#truly as much of a creature as a human character in pokemon gets

[creature-of-the-week]

Jovi from Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness (2005)

#pokemon #pokemon xd #gale of darkness #pokemon xd gale of darkness #gamecube #jovi #truly as much of a creature as a human character in pokemon gets #video game creature

[runawaycarouselhorse]

Have you done any watches of the pokemon arcs and talked about them? Someone I'm mutuals with discussed doing that for AG arc. I'm considering doing it for the DP arc since I still consider it my favorite arc in the franchise.

Aww, sorry, I was a child getting into fandom when AG was starting in Japan, social media was at its infancy too... i didn't even have a livejournal yet. I don't do full series rewatches either. But I am very fond of the Contest arc, Haruka/May and Masato/Max, the humour, and the warm and tropical colour palettes. I also adored the hoso specials (the Side Stories that got dubbed as Pokemon Chronicles, although the dubs for those were... infamously much worse than the TV series in script quality and accuracy), I used to downloa the specials and watch them in Japanese while slowly learning Japanese bit by bit because no subbing group took Pokemon seriously enough to sub it outside of banned episodes, specials, and movies...

It was a unique time, I think!

Rescue Ralts! Hurry, Masato!/Do I Hear a Ralts? remains one of the best episodes of the anime, period. The Wishing star of Seven Nights: Jirachi was my old favourite pokemon movie before Lucario!! I love that the dub kept KAORI's singing for May and part of Chiisaki Mono in Japanese.

AG is criminally underrated, despite introducing concepts popular in fandom, like Hadou/Aura. Satoshi apologizing to Lucario after seeing his memory of apparently being abandoned by Aaron was the turning point for me where I truly felt Satoshi mature as a person and become much kinder and more patient. He was so prone to fighting people, he was much more of a (pint-sized) hotblooded shounen protagonist before that, but I adore the all-loving hero he grew into. How he helped Hikozaru/Chimchar heal in DP, how patiently he dealt with both Shinji/Paul and Shootie/Trip being jerks to varying degrees compared to the way he was before (solution: run screaming and throw himself at whatever problem exists, fists flying), the growth I personally cared about was visible even in the first episode of BW! where he's annoyed or exasperated by what he encounters, but keeps his temper in check and just makes faces in disapproval, fff.

He can still, of course, fight those who deserve it, like Largo's bullies and Sauboh/Faba.

So, yeah, I loved AG! It also has one of the only battles to ever excite me (anyone who knows me, knows I HATE Pokemon battles, they make my eyes glaze over... it's just not interesting to me unless a fight has, like, swords or something—I really do watch Pokemon more for the cute friendship stories, ships*, and idealized humans living in harmony with nature and other non-human creatures setting)... it was Haruka VS Shuu in the kanto Grand Festival! I was literally on the edge of my seat. I loved seeing her surpass him and his little look of approval and smile before she went from concern to happily celebrating with Wakashamo/Combusken. They had a beautiful story arc going from him looking down on her (while gifting roses like he's harboring a secret crush, fff), to respecting her as an equal, even dropping the -kun honorific he used to use after her name, when he saw her as a kouhai/underclassman and himself as her senpai/upperclassman, and moved to calling her just "Haruka"... after she saved his life, I believe!

I feel like that was Pokemon's best written romance amongst th main characters, it didn't overtake her story arc, it added to it and she still had her goals outside of that, it only added to her growth and story. ^^ It was innocent and sweet.

I am convinced that "for Agehunto/Beautifly" line is how Satoshi saw through Kasumi/Misty's lie in the final series.

I also adore the episode were Haruka and Nyasu/Meowth go back in time and save a man's life and improve a whole town (?) by doing so. It was a fun, moving episode.

The dub harmed this a bit with music choices and voice acting, but from the look of things, people still found it quite emotional (I still vastly prefer the original, no contest!), so Arbok and Weezing's release episode. Interesting that poacher Ryo/Rico was one of the last criminals shown using a real world gun and modern day weapon... maybe also because it doesn't look familiar to a lot of people as a real firearm...

*I got into Pokemon and Sailor Moon via a Rocketshipping fanfic set in the Silver Millenium when I knew nothing of both series and was used to only reading Harry Potter fanfic as an 11 year old! The secret backstory, pffft. So I watched for TR. ^^

I used to review Best Wishes! episodes, the earliest reviews were on my livejournal ( http://inkedfeathers.livejournal.com ), later mini reviews were on my now deleted tumblr blogs, but some reblogs exist... some DP episodes too! BW! was my favourite.

#Advanced Generation #Coordinator May #Contestshipping #Rocketshipping #tohjofalls #PokeAni #Pokemon #replies #asks

[kiroons-hyperfixtations]

🍕 🍀 🧠 🍩 fae siblings and luci..

(This is so fucking LONG)

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

Oh god I don’t know. This is honestly something I don’t think a lot of for my ocs. I feel like Fate’s and Calamity’s favorite food would be something that was originally from their homeworld. What is that? I don’t know! I haven’t thought about it much other than fae cuisine has a lot of fruit and vegetables in it and is usually very sweet.

It also something they cant probably ever have again. Aevium is a very different world from their homeworld and have very different plant life that doesn’t exist in the other so yeah. Sad moment there.

Lucifer’s is a lot less deep. He probably likes something simple like Dino Chicken Nuggies lmao.

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

For Fate, the ending of V13 lmao. I usually like to play as the canon MC. Yes they’re usually blank slates but I find enjoyment in taking the canon playable character (or one of them) and seeing how I end up perceiving them and creating my own interpretation. It’s why I don’t have MC ocs for Reborn/Desolation and Decibel/Robin with my own interpretations are the canon main characters of Reborn/Deso of my own personal oc verse. Originally I was doing the same with Alain, then the whole Chapter 15 ending came and threw that out the window. I got really really interested and invested in the relationship between the interceptor and the host which slowly led to me creating Fate! So yeah Fate, and by extension Calamity, wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Rejvu’s crazy twist lmao.

Calamity came from the random thought I had. Does the interceptor have any family? Yes I get they’re meant to be a player insert but like, we have our own family. How would they feel if they suddenly disappeared from their family? How would the family members be affected? So yeah, Calamity was inspired by this thought I had lol.

Lucifer was just inspired by the Renegade route existing. I like evil paths, but I can’t really see Fate going down Renegade unless she was physically forced into it. I also wanted to explore a different way canon pokemon games insanely young protags could be shaped by their experiences.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

My favorite thing about Fate is probably the fact she remembers her past along with being a completely different creature from a human and coming from an entirety different world. I absolutely love to explore that part of her and how she interacts with Rejvu’s characters and the world and compares it to her own. She’s adjusted a lot by this point in the story but she will always feel like an outsider. Her in act 1 more focuses on her desire to try to get home to her world and Calamity and reactions to the world but after her death in Valor Mountain she began to believe she was truly stuck and just try to find her way to live in this new world.

Calamity same as above, I like to explore his reactions to a world completely different from his home world. But I also like how extreme his reactions can be when it comes to something he cares about (in the case of the story Fate). He can get very much tunnel-visioned if he sees/perceives her being in danger. When Fate first went missing Calamity instantly was on trying to find her, much to his detriment. He rarely slept, was much more snappy and just wasn’t taking care of himself. Once it was discovered it was most likely she got caught in a portal he goes on to open a dimensional portal despite it being a federal crime in his world, can cause insane amount of damage, and has a very high chance of death on the OFF chance he could find Fate again. This also leaves him extremely susceptible to manipulation from Clear and Kieran. He’s not a bad guy by any means, but he doesn’t see how his actions hurt both himself and the one he’s trying to protect.

Hmmm I don’t really know about Luci? I like a lot about him don’t get me wrong but I have a hard time to pin down a favorite for me to talk about. I like it all, I will vibrate extremely no matter what you ask me about him. He’s a brat, he’s a villain, he wants to destroy the world, he believes life is nothing but suffering, he is in no way kind to those who aren’t his pokemon but he’s also just a 12 year old kid, he loves dragon types, he loves to talk about them, he’s smart, he loves to play and just be a kid, but he can’t do that, he’s the interceptor, he was abused, he had his childhood taken from him, he’ll never get that back, he believes he was betrayed by the only people who cared, he’s scared of opening up because he believes he’ll just be betrayed again, he believes everyone is using him, he’s died multiple times in excruciating ways, he just wants to rest, he genuinely thinks what he’s doing is right for the world. Even after the reset his actions as the Interceptor before will still forever haunt him too his grave. HE MAKES ME SIFNSJBDJEBFJENWA.

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

Hmm Fate is hard to say, probably at this point Team Xen in general. They are actively trying to do something dangerous that they need to stop. She does got personal beef with Aurora though lmao. Aurora always likes to jump in and absolutely CRUSH Fate with her birds. Along with being the Deathwing to actually kidnapped Fate and Aelita, yeah her and Aurora got a bit of a rivalry going on. I wouldn’t say Fate has an arch-nemesis yet though…well….not yet anyways.

Calamity’s arch-nemesis at this point is just- Fate’s entire friend group in general. Like I said he’s being manipulated by Clear and Kieran to think that they are harmful to Fate, and Calamity is in no mental state to pick out truth through lies, he just wants his sister back. He’s had the most interaction with Ren though, as he joins Kieran in tag teaming Ren when Fate is unconscious at the house in the past. Calamity being unable to get Fate just made him extremely upset and frustrated. So yeah, I’d say at this point Calamity hates Ren the most of everyone which is…ironic given Ren is Fate’s best friend.

For Luci I’d say anyone against his goal in destroying the world. I would’ve said Madame X but after learning Nancy was a black box and created just to love him Luci felt really betrayed and has very complicated feelings in Nancy. He doesn’t like Madame X by any means but he’s willing to work with her right now. Not gonna stop him from being a brat though.

#I’m sorry this is so long you activated the brain cell Rowan #thanks for the ask! #oc: lucifer nash #oc: stella ‘fate’ aquila #oc: altair ‘calamity’ aquila #pokemon rejvuenation oc

[nintensonyreviewguy]

My Top 5 Nintendo Switch Games

Took a while longer for this to come out than I expected because of some other stuff in the way but here it is! My first video game review on Tumblr for all to see! Can’t believe it has been 6 years with the Switch as of quite recently on Friday, March 3rd. The system is still going quite strong and I have had so many wonderful adventures and enjoyed my time with each and every game that I currently own for it very much, especially the major single player games and multiplayer games with my friends over the years. I still remember the hassle it was to get one of these back in April 2017. I had to end up waiting a month more than most. It was all worth it in the very end and here’s to hoping for more good times in the future as the console continues to chug along. Looking forward to Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC as well as more for Nintendo Switch Online! I figured I would take the time to review my Top 5 Favorite Games for the system thus far. All the entries are based off of my personal experiences and are scored with a 1 to 10 star system. 1 star being the worst and 10 stars being the best. Rating System:

1. ★ - Completely Unplayable

2. ★★ - Terrible

3. ★★★ - Mediocre

4. ★★★★ - OK

5. ★★★★★ - Bittersweet

6. ★★★★★★ - Alright

7. ★★★★★★★ - Decent

8. ★★★★★★★★ - Great

9. ★★★★★★★★★ - Excellent

10. ★★★★★★★★★★ - Amazing

Reviews:

1. Pokemon Legends: Arceus 9/10 ★★★★★★★★★ 

A true contender for one of my top favorite game of all time thus far on the Switch. I know it's not very original to say, but I really feel like this is an extremely good take for Pokemon's stab at their version of Breath of the Wild. I feel like Game Freak honestly went all out for this and were given complete creative freedom and took their time with everything. The game is truly a masterpiece in my eyes that is a nothing short of a love letter to veterans of the series! The story, atmosphere, graphics, music, and characters all bundle up for a nice package of what Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl should of been with this prequel visit to the past version of Sinnoh from the fan favorite games of Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum called Hisui. I remember not being that fond of Legends: Arceus at first and being intimidated by the game's style and tone. I didn't complete the game until May of last year, which is unusual as I normally find myself completing most Pokemon games within a week or less. The story is really good. The tone is something that I want to praise from the start. It was truly something when I was being told that Pokemon are vicious creatures out in the wild and that they can kill you! The characters are really fleshed out with personality as well, including actual emotions for your player character, something that wasn't present in X and Y, Sun and Moon, and Sword and Shield or that wasn't simply able to be conveyed with sprite artwork before it. I love how much of the cast is implied to be ancestors of some of the present day humans in Pokemon such as Komado being related to Professor Rowan. It is really up to the imagination of you for some of the other less obvious character parallels. Even the small handful of new Pokemon that are introduced such as Enamorus being a fourth member of the former Forces of Nature trio of Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. It makes the whole world of Pokemon feel more connected. All of this is something I wish Game Freak would do more often. The plot feels like it is something that comes out of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games with Komado banishing you from Jubilife Village toward the climax of the game and being shunned. I also didn't expect Volo (Cynthia's ancestor) to be the final boss, especially given his kind nature throughout the game. Had I not looked at accidental thumbnails on YouTube spoiling his role, I wouldn't of known the whole time until my completion of the game. There are also several references in the games that are callbacks to the games of old and even get to use for the first time such as the Red Chain, which is what Cyrus originally had woven to shackle Dialga and Palkia atop the Sinnoh's Mt. Coronet in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. My one gripe with the game is the controls aren't exactly ideal. It's the only thing that is holding it back from a perfect 10/10. I did find myself occasionally pressing the wrong button and having a hard time with shuffling through the menus quickly. But please do not let my experiences with this be a deciding factor if you are reading this and possibly looking to purchase the game. I've seen people do a lot better than myself with it all. Legends is honestly something that I believe truly caters to everyone from the casual player to a hardcore gamer (I myself find myself being a blend of both leaning toward casual). The side quests are very fun and can range from anything to a collectathon of Spiritomb Wisps to completing a Dex entry for a certain Pokemon. I found myself ending with over 60 hours in total and that's with not even completing all that the game has to offer, including getting the coveted Shiny Charm for 100% completing the Dex. The final fights of Volo, Giratina, and Arceus are all something that offer a great challenge alone. All in all, it is a game that I can highly recommend to many people, even those that want to get into Pokemon games for the first time (although I may want to lean those new and uneducated toward Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee!). Thank you for sticking with me!

2. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: 10/10 ★★★★★★★★★★

There's a lot about Breath of the Wild that I can say that hasn't been said elsewhere, so I'll make this review a little bit shorter than the others for sure. The latest installment in the Legend of Zelda series, at least as of this writing with Tears of the Kingdom on the way in later May, is something truly of wonder! I remember getting this as my first ever Switch game back in April of 2017, a month later than most for sure because of the console being so hard to find. The fact that they throw you out in the world after the Great Plateau and that you are able to go in any direction is something pratically unheard of back in the day for games like these. A huge props to the Director of the game, Hidemaro Fujibayashi, Producer Eiji Aonuma as well as the rest of the developers for making it all into one nice giant open world. The game's objective itself is very clear. You are tasked to stop Calamity Ganon from rising once again after being held dormant inside Hyrule Castle for 100 years. You have to free the Divine Beasts from the malice that Ganon has invested them with. While not the greatest story ever written by any means, it all comes together super nicely and gets the message across! The music, while absent for most of the game in the field and only around at certain parts of the game, is there and when it happens, hits like a truck with emotional feelings you get toward all the characters in the story including Link and Zelda themselves, those that passed in the previous Calamity such as the pilots of the Divine Beasts as well as those still living. My only one criticism of the game is the lack thereof of enemy diversity. You mostly will find yourself fighting the same types of foes over and over again such as Moblins and Bokobolins. In short, I feel they nailed everything else about the game pretty much to a tee! I spent nearly 200 hours exploring all the nook and crannies with great fun and doing every single sidequest (with some help from a guide). This is coming from a Zelda fan nowadays who actually just got into the games with Breath of the Wild and only had minimal experience with Ocarina of Time for the 3DS all the way back in 2012. Something to totally pick up if you like Action-Adventure games and are new to the series or are even a returning veteran that is tired of the same old things from Zelda. The theme is all about breaking conventions and redefining the gameplay of a longstanding video game franchise, something the team over at Nintendo EPD did very well and right!

3. Pokemon Sword and Shield: 6/10 ★★★★★★★

I'm going to say something rather bold here in being that Sword and Shield are not as bad as everyone thinks. I feel that the games are constantly being berated for introducing a much hated mechanic of "Dexit", a term commonly used to associate the game with not having a National Dex. The first time that a controversal move has been done since back in the day when Ruby and Sapphire prevented trading of Pokemon from older games to the then current hardware. That being said, I feel like in order to fully enjoy the games, one has to purchase the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra Expansion Passes which add 210 older Pokemon in both of the two parts of the game for a total of 664 monsters in the games. I feel like looking back at it all, the base content has a couple of merits going for it. The Max Raid Battles introduced as a Raid Battle-like mechanic from Pokemon GO are very engaging. I found myself doing them on my own and with my younger cousin sometimes every single time that the Pokemon Company International promoted Shiny Pokemon to seldomly be featured in Raid Battles. I gathered up nearly 200 hours in Sword by the time right before Scarlet and Violet came out. Though the fact you can't see the Shiny Pokemon in the overworld like you could in Let's Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! is very upsetting. While Max Raids are much slower and more mindless compared to their sequel Tera Raid Battles in Scarlet and Violet, I feel like the simplicity is something that has it's charms. The Dynamax mechanic is pretty neat and I really like how some of the Pokemon change appearance in their giant state in a special version called Gigantamax, much like Mega Evolution from before. The designs for many of them are great such as the Kanto Starter's Final Evolutions. There are many little things about the game that I find very nice that carried over from the Generation VII games or were introduced as new altogether. The Exp. Candies, the Exp. Share always being on and not being an item, and Pokemon Box Link are part of the many things that make everything streamlined and have me feel spoiled compared to what we had back in the older days. It is truly something that once you start realizing the pleasures, you never want to go back to ways of old. The story isn't anything special. I feel Team Yell is less antagonistic and don't have as much depth. Piers, their Leader, may have been able to be executed better as a character and Rose, the main villain at the climax, was something that wasn't too surprising or exciting. Basically a beloved and highly respected authority figure that is corrupt in the end. Something I feel like I've seen before and not just with Pokemon... The player characters not having much expression to them in the few cutscenes was also a little bit of a let down. The DLC I feel adds a tiny bit more such as Regieleki and Regidrago, which I'm truly fond of for them adding to the existing Regi trio, a practice I hope is more common. Tying back to my Legends of Arceus review a couple sections above, it makes the world feel more intertwined. The amount of Regional Variants was a very solid number, unlike Scarlet and Violet's measly 4, as much as I hate to draw parallels again to a future game, especially one that has yet to release it's DLC at the time of writing. I didn't find the games as challenging as some of the other older entries. The fact there is no Elite Four and it is instead foregoed for the Champion Cup, is quite disappointing. You get your Pokemon healed between every match. The music itself is always a thing that they nail. I found myself really enjoying many of the battle themes and ambient tracks within the games. I still find myself listening to the songs on repeat to this day. Graphics themselves could of been a little bit stronger than the Sun and Moon HD version that we were given. In closing, I feel while the games are somewhat bland and don't stand out as much, they're still something that can't be ignored. For that, I give "Alright" 6 out of 10.

4. Animal Crossing: New Horizons: 7/10 ★★★★★★★

Animal Crossing: New Horizons will always hold that dark place in the hearts and minds of everyone as the one game that came out right in the peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic in March of 2020. It got popular very quickly. For me, it was a big bright spot and huge time sink of over 280 hours of fun in my life as everything I had going on in life was canceled due to the obvious elephant in the room. As unoriginal as it may sound, it really helped me through a very difficult time and I'm not just talking about COVID-19 either. I had a couple of life issues that were rearing their ugly head in when this was all going on. So, therefore, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this cute title. Now for the game itself. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a game where you are a human in a sea of anthropomorphic animals and try to adapt to life on a formerly deserted island as part of a getaway package. It is a perfect escape for many people at the time! You get complete and total creative freedom on what you get to do with the island after the first 7 days of tutorials with the game somewhat holding your hand and teaching you the ropes of everything such as the brand new and essential crafting system. The biggest thing of the game is being able to transform the island by destroying and creating cliffs and rivers using a terraforming feature. This is the stuff that dreams are made of, especially for veterans! You can do just about anything you want. No Isabelle telling you that the item is too close to another thing. Other mechanics such as the bug catching, diving, fossil collecting, and fishing all remain pretty much the same, which isn't a bad thing by any means. You don't have to fix what isn't broken. It is the parts I just mentioned along with terraforming that I found the most addicting. It felt so gratifying to fill in the museum and give Blathers all of the stuff that you've collected from your various times booting up the game and doing the morning routine (or whatever time you play). Coming from someone who has never 100% the Museum and used Action Replay to fill it in for Wild World all the way back, I will have a fond memory of earning bragging rights by finishing the fossil section on my Birthday in October 2020. This is about where the positives end though. The lack of some of the special characters that series veterans have come to known and love (or hate) such as Gracie, Mr. Resetti, and even some of the villagers themselves is rather unacceptable. I mean, I totally understand Mr. Resetti, but still, Gracie and some of the other villagers as well as even the special themed items such as the Zelda and fortune cookie prizes from New Leaf, felt like a huge slap in the face and what is holding the game down from being the best that it can be and for what the series is formerly known for. The game itself fell on hard times after 2021 when things in the world slowly started to get better. Nintendo very quickly dropped support for the game by stopping with the big updates. The Happy Home Paradise DLC that released in November 2021 marks the very beginning of the end. While my Grandmother who also enjoyed the video game as much as I did and got endless amounts of hours (I'm talking over 1,000 or more) from the game, I played for a little while after the update. Being able to play with my Grandmother, Mom, and Sister will always be a special time that I will treasure. My Grandma hadn't played a video game ever before and seeing the joy on her face and getting just as engaged as I was for a time was truly something special. But perhaps, attributing to my getting of a job in February 2022 and with things getting better with COVID-19, I had stopped playing the game as quickly as I started. It's still so sad to see that Nintendo is not supporting it to this day with bigger updates. It would of been very nice. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. For all of these various reasons, I rate the game a "Decent" 7 out of 10. It is still worth picking up if you like Sims but want the game to be full of bipedal talking animals.

5. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: 8/10 ★★★★★★★★

There's a lot that I can say really good and also really bad about Scarlet and Violet. The games are really great if they are not bogged down by the various performance issues such as the framerate, the constant crashing, and other bugs and glitches that are abound in the game. Thankfully, many of these issues and gripes have been fixed in Version 1.2.0 and other patches and updates going forward. I however, will forever remember not enjoying the games as much as their predecessors of Sword and Shield. I found myself playing more in Handheld Mode than with the TV mode I am used to because of the framerate being slightly better. The game has it's high highs but it also has it low lows. I feel that what it tries to do, it does really well. Such as the story. Seriously, first Legends of Arceus then this! The Professor(s) being an AI controlled copy turning evil and corrupt is something that I didn't foresee. When exploring Area Zero for the first time with the Arven, the son of the Professor(s), Penny, and Neoma, I literally had my heart skip a beat when I heard the Professor have a glitch in her voice (I was playing Scarlet, so it was Professor Sada). I played the entire game blind for the most part. This is probably why the review is as high as it is at a 7 out of 10 (and I also would like to rate it a little bit higher than the 6/10 I was to give upon replaying the game a little bit after Version 1.2.0's release). I feel like the entire story was well executed even with Team Stars not being "evil" per say. They are pretty much like a Team Yell 2.0, and that's not too much of an improvement but still better than what we got in the previous games for sure! The music is something else that I really like! Toby Fox and the many other composers who worked on the soundtrack really hit it out of the park! I find myself playing lots of the themes on YouTube on repeat such as the battle themes and the Area Zero theme. The Professor's final battle theme with the tone it sets is truly something I will never forget! My other issues include not being able to battle the Trainers on sight like we are normally used to and not being able to rematch the Elite Four at the League. I found myself missing a lot of Trainers and having to go back. The other more major thing though was the Gym Leaders not being scaled with your progress in the game like how the Wild Area was in Sword and Shield. I made a plan of the order in which I wanted to defeat the Gym Leaders in the game only to realize that it was actually set in the end with Katy being the lowest and Grusha being the highest. The Gym challenges themselves aren't that special. I found Katy's Gym being the most frustrating and annoying with rolling the olive ball through the course. Finally, the new Pokemon themselves are truly a blend of both good designs and some, not so great. Upon looking at some of them for the first time, I thought many didn't change much when they evolved such as Tandemaus line only getting two more little mice in the second evolution and Brambleghast only becoming a bigger cactus upon evolving. Some of the designs however, are very original and stuff based off of creatures we've never seen in the Pokemon world before such as Flamigo being based on a flamingo! The new Evolutions for Girafarig, Primeape, Dunsparce, and Bisharp are particularly nice! Kingambit is my personal favorite of the select few Evolutions of some of our beloved species. I found myself getting one for the team right away. Overall, I feel Scarlet and Violet are a lot of good but missed potential. Had the game not been put down by the issues before Version 1.2.0, it would of been a strong launch. The Gym Leaders being scaled with the progression of the Badges you collect, would of made it nearly perfect. I hope to revise this score upward with upcoming Expansion Pass. Thanks for reading!

Upon revisiting the land of Paldea and later the new land of Kitakami followed eventually by a return to Unova (albeit at the Blueberry Academy located faraway from the mainland) in the DLC Expansion Pass, I would like to revise my overall score for Scarlet and Violet to an 8/10 "Great". I found myself very happy with being able to visit both Kitakami and the Blueberry Academy along both the fresh new takes and nostalgia it had to offer. While I feel that Kitakami was lackluster after the plot was finished there and left me desiring more. The Blueberry Academy on the other hand hit the nail on the head with many features that I wanted with customization of odds and ends of the game such as your Poke Ball throwing style, redecorating the League Room, and being able to glide with Koraidon or Moraidon (depending on your version of choice)! I also found myself enjoying the various throwbacks to the Generation V Pokemon Black and White (and their sequels) games set in the mainland of Unova. While the story was excuted well in both Part 1 and Part 2 (including the Epilogue) of the DLC, I feel it wasn't as strong as the main campaign itself. But that's not to say that it was terrible. The teacher Briar not being a villain as everyone would of expected and being driven by the awe of Terapagos's power like a child was the real beauty. Lore itself overall was not as strong as Legends of Arceus or games prior. In closing, I feel like Scarlet and Violet, while being a mixed bag in the community, are a step in the right direction. I look forward to seeing what the future of the Pokemon series holds and the adventures that we will all have in the years to come!

#pokemon #animal crossing #nintendo #nintendo switch #scarlet and violet #sword and shield #video games #video game review #video game recommendations #legend of zelda #legend of zelda breath of the wild #legends of arceus

[nevermore-the-kitsune]

Pokemon Teams for Fictional Characters pt. 2

Damian Wayne

(Also, I'm not including move sets because in my headcannon Pokemon do remember all their old moves. But humans choose to only use four)

For this AU I'm having the Wayne's own the Gotham City Gym, which specializes in Dark types. Most of the cannon events still happened. Just with a few tweaks here and there. (Dick's 20, Jason's 16, Cass is 15 Tim's 15 but younger than Cass and Damian's 13 because I love AUs where there closer in age).

Anyway here we go!

First things first in the Pokemon Universe his alias wouldn't be Robin since they don't exist. Instead I think it would be Rookidee, since thats the closest Pokemon to a Robin.

His Partner Pokemon and ace would be a Gligar

Name: Goliath

Gender: Male

Why: Gligar screams Goliath (his Batdragon) plus the coloring of his evolutions matches with Dami's Robin and Batman outfits

Story: He found Goliath while climbing a mountain for his training. At the time he was four and Goliath was a hatching. Damian ended up giving him some food, seeing that the hatching was hungry.

Grateful, the Gligar followed him hoping to return the favor.

When Damian's hand got broken on that same trip, Goliath was the one to help him finish his mission and get home safely.

Talia was impressed that Damian could tame a wild Pokemon without catching it, so she allowed him to keep him as his first Pokemon.

