#(I ship things more in Gameverse but yeah)

[ageless-aislynn]

WIP ask game for the following: the blue lady ships it, au the war crime part out, and …or possibly like this on the condition 'heat' is something like Pon Farr and not omegaverse

boops gently

*rubs hands together gleefully* Thank you so much!

1. The blue lady ships it (Halo) aka "Untitled Cortana (and the marines) totally ship John/Kai" 😁 Sadly, this one ended up having large parts of itself "donated" to other fics and so would have to be redone if I ever decide to finish it but here's the original opening, for your reading pleasure, lol!

Cortana made sure to manifest her holographic self down at the bottom of the hill, well away from where John and Kai had just finished mopping up the last of the Covenant infantry. She'd learned the hard way that, if they felt like she was watching them, then they'd scurry away from each other.

And yet they're standing on a hill with a bunch of marines looking up at them and somehow that's not "being watched?" Maybe it's simply the distance, the false sense of privacy?

Or maybe it was because once, just once she’d appeared right next to them, practically with digital popcorn in hand, wanting a front row seat for The Big Moment?

Come on, Chief, take your helmet off. Show her those adoring eyes… she thought but was careful not to project herself into his auditory cortex. He hadn't responded well to that, either.

Kai took off her helmet.

Also acceptable. He can't resist when she's all battle-flushed. He removed his helmet as well, both of them going off comms. Not that it mattered because being literally housed in his head meant he couldn't actually shut her out; she had to choose to give him privacy. Which she was doing, thank you very much.

Watching from a distance didn't count. Ask anybody. Ask the group of marines next to her, none-too-covertly studying the Spartans and taking bets on who'd make the first move.

False sense of privacy was her favorite new thing.

2. I wasn't sure if I should make a funny scene out of a war crime 👀 Guess I'll have to AU the war crime part out, yep *nodnod* (Halo series)

Aka the completely awkward John/Makee sexytiems scene we all REALLY deserved. 😇😂 I totally, completely AU'd the war crime out of it, though, so now we can chuckle at all of the awkward, 10,000% guilt free! *nodnods* 😁👍 Still in progress, may even be completed and posted one day, who knows? Would also be my first posted John/Makee fic. 😁

3. Yeah so if Spartans went into heat, I’d probably write it like this... (Halo gameverse)...or like this (Halo gameverse, different game)...or possibly like this (Halo series) 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Technically, they're all variations on the same idea, which is why I probably won't ever write them. But they each have at least one distinct scene that lives rent free in my head, what can I say? Okay, so, with a wave of my hand, I've just given the gameverse Spartans the hormone pellets of the TV series Spartans. And with another wave of my hand and a little flourish of my fingers, I've added a condition to the pellets where, at certain times, to keep the pellets and the Spartans operating at peak efficiency, they have to go off of them.

And y'all know what I think would go on at that time. *coughcoughs in "Side Effect" NSFW* But imagine it as being more controlled than that, something scheduled, maybe a nice, out of the way place for Spartans on similar cycles to go and ahem, take care of each other, just an accepted part of being a Spartan and all that.

Annnnnnd in each of those 3 ideas, we get a pellet malfunction where game!Chief, Noble Team and TV!Chief ends up Trapped Alone With The Reader™. Not at the same time, not at the same place and not with the same Reader, I should mention. I mean, that would be one very tired Reader and quite a swingin’ Spartan party, woah, lol! 😳😂

I have a surprisingly well-defined, really more of an OC character for game!Chief, with a whole developed backstory and everything. And it's not ALL of Noble Team, just 2 of 'em. (That one actually came from a dream where the Reader was giving a report to Carter who is getting more and more flummoxed at how calm she is considering what all she's telling him. "And you're saying that you... handled them both. One at a time, right?" "Well, there might've been a one at a time in there but, honestly, it was just more expedient to double up." 😂) Then TV!Chief has a Reader no one has met before, someone who gives off this shy, reserved demeanor but who is an absolute wildcat underneath, who can give a malfunctioning-hormone-pellet Spartan a run for his money. I don’t know why but I want to see a scene where the rest of Silver Team finds them and they’re kinda running in like, “Okay, we’ve got to see if the non-enhanced human is all right. She might need medical aid!” and she’s all composed and walking out of the room like, yeah, he’s in there. And there’s John just totally worn out, asleep and snoring, lol! 😂 However, since John and Kai went through "Side Effect" together, I doubt this one would ever be written just because it's a rather close idea. I dunno. We’ll see! 😉

