#ESPECIALLY MOVIE-VERSE PLASMA

[asher-hyperfixation-hell]

hmmm ⛱ 😒📘 (if you cant see them its an umbrella emoji, a like... exasperated/slightly annoyed emoji, and a book emoji) with either jaya or plasma? (< cannot choose <3<3)

Double Strike: ⛱😒📘

Original Ask Post

aka; Jay is an absolute pan disaster who has a crush on both Jiang-Smith siblings while Kai and Nya are seemingly oblivious

{btw this takes place in the movie!verse cuz i felt like it fit better there}

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“I can’t believe you guys enjoy this weather.” Kai complained for at least the tenth time as rain continued to consistently patter down, sufficiently soaking his brunette hair.

Nya scoffed, wrapping an arm around Jay’s shoulders and pulling him close, “Quit being a crybaby.” She teased, causing Kai to stick out his tongue in retaliation.

Jay was hardly paying attention to the siblings’ bickering, desperately willing himself to not melt into a puddle right there and then as his face flushed from the close contact.

It was a Saturday and Jay had simply gone out to enjoy the stormy weather. He’d grown to love the rain and lightning, despite being afraid of it as a kid. It had become a sort of comfort. A way to allow himself to relax and enjoy himself in his element.

What he hadn’t been expecting was to find not just one, but both of his crushes out on an errand. Before he knew it, they were both walking with him as well.

What were the odds?

His attention was immediately snapped away when he saw lighting flash in the distance, gasping in delight as he began to count aloud.

“One… Two… Three…”

Thunder rang out, causing both Kai and Nya to fall silent and look around.

“What’s with the counting?” Nya asked curiously, rain water dripping down her face.

Jay beamed, wringing his hands together excitedly, “Oh! It- It’s just something I did with my dad when I was younger.” He explained, “I- I used to be scared of lighting and thunder and stuff, but apparently however many seconds it takes for the thunder to follow the lighting is how many miles away it is…” He trailed off when he realized he’d been rambling, struggling to meet Nya’s gaze, “or- or- I mean- something like that-“

To his surprise, Nya looked genuinely interested. She was about to respond before lighting flashed again and Jay found her counting under her breath.

Jay attempted to join her,

“One… Two… Three…”

But at the same time,

“Four… Five…”

He couldn’t stop staring at her.

Nya stopped counting when thunder boomed, causing her to grin. “Huh, it’s kinda relaxing.” She admitted, smiling at Jay in such a kind way that caused his heart to flutter.

Both their attentions were drawn away when Kai let out another exasperated sigh, especially at the prospect of Jay and Nya leaving him out in this already miserable weather.

“Chill out!” Nya groaned, playfully kicking a puddle of water at Kai, causing him scramble backwards with a screech of protest.

Jay couldn’t help but smile at the siblings’ antics before his attention was caught by a rustling sound. He turned towards it, greeted to the sight of an abandoned umbrella sitting upside down on the side of the road.

He glanced back at Kai’s shivering form one last time before scampering over the umbrella and picking it up without hesitation, still holding it upside down as he headed back to the soaked hothead.

“Here, Kai!” Jay chirped holding the umbrella over Kai’s head, even though he practically had to get on his toes to do so.

Unfortunately, upon flipping it right side up, the water the umbrella had gathered immediately dumped onto Kai’s head.

All of them were stunned into a silence, Jay’s throat immediately tightening as he realized his mistake. FSM, Kai was sure to be furious with him.

Nya broke the silence first, bursting out into laughter as her brother was now closer to resembling a scrawny, soaked cat than a cocky, boisterous high schooler.

Jay stood stiff, having retracted the umbrella back close to himself, before he realized that Kai had begun to laugh too, wheezing and cackling at the event as water heavily dripped down from his leather man and completely ruined hair.

An unsure grin began to crack across Jay’s anxious face before he couldn’t help but burst out laughing too, especially when Kai abruptly wrapped Jay in his arms and practically lifted him off the ground.

“If I’m getting soaked, than so are you, Walker!” Kai laughed as he swung Jay around in the tight hug, causing Jay’s breath to hitch between his laughter as a flustered blush rose into his cheeks.

Kai finally decided to put Jay back down once he decided the freckled boy was sufficiently soaked before grabbing the discarded umbrella off the ground, shaking the water droplets out of it, and using for it’s intended purpose by holding it over his head, even though Nya said he couldn’t get any wetter.

“What’s that?” Nya asked, pointing to where Jay had picked up the umbrella. Both boys looked in the direction she was pointing, their eyes all resting on what looked to be a soaked blue book that had been forgotten alongside the umbrella.

Jay perked up curiously before hurrying back over and snatching it up. He attempted to shake it dry, although it didn’t do much except save it from a few drops.

Kai scooted closer to Jay to get a good look at the book, holding up the umbrella over both of them and causing Jay to redden at the proximity, repeatedly glancing at Kai as he held his breath.

“So..?” Nya said slowly, clearly waiting for Jay to open the book and only causing Jay to immediately flush even further.

He immediately flung it open, flipping through the pages, “O- Oh- Uhm-“ He stammered, trying to quickly reground himself. He flipped from page to page, only to find the writing messy and smeared, making it impossible to read due to the rainwater.

“That’s a shame.” Jay sighed as he continued to look through, finding that most the middle pages where blank and mostly dry.

Kai’s eye suddenly lit up as he began to reach for the book, “Waitwaitwaitwaitwait- Give it here! I wanna do something!” He said, attempting to grab at it like a little kid until a confused Jay gave it.

Kai held the book open on one of the blank pages, sticking his tongue out as he dug through his pocket, finally pulling out a dark blue pen.

He began scribbling on it, jerking away with a playful glare when Jay tried to peak.

Nya managed to look over his shoulder, a grin spreading across her face instantly. “My turn! My turn!” She said, snatching out of Kai’s hand before he could protest before scribbling it in as well with her own, lighter, blue pen.

Jay teasingly scoffed in mock offense, “Oh, so I’m not good enough for the book?” He asked, trying to look again when Kai pulled it out of Nya’s hands, now using a discarded, broken, red coloring pencil.

The freckled boy finally had enough, darting forward and using Kai’s surprise to take the book back from the both of them. He pressed a hand on his chest and let out a fake evil, victorious laughed as he showed off the stolen book.

The siblings laughed and complained, attempting to get it back only for Jay to jump out of reach, grinning cheekily before looking down at the open book.

A soft gasp escaped him as his eyes began to sparkle. Three rough, messy, stick figure doodles rested on the page. A shorter, dark blue one in the middle with a smile and something around it’s neck that Jay assumed was supposed to be a scarf with a red and blue figure on either sides of it. The blue figure had what looked like a jacket and a ponytail on it’s head while the red one had an angry smile face with pointy teeth and it’s head looked to be on fire.

On top of that, both the blue and red figures where holding the dark blue figure’s hands.

“I- Wha-“ His face flushed, a trembling smile spread across his face. He’d always had a hard time getting people to like him and here were both Kai and Nya being so absolutely amazing to them.

FSM, he was absolutely head over heels for the both of them.

Jay immediately clutched the book close when both Kai and Nya complained they weren’t finished with it. “This is perfect.” Jay protested, ripping out the drawing and giving the book back to the siblings, “I’m keeping it.”

Before either of them could respond, Nya’s attention was drawn away by her phone’s vibration.

“Dammit- We’re already supposed to be home.” Nya said with a grimace, tucking the book under her arm. “C’ya Jay!”

Jay grinned and waved as he watched both the siblings attempt to quickly scramble off, both of them waving back and shouting goodbyes.

Even after they were gone, Jay couldn’t fight back his grin, looking down at the messy drawing with stares in his eyes.

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I honestly don’t super like how this one turned out, but I didn’t want to delay it any longer so here ya go!

