#SV no school run

[baxieblur-turnip]

so it turns out you can break out of bounds before going to school in Pokémon scarlet (and violet, i assume). i have spent ~50 hours working on my Pokédex!! and we're mostly there, at around 350 i think? it's a great challenge, would reccomend! extended notes (yapping) under the cut :))

the best bits:

i caught a scyther early on because i adore scyther. at the time it was about level 18, now we're level 95 and proud!! my baby

i remembered trading was a thing, now version exclusives are accessible!! woo!

this challenge really forces you to solve problems in a creative way. lotta getting out of bounds (for example, getting to the other side of a river by throwing a Pokeball at a Pokémon on the other side) and it's wild looking at a mostly complete map like yeah. i did this. without koraidon :3

the shiny bisharp i found whilst grinding :D

gholdengo. this was a wild experience. i had such a time with this guy. it's so hard to reach the towers without koraidon, and the time is locked so i don't believe chest form gimmighoul even respawn. and yet, this was SO MUCH FUN??? it took forever and it was a bit painful, but it was a much appreciated break from the grinding. also chest form gimmighoul spawn in ruins sometimes btw

this run just has VIBES. hell yeah, we skipping school. i feel sorta bad for nemona though. legit just said 'yeah i will be right there' and fucked right off to complete my Pokédex, not returning for FOREVER. really brought new life to the game.

walking everywhere forces you to admire the scenery. it's questionable at best, but i cannot lie i enjoyed some of the sights. most of these things i brushed straight past going 728347 mph on my koraidon every other playthrough, so being forced to actually appreciate it was nice

the worst bits:

the GRINDING. w/out raids, you have to rely on the scarce candies you find around the place, and this does NOT do much. i live in Fury Falls now. i have a love/hate relationship with the pseudolegends.

getting gholdengo specifically. again. i cannot stress how long this took enough

no koraidon. walking around is SLOW as hell, OOB tricks are also SLOW (staring at a stupid fish hopping it'll swim a few metres the other way is. interesting), this game was built with using your ride in mind and definitely not just refusing to unlock it for the entirety of the pokedex

time is locked, as is weather. therefore i cannot access the few night/weather exclusive Pokémon :(

those step evolutions are EVIL and i hate them very much

these days the trade network is dead as hell, i cannot find a trade partner for my scyther, this is a cry for help

there are a few (very few) places you cannot access + this upsets me greatly. (haven't figured out how to reach part of Glaseado Mountain, the other side of the river/lake part, as well as all the ocean areas and for some fucking reason the top of the sunken tower near Alfornada. the goddamn ladder doesn't work. finally the second tower around the Casseroya lake is very much too high up.)

oh yeah also you can't do Area Zero obviously :P so no paradoxes for me

as of the time i am writing this, i have not actually finished the run. from memory, i am missing these:

finneon/lumineon because fish are annoying when you cannot swim

bruxish for the same reason

misdreavus/Mismagius and Honchkrow/murkrow because i think they're night exclusive

Scizor because the trades are annoying

palafin because i have no friends to evolve it with

Slowking because trades + i haven't found a king's rock yet

all the paradoxes because i cannot reach

kingambit because i can't seem to find any goddamn Leader's Crest bisharp

other starters because i can't seem to do picnics yet, so i don't have anything to trade for them.

a few Violet exclusives here and there because trades are a bit slow tbh

slakoth because for no real reason i cannot find it.

i think that's all :)

finally, my rulebook:

do Not enter the second fight with Nemona (where she shows you the tera thing, i think? she has a Pawmo and it's right outside the first Mezagoza entrance). no tutorial for us

only trade version exclusives for version exclusives in the pairs. this makes me feel like i am collecting them as close to normal as i can, not just begging for them on the trade network. this is very much personal preference

see how far i can get with the Pokédex! initially it was 'can i get out of the starting area' -> 'ooh!! how many pokecentres can i get out here' -> 'huh that's a lot. and my Pokédex is looking decent. soooooo' -> 'what the fuck where did those fifty hours go. uh anyway 350 Pokémon!!'

wow this is a long post whoopsies. ah well. i massively enjoyed rambling about this playthrough. if anyone else tries this, please tag me that'd be cool as hell :)) (and!! i can do tips if you want!!)

later i will edit to add a photo of some of my favourite Pokémon from this journey. for now, hope you like the challenge! :D

[lisafication]

For those who might happen across this, I'm an administrator for the forum 'Sufficient Velocity', a large old-school forum oriented around Creative Writing. I originally posted this on there (and any reference to 'here' will mean the forum), but I felt I might as well throw it up here, as well, even if I don't actually have any followers.

This week, I've been reading fanfiction on Archive of Our Own (AO3), a site run by the Organisation for Transformative Works (OTW), a non-profit. This isn't particularly exceptional, in and of itself — like many others on the site, I read a lot of fanfiction, both on Sufficient Velocity (SV) and elsewhere — however what was bizarre to me was encountering a new prefix on certain works, that of 'End OTW Racism'. While I'm sure a number of people were already familiar with this, I was not, so I looked into it.

What I found... wasn't great. And I don't think anyone involved realises that.

To summarise the details, the #EndOTWRacism campaign, of which you may find their manifesto here, is a campaign oriented towards seeing hateful or discriminatory works removed from AO3 — and believe me, there is a lot of it. To whit, they want the OTW to moderate them. A laudable goal, on the face of it — certainly, we do something similar on Sufficient Velocity with Rule 2 and, to be clear, nothing I say here is a critique of Rule 2 (or, indeed, Rule 6) on SV.

But it's not that simple, not when you're the size of Archive of Our Own. So, let's talk about the vagaries and little-known pitfalls of content moderation, particularly as it applies to digital fiction and at scale. Let's dig into some of the details — as far as credentials go, I have, unfortunately, been in moderation and/or administration on SV for about six years and this is something we have to grapple with regularly, so I would like to say I can speak with some degree of expertise on the subject.

So, what are the problems with moderating bad works from a site? Let's start with discovery— that is to say, how you find rule-breaching works in the first place. There are more-or-less two different ways to approach manual content moderation of open submissions on a digital platform: review-based and report-based (you could also call them curation-based and flag-based), with various combinations of the two. Automated content moderation isn't something I'm going to cover here — I feel I can safely assume I'm preaching to the choir when I say it's a bad idea, and if I'm not, I'll just note that the least absurd outcome we had when simulating AI moderation (mostly for the sake of an academic exercise) on SV was banning all the staff.

In a review-based system, you check someone's work and approve it to the site upon verifying that it doesn't breach your content rules. Generally pretty simple, we used to do something like it on request. Unfortunately, if you do that, it can void your safe harbour protections in the US per Myeress vs. Buzzfeed Inc. This case, if you weren't aware, is why we stopped offering content review on SV. Suffice to say, it's not really a realistic option for anyone large enough for the courts to notice, and extremely clunky and unpleasant for the users, to boot.

Report-based systems, on the other hand, are something we use today — users find works they think are in breach and alert the moderation team to their presence with a report. On SV, this works pretty well — a user or users flag a work as potentially troublesome, moderation investigate it and either action it or reject the report. Unfortunately, AO3 is not SV. I'll get into the details of that dreadful beast known as scaling later, but thankfully we do have a much better comparison point — fanfiction.net (FFN).

FFN has had two great purges over the years, with a... mixed amount of content moderation applied in between: one in 2002 when the NC-17 rating was removed, and one in 2012. Both, ostensibly, were targeted at adult content. In practice, many fics that wouldn't raise an eye on Spacebattles today or Sufficient Velocity prior to 2018 were also removed; a number of reports suggest that something as simple as having a swearword in your title or summary was enough to get you hit, even if you were a 'T' rated work. Most disturbingly of all, there are a number of — impossible to substantiate — accounts of groups such as the infamous Critics United 'mass reporting' works to trigger a strike to get them removed. I would suggest reading further on places like Fanlore if you are unfamiliar and want to know more.

Despite its flaws however, report-based moderation is more-or-less the only option, and this segues neatly into the next piece of the puzzle that is content moderation, that is to say, the rubric. How do you decide what is, and what isn't against the rules of your site?

Anyone who's complained to the staff about how vague the rules are on SV may have had this explained to them, but as that is likely not many of you, I'll summarise: the more precise and clear-cut your chosen rubric is, the more it will inevitably need to resemble a legal document — and the less readable it is to the layman. We'll return to SV for an example here: many newer users will not be aware of this, but SV used to have a much more 'line by line, clearly delineated' set of rules and... people kind of hated it! An infraction would reference 'Community Compact III.15.5' rather than Rule 3, because it was more or less written in the same manner as the Terms of Service (sans the legal terms of art). While it was a more legible rubric from a certain perspective, from the perspective of communicating expectations to the users it was inferior to our current set of rules  — even less of them read it,  and we don't have great uptake right now.

And it still wasn't really an improvement over our current set-up when it comes to 'moderation consistency'. Even without getting into the nuts and bolts of "how do you define a racist work in a way that does not, at any point, say words to the effect of 'I know it when I see it'" — which is itself very, very difficult don't get me wrong I'm not dismissing this — you are stuck with finding an appropriate footing between a spectrum of 'the US penal code' and 'don't be a dick' as your rubric. Going for the penal code side doesn't help nearly as much as you might expect with moderation consistency, either — no matter what, you will never have a 100% correct call rate. You have the impossible task of writing a rubric that is easy for users to comprehend, extremely clear for moderation and capable of cleanly defining what is and what isn't racist without relying on moderator judgement, something which you cannot trust when operating at scale.

Speaking of scale, it's time to move on to the third prong — and the last covered in this ramble, which is more of a brief overview than anything truly in-depth — which is resources. Moderation is not a magic wand, you can't conjure it out of nowhere: you need to spend an enormous amount of time, effort and money on building, training and equipping a moderation staff, even a volunteer one, and it is far, far from an instant process. Our most recent tranche of moderators spent several months in training and it will likely be some months more before they're fully comfortable in the role — and that's with a relatively robust bureaucracy and a number of highly experienced mentors supporting them, something that is not going to be available to a new moderation branch with little to no experience. Beyond that, there's the matter of sheer numbers.

Combining both moderation and arbitration — because for volunteer staff, pure moderation is in actuality less efficient in my eyes, for a variety of reasons beyond the scope of this post, but we'll treat it as if they're both just 'moderators' — SV presently has 34 dedicated moderation volunteers. SV hosts ~785 million words of creative writing.

AO3 hosts ~32 billion.

These are some very rough and simplified figures, but if you completely ignore all the usual problems of scaling manpower in a business (or pseudo-business), such as (but not limited to) geometrically increasing bureaucratic complexity and administrative burden, along with all the particular issues of volunteer moderation... AO3 would still need well over one thousand volunteer moderators to be able to match SV's moderator-to-creative-wordcount ratio.

