#geeta path

[souenkun]

I loooove the jp fandom's headcanon that geeta and larry are childhood friends who met during their time in the academy and, sometime in the future, geeta personally recruited larry to work for the paldean pokemon league, as she must be one of the first people who knew of his prowess in pokemon battling! Like yeah, the whole geeta being a "strict boss who is frustrated by larry's stubborn insistence to be an average worker that she has to assign him different workloads just to broaden his horizon" idea is intriguing, but stepping it up a notch by making geeta be the "best friend a.k.a the only one who has seen larry at his very best and his very worst, and knows for a fact that he could excel at anything he put his mind into if he steps out of his comfort zone, so she doesn't particularly drag him out of said zone, but pushes him out of it each time she can because she can't bear to see her best friend be unaware of the good chances and positive things that awaits him out there, not if she has a (small) say in it" is also downright hilarious 😭🤚

[sitadasi12345]

[jeevanjali]

Geeta Jayanti 2023: गीता जयंती के दिन करें इन मंत्रों का जाप, बनी रहेगी भगवान श्रीकृष्ण की कृपाGeeta Jayanti 2023: इस साल 23 दिसंबर 2023, दिन शनिवार को गीता जयंती है। गीता जयंती हिंदू कैलेंडर के अनुसार मार्गशीर्ष माह के शुक्ल पक्ष की एकादशी तिथि को मनाई जाती है। इसी दिन भगवान विष्णु को समर्पित मोक्षदा एकादशी भी होती है।

[goldensunset]

now is not the time lady

[diamondwerewolf]

Tumblr essay nobody asked for

Geeta doesn’t dislike Larry, she’s just trying to curb his propensity to settle.

Some of this information I’m paraphrasing comes from the main Sar/Vi game, the DLC, and Pokemon Masters EX.

To start, a detail I don’t seen discussed is this:

Larry’s shoes and his briefcase are worn. See the scuffs and the rip. He uses the same items over again, probably until they can’t be used anymore. He prefers to use the same Pokémon type [normal] , and has noted himself that he seldom switches things up, and should probably keep up with talented people from time to time. Which implies he doesn’t believe himself to be talented, which I’ll get back to later.

Another note to make about Larry, is that he’s reasonably stubborn, which goes hand in hand with being ‘set in his ways’. He says in Masters that he enjoys being Average, and only searches for the extraordinary in foods, as long as the restaurant isn’t too busy. That’s another hint at his introversion, apart from not wanting to be highly recognizable, which I may discuss later. So in synopsis with some additional points Larry is:

-Resistant to change

-very independent

-quite firm in his opinions or beliefs

-somewhat introverted

-a workaholic despite his complaints

Let’s take a break and discuss Geeta.

[Here she is noticing that Larry is enjoying a change of scenery. ]

She initially comes across as overbearing as chairwoman of the Pokémon league, but her decisions come from a genuine place. She cares about -progression- , of not just Paldea, but of all of her employees. I think this is fair.

Geeta mentions in masters ex that she loves collecting rare gems, literally and metaphorically. She’s a recruiter but also a nurturer. I assume someone who works so closely with the school was probably a teacher at some point, too.

You’ll notice, primarily in masters and the PkmnSV DLC that Geeta gives Larry tasks that, I assume, are meant to rouse him out of his comfort zone. Why don’t you use flying instead of normal types all the time? Why don’t you go to this event and mingle? [ she’s the one who encouraged Larry to hang out with Kabu] Would you be willing to leave familiar territory, that well trodden path, if it was for your job??

She doesn’t have a close eye on Larry because she dislikes him. I actually think Geeta worries he doesn’t enjoy working for the league, or that he’s wasting some of his potential. Mind you, Larry was hand picked for his jobs. The elite 4 are her rare, sparkling gems. Pillars of strength for the region.

She’s attempting to nurture Larry, and like a scrunched shiba on a leash, he’s an older man who doesn’t want to budge. He’s a ‘free spirit’ in masters. There’s irony in him being very resistant to being told what to do. It’s funny. Of course he’s going to think she’s hawking on him. He’s that kind of guy. He wants to do what he wants, which may not always be the best.

I think out of all of her employees, Geeta may mention him the most across all materials. My shipping delusions aside, she does think he’s special. But she may not be fully aware of his introversion. Half of Larry’s resistance to striving is probably to avoid talking to more people than he needs to.

Classic case of miscommunication, because Larry doesn’t give her any direct feedback. I think he should. She would probably adjust her tasks for him.

Some last thoughts, cause I don’t know where to put this:

-Larry has excellent taste in food, while Geeta’s tastes are pretty bland [this is from masters] VERY FUNNY

-Larry thinks himself to be average, while being one of Pokémon’s more unusual characters. He’s perplexed if the player picks him as a favorite gym leader.

-Geeta often has to force larry to take breaks. I’m still wondering what else this may imply about him. He complains privately, but he does work hard

[bietrofastimoff23]

"yes he's been a problem, yes he's been acting irrationally <...>" - geeta patel.

where was he the problem? when he was trying to do his job, for which no one had prepared him (and when he tried to withdraw himself, he was forcibly placed on the throne and they behaved as if it was his whim), while she was only pretending to do something?

okay, maybe this is about the first season inclusive, but "acting irrationally". .... his SON WAS literally K1LLED. HIS HEAD WAS SAWN OFF IN HIS OWN CRADLE. his LAST moments were accompanied by FEAR AND HELPLESSNESS, because NO ONE came despite his cries.

and the fact is that Aegon is one of the few parents in the show who really cares about the loss of a child. so how could he act rationally, especially when NO ONE from the family expressed any regret to him? instead of consolation, he only heard what a weakling he was, that no one was interested in his opinion on how his son's funeral should go. they showed that they all don't care, so, of course, if no one is going to help him, he will take matters into his own hands. he doesn't care about honor, about the correctness of actions, justice. he wants REVENGE.

thats why he gets closer to Larys and makes Criston his right hand - they do not humiliate or condemn him for his feelings, and the second one even takes the initiative into his own hands, sending the knight to kill nyra in her own keep, as they did it to Prince Jaehaerys, thus sharing his king's thirst for revenge.

"what's tricky about it is her son was acting so maniacal <...>" apparently, the writers completely forgot how Alicent herself once longed for an "eye for an eye" and attacked with a dagger for her mutilated son. it would seem that she, like no one else, could partially understand his pain and thirst to punish the perpetrators. but, of course, when Aegon demands punishment for the M@RDER of his son, it's just manic&irrationality caused by weakness, not the grief&worry of a loving parent.

it was an opportunity to bring mother and son closer together, when Alicent, after B&C, would see in her son someone more than just a spoiled boy. but no, they went down the path that his grief is regarded as a weakness in a show with insensitive characters. hOw TErrIbLE iT is when a parent feels something for their child other than indifference&contempt, isn't it?

