#people don’t always catch on (or they don’t have a Pokemon that fits the theme) but it’s fun all the same

[commodoreshock]

One of my favorite things in Pokemon Go is when you come upon a gym where everyone has clearly chosen a theme. Like Eeveelutions, or amphibians, or Shiny (but only yellow shiny). You can’t hold a gym forever (and really you don’t need to after like 15 hours) so why not have fun with it?

[femdomdiaries]

Random Gojo Headcanons

If yall want me to put any of these into a separate post to better fit your blog theme let me know. It’s just random thoughts rn.

Tw: NSFW below cut. MDNI. One of these mentions breeding qnd pregnancy kink, the other mentions that gojo is a service switch.

SFW Headcanons (Realistic)

He's canonically addicted to sweets so do not underestimate what he would do for a Klondike bar.

On a museum date he would giggle and point everytime he sees a naked statue.

Doesn’t sleep often but when he does he often has nightmares about his past. Never when you’re around.

Doesn't drink but is fluent in drunk and can often be found being a bad influence to intoxicated people at parties.

Hope you don't get embarrassed easily because he has no shame and there will be loads of PDA.

Doesn’t wear headphones for the same reason he doesn’t get drunk.

He would steal your clothes, then when you catch him wearing your stuff, he'd deny that they're yours. You can't really fight him about it because he honestly wears it better anyway.

If you’re shorter than him (he’s 6’3 so likely), he rests his chin on your head when he hugs you from behind.

Chronically late so you have to tell him things in advance.

He always wins competitive games so now he tends to stick to creativity oriented ones like Minecraft. From an artistic perspective he tends to suck at those.

Obscure/Crack Headcanons

He licks the icing off the oreos and puts them back in the package.

Snags bites of your food but complains if you eat his food.

To make up for stealing your clothes he'd order you a "smoking hot outfit" he saw online. But when it arrives it’s barbie doll sized.

Don’t worry, he also got you these really nice shoes. But when the shoes come in they're also barbie doll sized. He puts them on his fingers and walks them up your face.

When he grabs ass or gropes you anywhere he says honk honk or beep beep or something like that.

Still has the original flappy bird on his phone. He holds the high score. Could have gotten higher but he lost interest after a couple thousand.

He made a portrait of you out of macaroni art. You keep it at your job. Your coworkers often say how they wish their children were still in the cute art making stage.

His phone wallpaper is a picture of you naked with hot face emojis censoring your private bits.

His lock screen is you with the potato filter.

Keeps a plant because plants are often unpredictable so even he wouldn't get that right by default.

Had an Undertale phase. You know how Sans is lazy and puts forth no effort because he knows it’ll all just be reset by the player anyway? Gojo canonically doesn’t get involved in major conflicts or try to solve everything because he knows that when he dies it’ll all just revert back to the usual. Twinnem.

Actively played pokemon go when it came out and was definitely on team instinct. Probably trespassed in weird places tryna catch rare pokemon and was single handedly carrying team instinct in his region. (Arguments could be made for team Mystic)

NSFW headcanons (realistic)

Bros the type to beg for sex in public then giggle loudly when you're trying not to get caught in the public bathroom

Since he's kinda just the best at everything, he's been worshipped his whole life, so praise would just go over his head. But degrading him? Using power play to humiliate him or make him seem inadequate in some way? Works wonders.

He would send you really explicit texts and get you all hot and bothered only for it to turn out that he was talking about tres leches cake.

Playfully mocks you for not being able to keep up with his stamina.

While he may have infinite cursed energy, he has a limit to his physical stamina and does eventually get tired after going too many rounds.

Believes that the future rides on the youth, so heavy on the breeding kink and pregnancy kink. Wants kids so if you'll allow it best believe this man is not pulling out.

Obscure/Crack NSFW Headcanons

As a service switch he's more than willing to make up for outperforming you by servicing you on demand. It doesn't matter where or when you're horny, he's all yours.

He gets even more turned on when you push him past his limits to use him like a toy.

Says he wants to bring "a special friend" to bed but it's just a stray cat he found. (If you're allergic, it's a life sized cat plush.)

Answers the phone during sex and doesn't care how loud you are, will talk as if nothing else is going on

"Oh, I have to take this. Oi, Nanami. Yes, this is a good time. Hmm? Oh, nobody's hurt, that's just (Y/n). Say hi (Y/n)."

You'd think his favorite sex toy would be some type of gawk gawk 3000 but no, it's a fleshlight that glows in the dark.

Would love to be a rope bunny but he’s just too strong and always breaks the restraints when he gets excited.

He’ll still want to be tied up if only for aesthetics. Maybe you’ll find curse imbued cuffs on the dark web or something.

[jumpingwjoy]

another watercolor painting!! im going through my pokemon sun playthrough as ricky, and this outfit is what i dressed her up in ^_^ i tried to match her band au fashion as much as possible 🫡

i’ve got game screenshots and long ass ramble under the cut 😭

realizing tumblr can let me ramble continuously as much as i want so i could talk about my thoughts and my previous pokemon runs too woaw...maybe i’ll post pics of those playthroughs one day, but probably on my main blog instead 🤔

here's ricky's current team where i’m at and what she looks like in game!! i was sooo peeved that twin tails are locked in post game, even if they don’t even look like ricky’s hairstyle at all, i just think she needs some kind of ponytail…i used to have her with straight bangs to imitate her three bangs style, but it kinda looked ugly af… :V

i’m just before vast poni canyon so gummy will soon be the rail gun beetle that ricky deserves ^_^ i decided on a sweets/dessert nickname theme, tho i did consider a norse mythology theme, but i thought she’d be more cutesy in a pokémon au/world where she is not in life threatening stakes.

i want to write out my reasonings for each pokémon pick too, this team isn’t exactly what i had in mind since it’s limited to the sun pokédex, but i’m pretty fond of them!! mostly, i thought she could have a non-dex rotom (but since it’s like this, her rotom dex is definitely named mike), and i also thought she’d have a porygon - but u can only get it post-game and i’d have to deal with trade evolutions o<-<

i also chose pokémon sun as ricky’s game since i headcanon her to be wasian HAHA specifically japanese and american/german - since hawaii is known for its japanese immigrant population (which is also reflected in the game itself), i liked the idea of her having an actual game background of immigrating from kanto

1. alolan raichu - pikachu is the iconic mascot, just like ricky XD alolan raichu shares her love of sweets, and i think lets her identify with being alolan too

2. vikavolt - he’s a rail gun!! ricky should always have fun with guns. i think ricky has an affinity with machines, and vikavolt has gundam aesthetics hehe. his pre evolutions are cute too, which i think ricky would like. notably he’s another electric type, a remnant from when i used to have ricky as an electric type specific trainer, before i decided to diversify types for eo teams. rotom also would’ve been another electric type…😅

3. metagross - another association with machines—it reminds me of gladsheim as well. i like the juxtaposition of this hulking creature made of metal next to ricky too. showing off her cute and cool sides...

its name is ike as a companion to mike, making them fit into the sweets theme LOL

4. wigglytuff - i headcanon that ricky enjoys singing (and is the lead singer in band au) so i wanted a music related pokémon. maybe in universe, she would stay as a jigglypuff?

5. toucannon - also because of gun. i actually hunted a shiny version, bc it looks like the bi pride flag aghdjshfd. i think ricky can be prone to have a temper, matching toucannon's angry look

6. alolan ninetales - ok so i was conflicted bc i wanted an ice type, as a reference to ricky’s cryo sleep lol, and i was also considering vanillite bc ice cream… but its moveset sucks ass!!! sorry!!!! i do like ninetales as an additional reference to her heritage though…i have vanillite in rosa’s hypothetical team too so it wasn’t really meant for ricky in the first place :P

honorable mentions:

i chose litten as her starter since i think she’s a cat person, and also someone who likes buff people……….

vanillite like i mentioned—harder to catch than i thought cause it needs to be snowing for this guy to show up as an sos helper >:0

alolan exeggutor - long long yggdrasil

this turned out a lot longer than i thought im not used to writing down so much even in tweet threads but it was fun to spill out some of the very specific things i think about in my day to day lol...if you somehow read all of this, thank you for your time wakjhsdg 🙇🏻‍♀️

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Ok whatever reception I’m on has been like on the brink of death for like the past hour or two I tried sending this in and it gave me a grey loading bar that wouldn’t move so I just canceled that and am resending it but if it somehow doubles you’ll know why SHSHSHS

Wait pause before I do anything else idk why but my tiktok link copy feature is tweaking but you NEED to watch the most recent tiktok from @/vamptombz im begging you

Ok back to the topic Nagi fr having it rough from the start at least in the end he gets to laze about LMAO

PLSLSL IM CRYING LMAO that’s kinda funny because I always like differentiation more but anyways that Barou doodle will forever be my icon now

LMAOO when you said prodigy/genius while describing sae i was alr thinking “isn’t this just nagi” HAHAH sae fr a bit crusty in the beginning but I agree i also usually like the genius trope but something about sae just doesn’t do it for me?? Maybe it’s the personality lowk sometimes he feels a little bland if ykwim

Thank god for Karasu omg the sae fans are just too strong everytime I get like a fic on my fyp (??? Whatever it’s called here) it’s usually sae or includes him and I’m like damn ok thanks ig

Wait that’s lowk kinda surprising wtf actually lowk with things like cofagrigus and spiritomb you’d and just the general idk graveyard burial stuff you’d think there’d be more rock type ghost duos (Ik spiritomb is ground and cofagrigus is just ghost but I can lowk see rock fitting them too) but yeah good to know LMAO

CRIME AU wait this is gonna be so interesting that’s also such a unique combo??? Would have never seen it coming LMAOO I also haven’t watched supernatural LOL but fr!! At least for me my reasoning is that l usually don’t go out of my way to read out of canonverse aus it’s usually something that has to catch my eye or something I can get invested into (like hollyhock LMAO and also pursuit but that’s also special because I’m also a pokemon nerd) like if it’s not a specific universe ik or particularly like either I’m not usually one to go for those first even though some of them are fire!! Forbidden love would’ve been really interesting too ig maybe people thought itd be hard to fit in maybe with bllk? Not sure tbh LMAO BUT I agree the 1k list looks STACKED also wait can we get a Mira analysis on the teams that were formed LMFAOOO

AHAHAH we summoned them by accident stop is this the universe saying something….no we will stay strong!!! YOURE SO RIGHT the entire opp squad and sae x3 omg (wait i hate how that looks because it looks like that emote with the cat face mouth but anyways) ok imagine if that one requester went with ness instead of having Karasu as an option too that would’ve been over half of them being the opp squad wait AIKU LMAOAOA no because with all of the oaeu talk he’s grown on me too just as a goofy character he’s so funny and his dynamic with other players is hilarious even though we don’t fw the stubble (it’s ok aikulations can be the oaeu exclusive bonus)

Waittt you’re so right (your inbox is gonna explode) better start thinking of another event theme LMAOO please please please more tabieitaken spotlight guys enlighten yourselves and open your eyes join us….(SAE THEME DONT SAY THINGS LIKE THAT /j)

LMAOOOOOO FATJER WHO STEPPED UP Niko comes back from his journey like “why are you in my house” and aikus like “Hey kiddo! Or should I say…son”*elbow nudge*

I can just imagine karasus look of defeat when reader brings out either one like “ugh nvm let’s get this over with”

LMAOAOAOA READER CRYING “you sounds just like my cousin when we were happy little kids” karasus like “what kid is calling others a fucking donkey????” Antibullying campaign PLEASE pursuit au has so much potential for all these goofy moments I love it sm

Imaging aegislash telling hoopa a drama epic to keep it occupied LMAO also I’m crying the hydreigon yveltal linkedin meetup imagine they’re having a coffee chat

Me I have to get slapped back into normal standards reality like wait haha 5k+ is kinda insane what was I on…anyways we should plot your wcs onto an excel graph and take a look at the trends /j also speaking of freaky Friday I’ll have you know every now and then I reread that because I’m like “this is comedy gold plus it has loser Karasu too” or when none of the tags have any activity and I feel like reading something I just grab something from your masterlist

