#James Mankey

[nedison]

Sparkstember Day 1: 'Let The Mankeys Drive'

Let's kick off the month by imagining what Sparks fandom would look like if the OTHER "Sparks Brothers" had been the ones to take full control of the band into the rest of the 70s and beyond??

[yourfavealbumisgender]

Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde is a Lesbian!

requested by anon

[rainingmusic]

Concrete Blonde - Mexican Moon

[iamdangerace]

[leatherpearlslace]

[alex08-yeah]

–I was pretty tired yesterday and I just made this drawing🥲

[dramaticpokemonpictures]

[punz4lyfe]

Pokemon Journeys Special 5 Review

Pokemon Journeys Special 5. Let’s review:

Not done yet, fools! Mwahahahahaaaa!

But anyways, about this episode, let’s just get the negatives outta the way first.

I’ve probably already said this before, but I’m really no fan of how the I Choose You Movie continuity Ash is mostly just relegated down to his Pikachu nowadays. Like with the past two movies of this alternate universe, Charizard is not even given a single namedrop (for all we know, Ash has probably released him on-screen) and he’s not allowed to catch or show a single new Pokemon on his team. C’mon, let him catch that Gyarados to allow more deviation between this universe and the main one!

...But really, that’s just a general problem I have with this AU’s Ash and not something specific towards the episode at all, so it won’t affect the score at all. And with that out of the way, let’s get to the positives.

Wow, this episode was gorgeous.

The animation and set pieces were just so beautiful to look at and you can definitely tell how lively things were with all the Pokemon in the forest and the trainers at the Pokemon Center. And after finishing up Journeys, it was great to see Ash and Pikachu enjoy their lives this episode (albeit, in a different universe).

But the main meat and potatoes of this episode were Haruto and his parents. Everything done with these characters was just so amazing. Starting with Haruto, the foreshadowing of him actually being a ghost/spirit was done greatly, with his hesitation from touching Ash and Pikachu, his nonchalant expression when running from the Beedrill, and subtly having Ash retrieve his hat for him to return to his parents. And his ending where Ash hugged him to have him pet Pikachu was just... well, it definitely put a tear in my eye. ;-; And for his parents, I loved how the episode handled their grief and process of moving on, like Haruto’s mom stunned expression upon seeing Ash (possibly because of how similar he is to her son) and Haruto’s father drawing out the sky before moving on to other things his son loved after talking with Ash about his passing.

Ash himself was characterized super well, as he see his fun side by having him just enjoy life being close to Pokemon and his mature side by having him understand Haruto’s parents’ situation and helping Haruto be able to have one more chance to touch a Pokemon before his spirit moves on. And his tears at the end as he ate his mom’s food was a really great because of the ambiguity. Is he crying for Haruto and his parents, being able to eat his mom’s cooking after so long, missing out on seeing his dad again, how similar Haruto was to him and the thought of not being able to interact with Pokemon again, still having his mom’s love by his side, or something else?

And SO glad Team Rocket got a happy ending themselves. See how great their lives are if they don’t live in a universe where they catch a Morpeko?

Anyways, this episode gets a 10/10. An absolute beauty~

[balletwatchespokemon]

Indigo League Episode 25

It’s time for Ash to get another Pokémon! I think this episode is so fun. Pokeani violence just hits different, and the gang runs a distance that would normally have taken them a full day in only half a day. They must have been so tired after this episode.

Jelly donuts! I love to rag on the dub for unnecessary censorship but this one was kinda funny ngl.

I’m not usually one for monkeys but Mankey is very cute! He’s the best of both worlds of pigs and monkeys.

You can capture non Pokemon things?? How have we not done more with this information??

I love Misty’s face here, it’s so deadpan.

Ash’s cringing face is great here! And Pikachu hiding behind Ash is just darling.

Not Brock thinking he’s catching a Pokémon and then remembering what he’s actually doing.

Mankey is so cute in Ash’s hat!

I love how much of a gremlin Ash is. <3

Like trainer like pokemon. (I love it when Ash’s Pokémon do the same thing as him at the same time.)

The energy this has is hilarious to me for some reason.

Oh he’s proper angy now! (He evolves right after this shot, he runs on spite.)

They love to use the "getting 'chu" joke, they've used it multiple times now.

She’s so iconic.

Awwww, Pikachu is so cute!

Now Brock is the one blasting off instead of Team Rocket.

Another great cringing face from Ash.

Hardcore parkor!!

I paused at the perfect time.

Normally I would say biting the gloves is useless but those are literally his hands.

I love how Pikachu notices that Ash's hat is in danger of getting burned and he runs in to rescue it!

