#i love talking about my brainrot

[frostedclock]

What is powder monkeys about ? Is there a story ? What does MK do ?

Powder Monkies is an Au that I thought of after some fever dream I had with a pirate Wukong going off on adventures in his youth. So I tweaked it to be after his Sail to the West. There isn't quite a story yet, just a bit that I'm working on right now. (Fanfic in the works, drabble somewhere in the Powder Monkies tag I'd have to track it down again)

The main thing it's about is Wukong and his crew, which includes people he's picked up (or found as a baby in MKs case). They stop along a bunch of islands in their travels (Including the Port of Clouds which is the heart of the Celestial Empire run by the Jade Emperor).

MK is Wukong's current first mate and is in training to become Captain when Wukong feels like finally retiring.

Hope this helps ☺️

[dragonbma]

[TW: Burns]

Aiden’s Creeper used Self-Destruct. Regigigas took 60 damage. It was super effective!

Ok but seriously Aiden chill out bro. You literally committed regicide and like ten minutes later attempted reggiecide.

[jontaro-kun]

That one time a pose study (looking at art of pretty women and telling myself I was being productive) turned into Portia

[broken-heart-raven-queen]

I just remembered that we have DAYS of Aaron Minyard's life stolen from us for when the police took him after he took away the trash (smashed beautifully a rapist head into pieces) and mind ypu that in those days he just experienced one of (if not the) most traumatic experiences of his short life.

[zrllosyn-art]

Synchronicity - Kaiju No.8 comic Kikoru and 4 talk about dreams.

Inspired by @izfaish's fic. archiveofourown.org/works/55577173

[mikashisus]

connections between venti and arlecchino that i found particularly interesting, a rambling 🗣️

ARLECCHINO STORY QUEST SPOILERS‼️‼️

(these r just some cool things i found kinda sus and interesting. this was for fun.)

1. first, my thoughts on clervie — specifically what she says in response to learning about mondstadt:

2. the similarities between arlecchino and venti regarding “freedom”:

venti fought for freedom that was earned, and eventually became the god of freedom shortly after he earned said freedom.

he also tested vennessa. he tested her by saying he could grant her freedom and waited to see if she would leave the cell with him, but she didn’t. she stayed and showed him how freedom was meant to be earned, not given. venti was more than satisfied with her answer and left.

venti has shown time and time again that he believes freedom is meant to be earned. at least, that’s how i see his character and his ideals.

now i want to bring up what arlecchino said towards the end of her story quest. i find it interesting how she also believes that freedom is meant to be earned, not given.

pretty interesting.

3. now for my own personal rant and theories:

“freedom” itself is always being mentioned in this game. it started in mondstadt, the nation embodying freedom. the god of freedom himself entered the fray and showed us what freedom truly meant.

liyue was “freed” from their own god, who saw it time to step down from his position as archon and left the task of ruling & protecting liyue to the humans.

wouldn’t say there’s much freedom in inazuma tbh. unless you count the people being “freed” from the vision hunt decree and the sakoku decree.

nahida being freed from the hands of the sages/akademiya.

furina being freed from her curse and the act she played out for 500 years.

i wonder if we’ll see any freedom in natlan too.

ANYWAYS, ALL THIS TO SAY (i didnt mean for this to become a venti rant, i have constant venti brainrot) — i believe that venti and freedom play an ENORMOUS part in the lore of the game and we haven’t seen anything yet.

i am a firm believer that venti is one of the most important characters in this game. bro has lore in literally every nation, maybe with the exception of fontaine (iirc, there hasn’t been anything in fontaine calling back to barbatos).

he even has lore in the chasm and enkanomiya, which says A LOT. i haven’t finished the remuria world quest yet, so idk if there’s any lore about him or istaroth sprinkled there too. tbh i wouldn’t be surprised if there was.

everything always comes full circle when it comes to venti. he’s everywhere, which is pretty cool to think about when you realize that he’s supposed to be the embodiment of the wind, which is everywhere all at once and can hear everything.

which brings me to my last point —

4. this voiceline from arlecchino about the wind.

hmmm.. 🤨

[svtskneecaps]

dude i fucking love how this server has communication as its premise and built into its fucking core. i fucking love that. bc it's one thing to be like 'this server is about multilingual communication and cultural exchange!!' bc that could present in any NUMBER of ways but like. with the federation and the eggs and a common shared goal they all decided WE ARE A TEAM. and like, ok,

when baghera was sus of jaiden because of the thing when pomme died and jaiden had been the reason baghera left her side for the only time that day, i wasn't even worried. i wasn't worried bc i was like "we just wait. because i know they will TALK TO EACH OTHER." and I WAS RIGHT. TWO DAYS LATER IT WAS ALL CLEARED UP AND BAGHERA WAS HELPING HER OUT WITH CUCURUCHO

and the ordo theoritas is functionally a secret organization. it would be SO EASY to gatekeep the lore, on grounds of "the federation is always watching and anyone could be a spy" and yet the ordo theoritas says that, like bad SAYS THAT, says OUT LOUD, "anyone could be a traitor" and then turns around and goes "hey person i've had a few days' worth of conversations with, here's a detailed rundown of everything we've learned about the island's mysteries, and the secret location of the ordo base". SOFIA was supposed to be secret from everyone, and for a little bit she was. but now like, the ordo theoritas is showing her to everyone. it would be SO EASY to hide things and to gatekeep things but they just. don't do it. here's the supercomputer!!!! don't forget to grab her waystone so you can come back anytime!!!

