#ravinranting123

[ravinoforre]

So I saw an opinion on a character that I, respectfully, don't agree with at all, and it isn't the first time I've come across this particular take either. I don't like nor want fandom discourse, making counter points to arguments in general make me nervous, but as someone particularly attached to them and their related characters, I have a lot of thoughts I want to get out there in the hopes that maybe they can be seen from a more positive perspective. So um, here they are. Get comfortable, this is gonna be a long one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Defense of Lily (Pokémon XD).

Those of you who've played this might already know what I'm referring to, so I'm just going to rip off the proverbial band-aid. Right at the start of the game, as you, the player, are being introduced to her, one of the first things she says is;

...and ok yeah, I admit. This is kind of a weird thing for her to say (in front of her son too, oops). This is usually one of two instances that people latch onto to prove she's an awful mother, but there is, at least in my opinion, some hidden context to her words. First of all, she's not wrong; the whole lab does in fact constantly sing their praises and fawn over both these kids (which is adorable tbh). Secondly, it's not unreasonable for her to believe that lots of inflated praise on a child, no matter how well meaning, may have negative consequences on their development. A kid receiving a constant stream of "you're so cool/special/talented" may end up with an inflated ego and become depressed, or even lash out in anger, if that praise either stops or something comes along to disprove it (like failing a test or making a mistake).

(Side note, I came across some partially related studies (x), (x) and an article from a parental psychologist (x) that go into different types of praise given to children; person, or ability praise ("you're so clever") vs process, or effort praise ("you worked really hard"), their effect on self esteem, personal growth, and performance, and how ability praise actually negatively effects a child's sense of worth compared to effort praise or even no praise at all. It's a lot to go through right now and this post is already going to be super long, but I mention them here because I'll go into something later that you may find rather interesting. I know I do. They're fascinating reads, too, I would recommend!)

Now listen up! Lily, contrary to the belief that she's a cold-hearted mother who shuns her offspring, actually does praise and engage with her children! Throughout the story, she'll talk to Michael and say some interesting and wonderful things as his adventure continues! The problem is that unfortunately, a lot of this proof is hidden throughout each story beat in a section of the lab that is no longer required to enter to progress (and most people won't bother to go back and speak to their own mother who apparently "hates" them). Off to find Jovi:

🥹 baby... Before saving Phenac City:

🥺😭euuhhbbebeh father mentioned During the Phenac City hostage situation:

After the Phenac stuff:

"I'm proud of you." You literally cannot get a more explicit form of praise than I'm proud of you. Hell, I can't even recall a time my own mother told me that. Fucking hell. Also. Pampered?! You hear that? She's practically contradicting those accursed two lines! By her own admission, the kids are pampered babies! Her concern isn't that people will spoil them—because they're already spoiled!

(Jovi is a pampered baby princess). I think Lily's worry in her comment is that may roll too far; it's like she says—spoiled rotten.

Ok one more example for this section:

(disclaimer: these screenshots are from the romhack XG which is why her name isn't in all caps; trust me, this same line is in base XD too) Remember the types of praise I mentioned earlier? Ability (person) praise and effort (process) praise? And how the former could be damaging to a child's self esteem? Do you notice anything particular about the way she speaks to Michael and praises him? "You've become an outstanding trainer in your own right." Not "You're so strong." "You're doing so much for the good of others." "Your courage will save the Shadow Pokémon." Not "You're so brave." "You did it all by yourself without anyone's help." She's praising his actionable efforts! She's applying process praise! (Pleeease read those studies and article, at least the first study I linked, it's genuinely insightful and fascinating, and it's even more amazing that an example of it is featured in a video game by a character most people won't interact with beyond necessity! I love this game! So! Fuckinhg!! Much!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Ahem. She's also not saying that people shouldn't praise her kids either; only that she wishes it wasn't gushing praise all the time. Too much of a good thing could be harmful, after all. Let's see...

Sounds reasonable so far, right?

...Galactic peace?! My brother in Arceus, all he did was beat you in a friendly Pokémon battle—a battle that Michael's already been led to believe he'd win anyway thanks to that previous comment from his coach (those screen caps are in chronological order)! Even without the fact that by this point he's midway through a dangerous fight against a criminal organization, it's probably not a good idea to give a developing young teen a literal God complex; what if he gets so full of himself he genuinely believes he's unbeatable... and then loses? That child's mental state is going to plummet. So even if you don't agree with Lily's praise comments, you might at least better understand where her concerns are coming from if this is potentially the kind of thing that's being told to her kids regularly.

Moving on, try putting yourself in her shoes a moment. She's a working, grieving, single mother of two who, according to an NPC in the lab "has an exceptionally high sense of responsibility".

