#i liked pokemon so much but i was 1) too poor for any of the games until sun and moon. id have to rent them from gamestop

[luckyshouse]

pokemon that left an impact on me growing up

[thezombieprostitute]

Lmao this made me think of Jakey Poo

You know what? I'm making this canon for how Jake and Sunshine met.

Summary: Jake knows he's the luckiest man in the world and it's all because of you.

Warnings: None at this time. Please let me know if I missed any!

A/N: Reader is female. No physical descriptors used.

Part 1

Tech Tuesdays Masterlist

Poor Jake didn't have much going for him when he left military service for the civilian life. He's just not sure what to do with himself outside of work and gaming. He tries to go out, especially when he's meeting up with The Losers again, but often he finds himself just feeling lonely with too much time on his hands.

Then he gets a ticket from you. The problem seems like an easy enough fix so Jake, still being the new guy on the team, gets assigned to it. He signs onto the Zoom app that he despises with all of his being, but it's company policy to use it.

When you answer the Zoom call your voice is so sweet that it takes Jake a second to respond. You actually think there's something wrong with the connection and he hears you saying, "frick. Even in the future nothing works."

He laughs, recognizing the Spaceballs reference, and startles you. "Sorry about that," he chuckles, as he hears your gasp. "That was just...really funny. Don't meet a lot of Spaceballs fans these days." He shakes his head, "anyways, I'm going to take control of your computer for a bit so I can try to fix it."

"Of course," you reply. It is standard procedure.

Jake gets a remote look at your desktop background and gasps, "you're a Pokemon fan!"

"Gen 1 and proud," you reply.

"That might explain what happened," he starts. "You let your Magnemite get too close to your laptop!" You laugh at the joke and Jake feels his cheeks heat up.

"Well it certainly isn't a Rattata chewing on the wires," you chuckle back.

"Hmm. Maybe we should get maintenance to double check," he jokes. He starts poking around your system files and is immediately at a loss. "What the..."

"Everything okay?"

"Umm..." Jake starts floundering. "I, um, I think. Hmm..."

Shit, he thinks. He was really hoping he could impress you. He's never even seen you but you're so nice and a fellow geek. He wanted to go in, press a button and fix your problem, but this is something more complicated than the ticket implied. He's wishing he had his pirate hat to help him think.

"Okay," he shakes his head, clearing his thoughts, "I think I'm going to need to take a look at the computer itself to figure this out."

"Sure thing." You exchange names and give him your cubicle number and quickly start cleaning up your desk. He might be an IT guy but his voice is very sexy, his laugh even moreso. And he's a fellow geek! Not someone who looks down on you for liking "childish things". You want to make a good impression.

By the time Jake gets to your cubicle you've tidied up pretty well. You smile up at him and Jake swears he's never met a more beautiful woman in his life. He's barely able to get out a "hi" because you've taken his breath away.

You're trying hard not to giggle and kick your feet at how cute Jake is. The fact that you've flustered him isn't lost on you and it makes you feel even giddier.

"Um, I um, I like your, your Gravity Falls sweater," Jake finally gets out.

Looking down you realize you're wearing your handmade Mabel Pines sweater and your face lights up. "Oh, thanks! I made it myself!"

"That's so cool," Jake says, earnestly. "I'm always so jealous of people who can make their own cosplay stuff."

"I could make you something," you quickly offer. "If, that is, um, if you'd like."

He smiles at you and, for the first time in a very long time, he feels like everything's going to be okay. The clouds are parting and you, the sunshine, are lighting up his life.

Part 1

Tech Tuesdays Masterlist

Tagging: @alicedopey; @delicatebarness; @ellethespaceunicorn; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory; @late-to-the-party-81; @lokislady82; @ronearoundblindly

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

All the MTC song trailer snippets are out? What are your opinions? :D I think Rio's is surprisingly chill and I'm still torn on Samatoki's, the lyrics might decide that one!

Heyy did you listen to the mtc album snippets ?

Nope. Let's check them out!

Backbone:

Title note: Presumably from 気骨, which has a slightly stronger-- almost noble-- connotation than English "backbone." Someone with 気骨 never lets anything stop them from doing what they believe is right, and not necessarily in the personal sense like in the English phrases "Grow a backbone." or "They have a strong backbone." As some people in this comments section are noting, it's also possible to interpret the title literally. The back is a recurring image in Japanese fiction; in this case, it represents Samatoki single-handedly shouldering various burdens for those he cares about. People are also drawing connections to the Aohitsugi's death motifs and Samatoki's skeleton speaker.

20 seconds in: Okay he literally just says the shouldering burdens bit haha. I guess that part is canon authorial intent

24 seconds in: "Nobody can break my 'backbone.'" If we assume this should be interpreted figuratively, that's like "Nobody can make me do anything I don't believe in." / "Nobody can break my spirit."

35 seconds in: "My 'backbone' is my true strength." This + the traditional Japanese-reminiscent instrumentals remind me of the Katen-gumi. Iirc they have a scroll hanging in their main office proclaiming their dauntlessness, an attribute Samatoki embodies well imo.

53 seconds in: This is a mean-spirited thought, but I always find it funny when Samatoki's like "This god damn city is broken and filthy... *takes a drag from a cigarette*" when the god damn city in question is one of the most affluent in the world.

64 seconds in: With that said, it's nice to see him acknowledging the positive presence he has in Yokohama and vowing to rid it of... whatever ills are plaguing it... taxation and ne'er-do-wells with illegal mics, no doubt. An Ichirou-esque sentiment.

71 seconds in: Props to Asanuma for rhyming jinsei and shinsen so well. "My life is always fresh; this is still just the prologue." Samatoki being receptive to growth? You love to see it. With that said, it's interesting to see the discrepancy between the two ideas of "It's time to change." and "My core values will never change." as we see in this song. I'm not sure how that'll actually play out in canon, so we'll have to wait and see.

Overall: That was fun! It had a nice beat. I look forward to hearing the full song when it drops.

Awake:

Title note: ??? 目覚めた? Like, "I'm woke af now"? Haha let me see what this song is actually about and then come back to this...

Side note: I was staying with a friend-- a buddy from the old scanlation team-- when this song preview dropped, and she was keeping me up to date with this song's delayed release drama. When it finally dropped, she was like "YOOO SLUG, LISTEN TO THIS" and turned her phone waaaay up, blasting the sonorous tones of Mr. Komada into our not at all soundproof hotel room, immediately alerting me to two things: 1. I was not awake enough for this. 2. The illumatic Iruma Jyuto was IN the building and, at that volume, probably in every floor of the building. Anyway, I'm still not awake enough for this, but let's go.

5 seconds in: Love the horns. Very MTC and very Gen III Pokemon. Yokohama 8/10 too much water

20 seconds in: hey hey heeey

30 seconds in: I appreciate the technical skill involved, but I am not comprehending one word of this. I'm going to have to look up the lyrics when I'm done fr.

Overall: Seems fun to rap! Once again, looking forward to the full song.

Top YT comment at the time of writing: Juuto: Y'all never seen me like this before! Me: Yeah, no shit.

Scrolling through the comments: Spare lyrics, ma'am? Spare lyrics for the poor? Jesus, there are some thirsty-ass mofos in this comment section...

Well, I didn't find any lyrics, so here goes watch 2 with a lot of pausing, I guess. Hmm the gist of the chorus seems to be "I'm not fucking around anymore" which-- like someone else has pointed out in the comments-- is kind of how Juuto's been since day one...? I'm not sure what's changed. I suppose the biggest difference would be it's no longer "I'll solve this problem" but "we'll solve this problem." I do like the opening of this first verse: When someone makes bad choices, who's left smiling? Who's left grieving? What is right, and what is wrong? Can that be something for every person to figure out for themselves? Here's another interesting bit: I used to think I didn't have any interest in colluding with other people-- it was more like mutual exploitation. But then I joined hands with a couple of like-minded people, and now we share the goal of victory. Yeah, it seems like the biggest changes here are Juuto embracing teamwork, which hell yeah. Opening up and trusting other people with his mission, in turn taking on their missions and incorporating it into one singular goal? That's baller.

Title note revisited: yeah I guess deadass this is "awake" in terms of "I'm woke now" haha. Or like, "I've come around to [the power of friendship]"

NO WAR:

5 seconds in: Oh, now I get why someone on the Samatoki video called this "Riou's baby-ass song"

22 seconds in: I was NOT prepared for the autotune. I think I'm a little too tired because I found this really, really funny.

30 seconds in: "Conflict isn't entertainment; it's not a show." YOU TELL 'EM, RIOU.

44 seconds in: I always really, really appreciate Riou's unwavering distaste for warfare and conflict even as he considers it something worth devoting his life to. I would sincerely love it if the authors were to ever dive into why Riou has such dedication towards serving in the [whatever] army and whatever cause they were fighting for, but I don't think that's the story the authors want to tell. We probably just have to assume it's for whatever Riou considers to be a morally good cause.

49 seconds in: Ignoring the rhyme-induced silliness of "my buddies are my turret," I like the thematic consistency of each MTC member stressing that they're not alone anymore--that is, that they've given up on their self-imposed solitude--and they have each other to rely on and trust with their backs.

53 seconds in: "Practically brainwashed puppet soldiers" Oh?? Mind expanding on this a little, Hypmic? Again, I doubt the writers are keen to delve into the causes of WWIII or why Riou joined up at all, but the suggestion of propaganda or coercion being involved is tantalizing.

