#one day i will post my opinions on every pokemon... one day...

[bynineb]

flutter mane + meowscarada

[spicyicetea]

So I got the new Pokemon DLC for Christmas and I’m on a big Pokemon kick currently so I’m going to give a gift to my fellow Pokémon lovers. Now I’m more well known for Yandere work but I also do love doing more soft romantic stuff. It heals my traumatised self. So I’ve decided to go through all Pokémon games I’ve played and write romantic and yandere sfw+slight Nsfw headcannons for every character I personally like. [No DLC content because I haven’t played any of them yet]. If there are any characters I haven’t done that anyone wants, either comment or request and I can add it onto this post. Merry late Christmas!

As mentioned before, these posts will contain NSFW topics like violence and sexual references, so if you’re triggered by these topic please be careful. The reader in this is also a Fem reader, I can redo this post for a Masc or GN reader if wanted but I’m writing it as Fem currently is just easiest for me. I don’t describe appearance like skin colour or hair but I do write the Y/N with a curvy figure in mind (I can’t help myself, I love thick thighs IM SORRY-)

Kanto

Red

Ah the original silent protagonist. I love this man so much, even more after his cameo is Sun and Moon. I’m not sure what it is about him but he has this strange allure to him, although I doubt that’s a unique opinion on silent characters. Anyway, onto the headcannons.

This is almost a given with the silent types but I feel like he is an amazing listener, only ever nodding to show he’s still listening or giving small “mhms”

You’re probably the only one he comfortably talks to other than Blue.

In public he likes holding your hand, he often communicates through squeezing your hand or fiddling with your fingers.

Psychic boyfriend No.1

This man can just tell what you need, when you need it. Whether it’s comfort cuddles after a bad day of for period troubles.

Speaking of period troubles, this man not only will buy you whatever you need, he’ll wash the sheets, run you a bath and let you use him as a personal heater.

Yandere + NSFW

This man doesn’t open up to people easily yet you made him fall apart.

You made him stutter, drop things and slip up in battles when you cheered for him, he’s whipped.

You were the only woman that’s ever caught his attention and you aren’t leaving him anytime soon.

So get used to him possessively having a hand on you at all times, glaring daggers at any other person you pay attention to.

He’s a very private person so isn’t one to leave marks on you openly, but he does take great pleasure in leaving dark marks on your thighs.

Speaking of thighs… he’s a giver, do what you want with that.

Blue

Ah the smug bastard rival, and I promise you… he’s still insufferable, but in a loving way.

Bullies you playfully. A day doesn’t go by where he doesn’t mess up your hair and trip you up.

But he loves you truly.

You could not have asked for a more cuddly man, I didn’t expect to have this headcannon but I imagine this man is very eager to stay cuddled up to you as much as possible.

Although he talks a lot and loves it when you compliment him, I also think he’s a good listener, but like I’m a hype man way.

He’ll sit by the bathroom door while you’re in the bath letting you vent about anything you want just egging you on. “Wow she sounds like a bitch-“

A man who loves PDA, it’s his favourite way of staking his claim on your beautiful self.

Yandere + NSFW

Has dated his fair share of girls, but he wants you so bad.

He will fight for you, no matter what. This man will abuse whatever position he has to impress you. A relative of the professor’s, ex Champion, and a gym leader. He will do whatever he can to have you.

He is incredibly touchy, the moment other people aren’t looking, his hands are under your shirt. Nibbling your neck and kissing your earlobes. Actually he’d do that even with people watching,

Although he’d be mighty mad if someone watched your gorgeous body, he might even hurt someone.

Brock

This man is underrated.

The most loveable family man you’ll ever meet.

He loves to cook for you. Everyday. Please let this man make you breakfast in bed.

In fact no, he wants you to cook with him. All romantic. His chest to your back, whispering sweet nothings in your ears while you chop up vegetables.

If you get along with his siblings, he will propose to you on the spot.

Very openly affectionate, but never goes further than a hug in public… ok maybe you can get a kiss on the cheek.

Yandere + NSFW

This man has a breeding kink… you can’t change my mind.

He wants a nice big family and the idea of you, heavy and round with his baby. Not to mention how your… other assets will change.

Will happily suffocate in your tits, and if you’re pregnant, he will help relieve any discomfort you have.

If another man hurt you in any way, he’s going to go… missing. He’d break a man in half over his knee for you, and his Onix is very strong.

Lance

Am I the only one who would smash? Yes? No? Alrighty-

He’s always hits me as a someone who likes spending time with his lover in silence.

Not opposed to PDA but gets worried about his fans potentially harassing you, let’s you borrow his dragonite to escort you between towns.

Away from the public and just with his friends (elite four mainly) he loves to have you by his side, often whispering things about his day to you, information he only shares with you.

Also a man who is very hot, like he’s warm constantly, will be the best snuggler when it’s cold.

Yandere + NSFW

Originally I thought this man would be rather… vanilla but I feel like he’d be into wax play. I can’t explain it, but I can picture him loving to spill wax all over your tits.

For the more yandere side of things, he’s the strongest dragon trainer in Kanto. He will use his influence to make himself your only option, not that you’d realise, he’s not an idiot.

Giovanni

BARK BARK BARK GRRR MAFIA DADDY-

Your relationship is hidden very well from most people, you don’t get to villain status with a clean record and no enemies.

Despite that, you love a life of luxury baby.

He loves nothing more than to pamper you. His beautiful girl sat on his lap, with her hair all done up and nails all pretty. Now that’s the life.

Yandere + NSFW

I think he has great Yandere potential.

You sat comfortably on his lap in his office, his hands trailing comfortably under your skirt.

He loves watching you squirm as his fingers traces tight circles- well that’s all you get for now.

As I mentioned before, I believe he’d default to yandere to be honest.

He would not hesitate to kidnap but I like the idea that he’d try and woo you first. Dinner dates… wine… murdering his competitors.

Yeah, he’d be a yandere.

Johto

(I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never played these ones so I have no significant opinion on any of the characters)

Hoenn

Steven

This is just a crow in a human form, mr I love shiny rocks (me fr fr)

His love language is most definitely gift giving. Your shared house is littered with crystals and shiny things he’s found over his travels.

He loves to press kisses all over your fingers, buying you as many rings as possible for you and him to match. If he buys himself a new ring you’re getting one too.

Loves showing you off to the elite four, and begs that his dad approves. Not that he needs his approval but it’d be awkward if he didn’t.

Yandere + NSFW

Possessive as fuck.

You ain’t getting away from him easily. He will track you down as long as he needs to before you calm down and quit running away.

Loves pampering you once you behave though.

He kisses up your legs to your thighs, such passionate loving words followed by the mantra of “dirty girl” and “slut”

Maxie

Ok all the villains just radiate Yandere energy- so they’re all gonna be pure yandere + NSFW warning

This man doesn’t have it in him to kidnap someone… oh wait that’s a lie.

When he met you that all changed

He needs you, he would hurt anyone to get you to himself.

He’d leave dark bites on your neck, massaging your hips to tangle you together.

Another man I think would be into wax play, also a corruption kink. (No I won’t elaborate)

Archie

Big brute of a man… he’s going to make you beg for his mercy.

He loves holding you in his lap, cradling you delicately while he peppers kisses along your neck.

Will bite you, this man is a shark and will leave slightly bloody bite marks all over your body.

This man eats pussy for breakfast, you will never not cum first, a truly good man.

He is far more eager to kill a man to prove his love for you than he should be.

Sinnoh

I’ll be honest I tried to but I’m tired and I’m just going to be writing Yandere and NSFW headcannons. I’m sorry people-

Barry

This boy is so happy to finally have met someone who loves him… you’re not allowed to leave, he’ll cry.

For some reason I see this mans as wanting a family… he wants to be a more present father than his own.

Not one to leave marks on you but will beg you to stay home so he can cuddle and pamper you all day.

When he eventually takes over the battle frontier (he so would you can’t tell em otherwise) he will use that position to “protect you”.

Cyrus

Ah yes, the cold emotionless man who falls for a sweet woman and kills all competition… I approve!

PDA? Who is that? The most you’ll get from him is his hand on your shoulder moment before he orders team galactic to handle someone who was making moves on you.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you. You’re the only woman he could ever love.

He lays awkwardly in bed but melts when your head rests on his chest, that was when the yandere switch flipped and he locked you in his apartment.

At least the man lays some good pipe, also this man has a bondage kink cause I said so.

Unova

Elesa

You think that the world won’t notice the famous model and gym leader with a girl on her arm. You’re going to end up centre of the Unova news for the next month.

She loves this though, now everyone knows you belong to her, and anyone who ignores that will just get zapped.

Prepare to share clothes, and prepare for her to watch you undress, she can’t help herself.

The woman loves to zap you, just lightly though, you’ll live… and probably cum.

Emmett + Ingo

Yes you get both, these two are a package deal ok?

Now… prepare to never leave their sight.

They want you at every battle, cheering them on, cuddling with the Joltiks or napping in their office using their coats as blankets.

Now… ok these two are kinky. They just are-

Ingo is 100% a family man, big breeding kink.

I think Emmett is more, adventurous, bondage and impact play seems right in my opinion.

Love to… “threaten” to throw people on the tracks when they flirt with you.

N

Aww what a sweet little thing, come and give me a hug- now time to hide you away where no one can ever see you again!

Honestly, he probably fell for you after seeing your relationship with your Pokemon. Almost every Pokemon you see likes you.

He’s very possessive over you. It’s no secret that he was raised in an incredibly unhealthy way, so he can’t exactly discern between inappropriate and appropriate behaviour in pursuing his courtship with you.

Now onto more NSFW art themes, he 100% praises you constantly and makes sure you’re tended to first. Often ends up super pent up because he wants to take care of you but sometimes go so far and overstimulates you. Don’t worry, the aftercare is amazing though.

Ghetsis

. . . Bastard

I’m only including this mother fucker because he’s so evil he’d be one of the most extreme Yanderes out of all of them. And because if still smash because I’m sinful-

The moment he sees you and falls for you, you can bet you’re getting kidnapped, sorry you just are.

I would bet money that he is the most possessive out of all of them but, and hear me out, would also be kinda attentive?

I can totally picture him being cold and accidentally upsetting you only to spend the rest of the next day showering you on gifts.

