#does that mean i just drew all the pokemon?

[kuradex]

I wanna know about your art style. How you draw like that??

i tried putting down considerations as well as a (very) general step by step of what i do; if there's anything more specific you want me to explain lmk i guess?

first off, general (self imposed) constraints / purpose of project -- this informs what i draw & how i draw it

i.e. "kuradex" is pretty different from my normal art (my 5 latest rough illustrations):

or my monster hunter charms:

or my pokemon tcg contest illustrations that im not allowed to show until june (😉):

although i've said its for merch purposes, ive started drawing these because i wanted to practice conveying "liveliness" and noticing key features / nuances of a given design, but i didn't want to spend a large amount of time on each one.

so what i came up with is

i want to draw things on-model in terms of proportions ( + take note of weight / tapering of shapes / etc )

no backgrounds & minimal "props"

experiment with / practice line/texture/color/flow/rhythm/etc

spend <1 hr on each pokemon on average (this is a bit more difficult for me to track, but for example, the cyndaquil line took me less than 42min to color, combined, and means at some point in time instead of focusing on cleaning up the art as much as i can, i stop after cleaning up most of it)

that said, the pose & the rhythm/flow of lines are key in conveying liveliness, and if i have a concept in mind i usually end up going with it, but i may go thru a few if i dont.

i consider pokemon origin / lore or a key point in its design, and if i'm particularly stuck, i try looking up pokemon card illustrations for inspiration. (i noticed the research i do is essentially a truncated version of how Atsushi Furusawa does research before doing an illustration.

(& even despite all this i do get stuck sometimes and don't exactly understand a pokemon and just opt for "as cute or cool as i can make it i guess?", but i think it's part of the process...?) (theoretically things that are A Shape should be really easy to draw but with what i want to practice in perspective i find them difficult...)

this is from my latest paid req but these are my first sketches of chesnaught -- i was thinking of how one of its inspirations is a warrior / tanker from RPGs, so i drew a pose where it's shielding its face.

i do another pass and take note of details.

in general i draw overlapping shapes and erase (it's a bit visible on one of the spikes)

because i opt for quickness i start coloring at this point -- i just use a colored "color burn" sketch layer for the "lineart" & colorpick official art & lay down messy flats & set the color layer to 60%

60% multiply layer for shadows. i tend to use both hard and soft brushes

for bigger projects i would use 2-3 shadow layers to create more "layered" shadows

here i use overlay layer (60%). this is just throwing colors at it and seeing what works and doesn't work. i personally prefer to throw red under the eye and a yellow or blue near the top of the head. this is mostly done with a soft brush

before this point, everything is under the rough lines, but now i start drawing/painting over it

i just color pick the colors that have been laid down from the previous steps and clean up / render textures (making the green on its arms look fuzzy) / fixing anything that i forgot or looks too off (i.e. the spike on its shoulder and the way the tail curves)

I could potentially keep cleaning this up, but this is where i usually stop 🫡

[peachglumpear]

twitlonger doesn't work anymore so i've decided to compile my thoughts on tumblr.

there are two reasons why tvskyle being arrested for csem enrages me aside from the obvious of the matter.

tvskyle was a known predator for years. if you google his name and "callout" there are troves of information about his harassment and predation to women. back when i had a professional art account despite that i was not an animator or heavily in animation circles this was public knowledge even to me.

2. this is what happens when people refuse to acknowledge predators can and will co-opt GOOD GUY / BAD GUY language to infiltrate and stay in circles.

anyways, that is the short version. this is the long version where i get into topics regarding abuse and harm that may be triggering.

first off, let's get over how using the word "paraphile/paraphilia" has become fearmongering and taking the words away from what they actually mean. "paraphilia", at its most base level definition means "a paraphilia is an experience of recurring or intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, places, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals."

if you like BDSM, you're a paraphile. if you like bondage, you're a paraphile. if you like pregnancy, you're a paraphile. if you like fictional brothers kissing, you're a paraphile.

considering the DSM used to characterize homosexuality as a mental illness until 1973 (51 years ago, not that long in hindsight!) if you are not a cisheterosexual white man and like anything that is not cisheterosexual sex intended for the sole purpose of procreation with the intent to create children, you have a paraphilia.

paraphilia/paraphile in both proclaimed 'anti' and 'proship' spaces is becoming the new 'pedo', which is really just BAD PERSON. do not interact with me if you are a BAD PERSON who does BAD THINGS. BAD PEOPLE get away.

the reason why i do not have any disclaimers about "antis/pedos/zoos/etc dni" in my bio is because to me this is the same thing as saying "serial killers dni" ...i don't mean to sound snarky, this is just what it boils down to. if a person is out there harming someone, human or animal:

i do not know why they would proclaim this information publicly.

if someone is harming real beings, i do not think they would respect text on a screen if that very prominent line in the sand has already been passed.

tvskyle fits the mold for animation dudebro who was established in the industry of his choice despite the open knowledge of his predatory behavior. i cannot testify to if anyone knew he was possessing csem before he was officially arrested, but it was definitely open knowledge that he was the kind of man you wouldn't want left alone with female coworkers. some of this behavior was bad enough that even male coworkers would avoid him.

tvskyle also coopted proship/anti terminology.

this isn't me knocking on someone for their age, but when i first saw tvskyle posting about of all things, invader zim yaoi, my first thought was "why in the world would a 45 year old man who is an industry professional be so obsessed with arguing online about cartoon smut."

i guess you can argue about stupid things on the internet at any age at any level of industry success. but it was bizarre to me because it's not as though cartoon smut of any problematic variety should be news to someone working in animation in their 40s. The animators on the original Beetlejuice made jokes that BJ's fingertips were red from fingering Lydia on her period. The rugrats storyboarders drew horny jokes. There's infamous posts about animators finding the secret smut vaults for their shows. Cartoon smut has basically existed as long as cartoons have existed.

and then you find out tvskyle also drew pokemon porn that involved may (age 12), brock (age 15) and max (may's younger brother, age 8.)

wow, kyle! a threeway between a 12 year old and her 8 year old brother! that seems pretty problematic! incest and shota combo!

but i guess that's not an issue. it's not problematic when i draw it because i'm not a BAD PERSON.

tvskyle became weirdly obsessed with calling people out for cartoon smut despite that he drew smut you could categorize just as problematic in nature. and then he was found possessing some of the worst csem you can be found possessing. and he was found possessing over *600 images* of csem. that isn't something you gather overnight.

so there is the uncomfortable truth of the matter that predators can and will co-opt terminology to blend into any space. and this can happen anywhere. if someone wants to get under the radar in anti circles, they will rave about how bad cartoon smut is. if someone wants to get under the radar in proship spheres, they will adapt and use the appropriate terminology for that sphere.

and this is why to a whole, i find it incredibly reductive to use terms that reduce people into bad person / good person because at its most harmful, all it does is protect people who are continuing and perpetuating harm to real people.

i think everyone needs to acknowledge their capacity to harm as much as their capacity to heal. and before you think "wow peach that is a really wide assumption i would NEVER hurt someone like [x]" yes, i know, imaginary stranger in my head, this is not what i am saying.

what i mean when i say we all need to acknowledge our capacity to harm is because i believe the choice to be a good person or a bad person is a choice you make every day. if i am a "good person" my whole life and then one day...i don't know. i steal money from a homeless person, or i throw a drink made wrong in an overworked barista's face. all of the "good things" i have done would not cancel out that in those theoretical moments, i was not a good person. in fact, in these hypothetical scenarios, i was very nasty.

there have been days where i've had to be the friend who sits another friend down and talks with them about how something they said or did really hurt me. and likewise, sometimes i've had to come face to face with when i wasn't the good friend. it hurts both ways but let's be honest, someone hurting you doesn't come with the same fearful sting of "i hurt my friend. do they think i'm a BAD PERSON. am i the BAD PERSON now?"

and none of these conversations would have been productive or involved growth or greater understanding if they had come from the angle of YOU, a BAD PERSON, hurt ME, a GOOD PERSON. (on either end.)

i think acknowledging your capacity to harm simply means acknowledging you're human. you won't always be right. you will mess up and that's simply a part of the human experience. but being able to take accountability and examine when your actions have caused harm will be more beneficial to yourself and your loved ones in the long run.

the person who groomed me would not admit they had groomed and exploited a minor because in their mind, they are not a BAD PERSON.

the person who abused me would never admit to these things because in their mind, they are not a BAD PERSON.

to be a BAD PERSON is to lose everything because being a BAD PERSON is not to be any person at all.

of course these people never took responsibility for the harm caused to me.

only BAD PEOPLE do BAD THINGS.

the uncomfortable truth is there is no way to ping with 1000% accuracy someone intent on predation and harm. there are predators in white vans lurking outside of high schools, but the predators were also the charming and well spoken teachers who were very popular with coworkers, parents and their students. some people are simply better at adapting and blending in the system they want to exploit than others.

i think tvskyle fell somewhere in the middle. other inappropriate behavior of his was well known, but this wasn't enough for him to be blacklisted. as we all know, sexually harassing women is not a firable offense. for people missing the 50's, feel assured some thing have not changed. (<- very biting sarcasm.)

tvskyle is definitely not the last predator in animation, but what do you expect from circles that are essentially glorified high school cliques that only require ego stroking and circlejerking.

tvskyle may have been the most recent predator found, but he is definitely not the only one and anyone acting otherwise is just leaving the door open for these people to continue perpetuating harm.