I thought abt putting this on ao3, but I forgot my other accounts and I’m too lazy to make a new one atm

[epicspheal]

Do you consider N's ability to talk to Pokemon an aura thing, or something else entirely? I mostly think it's not, knowing how thin the line can get when it comes to aura and other powers/magical properties, it's hard to really point down, at least for me. Especially since I think about the " powers" my other oc's could have.

Also I hope your doing well :)

Hi there @ihopethisendswell! I'm doing well, I hope you are too. Thanks for asking! :D Yeah, there is definitely a thin line between aura and other powers which is why I personally love using aura as the basis of human magic in cactusverse. Hence why fairy and dragon typed human powers are roped into aura and honestly I may end up including the psychic and ghost abilities too as more advanced derivatives of aura powers. I personally like consolidating magical systems for my worldbuilding both in fanfic and original fiction

Now as for N and his ability to talk to Pokemon I'll separate this into what I think is canon legitimately (to the main series) and what is canon in cactusverse. Now canonically aura users do have empathic abilities, so it isn't out of the question that perhaps N doesn't talk to Pokemon rather than he can understand their thoughts through empathy. He's different from Coco from the newest Pokemon movie who can understand Pokemon but with his actual vocal chords to speak the Pokemon language (specifically the Zarude language). But I think in true canon N, just like Anthea and Concordia who also can hear the voices of Pokemon it's just an extra power that some humans in the Pokemon world can have (much like the vague powerset of the shadow triad). It would be nice to get a more detailed explanation in canon *stares at the inevitable gen 5 remakes* Now as far as Cactusverse? Oh definitely N (as well as Anthea and Concordia) are all aura users. Their empathic ability to understand the voices of Pokemon has been seen in only one other living human in my verse...Red (who is also a full-fledged aura guardian that accidentally self-taught himself all of the rest of the powers I described while living on Mt. Silver). N in particular as part of his training by Ghetsis was to become a full-fledged aura guardian as a part of the plan to make the Unovans bow to Team Plasma and release their Pokemon. A person with full aura guardian powers (the first full-fledged aura guardian in Unova in centuries) who also managed to be chosen by a legendary dragon? That was a huge factor in why some of the citizens of Unova ended up doing Team Plasma's bidding and parting ways with their Pokemon.

[letterboxd]

Lonesome Cruiser.

Blockbuster composer Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL, talks to Gemma Gracewood about composing for titans, his pride in Dutch cinema, friendship with George Miller and longing for Olivia Newton-John. Plus: his Letterboxd Life in Film and why he’s selling his prized collection of recording gear.

It has been a spectacular spring for Tom Holkenborg, the Dutch musician also known as Junkie XL, who has crafted the scores for multiplex fare such as Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, Terminator: Dark Fate, Sonic the Hedgehog and the upcoming zombie banger Army of the Dead. Only weeks apart, two blockbusters landed on screens with his sonic stamp all over them: Adam Wingard’s Godzilla vs. Kong and Zack Snyder’s re-realized Justice League.

Thankfully, the Godzilla vs. Kong score was complete by the time the Justice League telephone rang. Holkenborg—who had lost the Justice League gig along with Snyder the first time around—knew the Snyder cut was coming; he had closely watched the growing calls for it online. “Zack and I already started talking in 2019. He’s like, ‘What if we were to finish this? What would it take?’ Those conversations turned to ‘Well, how many recording days potentially do you need and how much of an orchestra do you potentially need?’ Finally, somewhere in April 2020, that’s when that phone call came: ‘Okay, light’s green, start tomorrow, and start running until it’s done because it’s four and a half hours’.”

Ray Fisher as Cyborg in ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’.

Holkenborg approaches the titanic task of blockbuster film scoring with an engineer’s mindset: “Building a fantastic, huge house with 20 bedrooms and the dance hall and the kitchen… You’re not going to start by building the third bathroom for the third guest room, right?” Once he has identified the scenes that are most important to his directors—for Snyder, they included the introduction of Cyborg, three fight set-pieces, and a scene of The Flash running that comes towards the end of the film—the composer identifies instrumental “colors” in order to build a theme around each character. Then he holds some of those colors back, theorizing that “if you want like an, ‘Oh!’ experience by looking at a painting that has a huge amount of bright yellow in it, it’s way more successful to see fifteen paintings in front of it, where yellow is absent.”

The Godzilla vs. Kong score satisfies Holkenborg’s life-long love of both characters. “I don’t have a preference for either one. I love them both for various different reasons.” Their respective histories fascinate him: Godzilla as a way to make sense of Japan’s nuclear fall-out, and Kong as a gigantic spectacle that ended up attracting the sympathies of the audiences he was supposed to scare. Even when the science makes no sense (“what the fuck are plasma boosters, anyway?!”), Holkenborg is still happy to wax lyrical about the emotional depth of Kong’s stories, the elaborate concepts of the Godzilla-verse, and his musical approach to the pair—dark, moving brass for Godzilla, with synthesized elements “because he is a half-synthesized animal”, and a more organic, complex orchestration for Kong, featuring “one of the world’s bigger bass drums”.

Adam Wingard’s ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’.

All of this seat-shaking bombast is composed on an “insanely massive sound system” in Holkenborg’s small home studio (though he reassures pandemic-stricken film lovers that he has recently seen both Godzilla vs. Kong and Justice League on his laptop—and “really enjoyed watching it like that”). The process, he says, was “pretty intense”, but only in terms of the sheer amount of score needed. Composing in quarantine was not much different from his usual workflow. “I’m a pretty lonesome cruiser anyway. Composing, by nature, is like a solo exercise—obviously with assistance.”

Like many creatives (Bong Joon-ho recently told a film studies class that he is up at 5:00am most days to watch a movie), Holkenborg is an early riser, waking by 4:00am. “I’m super sharp between like 4 or 5:00am and 9:00am, so I like to do a lot of creative work in that slot.” He takes care of business until mid-afternoon, when another creative spurt happens. “And then I have another batch of calls usually to make, and then around 8:30pm, I’m going to retire for the rest of the day and just chill out a little bit and watch stuff that I want to see, read things that I want to read. Right now I’m studying Portuguese.” By 10:30pm, he’s asleep. “And then at three o’clock I get up.” (Needless to say, Holkenborg’s children are no longer small.)

The pandemic simplified a lot of things for a lot of people: for Holkenborg, it has been a moment to tidy up the physical side of his work. In November last year, he opened an online shop to divest the bulk of his gear—synths, pedals, guitars, drum machines and much more—that he has been collecting since the late 1970s. When friends told him he’d regret it, he disagreed. “At some point I’m going to die. I can’t take them to the afterlife. I also found out I don’t need them. I love to have them around, but I don’t need them.”

Tom Holkenborg with the bass drum used in the ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ score.

It certainly solves the question of what he’d take if his house was on fire. “The hard drives with sounds and music over the last 40 years, 45 years, that’s hard to replace. So, that would be it. I’m just thinking about things that are absolutely irreplaceable and there are not that many, really.” Alas, it’s bad news for that bass drum. “I can’t take that with me when the house is on fire. Unfortunately, it’s going to make the house burn longer.”

Anyone who has interviewed or spent time with Holkenborg will agree: he may be a lonesome cruiser, but he is also personable, funny, loves to settle in for a chat. As he lights his second or third cigarette in readiness for his Life in Film questionnaire, I’m curious about his relationships with the esteemed filmmakers he has worked with—who include his mentor, Hans Zimmer, directors Sir Peter Jackson, Tim Miller, Robert Rodriguez and, especially, Fury Road’s George Miller.

The story of how Holkenborg scored Mad Max: Fury Road bears retelling: that George Miller did not want a soundtrack (“he was convinced that the orchestration of sounds of the cars would be enough to carry the whole movie”), that Holkenborg was only brought in to create a little something for the Coma-Doof Warrior’s flame-throwing guitar, that they hit it off, the job grew, and grew, into a score that covers almost the entire film.

