#ngl I would love to see her as a league champion one day

[aqqleshiqqing-archive]

What are the most important relationship events for you? Drop a timeline! wiiiith Steveeennnn

my favorite event with stevaide has to do with what I created, called the slateport slowburn - this happens before the actual events of RGB and the arcs to come after. basically the whole stevaide romance happened before the canonical events (all of them). everything will be written under readmore :]

stevaide has two "arcs", but I'll just focus on the one where the slowburn comes into play.

so for context - steven and jaide (aged 11/8) had met each other when they were younger though it only lasted an entire day. young steven was in johto to go rock hunting with his beldum when he was harassed by wild zubats in the cave, and young jaide who was just collecting apricorns nearby the area - heard him and came to rescue him. they had a brief exchange before he had to leave, but to steven this left a major impact in him. before he departs, he gave her a shiny rock as a way to say thanks before leaving. she also notes his beldum, saying she never seen one before and would love to see it in it's final evolved state. (despite how much information is displayed here, there's still a lot of bits I left out, like. 90% but I just summarized it and it sounds kind of bad here ngl PFFTT)

and now. years later (aged 22/19?) jaide goes to hoenn as she hears that hoenn prides in contests and she hoped her aprijuice business could work well here since they're performance enhancers. she eventually became popular in hoenn and was regarded as "the johto lady in slateport city" since slateport has that little corner of little shops near the beach and everyone would always go visit her there. steven, on the other hand - is aiming to become the next champion for hoenn. he hears about this "popular aprijuice drink" and that's where he suddenly remembers, and the rock he gave her became her necklace - he remembers the rock because it became her necklace later.

he attempts to say hello to her, hoping she'd remember him - but. she doesn't remember him. this is surprising to him because he remembered that moment years ago so well. maybe it was because he thought he was going to die, so it's burned in his memory. counting the days before steven would take on the league, he would try to visit jaide who always appeared on slateport and try to befriend her - though she wasn't willing to build that connection with him because he ended up becoming an irritance to her. there's a little gag where jaide's now evolved ursaring is constantly on the look out if he appeared or not and would notify her about it LMAO.

but eventually steven does give up, and decides to focus on the league and battles the e4 and champion (which, tbh I wouldn't know who but he just fought a previous champion)

eventually he did win, and the whole hoenn region cheered for him. he won with his partner pokemon, metagross. which jaide in turn realizes that this man was the boy she saved with his beldum years ago and he was actually trying to reconnect with her as old friends. she felt guilty, and maybe she could get a chance to tell him that she does remember him? say sorry maybe? who knows.

after the whole hype over steven being the champion has died down, steven for the last time - would visit slateport and tell her that he's sorry for being a nag and won't bother her again, but to his surprise this time, she comes fourth to him to congratulate and admit that she actually does know him but due to the years, had forgotten his face. but she still wants to be friends with him. a rough beginning to rekindle their friendship, but everything's been said and done - and eventually they got along quickly.

it just so happens that jaide is actually staying in hoenn for a while, so she's still a bit unfamiliar with the region - but since she's friends with steven, he happily takes her around the area to introduce her their lifestyle, and this is where their friendship developed into that of a romantic attraction. (she fell first AHA)

#thanks for the ask! #i called these two events “pre I” and “pre II” and rgb comes after that #my only issue with this whole timeline making is that ruby's age would conflict but i dont care anymore because #i kept thinking about it but nothing seems to spark any ideas so surhdjkdfjsjsk #i promise you theres still so much unmentioned tidbits to the story so if this feels a bit cluttered then that's why lmao #♥️ memoryshipping #oh and that's why its called memoryshipping! now you know <3 #~ mail #🍀 selfshippinglover #id be surprised if anyone bothered to read this entire thing but if you do. i appreciate it despite how messy it is haha

[cheemken]

Saw your latest art, and Geeta and Diantha are definitely rumoured to be dating despite just being friends. These two idiots will spend the day with each other then share a bed and be confused about the rumours

Also I know you have your Villain Diantha AU, and her whole reason is that she wants to get rid of those she herself deems “filth” or “to far gone” so that the world is a better place and she can rule/dictate the planet

But what about the other champions? If in separated AUs why would they become the villains of their worlds? What caused them to go down a separate path then their original counterparts?

