#i like to think that its not common to name ur pokemon cause theyre not pets in PIDW but SQQ and SQH do anyways

[yveltalreal]

OH!!!

okay so!! houndoom is absolutely fucked over in a lot of book. part of it is older books generally falling into supersition and newer books using modern stereotypes about the pokemon. dark types as a whole get fucked over but uhuhuhhhh im the houndoom guy so rewfrf

houndoom are almost always used as the go to pokemon if a book needs violent ones, especially if they need a fire type or a dog pokemon specifically. a lot of villains in many media are often given houndooms on their team in order to demonstrate how cruel and controlling they are when houndoom arent necessarily more cruel and controlling than any pokemon. sure, they fight for the leadership position in their packs and can be territorial, but thats about it.

another thing you see a lot is houndoom in books will just?? attack immediately? in real life, even if you somehow trespass onto a packs territory, they will try to get you out by intimidating you (howling and growling, stalking you around, breathing smoke, occasionally spitting small flames just close enough for you to feel the heat but not burn, nipping at ur heels) before they go downright on the attack. the exception is continuing despite the pack warning you, if you attack them first, or if you get too close to their den. if they have newborn pups they may attack you a little quicker but still. the amount of times people will be attacked by houndoom literally the SECOND theyre in their territory or like put infront of them is insane. houndoom wait until they either think you're absolutely a threat, or until theyve gotten a good look at you and determined they can take you down without too great an injury. theyre not bloodthirsty idiots.

also the lone houndoom stereotype?? for some reason a single houndoom alone is pretty common?? theyre pack pokemon. they hunt in groups (either 2-3 houndoom or a houndoom or two and a couple houndour). if you see a houndoom alone it is likely not going to risk a fight as its either lost its entire pack for one reason or another, or its got a disease or something.

also houndoom are always villains and shit i think i said gthat but god. theyre always the evil or badones which IS NOT GOOD when houndoom are often killed or driven out from their natural territory for being scary or whatever.

as for books i think do houndoom really well:

Isabella's Father by Doug Spencer.

the general premise is that isabella's father went missing under mysterious circumstances when she was 11 years old, and since then, shes been under the care of her fathers houndoom, soot, who was the only thing he left behind. her mother died when she was young, so shes not in the picture. almost 5 years after his disappearance, she receives a letter from an unknown sender that has two dates (the date of her father's disappearance and the date 10 days after the letter arrives) a location, and a short message that says only "come find him". isabella sets out to find her father, while soot helps her uncover clues and keeps her out of trouble. Soot is written INCREDIBLY WELL! doug spencer forgoes the typical characterization of houndooms of violent and almost mindless in nature, in order to portray soot as both protective of isabella and incredibly intelligent and aware of the twos surroundings! without soot, isabella would not be able to uncover the mystery of her fathers disappearance, and likely would have died multiple times over. soot is portrayed like a houndoom owned by a trainer for years would be! protective of its family, and intelligent. even outside of soots characterization, the book is REALLY good so i do recommend it

Dog Bride by Yūna Nakagawa

okay so TECHNICALLY i am a little biased with this one cause shes like my second or third cousin i think??? eirther way she is very much a hound so you KNOW shes god her shit about houndoom right. its about this girl named katsumi whos father is this well respected merchant in hoenn. it turns out he had some shifty dealings though, so her familys home is attacked and she escapes and tries to flee by ship but her ship is boarded by these pirates who kidnap her and take her to kanto because it turns out like,, theyre working for the guy who her father pissed off and shes set to marry the guy who is in charge. she escapes again and ends up meeting a pack of houndoom and instead of killing her they take her in like theres A LOT more after this and its super cool please read my relatives book.