LMAOOO aww man Barou could’ve had a buddy up in th clouds with him :( /j dw I get what you mean though LOL maybe a tiktok audio will come through again or you’ll be struck with inspiration at the gym

- Karasu anon

HAHAH i did get it twice but it’s okay dw abt it!! tumblr just randomly tweaks out ik i’ve sent the same comment three times by accident before because it wasn’t sending so i hit the button a bunch of times and then they all sent at once

HELP I WAS LITERALLY GOING TO SEND THAT TO YOU GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE it’s literally oaeu aiku and barou i’m crying

nagi fr had to play the long game…like yeah things were tough at first but he ended up w the most powerful person in the region as his wife it doesn’t get easier than that 😭 PLUS a psychic type pokémon LMAOAAO i know for a fact if he’s feeling lazy he’s just like…reuniclus…levitate my dinner over…and reuniclus is like 😄 and does it right away 😩 wait also now that i’m thinking abt it him being from aquacorde makes sense because he likes swimming (aka floating in the water) and knows a bit about fishing in pursuit so it checks out that he has that background knowledge given where he’s from 🤔 another example of pursuit fr just writing itself HAHA

NOOO another karasu anon and mira disconnect…wait actually no this just means we make up calculus together LMAOOO pls that barou doodle + justin bieber + seabird are fr my legacy atp

YES IT IS NAGI i feel like that’s why i was drawn to him in the start plus it’s much more heavily emphasized with nagi that he’s so talented and genius (and the drawbacks of that are also explored) whereas w sae it’s just mentioned and see through rin’s eyes so it doesn’t feel as immediate ig 🤔 although idk because that’s how yuta was in jjk season 1 and i liked him immediately lowkey maybe it’s sae’s fuck ass hair

PLSS sae is always included fr nagi and sometimes reo are the only non opps consistently included in those multi character fics (side note but it’s lowkey a pet peeve of mine when someone writes a half paragraph blurb and then tags it as fifty separate character…like come on now…) whenever i see karasu i’m like LET’S GO lowkey karasu in smaus especially doesn’t even feel like himself sometimes 😟 maybe it’s time for me to lock in and start posting smaus or smth HAHAHA i still look back at the two i posted for you that were hyper specific to that one au and giggle

yeah i was surprised lowkey some of the ground ghosts like golett/golurk could’ve been rock ghost tbh 🤔 and spiritomb is actually dark ghost!! which was a really good typing until the fairy type dropped LMAOO

au’s are def hard for me to get into unless they’re very well thought and well done OR alternatively super close to canon (like a “oh what if this one thing changed” or “what if they just happened not to be in bllk” type of vibe) so i get that!! i love coming up with them though and agreed pursuit is special like it’s its own thing 🤩 i do think forbidden love would’ve had to go with one of the au’s actually my mutual who requested scovillain had just listed three types in her req (fire grass poison) w barou and i had to be like ok girl pick two HAHAHA and she went with fire and grass 👆🏻 i’m trying to think of which characters would give forbidden love vibes in an au…maybe rin?? mostly because i have a megumi royal au where he’s a royal guard to a princess reader and i think rin could do that role fairly well (although he’s not as worried about duty/doing the right thing so maybe not??? ig perhaps kunigami could pull it off)…hiori could as well most likely but those are the only ones that are jumping out to me (and ofc karasu because he makes everything work my shining star 🌟)

wait do you want a team analysis on the pokémon themselves because ngl they’re kinda random 😭 or like what i plan to write for each one?? sorry this is a dumb question i’m a little slow sometimes i fear…

THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING LIKE OPP SQUAD IS TOO UBIQUITOUS THIS TIME AROUND LMAOOO it’s okay we will make do and have fun regardless 😍 wait it actually literally is 6 opps and 5 side characters (and then reo HAHA he’s in the middle because i love him but he’s def more popular) okay no because i’m in the same boat like i’m still not attracted to him but he’s so funny like i just want to be his best friend who he introduces to his fine ass teammates

HELP i’ll start thinking now pls given how long it took me to come up w the 1k theme it actually might be necessary to do so 😩 PLS maybe for april fools day i should change my blog to be sae themed 😭

WAIT lowkey imagine that’s how aiku and niko meet like he’s niko’s mom’s new bf and niko has to rescue him from the runt pokémon before his mom gets back so aiku isn’t embarrassed in front of her (not that she would care) and as thanks aiku’s like “hold on lil bro i’ll set you up w a baddie my friends have a daughter i can introduce you to” and that’s how niko gets involved w nagiy/n’s daughter BUT she’s already traveling with charles so there’s lowkey that brewing and her + niko just become bffs instead (who are completing the pokédex for aiku because Niko’s mom and reader made them [i would’ve said nagi and reader but realistically nagi does not care])

LMAOAO karasu’s going on and on about how he finally beat galvantula so he’s basically the goat blah blah blah and reader’s like “oh word???” and just tosses out hydreigon and he’s like “😟😐😔” GALVANTULA SLANDER WILL NEVER BE TOLERATED

the pokémon at the wedding are so silly because aegislash is just telling hoopa the plot of the entire isekai manwha that it forced reader and nagi into, hydreigon is networking w yveltal, xerneas is at the buffet for some reason, houndoom keeps howling because she misses her brother, garchomp and nidoqueen showed up in a matching tux/dress combo?? chosen by karasu himself like truly it’s insane 😭

HELPP NOT EXCEL is the women in stem coming out of us today…is this where we confess that we both have side gigs as math marchionesses and programming princess…but omg loser karasu my beloved lowkey between bfb and fwtkac i forget abt freaky friday but it was so silly and goofy i will always love that line where reader is going on an internal rant and she ends it with something like “am i supposed to aim when i take a piss or is this a freestyle thing” FJSKDJSJ tagging that fic was so funny because like karasu’s dick is brought up more than once so i had to mention it but like i had to double down on the “this is NOT smut this is NOT explicit it’s just relevant to the humor” because i’m a mostly no-nsfw blog so i didn’t want people to think i was breaking that streak 😩

JFDJHSHS time to kill someone else off in pursuit so barou’s not alone in heaven i vote aiku (jkjk we need aiku to be niko’s stepfather…if it has to be someone let it be otoya 🙏🏻 cause of death karasu crashes out after he endangers reader’s life AGAIN in order to get a girl’s number)

all of the tik tok audios i’ve been getting have just been giving me more pursuit ideas LMAOOO but ig a win is a win 🤔⁉️ since it means more pursuit content and all

[shadowonwater]

Viral Pokerus, what people transform into

What Pokemon do people turn into in Viral Pokerus au? These aren’t totally cemented yet and as you will see I’m unsure of which to choose for some of these.

Choices are influenced by what Pokemon the person hangs out with a lot, what suits their design and personality, the wild Pokemon that appear around where they can be located, and what is just a fun idea!

Something I forgot to mention in the first post, Pokemon kept in Pokeballs are less likely to get the virus do to having less interaction with the environment. They can still totally get it though, usually from wild Pokemon. Also, young Pokemon are very likely to get the virus because children are just like that.

Apologies for misspelling any names but I’m not getting check all these. Also reminder that they will always turn into first stage of a line.

Important Galaxy Team Members:

Lucas/Rei (protag): Rowlet (my main choice for this is because I want the protag to turn into one of the starters, and I also want them to be able to throw things at any point in the evo line)

Laventon: Oshuwatt (the choice was really between Oshuwatt and Cyndaquill and I want him to wear his hat without fear of it catching on fire)

Cyllene: Abra (really what other Pokemon does she hang out with)

Komado: Munchlax or Herracross (I feel like both Snorlax and Herracross, Pokemon Komado has, fit his vibes)

Beni: Ralts (guy has TWO Pokemon that evolve from this, double the odds)

Pesselle: Happiny

Zisu: Buneary (she has a Lopunny in her Tenacity Team and I think that fits her vibes best besides Zoroark, but I have a special plan for Zoroark and I don’t want too much repetition)

Akari (NOT Protag): Piplup, Starly, or Pichu (assistant has a Pikachu from the start. Starly is just a fun idea. Leaning most towards Piplup though. Piplup is already associated with Dawn because of the anime but also if the protag chooses Rowlet, which this one does, the assistant will have an Empoleon)

Not Important Galaxy Team Members:

Ress: Shinx or Bidoof (Shinx would look cool and have yet to have any Shinx plans, Bidoof would be funny because of the unassuming look for one the Galaxy Team’s strongest members)

Pickle Lady: Geodude

Wenton & Bren: Shellos (but different forms)

Umbreon man: Eevee

Chimecho lady: Chingling

Beauregard: Wurmple (he’ll evolve into Beutifly)

Buizel man: Buizel (A big one, of course!)

The 3 that argue about Burmy: Burmy (but not the forms they like)

At least one child should turn into a drifloon

Any villager that has a Pokemon themed request, even if it’s just Pokedex completion, will probably be turned into the Pokemon they wanted to know about

Spirtomb girl: nothing? (She’s already kind of a Pokemon. So it might be funny if nothing happens to her)

Pearl Clan:

Irida: Eevee

Lian: Goomy

Calaba: Bidoof, Teddyursa, or Unown (Bidoof because partner, Teddyursa because noble, Unown because she likes to hangs out at the ruins + it’s a fun idea. The only other person I could really turn into an Unown is that guy that Galaxy Team guy that guards(?) the entrance.)

Palina: Growlith

Ingo: Sneasel (got infected by Lady Sneasler’s kids)

Gaeric: Machop (this is a bit of a weird one but I liked the idea of letting him stay a muscle man, plus there are a bunch of Machoke and an alpha Machamp nearby Avalugg’s seat which is where you can find him anyway. I imagine that he likes to wrestle with the alpha Machamp and that’s how he got infected.)

Pearl clan members that have requests that involve Pokemon are likely to get turned into that Pokemon. Even Pokedex completion tasks.

Pearl clan has an easier time quarantining due to the sparse population of the icelands. However… Zorua/Zororks find out about the whole people-turning-into-Pokemon thing and purposely get themselves infected and going to the settlement to spread the virus and turn the villagers into Zorua as a form of revenge against humans.

Diamond clan:

Adamen: Eevee

Mai: Stantler or Johto Sneasel (I prefer Stantler because Ingo is already Sneasel otherwise Johto Sneasel could be fun)

Arezu: Petalil

Iscan: Basculin, or Duskull (Basculin because noble. Duskull because turning him into a Pokemon that scares him is funny. On the other hand gills are also fun)

Melli: Zubat (this was a hard one. I didn’t feel like turning him into a Stunky and I’m not gonna turn him into an orb so I choose one of his other Pokemon. Plus, bats are notorious for getting diseases)

Sabi: Rufflet (because noble, she gets it from hanging out with Lord Bravary’s kids)

Diamond clan members that have requests that involve Pokemon are likely to get turned into that Pokemon. Even Pokedex completion tasks

Diamond clan gets effected the most first due to proximity to Mount Coronet, I haven’t mentioned this yet but it’s where the virus strain starts. Random Diamond clan members are mostly turning into Pokemon found around the Mirelands.

Other:

Cognita: I have no idea tbh, Legends and Mythicals can’t get infected, and I don’t know what else to associate her with. Maybe she just doesn’t turn into anything. She already lives off on her own with no Pokemon.

Volo: Togepi, Gible, Riolu, or Spirtomb (Togepi line is his ace throughout the game. He also has a Gible early on. Riolu line is cool. Spirtomb is just a fun idea, like how would that even work.?)

Ginter: Rotom? (because of selling Rotom tech?)

Other Gingo Guild members also turn into Pokemon, but they travel a lot so it could be just about anything really.

Charm, Clover, & Coin: Gastly, Snover, and Croagunk (those are their Pokemon after all) but they live out in the wilds anyway so really they could also get infected by anything.

