#I’d kill for the charmander and bulbasaur

[victory-cookies]

god I’m so torn. I have a few things I really buy rn but realistically I don’t think I can afford all of them. So I’m trying to weigh what I should let myself but bc I haven’t bought myself anything nice in a while

[fromchaosfromscience]

Can Three Idiots Beat Pokemon Infinity (Part IA)

Juuuust gonna let Key’s copypasta’d commentary take over from here, this is what it says on the tin, kiddos! 

TAKE IT AWAY, KEY, BEFORE I KILL YOU

Mmmkay. 

Key here, and this is the beginning of what will probably be one of the biggest mistakes of my life, but here we are.  And Ethan, let it be known that if you edit any of my commentary to make it into dick jokes or otherwise anything that will make me regret not just posting this part on my own blog, I will burn down everything you love right in front of you.

So anyway, it should be noted that we’re going into this fangame completely blind.  I know a FEW things about it from its description, that it’s full of fan mons and alternative/regional forms, which I personally take to be a good thing.  I actually enjoy Fakemon when they’re done properly, which most... nine times out of ten, they’re done well because the Pokemon community is fucking insane when it comes to designs.  I don’t know anything else about this, though, so let’s go ahead and jump on in.

We decided via vote what the player character would be in terms of gender and name.  8)  And yes, it’s a huge inside joke.

Moseying right along (and ignoring Raven’s agonized screams in the distance)...

After waking up in the woods, apparently with no knowledge as to how I got there or what the actual fuck is happening, I’m taken to a little place in a nearby town to rest - and taken back to early 2000s while I’m at it because that music is DEFINITELY from the Pokemon Colosseum series.  I kind of love this already, but let’s get on with the adventure.  I read the note left by Wormwood and head up to his lab.

...Hold up.  Is that a regional variant of Marill?  ;A;  I ALREADY WANT IT. 

But alas, we are just here for our starter, and so the toughest decision of ANY Pokemon game goes underway.

Annnnd it looks like the three starters are actually regional variants of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle!  Ethan is harassing me as I type this to choose Squirtle, so of course that’s not happening.  =D  Eat shit, Ethan.

Charmander it is!  Our first companion on our journey!

Fire/dragon!  Not bad!  :T

Also she has a timid nature!!  Which isn’t bad on a standard Charmander!  No idea if it’ll be worth anything on THIS Charmander, but we shall see.  =D;

And I have to say I’m liking this plot so far.  Like, as cliche as the whole AMNESIA thing is, still, it’s... more interesting than what I’d expect from a mainline Pokemon game these days.  Lmao sorry that’s a little harsh, but moving right along, we’re off to get answers about wtf we can’t remember coming to this tiny island region in the middle of bumblefuck.

On the way to the light house to talk to Professor Thorn, I’m given a quick TL;DR from prospective rival Teal on the Egho Council, who are apparently standing in for gyms in this region.  Cool cool! 

Now given that the Nuzlocke hasn’t started yet, and won’t start until I’m given pokeballs or able to buy them, I take this time to grind Azure up a bit.

And it’s in this battle that I learn her ability is actually Competitive, which... is pretty insane, to be honest.  Hot damn.

......welp.

Guess that means potential death time is now.  =D;;  And because Ethan is a complete dick, he just told me that yes, this does indeed count and the Nuzlocke begins now.  Azure please don’t die.

A couple of trainer battles later though, and I have her at level 7 and I’m feeling pretty good about it.  Annnd our first encounter is...!

A Rattata. 

You know what, I can work with this, it’s fine, I thought to myself going in.  Oh, you’re going to heal with an oran berry?  Well, I’ll just knock you down to red again.  Oh, you’re going to growl at me?  Well, that just sharply raises Azure’s special attack.  So not bearing that in mind at all, I’m just going to attack with Ember like an idiot and kill it.

Yeah.

I botched the first encounter.  :I  I COMPLETELY FORGOT about Competitive and wasn’t paying attention, yes, I am an idiot, cast your tomatoes forth, all tomatoes and shame be upon me.

MOVING ON.

We get to Merchant’s Ridge, where another trainer battle awaits, and a fresh new encounter and hopefully... redemption?  =D;;

Yes!  A pidgey!

please don’t kill it please don’t kill it please don’t kill it

AND AFTER ONLY *ALMOST* KILLING IT, we have found redemption!

