapback and a cape and ruin everything. You know the cape isn’t even a requirement for the champion to wear? Yeah, Lee just chose to wear it. He counts it as a small victory whenever Leon decides to buy something at one of Rai’s favourite stores.

28: Which one owns a pet that the other is absolutely terrified of? Raihan tries not to get between Leon and Charizard. It’s a similar situation to the Hop one: Charizard is Lee’s baby, which means Raihan isn’t allowed to tease them.

29: Which one holds the umbrella over both of them when it rains? Raihan, but he purposely will move the umbrella out from above Leon to get him soaked. It’s payback for all the other stuff he does.

30: If your OTP went on vacation, where would they go and what would they do? Who would take the pictures? Like Gloria and Hop, I think they’d travel to all the regions. They’d have to do it on off seasons and couldn't stay long due to their duties in Galar, but they like seeing the new types of pokemon. Once again, Rai would take millions of pictures. He has a photo album per vacation, not just vacation in general.

#GPL AU #pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon au #pokemon swsh #swsh #swsh leon #pokemon leon #champion leon #swsh raihan #pokemon raihan #gym leader raihan #leon x raihan #truerivalshipping #The banter between these two would be unbeatable #half the time people aren't sure if they even like each other #best boyfriends ever

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miraculouscontent · 3 years

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Askplosion #11:

(note that I know I mentioned a “Voiced Askplosion” last time in the tags for anyone who put a 🎤 in their ask, meaning they wanted to hear me respond verbally to it, but I only got one and it wasn’t anything serious - just a tease from someone I know - so I either won’t be doing it at all or will be holding off)

Asks responding to previous posts:

ALYA NO!!!

(the idea of Sabrina avoiding not only Ms. Mendeleiev, but also Alya, is very amusing to me)

The fact that the special focuses on the love square instead of Sabrina and Delmar is a crime.

(also note that “Need some help?” is rhetorical in this context; Alya doesn’t care)

Highly recommended, honestly, otherwise it just turns into a big shame because there are shows I really like but with some content that I don’t like, and why torture myself with it when I can cut it out instead?

Just to give a rough idea, here’s my cut of “Desperada”; mind you, this is just my quick cut of it (basically a “beta” version where I just removed everything I disliked without much care for transitioning/having everything make sense; some of Marinette’s friends talking, the guitar scene, Aspik, etcetera), as I’m not comfortable handing over my “perfect” cut of it since it’s like my personal copy.

Yeah, that’s a super awkward scene. As much as I’d like to imagine that Adrien just doesn’t understand the “guy time” thing (which I still hate), the fact that they use the word “guy” specifically is--ugh.

I wasn’t aware of what he said in the French dub, so thanks! It’s really painful to see her throw so much love his way, openly and publicly and obviously, then be so humiliated for it, only for Adrien to feel nothing for her.

Say whatever you want about Chat Noir’s advances and how sAAAAAAD he is when she rejects him, but her rejections are just that; in private. There aren’t other heroes who are around and Chat is never really humiliated. Even in “Prime Queen,” Chat wasn’t the target - Ladybug was, and then Ladybug shifted it to Nadja - so Marinette is the one taking all the heat in love while Chat gets to sit on the sidelines (plus, then “Oblivio” happened and now people probably all thing they’re a thing).

Yeah! That’s the group I was thinking of!

Thank you!

I’m so sorry that happened. ;—;

I’m not aro but I am ace and I’ve gotten the whole, “oh it’s just because--” stuff before, so I know what it feels like to have people put on the pressure/invalidate you.

YES.

IT’S GORGEOUS.

I’m not really familiar with how holidays are celebrated outside of the bare basics of Christmas/New Year (which I am trying my hardest to forget lol), so I couldn’t say.

Sorry!

New Asks:

10/10 thought, would fantasize again.

Though would also accept MC Audrey just doing some “spring cleaning” of the whole staff in general. I have no idea how she’d replace Jeremy since he’s the company’s poster boy but most of the writers have to go at the very least and Jeremy should be given less power.

I think MC Audrey would appreciate how Kagami carries herself, though potential bonus if - while Tom and Sabine just openly trust whatever Marinette wants - Audrey does a bunch of digging to make sure Kagami is “worthy” of being with Marinette (she takes this all very seriously).

Double potential bonus if Kagami takes it just as seriously, so here’s Audrey and Kagami acting as if Kagami dating Marinette is like some sort of job interview.

Kagami handing over a “resume” of her accomplishments to Audrey. Audrey has already looked all of it up herself but appreciates the effort put in.

If the question in Miraculous is, “Do we really need a--” and the thing being introduced is something the staff came up with then the answer is usually “no.”

The movie will look pretty and that’s all I’ll expect. It’s just Jeremy’s take on Miraculous. Luka and Kagami probably won’t even be around so I’m not even interested.

I’ll watch it, but I’m also not interested lol.

Honestly, I’d rather turn into bubble froth.

oddly specific but... I mean, damn

I have no idea, and I try not to throw around words like “spite ship” because I know people could genuinely like the ship, though I will say that I went on AO3 and - unless I read from - the first Maribat fanfiction on there was posted after the airdate of “Chameleon.” I think it might’ve started with inspiration from “Marinette moves schools” ideas at the very least.

Non-Miraculous Asks responding to previous posts:

Oh, I understood, no worries! It was just funny for the split second it took me to figure it out.

My bad, that’s not how I meant to come off (especially since “magical girl shows” is a little broad; I mean, obviously I don’t think something like Cardcaptor Sakura is aiming for fanservice when Sakura’s--like... ten). I answered all those asks in the last askplosion in the same day so my brain was a little fried by the time I got to that ask.

I’m not even talking about Sailor Moon either; it’s just that I knew there are shows with fanservice and there are certain magical girl outfits where I kind of give the side-eye.

Absolutely zero problem with girls fighting in pretty outfits though. I fully admit that I’m a bit of a prude so sometimes I see fanservice where there might not be any. Super short skirts without shorts, for example, inherently throw me off (shout-out to Saint Tail - which I discovered while looking up “pretty magical girl outfits” - because the main character does have a skirt in “magical girl” form but also tights/boots and a cute hat, which is one of the more unique ones I’ve seen).

Non-Miraculous Asks:

Do you mean Sailor Moon Crystal? Yeah, the only reason I hesitate on Sailor Moon in general is because I’m not crazy about the transformed designs. It’s not really a matter of animation but more a design choice that takes me out of the experience.

I have seen all of Cardcaptor Sakura anime though, and then all of the Clear Card arc. I like the former, despise the latter, and I tried to keep up with the manga but once one of the big plot details were revealed, I officially dropped it.

As for Revolutionary Girl Utena, I looked it up a while ago and don’t remember what exactly turned me away. It might’ve been the darker tone though if what you say is accurate that it’s a darker take on a magical girl show.

Also, I may or may not have looked up the ending of at least Princess Tutu and I’m sorry, I’m sure it’s a great anime, but if there isn’t a happy ending then I give whatever anime a hard pass.

(note: yes, I realize the hilarity of saying that when I continue watching Miraculous)

(More Madoka Magica talk/salt below!)

Ohhh, it started a trend? I had no idea since I don’t actively keep up with every anime out there; descriptions need to really pull me in (the only current anime I’m keeping up with is Hanyou no Yashahime, Otherside Picnic, and Cells at Work (Season 2)).

The focus on specific--uh--body parts in magical girl transformations also reminds me that I think that’s usually what kills it for me, not because of the sexualization but because I expect transformations (especially ones that get repeated over and over) to be really dynamic with changing angles and such, which is harder to do when the camera is trying to draw focus to specific places.

Obviously you have to do it for some moments (I’ve always imagined Miraculous transformations like a potential sheep or another one for rabbit, then rabbit!Jean from Leave for Mendeleiev and fox!Juleka from LadyBugOut) because things will be weird if you focus on nothing, but I think there are ways to draw the eye without trying to sexualize.

Not having Ladybug-esque bodysuits is a good start. It reminds me too much of the Catwoman with just a bodysuit so it leaves nothing to the imagination.

How did I forget about that Sayaka scene? omg (though I dunno if the Bechdel Test is hard to pass if there aren’t really any endgame male love interests? are there rules about that? not saying a pass isn’t a pass but it feels like cheating)

It is nice when fans can respect the opinions of others without having to outright attack. I have had a few people come to me with, “I see your point/respect it even if I disagree,” instead of accusing me/others of--well, you get it.

Fandoms can be really messy, particularly as they get larger. I think there’s a certain balance between small fandoms that all know each other and a big fandom that’s out of control. Then there are things like “loud minority” and it’s just uggggh.

Anyway, back to the asks themselves, yeah, I’m not crazy about taking things that are just meant to be positive/cute/whatever and being like, “OKAY BUT WHAT IF IT WAS EDGY AND SAD.”

n o , p l z

Oh, I’ve never heard of that one!

Sayaka dying didn’t really do anything for me either. It’s hard to explain when I saw it so long ago, but it was just Sayaka’s attitude about the whole thing and it made it feel underwhelming. It was a shame too because I liked her and she had potential.

She was Madoka’s friend so I was just like, “Yeah, she’ll die soon.” Probably didn’t help since I knew what I knew about the show being “dark.”

Madoka/Sayaka is probably what I’d support the most out of all the potential shoujo ai ships. To my knowledge, none of them are really canon, though I remember a special song after the death Sayaka and Kyoko which I guess makes them the most canon and that did basically nothing for me since their relationship didn’t interest me (nor did I care for Kyoko as a character). The PSP game might have more intimate potential between the girls, but I never played them so I can’t make those claims (I only remember something about everyone potentially living and then a bad ending for Sayaka where part of her body was decayed when they didn’t get her soul gem back in time).

The tomboy argument makes me think back to a conversation with a friend of mine where we were discussing tomboys in anime and... we couldn’t really think of any? At least any that really qualify as “tomboy” for me.

Like, Misty from Pokemon, for example. I knoooooow everyone really likes Misty, but regardless of my opinion on her, it’s hard to see her as a tomboy.

I feel like they try to lean that way by making her super aggressive and violent (because... m E N) and I think Ash makes a comment once about her not being “like a girl,” but... I feel like that’s just how general “aggressive” female characters are written?

I mean, that’s tsundere female characters I’ve seen in general. Really loud (and not in a “gIrlS aRe sO lOuD aND ScReEcHY” way but like... the way anime gives them big heads while they scream at whatever male character they’re mad at), angry a lot, short fuse, etcetera.

But Misty is still crazy about clothes and dolls, she still gushes about cute things and romance, and both of those things seem pretty indicative of what “standard girl character” would be defined by, since they’re all “stereotypically girl thing” (I say stereotypically for obvious reasons since boys can like blah and girls can like blah and gender exclusivity is blah--). I get that she dresses differently, but that’s about it, and it comes off like, “she dresses differently and she’s ANGRY and VIOLENT, so she’s a tomboy,” which... yeah. They even gave her three beauty queen sisters with CURVES and BUSTS as if to say, “See?? These are GIRLS, not TOMBOYS.” (busty females can exist who are also tomboys, thank you have a nice day).

This becomes more complicated in magical girl anime since girly clothes are usually part of that so “tomboy” means that frills and skirts probably wouldn’t be a factor.

I mean, if you gave those sorts of outfits to me, I’d be like, “SCREW IT, I’M NOT A MAGICAL GIRL ANYMORE. IF LOOKING PRETTY IS REDUCED TO SKIRTS AND FRILLS, SOMEONE ELSE CAN SAVE THE WORLD.”

I’d also like to see some mixes between personalites and “tomboy” things. Like, non-stereotypical tomboy personalities doing tomboy things. Mix and match, y’know?

This was really rambly, but to answer the question... no, I wouldn’t count Sayaka as a tomboy.

All of this.

I think it also exemplifies the whole “dark and edgy magical girl show” thing because... ugh, how do I put this...

The “girls are overly emotional” thing is already bad, but then you realize that there not being any magical boys is also because that doesn’t hit the “shock value” threshold as much.

Y’know, because boys equal dark and edgy shows, so if there was even one magical boy it wouldn’t be as shocking when Mami gets her head chomped. They could’ve done, “emotional teenagers are the target because they’re in that vulnerable stage; smarter and more physically capable than children, but not as mature/stable as adults,” but having some boys in there for balance (it makes me feel weird saying that when I’m all for girl power shows with an all female cast, but in this show’s logic, it’s a different ball game) would make the show seem less bright and “girly” and thus lessen the shock value.

Does that make sense?

#((Aspies who also deal with Winter Blues or Seasonal Affective Disorder))#((how do you do iiiiiit))#((my usual methods aren't working and I'm constantly sluggiiiish))#category: trash #special: Miraculous New York #MC's Art #art: single picture #relationship: alya cesaire & sabrina raincomprix #category: salt #episode: Party Crasher #relationship: love square #relationship: adrien agreste & marinette dupain cheng #MC: Audrey Bourgeois #relationship: kagami tsurugi & marinette dupain cheng #character: marinette dupain cheng #other: non ml talk

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 3 years

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You say the story of Rescue Team frustrates you? How come?

Rant ahead. Rant ahead about a game I unironically love, but I spend far too much time overthinking the plot of, hence my grievances.

Maybe I just held it to unfair standards on account of playing it for the first time after Explorers of Sky. Which is easily the greatest pokemon game ever made, accept no substitutes. Nah, Rescue Team DX is addicting, the music is incredible as always in these games, and the gameplay has been massively overhauled and made far superior to the original, which while fun, was pretty buggy. And the game does have some pretty cool characters, too. Like...whatever I may yell to the heavens about Albus Dumbledore from HP, make no mistake that he’s an exceptional and three-dimensional character. Same goes for Snape. And that applies to this game as well.

The main reason this game’s story irritates me comes down to Gengar and Alakazam. Again, they’re very well written characters...but I hate them. I despise both of them. I don’t know what it is, but Alakazam rubbed me the wrong way right from the start. Him and his whole team are so self-important, so arrogant. They condescend the MC and act like they’re the ruling body of the town square. Alakazam goes around telling people that he knows everything. That’s a god complex if you ask me. At several points, the characters make decisions based on the assumption that he is stronger than the MC, which you as a player never get to challenge. (Think of Leon from Sword/Shield, but a million times worse.) The Partner character is so in awe of them, so enamored by them. Yet behind MC’s back, Alakazam knows (or suspects) them to be the human of legend and doesn’t tell them “for their sake.” Which gives me strong Nozomi (SMT IV: Apocalypse) vibes, since later on he ignores all responsibility for having been "complicit" with the MC's secret.

