#if it isn’t likodot

[kafus]

i’ve been showing my mom pokemon horizons (we just finished episode 8, will be watching 9 whenever we do another session) and like for context my mom is over 60 years old and not a pokemon fan (though she does have scattered pokemon knowledge because of osmosis from me and living thru pokemania in the 90s with my older brother before i was born)

it’s been interesting seeing how she reacts as someone at that age. like uh

- this is further proving to me how important the adult characters are in horizons. my mom isn’t super articulate with her feelings on media but she had a lot of visible/audible reactions to moments between friede and roy the past few episodes - like personally as a 24 year old i get a lot out of the adult characters but i think my mom does too because she relates to/enjoys the parenting dynamic, which is helping her enjoy it more overall

- in speaking of friede, them putting in a gen 1 charizard pikachu man was actually a very good decision because my mom has remarked on how cool charizard is and gets a kick out of cap’s smug energy. they’re very recognizable to her and she likes them LOL

- it’s really funny how much the anime art style can still confuse her though, despite being exposed to it heavily since i got into anime in the 4th grade in the mid/late 2000s. sometimes she mistakes a certain expression/emotion for another, like asking why liko was mad in one scene when she was actually Determined. she has asked me why anne only has one fang and why it keeps switching sides, and she asked if landau was even a human being and not a pokemon because she was so confused by his facial hair’s stylization and his wacky clothes (he actually freaks her out a bit. the only character she doesn’t like LOL it’s hitting some sort of uncanny valley for her)

- this is more applicable to my mom because of her exposure to pokemon and not the average older person, but it’s funny seeing her deal with the new anime structure with what little she previously knows. she’s asked things like “doesn’t he have more pokemon?” @ amethio continuously sending out ceruledge and “don’t they have other moves?” @ liko and roy spamming leafage and ember at each other. horizons tends to give everyone just one or two partner pokemon and catching and training up pokemon has been comparatively slow, which is actually something i enjoy, but my mom is a bit confused by it LOL

- on the note of my mom’s pokemon knowledge, i just found this really endearing: in HZ006 when rayquaza is first released, for one she excitedly asked if the pokemon was coming out of the ball, and then when she saw it she asked if it was gyarados. i said no that’s rayquaza. and she was like huh why did i think of gyarados. and i said well they’re both flying noodles. later she said she was surprised she knew that association/was proud of herself for it and i thought that was cool too LMAO

- she has no strong opinions on dot yet, we aren’t far enough, but i made sure to point at the screen really emphatically when she showed up and say THAT’S MY FAVORITE CHARACTER!! so she knows. she Knows i’ve been showing her all my likodot art anyway SORRY MOM

anyway those were just some of my thoughts watching it with her has been really enjoyable :)

[kafus]

ANYWAY here is all the drawings i got in the drawing box earlier!!!! i literally love all of them 😭 the sheer amount of likodot and not to mention my favorite pokemon and of course a kaf for good measure. all of you are incredibly sweet i’m killing you with hammers (joke)

whoever made the good morning one btw… genuinely when i woke up earlier and read that it made me go :D your art is so cute too

@amethiosspouse @krislikofan @magnificentmicrowave are people i recognized in here mag didn’t sign it but i recognize her dusclops anywhere thank you so much these made me smile :]

also ethan i saw yours after already writing this post but i say hi back LOL (hoping you see this bc tumblr isn’t letting me @ you for some reason)

edit: two of the drawings keep bugging the post for no reason but i promise i saw them you know who you are!!!

[kafus]

hi im just going to dump my thoughts on ur art here since i really enjoy ur art as a source of comfort and im a bit scared to interact with long paragraphs,,, genuinely i LOVE HOW YOU DRAW LIKODOT WITH MY WHOLE HEART!!!! i cannot express it very clearly but your art is absolutely PACKED WITH LOVE FOR THE CHARACTERS EVEN BY A GLANCE AND ITS SUPER INSPIRING!!!!!! seeing ur take on stuff and even running a site for 60min likodot is REALLY REALLY AWESOME,,i stumbled upon ur account after binging horizons and loving the dynamic of likodot,seeing how brimming with full interest about them makes me very joyfilled!! okay that was a bit off the topic UR COMIC IS,, [awe] i LOVE THE USE OF SCREENTONES AND JUST. EVERYTHING BY THEFIRST PANEL THE THE GENUINELY I HAVE BEEN REPEATING MY WORDS BUT HOLY MOLY!!!!! EVEN UR OTHER ART ARE ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECES I DARE SAY AND UR SKETCHES AND DOODLES I HAVE BEEN BLESSSED,, I ALSO REALLY LOVE THAT ONE ARTWORK WHERE DOT KISSES LIKO THE THE JUST DOT BEING WORRIED AND THEN LIKO JUST HUGS DOT THAT REALLY JUST. I LOVE THE WAY YOU DEPICT DOT!!!!! I ALSO REALLY LOVE UR ARTWORK WHERE LIKO PUTS DOT’S HAIR IN A PONYTAIL IF THATS WHAT ITS CALLED!!!! i really love the way you draw them affectionately or just agnst[looks over to adventurers au],,, and and the hair flaps,, the hand holding JUST EVERYTHING!!!!!! the frequency of :3 liko has taken ovHELP HELP IM BLASTING OFF AGAIN/pos just everything here is positive