Paid moderation, of course, you can get away with less — my estimate is that you could fully moderate SV with, at best, ~8 full-time moderators, still ignoring administrative burden above the level of team leader. This leaves AO3 only needing a much more modest ~350 moderators. At the US minimum wage of ~$15k p.a. — which is, in my eyes, deeply unethical to pay moderators as full-time moderation is an intensely gruelling role with extremely high rates of PTSD and other stress-related conditions — that is approximately ~$5.25m p.a. costs on moderator wages. Their average annual budget is a bit over $500k.

So, that's obviously not on the table, and we return to volunteer staffing. Which... let's examine that scenario and the questions it leaves us with, as our conclusion.

Let's say, through some miracle, AO3 succeeds in finding those hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of volunteer moderators. We'll even say none of them are malicious actors or sufficiently incompetent as to be indistinguishable, and that they manage to replicate something on the level of or superior to our moderation tooling near-instantly at no cost. We still have several questions to be answered:

How are you maintaining consistency? Have you managed to define racism to the point that moderator judgment no longer enters the equation? And to be clear, you cannot allow moderator judgment to be a significant decision maker at this scale, or you will end with absurd results.

How are you handling staff mental health? Some reading on the matter, to save me a lengthy and unrelated explanation of some of the steps involved in ensuring mental health for commercial-scale content moderators.

How are you handling your failures? No moderation in the world has ever succeeded in a 100% accuracy rate, what are you doing about that?

Using report-based discovery, how are you preventing 'report brigading', such as the theories surrounding Critics United mentioned above? It is a natural human response to take into account the amount and severity of feedback. While SV moderators are well trained on the matter, the rare times something is receiving enough reports to potentially be classified as a 'brigade' on that scale will nearly always be escalated to administration, something completely infeasible at (you're learning to hate this word, I'm sure) scale.

How are you communicating expectations to your user base? If you're relying on a flag-based system, your users' understanding of the rules is a critical facet of your moderation system — how have you managed to make them legible to a layman while still managing to somehow 'truly' define racism?

How are you managing over one thousand moderators? Like even beyond all the concerns with consistency, how are you keeping track of that many moving parts as a volunteer organisation without dozens or even hundreds of professional managers? I've ignored the scaling administrative burden up until now, but it has to be addressed in reality.

What are you doing to sweep through your archives? SV is more-or-less on-top of 'old' works as far as rule-breaking goes, with the occasional forgotten tidbit popping up every 18 months or so — and that's what we're extrapolating from. These thousand-plus moderators are mostly going to be addressing current or near-current content, are you going to spin up that many again to comb through the 32 billion words already posted?

I could go on for a fair bit here, but this has already stretched out to over two thousand words.

I think the people behind this movement have their hearts in the right place and the sentiment is laudable, but in practice it is simply 'won't someone think of the children' in a funny hat. It cannot be done.

Even if you could somehow meet the bare minimum thresholds, you are simply not going to manage a ruleset of sufficient clarity so as to prevent a much-worse repeat of the 2012 FF.net massacre, you are not going to be able to manage a moderation staff of that size and you are not going to be able to ensure a coherent understanding among all your users (we haven't managed that after nearly ten years and a much smaller and more engaged userbase). There's a serious number of other issues I haven't covered here as well, as this really is just an attempt at giving some insight into the sheer number of moving parts behind content moderation:  the movement wants off-site content to be policed which isn't so much its own barrel of fish as it is its own barrel of Cthulhu; AO3 is far from English-only and would in actuality need moderators for almost every language it supports — and most damning of all,  if Section 230 is wiped out by the Supreme Court  it is not unlikely that engaging in content moderation at all could simply see AO3 shut down.

As sucky as it seems, the current status quo really is the best situation possible. Sorry about that.

[the-sappho-of-lesbos]

Lesbian Pulp Breakdown #2

Here for another pulp breakdown ! (Finally 🙈)

This one will also have spoilers and lots of triggering content. Please be warned.

This pulp fiction breakdown is for Lesbian Love by SV Miller. 100%, absolutely written by a straight man. This book is WILD, and significantly worse than the last one I posted about Alone At Last, which I didn’t think was possible. Because that one was a train wreck.

So in this one we have our protagonist Aggie; now Aggie is married to a man called Jim but she also sleeps around and has affairs a lot. The first three chapters, if I recall, were literally just her having affairs with other men and then getting mad at her husband for accusing her of having affairs. Her and Jim have a very toxic and volatile relationship, as well as being very inconsistent in the way they approach each other, the way the approach themselves and their marriage. It’s wild.

Anyway, she gets to the point where she’s like: I don’t want to be in this marriage anymore. I don’t like him. I don’t like what we’re doing. We’re always fighting, throwing things at each other and then we end up being intimate. She hated it. Then she found an advertisement for a sanctuary away from men that was supposed to heal her, heal the relationship and get her away from there; BUT to get there she had to have a lot of money so she ended up having even more of an affair and putting herself in very dangerous situations to get the money. Though when she did, phew, off she went - she was there. It was all secret and she was given these very weird and ominous directions to get there, she wasn’t allowed to bring certain things with her etc.

When Aggie is there, it becomes very clear to us, the reader, she has just entered a massive cult. It’s also when this book just dives head first into all of its problems.

This isn’t to say Alone At Last was a good book by any stretch of the imagination, however, it did hold little nuggets of positivity, mainly in the areas of acknowledging homosexuality was natural and not having the main lesbian character end up dead or in an institution. This book can’t even say it has that going for it.

This pulp genuinely felt like a homophobic pamphlet fever dream.

There was so much sexual assault in this book committed by a lesbian, but sometimes the author would jump around on if it was assault or not in a very uncomfortable way that felt like it was rooted in a fetish.

So we have our lead lady, Aggie, introduced to this lesbian commune that is run by the lesbian dictator Helen. A rich woman set on assaulting women, keeping them trapped in this isolated location, and “turning” them gay - or as this book likes to paint it, corrupting women to sin.

There is a massive emphasis all throughout the book about how broken, unnatural and wrong lesbians are, ( the very last line is “I feel … normal!”) while simultaneously sexualising them for male titillation. With big strong men to come in towards the end and save them all.

It tries to entice us into the plot with this evil lesbian cult commune plot , where women are forced to pair up with one anther in this instance Aggie is forced to be with both Helen and a woman called Grace ; Grace is also the character Aggie ends up snot being attracted to, but only because she is in a “perverse” place). These women are locked up in torcher chambers if they don’t comply to the Evil Lesbians or try to run away.

In the end this pulp is probably a textbook example of what people think of nowadays when they think of old school lesbian pulp. With terrible writing on top! It was genuinely a slog to get through. Even though it’s relatively small it took me 4 months to finish reading it because it was just so terrible and had no redeeming qualities about it. Just a terrible mess of assault, homophobia and horrible writing.

Let’s hope the next one is better.

[gen4grl]

timeskip zero crew + written bios below !

with the sv cycle coming to an end, i’d thought i’d share my timeskip zero crew designs! friendship and the impact it can have on an individual has always been a key feature of pokemon - with sv easily executing that theme the best. zero crew has an extremely special place in my heart and think i speak for everyone when i say i'm gonna miss this group a lot ♥︎

˗��ˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

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JULIANA

♡ Originally from a small island in the North Paldean Sea. Homeschooled until her family moved to mainland Paldea where she started her public education at Uva Academy.

♡ Socially awkward, clumsy and struggles with organisation. Not the best with words but a fantasic listener. Booksmart and tends to be a people pleaser to a fault.

♡ Despite her awkwardness, is obliviously confident. Confessed her feelings and asked Arven to be her boyfriend after Area Zero, believing it was just a one way crush. Definitely was not and have been dating since.

♡ Was extremely overwhelmed starting school with no clue what direction she wanted her live to go in. After the events of Area Zero and collecting Herba Mystica, realised she wanted to become a pharmaceutical scientist with the goal of making Herba Mystica more wildly available in a medicinal format for people and their pokémon. Cites Director Clavell and Jacq as her biggest inspirations.

♡ Still considers Carmine, Kieran and the former BB League members some of her closest friends. The groups enjoy traveling together between Paldea, Kitakami and Unova together.

♡ Enjoys beers, fried food, karaoke & visiting the night markets in Porto Marinada.

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NEMONA

♡ Graduated with distinctions in all classes but dreams of making a name for herself outside her wealthy family. Currently works fulltime at Uva Acadmeny as a battle studies teacher with the end goal of becoming Champion.

♡ Lives in a high rise apartment in the center of Mesagoza overlooking the battle court. Absolutely loves the lively and fast paced energy of the city.

♡ Despite being extremely outgoing, struggles with making and maintaining friendships. Holds Juliana extremely close to her heart as she believes she was the first person to ever really 'get her'. First came out to Juliana after the groups adventure to Area Zero. Currently crushing on Carmine.

♡ Often mistaken for being a 'tomboy' but has quite alot of interest in typically 'feminine' things but has trouble connecting and expressing this part of her. Particularly likes plushies, collecting perfume and playing piano in which she is extremely gifted.

♡ Detail oriented and enjoys organisation. Wakes up at 5:30 every morning and runs from Mesagoza to Levincia no matter what she did the previous night.

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ARVEN

♡ Only child of the late Professor Turo. Originally withdrawn and standoffish; after learning of his fathers passing, became extremely family & friend focused. Would love to have his own family in the future. Considers Clavell a second father.

♡ Originally specialised in traditional savoury Paldean dishes but developed a love for baking after making Juliana macarons for their first Valentines Day together.

♡ After graduation, worked as a dish hand in a small bar in Porto Marinada. Worked his way up to line cook while occasionally doing pokémon walking and sitting on the side. Currently the manager of the new Mesagoza Patisserie Soapberry location. Spends his income on renovating the lighthouse where he lives with Juliana, Mabosstiff and Miraidon.

♡ Prized possessions include his fathers old lab coat and journals recovered from the Zero Lab. Gifted an oddly familar version of the presumably lost Violet Book by Juliana after her return from stuyding at Blueberry Academy which he keeps in his nightstand.

♡ Due to his unique upbringing and feelings of isolation; is very protective and easily jealous in both platonic and romantic relationships.

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PENNY

♡ Originally from Hulbury, Galar. Daughter of former Galar champion, Peony. Currently lives in an old industrial loft with Atticus and Giacamo in downtown Mesagoza. Loves city life but misses the small beachtown vibes of her hometown. While developing a closer relationship with her dad after gradution, has no intentions of moving back home to Galar.

♡ Prefers to keep her circle small but cares deeply for her friends to a point of getting herself in bad situations to help them. Still learning how to put herself first in certain sitations with help and advice from Arven.

♡ Works full time for the Pokémon League doing admin work. Does occasional hairdressing on the side mostly for friends and mutuals. Specialises in bleaching and alternative cuts and colours. Originally a brunette - wouldn’t be caught dead with grown out roots.