And *drum roll* there we have it! Thanks so much for asking! 😎👍

WIP folder ask game

[ryttu3k]

Oh boy, let's see! Three bingos, mostly negative ones left. Try and pick ones to fit those, if you want! Here are my thoughts below the cut.

PerfectWorldShipping (Sycamore/Lysandre, Pokemon): I'm conflicted about it. Yeah, seriously. See I goddamn love them but there are so many conditions on there (gameverse only and not anime, only in verses where Lysandre is redeemed/redeemable, et cetera) that I can't just go blindly sadhfkj over them. Seriously.

IsshuShipping (Hilbert/N, Pokemon): I like it platonically. I know XD;; I actually did use to ship the hell out of this, but I've since got to the point where their relationship is probably a lot healthier if it's platonic?

FerrisWheelShipping (Hilda/N, Pokemon): Fandom ruined them. Why are there so many doe-eyed helpless Hildas. W h y. Otherwise it'd be the same as Isshu.

Best Enemies (Doctor/Master, Doctor Who): I'm sending them to superhell. Like I goddamn love them absolutely my OTP but oh goodness they kind of deserve superhell XD

Beckett/Sascha/Ilias, VtM: They make me unwell (aka I'm gone for them). I made this OT3 and now I'm gonna cry over them.

Jan/Sascha, VtM: I'm open to it. I feel they could bond well over shitty sires and wanting to make an actual change?

Theo Bell/Beckett, VtM: It's okay/I'm neutral. Haven't really considered it but yeah, there's potential there!

Beckett/Anatole/Lucita, VtM: I really need this to be canon. I mean it IS canon but I need them to just say "yeah they love each other and it's canon and there's nothing you can do about it". They love each other!!

LaCroix/Bach, VtM: Dig the vibes, but not the ship itself. Like I can get the concept, but it's not my thing.

Lucita/Fatima, VtM: I want to kiss them. More correctly I want them to kiss each other. Good shit.

Nodsquadshipping - already answered!

Pragueshipping (Theo/Jan, VtM): Would read fic about it. Definite potential there, seriously.

Spock/Kirk, Star Trek: Relationship goals. They are married. They are the ship.

Link/Sheik/Zelda, Legend of Zelda: *slaps roof* This ship can fit so much projection in it. ...So yeah I definitely worked out some Gender Feelings via Sheik and Zelda XD;;

Ilias/Sascha, VtM: OTP. I reserved this slot for them because they're so in love and I cry and look at them and this got me a first bingo!

Ilias/Sascha/Beckett/Anatole/Lucita/Fatime polycule extraordinare, VtM: I love them! They all love each other dangit.

Gideon/Harrow, Locked Tomb Trilogy: The impact/their story is more interesting than the ship itself. Okay I'm struggling to find spots I haven't used yet lmao. Basically they love each other and their relationship is absolutely important but the relationship can take many forms and also I'd rather see them both start to heal properly before starting anything.

Link/Sidon, Legend of Zelda: I'd die for them. The wholesomeness ;_; Second bingo!

Julian Sim/Lettow Kaminsky, VtM: I like it in theory. Mostly because in practice they'd murder each other. And third bingo!

[lightninghikari]

Which are your top 5 pokeships? (:

Late reply hehe but here I go!

My top 5 pokeships are:

1.- Originshipping (yeah nobody expected that 😳). There’s a lot and at the same time not much I can say about this ship since y’all have seen me writing quite a lot about them. They are just, ugh, goals. If love was a thing to truly exist it would be like the love these guys save for each other. They have the sort of relationship we all should aim for. They’re just the ultimate couple, healthy, happy, supporting... *chef’s kiss*

2.- Perfectworldshipping (Lysandre x Sycamore): I never imagined I’d end up shipping this thing as hard as I ship it but goddammit, I can’t look up for any sort of artwork related to them without ending up crying. They are meant to be with each other, they complement in such amazing ways, they are so flawed, so imperfect, but their connection is so real, so deep and complex, and they are the ultimate angst couple since their relationship is doomed by canon. All of us shipping this are suckers for angst and like to suffer fr.