may have overdid it im sorry if i might have offended you or just anything that isn’t in a good positive way of complimenting ur art,, i truly think that ur art is AWESOME AND YOU 2!!!!!!!!!!

NO HOW COULD THIS POSSIBLY OFFEND ME (LIGHTHEARTED) THIS IS SUCH A HUGE SEROTONIN BOOST THANK YOU!!! I'M GLAD YOU LIKE MY WORK!!! I HAVE SO MANY LIKODOTS YET TO DRAW!!!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR SENDING ME THIS!!!! YIPPEE

[kafus]

Royliko being an underrated ship is kind of strange to me, since in the old seasons the most popular ships were the protagonist with the pokegirl.

But it makes sense that it would be less popular, Roy and Liko have a very good platonic relationship as friends and Ameliko and Likodot are much more complex than Royliko, and is a very vanilla ship in my opinion.

i was trying to write a more complex answer to this ask specifically in regards to the comparisons of older anipoke fandom/show but i’m tired and my words are failing me. something something liko being a female protag and horizons being more shoujo than ever contributes to this. idk. however i did want to express agreement to the latter

i think roy and liko’s dynamic is incredibly important and i understand why the people who ship them do, but it’s living in the massive shadow cast by the intrigue/complex thematics of ameliko and the on screen chemistry & character development of likodot. a little funny to say after hz067 was such a god damn banger but i digress

personally i really really really value liko being able to have such a close relationship with a boy without it having to be romantic and i think roy’s friendship with her is very important and i just don’t see them as romantic at all. BUT to be clear this isn’t a shipping discourse post i fully support the people i know who do and enjoy their fanworks, it’s just not my personal take or what i go out of my way for. shipping discourse and infighting is so goofy i just like discussion

[kafus]

i have also been answering questions on retrospring for my twitter audience so here's a few of those condensed into a post since they have likodot thoughts :]

Q: What happends on Liko and Dot's first date?

A: the topic of a first date is a little funny in regards to likodot because like… these girls technically already live together and are traveling together now too, so going out of their way to hang out together isn’t as huge of a jump as it would be otherwise. honestly i can really imagine them just setting aside time to hang out alone in dot’s room and be romantic about it - video games & movies sleepover kind of thing. they’re on the younger side so i don’t think they’re planning anything fancy plus that’s a very accessible way to have a first date considering, again, that they live together… also dot’s tendency for reclusion lol. in the future though i can imagine them planning actual outings - i like to imagine liko dragging dot to restaurant dates because it’s a doubly whammy of a date and also helping dot explore her limited tastes in food more lol. sorry for the ramble-y answer i think about this a lot xoxo

Q: What do you think about jealous Dot? And do you everr think about how it would go for both Liko and Dot IF it comes it an episode or something??

A: if you can't tell from my recent tweets i think the concept of jealous dot is fitting and also goes hard. like it's really effective drama material but also like… to be honest if i was a social recluse with poor social skills as a preteen/young teen and then someone was as kind to me as liko is to dot for the first time i would also be clingy and possessive. and this actually isn't an "if", i have personal experience with this sort of situation lmfao. so like i get it.

as for them exploring this sort of thing in the anime, i obviously don't expect a romance jealousy subplot, that's pure fanon babey. but considering dot's noticeable off behavior in recent HZ054 around ann, i would not be Surprised if they actually are setting up to do something with that? like, of the more normal variety lol. dot still struggling to socialize with people outside her circle and exploring more of overcoming her social anxiety, or if you wanted to stretch it, i don't think it'd be surprising if they decide to take it in the direction of dot feeling insecure around ann because ann is so naturally outgoing and was able to connect with liko instantly in a way that dot couldn't - but like in a friendship way, and liko having to assure her that she isn't a lesser friend and find a way for her friends to act comfortably around each other. that doesn't stop me from making into a romance jealousy subplot in my head though LMAO

Q: What if Dot never confessed to Liko that she's Nidothing/Gurumin? Like it's so nice to imagine and i wanna know your thoughts abt it :3