And ain't he super cute while doing it!

Ash's face is great here, he looks like a goomba.

James and Meowth's faces are pretty great too.

Oh that’s interesting! I love to see explanations for the Japanese names.

And so begins a running trend of Ash’s Pokémon showing affection through violence.

Itty Bitty Pikachu is so cute!

And here they are, they made it to the next city in only one episode! Thanks Primeape!

Next episode we’re challenging another gym, only one episode after our previous gym.

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

Random pokemon episodes i got to watch as a kid bc my neighbor had them on VHS and i still vaguely remember them

1.) kid gets lost is adopted by those dino kangaroo pokemon and then his family finds him and ends up in the kangaroo pouch too. found family!!!

2.) this rock is HAUNTED! and STRAIGHT!!! team ash brock misty and the rockets (buy our talismans!) go to a festival (buy our talismans!) near a rock overlooking the sea (buy our talismans!) that has a shrine dedicated to the girl who supposedly (buy our talismans!) turned into the rock while waiting for her lover to (buy our talismans!) return and now she's a GHOST (buy our talismans!) and brock and james get seduced by her (buy our talismans!) but not ash bc he's like 10 and not misty or jessie bc (buy our talismans!) the gastly pretending to be the maiden is sticking to her character traits (buy our talismans) of being straight while using her story (buy our talismans!) to get tourists to buy it's anti-ghost talismans, which the real ghost doesn't mind at all bc they are besties (buy our

3.) ponyta is so cool and rapidash is EVEN COOLER ash tries not to get burned to a crisp alive while riding them during a race

4.) jessie and james pretend our heroes just won a lottery by being the number whatever people to enter a city, james is in drag for this of course, they capture our heroes, get ignored by them via security cameras, and pikachu hurts them. there was probably more to the episode than that but i can't remember what

5.) this is mankey. he likes "jelly donuts" and ash's hat, which ash sent in like a million postcards to win. this is primeape. primeape is gonna kick your ass forever

6.) uhhhh abracadabra this girl is turning people in to dolls, also she's not real, also we need a ghost pokemon for this, also suddenly i feel like im in an indiana jones movie. also. "it's a STAR~" "ARGH!!"

7.) let's go get some ghost pokemon! Ash and Pikachu are dead now. let's cry over their bodies a bit. no wait. they're back

8.) butterfree goes free and im crying, im crying into the sunset as my tears glint in the last light of the sun and our friendship i just found out about bc im not watching this show in order. the music in this scene is very of it's time and also it's killing me, it's ripping my heart out. is the pink butterfee a shiny or just Girl? there are too many air balloons here. brock ships the pokemon

9.) we're back at the girl who makes people into dolls and it turns out she just needed to lighten up and laugh at bit. I think there's a fairytale about that. anyway, congrats on freeing this place from cosmic horrors or whatever, ash has a new badge which is all we care about. on to the next gym!

10.) get in the pokeball psyduck. stop having headaches psyduck. psyduck sucks. psyduck uses ELDRICH BLAST. misty loves her psyduck and wouldn't trade it for the world (now it can do murder) also i think there was some really weird architecture in this one

11.) can we all be nice to ditto....? can we all PLEASSE be nice to ditto and their eternal ._. face they are TRYING THEIR BEST!!!!!

[nedison]

Late night Halfnelson. Helluva reissue by Friday Music... lookit that coral colored wax. 🤩

What a wild production by Rundgren-- lots of fun details to uncover on the ol' headphones.

[alolanrain]

I’m just going to start piling my Ta!au quotes into one post instead of spamming everyone's timeline with it. 

----------

(after a missions, Ash had a nightmare and can’t sleep and neither could Rowan)

Ash: That’s a terrible story.

Rowan: not all of us fight Gods and win, my boy. so take what I have. 

Ash:.... tell me how you survived the Dragalge again? 

----------

(later in the Alola timeline-think before Kukui announces the first league)

Ash: You're an asshole, you know that?

Lillie: Mankey see, Mankey do.

Ash: *flashbacks to all the times he’s used the exact phrase* *deep sigh* fair enough. 

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

(on a simple date after a long stake out mission)

Ash:*tired AF* Are you going to keep looking at me like that or are you actually going to kiss me?

Raihan: Can’t I enjoy looking at my meal before digging into it? 

Ash... *tired, flustered and now angry because he’s flustered*

Raihan: *too pleased, the smug bastard* that’s what I thought. 

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

(after noticing Meowth working at the new malasada truck outside of school, completely ignoring James and Jessie who ignore him in return)  

Ash: hey-not here to pick a fight, put your claw’s away-do you know Lillie’s brother?