3.- Namelessshipping (gameverse Red x Blue): what can I say? Alolan Red and Blue made me ship this. There are always together. Blue can’t go more than 5 seconds without talking about Red in some way. I’m a sucker for enemies to friends to lovers. I don’t think no one else quite gets Red the same way Blue does and they just look amazing together.

4.- Contestqueenshipping (Lisia x May): okay we all can agree Lisia is a sapphic icon. And the games kinda hint at her having a crush on May (actually could be towards Brendan too but I prefer May). And idk, I think they make such a sweet couple because from the beginning we see Lisia supporting May, zero hostility, and I think they could get along too well uwu

5.- Devilshipping (Sidney x Phoebe): okay I gotta admit that this started off as an inside joke for my fic Breakable Heaven, but while I kept dwelling a bit further in their interactions and getting closer to them as characters I decided that I liked this ship. Both look like very funny, easygoing characters and I think they would make such a dynamic duo, causing chaos everywhere they go.

Other honorable mentions are: Cheren x Bianca, Lysandre x Malva (watch me multiship 😗✌️), Cynthia x Diantha, Diantha x Malva (watch me multi ship again).

Thank you a lot for asking, anon! I love these sorts of questions ❤️

[lost-in-yujikiri]

My version of SAO "Everyone Lives" AU

I need to get out my ideas of what would happen if most of SAO's Major Character Deaths got averted before Lycoris is released (except the villains and Sachi & the Moonlit Black Cat guild's death, there is just no way to erase it without undoing Kirito's development in Aincrad). I know SAO Gameverse/ Lycoris wouldn't follow any of my ideas, so I just want to share my view. Who knows, maybe this will become a huge fanfic some day.

Note: This post is full of multishipping/ non-canon shipping pandering headcanons/implications (the biggest ones are Eugeo/Kirito/Asuna & Bercouli/Fanatio/Dakira), as well as obvious heavy Alicization WoU and Moon Cradle spoilers, please beware. I also lightly included some game-only Alicization characters (Eydis and Medina) because I like them.

1) Cardinal is alive and she has high authority enough to install kid Alice Zuberg into a free Cube to make her a living entity separate from Alice S30

In most recent live Q&A Reki said that while writing Alicization the first scene he wrote is the scene of Kirito and Alice S30 climbing back into Cathedral and Kirito convinced Alice S30 to his side, he mentioned Alice's Synthesis is an irreversible one and it aligns with my reasoning of how Zuberg & S30 are different Fluctlights so I'll keep the same settings in here. So how would this affect everyone's treatment to the 2 Alices?

- Kirito would be glad that he doesn't have to "kill" any Alice just to keep one;

- Selka would be extremely confused, but I think she would eventually accept happily that she has 2 sisters now;

- Eugeo... would have even more complicated emotions than anyone, even more than he imagined. From my own experience, during university period, I went to a class reunion full of friends from middle school, and I reunited with a classmate friend whom I used to like a lot as a person. But for some reason I couldn't like his adult self as much as his middle school self even if he still isn't a bad person. To me he changed way too much in how he behaves and how he presents himself that I can't like his adult self like his middle school self, and I was shocked that puberty could change a person that much. Same to myself, I have changed a lot in my puberty too, and he also said I'm not the same as before any more. Back to my AU, I feel like Eugeo and Zuberg might mirror what I felt when I reunited with my classmate. Eugeo used to describe Alice Zuberg like the sun on the blue sky and that image of her is his source of happiness whenever he's sad, while Alice S30 is so unapproachable and cold like ice. Eugeo being indifferent to S30 is one thing, but to Zuberg it's like reuniting with a friend in elementary school who stayed the same and both would be shocked as Eugeo's the one who changed so much due to puberty. In ARS game Zuberg even said that while being jailed in Cathedral's ceiling, Eugeo (and everyone else) grew so big while she stayed the same and she's upset.