The Fugitive Arc doesn't make any damn sense. First of all, Xatu claims that the disasters, all of the trouble, are being caused by the Human from the Ninetales Legend. Ninetales later debunks this. When I first played this game, I legitimately thought Xatu would wind up being some kind of secret villain, that he had lied, and that the Fugitive Arc was all started by him. This doesn't wind up being true, and we never get an answer for why he thought the Human of Legend was responsible for the state of affairs, nor did anyone question his being wrong or acknowledge his role in all this. But the one who really started everything was Gengar. He doesn't really annoy me until the Post-Game (I'll get to that) but everyone else's reactions to Gengar's story bother me. He is a known liar, a known trouble-maker who no one likes. It's well known that he has a vendetta against the MC. He has no proof whatsoever of his allegations. And everyone just buys it, despite MC now having a great reputation, because...I guess MC didn't actively deny it? Which the player was given no agency in? And it doesn't stop the accusation from being ridiculous?

Enter Alakazam. Apparently, everyone held a town meeting that must have taken all of ten seconds, to decide what to do about MC. They held this meeting without MC or the Partner present, because having them there would make too much sense I guess. Team A.C.T. prepares to...I guess kill MC? As well as the Partner, even though they're completely innocent. Before Alakazam hesitates and decides to give the MC a day to run away. Hold on, if he is so convinced that MC has to die to save the world, how do he justify letting them go? I guess the same way he justifies how he "knew" MC was the human of legend this whole time and said nothing about it? He bids MC to run, and throughout the entire Fugitive Arc, his team is the looming threat. Which was quite frustrating for me, already a Diamond Rank and probably higher leveled than Team A.C.T, because I would have been happy to settle things with Alakazam right then and there. It is beyond frustrating that the story denies me this chance. Not to mention, half of the town shows up to say goodbye when MC and the Partner take off. Like...okay, at least half of the town believes in MC. How in the hell is this even happening? Why do we have to flee when so many characters are on our side? When there's no proof? Why is Alakazam's word just considered law? If he “knows everything” how come he doesn’t know that Gengar is human as well, if he could sense MC’s humanity?

You don't know how badly I wish there was a fight with Team A.C.T. when all was said and done. And the game could have done it, too! Just have it take place at the top of the Mt. Freeze, before Ninetales shows up. They have a skirmish that takes place in a cutscene, but even in the remake - there's no boss battle. Why not? It's not like this dungeon has a boss battle otherwise. Wouldn't it have been a fitting conclusion to this arc? Maybe I'm biased, maybe I just think it would have been cathartic to kick Alakazam's ass, to make him put his money where his mouth is...because again, the arrogance. He demands Ninetales tell him what happened, and that "depending on your answer, I may be forced to eliminate MC" Ah, slow your roll there, buddy. Ninetales already broke up the fight and made it clear that it's not going to happen. You're a guest in their domain. On top of that, Team A.C.T. basically forbids you from going to Magma Cavern to challenge Groudon. As if you haven't just proven yourself capable of braving dangerous dungeons. As if, after they chased you halfway around the world and were proven completely wrong, they have any right to talk down to you or tell you what to do. Again, I so, so wish we could have fought them and taught them a lesson.

In general, this is a consistent thing with the other characters, following the Fugitive Arc. Everyone focuses on how happy MC and the Partner must be to have their names cleared, (Again, the Partner was accused of nothing. Like, literally nothing.) and no one stops to address that everyone in the Town Square should be falling to their knees and begging our forgiveness for what they put us through. Several of them tried to kill us. Upon returning to the Town Square, Gengar acts like MC is turning them-self in because they don't have any proof, even though he never had any proof to begin with, and it's only after MC is "cleared" by Team A.C.T. that everyone remembers that Gengar is untrustworthy. Reading the words "under the watchful eye of Alakazam" has always made me extremely salty. I don't have much to say about the Mankey brothers but they irritated me as well. Maybe I was just out of patience after the Fugitive Arc but I found myself wondering why we appeased them at all. Initially, we give them the chestnuts because they attack us if we don't. No matter how many times we beat them, they keep attacking if they're told no. I realize it's a staple in Pokemon games to have false yes/no choices, but those are especially noticeable in the games that focus on story. And sometimes the excuses are just pathetic. Meanwhile, the other pokemon continue to treat you as rookies, as kids. You are once again "forbidden" by...um, the other townsfolk, from going on the Rescue Mission until you talk them into it. It's like...guys. You put us through hell. We could have died a dozen times over, because you bought into the mob mentality for no good reason. How does everything just go back to normal after that?

I don't mind Gengar at first. He's a villain, and a well-written one. He's got a clear personality and there's hidden depth in there as well. He's one of my favorite characters in the game, easily. And all of the stuff he does in the main story? Stealing the mail, manipulating Caterpie, and the stuff during the Fugitive Arc? That weird psychedelic sequence where he's dragging MC down to hell at the end? (Or whatever that was?) All fine by me. He's a villain. He's doing bad things. But sweet Arceus is Gengar annoying in the Post-Game. I wonder if this must be how Merula Snyde Antis feel, over in the HPHM Fandom. Because the MC has absolutely no motivation or reason to help him out. He just demands that they act as his bodyguard, offers nothing in return, and won't leave you alone until you say yes. Buddy, my team has like thirty pokemon at this point and they're all hanging out in the Friend Areas a few feet away. You think you can intimidate me? The only reason I'm helping is to progress the storyline. And throughout this entire storyline, you have to help Gengar even though he hasn't earned it.

He does not deserve forgiveness, or a reconciliation with Gardevoir. What if I don't want to help him because I don't think Gardevoir would want to see him? What if I think that it would do her no good to see him? He's unrepentant and awful, the story does the bare minimum to suggest that he's changed. Now I will admit one thing: I love the moment that Ninetales first appears, sees Gengar, and simply goes "...What do you want." Like. Like that was the moment that I put it together, before he went on to tell the rest of the story. I love simple moments that make the big reveal crystal clear without needing to directly tell or show the audience. I've always dug that. But everything that happens after that is frustrating. Gengar demands the curse be lifted, despite having no justification to offer Ninetales. He threatens to attack them, but then clarifies that MC will be the one doing the fighting. Excuse me? Why would I ever do that? MC just found out the truth about Gengar, what he did to Gardevoir, and then how he pinned it all on them during the fugitive arc. Gengar, why would I attack Ninetales after this, instead of attacking you? Tell me I don't initiate battle against you right now? Thankfully MC doesn't have to actually fight Ninetales, but they are still forced to testify at Gengar's "trial" and it's a forgone conclusion because no matter what answers you give, it's treated as MC acknowledging his growth and he is forgiven at the end.

Oh, I’ve just thought of something else. MC isn’t given a reason for why they have to leave the Pokemon world, or why they were able to return. Explorers gave a reason. Gates to Infinity and Super Mystery Dungeon made a whole post-game story out of their reasons. Here? We get nothing. MC’s “role” has finished and so they have to return to the human world. Never mind what they want. Not until after the dramatic moment where they have to leave has passed, anyway. That voice at the end who suggests that we may be able to see our partner again just by “wishing.” Who the hell was that? What did they mean? Look, by Pokemon standards, the Rescue Team story is quite substantial. By Pokemon Mystery Dungeon standards? It’s...probably the weakest story. I mean, to be fair, Super Mystery Dungeon had the endless schoolhouse arc that added up to nothing in the second act. But hell, that was still fun. And I suppose the Fugitive Arc and Gengar’s “redemption” were fun too. Just frustrating as well.

#Pokemon #Pokemon Mystery Dungeon #Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX #pokemon mystery dungeon rescu #Team A.C.T.#Pokemon Team A.C.T.#Pokemon Games

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theouijagirl · 4 years

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Hey Tumblr. It’s been a while.

It’s not you, it’s me. Lately I’ve had to shelve quite a few things in my life, and Tumblr wound up being one of them. I’m really sorry if any of you became extremely worried or distressed at my sudden absence. I didn’t intend to be gone for so long.

I should start off by saying: I’m fine. The cat is fine, my house is fine, etc. Everything is okay; nothing is wrong. There’s nothing to worry about.

Honestly the only thing that has gone wrong lately has been the fact that a new virus evolved that is extremely deadly, and my government has decided that it would rather wish it would go away than try to do anything to stop it or prevent people from dying. My job was an indoor facility that mainly involves active play for families and manly profits from birthday parties, so obviously my building closed with no knowledge of when it would open. And toward the end of August, I got an email from my CEO saying that she decided she would not be reopening my building.

At first I felt okay, because the worry and the wondering was over, and now it was a sense of excitement of a new chapter of my life starting, and wondering what new people I would meet at my new job. And truly, I have met some incredibly wonderful people at the places I work (two part-time jobs, so I can still be full time) and I feel more like I’m really becoming the professional person I want to be at my jobs. On the other hand, the sense of grief at losing my job that I’ve had for five years has really hit me hard during October. My coworkers really were some of my dearest friends, most of whom I haven’t seen since March. Some of them have had babies, and I don’t know when I can see them. We had Halloween traditions which involved Costco pizza and lots of candy, and it physically hurts to know it won’t happen this year and that last year was the last time and we didn’t even know it. It aches to know I’ll never again walk into my old office. It hurts to throw out my old employee shirts. It truly has felt like a death to me and I really have needed to take some time to process it.

But really, Good News Number 1 is that I am working full time again, which doesn’t allow me as much time on this blog. I was at my desk at my old job, in which I could totally go on Tumblr whenever I wanted, and there’s no way I can do that at my jobs now. Also, Good News Number 2 is that I have new health insurance and I have the best team of doctors I’ve ever had in my life, and they’ve put me on some incredible medications to manage my depression and migraines. For the first time in my life, I’m not depressed every day. We are still working on the migraines, but I don’t have a headache all day every day. However, I still have the fatigue from having chronic pain, and I’m dealing with some pretty severe side effects, so when I come home from my jobs I go to bed.

Good News Number 3 is that my ASMR YouTube channel has given me more joy than I have ever expected. I actually really delight in making a schedule, filming, editing, and posting, and of course checking and replying to comments. It feels incredibly rewarding. I’ve been meditating on why it feels so different from any other hobby I’ve had, and I’ve come to realize that all my other hobbies are basically “Put money into the thing to make yourself feel good.” So I’ve tried distancing myself from any of my hobbies that encourage spending, such as video games and Kpop. I haven’t watched anything on a paid streaming service. I’ve been limiting my time on Pokemon GO, only because their Halloween event right now is actually good, compared to other years, but I’m not doing any activity that is made easier by purchasing items. And everything just feels more freeing, like there’s suddenly a weight off my shoulders that I didn’t even know was there. I allow little things here and there, like I’ll listen to a new Kpop release when it comes out, but not stream it, and the new Sims pack looks amazing so I’ll have to play for a bit once it comes out (and the only game I’ve allowed myself is Among Us, but really only because of the social aspect). But just having my hobby be something I create that people around the world can relax and enjoy and learn from, since it’s an educational channel, feels so incredibly rewarding. It feels better than working on my Animal Crossing town, or learning a Kpop dance. It’s my favorite thing out of all the Good News.

And now there’s this Tumblr. I always do a big blog post project in October. I started it early in October. I kind of hated it. But I didn’t have any other big ideas for what to do. And I mostly felt uninspired for two reasons. 1) Even though I made a post asking people not to do this, a majority of my asks was still people asking my opinions on Shannen Doherty and Keke Palmer. For the record, I literally have no opinions on these women, so please stop asking. 2) Even though we really don’t want to admit it, Tumblr is dying. It’s nothing like it was before, and it’s easily not even in the top 5 social media sites these days. Like, what’s the point of doing a big series on a social media site that nobody uses? And this isn’t toward my solid fan base, but my solid fan base is like a couple hundred people. I used to get the “wow, I just found your blog!” Anon once a week, now I’m lucky if I get one every few months. Our community just isn’t using Tumblr like we used to. Now, it seems like TikTok is the way to go. And I just don’t want to use TikTok. I’m a writer. I just figured out how to use YouTube, and even then, I don’t like the TikTok format style of video. Like, it’s great, but it’s not the format that I feel creative with. So I just feel stuck. And it makes me not want to write on this blog, honestly.

Of course I’ll still answer questions, I always will. I don’t think I’ll ever quit this blog. And of course, if you send me an ask or message that is life or death, I’ll respond the second I see it. But I really don’t know what the future of this blog is going to be anymore.

As for the spooks, that’s never going away either. If you don’t feel that energy outside at night right now then are you even human. It’s tangible. Not to mention, when I was filming an ASMR video about spooky places and was talking about Salem, and mentioned the name of the first young girl to be hanged, I felt a cold hand run down my right hand and arm, and my room was very warm considering I close all the windows while filming and have a warm cat in my lap.

Regardless, it’s gonna be a good Halloween.

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radramblog · 3 years

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Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is basically OK

Recently, I’ve partaken in some kind of cultural exchange with a friend of mine- namely, I’ve lent her my copies of the Scott Pilgrim novels (god do they kick ass), and she’s lent me her copy of Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, seeing as I never played it at the time.

Well I’ve now beaten this game, and I have some thoughts about it, so chop chop Keara the story isn’t getting any younger I expect a full book report on my desk next Sunday.

Jokes aside, this was my first experience with a PMD game since Sky (discounting the demo for Gates to Infinity), and having missed the series’s third entry (fourth if you count those Japan-only WiiWare games), it’d be remiss of me not to at least mention that maybe some of the things I’m going to complain about were originally that game’s fault. But apparently that one actively sucks ass so who cares, just shift the blame over, eh?

(ah, primary-school-tier bullying, exactly what I want in my Pokemon game, cool)

I think one of the foremost issues people have about PSMD is the story, and I can’t help but agree. The game spends what feels like forever fucking about in Serene Village, doing what could charitably described as tutorial followed by slice-of-life-ish plots, and while I love me a good slice-of-life anime, those tend to be a lot less slow than this. Also the characters tend to be a lot less one-note, but it’s a kids game, so whatever. Speaking of kids, this to my knowledge is the only PMD game where you and your partner character are canonically children, and spend a lot of time around others. The game seems to establish unevolved Pokemon as kids, which while it doesn’t really add up with the rest of the series (e.g. in the first ones, Caterpie is clearly a child, but Metapod is as well and Gulpin is at least adult enough to run their own store), it would ultimately be excusable if it didn’t make that huge section of the game so boring.

