#I love Pokemon. but this game just ain't it.

[hollowsart]

I still can't get over how much of a dirty scam the pricing is for Pokemon Masters. Like..

14,000 gems for 80 dollars? excuse me? who the crap is wasting their money like that on a game that barely has any real function as a game?

it's NOT worth it. AT ALL. you're not even fully guaranteed to get whatever character(s) you're aiming for with it.

if you want to do those 2 1-limit paid-only gems sync scouts they have rn you've have to pay $80 for the 10,000 you'll need since they're 5000 gems each. sure it sounds like a lot you're getting, but man. I don't think it's worth it.

I refuse to give this game my money. idk how people fall into this gacha scam. please save your money for something that's actually more useful and important.

[smol-tired-binch-blog]

Hey so I know I ain't made a Big Review Post for a Yakuza game since, idfk, Kiwami 2? But figured I'd let yall know I finished 6 and have already started 7/Like A Dragon. Here are my thoughts:

Y6 fucking sucks, I'm mad as hell, and I'm quite frankly sick of our dear little dragon. But it's okay, because now I have Ichiban whom I love and adore and I will cherish him.

[shiny-kaibernyte]

Pokemon | Birthday Headcannons (P2)

March 19th has rolled around once again being i am now once again here. Witting more birthday headcannons to fill the bottomless pit of my soul. Originally i was going to write Danganrompa ones but then remembered the fandom is basically dead just like all of my loved characters... Then i thought JoJo's, then MHA, Then KNY, Then Horror and many many other fandom i'm in and eventually decided to finish what i started. POKEMON! Scarlet and Violet edition! I'm gonna have to write a hundred of these ain't i...

WARNINGS: None unless you're allergic to fluff

Characters: Arven, Carmine, Drayton, Giacomo, Grusha, Kieran

❤️🥪Arven🥪❤️

When it comes to your birthday, Arven has absolutely zero plan. Not because he doesn’t have any ideas! Man has many ideas… too many to keep track of.

Arven has so many things he thinks you’ll enjoy, or places he wants to show you that his brain is about a thousand steps ahead of him, and the day before he just crashes out and wings everything on the day.

To him, this is your day, has nothing to do with him, it is your time to feel as happy as possible! Even without a plan our sandwich professional is going to work his ass off to make sure your smile never fades.

He may actually cry if it does.

In the morning, expect breakfast in bed. Equipped with all of your Pokemon already fed exactly how they like it. He takes notes. Any chores need to be done, Arven’s already done them. If you even attempt to get up before you have finished your breakfast, he will physically stand in the doorway with the most stern puppy dog eyes you will ever see on a human being. 

Arven even put extra effort in to make it look pretty, please enjoy it ;-; 

As for the actual day starting, he is essentially going to follow you around the entire time. If you want to stay in and watch movies, every blanket is there, PILLOW FORT! Shiny hunting may not be in his skill set but he will damn well try! Arven is more than happy to join you in some Pokemon battles, trainer or wild he is your player 2. 

No you cannot convince him to play video games with you. Arven could watch you all day though so if you want to ramble about your favourite game, his imaginary tail is eagerly wagging behind him while you talk.

Best part of the day, Lunch and Dinner. He goes ALL OUT! Anything you want to eat, it's yours, nothing is off the table, no matter how weird or exquisite it is. Hell you could ask him for just a bowl of cheesy nachos and he will make the greatest bowl of cheesy nachos the world will ever see.

He is so smitten with you already, so seeing your smile enjoying his food this time just feels so special to him. Arven put so much effort into this and to know you're happy with it makes his heart swell with love.

When it comes to gifts, he gives you 2. One he bought, most likely an item of clothing you had your eye on but couldn’t quite get yet. And the second is a handmade gift. He didn’t have help at all, don’t ask Nemona she didn’t help, Nemona and Arven didn’t work together in peace, that didn’t happen! YOU SAW NOTHING! Also ignore the Mabostiff hair.

🧡🪩Carmine🪩🧡

Our excitable queen will make this day so special for you. Carmine will ask a few days prior about previous birthdays you’ve had and no matter what you tell her, she is now DEAD SET on making this the best one! 

You will be waking up at the crack of dawn. She did not wake you up, on purpose. But her Aggressive shuffling of things in the next room can cause some noise.

Remember those Kimonos Carmine gave you during the festival? Well turns out she has more, the shuffling was her digging them out from her hiding spot. Handmade by her and her Grandma. Custom made just for you, and hers matches, just with small differences to fit your personalities! 

Unlike Arven, Carmine has planned a day ahead although she will ask about everything before actually doing them. As excitable as she can be, your comfort is a top priority for her so if you say no to something she planned, consider it crossed off her list of fun things.

Carmine will however take you to the Shrine at some point towards the end of the day. Most likely around Sunset where she will tell you some of the Village's oldest tales and secrets. This is also where she gives you a gift. A Wood carving of your Pokemon. She had it made by an old friend of hers, hiding the carving here so no matter what you wouldn’t find it ahead of the day.

She will give you sneaky gifts as well though, just not in the traditional sense. You will suddenly find your item bag restocked with a bunch of different poke balls. Your bag now has a fluffy pom pom on it, when did that get there. Your worn down shoes suddenly look brand new. When did your hat get fixed?

This is also the only time you can convince Carmine to come to Paldea with you that doesn’t involve Area Zero or School. So take the chance whilst you can.

💜💤Drayton💤💜

Oh boy, Drayton our beloved. This day is going to be… Unique 

One of two situations will happen, though neither start until he wakes up around 1pm. 

Situation 1) Colgate has a day full of battles and adventures just waiting for you! Starting the day off with a nice pokemon battle between you. Followed by a full catching lap of each area within the Terrarium. He even enhanced his shiny hunting skills just for you! Drayton will still scare them away though, but he saw it this time!

Randomly throughout the day he will just pull you into spontaneous hugs, which is something he does anyway but these are different. Toothpaste wants you to know how much he loves you so will pamper you the entire day. Every hug you face is covered in kisses from him. Drayton will open every door for you, take off his jacket for you to sit on when you stop for a picnic. In regards to physical affection, Drayton towers over the others.

Drayton even packed extra pokeballs for you, well Luxury balls, he wanted these ones specifically to use on this day. Makes it feel more special to him since he never changed the ball he uses. 

Is your cheerleader. Like Arven he will follow you around when exploring the terrarium, so when you find a Pokemon you want and start up that battle. He is yelling his lungs out. Many a Rowlet was woken up. One even sat on his head at one point ruining his hair. Probably in retaliation to the squawking he was doing.

He may be a chill, go with the flow person. But today he is letting it loose, just having fun with it. All that built up energy is coming out today.

Situation 2) Lazy day. Drayton will grab you and pull you into him, laying you on his chest so he can just wrap you up in his embrace for as long as you let him. He has a blanket set up for you and the remote within your reach, movies and tv shows set up ready for you. If the pair of you aren't near a bed or sofa to just lay down and chill, he will carry you to one of them, whichever you feel more comfortable in. 

No you are not getting up to get something. If you want something either Colgate is getting it, or one of his Pokemon are more than eager to help. Drayton won’t stop you getting up of course, you’ll just have to wiggle your way out of his steel grip first. Unless it's the bathroom, he will let go. He isn’t weird so don’t even think about it.

🖤🎶Giacomo🎶🖤

Giacomo is the same lovable DJ regardless of redemption or not. So when it comes to your birthday, he is ready! Has he written and produced multiple songs just for your birthday, yes. Will he play them randomly throughout the day to catch you off guard just to see your genuine reaction, absolutely!

He cannot cook, in fact among the star crew he is the WORST cook. Giacomo and ovens are sworn enemies, even a microwave will fight back. Best he can do is a cheese sandwich. So no special birthday food, he would have asked for help, he really would. If he remembered he actually has to ask and can’t will it into existence randomly.

