#mega evo talk

[moddedmoor]

fuck i really want to work on the research papers for my professorship, but i don't have anything that new to really contribute. sure, i have more than the surface level understanding of mega stones, but i need something. something new to push the boundaries. everything, save for one, that i got from terminus, has disappeared and i cannot make a breakthrough with missing research. i can't even share anything from my secondary trip to terminus because it's hard to actually prove. i also can't just bring an entire research team there to show them because that would take too long. i absolutely cannot share another discovery i made. that should stay dead and buried and that would also raise many questions in my direction. but i have only a few places to really test further. maybe there can be something about the taste of the stones? but clearly it's looking like i'll be talking to a wall on that one.

augh. there's too much. i should just do this the long way, but, i do want to speedrun this professorship just like him...

[carchacrok]

Why on earth would mega stones have a taste?

[salon-maiden-anabel]

okay i mostly see ppl headcanonning lisia's mom as a coordinator too but what if. mega evolution researcher

[pokemonfrommemory]

Croissant dragon

[emdotcom]

Hisuian Zoroark is one of the sickest designs in pokemon, but the model on that bloke is FUCKED. It's really bad. If they bother to port her over to other games, you know they ain't changing that model, either, 'cept to make the textures paler & duller.

I continue to despise pokemon, despite being a pokemon fan, I fucken guess. At this point, I gotta go all in on summat else, like Cassette beasts.

[kicksnscribs]

I like learning about companies like Game Freak being all hush hush about their programming language for “privacy” reasons

Girl you ain’t doing shit with the stuff you have!! Let someone else give it a go, won’t you?

Literally everything that’s been put out (with the exception of maybe ScarVio) has been a basic rehash from Gen 6 onwards with the exception of new models and UIs that need to be made (obviously)

Hell there are people out there that are trying g to make their own version of Pokémon using the handheld assets but I guess the Pokémon Company doesn’t want anybody to see what Pokémon could be so they shoot them down as soon as possible which is incredibly unfair

[proxentauri]

when i saw @n0rtist's ability forms i had to do reuniclus.....i hope it's not too late to be featured in the video! :0 we may have crossed from ability form into actual alternate form territory (see the original colours below the cut to see how crazy different they could have been)

as someone in evo microbio this was insane amounts of fun to do and i was able to pull inspo from places i'd never think to reference in my regular art!

itemized essay explaining the science and my design choices in more detail below the cut:

Ability Form 1: Overcoat

The science

Based on bacterial biofilm, which is basically when a bunch of bacteria get together in the same spot and start excreting this sticky slime stuff that structurally keeps the bacteria together (and also act as a medium for sharing useful resources between the bacteria, like enzymes, nutrients, etc.).

The design

The strings connecting the bacteria is based on what the slime stuff looks like on a microscopic level, specifically in electron micrographs like this one

The violet colour of the (rod) bacteria in the biofilm is a reference to Gram staining, which is a type of bacterial stain used to classify bacteria into two groups: bacteria that contain peptidoglycan in their cell walls (which stain violet) and bacteria that don't (these stain pink). Peptidoglycan is this pretty chonky polymer compound that's used to strengthen bacterial cell walls, so I thought it fit the role of Overcoat (which protects your Pokémon from things like weather)

Ability Form 2: Magic Guard

The science

Based on the myelin sheath, which are these segments of tube-like insulation that surrounds your neurons (see picture here). Mostly people talk about how it makes your neural signals propagate faster, which is true, but this ability form was more of a reference to its general protective role; it physically and electrically insulates your neurons. (Surprisingly I could not find a super good primary source for myelin providing physical protection, so don't cite me on that, but given it's literally a physical barrier this seems like a pretty safe assumption.)

The design

The entire body is based on a pseudounipolar neuron, which just means it only has one part extend out of the main body but shortly after it splits into two long parts (axons). I could have made it a bipolar neuron I guess (two parts extend out of the main body), but having a neck made it look a little closer to the base form's body

I wanted to give it dendrite fingers but it looked too creepy. I'm not sure if the three long fingers I gave it in the final design made it less creepy.

Since Overcoat and Magic Guard are both shield-type abilities, they're drawn as more closely related on the the phylogenetic tree (white thing in the center).

Ability Form 3: Regenerator

The science

This one is the most hype imo. In 2015 Dr. Will Ratcliff did this pretty sick experiment about the evolution of multicellularity (since at some point a long time ago life was single-celled) where he kept propagating the same single-celled yeast for a mega long time, and eventually the yeast evolves a multi-cellular "snowflake" form where after undergoing mitosis, the resulting daughter cells don't split, but stay attached, resulting in the yeast forming these clusters that create these cute little branches. I don't know where I was going with this. Oh right, the branching out reminded me a lot of regenerating limbs, so that was the inspiration for this one.

