#Love Emmet's original design so much

[waywardstation]

At the previous convo, if I had to guess ingo’s popularity compared to em could be the higher contrast in his design, he just catches the eye first

The black on white is a bit more eyecatching than the white on white, you're right!

(This is why I love the designs that give Emmet a black dress shirt and gloves so much!! Love that contrast!!)

[karuuhnia]

I've been a Pokémon fan since the very beginning and recently a friend asked me who my favourite character was. I couldn't answer with just one character. So instead I gave her my top 3 favourites from each generation - and then turned it into this. lol

A little bit more info under the cut if you're interested.

_______

Please do not alter, repost/reupload or redistribute my artwork anywhere! (Reblogging is perfectly fine, of course.)

Gen 1:

Blue: The original rival, you loved to hate him. :D

Erika: I loved her design as a kid, even though I had no idea what a kimono was back then lol

Bill: No idea tbh lol. I like his hair and that he's a nerd, I guess? Honestly, Gen 1 did not have that many memorable and fleshed out characters, so I kinda struggled here.

Gen 2:

Lance: Honestly, he was my fave in Gen 1 already. I love his strength, his design, his virtuousness, his bravery, his code of honour, his everything. To me he's like a knight in shiny armour from old fairytales. lol I could spend a whole day describing all the things I love about him, but I don't wanna bore you.

Eusine: Probably a weird pick for many because he is kinda obnoxious in the game lol I've always had a soft spot for him though and I really wanted him to get Suicune in the end, after he'd changed.

Morty: I love his design and colours and that he's Eusine's bff and voice of reason.

Gen 3:

Steven: He is classy, wears a really awesome suit, has very cool Pokémon and is still a huge nerd. I love it!

Archie: (I see you, @chipsncookies) Big hunk with a big smile and a cool outfit. Beard. Not a bad guy, actually. Learns that he was wrong and does everything to make things right again. Frienemies with Maxie.

Maxie: Scrawny beanpole with a silly (but very cozy looking) outfit. Secretly a dork. Not a bad guy either. Learns from his mistakes and wants to make them right again. Frienemies with Archie.

Gen 4:

Riley: I was a huge fan of Sir Aaron in the movie and Riley is just as awesome. I love his hat too. His personality is also similar to Lance's, so that's a huge plus.

Cynthia: I really, really like her. She is so cool and strong and her theme is amazing. Just like Charizard she's become too popular and that gets a bit tiresome sometimes.

Looker: Okay, I admit, it took me a while to get used to Looker. But now I like his quirky, funny Inspector Gadget shenanigans. What changed my mind was the aftergame of XY. ;__;

Gen 5:

Ingo & Emmet: I couldn't do it. I couldn't choose who of them I like more. So they share the first place.They're a duo anyway. And absolutely inseparable. R-Right?

Elesa: I like her mainly because of the fanon that she's bffs with the subway twins. But she's also not the bitchy supermodel that I first thought she was. She's actually kind and supportive.

Alder: Funny grandpa with awful hair, but a big heart and a great theme song.

Gen 6:

Lysandre: His design always gave me Ganondorf-vibes. That's pretty much it. His goal is stupid.

Emma: Her storyline in the post-game was by far the best thing in XY. And her theme is so beautiful!

Sycamore: I still wish he had actually turned out to be evil. I still like him.

Gen 7:

Kukui: What is not to love about him? He's a hunk, he loves his wife, he takes in Lillie, he punches Pokémon with his bare hands.

Lillie: Sweet little girl who deserves all the love from her friends and her adoptive parents instead of all the shit her psycho bio mother put her through.

Burnet: She's sweet and smart and kind and I wish she had a much bigger role in the game. Her anime part was great though <3

Gen 8:

Piers, Sonia and Raihan: Honestly... These are pretty much the only characters that I remember lol Gen 8 was very underwhelming for me.

Gen 9:

Arven: Just a poor neglected boy who wants to save his sick dog. In contrast to his shitty parents he's got a big heart, is caring, nurturing and supportive.

Clavell: The twist about this character was that there was no twist. He is just a very kind grandpa who genuinely cares for the well-being of his students. I also LOVE his battle theme.

Hassel: This game really is full of wholesome boomers. Hassel's got a huge heart for art and his students and Pokémon. He's also not afraid of showing his emotions.

[superpeeboy]

Top five reasons Good Cop Bad Cop are the best characters?

Oh man! You knew what would happen when you asked that. Here goes!

(lots of text below)

1. Concept

GCBC’s concept has always stood out to me. Even before I was obsessed, I looked at his design, and I thought it was cool! The combination of the Good Cop Bad Cop trope and a dual-sided minifig head is really smart! Those ideas combine so well, and without that idea as a basis, GCBC wouldn’t be GCBC.

There’s also subversion of how split-personality characters tend to act! Obviously, Good Cop is the good one and Bad Cop is the bad one, but its more complicated than that. Good Cop is still willing to melt Emmet, and he still works for Business and participates in the policework, he is still a villain despite being nice! And Bad Cop, while it isn’t quite as noticeable earlier in the movie, 100% redeems himself in the end! (And I think he still has moments where he isn’t just full-on evil earlier on, I’ll get back to that later.)

A peculiar fact I know is that they started GCBC’s design with the Good Cop Bad Cop trope, NOT the dual-sided minifig head. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like the natural progression would be starting with the LEGO feature and turning that into a character. But they didn’t do that. Originally, he was just going to flip glasses up and down from his hat.

The highlight of GCBC’s design is obviously their head. I love their outfit (maybe not so much when I’m rendering something), but there’s not that much to do about a police outfit. I only wish it was actually purple. BUT I’m getting distracted. I was trying to mention how GCBC’s faces contrast so much! Good Cop’s large glasses highlight his eyes, and his eyes show how nice he is, they’re round and soft and cute! To contrast Bad Cop’s sunglasses block out his eyes, and all you get to see is his big ol’ mouth. He usually has his teeth shown, with each tooth lined out. You don’t see outlined teeth on Good Cop. Outlined teeth are something I always got told not to do in art, because it makes characters scary. But of course, Bad Cop is supposed to be scary! So he has that trait! And I love to see it!

I’ve always been interested in character design. It’s not something I myself can do very well, but I love to see interesting characters. And GCBC’s design and concept are exactly that! Interesting! (And this whole thing is about GCBC, but I think a lot of the other characters also have really good designs.) What I especially love is how all TLM designs are interesting despite the limitations of being a LEGO. In fact, I think they’d be worse if they weren’t LEGO! The artists had to put a lot of effort into making these designs look good, even as minifigs. I think that’s awesome.

2. Story

Ough! It already hurts and I haven’t even typed yet! But of course, GCBC’s story is important. GCBC is given the most tragic story in TLM. They are forced to keep working for a corrupt boss, and they are the only ones (outside of robots) who are aware of the corruptness. But that is exactly why they have to just go with it, they know Business has the power to kill them and everyone they care about if they went against him.

And even then, even when they’re working for him the best they can, knowing far more than anyone else and having to act normal about it, well you know what happens. GCBC loses everyone. They obviously do not have many people that support them to begin with, but Bad Cop loses his parents and Good Cop! And that leaves him with one person, Business.

It’s implied Business has been so terrible to GCBC for a while. Good Cop is so scared of Business that he avoids the guy as much as possible, to the point Business needed to specifically ask for Good Cop, and even then he would keep switching out. And GCBC’s helmet is mostly for protection from Lord Business, not master builders. But what can GCBC do about their situation? Nothing! Business is the damn president, they can’t do anything about it. And they can’t join the master builders, they’re murderers, they can’t just join the good guys! GCBC is a victim of such unfortunate circumstance.

Isn’t that crazy!? They just add the most horrific abuse on GCBC to this movie!? It’s a movie about LEGO! And you can even see how this affected Bad Cop, if you look closely, and have worms eating your brain! But again, I want to get to that later!

3. Personalities

IT’S LATER! Obviously GCBC is two guys in one. I love that. I love it so much that it feels wrong when people seperate them! I’m getting more and more into my own interpretation and outside of what is actually shown/implied in the movie, but I think GCBC just wouldn’t work seperated. I feel like Good Cop and Bad Cop exaggerate each other’s personalities. Good Cop is really nice, which leaves Bad Cop to have to be the mean one. No matter how nice Bad Cop might try to be, he isn’t going to be able to match Good Cop. And their names are no help anyhow.