[adobe-outdesign]

Reviews of All Scrapped Spaceword Betas

Exactly what it says in the title. This is also for my reference, as I might redesign some of these later for funsies. 

I’m only including Pokemon that were 100% scrapped (we’re not here to argue what might have become what) and aren’t evos/pre-evos of existing Pokemon. Also, I’m using the English fan-translations for the names because I don’t speak Japanese.

Flambear/Volbear/Dynabear

Our original fire starter, and yeah, I can see why this was scrapped. For starters (heh), it looks more like a rodent that evolves into a lion than anything resembling a bear. And secondly... it doesn’t really have a clear focus, nor a memorable design. It’s just kind of a rodent-bear thing with flames tacked onto it. 

The best Pokes usually have a "catch” to them, and these guys lack that. For example, this got replaced by Cyndaquil, which has the concept of flaming spikes that form out of its back. That’s memorable. This, well, isn’t.

Possible reason for being scrapped: Lack of focus/interesting design

Pokes to fill the void: Teddiursa and Ursaring are probably the closest in terms of being bears. Something about it also reminds me of Growlithe/Arcanine, probably because it’s a fluffy fire thing that evolves into a bigger fluffy fire thing with a mane and black markings.

Cruz/Aqua/Aquaria

This has the same problem as the Flambear line, just less extreme. It’s okay, being a little plesiosaur that evolves into a bigger plesiosaur, but it also lacks an interesting catch to it. The pearls are maybe something, but they’re not really emphasized, just kind of tacked on. Plus Dragonair kind of has the crystal neck ornaments on lock. And the horn. And the underbelly. And the water theme...

Whoops.

I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to a plesiosaur water starter in the future, but it would probably have to be completely redesigned.

Possible reason for being scrapped: Lack of focus/interesting design; too similar to Dragonair

Pokes to fill the void: Dragonair, as mentioned above. If you want a plesiosaur, Lapras is always a thing.

Putting the rest under the cut for length.

Sunmola1/Anchorage/Grotess

This is one of the most chaotic beta evolutions out there, aside from beta Girafarig. I can see the resemblance between Sunmola1 and Anchorage to some extent--counter-shaded blue fish with two fins and a short body--but the anchor part of the evolution comes out of nowhere. Then it sporadically turns into a gulper eel, which has nothing to do with the previous two evolutions at all.

I’ve heard some people suggest that Sunmola1 basically gets dragged into the depths and turns into a deep-sea creature due to its anchor, which is a fantastic idea. However, if that’s what they were going for here it’s not really clear, and I think it could be executed much better.

Individually, Sumola1 is a little plain. Not terrible, but I think they could do something more interesting with the little head thing. Anchorage is memorable, but there’s something very un-Pokemonish about it. I think it’s just the fact that it’s basically cut in half--I keep expecting the backsprite to show its organs or something. Grotess is also a bit too plain.

It’s also worth noting that at some point, this was the evolutionary line, which is more consistent but much less interesting (save for the middle evo’s eyes, which are pretty great).

Possible reason for being scrapped: Lack of evolutionary consistency; some designs plain or not very fitting for Pokemon

Pokes to fill the void: Alomomola is a sunfish Pokemon. Sharpedo is a shark crossed with an object, and Grotess almost certainly became Huntail and Gorebyss.

Rinring/Bellboyant

These two... are pretty good. They have a simple catch--black cats with bells--and the designs are nicely executed and memorable.

If I had one complaint, it’s that they maybe seems a tad unfocused in the backend of things. They’re dark types, but have a bunch of “cutesy” moves, and it’s not clear why’d they be dark apart from being black cats. They seem to have a magical girl vibe (Bellboyant looks a bit like Luna from Sailor Moon, which is probably not a coincidence), which also has nothing to do with the bells or the dark theme. I do think that the designs themselves are fine though, and that if you just focused on the sound concept a hair more you’d have a pretty great Pokemon.

Possible reason for being scrapped: Not entirely sure, these definitely would’ve been popular. Might’ve just been a balancing thing, or it lost the dev popularity contest. 

Pokes to fill the void: Skitty kind of has the same vibe as Rinring. They also remind me a bit of the Meowth line, being cat Pokemon with metal attached to them. The Purrloin line takes over the “dark-type cat” aspect.

Bomseel

I’m torn on this one. On the one hand, it’s a very plain looking Pokemon. The idea of it balancing a fireball/bomb on its nose instead of a ball is clever and memorable enough... except that it’s dependent on it being on that pose. It can’t balance that 24/7, and once it stops all you’re left with is a plain sea lion with dark points.

However, it’s fire/water. The only fire/water we have right now is a legendary, so it would be sweet to have one that’s just a regular poke. So it’s not that the concept itself is bad, using a water-based animal and adding a fire type; it’s just more that the execution is lackluster. Give this guy a hook not related to the fireball and make the seal itself more interesting and I think you’d have something here.

Possible reason for being scrapped: Lack of interesting design

Pokes to fill the void: Volcanion is our only fire/water Pokemon for now. In terms of seals/sea lions with a circus theme, Popplio is a decent enough match.

Tigrette/Electiger

Someone at Gamefreak hates tigerballs, because this line was planned for Gen 1, scrapped, then planned for Gen 2 and scrapped again. Which is strange, because while it’s not the best design it’s not bad either. It’s very very cute, and could definitely find an audience.

However, I’m not really sure what the premise is here. If it’s based on tiger clay bells, then it doesn’t really play into the bell theme much at all. And if it’s not... why is it so round? It’s not that the roundness is bad, but it would usually form the hook for this Pokemon, like it collects static electricity in its fur that makes it puff out or something. Maybe some dex descriptions would’ve made this clearer, who knows.

Also, Electiger is literally the exact same design as Tigrette, just bigger. It would either need a completely new final evolution or would need to show up as a single evo. 

While that sounds harsh, I do really like this design. Fix the evo, figure out/build on the hook of it being round or bell like, and maybe refine the markings a touch and it would be pretty perfect.

Possible reason for being scrapped: Not sure. Might’ve been too similar to Pikachu (both being yellow round electric type Pokemon with zig-zag tails, and og fat Pikachu was also very round). The need to rework the evolution also might’ve turned GameFreak off of it.

Pokes to fill the void: Spheal and Rowlet are both pleasantly round. Pikachu is cute and electric themed in a similar way. In terms of tigers, Raikou is also electric-type. The exact way the stripes are done here is also very similar to Litten.

Kurstraw/Pangshi

GameFreak. GameFreak, you are telling me that we almost had a voodoo-doll Pokemon based off of Ushi-no-Toki-Mairi that evolves into a fucking jiangshi panda?? You are killing me here.

A few interesting things to note here:

Kurstraw evolves at level 1. How? Why? No idea. It could just be a placeholder, but...

The fact that Kurstraw was set to have Curse as its signature move (then called “nail”) and that it only learned this move at level 100 makes it evolving at level 1 seem intentional.

To make things more confusing, it almost seems like (and this is speculation on my part) GameFreak’s intention was to encourage players to not evolve this thing. Stats are comparable, Kurstraw only gets its signature move if you level it up to where it can’t evolve, and Kurstraw has the better moveset (getting frigging destiny bond at lv. 16, while Pangshi gets... splash (which. makes more sense when you consider it’s called “hop” in Japan but it’s still useless). If that was what they were aiming for, then that’s a really unique mechanic that would really make this poke stand out.

Design wise, Kurstraw is... well, it’s a doll with a nail rammed through it. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s not very Pokemon-ish. Meanwhile, Pangshi is maybe a little too much like a Jianshi rather than being reminiscent of one, right down to the little hat. The pose, fangs, and panda colors (which resemble Jiangshi mandarin robes) are more than enough to get the hook across.

What I really love about these two are the expressions. They are just like, so dissonantly happy. Kurstraw is literally like

and Pangshi has the dead-eyed thousand-yard stare of Espurr, except unlike Espurr it looks completely and utter deranged. It looks like if this Pokemon ended up in Mystery Dungeon, it would respond to every question with “my favorite color is blood”. Amazing.

Possible reason for being scrapped: I think these two might’ve been scrapped just because they were too scary. I mean, it’s a voodoo doll impaled on a giant nail that evolves into a literal actual corpse. The implied violence was probably just a bit much for GameFreak.

The reason I think this is, beside the fact that they have fairly solid designs, good hooks, and all of their stats and moves in place, most beta Pokemon have had their premises revisited at some point. But we’ve really never gotten a voodoo doll Pokemon since this, and we definitely haven’t gotten any jiangshi Pokemon either, which suggests the problem lied in the very concept rather than the execution.

Pokes to fill the void: People say that Kurstraw was reworked into Banette, but if anyone Pokemon resembles it to be, it would actually be Mimikyu. They both have cloth bodies with drawn-on smiley faces that resemble something cuter than them and they both want to curse you for existing.

For Pangshi... well, there’s Pancham if you’re looking for tiny pandas. If you’re after a jiangshi though, you’re out of luck.

Wolfman/Warwolf

This Pokemon has a great hook. I mean, a Pokemon that wears a pelt that transforms it into a werewolf? Hell yeah. Not to mention it might be a reference to an obscure Nordic tale about people donning wolf pelts to turn into wolves for ten days.

Design wise, it... well, Wolfman looks almost exactly like Venonat. I’m not the only one who sees this, right?

That aside, I think the idea could be played up a little more. Wolfman is fine, save for its Venonat-ishness, but Warwolf doesn’t do much for me, basically just being a larger version with claws and fangs. If the idea is that it turns into a werewolf by wearing the pelt, what if its evolution looked somewhat like a wolf? Or better yet, the actually body of the thing changes to fill the wolf skin more, so it looks like its a part of it? That would really elevate this Pokemon to a new level.

Possible reason for being scrapped: I’d guess that it’s the same problem as Kurstraw and Pangshi--too scary. I mean, that is a dead pelt of some kind, which means that it killed and skinned some kind of Pokemon, and that’s not getting into questions of what Pokemon they got that from.

It’s also worth noting that when we did finally get a werewolf Pokemon via Lycanroc, it was minus the pelt concept.

Pokes to fill the void: Lycanroc as our werewolf Pokemon. In terms of design, Venonat is very similar as noted above. And something about it really reminds me of Snorunt, being little critters with glowing eyes that wear a cloak of some kind and live in the cold (this line was ice-type).

[voltimer]

'The Magic of Johto's Level Curve'

(or, 'a leisurely analysis of the singleplayer balance of Pokemon GSC and HGSS')

The Johto games - especially HeartGold and SoulSilver - seem to have a very good reputation. Some often put the aforementioned HGSS into their top 3 or describe it as the core Pokemon experience. I personally agree with this sentiment and HGSS is either #2 or #1 depending on my mood (it usually competes with Black 2 and White 2).

Despite all its praise though, there seems to be an incredibly consistent point raised against it: the level curve. I see it described as unbalanced, janky, and generally bad.

There are two main problems people tend to cite. First is the level progression in Johto itself, with Gyms 5, 6, and 7 not exactly being a smooth progression upwards and then Team Rocket's Archer and the 8th Gym having a notable level spike compared to those last three. Wild Pokemon levels are also usually a lot lower than the major boss fights they are ahead of, making raising new 'mons harder and grinding for boss fights longer. The other problem is Kanto, whose problems can essentially be said to take Johto's levelling issues and ramp them up. The jump from fighting Blue to the Elite Four rematches and Red is also very significant.

What I'm not going to do here is refute that the above isn't true - these level scaling inconsistencies are certainly present. It's also very different to the vast majority of main series entries, whose level curves are more linear and gradual. Gens 5 and 7 even have a feature which multiplies exp gain based on how much lower or higher you are than the Pokemon you defeat which in a way acts like a rubber band around each game's level curve, ensuring you can catch up easily but not go too overlevelled either. Playing GSC and HGSS when the rest of those entries are like that is a bit jarring. Pokemon is so well-known for having quite a formulaic design across its main series and when compared to that formula with regards to level progression and the like, the Johto games do seem a bit off-colour.