[starabsol]

cs pride headcannons

happy pride month! this is to the gays, lesbians, queers, transgenders, nonbinaries, bisexuals, everyone!!!!! (except homophobes, get away) happy pride month and good job being so fruity! we love u ^_^

ok so basically i have headcanons for my fav pokemon characters, may drew harley n solidad but i never really did much with them but since its literally pride month right now i thought why not draw them? theyre more like chibi attempted weird ass doodles butttttttt

first up, of course, our baby drew.

theres smth about him that just screams transgender.. hes ftm (female to male) since he didnt feel right in his body, but doesnt mind presenting himself in a feminine way. demisexual also because i dont feel like he randomly falls in love with people unless they know them well and have a good bond! and he obviously doesnt care about anyones gender whatsoever, doesnt have a preference either.

he goes by he/they pronouns and would rather not be regarded by feminine names, though he himself doesnt really care about how he appears to others

if someone comes out to drew:

someone: “drew, i have to tell you something.. im lesbian.”

drew: “thats nice”

drew is neutral about this stuff. he simply doesnt mind that much. though inside, secretly, he is pretty proud of whoever comes out to him; he does care.

next up, may!

may is an ally, no doubt. she loves everyone as they are! i debated making her asexual for a hot second, but scrapped it later as i didnt really liked that for her :P

she goes by she/her! she respects everyones pronouns, and if unsure if what pronouns to use she always uses they/them to avoid mis pronouncing. always shows up at pride conventions!

if someone were to come out to may:

someone: “may.. i have to tell you something. im non-binary”

may: “OMG THAT IS SO COOL I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU AND PROUD OF YOU!!!!”

next up, our cunty harley!

hes bisexual and non-binary. he loves both women and men, and simply doesnt give a fuck about (his) gender. he goes by she/he/they pronouns since he really doesnt care what people regard him as. “gender doesnt matter honey!”

he doesnt mind looking feminine or masculine at all, so sometimes u see him skipping around in skirts and the other moment you see him in a suit. and honestly? we love that for him. pop off harley

if someone were to come out to harley:

someone: “hey, harley? can i tell you something? im gay.”

harley: “OOOOOO! so proud of you honey! welcome to the gays!”

and lastly, solidad!

shes a lesbian. i dont care what you have got to say, solidad is a lesbian. she loves women, she loves feminine people. shes also aromantic because i can make her aromantic. she naturally loves platonically, but she can love (and feel) romantically, just not that often.

she herself is also an ally, of course, everyone in these headcanons are, but she is an ally. she supports everyone the way they are, no matter their sexuality, gender, race, background, whatever. she loves everyone. n that goes for may drew and harley also! solidad would probably be the most calm if you were to come out to her, though.

if someone were to come out to solidad:

someone: “solidad? i wanted to tell you that im bisexual..”

solidad: “oh, that’s wonderful! congratulations. i am so proud of you for telling me.”

———————

happy pride month! make sure to love everyone the way they are. love isnt a choice, neither the way you were born or how you feel in your own body! youre good as u are!

im pretty much questioning myself, i mean, im sure im aroace but beside that? no clue. for now id just say im heterosexual, but i havent really fallen for people romantically or sexually so i dont know at all lol

school still isnt over, still have about a month left 💔 i hate the netherlands vacation time so much only 6 weeks for summer break is crazy

[rindragon-from-twewy]

Y'all never guess who the brainrot's been about today boiiiis-

Headcannon dump incoming; (spoilers for the ending) (I'm writing these from a post game perspective)

1: the most grandpa pyjamas you've ever seen. Wears his mask to sleep but wears one of those girlie-pop eyemasks with the big fake lashes over top so people know he's asleep (or at the very least, can't see)

2: Rollerskates round his penthouse to pass the time (occasionally), often blasting music through large stereos and his playlist is a terrible mix of classical orchestra and pop from between the 1970's-2010's

3: other hobbies include balloon crafts, card/magic tricks and decorating new masks <3

4: Ofc ik this one isn't real the way I drew it here but I like to think that he was sort of... cattle branded? With the 0001, a forever mark that he is the first and only 'successful' homunculus. Maybe I'd re-place it on the back of his neck? Since we never see there, canonically.

5: His favourite Pokemon is Mewtwo. He cried when he watched the first pokemon movie, balling at the "I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are". Like he called up Yuma right after fully sobbing about how "Mewtwo's just like me fr-" and then didn't shut up about it, so much so that Martina got him the shirt I drew him in

6: I feel like he wants friends but is just... deeply socially awkward. Now that all the secrets are out etc etc, he has no real reason to hide anymore but... there's just no real way for him to get out and socialize. It ends up with him considering Yomi's ex-lackeys to be the closest things he has to friends, since I like to believe they all work directly under him now.

7: Coming off number 6, I imagine him going to Yomi's jail cell to vent to him and then intentionally take the opposite of any advice Yomi gives him. This ultimately backfires as sometimes Yomi does actually give good advice simply in hopes it'll stop Makoto from coming back.

8: He doesn't actually know how to look after himself very well. Beyond keeping himself clean, that is. He has people clean his house and do all his cooking, he's got a decent sense of the value of money but doesn't really mind throwing his own saving's about on random whims. Does this mean he tries to buy people's friendships through gifts? Occasionally. Does it work? ...... sometimes!

9: Ok so I assume we're all in agreement that either Makoto or Yuma had to die their hair- I think it's safe to assume Yuma was the one to cut his hair short but I think maybe Makoto's the one to dye it. I think No.1 wouldn't have been dumb enough to go "I know, I'll dye my hair purple, nobody will notice the roots showing and come to the conclusion I erased my memory on perpous!" Cuz he's not that dumb- (I hope-) So, you may be asking. Why blonde? Cuz he's a barbie girl in a barbie world, obviously.

10: So I spent the whole time playing raincode like "Yuma's so kirigiri and naegi's kid or something-" And ofc I knew it'd stay a headcannon and not be real cannon but it's stuck. So yeah, Makoto named himself after who he remembered to be his father. I think, since Makoto wants to be a good person, he called himself after the good-est person he knew at the time.

This isn't all the rot but if u read all that then just know this is all eventually gunna be included in fanfics I plan to write-

I am a writer I promise I just don't have the movitation rn-

[bunburyist-darcy]

Cards that Draw Cards

Ponderings on card draw in card games...

Drawing cards is one of the most fun things about playing tcgs. The anticipation of topdecking the exact card you need, or perhaps seeing your favourite card - most players can empathize with the excitement of believing in the "heart of the cards" for their next draw to determine the game.

Having recently looked into how the Pokemon tcg works, I was shocked to find that unlike the other tcgs of the big three, Yugioh and MTG, Pokemon tcg has tremendous amounts of card draw as a normal part of the game. This got me thinking as to how these different game systems allow and limit card draw.

A simple place to start I think would be with Yugioh, since it's lack of a conventional resource system means card draw can be evaluated more in a vacuum. Take "Pot of Greed" for example, which simply reads "Draw 2 cards." In the context of Yugioh, there is no cost to play this card, no limit on how many you can play per turn, no restrictions as to what deck it can go into, and few ways to prevent a player from resolving this card (e.g. negates or counterspells). Thus pretty much any deck can and will play as many copies as allowed since each "Pot of Greed" effectively reduces your deck size by two, increasing consistency at little to no cost. Makes sense to see that it was limited to 1 copy per deck very early in the life of the game and banned completely within a few years, where it has stayed to this day.

If "Pot of Greed" only drew 1 card, it would probably still be played just for the consistency boost. However by drawing 2 it provides free card advantage as well. A number of variations on "Pot of Greed" have been released over the years, all with various restrictions and costs, however the original card remains a benchmark for card draw effects in Yugioh.

Now going to MtG, which has a resource system to put a price on any effect, however trivial or powerful. One of the famed "Power Nine" is "Ancestral Recall", which says "Target player draws three cards." and costs 1 blue mana. In the context of MtG, 1 mana is the smallest unit of cost in the game, and there is no limit to how many you can play per turn. Again any deck can play this, though you do need to find a source of blue mana, which does come with some deckbuilding considerations. Although this card's effect can be prevented with a counterspell, all counterspell variants require the opponent to pay at least as much mana in cost (or otherwise comparable cost), making it an even trade at worst. Once again, a card that allows for significant card advantage at little cost proves to be powerful and ubiquitous to the point of being banned in all but the most powerful formats.

MtG has since released countless card draw spells, with the modern design converging upon an average of 1.5 mana per card. (e.g. "Divination" 3 mana draw 2). This would be considered "fair" and likely not efficient enough for most competitive play. The presence of the mana resource system allows for much easier balancing of card power levels.

Now looking towards Pokemon tcg. When I first started looking at pokemon cards, I saw "Bill" from base set, which read "Draw 2 cards." and figured it must be broken, like my experience from ygo and mtg would have suggested. Oh how wrong I was... That same set had the first version of "Professor's Research", reading "Discard your hand, then draw 7 cards.", which is significantly more value as one can easily imagine playing the useful cards out of your hand and then tossing the rest for a handful of new cards. In the context of Pokemon tcg, there is no cost to play the card, again no deckbuilding limitation, and no reactive way to prevent its effect. Yet the card and near identical variants are printed often and is perfectly legal in most pokemon formats with 4 copies allowed per deck.

How then does pokemon prevent you from drawing your whole deck on turn one and breaking the game? Well, I then learned that "Professor's Research" and similar card draw effects largely reside on "Supporter" cards, which are limited to 1 per turn. Other types of cards which are not limited, such as Items, rarely draw cards. Pokemon that draw cards exist, and can increase the number of cards you see per turn even more. However, Pokemon tcg limits how much you can do with the cards you do draw, as there is a limit to 1 energy per turn, 6 pokemon on the field, evolution mechanics, etc. The relative absence of alternative win-cons or instant-win combos in Pokémon also makes drawing specific combinations of cards less of a end-goal. (To my knowledge things like Exodia or Tron don’t exist in Pokémon.) Finally, the card draw supporters also compete for that 1 per turn slot with other useful supporter effects such as "Boss's Orders" and thus the game does not proceed at a breakneck pace due to card drawing alone.

On the whole, it is interesting to see how all of the big three produced some of their most powerful card draw spells in the early years of the respective games. Yet although for Yugioh and MtG, that meant setting a bar limiting future design of card draw effects, Pokemon maintained that same high amount of card draw throughout its years of design without, as far as I know, creating significant impact upon its game flow.

