#hopefully we'll be more consistent in the future

[bellisima-writes]

July Fanfiction Round Up

I posted here about wanting to start publishing a monthly round up of what I've been reading. I'm in the middle of writing my own fanfic, so my reading has been dreadfully slow. But I still did get a few goodies in that I wanted to share:

Lesser known fiction (a shout out to some of the newer writers in our community!):

My Heart Was Always Yours by @addledmongoose - M 144K

This was a lovely "they never met" story that I thoroughly enjoyed. Aziraphale and Crowley are their usual selves but have no knowledge of the other on Earth. They are both individually tasked, by their respective sides, with stealing Raphael's trumpet from an auction in NY in order to kick off Armageddon. They form an arrangement to pretend to be a married couple in order to steal the trumpet, all the while believing the other to be human.

This work is original and engaging and the author's ability to describe action in such clear ways makes it so easy to lose yourself in the story. The shining star of this was the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale, which is relatively angst-free by post S2 fic standards. It was a breath of fresh air to see them simply falling for each other in the sweetest ways possible, without needing to hide or pretend.

If you want a plotty and fully flushed out "let's save the world" story without all the angst and weight of the Final 15, then this is the perfect choice.

Well known fiction (stuff most of you have read but I am still catching up on):

Trial & Error by @fellshish - E 15K

I know almost everyone on my side of this site has already read this, so I'll keep it brief. This post season 2 story of Crowley being put on trial for seducing Aziraphale was such a treat.

The author's consistent ability to capture the humor of the source material while also hitting all the right emotional notes is unparalleled, and I've unofficially deemed them "mic dropping closing line" champion of GO fic authors.

They've written so many other wonderful works, some I've read and some I'm saving for when I need a giggle, so if you haven't yet read any of their works, definitely check them out!

Classic fiction (reserved for older pre and post season 1 works only):

Strange Flesh and All That by FortinbrasFTW - E 7K

This fic, published in 2014 and set in the Book Omens (!!!!) universe, was something really special. It’s a beautifully written, E-rated first-time story that occurs during an evening in which Aziraphale and Crowley watch Shakespeare in Love in Crowley's flat.

It's beautifully written and really captures the awe and surprise of these two characters discovering their bodies and what they are capable of for the first time. These are the Book Omens versions of these characters, so the words "I love you" are never uttered, but the journey on which they travel towards discovering their passion for each other is dripping with it. It's a very sweet story and one I am so happy I stumbled upon. I definitely plan to check out more pre S1 works in the future.

Hopefully will have more than just three next month, but we'll see. Time is at a premium nowadays!

[jodiellie]

Week 1 Evaluation

It's been a week since I've started this journey, so let's reflect on how the first week has been!

First of all, let's have a refresher on what my GOALS for this 30 days initially is~

Fixing my sleep schedule

Incorporate more physical activities (doesn't have to be exercising, can be stretches or walks!)

Drawing more often for practice

Sleep:

I'd say sleep wise, I'm slowly getting better at it. Though, there are moments where I couldn't get myself to sleep and ended up getting worse. But in general, I think I've made good progress than before I started on this journey, so good job me! ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧

Physical activities:

I'm pretty proud of my progress for this! So far, I've managed to do something everyday for the past week to get my body moving! Whether it be actually following along exercising videos on Youtube or some stretching to ease some tension on muscles! Again, good job to myself uwu

Drawing:

Now this. I did NOT meet this goal at all during this entire week, which is a shame. I think I was focusing a lot on taking better care of my own body that the thought of taking care of my skill set kinda slipped my mind? Which, to be fair, is kind of expected since even trying to remind myself to do certain basic self care task is difficult in itself. So, it's okay, we'll just have to do better during the following week~

Extras:

Other extra stuff for my health that I think would I've done well is also finally taking my meds and vitamins. Though it's not consistent yet, I'm glad I finally was able to take them more than I was before. This goes for my water intake as well! Sometimes I would go on days without drinking any water at all, which is quite bad... But now that I'm trying to actively record down my days and what I've done to better my body, it serves as a reminder in itself to drink more water, so yayyy another great job done for me °ʚ(´꒳`)ɞ°

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Things I need to improve/add for the following week:

After a week into this journey, I think I'd like to adjust some of my goals and be a little more specific in what I want to achieve for hopefully the next week! This will help me be a little clearer with what I need to do and help myself feel good in the future >:)

Try to sleep 30 mins earlier than the last, but the latest time for me to go to bed would be 3am. I have been doing quite okay with only a few slips here and there on this. So hopefully by the end of the next week, I can somehow sleep around 12am instead.

Still moving my body every single day, but let's try to exercise 3 times this week for at least 30 minutes! It's been a long time since I've exercised that I forgot how good I always feel afterwards both physically and mentally. So yes, I'd like to challenge myself to actually do some exercise more often! ( *` • ω •´)ゝ

Since I have 0 progress on my drawing, I want to start slow and easy myself into it. Since it feels daunting (for some reason), let's try achieving at least 30 minutes per day for 3 days of art practice. Can be anything, like anatomy, color study, or even just my own personal art. As long as it reaches the goal I set, then it's good :>

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton during the press conference on media day, miami - may 2, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "Lewis, can I bring you in on this Adrian Newey news? He's a free agent this time next year. How much would you like to see him join you at Ferrari in 2025?" Lewis: "Very much." [long pause, laughs] Interviewer: "What do you think he would bring to Ferrari?" Lewis: "Well, I mean, Adrian's known for… He's got such a great history, track record, and he's obviously just done an amazing job through his career in engaging with teams and the knowledge that he has. I think he would be an amazing addition. I think they've already got a great team. They're already making huge progress and strides forwards. Their car's quicker this year. But yeah, it would be a privilege to work with him." Interviewer: "And on a personal level, how excited would you be to work with a man of his experience?" Lewis: "Very." [laughs] Interviewer: "Alright. Look, what about this weekend, Lewis? In China last time out it was a weekend of extremes for you. Do you think you're gonna find a little bit more consistency with the car this weekend?" Lewis: "Yes. The team have been working hard. We've got a small upgrade here this weekend, so excited to see developments coming through, and I think hopefully we'll have our car on a bit of a better working window. So no doubt it'll still be a challenge, but really excited to be here in the States. The weather's incredible. It's gonna be a challenge for temperatures and tire deg and all that sort of stuff, but yeah, we welcome it." Interviewer: "Alright." [time jump]

Journalist: "David Croft, Sky Sports F1. Lewis, let's come to you if we may. When you sat down with John Elkann and he said come and join Ferrari and persuaded you to come to Ferrari and said what would your wishlist be-if he did say what would your wishlist be-was Adrian Newey part of that? Did you ever think that there would be that possibility, and sitting here now, what do you think the chances are that you could partner with Adrian Newey in the future?" Lewis: "I mean, this is all private conversation stuff, so if I was to do a list of people that I'd love to work with, he would absolutely be at the top of it." Croft: "What are the chances, do you think?" Lewis: "I mean, I don't know. We'll see." Croft: [laughs] "That's a knowing smile." Interviewer: "Alright, thank you. Let's move on. Craig." Journalist: "Craig Slater, Sky Sports. Just picking up on that, Lewis, I mean, Adrian Newey's pretty much for all your career been in the opponent category for you. Could you sum up maybe how tough an opponent he's been, and even if he doesn't join another team, do you think him leaving Red Bull changes the competitive landscape?" Lewis: "Well, just from my perspective, when I joined McLaren I think it was an evolution of his car. I think I got there just after he left, so that car had evolved from a concept that he had worked on, so I felt privileged that I'd had the chance to touch something that he had worked on. Racing against a team that he's been so heavily a part of over the years has been, yeah, it's been a massive challenge, but I think we just always need to remember that there's a lot of people in the background and there is not one key person that… Or it's not one person. It's a whole team of people who do the job, so you can imagine of all the amazing experience that he brings to the team, the people that he works with will continue to do an amazing job and I don't anticipate Red Bull not continuing to build great cars, moving forwards. But any team would be fortunate to have the opportunity to work with him."

Journalist: "Yair Rodriguez from DAZN Spain. Question to Lewis: Watching your records that are amazing, I would love to know where you find your motivation. Where are you focused to?" Lewis: "Thank you. I think it's the idea that you can always improve. It's the idea that there's always something better, or there's better days up ahead. I genuinely really love working with people and having that human interaction, the collaboration. The emotional rollercoaster you go on with a group of people is quite extraordinary, and when you have the highs, you experience it all together. It's not just an individual sport. So it's those, and then I genuinely love what I do. I've loved it since I was a kid. It still remains a dream. I'm still very conscious of how fortunate I am to be here. There's only twenty of us that have a role here driving in this sport and it is a real privilege for us. And I'm conscious of how hard my family worked for it, so I'm trying to make sure I do them proud, always, and yeah…" [time jump] Journalist: "Tim Hauraney, TSN. Question for Lewis: Lewis, obviously you have your obligations with Mercedes, but off-track are you monitoring a lot what's going on with Ferrari and what they're doing, or are you in constant communication with the team?" Lewis: "I mean, I continue to have a good relationship with John and Fred, so we speak regularly, but no, I'm not actually in touch with the team, and of course I observe from afar, but the full focus is on how can we beat them right now, [laughs] how can we win, so that's where all my energy's going." Interviewer: "Thank you. Another one?" Journalist: "Hello. Margot Laffite from Canal Plus. Question for Lewis, but I would be delighted if other drivers want to answer, if we have enough time. Lewis, we're doing footage on how to deal with celebrity and I was wondering how it impacted your day-to-day life, your day-to-day activities. Recently, Kylian Mbappe said he was losing spontaneity in his life. Is that something you feel? Is that something that impacts you?" Lewis: "Mm… No, I'm pretty spontaneous. It's an interesting journey that you… It's definitely not all you thought it would be, and as a kid when you see people on TV and you're like oh it must be cool, this must happen and this must happen, having money, all these different things, but it's not all great and I think over time you just learn how to handle it. And I think ultimately at some stage you realize that it's not really about you. It's a platform to do good, and so if you just have the right intentions, you can actually have a real positive impact, and I think that's really what it's mostly for."