Sunflower by Marley Rhodes

this book doesnt feature houndoom as like literally as the other books BUT the main character's favourite pokemon is houndoom and ill explain why this is relevant in a sec. sunflower is a book about this kid named terrance keele whos 10 years old and it follows his life in the months after his grandmother dies, exploring how a young child deals with grief, ESPECIALLY that surrounding a very close loved one and when theyve had like little to no experience with death beforehand. terrance's grandmother used to have a houndoom, however when she got married she had to get rid of it because of terrance's grandfather hating dark types. she missed the houndoom greatly, and the pokemon continued to be her favourite pokemon. because of this, houndoom are used often to represent terrance's grief at the loss of his grandmother and the relationship he had with her. for example, at her funeral, terrance insists on wearing a tie with houndour on it, however when he sees her body, he takes off the tie and puts it in the casket with her because she thinks shed like the fabric. he gets in trouble with his father for not wearing the tie even though he insisted on getting it, and "losing it" (he does not tell his father he put it in the casket). at another point in the book, he gives an impassioned rant about why houndoom are the best pokemon (they have an assignment where they have to talk about why their favourite pokemon is the best to the class) and he stays up all night and gets in trouble because he wanted to know EVERYTHING about houndoom so he talks VERY ACCURATELY about houndoom and about their pack structures and stuff and then ends it off that its also the best because his grandmother liked the pokemon. its a REALLY REALLY REALLY GOOD BOOK like it does a really good job of representing what it wants to ESPECIALLY with houndoom and all sorts of other stuff terrance's grandmother liked its soo good.

heres ur rant esper <3

😔: Which Pokémon do you think is misunderstood by authors?

estelle, look me in my eye. which one do you think i will answer? which pokemon will I, the houndoom guy, say is misunderstood by authors?

[youareunbearable]

SVSSS pokemon AU where after he transmigrates Shen Yuan has to basically befriend Shen Jiu’s pokemon so they don’t give away the fact that he’s not Shen Jiu and because of that he actually clues into SJ’s traumatic background and sees the people around him as people instead of characters a LOT sooner than in canon

I don’t think that SQQ would have a full six team, even if he does battle regularly, but I think he’d have three at most that were originally SJ’s and then as the story goes on, he might adopt a few more of his own to signify his acceptance into his new identity and role 

NOW THE FUN PART!!! Here’s what I think the character’s pokemon teams would be! Its long so i’ll put it under the cut

Shen Jiu: Serperior (caught while working under Wu Yanzi as a Snivy), a Ninetails (given as an ‘engagement gift’ to Shen Jiu as a Vulpix by Qiu Haitang, helped him burn down the estate), and a Thievul (never really ‘caught’ this pokemon, but is considered his “first” pokemon as its lurked around him since his time on the streets as a Nickit- helped feed him and Qi-ge as streetkids, lead Qi-ge to SJ when he was locked up in the Qiu household, helped him with his jobs for Wu Yanzi, is seen skulking around Qing Jing causing problems on purpose)

Shen Yuan: Technically all of Shen Jiu’s but also a Zoroark (caught as a Zorua, affectionately named “Bingpup” or “BingBing” or “BB” he was caught after the Skinner incident, symbolizes SY ability to trick others in to believing in an illusion), and an Absol (started following him around before the Abyss arc, making everyone fear that something terrible was going to happen to SQQ, nicknamed “Cassandra” or “Cass”, never leaves the peak except for the time it was skulking around Huan Hua Palace before SQQ escaped and died, symbolizes SY regret that he can’t change things the way he wants)

Yue Qingyuan: Boltund (officially caught after he became a disciple, but used to follow him and SJ around as street kids), a Yamask (found it at the Qiu Estate Ruins, it sought him out and followed him back to the peak, he thought it was Xiao Jiu for the longest time), and Zacian (found him dying in the caves, only reason he survived binding his soul to the Xuan Su sword)

Luo Binghe: Haxorus (captured it after he was accepted at Qing Jing as an Axew, its a shiny, evolved in the Abyss), a Houndoom (found in the Abyss), Darkrai (found it in the dream realm, not technically ‘his’ pokemon but follows him around, is his Signature pokemon as a Heavenly Demon Lord), and a Sylveon (given to him by his mother as an Eevee egg, turned into a Sylveon before the Abyss arc, was so heartbroken over the betrayal but it stayed on QJ peak, it would lay by the Sword Mound and SQQ would talk with it daily, in PIDW it was an Umbreon) 

Liu Qingge: Bisharp (the pokemon he got after becoming a “War God”, YYX as a matching Pawniard which SQQ thinks is the cutest thing), Lucario (technically ‘his’ pokemon as it follows him around but isnt caught, likes to follow him and fight alongside LQG), Aegislash (his signature pokemon, got him when he was 4 years old and first learning sword forms), Gallade (given to him as a Ralts, a matching pair to LMY’s Gardevoir, upon LQG death in PIDW he became LMY’s pokemon but this doesnt happen in SVSSS), Braviary (given to him by SQQ as a Rufflet as a joke but jokes on him he loves the loud guy)