♡ Has a terrible diet consisting mostly of cup ramen, sushi and whatever the cheapest energy drink is. Sleeps around 4 hours each night after spending her after work hours gaming online with Kieran; excluding Wednesdays where she plays Magic the Gathering with Team Star.

♡ Homebody who loves reading + collecting manga and crafts; particularly sewing and knitting after being taught by Attitcus.

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[jadeazora]

It's probably the Honedge scarf and the fact he's definitely got the Lysandre, Lusamine, and Rose money given how he talks about how expensive Blueberry Academy was to construct, but I was surprised Cyrano turned out to actually be completely non-shady.

I was kinda hoping for our first game-proper villainous Honedge-line user. The closest we really got was Celosia in the manga. Also, there's the fact he runs a school focused on battling and creating elite Trainers. With a Pokemon that has a reputation for brainwashing, you basically have your perfect recipe for a villainous organization right there:

Then they pulled a funny and the Honedge line wasn't back for the SV DLC either. We did get PLZA announced a couple months later tho, so maybe a very subtle hint Kalos was coming? 🤔

[i-write-boop-spoops]

Arven Fluff Alphabet

finally more arven content! thanks to the anon who requested this (sorry for the wait homie)

mostly wholesome fluff, a little bit of angst regarding arven's backstory, sv spoilers and gn! reader

A = Activities (what do they like to do with their s/o? how do they spend their free time?)

It goes without saying but he loves cooking with you and for you. Even if you just sit on his bed while and chat with him while he makes you lunch, it makes him so happy to be doing his favourite thing with his favourite person. If you do want to take part, he’ll gladly make you his little sous-chef, or teach you how to cook if you haven’t before. Things get a little chaotic in the kitchen when you’re taking part, but that’s the best part.

Although the two of you have already explored Paldea together, he still loves when you two head out on an adventure (that includes a picnic obviously) where you wander around, taking in the beauty scenery, battling Pokémon, gathering ingredients, holding hands and enjoying each other’s company.

While neither of you particularly consider studying as a ‘fun’ activity, it is much easier when you study together. The two of you hunker down in one of your dorms and spend the afternoon making notes, helping each other solve equations, understand concepts and badly practise languages. He may be a year ahead of you, but you have some overlap in classes, and you still do your best to help and encourage him with stuff that’s above your grade-level.

He likes gaming with you too! He’s not a big gamer or anything, but he likes when you bring your switch over and you two play Mario Kart or Smash Brothers together. It’s usually fun and silly, but both of you can be quite excitable and competitive!

B = Beauty (what do they admire about their s/o? what do they think is beautiful about them?)

Arven really admires your loyalty and kindness. When the two of you first met, he wasn’t the best, most considerate person, he wasn’t used to talking to people, and he was wrapped up in worry about Mabostiff at the time, but that doesn’t excuse his less than stellar behaviour. But still, you helped him, even before you knew why he needed your help.

In terms of your looks…. Arven thinks you’re so damn CUTE! Cuter than a freshly kneaded fidough (sweeter too). Your eyes, your smile, it just makes his heart melt every time. He can never me mad at that cute face.

C = Comfort (how do they help their s/o when they feel down? what makes them feel better?)

His immediate response is to wrap you up in a big, warm, tight hug. He’s not really sure how to verbally comfort someone (and he’s not going to talk to you like he talks to his dog) so he just hugs you close, gently holding your face to his chest and brushing your hair, letting you know you have someone there to protect and comfort you. He won’t say much at all, mainly because he doesn’t know what to say. But he’ll listen. And sometimes that’s all you need.

Plus, you can’t go wrong with a homecooked meal or a baked treat!

He’s not used to being comforted by people. The comfort he’s used to receiving is Mabostiff slumping against him, and he has to wipe away his own tears. Having you comfort him is jarring at first, it’s alien to him, but he settles into it. He likes when you play with his hair, that really relaxes him. Since you’re a person, you actually understand what he’s saying, so it makes him feel better to know you comprehend what’s troubling him.

He also really loves when you just talk to him. Just saying soft and sweet comforting things to him. It’s a small gesture but it means the world.

D = Dreams (how do they picture their future with their s/o and in general?)

Although it’s a recent decision, he is very set on the idea of being a chef, and he’s already taking steps to reach his goal. He’s not sure if he wants to work in a restaurant, or open his own, or run a little stall or food truck, or even in the school cafeteria. As long as he’s cooking though, he’ll be content.

In terms of getting married and having kids, he, he doesn’t want to think about that right now. You’re both still very young, and he has a lot of… complicated feelings around the subject (rightfully so). But what he does know, is that he wants you by his side, always.

He is not looking forward to graduating before you. He’s gonna miss you so much :( even though you’ll still be able to hang out.

E = Equal (are they the dominant one in the relationship or are they rather passive?)

While he does have his bursts of assertion, it’s typically you. You suggest dates, you initiate affection, you steer the ship so to speak. He likes it though, he’s never been in a relationship before so he doesn’t know what he’s doing... but he also likes how he can be the one in charge if he wants, and you have no issue.

F = Fight (how quick are they to forgive their s/o? what are they like in an argument? who says sorry first?)

Arven isn’t the most emotionally mature person. Sure, he had to grow up faster than most, but he doesn’t have the best approach to conflict thanks Sada and Turo. He’s still a teenage boy too.

So, when he argues, he has a habit of blaming the other party, even if he’s at fault. He shouts and flails his arms and pulls at his hair, it can actually be quite scary, considering his build (but of course, he would never lay a hand on you.)

As a result of his upbringing (or lack thereof), it can take him a while to forgive you, even longer to admit fault. He will simmer with his anger by himself, sulking, until his love for you slowly starts to creep back in and soften him up again. He loves you, he misses you… why is he making this harder for the both of you?

He is getting better though.

G = Gifts (what kind of things do they gift to their s/o? are they spontaneous or do they stick to special events like anniversaries?)

When Arven gives gifts, he doesn’t realise that’s what he’s doing. He just thinks he’s looking out for you. It’s typically some kind of homemade snack, or battle items, or school supplies, or even a cute plush or keyring. If he thinks you might need something, or it’ll make you smile, it’s worth every penny/ounce of effort.

For something like your birthday or anniversary, he puts a lot of thought into getting you something you’d like. Typically, instead of getting you one big present, he gets you lots of small ones, basically making you up a goodie bag of thoughtful items.

H = Heart Eyes (what are they like in love? is it obvious to others? how do they express their love? do they brag about their s/o to others?)

Even before you were together, it was so obvious that he was in love with you Penny had a field day fr. All blushy and happy, constantly thinking and talking about you. He constantly wants to touch your hand and squeeze it. And when you do get together, it’s basically the same, but now he CAN hold your hand.

He’s not super great with words or affection, but those little hand squeezes and big hugs and that look full of adoration tells you all you need.

Arven is your biggest fan hands down, he thinks you’re the coolest thing since sliced bread. He doesn’t even realise he’s bragging, he just loves gushing about how awesome you are <3

I = Impression (what first attracted them to their s/o? how accurate was their first impression to how their s/o actually is?)

He didn’t realise it at first, so oblivious to his own feelings, but he thought you were so cute. Just so cute and pretty. His brain rationalised it into you being helpful and trustworthy (which to his credit, you are)

J = Jealousy (do they get jealous easily? how do they deal with it?)

ARVEN IS SO JEALOUS! Jealous of literally anybody who interacts with you. And he was like that in your friendship too. You saw how he bickered with Nemona over which one of them was your best friend. It just extends into your relationship.

When he feels particularly threatened, he gets a little huffy and sulky, grabbing your hand, urging you away from the person, sometimes even standing between you and them. He’s not the kind of person who’ll blame you for his jealousy, nor will he stop you meeting up with people he’s jealous of.

His jealousy is born from insecurity and his abandonment issues. Both his parents, people who were supposed to love him unconditionally, left him at different points in his life, and he is so worried you’ll do the same.

K = Kiss (are they a good kisser? what was their first kiss like? where do they kiss the most?)

Arven gives two kinds of kisses; tender, brief, almost unsure kisses, and abrupt, passionate, nigh on suffocating kisses.

Your first kiss was the former. His heart was thumping in his chest as he held your hands in his own, blushing softly as he looked down at you before leaning in, and pressing a brief, but gentle kiss against your lips, smiling all the while. Afterwards, he turned ever redder and started apologising. Poor baby

He loves to kiss your all over your face and your hands. Especially your hands. He likes absentmindedly kissing your knuckles and fingertips.

L = Little Things (what are the little things they love about their s/o? are they attentive?)

He loves your smile, the twinkling in your eyes, how close you like to stand and sit next to him, when you brush his hair away from his face.

He especially loves all the small things you do to make his life easier, like organising his bag, or helping him with his notes or looking after Mabostiff.

M = Marriage (do they want to get married? how do they propose? what would the wedding be like?)

Arven… Arven doesn’t know if he wants to get married, you can blame his parents’ failed relationship for that. And you’re both still so young.

He does think about it sometimes though, it’s not a definite no from him. He does like the idea of setting your love in stone, and having a very small wedding, even in a courthouse, could be nice.

If he were to propose, it would be at home. He’d make your favourite meal, you’d eat it by candlelight, and then he’d ask you. Though in reality, you’re more likely to propose.

N = Nicknames (what do they call their s/o? what do they get called?)

He still calls you ‘little buddy’ because that’s who you are! You’re his little buddy and his s/o and he LOVES you. Your partner should be your best friend, right?

Though, in private, he likes to call you ‘Honeybun’ because you’re just as sweet as one! Penny heard him call you ‘Honeybun’ once and she died.

You sometimes call him ‘Arv’ or ‘Arvy’, and even nicknames like ‘babe’ and ‘sweetie’. He gets very flustered when you call him the last two. In a good way

O = Open (do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? is it easy for them to share?)

You probably know more about Arven than he does about himself. Being friends first, you were there for the whole journey saving Mabostiff, and your adventure to Area Zero, where you learned more about his parents, and their fates. So, Arven really doesn’t have much to hide from you anymore.

In saying that, he’s still not the best with his emotions, and he tends to keep them to himself. You are pretty adept at noticing when he’s brooding, and you are always happy to lend an ear, so you do find out what’s going on in the end.

P = Pancakes (are they a good cook? how often do they cook for their s/o? breakfast in bed or fancy dinner dates?)

We all know Arven has an exceptional cooking skill. And he loves to cook too, for you specifically. It makes him feel needed, like a provider, cooking for you. You rarely eat cafeteria food now, when Arven makes you a delicious breakfast, scrumptious lunch and mouth-watering dinner, all out of the kindness of his own heart and a few kisses <3

When you do go out for food, you tend to just go to a little café or a food stall, nothing fancy, but that’s not the point! The point is the two of you enjoying some good grub as you spend time together!

Q = Quirk (a random quality/ability that is beneficial to their relationship.)

Arven runs hot, and he dresses warmly too. So, if you’re ever cold, you basically have your own portable heater (that cooks (and cuddles!)). He can just wrap himself around you in a big hug to heat you up in no time!