[musette22]

about other anon that wished chris and seb moments were more popular again, i kinda feel the opposite! even tho it would be nice to have more people in the fandom appreciating them since we’re a small group - it’s better this way. whatever you believe, if we say that both of them engaged in a relationship (past, present, or in the future) i’d prefer they get to keep it to themselves without simultaneous major attention on them. i think they prefer it that way too, seb brings up chris in unrelated conversations knowing it’ll get smiles. they clearly continue their friendship unbothered behind the scenes, close as ever. and whenever they do publicly interact now it blows up the internet! i like things the way they are. if things ever evolve to mattfleck level, that’ll be fun, because it’ll be their choice to be that open. but right now their consistent fond connection is perfect

You know what, I really like this take too! I definitely understand other nonnie's enthusiasm and their desire to make others see what we see because it's just brought us so much joy, and it's always nice to share that. But sadly, not everyone l knows how to do rpf shipping respectfully, and moreover, ultimately, it's nobody's business but theirs. They've always (with a few exceptions) been careful about sharing their private lives with their fans and the press, so it makes sense that this wouldn't be any different 🤷🏻‍♀️

So yeah, I definitely agree that it's better for them that they get to keep whatever it is they have - a close friendship or a soft spot or something else - to themselves, without too much scrutiny and public speculation. And meanwhile we, safe in the knowledge that they're still close even when we don't get to see them together often, can keep the shipping for ourselves, just as we've always done. And hopefully, we'll keep being rewarded with some crumbs here and there over time so that we can keep our love for their fond connection, as you so nicely put, alive and well too 🤞🏻❤️

[garden-of-omegas]

⚜ FIRST MEETING [SPYXFAMILY - ORGANIZATIONS] ⚜

┌── ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ ••✎•• ──────────

characters: sylvia sherwood | fiona frost | franky franklin summary: the details of your first meeting with your future mate. warnings: spies, war, injuries, references to dying rating: sfw a/n: brain decided to be weird about my writing again, so this got a bit delayed, but hopefully i can be a bit more consistent with these? though the ones i have coming up have a lot more characters so we'll see.

~🎕

└── ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ ••✎•• ──────────

≿━━━━༺❀ sylvia sherwood ❀༻━━━━≾

✿ you were a general of westalis, and a spy for the newly established WISE. being a rather high ranking one, people usually referred to you as "watcher", probably because people around you constantly felt like you were watching them. you weren't, but you let people believe what they wanted to.

✿ you were both in your early twenties, surprisingly. it hadn't been that long since you became a general and sylvia had recently joined the war efforts as a nurse.

✿ you'd arrived at a field hospital with the newest group of injured, hiding your own injury from the staff. it wasn't big enough for you to bother the nurses, especially as people around you were on the edge of dying. but sylvia, despite being a rather new nurse, noticed you favoring your left leg and immediately came over to treat you and scold you for hiding injuries in the middle of war. you couldn't get a word in with her strong voice.

✿ you and sylvia came across each other rather often after that, and every time she would check you over for injuries. you didn't actually ever hide any from her after that, her scoldings terrifying you more than the enemy. but due to this habit of hers, she essentially became your de facto nurse, to the amusement of all the other medical staff.

✿ sylvia thought you were fucking stupid. a brilliant soldier and tactician, she'd heard of you before, but so fucking idiotic all the same. it was like something was compelling her to take care of you, which wasn't very omega-like. not that she ever cared about such things. you're fairly certain it was love at first scolding. sylvia was so strong, and beautiful, and just... perfect. you'd never before felt so attracted to someone, not a single omega or alpha had ever held a candle to her. if you weren't in the middle of war, you'd have already tried courting her.

≿━━━━༺❀ fiona frost ❀༻━━━━≾

✿ you were a westalian informant for WISE, though on your average day you worked as a lawyer. you'd just recently been assigned your first full-time agent, so you didn't have an official codename yet, you and your agent had to come up with that.

✿ you were both rather young for your profession, though neither of you would ever actually reveal your ages. far too much personal information.

✿ you were sat at a cafe during it's busiest hours, still in your work suit. you'd set up a meeting with your new agent there, through her handler. the business would create the perfect reason for her to sit with you without suspicion. fiona did arrive, while you were reading your favorite book and almost missed her asking to sit with you. you gladly let her, cracking a joke about the busy day, which elicited absolutely no reaction from her. talk about awkward.

✿ the two of you had decided on the codename "slowburn" for the both of you, after the book you had been reading. and boy did you start hearing that name a lot. fiona really did make it her mission to run you ragged with work, and you made it your mission to try and make her laugh at your jokes. it hasn't worked thus far.

✿ fiona thought you were... fine. for your job anyways. personally though, she found you extremely irritating. your insistence on joking and messing around, it made what she thought would be a good partnership the bane of her existence. you found fiona to be fun. despite her never even smiling at your jokes, her witty replies were just so delightful. you were a bit worried about her lack of emotions, but you knew for certain that it wasn't all there was to her.

≿━━━━༺❀ franky franklin ❀༻━━━━≾

✿ you're a spy, plain and simple. you were most known for your seduction abilities, which is where your codename "heartbreaker" came from. though normally you were simply an accountant for various charities.

✿ you were in your late twenties, a bit older than franky. you'd been working as a spy since you were fifteen, though you'd been in training for far longer.

✿ very simply, you needed information while on your more-or-less permanent mission in ostania, and one of your co-workers recommended franky's services. so you ended up at his work place, the little cigarette stand he ran. and to say he was stunned upon your arrival would be an understatement. you almost couldn't get anything out of him with all the stuttering and stammering, but you could eventually decipher that he'd get back to you with what you wanted.

✿ franky became your go-to informant, and you'd even sometimes help him with his work. but it took an immensely long time for him to be able to actually talk to you normally, only once you convinced him to go on a casual outing with you did he start to get more comfortable with you.

✿ franky found you absolutely irresistible. the prettiest, handsomest... every adjective like that, alpha he'd ever met. it was very intimidating actually, he really didn't know what to do with himself. he was very adorable to you. it was admittedly kind of annoying having to try and figure out what he was saying half the time, but it was an endearing reaction regardless. it made you want to eat him up, if given the change.

[coconox]

my whb progress 2

as of apr 7, 2024

since whb's half anni has passed, i thought i'd do a progress check to reflect on how much has happened btwn now and this post

general info

lvl: 47

status: 🤨 mostly f2p

i say mostly cause i just recently broke the f2p status and bought bp for ppyong

i refuse to buy packs and in the future i'll prob be very selective over who i pick for bp (aka i wont buy every bp), so for the most part i'll just be having the f2p experience

when i started: launch (10/03 my timezone)

ver: erolabs

team setup

i finally have levi now lmao

sometimes i'll switch out one of the levis for attacker satan but this is what i use generally

everyone's lvls and artifacts

skill lvls (normal atk-ult-passive)

attacker mammon: 1-3-1

selfie mammon: 4-5-4

selfie satan: 4-4-1

selfie beel: 4-4-4

bloodshed levi: 3-3-1

selfie levi: 3-3-1

secret club

i only work on completing mammon's unholy board

stuck on needing attacker mammon's sig atm :'))

materials

too lazy to screenshot it all but im basically broke on pies, tears, pretzels (tbf i dont play the minigame whatsoever), red keys, yellow keys, and seals

everything else im either ok in supply or overflowing w it

overall thoughts / reflection

this section is for me to look back on in the future when i do progress posts. i'll break down this section into multiple parts similar to my prev post for consistency

STORY

honestly, its interesting in concept. since sadly only 1 chapter has released btwn now and my last post so thoughts havent really drastically changed

ch5 imo wasnt really a full on hades chapter. yes, it takes place in hades and yes we get some intro abt hades, but i think this was supposed to act more like a bridge to tartaros, which is prob why we didnt have any h scenes w any hades chars aside from levi. ofc we'll get back to it being hades-focused eventually, but the story for a while is most likely gonna pivot to tartaros bc of that big lore drop abt mammon at the end

i assume we'll prob be introduced to the cherubs in tartaros bc of selaphiel txting us near the end + it being mentioned at the end that theres a hub of angels in the lab, and hopefully part 2 of mammon's h scene. it was strange at first for mammon to only have 1 h scene, compared to satan or levi that had 2, but w him implying theres probably gonna be a part 2 in his h scene + we'll most likely see him again in ch6 (or however many chapters tartaros will be played out), we'll prob experience part 2 in his home country. tbh that prob just me inhaling MASSIVE hopium since mammon isnt rlly that popular but i can dream ok-

i hope us being in tartaros doesnt last for just 1 chapter. you cant condense the experiments tartaros went through to create a clone of mammon only for them to fail + bring up the fact that the seed is prob also in tartaros in just 1 chapter. well— technically you can, but not at the pace chapters are at atm. chapters have roughly 15 parts of story on the main branch, and imo that much info abt tartaros cant be condensed into 1 chapter unless if they make the story bits like WAY longer than what they normally do