You’d also be seen as a god to the rest of team plasma, so enjoy being worshipped.

Oh and NSFW… spanking, degrading and tying you up, enjoy

Colress

Ah yes, my adorable scientist that I think is a kinky motherfucker-

He would make a collar to track you when you leave his side, he isn’t too keen on the idea of locking you insider after all.

Wouldn’t kidnap you but would murder the competitors.

Anyway onto the kinks I think would suit him…

He’d 100% make different types of vibrators so he can cuff you to the bed and watch you squirm. Considered making you a ball gag but he gets off on your moans, that does mean he ends up edging you before fucking you himself.

Kalos

Lysandre

Sugar daddy

I could leave that like that but fine fine I’ll feed you horny bastards.

He parades you around more than any of the others, always making sure you’re wearing the finest clothes. Usually also wearing his jacket, he can’t stand gawkers staring. Admiring your beauty he can handle, but staring at his woman is punishable by a flamethrower.

You live the luxury life. Fancy bath soaps and massages. Cafe trips daily so he can make sure you’re eating well. Sex in the back of his car in secluded car parks when you’ve been misbehaving at dinner.

He’s a rough lover but amazing with aftercare, so there’s that.

Alola

Nanu

Dilf energy… and I’m hungry for it I’ll be honest.

So tired, but you give him energy. Energy to do crime to keep you to himself but still energy. But hey why argue, you get to cuddle his cats all day.

Also, if you’re a trainer that has cat Pokemon… he’d probably marry you. Proposal on sight. Already on one knee.

He isn’t very openly affectionate but as long as no one is around he’ll always have an arm around your waist. You’re well protected.

Another man that I believe would make sure you cum first every time. Just make sure you have a warm bath after for your back, he hits me as a rough lover.

Guzma

Oh you poor girl… not because he’s going to treat you bad but he’s obsessed.

You’re probably kidnapped by team skull but you had no idea it was a kidnapping, it was more of a scooby-doo chase.

Yeah you now have like 50 babies to care for but don’t worry, big sis Plumeria and your new husband will help you. What you don’t remember getting married? Oh silly, you belonged to him the moment your eyes met.

He’s very inexperienced with relationships so give him a little time to learn. He’s a fast learner in bed so he won’t leave you unsatisfied. Will pamper you anyway he can.

Oh and have mercy on this man… don’t wear his clothes, he can’t handle it.

Hisui

Volo

Little shit… he’s going to try and use anything he can to claim you.

Whether that be advances in front of people to scare them off and stake his claim over you.

He does have a decently good reputation so no one would expect him to be dangerous, so you’re kinda fucked, Cyllene would protect you if she needed to though.

He talks down to you all the time, you’re not his equal, you are his property in his eyes.

Adaman

This man is smitten. No more smooth and confident Adaman, this man is a stuttering mess.

He wants to marry you so badly, please let this man marry you… and then put a baby in you but marriage first.

This man gives you jewellery, clothes, helps you befriend Pokémon or catch them depending on which method you prefer.

Cuddler, he will snuggle and cuddle as long as you want, so what he has duties? His pretty little wife wants his attention and you will get it.

Irida

Had noooo idea how to handle her feelings. Probably started as a childish crush at first but it developed into something much more.

She wants to spend the rest of her life with you by her side.

Glares at everyone who speaks to you, even people from her clan. She’s very jealous very easily.

But she loves you, and will let you spend unsupervised time with some people she trusts… only her Wardens, although she doesn’t trust Ingo as much as she doesn’t know him as well, not with you at least.

Warden Ingo

Dilf energy again

His memory may be strange and shaky but he remembers how to treat a woman he loves. Remembers things Elesa told him and Emmet, although to him it’s more echos of voices he thinks he knows.

He loves cuddling up to you while watching the newly hatched sneasels learn how to live. Although this does awaken a want for family he forgot he had.

He isn’t the most trusting person, but he is a good judge of character… and has gotten into a fistfight with Volo when he hit on you. Blood was drawn.

He throws a good punch, but would never hurt you, he adores you, you make him feel good in a familiar way.

Anyway you freaks want NSFW- this man lives up in the mountains, them rough hands can do wonders. And he loves making you feel good, people pleaser but only for you.

Paldea

Arven

Aw what a sweet boy, who will strangle anyone who tries to take you from him.

This boy lost both his parents and nearly lost his best friend/dog… he is terrified he’ll lose you too.

He cooks he cleans and then makes sure to rub your back and give you love so you’ll love him back

Please give this boy some affection or the boys around you will pay the price of you don’t.

Professor Sada

Mommy?

This woman is feral, not only did she basically throw you over her shoulder when she met you but you never don’t have bite marks all over your skin. It’s her way of telling everyone your hers.

I feel she’d give more freedom than Turo, only if Robo Sada was with you for safety… and to break the arms of whoever looked at you the way she did.

Also this woman is a mosterous pussy devouring fiend, don’t argue, you know I’m right.

Professor Turo

Oh daddy Turo- criminally underrated daddy let alone Yandere daddy.

I feel like Turo most definitely would have kept you locked down in his lab with him, convincing you that you help him with his research. I mean… he isn’t wrong, you motivate him to keep going.

However girl has needs and he often get consumed by his work. It wasn’t until he caught you handling problems yourself on your shared bed that he decided robo Turo should take over his research a little bit more.

It’d be a shame if you fell in love with a toy he so kindly made for you than him himself.

Larry

Ah my favourite ordinary business man… I’m so normal about him.

He is very normal about you too, except the fact that he has pocketed any handkerchief you’ve used while eating with him.

Oh and many dates that are just trying new food, oh and bird watching.

Again, call me weird but I think this man wants a family, total breeding kink.

Also I feel like he likes a rather feminine woman, not in the frilly skirt way but in the way of “I don’t N E E D a man but I like you”. You like him, right?

Rika

M m mommy?

Dominatrix… owns a whip… bondage. ANYWAY-

Not above using their position as elite four to scare off competition and keeping you in line.

Oh don’t cry, you won’t escape anyways.

She only uses PDA to send a message to other women or men, “hands off”

Jacq

Teach me about biology bb-

ANYWAY… loves to discover new Pokémon with you.

Will happily teach you about your favourite Pokémon for your attention.

Please don’t look away, he’ll have a breakdown.

Miriam

Ah cute little nurse… she has access to so many dangerous drugs.

She will scream and cry if you choose someone else, don’t do it, she’s an ugly cryer.

She loves to give you “check ups” when no one is looking.

On a side note, don’t you know that orgasms are good for your health? You didn’t? Oh silly let Miriam help you out, her fingers can work wonders.

THIS TOOK FOREVER…

But it was worth it enjoy animals. I want to get more serious with Pokemon x reader writing so I hope some people enjoy this… I’m never doing this big of a post again… this was meant to be a Christmas post- way to many bloody tags to add :,)

[allhailmeandmy]

I really don't wanna complain , nor am I the type that does, but I'll rant , cuz even I am getting frustrated now

So, under for complaining, I apologise

It's so frustrating that the one thing they get consistent is BP, making different choices to change for the worst

You need how much for Solomon seals to get a card guaranteed? 2400 seals?

How about red keys? Cuz you'll get a gold, just not the card ur pulling for nor the artifact, for example , I've been trying for beelzebubs attacker artifact since it was put on the banner, the card is maxed no artifact, I stopped trying back when red keys were still in pancake store, and the remaining I had left I used on Lucifer, I got 3-4 repeats, non for lucifer nor his artifact, or even the new leviathan card, 3 of those repeats being those for pancake store since most are repeats

The red keys in the pancake store will be the fall of it sooner or later, cuz now there's only exchange for gems, panty game, or buy them. And the issue with these is, for f2p, the only thing you get is panty game, 1 red key per day, so u might get a 10 pull once a month.... how generous

Red gems wise, the exchange is not worth it till u have over 4k gems, and u don't get those often either, I'll try to have a look and keep track of the gems to see how much you get per week

There's event exchange, but those don't even give you a 10 pull so, plus events ( not bp) happen like once per 2 months maybe

So how tf are people supposed to get any?

I play and have played over 10 different gatchas, from every ikemen game, obey me ( both og and nb, both since release), genshin ( star rail for a short bit), wuthering waves, cookierun, pokemon masters, nu carnival, arcana twilight, and probably more that I don't remember, and the ones I stayed for have 1 thing in common, that being events and better ways of earning pulls.

Obey me wise, even if u don't get any new cards you will get a 10 pull from completing the first slide of rewards if you're an active player, if you're lucky with pulls you'll get 20 or more depending on what type of event it is ( 1 is regular events other is gatcha event rewards) , and the store from ravens, you get as much as u get ravens from og obey me, while nb gives u 10 pull from the store per month, not as good, but personally from the pulls u get from the events you don't notice unless you're on a loosing streak , in my personal opinion some might feel different its OK, plus u get flash sales and level up sales for pulls, so many opportunities

Cookierun, as someone who played since sonic collab, I've not had issues for pulls, you get many gems and pulls from events, daily activities like guilds, raids and others, plus they don't really do reruns but new characters , recently they did group reruns for certain cookies, but consistently I had 30k saved up in case of new cookies from daily activities

Can't believe whb is making me talk well of genshin... but even genshin is more generous if ur an active player, u need 160 for a pull, daily activity alone gives 60, but they get events consistently, as a player of over a year I get 6k promo per month, and I kept track for 15 months on traveler's diary, as well as 5 pulls on the monthly store, and as much as u get from masterless startglitter u get from repeats

And nu carnival... from same collab company they had for whb since they're on erolabs, they too have a monthly store for 10, and more events, tho the rates could be better, they at least have some consistency

So what does whb lack? Events, consistency, and store exchange. Not many events and when they're there they last a month, and what u get leaves much to be desired, you don't get much info about when and what till it happens or they have a post a week before about it, store exchange gems wise is really expensive even the new one they added, and other currencies don't give u red keys or give barely any, wow 1 key! So nice!