If they were to be seperate people, Bad Cop wouldn’t be as aggressive. He wouldn’t HAVE to be! And if he was, then he would just be a complete jerk. But when they’re connected, they both balance eachother out and contrast more. Good Cop allows Bad Cop to be mean and Bad Cop allows Good Cop to be nice.

Good Cop is the nice one. But he isn’t THAT nice. I think I said this earlier, Good Cop was totally okay with killing Emmet and he still works for Business. But he is less violent. He is the Good Cop, so he must be the sympathetic one, or else he wouldn’t BE that! He certainly is evil, but he also certainly is kind.

Bad Cop is the antithesis. He is the bad one, duh. But he also is not entirely terrible. He can be a little nice, as a treat. Especially after the loss of Good Cop. Now that there isn’t a Good Cop to be the good one, that leaves Bad Cop. And if you’ll notice, he does start acting a little nicer. He offers an easy way to Emmet, Wyldstyle, and Vitruvius in that Old West scene, he says thank you to what he THINKS is a robot, and obviously he brings back Good Cop at the end, he’s not entirely evil. But he definitely is a little bit.

During the movie, Bad Cop has a running gag where he beats up chairs. Aha, I’m really going into headcanon territory right now, but I see that as him taking his anger out on chairs instead of PEOPLE! Wouldn’t that be sweet? He tries not to hurt people! Amazing! He also melts people but I forgive him for that!

I love GCBC’s personalities. I love them on their own, but especially how they work together, as ‘one’ character. I love how despite being a Good Cop and a Bad Cop, they’re both more complicated than that. Man these guys are great!

4. Family

GCBC is the one LEGO character given a family. Obviously the story is about the Man and Boy upstairs, and they’re family, but no other LEGO gets that. Emmet and Business aren’t exactly related, even if they’re the LEGOsonas of Will and Finn. In a draft of TLM, Emmet did have a mom, Doris, but she was removed. GCBC gets parents though. And also, eachother, as brothers!

GCBC is a villain. But they have a family that they really do care for. Good Cop can’t bring himself to kill his family, when he’s entirely willing to kill Emmet. And Bad Cop is ‘willing’. But it’s more like he knows that if he doesn’t do it, Business is going to do it instead, and he’ll be punished. And he’s clearly apprehensive anyhow!

I already mentioned how Bad Cop reacts to losing his family, the only people who care for him, but there’s more! Bad Cop sings the song ‘Danny Boy’ after losing Good Cop. An old irish song about losing someone (usually by death) and wishing to be reunited someday. Cool man! I’m not crying! My eyes are sweating!

The fact that GCBC is given a family is very special! And the family really helps with their character. And everyone comes back in the end, but does that change how terrifying it would be to lose all your family, family who Bad Cop was especially close to?

5. Love

And now I talk about what might be the best part of GCBC. The love! Theres so much to GCBC, clearly the creators loved him. I love being able to see that. Despite being the villain, and not even the main villain at that, GCBC is included on lots of merch. GCBC is also included in lots of extras. And he’s included a LOT. GCBC is given so much by the creators!

Liam Neeson didn’t have to voice GCBC in single takes, but he did. Because he thought it fit the character. Because he cared about the character! He improvised that darndarndarnydarn thing because he cared about the character! He added all sorts of weird noises because he thought it fit GCBC! He didn’t HAVE to do that! He wasn’t getting anything from doing that! But he did it because he felt like it made the character better.

Isn’t that just darling? GCBC is not just a fan-favorite, I think he was a favorite of the people who worked on the movie as well! And I think those guys know a lot about TLM, ha ha! So, that’s 5 reasons why GCBC is the best character, in my opinion.

[casualsnickers]

Month of Emmet Quick Write #10

Prompt #10: New Pokémon

Subway Master Emmet tends to work with his beloved team to battle challengers on the Battle Subway. Depot Agent Cameron has noticed that challengers have started devising ways of combating Emmet's repetitive team. But not to worry! Cameron has a suggestion: switch up the team. The only issue? His choice of viable pokémon are... questionable at best.

Read the whole thing below the cut.

“Boss Emmet. Can you pleeease stop signing papers for just one minute and listen to me?”

“If it’s about the announcement regarding the recent update to the banned legendary pokémon list outside the station, I do not want to hear it, Cameron.” Emmet did his best to ignore the depot agent as Cameron stepped forward and stood ominously over Emmet’s desk. He had been pestering Emmet the entire day, taking advantage of Ingo’s absence due to a physical therapy appointment to pester and bother the more persuasion-susceptible twin. So far, he hadn’t been winning.

“It’s not about the announcement. It’s about you.”

“A complaint?”

“No.”

            Emmet’s eyes narrowed. “The press?”

“No again.” With an exaggerated sigh, Cameron cleared Emmet’s paperwork to the left with one arm and instead plopped down his work-sanctioned tablet in the middle of the desk, the global trade system’s main page illuminated on the screen. “Discussion time! Boss. You need to switch up your team in the Battle Subway,” Cameron emphasized. “People are starting to notice patterns. They’re designing ways to throttle your team.”

“My team and I are a well-oiled engine,” Emmet casually retorted, making no move to retrieve his papers. He instead reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a spare battery, tossing it into a nearby Joltik web where a cluster of the electric type pokémon descended upon it in a mad fury. “No amount of repetition or type matchup strategies can derail us so easily. My team and I have been conducting our challengers and stopping them in their tracks for years.”

“You could use some new faces, though. Throw your challengers for a loop.” Cameron pulled up a chair and then shot Emmet a devious look, leaning back in his seat to a perilous degree. “I’ve got a few pokémon in mind that could really be an asset to the subway.”

Emmet frowned. He had known the slightly younger man for years at that point and while all of his depot agents knew Emmet’s boundaries- his sometimes-unreasonable boundaries- Cameron was the only one who pushed at them the slightest bit. In a sense, the other depot agents respected both Ingo and Emmet, but Emmet knew that a few of his employees found him to be creepy due to his way of monotonous, often lifeless way of speaking and his unrestrainable love of pokémon battles that tended to manifest in a way that almost resembled obsession. It wasn’t something he could help.

Cameron had feared both brothers when he had originally signed on to become a depot agent. But after gaining confidence in working on the lines and through working alongside each Subway Boss separately, Cameron had gotten quite used to treating his bosses as his friends. And in particular, Cameron loved to mess around with Emmet, much to the latter’s chagrin.

“Cameron.”

“C’mon, boss! I spent a lot of time thinking about this! At least look at the list I made!”

            Emmet snorted, pushing the tablet back to his employee. He had attempted to wait out Cameron’s episodes of brief hyper fixations in the past to no avail. Today would be such a day. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Emmet sighed, crossing one leg over the other as he too leaned back in his chair. “Fine. Please introduce me to your potential candidates.

            Cameron beamed. “Yes! Okay. Let me just pull up the list.” He swiped at the screen, his eyes shooting up to Emmet’s own bored stare. “I spent so much time thinking about the possible combinations and which pokémon you would probably put on your team. Did some studying. Looked at a handful of vs recorder footage of trainers getting destroyed on both the double and super double lines. Figured out what stumped them the most.” Cameron finally settled, clearing his throat. “Okay. First up: Focus Sash Smeargle with a priority on setting up entry hazards.”

“Clever. Verrry clever.” Emmet grinned, recognizing the strategy almost immediately. Smeargle was a popular pokémon in the competitive battling scene. He wouldn’t raise any eyebrows bringing a Smeargle to the Battle Subway. “Setting up is my specialty. And Smeargle is a normal type. Access to almost every move type via its typing.” Emmet considered it for a moment. “Which ability?”

“Own Tempo. No risk of confusion. Oh! And here’s another suggestion: how about Tinkaton? From the Paldea region? Fairy and steel type.” Cameron then grinned, his eyes crinklling to mere slits. His voice began to tremble with laughter. “I hear they’re really hard-hitting.”

“…Get out of my office.”