The Coma-Doof Warrior in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015).

What is his best memory of Fury Road? “Well, obviously, when I saw the movie for the first time and I was like ‘what the hell am I looking at?’,” he laughs. “What I mostly look back on is the friendship that I developed with George and the film school one-on-one that I got admitted to, while being paid at the same time, to study with somebody like him. We would talk all night about all kinds of things and nothing, because that really defines our relationship so much—a joint interest in so many different things.”

Happily, Holkenborg and Miller are working together again, on Three Thousand Years of Longing. “It’s really great to be in that process with him again. It’s just like about pricking each other with a little needle. It’s like, ‘Oh, why are you saying that?’ We do that with each other to keep each other sharp. ‘Oh, but if you’re doing this, I’m going to be doing that.’ And then, ‘Oh, if you’re doing that, I’m going to be doing this.’ So it’s really interesting.”

What is your favorite Godzilla film?

Tom Holkenborg: 1989’s Godzilla vs. Biollante. It’s a very obscure one where he’s basically fighting a giant rose. Let’s not look for the logic there.

Why has that particular Godzilla captured your heart? It’s so corny. Yeah. Mothra vs. Godzilla is also great. Mothra looks like a very bad Arabian carpet that was imported through customs and it got delivered by FedEx completely ruined and then laid outside for like four weeks in the rain.

‘Godzilla vs. Biollante’ (ゴジラvsビオランテ, 1989).

What is the first film you remember seeing in a cinema? Bambi. I was six years old, yeah.

And is there a film you have fond memories of watching with your family—a movie that became a family favorite? Not, like, a family favorite because our opinions were too diverse for that, but the next movie that became very important to me when I was a little older was Saturday Night Fever. I thought the soundtrack was, like, groundbreaking, mind-blowingly insane. It’s not necessarily those three massive beats of the Bee Gees on there, but all these other really alternative, left-field tracks by bands like Kool & the Gang. And the way that that darker disco music played against that really dark movie about what it’s like to live in New York and become a competitive dancer, it’s incredible. And still, today, it’s one of the movies where film music and the film itself had so much impact on me, even though it’s not a traditional film score in that sense. It’s incredible.

What is the film that made you want to work in movies, given that you also have a whole musical career separate from movies? (Enjoy Junkie XL’s early 2000s remix of Elvis Presley’s ‘A Little Less Conversation’.) For me, the move from a traditional artist into film scoring was a very slow gradual process. There’s not one movie that pushed me over the cliff. It’s just, like, all the great movies that were made. And I still have a list of obscure movies, classic movies that I need to see.

Yesterday I saw the weirdest of all, but I do want to share this: the original, uncut R-rated version of Caligula, [from] 1979. He [director Tinto Brass] was notoriously brutal and he organized orgies and had terrible torturing techniques. But it’s really weird, there’s Shakespearean actors in there, and then it goes to full-on porn sections. It’s really weird. The music is incredible. You can find it online. You will not find it anywhere [else]. I can just imagine what this must have felt like in 1979 when the film came out. Suspiria, that’s another one. It’s just like, how weird was that thing?

What is your favorite blockbuster that you did not compose? Ben-Hur. I’ve seen that one at least 20 times.

What’s your all-time comfort re-watch? The movie I’ve seen the most is Blade Runner. It’s just, like, it’s a nice world you’re stepping into, that fantasy. It’s not necessarily because I have memories [of] that movie that brings me back to a certain time period, it’s not that. It’s just that I just love to dwell in it. It feels a little bit like coming home. You can use it as comfort food, you can use it as, “I’m not feeling anything today”, or the opposite. You feel very great and you feel very inspired and it’s like, “Oh, let’s go home and watch that movie again.”

Terrence Malick’s ‘The Thin Red Line’ (1998).

Hans Zimmer has been an important mentor to you. Do you have a favorite of his scores? Yes, The Thin Red Line. It’s also the filmmaking of Terrence Malick—he forces a composer to think a certain way. He would always say, “It’s too much, make it less, make it smaller, make it this, make it that.” So, A, it’s a very good movie and B, he got Hans into the right place and Hans just over-delivered by doing exactly the right things at the right time and then shining just because of that.

Who is a composer that you have your eye on and what is one of their films that we should watch next? It’s so sad to say, but I mean, let’s call it like a retrospective discovery if you will. I’m so sad that we lost Jóhann Jóhannsson. He was a composer I felt really close to. We started roughly in the same time period making our way in today’s world. Also, Jóhann came from an artist background, even though it was a modern classical background. He made really great records, great experimentation with electronic elements, with classical instruments, and the mix between the two of them—very original way of looking at music. With Denis Villeneuve as his partner in crime the movies that they did were just mind-boggling good, whether it was Sicario or Arrival or Prisoners, and his voice will truly be missed among film composers. So people that are not super familiar with his work, I would definitely check it out.

‘Turks Fruit’ (Turkish Delight, 1973).

What is a must-see Dutch film that we should add to our watchlists? Holland has small cinema, but it has a really rich cinema and a very serious cinema culture. Usually because there’s not enough work in film, people are serious stage performers but then they also act in movies so they understand both really well. And we’ve delivered. There’s a string of actors that make their way to Hollywood or star in well-known series, whether it’s like Game of Thrones, or what we just talked about, Blade Runner. Many directors like Paul Verhoeven, Jan de Bont, the cameraman.

And so a movie that I’d like to pick is an old movie, called Turks Fruit (Turkish Delight) from the 1970s. Rutger Hauer is a younger guy, like, this completely irresponsible guy that starts this relationship with a really beautiful young girl, and they do all these crazy things, they do a lot of drugs and they have a lot of sex. He’s just like a bad influence on her.

Then he finds out she [has] cancer and it’s terminal. And to see him deal with that, and to see him want a change, but also in that change he does a lot of bad stuff at the same time… It was a sensational movie when it came out. And it actually was directed by Paul Verhoeven, one of his earlier films. When you see it, you’re just like, ‘Why am I watching this?’ for the first 45 minutes and then it starts and it’s like, ‘whoa’. So it’s really good, even in retrospect.

Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in ‘Grease’ (1978).

What is the sexiest film you’ve ever seen? When I was super young, it was definitely Grease, with Olivia Newton-John, when she was in her catsuit at the very end of it. I had her picture on my bedroom, above my bed sideways because I was only like ten years old or something. I was so in love with Olivia Newton-John. It wasn’t the film per se, it was her. Yeah, I find, personally, movies from the ’70s to be more sexy, but it has something to do with the super-loose way that people were dressed and people were behaving.

And the other one was later in life: Basic Instinct. Sharon Stone. I’m not talking about like the famous shot, right, where she crosses her legs. I’m not talking about that, but the way that she acts throughout the whole movie. It’s insane. It’s really great.

Are there any films that have scared you? Like, truly terrified you? Yeah, I’m not a big fan because I get sucked up too much in it. The found [footage] horror movies like Paranormal Activity and things like the Japanese version of The Grudge, I cannot watch that stuff. That gets me too much. Because when I watch a film, I cannot watch it with one eye half open, the other one closed, like, ‘Okay, kind of cool, interesting’. I just get sucked into it.

Is there a film that has made you cry like no other? Oh yeah. Multiple. Once Upon a Time in America. The Godfather. Hable con Ella (Talk to Her). Betty Blue.

Thomas Holkenborg, AKA Junkie XL.

These are the films that make you weep? Not like on a regular basis, but I remember those were the ones that I really got hit. I’m talking particularly about the third Godfather. That whole end scene when they get out of the church and then… It’s really well-acted. So many Godfather fans that were dismissive of the film when it came out, in retrospect, ten, fifteen, 20 years later, are like, ‘it’s a really good film’. And I actually think so.

