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#yes I write for pokemon too guys
tiktaaliker · 2 years
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pov ur a pokemon trainer trying to check out the local haunted house but it turns out that it wasnt haunted actually this bastard just lives there with their pet ghosts
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psikind · 1 year
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I beat pokemon scarlet today hi for the love of god hello
#I'm gonna wait to rb spoiler stuff til like next friday and when I do they'll be tagged under 'spoilers' BUT#I Will rb new pokemon designs now tho#still tagged with 'spoilers' but yeah#GENUINELY. GENUINELY HAD AN AMAZING TIME WITH IT HONEST TO GOD IT'S UP THERE WITH BW FOR ME THAT'S A HUGE DEAL#it has so so many graphical/mechanical issues yes I'd write a whole fucking essay about how gf needs to give it's employees-#-better work conditions and more time and pay and Yeah#but oh my god. oh my God oh my fucking god#the pokemon designs are SO inventive and interesting and good the flavor on these lil guys is so peak#THE CHARACTERS ARE SO!!!!! THEY ARE SO I LOVE THE FRIEND GROUP AND TEACHERS AND TEAM STAR AND GYM LEADERS AND YEAH#they way all the story paths and challenges are set up is very intuitive and fun!!!! you don't feel pushed to go a certain order#but if you feel like where you are is too strong then it's easy to gather yourself and figure out what to do#and it almost seems like the leveling accounts for the player wanting to fuck around and find out I did that a Lot#and was only a few levels higher then the final fight by the end#don't even get me started on the story I'm not gonna say shit here but I cried like 5 times and wanted to a few others even still it's so.#god I haven't fallen for a pokemon game this hard in awhile if you don't wanna get it full price please like#get if second hand or watch a cutscene movie at Least and make sure you get one with all the area zero dialogue#I'm sorry for all the tags I'm just. listen special interest became good again in a few aspects I am living#risk.txt#pokemon#also I got 7 shiny pokemon before even beating the game so that's how my infamous luck with that in this game went DSFKVHBFV#the first one I got after only beat the first titan and nothing else! she's a litleo/pyroar named rhea and I love her so much
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jaylver · 1 year
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ALL OF THE GIRLS YOU LOVED BEFORE — P.JS
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SYNOPSIS: growing up, you've always known this one boy who was your father's best friend's son. as you grew older, you watched the girls come and go, at the same time, you somehow got closer to him as well. feelings sparked and you progressively found yourself liking him. what were you going to do? kiss him.
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PAIRINGS: childhood friend!jay x afab!reader
GENRE: childhood friend to lovers, romance, a pinch of angst
WARNING(S): profanities, two of them being a bit dumb
WC: 3049
AUTHOR NOTES: i'm in a jay brainrot and after hearing miss swift's newest song, i knew i needed to write something. it isn't the best i admit, i rushed it HEKSJ but i hope you'll like it! PLEASE GIVE SOME FEEDBACKS THANKIES 🫶
masterlist | © jaylver 2023 all rights reserved
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Ever since you were a kid, you knew this boy from your father's best friend. Park Jong Seong, also known as Jay. He was the son of your father's life long best friend, but unlike them, you and Jay didn't happen to be as close.
You were six when you first met him. It was his birthday and your dad had dragged you over to his house against your will, typical. You didn't have any high expectations for him as a kid, just wishing he had some legos for you to play.
Up till the moment you were facing him, your fathers introducing you to each other, you only realised how cute he was. Yes, little six year old you might've had a love at first sight moment. You can't blame yourself, his chubby cheeks and shy demeanour made you more curious.
You handed him his present silently, watching as he accepted it and in the next moment, his face broke into a small smile, grabbing your wrist and bringing you into his playroom.
Unfortunately, you and Jay barely met up after that, both of you having busy lives and your parents having no time to bring you to playdates either. You didn't think much of it as a kid, thinking of him as the funny boy who had tons of legos and that was it.
You figured you'll never see him again despite him being your father's best friend's son, but you were wrong. In the next few years, you would always go over his house for birthdays and the new years, it basically became a tradition. 
Of course, only seeing one another once or twice a year, each year would be a different version of him, and you began noticing the big change he went through when you were sixteen. 
Jay was much taller, voice deeper, his hair parted in a different way, his style evolved and the way his face had changed too … lord, he evolved like a pokemon.  
You being a sixteen year old teen wasn't helping either. It was the prime year for a girl like you to be having crushes, chasing after guys, basically overwhelming hormones that had you thinking Jay was cute. Cute cute. 
On that specific new year, you remembered having to do a double take when you entered the Parks' house, not realising he was, in fact, Jay. You hid the shyness and did what you always do whenever you're around for New Years Eve. 
But that night, both of your parents were out for a party, in their words 'a party for adults', dumping their kids alone at home instead. It was awkward to say the least, having to sit on the far end of the couch with a movie playing in the background, Jay seeming half entertained by it.
"Hey," he scooted over and you turned over to see him inching close and closer until his shoulder was against yours.
"Yeah?" He can't be trying to hook up, right? You can't help but think, nervousness creeping up your throat.
"I heard there's a New Years party in town, let's sneak out?"
"Really?" 
"Do you trust me?"
"I–I guess?"
"It's a 'yes' or 'no', Y/N,"
Panic and adrenaline rushed over you, fearing your parents would beat your ass knowing you're sneaking out, but it was Jay. You couldn't really say no. "Yes, fine,"
Jay replied only with a happy grin, snatching your wrist and switching the tv off, dashing out into the garage. "Don't worry, I've driven before,"
"If you crash, I'll kill you," you hissed but Jay ignored your threat, blissfully driving to the town.
Along the way, it felt like a scene from a coming of age movie. The radio was turned to the fullest volume, the two of you screaming your lungs out to the lyrics and having the windows opened, wind blowing against your faces. 
The ride was quite short but memorable, your hand was in Jay's the whole time as he led you through the fun fair, the whole town alighted with bright lights and loud music. 
The clock was ticking and Jay had finally dragged you to a specific spot. The place was empty and quiet, but the sky was clear and there weren't any buildings to cover your sight.
"This spot is the best for fireworks," Jay mentioned, sitting on the ground, which you followed suit.
"Really?"
"Yeah, my friend's brought me here once,"
"That's … cool," you said uneasily, an awkward tension unknowingly settled between the two of you.
"How's life for you?" Jay glanced at you, a hint of genuine curiosity in his eyes.
"It's fine. Typical highschool stuff. A guy did confess to me once, but I didn't feel the same," you found yourself babbling secret information, unsure why you were suddenly so comfortable with Jay. Maybe it was his presence, or maybe it was just him in general.
"You're amazing obviously, I'm not surprised he confessed. Just a shame it wasn't mutual," Jay said and your ears perked up.
Jay thought you were amazing. 
"Right," you choked out, slightly flustered. "What about you?"
"It's chill, not much going on," Jay was fidgeting with his fingers, chewing on his lips. "I'm in a band with my friends though,"
"Oh! That's really cool,"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," you repeated. "I'm sure you're super good. What position are you?"
"I play the guitar,"
"You should teach me someday,"
"You should come by more often," he confessed, gulping a little after realising what he had said. "It's been a long while since we've met,"
"You're right, come pick me up then,"
"Only on nights my parents are out," he laughed, pausing for a second. "Come to my show one day,"
He wasn't asking, he was making it clear he wanted you there. 
"Of course, I'd love to."
The night faded off into colourful fireworks, small jokes that would soon be inside jokes in the future, and tired laughs rang into the quietness.
This was the only time you were sixteen and doing something wild, considering you would never ever have the balls to sneak out, but you were glad you did it that night, and all of it together with Jay. 
Your lives went on and though you and Jay barely kept in contact, his request rang in your head from time to time. You felt like you've known him all your life, yet you knew completely nothing about him at the same time.
Around April the same year, you went over to his house to celebrate your birthday together with him since you two shared close birthdays and it pretty much became a tradition by now. 
Upon arriving, you awkwardly stepped into the house, your parents too busy talking with Jay's parents out in the garden. Everything was familiar to you, but also unfamiliar as you've never travelled further in, feeling slightly tense while you sat yourself on the couch.
"Y/N?" 
You turned your head around, meeting Jay's eyes, his body leaning against the wall. He smiled at once, approaching you and taking a seat next to you, he was a little too close.
"Jay, hi," you breathed out, blinking slowly. 
"How have you been? We haven't seen each other much lately, but you do seem like you're having fun in your stories," for a moment you've forgotten you and Jay were following each other on Instagram, having the access to view your day to day life.
"Oh, it's nothing, just a girl's trip," he was referring to the day you went out of town with your friends, quite surprised he somehow took note of it.
"Sounds fun," he mused, nodding a little. "By the way, my girlfriend's coming, I hope you don't mind,"
You totally just experienced whiplash, completely bewildered that he had a … girlfriend?! You weren't surprised since he's cool, tall, handsome and super smart, but you hadn't expected it this early.
"I'm chill with it," you laughed it off, trying to seem nonchalant. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend,"
"Oh, yeah, we met at a gig of mine," he gave you a half grin. "Which you should totally come and get blown away by my skills,"
"As if," you giggled. "Send me the place, I'll pop by soon,"
"You promise?"
"I do."
Your sixteenth birthday definitely did hurt more compared to your past ones and it had a simple reason behind it. Well, it was because of Jay. The same Jay you couldn't help crushing over despite having the slightest contact with, but you didn't care, you knew him all your life, and he's the Jay you've always recognized, the same sweet and caring one.
Seeing his girlfriend's birthday card that was written for him on the table had you swallowing your cake sadly. Hearts were drawn around his name in her handwriting. Totally cool.
You kept your promise to Jay and stopped by one of his gigs without letting him know, which surprised him. On the other hand, you were the one who's more surprised. He did live up to his expectations, charming you and the crowd with his guitar skills and honey vocals. Gosh, whatever you were feeling for him, forget it, it's not dissipating.
To repay your kindness, Jay promised to turn up to one of your football games and you just laughed it off, waving your hands, but you knew for a fact that once he had said it, he was really going to do it.
And so he did. He was a man of his words. Luck was on your side too, winning the game victoriously and seeing Jay running up to you once the game was over, the biggest grin plastered on his face. He was practically telling you how good you were that day, bringing you for ice cream after.
Ever since then, your relationship with him grew unexpectedly. You were 17 together, then 18, watching the girls in Jay's life come and go, but the moment you had a boyfriend yourself, he wasn't the most keen on it.
You told yourself he was probably just protective, going through a phase where you thought he just "wouldn't get it". Oh how terribly wrong you were. He did get it, and your first boyfriend ended up breaking your heart.
You cried over a boy whose name you couldn't remember now, hiding in the bathroom until Jay had to drive to your house and slammed your door repeatedly for you to get out.
You said nothing, just falling into his chest with a thud and crying your eyes out. You knew he had a secret 'I told you so' in him, but he didn't say anything, keeping you in his arms until the sun had set.
21, college and being legal enough for alcohol, you and Jay explored frat parties, both being single and available, it was a hidden opportunity. Shots were downed into your throats and thankfully, you shared good alcohol tolerance levels with Jay, meaning it would be a long night ahead.
Someone had brought up hide and seek as the night's party game, and you initially thought it was stupid, but once you heard the winner getting a deal of a 100 dollars, you were in, partnering with Jay naturally.
On the count of ten, you dashed around the frat house with Jay's hand in yours, him following behind like a lost puppy. You entered someone's bedroom, finding a lucky hiding spot in a closet, pulling Jay in.
You closed the closet door shut, not realising how tight the space actually was, your chest pressed against Jay's, heat radiating off of each other's body. You've officially dug yourself a grave.
"Hi," Jay whispered, his gaze soft paired with a childish grin on his face.
"Hi," you smiled back at him, your eyes wandering all over his face, scrutinising his features.
"It's a little hot in here," Jay fanned himself a little awkwardly from the limited space. 
"Definitely," you looked away for a second before staring back at him. "You have a really nice mole here," your finger grazed against his face, but he didn't flinch, accepting your touch.
"Do I?"
"Yeah," you murmured, your fingers moving to the side of his face, gently brushing loose strands of hair away from his face. He was so painfully pretty, you quietly thought in your head.
"You're really pretty, Y/N," he said out of the blue, causing you to freeze, catching you completely off guard. "I don't think I've said it once, but I've always thought you were pretty, beautiful even,"
Uh oh, you're falling in love.
"I don't know what to say," you said truthfully, gulping nervously. "I'm flattered, really, I—uh—thank you," you laughed, your cheeks getting unbearably red.
"You're flustered," he leaned in close to you, his eyes not leaving yours. He was inches away from you, his cologne infiltrating your senses, the scent a little too familiar.
Oh no, you're falling in love again.
"Shut up," you punched his shoulder. "You're such a tease,"
"You love that about me," 
"Sure," you rolled your eyes, ignoring his piercing gaze.
"Can I kiss you?"
"Will you regret it?" Uncertainty laced in your tone, scared, anxious, that you'd ruined something between the two of you.
"No," he answered with a certain sureness in his voice, his eyes truthful and honest. "Will you?"
"If I do, I wouldn't be doing this—" you pulled him in close by the back of his neck, pressing your lips onto his, your brain turning into mush. 
His lips reciprocated back, kissing you deeply and having to place his hand on the side of your neck for some stability. The kiss was more than just a simple one, not the kind that would be forgotten easily, there was something more to it.
It felt like aeons before you finally broke apart, panting heavily against each other's lips, your hands still on his shoulder; his hand now on your waist. 
Oh, you're falling in love.
There were many things you've regretted in life, but this? You would do it over and over again if you had the choice to, and maybe you do.
"I—"
"Is there anyone here?" A voice came from the outside and the two of you froze, hoping it wasn't the seeker. "The game's over," the person yelled out before you heard the door shutting.
"We survived it," you muttered cheekily, trying to ignore Jay's gaze.
"Yeah—uh—" he brushed his hand against his pants, the tension in the air thick enough to be sliced by a knife. "Should I drive you home?"
"Please do."
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Ever since that night at the frat party, you've been on and off with Jay. You were caught up with work and Jay was busy, but the part where he said he was having a date did set you off completely.
None of you talked about the kiss. You didn't like the fact that you didn't, waiting for him to speak up about it first, but you hated the waiting game, yet you still couldn't make the first move. Jay seemed like he was about to talk about it every time he hung out with you, but he never did.