No really.

We mosey on over to Searidge Town, but not without being given an Old Gadget and free heals from Lucy, and battling a foolish old sailor who thought HIS inferior boring regular pidgey was a match for REDEMPTION.

It was not.

Very nice town we got here!  And after some exploring, I come across this guy who gives me a... very interesting little tidbit.

....Does this mean what I think it means?  HM.

We get to Stonedust Trail, where we run into none other than...

Ekans!  Who quickly becomes our third member, Scaley!

And after Redeem has a near death experience with poison - that’s quickly amended with Antidote because Professor Wormwood is an absolute angel - we hurry on.

But not without a run-in from...

Oh christ almighty here we go.

Starly, a match for REDEMPTION?  Kiss my ass.  I send out Scaley to intimidate the Patrat she’s carrying, but its bite does a little too much damage for my liking, so I send out Azure to finish the job.  I also end up keeping her out to face down Teal’s Squirtle, whose typing I can only assume is water/flying, but Azure is fire/dragon, so I assume she’ll be okay taking neutral damage from any water moves.

The Squirtle ends up using a move called Nimbus Fist, which doesn’t do a whole lot of damage, but it DOES lower Azure’s accuracy so it turns into a pain in the ass to deal with.  The good news though is that Azure’s special attack gets pretty juiced up from taking enough Nimbus Fists that her ember is enough to whittle off the last remaining bit of health Squirtle has left.

So thankfully, no deaths!  =D;  Y...yay.

I think I’m about played out for the time being, so yeah, I’ll be continuing this in another part.  :T  Pray for us.  No really, pray for us.

- Key

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon FireRed Nuzlocke [Part 10]

Welcome back to the tenth part of me trying to beat Fire Red doing a Nuzlocke with no grinding! That’s right, no grinding! The only experience allowed is against other Trainers!

Where are we in this harrowing journey now?

Aheh.

To heck with it, I’m naming myself Blue this time.

Do you know why?

I’m blue, if I were green I would die (da ba dee da ba die).

Oh yes, we’re doing this.

My ID # this time is... 50685. Which means...?

Bulbapedia says 4-6 is Fire.

Uh.

You know what. It’s hard to tell because this is done through text posts that are not posted when they are done, but I just did everything up to Brock with a Charmander an hour ago.

But okay! We’ll do it again! But better this time!

I will name you... Left.

Cool.

Left is Rash, so we should get along great.

Fetch quest? Complete.

Pokedex? Get.

Route 1 Rattata? Get.

Her name is Down.

Route 2 Pidgey? Get. Sidey.

Viridian Forest Caterpie? Get. Nalley.

Viridian Forest? Get wrecked.

Route 22 level 2 Mankey? Get. I dub thee Weast.

Green, whose name should be Blue except our name is Blue?

Get. Wrecked.

Now Brock’s Gym, where we shall be punished for our arrogance.

First and only trainer? Done.

Brock?

Eeeeeeeh.

Geodude goes down to a few Metal Claws, one of which raises Left’s Attack. But Geodude wasn’t the issue last time. Accuracy concerns, using Ember, and Onix being Onix were the main problems in that very near past.

Metal Claw doesn’t really uh. What’s the word... help. So. uh. now we. hm.

Yeah, now we be horrible. Weast, you are sacrifice the first. Down, you next. And if you live long enough, maybe you can use Sand Attack!

Or you can die.

Left, you’ve had your Potion. Get back out there!

For future reference, Ember is useless, stop trying to make it happen. You are not going to get the burn. Suck it up and cry when Metal Claw misses.

Okay! So Left is down to 13 HP. But Rock Tomb hasn’t missed yet! So!

Hey, it missed.

Now it just needs to like. Do that again.

It did.

.

.

.

See, the problem here

is that now I have to live with actively killing Weast and Down.

Look.

Guys.

I’d say I’m sorry, but I don’t have to fight Brock again until something else goes horribly wrong, so we’re calling this a win for our team! Everybody cheer! You supplied your friend that you knew for like maybe ten minutes a serious victory with your deaths!

My brother called me a horrible person for what I did to Tarle in the round of this that made it to the Elite Four.

Gotta say.

I get that.

But more importantly, I get Running Shoes. Life is okay. Not that Weast or Down will ever know that again.