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Next he would have a Meowth

Name: Alfred

Gender: Female

Why: This one has to do with its evolution. Persian are said to only be loyal to trainers it likes and that it takes a lot to get them to like you. Their also said to be prissy and uptight. This reminded me of Damian. How it took forever for him to trust his brothers and his own snobby attitude. Thus I think it fits.

Story: After coming to live with his father Damian didn't know how to act. He saw his "brothers" and father treating their Pokemon so different than how the League did. They all trained hard. But, there was something eles: warm praise for a job well done, asking for insight on a case (they had taught their bipedal pokemon sighn language) and comfort on a bad day. His father and brothers treated their Pokemon like... people

In the League Pokemon where the lowest soldier, lower than the slaves or concubines. They trained, ate then they had to and got in their ball.

He had been a little more lenient in his training with Goliath. When asked he said that he was still a baby and he had to take things slow in this stage or he might develop too much muscle mass and be unable to fly.

He had kept him out of his ball with the excuse of developing muscle mass at a proper pace.

He liked Goliath's company. The Gligar was a good companion. But on the same level as another person?

He had expressed these thoughts to Pennyworth, the only person in the house to give him a straight answer when he needed it.

Pennyworth had explained to him that some people love to hold power over others and that Pokemon where an easy target, since they couldn't communicate their emotions as clearly as people could.

"Think of Mistress Cain. She sometimes cannot communicate with words, but we know that she's intelligent. But some people see her as less than intelligent and treat her as such because of the power it gives them."

Two weeks later Damian would come across a group of teenagers attempting to shave a Meowth. The Pokemon was little more than skin and bone and crying out on pain. So, Damian broke their fingers and shaved part of their heads for good measure.

He kept the Meowth and named her after the man who taught him about the abuse of power.

---

Next, a Poochyena

Name: Titus

Gender: Male

Why: These Pokemon and their evolution are ruthless with their pray, and only obey trainers with external skill.

Story: Raven gave Damian Titus as a gift. She said that she rescued him from an underground fighting ring (where the battles are to the death). He was still to young to battle so he didn't need much rehabilitation. The other Pokemon there though...

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Now we have a Type Null

Name: Heretic

Gender: ???

Why: This Pokemon was created in lab, and artificial designed for the purpose of fighting, just like Damian. True I could have given him Mewtwo, but that cat seems to fit Kon more.

Story: Damian's mother had spent years creating Type: Null with the purpose of being able to kill any target. As a last test she wanted to see which of her creations was suppirrior. So she sent the Type Null out to (try and) kill her son.

Damian, with the rest of his team, beat the Pokemon but couldn't kill it. He had long since vowed to wash the blood from his hands. Instead he offered his hand to it and asked it to join him.

---

Here we have the hardest to explain... Mimikyu

Name: Habibi (I hope I spelled that right)

Gender: Female

Why: Damian is complex, he wants to be accepted and loved just like Mimikyu but dosent know how. Both try to mimic others in order to get that love, Damian his father and Mimikyu Pikachu. So I see this as Damian's spirit Pokemon in a way.

Story: He didn't know why it was so hard to fit in. Gods know he tried. But... little things confused him. Like how eveyone could understand each other without words or singhing. He had no problems with that on a battlefield, but in day to day life; it felt like he was on a separate server.

Like how Todd knew at breakfast with just a look that Drake was in a bad mood and how to help. Or how Grayson could audomadicly tell what kind of day at school the rest of them had withen a few minutes. Hell even Drake could tell what grunts ment what from father! Which ment good job, Which ment I'm glade your okay, or frustration either at them or at a case (Cass didn't surprise him, she had to learn how to communicate without words and watch body language and micro expressions).

School was no better; sometimes it was to load or bright othertimes, when everyone was doing a test, it felt to quiet. But, to much or to little, Damian was always aware of every movement, every sound. It was like the very instincts that saved his life every night where turned against him.

He turned to his nearly forgotten childhood habits to distract himself from everything around him. That only led to more whisper shouting and what even he could tell where displeased glares with a grunt of "fucking tapping" or a snap of "stop!" He knew it was disrupting but it was all be could do to drown out the noise or silence.

On one particularly bad day at school; apparently during one of their tests one of his classmates had had enough of Damian's tapping and decided to make a scene.

There was some yelling from the kid. A few cries in agreement. Before the teacher had gotten hem to settle down. He had demanded that Damian look him in the eye and when he finally did told him to stop with the tapping or else he would be sent to the office, Gym Leaders son or not.

He was the last to finish that test where he normally finished first. The silence had been to load!!

After that clusterfuck Damian finally headed home. He had texted Grayson saying that he was meeting a friend somewhere to work on a project and to not pick him up. In truth he didn't want his brother reading what kind of day he had had. He needed some time to himself.

That was how he found himself in a nearby park. It was filled with plenty of sounds that didn't suffocate him and the fall leaves where soothing to his eyes. Damian had Titus out of his ball as company, knowing that the pup loved park walks.

They had been walking for an hour when they came across a box set off just on the edge of the trail. "Free to Good Homes" was written on the side in black sharpie.

No sound was coming from inside, so he assumed that the had all been taken. Until Titus went closer sniffing at the seemingly empty box.

"Pooch Pooch"

"Hmmm... what is is it boy?" He asked as he walked closer to his Pokemon and the Box. Damian hoped he was wrong. It was cruel to leave a baby Pokemon all alone, especially since the weather was getting colder by the day.

Inside the box was in fact a lone Pokemon. At first glance it looked like a Pikachu. But something was off. It looked more like a doll than a living creature. If it wasn't for the small chirps it let out and slight way that it was shivering from the cold Damian would have written it off as a toy. No wonder it got left behind...

Damian reached down and picked up the mystery Pokemon as gently as he could.

"Come on beloved, lets go home."

He tucked the Pokemon in his jacket to warm it up before reaching for his phone to call Grayson for a ride home.

That night Damian locked himself away, even skipped patrol, and spent a sleepless night learning everything he could about his newest Pokemon.

---

That was inspired by this comic

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Finaly, for his last spot Eevee!!

Name: Omni

Gender: Female

Why: I'm going to have all the Batfam members have an Eeveelution. This branch and the Batfam are both growing consistently. We all have our favorites but we love them all the same. So I think it fits.

Story: Everyone in the family had an Eevee or one of its evolutions. Damian's Father said that Eevee was the Wayne family symbol, it was potential, the ability to become whatever you wanted.

Though it surprised Damian that the Wayne symbol wasn't a Noibat or Noivern (Batman's ace) at first he eventually understood the logic in choosing such a Pokemon to represent the family name. That only made things harder for him being the only one not having one. Did they not truly see him as family?

On the one year anniversary of Damian arriving at The Mannor, his family through a small party. Pennyworth made his favorite foods, The Mannor was decorated in tacky streamers (Graysons' idea) and they watched some of Damian's favorite fims, their Pokemon curled up with them. His father had offered to take the day off from the gym. Until Todd suggested that Damian take on the challengers.

The Gotham gym was part of his heritage. Damian had been training for the day that he could finally help weed out the weak challengers just like his siblings sometimes did (think the battles you do before challenging a gym leader in the games).

On that day, if the challengers agreed to it, their final battle wasn't with Bruce Wayne the Dark Knight but instead his son. Most accepted thinking that it would be an easy win, that they had lucked out in not having to battle one of the stongest Gym Leaders in the League and could still get the Shadow Badge.

Those poor fools.

Damian was only allowed to use Alfred, Titus and Habibi since he used Goliath and Heretic primarily as Rookidee.

Damian fought seven trainers that day in 3v3 fights. Only two of them got the badge.

With the day overwith and the night rising, so did Gothams' protecters.

The night ended with exhausted body's and adrenaline crashes. Damian was ready to slip into a mini coma from the day he had but before he could head upstairs to The Mannor...

"Not so fast baby bat." Graysons' voice called out to him. "We got one more surprise for you."

Damian raised his eyebrow at that. What else could they do? His father came back from the locker rooms where he had been desuiting, it always took him the longest because of his "old man bones" as Todd said.

"Son," his father said "its Wayne tradition to get your first Pokemon when you turn ten years old. I missed that with you." He paused, eyes briefly shifting to the floor before they snapped back on Damian's face. "Luckily there's one tradition we didn't miss. When you've lived at The Mannor for a year or the adoption papers get finalized, I give my children this..."

He pulled a Poke'ball out of his poket and handed to Damian. "Go on son, let them out."

He did

Staring at him was his own Eevee.

---

AN: All of Damian's Pokemon (sans maybe Omni, I'm thinking of leaving her as an Eevee) will eventually evolve. Eventually.

#not my art #not my image #autistic damian wayne #batfam #damian wayne #pokemon team #pokemon #gligar #meowth #poochyena #headcanon #type null #mimikyu #comics #pokemon comic #eevee #eevee kin #Gotham gym #good dad #bruce is a good dad #jason todd is a little shit

[carriagelamp]

Since it’s Pride Month, I decided this year I wanted to raid the library for a bunch of different queer books to read. Mostly graphic novels in this case, because I’ve had a hard time settling into much reading lately... thought hopefully now that it’s summer and I finally have my second shot I’ll be able to relax a bit more and dig into some heavier novels again. For now, enjoy some light, queer reads that I indulged in this June.

A Wolf Called Wander

A beautiful novel I had been hearing lots about. This story follows the young wolf Swift, who grows up knowing that he and his pack are the mountains, and the mountains are them. It’s in those mountains that he grows and learns and loves… until disaster strikes and he finds himself viciously torn apart from his family and forced out of the mountains that have always meant home to him. Forced to survive on his own. Swift then begins a gruelling journey that makes him face injury, starvation, and the everpresent danger of humans as he seeks a new place he can call home, and new people with whom he can form a pack.

This is all based on the true story of a tagged wolf known as OR-7, following the unbelievable route he took through Oregon and northern California! It was a very neat read, and I’d definitely recommend it if you enjoy stories told from an animal’s perspective because this book is a master class in it.

Bloom

I decided for June to try to read a handful of different queer books, and this was one of the first graphic novels I picked up. It is a super sweet story and the art is lovely. It’s about Ari, a boy who has just graduated high school and is now desperate to move away from his small town and his family’s struggling bakery, to join his band in the city where they hope to make it big. An agreement is finally reached: Ari’s father will let him leave, if he can find someone who can replace him in the bakery, which is how Ari meets Hector, someone who sees artistry and peace in baking. For anyone that’s read Check, Please, it gives off those types of vibes!

Boule et Bill: Bill est Maboul

Another book of Dupuis comics, because I can’t get enough of them! This one I just stumbled across and ended up reading on a whim but it was very cute. Geared younger than the others I’ve read, but still quite funny. It’s the charming hijinks of a young boy, his dog, and the family they live with. Each page or so is a different stand alone joke, a bit like Calvin and Hobbes except expanded beyond a single strip.

Chicken Run: Chicken Pies for the Soul

This was a ridiculous urge I got and had to follow. I recently rewatched Chicken Run (which is, of course, one of the best movies ever made) and felt the need to see if it had ever been novelized. Well, I found something better than a novelization! This is a chapter book with “advice” and stories written by the various characters, post-movie. It really does a good job with grasping the different characters’ voices and making something simple and funny out of it. It was very cute (and available on The Internet Archive if anyone else feels like reading something ridiculous!)

Doodleville

I picked this up on a whim and honestly, I shouldn’t have bothered. It was not very impressive. Very mediocre, awkward feeling artwork, and a story that only slightly manages to redeem it. The concept was kind of neat, and I did like how the ending came about, the rest was rather… plodding. I did not like the main character at all, her friends felt very Intentionally Quirky Aren’t We Cute :3 in a way that just tries too hard, and… yeah. Meh. It technically gets the “queer graphic novel flag” but it’s so in-passing that it feels rather excessive to give it that.

If you are interested, it’s about a world were doodles actually exist as living creatures that can be drawn into existence (the rather unsettling implications of which is never fully explored). This is all well and good, until the main character draws a monster and takes it with her to her art club... where it begins ravanging not only her doodles, but those of her friends. Together they need to work together to figure out how to stop this menace.

FRNCK v4

Phenomenal. I adore the FRNCK series, and book four wrapped up the first “cycle”, revealing several of the big secrets dogging the series so far, and changing how things are going to be able to run in the future.

If you haven’t seen me talk about it before, FRNCK is a graphic novel (a franco-belgian bande dessinée) about a young orphan, Franck, who’s chafing under the constant parade of uninterested foster parents that visit the orphanage he lives in. Determined to learn about his mysterious abandonment instead, he flees the orphanage… but finds himself tumbling through time, landing among a family of cave-people who rather reluctantly take him in and ensure this modern boy doesn’t die in the strange, dangerous new surroundings he finds himself in. You can get these ones in English as e-books, so if you want a really kickass graphic novel series to read please try these.

Haikyu!!

I’ve heard so much about Haikyu!! that I finally gave in and picked up the first book from the library. And I gotta say, it’s well worth the hype! This series really does capture the best parts of a good sports manga -- which is to say the team is filled with interesting, enjoyable character who all need to learn to pull together, boost each other’s strengths, and cover for each other’s weaknesses. Love me some found family tropes and this series oozes it in the best possible way. And then you also get some very cool action scenes as it makes high school volleyball seem like the most intense thing on earth. I can’t wait to continue it

Queer Eye

I haven’t been keeping up with Queer Eye but I was watching it ravenously when it first came out, and this seemed like a very cathartic book to read… and it really was. It had the same gentle, loving encouragement as the show. It doesn’t expect you to change your entire life, but to learn to embrace who you are, and take small steps to enhance those things. There a segment written (presumably) by each member of the Fab Five, explaining the mentality behind what they do on the show and how you can grow in those areas too. It’s very zen.

Spinning

I got this graphic novel out at the same time as Bloom, but it was the one that interested me less of the two... though that’s just because I have less interest in “real world” slice of life as a genre and this one is meant to be autobiographical. If you’re into that, you’ll probably love this because it really is stunning. Very pretty, and the format and pacing is all really well done. It’s a coming of age story for Tillie as she grows up dealing with a crosscountry move, complicated friendships, a burgeoning attraction to girls, and attending competitive figure skating classes.