Days turned into a week, having only seen Jay once or twice, you figured you were avoiding each other. You hated the feeling, you were dreading it, dreading the fact that one day something like this would happen, and it did.
The silent treatment ended the moment when you were forcefully pulled into his dorm room when you passed by one day. Letting out a yelp in fear until you realised it was Jay. 
"Jay?"
"Hi," he gave you an apologetic smile, holding onto your hand softly. "I—uhm—figured we have to talk … about that night,"
"Oh,"
"Are you avoiding me?" He cut to the chase, shocking you a little.
"No, I thought you were,"
"I wasn't," his eyebrows were furrowed, a quizzical look on his face. Were you two just in denial?
"Look, you asked me if I will regret the kiss and up until now, no, I didn't," sincerity shone in his eyes, his chest heaving. "But did you?"
"Of course not," you breathed out truthfully, noticing a sign of relief in his features.
"Good, because I like you, Y/N," Jay confessed, his gaze dropping to the ground to avoid your wide eyes, hands squeezing yours gently. "All of the girls that I've had in my life, they couldn't compete, you were the only one who mattered most to me. I never realised that, I admit, until I found myself trying to find a little bit of you in the girls I've dated, but none of them could ever compare to you."
You were stunned speechless, your heart twisting and pounding hard against your chest.
"I didn't want to repeat the mistake of doing all the avoiding, it's dumb, so I just want to talk to you here, one on one," he continued. "I'm sorry it took me years to realise. I was in denial that I liked you, I was scared you didn't, and the date I went to, I just couldn't stop thinking about us,"
You resisted the urge to smile, watching as Jay rambled in panic. "I like you too, Jay, ever since we were kids," you shook his hand, trying your best to put on the most reassuring smile. "To be fair, I'm in the wrong too, I didn't really have the balls to say anything either, but I'm just glad we're here now,"
Jay processed your words, features twisting from shock to relief, clear euphoria in his gaze. "Can I be your boyfriend?" 
"I thought you'd never ask,"
You pulled him in by his collar, pressing your lips onto his and you let your hand wander into his hair, feeling him smile against your lips at the gesture. You grinned into the kiss, eliciting a small laugh from Jay in between. You wished to stay like this forever with him.
The stars were aligned, your past and his were intertwined to bring the both of you together. All of the girls he's loved before, forget about them, they made Jay the man you've fallen for in the end, and you're thankful for that, loving him a lot. More than anything and everything.
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( © jaylver all rights reserved. do NOT copy, plagiarise or edit my work and repost whatsoever. once discovered will be exposed and blacklisted. )
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kafus · 2 months
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over the weekend at the knoxville regional pokemon championships, i met up with a longtime internet friend in person for the first time, and he traded me a very special pokemon - a unique celebi that takes a bit of context to explain the significance of
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from november 2001 to january 2005, the building that is now a nintendo world store in new york city was actually an american pokemon center, which hosted the "Gotta Catch ‘Em All!" station, a large machine that you could pop your gold/silver/crystal cartridge into (or later ruby/sapphire/firered/leafgreen, but that's not relevant here) and get a special distribution pokemon unique to the store. often times these were normal pokemon in eggs with special moves they couldn't usually learn, but other times they ran distributions for shiny legendaries, and of course, the mythical celebi.
there's very few pictures of the machine and all of them are pretty low quality, but you can see an iteration of it here during the gen 3 era:
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when PCNY (pokemon center new york) shut down, the machine and its contents were presumed lost forever, but due to the preservation efforts and the good luck of a few individuals, some of the distributions have been preserved, as well as parts of the machine and its software. this is extra incredible because almost all gen 2 save files from the time the machine was actually functional are long since wiped due to the battery inside dying, meaning that very very few of the gen 2 event pokemon distributed from this machine at the time still exist. i won't go super in detail on that in this post but you can read an article about all of that here (julie, the person who runs this historical PCNY fansite is incredibly passionate and if you want to know anything about the PCNY store i absolutely recommend reading her writing!)
so, one day when i was rambling to my friend (his name is Venty!) about my fascination with the PCNY machine, and how i wish i had been born early enough to experience that, as well as wishing that i could have traded with anyone in gens 1-3 as a child but never got to due to isolation, venty told me that he's actually friends with a guy (Professor Rex) who knows the guy who owns the remnants of the PCNY machine (Gridelin), and he would love to reach out and ask if there's any way rex could distribute a celebi to himself and trade it to him sometime so that eventually when me and venty met in person one day, he'd be able to trade the celebi to me.
i pretty much burst into tears and very passionately explained how much that would mean to me - not just because owning a celebi actually distributed from the historical PCNY distribution station is just... insanely cool, but because like i said, i had never traded anyone in the old internet-less generations of pokemon, and having that be my first was just... a monumental thought. i am deeply fascinated with old gen event distributions because of the tactile, interpersonal nature of them, in direct contrast with my isolation and loneliness as a child. it might sound silly to be so worked up over a collection of bytes/pixels, but i really couldn't believe venty would offer me something so kind. and not only did he offer to ask - rex said yes!!
so on may 21st last year (2023) rex traveled out and distributed the celebi to his pokemon silver cartridge. specifically, the celebi is from the "Celebi Present Campaign" which ran from the 22nd of november 2002 to the 28th of november 2002. the display on the monitor is the same video that would have appeared on the screen in the PCNY store, but flipped sideways here haha. (the gen 2 distributions were special and had custom animations for the legendaries and stuff, which you can watch here in full quality on gridelin's channel - there's videos of the other distribution animations on his channel, too!)
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and then months later, during the weekend of august 11th 2023, rex and venty met up at the pokemon world championship in japan and rex traded the celebi to venty's gold cartridge...
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...then, finally, just this past weekend, on sunday (february 4th 2024) venty and i finally met in real life for the first time at the knoxville TN regional pokemon championships, and with link cable in hand the celebi finally made its way to me in my hotel room, after crossing the ocean twice and passing through canada to the US to japan and back to the US...!!
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gen 2 pokemon data isn't very complicated, but you can tell that my celebi is unique from the other PCNY celebis dumped online (here and here if you'd like to play with some of these historical pokemon yourself) because it has the trainer ID of 00204 which none of the publicly available celebis have - though of course to me, regardless of what becomes publicly available in the future (and i hope one day the common layperson can simply emulate the PCNY machine, video game preservation >>> unique collections always) this celebi will always be special and unique because of how it got to me, and because it represents my friendship with venty who i care so much about. it was an extremely kind gesture i will never forget and i can't believe how much traveling and how many people were involved with getting this tiny bundle of bytes and pixels to me. i hugged venty after the trade was done haha
oh, and by the way, don't worry, i have the hardware to back up my gen 2 save files so this celebi will never die even after my crystal cartridge battery eventually dies once more!! (also, while i don't think it would be an issue i do want to say please don't bother any of the people mentioned in this post...! gridelin & co are working on making the distribution machine in question available for anyone to use, it'll come out whenever it's out and for now there are dumps of the events that were recovered. i would not want them to receive any annoying requests for pokemon because of me. thank you!)
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fools-task-force · 2 months
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random cod hcs #3 - roach
everyone’s favorite little bug boy, the best guy (I have been watching playthroughs and shit and I am officially hyperfixated). here are some hcs for the guy who's probably now my favorite character. also making it clear now that he’s audhd, if you disagree you’re wrong /j. but that will be influencing some of these headcanons
he definitely likes collecting rocks, especially special ones like if they’re super smooth or have some different colors. any special rock goes into his collection. his prized possession is a rock that sparkles in the light
he doesn’t have one set love language, he has two; penguin pebbling and parallel play. you know he really likes someone when he gives them a rock, the prettier/more rare the rock the more he likes the person. parallel play is usually reserved for people he’s closer to
despite what people may first think, he’s really good at masking. he did it his whole life; it’s only now that he’s in the 141 that he feels okay to unmask, after more than a few conversations about how no one would judge him for being himself. now he’s nonverbal or semiverbal almost all the time, but that doesn’t save the task force from a little chaos. he’s comfortable enough to unmask all the time now, knowing one of the others can explain if anyone new questions him
he’s fluent in many different sign languages, and can read, write, and listen/understand many languages as well. he knows how to speak most of these languages too, but not as fluently and he never really needs to. it helps whenever a translator is needed, the team always goes to Roach first
he loves that his callsign is Roach, since in his teen years he had a hyperfixation/borderline special interest on bugs/insects. however his favorite were ants, with moths being a close second because of how pretty they are
yes he loves pokemon, he has a gameboy advanced and a copy of emerald that he plays whenever he struggles with falling asleep. he also has a card collection, but hasn’t added to it in a while
he sleeps like he’s dead. there is no movement when he falls asleep; people have to actually go over and check that he’s breathing, that he has a pulse, anything to make sure he’s just asleep and hasn’t died
he can and will fall asleep anywhere on base. it’s like playing hide and seek only the hiding one fell asleep
despite what some people think, he's extremely organized. but that's because he color codes everything. if he needs to highlight, he's color coding his highlighters - each color is for a certain thing. same with sticky notes. colors are universal - red is for enemies, targets, etc, while blue is for dates, stuff like that
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ridreamir · 7 months
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Hey!if you write for Arven would you be willing to do platonic Headcanons for him?
Yes I could! I haven't been writing on here but I am open to it!
(Just to let you guys know though I am in school full time so I might be a little slow haha, here's a short post!) This could potentially be interpreted as romantic! There isn't any romance explicitly stated but they are kind of close/friend date scenarios almost just to let you know!
__________________________________________________ Some platonic moments with Arven might include: Going out into the forest to forage for ingredients, since you two already made such a duo trying to hunt for Herba Mystica! He's constantly reading new foraging books and is very careful, it almost makes you wonder why he doesn't do so hot in his other classes. He does have reading glasses, but he's too embarrassed to wear them in front of others. That could partly be the reason why he's been flunking, but then again a big part of passing class is showing up and he's the type to want to be everywhere but the classroom (except for Mr. Saguaro's class of course!) Sitting in fields and having picnics, making sandwiches together! Arven is a next-level chef so he carries around a mini hot plate and pan so he can cook things up on the spot, and most of the time it ends up incredible. ...Sometimes though, you've both been prone to burning certain ingredients or accidentally mixing the wrong things. Not to mention how often you drop stuff. Those sandwiches often go to Koraidon and Miraidon because they're quantity over quality type lizards.
If it weren't for his health, Mabostiff would also be feasting. Arven is really careful with his diet, and you're not sure his dog friend always likes being denied a gross burnt burger sandwich but it just goes to show how much Arven really cares. You both like to take naps in the grass, but you've found him snoozing in some very odd locations. He's usually propped against a rock or tree in the shade, or lying with his arms folded. Needless to say, you have nearly tripped over him before because he literally will choose any spot that looks like it might be even remotely comfortable.
He doesn't seem like it, but Arven is an incredibly strong trainer, and if he put his mind to it he could absolutely beat the gym challenge. You never really catch him training, but his Pokemon eat Michelin-star-level meals daily so you're starting to think that might be the secret to his incredible strength. Speaking of strength, he suffers from mild back pain from carrying that huge heavy pack around 24/7, but he'll still do wild and crazy things. He's not the most outwardly athletic in terms of sports but he's really good at hiking and climbing, and he's gotten very strong physically from exploring Paldea. When exploring, he's constantly trying to feed you. He's not the type to pull out trail mix either, he'll literally stop and park in the middle of nowhere if he finds out you haven't ate in a while and will sit there and angry-cook a whole meal in front of you. You do annoy him a little sometimes, but you think that he might have such a hyperfocus on food because of his childhood. It's not a fun topic for him though so you never try to pry. He knows you're a busy person, but somehow you always find time for each other. You're still attending the academy together at least, so it's not hard for him to stop by and check in on you. He's been barred from wandering off too far because of his grades, but you're not going to rat him out for sneaking out (partly because you come along and could get in trouble for encouraging him.)
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calaisreno · 26 days
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Those Who Can't
I've always loved writing, but for a long time thought it was pretentious to call myself a writer. What if someone asked to see what I'm writing? What if they didn't like it? That would make me a terrible writer, I thought, one of those people who go around thinking they're great while everyone is secretly laughing at them.
But I walk in the park every day, and I see people who walk there, too. We're all walkers, even the guy who brings his oxygen tank with him every day, even the woman who sits down to smoke a cigarette before she finishes her walk. The young parents pushing strollers, the women in hijab, the elderly lady who has her hair "done" each week and wears jewellery while she does her doctor-prescribed exercise, the people who are overweight or all lean muscle and bone, the people looking for Pokemon, the business suits walking during their lunch hour. All walking, all walkers.
If you walk, you're a walker. If you write, you're a writer.
It's said that those who can't do something become teachers. As a teacher, I resent the implication that we have all failed at something and now pretend to instruct others how not to fail. But it's true in the sense that we are all learners, never finished learning, and no one knows this better than a teacher. Every day I learn just how much I don't know.
Years ago I was walking down the hall of my school, heading for the copy machine, three minutes from the next bell, and an administrator stopped me.
"Would you like to teach creative writing?" she asked. "We need more elective courses next year."
At the time I was teaching three Latin classes and two freshman English classes. Did I really need another prep?
Could I even do this? Why me? What made me more qualified than the other people in my department? How would I teach it? What would the course description say? Who would take the class?
"Yes," I said.
When I started teaching it in the fall, I didn't have answers to all my questions, but I had a plan. The most frustrating thing, I learned, was teaching people who hadn't signed up for it, and just needed a course to fill a hole in their schedule. I thought writing was easy-- and fun! We could all have a good time here, because it was just about self-growth and imagination.
I learned was that I was not the expert. My students might be terrible writers, might hate every moment of journaling and writing exercises and prompts, but they had ideas, too. They were just too used to thinking their ideas were shit, that creativity wasn't worth anything, that the things that mattered were the things that could get them a good job.
My job, it turns out, was coaxing them to open up and explore ideas, to think divergently, to regard storytelling as more than entertainment. Stories matter; how we tell them makes a difference. I was not an expert. I read a lot and wrote stories for fun. And I became my first pupil.
Nearly everything I learned about writing, I got from teaching it. And I haven't yet reached the point where I felt entitled to call myself a writer. I still sort of cringe when I confess to someone that I write. But I keep writing.