So I think in the end Eugeo would still end up letting Zuberg go instead of forcing her into the fantasy he held up for so long. Interestingly Eugeo himself already muled over this in LN when he was reading books in Cardinal's library, that the best outcome they could hope for is to give Zuberg back to her body and send her back to her family happily while he continued his adventure with Kirito because they're being chased away by the Church.

2) (Super self-indulgent) Bercouli/Fanatio/Dakira

Dakira: "Fanatio-sama is so amazing and dazzling and I love her, but she has Commander Bercouli so I can only be her subordinate and admire her in silence..."

Fanatio: "Dakira is so hardworking and loyal, she has so much potential I love having her with me but then what would Commander think..."

Bercouli: "Don't worry I'm cool with it, take care of our Sub-Commander, Dakira. And it's not like I can stop my knights from flexing their gayness..." *eyeing Eydis Synthesis 10

Super spoilers: Even if Bercouli didn't die in the War I think he would eventually unfreeze his age and find an ending for himself when he thinks he's lived too long and done enough for the Knights many years later. He would entrust Fanatio and her son with him to Dakira before he passed away, and Dakira would become Berche's 2nd mother (instead of Fanatio taking care of the kid alone in canon).

3) (Super self-indulgent) Eydis S10 x Alice S30 and Medina x Sortiliena

I could never imagine I would like any gameverse girls before but ARS and Lycoris manga have sold me Eydis x Alice S30 and Medina x Sortiliena OMG so I ship them hard in my AU.

4) Super self-indulgent Eugeo/Kirito/Asuna

(You guys who have stayed with me for years should have known already ara ara)

I don't feel it would not be that different from this excerpt from HR manga (seriously this artist really vibes with me I wanna have a drink with him sometimes).

Everyone: "Don't you think they're just too close? Aren't you afraid Asuna?"

Asuna: "Yeah I should, should I? But like Kirito seems so happy with him around like no others could and I feel he's a good boy so I can let them be"

We also should have more Eugeo & Asuna's interactions of chewing on Kirito's bad habits XD. I also feel like they can find solace in each other being fellow victims of sexual exploits from adults, in some aspects that Kirito can't fully understand that only fellow victims can.

4) Yuuki is alive and comes into UW as Goddess Lunaria

Poor Moon Goddess Lunaria, she's the 4th God of the Human Empire but even Reki forgot her in WoU and only mentioned her more in Moon Cradle. Anime and games also made it worse for leaving her out completely :(. So I want her to get her role in my AU as the Goddess of Dreams. Yuuki extremely fits her role, not to mention she cosplayed the Moon Princess in MD before. More Stacia Asuna x Lunaria Yuuki interactions are here of course.

5) Eugeo and Lunaria Yuuki participate in WoU with everyone

- Lunaria would be an amazing fighter of course. I feel she would be even more deadly than normal now that she has to start fighting with human souls on the line, whether they're real or artificial.

- Eugeo would be a huge AoE Life Absorber and Healer and also becomes destructive sometimes borderline death. But fighting with others will help him start seeing his own values and gain his own will to survive for others. And he'll become the first proper Knight in UW without going through Synthesis.

6) WoU changes and outcome in my AU (huge spoilers)

- Kirito got unconscious and damaged for a while, but without self-destructing his own Fluctlight from guilt of Eugeo's and other comrades' deaths because Eugeo is still alive and took care of him, so he eventually healed, at least quicker than canon;

- Asuna, Sinon and Leafa came to UW at once to help heal Kirito. There is no facepalming Asuna vs Alice fights since Alice didn't develop some level of Florence Nightingale effect towards Kirito (according to Wikipedia: "The Florence Nightingale effect is a trope where a caregiver falls in love with their patient, even if very little communication or contact takes place outside of basic care. Feelings may fade once the patient is no longer in need of care.");

- Sinon won against Subtilizer instead of the anti-climatic outcome in canon;

- Kirito & Eugeo fought together to win against PoH while Asuna and other girls kicked ass to huge armies;

- When they won the War the acceleration ratio of UW was changed to 1:1, Human Empire and Dark Territory made peace with more trading, labor & technology exchange treaties that benefit both. Alice S30 & Eugeo came to real world through Ichiemon & Niemon robots and chilled in ALO while Kirito beat up Kikuoka for hiding from him the actual purpose of Alicization project, and thus Kirito forced him not to use his friends as war soldiers.

