#‘technically I don’t need the Pokédex to seek out all pokemon. and if that’s what Arceus wanted he should’ve specified!!’

[archersartcorner]

Been a while since I’ve done watercolor… so here’s some Val doodles! Plus a Volo cus I think big tall man would give good hugs HH

IDs under cut!

The first shows Valerio, who has brown skin; wavy black hair, pulled back to show a widow’s peak; a triangular-shaped, pointed face; a thin, hooked nose; and large, dark eyes. He has two facial scars, one across his right eyebrow, and one along his left jawline, as well as patchy stubble around his lower face. He’s thin framed and wearing the indigo festival kimono from PL:A, adorned with random white insignia, mirroring the symbol of the Survey Corps. Valerio is looking off angrily at someone/thing, his anger contrasted by the tears running down his face. There’s no text added to the piece, so it’s unknown what he’s saying. The background is a deep red, reminiscent of the red sky during the climax of PL:A.

The first shows Valerio, who has brown skin; wavy black hair, pulled back to show a widow’s peak; a triangular-shaped, pointed face; a thin, hooked nose; and large, dark eyes. He has two facial scars, one across his right eyebrow, and one along his left jawline, as well as patchy stubble around his lower face. He’s thin framed and wearing the indigo festival kimono from PL:A, adorned with random white insignia, mirroring the symbol of the Survey Corps. Valerio is looking off angrily at someone/thing, his anger contrasted by the tears running down his face. There’s no text added to the piece, so it’s unknown what he’s saying. The background is a deep red, reminiscent of the red sky during the climax of PL:A.

The second image is done only in various shades of the same blue watercolor. It contains Valerio and Volo. Volo is a broad, tall man, with dark skin; long, dark hair, tied back in a bun, that lightens at the ends; a square-shaped face; a wide nose; and thick lips. He’s wearing the Ginkgo Guild uniform, mostly obscured by Valerio, but the puffs around the neckline and end of the sleeves are noticeable. Volo is holding Valerio in an embrace, as Valerio wraps an arm around him, his other hand holding one of Volo’s. Valerio is blushing, almost buried by Volo’s much larger proportions. The artist really enjoys drawing little guys with big guys. END ID.]

#my art #described #volo #pokeverse valerio #the first image I forgot to write what Val’s saying… but he’s saying smth along the lines of like. #‘I’m tired of fixing all of y’all’s goddamn problems!! y’all want this sky fixed?? DO IT YOURSELF!!’ #and then valerio fucks off into the woods for two weeks HWVDJSVSJ #I know pla’s a kids game I know I know. but I do wish there were more choices that could be made #obvs not like a Bethesda game where ur options are. murder HWVDHSHSH but like. an option to NOT rejoin the galaxy team would’ve been nice #cus like. oh boy I still hate that the protag just rejoins like nothing wrong happened. I wish there was more of a ‘fuck you’ I could give #for Val he fucks off into the woods for two weeks. finally goes to deal with the rift since everyone else is apparently incapable. #then yea the comic I posted a bit ago. the day after everything’s settled val just quits. ‘nah not doing this anymore’ #‘technically I don’t need the Pokédex to seek out all pokemon. and if that’s what Arceus wanted he should’ve specified!!’ #anyway I’ve been having fun with watercolors again 🥺

[bills-pokedex]

Pokémon Ask Blogs: A Guide

{Also, on the back of the “don’t send in fetishy stuff” post, allow me to offer up a few tips on creating your own Pokémon Expert Ask Blog. Yes, there’s a story behind why this is related to the “don’t send in fetishy stuff” post. Tl;dr, don’t powergame, kids.

Aaaaaanyway, so you want to make your own Pokémon Expert Ask Blog! Starting up might sound like it’ll be a daunting task, but it’s pretty easy once you get the basics down.

Tip #1: Start Writing, and Do It Persistently

The granddaddy of all rules when it comes to text-based blogs: ya need content. Like, a lot of it. Tumblr’s always worked against authors, no matter what field you’re in. It’s just a natural fact of life that text posts get fewer notes and less attention than photos or art, so in order to gain traction, you’re going to have to be super-consistent and super-persistent with what you’re doing. And don’t worry about writing a mini novel or anything; a lot of blogs get along just fine with only a short paragraph or two per post.

You will not have a crapton of notes on every post when you start out, and sometimes, it can take months before you get anywhere. To give you an idea, I really don’t think this blog gained traction until about six months to a year in. (Granted, some people have gotten traction faster, but remember: those people aren’t everyone. And also, don’t compare your numbers to the numbers other people pull in. That’s a good way to burn yourself out.)

Finally, queues. Whenever possible, queue content. For example, if you know you’re going to have a lot of free time on a Sunday, consider writing up multiple posts and putting them all in queue so you’ll have something for Monday onwards.

Tip #2: Tags Are a Blogger’s Best Friend

Remember: the first five tags on your post are the tags your post will show up under, so use that to your advantage. Tag your post with the pokémon that you’re focusing on, as well as well-traveled tags like “pokemon headcanons.” The pokémon is especially important because you’ll be surprised how many fans every single one has, and some folks are dying for content, seriously.

You will, without a doubt, pull most of your readers through tags when you first start to gain traction. Yes, even more so than relying on your mutuals or sending your OC off to interact with others. Sure, the latter of those two sources can help, but there’s simply a bigger market out in the tag cloud.