“No, no, no! Hear me out, boss! Tinkaton. Fairy and steel type. Mostly a physical attacker. Equip that baby with a Rocky Helmet and you’ve got a little bruiser on your team.” In an offhand comment, Cameron murmured, “Kinda fits the way you scare the pants off most of your challengers, boss. Tinkaton’s very infamous in the Paldea region due to how… devious they are.”

            Emmet squinted. “Intimidation is a valid tactic, Cameron.” He then smiled, still finding it amusing how the public had framed him to be the menacing twin all the time. He quite enjoyed it. “Hmm. Tinkaton use their hammers to knock Corviknights out of the sky with rocks according to the Paldea dex.” Emmet tapped one finger thoughtfully against his chin. “I will consider that combination. Give me the next one.”

“Zoroark.”

“Zoroark?”

“Zoroark. Absolutely Zoroark.” Cameron’s eyes gleamed as he began to ramble. “Illusion ability obviously. Put that sucker right in the startup position, okay? Now give it some choice specs or a life orb. Okay. Listen to me. Listen. To. Me. Nasty Plot boosted Night Daze with U-Turn for a clean switch out.”

“That sounds gimmicky,” Emmet noted. “I do not like gimmicks.” Emmet then scowled. “Gimmicks allow for cheap tricks, and I will not encourage the use of gimmicks in the Battle Subway. They are not strategies! They are imitations of strategies, and they do not make battling fun!”

“Mind games, boss! Mind games! That’s the whole point! You get to mess with the challengers! In a professional setting! Sending out a Zoroark could make a fun first impression after removing Smeargle from the forefront after it sets up hazards for the opponent.”

“It’s viable,” Emmet begrudgingly conceded. The Zoroark lineage almost always had illusion as their main ability. Emmet had seen it in use numerous times from trainers looking to get the drop on him. He had also been tricked once into buying two disguised Zoruas sandwiches from the Icirrus Station’s vending machines.”I will think about it.” Emmet looked kindly upon Cameron, smiling. “They are good suggestions. Your strategizing is getting better. Yup! Good job.”

“Thanks!” Cameron’s tablet began to shake, and he hurriedly picked it up. “I’ll find some other cool pokémon for you, boss. But for real. Switch up your team. It’ll bring some fresh air to the subway and to the challengers and besides- Ingo already switched up his team!”

            Emmet’s eyes twitched. “Ingo assembled a brand-new team in Hisui. He did not specifically construct his team to battle in the subway, nor are his Hisui pokémon used to casual battling. They are exceptions.” 

            His brother had indeed brought back strange new pokémon with him after disappearing to Hisui for an entire year. Ingo’s Hisui team consisted of common pokémon; ones that already existed in the modern day that had only needed a few trips to the pokémon center and a few vaccinations to clear for public appearances. His other pokémon however…

Emmet stiffened when a heavy weight crawled up his leg and settled into his lap, a familiar golden-yellow paw scrabbling to reach for his pen. Gently, Emmet tucked his pen away. “Shoo, Mustard. No ink for you.”

Mustard was a Sneasel, and not just the regular dark and ice variety, no. Mustard was a shiny Sneasel that had been hatched from the last pokémon Ingo had brought with him to Unova: a long extinct regional evolution of Sneasel called ‘Sneaslers’. It just so happened that Ingo’s Sneasler was both exceptionally large and exceptionally strong. Ingo had referred to the massive cat-weasel pokémon as a ‘noble’ but Emmet hadn’t quite understood the connotations behind the moniker.

“Hey! Why not recruit Mustard?” Cameron suggested.

“I am Emmet, and I would like to not end up on the news tomorrow. Ingo’s Sneasler would kill me.”

Cameron nodded almost immediately, schooling his face into a neutral expression. “She would eviscerate you.”

“Skin me.”

“Probably hang you from a cliff to dry.”

            Emmet squinted, crossing his arms. “Cold.”

“What? She would! The claws on her? She’s not even allowed to battle in the subway yet and she’s big enough to scrape her head against the cab ceiling. She could probably eat us if she wanted to. There’s no way she’d hesitate.”

“She wouldn’t hesitate for even a second. You are right.”

“Snea!” Mustard, having been listening in on the conversation, immediately climbed onto the table and grabbed onto Emmet’s hand, a pokéball clutched in its paws.

“Oh, come on, Boss Emmet! Look! Mustard’s totally down to battle, aren’t you, little guy?” Cameron reached out and playfully ruffled the shiny fur along Mustard’s head, the weasel pokémon letting out a tiny purr as it leaned into the man’s touch. “Mustard follows you around all the time even when Boss Ingo is here. It’s obvious he likes you! Let him join the team! I’m sure he’ll thrive.”

            Mustard squeaked in confirmation, playfully rolling the pokéball around on the table as if considering the notion of one day being a battling pokémon. It smiled, its fangs poking out from its mouth as it jumped back into Emmet’s lap and curled up, continuing to purr loudly.

Emmet reached down and let his fingers settle into Mustard’s soft fur. “I will… consider it.”

            Once again, Cameron’s tablet vibrated. The young man reached over to check his tablet and almost immediately, his jaw dropped. Eyes wide, Cameron squinted at the screen, practically shaking with excitement. “Oh, sweet dragons. This is gonna be so fucking rad.”

“Language,” Emmet chided.

“Boss. Boss, gimme your trainer card. I need to send you two pokémon I just got in a mystery trade. Please. Hand me your numbers. Give them to me.”

“At least take him on a date first,” Cloud snarked, having walked into the room. He took a seat in a chair near Ingo’s desk, crossing his legs. “You gonna ask him to come over to your place next, huh Cameron?”

Emmet ignored the jab. “What pokémon did you receive?”

“You’ll find out,” Cameron replied smoothly. “Just give me your trainer card.”

“Cameron’s probably gonna send you a Zubat.”

“I will flood your pc with Ratattas if you keep talking over there, Cloud” Cameron threatened. He then whipped around to stare pathetically at Emmet. “Boss, please.”

“… Okay. Fine.”

            Cameron hurried over to the station’s mobile pc station in the next room and quickly typed in Emmet’s trainer card number, rocking back-and-forth on the balls of his feet as his eyes jittered across the screen. As he worked, Emmet felt his Xtransceiver vibrate a few times on his wrist. Multiple notifications. Multiple pokémon sent to his pc from Cameron.

“Panpour-Pal, modernized,” Cloud muttered under his breath. “Wouldn’t be surprised if whatever pokémon you get ends up bricking your pc. That or it bursts into flames.”

“Can it, Cloud,” Cameron bristled.

“Win in a battle against me,” Cloud snarked back.

“Loudmouth.”

“Angry that I’m right?”

“Not in the slightest!”

            Emmet chuckled lowly, taking Cameron’s place as he inserted his trainer card and checked his pc, immediately noticing the notifications about the traded pokémon Cameron had sent him. He was immediately greeted by a pop-up screen accompanied by a long wall of text. “Dex error? Does not exist?” Emmet frowned, scrolling to check the descriptions of his newly traded pokémon. “Caaameron,” Emmet drawled angrily, irritation creeping into his voice. “The pokémon you sent me do not exist. Somehow.”

“I know! Isn’t it great?” Cameron hurriedly scooched in beside Emmet, pointing at the first one he had sent. “Got these from some trainers in the Paldea region! Did you hear? Apparently, there’s been some rush to document some foreign pokémon that appeared in this big, huge crater there. And the pokémon I just sent you? They’re examples. They’re from that crater!”

            Emmet scrolled over to the first one. “Slither Wing?” He squinted. “Bug and fighting type?” He then pulled up the description, the corners of his mouth turning upward as the image of the pokémon flickered across his screen. 

“Oh, dragons. That’s one fucked-up looking Volcarona.” From behind them, Cloud snickered, taking long drags from his energy drink. “Should’ve left that thing in whatever hole it crawled out of. Reminds me of your Archaeops though, boss.”

“Archie is perfect in every way,” Emmet grumbled back.

“It’s called a Paradox pokémon in Paldea,” Cameron cut back in. “And they’re not illegal to battle with!”

“Are they supposed to be illegal elsewhere? You’re not really selling your case here, Cam,” Cloud pointed out.