bad learns something. "i need to tell forever/cellbit/baghera". forever figures out a new way to protect the eggs, and he gets it to everyone within days. cucurucho tries to have a secret conversation and the entire server knows about it almost instantly and there are three people buried in the walls reading the subtitles and giving each other meaningful glances

i love it. i love it. miscommunication plotlines drive me up the fucking wall and the fact that i wasn't even SCARED when jaiden and baghera could easily have angled into an angsty tangled web of that and instead just MET WITH EACH OTHER AND EXPLAINED EVERYTHING AND CLEARED THE AIR ALMOST IMMEDIATELY was so fucking breathtaking. and this is a multilingual server. this is a MULTILINGUAL SERVER. i love it. i love it so much i want to cry. it's a server for communication and people Communicate, it would have been SO EASY to slip into monolingual factions and stick to the familiar but they DIDN'T. they DIDN'T. WE GET TO HAVE A THEORY TABLE WITH SO MANY LANGUAGES SITTING AROUND IT. we get to have conspiracy walls in every language!!!! idk sometimes i forget how fucking CRAZY all this is, like the scale of what they've accomplished

so yea thank you to quackity and the qsmp admins for this, and thank you to the streamers for hearing 'this is about connections' and taking it ENTIRELY to heart, and also thank you to whoever the fuck decided to give quackity's school class the job to look after a fucking egg to learn about parenting. bc holy shit. holy shit.

[strikacy]

here's my piece for the @paradeofseasons fanzine ! 🌾 💖

this was my first ever zine, and i'm so happy with how it turned out !! everyone involved put a lot of effort into it :) and we got to geek about this beloved series so that's a plus💖

this was truly a wonderful experience :) also, go check out the full zine !!

[mourn-and-watch]

merrill dragon age isn't The Character in terms of being the guy with the juiciest backstory details or protagonist material but she is The Person. The Heart. she was working on one of the most important researches of elven history and no one believed in her. not her keeper, her teacher and mother figure. nor her clan, the only family she's ever had. nor hawke's friends, the only people who were surrounding her for six years. the only person who can actually place their faith in her is hawke but if they don't she won't mind. she is used to it, being on her own. and, despite everything, she believes in people. she knows it matters. better than anyone.

she has never heard a nice word from fenris, but she still tries to cheer him up from time to time. she has never heard a nice word from anders either and she still feels for him. varric annoys her when he tries to distract her from the eluvian, but she appreciates it because she knows he means well. aveline refers to her work as senseless and potentially dangerous for the city, but she is still happy for her when she falls in love.

if hawke sides with mages in the last straw merrill is the first to support them. "I believe in you, hawke", she says, when everyone else is consumed by doubt. and then she's the only one who openly suggests sparing anders. so he can put things right.

she knows the feeling. when you're on your own and everyone thinks you're beyond salvation, undeserving of compassion or understanding. and this is the best she can offer for people she cares about: her unconditional faith, her sympathy, a second chance. the things she was desparately looking for and never had. she believes in people because she knows: there's no one else to believe in them

[sunny-knight]

My masterpiece is complete, enjoy it…if you dare…

This took a while but enjoy my 52 slide slideshow that somehow has plot twists for some reason! It’s newbie proof too! I explain quite a bit of background that most people probably already know, but its concise enough I feel

(Twiggy don’t look at this I SWEAR 🫵 wait till Monday)

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ARLECCHINO PERUERE FATHER HEAD OF THE HOUSE OF THE HEARTH THE FOURTH FATUI HARBINGER EVERYONE SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

✨her✨

[gremnda]

YEET

[rimeiii]

What in Hell is Bad as fighting game archetypes

Backstory time: I recently bought Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and I've been having a ton of fun with it. But, just my luck, the character I want to main (Yosuke Hanamura) isn't particularly beginner-friendly, so I swapped to a more beginner-friendly character (Yu Narukami) to get my bearings first while learning Yosuke's basic combos. Seeing as this already happened to me in several other anime fighters (BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend with Hazama -> Jin Kisaragi and Tsubaki Yayoi, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r] with Seth -> Gordeau, Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising with Belial -> Gran), I ended up trying to figure out which fighting game archetype suits me the most, and that...led to more WHB brainrot, lmao.

