#But before they begin they will help each other perfect their Battle Look TM

[jaskieriswitchersexual]

@majorxmaggiexboy

this meme but it's Delirium doing her siblings' makeup, probably Desire or Death. Dream makes her pinky swear not to tell, but sometimes he lets her do his eyeliner when he's feeling especially affectionate.

[artesesarthouse]

My Pokemon Shield team!

Decided to use my Friends OC as the character I play in Shield because she's british and well this IS the british region so it fits.

So I've beaten pokemon Shield, finished about 90% of the Dex, and have gotten about a third of the way through Sword, and for the most part, I'm having fun with it. I say, despite the bad news that kept pouring over the last few weeks, it has enough good things to keep it fun and fresh. That said, there are some issues because not everything is perfect, and I'll detail the pros and cons I find with most of the important things about the game. Keep in mind I'm not a professional in the industry. I'm a casual fan who likes to collect Pokemon and a fan of the creature design. That said, let's get into it.

TLDR: Pokemon SWSH is good; its good on the things it improves on and adds to make the game more helpful to the grind, but it has many short cuts that make certain features tedious and time-consuming. Buy the game for the new mons and quality of life improvements. Don't buy if you expect everything to carry over from previous titles.

The Dex:

Of course, I have to talk about this as it was the biggest thing that started to change people's minds about SWSH and is a controversy that continued till release. For me, when I heard it, I didn't care because, for me, the only Pokemon I care about are the new ones. My team for each game is only the new Pokemon (including the alola and galar forms). But I do understand why people are upset because once pokemon home comes around, no doubt pokemon bank will close and you'll HAVE to switch them over and thus not be able to use Pokemon you've had for a while until they get added in future games. Which could be years. But let's switch gears and talk about what was added. Then just over 80 new pokemon, not including galarian forms. Now, this isn't the smallest amount of new mons we've had. XY had the least, but it still disappointing that there aren't that many new ones. BUT the new mons we got are fun and creative. I have many new favs, and GOD do I love that they brought back regional forms and made them better! obstagoon isn't the only one that got a region-based evolution, and I LOVE that they brought more. I think one of the unique things about Pokemon from most other monster catcher type shows and games is evolution and a big disappointment for me is whenever there is a pokemon with no evolutions because it feels like there's no potential and it's boring, and yes there is no-evolution pokemon among the new mons. My final note, though, is that there are more new evolution gimmicks, and I am not a fan, stones? Okay, friendship? Annoying but with berries, it can help. Trade? It can be annoying if you don't have friends, but you can use the GTS (OH WAIT :( ILL GET INTO THAT LATER), but making it, so yanmask needs 49+ damage AND can only evolve in a specific spot? FOR SHAME.

Wild area and Dynamax dens:

The one thing that was advertised the most, the thing that was in basically every trailer and hammered to death, the wild are. SO how is it after all this hyper? It's okay.

Pros:

It's big, way bigger then I thought, I thought it was just that beginning area in front of motorstroke but nope! Way bigger.

The wild area is split up into sections that each has their spawns and weather separate from the rest. This allows you to build a variety of teams early on; you don't have to wait till the end of the game to get an Ice-type or Dragon-type. If it's snowing in one section, there will be plenty of Ice-type mons.

The Dynamax dens are a great way to help the grind that pokemon games tend to have. Not only do you have a chance to get rare mons, but you get EXP candies which help level up your mons from 100 exp to 100,000 exp, so you can use those to level up mons you don't plan to use but need the evolutions for their Pokedex entries! It helps simplify the grind and tediousness of the grind.

Cons:

It's very tiresome to travel around, there are many hills and slopes you can't move through and have to take the path around it, which gets annoying very quickly, especially if you are trying to get into the water, but you can only access it from a lower level, what would've been nice is a rock climbing upgrade for the bike so you can traverse up the cliffs and cut downtime.

Overworld pokemon aggro too much and get in the way. They are a lot of Pokemon that can only be caught in grass, and the way you have to trigger a grass pokemon is by moving in the tall grass, the problem is the Pokemon that some pokemon that wander around will notice and charge at you, stopping your progress until you end the fight. It gets in the way, and from I've seen, there's no item to make them ignore you.

Weather spawns, one worry I had when I heard about the changing weather feature was that some pokemon are locked into only appearing during particular weather, and sadly I was right, but it's even worse! Not only is that true, BUT some mons can only be gotten in individual sections too! So there's an even smaller chance at getting them! Weather also is daily, and every section can get nearly every single weather effect, so it could be literal weeks until you get the one weather effect you need in that one section for your damn Pokedex.

GMAX raids are too infrequent, one of the big things that made people get on the side of Dynamaxing was the introduction of Gigantamaxing, which is just mega evolution with extra steps, but you can only get them from raids. Except for Charizard, Eevee, Pikachu, and Meowth. And they are a very low chance even with the event going on that increases some of the spawns.

The Wild area is a good idea which they will hopefully explore and improve in future games, but only time will tell.

Pokemon Camp:

The new substitute after Pokemon refresh. And it's okay, leaning towards Tedious.

Pros:

It's fun to see the Pokemon interact and run along and even play fetch with them, Cute and fun,

Cooking curry increases their EXP, friendship, and restores their health. So it's very convenient if you don't want to use potions or don't even have them.

Cons:

No way to level up affection quickly, in Pokemon Amie, you had those special cupcakes, and in Refresh, you had the rainbow beans. Not in this one, though, it's all involves the two toys you get. And it's slow and tedious after the 500th stick wiggle.

Getting berries for curry is tedious; this is part of the wild area problem, but there is no way to farm berries you need for specific curry, or in general, SM and USUM had the poke pelago which was a great addition especially the berry farm. But there is nothing to help with that in this game, so you have to resort to being lucky to get the berry you need from a tree and not be attacked by the squirrel.

No clear way of how to get the best rating for curry. It warns you about speed before your first curry session, but there are nothings to indicate how fast or slow you need to be for each section, additionally if you are using a controller, you can't stir as quickly as using each Switch controller separately.

Pokemon camp feels like a simplified pokemon refresh with a few improvements but not enough to streamline the process.

The starters:

Now about a week or so before the release, the whole Pokedex was leaked, including the starters, which stirred up controversy due to how they look compared to most other gens. I think they're fine. Each has its positives and negatives like every other gen. For me, Rillaboom is the best because it has a freaking drum set and is a big hunky boy. Then why did I not choose it as my starter for the pic above? Because of my complaint about the starters. They aren't dual-type, So they had no guarantee they could learn other move types from their base type, which for the most part, is true unless you use TMS or TRS. So it was either Intelleon or Cinderace because grass-type has so many weaknesses. I went with Intelleon because Cinderace just looked the most boring to me? It looks like a rabbit wearing pants, not that I don't get the theme, which is Cinderace as a soccer player, but still, it was engaging to me. Intelleon stirred up controversy due to its smug look and big hands, but I saw someone explain why he might be like that which helped warm me up to him, It's based on a lizard that is long and lean with big hands, and most likely is based on a spy theme. Especially with that official art of it doing a dodge with a finger gun attack (which it has in the game), so that made him more interesting to me. I think the biggest problem with Intelleon was that is has nothing to do with sobble's gimmick. Scorbunny kicks? Turns into a soccer player. Grookey using a stick to hit things? Turns into a drummer. Sobble cries a lot? Turns...into...a spy? Like the crying thing doesn't play into his final form at all, and that is probably why people were so off-put by the idea. Honestly, I say some of Drizzles design should've been for sobble. That way, it could help learn into the edgy lizard design. But I think the BIGGEST problem with the starters is that WE DIDN'T GET TO SEE THEM BEFORE RELEASE. I'm okay with not showing all Pokemon, but the starters are NEEDED. It's the first Pokemon we get and will spend hours leveling up. I honestly think the leaks helped save the game because if we didn't know the final evolves before the release and found out after, many more people would have been upset. The leaks helped give people a week to process and get used to them.

