#you know how in TSME 2 Steven was like ''it may not look like it but i actually am quite busy'' ? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sage-nebula · 7 years ago

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I'm done watching the TMSE eps! The action was cool! And Alan jumping to reach Lizardon when he's hurt was great.

I’m happy you enjoyed them!! ♥ And YES, aside from how much I love (beyond words) what Alan sparing .01 seconds before leaping out of the aircraft to go save Lizardon says about their bond and how much Alan loves that dragon, I also think that was one of the coolest bits of animation the series has had to date. (That, and Lizardon corkscrewing around … I think it was one of Kyogre’s attacks, might’ve been one of Groudon’s, though.) It was just so fluid and smooth, and so realistically done, in that you know that Alan’s body weight and the momentum of his jump would swing him around like that. God, it was awesome. One of my favorite parts. ♥

But that aside … yeah, no, I don’t think you’re being picky at all. While I did like it the first time I watched, the more times I’ve watched TSME + Alan’s main series episodes (and I’ve rewatched them all dozens of times—I have some parts of dialogue straight up memorized), the more I’ve come to realize that Alan’s and Manon’s relationship is not only unhealthy, but was also very poorly developed and written (which is part of what makes it so unhealthy). I’m putting the rest of this under a cut, because it’s an unpopular fandom opinion that’s very critical, and I do not want Discourse™, so no one better start any with me when I’m being as polite as I can by putting this under a cut to begin with.

(And that includes vaguing about me, because so help me, if I find out you’ve vagued about me / made passive-aggressive posts whatsoever as a result of this, I’ll block you at best and give you the aggressive fight you’ll clearly be craving at worst, no forgiveness and no mercy. I’m seriously not in the mood whatsoever. So if you really like their relationship / believe Manon did no wrong ever in her life and can’t stand to read opinions to the contrary, just do literally everyone a favor and don’t click to go under the cut.)

To begin with, Alan’s and Manon’s relationship is predicated on Manon ignoring Alan’s boundaries and denied consent for companionship and partnership. She develops an interest in him when she sees him use mega evolution, and overhears him say that he wants to “defeat all mega evolutions and stand at the top.” Manon believes that Alan has a lot of personal ambition, which is something that resonates with her (given that she also has personal ambitions, and she admires / values those who believe similarly). All of that, plus the fact that she (as part of her own personal ambition) wants to use mega evolution for her own strength, power, and glory, leads to her latching onto him so that he can lead her to mega stones.

The problem is that Alan does not want her company. He makes this explicitly clear time and again throughout TSME 1. He calls her “pesky” (i.e. annoying), he tells her flat out “don’t follow me,” he tells her that certain things about him aren’t her business, he ditches her at every opportunity, et cetera. It’s made abundantly clear, over and over again, that Alan does not want Manon’s company. Manon, however, ignores this. When he tells her, “don’t follow me,” she shouts at him, “I can do whatever I like!” When he ditches her at the PokéCenter and goes to meet Siebold for a match on his own, she chases him down and shouts at him to stop leaving her behind in the middle of the restaurant, causing a scene because he didn’t wait for her even though he never consented to their partnership (and flat out told her that he didn’t want it). Some have argued that since he stopped to help her capture that flabébé, and that since he escorted her to the PokéCenter, that clearly meant he wanted her to come along. However, not only is Alan not anywhere remotely near that level of tsundere (calling him a tsundere shows a blatant lack of understanding of his character; if anything he would be a kuudere, but he’s not that, either), but he stopped to help her capture the flabébé because he saw that she was struggling (he flat out says, “You’re struggling” before he offers assistance) and he doesn’t like to see people struggle or suffer. He always steps in to help, first thing. And after that, he escorted her to the PokéCenter because she demonstrated twice in that battle that she was prone to getting distracted, the second time of which was at the detriment of the poisoned pokémon she had just captured. (“That’s great, now get it to the Pokémon Center so you can treat the poison,” Alan says, as Manon celebrates her capture.) Alan stopped to help an inexperienced trainer, and then escorted her to the PokéCenter so that her flabébé wouldn’t suffer from poison any longer. Once both things were accomplished, he left, because he did not want to travel with her. He had his own journey, he didn’t want to be a Babysitter™.