Then Left tries to die to a level 9 Pidgey that knows Sand-Attack. He doesn’t. But he really does try. Then hits level 16, and just like Heero before him, becomes a Charmeleon. Oh happy day.

.

I miss Heero.

I don’t think I went over it extensively, because the horror of doing exactly what I am now was setting in worse than grief, but Heero and Allenby and Sprinkle and Zaft and Po... they were a good team. Left has got some gigantic shoes to fill. He’s alive, and that’s a great start, but. Oh. The pain of not being able to say that it’s Heero time anymore?

That will endure.

Time to see if we’re catching something to throw into the rotation or not. Route 3 option, show me what you’ve got.

Gee. no. really.

My Pidgey’s actually still alive, even. Caught and not dead. Like a pro.

Okay, found a Spearow.

Now we find out if Left (level 19) can kill a level 6 Spearow with Scratch. Let’s watch.

Yes. Yes, he can.

Route 3 is as dead as that Spearow.

Compensation for killing the route is 49 exp.

I can’t remember if I’ve brought it up before, but for the purposes of this playthrough, accidentally killing things is fine. Losing the Pokedex slot is punishment enough. This is hard enough without going out of my way to be mean to myself.

Intentionally killing things for exp is very much not allowed, though. If I don’t want the thing, and can’t catch it, I run. Snorlax, looking at you, bud. I don’t have high hopes for you not killing my entire team when we reach you. Catching Po was my one miracle, I think.

I still really enjoy the art done for the different tourist traps across the map. v pretty.

Sigh.

And we lose out on catching Zubat.

...do I need things in my Pokedex to get Flash? I think I do.

Left, you’re way too strong for something that will die if Misty blinks in your direction. It’s a problem.

Add on 54 more exp to the illicit gains pile. I think after this if there’s not a level jump (I think there’s a small one before the next patch of grass), I have to start throwing a ball first thing. I probably should have done that with the Zubat, but. optimism.

Optimism has gotten the grindlocke into heaps of trouble, when you stop and think about it. It will continue, but oh dear yes, we see how this happens.

Hey, Ember finally burned something.

A Clefairy.

Thank goodness. Much danger. Such fear. Wow.

I still don’t really dispute this. Poor guy.

Grabbed the Helix this time. I don’t think there is a way for it to matter less, but there we go.

Made it out of Mt. Moon! Hark and rejoice!

Now we’re going to start breaking out speedrun strats. In slow motion, so obviously mine will work out better. You might recall, if not from this experiment then from others, that there are two Move Tutors outside Mt. Moon.

Mega Punch and Mega Kick.

Mega Punch does 80 Normal, with 85 accuracy.

Mega Kick does 120. 75 accuracy.

So the reason we’re doing this is that we’re about to come across the areas where I have a chance to get an Oddish. If I end up with an Oddish, all will be well with Misty (hopefully). If I don’t, my options become majorly limited. Left will be the One True Starter and Finisher. He needs to be able to down the Starmie in one hit.

It will come down to luck, so we’re going to maximize the possibilities of that luck.

Mega Kick. Welcome. Later, Scratch.

Okay. Bought some more poke balls in Cerulean, also bought some Repels to see if a thing works. If it doesn’t I will avoid further comment on it.

Route 4, SHOW ME AN ODDISH POR FAVOR.

A Mankey is not an Oddish. And we already killed one, so next.

Spearow. Well, we killed the last one, so sure.

If it could use Growl a few more times, Metal Claw would become an option... Yeah, it’s an option, let’s go for it.

Yay, Spearow’s not dead!

.........

I forgot I was playing a Nuzlocke. Did not nickname the Spearow.

Damn it, Spearow.

Invalid pokemon go in the box.

So with no Oddish, Left is going to have to tackle our rival and Nugget Bridge all alone. Yeehaw. Then we can hit grass that might possibly have an Oddish. We want to do that first after the bridge, because there are enough trainers to make the Oddish a real asset in the Misty fight if it’s allowed the exp.

Assuming we get an Oddish.

First thing’s first, though.

Tiny things continue to amuse me.

Left is level 23 now. Pidgeotto’s Sand-Attack is honestly the largest threat. ...Not that Water Gun isn’t making a show of it. Geez, I’m going to have to buy Potions after this. If there is an after this. I missed Mega Kick every time except the last time, and since Squirtle was busy Withdrawring all through that, not only did I miss the chance to do useful damage, when Mega Kick finally hit on the last shot, it did not help.

