#pokemon theory crafting

[mr-kench]

Zygarde the Cryptid

Calling it right now Zygarde is going to be a cryptid in Legends ZA that potentially partakes in some domestic terrorism as they struggle to build Lumios City into a metropolis of the future. Zygarde will not like all this construction of an enormous city in the middle of the region and will mess with its construction. Torn down buildings here, broken machinery there, maybe a collapsed mine or two. All the while people talk about a horde of weird Green Dogs that move faster than anyone has seen breaking things or attacking people, or maybe a giant serpent that scares people off. No one has managed to get a good look at it but it starts causing mistrust of Pokémon within the city and works up both people and Pokémon.

#story writing #pokemon #pokemon legends za #pokémon legends z a #Pokémon legends #zygarde #Zygarde 10% forme #Zygarde 50% forme #headcanon #pokémon theory #theory crafting

[teabiscuits]

Pretty sure that Ultra Megalopolis from Sun and Moon is located in an alternate universe Paldea, specifically the city of Levincia. The region also shares numerous pokemon native to Alola, and has its own ultra wormhole phenomenon.

#source: watching my partner's game #the overlaps are a bit too on the nose #pokemon theories #it's all connected #woah dude #pokemon scarlet and violet #a bad game will not stop me from theory crafting

[hazelplaysgames]

as i was stocking the queue this morning/noon, i was chipping away at the run, and Clemont’s done. Rock Blast and Mud Bomb are good! level 47 across the board is workable, so it’s probably worth looking at what’s in the Laverre Gym and shortly after.

Level 40 Aromatisse is an interesting one off the Zubat... by level it should have Moonblast. there’s a Kelfki that might have Foul Play, and that same trainer has a Kirlia that could have Psychic. level 40 Slurpuff has Energy Ball and Draining Kiss, if the one Fairy Girl is mandatory, it could be worth going for here. and Valerie’s team has Dazzling Gleam, which might be a good fairy choice if Moonblast is a dud.

nothing worth mentioning at the Poke Ball Factory, but route 15 has wild Klefki if i don’t want to or someway can’t nab Foul Play from the trainer in the gym, and the Pawniard have Metal Claw, which is sorta nice. there’s also another trainer with an Aromatisse, just in case i suppose, and a Ranger with a Quagsire which has Earthquake. bad attack can be dismissed, it’s Earthquake. lastly on this route, there’s a Drifblim that has Shadow Ball, which... also hits Gardevoir super effectively and is probably a good choice for Olympia, it’s a pretty good idea actually.

Route 16 has Phantump available, and i can nab Will-O-Wisp off of them, which, y’know, status that whittles down poison and steel types is nice. they also got Forest’s Curse, but i’m not actually sure how that works. either way, i kinda don’t think that could be worthwhile. there’s i don’t think there’s any trainers there that’re worth taking something from, actually.

i almost forgot about the Lost Hotel, so lets see... nah, passing on all that. if i could get Self-Destruct off of Electrode i’d try for a laugh, but my target needs to survive using the move to get it, and the fight would be over against the wild ones anyways.

as general move filler, Screech might be a good defense lowering option. 85% chance for two stages could be well worth it. literally the only way to get that is surfing on route 22, Psyduck is the only one which learns it in the wild. because i typed it out, i remember Foresight as an idea.

#pokemon #smeargle x6 #my general typing flow involved very little active updates and a ton of theory crafting. whoops. #at the very least it's nice to have some record on hand i think. just for other people who want a little tip for their own smeargle runs.

[tobiasdrake]

Part of the problem that modern Pokemon faces is that Game Freak wants to move in an open-world direction, and that makes sense. Pokemon is definitely a franchise that could sustain an open world style of game design.

But Game Freak doesn't know how to make an open world game. This is the main problem that Scarlet/Violet faced.

Scarlet and Violet is a game where you can go anywhere and tackle anything in any order. In theory. The problem is, everything along the three routes has hard-coded levels in it. They don't level to you. Which means if you do go anywhere and forge your own road as the game's encouraging you to do, you will immediately destroy the game's challenge curve.

You CAN do anything in any order, but if you DO, then everything you do will either be:

1 - You were supposed to come here last. Their level 60 Pokemon shitstomps on your Level 15 Pokemon and now the game isn't any fun. 2 - You were supposed to come here first. Your level 60 Pokemon shitstomps on their Level 15 Pokemon and now the game isn't any fun.

The best way to avoid ruining Scarlet/Violet is to use a guide with recommended levels to linearly follow the intended challenge curve that exists, but that they just don't tell you about for the sake of preserving the game's "non-linear open-endedness". That is exactly the wrong way to design an open-world game.

Meanwhile, Teal Mask is shaping up to have a similar problem to Sword/Shield's DLC. That is, it's designed so you can do it at any point in your progression. You can pop over here and the levels are adjusted based on how much you've done.

The problem is, only levels are adjusted. But levels are only one way that Pokemon scales power. Pokemon forms are equally important.

So you come here early and the game is like, "Oh, you're early game? I gotcha. Your first opponent has a level 10 baby-form Poochyena!"

But you come here late and the game is like, "Oh, you're post-game? I gotcha. Your first opponent has a LEVEL 60... baby-form Poochyena."

And then Poochyena dies in one hit from the Skeledirge you slew the Elite Four with, because it's a baby form Pokemon that can't take a punch no matter how high its level is.

With the DLC in Sword/Shield and it sure is looking like Scarlet/Violet, Game Freak understands that level scaling is important to make their open world accessible. But they don't understand that level scaling isn't enough to keep encounters meant to be faced at low levels from being boring one-shots at high levels.