You may have to call Arven in for assistance.

Giacomo may not be able to cook, but damn can he have a good time. One of the best people to spend a birthday with, he is a DJ after all, if you wanted it, he would turn the entire star base into a celebration just for you, he has the power to so after all, why not use it. If this is post redemption however, he will dial it back ten fold it will still be to your liking but less… Grand?

If parties aren't your thing, no worries! He has an entire day long music playlist set up to play on speakers throughout the rooms. When a really good song comes on, he’ll stop whatever he was doing to pull you into a dance with him, goofy or romantic he will have fun with it.

When it comes to gifts he is an ask and you shall receive kind of guy. He doesn’t spend money throughout the year on himself, he wears the same outfits basically every week, it's a system. The only time he spends money is on other people. So he has the money to spare. 

Giacomo will straight up just give you his card directly when you can’t decide on something. The biggest toothy grin on his face as he ushers you to enjoy your special day.

Orders in for dinner. Doesn’t matter when or what it is. So long as he doesn't have to call Arven again. 

Surprisingly enough this is one of the few times he actually lets go of things, no team star, no school, no DJ work, nothing. Just you and your birthday are his priorities today.

The other leaders will show up throughout the day to give you a gift tho. You’re part of the family now.

🩵❄️Grusha❄️🩵

SNOW CABIN

With Grusha, your birthday is a multiple day event. 

For the next 3 days, he has a cozy cabin booked for just the two of you to spend time together. You know those really cozy winter cabins you see in those cheesy Christmas movies? One of those.

Grusha will make sure this time is fun for you, it's one of the few times you will see a childish side of him surface. Snowball fights are a must, your birthday is the only time you can get away with chucking a snowball at him and not start an all out turf war with his Pokemon and yours.

Any and all Gym challenges are cast aside, The gym can do without him for a few days, this is your birthday after all. The gym can take a few days off.

The morning is the only time he will be outside the cabin, so this is when he will take you ice skating, build a snowman with you and just genuinely enjoy the snow with you. Since he's around Snow almost all the time, he tends to forget just how much fun it can be.

Once inside though, that's when the Grusha you know will show. The soft romantic side of him showing in full force. Sat by the fire, curled up in eachothers embrace, just living in the moment, enjoying the natural conversations that come. No movie or TV show, no rotom phones, just a genuine conversation. 

Even if what you are talking about is a topic you both have talked about before, doesn’t matter. As long as you are smiling and enjoying your birthday trip, he is satisfied.

💜🪻Kieran🪻💜

You mean the world to Kieran, he owes you life times of debt. To him you are his anchor, his reason to keep going. So when it comes to your birthday, this is a day he is going to make special.

Kieran over thinks everything the day before, practically pulling his hair out when he reads through is incoherent scribbling of ideas. Carmine makes an attempt to help and it results in Kieran slumping into the corner in a defeated ball. 

Once his nerves have settled and his thoughts are consistent does he finally get an idea he likes.

For the entire day, he is going shiny hunting with you, taking you to each area helping you get as many cute colourful pokemon as you can within the hours the day gave you. And don;t worry about the Herba, he has that covered. He wasn’t the champion for nothing.

Kieran is already touchy, constantly wanting to hold your hand, today is no different. The entire time he is holding your hand and following behind you, watching you with heart eyes every time you point at a Pokemon or drag him back to the academy.

No battles today. Kieran won’t allow them on your special day. To him they mean negative things, competition. This is your day, not his, not Drayton, no that random beach lady. Yours. So battles are off limits. If you want to watch a battle he is fine with that though. 

You can go one day without battling you maniacs! 

He only has his Hydrapples ball on him today, his bag is empty at the start but full by the end of the day with the amount of rocks, and things you find. He emptied it just for today. No pebble left behind! It's also totally not because he wants an excuse to go shell hunting.

Future thing: He would definitely propose on your birthday. Just saying.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm defiantly losing my touch this was so bad. Oh well, its my birthday if i want to write awful work i will! Take that society!

[mysticasrandomhorde]

Got Warden Ingo on my brain.

....

Time to share some headcanons I thought about.

(keep in mind, I have never played the game, I may get some things wrong. . Be kind)

In Hisui:

Was there for 4 years, was "missing" For 2 years in Unova (Space time distortions are WEIRD)

-Has CONSTANT migraines due to his memory loss and head injury. Tended to night terrors when he had a memory return to him, depending on how small or large the memory was. Once was out for commission for a WEEK due to spotting a Steelix zooming by and it reminded him of the subways and Gear Station.

-He considers Iscan, Gaeric and Palina as his friends, and Calaba as his "Nana". He and Melli are on good terms and get along well, despite Melli's constantly denying he's "friends" with that weird man on the other side of the Highlands. He knows he's lying.

-COVERED in scars, mostly some handling baby Sneasels or rock climbing. His main ones are on his right eye (attack from a Luxray, thankfully just a flesh wound and didn't lose his eye), his left arm and shoulder (saving Rei from a Zoroark attack) and his side (Got into a fight with some poachers.)

-Became a bit feral while there (Autism be darned, this train boi can fist- fight a Garchomp and win). He once fought a rogue male Sneasler that got WAYY too close to his Noble's den. Forgot his pokeballs, only had his dagger on him.

-Lady Sneasler is the pokemon he's CLOSEST with. He feels indebted to her since she saved him and chose him to be a canidate to become her warden. Plus for him, its easier to talk to a pokemon than people about his problems. She's his emotional support pokemon, and Lady Sneasler considers him her FAVORITE warden she's had. Platonic Soulmates, fite meh.

-I subscribe to Dad! Ingo adopting the protag. Its too precious not to happen. Plus it would make sense for the ONLY other Skyfaller to bond with the protag. (I subcribe to the Au that the protag NOT being Dawn/Lucas, more like they have a similar appearance) I especailly enjoy the fics where he has adopted both of them. (A twin adopting a pair of twins, love it)

Post Hisui (Back in Nimbasa, Unova)"

-Still has Migraines, but they had lessened now he's back with family. Developed a habit of rubbing his hands together when he's nervous.

-REFUSED to leave Emmet's side when they reunited. He felt so guilty of forgetting his own twin he clung to him like a Slowpoke. Emmet didn't complain, he was the same.

-Took him 6-8 months to finally return to his normal life and his Subway boss duties. Repeating weeks of therapy, meds, and constant stress from the public that he considered the WORST weeks of his life. PTSD, anxiety, and

-Still has memory relapses, sometimes due to stress. It's gotten better over time, but sometimes he ends up wandering down a random street disassociating. Agreed with Emmet to get a tracker on his phone in case he has one when separated so he could find him.

-He takes Lady Sneasler back with him (He's her odd human and ain't leaving his side, and already chosen a successor since she was getting older) along with his Hisui team. It's always a shock to the trainers battling him when he switches up the team. Lady Sneasler is useful when scaring unwanted Plasma grunts hiding in the subways.

-Still has days when he's a bit feral. First week of him back, he REFUSED to sleep on his bed. Instead slept on the floor with his sheets and blankets pulled off and formed into a nest. Emmet now takes Ingo camping or hiking whenever Ingo gets overwhelmed at work and need to let loose a bit becomes a bit too much.

-His newfound reflexes always surprises his family (comes when being constantly being in danger of wild pokemon). He once flips his Uncle Drayden onto his back when he accidentally bumps against his arm when getting a cup of water. Ingo spent a whole HOUR apologizing, when Drayden was actually quite impressed.

-makes Hisuian recipes for his brother and Elesa. He's pretty good at it. Emmet got him a cookbook for their birthday. Ingo made him a carved Joltick in return.

[destiny-smasher]

What do you like about Nemona

Gahhh, fuck me, that's a bit hard to summarize.