No but fr tho imagine all the fucking rumours Dia has to hear from her manager abt her and Geeta tho hahaha these two are like the definition of kissing the homies goodnight and they can somewhat do it in the most platonic way like they'll sleep together whenever they're staying at another champion's or each other's place and the first time Geeta joined them the others also thought she and Dia were dating hahaha

And ohhh👀👀

Ngl tho, the villain Dia au was originally villain Lance bc I did write two chapters of it too, and he got Giratina from Cyrus hahaha so in a nutshell it's the same corrupted Galar League bc of Rose thing and Lance went all knight mode and killed Rose for Diantha. But another concept I thought that maybe he did snap sometime before that bc people kinda look down on him despite being the Indigo Champion now, as they know Red and Green are still around and those two just probs gave Lance that title bc they dont want it anymore, leading different lives now. And Lance didn't really take that well bc hey, he's a strong trainer y'know, ofc he's Champion, but still people kinda see him as a stand in for Red and Green and he fucking hates it, so during the tournament he went above and beyond to try and beat everyone, and if they're close to winning against him, well.. Dragonite's Hyper Beam will be the last thing they'll see

Idk how'd Steven would be villain tho bc of all the champions I see him as the kindest and the most open minded, so he'd probs have no problems other than the ones he buried for so long na. I do wanna say that maybe he does see Wallace struggling tho, and maybe he would want to change the world for him and Lisia bc hey, those two are his family now too, he loves them very much, and he doesn't like seeing Wallace struggle anymore, so maybe he would do a Diantha and change the world for the one he loves. Tho, unlike Dia, I imagine Steven as a villain to be the kind that's extremely inconspicuous, more so than Diantha. Like legitimately no one knows he's behind every shitty thing that's happening to those who don't like Wallace, bc unlike Dia who showed herself to Malva, Steven kept quiet and just watched from the sidelines

Same w Wallace ngl, but I also think that if smth were to happen to Lisia, he would snap and lash out on everyone. Think of Team Aqua, but tenfold, it didn't help he's the Guardian of Sootopolis too, this mf knows where Kyogre is and knows just what to do for the legendary Mon to bow to his will, and soon everyone will die in the same sorrowful waters that drowned him

God villain Cynthia is also reallyyyyy *wild hand gestures* cause like imagine her similar to Volo, acting all friendly then stabbing the trainer in the back. She knows abt Galactic and tried to "help" Dawn and Barry on stopping them, but she never really stopped them y'know, if you catch my drift. Like she's equally curious what Cyrus would do, what would happen if they open the portal to the Distortion World, and she did find out abt it. She watched Cyrus die in front of her, watched Dawn battle Giratina, and stared Giratina dead in the eyes, telling it that if he joins her, he'll finally escape the Distortion World and let the people see just how much more powerful he is compared to Arceus. And ough smth smth Giratina seeing Volo in Cynthia's place, sees the potential in Cynthia, and God imagine if Giratina did possess Cynthia tho, and Cynthia's playing along too bc now people really know she's unbeatable, now that she's a god.

Iris and Hau I can't imagine them as villains but I can imagine the others becoming villains for them. like,, back then I had this concept, y'know the song Hell's Coming With Me by Poor Man's Poison? I have this thought that people really looked down on them so much that the two became ashamed of showing themselves to the public, but Iris was pissed y'know, and made a vow that when she and Hau returns then all hell will break lose, she will make sure of it. The people thought she was just bluffing, but then suddenly all the champions went against the people of their region, against those who look down on Iris and Hau especially, and the two are just happy y'know that the other champions are "taking care" of em by taking out the people who shit talked them

Leon,, same w Wallace?? Like if smth happened to Hop? Cause he does care abt his bro y'know. But I also wanna add that maybe Rose did smth to Hop when Leon was acting out of line and that was the final straw for Leon and really up and killed Rose, bc Lee really couldn't bare the thought of smth happening to his brother, and if he's going to make sure nothing bad ever happens to the one he loves too (so basically like Diantha, do you see now why these two make me so fucking ill like cjmsndmd)