They aren’t consistent with that kids thing, by the way. When you finally reach the Expedition society, you’re met with a bunch of unevolved Pokemon (Archen, Buizel, Bunnelby, Swirlix) that are running around behaving very youthfully, who then turn around and go hey we don’t allow kids in our gang please leave. Like, the plot had been leading me to believe that the whole place was shut down, Ampharos as its final member, and those kids were just running around an abandoned building, but nope, here are your teammates for the rest of the game.

(brown sus)

The remainder of the plot is basically fine, its not like the plots in this series are the greatest on the planet (save maybe Explorers), though the focus on the villains turning people into stone felt pretty awkward. It’s like they wanted to pull off a more dramatic, more personal-stakesy plot but couldn’t actually kill anyone. This gets kind of egregious when you end up in actual hell for a bit, in what I guess is the series tradition of potentially traumatic experiences and blasted hellscapes being exposed to the protagonists. The endgame plot all seems to come at you at once, not helped by it being lots of chained dungeons without returning to towns beforehand- it wouldn’t be as bad if the whole game was like this, but with such a slow start, it just feels so inconsistent. The endgame twist was pretty spicy, I’ll admit, but it didn’t have enough buildup to feel earned in my honest opinion.

(pictured: the best character in the game)

But the plot doesn’t matter so much as the gameplay does it? And as someone who has also concurrently been playing through the first Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game on my GBA, there’s a lot of interesting comparisons to make. The dungeons on the whole are shorter in PSMD, with few of the main-game ones reaching beyond 10 floors (and not going much past it) compared to the prequels’ capping off with a 25+5 floor behemoth in Sky Tower. This is made up for by every floor of the dungeons in PSMD feeling much larger and more labyrinthine than anything in other PMD games, meaning each one takes much longer than you’d think. I dread to imagine what the 99-floor dungeons are like in this game, especially considering you now need an item to quicksave the game if you want to do anything else now. The dungeons themselves additionally really do not feel like they’ve taken advantage of the 9 years of potential design improvements and two console generations of technology improvements between games- it is frustratingly same-old same-old in the dungeon design.

These problems are capped off with the increased difficulty- that is, that every individual Pokemon is significantly more of a threat to you than in previous games, and you don’t really get the opportunity to level grind much. And I’m not opposed to difficulty in games, obviously, but what it does in PSMD is ruin the flow of the gameplay for me. What works in Mystery Dungeons previous was that blend of exploration and combat, and in Super, that gets completely broken up by protracted encounters with even the chump-tier mons you encounter along the way. Also, they made the basic attack complete shit, and I don’t like that.

That’s not to say that the gameplay is all bad. I won’t comment too heavily on the Looplet/Emera system, because I’m kinda mid on it, but it didn’t help that despite all the game’s tutorialising I still didn’t get part of it until most of the way through the story. The game does have some moments of genuine brilliance in design, though. The way you recruit more Pokemon is so much better than the luck-based mission of the previous games, wihle managing to actually make you want to go on the random missions you get thrown throughout the game- for one thing they aren’t random, but it means you have a guaranteed good reward instead of the semi-RNG system where you just end up with a bunch of Gravelerocks and berries you’ll never use. In addition, the system where on non-plot days (and in the postgame) you just get 3 random Pokemon recommended to you, that get bonus EXP if you use them that day, is a great way of encouraging the player to diversify their Pokemon usage substantially, which is nice.

There’s a few other nice gameplay things I’d like to highlight. Considering the increased difficulty, the ability to rescue yourself (read: come back with the overpowered mons the game dropped in your lap) is really nice, especially since it’s not like anyone else is playing these games who can help. The way moves get better the more you use them is nice, especially considering how much more you use one move over and over in this game compared to main series Pokemon games. The random bonus missions and travelling mons you encounter in dungeons are nice, as well as the increased variety in missions available- as well as actually being able to revive fallen escortees, it makes the mission system overall much stronger than in previous entries.

Beyond that, though, I’m not sure what else I have to say about Super Mystery Dungeon. The game is a decent entry in what can barely be called a franchise these days, considering it’s 6 years old and yet still the newest entry, excluding the remake of the first ones that came out last year. It’d be a shame if this was the note we went out on for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, but to be fair, I don’t think they’re ever going to be able to recapture the magic of the first two games. They struck gold with a lot of people, but I guess at this point, the gleam wore off.

#ramble #video games #pokemon #psmd #pokemon mystery dungeon

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heartsawaken · 3 years

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beneath the cut you will find headcanons that have collected in my mind lately of my muse , miles oh , a twenty - three year old social media influencer and youtuber who is a part of sky house . ( tagging @ofblueflames so she can read all about him tomorrow c: )

✶ he does not drink soda . a majority of his caffeine intake is from fruit based black teas . any energy drink he’s ever seen drinking is either because of sponsorship with the company ( and honestly he doesn’t really even drink them . they just are props ) or because he really fucked up and is pulling an all-nighter or two in order to catch up on any film editing he needs to finish . but in general he isn’t the biggest fan of the carbonation .

✶ has a cup of tea every night at around 8pm , a habit he picked up from his grandparents during the short amount of time he lived with them before moving into the sky house . normally makes his tea and curls up on the couch with a book and reads for about half an hour or however long it takes to finish the cup .

✶ prefers working alongside family owned and/or small businesses when it comes to promoting and sponsoring their products . while he has no issue asking for big bucks from big corporations he normally just asks if he can have one or two outfits / a three course meal / etc on the house to advertise and if they don’t see an influx on their customer base from the posts he’s made using those free items offered than he’ll pay them x - amount of times the costs for not only receiving free things but also for not being able to keep his word . ( he’s never had to do that . but he’s given money to them anyways . )

✶ recently bought a cockatiel who he named r2 because he plans on teaching him how to make all the noises that r2d2 does from star wars .

✶ claims that he doesn’t like k - pop groups that much but could probably not only name , but do the dance ( at least the chorus ) of any group . honestly he just has too much time on his hands . . . and by that i mean he hates editing and will find any way to put it off . if you want to hear to his top 25 , you can click [ this link ] and it’ll take you to a spotify playlist for him :]

✶ two main games he plays are animal crossing new horizons and minecraft . he did one time do a pokemon sun nuzlocke video though . his youtube channel is most viewed for his true crime ( much like the crime junkies podcast ) cooking series and conspiracy mukbangs . while of course he would never admit it to anybody outside of sky house , his cooking series is done while he is high and honestly devolves usually into him giving his own theories on what happened and who did it while eating the uncooked or half - finished meals .

✶ the house has a douchebag jar for him because he doesn’t really think about what he says before saying it and whoever has faced the brunt of his words most at the end of the month gets the contents as retribution .

✶ played among us for all of like a day before getting so frustrated he flung his phone across his room and put a hole in the wall , cracking its screen because he kept fat fingering the report button as imposter and outing himself .

✶ his body temperature runs high for the average person so he gets hot very easily .

✶ when he’s driving it is his own personal rule that he must play fergilicious at the highest acceptable volume and sing it word for word . that or my humps .

✶ is one of the oldest in the group but acts like one of the youngest . he can flip older brother / dad mode on really quickly though , just like he can go from being drunk to drunk but seemingly sober need the situation arose .

✶ was involved in a lot of fights at school growing up both on and off campus . he doesn’t like doing it anymore but has no problem throwing punches if someone is actively threatening , swinging at the younger members of sky hose , or because they swung first . he’s pretty calm in those situations when sober but it’s when he’s been drinking that it really comes out .

✶ hates beer and wine , hard liquor only . occasionally will drink wine at any fancy restaurants he goes to or just orders the most expensive whiskey on the rocks .

✶ loves sharks and definitely owns two of the almost two foot long shark plushies from ikea . originally only left with one but went back for another because ‘ he needed a friend . ‘ both are on his bed and he actually sleeps with them .

✶ the wall that his bed is against has a bunch of sharpie drawings and writing on it from nights where he can’t sleep and needs to get his thoughts out so he can go to sleep . it helps him fall asleep and some of his most honest highkey sad admissions and thoughts are on that wall .

✶ talented artist who makes some pretty gorgeous scenery paintings . can draw realistic people , but tends to draw little chibi - esque sketches ( think anelderlymeme on tiktok ? ) and makes little comic skits and pages . he is self - taught and picked painting and drawing up as a hobby when he was seven .

✶ dreads any family visits because it means sitting through a dinner of being constantly berated and spoken poorly about because he’s not as successful or as intelligent ( seemingly ) as his younger sister and for the fact that he “ doesn’t have a real job “ .

✶ attending the university of seoul on a business major in marketing and advertising . his grandparents know , and a few members of sky house but it isn’t something he talks about regularly because he hates school talk and avoids it at all costs .

✶ tough talk for someone who is actually extremely sensitive , though he will never let people see just how much their words actually upset him . he’ll wait until he’s alone and / or the adrenaline has passed to cry over it .

✶ his main causes of crying is homesickness and online hate . he wants to go home so badly , even if it’s just to visit but doesn’t want to deal with his family . it’s just not worth it in the long run . he also takes a lot of online hate to heart even though he knows that its from people who don’t know him and have any right speaking so poorly of him .

✶ avid reader of pretty much everything . the bookshelf in his room is filled completely with books , and there are even books he recently bought and are waiting to be read sitting on top of it .

✶ absolutely loves snow . he will spend hours outside until his nose is red as can be , his fingers and toes are numb and his clothes are soaked through . he loves the cold in general since he’s often so warm .

✶ loves to cuddle and tends to sleep better if he’s hugging something or somebody , the latter will put him to sleep almost immediately .

✶ almost every time he and his brother are together it ends up in a physical altercation . his brother likes to dig his fingers into every single wound that miles has about himself and his family and his parents allow it , but every time miles throws a punch or tackles his brother to the ground are surprised . it takes a lot to get both boys off of each other because if both aren’t restrained they’ll still go after the other .

✶ absolutely adores his sister though . she’s his biggest fan and adores him just as much .

#ｍｉｌｅｓ ▸ ａｌｌ !#ｍｉｌｅｓ ▸ ｍｕｓｉｎｇｓ !

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shidoukanae · 5 years

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Pokemon SwSh Theory: Sonia suffers from (or was supposed to suffer from) PTSD

Having played through the Pokemon Sword and Shield games, I noticed something very interesting about Sonia’s character. If you talk to her outside of the game’s forced story parameters (and listen to her during a few of them), you’ll find that she seems to have a character arc revolving significantly around one thing: her trip into the Slumbering Weald when she was younger.

I don’t know how many other people have picked up on this because, through watching YouTuber’s playthroughs to refind scenes where Sonia says things, I’ve realized I’m probably one of the few people who keeps talking to her after story scenes are done just to glean more about her character through the hopes of changed-up dialogue.

And, wow. There’s A LOT about Sonia that either goes unsaid or is swept under the rug entirely during the development of her canon character arc.

To start this off, let me posit an idea that I hope will make sense by the end of this: Sonia suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.

I will also note I hold no true credentials to properly identify PTSD or claim that I’m an expert on PTSD. I have only done background research on PTSD and its symptoms so my guesses are noobish at best. However, I will try to represent the disorder as accurately as possible but if anyone has the credentials to stop and correct me please do because I realize I’m out of my element here.

This said, let me give a rough timeline of the lore tidbits given to us as players about Sonia and then corroborate them all together at the end to make sense of why I think Sonia has PTSD.

First off: let’s start with what Hop says to you at the very beginning of the game after the Wooloo ramming the gates enters into the Slumbering Weald.

As stated above, Sonia once went into the Slumbering Weald and came out of it in a “real state”. It’s unclear what Hop means by this but, considering the context of the conversation (in which Hop is saying the forest is dangerous and it’s off-limits) it can be assumed Sonia was badly messed up by her trip in the woods in some way (and, given further context, I would prefer to imagine she’s been messed up in a mental way).

The next piece of information on this event comes from when Hop and you are about to receive your Dynamax Bands as well as after the occasion. Magnolia and Sonia are gathered in the living room and, as you enter a conversation about what you and Hop saw in the woods, Sonia asks:

This is worth noting because it shows Sonia holds an interest in the Pokemon they met in the woods. This is also further backed by what she says if you talk to her directly after this scene where she goes:

As seen, Sonia seems to recollect something about the Slumbering Weald (most likely seeing/meeting the legendary Pokemon) but is unable to consciously explain why she feels uneasy. This suggests that not only did Sonia come out of the woods in a bad state - she likely came out of the woods with no memory of what happened.

This is further emphasized when you talk to her in the Slumbering Weald after the post-game occurs. She meets the both of you in the Slumbering Weald. An obligatory cutscene occurs and, right before the cutscene where you put back the Rusted Sword and Shield occurs, you have a chance to talk to her. Here she says:

This gives the suggestion that, while not consciously able to recollect what happened to her in the Slumbering Weald, she remembers enough to still experience anxiety at being within the forest.

All these factors combined lead to a single conclusion: Sonia once went into the Slumbering Weald, came out of it badly shaken, and because of her experiences there she suffers from selective amnesia. She unconsciously shows signs of having met something freaky (as hinted by the fact she has probably met the legendary before) and she also seems to have no recollection of what happened during her time in the Slumbering Weald despite expressing anxiety and unease at being in the woods/being reminded of them.

Moving on to things that show even further that Sonia suffers from PTSD, here’s a list of notable things Sonia has said/has shown that I will relate back to the disorder:

-Sonia has lost her purpose in life and feels like she’s going nowhere, showcasing insecurities in her position in life. This is most notable in her introduction if you talk to her after forced dialogue is done with:

and later on when her grandmother calls her out on doing nothing meaningful with her life:

It is also further lamented on by Sonia in two different conversations - each of which has her reassuring you that it’s just “adult stuff” and that you don’t need to worry about her problems (showcasing the potential for her avoiding her problems or, at the very least, not wanting to talk with others about them for support).

(^^^ I would like to note that it is Very Interesting that you, who is obviously much younger than Sonia, has been given the chance to tell Sonia “are you alright?” or “You’ll be alright!” to her at two different points in time. This, combined with the fact that Sonia tells the player they have a sharp insight later on, seems to suggest that the player can tell that something is, indeed, not right with Sonia and this obligatory offering of reassurance by the game is meant to hint something is off with her. Keep in mind that Sonia always deflects your concern for her with “I will make it through, don’t worry about me” which suggests she doesn’t want to open up to anyone else about her problems or acts like they’re trivial when they’re really not for her.)