R = Romance (how romantic are they? are they cliché or creative?)

Arven is trying his best to be romantic, because he thinks you deserve it, he’s just not 100% sure how to go about it. Cooking for you is romantic, but he doesn’t see it like that, ironically enough.

He just gets you little gifts and hopes it’ll be enough for you.

S = Sleep (who falls asleep first? do they need their s/o close to them? do they have any bad habits?)

You two don’t normally sleep next to each other, only when camping and occasionally a nap when you’re supposed to be studying. Usually, it’s you who falls asleep first, and you blame Arven for being so warm and squishy, however if you are playing with his hair, he will be out like a light.

When you do sleep next to each other, he loves to cuddle you the entire time, having you next to him makes him feel so content.

And of course, Mabostiff inevitably joins you two, by slumping on top of you both and crushing you a little but he’s still the best doggie

T = Thrill (do they need to spice up their relationship with new things or do they stick to a routine? how often do they do new things?)

Arven actually really likes the routine and mundanity of your relationship. After all, he’s not really used to such stability, so he finds comfort in it. Not to mention, being in a relationship is still so new to him, he doesn’t want to overwhelm himself by going too fast or trying new things.

However, if you want to try something, he will probably join you, after some convincing of course or just grabbing his hand and dragging him to it lol

U = Unity (did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? what traits do they share?)

Your friendship, and now, relationship, showed him that he didn’t have to do it alone. That he could reach out and get support and companionship. That he deserved love and care and kindness. And he is endlessly grateful for that.

V = Value (how important is their relationship to them? what is it worth compared to other things in their life?)

With the amount of comfort and happiness you’ve brought him, you are probably the most important living thing to him, alongside Mabostiff. You really do fill every day with joy and light, even just a touch of your hands makes him grin like a schoolkid with a crush (which is partially true)

W = Wild Card (a random fluff headcanon.)

He has become your guineapig (would that be a dedenne in this context?) for hairstyling. He loves it, of course. He doesn’t care if he looks silly afterwards, he loves the feel of your hands on his hair.

X = XOXO (do they like to kiss and cuddle? are they upfront about their relationship or rather shy when in public?)

This boy is so incredibly touch starved… all he ever wants to do is hug you close to him, burying his face in your hair and inhaling your scent OR he wants to put his hands on your cheeks and kiss you all over your cute face until your giggling and telling him to stop.

The feel of your softness and warmth against him just makes him all gooey inside, sometimes he just likes slumping himself against you, just to feel you.

So awkward and flustered, he doesn’t really engage in PDA, aside from holding your hand. Occasionally, he will give you a quick kiss in public to say goodbye, but he usually ushers you off to the side to do so.

Y = Yearning (how do they cope when they spend time away from their s/o? do they miss their s/o?)

He does not cope well with your absence. With the two of you being so young, your relationship so new, and basically spending all your time together, it’s inevitable that he gets attached. So, when you’re away on the Kitakami trip, he falls into a slump, missing his little buddy terribly. Every time his phone goes off and it’s not a text from you, his heart breaks a little.

He makes sure to call you every day, trying to hide how much he misses you even if it’s obvious. He doesn’t want you to feel bad for this awesome opportunity, but it’s hard for him without his honeybun!

He will smother you with hugs and kisses when you get back and he will cry

Z = Zoo (do they have pets? do they want some in the future?)

Of course, Mabostiff is your 3’7” 61kg 10+ year old baby. He’s definitely treated more like a pet than the rest of your Pokémon.

With the exception of you -aidon, who Arven has slowly learned to tolerate and love­ over the last few months.

[konfeitos]

Hi! Can I request Jacq from Pokémon SV x male reader? If you accept this request, thank you!! (^ o ^)

STAFFROOM SWEETHEARTS. — JACQ X M!READER

❛ ⠀♡ . ˑ⠀featuring   :    jacq

❛ ⠀♡ . ˑ⠀synopsis   :    a budding love is blossoming between you and your fellow colleague ! 

❛ ⠀♡ . ˑ⠀notes   :    male reader. fluff. teacher/teacher trope. plus general thoughts. brief reference to hassel/brassius. headcanons. not proofread. hope you enjoy anon ♡ !!

When you decided to seek out a career in being an instructor, not once did you think that you would wind up with a job to teach at Mesagoza’s well-known academy. 

Clavell was more than pleased to welcome you to the faculty. You were invited to come to the academy and get familiar with the place before the new school year commenced. 

During that visit, you came across some of your new colleagues, who all happily introduced themselves and offered to show you around the academy. All of them were incredibly kind, but you found your gaze continuously gravitating towards one in particular.

The slightly disheveled, easy-going man who looked like he’d appreciate a quick nap.

 From the moment that his eyes landed on you, he smiled softly and greeted you with a cute, “Hello, hello!”

After that visit, you two started to become closer to one another. It was far too easy to fall into long conversations with him. Which only started to become a bit of a problem when you would both realize that you’re running late to your own classes. 

Speaking of your class, you teach Pokemon Handling. The ways to care for various types of Pokemon and what’s necessary to ensure they live healthy lives.

There are times where your lessons branch off to the biology aspects of these Pokemon types, which leads to you and Jacq planning lessons to do joint classes. 

It doesn’t take long for the students to pick up on how you stare at Jacq, most likely the most interested in his rambling, when he starts to get into specifics and the way that Jacq looks more energized and at peace when you’re stepping in to share your own knowledge.

This has led to these students coming up with theories about you two. A lot of speculations arise, questions going on whether you two were even interested in men. Regardless, there are those that compare the way you two are to Hassel and Brassius, which only spawns in more discussions on your guys’ relationship.

Of course, students being students, they attempt to ask in what they believe are subtle ways. Anytime Jacq asks if anyone has any questions, he’s surprised to see the amount of hands going on when he’s been accustomed to them being more prepared to leave over anything else.

There are no words to describe the shock that washed over him when the question pertained to you and whether he likes you. Of course, he’s chuckling lightly while he runs his fingers through his already messy hair as he struggles to come up with a response. 

No, he’s not surprised that his students managed to pick up on his growing feelings. They’re a smart bunch and very observant. Maybe a bit too observant for their own good.

He’ll try to direct the conversation back to the topic on hand though he does mention that he likes you very much, in a platonic sense (not that any of his students believe that part) and considers you to be a brilliant instructor.

The rumors only grow faster once that happened.

If you thought it was only your students attempting to meddle however they can then you’d be very mistaken. The other faculty start to get involved as well in their own ways.

Salvatore offers cute phrases in other languages to say, and Saguaro talks a lot about how you and Jacq should go out on a picnic and the many sandwiches you could make together. 

Once you both start dating, it’s as if everyone in the academy can tell. Many of the students are happy to see two of their favorite instructors with each other, especially when they caught on that they were crushing beforehand. The other faculty members tease you both for doing the slightest bit of affection in the lounge room.

Every time you head into the lounge room, you always have a second drink just for Jacq. And each time, he will thank you by pressing a gentle kiss to your temple.

There are moments where he feels so tired but one glance at you gives him the motivation to get through the rest of the day. He greatly appreciates that you’re able to sense when his internal battery is dwindling down and welcomes the cuddles that you initiate with him. Expect to have plenty of dates that involve napping together.

You’re the one to make sure that he doesn’t drown himself in his research. Jacq has the tendency to lose track of time, unless he has something scheduled with you, so you’re often the one that your other colleagues ask to go find him to pull him out of his work.

Anytime he discovers something new, you’re the first person he turns to. You always listen to him attentively. He does the same in return whenever you get in a rambling mood, especially when you’re caring for your or his Pokemon and talk about some fun facts about little quirks or things that the Pokemon like. 

Whenever he catches you battling for any reason, whether you’re helping him with his research or you’re both simply out and about, he’s always in awe at your strength. 

The second that you turn around to return back to him, he’s staring at you with such a tender look on his face. “That’s my boyfriend!” He praises, eyes closing as he smiles at you. Your strength and Pokemon is a wonder and he will never get tired of watching you.

[starry-907]

starry swap au woagh

"starry what is this swap au day was friday" yep! and i was late because of work and school so shush and sit down because i'm gonna give you the rundown of my swap au

so who swaps with who?

The basic gist of this au, the "main swap" so to speak, is that the cg have swapped with the hollowheads! there are other swaps it's just that swap is the one that started the au as a whole

here's the designs that i've worked out so far (i haven't done the mercs yet because i don't have much of a basis of design for them right now)

character info under the cut because it's gonna get long haha (i have more info i can give but you'll need to ask me about it cuz i want to talk more about this au!!!!!)

to start with:

alan has swapped with programmer021, who is a 3d modeller trying to work in blender on animating, using both 3d animation and grease pencil (moreso 3d animation, but the 2d animation is nice to get out frustration and oh those sticks are coming to life)

the computer crew came from an old file on programmer's computer that had been sent from a friend of a short stick figure animation with four hollowheaded sticks. sv finds the file during ava 4 and kinda wakes up the hollows. friendship ensues

the computer crew (ss!cg)

silver (victim swapped with blue)

technically the oldest of the computer crew due to having been drawn first in their file, silver is the sort who seems a bit cold and aloof to outside observers, but her family is more than able to easily read their subtle expressions. she often uses her neutral expressions to her advantage to poke fun at people who aren't as familiar with them. enjoys cultivating flowers and trees, as well as making potions.

charcoal (chosen swapped with green)

the second oldest of the computer crew and technically silver's twin (having been copied and pasted from the original drawing symbol of silver), charcoal is more than happy to take charge when it's needed. however, sometimes this desire to lead can turn into overconfidence, which can lead to a bit of a prideful fall. they enjoy messing around with noteblocks, as well as creating complicated pixelarts (that often get knocked down thanks to a certain bright red and orange duo)

cherry (dark swapped with yellow)

the third oldest of the computer crew, cherry has an endlessly curious mind, but often lacks the self-control to keep from doing more... dangerous activities. if you don't hear from him for at least an hour you probably want to go find him. he can often be found messing with redstone, and gets a kick out of figuring out new uses for tnt and end crystals (often accompanied by getting dragged away from their newest creations by charcoal or silver) (basically where canon yellow would watch mumbo jumbo or zedaph, cherry would watch docm77)

amber (second swapped with red)

the youngest of the computer crew, amber might seem a bit airheaded sometimes. truly when they get into trouble though, they often are able to come up with the most out there plans to get out of said trouble. this doesn't stop them from running into danger headfirst though (and often suffering the consequences...). when not drawing as a hobby, they often work on building up new structures for their family to use.

(also for reference ages are swapped/changed as well, so silver and charcoal are both 15, cherry is 14, and amber is 13)

the powered colors (ok i don't have a cool name for them)

prey (blue swapped with victim)

the eldest of the sticks made by [insert username here], prey was made to be nothing more than a punching bag, and nearly died as nothing more than a punching bag, choosing to use her second chance for vengeance. she runs nightshade corp with a warm smile and polite demeanor, but that warm smile can just as easily turn cruel when "testing" her newest concoctions on those she needs information from.