            Emmet ignored the two squabbling men, flicking over to the second one. That one he definitely recognized, feeling the muscles of his face begin to ache when he reflexively scowled at the image before him. “Iron Bundle... This is literally just a steel-wrapped Delibird.”

            Cloud whistled. “Yeah, I can’t imagine anybody battling with that thing, let alone letting it into their house. That just looks like a robot with extra steps. I wonder if it could connect to Bluetooth.”

“Give. It. A. Chance.” Cameron was practically begging at that point, clapping after each word. “Just get to know them a little! I hear that they’re cool pokémon and I think you’d do well with them, boss.” 

            At Emmet’s side, Mustard let out a curious chirp and climbed his shoulder, pointing eagerly at the array of pokémon on the pc screen. Mustard rubbed its cheek against Emmet’s face, continuing to point and squeak until Emmet eventually relented.

“Very well. I am Emmet and I will reconsider switching around my team. But. Only for a week or two. A trial period.” Emmet moved his coat back and slid the pokéballs containing his main team toward the left side of his belt- right toward his dominant left hand. He then withdrew the two paradox pokémon along with the suggested pokémon that Cameron had mentioned before. “I have one condition, though.”

“And what’s that?” Cameron asked innocently.

“Under no circumstances can either of you inform Ingo about this.”

            Cloud raised an eyebrow. “You’re gonna try and destroy him, aren’t you?”

“Try?” Emmet echoed, grinning from ear to ear. “No. I will obliterate him. Completely decommission him. That is not a threat; it is a promise! His Hisui team is strong,” Emmet alluded, monologuing more to himself than talking to Cloud or Cameron. “But! I can and will assemble a stronger team!” He then picked up Mustard and set him into the crook of one arm, settling his new partners along the right side of his pokémon belt. “And it all starts with Mustard.”

            Cameron giggled. “Hehehe. Name the Tinkaton ‘Ketchup’.”

[pillowbugs]

a teenage (14-15ish) elesa to go with her fellow baby nimbasa city celebrities here!

(proof of process, notes and hcs under cut)

some notes:

why. why did her ace have to be a zebra of all things. no hate to the animal but fucking hell am i dreading the possibility of having to draw blitzle again, or worse, zebstrika. horse proportions + stripe patterns = a real tough cookie to draw. if i never draw elesa with her pokémon again this is probably why.

(actually while typing the above, i just realised her ace is black and white. really ties her association with unova / submas together which is pretty neat.)

on a more positive note, i had a lot of fun with the design! was going more based on her bw1 appearance (given it's closer on the timeline) but with the preppy popular kid look thrown into the mix.

her original hair colour is black (as in bw2) but here it's dyed blonde with blue streaks.

headcanons time: i was thinking elesa would've come from a rich family, with both her parents being successful businessmen who wanted the perfect daughter to show off. her image is definitely controlled by her parents to some extent - her clothes are fancy and expensive, but fairly normal. even her hair was first dyed blonde to match her father and give her parents the perfect blonde hair blue eyes daughter. fortunately, they aren't at home much, so elesa has some opportunities to make small changes such as the blue streaks and her jacket (more on that later).

despite her parents' expectations, elesa is in fact much more interested in fashion, design and battling. she's an intern gym trainer at the current nimbasa gym (was thinking the gym leader would be a musical actor but nothing concrete) to not only prove that she can strike out on her own without her parents, but also to hopefully secure her future once she turns 18 and can move out and cut contact with her parents. the gym leader has taken a shine to her, encourages her to follow her dreams and is already planning on making her their successor.

by the time of bw1, when elesa talks to bianca and her father to encourage them to let bianca go on her own journey, it's a reflection of her own growth as well - she followed her dream despite her parents and found her own happiness and success, and she wants to inspire other people to do the same.

between the twins, elesa is a lot closer to emmet at this point - in fact, she isn't really close to ingo at all. that comes later after she's known emmet for a longer time. her friendship with emmet surprises a lot of people bc it's literally the popular cool kid befriending the weird kid no one else really cares about (besides his brother).

on the other hand, this is exactly why they're friends - emmet is not only grateful to have any friends at all, but elesa is also someone frequently misunderstood because of her appearance, lonely and the right amount of silly (reminds him a bit of someone...). also she loves electric types which is verrry cool. elesa finds emmet's bluntness and genuineness extremely refreshing compared to how much everyone else works to pretend and fit in. he's also the first person to see her for who she actually is and not her parents or her reputation.

the jacket is a bargain buy she saw in a shop once when she and emmet were out on the streets, and she mentioned her parents wouldn't let her get such clothes as much as she loves the jacket. emmet bought it for her for her birthday.

her closeness to emmet but not ingo is reflected in her design - blue and white feature much more than black and red.

her blitzle's name is chromatic, or chrom for short. she doesn't know about fe awakening for the record.

as a trainer, while she definitely trains mostly electrics, she does have a few off-types for coverage outside work - a lilligant, cinccino, cryogonal and later togekiss.

proof of process

[subwaytostardew]

The sprite work looks amazing as always, you can really tell how much time and effort went into the designs!! It's always a treat to see an update, here or on Youtube. Also, I love how we got a Ginger Island update in Winter and a Winter update in Summer. What's next on the agenda?

I didn't realize the Ginger Island update was in winter... How funny!

(Just to make a disclaimer... Updates may be slowing down from here since I have work/life stuff pulling me away from modding and Kade's route is rocky as she is trying to find a new place to live and barely supporting herself as-is with two jobs.)

As for next on the agenda... I've been meaning to make an updated checklist of things we'd like to finish before the mod is in a state where I'd consider it ready for release- so I might as well update on it here! I probably forgot some things and more things will probably break, but off the top of my head- this is what we have on our intinerary.

▷ Station Steward Thylak

To-do list

Station repair events: These will probably be shorter and not too elaborate (by our standards... They'll be more like vanilla with its 1 minute long events).

Schedules: The pathing broke. I need to figure out how to make Emmet stop sleeping in the middle of the ocean on a Friday night. I'd also like to make new schedules for when the station is built but I need to finish the events for those first so they a flag to activate upon. Cilan doesn't have a schedule at all since he spawns in the station and the game would crash if I tried to load a schedule for him without locking it behind the station repair events.

Fixing events: We need to go back and replace some of the event animations with new commands. The Pokeball effect and battle animations broke. I'd also like to try to edit some other event aspects to be less janky and more concise (the intro events pain me). Emmet's 8-heart event will need to be heavilly edited regarding this... You know how long that is.

Emmet's 10-heart event: Ingo has his done... It wouldn't be fair for him to not have one either! Aside from the station repair events, this is probably the most important event on our to-do list but also... the biggest work-in-progress. We have a lot of asset creation to do (Nimbasa... A dining car interior... Date visuals...) as well as figuring out the script. I have an idea for the main themes and what happens in the event, we just need to figure out how to execute it. We're mostly stuck on the actual... date montage part... We'll figure it out.

1.6 festivals: I felt bad enough having my original plan to have Emmet partake in the Ice Festival's fishing competition (he got sensory overload 😔... coding-wise it's just not possible for me to make him fish in a festival) and then 1.6 added not just one but TWO more fishing festivals for him to feel bad about. He likes winning more than anything, but I don't think Emmet is particularly good at fishing. Eelektross isn't either by Eelektross standards; together they make one average fisherman. I'd still like to have them comment on them (but ahhh.... Sad Emmet...). As for the Desert Festival- they for sure need to partake in that. We just need to scope out coordinates and make dialogue. Maybe make custom shops for them too? (Not too familiar with that... I haven't figured out the whole... Custom items and shops thing yet. Need to do that.)

Year 2 festivals: Apparently custom NPCs don't default to their first year of festival data and will not be present at succeeding festivals unless if I specify festival data for year 2. That means we have to make another round of festival dialogue for all the festivals! Yay... These will probably be shorter/closer to vanilla lines compared to the year 1 festival dialogues.

12-Heart events?: I know I said I would probably leave marriage events for a later update (alongside platonic routes) but... I don't think they're really "complete" as NPCs without marriage events. They're only romancable for now and there isn't really much incentive to marrying them otherwise! The events I have in mind (beachside dinner with Emmet, exploring the tidepool area with Ingo) aren't too elaborate and more just set-up for what I have in mind for the "conclusion" to their story/relationship development. I have a tendency to procrastinate so I might get sidetracked making these later. Besides, I've been thinking about the date ideas from earlier a lot and I miss coding events (my favorite part of modding… As you can probably tell… It's fun to me.)