Ough Geeta my guy so in my hcs she's like,, she's struggling w feeling empathy, y'know, any sort of emotion really. And she's trying, and Diantha's helping her and such, but I also wanna say in the Villain Geeta au, as much as she loves Diantha, she also doesn't listen to her much. So most of the time she feels kinda empty, even though Diantha's helping her. I wanna say in this au, she did know what happened to Sada/Turo, and she was there when it happened, she knows what will happen, but she never warned them of the danger, bc maybe if smth happened to them she'd feel something too. And when they died, she didn't feel anything but the thrill of watching them dying over their own research. She didn't understand why, perhaps they weren't that close, but there's smth abt it y'know, watching others suffer that makes her feel some sort of thing, and it made her feel alive. Tho w this bc I'm trash for these two, if Dia did get hurt tho, that's when Geeta would really feel absolute anger, if those who hurt Dia won't die naturally, then she'll kill them herself. After all, it's one thing to feel that thrill watching someone die, imagine how much more she'd feel if she's the one to actually kill them

#as you can see dia/leon and dia/geeta dynamics continue to fuck me up no matter the au owo #tho i do wanna add in leons part #that he doesnt want to become the absolute ruler of the world like dia #he just wants those he see as a threat gone #anyways yeah theres smth so fucking sexy abt the champions being villains #like imagine an au where all of them are villains tho #like not the actual evil orgs like rocket plasma etc #but like twist villains? secret villains? that they got the power to their heads #and all of them think that theyre the only ones worthy in their world #idk but its interesting to think abt it hahaha #pokemon champions #an ask and an answer #jerseyk112 #villain champions au

[notoriouslydevious]

Mel by Ramgunom

#mel #league #arcane #league of legends #leagueoflegends #arcane mel #mel arcane #piltover #mel fan art #mel arcane fan art #arcane mel fan art #Ramgu @Ramgunom #Ramgu #Ramgunom #ngl I would love to see her as a league champion one day #league arcane #arcane netflix #netflix #notoriouslydevious

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 227: Basically Just Me Saying “Holy Shit” a Bunch

Previously on BnHA: We went on a semi-enlightening romp into Toga’s past. Basically she was an adorable child who just so happened to have a taste for blood. And whoever’s job is was to explain to her, “hey Toga, I know you like blood, but other people like being alive, so, you know. Let’s explore some other options for you,” they basically dropped the ball there. So after she murdered her hapless Deku-looking classmate in middle school, she went on the run, and we basically know the rest. Back in the present, Toga had just been blown up from the inside out as you may recall, so she spent most of the chapter kind of out of it. At one point Kizuki even started talking about her like she was already dead, reassuring her that she’d become a martyr for the Army’s cause (which, no thanks). But then Toga managed to stumble to her feet and transform into Ochako as she tried to flee. It was revealed that while transformed, she can use the quirk of whoever she’s turned into, and she proceeded to demonstrate this by floating Kizuki (and half her redshirt goons) a hundred feet into the air before dropping her back down to the pavement. Yeah. So I’m pretty sure she’s dead now. Ah well.

Today on BnHA: Toga passes out in a shed after a job well done. We learn that the MLA is recording all of the fighting, most likely for propaganda purposes because as we have previously established they’re a bunch of dicks. Hanabata confirms that Kizuki is dead and gets the Army all fired up. They charge at Tomura, who is really fucking sleep-deprived you guys, and as he stands there blinking at them he has another flashback. Turns out the little girl from the previous flashback was his sister, and back when they were cute lil munchkins and she was still alive (sob), she showed him a picture of Nana and told him that their grandma was a hero. Tomura doesn’t remember this clearly, but he remembers the accompanying emotions, which is enough to get me hyped out of my mind fyi. Back in the present, Tomura disintegrates I’m-gonna-go-with-about-200 Army henchpeople basically instantaneously without even touching some of them, which, oh shit. And then Dabi is all “oh cool I want to do some mass murder too” but before he can let loose, some dude with fucking ice powers shows up to challenge him. I guess this means we’re never going to get Touya VS Shouto, or if we do it’s going to be very repetitive. But it’s not like I’m complaining either way. Here’s hoping the villain flashback trend continues next week because omfg.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter like an hour ago lol. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity, but aside from that this is as close to a live liveblog as I’m going to get. It took two-thirds of a year, but these recaps are finally caught up.)

this is so exciting guys. I mean, for me the reading process is basically the same, but the posting process is going to be a new one since I’ll be trying to get this up the same day once I’ve read it! so you can expect many exciting errors and brain farts! prepare for the full brunt of my unpolished rough draft thoughts!

so anyway, here’s Toga

lol so much to analyze here. real quick:

“sleepy.” if that isn’t the most relatable chapter title in the history of time, though

loving the “my villain academia” logo in the background! as far as I’m concerned that’s the official title of this arc

“the conclusion of the battles” y’all I read this and I was like “what?! already!?!” but then I realized they’re talking about volume 23, which features the conclusion of the joint training battle arc. so who knows how many more villain battlin’ chapters we’ve still got ahead. I have a feeling we’re already winding down, though

note how all of the stuffed animals are stabbed. ah this girl

it’s 2214, who the fuck still uses polaroid cameras. that would be like someone in our time using a [googles inventions from 200 years ago] modern suspension bridge. ...wait

anyway you guys maybe I should start reading the actual chapter already if I want any hope of actually getting this posted before fucking midnight though

oh hey, so Toga is dying in a shed you guys. fun

I’m not really thrilled about this! to be honest! I mean for fuck’s sake she’s only 17. she was blown up from the inside out. and although the consequences initially seemed to have possibly been handwaved, it appears that no one can escape BnHA’s realistic injury clause for long! so. yeah

I get why she hid, because it’s not like the others are just gonna drop everything to come help her (although Twice, though...), and there are enemies everywhere so this is probably safer. but it also means that if she passes out here there’s a good chance she’s not going to wake up again! and that is bad! that is very much not good

what she really needs to do is call Ujiko! hitch a ride out of there while you still can! he is a doctor, right? even if it is the questionable mad scientist type! worst case, you end up as a Noumu. actually, wait a sec, maybe we should think this through

and yet the fact that she’s still laughing, though. just. goddammit. I love her so much. I swear to god Toga if you fucking die...!!

so now she’s curling up in the fetal position and thinking “once again I’ve gotten closer to you”

yeah, Deku really does do this every other week. or he did for a little while at least sob

and now we are cutting to ReDestro who for some reason is monologuing about Toga!

oh right, because he had the cameras and shit set up to livestream that shit

okay but is it just me or is he not looking at any cameras. he’s just enjoying the view from his little observation tower same as before. does his quirk allow him to see everywhere at once or what

is it bad that I barely even paid attention to the actual content of his ramblings lol. it’s just the same old same old. blah blah society rejects anyone who’s different, it’s so unfair, blah blah

it’s not a bad point, mind you; it’s just that RD and his army are completely full of shit and acting like they’re so much better even though they’re just a bunch of mur-diddly-urderers. it’s like how PETA acts like they’re champions of animal rights when really they mostly just kill shelter animals, insult Steve Irwin, and claim that milk causes autism. but I digress sob

oh shit I forgot about this dude

here I was thinking there was only the one other miniboss to go before the big bad. silly me. how could I have forgotten that two page spread and our friend here with the Gorillaz mouth and the Beatles haircut

wow are you serious?

Giran sitting there with one skeptical eyebrow raised thinking about how these guys threatened to kill him in order to lure his friends out so that they could, you guessed it, kill them!

and also, way to completely disregard the dozens of other minions who already bit the dust before Kizuki. like, your entire town is basically doomed, guy. but sure let’s cry for the one dead villain who actually had a name though

holy shit you guys

are you telling me that’s why you were recording the whole thing? is that why you invited the League here in the first place?? for the fucking publicity? kill the bad guys and earn the public’s good will? did I miss that part of the planning sesh, or was this objective already painfully obvious and I somehow either missed it or forgot all about it?

either way it’s amazing how these guys become bigger assholes with each progressive chapter

oh now he’s explaining it all on the next page lol. so I guess I didn’t miss the memo, good

okay but first he’s getting real physical with my boy Giran here though

okay first of all, all he did was say “footage...?” like wth was so fucking impolite about that. and second, why do I get the feeling that there’s probably a fair percentage of people who read this chapter and got to this panel and now suddenly ship it sob

I mean, he just got so up close and personal though. all up in his face. this guy has such a weird energy and it’s really creeping me out now ngl

anyway so here we go with the explanations

holy shit you guyssssssssss

when did Giran get so fucking hot?? and is he single?! asking for a friend???!

anyway so now RD is wiping away his crocodile tears and says Giran is lacking in imagination

oh hey

what an interesting segue back to Tomura!

