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Steven Stone fan base: you have to decide.

No nuance, pick one

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I'm so Pokemon frfr

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Ok I need to ramble about pokespe Ruby. I haven't read ORAS yet sorry lol, and won't be touching much on Emerald because they aren't the focus. (using they/them pronouns for Ruby because that child is so gender and I have thoughts on that but I don't want to formulate that here, maybe another time) Ruby is very often mischaracterized by certain parts of the fandom, and there is a general lack of grace the community gives the kid. (Not saying this is everyone, but especially some of the posts you find from a few years back just kinda give me a general vibe of "huh. the person who made this doesn't quite empathize with Ruby a lot, and to be perfectly honest, neither does Canon") I think the problem is coming from a lack of handling Ruby's trauma like actual trauma in the source material. Things that severely screw with a kid are happening to Ruby left and right, but after that tidbit in the story is "resolved", we never see it have a clear, visual effect on Ruby down the line. The closest we get is Ruby crying in Wallace's car after losing Feefee. (side note: WHY exactly does Wallace have a flying car?) Despite this, if you look at Ruby's actions, it's clear that they aren't some miracle child unaffected by trauma. Where Blue (Green? the girl) has panic attacks because of her past, Ruby seems to just bottle everything up and learn all the wrong lessons. This again, is part of Ruby as a character is screwed over by the storytelling. We are not meant to read into all of this kid's behavior, because they are not meant to be read as a traumatized kid. But they are, and that seeps into every plot line, every character interaction. Why is Ruby such a jerk throughout the RS arc to everyone, but especially Feefee and Mumu? They see the "ugly" members of the party as everything they think defines them. Ruby is insecure to at every turn, bowing out when they think they'll lose, trying to prove they're better than others when they feel threatened, and lashing out at anyone and anything they see themselves in. This makes Ruby come off as very shallow and vapid, which is an unfortunately prevalent "criticism" of the character. Why the overconfidence? A way of shielding all the insecurities. If you act like you love everything about yourself to a fault, It hides all the self loathing. This is a common coping mechanism, and we should not judge Ruby too harshly for this especially considering the whole 11 YEARS OLD part. Why are they so hostile towards Sapphire? Breaking down the scene when they meet, She scares them, attacks them, and insults their passion before showing that she is both proficient in and enthusiastically participates in pokemon battles, (something that drives a large wedge between Ruby and Norman) and has an at least surface level positive relationship with her father. That last part is something Ruby very desperatly wants. This is Ruby's first knowledge of Sapphire. After this, Sapphire is actively hostile towards Ruby even when they are working together. (This is NOT a dig on Sapphire. in her eyes she is entirely correct, and I'm inclined to say she was usually "in the right" but this is from Ruby's POV.)

PART 2: (Why I splitting this into parts I didn't do part 1) Daddy issues

Ruby and Norman have very clear issues. Even though Norman was going through a really rough spot, he had no right to take that out on his child. Ruby is seriously afraid of Norman, and as much as that is kind of played for laughs a couple times, that is not something we should look past. I also do not think we should leave their mom off the chopping block, as she is absolutely complacent in Norman's mistreatment of Ruby. Though we don't know exactly what, something must have happened between Ruby and Norman in between Salamence and the start of RS because Ruby is just so afraid of their own father. And their mom just. Doesn't get Ruby out of there in what can be assumed to have been an abusive situation for her kid. Norman ATTACKS Ruby at the weather institute, slams his kid into a wall. Norman is brutal, and even the onlookers think it's too far, but he keeps going until horrid weather stops the fight. And yet Ruby keeps coming back to Norman, keeps wanting his approval, and it keeps hurting them. Norman clearly wants Ruby, just some sort idealized version of Ruby who does everything Norman's way. (which is very queercoded but y'know) This is actually explored with Wally at the sky pillar, when Norman takes a chronically ill child with issues breathing at times into a potentially deadly and physically taxing ancient crumbling tower that goes up so high the oxygen thins, before sending the child to attack a god and leaving him at the top of said tower by himself as in falls apart in the middle of the weather apocalypse. Norman wanted to do this with Ruby, but Ruby wasn't being compliant. Norman seems to resent Ruby for this. When they finally work together in a moment of sheer desperation after Ruby witnessed Courtney's death and almost died themselves, Norman ends up dying in Ruby's grasp, right next to the kid. Honestly, given Ruby's patterns as a character, I find it hard to believe they wouldn't blame themself for this. But this wasn't the end. Ruby had to watch their father's body get burnt to crisp whilst being attacked by two possessed men. Yet we are meant to see Norman's actions as justified because Ruby was being a jerk. This is how it was framed, and Norman just gets off the hook because he is not punished by the narrative. He is not a defeated enemy, he is a lost soldier of good. I understand this is how Ruby sees him, but we as an audience should not be seeing him this way. He is abusive, and should be treated as such by the story. I understand Nuance is important, but he should not be framed as a good guy. This, I think, leads to a lot of people thinking his abuse of Ruby is "justified", and the fact that people think he was in the right seems like an issue not just with media literacy, but with the framing of his character.