What I am going to do though is try to explain why this so-called bad level curve is at the very least not actually that bad, or, if I can convince you well enough, that the Johto games actually have a unique and (what I call) magical singleplayer game design not properly replicated in any other entry. It goes to the core essence of Pokemon's theming, and it fits with the fact that Johto's narrative also happens to put the most focus on those themes than the rest of the series.

When I say the core essence of theming, I mean the very basics of every Pokemon adventure: you, the player, leave home to go on a journey around your region, meeting various people and overcoming various challenges along the way together with your partner Pokemon. Challenges you overcome are all thanks to the bonds you share with your partners and how you raise them with love and care. As you get older, this is the sort of thing in Pokemon that you probably end up taking for granted. It's typical "power of friendship" stuff, and most people will tend to come to conclude through learning about the game mechanics that this sort of thing is superficial and that stats are all that matter in the end. The more modern Pokemon games also have such a big focus on larger-than-life stories with big climaxes featuring the box Legendaries that it's easy to lose this basic level, down-to-earth narrative theming.

Johto is significant for not having any larger-than-life aspects overshadowing its core. Instead, the core takes centre stage. There is no real overarching story besides your adventure. Team Rocket's antics take a sub-plot role but in the end act as a foil to your story, being one of the more major obstacles you overcome. Catching Ho-oh or Lugia is no cataclysm either, but rather a reward for your achievements throughout the game and thanks to your good and pure heart - recognised by the Legendary in question. Moments throughout the game like how you deal with the situation at the Lake of Rage, or the Dragon's Den trial where you're asked questions to test your ideals as a trainer (which, of course, you pass with flying colours) all contribute to this core as well.

The way Professor Oak congratulates you after defeating Lance ties the knot perfectly on the main campaign:

"Ah, <player>! It's been a long while. You certainly look more impressive. Your conquest of the League is just fantastic! Your dedication, love, and trust for your Pokémon made this happen. Your Pokémon were outstanding, too. Because they believed in you as a Trainer, they persevered. Congratulations, <player>!"

These are just examples of the main story events, though,and Johto has a lot more than that. The region is filled with things to do beside the main campaign - Berries/Apricorns, Pokegear calls, the Ruins of Alph and other optional caves, the Bug Catching Contest, and (in HGSS) the Pokeathlon and Safari Zone, just to name a few of the more notable ones. Tama Hero's review of Pokemon GSC talks a lot about this and it's well-worth a watch even beyond the section describing the games' breadth of side content.

Tama Hero also touches upon the supposed level scaling issue, and her response to the complaints is that there is a "sprinkling" of opportunities for small bits of exp gain throughout the game which should help you stay on track in most cases, and where you can't match levels, you can outplay your opponent.

I certainly agree with the latter. It always feels entirely possible to beat bosses at a level deficit throughout Johto. The Johto League is one of the key cases where you'll probably end up at level disadvantage, but I've consistently been able to defeat it with a team of lv 40s on average (so nearly 10 levels behind Lance's peak), and I'm pretty certain that my not-even-10-year-old self did so as well, even though it took me many, many attempts. From various people I've talked to and bits of let's plays I've seen over the years, this seems to be the common experience too. I think only a minority of people have had to grind to match Lance's levels in order to beat him at all. Granted, it might take you a couple of tries at that level disadvantage (or a great couple of tries more, like little ol' me), but that's surely not an unreasonable expectation. The concept of getting stuck at a difficult stage in a game could be called a universal one, and I think most people agree that it's always pretty satisfying to finally surmount a challenge like that. This can even be said about other Pokemon games - Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh also all have large level spikes at the end. In fact, at least when it comes to the end of the maingame, I'd argue Hoenn and Sinnoh have a larger level spike than Johto, but they're not considered impossible or anything

Regardless, though: it's certainly possible to win difficult battles in Pokemon at a level disadvantage. Tama Hero argues that the strategy required to do so isn't something the game teaches you very well, but I think this is a tad pessimistic. In the end I think that most wins will just come down to understanding of more fundamental skills that you've probably learned through the course of the game naturally - using type matchups (gyms are all type themed), using moves with stat changes (the earlygame is full of moves like Growl and Tail Whip), using status moves (no doubt you're going to see the effects of Paralysis and Burns throughout the game at least), and apt use of items (bosses always use potions and often use held items). Players also have more control over the battle than the enemy, with the default Switch mode and a huge amount more items available. It's true that the games don't teach you the deeper, untold mechanics very well, but learning about those only unlock even more ways to succeed for the numbers-minded veterans.

On the topic of those deeper, untold mechanics I also want to talk about something which Tama Hero doesn't mention at all - Effort Values, or EVs. Most of you reading will probably know about these by now, but for those who don't, EVs are hidden values which can increase a Pokemon's raw stats by a certain amount based on the other Pokemon they defeat. They were present in a slightly different form in Gens 1 and 2 in the form of "stat exp" but the premise was the same: your Pokemon grow twofold when you defeat Pokemon, by gaining visible exp for levelling up and visibly gaining stats every time that exp bar fills, but also by gaining stats little by little every time they defeat any Pokemon. Your Pokemon's EVs weren't visible to you in-game until Gen 6 with the Super Training graphic, and numerically weren't until Gen 7 where you can press X on the Pokemon's stat screen to show what are called "base stats".

EV optimisation is crucial to competitive play because the stat boosts they give are quite significant. Competitive players will "min-max" spreads, putting as much as possible into 2 stats to maximise strengths and not wasting any on stats they aren't making use of. In maingame playthroughs, though, EVs will usually end up being a balanced spread because you'll invetivably be facing a variety of Pokemon with different EV yields throughout the game. EVs can also be increased with the Vitamin items (Protein, Calcium, etc.) which you find a handful of throughout the game (and can buy at a premium) and can be used to manually raise EVs, though only to a certain point.

In Gens 3 and onward, a Pokemon can have up to 252 EVs in 1 stat, and 510 in total. At Lv 100, 4 EVs in a stat grant 1 point extra to it. For the singleplayer campaign the conditions are a bit different, but if we assume as a standard that by the Elite Four your EV total is maxed out and you have an even spread, your stats will all be up to 10 points higher than they would be without EVs. In Gens 1 and 2, you can actually max out all of a Pokemon's stat exp values but you're unlikely to cap them all for a good while beyond the maingame so we can consider them about the same as in the later gens for this.

But why is this important?

Firstly, the difference EVs make in the above scenario account for what is usually about 5 levels' worth of stats. Depending on your exact distribution, it could be a couple more or less levels' worth in each stat but the bottom line is that they make your Pokemon's strength higher than it may seem based on level alone.

This means that the wild Pokemon grinding that is criticised for being too tedious in Johto as a result of low levels is also better than it seems because even when you don't level up, you're gaining EVs for every one of those you defeat. The stagnant levels in the midgame of Johto also contribute more to your Pokemon's growth than it may seem from the slow level gain. The Pokegear rematches which you gain access to after defeating Team Rocket before Gym 8 may also be a little infrequent, but they also very often give you Vitamins afterwards to add to all of this.

Secondly is what seems to be a fairly unknown fact: in-game trainers do not have any EV spreads. Thanks to the work of speedrunners, we have exact data of enemy trainers' Pokemon to show this. Trainers do have IV spreads based on their "AI level" (more 'advanced' AI levels will have up to 30 IVs across the board) but the difference near-perfect IVs will have on their Pokemon is not as great as the combination of random IV spreads and relatively balanced EV spreads yours.

That 10 level deficit vs Lance is suddenly more like 5 in practice. Some of his Pokemon also happen to have pretty high stats naturally in Gyarados and the Dragonites, and the level deficit will still be slightly present, but once we factor in strategy again, you can abuse their type weaknesses and make good use of items, status and whatever else have you to swing the odds in your favour.

The only way you can find out anything about EVs in Johto is from a NPC in Blackthorn City who gives your Pokemon the Effort Ribbon if they have reached their total of 510, and the only practical way for a player without the technical knowledge to have achieved this is to have spent time throughout the game doing lots of little bits of training - in other words, putting in the effort - to have incidentally capped their Pokemon's EV total. It's only fitting that you find this NPC towards the end of the Johto campaign because it's likely that by this point a couple of your team members will be eligible for the ribbon.

This finally ties back to the point of core theming. EVs are an invisible stat giving your Pokemon an extra edge over their in-game opponents, or, at worst, one closing a gap in strength between them, as a result of all of the time you've spent raising those Pokemon throughout the game. In other words, EVs are essentially the statistical representation of the "dedication, love, and trust" you have for your Pokemon which gets you through seemingly difficult challenges. Levels, then, are only a surface representation of your Pokemon's strength: they create the feeling of an uphill battle, but you can win against the odds by believing in yourself and your partners. It's probably exactly what you thought as the naive and uncynical child playing through a Pokemon game for the first time, and probably one of the ways you made such fond memories of it. In hindsight, this is definitely how it was for me. It is a sort of magic, really.

There is still a big Red elephant in the room, and I do think that the level gap between the end of the Kanto Gyms and Red is maybe too hard to go and beat immediately after even with the power of EVs and such, but Red is by all means a superboss and final challenge of the Johto games, and I don't think it's unreasonable to have to grind for a while to build up for and to finally be able to take his team of Lv 80s on. The same can be said about the Elite Four Rematches in this game and others, Steven in Emerald, or that one Barry fight in Platinum if you do decide to beat the E4 rematches 20 times to make his levels nearly match Red's. If you're setting out to fight a superboss like this, the grind is part of the prerequesites. It's definitely still possible to beat someone like Red with a 10 or even 20 level deficit if you play well, though. I admit, I haven't beaten Red in a long time, but I have beaten Emerald Steven with a ~15 level gap before. Tama Hero also said she has beaten Red with a team of level 50s in Crystal in the review.

I said before that the other games in the series haven't replicated this sort of thing as well. Gen 5 was the beginning of a marked shift away from this design, with its overarching story-driven style and a change to exp gain which would honestly be incompatible with the level curve in Johto. Gen 6, whilst returning to the exp system without level deficit multipliers, saw different means of statistical representations of the 'dedication, love and trust' trio in Pokemon Amie, which can break the game almost as much as the Exp Share when enough Affection is built up. Gen 7 brings back Gen 5's exp system whilst retaining the Exp Share and Affection systems, and actually ends up even diverging from the EV design which went before by having in-game trainers and Totem Pokemon with competitive, min-maxed EV spreads from as early as the Trainer's School. Whilst I am yet to play Let's Go and Sword and Shield, their Exp system with a 'permanent Exp Share' of sorts makes it a huge amount different and from what I've seen and heard, overlevelling is quite easy despite the game being designed around the feature. I really hope that Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl at least return to Gen 6's exp mechanics, or better, reunite us with the held-item version of the Exp Share which doesn't make me feel like I'm cheating whenever I use it.

Before I go too off-topic, though, I should probably return to the original thread of this post to make some concluding remarks. What can't be denied that the way GSC and HGSS are designed may not be for everyone. I know for sure that a lot of people prefer to be able to breeze through a Pokemon game at a brisk pace without many roadblocks, but as someone who in recent years has come to appreciate much slower-paced and immersive singleplayer Pokemon playthroughs, I can't help but love the way GSC and HGSS are designed in the way I've explained, or appreciate their unique identity amongst the rest of the series. Coming to think about this has also shed light on why I adored HeartGold as much as I did when I first played it way back 11 years ago. I poured hours and hours into the game, and as a result, its magical design put me under its spell.

_____________________________________________________________

Though I linked to the references I did use when they appeared, here they are again. Do check them out if they're of interest to you!

Tama Hero's GSC review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgtMVKP2T6Y

speedrun.com trainer data for HGSS: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnhgss/guide/k2zij

speedrun.com trainer data for SuMo: https://www.speedrun.com/pkmnsunmoon/guide/d2683

Tama Hero (YT) is one of the few people I know who actually makes longer-form Pokemon analysis content besides Aleczandxr (also YT), who whilst not being a 'PokeTuber' has made some brilliant analyses of storytelling through setting in Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto, and just recently, Unova. I did not refer to them here but I can highly recommend their content, at least.