So now we’ve used Smokescreen a few times in an attempt to even things out.

...

I think I’m about to lose.

Crap.

Uh.

I have to be the worst again.

Left needs his accuracy back.

Um.

Nally... would you uh. mind uh.

Nally the Caterpie is now dead, continuing this run’s trend of being inexcusably awful.

WELL UNLESS OUR LEVEL 3 SIDEY (PIDGEY) CAN WIN, I’D SAY IT’S RESTARTING TIME AGAIN.

She can’t.

She dies.

Welp.

Our name is GM this time.

Our rival is NPC.

This time our ID number is............ 59916.

-looks up-

Bulbapedia says 4-6 is Fire.

OKAY THEN.

Maybe I’ll just lose against NPC. That would keep the restart time down.

For now and forever.

His name is Scyther.

Scyther gets to stay for a little while longer. He’s Sassy. Great.

Fetch quest done.

Ugh.

I almost universally dislike the beginnings of Pokemon games. Unless nostalgia is kicking in, or the game is completely brand new. Being back at the beginning is very much Not Great.

Though this time I learned that you can choose to leave home without talking to your mother. Wow.

First encounter is Rattata. Rattata’s name is Pidgey.

Route 1 done.

Route 2 gives us a Pidgey. Its name is Rattata.

Route 22 has a level 3 Mankey. Now named Machop.

I think. Sigh.

I think that no matter what starter I end up with, my strategy for this is going to be to have my starter handle the first Gym. If I keep getting Charmanders, that will mean a lot of fails before luck goes with me, because luck was the only way we made it through Left’s run.

...

Damn it, Scyther.

No Viridian Forest catch.

May the +30 exp somehow help.

Through Viridian Forest, which means it’s back to Rival-san.

Rival-san is defeated. That’s probably going to be his actual name next time.

We doing this?

Yeah. Sure.

Hey guess what. That +30 exp means Scyther is level 15 instead of 14! Yay! Does that mean anything?

Why did Onix use Bind.

(Better question, self. Why did you use Ember. Your optimism is killing all your pokemon.)

Rock Tomb. After lots of Binds.

Why is Onix killing the rest of my team in slow motion. Stop using Bind. stop stop stop. just kill them.

Thank you.

FUCK YOU, THAT’S MY NAME THIS TIME.

YOUR GRANSON’S NAME IS ALSO OAK.

ID NUMBER.

WHAT HAVE WE GOT.

26268.

HELLA.

BULBAPEDIA SAYS “7-9 is Water type” SO FUCK YALL WE’RE GETTING A SQUIRTLE.

HELL YEAH.

ITS NAME IS OAK.

GOOD JOB OAK.

GO CATCH A PIDGEY ON ROUTE 1.

ITS NAME IS OAK.

RATTATA ON ROUTE 22. ITS NAME IS OAK.

CATERPIE ON ROUTE 2. ITS NAME IS OAK.

o shit.

His name’s Acorn.

Squirtle learns Bubble at level 7. AKA the most useless Water move ever. I suppose I finally understand why Rival-san was using Tackle instead.

Hi! Oak!

Bulbasaur is going to be a pain. Oak learned Water Gun at 13, but. that doesn’t really help.

Bulbasaur is only using Tackle. That helps greatly, and we’re done.

So. ARE WE DOING THIS THIS TIME?

YAAAAAAAAAAAY.

YAY.

Oki doki.

Now I have to think.

Is Acorn a real teammate, or not?

Rival-san having a Bulbasaur means that he’s going to end up with a Gyarados. Electric moves are very, very useful against such horrors. Electric moves are also very useful for, say. Misty.

I think I’m going to give Acorn a shot. Maybe I’ll have to shove him out into a box in the end, but there are enough useful points in his favor to train him up a bit. All the Speed EV pokemon are going to Acorn. When safe.

!_!

!!_!!

My Route... 4? I think 4. Route 4 catch!

His name is Tree.

And he is actually from Route 3.

Here’s where things (already) get a bit sad, I think. I have limited resources. I do not want to devote time to training something I don’t think I can use. Nidoking is a fantastic pokemon, and in a normal Nuzlocke, I would be so happy to have one.

However, his move pool is not going to help me enough, I don’t think. Maybe my mind will change. Maybe I’ll be wrong. But each member of my team needs to have a specific relevance.

