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blindbatalex · 3 years ago

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proud to present the next installment of the carraville royalty au (masterpost; ao3) [[cw for implied past character death]]

~*~

Gary startled awake.

He had been stuck in the past again, in the grip of another nightmare, but the dream did not grant him so much as a memory of itself as it receded out of sight, leaving behind only that tell-tale dread that sits deep in your chest. He sat up in bed. It was dark, no doubt the middle of the night; he was alone; the only light came from the fire which was throwing strange shadows across the floor. Far too bright for this time of- he thought but he startled again before he could finish his thought.

“Hey.”

Jamie.

He was not alone in the room. Jamie was sat in an armchair he dragged by the fireplace. He was only a silhouette with the firelight behind him, more shadow than man. Gary got out of bed, and walked over to him, not bothering to hide his frown.

“Is your shoulder acting up?”

Not like him to be awake in the middle of the night otherwise; that particular honour was exclusively Gary’s.

“No,” Jamie replied and Gary noticed now the cup in his hand, the wine bottle on the floor—his flushed cheeks and unfocused eyes. His husband was wholly and totally sloshed by the looks of it. “Just enjoying myself some peace and quiet without your constant chattering.” He took a swig of his drink and smiled. “Was, anyway.”

Gary spared a longing glance at the courtyard visible outside their window. Things he would have given for some fresh air now, but alas, ‘Manc lord sneaks around Liverpudlian castle at night’ did not bode well for the tentative peace between their two countries. He sighed, and as he walked over to the table to get his own cup before dragging the second armchair across from Jamie, he pretended that was the only factor stopping him, that he would have been able to ignore how broken Jamie’s smile was and leave otherwise.

He poured himself some wine, opting to wait for Jamie to say something first. A drunk Jamie was a talkative one and indeed it barely took him two minutes before he said-

“The sighting of the first stork of the year is very important in my family.”

Gary didn’t know what he was expecting him to say, really, but it was not that. Then again he did have a habit of surprising Gary in the most unexpected of ways. Gary took a sip of his own drink and waited for him to continue.

“If the first stork you see is in flight, it means prosperity for the next year, but if it is sat on a branch or the ground, it heralds misfortune, and the more storks you see the more pronounced the effect.” Jamie’s eyes were lost in the fire. He was frowning and Gary had a strong urge to rub his eyes—all of this over storks?

“Last year, Stevie and I were travelling through the Merseyside woods when we sighted the first one,” Jamie said quietly. “Five of them. All perched on the branches of an elm tree.”

Ah. Half of a log broke off in the fireplace, eaten alive to its core by the merciless flames, and fell with a great crackle, in a flurry of sparks like a fallen warrior. Jamie did not speak of G.errard, not to Gary, not outside of a passing reference. Gary did not speak to him of David. They carried with them wounds no eye can see and no balm can heal but these were theirs to carry alone.

“We were making camp in a clearing for the night,” Jamie continued. “Stevie grinned when I pointed the storks to him.” Jamie’s lips curled up with the ghost of a smile, G.errard’s smile, maybe. “‘Don’t you worry, James,’ he said, ‘if any sorrows come to bother you, I will draw my sword and fight them off for you.’ Then he drew his sword and pretended to fight what I presume were the upcoming sorrows.” Jamie shook his head. “He never took it seriously. But he was like that. He was such a respected leader among the men, always so serious; you wouldn’t believe what he was like when it was just the two of us.” He chuckled, the sound bitter as it was wistful. “Five storks. I saw them and I let myself get distracted by his grin and-”

Jamie stopped with an uneven exhale. Gary could see him there, in that clearing, much younger even if it was only a year ago, smiling despite himself as G.errard fought off invisible enemies and light faded around them.

“Yes, indeed—if only you had, you could have singlehandedly stopped a war that was years in the making.”

Jamie’s gaze snapped to him.

“Don’t be smug, Gary,” he sneered.

He had warned Gary of his temper when they first met and yet Gary had only seen it in brief flashes so far, like now. He didn’t know if Jamie just did not show himself to him or if that part of him had died alongside everything bright and beautiful about them with their late husbands in the war.

Gary lifted his free arm in a show of surrender, and after a short moment, Jamie let his eyes drift back to the fire, jaw still clenched, still frowning.

For a while, the only sounds in the room were that of their breathing and the crackling of the fire.

Until they weren’t.

“David was the life of the party, of any party. He could charm the pants off of anyone and the king would regularly ask for our presence when he had a tricky foreign guest to entertain. Last feast we were at, at our own castle-”

Gary stopped as if his brain had only now caught up to his mouth. He did not talk to Jamie about David, he never had. The wine burned his throat but was already warm in his veins; the log from earlier had burned into nothing. He wanted to stop, but he could see it there so clearly, their great banquet hall, David laughing with his hair as golden as this fire in front of Gary, his head thrown back. It was so vivid Gary thought he could reach in and touch it if he only strained enough.

“After-” he continued, “we were one of the last ones to leave the banquet. On the way back to our chambers, I said something, I can’t remember what it was exactly.” He had thought and thought about it since, tried to recall what he said, but like water through cupped hands, it had slipped past his mind and was now gone. Like David. “I said, ‘everyone loves you,’ or some such thing, and he laughed. ‘Good thing I love you the most, then,’ he said.”

Mm, Gary had replied in return. He said he didn’t mind David glowing with attention, and he didn’t, but well, he couldn’t say he minded this not-so-occasional reminder either. Of course, so did David.

‘What do you mean, mm?’

Gary could not deny him anything he asked for, never could. He didn’t even drag it out.

‘Means I love you more than anything too.’

David’s head snapped to him then and he was grinning now, a grin that stretched from one ear to the next and sparkled in his eyes.

‘More than anything?’

He was more than a little drunk and so was Gary.

‘Yes, David.’

He was the most beautiful person Gary had ever seen, even in the dimly lit corridors of their castle.

‘More than the world?’

He was positively preening now.

‘Yes, David.’

‘More than-” David hiccupped and lowered his voice. ‘Mancunia?’

‘Yes, David.’

He gave Gary a skip and a curtsy.

‘More than…’ He snickered, ‘Mrs. C.antona’s snowcakes?’

Gary snickered too.

‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.’

Drunk as they were, he didn’t expect David to come at him like he did and pin him against the wall, hard enough for the stone to dig into his back.

‘Is that so?’

One of his eyebrows was cocked in an arch, challenging Gary, his cheeks rosy with the wine. Gary looked into his beautiful green eyes, and said

‘Yes.’

When he managed to tear himself away from the past, he found Jamie looking at him. staring almost.

“I just wish,” he said and he was more tipsy than he thought. He did not talk to Jamie about David. “Just wish I told him I loved him more than the cakes.”

Jamie laughed, a sincere full-bellied laugh that roared through the room, and it was now Gary’s turn to be offended.

It was silly, he knew that, but no sillier than storks surely, and time after time he had gone back to that moment, to that ‘is that so-’

Because David had kissed him next and they stayed there tangled in one another until they heard a servant scuttling past and came to their senses, and Gary never did revise his answer when he loved David more than any cake in the world.

“Oh come on,” Jamie doubled down. “You told him you loved him more than the whole world, and your kingdom, which I’m pretty sure counts as treason, by the way. Obviously he knew you loved him more than some bloody cakes.”

“Not just some cakes!”

“Fine, more than Mrs C.antona’s snowcakes, specifically.”

Gary was feeling daft now at having brought this up in the first place, and yet, stubborn as he was, he doubled down too.

“You never had them.”

They were served at their wedding but Jamie had not so much as touched them, even after Gary suggested he should.

“What does that have got to do with anything?”

At the very least, this was the Jamie Gary knew, stubborn and obstinate and not moping over storks.

“They are my favourite cakes in the world, which David knew.”

Jamie laughed again, although it was softer this time and shorter, as if a friend he loved had told a brilliant joke.

“If I had to choose between you and the cakes, for example, I would choose the cakes,” Gary bristled, but when he looked up, Jamie’s eyes were- he looked down quickly, at the stone floor, a canvas now for the patterns the firelight drew and retracted.

“Look, Gary,” Jamie’s voice, like his eyes, was fond. Gary really wanted some fresh air now, a way out of this room and out of the past. “I will say this once and only because I’m sloshed. I will deny it rigorously if you bring it up again, alright?” He groaned, as if steeling himself for something thoroughly unpleasant, and Gary found himself looking up again, too curious for his own good. What was the Scouser playing at?

“Alright,” Jamie muttered, mostly to himself, before he turned to Gary. “You are insufferable.”

Ah well, and here Gary was expecting something unexpected. His bad.

“Yes,” he replied pointedly, “you said so before,” but Jamie barreled on.

“Even leaving your kingdom aside, you can’t sit still, the kitchens have really had it both with your endless appetite for dessert but also for your attempts to improve things that require no improvement. I will honestly not be surprised if one of them kills you in your sleep one of these days.”

“Is there a point to this?” Gary felt the need to interject. Because he had heard all of this before, multiple times.

Jamie met his gaze.

“Yes,” he said. “But, you are a good man, simple as that. And if I can tell that in only a couple of months of knowing you, there is no way B.eckham didn’t know just how much he was loved.”

Five words, five simple words; he had spoken them so quickly and yet they had somehow reached in and lodged themselves in Gary’s throat. He didn’t know what to say, what he could say. Was it a trick of the firelight, this look in Jamie’s eyes?

“Well, your reason is just as dumb,” he scoffed eventually.

Jamie’s mouth curled downward, the look was gone, and, good, Gary thought to himself.

“There was no way you could have predicted nor stopped the war based a few storks and you know that.”

Jamie opened his mouth to interject but Gary didn’t let him. This felt good. Anger felt good, familiar like a well-used bow.

“A-a-a, I know what you are going to say. But if you had taken your ominous warning seriously, if you had known, then you would have used the time you have left so much better. You would have let him fuck you senseless each night and told him you love him every morning, over and over again. Memorised his smile, the colour of his eyes, every inch of his body. If you had only known.”

From the expression on Jamie’s face, Gary could tell he hit the nail on the head. “I know,” he said, laughed. “Well, life doesn’t work like that, alright? You couldn’t have known, not based on storks, not based on anything. None of this is your fault.”

Gary stopped and the silence that rushed in was deafening. Jamie wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his tunic for they were shining now. Gary touched his own face and frowned at his own fingers when they came back wet. Across from him, Jamie’s shoulders rose and fell, just the once, in a quiet sob that Gary felt in his own chest. He wanted to do something he never had before, something like- like- to wipe those tears himself, or to cup Jamie’s cheek in his hands. Comfort him, like he had comforted Gary after so many nightmares that left him a broken, sobbing mess. But it was more than that. What he wanted- God. What would David think of him if he saw him now?

I miss his smile, Gary wanted to say, because he did, every day. He missed David and he loved David, so much. He wanted someone to know, to understand. And yet, here he was- God.

Jamie for his part, took in a deep and wiped his eyes again, and the moment had passed, leaving only something curling and pulling in Gary’s chest where his heart used to be.

“Let’s never do that again,” Jamie huffed and Gary agreed readily.

“Backgammon?” he asked; he didn’t think any of them could go back to sleep just then.

Jamie nodded, smiled even, and Gary stood up to fetch the board.

#carraville #football rpf #my fic #royalty au #this is far too long for tumblr #and i just wrote it in one go on a week day so #is it good? is it shit? who knows! certainly not me #but it demanded to be written #so here it is #and i will clean it up when im less delirious and x-post to ao3 #also man i want to talk about storks but...too tired

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heavenunderthemoon · 4 years ago

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GROWING PAINS- Spencer Reid {CHAPTER 3}

prologue, chapter one, chapter two

DECEMBER 2011

Derek rolled his eyes, slinging an arm around your shoulder roughly, his cheeks rosy with an alcoholic glow. The pint of beer in his hand sloshed dangerously, threatening to tip over the side until you righted him, shaking your head at the man's actions.

"Oh come on, not one anecdote of your childhood with our resident genius? I need to know what the kid was like, I mean, did he wear sweater vests as an eight year old? Did he always talk as fast as he does now? How did you two even meet?"

Your eyes rolled playfully.

"Please, Y/N, we've been dying to know what our Boy Wonder was like as a kid." Penelope took another long pull of her drink- probably too long of a pull given the amount that she had already had. Everyone had been drinking that night, which made sense provided that the team was at a bar. The case had ended fairly quickly, the unsub playing right into the waiting hand of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, and it had sent you all home within a couple of days.

Penelope had been the one to suggest a bar. Her waiting figure had been posted at the elevator doors, a rather pointed look thrown in your direction, one that screamed 'You can't get out of this even if you tried', and you had looked to Spencer almost immediately. You had noticed yourself doing that these past couple of months because, even with all of the history weighing the two of you down, pulling you like sinking stones to the bottom of the murky, muddy water, the two of you hadn't said much to each other at all. In fact, you could probably count the number of interactions since that first day on one hand.

That first day.

You poked at the olive at the bottom of your brink ruefully, popping it into your mouth, relishing in the remnants of the vodka lying on the glass.

OCTOBER 2011

"Are you just gonna stare at me from behind that fridge door or are you gonna say whatever it is you're thinking in that big brain of yours?"

The coffee in your mug warmed your hand, which worked well for you. Your body was still attempting to find itself accustomed to the dreary weather surrounding Quantico, and you would be damned if you were to say you were entirely de-thawed from that morning's walk in the gloom.

The scent of the stale coffee sloshing around in the navy blue mug was enough to make you want to toss it into the trashcan all together, but you knew good and well enough that you would force yourself to drink it all the same. The coffee you had that morning was wonderful, good enough to make you long for it as you gazed into the mass-produced black coffee from a Mr. Coffee machine that looked like it had seen better days.

Spencer Reid righted himself from where he was previously crouched in a position in which he thought to be rather stealthy.

He had been waiting all morning for the perfect opportunity, waiting an agonizingly long time, sitting through dozens of handshakes, introductions, desk tours, all of which he had stayed painfully silent through. The team had watched as your initial greeting had made Spencer's face pale, how your eyebrows had scrunched at the lack of response from the Reid man, how the two of you seemed to skirt around each other- well, that wasn't entirely fair. You weren't doing the skirting. It was Spencer.

Spencer was the one who was avoiding you like the plague.

And, you had noticed, of course. Just like you had noticed how his eyes had followed you as you stood from your newly claimed desk, empty of any personal markers, void of any personal belongings, and made your way into the break room for what he knew was your second cup of coffee that day. He had seen you grab that first one, he knew that now.

As if you were a magnet, Spencer had found himself standing, his feet directing him toward you as if he had no control over it. No control at all, and it suddenly felt like he was no longer in the FBI building. He was no longer wearing his converse, sweater vest, and FBI badge that sat proudly on his chest. No longer did he feel as though he were 29 year old man, 6 feet tall, 2 inches. No. No, now, he felt as though he were that tiny little child who still hadn't hit their growth spurt. That small child whose best friend was taller than him, a fact he found a bit embarrassing because she was a girl and just about every book he read portrayed men as the tall, strong protectors and he was dutifully failing that role and his best friend seemed to have no trouble picking up the slack.

He felt as though that tiny little child had replaced him in just that instant, reverting back to the small boy who would've followed you anywhere without question, without hesitation, because he trusted you that much.

All those moments of trust, the moments of dancing in basements, or you encouraging him to jump off a high tree branch, or even showing him how to do a neat trick on his bicycle (he had fallen quite badly after that one, but he hadn't even let you apologize because the problem did not lie in your teaching methods, it simply laid in his inability to do anything remotely active). It all came rushing back to him, echoes falling upon his ears as he attempted tp act casual, hiding behind that fridge door and pretending to inspect the contents. Well, that is, until you had spoken.

His lips pursed, eyes flickering up to peak over the top of the fridge and peer at you. His fingers twitched, closing the door and reluctantly rising from his hindsightedly awkward crouched position. Your eyes fell to his fingers, lips almost quirking at the corners when you noticed they still did that thing.

That thing they had done almost since the day you had met him. That thing where they moved, like re-wiring a bomb, or turning the pages of a book only he could see. The things where they danced upon the moth air, catching your attention and letting you know that his nerves were at an all time high. When you were children, it acted up whenever the boy was uncomfortable, spiking when the two were surrounded by bullies, or when he had to go home early (he didn't quite enjoy being home all too much back then). The memory of the Reid's slender fingers dancing that same dance almost made hers begin her own. Her hand twitched, as if to reach out and grab as she did so many years ago, as she had always done. Her hand longed to reach out and grab his in her own and give him that smile- knowing and reassuring, letting him know that she was there, that he was safe, and that he had no reason at all to be nervous.