They're trying so hard to make an open world game, but they can't let go of the design philosophy of a carefully-crafted linear power escalation experience. There is still a specific order that everything is meant to be experienced in. They just aren't telling you what it is anymore.

This is more about the base game and previous game Sword/Shield than the DLC since I've just started Teal Mask. I just wanted to get that off my chest.

#pokemon #pokemon sv #pokemon scarlet and violet #drake plays pokemon scarlet

[salon-maiden-anabel]

POKEMON HORIZONS THEORY CRAFTING AND SPOILERS !!!

Lucius' identity...?

HEY SO . AM I LOOKING TOO FAR INTO THIS. ORRRRRRR

IS. IS LUCIUS TRANSFORMED INTO TERAPAGOS? IS HIS SOUL REBORN AS IT?

Are they terapagos' or were they lucius' ?

He was searching for something within Rakua; Paradise, saying he'd see his pokemon again; that he'd live on with Rakua. Is this why Terapagos has such a strong reaction to hearing about Rakua?

#pokemon #pokemon horizons #anipoke #pokeani #horizons spoilers #pokemon horizons spoilers #talk tag

[indulgentandidiotic]

Renaissance Man (Genshin Impact)

Synopsis: It takes a lot to cure your boredom, so you end up catching hobbies and interests like they’re Pokemon. –and how Xiao, Venti, and Xingqiu react. Warnings: Reader is just good at everything idk, talks about specific hobbies to illustrate a point, reader is more artsy (drawing, physical crafts, etc), you’re a business dude, this is a very big ego stroke have fun, not proofread, verrrrryyyy indulgent :D GN Reader

.~

Xiao

In all honesty, Xiao finds you annoying. At first. You were more overwhelming to him, and a bit too noisy. But he’s seen you around Liyue, and you’re pretty capable and polite otherwise, so he isn’t too bothered by your presence.

He didn’t indulge you in the beginning, as expected. But you were patient and with a lot of time on your hands, seeing as you were a wanderer who just took odd jobs and sold the products of your hobbies. You had long since taken up cooking, and hearing that the mighty adeptus Xiao favored Almond Tofu, you tried making it. Every time you stopped by the inn, you had a fresh plate of Almond Tofu that you’d leave out for Xiao.

Xiao was confused by your gifts. He was not a being who granted favors in exchange for gifts, so he wondered what your motives were.

But it was simple! Your journey to Liyue was both a pit stop on your way to the Chasm (exploring purposes), as well as to meet one of the less elusive Adepti (at least in the sense that his “base” was near mortals) to ask about the history of Liyue and its battles. The story books in the shops of Liyue were not enough to satisfy your curiosity, so you just had to ask from a primary source!!!!!!

Xiao did find you interesting despite your noise, he must admit, so he eventually warmed up to you, thanks to both that and your patience and gifts. You’ve learned to lower your volume and keep a steady speaking rhythm, and Xiao has come to enjoy your ramblings about random things, at least a little bit. 

When you visit Wangshu Inn, you two sit on the topmost terrace and drink tea as you talk about your travels and the knowledge you’ve gained, and he even answers your questions about the battles he’s fought in or the details of Liyue’s history sometimes, though you never push further if you sense he’s uncomfortable.

He’s thought mortals to be interesting creatures, in the sense that it’s hard to understand their rituals and thoughts, and that sentiment hasn’t changed. The more he listens to you ramble about the fish species in Liyue compared to those in Mondstadt, or about the theory of the fake sky and how deep that rabbit hole actually goes, he gets more confused about how humans think.

But… (thanks to the traveller and the events of the Chasm and Xiangling’s cooking event, etc) Xiao has learned to just. Accept you. He has come to find your company enjoyable compared to the days he’s spent alone. When his own, negative thoughts come to cloud his mind, you always seem to be there to distract him with whatever nonsense you’re spewing (positive). 

And you, happy that Xiao has warmed up to you, and him just becoming precious to you because of his nature, have given him gifts. Things that you otherwise would’ve sold, like teasets or clothing accessories or paintings, you’ve given to him. Xiao isn’t materialistic, but he appreciates the sentiment. 

What he appreciates more, though, is the time you picked up an instrument for him. You once saw him play the flute, and decided that hey~~ What’s another hobby, yeah? You’ve got soooo much time before your departure to the Chasm haha! So you learned the flute! And though he finds it embarrassing that you saw him playing and decided to learn the flute because of him, he enjoys listening to you. He even wrote down what he remembered of that one song, long ago, and you have since learned how to play it. Not with the same feeling as he once heard it played, but passable. o7

With enough pestering, you’ve even got Xiao to learn how to paint and crochet, too! He had refused at first, telling you how such hobbies were too delicate for someone like him, but you didn’t listen. You figured you were close enough to him now to be able to bug him to do things with you, and luckily, you were right!

Overall, Xiao enjoys your company. You’re quite lovely, and the way you speak about your interests with such enthusiasm and smile when you’re engaged with is a sight for sore eyes. Xiao is also very happy, though he’d never ever admit it, that you’re so patient with him. He doesn’t like to imagine how dull his days would become again, if you were to leave and never pay him a visit. You’ve given him distractions and peace away from his duties and painful past. You’ve forced him to learn skills that he would’ve never picked up otherwise, and he likes it. Not that you’ve helped him find “purpose”, but you’ve helped him to see that his anyone can enjoy his presence (you, the traveller, etc etc 👀) and that his hands can do wayyy more than just fight.