Anyway this is like one of my favourite experiments ever, there's some pretty good news articles out there about if you want to learn more about it!

The design

The segments are yeast cells, and the balls within are the nuclei.

The colour scheme was based on this fluorescent microscopy photo of the snowflake yeast. Originally I had the nuclei be bright orange in reference to this other microscopy picture but I thought the colour scheme was deviating too much from the base form for an ability form lol.

Speaking of here's the original unhinged colour drafts:

if i did commit to the full alternate form i think the biofilm one is poison, myelin one is fighting, yeast one is uhh...dude idek, i mean the fluorescent microscopy vibe is pretty strong so maybe electric lol? it's giving ghost vibe too though

i was originally planning on citing stuff but it's a tumblr post and I've already linked Ratcliff's work and i want to go to bed lol. If any of the science is wrong just call me out i'll fix it. otherwise, i hope someone out there appreciates the science references !! it's 8am good Night

[takenbypeter]

Could you write about toad(x men evo) telling everyone about his hot date, but no one believes him their juts like "yeha that's neat bud" and goes back to whatever they were doing. But then toad leaves for a bit and later comes back with this mega hottie his arm around her waist and he introduces her to them. Their slack-jawd at how toad managed to pull reader. But reader is low key kinda rude and flirty, but like in a slay kinda way. Like she'll insult you and then blow you a kiss kinda slay.

Toad’s Girl

Todd Tolansky x female reader

Words: 892

Authors note: I almost—ALMOST, deleted this request cause I got it when I said I was only writing for poindexter and anything else would be deleted but then I couldn’t get the idea out of my head and I love toad sooooo I basically had to write it

“Oh god, if I have to hear one more story about this chick, I swear I’ll rip my own head off,” said the silver haired boy after zooming to the couch to join the others.

“Who?” Asked Lance shutting the fridge door from the other room.

“That girl Toads been talking about all week. He’s going on a date with her tonight.”

“Woah, someone actually agreed to that,” chimed in Fred.

“Does she know it’s a date?” Asked Lance again, but before Pietro could answer, down came Toad practically hopping off of the walls.

“Guys be honest is this too much?” He stood up wearing a black button down which honestly they didn’t even know how or who he got it from. “I think it’s too much, I gotta go change,” and just like that off he went back upstairs.

“Not like I love the little guy but I sort of feel bad for him,” said Fred as soon as Toad seemed out of earshot.

“I know poor guys gonna get stood up tonight,” muttered Pietro clicking his tongue against his teeth making a little clicking noise.

Lance opened the cabinets surveying his snack options, “or maybe he made the whole thing up.”

“You think?”

“Oh yeah! The way they met sounds sort of familiar.”

“Yeah from like one of those chick flicks.”

Their conversation got cut short as down Toad came again this time wearing a black shirt with a jacket and jeans.

“Do I look good? Or do I look good?” He asked doing a little spin.

The group takes one look at the boy, tilting their heads at the moderate outfit he chose.

He glanced at the clock that hung on the wall before letting out a quick gasp, “oh man, I’m gonna be late!” Passing by the others he shot them a final, “don’t wait up,” before slamming the door behind him.

“Guys gonna get his heart broken…again.”

Without any plans for the other three, they stayed at the house, practically bored out of their minds as the night progressed. In all honesty they expected, Toad to come back about forty minutes after he left. They figured if he didn’t get stood up, either the girl would wake up and realize the mistake she made, or Toad would do something to disgust her, either way they figured he was coming home soon.

But it actually ended up being three hours later when they heard voices approaching the door.

“Let me warn you, the guys are a little…” His sentence cut off as he know doubt didn’t know exactly how to describe them. Pietro grabbed the remote lowering the volume to get a better listen as Toad continued.

“But if at all you wanna bounce just let me know, we will be outta there.”

“Don’t worry about it Todd. I can handle myself.”

They watch the silhouette of the door as they see one figure lean close to the other for a second before leaning back away, “but thank you for being my knight if I need one.”

Positioned almost in the exact same places that they were when Toad had left they shared the same strange look, with raised eyebrows at each other as the door opened.

In came Toad, practically beaming while you followed behind him hand in hand.

One look at you and all their jaws dropped, because first, not only were you real, but you were stunning.

Placing one arm around your waist and holding his other out, Toad gestures around the room, “this is Lance, Pietro, and Fred.”

The group’s actually too shocked to say anything and it isn’t until Toad mutters a little, “guys?” That causes Lance snap out of it, “it’s, uh, really nice to meet you.”