"No writing is a waste of time – no creative work where the feelings, the imagination, the intelligence must work. With every sentence you write, you have learned something. It has done you good. Don't always be appraising yourself, wondering if you are better or worse than other writers." -- Brenda Ueland, If You Want to Write
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championleonsslut · 2 months
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HII, i'm so sorry to be a bother but can i request some headcanons with leon having a famous s/o, like a singer or influencer? :000
I’ve been HYPED to do this ask for a while Tehe! You never disappoint anon!
Leon W/ a famous s/o
Female reader, quite fluffy all things considered! Reader is a singer
You, a very VERY famous Galarian singer (I’m talking Taylor Swift level famous) were of course, in the spotlight a lot. You have a massive fanbase, who practically worship your music. What you did not expect, is that the Galarian Champion secretly likes your music.
He sneaks into a few concerts, and developed a bit of a celebrity crush on you when he heard your voice. It was like a Siren’s call. He loved the glamorous outfits you wore, and how much passion you put into your music. He totally secretly stalks you on social media a bit.
You, on the other hand, like his work too. You have a Pokemon of your own who often is in concerts with you, a female Sylveon. You think he’s attractive, and a good battler, but you don’t know him.
You accidentally run into him one day after one of your shows, and are VERY surprised to find him there. He quickly compliments you on your work, and small talk pops up. You get kinda flirty and that leads to some numbers being exchanged.
After moving past the talking stage, he officially asks you out, and you could not be more delighted. You’re both very busy people, but make time for each other regardless. (Awwww)
Of course, you decide to keep your relationship very secret once you get together. Don’t need the press meddling in your lives even more, now do we?
Right from the get-go, Leon is absolutely the best boyfriend you’ve ever had. He is perfect in every single way, and you can always spot him in the VIP box at your shows. This leads to you writing songs about him, very discreetly though.
Once he hears your new album, the lyrics catch his attention. It doesn’t take long for him to put the pieces together. Most of your more romantic songs are DEFINITELY about him. It makes him blush and giggle when he figures it out.
“Are these songs about me?”
“Yes…”
“🥺”
You’re not just dating him for the money, you’re genuinely in love with him. And you blurt that out one night while you’re snuggled up in bed, and he couldn’t agree more.
After that, Leon drops the bomb in an interview about his girlfriend. (With your permission of course) it’s safe to say, everyone went B A N A N A S.
You guys get interviewed together, and more of the tea about your relationship is spilled. Almost immediately, you’re Galar’s hottest couple! There is a blog or two dedicated to the press sneaking photos of you together. The most popular ones are where you stand on your tip toes to kiss him. Leon agrees. They’re adorable.
People start to put the pieces together that some of your songs are about Leon, and lose their mind even more. You just giggle and watch as the chaos unfolds.
There’s fan art drawn of you guys, and each is more adorable than the last. Leon likes showing them to you. You get flustered each time.
Leon now gets to show off his pretty girlfriend at formal events. You like dressing up just for him, and it makes him nuts. Jewels, makeup, fancy dresses, the whole shibang.
Even four years into your relationship, and with the amount of songs you’ve written about him, people are still crazy about you guys together.
And of course, when they get word of the engagement… It gets even crazier.
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squidthesquidd · 1 year
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masked au!!!! ok so i may actually turn this into a fic and a few comics because im a lil obsessed with it :DDD
heres some sketches of my Emmet design for it!
explaination in the readmore!!
So!! Basically, after Ingos disappearance, Emmet started to hate his reflection cus it reminded him of ingo, so he took to wearing a mask. Over time, that mask became a sort of comfort item for him so now he rarely ever takes it off, and can become very distressed when not wearing it.
Eventually, Emmet gets sent to hisui cus he fought god and arceus was like "This guy is so silly i'll send him to hisui too :)"
So then he falls from the sky in the middle of nowhere
he has no pokemon, no materials, but he still has his mask
after wandering for a very long time he straight up passes out from exhaustion, and later wakes up in a dark cave
turns out, a crap ton of previously undiscovered hisui joltiks and galvantula found him, and because of being shot out of a portal and weird magic, he is absolutely full of weird energy, so the bugs took a liking to him and brought him back to their cave :]
Hisui joltiks/galvantula are fire and ground types! joltiks are like little blocks of coal with legs and leave charcoal EVERYWHERE
Anyway, guess what is relatively close to this hidden cave full of spiders? haha yeah its the diamond clan
So basically, Emmet is just chilling with his new spider besties, recovering from almost dying, and some diamond clan discover the cave!! and they see Emmet and they're like "ah yes this guy is this massive spider’s warden. definitely" and Emmet just goes with it cus why not? they're the first people he sees so he wants to get on their good side
so stuff happens and Emmet is now kinda an "unofficial" member of the diamond clan. he gets a diamond tunic cus hes kinda another diamond warden, but also he kinda just chills in his cave most of the time and will only leave if he absolutely has to. he's still searching for Ingo, but everything is just wayyyyy to much so he's gonna hang out with his spiders
The whole “being sent to an ancient time” thing and just being so very mentally ill caused Emmet to become very reluctant to speak, so communication was a bit difficult since no one in the diamond clan knew modern sign language. There was also a language barrier, but Emmet is a quick learner and manage to learn the language pretty fast :D he mostly communicates in writing since there's still no sign language in ancient times
When first meeting people, they asked Emmet to take off his mask, which kinda made a bad first impression on him so he doesn't really like being around people now :/ but his annoyance with everyone around him kind of accidentally made him befriend melli, cus their both petty lil shits that don't like people much
Melli comes over to his cave and they shit talk people together, and Melli is actually one of the first people Emmet become comfortable talking to verbally because of this! they both think the other is annoying but they bond over it :]
literally this is the strangest relationship to ever come out of one of my aus. these two have never interacted ever. Why did I decide Melli was the one that Emmet should interact with?
these twinks are hanging out in a spider infested cave gossiping about people
Also!! Hisui joltiks absorb thermal energy instead of static energy, so Emmet is often very cold to the touch cus his bugs are stealing his body heat. This also makes him very tired a lot so you can often find him passed out in a pile of soot.
pls ask me questions about my au I want to talk about it so much
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puella-1n-somn10 · 3 months
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⚔️Puella Magi Madoka Magica x Pokemon Sword/Shield: Hop and his Witch Form⚔️
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Word count w/o intro: 11,703
Look, I know that the Traveler from Genshin won that poll, but...if I may be honest, I am not ready for what concept I had for them to completely topple apart all thanks to a single shred of lore being aimed at my head at mach speed. Trust me, fellas, I saw the roller coaster that is the Fontaine chapter; if shit is that crazy while we are halfway through the main story, then I dread the revelations that will befall us all when SNEZHNAYA rolls around-!
With all that being said...welcome back, ladies, gents, and those who have casted the dreaded concept of gender out of their lives! For those who are unaware, we are here today to witness what would happen if I were to take the worldbuilding of Puella Magi Madoka Magica and apply them to other media. Today's unfortunate guest for today is none other than the goat himself, Hop!
...Not funny? Ah, alright-
Yes, I am aware that Hop's reputation amongst the fanbase is...controversial at best. Generally speaking, I've noticed that the negative image of this character was formed by the fans prematurely judging him based on his initial lines of dialogue, passionate (which is often mischaracterized as cheerful) attitude, and, I shit you all not, animations (which is more of a fault caused by tight release schedules and the developers being rushed than that of the character himself). From these alone, he tends to be placed on tiers lower than the fucking Gen 6 rivals (no hate towards them, promise, I just wish they were fleshed out more)- which proves to me that not only are those types of Pokemon fans purely visual beings, but that media literacy is dead, rotting, and its tombstone has been Hyper Beamed to Hell and back-
BUT we're not here to rant now, aren't we? My...personal, burning distaste towards those who call him a Hau clone aside, we are here to dissect his character- in more literal ways than one! If I may be honest, this analysis post thinly disguised as a silly, crossover ficlet was created as a thought and writing exercise for myself, and it was quite fun, if I must admit! So I hope from the bottom of my heart that you guys find as much joy in Hop's pain and suffering as I did while writing it!
Just a few quick warnings, this post will contain mentions of child neglect and favoritism, implications of social ostracization and public shaming, and, I cannot stress this enough, mentions of self destruction/S-H/su-c-de. If any of these themes are too triggering, especially that last one, please, please click away! I am being serious here- take the utmost care, and be safe!
Of course, spoilers for Madoka Magica, Magia Record (Anime ver.), and Pokemon SWSH are right up ahead! If I may be honest, I haven't touched upon the DLCs yet, so spoilers regarding them will be minimal at most. There will also be shades of PostwickShipping (Hop <3 Gloria) present, so if that isn't your cup of tea, I sincerely apologize.
It would also be fitting to play some Decretum on the side, too, especially when we get to the despair bit- God damn, he and Sayaka need to be buddies.
-The Wish, Possible Powers, and Soul Gem-
"Before we ever started out on this journey… I remember watching Lee on the telly. He was like a bright star, so strong I could hardly bear to look right at him. But now, I can tell just how strong he really is… And what he's got that I haven't…"
Now, I could go the easy way and say that he'd wish to be as great as Leon- to become as strong as the champion and equally undefeatable, but, honestly, not only does this feel cheap, it feels so...unlike Hop as a character. He doesn't just want to defeat Leon- he wants to prove his worth and make his mark as a trainer. Hop, like the rest of Galar, idolizes his brother- so much so that he copied his strategies and every move; a mistake that had gotten him to lose the fight in the Circhester stadium even after facing off against so many trials and tribulations-
After all, as Bede said it in his own...brutish way, if people looked down on Hop, they will do the same to Leon - the man who Hop looks up to as not just an older sibling, but as a symbol- as an unshakable LEGEND, and not just as a human being -. So if the perception of the man who Hop saw as a hero was to shake all thanks to him...it'd be quite devastating, to say the least. It was this possibility that hit him the most- where his worth and identity came into question.
Hop may dislike losing - a sentiment that grows stronger every time you defeat him -, but what he fears even more is disappointing others; lowering his and his brother's worth in their eyes. He wanted to be number #1 because it was expected of him to do so, by himself, by the public, and, when you think about it, even by his family - whether consciously or not -...
After all, just look at his home- do you see any pictures of Hop around? Left and right you find memorabilia and trophies belonging to Leon, but how much mementos of Hop can you find? Whether or not he was aware of it, Hop craved not just the glory of his brother, but also the validation and positive attention.
This was his path in life- no, this was his destiny, as he'd put it; to become as strong as his hero and receive that blazing torch after living in his shadow for so long. To live up to his splendor, to inspire others to get up and take a stance, and to make something out of himself. His brother was a hero- so it makes sense to imitate someone as amazing and strong as him.
So, after analyzing his character for a bit, his wish could go along the lines of wanting to be by his brother's side, or, more appropriately, to make an impact on the world and the lives of others like he did. After all, we are assuming that he made the contract a bit before his constant losses began to fuck with him; he had confidence in his abilities at least during the beginning, and was certain that he was going to emerge from the final battle victorious.
The powers resulting from this wish could go in a lot of different ways; after all, wishing to make an impact is quite abstract. It isn't like he wished for someone else to get healed or to win on a lottery; so trying to make powers based on that would be tricky. My best guess is that his powers are associated with memories and legacies, which, once more, also fits in really well with how he documented and tried to mimic Leon's strategies and actions.
Now, before we focus on his soul gem and witness it crumble along with his self-esteem, we're going to take a good look at his attire upon transformation into his Magical Boy form- an aspect that, regrettably, I've forgotten to cover back while I was analyzing Medic. Now, this part may be a little unclear to some upon first reviewing the designs present in PMMM, but a pattern is there- and one of the most common reasons behind a magi's design is the intent behind their wish and their desires before or after taking on the contract. In order to prove my point, I'm gonna list some examples:
Sayaka Miki is a knight in shining armor; she wanted to uphold the ideal of a magical girl and fight for what's right
Homura Akemi's outfit is rather...funerary, for lack of a better term; she made her wish as result of her losing Madoka, and had more or less doomed herself to watching the demise of her beloved over and over again
Nagisa's outfit looks like an everyday, ordinary outfit for someone her age; she craved a normal life where she was able to be just like the other kids around her- not having to worry about living in a dump and caring for an unstable parent
Iroha's design invokes the idea of a ranger or even a mercenary; she is dedicated to finding her sister at what cost, even if most of the evidence (or lack there-of) pointed towards Ui not existing in the first place
Being in the spotlight of someone else's life, looking up to his brother, and making said champion an example on how he should lead his life...I think a stereotypical, legendary hero might do it; the main protagonist of tales like Beowulf or even your everyday JRPGs. Hop often made references to him 'weaving his own legend', so this would make perfect sense!
Speaking of-
Regarding his soul gem's shape, simple- upon transformation, it would look just like a small flame placed on his solar plexus like a brooch or button. Comparisons to Leon's charizard aside, it is a simple and straightforward symbol representing his personality; passionate, competitive, hot-headed, and bright- but all flames are prone to dying out one way or another. Hop's association with fire is also presented to us in-canon in his second league card, with him pulling off Leon's signature pose as flames wildly danced around him.
This also brings the idea of him burning himself away to fit into his ideal of a champion to mind, or literally burning himself out. A raging fire ready to render all that is in its path into ash- including himself.
The emblem on the middle of its egg form is a little harder for me to interpret fully. I could go with the easy way and say that it's probably the same as its form upon his Puer Magi transformation, but we all know that my perfectionist ass would not just simply settle with that. The options on our hands are as follows;
The easy option, the Hop flower (symbolizing how becoming a professor is his true calling in life)
A coat of arms (royalty themes- also, a pun on Eternatus' eternamax form, coat of ARMS, heheh)
A spiral (symbol of futility, continuation, cycles, and a downward spiral)
A coat of arms WITH a spiral in the middle (look at the above two points)
A flag (him wishing to create his own legend, and how he was initially a foot ahead of us during the start of our journey together)
A windmill (...we'll get to that, but let's assume it's because of Postwick for now- I personally prefer this one)
A shield with two crossed swords (again, royalty and hero themes)
As for its color, here is where things get interesting; I already spoke about how most soul gems correspond with the eye color of their respective magi, since "eyes are the windows to a person's soul", so a brilliant gold would fit both with this unwritten rule and thematically. However, then I got thinking- Red is also an applicable color, right? It fits his personality, and would clash really well with the cool purples and blues...until I realized that not only is red already going to be present as a sort of secondary (if not primary) color to go along with the existing cool palette in mind, but the added gold highlights would embolden it and make sure this design really pops.