That's enough about the Pokemon, let's get into the story elements.

Rivals:

This game has three Rivals, and each represents the arch-type of Rival we have gotten over the years. Hop represents the friendly Rival who fights to get to know you and become strong with his Pokemon. Marnie represents the Rivals who are kind and respectful to you but also battle to be competitive and prove themselves. Bede represents the asshole Rivals, the ones who, no matter how much you beat them, they think they're better than you and won't shut up about it, but they might have a tragic past that makes up for them being jerks. My favorite is Hop, mostly because he gets the most development and because I like the friendly Rivals. It started for me in XY actually, when you got that group of friends it was nice because ironically in a game about companionship with pocket monsters, you're very alone. You only see your Mons when you fight or use Amie, Refresh, and Camp. So having a friend come around every once in a while feels nice and helps that feeling of loneliness. Anyways Bede and Marnie are nice but don't get enough time, but they serve their purpose.

Gym battles:

I love what they've done with the gyms; they are spectacles thanks to the crowd, the music (by toby fox C:), and Dynamxing makes each gym battle feel as epic as it should be. The pre-gym fight challenges and activities range from okay too annoying (looking at you pinball and collapsing trap puzzles), but they serve their purpose for getting more EXP before the final fight.

There is no Elite four, which makes sense since the game builds up Lee as the champion. Even without the Elite four, I do like the tournament aspect, it makes sense for the region, and you still fight four powerful trainers.

The antagonists:

Spoilers alert, if most of what I said isn't already a spoiler. Team yell felt disappointing; they weren't involved that much unless to block off an area until you beat a gym or something. But I did like Piers and Marnie's relationship that developed from around the team. Rose and Oleanna were great because Rose had charisma and was generally kind, so you can see why he gained the respect of the region. And his plan makes sense, but he went about it the wrong way by rushing and imprisoning a pokemon that caused a significant problem years ago. Oleanna was a treat because of how dedicated and stone-cold she was, and when she battled you, her expressions were priceless. Sordward and Shielbert were total jerks, and it was satisfying enough to beat them. The antagonists are alright, I say the plan from Rose came in a bit last minute, but it was still a good threat.

The story:

Now Pokemon stories aren't complicated; You want to become champion, you get a Rival, the evil team gets in your way, so you get dragged into a major conspiracy, you beat them along your journey and then become champion. There can be things to read into, and development for some characters that make them exciting and put simply, SWSH follows the same formula. I think the best part is Hop's journey, and seeing Sonia grow as well, most of the other major players don't change all that much till the end of the game. So it's not a bad story, just the same formula as before. It IS a kid's game so that I wouldn't expect anything complicated anyway.

The end game story:

This is where Sordward and Shielbert are introduced, and they fill the role of villains who only care about themselves if you didn't like what they did with Rose. Sadly they weren't introduced or even mentioned throughout the game, so it's not as fulfilling to beat them due to them just appearing out of nowhere. My only problem is that we have to go to every gym to fight dynamaxed Pokemon, but we don't get to capture them, and its a long road till we get to catch the game legendary finally.

The story offers new aspects, but for the most part, follows a formula, so don't expect something complicated or nuanced. Now on to the technicals.

Improvements:

They have made quite a few quality of life improvements that have helped make things tighter and more comfortable to access.

In battle, they made it so you can press X to go to pokeballs quickly for easy catching.

The PC link box. You no longer have to travel back and forth between poke centers to get Pokemon from the box so you can level and evolve them, now you can access it on your person anywhere which is convenient and handy.

The name rater, move reminder, and deleter is all the same person and in every poke-center at no additional cost too!

From SM-Lets go, there were ride Pokemon that took up the task of the bike and the Hm moves, which was great! No more annoying Hm moves you couldn't get rid of and had to have to move around the world. Now it's improved further with the bike being able to slip between land and seas without any menus, you get the ability to fly very early, AND there's nothing for strength, cut or flash. Less tediousness and more easy-to-access features, thank you.

You can organize the menus to your preferred order. The bag is easier to understand, and you can favorite things and organize it by favorites so you'll always be able to see them. There are more options in the settings to help skip through dialogue-heavy parts and make the game more accessible to get through if you want.

Bad advertising:

I think one of the things that hurt the game pre-release is that the advertising was crap, barely any of the improvements were shown outside of the wild area and Dynamaxing. I mentioned before how stupid it was that we didn't get to see the evolutions for the damn starters. I don't mind that we didn't get to see all the new Pokemon, I like the surprise, but we should've seen at least the other exclusives, so help people decided what to buy. I do say you shouldn't show everything, but the starters and exclusives are necessary for people to decided what to buy and who they are going to choose.

The worst thing about the game:

Now I can see the problem with Dexit, and I can see the problem with the battle animations, BUT I believe the worst part about the game is the Ycomm feature. It's the replacement for the multiplayer menu from the DS games, and it brought over the worst feature from let's go. No Global trade System. So if you're looking for exclusives or low percentage chance pokemon well you're on your own, there's nothing to help you find the Pokemon you need. There's link trade and surprise trade and no way to specify what you want if you have a friend who got the other game, then your lucky. If you don't have any friends? Well, your fucked, sucks for you, you friendless loser lol lol. That's not it, though, and there's no friends list either. You have to use a four-digit link code, which by the way a random can also use it as well. But you know what they do have? League card trading section, League cards are fun and cute but a section to getting them from randoms when it means nothing? Pointless, that slow should've been for the GTS or at least a friend list section. They do have a way to search through stamps so you can find battles or trades and even Dynamax dens, though! Oh wait... the list barely updates frequently enough until the person searching for a raid team has either quit or started anyway, but the game won't tell you that until you attempt to join!

Pokemon Sword and Shield is a good game with shortcuts and flaws that are tedious and frustrating, but the improvements and good things that were added make up for its shortcomings. Heres hoping next year's game will carry over the good changes and improve on SWSH faults.

[battlestar-royco]

masterpost of fix-it headcanons for AC0TAR

the only day you can add onto this is  e v e r y  day

this blew up into a huge thing and it’s no longer just headcanons but more a reworked outline/embellishment of the first three books. feel free to add or change what you want if you make it through the whole thing :D

n/esta--a gray ace icon!--is the main character. the first book is told in n/esta and l/ucien’s alternating POVs.

some worldbuilding and character background for human lands because sj/m provides fuckity nothing: mama and papa arch raised their children on scary stories about the fae. the first story every human child hears is the one about the human-fae treaty and the ominously growing rip in the wall between human and fae lands. (as a young woman, n/esta remembers a time when a fae attack would happen once every few years, but now she hears of five to ten a year.) because humans are atheist, the arch sisters also learned many stories about secular historical figures and events such as j/urian and his legendary murder of c/lythia during the human-fae war, and f/eyre took an interest in famous painters from a young age.

mama arch died and papa arch’s leg was irreparably damaged while protecting their daughters from a fae creature attack. the girls developed growing resentment toward fae as they got older.

after their family’s fall into poverty, n/esta and e/lain grew up helping f/eyre learn to read. she'll never be at their level, but she knows enough to get by. n/esta always budgets and goes shopping. the harvest from e/lain’s little garden has saved them a few autumns, just like f/eyre’s hunting. their father loves them and wishes he could do more, but they're happy to care for him.