GAMEPLAY

tl;dr as an endgame player, its too easy 💀

working on the spreadsheet ever since the games 1st month of release and now just recently testing multiple team comps, the "meta" is so monkos HSHFJDJ

this game is INSANELY dependent on you having more than 1 dps/tank light card. light is also just an unstoppable element and i wish the game was balanced a bit more to let other elements shine

enemies are now way too easy to defeat. ik i prob shouldnt be complaining abt this but pls im a pgr and neural cloud player at heart I NEED SOME CHALLENGE

ch3 and ch4 were prob the most tedious and awful chapters, but at least they actually made me think when it comes to battles. now i just place down chars and let it play in the bg while i go do smth else. ofc this may just be bc i have a team that im comfortable w using everywhere, but id like to see at least a bit more "challenge" outside of holy coin portal

also, for weekly achievements, lvling artifacts is not a great requirement

i only pull when theres a new s rank or when mammon is moved to standard, so its very, VERY rare compared to avg users. having the artifact req is essentially forcing me to pull during those gaps just so i could fulfill a weekly req which sucks. i also dont need to lvl anymore artifacts in general for my team comp. lvl 15 is the bare minimum i need to get through all content w ease, anything after that is just a small boost tbh

on the note of daily/weekly requirements, there needs to be more of them

i mean in a sense of theres still gonna be 9 daily achievements, but you get more options on HOW you get to the 9 daily achievement req. most gachas that ive played always have more options than necessary to fulfill the overall requirement to get all rewards, so having this strict number w strict reqs is rlly not that great tbh

RESOURCES

thoughts from last time still havent rlly changed. pies and candies especially are still rng dependent which sucks, and now there gonna revamp pancakes while also keeping the old pancakes ???? theres way too many currencies (w some even having very little to no use) atp which can and will get overwhelming for new players

GACHA

i hate solomon seals. you can tell that red keys were supposed to be the main gacha currency if you ever look at old packs, but smth happened along the way and now we have seals

pity is also way too high for what we're earning atm. based off of f2p earnings, every week we get roughly 1 pull of red keys, maybe 2 pulls of yellow keys (red and yellow keys are more dependent on the key boxes which again, dependent on rng), and 1 pull of solomon seals. this doesnt include the stuff earned outside of dailies/weeklies, and i think there should be more ways to earn said currency through dailies/weeklies and not be so dependent on either paying or pulling chars

speaking of pity, i wish we had pity for both of the standard banners

i also wish theyd separate char and artifacts into their own banners. that way, if someone has a char but needs their sig, they can just pull in the artifact-only banner and try to get said sig

tl;dr in general i wish everything wasnt so strict and rng dependent, also wish numbers made sense like why do we get at least 5 red keys a week when 1 pull is 3, JUST GIVE ME 6 KEYS ATP

so yeah thats all for now lmao. im pretty sure i have a lot more to say abt this game but my minds at a blank atm, so ig thatll be saved for the next progress post which will be around 1st anni

[gorogues]

Spoilers for Flash #7!

Things are getting weirder as reality continues collapsing, which has left Linda in a daze and Barry not acting like himself. I dearly hope that's why he swears at Hartley here, because profanity isn't usually his thing. But at least he's realized that something malevolently strange is happening, which is a first step to solving it and finding Wally (who is currently injured in The Gallery). And it's good to know that Hartley is still at TerrificTech and doing scientific work of his own, and has the trust of Mr Terrific. Maybe he'll end up combatting the mysterious piper who afflicts Linda and we saw last issue with Evan and the tentacled eyeball monstrosity.

The main plot of the issue is Max and Bart getting rescued from the Uncoiled by the Linear Men, and they speak to an agent of the group called Inspector Pilgrim who explains that reality is collapsing due to the activities of speedsters. His own ability to travel up and down his personal timeline has been hampered as of late because of this. It turns out that the Linear Men (who are essentially "timecops", as Pilgrim describes them) are putting the universe's speedsters into suspended animation to deal with this problem, and Bart and Max suffer the same fate.

My guess is that Inspector Pilgrim is Jai West -- as travelling along his own timeline would explain why he visited Jai a few issues ago -- but we'll have to see. The ability does sound a bit like Hunter's, although he couldn't travel backwards and was more about adjusting his speeds as he went forward. We know that Jai has been developing new powers that aren't exactly speed-related, so this seems consistent with that, and Pilgrim specifically mentions Gold Beetle and describes her as "kinda family". Jai and Gold Beetle will be in a relationship in the future, so this is also consistent. He also claims to be a big fan of Bart and Max, and if he is Jai it'd make imprisoning them particularly awkward for him.

It's a pretty good issue even despite the info-dumping, and I'm glad to see Hartley again. Hopefully Max and Bart won't be out of action for too long!

[violyane]

Hello Minasan I KNOW I said that I'll be more productive now BUT I had an internship to finish for my uni which took me a month and even though it wasn't very hard I was still too exhausted to do anything after work hours so sorry BUT now, with the last day of the internship remaining, I can turn all my attention to writing again. I decided to set a goal during this holiday and return to work on Master Plan again. I decided I would write every weekend, so hopefully there will be weekly chapter updates on that one. So I highly recommend rereading the first chapter (it's mostly an introduction so you didn't miss much). If you are more curious about what it will be about, I'll try to write down the most important aspects below :)

Kaga x Megami — this fanfiction is about Kagami. It's going to show the development of their relationship through the good and the bad. The story will mainly focus on Kaga; I want to show how his perception of Megami changes over time. There will also be secondary characters who are close to the two of them (student council, science club, club leaders, Midori, etc).

Pre-canon — the story starts before the main story of the game (which means it takes place before Ayano finds her Senpai). In the first chapters, Megami is in her first year and Kaga is in his second year. But the fanfiction will consist of the main story lore… just later :)

From loose chapters to something more intense — since we know almost nothing about the year before the main game story, I decided that the pre-canon chapters will be looser. They will look more like one-shots than a linear story, but their main focus will be to show Kaga's feelings towards Megami and how they change slightly from chapter to chapter. The story will get more intense, I promise ;)

Canon differences — this is actually the main reason why I postponed writing this fic, because I really don't want to mess with the storyline. But you know… If I have to wait an indefinite amount of time for Megami's Week to be released (who is the tenth rival, and we are still at the second one), it would never come to life. So I have to come up with my own ideas for her week. And as much as I don't want to, I have no choice. The pre-canon events will also affect the main story, but I think it would at least be justified, considering we'll be going through them with every chapter.

OOC — I didn't want Kaga and Megami to be out of character, but I think I screwed that up lmao. I think Master Plan will portray Kaga (and maybe Megami too??) as much more romantic than he should be, so I'm sorry about that, but I just can't help myself when it comes to fluff. Mostly I'm changing him from a gremlin and freak to a charming and manipulative gremlin and freak.

Unlikable? — The characters may be a bit unpleasant at first (especially Kaga), but this is necessary for their character development. Basically, I want to show how Kaga sees Megami from "a tool to help him take over Saikou Corp" to "a beautiful and stunning woman living under the shadow of responsibilities and a traumatic past". So in the first chapters, Kaga might seem like a total asshole (which I think is somehow canon??? idk). Saikou Corp / Saikou Family — One of the motifs of the story is Saikou's unhealthy family relationships. It's mostly used to justify why Megami acts so cold and distant. There won't be much about them in the beginning, but they will be important in the canon part of the fic. (I'm already thinking about a sequel that would focus more on Kagami and SaikouCorp/the Siakou family, but that's waayyyyyyy too far in the future, so I won't talk about it now teehee).

I think that's all I have to say. I hope nothing will interrupt my plans as always and I'll finally write the fanfiction that I had planned since 2016 (yes it's been in my mind for 8 years)

See you soon :)

[literarydemerit]

hey guys, Siobhan here. we didn't get episode 52 up on Saturday as you can see, so it's been delayed to the next. when we first started this podcast, we both worked part-time/inconsistent jobs but now we work full time (with me having a second job at home as my grandma's full-time caregiver). it's been increasingly difficult to get episodes up as much as we'd like, even biweekly, especially since in my profession I'm around children who get me sick a lot. this will hopefully improve with time since my immune system will get used to it, but for now we just feel bad about promising episodes at a rate we can't always guarantee. so for now, our official upload rate is going to be at least once per month BUT if we can, record two per month like before, we're going to. hopefully in the future we will be able to be more consistently biweekly, and we'll let you know if the situation changes. so for now, expect 1-2 episodes per month, or triweekly.

episode 52 will be up September 7 and will introduce Dark's secret sister, Night Yagami!

[legacieswcrp]

Would you mind explaining more about how character cool-downs will work, esp at the beginning of the rp? It sounds like an interesting system. 👀 Glad there won't be any hard limits bc I already have three different concepts rotating in my head like a rotisserie chicken.

Ah yes, the OC rotisserie, my old friend. ♡

"Cool-downs" may have been the less apt term to use in retrospect, but essentially you can create OR drop one character once between each monthly world update announcement. This is mostly to keep staff pressure light and provide ample time both for new characters to set up and for outgoing characters to get all of their loose ends accounted for, but also to encourage players to think carefully about which characters they bring and hopefully avoid falling into the "revolving-door" cycle of making and dropping characters that gets the better of a lot of WCRPers. Making new characters is fun and exciting, but with Legacies we want to keep the story and the world front and center with as consistent a cast as we can comfortably manage.