[rikaspotting]

Geeta: literally gives students multiple options and the academic freedom to create their own path. Instead of punishing Penny, she hires her as an intern to improve the league's security system. Tries to stop Larry from overworking himself. Is overworked herself and probably is sleep-deprived.

Geeta Haters: ...

Geeta bad.

[incorrectpokechampionquotes]

What does Cynthia think of the other champions?

Lance: Cynthia and Lance are childhood rivals. She enjoys making digs and irritating him, but it's in good humor for the most part. Watching the two of them compete can be quite something. That being said, Lance has never beaten her in a pokémon battle.

Steven: Steven was the only reason Cynthia and Lance didn't tear each other apart for a long time. She sometimes enjoys treating him like a child for fun. She sees him like a little brother.

Wallace: Cynthia and Wallace get along well enough. She thinks he's eccentric, but they can still enjoy each other's company. Their milotics are friends, so that also helps.

Alder: Alder sees most of the other champions like his nieces/nephews and looks out for them. Cynthia isn't as close to him as Steven and Lance are, but she'll occasionally look to him for guidance (or for a battle)

Iris: Cynthia knows that Iris really looks up to her, and it does things for her ego that she might not need. She always tries to be at the top of her game when Iris is around so she can be her role model.

N: Cynthia thinks N is interesting. He reminds her a bit of Cyrus, but she thinks he's much kinder. While they never get too close (Reshiram and Giratina HATE each other), she keeps an eye on him, just in case he starts showing signs of following the same path.

Diantha: Cynthia and Diantha are close friends. While they do have a romantic interest in each other, they both decided that dating while being champions of different regions would not be a great idea. If one of them were to retire, though...

Leon: Cynthia isn't a huge fan of Leon. She doesn't like how loud or showboaty he is, so she never bothered to get too close to him. However, she still respects his strength as a trainer, and how he's able to maintain an image as a national icon.

Geeta: Cynthia thought she would enjoy the company of another sapphic champion. This was not the case. Cynthia is put off by how aloof Geeta is, and can never seem to get her to open up. Cynthia still isn't entirely convinced that she isn't a robot.

[ratherembarrassing]

Geeta Patel on helming House Of The Dragon’s slow-burning season finale

The director discusses pulling off Alicent and Rhaenyra’s reunion, those Game Of Thrones nods, and more

House Of The Dragon closes its second season without big battles or dragons setting cities ablaze. Despite that lack of action, “The Queen Who Ever Was” still feels monumental because of the charged reunion of Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke) that promises to turn the tides when HBO’s drama returns in 2026.  

Their conversation isn’t in the source material Fire & Blood, and it’s not the only creative liberty HOTD takes in the finale. Another big swing comes in the form of Daemon (Matt Smith), whose latest haphazard vision features a cameo from a Targaryen family member and two major Game Of Thrones characters. Clearly, the Ryan Condal-created adaptation is attempting to pave a unique path for itself

To do so, the show entrusted Geeta Patel to bring these key moments to life. The director had previously helmed two other HOTD installments, along with episodes of Ahsoka, The Great, Dead To Me, Superstore, and The Mindy Project. This year, she also produced and directed Hulu’s true-crime drama Under The Bridge, which earned series star Lily Gladstone an Emmy nomination. 

The A.V. Club spoke to Patel about how she framed Rhaenyra and Alicent’s big talk, why Daemon’s visions were her favorite part of the episode, and going back to her roots with projects like UTB. 

The A.V. Club: When did you find out you would direct the season-two finale? What did you want to achieve in the episode? 

Geeta Patel: Ryan called me after I had finished working on my season-one episode “The Lord Of The Tides.” I wanted to do a good job on it so I was just happy that he was happy enough to invite me back. It was a very nice surprise to do the finale. After that, I got all the episodes, read them, and saw what needed to happen, which was that we needed it to feel like a big rising action moment. I challenged myself to bookend the season premiere, so I went back and watched that the theme of it was sacrifice for duty. So I kept looking for opportunities to come full circle on that theme in the finale. It’s all in the writing because [episode writer] Sara Hess and Ryan had already spent probably a year making sure of it. So it’s just my process of understanding and finding my way through it visually. I also just wanted to make sure that the scene between Alicent and Rhaenyra was building off of the scene in episode three, which I also directed, I don’t think coincidentally. Maybe that was Ryan’s intention that we were all working together again. 

AVC: You directed the only two scenes that Olivia and Emma share in the season. Their conversation in the finale carries way more emotional weight. What did you all want to evoke with their interaction here?

GP: We wanted to feel as if there was that sacrifice made for duty and that Rhaenyra is pressing Alicent against the wall to do what she’s never done before, which is to take action. What’s interesting is that these two women were friends to begin with, and then it became an eye-for-an-eye type of relationship. Now there is so much pain behind them that this scene is a wrestling match with pain and forgiveness. They both were telling themselves, “I’ve moved on. I can’t feel anything.” But all we saw was emotion. All we saw were these two friends who still loved each other and yet had gotten a divorce. And you ask yourself, Why are they both in this room again? 

It’s because they couldn’t stay away from each other. Yes, we can reason that it’s because of the kingdom and the realm. But when they come together, they are young girls again. Both actors together become a little juvenile and innocent with their facial expressions, like Olivia biting her nails again. Emma contours their face like a child with exaggeration. That made it grounded and real. My hat is off to Sara, whose writing brought so much humanity to the scene. It was like watching a great film with two people who’ve taken this long journey together. It could have been boring, but the writing made it nail-biting and heartfelt. 

AVC: At some points, they’re close and face-to-face, while at other times, Alicent is moving around almost manically while explaining herself. What was your directive to the actors? 

GP: It’s a very collaborative experience. When we work on a scene like this, we’ve had rehearsals beforehand where we talked about the point of the scene. I mean Ryan, Sara, Emma, Olivia, and myself. What we came to is that the shift in the scene is when Rhaenyra says, “A son for a son” and then Alicent agrees. That’s what we’re building to, so if we think about that tone-wise, we’re already at a 10. 

The truth is also when we started the rehearsal, Emma and Olivia are such talented actors, they ran through it and started walking, and I was just watching. There is something to be said about allowing the performers to just be the characters. I do this quite a bit as a director. I say, “Okay, go ahead, do whatever you want to do.” I check that one moment that we know is about the shift and make adjustments along the way, some of which are technical because we want to make sure we can make the day if we have too many camera moves. I also thought it was lovely that at one point, there was a silence between them, so I asked them to keep that and exaggerate it if they felt it was right. I just said, “Don’t worry, keep going; we’ll keep rolling.” So those moments were beautiful and came from the two actors and me experimenting within the parameters set out. 