But I have been meaning to do a write up to explain it to people in my personal life. Maybe this is a good excuse to get around to doing so. I'll try to cover the important stuff while not getting as deep into specifics as I honestly could. It'll still be an informal short essay, though, lol

In Pokemon SV, the player enrolls in a fancy Academy on a remote island nation of sorts (inspired by Spain). They meet Nemona after choosing their starter Pokemon, and Nemona offers to the school's director to adopt a starter herself to 'coach/mentor' the player character. You see, unlike any other 'rival trainer' before her, Nemona is already a Champion. Before your character sets foot in the Paldea region, Nemona has already gone through the entire song and dance of Gym Battles and all that, and attained the highest rank a trainer can in the region. She's completely obsessed with Pokemon battling and has become bored of being 'the best' because no one wants to battle her, for various reasons. So she views you, a newcomer, as an opportunity to test herself as a 'mentor/senpai/big sis' figure as well as essentially 'New Game+-ing' herself for sheer love of the game that is Pokemon battling.

People consistently call her 'the girl Goku', but I ain't seen Dragonball Z, so I can't comment on that much. But she is a very enthusiastic, cheerful, determined, battle hungry person who is very into self-growth and self-improvement. At the end of the day, she wants a true rival, someone she doesn't need to hold back with, and who she can look to as a consistent figure in her life. She is very eager and hyperactive about connecting with people through battling.

A lot of people who play the game get offput by her, and she gets branded as a 'yandere' archetype (ie obsessed with the player character to a horror-inducing degree). She gets meme'd as being 'creepy' and 'obsessed' and all that, depicting her eagerness as mental illness and a bad thing.

(gif from a fan animation)

When her behavior stems from positive emotions and a desire for mutual growth and connection, not specifically ownership or possession -- to Nemona, a person who just obeyed whatever she would want of them would defeat the point. That's not what a rival does -- they push back, after all. Within the context of the SV plotline, she is bored of being Champion all by herself, and wants to train someone else to reach her same level, which is why she is so invested in you, the player character, following you around everywhere and being that 'big sis' archetype. There's some selfishness in there, for sure -- she wants a proper rival for herself, someone she never has to hold back with -- but given her social obligations and reputation within the Academy/region, she also I think wants to prove she is capable of handling herself as a mentor figure, prove to herself that she didn't become a Champion by luck or accident (if she can help someone else do what she did, then it wasn't just a fluke, she really does know what she's doing, etc.), and also help prove to her fellow students that she's really not as intimidating as they think she is.

And yet, people both in AND out of the game are quick to write this intense, protective behavior off as 'insane' and 'creepy' -- and as someone who very regularly got called a 'creep' through to the end of college for literally just trying to make friends,' I almost take it personally when I see people label Nemona as a 'yandere' type. It has its comical use and all but I still find it kind of hurtful in a way.

(Art by MagDraws)

Because that's the thing -- if you pay attention to what little story there is in SV (it's not exactly a complex narrative), Nemona's character is essentially a metaphor for neurodivergent/queer people who have hearts bursting with affection and passion for their hobbies yet who struggle with loneliness and isolation as they put off most people from keeping them around.

But at the end of the day, Nemona is just neurodivergent, her special interest is Pokemon battling, and she is simply desperate for human connection -- and battles are just the way she feels most comfortable doing that.

And the world would be a better place if people like me or Nemona were able to become self aware at a young enough age to start managing our behavior, (which she is shown to be learning to do!) while ALSO having a general population that is more open-minded and understanding to the idea that 'oh huh that person's brain is electrically overcharged and they love people and hobbies maybe way way more than I do but that's FINE as long as they're not hurting anyone'

As a youth, I just... kinda got great grades, made honor roll, etc. And it felt like I wasn't really trying? So adults around me thought I was 'gifted', or 'naturally talented'. But in reality, I think I was just neurodivergent, and since I struggled to make friends, and physically wasn't able to see them outside of school due to various factors, I just... ended up focusing on my schoolwork instead. So that's one way I relate with her retroactively -- she is a model student, yet ironically has a bad reputation amongst many.

(HOWEVER, Nemona comes from a RICH family and I came from a poor one, there was some big racial tension dynamics at play in my early gradeschool years, familial breakup shit, soooo there's some very different dynamics at play there)

Another thing I adore about her and connect with in a way no one else in my life does -- she loves one-on-one competitions with others through battles. I don't love physically fighting people, I'm a super non-violent person in reality. But I love fighting games, it's my favorite genre. And there's specific philosophical elements to enjoying fighting games that I think most people don't click with that she and I do.

She is here to GROW, to learn, to improve, to have fun regardless of winning or losing, because the act of spending time engaged with another person, figuring each other out, testing yourselves mutually, is enjoyable and edifying regardless.

That 'warrior's path' of self improvement and enjoyment and growth regardless of the outcome of battle is something I very much connect with and it's great to see a character who feels likewise while also having elements of interpersonal struggles in spite of or even because of the way she functions differently than other people. Again, I don't know much about Goku, but I get the impression he is good at making and keeping friends, while Nemona is bad at it.

On top of this, Nemona has extra wrinkles to her character -- she's physically disabled. The game is vague about it, as Pokemon always is. But she wears an arm brace because she throws a LOT of pokeballs with all the battling she does, and she seems to have some kind of issue there, physically. Also, despite how GOOD she is at battling, she is terrible at catching Pokemon, and seemingly at doing the exploration aspects of being a trainer. She canonically has poor stamina and wears herself out easily -- which, given how high-energy she is as a person, probably happens constantly. So it's also strongly suggested that she spends time not just training all of her Pokemon (she juggles multiple teams, yet another fighting-game esque thing I relate with, as I tend to juggle many characters and not stick to a single main or team), but she also trains herself, physically, to try and keep up with her 'mons, but also as a means of self-growth/improvement in general.

I won't post the examples but trust me, there are many subtle but intentional nods alluding to her being physically disabled, and being BAD at core elements of what we expect a Pokemon trainer to be -- exploring the wilderness, catching Pokemon, etc. But she's so passionate about it, she doesn't let her limitations stop her,

So it creates an interesting internal tension imo because she is not only very queer coded, very neurodiverse coded, but ALSO disabled coded. But she hides her internal struggles by essentially avoiding having to confront them, generally speaking (which itself is ripe for narrative development). Sadly, the game never brings this to a head in way (it's Pokemon, so of course it doesn't). But the ingredients are all there, especially when you add characters like Penny, Arven, and Scarlet into account -- as well as implied expectations from her rich family, or from the leader of Paldea, Geeta, who implies she wants Nemona to be her protege. And I haven't even mentioned that Nemona is Class President, meaning she's actively taking on social responsibility for her peers even though she gets shit talked behind her back for being so obsessed with battling and getting in people's faces with her over-eager desire to bond with/battle them.

This right here -- this is the specific core element of her character I personally connect with that, somehow, no fictional character I've met so far has put into the exact right words with enough context for me to believe them.

From my youth to even now as a full grown adult, I have experienced this feeling my entire life, whether with family, at school, at the workplace, even in most online spaces -- an 'invisible wall' between me and everyone else, and for a VERY LONG TIME I had convinced myself it was because something about me was 'broken' and 'not right'. But now, in part thanks to characters like Nemona, and the discussions around/about said characters, I can see that my brain just functions differently from other people, and a I grow and self-teach myself how to manage my own behaviors/expectations, I can better appreciate all kinds of relationships in life without needing to let go of or sacrifice that internal flame that used to threaten to consume most people I cared about -- that fear of being 'too much' or 'too intense' in my own ways (ways better expressed through text interaction than in person, to be fair, but again, MOST of my social life has been online my entire life, so yeah).