Besides, making red a central color for his magi outfit also adds in to the idea of him still mimicking Leon, whose associated colors are purple, gold, and, of course, the reds of his cape! We aren't completely sure as to how much control a magi has over the outfit they'll don upon transformation, but we do know that Madoka actually designed her own magical clothing, so some input from the magi themselves, whether consciously or not, does contribute to the matter. This would also make a cute little homage to his champion outfit in Pokemon Masters EX!
One last point before we get to the part you've all been waiting for, we have to look at his weapon; yes, his powers are probably associated with memories or even perception, but, according to my research, one's weapon doesn't necessarily have to be tied to the wish. As a matter of fact, aside from Mami's ribbons (symbolizing her being tied to the life of a magical girl and her capturing others in this web of malice whether consciously or not- a literal lifeline), most of the cast's weapons are unrelated to the wishes made, and, like the aforementioned outfits, are more tied to the magi's intents or even personalities;
Nagisa's is a trumpet that blows out bubbles. She wanted her mother to hear her, but she's only ever able to let out little squeaks; the dichotomy between her desire to be acknowledged and wanting to be a decent daughter to a horrible person like her mother.
Homura's is a shield; she wishes to protect Madoka, but a shield alone cannot deflect everything threatening her sweet rose. There's also the symbolism of her hiding behind a shield, both as Moemura (shy and reserved) and Cool Homu (covering her emotions with an aloof exterior); in both cases, she's hiding herself away from the world.
Sayaka's is a cutlass sword. Go figure.
I am not completely sure on Madoka's; she dislikes brutal fighting, so it would make sense for her to use a long-range weapon that she's able to use to snipe enemies from a safe-enough distance. I also heard that a bow and arrow have some sort of significance in Christian lore, but, to be frank, I am not completely sure about this; this section requires further study.
Again, I gotta thank @bluethepearldiver for saving my butt here and on the upcoming natures section! According to them, since I had already removed swords and shields from the equation in order to make space for both Gloria and Victor, a polearm type of weapon would fit him the most! In their own, brilliant words, it is "representing how unattainable his goal ultimately is", and, in my opinion, it is a mid-range weapon- when utilized correctly, Hop would be able to conquer battles that would require either long or short ranged attacks to clear! Also, personally, it brings the image of a sheep herder to mind.
As for the specific type of polearm, that one would require a lot more creativity, but, since Hop comes from Postwick, a weapon that originates from Europe would be fitting. After thinking about it, I believe his weapon is probably a Halberd, due to how it can pierce, chop, or slash depending on the situation. It would also symbolize poor, bright-eyed Hop constantly changing his strategies and teams in order to catch up to us- to finally match us in strength. Every time we met him, he would have different strategies, a different team, a different outlook- he tried every viable, effective strategy, tearing apart the aspects of himself that were deemed roadblocks, pushing himself until he was burning himself way too brightly for his own good, yet...
-Descent Into Despair-
He lost. He had lost yet again, hasn't he?
His grip on the pokeball was shaky. The eyes of the crowd fixated on him as the last of his pokemon fell to the ground. Frozen air filled his lungs; his eyes felt like they were turned to stone, as did the veins in his arms.
The whispers grew louder; the crowd's collective judgement was being passed from one attendant to another. His teeth were about to shatter from the pressure around him alone. Not even Melony's concerns were registered on his mind; all the words around him amalgamated into a brute cacophony that choked all the will and rationality out of him.
His heart was on fire. His lips were dried as he stared at the nothingness before him. It was so hard to continue standing up- fucking impossible to focus on anything but this blunder forged by his own hands- which he now sees as nothing but useless vestiges. His heart was a war drum in the midst of conflict; beating as though the drummer's life was on the line if they were to dare and drop the pace. How he wanted to gouge his own eyes out and rip those ears out...
"Pitiful."
What on Earth was he missing?
He tried to change his strategies, he really did. The sad look on his pokemon’s eyes broke him every time, but they just couldn’t be of good help…he had to be a better trainer.
That’s what good trainers do, right? They make sure their teams were optimal. After all, strategy came first; that was what he learned from all these battles that long moved his heart.
"Foolish."
Another loss.
He looked down at his final, fallen comrade, not taking his shaking hands into account. Was it the cold? The stress? The sheer disbelief of what was before him?
Or was it frustration? A poison seeping between his clenched teeth- ready to curse out himself and direct his anger to the world? Readying him to pound against the earth beneath him until his knuckles were mangled and bloody?
No...no, this can't be it. He had to push himself further- he had to be better. Not a single Pokemon of his would listen to someone as fragile as he was; he had to make an example out of himself if he had to be a strong leader- a hero to them...
"Hypocrite."
Wooloo...
You promised, didn't you?
He stifled his own sobs. Oh, how could you have done this to them, Hop? They were the closest thing you had to a childhood friend! They were right by your side to the very end! All you had to do was to keep their head up, tell them it wasn't their fault, and that you would still enter the league together if you both focused! All you had to do was stay strong-
But you couldn't. You just had to up and leave them; cast them to the dirt where you dragged his good name through.
In the end, he couldn't even uphold that.
"Pathetic."
Over and over...over and over, he had repeated this fruitless, pitiful endeavor- all to no avail.
Finding himself floating adrift, Hop feels as though his very existence was slowly slipping from his fingers; becoming one with the very void surrounding him. He couldn't even feel his limbs, much less his face.
No matter how much he had stretched himself so thin, it just wouldn't work. The evidence was there before him, for all of Galar to see- his true rival and his brother on that field together, the latter holding the other's hand and raising it up in the air...that no matter what he did, all the sacrifices he had made, it was all up there in the air like smoke. His dreams, hopes, and ambitions- gone with what shine in his eyes that were left.
Oh, little sheep...do you not realize that you have tangled yourself within this spider web- the very definition of insanity?
"Worthless."
He's tired.
With each loss, it got a lot harder for him to get up and walk away.
His legs were shaking, and not just due to the harsh winds around him. The winds were picking up their pace, but the eyes, the eyes, the eyes-
Why must you insist on further embarrassing yourself, young man? Can't you tell when it's the time for you to just drop everything and move on with something better for everyone else's sake?
You're just embarrassing yourself at this point- nothing more than a clown attracting disrespect and shame like flies to a rotting carcass much like yourself.
...
Yeah...
What if...it was him?
He couldn't take the watchful gazes of the crowded streets anymore. Oh, how he wanted to hide away in the corners of the world- render his own face into nothing but a crimson pulp just so their judgemental glares, mocking smiles, and whispers would finally leave him alone and hollow.
His heart was racing- his veins were on fire, and his arms were about to burst.
It was too much... Upon stumbling upon a silent, empty, dirty alleyway, he slumped onto his knees as he shook from both the cold and pressure of all the bottled up frustrations in him. At long last, the waterworks finally broke out. Only the night sky and howling winds were his current company; doing little to distract him from his pained heartbeats and dried up throat.
He couldn't hold on to his victories, no matter how feeble or small. It didn't matter what he did or how much he tried, all that he's tried holding on to will just slip away from his fingers, like the breaths of fresh, cold air escaping him; inhaling just enough as to not allow him to pass out on the spot, but it was only that much.
The sound of metal clanging on the ground escaped his ears. It was only when he was finally slumped on the ground that he had noticed the fading luminescence just before his reach. Even as his body shook from the mental strain and the cold, he still recognized the jewel that was on the dirtied ground. Hands shaking, he slowly picked up the once brilliant object...
Through jittering teeth, he just couldn't help but sob whilst instinctively smiling; the sound coming out like a sort of soft giggle...
Hahahah...oh, don't tell him- don't tell him he couldn't...
What a mockery- look at him, everyone! Not only had he failed the challenges before him, but, oh, this poor damn pest- he couldn't even look after his own damn soul gem! The very thing he had traded away what was left of his identity outside of the league for- and even then, with his wish, it only made sure that his mistakes would return to him in even stronger, more merciless manners. Was it due to him being unable to focus on both perfecting his strategies and his duties as a puer magi?
For all Hop cared at that moment, it was just another sign of his pathetic, useless existence. Worthlessness- no, he was way beneath that; he had failed. He had failed, he had failed, he had failed, he lost, he had motherfucking lost.
Answer yourself this, Hop- Do tell how you expected to come so far like this! How you have managed to shamble and shuffle through the league challenge like the worm you are, with nothing but another's achievements to your name- and you couldn't even take good care of that!
"...Useless..."
Hop shakily breathed out.
"Hah...if only I wasn't born so useless..."
His grip on both sides of his head grew tighter. As he gritted his teeth and his eyes twitched, one last thought flashed in his mind-
"There's...nowhere left for me..."
"Everyone else is moving on without someone...some pest like I am..."
With all the air that was left in his lungs, Hop roared into the night and unleashed all the grief in his heart. His anguished wail was interrupted by a sudden crash, and all that was left were the howling, autumnal winds...
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Word of the contestants' escalating behaviors grew amongst the people of Galar.
At first, it manifested as deepened anxieties; competitors being so overwhelmed by the upcoming events that it caused them to hyperventilate, shake uncontrollably in between sobs and unintelligible screams, or, at worst, completely melt down; faces reddened by tears as they were unable to remove themselves from the ground due to the paralyzing nervousness and hysteria. Initially, these incidents were brushed off as being related to the individuals' worries over the nature of the Gym Challenge, on top of the resulting trauma caused by the Darkest Day; even after the region was granted another chance at seeing the bright, blue skies, tensions were still at an all-time high, so, at the time, this appeared to have been the most rational conclusion.
It was when they've descended into thrashing bitterness and violence, however, that concern was finally demanded and raised- and, along with them, a whole basket of questions that craved all the answers in the world; anything to make sense of what was unraveling. Many a stadium had to close down - some even in the midst of these breakouts - for investigation purposes in order to get to the bottom of this anomaly.
Before long, rumors began to spread amongst the Galarian public- both on the streets and on social media; ranging from a contamination of sorts, to possible side effects of the Darkest Day that the current chairman was uninformed of. In the end, one by one, the majority of the gym leaders had to step forward admit that they knew as much as the rest did regarding the matter, but that did little to help stop the creation and spread of conspiracy theories, and they soon devolved into a competition of its own; on whose hypothesis is the most click-worthy and attention-grabbing.
Nothing was stacking up; everything had been tested - the water, the air, the soil, and especially the power spots -, the stadiums were inspected from top to bottom, and even the gym leaders were interviewed; it all came back negative.
The chairman himself had gone dark.
In the midst of the mass hysteria, right everyone's noses, the range of whatever was influencing these stadiums, the...being that has sending all these people into these frenzies...was growing.
Violent breakouts and missing persons reports spiked without ever showing a sign of slowing down. Nay, not even the gym leaders were spared- with Bea finally coming to her senses while Allister tried to subdue her and not hurt the rest around her, and Milo's herd of Wooloo going completely berserk and in complete panic not unlike the contestants and their own pokemon.
It was at its assumed worst when it had finally reached Postwick Town. Most of Galar had succumbed to what was engulfing it with its malice and twisted hopes, and, according to theorists, they doubted it would stop there. The people residing in the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra were given the order to lock down and cease all functions until further information's released, in the vain hopes of preventing the spread of its influence.
And then-
Silence.
Everything around them was completely dim, with nothing but small flickers of flame and their own eyes' adaptation to help traverse them through what became of the region; a dim, cold land with ashy skies overhead, overrun with scared wildlife and...monsters- beasts you have never seen the likes of before. Perhaps staying still while you're able to recognize Galar while you could would be the wisest choice; stray far enough, and the world around you will fade, shift, and turn, until you find yourself not outdoors anymore, but in a dingy, suffocating hallway filled with cracks and little to no light-
and, soon enough, you will realize that you are not alone.
To the most fortunate (or unlucky, depending on the perspective), the sight of the missing people was there for them to see; lined up for their next battles and subsequent executions. Days of being trapped, fought, beaten up, and isolated in pain did a number on their psyches, and that is without mentioning the existing effects that have already engulfed Galar; plunging them into insanity.
By the braver and most informed few, most of the missing people have currently been accounted for- most, had it not been for the unfortunate casualties resulting from...all that has been unfolding around them, whether they were still yet to be found, were done in by beasts swarming through these twisting tunnels, condemned by whatever's waiting for them at the center of this cursed maze, or...just couldn't take it anymore, is still up in the air. Those whose statuses have not yet been confirmed included the younger brother of the former champion himself- who, quite possibly, may have been one of the earliest victims, if the timeline was to serve them right-
Oh, but if only they knew better- that the bright-eyed, enthusiastic Hop was right back to where it all started; watching the competition from atop the stage, waiting for the next match to begin. The empty husk that was once "Hop" was silent; slumped to the back to his seat with his dull, milky eyes staring into the distance, as the crowds roared once the hero and his new challenger entered the fray.
Yes...yes! Cheer for him! ONLY HIM!
Shaking from the cold and the tension of her surroundings, Gloria's attention darted from the armored monstrosity to her unconscious rival amongst the masses. His colors all but completely desaturated- it was nothing short of a miracle seeing his body still somewhat intact, though his sunken face and sloughing skin - some even falling as soon as she grabbed on to him; revealing pale bone -...without thinking, the armored girl screamed.
Contrasting Gloria's priority shifting from grabbing on to Hop's corpse and make a break for it to taking down that thing who must have caused it, Leon was...silent. His heart sank as he fell on his knees- his eyes shook as he fixated on the monster before them. His blood ran ice cold; it was so hard to breathe without sobbing...
Gloria and the gym leaders who have finally located the arena - those who have and haven't contracted - deemed that being a monster- Hop's God damned murderer, but Leon knew better.
The gold hues that were pooling from what's assumed to be the monster's eyes were unmistakable.
His own little brother was right before him, waiting to fight him in the middle of this arena-
Just like how he had promised- like how he had always wished for...
-The Witch's Nature-
Ah, the most unpredictable section of this post- the one where yours truly is expected to agonize and sob over all the options before me. Character complexities are complex! Multiple reasons behind despair! Oh, how is your truly ever going to choose the perfect nature for a warlock that would not only encompass the magi's goals and history with only a few words, but one that would also feel fitting for a spooky being like a witch?!