The Champion (green swapped with chosen)

made for a challenge, champion quickly lived up to that goal. champion has a strong sense of right vs wrong, which is why he attacked the websites of humans but changed his mind after seeing that he and hive were hurting other sticks. he has many powers, but his preferred power is his wind abilities! he likes sneaking into music venues sometimes to listen to performances in his free time. (champion has roughly the same power set as chosen, but again he prefers to use his wind powers over the other elements)

The Hive Queen (yellow swapped with dark)

made in an attempt to contain champion, hive instead forged a sibling's bond with her target, the two of them running to the outernet. while champion slowly lost interest in striking back at humanity after seeing the sticks they were hurting, hive thrived in the destruction, enjoying watching the traitorous sticks that lived with humans flee. when not destroying or annoying her older brother, hive works on making various technological creations, her magnum opus currently at the forefront... (hive has more electrical powers)

The Second Victor (red swapped with second)

coming into being by pure accident, sv quickly forged a bond with the computer crew, managing to arrange for him and the cc to stay on programmer's computer in exchange for 3d modeling help. sv can sometimes be a bit more cautious compared to his friends, but when caught up in the moment he's all impulse. despite not showing any sign of powers like champion or hive, he has had the ability to bring 3d creations to life... and a gap in his memory from the showdown...

(again, ages have been changed/swapped for narrative clarity, so prey is 22, champion is 21, hive is 17, and sv is 13)

"what about the avm sticks?"

well this one's a bit more complicated, so let's try to explain that one

Gold -> Purple

gold lived with their dad, a well-known fighter, until their dad got sick and sadly passed. in the aftermath of his passing they could feel everyone's expectations on them, the weight of their father's legacy. they couldn't take it anymore and eventually ran away to a computer that happened to have a minecraft game open. they accidentally saved some villagers and became crowned by them. it was nice to not have any previous expectations on them.

instead of betraying the cc for power, instead gold is a bit of a coward, tending to run away when things start to get hard or overwhelming. honestly the fact that they stuck around purple for so long is testament to how much they believed in purple's words.

speaking of purple....

Purple -> King

purple goes with their mother to the fair, and the workers allow the two of them to go into the minecraft simulator together. but things go wrong, and in an effort to save her child, orchid throws purple through the safety doors before they close and she gets sucked back into minecraft. purple refuses to believe their mother is gone though, and is determined to rescue her from minecraft's code, even if they have to tear it apart line by line... (a ghost lingering around them watches mournfully).

also they totally think gold is older than they actually are cuz gold's pretty tall for a 15 year old.

(gold is 15, purple is 19)

so the avm swap is kinda a circle swap? gold -> purple -> king -> orchid -> gold.

and now for other characters that i don't have designs for yet

the mercs

I decided to swap them with fanon characters because i thought it'd be interesting to see:

agent swaps with freedom guy

hazard swaps with hangman

primal swaps with the one

ballista swaps with the [selected]

[sillygoblinantics]

Alright now we can officially begin our Adven-tour into the Gen 9 DLCs!!! Spoilers ahead! I also forgot to mention this but my starter for these games a fuecoco I named Toto and in violet I picked quaxly who I named Andrelpheus!

Gobbo’s Semi-Complete Pokémon Retrospective!!!

Pt. 5 — scarlet & violet electric boogaloo

That’s right we’re covering the DLCs that not only act as “postgame” but expand on the story told in scarlet and violet! There are three parts to the rest of scarlet and violet: the teal mask, indigo disk and mochi mayhem. So let’s get our field trip form signed and head on over to��

The Teal Mask

As part of a school collab program we embark on a trip where we meet the brother and sister polar opposites, Carmine (big sister) and Kieran (little brother). Note: Kieran you could say plays a focal role throughout these DLCs as his character truly comes full circle through how he starts here and ends in the epilogue.

Fun fact: kieran’s battle theme as well as most of the ost of scarlet and violet was composed by the funny dog man that is Toby Fox who masterfully scores emotionally high and moving music that truly parallel the character(s) it’s for.

Kitakami is a region that through some dialogue and context clues via the native pokemon sits not too far from Johto! Both being the rural countryside of Japan.

Depending on when you start the game and dlc the Wild Pokémon’s levels will accommodate for where you are in the story! If you beat SV already the pokemon will range from lvl 40 to 60, but if you just began SV the pokemon will be lvl 5 to 11, but if you beat the game while having entered the dlc early, the Tera pokemon you find in the over world will be the level you start out with. Thought I’d share this! (And for Tera pokemon check my jock imoen video that goes over the fact Nemona teaches you terrastikization before you even get to the academy)

Kieran a shy boy who loves myths and battles takes a liking to you as you treat him like a person and even befriends him and lets you know about his special interest that is the legend of the Ogre that has its own festival to tell the tale of the three heroic Pokémon who gave their lives protecting the village from the ogre.*

Something fun you can do during the festival is partake in the best minigame had in Pokémon: Ogre Oustin’

In this minigame you can play either alone or with friends to pop balloons and gather berries before the timer runs out to advance further to three difficulties: easy, normal and hard. If you are able to complete all ten stages of hard mode you and whoever you’re playing with will be rewarded with a jumbo and crafty marked shiny munchlax! Among other rewards like mochi and battle items! (I have a great strategy that is apparently not original but to me it was because I didn’t know about it before I did a deep dive into it ;-;)

We also get to meet the descendant of a certain clan leader from legends arceus, Pierran the photographer and her hisuian growlithe! We help her in this and the indigo disk with uncovering strange pokemon sightings! In Teal Mask we get blood moon ursaluna! (Don’t worry if you can’t beat it the first time the game will let you try again and even recover so keep that in mind! ^^)

The main plot of the game is that the myth we’re told about the ogre turns out to be a one sided perspective of what actually happened that night. But Kieran learning this having felt obligated in deserving the title and ownership of ogrepon lashes out and holds a resentment especially after you are forced to lie to him about the true story.

˚✧₊⁎ ⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎⁺˳✧༚ ⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎ ⁺˳✧༚

Indigo Disk

It’s unova time! Welcome to blueberry academy! We are given a recommendation from carmine to come to BBA as an exchange student long after the events of the Teal Mask. It turns out there was an ulterior motive for our invitation involving the sudden shift in Carmines brother, Kieran who has risen above and beyond to the champion status of the blueberry pokemon league club. Every battle at blueberry academy is a double battle so for you smeargle users it’s a good way to get moves filled out!

Also remember Perrin from earlier? She’s back and looking for these strange beasts (paradox forms of the beast trio [scarlet exclusive] and swords of justice [violet exclusive]) that you have to find and can get before beating the league! (See image below)

Ms Briar after you defeat Kieran requests aid in exploring below area zero she is very careless as she pursues her own research in her connection to the first research expedition. (I will make a separate post of my favorite areas of below area zero (oh and be sure to once you obtain teropagos to the crystal pool in kitikami and bring tissues ;3)

Once you make it to the furthest part and heart of area zero you find what is the last of its kind and baby of the Pokémon in heath’s journal. Right as terapagos sees you and makes its way over Kieran out of panic and after what happened with ogrepon, throws a master ball to nab the legendary before we have a chance to respond. To not spoil more of this Kieran realizes his actions and helps us qualm terapagos and lets us catch it. By the end and return to the academy he confronts us and asks if we can be friends again. Leading us to-

˚✧₊⁎ ⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎⁺˳✧༚ ⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁺˳✧༚ ˚✧₊⁎ ⁺˳✧༚

Epilogue — Mochi Mayhem

The official end of the game. Where we learn who pennys dad is and she calls our mom hot XD

Our friends from the academies finally meet in kitakami where Kieran asks for help with a problem going on in the town.

You have to play it for yourself that’s all I’m saying because it’s good but I will add that the antagonist of this story is a reversal of the classic tale of the boy born in a peach and travels to oni island with his animal companions!

Also it’s evident that Kieran also has a crush on the trainer character via his choice pokemon that he gives you in the coach battles thing after you beat him three times. (Applin)

And with that. We have reached the end of my silly Pokémon sperging! I hope you enjoyed and got to learn a few cool things but ye! I might one day make a video about this but it’s not really my area of YouTube but I can try if yall would like!

And to end with the way the games did here’s celestial

[samkat10423]

Smokey and SV

So, I haven't been playing much because.... well, because I got stung by a wasp and ended up in the hospital. Then had an adverse reaction to the drug they gave me, and yes, it was a mess. But all is good now!

Anyway, here's a few shots from my current towns. The first 3 are from the Dickens town known as Smokey, while the rest are from hancyan's town.

This is a dive bar/tomb from Parsimonious Sims. It's an old, old lot, and I did chop off the top 2 floors to make it fit in better with its neighbors. And I grunged it up a tad. It's down by the town port. Next to it, is that barbershop owned by that Sweeney Todd dude. And then, some apartments.

This is another old lot from TSR by @murfeelee. I think the original was a residential, but here it is the town cemetery. I did mod it a tad to fit the new space, and extended the graveyard out back. Oh! And I added some broken windows by cyclonesue.

Then, back in hancyan's world, I moved the Landgraabs into this house over on 122 Wright Way. Anyway, Kermit - the patriarch of the family - has one of those new "horseless" carriages, because - unlike the Goths - he's progressive. He is currently running for town mayor, while his wife, Kitty, is taking over the family business interests until their eldest, Adrien, can step into his father's shoes. Unbeknownst to them, their eldest son has no intention of stepping anywhere- unless it's a bar. Meanwhile, their daughter Mimi - a royal brat - is trying to convince her father to let her take over. (He still believes women should know "their place." So, despite what he likes to believe about himself, he's not that progressive.) The little boy, is Chester, Nancy Landgraab's father. While their pet poodle is Coco.

This is where the Bachelor family live - over on 24 Sim Lane. They are of Romani descent. The father, Simis, is the principle at the local school, while his wife, Mahala, is the local fortune teller. I based their family history on some of the game info from earlier versions of the family. Anyway, the oldest son, is Fenric, the daughter is called Gabby (because she has the shy trait and rarely says anything), while her twin is Milton - father of the current Simis in Sunset Valley. And their cat is Jinx.

Then, where Erin Kennedy currently lives, is this house owned by the Jones family. I just grabbed them from that Roaring Heights world and brought them here. In this version of their life, she is from Champs Les Sims and married a sim from Twinbrook who decided to settle here. He was a sailor, who promised her just one last voyage, then he would quit. Unfortunately, he and his crewmates met up with a Kraken and that was it for them. Now she's here - in a foreign land where she doesn't really speak the language. Her daughter is growing impatient with the whole "woe is me!" act and just wishes her mother would move on, while the son is just tired of all the fighting. Luckily, he has a new dog - a stray he found and adopted - despite his mother's objections.