Ingo's daily dialogue: I've been lagging behind when it comes to reorganizing the lines in Ingo's daily dialogue file to be more cohesive... It's like +20 pages long... I reorganized Emmet's but... Ingo... There's just so much...

Other daily dialogue: Elesa and Cilan have little to no lines (Cilan has ONE). We'd like to make them somewhat worth talking to even if we will be adding in their events/full routes in a later patch.

Marriage dialogue: This actually breaks if all the keys aren't filled out, so we will need to write more lines for them there. Should be easy enough.

Ingo's letters: Kade wrote drafts for them, but I'd like to polish them before release (more train terms!!! and edits for cohesion). Proofreading for Ingo is just a drag... I've also been thinking about giving him matching odd-heart events for if you try to break his heart donate his gifts to the museum.

Side/Passenger events: There's still a few events that we have in the drafts as well as event ideas that should probably be included in the main release as it elaborates more on passenger interactions+worldbuilding. Currently, I'm coding an epilogue of sorts to the Pierre/Saloon event storyline where you get to listen to Ingo infodump in an event conversation with Abigail. There's also another partially finished event of a double battle between submas that would start the Maru storyline which would include more worldbuilding around Pokemon in the valley and end with Maru helping them with care- hence why they make a stop at the clinic on Tuesdays! Buuut... That event broke thanks to 1.6. Oh well. I'll get it done eventually.

[ownerofthisaccount]

Originally I was just gonna leave the previous post on Agee and Chei as a one off, as I don’t own them and it was just me spitballing. There was also a repost saying I was thankful for the attention it got and that anyone is free to have their interpretations on it, but I deleted it as I didn’t want to bombard the original creator too much. My anxiety can get bad especially when it comes to interacting with popular creators or making fanart due to stuff I rather not get into, but it can lead to me struggling a bit with knowing how to go about things or if I’m being too pushy. Even now I’m a little anxious posting this giant section, and can take it down if asked, but after reading my what if my brain wanted to expand on it with images more detailing what happened that first day.

I will warn this contains body horror, implied and shown death, injury, and a small bit of blood. This is also NOT my work or ocs. Like before, both design and the original story comes from @raisans-art and they should be given the credit for these great character designs and engaging stories. This is just my interpretation on a what if both twins got experimented on.

As stated before, this version starts off the same with Emmet taken first and dies in the process of becoming Agee. But in this version the scientists catch on to Ingo’s snooping and struck him from behind when he finally encountered Agee. There was actually a deleted image showing that directly after, Durant popped out and, seeing Ingo limped on the ground and scientists quickly flooding in, grabbed Ingo’s pokeballs to try to at least save his team with the hope of being able to come back later to save the twins. He escapes through a vent, but in the process three pokeballs are knocked off and left in the lab, where Durant can’t grabbed them because the scientists are gaining on him. This wasn’t drawn cause for the life of me, I couldn’t draw full body Durant without looking like a knockoff lego.

“What do we do now?”

A little while later, the newest experiment Chei wakes up to a “frightening” giant. Meanwhile, the friendly fusion tries to welcome their new cell mate with open arms. I absolutely loved drawing that frame of Agee.

A familiar image from before, but the shadows and Agee’s tail are actually here. This is an outside view of the scientists observing how the two fusions will interact with each other given the origins of the two used for this.

Doesn’t go well. I realized I also missed the scar on Agee’s face, so I added it to the what if lore by having Chei feel threatened and slashed Agee with their face blade. Agee out of instinct and shock slammed their tail into Chei without realizing.

A fun fact I mentioned in the comments last post, but Chei’s tail, chest, and face are made of glass. It’s a softer/flexible and more durable glass, but can still be cracked. As long as the core/soul in the chest is unharmed though, the glass will repair itself some time after with the length depending on how severe the damage was. So Chei will be fine, but Agee still feels bad for hurting them.

Chei takes shelter in the corner to heal while Agee decides to give the new guy a little space for now, still determined though to make this friendship work as he feels a connection to this fusion. There was also a second cut drawing of Chei waking up later to an “I’m Sorry” poorly written on the ground while Agee anxiously taps their fingers together for a response.

Elsewhere in a realm inaccessible to ones like us, a few spirits watch this disaster go down…

And that’s it! That was all the drawings made for that what if scenario. Will there ever be more? I’m honestly not sure as this was already a stretch. But I will be finishing my top ten list very soon if you want more Pokémon drawings from me and to yell at me for putting Lickilicky in my top 10. But once again, thank you @raisans-art for being the creator of the Emmet Chimera Au and may you all have a great rest of your day!

[stoutlandchild]

Originally I wasn't going to show anything for this until I was finished but today is Cure Wing Debut Day (for non Precure fans, Cure Wing is the First Main Male Precure, main specifically because there has been male Precure just not a main one till now but the point is it's a good day) and I thought it be nice to show what I was working on. This is what's done of the Second Pass, I'm planning to do a third pass after to clean it up and fix things (this is very much a rough sketch with blatant disregard for keeping designs in tact) but for now here's what's finished for that.

I've never done a transformation sequence before now, and a duo transformation sequence with a handholding motif is...very much a challenge. I dunno how the Mahou Tsukai team did it 4 times but good for them because my hands hurt.

I used the Go Princess Theme because it's my favorite and I like it. I still like it actually even though I've heard it so many times now. I just love it so so much-

It took me till the end of the initial sketching that I could of given them a heart motif this entire time. All those hearts you see during the spin? Weren't there originally, it took me ages to realize I could do that. I've also never drawn Ingo and Emmet before, there not that hard to draw for me honestly it's just their eyes that give me trouble and I Don't Know Why. Here's hoping I'll figure out how to draw them when I get to the third pass.

Here's some First Pass sketches that I like of parts that aren't done yet:

This is admittedly an act of hubris but god do I know I'm probably gonna do it again. I got plans for attacks and scenes (and I'm still trying to talk my brain out of doing an opening and Not Succeeding)

This is for @fourphoenixfeathers Precure AU which I've been rotating in my head for weeks. The precures do got me...

[umbraticstickerz]

A thought about pokemon Violet/Scarlet+Opinions the game

I'll talk about my opinion first which is a unpopular one, personally I think Violet and Scarlett are completely undeserving of all the hate. The game is genuinely good, sure it has its problems but they're not as bad as everyone acts like they are. Balancing issues in the game can be frustrating but after a while its fine. This is Pokemons first full blown Open World, people need to stop acting like its not. Most of the new pokemon designs aren't bad like people act like jfc I love almost all of them. The story is really good and I love the mini twist

Now to an idea I wished was in the game(and I honestly will make an au for) is that due to the paradox pokemon it would've given them so much of a reason to include Ingo showing up, in Scarlet at least. It would've worked so well as a after story part where you go to the Great Crater after meeting a tall, tired looking man which is Emmet. He wants to search Area Zero just in hopes of finding his brother since the pokemon are from the past, so You agree and enter. As you're searching you eventually find Ingo, still amnesic, Emmet trying to run up to hug him only for Ingo send out a Sneasler out as he originally perceived Emmet as a threat. Ingo not recognizing Emmet both since, ya know, amnesia and because Emmet has become more disheveled over the years searching and stressing about where Ingo was.

You and Emmet are forced to battle Ingo, which he'd use his typical team with Sneasler included. After the battle you're able to convince Ingo to come with Emmet and you, though Emmets now having to deal with the fact his Brothers amnesic

And has a giant, purple, anthro weesle/cat.

[takadanobaba]

Happy to hear you liked it again!

Yeah, canonically Morris knows he's not exactly welcomed in the town but he deals with it since he thinks Joja is the future. He'd have an even worse relationship with the SubMas since he's actually working against them but its hard to go against someone who actively saved your life. Though it was a good was of getting rid of him since he won't leave until the community centre is complete.

And yes I decided to incorporate my two anon ask with the hat and Emmet calling you the caboose became you'll seemed to like it.