As a scientist with the necessary expertise, she has the heavy task of helping realise a sensitive project—sensitive not just in terms of urgency (as Krane predicts Cipher is going to be a threat again), but also in terms of emotional weight; this project was something her late [husband] poured everything into until his death, so both her and Krane continued on with it; by the time the game starts, they're agonisingly close to completion. And time is of the essence. Quick tangent: watch the cut scene post Krane kidnap again. The camera rests on Lily an awfully long time. The father of her children died before this project was finished, and now Krane, a close friend of both of theirs, has been taken away by force. Both her children have witnessed something traumatic. Her daughter is sobbing. She's literally being told the situation is "hopeless" by a colleague. Imagine the sheer anguish this woman must be going through before having to push through all of it and take complete charge for the sake of finishing the project. For the morale of the entire lab staff. For the sake of keeping her kids calm. For the fate of the region itself. Anyway, because of this project, and how close they are to finishing, she isn't able to afford much, if any, time off to spend with her kids "this instant". It's probably why the lab staff have pitched in to help look after them (which must make her feel pretty damn guilty with that high sense of responsibility of hers). It's why she asks her son to go find his little sister in her stead.

And this brings me to point number two that I've seen used countless times to slander her:

She just lets Jovi run off on her own, and doesn't care what her kids are up to.

Which... no, sorry, hang on here. Lily isn't letting Jovi run off on her own. For starters, both her and Krane believe she's in or somewhere outside the lab grounds, playing hide and seek with the caretaker, Adon.

A game of hide and seek (particularly if they're taking turns hiding) is likely why nobody's seen her since lunch, by the way, and not Lily not giving a damn about the whereabouts of her child. And when she's found and brought home again, Lily says this;

This implies she's spoken to her daughter about running off on her own before, and we do later get to know that Jovi has a habit of running off ahead; she runs off down the steps in Gateon ahead of her brother, she rushes off to deliver the machine part by herself to the chamber, and even though Michael is the one asked, she runs off to go see Datan—despite Lily telling her she doesn't need to do that. This means if Jovi gets invested in something, it's apparently hard to stop her. Visiting Kaminko's is a recent fixation of hers, and if Adon is already aware of where else she might have gone off to if she's nowhere on lab grounds, it might mean she's been there before (that, or Adon was the one who caved and told Jovi where to find the place). I might even speculate and say Lily has specifically told Jovi before about not running off to the manor. Anyway, check out what she says when you find the little runaway but come back empty handed.

The heart-sinking realisation and disappointment in that "...Oh" alone....

So no, Lily isn't letting her young child run off on her own—Jovi is disobeying her mother. She's either used the game of hide and seek as an excuse to dip (and then forgot about Adon entirely), or she got bored midway through and decided to head to her new place of interest despite any of her mother's previous objections. (And before anyone says anything, no, that doesn't mean Jovi is a bad kid, either. She's, what, around 7 yrs old? She is doing typical little kid things, emulating her older brother, and discovering and pushing her boundaries as she grows up. I have seen some putrid, abysmal hate for her over the years too. She is a child, leave her alone.) Onto the second half of the above statement; she doesn't care what her kids are doing. As in, Michael is on a treacherous journey against a dangerous group of people and she's totally ok with letting her kid do that (as if that isn't the case with practically every mainline entry protag mother but alright, I'll bite).

Introducing one of my favourite exchanges with her in the game. During this time, the purify chamber still isn't complete, and they'll need to use an alternate way of purifying Shadow Pokémon until then—the Relic Stone in Agate Village.

oh it worries her, does it? You know what happens when No is selected?

And then she drops the conversation. There's no endless loop to get him to go, which would have been the more convenient thing for the devs to implement. But this was a very deliberate choice that tells me more about a character than I've seen done in a video game before. She's respecting her son's decision to stay home. She is not forcing him to do something he isn't comfortable with. Of course, as a video game, the purpose is to progress to the next story beat. So he has to go. Better talk to her again.

I don't even think I need to add any extra commentary, this should really speak for itself at this point.

I've also reached the image limit on this post so it's probably time I wrapped this up, so in conclusion; is Lily a bad mother, as I've seen people claim? No, and I believe I've showcased plenty to prove she isn't. She's not perfect, no parent is, but she's a damn sight more involved in her children's lives than the mainline moms, who are often nothing more than out of the way Pokémon Centers that don't acknowledge their child's journey in any meaningful way. So then, was she in the right for saying what she did at the start of the game, right after Krane praises her son, who is in earshot of this conversation? Well... also no. She could have picked a better time and place to bring it up, honestly. But God forbid a woman make a mistake or voice a concern, lest her be mischaracterized and demonized forever by two unfortunately worded lines of dialogue.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Michael, you're finally going off to the ultimate battle, aren't you? You've really grown in stature. As your mother, it makes me feel conflicted. I'm happy and proud on one hand, but I'm also a little sad. Go and get rid of Cipher, and make it quick! And come home safely."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you've managed to reach the end of my ramblings, I'd like to say thank you. Hopefully I've given you some food for thought. Maybe I've even changed your mind about her. And even if I haven't, I appreciate you taking the time to read this regardless.

[ravinoforre]

☝️☝️☝️

HE IS! He's super cool and brimming with personality, it always makes me sad when people call him a blank slate, he's absolutely not!