actual ac0tar timeline: (because the humans deserved a plotline and i’ll die mad that they never got one:) the human lands are deeply unsettled by the hole in the wall, and a few attacks have ravaged the northernmost villages. f/eyre is taken to p/rythian. n/esta and e/lain find the mercenary who helped f/eyre. the mercenary is an important mentor for them and she helps n/esta leave tomas. e/lain’s fiance g/raysen who is completely justified in his wariness against fae fiGHT ME sj/m is an advocate for human rights, and all his family’s resources are helping mend the wall, but they just can’t do it without magic. e/lain stays at home to take care of papa arch while n/esta heads north with the mercenary to save f/eyre and possibly find a magical solution to the wall. unsuccessful, n/esta returns home to find that her family has suddenly come upon fortune again, and she funnels some of that money into the human effort.

meanwhile in the sp/ring court, l/ucien watches as tom lane brings home a human girl, f/eyre, who may just be the key to defeating a/marantha’s curse. the curse forbids him from warning her about tom’s true nature, and his feelings toward tom are difficult because tom has provided him shelter from his family but has also been another source of abuse. l/ucien also resents f/eyre for murdering andras. both trapped and opposed to each other for different reasons, f/eyre and l/ucien begrudgingly become friends. they look out for each other and a/lis.

throughout book 1, l/ucien mourns andras and carries out his duties as tom’s emissary. he visits utm multiple times, discreetly conversing with all the imprisoned high lords and their spies (maybe a/zriel and/or n/uala and c/erridwen makes a cameo here) and spreading the news that the curse may soon end. every time he returns, the high lords inform him on their movements/preparations for a/marantha’s death and h/ybern’s rise.

f/eyre completes her third task, but her stab to tom’s heart is fatal. tom dies honorably, for the greater good of all the fae, but l/ucien and f/eyre will never forget the darker parts of him. because a/marantha deserved better as a villain, a/marantha disappears in a diversion created by the king of h/ybern (hereon known as “koh”). rice is a straight-up antagonist and kidnaps f/eyre into the night court. l/ucien is left to rule the s/pring court alone.

ac0maf timeline: the second book continues l/ucien and n/esta’s POVs but also introduces t/arquin, m/or, and a h/ybernian’s POVs.

the h/ybernian pov (perhaps a commoner, soldier, or advisor to the koh) gives us insight on the koh and a/marantha’s plans. both the koh and a/marantha are given thorough backstories that make them sympathetic and/or interesting villains. the latter is one of many lethal commanders in the h/ybern army, alongside d/agdan and b/rannagh. her bitterness against humans has been renewed upon her defeat by f/eyre. the h/ybernian perspective also allows us to see h/ybernian culture, history, and pro/anti-war factions so that h/ybern is no longer a monolith. at some point, we see the cauldron come together. its power is immense.

now, let’s add some semblance of conflict and flaws to the inner circle. (i tried to stick as close to the canon as possible here, but again, mess provided FUCKITY NOTHING.) they each have differing motives, but at the end of the day they all just want prythian to be safe. they’re actually morally ambiguous anti-heroes/villains as heroes instead of this “it was all an act” nonsense. i/llyrians are explicitly poc. rice kidnapped f/eyre not because they’re mates, but because he wants to use her newfound powers as an asset against h/ybern. a/zriel’s torture victims never recover, but he only ever resorts to such measures when he believes necessary. a/mren (agender; ace) hunts for their blood, and they have an insurmountable body count. m/or (power lesbian) is incredibly kind, but everyone in court knows not to get on her bad side or they’ll face her justice. c/assian is the most ruthless commander i/llyria has ever seen.

additionally, the inner circle is complicated. m0riel was never a thing. c/assian and m/or also never hooked up, but they are besties. a/zriel is the intuitive, emotional core of the group; everyone goes to him for advice on friends, relationships, and hard decisions. a/zriel (pan) and c/assian (bi) have been steadily falling in love since their time in the camps as boys but neither of the idiots will admit it to themselves or anyone else. a/mren is still known as “tiny ancient one” because they’re like millennia older than everyone else. they impart cryptic wisdom and brutally honest advice on their edgy^TM kids. the night court also know their time with a/mren is limited because they are searching for a way out of their fae form, so their company is cherished. the four of them have stood beside rice over the centuries, and they love him, but they’ve also watched him steadily become more corrupt and merciless. can he be saved or is it time for a change in leadership? this is a conversation everyone wants to have, but no one is brave enough to begin. everyone skirts around it throughout the book, tension slowly building to an inevitable confrontation.

moving on to the plot: in the night court, we follow m/or ruling v/elaris (she fucking  f i n e s s e s  k/eir in the process). she’s in a simmering, slow burn romance with an i/llyrian woman: an activist against wing-cutting and a mutual friend of a/zriel’s (he set them up). m/or’s strength in court is her kind nature. she has many loyalists in the court of ni/ghtmares who know of her past with e/ris and k/eir. meanwhile, a/mren and f/eyre's subplot takes them to the human lands to get in touch with the arch sisters.

after his time utm, t/arquin returns to the summer court to play his part in preparing for the war against h/ybern: translating his half of the book of breathings and gathering powerful allies (br/yaxis, the b/one carver, and the w/eaver) for the war. his emotional arc is all about his recovery from the trauma he underwent utm. meanwhile, c/resseida hears word that some night court members are headed to the human lands, so she initiates an alliance with them and tags along in hopes that she can retrieve the mortal queens’ half of the book.

in the spring court, i/anthe is introduced. l/ucien soon realizes she is a double agent for h/ybern. she feeds him info on recruitment and battle strategies. koh and a/marantha are depending on i/anthe’s priestess order to spread pro-war rhetoric across h/ybern (??? this is the best i could do with what sj/m gave). the human lands are the most at risk because koh plans on cutting his army directly through spring court to crush the laughably weak human resistance before taking over the south. (sources report the effort is headed by the cursebreaker’s older sisters....)

in the human lands, n/esta and el/ain are pleasantly surprised by a visit from their sister, and more than a little alarmed by the two fae who accompany her. f/eyre just missed papa arch, who recently set sail with some of g/raysen’s soldiers to recruit southern soldiers. human efforts to seal the wall have been mostly fruitless, and every victory pyrrhic. although neither sister is a fighter, n/esta and e/lain have both seen enough horrors to last a lifetime. n/esta has worked her way to the position of treasurer of g/raysen’s army, and it seems that the proximity of the wall has activated some magic in elain so she is now a seer (this is some bs but so is sj/m’s magic system smh i tried). therefore, both of them (plus the mercenary) always sit in on war councils, and they receive a formal invitation from the mortal queens to discuss their next movements. a/mren and c/resseida come along, and the queens agree to give their half of the book in exchange for some fae magic to mend the wall. only m/or is powerful enough to do such a thing (also bs but sj/m never explained her power!!), so they must go back to the night court. amidst all the suffering, one good thing boosts human morale: e/lain and g/raysen's marriage.

in the n/ight court, a/mren, c/resseida, and f/eyre return to merge the book and tell m/or of the deal with the queens. tensions have risen between m/or and rice’s ruling styles. the court of nig/htmares is also split between m/or and k/eir. too much is mounting for mor to even think of going to the human lands. she and a/zriel also recently received a request for help from l/ucien: one of the spring sentries reported that amarantha’s legion is on the move. meanwhile, the h/ybernian pov chronicles the legion traveling to spring. the best the n/ight court can do is send c/assian. l/ucien and c/assian do all they can, but a/marantha’s too powerful and she rips right through the hole in the wall. c/assian’s wings get fuCKING SHREDDED in the process.