And then there's the "they're a small company" so? Giving red keys in store doesn't cost them. If anything, it'd make people more likely to buy things, because at least u get something even if you're loosing, so it doesn't feel as that big a loss as it could be. I understand that it'd probably cost em to make more events and make em consistent, so they'd have to write writers, but! But but but! They don't have to make big lore events everytime! They could make shorter more light hearted events! Like.... nu carnival or obey me, mc and nobles and kings having mindless fun, like idk? Beach event, they go to a beach and interact, just a fun little filler while waiting for other things grander things to be in works in the meantime, they don't have to make new cards, or new sprites, they could but they don't have to yk? Just something smaller where u see how characters interact and have fun with u

Pb could also do something like welking or obey me vip, 5 dollar a month for red gems every day for a whole month or anything they'd decide on giving, or the vip where they could give per month perks, like discounts on deals, vip deals, per month gems, early sneak peaks. Yk?

Like I'm comparing, cuz I've been playing all those for so long, I mean 5 years in obey me? Why do u think that is? And I've been supporting pb for a while, I was there for love unholyc since the year it came out, preregistered for dokidoki, preregistered for whb and waited for updates despite the delays, I want them to succeed I want well for pb, for that they need to change for better. The rating on play store is 3 stars for a reason, people are leaving for a reason, people aren't willing to give the game a try for a reason. They need to look at the competitions and compare and see what works and what doesn't, and even the panty game changed for worse ( my opinion as someone who played it every day) but I didn't complain since no one else did so I didn't wanna be a spoil sport for anyone, but they gave more, but once more they decided to change the rate to be lower with gold panties , and gave gold, who tf is low on golf?

Not to mention pies... 60 pies on 1 lvl up skill, and u get the pies on the pancake excha- oh right

That all to say, that's just how I feel personally, you can disagree that's fine, but I complain as a fan, and someone who wants better for the game, I'm still here for a reason, I started to post here for a reason despite never posting my own stuff online, I do love the game, but the devs don't, at least it doesn't feel like they do

Also how u have to buy both bp's for a card is really scummy in my opinion, as someone who considered it for juno card, 40 plus 10 for a card? Y not make it 1 payment not 2? Definitely made me not want it immediately but that's just me ig

Feel free to add on, I'm not trying to start a discourse or an argument, I just want change for better

[fioras-resolve]

"Is the Berlin Interpretation still relevant?" Part 10 - Results

So, I guess I should finally explain what I'm talking about. I promise I'll stop spamming these tags now.

The Berlin Interpretation of Roguelikes is a genre definition that was made at a roguelike dev conference in 2008. It was a handful of people who were inspired by Rogue to make their own procedural death labyrinths. This was just before Spelunky. It was before The Binding of Isaac, it was before FTL, and it was before Risk of Rain. In other words, this interpretation was made right before the definition of a roguelike radically changed. Before these genre fusions, roguelikes were mostly games like NetHack and Angband, games that were directly inspired by this RPG from 1980. They were roguelikes, because they were "like Rogue."

But let's talk about what this interpretation is actually doing. It is not, in fact, a set of rigid guidelines of what features a game needs to be part of the genre. It is a set of high and low value factors, that a game may not have all of, but the more it has, the more it is, well, Rogue-like. There isn't a game that purely embodies each of these factors, because there's doesn't have to be. Even Rogue isn't fully faithful to this interpretation. It's just that if your game has enough of these factors, then it's clearly working in the same design space, and part of the broader conversation. That's all it was doing.

So is it still relevant? Well, kind of, but not really. Sure, permadeath and procedural generation are still important to people, but for it to be turn-based and grid-based aren't necessary anymore. And I guess for the later polls, either people got tired of me posting these in their tags every day, or they just don't have an opinion one way or the other, because their vote counts didn't even hit the triple digits. It seems like complexity, resource management, and exploration/discovery are still important, while non-modal gameplay and hack-and-slash aren't as much. But I hesitate to give these results the same kind of credence because of how many people from the earlier polls didn't vote on these ones.

It seems like, these days, the roguelike isn't really about its base mechanics. It's a structural genre. You can graft any base mechanics onto it, as long as you start a new run after you die, and each run is made unique by randomness. It seems pretty straightforward.

Okay, what about Mystery Dungeon?

The Mystery Dungeon games these days are mostly known for being Pokemon spinoffs, but the series goes back to the 90s with games like Shiren the Wanderer. These games are directly inspired by the original Rogue, complete with grid-based movement, item discovery, and heavy resource management. It's more "like Rogue" than a lot of modern roguelikes. But because it's structured more like a Japanese RPG, with checkpoints, persistent progression, and a full-blown story, it would probably nowadays be called a "roguelite." Even though it precedes that term by decades!

I'm honestly really surprised that Mystery Dungeon doesn't come up more in discussions about roguelikes. Like, it's a really obvious point of contention, and one that's worth talking about. But only one person in my replies actually mentioned Mystery Dungeon in their thoughts about permadeath. I suspect it's because most of the roguelikes people are invested in these days are indie PC games from the West, while Mystery Dungeon is a Japanese series on console and handheld. But I can't prove it.

Speaking of roguelites though, we have to talk about that term. I don't think that "roguelite" is an inherently elitist term, or that it's useless as a label. it clearly serves some purpose in conversation, even if I wouldn't use it myself. I don't want to prescribe my definitions of terms from on high. I want to understand how people are using these terms in daily practice.

And it seems like it comes down to two definitions. One is the Berliner standpoint. It's less common, but it sees some use. Basically, if you're not making a grid-based dungeon crawler, you're not really making a game "like Rogue," are you? Genre fusions like Risk of Rain and Slay the Spire play completely differently from the roguelikes of old, so it feels weird to just call them roguelikes. This is treating it as a mechanical genre, defining roguelikes by dungeon-crawling in the same way we define a shooter by shooting.

The other definition is a broader one, defined by two key features: procgen and permadeath. This is the most common one in modern conversations about roguelikes, because it takes it as a given that these genre fusions are what roguelikes Are. By this framing, a roguelite is any procgen game that features persistent upgrades. Something like Rogue Legacy, where your progression isn't just you as a player, but your character growing more powerful. Permadeath and procgen serve a very specific purpose in conjunction with each other, and there is a sense where either of these factors being diluted misses the entire point. But plenty of people don't put stock into the like/lite distinction, because they don't see it as mattering. No definition here is wrong, they're just all operating under different beliefs.

(sigh) Look, genre is a lot like gender. In fact, in some languages, they're the same word. It's vague, it's arbitrary, and it doesn't make sense if you squint too hard. But it's important to people, either to describe what they're doing or to understand what others are doing. There's never going to be a strict, clear definition of roguelike that perfectly covers all cases, because that's just not how genre works. Roguelikes are what we mean when we talk about roguelikes. It's very easy to poke fun at a genre label like this, but it's a lot harder to understand what it's doing, and what it means to people. That's the conversation that really matters here.

Is the Berlin Interpretation still relevant? Not as much as it used to be. But your interpretation is what's really important.

[l-in-the-light]

Hi, hope you have been having a great day! Your posts have always been my favorite, and they never fail to brighten my morning. I'd say it's the perfect way to start the day for me ^^

Today I have a question! Penny for your thoughts on Law and the Revolutionary Army? What might his stance and opinions about them be, and if he wasn't a pirate, would he consider being in the RA? (since there's little to no chance he would want to become a Marine)

Oh, hi! Now I do have a great day, because I read your ask ❤ Sorry that lately I don't post every day. Sometimes something else steals my attention, like sudden inspiration for a fanfic or some of my friends in need of quality time together :D yesterday it was an impromptu pokemon battle on discord with self-invented pokemons lol. I will take this opportunity to (again <3) thank you so much for enjoying my posts, I'm always so excited to see your reblog tags each time! :D

Law and Revolutionary Army, okay, let's go! *rolls up sleeves* I actually watched some analysis and theory vids about RA before, and I had a lot of my own reflection on them lately, so I already have an opinion about it. At times this might go slightly political, so a fair warning!

First of all, let's start with Dragon and his Revolutionary Army. Thanks to Robin, we know their goal is most likely the World Nobles (Celestial Dragons) and we know they have some longterm goals planned. They're basically gathering supplies, allies, weapons and information, and waiting for a good moment to strike. I don't think their attack on Marie Geoise was one of their ultimate goals in itself, because we learned they did it just to get Kuma back (their valuable ally and friend). Everything else was an extra, but they made sure it counts: destroying the symbol of Celestial Dragons (to declare war), cutting them off the food supplies and getting rid of their stock, freeing as many slaves as they could.

They're apparently still making sure the food supplies can't reach Marie Geoise, which we learned from chapter 1126. Interesting thing to note here is that they actually have an agenda behind "riling up rebellion in nations": it's to limit nations that will pay celestial tribute and hand them resources, in other words: to weaken their enemy.

Dragon declares he literally wants to collect his own army to fight for the better world, whatever that might mean to him. He was part of the marines once, but "found no justice there", so he left and created his own army instead. We can't really talk about Revolutionary Army without taking into account his stance on justice.

Seeing from his reaction to Luffy becoming a pirate ("Not bad!") and him and Akainu disliking each other, we can take some guesses here. Dragon's goals are probably: freedom for people, not allowing innocent people to suffer, making sure people in power do not abuse it (an army for hire sure sounds like a good method to at least make them think twice before overusing their power).

And what's their modus operandi when trying to reach these goals? Many people in fandom are frustrated with Dragon and Revolutionaries, because it feels like they're "just there", waiting all the time and doing nothing. They don't go around the world freeing kingdoms and fighting oppressive reigns, after all. What they do instead, is reach out to normal citizens and "ignite the flame of rebellion" in their hearts.

That's because Revolutionary Army doesn't want to be the ones who will win the war, they want the citizens to be the ones who will win their own country and freedom back, and RA will simply help them achieve that, remaining as support.

They're so interesting exactly because they try to empower those that are on the lowest steps of the hierarchy's ladder, they want to give power back into their hands, but for this to work those citizens have to wish for that themselves, try to fight back, and it needs to be their own decision to do that. The power they give them is the power to fight back, defend themselves and demand their own rights and independence. Revolutionaries show to people that common folk are also part of the system and so they have the right to decide how they want the world to look like, even if it's only in their small kingdom. And those of them that want to join the cause and change the whole world to become a better place, are invited to join the Revolutionary Army. That's how Dragon operates. He even makes it clear that it's his rule not to assassinate kings or overthrow them himself, because that's not his job to do; it's up to the people of the nation.