Shang Qinghua: Meowth  (OG’s only pokemon, SQH found it on his way to CQP, started off as a bitter angry thing, but became more lax as time went on, will often hiss at those he feels are being unfair to SQH and is not allowed near MBJ because of this, nicknamed “Lil’ Big Money” or “Lil’”), Whimsicott (became his as a disciple, helped him sneak around for MBJ and steal things/gather info, nicknamed “Q-tip” or “Q”), Snom (given to him by MBJ as a gift years into their partnership but before canon, said it ‘reminded him of you’ SQH was insulted but still loves him, nicknamed “Puddle”), Skwovet (his first pokemon, nicknamed “Cheeks,” he’s had this pokemon since he was 4 and it’s been his closest companion and knows all his secrets, acts as an emotional support pokemon) 

Mobei-Jun: Regice (acquired this pokemon after he got his inheritance, a pokemon that only follows the Mobei-Jun), Glalie (a pokemon he’s had since he was a child, considered his signature pokemon), Galarian Darumaka (he found it in a blizzard, it reminds him of SQH so he keeps it and feeds it berries, it likes to hide in his cloak when he travels, SQH had no idea about this pokemon until well into their romantic relationship, he thought it was just a random pokemon running around in the palace) 

[toomanyskeletons]

magic in spectraverse - infodump

so iv e been meaning to make a post abt this for a while so why not now, when im not even sure how my words are right and if i can think of the right things to say

in spectraverse - well, kind of, there are several spectraverse timelines and none have particular names so i cant really specify which one, we’ll just call it 2 - there are several different kinda of magic, along with subtypes

There are three different casters a being - typically a human, it is unusual for any nonhuman to call themselves a caster - can be, ‘caster’ being the name for the way someone casts a spell. Its a shit name, i’ll pick a better one some other time. Anyway. So, you can cast spells. Some make their own spells, others use books or loose paper or they remember it or whatever. Think of it like baking. You can stick it all in together, and it will always make something. Whether that thing is edible, that varies. Casting is like that, you can put in four whatever the fucks and three bees and you might get a puff of smoke or you might blow up your house. You might have been trying to dye your hair magically. Anyway.

A witch is a caster who draw the power of their spells from the environment - heat, light, feelings. A caster can do basically any spell depending on whatever the fuck they are but often, they are spells that give back. So. If you draw power from say, the sun’s heat, it might be a spell to replenish some part of the environment. I really havent thought this through but i just want to talk soo Witches can cast any spell, but drawing power from the environment can be time consuming and troublesome, so their spells tend to be weaker and- i dont know how to say this properly. I have this nice image all ready but i dont know what its words are. I’d say witches spells tend to be longer lasting? Yeah. Like. You cant draw energy from the environment quickly, but a long term spell being very constantly, slowly replenshed is the sort of things witches excel at. Like, making a plant grow faster, or a love spell, or a happiness spell, or maybe something to increase income - i dont know. Witches arent particularly important at the moment in my story so i havent given them much thought.

At this stage i should probably point out that these are all considered gender neutral. U dont have to be a lady to be a witch, and u dont have to be a dude to be a wizard, and you dont have to be nonbinary to be a mage.

So next up is wizards, who use their own energy. This is the thing that is good for fast acting spells, or things that work in bursts. Setting fires, i cant think of anything else, teleportation, yeah i really have not thought much about this either. Wizards replenish their energy just as any human generally does, sleeping, eating, spending an absurdly long amount of time gambling away your money in Pokemon - okay maybe thats just me but you get the idea.

Wizards are more useful in battle than witches, though armor, cloaks, staffs, etc. Can all have a boost in power by a witch.

Mages are people either born with the natural ability for elemental manipulation, OR people who perform a combination of both witchery and wizardry. Maybe just the latter. I’ll have to think of a name for the former.

There are eight major elements, and beyond those are several subtypes/skills that can only be learnt with particular elements. I havent thought of many of these but i’ll work them out.

So- Water Air Earth Fire Lightning Steel/Metal (i wanted to call it metal but my pokemon loving ass kept calling it steel) Light Dark/ness

Everyone has an element 'assigned’ to them in their genetics, but most people dont have the natural ability to manipulate it. Instead, they may have a few personality traits associated with the element, they might excel in a field of study related to that element, they could just really like that element OR nothing in particular. Like. It affects them in no way whatsoever, which is probably the most common. Also people can kinda teach themselves manipulation but it is Hard.