(Funfact: the ending wasn't originally going to be them offering you an apprenticeship, it was going to be them listening of different railway related jobs you could apply for in a not so subtle hint at them wanting to continue working with you but I couldn't find the quality they would have listed for each job)

Omg that was you?? You're just full of ideas!

Morris isn't exactly well-liked in Pelican Town, but submas aren't either (at least initially, it'll take a while for the townspeople to warm up to them), and are only really determined to continue upon their designated tracks because that's what they believe is right. You nailed the parallels between them perfectly! I loved how insightful your writing was!

(I also loved the bit about the twins being a little pushy about wanting the player to continue working with them despite not having proper training to do much.... cute...)

[andrews-reviews-and-thoughts]

Andrew’s Review of The LEGO Movie 2

                                       The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part

    Yes, after Exactly 5 years of wondering how the Duplo invasion at the end of the last film went, we finally have another LEGO Movie. Thanks to Phil Lord and Chris Miller, they managed to bring the lovable toys to the big screen in a comedic way that almost no one expected. This would follow with a few more LEGO films, though the reception they’ve gotten is rather interesting. Where The LEGO Batman Movie was given as or even more praise than the first one, The LEGO Ninjago Movie...well, even if I haven’t seen it, I can understand why it would be the weakest of the films so far. With the trailers for this film though, I’m not quite sure if it will be as grand as the first one. Maybe it’s just because the director, Mike Mitchell, has a hit-and-miss track record with directing (Sky High, Sponge Out of Water, Shrek Forever After and Trolls are shown), but I’m honestly a bit doubtful. But now that Emmet and the gang will go to the Systar System, will the awesomeness still continue, or will we feel like the residents in Apocalypseburg? Let’s find out.

 The Story

    Like I said earlier, last we saw the characters, a Duplo invasion happened. So what happens afterward? Well, in here, Bricksburg has now become a Mad Max parody, with everyone toughening up, minus Emmet that is. But after Wyldstyle and a few others get captured by members of the Systar System, Emmet must try to save them with the help of a new ally, and stop a prophetic catastrophe called Our-Mom-Ageddon from happening. Like last time, it is aware that this is a silly and simple story that could only be accepted as a movie in the form of LEGOs. However, it also adds several things into it to keep it fresh, and here’s where the bad news and good news comes in. The bad news is that there are some parts from the first Lego movie that this one would straight-up take from the first one, like the catastrophe that needs to be averted I just mentioned, and without spoil-ing much, you can easily recognize the similarities by the third act. Not that it can be predictable, just a case of cheap writing. The Good News However, is that this film would try, and succeed, in putting in several new strengths while making them fit with the old ones. If you remember the end of The LEGO Movie, you’ll know that another reason why the movie felt like it was made up by an 8 or so-year old kid was because that actually was the case. And in here, it does not forget that, purposefully making us wonder how much of this is being made up by two kids of different ages, and having it tie in nicely with the movie’s message of things being better when you try to work (or play in this case) with one another, not to mention the movie’s surprising use of clever twists and turns. And as for the old strengths like the humor, it still manages to keep it funny and fresh as the original, while also pulling in The LEGO Batman Movie’s use of humor that mocks certain films, franchises, and other modern stuff. (The LEGOs discussing the only heroes they have left is shown.) Also, if you saw the film already, you’re probably wondering if the use of songs in here would make this a musical? In that case, no. Instead, it’s a bit like how Coco used its songs, where they are here and there, but they’re mostly used to move the plot along. That, and I will say that the songs in here are rather nice, with a nice use of pop music. Even if the story did copy the first one’s a bit, that still didn’t stop it from being as fun and creative as the first one.

 The Animation

    One of the things that everybody loved about The LEGO Movie was how, even if it was computer animation, it still managed to look like it was all made out of LEGOs, minus the live-action scenes and the items used by Vitruvius and Lord Business. And in here, it still maintains that look. Much like the first film, it still has the characters move like how an actual minifigure would, and provide several unique and interesting designs for the characters. And yes, like last time, there are several action scenes that show some nice creativity. As for the new stuff, there are several things to talk about, with the set-tings and backgrounds being one of them. Of course, there is Apocalypseburg, the now-ruined, desolate, and intentionally Mad Max-like world that is made out of actual bricks, but then there is the main highlight, the Systar System. As a representation of a young little girl’s imagination, it perfectly shows that by having locations made out of several brightly-colored bricks that are simple in a childlike way, and even having some other materials used in there. Yeah sure, the non-LEGO parts of the spinoff films didn’t work out too well, but in here, it feels much more welcome and easier to accept, since, again, this is a little girl’s imagination come to life, so it would make sense why you’d see moving cloth, glitter and stop-motion-like drawings used in here. And Then there is the work done on Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi. As a shapeshifting alien made out of bricks, she is used here to her full potential, with several forms being used by her, and her character animation showing how regular bricks can be moved about in order to take those forms, which especially helps with the choreography in the musical numbers. (Clip from ‘Not Evil’ is shown.) Even though it’s been five years since one of the most innovative animated films came to the big screen, this movie still found ways to be super creative.

 The Characters

    Although the characters in the first film were fun to watch and hang out with, it is easy to point out that there wasn’t as much depth to them as in The LEGO Batman Movie. However, this film does try to give depth to some of its characters. Oh, and before I get asked, Ghost Vitrivius barely appears in the prologue, and Bad Cop/Good Cop only gets a slightly bigger cameo than him. Otherwise, they’re nowhere in this, so let’s move on to our main cast. First, we have Emmet. In the first film, he was always portrayed as the happy go-lucky guy who found himself in this journey. Not a bad character by any means, just what you’d expect. In here, however, after witnessing Lucy (a.k.a Wyldstyle) and his friends get captured, he starts to wonder if maybe he toughened himself up, he could prevent stuff like this from happening again, and be more appreciated by the people around him. He would end getting some teaching in that through (clip that explains Rex Dangervest is shown.) Of course, Rex is intended to be a parody of Chris Pratt’s roles and rumored ones, but he also ends up getting a good amount of depth as Emmet. Then there are characters like Wyldstyle, Batman, General Mayhem and Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi, who do feel more like they’re meant to help move the plot, but they still do have some good traits, be it some development, the way they tie into the message, or just the charm of the characters. As for Emmet’s other captured friends, Benny, MetalBeard, and Unikitty though, they admittedly don’t feel as important as the other characters, or even like last time. Yeah, they were meant to be random wacky oddball characters, but that was what made them stand out in there. In here though, they mostly just serve as the other people who got sent to the Systar System and got enchanted by it. And like last time, there are several minor and background characters who aren’t meant to serve the plot, but more so serve the comedy with the help of not knowing whom to expect. Maybe not all the characters are perfect, but they are (reference intended) still fun and awesome to hang out with.

    The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is a rather fun sequel where even if parts of the story can feel similar to the first one, it still manages to have a creative story, great animation, fun characters, unexpected but fun-to-listen-to songs, and a nice little mes-sage. Admittedly, there is a chance that some people will think that this is a downgrade from the first one and Batman, but I like to think that we’re all simply used to a movie style that we’ve never experienced before February 2014. So, if you want to check this out, I would recommend giving it a go. However, I must warn you, when the creators said that they wanted to outdo ‘Everything Is Awesome’, They Really Did Mean It! Not that the certain song is bad, it’s just that you may want to listen ‘It’s a Small World’ or any other Sherman Brothers song before watching this. Otherwise, you’re gonna have some difficulty combating against a song that knows it’s gonna be stuck inside your head. Story: 8/10. Animation: 10/10. Characters: 7/10. Overall: 8/10.

Random Line at End: Wyldstyle/Lucy (Crawls through vent to find): Bruce Willis? B.W. (almost casually): What? I like crawling through vents, that’s my thing. I don’t live in here. Lucy: Okay. B.W.: Can you scoot by? Lucy: Oh, sure. (Both proceed to do so.)