Thus concludes my ramblings on card drawing in the big three tcgs. Hopefully you find the similarities and differences in card drawing mechanics as intriguing as I do, and thanks for reading.

[charbon-et-feu]

I got this ask on my art blog within minutes of posting that Hoenn boys bunny art so I'm pretty sure that's what prompted it. I don't want to clutter my art blog with this nonsense, so I'm not going to answer it there, but I do want to dissect it a little bit.

"You're not even trying to age him up or anything"

It's fascinating (and sometimes a little concerning) to get a glimpse of what people's standards are for what makes a fictional character look like an adult. I can usually see where people are coming from when they assume that a character is young based on their appearance, but it's annoying when people confidently say that a character must be a child if they're drawn a certain way, and then go on to assume the worst of an artist if they draw something a little spicy. It's already difficult to guess most people's ages irl, so it's silly to think you can reliably guess the age of a fictional character drawn in an anime/cartoon style.

People come in all shapes and sizes. People from some East Asian countries tend to be shorter and younger looking, and then you have people from Scandinavian countries who are typically super tall. Idk where anon is from, but a lot of the people who like to fuss over the ages of fictional characters are from the US. This is crazy to me because the US is such a diverse melting pot, so you would think that someone living here would understand that there's no one-size-fits-all definition for what an adult looks like.

And none of this even really matters when you're talking about fictional characters. They're not real. They're objects, dolls that we play dress up with and smush together and use to tell stories. We throw them on a stage to entertain us. Sometimes, it's heartwarming or funny or sad, and, sometimes, it makes us uncomfortable. Oftentimes, we put them through hell, but no matter what, they can't hurt us, and we can't hurt them. So, it's a safe way to explore our ideas and try to understand ourselves and our world a little better.

It's so strange when people judge someone based only on what they enjoy in fiction and art. It really doesn't matter how I draw Brendan or any other character, so I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing. But I do want to try to dig into why anon thinks that I'm not aging up Brendan at all, because I think it's interesting to analyze and try to understand the thought process behind comments like these. Feel free to take this next bit of rambling with a grain of salt. I'm mostly just speculating based off anon's ask and similar arguments that I've observed from people who try to argue that a character looks too young to be an adult.

For reference, here's the art that (most likely) prompted the ask:

When I draw Brendan, I'm usually going for older teen/young adult. I did make him a little skinnier than I would have liked here, but he still looks like he could be anywhere from a teen to a baby-faced adult. So why does anon see a child?

I'm guessing one of the main reasons is that Brendan is short. And since Wallace is super tall, it makes Brendan look even smaller. Most of the characters don't have canon heights, but I've seen people estimate Wallace's height at a little over 6'(183cm) by comparing character models in Pokemon Masters, and Steven is a few inches shorter than Wallace. I go with 6'2"(188cm) for Wallace and 5'11"(180cm) for Steven. I think most of the protags are under 5'(152cm), but I make Brendan at least 5'5"(165cm). Even with the extra inches, Wallace still makes him look small lol. Here's a little chart I made for myself a while ago so you can see what I mean.

Could I make Brendan taller? I guess I could, but I'm not going to. The height difference is part of the appeal for me. It's fun to draw, and with certain poses, it can be an interesting challenge. Also, short men exist, and they're valid.

I'm guessing the other reason anon sees Brendan as a child is because I drew him pretty cutesy and baby-faced compared to Steven and Wallace. In the bunny pic, Brendan's bashful expression and somewhat feminine pose and outfit also add to the cuteness. I like to keep the somewhat big, rounded eyes from his canon design, but I do the same thing when I draw Akari/Dawn, and I haven't gotten any angry asks about my volokari art. I just like to draw Brendan cute. Is that the problem? Can someone not be perceived as a man if they give off too much cute, feminine energy? Hmm... That kinda smells like toxic masculinity.

I can't help but wonder if anon is letting common stereotypes rooted in traditional patriarchal USAmerican gender norms poison their perception of what a man should look like. "Real" men must be tall, strong, rugged, etc, and if they don't meet those strict standards then they must be either a boy or a woman. (Similarly, women must be short, dainty, soft, have big boobs, etc, but this is about Brendan so we won't get into that.) If you transfer this mindset to stylized art of fictional characters, I can see how anon arrived at their conclusion. But this way of thinking is close-minded and objectively wrong because the average, white USAmerican's view of the world is not universal. What about short, feminine men? Flat chested women? Trans men? Are we not allowed to draw and sexualize these types of characters? Kinda sucks for all the short kings and petite women out there who want to see a character that looks like them get railed by their favorite blorbo of the month. Sorry guys, you must be this tall if you want a fictional character with your body type to be sexualized. No fun allowed.

Maybe I'm wrong and it's not that deep, but this is how ridiculous people sound when they start breaking out the rulers and measuring the art of fictional characters to determine if it fits into their (often inconsistent) standards of what an adult looks like. Now, I do understand that certain types of art can make people uncomfortable, and that's perfectly valid. I also have a certain threshold for when a character starts to look a little too young and I'm no longer comfortable seeing them depicted in certain ways. When I come across art like that, I just unfollow/block/mute and move on. It's not that serious and definitely not a good reason to jump into some random person's inbox to harass them.

Also, I don't want to get into this topic too much (since this is already really long) but I think it's worth noting that these types of comments usually only start popping up when the art has sexual elements to it. Young Shounen Anime protagonists experience varying degrees of violence regularly, but I can't remember the last time I saw someone question the morals of those creators. Why does the pearl clutching only happen when creators try to dive into sexual territory with fictional characters? Just something I wish these people would take the time to think about.

Anyway, anon can think I'm weird if they want, but I think the assumptions they're making say a lot more about them than they do about me. I'm just here to have fun and draw cute anime boys, and Brendan just happens to be my favorite doll rn. I enjoy playing dress up with him, and sometimes that means he's gotta get in the bunny outfit. It's fine. He's having fun. He told me himself.

I didn't mean to ramble this much, and I don't usually like engaging with discourse, but I had some thoughts, and I wanted to get some of them out. I love art. I think creators should be free to make whatever beautiful, weird art they want, so I think it's important to push back against this behavior when we can. But if I get more asks like this, I promise I won't respond to them often.

If you made it to the end, thanks for taking the time to read all that. I don't usually talk much, so when I do, it's nice when people listen. As a reward for your efforts, please accept this unfinished Steven art.

[kopathefox]

This isn’t a Sorrel ref sheet but this is a cute picture i drew, i drew Sorrel over an image of a kitten, we could imagine the one’s holding him is Aster

+ fun fact: did you know? Every title of an pokemon au in the arsism au MUST include something either with dark meaning or with lore-related stuff (for example: Violent instead of violet, Broken shield instead of shield, ultra blindness instead of ultra sun & moon, greedy platinum for platinum, broken heart & dying soul instead of heartgold & soul silver, Xenophobia instead of X, and all that), and so does the xenoverse title does, but you won’t understand it without my help, so i’ll tell it to you, i replaced the “Ad” and “per” with “Lech” and “Tizdayen”, Lech Tizdayen means “go fuck yourself”, its in Hebrew, it started when i wanted to change the quote of “ad aspera per astera” into something full of bad words & literally vulgar just for the joke but nothing sounded right so i just pushed the lech tizdayen, also, off topic, if you spell Astera but remove the last a its Aster

[inkdemonapologist]

A buncha scribbles from session 15 of the BatIM Cthulhu game! including:

Prophet swapped Sammy in for a brief moment of awareness before the final ritual to release the muses, in which he was relieved to see Susie okay and Susie was glad to see him... back to normal! Oh geez. Sammy doesn't actually know what Prophet's interactions with Susie were, but he's sure he probably regrets them

Susie hummed a little bit of a new version of one of the Bendy songs Sammy had been working on and oH YEAH THATS RIGHT SHE'S STILL KIND OF POSSESSED,

Back when the Coney Island ride they were underneath was flooding, I specified that Prophet was going to climb up the stairs "on all fours" to minimise chances of slipping and falling and I just wanted to try to draw this lmao. i forgot he was wearing a vest here

with Joey exhausted, Allison was the only one who could conduct the final ritual, and Sammy ended up calling out Prophet to keep an eye on her. i was just way too amused by the idea of sammy just TAKING A SWIG OF INK WITHOUT BREAKING EYE CONTACT TO DO THIS

also in addition to me drawing just so many scribbles of sammy lawrence i DO have some out-of-context quotes for you!!

[Sammy is played by me, Joey is played by Boo (inkyvendingmachine), Henry is played by Maf (inkcryptid), Jack is played by Mochi (whatyouwantedmetosee) and Thren (haunted-hijinxer) is our GM!]

[GM] It kind of jolts, and turns – assumedly – towards you, [Sammy] *laughs* YOU CAN’T TELL which direction it’s looking in, just, IT HAS MOVED

[GM] And some tentacles are gonna come at you guys! Like they do. [Jack] #JustTentacleThings

[Joey] This IS Joey’s arm, which means if it does get destroyed by the circle, Joey’s going to be missing an arm…! [Jack] I can fix it, it’s fine, [GM] It’s fine! Yeah! [Sammy] How many limbs would you like to be made of ink, Joey Drew?! [Joey] I dunno if he’s gonna have a CHOICE! [Sammy] You’re going to have fewer working limbs than Moonlight.

[Sammy] These guys might all be those goop people, who are harder to fight than humans – [Henry] I don’t think Henry’s thinking about that. I think Henry just heard Bendy and Joey scream and is in Go Mode. [Sammy] Well-- [Henry] I mean, it’s a smart thought! I don’t think Henry’s having it right now.