But Manon didn’t respect that. She continued to hunt him down, no matter how many times he said “no” or “don’t” or “stop.” His refused consent meant nothing in comparison to her own desires. Eventually, by the end of the episode, she wears him down and he gives up, allowing her to “do whatever [she] want[s]” because he realizes that nothing he says or does is effective enough to get her to back off. (I mean, if I were in his shoes, I would have resorted to calling out Lizardon to scare her into running away, but Alan is a lot nicer than I am.) Manon railroaded over his boundaries until he gave dubious consent because nothing he did to turn her away was effective.

So the very foundation of their relationship is Alan saying “no” and Manon saying “yes” and Alan sighing and giving in because she won’t take “no” for an answer. They didn’t enter into truly consensual partnership at the end of TSME 1, because someone giving in purely because saying “no” and “don’t follow me” and “stop following me” isn’t the same as truly consenting to partnership. Perhaps because of this, we don’t see anything of them enjoying each other’s company in either TSME 2 or TSME 3. In TSME 2, we see Alan having to pull Manon out of jam after jam; she trips down the hill and gets stuck in the bramble, and Alan (exasperated, and having to pull himself away from his work) chases after her, only to find that Steven rescued her first (which Alan thanks him for). She does the same thing a little while later, and this time Alan—grousing over the fact that “you’re always like this”—goes to get her again. During the Mega Rayquaza attack, she gets thrown off her feet and Alan dives to catch her. He protects her, obviously, and looks out for her, but again: This is the type of person he is. He’s not going to let a ten-year-old child come to harm when he can do something to prevent it. He’s not going to let her be stuck in bramble after she tumbles down a hill if he can help get her out of it. He can’t stand to see people hurt or suffering, even if it’s a minor inconvenience they brought on themselves, and even if they annoy him (which Manon does, because these are two whole specials in which he doesn’t once smile genuinely at her). To that end, while I still find the scene funny because of how big brother - little sister it is, he flat out tells her to “go somewhere else” when Lysandre arrives, and is constantly stressing over her annoying or agitating Lysandre (because you know, the last thing someone who has been emotionally abused for several years wants is for their abuser to be set off by something), so yeah, in TSME 2 it’s readily apparent that he found her presence more stressful than fun.

TSME 3 is along the same lines. Manon insults Alan when he follows Steven into the Devon building so they can communicate with Lysandre about the megalith and Primal Legedaries (“Don’t you have this thing called ‘emotion’?”), because she, I guess, doesn’t recognize or respect the fact that he’s working, this is serious, it was never meant to be a fun journey, she should have realized that when she refused to stop stalking him. She then grows agitated when he volunteers to go stop the Primal Legendaries, because she has finally realized that he does not have personal ambition, that he is the type of person who will volunteer to “fight against the world’s destruction” because it’s the Right thing to do. Manon is not that type of person. That type of motivation doesn’t make sense to her. When she does stow away to go to the Primal Legendary battle site, she does so for Alan’s sake, because she’s attached to him and views him as one of her own. (You may notice all these Slytherin qualities piling up, and yeah—Manon is very Slytherin, as I’ve discussed at length before.) Regardless, she fights with him over it, and Alan—recognizing that she cares about his safety, and feeling a bit touched by that, but not wanting her at the Primal Legendaries site because it’s dangerous and she would just be at risk again like she was before, particularly if she doesn’t even want to be there (and she doesn’t—she flat out says that she’s not going)—tells her to go back to Kalos. Again, some people take issue with this, but Kalos is her home region, she only went to Hoenn to tag along with him, she can resume her badge quest (if she’s even on one—tbh, she never says she is) once she goes back home, and anyway, he’s not forcing her. Even if she doesn’t go back to Kalos, she can go somewhere else in Hoenn. The point is, he’s telling her—once again!—not to follow him.