AVC: What was it like to prep with Ryan and Sara for this critical scene? 

GP: Ryan and Sara are extraordinary in that they’re very easy to approach. One of the things I love about the show is we got all the episodes before we started shooting, so I would write all my notes and questions, mainly questions at that point. So much of what Ryan and Sara want for the show is between the lines. For example, in the first season when I did episode eight, it was about linear analysis between Rhaenyra and Alicent in that episode. I remember thinking even back then that they never say what they’re feeling, but it’s intentional. That’s a great part about Ryan’s vision for HOTD, and that’s why it’s so exciting to work on it because it feels very real even in a world with dragons in them. 

I asked them questions, but it was not for them to change the script. Instead, it’s for me to understand what’s intentionally not on the page. And then from there, we start molding the scenes together. I’m constantly checking in with them about what I’m thinking. I push their buttons and say, “No, no, but what about this?” Sometimes they’ll say things like, “No, you’re wrong” or “Okay, sure, let’s try it.” So, at that point, I’m trying to serve them and challenge their vision in a way. 

As we start shooting, we usually have rehearsals for the bigger scenes, and Ryan, Sara, or one of the writers would come to help us understand what the writers intended. A lot of times, what we found in the finale rehearsals is there’s something we needed [to set up] for season three, so it had to be this way. It’s valuable to have the writers there with you the whole time because they know more than we do. Or sometimes there’s a change to another episode, right? So then they’ll make sure that we check that. A lot of things in this episode had to do with the tone of the characters since we were introducing a few new ones. 

AVC: I presume one of the questions was about Daemon’s visions of things like Rhaenyra on the throne, him in the water, the Night King, and Daenerys. What went through your mind as you read it in the script about how you’d execute it? 

GP: In the script, it was exactly like that: a list of the moments in his vision, almost like bullet points. Ryan and Sara wanted it to feel fragmented. So my first question to them was [about] what they want out of it in terms of story because it’s such a visual moment. And they particularly didn’t want it to be too literal. So they wanted me to run with it. Their main point to me was that this vision has to change Daemon’s point of view. It has to tell him Rhaenyra belongs on the throne, and everything he’s been doing this season or thinking about how his wife is putting him down and he’ll never work for her isn’t true. He needs to see that he’s part of something bigger than him, which was a huge undertaking. [It was] a huge challenge for me that definitely had some sleepless nights involved because Daemon is inherently someone who only thinks about himself. He is not someone who learns lessons easily. So we needed this to be powerful, and yet there are no words in it until the very, very end. 

I sat down with the storyboard artist, took everything they told me, and started filling in the blanks of what I thought we needed to get to what they were saying, finding transitions visually between them to give it an organic feel. Ryan wanted the tone of this scene to feel like something specific to HOTD and unlike anything you’ve seen in fantasy television before, or even in Game Of Thrones. So I spent some time looking to give it that treatment. I was quite honored. That was one of my favorite moments in my career as a TV director, to give this my voice and put it together with the storyboard artists. Once we came up with it, I presented it to them. I’ll never forget that day.

AVC: What was it like to put Matt Smith and Phia Saban in a scene? We rarely see Daemon and Heleana together.

GP: It was fun to put them together, and I think they both enjoyed it too. It’s magical because Matt had been playing in this different dimension in season two.  For Daemon, it’s exciting to find someone who shares his powers. Phia has always played this person who is lost in her universe, and now there’s someone else in it. So it’s random, but it also makes sense. 

AVC: One of the new faces you introduce is Admiral Sharako Lohar, played by Abigail Thorn, who was originally a male character in the book. Her scenes with Tyland Lannister bring a degree of comic relief. Was it refreshing to have this aspect in the finale?

GP: What’s great about Sara is she also has a comedy background, and it comes across in her effervescent writing. As a director, I’m trying to take her writing and make sure that everything I’m doing with it works together along with lighting, blocking, and tone. The second film I made, Meet The Patels starring my brother Ravi, is about my family, and it’s a comedy. What I learned while working with him was that a lot of comedy came from improvisation, feeling very comfortable, and having the space to play. As I started directing TV comedies, I would constantly work with the actors in that way and try to support them and give them space to do many takes. I know sometimes people say, “Oh, this great director can get a scene in two takes.” That’s fine, but I do love pushing the actors to take advantage of their talents. So many actors might say, “I can’t improv,” and I look at them and reassure them and say, “I’ve got you; if it’s not good, I’ll throw it away.” 

So when it came to this finale, it was the same thing. I would say [to Abigail and Jefferson Hall], “Go ahead, let’s do this” and later move to, “Okay, now forget everything I said and do whatever you want.” It’s like an exercise in theater, and these are excellent performers. Matt Smith particularly also loves to play, as does Emma, and when they do, every take is different. As for Abigail, when the audition process started, I think Ryan knew she was the one. She was so great to work with. If you look at the Lohar scenes, you don’t know much about her background. Abigail and I wanted to make sure that her character felt very lived-in and had history. I wanted to give her all the tools she needed so that when she said something, it was coming from a deep, authentic place. We spent a few weeks on and off training, and she would improv moments of Lohar’s history. We had one of our esteemed dialect coaches play against her. We played out her childhood, who her mother, father, and sister might be, where her pain comes from, and everything leading up to this episode. It helped shape her voice, the way she moved, and her tonality.

AVC: The finale ends with a montage revealing where every character stands. It’s a big season-three setup. Were you nervous about pulling that off?

GP: With the final montage, my biggest fear was it would be boring because it’s so many images. I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t, as a director, treating everything similarly. We wanted the montage to have rising stakes for the impending war. When you have that many images, we need to keep up the pulse of the sequence. So the first thing I did was to ask myself if I could break it into three acts and what the shift point would be so it doesn’t all feel monotonous. The big thing I settled on was a sacrifice, which is Aegon. His placement had to come at the two-third mark. I had hoped it would give the montage its shape and sustain it. It also tells a story because, in the previous scene, Rhaenyra says to Alicent that she hasn’t sacrificed anything, and they decide it’s going to be a son for a son. The montage is to show everyone’s going to war, but Aegon has now left. So the stakes have changed. What’s going to happen now? It’s an interesting way to leave the season. 

AVC: This year also saw the release of Hulu’s Under The Bridge, which you directed and executive produced. What drew you to it? What was it like to bring personal experience along with your expertise to this undertaking? 