[Sammy] Leon, if you want to surprise us all and do something really heroic, PLEASE go for it [Jack] I thought you were going to say “please DON’T” [GM] “Don’t be a hero!!” [Sammy] No no, I think it’s fine, if he wants to be a hero, I think he should do it. [Joey] I mean, if he wants to grab Colette and RUN, that would be great, [Sammy] Yeah, nobody can DRAIN INK out of HIM! [Jack] Unless we’re about to learn something,

[Sammy] No, wait, that was Colette’s parents. I can keep all my minor NPCs straight! [Jack] Straight? In this campaign?! [Sammy] *startled laugh* [GM] Tell me about it…! [Sammy] We can’t keep ANY of our NPCs straight! We’re fundamentally terrible at it.

[Jack] I’m imagining it like, you know when you try to use an item in the wrong place in pokemon? [Joey] THE MASKED MESSENGER SAYS: IT ISN’T THE TIME TO USE THAT!

[Joey] Hold on. I was going between two normal ideas, and then I had a really weird one, so I need to check something. [GM] Joey? Making bad decisions in the finale of a scenario? What a thought! [Joey] hIS SANITY IS NINETEEN, SO!!!!

[Joey] Okay. I have an idea. >:3 [Sammy] Oh NO. [Henry] Oh no. Have you got a Joey Plan™? [Joey] *cackling* [Sammy] *muttering under breath* We really should’ve just… waited for Henry…

[Joey] Joey is going to realise the ink is being siphoned from them for use in whatever this guy is trying to do, and he’s not pleased about that, [Sammy] Yeah, neither am I. So far we’re on the same page – [Joey] It’s HIS ink–! [Sammy] It, it’s not – okay. [Joey] So, remember when Joey was visited by the Masked Messenger, and they had the little battle over ink possession? Joey is going to take over the Ink in the circle -- [Sammy] OKAY! This SURE is a Joey Drew™ Plan, [Joey] -- and reclaim it for himself, and take over the magic! [Sammy] Well, the LAST time we had a circle dedicated to doing something with the Yellow King, and Joey switched it to be himself instead, that went SO well, why WOULDN’T you do the same thing again!! [Joey] Listen, he has 19 sanity, I don’t know what you’re expecting from him. *rolls* …….He has 18 sanity, I don’t know what you’re expecting from him!

[Henry] Henry is going to shove the blade of his axe against this guy’s throat and tell him if he does anything fishy, he’ll kill him. [Joey] (This includes turning into a fish.) [Joey] (No more tentacle monsters, no more fish monsters, none of that!)

[Henry] 32, which is a hard success. [Sammy] …What’s your intimidate skill?!? [GM] Oh, y’know, :) [Henry] 85. [Sammy] *nervous laughter???* [Jack] Normal amount. [Henry] Normal amount! [Sammy] YEAH, the same number as Sammy’s musical skill??? OKAY COOL!!!

[Sammy] Does Sammy look like his mascara is running? I just want to know.

[Joey] Can I… *quietly* ...grab Colette and toss her out of the circle? [Sammy] … YEET HER? [Joey] yEAH,,, [Henry] Can’t be more damage than falling over a fence. *everyone giggles except for Sammy* [Sammy] …Okay.

[Sammy] I can’t believe Joey is stealing Prophet’s nemesis. Rude. [GM] I mean, Joey DID stab Moonlight. They can share! [Joey] …I don’t know if they can share. They’ve been doing very bad at sharing.

[Jack] Also she’s not an ink creature, so, big win for you, Leon!

[Sammy] It grabbed me in the leg, right? [GM] Yeah! This is the cool leg scar. [GM] Not to be confused with the not-cool leg scar, [Jack] He’s just never going to live that down, huh. [Sammy] He COULD, if everyone would stop bringing it up! [GM] Sammy wakes up and hopes dearly that Prophet tripped over a fence so at least it’s both of them, but no…

[Joey] So – hold on, let me see if a thing existed back then. [GM] Oh boy…? [Joey] 18th century. Great! Okay, so I’m going to drain the rest of my magic points, to do a new toon action – you know those, circular saw blades? [GM] BUZZSAWS???

[Henry] Henry’s gonna do something suuuuuper risky,,, [Henry] He’s going to drop the axe and summon the scythe. [Sammy] ….OKAY, [Joey] Okay…! I’m very curious what’s going to happen if Henry uses the scythe on the mirror. [Henry] Oh, I wasn’t thinking that. [Sammy] UM, [GM] This is fine, this is great! [Sammy] Nervous chuckle, I’m in danger, [Henry] Henry is going to say “Sammy, duck!” and, swing the scythe [Sammy] OH, OKAY, I WILL DO THAT, [GM] Make a dodge roll! [Sammy] OhhhHHH THAT’S NOT GOOD… THAT’S NICE, BUT IT’S NOT GOOD,,,, My dodge is 55 and I rolled a 69, [Joey] Nice [GM] Nice! [Henry] And since it’s in close quarters, I’m guessing it’ll go through both of them. [GM] Yeah! Roll damage! [Sammy] CAN I,,,, PUSH THAT ROLL MAYBE,,, [GM] [GM] No. :) [Henry] *cackles*

[Jack] THAT’S trauma for future Sammy!!

[Jack] He’s gonna see if Sammy’s okay! See what’s going on. [Sammy] Sammy still looks pretty shaken up, and will tell him, “Stay back my sheep – I will join you soon.” [Henry] “I’m not going to hurt him!” [Sammy] jUST GIVES HENRY A LOOK,

[Sammy] So that’s seven damage! [GM] Okay! You see that the shadowy figure on the other side is ALSO trying to hit the mirror. [Sammy] Huh. Can I tell anything about the shadowy figure, now that I’m right up next to the mirror? [GM] Yeah! :) Uh, looks kinda familiar. It’s maybe somebody you’ve seen before. [Jack] yEAH I thought it might be,,, [Sammy] …wait, what? [GM] Maybe somebody… last scenario… [Jack] Who’s in Carcosa… and wants to break the mirror… [GM] Yeah, someone like that maybe! [Sammy] ………….. Is it… is it Moonlight…? [GM] Yeah! Yeah it is! ...Anyway, the mirror breaks. :)

*successful dexterity check to avoid getting knocked over* [GM] Okay, you keep your feet! [Sammy] Thanks, I like my feet.

[Joey] Joey is going to start scanning for his people, who LEFT HIM while he was being thrown around by tentacles, [Sammy] You were a great distraction, thank you. [Jack] You’ve gotta keep a better eye on your people, one of them just stabbed another! [Joey] EVERYONE ABANDONED ME! [Sammy] I TOLD YOU WHAT I WAS DOING! [Joey] Oh, yeah, no, Prophet gets a pass. Everyone else ran off, and – [Henry] YOU LEFT HENRY! [Joey] ….eh, ‘strue. [Joey] …Left Henry with others! [GM] Bendy’s still there! [Joey] Yeah. Bendy’s got me. [Sammy] Joey, any time he’s trying to leave by himself: “No, I’m never alone, I’m with Bendy!” Joey, as soon as we figure he’s fine, because he’s with Bendy: “HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME ALL ALONE?!” [Jack] Betrayed, Abandoned,

[Joey] And the water is coming in fast, [Henry] These people are going to have SUCH a mold problem when we’re done…

[Joey] Does Bendy have any magic points…? [Sammy] “I spent all of mine turning my arms into buzzsaws!” [Jack] As you do!

[Sammy] Poor Leon. I’m so sorry. You’re going to have to go straight into an asylum.

[GM] You’re pretty sure you’re not in Carcosa. [Jack] Okay, good. I needed to know if Jack would be panicking about things… [GM] He’s got plenty to panic about, but that one is currently good!

[GM] I wonder if Sammy… from Sammy’s point of view, Jack was driving when he lost consciousness, and then he’s still driving when he comes back! Like… he doesn’t even know they went to Coney Island, I don’t think? [Sammy] No, I guess not! Joey was just like “I know where they’re taking Colette” [Sammy] And now we’re going back to the Studio so it’s like, I guess we got Colette! And got wet, for some reason! [Jack] At least he didn’t end up seeing The Great Bertrum Piedmont. [Sammy] There are SO many things it’s good that he didn’t end up seeing.

[GM] Bendy is going to chime in that it was busy, but they went to an amusement park! [Joey] Joey’s going to correct him that they did NOT go to an amusement park. That was not what that is. [GM, as Bendy] “That’s what you said it was last time we went!” [Joey] “Was it like last time we went?!” [GM] He’ll think about that, go quiet for a minute, and then be like, “No, I guess not, huh!” [Joey] “EXACTLY.” [GM, as Bendy] “Yeah, he’s right, we didn’t!” [Sammy] Hm. Hmmmm. Sammy’s squinting at you both.

[Sammy] He might still cough up blood, just not embarrassingly so. Just, in a cool way!

[Henry] Henry will… “pull” is too strong of a word? But Henry will… physically encourage Joey to step back from the circle.

[Sammy] Ehhhhh, I don’t have a lot of hitpoints… [Joey] Who needs hitpoints? [Sammy] I do, I need them!!

[GM] *rolls* …hm. *mumbling to self* What do I do with that…? [Sammy] Troubling reaction! [GM] ….huh…. [Joey] Not getting less troubling!

[Henry] I don’t want to keep using the scythe spell, but it keeps presenting itself as the best option! [Joey] DO YOU HAVE, ANY OTHER OPTIONS,, FIRST???? [Henry] These things have a bajillion HP! [Sammy] I mean, you COULD do the scythe thing, but maybe don’t hit anybody else with it! [Jack] I think you should hit Sammy with it again. [Sammy] NO I DON’T THINK YOU SHOULD

[Henry] Well, my strength is higher… oh no, it’s not, I’ve been doing too much mAGIC, [Sammy] That’s what happens when you do the scythe spell constantly!!! [Henry] Uggghhhhhhh... [Sammy] “Been doing too much scythe spell, better do some more scythe spell!”

[Joey] Do we have any bonus dice left? [Sammy] *sarcastically* Well! If we end up at the hotel, I DID scout it out ahead of time!

[GM] And Joey is feeling all the way better, except for all the ways that he is not!