- Alice S30 chose to go back to UW in the end since she finds her most values as being a Knight, coming to events of farce in real world is not her thing, and she wants to spend time with her Zuberg family. Meanwhile Eugeo already parted with his family after dumping on them a big bag of his Knight's salary money, saying that they can live prosperously without him working his ass off for them now, and he never comes back. He still comes and goes from real world to UW to do duties as a Knight who helps connecting real world & virtual reality, and sometimes visits the Zubergs with Kirito & Asuna. In real world he lives as an all-purpose robot in Kirigaya resident, while ALO he lives in the log house and takes care of Yui whenever Kirito & Asuna are busy in real world.

THE END.

[whats-ahead]

Game Verse Au

the other day we were talking about how different our canon would change if it was game verse instead so we came up with some ideas on how it would change. We focused more on making all of our kids fit into a gameverse setting verse restarting from scratch. For major changes/notes I took we have:

ship changes. All of our pokeani ships don't work anymore so we had to change ships

Adele's now hoennshippings only child

Red, Green, and Blue are in a poly relationship with Ber, Marx, and Sammy 

Dawn and Lucas had Noel and Jean together (who are twins), dawn took Jean and Lucas took Noel (both the adults and kids are still really close though the parents just aren't together romantically). Lucas and Barry also adopted Kitty when he was 5 (he's no longer Barry's biologically)

Io is now the adopted daughter of Lillie and Selene and doesn't have a dramatic parent backstory anymore

Penny and Tanner are Gold and Kris' kid

Scout is now Lyra and Silver's kid

Autumn is Lisa and Chaz's kid

Linette is Roxanne and Brawly's kid

Yancy and Len are Yancy and Nate's kid

Eclair is the adopted daughter of all of the Stratton brothers

Gale's now Wanda's (wally's cousin) kid but is still really close with his uncle

Ages. The game timeline is different so adults are different ages so ages have to change. Each line is separate by the year they can leave to travel (think of school years) with the oldest at top

Gale, Ike

Ber, Linette

Adele, Marx, Mirabelle, Bridge, Autumn

Sammy, Scout, Penny, Noel, Jean, Kitty, Milton

Charlotte, Eclair, Cliff

Larentia, Tanner

Axel, Lloyd, Len, Elise, Beau

  Io

The main 12 is now based off of regional trio groups which are

Ber, Marx, and Sammy: they're brothers who get along sometimes but still pretty close

Gale, Ike, and Adele: Gale and Adele's parents are best friends and Adele know Ike through Champion Stuff through the parents. Gale and Ike are like Adele's big brothers who won't hesitate if someone does something to her

Noel, Kitty, and Jean: again, siblings. They're all the same age (same birthday in fact) so they're all joint at the hip

Axel, Lloyd, and Len: already a trio in the main verse but this time they're even closer since Len's from Unova and doesn't move

Trainer Class changes! A lot don't change but some do and it's hilarious for the ones that do

Adele does field research for her dad! She's not good at it but she travels to try to help with the pokedex and constantly has updates for her dad of her "discovering" ""new"" pokemon (and he's happy to hear from her everyday

Scout's a trainer (and would probably be called his actual name Scott since "scouts" a nickname pun on idols) because of his dad so Penny became a trainer just to try to one up him

Gale's a trainer and eventually down the line becomes hoenns champion 

Noel's also a trainer so Kitty and Jean travel with him to keep him company

Other notes that don't fit in categories as well

Jean and Adele are still a thing. They meet when Adele's traveling in Sinnoh and Adele is telling him about how she just discovered a pokemon she's named "big tree turtle" (Torterra). Jean falls for her instantly. Noel and Kitty are concerned for Jean