We can deduce that Dragon would rather avoid direct conflicts, bloodshed and anarchy (after all regular kings are not his aim!). What he offers people in need instead is that: an army for hire, and for free! But only to those powerless people who are oppressed. Now we should ask this question: as much as this all sounds very good and noble, is it really a good thing to do? Let's look at the consequences of the attack on Marie Geoise. It was aimed at Celestial Dragons, but who suffers hunger as the result? The nobles?

No, their slaves and servants instead. They would have to go around hungry because there's no way CD would go around hungry instead (and they make a huge deal that they miss ONE meal a day and snacks). And they're still as spoiled as ever! If anything, this only angered them and nothing more. For now, Revolutionary Army achieved only this: to make the life of slaves in Marie Geoise even worse.

Now let's look at Lulusia. Sabo getting involved with them caused the whole kingdom to vanish from the map (yeah, it wasn't his fault, but the fact this kingdom was before freed by Revolutionaries had influence on Imu's/Gorosei's decision). And then let's look at what they did to help Dressrosa: oh wait, actually, they didn't help much. Yes, they supported ciitizens, helping the injured ones and gathering them in safe places (not that there were any real safe places in Dressrosa's disaster).

They also did research and gather evidence from the underground port Mingo was running, which is interesting. Does it mean RA is gonna present evidence in a court against World Government? Or do they just want to trace back their sources so they can steal it for themselves? Anyway, RA did not fight Donquixotes though and did not fight the Marines, with exception of Sabo (and he got heavily scolded for involving himself in the conflict). Was that really the correct course of action? Is that what heroes should be doing? What would happen to Dressrosa if Luffy lost? Would Revolutionaries just allow everyone to die, despite being right there?

Which points me to my own conclusion: Revolutionary Army has lofty, noble goals, they want to help people who are oppressed, but they're not heroes. And they can't be ones. If you have an army, you're automatically disqualified as a hero, because you fight violence with violence, power with power, no matter how you try to sidestep that fact. I'm not saying Dragon is in the wrong, but... what he kinda yearns for is a form of utopia. People should be encouraged to step up and fight for their own good, they should have the means to do that, but what if what they fight for is a mistaken cause? What if years of resentment will lead the people to just keep on oppressing others as the result? It's a logical conclusion to that: you don't want to be oppressed, be sure to raise to the top so everyone is below you (and now you can opress them back). What if those previously powerless people will start to get back on the class that used to oppress them, like what the common folks did to Homing?

Giving power to common people is great, but it will not erase their hatred they collected for centuries, their rage for all the pain they and their close ones had to experience. If you want the world to be truly a better place, then it needs also education, damn, a collective therapy, besides just manpower in an army. But, you know, it's at least *something*, that's why I'm personally not judging RA. They do what they believe is the best thing to do, a first step in the right direction and they mean well, but I think it will backfire, because it's definitely not enough to overturn the world. And power has a tendency to corrupt.

And then we also have Sabo, who kinda went against Dragon's principles when he accepted to be called a Flame Emperor and used the fake news of King Cobra's assassination to encourage people for rebellion.

This might seem insignificant, but it's anything but: Sabo is part of Revolutionary Army, his actions affect RA's public image. If he didn't deny that he killed King Cobra, then it means killing King Cobra was RA's aim.

We will see how it goes in the future, but the recent "fractions" double spread Oda did (above) foreshadows that Dragon and Sabo will kinda go their seperate ways. Sabo took his stance, he wants to fight, not only watch citizens fight. Even if he did that mostly for Luffy, the consequences of that will be longterm.

Now finally I can switch to the actual question you asked: what would be Law's opinion on Revolutionaries. Remember my analysis on how Law taught Luffy what's "the right thing to do"? It was a lesson to always think of the consequences of your actions, to see the big picture. If you want to liberate a whole nation, you need to choose your battles, to strategize the damage, recognize the oppressor's structure of power and strike down the fillars of it so it collapses on itself. Law is a fighter, a commander, a leader. He will not avoid a fight or a war if that's what needs to be done, he won't leave those people to their own fate and will fight with them for the cause (not just offer support!), and he will do what he can to lead them to victory. And he will never accept credit for it. Officially, it's like he was never there, or just part of a nameless "pirate" crowd, no one important.

But if he can, he will avoid conflict and arrange things in such ways it's not even needed. That's how he wanted to get rid of Doflamingo, simply forcing him to give up his warlord status which meant he would have to leave Dressrosa. Just like that, without any blood spilled. But for achieving that, he doesn't shy from doing things that RA would never approve of: kidnapping people, making ransom demands, forcing people to give up their titles by his own actions. Also Law doesn't rile up any citizens, he leaves that up to others. Dragon would not approve of Law's methods, we can be sure of that. And I think Law wouldn't approve of Dragon's actions over Marie Geoise either (starving off slaves), because Law's MO is to always care about the consequences of the actions. In other words, I think Law would think there are better ways to achieve greater results, without hurting oppressed people even more in the process.

Wait a second, you might ask now, but what about Dressrosa? We get the Wano, but in Dressrosa Law didn't care even for a second about the citizens! Well, actually, I think he did initially, his actions and plan were meant to avoid any harm to them, let's never forget that. Later on he did throw it all out of the window for Luffy's sake, I won't deny that. Law might be hero coded but he's not a hero, at the end of the day, and he knows that, he's not a naive idealist like Dragon is.

Dragon voices no regret about starving the slaves for his cause (at least for now), Law on the other hand seemed to make a guilty face expression at the end of Dressrosa, seeing the injured people and ruins everywhere. And that's actually a good thing, that "reality check" is what keeps Law aware that everything he does and every decision he makes will have consequences, and sometimes you need to choose between lesser evil, because world isn't a pretty place, especially the world in One Piece. And idealism often isn't afraid to kill people for it's cause and not only doesn't call it a wrong thing, but calls it A Right Thing To Do. Remember Death Note? That's your unrestricted idealism 101.

Law might tell the Strawhats to just ignore the assault on one of the Flower Capital's districts, but he will never call it A Right Thing To Do. In fact, when Sanji says he can make it work, Law instead trusts him to do his thing. He's flexible in his ways, he always questions, but when it's needed he's firm in his decisions. He just knows sometimes he isn't doing the right thing, but he never loses the direction he aims towards, because if he always questions and seeks and rethinks it from multiple angles it's always for that purpose: to make sure he isn't on the wrong path and if he is: to change it or do better in the future. And seeing the consequences of Dressrosa and how the waves from that spread over the New World, it actually caused a lot of good changes: wars stopped, underground black market took a huge blow, and in longterm: warlord status got erased. And all of that? Is actually thanks to Law and his plan, that was literally the catalyst here. That's why it's 1:0 for Law when compared to Revolutionaries.

Now we enter speculation territory. I do think Law actually might be supporting what RA is doing. Let's think about it: how did RA know that Dressrosa has an underground port?

We learn they sent agents to Dressrosa before, but "they were all turned into toys" (that's revisioning what actually happened - they wouldn't know anything about the toys, because the existance of their agents would be erased from their memories). And they never answer the question: why Dressrosa? And my answer here is: someone had to give them that intel (anonymous intel, most likely) in the first place. Coincidentally they arrive in Dressrosa exactly when Law's plan is taking the stage. I don't think it points towards Law being a Revolutionary, because Sabo has no reaction towards Law, and Revolutionary army has no reason to hide their identities from each other, that's not how they operate at all. And I don't think Law actually cooperated with them either, because the conclusion after Dressrosa clearly took RA by surprise. They got weapons, they gathered important information, it's like this all was gifted to them by someone. And I think it's likely Law was the one who send them the intel, anonymously, or through someone else. Maybe he does support their goal of declaring a war on World Nobles (even if I think he would be kinda disappointed at some of the results of their actions). We saw at Sabaody already that Law isn't really fond of Celestial Dragons, human auctions and slavery; he was pleased with what Luffy did and he also took a stance by freeing Jean Bart.

Would Law join them in the future? I think he doesn't like to work under anyone. Luffy might be also the only person Law ever worked on equal level with. He acts and behaves like a lone wolf, especially when he says things like this:

That doesn't sound like a person who's on a leash, be it Revolutionary Army's, Navy's or Government's. Being a pirate gives Law freedom. If he's somehow with any of those fractions regardless of my analysis, it's just to use them to reach his own goals, just like he took and discarded his warlord status.

And like I said, I doubt Dragon would like Law's methods so Law would have to change them to be part of the RA (and I doubt the main problem here is that he's a pirate, if he wanted to he could have joined them anyway, they did accept former slaves that were pirates before). Also Dragon is playing the long game, and it feels like Law doesn't have that much time to play along with it, because his plans are always moving fast and cause really big ripples. It's not that he's impatient, but it seems like he can't really afford the slow game here.

As for the question you didn't ask: I actually think Law might be part of the Marines, in some way or form. Let's consider this: if he is aiming to overthrow such a big organization, what's the best way to do that? From the inside. Assuming his hate towards government and marines would stop him is not taking his resolve seriously enough, imo. If he is out for revenge, he will stop at nothing, because he is the last person to carry the memory of what truly happened to Flevance. His own resentments would not stop him, he would do that even if he would end up hating himself as the result. "Everything was for that moment", he could declare at the end of it (just like he does in Dressrosa), when he pushes the final blow from the place the Marines expect it the least: their own most trusted people.

Thankfully though he still didn't lose his heart, that's why he does have at least some brakes intact. That's why he cares for people. That's why he cares for consequences of his own actions. That's why he would throw his own plans away or tuck people dear to him to safety over reaching his goals. But he can never forget those goals or throw them away for good. We will see where his storyline will take him in the end.

Of course that's only considering the somewhat popular theories that Law is a member of Sword. I do think those have some really good observations, but the interpretation part falls flat. They got the dynamics completely backwards imo, because Law would not be an underdog to Drake. There, I said it!

[seecarrun]

My pal!!!!!! My friend!!!!!!! I'd like to tell you a beautiful little secret!!!!!! You want to know what that.....

Domesticabuseshipping is dead you genwunners!!!!!!!!!

Amourshipping is canon losers!!!!!