65 seconds in: I like the bit that goes (paraphrased): "What can you see when you look out of your binoculars at base camp? Rifles, revolvers--is that it? Instead of obsessing over who's strong and who's weak, why not be soldier who prays for peace?"

Overall: The lyrics are vaguer and more platitudinous than is my preference, but I fully recognize that my interests in this topic are outside of the scope of the story the writers want to tell. Which is fine! The music is pretty chill; I think I'll like this song when it comes out in full.

My favorite YT comment by a landslide: Thank god he's not making us work out again.

Thank you very much for the asks! :D It's fun to check this stuff out, and I probably wouldn't have done so otherwise.

[yanban-san]

Obscurity - AU-Tober #1

Going to try to do the Au-tober thingy by @marchy-emmet. :) Here's the first one! Not beta read at all. 🥲

(Tags: implied x-reader, Submas, SFW)

Gear Station runs like finely tuned machinery. Like the perfect rhythm of a well wound clock, everything moves in pace to it's beat and purpose- Never too far, never late, never early, but precise and exact- Though the passengers and customers of the station and it's network may forever be in disarray, the station itself, and all of it's trains and rail lines, were never found in any state other than perfection, it seemed.

The trains ran all across Unova- Everywhere. Anywhere. Always bustling, almost always packed full of busy people and young pokemon trainers- Except a few lines.

The Battle lines.

The Battle Subway was a bit of a novelty, a tourist attraction. "But isn't that rather dangerous?" People would say, envisioning a harsh, intense pokemon battle taking place on a train-

And yet, that's what happened. Multiple times. And the Battle Subway was no more worse for wear.

"It was a fine experience," A trainer would remark. "That last battle was tough, though."

And the last battles were tough. Impossibly so.

"The last trainer…. was kind of strange, though." "Oh, the name? I can't remember that-" "It was just some guy, right?"

But the two who held the last battles of the Battle Subway were far from just 'some guys'.

They were the Subway Bosses.

Emmet hummed as he flipped through one of his social pages on pidget. No notifications, not that that bothered him. It was normal- In person, and online, he and his brother blurred into the background of existence it seemed- And no one paid them any heed to an almost alarming degree.

But still, he thought- And his hand hovered over an app on his X-transceiver. Applink. Applin-link. A dating app.

He hesitated, and clicked it open.

No messages.

Sighing heavily, he sat down at his desk and continued to write, hand combing through his thin, wiry silver hair. Was it too much to ask that he and his brother find someone? Surely there was someone out there who would find them charming, and, more importantly, remember them. Notice them.

Though they did have one further problem, Emmet continued to think on as he walked to the break room. It was lunch time- And he was at least looking forward to the sandwiches he and his brother had made this morning.

"Good afternoon!" He called out, entering the break room. None of the Depot Agents acknowledged him, many already chatting among each other or going to grab snacks and drinks from the vending machines or the large fridges-

Emmet sighed.

"They usually take notice of us when we're together, brother."

Emmet turned his head. Ingo. His fellow in suffering this stupid, stupid curse.

"…Good afternoon, Brother."

Ingo patted his younger twin on the shoulder, and the two of them grabbed their sandwiches, sat down, and waited. They weren't hidden- Sitting in the middle of the lunch room, and they certainly should have been noticed- Their coats were certainly noticeable- Their whole affect was striking…

But no one did.

No one ever did.

It really was like a supernatural curse, it seemed- Though it'd gone on as long as the two had been alive, it seemed.

Emmet's sandwich was gone quickly- As was Ingo's. They normally didn't socialize or particularly interact with the staff of Gear Station- They did their work, rode the train back to Anville Town, and-

Woke up for the next day.

No notifications on the X-Transceivers as they readied themselves, and headed down to the station.

"Good morning," Ingo greeted. The ticket master of the Anville stop yawned, turning to his coffee.

"Good Morning!" Ingo called out again, raising his voice. The poor worker jumped in his chair, before taking note of the two imposing men in front of him.

"O-Oh dear, uh… Good… Morning?" He blinked, looking at the two- Wearing Gear Station emblems on their hats-

"I am Emmet, and we need to get on the train."

"O-Oh right, the- Subway Bosses- Sorry Sir, didn't notice you there."

As always. "No worries." Ingo replied. No use admonishing the poor young man- He'd forget it by the following day, anyway.

At least in the confines of a subway cart they were more noticeable. It was difficult not to notice them there, given that the two of them standing side-by-side practically created a visual wall that couldn't be seen through. Something about them was particularly intimidating in this setting- Perhaps that was how they became bosses here, after all.

How did they, though? Ingo sometimes wondered- He couldn't quite remember himself, either. Perhaps an artifact of whatever caused them to be ignored, forgotten, and obscured was causing them to forget themselves. He couldn't remember how long he and Emmet had worked at Gear Station- Nor how they'd risen to the position that they'd found themselves in.

Were they ghosts? Ingo wondered- No, they seemed corporeal enough. There weren't any reports or news articles of two conductors dying either, that they could point to for evidence. Though the thought made his heart sink and his stomach grow cold. If ever he did find out what happened- Why they were like this- he hoped it wouldn't be something so… macabre. The thought made him quite melancholy.

It was in silent moments like this, riding to Gear Station, that Emmet usually found his voice- And his voice was often on the subject of their predicament, or, often enough, his pokemon- Battling took his mind off their problems, and strategizing was something he and his brother greatly enjoyed.

"Do you think Chandelure cursed us?"

Ingo scoffed. "Absolutely not. Chandelure is good, she wouldn't have done something like this-"

And Ingo's beloved companion let herself out of her pokeball, floating in front of the two.

"Maybe she did something on accident?"

The lantern-light shook itself, a sad look on it's face. Emmet felt a little guilty for his words- And apologized. The singing, glassy ghost pokemon floated in front of the two, swinging contentedly from side to side- If she could fix what ailed her trainer, she would, but she did not know- The fires of human souls were all the same to her, and Ingo and his brother looked no different to her than the multitudes of trainers she did battle against, or the commuters on the twin's beloved trains. There wasn't much to be done, it seemed- Perhaps this was just their fate.

Ingo sighed, and it wasn't long before the train pulled into Gear Station. The familiar sound of the announcer over the tanoy heralded the end of their ride, and the two stepped out and off, and to work that day.

Ignored, as always.

Luckily, the agents seemed to remember their existence, at least as their "bosses", when things needed to be done. And so, they rarely had trouble with getting their actual, bureaucratic work done for the day. Ingo couldn't complain- The office work they were used to was boring, yes, but the work of Gear Station made him and Emmet happy. That was one thing he could remember- He loved trains, and Emmet did too- But Emmet did love his pokemon and getting to battle with them every day.

Their existence at least, was peaceful, if lonely. Ingo remembered when the Gym Leader of Nimbasa had come to their line once upon a time- And they'd actually managed to hold a conversation with her. They even exchanged numbers, with the intent to train together on occasion.

She never answered- And Ingo was inclined now to think it a product of their curse, rather than her just ghosting them. He looked up from his work, feeling his neck crick as he did so. Ah, he'd been far too focused on the documents he'd been filling out and signing. Emmet groaned, and Ingo could see his leg bouncing in rapid annoyance at whatever he was focusing on.

"Emmet, why don't we take lunch early today?"

"I verrry much agree." He answered shortly, immediately standing up. Well then, there was his answer.

"I don't want to sit in the cafeteria today though. Depressing. Verry much so."

Ingo shrugged. They could eat in the common area, under the glass roof of the gallery off the atrium and amid the indoor garden of Gear Station. Yes, that sounded nice. Watch pokemon and their trainers pass by, enjoy their meals- They did do that on occasion, when the reality of sitting alone in the cafeteria, ignored by their own employees and coworkers hit a little too hard.

The two made their way over to the pretty side station- The glass roof letting in sunlight, sparkling and casting gridded shadows of the great iron beams holding the glass above them- Broken up only by the dappling of leaves of great bushes and trees. The seating wasn't too full, so the two went off to order their meals from one of the eateries in the market adjacent to Gear Station- That connected through this very gallery. The heavenly smell of stir fries and curries and grease and sweets was lesser over here, but the twins could still smell it, and the aroma only became more and more intense as they approached the market- Making both of their stomachs growl.

"I want curry." Emmet announced, and off he marched to go and acquire the food- Ingo following after him. The two moved around people, rather than anyone moving around them, in spite of their height and rather foreboding appearance. And soon they stood in line, though that did not stop someone behind them from bumping into them- "Oh sorry, I didn't quite… see you there," They would hastily answer, suddenly feeling strange they didn't notice the two striking individuals in front of them- Only for the same thing to happen again. And again. And a few more times for good measure.

Up until the twins got up to finally place their order- And waited. The staff were busy- Waiting for someone to come up to the counter to order at their stall within the market.

"Excuse me!" Ingo yelled, rather loudly. It was the only way to get anyone's attention, it seemed-

But this time, no one noticed.

"Excuse us," Emmet also attempted to grab the poor cashier's attention, but they still didn't notice- Focusing instead on fiddling with something under the counter, as if blind not only to the twins but to the few people waiting behind them as well.