Please delay your journey to the Chasm!!!!! 🙏

Venti

Woahhhh!!!! You’re so talented omg!!! Will you craft him a bottle for his wine? Maybe you can weave a picnic basket for your escapades together! Hmm? Basket weaving isn’t a hobby of yours? Well it is now! Don’t look so weary! Venti will join you in making some!

He’s short on mora, ya know? Your interest in arts and crafts comes in handy when you can make mora off it! He’ll be pestering you for stuff now!

But in all seriousness, he’s impressed! You pick up new hobbies seemingly every moment, not necessarily getting bored with the old ones, but getting burntout so quickly.

Hanging out with him made you interested in music as a whole, and you started to play the lyre and violin to pass the time. Sometimes, when you’re bored, you’ll join him as he sings for the public.

You’re not one for composing music, at least not yet, so you often paint your ceramics while Venti composes new ballads on his lyre. You never really plan what’s going to end up on the ceramics, so you often find yourself subconsciously painting the scenes Venti describes as you zone out. 

Well, it seems Venti is your muse! Your adventures with him are frequent, so you find yourself indulging in your personal hobbies less often, but when you do, you’ve got a whole bucket of inspiration to use! His songs and rendezvous with you leave you breathless and fulfilled, and you wind down by sketching the moments that left impressions on you, or planning up a new embroidery piece. 

As he is your inspiration, you are his. It’s lovely having a companion like you, who is so willing to go anywhere with him no matter what’s on the agenda. He likes how focused you can get when crafting or playing an instrument, you just look so serene. Perhaps the next song he’ll compose will be a simple one, praising that one person who can do anything well and looks so good doing it~ 😜

Venti loves when you take an interest in music history. See, he knows allll the songs!!! He can sing each and every one for you, and while he may not know everything about the song, he’s sure to know about the context of the song and the general time-period it was written. It makes him happy to see how interested you are in what’s basically the history of his people; he’s glad there are still those who care to keep the legacy of those long-gone going.

Venti is wise and he is old, but that does not mean he’s seen everything. One of his wishes is to explore every nook and cranny of this world, and through you, he can fulfill bits and pieces of his wish. He enjoys listening to your infodumps on anything at all, even if it’s about that one specific rock only found in one corner of the world which is your favorite. It’s still information about the world, and so he is grateful. Please keep talking to him about your interests! He also loves how blissful you look when you’re speaking about such topics. 

Overall, Venti has so much fun with you that he can’t imagine life without you in it!!! He’s never felt this content before. Having you by his side as his muse, and telling him about all the things that you cherish and have an interest in, and connecting over the arts–those are things he wouldn’t trade for anything. Not even a bottle of wine! 😡🍾

Xingqiu

He’s got another person to gush about books to!!!! He’s so happy! Chongyun is great and all, but he doesn’t have the same passion for certain book series’ that he does! He is so happy he is crying sobbing shaking! He is recommending you books at every turn because he knows you’ll start reading them the minute you have a second to spare.

Your passion is immense, which he loves. You just get so interested and caught up in every little thing and he finds it adorable! (Careful, though. If you’re too adorable Xingqiu might start teasing you 😞) When you two are together, it’s a just a whirlwind of Xingqiu showing off his knowledge on trade and commerce and swords and martial arts all the while you look at him with awe and stars in yours eyes. Either that or you two are talking up a storm in the corner of some restaurant, tossing character analysis thoughts and theories on story development back and forth. 

Aside from books, he indulges you in your other ramblings, engaging with you even when the topic doesn’t particularly interest him. It’s the least he can do when you take the time to indulge him!! Besides, perhaps some of this information could be of use to the Guild in some way?

He is impressed by your art skills, too! He thinks you to be very sophisticated, what with your beautiful pottery and paintings. 

In fact, he was the one who brought up you selling your art. He prepared a permit for you and everything! 

He wonders if you can write well, too, if you had ever taken up the pen while bored. You had, actually. During your travels, you’d sometimes write poems. Xingqiu finds them a bit… well, you’re not the best poet, but everyone’s a bit cringe (says the person whose book is beloved by all of Inazuma).

Overall, you’re very important to him!!!!! It’s so amazing to have someone to gush about your interests to, not someone who just listens, but is fully engaged in what you have to say. He enjoys indulging you in your interests when it comes to the Guhua clan and its arts, as well as the general details of the Feiyun Commerce Guild, because he also gets to show off.

.~

I'm just silly!!

#indulgent writing 🍓 #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin #genshin x reader #xiao genshin impact #xiao genshin #xiao genshin x reader #xiao x reader #xiao #xiao genshin impact x reader #venti genshin impact #venti genshin #venti genshin x reader #venti genshin impact x reader #venti x reader #venti #xingqiu genshin impact #xingqiu genshin #xingqiu genshin impact x reader #xingqiu genshin x reader #xingqiu x reader #xingqiu

[t1meslayer]

Wasn’t expecting to get too excited about the 2024 Pokemon Presents, but that curveball Pokemon Z as a Legends game with Game Freak taking extra time for development is pretty hype.

Kalos deserved better than X and Y, so hoping it gets a lot of love!

Anyway. I’m here because I want to share my day 1 moonshot theory before theory-crafting goes out of style.

It’s all based on this image here from the Legends Z-A trailer:

I understand the point of this trailer is to show Lumiose City’s redevelopment blueprints coming to life. But my brain said “Fullmetal Alchemist.”

So, what if this game reveals that the city planner behind modern-day Lumiose (preferably a cunty, femme-coded ancestor to Lysandre and/or Sycamore, let’s be honest) designed the equivalent of an Amestris transmutation circle? Either to reactivate the ancient weapon or mess with the balance of nature some other way to draw out Zygarde for yadda yadda evil plotting.