But she didn't. Her hand remained at her side, and Spencer shoved his hands into his pockets just as soon, rocking on his heels awkwardly.

It was quiet for a moment, only the hum of the newly purchased refrigerator to fill the abyss blanketing the two agents. The old one had given up almost three weeks ago. Spencer could still remember the smell it had reeked when the team had discovered just how broken it was. Penelope had told them when they had gotten back from a case, ranting about how her milk had gone bad, cheese going rotten and they hadn't quite believed her. "Are you sure it's plugged in?" Rossi had asked teasingly to which the blonde had scowled and turned on her heel, Derek nipping at her stilettos.

They had soon discovered that the tech analyst was, in fact, correct, the smell putrid and intense enough to make the Reid man's eyes sting when he opened the fridge. Hotch had to make room in the budget but he had chosen almost an exact replica of the old fridge. The only difference was that this one was new.

"I never thought I'd see you again." You broke the silence. It was true. Because you couldn't quite remember the last time you had thought about him. Those months after he had left he had been all that you had thought about. Your best friend. Spencer. Your Spencer. And he had just...left. Just as you had always known he would, so you couldn't even particularly act surprised about it, but you could act 'mopey' as your father had called it with a grumble.

He was all you had thought about because best friends don't just stop being friends just because one moves away, they stop being friends because eventually someone loses interest in the other and right now you couldn't quite remember if that had been you or him.

Spencer's lips screwed up into that uncomfortable smile that he had done as a kid and now looked even sillier on his fully-grown and matured face. "Me either."

It was hard enough for him to get that sentence out and it was two words. Two words and three syllables and it was enough to make him dizzy because he just felt so...bare. He felt vulnerable and insecure and slightly embarrassed because here, in this building, in the Behavioral Analysis Unit he was.. well, he was Spencer Reid. He was boy genius, the kid who was a child prodigy, could read at incredible speeds, had multiple PhD's, and seemingly knew everything about anything. He was a superhero. Okay, maybe not a superhero, but at least in this building he could imagine that some people actually thought of him that way.

They admired him for his intelligence and they didn't see him as that dorky kid from Nevada with a schizophrenic mom who sometimes forgot to feed him. And now, you did. You, who had played cops and robbers with him in his backyard or returned books back to him with the pages dog eared that always drove him nuts, or picked out peanuts from your ice cream because you hated them. You would see him that way. As the way that he had tried so incredibly hard to bury, and Spencer felt his throat close up at the notion.

"Did you follow me here?" It wasn't what he meant to say. It wasn't what he wanted to say at all. He wanted to ask where she had been. What she had done, who she had met. He wanted to know it all but what had come out was a snarky remark that implied the girl had nothing better to do with her time than follow around a boy she had met so many years ago and while he was hopeful she wouldn't take it as such he saw that familiar twitch of her brow and narrow of her eyes as she let out a scoff.

"Funnily enough, they recruited me, are you sure you didn't stalk me and send in that paperwork yourself?" Your words were light, light enough that any passerby might have thought the two were joking around but he knew you. He knew that the fierceness in your tone was a warning, an indication to your ever-growing temper that always had a tendency to flare up at both the worst and best moments was in the process of rising.

Spencer's eyes widened. "I didn't, I wouldn't- I haven't thought about you in decades, actually-" Your lips pursed and the Reid man's hands flew form their place of rest in his pants pockets and began to fly in the air around him as he tried to fix his mistake but he had never been quite as skilled as you with the whole social interaction side of friendship and very quickly the man felt himself making things worse. "That's not what I meant. Look, I just find it a bit strange that you're here-"

The coffee stirrer in your hands halted in their movement as you pulled it from the light brown pool of liquid sitting in your mug. Your fingers flicked it into the trashcan, nodding stiffly. "Well then." Your hand tipped your glass to the man who was trying entirely too hard to conceal the panic racing through his mind. "I don't mean to make you uncomfortable. JJ offered to give me a tour of the place, I think I'll take her up on that-"

"Y/N-" he hadn't moved form his spot, despite his brain yelling at his feet to move. Spencer could've been glued to the floor for all he knew but what he did know was that he simply was not budging. You turned with a confused look on your face, one that made his stomach churn because his behavior had caused it.

"It's fine, Spencer, we were friends as kids, doesn't mean we have to be now." His mouth opened, lips parting to say something, anything to keep you from walking into the bullpen, unaware of his internal conflict to you bring in the building rather than just thinking he was the world's biggest jerk, but nothing came out and your hand waved in the air passively. "It's okay, Spencer, seriously."

And with that, you had left.

DECEMBER 2011

The team stared at you expectantly, awaiting the answer to Penelope's inquiry and you threw a glance over your shoulder, landing on the genius to your left. You had all chosen a booth to sit at, close enough to the bar to retrieve drinks and far enough away to avoid the issue of crowds. The Reid man was pressed against the wall side of the booth, eyes glued to his drink of choice- a water, as far as you could tell but you didn't question it (Had you questioned any of his decisions in the last couple of months? No, that would have required talking.)

Your hand dropped the olive skewer softly, easily placing a faux smile that hurt your lips to create, eyes on the child prodigy shrinking his body so far into himself you thought he might collapse entirely.

"He was a good friend."

Penelope rolled her eyes, Emily booing as Derek through a pretzel that landed squarely in your curls. Hotch and Rossi watched in interest, JJ giggling at the teams antics but you weren't watching them.

You were watching him.

The stiffness that had taken over his posture, the stillness in his breaths.

"A good friend? That's it? Oh come on, sweetheart, we're gonna need a bit more than that, give it to us." The Morgan's eyebrows danced upon his forehead in a way that made you laugh, your eyes closing for the briefest of moments. But the moment was fleeting enough to let Spencer look at you, eyes flitting from the condensation on his water glass he had been concentrated on for the better half of the night to you. Your head tilted back, neck exposed as you chuckled. Your eyes were closed, just that happy grin consuming your features and he could imagine that he had been the one to cause it, just as he had done so before all those years ago reading the back of popsicle sticks and Laffy Taffy wrappers in funny voices because he knew that it made you laugh no matter what. He could imagine that he hadn't screwed up all those months ago, that he had pestered you with the questions that had stormed his mind that day and continued to flood him everyday since and that he was sitting next to you as he should be now. That the two of you were... the two of you once more. As you should have been. As it always should have been.

But then the moment was over and your eyes were opening to find Spencer staring at his glass once more.

"I don't think I will." Your smile drained at the sight the man and you deflated slightly, letting out a puff of air before holding up the empty glass, focusing your eyes back onto the Morgan. "But I will grab us all another round."

The chorus of boo's followed you like a billowy cloak wrapped around your shoulders and you turned on your heel without a second thought, heading to the bar for another drink.

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#spencer reid x reader #Spencer Reid fic #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds #spencer reid

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slipping-through-my-fingertips · 4 years ago

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Klaine Advent 2020 (day 6)

Summary: Kurt and Blaine listen to some Christmas music

Notes: Song featured is Christmas Tree Farm by Taylor Swift. Not only does it fit today's prompt but also happens to the one-year anniversary of this adorable Christmas tune. Enjoy!

AO3

Day Six: Farm

Blaine rarely daydreamed about his future. He knew Kurt had been planning his wedding since he was four and he often saw their future together in ways Blaine hadn’t even begun to think about. Blaine always thought of himself as someone who lived in the present. He preferred laying on the floor of his bedroom with Kurt at his side and the radio playing as they talked about their days.

Those times weren’t too far behind them because the two husbands were lounging on the couch cushions that had been shattered around the living room. Blaine has music playing on his phone and they were talking about their plans for tomorrow.

“When was the last time we had a snow day?” Kurt asks.

“Two years ago.”

There was a blizzard outside covering the streets of the city with white fluff. The school had called Blaine canceling classes for all students and faculty so Kurt had called Isabelle and told her he was taking the day even if Vogue.com was open for business. Then, he joined his husband on the floor and put on some Christmas music.

“Fitting that it’s the week before Christmas too. Do you think it’ll be a white Christmas this year?” Blaine questions.

“Maybe, we should wear our pajamas inside out to make sure.”

“What pajamas?” Blaine replies, cheekily.

Kurt grabs at Blaine pulling his body closer and kisses him. They pull away when the song ends because Blaine has to dance with his husband for this one.

My winter nights are taken up by static Stress, and holiday shopping traffic But I close my eyes, and I'm somewhere else Just like magic

Blaine pulls Kurt up from the floor and into his arms. They sway for the moment content to rest their heads on each other’s shoulders as the music is soft and slow like the opening to a black and white Christmas movie.

When the music picks up and changes into something happier and fast paced, Blaine starts a much sillier, unplanned dance. They move around each other trying to make themselves laugh.

In my heart is a Christmas tree farm Where the people would come To dance under sparkling lights Bundled up in their mittens and coats And the cider would flow And I just wanna be there tonight

Kurt pulls his husband towards him and spins them as if they were playing a game of ring around the rosy. Their cheeks are going to hurt from smiling so much. When was the last time they goofed off together?

When had life gotten in the way of fun?

Right here tonight, with Blaine holding onto his hands reminiscence of their wedding ceremony, Kurt makes another promise. This time to himself.

He won’t let their busy lives–Blaine’s grading and lesson planning and Kurt’s fashion emergencies and photoshoots–get in the way of them. Because Blaine is the most important thing in his life and nothing, not even Vogue, will get in the way of Kurt loving Blaine the way he deserves.

Sweet dreams of holly and ribbon Mistakes are forgiven And everything is icy and blue And you would be there too Under the mistletoe Watching the fire glow And telling me, "I love you"

By this point in the song, the two husbands are back in each other’s arms. Kurt is holding Blaine up because the other man has almost collapsed in his arms. His head is resting on top of Blaine’s, which landed on one of Kurt’s shoulders.

Kurt tilts his head so his lips move against Blaine’s ear. No one else is in the apartment. No one will overhear him. But Kurt wants to make sure Blaine knows this is just for him.

“I love you.”

Just being in your arms Takes me back to that little farm Where every wish comes true

There is no safer place in the world than when Blaine is curled up in his husband’s arms. The song may not be over, maybe Blaine had pressed replay, but they had finished their dance break. They were back on the floor this time both resting on the same cushions.

Three cushions under him, Kurt was fully stretched out with open arms he motioned for Blaine to join him. Blaine carefully crawled into Kurt’s side adjusting himself so one of his legs rested between both of Kurt’s. His head was on Kurt’s chest right under his chin. Kurt ran one of his hands up and down Blaine’s back.

“I love you too.”

Blaine closes his eyes and just listens to Kurt’s steady heartbeat.

And when I'm feeling alone You remind me of home Oh baby, baby, Merry Christmas

Maybe Blaine didn’t spend his childhood dreaming about his future because a young Blaine Anderson could never have imagined something as wonderful as Kurt. Not in his wildest dreams would Blaine have come up with this beautiful man. How lucky was he that Kurt represented his past in Ohio and held his future in his arms?

“You’re lucky that my future is literally in my arms,” Kurt tells him.

“I said that out loud?”

“Yes, you did.”

Kurt kisses the top of Blaine’s head.

#klaine advent 2020 #klaine advent: farm #klaine fanfic #klaine fanfiction #christmas tree farm #my fics

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airquietworks · 4 years ago

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Moving In, Moving On, Moving Up

Summary: For Izuku Midoriya, moving in together with Ochako seemed like the most natural thing in the world to do.

But advancing to the next phase of his life - and saying farewell to everything that came before - was far more heart wrenching and confusing than he imagined.

Thankfully, he has just the right person to give him a lift.

_________________________________________________________

Izuku Midoriya had faced many challenges in his life. He competed at an extraordinarily difficult school, fought deadly villains, and even survived the many humiliations of dating.

But as he stared between the piles of boxes in the back of the truck and the massive, gray, 20-storey apartment building behind him, he knew nothing had prepared him for this.

Moving day, under a scorching summer sun. Quite possibly one of the greatest foes he had ever faced.

“This is really, really…” the energetic voice of his partner in life, love and heroics sounded from behind him. “Really a lot.”

Despite the daunting task, he couldn’t help but smile at Ochako Uraraka’s surly expression. It was strangely adorable, her rosy cheeks puffing out in a small pout.

“It didn’t look like it would be so bad when we were loading this up,” Izuku observed, before staring back up at the place that would be their home. “But now…”

“This is what we get for wanting a view,” she grumbled, stepping forward to grab onto a box. She scrunched her face up before donning a mask of determination, her eyes burning with sudden intensity. “Alright, let’s do it!”

Izuku grinned, her psyched-up energy infectious. “Right!”

With that, the two began the arduous journey of bringing each of their belongings into their apartment at the top floor of the building. Between their two Quirks, they thought better than to spend on movers. It was not the most glamorous home out there, but though they had started earning some money from internships, they wanted to keep things modest.

After a non-eventful elevator ride for their first run, they found themselves in front of their apartment, blocked by a plain, wooden door. Izuku stepped forward, wrestling the key from his pocket while holding a pair of boxes in one arm.

“We’re really here, huh?” Ochako said as he twisted the key, unlocking the door. “Our first day in our new home.”

“Hard to believe it,” he replied, his hand freezing on the door handle. They had already scoped the place out long before this, but stepping into it now seemed far more monumental.

This was his home now. Not his mother’s apartment. Not U.A High School. Those tearful goodbyes were behind him now. This is where he would try to become a real, professional hero.

He suddenly felt a warm hand over his frozen one.

“Together then,” Ochako suggested brightly, spurring him forward.

Izuku nodded, smiling back, snapped from his thoughts. He always appreciated her little pushes when he needed them. “Together.”

They twisted the handle and crossed the threshold to their new lives side-by-side.

Despite some anxiety, Izuku still felt blessed to be moving in with the love of his life. After everything they had endured, he knew it was right to take this step. The thought of getting to be with her was what had given him the strength to make those farewells in the first place.

Besides being on the top floor, their new apartment was humble. A small, open kitchen area overlooked their shared living space, which led out onto a large balcony. A side hall extended out into a basic washroom and two bedrooms. For now, it was an open and empty space, plain as could be. But that would quickly change throughout the day, as the heroes made their mark.

They both stepped forward at the same time, bumping their boxes into one another. Izuku laughed nervously, Ochako joining him after an awkward beat.

“After you,” he suggested, shifting out of the way.

She gave him a smile and a nod before taking a step, the sound ringing around the empty space. “Thanks. Going to be tricky moving stuff in this tight space.”“Yeah. It’s a little small.” Izuku let the word hang in the air. His mind whirred and he suddenly became nervous, wondering if the honest descriptor might offend. “But small is good! It’s cozy. Intimate, even. I love intimate!”

He realized the implications of the phrasing as soon as the rambling words left his mouth. He blushed and sputtered, trying to find something to say to regain his composure. He saw Ochako paused at his words, her cheeks also getting a bit pinker, as she turned to him with raised eyebrows.“Can we just forget I said that?” Izuku pleaded, smashing his face onto the top of his boxes. They were very close, but innuendo usually still tripped them up.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” she responded with a bit too much energy, sprinting forward to deposit her boxes in their future bedroom.

With a relieved sigh, Izuku walked forward, shaking his head, trying to calm his frayed nerves. What exactly was his malfunction? Why was he so tense?

Eager to distract himself and calm down, he stared grimly at the boxes in his hands and put all of his focus towards the task of moving.

It was not a simple process. Although he had super strength and she could make things weightless, the sheer volume of items and furniture to bring in was time-consuming. They frequently bumped awkwardly into one another or other people passing by. The summer heat did not help, and they quickly built up a sweat.

Stopping only for a hearty lunch of parent-made bento boxes (which they both shed a few tears over), they worked throughout the entirety of the day to get their belongings inside. They finally got started on unpacking in the early evening, slowly filling the empty rooms with pieces of themselves.

Izuku found himself pulling out a box of framed photographs in their shared bedroom. He was eager to place them somewhere before anything else; they were such a comfort to him as his school days became more difficult, and he felt he needed them now. The world might be hurtling ever forward, but he could take some solace in the preserved moments of the past.

He pulled out one picture featuring their whole class, gathered outside their dorm, beaming towards the camera, their faces filled with joy. It was a lot sillier than the formal class photograph they had taken earlier that day. This was a keepsake for all of them to remember each other by. He smiled down at the photo, fondly recalling the laughter-filled days living at those dorms, where he found the friendship he sorely missed growing up.