“Toad’s told us so much about you,” added Fred. Toad turned to you offering to get you some water to which you accepted causing him to head off towards the kitchen.

“You’re the chick?” Pietro mumbled gaining your attention. At his question your eyebrows knit together before you compose your expression as the silver haired boy continues, “how’d Toadisnky manage someone like you? Are you visually impaired? Do you and some friends have some bet going on?”

Unable to believe the words coming out of his so called friend’s mouth you let out a single scoff before stepping a little closer to the couch where they all sat, “yeah we do have a bet going on. It’s actually about who can find the biggest douchebag of the night,” you pause raising a brow at the boy before looking him down then back up, “—oop, looks like I won.”

The silver haired boy’s face scrunched up as his surrounding friends have a one-eighty reaction, with smiles appearing on their faces as Toad returned with a bottle in hand. “We’re all out of clean cups so this is all we had, I hope that’s okay.”

Grateful you take it shooting him a thankful smile and another kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you.,” you say before turning to the group again, “now this has been so much fun meeting you all but I think it’s time for me to say goodnight. Toddy, walk me to the car?”

He nods following right after you.

As soon as he shuts the door, Pietro’s the first to speak.

“What the hell!?”

[shandit]

My Current Guesses on Legends: Z-A Starters

So with Pokemon Legends: Z-A being announced, since we now know from PLA that Pokemon will gain a special final evolution based on their new environment. I wanted to toss my hat into the ring of predictions for which 3 previous starters we're gonna get.

First off let me say which ones I'm sure we're not gonna get and why.

Gen 6 Starters

As with PLA, Gen 6's Starters will not be part of the starters in PLZA. More than likely, they will be caught in the wild just like the Gen 4 Starters were in PLA.

Gen 1 Starters

I think it's very safe to say the Gen 1 Starters are not going to be picked. But, let me explain my proper reasoning.

With the reintroduction of Mega Evolution, and the likely fact PLZA will have our Protag & Crew be the ones to discover Mega Evolution, it's very likely the Starters we get will gain Mega Forms. This said, It's very unlikely GameFreak will use Pokemon with existing Mega Forms, even if said mons get a regional form. Because of this, I can safely say Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur are not going to be on the roster, and same goes for...

Gen 3 Starters

Same thing here, with the fact these guys already have Mega Forms, I find it highly unlikely GF is going to give them both a new regional evo + a new Mega.

PLA Starters

This one's kind of a given. Pokemon isn't going to reuse any of the starters from PLA cause that would just be odd to keep giving starters other regional forms (That said I am sad at the loss of Mega Typhlosion :[ )

Gen 9 Starters

The simple answer to this is just, the Paldea trio are just, too new. While I don't think that entirely rules them out. I do think it makes them less likely to be chosen for the next mainline game.

Now with the obvious removals talked about, let's go down the line of who's left and talk about why or why not they're likely to be chosen.

Chikorita

I didn't originally have anything to say about Chikorita, since I felt their odds were snuffed out by the other grass types here, however upon doing some more research, specifically on Meganium, I learned the daylily (the flower theorized to be what Meganium's flower is based on) was actually brought to Europe around the late 1750's-early 1800's. And with France's Urbanization having occured around the mid 1800's (Which is the time period people are guessing PLZA will take place in) There actually is a good chance for Chikorita to be chosen as their plant actually fits with the location and time period! However I cannot think of what type changes would make sense for this, so I do have to dock some points for that.

Overall chances - 6/10

Totodile

Totodile sadly doesn't seem like a great fit for PLZA. It is essentially just what it is, a Crocodile. And, a quick google search will show you, that besides the barren ice land of Antarctica, Europe is the only continent to not natively have any form of Crocodile or Alligator. GameFreak would have to get very creative here with something of French history or folklore to make Feraligator work for this.

Overall Chances - 1/10

Turtwig

Now Turtwig is an interesting one. Not only is there the fact the extinct turtle species Torterra is based was discovered in North-West Europe (Though mostly Germany & Switzerland) but Torterra as a Pokemon has a lot of potential when it comes to regional forms, thanks in part to the tree on it's back. France's national tree is the Yew, specifically the European or Common Yew, it's an evergreen tree that sprouts red berries (these berries are also very poisonous, meaning we could get a change of typing here to Grass Poison). I could see a Kalosian Torterra having an Ancient Yew tree on their back sporting a great harvest of berries. But, potential put aside, I don't see Turtwig being here simply cause there's another Gen 4 starter that fits the bill of this game much, much more than them.