wow, Spinner’s asking how much longer until Big G wakes up, and Compress says one hour and twenty minutes. so that means they’ve already been at it for like an hour and fifteen minutes! minus however much time it took to warp over and then follow Back-Stab n’ Go out to the center of town for the ambush. even if that took a whole half hour they’ve still been fighting for a long time! but I guess they’re more than used to that by this point, thank you so much Ujiko and your six weeks of brutal endurance training

Spinner’s all “no matter how many we defeat, they just keep on coming!” and I know, dude, it’s almost like there’s over one hundred thousand of them or something dfskdj

although to be fair, probably not every last one of them is actually there. can you imagine. it might take a whole nother hour to beat them all

now Hanabata is driving in on the back of an election van. because apparently he just fucked right off in the middle of his fight with the League, and then came back. with a van

so he’s all “EVERYONE I HAVE SOME DEEPLY SADDENING NEWS” and oh my gosh what is it

oh

yeah dude we already been knew. RIP and all that

so the crowd is all distressed and asking what the Supreme Leader said

really?? that’s what they call him?? yeah you guys aren’t evil at all

and Hana quotes, “‘do not let her sacrifice be in vain’“

sorry bruh. but. it’s gonna be in vain. hate to break it to you

right??

GASP

TWICE STOP BEING AWED AT HANABATA’S INFLUENTIAL AURA AND START PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DUDE WHO’S SNEAKING UP BEHIND YOU AND TRYING TO SNATCH YOUR MASK OFF

anyway so in the meantime this is happening

maybe there are 100k of them. seems like there’s a lot. I do like that from this angle it appears that Tomura and the others have holed up in a relatively narrow alley, thus creating a choke point and limiting the number of enemies who can attack them all at once. although this panel does make it look like there’s just a big ol’ wave of bad guys surfing their way towards them though, so it remains to be seen how effective this strategy will actually be lol

eh?

yeah no shit boy you’ve been fighting Daruk from BotW for the last month and a half

anyway so apparently he’s feeling ~weird~ though

I shit you not guys, my sister was hospitalized a couple months back (she’s fine now) because she started hallucinating after a three-day bout of insomnia. shit is no joke. don’t be like Tomura. go to bed and don’t stay up all night fighting villains

-- OH SHIT!?!

ASDFALSDFHLKSDHLFKJHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

IT’S A LITTLE GIRL!! AND SHE’ S OPENING A SECRET DRAWER!!

SHE’S ALL “IT’S OUR LITTLE SECRET!” OH MY GOD

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SWEET JESUS MARY JOSEPH!? HORIKOSHI DO YOU FUCKING READ THE THEORY POSTS ON TUMBLR JUST SO YOU CAN IMMEDIATELY SHIT ON THEM TWO DAYS AFTER?? HOW THE FUCK

AND IS NANA’S SON WEARING DEKU SHOES?? OH MY GOD PLEASE

AND THIS MEANS THE LITTLE GIRL IS ACTUALLY TENKO’S SISTER SOBBBBBBBBB NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

BUT ON THE PLUS SIDE THIS MAKES TOMURA MUCH MORE LIKELY TO GO APESHIT ON AFO’S ASS IF HE COMES TO REALIZE THAT AFO INDIRECTLY MURDERED HIS SISTER OH SHIT

BUT SHIT YOU GUYS, SHE’S SO CUTE AND SHE’S FUCKING DEAD NOW SOB THAT’S SO FUCKING HORRIBLE I MEAN IT I’M REALLY UPSET THOUGH

BUT LET’S CONTINUE WITH THE FLASHBACK TO SEE IF HORIKOSHI WANTS TO TOY WITH MY EMOTIONS ANYMORE!!

NANA DIDN’T DO A GOOD ENOUGH JOB ERASING ALL TRACES OF HER CONNECTION TO HER CHILD AND IT EVENTUALLY RESULTED IN HIS DEATH OH SHIT. I’M SERIOUSLY SO UPSET ABOUT THIS??