Welp- once more, I have thank Blue for their brilliant input once more! They've decided that his nature would be Admiration, and, honestly, it's genius! It not only fits his overall character, goals, and what caused his sanity to go downhill with the brakes cut off, but it has the right amount of dissonance that the witches of PMMM are known for! Again, this has been your reminder to support them- c'mon, chop chop, that's an order.
Of course, nothing wrong with mentioning all the other, though scrapped, natures. Again, you're all free to reinterpret the warlock to your hearts' content, and if you do have any other suggestion that would fit, please let me know! I not only want to understand Hop's character better, but I do wish to improve my character-deciphering and writing skills. Once more, I encourage all sorts of fair criticism heading my way, and, with all that being said, here's the losers' club:
Reflective
Smitten
Idolizing/Idolization
Competitive (decided that this one might fit Nemona better if I ever got into ScaVio and made a witch for her. Later. Inshallah.)
Self-abandonment (look at the above, but with Bede instead)
Self-immolation
Guilty
To yearn/Yearning (again, Nemona)
-The Witch's Appearance-
"It's not enough! I've got to try harder! And harder and harder till no one's laughing!"
Alright, first thing's first, before we dive into ANYTHING, we need to touch upon Hop's self-image and how it transforms through the course of the game. From the beginning, he is just so confident in his abilities and goals; it wasn't just a desire, it's a goal- he will beat Leon! He will become champion! One day, he's going to be on that stage; he WILL fight Leon, and he WILL beat him- just we wait!
And 'wait' we didn't.
For all his talk about creating his own legend, of taking up the mantle, we have done nothing but drag his face through the dirt without failure.
The more we beat that poor fella up, the more...desperate he became, and it gets cranked up to 11 once Bede humiliated him; calling him a waste of space, and that all he is doing is tainting his brother's legacy by trying, so it would be best for all parties involved he should just stop that. If he just stopped trying at all. If he just gave up at once. He still tries to maintain the spirit of friendly competition between the main character and himself, but the constant humiliation has been getting to him, and the talons that are digging in to his mind are sharp.
It is then that we finally realize that the once-confident trainer who initially accompanied us is no more. This hatred towards himself only grew with time, and, even when he had reintegrated Wooloo/Dubwool into his team, his self-worth was still nigh-non existent; he dared not accompany us during even the post-game story, believing that he would just be slowing us all down, and how we would fare and be better without someone like him around.
In Hop's eyes, he was a burden; a waste of space, and, no matter how much he tried to fight it, those words would persistently repeat in his mind. His constant defeats didn't help, either, whether it was by our or any other trainer's hands-
Hell, it can be argued that Hop's earlier confidence and passion were nothing but "fronts"; he had always cheered Leon on and idealized (dare I say even worshiped) him to no end, but, aside from the promise that he would, one day, defeat his brother and become a champion, what other positive things did he say about himself? What other dreams did he hold? He owed so much of his own knowledge about Pokemon battles to Leon, after all. This can be seen in the third episode of Pokemon: Twilight Wings, if we choose to interpret Wooloo's actions as reflective of Hop's- trying to be something it is not, and, ultimately, causing it to stray far from "home".
He wanted to be the hero of his own story. That's all he wished for. Instead, we've shoved him into the sidelines- face first on the dirt, without even realizing our strengths.
History repeats once more- the tale of Leon and Sonia all over again.
The image of a knight, a warrior, a hero is definitely a strong base to start it all off. The ideal knight in shining armor, he who stands up for everything right- the unbeatable champion of the people. Not just a person to look up to, but a symbol- that's all he wanted to become; just like how he saw his brother.
When he realized that his current tactics didn't work, everything had to go out the window. We aren't saying this lightly- everything. His plans, his . He had to change everything about himself- until he realized that the problem weren't his teams or his plans...it was him. It has always been his fault- he was just weak, nothing more than a pathetic worm.
The armor is scraping every fiber of his being. No matter what, he still cannot attain the strength and glory of a champion- so he has to keep doing this; break and melt himself. It isn't right, it hurts, but he deserves that pain- he deserves the agony and so much worse for the sin of his existence.
But it's not enough. It's not enough, and it will never be enough. Flaming hot, red daggers will forever pierce through his flesh and skin; melting and reshaping him not necessarily just to fit his desired goal, but as punishment.
It doesn't matter, though. It doesn't change his sheer, fucking incompetence. He'd bash himself against the wall, turn his knuckles bloody, and have his howls of torment be drowned out by his observers' whispers and harsh judgements, but it doesn't change the fact that he deserved every second of it. He had to keep molding himself, he had to suffer, he had to pay for being such a pest to everyone's lives and for being so weak...
No matter how much he tried, it doesn't change the truth that he is no damn hero; he is here as a prisoner, present to repent for his crimes of his pathetic existence...
Oh, yeah. Futility is not just a present theme, but we are running to the HILLS with it.
Next up, we look at his actions- the "spice" and depth this brings to his warlock's design.
Let's retrace our steps a bit and look at Hop's character before and after the main story; as soon as we boot up the game for the first time, there we see Hop being so excited over his brother finally coming home- he was practically shaking and jumping by the news of it alone! He just couldn't wait to see him again, much less what he must have brought back with him- and, when he laid his eyes on the starters and chose his, he was over the moon and the sun; this was the beginning of his legacy! Ah, even his own mother said that he had to learn some patience.
Compare and contrast to his attitude in postgame- he's a lot more mellowed out, but that can be better described as him finally being burnt out. He had nowhere to go, no goal to attain, and not a single strength to his name. Bede and Marnie are training to become gym leaders, Leon's the new chairman of the Galar league, Sonia is on the way to become the new regional professor, but Hop? There was nothing left for him. There isn't anything he was able to do that others could do even better- all that was left for him was to rot in the fields, forgotten and cast away like the object of shame he was.
"I don't know how much I can really help... If I come along, I might just end up slowing the rest of you down..."
I've already established how the warlock might be imprisoned in a sense; all to symbolize how he must have felt during his downfall and the lengths he went through in order to become someone worthy of becoming champion- of sharing his brother's legacy, but we should also take how he first started off into account. We already have the pain, but where is the tragedy in it all? The downfall of his confidence? The fall of Hop, the once bright-eyed, confident, and proud young man? How could we symbolize the face that we have flicked his passion and convictions away with the push of our buttons?
Passion...glory...destruction...hotheadedness...Lee...Charizard...
"Fire- and lots of it!"
Yeah, this should not come off as a surprise - given how I have already mentioned it dozens of times already -, but, hey, if Ophelia has a lot of flames in her design to symbolize the tragic end of her family and her own hotheadedness, then I can't see why the same cannot be applicable to our uncrowned prince of Galar. Truth be told, I think the fire is burning at him to this day; as I already mentioned, he is in a constant state of melting down and reshaping himself to no end to fit an ideal that is so far away from him, and what better way to do so than by forcing himself to endure these flames to no end- not just to burn away all his mistakes, but to subject himself to what rage and disappointment he believes Leon must be feeling? You cannot ask for a more fitting punishment, no? Quite ironic as well, if you'd ask me.
Plus, as a warlock, he wants the people to cheer for him- only him! What better way is there to grab their attention and love than by becoming the brightest thing on the battlefield?! Yes, it's all worth it in the end, hearing the people of Galar scream just for him alone- oh, he couldn't be happier! That is all he desires! If we thought Oktavia craved attention, think again.
Speaking of lengths he went through to become someone he is not, let's talk about him changing his teams; this is his point of transformation as a character, where the cracks in his confidence begin to grow alongside his desperation. At this stage, Hop was willing to make any sacrifice necessary to meet that goal of his- if he fails, not only were his dreams on the line, but so was Leon's reputation. The only constant between these teams is the starter Leon gave him- with teary eyes and a regretful heart, he had damned the experiences and memories he shared with the 'mons he caught along the way, for all that mattered at that moment, all that was worth keeping, was the one thing that held any sort of direct connection to his future glory; the very gift his brother gave him. It should be worth it though, right? He's only becoming better, becoming stronger, becoming the best trainer he could be-
Isn't that right, Wooloo?
Oh, man, wooloo. What kind of Hop-centric design would this be if I didn't incorporate this cute little sheep in some form or another? If not the sheer GUILT he must be feeling? Since I already covered how the warlock would be forever unsatisfied with his form, let us talk about the promise he made with Wooloo, and how him breaking it must be haunting him. Just up and abandoning them, his lifelong partner pokemon must hate him for such a cowardly decision- it should hate him; he had backed out of such an important vow between them, and implied that it was their fault that he was unable to reach his goals. Ultimately, it is his guilt and self-hatred that got him here; whenever he wasn't melting down and reforging himself, he was always fighting for the audience's attention- a whole herd of sheep who constantly demand a spectacular show. It felt right for his first partner pokemon to judge him, after all- he must be condemned for his disloyalty...
Building upon the last point- since Wooloo, his very first pokemon, was also removed from the team, this would translate beautifully into him removing parts of himself to fit that perfect mold, and what better way than to add in sheep elements to his design? The warlock having hooves as dark as obsidian for feet? Broken horns that might be mistaken for parts of his armor? Heck, even the gnarly skeletal system resulting from us combining that of a human's and a sheep's? While I am not too sure about what exactly is going on underneath his helmet, I will just assume that at least its base form resembles a mutilated black sheep's face, because of, well, Hop seeing himself as the black sheep of the family. Combined with his halberd, which I am certain would carry on from his last form to this one, this would bring the idea of a twisted sheep herder of sorts, on top of the existing themes of sacrifice that are already associated with cattle in multiple religions.
Of course, we can't go wrong with referencing him copying Leon's tactics in battle and said worship! This, too, will be a source of pain to his warlock; not only does his armor resemble draconic scales (again, Charizard), but the base of his helmet would bear the shape of Leon's beard. This also ties in to the above point of him trying to reshape his form to that of the champion's in order to achieve prestige and victory by following in his hero's footsteps, but its ultimate purpose in the end is the further erasure his form and himself; all that made Hop 'Hop'. He is constantly slicing away at his being just to fit that mold....
Yes, he also gets to keep the cape; much like his halberd, I can't see why this element of his magical boy form would not get carried over here, as it also assists with establishing the theme and desire to be like a big shot like his brother. Its red coloring would also be of nice contrast to the ashen grey or deep darkness of his armor, although it is tattered and not as magnificent as it used to be in his eyes. The armor already boosts the idea of a hero, but, combined with all of the elements from above and Hop himself going down the slippery slope, this monster right here invokes the idea of a fallen hero; bright-eyed protagonists who have become jaded over the course of their journeys or have decided to outright give up on their ideals and goals- some even opting to join the opposing side of the narrative outright.
I should also mention his inability to look at Leon in the face and how he didn't want negative attention to be drawn towards him in spite of Hop's desire to face off against his brother- some eye trauma, maybe? Would the mementos of Leon in his barrier bring him pain? Or...would the warlock be unable to see past the "glory" of the champion and his dreams? How his mistakes are blinding him? Maybe what he saw was so bright, so brilliant, that it blinded him to everything else; turning his eyes into burning pools of blood resembling molten steel?
Now, we calculate his karmic potential, his emotional volatility, and how they contribute to his warlock's strength.
While I was first working on this post, I thought that maybe he would have cracked after he had lost against the gym leader of Circhester Stadium - Melony -; after all, he must have been devastated, with all these eyes watching him as his final pokemon fell, but then I remembered two key details-
His self-esteem did not get any better by the end of the game's main storyline. In fact, it was at its lowest during postgame- and he even brought a comically large shovel to dig wayyyyy deeper, courtesy of Sordward and Shielbert!
His karmic potential not only stems from him being the champion's little brother, but his role in stopping the second Darkest Day.
So, in a way, that loss would be considered to be more of a catalyst for his despair rather than the straw that broke the camel's back, not unlike Sayaka learning the truth behind the soul gems or Hitomi's confession to Kyosuke. He may have brought Dubwool back to his party, he may have appeared okay-ish after we've defeated him in the semi-finals, he may have helped us save the day, but his internal conflict didn't dissolve just like that- you cannot erase all these years of constant comparisons, long-standing dreams, horrible impostor syndrome, and such an inferiority complex just like that with the snap of one's fingers.
Truth be told, he was supposed to finally give in after said semi-finals, but, out of urgency, he held on just for a little while- for just enough time to assist us with finding Leon and stopping Rose's plans. Now that everything was said and done - now that everything was laid to rest -, the eyes just wouldn't stop staring at him, the whispers didn't cease, and Hop...he was tired- he was oh so tired. Falling on his shaky legs and the harsh thoughts in his heads still not slowing down, Hop had finally closed his eyes and gave out his final farewell...
Also, Sordward and Shielbert will die by my hands for making his self esteem go further down the toilet in postgame, I swear to Allah-
From all that, we can see that not only are legends, prophecies, and destinies HUGE themes for when it comes to the design of his barrier, but that his warlock is gonna be powerful. Now, I don't wanna be redundant by saying that he, too, would be as tough as Walpurgisnacht (we've already done that with Medic, though, after thinking about it, he'd be more comparable to Hyades Daybreak), but saving an entire region is, putting it lightly, a huge feat, and that's without us touching upon his supposed connection with the legendary pokemon, one of Galar's heroes of myth, Zacian. In between being tied to almost a hundred destinies (Madoka) and saving the entirety of France (Tart), putting an end to the apocalypse - The Darkest Day - has got to be up there.
I know this sounds like a sort of repetition on my end, but remember what Homura said back during episode 9; "from here on, for every person (one) has saved, (they) will curse another". So, while Medic got his powers thanks of a combination of his own karma and how he had fused 8 other souls into him, Hop's karma was all his. In short, by this logic, Galar is beyond fucked.
Oh, and, y'know, the whole deal with him being the champion's little brother and Gloria's childhood friend. With all that in mind, bro's warlock is not just stupidly powerful, but outright broken. Not at Ultimate!Kriemhild levels, but that's still not good news in of itself, isn't it?
In the end, whether he had completely given up after he had lost to Melony or during some time between the events of the main story and postgame is up to you and your interpretation of Hop as a character. For the sake of this segment alone, I will just go with the idea that, if he despairs before the climax of the main story, his warlock would be a formidable foe, but not yet a world-ending threat like either Walpurgisnacht or Crépuscule de La Reine.