Like Nemona, I found people in my life who accept me for who I am, and blablabla all that cliche shit. But in Nemona, as I do with a rare few other characters in media (Vi from Arcane, Luz from The Owl House), I see a specific element of myself I don't elsewhere, and sadly did not see often growing up. A balance between ferocity and determination paired with unending affection and love. A desire to never give up on people, no matter what, and to be open to change both internal and in others. In Nemona's case, specifically, that element of neurodiverse passion matched with sheer loneliness -- that 'invisible wall'.

No matter what, she never gives up, in battles or socially.

I could go on into specific examples but I've said enough here to get the ideas across, I'm sure.

Oh, and as a sidenote, I think she has a great character design -- it's SIMPLE but recognizeable. The combo of color-coded gear (red/white/black, my favorite outfit color scheme), a arm brace, and accented hair. Her design feels like a plausible human being, but with a bit of 'anime bangs' syndrome.

I should probably mention -- I don't like Pokemon SV as a video game! I am like 160k words of fanfiction into telling a Pokemon story and I think the game itself is stinky garbage barely holding itself together with duct tape and a corporate prayer.

But unlike any other generation of the franchise, Pokemon SV presents a cast of characters with defined personality strengths, weaknesses, and varied backstories, who start the game as strangers, and by the end begin to dip their toes into 'found family' territory. For the first time in the entire franchise, I actually give a shit about the characters, about seeing them grow and connect with each other, because the overarching theme of SV's story, what little it has, is about isolation, outcasts, loneliness, and how found families form.

And Nemona's kind of the heart of all of that, the endlessly hopeful, energetic, eager one that will never give up on you, that irrationally throws affection at you, seemingly for no 'good reason' -- because just being a person who tolerates her and her 'too much'-ness is itself reason to be grateful for your presence in a world where she feels isolated from most everyone else simply by being herself.

Maybe this answers your question!

[urautismdiagnosis-wistie]

Kingsley 👑

This is my silly meow meow octonauts oc!🥰🥰🥰 hes pointing out a cool bird btw

Edit: he is kwaziis uncle btw lol

This is Kingsley! Known as a brother, uncle K, or Captain K of a lovely ship and crew of the Salty Spirit!

He is also a captain of all birds! He's kinda a dork lol

First son of the Calicoed Jack and not just following his footsteps but making his own way and name! (He always tried sooo hard to be a super cool pirate)

The guy always loved stuff like pokemon and yu gi oh, he's always been good at math/finances and is known to be an excellent strategist and trickster 👌 Pretty good qualities to have when you've got a crew of 50 on your shoulders!

He ain't bad with a sword either, in fact he's "totally fought off like 20- no 30- sharks that were swarming him in a river once! And he totally punched them and won too and then they were all so impressed they promised to always be loyal to him" or something along those lines 😭✌

Hes also a great big brother to his lil bro Kenneth! He is the type to make some lighthearted jokes and tease a bit, but he always and I mean always made sure to care about the needs and wants of everyone.

Hes not really judgemental and will totally be open to finding unique solutions to problems and believe in his lil bro too. There's always a way and he'll make it himself if you're not able to find it yet 🥺

... remind me to make a comic about Kingsley and kenneth sometime ^v^

This guy tho? Total flirt, except his flirting is just... sharing bird facts.. like how pigeons are the only birds to make milk! Or.. how to mimic the sound of every kind of bird! Or.. how certain birds try to impress the ladies and how he can totally do that too do you wanna see-

It wasn't very effective. 🙏

When he was entrusted with the role of captain though, he did do his best to be all collected and confident. He's a pretty chill sneaky lil guy that'll saunter around doing Captain Things TM when he's not being a total dork over birds.

speaking of captain behaviour, he's also the type that if he was faced with the devil he'd tried to trick it- and if that didn't work he would do anything to make sure that it didn't lay hands on his crew. But even so he knows there's always a way, even if it hurts, there's still a way. He just has to find it.

Kingsley has always believed that there are good things and good people in all hardships and places. You just have to choose to find it and nature it. There's also opportunities for looting too.

He was super gifted at pirate trickery, distraction, stealth missions, and sneak attacks and retreats without a single drop of blood shed.

(Well maybe a few drops but usually not his crew lol 💅 they were very "in and out with sleeping gas and smoke bomb types" although.. if a few idiots did stick their nose where they didn't belong... it was their own fault if they got a concussion or a stab to the foot.... and if u were dumb enough to try to actually attack the ENTIRE PIRATE CREW as a sailor rhat should've been asleep then well... survival of the fittest :/)

he also IS banned from the kitchen. Not even because of all his "desert heists" as a child either! This guy couldn't ever cook to save his life fr...

As for him and the lil kwazii? Well kwazii learned alot from him XD like swear words and how to cheat at card games

He takes alot after his mom who was 3/4th lynx lol . Also his blue necklace piece is to bring good opportunities his way. :>

He always has made it a point to try to help the people in his life through whatever hardships- whether it was to help a new crew member to acclimate, help someone threw a rough night, or just be there for his anxious lil bro yk?

He was also the one who found pete as a baby :3c

If u have any questions about him lmk in thr comments and ill answer! I cant promise ill answer every question tho for plot reason ;)

[opalisprocrastinating]

PMD Special Episode 0 Romhack: Secret Cutscene!

NOTE: This post will contain minor spoilers for the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky games as well as a romhack based off of it: Special Episode 0: In a Dark Past Well. This wasn't exactly what I expected for my first post, but I sure as hell ain't complaining! I'm making this post since I discovered something that I haven't seen posted anywhere, so I thought I might as well share it. Sorry if it's a little long! First off, a bit of context: Thanks to numerous fanart, I've begun playing a PMD romhack called Special Episode 0: In a Dark Past. It's a romhack of the Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky games specifically, delving deeper into the backstories of two of its characters: Grovyle and Dusknoir. As a massive PMD EoS fan, I've been enjoying it so far! Highly recommend it to anyone who's a fan of these games or characters and the writing is great! You can check out the creator's Twitter here, the hack download should be in a pinned post: https://twitter.com/PKMM_ESPEP0 It was when I got to a fight with a Vespiquen and her Combee that I got a little curious. Before I picked up this hack, I'd already watched a short playthrough of it and knew that you were supposed to lose this fight to continue the story (Vespiquen is ridiculously strong and uses Silver Wind, which basically kills you from anywhere). But I wondered if it was possible to beat it. After all, I had a lot of stun seeds by this point, and Duskull knew both Disable and Hypnosis which could stall the Vespiquen.

So I did. Though I must first confess, I didn't do it 100% legitimately. I don't own a DS, so I play all my games using emulators, including both PMD EoS and this romhack. Thus, I was able to save right before the battle so I wouldn't have to reset and go through the entire dungeon every time I lost. So while I did manage to beat the Vespiquen fair and square from start to finish, I did do a couple resets to save time. But that's not what I made this post for. After beating the Vespiquen, I unlocked a secret cutscene! I haven't seen anyone share this before, so I thought I might as well put this out there for anyone who is curious. For anyone who's read this far, thank you so much, and here it is! (It's quite long at about 7 minutes, but it's totally worth the watch!)

Thanks for reading through this one hell of a first post! Like I said, I really love PMD and from the little I've experienced, this romhack is just as beautifully written. Highly recommend checking it out if you haven't! I wonder if I should start posting PMD fanart of my own...

[drawingwithdonnie]

for the send me a character ask game... ingo pokemon perhaps.... or mephone4 if you'd prefer lolz im not gonna lie i was so shocked seeing you also like the funny subway bosses!!! absolutely the most pleasant jumpscare ever LOL I LOVE INGO AND EMMET POKEMON!!!!!!!

POINTS AT YOU. FELLO SUBMAS FAN?????? HELLO?.??????????? Oh my god . That's so cool. JUST FOR THAT I WILL DO BOTH !! (Mephone under the cut bc this post is getting Long)

Ingo:

• song I associate with him:

I'm honestly awful with assigning songs to characters but hear me out. Everything Stays from adventure time. I can't explain why but you gotta just hear me out.