Placing it on a bedside table, he pulled out a completely different image of him and Ochako, pressed together with their faces glowing, dressed up in fancy outfits, wearing identical blushes. U.A. had mixed things up with a formal event in their third year. It was a fun evening, even if he was a bit clumsy when it came to dancing and ended up stepping on Ochako’s feet. Mina had forced them to take a photo together, and though it had felt awkward at the time, he had come to treasure it.

He still wondered how he had been so fortunate to find his relationship with Ochako. After mutual confession in their third year, their romance had been a breathtaking, chaotic whirlwind. Despite all the hardships they had to endure, they had lived to get to the other side of it, hand-in-hand.

The next photo he pulled out surprised him. He did not remember putting it in a frame, but it was certainly a treasured image. All Might, haggard as ever, beaming towards the camera. Embracing him, dressed up in cap and gown, as he held up his diploma proudly in his scarred hands. Tears flowed freely from both their eyes, the happiness of reaching that point overwhelming them, transforming them into blubbering messes.

It had been the last time he had seen his hero, mentor and father figure in person. They had talked it out, hugged and enjoyed their last hours together. Then All Might pushed Izuku out into the world to face it alone.

“You okay, Izuku? Oh, I love that photo!” The picture’s photographer came up behind him, resting her head over his shoulder. “I don’t remember seeing this in your room before.”

Izuku blinked, suddenly realizing his eyes were watering. He let out a breathy chuckle, rubbing a hand across his leaking eyelids. “Mom must have snuck it in.”“Aww, that’s sweet,” Ochako cooed, giving him a quick squeeze from the side before stepping back. “Do you need anything?”

“No, I’m okay,” Izuku sniffled, shaking his head to dispel the strange feeling of loss rolling around inside him. “Got a lot to unpack.”He noticed Ochako frown for a moment before she stepped away, turning her back to him. “Well, alright, if you say so. I’m going to go grab a drink. It’s way too hot. Let me know if you need a hand with anything in here.”

Izuku felt a sudden surge of affection towards his partner giving him some space. He was normally happy to be open with her, but he could not even process his feelings for himself.

He looked around their room, still empty except for the furniture. Eventually, the walls would be plastered with decoration. But for the first time, he knew his bedroom would not feature the visage of All Might at every corner.

Izuku pulled at his chin, pondering the situation. When he thought about it, it was the first time All Might would not be watching over him - not as a symbol, not as a hero, and not as a mentor.

Now, Deku walked alone, ready to begin carving out his own path as a professional.

He sighed, feeling the overbearing heat Ochako mentioned. Suddenly needing to cool down, he trudged out of the room, leaving the memories stowed away.

Izuku returned to their living area. He noticed Ochako was leaning back against the counter in the kitchen, her eyebrows furrowed, looking deep in contemplation as she idly ran her thumb along her phone’s screen.

Figuring it alright to leave her to her own devices, he headed out toward the balcony, eager to get some fresh air and time to collect his thoughts.

He took a deep breath as he walked outside, immediately leaning against the railing, feeling relieved as the breeze brushed across his forehead. The sight of Tokyo down below had been a big draw for them when they chose to live here. He appreciated the sights of the urban sprawl beneath him, with its bustling streets and impressive buildings. But the sweltering rays of the sun made the city of his destiny far hazier than he had pictured. After everything, he was finally here. A hero turning pro. Out in the world in Japan’s largest city, the centre of the action. The day was bright. The future should be even brighter.

But as he considered all the people below, that anxious, nagging part of his mind chimed in again. Millions were down there, counting on heroes like him. He would have to help them, working harder than he ever had before. This was it. No more time, no more tests, no more room for mistakes. No All Might over his shoulder, his mentor now ready to let him fly under his own strength. Now, he had to try and be the Symbol of Peace on his own. This was the real world. Everything here counted.

The moment engulfed his entire being, his mind getting lost in storming clouds, making it hard to keep calm. He stood on the edge of the world and his destiny. He knew he would need to plunge forward, but taking that step seemed all the more daunting.

“Oh, there you are,” a warm voice said from behind him. “Admiring the view?”

In a heartbeat, the spell ended, and Izuku found himself back in the present moment. He was merely a man standing on a balcony, with company approaching.

He did his best to push his melancholy aside and remain unphased by the intrusion. He knew he needed to just enjoy the present and not get too lost in spiralling thoughts.

“Yeah, definitely. The best part of the place,” Izuku replied quickly, eyes still staring forward as Ochako slid up next to him. He glanced at her, suddenly feeling smitten as he watched how the wind played with the bangs of her hair.

“It is really nice. But it’s still too hot,” she complained, wiping sweat from her brow. “I didn’t think this is what people meant by housewarming.”

Izuku could not help but guffaw at the lame gag which came so suddenly, and she soon joined him. He felt relief, pushing himself fully into the mirth, trying to let it blow the clouds in his mind away. “Well,” he began after a moment. “What did that article about our class say last week? That we were the ‘hottest new heroes around?’”

“We’re a couple of trailblazers, after all,” she replied with a grin, facing him.

“What’s the word they used for you? ‘Hot-blooded?’”

“Well, they called you a ‘blazing meteor.’”

Izuku paused, face scrunching in thought. “Okay, I think I’m out of puns.”

“I wish the writers had been,” Ochako muttered with a laugh, shaking her head and turning back to the gorgeous skyline.

The conversation fell away for a moment and content silence came upon them. Izuku watched her movements, curious, fascinated to see her thinking. She always could find a way to surprise him, and it made her one of his favourite people to study.

“What’s been bothering you today, Izuku?”

The tone in her voice was gentle, but he felt the energy between them shift, the easygoing mirth dissipating as quickly as it came. He groaned, realizing how silly it was to think he could hide anything from her.

“That noticeable, huh?”

“Well, you’ve always worn your heart on your sleeve. It’s not hard to tell.” He sighed, peering out over the edge of the railing to the streets directly below. “I guess it’s just weird, being here, you know? After all that time, all that work, to finally be moving and going pro, it’s just … a lot to take in.”

“I know what you mean,” Ochako nodded. She leaned her cheek into her hand, staring out. “This is really it. Things certainly didn’t happen the way I imagined them.”

“Me too,” Izuku muttered, looking towards the clear sky and picturing his idol. “All Might was always a solitary pillar of hope. I wanted to be just like him. Now, I’ll have to prove I can be.”

Ochako went quiet at that. She buried herself further into her arm, putting more of her weight over the railing. She murmured something unintelligible in her sleeve before poking her head back out.

“Are you…are you worried?”

Izuku frowned at that, his heart rattling in his chest in answer. He nodded. “I want to do everything I can to live up to him. I guess a part of me is still wondering if I can do it. Wondering how well I’ll do now that I won’t be seeing him often.”

From the side of his vision, he saw her head rise, her focus now intently on him.

“Do you want to know what I think?”

It was a simple enough question to answer. “Always.”

“That you’re going to do great tomorrow, Deku, and every day after that. Because you’re you. You’ve got this.”

“Ochako…” he felt his cheeks flush at the unabashed praise. They were never shy about giving that to one another, but he still felt bashful when he was on the receiving end.

“It’s okay that you’re feeling a little nervous now.” She stood up straighter, facing him head-on, a beautiful fire igniting in her eyes. “But I know the second you’re out there and someone needs your help, you’ll act without thinking. That’s just who you are. That’s Deku. Whatever you’re up against, I know you’ll win in the end.”

“I…thank you,” he whispered, his eyes starting to water again under her verbal onslaught. He wished he could convey his appreciation better, somehow.

“You know why I wanted to change that name for you, right?”

Izuku froze at the sudden question. It had been such a meaningful point in his life, but they had not talked much about her inadvertently giving him his hero name. It had helped create a powerful bond between them, that did not require words.

His mind flew back to them as school kids; naive, innocent, full of belief. So much had changed since then, yet Deku remained.

“I gave you that name because I thought you needed it. Because you couldn’t see yourself clearly. You couldn’t see how bright you shone, even back then.”Ochako stroked his cheek, holding him in her palm. He leaned in, his skin tingling at the contact, a pleasant chill making his way down his spine. He watched as her hand wandered down, over his shoulder, his chest and then right over his beating heart. “I’ll be there to remind you of that. Every day we’re here together. Every day of my life, if I have to. That you’re Deku. That you are the world’s greatest hero.” Her smile up at him was positively radiant. “And that you can do it.”

Izuku’s body moved on instinct, hugging her to him as he cried, trying to convey his appreciation with actions after she had taken his breath away. She chuckled beneath him, but melted within the embrace, sighing happily.

He realized despite all the fears that came with great change, he would make it through. Even if he no longer had All Might, his other teachers or the rest of their class with him on a daily basis.

Because he still had a guiding star, brighter than any other in the sky. He would grow and learn from her, as he had since the day they met.

The future was a scary thing. But knowing his hero would be there for him made it seem far less intimidating.

“And, you know, if you wanted to…to be more like All Might, I get it. Maybe we could try and keep some distance out there.”

Izuku’s eyes flew open at her words, his mind utterly befuddled by the shifting rack of the conversation. “What?”

“Well, we don’t have to tell people we’re a couple or we’re living together. We’re not working at the same agencies, either. We could make sure to hide our relationship if it would make you more comfortable. If you still wanted to stand more on your own like All Might, we could-”

“Ochako.” He stopped her by disengaging, holding her at arm’s length, looking at her downcast gaze. He saw now how his anxieties had spurred some of her own, her old nerves about their relationship coming to the forefront. But she pushed them aside to try and help him. It was so sweet and kind, but he hoped she could be more open with him in time.

“We’ve talked about this. I’m not having second thoughts about moving in together or being by your side.” He stared deeply into her eyes, imploring her to heed him. “My dream to help people, to be a pillar of hope, to become the world’s greatest hero - I want to do all of that with you. I never would have made it this far without your help. And I don’t know how far I’ll make it from this point without you.”

“Izuku…” she gulped, her mouth trembling, her eyes shining brilliantly beneath the setting sun.

“We’re going to help the world. Bring smiles to people’s faces, right?” It was a dream they shared and had discussed so often, it had become deeply ingrained in their memory.

“Rescue people,” Ochako continued, getting back into the spirit of it. “Including reckless heroes who need saving.”

Izuku chuckled, scratching at the back of his head at the pointed statement. “We have to inspire the next generation, too.”

“And make lots of money so our parents never have to worry again!” Ochako exclaimed, bouncing on her feet, never losing sight of her original motivation for heroics.

“And we’re going to do it….” Izuku continued, extending his fist toward her.

“Together!” she finished the pronouncement, bumping his fist into his with a flourish. They were friends, lovers, and most importantly, partners. They were Deku and Uravity, an unstoppable, unbreakable duo. They could both lapse in remembering that sometimes, but always found kind ways to remind one another.

“Now, I guess we should get back to unpacking,” Izuku suggested, before wiping the moisture from his brow. The intensity of the conversation, though fairly brief, was enough for him to work up an even heavier sweat. “I wish it hadn’t been quite so warm today.”

“I’d just rather cool down after all that,” Ochako grumbled, sticking her head out over the balcony again to absorb more of the breeze. She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on the cool brush of the wind. They flew open suddenly, a wide smile lighting up her face, instantly capturing Izuku’s attention. “I have an idea.”

“Oh?” he perked up an eyebrow, listening intently. Her bursts of inspiration were always fascinating.

Without a word, she gently tapped herself in a practiced motion, before leaping over the edge of the balcony with ease thanks to her newfound weightlessness.

“Ochako?!” he cried out.

She responded with loud laughter, grasping to the railing from the other side and sticking the rest of her body outward, her hair blowing haplessly around her. “That’s way better! Come on Deku!”

She extended a hand out to him, her padded fingertips calling to him. A gateway to freedom and escape.

“I don’t know…” Izuku muttered, his eyes reflexively darting across the horizon - only lingering a moment to appreciate how brightly she shone. “What if someone sees us?”

“We’re on the top floor,” Ochako noted, staring up at the open path to the sky. “We’ll get high enough to avoid that. Come on, it’ll be fine. Just for a little while?”

It was difficult to resist her beckoning grin. He was reminded of how often she had pulled him forward, helping him break out of his social shell as one of his first true friends.

“Alright, you win.” Izuku grabbed her hand, letting her trigger her Quirk, delighting in the exuberance of her victorious cry. She pulled him over the ledge and kicked their weightless selves off, letting the rush of the wind surround them.

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief as the air brushed over his warm skin, instantly soothing it. The skyline below was even more beautiful as they began to rise higher, giving a better view of the sun starting to crest the horizon, bathing the cityscape in a pleasant orange glow.

“This is so much better.” Ochako giggled as she lifted the two of them towards the roof, giddy as the wind started to blow them about. As the breeze picked up, Izuku motioned for her to release him from weightlessness, triggering his own float Quirk to better stabilize them. His power was usually more draining than hers, but he wanted to be cautious and keep better control in the air.

But Ochako used it to her advantage, grabbing onto him tightly to anchor her weightless body, unabashed in pressing herself into him. She let out a shuddered breath, pushing her head onto his shoulder. Izuku responded in kind, holding her close, letting his eyes fall closed, content to float aimlessly. It felt wonderful to hold her.

Times like this were too rare. For just a moment, their worries about the world below faded away, and it was just them. Not Deku and Uravity. Izuku and Ochako. Two people in love.

Suddenly, he could feel her fingertips shove something deeply into his left ear, disrupting the tranquil moment. He opened his eyes quickly, startled by the intrusion. Her gaze was mirthful, a devious little grin plastered on her face. He noticed a long, white cord sticking between them, one end leading up into her right ear, the remainder plunging into the pocket of her jeans.

Then the music started.

The song was bubbly and up-tempo, some top pop number he had heard out on the streets patrolling a few times. Izuku blinked rapidly, his analytical mind short-circuiting as he struggled to put the pieces together.

“Dance with me?” Ochako asked, beaming up at him from beneath her eyelashes. She was irresistible.

He gulped, his heart beating fast, a powerful warmth overtaking his cheeks. In complete awe, he could only manage a question: “You planned this?”

“I thought it would be nice to do something memorable for the first night at our new home. Getting away from the heat was just an upside.” She spun herself around in the air in a show of flair, keeping within his arm’s reach. “And I realized we had never had much fun together in the sky like this.”

That was true enough. Floating was for travelling to scenes faster or getting an advantage over villains, not playtime. They had honed their Quirks to serve society; anything else was secondary.

But as the sun finally crested the horizon, bathing Ochako in a glorious, almost ethereal glow, Izuku realized he wanted this as much as she did.

Surprising his partner, he grabbed onto her hands, swinging her in close, enjoying the little squeak she let out at the movement.

“I’d love to,” he replied sincerely, placing a chaste kiss on her forehead. “Thank you. This was a great idea.”

She twisted herself around, pressing her back against his chest, pushing them towards the building.

“I’m glad. I really didn’t know how well my plan would work,” she whispered honestly in his ear, voice faint amidst the wind. “Just remember to watch your step this time.”

Izuku chuckled, smiling from ear-to-ear. “At least it won’t hurt if I step on your feet up here.”

“You better not anyway!”

The two moved together in the darkening sky, their bodies flowing with the freedom of flight. They improvised their dance, lacking any cohesion, but so long as they could be close to one another, neither of them cared. Their worries seemed so far away now, the weight on their hearts lifted.

As night fell and they became bathed in the star’s light, they came even closer, locking themselves in an embrace. They twirled slowly together, the music getting replaced by each other’s breaths and heartbeats. Izuku was sure the starlit city was beautiful, but he had eyes only for her.

On top of the world, the heavens shining down on them, Izuku and Ochako found peace.

They both knew: when they returned to the earth, they would overcome, so long as they were together.

——————————————————————–

AN: Written for the IzuOcha Temple Discord Server Summer Writing Contest. Prompt: Keep Your Cool. Thank you to the organizers for putting this on and motivating me to write.

This one went through quite a lot of changes; it was 6,800 words at one point before an overhaul. I may have more to add to this later.

Sorry it has been a while since my last fic! Writing blocks abound these days.

But I hope you enjoyed this one! ^_^ Please leave a like and/or reblog if you did!