[zend-pixie]

I'm SO glad you asked (you didn't) I'm gonna take this as an opportunity to go over the scrapped Rex concept designs I've seen cause there is a LOT and a concerning amount of them have katanas as weaponry. When in the development process did Rex go from katanas to futuristic guns I will never know but it's a choice I'm happy was made

I've also deduced that Rex being Emmet is actually a very last-second decision! Since in some of the leaked scrapped storyboards where we're shown Rex's backstory he's some other guy, and in an interview about Emmet and Rex with Chris Pratt he says Rex was on Undar for 4 years - something that was never mentioned in the movie but IS in the early storyboard. It's interesting that Rex was originally a whole different guy but was still going to have the same voice as Emmet??? Make it make sense

ANYWAYS let's get into it

I've already gone over the potential angst angle of the hoodie, but there's many more where that came from

like this one. It feels like one of those designs you know won't be final but you crank out anything you can think of in hopes that combining them will yield an inspiration cause why in God's name is he a 2003 rapper

this one is super interesting to me cause it heavily focuses on his villainy aspect! Something that was meant to be a twist in the movie, but would've been a lot more obvious with a design like this. Although I'm not gonna lie I do really love this one he actually looks kind of cool. Evil overlord fit

we of course can't forget about the infamous dino pjs that we all agreed can easily be canon. Does he seem more like a "nothing but boxers" sleeper? Yes but c'mon look at him. You can't deny him the dino pjs

putting these two together since they seem to be in a similar veing and I'm not entirely sure what to think? The little uh..flag? Feels a bit random but maybe if this design was finalized it would have more of a place in the movie. I do find it funny that the first one breaks lego rules of printing (hands can't have any printing or dual-molding on them. Full colors only) and the second one gives him a KILLER waistline

this one feels so random but it seems to take inspiration from 80s fashion and perhaps a bit from the canceled lego racing movie! I do like that the Rex we ended up getting still retains that 80s-90s vibe, even if it's mostly how "futurism" was seen back then compared to now. I can definitely appreciate the inclusion of a tattoo and robotic arm

this is essentially just our Rex but with a mechsuit that got scrapped, I'm assuming this is pulling from his concept design in an even earlier storyboard (pictured below). Love how this one ALSO breaks the hand printing rules though lmao

(look at this fucking frog i HATE him)

This is pretty much Rex's semi-final design but I still want to put them here cause...ough...he looks SO dirty and dusty... the hair is so much scruffier....I can't explain it he looks so cute to me here. Our Rex is a little worse for wear himself but he's not visibly DUSTY just scratched out (especially noticable when the vest he gives Emmet looks pristine). You'd think he'd still have some of that Undar dust clinging onto him. He has the arm crack scar though so I won't complain too much. And also this concept art confirms to me that he's SUPPOSED to have fingerless gloves. I win

2015!! Don't let anyone tell you tlm started development in 2017 this thing has been in the works for a WHILE. You can actually see the bionicle in the storyboard fragment I sent over earlier as well! But this one is so....crazy to me. A trenchcoat?? What looks to be a bulletproof vest?? And a... house arrest collar..? Odd choice but alright, lego movies are silly parodies for the most part so just throwing random shit on him feels appropriate enough. But with the angry smolder, random hat, trench, eyepatch and less scratchy 8'o-clock shadow, he feels like mostly a parody of what "tough, gritty men" were seen as in the 2010s. A lot more than the Rex we got, ours has a more personal sense of style. This Rex looks greasy and like he smokes 6 packs a day. Watches the 2017 Punisher show on the weekends and scoffs instead of laughing. I can't help but love him anyway, a Rex is a Rex

Then we have these 3. Very big dissonance in style, it seems they couldn't decide whether he should be more jungle-esque, future-esque, gritty-esque, or science-time-travel-esque. The collar is on in all of these so I can't help but be curious if it had any lore significance... But as you can see, the utmost top one has a katana. For no reason. This is not the only time either. I do find it funny how all of them break lego printing or molding rules. And the scar on the first one continuing through his hair.... something else happened to this guy. But it's interesting that no matter the backstory, Rex's purpose in the movie was always to have a villainous persona and turn Emmet into a worse version of himself.

Now I'm unsure how official or not these are, but they seem to be done by someone who worked on the movie in some capacity (James White) so I'm putting them here together. The katana apocalypse has started. I'm starting to suspect Rex saying his middle name is "machete ninja star" is both a cringe tough guy thing and a reference to the vibe a lot of his early concepts had. I do like the colors on a lot of these though, and the accidental pan flag on the first one is a little funny. Rex does accidentally say a gay slang not once but TWICE in the movie so nothing new there. A lot of these are army-based...which is interesting. Perhaps even more of an influence on what a gritty man's man is supposed to be like.

I thiink that's everything? Sorry for this being so inhumanly long lmao I had to krank my thoughts out of my brain before they get pickled for good </3

Thinking about the parralel that Lucy dyed her hair with marker to hide her real self, and later it's revealed Rex covered his face in marker to hide his real self

Dangerstyle makes me sick THEY MAKE ME SICK.

Additonally do you guys ever think about one of Rex's early concept designs where he has a hoodie. Like his ex. The one who he wanted to change for initially and felt hurt by. The one he still seems to think about nonstop despite claiming to "letting go of the past", in the intense glares he sends her way or the hollow envy he feels when he sees a brighter version of himself loved by her unconditionally - something he thought he had to earn. Yeah.

[pollyannawog]

Since ppl are asking me abt it and seem to like it (hgljskgldslgn) here’s! Some submas god fusion au info!

About Arceus...

Emmet cannot use arceus’ powers, though he theoretically could. He doesn’t know how to use them, and probably wouldn’t be able to learn unless really pushed to do so (if you know what I mean, haha).

That being said, arceus did uphold its end of the deal so he can travel through time and dimensions. Kind of. Still figuring out how to make a return trip.

Additionally, arceus didn’t mean to be a jerk here. It genuinely wants to make a deal it thinks is fair with Emmet, it just doesn’t understand mortals very well and doesn’t get that altering their bodies is, in general, a traumatizing and unpleasant experience.

...and while Emmet would love to inform it of this, it has more or less gone awol. It’s a consequence of allowing its original vessel to fuse with Emmet so he could maintain his individuality. There isn’t room for god and Emmet at the same time!

Arceus is still in there, though, it just can’t speak or interact through its current vessel (more authentic experience I guess)

About Ingo...

As implied in the bonus panel, Ingo doesn’t believe Emmet is his brother. Doesn’t really believe anything he says, because the entire situation is just way too bizarre. He goes along with it anyway, though, because well, he’s pretty much god.

I’ll leave other details vague, and maybe expand on them in a comic if people want/I have motivation for....

Additionally,

Yes, if Volo found out about this he would be seething crying raging over it. Unfortunately for him, arceus admired Emmet’s dedication to his brother over Volo’s weird god complex. And Emmet didn’t even want this outcome! Lol

+ some design notes

I was nervous abt sharing this au but it seems like ppl like it ahahah.... I’m totally down to answer any questions if ppl have them!  ówò

[chipsncookies]

So I sometimes check out Pixiv to see some Submas fanart, and sometimes I see them with alternate versions of themselves with like, spiky blond hair and sharp teeth and earrings??? Do you know what that's all about?

Oh this is something i know a bit about, from what ppl told me

From what I've heard, they're Japanese fans' American version of submas, Ingo and Emmet since for them, submas are Nobori and Kudari. They look different compared to the original submas design, they're usually depicted with blonde hair, sharp teeth, earrings, piercings and they wear high laced boots. Their depiction can be on the edgy side (smoking and having guns etc) but can be quite wholesome too.

I've included some links for informational purposes. Some of them go as far back as 2013, which is pretty wild. I also included some twitter links since they can be viewed more easily. If you want to check out for yourself, the tag is 海外サブマス (overseas submas). As usual with pixiv, there can be some shippy stuff so proceed with caution (the ones i linked here are non shippy but idk about the artist's other works)

And apparently some fans love them enough to cosplay them??