• a personal favorite hc:

Other than the obvious "both of the twins are autistic" that's practically canon rather than fanon, I really like the HC that he has a sweet tooth :] and also that he's CRAZY strong post hisui, to the point he can practically carry around Crustle on his back /hj

• an otp / pairing:

Ingo x going home safely 😭😭😭😭😭 But laventon/Ingo is pretty good ?? I'm not crazy about shipping ingo tho lol

• a notp

Other than the obvious (bl@nkshipping), the world's biggest ick for me is Ingo (or emmet)/elesa :( nimbasa trio as family unit please and thank you

• favorite platonic relationship:

Obviously nimbasa trio as stated above, but the Uncle Ingo hc + either akari or rei is PEAKKK. I see it most often with akari bc Ingo is truly a girldad at heart but where's rei </3 Ingo can have two niblings </3 (also ingo's friendship with irida is peak. Btw)

• fav thing/ reason I like him:

I am nothing if not the biggest sucker for siblings in media. I have four brothers !! Of course this is my bread and butter !!! i can't pin down why I like him and emmet so much but i really love the lore behind Ingo and his time in hisui. GAH it just hurts my heart so bad but !!! It's so sweet at the same time??? it's hard to explain but I love legends arcues so BAD

• something I don't like about him:

His English voice in the anime. THAT'S NOT INGO 😭❓ no offense to the VA but he does noooooot fit ingo. To me. His pokemon masters voice is peak tho

• favorite moment from the series:

"I'm starting to recall a man who looked... like me. We'd battle and discuss Pokémon, I think... The words "I like winning more than anything else" flashed through my mind just now..."

"We'll soon be arriving at Wayward Cave's exit. Even if the memories themselves have faded... it appears much still lives on in my heart."

...yeah. I'm still emotional over that DON'T LOOK AT MEEEE

WRITING ON THE WALL BY WILL STETSON. I DON'T CARE THAT ITS A GENSHIN IMPACT FANSONG. ITS MEPHONECORE. BREATHE IF YOU AGREE.

MePhone4:

• a song I associate with him:

• a personal favorite hc:

I have too many to count but </3 ive dubbed him Mr Emotion Bottler for a reason !!! He would rather die than have a candid conversation about his feelings

• an otp/pairing:

you already KNOW what I'm about to say. TWOPHONE SAVE THE WORLD BABEYYY!!!

• a notp:

shipping him with any meepling is an automatic red flag imo. or with ballpoint. or with bot. I'm very opinionated

• favorite platonic relationship:

HIM AND 3GS !!! "But Zel isn't mepad your favorite meepling" I hear you say. Not any more (sorry king) ITS 3GS O'CLOCK FOREVER. I need a full miniseries of just mephone and 3GS LAST WEEK. God I love 3GS. This ain't about him but he's my little guy <333

• fav thing/ reason I like him

He's just like me for real. Also my favorite brand of character is "red/blue tragic sibling with daddy issues and some degree of trauma who I can project onto" so of course he's my #1 guy. Also he's an Asshole with so so many layers of complexity and I need to put him in my pocket

• something I don't like about him:

s1ep1 voice /silly but honestly the flaws he has as a character make him way more interesting so I don't really dislike anything about him

• favorite moment from the series:

End of s3 up on the volcano... Or just 90% of his screentime in the s2 finale lol

[bubblegumpixelz]

Can you do domestic hcs with Daisuke...?😽

Daisuke Domestic HCs

I feel like cooking with his S/O would result in him outright putting sauces and flour on your nose. If you work and he doesn't, he's probably cooking something new to try to impress you, but he might fuck it up.

🌺🌺🌺

He REFUSES to clean the toilet. "hell naw! Thats totally foul."

I'm not sure how good he'd be at cleaning...but he ain't exactly a super messy guy. Probably really clumsy.

🌺🌺🌺

If you guys have a dog, he probably plays with it for HOURS. absolutely loves that thing. Probably wants to name it "Hibiscus" or "Rodney". Loves bathing the dog too, splashing water on it and then watching him get all fluffy and puffy after getting rubbed with a towel. If you have a cat it probably lays on his face when he's sleeping.

🌺🌺🌺

He loves to play video games with you! Like Mario Party, any multiplayer Kirby, pokemon battles if you each have a copy, every time his s/o is home from work he's practically begging to play one!

🌺🌺🌺

Going to bed with him is like going to bed with a rock. He is just out like a light. He is just a rock. Probably wears some sort of hello kitty pajama set. Y'all also probably got at least 3 plushies on that bed.

[not-your-bro]

Tell me rfn the kind of video games climbing class stays up until 3am grinding and getting way too invested in

OOH. this is an interesting question bc i think they have fairly different taste in video games.

chris is into games with deep mechanics, so he gravitates to rpgs, including turn-based. likes strategy games, too. as a example of his taste, chris loves pokemon, but he plays it in a way i do not personally understand, in that he's crafting the most optimal team and also not naming his pokemon. all that said, he isn't opposed to turning his brain off with fps games when he just wants to relax. in all games, he is a chronic cutscene skipper (a trait that makes josh grind his teeth). if he picks up an in-game document that he deems too long, he's like "i ain't reading all that. i'm happy for u tho. or sorry that happened."

josh plays fewer games and has narrower taste. obviously, he's into horror in all forms, from AAA down to the smallest of indie titles (tho he prefers indie). i think he wouldn't have pegged himself as a fighting game guy, but he checked out mortal kombat bc of the fatalities and got really into it. he'd be into hideo kojima games. if i can include post-2014 games bc we're just having fun here, this would include death stranding (which chris would not understand the appeal of). josh would also love the weird, wide world of elden ring, in particular how it's stripped of things like quest logs. he would really enjoy making his own physical notes (which, again, would feel like homework to chris).

now, here's what they learned they can't play together.

moody, atmospheric horror that relies more on suspense or dread than fear. josh would love silent hill games (the good ones lmao), but chris would find them unenjoyable to play and narratively confusing & boring. warning for silent hill 2 spoilers here, but i made a joke in a fic about chris getting, like, too deep into sh2 before going, "oh. did this guy do something to his wife?" and i stand by that. i think he's just like whatttt is going on and when will this be over.

competitive games that rely too heavily on luck. obvious examples are mario party & mario kart games. josh gets too fucking moody when he feels he loses unfairly, and it brings the (mario) party down. and every time he suggests them, he's like "i seriously won't care, like it's not a big deal." but it is a big deal. in his heart. if he loses fair and square, he's fine, but he hates feeling robbed by bad luck.

...and here's what they do play together.

freaky asf horror games. like, the kinds of games with moments that are gonna have "streamers react to..." compilations on youtube. ideally, chris is playing and josh is watching, bc josh loves to watch chris react to games like this, especially if he himself has played them before. nothing more enjoyable than sitting next to chris, knowing what horrors await him but not saying anything. josh has a ps4 with p.t. (which he will never, ever delete) and he delighted in making chris play that. he also made chris play doki doki literature club, under the guise of "giving him a well-deserved break from horror." good one, josh.

chris's rpgs are long as hell and he gets very into them, so when he's particularly sucked in but josh still wants to hang, josh is like ok just bring your console over and play here, idc. now, josh knows chris is a cutscene skipper, so josh spends the entire time peppering chris with questions. what's happened so far? what's going on right now? who's this guy - what's his deal? at some point, they start making shit up, spitballing what they think is going on based on context clues, but also throwing in their own wild ideas just to make each other laugh. (after chris finishes the game, they read a plot summary to see how close they were.)

i think chris is a kingdom hearts fan, but again, not the way i'm a kingdom hearts fan. he thinks they're fun as fuck to play, but he has NO clue what's going on. in fact, playing kingdom hearts as a kid is probably what triggered his aversion to cutscenes. he was like that shit goes on FOREVER, and for WHAT? i'm enamored with the idea of chris foisting kingdom hearts on josh - like, "try it, bro, it's really fun. but just skip the cutscenes they're super long and confusing." and josh is like "now, now, christopher. a lot of work went into these cutscenes. we can't just skip them. that would be disrespectful." so josh lets them roll - initially as a bit, but then they both get invested, and next thing you know they're barreling through all 983094 games together.

resident evil 4. periodt. it has stuff that appeals to them both: horror/gore for josh, more action-oriented gameplay for chris, plus short cutscenes they can both find enjoyment in, because they're either freaky or funny or both. they would lament (as did i) that re5 and re6 have co-op but are so much worse, but they'd still play them once. and they'd both love the modern remakes + new re games. josh's favorite of those would be re7, and chris's would be re2 remake.