...Maybe that relevance will turn out the be the reminder that I can’t count on getting a Snorlax this time.

Uggggh.

Fine, I’m digging up the pokedex.

I already know that Lapras is out. The leveling process is too painful. Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan can be options, because I think by the time I have access to them, they’re at a level that I can make use of. Eevee is technically an option, but. Flareon isn’t the best. I have a Water pokemon. I have Acorn.

If I don’t take the Eevee, that leaves room for something else from Celadon. If I catch a Magikarp sometime before Celadon, I can guarantee having a Grimer, which has the kind of move pool I think I want for a run like this.

Brute force is my usual tactic, but brute force only works in a run like this if I’m working with things that excel in force.

Other Celadon pokemon include things from the Game Corner. Pinsir has zero naturally learned Bug moves in this gen, so no. ...Oh. It’s also only an option in LeafGreen. Dratini takes too much exp to train into usefulness. Clefairy and Abra are too underleveled. Porygon is too laughably expensive. Scyther is hypothetically very useful, but doesn’t learn a Bug move until level 46. The main benefit until then would be Typing aid. A damn good one, and if it lived long enough, I could certainly make some magic happen.

The one thing I know for sure I want right now.

is a Diglett.

So assuming everything magically works out the way I’m intending, our future team has a Blastoise, a Raichu, and a Dugtrio. The question is what, out of my limited options, best adds to that.

...Tree. I don’t think this is your run, friend.

We soldier on.

Our Mt. Moon is a Zubat again. Yay. ...Oh, whoops. Huh. I only have one Poke Ball. Hope it catches our new friend.

It does!

Zubat’s name is Oak.

Oooooh, Oak learned Bite.

The Squirtle Oak.

Now Wartortle Oak.

Bite at 19.

One arduous Mt. Moon later, Acorn is at level 13, and Oak is at level 21. Now before we do anything else, we’re running to the Pokemon Center for healing, and then the Mart for Poke Balls. We’re clean out of those, and I refuse to go through caves without Flash. I refuse, I tell you.

No Mega Kick of Punch this time. Oak and Acorn should be okay to handle Misty. ...I think.

Route 4 gives us an Ekans.

Its name is Oak.

LET’S TRY THIS AGAIN.

Acorn tries to deal with the level 17 Pidgeotto because we’re all about risk now. He gets it to orange and paralyzed. Hopefully that’s enough for Oak to clean up.

It is! yay.

He sends out his Bulbasaur next, and with any luck, Bite over and over will handle any and all problems.

Wow. Lots of luck. Poisonpowder misses, and Bulbasaur just keeps flinching. Sorry about your luck, Rival-san. I’m taking it all hostage.

I don’t think Abra has an offensive move, so it’s all Acorn’s.

Only a Rattata left, and...?

Thank fuck.

So since we finally hit one, let’s end this on that high note.

Next time, Nugget Bridge awaits.

[rarepokcmon]

So I suppose I should talk about how I view my version of Mewtwo...!

His personality shifted drastically over the course of growing in that testing tube in the Kanto region. There was a very brief time where he truly was curious about life, about all things that existed, and even his own existence. He had no idea of the concept of “Good” and “Evil”. He had no idea that there were people out there, who created him for the sole purpose to be a weapon, to be a glorified science experiment gone right; To give Humans justification that they’ve essentially became “Gods” for creating Life.

He had peace once, and it was from the first clones that resided next to him in their respected tubes; Clones’ Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and above all of them was AmberTwo. She was the cloned daughter of the Lead Scientist of trying to replicate and clone Mew, who’s consciousness he had managed to keep going on past her life’s light.

This was the only time during their brief interaction, where he had felt true happiness, and (if I am to stretch it to a fanservice-y degree) true love. I honestly believe he had loved Amber, romantic / platonic, or however else you’d like to interpret it. There was definitely something there. He didn’t cry when the cloned Pokemon were disappearing, possibly because he truly didn’t understand what was happening, but when Amber started to go?? Those were the first and only tears he’s ever shed, and they were for her, a human. The only human he’d ever care for.

From this point on, even if he didn’t ever remember that, for those scientists erased his memory of that point in his small life, Mewtwo would only find that he absolutely despised humanity.