Ah man. Normally I would just delete this and go on with my day, as I am a whole ass adult with like, a husband and child and career and mortgage and shit, and I haven’t seen childish fandom bullshit like this since literally the 1990’s, and I have better, more important things to do with my life and you are just going to respond to this with the same repeated thing over and over again.

But luckily for you, said career is actually a kindergarten teacher, so I like working with sad and upset children.

Because honestly? I think that’s what this is all about. I think you are sad and mad and upset about how Serena’s character was wrapped up on the anime, and I think you have every right to feel that way.

I’m not a Serena fan, myself, but I have no ill feelings towards those who are. Love what you love, I say! I actually couldn’t get into the BW or XY anime, just not my thing, but I did start rewatching again at Sun Moon, and I can absolutely see why a Serena fan would be frustrated at how they ended things for her. Literally all the other traveling companions (save for May and Max, for obvious reasons with May’s Japanese VA) had a more significant wrap up with Ash than she did in the last season.

Misty and Brock both got the whole Aim to be a Pokemon Master thing, Dawn came back to watch Ash complete during the World Coronation and cheer him on, Iris was IN the World Coronation thing as a gd champion!!

Serena got an episode, and she didn’t even interact with Ash in it hardly at all. She spent the whole time with Chloe, and only saw him in passing when he walked past her to get on the boat at the very end. There was no blushing, no love confessions, neither the kiss nor Sarena were eeever talked about again. She got a non speaking cameo watching him against Leon along with the others and that was it. I have my own opinions as to why the writers did that, but that is neither here nor there, that’ll be a post on it’s own.

But that’s frustrating! I totally get that! She was the only traveling companion to kiss Ash, surely that means something and she’ll be brought back or brought up and she and Ash will be together forever!

But nope, pokemon isn’t that kind of anime. It and Ash’s journey ended with just him and Pikachu running off into the sunset, with Gary, if we’re being honest, as probably the most significant human to him in the end (as it should be, my old ass genwonner heart LOVES how Gary was there at the end living in Ash’s head rent free lol).

So I do get why you are upset and lashing out. I think it’s dumb and immature and annoying, but I get it.

My parting wish for you is hope that you’ll realize that literally no Ash ship is canon; his time in the anime is done and he ended up with no one, and that is simply okay because it’s pokemon and romance in that show has literally never been the point. I hope you keep on loving your favorite characters and ships and that you let everyone else enjoy their’s.

Buuuut let’s be honest, I know that you are just going to ignore everything I wrote and keep doing this same shit, but it was worth a shot, right? :P

I hope you have the day you deserve. <3

[gaelic-symphony]

hi!! :)

i hope this isn't weird, but i love reading your posts about judaism to learn more from it. i don't follow any religion but i love getting to know them from people who do

and if you don't mind me asking, what are your favourite things about it? <3

i hope i have expressed myself well and you don't mind this 🫶🏼

I actually love this ask, and I'm so glad you sent it! There are so many things I love about Judaism, it would take me forever to come up with a list of them, but here are a few of my favorites:

I love our everyday rituals. I love keeping kosher and going to the kosher supermarket. I love that every time I eat or go grocery shopping, I'm affirming my connection to my people and my ancestors. I love that we have blessings for the most mundane human activities like washing our hands. I love ending every week with Shabbat. I love how it gives us a day to rest and reflect and be thankful before we start a new week, and I love having the weekly marker of Shabbat to track the passage of time. I love that you don't have to subscribe to any particular version of Jewish theology or believe that we do these things because Hashem commanded us in order to participate fully in these rituals. You can do them just because you find meaning in them. You can do them just because you're proud to be Jewish and follow the traditions of your ancestors.

I love our holidays. So many of them commemorate our survival against those who tried to wipe us out: Purim, Chanukah, Passover. Every year, we tell the story of our peoples' perseverance. We reflect on the strength and courage of generations of Jews before us that allowed our continued survival into the present day. Other holidays are seasonal markers of time. Tu B'Shvat is a little over a week away, and it's our "new year for trees," the time of year when the earliest trees start to bloom in the Land of Israel. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur mark the end of the old year and beginning of a new one, and give us the chance to leave our mistakes of the past year behind and learn from them moving forward as we start fresh with a brand new year. Sukkot is a traditional celebration of the annual harvest. And other holidays, we're just so happy to be Jewish that we need to throw a party about it! Shavuot celebrates the Israelites receiving the Torah from Hashem at Mount Sinai, and then we celebrate the Torah again on Simchat Torah, when we read the very last verses of the book of Dvarim and start all over again with Bereshit.

I love our music. Our daily prayers are set to music, with special nusach (melodies) for Shabbat and holidays. When we read from the Torah or the books of the prophets, we chant the words to the same melodies our ancestors have done for centuries. We sing as a way to connect with each other and with Hashem. We sing the psalms of King David, and we sing wordless melodies we call niggunim. We've developed our own styles of secular, non-liturgical music and dance: klezmer and canciones, the horah and the Yemenite step, and many, many more!

I love our scholarship. Our scholarly tradition is one of questioning and arguing, neither of which are viewed negatively in Jewish tradition! We love to ask ourselves "what if" and "why," and the point isn't so much finding a singular answer as it is the process of engaging with the text. Does it really matter as a real-world issue whether there are any Pokemon that would be kosher to eat? Of course not! But that's exactly the type of thing we love to argue over, and if the ancient rabbinic sages like Hillel and Akiva and Rashi and Maimonides were alive today, I guarantee you they would have opinions on the matter.

I love our joy. There is so much joy that comes with being Jewish, a joy we feel just for being alive against all odds. Most of our prayers are not asking Hashem for the things we want, but thanking Hashem for the things we have. We have a brachah we say specifically to thank Hashem for the opportunity to fix what is broken in this world. Our history has rarely been a happy one, but we have always found reasons to rejoice. We danced and sang and celebrated our holidays and life events even in the Warsaw Ghetto. This past December, during one of the saddest, heaviest, and scariest times for our people since the Shoah, Jews all over the world celebrated Chanukah like we always do. In the midst of our mourning, we found joy. Literally and figuratively, we came together as a tribe to create light in the darkness.

[aisy15-chan]

"I don't think about you at all."

This is a more detailed explanation of the little post I made the day before yesterday lol (this long guys)

"I don't think about it after all" is probably the most fitting sentence to describe Rin's emotions towards Volo after the Hisui arc & if Rin was more honest with Volo they would probably say a harsher version of this sentence actually… This sentence refers and is based on how Rin doesn't like or even very hates getting involved in anything related to Hisui and Arceus anymore. because who wants to remember being the one who was randomly sent back in time? Dealing with crazy things? Dealing with a crazy blonde guy who wants to destroy all life and replace it with something fake and boring how wastw already makes Rin want to puke and get sick and think maybe he'd be better off being a mad scientist than getting involved in this crap and Volo again.

On the other hand Rin's sentence hurt Volo more precisely and effectively than anything he's ever received before. Rin is the person he can connect with the most and also makes Volo's blood boil more every time he thinks about thier compared to the heroes of Arceus. Volo initially forgave Rin's intelligence & strategic ability in pokemon battles to train his pokemon to defeat the hero Arceus by doing stupid competitions they do every time they meet. training together and expressing opinions together… They are close Volo doesn't know any other word that fits to describe their relationship other than that… When Volo felt he could manipulate this situation Volo was defeated with an iron fist by someone he could call "close" without mercy right after he almost reached the top then Rin quickly knocked him down and with his ego just like that…

"Is was all always just about them?"

Yes this is base on and reference to that one c!Tntduo scene- I always wonder why every post related to c!tntduo always matches Martabakshipping and I remember… they are indeed based on C!Tntduo… Well, this used to be just based on a joke by making a joke comic of my silly oc x canon that became too serious until making the C AU where they really became C!Tntduo gosh… I can never run away from them *tepar* damn.

An Rip my phone old memory and all of my wip cuz software error 😔🙏🙏🙏 I'M AT MY LIMIT I ALMOST SNAP OKEY BUT I'M FINE *TEPAR*

[jackdaw-kraai]

Everyone tagging my addition to a post about how fucking cool my little sister was at fourteen and has been every year since to say that they were an absolute cringe fest at fourteen: one, it was about my rad as hell baby sis, it’s okay, not everyone can be as cool as her

And two: be kinder to yourself. Just because you were in the awkward second stage of your pokemon evolution line doesn’t mean you didn’t rock hard. You had the whole world stacked against you and the monumental task of finding out who the fuck you were while every adult was telling you you were either acting like an idiot or had nothing to look forward to. Do you even comprehend how unfair those odds were? How unfair it was to ask you to not make mistakes trying to figure out how to be an independent adult figure while everyone who already was an adult talked down on you instead of helping? How absolutely fucked it was to dismiss you as an idiot and as embarrassing just because you were young?

You were awesome at fourteen years old, no matter how lame, because you’re now here and you survived that fucking gauntlet of never-being-enough for long enough to realize you don’t need to give a shit. The only job you have now is to not be that same jackass adult to the next batch of fourteen year olds trying to climb their own Everest that is figuring out who the fuck they are by talking down on them like they’re idiots or chronically cringe or whatever the hell the kids are saying these days.

Kids are cool. They rock hard. Probably harder than you do if you’re actually bullying the younger version of you by calling them an idiot or cringe or uncool or whatever the current trend is.

I was a lame fourteen year old because I actively wanted to be, and figured that being lame was the best way to survive into adulthood without get ground down by the boot upon my neck. And fourteen year old me was right, making them the coolest fucking lamest fourteen year old as far as I’m concerned.

That fourteen year old fortnite dancing or making tiktoks or doing whatever kids are doing these days is cool as shit because they’re earnestly trying to figure out who they are and taking joy our of things even if they’re silly or adults are telling them they’re idiots for enjoying it instead of being miserable and depressed to “build character” or some horse shit. And they’re cooler than you if you’ve become the type of adult who talks down on teenagers doing that kind of stuff and having fun while doing it. That’s some “I’m not like other girls/guys/people” horseshit if I’ve ever seen it. Knock it the hell off and start rediscovering what fourteen year old you already knew: that earnestly trying to find out who you are is a process that necessitates mortification and that anyone who willingly and genuinely submits to that fact is more mature than anyone mocking it could ever dream of being.