From this alone, it is very likely Sonia suffers from some form of depression. It is strongly hinted at throughout the narrative that Sonia is disappointed with her lack of purpose in life and that it is impacting her negatively.

I would also like to add as an interesting side-note that there is a tendency for Sonia to sigh a lot in the beginning of the game. This is more a fun fact than general proof of her being depressed but I find it interesting to see that she is sighing a lot - especially since I would suspect sighing is usually associated with sadness, tiredness, or an overall feeling of exhaustion.

-Furthermore, adding more on to the above, it seems like Sonia is estranged from the people she’s supposed to care about. This is most noticeable with Leon who she’s childhood friends with and once rivals with. Despite supposedly having a close relationship with him (as the game offhandedly suggests the potential for), I couldn’t help but notice how...hostile?...Sonia is towards Leon.

She snaps at him for being unable to remember their status together as rivals (granted, she had the full rights to as he was pretty much ignoring her), she shows insecurities in her life when she compares herself to him, the big strong Champion of the region (as shown above), notes with annoyance at how he has his “head in the clouds”, and even in her introduction she outright treats him with frustration, telling him off if he’s come to ask her about “some superstrong Pokemon again”.

For someone who’s supposed to be friends with Leon, these bouts of irritation seem a little offputting and overly aggressive. And while I do think some of what she says is meant to be comedic (because it certainly did amuse me to watch her introduction scene so the humor aspect worked if so) I also think it’s very telling of how she puts herself at a distance from Leon and even keeps him at an arm’s length with her childish behavior.

-One thing to notice is that Sonia has supposedly (and I say supposedly because this was never been pitched until Sonia outright states it in the post-game) lost her interest in Pokemon and her passion for it. This is reinforced by two different things in game: the lore provided by the inside of Opal’s gym as well as what she tells the player and Hop in the opening scene of the post-game.

In Opal’s gym, there is a section where you can find Opal’s notes on Sonia. There it is specifically noted that she “gives up too easy” and that this problem of hers is due to the pressure of being the granddaughter of the Pokemon professor. This further ties in to Sonia’s insecurities of her inability to go anywhere compared to her grandmother but it also showcases that she doesn’t have the passion to truly put her heart into the gym challenge she set out to conquer.

Furthermore, Sonia’s loss of passion about Pokemon can be noted in the post-game when she outright tells Hop and the player:

Sonia straight up admits a loss of love for Pokemon that she has now regained by involving herself in the lore of her region. This truly emphasizes the point that Sonia had, at one point, lost the passion she once had for Pokemon but now has regained it after performing the character arc she develops in the games.

...Now, with all these points said, I think it’s about time I relate these pieces of proof back to the idea at hand: Sonia suffers from PTSD and these circumstances and bits of dialogue prove it.

(Above from here)

To explain, PSTD is a disorder that occurs after witnessing a traumatic event. It develops in a person in different ways, but some of the more major symptoms include: a loss of passion in activities you once enjoyed, an estrangement from people who remind you of the event (or just estrangement in general), depression, and those with PTSD may suffer from dissociative amnesia (which is the forgetting of an important event related to a certain trauma).

You see where I’m going with this, right?

Sonia displays all of these symptoms. She has lost her interest in activities she once enjoyed (such as her love for Pokemon), has an estrangement from people she’s supposed to be close with (noticed by the way she keeps Leon at an arm’s length), suffers from depression (as can be seen by Sonia’s insecurities, her inability to open up to others about her problems, as well as her constant feelings of having no purpose in life), and especially suffers from dissociative amnesia (as she has no recollection of what occurred in the Slumbering Weald despite showcasing feelings of unease and anxiety about it).

All these factors combined, I think it’s hard not to believe that, at some point in time, Sonia was meant to not only tackle her problem of not having a purpose in life but, also, not getting closure for what happened to her in the Slumbering Weald.

The game makes a significant point of showing that Sonia’s involvement with the legendaries when she was younger has impacted her character growth up until now. And, I find it absolutely crazy to believe that these ideas were brought up only to be dropped (and completely forgotten to be erased in canon) when nothing much came from them.

Sonia could have had a really good character arc on getting over her PTSD, learning what happened to her as a youth and coming to terms with it through her journey to discover the legendaries (which would, of course, have forced her to come back to the Slumbering Weald to find closure for the trauma she experienced before the plot began). Instead, she gets half the closure she needed - finding her purpose in life - and leaves it open-ended as to whether or not she truly got what she needed (figuring out what happened to her in the Slumbering Weald and realizing she can move on now that she knows about the strange pokemon that traumatized her once before).

#putting this under a cut because whoo boi this is huge #Sonia #Professor Magnolia #Leon #pokemon Swsh #PTSD #also godammit youtubers why do you keep skipping over the optional NPC dialogue after forced dialogue is done and over with #i had to replay the game just to find these quotes again for proof jfghhfgj #Can you tell I paid waaaaay too much attention to Sonia during my playthrough of the story?#Because I totally did and I think me doing that paid off with this post fhgjfgj #also obviously there are some holes and stuff here because the game never fully fleshes out the critical Slumbering Weald event for Sonia #but from what I've gathered it seems like there was at once a moment in time where Sonia was meant to have history with Zacian and Zamazenta #and her journey of becoming a Pokemon Professor was not only supposed to help her get closure for her life that has gone nowhere #but also closure for the event that scarred her when she was younger and came out of the weald badly messed up bc of the legendaries

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brandytusk · 4 years

Text

Help Me Get Out of an Abusive Living Situation

[12/05/2019; long post incoming.]

A while ago, I asked for financial help to cover vet costs for my cat, Kero. The gofundme fell through, we didn’t get much in any donations, and while we decided to just save Kero no matter what, it put us in debt. Add that to the rest of the pile of bills we’re slowly paying off, right? What else can we do. Here’s the problem with that, though:

My husband and I have been living with someone who used to be a friend for a long time. We’d previously been friends with this person around seven years. I got permission to also date this person, and a polyamorous agreement was met.

We at first lived in an apartment together, which the friend destroyed with cigarette smoke after I asked him not to smoke in the apartment. He smoked himself into pneumonia and had to be hospitalized. We then found out he’s so badly bipolar he had to be admitted into a ward for at least two weeks. He started medication, we blamed his blowups and disobeying apartment rules on not being medicated, we gave it a second shot. This friend’s parents bought a house, and the three of us rented it together.

Sometimes you don’t really know someone until you live with them, and what we found out was that he isn’t just bipolar, he’s just very selfish. Spoiled, and he’ll make you believe he had such a terrible childhood as someone with two rich realtor agents for parents. A massive, gaslighting narcissist. If all attention didn’t go to him, if plans didn’t include him, there had to be a reason explained for it. There had to be time set assigned for him later to ‘make up’ for lost time. He would stop doing basic decent things like clean dishes, leave dishes everywhere, do any kind of house or lawn maintenance, make the daily house environment so cluttered it was beyond stressful for me and then demand ‘discussions’ which would just be him arguing into a circle never settling until he was right. He’d lie just to make sure he ended up right. He’d make you feel sorry for him or fake being genuine about changing. He’s made me feel like an object. All his compliments are to tailor my appearance to his liking. He believes identifying a certain way just means you’re ‘broken’ and everyone’s ‘a little broken’. The Joker is basically his hero, if that’s any indication of him as a person, and he’s very proud of it. He tells me I don’t tell him what’s bothering me, then complains ‘you’ve only talked about work for months’. He tells me I have to initiate all conversation and that ‘communication goes both ways’ when he doesn’t text me for weeks. I get blamed and yelled at for not texting him. I have to be genuinely interested in all of his interests and goings on, but all my interests are boring or not up to par with his standards. He argues my husband’s needs don’t matter. This has continued for years. I have been trying to get money together to move since fall of LAST year. I keep dreaming of leaving in the middle of the night, taking my cats and my husband and having the money to leave.

This ‘friend’ asks me if I remember discussions from a year ago to state a rule I forgot that benefits him, but can’t remember my birthday. This ‘friend’ brings me strawberry-banana shakes while I’m weak and recovering from surgery while I am allergic to banana. I struggle or I’m in pain or I’ve worked a 12 hour day, but he wants attention, he wants to get his rocks off, and if I don’t it’s a two-day long, exhausting tantrum ‘discussion’ where I apologize a lot. I tell him I have TMJ, which is a jaw disorder, he brings me peanuts and salads, things I can’t chew. He fills the house with strong weed smell so much I can’t use three-fourths of the house except for my own personal room because I have asthma. I can’t garden because he won’t help me. I can’t even work on art projects in another room because he’ll ‘time’ me on it and expect breaks where he gets attention. I have never known a more manipulative, nasty person. I’m exhausted. I’ve lost sight of myself, my hobbies. I can’t take care of myself when all of my energy at home is spent trying to avoid him and his expected wheel of favors. Every day I wake up I have to know where he is in the house so I know to be light of step or braced to endure anything he expects from me that day. Recently, he’s had me listen to a music selection I just ‘had’ to listen to that ended up just being thinly veiled threats on my life.

Maybe if we had never taken care of Kero, maybe if I had just put him down instead, I wonder. I wouldn’t have the debt I’m in, and we would have the money to move. I could have moved a while ago, I could be free, I could start to feel sane again! Cook for my husband again! Work on my projects again! Rediscover me again, unwind. I can’t blame Kero for that. Everyday I come home, I’m just scared what kind of tantrum this ‘friend’ going to have next under the guise of me neglecting him.

Tomorrow 12/06/2019 he wants to have another ‘discussion’ and it sounds very final. That means I really, really need somewhere else to live and still commute to work. I don’t know if he’ll hurt me, my husband, or my pets. I know he’s already started things like stealing our food and putting my toothbrush in the toilet.

We need $2,500 USD. We have an apartment complex in mind that is nearby enough that we can commute to work and is cat-friendly. The deposit, the moving costs, sacrificing a few pieces of furniture in the effort to move quickly, cat checkups just to confirm they’re up to date on all their shots for the purpose of a lease, it adds up. I have a bad feeling if I announce I’m leaving, I have reason to believe I’ll have less than a month just for the sake of my well-being and safety alone.

If you can pass this along, please do so. If you can throw us any assistance our way, my husband’s PayPal is:

[email protected]

I used to be an active Dragonriders of Pern RPer, I have had personal fantasy rp projects lined up, Pokemon art I’ve wanted to get into, art commissions I’ve wanted to explore, my own hobbies, my own life, things that have meaning for me, all gone. I come home from work, I hide in my bedroom, lock the bedroom door, play a game for a couple hours maybe, and sleep. I don’t know how much more honest I can be here. I need to get out. We need to get out. Anything you can do to help would be appreciated. I can’t take care of myself or anyone living like this. I want to be me again.

#personal #urgent #help #gofundme #abuse #worried about my safety #our landlords are his parents so we are screwed #depression

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nelvana · 5 years

Text

In which a present is prepared

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: (This is it!) Next: In which a birthday is celebrated Previous [ARC 1]: In which the lost are found back home

It’s calm. A cool breeze blows by, ruffling the furry hide of the scarred cubone and picking up her scarf slightly in the air.

Nelvana sat on the ground, leaning back to set her hands on the grass while she stared up at the open blue sky. It really was a nice day, and for now she could relax in the warm rays of the shining sun.

For once, she was alone at the Team Galaxy base, resting out on the lawn. Her teammates were all off doing their own thing, presumably, and that was quite alright for her. After all, there were less missions posted on the board for them to do, now that the disasters were slowly settling down as the world’s balance fixed itself; providing them with much free time to enjoy their future. Though, none of them would ever go too far on their own, and even now Nelvana could relax with the knowledge that her friends were off somewhere around Pokemon Square, and that if she wanted to see them, she would easily be able to.

However, being alone with one’s own thoughts rarely stays that positive for long. Nelvana couldn’t help but find herself thinking over recent and upcoming events.

It had been one week since the meteor that threatened the world’s balance and the very fate of the future itself had been destroyed, and six days since the trio of Nelvana and her two friends that had traveled from that dark future had returned from being erased from time and space itself. Of course, not everything had fixed itself so quickly. While the number of rescue requests that turned up on the board were fewer than before, there were still enough to fill each morning with work, even with there still being other active teams in the area. Many had expected there to be a sudden spike in evolution with the balance being fixed and everyone making up for lost experience, but so far there was still nothing.

On a less world-wide scale, Nelvana missed Gardevoir. Guilt ate away at her for not even really being able to thank the spirit guide for all of her help, and not being able to speak with her anymore felt just as bad, especially after Gardevoir had expressed just wanting to have some company so badly.

Regardless, Nelvana also knew that it would do her no good to continue dwelling on these issues which were currently outside of her control. As much as she longed to be able to do something about them, she couldn’t see any possible solutions, no matter how much she stressed over them.

What was within her control though, was the birthday of her best friend, Keahi. The torchic had been bubbling with excitement for the event for days now, and there were still three days until the day itself. Everyone else couldn’t help but find themselves excited for her as well, especially those who hadn’t really gotten the chance to celebrate anyone’s birthday before, which happened to be most of the team. Keahi, as usual, was fine with explaining how things should go. She had expressed wanting to have a small party with the team, where they could play games, enjoy some cake together, and hand out presents.

Nelvana didn’t want to mess this up. She wanted to show how much she cared for Keahi by getting the best present for her possible, but wondering what that gift would be had been plaguing her mind every since the torchic had mentioned her birthday.

“Hey, Nel! I’m back!”

Just barely as Nelvana’s thoughts wandered back to her partner’s birthday, the very person she was thinking of returned. Keahi beamed over at the cubone, waiting to make sure that she had her attention, before bolting over to her and tackling her into a hug.

“Hey Keahi,” Nelvana hummed, wrapping an arm around the warm torchic. “That didn’t take you long.”

“Of course not! I only went to order a cake from the café, you know that doesn’t take long!” Keahi replied with a giggle. “I hope you weren’t bored while I was gone.”

“Eh, maybe a little bit,” Nelvana murmured, “I was just thinking of what to get you for your birthday,” she admitted, absentmindedly running her fingers through Keahi’s feathers.

Keahi met Nelvana’s gaze, “again? I told you already, I don’t really mind what you get me. It’s the thought that counts after all!”

“I know…” Nelvana sighed, “I still want to make this good though.”

Keahi laughed, “I should’ve known. You really aren’t one to settle for less when you can do more, huh?” she said, “if only I could provide you with a better wish list…”

Nelvana rolled her eyes, “you haven’t provided any wish list!” she responded with a snort.