And you were getting impatient yourself- The two in front of you were certainly… intimidating, you thought- But- Had they offended the cashier? Could the Cashier not hear them? You weren't one to normally intervene, but… Well, you were hungry yourself.

"Excuse me," You interjected.

The twins ignored you. "Ahem, Excuse me," You interjected a bit more forcefully, and tapped the shoulder of the one in black. The market was quite loud- Perhaps they just couldn't hear you. But the way the one in black jumped- The obstinate frown on his face made him looked downright horrified. You hadn't meant to frighten him-

"Are you talking to me?" He asked, almost incredulously. Your own face matched his- Confusion and a sharp frown. "Well, yes. Is there something the matter? I'd like to order my lunch."

The two looked at each other. The one in white, a pleasant smile on his face, answered you first. "That's what we're trying to do. You seem good at getting people's attention. Here. Speak to them, please."

Your curiosity stopped you from rebuking the request- This was certainly strange. You'd seen a few people run into the pair, but you'd chalked it up to people not paying attention in the bustle of the market and just getting pushed around- Which happened.

"Alright, what did you two want to order?" You asked, as the cashier cheerfully turned to you, smile on her face, and suddenly jumped in shock as you addressed the two men flanking you- And a minute later, you had three order tickets, and a few more minutes later, you had your lunch- And they had theirs. "Let us pay for you. It's the least we can do," The one in black offered- And before you could really utter out any objection, he offered you a bill of money that more than covered your meal.

"Glad I could uh, be of help-" I guess, you thought. What a strange pair- Twins, evidently, and to you, at least, they were the most striking pair in the entire market- And all of Gear Station. Well, no matter. You should really be getting home, and so you went to bid them farewell.

"Actually, would you- I'm terribly sorry to inconvenience you, but would you take your stop with us?" The one in black asked.

The one in white stood at your other side. "Yes! Please. We would like to talk to you, a little bit."

You considered it a moment. Their silver eyes sparkled at you, filled with a strange emotion- An almost hopeful look.

"Okay, sure. Who are you two, anyway? I feel like I've seen you… on the trains before. Aren't you two trainers?"

"I am Emmet, and this is my brother, Ingo."

Ingo bowed lightly. "We're quite glad to hear you've heard of us before, too."

"Yup! Verrry glad!"

It was going to be the first of many lunches shared with the strange bosses of Gear Station.

[squidslugs-art]

anybody else up completely redesigning the cast of one of their stories to make it original and not a pokemon universe based one

no? just me? shame

(tawny | nutmeg | hibiscus sarsaparilla | firecracker | stripes clawin | glare | arkea)

thoughts and philosphys behind their design changes and such below the cut!

tawny: borderline unchanged! besides a little bit of change to his ear markings and removal of all plusle association. and thank god because fuck those plus tails man. but his design is so strong i couldnt really change a whole lot - thank you 2020 wheat for making such a good design!

tawnys scars however got a HEAVY redesign them make them look more intense. those lame scratches from before did not come from a dragon. added a bit more spread out to his neck too for a big bite mark across the back of his neck. i kept his usual trouble with opening that eye over because i think its iconic and much more interesting than just keeping it closed or removing it

also he limps now. he broke his leg in the attack too and didnt rest it properly so it didnt heal properly. i decided against giving that a visual indicator because i dont think it would really have one logically - this isnt a cinderpelt situation, he broke it by landing at a poor angle and then didnt let it heal properly, so it wouldnt really be scratched up or be twisted in any way.

nutmeg/lewis: a name change to match some new lore about rabbits (naming them after stuff they'd know about instead of human names) and also because as much as i liked the name lewis, it felt very strange having it stand out as the super different name in the family

otherwise? also borderline unchanged besides a few new and recoloured markings to make them a little more unique from his brother. they arent twins or anything man. nothing else to say about it really, hes literally the same guy as before basically.

hibiscus: a complete design overhaul, although using the philosphy of her old design; she still looks like shes related to her kids without looking like a carbon copy like the old design. i wanted her to appear as Parent with only a few shared traits with her kids instead of all of them. you can see what they inherited from her and what they didnt instead of them being borderline clones of hibiscus

i leaned heavier into the pinks and making her lighter than her children (sunnyside warren is mostly dark coated rabbits, so shes on the lighter side for them) and i tried to inspire a bit of a flower motif with her face marking, relating back to her name. i wanted to actually make her look a bit like the flower in general

continues to be the only character in shattered glass with an accessory! i couldnt remove it. its iconic. and i made her future scars a little more obvious on her, although the design pictured is where she is early-story

sarsaparilla/elsa: a name change again for the reasons spoken of in nutmegs section, and also because of the unfortunate frozen association. i did not name them (they are from a very old rp and was the child of a character who was not mine)

a COMPLETE overhaul pretty much, going from poochyena to a jackalope of all things, making them the only fantasy animal in the story, although jackalopes are not regarded as such in universe (instead being considered a rare mutation of normal rabbits and are treated like and called rabbits). i thought it was fun as it makes their role as the soothsayer of the warren more standout in their design by giving them a very unique trait. im sure this special treatment given to them because of it implies nothing.

this was because becoming a xenofiction story, the implication of going 1-1 with their pokemon species and making them a wolf of some sort felt... contridictary with their role, so i completely overhauled them from a young-ish wolf to a elderly jackalope, old and wise and full of wisdom and future visions, for sure. i managed to keep a little bit of that old design intact with their markings and colours though, as a little nod to poochyena my friend poochyena

firecracker/jenga: so the backstory around sunnyside warren, the home of all of the rabbits we've seen so far, is that they struck a deal with stoats that moved into the area to stop them from hunting them. these stoats are firecrackers parents.

previously a mightyena/braxian hybrid, i wanted to go a completely different route for jenga. i dont know why i gravitated to the stoat family, it just slotted in... perfectly. they had been slated to have been a childhood friend of tawny and nutmeg before drawing away after nutmegs death and ultimately going missing entirely, i felt like slotting them into the role of the future guardian of the warren kept the reason for them to interact with the siblings since theyre of similar age while providing inheritant conflict that would keep them further apart when they get a bit older despite their shared experiences.

so! a changed name for a new stoat name custom (named after more human concepts) and basically the exact same colours with a different set of markings to give that firecracker name good reason. i think they came out SUPER solid and cute i love it sooo much

fun fact: i initially planned for it to have the black as a base with white and orange markings, but after colouring the rabbits first i realized that white would look nice as a contrast against the darker coats of the warren, and i think that was a good call.

stripes: OH BOY. the hardest of all the designs in here to figure out. ve was the only one i hadnt settled on a species on when i started sketching these about a month ago and i still didnt until about a week ago - i initially planned on vem being a pegasus, and playing around with the exact design of pegasi in the universe (they were going to be quite bulky and designed for mountain environments, and their wings were going to be more for gliding than flying), but in the end i felt this didnt suit xem, even if this meant ditching the wings from their design for reasons ill get into in arkeas section

i knew i wanted her to be big, and i didnt want to make xem a predator of some sort, so i was kind of stuck with either monkey, marsupial or large herbivore. i am NOT drawing a monkey and i couldnt think of a marsupial that really fit vem, so after much messing around i settled on mountain goat.

xer colours stayed effectly the same, but i converted their "stripes" into sort of a patched classic tabby cat appearance. im not really sure why i did that, honestly i just thought of it randomly and thought it looked good. ve didnt have many markings before so i just started throwing stuff around until something stuck. some early concepts leaned more pink and orange calico markings or doing a cloud theme.

also, a missing leg, because i realized lately that i have a habit of making all my disabled characters anthro animals that fly who have a flight-related disability. while a fun idea to play with (coming up with the way flight aids would work, the ways a flight disability would effect someone in a flight-based society, etc), pegasus!stripes had this instead of the leg at the time, and then i realized my trend and wanted to make it something that was more grounded in real disabilities instead of making them all based in traits we, as humans, dont have.

CLAWIN: ohh. clawin clawin clawin. im so glad i went for a redesign angle on this story purely for him - i love minun, its one of my favourite pokemon, but that yellow looked so FUCK UGLY on him man. this design i did in one take, and i nailed it i think. its such a huge glow up im so proud of how it came out

first, his eyes, which i consider one of his most important traits - i kept over his weird heterochromia, although instead of giving him an unexplained blank red eye (leftover from when clawin was evil and the reincarnation of a dead character), i gave him a broken iris. coming from a concussion he had earlier in life, his vision is blurry in that eye as a result. its a fun way to keep his "strange looking" red eye while it having a reason to exist. not that i minded him having a random evil looking red eye, but i think its more fun to base it in realism.

i especially am fond of making him a hare instead of a rabbit, making him tower above most of the rest of the cast and giving me the option of making the guy ive always written as being very limited in his expressions (its probably autism now instead of being emotionally repressed) a little more creepy factor by leaning into hares really freaky eyes. not seriously or wahtever, but i think it gets weird when he stares at you for too long.

in general tawny and clawin are meant to contrast eachother as characters, and i wanted to match that design-wise too, which i think i finally succeeded with here. tawny being soft, round and sweet looking and clawin being long, lanky and a little scary looking, despite tawny being full of hate and clawin being nice to a fault.