[Henry] I just want to say, I did not expect Weird Henry to go on for FOUR SESSIONS. [Sammy] He went out with a bang, too, sliced a scythe RIGHT THROUGH THE PROPHET, [Henry] Yeah, everything has been working out so great!

[torchickentacos]

You know what? Solidad rant time (again). GOD I WISH THEY DID MORE WITH HER. She has so much potential. Long post but I'm having a weird day and won't apologize for self indulgence /lh. Really trying to remember that this is my blog, my house, my rules, my free time, my hobbies, and you guys actually did follow me for this stuff. Anyways.

Let's take a look at what we know about Solidad. She's from Pewter city and is friends with Brock. She beat Drew in his first ever contest and accidentally made him cry about it. She does this to May, too. Canon: Solidad makes children cry /joking.

But like, that's... kind of it? She's also old friends with Harley? So, her history is almost blank, and entirely tied to other characters (Brock, Drew, Harley).

So, let's look at what we get of her on-screen. All of her pokemon are from Kanto (Lapras, Slowbro, Butterfree, Pidgeot), so are we to assume she's never been to other regions until The Johto Arc (tm)? (ALSO Johto January will be happening. Work in progress.) Or is her bond with her first home-region pokemon all she wants? She seems to be an experienced coordinator. We know she beat Drew in his first contest, so that means either Drew did contests in Kanto OR more likely, Solidad did contests in Hoenn and interestingly just didn't catch any pokemon there. Maybe she's had this same team for years and likes to stick with what works and what she knows well? I wonder how she'd keep her appeals and strategies fresh and new.

We also see that she’s very calm and patient, and can get along with anyone (Drew and Harley are her two main friends that we see on-screen. And Brock, I guess. I like to think she's like my aunt, who knows everyone. She'll be in Trader Joe's and talking to the manager about his daughter's cousin's friend's wedding that she attended).

What else do we have? Not much. She exists almost purely to explain Drew to us a bit more and to win the Grand Festival. We can take from this, though- her explaining Drew. One of the main things she says is that Drew has, quote, 'feelings' for May and, ignoring that on its own (side tangent demons, go away), we can take her actions there and extrapolate. BUT LIKE, the thing about the side tangent demons is that they're unavoidable BECAUSE SOLIDAD DOESN'T REALLY EXIST OUTSIDE OF MAY AND DREW! And Harley, I guess? But back to extrapolation, I don’t imagine Drew gave her the green light to say that, so we can assume Solidad is someone who sees HER IDEA of the best thing to do and just goes for it regardless of other opinions, or regardless of if it's even her business at all. Extrapolation: If Solidad sees somewhere she can help, she WILL help regardless of if it’s even her place to do so.

This is actually supported by the Absol scene (of which I have... opinions on)- Drew's having an anxiety attack or whatever canon wanted us to think that was (him just being mean to his pokemon? something he chides other people for? Drew, who is shown to dote on his Pokémon? Sigh. There’s in-character ways to show flaws or move the episode forward, or whatever that scene even accomplished, that aren’t just making a character be mean to their Pokémon, but TANGENT DEMONS I will get stuck on this if I don’t move on). ANYWAYS Drew’s being difficult, so what does Solidad do? She explains how he feels like he failed in front of May (arguably the single worst person to have been present for this), Ash, Brock, Max, and (unknowingly) Harley.

Now. An ounce of forethought might get you to the conclusion that when someone is anxious/agitated/having a bad time, digging into them in front of their friends (or, uh, whatever Ash, Brock, and Max are to Drew) (or whatever MAY is to Drew at this point, for that matter, though Solidad did sort of outright tell us in the previous episode) might be a bad decision that makes it worse, actually, especially when that person pointedly and intentionally decided to go be alone, away from people. But Solidad saw an opening to attempt to help and she took it, regardless of if it actually helped or made things worse. I think she’s someone who is incredibly oriented towards helping and understanding people, but in an incredibly stubborn way.

This isn’t a bad thing, though. I showed a couple more or less negative examples, but it’s a strength to be so steadfast in your morals and beliefs. I truly believe that more times than not, she WOULD be correct in how she tries to help, but it's a strength and a flaw wrapped up into one.

The thing is... I half-made this characterization of her up. I extrapolated the hell out of a couple cherry-picked scenes that supported my conclusion (Which is not how proving hypotheses should really work by the way), because there's just not much there. She was in three episodes and was mentioned in a fourth. She showed up at the VERY end of AG and existed purely for other characters or the plot.

Which, one one hand, so does Drew. He exists only around May and, semi-adjacently, Harley and Solidad. We know so little about his backstory or, well, anything. The thing is that IMO separates him from Solidad is that he appeared often enough to give a strong personality, interesting actions, and just a good, solid presence. Solidad unfortunately wasn't given time to do this. Harley is similar to Drew. Very little backstory or individual focus but enough of a general focus to leave an impression.

HAF probably helps, too.

But Solidad DID leave an impression. I know people who are shocked when they hear she ONLY showed up for the Kanto Grand Festival and that she wasn't a recurring rival. People REMEMBER and LOVE Solidad despite her shockingly underwhelming presence. I think that the gaps in memory filled in with that potential I mentioned at the beginning.

Do I have a conclusion here? No, not really. This is by no means a well thought out character essay, it's just me talking in pure, unedited stream of consciousness. I'm always looking for ways I can expand on her when we weren't given much to expand upon. I love Solidad, I really do.

But even when writing her, I notice I fall into the same pitfalls I chide canon for- having her only exist tangentially around other characters or as a supporting factor. But she deserves more than that, truly. I don't have any ideas right now, but one of these days I want to really mess with SOLIDAD. As herself. Not as an older sister figure or as a friend or as a coordinator or as a rival, but as herself, whoever that is. Because canon never showed us.

[love-is-a-pearl]

wait, in one comic where you drew Ash around 5 years old (The one where he got the Z marks on his cheeks) he was already masc presenting there. Does it mean he had been trans since he was a toddler or something? That's highly critical to me, good for him if he really is trans but it seems like Delia really wanted a boy if he'd been trans for so long

is more like.. for me in pokemon universe people just leave their kids go ungendered until they're 10? Kinda?

Like, think homestuck "you only get a name at 13" kinda deal and the whole "what's your name?" and "what do you look like?" that the professors ask in pokemon games intros.

I like to think those are not by accident, they're more like a way to make sure kids are being gendered in the way they prefer once they become "working class", "official adults" or whatever being a pokemon trainer means in pokemon society.

Is more like.. up to the point they get a starter, kids are free to do what they want, go by different names every other day and just have fun exploring that shit yknow?

And when they get their starter, they get to make a BUNCH of important decisions, like picking their forever partner, the name that will go in their ID, their pronouns, all that shit, yknow? So, most parents will raise their kids taking that into account.

(changes can happen of course, I mean I LOVE the idea of gender fluid Ash but that's something i cant say its "canon" in my AU since I havent explored that idea in detail yet)

Is not really "he always knew he was a guy deep inside uwu" but more "kids in pokemon universe are raised in environments that just lets them test this shit out" kinda deal.

And like, I favor drawing the characters close to how they look in the anime cause I prefer that for continuity sake, but since they are cis in there they will never look too different, but I will always try and tweak some small things here and there (like, giving Ash longer hair in that comic) to imply something more.

(also Ash was canonically bullied by his peers because of the issue with his father so.. i wouldn't put it past him to dress up more "boyish" or even using his father's clothes to prove he would go and be like him but better yknow? before realizing that "Hey, is not that I wanted to be like dad. I just wanted to be a dude" lmadopaspd)

...

But for real... sometimes... is just not that deep? People will give sonic top scars and he is like.. 9? and a hedgehog asopdjasiodj

pokemon is just my little escapist solarpunk utopia and I like pretenting it is a better place than real life even with the smallest little things QwQ

[tetrafy]

Rant/ Spoilers for Pokémon SV DLC: The Teal Mask!! I’ll also add a Sona drawing of my Legends AU and the Paldea one below! I know the style is different. This is my inconsistent style arc LMAO 🫶

Just quick description of why I have 2 Sona Designs! So the first one is the one everyone has seen on this account which is the one that Simps for Adaman and gets taken to Hisui. The other, is the Paldea/Present Storyline (and she simps for Perrin). They both have almost the same backstory (with some minor timeline changes) but one progresses like normal in life while the other gets stuck in the past in the end.

I drew my Typhlosion that way because I thought it would be a cool idea for it to evolve in Sinnoh/ The Distortion World as my Sona somewhat takes over the role of Dawn/Lucas for the Platnuim storyline! And since Hisui and Sinnoh are the same and the Dex entry for Hisuian Typhlosion is:

“…I believe its form has been influenced by the energy of the sacred mountain towering at Hisui’s center.”

And would you look at that? The sacred mountain is Mt. coronet

So since Sinnoh is the Hisui region, it could be cool that the distortion world caused the a mutation of its dormant Hisuian genes to influence its Johtoian/modern day evolution.

- In the distortion world, time doesn’t flow properly and or it doesn’t follow the laws of physics so that could also be a cool loop hole. I get that it wouldn’t make sense for a Pokémon to evolve if time doesn’t flow, but in game, an eevee could still evolve into an umbreon or espeon so I’ll take it LMAO

So it can learn Inferno Parade and some Ghost type moves and it’s Tera Type is Ghost, hehe!

Anyways I’m rambling so move on!

Okay, so all of you know that I’m a fan of Legends Arceus so you can tell that I’m just going to mainly gush over the Perrin Storyline. I think that’s pretty much a given but just know its just me giving a play by play and my reactions so this might not be interesting!

Spoilers, officially starts here!

Okay so seeing Perrin for the first time in game, I literally screamed. Like hello?? You can’t blame me like seriously. She’s kinda my way for coping with the lack of Adaman content and Legends Content but she’s also so prettyyyyyy. So when Kieran literally started saying like, “I’ll meet you there” to progress the main story, I ran up to her trying to progress her story first before anything.