And so the rest of the First Movie plays out, and yes he DOES get over that hatred, but for my version?? I like to think he’s not really fully over it, since that was his entire driving point in his life, up until that point. I’d say he’d still fully kill humans, if he felt the desire to do it. Now, the only care he could have in his heart, would be for the cloned Pokemon he had created himself, if only to (subconsciously) replicate that same kinship that he had with the original clones from his youth.

[dorepil]

when you love someone┊final

*inspired by a webtoon something about us by lee yun ji

summary: you consider younghyun and yourself the best of friends. the people around you seem to think otherwise. however, one day, you start to view younghyun differently than just ‘best friends’.

pairing: reader x young k (younghyun)

genre: fluff, a bit of angst, best-friends-to-lovers!au

word count: 4.9k 

chapters: 1 , 2 , 3

notes: [ mood: bittersweet ] finally! this marks the end of when you love someone, it has been a rollercoaster! one day, i had so much ideas for the story, and the next day my mind is completely dry. i truly enjoy writing this series, and i hope i ended it in a good note! i’d like to thank the readers for all the support i’ve received! thank you again, and enjoy reading :) -admin moon

‹ confession song ›

flashback - highschool

it was a late afternoon.

your best friend had dragged you all the way up the rooftop while you were in the midst of reading your novel.

you asked him curiously, “so how was your break? i couldn’t ask you earlier since i forgot.”

younghyun took a seat on the ledge and you plopped down right next to him.

“canada was great~ i met up with my old friends!” he replied.

“and a lot of them are attached,” you mentioned, recalling seeing the pictures of his friends with their girlfriends on his instagram.

reaching down and taking his guitar out of its case, he let out a chuckle.

“yet, here i am all alone.”

have you ever mentioned that high school kang younghyun was a hotshot? 

you rolled your eyes. “don’t say that when you rejected almost the entire population of girls in our school.” 

you enjoyed the light autumn breeze against your face while you lightly kicked your legs back and forth in mid-air.

“you know the song i’ve been working on since the start of the year?” he said while strumming the strings of the guitar lightly.

you turned and looked at him questionably before answering, “that song.”

“well, that song... i finished it over the break,” he announced proudly.

you were eager to hear the “highly confidential” song that he has been keeping from you. 

“promise me, you won’t laugh.” 

“ i promise.”

you do have to admit, younghyun has a nice voice.

it is the type of voice that reflects easily on your emotions, tugs at your heartstrings, and allows you to empathize with its meaningful lyrics through his calm and silky voice.

why why why do I stare at the ceiling every night?

i gave you so many hints so you can notice but you don’t

i’m serious my eyes say that i like you why don’t you feel it? my face is so obvious

i can’t stop loving you

“the lyrics dude, where-- who inspired you?” 

“just some romantic chick flicks i watched over the break. plus, listening to unrequited love songs, and reading all the friend-zone experiences on the internet.”

you joked, “out of a sudden...? who hurt you?”

he averted his eyes away. “very funny.”

“i’m joking-- the song’s really good! it talks about how this man or woman is seriously in love someone but the person’s acting ambiguous, i highly emphasize with that person you know.”

“someone friend zoned you or something?” 

“yeah! you know donghae?”

“oh my god, please tell me it’s not that guy from super junior?”

you waved off the topic. “enough of my love life. what are you going to name this song?” you asked.

he hummed, pausing for a moment to think. 

“i’ll title it ‘i’m serious’.”

“let’s hope that you won’t become your own song.”

younghyun playfully pushed you in the shoulder.

“ha. ha.”

present - the annual festival

in the dressing room, you stared at your reflection in complete horror.

“oh my god, you look so cute!” nayeon squealed.

hugging your body was a brown furry onesie, with a cute headpiece that adorned your head and a pair of fluffy gloves.

“what am i?” you asked her.

“you’re grizzly from we bare bear!” nayeon said.

“how did we end up with this theme?”

nayeon giggled, “henry went late for the department meeting, the rest of the department had already chosen their themes and the only theme left was this.”

henry, overhearing the conversation between you and nayeon, walked over and joined in. “i’m sorry about being late, and also, i hate this equally as well.”

“heavens! what are you?” you almost screamed aloud.

henry was wearing an atrocious furry green body suit, a fake bushy green mustache stuck on the top of his lips and hair was sprayed in a shade of neon green.

“i don’t even know whether i’m the grinch or charlie the bigfoot.”