Some fans go a step further and created designs for more countries/localisations! However I'm not too familiar with how the other versions are depicted

They're so widespread on pixiv which just shows how much fans love these fanmade submas. They're not as popular anymore nowadays (probably because PLA is the hottest new thing) but i think they're kinda charming, and an interesting part of submas history ^^

EDIT: Found a link to pixiv dictionary page about them, but it's all in japanese

[skizwillsuffice]

THANK UUUU I totally typed all this up and tumblr decided to hate me and glitch out for no reason so here we go again hrrrrrrrrr

6. Unlike Emmet and Elesa, Ingo refuses to say curse words and it’s hilarious to watch him struggle. He often uses inanimate objects or foods as the source of curses, saying them in such a way it SOUNDS like he’s gonna curse but then it’s the stupidest shit to ever leave his mouth, such as “cheese and rice”, “oh sugar honey iced tea”, “son of a motherless gogoat” “Oh my goooolly good day to you sir” or my personal favorite “FFFFFINGER LICKIN’ GOOD”. Ingo has cursed on accident before and while Emmet is dying laughing, Ingo looks ready to cry an ocean, especially if it was in front of someone who was not his brother or Elesa. (Cursing in front of Drayden was pretty much a death sentence- despite Drayden being a narsty sailor himself…)

7. Emmet was the one who created the original position of Subway Master. I pictured Emmie being a little more on the timid side growing up, and he has always been content with Ingo making the big decisions. However, when Emmet knew he wanted something, he would go above and beyond to achieve it, and Ingo was always more than supportive. When they pursued careers with trains, Emmet wanted nothing more than to somehow conjoin his addiction to battling with his addiction to trains. He alone designed a single train car to withstand harsh battles, specifically for people who travelled long distances every day and needed to blow off steam. The idea, however, blew up unlike how either of them could have ever imagined. It became a staple of the Nimbasa subway system and soon enough he was getting paid for it. Ingo hopped on the bandwagon soon after, and with Elesa’s help, they got the publicity they needed. Together, they built something unlike anything the world had ever seen, all because Emmet is an addict.

8. Ingo can play the piano and Emmet can play the guitar. As kids before their journey they both wanted to learn the same instrument, but were told that differences were good and that they should build pieces of themselves that are unique to them, instead of just being the same person (surprise surprise, they didn’t really like it). However, these hobbies grew with them through life, and now, they make music together for their Pokémon to sing and dance too. I also like to think that this is how Ingo first met Chandelure (Litwick at the time) via he and Emmet exploring an old abandoned house or something and finding a grand piano there. Curiously, he played it, and a sweet little Litwick that totally did not want to suck his soul away was entranced.

9. Emmet and Ingo are both really good at swing dancing. As teens, they learnt how to swing upon hearing it was an attractive trait (probably from Elesa) but they don’t do it so much to find someone to date anymore. Still, they are quite popular at their local dance club, and are often asked for battles immediately after…

10. Emmet and Eelektross had a very rough time trying to get along at one point of their journey. Both of them love to win and DID win 99% of their battles, but when there came losses, they did not handle them very well. Eelektross grew and evolved incredibly fast compared to Chandelure, and because of this he began to get cocky and test Emmet’s own strength and patience. He would not listen, and use his own battle strategies over his trainer’s. They began to lose more. This frustrated Emmet beyond belief, as they had never had this kind of problem before. Emmet refused Ingo’s attempts to help, determined to win on his own and have as strong a bond as Ingo did with his Litwick, up until a particularly hard loss caused Emmet and Eelektross to get into their first physical fight. (Kids, am I right? 😬) Ingo broke them up, scolding them harshly, and that’s when Emmet turned on him too. A dispute between the brothers broke out, Eelektross ran away in anger, and the twins separated for the night. It was the worst night of their lives. After much thought, Emmet knew he should not have blamed Ingo, and decided to fix the problem with his Pokémon. Emmet left to find Eelektross, apologized (and Eelektross did too) and they made up over a near death experience to escape a hoard of Scolipedes they had accidentally wandered too close too. They also made up with Ingo, and Ingo admits his own jealousy of seeing how fast Eelektross got strong. But soon after, Litwick evolves, and it’s smooth sailing from there.

Favorite SubMas headcanons, GO—

OH HELL YA

1. Emmet is terrified of ghosts and Ingo is terrified of bugs and they only tolerate each other’s Chandelure and Galvantula because they’ve been around since the dawn of time. I like to think that when Ingo started his journey with a Litewick, Emmet got back at him by catching a Joltik, then later as adults Emmet played off it more by mass breeding it when it was a Galvantula. Ingo doesn’t mind it so much anymore but other bug types still creep him out if he’s forced to closely interact with them. Emmet jumps out of his skin at ghost types when he’s not battling them, but Chandelure can sit on his head and he’ll be fine! (They have been known to jump into each other’s arms or throw the other one at the bug/ghost if one were to appear without mental preparation…)

2. As children, Emmet favored the color black more than Ingo, and Ingo had an eye for the lighter/vibrant colors more. However, after their journey ended, Emmet developed to be more of a clean freak while Ingo sorted his thoughts better through controlled chaos. This led to them deciding to swap colors for work purposes, being that white for Emmet was easier to bleach and clean rather than black so he could get down and dirty with the subway and trains (and so he had the appearance of the cleaner twin). Ingo (though harder for anyone besides Emmet to understand his thought process) took more lead in the runnings of the subway. He was hardly overwhelmed by the never ending issues that came with the subway and angry visitors, and his thought process worked like a literal twisty-turny-train track that leads to multiple different outcomes. He can pinpoint quickly what the best and safest course of action should be, whether it be crazy or confusing to other people. He does, however, appear friendlier and has better outward communication skills than Emmet. Emmet does say things that are easier to understand than Ingo, though he comes off as harsh and blunt to get the point across.

3. Ingo and Emmet are related by blood to Drayden, their father/mother being Drayden’s sibling or something. I like the idea of Drayden raising them a portion of their lives, but I don’t know what I like most to get them to this outcome. Perhaps their parents are alive but live in a different region, or perhaps they aren’t around anymore, or maybe their parents are divorced and chose poor paths in life, leaving the twins incapable of living with them. Possibilities are endless!

4. Emmet’s a flirt, especially when he was younger, but it immediately flip flops to socially awkward if the flirting actually works. He’s very kind and careful but does things without thinking in attempt to handle the situation. Ingo has no flirting skills at all and despite having people approach him romantically he is completely oblivious and unintentionally friend-zones everyone around him. He has tried to date before but he overthinks things and tends to overwhelm people with gifts or compliments or how loud his voice gets when he’s flustered.

5. Elesa was a bully to them as a child. She was also being bullied and took it out on them when she could tell they were more awkward than her. However, as time went on, they began to form a more healthy rivalry, that soon turned into friendship when they witnessed Elesa get bullied by her friends or others. They took pity on her instead of hating her, and Elesa grew the confidence to stand up for herself and them. They’ve been besties ever since 💚

I HAVE SO MANY MORE BUT THIS IS ALL I COULD TYPE RN

[icys-junkyard]

On the topic of the submas pokemon-trait AU:

You said you didn't really have a concrete justification for the traits yet, right? And how it's probably smthn to do with possibly being related to the twin heroes? As someone who's spent the last three months digging through pokemon lore, I offer an idea:

Their family has a similar genetic quirk to whatever mutation makes eevee's DNA so malleable to it's surroundings.

Maybe that's what made the original twin heroes so powerful: they were granted the ability to physically take after their respective dragons.

Even after the legendary pokemon shenanigans subsided, the ability just kinda... suck around with that specific lineage through the generations.

It's also worth mentioning that the DNA Splicers used to fuse Kyurem are implied to be that lineage's family heirloom so. Take that as you will. [Maybe it's an old family tradition to like. partially fuse with your first pokemon? Idk.]

It makes sense that Ingo and Emmet would take after their starters, since they're the first pokemon they had prolonged contact with. As their partners evolve, they'd gradually take on the new traits as well.

...It could also explain Uncle Drayden's silly druddigon beard lmao

[[ Of course, No pressure to actually use any of these rambles. This is all of this is just suggestions/silly ideas I came up with off the top of my head :) just wanted to say I love this au, I love your art style, and I love the designs you made for these silly little train men ]]

While those are all cool ideas, I do in fact have a reason for the Pokémon traits! All I said was that I wasn't revealing it just yet ;]

I'm absolutely not a writer, at least not in the sense of knowing the whens and hows to do a Big Reveal. But! I wanted to actually get some substance down (doodles, comics, scenarios) before getting to The Point of the au, so to speak! Though I will say it was a complete surprise to everyone when the change actually happened.

I'm super glad you're enjoying the au so far though!! And the art itself hgfdsa thank you so much!