Final question. Is there a film from the past year that you would recommend, that you’ve loved? [Long pause.] The thing is that I watch pretty much a movie a day. So, that’s like three to four hundred movies. It [has] happened so often that I watch a film and then I’m just like an hour and 45 minutes in, it’s like, ‘wait, fuck, I’ve seen this thing before’.

So, we have an app for that… [Laughs.]

Related content

Junkie XL’s Letterboxd Life in Film list

Freddie Baker’s review of Justice League

Dutch Cinema: Danielle’s extensive list of more than 2,000 films

Letterboxd Showdown: The Perfect Score (best film scores)

The official Junkie XL Reverb Shop

Follow Gemma on Letterboxd

[pkmnjesus]

The 2010s Decade of PokéAni (An overview - Part 1 of 2)

It is now 2020! Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year. We are now entering a new decade of new adventures. Before the next new episode (first episode of this decade) that airs this Sunday, I’d like to reminisce the past decade on the Pokémon anime’s most memorable moments. Besides the annual PokéAni Rewind post I did, I want to additionally do a decade’s worth review of the anime throughout the different series from 2010-2019 just for this new year. From Sinnoh to Galar, we’ve seen many major events throughout the anime. Contests, Gym Battles, connoisseur battles, performances, races, leagues, Legendaries, Mythicals, Ultra Beasts, specials, introductions, farewells, evil organizations, shippings, background stories, emotional episodes, and crossover we’d never thought we’d see happen! There were also a lot unique PokéAni films shown within the decade from Zoroark: Master of Illusions to Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution. We've had movies with 2 versions like the games, more telepathy Pokémon, and a new format/alternate universe of Pokémon movies starting with 2017's I Choose You! But right now, let’s just keep our focus on the main series anime for this particular post. I will not be counting Origins, Generations and other mini-specials shown this decade since these were more in the game-verse continuity of the franchise. This might be really long (and annoy some people’s dash), so I’m going to split this into two posts. *These posts will be following the original Japanese air dates, but will still be using the English/game dub names for a universal understanding by all.* So, let’s get right to it! Here are my personal favorite PokéAni moments of each year from this decade, starting with the first half of the 2010s:

2010: Ash vs. Paul - their final battle at the League

August 19, 2010 With the climax of the Diamond and Pearl series approaching, this is by far my favorite battle in the Pokémon anime (next to Ash vs. Gary in the Johto League) because of how well they developed this rivalry. Paul was a real jerk when it came to training his Pokémon, releasing them when he felt like it. Paul was honestly THE REASON to watch this series because of how well they built up this rivalry up to this final showdown. Every character involved with their story from Cynthia to Paul’s brother Reggie to Pyramid King Brandon, played an important role adding to the story especially when it comes to their Pokémon teams. Paul was also an anime original rival (he shares a bit of similarities with rival Silver from the games) so his character was really fresh and new. The hype surrounded their final battle was astronomical to me! I clearly remember during this time I was still in my sophomore year of high school in the middle of an exam week but all I could think about was this battle!

It was a 3-parter, but I would like to focus on the decisive outcome. Both had one Pokémon left, Ash had Infernape and Paul had Electivire. All this time, Paul always thought of Ash’s Infernape was weak and pathetic not being able to control its Blaze ability which is why he released it as a Chimchar when it was still under his care. In the end, when thought he won and called it weak once more, the Blaze fully kicks in showed him how powerful it has become ever since training with Ash. In the final moments of the match, Electivire throws a Thunder Punch, while Infernape charges Flare Blitz. When the smoke clears, everyone thought that Electivire withstood that attack, but it was only a few seconds later it would faint resulting in Ash defeating Paul for the first time in their most meaningful battle that they ever shared. It’s almost symbolic as this was once the Elekid that first battled with Ash when he first arrived at the Sinnoh League. This battle was intense, fun to watch and superb storytelling between the two trainers and their Pokémon. But most of all, seeing Ash overcome and proving a stubborn and prideful trainer in Paul wrong by beating him in battle was one of the MOST satisfying feelings for any Pokémon anime fan to ever watch (unless you’re a Paul fan).

They properly end their rivalry with Paul finally giving the rightful respect to Ash, as he looks to challenge Brandon again to get stronger. Meanwhile, Ash advances to the semi-finals and has a battle with Tobias...we all know how that turned out, but was still a hard hitting battle. But still not as awesome Ash and Paul had. That to me was the battle of the decade! And this was just the start of the 2010s. A bar set so high that no other battle can compare it to, so far.

Honorable mentions from this year: The DP series’ final year! Dawn had some great moments too with her “Dee Dee” (’Pikari’ in Japanese) nickname story to be finally revealed after all these years, meeting her royal doppelganger and getting a Togekiss in the process. Let’s not forget that Dawn also had her first Grand Festival, ending up at 2nd place after Zoey defeated her in the final round. This was also the same year where we saw Monferno evolve into Infernape that helped Ash win his final Sinnoh badge. The return of his old Pokémon he caught in previous regions made appearances in the Sinnoh which was the last time we saw them considering that Ash is now only using the Pokémon he caught in his currently traveling region moving forward after this. Doc Brock is born with a new dream, and how can I not mention the debut of the Best Wishes (Black & White) series?! Iris’s accidental encounter in the wild and Cilan’s gym challenge was a great way of introducing the new characters! Finally, we got to see Ash caring for an abandoned Tepig that was tied to post, and the smoothest and coolest Snivy that Ash caught. 2010 was a great year!

2011: Excadrill trusts Iris again

September 17, 2011 Ever since Iris was revealed to have another Pokémon besides her Axew, I always wondered how she ended up with an Excadrill that won’t seem to listen to her and just get stuck on its own curled up body in drill-mode as if it doesn’t want to move. This heartwarming episode explains it, and explores Iris’s past growing up with playing with wild Pokémon. This was the same episode they introduced the self-professed “Dragon Buster” Georgia whom would start a rivalry with Iris, forcing her to use every Pokémon she had with her, preferably Dragon-types. When she called Excadrill out, the same thing always happens resulting in being unable to battle. Iris finally opens up about why this happens.

When it was still a Drilbur, it had been causing trouble with the other Pokémon Iris played with because it was always stealing their berries. Iris decides to teach the little thief a lesson with her own skills to counter its powerful Metal Claw attack, but would fail every time she attempted to. One day, when she finally outsmarted the Drilbur, he ended up getting tangled on vines that he couldn’t get out of. Iris then rescued the Drilbur from getting hurt, and the two became battling partners. During their battles in the Village of Dragons, that Drilbur eventually evolved into Excadrill and would learn Drill Run. When the powerful Dragon Master, Drayden shows up, Iris boldly challenges him to a battle. This would be the mistake that would strain their relationship as Drayden and his Haxarus easily defeated them. Iris was overconfident going into the battle giving commands without realizing that none of Excadrill’s attacks would do any effect on a very experienced Haxarus. It was a crushing defeat that would lose Excadrill’s trust on Iris and her capabilities of being its trainer.

Fast forward to the night after Georgia defeated Iris, she decides to sleep with Excadrill and tearfully apologizes after realizing all these years that she shouldn’t have pressured it to battle against a very powerful opponent in Drayden without considering her Pokémon’s feelings going into it. It was clear that they still needed more training before going up against a Dragon Master, but Iris selfishly went for it anyways. After the heartfelt apology, Excadrill finally gets out of drill-mode and trains out in the forrest trying to learn Focus Blast. After Iris wakes up seeing its new determination, she decides to train with Excadrill until they perfect the move. With a renewed partnership, Iris has another rematch with Georgia’s Beartic. Although the battle still resulted in a tie, it was the first time we saw Excadrill fully in-sync with Iris, and more importantly is very happy to be his trainer again. The trust between the two is rejuvenated better than ever, and will continue to get stronger until their next big challenge. This is one of my favorite BW episodes because I simply love redemption episodes like these, and this made me appreciate Iris’s character more.