[fallershipping]

Beyond that... I've been absolutely poisoned by weirdos and anime in general when so many top favorites of people are High School romances where it's some clueless basic looking guy who does almost jack shit but has multiple girls pining for him.

This trope, anime fanfiction video game, it irritates me. It skeeves me out.

Poly relationships are great! But there's a difference. Big fucking difference. When someone says "naw maybe they're poly!" but I know what it is, what that actual canon was to begin with. that's not poly... i smell the difference between poly and...

Male oriented fanservice. Generic hero gets a bunch of girls to flock to him like they were party members of Pokemon. It's just fulfilling a fantasy of being the "ultimate gigachad" by just having girls similar to property and by doing absolutely nothing to warrant it.

It's all the worst tropes in one:

forced romantic plots instead of normal everyday friendship

generic boring guy who's made to be the perfect blank slate

girls made to be different to fit various tastes and keep the audience watching aka fan service

girls putting in all of the fucking romantic work because "girls are the romantic ones while the guy focus on the action and 5 episode long battle/cooking/juggling bowling pins tournament arc" oh yeah and they get cheered on by his girls

"Oh that hero! once again being oblivious and dumb to romance and does nothing romantic in return! what a lovable dumbass!" This Man Is Going In The Trash

they will all bear his kids because that's also what girls are made for

i just feel bad for these girls like... girls. there's more fish in the sea. He Ain't It™

edit: it appeals to the avoidance of commitment and just having girls flock to someone without even trying. The kind of guy who idolizes this is the kind of guy I Hate. It's not love. It's collection.

[lotus--pond]

fable Pokemon au stuff because I love fable and I love pokemon!!!

maybe we get protagonist Athena as a treat

Rae is the professor, or maybe like professor in training under Enderian

I'm a big fan of altering the gym structure of the base games (having gym themes instead of types, dual type gyms, more gyms than just eight and you get to choose which gyms you do, trainers having multiple different teams with different themes, etc.) so that's what this'll be based on!

I am torn between Fenris's gym challenge being something food related or just a dog show

dogs and food would be his gym's theme by the way, cat cafe but dog yk?

World sisters have the most straightforward gyms in the region, being sole grass/water types respectively. It's just because they're like idk veteran gym leaders and have been doing this kinda stuff since before more different gym structure was popularized and they have a "if it ain't broke don't fix it"/ "idk man I just like plants/fish" mentality

as I've previously stated, Icarus is legally required to have morpeko as a partner I will be taking ZERO arguments

I'm also torn between having them as gym leader or a more N type role

because N fits however comma we could have mad scientist/alchemist gym leader

I like mad scientist role because you could have Rae, the kind Pokemon professor who's a bit on the quieter side but clearly has a great passion for his work and maybe a few times he'll offhandedly mention to Athena"my older brother is a scientist as well, he's an alchemist and lives in [x] city! make sure to say hello to them for me if you're in the area."

and he's picturing a guy pretty similar to Rae, maybe a bit more outspoken. but he is certainly not picturing the person with a labcoat stained purple and yellow from one too many failed potions, with giant goggles, running on nothing but energy potions and madness, mumbling to themselves about alchemical properties or something, pacing around their gym, barely acknowledging them as they enter the room.

and you know it's a while from when Athena set out on their journey and it was really just a few comments from Rae so he's forgotten about what he said, so he beats the gym and everything and they're talking when all the sudden... Professor?

and it's Rae! he's come to visit his brother and Athena just blurts out without thinking, "I'm sorry, you guys are related??"

and Rae and Icarus laugh, tell him they get that all the time. that, genetically, they're only half brothers and both take after the parent they don't share.

also despite Icarus's gym being like poison/alchemy themed there are many birds flying around. One of them has probably made a nest in Icarus's hair that they have either failed to notice or just don't care about anymore.

Rae mostly uses psychic or dark Pokemon, especially any space/star themed ones

there's a similar "you're related?" moment in both Momboo and Ocie's gym (I'm thinking Jamie/Bruin as a rival) where both mention that they've heard a lot about Athena

and depending on how far into their journey they are, they could think these two are just weird, or that the gym leaders talk about the challengers who manage to beat more than one of them.

but no actually this is their indirect way of teasing Bruin

wait no maybe Ocie and Momboo have a joint gym. like partner battles. cuz sisters n stuff. I like that.

Aax specializes in Cave-y/dragon pokemon. idk man just go with it.

wait dragon type gym leader Aax goes kinda hard

Aax's gym is in a coastal town and their gym challenge is a fishing minigame

not like the regular pokemon fishing mechanic but a completely seperate minigame

and maybe on the docs near the town you can find this old fisherman who will tell you stories, that if you pay attention to the endless diaglogue, actually give some pretty helpful tips and secrets

I keep switching between talking about this as if it were an actual game or a narrative peice so my bad

of course maybe post game that fisherman has a little quest where you have to go and fetch things for him from libraries around the region or solve riddles about myths and retrieve the correlated item.

and of course the last riddle is about the hero perseus, and you don't have to actually go to a library, but go and ask Aax about it. they ask you if that rambling old man by the docks put you up to this. when you say yes they give somewhere between a laugh a joking sigh and just tell you to follow them. They go down to the docks besides the old fisherman and just tell him

"you know, you can just ask me to come over for dinner, you don't have to keep doing this whole roundabout way" and the fisherman just laughs and says "gods forbid I find a way to have fun in my old age"

that's where the quest ends but if you go back to Aax they'll explain that the fisherman is their father, and they actually washed up on shore near this town as a young child, their current theory is that they were in a shipwreck that their parents were either lost or passed in.

but they were found by a young professor Rae, but since Rae was only traveling through the town he soon had to leave, but the two kept in touch through letters for a long time when Aax learned how to read.

Ulysses found him one day by the beach and after finding out this child had no parents and was just wandering the beach finding shells and other things, decided to take him in.

you really thought I'd do a fable au and not include fish dad in some way shape or form??? him and Aax are my favorite. I am pushing him as hard as I can into my band au even though it makes no sense for him to be there. so far he is only mentioned but I promise you fish dad will show up where and when you least expect it when it comes to my writing

I'll probably have more thoughts but y'know

[rwbypro]

You've done Tsubaki and Shamrock for the character ask game and I think you should do Belkia as well :D

[From This ask game] it's gonna be long so it's under a read more

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

He's just alot of fun, I love how unapologetically himself he is and how much he cares about people close to him. It's also really fun how when he doesn't like someone you Know.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

I love how he was Tsubaki's first subclasses, and how one of the first things he did after turning into a vampire was give the guy who saved him a nickname.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Throw that man into Any of the Danganronpa games, it would be so fun to see him interacting with those guys.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

First one is RuLe by Ado, the other is No Logic by Jimmythumb P(this one I gained after learning his backstory).

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

... I think it might depend, but maybe. I don't see it ending as poorly as me being Shamrock's roommate might, but it would still be hit or miss potentially.

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

I would like to try to be! I love magic tricks and he seems like he would be alot of fun if he was your friend.