Overall Chances - 4/10

Chimchar

Chimchar is one I just can't vouch for out of the few fire types we have here. Their Sun Wukong relevance is way to impactful on who the mon is, and Sun Wukong, while being from a story of "Journey to the West" only went to India, and never actually went to the actual west of the world. I also once again have to toss them to the side because of the face there is one more Gen 4 Starter that only makes sense to be in this game, and it's not them.

Overall Chances - 1/10

Piplup

THIS, THIS RIGHT HERE IS A GUARANTEED PICK.

Piplup is absolutely going to be the Water Starter of PLZA, you cannot change my mind about this, and for those of you not in the know, I have one name that will explain why.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

Empoleon, as obvious as their name is, is in fact based on the Ex-emperor of France, General Napoleon Bonaparte. And, if we go back to the prediction of PLZA taking place in the mid 1800's... Guess what historical events seemed to also take place in the mid 1800's. Oh you know, just THE NAPOLEONIC WARS!

Piplup is my only and 100% has to be there guess, it would be a crime if they were not the chosen starter for this game. I legit would actually be angry if GameFreak missed this opportunity. As for potential typings... Water-Dark "could" make sense since Dark Type is just Evil type in Japan, and Napoleon is an evil dude in history. But I think Water-Fighting is much more likely, with Empleon probably going to take on much less of an Emperor Penguin look, and more of General Bonaparte, give him the Hat GameFreak, it would look funny.

Overall Chances - 10/10

Snivy

Snivy is also pretty much a guaranteed pick, and this is just from the simple fact of Serperior. Who is (supposedly) based on King Louis XVI of France & other European aristocrats, and that the fleur-de-lis, aka the French insignia used by many Noble families is visible in their design... Honestly, along with Piplup I would be flat out shocked if Snivy was not the grass starter for PLZA, like I would be baffled at how much of a lost chance that would be. As for potential regional typing, I could see it being Grass Ghost to represent the death of the French Monarchy... But that's it for my brain lmao

Overall Chances - 10/10

Tepig

Tepig is an odd one. On one hand, Snivy being basically guaranteed makes me obviously think another Gen 5 pick isn't going to make it into this group, but on the other hand...

Nah, I got nothing. Tepig is based way too much Chinese Culture and the tale of Zhang Fei to really fit into French culture. Just like Chimchar's inspiration from Journey to The West, it would feel wrong to change Tepig for the exact same reasons.

Overall Chances - 1/10

Litten

This one was more of a wildcard pick here for me, simply cause none of the fire types left had any real connections to France like Water and Grass had, I just found the idea of a regional form for Incineroar to be interesting. Though I had no idea how they would change a professional wrestler into something more fitting for early 1800's France... THAT IS UNTIL I DID SOME RESEARCH BABY!

So French Wrestling is actually really interesting, while it started in the 1830's, their style of wrestling, titled Graeco-Roman, was invented by a soldier FROM THE NAPOLEONIC WARS! Not only that, but it's even named "Classic Wrestling" meaning there actually is a good chance for Incineroar to be based on this style of wrestling for their Regional form! What better thing for the Wrestler Starter to use what is to many people the first style of wrestling that was used in the First ever Olympics! As for typing, Fire Normal could make some sense... I just really don't want it to be Fire Fighting, I think a lot of people would be disappointed if it somehow got the infamous Fire Starter typing.

Overall Chances - 9/10

Popplio

What can I even say about Popplio? I mean I guess maybe the fact Sirens originate from Europen folklore? But even then it's mostly Greek origins for that. There's nothing really tying Popplio in to fit the bill here, they're outclassed by a certain penguin of french origins.

Overall Chances - 2/10

Grookey

I think the Galar Starters are going to be the hardest to even justify, really the only thing any of them have going for them is the fact they come from Galar, which is based on Great Britain, a country that was France's rival in the war to own the world.

However none of that has anything to do with Grookey, the drummer monkey really doesn't have anything to offer! Rillaboom could maybe play a different instrument, but I don't think going from a pair of drum sticks to a bugle is probably gonna work out well. Perhaps though I'm just not putting my mind into it well enough.

Overall Chances - 3/10

Scorbunny

Again, I've got nothing. Realistically I guess you could make a pun here and have Cinderace being a French foot soldier. Though French hares are a common animal, and rabbits in of themselves are abundant all across Europe. I'm just personally wondering what exactly they could do with the fella that makes them properly unique enough to earn that spot, and right now I just don't see it.

Overall Chances - 4/10

Sobble

Last but not least, We have Sobble. Now surprisingly, I could actually see them being used, Intellion is based on James Bond and 007, and being a spy, well French spies obviously existed, there's also the fact a spy can also be an assassin if need be. Water Poison Intellion that shoot poisoned bolts of water from fingertips, yeah that could work.