And if you’re fourteen years old and reading this, or just a teen in general having to figure out who you are while all the adults in the world seem to be shitting on you out of some kind of projection of their own issues onto you and yours? You’re stronger than they are already. Don’t let them fool you, they’ve got it no more figured out than you. Continue whatever you’re doing as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone and you’ll be fine. In fact, you’ll be cool as fuck. And that’s a certified adult opinion.

[generouskittentidalwave]

OH BOY ASTRO BOY ELECTRIC BOOGALO HERE WE GO!

YOU THOUGHT I WAS GONNA MAKE ONE POST? NAH WE GOT A ROUND TWO AS I GOTTA SAY SOMETHING

I WANT TO MAKE THIS, LOUD AND CLEAR, TO PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE FANDOM

Many people actually DON'T dislike the 2003 Astro Boy dub

SHOCKING, I KNOW.

But seriously, from what I've seen 99% of fans love the dub just as much as they love the sub, including myself, with many of us growing up with the dub version and growing a strong attachment to it especially due to it being nostalgic for many of us. I hardly ever see many complaints about it, even on the very rare videos that compare the sub and dub 99% of it is just talking about the scene and Astro and only 1% at most complaining about it for their own reasons.

Because es it does have it's issues like cutting out scenes, mostly regarding Tobio's past, but that's no one's fault as although censorship wasn't as aggressive in the 2000's as it is now they still weren't comfortable displaying much of Tobio's past which, like it or not, is pretty valid as I don't think many of us kids wanted to see a 9 year old child get hit by a car head on and die instantly with none of it being off screen. The rest of the issues though are kind of just- eh? Like they are a problem but it's not too prominent except some line changes here and there and sometimes the dub voice lines not matching up with the expressions but nothing that really badly affects it as the points still get across all the same. AND SPEAKING OF THE VOICES, OH BOY GET READY FOR THIS

Yeah there is nothing bad about either, most fans don't really care and those who do most likely jumped on a band wagon. The only difference is that Astro's voice is a tad bit rougher in the dub but people need to realize EVERY SINGLE VOICE DUB MC CHILD CHARACTER *HAD THAT VOICE* BACK THEN, ASTRO FROM ASTRO BOY SOUNDS A BIT LIKE HOW ASH FROM POKEMON SOUNDED IN THE EARLY DAYS OF POKEMON AS WELL WITH ASH'S VOICE BEING A LOT MORE ROUGHER THAN ASTRO'S. Actually they felt so similar to the point I actually had to look up the voice actor upon rewatching it because I thought they were both voiced by the same person. It was just a 2000's dubbing thing back then that always led them to have that kind of voice, I don't know why they went with that but the shows were successful and I loved them so I guess it worked either way. The point is, almost no one here gets their pants in a twist about it and you shouldn't either, because, fun fact, IT DOESN'T *MATTER*, you wanna know why? Because it's still ASTRO. The changes never affected his character and I know that because upon growing up with the dub he was still the same innocent, lovable, caring robot we all know and I saw him as such the same way people saw him as in the sub. Because despite it's minor flaws it was still Astro with every action, words, and lessons that he took, spoke, and learned. SO WATCH WHAT YOU WANNA WATCH AND LIKE WHAT YOU WANNA LIKE, THE DUB IS GREAT AND SO IS THE SUB, EITHER WAY HE IS STILL ASTRO ALL THE SAME AND IT DOESN'T AFFECT HIS CHARCTER AT ALL. To leave you on an important lesson, don't jump on a bandwagon when introducing yourself to new shows that involve sub and dub and instead watch one and take a look at the other and form your own opinions on them, we are all chill and welcoming so there is no ripping eachother's faces off about it here, trust me this is not the My Hero Academia fandom, you are safe.

[frostbite-the-bat]

no but genuinely. i love shadow filbo dearly. he means a lot to me.

he marks a time for me where i began embracing what i like just... for the sake of it!

he embodies the things that inspired me to draw online in the first place. hell, sparklecat characters with bangs have made me stop cutting my hair. i haven't cut my hair properly since. just because i wanted the same bangs, not knowing how hair works. now i have what is best described as messy fluttershy hair. to many people just how long my hair is, is what defines me when they see me and my hair is in a way special to me.

and again - he was what inspired me to draw. in class i'd be drawing my own sparklecats at the age of like 8, with bangs and wings and little companions that sit on clouds that rain hearts. (and bolts and skulls when ANGRY!)

i put rainbows on everything. i thought nyan cat was the embodiment of everything good in the world. i listened to nightcore versions of songs only. i say, as i am listening to nightcore, right now.

because of all these old classic animation memes and sparklefurs and silly scene and emo song flash animations i'd find... i'd pick up ms paint and draw. i imagined just how i'd animate, finding even the simplest methods absolutely mesmerising. there is something to be said about me being this young with internet access - because it very much so had it's negative effects. not me watching fetish videos at the age of 8 just because it had pokemon in it. yea that did not have any lasting effects.

but despite all this shit - it raised me! and even just a few years later... like.. 2015 when i began posting online on deviantart for the first time, not being just a lurker... learning how The Computer works better - not only drawing on paper anymore and gaining more and more interest towards digital art... i was already nostalgic towards these earlier days. but still living IN it, y'know?

just having fun, doing my own thing! isn't that what art is all about?

well. then the cringe culture nation attacked. severe bullying at school. and in general, just shame - which i am still fighting in certain aspects. but it's a bit more complicated than just "shame". (more so fear of Things.)

i'd look back at things with either genuine "cringe" or a distaste. how DARE these people have fun? because deep down, i was simply jealous.

if i was going to reference anything old like this, like classic animation memes, it was framed as "JOKE" "NOT SERIOUS" because i feared i would be harassed, made fun of, or people would thing THAT is the best of my artistic abilities. but... it's not like that.

and now, more and more people are embracing this. and it makes me so happy. and shadow filbo helped me fight off these fears a lot and just let me love what i love and be myself.

maybe it's not an ""aesthetic"" that completely defines me, maybe it IS a tik tok trend to do nowadays - but i don't care. without any of this i wouldn't be here. those were my first inspirations. silly colorful cats animated to crunchy mp3s of songs using movie maker and 3 (three!) frames drawn in ms paint. it had so much charm. it had so much genuinity. and i could feel it even back then.

without it i might've not been here as i am now. there are so many things that go into this, of course. but i simply would not be the exact way i am. and i dunno. that's something to think about.

thank you so much, shadow filbo. one "mistake" with you i've had was thinking i should be a good creator of something and respond to every fan and fanart, which only stressed me out. i have... opinions! about being recognized in various places and, as some dub, a "NICHE INTERNET MICROCELEBRITY" (nothing against you fox </3).... yeah! not a fan.

another mistake was dubbing him as a "joke" always. and... he is! he is humorous! i am a jokey person! i like crunchy shitposts! i like being the reason people laugh! i will go to certain levels to even ridicule myself just for the bit, and i don't mind it. i'm hyper(active) and i am just a jokey person, that's that. but... him being called a joke was honestly just a shield from people taking him too seriously.

if people were to mock me for being nostalgic for nightcore, and rainbows, and edgy amvs, sparkledogs, scene culture and clothes, rave songs... all this!

but... no! people loved it! people loved it so much, it moved THEM to create art!

me, referencing things that made ME inspired to draw all those years ago - then inspired OTHERS to draw other things. to embrace themselves. to have fun. to connect.

it means so much to me. it's a bit odd to comprehend, too.

but it means the world to me. sorry if i am ever annoying about shadow filbo, and is often the first thing i bring up when bugsnax is brought up - but he is the highlight of my experience with bugsnax.

thank you so much, shadow filbo. and me and my wretched little claws, of course. for making them. and those that inspired me. those old friends i lost along the way, too. and those, that inspired those that inspired me. and so forth.

thank you.

[fairymint]

🔥

Send me a “ 🔥 “ for an unpopular opinion.

Creativity is a muscle, and recharging it is also important. So is investment! Listen. What I'm about to say is rather tongue-in-cheek, because I know all about ableism, anxiety, depression, etc.

But you can't just sit there and stare at a screen. One way or another. I was taught that 'only boring people are bored', which might be harsh for me to agree with 1:1, but it's a point.

There's no possible way you've published all the headcanons that you can. If you got nothing, you're forgetting something. Legit go look up the profession, hobbies, interests of your muse. Their country, their voice/accent. age group. Or, just anything. That's just surface level, as there's a whole world surrounding them as well. You can learn something new every day, just by observing. Take TV breaks, whether that's youtube, media, etc. Your RPing should take cues from real life without having to match up with it. (pokemon rpers, do you know the body language of your critters' base species? monsters, do you know how their bodies work? talk about that shit for example. Animal body language, or even a human nationality's body language is a good start for most people.)

Shit sucks? Do something about it. I'm not gonna fault the bored/depression posting at its core; but there's a lot of indirect handwringing about it. The community sucks, my brain sucks, etc. But you have to help start the solution. I'm a fan of productive posts, such as asking for reassurance when down, starter calls and opens, those're good. But don't be afraid to be productively critical; use "I" language instead of blaming or "you/we" if you have to. "I feel like my headcanon/meme posts are being ignored rn" sounds much more reasonable than "you guys suck at this" or "can we do this/that/etc.???" which a lot of psas can use. Try to be direct with your own wants, as those psas are simply the first step. You should probably still assume ignorance/apologetic/disability over things such as failure and malice, simply because of how we're wired.

Connect the dots. Lotta people don't know where to start, but you have to somewhere. tiny, "boring" opens don't have to stay that way after you answer them, and first impressions may be wrong, but they at least happen. Follow the animal rule; for every no that you have, give a yes. The more yes's and starting points, the better off you'll be. If you don't have any dots to connect, you probably need to do some reading. Bios, blog posts, just pick a person and start. You should know which muses yours would call like, an old-ass or something. Which they'd go to for a favor. Which they like. How they'd treat a stranger, etc. People do lore-correct when they diverge, but there's other paths to open. Find em.

Also like, you have a body. Take breaks to drink, eat, etc. RPing is a great customizable hobby as far as difficulty and speed goes, but you can't run well on empty.

to put it very simply, practice. If you can't, it's a sign something is amiss. Heed them.