GP: Yeah, so I’ve been looking to do a pilot for a few years. There are exciting episodes like House Of The Dragon, of course, but I’ve been wanting to direct a pilot. When I read the script for Under The Bridge, about an Indian girl in Canada who was bullied and killed, I couldn’t stop crying. I was bullied around the same age of 14 for being Indian, and that still stays with me. It’s shaped me. I know UTB is a true story, and I felt so bad that it happened. At the time early on, the project was small and no big stars were attached to it yet. There wasn’t a lot of money for this project. While developing it, it was about what angle and perspective to take, and when that was done, I got the job of directing the pilot. 

The next thing was to make sure the performances felt real and that we were doing Reena Virk justice. I particularly had four young actors who hadn’t done much yet simply because of their ages; they were 12 to 15. None of them had done anything that resembled UTB’s tone, which was going to be very 8 Mile and Fish Tank. In a method similar to HOTD, I spent a few weeks and weekends workshopping the characters with the actors. We improvised their histories. It was very hard for the girls, and it was hard for me to watch. We also worked on their voices. Vritika Gupta, if you hear talk, it’s very sweet. When she’s playing Reena, her voice goes down. UTB was a labor of love. Again, I had a collaborative showrunner and studio. I said to them in the beginning that I can deliver a show that’s just like something you’ve seen before, or I can deliver what you want, but you’ve got to give me time to work with these talented actors. 

AVC: As someone who’s directed big-budget dramas, TV comedies, and gritty documentaries, how do you think playing in different genres has developed your skillset? What do you want to work on next? 

GP: I grew up going to India almost every year of my life, and I’ve constantly recognized a clash of cultures. So I’ve always wanted to work on topics of civil and social justice through my work, which is how I started in the documentary space. But then I realized quickly that doing it was preaching to the choir because a lot of liberals were watching the movies made by me, a liberal. So when I entered the entertainment industry, I planned to hone my skills and come back to doing those kinds of things and expanding my audience. I want to make a difference. So it’s been eight years that I’ve been trying to hone it. The three episodes of HOTD feel like the Olympics for me. It’s what I’ve wanted to do for years along with the comedies. 

Now it’s time for me to switch gears. I want to bring more South Asians to the screen. I am working specifically on stories like that, which have my voice, having now learned whatever I have. I have an entirely Gujarati language film I wrote because everything doesn’t have to be in English anymore. You can make shows and films from other backgrounds. I don’t mean a Hindi-language Bollywood film, but something even more different. I mean, we watched and loved Squid Games, right? So I’m going back to my roots to explore these topics of race and gender. I also want to make things that are classics that I could watch over and over again like When Harry Met Sally. 

[noonblight]

Champion Geeta, The Pokémon League, & The Hidden Story Of Pokémon Violet’s Turo - Another Analysis 

So this is just a small analysis to tide you over before my biggest two posts planned (Analysis of Arven and Turo as characters) drop, and while I am terribly sorry for the long title and the multiple parts, it’s warranted, I promise!

You see, while going through ScarVi, I noticed some very interesting background storytelling and symbolism that I thought would be interesting to bring up in a post in case others didn’t catch it. I also think it would be super cool if any future DLC expanded upon these concepts, because they tell us a fair bit about the League, Geeta, and Turo! Of course, a lot of this should be taken with a grain of salt as it is based on inference, but I still felt it was important/interesting enough to share. As usual, this post will contain giant spoilers for the plot under the read-more. 

I adore any feedback / opinions on what I post, and everyone’s comments on my last post were so sweet they made my day. So if you have any theories or things to point out that I may have missed, please do bring them up! I love reading them! :D

Without further rambling, here ya go.

The League and Champion Geeta know a lot more than what they say throughout the game, and it’s entirely possible that both the Academy and the Pokémon League were financing Professor Turo’s dangerous research in the Crater for a time, but then stopped.

We know already that the first successful foray into the Great Crater a few centuries ago was funded by the Uva Academy, as can be viewed in the picture below which can be found within the Violet Book.

However, who was financing Professor Turo’s Research? When exploring the Research Bases, we’re introduced to many journal entries written by Turo, all which shed some light on the main plot, but also help to hint at several things that have happened in the background.

First of all, we know that he was being funded by a corporation of some sort. We can also infer that this funding was given with the expectation of receiving the fruits of that research (we will revisit this and why it is important later).

So what corporation funded this exploration of the unknown? Well, you see, there’s a littering of symbolism across Paldea, and a lot of it revolves around two concepts: Treasure, and Travel. More accurately, how to find treasure through exploration. Maybe looking at some of that can help us.

Let’s start with the research stations themselves. Each one has a large logo branded upon it, fairly difficult to miss. This logo depicts the silhouette of the Great Crater, and the latitude and longitude lines of a map. This makes sense, as for centuries, the Crater has been a culturally significant mystery and the driving force behind many expeditions which had intentions of documenting it. That, and maps are often associated with treasure, something which the Crater was fabled to hold within it.

Now, where else have we seen other similar symbology linked to exploration?

The Paldea Pokémon league displays quite a bit of this symbolism, with the boat logos of the gyms potentially representing the journey, and the vessel that drives one forward through it. Each gym is a pace forward on the path of discovery.

However, it’s the compass I really want to focus on, considering that we see it throughout the entire game. From the loading screen icon, to the gloves and lapels of every League staff member, the symbols seen across the League building, to even the rooftop of the very building itself!

The meaning of a compass is simple enough, it shows the viewer where the cardinal directions are, and is used as a reference point for navigation. In relation to the gym challenges, this makes a lot of sense. If the gym is the boat on a journey, then the League is the direction one should go in. It’s a point to work towards.

But what if that wasn’t the only thing the League was pointing you in the direction of throughout the game?

You see, I initially thought that the League and Champion Geeta were quite boring and more of a backdrop for Nemona’s fun little antics until I started to notice things in the background. Quite literally.

When you fight Champion Geeta, throughout the entire fight, you can see the Crater looming behind her. The roof of the League building even has a gorgeous compass incorporated into it, sure, but did you know that the ENTIRE building is actually in the shape of a compass too?

But rather than pointing in the direction of true north like the rotom on your map does, what is that compass and the building pointing in the direction of? The Crater. This isn’t simply an error either. With the specific placement of the league building beside the crater, and the way it’s framed during Geeta’s fight, the League has a little too much association with the Crater symbolically by this point. We even know that the building is oriented correctly, because the Compass on Geeta’s glove lines up with the shape of the building perfectly.

Speaking of Geeta herself, she also happens to have a rather damning reference to the Crater baked into her design. Her signature Pokémon, Glimmora, the Pokémon whose design shares visual flare with her outfit, is a Pokémon who is found exclusively within Area Zero and Terra Raids. It is also the only ‘regular’ Pokémon to have a dex entry that explicitly links it to the Tera concept.

She’s even the one who gives your character the rare TM and recipe for the move Tera Blast, a move that is best utilised by Pokemon that have undergone Terastalisation in battle.