Issue here though you have to put Sobble up against the other water types here, and well... Piplup.

Overall Chances - 3/10

And that's it! So TL:DR for anyone not reading here are the rankings most likely to least likely by types

Grass :

1 Snivy

2 Chikorita

3 Turtwig

4 Grookey

Water

1 Piplup

2 Sobble

3 Popplio

4 Totodile

& Fire

1 Litten

2 Scorbunny

3 Tepig & Chimchar

Meaning the most likely Starters for PLZA are going to be

Snivy, Litten, and Piplup.

[adobe-outdesign]

okay but where's the seel review

Seel is... wait for it... a seal. No big surprises there. There's really not much to talk about with it, though the tail looks a little like spurting water and that's cute. I also like the little biology nod in the 'dex about how they use their horns to cut through ice.

The tusks are also a little something different, more walrus-like than seal-like. Other than that, yeah, not really anything to remember this one by.

Beta Seel had a bit more personality, kind of taking the dopey look of Seel and cranking it up to 11 so that it looks absolutely disgusted by everything. It also had some spots, which would've been nice to see on the final design.

For a long time I would hear people say Dewgong is "just a seal" and I'd go "but it has those nice fins and long flowing tail, isn't that enough?" until I realized that those features got reduced drastically at some point.

WHYYYYYY would you want to make it blander?? Dewgong didn't have a ton going for it to begin with, but this earlier designs were so much more elegant with their long tapered tails, and they at least gave the line something interesting to work off of.

Anyway, that aside, Dewgong is fine. The final design is a bit more memorable by Seel but only by a margin, mostly because it's an interesting mix of seal, manatee and betta fish or something. Oddly enough it doesn't expand on Seels' tusks or horn, which are the two elements one would think something would be done with. It's fine, kind of pretty, but still not all that memorable due to lack of strong concept and singular color with very little detail.

All that said, Seel's up there as one of the main lines I want to get something, whether it be an evo, a mega, or a regional. The designs are simply so plain that there are dozens of directions you could take them in. As an example, here's a mega design by Nyjee Eiddiw (Instagram, Devianart) that I really like:

In this example, it just adds a nice splash of aquamarine to the design and increases the frill size, adding an extra one around the next and a much longer horn with a ribbon. It's simple, it's pretty, and it feels like a logical extension from the original design.

Regional would also be a strong option, as you could base them off of another type of seal or add/change the typing. Once again, it's plain enough that anything would help it out.

Anyway, an alright line that's alright visually, but isn't all that memorable beyond that.

[lorekeeper-backset]

Parallels between Mega Evo and Dynamax nobody talks about:

Both use special stones that are said to have come from the stars.

Both are heavily connected to a "third" Legendary (Rayquaza and Eternatus respectively)

Both are seemingly powered by wishes (unless Wishing Star is a misnomer)

Both came about as a result of a great apocalyptic crisis.

The original Kanto Starters change form thanks to them.

Both would be much cooler with the addition of Zinnia (unfortunately, only Mega Evolution gets this)

[moddedmoor]

What was the first recorded mega evolution?

that, actually gets a lot harder to pinpoint unfortunately. there are many different thoughts on what was seen as "the first" occurrence. it also depends on the region you're in, i guess. those in kalos believe it to be from lucario and aura or when the ultimate weapon was first fired 3,000 years ago. in hoenn, people will tell you it was rayquaza that brought forth mega evolution. it gets dicey, and frankly, i'm not one about to overstep on others beliefs here. but, i will be a bit biased for a moment and say i am inclined to believe it does originate in kalos. we do have a much more abundant natural occurrences of mega evos and base stones to be found.

[royallygray]

Psst Royal

Do you wanna rant about anymore soul horizon lore? I would like to hear about soul horizon lore if you wanna ramble :D

Also would you like to read the essay I wrote about llkau Pearl's psychological truama and manipulation from her mother?

yes I am always down to rant about soul horizon lore. also YES I WANT PEARLS PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA HEHEHEHEHEHEH

Anyways hello. I am normal sized again wow.

Okay so personally--FUCK I HAVE A MEGA STUPID ASSIGNMENT IM GONNA NEED TO DEAL WITH THAT IN SOME AMOUNT OF TIME--i have recently been obsessed with soul horizon divorcée quartet.