No, seriously, the only games where I stuck with my main ever since first trying them out are Dissidia Duodecim (Zidane Tribal, though I've branched out to Squall Leonhart and Sephiroth) and Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Ness, branching out to Lucas, Luigi, and Lucario).

So! Just a quick disclaimer, a lot of fighting game characters have elements of several archetypes at play. For example, BlazBlue's Tsubaki Yayoi leans easily into the rushdown playstyle but her defining trait is her install gauge. But going through all possible combinations would take a LONG time, so...

And archetypes (with video examples) will be explained below the tier list!

As for the archetype explanations...I'll put it under the cut because it's long.

Shoto: A solid, all-rounder character who wants to be able to control the space directly in front of them to land their combos. Oftentimes the main protagonist of their respective games, though that's not always the case. They typically have three defining characteristics - a projectile (aka fireball), an uppercut (aka dragon punch/dp or shoryuken), and a forward kick (aka tatsu). Some notable shotos are Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter, Mario from Smash Bros (yes, really), and Jin Kisaragi from BlazBlue.

Shotos are often the 'old reliable' type of characters, as they're typically well-rounded in both offense and defense. While the traditional shoto is often barehanded, a lot of other shotos aren't (Jin, Yu Narukami from Persona 4 Arena, and Hyde Kido from Under Night In-Birth being some notable examples). You really just need those three types of attacks and an all-rounder kit to be a shoto.

Grappler: A character who excels at close range, their gameplay often revolves around throws and command throws to chain into their combos. They tend to be huge while having low mobility, plus they usually suck at anything other than close range, but boast crazy damage in close range. Some notable grapplers include Kanji Tatsumi from Persona 4 Arena (a lot of people laud Kanji as being one of the best-designed grapplers in fighting game history), Waldstein from Under Night In-Birth, and Iron Tager from BlazBlue.

There is a subset of grapplers known as semi-grapplers. They have more movement options compared to traditional grapplers, but to offset this, their power may not be as explosive as traditional grapplers - an example of this being Cerebella from Skullgirls. This tier assumes both grapplers and semi-grapplers - I would imagine Marbas being more of a traditional grappler while Beleth is a semi-grappler, for example.

Zoner: A character whose main tool is zoning - the act of keeping your opponent away from you. A zoner's combos often work at long ranges - as a matter of fact, they're usually incentivized to keep pushing their opponents away for their combo strings to continue. Their close-range options tend to be limited, with focus on pushback. Some notable zoners include Hilda from Under Night In-Birth, Ferry from Granblue Fantasy Versus, and Dhalsim from Street Fighter.

To be clear, zoning isn't a zoner-specific part of a character's moveset. But to be considered a zoner, their kit has to rely on zoning. Sometimes, they're called 'keep-away' characters - because they want to keep you away from them since they suffer in close range. And in the case of Leraye and Paimon, if you're asking whether a character with a long-range gun can become a fighting game character...Eustace from Granblue Fantasy Versus is a mid-range zoner who wields a long-range gun, Flamek.

Rushdown: An archetype that wants to get close to an opponent before hitting them until they die. Unlike grapplers, however, they have high mobility and many tools to move around the opponent. Any character can be played as rushdown if you're brave enough (usually with mindless button mashing), but some examples of dedicated rushdowns include Yosuke Hanamura from Persona 4 Arena, Mika from Under Night In-Birth, and Lancelot from Granblue Fantasy Versus.

Rushdowns excel in applying pressure on opponents. They have a lot of tools to catch their opponents off guard, and have ways to make them get their hit confirms easily - which is usually the start of a combo string. Once a combo gets going, they reward playstyles that are aggressive and offense-oriented. Their combo strings may seem more of a 'death of a thousand cuts' deal like Yosuke and Lancelot (and this is the rushdown type of the Abaddon demons imo), or they may have less tools for hit confirms but have attacks output a lot of damage like Mika (I'd think this is the Gusion rushdown type).

also insert yosuke appreciation here because i do genuinely feel like he's a super stylish rushdown (who has the same seiyuu as asmodeus - no i will not shut up about this). maybe it's my bias speaking (i've been yume-ing with yosuke for a decade now) but he looks good and feels good to play once you understand how his combo strings work. has some of the best voicelines too imo, especially in the en dub - his "now i'm pissed!" awakening quote is my favorite awakening quote in the entire game.

Footsies: Technically a term used for space control with the use of pokes (attacks that aims to 'use space' and make opponents think twice about approaching), it's now sometimes used to describe characters who have a strong ground game but suffers in the air. This is due to a lot of people associating footsies with ground game. Some notable characters whose kit has heavy emphasis on footsies include Gordeau from Under Night In-Birth (has some of the best footsie tools in the game) and Little Mac from Smash Bros (he has no aerial recovery, but excels on the ground).