Meowth: *suspicious but interested* the emo kid? 

Ash: yeah.

Meowth:... why? 

Ash: would it be insulting to you if I call him a ragged wet Meowth? 

Meowth: *instantly relaxing* if you don’t call him that I will. 

Ash: *grabbing the malasada's James hands him without making him pay* let’s tag team him then. 

Meowth: sounds perfect to me, now get going. you’re holding up the line Twerp. 

-----------

(meeting and conversing with Goh and Chloe for the first time)

Goh: my mission is to catch Mew and then go on my first Pokémon journey!

Ash: *bites tongue and thank the legendries he’s where sunglasses to hide his uncontrollable flash of anger* 

Chloe: Don’t listen to him-

Goh: Hey!

Chloe: -he’s the dumb one

Ash: *silently already picking favorites* I see. 

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

(after a prank war) 

Gary: does my life truly mean so little to you? 

Ash: *w/ neon green hair and permanent marker on his face* YES!

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

(on a random Tuesday in Alola) 

Ash:*swinging in a hammock with sunglasses and his hat* Are you here to kill me? *slurps annoyingly loud at his drink*

Mewtwo:... no but I’m thinking about it now.

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

(after loosing the kids in the forest for a while)

Ash: where have you been!?

Lana: *sopping wet*

Mallow: *beginning of a rash on her lips* 

Kiawe:*looks like he got into a fight with something and lost*

Sophocles: *also looks like he got into a fight with something and lost*

Lillie: *covered in flowers with a few Cutiefly buzzing around her* 

Lana: I think you already know. 

-----------

(Champion meeting in Kalos-Lance is sick and Ash is his second by Orange Isles proxy)

Diantha:  You're late. As usual.

Ash: *not high as a kite but not sober either* be happy that I’m even here in the first place. 

Rose: it’s really innapro-

Ash&Diantha: not a word out of you. 

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

(Kiawe and Lillie hanging out with Ash even though he’s cleaning all his knives)

Ash:�� Put that down! You're like a child.

Kiawe: *pouting and placing down a sheathed knife* I’m a teenager, not a child. 

Ash: uh-huh. 

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

(Ash begrudgingly letting Lana indulge the rain before class one day)

Ash:  Well, don't stand there in the rain all day. Come on.

Lana: but I like the rain.

Ash: okay-let me rephrase then so you understand. Don’t make me give you detention-

Lana: *darts on past* 

Ash: *smirking and start to trail behind* that’s what I thought. 

-----------

(after being trailed by some mercenaries from a Gala) 

Rowan: we’re safe now, aren’t we boy? 

Ash: *checks around corner of the alleyway they ducked into to loose their trackers* Yeah... yeah I think so old-

Goons: *appearing on the other side of the alleyway* there they are!

Ash&Rowan: *in unison* fuckshitfuckingtitballs-

----------

(in Hisui) 

Ash:  I swear it wasn't me.

Cyllene: *annoyed but in a motherly way* now why don’t I believe that? 

Ash:.... because I’m your favorite survey member? *Growlith eyes and slight cheeky smile*

Cyllene: get out of my sight.

Ash: *squeaks* yes, Captain!

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

(after an intense debrief after a mission going tits-up as Ash was unknowingly stalked by another mercenary)  

Gary: Who did you piss off this time?

Ash: *slumping down in a chair next to Gary and the large as computer screens* it’s more like who I haven’t pissed off. 

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

(after first trimester of finals)

Kukui: *walks into the classroom, see’s Ash blank face and staring at the other doorway where Kukui originally left though* 

Ash:

Kukui:

Ash: 

Kukui: you gonna keep staring or what? 

Ash: *broken out of the strongest dissociation spell in a long time**jumping out of his seat and making a fool of himself while falling down onto the floor* cheese and crackers on balls, you motherfucker- 

[maidenofsophia]

Faith Update

I'm going through something of a religious identity crisis at the moment and trying to decide exactly what I am. I still adore Filianism and align myself with most of the beliefs and teachings and concepts on Déa. But I don't know if I feel truly comfortable calling myself a Filianist anymore.

I'm not even completely sure I'm a Déanist.

Most of this has been due to my growing connection with the Horned God who has been coming to me a lot lately. I've been going through a lot of difficult times lately and while Sophia has been there for me and protected me, it's the Horned One - sometimes as Pan, sometimes as Cernonnus - who has come to give me comfort. It's strange because I was never drawn to him all that much in my Wiccan days but have found myself connecting with him more over the years.