God, they did her justice when they translated her from the official art to the game! I wish to see Adaman in SV rendering style gahhh!!

- I do wish they explained why Hisuian Pokémon are around and not extinct, but that might just be like, “some were bred out of existence”, “they’re rare”, or something of the sort. Either way, due to them bringing back Hisuian Pokémon, im sure they’re might be an explanation in the future!

- I do also wish she explained why she had a Hisuian Growlith in the first place, or our player character mentions “what Pokémon is that?” Or something cause I would assume that Hisuian Variants are rare. Then again, it could be a thing that they talked about them in class. After all, Professor Laventon was on screen in Raifort’s Board

- But Perrin having Growlith just could be a hint that Adaman and Irida got together because she does give you her second Growlith at the end of her story. You know, cause one of the Pearl Clan’s nobles being Arcanine and the whole Colbat Coastline story in Arceus.

- It could mean Adaman and Irida got together, Their clans Merged and or disbanded, or it could literally just be a reference that pokemon did and I’m reading too much into it LMAO

Anyways! As someone who doesn’t do the Dex in Pokémon games, you can imagine me when I heard Perrin mention the requirement of 150 Pokémon for the Kitakami dex. I got like weird Legends Deja-vu and started “sobbing” to my friend, @deflatedrock, over the fact that I have to do the Dex for DLC.

- Also got Deja-vu over the fact that she called me “Kiddo” (yes, I was a Sans simp in my early days…)

- As someone who is not a minor I was like “Perrin please!! I’m not a kid!!” But yes, i understand that the protags in these games are all kids HAHA

- I just imagine my Sona (on the right) just trying to say how she’s not a kid with slight annoyance and embarrassment.

But Did I do it? Yes I got 150 Pokémon under 24 hours, what of it? And that was also including the story and the fact that was under leveled at the beginning of it LMAO

Imagine me screaming when the cutscene of her starts when she challenges me. I love the smile she has and it makes me wish that the switch was a more powerful console! Also Leafeon being her Second pokemon absolutely made me smile and it was super adorable the fact that she was taking pictures of us whenever she battled! Like :((((((((

The story starts after I beat her and she accepts me on taking on the job of helping snap a picture of a hard to find pokemon. I absolutely, am giggling over the “Partner” title I received from her. I was over the moon, on cloud nine LMAO !!

If you saw the direct/played the game, she wants to take a picture of Ursaluna with a unique marking on it’s head and the vague Hisui mentions throughout the story absolutely made me lose my shit. Small bits and pieces that Ursalunas used to be common back in the day or how mentions about her homeland.

Small mentions of Hisui/ Legends make me think of a high possibility of another Legends game could be in the future.

- I am hoping Johto but I do say it would be reasonable for it to be Unova or Kalos. But main reason I want it to be Johto is due to me never playing BW/BW2 or XY. I do plan to play them but the Grind for Unova is rough since DS game and XY i havent gotten the motivation to buy it and play it on 3DS (i know excuses HAHA)

- But I do hope that every region eventually gets its own Legends remake but with actual effort put into it like how Legends did. Legends with it’s music that is a call back to the Diamond, Pearl and Platinum games and a unique take on a pokemon game with Dex being the main priority rather than battles made it that much enjoyable. I do wish they didn’t put out BDSP and focused more time into Legends rather than releasing both.

- obviously not every region needs it, but I would be cool to live through the war or something that was mentioned in Kalos, or live through the events during the Sprout Tower. (I don’t know anything about Unova but *insert something a Unova fan wants from a Unova Legends game*)

But Im rambling so let us continue!

We make our way to the Timeless Woods, the location where the Ursaluna is often spotted and at the time, I didn’t really think much of it. I just thought, “Oh cute! ‘Timeless’ because this story is Hisui coded with Perrin and Ursaluna!”

But love the cute interaction moments:

- Whenever Perrin spoke to the polliwhirl and just calling it a “cutie pie” and speaking to it like anyone would do with their pet. Should’ve been me.

- Her getting embarrassed that the player might’ve tuned in with her pet names to the wild pokemon

- The fact that we saved her from a wild pokemon that came out of nowhere

- The cute camp setup! I will eventually draw her and my Sona sleeping in the tent together as we wait for the fog

- or just any time she would take a photo of us and calling us heroic and such

But before anything Ursaluna related, we must survey the area to see the different species living here. So I go up to her and click “A” to progress the story and we wait for the fog to come in at night…

I didn’t expect much going into it. Literally just thought, Pokémon snap but in SV. Once the survey starts and we officially load in im standing in the woods. The first note plays in the background and I am stunned. My eyes start to well up as the music continues. Heartwoods plays in the background and I had to put down my switch for a moment. I let out an excited squeal as I couldn’t help but just say “oh my god, stop…” with a chuckle. I sat there on my bed just listening to it and letting everything sink in. I couldn’t help but imagine the idea of my Sona possibly getting Deja-vu or her tearing up alongside me.

I stayed in the woods longer than I should have. Taking my sweet time snapping photos of the Pokémon in the area, even though it won’t even matter how good they were as long as the Pokémon were recognizable. I realized I never even screen-recorded anything during this part of the game. I was too immersed to even remember to do that. Perhaps it’s a biased towards Legends but this by far was one of my favorite DLC storylines in a Pokémon game at this point.

But of course, I wanted to progress in the story so I took the photo of the Duskull, completing the side quest. I was absolutely smiling and tearing up over this and my brain making the connection “Eterna” and “Timeless”, the names of the two areas that had this song placed in. Man, this just made me so happy.

Progressing, we learn about Perrin’s creativity problems with her being a burnt out prodigy and all. Focusing on how others want it and how she could get the most points from judges rather than what she thinks looks good.

Telling her that we take photos how we want the Pokémon to turn out makes her think and gets back into her usual mood.

- Her arc in this is great. It’s relatable and I think expands her character her more. I was afraid that she would be just a pretty face that Pokemon won’t do much with other than take photos and be a Legends homage.

We eventually hear stomping off in the Distance that interrupts the moment. We come to the conclusion that it is the Blood-moon Beast and head towards said direction and can I say, THIS GUY LOOKS FUCKING SICK!!

First off I love the fact that it looks like a very old Ursaluna as that as lived through the years and seen the world change along side it. The fact that is stands on 2 rather than 4 legs, the Fur being more Ursaring colored and whatever the gray stuff is growing around it? Perhaps more gray fur to represent it’a age?

I just absolutely love how it looks, I was expecting a regular Ursaluna with a red moon instead of the yellow one it has but this absolutely blew me away. It reminds me of the Crystal Onix that was in the anime! A cool super rare variant that looks like that due to the conditions it was in.

- Don’t count this Ursaluna as a regional variant until it’s confirmed that it is.

I also noticed how it didn’t seem to attack either of us until Perrin accidentally snapped a photo with auto flash. It more or less attacked us by us startling it than Anything.

AND DONT GET ME STARTED WITH THE MUSIC!!!

Like gahhhh!! Like there’s no such thing as a Alpha Pokémon in Present day Pokémon but using the alpha theme to express the tension and idea that this is no ordinary Ursaluna is so good !!

And when you get into the battle with it- LIKE OMG!! The Wild Pokémon battle music used for this just made me scream. And it’s blood moon move One-shorting some of my Pokémon, I was terrified of losing LMAO

- I loved the occasional times that Perrin motives you and cheers you on, I just enjoy the small cutscenes that’s main/ significant characters do that!

But we catch the Ursaluna and the main story part ends. I do enjoy the cute mentions of her taking photos of us while we battled and how they’re her favorite. She wants me fr fr.

She talks about needing to develop them right away and tells us a family saying and We eventually decided to meet back at Mossui.

Again, the call backs/references to Adaman and her being a descendant of the Diamond Clan is just so good! As you can assume, I was just screaming like “Adaman Reference!” And bouncing off the walls. I was at an all time high at this point.

As an Adaman and Legends fan, I was being fed!! With these small details. She also mentioned her dad and how he used the Shaymin Tent but im not sure if we’ll ever see her father. And if he were to be shown, don’t be surprised if I start simping for him too.

- Also can we mention the pose she does whenever she is idol sometimes? The fact that she puts her hand in her pockets like Adaman? Like I can’t be reading too much into it, that’s clearly a Adaman reference, right? IDK IM HAPPY ABOUT THIS

But the rest of the dialogue is her completing her arc of taking photos of how she wants it and now focusing on perfection and the photography standards. I also think it’s cute that she didn’t know the player’s name until now and does a endearing reintroduction with pride. She then gives you a Hisuian Growlith that enjoys battling and talks about how Growliths “like these” tend to come in pairs but even when separated they’re paths will surely cross again. She just confessed to me guys, don’t worry you’re all invited to our wedding, not delusional I swear.

-but guess the Growliths are still around but not often seen based on how she’s referring to them idk

But she leaves and that’s pretty much the end of the story! I do hope we see her again in either a different title or in the next wave but I don’t see her being in the next one. If I remember correctly, it will take place in Blueberry Academy and it’s in the middle of the ocean or something LMAO

Okay but overall: 10/10 experience for the Perrin Storyline!

I am super easy to please but I think it’s such a good story! Did wish it was longer or we had the opportunity to have her stay and have her have like a few more small quests/surveys like that are photo related after the main story? Kinda like how Mai was where you just had to catch Pokémon during the Massive Mass Outbreaks DLC.

My brain is starting to power down but I do wish for Pokémon to do more stories where you get cool unique Pokémon variants that are not shown. Again I hope it’s not a region variant for Ursaluna cause that would make it a whole lot cooler. He’s definitely going on my team.

Im very satisfied with the DLC and i hope we can get more Legends Content in the future. RIP Ingo, Unova Legends could be a good way to some how bring him back is all I’m saying *wink wink nudge nudge*

If you made it this far, thanks! You should comment your thoughts just saying if not then that’s cool too I’m just here to let me brainrot juices out!