11. Would you date this character?

... no, he is very much Not my type.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

It's canon that he's a really good cook, but my headcanon is that Shamrock has banned him from the kitchen when he's bored because he will do little "cooking experiments" that often end in disaster(like the yt channel Ordinary Sausage). I also have the headcanon that he is Really good at Pokemon, like scarily good. Gives Kuro a run for his money.

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

Outside of the obvious stars/sparkles or swords I can see him being the one most likely to use the face emojis out of team M this one 🤬 being one of the ones he uses the most.

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

Tsubaki/Belkia it's just nice and fun, two people who are really really smart, but when they are together their braincells go on vacation lol.

17. What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?

Idk probably Belkia/Otogiri, I just can't really see them like romantically involved. The closest being that Otogiri will tease Belkia about having a crush on her, and Belkia likes being a model for her shibari. But I can't really see anything like romantic or sexual between them? Idk if that makes any sense. But like I can see why people would ship it.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

Admire ain't the right word but tbh I do find it interesting how in that once scene together Hugh and Belkia seem to have a pretty decent understanding of eachother. I would love to see more of them interacting.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

I really like the idea of best friends Otogiri and Belkia, they both roast the hell out of each other(Otogiri wins usually) but ultimately it's all in good fun.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

Listen I just can't get over his lil :< face here idk why but this is like always the first image that pops into my head when I think of Belkia.

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

Okay I don't really know How to explain it, but when thinking about it one of the characters that reminds me most of Belkia in another fandom I'm in is Felicia who is a character from Magia Record which is a spinoff game of the Madoka Magica series.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

I always thought he was very fun, but I also love the depth added after learning his backstory and how he was in the past. Just the fact that he was a doctor and valued helping people more then getting credit for his work.

26. What's something the character has done you can't get over? Be it something funny, bad, good, serious, whatever?

I love the scene when he stops Kuro and Tsubaki's fight, specifically when he hugs Tsubaki and Tsubaki pushes him away. He doesn't even get mad or anything he just goes "That bad huh", also his "so you do recognize me" was just so adorable. I just love that whole scene.

27. FREEBIE: "Shirt you would put the guy in"

One shirt I would put him in is a pink "Kiss the cook" tank top where the letters are shinny gold/silver color. He also seems like the type to order custom shirts to surprise his friends. Like these by Sam Riegel

Like I can totally see him making these shirts, the second one being the faces of other members of team M.

[gamequoteshowdown]

Thank you everyone for making this happen! Now, without further ado, the match-ups for Round 1!!!

Round 1

"I've been waiting for this!" - Akihiko Sanada, Persona 3 / "You're just a corpse who doesn't know he's dead" - Valter, Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones

"Are you going to be our goddess of victory… or our angel of death? Doesn't sound too bad to bet my life on that." - Keiji Shinogi, Your Turn To Die: Death Game by Majority / "Don't fuck with a witch!" - Bayonetta, Bayonetta

"Teammates!? Friends!? To hell with that! Why am I inferior to you!? I was extremely particular about my life, my grades, my public image! So someone would want me around! I am an ace detective! A celebrity! But you… You're just some criminal trash living in an attic!? So how!? How does someone like you have things I don't!? How can such a worthless piece of trash be more special than me!?" - Goro Akechi, Persona 5 / "I was just gunna ask you to sell a gun to this child." - Starlo, Undertale Yellow

"I want you to live." - Charlotte Wiltshire, Hello Charlotte Series / "Your hair… sunset colored. I like it." - Queequeg, Limbus Company

"The hope to end pointless conflict… The hope to tell your daughter how much you care… It is our mission as apothecaries to ensure that everyone lives long enough for their hopes to become reality. Even if it costs us our own lives." - Castti Florenz, Octopath Traveler II / "Game is clear when 2 zombies hold hands!!" - "How to Play" Narrator, Loving Deads: The House of the Dead EX

"Thanks to you, I am saddled with unnecessary… feelings" - Miles Edgeworth, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney / "I am so fucking normal right now" - Harry du Bois, Disco Elysium

“SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL IS GOING TO HAPPEN” - Harry du Bois (in the form as a potential mural painting), Disco Elysium / "You pull out your cellphone and access your old Tumblr. You have ten, but you specifically access the Garfield one." - Narrator, Monster Prom

"… Nice meeting you again, you FUCKING WHALE!" - Ishmael, Limbus Company / "My guess is no one's ever loved you before" - Woody, Kingdom Hearts 3

"Take care, [player]. I was lucky to have known you. Though the parting hurts... the rest is in your hands!" - Grovyle, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky / "Far out, man." - Netzach, Limbus Company

"I'll be back once I eliminate that devil called poverty from the world!" - Partitio Yellowil, Octopath Traveler II / "Elder gods from the whole cosmos have awoken to taste your cookies." - Narrator, Cookie Clicker

"Hello! This is the part where I kill you!" - Wheatley, Portal 2 / "Now we come to the question : Do I kill you? Do I tear you apart to my heart's delight? The choices of the beautiful are unbearable. How's a girl to choose?" - Alice Angel, Bendy and the Ink Machine

"I am Ferdinand von Aegir" - Ferdinand von Aegir, Fire Emblem: Three Houses / "Her metabolic processes are of interest only to historians." - Miles Edgeworth, Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

"It ain't a matter of guys or chicks... I'm just scared shitless of being rejected" - Kanji Tatsumi, Persona 4 / "...also Stanley is addicted to drugs and hookers" - Narrator, The Stanley Parable

“You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?” - Happy Mask Salesman, Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask / "I have no idea what to do with my life, but that's okay! Because I'm still working hard! Even if it's on nothing at all!" - Papyrus, Undertale

"Despite everything, its still you." - Narrator/Chara/Frisk???, Undertale / "In this world, it's kill or be killed." - Flowey, Undertale

“Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves. Heart. Lungs. Liver. Nerves…” - Voices of the Paranoid, Slay the Princess / "In the quiet glade, across old bark. In the ancient glade, it's always dark." - Gabbro, Outer Wilds

"You take away all their sins, and people aren't people anymore!" - Rokurou Rangetsu, Tales of Berseria / "Do you even get how it feels to have nightmares about doing tango with raw chickens? Eh?" - Heathcliff, Limbus Company

"Life is worth living, even if it hurts you, even if you hurt in it." - Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid / "I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle... and wonder if we'll ever get the chance to kill him." - 2B, Nier: Automata

“Oh? Is that how it is? Yeah, okay, I like you too. Neat! Still going to kill you, but now we can both enjoy a mutual romantic subtext to the murder.” - The Razor, Slay the Princess / "Now it’s Reyn Time!" - Reyn, Xenoblade Chronicles

"You lost the coin toss. We both did." - Catherine Chun, SOMA / "I like to drink blood. . . and smoke the weed!" - Dracula, Space Funeral

"Pick a god and pray!" - Frederick, Fire Emblem: Awakening / "Can you believe it? Dragons! In your own homeland! What are you going to do?" - Florentia Candidius, Elder Scrolls Online

""Did you get the Broom Closet Ending?! The Broom Closet Ending was my favourite!" ...I hope your friends find this concerning." - Narrator, The Stanley Parable / "It’s dangerous to go alone, take this!" - Old Man, Legend of Zelda

“Close your eyes for a sec, will you Chigasaki?” “You mean physically? Or to the criminal acts I’m pretty sure you’re about to commit?” “Both.” - Chikage Utsuki & Itaru Chigasaki, A3! Act! Addict! Actors! / "You are all about to perish, do as you please. I'm sorry." - Meta Knight, Kirby Super Star

"Boy" - Kratos, God of War / "Take care of yourself, kid, cause someone really cares about you." - Sans, Undertale

"Almost Christmas means it wasn't Christmas!" - Phoenix Wright, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney / "Dios mío!” (Draw a cross.) “A LIBERAL!" - Harry du Bois, Disco Elysium