Thank you very much for reading to the very bottom here. This is my first time writing something like this and I appreciate it.

[skaiatemple]

April 21st is the Festival of Breath!

If you follow as a practitioner of Pop Culture Paganism, a user of Homestuck inspired Chaos Magic, or just want to use your favorite series to inspire you throughout the year, Skaia Temple is your resource center!

Whether you want to just celebrate it on the day, use it as a date for empowered energy, integrate it into your more mundane celebrations, or just appreciate your favorite characters and concepts this month, we have suggestions for whatever path you want to take with us!

Read below the cut for a condensed idea & resource list for this month of Breath!

Aspect Centered Celebrate the Aspect in all its glory if you’re all about on celebrating the Festivals for exactly what they represent: The Aspect and all the traits associated with it.

“Although Breath-bound do make very good leaders, Breath tends to be a very personal aspect. Often, heroism comes along as an offshoot of them pursuing their own personal stories.”

The Breath Aspect is flexible, driven by their own fancy. It’s about being light and carefree and mild minded. Less positively you could call it flighty, and unfocused, not taking things seriously. But the Breath-bound have their own definition of whats valuable, and if you have something that motivates you, whatever it is, I advise you fly towards it.

Time season was full of important work and keeping on the go, and to burn out the rest of that momentum, keep on going, but this time take it more leisurely, and focus on whats important and fun to you. The point is to be free this season. Being a bit airheaded can be healthy.

This month, take a breather.

Magical Inspiration If you want to use Homestuck concepts more abstractly and need some ideas for what brands of magic would work best for the season, if you have an Aspect or character-themed spell, feel free to send it in so it can be added to this section!

Now might be a good time to start letting things go. Play with the fates a bit. Roll some dice or pull some cards and take it’s signal for how to go about your day. Maybe work on calming down, or motivation- whichever is keeping you stuck in the mud right now. Think about warding, so that nothing bothers you during this time. Or just go outside and connect with nature, the free breeze first and foremost. Ask it where it wants to take you.

Check out what Zodiac signs the moon is going through to plan around!

Here is a Breath inspired sigil for personal growth and inspiration

Integration Route For people in the broom closet who are too timid or anxious to celebrate the Festivals openly- you can always integrate the Aspects traits to fit in with the more common trends and holidays of the month. Not even Hussie is is Homestuck God, no one will mind!

Hopefully the weather is favorable to be spending time outside about now. Don’t hold back from just wandering about and finding some lazy adventures to go on. Even if you’re just catching digital Pokemon.

We’ll be passing the beloved 4/13, and whatever its doing for you, make your peace with it. Whether that’s ignoring the chaos and only doing what you enjoy about it, or being silly and free with what little bits we did or didn’t get this year. Don’t let anyone or anything fuss you too much. You make your own experience.

The start of May also marks Beltane, a bright hyper festival full of bright colors and flowers and ribbons and dancing about the Maypole and traditionally doing naughty things. I think I like the Maypole bit is the most fitting for this subject matter- dance around with some ribbons this season.

Fandom Driven For if you’re not all about spirituality or routine and just want to enjoy going all-out with a beloved story & characters, you can honor the ones of this month by driving full-throttle on the fandom bandwagon.

Breath is the Aspect for the Nitrams, free-spirited boys who don’t care what you think of them (ideally) They want to live their lives on their own terms. Not tied down by RESPONSIBILITY or COMMITMENT or PLOT RELEVANCE…. Not that that’s ever hindered their charisma anyway. Watch some anime. Kill a spider if you feel feisty.

It’s also the Aspect for our golden child John Egbert!!! Fuck yeah!!!! Arguably the best example of the Breath Aspect. A mild(ish)-mannered hero who asked for None Of This, but does it smashingly anyway! Just going with the flow of things and doing whats necessary for friends. Never lose sight of John as the leader- even if everyone else is doing cooler stuff. John is kind, mischievous, and just self-centered enough to put a bit of whimsy in everything while still being a perfect example of Hero and Protagonist. Even while kissing movie posters and putting cakes in toilets. John Egbert everybody!

Draw art, write fic, and do analysis’ for these free characters. They are all so Good and Pure and Chill. Even the dead ones. Especially the dead ones actually-

We hope you got some ideas for activities you can do with your friends or otherwise use to inspire and better yourself this month. Everyone plays the game of life differently, and everyone's beliefs are their own. Celebrate yourself as you see fit, and Thanks for Playing with Us.

~Mod Bee

[aliasprick]

Everytime my brother said Ash x Goh not gunna happen I be like pft, What do you mean, they already married.

But on a more serious note, they are already married.

Like I realized every japanese opening always sings about the point of view of a character in the story.

Like "Your adventure"... It was Kukui's point of view

And Kira Kira was Clemont's POV.

And many more. (That's why Gotta catch em all is a strong theme because that's what Pokemon is and they needed someone like Goh to do the job since Ash had been kinda giving up on this part of his mission).

Going back to the point. Basically, there are songs that tells about the character POV of Ash. Now.... We are seeing for the first time an actual duet of Goh and Ash POV.

And they were totally talking to each other in the OP song. And it was the first time I heard that Ash is actually feeling alone?!!!! He has so many friends and yet he is alone?!!! Like Goh finally completes him like aahhhh

(I got a little sad for Ash cause that's a first time in an opening he actually said he was alone after so many opening in previous seasons with him doing his very best with Pikachu by his side)

And he literally made a statement in the song that Goh completes his life. And Goh be like hey if it's with me it can be anywhere (Only couples say these things like come on. I have best friends too and I don't always follow them everywhere and would be counting my money if I can afford to go or not)

So I'm like... So in this last season, the producer be like okay eff it, let's just marry him to someone and why not this one.

I mean, I can feel it Goh is a character made to fit Ash's taste lol.

Reasons because (I'm not bashing, I am just pointing out Goh's quality that might have blurred the line of love and friendship) :

Like Ash disagrees with Misty's hate of bug pokemon. Goh loves bug pokemons. His Cascoons everybody. He let them sleep in his room.

Ash doesn't like to be looked down upon. Like Iris keeps saying how Ash is such a kid and Goh, he compliments the heck of Ash and why is he not blushing yet after all that.

Also the fact that Goh has a fix goal and drive to achieve it. Like he knows exactly what he wanted. Opposite to Serena who was soul searching for quite sometimes. And Ash found Goh's fixation intriguing (cause catching em all is his dream too and that's why he was a supportive boyfriend).

Goh also have qualities that he likes. For example (a nerd). I'm onto you Ash. I know you love them nerds.

Like should I give an example. Clemont for example. A nerd who creates innovations no matter how useless it is or a failure or it's working fine. Let's face it, Ash pays more attention to Clemont's creation.

Or... Gladion. Gladion is a goth nerd who for some reason have all the data from his mum's research facility and he basically is Ash's duo in sun and moon. And Ash kinda look up to his family in general on their research thingy.

And Ash thought Max, the smart boy, like his little brother and they kick it off cause Max Loves Pokemon and a nerd. Goh also have extreme curiosity and love for Pokemon. And a nerd. I can't emphasize this more on how important this is.

Some people may argue why Goh doesn't befriend a pokemon first before capturing them (which I dunno, surprisingly is the main argument why they hate Goh although I suspect it was because there is a lack of waifu material accompanying Ash closely this time) but Goh is a direct representation of what a generic trainer (which is us) will do when we capture a pokemon. He just exercises the buddy system afterwards. I mean that's just how it is. I never play a pokemon game where I have the ability to ask a pokemon to be my friend before capturing them but I have the option to love them afterwards.

And Ash IS TOTALLY OK with this approach. Let's face it, he also helps to maintain the little home zoo they have since he also need it because of his desperate need to touch every pokemon in the world and Goh is ACTUALLY doing him a favour.

And if he gunna be loving them pokemon for a long time, I am convinced Goh and Ash are married to sustain their symbiotic lifestyle.

So my conclusion.

LUGIA MARRIED THEM.

That second episode is their wedding. Oak lied. It was never about the grand opening of the institute .

Thanks for reading my thesis why I totally think they should adopt more kids pokemons.

[mikamink]

What are your pokemon headcanons for some of the characters teams lol

I've figured out some fitting pokemon for most characters but I like to try to find a neat theme and setup to go with the choices. I don't have all of them set in stone but I'll share the choices I'm the happy with atm.

Some of the descriptions will be a bit long. Characters included are Rasiel, Fran, Belphegor, Chrome, Ryohei, and Bianchi. (With very slight mention of Haru and Kyoko)

Rasiel- I’ll just get him out of the way first. Due to his status and traumatic childhood Rasiel’s preference in pokemon revolves around high class ghost types. Vain status symbols and testaments to his ability to overcome death. His team is comprised of pokemon like Cofagrigus, Chandelure, and (Authentic)Polteageist. His most notable pokemon is Cofagrigus.

Not long after the “incident” that left him terribly injured and ill, employees around the castle noticed the presence of a distressed yamask pacing the outskirts of the castle grounds. Some noted the unsettling resemblance between the young prince and the mask the pokemon carried. At some point during his recovery, the Yamask found it’s way into the castle and rushed straight to Siel. It’s presence didn’t scare the prince, it was oddly comforting and the stray pokemon offered him some small bit of company while he remained isolated.

The consensus between his caretakers was that the Yamask had mistakenly taken the likeness of the prince during the moments he was buried after his brush with death. Rasiel miraculously surviving and Yamask retaining his likeness made the pokemon confused and curiously drawn to him. And it wasn’t just Yamask. Rasiel’s near death experience and the recent flood of negative energy throughout the castle grounds turned it into a beacon for ghost type pokemon. Overtime Rasiel developed a fascination with death and the afterlife and became as drawn to ghost types as they were to him. Not once did he have to go out of his way to catch his own pokemon, all of his partners eagerly sought out their new prince of their own accord.

Rasiel’s main partner Cofagrigus is a very unsettling and dangerous pokemon and most are surprised by how docile it is in his presence. Not only is his connection to Cofagrigus deeply personal, his family is wealthy enough to satiate it’s appetite for gold and his status as future king makes him a perfect match for that particular pokemon based on it’s history. -“There are many depictions of Cofagrigus decorating ancient tombs. They're symbols of the wealth that kings of bygone eras had.”

Fran- Fran has a very notable lack of motivation when it comes to most things, being a trainer included. He doesn’t really have a preference and his team is made up of pokemon he obtained through odd circumstances. Notable pokemon in Frans possession are Espurr, Zorua, Mimikyu, Appletun, and Hatterene.

A tiny apple-less applin became infatuated with Fran’s hat and was determined to make it it’s new home. Though Fran tried many times to shoo the pokemon away or lock it out of his house, it always found its way to him again. Eventually he grew tired of constantly dealing with it and just let it take up residence in his hat. It’s delighted little eyes always poking out of the top. Fran eventually evolved it not long after he acquired a new hat.

Though I don’t have an idea for how he acquired Mimikyu and I do have the hc that Fran is for some unknown reason is the only known person capable of looking under Mimikyu’s disguise without it having any negative affect on him. Not even Belphegor or Mukuro are willing to personally test their luck in that regard.

Hatterene are scary and near impossible for the average person to approach without provoking. However Fran’s monotonous disposition and overall lack of outward emotion made him unintentionally cross paths with one. Though he had no desire to catch or battle it he noticed it had intently started following him. It had never encountered a human that didn’t instantly agitate it and that made it curious.(She also just liked his big silly hat) He didn’t particularly like the idea of having such an aggressive and volatile pokemon in his possession but he also didn’t want it following him through places filled with people that could potentially provoke it, not that he was concerned it might attack other people, he just didn't want it to attack him. So he made a compromise to take it with him while in the safety of a ball, and it surprisingly obliged.