acowar: we’re gonna pretend v/assa, m/iryam, and d/rakon don’t exist bc they did very little for the plot. pr/ythian is in all out fucking bloody-ass war. when war crimes are committed, characters are held accountable. spring fae are scattering, seeking refuge in other courts. we see true horrors and battles and loss throughout the book. it’s high time that the lords all convened to lay out a plan of action, but everyone’s had pretty big fish to fry in the post-curse era. the n/ight court is fracturing, t/arquin and l/ucien are adjusting to being high lords, the a/utumn court has always been infighting, etc. so now an effort is being made to call everyone to a council in dawn.

first, m/or can no longer ignore the call to the human lands. l/ucien joins her because of his lands’ proximity to the wall, leaving i/anthe in charge (they’ve become quite good companions and she’s cut off her ties to hybern). c/assian also comes because l/ucien has been harboring him in spring and providing the best possible (but insufficient) healers for his wings. finally, our human and fae plots come together. m/or and c/assian’s reunion is touching. c/assian’s banter with abrasive n/esta takes his mind off his damaged wings. they both enjoy each other’s pragmatism, sarcasm, and emotional empathy. (in another life, they might’ve made a good match ;).) m/or patches the wall because even though a/marantha is already through, it’ll stop reinforcements from joining her. in a historic event, humans (the queens, the arch sisters, and g/raysen) are invited to the council of high lords.

all our big players are at the council: all h/igh lords + partners and courts, plus terrified but dignified human squad. m/or is reunited with her old friend v/iviane, (they were DEFINITELY a thing once). k/eir, e/ris, and b/eron were invited by none other than rice, who also plans to use feyre’s powers to win multiple battles. the n/ight court can no longer deny that it’s time to talk about rice. all the rising tensions come to the surface here. rice wants to employ the [insert better name for keir’s soldiers than fucking d/arkbringers], but m/or’s i/llyrian gf has been raising an army and she thinks that’s the safer bet. in the end, all the high lords decide they need both, and no one is quite happy. no one knows wtf is in the future for n/ight court leadership.

human squad and fae recap each other. humans hope papa arch can come through with some southern support. amarantha is razing her way through human lands while a/driata and v/elaris have suffered attacks from koh. n/esta, e/lain, and f/eyre all share stolen conversations between meetings over the days. f/eyre misses her home and family, but she knows she’ll never belong there again. humans are given the d/arkbringers (yikes) and b/ryaxis.

as human squad + lucien make their way home, their caravan is attacked by a h/ybern commander--maybe d/agdan or b/rannagh. e/lain is kidnapped to the koh’s camp; she’ll be a good hostage to draw in the pr/ythian asset f/eyre and crush human spirit. the h/ybernian notes that the cauldron has amassed much more power than we last saw. however, koh’s power over the cauldron and his soldiers has been spiraling out of control ever since a/marantha left to attack humans. though she’s been successful against them so far, her obsessive desire to slaughter humans wastes a lot of soldiers & resources on lands that are of little use to h/ybern. the h/ybernian gradually becomes acquainted with e/lain and frees her from the camp. humans return home shaken, but without further incident. the diversion has given a/marantha enough time to secure g/raysen’s lands before they arrive.

in the night court, they realize that without b/ryaxis they’ll need to free a/mren from their body for once and for all to defeat koh. they all share one last night of drinking, games, and being silly and sad. a/zriel and c/assian ruminate on the possibility of losing other inner circle members, and realize their feelings for each other. when h/ybernian and p/rythian forces assemble for the final battle, rice dies an anti-hero’s death on the battlefield. c/assian commands i/llyrian infantry nobly and courageously while m/or’s gf commands from the skies. f/eyre uses her powers to the best of her ability, and with significant help from a/mren in their true form, wins the day for p/rythian. a/mren disappears into their original desired dimension, and f/eyre dies knowing that she neither belongs with humans nor fae. c/resseida, t/arquin, and some p/rythian court members survive, but not without suffering scars, limb loss, and casualties etc.

in the human lands, papa arch has returned from the south with a few thousand men, but not enough to face a/marantha. the d/arkbringers and b/ryaxis hold their own against her soldiers, but she herself still lives. echoing how f/eyre outsmarted a/marantha in book 1, the humans must utilize a/marantha’s own hubris to defeat her. a major human character dies: perhaps g/raysen, the mercenary, or a queen.

finally, the enemies are defeated. arch family and high lords are invited to a funeral for f/eyre cursebreaker in the night court. n/esta and e/lain mourn their sister, but the funeral as a whole serves as a commemoration of all the losses of the war. additionally, m/or and i/llyrian gf have a beautiful private wedding. in rice’s absence, the courtiers of dreams and nightmares flock to m/or. now that their power is secure, she and l/ucien hold long overdue but fair trials against e/ris, b/eron, and k/eir for what they did to m/or and j/esminda (l/ucien’s lover who was killed before his eyes). they are found guilty, and a/zriel uses his sword truthteller in the execution. after, everyone settles terms and plans for war reparations. all the courts vow to donate what they can to the human lands because they all bear the responsibility. the humans go home one last time. human and fae alike are deeply traumatized by the war, but there is hope of happiness and recovery in the future.

[teacoffeeandwhatnot]

The Gay Agenda - Chapter 3

Whooo Chapter 3! Its Chanhun week. 

Please keep in mind, sentences written in Italic is what is being said by the panel, or people in the studio. Normal text is what is happening otherwise.

As always, also available on my Ao3!

(if you want me to tag you every time i update, please dont hesitate to message me and I’ll add it in the next chapter)

Honestly, Sehun felt a little bit pathetic. He’s had this massive crush on Chanyeol for about 3 years now, ever since the older had almost knocked him over at the orientation fair in his first year at university. Chanyeol had been walking backwards, animatedly talking to his friends, when he had tripped over his own feet and promptly toppled into Sehun. Sehun was ready to yell, already being on edge from having to adjust to the new environment and not really knowing anyone yet, but when he turned to face Chanyeol, he was startled into silence.

Chanyeol had been an odd mix of jock, with his tall stature and defined (so, so well defined) biceps and an overgrown puppy, with his soft face, big dumbo ears and doe eyes. Sehun was immediately infatuated with the older.

His infatuation grew into a full-on crush when he saw Chanyeol perform for the first time in the university’s talent competition. He had sung with his velvety smooth voice, whilst expertly playing the guitar, and Sehun was convinced he was In LoveTM.

But that was 3 years ago. Since then, Sehun had pined from a distance, treasuring every single little interaction he had with the older. Chanyeol had remembered him and sent him small smiles or waves whenever they crossed paths on campus, but they never had a proper conversation.

Sehun told himself that he would finally get over it and gather the nerve to just go up to Chanyeol and strike up a conversation with him, but chickened out every single time

So, when he saw the flyer to the show, it was pretty much a “fuck it” decision. Maybe this would be the perfect opportunity for him to get over Chanyeol, maybe meet someone new and mayyyybe even win a bit of money, which, being a university student, couldn’t hurt. (He knew deep down though, that it would never be that easy to forget about Chanyeol.)

Sehun decided to work in the costume store during the show. One, he loved costumes and since it was close to Halloween, it would probably never boring. Two, he loved to judge people for their terrible costume choices.