#my hero academia #IzuOcha #fanfiction #one-shot #Izuku Midoriya #Ochako Uraraka #romance #shipping #angst #introspection #character study #fluff #so much fluff #enough fluff to reach the heavens #manga spoilers

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madqueenalanna · 5 years ago

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Watsky’s Complaint: Limo 4 Emos

If I were asked to recommend a Watsky song based on objective greatness, I might mention the intensity of Whoa Whoa Whoa or the poignant imagery in Sloppy Seconds. For something a little sillier, Going Down; gut-wrenching, Sarajevo; down-to-Earth, Stupidass. I’ve recommended Wounded Healer to friends with folkish tastes. But if asked for a recommendation based on my personal favorites, Limo 4 Emos tops the list.

After the ugly mechanical-sounding breakdown of Feels Alright, the sound softens, cools down, and relaxes. It sounds like when the heat breaks on a summer evening and you can breathe again. It sounds like stepping out of a movie theater after three hours to see the sun has set and a breeze has picked up. It sounds like the way a garden smells after rain.

Indeed, that’s sort of the setting; a comfortable late night of boredom where two people who know each other too well can be alone together. For the only time on the album, Watsky mentions a (potential) other partner of this now-ex, what seems to be a new boyfriend that he does not think highly of (he falls short like Bonaparte). He says they’re friends, and if she’s lonely or upset she can call him and he’ll always be there.

There’s almost a rosy glow over their relationship, as if Watsky is too tired to be sad or angry anyway and just wants a familiar hand in his. The way he describes driving dad’s coupe makes it sound like they’ve known each other since they were much younger, when it makes more sense to be driving your dad’s car. In particular the lyric last night I realized I’m still sleeping on my mattress edge/saving room for someone who’s not coming back to bed is a delicious bit of imagery that signals finality as much as the desire for it to be anything but final. Maybe things weren’t so bad after all. Maybe a bad relationship is better than being alone.

He describes being broke, losing friends, he’s driving such a shitty old car that he off-handedly calls it a go-kart, and he’s tired of this same old cycle, of running and screaming and drinking and burning it all down again and again and again. Blowing off those vulnerable emotions by calling them emo, complete with references to black hair, mascara, and cutting, is exactly what he did earlier in the album in the transition from Welcome to the Family to All Like Whatever. Being vulnerable is hard, being lonely is worse. He’s offering up the broken piece of himself again to see what the reward might be, and spoiler alert for the final track on the album: it’s not worth it.

#Watsky #Complaint #Limo 4 Emos

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peeterparkr · 6 years ago

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One of us||t.h.

summary: you broke up with Tom, but you never planned on missing him this much.

word count: 4k

pairing: Tom Holland x reader

warnings: alcohol mention, implicity, swearing, angst

There’s this really cool part, but you’re gonna need Netflix for it, it’s a surprise ;)

a/n: okay so I needed a break from Clear and I wrote this, don’t worry it’s angsty too, and Clear is still coming. But here, have this. And you voted for this so.

Being honest there are 12 reasons as to why you don’t want to talk to him. Each one is the constant reminder of why you had never become a happy couple with a happy ending. Of course, it's not that you want to be his partner now, lies, you do. But the reasons are clear: Third people always commenting on your relationship, bad advice, letters never sent, big secrets, very loud discussions, the peer pressure, the different friendships, the filming schedules, the late night facetimes that weren’t doing anything anymore, the cold texts, the forgotten dates, the way he acted around his friends. Those were the technically official reasons, those were the variables that had led you to this predicament. To knock the door or not.

Because if there are 12 reasons as to why you don’t want to say anything to him, the million good ones that are begging you to do it weren’t helping. The positive reasons are screaming louder, but the negatives were taking care of your heart.

And everything was so complicated because the option was always safe. It was something you both knew would eventually come but never paid any attention to it. Not necessarily for being the so delicate subjects you were supposed to evade them. However now that you were just a door away, both in the same building waiting for the other to say something, it wasn’t concise.

But of course, it had to happen like that. The two silent, angry at some other tragedy that had occurred because of one of your many past arguments. The loathing across the room was the least helpful. Both of you had been the culprits in everything.

But today was one of those days when you used to think about yesterday, it was one of those days you’d stay at home and remember when it was nice. It was a common day to cry about it. It would’ve been your anniversary, so eventually, you’d want to be laying down on your bed, waiting for a call, for him to show up with a hundred roses shaking from the rain. But not today, today would be the least expected day, today you couldn’t think about it, because today the tears couldn’t come.

Tom and y/n, perfect in front of the cameras, a nightmare outside of them. And maybe you were tired of everything, of not being able to continue with this.

A little camera trick, blink and you'll miss it.

He had not returned and today you had not thought about him. Not happy thoughts, if anything. Not hopeful thoughts. It had been a civilized breakup. But before it happened your relationship had transformed into an overwhelming nightmare, when both of you would find ways to get on each other’s nerves. You had said the words and he had understood.

“I’m tired of this.” Even though, you weren’t. But you hadn’t broken up, you’d work it out.

But that’s when it all went downhill. Or he had, at least. That’s when the problems started, not long after your almost break up and proposal he was seen with another girl, and you had seen him with yet a different one at the club, and then at the mall, and then suddenly you were all concerned and always mad about everything and jealous, always jealous. He had to go away to film and he was showing on Instagram how his life would transform into a ray of sunshine the moment that he wasn’t with you. Or that’s what your friends said. And then your friends would call him a jerk, and then his friends would judge you in front of you, saying you were overreacting. Your friends would tell you to forget him and his friends would say that maybe you should break up.

Tom didn’t help. No texts, no nothing, no “I miss you��s.

You had stopped writing him letters. You had always been a hopeless romantic and since the beginning of the relationship, you would write him one. But then you decided to stop sending them because it didn’t make any sense. He wouldn’t read them.

And your acting career was growing and you were supposed to be seen with other people rather than Tom and your friends. You were friends with now important people, hanging out in places that Tom and you would probably avoid. And Tom would hang out with some others because that’s how life is sometimes.

You would be away filming and he’d be away, too. You didn’t have time to text him, and the FaceTiming had ceased.

When you were both together he’d end up with jet lag and forget to come to your dates, and you’d be alone crying in a restaurant.

You would talk about your relationship but end up angry every single time it was mentioned, with Tom asking not to be pressured and you fidgeting with your phone.

Then you’d try again, and again, and again. And his friends would continue to say you were overreacting and your friends would continue to tell you to break up.

And then you did.

He had come to your place to give you back your stuff, you had thrown the necklace he had given you at his face. He had confronted you about a date, or about an event, or whatever that had come up that time, maybe it had been your snoring or maybe it had been his singing. Something you had said or something he hadn’t. And then you’d complain about his friends, or his new clothes or whatever that had caught up in the moment.

You had told him you never wanted to see him again. And you hadn’t meant it but he had heard it. But he was angry because you had said your life would be easier without him, your life would be better without him.

So he tried to make his life better without you.

He hadn’t even had the decency to make sure you wouldn’t notice. It was like he was trying to prove a point.

You would be lying if you said you had not waited for him all the time.

And it was one of those days in which you would wait at home for him to come back with a thousand roses, with his face covered in rain. To tell you he was still in love with you.

Many people remember their past lovers in a substantial way, nothing concrete. With deep moments or drowned in alcohol.

It is common to hear that more than one has drunkenly called their ex, intoxicated and hurt.

But not you, you did not miss Tom when you went out with your friends and they had more than one drink. You didn’t miss Tom when you were tipsy. You never called him as the drunk and intoxicated thoughts suffocated you.

No, you missed him when you were having a glass of wine in your house, lonely. You missed him in the mornings when you had breakfast by yourself. You missed him in the cinema when you ordered popcorns and didn’t have anyone to share them with, in the cafe when you wanted to try two different drinks and on the sofa when you needed to cuddle. You missed him by your side with his little talks at dawn, on the bed still on pj’s or wearing nothing at all, you missed him when it was cold and you needed to hug him. You missed him when you could not sleep at night and you needed to hear his "everything will be fine" sleepy and scratchy.

You missed his laughter echoing through your apartment, or his distracted walking sometimes pulling everything around him, your stuff crashing around the house. You missed Harry and Sam and their silly jokes and the amazing pictures. You missed talking to Paddy and helping his mom. You missed Tuwaine and his humour, Haz and his Instagram stories. You needed him when you were having tea and you burned yourself while serving it. You needed him when you had a crazy marvel theory and you wanted to discuss it. You missed Tessa. You missed him when you were shopping, you needed him when you were at a public event and needed a silly text to calm you. You needed him to smile at you again, you missed all the banalities and the routine. You missed his touch, his eyes, his freckles, his nose, his lips, his arms, his hands. You even missed the silly arguments. You missed him. You missed him the most.

Oh, the things that reminded you that he was not there anymore.

You would cry with Friends, in season 8, episode 25, minute 18:55. Or with Love, Rosie at one hour with 23 minutes, 58 seconds. Not to mention The Notebook.Or with Dear John, minute 57:05. Specific things, things which reminded you you’d love him forever. Like in Grey’s Anatomy, Season 4 minute 39:12.

Even sillier stuff, like when watching Brooklyn 99 and you couldn’t laugh with him. Or in the kitchen when you’d turn around to him to ask for the salt. You’d cry when you’d sing a duet song and he wasn’t there to finish it.

But you had last seen him at one of those parties that you both had to attend to for one thing or another. It was an unpleasant complementarity.

And in spite of having him so close, he had been too far away. And you knew that he was fine, he was a little distracted with the little blue eyes that were flirting with him. He was fine, he hadn’t been as sad as you were.

You knew it, you were the only one crying, you were the only one still remembering him. He had ruined you, stealing away every single chance to fall in love with someone else. But it was fine, someday you’d be okay. But for now, Tom had won, he could be the winner of everything, and you felt tense and didn’t want him to look at you because he’d probably pity you. You couldn’t talk to him, because you had 12 reasons for it. He was with someone nice, someone who didn’t have any of them. She seemed more interesting than you were, anyway. But until she was gone, you’d wait for him to show up at your door, with a million roses shaking from the rain.

He had seen you for two seconds that night and had retired his glance. He couldn’t see you across the room loving him with only a glance, he couldn’t hear you screaming, he couldn’t hear you drowning. Now you barely could smile, it was impossible to find any happy times. How could you even dare to move on?

He had.

You needed to learn how to forget him when he was just standing there. But now that he was gone how could you even think about moving on?

You had assumed that having someone at your side would be your perfect excuse to forget everything around the party, everything around him. But Green Eyes there was dull and very talkative. He had talked and talked and talked about him and only him, you had just been nodding and listening. Or pretending to listen, at least. You didn’t like Green Eyes.

The party had continued and you had to be surrounded by all kinds of people. You only thought about being the only one who cried, the only one who had lied.

Tom and you had a secret. You knew you held Tom’s biggest secret, because maybe he had moved on but you had seen each other more than one, and more than twice.

The first time you had seen him after your breakup it had been only silence. Staring at each other, prancing around the room. And you had ended up kissing in the elevator, without talking, without letting any other type of feelings grow. It had been so intimate without saying any words.

So of course, you had continued that. Any time you’d see each other at any type of event you’d end up together, and it would be intimate and delicate and fun. But nice and tender, no talking allowed. No words.

Sometimes nothing would happen and you’d just lay down together, looking into each other eyes. You’d wondered if he’d come back with a billion roses, standing on your door, soaking wet from the rain.

You had continued to write him letters, and each of them seemed like the perfect way to get back to him. You wondered if he ever wanted to come back. But you didn’t give them to him because your silenced encounters were a treasure to you. Him reading your letters would lead to the dead-end.

The things you wanted to say now. You knew how this would end up and you weren’t sure if you wanted to be quiet tonight. It felt like shattered glass on your chest. Last time you had talked, it hadn’t been the outcome you had expected.

“Do you think we’re still doing this only because we feel guilty?” He has asked you. He had been the one to start it.

“Maybe.”

“Do you then think we’re still doing this because we know it’s too late to back up?”

“Maybe, because we are both stubborn, and maybe we know we were never meant to be.”

“Maybe, y/n, maybe we just know it.”

“I still love you, do you still love me?”

“It's a sacrifice.” He had looked away from you.

“Love shouldn’t be a sacrifice, Tom,” you had declared.

“I am saying letting each other go is a sacrifice,” he explained. “And because now it’s impossible to stay together,” he had said, his voice soft and cracking.

“Maybe we were dragged because it was impossible, I like the impossible,” you had tried to speak between the tears.

“But impossible takes us here,” Tom reminded you.

“To the end point,” you agreed. Tom sketched with his phone. “Are you in love with someone else, Tom?” You had asked with fear.

“No,” Tom had answered with pain. “Are you?”

“I’ll never fall in love again, Tom, unless it’s you,” You had said, half a smile. “But I can’t keep on doing this.”

“I can’t either,” Tom agreed. “We are stuck in a moment, and we can’t get out of it.”

“Explain to me why, then, I can’t love you but I know I won’t be able to love anybody else?”

“Someday, if we were so meant to be, we will meet again, then,y/n.”

“But what if we weren’t?”

“Then I want you to go and try to fall in love, y/n, forget about me, forget about the good times, forget about the bad times, I want you to be happy.”

But without him, you couldn’t be happy. But with him, it seemed like you couldn’t be happy either.

And he had gone with the sun, as if he had expected you to follow him, as if he was begging you to ask him to stay.

And you had just smiled.

"It was a pleasure to coincide in this life." Your words must have hurt him.

You had gone to a small gathering at one of Green Eyes’ friend’s place, most of the people in there were Green Eyes’ friends. Green Eyes had introduced you to Black Hair; Pretty Smile and Glasses. You had only smiled at them watching as Green Eyes was still around the bar talking to Brunette, she had her finger on her hair and suddenly you knew it, but it didn’t matter anymore. Your eyes were searching in the room and suddenly a familiar brown hair caught your attention.

And he wasn’t like all the nameless people who were there talking to you. They probably did have names, sort of common names, but you didn’t care enough to remember them. You believed that learning their names would make you think about them, and then you’d use your memory to remember them instead of Tom. Green Eyes did have a name for you, but you didn't’ like to think about it. Because the only name that you cared about was Tom’s, the only memories that mattered were Tom’s. As stupid as it sounds.

But the person across the room did have a name, and you were hoping you’d remember it.

He caught you staring and you cleared your throat and glanced back at Black Hair. The frequency of that act was almost infinite. No, it hadn’t been Tom and the guy wasn’t even remotely like him, but imagination is a strong weapon.

You excused yourself as you were debating to talk to him or not. You didn’t even know why.

But you hadn’t, because you knew it wasn’t him. However, you were fantasizing with Brown Hair being Tom. And you knew how it would end if it were him, with your arms around his neck and your lips touching his skin. Wordless encounters. With his cologne impregnating your body and your perfume on the taste of his lips, your heels on the edge of the floor and his clothes scattered around the room. Having him so close and yet so far.

But suddenly Green Eyes had drawn your attention back to him and away from the fantasy. The clock ticking fast. You gave them a small and one of those comments which exceeded the expectations, getting a laugh or two from glasses and a polite smile from black hair. Suddenly red dress had joined you, and you knew that it was a perfect time to walk away from the nameless people gathered around you. You excused yourself to get out to the party to go home, but in reality, you wanted to go to a pub, to a place where it was conveniently not far from Tom. You had heard the news from your friends, he wasn’t around blue eyes anymore.

You were now thinking about Green Eyes and his invitation to an after-party he was throwing, you guessed that he was tired of you never giving in to any of his invitations and to only see you every once in a while, he probably was exhausted of you never actually agreeing on his dates, but always spending time around him, little did he know he was your little distraction. The after party sounded exciting, inviting but not thrilling. You knew you definitely had to go, to clear your mind from thinking about Tom. But you secretly wanted to think about him. It was just another secret to keep to yourself. It wasn’t Green Eyes’ fault, it was yours, or Tom in that matter. Because Tom made you ignore every single chance of romance you had because you’d be thinking about him coming back, at least with a flower on a sunny day.

So you were there in the pub, a beer on your hand as your eyes were fixated on the entrance. He didn’t show up.

You went home with little hope now. It was raining, you thought to yourself. He could show up with roses, at your door. He would be shaking from the rain and tell you how long it has been. He’d tell you how much he missed you, and how crazy he had been for letting you go. And you’d realize that you hadn’t been the only one crying, you would realize that he missed you, too.