“That’s because I don’t have anything to wish for!” Keahi replied, lifting up a taloned foot to playfully kick at her partner. “I have everything I could have wanted. My biggest dream was to be in a rescue team, and here we sit as a gold ranked team! I have my home with all my stuff, and the best friends that I could ever ask for. What do I put on a wish list now?”

Nelvana paused, her expression softening after such a response, but then she smiled again and gave Keahi a pat on the head, “alright, fair enough… I’ll just have to figure out something eventually. All the others seem to have ideas anyway, so this isn’t impossible.”

“Actually! That’s a good point!” Keahi exclaimed, standing back up. “Why don’t you go ask the others what they thought of, and they can inspire you to think of something on your own!” she suggested, “and I can even go find something else to do in the meantime so I don’t get spoiled on the surprise,” she added, shaking out her feathers.

“Are you sure?” Nelvana questioned, “I wouldn’t want to just leave you alone.”

“Don’t be silly, I’ll be fine! I’ll just go check on Spinda and Gulpin’s progress again or visit the kids or something!” Keahi chirped, “if this helps you get your thoughts settled, then it’ll be fine.”

“Mm, alright,” Nelvana chuckled, standing up as well.

Nelvana brushed the grass from her fur, then proceeding the pick up her club that she had left resting beside her. Keahi waited patiently for her friend to be ready to go, and then the pair silently left the property and headed down the familiar path towards Pokemon Square.

At Pokemon Square, they were greeted with the usual joyful atmosphere around all the citizens. With summer slowly reaching its end, many of the pokemon were out enjoying the warm days while they lasted, while others were hoping to get the jump on the next season by setting out decorations nearly a month early.

The sight that Nelvana appreciated right off the bat was two of the other Team Galaxy members, Alex the grovyle and Ceebee the shiny celebi, over by the Kecleon Stand. They were the two others that Nelvana had lived with in the future, or as they had currently dubbed as the dead timeline, and who had traveled back in time with her to fix time itself. While Nelvana’s amnesia prevented her from remembering them properly, she still felt the warm familiarity every time she saw her old friends. Those two were usually together anyway, evidently Ceebee felt more comfortable with either Alex or Nelvana than anyone else, despite having become fast friends with the rest of the team and even most of the town.

“Hey, there’s Alex and Ceebee! You can go talk to them. I heard they were thinking of present shopping anyway, so that makes the timing right,” Keahi commented, nudging Nelvana.

“And how would you know what they were doing?” Nelvana asked curiously, raising a brow.

“I overheard them on my way back over to you, but I made sure to hurry on past so I wouldn’t get spoiled,” Keahi told her, “speaking of, I guess I should head on my way again. Good luck with getting inspired! See you later, Nel!” she continued before giving a wave of her wing and hurrying away.

“See you, Keahi!” Nelvana replied.

Nelvana watched her partner head north to Whiscash Pond, before turning her attention back over to the nearby pair, who had noticed her nearby. She headed over to them at the stand, where they seemed to be getting instructions from the two brothers on how to use the roll of colored paper that Alex was holding.

“Hello there Nel!” Ceebee hummed, “what brings you over here?” she asked.

“Oh, I actually wanted to ask about gift ideas for Keahi… but, uh, what are you guys doing?” Nelvana responded, eyeing the paper curiously.

“We’re trying to teach these two to use freaking wrapping paper of all things!” Purple-Kecleon snapped, smacking his hand down on the table dramatically.

“Hey, cut us some slack here,” Alex chuckled, tugging on the wrapping paper. “We didn’t get this in the dead timeline, y’know. Besides, you and your bro will get paid for this either way, so why do you even care?”

“Wrapping paper?” Nelvana repeated, poking at the paper. “What do you wrap with it? It doesn’t look that strong,” she commented.

“This is used to wrap up boxes! More specifically, boxes that have presents inside!” Green-Kecleon answered, “there should be enough in this roll for all of you to wrap up your presents for Keahi.”

“Why do you wrap up the presents?” Nelvana asked.

“To keep it a surprise! It’s half the fun!” Ceebee chirped, fluttering closer to the cubone as she spoke to her. “Er, apparently, at least. Keahi has mentioned it a few times, after all, so it does sound right.”

“Oh, yeah. That does make sense,” Nelvana agreed, “anyway, I came to ask you guys what you’re getting for Keahi. I’m still having trouble thinking of something,” she explained.

“Still? You’re really overthinking this, Nel,” Alex teased as he repetitively experimented with the roll of paper by tugging out some paper before trying to roll it back up again. “I’m sure that whatever you give her, she’ll like.”

“Yeah!” Ceebee exclaimed, “try not to worry so much! But if you’re looking for ideas, you could draw her something. I heard that cards are usually made for birthdays, you could do that!” she suggested.

“Mm, yeah, I considered that,” Nelvana sighed, tapping her club on the ground. “But I feel like I could do more than just a card. It doesn’t feel like much of a gift.”

Alex shrugged, “your choice. I kinda have to agree with you on that thought process though, but also Ceebee is right about the art idea. You are one of the only ones that could take an artistic route on this, and make it look good, so that would make your gift unique,” he said, “Ceebee ‘n I are taking a more practical route on this.”

“That does sound like you, less like Ceebee though. I would have expected you to try making or finding something,” Nelvana responded, glancing up at the celebi flying in place in the air.

“Heh, yup… maybe next time. I think I still need more time to adjust to this… time, before I get that creative with gifts.” Ceebee admitted, “I really wanted to find a plant for her, but she also mentioned that she wouldn’t be good at taking care of it, so I changed my mind,” she continued before holding out a small cardboard box in front of her. “So, I got this instead! It’s a fire gem, she’ll be able to boost a fire-type move with it,” she said in a yell-whisper.

“Oh, that’s really nice!” Nelvana hummed, peeking into the box to view the diamond shaped red gem inside the box, which almost appeared to burn with its own little ember inside the crystal.

“Thanks! I hope Keahi will appreciate it. It’ll make that flamethrower attack go off with a bang,” Ceebee replied, hugging the box close to her. “I just need to wrap it, and then it should be good to go for the big day,” she added, glancing over at the wrapping paper Alex was still fiddling with.

“My gift isn’t quite ready yet. I ordered the TM for rock smash, since Keahi doesn’t have a fighting-type move yet. Apparently torchics don’t even get to learn many fighting-type moves, which is disappointing considering what they evolve into. So, I figured I’d help with that,” Alex explained, “besides, that way we’ll have another team member with a fighting-type move, since we only have you right now, Nel. I was going to look for recycle so we could just reuse brick break, but apparently torchics can’t learn that.”

“Recycle is a pretty rare TM anyway,” Purple-Kecleon chimed in, “I’ve been meaning to get it in my stocks at some point, but it can be a challenging one to get your hands on. I’ll have it here someday, but not in time for your teammate’s birthday, I’m afraid.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it. Just do let us know when that arrives, I believe Rayden can learn it for us,” Alex replied, “now then, about the wrapping paper…”

“As we’ve already explained, it’s pretty easy. Measure, cut, and tape,” Green-Kecleon responded, his voice muffled as he leaned behind the counter to bring out some scissors that were hidden back there. “I’ve got some scissors here, if you’d like to borrow them?”

Alex’s mouth crept up in a grin, “do I need to pay to use those?”

Both kecleon brothers laughed, “only if you break them!”

“Could I cut this… without those?” Alex murmured, his grin only growing as he unrolled some of the wrapping paper again and the leaves on his arms began glowing in anticipation.

“Alex… please don’t cut the wrapping paper with leaf blade,” Ceebee sighed, narrowing her eyes at the grovyle.

“Do it,” Nelvana whispered, a mischievous glint in her blue eyes.

“I’m going to do it,” Alex taunted, shifting his left arm closer to the paper.

“Don’t! You’ve been offered a perfectly useful tool for this! Just use that!” Ceebee hissed, crossing her arms across her chest.

Ceebee’s protests fell on deaf ears as Alex took hold of his impulsive idea and swiped the glowing leaves across the paper in one swift motion. There was the sharp “ssst” sound as the leaf blade move made a clean cut right through the wrapping paper, nicely slicing it so that there was a decently sized piece of paper for Ceebee’s box left in Alex’s right hand.

However, to pull this off as efficiently as he did, Alex had to let go of the actual roll in his left hand, dropping it onto the ground. While Pokemon Square wasn’t known for being built on any sort of hill or slant, the momentum from Alex’s swift movement was enough to send the rest of the paper rolling away, unrolling all the paper wrapped around it as it did so.

“Ah! Shoot!” Alex yelped, watching as the roll easily got too far away from him to simply reach for.

“There it goes!” Nelvana giggled, “that was a good cut though,” she added, looking at the piece that the grovyle had been left with.

“Ceebee, would you mind going to get that with your telekinesis?” Alex asked.

“Ha! Nah, you go get it! This was your idea; you deal with the consequences of your actions!” Ceebee laughed, sticking her tongue out at him.

Alex rolled his eyes, “fine, I’ll go get it, be that way,” he huffed, “take this then, you’re welcome,” he added, shoving the piece of paper at Ceebee before bolting after the runaway roll of wrapping paper.

Nelvana continued giggling as she watched the grovyle hurry after the roll, which had made its way into some bushes by now. Ceebee rolled her eyes, but laughed again as well, beginning to try folding the paper she had been handed around the box.

“Alright, thanks for the help, but I think I’ll try finding the others soon and see what they think,” Nelvana told Ceebee.

“Okay! Good luck with that! Once Alex gets that back, I think we’ll move indoors; just so you know in case you come back,” Ceebee replied.

Nelvana nodded, “thanks for letting me know, I’ll keep that in mind. See you two later!”

Alex glanced back over at that last exclamation, “you’re leaving? Aw, alright. See you later, good luck with thinking of a gift for Keahi!” he responded.

The other two team members of the A Squadron on Team Galaxy were Tsuki the absol and Edgar the duskull. While everyone on the team got along really well, those two especially had paired off nicely; which was extra convenient since neither of them slept often because of their typing, and them getting along meant that they wouldn’t get as bored while everyone else rested each night.

Nelvana could recall having last seen them by the mission board, Tsuki explaining how they would wait and see if any new missions got posted while everyone else was off doing their own thing. Deciding that that would be the best place to start looking for her other teammates, she made her way eastward down the path. This theory was proven correct as she spotted the familiar pokemon hanging around the currently empty board. Tsuki lay beside it with her hind legs tucked under her belly and her chin rested on it front paws, while Edgar floated around, making circles around both the absol and the mission board.

“Hello Tsuki, hello Edgar,” Nelvana greeted, “you’re still here?”

Tsuki lifted her head, sitting up so that she could peer back at the cubone more easily, “hello there Nelvana,” she greeted with a pleasant smile. “Indeed, we’re still here. There were a couple missions added, and we have them now, if you were hoping to get back to work before the end of the day.”

“I actually wanted to ask about gift ideas for Keahi, but if you want, I can go back and let the others know that there are still more missions to get done,” Nelvana replied.

“Don’t worry, there’s no rush! They’re both item finding missions,” Edgar hummed, “we can talk about gift ideas! You having trouble?”

“A bit, yeah,” Nelvana admitted, sitting down beside Tsuki and leaning against the absol’s side. “I already asked all the others, but I figured I’d see if either of you two had anything new to suggest, or if I could get inspired by what you guys settled on for gifts.”

“Ah, I see,” Tsuki murmured, “well, I’m afraid I don’t have much to suggest. You do know Keahi the best out of any of us, so you’ve probably already thought of anything I could think of now,” she said, “however, if you think it will help in your thinking, I’ve decided to find some ingredients for Keahi, since that seems to be an enjoyable hobby for her. She appears to be quite excited each time any of us ask for a cooking lesson, at the very least.”

“Oh, that is a good idea! I bet she’ll enjoy that. What have you found so far?” Nelvana responded.

Tsuki shrugged, “I went back and found some of those chestnuts, as well as some berries and seeds.”

“That’s why she’s been impatient to go through some dungeons,” Edgar added in a playfully hushed tone, “she wants to find more food items!”

Nelvana giggled, “ah, that makes sense. How about you, Edgar? Are you looking for items in dungeons too?”

“Oh! Yeah, kinda! I’ve been finding some lucky items for Keahi to hold onto! Wanna see them?” Edgar exclaimed, already going over to a small sack that he had stashed away behind the sign.

“Sure,” Nelvana replied, despite knowing that he would likely try showing her anyway, it felt better to confirm and let him know that this was fine.

Edgar brought over the sack and set it down in front of Nelvana and Tsuki to show them. It wasn’t tied shut, so when he placed it on the ground it flopped over slightly, spilling a few of the items that had been inside. Just a glance told them that these “lucky” objects were mostly just random things one might find on the ground. There were many rocks, as well as some feathers and leaves. Curious, Nelvana reached in to see what else was included in here, and found a couple shells that were hidden deeper inside.

“I found most of these in the area! Isn’t that nice? They must be really lucky in that case, for me to have found them so easily!” Edgar commented, floating closer to the others. “I heard that finding coins on the ground can be lucky too, but I only found a couple of those laying about, and I gave one of them to Metapod,” he added, pointing to the mentioned coins, which had fallen into the bottom corner of the sack. “Do you think Keahi will like them? Felicity said that items with no price aren’t worth much, but I think she was just in a bad mood. Lots of things with no price have more worth than anything you can buy or sell.”

Nelvana couldn’t help but smile, “yeah, I definitely think Keahi will like these,” she assured Edgar, helping set the spilled objects back into the sack. “And you’re right about the money idea. It doesn’t need to be expensive to be nice,” she continued, “oh, and the rocks with a ring around them are especially lucky.”

Edgar’s eye lit up in a warm glow, “thank you, Nel!” he chirped, “I’ve been working really hard on this!”

“I can tell,” Nelvana hummed, handing the sack back to the duskull. “The kecleons have some wrapping paper and stuff for wrapping gifts, you should go see them.”

“Maybe I will! I haven’t used wrapping paper before, but I heard that it’s really colorful!” Edgar responded.

“Rolls pretty well too,” Nelvana added under her breath.

“Did we help you at all with your own gift ideas?” Tsuki asked, standing up and stretching for a moment before sitting down beside Nelvana again.

“Oh… I’m not sure, sorry,” Nelvana murmured, “I’m probably still overthinking this.”

“You could do some art for her,” Tsuki suggested.