All this symbolism to do with travel conveniently lining up with the Crater, Geeta’s signature Pokémon being a Glimmora instead of the pseudo legendary of the region, what’s it mean? Surely these are too weak a link, you say. Well, I wouldn’t be presenting it if it was my only proof! Do you remember how you’re given your Tera orb when going through the game? Nemona states that these orbs are difficult to obtain and receive permission to use, and she very politely gets permission from Champion Geeta for you to use one. So the Tera orbs are a limited resource. It also just so happens that the League and the Academy were given these orbs by Turo, as told to the player by Miss Raifort in one of her history lessons. Seems awfully convenient, doesn’t it? 

It’s because of these details that I think we have a good reason to believe that the League is profiting off of the Tera technology developed by Turo. I believe that they even helped to fund it, for a time.

Geeta’s polite and professional Champion Of Champion’s personality also happens to be accented by a desire to set an example for others (such as Nemona) and to create a spectacle with the battles that take place throughout the gyms and the league challenge. She also has a habit of being very interested in taking time out of her busy days as Chairwoman just to scout talent to recruit it into the league. Everything she does is to further the League, even recruiting Penny for tech support for the League in postgame.

So it stands to show that she and the League would have a fair bit to gain from investing in the Tera technology, especially considering that she is currently stated to be the active Chairwoman of the League. And now here’s the part where I get to say that I think support was discontinued for Turo some time ago. 

You see, I think that in his obsessive downward spiral after Sada left, Turo became paranoid that others would discontinue their support of his project. And honestly, I also think that they did. Turo was stated to have been missing from public view for a while, even before the window of time we can assume his death occurred in, and the league probably had what they needed from the Tera Orbs, so they might have left Turo to research whatever he wanted. After all, the League never really talks about Turo, despite him being the most famous scientist in the region and the reason anyone’s Pokémon can use the Tera phenomenon in battle to begin with.  However, there’s another possibility. And that may be the possibility that the League doesn’t speak about Turo not because they were simply done with things, but instead for… other reasons.  You see something that bothered me quite a bit during the story was this interesting technicality about the AI Defence System and the Pokéball Lock Technology that Turo created.

Why would Turo need this? Think about it for a moment. If the Paradox Pokémon were the real danger, the very thing that ended up taking Turo’s life in the end, why was the security system built entirely around the concept of trainers other than himself?

Turo built this futuristic AI and the defence system it is connected to, and the Pokéball lock system. He built all of it to keep the Time Machine, his one shot at a perfect world, safe.

But why did he assume that he needed to keep it safe? We know already that the heavy iron gates and League rules bar most normal people from entering the Crater, and if that doesn’t deter them, there’s even biometric scanners that inspect any visitor who steps inside The Zero Gate. We also know thanks to a piece of dialog from Hassel that only a very small percentage of gym trainers even make it to over halfway through gyms in the region.

So then who was Turo afraid of? Easy!

The League.

If the league were these mysterious investors, all of this would make sense. If they had visited previously, they could get past the gate or the biometric scanners. They could use force to stop Turo if they felt he was finally going too far. It would have given Turo enough of a reason to be afraid they would come bashing down the doors with Tera Pokemon, maybe even with his ex wife who might be able to figure out how to put a stop to his research. 

No wonder why his answer was to build a battle system that could defeat champions and, if all else failed, could take the opposition’s Pokemon away entirely. Ironically, this paranoia for a defence system had Turo so afraid of other trainers, that he stopped being cautious around the paradox Pokemon, and ultimately lost his life because of it.

Without bleeding over too much into my post that I’m making about the psychology of the Professor, and without making this post too long, I think I’ll wrap-up by saying this. We know that the Professor’s experiments were starting to get dangerous, so dangerous that they were beginning to make even corporate backers fret and even eventually driving away Arven’s other parent.

The Professor was an impulsive, obsessive individual, to the point where they did not care for the ecology of the Paldea region, they only cared about the means to an end. Keeping the time machine running. Even after corporate backers jumped ship due to the risk, the Professor continued. If the Pokémon League found out, they would surely intervene, and the Professor knew that.

So they made the Garden Defence System not for the safety of anyone who worked there, or for the protection of the local ecology, but to protect the Time Machine itself. And in order to protect the Time Machine from every possible threat that could face it, the Professor had to build a system that could even defeat the Champions.

So that’s where things stand. Can’t wait to dive into why Turo is such an obsessive prick and how he expresses that in my next post, because there is a LOT of juicy hints around the game >:)

[vera800]

What if Pokémon Champions had more flair

Blue/Green/Gary/Assfart: Humiliate them, Blastoise!

Trace: Let’s go Jolteon!

Red: …

Lance: Dragonite! Sic ‘em!

Steven: Metagross! Make them crumble!

Wallace: Milotic, darling, dazzle them!

Cynthia: Garchomp! End them! Make this one for the history books!

Alder: Volcarona, let’s end this with flare!

Iris: This isn’t over yet! Haxorus, give it all you got!

Diantha: Gardevoir, sweetie! Shine with the light that comes from the power of Mega Evolution!

Leon: Woo! You may actually do it! But I’m not done yet! Charizard! Gigantamax!

Mustard: Hohoho! You certainly are talented! Let’s see how you handle this! Urshifu, strike them down!

Peony: Ha! You’re pretty good, kid! Copperajah! Stomp them into the mud!

Nemona: Oh! I haven’t felt this excited in years! Let’s see our power in full fruition! Meowscarada, shine a bright path to the future!

Geeta: You’ve almost passed, but don’t get too cocky! Glimora, shine bright!

[books-are-my-life-stuff]

Nearly a week ago, I finished my playthrough of Pokemon Violet, the base game. I needed a while to get into this because I was worried about all of the performance issues and bugs that I'd heard all over. Video games are expensive, especially in the place where I live, and I regret buying Shining Pearl, so I've been very careful about my video game purchases to avoid buying stuff I regret again.

Luckily, I don't regret buying and playing this game.

Since this is a review of a base game, this only covers the base game, and will include spoilers of the base game, so please approach with caution.

To get one thing out of the way immediately, my team members are Quaquaval, Clodsire, Ceruledge, Gholdengo, Gardevoir, and Luxray. The last two were used to be Fidough and Nacli specifically, but I'm not a fan of their final evolutions' designs. I was looking for a quick replacement and I ended up using non-Paldea Pokemon. Plus, my team was almost entirely physical before Gimmighoul evolved, so having Gardevoir is helpful, and my Luxray happens to have a good IV in Sp. Atk to mitigate her minimum moveset.