That said, we do have space on the server for AU drabbles, character/story drafting, ClanGen save sharing, and so on so you can still tap into that new character hype when you want to! Rapid character turnover isn't something we consider a bad thing, it's just not what Legacies' RP proper is built for.

Submitting a character into active play and removing an active character from the RP setting/roster are bound to monthly limits. Creating adopts for others to pick up is totally free rein, and adopts can be very simple to make if you want them to be - our only requirement for adopt listings is that all adoptables must be stated to be sufficiently closely related to an active approved character; close family (including mentors, apprentices, and found family) and friends are fine, but nespring, grandparents, cousins, etc are not adopt material at Legacies unless they have a clear close bond with an established character. This is so we keep plenty of room for creating family trees between players, and so we don't flood the RP roster with unplayed NPCs. Picking up an adoptable character to RP, however, is also limited to the monthly timeline, since that is functionally the same as submitting an OC. Normally, you can only do one of these three things one time each month, unless you specifically need to gut your roster for essential activity purposes (in that case, just ask staff; we'll usually be happy to help!)

For example, if you choose to drop an active character in June, you can't pick up a new adopt or drop a second character until July. You can ask adopt makers to hold their adopts for you, though, and while there aren't currently rules about this specifically, we are going to encourage that sort of patience and flexibility when it comes to adoptions specifically because the timeline for roster edits is so slow.

There are some exceptions to this timeline, though:

Newcomers to the server can make or claim two characters in their first month. This isn't just for server launch, but for all future openings.

New faction openings will give all current players the option to create one "freebie" character in or related to that faction without any impact on their roster timelines.

Certain RP events may introduce new adoptable characters or openings for plot-specific character roles; these also function as exceptions to the standard roster timeline, but require staff approval before starting. Some characters of this nature may be temporary to the RP setting and tied specifically to the plot that introduced them, while others may be or become long-term residents - ultimately these details are down to whoever is running the event.

Other players dropping plot-essential characters is a major point of staff concern at Legacies that we hope to address by giving players the option of creating substitute characters - not copies of the absent characters, but new faces filling similar relationship and story roles where they are needed to keep RP accessible to everyone - in the event of a drop, character death, or other major plot event that might otherwise render an associated character or storyline difficult or impossible for others to safely play. These special staff-assisted plot adopts will never be bound by roster timelines so that the players who post them may get back to the action as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Kit births do not qualify as extenuating events in the RP, and kit claims function as standard OC submissions and adoptions on the same timeline as other standard characters. This is because Legacies runs in-RP litters as player or staff-run adopts, with the actual kitting only happening once adoptions for the litter are closed.

That said, the roster timeline is not a hard 30-day wait - creating a character at the end of one month doesn't mean you'll have to wait until the end of the next month to make another, you can make your next submission or drop as soon as the next monthly RP update goes live (something we will endeavor to always keep within the first week of each month). We just ask that you don't add or drop multiple times in a single month, as both can be complicated affairs that require a lot of attention and writing work for involved and affected players.

[rocketbirdie]

im a chapter 11 lover in general because as much as i LOVE the tension in og return to nibelheim, a lot of the choices made in rebirth seem to be made with the assumption that people already know the twists, and i do think a lot of what they do instead with clouds false memories is quite good and i like the tifa character work in there. however i am deeply torn on the wutaian insurgents bit....i think it allows for a few REALLY REALLY good yuffie character moments but it feels a little bit out of nowhere and distracts from everything else thats already going on in nibelheim. in general holding my breath on a lot of the wutai stuff because it seems to me to be the largest potential stumbling block in the next game so i am like. we will see. but i love yuffie character development.....

Yeah I was thinking about that too! How obviously the writers know that WE know the big twists and things, and because of that they wanted to be flexible with the story. I totally respect that. And some of their ideas for Chapter 11 were great in concept. But the way they were implemented definitely borked the pacing at best, and destroyed the atmosphere at worst (here's lookin' at you, Cait Sith). Not that Rebirth's pacing is very consistent to begin with lol.

I was on the fence at first about Tifa's role in Chapter 11 but it's since grown on me. She's got SO much to be stressed out about. She's kind of scared shitless and doesn't want to make a wrong move. Her admitting to being a chronic people pleaser sheds a lot of light on both her past and future actions and dialogues.

The Wutai thing is definitely going to be a major plot point in part 3. So that begs the question... why didn't they just wait to introduce it until part 3? Maybe they're worried that people would forget about it in the meantime (which on its own makes me worry a bit)? I think what's causing frustration about it is that there's no payoff to it in Rebirth, and we'll be waiting at least a few more years before we can even properly speculate about it. I'm going to be cautiously optimistic. Hopefully when it does get here, it'll come with lots of juicy Yuffie characterization!!

[loveforlandonorris]

🎤 Lando at the Drivers' Press Conference before the Japanese GP:

Interviewer Questions

Interviewer: Lando, coming to you, can we start by getting your thoughts on a few more years working with Oscar?

Lando: (Smiles) Yeah, first, I mean, congrats to him. I think any contract that allows you to be longer in Formula 1, I think, is a great thing, so… he's performed, he's done everything he's needed to, and probably, I think, exceeded most people's expectations from what's he's been able to achieve already this season.

He's pushed me a lot, it's not a nice thing, (smiles). It's not what I want, but, yeah, he's done a very good job, so congrats to him for another few years. And yeah, we've had a fun first half of the season, and it's a lot of progress, and I think, for him to be part of that progress and to hopefully continue that into next year, '25 and '26 for himself is gonna be, yeah, something to look forward to.

Interviewer: You say he's pushing you a lot, when you look at the whole grid, how strong is McLaren's driver line-up now?

Lando: (Smiles) The strongest.

Interviewer: And how strong is your car? You had the upgrades in Singapore, do you think that will translate here?

Lando: Yes… it's tough to say, I don't know (smiles). I wanna believe so, I think everything did what it was meant to do, and I think we definitely took some steps forward. I don't think that we're confident in saying we're as quick as Red Bull, I think Red Bull will probably be dominant this weekend.

But I think comparing us to Ferrari or Mercedes, Mercedes have been just a lot more consistent than what we have. We've still fluctuated quite a bit; on a good weekend, we can be very, very good, and maybe a little bit ahead like we've seen in Silverstone and things like that.

But, on the whole, Mercedes have probably been the second best car this season, but then Ferrari, and then us so far. So we're getting there, but it's still a very different circuit to Singapore with these upgrades, so there's still things for us to find out and analyse from Suzuka.

Interviewer: You say Red Bull are gonna bounce back, how sure can you be of that?

Lando: (Smiles) Pretty much a guarantee.

Journalist Questions

Question 1: Lando, a question for you. You said that any contract that allows you to extend in Formula 1 is a good thing. I know you've got another 2 years to run on your contract, but are you already talking to McLaren about plans beyond 2025? Because obviously there’s a lot of noise around your possible future and that you might be quite an important person in the driver market moving forward?

Yeah, there are always things every now and then. I would love to, I've always said I want to win with McLaren, and I think we're getting closer and closer to achieving that. And not just to win races, but win championships, both Driver and Constructor. I want to do it with McLaren, I'm very happy there. So if I was to spend 10 or 15 years there, I'm not going to ever say no, I think that's something I would look forward to.

But I’m very much just concentrated on this year, next year and '25. I think that’s two and a half years to try and progress and we'll see then. But things [come up] every now and then, but nothing more than that.

Question 2 (to any driver): Alex, picking up on your point about the immersion of speed around Suzuka, it's such an incredible circuit. When you look at the F1 calendar and tracks like this, how much do weekends and circuits here really remind you of why you became an F1 driver and the thrill and rush you enjoy while racing, as opposed to maybe more sanitized circuits?

Lando: I think quite a bit. Like Yuki mentioned and Alex, I think when you go to Singapore, it's still amazing to drive it in a Formula 1 car and probably still quicker than any other car you can go around Singapore in, but you don't feel the same speeds like you do here. You don't get that same feeling of what an F1 car is really capable of, because where it performs better than anything is high-speed corners. So yeah, I think a lot of it is about that.

Also, the room for error is pretty small; there's a lot of consequences as soon as you go off pretty much anywhere. I know some places have changed, and there's a lot more Tarmac run-off, like in the Spoon corner and things like that. Maybe Turn 1 as well, but it's not changed much over the years, which I think is one of the best things about it.

It's not just Tarmac everywhere, they’ve still got grass, you've got that bit of risk, that element of risk, which I think is always genuine, it always feels very natural and definitely adds to, say, a Qualifying lap, with how much risk you want to take. Especially through Turns 7 and 8, you're always a bit afraid of running too wide, things like that, because you know if you put a wheel half a metre too wide, it’s game over, so it's exciting.

It definitely brings a few more nerves while putting a lap together and driving. But, yeah, probably one of the ones I look forward to the most every season. I think a lot of drivers do, They said it was their favourite ones and probably up there with one of my favourites too. So yeah, you experienced what a Formula 1 Car is capable of, and just the whole experience of driving here is always a lot of fun.

Question 3 (for all drivers): Were you surprised that Max got away with reprimands for impeding last week instead of grid penalties? Do you have any concerns about consistency? Because Pierre got quite excited about it. He says he's going to bring it up with the FIA.