“Ceebee already suggested that, but thanks,” Nelvana sighed, rolling her club back and forth under her hand in the short grass around them. “That might be what I have to fall back on at this point.”

“Well, Tsuki did say that you’re the one who knows Keahi best,” Edgar pointed out, “what’s important to her, that you could maybe make into a present? What really matters to her?”

Nelvana exhaled again, turning her gaze up to the sky, “she… she really loves the stars, and cool colors, and exploring, and battling, and… cooking, like Tsuki said. Keahi loves this team and our work together, and… and she really loves people. She loves us, and her family…”

Nelvana let herself trail off as she thought to herself about the question, and how it could connect to possible presents she could get or make for Keahi. For a moment, she couldn’t help but let her heart be warmed with the thoughts of what her partner liked…

…and then, finally, the right idea came to her as she thought about Keahi’s family, and how much she had always cared for them.

“I think I have an idea,” Nelvana announced, almost a whisper as she worried about second-guessing herself, but the more she kept thinking, the more it felt right. “Yeah, I think I’ve thought of something! Thanks for the help guys!”

“I’m glad that we could help,” Tsuki purred.

“Yay!” Edgar cheered, “I knew you’d be able to come up with something!”

“I’m going to get started, thanks again! Love you!” Nelvana replied, hurrying back off towards Pokemon Square in a spring of energy.

“Love you!” Edgar exclaimed, spinning around again.

Tsuki chuckled, “love you too,” she responded softly, “ah, and if you see the others, let them know that we’d like to get back to work soon!” she added.

“I will!” Nelvana called back over her shoulder.

Nelvana sped back into Pokemon Square, back across the path and past the Persian Bank over to the Kecleon Stand again. This is where she paused, taking a moment to look around and plan ahead again. No one was by the Kecleon Stand anymore, aside from the brothers themselves. Spinning around, she could see Ceebee talking to Keahi over by the café now, the latter of which had found a light blue balloon and was carrying it from a string in her beak.

Alex was no longer hanging around with them, but if Nelvana had been able to remember anything, it was to track down her friends.

She found Alex not at the Team Galaxy base, but just off of the Makuhita Dojo, staring off into the empty fields ahead of him. Nelvana quietly walked up beside him, silently enjoying the view with him for a few moments. There was no need to call out to him, since she knew that he had noticed her gaze the moment she had spotted him.

“Heh, welcome back. You weren’t gone for long,” Alex greeted, glancing down at the cubone. “Did you think of something?”

“Actually, I did,” Nelvana replied, “which is what I wanted to ask you about.”

Alex chuckled, “I assumed so. What did you come up with?”

“I want to make a bracelet. Like the one Combusken has,” Nelvana told him, “do you know where he got it, or if he made it himself?”

“Why are you asking me?” Alex questioned.

“Come on, I know you have an eye for items. You had plenty of time to notice and ask about that bracelet. It’s obviously important to him, which would especially catch your eye,” Nelvana huffed.

Alex laughed, “ah, you got me there! I did ask him about the bracelet. It was made by his boyfriend, Servine, who has sadly passed away. So, I’m afraid that you won’t get much help out of this route,” he explained.

“Oh, that’s… that’s terrible,” Nelvana murmured, the weight of the news dragging down on her mood for a moment. “I… I still want to make it though. I’ll just have to figure something out on my own.”

“I’m sure that you’ll manage. Just do a braid or somethin’,” Alex suggested, shrugging, “actually, won’t this be an anklet? Keahi doesn’t exactly have arms yet, since she hasn’t evolved yet.

“Maybe I will braid it. And yeah, I know she hasn’t evolved. I think she’ll still like it though. She can wrap it around her talons or something,” Nelvana said, “well, I guess I had better go find some string then. Thanks anyway. Oh, did you handle the wrapping paper, by the way?”

Alex scoffed, “I was hoping you would have moved on from that. Yes, I got the roll back, and Ceebee’s present is nicely wrapped. Why don’t you get to work on your’s?”

Nelvana laughed, “I will, I will… see you later then, Alex. Be prepared to get to work later, Tsuki and Edgar have been collecting some missions for us to do before the day is out.”

“Alright, I’ll probably hang out with them then. I’m in the mood for some more dungeon explorin’ anyway. See you,” Alex responded, looking back out onto the horizon.

The string that Nelvana was looking for wasn’t hard to find. While not many pokemon in the area were big crafters, the Kecleon Stand still had some in stock, just in case. She picked out three strings, deciding that braiding would be the easiest, and bought them in blue, purple, and pink, all in similarly pastel shades so that they would hopefully blend together and look nice.

With her few supplies collected for the task, all she needed to do was to find a nice place to get started. Nelvana settled on a patch by the Kangaskhan Storage, after checking with Kangaskhan if it was fine to lounge beside the stand. Kangaskhan gave Nelvana some tips for making the bracelet, as the motherly normal-type had done some crafting herself in the past.

Nelvana sat down, placing her club upright in front of her, and attached the three pieces of string together on it so that they would stay in place. Taking the strings in her hands, she began weaving them together, instinctively repeating the mantra “right over middle, left over middle,” in her mind to remind herself of the steps to this task. The repetition was oddly soothing, or perhaps it was just the simple craft itself that let Nelvana relax more than she had before. Around her, she could still hear the faint voices of various pokemon chatting to each other, which was a constant promise that everyone was doing alright.

Keahi was going to love this gift, Nelvana was confident of it.

Right over middle.

Left over middle.

Blue.

Purple.

Pink.

Right over middle.

Left over middle.

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: (This is it!) Next: In which a birthday is celebrated Previous [ARC 1]: In which the lost are found back home

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cutiecrates · 5 years

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September 2019 Lucky Treat!

Well here we are guys, finally! As it turns out, I was supposed to get this on my birthday (the 15th) and it came, but at the time I was taking a nap because I was gone most of the day and I felt really tired when I got home. So they showed up around 6pm but nobody answered the door, and since I had to sign for it they left.

This isn’t the first time this has happened, I somehow miss foreign packages I need to sign for <_< my mom and I argue over this every time, and as I expected it didn’t come the next day. I wasted 2-3 hours stalking the front door and not leaving the room at all for anything. So yesterday morning we picked it up, but it just wasn’t a good day to try to post this.

It’s also the reason why my next review hasn’t been posted but you can expect to see that later today. So for now, let’s focus on this!

As a reminder I won’t be reviewing these items due to them being sent for free. I’ll just be showing them and giving my opinions.

(Note the Kawaii Box I’m supposed to review in the background...)

Okay, so as you can see this is exactly how it arrived. I initially assumed it would be one large box, so I was actually relieved to see it consisted of 2 medium-sized boxes. Both were light weight and easy to carry.

Japan Haul, for anyone unfamiliar with the name or new to the blog is the online store belonging to the branding that makes Tokyo Treat, YumeTwins, NMNL. You can find a lot of the box items, as well as some unique items on there, which is why I try to recommend you check it out if you’re ever interested in the items from those boxes. There wasn’t any special papers or anything in the box, but each of them had an “order summery sheet“ and a sheet of protective Styrofoam on the bottom.

Before I begin I wanted to mention that usually there’s a “value“ depicted in the information or picture for the Lucky Treat, but this one didn’t have it. On each box it says their values were 1000yen, so combined I think that might be $200.00? I don’t know much about foreign currency so don’t quote me on it.

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Mew Plushie & Vulpix Plushie

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I am OBSESSED with Vulpix/Rokon- it was the reason I just had to have this box, and it hasn’t left my side since I opened the one it was inside. It was true love from the day we met; I have various Vulpix items, including a smaller plush from a KFC promotion when I was a kid, a couple toy items, stickers, coloring book pages, and several TCG cards in both English and Japanese~

About a year or so back they were featuring Vulpix (normal and Alola) in Japanese merch. I’ve always wanted to visit Japan, but that was probably when I wanted it the most.

The plush is pretty big (although I know in comparison to the Mew it doesn’t look it), it’s the perfect lap size~ It’s also very soft, with fluffy material for the hair and tails that is a combination of rose swirls and tufts. The tails are one solid piece with lines between them to give them the feel of individual pieces, but the curled portions are separated. I love love love love love it~

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So as you can tell, Vulpix isn’t the only plush we got in this months box :3 in fact we got a handful more to go- including this really big Mew Plush. Currently this is the second biggest Pokemon Plush I own, it’s a few inches taller than the piplup I won at the fair a few years back, but smaller than the Meowth I got when I was a kid.

This plush is made from the same fabric as the vulpix but lacks the fluffy hair accents. The sewn details are perfect, it’s feet are properly stuffed and a little floppy, while its super-long tail is sewn to the back, so I assume it would dangle if I cut the strings. He’s great for hugs.

Flaaffy Plushie & Mini Eeevee Plushie

We got 2 more Pokemon plushies, including this very small Flaaffy plush~ It’s like the Vulpix in which it has normal plush fabric, and slightly softer fabric for the wool on its neck and head. It’s stitching and details are great, it’s a really good quality plushie.

According to its tag it’s part of a Pokemon Fit line. I never heard of it so I don’t really know what it contains- but I think it’s adorable how out of the 4 Pokemon it’s normally the biggest, and here it’s the smallest. It fits in the palm perfectly.

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Our final Pokemon plushie is an adorable, fluffy Eevee. I really like Eeevee and its eeveelutions, and I really liked playing Let’s Go Eeevee! so this was a lovely surprise; now if only I had some items to make it match mine~

It’s well made and very cute and sweet looking, and according to the tag this came out last year- probably for Let’s Go Eeevee :P It’s a big bigger than Flaaffy, but still fits in the palm nicely. I can’t decide if I like its fluffy neck fur or huge tail more~

Kopiyo Friends Cushion

This is our last plush-based item in the box, an adorable cushion themed after an adorable birdie. From Kopiyo Friends there was a variety of various birds you could get in this set, but for Lucky Treat it was this specific... parakeet? It looks like the ones I used to have when I was little, so I’ve been calling it that.

It’s a good size for a pillow (head, lap, legs, etc) and it’s stuffed enough to feel marshmallowy squishy, and it stretches a little bit. It was very comfortable, and it makes for a nice secondary pillow you can cuddle with.

Solgaleo Figure & Mewtwo Mug

If you guys couldn’t tell this box was almost entirely Pokemon oriented :3 and to go with our plushies, we have a Solgaleo figurine from the latest handheld Pokemon games (until sword and shield comes out anyway). It’s from the Moncolle-EX collection of Pokemon figures... and that’s pretty much all I can say other than it’s paint quality is great. I’m not sure about the figure quality itself because I won’t be removing it from the packaging. I might give it to my friend, who bought this version of the game.

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Now this next item goes with the Mew I got, and I think they were both made to celebrate the upgraded/updated Mewtwo Strikes Back movie. I know my picture quality of this sucks, but I was kind of on a time crunch at this point... and by that I mean, I had cats going crazy in the background trying to get in my way and play with the boxes <_<

The mug has a very detailed, mood-setting picture for the movie. I have to admit it’s not really my style (CUTIEcrates probably says it all right?), but I do like it as a Pokemon fan and I’ll find a use for it.

Gengar Mask & Pokemon Memo

Now this is an item perfect for this time of the year, as well as when I clean or when the allergies hit (where was it during summer when I needed it?!). I did have one mask from a really old DokiDoki, but I have no clue where that went.

I love Gengar (at this rate it’s easier just to say every Pokemon in this box are ones I like, nearly), so this is a cute, funny little item. It’s a nice, padded mask with two layers of filtered-like fabric over the part covering your nose and/or mouth. I’m not really sure if they serve a purpose (maybe filtering dust or scent or something?) but they have a nice clean smell.

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We can’t forget the stationery items now :3 and to go with all of our Pokemon goodness we have a notepad with 4 sets of 8 different designed papers! They easily tear apart and come from the Pokemon World Market series, featuring the various Pokemon from various regions hanging out and having fun.

Pokemon World Market Re-Ment & Colorful Ramune Blind Bag

I’m assuming the Pokemon World Market is a current series/collection :3 because next we have an adorable re-ment set. I miss getting re-ments in the boxes, so this was very exciting. Like the notepad, these were based on various regions foods, Pokemon, and activities. Such as the one I got, the Kanto region, having a bike, a Poke Flute, and a Pokemon Doll. Each one also includes a map of the specific region.

If you were curious, here are what the others had:

2. Squirtle Watering can, toy, milk, manju/dorayaki?

3. Torchic, Rice cracker, Pokeblock storage, and what looks like an envelope and ticket.

4. Piplup, helmet, shovel, what looks like chocolate, and Poffins.

5. A Pokedoll, a ferris wheel toy, and ice cream.

6. Pokedoll, food, skates, and the girl trainers hat.

7. A book or magazine with Snorlax, a toucan measuring piece(?), a bowl or fruit in a box, and an Alola Exeggutor pen with base.

Now compared to the others, mine feels pretty simple. But the detail on each piece is amazing; I could look at re-ments all day~ I really wish I could display mine, but I just don’t have a safe place or any room for them at the time. As much as I think a re-ment subscription box would be fun, I’m kinda glad they don’t have one of those :P I’d be in trouble.

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Now, this is a Tokyo Treat special box, of course there has to be a couple food items~ and first up is a Pokemon, Wobbuffet bling bag candy tin, which features 6 different designs that feature Wobbuffet interacting with various Pokemon. They’re all so cute!

But lookie lookie, did you notice which one I got~? The special mystery one :D I’m not sure if that was intentional or not, but I thought it was a fun additional surprise.

There are 3 flavors of candy, including a blue ramune/soda, yellow... I think lemon (but it could be banana? It doesn’t taste like it though), and a pinkish-red one that I couldn’t identify. It might be cola, because it tastes like a nasty cola Japanese candy DIY I tried a couple years back- one of the only cola flavors I didn’t like. But the candies are pretty good, even that weird might be cola one.

Pokemon Nori Chips & Dragonball Super Candies

Given the few Non-Pokemon items in the box, I was surprised to see this Dragonball themed candy. These come in a tin-like piece similar to old-style Japanese fruity hard candy. I’ve seen them several times but never had them before- and let me tell you, it’s a picnic trying to open these! You’ll definitely want a pen or scissors or a cornered object or something, nails are not recommended though. But maybe mine are just wimpy. The good news is that you don’t have to worry about them spilling.

Anyway, these are just cute orange spherical candies with a simple orange-ish flavoring to them. It’s not overly sweet or tangy, so it’s good if you like a mild candy.