THEYRE. SO FUCKING SPECIAL TO ME. BECAUSE THEYRE LOSERS

OMG OMG I NEED TO EXPLAIN THE EEP

WE DONT CARE ABOUT THE EEP WE CARE ABOUT SCOTT AND CLEO AND PEARL AND MARTYN

Scott and Cleo are canonically married. why did I do this, you may ask? tax benefits. and they were living with each other anyways. and also idk how marriage licenses work but it makes the pay a whole lot like even-er because Scott's a doctor and Cleo's a teacher

Well they're a college professor. idk how much more college professors get paid and I am too lazy to google it

hold on actually

ok so according to the first results: 96k to 300k per year which makes the second result so fucking sad like. the second result is 30k-97k a year. like. rip

compared to high school teachers: 45k-100k per year. Jesus Christ. and then the second result is 38k-46k.

rip teachers honestly

AYY SCOTT IS LOADED. I THINK. I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH SHIT COSTS I HAVE NO LIFE EXPERIENCE I AM A BLOB FLOATING IN THE WIND DESPERATELY CLINGING TO LIFE

330k-630k. Yahoo. scott has it good. he's a surgeon because... I said so. he's like a surgeon but also a doctor. I think. mostly a surgeon tho but I am going to call him a doctor for the rest of this because in my mind he wears the coats. like a lab person. with cyan hair

SO. WHERE DO WE ACTUALLY BEGIN WITH THE LORE.

Well. It starts in elementary school. I... don't actually have lore for Cleo and Scott for this part but I do for Pearl and Martyn! So Pearl and Martyn are the same age, and they went to Evolution Elementary and Middle. They're in the same building. People just call it Evo

Also Jimmy barely made it through that school bc the year after he graduated it got shut down bc it was hosting cult activities. hmmm. weird

All the Evo gang went to Evo Elementary. shocker. And Lizzie.

And then they graduated, and they went to Hermit High Academy. Which I love. All the Hermits are there, except for Joel and Skizz (THEY WEREN'T HERMITS WHEN THIS STARTED AND ID ALREADY DONE THIS BACKSTORY), Cleo (she was at EEP), Gem, and Scar.

Also EEP stands for Empires Education Program. I love the EEP. All Empires people went there.

The two significant years-

hold on hold on hold on. okay. so.

Year order. we need this

also my sibling once told me that I text like someone with ADHD and I cannot help but feel like that's relevant here.

hello it is now a completely different day and place (I'm at the kitchen table and it is midnight)

(It has been thirty minutes I'm in my bed again and I am going to fall asleep. I need to take my meds. I have now taken my meds. now if I wanted to I could just fall asleep. I'm gonna keep talking here.)

In the Empires Education Program (which is referred to by people who want to mock it and also the attendees of it as the eep. Others say Empires or E E P (separated letters)) there are two years of people attending that we care about.

Everyone that was in Empires or SOS, minus False, Pearl, Jimmy, and Gem is part of the EEP.

The secondary year we care about (the grade below) has Oli, Owen, Mog, Eloise, and a few others unnamed (prolly from Witchcraft) because I refuse to make this class smaller than Magic School Bus's.

Everyone (minus Pearl, Jimmy, and Gem) in Empires S1 is in the first year of EEP. The second year has everyone else (minus False) that was in Empires S2 and SOS.

The primary year we care about (the most plot relevant people are here) has Scott, Cleo, Lizzie, Joel, Shelby, Katherine, fWhip, Pix, Sausage, and Joey. You might notice that Cleo is in here, and they are not part of this group. Cleo is in here because I said so. Also I needed a place for her to be besties with Scott. And Cleo would be a great addition to this crew, just saying.

... genuinely it is a completely different day and I am in a separate building and I have no idea what my ultimatum here was

Anyways. Martyn is a vigilante, Pearl's a villain, Scott's a doctor, and Cleo's a professor.

The funny thing that I'm absolutely in love with is how they semi get along. but mostly don't.

see. Scott and Pearl had that whole scene where Pearl literally ran out of magic and started ripping it out of Scott's soul. Magic is part of your soul, so it comes from a similar place as your soulbond.

And so Scott and Pearl have a well justified rivalry. And also after they broke the soulbond -- OH I JUST REMEMBERED THE REALLY FUNNY SHIT -- they both became Worthy, Scott significantly earlier than Pearl.

I still gotta explain the Worthy thing dammit

Anyways the really funny shit is that normally, when you reject your soulbond, you essentially function exactly the same as a person without a soulbond except you've got a weird tattoo, and you will die at the same moment that they do.

EXCEPT the divorce quartet are part of the Eighteen (which irl are just the life series members), and this means that the rejection doesn't work. It works at first, and Pearl and Scott have silent minds for the first time ever, and then they hear the slight whisper of the other one's voice and just. they're suffering.

It's funny as fuck, imo, because I'm the sadist author that makes the characters suffer. hehe

essentially, the telepathy hurts more after they rejected it than before. And also they also have the normal consequence of "if the one dies, then the other one dies too" which normal soulmates don't have.