Lando: I don't want to say too much because I'll just create controversy. I think the blocking one on track was the one that should have been a penalty; he blocked someone, it’s not just down to the team. I know the team got the fine at the end of the day, but it should be down to the driver as well to look in his mirrors and see if someone else is behind. You’ve got nothing else to do the whole lap but look in your mirrors, and it seems like a lot of people struggle to do that.

But I think, yeah, it should just be harsher penalties for blocking people, because so many people do it, it ruins your lap, it ruins your Qualifying. It put Yuki out in Qualifying, and he was P1 in Q1, probably would have been P1 in Q3 if he went all the way, just no one seems to care enough.

It’s happened a lot this season, it's happened to me quite a few times, especially with certain teams. But it's also up to the driver to look in the mirror, like you've got nothing else to do but hit the recharge button and look in your mirror and people seem to struggle to be able to do that in Formula 1, it's just a surprise. But yeah, I'll probably block someone this weekend and make myself look stupid.

🧡 It's lovely to hear Lando's thoughts going into the Japanese GP, and that he feels he and Oscar are the strongest driver pairing on the grid 🥰

And I'm proud of him for calling out the FIA's leniency towards drivers who block others, it's so unfair that so many drivers are getting away with ruining other drivers' laps. I hope this won't be an issue for him in Suzuka, and that he has an amazing race weekend. Let's go, Lando 🔥

[ohboyhowdybuckaroo]

Hey hey!

Just wanted to give everyone a little update.

So, I actually started going back to university/college! (Hooray!!) Due to this, however, my writing time has been cut because I have to write essays and do homework for my classes. (Boo!!)

Just to give story related updates:

Yes, I do plan on continuing Rays, Fangs, and Feathers. I love the little world Whery and I built and I will ride the wave of this hyperfixation until it ebbs. I have a couple of backlogged chapters that I plan on posting.

For now, I have been focusing on finishing up my other story for the gem AU, "Keep it Simple, Stupid." The first arc of the Gem AU is almost finished and will only have two more chapters. I've already finished one of the two chapters, but I want to post them within a couple of weeks to each other, so I want to finish the last chapter before posting either. (Gem AU fans rejoice for I come with a feast. One chapter is 17.7k words, and the other is at 5k words so far with more scenes to come.)

I started the gem AU story in a bout of hyperfixation and, while I love it dearly, expect any future installments of it to have shorter chapters. The only reason they're so long right now is because I didn't think it would become a multi-parter when I first wrote it until the end of the first chapter. Then, for consistency's sake, I made them all that long. I might separate the chapters out later into smaller bites later, but we'll see.

Once I finish this arc of the Gem AU, I will be taking a break from it to focus on Rays, Fangs, and Feathers as well as a couple of other ideas I have at the back of my mind. Hopefully, I can get that done in a timely fashion, but I'll be prioritizing classes for obvious reasons.

Sorry for the inactivity! But thanks for enjoying the little guys.

[techtow]

Unveiling the New Jersey Devils: A Quick Guide for Hockey Enthusiasts

Introduction:

If you're a hockey fan, you've likely heard about the New Jersey Devils. This professional ice hockey team has been making waves in the NHL, capturing the hearts of fans with their skillful plays and iconic devilish logo. In this article, we'll take a brief journey into the world of the New Jersey Devils, exploring their history, notable achievements, and what makes them a standout team in the hockey universe.

A Brief History:

Established in 1974, the New Jersey Devils have a rich history that dates back to their origins as the Kansas City Scouts. The team moved to Colorado and became the Rockies before settling in New Jersey in 1982. Since then, the Devils have become a force to be reckoned with in the NHL, consistently delivering thrilling performances on the ice.

Iconic Logo and Colors:

One of the most recognizable aspects of the New Jersey Devils is their striking logo featuring a devilish character. The logo, a red devil with a hockey stick, is a symbol of the team's fierce and competitive spirit. The team's colors, red, black, and white, further emphasize their bold and dynamic identity.

Key Achievements:

Over the years, the Devils have etched their name in NHL history with several notable achievements. They have won multiple division titles and conference championships, with their pinnacle being three Stanley Cup victories in 1995, 2000, and 2003. These triumphs solidify the Devils as a powerhouse in professional hockey.

Notable Players:

The Devils have been home to some of the greatest players in the NHL. Legends like Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, and Patrik Elias have donned the Devils' jersey, leaving an indelible mark on the team's legacy. The commitment and skill of these players have contributed significantly to the Devils' success over the years.

Fan Engagement:

What sets the New Jersey Devils apart is their strong connection with fans. The team actively engages with the community, hosting events, and supporting charitable initiatives. Devils' games at the Prudential Center in Newark are known for their vibrant atmosphere, where fans come together to cheer for their beloved team.

Looking Ahead:

As the New Jersey Devils continue to evolve, their future looks promising. With a blend of seasoned veterans and emerging talent, the team remains a contender in the NHL. Fans can expect more thrilling moments, intense rivalries, and, hopefully, additional championships in the seasons to come.

Conclusion:

In summary, the New Jersey Devils are more than just a hockey team; they are a symbol of determination, passion, and the indomitable spirit of New Jersey. Whether you're a die-hard fan or a casual observer, the Devils' exciting journey in the NHL is undoubtedly worth following. So, gear up, join the fanbase, and witness the magic of the New Jersey Devils unfold on the icy battleground of professional hockey.

[everythingsinred]

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Mikan (pt. 9)

Mikan's feelings are officially romantic now which will make this essay much more fun. Hopefully you will think so too. Today we'll chat about how her new crush clashes with Natsume's sudden coldness, as well as further discuss her difficulty confronting him.

I use the TokyoPop versions that I own for these essays. After the 15th volume I'll be left to my own devices, but for now, TokyoPop is what I turn to. If there's differences in translation or something, then I'm sorry. It happens from time to time but I promise I'm not just making stuff up. There might be inconsistencies between versions, that's all.

<- Prev Next ->

Chapter Twenty-Six

You might ask yourself "huh???" But, yes, we did just analyze 26 yesterday. But I was stupid back then. I left out a key detail and I have to talk about it or else I'll combust. It's not a huge thing on the surface, but it's important to me. I couldn't edit the post because by the time I'd realized my mistake, people had already read it! And I couldn't reblog with the new information because then it could be easily missed in the future. This is just the easiest way.

Who is "people," Mikan?

I have to talk about this, the specific way she says this. "Mikan, why is your face red?" And her explanation, even just internal, is "Well, he suddenly started being all serious and using people's actual name." An easily dismissed line, but it shouldn't be!

Obviously, she realizes that she's affected by the fact that he called her by her name. She knows that she's blushing and that it's because of him. But Mikan struggles a lot with actually admitting feelings for Natsume. This explanation is internal, which means she's just thinking it. Of course she'd never say to Anna or Nonoko out loud, "Oh, yeah, I'm blushing because of something Natsume said," But she also can't admit it to herself, either. She distances herself, instead saying, even in her own head, that he surprised her by "using people's actual name." It's not about her, specifically, it's about people.

But Mikan wouldn't be affected like this if he had said someone else's name. It's only because he said her name that she's blushing. She just can't actually admit it because if she did, then she'd have to ask herself why it matters that he said her name, and she doesn't want to do that.

Mikan's obliviousness about her feelings stem from multiple causes.

She has little to no romantic experience. She's never liked a boy before and she doesn't really understand why Natsume is different from her other friends.

Natsume is confusing. We will later see that Ruka, who is much more consistent and straight-forward is able to get his feelings across to Mikan with way more ease than Natsume. Natsume is wishy-washy, hot-and-cold, unpredictable and mysterious. It makes sense that Mikan wouldn't understand that many of his actions are motivated by romance because he does nothing to suggest it.

She doesn't want to think about it. I had mentioned previously that Higuchi Tachibana said once that Mikan was supposed to be a cheerful girl who forgot her issues quickly. Part of that is that she's easily distracted, another part is that she prefers to think positively about things. But she also sometimes simply refuses to think hard about confusing or unpleasant feelings.

Here, it's pretty clear that she doesn't want to think too hard about why Natsume made her blush. She's eager to forget about it. I think her feelings for him make her uncomfortable, so she distances herself from them. She can't come to understand how she feels if she refuses to contemplate the feelings in the first place. So she says that Natsume is using "people's name" to create a space between the event and her consequent feelings.

Well, she can try to ignore her feelings all she wants, but that won't stop them from growing.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

For the Natsume essay, I could immediately start talking about dramatic things like sacrifice and protection as soon as his feelings changed. This essay will be a little slower of a burn. Mikan may have feelings for him, but she’s not entirely aware of that and won’t be for a while, so pretty, fanciful language has little place here at the moment.

It’s time for exams! So Mikan has bigger fish to fry than whatever weird two-syllable names occasionally come from Natsume’s mouth (because she doesn't actually want to think about it anyway). Mikan is stupid and usually doesn’t do well on tests, but Yuu informs her that if she gets the best grade, there’s a chance she could qualify for the Best Student Award, the award Hotaru had previously been coveting. It’s still up for grabs and the exams are going to be the deciding factor.

Since getting his letter from Narumi, Mikan is jazzed over even the smallest chance she’ll see her Jii-chan again, so she throws herself into studying, even though it isn’t exactly fruitful. She struggles a lot with most of the concepts she’s reviewing, so she gets teased by her friends, and the chaos leads her to run into Natsume. He doesn’t say anything, but Mikan, insecure as always and used to him being a jerk, is sure he is judging her harshest of all. 

He didn't say that. He probably wasn't even thinking it. Mikan's just incredibly nervous and vulnerable around him, especially now.