[rising-volteccers]

ngl, i feel like one reason i love pokemon horizons so much is because of how much i can relate to liko. i saw some of your ask responses/posts about liko's character development and how others have some rather negative opinions on it. so, i was so curious to see how the episode would play out.

after watching the episode today, i personally think that what liko did does not ruin her development at all? i think it's fair, in the sense that liko is still in the midst of figuring out her path. i don't think her progress needs to be linear, and like kabu said, there is so much to learn from failure.

i also find that these seemingly sudden changes are realistic. on a personal level, even i act in different ways than i and others expect. in an academic setting, most people perceive me as confident and assertive because i lead projects and recite a lot, but there are times i hesitate out of fear (what if i can't do it? what will others think of me? what if my professor/supervisor thinks i'm incapable/stupid?). i've also experienced passing up the opportunity to someone else, only to regret it later and wish i stepped up.

liko feels very much like a younger sister to me, because i understand what it's like to grow up and how COMPLICATED that process is. personally, i think it's great that they add some moments like this in her journey. anyway, yeah these are my thoughts!

oh and just so you know, this is that anon who sent an ask about liking your account and anticipating your thoughts every week. will probably mark my asks with this star 🌟 so you know it's me hehe! hope you're doing well!

Honestly you put the words right into my mouth! Character development and growth isn't always linear! Sometimes I feel like those who are 'critical' about Liko's character forget that she's still ultimately a kid, a preteen at best. That's an age where you're continuously learning about yourself, trying to figure out who you are. Liko's a kind hearted, considerate girl. We've seen since episode one that she's the sort who overthinks, thinking that what she's doing is the best course of action but ultimately she didn't realize she wasn't considering the feelings of those around her.

What I feel like is one of Horizons' biggest strengths is that they touch upon topics that both kids and adult could relate to. Friede finding that being a professor isn't all that cracked up to be. Losing a friend over a disagreement. Showing kids that adults aren't totally different from them, that it's normal for them to cry too. Liko still figuring out her path, that there's even success in failures because you've got an opportunity to grow from it instead of it being a do-or-die situation.

You can fail. You can grow. You can achieve. I love how these themes are shown in the episodes.

And you're totally right about how complicated the process of growing up is! Even when you reached adulthood, it's still a work in progress to learn who you are, what you want, what your dreams are. It's nice to know that you see Liko as a younger sister! I too see her as one who I want to help her navigate through the intricacies of growing up.

Thank you for sharing with me your thoughts and informing me who you are! I'll just refer you as star anon then haha! And I'm doing as well as I can be! Just chugging along one day at a time. Hopefully you're doing well too!

[shiny-jr]

ooh wait have you played three houses?? i saw you mentioned it in one of your recent posts and i got curious. can i ask what are your thoughts on it if you have played it?

also also, have you played pokemon scarlet/violet at all? i’d really love to hear your thoughts on it, especially with its latest dlc ^^ (super sorry i’m grouping two different games in this ask, i didn’t wanna send messages back to back, but feel free to only answer one if you want!)

Oh boy, more opportunities for me the spout nonsense and my odd opinions. I will gladly take it. Buckle up, anon and others reading, because I have a long history with both franchises.

I've been playing Fire Emblem since Fire Emblem: Awakening, then Fates, Heroes, and eventually Three Houses. My take: Awakening is still the best one, but maybe I'm biased. I remember playing it and marrying Chrom on accident, whoops.

Anyways, Three Houses was alright, better than Fates but not better than Awakening. I remember it came out, and I was actually upset because I was in another country on the US release date so I didn't get to play it until I got back. Even when I saw the trailers, I knew I was Golden Deers all the way. Odd, I know, most people prefer the other teams. Claude, Hilda, Marianne, Lysithea, my dears. OH, and before I go on, I just want to say, I hate the female MC. And no, it's not what you think, I only hate her because literally why does her outfit look like that compared to the male MC? Robin from Awakening was always the better protagonist anyways.

After completing the Golden Deers route, I decided I wanted to try and complete all the routes because at that point I disliked a huge majority of the characters. I tried Blue Lions next. At first I didn't really have much of an opinion on Dimitri, but he grew on me eventually, because how could I resist such a miserable brooding man that later gets a soft spot for one person (plus his design was kinda badass)? But I will admit, his behavior immediately post-timeskip was kinda annoying. I thought I would dislike Felix, but shockingly, I didn't, I actually liked him. And you know what? Dedue is CRIMINALLY underrated, he's literally probably the nicest and loyalest dude of all time. He got some hate for his race from some characters, and I actually got heated.

After Blue Lions, I knew I had to play through Black Eagles twice if I wanted the last two routes. However, here's the thing. In both previous routes, Golden Deer and Blue Lions, I had loathed Edelgard. But, I thought to myself, I just needed to try her route and maybe I'll change my mind... Well, I was wrong. Edelgard is probably one of the characters I HATE most in any franchise. And I tried so hard to like her, like I would give her gifts and answer dialogue truthfully, only for the relationship thing to go down. Like damn, okay. I just couldn't stand her. The others in her route were mostly fine, I liked Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Caspar, and Petra. But because of Edelgard, I couldn't even finish her route once and it's still uncompleted to this day.

Now... onto Pokemon.

Fun fact, I completed Pokemon Black and White when I was in first grade and couldn't read everything. Don't ask me how I did it, because I honestly have no clue. I've played every gen since then: Black and White 2, X and Y, Sun and Moon, Ultra Sun and Moon, Sword and Shield, Arceus, Scarlet and Violet. I did indeed preorder the game when it was announced, as I have done for the generations before. Where do you think my username comes from? In most pokemon games, I love collecting shiny pokemon. Shiny.

I was hyped for Scarlet and Violet since the first day it was announced. I lost my mind the day it was first announced and eagerly waited months for it. When it came out, I dropped everything for several days. As a regular fan, I always set this tradition for myself to defeat new pokemon games within or around 24 hours and of course, I did so.

The game itself has a lot of issues, namely the glitches and quality of the frames. But, it's on the switch, so that's to be expected. It felt really rushed in that aspect. I just feel like they could do so much better if they really wanted to, like on par with BOTW or TOTK (those games have bad frames too but at least they look a lot better). As for mechanics, I really missed the mechanics from Arceus, but at least Scarlet and Violet improved upon the poor excuse of the open area that was in Sword and Shield.

Story and characterwise, I'm torn.

Here's what I like: (1) the multiple split routes, (2) certain characters.

(1) It made it feel like you really had a lot to do, and that combined with the open area of the entire map made it seem like a lot. It is a lot. So it's really fun to explore and try to complete everything. Even just walking about, you're bound to get distracted, lost, or find something completely new. I was just playing it a while ago after completing everything and there were still little secrets I didn't notice the first time around.

(2) Arven, my god, do I love a guy with mommy AND daddy issues. And he has a dog? I'm hooked. I didn't expect to get attached to him, but I did. I actually prefer his route purely because of the story within it with his companion. I didn't see that coming, and I was so worked up over it. Another character I like, Director Clavell. A good supporting professor, you love to see it. Wish he showed up more though.

Here's what I dislike: (1) the villains, (2) the gym leaders, and (3) other characters, (4) the leveling system. (5) I'll talk about the dlc last.

(1) We haven't had a good villain team in a while. Black and White was super memorable with N, X and Y's Lysandre with Team Flare was a joke, Sun and Moon's Team Skull with Guzma was actually good because they were funny and non-threatening, Sword and Shield with Team Yell was actual trash, and this Team Star being bad guys but not really bad guys was actually so boring. Let's roll it back to Team Aqua literally planning to recreate a great flood or Team Magma planning to create havoc with volcanoes, Team Plasma that wanted to liberate Pokemon, or Team Galactic that were going to harness the power of time/space/universe and their leader is trapped/died in an empty dimension. They don't make Pokemon villains like they used to, huh?

(2) The gym leaders are very forgettable this time around. Like, they don't play much of a role aside battling, and after that you don't really see them again at all. It's a shame, because some of them have potential for greater use and have really good designs. Not to mention, they were all weak as hell.

(3) The Champion was a let down. Geeta (I had to look up her name). I was iffy when I first saw images of her, I didn't like her design but I just decided to go with the flow and I'll probably change my mind. I didn't. She's as forgettable of a champion as Alder and Diantha were. At least we saw Leon in the SwSh a lot and we got to hear from characters about how strong he was. Geeta wasn't like that at all, her team was a joke. Nemona as a rival was annoying, she got on my nerves from the first few moments we met her. I think Penny had potential, but I just didn't like her.

(4) The leveling system was really annoying. What happened was, I tried to complete the other two routes first and save the gym leaders for last. However, when I did this, because I didn't have any gym badges, new pokemon caught wouldn't listen even if my other pokemon were like 20 or more levels above them. So I had to pause the other route, just to do some of the gyms that way I could actually use new pokemon. I know they tried the system to prevent people from just cheating the system by automatically getting high-leveled pokemon from friends, but it just got in the way.

(5) DLC so far... not a fan. I mean, it's something. It's there. It's a thing. But it has nothing so far that makes me like it. The rivals are meh, and the region confuses the hell out of me. I don't get why do Scarlet and Violet region of Paldea based off Spain, but then have a DLC with an island that's so very obviously based off Japan. They could've picked anything around Spain but go back to Japan when 4/9 of the regions are already supposedly based off Japan? Idk, it was kind of a let down to be honest. I haven't completed the dlc, so I still have to do that. The new map is small, but I heard the next dlc is supposed to be huge so here's to hoping that one is better?

[generalsnivy]

A cute, little Espeon, but it's not AI-generated and is instead, drawn by a human being using a digital tablet connected to a laptop computer that can barely run Windows 10 due to how ancient the hardware is under the hood and is able to use Krita to draw this in a couple of days.