Technically, footsies is a skill most fighting game players feel is part of the fundamentals. You're provoking the enemy and trying to bait them to do something that leaves them open for a counterattack. Likewise the enemy is trying to find an opening in your pokes to go for a counterattack. A lot of blocking is involved too. Generally you kinda have to play patiently when engaging in footsies. It's equal parts honorable and being annoying, if that makes sense, and which side you lean into more while playing footsies wholly depends on how you engage with it.

Stance: A character that can change their battle style with the press of a button. Sometimes their combos require you to seamlessly switch between the two stances (with some of their attacks potentially making them switch stances upon use), and their movesets can vary immensely between them. Some notable stance characters include Cecil Harvey from Dissidia, Narmaya from Granblue Fantasy Versus, as well as both Pokémon Trainer and Pyra/Mythra in Smash Bros.

Essentially, a stance change simply means a style swap. Different characters swap in different ways, from changing the character entirely like the Trainer switching Pokémon (and is how I envision Beelzebub doing his stance change - switching over to one of his clones) or the character just changing fighting styles or weapons (everyone else).

Install: Install characters have a gauge that they can fill, and they can expend this gauge to gain an immense power boost for a limited time - hopefully, enough to make a reversal. Dissidia has an install system built in to all characters with their character-specific EX Modes, and Yosuke's Sukukaja special in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax can also be considered an install, but for examples of dedicated install characters in fighting games, we have Tsubaki Yayoi from BlazBlue and Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear.

This one is a little bit hard to justify because I feel like, for Naberius's case in particular, he could be an install in the style of Dissidia's Gabranth but toned down - where his full potential (channels his inner Cerberus form) is unlocked in EX Mode, but he isn't the most helpless outside of EX Mode. Same with Gamigin with his dragon form. Everyone else would be a more standard install, though.

Puppet: As the name implies, puppet characters have a controllable puppet on the field. A puppet character's strength relies on proper usage of their puppet, and they're oftentimes severely crippled if their puppet is out of commission. Some notable puppet characters include the Clovers (Carl Clover and Relius Clover) from BlazBlue, Shadow Labrys from Persona 4 Arena, and the Rosalina and Luma duo from Smash Bros.

Minhyeok is a unique case where I think he'd call on lump form Ppyong as his puppet, in a style similar to Rosalina calling on Luma. Everyone else, their puppets could be the spirits surrounding them, or Jjyu in Belial's case. Buer and Bimet I feel would play close to Shadow Labrys, whose Persona, Asterios, is huge and permanent on the field...though maybe not as mobile as the Clovers' puppets.

Setplay: Originally a term used to describe getting a guaranteed combo off a hard knockdown, sometimes it's used for characters with traps - as traps oftentimes give a guaranteed opening for a combo string. Their traps force your opponent to think carefully about their movements, as stumbling into a trap means you're opening yourself up to a combo. Some characters like Seth (nobody knows what to classify him into as he doesn't play like any other character in the game) and Merkava (typically considered a rushdown/grappler hybrid) from Under Night In-Birth have some variations of traps (Seth's projectile orbs and Merkava's worms), but dedicated trapper characters include Cagliostro from Granblue Fantasy Versus, The Emperor from Dissidia, and Darkrai from Pokkén Tournament.

If not a puppet fighter, Vassago could also be a setplay character in my opinion. Zagan is a cut-and-dry case with his talismans based on his (very overpowered) L-rank Nightmare Pass card. And I know we see Leviathan mostly with powerful summons, but I'd like to reflect back to my Arknights Operator post and have him summon tentacles as part of his traps, potentially something like Merkava's worms. Otherwise, Leviathan could also be a puppet fighter.

unrelated note, i love seeing belial and avatar belial/avabeli getting bodied by other characters because they were so prominent in tournaments that i actively rooted AGAINST them during the days of base granblue fantasy versus tournaments despite belial being one of my favorite gbf characters and wanting to main belial one day. until i upgrade from the free version of rising, however, i shall remain a gran main - as the only character you can always play as in the free version is gran, everyone else is available on a rotation basis, and belial is a complex character to learn. plus, cagliostro is perfect for this matchup in-lore because she already bodied beelzebub in the main gacha, so belial/avabeli + lucilius feels like natural progression lol

Composite: Characters whose entire moveset pretty much borrows from other characters in the game. They're different from echo fighters, as echo fighters are fundamentally the same character with some moveset differences (think Mario and Luigi or Marth and Lucina from Smash Bros). Composite characters, by contrast, mix and match different moves from a variety of characters - as a result, they're often much harder to implement. Kirby from Smash Bros has some composite character features (he can copy the neutral special of another character with his own neutral special), but dedicated composite characters include Double from Skullgirls and Bartz from Dissidia.