“you’re going to scare people off.” nayeon shook her head in dismay.

henry sighed, “i know right! i hope people still notice my out-of-the-world looks, that’s my biggest concern.” he pointed at his ‘out-of-the-word’ face.

“hi, can i take a picture with you?”

you’re the 104th person that had asked me that. you thought, grinning through gritted teeth.

“sure, why not--wonpil!”

after wandering around and promoting around the area for people to visit your department’s store, you stumbled upon a wild wonpil nearby the game stations.

“your department theme is pokemon...?” 

wonpil, who was wearing a charmander outfit nodded his head enthusiastically. 

“you look so adorable! i wanna squish you!” wonpil cooed, reaching out and tried to squeeze your cheeks.

“i’m going to bite your hands if you do that.” you threatened playfully.

he squealed, “oh my god, that makes it even cuter!”

you saw a plastic ball flew in the direction of wonpil’s head.

before you could warn wonpil of the incoming danger, he winced as the impact on the back of his head.

“i choose you charmander!”

“what the heck! who is-- jae!” wonpil shrilled

jae laughed hysterically in the distant, earning a death glare from the poor boy.

wonpil picked up the plastic ball, aiming it in the direction of jae. 

jae managed to dodge the ball, much to wonpil’s displeasure.

dowoon (dressed as a pikachu; yellow shirt, a pointed headband) and sungjin (dressed as bulbasaur; green shirt, green plant bulb backpack on his back) joined you, wonpil and jae afterward.

the school of music got the pokemon theme. the school of liberal arts got the harry potter theme. the school of business got the royalties theme. the school of arts got we bare bear theme.

we bare bear theme practically wasn’t a thing only after the whole cartoon got really famous, replacing the highly-loved spirited away theme.

jae, who had a lightning ‘scar’ on his forehead with a circular frame was trying to mimic the famous protagonist.

“are you the bear from the revenant?”

“excuse me? i didn’t mock your suckish harry potter impersonation, plus, i can’t wait to get out of this costume.” you defended yourself.

dowoon pointed to a group in front of us, “hey, look! isn’t that younghyun?” he asked aloud.

the five of us looked at the same direction, watching a group of girls swarming and constantly repeating ‘can i take a picture with you?’ while the person himself in the middle looked completely flustered by the attention he was getting.

“i guess brian is the mvp this year.” jae commented, a tinge of the envy in his tone. “c’mon girls! give our man some space!”

wonpil bumped you lightly on the shoulder, giving you the ‘look! jae is jealous’ and you giggled. 

“hello prince charming, where’s your consort?” 

“ha. ha. very funny, sungjin.” younghyun rolled his eyes.

he turned and looked at you, and you felt your breath got hitched up in your throat. 

wearing a black suit and a golden crown right on top of his perfectly styled hair, he looked like a prince that had come out from a fairytale book. 

indeed, only kang younghyun can pull off that.

“you looked so done with yourself,” he remarked.

“i am. meanwhile, you look... great!” you replied, fixing your headband self-consciously.

younghyun squeezed your cheeks and you let out a small yelp.

“you look fine~ cute actually.”

you felt your face began to heat up, and you quickly slapped his hands away.

“remember when we used to have band practices after high school?” sungjin reminisced, his attention now directed to the campus band who was performing on the platform stage.

jae smiled. “i haven’t thought about that for a while. wow, i really missed those days.”

you smiled fondly at the memories, remembering the times when you would stay back after school just to watch them practice, listening to the sounds of melodies echoed the gym room.

“y/n was our supporter, isn’t she? she would always sit on the sidelines while she watched us frolicking around with our instruments.” wonpil mentioned.

you chuckled, “i wasn’t the only one. you guys had a huge fanbase in the school going on. you guys literally receive confessions every single day!”

a group of high-school girls would follow behind them in the hallways, often a gift or letter in their hands.

“no, you were totally different. you would bring food for us after school, knowing we would be practicing on an empty stomach, watched us practice without complaining, and give actual helpful suggestions.” 

“wow, i’m touched brian.”

your best friend groaned, “brian...? i take back everything about complimenting you.”

you felt your phone vibrated. 

“sorry guys, this is my cue to disappear. nayeon needs help with managing the store.” you excused yourself, reading the emergency text from nayeon.