Ruka tries to comfort her that Natsume wouldn’t be so cruel, ever the apologist, but she struggles to believe him. Mikan is still very affected by what Natsume said to her at the after-party. She’s more uncomfortable around him than ever because she still doesn’t understand what he was trying to say. He’s always been a conundrum, but he’s outdone himself this time. Additionally, the way he makes her feel is even more confusing, and she's insistent on not analyzing her feelings too closely. She doesn’t want to dwell on it, but she can’t look at him without thinking about it. She doesn’t linger on that topic forever, mainly because her bigger fish have yet to be fried. Maybe that's part of the reason (but the certainly not the only reason) that she focuses so much on studying: this way she doesn't have time to dwell on Natsume.

Because Mikan is determined. It doesn’t matter that her chances are low. It doesn’t matter that the odds are stacked against her. What matters is that she wants to try, so she does. Her incessant refusal to give up or slack off inspires the rest of the class, and by the time exams roll around, nearly everyone is in study mode. Even Natsume is helping some classmates out. Her tenacity is contagious. Class B gets slowly drawn closer together, especially because of Mikan’s insistence on the matter. In the anime, Mikan demonstrates selflessness by sacrificing her own study night to help Sumire out with the home ec exam. Though those moments are missing from the manga, there’s still an emphasis on the entire class getting along for once.

:) Height difference. :)

But ultimately Mikan doesn’t do well. In fact, she does terribly. She tries her hardest and she still fails. Hotaru jokes that the outcome had been obvious from the beginning, but what mattered was that she tried. I think it’s a lovely message to promote trying even in unlikely or difficult situations. Failing when you’ve put your all into something can’t really be a failure, because you still did all you could. Real failure is not even trying. Mikan might not have come even remotely close to qualifying for the Best Student Award, but she still succeeded in amping up her classmates, in connecting with them, in trying her hardest. Award or no, she still studied hard and learned things. That is enough for now. There’s always next year (*stifled screaming*).

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Who is Persona? Mikan isn’t familiar.

Turns out that not only did Mikan do more poorly than she’d like, she earned the lowest grade in class, even after all that studying. She’s feeling down on herself, and it doesn’t help that Natsume is randomly acting even meaner than usual for no good reason. Things are not going well for her.

Was she asking him if he wanted to play Othello with her? I'm gonna cry. It's a 2-player game ;-;

Then she meets Kaname, a charming and handsome middle schooler who is Tsubasa’s best friend and Mr. Bear’s creator. Mikan quickly gets attached to him because he is kind and she is starved for positive affection after being teased by Class B and treated coldly by Natsume. He reminds her of the ideal prince she and Hotaru put together--an image of the perfect boy who is beautiful, kind, delicate, and rich. Naturally, he should also be sickly, Hotaru adds. And that fits, because Kaname--in addition to being the perfect guy on paper--has the life-shortening alice.

I’m gonna ramble about something unimportant for a moment because in the panel where Mikan describes her and Hotaru’s “ideal prince,” Hotaru is the one drawing and listing out all his qualities while Mikan watches in awe. To be honest, I always kind of took that to be Hotaru’s high standard for an ideal man, an almost impossible standard for a normal person to meet. Mikan, who has never had a crush on a boy before and is entirely naive to romance and even the fantasy of it, simply sits and takes the information in. (After all, when Mikan does fall in love, the boy she loves has very little in common with the prince drawing.) Regardless of whether or not Mikan helped form the sketch Hotaru drew, though, that princely form is not based in reality. 

But... Hotaru's description also fits Ruka... I'm just saying.

Not even Kaname fits it as perfectly as Mikan imagines. 

In the anime, he might be close to perfect. The corresponding episode doesn’t imply that there’s much more to him beyond what Mikan sees at first glance: kind, sickly, handsome, popular. But the manga challenges this. He is all of those things, but he’s more than that too.

Mikan is not the only one to see Kaname as a perfect prince. He has a lot of fans, many of which have commissioned him for a stuffed animal at some point. He knows that he’s attractive and can use those assets to his advantage. His manipulation skills lead to Bear’s cabin being entirely modernized and remodeled by his devoted admirers. I guess my point here is that Kaname is just an example of how perfection can’t exist. He’s as close as it gets, and even he has facets to his personality that could be classified as flaws (like being manipulative, though I think people shouldn’t be punished for objectively funny character flaws).

This aspect of Kaname's personality is so underrated. He's so funny to me.

Tsubasa is a little different in the manga than in the corresponding anime episode as well. In the anime, he’s eaten up inside about Kaname’s alice shape. He struggles with Kaname’s insistence on using his alice, but reluctantly resigns himself to being helpless in the matter. Ultimately, it’s not his alice and not his call, and he can’t force Kaname to give up something that makes him happy. In the manga, Tsubasa is casual. He tells Mikan about Kaname’s alice shape and that he’s in and out of the hospital all the time. She worries about him, naturally, but the focus is more on Kaname than on Mikan’s struggling with the revelation about the fourth form or Tsubasa’s conflicted feelings watching his best friend die. 

She gets angry at first, but the truth is that she's hurt! Poor Mikan!

At some point, while she’s concerned about Kaname in class, she makes eye contact with Natsume, who quickly and dismissively looks away. Mikan is initially pissed, because she hates being ignored and she doesn’t understand what his problem is. But then her expression saddens. After the Reo incident, Mikan had been carrying hope that she could stay true to Narumi’s advice and make friends with unlikeable people. She was successful with Sumire, and she’s currently making progress with Bear, but Natsume is still untouchable, almost as if she did something to gravely offend him. She’s hurt, because she catches glimpses of him that she likes and for some reason he refuses to let her see more. It’s not just that he has walls, it’s that the walls have spikes specifically designed to poke her in a way they don’t poke anybody else. It feels personal, and now that she likes him, it hurts even more.

In any case, Mikan and Hotaru--sent on a mission to trap a rumored spirit--stumble upon Bear bringing Kaname anonymous flowers, only to get caught. Kaname tells him that he worries about him, because he doesn’t let people in and might actually be all on his own once Kaname is gone.

(And of all of Kaname’s creations, Bear is the most his. While the other toys seem to be created for commissions, Bear was created for Kaname. All the stuffed toys love him, but Bear is the only one who seems to fully understand him. He is the only one who would bring Kaname his favorite flowers, the only one who worries about him the way he does. And of all the toys, Bear is the one Kaname seems to have the strongest connection with. Not relevant, but something that still makes me cry because their relationship is more than I could ever cope with.)

He finishes off by apologizing to Bear that they won’t always be together.

And Mikan takes that personally. We know from the omake about Mikan’s childhood that she has always felt a yearning for what she never had, that the yearning was strongly connected with the stars and with her complicated feelings about ghosts. She wonders if her parents felt the same way: concerned about her because they were apart, sorry that they couldn’t be together. It’s bittersweet, because Mikan lost out on a love she should have always had. But she never felt unloved, abandoned, left behind. Mikan is sure that her parents loved her, that they wished they could’ve stayed with her. That connection we’ve discussed before is exactly what gives her that certainty. She could feel her father’s presence in the omake and feels connections to the mysterious people brought up from time to time in regards to her nullification (“that woman” and the other person with the nullification alice).

"When I think that [my parents want to hug me from heaven] and look at the starry sky, my heart feels almost like it could break." Yeah, mine too, Mikan.

Over the chapter, Mikan has learned a sad sort of acceptance. Death is scary. But the sadness doesn’t just come from life ending; it’s about leaving behind the people you love. It’s inevitable, and it will always hurt, but that means making sure that the people you love know that they are loved. So she won’t help Kaname use up his alice and his lifespan. Instead, she will try to be friends with Bear, so that when Kaname inevitably can’t be around for him anymore, someone will be. 

Even if she can’t stand Bear, she will try to befriend him anyway, because even Bear deserves to have somebody care about him. After all, she was able to overcome her dislike of Natsume, so she has some experience in this sort of thing. (And it’s important to note that her dislike of Natsume is past tense. Even if he is still acting like a jerk to her, she still likes him.)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I've chosen to be really kind and generous and include two more chapters of analysis here for you, even though it is the start of a new arc.

At this point in the Natsume essay, I had just reached 22k words. In this essay we’ve passed 35k. Mikan is the main character after all. In the earlier chapters, Natsume is hardly present, only to occasionally act as an antagonist before he’s firmly transitioned into a member of the lead cast after the Reo arc. And even then, he sometimes doesn't appear for a few chapters. Meanwhile, Mikan is present and central in nearly every chapter.

It's very sad but we won’t be talking about comparisons to the anime from now on. I've compared all I could for the time being. By now, we get it: anime!NatsuMikan is different from manga!NatsuMikan. Time to move on. Let’s get into the Z arc.

It’s November at Gakuen Alice. Fall is in full flush (keep in mind that seasons are important!) and something amazing has happened: Yuu won the best student award and as a result will be visiting his family in Fukuoka for a week. Everyone is excited for him, even if they are a bit jealous of his prizes. He’s especially excited to see his younger sister, who he has never met. 

Mikan is a rarity, finding her alice and attending the school later than most of her classmates, who have been here for almost their whole lives. The academy steals childhoods and lives and families from these kids, though that’s not something Mikan is piecing together quite yet. Knowing your family shouldn’t be a privilege awarded to one smart child each year; it should be something these kids all take for granted. But Yuu has waited three years to meet his sister. The Alice kids are all nine/ten/eleven years old now, which means that most of them will either have to lose their alice or wait another decade before they can go home. Not all the kids are like Natsume or Mikan, being singled out in atrocious ways; but they are all abused and neglected, treated like commodities and experiments, ways to make profit and gather power, rather than being treated like children. Not all the kids are treated like child soldiers, but they are mistreated nonetheless, pitted against each other for privileges they should have anyway.