Honorable mentions from this year: The BW series’ first full year! We had 3 Gym battles that year. How can I not forget the birth of Ash’s Scraggy hatching from egg? I miss that little guy thinking its the strongest Pokémon out there. Also, the beginning of the Snivy-Emolga rivalry, Oshawott overcoming his fears opening its eyes underwater to learn Aqua Jet, the group meeting an aspiring filmmaker, and Zorua-trainer, Luke, the beginning of the explosive Don George Battle Club tourneys, Bianca’s father attempting to get her daughter home instead of traveling, Ash & Cilan challenging subway bosses Ingo & Emmet, Unova Champion Alder making his anime debut, another heartwarming Iris episode with caring for a lonely Deino, a brotherly visit from Cilan’s brother Chili, and the Unova Forces of Nature trio made their presence felt after Team Rocket attempts to capture them. Speaking of serious Team Rocket agendas, this year was supposed to feature Team Plasma’s debut clashing against Team Rocket in a double special episode however had to be postponed due to the impactful 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan the week it was supposed to air. These two episodes was scrapped and re-written completely for future plot involving Team Plasma. It was such a shame really considering how much hyped I was for this (I’m sure many others as well at the time). Though I kind of understood why they had to. I was living in Southeast Asia at the time (this was before I migrated to the U.S.), and my country was dealing with heavy typhoons during that same week too. In the end, we never really got to see an epic clash between the two evil organizations as their stories became separate arcs that never even crossed with one another. Team Rocket had to revert back to their old white attires, and had to scrap/retcon Pierce’s character completely. He was one of the more interesting Team Rocket members they’ve ever had, and it’s a shame that we never got to fully see a different approach they were trying to do with Jessie, James, and Meowth’s character having a more serious role in the anime. Maybe one day we can see these unaired specials if they decide to release for a novelty watch, and we’ll all be happy...including myself :)

2012: Ash proves Skyla wrong

March 1, 2012 In one of my favorite Gym battles, I had to put this satisfying victory on my list. Skyla was one of the more stubborn and prideful Gym Leaders we had in the anime because of her appointment “Air Battle” method where she would predict the outcome of challenger battles mostly based off of type disadvantages. But you know our Ash, “type disadvantage” doesn’t really apply to him and of course he heavily disapproves of what she is doing as a Gym Leader. She would much rather fly in the skies for her enjoyment rather than actually do her job as a Gym Leader doing proper challenges. During the day of their scheduled Gym battle, he hopes to avenge Cilan who tried to prove her wrong the other day that Gym battles shouldn’t be based off what she sees in her head but what happens in the battlefield. Skyla still believed that based on the team Ash was using against her that she’d still be victorious.

During this 3-on-3 battle, sometimes you can’t predict the unpredictable. When both are down to one Pokémon left, Skyla had her ace in Swanna out while Ash had to bring back his Tranquill who already had been in battle. The sky battle was fast paced but in the midst of it all, Tranquill evolves into Unfezant! Ash finally takes down Swanna thanks to the new moves Unfezant had to offer making him the victor and more importantly exposing how her “Air Battle” prediction was never 100% accurate in the first place. I love episodes like these when characters like these get shown up and learn the error of their ways (and I loved Skyla in the games). After this battle, Skyla officially retires Air Battles, and apologizes to her grandfather that she was wrong all along that it truly depends on how the trainer and Pokémon bond in battle and not just go off on basic type disadvantages. She saw that with Ash and his Pokémon proving him to be a unique trainer that takes all challenges no matter what. It was a great battle and a well-earned Jet Badge for Ash on his road to the Unova League!

Honorable mentions from this year: The BW saga continues with hard hitting episodes with the final gym battles Ash had to fulfill before entering the Unova League. This League even kicked off by Ash taking out his rival, Trip, in the first round! If you ask me, the pacing of this series has great. The distance between Ash’s next gym battles, and the good amount “fillers” (which some comprise of mini-tourneys like the Club Battles) in between them were great. It was straightforward, even while tackling the Team Rocket Operation Tempest storyline with Meloetta. Speaking of which, it’s been YEARS since Giovanni played a prominent role in the anime, and it was great to see him in action as the big bad villain again. It also marks the big return of Dawn (continuing the tradition of returning previous main PokéAni girl...which actually breaks after this series), and she really blended well with this group! Especially from her friendship with Iris (much to Ash’s dismay xD). And of course had a great bunch of episodes from our favorite Dragon trainer. I was so surprised and hyped and she actually caught a Dragonite! A main character in this show has a DRAGON FREAKIN’ NITE. It took a while for him to actually obey Iris, but she eventually was able to get a hold of this aggressive Pokémon. We also get a glimpse of her pass when we finally got to see the Village of Dragons, and her long awaited rematch with Gym Leader Drayden. Another one of my favorites from 2012, was Tepig confronting his old trainer and cruelly abandoned him (because of being too weak for battling) before Ash rescued him. Ash, the trainer of proving people wrong, with the help of QUEEN Snivy, helped Tepig show his old trainer that he was strong all along by defeating his Emboar & Heatmor in a tag battle. In the process of all that, Tepig evolved into a Pignite in a very satisfying mid-evolution during that tag battle. Oh and how could I forget that Ash dressed up like a cute girl again along with Cilan to help Iris teach some rich ladies a lesson. Definitely gotta note that in here! xD I LOVED 2012 PokéAni.

2013: The bonding between Ash & N

July 6, 2013 The climax of the Team Plasma/N arc quickly approaches, and Cedric Juniper acquires the Light Stone from the White Ruins near Dragonspiral Tower in hopes to study more about its powers related to summoning Reshiram. Juniper then tells a story on Unovian mythology (“White chapter”) which is about the relationship between Reshiram and a hero whom it had trusted. Eventually that hero’s pure heart will be lost in the riches he will gain. Suddenly a familiar friend shows up to conclude the disturbing tale. N shows up to the scene interrupted Juniper, and grabs the Light Stone away from him because he feels that it is in the wrong hands and should not be examined whatsoever for scientific interest.

Ash wants to understand why N feels the way how he feels, so he chases after him. The ground gives way under Ash’s feet while running and gets stuck on the floor. The kindheartedness of N went back to help him up, but both ended up dropping deep underground the White Ruins due to the collapsing floor, trapping them from reaching the surface. When Team Plasma arrives, they plan to ambush Iris, Cilan, and Juniper until Ghetsis arrives. But Cedric Juniper’s assistant, who turned out to be Looker, attempts to stop their planned attack with a PIPE! When Coloress arrived to the scene, he successfully brings his machine to take control of the Pokémon who has been helping with the excavation on the site including a huge Golurk! It was looking bad, and there was no way Looker could handle this situation all by himself.

Meanwhile in the underground, N and Ash are having a deep conversation about their ideal relationships between people and Pokémon. N wants people to treat Pokémon like family like what his sisters Anthea and Concordia envisioned, and believes that there are some good in people out there just like Ash who truly love Pokémon. N has spent enough time in previous episodes to know what kind of heart Ash has toward Pokémon. However, he still thinks Pokémon would be better off without people living in peace on their own which is why he didn’t want Juniper to get his hands of the Light Stone in fear of the knowledge he’ll gain and possibly abuse it. Ash defends Juniper’s scientific research for good and believes that he just wants to learn more about Pokémon, just like how much he really wants to be good friends with all Pokémon including Reshiram. I just love N’s character so much and that I’m glad they did a slightly modified version of him from the Black & White games, still keeping his close communication with any wild Pokémon. His ideals with Ash are quite similar, but there was a clash when it comes to how other people treat Pokémon besides themselves. This why I loved their interactions so much because it was just couple of dudes having a healthy discussion/debate with something they both care about. Like in the real world, some people take advantage or abuse the things or riches benefitting them without thinking of others, and N’s truth and ideals symbolizes those real-world problems. Eventually, they did reach the surface. When, N saw Ash’s Pokémon helping their trainer trying dig their way out, he knew that maybe he should give others a chance to see if Pokémon and humans can truly co-exist like partners or family. Even Pikachu adversely overcame Colress’s device that attempted to control him, that costed Ash a bit of physical pain from trying to get to Pikachu. N saw that too, and it changed his views. This is what helped them to later on save the world from Team Plasma’s attack and and foil Ghetsis’s diabolical plans even after awakening Reshiram with the Light Stone.