This Place: 150 Years Retold

A stunning and heart-wrenching graphic novel told by a collection of different First Nation’s authors/artists, recounting oral histories about the 150 years since the colonialist formation of the country known as “Canada”. In other words, this is a post-apocalypse story, but one that really happened and that entire peoples are still fighting to survive. It’s very eye opening and beautifully told. Very strongly recommend the read, especially if you’re at all interested in history.

Torchwood: Serenity

Whoops, not technically a book. I had thought these were technically audiobooks at first, but rather they’re audio dramas that were played on the radio. Still, I decided to include one because I’ve been listening to them like a person possessed and they’re too fun not to at least mention. Let me indulge in my obsessions.

If you don’t know Torchwood, it’s a BBC series that spins-off from Doctor Who, focusing on the enigmatic and flirtatious Captain Jack Harkness, who is running the covert organization known as Torchwood, which is tasked to protect humanity from and prepare them for alien contact. It’s goofy and campy but also more adult and heavy than Doctor Who tends to get, so it is (in my opinion) a really fascinating series. Though it also has content warnings coming out the wazoo so maybe make sure it’s for you before delving in.

Serenity specifically is possibly one of the best Torchwood stories I’ve ever experienced. The Torchwood team concludes that there’s an undercover alien hiding in the idyllic gated community Serenity Plaza, and so that means it’s up to Jack and Ianto to go undercover as a happily married couple and flush out the alien without being discovered first. Even if it means being sickly sweet together, pretending to care about the local neighbourhood barbecues, and actually caring a bit too much about the Best Front Lawn competition. What is truly magical about this one, is that it manages to make it a Fake Dating AU despite the fact that Jack and Ianto are actually dating in canon. But they’re both used to dating as a pair of alien hunters with insanely dysfunctional lives, and who now need to figure out how to deal with domesticity. It is marvellous.

Wilderlore: The Accidental Apprentice

A middle grade novel that felt a bit like a cross between Harry Potter and Pokemon. It’s about orphan Barclay Thorne who wants nothing more than to be accepted in the rule-bound village of Dullshire, and live up to his apprenticeship as a mushroom farmer. He certainly wants nothing to do with the fearsome Beasts who live beyond the village, deep in the Woods or the sinister Lorekeepers that bond with them. It was, after all, a Beast that had killed his parents all those years ago. But when he finds himself at the very edge of the forest, hunting for an elusive mushroom, he is suddenly unable to avoid any of that. Not when a wild girl and her bonded dragon appear to summon a horrible Beast and end up getting Barclay bonded to it instead. Now, if Barclay ever wants to be welcomed back into his home, he has no choice but to venture into the Woods and find a way to sever the bond imprisoning him to the massive, monstrous wolf now imprinted on his body as a living tattoo.

I honestly can’t decide how I felt about this one. I feel like it’d be a really fun read for maybe a grade 5 to 7 student? I was a bit more meh about it. It was fine, but it was very hard not to draw unfavourable parallels to Harry Potter. But for a kid who’s never read Harry Potter? Or even an adult that has but is looking for something different to scratch that itch, this might be a good book to try. I’ll probably try reading the second book when it comes out.

#book review #book reviews #canlit #canadian literature #queer lit #queer books #pride month #wilderlore #torchwood serenity #this place: 150 years retold #cbc #spinning #tillie walden #amanda foody #queer eye #haikyu #haikyuu!! #furudate haruichi #frnck #dupuis #boule et bill #chicken run #bloom #kevin panetta #a wolf called wander #rosanne parry

[pixelsandpins]

My Gender is Crab: How Fantasy and Sci-fi Helped Shaped My Non-Binary Identity

On Twitter and in casual conversation I have described my gender as the following: crab-person, one of the creatures from “Behemoth’s World” by 70’s sci-fi painter Richard Clifton-Day, a bird demon with a funny hat, the Pokemon Gengar, and “a lady, I guess, but…you know…not on purpose.” The non-binary experience is, by its nature, weird as hell in the context of a system that, at its best, describes itself as a spectrum between set points, and, at its worst, demands you fall into a discreet category of only two options. Are you neither? Are you both? Are you sat somewhere squat in the middle? And the answer is just sort of…yes? My relationship with my own non-binaryness is informed by a patchwork of neurodivergencies. At its core, though, it stems from a pervasive intellectual disconnect from existence as a human as we, collectively, understand it. Sci-fi and fantasy is both an instigating factor, and, as a writer, an exploration of that thought process.

The first time I feel like I saw a real deconstruction of the gender I was assumed at birth was in a book by Harry Harrison. In West of Eden there’s this species of hyper-intelligent matriarchal dinosaur people called the Yilané . Among the Yilané , the females run everything and the males are these little blobfish lookin’ dudes who get relegated to the breeding pen. And at twelve years old? My mind? Totally and completely blown. And this wasn’t because it was women in charge. Not really. I’d been raised on that unique brand of 90s/early aughts girl power already. Buffy, Xena, various Disney channel everygirl heroines, Powerpuff Girls, Daria, whatever the fuck Cleopatra 2525 was trying to do. I had been told that girls could do anything boys could do without sacrificing their femininity blah blah blah.

But the Yilané ?

They weren’t any of that bubblegum, spandex, high-kick pop feminism that my female cohorts vibed with so easily. They were morally complicated and intelligent and calculating and vicious. More importantly, they were the first version of “woman” I truly groked. Their whole existence wasn’t centered around either adhering to or being in defiance of some arbitrary standard of femininity. They lived unburdened by the expectations that my own horrific corporeal form had been saddled with. They were monstrous. So while I admired the Janeways and Hermiones and Dana Scullys and Zoë Washburns with which I had been presented as formidable models of womanhood, I didn’t want to be them. I wanted claws and teeth and the ability to smell blood on the wind.

“So you’re just a scaly/furry?”

Shush.

Shit, maybe?

It’s not quite like that.

I don’t/didn’t really want to be an animal necessarily (though, like, if someone offered to turn me into a dragon…who the fuck is turning that down). But when no version of womanhood, be it traditional or progressive, feels right and you can’t pinpoint why, just being a horned demon from one of the middle circles of hell seems like a way easier plan in the long term.

Over the years, without intellectually understanding that I was doing it in my writing, I started crafting sections of world and lore where the rules for sex and gender and the expression of both were different at a fundamental, biological level. Female elves became boxy and tall, almost indistinguishable from their male counterparts in androgynous elven clothing. Ariesians could only be told apart by the color of their horns. The dimorphism of drakkakens shifted from their initial designs in my early sketch books to favor, larger, imposing females. Goblins, that I finally got around to including in The Terrible Persistence of Memory, were designed as hermaphrodites. I’ve been working up the details for a band of tri-sexed species, tacking down their reproductive process, and a member of this clade appeared as the lead in The Center of the Universe.

Naxos was the first time, though, when proverbial pen was put to paper that the personal feelings about my own identity latched to a specific character. Ysa is a bull-creature. She’s been made into something weird and strange through a combination of her own will and magic that she doesn’t quite understand. And she’s me. And Ari, her romantic partner, doesn’t see Ysa in terms of any social construct. Ari doesn’t see a man or a woman or a monster. She sees Ysa. To make this as a story between women. To make and market it as a yuri game. For me, it was a radical reinterpretation of the role of “woman” I felt like I was regularly being forced into. That I couldn’t escape.

Since I put out that game in 2018, what began as a re-invention turned into what I realized had always been a rejection, one I hadn’t really figured out the parameters of, yet. One that had words I had only really just learned as an adult. That despite how much I wanted womanhood to incorporate that which I was, it just kind of….didn’t. But that it was, indeed, something I could escape. And the instant I gave myself a place, however fictional, to actually do so, I started to see myself hiding underneath.

#queer #non-binary #personal #text

[eien-no-gakusha]

Tamamo no Mae (玉藻の前) Character Analysis

Been playing Onmyoji for a while now (think Pokemon but in ancient Japan) and while not expecting any depth from a mobile game, I was quite intrigued by the character Tamamo-no-mae.

In legend, Tamamo-no-mae was a nine-tailed fox demon who transformed into beautiful & historically famous courtesans and concubines to infiltrate the Imperial Court of ancient Asian empires and bring their ruin.  It’s a cool myth to embellish and explain the fall of actual dynasties (basically, blame the woman lol).  Who wants a boring lecture on economics and ecology when you can enjoy the epic tale of Helen of Troy, right?

Now I can’t confirm the game developers intentionally designed the character to be so layered but either way, the character turned out intriguing.  They not only turned Tamamo-no-mae from evil blood-thirsty bitch to complex villain (well, they might be an anti-hero soon), but they also created a truly gender-neutral character!

The modernization of Tamamo-no-mae is unsurprising given how nearly every popular myth, legend, or fairytale around the globe has been retold to suit modern sensibilities.  Contemporary audiences expect well-rounded characters with relatable motivations, more complex backstories, and overall new experiences in even fanfiction and…mobile games.  Even writers and storytellers of old Edo updated and merged Tamamo with other famous fox spirits to suit contemporary tastes.  Hence, she is also Daji (1), Kayo (2), and many more as well as her original incarnation as the favorite courtesan of Emperor Toba of Japan who cursed him with illness.  

So now Tamamo-no-mae has a tragic past to explain why she is out to destroy Kyoto, at least.  After all, modern audiences with more feminist views would probably be less impressed with a character who is just evil for evil’s sake nor would they accept the explanation that yin (the feminine) is evil or not compatible with the human world.  But audiences now certainly love more explicitly explained motivation and tragic romances so it is only natural that the writers of Onmyoji concocted this backstory to cater to their players.

What is most intriguing to me is how gender-fluid Tamamo-no-mae turned out to be.  Officially listed in the Shikigami rosters as male he expresses overt feminine traits in his current incarnation and even biologically switches genders.  Therefore, I tend to label to Tamamo in the Onmyoji game with male pronouns.  In-game, Tamamo-no-mae has both male and female official skins despite being labelled as male in-game no matter how slutty his outfits get and how big his boobs get.  

In the current timeline, he has taken female form as a courtesan and is living up to his namesake.  He seems to perform very comfortably as a she and as a classic fox spirit.  But never in his conversations with the protagonist Seimei does he falter or visibly reacts when referred to as a man while in this form.  One can say in the present game timeline, he is so comfortable with his gender identity that he associates as both.

Now, traditionally, no matter what gender a fox is they are considered a feminine creatures so any fox spirit would be more inclined to take a female form and maneuver the world through intelligence and  manipulation.  Hence, they are renowned as seductresses and trickster spirits.  So the biologically male Tamamo-no-mae turning into a chick and dressing up as a courtesan to burn Kyoto to the ground in and of itself is not revolutionary at all.

However, the character’s attitude towards gender identity is complicated to say the least.  When he falls in love with a priestess, he presents himself as male to court her and have children with her.  Upon the death of his lover he transforms into a woman (specifically in her image) so he may care for their children.  It’s implied his children were very young when their mother died so he automatically took the form of a woman to breastfeed and provide a maternal figure, who he thought more vital for development, for his children.  On one hand, Tamamo adopts stereotypical gender roles but he is able to switch between them without any qualms without elevating or feeling particularly attached to either gender.  One can even say gender is not particularly important to his identity with how much he shifts back and forth while prioritizing other matters like romance, the family unit, and revenge.  Yet, it can be argued that gender roles are very important to him since he adopts them for specific purposes like courting and child-rearing.  (I’m sure being able to magically change biological sex is very helpful in this case but I digress)

Or perhaps, it’s simpler to say Tamamo-no-mae does whatever they want.  He’s a strikingly interesting character nonetheless!

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(1) Concubine of Emperor Zhou of Yin Dynasty who corrupted her lord husband and brought a reign of terror upon China until the Mandate of Heaven passed to Zhou Dynasty.  Her possession by the fox spirit (& actual handmaiden to Niwa so is she THAT evil?) also explains her personality split before & after entering Court. (2) Concubine of Banzoku who seduced her husband into massacring his people

#玉藻の前 #tamamo no mae #Onmyoji #meta #my meta #my ramblings #onmyoji game #my thoughts

[harmonytre]

Comic Plans

Current Projects:

Prismtale (Mondays): An Undertale AU involving NPCs and multiverse travelling. Multi-chapter comic and ongoing.

Mistbreak (Tuesdays): A Steven Universe AU with about 5 pages left of the comic. Then it will become an ask/drabble/design blog.

Flicker of a Neon Soul (Wednesdays): An Undertale AU where monsters have colored soul traits and humans have white soul traits. 10+ chaptered comic with many plans and plot.

Taffy and Steven (Thursdays): A Steven Universe where Steven and his gem are split into different people and Taffy is a wholesome boyo. One page left of the comic, then will become an ask/edit blog with occasional comics.

Future Fandom Projects:

Pokemon Nuzlocke Comics: Multiple regions and an overarching plot. I need to finish playing and writing the first arc before starting the comic. (long term)

Who I Am: A Pokemon comic where James from Team Rocket is a were-pokemon. I need to rewrite it first. About 7 to 8 chapters. (medium length)

Other Undertale AUs: Certain AUs will be revealed in Prismtale and turn into side blogs, and others will be one time comics. (varies)

Future Original Projects:

(One of these I want to make extremely interactive. Like the audience makes choices for the characters.)

Phantulfurs: A comic about teens with powers to see creatures no one else can. I’ve rewritten the first chapter multiple times, but I need to really write it out before starting the comic. About ten arcs. (long term)

Skryculars: A sequel to the above story. (medium length)

The Journeyers: A multi-book series with my cousin. About ten books. Involves animals, powers, and romance. Won’t give information beyond that. (long term)

Unnamed Animated Series: Still need to design the two main characters, but they’ll travel through many worlds from my dream world. (long term youtube series)

Unnamed Wings Story: Decided many many characters for a high school story with wings. Lots of diversity and LGBTQ. Problem is I don’t like writing high school stories and have no plot. ;^; (medium? short?)

Unnamed Long Term Comic: A story about a space girl with wings, a nonbinary person that can shapeshift and communicate with animals, twins with water and plant powers, and an angsty wholesome skeleton bean. No plot yet. (long term)

Short Term (below the cut, any catch your interest?)

(keep in mind many of these I wrote the descriptions for years ago or based off of dreams.)

“Orphan Dog” and “Martha’s Pack” An orphan finds out she can talk to dogs and realizes they are the key to finding her missing parents. (Wrote when I was 8, rewrote partially when I was 13. So very cheezy. Would be even cheezier if I didn’t rewrite it, but still drew quality serious art XD.)