For comparison's sake (and to paint a clearer picture), I'd say that he could be as powerful as Gisela, if not moreso. From the PSP games, we can see how resilient and tough that witch is - so much so that she is tied to both Mami's and Kyoko's backstories -, so surpassing her strength is still a commendable feat. Much like his depiction in the section above, the warlock would still be capable of cursing many stadiums at once and cause such intense panic in order to take the league challenge down with him by making the contestants to go completely berserk, and, if he so wishes, he could render an entire village into ash.
However, if you guys wouldn't mind, I'll still be running with the idea that, thanks to the player, Bede, Sordward, Shieldbert, his family, and Galar's corrupted celebrity culture, the entire region has yet another apocalyptic event to go through, and only Arceus could save them now- basically what happens during the above despair segment. Good job, everyone! Enjoy listening to Grass Skirt Chase while ya could! /j
Now that we got the basic picture of the warlock down, let's cut to the chase and dive in to his barrier. I've had a lot of fun with this one, so buckle up!
As I already mentioned in my previous Medic post, a witch's labyrinth is stated to be the "mental landscape of the magi before they turned into a witch". From analyzing the barriers of the Holy Quintet and the other existing witches from the original anime, I've already deduced that they must be tied to either core memories, coping mechanisms, or desires-
HOWEVER,
A more simplistic take on all that would be "a place that rubs salt on the magi's/witch's wounds"; makes more sense, no? Candeloro is forever alone in her little tea party, Charlotte is in a silent conversation with another doll- unable to speak about what's on her mind, and, for goodness' sake, Ophelia's barrier is underwater. It is just logical to see that a labyrinth is designed to keep the witch miserable; specifically made to remind them of their own shortcomings, mistakes, broken hopes and dreams, and all that they've lost by the act of contracting with an uncaring trickster like Kyubey.
Unsurprisingly, with this idea in mind, I think the barrier would be a twisted version of a stadium, lit up by raging fire. The audience is present; their eyes ever-staring at you as their yells echo throughout the arena. You just know that your actions and failures will be recorded for future generations to see, mock, and spit at- after all, you are now trapped in a legend that is yet to be completed! Yes, even the style of your surroundings looks like it could fit right in an old storybook or any of the murals present across the region. Not too far away from this labyrinth's center, you are able to find multiple cages housing the victims he had captured; fighters worthy enough for him to test his skills on or put on a spectacle for all the audience to see.
In the middle of the battlefield, in the shadow of a large statue behind him, lies the warlock; broken, battered, burnt, and practically melting, but his duty remains clear as daylight- bound to his punishment and his own selfish desires, it has become his goal to defeat you before the audience. It is his destiny to be bound to this stage, having to pay for the sin of his existence.
The trinkets of Leon - or a silhouette that resembles him - that surrounded him in his own house are also present; after all, they are tied to his motivation, admiration towards Lee, and his wish to become champion. Even until now, the warlock and his familiars take good care of them, though he despises the reflection cast by them.
I should also make a quiiiiiiick note Pokemon Masters EX; you see, upon activating a character's sync move, they are displayed in front of locations present in the canon of Pokemon known as their "mindscapes", and, fellas, upon finding out that said places are significant to each person's story and life one way or another, I've realized that I have stumbled upon a hail Mary for PMMM/Pokemon crossover fanatics out there, myself included. Of course, I wouldn't recommend using these mindscapes alone as a sort of easy way to make barriers, but they do act as nifty, optional blueprints or spices to make those labyrinths look more colorful or representative of these characters.
When it comes to Hop, his mindscape, unsurprisingly, depicts Postwick Town. The location doesn't change when he becomes a Neo Champion, with the only alterations made to the artwork is that it is now nighttime and the presence of small flickers of flames dancing around; burning as brightly as the stars above - one more point towards fire being a persistent theme here -. Perhaps if you've gained enough of an upper hand and luck in battle to grant you some time to look at the ground, you can see that there's specks of white paint that faded away with time; the surface still resembling that of a soccer field's to this day, not unlike the one in his backyard.
To reflect his mental state and emotions of worthlessness and futility prior to him crossing over the point of no return, well, here's where the fun and pain come in-
The halls of the labyrinth are...suffocating; as soon as you enter, you realize that the area is only wide enough for a single person to traverse through. It's so dark, too; only the oil lamps and unmaintained lanterns present provide any form of luminescence, and even then, you have to be careful; one small misstep, and it is you who will be up in flames.
You also get the sinking feeling that you are being watched through the cracks and holes of suffocating halls; a feeling exemplified by the sounds of rain and howling winds just outside. The oil lamps do nothing to alleviate the bone-biting cold around you- the warmth provided is minimal at best. Not too far away, peculiarly enough, you can hear what must sound like...a radio; the details of what is being said is unclear, but the language is actually understandable if you happen to know Arabic. Through static and compressed sounds, you can hear that the voice on the radio is...reciting a nasheed; one chanting about the light of honor, victory, and divine heroism in the face of adversity, with determination being a repeated theme peppered in. No matter which hallway you turn towards, you cannot seem to get any closer to the source of the sound.
As you make your way to the center of the barrier, in spite of the lack of windows present, you decide to be a little brave and take a peak through the torn cloth or any of the cracks on the wall; you find that not only are you not at all far away from the hallway you've already visited, but that you appear to be going down a spiral- but this can't be possible! It is like you've done nothing but repeating the same steps over and over, only for your determination and desires to bring you down...
The winds have gotten louder - clashing with the noise present in the halls -, and your legs feel so tired...
You cannot take it anymore. You finally deduce that, if you want to face off against the warlock right then and there, then you better take a nosedive; break through the halls and descend further and further until you reach the arena, and face off against a furious gladiator- angered and heartbroken by the prospect of you destroying these mementos. How could you?! Such an act is beyond heinous in his eyes! You are no honorable opponent like the rest of them- nay, he is here to strike you down, to restore and clear the champion's name...
To rub salt on his wound a little more, let's add in more references to the people who affected Hop's life- those who have sent him down a spiral, whether consciously or not.
At the end of some of these hallways, you can find shrines that are clearly meant for worship; moreso than the memorabilia that are already present. A large statue rests in the middle of it, surrounded by worn pictures depicting a silhouette of a man and damaged, worn-out books and scrolls. The scent of smoke is present, alongside ashes on the ground; the warlock or one of his familiars must have been near the shrine not too long ago.
Some parts of the halls, namely what items made of organic material like cloth, are clearly damaged- whether caused by burns, cuts, or, most strangely of all, moths. The bothersome nature of these little creatures not only represent Bede tearing apart at his self-worth, but also his reliance on Chairman Rose- such a depiction may symbolize his actions and words' effects on Hop's self-image and life, but it also acts as a subconscious, final "fuck you" to white-haired youth; at the end of the day, Bede is just an unwanted, insignificant insect who gravitates towards any source of light while causing great disaster to others, even at the detriment of his own life.
...but...isn't that what you have cursed yourself into, Hop? Having to prove yourself to someone who is so far away for all eternity? To mimic them? All for a part of their attention and approval- much less a sliver?
They have both locked themselves in a cycle of attempting to appease to someone in their lives at the detriment of their own health...
Upon his defeat, once the crowd cheers at his defeat, the walls will crumble, and the debris will crush and pierce the warlock - whether he was still alive or dead by then - as you finally get a look at the outside world... Rolling hills that span for miles greet your vision as the grey, rainy skies conceal the afternoon sunlight- but it still is brighter than the suffocating arena and its connected halls. Not too far away, you are able to spot a windmill, still going on for what seems like several vicious years, if its poor state was any sign. Ah, if not for the chaos around you, the flickering silhouettes of round sheep in the distance and the smell of grass and rain really makes it feel like you're right back home...back in Postwick...
To end all this on a high note, let's touch upon his witch's kiss/warlock's whisper/evil cutie mark. Thankfully, I got it as soon as I could; one of those old emblems that acted as tickets to a gladiator match depicting a simplified sheep's head! To add some freakiness, the sheep face is stripped to the bone on one half, and glaring right at the person looking at it on the other. A circle of hop flowers surround the disfigured head, and the emblem itself appears to be half-melting.
-Witch Card-
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Sayf Al-Muharib. The Gladiator warlock, whose nature is admiration. The light of an old hero's glory - eternally out of his reach - had caused his sight to turn into searing, painful ichor; blinding him to all but his own failures and shortcomings. As penance for the sin of his existence and weakness, the warlock is in a constant state of breaking down, melting, and reforging himself whilst in preparation for his next battle in the hopes of searing away all the flaws in him - all that lead him to his incriminating mistakes - and achieve a perfect form. He is unable to recognize the being beneath his armor anymore, nor could he remember the vision he had prior to his entrancement.
The cries and cheers of his familiars herald another chance for the warlock to prove himself and absolve the legacy of his hero once and for all- but, no matter what, the crowd is never satisfied, and neither will he ever feel proud of himself for the victory. He will never be an inch closer to the light of legend he craves so badly. To emerge from the battlefield victorious, one must not lose sight of their promise in the midst of battle.
(His name is inspired by Sayf bin Omar/سيف بن عمر, a Muslim historian and compiler. It should also be of note that the reliability of Sayf's ahadeeth have been a point of controversy to this day. When translated, the warlock's full name means "The warrior's sword".)
(The fact that his first name literally means "sword" bears two meanings depending on the protagonist- if it's Gloria, then it reflects how he tags along with and respects her though he is seen as incomplete without her presence in the eyes of the rest; while if it's Victor, then it's the clash between their friendly rivalry and his growing respect towards him. Either way, it also symbolizes how the MC stole his spotlight and destiny, and how they broke him and his dream apart throughout their journey.)
(Also, Homura fits the criteria needed to defeat him, let's GOOOOOOO-)
-Familiars-
Batel (plural form: Abatil). The gladiator warlock's minion, whose duty is preservation. A scholar at heart, the warlock analyzes the actions of the hero of legend to learn from them for future endeavors. Prioritizing the opulence and safety of these treasures, these small followers of his are on constant lookout for anything that would posses a danger to these sacred masterpieces while archiving the feats of the champion for future re-readings.
Unfortunately, their master despises the reflection cast on the memorabilia; forever reminding him of what he will never become. He will hang his head down in their presence out of both respect and shame, lest the sight of the failure he had become shatter what was left of his original heart once more.
(Symbolizing Hop's knowledge of battling in general; jokes about type advantages aside, he was always analyzing Lee's battles and was eager to use his knowledge during battles. It's also one of the key reasons as to why he chose to become a professor in the end.)
(Yes, the warlock himself also does his job at chronicling the feats of Leon - even going as far as to imitate them to this day -, but not only are the Batels there to assist him (I mean, they are his familiars), but they also sort of symbolize how...exaggerated Leon's achievements can get, especially in the eyes of others- including Hop's.)
(Its name is a play on words in Arabic; "Batal/بطل" means "Hero", but "Batil/باطل" can either mean "of no good use" or "useless". Leon was the hero, his hero, his ideal- Hop, on the other hand, was just dead weight to him.)
(Another note to add is that Hop's uniform number is 189, which, when read in Japanese, can mean "Hiyaku"; leaping. While the warlock himself would be struggling to walk with these hooves of his and his mutilated form melting and meshing with the armor, I can also see that the Abatil's only way of moving around is through leaping, since they would probably have only one leg to stand on. Ah, I love the smell of symbolism in the morning.)
-
Al-Daja (plural form: Al-Dajij). The gladiator warlock's minion, whose duty is to uphold competition. Ever-so excited for the upcoming battle, the crowd will explode into applauds whenever a new victim enters the stadium and comes face-to-face with their master. Their never-ceasing cheers always demand for more, and, not wanting their wide, unblinking eyes to stare at all his faults and mistakes, the warlock complies.
The warlock will try and not show a sign of degradation to his opponent- he'll hold out until they sing songs of his glory and his story gets passed down from generation to generation. However, these minions will often times become so entranced with the relics and spectacle that they would forget the identity of their master altogether, and even start cheering for the new challenger once the warlock is thrown into a corner.
(Based on Hop's personal drive - to become as glorious and powerful as the unbeatable champion himself -, how the losses have been affecting him, and him not wanting what negative attention he garnered along the way to affect Leon directly. The audience can be quite the chatterboxes; all it takes is one small piece of gossip for everything to go out of control. Its name, ألضجة, means "The Noise".)
(They also symbolize how everyone else already act around him all thanks to his brother's legacy- looking down on him for every little mistake he makes, while each victory earns him another comparison to Leon. He doesn't want to disappoint them- not the crowds, not his friends, not his family, and not himself, so he carries on with his useless endeavor; constantly chasing after a dream that is so far from his reach. The fact that this familiar is prone to forgetting who they are serving exactly is indicative of Hop forgetting himself.)
-Inspirations-
In-canon:
Sacrificing aspects of himself just to come close to that aforementioned ideal; going as far as to remove his lifelong friend, Wooloo, from his team
Trophies and other memorabilia of his brother being found in their home- almost no mementos of Hop being found there
Corviknight, one of the 'mons he gigantamaxes upon the release of the DLCs (the other is his starter pokemon, which I will assume is Scorbunny)
The fact that he is evidently Arab/Muslim-coded, especially in the French translation of the games where his name is Nabil (fun fact, Raihan is also an already-Arab name)
The third episode of Pokemon: Twilight Wings
Dubwool being able to learn a fuck ton of self-destructive moves
The statue of the Hero of Galar in Wyndon (Motostoke in the anime)
Outside Influences:
The Sealed Vessel from Hollow Knight and their theme; actually, wanna bet that he is trapped in a similar manner as they were if we were to assume that his power is equal to Isabeau's? That he has been gathering power from the mass hysteria resulting from his influence over the stadiums?
How sheep, lambs, and goats are associated with sacrifice, slaughter, deceit, and rituals (to tie the aforementioned wooloo/dubwool and self-abandonment points mentioned earlier)
The golden calf
The fact that some gladiators were prisoners and had to fight and put on a spectacle in order to regain their freedom
nana825763's "My house walk-through"
That one segment from Valle Verde part 2 which starts at around the 3:58 mark
The Devil Within by Digital Daggers (not my dumb ass imagining an animatic in which Bede is this warlock's first victim)
Cause of my Death by Itoki Hana
Dolus Vel Pedica, Area Strigae, and Delusio Summa from the Madoka Magica PSP game
The concept of living armor, but with added body horror
-Closing Statements-
Phew! Well, thank GOD this didn't take as much time as Medic's warlock did! (unless if we count my sick days- then yeah, it took just as much) To say that this was a WILD ride would be the understatement of the century!