But she does. And to be fair, it works out for the best; thanks to Hari-san’s quick thinking (because remember, Manon did not give him a single command in all of TSME 3) and Steven’s Mega Metagross, Manon was able to drag Alan’s body to safety after Primal Groudon knocked him unconscious and almost killed him. And this, at the tail end of TSME 3, is what finally makes Alan warm to Manon. It’s not that she saved him, but rather, it’s their conversation near the end of the episode. This exchage:

Alan: “Were you scared?”

Manon: “Yeah … but … I was really worried, so—!”

Alan: “Thank you.”

This is the very first genuine smile we get from him to her, and it’s at the end of TSME 3. Alan is not only courageous, but he values courage; there’s a reason why he specifically asked Manon if she was scared when she did what she did. He was confirming a thought, which is that she was terrified, but did what she felt was right anyway, which is important to him. True courage is doing what must be done despite being frightened, and that’s what Manon did. When Manon showed true courage, that won Alan over. It took nearly three entire specials to do it, but she did it. She finally did it.

The problem, as you pointed out, is that this isn’t good writing, because we never actually see them bond. Not once does Alan want to be around her. Not once does he actually enjoy spending time with her. To be fair, in TSME 2 and TSME 3 he’s stressed the entire time because Lysandre is there. But even before Lysandre shows up, Alan shows exasperation at Manon’s antics, rather than enjoyment. He’s not spending time with a friend; he’s babysitting a child that won’t stop tagging along with him. TSME 1, the entirety of which shows him repeatedly trying to ditch her while she refuses to be ditched, doesn’t help this. Lysandre isn’t physically present at all in TSME 1, so Alan is as relaxed as he ever is in TSME, and yet he still doesn’t have any desire to hang around Manon. The fact that he repeatedly tries to ditch her cements this.

So even though he warms up to her due to her act of courage in TSME 3, yeah, we have no real reason to be invested in their relationship, unless Manon’s feelings are all that you care about, in which case you just want him to be a pretty trophy for her to finally win. If your objective is to see Manon happy by having her “get the boy,” then yeah, I guess that would make you happy. But as for me, well, I actually care about Alan, so to see his wishes and consent explicitly disrespected again, and again, and again, and again in TSME 1, and then to see him having to just try to babysit / protect her in TSME 2 and 3 until she finally does something for him in return … yeah, that relatonship doesn’t do very much for me. I’m not a fan.

That said, we can kind of understand why, perhaps, the sudden (platonic) affection he felt for Manon in that moment made her so important to him if we consider the fact that he has not only been protecting her throughout the past two traumatic events, but also that he’s been emotionally abused by Lysandre for the past two years (well, the actual time span isn’t given, but it’s been a long time, and that’s the time frame I gave it), and that Manon’s hug is probably the first hug he’s had from another human being in that time. He hasn’t seen Sycamore since he entered Lysandre’s service, which also means that he hasn’t had any emotional support from another human being at all in that time. He has Lizardon, of course, and Lizardon is irreplaceable, but it’s a bit different when you can get that affection from another human being. Alan already demonstrated that he never wanted Manon in danger, over and over again in the specials, and that was just when she was a kid that was tagging along with him. Now she’s someone who genuinely cares about him, she’s given him the first human hug he’s had in potential years, and now he wants to make absolutely sure she’s not in danger. He wants her to be safe, he wants her to have a good journey. He wants her far, far, far away from him. When we think about it like that, Alan considering getting strength to protect her can make sense, even though I once again agree that it was rushed as hell and doesn’t feel as emotionally satisfying as his relationship with Sycamore. (Because even though we only have flashbacks of their relationship at this point, the very first flashback we get of them in TSME 1 is one where Alan was enjoying spending time with Sycamore, where he grinned and smiled genuinely at him; and in TSME 2, we not only see him once again beaming at Sycamore (and calling him voluntarily), but we also see that the only reason why he agreed to Lysandre’s service was to protect Sycamore, so that makes their relationship feel satisfying even before their main series interactions, which is something that—despite all the on-screen time they spent together—we just did not get from Alan and Manon.)