Honorable mentions from this year: The farewell year of the BW series was bittersweet as we saw the conclusion of Unova League, and the bummer of Ash coming up short again, but still with a great effort. Meanwhile, Team Rocket’s Meowth thought that he could get Colress to leave Team Plasma, but to no avail. Besides getting to know N in the post-league, we got see him battle the Gym Leader Cheren! In the final stretch of this series, they were able to go to the Decolore/Decolora Islands where they had some fun adventures meeting Pokémon like a Jirachi and Beheeyem. We got some old school feels when Ash reunited with Charizard earlier on, and got a Butterfree flashback episode. Professor Oak met-up with them to catch a Rotom, and we even saw Johto’s own Clair in her updated attire searching for a rare Druddigon. Cilan had to defend his gym from an icy female trainer, plus even met another good chef in Brock after parting ways with Ash and Iris! This was turning over to Generation VI and along the way in their Decolora adventures, they met Alexa, a reporter from the Kalos region who brought her Gogoat with her. Then we get our first glimpse of the Kalos region! Remember the out of control Garchomp Ash had to save from the top of Lumiose Tower? Blaziken Mask does...we were introduced to our new buddies, Clemont, Bonnie and later on Serena who would join the group finding for her little childhood friend that helped her at camp. We got to see a fearless Froakie who chose Ash to be his trainer, and a cheekrubbing Dedenne that is under the care of Bonnie in her bag. Finally, Serena’s Rhyhorn racing background, Ash take on his first gym battle against Alexa’s sister, Viola, and Clemont trying to take back control of his gym from a malfunctioning robot. Ahh 2013...this year was the start of my first semester in college, and boy was I entertained during my breaks between classes! Also, the year where I got my “PokémonJesus” name and started being active on Pokémon forum sites. 

2014: Ash vs. Korrina - an intro to Mega Evolution

September 25, 2014 The moment has finally arrived for Ash and Korrina to have their Gym battle. Korrina has been traveling with their group for a couple of episodes on route to Geosenge Town in order to learn more about Mega Evolution from her grandfather, Gurkinn. She fit it really well with the group and has a similar spunky fighting spirit with Ash. At the time, I actually thought she was going to be a permanent member of their group for a while (dang you OP) and I would have been fine with it. Their little adventure is what helped her achieve Mega Evolution with her Lucario. We already got preview of what Mega Evolution can do with the special that aired earlier on, and it is clear as day that Korrina and her Lucario are capable of handling the power of Mega Evolution, despite the earlier difficulties with controlling Mega Lucario. Now that she’s ready, you know our boy is ready to face her as well with full force!

Their 3-on-3 battle was exhilarating! Team Rocket tried to interrupt it (as usual), but luckily Clemont & Serena takes care of them before even trying to sabotage this long awaited showdown. Ash struggled a bit at first with Hawlucha attempting to use Tierno’s rhythmic battle style, but he soon later realized (thanks to Serena) that he has his own unique battle style that he should use just like he always does. Ash finally battling like himself was able to take down Korrina’s Mienfoo and Machoke easily. But Korrina still has her ace left.

Of course it was her trusted partner, Lucario whom we saw developing its strength throughout their journey towards achieving Mega Evolution. They immediately utilize their Mega Evolution, and do quick work of Ash’s Hawlucha and Fletchinder. In the final matchup, Ash sends his Pikachu to the field. At the end of the day, Mega Evolution wasn’t enough to counter Ash’s unique battling style as his Pokémon’s hard work and coordination earned him the Rumble Badge. The episode ends with the fist bump of the decade as Ash sets off to his next Gym in Kalos. Korrina to me was definitely one of the best gym leaders that they were able to significantly portray in the anime.

Honorable mentions from this year: The first full year of the XY series has been great, especially Ash traveling in a quarter for the first time since the Advanced Generation series. We saw a couple of debuts like Ash meeting his Hawlucha, Clemont catching his Chespin, and reuniting with a Luxio that turned out to be the Shinx he befriended during his childhood, Serena catching her first Pokémon in Pancham, plus her rivaly with Miette on Ash on Pokémon Performing, the gang meeting Kalos Champion Diantha, introducing new rivals in Shauna, Tierno and Trever during the summer camp episodes, Sky Battles, and the Battle Chateau. One of the more emotional episodes was the lonely Espurr in the “haunted” mansion, while one of the more creepy episodes was the evil Malamar trying to take over the world! And, I can’t forget the time where they had to meet their mirror selves in where Ash was a complete crybaby and Serena was the aggressive on in the group xD Ash also faced off against Grant in rocky gym battle, while Serena had to defeat her mother in a Skiddo race for her mother to approve her dream on becoming a Pokémon Performer. 2014 was truly a Mega year for the Pokémon anime, and the year I even joined the #pokeani fandom here on tumblr. It started with this portion of the XY series :3

Next half of this PokéAni 2010s overview to be continued on part 2 →

[oppressiveliberator]

What are things Ghetsis likes to do in his spare time? Does he have anything in particular that he really enjoys doing that most wouldn’t know about? (Like. Knitting or some hobby type thing like that.)

Hobbies, huh. . . .

Ghetsis is a very goal-oriented person. Back when he was Plasma Boss and all, he wasn't really one for many hobbies--he certainly enjoyed doing things in his free time now and then, but by the time he'd adopted N, he was putting most of his free time into Plasma and advancing his goals and such.

But like I said, he did enjoy things now and then!

((snip snip unless you’re on mobile in which case as always I am sorry--maybe i should start putting these into multiple posts instead of singular big ones?  lmao

Also brief mentions of I think abuse, Pokémon abuse, torture??  i don’t think there was anything else triggering in there but i’m also too lazy to reread it lmao))

Ghetsis loves to read. He most enjoys nonfiction--true crime, history, religion, culture, Pokémon, human psychology, science, world news; Ghetsis really loves just about anything that can teach him something new. He's all about doing lots and lots of research, too, and he's actually well versed in old languages, too, especially old Unovan. He made a cypher for translating(and even taught Zinzolin how to read it a bit! In fact, Zinzolin is the one who has the Old Unovan linguistic work he's done atm because he can't let go of his boyfriend's old things) But he also likes a good fiction novel--crime, historic, alternate history, adventure, thriller, horror. . .he's picky about fantasy and science fiction and romance, but he'll read them now and then too.

While he's not really that into it, he does watch a lot of TV lately. He has days where he's pretty much immobile, so something he can just lie down and watch is nice to at least keep him from just sleeping all day. His taste in TV and movies is pretty similar to his taste in books. However, he's not much of a TV person and it's more something he just kind of accepts as what he 'has to' do nowadays. Sometimes he just. Doesn't have the energy to turn pages in a book. But entertainment is always better than boredom.

In his current state, Ghetsis doesn't really do much daydreaming or quiet contemplation, because ultimately it leads to a heavy slew of negative thoughts and emotions and makes him feel terrible. But in the past, he spent much of his time thinking about the world, plotting, planning. Lately if he does anything it's daydream or dissociate but. The latter isn't really, y'know, a hobby or something he really wants to do.