You’d tell him that you hadn’t meant all the horrible words you had said. You’d said that you actually missed the smell of tea in the morning or his singing around the house, and even the way he would leave his stuff all around your room, you’d tell him that you hadn’t meant it when you said you didn’t care about Spiderman, that you hadn’t meant it when you had said you hated his messy hair in the morning, you’d say you still love him, and that you wanted him to come back to make a mess in your kitchen and to open up the windows even though you’re cold. You’d say that you didn’t mind if he had to go all around the world and that you wouldn’t mind if he fell asleep during facetimes, because all that mattered would be that he’d be with you.

You were walking down the street, the pouring rain falling down your umbrella and you gave it a thought, maybe it didn’t have to be him. Maybe it didn’t have to be him the one who had to go to your place shaking from the rain.

You needed a trillion roses, but on your way, you only found a ripped daisy. That would work.

You are now standing in front of his door, shaking from the cold rain and pitying your ripped flower. Debating whether or not to ring the bell. Maybe you could text him. You know that he’s in the house, you heard him singing. And you’re trying to scream SOS, how can’t he know you’re there? Thinking about the 12 reasons that are impeding you to knock.

It’s stressing and suffocating, but exciting and thrilling. He walks to the window and you’re not sure if he noticed you. Before you knock he’s already opened the door. You guess he heard your silent SOS.

“Y/N,” he says, calmly.

“Tom.”

“Are you insane?” He asks, watching how you’re shaking slightly from the cold, he rushes you in.

“I am.”

And you are. Because the 12 reasons are screaming louder and louder.

“I think we need to-“

“No, I don’t want to talk,” he says softly.

You give him over the pathetic daisy you had picked up, he just looks up at you.

You feel embarrassed, you shouldn’t have come.

“I don’t wanna talk y/n,” Tom continues. “Because I know that we will end up talking about everything that went wrong.”

The 12 reasons.

“And I don’t want to talk about that, either.”

“Then what?”

“I miss you,” you say.

That’s a start. He doesn’t answer.

“I just want you to understand that at least one of us is crying,” You continue.

“The two of us,” he corrects you.

“I need you to know that I don’t mind,” you declare. He looks at you with confusion. “I don’t mind having to listen to you practice your scripts early in the morning, and I don’t mind having to clean up Tess’ business in the backyard. I don’t mind having to wait late at night to facetime you and I don’t mind coming to the gym with you.”

That makes him smile.

“I miss you, Tom,” you say, finally understanding that it needed to be at least one. One of you was supposed to swallow their guilt, and that one of you had to walk over to the door. And it had to be you. “I miss your kisses on my shoulder as I try to cook and I miss your dirty t-shirts on my drawers. I miss the Spider-Man conversations and I miss you sillying around when you’re shaving the lack of beard you have. I miss your hair and I miss your smile.”

Tom laughs. H gulps as he places his hands on your hip-bones. “I miss you, too,” he says. “I miss your kisses, I miss your touch, I miss your hands, I miss your mind.”

You shake your head placing your finger on his lips. “Only one of us has to talk,” you say.“I need you, Tom,” you continue speaking. “I need your advice, I need your jokes, I need your voice and I need your scent on my pillow.”

“It’s not like we’ve been apart,” he reminds you.

“But it’s not like we’ve been close,” you say.

“I guess I knew what I was supposed to do,” he admits. “But I was afraid it was only one of us.”

You stay silent, waiting for him to elaborate.

“All I had to do was show up, shaking from the rain with roses on my hands,” he confides.

“One of us had to do it.” You say.

“And one of us did.”

But both of you lean over to kiss.

MASTERLIST.

tag list @exoticeggos @nextkaratekid @multifandom-fangirl4 @fortheloveofmcu @flashcal @iwillalwaysbevictorious @thekidsofneibolt @quicksoldier @totallyreadyforthis s @quacksonqueen @lovelyh0lland @typicaltrashbagg @supernatural-trash-lover @assumeimapenguin @americaswritings @nano-hero @paradoxparker @its-livelovelife @its-tchalla @butwhyduh @strangerthingslucas @leena-xoxo @toms-darling @ivyohmy @greenarrowhead @softboyparkerr @tom-hollands-eyelash h h @jtorressuck @clairesrainbow l @desirableprey @fairydustparker @newlove-neweverything g @ymeradonnadx @underoosmarvel @patdandtop @its-the-unknownspidey s @savethebabyseals @hermionedeservesbetterthanron @quitetommy y @tomhaz @wronglanemendes @kaciidubs @itsvianny @jake-and-amy-are-married @lavenderholland @retroparkers @parkersharthook @mr-stank-i-dont-feel-so-dank @thatweirdomimic @marvelousxtsh

#tom holland fluff #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland agnst #tom holland angst #tom holland fic #tom holland ff

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medea10 · 5 years ago

Text

My Review of Pokemon Sun & Moon

Hi all. Sorry for the delay on this one. I usually go all-out on my Pokemon reviews that I wanted to let out everything I wanted to. Plus I had real-life work and other stuff. With that said, here’s my final review of 2019 as well as the final review of the decade. See you in 2020!

As Ash mentioned at the end of XY, Ash said he was going back home to Pallet Town and “start at zero”. This means when he decides to go on his journey, he leaves all of his other pokemon at Oak’s lab and goes on a new journey with Pikachu. But unlike the start of other journeys, this one started with Ash’s mom, Delia and her pokemon Mimie winning a contest which resulted in a trip to the Alola region. And since they were heading that way, Professor Oak asks them to bring a pokemon egg to his cousin in Alola. So let’s begin with Ash’s adventure in the Alola region.

The Alola region is split into four different islands. Each of these islands contains trial captains, island challenges, pokemon of different forms, and pokemon guardians! But unlike the game, Ash ends up in the Alola region to go to school. That’s right, after being the envy of every child for the last 20 years, Ash must go to school. In this school, Ash will learn all he needs to when it comes to living in the Alola region. Along with new friends, a helpful professor, a Rotom Pokedex, an enthusiastic Oak that does impressions, and a special bracelet capable of unleashing powerful Z-moves, Ash’s journey is getting very interesting.

MEET THE CHARACTERS: This seriously has got to be the biggest ensemble for Ash’s posse. Each character has their own unique charm and their own speciality when it comes to their pokemon type preference (and their hairstyle will say so too). At the beginning, I was just okay on some of these characters, but I have definitely enjoyed watching them evolve. Here are all of Ash’s new classmates, professor, Pokedex and a brand-new Oak.

Mallow is a very cheerful girl with the love of grass-types and cooking specialty dishes for friends and pokemon. While some of her dishes can be a little surprising, even shocking, she has a knack for using only the freshest ingredients, mostly coming from wild pokemon.

Lana has a passion for the water and yes, even water-type pokemon. She’s quite soft spoken and spends a lot of her days fishing. She may even look into becoming a fisher like her father. But she does have an edge that makes her and her Popplio tough to beat. Not to mention, quite the sense of humor! She also takes care of her two younger sisters Sarah and Harper.

Kiawe is very handy in a battle with his fire-type pals. Unlike the other students in the class, he’s been given a Z-ring first as he has attempted the Island Challenge. Because of this, he’s rather high-strong about those who own a Z-ring. His days start early in the morning with delivering MooMoo Milk, then he goes to class, then comes home to take care of the farm pokemon, and let’s not forget all that training with Charizard and Turtenator!

Sophocles is what you’d call a computer nerd (yeah, we have another one). He’s able to handle any electrical error that comes his way with the help of either Togedamaru or Charjabug. The only thing he’s unable to challenge is sleeping in the dark!

Lillie is the mysterious girl with no pokemon (at first) and seems to get scared by them real easily. However, she knows quite a bit about pokemon without having physical contact with them. Luckily, Lillie lets her guard down later in the series when she gets the opportunity to take care of an egg. And when it hatched, she kept it. Other pokemon, it still takes her a while to open up to them, but when she does open up, it’s adorable!

Professor Six-Pack is too hot (hot damn)! Call the police and the fireman!

FINE, I’LL DO THE RIGHT THING!

Professor Kukui is the teacher to these fine pupils and has even allowed Ash to stay with him while Ash attends school. He seems a little laid back at first glance, but he does take special care into each and every lesson he gives his students.

Rotomdex is the talking Pokedex for Ash. Unlike all the other Pokedexes up to this point, this one can actually carry on a conversation with Ash. Not just that, but come up with strategies, watch detective shows on TV, and even write screenplays. It’s amazing how so much can come from a fushion between a Rotom and a regular pokedex!

Principal Oak…Okay, no, I can’t do that! Over 10 years ago, I wrote a fan fic called Romance 101. And I spent a good five years writing the words “Principal Oak” because that’s what I called Samuel Oak. This Principal Oak is just giving me vivid flashbacks.

…fine Principal SAMSON Oak is of course the principal to the Pokemon School. This Oak is a much tanner, buffer, and at times sillier man when you compare him to the original Professor Oak. He really loves doing pokemon impressions. And much like Professor Oak’s poems, Samson Oak’s jokes goes over a lot of people’s heads.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: With the exception of Kiawe, Rotomdex, and Samson Oak’s voice actors, this is literally a brand new experience for most of these new characters. And I gotta say, I hope these voice actors get more attention. I know Reina Ueda (Mallow) has been getting a lot more roles in the last three years and I love that. The Pokemon anime has had quite a history of either getting very prominent voice actors or voice actors who aren’t known for much else. But I do hope for more exposure for Lana, Sophocles, and Professor Kukui’s seiyuus. Extra points for having Nobuhiko Okamoto play Gladion!

I’ll mention more later in the review but due to the death of a very, very, VERY prominent voice actor, there was a major change. With the passing of Unshou Ishizuka, there were three important characters that had to be changed; Professor Oak, Samson Oak, and the Narrator. I started noticing the lack of these three (yes, even the narrator) in episodes prior to Ishizuka’s death. If we go several episodes without one of the Oak’s, it’s not a big deal. But the fact that the narrator wasn’t heard before the start of the show or at the end for several episodes at a time, it felt very weird. But after hearing about how Unshou Ishizuka died of Esophageal cancer, I can’t help but think he was doing treatments during the Aether Foundation arc. His replacement, Kenyu Horiuchi is not bad. But after listening to Ishizuka since…well at least two decades, it’s very noticeable.

The dub once again is putting hope in brand new voice actors and even a few veterans from the XY series. And so far, this is very promising since they casted Alsyon Leigh Rosenfield. However, one prominent voice actor who has been around for a LONG time has retired. Kayzie Rodgers, the replacement voice of Max and Wobbuffet (and long-time voice to Mr. Mime and Professor Ivy) has retired at the beginning of SM (2016). I can honestly say, I will miss hearing her voice. Out of all the dub changes, you were one of a few I accepted. That and I will always remember you as Professor Ivy and Mimie! With that said, here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Lana is played by Hitomi Kikuchi

*Mallow is played by Reina Ueda (known for Kisa on Fruits Basket 2019, Shiori on Sakura Quest, Jiro on Tokyo Ghoul, and Katra Paige on Inazuma Eleven GO: Galaxy)

*Kiawe is played by Kaito Ishikawa (known for Genos on One Punch Man, Naofumi in Shield Hero, Sakakibara on Assassination Classroom, Kaito on Tsurune, Mitsuo on Golden Time, and Urie on Tokyo Ghoul :re)

*Sophocles is played by Fumiko Takekuma

*Lillie is played by Kei Shindou (known for Carissa on Index III and Shijimi on Rosario to Vampire)

*Professor Kukui is played by Keiichi Nakagawa (known for Salamander on Beelzebub)

*Rotomdex is played by Daisuke Namikawa (known for Rock on Black Lagoon, Jellal on Fairy Tail, Italy on Hetalia, Kazehaya on Kimi ni Todoke, Fai on Tsubasa Chronicle, Yuu on Persona 4, and Arima on Tokyo Ghoul)

*Narrator & Samson/Samuel Oak (ep1-93) is played by Unshou Ishizuka (known for Mr. Satan on DBZ Kai, Jet on Cowboy Bebop, Hohenheim on FMA: Brotherhood, Dr. Gel on Space Dandy, and Grandpa Joestar on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Pt 3) [R.I.P.]

* Narrator & Samson/Samuel Oak (ep93-present) is played by Kenyuu Horiuchi (known for Pain on Naruto, Mako’s father on Kill la Kill, Sasaki on Bakuman, Hachiken’s father on Silver Spoon, and Takafumi on Sekaiichi Hatsukoi)

ENGLISH CAST: *Lana is played by Rosie Reyes

*Mallow is played by Rebecca Soler (known for Hart on YGO Zexal)

*Kiawe is played by Marc Swint

*Sophocles is played by Alyson Leigh Rosenfield (known for Rio on YGO Zexal, Aina on Promare, and Ally on YGO Arc-V)

*Lillie is played by Laurie Hymes (known for Prana on YGO: Dark Side of Dimensions)

*Professor Kukui is played by Abe Goldfarb

*Rotomdex is played by Roger Callagy

*Samson Oak is played by Marc Thompson (known for Chaz on YGO GX, Astral on YGO Zexal, and Kevin/Mr. O’Neill/Mr. Demartino on Daria)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Pokemon…why do you keep doing this to me? Do you want me to lose what little faith I hold onto?

With that said, this season has given me a “best girl”. Yes, the term “best girl” is given to the…well, you know, the best girl of the series. And ever since the creators decided to shake things up by giving Ash a new female companion every couple of years, fans have fought to the death on who is best girl of Pokemon. For me, my best girls of Pokemon were Prima, Zoey, Blue/Leaf Green, and Bonnie. But there are just a few problems there. None of them are Ash’s piece of arm candy! And there’s some unwritten law that it has to be the possible love interest like Misty, Dawn, or Blushy McIdiot. And my best girls have either been in only one episode of the anime, was just a rival to someone who isn’t Ash, a girl who was never in the anime, and too young. BUT…Sun and Moon did it! It friggin’ did it! It gave me a best girl! And that girl is…

LANAAAAAAAA!

I never tire of that Archer joke! But yes, Lana is best girl.

I knew I was going to like her when she first debuted, but I had no idea how awesome she was going to truly be. Is it her prankish nature? Maybe! Is it this creepy yandere vibe I get off from her every now and then? Possibly! Is it the way I’ve seen her grow as a trainer throughout this series. You fucking bet! Lana at one point seemed like the one character who wasn’t getting much growth when it came to catching and evolving pokemon. Then again, everyone (including Ash) gave me that impression compared to other arcs. But then she caught the shaggy Eevee! Serious wild card! No one expected Lana to catch Eevee. And then there’s Popplio. She and Popplio trained like crazy later in the series and it shows when it evolved into Brionne and eventually into Primarina. ESPECIALLY WHEN PRIMARINA EVOLVED! Did you see Lana and Brionne going toe-to-toe with that Kyogre? That was epically awesome!

Plus, she was like the only female in God-knows how long to reach the top 8 in the Pokemon League.

DISLIKED CHARACTER: My tolerance has taken a slight dip because there are three people I feel should be up here!

First, I would like to put up Cross from the 20th movie, I Choose You. I know that he isn’t in the actual SM series, but I’m putting him up here because I just downright hate him. He is on Damien levels of shit. That’s how much I hate the son of a bitch. He could cure cancer, kick Donald Trump in the crotch, and bring peace in the Middle East and I would still hate him. Cross was like a very bad combination of Damien and Paul. Abandons a pokemon the same way as Damien and shows this power assholeness that Paul has. But add to that, a bit of a cruel edge to him and sprinkle a bit of whiny little bitch on that. He has to hold a grudge against Ash in this movie because he was blessed with Ho-oh’s feather, but when he saw Ho-oh, he got nothing. Oh boo-freakin-hoo! Cry me a river!

Next…Faba! You fucking testicle! Heads up, I like calling Faba a testicle! When I first saw him, I thought that Lusamine was gonna be the one to hate because of the game setup. But this anime just proves how much Lusamine loves both of her children. The same can’t be said about Faba! At first, I thought Faba would be like Colress in a way…creepy how they almost look and act the same. But then his true side started to show. Oh, this guy wants them Ultra Beasts. And will not let anyone get in his way. Not little children, not birds suffering from Insomnia, not Team Rocket, not even his boss’s child! This greedy sonuvabitch is literally the reason why Lillie was afraid of pokemon and re-triggered it AGAIN thanks to UB Nihilgo. Yeah, fuck you Testicle!