#Actually ancestors for both Sycamore and Lysandre should be in the game #And they should be in lesbians with each other l #History repeats itself #That’s all I’ve got for now but just know I’m excited #Kalos really does deserve better and Arceus set a good precedent to build upon #Pokemon #pokemon day #Pokemon Presents #Pokemon Legends ZA #theory #Lumiose City #Fullmetal Alchemist #FMA #Catch me next year when I’m way off about everything #zygarde #sycamore #lysandre

[babyjakes]

❄️ 15 + 1 QUESTION GAME ❄️

trying to lighten the mood over here with a tag game i was included in, thanks @starksbabie for the tag!!

1. are you named after anyone? i think i was named after one of my mom’s dear friends from childhood

2. when was the last time you cried? yesterday, listening to olivia rodrigo 😔👍

3. do you have kids? does winnie count? (no 😌)

4. what sports do you play/have you played? sooo many in childhood: basketball, softball, track, etc. figure skating and dance were the ones that stuck. these days i’m into leisure walking and skating still

5. do you use sarcasm? yes? i try to. i sometimes feel clumsy or unnatural doing it though

6. what is the first thing you notice about people? how their voice sounds, how safe or unsafe they make me feel

7. what’s your eye color? dark brown

8. scary movies or happy endings? both! though i haven’t watched many scary movies recently, after seeing one that really messed with me lol

9. any talents? my Autism Thing/Gift is music. i’ve been training in music and music theory since i was a toddler. i also consider my empathy and people skills some sort of talent or gift

10. where were you born? south korea 💕

11. what are your hobbies? writing, painting and other crafts, music composition and performance, pokemon, the sims

12. do you have any pets? my sweet sweet kitty 🫶

13. how tall? 5’3

14. favorite subject in school? music theory, creative writing

15. dream job? all through my childhood and even into the beginning of college i was set on becoming a kindergarten teacher 🥺 unfortunately teachers don’t make livable wages here and gun violence is so rampant that i decided to abandon the field

16. in place of ___, what reminds you of home (doesn’t have to mean house… just things that remind you of the feeling of home? i didn’t skip any but here’s my answer anyway: the gloves my mom left in my car the last time we went shopping together, the sound of my cat’s purr, little towns in rural wisconsin

no pressure tags (a super ton of them bc i miss interacting with my friends!!): @nony-bear @eulalielatibule @hansensgirl @thebookbakery @worksby-d @foxgloveprincess @stargirlfics @jtargaryen18 @phoenix-rising-starbird-one @candy-and-writing @lilacevans @evansbby @sweater-daddiesdumbdork @jakeysangel @sparkledfirecracker @navybrat817 @chrisevansonly @munstysmind @nana1000night @brandycranby @jamneuromain @thesummerpetrichor @ttyls @levans44 @eloquentreverie @witchywithwhiskey @jen-with-a-pen @sunshine-on-my-mind @vellicore @chxrryhansen @cats-and-sheep @heck-heckers-hecking @bambibabysblog @bucky-boo-bear @chcmpagnes @myrealmstuff @bejeweled-mastermind @hallecarey1 @melissaceciliah @rosierosierosie307 @mutual-monsters @uhmellamoanna @minoots @babyblue2244 @lostandlonelyduckling

#eun got tagged #tag game #15 + 1 questions tag game

[jasper-pagan-witch]

Pop Culture Deities & Spirits: Common Questions

Image description: A screenshot of a comment left by Runa from @serpentandthreads that says "What are the theories to explain pop culture deities and spirits? What qualifies as a deity in pop culture magic/religions? How does one go about forming their personal craft based on pop culture magic, when it is so new and has little resources?" End image description.

These are all such wonderful questions, Runa! So you'll have to forgive me for breaking these down bit by bit!

What are the theories to explain pop culture deities and spirits?

There are many! On account of not knowing them all myself, I'll just cover two - the egregore theory and my own theory.

Egregore Theory

To quote Wikipedia for a simple definition, an egregore is "an occult concept representing a certain non-physical entity that arises from the collective thoughts of a distinct group of people." Historically, this referred to the watchers of Enochian traditions, but I'm not getting into that because I'm not part of any Enochian tradition.

In recent times, the term also refers to figures such as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny - they're very easy to know about and run into (in the United States at least), and they have very simple jobs that they do for particular reasons.

So in this theory, the worship of a pop culture deity or spirit by multiple people would bring it into creation, especially if you count any worship in the source the deity or spirit comes from.

I've actually known people who wanted to work with a lesser-known pop culture spirit, so they started out by building up worship and offerings first to either bring the spirit into existence or to help them form a bit in our world. (Though out of respect for everyone's privacy, I'm not gonna name any of the people or pop culture entities involved in that.) It was fascinating to observe from an outside perspective.

My Theory

As I so lovingly and eloquently stated in the past, my theory for how this works is that magic and the universe and shit are already so goddamn weird. Another way I phrase it is "you can't prove that any of this is real, you can only prove the impact it has on the lives of you and other physical people", which also applies to questions about why appropriation is bad.

My craft runs on experimentation first and foremost, not what other people say is or is not possible. My little wizard heart continues my experiments and compares them to other experiences I've had.

If I reach out to Azura and get a response back, then clearly Azura exists in some meaningful way. Through experiments like these, I've come to find out that Azura has a similar energy to "historical" deities I worship, such as Athena and Aphrodite, so I've felt comfortable continuing my worship.