Music! Is one of his highest interests!! The Harmonia family is a very musical and artistic one, so he was surrounded by music and taught to sing and play instruments since he was in diapers. He doesn't think of himself as being able to play instruments nowadays. . .even though he still played now and then when he lost most usage of his arm, so long as it obviously didn't really require both hands or a need for both could be worked around. At present he's more into listening to music than anything--and his tastes are far more variant than you'd expect, as he's able to find some enjoyment in most any genre. He's started to sing more lately, too, although since his voice is often poor, he hates to do it and have to hear how terrible he sounds. But after Bede told him not to be discouraged over it and that some practice would surely restore his voice to its former glory, he's been singing to himself a bit more in an attempt to get his vocal chords back in decent condition.

(The unexpected part of this is when you find him singing old pop songs. . . . . . . .)

Ghetsis is, despite being antisocial as far as his personality/mindset/comfort levels, actually quite outgoing and enjoys people's company and talking to them, watching them. He loves social events and crowds and being around people--although he also hates it because, well, everyone is below him and the world around them is usually disgusting. But he quite likes company, especially from interesting and intelligent people, and he's playfully flirtatious too. While he prefers to do the talking and teaching, he's not against listening if somebody catches his attention and, again, Ghetsis has an insatiable desire for knowledge. Oh and socializing doesn't always have to be positive, either! He l o v e s to harass his protags. He likes to disturb people and make them afraid and uncomfortable and upset. He'd probably be an internet troll now and then if he bothered with internet socializing.

(Also, Ghetsis fucks to survive is a hedonist. So having people around means getting laid when he wants to. And how can he say no to being attended to and having his body worshipped and pleasured? To the power that comes with controlling someone else's pleasure, making their whole body respond with a mere touch, sometimes even less?)

As of late he also quite enjoys taking walks when he can--and while he's still beginning to accept it, he has started taking his wheelchair out(though, not in the regular world, only in the magic plane he’s hiding on) if he can't do his own walking and just enjoying the world outside. He. . .misses it.

He actually is very well travelled and he loves travelling, visiting new places, learning new things in person, going on expeditions and to archaeological sites and ruins and historic places. . .! Up until BW he travelled a good amount and enjoyed the bounties and interests his the world had to offer, practical or not. He likes himself a good time and experiences. Of course it lessened when he acquired his kids, especially N. And nowadays he hardly even leaves the house, let alone the region, though with the way his magic hideaway works(rather, doesn't work) he can wind up travelling by accident simply because it isn't stable enough not to move around.

And, of course there's magic. Ghetsis habitually draws little magic circles and things here and there, little spells to store magic or discourage nightmares or encourage remembering things. If he's idly tracing something on a table that's probably why. If he's idly tracing something on a person, that's probably why--in particular, he'd 'bless' N with safety when he went outside, or put magic on him that would ideally 'lock' his mind somewhat so he wasn't influenced by the outside world and had his plans ruined. Ghetsis does rituals every now and then(there used to be some cultish stuff in Team Plasma. . .maybe. . .but rituals aren't necessarily cultish, just like regularly done things) and magical cleanses, protection for his own spaces, charging the crystals and things he has around, and practices little bits of magic here and there just so he knows he can still do it. Now and then he tries to learn or develop new magic, but he's really not in the best condition for good magic usage. It certainly doesn't stop him but, y'know, tries to keep playing with fire to a minimum lest he burn his house down.

Of course, these are mostly things he does at present. . .with the strokes and the weakness in his body and the problems with his cognition and mind in general. . .his options are lessened in his opinion. His depression and lessened will to live make it hard for him to do even those things--let alone some of the things he used to do.

Sports are among the things he'd done in the past--namely basketball(just kinda happens when you're over 6ft tall.) He gave his old ball to N to teach him to play, but back then he could still play, one arm or not. Nowadays he has trouble even sitting up let along standing, running, and he's still accepting that he needs a wheelchair now and then when he can't get around so easily himself, so wheelchair basketball isn't something he'd even consider trying. Playing basketball? Tennis? Hell, any sport? He can't even consider it. He hates watching sports now. Whereas he used to love to do so because he could watch Unovan teams VS other regions and feel proud and cheer for Unova and so on, but now he can't stand it because it makes him think of how he used to be.

One of the things he did a lot up until the end of BWB2W2, was, of course, train his Pokémon, care for them, sometimes even play with them. They needed exercise and enrichment, and keeping them in fighting and killing shape was a high priority, both for enjoyment/entertainment and for the sake of having strong Pokémon. But now his Pokémon are all gone. . .and he resents all Pokémon for it and his hostility towards them all has increased. If anything at present, he takes even greater delight in hurting Pokémon than he had in the past.

Public speaking, debating, evangelizing, convincing people of Plasma's ways, giving and writing speeches was also a hobby he enjoyed. Usually, however, he winged his speeches, simply spoke from his cunning heart. Of course, if he tried to do something like that today. . .well, someone would call interpol and it'd be a whole thing. . .he does talk to himself a even more than he used to now, but it's not the same.

Punishing and teaching Plasma's members and anyone they decided to. . .host for a while, so they could learn the truths and come to know Team Plasma's might and perspective. . .being able to torment captives, seeing the hope leave somebody's eyes, god. He misses power. He misses victims. He misses taking out his frustrations on somebody locked in his dungeons, beating them and spitting on them and showing them how above them he was, torturing them--. . .expressing his power, he never really gets to do it anymore. . . . Harming others. . .even less. . .and what power, authority, strength does he have to at present anyways. . . . .

Training members of Plasma and their Pokémon, using the Pokémon they'd liberated for various behind the scenes work like building the castle, abusing people and Pokémon alike, really he found such bliss in it. Yes, it was something he kept quite quiet about or explained away until Neo Plasma--after all, nobody knew of his plans and intentions until he was defeated--but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy it.

Unexpected things. . .hm. he's pretty adventurous so I'm sure he's tried lots of things, but ultimately discarded them as things to do often for one reason or another. Knitting he can't see himself doing, one hand and all.

When N was younger, he actually took care of the human dolls and toys he gave him, since n mostly cared about the pokémon ones and was neglectful towards the human ones. Which was what was intended! But it irked Ghetsis's sense of perfectionism to see them all messed up, so he'd do their hair and dress them and so on just so they were in order and not a messy pile in the corner.

Ghetsis liked visiting dig sites and such, but he also enjoyed personally going on expeditions now and then too! He'd been planning one to the Abyssal Ruins for some time, but it never came to fruition. . . .

Since he was so well researched and did lots of discovering things himself, he’s written academic papers and things of that nature too.  Spreading his knowledge is always great.

Sciences piqued his interests sometimes, although that may not be a surprise. It's probably even less of a surprise that he was interested in experimentation on people and Pokémon--he was usually eager to let Colress do as he pleased as a result.

OH RIGHT ALSO! COLLECTING STUFF!! In particular things relating to or supposedly relating to legendary and mythical Pokémon and extinct ones too and history/legends and other unique things--stuff like feathers from legendary birds or orbs or gems said to strengthen or summon them and stuff like that. . .! He has a raw keystone, but he's not super aware of what it is since Mega Evos only really have recently come into common knowledge and he wasn’t in Kalos to learn about that in particular at the time, so he just thinks it's a cool kalosian rock with a strong life energy.

Tbh idk about any unexpected hobbies for him. . .tbf i also have like. No hobbies of my own. So this is kind of a hard question for me because doing things in your spare time??? I can't even bring myself to do things when o have to do them! Lmao.

He's abandoned a lot of his hobbies and interests. It kinda comes with being old and disabled and depressed and losing your will to live. He's feeling a bit better as of the start of the blog recent--so he's getting a bit active again, but. . .he's still not used to being "incapable" and it gets between him and doing anything for fun.

But hopefully this answer satisfied! And if not, if you're curious about anything in particular, send another ask my way!!

[the-fanaddict]

Oh my goodness please link some hiccup whump. I adore it

Oh anon, you’re down for a treat because this is hella long list.