For at least a region or two Adele and Marx travel together. Weird to think about since they're suppose to be siblings

Autumn still likes to poke fun at Adele

Penny isn't into idols anymore since she only was into them because of her mom and that's just really weird to think about

Axel and Len are going even harder they are in the main verse and I'm happy for them

Ike went from having 0 people he cares about to 2 people he TOLERATES ONLY. Don't tell them he said that though

Adele and Len aren't friends which again, is just weird to think about 

Charlotte was conceived at the after party of the xy endgame ceremony. Yeah. Grace wasn't too happy with this news

Bridge and Milton are dating still. Don't know the details but they are. they are the last fankid ship we can get to work in this verse so they will because I said so

[phantompsychic]

🔥🔥🔥 dew it

Send me a “ 🔥 “ for an unpopular opinion [Accepting]

#1: ((I absolutely HATE to say this as such a giant fan, but...I really didn’t like the second season of Netflix Castlevania! I still LOVE the first season, but...Season 2 is just, no for me. And I wanted to like it too! I could literally write y’all a book about my reasons why I don’t, but it’s not anything to do with ships or stuff like that. Moreso things like pacing, plot choices, characterization, etc., without getting into a whole ramble. Voice acting and animation were still nice, and Hector was the bright spot of the season for me (because my biased ass already loved him from CoD). Love my naive necromancer boy.))

#2: ((Personally, I don’t really like the idea of OCs having Legendary/Mythical Pokemon in their party. Meeting them/encountering them? Sure. Forming a bond with them/catching them? Ehhh. Obviously, I’m only speaking in terms of gameverse here (not counting AUs), because apparently in the mangaverse (and definitely the anime verse) the Legendaries encounter more Trainers and stuff? But yeah like, as far as non AU gameverse is concerned, it just feels wrong to me to do because, y’know, most of the Legendaries are either canonically owned by certain Trainers already (Benga for example) or they’re so important that it feels like you’re elevating the OC to the level of the protags or main villains by making the OC (or even other canon muses that don’t have them in the games for that matter) have one or more. The protags and villains have those roles for a reason, and imo that includes why they’d attract the attention of/catch Legendaries. Even I used to fiddle with an OC that had a Legendary but, ultimately, it just fell through for me for the reasons stated. I think a lot of my feelings on this comes back to issues I’ve encountered with power play and junk in the past, but idk. Now, to clarify, I’m not hating on muses that do this! As always, you guys do you, no problem. These are only my personal unpopular opinions.))

#3: ((This one is probably the most off the cuff but a simple one to leave off on--Wendy’s fries dippied in Frosties are gross change my mind.))

[gaycey-sketchit]

(Gary anon) And now we have Bea/Korrina breaking out too due to the latest episode. xD I definitely expecting an Ash/Goh hug by the end and hoping for Goh and Gary to have a personal moment alone. (That, and how weird some people act when a female love interest interact with other male characters that's not their partner. Made worse when said partner gets jealous or suddenly has trust issues in canon when it doesn't make sense. And when the reverse happens? Oof.)

(Part 2) Hmm, I'm pretty sure Gary's most popular ship on FFN is Palletshipping too. Leaf not being a staple in the anime and usually a secondhand ship is why Gary/Leaf is not the most prominent. Might be the most popular Gary m/f pair though, aside from Egoshipping. (Plus it was during an era *where fans were calling Blue "Gary", so there's probably some universe mix-ups. *Still happens, but phased out a lot since then)

(Part 3) As I said before, if Brock and Misty can come back with Megas, there's nothing stopping Gary from getting upgrades too. (Heck, some are now speculating if Cynthia will have Mega Garchomp) He's been gone long enough for it to be believable; just like his attitude change after Indigo. (Hopefully the Mew expedition goes well and everyone gets something out of it, not just Goh. Still think he's leaving with them)

Oh yeah! Good for them. Always nice to see another wlw ship on the rise.

Yeah, Ash and Goh already have had so much casual affection--Ash keeps slinging an arm over Goh's shoulders and it melts me every single time, they're so cute.