When you’re a 'natural’ (pretty sure i stole that term from somewhere else but w/e) you will have had the ability to control the element from birth. Natural elemental manipulators tend to have good visualisation skills and decent motor skills, though sometimes they have neither of these things and it ends really fucking badly, because if you cant picture something right you cant control it, and if you cant point your hand where u need to point it, thats bad. Elemental manipulation is largely controlled with visualisation, picturing what you want to do in your mind, but it also has to do with how good you are at controlling your energy. Most people wont be able to say, evaporate all the water from a pool in an instant, actually thats a terrible example for reasons i have not yet explained, give me a moment- Most people wont be able to cause an earthquake the moment they start using magic consciously, and that is because they havent learnt how to control their energy. Some people MIGHT be able to do it, but its more of an “accidental spontaneous energy release’ thing than a 'five year old good at controlli their energy’ thing.

So then you have subtypes. I havent thought of many of these yet, actually im P sure i only have one but lets talk about it anyway.

Temperature manipulation is a subskill of the metal and water elements, largely linked to the control of emotions. Actually, any of the elements that have the states of matter which i am forgetting, will be able to learn this subtype. It means, you guessed it, you cn control temperature. So a water user would then get a sort of sub element of ice, and they can also boil water. Metal users would be able to melt and solidify the metal. It takes time to learn, and oh shit mind blank. Uh.oh right. Speed. So like you might be able to boil water with the ability but u wont be able to do it really fast unless youve practised a lot. Poor emotional regulation + temperature manipulatio can mean Bad because it would lead to the accidental alteration of environemtnt. That was too fancy. Basically u might get road rage and then ur whole fucken car would melt.

Uh also healing? Pretty self explanatory, i havent though abt it much yet, much like everything else in this post.

Humans can also learn magic through objects. Some help to channel energy, some boost it, you can get orbs to give you an extra element, etc.

So then NONHUMANS are so much luckier because magic is like. Their first language. Most nonhumans, or even half humans with ANY nonhuman in them, will find it MUCH easier to learn a second element. Nonhumans have a body built for magic, so like their body can channel energy into multiple elements simulaneously, which is a thing humans find difficult, as they are not particularly made for magic. They still do it though. Nonhumans tend to be manipulators rather than casters, and like i said before, if they are they dont typically use the term caster.

Also, here are some things i forgot to mention/magic which i couldnt work out where to fit in:

- TELEKINESIS: good ole telekinesis. magical story woukdnt be complete without it. Pretty easy for most magical (nonhuman) beings to learn, at a basic level (closing doors, picking up the tv remote bc youre too lazy). You can go further into it and learn how to fuckin slam a dude against a wall like in supernatural. Harder for humans to learn (look i know humans get all this shit but theyre the majority).

-SUMMONING: SUMMON SATAN OR SOME SHIT. first of all, if you summon satan, you will get one of five people who will all tell you that satan is the incorrect term.also, summoning satan isnt particularly powerful summoning magic, it doesnt rely on the user’ s power much, but you gotta give a little blood. Anyway. Summoning is usually assisted by tokens of some sort that depict what you are summonging. Sometimes. To be a summoner u have to make friendship with thingd that CAN be summoned, like angels demons nine tailed fox etc. if it cant talk and make friends then u can generally find their tokens in shops, particualrly when there are a lot of the species existing and they dont exist lhysically outside of the void or something. But sentient beings like demons u goota find, befirend, and then they giv e you their token like some sorta business card. They also can turn down a summon, because they are sentient and if youre sentient it is possible you may be busy.

-TIME POWERS: HAVENT thogubt about this at all but worth a mention. Involves freezing time, travelling time and I FORGOT ABOUT DIMENSIONAL TRAVEL

-dimensional travel: you can travel dimensions, kinda. Ther e is one character who can do this currrently, she uses an unnamed object to help her draw her own power and she can juml timelines and travel different world s without the use of gates, which are often used otherwise.

Anyway thats all i can think of but i am definitely forgetting something

Questions? Comments? Have i made a spelling error? (If thats the case suck it ul u pansy) (there are five hundrrdd spelings here fcukc you) suggestions for another infodump? Want me to stop infodumping? Want to send me hate? I have an ask box and an anonymous button, they are there so you can use them