He had met his manager, a dismissive, pudgy middle-aged man, who actually worked there, but, for some reason that was escaping Sehun, he agreed to let the show put someone in his store. The man really didn’t seem like he’d be someone who would put up with something like that and Sehun mentally noted to not piss the man off.

His co-workers were a lot nicer, a lot of them around his age, seeming to be students or high schoolers, working part time. He was glad that there were some nice people, considering he didn’t really know anything about the store and was glad that there would be someone to help. Overall, his job was pretty easy. Keep the racks and shelves looking clean, help customers find items when they needed help, and clean out the changing rooms, should someone leave items in it. Of course, Sehun was doing all of these things pretty half-heartedly, considering he was there for another reason.  

“So, our second contestant, let’s see who this is,” said Holland, ruffling through a file.

“Oh Sehun, 24, currently a dance student in his 3rd year. Applied to, I quote ‘get over this pathetic crush I’ve been harbouring for this dude at my uni for way too long’,” he read aloud.

“Well sounds like Sehun is using this opportunity as a crush-be-gone mechanism,” Heechul mentioned.

“Precisely.”

“Well guys, how do we think he’s going to do,” Holland prompted.

“Well, he chose a costume store, which can be quite good, since the atmosphere is very relaxed and there’s a good opportunity to have a laid back, funny conversation with someone, so I don’t think he will be lacking in that department,” said Taemin.

Key chimed in, “I wish we could know what this crush of his looks like, because I want to see if he is going to go for someone that’s similar to him, or completely different.”

“I just hope some actual person his age will be there in the store at some point, because so far I’ve only seen parents or children, and I really hope he doesn’t hit on either, because that would just be….creepy”

“Yah, Daehwi, have some respect for your elders, I think he knows what he’s doing!”, Heechul scolded.

“Well let’s fucking hope so.” Daehwi mumbled under his breath.

He was bored. There was only so many snotty teenagers that he could help find the most ridiculous costumes for, some of which he had no idea what they even were (what the fuck was “bongocat”??). He had severely overestimated how many hot, grown men would be visiting the store, which looking back, was a stupid thought to begin with. The only adults that he had seen in the store so far, other than the staff, were tired parents accompanying their overly excitable children. Which….should’ve really been the realistic expectation Sehun should’ve set for himself.

He ended up loitering around the back of the store, trying to hide from his manager and not doing any real work. He even sneakily tried on some of the costumes, debating on whether to keep one on around the store, but realized that the boredom was making him slightly delusional and his normal clothes, which he had very carefully picked out that morning, and made sure to not clash with his silver hair, were definitely the better choice,

All of a sudden, his co-worker, Joy, a bright, tall, beautiful (seriously, if Sehun had a single straight bone in his body, he’d be all over that) walked by hastily, hissing “hottie in aisle 3, all yours” in his direction.

Him and Joy had bonded quickly that morning, both for distaste in their manager and the fact that Joy was super excited to have another gay person with her in the store, if only for one day. They had spent their whole morning break getting to know each other, and even if Sehun failed on the show today, at least he would walk away with a new, totally awesome friend.

Sehun perked up at the news of the “hottie” and made his way to the aisle…where he promptly turned around and hid behind the shelf. Shit. In the aisle, right in-front of the full-body, skin-tight (fuck) costumes, was Chanyeol, of all fucking people.  

Chanyeol being here was already bad enough, but on top of that, he had apparently died his hair over the weekend because, instead of the soft, fluffy brown hair he usually had, his hair was bright red and styled off his face, which….. dear lord. It looked so fucking good. His outfit didn’t help either. He was wearing a dark jean jacket over a flannel and t-shirt, paired with tight skinny jeans.

Sehun willed his breathing to calm down and wracked his brain on what to do. Obviously, this was the perfect opportunity to talk to Chanyeol, but the rules of the show were to find someone that he didn’t already know.

He eventually decided to walk up to Chanyeol.

“Sir, can I help you with something?”

When Chanyeol turned around and his face indicated that he recognized Sehun, the latter quickly lowered his voice and whispered, “Just act like you don’t know me, I’ll explain later!”

Chanyeol looked confused for a second, before apparently deciding to play along (thank god), since he continued, “Hi, yes, I’m looking for a costume for this Halloween party I’m going to.”

“Certainly, Sir, do you have anything specific in mind?”

“I was thinking Deadpool.”

“Good choice, Sir. If you would follow me, that would be in our superhero aisle.”

Chanyeol trailed after him, immediately tugging on Sehun’s heartstrings, since he looked like a lost puppy.

“Is this something along the lines of what you were thinking?”, Sehun asked, holding up a body suit printed with the Deadpool costume. Chanyeol’s eyes lit up, and he started nodding cutely.

“Ok, great. What size would you like so I can find it for you?”

“Uhhhh, I’m not sure to be honest,” Chanyeol replied, sheepishly.

“Can I ask how tall you are? Then I can estimate what size would fit you from there.”

“Oh, sure. I’m 6’5.” (Sehun groaned inwardly. Fuck.)

“Ok, let me just check.” He started rifling through the costumes before letting out a small “aha” and holding up two suits.

“So, I picked up two options, since you don’t know your size. I suggest you just try them both on and see which one fits best.”

Chanyeol nodded once again.

“The changing rooms are right over there. Would you like me to accompany you to the changing rooms, in case you need anything else?” (Sehun knew that he was laying it on a little thick, and that the store’s customer service was never this good, but he could honestly not care less at this point.)

“Oh yeah sure, Se-Sir.” Sehun grimaced at Chanyeol slipping up and almost calling him his name, but also felt a slight blush spreading on his cheeks at the cheeky grin Chanyeol sent his way.

Sehun made his way towards the changing rooms, held the curtain back on one of the stalls and handed Chanyeol the costumes while he entered.

“I’ll be waiting right over there,” Sehun pointed towards a counter basically across from Chanyeol’s booth, “so give me a shout if you need anything. “

Chanyeol gave the Ok and closed the curtain. Well, closed was an overstatement. Although he did pull the curtain across the rail, he didn’t pull it all the way and Sehun was still able to see his back through the slit. He had a small internal battle, debating whether he should let Chanyeol know, but ultimately decide to just not look….which proved very difficult about 0.2 seconds later when Chanyeol took his shirt off and Sehun had the exquisite view of his muscly back. Fuck, that man was well built. Sehun really, honestly, tried to tear away his gaze and stop ogling, but he couldn’t. I mean, let’s be honest, how could he? Here he was, with the perfect view of his shirtless crush of almost 4 year in from of him, and he was supposed to look away? Seems unrealistic.  

Apparently, Sehun had kind of zoned out for a moment, because all of a sudden, Chanyeol turned around to walk out with his costume on and Sehun was definitely caught staring. Immediately, he felt his face go bright red and he tried to clear his throat awkwardly.

Luckily Chanyeol only smirked at him, which didn’t really make the situation much better for Sehun, but at least he wasn’t mad or disgusted.

Sehun tried to slip into his professional store clerk persona again.

“How does it fit, Sir? Everything all right?”

“I don’t know, what do you think?”

Sehun had to really pull himself together to not blurt out anything embarrassing about how he wanted to climb Chanyeol like a tree right then and there, and how the tight costume make his arms look delicious, and many other, NSFW thoughts.  He eventually settled on, “Looks good to me.” Good one, Sehun.  

“Mhh, I don’t know, it seems a little loose in some areas. This is the bigger one, I’ll go try on the smaller one just to see.”

Sehun was honestly in pain. How was he supposed to survive seeing Chanyeol in an even tighter costume than the one he had already been wearing. The man was really just here to torture him. Sehun hoped the floor would open up to swallow him and just take him directly to hell, since that would be more merciful, but without avail.  