Also, just so you know, this isn’t all of them, just some of my most favorites! Check out my ffnet profile for the complete list of fics that I like! https://www.fanfiction.net/u/6434750/

Aftermath - What happened during the night Hiccup got struck by lightning

Cry - 4 years after the first movie, Hiccup realizes the heaviness of his injury

Most of Him - What happens after Hiccup battles the Red Death

Night Fury Down - Hiccup and Toothless are shot down in battle by the Berserkers and are stranded on an island. Takes place in Defenders of Berk. (This story reminds me a lot of Enemy of my Enemy)

The Winner of Every War - AU where Toothless kills Hiccup in httyd 2. Toothless POV (more deathfic than whump but ohwell)

Care - Hiccup gets the flu. Mother-Son bonding :)

Plasma Blast - Hiccup gets hit by Toothless’ Plasma blast, but he’s only gravelly injured. Hiccup and Toothless bonding galore :)

Of Trappers and Arrows - httyd 2 AU where Hiccup get’s shot by Eret’s men 

Blind Sight - Hiccup is temporarily blind and an old enemy is lurking nearby (set and written before rtte)

Ouch! - A whole series of one-shots dedicated to Hiccup!Whump! What more do you ask? 

How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse - Toothless is stung by a venomous dragon! (if you’ve read the books, you’ll have a pretty good idea what happens ;)

Dragon-Proof Metal - Another AU where Hiccup is shot by Toothless but is gravelly injured (this is so well written, but it’s sad that the author cancelled it :(

A Chief Protects His Own - Stoick still dies via Toothless’ Blast, but Hiccup has a few injuries of his own from it too. 

When Life Gives You Lightning - What if Hiccup got blinded by lightning instead of Astrid

Through the Hurts - More one-shots dedicated to Hiccup!Whump

The Testing of a Hero - A sort-of blend of the movie-verse and book 11 of the httyd books (which have a lot of whumpcup, especially in this book)

A Second Too Late - What if Ryker threw that knife at Hiccup in Midnight Scrum?

Frozen Escape - Hiccup and Toothless are stranded on an island with both a bloodthirsty dragon and Dragon Hunters on their tails. 

Fires and Arrows - Long one-shot about Hiccup getting shot by a Hunter Arrow

Return of the Old - A disease that brings back the pain of old scars is spreading around the Edge. Hiccup needs to get the cure, fast!

[offrxd-archived-blog]

[ Breaking News: Cheat Sheet to Red leaked; more at 11 ]

Want new-and-exciting plots for your character? Long to reach out to more of your followers, but don’t know where to start? Fear not! Fill out this form and give your RP partners both present and future all the of juicy jumping off points they need to help you get your characters acquainted.

Be sure to tag the players whose characters YOU want more cues to interact with, andrepost, don’t reblog! Feel free to add or remove sections as you see fit. Template here.

Mun name: Caelan (Caemun) OOC Contact: IMs preferably

Who the heck is my muse anyway?

Red (Akai Isamu) was the Protagonist / Playing Character of the first generation of Pokémon Games ( Red / Green / Blue / Yellow ). He follows the typical ‘Heroic Mime’ trope for Video Game protags, thus giving someone lots of room for imagination.

Points of interest:

Red’s Character & Canon comes from the theory that Red falls / leaps off the side of Mt. Silver after his interaction / battle with Gold.  While interactions are typically set at a point after deciding not to take his life, interactions prior his decision / during preparation of his fall are definitely not off the table; they are actually encouraged!

Red’s Muteness was actually something that had happened AFTER his journey. Prior to becoming a hermit on Mt. Silver, Red was as talkative as any other human being. Stress and Trauma from certain events in his journey (eg. Team Rocket) caused a depressive spiral that lead him to climb Mt. Silver to mope ‘waste away’. Here he takes very little care of himself, as well as cause Self-Inflicted Trauma / Injury to his throat as a way of ‘feeling alive’. Due to this he also wears a Face Mask / Dust Mask to keep Dirt and Bacteria from irritating & damaging his throat further.

Red’s Team do not follow any of the games where you battle against him. All of his Pokémon are, instead, based off Pokémon that I had caught in a playthrough of Pokémon Fire Red. This is why Red does not have a Pikachu and instead has a Growlithe as his Main Companion.

Red’s a Kanto Champion. I go by the idea that the League Champion is not just one person, it’s a titled given to anyone that has defeated the Indigo League. There is a Featured Champion title that’s like a King of the Castle style thing where you have to defeat the current Feature Champion to become the Featured Champion. For example, Blue was the Featured Champion for a whole half hour before Red swooped in and took that title from him.

Speaking of Blue, that’s Red’s Rival; not Green. Blue, in this blog’s Canon, is completely different from Green. He’s much more similar to Gary Oak. He’s a spoiled brat that had nearly everything handed to him and Red doesn’t understand at all why everyone loved him so much.

What they’ve been up to recently / Where to find them:

Prior to ‘Decision’ ;;

Red has been living near the peak of Mt. Silver with a few of his Pokémon to try and find a reason to live. He survives by finding interesting stones and items and having his Abra, Pocus, go down and sell them for him in order to buy food. He has himself a nice & cozy little dug-out, too.

Preparing for ‘The Fall’ ;;

Red being defeated by a younger trainer with a lot more potential than him he’s been selling the contents of his bag, donating money to those in need, and re-homing / releasing his Pokémon. He can be found travelling around Kanto one last time during this period.

After Second Thoughts ;;

Red travels around the world, visiting the different regions to get a new look on life. This setting is the most flexible since he could be literately anywhere. Just expect there to be a very happy and goofy Growlithe right at his side.

Current plans:

Red’s plans depend heavily on the setting. Prior to his decision he has absolutely no plans what so ever, he lives day-by-day. During Preparation his plans are to find homes for his Pokémon, sell his contents and give items / money to those who need it, and end his life. After Second Thoughts his plan is to travel the world and experience all that life has to offer him as well as try to fill the National Dex as best as he can.

Desired interactions:

ANYTHING at this point; this blog is so dead. The only active interaction Red gets is in IMs with @xbugz-n-skullzx​‘s Guzma and @pallxtchamp​ / @askgreen​‘s Green. Other than that I have one (1) whole thread o o p s.

Offered interactions:

“It’s Kanto Champion Red!” ;; Interactions where someone recognizes Red as a Kanto Champion is absolutely welcomed, in fact it’s encouraged for those roleplaying characters of the Kanto / Johto / Alola region as they are more likely to know the Kanto Champions than other regions. 

“Hey, I like your face.” ;; I’m a huge sucker for Platonic / Romantic Ship related interactions. Red needs wants friends (and more) to make himself feel whole. If you want our characters to build a blanket fort and watch dumb movies while cuddling in it or stay up till 5am asking stupid ass question hit me up.

“That Growlithe looks valuable, gimme--” ;; Do you roleplay a character from an Antagonizing Team such as Team Rocket or Team Plasma? Does your character want to (try and) steal Bwoofer (or any other of Red’s Pokémon)? Be my guest, my dude; Red will fite u.

“Tell me everything will be O.K.?” ;; Pep talks are always good. Depending on the scenario, Red is good at giving Pep Talks. This scenario is especially good if both Red and the other character feels like the world is falling apart because they can both (try to) give each other pep talks.

Anything else?:

Please don’t force (head)canons on me. Red has been a character I have roleplayed and developed for quite some time. I know there is material that has more characterization to Red, but please note that my portrayal is more so based on Game Verse where there isn’t much to him.

If you begin to insist that Red has to have a Pikachu (or something similar) I s2g I will probably just not do anything because I am a smol bean who is afraid of confrontation oops.

Also, please keep in mind I am (***technically***) one person. I may have bouts of reply delays while still being on IM or other blogs! Time is limited and I also like to do other things; like eat, sleep, and Twitch Stream.

Other than that there’s not much else ayy.

*** I say Technically because I have D.I.D. with a headspace of 8 identities (including myself).

Tagged by: (Technically) @rocketbcss​

Tagging: Whoever Reads This