[legendarceus]

can you tell me more about your pokemon horizons OC, Cadence? I really like their design and they're cool :]

YES OFC :D !!

their role on the airship is to keep track of where they're going and to make maps of the places the crew has been which specifc labels pertaining to the people on the ship rather than for worldwide understanding. they also double up as the bookkeeper ! i vaguely mentioned it in the other post about them but like. half of their wallspace is just bookshelves. and they also have one of those sliding ladders :) oh and they do have like a library system. you do have to check out books and return them once you're done. the books are for the whole ship after all. they're really strict on that policy and they emphasize it a lot when they meet new people who join the crew on the ship for an extended period of time which makes them seem kinda :/. doesnt help that they look tired due to limitde amounts of sleep (damn you perfectionist with making maps)

on the brightside they get a lot more approachable when they smile, which. doesnt happen much because like. visually they arent great at expressing stuff but it DOES happen, especially when theyre like mapping out constellations or talking about space and stuff. i realize i only drew them frowning or being neutral in the previous post WHOOPS,, i swear theyre not upset all the time. again just not great at facial expressions.

they're kinda indifferent to liko and roy once they join the team honestly. they don't MIND having them around but they'd prefer to be alone at first imo, at least until they manage to either 1. warm up (takes a while) or 2. infodump (which they can do fairly easily if given a proper oppurtunity to). they end up befriending the two by the second option after roy asks about the stars at one point or something lmao

speaking of that they kinda?? don't get social cues that well?? i mean kinda. it's mostly in like situations where there will be a massive fight with like people with malicious intent or something. they understand that those people want to attack them and stuff but they just. they don't get it. because of that they'll end up giving out lots of information (usually about really unimportant things) but it gets... its like. candence what are you doing. they're not our friends. and they know that but like ... wdym. they said something slightly incorrect about our current location i have to fix their mistake. they do not take things as threats until its too late and that will ultimately probably be their downfall

their pokemon. their ace is a milotic (the pokemon they fight alongside, the one whos usually out and hanging around, etc.) which they recieved as a feebas when they were young. only evolved recently. their other two pokemon, lunatone and solrock, are pokemon they've gotten to help around in their little space on the ship if that makes sense (like, organizing books and maps and whatnot) and they usually never leave their room :)

they're also like. 19. so theyre younger than the adults but older than the kids and theyre in the weird grey area which blehh. working through the issues that come with being fresh into adulthood or something. except i have no damn clue about that so just trust or something idk whoops

if you have like any specfifc questions i would love to answer them so!! i like talking about my ocs (too bad cadence is the only one i have posted rip)

heres some doodles !

[kiawren]

hi wren !! what first drew u to kiawe, and vice versa? :o did u ever talk abt these aspects/moments w each other? (@dmclr)

Helloo Claraaa

What first drew me to Kiawe irl wise was from the anime when I saw it in 2022 the first episode that he appeared, he seemed really cool lol that's about it actually.. then I watched more and he seemed so funny but also a genuinely nice caring character. Honestly his pokeani character is more light hearted, less aloof, more emotive.

Now I ship with his game character (with some aspects taking after the anime like he has a younger sister and late grandfather), it feels more mature and solemn at times when he talks about realistic woes like worrying about affording his studies abroad. And being able to go up the volcano to see him and run around him in-game makes me feel more connected to him LOL

Lore wise. They first met up the volcano when my s/i wanted to find a nice vantage point to view the sunset. They strike a conversation and Wren learns of his trial captain status and I guess from that initial meeting was already drawn to him. Wanting to know more about him and what he does, and cuz he seems like nice person. He talks in a stern sort of way but he's just kinda awkward. and he showed care for Wren. Cuz coincidentally becuz I Willed it some pokemon were blocking the path down slope and it was getting dark. So kiawe said I'll walk you down after the sunset. And Wren just. Romanticises things so he's like Damn I'm gonna start having an infatuation on this guy. I mean it really is that easy for me irl 😭

Like there was no complex reason why s/i me started liking him. Since they're basically a copy paste of me they just like him easily and simply LOL.

Kiawe was mostly indifferent to a lot of trial-goers and other people in a romantic sense. He wasnt not looking for anything. He likes getting to know people and their pokemon but he doesnt get infatuations.

So when he saw Wren that evening up at that volcano, who wasn't even there for the trial, he was just curious why someone would hike all the way up for a sunset.

And cuz he said he'd walk them down for their safety and the safety of the pokemon residing there when the sky got dark, he sat down with Wren and he were 'forced' (by me. by fate) to talk.

Wren shares they're here on a conservation programme and will do some research on alolan ecology and how to conserve it. In particular some of their fieldwork will be done at the volcanic area (with some other Aether foundation researchers or Prof Burnet) and Kiawe's interest was piqued becuz that seemed like a great cause.

I'm not sure exactly how much they talked that first evening they met, but it did spark interest in the other's role.

For Kiawe, he appreciated the company. and it was Wren who first asked whether he could come up here more often to talk to him, so he looked forward to it. Since Wren's disposition was so easy-going and lighthearted he wanted to get to know them more as a friend.

Basically. Ultimately when they first meet, only Wren started getting intetested in Kiawe on an attraction and infatuation level. Kiawe was only interested on a platonic level. Which makes The Realisation™ all the more better. (While Wren never misses a day of Pining)

Did we ever talk about these moments Hmm Yes Kiawren talks abort a range of things and Wren's the kind of person to be like "You know actually When I met you that day..."

And when confessing their crushes on each other he'd also point out how they liked Kiawe since like. Almost the beginning LOL😭

I guess it's also nice to think about Kiawe saying my interest for conservation was felt for his first impression of me talking about doing the conservation programme on alola. Becuz that aspect of my personality would the the best I hope people might notice about me.... 😁

[shepherds-of-haven]

lena pls feel free to ignore this because it is very off topic but i don’t know any gamer gamers and i’ve seen you and other tumblr people talk about those games where you make choices and romance various aliens and do you have to shoot the video game gun good to play those?? my gaming skills are on the level of pokemon or nancy drew for example but i would like to kiss aliens too !!

Hi anon, it's no problem at all, I love to talk games! So I sort of separate the games I like to play out into two categories:

RPGs with choices

Choice-based games

"RPGs with choices" are what you've probably seen me talking about on here, like Bioware's Mass Effect (the one where you get to kiss aliens) and Dragon Age (the one where you get to kiss, like, elves and mages and etc.) or Spiders's Greedfall. These are some of my favorite games in existence, so I can't not urge people to play them as soon as humanly possible, because the stories, characters, and choices are absolutely fantastic; but these do contain real-time combat elements! So for Mass Effect, for example, you will need to aim and shoot things in between wooing your crewmates, and you do run around fighting enemies you encounter on missions. I'm not really good at shooting things, by any means, and you can play these on an easy difficulty, but if your level of comfort is more turn-based, this is something to know heading into it! Same goes for Dragon Age and Greedfall: you do have to fight things, but taking it slow and playing on the lowest difficulty might be less intimidating for you! Maybe look them up on YouTube to get a feel of the gameplay first!

Honorable mention here is BioWare's oldest game, Knights of the Old Republic, which is set in the Star Wars universe and features a kind of turn-based combat, though it takes some getting used to if you're used to things like Pokemon. However, there aren't really romance "options" (if you play a female character, for example, you have one male romance option, and if you play as a male, the reverse is true), and a brand-new remake was recently announced, so it might be worth waiting for that, since the old version does have some bugs unless you download some mods!

If turn-based games like Pokemon are more your speed, I'd recommend trying out games in my second category, which are more casual, typically more "choice-based," and not reliant on real-time combat at all. Among these are:

TellTale Games - all of the ones I've played from TellTale have featured excellent storytelling, and their gameplay style is all about making choices and investigating things via point-and-click (so I guess pretty similar to Nancy Drew), so there's no combat or anything like that (you do have to make some choices quickly, though). These feature less overt romance, though some titles do have it and let you choose between romantic interests for your character! I'd recommend their Walking Dead games or The Wolf Among Us to start out with!

Life is Strange - yes to romance options and yes to point-and-click gameplay! I definitely recommend starting with the original, which I believe just had a new remastered version come out. I haven't played Life is Strange 2 or Before the Storm (the prequel to the first game), but I also adored the latest entry in the series, Life is Strange: True Colors! However, like the TellTale games, these do have you play a set protagonist, not a customizable one where you get to choose your name and gender, etc.

Honorable mentions specifically for you:

Fire Emblem - if you haven't given the Fire Emblem series a try, I'd recommend it, particularly the latest and greatest entry, Fire Emblem: Three Houses! There are less choices to be made here (you get to choose what house you join in the latest one, which greatly diverges the story you experience, and things like who you want to spend time with; but there's less dialogue or story-altering choices like in the other games), and it features turn-based combat just like Pokemon. There are so many options to romance (and even matchmake between other characters as well!) in these titles that it will make your head spin. Gender-choice protagonists and the ability to romance/pair up characters started with Fire Emblem: Awakening, I'm pretty sure, so you could start with that one; Fire Emblem: Fates (not as good imo); or try out the most recent and richest title, Three Houses!

Persona - like Fire Emblem, this is not an actual "choice-based" game in the same sense of the others, but there is a large cast of romanceable options, a brilliant story and world, and turn-based combat very similar to Pokemon. And you do get to choose how to spend your time and make little dialogue choices, and there are different endings to each story as well! However, if playing as a female or male protagonist is important to you, only Persona 3 Portable has that option, and you'll have to wait to play that one when it's released on Steam on January 19th!

Honorable mentions in this category also include Supermassive's games like The Quarry and Until Dawn. These are horror-based games, though, but are all point-and-click choice-based games that do feature some romance/flirtation, though you switch between different (preset) character perspectives to help see these relationships through (or ruin them, it's up to you). Best played with other people for maximum effect!

Hopefully that helps you out, anon! And if anyone has any other suggestions to throw in there, feel free!

[letstalkwhump]

Let’s Talk Whump No.3

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump!