For the record, my team has a generally good to neutral nature. Quaquaval has -Defense +Special Defense, Ceruledge has +Atk -Defense, Gholdengo has +Sp. Atk -Sp. Def nature... I don't remember the rest. I do remember Luxray has -Speed nature which is not ideal, but it's not too debilitating otherwise (and it can be changed anytime anyway). I'm never a person who cares a lot about natures and IVs unless it's REALLY disadvantageous (looking at you, Garchomp with -Atk and 0 IV on Atk in Shining Pearl that I got after looking for almost 2 hours) and my team helped me very well throughout the travels, so I'm satisfied with what I have. Also, my Ceruledge, Clodsire, and Luxray are female, while Quaquaval and Gardevoir are male.

My order of completion is as follows: Kwalf > Mela > Brassius > Katy > Iono > Orthworm > Bombirdier > Giacomo > Atticus > Iron Treads > Larry > Kofu > Dodonzo & Tatsugiri > Arven > Tulip > Eri > Ortega > Clavell & Penny > Ryme > Grusha > Elite Four > Geeta > Nemona. Yes, I had a really rough time in the beginning and against Arven as well as Tulip due to my order of tackling things. But afterwards it's all smooth-sailing. I still had a hard time against Rika, but that's mostly because most of my team members were weak to ground.

Okay, now that's out of the way, time to talk about the story and the characters...

I was generally very happy about the simple yet profound story of Pokemon Violet when I finished the three storylines: Path of Legends, Starfall Street, and Victory Road. It has the core theme of looking for each individual's treasure, and that one's treasure may be different from others, as repeated a few times, especially in Penny's story. Arven's story of his determination to save Mabosstiff was also similarly very moving. Nemona's immense happiness and cheerfulness to finally find a rival she could compete in an equal term also makes me smile happily as well.

Then the postgame story: The Way Home, hit like a wrecking ball. It really went in a direction that I never expected before.

Oh wow, what a story. I like how it tied to the original theme of "finding one's treasure", and pretty consistent with a lot of Pokevillains so far, "obsession". In Turo's case, his obsession with his treasure. I like how it put a closure to the loose ends in Arven's story, and how it's not an entirely happy end either. In the end, no matter what we did, the Professor was gone, and the AI sent itself off to the future, leaving Arven alone again. The ending sequence of Nemona cheering everyone up and reassures that Arven is not alone anymore. I love Nemona's cheery and optimistic personality, while may appear unfitting during the Area Zero's sequence, she's the one that lifts up everyone's spirit in the end. Besides, if everyone had been feeling down during the trek to the bottom, the situation would've felt a lot worse. So, the ending for Arven and the whole The Way Home storyline felt bittersweet in a way, and I like that.

Yes, I like Nemona the most, but mostly because of her cheerfulness and her outgoing personality, I always have a soft spot for characters like her. I also like Arven and Penny a lot too--I cried a lot during their story, especially in Arven's, be it in the main story or in the post-game. I was right when I thought I would like Nemona when I first saw the trailer, and even read her story in Masters. My favorite Gym Leaders are Tulip, Kofu, and Grusha. And much like everyone else, I like Rika, and everyone in Elite Four, as well as the calm, elegant, yet also strict Top Champion Geeta. I hope Tulip will be added to Masters soon. As for the teachers, I only do the story quests for Salvatore, Raivort, and Miriam--but I like all of them. Opinions might change when I get around to doing other classes. For Team Star bosses, I like Atticus, Eri, and Giacomo. Tatsugiri is hands-down my favorite Titan Pokemon, and probably one of my favorite Paldean Pokemon as well. I'm glad I played Violet because I checked the Scarlet's dex entry and it spoiled how it let itself be eaten by Dodonzo to take control. In Violet the dex entry only said it was cunning and smart, so the whole False Dragon Titan plot caught me by surprise and I didn't get spoiled at all from capturing the nearby Tatsugiri. I love that adorable evil sushi.

Regarding Turo, what we know about him is mostly from the AI, which might as well be a separate character from the professor at this point considering the AI disagrees with the original professor's idea to make Pokemon at present and from the future live together--because it's impossible. So I can't say anything about him as a person considering we know next to nothing. He... probably reverted to his original personality when the dialogue box showed "Professor Turo?", but the game itself was unsure so I couldn't say either. As the AI? I like him, from what little we know, he at least means well. The battle against the AI and the Paradise Protection Protocol were amazing too, and very difficult. The stakes were high, the emotional burden was heavy, and it didn't feel like a battle from an official Pokemon game with all of the freaky glitches, but made sense considering the context of the story and the characters involved. If I didn't have Gholdengo, I would have had a much harder time, so I'm glad I decided to have Gholdengo on my team.

For the music, I like the Tera Raid battle, and all the Area Zero music, though knowing who composes them it's no surprise. He always makes great music. I also like the completely open-world progression, and how I don't feel restricted to making any progress in whatever way I want. It was so fun to encounter monsters and trainers with levels way above me, especially when I was on the way to reach Alfornada to look for Sinistea, and how I fought Mela first after fighting Kwalf.

That being said, it doesn't mean the game doesn't have things I don't like.

I know Pokemon Violet is riddled with performance issues, bugs, glitches, and all that, but I heard most of them are fixed already so I went to play in hopes I don't find any besides graphical glitches and bugs that my friends have warned me about. Turns out, I got the glitch of my picnic table was invisible. Whenever I started my picnic, my table and tools always didn't appear even though I had one. I thought I would need to do a couple of gym battles and/or buy more ingredients + tools somewhere first, but no. Halfway through the game, I realized that it was a glitch. And I had to reset the game every time it happened, which was like every time. It's so annoying because if the sprites of my picnic tools don't appear, I can barely make a sandwich because the ingredients just fell to the ground and it's a mess. Other than that, there are a few areas where the game lags a lot, like how Miraidon and my sprite disappear sometimes, how places that seem walkable are actually not, and not being able to go into NPC houses despite being able to do so in past games that have big cities too, shops being just a pattern with gradient colors and restrictive dialogue with the cashiers... yeah, those are the ones that particularly bother me a lot.

Other things that I don't like but more in subjective terms are the lack of customization and hairstyles, which is because of the school setting, but still don't like it. I also tend to like Paldea Pokemon's pre-evolutions, but not a fan of their final evolutions' designs. There are some exceptions of course, but that was the reason why I decided not to use Fidough and Nacli. I may use a different team (and hopefully an entirely Paldean team now that I'm kind of familiar with the Dex), but yeah. In terms of game mechanics, I still prefer Dynamax system more, because it boosts all moves that the Pokemon has and not just the specific Tera type, and it also boosts the HP and defenses of the Pokemon. Sandwich is a pretty good mechanic when I go looking for rare spawns of Pokemon, or when I want to capture specific Pokemon, I just wish it could increase friendship as well. Personally, I like making sandwiches when it's not being buggy.