NOTE HOW BABY TENKO’S FACE IS PURPOSELY BLACKED OUT EVEN THOUGH (A) HIS SISTER’S IS NOT, AND (B) WE SHOULD, IN THEORY, ALREADY KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE! IT’S BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE THE SCARS OR THE WHITE HAIR YET CUZ AFO HASN’T WIPED HIS MEMORIES. [nods sagely as though I have any sort of proof of this whatsoever and it’s not all just wild speculation and conjecture]

HANAAAAAAAA oh shit I better come up with another nickname for Hanabata then. looks like it’s Back To The Full Name for you mister

!!?!?!?

okay you guys I think this is intentional misdirection. we’re meant to believe that Tenko’s dad was perhaps abusive and that his behavior toward his son ultimately triggered the awakening of his quirk and led to all of the subsequent Horrible Things happening

but I think what it actually is is that Tenko’s dad probably resents Nana for giving him up. and maybe Tenko wanted to know more about her and maybe he got in trouble for it? because now Hana is showing him the picture, and then talking about this mysterious conversation with their dad and saying she’s on Tenko’s side. so that’s my bet

anyway! but this means Tomura might not need as much convincing as I previously speculated! I figured he probably wouldn’t know much, if anything, about his grandma even if he did somehow get his memories back, because he was only four when all that shit went down, and Nana had parted ways with Tomura’s dad years ago. but if he actually did know a bit about her and even possibly felt a connection with her, as this flashback suggests, that could go a long way towards fueling his eventual breakaway from AFO’s side once All Might is able to explain the truth

ahhhhh you guys this is exciting I’m excited. though also still very sad though because wtf seriously

so Tomura’s tiredly thinking that the least his stupid memories could do is show him the whole picture instead of these fragments. “it’s like a broken tape recording or something”

HOLY SHIT

...I have no words. holy shit

anyone else getting flashbacks to the Highway to Hell though? what is it with Tomura and periodically pulling off the most badass stunts in the whole fucking manga. all because he didn’t get his nap dsflkjlk

ReDestro look at this loss of life. are you crying again. no, I can’t imagine that you are. you ass

you guys are probably getting tired of me just going “holy shit” over and over, but

hooooooooooooly shit

guys, if Tomura can dust people without even touching them he might as well just change his name to fucking Thanos and we’d better start praying this kid gets redeemed and soon

so now there’s a panel of Tomura being all drooly, and honestly he looks like he’s about to pass out. not sure if this is intended to be a glam shot or what lol

ohhhhSHIT

YESSSSSSSSSSS DABI. DRACARYS

!LKJDSLFKJLSDKJF!!

OH SHIT YOU GUYS, IT LOOKS LIKE WE’RE ABOUT TO GET ALL A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE UP IN THIS BITCH

who is this weird little black mage. I’ll tell you one thing, he’s the only guy I’ve seen so far who’s actually dressed appropriately for fucking December weather, though, so good on him

will he defeat our boy Touya (spoilers, he won’t)? will Touya have some flashbacks of his own (TOUYA PLEASE), since that seems to be what all the cool kids are doing these days? will I lose my fucking shit all over again next week? stay tuned! but yes I absolutely will, oh jesus this is awesome

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha 227 #toga himiko #giran #shigaraki tomura #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #are there any theories about tenko's sister possibly still being alive? #please you guys I need there to be theories where she lived #justice for the shimura sibs #brb going to pore through the entire manga looking for clues about who she might be if so #she's probably a couple years older than him #but we don't know her quirk #she could be anyone dammit #shimura hana please show yourself please I need this

[sage-nebula]

pokemon (games) and/or pokeani for the meme?

I’ll go ahead and answer for the anime, since although I prefer the games, I think the anime works better for memes like this.

the first character i ever fell in love with:

Ash Ketchum, way back in 1998. He was pretty much an instant fave for me, and no doubt contributed to my love of snark and sass (given that his name could have just as easily been Sass Ketchum and would have arguably been more accurate).

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not:

Manon. I liked her well enough at first, but the way her stans constantly bashed and degraded Alan while using that degradation to prop Manon up (often by making him her trophy boyfriend, which is really disgusting when you consider not only the age, but the maturity difference between them) quickly ruined any fondness I had for her. The fact that she got off scot-free in the show without having to realize or own up to any of her own mistakes or shortcomings (while Alan took the fall for all of them instead) didn’t help.