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To kick up the snacks, we also have some curry-flavored Nori Chips/Seaweed. They come in this adorable Pokemon tin featuring Pikachu and some other impressive pokemon, and the inside is lined by pleated paper. The tin is 71.0 calories.

The seaweed/nori is thin, but in 2 layers, with curry flavored powder/substance between them. If you don’t like the taste of curry or seaweed you probably won’t like these, but if you do then you will. I actually really like eating seaweed as a snack, and curry is pretty yummy so I really like them x3 they’re not spicy, but it seems to pick up heat the more you eat of them. They’re also very crunchy.

Pokemon Tote

We also have some fun apparel, including a Pokemon Tote by the brand Outdoor Products, which has been in business since 1973 apparently. It includes a rainbow variety of colorful Pokemon from a few different generations making a variety of poses. I think there’s 2 per Pokemon. The bag also features a velcro strap to hold it shut, and it’s a medium-big size, so it would come in handy for a lot of stuff.

Pokemon Mini Bath Towel

To go with the Pokemon World Market collection, we also have this adorable and colorful mini-bath towel featuring all the different regions Pokemon having a fun time playing and checking things out at their respective hangouts x3

Despite the name, this thing couldn’t be fit into a single picture without losing a lot of detail, so I had to settle for this. It’s very soft fabric, I’m very eager to begin using it because it’ll go great with that set of Pokemon wash clothes I got a few months back.

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Okay guys, that will be it for now! What did you think, was this Lucky Treat good? I really wish the other subscribers could have won this too because it was very fun and exciting- I still can’t believe i won it!

However, I did notice an item is missing. There was also supposed to be a pair of Pokemon Socks that I didn’t find in either box. I checked multiple times, and I couldn’t find anything to say the item was removed from the box, so I don’t know what happened. I messaged them about it, but because this was entirely free, I don’t actually mind the mistake. It happens... of course, if it had been my Vulpix then heads would roll.

Just kidding :P Anyway, I’ll keep you guys updated on that. Until later, remember to hug a Pokemon!

#tokyotreat #luckytreat #pokemon plush #pokemon merchandise

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antagonistchanremade · 5 years

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So, I’ve been thinking lately, and kinda realized something.

I’ve been... generally unimpressed by the Pokemon games since they went 3D. The notable exception has been ORAS, which is in a very close second for my favorite game in the entire series (first being Platinum, third being Pearl, after that the list kinda starts to not matter as much), but that one’s a remake of an older game (so, on the bad side, that means that it being an exception isn’t as much of a surprise and actually kinda reflects worse on the other new games... but on the positive side, it also means that there’s still hope for the Sinnoh remakes whenever they do actually happen, I seriously think that the Pearl remake will probably become my favorite Pokemon game when it comes out, at least if I get the chance to play it).

They’re not bad, exactly? If you want to look at a Pokemon game I think is bad, just look at GenV. Just a liiiiittle bit of warning, this entire paragraph is me explaining why I hate GenV so much. It was literally the last Gen before the games went 3D, and yet, I’ve maintained ever since GenVI that GenV is the worst Gen, partially because I hate the art style (not the character designs, the Pokemon and NPC trainers are still all excellent, but rather, the environments are ugly as sin in my opinion), partially because they tried to pull a “No old Pokemon until the post-game!” thing and really shouldn’t have been surprised that it didn’t go over well, and partially because Team Plasma is honestly too realistic and hits way too close to home in terms of performative activism and they’re honestly really aggravating, but primarily because of how the RNG is so cruel that battling completely stops being fun. Like, nobody ever talks about this, but playing it immediately before/after another Gen, it’s blatantly obvious to me that the PRIMARY MECHANIC OF THE GAME is a million times more frustrating and annoying than it is in any other game in the series. Battling just fucking sucks and I just can’t wait for every battle to be over with. I didn’t want to admit how much I hated GenV when it was still the current Gen, because I started with GenIV and I didn’t wanna be one of those people who whined about new things, and also, from the very beginning, GenV was getting criticism that it didn’t deserve (which is really weird, because so few people make the criticisms it does deserve; they’re really really terrible games but the only people who agree with me agree for the wrong reasons), but when Pokemon redeemed itself with GenVI, I admitted to myself how much I hated it.

And honestly? I think GenV’s badness is a big part of what blinded me to how generally unimpressed I’ve been with Pokemon’s 3D Era- because when GenVI came out, it was a breath of fresh air compared to GenV. Battling wasn’t a huge chore anymore, it was back to being actually fun. The environments were very generic, but at least they weren’t ugly as sin. They had old Pokemon roaming around again. Team Flare was back to cartoonish villainy instead of distressingly realistic performative activism.

And, of course, the other thing that’s blinded me to how generally unimpressed I’ve been with the 3D era is that... much like with GenV, the art, which is honestly the most important part of the Pokemon phenomenon, isn’t going downhill the way the games are. I mean, the environments and graphical quality and all that are kinda mediocre, absolutely, but that’s just something that affects the games themselves again, I’m talking about the stuff that matters for the entire franchise:

As much as I don’t much care for the newer Pokemon games, the newer characters and Pokemon themselves are still great.

So, like, as much as I’m finding myself caring less and less about the gameplay details of the new Pokemon games, I am still following the news on new characters and new Pokemon and getting excited for those.

Hell, while the games have been going downhill, the anime’s just been getting better and better! Much like the games, the worst part of the anime was Unova (Unova really was a dark time for the franchise overall)- the anime honestly kinda felt like it was spinning its wheels, because the series’ formula had kinda been drained of all its worth during the Sinnoh era and it was finally starting to feel incredibly stale. But then, the Kalos era started, and there was new life in it! It was still the same formula, but just enough things had changed that the formula actually worked again. It was a return to form. And THEN, Alola happened, and the series ditched the formula altogether and tried something new, which I will admit I haven’t really watched much of but a lot of critics I generally respect say that it’s something Pokemon really needed. And with Galar, they’re not going to be able to keep up the Alola formula (at least, not exactly), but it’d be really weird to go back to the old formula too, so I’m kinda looking forward to seeing what the show’s gonna do next.

#tw pokemon critical

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zchaotic · 5 years

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Things that Grind My Gears USUM and common complaints

1. People that said USUM butchered SM’s Story.

I loved SM’s story, I found Lillie’s growth to be amazing and I loved it when Lillie stood up to her mother. The story focused on her was great until the ending where Lillie went back to her mother to help her recover, it undoes most of her growth, we are given no indication that Lusamine has learned anything and the worse part, it ends the story with no closure.

Gladion also got stuck in a position pretty horrible, having to run the place he was abused in. It was a sloppy conclusion that dampened a great story.

Ultra Sun and Moon’s changes to the story are as followed; the Ultra Recon Squad being added in, focus on Necrozma as a villain, Lusamine’s motives being changed and how they affected her kids, Lillie’s focus and the post game.

While the Ultra Recon Squad didn’t do much besides foreshadow Necrozma and the pokemon could do a bit more for build up, Necrozma gave what is to me a better climax boss compared to Mother Beast.... in that we get to fight the fused alien monster.

Further more, USUM attempted to change Lusamine for a bit more than just fitting the Necrozma story, it tried to humanize her on screen. Something that SM DID NOT DO! For many, Lusamine in SM was an irredeemable, child abusing bitch and we didn’t get the info as to why she was doing things in the first place until the post game. Wrong place and wrong time for that backstory.

In USUM, they actually mentioned Mohn and add weight to Lusamine’s backstory. Him disappearing caused her downward spiral into the villain she became, who didn’t want to let things go. That is why she froze her pokemon and that is why she became such a control freak to her kids. This also adds to Lusamine’s “Mother knows best” mindset, where she believed she was right and everyone else should shut up and let her deal with things. Which is part of the reason she used Nebby for her goals this time, to feed that ego/ messiah complex and prove to everyone that she was right.

This dangerous thinking helped motivated Gladion when he took Type:Null and ran, he saw potential in the pokemon that Lusamine sure as hell didn’t. Gladion wanted to be free from that control and knew Type:Null was treated like dirt, so he wanted to give that pokemon a better life and prove its potential as a pokemon.

Lillie is a similar deal, she took Nebby and ran because she didn’t like how it was being treated. She did the only thing she could have done to stop this mistreatment and rescued the Cosmog. That is what lead to her escaping.

She still got inspired by you the player to become a trainer, change from the outfit her mother forced on her into her Z powered form, have a talk with her mother and have that goodbye with Nebby, in a more meaningful place and for reasons that make a bit more sense than. “I’m not a trainer.”

While Exeggutor Island was cut out and it was a bummer since that was less moments with Lillie. The majority of the things she said outside of what Lusamine use to be was moved over to Rainbow Rocket’s ending OR we got to see it. While Lillie’s talk with Lusamine was off screen, the girl told us what was going to happen so we can have an idea what was being talked about while we fight Necrozma.

We got to see Lusamine take that turn around for the better. It was no different from SM where Lusamine had a recovery off screen and Lillie decided to help her recover. (The later is worse for a LOT of reasons.)

While I admit that Lillie’s lack of focus made her part of USUM’s main story weaker, it gave a better conclusion to her family and other characters in comparison due to the following.

Lillie got to become a trainer on screen and continue to live with Kukui and Burnet, far away from Lusamine. Lillie still had around the same growth, though it isn’t the focus.

Gladion got to get away from Aether and live out life on his own with Silvally. He occasionally visits and there are signs that he isn’t in completely bad ties with his family.

Lusamine, though it is in dialogue, got an onscreen turn around. Thawed out her frozen pokemon after Rainbow Rocket/ was starting to do that, let her kids go and had closure with Mohn. A more believable redemption and closure compared to her SM ending where we see nothing but her as a villain.

Guzma had a bigger redemption arc as of RR.

The Captains have a last hurrah at Mina’s trial.

Hau had a more complete story arc where he takes things more seriously. I can close this story book and know how it ends for our characters.

Where exactly was things ruined outside of the lack of focus on Lillie? To me.... nothing.

2. USUM’s “Plot Holes” compared to SM.

In relation to the story, things play out the same way and the changes to Lusamine raised a lot of questions.

a. Why does Lillie still have the same look as in SM when Lusamine doesn’t have an obsession with Nihilego in USUM?

b. Why did Nihilego show up in USUM when Lusamine’s plans have nothing to do with it?

c. Why didn’t Lusamine use the legendary the Ultra Recon Squad have to go after Necrozma or why did the Recon Squad let Lusamine do what she did with Nebby.

d. Gladion’s reason for stealing Type:Null doesn’t make sense in USUM since it is just to get stronger and protect his family?

e. Why did they retcon Lusamine into “she didn’t do nothing wrong”/ Why is the game trying to depict Lusamine as a good person when she still abused her kids, has the frozen pokemon and tried to kill Nebby?

My answers are not popular... but here they go.

a. I did use to believe that Lusamine dressed Lillie up to resemble Nihilego, but then USUM changed that woman’s motives to where it had nothing to do with wanting that beast. But instead of raging about that “plot hole”, I believe that the resemblance is ultimately just a coincidence and nothing more in both sets of games. No one in the two sets of games has pointed out the resemblance. Just that Lusamine demanded Lillie and Gladion do what she says/ treated them like ornaments.

Lusamine was still such a control freak to her kids that she didn’t even let them pick their own look. They look what SHE wanted them to look/ do what she wanted them to do because “Mother Knows Best.” It’s pretty messed up, emotional abuse, it is why Lillie has little self confidence because she was treated as a child that should shut up and listen to the adult. It is how Gladion has all that frustration and need to do things his way.

Lillie changing her look and taking life into her own hands still has the same weight and impact in both sets of games. Lillie is stepping out of that smothering shadow and became her own person.

b. Nihilego showed up at Aether Paradise because the Aether Foundation was messing with Ultra wormholes. That is a given in both games, the reasons for the wormhole opening were different, BUT that is why the wormhole opened up. The Wormhole was just Nihilego’s, in SM that part was intended while in USUM it wasn’t.

c. Now for the legendary the URS have, that pokemon was their only ride in and out of home at Ultra Megaopolis, if they let their Solgaleo/ Lunala near Necrozma... that prism would eat them and they be screwed over. They let Lusamine do what she did with Nebby because it was a more acceptable lose/ result in a safer way to fight Necrozma in a more controllable way. The URS resulted to using theirs as a last resort when Nebby (You and Lillie’s only way into Ultra Space.) got eaten by Necrozma.

d. In USUM, Lusamine never had that obsession with the Ultra Beasts that escalated as it did in SM. Gladion took Type:Null and ran because 1. He had it with Lusamine’s abuse, didn’t like how she was treating Type:Null, stole it and ran to prove to that woman that she was wrong. With plans to come back once Null’s Power was realized. This can also split open in SM, where Gladion took Null and wanted to stop Lusamine, that woman was GONE and that boy’s only objective is to protect the family he had left and face his problems head on. So his change wasn’t that drastic and it opens him up more as a boy that has to manage quite a lot on his hands by himself.

e. As for the “Retcon!” There had to be a reason why Lusamine was nowhere near as extreme as she was in at SM. There was a reason why Lusamine’s goal had nothing to do with Nihilego in USUM. The post game of SM had this to say in the matter along with Guzma’s description of what Nihilego does to you.

From Wicke’s Note on Nihilego. “There have been sightings reported of this beast in Alola's past. Its most distinctive feature is its parasitic capability. When Nihilego latches on to a host, it does not manipulate its actions directly. Rather it awakens the host's own capabilities and boosts them to an extreme extent in order to protect itself. It injects the host with a sort of neurotoxin to achieve this effect. This neurotoxin of Nihilego's is incredibly stimulating and inspires feelings of extreme excitement and a lack of inhibition in its host. In other words, anything or anyone that a Nihilego latches on to will have its native skills forcibly activated to their fullest extent and will then act as it naturally desires to.”

This was the games attempt at trying to tell us that prior to SM’s events, Lusamine either got affected by the venom in some way or form... probably from the Wormhole experiments in opening the wormhole and trying to find Mohn or she kept focusing on the beasts and kept digging down the rabbit hole. Which was how she focused only on Nihilego and nothing else. It doesn’t excuse any of the crap she pulled, but it is the only real explanation we have and to be honest, she chose to dig that deep.

In USUM, Lusamine never got affected by that venom/ had something else to focus on and thus her motives for messing with the wormholes are different, she shows a care for her kids, the pokemon she has, etc.