It is precisely because their movesets borrow from others that they're hard to implement - it's hard to justify a character copying moves of other characters in-lore. Kirby's entire schtick in his main games is his copy abilities (which he gets from inhaling them - and that inhale is his neutral special), Bartz works because he's a mime, and Double is an Eldritch blob who serves a much higher being (one who essentially sows chaos) in the lore of Skullgirls. If the MC is a playable character, I'd put them here (because they were shown to be able to use the powers of the demon kings). As for the human forms of the lumps, I just think it'd be funny if they copied their region's demon king and demon lords. Lucifer could be a composite of the angels, but his position as their hyung would make his versions of their attacks stronger - perhaps with his lower mobility being a trade-off.

[outlying-hyppocrate]

So Normal about my characters. yes i gave them their own handwriting styles and made up little dialogues on paper like they were passing notes in class. still Normal by the way

[fujii-draws]

VERY long Ribbons/Grovyle tangent cause I do not talk about them nearly enough.

[Instead of the usual, “Hero finding a young Treecko in the future.” It’s switched around to “What if Grovyle found Hero when they were young.”]

~The Past~

—————

-Grovyle was going on one of his usual dungeon crawls to stock up on items— until he heard nearby sniffling. It’s there in that moment where he finds Ribbons; hiding under the stump of a hollow tree curled up in a ball. The sight of a small, terrified girl burned in the back of the wood gecko’s mind.

He lowered himself to the ground, his snout and head poking out as he got a good look at the human— Something that made her reel back and startled her; before Grovyle offered her a smile. Something the stoic grass-type rarely ever did. Coaxing her to come out.

And although very hesitantly, she did. Slowly coming out before he extended a hand towards her. Helping her outside the stump.

Grovyle didn’t know why… but seeing her so disheveled and terrified… it reminded the grass-type of himself when he was a Treecko. He decides to then to take Ribbon’s under his wing. Holding her hand as he walked her back to his main hideout… with the company of two other Pokémon.

-He introduced the small human to the pink fairy and ghost-type. Celebi was overwhelmingly cheerful. So much so that her mischievous energy rubbed off on Ribbons in the future. Much to Grovyle and Dusclops(and eventually Dusknoir’s) dismay…

But it was also probably why Ribbons made it her mission to use this newfound ability from the fairy-type to do the impossible— to get Grovyle to smile. A rarity in which even the time-traveling pixie and cyclopean ghost never managed to accomplish. Ribbons remembered how the grass-type done so just to comfort her during their first meeting… and she wanted to see it again.

-She tried many times with her antics, only to end in failure. Barely making a dent in the grass-type’s stoic demeanor. The first time she managed to get a chuckle made the other two stare wide-eyed towards the snickering grass-type— and back at the human, somehow being the only one to ever make him emote so much. She didn’t know why he tried to hide his smile. She loved it. (And Grovyle did not overhear this detail and began to open up only specifically around her because of it. Nope.) (and it’s not a power she holds over him for many years to come.)

(That isn’t to say Ribbon’s didn’t slightly rub off on him too, with her naivety and innocent, trusting behavior. Grovyle being much, much more reserved and cautious… before she came along.)

-Dusclops… was interested. A human? In the future no less? It was unheard of.

…But he also thought that Ribbons would be a detriment to their group with how… little and runt sized she’d been, barely surviving as is. Acting rather closed off towards the human at first, not trying to get attached. That is until she begins seeking Dusclops out. Trying to befriend the slightly large mummy-looking Pokémon. Although slowly— she ends up winning him over. The Beckon Pokémon now having unintentionally formed a bond with the weakest link in their quartet due to how… oddly endearing she was. A mistake he’d repeat yet again in the present.

Even with her dimensional scream ability making Ribbons a somewhat useful assest to the team— the three take on the roll of her guardians in a weird way. Dusclops being the one to fret the most over her despite his dismissive behavior towards her in the beginning (hm.)

And then there’s Grovyle.

The one who probably spent the most time with her. He saw just how terrified and scared she was of the world around her. Grovyle tried his best to teach her how to survive— training her physically. (as Dusclops taught her mentally/intellectually)

Something Grovyle started to notice was how her demeanor changed when the grass-type was close. Acting almost… braver? Confident? It was like she was drawing her strength from him… something that made the grass-type a little emotional as her confidence grew more with each day. (She told him as much. Hoping some day she could be a role model to someone the same way Grovyle was to her.)

…He also noticed that the humans were also really susceptible to the cold, much like his cold-blooded lizard self—the brunette-haired girl having no real source of warmth around her neck… Grovyle dug through his matted Treasure bag, asking for her to come over. Before tying on a brown, Patsy ribbon around her neck. An item that she’d grow to love and cherish for many, many years.

The human girl absolutely adored the gift, thanking Grovyle before hugging him suddenly. Running off to show the other two her newfound item.

-She’d fidget and re-tie it whenever it slightly loosened around her neck… it was then the grass-type Pokémon finally decided on a name for her. Up until that point, she didn’t have a name— the other three opting to call her things like “human girl” “sweetie” or “kid/kiddo” (Dusclops, Celebi, and Grovyle in that order.)

So when Grovyle decided that her new name would be “Ribbons”… she kept it.