“The Agency” A girl named Jill has secrets. Major secrets. For one, she can turn into any animal at will including extinct, Fantasy, or hybrids. Don’t forget that she can also turn invisible and do telepathy. (Not to mention she runs an entire secret animal spy community…) When her best friend and spy ally, Izabella the opossum, goes missing, she must find what it means to be a true friend and showing that it’s what’s inside that counts. (Actually liked this one too. Even if it’s also cheezy.)

1. “Moos” A boy is adopted by cows and is granted the power to understand animals and turn into a cow.

2. “Moos: Vile Meat” Hoover is back and he must defeat the evil Haystack, a human entrapping calfs in little domes for eternity.

3. “Moos: Cold Cuts” Hoover finds a new ally, one who creates...snow?

4. “Moos: Wakey Wakey Eggs and Bakey” Haystack is back and Hoover and his friends must defeat him before he turns all pigs into stone. (Cheezy series?)

“Extraordinaries” Emma, her friend, Millie, her brother, Clark, and her dog, Charlie, have to travel to a faraway land to save Emma’s mother, who has been poisoned. Along the way Emma and the team must find how to deal with their newfound powers of Imagination. (This one was also pretty good! A story from Nanowrimo a few years ago.)

“The Hummingbird Did It” A hummingbird turns a lazy boy into a dog. The boy must venture across country to find the cure. (Was kinda boring and just me having fun with google maps lol.)

“Sunshine and Rainbows” A girl is taken to another world by rainbow dust and must find her way back to Earth. (Can’t actually remember this one.)

“Nature’s Lifeforce” A boy and girl are given the power to turn into any woodland creature and talk to trees. (Also can’t remember, but sounds cool.)

“Ravens” A girl named Hannah, a boy named Billy, a boy named Cameron, a girl named Lyla, and a boy named Clark, among other students, have their wishes come true. This creates a problem as Cameron becomes a dog, Lyla becomes a cat and Hannah and Billy become ravens. They fix the problem for everyone except Hannah and Billy, but embark on an adventure to find the scientist who can help them. (Based on a dream, I think.)

“Dragon wings” Hiccup and Toothless accidentally sit down someplace weird. They switch bodies and Toothless claims to have heard someone press a button. (ASDFGHJKL WHAT?! HTTYD short story)

“Melody Dreambubble” A weird new pony arrives in Ponyville. Twilight is curious to find that she has no Cutie Mark, was raised by wolves, and bears mysterious powers. (My Little Pony, kinda self insert, short story)

“Eyes of Gold/The Tower” A Fan Fiction based on The Ever Afters series and two stories rolled into one. Rory finds that her two best friends have been poisoned by a new dragon species/As Rory is about to enter a tower to save Chase a random girl shows up out of nowhere and has a weird habit of annoying Adelaide. (Was my first ever self insert? And based on a book series unlike the rest? Cool! Oh I even wrote ten whole pages! Neat. Featuring a girl chasing a dragon with a bedpan!)

“Roadkill” A man purposely runs over a deer on a freeway. The deer’s best friend curses the man, later to regret it because he has to undo the curse himself. (Lol, this was interesting.)

“Melissa and Steven Started a Food Fight” A completely random book that takes the characters through an adventure of explosions, unicorns, and talking squirrels. (Used a random prompt generator. Very random. And funny.)

“Before it’s Gone” A snooty teen crashes in her car and finds a surprise when she wakes up. (Oh yeah, another old story. She turned into a dog and none of the other dogs believed her.)

“The Unicorn Killer” A short story about poachers and Julia. (Yep. Short story.)

1. “Feathers of Gold” A logical young bird griffin, Gabriel, wants to find a way to stop to war between bird and lion in his land, Genetica.

2. “Scales of Emerald” A shy young dragon, Emmie, tries to keep her land, Reptilia, from destruction.

3. “Hair of Crystal” A brave young unicorn, Crystal, tries to find a way to join together the leaders of the land of Equinsta.

4. “Flames of Ruby” A vain young phoenix, Flaxter, tries to capture the eyes of girls. Taken place in the land of Flamia.

5. “Gems Unite” Gabriel, Emmie, Crystal, and Flaxter find out they are The Gems, the only ones who can save their world, Animagicia, from the beings, called Humurns, that are trying to destroy it. They must come together and find who they truly are. (Might have fun with this series. I’ve always loved mythical animals.)

“The Distance from Sam” An 8 year-old St. Bernard named Barry, a 3 year-old Golden Retriever named Mick, and a 1 year-old Sheltie named Sandy set off to return to their owner Sam, after being kidnapped and sent across country. (Kinda like Homeward Bound. Came in mind when I saw these three dogs alone by a street, no humans around.)

“The Skilled” Andy and Ashley(both fifteen) and their eight year-old siblings, twins Alex and Alexa, gain powers from the sewers. All: understand animals and fly, Andy: talk to toys, Ashley: speak to plants, Alex and Alexa: psychic powers. “I used to think my toys would come to life when I was gone. I guess I was right.”-Andy. Based on a dream. (Too many “A” names, oof. Also, toy Story much?)

“The Moon’s Eye” A teenage girl named April gets trapped under a snow drift and wakes up to be a wolf. A nearby wolf pack needs her aid and calls her The Mooneye, a changeling. (Cool. Cool.)

“Unusual Forces of Omnipotence” A woman and her horse are supposedly crushed by a U.F.O. When Tanaya wakes up she finds out she has super strong senses and can run as fast as her horse. Pluto the alien knows he’s going to be in trouble if his planet finds out he crash landed and accidentally gave a human the powers of her horse. He tries to fix it. Told from Tanaya, Sunray (the horse), and Pluto’s point of view. Based on a dream. (Sounds interesting! Title came from before I knew UFO was an acronym lol.)

“The Lawn” Unknown to humans, a yard full of statues come alive at night. There is an elk, two bears, four buffalo, a wolf, an eagle, three horses, a small boy, a moose, a bighorn sheep, and a rabbit. (Based on a real lawn I’d see on the way to school.)

“Dragon Eyes” Max has an ordinary life, until his family, him, and his three friends, Alice, Peter, and Samuel, are transported to another world. His parents are then kidnapped and they have to fight against an evil Mother Nature. Based on a dream. (Interesting. The dream was freaky.)

“Sweet Treat” Emily’s dad works at a candy factory, and one day she visits him and realizes his work is not all it seems… Based on a dream. (What? I don’t remember what was different about his work???)

“The Flight of the Supernatural” Randy thinks he is mostly a normal kid. Sure, he and his dad live inside a mountain, and sure, some flying species of human killed his mother, that doesn’t mean he can’t live normal life homeschooling and watching TV. But unfortunately, Randy’s life turns around when he finds out he can fly. Is his father telling the truth? Did his own species kill his mother? Based on a dream. (Actually REALLY loved this story.)

“Whispering Willow” A girl named Willow helps 20 wolf cubs escape a pet store and then is recruited by a zoo. Pretty soon all of the animals know her as Whisper. Based on a dream. (Cool. another animal whisperer.)

“The Invasion of Our Minds” Little black aliens invade Earth and only one person can stop them: Julia. Based on a dream. (Oh RIGHT! Yeah I remember that.)

“The Marble Island(Possibly a short story?)” Julia goes on a trip to a new marble island only to find the owner turns people into stone figurines. Based on a dream. (Links to the previous story, I think.)

“Have some candy!” Violet, an expert on strange occurrences, needs to help a group of people who mysteriously turned into animals after attempting to grab candy bars from a bin in a local store. Based on a dream. (More animal transformation.)

“The Guide to Mythical Creatures I Made Up” A guide to everything from the Mystic Melody to the Gollan. (I don’t remember either of their designs! :P )

“Trying to Get Back to Mom” Michael and Annabelle meet new friends, while they frantically try to reunite with their mother. (Don’t remember.)

“Surprise of the Future” Pearl travels to the future and has to fight her now-evil brother in his stone mansion. (Not Pearl from SU. Based on a dream.)

“All for You” A man has to overcome many obstacles, such as mermaids, yellow smoke wolves, and magic maps, to save the world and his girl. (Oh yeah, this was a cool one. Based on a song, but I can’t remember which one.)

“The Stranger at the Door” Keith and Amber have lived with their grandmother for many years, but now they live alone and nobody knows. Then a strange girl arrives at the door. She claims they will have to leave town within 2 hours or risk being stuck in a quarantine zone. There will be traffic jams and other hindrances, so it's best to leave right now without taking anything with you. Unsure about everything, including this strange girl, the teenage boy disagrees to the proposal, if all this turns out to be true, this choice will seem foolish. His younger sister does agree. But what if this strange girl can't be trusted. Or what if all this is an elaborate trap. How could an ordinary teenage girl and boy end up in a situation like this. Time to find out. (Oh, a quarantine story? How long ago was this? 2017 I think.)

“The Beginning of the Hybrid Brothers” A backstory that shines a light on how Ralph the Rat-Man and Dr. Discord came to be evil. (YES, MY TWO VILLAINS NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT BUT ARE STILL DEAR TO MY HEART HNNNNNNNG.)

“Unnamed but same as the blank” A girl named, _____, lives in a family of nine. She and her mother are the only ones who aren’t “Morhumals”, or people who can turn into one animal. After the twins mess-up and send a “Morhumals” hunter after them, it is up to ___ and her sister, ____ to rescue them.

“Song of the Siren” ____ is back after her fourteenth birthday. She finally has received her animal and must follow her family to the mythed Siren hideout.

#story #comic #HarmonyTRE #comic plan

[12redsky34]

wip roundup

I have been tag-teamed by @autisticmidoriyas and @yamadadzawa so I guess it’s my turn! Thanks for inviting me to share my many ideas, both of u xD

Just gonna preface this by saying that I have only three actual in-progress and posted wips at the moment, so I’ll split this into written and currently unwritten. In addition, while most of my ideas are for BNHA, I have a few for Haikyuu as well that I’ll include.

 BNHA

1. The Soul Behind The Quirk: Currently the fic I’ve written the most content for, and it’s been tonnes of fun to write!. It basically started with the thought “what if Izuku could see like... souls?” and it spiralled from there. It starts with Hisashi, an S-class villain (not AfO though), coming to Izuku and Inko’s home. He and a currently unnamed accomplice murder Inko and heavily injure Izuku, leaving Aizawa to rescue him from the burning apartment. Izuku force-manifests a quirk from the stress of the experience.

2. Dancing through Embers: This one is still in the baby stages, but it features quirkless, trans Izuku and Hitoshi, graffiti artist Hitoshi, vigilante Izuku, vigilante and brotherly Dabi (eventually, it’s a bit far down the line at the moment), and eventual parental Aizawa. Also featuring the characters in Karasuno from Haikyuu!! You don’t need to know anything about Haikyuu to enjoy them, but they’re a nice addition for those who do. This one’s more serious than most of my other fics so far, and I’ve outlined a lot more than the rest. I’m actually quite proud of what I’ve planned, and you may take that as you will ;)

3. A Study of Soulmates: You want a soulmate AU? You want good dad Hisashi? Want a quirkless Izuku who doesn’t ever step foot into UA? Want an Izuku that will eventually work in a coffee shop as an informant on the side? Well this is the place for you! This one is in it’s early early stages; like I just started posting last month, early. It’s mostly going to be fairly light-hearted, with both platonic and romantic soulmates, but Tododeku is planned as a main pairing and there will be plenty of shenanigans surrounding them.

3. I’m falling to pieces (falling to pieces): A oneshot that is still being written. I’ve seen a lot of fics where Aizawa and/or his classmates find out about Izuku’s previous quirklessness somehow, and this was actually inspired from this post by @zippodippo! Features all the dadzawa content!

4. Dragon!Quirked Izuku AU: This hasn’t had too much thought beyond “I want to make Izuku a dragon” and “Ooooh what if he was taken in by the Hero Commission just like Hawks?” Basically in this fic, his quirk manifested a little late and quite violently; he effectively goes feral for a short while until heroes are called in to subdue him. He would have been pardoned for his quirk use considering it happened while he was afraid and under significant stress, but the power his quirk had even then caught the Commission’s attention and they basically forced Inko and Hisashi to hand him over. There isn’t a lot they can do about it.

5. Shady Dealings: Doesn’t really have an end goal at the moment, but this basically started from “I want to write a villain/informant AU that I feel would be true to Izuku’s character,” and it resulted in this. Inko works as a nurse/doctor of sorts in the underground for villains, vigilantes, or just people who can’t afford an actual hospital for whatever reason. Hisashi works as a support mechanic of sorts for the underground, mostly for vigilantes and for the poor division of the population who can’t afford traditional prosthetics. Both of them take payment in the form of money, favours, or both. They’re also very careful to keep anyone from targeting Izuku, and make active attempts to get him into a more lawful line of work, but that backfires of course. I plan for it to be pretty lighthearted despite the serious subject.

6. Everyone is Brainwashed: I see a lot of fix-it fics where those involved are often like “why didn’t I see/notice this before?” and I thought “well... what if it’s because everyone literally can’t?” The basic premise is this: when UA was first being planned and built, AfO placed a very subtle but very wide-ranged brainwashing on anyone involved in major decisions regarding the school. He can’t change how anyone under influence acts in a major way, but he can, for instance, make someone decide not to put in place one safety measure or another. This is a chink he eventually takes advantage of through the USJ arc. Things are going quite well for him until one Izuku Midoriya walks in completely unaffected by the brainwashing zone he’s put in place.

7. Anomaly!AU: Basically if Izuku is an SCP from SCP: Containment Breach. I’ve taken a fair amount of creative liberties with this one, partially because I have never actually played the game and partially because fitting things like that into a world of quirks can be a little tricky. He’ll be an SCP of my own design, I’ve actually drawn him quite a bit at this point, but he wasn’t originally one. AfO took him as a child and felt like experimenting so he sort of crammed a lot of weird, random quirks into him, but it kind of backfired, and Izuku became something not quite human anymore. There’s not a whole lot planned yet but I have some ideas!

Haikyuu!!