Now after that incident, Testicle was demoted and serves under Wicke and Clefable (which is literally the best thing I could ever ask for). And in most scenarios where he’s shown, Faba was silly with his fanboy obsession with the Masked Royal or his stupid experiment shrinks the kids. So other than him being a dumbass nothing too damning! That was until the Pokemon League where he decided to play dirty by having his Hypno bring out Ash’s Meltan instead of going up against Pikachu. I’m glad he got beat within less than 2 minutes because this testicle needs to shrivel up now.

Who else?

Viren! I can’t help but think he’s this anime’s answer to Donald Trump. But I hate both of them so that’s a start! I could let things slide with him just being there for one episode where he’s trying to buy out Kiawe’s family’s farm and be done with it. BUT NO! This sonuvabitch has gotta wear out his welcome by showing up another three or four times doing that same shit! And even his very first episode where he uses illegal tactics to get Rango and Sima’s farm was warrant enough to hate this fucker. I just thought he would just be a one-and-done character much like the Mayor of Trovitopolis (OI episode). Aggrivating to say, this dickhead came back numerous times to do more shady-ass shit. And I hope to Arceus I never see him again!

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Kiawe and Lana’s mothers are total milfs.

DON’T ACT LIKE I’M THE ONLY ONE HERE! Kiawe’s mama, hell yeah total milf! Lana’s mother, I ended up having a lesbian dream about her and she became a milf.

Hey, usually I’m straighter than a honeymoon dick. But sometimes I peak over and can easily say that Sima and Lana’s mother are Mothers I Like to Fantasize about. Again, in the words of Forky, “I’m Trash”!

SHIPPING: Okay…let’s have some fun with this one. This is less vomit inducing than XY. Just keep that bitch in Hoenn for as long as it takes. I don’t want to see her for a long time.

Ash x Lillie: I honestly think this is rather cute. Ash is one of the very few who’s been able to help Lillie with her poke-phobia. Though this ship isn’t heavily pushed on us like a certain OTHER ship that just won’t DIE. I swear Amour is like the herpes. I really can’t say there’s much romance here. Although her goodbye to Ash was just honest-to-God cute! Now if there was one Ash ship that caused some sort of blushing, it would have to go to…

Ash x Lana: Whenever she could, Lana would drag Ash along with her. Whether it’s looking for a missing pokemon or on the hunt for a legendary pokemon in the water, she would take Ash by the arm and take him by force. However, none of this was romantically motivated. The only thing worth mentioning was her tsundere way of blushing and brushing off romance when her sisters pester if Ash is her boyfriend.

Mallow x Lillie: This was my OTP to be perfectly honest. While Ash was the actual first person to nudge Lillie to help her with pokemon, Mallow was like the best friend of Lillie’s. She would always show concern for her. I know this is more big sister syndrome, but I’ll still ship it. I never thought anything would happen until the episode where the class puts on a play and I see Mallow and Lillie dressed like Utena and Anthy from Revolutionary Girl Utena. To which I said, “HOLY SHIT, THIS IS AWESOME-BALLS”! Pokemon, are you trying to tell us something with this? You trying to tell us something with this clear and direct reference to one of anime’s famous Yuri couples?

Kukui x Burnet: THIS SHIP HAS SAILED! I’m actually surprised how fast this ship was. I know they’re married in all four games, but in the anime it seemed like they didn’t know each other that well prior to Burnet’s first appearance. And anime wise, they only spent 11 episodes with each other. And on the 11th episode not only did Kukui propose to Burnet with a ring, but they freakin’ got married! I guess there are such things as love at first sight. Kukui wanted it and put a ring on it. There’s a real man, yo! Now, he does lose some points here as he does lead that double life as the Masked Royal where he keeps it a secret from everyone, including his fangirl of a wife. But once she knew, she let him off the hook. And you know how much this ship is cemented? Watch the last 30 seconds of the final episode! It’ll blow your socks off!

On a side note, the way Kukui proposed to Burnet…BEST FUCKING PROPOSAL!

Nurse Joy x Officer Jenny: Amazing, it has taken over 20 years for anyone to think this is even humanly possible. But in Alola, there’s a Nurse Joy and an Officer Jenny that are constantly together. Maybe it’s because I hang out on Tumblr a little too much that it gets implied a lot, but I can’t help but have a guilty pleasure for this.

Pokeshipping: AAAAAAH! Yeah, Medea has to bring this old war back. Okay, okay, I won’t be long here. Just to let you know that I’m a fan of this ship, especially back in the day. As for Sun & Moon, at least we don’t see that classic tsundere syndrome Misty is known for. But she still cutefully teases Ash about several things from the past including the broken bike and their past gym battle. To add to this, Misty (and to lesser extent Brock) were the only ones from Ash’s past companions to see him this region...much to my dismay!

Brock x Olivia: Holy crap! Did Brock seriously get lucky? Is this it? Is this the woman to finally fulfill this pervy breeder/doctor? To me, it just feels like just another day in the life of Brock’s love life. However he has done his research of Olivia that makes me think he’s dead serious about her…I just think it’s a creative way to say he’s in the early stages of stalking. But nothing else came from it after Brock (literally) proposed marriage to her and joined in doing a Z-move with her. Then again, Brock does get a lucky break with at least one lady in each region. Sadly, that’ll probably be the end of that much like Professor Ivy, Pike Queen Lucy, Holly, and Autumn.

Ash x Gladion: Guilty pleasure…is it wrong that I want these two to dress up like Yuri and Yurio from Yuri on Ice. No, didn’t think so! Not sorry for that image!

ANIMATION: I’m sorry, I can’t stay quiet about this like most of the other fans of the show. What the hell were they thinking? This is not supposed to be One Piece. This is not supposed to that Rock Lee spin-off. This is Pokemon. Poke-fucking-mon! Ash went backwards on the evolutionary chart. And people have nerve to go off on the BW series for giving him wider pupils and a mediocre outfit. You people owe the animators for BW a fucking apology for one! Ash’s design now looks like he’s cosplaying to be Monkey D. Luffy’s retarded cousin. Even my own mother, who watches one episode once every couple of months commented to say Ash looks stupid. Thank you!

SADDEST MOMENT: It’s been a good while since I’ve had a Pokemon episode touch me to a point of almost crying. Close, but the Misty/Togetic goodbye still has it beat (which was then beaten by an episode of Violet Evergarden…Dammit 2019!). And even then, the touching moments in Pokemon would be because someone of the main cast released their pokemon like Ash releasing Charizard, Jessie releasing Dustox, and OH MY GOD, NO! ENOUGH WITH THE SAD TOGETIC SCENE! But that was just it, at least no one died!

…Until now! That’s right, deaths were usually only a movie thing as we saw in the fifth movie with Latios. But in the last three years, Pokemon got a little dark in both the anime and the movie trilogies. The 20th movie we saw a Luxray freeze to death, the 21st movie we saw a Snubbull burn to death, and because the 22nd movie is a rehash of the very first movie, we’re going to relive Ash dying.

The SM anime did a few things we haven’t seen in the Pokemon anime before. In the early episodes of SM, we were introduced to Litten and watched a very sad episode dealing with death. Before Litten joined Ash, it lived on the streets with a very old Stoutland. Now think of every sad animal movie you’ve ever seen and you’ll have your answer of what happens to Stoutland by the end of the episode. They don’t show Stoutland’s death on screen, but we know. This episode was very clever at tackling the death topic on a kid’s anime. And up to this point I thought this episode was going to take the cake in the sad department. Boy was I wrong!

The 108th episode of SM gave us one hell of a tear-jerker and it almost got me. It almost got me! We learn in this episode that Mallow had a mother. And this is a first because no one in any of the main cast talked about a dead parent before this episode! We learn about Mallow’s mother being sick a lot and it caused a rift between the two. Especially when Mallow snaps at her mother because all she does is apologize for not being there. Unfortunately that exchange was the last time she ever spoke to her. Where does the sad part get heavy? Here!

While everyone was on Poni Island, we hear about how Tapu Fini is able to communicate with the dead. And among some of the dead we saw Hapu’s grandfather, Kiawe’s grandfather, and Stoutland. But in the mist, Mallow came across her mother. And that one moment where she finally can see her mother after so many years! She breaks down and cries. She apologizes for the horrible things she said as a kid to her. But those sorrys turn into thank yous. She thanks her mother for what she’s done, thanked her for being her mother! God damn it, this is now #2 in saddest Pokemon moments. The second I saw this I thought it was going to make me ugly cry and trounce all over the Misty/Togetic moment. To my surprise, it didn’t. But came super close!

In short, Mallow seeing her mother again…this moment! Feels! Fucking feels!

COMEBACK: I have pretty much given up on people from the previous series to pay Ash a visit in the newest region. After XY where we didn’t get a single sighting of Iris and Cilan getting shafted to an episode that they didn’t even bother giving an English dub, I just gave up. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t get characters who “came back”.

In SM, there were two times where we got a blast from the past. In two episodes we had Ash, Kukui, and the class make a trip to Kanto where (that’s right) we get to see Professor Oak, Delia, Misty, and Brock again. Not only that but we get two more episodes where Misty and Brock come to Alola!

As much as I love Misty…and toler…ate Brock, many other characters are overdue for a get-together with Ash. If you want me to be blunt, May, Iris, and Tracey are the only ones who should get attention and everyone else needs to FUCK OFF. That’s right, we don’t need to see Brock hit on more whores of the day. No more fishing competitions for Dento-fruit (much as I love him). Blushy McIdiot, Dingus, and Bonnie can go fuck off! And that goes double for Dawn!

Shit Medea, that was cruel.

Yeah it was cruel and I’ll continue to do so. It’s been 11 years since May was last seen/heard. Iris got royally butt-fucked by everything in the anime. And as for Tracey, I don’t owe you pissants a fucking explanation. Tracey deserves better! Speaking of…

AN UNFORTUNATE THEORY: With the comebacks of Misty and Brock, Tracey has just been NOT THERE! They go to Oak’s lab and he isn’t there. Not even mentioned. Not a word about him. When Ash calls Professor Oak randomly, Oak is there and even Muk, but no Tracey. When Ash asks Misty and Brock about back home, they don’t mention Tracey…which is to be expected since they have to talk about their siblings, but still.

Pokemon doing anything island adventure wise kinda comes with a mixed bag. The Orange Islands came with immediate hate because loyal Brock fans are ass-hurt about Tracey’s existence. The Sevii Islands were a bust during the FR/LG games. And the less mentioned about Decalore Island in the BW anime, the better. But when they decided to do Alola, fans caught on quite quickly with some comparisons to the Orange Island anime portion.

Unlike all the other gyms in other regions, Alola had four grand trials/leaders. Orange Islands had the Orange Crew, which was essentially four gym leaders. Both the trials and the crew had Ash do different tasks before an actual battle. Next, pokemon with different colors/forms! In the early episodes of the Orange Islands, we saw pokemon just a smide different from their normal looks. We saw Vileplume with a different flower pattern, other pokemon with a different shade of color to them, and interesting designs on Butterfree. In Alola, they expaneded on that by giving “Alolan forms” to pokemon like Meowth, Diglett, Exeggutor, Marowak, and even Raichu! I do love Alolan Raichu! However, the pokemon that had small changes in the Orange Islands were not brought to the Alolan table. So maybe Orange Islands and Alola are in far different parts of the world.

Where my theory goes from here is that I think Pokemon really wants to pretend the Orange Islands never happened. That means the gym battles, the special pokemon, and yes, even Tracey. That’s the only way to explain why no one has mentioned him even when we’re standing in Professor Oak’s fucking lab! I hate to be blunt and say something so horrible, but every time I watch SM, it really does feel like that. Yes, I admit it, the Orange Islands were just filler until Ash and crew could go to Johto. First of all, it exists. No matter how much you try to white-wash us with Alolan features, the Orange Islands was a thing. And it was a great thing! Ash was in his first six-on-six match (and won), Ash’s first double battle happened here, and stellar episodes like Pikachu Re-volts and Tracey Gets Bugged should not be cast aside. Those were all great! Pokemon, you cannot run from your past! You can improve upon it, yes. But never forget! These were a thing! These were great things!

Thankfully, my death theory was put to rest in the first episode of Pokemon 2019 when the Orange Island trophy was shown. That’s great, now where’s Tracey?

Another theory! They couldn’t get Tomokazu Seki. That could also be it!

RUNNING GAG: We got two running gags throughout the SM series! First, there’s the return of that singing ball of pink, Jigglypuff! This little singer has not been seen or heard from since AG. That’s well over a decade, people. Well…when Ash and crew visited Kanto, they ran into Jigglypuff and by sheer coincidence, wound up riding the airplane back to Alola. So now we see it every now and then in Alola, singing in a Karaoke bar.

And the other…Bewear! It hasn’t been officially caught by Team Rocket. They don’t use it in a battle. But Bewear has literally made it impossible for Team Rocket to BLAST OFF ever again. Their life-long running gag died the minute they fell into Bewear’s meaty arms.

Also it doesn’t help that I constantly scream “KUMA SHOCK” every time it comes to collect Team Rocket. Anyone who gets that reference deserves a high five!

BANNED IN THE USA: Welcome back, banishment! I knew you couldn’t stay away for long as we do live in a SJW/PC time. So what episode never got to see the light of day in the U.S.?

This one…yeah, I can totally agree with. So in the U.S. there is indeed ONE episode we were not given. In this episode, Ash decides to help a group of Passimian. And throughout the majority of the episode, Ash is dressed up like a Passimian from the pajamas to the…OH MY! I actually let it slide when I saw the Japanese viewing (because I’m half-awake at 2am), but I can definitely see why this one would ruffle a few feathers. Let’s just say Ash’s costume was a little too borderline blackface and that’s why it’ll never air in the states.

Anything else!? Not in terms of full episodes. Certain scenes, absolutely! Little baby things were edited due to being not kid-friendly. What’s in those drinks Kukui and Burnet are drinking out of at their own wedding? Champagne? Blasphemy! That’s Orange Juice now! What’s in Delia’s drink in the first episode? Oh we can’t have her pull a Miriam Pataki here! Turn that shit into Pinap Juice! Okay, besides the censorship of drinks, was there anything else? Why, yes, yes there was!

We all know how creepy Team Rocket’s Mimikyu can be. That’s why it’s placed in my top 10 list of characters that scare the shit outta me! Well one scene had Mimikyu’s shadow scare Meowth so horribly, the next scene had Meowth DEAD! Face down in the water! Don’t worry kids, Meowth comes back to life. The U.S. said “OH HELL NO WE CAN’T SHOW THIS! FUCK IS WRONG WITH JAPAN!” And so the face down scene was completely chopped from the dub. Add to that, there were several instances where Meowth almost dies and parts of those scenes are cut from American broadcast.

REFERENCES: If there was one thing this new animation has given us, it has open the doors to using references from other animes and even a few western media projects. And we haven’t really seen much of this since the original series and AG. And even back then, it was mostly just Rose of Versailles references with Team Rocket. I know I give the animation flack for it being a pile of shit compared to better animation shown in XY and DP. But I think the animators do have a little more fun when doing Sun and Moon. And I think it’s loosened them to using other animation styles seen in different and popular animes.

And boy did SM use a butt-load of anime references! Here’s a list of what I was able to remember!

*Facial expressions matching those scene in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure in several episodes *A Mr. Osomatsu reference tossed somewhere *Ping Pong the Animation being used when Illma entered in the Ping Pong competition *Kiawe doing the famous Gendo Ikari pose from Neon Genesis Evangelion in the same episode mentioned above. *Ash and Kiawe making the scary, demonic face Popuko makes when she’s mad on Pop Team Epic, when the two missed out on catching a UB Pokemon. *Transformation scenes with Ash and crew that match those of Power Rangers or every magical girl show. *The girl with many Pikachus has one Pikachu with hair like Boruto (Naruto Uzamaki’s son) *Ash and Pikachu looking like they’re doing the Kamehameha attack during their league match (DBZ, duh) *Rotomdex mentioning it wants to do a sci-fi feature and the image strikes a chord with Star Wars fans everywhere. *Lillie dressed like Utena. Mallow dressed like the rose princess, Anthy. HOLY SHIT, MY OTP IS DOING A REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA REFERENCE! Take my revolution!

And the mother of all references goes to Jessie! Or should I say, her seiyuu Megumi Hayashibara! Pokemon animated many of her iconic roles in one epic scene. Just to name a few of Hayashibara’s roles shown there was Ranma Saotome (Ranma ½) Rei Ayanami (Evangelion), White Kitty (Hello Kitty), Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop), and everyone’s favorite Lina Inverse (Slayers). At least in the English dub, Lisa Ortiz popped in for the Lina Inverse moment! Epic on epic on epicly God levels of YES!