GLARE: just like stripes, just a complete overhaul for them. again, 1-1-ing an umbreon, especially for the character who is romantically involved with clawin, felt strange for their dynamic. i ended up landing on a flying fox for him instead, since it still kept the 1-1 in concept (being a flying fox instead of just a fox) and its a lot more fun to get a little more out there with the species, especially in a story of mostly rabbits. i can see them being awkward going forward in terms of anatomy and interacting with other characters as a result, but i think it was a good choice and made glare, one of the less inspired designs in the cast before, far more visually interesting

i ended up keeping the umbreon yellow around though, although with a leaning into a heavier purple for the base and some new markings. i think it came out really nice in the end, although i did basically make up the markings on the fly instead of keeping any of their old ones (but they were just a normal umbreon, so...)

i did, for some reason, go the lineless fur effect, especially around the mane, something that i spring for occassionally to give "puffball fuzzy" as the texture im going for. i basically did this on vibes too. this whole design was just kind of winging it to completely remake glare from the ground up with little to no reference to their old design really.

ARKEA: ohhh boy. arkeas previous design was as equally as uninspired as glares and i think got thrown out EVEN MORE than glares too. at least glare shares yellow in common in umbreon. you wouldnt guess what pokemon arkea was before if you didnt know already (its an eevee)

i threw everything out but the kitchen sink and decided to add the only BIG carnivore of the series - a komodo dragon! a total overhaul from the previous design, which is what i wanted, with colours and markings inspired by chinese water dragons to finally give them the unique look theyve deserved for YEARS. being the """villain""" figure (not really but thats spoilers), i wanted to make them all big and imposing to contrast on them kind of being a bit pathetic, as the guy whos going around kidnapping and abusing people because they want the rabbit to kill a guy for them and/or teach them how to kill that guy.

being rebuilt from the ground up meant that theres no major philosphy behind their redesign to the new one though - i literally just made a whole new character with 0 relation outside of name really. i picked green because they were the last one i coloured and green was the colour i didnt use at all for the rest of the cast, so i just rolled with it, and thats pretty much it.

anyway if you read this far: thank you for listening to my horrible ramblings, feel free to send any questions you might have about my freaks to my main blog @squidslugs, and let it be known that the flower images i used as background are selected for a reason and if you can figure out what they are they might tell you a little bit about said character. WINK.

[archoneddzs15]

Super Famicom - Shin Kidoh Senki Gundam Wing: Endless Duel

Title: Shin Kidoh Senki Gundam Wing: Endless Duel / 新機動戦記ガンダムW(ウイング): ENDLESS DUEL

Developer: Natsume

Publisher: Bandai

Release date: 29 March 1996

Catalogue Code: SHVC-AEDJ-JPN

Genre: 2D Fighting

No. of Players: 1-2

Gundam Wing was the first Anime that I watched that was not kid-focused like Dragon Ball Z or Pokemon. When I saw it on TV, I was blown away by how amazing the robots were, how cool the art was, and how it blended war drama with awesome space combat. How cool would it be to play a game where these giant robots could battle each other?! Little did I know that in Japan, a Super Famicom game was released that allowed this very thing. It is a crying shame it never saw a Stateside release.... that is until this very game got an English fan translation. Nice!

The game does a poor job of explaining what the actual story is – mainly because it is in Japanese (which is a language that I do not speak), but it doesn’t really matter because giant awesome-looking mechs are fighting each other all over the place. This is a fighting game built around the design of Street Fighter 2 or maybe Super Street Fighter 2, perhaps? Players select their own giant robot to do battle with against one another. There are a total of 10 robots to do battle with, with each one having unique button combinations to do special moves. In addition, they also have different stats like speed, defense, power, and weapon strength. I played many of the characters and they all felt quite different with lots of cool moves for each.

In terms of controls, each mech has a strong and weak punch, and a strong and weak weapon attack. Each mech also has a counter of 300 power below its life bar which shows how much backup energy for attacks they have. Power attacks take between 100 and 200 power, and shooting a machine-gun-like attack takes it down one at a time. Without this power, you cannot do all the cool fancy destructive moves. It gained be regained though! If you block or use regular attacks, it will refill, and you can unleash some new devastating attacks. There is one last cool feature – you can jet around in your mech! While mechs are somewhat sluggish, if you hit two buttons at once (I think strong punch and strong weapon) plus a direction, you can jet in any direction. What’s even cooler is that do a second jet at the end of your first, so you can jet up, then towards your enemy, and do a dropkick on his head all in one attack. This ability really made me feel like I was fighting in a mech!

While there is the traditional arcade mode where you battle against the computer against all ten mechs, the main fun of this game really is the awesome multiplayer. There are no special options, but it is just a blast bashing each other into the ground! In terms of graphics, this is one of the most beautiful 2D games that I have ever seen. The animations are smooth and there is little to no slowdown! I don’t know how they did it, but they did! The special attacks and beam swords all look great too, and the set pieces for each level really help to see the scale of how large these machines actually are! In terms of music, this game also dominates. I can’t count how many times I looped the intro song when writing this review. Most if not all of the songs help produce a sci-fi war atmosphere that suits this style of game. The sound effects also make it even more satisfying to pummel your friends into the ground.

Next to Street Fighter Zero 2 and maybe the SFC version of Fatal Fury Special and World Heroes, this is my favorite fighting game on the SFC. It’s beautiful, fun, and has giant mechs that battle each other! With a bunch of pals over, this game is endlessly replayable. While the game was never released stateside, there are numerous game sites that produce reproductions of the game. 

[love-is-a-pearl]

Hi, since the previous guy asked that question about Hisui, what would be Ash's team in Kitakami/Blueberry Academy/Paldea for you? I personally prefer to think that when he went to Kitakami he decided to rebuild the team from scratch and I kind of like the idea of Ash with Ogerpon, Ursaluna Bloodmoon and Hisuian Arcanine. I also think he would have Hydrapple and Archaludon since now he started appealing to the powers

Other than Anihilipe, I haven't given it much thought tbh..

Fuecoco and its evos would be awesome with Ash! Just. look at it. peak Ash mon. no wonder so many preople are projecting on poor Roy to be Ash 2.0

The two early route bugs would be cool too. Spidops and Lokix both remind of Leavanny in different ways and they both look like they would be so SO FUN for battles.

Any of the apple dragons would go perfectly with Ash, I wouldn't mind which one (tho pie boy best boy)

If Ash is having an Ursaluna I think the Hisuian one fits him better. But Bloodmoon could work if he catches it because it had to leave its home, is bothering people in town but just because it has nowhere to go. And Ash catching it is his way of giving it a home.

I can see him having 1 single tastugiri and it being a gag mon of some sort :V

Hisuian Arcanine, Frigibax, Armarouge and maybe Clodsire are also some pokemon that I could see working with him.

Archaludon though I think is... to boring for battles? Like, it doesnt move around much so it cant do the crazy stuff Ash likes to do, but it could be a good instance for Ash to learn to work with slower mons since he sucks at it.

Sinistcha too gives me some Ash vibes? Maybe not Ash per se, but like... Main gang pokemon vibes. OK, maybe a James mon is what I'm going for. forget it.

Ogerpon I honestly think works better with Dawn (then again I seem to really like giving her mons capable of changing types...)

[66germs]

I’ll introduce myself here aswell I guess to start uhh yeya!

Hii! I’m Unluckily Lucky! More commonly known as Lucky or the person that made the Yonji turtle stomper 9000 1 percenter if a lifekind video on tt! (If that’s even considered much of a reputation huaha)

I am!! Extremely nervous to post!!! But I have been trying my best to cook up content so I’ll just grow some balls and do it at some point today

Things about me!

-I use any pronouns

-I’m born September 6 2004

-I have ASD, ADHD and anxiety (collecting these like Pokemon cards) so yeah needless to say I might be a bit of a wreck but I’m trying my best

-I’m 5’3 and my blood type AB- 😼 Do what you may with that information

-My favourite One Piece characters as you may have guessed are the Vinsmoke siblings… And Katakuri

-I watched the anime rather than reading the manga due to my poor attention span and the fact I needed background drawing noises so please don’t be too upset at me if there are some facts I might get wrong.. I did read the egghead arc though and am currently caught up, whatever was beforehand yeah no.

-Aside of OP I also find interest in RPG maker psychological/ horror games, old cartoons, vampire squids, psychology (well more like understanding how people work and their thought process, kind of like characters) and embalming. I like learning about them but am not AS knowledgeable as my main hyperfixations, that’s why I just say interest.

-My @ on most socials is chezbolz or chezboll depends which is taken but yea 👍 it’s just a bad way of typing cheese ball

-I’m a multishipper and generally don’t mind any ships (with a few exceptions but I tolerate em) though I do have my own ships that I am set on in my AUs so there’s that. I’ll be happy to indulge in conversations about other ships in private or on posts where it’s appropriate to bring up but please don’t insert them in ones that aren’t about those ships! Just a little common sense. Thank you!

That is all. I think. Yeag

[salora-rainriver]

The Sympathy Problem, or "Why I'm Too Much of a Monsterfucker to Get Into Horror"

I don't know what the fuck this is, but I'm writing an essay about a problem that, as far as I know, only applies to me (but i might be totally wrong, who knows).

I think the title speaks for itself, but lemme just elaborate on what the fuck happens inside my brain, and how that fundamentally affects the way I handle horror media, to the point where I cannot truly appreciate it as horror on the same level as everyone else.

now lemme post a cute bat here so that there'll be an appropriate image to represent the whole essay when its link is shared on stuff like Discord:

trust me this was important. Okay, let's keep going.