Right now I just finished doing the Gym Leader Rematches, Team Star Rematches, capturing the Treasures of Ruins, and one match at the Academy Tournament. Not sure what else I'll do until I get around to playing the DLC. Fortunately there's still a lot of area that I haven't explored (particularly in Glaseado Mountain and the Northern area of Paldea) so I'll explore around while doing some raids, sometimes will pay some visits to Team Star and do some tournaments.

So... I guess that's it I wanted to say about the game? Just ask me if you want to know what I think about something specific other than what I've mentioned. In conclusion, I like it a lot. I'm glad I decided to play it after my friend convinced me that it's really worth playing for it. I don't regret buying and playing this game. Hope the DLC is gonna be great too, I'm excited whenever I get to play it.

[ilikesaladforks]

i just saw on yt, pokémon masters’ story between Grusha and Malva and now I got an image of Rika going into protective girlfriend mode and possibly decking her across the face.

i think rika would fume because malva stepped on the exact thing that rika herself had been so careful all along to tiptoe around that grusha was clearly sore about

ok ok so assuming the anime didn't exist at this so we only had scarvio and mastersex lore to go off of:

we don't know exactly when grusha went pro, how long he'd spent on snowboarding (presumably he spent a long time on it), when he oopsy daisied his way into retirement, how long of a break he took between the injury and his subsequent parlay into battling or how long he'd been a gym leader by the time of the story, except for the fact that he's definitely an adult by the story's events/by the time he started being a gym leader

as geeta's assistant rika most probably has high enough clearance with regards to who geeta intended to scout for the gym challenge and who is applying for jobs and whatnot. even if she's not the hr person, she at least keeps tabs on goings ons at bare minimum. probably.

i like to think that rika was careful about the way she approached grusha. light prods here and there, but never touching on anything too personal, but they both know that she knew enough about his past and why he's here and a lot of it goes unsaid. she keeps a respectful distance because she could tell that he still hasn't fully come to terms with his new path. he wants to snowboard, but he no longer can. he's a gym leader as a means to an end. he wanted to get strong so that geeta doesn't have a reason to kick him out

and then some pesky little kid wiped the floor with him twice and he was fuming and got his act together. instead of thinking about whether geeta will make him jobless for not beating a kid, he's sore because he wanted to win just for himself. now he's motivated to get better because there's a goalpost up ahead that he wants to reach for himself. i think it's also interesting to think about how this was probably the same flame that he had burning as a snowboarder - he was 2nd best in the world, he was so high, but he wasn't high enough, he had a goal to reach and he was young and full of himself and rash and oops there goes his leggy

so even as he decides to make the most out of his new career that he is gonna dedicate himself to, there's still an inkling of yearning for the slopes on the inside that continues to burn - and this rando from god knows where saw it and call him out on it. is he here because he didn't want to? what exactly does he really want now? even in blueberry, he finally got on a snowboard again and did hit the slopes for the first time in almost forever since his incident. it never completely died out, and that's why it was a smouldering flame. grusha has tried to extinguish it by changing career paths, retiring from the sport and swearing (until blueberry) to never snowboard again. it's quite a hard turn and a determined one at that for him, yet he couldn't help himself when he saw the cetoddles having fun in the polar biome. he loves it and he still does!

rika probably can see that too, but chooses to respect his decision not to reawaken that passion. yet this woman from kalos who barely knew any of them just walks right up to him and says it to his face!!!! after she'd spent years shutting herself up to not rip open any raw wounds!!!!! rika's not just furious, she's salty and jealous!!!!

and after the encounter she's sulking for way longer than usual

but also this got me thinking about that story and about grusha's attitude towards uh. things. because it's just so interesting!!!!

now that we found out from the anime that grusha actually is still able to snowboard but chose not to post injury, there must be more than 1 person like the snowboard dude who thinks it's a shame that grusha no longer boards the snow. with a fixation on results, i think grusha has a view that he cannot do something if he cannot perform it to the highest possible level. so like snowboarding, post injury he retired because he could no longer board like he used to. whatever the doctor told him, whether he will never board the same like he used to, whether he will be back as fit as ever with some rehab, whatever it was, it wasn't enough to convince grusha to pick it up again. he went on to battle and was able to get good at it, so maybe that's why it became a viable career path in his eyes. i'm not even trying to paint grusha as some egotistical maniac who only wants to be the very best that no one ever was, but it seems to me that he puts a lot of value in the ability to perform, so much so that if he ever loses that potential and is unable to perform to the same standard he held himself to, he feels that he has to give it up even though he loves it

perhaps when malva said that she could see his smouldering flame for snowboarding, she was echoing the opinions of the masses (i don't even know this character so i won't say whether it fits her or not, this is just my thoughts on what her actions mean) who lament the fact that grusha, in his prime, retired after an injury. now i'm not gonna be the judge of how traumatising or debilitating an injury is to an athlete. i'm just a crazy fandom person who writes crazy fanfics from time to time and i absolutely am not sporty myself. but what malva was seeing is grusha struggling with the decision he consciously made (with his rational mind i guess?) to retire from the sport he enjoyed because he could no longer perform as well as he could. what was the point if he was no longer able to reach the peaks he was once able to?

with his conversation with malva, grusha was forced to confront this flame that he could never douse entirely and face the question of what he truly wanted to do moving forward. there isn't a right answer for her, what she sought was an answer from him. grusha in mastersex (essentially post scarvio, maybe pre dlc) is determined to dedicate himself to battling, but that encounter with the scarvio protagonist isn't about to undo months or even years of internal turmoil about his career change that he still has yet to come to a conclusion about. in sum, his cool mind tells him that it's cringe to pick up snowboarding again if he's not gonna be that good at it, but his uncool mind still exists no matter how cool he tries to be. to malva, he is only being a gym leader as a 2nd best option in life and he still has enough lingering feelings for snowboarding that he ended up giving in to in blueberry.

because of her prodding, he was able to finally settle on an answer for himself. and with the anime in context the fact that he went on about the uncertainties of the new path he's taking

"It might lead me to a bright future or a steep fall... I don't know."

"I'll still make it all the way to the end, no matter what twists and turns the snow-capped mountains throw at me."

"I'll ride this course of life with everyone—including my Pokémon."

does he seek certainty in life and that's why he was always so strict about producing results and why he gave up on snowboarding? by getting so good at snowboarding/battling, there was/is a certainty or stability that he could feel. but when he lost that certainty with snowboarding it became too much for him to handle and that's why he felt the need to switch careers?

idk tbh

i remember reading this story some time back maybe a few months ago and thinking that malva was literally just a mastersex npc lololololol and i certainly did feel the same kind of indignance and anger towards her words since it felt like she was trying to taunt him, but now that i'm reading it again especially with the anime knowledge that he's still able to snowboard i just can't help but think about how the mind of the wild grusha works. i hope this ramble made sense!