For context as to what's going on, it is best summed up by Glacytale_ on Twitter in their own Espeon redraw here:

As for my own interpretation of these events, an "artist" on Twitter started passing off some Pokemon fan art as their own "art" that they took time to create. When they posted fan art of Espeon, it was found out by an actual artist that this fake "artist" used AI (Artificial Intelligence) to generate the fan art of Espeon and they failed to disclose that it was AI-generated. When I dug into the "artist's" Media tab, I saw that they only posted two other drawings at the time that they were called out/caught and after some close examination, they too, were AI-generated. So, to help spread awareness of this fraud of an artist, many actual artists, including myself, have been taking the AI-generated art that this person posted, used it as a reference, and redrew it ourselves to show this person that if one takes the time to learn how to draw properly either digitally or traditionally with a pen, pencils, papers, etc. that they can recreate their AI-generated art properly. It's not that hard to get started on learning how to draw and it's not overly expensive either. The other reason why we were (or still are) doing this, is to call them out for their mistakes and teach them a lesson that using AI to generate are is not ok as it steals from many, many artists to generate their images. Using AI to generate art hurts every single artist, both living and deceased, due to how it was trained, ie; art theft. Worse yet is the fact that as of the making of this post, they are not only continuing to post AI-generated "fan art", but they are practically rubbing it in our faces and seeing our criticism as more of a challenge than proper feedback. (Sounds a lot like a certain Call of Duty developer studio that WARDS our feedback and throws it into a black hole expanding to INFINITY and beyond.)

I intended to finish this drawing sooner, but some things happened in my personal life that really got in my way and have impacted me, emotionally over the past week. Regardless, I wanted to throw my hat into the ring and hop onto this Espeon redraw trend to take my stand to say that I am 100% against AI art generation and the entire system needs to be nuked and restarted from the ground up, using royalty-free and stock images to train it rather than train from all art from all across the internet. Despite the personal issues that I've encountered over the past week, I still had fun putting this together and although it took a while to finish, it was worth it in the end, at least in my opinion.

[t1meslayer]

Trying something a little different today.

Inspired by the incomparable @alchemicallymoon, I'm going to do a postmortem commentary on my latest fanfiction. If you haven't read "Stone-Cold Lovers" Chapter 3 on AO3, now's your chance!

I've done similar things in the past, with my Pre-Preparation of Shiver post for "Splatoon B-Mix," but I'm really testing the waters to make this a more regular occurrence — possibly even going back to older works. If you enjoy, let me know!

Tons of rambling beneath the cut. You've been warned <3

Alright. I can't think of any better place to begin talking about "Stone-Cold Lovers" than to mention it's a classic piece (in the era sense, though also in the literary sense). I started publishing fanfic in 2019, right around the time I was graduating from college. A bunch of pieces I wrote are still exclusively available on FanFiction.net, but I've slowly been transitioning them with a fresh coat of paint.

"Stone-Cold Lovers" was the sixth story I published on FanFiction. As I mentioned in Chapter 1 of the AO3 version, it came back to mind after Pokemon Masters EX introduced a Halloween alt for Roxanne.

Pokemon Crystal was my first "real" video game (not counting educational content like Sesame Street games), but Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire began my infatuation with the series. This was partially due to the fact that I could read the text on my own, which meant I could keep replaying to do little challenge runs.

===

Fun Fact: One of the most prominent challenge runs I can recall involved catching a full team of Wingull. I named the Pelipper of my team "Sergeant," and the rest had other army designations. I would later copy this idea using shiny Ambipom and Aipom in HeartGold and SoulSilver that I obtained through entirely legal means for a rare item Pickup group.

===

More Fun Fact: My favorite challenge run to this day is completing Pokemon FireRed with a single Clefable. I always really liked how many TMs a single Clefable could learn.

===

All of that is to say I seared Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald into my brain by playing it all the time on the schoolyard and at my grandparents' house in Florida. It remains my favorite region to this day. However, I didn't fall in love with Roxanne until the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire character designs came out.

Important note: I have shipping charts for basically every character-heavy... Anything. Something about pairing people up always makes my brain go brr. My body of creative writing speaks to many of the headcanons I've whipped up over the years. Similarly, I have headcanons about which Pokemon protag serves as the "main character" or "rival" in each title.

Yes, you can ask about my opinions. I will undoubtedly answer.

Brendan and Roxanne came into this framework because as much as I also love Brendan and May, I quickly fell into the rabbit hole of Brendan Champion/May Contest Idol, and therefore I'm legally obligated to ship May and Lisia. My original FanFiction Author Note says I'd been thinking about the idea for "a while," but frankly I don't remember where exactly it originated. All I know is that my goal was May scolding Brendan for being an oblivious dope.

This is not autobiographical.

As far as I know.

My truest sense-memory regarding this piece is writing the Rustboro opening in a Barnes & Noble parking lot at night, on the same night that I scored a new freelance gig (it didn't last all too long in the end). However, I helpfully noted that the Brendan and May banter was inspired by a FanFiction story called "Critical Hit" by Alphinia (it's still live!) and Carly Chaikin's Darlene from Mr. Robot. That was ending in 2019. Pokemon Sword and Shield were about to come out. The timeline lines up.

It's also very funny to imagine May as a raunchy, tomboyish smartass who also happens to love the fame that comes with princess-y Pokemon Contest shenanigans. Good headcanon.

The seeds of an idea for a date follow-up existed back then. My first inkling was to do a scene where, essentially, Brendan fucks the whole thing up by using Sandstorm in the middle of a food court because he's trying to impress Roxanne. Most of the set dressing around that, such as using ORAS' Street Thug trainer class (here portrayed by Shio — after ramen to reference the naming scheme of every trainer in Mauville Food Court), came later.

===

Fun Fact (again): This is the first piece I've written using a new program called StimuWrite by Eve Harms, which was suggested by my beta reader. I liked being able to put my brain somewhere other than a blank white page, though all of the extra bells and whistles aren't all that necessary for me. Plus, I wound up jumping back-and-forth between the page and my 20 tabs of research anyway, so...

We'll see where this tool lands.

===

A lot of my decisions regarding the style of "Stone-Cold Lovers" Chapter 3 were based on concurrent reading; I recently joined a book club, and we just finished Babel by R.F. Kuang. My experience with Zine editors such as @kiliofdurinsline (Shrapnel) on Homemade in Hyrule (still available to pre-order!!!) helped me focus on creative writing structure and clarity rather than the more "vibes" based approach I leaned on. But Babel's rich descriptions suggested that I perhaps moved too far in the direction of snippets. So, here I tried to more robust scene-setting.

The bit about Gardevoir reading Brendan's emotions is being back on my bullshit trying to capture "vibes," though. I'm often a proponent for Psychic-types having full telepathy, especially Gardevoir given its canon emotional connections, but I decided the silent implications were more fun to play. I'm also a big proponent of leaning into the medium by using all of AO3's formatting HTML for things like Gardevoir's text. Hence my abundance of italics, or even the House of Leaves-style page falling apart for Arven's nightmare in "Paradiso."

Another note from Shrapnel that I took to heart: Give each character a stable of description types to help them emphasize their personality. That's why Gardevoir's movements use ballet terms (many of which I had to look up, like "bras bas").

One bit that I thought about a lot was Roxanne's response to weather talk. I knew that she should flirt by saying any weather would be great alongside Brendan, and the verbiage "would that it were" stuck. A bit of Googling revealed that the phrase doesn't mean what my brain thought it does — it actually refers to wanting a better reality than you currently have. But it rolls off the tongue... So, I decided to play with that disparity by having know-it-all Roxanne correct her old professor, even when recounting a heartfelt memory.

Also, I'd be lying to you if I said goofy teenager who can't speak French wasn't an integral part of my planning.

The battle scene is pretty straightforward, it was mostly fun to incorporate the idea of Brendan being over-leveled by having him immediately wipe the floor with this tough guy, Shio. This especially goes well with the Mauville Food Court gimmick of finishing your battles within set time limits. Hopefully little descriptors like the space-warping Boomburst help make up for how short it is.

But with all of that said, there's only one place left to go:

Roxanne's outfit

That's right! Brendan wears his contest attire, but Roxanne wears an entirely unique creation. I did something very similar to my experiments with Shiver by digging around Tumblr tags for specific outfit pieces to cobble together as part of Roxanne's preppy and academic wardrobe.

I essentially wanted to put Roxanne in an "elevated" version of her typical uniform. For example, something with a nicer blouse. When I saw this post by stiefel-rock-bluse, I knew it was the one. That ruffled 'V' is perfectly suited for comparisons to a fossilized ribcage.

Had to tuck that blouse into a nice skirt, too. I did toy with the idea of going full suit-style with slacks, but Roxanne feels like a skirt girl to me. So I settled on this pleated skirt shared by zoesrepository, at least in-part because I wanted a brown-and-white motif to reflect... Rock stuff.

Having exposed legs also introduced the opportunity to describe a bit of Roxanne's obsession with fossils. If I get callouses on my hands from doing ceramics, she can have some scuffs on her legs from digging in the dirt.

My inspiration for her off-the-shoulder draped jacket is largely me doing silly cape shenanigans with my jackets, but for the style I went with this cover image from an article by The Girl From Panama:

In brown, of course. That really emphasizes the idea that it looks like strata.

Because rocks.

Unrelated to rocks, I was originally toying with a different idea for her jacket, one based on this image of Kendall Jenner uploaded by disarmluna:

Ultimately I liked the draped idea better, but I kept on the idea of it being corduroy. Also, I took Roxanne's "loafers" from here.

For accessories, I riffed on one of my favorite pieces of lore introduced by Pokemon Masters EX: the idea that Steven Stone is in a club with all of the Rock-type experts who love collecting shiny rocks. Steven knows how to give some specialized gifts, and in this case I gave Roxanne a single earring, as shared by gemville, because 1) red; 2) flowers; and 3) stalactite. I went with one rather than a pair because I think it's a cute asymmetrical thing.

Then, of course, I imagine her nails alternate blue and red ala Nosepass/Probopass. Finally, Roxanne's elevated school uniform look had to retain a tie. What better way to keep that tie in place than with a clip inspired by the one, the only, our boy: Anorith.

If the Yanma inhaler from "Peaks and Caverns" is anything to go by, y'all know I love to invent kitschy merchandise that will unfortunately never be acknowledged by Game Freak/The Pokemon Company.

===

That's about all I've got. I'm not sure whether I'll return to this story again — the five-year pipe dream is already a big accomplishment in my book. But I'm really glad I finally closed the book on a longstanding idea in celebration of Valentine's Day! And I'm sure one day, if I can get through the rest of my insane backlog, I'd be happy to write further shenanigans between these two Hoenn lovebirds.