Of course, then TSME 4 happens, and Manon once again hunts him down (across continents, this time!) when he leaves her behind. She confronts him, and he rebuffs her. Contrary to what some try to claim, in this fight, he does explicitly tell her that they cannot travel together, and when she demands to know why, he explicitly tells her because she will be in danger again. And she doesn’t care. Not only does she repeatedly cut him off when he’s in the middle of talking during this argument, but she rebukes each and every attempt he makes to end the partnership (that, as he points out in this fight, he never even consented to) before he screams a lie at her. He tried every single tactic he had to try and end that partnership. He told her no, and that didn’t work. He told her not to follow him, and that didn’t work. He tried leaving her behind, and that didn’t work. He told her they couldn’t travel together anymore, and that didn’t work. He told her he was worried about her safety, and that didn’t work. I have to point out that if their genders were reversed, people would be up in arms about a girl getting so desperate to get a boy to stop following her that she has to scream a lie at him to get him to back off, and they wouldn’t feel any sympathy whatsoever when the boy cried later for it. But sexist double standards mean that the fandom hates and trashes all over Alan for this instead when Manon finally leaves, and then sends her chespin away from her (instead of recalling him to his pokéball), which then results in him getting in trouble and landing in a coma. Fandom thinks that’s Alan’s fault.

It’s not. It’s hers. Her constant railroading of Alan’s boundaries aside, she was the irresponsible trainer who sent Hari-san away instead of recalling him to his pokéball. It’s no different than when newbie!Ash abandoned Metapod in the first few episodes of the OS, to the point where Metapod was taken hostage by the beedrill. The only difference is, Ash was raked over the coals for it, and forced to own up to his own irresponsible behavior. He learned his lesson and grew as a trainer and person because of it.

Manon never did. Not only is she never called out by fandom, but Alan blames himself as well, feeling guilty for yelling at Manon, somehow construing what happened to Hari-san to therefore be his fault (presumably because he didn’t protect her, as he feels was his responsibility). Therefore, he decides to devote his gathering of mega evolution energy to healing Hari-san, so that Manon will no longer be in despair. (Because remember, Alan hates to see people struggle. He didn’t even want to see Manon struggle with bramble. So how do you think it makes him feel to hear someone, much less a child like her, sobbing? Alan cares too much. He can’t shrug and say she should have been more responsible. It kills him to see someone heartbroken like that, so he decides to save Hari-san to make her smile. Again, it’s just the type of person he is.)

Without giving too much away about the future episodes, the problem with this is that Alan’s motivation is guilt. He feels guilty for what happened to Hari-san. He wants to make it right. And because he blames himself for yelling at Manon, which he then thinks led to what happened to Hari-san, how likely do you think it’s going to be that he’ll tell her “no” to things in the future? The last time he asserted his boundaries, Hari-san ended up in a coma. He fixed that, but he won’t want it to happen again. This makes their relationship very unhealthy, especially because later episodes make it very, abundantly clear that Manon has not learned a damn thing from any of this and continues to push her own desires onto him. (What happens in XYZ045 was so bad that it actually triggered me re: bad memories of my own boundaries being violated in my youth. It’s a huge part of why I disavow everything after XYZ044.) Unless Manon learns her lesson and stops overriding his boundaries, and Alan has it reinforced that he’s allowed to set those boundaries, their relationship could get very toxic, very fast, and all at Alan’s expense. And again, this is on top of being so poorly developed that we don’t actually see them enjoying each other’s company, that we don’t actually see Alan wanting to spend time with her, that the most we get is that he’s grateful for her assistance, responds warmly to her display of courage, wants her safe, and feels guilty about Hari-san. The fact of the matter is, these two characters are just incompatible, but because the anime team was worried that the children in the audience wouldn’t be able to relate to Alan since he’s a teenager, they inserted Manon to be a viewpoint character for the audience. No wonder their relationship is so poorly developed; Manon’s function was to be an audience surrogate, not to have a positive impact on Alan’s life.