Sehun didn’t notice Chanyeol re-emerge out of the changing room due to his breakdown until he heard a throat being cleared and his head snapped up. He promptly choked on his own spit and was coughing up half a lung with tears streaming down his face, mortified at the fact that Chanyeol came rushing over to clap him on the back with a worried look on his face.

“Oh my god, are you ok? What happened?”

“No-nothing…. I just…uh… inhaled wrong…” Way to go Sehun, solid excuse.

He batted away Chanyeol’s hands, insisting he was fine. Chanyeol slowly moved back, but still adorned the worried look on his face.

“If you say so…”

“Ok, ok, I’m good now, sorry for that. How does this one fit, better than the other one?”

“Yeah a lot better, thank you,” Chanyeol turned to him once again, smiling his megawatt smile that made Sehun feel all warm inside.

Suddenly, it dawned on him. Being around Chanyeol had made him totally forget the point of the show. He was SUPPOSED to find someone to flirt with. Sure, it was risky, since he didn’t know if Chanyeol was going to respond in a good way, and he really didn’t want to ruin whatever small tiny good thing they had going, but then again, if it didn’t go well, he could always explain later and lie, saying it was all for the show.

“Well, if I may say so, it definitely extenuates all the right elements of your body,” he tried to say without feeling incredibly awkward about it. Now it was Chanyeol’s turn to turn beet red. He awkwardly laughed and looked extremely flustered.

Sehun thought fuck it and decided to just go for all in. Might as fucking well.

He walked over to Chanyeol, who was standing in front of a full body mirror just outside the changing rooms. He stood behind him, making eye contact with Chanyeol through the mirror. Slowly he started running his hands up and down Chanyeol’s (realllly well defined) arms.  

“Yeah, it makes your arms look really nice,” he whispered directly into Chanyeol’s ear in a sultry tone. Luckily, even though he still looked flustered, Chanyeol didn’t seem to pull away or look weirded out.

“Ohhhhhh, my boy is finally stepping it up!”, Heechul screeched, “I was getting a little worried about him there. Hot muscly dork, I like his taste”.

“He definitely chose well, I approve,” Key agreed.

Sehun slowly started to relax and become more confident, and he was very much enjoying that he was able to make Chanyeol look so flustered. It was cute. 

He stayed close to Chanyeol for another few seconds, making sure that Chanyeol definitely saw him rake his eyes down his entire body while biting his lip and keeping his mouth near his neck, so that he could feel the hot breath on his skin.

Sehun felt validated when he felt the small shiver run down Chanyeol’s body and his cheeks become even more dusty pink.

Eventually he stepped back. Chanyeol turned around to stare at him, eyes blown and mouth hanging slightly open.

Sehun ran his finger down the front of Chanyeol’s costume, across his chest.

“How about you get out of that costume, and I’ll treat you to a drink?”, Sehun asked.

“Uh…sure… what about your job?”

“Oh, they’ll understand that I can’t let this opportunity pass me by, don’t worry your pretty little head.”

He heard Chanyeol mumble a startled “pretty?” under his breath and luckily managed to suppress the little chuckle bubbling up.

“Wait, opportunity? What opportunity?”

Sehun invaded his space once again, placing his hands on each of Chanyeol’s shoulders and standing up on his tip toes, so he was able to whisper right into Chanyeol’s ear.

“To go on a date with the hottest guy I’ve ever seen and have had a crush on for like 3 years now.”

When he stepped back again, Chanyeol was once again staring at him with his mouth hanging open.

“Wait, you’ve had a cru-“, Sehun panicked and quickly put his hand over Chanyeol’s mouth to stop him from exposing the fact that they knew each other. Chanyeol squeaked in surprise.

Sehun got close again and hissed at him, “Shhh, don’t say that out loud! Let’s just get out of here and I’ll tell you why, I promise.”

Sehun looked into Chanyeol’s eyes, to make sure he understood. Chanyeol nodded and promptly licked Sehun’s hand, which made him pull back in disgust. Chanyeol chuckled and smirked at him again, which threw Sehun for a loop. He wasn’t ready for confident Chanyeol to be back, he didn’t know how to deal with that.

He breathed a breath he didn’t realized he’d been holding in when Chanyeol got back into the changing room, fortunately (unfortunately? Who knew) actually pulling the curtain completely closed this time.

Sehun slumped over the counter he was standing near, mumbling a quick, “what the fuck am I doing?” under his breath.

He startled back upright when he heard the curtain pull back and awkwardly tried to make it look like he was casually leaning against the counter, which apparently didn’t work, considering the laugh Chanyeol let out when he saw him.

“Ok, but before we go, I do actually still want to buy this.”

“Ah yes, well that’s great, let me ring them up for you.”

Sehun walked to the till and rang up the costume for Chanyeol. He startled when he realized how much the costume was. Holy shit, he didn’t know it would be that expensive.

“Uh yes, that’ll be 300$.” Quieter, he said, “holy shit, are you sure you can afford that?”

In lieu of answering, Chanyeol simply smirked, whipped out his wallet and took out a black credit card. Holy shit.  

Sehun looked from the card to Chanyeol’s face, with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. Ok, wow, he hadn’t known that Chanyeol was apparently filthy rich. Maybe he’ll even get a sugar daddy out of this whole experience. What a day.

He packed up the costume in a paper bag while Chanyeol was paying and set it on the counter. He then quickly looked for Joy, who was near the front of the store and definitely trying to look like she wasn’t eavesdropping, even though she definitely was. Sehun caught her eye and rolled his. She at least had the decency to look just a little bit embarrassed at being caught.

He waited for Chanyeol to pack away his wallet again, and then made his way to the entrance with him.

“Hey Joy, I’m gonna go take my break I’ll be back…at some point”, he yelled in her direction while trying to get past her as quick as possible, fearing she would say something embarrassing.

He really hoped that Chanyeol didn’t hear her “Yeah, my man! Go get some!!” as they were leaving the store. He threw up a middle finger over his shoulder for good measure.

As soon as they stepped out of the store, he pulled Chanyeol into a small hallway away from the main store pathway. He rummaged around the back of his shirt until he found the mic pack and switched it off.

He looked up to see a slightly bewildered look on Chanyeol’s face.

“Wait, why the fuck are you mic-ed? Oh my God, is this an undercover mission? Are you working with the police? Wait, what did I do? I’m not a criminal!”

Sehun was silent for a second, before he burst out laughing as Chanyeol became more and more panicked. He couldn’t stop and every time he looked at Chanyeol’s confused face he had to laugh more. Eventually, after about 5 minutes he managed to catch himself.

“No, dummy, I’m on a TV show! Oh my God, you really thought I was an undercover cop? This is gold,” Sehun explained through his laughs and while whipping his tears away. “it’s an undercover kind of TV show, that’s why the mic was hidden.”

“Well excuse me for assuming, what else was I supposed to think?”

“Are you a criminal?”

“No, of course not, what the fuck Sehun?”

“Well then why on earth would you assume that I was a cop??”

“What the hell was I supposed to think? You tell me to act like you don’t know me and then you pull me into some sketchy hallway and then you pull out a fucking secret wire? Like literally what other conclusion was I supposed to arrive at??? What TV show is this for anyways?”

Now it was Sehun’s turn to look embarrassed, “It doesn’t really matter.”

Chanyeol immediately had an evil grin on his face. “Well now I definitely want to know”

“It’s really not that important lets just g-“

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me”

Sehun looked to see if he could get away, but apparently Chanyeol had foreseen what he was trying to do and stood between Sehun and the way back to the main part of the shopping centre. There was no way Sehun would be able to get passed Chanyeol, considering he was taller and definitely stronger than him.