1. Lightning Strikes Twice: Basically a HTTYD AU with some creative liberties. Hinata is a rare lightning Dragon, known in the racing world for his speed. The only problem is, his paired rider is abusive and keeps pushing and demanding, always telling him he isn’t good enough even though he keeps trying. Kageyama is a renowned dragon rider, known for his excellent control on the saddle and for being able to navigate racing courses even veterans find hard to clear. However, he never manages to find a dragon he truly connects with, and to make it far in the racing industry, that kind of connection is basically a requirement. Tragic accidents drive them from their old teams and bring them to Karasuno, where they both get a fresh start.

2. Giant Crow Hinata: Almost everything is the same except Hinata isn’t human, and lives in the mountains with his family, who are also not human. I haven’t decided what exactly they are past giant creatures of some sort. Hinata belongs to a clan of giant bird creatures, and he specifically is a crow. One night in a storm, he gets injured and ends up in Kageyama’s back yard. Kageyama’s mother patches him up and sends him home, but he comes back, and eventually he and Tobio end up in a routine of sorts where Hinata will sit there and listen to Tobio talking about volleyball. One day, Hinata arrives but he’s in a more human-like form and demands that he let Tobio try and play with him. That’s about all I got for that so far.

3. Pokemon AU: This one is. So involved, mostly on the worldbuilding side of things. For those who know anything at all about the main series Pokemon games, this will be set in Galar (Sword/Shield). Hinata grows up wanting nothing more than to be a Pokemon Ranger (they have a slightly different role than “canon” here), whereas Kageyama was born from a Gym Leader and the CEO of an influential company and has had heavy expectations on him basically since birth. The stress and fear of failure make him cold and controlling at first, so when he does his first run of the Pokemon League, he fails. He gets advice to visit the Wild Area where a certain Ranger spends most of his time. Needless to say, when he meets this scrawny, wild-haired little Ranger, he is not expecting it to be while he himself is being chased around by an angry Dragon-type until Hinata arrives and calms it down by just being there. He has many questions.

Aaaaand that’s it I believe! If any of you want to ask me questions about these, feel free to leave an ask! I’d be happy to talk about them more :D As for tagging, uhhhh... I dunno, @plusultrachaos, @faelwenholdsthelight, and @psychicshr00m, if y’all haven’t done so and would like to do this!

#fanfic #fic #my fics #bnha #haikyuu #au #bnha au #haikyuu au #pokemon au #man i have more ideas than i thought #i also apparently do not know how to not ramble #so uh sorry for the long descriptions lololol #Redsky Rambles #tsbtq #dte #asos #dragon izuku au #brainwashed au #anomaly au #shady dealings #lightning strikes twice #giant crow au #haikyuu pokemon crossover

[inikavulpixelreviews]

Let’s Talk About Pokemon - The Ghost Type

Gosh we're getting so close now. We're at my second favorite type of all, the Ghost type! Probably surprising nobody with that one, given my love for all things Halloween. What better way to appreciate Halloween than with he Halloweeniest type of them all!

Ghost types had a really slow start with me at the beginning. I wasn't too impressed with the Gastly family and Misdreavous didn't make a dent there either. Was Ghost just doomed to little sheet-ghost looking things in various colors? That's a shame, cause Ghost as a conceptual type is really cool. Then Gen 3 happened and my feelings on the type turned around so hard it did like 7 rotations before stopping at a complete 180. We got the absolutely spooky gold that is Banette, and DUSKULL, and freaking SHEDINJA. Then Gen 4 happened and didn't stop there! With the funny but still spooky Drifloon and Rotom, and the big and scary Spritiomb and Giratina to go with em. Then Gen 5! Then Gen 6! Okay, tl;dr, the type's been on the up-and-up ever since that turnaround in Gen 3.

And true to their theme, Ghost types often get the spookiest lore to go with them. Shedinja's back-hole sucking out your soul, Drifloon attempting to abduct children, Phantump's whole thing of being the soul of a child that died in the woods. Yeah, that's right, some of these Ghosts are even the spirits of dead humans! There's something oddly existential about catching a Yamask and learning that it's the ghost of a human being that you're throwing at people's pet dogs and cats to beat them up. Doesn't help the whole image people like to project onto the series of “Pokemon is messed up if you think about it too hard.”

Top 10 Favorite Ghost Types:

This is so haaaaaaard cause they're all so GOOD. Help me.

My Top 11-20 Favorite Ghost Types:

I just GOTTA. Ghost types are too cool, alright?!

My Bottom 10 Least Favorite Ghost Types:

...Huh. This was easier than I thought it'd be. Honestly, it’s just Hoopa and Marshadow that I’m kinda indifferent towards. The rest are just some slightly less cool dudes.

The Cutest:

The Coolest:

The Prettiest:

The Spookiest:

The Other Spookiest:

Ghost type is just so spooky, it's gotta have TWO spooky categories.

Weirdest/Most Unique:

Most Inventive Use of the Type:

This one's just hard because most Ghost types are just different kinds of dead things. Shedinja gets a lot of credit NOT JUST for being probably THE most genius design in the whole dex, but also for being the sole animated corpse in the whole Ghost-dex so far. And Blacephalon for getting the “spooky clown” thing done and over with in a way that isn't overbearingly leaning on “haha geddit, cause it's a spooky weird clown?” Phantump, Drifloon, and Pumpkaboo especially are some ghost designs that are just absolutely gorgeous in terms of how effective they are for their simplicity. And Cofagrigus is just a neat way to make a living coffin creature.

The Most Halloweeny:

Now THESE are the Pokemon that make me think of the Halloween season every time I look at em. Happy Halloween!

GHOST TYPE WISHLIST:

NOTE: These Type Wishlists were written out before any news on new Pokemon from Sword and Shield. The Pokemon revealed over time will not affect these wishlists. Just to present them unaltered despite spoilers and in the interest of getting the wishlist out there, and to see which items on said wishlists get fulfilled by Sword and Shield!

A Shadow:

Marshadow and Gengar are fine and all, but they seem to have an overbearing excess of dimensions for what are supposed to be “shadow” monsters. Can you imagine the cool visual of a Ghost type Pokemon that is truly nothing BUT a shadow on the ground? Perhaps even a shadow protruding from its trainer's own shadow when it's sent out in battle?! Sadly, that might be expecting a bit much, hmmm. If we just get a perfectly flat but standing monster, that'd be rad too.

A Skeleton:

C'MON GUYS, skeletons have been memes for like, a whole DECADE at this point, where's our friggin Skelemon?! Duskull is a good temporary make-up but I really just want a Pokemon that is truly nothing BUT a skeleton. It's like, THE thing missing to make any Nightmare Before Christmas parody involving Pokemon perfect, and you're missing the main character here!

A Haunted Suit of Armor:

Perhaps a bit cliched, but it's so cliché at this point that it'd be hilarious if they included a ghost that took control of a human knight's suit of armor. Though if we ever DID get a suit of armor ghostly Pokemon, I feel like its proportions would get messed with to keep it from looking TOTALLY human.

A Zombie:

A direct interpretation of a zombie, I can't say I blame them for not wanting to jump on. If you were to literally animate a corpse in Pokemon, it'd probably feel a little out of place. At least Shedinja has the excuse of the “corpse” just being an insect's shed skin. But there's still so many ways to ELUDE to zombies without making a complete direct reference to them. What about a monster that is little more than a hand erupt from the ground?! Its evolution could be a “living” dirt mound with TWO hands, even!

A Tombstone:

Speaking of dead things, you could TOTALLY get away with an animated spooky tombstone monster! A perfect Rock/Ghost type!

A Vampire:

How do we still have no vampire monster?! Is it because they're too busy making OTHER bats?! Well, I guess that's fair enough. But I still want my vampire bat.

A Ghostly Deep-Sea Dweller:

Any one will do, I'm not gonna be ridiculously picky. Jellicent was a decent enough start but I think for my ideal Water/Ghost type we can go DEEPER. A gulper eel? A tube-eyed fish? A haunting ANGLER fish?!? Yes please!!

A Scarecrow:

Cacturne's got me settled enough to where the lack of one isn't bothering me a ton, but a full-on proper ghostly scarecrow would be killer to have anyway.

A Frankenstein's Monster:

I guess it wouldn't need to be a GHOST type necessarily, I just bring it up here since it fits in with the Halloween theme. Pokemon’s no stranger to having human-like ogreish creatures between ones like Conkeldurr and Machamp, anyway.

[Archive]

#Pokemon #Ghost Type #The Ghost Type #Pokemon Reviews #Halloween

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 204

Welp, Gohan’s just chillin’ in a giant nest.

Oh, also Goten’s here.    So there’s a family of those big pterodactyl-looking creatures and apparently Gohan and Goten are friends with them, but they’ve gone missing.  

This episode used to confuse me a lot when I first saw it, because I hadn’t watched the entire series up to this point, so I wasn’t sure if Chibi and his parents were a retcon or if they had appeared before this.     Gohan acts like he’s known them his whole life, but this is indeed their first appearance.   I think I might have confused them with Icarus aka Haiya Dragon, who was Gohan’s animal companion in Movies 3,4, 5, and Episodes 108-119.     Kind of weird how Toei just sort of dropped that altogether once the androids showed up.    Maybe Icarus died during the three year gap?   It just feels like this episode was written with him in mind, like he married a female of his species and now Gohan has to save his newly-hatched offspring.   

Meanwhile, Mr. Satan is chillaxing in his home, watching footage of himself winning the 24th Tenkaichi Budokai with a bottle of wine.    I suppose this is telling.   In private, this is the stuff that keeps Mr. Satan going.    His victory over Cell was a fabrication, but winning the World Tournament was a genuine achievement, one he can truly take pride in. 

I just wonder if he’s haunted by the memory of the Cell Games.   He’s the only one who knows what really happened, so he can’t tell anyone, even his own daughter.    Everything worked out, sure, but he still has to live with the knowledge that all of those strange people were stronger than himself.   That must put these highlight reels into a different perspective.   Maybe Mr. Satan is watching them for the sake of nostalgia.    He’s thinking back to a time when he didn’t know better, and he really believed he was the strongest man in the world.   

Anyway, Videl asks him about the previous Tenkaichi Budokai champion, and Mr. Satan explains that Son Goku was a mysterious man with a lot of fancy tricks, but he was surely no match for Mr. Satan.   

And this is apparently the moment when Videl realizes that the former champion has the same family name as Gohan.   Hmmm...

Meanwhile, Gohan and Goten watch news coverage of a circus wth a new act: a baby monster.  

Turns out, it’s Chibi, the baby they were looking for at the top of this episode.    This asshole named Musuka caught him and made him part of his asshole circus.    Seriously, what sort of act is this?    He just stands there with a whip and Chibi curls up into a ball and shivers in terror.    Why would people pay money to see this?

Awww, look at this adorable little man.    Fuck you, Musuka.    Fuck you and fuck your audience.    Fuck the circus, while I’m at it.  

Seriously, I don’t get the circus at all.    I have faint memories of going to one as a kid, and I’m pretty sure the only thing I wanted to see was Pac-Man, and I missed him while I went to the restroom or something.    I have no idea how Pac-Man was at the circus, but I just know I sat through like 95 hours of boring-ass non-Pac-Man content, and then I blinked and he wasn’t there.    Maybe I dreamed the whole thing.    Fuck the circus is my point.  

I’m pretty sure it was real, though, because I’ll see ads or circuses today and they promote appearances by Spongebob or some other cartoon character, and it’s probably just a guy in a suit.    The point is that they have to do that kind of thing because kids haven’t cared about animal acts for at least forty years.    They like cartoons and video games, because those are fucking awesome.   

And you don’t need a circus to have meet-and-greets with cartoon characters.    Just slap a costume on a guy and have him chill out in an air-conditioned building.    Circuses do it because they have to adapt to the times, except they keep clinging to all this other stuff that doesn’t work anymore.  

I have no pity for it.    I read a Batman comic from like 1988, where Dick Grayson checks up on the circus he used to run with before his parents got murdered, and every time Robin checks up on his circus pals they always do the sob story about how business is down because no one goes to the circus anymore.    It was cliche in 1988, and that comic is older than most of the people reading this.   I’ve been hearing about the slow, agonizing decline of the circus my entire life, and I was born in the Carter administration for crying out loud.   Nobody goes to Sears anymore, and you don’t see anyone feeling sorry for Sears.   

I don’t want to get too anti-capitalist on this thing, but it annoys me when people get all weepy over businesses that can’t keep up with the market.   Everyone was all sad when Toys R’ Us went bankrupt, but that’s bullshit, because no one really cares about Toys R’ Us, or they wouldn’t have gone out of business in the first place.   What is it we miss about that store?   You can buy the merchandise elsewhere, which is exactly what everyone did.    So what’s left?    Geoffrey the Giraffe?    Fuck that guy.    He’s no Pac-Man, that’s for sure.   The jingle?   You can look that up on YouTube right now.   

The circus is the same deal.    We’re supposed to care when one of them shuts down because it had been in business for like 105 years or something, like just because something is old that makes it important.   Once upon a time they didn’t have Pokemon, and the best you could do was to hope some carnies rolled through your town and they had a cool bear that would do tricks.    But that business model wasn’t going to last forever, and if it can’t adapt to the times then it doesn’t deserve to continue as it is.    I feel like I read once that circuses have shifted their focus towards human performers, which makes more sense to me, because it gets the animal rights activists off their back, and the humans can do flashier things anyway.    Then again, I scratch that itch by watching pro wrestling, so I don’t know if that’s viable.    It comes down to a question of what a circus has to offer without giving up its identity as a circus.    if the answer is to rebrand as some other kind of show, then just do it and don’t look back.    If you’re determined to keep up the pretense out of some misplaced sense of obligation, then don’t look for pity when the business dries up.  

Same deal with trains.     I dig Johnny Cash, but he had this one song that was basically all moping about how nobody travels by train anymore.    Well I rode a passenger train once and it was exactly like taking an airplane only cheaper and slower.   That’s why people don’t do it as much.    You can romanticize this stuff, but you need more than romance to turn a profit.   

Anyway, where was I?    Oh, right, Gohan tries to talk the owner into releasing Chibi into the wild, and when he gets shot down, Gohan just waltzes over to Chibi’s cage and busts him out.   

Yeah!    Fight the power!