Oh, Goh and Gary having a Moment would be so good.

Yeah, for sure. Stuff like that is just... Yikes. Not fun to watch.

Makes sense--love how widely agreed upon it is that he is not straight.

Gary and his gameverse incarnation getting muddled by fans sure is a thing that happened a lot back then--and though it's much less of a thing now, I still see small remnants of that in how he's written by a lot of people.

Yeah, for sure! I saw a tweet the other day raising the question of whether he'd be more likely to mega or gigantamax Blastoise. Either way would be very cool. And it'd also be fun to see if he's picked up any new team members, I personally still think he should have some kind of fossil Pokemon.

Yeah, here's hoping! It has a lot of potential, hopefully it pans out. I'm realizing I'm going to miss Goh when the time comes to part ways--he's such a charming character, probably one of my favorite companions.

[sage-nebula]

4, 9 and 12 (of course!!!)

4.) If you were a trainer, would you go on an adventure?

YES!!! Hard yes. This isn’t even a question.

Like, look, listen: In real life, I don’t go outside very often. I don’t do a whole lot. I mostly just keep to myself, for a lot of reasons. Whenever anyone asks me if I had plans, or if I did anything over the weekend, the answer is almost always “no.” And the trip I’m taking to Japan in August is going to be the first time I’ve been out of my hometown / state, much less country, in seven years (eight by the time I go, actually). 

But if I lived in the PokéWorld? There wouldn’t even be a question. THE JOURNEY IS THE ENTIRE POINT!! 

I mean, that’s the reason why you get your first pokémon! It’s the reason why you get your License! Or, well—you don’t have to go on a journey, I suppose, but the journey in Pokémon is both literal and metaphorical. You go on the literal journey so that you can go on the metaphorical one, growing as a person and as a trainer. And note, I use the term “trainer” loosely here; so many people in this fandom think that you have to battle in order to have a viable career, and that’s just not true. So many people in that world choose occupations that don’t have anything to do with Badge collecting or battling. Those in the medicinal field aside, you also have scientists, researchers, Rangers, breeders, Coordinators (though that has a bit of battling to go with it), and so on and so forth. There are sailors! Firefighters! The list goes on and on. You don’t have to go on a badge quest, that’s not necessary. The important thing is that you get out there, you see new places, you let yourself and your pokémon encounter new people and experience new things. You put yourself and your team in a place where you can grow and mature in whatever way you need to, so that you can discover what it is you’re all meant to be doing for the rest of your life.

So if I lived in that world? If I received my first pokémon (two—a growlithe puppy when I was nine, and my official starter of charmander when I turned ten), earned my License, and had the chance to go on a journey? You bet your ass I would! I wouldn’t even be scared, because what’s there to be afraid of? Sure, there are a lot of dangers—but I have pokémon with me. I have two fire-breathing pokémon with me from the get-go, and I’m not afraid to let them protect me. What do I have to be afraid of? If anyone messes with me, I can just sic my pokémon on them. I used to get in fistfights all the time as a child in real life; this would be no different. I wouldn’t even hesitate. 

But that aside? Oh man, I’d travel everywhere, I’d go everywhere. I’d probably get the badges because, well, why not, they’re there, I might as well go pick them up while I’m doing other, more important things. But mostly I’d want to just explore; I’d want to see everything the world has to offer, I’d want to experience the majesty and the magic of that world. I’d want to experience and master mega evolution for myself, I’d want to go spelunking in literally every single ruin to ever exist. I’d want to explore the abandoned ships, and the phenomena off the coast of Cinnabar. I’d want to do it all.

So hell yes I’d go on the journey. No question, no hesitation. And since it’d get me away from the parents who mistreated me far earlier in that life than I managed it in this one … well. All the better.

9.) A pokemon you think is overrated

Umm … okay, I think I’m going to actually decline answering this one. I did take a shot at the vulpix line last night for being overrated because I was feeling salty about so many people favoring the vulpix line over the growlithe line all the time, but I feel a bit bad about doing that, and I’m not going to do it again with other ‘mon, even though there are some I could think of to name here, because … well, even if I think those ‘mon are overrated, people like them, you know? They bring people happiness. Maybe I don’t think they’re the greatest, or maybe I even dislike them, but just because they’re massively popular when I personally don’t get the appeal doesn’t mean that I need to insult them here. All that’s going to do is make someone upset, and I don’t want to do that, particularly since I know exactly how that feels due to how much I love charizard.