So yeah, just … you’re not being picky. I’ll admit that my feelings are especially negative given the way fandom likes to treat Alan as Manon’s pretty trophy, stripping him of just about everything he is so that he can be a prize to prop her up instead, but again, I’ve rewatched TSME and Alan’s main series episodes at least ten times each over the past year. And every rewatch I have makes me realize more and more just how underdeveloped and honestly not good their relationship is. I try to fix this in my own writings by having Alan assert his boundaries more + having Manon go on on her own separate journey at the end of canon, without him, so that she can learn and grow as an independent trainer and person (because she’s barely a trainer by the end of it all, tbh; she never once battles, and the series repeatedly draws parallels between her and Bonnie, a seven-year-old who also doesn’t battle because she’s too young). I try to fix the damage as best I can, but it’s damage that had no real reason to exist in the first place. If Manon had been in the main series instead as a traveling companion for Ash’s rival Shouta, and a rival / protégé for Ash, then she and Alan could have met as opponents in the League, she would have had more screentime and agency in the narrative, and literally everything would have been improved by a thousandfold.

But c’est la vie, that’s not what happened. Not very much I can do about it. :/

#somegiantmess

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sage-nebula · 8 years ago

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4 7 and 10 please!

4.) describe your favorite character or characters

Well, I’m pretty sure we all know who my favorite character is.

(Have you ever seen a more perfect expression on any boy’s face than the expression on Alan’s right now in this gif? Asdfdsafldsjfdfdjsalfdas ♥ It’s honestly an expression of pure love, my heart can hardly handle it)

But of course I can talk about both of these beautiful boys. ♥

Though that said, it’s a bit hard for me to describe Alan because every time I want to talk about him, I end up having the thought equivalent of a keysmash in my head. There’s just so much that I absolutely fucking adore about him (and so much that I relate to) that it’s hard for me to even know where to begin. But to try and find a place to start off from …

I’ve realized recently what, specifically, my “type” is when it comes to fictional characters, and that “type” is “Determinator.” I love characters who are, as Undertale so memorably put it, “filled with Determination.” In my mind, there’s a difference between determination and Determination; standard determination is … well, standard. Most people are determined to do different things at different points in their lives. Most people can be persistent. But Determination is something different altogether. Determination is a refusal to quit no matter how insurmountable the odds. Determination is a refusal to run. Determination is a spirit that cannot be bridled or shattered. Determination is an unbreakable will. A Determinator may be wounded, may be splintered, and at times it may seem as if they are breaking, but they never truly do. They’re going through Hell, probably several times over, but they keep going. They claw and scratch for every inch. You don’t stop them until you stop the very last beat of their heart (and in the case of some, such as Jounouchi Katsuya from YGO, not even then). As TV Tropes so helpfully puts it:

“There is no stopping the Determinator. They do not know when to fold ‘em, and it’s a waste of time to tell them the odds. No one can reason with them. They’ll do whatever they have to without question. No price is too great to pay for success, up to and including their own life. Do not expect them to realize they might be better off letting it go, even if they can barely stand. If you’re ever kidnapped or lost with no hope of rescue, they’ll be the one who will find you. Their adversaries will shout, in exasperated rage, “Why won’t you die?!”

This is Alan. He may be quieter about it than some (most of the time, anyway), but we see time and time again in canon that he doesn’t quit, he doesn’t back down, and he doesn’t give a damn what the odds against him are. When Siebold, the water master of the Elite Four, questions the wisdom of using a fire-type against him—pointing out, truthfully, that the odds are severely stacked against Alan in that case—Alan admits that he is right … but then says that he and Lizardon are going to battle anyway, because “the bond between [them] will overcome reason.” Alan, in his own words, specifically intends to overcome reason (at least, he believes the bond between himself and Lizardon will). It doesn’t matter that good sense says that he’s at a severe disadvantage against Siebold. He’s going to do it anyway, to hell with the odds. In all honesty, it was a waste of time for Siebold to point that out.