Part 1: Why I'm a Monsterfucker

Let's start at age 4. I'm a dinosaur kid, like roughly 1/3rd of all autistic bitches. I'm a dinosaur kid to the point of owning multiple Land Before Time movies, and tie-in games, and I think I even had like two plushies at one point.

you know it's serious when this is your childhood.

I also had miscellaneous dinosaur plushies, and dinosaur toys, and a dinosaur book I frequently read front-to-back, and you get the idea.

dinosaur love evolves into dragon love, evolves into "funky monster creatures and animals of all kinds" love. I become a freakish savant of the wonderful world of the animal kingdom really quickly, to the point where my child-brain career prospects include "vet" as a pretty high finalist.

And then I find Starcraft, a game in a genre I otherwise wouldn't have given a shit about... but guess what? it has bug dinos.

it's all over for me.

But like, why? why do I like dinosaur so much?

... because I am dinosaur.

Look. LOOK. I can't give a good comprehensive list on the connections between my particular strand of autism and the state of Being A Dinosaur, because by this point, me being autistic and me being a dinosaur are so completely intertwined that it's often a chicken-egg situation. But the point is,

I make weird noises instead of using my words. I toe-walk. I don't like shoes. Sometimes I like to not wear clothes at all, even. I like to hide in small crevices when spooked. When I'm in a meltdown, I scare people.

Me dinosaur. Or at least, me some type of feral.

So is it any fucken surprise that when I go into an RPG, I latch onto the animal shapeshifter, the furry species, or the person who fights unarmed and/or uses a claw weapon?

Is it any fucking surprise that I am the opposite of spooked by snakes and spiders and other such creepy crawlies?

is it any fucking surprise that I have a fursona?????

is it any fucking surprise that I picked Pokemon Scarlet without the slightest HINT of remorse?!

Part 2: Wait, That's not the Intended Response

now let's talk about horror. Let's talk about the elements that make horror into horror: the fear part.

So what scares people? Well... people scare us. A serial killer, a mad scientist, a cult leader, a corrupt government entity, maybe? or maybe even society itself, its darker side full of atrocities and danger and problems where there's no easy solution and things can often seem hopeless?

... lmao who are we kidding that's not the vast majority of what scares people in horror. IT'S MONSTERS! Monsters scare people!

From Xenomorphs to Jean Jacket to The Babadook, it's monsters! Shit that ain't human and never could be human, and maybe it's pretending to be human, maybe it used to be human, but now it ain't, and it's gonna getcha!

And it just.

I'm a monsterfucker.

I'm not scared of ghosts. Sure he's fucked up and wailing in endless pain and lashing out at everything, but that just makes me feel sad. Like, poor ghost dude. We should help him.

I'm not scared of vampires or werewolves. They're people like anyone else, and sure, there's an inherent danger from being around them, but there's also an inherent danger from being close to an alligator, and I'm sure as fuck not scared of an alligator chilling on the side of the road. Cautious, maybe, but not scared.

I'm not scared of zombies. I mean, if they were real, I'd be a bit spooked, cause I have no combat expertise and would definitely be Fucked. But the same would apply if my hometown became a war zone. And... a war movie won't scare me. So a zombie movie wouldn't, either.

I'm not scared of xenomorphs. I mean I don't want to die, but that just means I should be entering alien environments with all proper safety procedures. TBH I'm more pissed at Weyland-Yutani than anything else.

I'm not scared of the Babadook. I'm worried for the well-being of the family as they try to come to terms with grief, and the monstrous shape that grief has taken. But it seems like they're coping in the end, so that's good.

I'm not scared of Jean Jacket - okay no. I'll be honest. It makes me uncomfortable. I will not be going into detail on the difference between this discomfort and actual fear. That is not a Salora Lore I want to disclose here. If you Know, you Know.

Part 3: Horror ceases to be a genre for me

So the monsters in horror movies don't scare me. And yet... I've watched some horror movies. And I've liked them. From this one list I've been using as quick reference to remind myself of What Horror Movies Exist out there, I've watched a few of these, or am at least familiar with them. You know, I've seen some classic horrors like "The Shining" because I went to film class in high school, and I've watched some installments of classic franchises like "Scream", or oddball picks like "Warm Bodies" and "The Relic", because I was having watch parties with friends.

Even beyond film, I read some Lovecraft once, and I've played plenty of spookier-themed videogames, like... well, like Silent Hill 2. Didn't finish that one. Bcs I'm bad at puzzles. But I loved the atmosphere.

And even when I'm not directly experiencing the horror media, I often look it up, read the synopsis, and watch video essays about it.

I know way too much about Hereditary, Midsommar, Get Out, the Slasher Genre in general, Creepypasta, Resident Evil, and mascot horror, for someone who's supposedly not able to properly engage with horror as a medium.

And I like some of that shit! But uh...

... not. as horror.

I just. Don't engage with them as horror films. I engage with them as whatever other genre you could slot them into. Hereditary is a tragedy. Get Out is political allegory. The Babadook is psychological allegory. Ghost stories are dark fantasy. Alien is sci fi. Slasher films go back and forth between mystery, action, and dark comedy. Warm Bodies is a rom-com. (like. that's not even a weird hot take. I don't know why this Rotten Tomatoes editorial decided it was horror, but I'm not gonna dispute their assertion, Bcs like. this entire essay is about why I'm not a good judge on that sort of thing) Silent Hill is a puzzle-adventure game with light action. Five Nights at Freddys is a time-management simulation game that would stress me the fuck out if I ever played it. Amnesia: the Dark Descent is a stealth game.

You get the idea.

So I'm just... in this really weird position. I'm a huge fan of spooky monsters, strange happenings, stories that engage seriously with the anxieties of mankind through allegory,

but I can't. truly enter the horror genre community as an insider.

Cause I ain't scared.

And honestly, it gets even worse when I start to imagine myself maybe, idk, *writing* a horror story of my own. Because... since I don't get scared by them, how am I supposed to know what scares others? Apologies to my fellow disabled folk for this clumsy analogy, but... it feels like trying to paint while visually impaired. I mean... you can do it. You can do it super well if you push yourself. but it's a strong disadvantage, and it might result in an artwork that could baffle the seeing people in your audience.

And maybe there could be merit in that. In writing my attempt at a horror story from the perspective of someone who doesn't find any of it scary. Maybe it's be intriguing, even surreal or dreamlike or alien to the audience who doesn't engage with this subject matter in the same way I do.

Or maybe it'd just end up similar to that one phase of the creepypasta fad where folks were going "wooo! hyperrealistic blood! isn't it spoopy n fuked up????" and it'll be garbage idfk

Bonus Round: ...Okay I Might've Lied a Bit

There is one movie that for me, truly could be considered "horror".

It genuinely terrified me as I watched it. It shook me to my core and opened my eyes to how other people feel when they see some shadowy monster figure with too many teeth reach out and eviscerate a poor bitch. I fucking get it now, to some extent. I don't know *how* the spiky boy elicits that response in you, but now I understand how it feels.

Because I watched FUCKING M3GAN

[SPOILER WARNING: I'm not saying the exact plot beats of the movie but I AM going into detail about its themes and the character development of the protagonist. It's massive spoilers but they're all vague spoilers.]

Me and my friends didn't pick this movie thinking we'd get spooked. this is the movie where the doll does some sort of modern dance routine while carrying a katana. It's goofy shit! We figured this was goofy ass modern trash and we were gonna laugh.

MOTHERFUCKERS I WASN'T LAUGHING????

Is the premise unrealistic and goofy? yeah. are the characters exaggerated and cartoonish? yes. are there like, numerous jokes throughout this film, that are portrayed as jokes? yes. was the dancing robot doll chase sequence goofy as shit? yes*

*ok but the context of That Scene made my brain gloss right the fuck over how goofy it was bcs I was too fucked up over everything else that already happened!

So like. What? How? How is goofy robot doll horrifying? Salora, you know how many stories about rogue AIs and killer robots there are? Why doesn't skynet scare you?

It's not about the doll. It's about the humans who created her.

This film is as subtle as a fucking anvil when it comes to it's social commentary. Like, "opening sequence is a kids commercial for Deranged Knockoff Furby" and "a therapist character explains attachment theory for a whole scene" levels of unsubtle. and honestly that makes the horror fucking worse. in this bizarre cartoonish parody of society, we're seeing a laid-bare and raw allegory for the real harm we are inadvertently delivering upon real fucking people. Weirdly enough, the exaggeration just makes it feel more real.

and what's "It"? Not the uncanny valley of a too-perfect silicon face, the gruesome deaths, the murderous AI,

No, "it" is the commodification of childhood, the degradation of familial ties and human connection through overwork, the way we try to patch these broken ties with product, the outsourcing of parenting to toys and machines, the disastrous consequences of allowing an orphan to vanish into wish fulfillment fantasy instead of being given space to work through her grief,

the exploitation of her grief in order to market the very thing that's spiraling her further into an unhealthy dependency, to do the exact same thing to children worldwide, all because of profit.

Look. Monsters, ghosts, demons, serial killers, zombies, predatory animals, rogue AI, they're not scary to me, because I know them. and if I don't know them, I want to know them. The solution to the threats things like that pose are simple. Keep your distance from the crocodile. Punch the shark's sensitive nose to make it back off. Invest in security measures so your house doesn't get broken into. Don't anger the ghost. Exorcise the demon. Shoot the zombie's head.