But because of the rejection not working, the four of them realized that they're Winners. And they all figure out that they're Winners because Pearl believes that Mortality mythology (aka life series canon events) is real.

And Martyn was like "hah Pearl you're crazy"

and Pearl straight up goes "Jimmy's the Canary"

and the three of them stare at Pearl

because EVERYONE has heard the legend of the canary. It doesn't fucking matter who you are.

And Cleo's straight up like "holy shit"

And Scott knew the entire time bc he shares a brain with Pearl except he semi didn't believe it but he knew that Pearl believed it

But now they figure out that Scott is the Stars (2nd winner), Pearl is the Moon (3rd winner), Martyn is Mars/water/The Tower (4th winner), and Cleo is Pluto/fire/Death (6th winner).

And then perhaps Grian just walks out of the house and is like what're y'all talking about.

And then Pearl just stares at him. because she remembers what his soulmark is.

It's the sun and the earth. which is the missing duo of winners.

and Pearl is like. Grian. You're a winner.

and Grian's like "wtf are you on"

"like of mortality mythology"

"wat"

Scott: so is he the sun or the earth

Pearl: probably the sun. have you seen that face

Grian: wtf

Martyn: welcome to divorce club, Grian

Pearl: Martyn stfu

Martyn: yeah I'm scared of you so I will actually do that

Also Martyn and Pearl are besties

also I gotta write the scene where they divorce bc it's actually rly cute. not like Scott&Pearl and Martyn&Cleo but like. Scott and Martyn are cute. And Pearl and Cleo are cute. And Cleo and Scott<3 and Martyn and Pearl are like besties. so.

yeah

they. them. they're the perfect combination of like. a lot of shit. because all of them are morally gray.

hey that's almost my name

My name is actually a play on the phrase "morally gray", fun fact

Since Pearl is literally a villain. Martyn is a more hero aligned vigilante. Scott and Cleo, while being civilians, do actively help Pearl by giving her potions and shit since she and Martyn can go to the Nether to get the ingredients, and Scott and Cleo have a permit to brew potions.

Like. Scott and Cleo are like passive and will not get outed in the grand scheme, but technically they break the law daily. And I love them so much for that. Like. They know WAYYY too much to be civilians. Not even JOEL knows as much, and he's the motherfucking husband of Riptide, who is the sister of Scarlet AND Sparrow. AND the Canary.

Anyways. Um. If you want to ask any clarifying questions, I would be more than happy to answer those.

This was rly incoherent and I'm sorry abt that but y'know :D

THANK YOU PERI @periwinklepaint FOR THE ASK :D :D

[front-facing-pokemon]

Delphox nise rating: 8/10 the pokemon of all time. Sadly it didn't get a mega evo like the other starters

that time is not now

i would be leaving them alone already if you all would leave me alone!! this is an agreement we're not going to come to, guys, and i'll stop talking about it as soon as you do

[fearowkenya]

Winds of Change

Chapter 3: When it Rains, it Pours

The gentle babbling of running water is dissonant in Ryo's ears as everyone slowly starts to regroup, making their way toward the middle of the central path, where—his breath hitches, sharp and cold against the inside of his throat—Shuuji is staring at the ground, head bowed and shoulders taut.

What happened in the waterway left its mark on everybody, and Ryo's doing his best to watch over his friends in the aftermath. Unfortunately, he doesn't have eyes in the back of his head, and neither does Shuuji.

ao3 link in the source, extended post-chapter commentary below! (:

i had a whole bunch of stupid temporary names for each section of every chapter during earlier stages of writing to help keep track of what order the segments were in. like i said on ao3, the working title for this chapter (the middle segment, specifically) was "The Gang Misplaces The Baby". Other notable ones were "be gay do crime hold egg" (ch1 pt1), "Get Punched Idiot" (ch1 pt2), and "EGG" (ch3 pt3).

ive been sitting on all my silly kunemon dialogue for WEEKS. im still not sure how i feel about it - on one hand, i kind of like it when you can only figure out what kunemon's saying through context, usually via ryo. but also i think it's really fun to explore what kunemon's voice sounds like in dialogue - if you translated all of kunemon's kews, would he speak the same way as jewelbeemon or banchoustingmon? it's hard to say, given that theres basically no time in-narrative save for the evolution event where banchoustingmon is center stage. that's part of why i think it's a shame that ultimate and mega stage evolutions are affinity-dependant rather than story-depedant. that said, i've heard that the development cycle for this game was BRUTAL, so i dont fault the devs for it. besides, it's kinda fun to try to figure out how to change ultimate and mega evo scenes so that they fit into a specific area of the story. i won't get into it now, but i have MANY thoughts on the subject.