And it doesn’t end there! When Mega Rayquaza attack, does Alan try to duck for cover? No. He tells everyone else to duck for cover, but then he and Lizardon fight. When Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre are threatening the earth, he goes to fight them. He insists he has to. When Lizardon is struck down and almost killed, Alan immediately goes after him. He faces the legendaries and only tries to get out of the way himself when Kyogre is literally thrown at him, and even then he has to be knocked unconscious to be taken out of the fight. He faces ten mega evolution users, including another member of the Elite Four, with nothing but sheer determination and his belief in Lizardon to get him through it, and they win. Even much later on, when he confronts Lysandre and finally learns the truth, although he does have a (very understandable) emotional breakdown when the weight of what he unintentionally did hits him, all it takes is a few words from Ash for Alan to be able to shelve his issues for the time being and keep fighting. Alan goes through absolute Hell both before and during the series, and yet he keeps going, regardless of the risk to his own life, regardless of what he suffers. It doesn’t matter. He sees what has to be done, and he does it, and he has the Determination to do so. This, combined with the fact that he’s pure-hearted, is exactly why Lysandre chose to employ and use him the way he did (i.e. this is what Malva determined during her battle with him in TSME 4, I’m certain of it).

Building on that, Alan is pure. Malva calls him “a pure boy” in TSME 4, and she’s not wrong. Alan is pure in the sense that he genuinely wants to protect people. He genuinely wants to defend them. He genuinely wants to work for the betterment of the world, and the people in it. This is how Lysandre pulls him in; not only does he tell Alan that Professor Sycamore needs to be protected (and Alan cherishes Sycamore and, as such, will do whatever it takes to protect him), but he also tells him that the mega evolution energy will be used for “peaceful purposes,” for a better world. This is something that Alan cares about. Yes, he specifically wants to protect his loved ones as well, but as we see time and again, Alan doesn’t only care for his loved ones. He cares enough to help save Pikachu from Team Rocket the first time he meets Ash. He cares enough to face two primal legendaries to try and save the world. He cares enough to question Lysandre about all of the people when he confronts him, and to feel open guilt and despair over how many people and pokémon were hurt during the Flare crisis when talking to Ash in the garden. Although he was used and manipulated by Lysandre, Alan’s intentions were always, always pure and good. He was striving to help and protect the entire world, because that’s something that matters to him. He was very earnest about this, and always has been. And that, along with the fact that he was young and innocent, allowed him to be completely taken advantage of by Lysandre.

But although he was innocent and taken advantage of because of it, Alan is far from stupid. In fact, he is incredibly smart. He is one of the few (and the only one I can name off the top of my head) to use actual competitive strategies in canon. Despite how young he is in the flashback in TSME 1, we see Sycamore discussing mega evolution with him on equal terms, not simplifying or holding things back out of concern that Alan won’t be able to keep up with the conversation. Alan is quick on his feet in battle, he’s observant, he helps teach and instruct Manon on multiple occasions (in TSME 1 he helps her catch a flabébé, and in TSME 2 there’s the explanation he gives her about what Steven and Lysandre are talking about when they’re discussing foundation / roots as it pertains to the Megalith). He’s able to pick out exact angles at a glance and knows exactly how to take advantage of that in the heat of battle. In all honesty, his intelligence was probably another appealing factor in Lysandre’s eyes; not only does he have a pure heart that can be easily taken advantage of, but he has a sharp mind that can be put to good use! What more could Lysandre ask for? (God, Lysandre was such a prick.)