(Quick side note: I use "historical" to mean "deities not from a form of pop culture", such as the Greek, Norse, Egyptian, and Roman pantheons. We'll discuss this further down.)

My theory really is "fuck around and find out".

What qualifies as a deity in pop culture magic/religions?

This one greatly depends on the person and practice.

You have people who believe that any figure from pop culture can count as a pop culture deity. (While I was writing this, I found a post discussing Eevee as a pop culture deity.) You have people like me, who have a different idea of what a deity is and use "non-physical entity" as the catch-all term. Ultimately, the answer to this question is highly personal.

To me, "deity" has a particular connotation. If an entity is worshiped as a deity or deity-adjacent figure (the Aedra and Daedra, Legendary/Mythical Pokemon, et cetera) in the source, I’d consider that to be deity work.

If I were working with, say, Son Goku, I'd consider that spirit work or hero worship, because even though he has a Super Saiyan Shark-Jumping Bullshit- I mean, a Super Saiyan God mode, he's not worshiped as a god in the Dragon Ball series, and that's the primary difference for me. I actually mention in my post about Vadrok that I see Legendary MTG critters like him and Alesha to be spirits that you can holler at, not deities.

How does one go about forming their personal craft based on pop culture magic, when it is so new and has little resources?

This is an even more complicated answer because no two pop culture practices are going to look the same, even when drawing from the same source. For the low bar example, let's use me and @kaosmage aka Faust aka the @strixhaven-biblioplex for Magic: The Gathering-inspired spell work. We both draw from the cards of the game as inspiration for spells.

I take a more card-first approach, often using the card, its pictures and symbols, and its effects as the basis of a spell. For example, look at my Cradle of Safety spell, where I take inspiration from the presence of the feathers and heron medallion in the art to call on Sigarda (long story, look at the Innistrad lore, good luck) and incorporate the usage of feathers into the spell proper.

Faust takes on a card-inspired approach, as seen in his Curse of Clinging Webs spell. Sure, he's got the spider webs in there, but he doesn't have cheap Halloween spider decorations in there too (which is probably for the best because you can only get those between August and October from most retailers and he posted the spell in January). It's probably a good thing that he has significantly more chill than I do.

What was I talking about again? Oh, right, forming one's pop culture side of their craft. The great thing about pop culture magic and paganism is that it can blend almost seamlessly with almost any other practice because you can draw as little or as much inspiration from pop culture as you want. Find something you love, something that inspires you, and work from there using the same methods you'd use for non-pop culture magic.

Just want to loop the Streets of New Capenna OST during a ritual? Sure! Want to get a Daedric Artifact replica to put on your altar? Why not! Need a spirit pal or familiar and run into a Charmander? I've been there! Want to dedicate the next four years of your life to the study of pop culture magic and how it varies between different people? That means you're me and we must fight at dawn for the right to keep our names.

My advice? Just give it a shot. Only you can figure out what works in your craft.

Bonus section: Jasper babbles about "historical" deities and how pop culture is older than it looks.

Something that's always skinned my potatoes upside-down is how people treat pop culture paganism as something "harmful" but then those very same people turn around and worship Aradia, Eostre, and even Mesperyian, all of whom were made up for fake documentaries (Aradia), assumed to exist based on the name of something else (Eostre), or made up for a mythology writing assignment for class (Mesperyian). Does this mean they don't exist? No! But they're not "ancient goddesses". They're just a slightly older version of pop culture paganism (except for Mesperyian, who's one of the younger versions).

There are also historical deities who have fallen to the wayside, such as Cernunnos. We have little to no idea of what his deal was, which unfortunately left us to pick up the pieces later and have to work twice as hard to figure this mess out. So we're working on very little historical information and a pop culture understanding of this deity's "thing" - a god of wealth in the time of 14 CE Gaul has a very different understanding of what can be done and what is usually asked for do than a god of wealth worshiped in 2022 CE Missouri.

Anyway, that was my dive into "pop culture paganism isn't as new as people think it is so please stop being a dick about it to random pop culture pagans on Tumblr, thank you". I hope you enjoyed this bonus section, because this is a problem that comes up a lot in pop culture paganism discussions.

#jasper post #pop culture #pop culture magic #pop culture magick #pop culture pagan #pop culture paganism #pop culture witch #pop culture witchcraft #deity work #spirit work

[mushroomsandteeth]

Can we talk about this bitch for a moment?

ALSO LEGENDS ARCEUS SPOILERS FOR LIKE, THE WHOLE GAME.

Volo I think is a lot more complex than people give him credit for. Like the twist reveal of him as the one who not only opened the rift but also is now trying to destroy the world is amazing but a lot of people took that and just turned it into "this man is 100% a bastard" and I don't think it does.

Gamefreak does this thing with their villains where if they want us to know the villain is "wrong" but still has some good parts they give him a crobat. Why? Because you can only get one if you are kind to your pokemon. Its a friendship evolution. This started with your rival Silver in gen 2 who only gets his crobat when he learns his pokemon are his friends not tools. For an example of a villain who doesn't have a crobat look at Ghetsis who is a complete asshole with absolutely not redemptive qualities. But villains like Archie, Maxie and even Cyrus to an extent have crobats because they think what they are doing is right and just want to help in one way or another.

But what does this have to do with Volo? Volo doesn't use a crobat.

Volo instead uses Cynthia's team which has THREE FRIENDSHIP EVOLUTIONS. Not to mention while Cynthia's ace is garchomp, Volo's is Togakiss. Why is this important? Togakiss's line focuses on only wanting to be around happy people and bring happiness to others. This man loves and cares deeply about his pokemon.