(this also explained why when inside of Wigglytuff’s room… Ribbons stared at the Green Aura Bow, before rejecting the item harshly. Her claws gripping onto the brown scarf around her neck.) (…although the color of the bow comforted her)

-The two end up forming an unspoken familial bond. Ribbons seeing Grovyle as her older brother… and the grass-type did her baby sister. This was further solidified by the way Ribbons followed him everywhere and copied his mannerisms. All the way down to his scrunched up, embarrassed face. (Something that greatly entertained the other two Pokémon.) Even if Grovyle wasn’t the best at showing how much she meant to him with his sternness for her to stay hidden and close whenever they traveled, or for her to stop goofing off so much, or his relatively stoicalness… Ribbons knew he did so because of how much he cared. He cared too much. Not wanting anything bad happening to her to the point that he’d more often than not sacrifice things to his detriment, but for her benefit. (Offering her all of the apples he found, taking the brunt of the damage from vicious Pokémon… ) It was one of the main things the two argued over.

-This… was also something Ribbons picked up on and inherited besides his courage. Something that Grovyle never forgave himself for. He never wanted her to adopt his self-destructive, reckless behavior.

-Another thing was his inability to tell her the full truth. He never wanted to scare her with the information of their disappearances. So the grass-type never told Ribbons (and made sure the other two promised him to never do so aswell.) (Until Dusknoir promptly breaks said promise out of desperation to tell Ribbons the gravity of their situation after the Stoneship fight. Grovyle glaring daggers towards the Ghost-type before hearing Ribbon’s quiet, yet terrified “W-What..?” Falling back on her old fears when she was once human—Grovyle taking his attention fully off of Dusknoir to try and comfort her.)

But even after any heated argument. Grovyle will find the human girl coming back to sleep right next to him on his hay bed, still very much frustrated with the lizard… but not pushing her away when she snuggled up to him. Grovyle reciprocated the hug right back— putting his head over hers.

Out of her relationships with the three, her bond with Grovyle was the most unbreakable.

…So when Darkrai threw the attack that disoriented the two, Grovyle gripping Ribbons’s arm as tightly as possible. His claws beginning to even tear into her skin. (A scar on her paw that never went away. She uses it as a reminder to show the woodland gecko how hard he tried to save her whenever he felt guilty.) Trying so desperately to not lose her— even if it meant being thrown out of the passage of Time aswell—

…It’s Ribbons who lets go, smiling up so brokenly at her older brother, before disappearing out the passage. And the grass-type can only watch in horror, as the self-sacrificial behavior Ribbons inherited from him came back to bite Grovyle in the worst way imaginable.

By the time Grovyle lands in the present— his claws are trembling wildly. Not even realizing his own tears began to mix in with the rain from the thunderstorm.

——————

~The Present~

——————

When he’s collecting the Time Gears alone— the desperation of it all comes back full force. If he lost her, the least he can do is finish this mission. For the future. For her.

-When Grovyle sees Ribbons for the first time in the Northern Desert, he doesn’t recognize her as an Eevee. But the item around her neck and voice both sound so eerily similar. As if this random Pokémon was haunting him for his past failures. If anything, the similarities make Grovyle even more angry towards the quadraped Pokémon.

-Crystal lake… really sucked. Before, Ribbons didn’t know what to feel about Grovyle. On one hand, he was a wanted criminal. Threatening the lives of every single Pokémon. But on the other hand… she felt so… sad? And guilty? Why would she feel guilty? And why was it that he was apologizing every single time for every little thing he’d done? Like he’d lost his confidence in his abilities? Why does it matter. He’s a horrible, rotten— no good Pokémon…

-It was when Ribbons had to helplessly watch as he nearly killed Aimilios that her resolve did a complete 180°. The Eevee being prepared to do whatever to took to get him caught. Joining the cloaked ghost in the library whenever she could, (even if she wasn’t as smart as the Great Dusknoir or her Riolu partner. She wanted to at least give them company and be there for moral support.)

And when he’s finally… finally caught. Tied up as the Sableye walked him through the town as they cheered… Ribbons isn’t celebrating. She should be. She should be happy. So why does she feel a horrible gut feeling when their eyes meet in the crowd? And he looks seconds away from breaking down…?

-

-The whole future arc is a rollercoaster of emotions for the Eevee. Although she’s immediately with Grovyle on the plan to help him escape— she does not trust him so quick.

-No. That time was over. The second Dusknoir tried to kill them, both her (and soon Aimilios’s) tendencies to trust Pokemon blindly were thrown out the window. They’re both are glaring daggers at him when he suggests that they trust him. That ‘If he was so untrustworthy, how would they explain what Dusknoir had done back there?’ Ribbons protectively gets in-front of her partner— hissing back that ‘They aren’t going to trade one lunatic trying to kill them for another. Or did Grovyle already forget about the little incident at Azelf’s lake?’