[celestialholz]

The Celestialholz meta masterpost.

Hassius/Ephemeralartshipping

TM20 is gay.

TM20 is seriously gay actually...

Flapple? Even more gay than you thought.

The path to Artazon is suspiciously adorable...

There's 34 Surrendering Sunflora in Artazon. They're all gay.

The Harvest isn't any less gay, in case you were wondering...

Art class, in the art room. Because the art room's gay.

Hassius and the number two

Sun and moon men in a game not called Sun and Moon

Why is there a goddamn heart shape on the Sunflora Lawn, just why Game Freak

THAT ANIME EP THOUGH HUH

No hold up, Surrendering Sunflora wasn't quite gay enough

Hands up boys, we're in your walls

Motherfuckin' DIPPLIN.

Core-wyrms and fore-wyrms because why not am I right

So they have fields of apples now...

Shiny Dipplin is Hassel. I'm so done.

The saga of Hydrapple.

The bravest little Sunflora.

General Paldea

Larry's secretly a showman, the funky little businessman

Larry is a fucking gift to us all, and here's what's beneath the giftwrap

A small case of vanillacupcakes symbolism

The Treasures of Ruin are an AU Elite Four

Geeta's not evil, but if she ever heel-turns, here's why

Qcard

The heart, the brain and the saviour, or why Q is the sun

The doorway to meaning

What the fucking hell is this outfit are you kidding me Paramount

Ineffable Husbands

An alternative coffee theory, featuring the official colour of the universe

We need narrative balance, so Aziraphale's going to resurrect Crowley

Baldur's Gate 3

Let's have a chat about Durgetash and weapons.

The MCU

Deadpool and that one Star Trek scene

[indepthpokemonheadcanons]

Grusha Headcanons

Grusha avoids social and networking events as far as possible. Even though his role as Gym Leader demands a certain degree of public engagement, he finds it exceedingly difficult to sustain conversations, and often comes across as aloof and rude without meaning to. Rather than risk saying something tactless, he engages as little as possible.

He joined the League a few months before Ryme did, but he has taken much longer to settle into his role. Despite being relatively new to the professional battle scene, critics rank him as one of the strongest Gym Leaders in Paldea, with the makings to become an Elite in future. Geeta has dropped similar hints during his annual performance reviews. But the praise does not always register; he doubts his ability and dwells on defeats, which often leads to him avoiding more challenging opponents. 

Grusha did not have great interest in pokémon battles when he was younger. Neither of his parents were trainers, but they pressed him to try an array of sports and other pursuits throughout childhood, both battling and coordinating among them. Of the countless activities he dabbled in, snowboarding was the only one that truly seized his interest, but now that this path has closed to him, he has fallen back on alternative pursuits. Competitive battle still does not wholly engage him - but it is, at the very least, something he can feel good at. 

His battle style is notable for how he manipulates visibility during matches. His signature technique utilises tailwinds combined with hailstorms and haze, which makes it exceedingly difficult for opposing trainers and their pokémon to see what is happening on the battlefield. His own team, all trained to rely on senses other than sight, are well adapted to fighting in such conditions. The technique is highly effective, but League officials have gently (but firmly) discouraged him from using it in more public matches, because low visibility hurts spectator enjoyment. 

When he was younger, Grusha kept his hair short. It was only during the long, listless year after his injury that he grew it out, largely because he couldn’t summon the energy to book a haircut. He has since decided that he prefers it that way. Occasionally, he experiments with his appearance in other ways, such as with nail polish and makeup, but he is intensely private about it, especially now he is back in the public eye. 

He does not tend to keep his pokémon in pokéballs unless he has to, as they are adjusted to roaming alone on Glaseado mountain. His weavile is especially reluctant to be contained. While Grusha has good control of his team on the battlefield, he is lax in domestic settings - he lets his pokémon sleep where they please, and even feeds them food from his own plate. 

Grusha did some occasional modelling as a child, largely due to his mother’s insistence and fashion connections. He has taken on similar work as an adult, but he feels more self-conscious in front of a camera than he used to, uncertain of how to stand and hold himself. 

Due to how recently he entered his role, he is not especially close to anyone in the League. At the few social functions he attends, Rika is one of the few to always strike up a conversation with him, but he assumes she is only being polite. Her blatant attempts to flirt are also taken as politeness.   

Before his altaria evolved, she liked to settle in his hair and sleep on his head. She still attempts to do it now, even though she is rather too heavy for it.

[furretd0ll]

Low key wanted to write a horror/grimdark fic about an alternate route the area zero crew take on the search for terapagos.

tw: blood mention

Ms. Briar notices a man-made tunnel in the lower depths of area zero, thinking it could be a a hidden path to Terapagos, Briar decides to check out it out, but tells Carmine, Kieran, Juliana, and Florian to stay behind for a second so she can make sure it's clear.

Juliana, listening to her gut, tries to tell Briar that it's obviously dangerous and the ominous entrance alone is giving her a bad feeling.

Her teacher tries to reassure her, and the rest of the group she was only going to in there for a moment just to make sure it was safe to enter, she doesn't want her students getting hurt after all!

Half an hour goes by, and she doesn't return.

Carmine starts getting anxious and says the group needs to go down there and find Ms. Briar. They go down and the tunnel is long, dark and narrow until they reach a clearing.

The group notices blood on the floor.

Did a Pokemon do this?....or something else?

Juliana says they need to leave ASAP. They'll come back to the surface, tell Geeta what happened, then she'll send a professional search and rescue team to find Briar.

Florian disagrees. They should continue to look for Ms. Briar. She could be in trouble, and by the time a rescue team comes she could be dead.

Carmine is at odds. Julianas plan sounds rational, but Florian could be right. They could save Ms. Briar and overpower whatever attacked her.

And Kieran....

Kieran despite seeing all the dangerous signs and even his own gut feeling pleading with him...he doesn't care. He still wants to find Terapagos so he can beat Juliana. He wants to continue searching the tunnels for Terapagos. (Granted, his mental state still isn't the best after his loss.)

Soooooo that's all I have for the beginning

Basically, the tdrl concept is that the group finds an undergound lab built by turo/sadas lab team. I like the idea of the Tera crystals slowly starting to turn people insane/unstable and I feel like there's more to what happened in area zero.

But what happened to Turo and Sadas associates? Did they all leave? Did they all crazy and murder each other?

Who knows...well one guy might know.

Also who turned all these paradox pokemon into mechanical nightmares lmao

Anyway uh yeah. Tell me what yall think and maybe I can write something for Halloween...