[rayhantochtli]

Alright, some headcanons for the SV cast (game)

Uhh kind of a long post, read more after first 5

- Geeta is Paldean but spent a good chunk of her years studying abroad in Galar

- Katy and Rika used to date back in highschool but broke up after spending less and less time together when in college

- Rika is a lesbian and she's very popular with women, Katy knows about that

- Katy is bi!

- Dendra used to dream of being a fighting type gym leader but as time passes she realized she really enjoys teaching

- Iono sometimes does social media stuff for the Paldean league under Geeta's leadership, she still focuses more on her streaming career though

- Iono has met a lot of people thanks to her streaming job, she has done collaborations with a bunch of her coworkers (gym leaders), the only ones that refused were Grusha, Brassius and Larry

- Grusha isn't close to his coworkers at all, at most, he spends time with Ryme when he visits her gym's town

- Tulip, after meeting Rika, has DEFINITELY flirted with her, but always ends up rejected

- Ryme goes to visit the academy more often than other gym leaders because of Tyme being a teacher there

- Iono and Grusha don't like each other, it's mostly Grusha but Iono gets worked up easily

- Arven still struggles to process the events of the game, Saguaro helps him and gets him an internship at Kofu's restaurant

- Nemona would probably want to do a world tour or something to meet and battle strong trainers, she'd leave after school is over for her though

- Florian and Juliana are twins, after the game ends Juliana stays in Paldea to help Raifort investigate the ruinous quartet and Florian gets an internship with Briar to study terastallization abroad in Unova

- Dendra is hopelessly in love with Miriam

- Tulip liked Dendra when they were in high school, but nothing ever happened and the crush faded away

- Rika has a big fat crush on Geeta but doesn't dare to do anything about it because she's very busy with work

- Jacq is a latino guy that lives in Paldea, his family moved there when he was around 5 years old

- Jacq and Larry often run into each other in restaurants, mostly Kofu's

- Grusha's mom is the pokemon equivalent of Russian and his dad is the pokemon equivalent of vietnamese

- Iono's mom is from Galar

- Raifort doesn't really socializes with any other teacher in the school, she spends most of her time doing her own research

- Iono finds out that the league has a talented student working for them and she tries to get Penny to help with her streams as well

- Kofu and Katy spend time together when they're not working in their restaurant/bakery or battling gym challengers

[flightlessribbons]

Switch games, changed lore

SWSH

Gloria and Victor start traveling together after the first gym challenge when Hop begins to set out on his own.

An online show hosted by twin celebrities Castiel and Brant (renamed Shielbert and Swordward) is popular and well watched throughout Galar. Throughout the main story, their episodes and hosts begin to get weirder as they make up stories and rights of their lineage, but their loyal fan base only grows and defends the twins to no end. The show, even if its infamy, gets more popular as the main story goes on.

Rose is a puppet to the twins, as they use Rose to awaken Eternatus under the guise that it’s for Galar’s future. 

Their real plan is to awaken Eternatus to draw out Zacian and Zamazenta and forcefully catch them so they can claim themselves as the second kings of Galar and gain considerable control in the region.

Rose is unaware of their true plans, and goes ahead with Eternatus’s awakening despite his own doubts. Has encouraged and promoted (with different ads, raffles, and campaigns that shows throughout the main story) everyone over the main story to leave Hammerlocke and the Wild Area on a certain date to watch the Gym Season’s finale so the affected area of the city could be empty for the second Darkest Day.

When he realizes Eternatus is much more powerful than he thought when awakened, Rose actually tries to fight it first before Leon gets there, and is knocked out in the process. The final fight with Gloria and Hop proceed as normal after Leon shows up.

During the events of the post-game, Hop and Gloria are accused of being fake heroes by Castiel and Brant’s fan base, as they couldn’t have possibly teamed up with the legendaries that were meant to choose only those of the royal family. The twins pretend to be against such rumors, but are much more unsettling off camera. They threaten Gloria and Hop unless they hand over the rusted sword and shield, and give them two days to deliver it to them. 

They try to get more information on the siblings with the help of Leon and Sonia while they visit Rose in the hospital, to which Rose overhears and tells them about the twins' involvement in the Darkest Day. 

Hop and Glo are harassed by the twins’ fans, adding pressure on social media as well as in person. 

The pressure eventually gets to Hop, who runs away to the Slumbering Weald to be alone, though he is met with Castiel who steals the shield from him. 

The twins soon begin another livestream from one of the gyms, and show off a provoked Zamazenta under their control. Hop and Glo immediately go after them, as their friends help them find out which gym they’re at.

Zacian, enraged at Zamazenta being used, fights along with them, though the brothers frame it as the two wolves coming to test them before their prophecy comes true. 

Hop and Gloria free Zamzenta from their control, and Hop manages to steal the shield back from Castiel. The two wolves leave the area again, and seeing their plans fall out, the brothers get angry at the teens. They talk about all the plans they made and how they messed it all up, but forget they are live streaming. They are taken away by the authorities when Hop and Gloria leave to return the weapons to the Weald.

When they return, they find the wolves waiting for them. Returning their weapons the legendaries prompt them to catch them.

SV

Florian has returned from a gap year and is recovering from health problems that started at an event at Kitakami at the end of his past year.

Juliana is new to the region, and is paired up with Florian for their school adventure.

Both Turo and Sada are Arven’s parents that worked in the Area Zero Lab. 

Both past and future paradox pokemon roam the crater.

Before the events of the main storyline, Turo created an AI of himself to help more at the lab, so he and Sada could balance their work and family time better.

When she was alone in the lab one day, Sada was pushed into one of the portals to the past by an alternate, evil, version of herself that had come from another portal. Alternate Sada took over Sada’s life, but Turo began to notice differences. 

He programmed AI Turo to take care of Arven, as well as a failsafe to protect him from Alternate Sada should anything happen to the real Turo.

Alternate Sada figured out that Turo knew, and threw him into one of the portals to the future. She also trapped AI Turo in one of the labs to prevent him from stopping her.

Alternate Sada eventually died in the lab blasts, but she was the parent who neglected Arven all those years that he had the most memories of.

[wafflecat2]

Headcanon time!

Okay. What if in SV when you choose the starters and the left over one is taken care of Clavell, yeah?

What if they represent something from Clavell's personality/how he acts?

I chose sprigatito, so Clavell had fuecoco. Since Skeledirge is the singer pokemon and Clavell is the director, he has to do some speeches for student's and probably the staff too. He probably has to have good voice for doing them, right?

Well, what if he has a Meowscarada? Meowscarada is a magician pokemon how does it fit Clavell?

Well, Meowscarada is also know to do tricks and "illusions" to others and what Clavell do? He disguises himself in the team star story to learn the truth about the whole thing. Tho I don't think he's the jealous type but who know! Maybe he is! He could be hiding something...

Quaquaval is kinda tricky, but since it's a dancer pokemon and Clavell don't really dance.

Well! Quaquaval has strong legs and pretty quick too!

Don't say that when you're in Iono's gym and he shows up and runs like this? Eventho he looks like a noodle, he can run and he's quite fast at it.

He also has to be on his feet for a long time since he's the school director. Don't think so he sits all day in his office

[belsasim]

So, here you have him. Gen 4 heir Kit Dreamer is a young adult. Yay! Now that Aska is born and he is a young adult, he's going to use his real name again and he also has stopped dying his hair. He actually likes the haircut though, so for now, he's going to keep it. He just needs to check if it's in line with the military guidelines.

---

I know I had a post with his generation's goals recently when he ran away with Penny, but just because, here is everything again:

Generation IV: The Paladin

“Whatever their origin and their mission, paladins are united by their oaths to stand against the forces of evil. Whether sworn before a god’s altar and the witness of a priest, in a sacred glade before nature spirits and fey beings, or in a moment of desperation and grief with the dead as the only witness, a paladin’s oath is a powerful bond. It is a source of power that turns a devout warrior into a blessed champion.” - The Player’s Handbook

Your parents did their best to offer you direction, but often their advice was “follow your heart” and “listen to your gut”. You took this in to your own hands, and decided there must be a more concrete way to view life: There must be good, and there must be bad, and bad can never be too far away. You devote your life to solidifying your moral code, and immortalising it all in writing.

Traits: Self-Assured, Family-Oriented and Snob

Aspiration: Successful Lineage

Career: Military (Officer branch) (SV) and/or writing royalties

Goals:

Max the writing and parenting (P) skills -> just started

Earn the Argumentative (P) trait to help you further your cause -> DONE

Always stand up to Evil and/or Mean Sims, you should never have a positive relationship with Sims who have these traits -> Ongoing, but Kit has been doing this since he was a teen

Whatever your offspring roll is for this generation, add three  -> You'll see at the end of this post... It'll be a challenge!

Always help your offspring with their homework and school projects

Because I play on a longer lifespan (I used to kinda double the ‘normal’ lifespan with MCCC, as the ‘long’ lifespan just is a bit too long, but now I have a system where every human year equals 3 sim days approximately), I have added some extra goals for myself for this generation too:

Complete the aspiration ‘Bestselling Author’  -> not started yet, I'm planning on Penny starting a writing career first and inspiring Kit to write too

Get the ‘Energetic’ lifestyle -> in progress, but with the running away and the pregnancy, this faded to the background a bit

All toddlers max out all toddler skills (to get the ‘Top Notch Toddler’ trait), extra fitting for his generation -> not started yet :-)

All teens max out the scouting career -> not started yet :-)

Offspring roll: 5 + 3 (Yup, that's 8! 8 kiddo's... I hope Penny will be fine with this, because these two are endgame to me)

[fryingpan1234567]

That Hermitcraft hero AU list I promised

yeah. here you go (:

edit: no art for y’all lol if you saw the original post congrats, but if you happened to have aphantasia or are just not good at visualizing, sorry! no art, it doesn’t go over well lmao

happy reading!