i also have many thoughts about ryo. i know ive talked about this before, but he was the one to surprise me the most in truthful. i truly was caught off-guard at how much of ryo is hidden behind the walls he puts up at the very beginning. it's so delightful to me that this rough, foul-mouthed, prickly guy is arguably the most emotionally intelligent of the group. i bet he has no idea that his ability to read people is so impressive, and likely views his eye for detail is nothing out of the ordinary. i think these skills are both things that he started to hone at a young age, and now they're just second nature. although. i do think these skills completely go out the window when he's in distress.

also on the topic of ryo - i will die on the hill that he and saki have some kind of shared history. i dont think they go to the same school; there's a few references to saki probably being at the same one as takuma and minoru, and then at the amusement park in truthful, theres a bit of dialogue between minoru and ryo that suggests that the two of them go to different schools. so instead, i've mostly committed to the notion that they're …hmm… childhood "friends" is a strong word. probably closer to childhood "acquaintances". childhood "other kid i kept seeing over and over at the same place, and since theres no one else my age around here i dont have any other options". childhood "best available friend".

anyway, I think they were familiar with one another through their parents. it makes sense to me that one of saki's parents worked with ryo's mother or had some other kind of connection to her that faded after she died. or maybe ryo and saki ended up running into each other constantly while ryo's mother was in the hospital. in either scenario, a much younger saki and ryo would have been together frequently enough that they got to know each other pretty well as kids, then grew distant after their families' paths stopped crossing, not seeing each other again until the start of the camping trip. i think thats a decent reason for why ryo's not quite as temperamental with saki as he is with the others rightrightright at the beginning, and it would explain why he doesn't seem to mind her following him around and saying stuff like "idk what you'd do if i take my eyes off you" without him getting all that annoyed (relatively).

but yeah, this chapter was a LOT of fun for me to write. i really liked the idea of getting the immediate aftermath of the fight with wendimon from ryo's perspective. it was gonna be from shuuji's at first, but i think he would have been too caught up in shock and grief to be paying much attention to any of the others. ryo, on the other hand, is extremely observant and perceptive even though he's also pretty upset.

i had a great time writing shuuji listening in on kunemon and ryo's conversation. obviously i loved the duality of shuuji having no idea what kunemon is talking about while we the reader know that ryo gets whiplash between trying to cheer up a gloomy kunemon, exchanging stuff they've noticed about their friends, then being personally attacked about his feelings concerning a specific person (whose identity i hope was at least somewhat discernible without kunemon goggles). shuuji can understand the words ryo is saying just fine, but the information he learns catches him off-guard, and it occurs to him just how much distance there is between him and most of the group. this gave me a fun opportunity to think about what it's like to be shuuji at this specific part of the story - he's just had this horrible brush with death, and even though he's doing much better than he was before, he's at a point where he hasn't grown close with most of the others yet. we don't see much of shuuji having to build or rebuild his relationships with his peers immediately following the waterway - iirc the bulk of what we get is after those 10 days takuma was gone, and by then, the way he interacts with the others is much, much different.

i also really enjoyed getting a bit silly about the game mechanics in the last segment. finding random shit like plates of ribs and weird bananas isn't really addressed much beyond acknowledging that it was found. i think theres been SOME commentary about how the thing is weird, but to my knowledge, WHERE those weird things were found isn't acknowledged. nobody ever sits back like "hey so why the fuck did i find a pineapple inside of the piano" and i thought i could play with that a little!!

all right, thats gonna do it for this week. as you may have noticed, my ability to accurately gauge when i can post chapters is… hmm… questionable at best. i currently plan on posting chapter 4 on monday, but theres a small local con this weekend so i can't say for certain. my usual weekend chores will likely be pushed to monday unless im able to get them done tomorrow (highly unlikely), so we'll just have to wait and see!

thank you for reading, and as i said on ao3, im really really grateful for the comments ive gotten, even the ones in tags on tumblr. im always happy for more, and im so curious to know what stood out to people the most.

[ali3nboyfriend]

they should hire the people that make romhacks to make actual mainline pokemon games. begging anyone who loves pokemon but hates how mainline pokemon games are right now to check out romhacks. specifically from my experience radical red, inclement emerald, and pokemon unbound. i am talking different difficulty modes. i am talking every pokemon up to galar. i am talking mega evos for pokemon that didn't get them in the mainline games. i am talking a proper sidequest system in unbound specifically. difficulty rebalancing so the games are actually challenging. please. fucking play these games so i'm not alone.