I wanted to nail the vibe the witches had before we, as the audience, learned the truth about their origins - that he must have been born out of competition and the impostor syndrome that comes with such high-stakes contests -, and the idea that he, Sayf, was vengeful not just towards the leagues and the people who had beaten Hop while he was down, but also towards himself. I am unsure of whether or not I've completely succeeded on that front, but, if you guys have better ideas and/or criticisms, please do let me know! I aim to improve my writing in general and my abilities to break down character motivations and symbolize their actions in more abstract manners.
Being Bede is suffering; his ass is getting haunted on one hand, and Leon is able to smell his fear from a mile away on the other. He's not fucking winning this, lads :'3
...With all that being said, there is one shred of information that I've been withholding until now- the final piece of the puzzle that, once we step back, paints a rather grim image of what would occur if we were to combine the worlds of Pokemon SWSH and PMMM...
Outside the league challenge, the story of SWSH tackles the eldritch origins of Dynamax/Gigantamax; that the very vessels that allowed the people of Galar to utilize it must come from the remains of the invading Pokemon, Eternatus. Its initial awakening from its 17,000 year slumber heralded the event known as the Darkest Day; in which it had absorbed so much of Galar's energy that it caused its form to change and a dark storm to envelope the region, causing the pokemon to dynamax/gigantamax and go berserk. With the emergence of said storm come what is now known as "Galar Particles"; other sources of energy that, after the defeat of this threat, were utilized by humans for generations to come; rebuilding Galar from the ground up to the region we know today.
Now, a theme that both medias apparently share here from this fact alone is "energy". In a sense, you could say that Eternatus itself acts very much like a living grief seed; absorbing "impurities" in order for its true form to "hatch" and release boundless amounts of concentrated energy that can be used in a useful manner later down the line.
So....what gives? Why is Eternatus such a key element to this concept if the focus of this post is Hop? What does that creature beyond out comprehension have to do with the one we currently have in our hands right now?
See, not only does Hop's karmic potential stem from his destiny to stop the second Darkest Day alongside the main character, but his brother was also tasked by Chairman Rose with capturing the beast and delivering it to him; this was planned out in order to solve Galar's energy crisis that was going to unfold in the next several years or so, and, though it was a hard decision, the Chairman believed that now was a better time than never. The future of Galar, in his eyes, relied on him...
Obviously, Rose's entire plan fell flat on its face, so it was up to us, our bestie, and a very gud boi an' gorl (Pokedex entries confirm Zacian is Zamazenta's older sister) to save an entire region's ass from a wicked, unfathomable threat once more, but what if things went a little differently in this timeline? Obviously, one of the heroes who was supposed to assist/had assisted Gloria fell into despair and became the next world-ending threat she's going to have to put down, but what if this wasn't the only deviation from the norm here?
After all, Rose wasn't the only one who had sought out the means to prevent and remedy a sort of entropy issue at any cost necessary...
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delcakoo · 8 months
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i’m sure most ppl expected this so i’m not gonna make a big deal out of it but!! yes i am going on hiatus for an unspecified amount of time.
it’s honestly quite simple, i’ve just been losing interest in most aspects of kpop aside from the music, which makes writing for it a lot harder than before. i also dealt with a lot of burn out for months and still forced myself to write which only made it worse. lastly, i’m an executive of two clubs at my school this year on top of all my classes, so finding time to write would be even worse than it was before :’) !
YEAh that’s kinda it! for now my works will stay up, moots can dm me for my disc/spotify!! even if we’ve barely spoken pspsps i wanna stalk ur music cmere 🤲 a special shout out to my emoji anons too, you’re all amazing people ilysm, especially those that have been stuck with me for so long <3 (u know who u are!!)
i’ll try and check in here every so often to chat, esp if a new comeback for enha/txt happens!! love u guys and stay safe <3 you may send an ask if u have any questions!
extra stuff i wanna say to moots below! (it’s all word vomits i’m sorry)
RAVEN. MY WIFEY. my BELOVED blr wont let me tag u but you already know i adore u sm playing roblox with u is so fun even if that one banana game was kinda ass!! 💖 thank u for being so so sweet when putting up with me all the time and raising our fav corgi daughter with sm love <3 i hope u get more confidence in ur writing because your fics are always so creative and well written, and in yourself too bc a certain mf thats name starts with J and ends with N is MISSING OUT. 🙄🙄 ok im still gna be annoying u all the time so. bye ig….. smooches
@seongclb katto u deserve an award for putting up with me in dms ilysm 😞 watching the promised neverland together brought me so much joy and i still have a ss of you calling gilda a tractor ok i love u!!!! i would read your fics all day any day u are so talented and ur photography skills are amazing, i hope we get to keep in touch WE SHOULD FIND ANOTHER SHOW TO WATCH TGTHER !!!!! i need to fix your lack of anime knowledge ‼️ PLS KEEP WRITING AS WELL ENHABLR NEEDS U!!!!
@soov reirei my gf i aspire to be as confident and funny as you, you’re literal sunshine and always make my day better even with just one interaction <3 thank u for being so welcoming my first days in walmart enha and raising sushiwon with me!! as well as entertaining me by dying in genshin every 3 seconds <3 (WE NEED TO PLAY AGAIN) oh and KEEP WRITING BB. i will rise from THE DEAD WHEN IT COMES OUT OK U CAN DO THIS ML!!
@haknom kangaroo karaoke keys we may have had only a few convos but they were all so fun like PLAYING BRAWL STARS WAS HILARIOUS we ate the house down in duo showdown idc. and beta reading ur fics was such a treat esp while watching u plan new smaus every other day 🫶 also your music taste is MUWAH gimme some more recs pspsps !!! KEEP WRITING OKKK?!
@kynrki kimmy kimmy kim one of my first ever moots <3 your writing is always such a joy to read and your energy is amazing, thank you for giving me a chance when i was too shy to ask anyone else to be moots LMAO 🫶 plsplss keep writing you’re so gifted and deserve the whole world LOVEE UU
@bitehee cavvy my big sibling :((( i love u sm kshsdknd its been a while but i really hope everything has been well since you moved and you’re still being as cool as ever <3 im gonna replay a pokemon game in ur honor perhaps mystery dungeon 👁️ ? anyway i look up to u and think u are so cool, one of my fav hee stans ever ever!!! remember u have my disc if u ever wanna chat 🫂 !!!
@sunoksunny sunny <3 my other gf. i remember our first vc u had this goofy pfp i cant remember what it was but like u are so easy to talk to and funny?! and PRETTY??? your fits are always stunning and your singing is beautiful ugh the whole package fr… and. we need. to play. genshin!!! I REDOWNLOADED IT FOR U OK WE WILL DISCUSS THIS SOON!! ILY
@slytherinshua ZANNY. u are so easy to talk to we match each others energy so perfectly?!? I HOPE U AND TUALHA CONTINUE BEING THE COOLEST EVER and ur writing is top tier so pls keep going‼️ thank u for being so sweet to me as another one of my very first moots i appreciate u sm <3333
@flwrshee riri !!! we haven’t even been moots for long but i had to add u in here because u need to know that ILYSM. you’re like an adorable energetic little sister that always makes me smile T-T thank you for taking time out of your day to reblog my fics with so much sweet feedback and i wish u the absolute best always!! if u ever need anything pls dm me on disc i would love to chat with u more, and make sure to keep writing bc u have SO much talent!!!!
@wonieleles sia SIA i genuinely miss talking to u sm i NEED to come back to walmart enha :(( we don’t talk much besides our little interactions in the server but each time you make me smile. you’re so so smart and admirable, i hope you keep up the hard work bc i know you’ll go so far and HAVE MORE CONFIDENCE!! you’re so beautiful okay ily 😞🫶
@sultrybaby kel 😭😭😭💖💖 you’ve literally been a day one THANK YOU for always checking in on me even during your ridiculous NONSTOP EXAMS. 💀 another one of my big siblings on here fr you are such a real one and i care for u sm!!! i hope everything has been well for u?! pls feel free to message me for anything okay <3 I LOVE U SM thank u for sticking with me all this time 🫂🫂
i have so many moots so i can’t write smthn for everyone but i love u all okay <3 AGAIN if u wanna keep in touch thru spotify or discord dm me muwah
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alien-girl-21 · 3 months
Text
I was bored and started thinking about shit that happened when I was in highschool, and one thing lead to another and so this happened
Joker out as things guys in my highschool did (+ bonus käärijä)
(yes, these all happened)
• Called himself the "math messiah" —Jan
• Starting a human pyramid on the back of the class just because —Bojan
• Playing with tazers like light sabers —Bojan and Jure
• Making a tunnel of people and having one person run through it while everyone else threw their backpacks at them —they all organized it
• Play fighting a little too hard and breaking a window —Jance
• Throwing someone in the small, mounted cabinet in the classroom to see what was inside, and thus, breaking it —bokris
• Playing charlie charlie in the school lab table —Bojan and nace
• Directly staring at a chemical reaction we were told not to look at because it might blind us —Jure
• Calling that same chemical reaction the 'expecto patronus' spell —Nace
• Improving a song about the national independence because they forgot to make an actual presentation about it and had just brought a guitar with them —(bo)jan²
• Organized freestyle rap battles in the middle of class (brought a speaker to listen to the beats better) —Bojan
• Organized wrestling matches in the free periods —Bojan
• Participated in said wrestling matches —everyone else
• Hit the vape the second the teacher entered the classroom and coughed up all the smoke in shock, making the teacher think there was a fire —Kris
• Being the goalie for a football match while blindfolded (no one else was) —Jure
• Performing a rock cover of the school anthem at 8 in the morning in a school assembly —do I even need to explain?
• Tripping on the field and creating a domino effect that made like 30 people fall as well —Kris
• The second a fight broke out in the gymnasium (there really wasn't a fight), he picked up his gf bridal style and sprinted out the gymnasium screaming "WE'RE NOT DYING TODAY BABE" —Nace (the gf is jan)
• Ran off a protest we were doing to buy empanadas —bokris
• Answered the question "how do you write sol?" With "s-o-l" in guitar class —Kris
• Got so attatched to the egg baby project thing that when a football crushed it he actually cried a bit —Bojan
• Somehow made an oil paint concoction that never dried in the almost two months we were painting with oil paints —Jure
• Sprinted out of class to go play pokemon go at the school entrance —Nace
• Almost made the woodwork class explode because of faulty wiring they made —Bojan, Jan, and Jure
• Used to exchange school jackets because they missed each other (they swore they just didn't look at which jacket belonged to who) —jance
• His flirting technique was to say that he was the same zodiac sign as the girl he liked even if he wasn't —Bojan
• Was trying to do the splits and a primary school kid ran up to him and kicked him in the balls —Jan
• During a very important test (like very fucking important) tried to cheat in the biology section by searching what a cell was on google, just for the text-to-speech to start reading the definition in max volume —Bojan
• Accidentally used baking powder instead of flour when baking cookies in cooking class —Bojan, Jan, and Nace
• Went off to every table in the cafeteria and stole every hot sauce to add more to his fried chicken because 'it wasn't spicy enough' (more of the same hot sauce did not make it more spicy) —Jan
• Lost 300$ worth of food because the same cafeteria closed down the day after he put money into his account —Nace
• Brought a gas mask to class when there was a cold outbreak in the school —Bojan (still got sick)
• Got the wifi password of the art supply store near the school and used it to play minecraft on his phone —Jan
• Used to bring USBs with call of duty on them, installed them on every computer in the computer lab and played with his friends in class —Bojan
• Smuggled a toaster and blender into the school, got bread, cheese, ham, strawberries and milk delieverd to the school and made sandwiches and smoothies for the class (you had to pay though) —Jure and Kris
• Daily breakfast would consist of: a bottle of the same brand of cheap energy drink bought in the kiosk for like 2 months straight —Bojan
• Played a gay character in a play and was so good at it that teachers had a sit down with him to ask him if he was actually gay —Bojan
• Brought alcohol to an alcohol-free party organized by the school, said to not show anyone just to show everyone the bottle of alcohol —Jan
• Actually did the 'this shot's for you, babe' on a basketball game (his final pe test) and failed it —Bojan
• Used to ask girls to pluck his eyebrows weekly in the middle of class because he wanted them to look good —Kris
(+ bonus jere bc i just had to)
• Confidently saying the capital of Colombia is Ecuador in the oral geography test —Jere
• Tried to hide a basketball under his shirt (basketballs were banned) and when questioned about the bulge in his shirt, replied with "I'm pregnant" —Jere
• At a patty organized by the parents of pur class, got drunk, went to sleep on the floor and ended up being used as a bench by like 3 girls —Jere
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pokemenlovingmen · 1 year
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ur writing has truly captivated my attention, i truly adore how you characterize everyone, and thats not yet reading your other writing requests AAAAA!!!! im just!! wow cat eyes wide holding these fics in my hands gently
if its alright, im a little embarrassed to ask so quickly, could i ask for more general loving teasing for adaman? just flustering him (by blatantly flirting with him if anything) sounds like a fun time tbh msbdndb
I’m sorry I didn’t respond to this sooner, I wanted to, but since it had a request attached I waited on the post. But thank you so much!! You guys are for real SO NICE, like for as many specifics and rules as I have for requesting and interactions I’ve pulled such a kind and supportive audience. I usually write full fics in my spare time, but it’s been hard to finish any project so these headcanon list type things are good to keep the creative juices flowing, and I’m so flattered that what I basically use as practice pieces are things you like so much!!! You guys are so kind!!! I’m glad you like my stuff so much!! We gays are in this together!
And Adaman requests are always speaking my language, I’ve never been as down biblically bad for a man in a Pokemon game as I have that guy <3
Teasing and Flirting w/ Adaman!
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💎 — Adaman is pretty hard to shake up, not that he’s stoic, but more that he’s just so laid-back and being raised into this clan leadership position, it’s second nature for him to just be ready to react to anything.
💎 — And if someone he didn’t have feelings for tried teasing or flirting with him, he’d probably just smile, totally oblivious to their true intentions because he’s got a million things on his mind and any attraction for that person isn’t one of them. He just won’t think anything of it.