I mention this because we’ll be discussing the idea of “going home,” family, and potential loss of alice in this arc, a subject that is sensitive for each kid in Class B (not just the ones with the life-shortening alice).

That aside, Mikan is visibly happy for Yuu. All the kids are jealous, of course, because they all want to see their families, but none of them resent Yuu for winning. There’s genuine happiness for him, from everybody, but specifically Mikan. Watching a close friend win feels like a win for her too.

She and Hotaru look so genuinely happy for him. I'm gonna cry.

In any case, it’s been a week, so Class B is eagerly awaiting Yuu’s return to school, but other news is circulating around the academy too, particularly about a few “loss of alice” incidents in Japan. Because kids are starting to freak out about it, the staff are addressing their concerns and reassuring everyone that these incidents are only affecting adults outside the academy. These occurrences are odd because they have nothing to do with alice shapes, but the real cause is unclear. 

The kids freak out more, but seem to be somewhat calmed by the fact that kids don’t seem to be affected. 

They bring up the fact that losing your alice means you can go home, a sore spot for any Alice student. Losing an alice is the only way these kids will see their families again while they are still children. Kids who aren’t academically inclined, like Mikan or Koko, don’t have a good shot at winning the best student award, and other kids like Natsume would never be allowed to leave the school, even if he applied himself enough to win (though that’s not something they bring up). The only chance they have is by losing their alice, either due to the alice shape or these incidents. So even though it seems frightening to lose it, there’s also a clear silver lining.

Sumire, leader of the Alice-supremacy movement, is appalled by her classmates’ discussion. Nonoko chimes in to share that although she misses her family, her alice feels like a part of her, like something precious that she doesn’t want to part with. On top of that, leaving the school means leaving all the people she grew up with, most of whom she only recently started being friends with. 

He's ignoring her and she's hurt about it, but he's still one of the most important people to her, still a person she doesn't want to lose.

This prompts Mikan to think of all the people she’s come to know and care for at the academy, and the one person she came here for in the first place. Losing these new (and renewed) bonds would be crushing and lonely. So they all start crying and freaking out again. This is why I had previously mentioned the school’s exploitation of the children and how it takes advantage of them by withholding from them things they are entitled to (like communication with their families). In a better school, this wouldn’t be a debate at all. They’d be able to see and talk to their parents and siblings whenever they wanted and wouldn’t want to lose a part of themselves and all the friends they’ve made in order to do it. But because Alice Academy is a monstrous institution, the children face this terrible catch-22 and have to decide for themselves which is worse: losing your friends or losing your family. It just shouldn’t even be a thing they have to discuss in the first place.

Class is about to start and Natsume just walks right out in the middle of their conversation, with Ruka running after him. Mikan is reminded of what Ruka told her, that Natsume doesn’t want his alice, that she could never understand how he feels. She can understand that, if that’s true, the conversation they were having doesn’t hit him the same way as it hits the others. She doesn’t understand all the nuances of his feelings, but she can see that he’s bothered, which only makes her concerned.

Oh no, he's definitely avoiding you. But it's nice, because you're so busy wondering why he's avoiding you that you're not thinking about why he makes you blush anymore! A victory!

Mikan is in the Special classroom, waiting for class to start, preoccupied with thoughts of her partner. But they’re not all about how bothered he must have been; they’re about how she’s bothered. Natsume seems to be avoiding her and she doesn’t know why. She doesn’t seem angry, just hurt, because she doesn’t know if she did something to hurt him. Mikan has just started to like him, after all, even though she isn’t yet aware of the complexity of her feelings. Having him shut the whole relationship down just as soon as her feelings started to turn around is emotional whiplash and it’s hard for her to understand any of her emotions if she can’t even understand what he’s trying to pull. Though she’s been upbeat and cheerful just like always, it’s obvious that this issue has been plaguing her for a while, something she only lets herself dwell on when she’s given a moment alone.

Which is why her spirits instantly rise when she meets the elusive SA class representative, Tono, who is creepy and uncomfortable to read but generally a good guy. He has the amplification alice, the opposite of Mikan’s, which creates a feeling of connection between them. He, like everyone who meets Mikan, is interested in the fact that she’s Natsume’s partner. Being his partner makes her famous because Natsume is famous, and if Natsume, who is special, got shackled to a partner, that must mean his partner is also special. 

Tono asks about Natsume’s health, referencing rumors about him going to the hospital a lot recently. Mikan is instantly concerned again. He’s been avoiding her, so she has no idea what he’s up to, hospital or no, and so she wonders if hospitalization might be why he’s acting so weird. She again connects this news with Noda’s lesson on alice shapes, wondering if perhaps Natsume has the life-shortening alice like Kaname.

She thinks, “Not Natsume,” obviously disturbed by the idea that he could be like Kaname in this way. Of course nobody wants a classmate to die, but the fact that she thinks so much about him despite the fact that they aren’t really on awesome terms makes her concern a little more telling. It’s not just that she doesn’t want a classmate to have the fourth shape; it’s that she doesn’t want Natsume in particular to have it. “Not Natsume.” I'll talk more about this concept later.

The TokyoPop says "Not Natsume!" instead of "It can't be!" I like "Not Natsume!" better. It feels more specific. Because it's the same basic premise, and because I'll mention this sort of thing again later, I'm just going with "Not Natsume!"

She’s thought of him three times in relation to the fourth shape so far, exhibiting that stellar intuition she has. But she shakes the thought off, once again. It’s unpleasant, so she doesn’t want to think about it. She dismisses the thoughts as being residual from her encounters with Kaname and changes the subject to the issue of alice loss incidents.

Tono and the SA class discuss the issue for a bit, but because neither Tono nor Noda can say much without starting a panic, there’s no real information gained, other than that students are being kept on lockdown in the school to prevent alice loss incidents within the academy.

Chapter Thirty

The last chapter was chock-full of info-dumping and set-up for the arc. There was some touch on personal interactions as well, and Higuchi Tachibana is a master at plot threads like these. Especially early in the story, arcs are built, not just around plot points, but character and relationships. In Natsume’s essay, the fact that somebody was stealing alices was vital to his character, where his disdain for his own alice came head to head with his desire to protect his loved ones. There’s also the issue of Mikan’s mother, and his tortured love for Mikan, having no choice but to shut her out. Mikan has threads in this arc as well, things that will be central as we move forward. This arc in particular is incredibly well-thought out, with each central character getting their fair share of development.

Yuu is finally back, having brought back stories and souvenirs for everyone. We meet Pengy as well, Hotaru’s commissioned invention who missed her so much its owner sent it back. It’s established straight away that Mikan and Pengy are like souls, and they get along very well (this will be important). 

"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." -Emily Brontë

The mood of the day is ruined very quickly when we discover that Yuu’s alice isn’t working. The scary stories have come to claim a victim, and no reassurances about them being kids apply anymore. Yuu is a kid, and his alice seems to be gone. He is put into quarantine for a couple days and there’s no more fun and games. Nobody in Class B knows what’s going on and the teachers aren’t sharing. Mikan pleads with Narumi to let her see Yuu, just for a visit, since they’d established that whatever’s wrong with Yuu is not contagious. Narumi refuses, so Hotaru steps in, manipulating him through an invention of hers into leading them to Yuu. 

Though Mikan is antsy about doing something like this, that might get them into trouble, Hotaru shuts her concerns down. Yuu is all by himself. He must be scared. Mikan was already worried about her friend, but seeing Hotaru display this care as well means the situation must be dire. Even Hotaru is worried, but even more than that: we (and Mikan) can see just how much Hotaru cares for Yuu, how much of an important friend he is to her. 

They reunite with Yuu, who starts to cry, both touched that they’d come to see him and scared that he won’t ever see his friends again. Yuu, who is always concerned for others, is now scared for himself. A character who is so defined by his desire to help others and keep the peace being isolated by himself is a key to tragedy. No child should have to deal with being locked up in a room, quarantined on his own even though he isn’t even contagious, with nobody to talk to. It would be scary for anyone, let alone a little kid.

He's only little!!!! Let him out!!!!

So Mikan and Hotaru go back and start a campaign to fold paper cranes in the hopes that their prayers will make him better. Some sticklers start to berate Mikan for going to see him in the first place, accusing her of infecting the classroom and trying to spray her with disinfectant. Mikan is angered by their words, but it’s Sumire who punches one of the bullies. She is Alice-supremacist number one, but that means that they should all be cooperating. 

It’s interesting how Sumire was introduced as a villain character, as nothing more than a bully with a superficial crush on Natsume. But once Mikan started to see the goodness in her, more and more instances of her as an ally started to occur. And it’s not as simple as seeing new traits that redeem her. Instead, the traits that made her so terrible at first (her stubbornness, control over the classroom, busybody nature, and Alice-supremacy) were developed as double-sided, as being beneficial too. Characters aren’t black and white. The things that make Sumire insufferable one moment make her kind the next. And part of Mikan’s journey in befriending Sumire is realizing that.