Yeah, this is a Triangle Guy episode, by the way.  

Musuka doesn’t take kindly to hearing his star attraction has been stolen.   What’s amazing to me is how he’s just sitting at his desk counting huge stacks of cash, presumably earned from people paying top dollar to watch him abuse a defenseless animal.    I mean, yeah, this is Dragon Ball Z, but this is pretty broad, even for this show. 

So Gohan plans to just fly Chibi back to his nest, but oops, Chibi’s having a hard time flying so high and so fast.     Awwww, look at the spirals in his eyes, he’s all dizzy.  Hang in there, buddy.   

So basically Chibi is baby.    Gohan will have to carry him out of Satan City on foot.   

I forget why, but the truck driver from the Vegeta/18 fight is in this episode.    Pretty sweet.

Then Videl shows up.    Musuka called the cops, who in turn called in Videl, since Great Saiyaman’s a little out of their league.    Videl’s shocked that Saiyaman would steal like this, but it gives her an excuse to fight and unmask him, so she’s down with it.  

So yeah, you’ve probably seen the gif of this shot where Videl jumps on Gohan and wraps her legs around his head, but I’m pretty sure she was setting up a hurricanrana.   Everyone needs to get their heads out of the gutter.   

Awwwwwwwwwwww.

Awwwwwwwwwwwww.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

For some reason, Musuka wanders over and starts whipping Chibi, like that would help anything in this situation.    Seriously why does he need a whip?   Anyway, Chibi cries out and...

... Uh-oh.

So here are Chibi’s parents, and they’re not pleased.   This was exactly what Gohan was afraid might happen, but Videl wouldn’t listen to him, and he didn’t want to just punch out Videl, Musuka, and the cops to avoid this.   

The cops try to shoot at Chibi’s parents, and Gohan can’t get anyone to back off.   I don’t see why he doesn’t just grab Chibi and hand him over, but whatever.

I think around here, the dub has Gohan try to talk to them, and Videl points out that dinosaurs can’t talk.    So Gohan goes “Yes, thank you Videl, you’re very smart.”

But I do like this version, where Videl is surprised to find that Great Saiyaman’s childhood involved playing with pterodactyl monsters.    This is the sort of stuff Gohan doesn’t want gettng out about himself.   Not this specifically, but just the idea that he’s super strong and runs with huge animals and his best friend is King Piccolo and he turned into a giant gorilla a couple of times.   

Anyway, Gohan’s idea is that he can use his voice to get them to calm down, since they ought to recognize him.  

But at one point he almost uses his real name, and Videl gets so fixated on it that she takes her eye off the whole “giant monster��� situation. 

Then Masuka pulls a gun and Chibi’s dad almost eats Videl and it’s all breaking down...

(Awwwwwwwwww.....)

So Gohan has to deck Chibi’s dad to get things under control.    Maybe he should have just done that in the first place.  

Chibi’s all upset, but Gohan didn’t hit him that hard, so it’s cool.  

Fortunately, Chibi’s mom is a bit more practical, so Gohan hands him off to her and escorts them out of the city, carrying Chibi’s dad on his back.   

Nice shot of the reunited family.

And Goten flies over to get a kiss from Chibi.    What a good boy.    My only regret here is that no one kicked Musuka in the balls.    He threatens to go back and capture Chibi all over again, but Videl threatens him into abandoning that idea.

The next day, Gohan’s wearing a bandaid on his face because of a scratch he got from Chibi’s dad.   I think in the manga, he got it from the Red Shark Gang, but whatever.    Point is, Videl thanks him for yesterday, and he completely forgets himself and responds to this, which basically blows his secret identity.   

The moral here is that there’s more to a secret identity than the disguise.   In the end, Gohan’s just too honest to live a double life.   Videl asks him if he’s the Golden Warrior too, and he insists that he isn’t, because he absolutely cannot let that secret get out.    I’m not sure why, though, since Videl already knows he has super powers.   A few episodes later, it’ll become clear that Gohan doesn’t want Videl to find out that he beat Cell instead of her father, so maybe that’s part of what’s going on here.

Anyway, Videl agrees to keep his secret, if Gohan agrees to enter the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai.    Last episode, she found out that the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai’s winner was Son Goku, and she figures that must mean Gohan is his son.  And since her father won the 24th Budokai, she’s thinking it might be cool if they both entered the next tournament.   Gohan isn’t too interested in that idea, but he has no choice, since Videl will expose him unless he plays along.   

I never really thought about this, but Videl really acts as the flashpoint for this entire arc.    Everything that happens from this point onward is a direct result of the tournament.    All the major players converse there, and that only happens because Gohan chose to enter, and that only happens because Videl blackmailed him into it.   

And really, Videl’s only taking this much of an interest in Gohan because of the Cell Games, and the Z-Fighter’s indifference to Mr. Satan claiming the victory over Cell.    She’s convinced that her father and Gohan’s father are peers, and that the two of them could have an even match.     If the Cell Games had played out differently, maybe Videl wouldn’t bother bringing any of this up.   

Oh, one last thing, Videl wants Gohan to show her how to fly, since it gives him an unfair advantage over her.   

So now Gohan’s stuck.    He has to fight Videl in public and teach her how to fly.     Well, he’s been through worse situations than this.   

#dragon ball #2019dbliveblog #great saiyaman saga #gohan #videl #goten #chi chi #mr satan #chibi

[relaxedmouse]

I’d rather look at Scorbunny’s face than yours.

I just watched the first 30 minutes of Pokemon Sword and Shield. Obviously, it is way too early to make judgments about the game, but I have one first impression that I want to share.

Hop has a surprising amount of focus placed on him. He has animations such as pumping his fists, looking around curiously, slumping after defeat, and more. He has a variety of facial expressions (and these faces get plenty of close-ups), and a large amount of dialogue.

Again, I must mention that I haven’t seen the full game yet, but from what I’ve heard, apparently Hop is going to follow you around for the entire journey. It seems they really want you to grow attached to him and see him as your friend. But here’s the thing: I’m pretty sure that most people playing Pokemon games care way more about the Pokemon than the human characters. I wonder: what would’ve happened if the developers chose to spend all that time and effort animating the Pokemon rather than the people?

For the record, I actually really liked Sun and Moon’s Hau. (Yes, really!) I don’t hate the friendly rivals nearly as much as some people seem to. But even I don’t think that Sword and Shield needed to give Hop multiple close-ups on his face during your first battle with him. I like the idea of trainers making comments during battle, but these ones were too frequent, and intrusive.

I also certainly don’t think he needs to dog your steps throughout the whole game. What is going through the developers’ minds? Do they worry that you’ll get lonely during your adventure? Is that why they’re trying to make you feel like your friends are traveling with you? They did something like that in X and Y too, with the beginning of the game setting you up as part of a large group of friends. But I doubt that many of us truly felt lonely, because we always had our Pokemon with us.

The most recent games (Sun and Moon, and Sword and Shield) have featured a cutscene when you obtain your starter Pokemon. You get some adorable moments with your trainer and your new friend gazing at each other, cracking a smile, maybe even jumping in joy . . . This is a step in the right direction toward making you love your Pokemon, but it’s a shame that it never really goes beyond that. Once that first-meeting cutscene has passed, you’ll never really see your Pokemon again, except when they’re standing on the field of battle.

Weirdly, outside material establishes Pokemon to have distinctive personalities. For example, back in the pre-release era of Generation 7, Brionne is described as constantly cheerful and smiling, even when it feels sad, because it never wants to upset its trainer. This is potentially a fascinating personality, but does this trait ever show itself in the actual game?

To me, the main appeal of Pokemon (and I’m sure many other people can say this too) is forming a bond with your team as you travel together. Imagine just how much more attached to your Pokemon you could get if they could follow you while walking, if they could react to your actions and to things happening in the story (even if it’s just with basic reactions such as a jump, a smile, a cry).

Obviously I don’t expect them to add this much extra detail to every Pokemon. That’d be crazy! But I do think they could at least do something more for the starters. You know, the 3 (well, 9) Pokemon that every single player is going to have.

I’ve got to say, I agree with the interesting points made by this video (“How Has Pokemon’s Battle Animation Evolved?” by New Frame Plus). Firstly, that the Pokemon are rather sparsely animated, and it’s the design itself rather than the creature’s behavior that’s doing all the appeal work. Secondly, that the games would benefit so much from giving extra attention to making the Pokemon more lively. Not to be mean to the human characters, but I honestly think the games would benefit more from prioritizing animating the Pokemon, rather than giving the humans more poses and facial expressions.

I used to not care about the animations in Pokemon – I always thought they were good enough as it was – but after seeing all the attention given to Hop (and other humans) in Sword and Shield, I can’t help but feel like that attention could have been placed elsewhere.

I know the devs have created things like Pokemon Amie (or Refresh, or Camp, or whatever it’s called), which is an impressive effort. But that’s a side feature that a lot of people will never even touch. Not to mention, you have to pause your main quest in order to play with this feature, which to some people comes across as an unwanted interruption. Wouldn’t it be amazing if they could thread these interesting animations through the main campaign, instead?

Pokemon is still Pokemon, and I think the games will always be fun, but it is pretty disheartening to see them implement good features (we had walking Pokemon before!) and then scrap them in later games, rather than continue to build upon them.

#opinion #personal #pokemon sword and shield #video games #venting #pokemon #nintendo switch

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Could you please answer 1, 8, 17, 20, and 30 for Luca/Jacob asks?

Gladly! Thanks so much for asking! 

1. Do you have any faceclaims for your MC and Jacob?

I do, actually! Luca is someone that I imagine looking like a young Keanu Reeves. For Jacob, I’m a bit torn between Adam Driver and Goron Visnjic. I think Goron might be a bit closer but it’s hard to imagine him with the long, scraggly Kylo Ren hair that Adam pulls off so well, and my Jacob always has long hair. 

8: Would MC/Jacob use legilimency on anyone, anytime, or only when absolutely necessary? Does this change over time? Do they ever become as powerful as Snape/Dumbledore/Queenie? (wandless and nonverbal)

As for Luca, almost never. They are deeply uncomfortable with the entire concept of legilimency and using it on other human beings. While they have used this power when the situation called for it, doing so made them feel gross. So only when it’s necessary. 

Jacob, on the other hand, used his new powers like a toy. In youth, he had little regard for the moral implications of what he was doing, and got really good at mental magic, really quickly. Later on, after Luca started Hogwarts, Jacob had a lot of time to reflect on some of his past choices and felt regret for how rash and selfish he was. 

As for their power, both siblings certainly possess the potential to one day be as powerful as someone like Queenie or Snape. However, whether that potential gets realized is another story. Luca will never willingly harness their power to any great degree, and Jacob’s disappearance interfered with his ability to train. In any case, Luca and Jacob’s proficiency at Legilimency is, to a degree, artificial. The result of a curse they both carry - so if the curse is ever removed, that extra power will also disappear. 

17: How does your MC feel about Merula? Will they ever be friends? Is Merula a playful rival with undeniable chemistry or is she just a huge pain in the ass?

Ah, Merula. My favorite character. Luca never hated her, or even truly disliked her. She was indeed a major pain in the ass early on, but Luca only ever wanted to be her friend. As time went on, their chemistry accelerated and the interactions became more positive and affectionate. Luca fell in love with her, which Merula reciprocated even if she had trouble admitting it. Despite the ups and downs, they did have a happily ever after. 

As for Jacob, well...this is where things get tricky, and really get into head-canons. To put it plainly, I don’t believe the Jacob we interact with in Year Six is really him. I get serious imposter vibes from him. So I’m not really counting Merula and Jacob’s canon interactions. But I think Jacob would, upon meeting Merula, find her and Luca to be cute together. I think Merula would remind him of his own (boy)friend, Duncan Ashe, making him quite fond of her. 

20: If MC had access to a pensieve, what memory would they most like to revisit and explore? (doesn’t have to be their own memory)?

Luca does in fact own a Pensieve, that Flitwick gave them. I think it would be calming for them to peruse old memories that bring joy. Something like the Celestial Ball, or their Sorting Ceremony. Otherwise, I think they’d be very curious to see things like the interactions between Tiny Tulip and Tiny Merula, before they fell out. For a number of reasons, they would also be curious to see some of Ben’s childhood memories. Finally, there is one particular memory that Luca fought tooth and nail to see...but once was enough. They never want to revisit that memory ever again. 

Jacob isn’t the type to use a Pensieve at all. While Luca is much more prone to dwelling on the past and overthinking, Jacob is impulsive and lets go of things a lot easier. I think, if offered the chance to look inside a Pensieve, he would refuse. But his first choice would probably be any memory shared with Luca or Duncan. Otherwise, he would select the day he hatched a dragon egg in the Creatures Reserve. That hatchling became a life-companion to Jacob, and it actually wasn’t the only friend Jacob made that day...

30: Do you have any songs that remind you of MC, Jacob, and/or their relationship? Do you have a playlist? Would you mind linking me to that playlist? Thanks.

I’m afraid I don’t have a playlist! Though I really should get working on one, as it seems to be all the rage these days. But! I do have songs that remind me of Luca and Jacob, and I can think of one song in particular that speaks to me about their relationship. I would link them, but links seem to have a finite lifespan, so I’ll just post the names. Here goes nothing! 

Jacob’s Theme - Neutral Theme, Shin Megami Tensei IV

Luca’s Theme - Peaceful Days, Chrono Trigger. 

Luca and Jacob - For Forever, Dear Evan Hansen 

Could apply to Luca and Jacob, or just Luca in general - Tears After Cloudy Weather, Pokemon anime

Thanks again for asking!

#hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery #harry potter #hphm mc #jacob's sibling #hphm jacob #hp #luca fawley #remembrance #spoilers for remembrance #hphm headcanons #hphm oc #hogwarts mystery oc

[fyrapartnersearch]

eye-catching title ;

Once again, I’m AJ! Lookin’ for a couple of different things, mostly similar to my last ad. We love a (mostly) one trick pony!

  For original settings: apocalyptic (zombie, disease, extinction event, whatever), sci-fi (futuristic, space-faring, space opera), fantasy (high, low, medieval, urban), supernatural (fantasy, urban, sci-fi, literally anything). For fandom universes: Percy Jackson, Pokemon, and Fallout.