Even without Nihilego, everything... from the abuse of her kids, the frozen pokemon, taking advantage of others and even allowing Null to happen were ALL from her and that is the reason we want to see this woman get knocked off her high horse. The things we should be mad at her for, because they all stemmed from her and it is why she is a villain in USUM.

For a bigger compare and contrast. http://ultraericthered.tumblr.com/post/167852568320/sm-lusamine-vs-usum-lusamine-part-1-while-her

http://ultraericthered.tumblr.com/post/167853295755/sm-lusamine-vs-usum-lusamine-part-2-in-sm

http://ultraericthered.tumblr.com/post/167853828520/sm-lusamine-vs-usum-lusamine-part-3-in-sm

USUM just made the changes so we can have that desire to see her get kicked and feel bad for how it got to the mess it did in the first place, while giving us the hope that she can be salvaged and have a turn around/ repair her relationship with her kids.

She became a problem for most of the game because she was going to go Leeroy on everyone and as everyone feared, it would have made things worse.

It is called, humanizing your villain on screen. Lusamine is less scary as a villain in this game, but she came off as a character with some actual depth to the things she has done as well as the villain Game Freak intended to make. One that can turn around for the better and have a hope of reconnecting with her kids in the end.

Nothing was really retconned, but things were cleared up in a way to show us what she would have been like without going down the rabbit hole she did in SM.

3. Lusamine’s abuse of her kids got swept under the rug, her turn around came out of nowhere and she got off Scott free in USUM.

a. It didn’t, Lusamine admitted to her kids that they were right to take the pokemon and run. She started making amends to the Cosmog she hurt right when you came back and Lillie only came back to Aether to see Nebby recover, after that they parted ways. Lusamine also had an identity crisis in between the post game and RR, where she realize just how much of a fuck up she was and after RR she decided on how to fix herself.

Getting her ass kicked was already done by Necrozma and more of it was not needed now that she learned her lesson and started making amends. This woman letting her kids go was another hint that she knew what she did was wrong, she got that and she hopes the best for them. (Seen with the goodbye between her and Gladion.)

b. Lusamine’s whole Leeroy Jenkins thing backfired, Necrozma is causing problems on Alola... problems she tried to prevent and funny enough, problems she caused in SM. The Ultra Recon Squad were chewing her out for her crap and Lillie had her turn with her while you were fighting Necrozma. It may have been off screen, but it is common sense to think THAT is when people were able to get it through her head in just how reckless she has been and get her to self reflect on the things she has done.

c. Despite Lusamine getting sick in SM at the end... she and the whole of Aether got off scott free for their shit in there as well. It’s pokemon, it is very likely Lillie and Bill would fix her up and she would recover. (Sacred Ashes exist for a reason people... its that strong of medicine.)

Another thing in Pokemon. Archie, Maxie, Colress and grunts from various villain teams have gotten off scott free for their shit and in USUM, Lusamine not having legal repercussions isn’t that different from them. So this didn’t bother me so much and if anything, Aether being raided by Team RR works as karma since now they are being taken advantage off... by force.

4. USUM should have been a sequel instead of ruining SM’s story/ should have been DLC.

a. I don’t understand why they didn’t make a sequel, BW2 was known for this... but there were a couple plot holes that came from BW2. One, what happened to the previous protagonist and all the characters that got involved with that one just mention them? It made things a bit shallower since the new protagonist is a substitute for them.

In addition, BW2′s story... compared to BW... wasn’t that great. It was a basic, bad guys are using a legendary for their goals, cause trouble in random locations etc that we see in every other game and unlike BW it wasn’t the whole plot. While a Sequel to SM might give closure... it would have caused as many problems as what BW2 did.

So I kind of appreciate that USUM was a rewrite of the story, it helped polish things out and give a better sense of closure. While SM had a more emotional story, I would take USUM as a whole over it due to that one giving closure while still having some of those emotions.

Also, DLC wouldn’t have covered a whole new challenge with the trials, trainers, new pokemon ETC... this was done in Crystal, Emerald and Platinum. So why is USUM doing any problems when some games with DLC abuse the hell out of it and milk us for money?

I apologize for the long rant, but I wanted to get this out of my system.

SM are good games, but USUM came around, did things a lot better in most areas and became the definitive edition of this generation. I really wish more people see it as the improved version of SM instead of a hindrance to Gen 7, it and the story doesn’t deserve the hate it gets.

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fictionalabyss · 5 years

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Do 'em all 🤣🤣

You jerk rofl. Okay, this is gonna take a while..

also under a readmore cuz long.

1. describe yourself.- Mel, 32, mom of two, mental health issues, and no idea of who I am or ever was.. lover, fighter, spiteful, friendlier than I’d care to admit. I think that about does it?

2. if you could go anywhere for a week all expenses paid where would it be? I’d be willing to go to a lot of places, honestly. Scotland is top of the list if I can count a wedding as an expense haha.

3. do you have siblings? On my mothers side, no, I’m an only child. On my fathers side, I have a half brother, and two step brothers. I haven’t seen them since I was 11 though, but they’ve been added to my fb and now ignore my existence there.

4. what is your favorite constellation, why? Don’t think I have a favourite.

5. favorite color. Don’t have one. I like different colours for different things, and even that can change with my mood.

6. what kind of music do you listen to? Pretty much everything. My workout music (basically the only time i have time for music) ranges from the 50′s cowboy and love songs all the way to more current EDM and some metal. You introduced me to Mongolian metal, and I’ve come across and Indian metal band that has a song about fighting depression, and I love them so much. I’m still sad to have missed both Babymetal and Alestorm (Scottish pirate metal) when they came to town. Alestorm actually offered me free tickets if they could name Matrim when I was pregnant rofl.

7. favorite flower. (you can name as many as you want cause flowers are awesome) Wild flowers. I have violets that grow wild in my back yard and I love them.

8. if you could do magic, what is the first spell you would learn? I think at most, I’d like to learn minor healing, or something that would attract goodness to people.

9. favorite childhood memory.The memory of Pat getting in the baby swing and yelling “push me on the swing, mommy!” and me pushing him as high as I could and leaving him there when he got stuck roflrofl. We were 9, and it’s basically how this relationship started. I was annoyed, he was in love. I’m still annoyed but now we’re both in love.

10. have you ever been cheated on? Not that I’m aware of, but that might not have been for a lack of trying. WORD ON THE STREET WAS one of my ex’s was trying to get with someone else while with me and was turned down.

11. if you could describe your perfect room, what would it be? Big and spacious. Super comfy bed, plenty of pillows. But also a little corner with a fort that I can be little in. Close proximity to both bathroom and kitchen for obvious reasons. Big window with cute curtains. and all the thing my current room has, but less unfolded laundry rofl.

12. favorite animal. Don’t have one, but it for sure isn’t a fkin slug I’ll tell you that. Pete the peeper ruined that for all slugs.

13. what was the last photo you took of? Luke’s new pokemon cards so I could show Pat while he was at work.

14. do you believe in soul mates? I do. I believe that soulmates aren’t just lovers, but that you can have many people that your soul resonates with. I had one, or thought I did, until I was dropped like hot garbage and shit was said behind my back like I’d never find out. The fucked up part, if I got an apology, I’d probably believe them and let them back into my life like I did last time. Because I’m a fucking sucker and a slave to my heart. But the more you hurt me, the harder you have to work for my trust so I’ll probably never get one. Too much work.

15. do you hang toilet paper over or under? I have a toddler, so under so he can’t just unravel the whole fucking thing into the toilet by slapping his hand on it.

16. your go to place to eat & your favorite thing to get there. Greenstop and Poutine. They have this killer brown gravy omg.

17. do you believe everything happens for a reason? yeah. Everything is either a consequence to our actions, or a lesson to be learned. Karma, my friend. And sometimes, bad shit just happens so you have room in your life for better things. That’s how I got you and Kay.

18. guilty pressures? You mean other than 80′s and 90′s one hit wonders?

19. favorite mythical creature, why? Dragon. Cuz...dragon?

20. something most people don’t know about you. Uh.. not everyone knows me to be as friendly as you tumblr peeps do. Truth is, I’m kind of known as a bitch in person. I don’t socialize well because of my crippling anxiety, and have RBF, so people just assume. Others know it as fact because I treat people the way they treat me.

21. where did you grow up, what was it like? at 8, I moved across the street from where I live now. Before that, I lived in ‘The Point’ but most of my childhood memories are of here. A lot of my neighbours are the same people. I grew up in the 90′s, so we use to play in the street day and night and there were no worries. I’d go from park to park, house to house, just wandering from place to place with my friends. No parents, just us, as long as I got everyone back out front by the time the street lights came on, and then it was hide and seek in the dark while all the parents drank on one of the balconies and watched. It’s not like that here anymore.

22. do you believe aliens exist? You’d be an idiot to think that we are the only lifeforms anywhere.

23. what was your last google search? Big Iron by Marty Robbins.

24. what did your last relationship teach you? You really wanna get into that? It taught me that no matter what I know about a person, I don’t know them. If they talk shit about other people to me, they are talking shit about me to other people. It taught me that just because they earned my trust once, doesn’t mean they should get a free pass on it for life, that I should make them keep earning it. And finally, than when they say “I’ll understand if it doesn’t work out” it’s bullshit. I’ll end up tossed aside and forgotten while I break. And when I realize I deserve better and move on, everything becomes my fault.

25. would you relocate for love? depends where. Example : I love Kay, but I ain’t moving to Florida roflrofl.

26. do you hold grudges or forgive easy? Forgive far too easily the first few times. After that, fuck you.

27. favorite book. uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

28. do you consider yourself an extrovert or introvert? Introvert.

29. have you ever kept a journal, do you now? I have attempted to a few times. Didn’t work out. so no.

30. top 5 favorite movies. Porky’s trilogy. Ginger Snaps trilogy. uhhhhhhm.. fuck.. idk, why do you do this to me, I can’t pick favourites.

31. do you believe that everything happens for a reason? We already went over this.

32. what is your greatest fear? Falling.

33. favorite alcoholic beverage. Jack, disarono, Fluffed marshmallow vodka. UPPERCUT. legit, go into a bar and order an uppercut.

34. most embarrassing thing you’ve done. If i could think of something, I wouldn’t tell you guys muahahha.

35. do you believe in ghosts? not sure.

36. what is the best and worst part of your personality? That I’m nicer than I’d like to be. I’m mush. I’m forgiving and kind, and loving and sometimes I hate it.

37. should you split the dinner bill? Who am I at dinner with?

38. are you a good liar? Fuck no roflroflrofl. I’m the worst at it.

39. what keeps you up at night? these days, story ideas.

40. would you rather go without your phone or music? bye bye music.

41. do you believe in god? Nope.

42. how do you relax when frustrated? Mindless game on my phone, nap, or binge something.

43. what’s something that offends you? people. People offend me.

44. favorite food I’m a sucker for a good lasagne. but also cheesecake. I can never have too much cheesecake. I mean, I can, I’m lactose intolerant, but shush. Something are worth it.

45. if you were on a 10 hour flight and could sit and talk to any person the entire time, who would it be? If there’s booze on the flight, anyone. if not, literally no one. I’ll just pound back some Oxazepam and nap. wake me up when we get there.

46. when do you feel the most confident? never. ROFL.

47. what do you do on your free time? What is free time?

48. is there anyone who has completely lost your respect Oh yeah. If you’ve read this far, you might have an idea.

49. have you ever broken someone’s heart? Probably not, no.

50. did/do you play sports in school? In gym class. Oh, and I did that one summer to Tball and hated it.

51. when are you happiest? when I'm asleep.

52. coffee or tea? Tea. fuck your coffee.

53. what is one possession you own you wouldn’t want to live without? internet.

54. what is the first thing you notice about a person? Height.

55. what is your favorite season, why? I love winter, because I love everything looking so white and clean when the snow is fresh. But I also love spring because of the rain, and summer for storms and fall for colors and good weather.

56. what makes you laugh? What doesn’t.

57. are you a clean or messy person? I was given the nickname ‘Messy’ at 10 for a reason. It still applies.

58. what is important for a successful relationship? Be it friendship or romantic relationship, my answer is the same. Trust and Honesty.

59. what was your upcoming like? Do you mean upbringing? I had a single mom who worked all the time. I was pretty independent.

60. favorite holiday? Christmas.

61. what is the first thing you’d do if you won the lottery? pay off debts.

62. what’s the best pizza topping combination? Bacon crumble and cheese. Not bacon bits, fuck that shit. Bacon fucking crumble. its like, little balls of bacon or something and not many places have it anymore *sad panda*

63. favorite outdoor activity. meditation. Does that count? I just like to be barefoot outside.

64. how are you? honestly. It’s 9 am, and I’m already getting frustrated with kids. And I have a soccer game and medal ceremony coming up soooooooooooo.

65. would you rather go camping in the woods or stay at a beach resort? how about cabin in the woods, ooooor a beach resort with woods backing it. yeah.

66. what is the most beautiful thing in nature? everything.

67. favorite type of candy? Don’t got one.

68. if your life was a book, what would be the title? something super depressing, I’m sure.

69. what movie quotes do you use of a regular bases? “Later masturbater” (The Pest)

70. what was cool when you were young but not cool now? Frosted tips, mesh shirts, and snap away track pants on men HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA,. Oh, them early 00′s. I legit saw someone wearing them a few years ago and almost died.

71. what’s the craziest conversation you have ever eves dropped on? dunno hombre.

72. what’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched? uhhhhhhh

73. what’s the worst hairstyle you’ve had? again, 90′s. Mushroom cut with a nike check saved in the back HAHAHAHAHA. Oh man, everyone had that way back when.

74. what do you like to cook? most things.

75. what’s the coolest animal you’ve seen in the wild? wild beavers make me happy.

76. what’s the funniest tv show you’ve ever seen? Japanese game shows. nothing is as funny as japanese games shows. Human Tetris for example is fucking hilarious.

77. do you usually follow your heart or your head? Heart. Unfortunately.

78. what is your favorite quote? I’m not sure these days.

79. what’s the weirdest crush you have ever had? I’m not sure..

80. what’s your love language? I dunno. I legit just had to google what they were, and I’m not sure which.

81. do you ever feel alone? Always.

82. ever been bullied? Far too many times.

83. are you usually early or late? Early, thanks anxiety.

84. what kind of art do you enjoy most? these days, written. But I love paintings the most, i think.

85. what do you wish you knew more about? Everything. If I could, I’d go to school and learn everything that interests me even the slightest.

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