There's always been this debate on whether someone can be a Dèanist or a Filianist if they believe in male gods alongside Dèa / The Goddess. I had this same dilemma back when I was a Gnostic and was determined to keep Jesus in my faith.

Reason I still consider myself Déanic is that my inclusion of the Horned God is not a Wiccan "God and Goddess" dualithic system. For me, Sophia is Déa. She is the Supreme, the Goddess. She is Mother, as Zoe She is Daughter and as Barbelo She is Déa Absolute. She has no equal or consort. The Horned God is not some Great Father, but he is a divine father figure to me. He's also a brother, a guide and just an all round positive masculine energy. Most of all, he's a friend. While I love and respect him, I wouldn't prostrate myself before him as I would my Lady and I don't feel he'd want me to (not that Sophia demands it either). I see the Horned God as one of many entities or aeons who were born of the Pleroma, the womb of Barbelo.

While I give the Horned One he/him pronouns most of the time. I'm currently reading James Mankey's book "The Horned God of the Witches" to try to get a better understanding of these different forms he or they can take and I'm looking forward to reading the chapter on Elen of the Ways. Does this mean any god or goddess with horns is part of the Horned God? I dunno. I guess it depends on their attributes, Cernonnus and Pan and Herne, as well as Lucifer in his horned depictions, all bring this similar energy. This feeling of freedom and harmony and mystery and playfulness but also guidance born from being in tune with life and nature. Despite wearing horns like "crowns", they're not judgemental or controlling or wrathful like angry kings. They don't rule beside or above Déa, but in Her name. More like a steward than a ruler.

I also never connected much to the Horned God before being an demisexual lesbian. There was always so much of a focus on the Horned One as a lustful deity that it put me off. But letting him come to me in meditations has weirdly helped me feel comfortable understanding my sexuality in a way that never felt right discussing with Sophia. Sophia connects more with that side of me, which does not feel almost any sexual desires, whereas The Horned One does in those rare moments where I do experience something or even just a romantic fixation. It's like the Horned One helps me manage my more base and material desires while Sophia is more about my spiritual and esoteric growth.

Dunno if any of this is making sense but as I'm no longer a Gnostic, I don't believe we need to forsake the material world entirely to become one with Spirit. There is a harmony to be found and I think with Sophia as my (supreme) Goddess and the Horned One as my (lesser) Lord, I've found that balance, and I've been looking a lot more into various open Pagan practices to help reconnect with the world outside rather than just praying at my altar with my rosary. Which also feels more like Paganism to me than Filianism.

[ewar1991]

OK, here goes, so recently, a friend of mine inspired me with a blog they posted about music in video games, and it inspired me to pick up my recorded journey through the pokémon games for the 25th aniversary because of how much they've meant to me since I was a child. I started my journey in yellow version, the third game in the original gen 1 release woth a pikachu as my starter. I picked yellow as I can't recall managing to complete the game. With each game I went with a theme to nickname my team. This version I went with my hero academia.

I called my pikachu Denki after the electric super hero and my partners favourite character. It was fun seeing the expressions feature as it gave the game a personality. Not long after we started the game I caught my first pokémon.

I caught a Mankey and named it Ojiro, a hero with monkey like reflexes as well as marshal arts, perfect for the fighting Monkey pokémon. Not long after, we beat my rival. His Eevee was np match for a fighting type, and neither was our first gym leader.

Next up is one of the most special features from gen one! The inclusion of Jessie and James as antagonists. I went through a phase of wanting ashes team when the franchise first came to the west and yellow was always the best game for that.

As I proceeded through Mt.Moon I made the decision to get the gift starter pokémon, another feature from this game I never managed to achieve because I was unaware of the affection mechanic with pikachu and could never get Bulbasaur. I started with a charmander and named it Ryukyu after the dragon hero. Seemed appropriate given its final evolution.

Not long after that, I beat my rival for a third time. With Ojiro making short work of his rattata, sandshrew and Eevee while Denki took care of his Spearow. The Rival team is very different in this game compared to red and blue making you need to think a bit more about the team you go with. With that we made our way to Bill and then got hold of the second badge from Misty. Again Denki made quick work of a water team with his type advantage.

I moved on to Vermillion town to get my third badge and made and got Kaoruko the Squirtle, but not before tragedy struck. Bill gave me a ticket to board the S.S.Ann where I once again met my rival! The fools over confidence claimed the life of his Rattata. I would not know this information until I reached Lavender town's pikemon Tower.

I've run out of room for more photos oooops. I don't know if anyone has reached this far, but I'd be happy to continue the story in a follow-up. If you have, I hope you enjoyed the story so far! This was just my silly way of celebrating 25 years of pokémon.

[leatherpearlslace]