"That's it. I'm not paying one cent of my taxes!" - Ema Skye, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney / ""Trust your partner"... And I do. I can't forgive you, but I trust you." - Neku Sakuraba, The World Ends With You/Subarashiki Kono Sekai

"Hey, you. You’re finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there." - Ralof, Skyrim / *clap ... clap ... clap ... * "Oh good, my slow clap processor made it into this thing, so at least we have that" - GLaDOS, Portal 2

"hallOO. chikkEN. OKs?" - BOb, Slime Rancher / "Pretty good plan. You could say it was the greatest—" - Charles Calvin, The Henry Stickmin Collection

"Blood comes in four types: A, B, O, and AB. However! No blood test can determine whether a murder was committed… in cold blood!" - Phoenix Wright, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney / "You ain't my partner anymore, man. You're my friend! So trus' that, yo!" - Beat (Daisukenojo "Beat" Bito), The World Ends With You/Subarashiki Kono Sekai

"I always come back." - William Afton, FNaF Pizzeria Simulator / "So -- as you can see, I'm a *pretty okay* detective -- and an absolutely GIANT COMMUNIST." - Harry du Bois, Disco Elysium

"Ears have a nice mouth feel, very chewy!" - Briar, League of Legends / "This is like taking candy from a baby, which is fine by me." - Shadow the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)

"It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming... On days like this, kids like you... Should be burning in hell." - Sans, Undertale / "In the dark times, should the stars also go out?" - Steban, the Student Communist, Disco Elysium

“We are a path in the woods. We have no beginning, and we have no end, but something cold and unnatural sits watching us from just beyond our edge.” - The Wild, Slay the Princess / "Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled Trainers should try to win with the Pokémon they love best." - Karen (Elite Four), Pokemon HeartGold / SoulSilver

[polyhexian]

I earnestly believe that the reason Uzi suddenly gained control of the solver in the final battle and could no longer be possessed is the same reason she's got Cyn in her tail at the end: the solver found her more interesting. The thing that changed between her final possession and her ultimately gaining control of herself is that she accepted herself. She accepted she was cringe and loved it, she accepted that she was weird and gross and that she was in love with N (and thinks girls are hot? Hmmm), she accepted her mom- she accepted herself. And in doing so became much more interesting. I don't think the solver is... Evil. As in I don't think it's inherently a malicious entity. It doesn't care either way. I think it offered itself to Cyn and let her use it, become it, and pursue her own goals: total destruction of all life.

But in the end, Cyn is now on copper-9, potentially the final bastion of sentient existence in the universe. If Cyn kills everyone here, there won't be anyone left.

...and wouldn't that be boring?

Uzi was a less dominant personality that, when up against Cyn's influence, flinched away. But with her no longer flinching... How interesting. Uzi is unpredictable. The solver... Likes the unpredictable.

A "solved" game is one where there is some path, some pattern of inputs, that will beat the game every single time. For example, a YouTuber "solved" Pokemon FireRed awhile back. If you start the series of inputs, it does not matter what starter stats you get, what rng happens, it will eventually reach the end in every possible scenario. It's a monkey on a typewriter thing that exists mostly in the theoretical. It means that every possible outcome has been accounted for and "solved."

But the solver has not solved uzi.

And that basically full stops everything. There's outcomes here the solver has not solved. Has not explored and accounted for. It's basically done with Cyn, the game has already been won. It knows the current outcome. Only... Hang on. Another outcome is possible. And it HAS to know. It needs to. It can't solve the universe unless it solves every outcome.

So the solver picks uzi. Or perhaps it simply removes the auto win state that Cyn has by letting Uzi make her own moves in the game without Cyn overriding her. See how it plays out. And ultimately Uzi wins and now: the solver is here to stay. And it does seem to have absorbed its previous hosts with Cyn and doll.

But ultimately what I think this means is that. The solver itself. Doesn't have "kill everyone" as the goal. And Cyn is in her brain and probably does have that goal but the solver??? Does not care either way. It just wants to see what's going to happen. It wants data to predict and manipulate outcomes. So like. The solver probably IS just a silly little guy in her tail now. Cyn, in the form she currently exists in, probably DOESNT have actual control over uzi unless her own will falters. But as long as she's confident and self assured, well. That thing can chatter away all day but it ain't taking over her.

Tie a bow around its mouth. That will probably work.

[doubleddenden]

Alright, time to review the gen 8 Gmax starters. Only 6 this go around because GF held themselves back and only made 1 Charizard this time. I'll be honest, Dynamax was a stupid mechanic I'm glad is gone. "lets make pokemon biggerer!" like they just did that in Alola with totems. God. Even the gmaxes are just inferior megas- which they replaced btw. Whatever, critique time- As a whole the designs are pretty badass.

Lets get it out of the way: Charizard is overshilled and over marketed blah blah blah, I've said it all before. It leaves a guilty feeling and a bad taste in my mouth, especially when even though it only got one this time, it STILL stole the spotlight from its gen mates and the gen 8 starters by being the Unbeatable Ace Pokemon To the Unbeatable Number One Champion In the Entire World Tm trainer.

That being said, god I am a sucker for this asshole. Look at him. He has no business- no RIGHT looking that cool. I don't understand the patterns going on on its knees and belly, but damn if it ain't cool, and it's even cooler in the animated materials promo'd in. I mean, it's still a fire and flying type, so rocks will absolutely destroy it, but at least it gets to aura farm for all of... 3 turns lol. 8/10, with a point deducted for the same reasons as the last few points docks for Zard.

Gigantamax Venusaur isn't really a Pokemon form I've looked at for more than a few minutes, but damn if it ain't a monster- that's a good thing. The plant has pretty much overtaken him, and the foliage underneath is ragged and unkempt. I love the eyes especially- its tired, yet destructive and scary. Badass af. 8/10.

THE! BOY! Holy SHIT they made him cooler! This is probably my favorite of the Gmax forms for all of the starters. Look at all of those cannons! Blastoise has gone from a tank to an entire *fortress* on legs! In a better game, you'd see each of those cannons taking fire at opponents and just unleashing DELUGES of water at them. The introduction of red to the color schemes is also just fantastic. See, if GF had been *smart* and made Leon use a Kanto starter that would be depending on your starter, I feel like that would have been much better and also would have given us a bigger appreciation for something like this. Well, at least in my swsh au, it is. 9/10 in design, but only 8 considering I couldn't access it sooner before DLC.

Something interesting the Galar starters do when Gmax'd is that they themselves only grow a little, whereas their key pieces that define them grow- in this case, Rillaboom gets a full on gigantic drum kit. I said in my other review that it'd be better to ditch the drums, but I think they are vital in the Gmax form to truly appreciate the badassery at work here. Although, I will say, having the galar gmaxes be missable if you don't buy DLC is pretty scummy. 7/10, would've been an 8 otherwise.

I'm still not a fan of Cinderace, and in fact I think the gigantic ears could've improved the base design a little bit. Still, the giant flaming bunny ball is cute I guess, but that only helps so much with a bad Pokemon design that doesn't even look like a Pokemon. 6/10.

Okay, normally I only do 1 image per review, but for Inteleon I needed the help just to see what's going on up top. Inteleon is still the worst starter ever imo, but gmax kind of ups it a few points to almost kind of being neat. The sniper tail would have been fantastic to have in base form, and the glazed over eyes is a nice touch. Still, it's mainly just the same Inteleon I dislike, but now it has a big ass tail it uses as a sniper nest- which I'm honestly surprised TPC allowed them to do or reference to this degree, all things considered. It's admittedly a badass concept, but still, going from a 1 to a 6 is really pushing it, so 5 will do. Keep in mind you only get this for 3 turns.

Yeah that's about it. next post will be about the Hisuian starter variants, which I personally think saved gen 8.