There is ONE perk though. Hatterene HATES Belphegor. He’s loud and hostile and his vibes are terrible. He is everything Hatterenes hate in a human. If Fran tries to use Hatterene in battle while Bel is nearby it will turn it’s focus straight to him. Sometimes Fran does it on purpose because honestly Bel deserves it majority of the time. Her Fairy typing also directly counters Bel’s favored dark type.

Belphegor- Gonna be honest, I’ve tried to put a lot of thought into Bel for this AU but he is incredibly difficult to work with. It’s hard for me to assign him pokemon because I just can’t seem to find any that are good enough to fit his vibes. Or in his case bad enough. The main thing I decided for him was that he would have a focus on dark types and two of his pokemon would be a shiny Absol and the exception to his preference, Gengar. Alolan Persian, Deino, Weavile, and Skuntank are pretty solid contenders but i’m not 100% on all of them yet. Tho I do like the idea of both of the twins having meowth, Bel ending up with alolan persian and Rasiel ending up with Kantonian Persian.

Absol’s are considered bad omens, bringers of disaster and death, and that is exactly what comes to those whose paths are crossed by this crimson visage. It’s presence is a warning that it’s master is near. Bel has had this fearsome partner since he was a child, it’s first appearance before him marking the “death” of his brother. Since then Bel has been a beacon for disaster, anywhere he goes he happily brings death with him, and that is why Absol is never far from his side. Always there to be a warning, or a threat, to those who venture too close or are unfortunate enough to have Bel’s sights set on them.

The exception to his preference in dark types is Gengar. He liked it’s vibe and got it as a direct response to Fran’s Hatterene being a constant pain. Though head-to-head it does come down more to skill than typing since both have disadvantage and weakness against the other. Generally they tend to be pretty even in power.(when you don’t consider the fact that Fran doesn’t really put much effort into battles.)

Chrome- Chrome isn’t one for battle when it comes to pokemon and doesn’t really have a preference. For Chrome her pokemon are therapeutic and a source of comfort in her day to day. Her pokemon are Musharna, Sylveon, Togetic, Shiny Audino, Kirlia, and Gothorita. Pokemon that specialize in soothing the fears and anxiety of their trainers, and bringing them happiness. Her very first partner was a Munna.

It isn’t uncommon for doctors to use pokemon as assistants for a variety of medical treatments. Though they were not exclusive to that ward, munna were often found in the pediatric ward at night. They provided assurance and comfort to recovering children, soothing their dreams and eating away the nightmares. Though there was little hope she would survive, Chrome had one assigned to her bedside. A small comfort during what would likely be her last few nights. Her moments of consciousness were short and scarce, so her dreams were all she had left.

Up until Mukuro’s odd intervention, Munna remained snug by her side. It would sometimes visit her in her dreams, providing some company within her peaceful, yet lonely world. After all what company could she dream of if everyone had abandoned her? When she awakened and had miraculously stabilized due to Mukuro’s aid she just so happened to take the Munna with her on her way out of the hospital.

Ryohei- While not one I tend to think too much on and I dont have a full party thought out for him, I recently decided I like the idea of him having Mega-Lopunny. I know that seems like an odd choice, because it is, everyone thinks it's an odd pokemon for him to have, including himself, but under no circumstances would he ever consider removing it from his team because it was a gift.

When his little sister Kyoko became a trainer the first thing she did was try to find a pokemon she could give to her big brother as a gift, as a way of showing him she was capable of catching pokemon on her own and to thank him for helping her get to that point. At the time Buneary felt like a good fit in her eyes because it was cute and its ears seemed to pack the kinda punch Ryohei liked his pokemon to have.

Ryohei was overjoyed by the gift and didnt question in the slightest why she would give him a normal type when he specialized in fighting types, he was just proud of his sister. His synergy with Lopunny is surprisingly solid as it makes for a good pseudo fighting type, and in it's mega form it not only becomes a proper fighting type it also gains the ability to PUNCH GHOSTS which is cool as hell!

Once Kyoko is a little older she feels kind of embarrassed about her choice given Ryoheis type preference but he insists Lopunny is amazing and gladly shows off it's power to anyone when given the chance, making sure everyone knows it's because of his little sister he has such a powerful partner. This does not help ease her embarrassment. Ryohei eventually returned the favor by gifting her a stufful. Something that suited her that was cute and strong, and also because Haru had one and he knew how much Kyoko loved it.

Bianchi- Instead of going full poison types like I originally planned to, I started liking the idea of her having food themed pokemon that are just kinda wrong. She's the only char I have considered taking some liberties with the canon designs and typing of her pokemon. At the moment I hc her having Alcremie, Vanilluxe, and Tsareena. All "shiny" though people are sure Bianchi's pokemon were not always those sickly off-colors. Their designs would be more warped/melted with tsareena being an exception as she seemed to have a better response to it's trainer-inflicted poison typing. (A G-maxed Alcremie in her possession would be a horrific sight)

Bianchi herself isn't doing this intentionally to her pokemon and also doesn't seem to notice their differences. Her love for her pokemon and the care she provides for them are genuine, they just somehow always end up “wrong”. Their sickly appearances haven't hindered their ability to function in battle and they actually seem to be unusually stronger than their average counterparts.

[polyolefinprince]

What would you do for the next Pokémon region? What theme would the pseudo legendaries and legendaries be?

In terms of the actual region, I prefer fantasy lands to actual places (I'd rather explore Hyrule than NYC, you feel?) which also permits more diversity in location so there can be stuff like a desert area and a snowy area without it feeling forced. I'd also want caves to come back a bit. Places like the Ice Path in Johto allowed so much more exploration than locations like the Galar Mine which is just one path with an optional offshoot.

Honestly, I want a Breath of the Wild type of game where there is a lot more exploration and letting us approach the story how we want. Gyms would be hard to force in a more open-world game but in the past two generations they've been changing how gyms work so I think it's totally feasible to still incorporate that with badges acting as milestones to unlock stronger pokemon and areas. I still think having the region somewhat split up is a good idea, so maybe having different areas going further into the region, with three gyms per area, and you just have to beat one of them to go on but you're encouraged to beat all three so you're pokemon will on-par with the levels of the next region. This allows for a chance of a gym for each type which would give us 6 different levels of area, similar to Alola's four islands (I don't think I would want them to be islands though because the story requires more forest area than oceans). I think this works well because the first could be a classic Grass/Fire/Water trio, then maybe Electric/Ground/Flying as classic types to teach resistances, then Bug/Ghost/Poison to have a generally spooky vibe, then kick off the second half with the classic Fighting/Psychic/Dark trio, then Ice/Ground/Normal (partially because it's what is left and partially because by now you have typing figured out so a strong normal gym is a challenge) and the final one could be the stronger types with Dragon/Fairy/Steel.

In terms of the storyline, I love what Hoenn did with having two teams with contrasting views and depending on the game you chose you got to see different points of view. I want to try that again but have more nuanced arguments rather than Team Aqua and Magma's opinion on the size of the ocean. I think I'd want my two teams to be focused on Nature vs Society, where one team wants to exhaust the natural world's resources for industry and science while the other wants to push civilization back to make room for the return of forests and wild pokemon. This has definitely been done before so it isn't a new concept, but I think that it's something where arguing for the extremes can lead to disastrous consequences in either side. I'm talking Community Center vs Joja Mart but like to the max.

Playing off of that, Princess Mononoke is one of my two favorite movies and while I would love the forest spirit there to be the Nature legendary, I don't want it to be too similar to Xerneas. Instead, I think looking at the boar gods there is a good choice as they can show the wild strength of nature that I want. So the Nature legendary would be a Grass/Ground giant boar. Let's call it Boarture, even though that's not at all what it's name would be because that sounds too much like torture and I specifically want to stay away from making either of them evil, just dangerous. Still, Boarture works for now.

The Society legendary is harder. I don't want to minimize society to industry because that's harder to justify against nature. I still want industry to play a part, as well as scientific advancement but also history and art as important cultural cornerstones. There are a couple different type combos I like for this one, but my favorite is Fire/Steel, which isn't a type combo we've seen before and also pairs up human civilization really well with the myth of the first fire and cooking and shelter and stories which are all decidedly human traits and the steel incorporating technology and science. I think it would take on a more humanoid appearance while still being wisp-y, a body composed purely of a white fire fueled by ambition and hands of liquid steel that it shapes at will to demonstrate its creativity, while still being dangerous to embrace in entirety. Lets call it Muse.

It might be a lot, but I think I also want a separate legendary trio to accompany them both. With Boarture I think you should have to make a case to three disciples before you get to confront Boarture itself. Each of them composes an aspect of the natural world. I like the idea of them being bugs because there aren't enough strong bug types. One of them is Flying/Bug and it helps herald in storms, another is Rock/Bug and it presides over the desert, and the third is Water/Bug and it protects the rivers and streams throughout the region. For Muse's, I like the idea of them all being Fairies because fairy tales are a human creation, and each of them having to do with humanity and society. One would be Ghost/Fairy and presides ovrr stories and history, another would be Electric/Fairy and would be immersed in technology (like a non-tricky Rotom), and the third would be Psychic/Fairy and would deal with identity and the concept of the Self. I don't like the idea of Pokemon being version exclusive, as somebody who didn't have friends to play with growing up, so I think 3 would be plot relevant, but after the game is complete you can potentially go through a second quest to fight the second box legendary and with it in the party you could find the other 3.

Idk what I would do for pseudo legendaries tbh. I've always wanted a Fire/Grass forest fire pokemon so that would be there. I also want a Poison/Steel radioactive pokemon that would fit well with the industrial aspect of the games. I love the idea of a Water/Dark kraken-style pokemon but I don't know if it would fit in well with my idea of the region. A Grass/Fighting moose pokemon covered in bark? A Poison/Fairy witch pokemon with a special move where it throws a potion with different effects based on the type of Pokemon it throws it at? An Ouroboros pokemon that starts as just a snake trying to bite its tail but turning into a fearsome dragon?

Overall, I think it's ambitious. Making it so that the story is different depending on the version while still following the core story isn't too hard, they've done it before. On top of that, making it so you can fight between 6-18 gyms and not necessarily in order will allow incredible individuality to the games, making it feel like everybody can play their own game with a different story than their friend. It would also allow great replayability as people fight different gyms or challenges like a Nuzlocke but you can only fight one gym per area. Or fighting one gym per area and then going back with a fresh team to fight the next 6 and then a third team to be the final 6.

And then having a nature-team is a great segue into another Pokemon Rangers game which they could have done so well on the switch, with moving the controllers in a circle to catch pokemon.

The problem though is that the Pokemon Company is currently emphasizing quantity over quality. I legit don't know if we'll ever see another epic main pokemon game because they are so focused on getting smaller games that they know we'll buy just because it has pokemon in it. They are prioritizing profits over telling a good story with a good game right now, which is disappointing, but I think it's possible we are in the stage where pokemon as we knew it would have died off by now and the only reason it's still going is because there is still money to be made. This is unfortunate, but I understand that we can't have the pokemon we grew up with our whole lives.

[lunias-takes-on-pathfinder]

Why Should I Play Pathfinder?

Everyone and their mother knows that DnD 5e has taken the tabletop world by storm, and for good reason - it's a relatively simple ruleset that's easy for new players to learn, and as a direct result of that it's become the game of choice for podcasts, actual play streams, and home group's everywhere.

So why should you play Pathfinder?

(tl;dr at the end)

High Fantasy

While 5e certainly has dragons, magic items, spells, and all the components that you’d expect from a high-fantasy campaign, the math behind the system actually tells a different story. The difference in power from Level 1 to Level 20 is mostly in the variety of abilities available to a character, how much damage they can take, and how much damage they can put out. Meanwhile, other stats like attack bonuses, armor class, saving throws, and skill bonuses don’t really change too much over the course of a campaign. As a result, it’s still entirely possible for large enough groups of weak opponents to drain resources and be a threat to players long into their careers. This works for some campaigns and settings, but the lower power scaling makes it harder to tell some stories. If you’re looking for a system where the power scaling allows a party who struggled against a troll one level to handle several trolls without breaking a sweat four levels later, and where high-level characters could realistically beat entire armies of low-level enemies if you wanted to sit down and spend time on it, Pathfinder’s going to be a better system to get into.