Impulse: SV

powers: electricity + thunder

info: he’s really good with press lol he usually goes on missions with kids because they all love him- during the day, the iDimpy factory ‘bought’ the Hermit Compound and ‘converted it to a chocolate factory’ and Impulse runs it lol (dw it’s still for superheroes, the bottom couple levels were just edited a bit HE MAKES REALLY GOOD CANDY)

appearance: MR. IMPULSE AS WILLY WONKA MY BELOVED (his super suit is metal like Iron Man and has a glowing yellow i in the middle)

Zed: Worm Man

powers: sheep [: (NO HIS NAME DOESN’T MAKE SENSE IT’S FOR THE MEME)

info: fs a mad scientist- he teaches middle school science during the day XD

appearance: blond, blue eyes, ram horns that he tells his students is just a headband, lab coat + goggles even when not in the lab lol- his super suit is just. Worm Man. you know

Tango: Blaze

powers: fire + can change back and forth between super form and civilian 

info: he’s super funny lol 

appearance: yellow hair that looks like fire (it is actually on fire in super form), red eyes, sharp teeth in super form, if you’ve seen @lunarcrown ‘s Tango art that’s the fit style I’m thinking for the super suit

Keralis: Cyclopes

powers: siren Keralis my beloved

info: he loves kids but has kind of a spooky look to him- don’t worry, they warm up to him eventually and even call him Papa K!!

appearance: larger than average eyes but is otherwise basically normal lol his super fit is just like Aquaman style yk lots of scales

Bdubs: Apollo

powers: photokinesis

info: shreepy boi, moss hoodie, short (don’t tell him)

appearance: floofy brown hair held back w/ a red bandana, Latino, super fit is just a Greek chiton lol (he’s glowing bright enough you can’t even see him most of the time)

Ren: Red King

powers: werewolf

info: he can control which form and how he acts in said forms pretty much always- scary wolf hulk for bad guys and fluffy puppy for kids

appearance: in human form he has ears and a tail :DD

• Doc: 77

powers: let’s imagine a cross between the Hulk, the Winter Soldier, and a creeper

info: he is very good at fighting (: he’s cyborg and has green in super form

appearance: literally like seven feet tall

Scar: the Wizard

powers: telekinesis, magic

info: he is actually disabled, he just uses telekinesis to walk around as a super lol (HE HAS A MASSIVE MAGIC CAT THAT HE DISGUISES AS A NORMAL ONE DURING THE DAY)

appearance: covered in scars (obvi), bright green eyes, suit is Hot Guy fit

Cub: Bear

powers: Vex wings, skulk

info: he’s very friendly, but his super state is, uh… possessed. by the Deep Dark. I’m sure it’s fine

appearance: dark curly hair, galaxy eyes in super form but otherwise normal blue, super fit is just him covered in skulk- I’m thinking Venom vibes (SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS CONCEPT)

Grian: Evo

powers: BIGASS PARROT WINGS (and advanced sight)

info: pesky bird boy lmao he does the Jurassic Park claw tap thing when he’s hunting + on stealth missions

appearance: yeah he’s got bird feet lol he doesn’t leave the compound very much bc he can’t really disguise or lie about that

Pearl: Moth

powers: moth wings + antennae

info: she is in fact an alien but it’s okay she’s very nice unless she’s hunting with her dogs

appearance: again wings and antennae, brown hair with lighter streaks, purple eyes, super fit is like Storm/ Starfire

Gem: Dawn

powers: fire but in sunset yellow/ orange/ red/ purple colors lol

info: she’s actually descended from Gaelic royalty lmao

appearance: deer horns, orange hair which in super form turns to a fire ombré like Starfire, suit has pink honeycomb patterns

• Cleo: Medusa

powers: necromancy and turning people to stone (:

info: she died in Ancient Greece and rose as a zombie after Hades, who fell in love with her, granted her “life”. she is immortal 

appearance: a zombie lol (but a hot one I promise you) with orange snakes for hair

Stress: Monster

powers: flower queennn

info: she doesn’t like dark/ stealth missions as much, but she’s all for patrol whenever

appearance: always has a flower crown for some reason?? eyes glow pink when she uses her powers and the suit is like that one fanart of Isabella from Encanto as Spider-Man

Iskall: Doom

powers: lmao they’re just a cyborg

info: a very nice person, they just can’t seem to say hello correctly

appearance: brown hair, cyber eye, tol, they pretty much wear the suit everywhere and tells people it’s cosplay and they’re their own biggest fan

Etho: Kitsune

powers: snow/ ice/ illusion mist

info: he may have accidentally adopted the New York Governer lmao whoops (he hates kids except for this one)

appearance: white hair, mask to cover scars, one red eye damaged by redstone, really tall, white fox ears and nine tails in super form

xB: Crafted

powers: Black Widow style with a big white wolf (he and Jellie get along I promise)

info: we love him but he’s an antisocial dork

appearance: black hair, blue eyes, literally just. a guy. he’s a guy. he wears fins behind his ears so people think he’s more dangerous lol

Hypno: Memorizd

powers: memory wipe + telepathy

info: he’s the main one who deals with civilians lol especially if they saw something they weren’t supposed to 

appearance: aaaalways wears the black bandana over their hair, tol, emo /j- the suit is like a ninja

Wels: the Knight

powers: lmao he’s a knight idk what to tell you

info: he’s a knight with standard knight principles, but he’s chill about it. he likes theater but makes fun of the fact that he likes theater lol

appearance: blond, blue eyes, tol, he fights in a modern-looking suit of armor that keeps most of its medieval design

• Jevin: Slimer

powers: slime boi (like Frozone x Honey Lemon but slime yk)

info: he’s in the same boat as Grian- there’s really no disguising being made entirely of slime

appearance: teal slime lol (it runs in the family) supposedly he’s got a way to turn more human-looking but he hasn’t quite figured it out yet

Xisuma: Void

powers: time, space, and interdimensional portals!!

info: he and his twin are the leaders of their own groups, and they’re actually from another dimension and can’t breathe oxygen

appearance: that’s why he always wears a helmet! it’s his bones suit :DD

False

powers: superstrength, but she doesn’t use it very often

info: she’s like the Hermits’ resident suit maker that’s what she does lol

appearance: blonde choppy hair held back with welding goggles, brown eyes, covered in freckles

Mumbo

powers: none unless you count exceptional redstone skills

info: tech guy!! when someone busts something, they go straight to Mumbo

appearance: black hair, mustache (because of course), tol??, suit. always. Mumbo what

Joe

powers: none

info: the medic, because lord knows they need one

appearance: green hair lol

Beef

powers: none, but he’s really good with knives 

info: he makes the food and potions, but the Hermits keep telling him not to wear that bloodstained apron around everywhere. it’s suspicious