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not:

Mmm, I can’t really think of anything for this one. I don’t think there’s anything that I used to seriously ship in this show that I don’t ship now. There are casual ones I can think of that I no longer even casually ship, but even those were more of a shrug and acceptance rather than something I actively liked.

my ultimate favorite character™:

ALAN [SYCAMORE], FIRST OF HIS NAME, HEART OF A CHAMPION, SOUL OF A DRAGON. It’s honestly no contest. I cannot think of a single character in the whole of the PokéAni that could come even close to comparing with him. I still block on sight for any nonsense hatred or condemnation thrown his way, and I regret nothing. 

prettiest character:

I mean … I know I’m biased, but …

My valiant dragon son is beautiful. I mean, in particular, his eyes …

He has dragon fire in his eyes. You don’t get much prettier than that.

my most hated character:

Paul. He’s straight up abusive to his pokémon, and him learning to give them the absolute bare minimum of care and praise at the end of a match (or losing to Ash at the League, which I literally do not care about at all) is not enough for him to curry favor or earn forgiveness in my eyes. He can go burn, and for that matter, he can take that bastard Damian from the OS right along with him as he does.

my OTP:

Ash/Misty will always be endgame to me, as well as Jessie/James. 

I do think that it’s probable that Ash and Misty would end up dating other people as they grow older—that Ash would date Dawn for a while, for instance, and that Misty would have a relationship with Lana—but at the end of it all I think they’d find their way back to each other, once they’ve grown up and matured and realized that, while their first crushes on each other might have been puppy love back when they were kids, now that they’re older … it’s deeper and more meaningful than that. It’s real.

As for Jessie/James, I think those two are soulmates, however you want to interpret it. Maybe their relationship stays platonic forever. Maybe their relationship is romantic. Maybe their relationship floats in a nebulous space between platonic and romantic, undefined as Meowth rolls his eyes from the other side of the balloon. Whatever the case, I don’t really care as long as they’re together. That’s what matters most.

my NOTP:

Aside from the obvious ones of bestiality, incest, and pedophilia, my answer to this would have to be Alan/Manon. I never liked it to begin with because of the age / maturity gap between them (honestly, Manon acts like Bonnie, the show parallels her to Bonnie, and Alan is so mature people often mistake him for an adult despite Malva referring to him as a boy, how is this even a question), but between how the show handled their relationship and how the ship’s stans (who are always Manon stans, from my experience) handle it / treat Alan, I honestly want to scrape my brain out with an ice pick every time I’m reminded this ship exists. It’s a trashboat of epic proportions as far as I’m concerned.

favorite episode:

It’s less one single episode, and more one trio of episodes: OS022 - OS024, a.k.a. “Abra and the Psychic Showdown”, “The Tower of Terror”, and “Haunter vs. Kadabra.” Those three episodes left a major lasting impression on me as a kid, in a good way. That depiction of Sabrina as a villain with a creepy monotone, who had a small “doll” that represented her childlike innocence (that was still villainous in her innocence!), and the way she presented a formidable threat that no one else in the series had managed until that point … not to mention the backstory with how she drove her own parents away (and turned her own mother into a doll), how she was always waiting for her father to show himself again, how she drove herself to that point by obsessing over her powers (I would too, ngl) … man. I loved everything about that trio of episodes. I still love that trio of episodes. There are quite a few episodes in the OS that I turn to regularly whenever I just need something to watch, but I think those three are extra special.

saddest death:

LATIOS IN THE GUARDIANS OF ALTO MARE. At first I was like, “wait, did anyone who wasn’t a villain ever even permanently die?” AND THEN I REMEMBERED LATIOS AND HAD TO CLUTCH AT MY HEART FOR A SECOND. RIP LATIOS, YOU ARE MISSED.

favorite season:

It’s a tie between the very first season (Kanto), and the second season (Orange Islands). While both had their faults, what I like most about those two seasons that latter seasons (even in the OS, with Johto!) lack is how organic they feel. Kanto especially was created before the Pokémon Anime really decided on its identity, and chose a formula to stick to for successive seasons, most likely because they weren’t sure they were even going to get successive seasons back when they were making it (the series was supposed to end with Mewtwo Strikes Back, after all). As a result of this, we had some truly original episodes. We had the three episodes with Sabrina that I mentioned above, but we also had episodes like “The Ghost of Maiden’s Peak” with a Gastly that could talk for reasons unexplained and who impersonated humans to keep a dead girl’s legend alive; we had episodes like “Mystery at the Lighthouse” with a giant Dragonite that was never explained or seen again (also, still mad at Team Rocket to this day for attacking that poor baby); we had episodes like “Electric Soldier Porygon” where everyone traveled into the internet with Porygon to stop a computer virus (and give 800+ Japanese children seizures, but that wasn’t supposed to be part of it); and we had episodes like “Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon” where Ash discovered that a bunch of fossil pokémon were living underground and, in the process of all this, almost got eaten by an Aerodactyl. And the Orange Islands, while slightly more tame, was similarly allowed to be pretty free and fun given that it didn’t follow the badge quest formula, and the Orange Islands weren’t drawn from the games, meaning that the anime team could do whatever they wanted with them. So between the anime not yet having a set formula in season one, and the anime being set somewhere completely new in season two, seasons one and two of the PokéAni had plots that were basically like:

That was every day in the first two seasons of the PokéAni, because the first two seasons of the PokéAni were already so goddamn weird, and they were better off for it.