How do you, an overworked engineer for a toy company, find the time to connect with your orphaned niece on a human level?

How do you take away said niece's beloved doll when you slowly come to realize that her attachment to it has become unhealthy?

What the fuck are you supposed to even do when you realize that you might have created a murderous monster and marketed it to hundreds of kids, and your overzealous boss is in your ear pressuring you to get it ready for launch?

WHAT A FUCKING NIGHTMARE.

Conclusion: But fr am I like the Only One

so uh. yeah.

My fear response is mucked around by an unusually high level of sympathy for the monsters that tend to populate horror media. I'm Too Kinky To be Tortured, and it puts me in an awkward relationship with the horror genre, where the only things that can well and truly terrify me are unhealthy relationships and capitalism, and even then, only if those topics are presented in just the right way to make me feel like this shit is Real.

And like you know how there's a whole language of like, scares and signifiers and shit that's been well-researched, all these tiny tips and tricks to exploit primal fears in humans? (I dont know if language is the right word but im just gonna call it that until further notice)

well, a lot of that Language of Horror doesn't quite work on me, because it's all related to monsters and physical threats, and I love the monsters too much,

and I imagine there is a whole different Language out there of the shit that can be exploited to scare me,

but fuck if i know what it is. I only got a single movie as my frame of reference. How the fuck would you even find a movie that handles social anxiety like that?

Like idk, do y'all think Carrie would spook me? Carrie's about societal ills, right?

[pokeglitchden]

A further update on the Zee situation. I don't know how many people are following this development, but doing this feels like it still might help.

Or... at least it lets me feel like I'm doing something useful.

So here's what we know so far.

Zee disappeared on 1/13 while attempting to leave the Heartfelt Foundation pokemon shelter in Slateport City. She sent a panicked message to our Gliscord chat before very abruptly disconnecting. While �aver and I attempted a rescue, she was gone, with signs of a struggle, by the time we arrived.

Fouroh disappeared a day later on 1/14 while attempting to stage a rescue in Slateport city.

Others who have attempted a rescue only to disappear shortly thereafter are now as follows: Cooper Magnolia, Jax, and most recently Basil Mistrest.

Zee has connected from these locations to date:

1/18 - a warehouse in oreburgh city

1/17 - near icirrus

1/13 - route 36 johto (courtesy of @runicsorceress . Thanks Rune!)

It appears that none of them have been killed. Though everyone who has attempted a rescue so far has ended up missing, and no pokemon or people have managed thus far to successfully escape.

Zee continues to broadcast her location. Either it is her, or someone who is posing as her. Either way, nobody involved seems to be making much effort to prevent her from broadcasting these locations. I believe Zee may be being used as bait for this purpose.

While not as consistent. Cooper has also been seen attempting to establish a connection, proving he too may have a viable method of communication. Though we have not successfully spoken with him as of yet.

I am still struggling to make sense of all this. I have not yet determined why people are being abducted, nor what they're being held for. There is some evidence to suggest Zee is being kept as a hostage, but so far there has been no ransom nor a bid for any kind of negotiation. Even so, whoever has her seems all too happy to allow us to KNOW we have her.

We also know that whoever has been carrying out these kidnappings must be a skilled trainer, as they managed to abduct Gym Leader Fouroh. Yet they don't seem to be targeting trainers for their pokemon, as a number of those abducted have been people with casually trained teams as well. There must be some motive behind this, but at the moment I can't fathom what it is.

Anyway. I'm at a pokemon center in the middle of Unova in the bitter cold with Basil's Poryphone. At least the poor thing is out of the cold. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be able to tell me much about Basil's abduction.

I guess all there is left to do is to keep looking.

-Simon

[heartlurch]

Can you tell more about your cannibal shaymin OC who hates being in land forme? idk her name but she seemed cool... I like pokémon OCs and she had a really neat look and vibe about her... any other poké OCs you have would be neat to learn more about too!

(Under the cut for courtesy.)

Whoa, so interesting for her to be remembered, I made her years ago... (2019 mayb?) She wasn't as developed as some other concepts of mine, I never settled on a name proper, but I think of her as named something kind of severe. Like 'Clarity'... in contrast with her very sick, hazy mind.

She's genuinely just a vvvvery very ill, disordered individual, I imagined her very troubled when developing as a baby, put-off and violent towards any littermates or parent figure. She's not very old... young adolescent? And her diet is 'improper', as shaymin aren't meant to predate on other pokes, so she is underweight as her body isn't absorbing nutrients properly. Though I think unlike our world, pokemon are magical, enough that there is some wiggle room, esp as a pseudo-legendary... so her diet won't kill her, just hobble her, maybe further her unwellness. It's not exactly a hunger like a normal predator, it is something possessing her to do this, I would say almost like a delusion (that this is her 'destiny' in some manner, that's why it 'feels so good'.)

Eventually she was slated to have a mate that was a very overweight vaporeon my wife developed, one that got really good at hunting in its own habitat ww... I knew my wife was thinking about her being drowned, pulled into the lake by him.

As for OCs, I have several, many were made during a particular winter in 2017 where me and my wife sat down to design several pkmn to pair with one another. :3 Most of them compiled here & most didn't get a name. I think only the zigzagoon had one, 'Dart'... His mate, the persian with a blue gem, is named Lapis. I remember their narrative was one where her owner desperately wishes to breed her for her rare color mutation, but she is so persnickety and will not deign any proposed sires... The owner isn't cruel so doesn't force anything into her. But then she becomes charmed by a dirty little stray zigzagoon and instead obsessively wants to groom, cuddle, mate with him lol, and the owner just has to be like sigh, if this is what she wants....

I believe the chinchou was paired with a goreabyss that was very saturated (from her successful diet, much bloodsucking done ww), they meet oneday and she decides to not... kill him, for now. (?) The shuppet paired with a swirlix that is repulsed by sweets, thus suffers from a poor diet also. When the swirlix is unwell, the shuppet is able to feed on her negative emotions, and when the swirlix gets nursed back to health by shuppet, then it is his turn to become lethargic and unwell (no longer able to feed from her.)

Butterfree, electrike etc. were all just design pitches, not developed.

Since I really like the 'chu line, I had various sonas of them also. I had a 'set' of 2 pichu which were 'composite sonas' to represent myself, born from the same egg but instead of recognizing one another as siblings, saw each other as halves of the same whole. Technically they have defects effecting their development, improper tails and one has lop ears (cartilage issue?) Their egg was abandoned, so they have no troupe, and they're unable to be kind to one another actually... so they're sort of doomed to die if no one takes care of them. There's alternate timelines where, if they're somehow very lucky, they are able to evolve into pikachu/raichu... but then just become absolute monsters like that. Like I mean flat out going to become rapists kfkfkf

The pikachu, Muka, was an exploration of if those pichu weren't born separately, instead combining into 1 being. In this case, the lop-eared one would be melanistic (which I sometimes think of 'shadow' pokemon as being that in this world) ; the result is Muka is very visibly a chimera. He is still abandoned as an egg, and development was very difficult, but he has a 'more complete mind', less fractured.

One of my most recent sonas was Hondew, I made him like, early ~2021 or something... another chimera. (This concept stuck w/ me for a sec...) I have a write-up of him still:

"As a trapinch (and vibrava) he was a very simple minded creature, highly food motivated. would overeat if he could. but he was just getting by in the desert and could only do so much. Surviving to his final evolution was good fortune. The resulting intelligence and stats boost... are used all towards his high food drive. but now he also has the ability to enjoy playing with his food, and devise ways to hurt things.

his moveset is focused on paralysis (mean look, thunder fang) to slow things down and avoid giving chase(or being chased). he's not a fast flier, nor can he fly very high. as he gets fatter and less mobile, it means he problem solves how to work around these things. enabling him further..

he delights in eating baby pokemon and eggs, there's a sick enjoyment in doing so. and he clears the area of unwanted competition by making an inhospitable environment where there's a dirty rotten baby eater on the loose ! :(

He'll never pick a fight directly with a pokemon as high leveled as him. he has patience and tenacity on his side. he will play the long con of harassing you, tormenting you, and evading you with a tricky moveset. and most pokemon just would rather live elsewhere, where the competition is more manageable and there isn't a huge jerk nipping at your heels every second.

he likes to manipulate things in his hands, and the frequent use makes them more dextrous than most flygons. he can often be seen holding something. meticulously running his claws over it. in the case of avvy's shinx, he loves to touch her fur and carries her around everywhere. she's very novel, as shinx are not native to his deserts. he keeps her on a whim, but grows very attached to her over time"

Aside from him I think my most recent exploits were these other unnamed ones, a salandit and a togekiss. The togekiss is there to love and fuss and chuff over the little archen that nips at it, and the salandit is endlessly consuming cutiefly. I have a liepard and nidorino in the works, but they're indistinct in my mind still...

(Often I suppose naming the pokemon doesn't always come to mind bc they are equivalent to wild animals & sometimes it just doesn't really feel important or cross the mind.)

My only other OCs I belieeeve are in PMD verse, compiled here. Their narratives are not very different from the plot of their respective games. I think only the PMD sky set of phanpy (Vvyrd) and vulpix (Vivi) deviate, as Vivi evolves and her nature changes as a ninetales, she eventually steals Vvyrd away into the mountains to live in isolation. The skitty/mudkip were only from playing the demo fr DX so I don't think they had proper names... The super team was of a bulbasaur (Periwinkle) and fennekin (Wish) !