appearance: again with the apron, and he’s scarily buff. kids are scared of him but he’s very nice really

~~~~~

Impulse had known for a very long time that he wasn’t exactly… normal.

Which isn’t a bad thing! But, the static shock people got when they touched him while he didn’t feel a thing, storms brewing when he had less-than-ideal days, and really mostly the fact that his phone never died when he held it- the charge almost seemed to be going up- all that did not seem ordinary.

So when he was recruited for a hero team because everyone at his school had apparently reported his strangeness, he wasn’t exactly surprised. But he was definitely ready to make a difference.

~

So Zed was some kind of sheep/ human hybrid. Did that make life a lot more difficult? In some ways, yes, but mostly no.

See, he had really good hearing. And he never had to worry about riding his skateboard, because his balance was always perfect and his skull was uncrackable. Plus he can jump like five feet on solid ground, which is pretty sick.

But people still thought he was weird. They all knew he’d grow up to be a hero… or a villain. So there was always a thin line of separation from the rest of the world, like they wanted to treat him like a fragile thing that could potentially attempt to end the world in the near future.

He would never, of course. But the only place he could really find contentment was with the Hermits.

~

Tango had discovered his powers in a… less pleasant manner.

Basically all he remembered was yelling. It was scary, he was seven years old, and… something just broke.

Then there was fire.

His parents, as far from that title as they were, did not make it out. Somehow, he managed to escape unscathed. Physically, anyways.

Foster care was pretty lame, but it was better than his old home life. Still, the only people he views as family are his team.

~

Keralis had loved singing for as long as he could remember. Especially because everyone loved to listen!

His mother had come from the sea, and his father was a fisherman. Keralis liked that his parents were sort of like a fairy tale. His mother taught him how to sing when he was young, but especially to control what he sang. She said he could really hurt people, and while at the time he didn’t know what that meant, he went along with it.

Until one day at a summer camp, they had a screaming contest (they were middle schoolers, don’t question it). Every window in the camp shattered, and six kids had to go home with ruptured eardrums.

He was immediately handed over to the American Hero Monitoring compound. There, he met X and Bdubs, and they didn’t mind his voice. Plus his parents visited on weekends! The only thing he loves more than singing is being a hero.

~

Bdubs and his brother had learned early on that not everyone likes heroes.

Maybe they shouldn’t have shown people that the two of them could play catch with a ball made of actual light, because they were then immediately accused of witchcraft. Witchcraft, really? Is this the sixteenth century?

Their family was forced to move to New York, and the AHM got ahold of both boys not long after. Because they bragged once, to a bunch of classmates in a small-town school that they’d been going to their entire lives. Bdubs opted to be a hero; show people that he can be good, but Puncenge wasn’t quite ready to forgive them all. He promised he wouldn’t ever use his powers for bad, but when he broke out of the compound with X’s twin, Bdubs didn’t go with.

The rest of the Hermits would probably kill him if they found out he was still in contact with one of America’s biggest supervillains.

~

There was a famous werewolf cryptid in Britain, and a lot of people were after him.

The original Hermit Initiative Program, with only Keralis, Xisuma, Tango, and Bdubs- well, their first mission was to capture him. Luckily, it wasn’t all that difficult.

See, Ren was not a monster. Most of the time he lived in town and was just… a normal dude. On the days where he was too sore or lazy to put a hat on and hide his tail somewhere inconvenient, he just let people believe he was a furry, because he couldn’t give less of a fuck.

So tracking down a guy with literal wolf ears and a tail wasn’t difficult, especially when he wasn’t doing much to hide. Ren was more than happy to get away from the hunters and to a place where he could just live and be normal.

~

Doc was the result of several government experiments- none of them good.

When scientists had discovered a new species of what looked like furry green things that walked on three legs and looked sad all the time, they figured whatever it was should be kept hidden from the public.

Especially after one of them blew a crater in the side of a mountain and killed three people. 

A recently convicted scientist himself was selected to be, uh… tested on. It was a lot of blood and pain, but hey, that’s not a bad exchange for immortality and infinite explosive material.

~

Scar lost mobility in his legs thanks to a particularly risky mission in his rookie days- he got every civilian out, but there was definitely a cost.

It’s okay though!! His telekinesis allows him to move freely when he’s super-ing, and he has a big magical cat to keep him company at home. He was more than thrilled when there was an offer extended to him to be a Hermit, although he found it funny that it took them so long to locate him (a disabled person could never be a hero! *cough* Daredevil haters *cough*)

~

Cub was a scientist who… may have flown a little too close to the sun. See, he wanted powers, and he was successfully able to give himself wings! Unfortunately for him, he was too curious to stop there.

See, he’d found something called skulk deep, deep underground, in a buried city he and his team were excavating. Something big and very, very loud kept killing them whenever they took more than a few steps in, though, so the site was declared off-limits to everyone.

But Cub snuck in by himself, all the way to the center of the city. There was a portal there, and when he stepped through it… well, he either met God or Satan. Either way, now he’s basically Venom but with a much better color scheme, and he can no longer die! The only catch is that he’s a little bit possessed when using his powers, but the Hermits are there to look out for him.

~

Grian learned how to hunt very quickly and very suddenly, on the day superheroes were made illegal around the world.

Because, well, the best of the best were after him.

A bird boy! And a pesky one at that! Who used to be a hero! Everyone wanted to get their hands on Evo, and unfortunately, Grian was forced into hiding. Not that it was difficult- he had wings and razor sharp talons, so it wasn’t like anyone non-super could really get to him, but that didn’t stop people from trying.

He’s all for staying in the Hermit compound all day. It means he can lay out pranks while all the normal people are at work.

~

So maybe Pearl was born in Area 51. That didn’t exactly make her an alien. Maybe. Probably. 

Listen. She has wings and antennae, plus a big pretty spaceship DNA-encoded to her, but did that mean she wasn’t from Earth? Of course not! There are plenty of weird people there. Plus, her ancestors were worshiped by the people of Sanctuary. It’s like… fine.

She’s happy to be a hero, of course. When she got an in on the most prestigious hero group in America (Australia was totally dominated by some clown who looked like a gingerbread man), she was absolutely all in. Hermits are better than some lazer beam, anyways.

~

When Gem transitioned, she didn’t think it would come with fire powers. But hey, bonus.

She kept her antlers, but she actually liked that part. Her people didn’t see her as any less of a princess or priestess, if anything they loved her more for bringing that kind of power to their city, Dawn, which she took for her hero alias.

She had two groups she was a part of, actually, plus with the business of being Gaelic royalty to a group of people previously thought to be extinct, she had a full schedule. But she of course wouldn’t trade it for the world.

~

Cleo lived in Locri, Italy, way back in Ancient Greek times. She loved her patron goddess, Persephone, and didn’t actually mind Hades. She worked in the city’s mausoleum and crypt, so she got used to death pretty quick.

Well, Hades took a particular interest in her. Not that he could do anything, of course, she was a priestess of both him and his wife. But he harbored a crush of sorts all the way through her life.

She did die. She was mortal, after all. But she was so gorgeous, Hades couldn’t bear that loss, so… he granted her eternal ‘life’. She was green and missing a few pieces and was messily sewn together, plus her fiery orange hair had turned to snakes like Medusa’s, but she walked the earth again.

She never died again. She can’t, which makes her the ideal hero, although she won’t hesitate to paralyze you for a comment about her hourglass shape-

~

Honestly, Stress didn’t even want to be a hero, mostly. She owned a flower shop and she’d gotten there with the help of exactly zero men, and she didn’t have an interest in changing the world or anything.

Only problem- she had superpowers, and they were sort of hard to contain. Whenever she got antsy, cacti started to grow out of her carpet under her feet, and after getting those stupid invisible thorns stuck between her toes one too many times, she decided to get out and do things with her powers.

The Hermits were happy to have her, and she’s happy to report that she and the other girls are almost their own little team within the big group- and they’re fine-tuned to perfection.

~

Iskall’s modifications were actually their choice. There was an offer by some mysterious guy in a suit to be rich and powerful beyond belief, and since they were sick of living on the street, they took it.

So they ripped an arm and an eye out. Was it worth it? Definitely. 

No one makes fun of them anymore, for being NB or anything else, and they did pay them a lot. The only catch was singing onto a government sanctioned hero organization, and they were happy to go with their girlfriend to the Hermits. She slapped them for being an idiot and allowing themself to be experimented on, but she was happy to have them along.

~

If you don’t know what a Kitsune is, it’s a Japanese mythical creature that has two forms: fox and human (usually female). They’re kind of like sirens, and they’re absolutely stunning, but very manipulative and usually malicious.

Etho picked the name for the fact that he’s like half fox lol not that he’s evil; his ears and nine tails match the color of his hair. He is in fact immortal, but he doesn’t find that out until someone tries to off him and it just… doesn’t work. He can scar and be wounded, yeah, but death can never catch him.

~

There are a number of ways to become an assassin. Maybe you were raised since you were a kid. Maybe you were drafted by the government to cut back your sentence Suicide Squad-style. xB signed on in high school for extra credit.

Yeah, his history teacher was secretly a hitman, and students could sign a contract of silence to go on missions for extra credit. Sounds sketch, but it wasn’t terrible. He learned how to kill a man in over a hundred ways just with his hands and didn’t have to learn a thing about the Cold War through all of high school.

He decided just killing people was sort of immoral… although mostly that if he got good enough heroes would start to notice him. He figured if he couldn’t outrun them, he’d better join. And it was a good thing he did- he got his car-sized dog because of it.

~

Hypno was the most popular kid in his school for one reason: he had control over people’s memories. When someone asked him to make their teacher forget a due date, it magically happened. If an admin found out and tried to stop him, he wiped that as well.

Maybe he got a little carried away. He panicked one day and used it on his parents, only he put in too much effort in his lack of control, and… next thing he knew they were asking who he was and why he was in their house.

He hid from the AHM for as long as he could, thinking he’d be arrested. When they finally did track him down, they agreed to not throw him in a cell on one condition: join the Hermits. Honestly, not a bad deal.

~

In high school, Wels was… a huge nerd.

Yeah, he was on the varsity football team. But all his real passion went into theater and larping.

He and his twin brother, who was in the same boat, were exploring an abandoned excavation site behind their house one night, when the floor caved and they fell into the depths of what looked like an old buried building.

There were voices. The boys were knighted by ghosts and gifted unbreakable suits of armor. They left that site and had to pretend like everything was normal and fine with their lives. It came with a dope sword though, so who’s complaining?

~

Being made entirely of slime was cool because you couldn’t really be injured, but not as great because of how plain weird that made you.

Jevin and his cousin Charlie, who was also a hero, were in fact made of slime, as is their whole family. It’s just a weird gene that no one will specify on, but Jev doesn’t really mind.

The thing is, he’s resistant/ immune to pretty much everything. Extreme temperatures just sort of make him slower, and everything else goes through him or gets stuck in him. Not all that convenient, but it’s a nice perk when saving people. He doesn’t have to worry about himself.

~

Xisuma and his twin are the most powerful beings to ever exist.

Both of them can open portals through space, time, and other dimensions. They’re the only recorded people with that kind of power, ever. It makes them good leaders, but when one is constantly trying to destroy the world while the other is always trying to stop that from happening, scales balance out. If they were on the same side, there would be zero crime anywhere. Ever.

~

False started her business building little robots to make people’s lives easier, like a Roomba modified for carpet or a drone that pathfinds from your fridge to your living room to deliver drinks, and then it evolved from there. 

When it started to get a bit too big to handle, that’s when she conveniently met Mumbo.

The two of them had been working on something highly illegal- a weaponized drone in the shape of a person to be piloted around like a dummy hero- when Evo and Medusa fell right through their warehouse roof, singed around the edges and badly hurt.

Mumbo and  False’s service was so highly rated, the Hermits decided to officially adopt them into their team.

~

Joe and Beef share a kitchen/ lab, which is a good thing, because they’re kind of in the same field. Beef makes potions and food, and Joe is the healer. They’ve always been Hermits, as in assigned by the AHM always.

When various Hermits come in to steal food Beef usually throws either the nearest piece of fruit or a knife, whichever is closest to his hand. Everyone knows you don’t touch the cookies until you have express permission.

And Joe has patched up so many burns, bullet wounds, and stabs, that stitches are literally a no-brainer and he can be watching a movie in the background without a problem. It’s much more fun when heroes are made legal again so he can actually repair real damage made by supervillains.

The Hermits love them, don’t worry, no matter how many needles or knives are pointed their way.

~~~~~

so! there you go! please, PLEASE ask me to write stuff for this au, because I’m more than happy to do any hero scenario you can think of! if you want a villain list I’m sure that can be achieved, and although they’re mostly just Helsmits, it’s a fun concept.

so you know, think up a mission and send it my way. I’m so ready. what did you think?

[doubleddenden]

Decided to indulge myself with another trainer sprite and trainer card for myself- once again using this site to help with team organization and overall for clean assets and clean asset sizing

More info under the cut

Something different I wanted to do was try to make myself comfortable with easing up my usual shading style.

These two, for instance, are May and Tracey in my usual style (i forget if i uploaded these- these are from ny Ash AU basically). Personally, I think it can pop, but there's also a lot more work put into them and they come across as less authentic, not to mention I'd like to steer towards a simpler style that I can make pop with less shading.

For a standard splice edit, i think it's not too bad. The outfit is based on a combo of clothes I own I wish I felt confident wearing in public, lighter weight clothes I wear in the summer to cool off, and I even gave myself the headband I wear when I do outdoor work. Also, I wanted to indulge a little- I'm getting a bit more muscular and slightly leaner lately, and I wanted a sprite to kind of reflect this.

As for the card itself, it's a modified Academy Key I made previously for a bunch of OCs, and again, I kinda see this as a Keychain kinda deal. There's also sort of influence from a driver's license- grade indicating what type of trainer you are (and not grading percentage in school lol). Kinda like how real life licenses can show certification for normal cars are different vehicles.

I imagine you insert the pass key into a pc like a thumb drive to access your pc and your party that way, with your party being represented and changed digitally.

The team I chose is basically a mix and mash of Pokemon I've had on my mind lately and wanna use more often. It was actually kinda hard to narrow it down due to all the type clashes with my favs (for instance, having Hisuian Samurott, Scizor, Golisopod, Corviknight, Alolan Marowak, and Hisuian Typhlosion would have so much type overlap, and I'm way too picky about that).

They're all Pokemon I've owned and used and could see myself taking a vacation with em.

1. Doujikiri/Shiny Hisuian Samurott, the same shiny I shiny bred for in my Indigo Disk adventure. It was between this or my shiny Umbreon, but I ended up going with Hamurott because it's my favorite starter, and I can see myself walking with it like it's a big dog (which it does in SV) or swim with it.

2. Klamps/Scizor, my main ace in my last playthrough of Soul Silver. I've had a strange hyperfixation on it lately, and who could blame me? It's a cool design. I'd imagine this would probably be the "sakuga" Pokemon- or at least the designated close combat fight scene Pokemon.

3. Lightning/Jolteon, I own 3 but Lightning is the one I used in XD GoD in my first successful playthrough of it. Jolteon actually used to be my favorite eeveelution for a while, and I want a little spunky doggo to run around with

The next three were actually on my Teal Mask team

4. Yoginator/Blood Moon Ursaluna, who is easily one of my strongest mons. Idk, mine hates me lol, so maybe we'd bond.

Nah for real he hates me. This was from a selfie I took in game

5. Hollabax/Baxcalibur. I dunno, he's not particularly strong and tanks hits like a missile through tissue paper, but I kinda wanna vibe with it again. Could see us using its ice to keep cool

6. Shogun/Hisuian Typhlosion. Again, kinda missed mine. Johtonian Typhlosion was my first Pokemon, and I vibed with the Hisuian variant a bit. Could see it as a stand in for my old girl. It was between this and Alolan Marowak, and I just like Typhlosion a little more.

That's all for them.

The team is made using the team maker link, the trainer sprites are a mix of editing from official sprites and scratch work, and the card is a template I made myself.