Alan is unbelievably, beautifully brave. Setting aside all of the obvious danger he faces despite his own fears (and we see his eyes widen in fear and panic on numerous occasions—he just faces the danger anyway, because that’s what real courage is), he’s also able to stand up to and confront his abuser during the Flare arc, in a moment of true crisis and revealed trauma. That is huge. Yes, he does need some emotional support from Ash, but he still does it, before and after said support! It was so unbelievably brave for Alan to be able to do that, but courage—real courage—is a shining quality of his. You better believe it is.

And he’s compassionate and affectionate in his own way as well. He’s beautifully sweet with Lizardon (look at the gif above!). He watches out for others, especially those younger and less capable than he is. He’s protective and caring. He can be snarky and likes to tease sometimes, but it’s never cruel (well, he might be cold to people he doesn’t like, such as Louis, but even then it’s pretty mild). He has a sense of honor, too; after his second battle with Ash, wherein Ash collapsed in the middle of it, Alan refused to accept it as a victory on his part because the battle ended prematurely. Ash felt that Alan won, but Alan didn’t want to see it that way.

This is … such an essay … but god damn I love Alan so much, I could talk about him for ages, as you can see, hahaha. But I want to talk about Lizardon a bit too, so with regards to Lizardon I will say:

While we’re never told this specifically in canon, I feel that it is absolutely, 100% fair to say that Lizardon’s nature is Adamant, because he is every bit as much of a Determinator as his trainer / partner / best friend / platonic soulmate is. Lizardon, like Alan, doesn’t quit nor give up until he’s actually dying (or the battle officially ends, as in TSME 1 against Siebold). Primal Groudon has to nearly kill him for him to stop in TSME 3, and he wins that gauntlet in TSME 4 fair and square. He never looks reluctant, either; as much as Alan presses forward, Lizardon is pressing right along with him. They believe in each other, they support each other, they fight together. Lizardon will never give up, not so long as Alan doesn’t. He has an Adamant nature, absolutely. There’s no question.

As much of an Adamant dragon as he is, though, Lizardon is also a big sweetheart. He’s a big, cuddly dragon who absolutely loves snuggles, who is very often on the receiving end of pettings and hugs from Alan (as seen above) and loves it. Hell, after the League victory, he even leans down for a proper hug rather than just a pet! He snuggles closer of his own volition! Sweet, snuggly boy. ♥ As fierce as he is in battle, Lizardon is quite friendly, and enjoys meeting and befriending new people and pokémon. Funnily enough, however, something I was thinking about the other day … I’d have to rewatch all of the episodes to make sure (darn), but I’m pretty positive that Lizardon never directly interacts with Lysandre, even when they’re in each other’s presence. At the least, he never emotes positively, unlike how he does with Sycamore (wherein he cheers when Sycamore congratulates him on evolving into charmeleon, and is so happy when Sycamore compliments him in XYZ036). That aside, Lizardon is very friendly and sweet. He’s just also fierce af in battle. ;)

And I love, too, that as much as it’s obvious that Alan loves Lizardon, that it’s obvious how much Lizardon loves and cares about and protects Alan—and also that, as much as they love and care about each other, they have actual conversations, Lizardon sometimes catches Alan off-guard with the things he says (showing that, yes, Alan understands him!!), and sometimes they disagree. They’re equals, they treat each other as such, and as a result Lizardon is not afraid to speak his mind to Alan, not afraid to show how he feels. They’re partners, two halves of a greater whole. They trust each other implicitly, completely, unspeakably, without question or hesitation. They never cease to amaze. ♥

Anyway, this is an actual essay, but I just love these two beautiful boys. ♥ The love between them is unconditional. The bond between them overcomes reason and surpasses its limits. They were the best thing to come out of the Kalos saga (and the anime in general imho, though to be fair they do tie with Ash and Pikachu), and I will love them ‘til the end of days. ♥

7.) would you want to live in the world of your current work?

Answered here!

10.) what song sums up your current work the best?

Ooooh, it’s hard for me to pick one song. Generally I have several songs that either fit particular scenes, or else encompass different parts of a fic, like a soundtrack of sorts.