Sehun slumped his shoulders and looked the floor.

“Fine,” he mumbled. “It’s called ‘The Gay Agenda’.”

“The what?”

“The Gay Agenda,” Sehun repeated, possibly even quieter than before.

“I really need you to speak up.”

Sehun finally accepted his fate.

“Fine, ok? Its called ‘The Gay Agenda’ and I was supposed to find some guy and seduce him, but then you walked in and I get if you’re not into it and I’m sorry and if you never want to talk to me again I totally unders-“

His heated rant was suddenly cut off by him being pushed against the wall and warm lips being pressed to his own.

His eyes went wide, and he was frozen in shock for a second before he realized holy shit, Chanyeol was kissing him. This was actually happening. He quickly relaxed into the kiss, closed his eyes and reciprocated.

He didn’t know for how long they ended up kissing. At some point his arms snaked around Chanyeol’s neck as Chanyeol pulled him closer by his waist. He licked across Chanyeol’s bottom lip, asking for entry and when their tongues met, it was like he was dunked into a hot tub. His entire body felt warm and like this was the best thing he had ever done in his entire life. He couldn’t help but moan into the kiss.

Chanyeol eventually pulled back and put his forehead against Sehun’s. They were both breathing hard, but neither let go.

“So, uh, I take it you didn’t mind?” Sehun asked awkwardly, breaking the silence.

Chanyeol let out a laugh, stroking his lower back, his arms still around Sehun’s middle.

“No, you idiot, I’ve liked you for like 3 years, this is like a dream come true for me.”

“3 years?” Sehun was shocked.

“Yeah, ever since I bumped into you at that fair. I’d always hoped that you would come up and talk to me when we saw each other on campus, because I sure as hell wasn’t going to do it. I’m so fucking awkward.”

“SERIOUSLY? I’d always hoped that you would come talk to me!! I never did because I thought you didn’t like me and were just too nice to not say hi when you saw me!”

Chanyeol chuckled, pecking Sehun on the lips again.

“We’re both idiots, I guess.”

Sehun couldn’t help but agree. He pulled Chanyeol into another kiss, still not believing that this was actually happening. He could do this forever.

“So, what about that drink you said you’d buy me?” Chanyeol eventually asked, when both their lips were swollen and red, and they couldn’t continue because they were getting dangerously close to “not public appropriate” territory.

Sehun was still kind of disoriented and out of breath. “What?”

“Well you said earlier that you would buy me a drink, so I want that drink now. I guess you could say that I’m thirsty.” Sehun smacked him in the chest lightly at the terrible pun and wink, but still slid his hand into Chanyeol’s and made his way back to the stores.

He couldn’t believe that he had started the day, determined to get over Chanyeol and ended up, hand in hand with him, after probably the best make-out session he had had in his entire life. He couldn’t believe his luck.

“You know, I really enjoyed it when you called me Sir earlier.” “Oh my God, we’re not even together yet and I’m breaking up with you.”

Pt. 2

[jaybug-jabbers]

Bug Run 7: Comments & Movesets

The movesets and comments on each of the pokemon on my team can be found below!

Gaz the Vikavolt

Thunderbolt/Bug Buzz/Volt Switch/Dig – Choice Specs

As my selected starter, Gaz had a pretty tumultuous start to the team. She did not pack much of a punch in the beginning. Certainly, Grubbin is strong when compared to Caterpie, Wurmple and other grub-based pokemon. But this strength is still not much when compared to the early trials she had to face. As such, her alliance with Ledyba at the very start of the game was essential. This support helped carry her through the difficult early stages of soft, squishy vulnerability.  

Something that also helped was my choice to obtain a Grubbin with a Brave nature. While Vikavolt is a very specialized special attacker, its previous stages are physical attackers. This may seem odd, but it actually mimics nature, in a way; part of why insects undergo metamorphisis in the first place and have immature forms very different from adult forms is because they can occupy different environmental niches. Thus, it’s not so strange, and it makes sense to embrace her physical attack in her early stages, when she was still such an important member of the small team. I had some concerns that late game, this choice may eventually end up a liability, but at the moment, I had to do what I could to survive.

It was my great relief that once Grubbin evolved into Charjabug, she became quite the little powerhouse. Spark was an incredibly welcome piece of move diversity to the team that hit crucial foes, and while she was slow, she had great defenses for that stage of the game. This was only improved when somebody generously handed me an Eviolite. She began contributing in a major way to the team, dishing out hard hits and helping me survive hits in equal turn. Her Acrobatics was also a welcome coverage move, especially against fellow bug foes and fighting types.

It took quite some time before I could reach the mountain that would allow Gaz to evolve into her final form. Like the pokemon itself, Gaz had a bit of a slow start. But once she got rolling, she could become quite unstoppable. Her evolution into Vikavolt had us saying goodbye to the spunky little toothy battery and hello to a full-on railgun.

As mentioned, Vikavolt is very specialized, putting almost all its stats investment into its special attack. When compared to the average electric type pokemon, it’s also disappointingly slow. I always felt salty about that fact when Vikavolt was first released, and so never used it during Sun/Moon. That said, I am glad I finally gave it a chance during this run. Vikavolt may be slow, but there’s no denying that its raw spec. attack power allowed me to fell many foes. This became especially the case when I traded Gaz’s Eviolite in for a pair of Choice Specs. Gaz was a very regular and extremely important contributor to the core team. With a little bit of team support– screens and stun spores and tailwinds and the likes– it could also help her overcome speed issues and set her up for even greater success. With her typing, she was often the sole defender able to take out dangerous Flying types, and a welcome destroyer of incredibly common water types.

She also was a good answer to facing off against fellow Electric types, and not simply because of a resistence and immunity to paralysis; she also picks up the move Dig. This is a physical move, and so doesn’t seem a big deal, but it actually ended up being quite the advantage. It didn’t play off her biggest strength but a really good coverage move is still coverage, and it was often enough to check electric types. The fact that she was Brave nature probably helped, as it ended up even as an adult she was still using her attack after all.

All in all, I would say that if used correctly, this railgun bug can be a truly potent critter to face down in battle.

Protoman the Ledian

Light Screen/Reflect/Tailwind/Air Slash – Light Clay

Purely support pokemon kind of go against my play style. But there’s really no way around it– Ledian was always intended as just a support. He’s a team player. He ‘s only there to set up others for success, not to bask in any glory himself. And with limited choices in the grass beside my house, I just couldn’t go at things with Gaz alone. I tried to, absolutely. But Gaz just couldn’t face all those critters solo. She needed some help. And Ledyba was there to give it.

There’s no doubt that Protoman allowed us to get through the early game. He was even taking out pokemon solo at first. And once he picked up screens, he provided an essential service to the team. For a lopsided mono-bug team full of mostly slow teamembers, screens made an enormous difference; often the difference between utter failure and success. Their value really can’t be overstated.

I did feel … bad, though. There was something heroic about Ledian endlessly opening as my starter to get up screens and then faint. It was a huge self-sacrifice to the team, whose eventual victories he was rarely even awake to witness, but it also was kind of sad. With that kind of tireless support and putting others in the spotlight, Protoman deserved a lot of praise. He was playing with the big boys in Alola, a weak Johto bug far from home, but he was still contributing something major and meaningful. I went out of my way to feed him beans and pet him as much as I could without raising affection too high. (I don’t want affection to influence my runs, since that can sometimes score extra critical hits, 1 HP survivals, etc.) Give him massages and so forth. He deserved some love– heck, he sure fainted enough for it. Never once complained a peep about it, too.