  Gonna run through my basic info and then onto the particulars. 💕

  ⥽ About Me ; ⥼

  • Name/Age ; AJ! So close to 22 I can taste it. One more month…

  • Timezone ; CST! I don’t mind time differences, this is just so you know my general schedule.

  • Length ;  Truly varies to the point where sticking an average on it is difficult to do. 3-5 minimum I guess? I can go with that as an average if you prefer multi-paragraph style or write novella.

  • Reply rate ; Varies depending on whether we’re doing multi-paragraph or novella. I can respond anywhere from every day to every other day or a few times a week to weekly depending on the writing style of the RP and my schedule.

  • OOC ;  I like getting to know my partners and sharing enthusiasm over our ideas and characters. Nothing hits quite like mutual investment! I’m ditch-friendly but don’t ditch myself, so you can expect communication. I’m not picky if I don’t get the same from you, though. I’ve been around the block enough to know it happens.

  • Contact ; Strictly email for OOC and roleplay unless we’re using GDocs for the RP itself, no messengers even for OOC. You can find me at [email protected].

  ⥽ On the lookout for ; ⥼

  • Doubling ; Unlike my last post, this isn’t a deal-breaker! I just prefer writing a cast of characters, so this is something that’s more of a bonus. Ideally we’ll double, but I’m down for writing just one character each.

  • Will only write MxM or FxF ; MxF’s not my cup of tea (I’m extremely picky with it, fellow gays u know how it is). If we’re writing a cast of characters then I’m fine with having an MxF side couple.

  • 18 + ; I’m pretty much 22! Partner’s gotta be 18 +. 20 + ideally. Same with characters, extra bonus points for characters who are 30+. Romance doesn’t die once you hit middle age!

  ⥽ Yes! ; ⥼

  • Smut ;  I enjoy writing it, but it’s not a deal-breaker if you’d rather fade to black.  All characters will obviously be adults. I expect versatile characters in bed by default, that way we’ve got an even route for playing roles in bed. Admittedly this shifts a bit depending on the character I write, but a HUGE no on anyone who comes in guns blazing off the bat with how they only write bottoms.

  • Face claims ; Spent a huge chunk of my roleplaying years on tumblr (it was very over-the-top and flowery and weirdly formatted and grossly difficult to read, I know I know), so having a face for characters stuck with me. If you don’t have any of your own and want good resources to find a face, I’ve got some recommended sites I can throw at ya! Had a previous partner who had a character sheet format that I use now that’s simple but looks nice! Nyx if you’re out there don’t come for me for copping your format.

  • Depth & growth ; Not a fan of one-dimensional characters or characters who act the same from beginning to end! People change with experiences and the people around them, so this is to be expected. ESPECIALLY when doubling with a cast. I loooove complicated characters growing together.

  • Plotting & Worldbuilding ;  *For original settings/worlds! I’m not picky with this if we’re working with a canon setting, so if that’s what you’re looking for, we can skip this section. I run into loooads of folks who say they do this when they really don’t. We’re writing an entire world together, so there’s some degree of effort involved! I need specifics to use as a start-off point for the roleplay and a general outline for where the story’s going. RPs that are just random, spur of the moment with writing as we go on tend to burn out REALLY quickly for me. I know not a lot of people are into this, so I’m sorry about that.

  ⥽ No! ; ⥼

  • Underage characters ; Total given that there will be NO sexual themes with underage characters, but in general as well! I only write adults.  20 +.

  • Single paragraphs ; I’m not too picky with a lot of length a lot of the time, I just don’t mesh well with people who don’t write more than that. Go ham. I like my responses meaty!

  • Limits ; Abuse, nonconsensual/sexual assault, pedophilia, incest (includes step-relations, adopted relations, and that figurative like if one character essentially raised another or they were raised as family), weird age gaps, BDSM, any kind of master/slave or dom/sub dynamics.

  As for the goods, I’ve laid ‘em all out for you here! Keep in mind that while all of these are fun on their own, I’m definitely the type of writer who’s into mixing and matching. Sci-fi apocalypse? Fantasy apocalypse? Fantasy supernatural stuff? Sci-fi fantasy? Sci-fi supernatural stuff? Supernatural apocalypse? Period settings? Literally whatever you could think of, I’ll give it a whirl. The particulars down below are just to get the ball rolling and catch some interest. Hit me up with whatever you’d like!

  APOCALYPSE: My bread and butter! Tense, harrowing, and especially gut-punching when it comes to how close people become to survive together in quiet moments of a world they used to know. I’m a big fan of zombies, so that’s my loose preference. I loved Black Summer on Netflix – the earlier episodes, at least, as well as The Last of Us. That’s the kind of vibe I favor with zombies/zombie-like creatures. But, ofc, an apocalypse can be anything! I love writing different takes on the genre since there’s so much to cover. Extinction event, pandemic, impact event, monsters/beasts, man-made, whatever. The more creative the apocalyptic setting, the better, so I’d love to bounce some ideas back and forth. Not too into a nuclear apocalypse setting, since that overlaps a lot with Fallout down below.

  SCI-FI: Sci-fi’s a bit tricky since it encompasses so many different takes, so I’m clearing the air to say anything’s good. Futuristic, space travel, time travel, space opera, AI, apocalyptic, cyberpunk – if it works in sci-fi, it works for me.

  FANTASY: High fantasy, low fantasy, medieval fantasy, urban fantasy, whatever. Love dragons, love magic, love weird fantasy flora, definitely love the classic prince/princess x knight or commoner schtick. You want prophecies? I’m game. You want elves? I’m game. You want steampunk? I’m game. You want none of that and wanna do something else? I’m game, baby. The possibilities are endless.

  SUPERNATURAL/PARANORMAL: Vampires and werewolves and demons, oh my! Can’t go wrong with horror, especially can’t go wrong with comedy-horror. I’m more of the type to prefer humans and supernatural beings together in a ragtag duo type of way as opposed to two supernatural beings, but anything’s cool in my book. Medieval/fantasy setting for a dark fairytale vibe, urban/modern supernatural beings slinking in the shadows outside of the human eye, supernatural sci-fi stuff, mysteries and danger lurking around every corner? Seriously, it’s a great genre! Any and everything is fantastic. I’ve got a loose concept of demons/the Underworld I’d like to get into since I’m struggling with the worldbuilding of it, so applying all that to a roleplay to give it a whirl sounds like a great way to work out the kinks. Plus, c’mon. Paranormal romance. What’s not to love there?

  PERCY JACKSON: I haven’t ever roleplaying this verse before, so this is completely new grounds for me. I’ve seen some fun takes on it, though! Scoured older ads but haven’t reached out to anyone because the posting time’s pretty old, but a couple ideas I’ve skimmed through sound fun. HP got a period take on it, so why not put that spin on PJ with a period setting rather than in modern times? Or just a regular modern setting. Y’know, keep it classy, keep it sexy, keep it fun! I’m definitely focused on life outside of camp, since all the characters will be adults. Life’s supposed to suck for demigods, so let’s get into that.

  POKEMON: Leaning a little more on the Detective Pikachu take, since it was fun to see a less anime/game-esque take on the pokemon world. The almost neo-noir style was sooooo cool, so I’ve got my sights set on leaning maybe a little more into the noir sensibilities and themes as an homage to the blending of genres between Pokemon and noir.  So a lot of themes of alienation, mystery, ambiguity, things along those lines. Definitely a weird mix with Pokemon but I think it can be fun.

  FALLOUT: Gonna be real with you guys, I’m a total newbie to Fallout and have only played F3 because it was the only game I found in my family storage for Xbox 360 and I don’t have enough money to get a gaming PC/Laptop to play the other games. I’m watching playthroughs, though! Dipping my toes in the water, so to speak. I’m into it! It’s a fun franchise from what I’ve played and seen so far, so I’d love to write OCs in this verse.

#oc rp #multiple paragraph #long term #email #pokemon rp #smut rp #submission

[fire-emblem-drabbles]

matchup commission!

i hope this isn’t too much!! i’ve tried to break it up to make it more readable, but let me know if there’s anything i can do!! 

game: either Three Houses or Awakening, tbh! unless there’s, say, a character from Echoes that fits better? just pick who you think is best <3

pronouns: she/her gender preference: I don’t mind!!

personality

the good:

curious

i love to learn? is that a good thing?

open-minded

thoughtful

communicative

good conversationalist (or, at least I’d like to think so)

good listener (i’ll happily sit with someone as they talk about their day, or they want to complain about something, or if they just need someone to talk to in order to flesh out their ideas/beliefs!)

trustworthy (ish)

compassionate (or at least, I try to be!!)

patient

accepting (within reason aadjsdfkjhfds essentially i just try to not judge people)

understanding (I do my very best!!)

the bad:

prone to catastrophizing (that’s the anxiety poking through)

indecisive (I cannot make a decision to save my life)

shy (it’s not that I’m quiet or withdrawn, I’m just Deeply Afraid Of Rejection)

unforgiving (while I can be pretty patient, once I’m done with someone, I’m Done)

prone to melancholy (I do my best to fight it, but that melancholy be Strong)

overthinker (i literally write a whole dissertation in my head about a topic literally No One cares about… or i’ll decide to pick apart my relationships with others when it’s really not that deep. this one’s a mixed bag.)

the neutral:

opinionated (I’m putting it as a neutral trait bc I’ve been told that I’m “interesting to talk to” because of it, but my god… sometimes I wish I’d just calm down)

sensitive

talkative (for similar reasons as opinionated… I love to talk and I have So Much to say, but sometimes I wish I’d just learn to… shut my damn mouth)

my sense of humour (i’d describe myself as a “chaos goblin”, and one of my friends once said I’m a “mixed bag of human”, meaning that he can never predict what I’m going to say to him next; essentially i have a very “flexible” sense of humour, but the more absurd, the better)

perceptive (neutral just bc while it’s good when dealing with people I like, it’s fuel for anxiety)

interests:

reading (when I can actually commit to a book sjkdfhs)

if it’s of any consequence, my favourite books are probably the prophet by kahlil gibran and neverwhere by neil gaiman

writing (when I’m not LAZY!! Also, my genres tend to be more along fantasy or urban fantasy lines? A little sci-fi, when I’m not scared off by trying to do worldbuilding for that genre because O H B O Y science & technology is a LOT scarier than magic tbh)

trawling Wikipedia for an unreasonably long time

drawing

anthropology (it’s my uni major and I love it!! so much!!)

history (i’m a whole-ass nerd)

art history (I LOVE ART, my fave artist is probably alphonse mucha? If you’ve never seen his stuff definitely have a look! It’s A Lot but it’s stunning)

sociolinguistics (it’s so interesting!! And I guess languages too, but I’m so bad at learning them asjfdhddsklj)

fashion (in a way? I just love pretty clothes, and my style is… a lot of patterns, especially animals and flowers, and it’s retro-adjacent?)

D O G S

most animals tbh (I love foxes and owls! but i instinctively don’t trust horses)

for the pokemon matchup…

i tend to prefer pokemon that are based off real animals, more so than those like… objects? although I wouldn’t rule objects out, that’s just on the whole

i’d be looking for a companion more than a battling partner, if you know what I mean? So general temperament would be more important than battle prowess

neither this way or that on how powerful the pokemon would be, but I’d like it to be strong enough to defend us should the need arise?

i tend to prefer elegant pokemon to cuter ones, but this isn’t a deal breaker

basically I just want a Friend TM

i also like pokemon with mythological inspirations!! not necessarily legendaries or anything like that, but i think that’s fun

i usually pick water starters, and my favourite types would probably be… dragon, ice and probably dark or psychic? But All Pokemon Are Valid

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My goodness, you certainly gave me a lot to work with, but I know just who I want to pair you with because of it!

It didn’t take me long to realize you and Ashe would be a good fit for one another; many of your interests are the same or similar but the two of you are also different enough to keep things lively and interesting in a relationship!

The two of you probably met in the Monastery's Libary; it’s a little cliche, but the two of you were reaching for the same book at the same time and your hands touched. Ashe, of course, retracted his hand immediately and blushed before even seeing your face; seeing how cute you were only made it worse for him. However, you’re just as shy and probably hid your face so he couldn’t see your blush. It was all very cute and before you could apologize, Ashe was handing the book to you. “It’s one of my favorites,” he had laughed, placing it in your open hands “I’ve read it before, so you can have it.”

From then on, he was in deep; Ashe couldn’t help but recommend more of his favorite books to you and even went out of his way to read things that interested you so he could have more of an excuse to talk to you. It was obvious to anyone that saw the two of you together that you liked one another but since the two of you were both the wonderful combination of shy and awkward, it took far longer than it should have for the two of you to get together.

But the two of you get along so well together, people wonder how you ever functioned without one another. Ashe’s want to help others paired with your compassion makes you quite the duo and the two of you became known for helping others however you could. Behind closed doors, the two of you are a very sweet, affectionate couple, reading to one another, indulging in the others oversharing about their hobbies/interests (just the way Ashe’s eyes light up as he talks about true chivalry is enough to pick up your heart rate) or taking some time just to soak in the others company.

I truly think the two of you complement one another in a great way, where your strengths are similar enough to work in tandem but you also cover one another's weaknesses (Ashe is forgiving in situations where it might be better but other times you know when to draw the line). I really think you two would be so good for one another!

 As for partner pokemon, I can’t help but feel Absol would be a good fit! It’s got a basic animal shape while still being very much based in mythology, especially if you mega evolve it! While they’re said to be harbingers of misfortune, the truth is Absol actually forwarns of danger (kinda like Mothman in that sense?). And surely it will be strong enough to defend you but content enough just to spend ifs time with you protecting you only if the need arises.

Another thing, I like to think that Absol’s will only stay with trainers they find are caring and compassionate; so long that you show Absol you’re worthy of its service (so, just keep being a dear and being helpful and kind to those you meet) I’m sure the two of you will get along perfectly!

Can’t you just imagine it? Your Special Dark Puppy Creature curled up by your feet as you read or write, ready to help at a moments notice! Oh, and I just saw above how you love dogs so... isn’t it great that I choose Absol?

Funny thing about this gif I was actually considering Umberon before I remembered Absol hehe

#commission #match up commission #fe #fe 3h #pokemon #fe ashe #absol #submission