The Case for 1e

Pathfinder 1e is often referred to as "DnD 3.75e" by fans of the popular DnD 3.5 edition because it was created as a backwards-compatible edition that took 3.5 and improved upon its rules, fixing many issues that plagued the edition. 3.5e (and Pathfinder 1e, by extension) is known for its depth of customization options, with countless classes to choose from that cover an incredible variety of character concepts. There’s over 40 classes to choose from, such as the Magus that delivers spells through weapon attacks and the Hunter that fights alongside their animal companion as a coordinated duo and takes on the aspects of different animals. Each class also has its own Archetypes that modify some of their abilities to fit a different theme, such as taking the Avatar-esqe Kineticist class and making it a knight wielding their element as a weapon, or allowing the Summoner to forgo the ability to summon an independent creature to fight on their behalf and instead fuse with them to jump into the fray personally. And that all just scrapes the surface - multiclassing, prestige classes, feats, and an abundance of magic items all allow you to customize your character in so many ways that you can build dang near anything in this system.

You also probably shouldn’t bother.

What? You thought I was only going to sing its praises? Don’t get me wrong, Pathfinder 1e is an incredibly deep system with metric tons of content to dig into, but that’s also precisely the problem. There’s just so much stuff between the complex rules interactions and 11 years of content that breaking into the system today is a huge challenge for people who are new to the game. I had the benefit of jumping on several years ago and learning as things released, but with so many FAQs and rules clarifications between multiple books and supplemental materials Pathfinder 1e has become a massive chore to learn. If you’ve got a friend to help you learn or enjoy the complexity, then learning the system can be very exciting and rewarding. There’s also several balance issues inherent to the game, especially when it comes to spellcasters versus non-casters and over-specialization, but these can be fixed at home tables with a helpful GM.

If you ask me, though? Pathfinder 2e is where it’s at.

The Case for 2e

Pathfinder 2e is a pretty radical shift in design and balance compared to 1e, almost strictly for the better if you ask me. While 2e currently features only 15 classes with 2 more on the way next year, the game already has significantly more variety in character customization than 1e did at the time.

Your Heritage and Ancestry Feats help you define your character from Level 1 all the way to 20, making your Elf more Elf-y and your Dwarf more Dwarf-y. Class Paths determine how you’ll use your class features, such as the normally-dexterous Rogue taking the Ruffian Racket to instead become an armored bruiser who relies on their strength to browbeat enemies with underhanded tactics. Class Feats grant you new abilities or improve on the ones you’ve already got, but you can also spend them to pick up Dedication feats to multiclass or select an archetype, giving you access to feats your class normally wouldn’t be able to use. You wanna be a Wizard with a giant hammer? You can do that. A Bard who leads a team of Animal Companions like a Pokemon trainer? Go for it. You can also select various Skill Feats to pull stunts like running on walls, healing a creature with a medical kit during a fight, or making it harder for a creature you’re following to notice you and catching them off-guard easier if a fight breaks out.

And Pathfinder 2e has been out for all of, what, 15 months now? At this rate they’ll have more content and options by next summer than DnD 5e has released in the 6 years since its release. In my opinion, the best time to get into Pathfinder 2e is right now while the edition is still new.

Not to mention, Pathfinder 2e is a million times simpler to learn than Pathfinder 1e ever was, and despite the number of options available to characters the system is actually pretty easy to learn. Figuring out what you can do on your turn is easier in this edition than any other, including 5e. Ability score generation doesn’t use randomized dice rolls or a point-buy system, forgoing both for a system where your character’s ancestry, background, and class determine some bonuses while you divide the rest to your liking. Any character of any ancestry can easily reach an 18 in their class’s key ability score, making it easier than ever to play characters like dwarf wizards and elf barbarians that used to be penalized from the outset.

All of this is great, but there’s one big thing I haven’t mentioned yet.

Cost & Access

DnD 5e and many other games are locked behind paywalls, which makes it very difficult to break into a new system and see every option available to you. In case you weren’t aware, both Pathfinder 1e and 2e have online databases which are 100% free and have every single class, feat, monster, piece of equipment, etc ever printed. You’ll never have to worry about dropping another $50+ on a book if you don’t want to, and while the publishers do put out some pretty solid pre-built modules and campaigns you can always choose to forgo them and start your own campaign without spending a single dime.

tl;dr

Pathfinder 1e is incredibly complex and has some balance issues, but if you put the time in to learn the system and have a helpful GM to iron out any problems it has an absolute metric ton of content and customization options for characters and campaigns.

Pathfinder 2e takes 1e’s lessons to heart and throws out a lot of the old edition’s rules in favor of a streamlined approach that manages to be both easier to learn and play while managing to retain and even exceed the depth of customization available to players in 1e.

Both editions enable higher-fantasy narratives where characters go from being competent to effectively unstoppable over the course of their careers, and both editions have free online databases where every option ever printed is available. You’ll never have to pay a dime to play these systems if you don’t want to, although I personally encourage it as Paizo is a fantastic publisher.

[pokemonswshbutionlyplayedsword]

Hey! It was Easter for those of us that celebrate it! And for those of you that don’t, Happy Sunday. Anyway, I’ve been thinking of Pokemon holidays. In the Pokemon universe, God is a creature that a 10 year old can catch and is very much real. In fact, Pokemon is basically an age of Gods, as pretty much every legendary has a God-like status. So is the Pokemon religion a polytheistic one? That’s not I what I made this post for, though. Since I waited to do eggs with my sister until today, I thought it would be fun to do a post about the gym leaders celebrating Easter. Kinda sad, though, no one’s been excited for Easter this year, it feels.

Anyway,

Milo:

His farm produces a lot of eggs, so he has plenty of his own eggs for his family, and he is able to give them away to other gym leaders. His family has always done eggs together, but they don’t hide them anymore since Milo’s brother is the youngest child and he’s too old to find any fun in it anymore. They do, however, host an even on their farm near Easter where they do a large egg hunt for the children of Turffield and surrounding towns. Most gym leaders do these events, but Milo’s is always the biggest just because he has so many eggs to hide and since it’s on a farm it’s really fitting.

Nessa:

She stays with her parents for every holiday. They don’t paint eggs, but they do have a big Easter dinner. She hosts a small Easter egg hunt on the beach. Her and her gym trainers paint water themed eggs and hide them on the beach. Most people go to Turffield, though, so it’s pretty small. She doesn’t mind. She even does hers earlier than Milo’s so she can run down to Turffield and help out there.

Kabu:

Kabu does not do anything to celebrate Easter himself. He’s usually invited to other Gym Leaders’ events, which he gladly attends, but at home, he doesn’t do much. Maybe he buys his pokemon a special treat. However, because Motostoke is a major city, he hosts an Easter Parade every year. Smaller businesses host Easter Egg hunts for children, so he doesn’t have to worry about that, but he always strives to make Motostoke’s parade better than the other cities’.

Bea:

Bea doesn’t care much for Easter herself. She only does anything at home because Allister is not able to do the public egg hunts due to being a gym leader. She does the whole egg painting and hiding them thing for Allister in their gym so he can do it himself. She does host the public egg hunt for Stow-On-Side, and then goes to the other towns’ events to help out.

Allister:

He helps paint eggs with Bea and then finds them after she hides them. They do it a couple times. He has a lot of fun. Sometimes he wishes he could do it with the other kids, but he usually doesn’t care much since he gets to do it with Bea. He does watch over the Stow-On-Side egg hunt, though, and he also goes to other public egg hunts to help out.

Opal:

Opal doesn’t do much anymore. She used to be very active during Easter, but as she got older, she more or less decided to leave it to her gym trainers. They’re the ones that organize and host the public egg hunt for Ballonlea. Opal still goes and watches the egg hunt. She likes seeing all the kids having fun. Ballonlea is a big one like Milo because it takes place in the forest and is just really cool because the eggs are painted with fluorescent paints that make them glow.

Gordie:

Gordie paints eggs with his little siblings and his mom. It’s a family thing, and his little brothers are still small enough to have fun with the Easter Bunny and egg hunts. Of course, Gordie paints most of the eggs for the public egg hunt. That takes place indoors in his part of the gym because Melony’s ice type side and outside of Circhester are too cold.

Melony:

She really loves doing Easter with her kids. She buys them all baskets, even Gordie, although he’s an adult already. She has fun setting up the public egg hunt because she loves seeing all the little kids running around having fun. It’s really just a great time. It’s one of the times during the year when she doesn’t fight with Gordie because it’s a holiday and holidays are about family. Also, she invites Piers and Marnie over for Easter dinner because she cares a lot about them and wants to make sure they have a good Easter with loving people since the only family they have is each other.

Piers:

He gets eggs from Milo for free and egg dying kits are cheap, so ever since Marnie was little, he did them with her. It’s one of the things they still do together because it’s fun and practically tradition. They don’t do anything like hide them, though, but Piers used to when Marnie was little. Piers never tried to convince her of things like the Easter Bunny. She always knew it was Piers who went out and got her the basket, but that didn’t make it any less special to her. There are no public egg hunts in Spikemuth because there aren’t enough kids for it, but oh well, there are other cities they can go to. Piers and Marnie usually spend the day helping other Gym Leaders with their events. Also, they spend their evening with Melony and her family having dinner because they love them.

Raihan:

Hammerlocke is another big city that doesn’t do a public egg hunt because they do a parade instead. He tries to get other gym leaders to come to his one, but they hardly do because they have their own. Piers and Marnie usually come to help, though, so it’s not all bad. He does his best to make his parade the biggest and best out of all the cities. He tends to make his long, but it’s also really grand because he makes sure that there are plenty of incredible groups in the parade. He doesn’t do much at home. He visits his dad and they spend Easter dinner together, but it’s never anything fancy. It’s still nice to have time to see him, though.

Leon:

Leon, of course, it the main spectacle for the Wyndon Parade that Rose puts on. Fortunately, though, that’s the only thing he has to do, so he gets the rest of the day to himself. He spends it going down to Postwick to see Hop. When Hop was young, he took him to the egg hunt in Turffield, but now that Hop’s older, they don’t do much of it. They still go around and visit the other Gym Leaders, though, because it’s something to do. He and Hop still paint eggs together, though, just because it’s fun. Then they go home to Postwick and have a nice Easter Dinner with their family.

I know this is late as shit, but my Easter was really bad because I spent it doing homework instead of seeing my family and nothing really felt right. Oh yeah, and it fucking snowed, too. On Easter. Snow.

[inikavulpixelreviews]

Let’s Talk About Pokemon - The Grookey Family

810: Grookey

And so, finally after 22 reviews, we get to see a Grass Starter. And erm, spoilers. Competition for the Gen 7 starters these are not. Even granting it's gonna be a tall order to top Gen 7's starters for me, these tragically can't even find a candle to hold up to them.

Grookey from day 1 has felt really underwhelming to me and my opinion on it has not improved a bit. It stinks to have the Grass starter, the starter type I've always traditionally started with, just strike out completely this time. Even if I wasn't too thrilled about Chespin either, it had a fun spin on a hedgehog design. Grookey here is. It sure is a monkey, yeah. Didn’t we already get a funny Grass monkey with Pansage though?

I don't know what it is about friggin monkeys. And how Pokemon can't ever seem to make me be able to give a damn about any of them other than Darumaka. (And that’s if you even consider that one a monkey.) Their designs have just always felt on the samey side to me even if we disqualify the Gen 5 elemental monkeys. I can't even muster up the emotional strength to get angry at Grookey for tarnishing the Grass starter's excellent run up until this point. It's just so harmlessly blasé.

It has one little personality quirk where it takes the stick out of its “hair” and uses it as not just a weapon in battle, but also it loves to drum with it. Very obviously flagging where it will be heading in an evolutionary path.