Eventually, towards late game, my tireless ladybug guardian was starting to have a hard time even getting screens up. A lot of the foes simply outsped him and wiped him out. I shifted some of the support duties onto other pokemon. Despite all of that, however, Protoman got a few windows even during the final battles with the elites to get his job done. I suspect during post-game, his role will become entirely obsolete … but perhaps that will just allow Protoman to enjoy his retirement. He certainly earned it.

Ms. Sidle the Ribombee

Bug Buzz/Dazzling Gleam/Quiver Dance/Tailwind – Silver Powder

I love Ribombee. I just freaking love it. Look at it. It’s adorable. Aaaahhhhggh. I need a plushie of one. When they were first announced I was so hyped. Bee flies are awesome. They deserve to have a pokemon based off them, especially one as adorable as Ribombee. I’m not normally a fan of fairy types at all, but Ribombee is perfect.

Now that you know my bias, you can perhaps understand my disappointment in her attack prowess. Her special attack is good, and does a lot of damage, but it’s never QUITE enough to get the job done. It always needs a little bit of a bump. “No problem,” you say, “Just use her Quiver Dance!” And that is a potential solution, yes. But Ribombee is frail, lacking in any real bulk. Quiver Dance cannot be depended upon on a regular basis. She often needs to just get in, do her thing, and get out– or faint, as is the case more often then not.

So that is what she did. She was a regular contributer to the team, getting in big chunks of damage, but rarely quite getting the kills solo. As such, she either softened up pokemon for her teammates to finish off, or she added the final blow to pokemon that were already softened up. She also had something special that nobody else on the team had:

Speed.

In Alola, everybody tends to take things pretty dang slow. Including the pokemon. Nobody is in any hurry, even in battles, it seems. So for a fast Alolan pokemon, well, that is truly something special. And for my team, it’s something essential. In fights, speed is often key, after all. Things were especially dicey when facing down pokemon from Kanto or Johto or other regions, as they tended to outpace the islanders easily. So Sidle’s job very often was to get in a quick hit or to set up a screen or to Stun Spore especially dangerous pokemon and make them more managable for my pokey little bugs. In the late game, when I got fed up with Stun Spore missing too often, I tutored Tailwind onto her to do the job.

Part of me is still a little bummed out, though, that Ms. Sidle can’t claim more of the glory herself. It’s great to have her on the team, and she does a lot to help out, but I wish … she was more of a starring role than an important support pokemon.

Perhaps someday, my sweet little Sidle will claim a little piece of glory all for herself, too.

Dipper the Ariados

Toxic/Protect/Sucker Punch/Poison Jab – Black Sludge

If Ribombee and Ledian had a bit of a hard time as support pokemon, then Dipper had the worst time.

This poor lad never seemed to hit his stride on the team. Slower then even many Alolan pokes and stuck with very low base power damaging moves for quite some time, Ariados really struggled. Teaching him Leech Life (a move that gets an amazing power buff in this gen) helps him along eventually, but not by much. He just wasn’t giving enough of anything– speed, defenses, attack, movepool diversity.

Dipper ended up falling into a role that nobody should have to be stuck with as a pernament job– fodder. Needed a safe switch-in? Toss Dipper out there. Needed somebody to eat up a z-move or a First Impression? Dipper will do it for ya. Need to potion up at an opportune moment because your foe had done so earlier? Dipper will give you the chance.

Eventually, I picked up the TM for Toxic, and assigned Dipper a toxic stall role. He managed to perform this some of the time, at least for a little while. These moments sometimes helped us land important victories against powerful foes, such as the totem Kommo-o or Ultra Necrozma. But very often, Dipper didn’t even get the chance to get his toxic off, so eventually the role slipped away from him.

Even in the end, at the hands of the elites, Dipper was serving as important fodder, but I had wanted so much more for him. He deserved a chance to actually shine. With the main game complete, my hope is that during post-game … well. Maybe. Maybe he can do something besides faint.

Neptune the Araquanid

Liquidation/Reflect/Lunge/Mirror Coat – Waterium

Neptune started out during an opportune time on the team, joining us in Akala after defeating the water totem (his own kin), and just in time for tackling a fire-type area and a fire-type totem. Despite the fact that Araquanid actually has very modest attack for a physical attacker (base of 70), he was a dependable and stalwart fighter on my team. With his typing, it meant some important resistances and STABs, and with his sky-high special defense (Araquanid’s specialty), it meant a lot of survivability. With his ability (Water Bubble), it also meant important advantages over fire moves (can’t be burned, halves fire damage). He was regularly cleaning out opponents, even with the handicap of his best water move being Bubble Beam, a special attack. The Waterium he held often is what bumped up Bubble Beam enough to make it finish the job. (His ability, Water Bubble, also gives a major bump to his water moves.) It felt like a ridiculous amount of time before he finally earned Liquidation, a physical water move that truly took advantage of his potential. It was just in time for the Elite Four, and I was thankful for the added advantage.

Araquanid has a disappointingly shallow movepool and virtually nothing in the way of viable coverage options, unless you’re very intent on killing fairies (Poison Jab). He’s also as slow as many Alolan pokemon, so don’t count on outspeeding much with this spider. That said, he still occupies a niche. His Water Bubble-powered Liquidation truly gets impressive results, and he has the bulk and moves for possibly some particular strats (Mirror Coat, chesto-resto/sleep talk, etc. with aqua ring & lefties support, tox & infestation stall/trapping, etc.) He will live long enough to do real work on your team, and I was very happy to have him around. Plus, look, his design is cool as heck. He’s a badass.

Luciel the Golisopod

Liquidation/Iron Head/Sucker Punch/First Impression – Sitrus Berry

Ah, and now what is no doubt the ace of the team, Golisopod. Do I even need to say anything about him? This magnificent creature has incredible attack and defense, among the highest of all bugs. He has a fascinating set of strats that go along with his Ability (which involve abusing First Impression) and a cadre of priority moves to offset his low speed, including his signature First Impression, a +2 priority bug move with 90 basepower. He has an incredibly diverse movepool and the stats to take full advantage of it. He has options if you want to stave off Emergency Exit (including berries and HP-stealing moves like the buffed Leech Life). He has a water typing, a boon for all-bug teams needing to deal with fire types. He’s flexible, he’s powerful, and he’s freaking awesome.

This beast was, of course, the biggest powerhouse on my team. Although the moveset I carried has Iron Head and that’s a lovely move to have, he also sometimes carried Brick Break instead as his coverage move. In terms of types that Brick Break hits, it covers even more common types you run into. Specifically, it gives you something to use against Steel and Normal in addition to the Ice and Rock that Iron Head gives you (and obviously hitting Dark types isn’t a challenge for Golisopod). However, I kept Iron Head around for fairies while I was waiting to pick up Poison Jab for Ariados or Araquanid. As for his other moves, Liquidation is a fantastic water STAB, First Impression is way too cool not to use, and I like Sucker Punch because I love extra priority once you’ve used your turn of First Impression. This was especially crucial on a team as terribly slow as mine was– I honestly used Sucker Punch all the time.

This guy is such a joy to use. I never tire of it. He’s the best thing to happen to gen 7, along with Guzma. Needless to say, he was the keystone of the team and not only did he help us through this game– he shall go far beyond it, bashing faces at the Battle Tree and no doubt joining me on future bug teams to come.

This is a repost on a new blog. The original post was on Aug 14, 2019.