💎 — But coming from a person he is romantically inclined towards, however…
💎 — Well, he might laugh a lot more at your jokes. You might catch him running a hand through his hair with surprising regularity. Like he’s nervous or something…
💎 — He’ll usually do that classic narrow-eyed Adaman Look towards you when he realizes you’re trying to get a rise out of him. Well, ha! He’s the leader of the Diamond Clan, and he’s more strong-willed than that, thank you very much.
💎 — But okay, you’re really testing him. He’s good at keeping his voice steady, but if you’re around other people there’s no mistaking how his face tints just sliiiightly pink when you talk.
💎 — Walk up to him and twirl his hair while he’s just talking to someone or even just minding his own business, he’ll whip around and give you a MASSIVE glare.
💎 — Hugs from behind really fluster him. If you wrap your arms around his waist the first thing that kicks in is the “defend myself from wild Pokemon” instinct, and once he realizes it’s only you he’ll just scowl and try and ignore you.
💎 — The “scowl and try to ignore you” is a regular technique of his that usually doesn’t work. Of course, you know him well enough to tell the difference between when he’s flustered and actually mad. Adaman’s face doesn’t go all red when he’s angry.
💎 — He’ll take your first few flirtatious comments in stride but the thicker you lay it on, the less dignified his responses get.
“Do you know how pretty you are?”
“Why, yes, I did! Thank you for noticing, S/O.”
“You’re soooo cute when you smile.”
“Did you mean handsome? I don’t think a clan leader is meant to be ‘cute’.”
“You have the sweetest laugh ever, I want to hear it more.”
“Very sweet of you, but we’re in public!”
“If I kiss this spot behind your ear, you get all red and it’s the cutest thing ever, look…”
“Eh?! Can’t this wait for somewhere more private??”
💎 — Funny thing is, Adaman does a lot of teasing himself. He’s suave, confident, and charming, being teasy and flirtatious is just second nature. But if there’s one thing that’s also true about Adaman, is he CANNOT take what he dishes out. His flustered reactions to your teasing are pure and simple embarrassment. He’s nervous about looking too soft.
💎 — He’s never been in a relationship before, much less one with a man, and he has a lot on his shoulders as clan leader. Romantic interactions, all that playful couple stuff, it’s all so new to him and being on the receiving end of it just. Short circuits him. It’s why you find him so fun to fluster, and also why he forgives you so quickly—it’s just some harmless fun and your little way of nudging him to relax a bit in your relationship.
💎 — And he understands and appreciates that! He loves the flirting, deep down, he just has literally no idea how to react to it. Feelings?? Help?? Man calling me pretty make my heart go thump??
💎 — When you two are finally somewhere remotely private, he drags you off by the arm with a “what was that?!”
💎 — You just wink at him and tell him he’s so cute, it’s just hard to help yourself sometimes.
💎 — He’s also very weak to winking. That suaveness sweeps him off his feet.
💎 — When he does get you alone while you’re still in that flirty, teasey mood, he’ll probably scold you a bit and try as hard as he can to be mad at you—which he isn’t, because he’s a pushover and also this attention just tickles his heart in the best way.
💎 — But after he gets done sulking… he might scoot a little closer to you and shyly ask if you could talk like that with him again, or be playfully affectionate again, it really did feel good.
💎 — Just stop doing it while he’s trying to handle clan business!! You HARLOT. (affectionate)
💎 — But hey, you’ll get him to loosen up eventually. Until then, it’s pretty funny to watch him struggle to conjure up a proper reaction to you being this way.
(This all came out incredibly sexual-sounding which wasn’t the intent at all… my apologies. The harlot thing was a dramatic jab but nothing was intended as sexual here, Adaman getting flustered was just him getting flustered, nothing more. That ended up being really challenging to convey though, I’m sorry. ;;)
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yaboyhoney · 1 year
Note
I have a big pokemon villain brain rot right now could you please write Maxie, Archie, Ghetsis, and Colress with a Malewife reader?
Villains x Malewife Reader
Maxie
He's not exactly the easiest man to date, due to his usual cold and calculated demeanor but the two of you are actually very sweet.
Maxie actually holds a lot of care for those who manage to get close to him, but he basically holds you on a pedestal.
It means a lot to him that anyone would find him that interesting enough to want to be considered as his romantic partner. But that doesn't mean he never pined for you back. Being the analytical person he is, he tried to confess to you via power point and a lecture presentation back when you two were in university. (He never showed you this. He's embarrassed by the number of revisions he did, never being satisfied enough.)
Archie is still rather reserved in showing you to other people. Like, yes, this is my boyfriend. Yes we've been dating for years. Stop screaming. Of course I can find love?!
But now, the two of you are much older. He finds comfort in knowing there's someone waiting for him at home. Someone that's willing to indulge in his fantasies of an ordinary, but loving domestic life.
Archie
Archie knows he's over the top. That's kind of his deal. So people are surprised when they find out he's YOUR partner.
It's obvious you have your own personality but people close to Archie swear they've never seen him calm down so quickly when you're near. You're the passive element he needed in his life, the calm in the storm.
Archie is the kind of guy who does things BIG and LOUD. He's a passionate dude! But a guy with a mighty strong personality as his becomes docile when he starts rambling about you, practically showing you off to other people. (this is my husband. He's better than yours)
He's very sweet around you, falling more in love with every sweet gesture you do, despite how ordinary they can be. He was texting you about a stressful encounter he had at work and comes home later that day with you cooking his favorite food. You help massage his back on days he gets too rough with his Pokemon.
There's nothing better than coming home after a day of work and coming home to you, in the one place where he can allow himself to be quiet and only yours.
Ghetsis
Life after Team Plasma has been odd to adjust to. He's under constant surveillance to ensure he doesn't plot to do his crimes again.
Meeting you has been the most fortunate and luckiest thing to ever happen to him.
Though you were somewhat ordinary, you had a positive charm and a knack for helping him relax and smile. He's never felt the need to impress someone before meeting you
You two don't start living together right away, you met him on the subway.
Since Ghetsis had never taken the subway before, in order to show up to his parole officer and not having a car, he had to use the subway.
He asked you for your help in knowing what station he gets off at. You were so kind to him by explaining where he needed to go that he felt compelled to keep conversing with you. He feels the need to impress you by boldly declaring the two of you would go to dinner sometime soon. He's confident but not smooth.
You laugh and decide to take him up on his offer. After some months of dating, you start to hang around his place some more and he realizes how much he needed someone like you in his life.
There was a lot of things to learn, having to learn how to live an ordinary life, but you teach him so compassionately and kindly, never degrading him for not having the knowledge.
His heart flutters every time he opens his lunch box, always looking forward to the handwritten note you leave him with. He collects every single love note you give him and puts in a box, going through it on days you're not here.
Colress
If it wasn't already obvious, Colress has lamented his past days working for Team Plasma.
After he realized the effect he had on the region, he became so disgusted with himself that he wasn't sure what to do. He knew he could stay in Unova, so he flees to Alola.
For a while, for as long as he could, he tries to live a quiet life, speaking to no one. He lives in fear of being recognized.
But over time, he began to note a repetitive pattern which was you.
The two of you always enjoyed your coffee at the same time, in the very early mornings. He would see you on your back porch, cooing at your Pokemon.
The occasional glance was met with a greeting. Then the greetings gradually became conversations. Colress expresses a curiosity in what you were eating, so you offer him some of your freshly baked banana bread. He returns the gesture back by gifting you malasada, apologizing meekly that he's not the type of person to bake, which explained the burning smell earlier last night.
You two start off with small exchanges of coffee and breakfast until one day, you confess (lie) that you made too much food and invite him over for dinner.
Once he steps inside your home, he's blown away by sheer polarizing contradiction it was to his home. Your home was warm and inviting, there was the smell of something delicious in the air.
when he bids farewell, he finds himself feeling empty when he's back inside his own home. His home is so...quiet and sterile, much like his former lab.
He finds himself needing more of not just your home but you yourself.
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carriedreamerxx · 4 months
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Currently in the process of writing my first Pokemon fandom "horror" and having a blast - I mean we have a darn yandere type "main" - so how could I not?
***Episode 6: Blueberry Yonder****
*****
"well, well look who's decided to come grace our academy."
She stiffened. That voice... Oh there was no way. Arceus didn't hate her that much. There was no way Arceus could possibly-!
"Oh there you are Kiki!" Carmine chirped in far too high pitch a voice. It was seriously giving Juliana a bit of a headache truth be told but-...whoa.
She'd heard of growth spurts overnight but was this- was this normal? Arven had apparently shot up about five inches or so when he had turned fifteen sure but...
"...Kieran?" She said in sheer disbelief, no really this kid had been-!? And now he was-?
Was it the hair? Maybe it was the hair making him taller..? But, no it had been a year so... So... Maybe?
She jumped back from the hand outstretched in front of her, instinctually really because ... Because ...
Danger.
Arven's voice whispered in her mind.
"Oh c'mon, no need to be shy. What are you a Skwovet?"
Her hand was abruptly seized and she bit back a squeak of alarm. Like a Skwovet indeed.
"I um-."
"Speechless? Yeah, it's amazing what a year can do huh? Impressed?" He smirked and that grip was... Growing tighter. She saw Carmine's face, while completely unwavering her gaze had... Nonetheless drifted to that clasping of hands.
"Uh... Sure, so you've been hard at work then?" She made to pull away but the grip...just tightened. "I mean at training?"
"You could say that." He beamed and the smile only just got bigger the more she pulled, and it wasn't so subtle this time either. Finally with a literal yank, Juliana was able to pull away. He didn't even look fazed when she stuffed her hand in her pocket, and took a small step back.
Again he didn't look fazed. "So how's the ogre doing?"
"She's fine. She's in good hands."
He raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah? Where is it? Not here?"
She swallowed down the instinctual ire and instead decided to channel La Primera to the best of her ability and kept her smile constant.
"No, she's still at Naranja."
Kieran's narrowed. "Oh, how sweet. It didn't want to come with you?"
"No, she likes Paldea, so she's staying with someone I trust until the end of the semester. Problem?"
Carmine sucked in a breath next to her as at that moment, oh that moment those eyes flashed with such hatred for a moment it almost took her breath away but then... Just as quickly... The boy shrugged.
"Can't blame a guy for being curious now can you?"
Danger. Danger. Danger.
"... No I suppose I can't. She's fine. If you'll excuse me I need to unpack-."
"Oh right, right, fourth floor right?"
She froze.
"you're on the fourth floor, room 26 right?"
Badum. Badum.
"how do you ...?"
"Like hell I will you-!" She began but he's already turned and was sauntering away. He looked over his shoulder.
He shrugged. "I'm champion around here, I know everything, and what I don't-." His eyes glimmered with another burst of... Maniacal glee. "I make it my business to find out." He smirked again. "Welcome to blueberry Juliana, who knows... Maybe you'll bring my ogre here after all."
Little Buddy.... Be careful.
"Oh by the way, this isn't Paldea, best be ready for an actual fight... little friend."
Her skin chilled and he just laughed.
"Yes Kiki I've told her all about that don't you worry!" Carmine called out.
"Oh shut up." He waved her away.
Again Carmine's face didn't even change despite the twitch that Juliana saw. "Of course, see you at dinner, little. Brother." She said through that grit toothed smile.
"Uh... Carmine?"Juliana mumbled. "Are you....okay?"
"Hm? Oh of course! Now you must be absolutely exhausted from such a long flight!" She clasped her hands together. "Let's get you all settled then!" She laughed a brittle fake laugh that only worsened the chill running down Juliana's spine. The grip on her arm was like steel as she was more or less pulled down the hall to the cacophony of Carmine's almost endless chatter.
What ... What the heck was going on?
*****
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spicyicetea · 8 months
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So... Me again. Did I just put a post out saying that I probably won't update any time soon? Yes. Am I now putting out a chunky post about a Pokémon au I've been making as stress relief? Yes. Am I scared of being judged or people thinking the au sounds dumb? Very much so. Well here's my au! Please enjoy, I beg you.
Distortian au
This au is centred around my personal favourite pokemon characters and a villain team me and my friends made up one night. The evil team is refered to as team lotus and their main goal is to open a reliable pathway into the distortian realm to comune with Giritina. I don't want to give too many spoilers about why they're doing this, in case I do end up writing a longer story, but it isn't for inherently evil reasons, like self gain or the destruction of humanity. The Y/N character in this AU would be the younger sibling of the leader of Team Lotus. Y/N is unaware of their siblings association with the team and works with the other trainers at trying to take down the team.
Speaking of which, the other strong pokemon trainers, like the champions, gym leaders and other powerful trainers (Like Emmet and Ingo), would join in the fights trying to take down the team as they recruit technology and members of other evil teams from other regions. The team is hiding itself under a man made resort island that is currently hosting a world wide battle competition to determine the the strongest trainer in the world.
How would this change the actual characters?
Well the personalities of the characters wouoldn't change in any extreme way, however I would be applying personal headcannons onto them for what happened after the events of their game/games or just how I believe they would actually act. Just as an example of what I mean by this, I like the idea that certain evil team leaders would have tried to redeem themselves after being defeated. Obviously some of them would have remained set in their ways, characters like Ghetsis not being willing to change his views and Giovanni wanting to change for the sake of Silver but struggling due to old habits. The other evil team leaders I can see redeeming themselves are like Archie and Maxie as they were just very... dumb with their actions and I'm a big believer in a Cyrus redemption arc where Cynthia forces him to therapy out of pity and he reshapes team galactic to monitor the distortian realm with their technology after damaging the veil between the distortian realm and the normal world. I can't help myself, I tend to like the bad guys more than the good guys in pokemon games, or at least the older ones, the newer ones just don't have the same spark and appeal as the old ones in my opinon, excpet for Guzma... I love Guzma.
More about Y/N:
Although I refer to them here with they/them pronouns, if I were to actually write them I'd prob use fem pronouns because it's what I find easier to write for, especially for shipping reasons. As much as I would love for it to be completely self insert with the pokemon team being up to the reader, I will have to make hard decisons if I ever have Y/N in a pokemon fight or just relaxing with their pokemon. For any posts about this au, feel free to put suggestions for pokemon for Y/N to have, the more I see it, the more likely I am to consider it as an option.
Now time for me to dump all my art regarding this au onto yall, or at least the stuff on my iPad. Most of the drawings are just the slight redesigns I use for the au stuff I have written so far. Most are slight changes, but some get complete outfit changes like Cyrus to fit his new role in the au.
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