This is obvious during even just the first few mins of the game. He's on a training sim, his skills having improved massively; he's already dedicated to battle studies, and i love the the fact that this helps canonically explain why this child is able to best even adult trainers (mainline just has the protag as this inexplicable child prodigy the moment they're given their first pokemon with no prior experience, boooring)

He gets on well with his sister! The two are rarely apart.

I like to think he lets Jovi tease him the way she does. A doting big brother.

His room also gives you clues to his personality. It's full of sports equipment and toy planes- he's playful and energetic! This is also made apparent later when Megg at ONBS talks to him.

He's headstrong and determined. Just like his mother... or perhaps even his father.

and to add to the previous point of his battling skills:

(also clues to his parents' personality eeeeee)

He's also got a bit of an ego- he sure likes telling people of his heroics and getting that sweet, sweet praise. Especially this guy.

alright going overboard here but these are just some examples proving he's not a "blank slate" loser dweeb thank you for coming to my TED talk Also I know Wes' bike is objectively the coolest effing thing on the planet, but if I was 13 with my own motorised vehicle, I'd feel pretty damn cool about that myself, just saying. (i suppose the SV ride dinos may one-up that by this point but eh)

i know between wes (pkmn colosseum) and michael (pkmn xd) michael is generally considered the lamer one. and while i do think wes is probably cooler overall, theres something i like abt michael. i think its the fact that hes a kid, yeah, but he has his own personality, unlike literally every other kid protag in pkmn. hes a COOL GUY OK .

now look at him

[ravinoforre]

I posted it on Twitter but I'll say it here too for my Tumblr only followers.

I'll be having surgery on my eye tomorrow, it turns out the retina in my right eye is detaching.

Fun. Wish me luck!

[ravinoforre]

I was trying to search if I'd posted this on here yet but I can't find it on my blog. Maybe I have and I didn't tag it properly. Oh well. This was done last year, I was testing out some watercolour brushes I'd found. I'm happy with how it turned out!

I just think they're neat together :)

[ravinoforre]

Ooourgh ohg oof i forgot how to draw

[ravinoforre]

Eye operation was a success! Right now I have a big black orb thingy in vision of my right eye but i'm told that's normal and should disappear at some point. Wearing my glasses again but it still feels weird to see out of them and i do feel a little woozy, but i'm otherwise fine.

The hospital stuff was sorta neat? At least, the parts where they were hooking me up with wires and a blanket and wheeling me around in the bed. The waiting before the surgery sucked ass though, and it started later than it was scheduled.

I was told the day before that I wouldn't be going under completely but when I finally got into the surgery room itself they gave me a choice so i asked for the full sleep. 3 puffs and I was out. Fun! Waking up I was actually surprised how lucid I felt, I was able to understand what the surgeons were telling me and able to speak back clearly (relevant side note; i live and work in France, but French is not my first language and i can sometimes still struggle with the barrier).

Was sent home the same day so at least I got to sleep in my own bed. Not allowed pillows for 2 nights though. And I have to sleep on my left side (unfortunately that's the side that hurts if I sleep on it too long, yay), but I have just over a month off work now to recover. And a whole bunch of eye drops to administer several times a day for a while.

[ravinoforre]

This cave painting in Asgard always felt like a Wind Waker reference to me. I can't find any confirmation online that it is, but this is what I choose to believe.

[ravinoforre]

I'm on break and there's a girl nearby very loudly chewing and popping gum and it's making me want to start throwing things across the room.

[ravinoforre]

Art moots and strangers;

What's a good art program for Android? Either free or one time purchase (I don't want to pay for a subscription service). I currently have Sketchbook, and Krita (I'm used to it on the PC, but it's a little sluggish and awkward on the tablet rn and idk if that's just me or if it's because the android "version" is technically still in beta). There's PENUP too but not overly keen on that.

[ravinoforre]

This just in.

Current doodle's art style looks nothing like the one before.

More at 11.

[ravinoforre]

I am gently dying of tummy ache but i'll try to be brave about it

[ravinoforre]

trying to draw but my brain is NOT cooperating with me

[ravinoforre]

Had a follow up appointment, recovery's going well. The black void in my eye has shrunk down from practically half my eye to a marble size over the past few days so it's not nearly as uncomfortable to look down now. Don't need to wear my eye patch at night now either.

Vision's still generally fuzzier that side tho, might get clearer in a few weeks but wouldn't be surprised if I needed to update my prescription (again. i got new glasses just before all this lol) I'm more sensitive to sunlight/strobe light atm too, just going outside wears me out.

Hoping I can get back into drawing comfortably again soon. I did do some painting yesterday and had planned to do more bug studies but just doing that little bit was mentally and physically exhausting.

[ravinoforre]

This tablet has been a blessing and a curse.

I love it, i am drawing more often in my downtime and i'm having fun with it...

But i'm ignoring the other creative projects i wanted to do at the start of the year, and what i am drawing are all unreleased/privately shown doodles.

Oops.

[ravinoforre]

[ravinoforre]

That feeling of working on several creative and personal projects at once and getting none of it done fast.