Also Volo mentions his motivation for his actions. Its vague but we can do some theory crafting. He mentions that he has witnessed some pretty horrible things in his life. He talks about pain and suffering. His wants a world without pain and suffering. Now Cyrus had the same motivation but I think he and Volo would execute remaking the world in different ways because of how each of these men are portrayed. Cyrus pretty much wanted a void with no emotions. The distortion world is probably close to what he wanted.

I think Volo wanted to make a paradise. He wants a world were people and pokemon can be happy. This man doesn't want to destroy the world because he doesn't care about it, he wants to destroy it because he cares TOO MUCH. And he can't handle it.

There is a tragic desperation to Volo. A man who wants so desperately to stop his own and others' suffering he would remake the universe.

I have more thoughts about this but I'm gonna stop for now.

#merchant volo #volo #pokemon #pokemon spoilers #legends arceus

[the-grove]

So we we're thinking of trying to narrow down who the potential starter Pokemon for Pokemon legends Z-A could be, assuming they do something similar to pokemon legends Arceus. So lets see who can we cross out...(Via pure speculation and theory crafting)

The Kalos Starters themselves, if it is similar to Arceus than it is very likely that we won't have any of the actual original starters for Kalos... they will be available in the game at some point but they won't be starters..

The Second Kalos Starters AKA the Kanto Starters- In the original X and Y you were gifted one of the Kanto starters once you reached Luminise City. So I will be counting them as starters for Kalos as well. It is also just a theory but I feel like if a pokemon already has a Mega Evolution it will probably be not one of the starters.

The Starters in Legends Arceus- WIth a wide variety of choices I feel like it is unlikely that they will go to the same pool of pokemon for the second legends game.

The Hoenn starters- This is Pure Speculation on my part, it is the ones I am least confident about. But the Hoenn starters all have Mega Evolutions, and I feel like they are going to want to put the focus on new mega evolutions/ new regional forms for these starters. So I just see these as Unlikely

The Elimination Round is over.. lets look at potential choices....

Now there is one Pokemon I am almost certain will be one of the starters. Another trend around the Pokemon Legends Arceus, is that they connected the pokemon and the new form to Japanese lore and history. There is one pokemon that Immediately comes to my mind for Kalos (AKA France) PIplup and its final evolution Empoleon are literally named after Napoleon Bonaparte, I double checked and this is something that is true across most if not all of the languages so this isn't just an American naming convention thing. With me that I'm sure it's very likely that Piplup will be the water starter and we can cross out the remaining water type and the other Sinnoh starters.

Next up there is another pokemon that has a connection to France. and that is the Snivy or Serperior line. Sugimori specifically mentioned Lady Oscar from The Rose of Versailles manga which is about the years leading up to and during the *The French Revolution,* Bulbapedia also makes note that some refrences might be connected to Louis XIV but thise seems less certain. So while I actually secretly hope i'm wrong and that it will be Chikorita(who deserves some love and a rework that a regional form could provide) I have a strong reason to believe it will be Snivy/Serperior

That would lead three pokemon Scorbunny, Fuecoco, and Litten. And honestly of these 3 I would have no clue. None of them seem particularly connected to france. I would say Fuecoco seems unlikely since its from the most recent generation. But Rowlett was also from a fairly recent generation... and then it hit me... Rowlett wasn't the most recent generation..but the generation right before that. And now lets look at Scorbbunny and Cinderace a bit, and Galar. Galar and Kalos if like there real world counterparts would be fairly close, and potentially have history together. Soccer while not unique to France is popular there. I think while it is the one I am least certain of I have to say it seems like a reasonable possibility. Sorbunny also would gives us one mammal, one bird, and one reptile which fits nicely in terms of creature diversity. So that will be my guess!

So just based off speculation my guess is that Snivy, Piplup, and Scorbunny will be our starters for Pokemon Legends Z-A

#pokemon legends #pokemon #piplup #scorbunny #snivy #starter pokemon #Cinderace #Empoleon #Serperior #kalos #pokemon legends z-a #pokemon legends ZA

[quirkwizard]

I loved your idea of ​​a Quirk based on chimera ants ('Incubate'), If possible, could you expand? I can't stop thinking about a user who can advance their Quirk to the point of being able to create a "Chimera" intelligent enough to communicate, and can even fool other people into thinking that the Chimera is actually a person. It would be funny and incredibly scary >:D

So technically, with Incubate, someone could make some version of Pokemon, Digimon, Bakugan, etc? Was also wondering if it would be possible to get evolutions, gear, or aliases for Incubate, unless those are banned right now, in which case please just ignore this until your ask box is at a more manageable level.

So to make things two very clear: the user cannot make anything with true intelligence or independence. It's the user giving them mental orders. What you are suggesting would never happen. The most speech they would have is parrot-like at best. Second, while the user could attempt to make reproductions of those creatures, they wouldn't have any real power. The user is pretty limited to real world plants and animals, no metals or electronics. Like Venusaur isn't too crazy, but Magnemite is.

For "Incubate", equipment is hard to come up with. Not only because it's a minion Quirk, but because the minions the user makes are so diverse and what the user needs can't be carried around. So any kind of support items the user would have would depend a lot more on the minion and what they would give them. Otherwise, most of the equipment would be stationary, like a fulling stocked kitchen and a hatchery to help them develop the eggs. Maybe they could have pouches like Tamaki, constantly keeping themselves fed with certain foods if they're growing an egg. As for looks, you could go for the caring animal handler look, but let's be real. If you have this Quirk, you are going for the mad scientist or the evil overlord look with the abominations you make.