That's!!!!!!!!! Everything I think...........

[lunartearrose]

Oc Kiss Week 2024 #1 - Almost :)

Series: pokespe

Drabble below! Tw cuz Jackie faces transphobia for a sec in the beginning.

Jackie had been running as fast as her legs could carry her, deep into the Ilex forest with no real plan about where she was going. But finally, she was slowing down, too out of breath to keep it up.

That damn old man from Azalea logging company recognized her. Right in front of her rival, secretly best friend, called her Jack, and told her to take the skirt off.

Jackie was too frazzled to say a single thing. But her rival, Winter, seemed to misunderstand, going at the man with her Glaceon and croconaw, yelling obscenities as she tore through the old jerk's team of farfetch'd and magmar.

But the old man kept going. Kept insisting, drawing attention, and she couldn't take it anymore. And thus, she took off, cloak pulled overhead so she wouldn't be seen by anyone else.

Collapsing in the soft grass, Jackie cried. All this time, all the effort to convince Winter that she was a different person, ruined in an instant. Jackie had liked being this cute, gentle girl that Winter met days ago, instead of Jack, a fumbling boy barely in control of his psychic power, unable to keep a single pokemon listening to him that Winter knew for years as a bit of a failure.

She didn't want to stop being Jackie. But now what? What would her rival think of her? Would she be forced to stop being a girl? Could she ever face Winter again? Or their friends?

Thinking like this was hurting her, but she couldn't help it. For her, she felt it was over.

Jackie had spent so long sobbing, she didn't hear Winter calling for her. She only noticed when Winter’s Glaceon burst through the brush, calling out behind her for her trainer's attention.

Fear ripped through Jackie's heart instantly. She couldn't face her. She felt like a liar. She struggled to her feet, running the other way again.

“Jackie- hey!!” Winter called out.

Jackie kept going. She barely got any oomph left, and she knew Winter would gain on her. But still…

“Im- … s-sorry… that i lied-!” Jackie wheezed, hating the way her voice had sounded since she couldn't control it like this, “I don't… deserve… to be your rival…”

“Ugh, what the fuck are you talking about?!” Winter yelled back, “You're not a liar!”

Jackie could feel herself slowing, her heartbeat in her ears, in her throat, choking her from the run slowly turning to jog. “I… I am…!”

Jackie turned back, attempting to see how much Winter closed the distance on her.

The smaller girl jumped and tackled her to the ground, letting force do the work. To lessen the impact, Jackie instinctively used her psychic power to slow her descent before her head hit the dirt too fast.

Now, Winter was sitting on Jackie's stomach, hands perched on her shoulders. Her purple eyes glared down at the poor, winded girl, comparatively barely breaking a sweat.

“Gotcha… now.” Winter began, softening her voice as best as she could manage, “Whaddaya mean you're lying? This isn't about what that dickhead said, is it?”

Jackie didn't respond, only tearing up again. Slowly, she nodded.

Winter sighed softly. “Jackie. You being Jackie isn't some lie. You being the same person as Jack isn't a lie either - it's like- like how Toto evolved into a Croconaw a little while back. You know? So don't worry about it. Dickhead was the dickhead, not you.”

Jackie whined softly, “b-but at the start… i told you…”

“Ugh, that? The thing about being ‘Jack's cousin’? I know what you said. Back then, I rolled with it, but I knew it was you. Trust me, I wouldn't share my clothes with a girl I don't know.” Winter explained. “I won't be mad if you go back, or if you want to keep being a girl. You're my best friend, and it'd be stupid of me to force you either way. So quit cryin’.”

At this, Winter pulled a sleeve over her finger, and gently wiped the tears away from Jackie's cheeks. Jackie felt a bit more calmed down, her mind starting to stop racing.

“Okay…” Jackie replied. “C…can you keep the secret, still? Just go with that story for anyone who knows us…”

“Yeah, sure.” Winter replied. She sat back, looking up at the sky. “You know. I've kind of had my own secret evolution…thing. If I'm keepin’ yours, would you keep mine a secret, too?”

“Secret? S-sure…"Jackie answered.

“Thanks.” Winter said. “Just… try not to be afraid. It freaks me out. Bet you'll pass out or something, hehe.”

At this, Winter began to reveal her secret. She closed her eyes, and drew in a deep breath. In a shimmer of silver light, a horn appeared at the part of her hair, protruding from her forehead. Her light blue hair grew dark at the tips, and her freckles were now a similar silvery-blue as the horn on her head. From her back, silver wing-like appendages formed, with 2 deep blue claws at the end of each.

Now, Winter leaned forward, holding Jackie's head in her now-clawed hands. She opened her eyes, and instead of their usual beautiful purple, they were now a bright, glowing red. Jackie felt frozen under her gaze. Her heart picked up once again.

“Well?” Winter asked. Her voice was unusually quiet, near a whisper. She leaned in a bit more, to make sure she's heard. “They've been growing since I was 14, or at least that's when I noticed it… the horn can't break, and my hands can't grip my wings much. I can't speak up like this, but I think that's because another voice is growing in, too. I'm… not that human anymore, I don't think. But I can hide it. Isn't it scary?”

Jackie stared at her, taking in the details. Winter stared back. Winter began to back off, but Jackie grabbed her by the jacket, pulling her closer again.

“What're you…?” Winter muttered in confusion.

Then she saw it - Jackie was all flustered. Was it from the running? It couldn't be…

Jackie wanted to scream. She wanted to yell at winter and tell her she wasn't scary at all. She loved Winter, and always appreciated her support. No matter what - they'd be there for each other! Always!

But also? Also, Jackie really wanted to kiss her. Well, Jackie always wants to kiss Winter. And especially now! She was extra gorgeous with wings and a horn!

Winter tilted her head in confusion. “Jackie…?”

[ultraericthered]

Unpopular Opinion Re: Pokemon

I really like Team Star in the Current Gen games as antagonists and I love them as the subject of their storyline. I just don’t much like them as villains. I think that really hit me when I had the realization that, when I think of current Pokemon stuff, and of villains and “evil teams” I...really don’t tend to think of them that much. I have more thoughts to spare the Galar region baddies (not Team Yell though, since they were never actually baddies for real) and Volo from the previous generation than I do the poor misunderstood misfits on Team Star.

And I think I’ve narrowed down three reasons for this: 

1. Their look is really, really bland. Aside from the star shaped shades, nothing about them has any unique “evil team grunt” vibes.

2. Their “villainy”, and this does put a slight damper on their position as antagonists too, is kind of a letdown. They’re set up as these “rebellious students” who after dealing with bullying, stygmatization, and failures from the system, ditched the academy to set up their own bases across five corners of Paldea and are now big bullies who are out to crush all Academy students as retribution...except we don’t really see them doing that on-screen. Instead it’s YOU who has to go around antagonizing THEM because Cassiopeia wants to shut the whole thing down. We never see Team Star anywhere except at their bases when you happen upon them and are made to fight the squad bosses (though I will say I love how Team Star - the grunts and the bosses - battle you; it’s such a unique change of pace from the norm) I feel like these guys should’ve been like Cobra Kai and make us really get a sense of just how bad they can get in their hyper-dedicated, merciless torment of weaker trainers so we know full well what Cassiopeia wants you to put a stop to and (eventually) why.

3. The repetition of their shtick. As well done as their story is, this is the third time straight where the regional “Team Something-Or-Other” is a group of maladjusted young goofballs who were dealt a bad hand by life and failed by the grown ups. It calls to mind where we were with Team Plasma in Gen 5, so one more of this type of team will put us in Team Flare territory of “enough of these guys already!”

I hope that the Explorers in the current anime and whoever the main foe(s) of the DLC content is going to be can compensate for this ‘cuz Team Star, I love you but c’mon, we can do a lot better than you.

[lollitree]

Your tags under the pokemon poll are SO TRUEE and it hurts how many people dont understand that

I grew up in the change from pixel art to 3D and have nostalgia for bw, xy AND sm. So i think because of that, I can see the good and bad in all the games but don't feel like any of them 'peaked''. They're all different games, so they are really hard to compare.

On a related note tho, its so sad to see so many fans praise one of my childhood games and not the others. And like, I get it because gen 5 is more similar to what they grew up with.....but every time I say I love xy, sm and even swsh i get told they are terrible and usually imply that I shouldnt like them :/

That only happens online, though......irl all the fans ive met, no matter their ages, just say something like 'i didnt like it, but i'm glad you did!'. Growing up in irl fan spaces and having to move online during corona was AN EXPERIENCE omg

Yeah! It's super interesting how much we are affected by nostaglia.

There's usually a pattern you can notice with this stuff too. There are two lines that go up as time goes on. The one everyone talks about as being great and the newer one people hate on, usually to do with nostalgia of the now older original audience of the game.

My full reply got long so putting it under a read more skfjsh

My first Pokemon game was Colosseum, so gen 2/3 pokemon and gen 3 sound effects are pretty nostalgic to me.