…And even though her and Aimilios do feel safer around him. (Gut feeling/aura sensing) it just feels so terrifying to trust someone again after what the giant wraith did to them. Not only that, but he was offering to take them back to their world… so they cautiously agreed.

It’s... strange. The way he’d called out for her and Aimilios to get away when Spiritomb had him in their grasp. When they traversed dungeons as he took as many hits as possible for them…the familiarity is almost nauseating.

And when Dusknoir reveals everything, the two only stare at the cloaked ghost-type cackling. The same one they both once thought was their friend.

She and Grovyle only stare at eachother as a painful amount of time passes by. He..

He tried to kill her.

She was still alive and he almost—

The realization is what makes him give up. To concede. Begging Dusknoir to just do away with him and let the other go. Let her go.

—

-When they’re in the Sharpedo Bluff during the nighttime— Grovyle explains the situation to the two… staring at Ribbons with hopeful eyes, sharing recollections of how they once were. Of how close they’d been. Hoping that it’d re-jog her memory now that he was there to explain the situation.

…Ribbons only stares. Guilt eating away the more Grovyle retold their supposed history. How the hope slowly died in his eyes little by little when he looked at the Eevee— seeing that same, clueless expression on her face.

One of Ribbons biggest fears when it came to her amnesia was forgetting someone important to her. Always having the dreaded feeling of losing three important Pokémon to her. And now one of them was trying to kill them. Aimilios reassured her many nights that it wasn’t the case. So for that fear to become a reality— her ears slump, the Eevee’s messy, leaf-and-twigged tail curling around her in anxiety. She wants to apologize— but she only breaks away eye contact.

She forgot. She wants to remember. But she can’t she can’t she can’t-

Ribbons sees Grovyle trying to reach out for her— only for the small quadruped to back away. Still too touch-adverse from everything that went down with Dusknoir. All the Eevee can do is watch Grovyle’s expression turned into a pained one. Trying to hide the hurt in his eye with a wry smile as he slowly retracted his arm, ”Ah… right. Too soon. Forgive me.”

…It’s a very rough night on the two of them. Both Pokémon completely unaware that they’d been trying to fight back the tears threatening to spill in their eyes. Eventually overwhelming and awakening the aura pup.

-

When they rode Lapras, presumably for many hours by now by how night fell, white stars scattering across the sky as it reflected in the dark blue sea. The Riolu had slept soundly— something that couldn’t be said for the other two.

Ribbon’s curled around her partner as he slept, grooming his fur with her tongue… before looking over towards the grass-type; something very much on his mind.

Grovyle looked pensively down towards Lapras’s shell— recalling Wigglytuff’s comment about how Chatot had been his ‘invaluable partner.’ The woodland gecko gripping the strap of his treasure bag. Unaware of the Eevee slowly approaching him. He stares— unsure of what to do. The last time they’d talked was at the Bluff, when she backed away from him in fear.

…Ribbons plopped right next to the grass-type, waiting for the uncomfortable silence to pass. When she realized he wasn’t going to cut the tension, she opted to ask the lizard what she was thinking about since their talk at the bluff.

“What was it like…?”

“What…?”

“Y-yknow…W-When we were together… What was it like?”

The small Eevee repeated. Wanting to hear stories of their times together… Memory or no memory— she hated seeing Grovyle upset. Something that was practically built into her. Like it’d been second nature.

Grovyle hesitates, afraid of a repeat of last time. He looks at Ribbons who was staring up coyly… before going on to explain and further elaborate on their history. He studied her expressions, trying to get a read on when he should stop… only to be greeted with an cheerful look on her face. The same, goofy one plastered on her human-self.

Grovyle calms at the sight, continuing to looks back on memories— preferably the more lighthearted ones the woodland gecko fondly looked back on. Although within those silly memories were times when Ribbons did… admittedly some of the dumbest things he’d witnessed during their time in the future.

What makes him smile even more is how she began to look more offended. Until she’d gotten fed up with the grass-type. Claiming that she would never do anything so blatantly stupid— and that she had a scale of stupidity she was abiding by— Chatot’s words, not hers.

This gets a chuckle from the grass-type… something that almost immediately warms the Eevee’s heart. She hesitates a littles before scooting closer, fully laying her body beside Grovyle as he continued to recollect stories of their past together… listening to the older Pokémon’s droning… until she fell asleep.

…

Now Grovyle is faced with another problem. And it was in the form of his little sister sleeping soundly right next to him.

…

He knows what’ll happen to them when he puts in the Time Gears.

He knows he’ll never get another chance like this again.

…

He lays his body near Ribbon’s, curling around her tiny body protectively. Before getting what was probably the most sleep he did since he arrived in the Present…

…What he fails to notice in his comatose-like sleep… is how Ribbons scooted closer into him, cleaning his face/leaf with her tounge… before curling into Grovyle— putting her head under the grass-type’s. Purring contently.