Tip #3: Google Is Also a Blogger’s Best Friend

So you want to play a professor or pokémon expert, but you’re a college student who’s not even majoring in a science to begin with. No problem! You can 100% fudge it with the power of Google! Research everything you don’t know to the best of your ability.

A few protips on this, by the by:

* Academic websites and papers are usually the most reliable, and they’re not as intimidating to read as one might think. This is followed by news websites, of course, but be careful about which news website. BBC, CNN, local news stations, local papers = yes; Clearly Right Wing Term News = no.

* Don’t be afraid of zoo websites, government websites, well-funded organization websites (except PETA probably), magazines, and blogs run by vets or animal experts, either. (Yes, even if the latter sometimes look like they still think it’s 2006.)

* Contrary to what high school teachers might have you believe, Wikipedia’s science articles are actually pretty solid. No one wants to vandalize the wiki entry for an extinct marmoset, but you know who is editing that? Experts who want to talk about extinct marmosets. Also, most articles on the stuff you’ll probably need to put together an answer will have a mountain of sources to verify that, yes, everything on that page is by and large accurate.

Tip #4: It’s Okay to Fudge It

When in doubt, fudge it. As in, be creative with your science! It’s your blog, so do what you want! And anyway, this is a universe where a toddler-sized rodent can generate thousands of volts of electricity, so why should anyone stop you? (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ Just remember to keep your canon straight. Nothing’s more awkward than accidentally retconning stuff.

Still, word of caution about this: while the majority of your readers might not know the difference, some do, and if you’re writing a pokémon expert blog, you will probably end up getting mansplained to. It’s best to just roll with it or find creative ways to incorporate those corrections into your work. If all else fails ... limit who can reply to your posts.

Tip #5: Don’t Be a Dick

Soooooo ... powergaming.

To put it in short, that’s the act of deciding for other RPers what their actions will be—or, in a sense, playing their characters. With ask/headcanon blogs, it’s a little fuzzier what that would mean because ask/headcanon blogs feature a character talking about their entire world, but usually, it means deciding for someone else what is and isn’t canon to their blog—or, in other words, sending in-character asks that contradict explicit canon of another player’s blog or that would otherwise not fit with the way that player has designed their universe. A lot of players will let this slide, but it’s still really hella awkward to suddenly be face-to-face with a character who's asking about something that’s technically impossible for your world.

But more importantly, let’s talk about advertising. Do not use someone else’s blog to advertise yours, especially if you’re powergaming to do it. That’s kinda not cool.

Or to clarify, it’s okay to send in-character asks. That’s perfectly fine so long as you’ve read up on the canon you’re about to send or so long as you send the player a message, asking if it’s cool first. It is also okay to send in an ask to the effect of, “Hey, I just started this blog; could you promo me?” or a message to the effect of, “Hey, I have this idea; can we RP it between our characters?” The first instance involves you going out of your way to fit into the player’s universe, which then ensures that they have control over the content that they’re posting to their own blog. The second instance involves you actually going out and seeking permission to co-create content with the other player.

What is not okay is violating a blog’s canon or a player’s boundaries.

So for example, let’s say that Bill posts something like, “Komala eat coconuts.” It’s not okay to have your character go into that post, reblog or reply to it, and say, “Well, actually, komala hate coconuts, and here is a story involving my character that illustrates how this komala they know dislikes coconuts.” This is basically taking control of what is and isn’t canon according to Bill’s player.

Likewise, while it’s probably okay to send in an ask to the effect of, “Komala eat coconuts; I know this because I have a story about komala” (although please ask first or otherwise check to make sure it’s not violating canon first!), if Bill says, “No, actually, they really don’t like coconuts,” then it’s canon in that universe that komala do not like coconuts. If you really want komala to like coconuts in this case, please make a post to your own blog about it. Do not reblog Bill’s answer.

Ultimately, what it comes down to is this: a player has the last say in what is and isn’t canon on their own askblog. Period. Underlined.

Tip #6: Yes, You CAN Roleplay with Yourself

It’s also worth it to note that not every blog has to start out directly RPing with another blog. Yes, you can write independently! Granted, yes, not everyone wants to, but my point is that if your first post can just be you posting your own thoughts on the way the Pokémon world works. That and not everyone interacts with other blogs all the time. In fact, this blog got its start just making shitposts in the guise of pokédex entries not because I really wanted to RP but instead because I was trying to make myself laugh by posting as Bill. And for the most part, it’s still that; because the canon is so different compared to fanon and because this is a sideblog, I don’t really send Bill or Lanette out to interact with other people unless someone tags this blog in something. 

That isn’t to say I’m not open to it or that everyone has to be like me; it’s more saying that it’s okay if all you do at first is construct a story for yourself on your own blog. If your character and the world they live in is interesting to the rest of the fandom, people absolutely will stop by because people either love hearing about their favorite pokémon, or they love hearing about how this one scenario they’ve thought up will play out in someone else’s world. So don’t sweat it if you find yourself talking to the void for a long period of time.

If anything, consider it freedom because in space, no one can hear you yeeting actual canon out the window.

Tip #7: Yeet That Canon

Final tip: The more you think about Pokémon canon the less it makes sense. It’s just ... it’s just like that. So yes, it’s okay to treat canon like some sort of all-you-can eat buffet where no one’s going to judge you for putting the hot fudge sundae toppings on a slice of pizza. Pick and choose whatever canon you want or disregard it all. Take your blog and run with it. Eat that pizza with hot fudge sundae toppings, you absolute animal.

And most of all, best of luck!}

#from the mun #long post #pokemon ask blog #professor ask blog