Aside from how weird and strange the plot could get, though, I also feel that the first season especially felt a lot more organic than even the second because the effects of the journey were regularly shown on the main characters. They were lost pretty much all the time (which is why they needed to keep Tracey for Johto, tbqh; he was the only one who had a sense of direction). They were often dirty and longing for baths and laundromats. In “Wake Up Snorlax” they’re out of food and practically crying as the town they reach doesn’t have anything to offer them because it’s been so long since they’ve eaten. Ash, Brock, and Misty are two children and a teenager traveling across the continent by themselves. It makes sense that they wouldn’t always have a nice place to sleep, that they’d run out of food, that they’d be grimy and exhausted a good deal of the time, especially since they’re always lost. (They were lost for like 70% of the first season istg. The narrator even lampshades when it takes them two weeks to reach Vermilion City and they all cheer.) I really liked how the first season in particular showed them tired, grody, hungry, and lost for a good portion of the journey. It felt so much more realistic than the perfect, spotless journeys that came later on.

least favorite season:

Outside of Alan and everything to do with him, I’m not much of a fan of Kalos. I’m also not really a fan of Alola because I don’t think slice of life really suits this series as much as the adventure genre does, but it had some good cameo episodes and also has Gladion, so it has its good points, too.

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate:

Paul and Manon. Paul in particular is incredibly popular and I will never understand it.

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave:

Honestly, I’m not sure? I think the closest I get to this is Jessie and James, since they’re two grown adults constantly stalking and bullying a ten year old boy, which would be insanely worrying if not for the fact that said ten year old put them in their place literally every other day. (Plus I like to think they actually do really care about him at this point. It’s what I’d like to believe, anyway.) Maybe Cassidy and Botch would be better contenders, though. They have no redeeming qualities, they’re just assholes, but I’d still be super mega excited to see them come back.

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave:

ALAN deserves better than all he has suffered, and definitely deserves better than this goddamn unappreciative fandom. He is a burned cinnamon roll, been through hell and back, slightly charred, and he deserves the world.

Apart from him, though, Ash every time he gets put through some hell because of fate or destiny or legendaries or whoever the hell has decided to mess with him this week. After everything that went down in Kalos, can we really blame him for going to Alola for a vacation? And yet he’s STILL pulled into Ultra Wormhole nonsense! My god, just let this poor boy rest, he deserves it!!

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship:

Listen, I’m not one of those fools that thinks it’s canon, but I always loved the fic trope of Giovanni being Ash’s father because he and Delia had a fling way back in the day and I am grateful to that awful musical for giving it to us. The angst potential is real for this one, and I also like the idea of Giovanni allowing Jessie and James to chase Ash all over creation despite how it completely tanked their careers and potential not just because it “keeps them out of the way,” but also because it’s a way for him to keep an eye on his son without them ever knowing that’s his son. There’s some good fic potential there.

On a more serious note, while I don’t think it’s “wrong,” or “nasty,” or “makes me want to cleanse my soul,” I’ve always kind of shipped Spencer/Delia, too. The idea of Spencer Hale and Delia Ketchum finding love together later in life, and Ash and Molly becoming step-siblings as a result, is one that warms my heart. I know that Molly’s mother comes back at the end of Spell of the Unown, but … well, that was just a post-credits scene and so it’s easy to ignore. Come on, let Ash have a little step-sister. Let Molly have the mother she always wanted. It’s what they deserve.

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship:

I wouldn’t say I’m highkey invested in any romantic ship in this show, haha. I mean, let’s be honest, it’s not like any of them have a chance at development outside of small hints here or there, you know? So there’s no reason to get all up in a twist about it. So I think that most ships I ship could fall into this category. Cute, but no need to make a fuss about them.

#fandom meme #pokemon #pokeani #tangelomadness