MUSIC: Okay in recent years, the English openings have gotten tolerable and the same can be said about the opening themes used this time around. So I won’t bitch about that. So how about I bitch about the BGM?!

Background music, I know a lot of complaints are expressed by loyal Japanese version fans that the English version has completely changed the BGM throughout most of the episodes and even the motion pictures! Yeah, in the I Choose You movie only ONE original BGM was used. The BGM topic never really got to me. But if I remember correctly when 4Kids lost rights to Pokemon and went to the new company, they said that they were going to keep a lot of things true and the BGM was one of them. Yeah, that went to the waist-side real fast! I do believe that they listened to that complaint because in the following movie, the entire score was kept (with the exception of the ED theme by Porno Graffitti).

The Japanese openings…I used to like Alola by Rica Matsumoto. Yeah…used to. Okay, that’s too mean. I don’t hate it on the lengths of V(Volt) from the previous series. It’s just that they used this song in certain scenes that took me out of liking it fully. Now anytime I hear Alola, all I can think about is Ash, Litten, Pikachu, and Rockruff wiggling their asses. Some of the other openings were just okay, I wasn’t too thrilled about them. But there was another thing I feel I should bring up.

Just like the English dub to XY, they wanted to capture a nostalgic feel to the general audience watching, Sun and Moon gave us some of that here. Because of the release of the 20th movie, Rica Matsumoto ended up singing her signature Mezase Pokemon Master again. And as a result, it was the show’s opening for quite some time. Not only that but the last ending theme to Sun and Moon was a cover of Rica’s other hit song Type Wild (now sung by Shoko Nakagawa).

MOVIES: The movies have taken a different turn from what we’ve seen previously. Let’s face it folks, the 10 movies that came out prior to these last three were average AT BEST. And with many other series doing reboots to their old classics, I guess Pokemon decided to do it on a large scale when it came to the story of Ash and Pikachu. With all new animation and a new story, we follow Ash and Pikachu in a much different take on their journey. A much faster-paced story where Ash doesn’t have much of the filler stuff and doesn’t travel with Misty, Brock, or the rest! To which I say, good! I know it means the Sun & Moon gang will never be in a movie, but it also means that animation won’t be there either.

I Choose You was the first movie and from the get-go, fans were upset over seeing a reboot of Ash’s beginning journey with Pikachu and not seeing Misty or Brock. Instead we get a kind of condensed version of certain moments of Ash’s original journey, mixed with new material and get introduced to new characters (who come from Sinnoh of all places). The pokemon featured was Ho-oh, who after all this time was going to be featured in a film and Marshadow because it’s not a pokemon movie without featuring a brand-new pokemon from this era.

The Power of Us, Ash ends up on an island where he meets several new characters who each have their own story to tell including a high school girl, a shy scientist, a pathological liar, an old woman who hates pokemon, and the daughter of the mayor. And we are introduced to another new pokemon, Zeroroa. All five characters (plus Ash) are put through their own trials and tribulations in order to save their town during a festival.

Mewtwo Strikes Back EVOLUTION: It’s the first movie…in CGI/3D/Robot-Chicken-ized, whatever! There’s no need for a synopsis since everybody and their mother knows this story. It’s literally the same story as Mewtwo Strikes Back. Ash and company get invited to an island, Mewtwo causes storms and clones to mess with the people, Mew appears, Pokemon fight, Ash dies, Ash doesn’t die, Mewtwo says profound speech that even Jon Stewart praises, everyone’s minds are erased, and that’s all! They even got the original cast to come back and reused Unshou Ishizuka’s old footage as the narrator for this movie!

The thing about this last movie is that, The Pokemon Company dropped the ball on this. SEVERELY dropped the ball on this! They had the perfect setup, the perfect opportunity to get this in the theaters just in time for the 20th anniversary of the first movie’s release in the U.S. and they do jackshit with it! Not even on Disney XD. For shame!

I will say that these three are a SEVERE improvement on the Pokemon movies. Can anyone with full honesty say that any pokemon movie that came out after the Lucario movie that any of the others were even good? Be honest, almost every movie since AG was just essentially a long side-story with an annoying mythical/legendary that can talk. It got annoying! Plus it just felt like Ash and whoever he was with would just be dragged in the middle of some bullshit and have to save the day. It was fine in the first couple of movies, but the pattern got worn out.

Plus with this alternate timeline to the Pokemon story, it gave the Sun and Moon anime more to work with legendaries and mythical pokemon. Hell, all the main cast was able to catch (and later release) an Ultra Beast pokemon. Not only that, but Mallow got to take care of the mythical pokemon Shaymin for over 40 episodes. Don’t you wish we got that with May and Manaphy? Plus, Ash got to take care of Cosmog and Poipole for an extended amount of time. Okay, my favorite movie of the three.

I Choose You is my favorite out of the bunch. I loved the retelling of Ash and Pikachu starting out on their very first journey. I love the new path they took with this story. I love the new characters introduced, Verity and Sorrel. I love the pokemon that were shown as it gave us a bit of everything from every region up to this point. Yes it was a cluster-fuck in some portions as I had to see past characters shown way different. Cynthia’s Verity’s mother! I can’t unsee this shit! And I will never unsee the messed-up dream Ash had where he was in actual real-world with no pokemon and in a real school where I’m given vivid flashbacks of my fanfic. Regardless, I enjoyed this movie so much. And I got to see many things here that I would always imagine would happen in a final episode of Pokemon (where Ash dies, Pikachu speaks, and an epic fight with Ho-oh). It is now my 2nd favorite Pokemon movie.

+1000000000 points for showing Tracey in the ED credits! Medea screeched in the theaters. I apologize for nothing! Best five seconds I’ve had in years.

TEAM ROCKET UPDATE: As this region does not have Pokemon Contests or that tact on Princess crap from Kalos, we’ll find our favorite trio (+Wobbuffett) going after the twerps and wandering around the area. And while I do enjoy Jessie dipping her foot in the contest arena, this pace can be boring and a blessing at the same time. Unlike previous seasons, we will go episodes at a time where we don’t see Team Rocket. But the episodes where they do show up aren’t the most thrilling. Usually they’ll just be in the background serving treats to background characters.

However, one major improvement with Team Rocket this season is with their pokemon. In the past, Team Rocket has had some unique pokemon that they’ve captured (or stolen…still not letting the Yamnega thing go). In Kanto, James had Victreebel that would eat him. In Hoenn, James had Cacnea that would pinch him every time it came out. In Sinnoh, James had Carnevine that would eat him…Okay, a lot of it is James torture-porn! Regardless, they were entertaining to watch. And I felt a complete slump with their pokemon during BW and XY. This season, pretty much ALL of Team Rocket’s pokemon are entertaining.

Marenie loves James so much that she would blow off being with her own kind to be with James. Even hearing the sounds of wedding bells every time James asks a favor of her! It’s actually adorable to watch Marenie. Jessie’s Mimikyu…I’m almost convinced Mimikyu is the reincarnation of a serial killer. And the biggest pokemon to cause Team Rocket so much grief is one they didn’t even catch, but it sticks around to take care of them like they were children, Bewear! And trust me, they’ve tried catching Bewear. And Bewear smushed the pokeball into poke-dust! Bewear would just come right the fuck out of nowhere, defying logic, gravity, and absurdity to bring Team Rocket back to its cave! This, making it the longest period of time where Team Rocket went without blasting off!

Every time they had the twerps cornered, in comes Bewear to take them back! Whenever they were about to do their traditional blast off, Bewear would come in and take them back to the cave! Even when they’re in fucking Kanto, it managed to swoop in and take them back to the cave. Team Rocket even DEFEATED Ash in a battle and had the perfect opportunity to take the twerp’s Pikachu. But no, Bewear came in and swooped them up! These pokemon were fun to watch this entire series! This was definitely an improvement from the last few seasons. Seriously, I can’t even remember what pokemon Jessie and James had during BW!

BIG TEAM BATTLE: Just like in Unova, Team Rocket ended up getting more attention than the antagonists of Alola. Except here, it’s a little more accepting. It’s just that in Alola, was there really a big team to cause major havoc with world-shaking consequences? Technically, the Aether Foundation wasn’t the big bad team and Team Skull was just a bunch of angsty punks. Regardless, there were two arcs with something epic happening.

The first of course was opening the wormhole and discovering the Ultra Beasts. And in almost the same fashion as the game, Lillie and the rest have to go and rescue her mother from the Ultra Beasts (because Lusamine got taken over by one). Only difference is that game Lusamine wanted to use this power. Anime Lusamine pushed her children out of the way so they wouldn’t get taken away. We did get some great moments with Ash doing a new Z-move with Pikachu, Nebby evolving, and Lillie’s relationship with her mother become stronger.

The second big battle was with Necrozma. Now this one heavily involved Team Rocket as Giovanni disbatched several other members including his assistant Matori and some eye-patch gorilla to try and get this pokemon. However after this incident, we never see Giovanni try to get his hands on this pokemon again or talk about it again. Even when he makes a big foreshadowy deal when he dialed Nanu about it! But in this arc, a mysterious power throughout Alola was making all of the adults listless and lazy. And it was up to Ash and the other kids to get to the bottom of this strange phenomenom.

ENDING – POKEMON LEAGUE: Yeah, this league was going to be different. In the Alolan League, just about anyone can join this certain Pokemon League, as long as you have a Z-crystal, it’s all good. Well, Alola has never had a Pokemon League, which is sort of like what was in the game. So Professor Kukui decided to put this dream into an action and now Alola will hold its first ever Pokemon League! So expect to see the entire cast compete! I’m not kidding!

From the get-go I was worried since Ash’s team here in Alola is pitifully underdeveloped compared to past arcs. And if he were to fight, he’d probably lose to Gladion or Guzma! But since the first task was to knock 151 competitors down to 16, we all know Ash was going to survive this trial. Now in past league competitions and even Pokemon Contests, thinning a big number down would take some time like an episode or two. Here, IT’S A FUCKING FREE-FOR-ALL BATTLE! Trainers coming at you from all angles and you can only use one pokemon! It’s like a mini-game from Mario Party it was that crazy!

The 16 trainers that made the cut are all trainers we know! They all had at least 1 debut episode prior to this moment. So no surprise bastards like Tobias to muck things up! The sixteen competitors are Ash, Mallow, Lillie, Lana, Kiawe, Sophocles, Jessie, James, Faba, Aceorla, Mina, Ilima, Guzma, Hau, Gladion, and Samson Oak! Unbelievable! The entire main cast, Team Rocket, trial people in the games, the head of Team Skull, the island heartthrob, Ash’s two main rivals, and a freakin’ Oak! We could not make this up!

From the Top 8, we wind up with Ash, Guzma, Hau, Gladion, James, Sophocles, Kiawe, and Lana advancing. These next battles had some pretty decent moments including James trying to hold his own against Gladion, Lana and Primarina trying to survive a poisonous dick move from Guzma, and action-packed moments with Kiawe and Sophocles.

…

I don’t want to talk about it. NO, I DON’T! NO ONE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT ASH’S BATTLE WITH HAU! First of all, their rivalry only expands to like two episodes. One episode prior to the league and the rest during the league! You’re just butt-fucking us on this sweet little cinnamon roll. I know the anime really wants to stand out on its own by not giving us awesome rivals that we get in the games like Cheren or Brendan, but God-forbid if you give them some awesome moments before you have them get beaten by Ash and sent back to wherever the fuck they came from! And this battle is just an insult of every level!

I know Ash has been known to pull off some stupid moments in his day when it comes to pokemon battles. He’d put a clear type-disadvantage against a powerhouse pokemon. He’d put all his faith in one pokemon and if it failed, absolutely fuck all. And most common of all, have one of his non-evolved pokemon go up against a fully evolved pokemon. We get the latter when Ash’s insomniac-stricken bird, Rowlet, go up against Hau’s fully-evolved Decidueye. But before the battle, we get some last minute training in done by Toucannon and its bird-kin. You’ve got to be the stupidest mother fu…Forget it, you’re just wasting your breath! Well, it’s because Rowlet is DETERMINED so that gives the green flag to fight in Ash Ketchum’s book.

You stupid fucking idi…

During the fight, Ash and Hau did use their Z-moves early on and both did little to no damage to either one. But it’s freakin’ clear that Hau’s Decidueye is clearly more trained. That’s why the two birds duked it out to a point of both of them being close to knocked out. But in the end, Nanu calls the battle for Decidueye because it got up first. AND ASH LOST!

…Or did he?

No, upon further inspection, ROWLET WAS FUCKING ASLEEP! God, no! No! Good fucking God, what were you writers thinking? You’re trolling us again, aren’t you? Ever since the Sinnoh League, you thought it was a good idea to troll the fucking audience. Like Tobias having another legendary or Davey winning with a fucking Eevee or Ash losing to Alain. You people are fucking with us!

Long story short, Ash and Rowlet get a second chance. They win the battle. Hau cries. Moving on!

NO, WE’RE NOT MOVING ON FROM THIS SHIT! WHO THE FUCK DECIDED THIS TO HAPPEN?! A lot of us fans are still sore over that retarded call back in the Kanto League where Squirtle falling asleep was a K.O. I can’t accept this, not after all the league battles Ash has had before this. Especially the last league against Tierno, Sawyer, and Alain! They are probably watching you and facepalming. Bonnie is laughing at you! Lysandre is calling you a dickhead from beyond the grave! Serena tore up a picture of Ash and went lesbian! Okay, that didn’t really happen. But this episode got me so fucking twisted I find myself eating thunder and shitting out lightening.

And now with Lana’s defeat by Guzma, we’re now in the final four. So…huh…um, new category! I know this is where I’m supposed to talk about the ending with the league, but I feel like I should talk about this.

GENDER AND LEAGUE PLACEMENT: Is it just me or are most competitors and even winners of these things majority male? It’s unknown who won the Kanto League. Johto went to some douchebag no one remembers. Hoenn was won by Tyson. Sinnoh went to Trollbias. Unova went to Davey. And Kalos went to NOT ASH…Alain! And even in the top 4 and 8 sometimes, it’s all men. I really don’t want to put the pussy hat on and claim unfairness to a show I’ve been watching for over 20 years, but…putting Lana up against someone we all know is going to go to the semi-finals…come on man! I probably should have questioned some gender stuff especially with that princess crap in Kalos where it was most, if not all female. But Pokemon Leagues are usually coed! It’s just that prior to Lana, the only other girls I remember competiting in past leagues were Katie from AG and Astrid from XY. Maybe I’m making too much out of it.

BACK TO THE LEAGUE: Thankfully the semi-finals fights were great (compared to that bullshit Hau/Ash match I wish would die). Gladion and Kiawe bro-downed with their match! Guzma learned the hard way of being defeated in the semi-finals by a twerp. Guzma, you may be older than Ash, but Ashy-boy has been defeated so many times in this position it’s not even funny. So the finals were a three-on-three match between Ash and Gladion.

Ash got some good traction with his newly evolved pokemon Melmetal. Gladion was able to put his father’s pokemon, Zoroark into good use. And there was even a double knockout near the end. But somehow, we knew it would go back to a finale of Lycanroc vs. Lycanroc. And this was a nail-bitter. Who the heck knows who was going to end up victorious?

…Actually, a certain publication leaked the result three days before the episode aired…

I fucking hate the internet sometimes.

So Ash won…

*CRAZY-ASS APPLAUSE TIME*

You’d think Jesus “Tap Dancing” Christ rose from the dead with how crazy this was. The internet lost it because after the Kalos League’s close-call and Sinnoh’s B.S. match against the legendaries, they saw this as Ash’s staple in becoming a Pokemon Master. Whatever…

WHAT NEXT?!: Actually, much like what happened after Alain won the Pokemon League, the ceremony was quickly interrupted by the appearance of the gluttenous Ultra Beast, Guzzlord. And it took the power of everyone’s Z-Crystal to get rid of this beast. However, at the end of this powerful battle, Ash and everyone else learned a shocking secret of Professor Kukui.

Kukui is really Alola’s most famous battler, Masked Royal!

Well now that the Delcatty’s out of the bag, might as well have Kukui actually go up against Ash in a six-on-six match. NOW THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! This was one hell of a match, spanning over three episodes (it was that bad-ass). Kukui’s got one hell of a line-up featuring pokemon from nearly every region. Now because of a certain battle, seeing Rowlet take out one of Kukui’s finest kinda pisses me off. But the biggest fights came from Incenaroar and Torracat. Because they fought, not one, not two, but THREE times! And their bout ended with Ash’s Torracat evolving and a double knockout! OH MY GOD, HOW COULD THIS GET ANY BETTER?!