Part 3: Found family

Ruby bounces of a lot of characters, but I'll stick to the main ones they have a positive relationship with and could be seen as found family in some way, and I kind of already covered the key points with Sapphire earlier so I'll skip her.

Wally: Ruby immediately takes Wally under their wing after Norman rejects Wally's wish to find a pokemon, and although they don't spend much time together, Ruby is constantly looking for Wally, even following Wanda thinking it's him. They also trust Wally with Rara. (Not terribly much on this one bc they don't actually interact much)

Gabby and Ty: They actually look out for Ruby a lot during the arc, letting Ruby sleep in their car and travel around with them, and try to intervene in the Ruby v Norman fight. They don't have huge story roles, but they are actually pretty decent people and help Ruby out a lot.

Wallace: (Oh boy I have many ideas) Wallace is the mentor figure Ruby always wanted. They wanted someone who understood contests and cared about their passion, and Wallace was just that. Wallace, on the other hand, was not ready for a pupil. A kid starts following him around, and he just. Doesn't know what to do about it. He sees the kid's talent, sure, but takes until he sees that the kid is also powerful (and Norman's kid) to agree to mentor them. So while Wallace should not have been berating Ruby for what they did to Feefee, (Ruby is a child, and although what they did was wrong, they should also be given a bit of grace because. 11 years old.) I can understand that he was not in a position he might have been ready for. It is also shown that he trust Ruby very much, and wants Ruby to succeed and learn from their mistakes. Also, when he does not know how to help Ruby, he calls his mentor who presumably helped him through tough times as a kid, and lets Ruby learn from Juan. Overall better "father figure" than Norman, and I think he genuinely really does want to help Ruby, but doesn't really know what to do. Side note about this part of the story: I read Wallace's character as one who sees himself in Ruby, and in how Ruby lashed out. Not knowing what to do, he called Juan, who was his mentor figure and helped him as a kid. This is just my humble interpretation though.

Conclusion: Fandom, be nicer to Ruby. They are a good kid in a bad scenario just trying their best. They are a kid. They can make mistakes, but what matters is they learn from it. No one is infalible, and they are by no means a bad person, and we should agknowledge they are also a product of their environment.

(Final thing, I was looking back through the RS arc for this and in chapter 225 Wallace is shown playing the flute. I feel like we should appreciate this fact as a fandom.)

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I love Sinnoh trio very much. They are so autism ngl

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Misc Hoenn doodles I decided to try alcohol markers on :)

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Zinnia and Oscar the grouch would have an insane dynamic just saying

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I actually love that very very much and it fits so well with my idea... I may want to use this idea if thats ok? :)

Ok, as far as we know Courtney has no pokemon of her own, her only known mon in anything outside of special being a Camerupt given to her by Maxie. So like, what pokemon do you think she would catch? I'm in between several right now, would love to hear suggestions!

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Ok, as far as we know Courtney has no pokemon of her own, her only known mon in anything outside of special being a Camerupt given to her by Maxie. So like, what pokemon do you think she would catch? I'm in between several right now, would love to hear suggestions!

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Originshipping my beloved; I have so many thoughts on these two.

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Old meme champion shenanigans

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crying my art files aren't going through WHY. Anyways which art should I post?

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um. unworldlyshipping anyone?

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Manga panel redraw, you know the one :)

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The og guys

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New pfp, redraw of the old one :)

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Alola kids :)

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