Training would involve a lot of experimentation on the user's part. Eating different foods and working to modify whatever egg they try to make. And while they wait for the egg to grow and hatch, they can read up on various foods, plants, and animals to try and theory craft what would come out. Once they are made and hatched, the user could start practicing training their monsters, learning to properly command and utilize whatever abilities they'd happen to have. This is one of those cases where starting small is for the best. Wasting time on a bigger minion would only prevent them from training their power for longer periods of time. Plus, focusing on smaller ones could help them try and decrease the amount of time it takes to grow an egg.

Evolutions would could see the user increasing the speed at which minions grow and hatch by very small increments. Maybe they can even try to flash create something, but this is pretty terrible idea for many reasons, as flash cloning always is. They could try and increase the amount of traits a creation could have and remain stable. This could let them stack affects in new ways or expand what each individual one is capable of, offering greater variety and power with each one. They can gain better control over the minions once they have been made, like being able to give more complex or long term orders to it. Otherwise, the evolutions would come from the user simply accumulating more and more of their minions for their command.

#My Hero Academia #Quirks #Original Quirk

[hazelplaysgames]

i got a few hours i need to stay up for right now(i’m a slow person when it comes too greenlighting textposts) and i don’t want to get too far ahead without at least making a post about it, so with a bit less fanfare than i really want, the Smeargle X6 is officially on!

i named this group after simpler hues: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple. my original idea was to name Orange, “Gold,” and Purple, “Violet,” to go for a theme of Pokemon game colours, but i actually already used Violet for an Eevee for the first Let’s Go Eevee run way back when, so. called it! i also traded this six in, so the early game could get a bit hairy. Korrina strikes me as the major roadblock this game.

i’m actually at Santalune City at the moment, about level 11 all around. Red, Orange, Yellow, and Blue all have Tackle, Purple has Leer, and Green has Poison Sting, just in case, i suppose. i already got plans for the second moves: two Thunder Shocks from Pikachu to secure Viola, a Confusion from a Ralts, two Leech Seeds from Bulbasaur, and Thunder Wave from a Plusle. i shouldn’t hit 20 by Plusle anyways, so that should be fine. i think it’ll be when i finish the Glittering Cave that i’ll hit 21, and conveniently, Onix and Machop there give me some gold standard stuff, Fighting and entry hazards ways. i’ll leave much further speculation when i get there though, but i think i’ll pass up on Stealth Rocks for now, i think fighting types resist it anyways.

#pokemon #smeargle x6 #i have spent an hour double checking and triple thinking everything. yes. slow. #an extra half an hour because i won't stop theory crafting yeehaw. #i am concerned about Korrina. can you tell? #i IMMEDIATELY forgot my plan and put gust on Orange by the way. #i'll just settle for one thunder shock then i'll live.

[quicksilverlightning]

A Theory on Cogita

Some Discord dialogue left me theory crafting about Cogita, so let's jump in shall we? Thanks to @praazlwurm for help with the conclusion!

It's been common speculation that Cogita is long-lived/ immortal, and that she may have written the Ancient Verses. This round of conjecture relies upon the evidence of two things:

That Cogita has been around a While

That Cogita did indeed write the Old Verses

I will spend an eternity… until the one with the mission appears Old Verse, Number 11

It seems I'll be able to fulfill my duty at long last, thanks to you Cogita, during the first meeting

Alongside a claim that we have no evidence of:

That the Old Verses are true.

This is not to say that the Verses are wholesale falsehoods - much of them are certainly accurate, or as accurate as one can be when dealing with gods and events before recorded history. However, from the very beginning, Cogita has a... let's say ambivalent relationship with the truth. Even as the end of the world looms above, the truth has to be finessed out of her. At no point in our journey did she seek us out, not when people were being hurt, Pokemon were suffering in their frenzy, the various groups were on the edge of a peace that could break at any moment - why?

(I've heard any number of theories, but lets set them aside for now - the point is, Cogita had the ability to help at several points, and chose not to.)

Looking at the Old Verses, a number of them are concerned with either the existence of various beings of legend (1, 6, 7, 8, 16, 17), the Ancient Hero and his retinue (3, 4, 10, 11), or the writer (2, 9, 14). Cogita clearly knows quite a lot - yet, there are only two verses about the Celestica people (5, 20). Why does she seem to know more about ancient events than more recent ones? Or, at least, why are the ancient events written down, but not whatever tragedy befell the Celestica?

Which brings us to the only other known descendant of the Celestica, Volo.

The very first thing we hear from Cogita is not directed towards us, but to Volo:

Shirking your work to come pester me again? Even beneath a bleeding sky, you never change.

Cogita has no reason to distrust Volo pre-reveal, yet consistently treats him dismissively at best, numerous times over:

"Kindly spare me your doubts, young man. I know the old words and what they bid us do. How true they are isn't mine to know

How nonchalant you sound. How confident of successes to which you contribute nothing

"Watch"? Is that all you really do?

So what's her deal? Why is she so callous towards the only other member of her lost people? I believe the answer is in her very first line - she believes Volo has come once again to ask questions that she doesn't want to answer. Which of course leaves us with a different question: why doesn't she want to answer? Why is not only so accepting of the Celestica being forgotten, but actively hiding any information about them? Especially from someone with who she shares that culture?

And now, we leave hard-evidence-based hypothesizing and jump into the craziest thing I could come up with:

Cogita is responsible for the downfall of the Celestica.

Let's take a look at a Verse that I find very puzzling, Number 16:

"Heaven's crown, nearest to almighty Sinnoh… "Power of almighty Sinnoh, gather as stone at heaven's mount. "Stone, let your power flow— distort and bend the world around you."