Yuu is finally released from his prison, even though his alice is still gone. There’s a moment of happiness at the reunion, at the hope that he might get his alice back just by going back to his normal routine. But Yuu goes on to detail the questions he was asked, and how he had encountered a woman while outside of the academy who might have the stealing alice and who might be part of Z. All the kids involved with the Reo incident freeze at the name. The loss of alice incidents seemed like scary aberrations before, just random and terrifying events that could take one of their classmates away. But now it’s more insidious, like there’s some conspiracy. Less random, more orchestrated.

Mikan might have gone back to her normal cheery self after the Reo incident, but she was still traumatized by the events, so the idea that it might not be entirely over scares her. It apparently bothers Natsume too, so he leaves the room and once again Ruka chases after him. But this time, Mikan decides to follow him too. She remembers that Natsume, the Black Cat, had been propositioned into joining Z, so maybe he knows something more than she does. Besides, they were both kidnapped together. Natsume is one of the few people who really understands what it was like, so maybe they can talk more about it.

She calls out to him, trying to start a conversation. But he just ignores her, like he’s been doing, so Mikan loses her patience. She’s been putting up with him acting like this for long enough. It’s time for some explanations. So she blows up, demanding to know what his problem is. 

She never makes it personal with him. 'Tis too scary!

I find it so interesting that she says he’s been “ignoring people forever” or "disregarding everyone" instead of saying “ignoring me.” Mikan is visibly angry, but she doesn’t want him to know that she’s hurt too. By making it some general thing, instead of something personal, she can distance herself from the situation. He’s mistreating people, hurting people, not necessarily her. It was sudden and without reason, which only makes her more hurt.

But the thing is that he’s not ignoring people. If he were ignoring everyone, she might think there’s something wrong with him, that something is causing himself to turn away. But he’s not withdrawing from anybody (any more than usual) other than her. It seems pointed and intentional and all about her. And she doesn’t want to believe he has a problem with her, which is why she says “ignoring people.” It would be one thing if he had a problem with her and it pissed her off just like before, when they were enemies; it’s another if he doesn’t like her and is somehow also aware that the fact he doesn't like her hurts her feelings because she likes him now. Mikan is an outgoing girl who doesn’t fixate a lot on conflict, but Natsume is different. He’s an enigma and she doesn’t get him, even though she likes him now and she wants to. He keeps himself shut off from her, sure, but the interesting thing is that Mikan shuts herself off from him too. He makes her feel vulnerable, insecure, uncomfortable. She doesn't know why and doesn't really wanna know why. (Do you see why I absolutely had to cover 26 again?)

So she asks him, even though he’s been “ignoring people,” if there’s something he doesn’t like about her, and if there is, then he should just spit it out. 

When he finally speaks to her for the first time in weeks, it’s to tell her that he hates everything about her. “Stay away from me.”

Then he just turns around and leaves, like it doesn’t matter.

Mikan freezes for a moment, and there’s two interesting panels of her reacting before she says anything: there’s her hearing the words, just her eyes pictured, shocked but not betraying any particular emotion; and then there’s her lower face, with no eyes, but the beginning of an internal thought, “You…?”

We had “Not Natsume,” before, a refusal to accept that Natsume in particular, not just a classmate, could have the fourth shape. And now we have “You…?” An unfinished thought. Now who knows what that means? It could mean anything! “You suck?” “You’re a jerk?” “You really hate me?” or maybe just “You?” Not just a classmate, but Natsume in particular, hates her?

She screams back after he’s already started leaving that she hates him too, just as much. For a moment, she acts like it’s just another fight, but we can see (and so can Ruka) that it’s more than that. She’s hurt, not just because somebody hates her--because he’s hated her before and it didn’t hurt--but because Natsume in particular still hates her, even though she stopped hating him a while ago, no matter what she says. That pain she was trying to avoid, by saying he was “ignoring people” and not just her, is in full force now. It is just about her. It’s not a misunderstanding; he hates her.

It's one thing when your crush doesn't reciprocate romantic feelings; it's a whole other thing when he tells you to your face that he hates literally everything about you and doesn't want you ever coming near him again.

A moment of silence passes, where we can see a very small panel of Mikan actually crying, before they’re all interrupted by an alarm sounding, signaling that all kids are on lockdown now because intruders from Z have snuck onto campus.

He made her cry!!! Evil!

Ohoho it is such nonsense that Natsume loves Mikan and that she only thinks she reciprocates because she feels guilt. I will destroy that premise, believe me.

Conclusion

Mikan's crush doesn't seem to change things overnight the way Natsume's does. The thing is that she's crushing on a boy who feels he has no choice but to distance himself from her to protect her. That sucks because her affection for him is pretty solid at this point. From her point of view, he's wishy-washy. He was so serious and different at the afterparty and now he's downright cruel. It feels inconsistent. Natsume is never nice, per se, but she's spent enough time with him to be able to discern between Chapter 2 evil!Natsume and Chapter 26 soft!Natsume.

Her feelings are already at crush level! She can't take it back at the drop of a hat! Especially because she doesn't even know she has a crush! It must hurt.

Our next post will discuss the aftermath of this encounter as well as Mikan's inward struggle with her emotions and the expectation that she should always be smiling.

I have been referencing the Z Arc for a long time so I'm sure it's a relief to finally get here. But don't be fooled! I'm still gonna ceaselessly reference future arcs forever until the essay ends. I'm a self-hype machine.

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[cafalla]

Vintage Pokémon Stickers and Temporary Tattoos (1999-2000)

I finally took the time to tackle my little pile of vintage Pokémon stickers and temporary tattoos! It's not a crazy amount, but there was enough to make me consistently go "hmm, maybe I'll scan them tomorrow".

Thing is, I have a whole box of magazines I still want to scan...and some catalogs...there is a lot still in the works where scanning is concerned.

This little pile of Pokémon stickers have been next on my to-scan list for a while. I felt it was time to finally get on it. I'm really excited to show them off!

I love all Pokémon, and I wouldn't call myself a die-hard Gen 1 fanatic but...there is really something nostalgically special about Gen 1. I just love Pokémon a lot, especially Gen 1, and I always will.

I'm very happy to have these vintage stickers/temporary tattoos and I hope to get many more in the future!

First off, here are a couple of temporary tattoo sheets! I know they're not stickers, but they basically look like sticker sheets...at least they're equally as cool. These are from 1999!

Each came in its own single-sheet package. These photos are actually the scans flipped, so originally, they are backwards.

Because, y'know, that's how temporary tattoos work.

But for the sake of viewing the artwork, I flipped them so they are facing the "correct way" towards us.

My favorite one is Pikachu holding his Pokeball...to be honest, I totally forgot Pikachu actually has his own ball! And that it has a little lightning bolt on it. So cute. I wish we got to see it more often.

I mean, how cool would it be to get a lightning bolt ball in the games and you could ONLY catch a Pikachu with it. That'd be fun.

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Next are some "super-size" sticker sets. Each set comes with two sticker sheets. These are also from 1999!

Here's the first set:

The weird swirly colored backgrounds feel sooooo 90s to me!

Next set:

Love the big Blastoise sticker. I imagine there are sets including big solo stickers of Charizard and Venusaur, too. Hopefully one day I can get my hands on them!

And the last set I have is this one:

Well, there is Charizard at least! Not a full sized solo sticker, but it's quite large. Super cool!

And the sticker of the main gang is so cute. I vividly remember that art of them featured in a lot of merchandise. We'll see them again with the next stickers, actually.

I do wonder if the white space in between Brock's bent arm was an oversight...there is also some white between Misty's neck and arm. Oops, lol!

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Next I have some giant Pokémon gift tag stickers from 2000!

I originally thought they were Christmas gift tag stickers, but I think they're for any gift-giving occasion. There are 15 sticker tags in the package, containing the three designs shown above.

There's that art of the gang again! I told you we'd be seeing them again lol.

And I vividly remember that Pikachu art on a lot of my childhood merchandise. I love the OG Pikachu.

I mean, Pikachu is great in any form, but like I said earlier, the original art just hits differently. I'm way too nostalgic for Gen 1 haha. Maybe I actually am a die-hard Gen 1 fanatic...

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Last, but certainly not least, we have this sticker book containing all 150 original Pokémon. It's from 1999, and barely hanging on by a couple of old staples. I had to be super careful scanning this book - I was afraid of it ripping apart.

Here's the cover:

The book's format is basically a page of stickers, and then the page opposite of the stickers contains a blank space with a pokeball graphic and the names of the Pokémon. The intention is to move the stickers over to the blank space with the Pokémon's name once you catch them in game, so you can keep track of which ones you've collected along your Pokémon journey.

I'll just be showing off the sticker pages, but you can look at the full book on my Internet Archive account to see what I'm talking about. There's also a cute little Pokémon word search in the middle of the book I recommend checking out.

Here are all 150 original Pokémon stickers!

So cool, right?!

Most of the artwork is pretty standard, but some of the Pokémon really get to show some personality! Specifically Dugtrio and Electrode.

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I really like how old Pokémon merchandise gave many "obscure" Pokémon a chance to shine.

Obviously Pikachu and the main line starters get heavily featured in merchandise...but I feel like most Pokémon in recent years don't get a chance to be promoted like they used to in the early stages of the series.

Typically only the fan favorites get to shine anymore. It's sad, because there are so many neat Pokémon! Every Pokémon is special to someone, and it's nice to see them represented across merchandise.

I hope you enjoyed these scans! You can view full size/hi-quality scans on my Internet Archive account.

Or, if you would rather reblog the photos by themselves, I've uploaded them onto my photoblog: nostalgiahime. So feel free to go take a look over there!

Thanks for reading!