So I’m going to decline this one, at least for the time being. Maybe the super, massively popular pokémon are massively popular because they deserve it, even if I don’t necessarily get the appeal all the time. It’s incredibly possible, and I shouldn’t try to rain on that parade.

(That said, if anyone likes kricketune, sorry, we’re going to have to disagree for the rest of our lives, because there is not a single pokémon I despise more. I’d take literally anything over goddamn fucking kricketune. Kricketune is the sole reason I’m dreading Sinnoh remakes. No lies, no exaggerations.)

12.) The game with the best soundtrack

asdfkdsjfdslfjlksdjfsdfsd THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ANSWER, THIS SERIES HAS SUCH GOOD MUSIC!!! Like, honestly, Pokémon OSTs are often near the top tier of video game OSTs. It’s true that I can’t think of one that I would deem the best video game soundtrack ever created (that honor probably goes to Mystic Messenger and I’m still just … Mystic Messenger has no right, it’s a mobile phone otome game, why does it have a soundtrack this excellent?!), but even so, it’s hard for me to pick just one game from the Pokémon series that surpasses all the others musically because they’re all so excellent. 

Aarrrgghghhhhhh …

If I had to pick one, then it would probably be the Gen V games, Black/White in particular. As a sampling (and don’t read the comments on these videos if you want to avoid spoilers):

The Day I Became King

Encounter! N

Battle! N

Battle! Gym Leader!

Unwavering Emotions

Pokémon League

Battle! Elite Four!

Carrying Out a Mission

N’s Castle

N’s Farewell

ENDING - To Each Future!

In the game itself, “N’s Farewell” immediately precedes “ENDING - To Each Future!” and let me tell you … the effect there is immense. I was already near tears because of the ending, but god, that mood whiplash … it really affected me, haha.

But yeah, like—that’s a sampling! The music in the Gen V games is so good, particularly since the route music changes depending on the season, and there are also some musical differences between the versions (like, Opelucid City is a lot different between Black Version and White Version; it’s more technologically advanced in Black Version, so the theme for the city in Black Version reflects that, whereas it has more emphasis on nature in White Version, so the theme for Opelucid in White Version reflects that as well). Also, as you make your way to Victory Road in order to get to the Pokémon League, you have to pass by Badge checkpoints as usual. But this time, more instruments are added to the bgm with every checkpoint you pass, so the music swells to a crescendo as you make your way through the Badge checkpoints in order to get to Victory Road, and therefore the Pokémon League. You can take a listen like so:

Victory Road - Trio Badge

Victory Road - Basic Badge

Victory Road - Insect Badge

Victory Road - Bolt Badge

Victory Road - Quake Badge

Victory Road - Jet Badge

Victory Road - Freeze Badge

Victory Road - Legend Badge

And eventually what you’re left with is the full Victory Road music. You add the instruments to the bgm to make the track as you go through each Badge checkpoint, which really just adds to the whole experience—it really makes what you’re doing feel epic and majestic. 

God … honestly, I’m not sure Pokémon will ever accomplish something as incredible as it did when it made the Gen V games, but it can try. But that said, there are plenty of other tracks in the series I love as well! Like, honestly, the Gen III games have some amazing tracks, particularly when it comes to the remakes they received in Gen VI. Like, I have to take special mention of all of Zinnia’s themes, not just because she’s my favorite gameverse character, but because her music is fucking amazing:

Encounter! Zinnia

Battle! Lorekeeper Zinnia

The Hoenn games have a lot of fantastic tracks, but those definitely stand out in the remakes. Then again, Zinnia herself stands out in the remakes … she’s so perfect.

BUT ANYWAY, THAT’S ENOUGH RAMBLING FROM ME, HAHA … I just … really love Pokémon, and also music, so …