This is not a verse describing something that already happened. This is written in present tense. This sounds like a summoning ritual.

And who is being summoned? Is the word "distort" not ample clue?

Now tell me, if this Giratina desires more than anything else to challenge almighty Arceus... where do you think it might appear?.. Exactly! Where one is closer to the heavens than any other place in Hisui! ...And where the space-time rift first opened!"

I propose that Cogita lost someone, as we read in Verse 2:

My own beloved is now gone from me, departed to a place I cannot reach.

And in her grief, she did something Unwise in an attempt to reclaim them. The Giratina statue in the Celestica Ruins was destroyed because, when they tried to stop her, Cogita turned its power upon her own people.

Still to my breast I clutch this hopeless dream, a futile wish for us once more to meet

And thus:

Once it shone upon us all, with all the warmth of welcome sun. "But now we weep, to grief we fall, starved of light now it has gone. Old Verse, Number 20

Further, I propose that is was Cogita who, however unintentionally, set Volo upon his path. She kept him distant from the only person from whom he could learn about his culture - herself - leaving exploring the ruins as his only option. One of these ruins, the Sacred Plaza, is where Verse 16 is found by the main character; Volo found that Verse at some point, and managed to infer enough to take the first step. Giratina once again manifests itself at the behest of a Celestican.

Enter the Player.

#this round of theorizing brought to you by the first shower I've had in five days #I've had mono #pokemon legends arceus #legends arceus #cogita #volo #pokemon volo #giratina #theory #pokemon theory #Old Verses

[stormwaterwitch]

I have a question about Deities that you can TELL weren't brought into existence by you, but take on a form of fictional media that you hyperfixate on?

Hyper-fixation vs 'Real Deities'

Heya anon~♥

The term you might be looking for is Pop Culture Paganism or the inclusion of popular culture into your practice. I have my own hyper-fixations and moods that I go through with my path so I'll speak from my place and hope that it translates well enough ^^); b There are forms of media that mean everything to me. Things that have helped form the very basis of who I shaped up to be. Through these medias I was able to define my very sense of self and I feel a deep connection towards them. In a way they are anchors to me, holding me together. Tethers to the parts of myself that I don't want to lose.

There is absolutely NOTHING WRONG with adding your pop culture fixations to your craft or to your path as your path helps to define you as a whole. These medias that you enjoy help to define you too. You see yourself in the characters, their struggles, their triumphs; their stories. It is natural to want and crave those characteristics for yourself, add them to your path or even celebrate them.

Ancient Greeks wanted the Strength of Ares, the Wisdom of Athena, the Beauty of Aphrodite. Were they not also stories that were told and are still told to this day? One of my personal beliefs for Pop Culture Paganism and the worship of Pop Culture entities as deities is that you just have to believe. Belief is part of what makes the magic real, what makes it happen.

-oOo-

Pop Culture MAGIC is something a little different but I do that over on my @pokemonmagic account more where I would utilize Pokemon for all the magical aspects they can provide to my craft as a whole~!

Some more great links and discussions about these topics can be found with these lovely people's posts!

Pop Culture Paganism & God Theory -@the-broken-stones Creating your own Pantheon - @thiscrookedcrown How I created my Pantheon Source Specific Pop Culture Paganism

Thanks for sending this in I hope it makes sense, please feel free to send in more if you'd like to keep talking about it!

Other Pop Culture Pagans feel free to chime in!

#Thanks for sending this in! #Pop Culture Paganism #Storm's Ramblings #I hope this made sense #I might have misinterpreted the post #Sorry to any hellenic worshipers I might have pissed off #Y'all the real MVPS

[meraki-sunset]

What other stuff do you like besides Homestuck?

i like to play games, my favorites are Portal, skyrim and pokemon, i'm playing pokemon emerald on an emulator on my phone, here is my team. it took forever to catch feebas but one day i'll have milotic

i recently started to play genshin empact and i really like it, it's really beautifull and fun

i really love tinkerbell and all that fairy universe, i have a bunch of books about it, i adored this one tinkebell book when i was little and now that i have adult money i tracked and bought all the rest of the collection, the main book that precedes all the others and the movie is kinda wild, tinkerbell brakes her leg while protecting Mother Dove from a wild fox with only a knife, savage

i like invader zim a lot but i don't draw that fandom as much a is used to, i mostly just consume fanfics and comics, so yeah, if you put together my three favorite fandoms (homestuck, invader zim, tinkerbell) turns out i just really like bug people. and well bugs in general, i love bugs

i'm really good a building and crafting stuff, like they say, jack of all trades master of none, i can do a lot of stuff. i fix shit around the house a lot, i want to make pottery again, i haven't done that for a while, , i can make cold porcelain figures and carve chalk, also i like to make figurines with aluminum chocolate wrapers, I can embroider and sew, i can make wire figurines, i made two grub plushies for my Bronya cosplay las week along with making the skirt from zero with my mom's help, here are some pictures

fui por la comicon cual madre luchona con sus dos bendiciones

i also like to foster kittens but it's been a while since i've been able to do it, it's really draining but also pretty rewarding, here are some of my fosters

the las one we kept her ^u^

i'm studying animation also, i'm getting better with anatomy and structure, i want to work as an animatior/storyborder one day

i like also criptid stories, specially local ones from my country, about ghosts on the sides of the road and the fae, mostly scary but super interesting stuff

so yeah, tho i'm mostly focused on the au this days i like to craft stuff, read fantasy and science fiction, play games and acumulate lore from diferent fandoms to make theories about them