I’m Malice, from @whumpers-inc and today I’ve got the fabulous @brutal-nemesis in the house to talk about her experience with and love for whump!

Let’s talk about you! Tell us something about yourself :)

Yo, I'm Nemi, I'm in my 20s and a whumper all the way, baby. Outside of whump, I like rocks (like have an entire degree in geology like rocks), video games (Octopath Traveler, Pokemon, FE, Nancy Drew PC games...), anime (don't ask me about Chainsaw Man, I won't shut up), and hiking (rocks but in their natural habitat).

What does “whump” mean to you?

I get to stab men and laugh about it. I love violence, I am very sadistic

Your fearsome reputation is something of a legend around here. How did you find whump and what made you want to join?

Very long rabbit hole but to be less long about it, I saw some whump stuff on the blog of a pokemon tumblr I stalked (because I didn't have an account) and I was like, Hey This Is The Shit. I lurked for a while but as time went on, I wanted to talk to people about whump and share my own shit cuz I've never really had anyone to talk to about that sort of stuff (at least not without making them really concerned lol).

Being able to talk about wanting to beat up/stab/restrain a guy without concerned looks and questions is so therapeutic, honestly. Do you have a favourite(s) whump trope?

Gore, noncon surgery & body modification, vivisection, female whumper w/ male whumpee, and just general depravity!

Female whumpers, my beloveds! Speaking of favourite pieces, tell us one that you’ve written?

Uhhhh what have I written at all...mmm, well, as far as Castys things, if I had to pick one, it'd probably be Cycle-stys of Yikes . Basically it's a nice little overview of Castys losing his damn mind while he's stuck in a lab for like 240 years. It's probably one of the darkest things I've written as far as, uh, what happens, and that's saying a lot. Idk I just feel like I did a good job with describing these really fucked up actions as...whatever the hell he thought was happening.

For Erebus and Terror...it's hard. I'm really proud of the whole series, tbh, just how I've been able to develop both Erebus and Neteri over time as they change each other, but for a standout chapter...Maybe Chapter 14, Red, White, and Blue , cuz I really love the way I wrote Erebus's panic and what was happening to him from his POV without explicitly describing what was happening. And what's not to love about how upset he is in that one :)

Damn, Red, White and Blue! You’ve definitely earned your reputation..that was brutal! Is there anything new you’re working on at the moment?

Yare yare...I should get started on the next chapter of E&T at some point, shouldn't I? I mean, I have a huge AU stockpile that's basically all between me and one person and we just sit on them, so probably nothing from there for the people...So yeah, probably the next chapter of E&T whenever I get around to that and then I'll probably try to come up with something for Castys since I'm sure people miss him.

Take it from me, the people definitely miss Castys! Care to share what your writing routine usually looks like?

Hahahaha who knows, man. Back before my lil hiatus, I used to write every day whenever I had time and felt like it, but then I became Gamer Mode for a few months and I'm still working on getting out of that habit. But usually just on the couch or in my room with either my video game/anime OST playlist on shuffle (she's 59 hrs long!) or my weeb playlist (anime ops and whatnot) because if it's English words then it's harder to focus on writing,  y’know. Usually I jump around in whatever chapter or piece I'm writing, writing the scenes or bits of dialogue/description as they come to me, and slowly stitching the whole thing together until it's one whole blanket boy.

Is there an easy thing for you to write, something the words just pour for? Anything you struggle with writing?

The easiest thing in the world is whatever bullshit thoughts Castys is having. He is incredibly easy to channel. Any of his dialogue or what he's thinking about comes without much thought. The words also usually flow for my classic™ incredibly long run-on sentence paragraphs that have like no breaks in them cuz it's all go go go, baby. Erebus and Neteri talking isn't too hard either, especially if they're bickering. As far as hard, probably descriptions of pain because it can hard to say how much a thing hurts over and over without being repetitive. I am also not a researcher.  I will just be out here making shit up because it's MY fantasy world so I can have whatever bullshit I want!

Do you have any words of wisdom or writing advice for us?

Well, my old habit that worked for me was to try and write every day, for at least half an hour. If I end up going more, great, but if it's not working at least I tried. That and inspiration is everywhere. Steal whatever shit you like and cobble it together into something unrecognisable. It's not plagiarism cuz you're making something new. Like, E&T came from Stephen King's Misery and a magical girl anime. Go crazy, go stupid.

Go crazy, go stupid. I love it! Let’s give a shout out to your favourite writing/whump blogs, bffs or people who've inspired you. We're hyping everyone up here!

Can't not shout out the bestie @galaxywhump who has impeccable taste and bomb writing and we talk a whole lot everyday and yeah, queen shit. @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifih-wifi is another good friend and amazing writer and she's got so many different stories that everyone can find something they love. Ugh, there's a lot of other people I could talk about, but I'll give the last shout-out to @whump-side cuz her art just always hits the spot for me, so fuckin good.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today. Is there anything you like to add?

Don't be afraid to be a little bit silly, lads, we're here to have fun and it doesn't have to be the most serious shit in the world for it to be good whump. we love being silly and crazy.

Thanks for dropping by @brutal-nemesis ! 

And to all the readers, have a whump-derful day!

[nimbasa-librarian]

A Friend In Need?

Most other teenagers were straight up afraid of Piers, and he liked it that way. 

No typical high school drama bullshit and no distractions from his music. He had his friends. He didn’t really need anymore. Anya had been a welcomed surprise, frankly. 

But no one was scared of Anya, despite her stature (She was the tallest girl in the school, but not that tall, all things considered). She was quiet, wore multiple shades of pink and orange, and even on the most humid of days was in a long sleeved shirt or sweater. Her head was always in books, she did her school-work program at the library, and of all the pokemon to have as a partner, she had a damned Yamask. 

Half a semester into the school year, Piers had taken to keeping an eye on his new friend. He saw those familiar stares - as in, he knew what people were thinking. He just hoped that no one would be stupid enough. 

But halfway through another long evening at the library filling out endless paperwork, Piers heard the startling sound of books falling onto the carpeted floor. 

“... oops” 

Piers stood up, a sinking feeling gathering in his chest. 

“... I’s alright” A slightly sheepish voice reacted. Anya. Her tone gave away that she knew it wasn’t really an accident. 

Piers started walking towards the conversation, slowly, quietly. 

“You’re in the AP English class, right? Anna?” 

“Anya” 

“Okay Emma” 

Well, that was a predictable dig

“I’s Anya. I’s pronounced-” 

“I know how it’s pronounced, mumble-mouth” 

“... if a’m mumblin, why’re ya understandin’ everythin’ I say but mah name?” 

Oh, sassy. Nice. 

“You’re the one with the accent here. Talk like you have a brain and I’ll think about saying your name correctly” 

“Ah sure hope y’never go north’a Wyndon with tha’ attitude” Anya responded. Piers cautiously watched a row away, looking between some books “According to you, there’s a whole lotta “no brains” up there. Y’ain’t even got the Spikemuth accent, an’ y’r tryin’ t’tell me that i’m brain-dead jus’ cause I don’t sound like you? Tha’s not fair t’anyone!”

Piers wondered how she could sound so sincere saying something that anyone else might have said with sarcasm. Hell, she did sound offended - but did she not know that she was deliberately being mocked?

On the bright side, it seemed to take the bully - a piss-poor battler Piers recognized from the after school battle group - completely off guard, as Anya adjusted the books in her hand 

“If y’ll ‘scuse me. I have these pulled f’r a book pickup comin’ up soon.” 

And she abruptly pivoted and left the blubbering buffoon standing there. 

Piers decided he needed to assist - if only in the aftermath, and turned the corner 

“You’ve got some fukin’ nerve, Herbert Shrew” 

“Wah - wuh - Cadell??” 

“Y’ know she’s my friend, right?” 

“What - well - I mean-” 

In what he knew was a rather pompous show, Piers put his hands in his pockets and walked up to the other teenager, leaning forward right into the man’s space 

“You talk to her like that again, an’ I’ll make sure you can’t sit right for a week, got it, ya belland?” 

“G-Got it!! Crystal!” And the coward rushed out the back door of the library

“Right fuckin wanker” Piers grumbled. 

“Mahsk?” 

Piers looked up, seeing that Drew - Anya’s Yamask - was floating a few feet away 

“Uh, hey, Anya back at the desk?” 

The yamask nodded, giving him an interesting look 

“What?” 

Drew motioned over towards the desk. Piers furrowed his brow.

Did he… want him to check on her? Piers supposed that made sense. 

“Is she not doin’ great after that?” Piers asked the pokemon. 

Drew’s expression was telling. 

“Hm, alright, come on. Does she like coffee?” 

-

Anya had never gone to the principal’s office before. 

But then again, she’d never had to wrestle someone to the ground before - she was stronger than she looked, dang-nabit. She hated even touching people most of the time, but anger and determination can cloud that shit real quick. 

Piers was sat on her left, looking a little exhausted, black eye partially hidden by his makeup. 

The fight had been sudden, and hilariously unprovoked. At least, that's what Anya had assumed before Piers had admitted to threatening them. 

“They’d been talkin’ about wrecking the library to make your life harder an’ I told ‘em I’d get m’friends and I to wreck them if they did that” 

Anya was a bit too emotionally detached to speak, but signed a simple '... Why?' 

“It seems they didn’t like that you were beatin’ ‘em at wrestlin’” 

Anya’s scowl deepened, but she didn’t communicate further. 

“... They were wailing on me” Piers stated “Why’d you barge in?” 

Anya looked at him, and signed quite succinctly 

‘Friend’ 

Piers took in that simple sign, and the seeming weight it held coming from a person he knew didn’t have many friends, period. 

“... Can I have your hand?” 

His palm was up, an offer as casual as he could manage it given his emotions.

She stared at the hand for a while, eyes not staying focused on any one thing, but falling back on the hand again. 

Her hand grabbed his, and the two of them sat in silence, ready for the scolding they’d be getting from the principal. 

At least they were doing it together.