Personal Score: 5/10

811: Thwakey

I keep seeing people dunk on Thwakey but it's a monkey with at least a LITTLE fun going for it. It's got an odd body shape that looks a little more imaginative than its line-mates, and at least it pulls off the “just a regular monkey” look in a slightly cooler looking way than your usual Poke-Primate. I dunno, I just likes its face in a way I find a little hard to pin down.

But when it pulls out the sticks in its hair, it gets a fun bit of extra flare in a leafy mohawk! So it's got a cool dynamic model to go with it.

Though I will say a big irk for me about the design is how top-heavy the color distribution is. Had one of the colors either moved down to its legs or got removed entirely, it'd look a little less egregious, but it just makes the 'mon look uncomfortably naked. Don't be making me think of naked monkeys, man.

Something I will give this line credit for is that it continues the Grass Starter tradition of pre-history in an interesting way. And since I've admittedly been pretty on-off about explaining them, I might as well recap it so far. And since this may be the last time we talk about Starters for a few years, I might do the same for the other Starter lines and their themes, as well as how these new starters fit in.

Venusaur is easily the biggest stretch since this “extinct creatures” theme feels like it fell onto the Grass starters by accident or something. Venusaur was always meant to be more of a toad, not even being speculation at this point since it's been outright stated it is a one. It does, however, hold plenty of dinosaur-esque features which is probably why English localization has given it the “saur” in its name to begin with. Then comes Meganium, being an unambiguous sauropod. Sceptile has features of raptors and other feathered dinosaurs. Torterra goes from a tortoise to becoming notably part-ankylosaur. Serperior started out as a snake with limbs, showing a line-long progression of lizards losing their limbs over time to become modern snakes. Chesnaught evolved into the extinct mammal, glyptodont. And finally, Decidueye the Ghost-owl becomes the fairly recently extinct Stilt Owl.

Before the mass leak, a lot of fans speculated to keep up with this trend, that Grookey would eventually become a Gigantapithecus, an extinct species of ape. But turns out it's a bit more nuanced than that. As we'll see, Rillaboom is a much more average looking ape. Grookey could very well be based on cavemen. What, with them being primates that developed enough to start using sticks as tools. Even down to using them to create a musical beat! That's really clever! It's like, the one glimmer of super creative theming in this whole line.

Personal Score: 6/10

812: Rillaboom

And obviously the theme is still going into Rillaboom here, with it being a touch more human than the usual ape Pokemon as well as throwing in a bit of neanderthal into the mix with its large brow and all. But I can't get behind this decidedly basic ape. It's a Pokemon ape in a world where we've already gotten plenty of Pokemon apes so I have to wonder what was the point of introducing a new Pokemon that's even more grounded than the already pretty grounded; albeit cartoony, apes are. Why would you look at the lineup of so many grounded and fairly realistic Poke-Apes and think “Y'know what Pokemon is missing? An EVEN MORE grounded and realistic ape!!”

And yes, it gets a fun little drum set and some drum sticks made out of a tree trunk and some branches. That's neat and all, but I still think a Pokemon aught to be visually interesting even without its accessories. In exactly the same way Rotom is interesting even before it gained new forms from its ability to possess appliances, or that Decidueye is still a cool and eye-catching design even before you learn that it can use its arms and hood draw-strings as a bow. Take away Rillaboom's drum set and what does Rillaboom have? A giant leafy mullet, I guess. Though even then, it's odd how many repeated motifs we get this Gen. We already have a wild-haired glam rocker in Obstagoon, so why do we need another one, especially if it's even more downplayed? I guess they just really felt the need to have an entire band between Rillaboom on drums, Toxtricity on guitar and bass, and Obstagoon on vocals. Ehh.

I think that's the core of why these starters feel lukewarm at best to me. Normally the starters are at least competently designed, and very much made in mind that they're going to be the centerpiece of Pokemon marketing for the next 3 or 4 years. If this line had just been a mid-game random line of Grass monkeys, I wouldn't have found it weird at all.

...But at least it comes with a fun stealth pun! What do you say when you send your Rillaboom out into battle? “Go, Rillaboom!”

GoRillaboom.

Hah.

Personal Score: 4/10

Boy I can’t wait to see that new Mythical Pokemon, which is very likely yet another monkey. Sigh.

[Archive]

[josnhoes]

If you don’t wanna write this that’s fine! Err May I request some Yandere Kabu?

No problem Duckie I adore Kabu. I'm doing these as romantic HCs but if you would prefer a platonic just send this in again with the addition of platonic. 

Warning Yandere themes, abuse, mentions of burning and other physical harm, branding, blackmail

-Kabu is a soft yet sadistic yandere. If you're good for him the relationship will almost feel normal if not well that's where the sadistic comes in and it isn't something someone can easily walk off. 

-His interest is piqued by you because you are closer to his age. Most people gave up on entering the challenge as they got older you didn't. He actually asked you about it and your claim of "kicking ass has no age restriction." Won him over. He doesn't like mindless violence but your confidence was ensnaring for him. 

-That didn't stop him from beating you despite your strength. He offered you a chance to train at his gym get stronger so you could try again. Obviously you take him up on it. Being personally trained by a gym leader isn't something one just turned down. 

-He is a hell of a coach. Not only do your pokemon train but so do you. If you weren't fit before you will be soon. And he is sure to give you needed breaks and praises you when you do well. 

-He wiggles his way into your life beyond the gym always being a gentleman and helping you, treating you to meals, or just being your shoulder to cry on. 

-So when he confessed of course you said yes. 

-Thats where things went down hill, once you were his he took to being controlling. He had you on a strict schedule and he demanded pictures to be sure to be sure you kept to it. 

-So after a month you try to break it off. 

-Instead of that happening he simply gave you an ultimatum. Stay with him or he frames you as a pokemon thief. Easy to do for him. That would ruin your life as well. So you stay. 

-He moves you in with him and you have even less freedom. How it was before was nothing compared to this. Every minute of your day and down to the smallest detail is planned. Meals, outfits, activities, the only thing you have a say in is what you get to watch on tv for the short time he allows you to. 

-He gets a little bit more lax if you've been behaving for a while and loosens up some. 

-Punishments are horrible. He will 'show you the rage of the flames' and burn you, not small burns but ones that border needing a hospital. Yet somehow he always knows when to stop; and where to do them so they are hidden. 

-Was tempted to brand you with his name but realized that if he did that and you got seen with it he would be in a lot of trouble. But he always threatens it. Between the sizzles of your flesh he asks if thats what you wanted a permanent reminder of who you belonged with. 

-You obviously try to flee early on with that treatment but to do that you had to figure out where your pokemon went. 

-When he catches you he is pissed because he did so much for you, you were healthier, stronger, and thriving under his thumb! Why couldn't you love him back? Though could this weird admiration and need to control really be considered love? 

-You have an 'accident' in the wild with a wild pokemon or at least that's what he told the hospital as they explained the damage done to your legs resulted in amputation from how the bones were crushed beyond saving. Looks like you can't run now huh?

[purplesurveys]

839

x 5 countries you would like to visit within your lifetime: Thailand, Vietnam, Morocco, Turkey, India.

x 5 aspects of your usual morning routine: My morning routine’s really not that complicatd haha. Let’s see...I check my phone, make my bed, wash my face, comb my hair, and tell Kimi good morning.

x 5 of your top favorite music genres: Punk rock, indie folk, R&B, pop rock, synth pop.

x 5 controversial issues that are important to you: LGBTQ+ issues, Black Lives Matter, the Me Too and Speaking Out movements, rape, and abortion.

x 5 songs that you could listen to over and over again:

Why We Ever - Hayley Williams

From Eden - Hozier

I Was a Teenage Anarchist - Against Me!

Love Drought - Beyoncé

Kiss It Better - Rihanna

x 5 things that remind you of childhood: Playing outside, Pokemon cards, Spongebob, getting gashes on my knees, alcoholism.

x 5 of your favorite scents: My usual perfume, cookies being baked, curry being cooked, a clean hotel room, and coffee.

x 5 things you do on your favorite holiday: I don’t really have traditions for Halloween...sometimes I’ll watch a horror movie or two, or do my occasional read-about-serial-killers-on-Wikipedia binge, or watch Buzzfeed Unsolved, but that’s it. I don’t get the chance to dress up all that often, so I won’t list it down.

x 5 of your favorite clothing items: Currently I like tank tops, halter tops, ~mom~ jeans, white sneakers, and rompers.

x 5 five questions you would ask your favorite band if you ever met them: I honestly don’t know. I don’t imagine myself asking questions when I meet Paramore...I suppose I’d ask them stuff about depression and mental health in general because they’ve been really big on promoting that in the last few years and because it’s something I go through too.

x 5 five random texts from your inbox: “mhm” from Gabie, “So what’s the deal?” from my dad, “Robyn drink ur medicine” from my mom, “Ty” with three hearts from Gab’s dad, and “omg im happy for u biych” from Angela.

x 5 things you do while with your best friend: Eat somewhere cheap, catch up on gossip, exchange banter, drive around, andddd have a few drinks.

x 5 pet peeves: People who feel like they always have to shit on others’ interests, people who are constantly late, people who don’t clean up after themselves in restaurants, being nonchalantly racist, and being way too extroverted.

x 5 things you do on a daily basis that are out of the norm: Not so sure. I think I’m pretty normal lol in terms of my routine? The only unusual thing I’ve been doing recently is going back to my YouTube fangirl days and watching videos from the peak of my former favorites like Zoella and Tyler Oakley. The videos are all the way from like 2012-2015 so I doubt a lot of people have been visiting them.

x 5 talents you wouldn't mind having: Playing the piano, playing the violin, dancing ballet, making videos, and cooking.

x 5 people who have impacted your life: Gabie, Angela, Sofie, Andrew, and my grandfather.

x 5 stores at which you like to shop: I honestly really just go for the independent stalls over at Feliz lol.

x 5 things you do when you are angry: Stay quiet, rest my head (if there’s a table nearby), stay in my car and cry quietly, ignore everyone, smack the thing nearest to me.

x 5 positive things about yourself: I like that IIIIIIII...put other people first. And that I remember little details about my friends, and that I’m good at picking out gifts for the people I love, and that I pick up trash wherever I may be hahaha. And that I’m not an asshole to servers or baristas.

x 5 unique items in the surrounding area: A box of steam eye masks, a bottle of ~glucose monohydrate, chew toys, a pair of masquerade masks, and a glass polar bear.

x 5 things you would do if trapped in a room with your boyfriend/girlfriend: Hug them, kiss them, ask them to lift me up, probably laugh at how dumb we’re being, and then I’ll probably cry too.

x 5 things you would do if trapped in a room with your enemy: No enemies.

x 5 instruments you wouldn't mind learning how to play: Piano, saxophone, violin, drums, and harp.

x 5 types of surveys that you like the most: Random surveys, categories, themed ones as long as they aren’t corny, name surveys, and have you evers though I prefer elaborating my answers for each item.

x 5 influential people in history about which you are interested: Well in the past, I’ve read about George Washington, Rosemary Kennedy, Steve Jobs, Claudette Colvin, and Kim Il-sung.

x 5 memories you have of you as a child: Losing a tooth for the first time in the middle of storytime in school; always being too short for the preschool pool; my parents leaving me for hours in an ice skating rink while they do groceries and other errands; playing outside until 6 in the evening; and play-wrestling with my eldest cousin.

x 5 memories you have of your life in middle school: Egh, this is gonna turn a bit dark...my two best friends migrating, feeling out of place in school nearly the whole time, getting exceptionally good grades because I had no friends anyway, my first suicide attempt, and being extensively grounded.

x 5 not-so-happy high school memories: Struggling to fit in during freshman year, my grandpa’s death, my breakup, failing some classes like geometry and chemistry, and I can’t really think of a fifth thing lol. High school mostly went well for me.

x 5 traditions you or your family has: Going on vacations when my dad is home; visiting my paternal grandparents on the first weekend of my dad coming back; going out for lunch after Sunday mass; going to one of my aunt’s for Christmas; and doing monito-monita at my great-aunt’s house also for Christmas.