A: this might be an unpopular opinion IDK but i actually wouldn't have liked this very much. i think by the time liko saw dot's face IRL, the bit had run its course and it would have gotten annoying pretty fast. it was funny and cute while it lasted but likodot is meaningful to me for how these two care for one another and complete one another as people and i don't think their dynamic would feel nearly as sincere if dot was still hiding something that massive from liko… and like for what, at that point? dot never even really WANTED to hide being gurumin from liko, it was a massive misunderstanding that she just didn't have the courage or social skills to clear up, but by the time dot stepped outside her room to literally save liko's life and saw her face to face there was really no reason not to tell her the truth. i also think liko coming to terms with dot being gurumin in all of her silly embarrassed awkwardness and knowingly supporting dot in being gurumin is incredibly sweet and we would have missed out on that too had dot not told her. (alternatively, there is also a world where dot never told her and liko found out by herself but that would take away dot's agency and really trample over her character arc. i think it's important that dot was the one to say it and liko didn't have to go searching for that answer any more than she already did)

all that being said if you really want to put me in the shoes of an alternate universe where liko never found out, i WILL concede that the possibility of liko continuing to be a fan and dot getting flustered about all the attention liko gives her on streams and then seeing her IRL and KNOWING all that gay shit liko's been saying online despite liko not knowing they're the same would be cute/funny. just not cute/funny enough to warrant it over the reality we live in which i find much more cute, funny, and sincere and meaningful

[kafus]

i’m mutuals with an anipoke youtuber on twitter and i don’t even actually know or watch his channel, he was just friendly to me on my art so i followed him back and i may check out his stuff in the future as a result, but anyway i bring this up because he has a decently sized following for polls with nice sample sizes and he posted this yesterday

as of now there’s 1.2k votes on this poll and as far as i can tell it’s hitting a broad bit of overseas fandom since his content is more general. it’s really interesting to me bc okay. i’m just gonna disregard liko x ann here cause ann is barely a character (sorry ann ily) and the ship isn’t popular in any case, but like. likoroy and likodot being tied with ameliko not nearly as popular as either is so weird and interesting to look at because by both solid pixiv numbers and general vibe (i hang out around the jp fandom a lot, kr and cn too) ameliko just barely beats out likodot as the most popular horizons ship with liko, likodot is second but impressively popular for GL, and likoroy exists but it’s not nearly as popular over there, i think it would get similar numbers to ameliko in this poll

idk it just kinda activated my autism thinking about the difference between fandom and while i have 0 problem with likoroy and even find it cute if the art is cute (shipping wars are stupid i’m literally so chill) it is always a bit surreal to me seeing how popular it is over here bc my feed is disproportionately represented by likodot and ameliko from eastern fans due to fandom size and also my personal taste in fanart lol

i would comment on things here but afaik likodot is the only ship with liko that has any traction here in our small tumblr fandom though i haven’t looked that hard (i don’t scroll my dash much admittedly, i’m mostly here to post)

[kafus]

being curled up in bed feeling sick has me imagining likodot sickfic… it would be really easy to write about liko taking care of dot but that’s why i’m more interested in the other way around.

placing this around sometime in the middle of the second chapter in my mind, after episode 27 but before 39. in a situation where the RVT are grounded for an important job and everyone is occupied, dot and landau would probably be the only ones staying back on the ship. so when liko gets sick only dot and landau are available to be there for her 24/7, and dot ends up taking up the role aside from minor occasional help from landau bc yknow he’s old lol. this puts dot in a situation she isn’t used to and gives her responsibility over someone else - someone else who she really cares about at this point and is probably willing to face her discomfort with the situation for. this would also potentially give her time to try some sort of food prep (even if murdock sets that up for her before he leaves in the morning or smth) and experience serving food to someone and see liko enjoy it, even in her sick state…

and this dives kinda heavy into headcanon territory but liko’s parents are busy a lot and i can imagine that if she were to get sick, there might be times where she has had to take care of herself, or her parents couldn’t be that attentive to her. with that headcanon it makes being taken care of even more meaningful. like i think liko is the kind of person to be like no i’m fine!! not wanting her sickness to inconvenience others. so having the adults tell her firmly to stay back and then being taken care of her Good Friend Dot who she also Totally doesn’t have a crush on (sarcasm) is like best case scenario for her even if dot is a little awkward or bad at it

i don’t know man i just want these girls to practice caring for themselves and each other sooo bad i need this

[kafus]

you know being into pokemon horizons and likodot puts me in the presence of a lot teenagers, which isn’t surprising, and it really makes me happy to see people younger than me being openly artistic and openly queer and stuff in a way i was often afraid to at that age. i’m glad there’s places online where it’s safe for young people to be themselves. god i sound old i’m only 24 but LOL I’M EMOTIONAL ABOUT THE YOUTH SORRY

[kafus]

what if i hosted a special off-schedule 60minlkdt for my birthday (12/12)

all i want for my birthday… likodot…

(i’m still thinking about it, this isn’t a for-sure thing yet lol)