In comes Tapu-Koko! He said, “Fuck your sixth pokemon, Kukui. I wanna battle this boy I’ve been stalking since 2016!” Yeah, we get one major fight between one of the Tapus and Ash’s Naganadel and Pikachu (and whatever pokemon that isn’t dead) and believe it or not, Ash won! He defeated all of Kukui’s pokemon AND Tapu-Koko. He’s seriously out-doing everything he’s ever done from XYZ! Even going above and beyond with Pikachu by doing a solid reference to Dragon Ball Z…You all know what they referenced.

So Ash, you just won the Pokemon League, you defeated your mentor, you took out one of the island deities, what are you gonna do next?

I’M GOING TO DISNEYLA…PALLET TOWN!

Yeah, I would choose that too Ash. Only for different and hornier reasons! Actually, Ash gave a lot of thought to what was next. Not only him, but everybody in his class! The biggest one of course was Lillie as she has been reading up on her father’s old journals and trying to figure out that gift he left her as a baby before he disappeared. I still can’t believe he got her quite a rare pokemon like Magerna. But Magerna has been a husk until Lillie took care of it and now it’s freakin’ mobil. Back to Ash, it wasn’t really until he fought Kiawe in a post-match fight that he buckled down on what he wants to do next. And I think Olivia mentioning traveling kinda sparked Ash for his next journey.

And wouldn’t you know it, Team Rocket at the same time gets word from Giovanni to pack their shit up and return to Kanto. Mimikyu in its satanic fashion tries to take out Pikachu one last time. But it failed, almost drowned in the water, and was then SAVED by the very Pokemon it’s tried to kill the last 145 episodes. Okay, vendetta over, later bitches. Team Rocket ended up leaving Maernie and Mimikyu in the dead of night. And Bewear promised to watch after them in their absence and gave us something we haven’t seen since this show began…a proper blast off! Team Rocket blasted off once more. I’m feeling quite nostalgic because it’s been a while.

Hey, I just realized. What happened to Jigglypu-

WHO CARES!

Okay then, I’ll probably see it in another 10 years.

Lillie decided to go off with her mother and brother to travel. Lusamine handed over her responsibilities to Rotomdex. And on the day of Lillie’s departure, she ends up almost in the same fashion as Serena’s goodbye (but thankfully we’re on a boat and she can’t do any last-minute smooches). Lillie remembered all that Ash has done for her and how much she’s grown, so she gives him a very earnest “Thank You”. Now for Ash’s goodbye to his host family! Now I’ve pretty much heard and seen the internet cherish this cute bond between Kukui, Burnet, and Ash. And yeah, it’s pretty genuine! Whenever we get an opening scene of them in Kukui’s home, they’re usually doing something family-ish. And they’re definitely going to miss that! Poor Burnet was even crying!

On Ash’s flight back to Pallet Town, he looks out the window and sees his friends giving him one final farewell as they fly through the skies with their partner pokemon.

In the aftermath we see, Sophocles leaving to go with his cousin, Mallow’s older brother returning home, Shaymin transforming into its flying form (yes, flying away leaving Mallow), Kiawe is doing some training with Olivia, Lana traveling with her father to fish for a mythical pokemon, Hau taking on Nanu in a grand trial, Team Skull just hanging there, Bewear looking after Maernie and Mimikyu, Lusamine traveling with the kids, and something that shocked the shit out of me! Even though I called it in the back of my mind!

We close out the episode with Kukui and Burnet sitting together and...

WHAT THE WHAT?!

NANI?

NANI THE FUCK?

IS THAT A BABY BUMP?! It is. It freakin’ is! God I hope Ash didn’t walk in on them having sex. Don’t be silly Medea, they probably conceived this child when Ash was either training or having a sleepover. Truthfully, I say they did the nasty when Ash, Kiawe, and Sophocles spent the night in the woods training.

OOH, BETTER IMAGE! They did roleplaying during sex and Kukui wore the Masked Royal mask! Just let me have this moment guys. I really enjoy frolicking in my gutter mind!

Oh and closing message, “and your dreams!”

I seriously hope the English dub keeps the end credits to this. They have a lousy reputation of skimping on things like that. They even skipped the photo scene at the end of BW. Please for crap’s sake, keep the ending scenes!

Yes, in the back of my mind I thought Sun and Moon would be radical and give us a pregnant Burnet. I knew this would happen sometime after that wedding episode a year and a half ago. But then a few weeks before the Sun and Moon finale, I wound up dreaming about Kiawe’s mother pregnant and she was wearing the exact same dress Burnet is wearing in the final scene. Sometimes my dreams can be fucking spooky and spot-on at the same time.

WOW-EE-WOWEE-WOW-WOW! Okay, um. Some thoughts! This anime gave me such a huge slump during a lot of it. I cannot lie. There was a long period of time where I was just disinterested in Sun and Moon. And seeing how other people were (especially those who were staunch XYZ fans) yeah I can see that. One big, annoying factor was once again, the animation. Yeah, you whiny bitches complaining BW Ash was the worst? You owe that one an apology! Because this Ash looks nothing like the past 5 Ash’s! And they tried this comedic style that won on some parts and failed in other departments. Though, spot-on whenever we get a Jojo’s reference! There were episodes that were just absolute MEH. And this is coming from the same person who sat through all the fillers in Johto, MORE THAN ONCE! And I had some severe reservations about seeing a main cast this huge trying to get some character growth. I had absolutely no expectations for anyone and thought they were gonna serve as dead weight (except for Kiawe and Lana).

Once again, I’m glad to see my expectations are blown away. There has been massive character development and they managed to hit all the main characters and even some of the minor ones. Lillie especially has blossomed throughout the series. As a girl who was afraid of Pokemon, I am impressed at how far she’s come. She was able to overcome her fear of pokemon eventually, hatch a pokemon from an egg, excel the power of Z-moves, bring back to life a rare/mythical pokemon, and even make it to the top 16 of the Alolan League. While Lana is still my best girl of this season, Lillie is definitely a wonder to behold. Sophocles, I had the littlest of hope or care for him. I still am not a fan of him really, but when you see this boy overcome certain anxieties, hurdles, and one sad moment involving the meteorite pokemon, you see he’s a pretty solid character.

And then there’s Mallow…Dammit! So I just realized as I’m wrapping up Sun and Moon.

One of the biggest things I saw was “Family”. And seeing as Alola is a take on Hawaii and one of the biggest things people pride theirselves upon is family, this totally makes sense. In Sun and Moon, we saw a lot of different kinds of families. Small ones like Sophocles. Bigger ones like Kiawe and Lana. Families that have had their own share of heartache like Mallow and Lillie. Ones that end up starting like Kukui and Burnet! Hala and Hau’s little relationship. And even families that are reunited like Bewear and Stuffel! These particular moments and episodes were ones that touched me in a way only Miyazaki can reach. Particularly Mallow’s story! I already mentioned this in the saddest moment category, but Mallow with her deceased mother is one of the best character growth episodes in Pokemon history. Up until that point, we’ve seen Mallow pretty perky, a good cook, and a supportive friend, especially to Ash, Lana, and Lillie. But then we get hit with this one story that no one expected. And now, let’s discuss Ash in this part! We got to see Ash settle in with a second family life with Kukui and Burnet. I mean let’s face it, all the other places Ash traveled he would roam from town to town. Here in Alola, it’s like Kukui was the father he never had and Burnet was like a second mother. And I suppose they felt like Ash was a son to them. So quite fitting they wound up having a baby after his departure.

And it wasn’t just the humans that have grown, but their pokemon too! Many of Ash and his friends’s pokemon were able to grow and shatter all expectations. Two of Ash’s pokemon especially deserve that praise and that’s Lycanroc and Incenaroar. Back when Lycanroc was a Rockruff, he always strived to get stronger. And in later episodes, it looked up to other Lycanroc like Olivia’s and Gladion’s. Then it evolved and it’s been quite the journey to try and train this doggo to it’s full potential. And because this is one of Ash’s pokemon, this has gotta be a one-of-a-kind pokemon (dusk form). Well Lycanroc has overcome some tough obstacles (yes, including bearing through getting dirty) and went on to be one of Ash’s top pokemon.

Litten, THANKFULLY didn’t have a dickhead trainer abusing him like many of Ash’s other fire-type pokemon. But Litten’s story was far from perfect as it was a stray cat pokemon living on the streets with an old Stoutland. And Ash took in Litten after Stoutland passed away. Litten was a pretty decent member of Ash’s team, but definitely got the fire in his eyes when he saw Masked Royal and Incenaroar. That encouraged Litten throughout the series to get stronger. Even leading to one of the best fights during Kukui and Ash’s match! Good doggo, good kitty!

Oh yeah, probably should talk about the battles! Unlike the other gyms up to this point, Ash went through Grand Trials (just like you would in the game). Except Ash really didn’t do that many of those mini trials since Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, and Sophocles were his classmates and not giving out tests! But Ash still wound up battling the big kahunas like Hala, Olivia, Nanu, and Hapu. And in the old Ash fashion, there were battles he won like a champ, ones where he’d have to try again, and ones where he got supremely lucky. Yeah, that Ash vs. Hapu match was such bullshit. But I’d still take that match over Ash vs. Hau in the Alolan League!

I will NEVER get over that match. Yeah aside from that travesty, a lot of the Pokemon League matches were pretty stellar, even the ones not involving Ash. I really enjoyed Sophocles vs. Kiawe and the Lana vs. Mallow match.

LET’S LOOK BACK AT MY HIGH HOPES: At the end of Pokemon XY, I made a nice list of things I would like to see. Did any of my high hopes come to fruition? Let’s see…

First of all, NO, I DID NOT SEE MY ANIME HUSBAND! For fuck’s sake Pokemon! If Snorlax exists at the Oak lab, Tracey Sketchit should too. They both came from the same arc. But NO! He’s not at the lab and doesn’t even get a mention. That is messed up! I don’t know if this is because they couldn’t get Tomokazu Seki to stop playing Gilgamesh for a second to come back or they’re trying to distance themselves from the Orange Islands as much as possible, or if they just FORGOT his existence, but I’m not digging this. No, Medea hates this with a holy fucking passion.

Old characters returning under this new style! Yeah, it happened. I think I was only a fan of how the women looked, so Misty and Delia looked okay to me. I just wasn’t a fan of Professor Oak and Brock. Although, kudos to the anime for having Brock take his shirt off and show off his six-pack. DAMN BOY! The animation ended up staying the same throughout the series, but I managed to tolerate/muscle through it.

I know I forgot to write this part, but I really wanted Kukui to remain single for the series. Yeah, that fell at the waist-side! Kukui was single…but then he got married. Okay, I can accept it. That was the cutest proposal, I have to admit that. And I was howling when I saw pregnant Burnet at the end. So alls well that ends well!

Let’s see, Lusamine wasn’t voiced by Miki Itou like I wanted. Then again, this Lusamine wasn’t a psycho bitch. Although kudos for getting Nobuhiko Okamato voicing Gladion. I am forever happy with that outcome.

Did I get more Clefables? FUCK YEAH, I DID! Holy shit, I forgot Lusamine had a Clefable in the games and didn’t even think the anime was going to keep that, but HOLY SHIT THEY DID AND I’M SO HAPPY! Not only that but we were able to see Clefable every so often. It’s so adorable. I just wanna hug her!

Lillie’s egg of course wasn’t Cosmog, it was Alolan Vulpix. Cosmog can’t be hatched. It just magically appears. Hey, cute choice though!

Did Ash catch a psychic pokemon? Uhhhhhhh…no! Still no psychic type.

Did I see Wicke and Olivia, fuck yeah I did! Wicke is adorable especially when she bosses Faba around. My only thing with Olivia is that, I wish the anime didn’t make her into a clumsy oaf the whole time. My God, she tripped more times than Bianca did during Best Wishes. That’s sad! Now her being the object of Brock’s eye, that I wasn’t expecting. I’m wondering if Brock will keep in contact with Olivia or if he’s moved onto another booty-call of the day.

Overall, it was a bumpy start for me to get into Sun and Moon. But it wasn’t until we got to important things like the Aether Foundation, Mallow’s mother, and Guzma’s debut that got me back fully invested. I know it’s damn near impossible to convince staunch XYZ fans to watch this, but give it a shot for the stories. The animation is just so undoable after what XY has given us, but still.

Currently, most (if not all) episodes of Sun and Moon dubbed will be available on Hulu, Netflix, Pokemon TV, and Disney XD. Yeah, no one has gotten around to giving us legal subtitled episodes sad to say. Here’s hoping Disney XD will continue holding onto the Pokemon license as they happen to be the ONLY one that literally has all episodes available. On the channel, they still kinda restrict themselves to only playing the current season, but sometimes we get lucky with the movies.

MORE HIGH HOPES: Okay, new high hopes for the new Pokemon series, Pokemon…um, 2019? Seriously guys, what’s up with this cryptic-ass series?

*Signs that Tracey Sketchit exists. Just show him at Oak’s lab or somewhere in this series. That’s all I ask. I will even swallow my pride and allow him to be at the Waterflower Slut Brigade in Cerulean. Just please, for the love of Arceus, show him to me. That flash in the 20th movie does not settle me. Give him to me, now! Don’t care how, I WANT IT NOW! I am the Veruca Salt of seeing Tracey again.

*Aside from Tracey, and seriously show him to me already…If at possible, update on May and Iris. Everyone else can go fuck off! These two deserve an update if Ash is doing this around the world adventure with his new boy-toy Gou. I know it may be difficult to get their voice actors back as I’m sure Aoi Yuuki’s schedule is insane and Kaori has an illness preventing her from voicing. Still! Something from those two…AND ONLY THOSE TWO FEMALES! I’m sick of Misty popping in without giving us what we want. Dawn and Serena need to go to the Pokemon version of Antartica until 2030. And unless Mallow, Lana, and Lillie make a shocking discovery, I don’t want to see them for a few years.

*CLEFABLES! Okay, yeah, that goes without saying!

*YAMPER or as I call him, Winston Corgles Ein Handbanana the Breadloaf must be seen at least once every two episodes.The opening theme doesn’t count. I want to see Winston Corgles Ein Handbanana the Breadloaf.

*Eventually spend some time in Galar and fight gym battles there. I know the Pokemon anime wants to take a sharp left turn into WTF territory, but sometimes don’t mess with the status quo and have Ash take on some gyms. Mmkay?!

*If Team Rocket and Giovanni really have to show up again, could we PLEASE finally get Ariana, Archer, Petrel, and Proton to be in the anime? Or as my friend calls them, the Stupid Sexy Rocket Execs!

*And while we’re at it, could we get an arc in this series where Ash goes to the Battle Tower in Sinnoh?

*Give James a Galarian Weezing.

*Rica Matsumoto must eventually sing an OP theme for this series. Goes without saying!

*Give Ash a Psychic type.

*I know nobody ages in this show, but please don’t keep Burnet pregnant forever. Also, if Ash decides to visit Kukui and Burnet again, I wanna see their baby.

Final category (I promise)!

IN MEMORIUM: I would like to close my review to Pokemon: Sun & Moon to talk about a certain voice that has been at the center of the Pokemon anime from day one. That was Unshou Ishizuka. If you watched the Japanese version of Pokemon, chances are you have heard this man’s voice in any episode you watch. Whether as Professor Oak or the narrator! Not only those two, but voiced Alder in the Black/White series, Samson Oak in the Sun/Moon series, several versions of the Pokedex, Magikarp Salesman, and many notable pokemon including Misty’s Gyarados, Cilan’s Stunfisk, Dawn’s Mamoswine, Ash’s Muk, Brock’s Onix/Steelix, and even Tracey’s Scyther. In August 2018, he passed away from Esophagus Cancer. So losing someone of this caliber is a huge hit to Pokemon.

I didn’t start watching the Japanese version religiously until 2006 (right around the time the dub murdered eardrums). But I was able to hear him as Onix and Gyarados early on because they had the same voice throughout the entire series run in English. But I had a lot of fun listening to him as Professor Oak when I switched to the Japanese version. Not to mention his other roles outside the Pokemon series including Mr. Satan in the later Dragon Ball series and Grandpa Joestar on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. I seriously miss him. May he rest in peace.

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