As far as To Devour the Sun goes, I have several (in no particular order):

“Envy Revealed” - Senju Akira — This is the song I’ve always associated with the scene in chapter five when the massive chimera makes its appearance (and things go very, very, very south for Alan and Lizardon).

“Don’t Give Up” - Toby Fox — Going along with the fact that Alan is a Determinator, as outlined above, this is a song that I rather associate with him in general, but in particular I imagine it going along with one particular scene … which won’t happen for another few chapters or so. Stay tuned.

“Alan’s Theme” - Miyazaki Shinji — That’s not the actual name of the track, but it might as well be for how often it was used as Alan’s leitmotif in the anime. Regardless, not only is this literally always relevant, but there is one scene in particular in which I imagine it playing during much later on in the fic. I can’t say what because of #spoilers, but I imagine it fitting perfectly nonetheless. God, my boy. I love him so very goddamn much.

“Megalovania (Vocal Piano Cover)” - Adriana Figeuroa — It’s more the sound of this one that works, as well as the overall intent, rather than the specific lyrics (because after all, the one that this would be directed at is neither human nor a child—though she does have quite a lot of L.O.V.E. to go on). However, it’s these lyrics that stuck out to me the most in regards to this:“So now you’ll stand and answer for yourself—prepare for a living Hell.The time has come.Nowhere to run.”It’s fitting (and “you chose to have LOVEd and lost” is fitting as well) … though I can’t say how or why at the moment.

“…” - Symphonic Evolutions — This is relevant battle music for later on. I won’t give any more details right now … but just trust me when I say that it’s relevant. And for that matter …

“Megalovania (Metal Cover)” - RichaadEB — So is this. (So as you can tell, someone gets very, very, very angry … Well, actually, multiple people and pokémon do, but in particular …)

And that’s all for now! As you can tell, it’s usually soundtrack music, haha. That’s often how it goes with this. On the other hand …

For the long one-shot I’m writing in response to the ficlet meme I reblogged a while ago (which is unnamed at this point in time), I do have several songs that I associate with that as well:

“Let it Out (English)” - Adriana Figueroa, original by Fukuhara Miho — I can’t link this one, unfortunately, since YouTube took it down, but this fits one of the relationships in the fic, and as such I’ve been thinking of this fic in particular whenever this song comes up. After all:“Through pain and fear, and rain and tears,we will hold on to the light.We’ll chase the dawn that waits for us beyond the darkest sky.Keep following that distant star, never walk away from who you are.Never forget that your future’s waiting up ahead!“As seasons change, and rearrange,and the sands of time descend.As all your hope starts vanishing, you’ll always have a friend …”

“Wouldn’t it Be Nice” - The Beach Boys — One of the characters sings this—or at least the first verse—at one point. I won’t say who; you’ll see when it comes up. He was just being cheeky, honestly, and he gets called on it. In case you don’t want to listen, the first verse:“Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older?Then we wouldn’t have to wait so long.And wouldn’t it be nice to live togetherin the kind of world where we belong?”

“Pokémon Theme Song” - John Loeffler / Billy Crawford — It’s also possible that the same character will sing the second verse of this one, and will pull in another character (the one who called him on the last one, actually) in for the chorus. But this one is less decided. (Either way, it’ll get a reference in another form, so …) And in case you’re not familiar, those lyrics that he’d be singing are:“Every challenge along the way, with courage I will face.I will battle every day to claim my rightful place.Come with me! The time is right—there’s no better team, yeah.Arm in arm we’ll win the fight that’s always been our dream!“It’s you and me. I know it’s our destiny!Oh, you’re my best friend, in a world we must defend.A heart so true, our courage will pull us through!You teach me and I’ll teach you …”(Note: He’ll modify it slightly. It should be “I know it’s my destiny,” but he changes it to “our” because he wants it to be a duet. =P And to be fair he gets his wish, as the second singer joins on “in a world we must defend.”)

And that’s all I have for that one for right now! Thanks for asking! ♥

#decadeoldtiger #writer's ask meme

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