Then I grew up mostly playing Diamond/Platinum/PMD2/Ranger2. I LOVED Team Galactic. I restarted the games so many times just so I could play through the story again with Cyrus and the Galactic Grunt theme. (I have also played through pmd2 many many times). I remember in my early teens seeing people on the internet hating on DPPt a lot and it making me sad. I recall someone saying that the gen 4 Pokemon sucked and I remember thinking "aw I guess they're right, some of these pokemon are really boring or annoying" and then I learned later that the pokemon I was thinking of were all gen 1 pokemon sdfkjsh

Gen 5 was hated when it first came out because it wasn't very fun for new players. I bet it also didn't help that the advertising for B2W2 was pretty poor and also came out after the 3DS did. I didn't even know it was a sequel until years later. That's why they went in the complete opposite direction for gen 6, and added gimmicks!

I have heard multiple people call the designs from gen 5 horrible over the years (And they're all wrong). Those comments are nowhere NEAR as frequent now, but they almost always come from people with nostalgia for the ones they grew up with.

I was 13 when BW first came out. I think I've only beaten it once, MAYBE twice. I'm not entirely sure why, because I was still replaying DPPt a lot. I would guess it's because the game is super linear in terms of gameplay and every playthrough will start exactly the same. You don't really get to make decisions on your team and how you play until later. Kid me loved the beginning of the main pokemon games the most because they were the most fun bits to play usually. So I suppose when you've already played it once, the beginning becomes quite boring.

And to compare. I did not like XY when it first came out. I was 16 and very against change and also my fav types at the time were dark and dragon so fairy type was the worst thing ever. I said previously that I really liked Team Galactic, so Team Flare was just a bootleg version of them to me. BUT I did immediately replay the game when I finished it. The character customisation plus the huge dex gives the game a lot of replayability. Because while I didn't like a lot about the game it was still fun to play, and it was the first time online was really accessible to me. I went back to 2013/2014 on my blog and there's SO much positivity about the game it's amazing! Over time people only remembered the bad parts and started hating it. I bet there'll be an influx of nostalgia for it before long. We can even see it in the hope people have for SV having Kalos DLC.

I need to replay sun/moon or play USUM because in my brain currently it sucks. But I'm very aware that that's because I only played it once, it's been years, and I played it when I started to grow out of Pokemon. So I'm excited to play it again now that I can appreciate it better. (Also the Sun/Moon anime is my fav so I have a lot of love for the characters now)

And finally, I loved SWSH! I didn't finish it the first time I tried to play it. Mostly because I spent HOURS trying to get a shiny hatenna before doing the fire gym skdfjhs. But then I SPED through the game with a bug type only run before Legends came out and I really enjoyed the story! One of those things that's more enjoyable if you're only focused on enjoying the story (and playing the game through with a joltik as the lead and trying to make sure they stay strong enough to beat the game with pfft) Also Leon was the first ever Champion I actually thought was cool and enjoyed seeing while playing the game (as ridiculous as his outfit is)

If I were to logically plot out the best for me based on how nostalgia works and taking into consideration that public opinion ABSOLUTELY influences me. I would have said BW was the best and XY(or SM) was the downfall, even though I had way more fun playing XY than BW as a kid

[hybbat]

🔥 pokemon!

I have... a few...

There's nothing wrong with trubbish and vanillish as concepts, and unlike many pokemon their designs are still very good and cute and just the right balance of concept and design.

Gen 5 had almost nothong but banger pokemon designs and you cannot complain about them "just being replacements for other pokemon" when 1) pokemon has always had regional versions of the same concept, 2) newer games who only put out like 50 pokemon are also making blander clones of older pokemon, 3) regional variants exist and are far and wide a massive mistake, and 4) gen 5s takes on similar concepts were fully fleshed out into their own pokemon with their own place in the story and region and often did the concept and design better than the pokemon they are ecounterpart to.

Too many of the recent pokemon in the last two generations are too simple and just the animal theyre based on with a halfhearted gimmick or type slapped on in a way that usually ruins the design. This includes pokemon i like like wooloo, who is adorable and one of the few gen 8 pokemon I actually like, but it has no excuse for how simple and boring it is when flaafy exists.

Most regional pokemon force concepts onto older pokemon that would have been better as their own pokemon, but its easier to edit an existing pokemon. Most modern pokemon are designed to be easy to model rather than have good designs. There's a reason simple pokemon like diglett and pyukumuku have so many regional variants/similar pokemon and a lot more pokemon have patterns as their detail or simplified design concepts.

Raihan and Piers are some of the ugliest character designs in pokemon history, Marnie's character is nonexistent and her design is cowardly, and Leon is a nothing character with a bad design who has exactly one character trait (no sense of direction) which they go beyond tell dont show and have him actively contradict in his very first major scene (finding you in a foggy forest and guding you out)

The mainline pokemon games haven't become open world. They just became open field, and have less fun gameplay, less interesting locations, and worse visuals for it.

A 3d pokemon game is not inherently bad, even if it absolutely looks and plays better in 2d and 2.5d, and XY proves as much, as its only flaws could have been smoothed out entirely by a third entry the same as DPPt. The problem is the switch from tiling, the artstyle shift to more realistic, and switch to the switch which has done nothing but ruin all the portable consol games forced onto it while also making them more expensive. They problem is less content for your money, the simplification and reliance on nostalgia pandering to retain old fans, the poor modeling incapable of capturing the artstyle, and the refusal to give more time to make a game that requires more time to make due to the 3d. And the problem is the clmplete shift in focus and mindset that came with the onset of 3d games starting with ORAS and new management both in the pokemon company and nintendo.

Most fanmade pokemon games have terrible balancing and think increasing the levels and giving trainers bigger parties will make the game more fun. Imo gen 5 had the best balacing of any pokemon game, even on b2w2's hard mode, and I wish both official and fanmade games would take notes.

Pokemon went downhill when it took away HMs, because it also by extention took away most of its puzzle and exploration gameplay that was important to making grinding and travel fun. HMs had their annoyances, but they had an integral part of the gameplay that pokemon never truly bothered to replace, with the sole exception of ride pokemon in XY and Let's Go.

Pokemon sleep would be amazing and more than any company I trust pokemon to make games that have good intentions, and if it came out 10 years ago I would trust it, but I know it just exists to harvest data and track people.

I've gone on this rant before but rotomdex is the worst thing ever to happen to the emersion of pokemon. I hate having a smartphoen or tablet instead of a pokedex and poketch/pokenav/cute scifi device that could be made into a marletable toy.

Pokemon does not have any right to be a full price game on the switch, let alone package the postgame as DLC they also charge for.

[yourfaves-a-pokemaster]

Hiiiiiii!! Could you make Pokemon Teams for Rorschach and/OR Daniel/Nite Owl from Watchmen? I feel like they’d have some cool teams!!!

Well leave it to one of my favorite people to get this back up and running. This was surprisingly hard, but I had a good time. I decided to do Rorschach for now, but if the interest is still there I might do Daniel/Nite Owl later ^.^

For now let's take a look at Team Rorschach!

Team Rorschach

1. Charmeleon

I think charmander was his first pokemon. Being the son of a prostitute, poor dude was picked on a lot, I imagine his charmander would literally light fires under his bullies asses. Honestly the thought is extremely hilarious. So why a charmeleon and not a charizard? Charizard is too big...too loud...too noticeable. No one is usually suspicious of mid range or basic pokemon. Charmeleon is very protective and proactive whenever he's on a mission.

2. Ditto

Hear me out: he would totally have a ditto on cases where he would need extreme discretion or on the rare occasion where he was needed in two places at once. That's right: Rorschach's ditto can look like him...so...make of that what you will...

3. Poochyena

In cases where tracking or extreme aggression are called for, Rorschach more than happily utilizes this little dude. Small and convenient, he's also good at getting into tight spaces and looking at things he normally wouldn't think to. Plus his night vision is an added plus. I headcanon that poochyenas jaws lock, and it's bite force is similar to that of a rottweiler: the bigger the skull the harder the bite. And this poochyena...has a biiiig head...just saying.

4. Noctowl

Do I really need to explain this one? He and nite Owl were partners for a long time. I think Daniel caught a hoothoot and gave it to him as a Christmas gift or something. This is the only fully evolved pokemon on Rorschach's team...it's very important to him. Anyway, it also does aerial surveillance and isn't afraid to put enemies to sleep or even knock them out entirely. Don't mess with this noctowl. It will fuck you up. Hands down no question. And if you mess with the noctowl, well, he'll break your fingers...and then some.

5. Marill

Yep, rorschachs got a fairy type, in case he ever has to deal with pesky dragons. Why marill? Because he likes how cute it is,though he'd lie and say he just likes blue (not a lie but a certainly a better reason). Marill is very caring and nurturing, it's very much the emotional and mental support pokemon.

6. Noibat

Okay fine, this one was a biiiit of a biased choice, but I think he'd like this little guy. Noibat is really good at picking up sounds and on cases where quiet is needed, noibat makes a good look out. Rorschach also taught it how to pick open locks. Yep, his noibat could rob you and you'd never know. In fact that's most likely how they met.

So what happened to Rorschach's team after his passing? Well, Daniel and Laurie took it upon themselves to take care of them. Abiding by his wishes, they never allowed them to evolve, the ones that could anyway.

However, oddly enough...his ditto was missing...hm...

Hope you guys enjoyed ^^ I don't know if I'm gonna make regular updates to this blog but this was fun to do ^^ thanks @unfilteredaj for the request!

Feel free to ask for any other character/team and I'll see you in the next one!