———

…When they’re traversing through the Hidden land, the same arguments when they did in the future about Grovyle’s recklessness. Although this time around— Ribbons had been calling the kettle black in this regard. The Grass and Normal type Pokémon going back and forth… before falling silent.

And when the ghost-type returned a second time to ambush the three Pokémon, Ribbons and Aimilios opted to fight the Sableye. Meanwhile, Grovyle took on Dusknoir—Which proved to be nearly impossible. It was only when the Sableye were dealt with and the two joined Grovyle on his assault on the wraith, that Dusknoir’s attacks begun to.. slow?

They fought and fought, Ribbons having managed to get in a really nasty Bite that made the cloaked revenant roar out in pain; unintentionally slamming her against a pillar. Hard. Grovyle yells her name, trying to run to Ribbons— before being intercepted by a large fist being mercilessly being swung his way. Not offering the same hesitation he did with the young Eevee and Riolu. If there was anyone Dusknoir was willing to kill— it was him.

It was when Dusknoir gripped the Riolu to the point of him whining out in pain— that the Grass-type’s adrenaline and anger made his body move harshly to knock down the ghost-type with the slice of a Leaf Blade. Getting protectively infront of his sister …and the Riolu Grovyle had begun to start considering as his little brother. His eyes turning into cat-like slits, glaring at the revenant.

———

Dusknoir hit the Eevee a second time when the two were distracted— Ribbon’s having cried out in pain, wincing from the hit she received from the large ghost-type— closing her eyes as she anticipated for him to finished her off—

Before Grovyle shielded her— and began shoving him into the Dimensional hole.

Grovyle could only smile to himself despite how much he was struggling to keep the giant wraith at bay— Dusknoir nearly breaking out of the wood gecko’s hold.

So many times. He failed to protect Ribbons. So many times. And now…

“Though the parting hurts… the rest is in your hands!”

He could finally make it up to her.

——————

~The Future~

———————

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Ribbons nearly broke Grovyle’s ribcage when he returned to the present, berating and screaming at him so angrily for leaving her the way he did… while hugging him in tears as she bawled her eyes out— Grovyle reciprocating the hug with as much strength as the Eevee.

…So when she saw Dusknoir and ran, he was the one to chase after her. Celebi having stayed back with Aimilios to explain the situation to the equally confused and afraid Riolu.

-The Eevee’d hidden under another hollowed tree stump, her entire body frizzing up at the sound of the woodland gecko calling out to her. Ribbon’s brows furrowed in anger despite her fear, yelling at him for bringing the ghost-type back. Grovyle tries to fit himself inside the tiny hollowed area… before curling around Ribbons— gently explaining the situation with the cloaked ghost. He apologizes for bringing Dusknoir without warning. Knowing that he should’ve better prepared those two.

-It’s because of Ribbons refusal to be anywhere near/talk to Dusknoir, that the Eevee has the opportune time to reconnect with Grovyle. Spending the first three years to catch up, talk, do jobs, drink at Spinda’s. Becoming even comfortable enough to start bantering with eachother, and squabbling like siblings. (and yes they partake in Cain Instinct ™️ through harmless paw baps/“oh no gravity’s increasing on me” “YOURE CRUSHING ME YOU ROTTEN BROTHER.”) Those two being practically attached to the hip as they constantly stayed side by side. Even having slept in the same hay-bed together the first year. (Separation anxiety is doing wonders.)

Grovyle is also Ribbon’s go-to hiding spot from Dusknoir whenever he’s near— not-so-discreetly hiding behind the woodland gecko anytime he’d gotten close. Something that he was more than willing to do, being a barrier being the giant specter and minuscule Eevee.

Grovyle is also the one constantly reminding Ribbons that if she feels uncomfortable/unsafe around Dusknoir, that she can come to him at any moment. And he’d talk to him. (Or smack him upside the head with a leaf blade, earning the gecko a laugh from his little sister.)

But… He knows she’s lying through her fangs when she says she’s fine with him being around. (Chalk that up to Older brother instincts) Which is why Grovyle goes to Dusknoir anyways to tell him to minimize his presence around her as much had possible in the beginning— something the wraith was already ahead/aware of.

-The Eevee also tries to repay the favor by reminding Grovyle that he actually isn’t the POS, horrible brother he thinks himself to be with the amount of times he failed to save her. Redirecting his attention to her paw scar and nuzzling the self-deprecating grass-type. Grovyle doesn’t believe himself to be the right guardian for her… but she trusts him anyways.

-And you KNOW by the time she evolves— he’s fighting back a copious amount of tears. (Dusknoir might be getting choked up over Ribbons and Aimilios’s evolutions— but Grovyle looks like he’s seconds away from actually tearing up. Just so happy to be alive to witness his baby sister having the chance to actually grow up.)

—————

Anyways!! that’s what I have for now!!!! Just mainly putting this here to give more insight to their dynamic :) (as well as have a little library of drawing ideas for Grovyle/Ribbons when the mood strikes.)