“see you later paddington!” 

you shot him a glare, “let’s see how you will have to bear with the consequences later, jae.”

you found nayeon frantically preparing drinks, with many customers watching curiously at the girl who was stressed out.

“thank god you’re here! henry and a couple other helpers decided to ditch me to go watch the band perform, i’m going to kill him later.” nayeon explained.

“i’ll do the snacks. just focus on the drinks okay!” 

“thank you! you are the best y/n!” 

the both of you spent the next an hour and a half preparing food and drinks before the two of you settled all the orders.

“whew! you don’t mind if i go to the restroom for awhile?” nayeon asked.

“go ahead, i’ll be fine!” you shoo-ed her off.

you began to daydream after you were alone, gazing at the people passing you in a blur.

“hello, can i have one of those?”

you shook your head, breaking away from your reverie.

“i’m so sorry-- jinyoung!” you exclaimed.

the handsome alumni stood in front of you, chuckling at your reaction.

“you’re here!” 

“i couldn’t miss this, the festival is always the best.”

you handed him the drink. “it’s okay, it’s on me.”

“kind as ever.” 

“well, it’s rather embarrassing to see me in this state.” you sighed.

jinyoung scanned you from head to toe. “you look adorable, what are you talking about?”

“really?” 

jinyoung laughed, “two years ago, during my last year here, when the school of arts got spirited away as the theme-- i was the no-face. it was the worst.”

“that was you?” 

you recalled flipping through the past years school magazine, remembering crackling out loud at the picture of a frowning no-face.

“that’s my dark past.”

you chattered with jinyoung for a little more, catching up with him on hani, mr. han and his work life.

“y/n! oh, my god! why didn’t you tell me anything?” nayeon said loudly, rushing back to the store.

“what? what’s going on?” you asked, confused.

noticing jinyoung was there, she froze before recomposing herself and shyly greeted, “hello, jinyoung.” 

“hey, nayeon.” 

henry came running back after nayeon. “y/n! there you are! hurry over to the middle of the campus now!” he informed in between heavy breaths.

“why? are you guys okay? what’s going on?” you asked, concerned with the sudden change of behavior of your friends.

“there’s no time to explain, jinyoung can you follow y/n there?” nayeon asked.

jinyoung, who was also as confused as you, nodded his head.

“sure, i’m meeting hani there too. c’mon let’s go!” 

you and jinyoung squeezed through the crowds, heading in the direction where henry had instructed you to go.

it wasn’t far from the place where you and your 5 friends had met up earlier.

“unfortunately, that was the final song from our own campus band. despite that, it is not the end of the performance yet! we have one last-minute addition. also a band, here are sungjin, jae, younghyun, wonpil, and dowoon.” the emcee, jimin announced. 

stunned, you turned to look at the stage where your five friends were standing.

“jinyoung, those aren’t my friends... right?”

“they are. and look! there’s hani!” 

“let’s start with some self-introductions first.” jimin said.

“i’m jae, from the political science department like my boy, jimin. i’m pretty known around here, follow me on my twitter @/jaesix!”

“the audience didn’t ask for a shameless plug, okay next.” jimin rolled her eyes. jae, unaffected by jimin’s clever comeback, sent a wink towards the audience.

“hi, i’m sungjin. i’m from the faculty of music along with wonpil and dowoon. i will be playing the acoustic guitar.”

“hello, i’m younghyun. i’m from business administration course.”

“hi everyone! i’m wonpil and this guy beside me is dowoon. i play the piano and he plays the drum!” wonpil introduced both himself and the shy dowoon.

a large group of people began to gather near the stage, curious by what was happening on the stage. “i’m going to the front, will you guys be okay?” you asked jinyoung and hani.

“go ahead!” the both of them replied in unison.

you maneuvered through the gaps before finding yourself an open space at the front. younghyun spotted you immediately, sending you a small smile.

“what are you doing?” you mouthed.

he mouthed back, “you’ll see.”

“okay, what will guys be performing today?” jimin asked.

all of them turned and looked at younghyun.

“we’ll be covering two songs then sing one of our self-composed songs. pardon if we don’t sound the best, it’s been a few years since we had a band performance.” 

“let’s give them a round of applause!” jimin cheered, slowly backing to the side of the stage.

you watched nervously as they picked up the instruments. they took a moment to familiarise with the instruments and the environment before they started playing.

they started off with wonder girls' ‘nobody’ and it immediately lifted the mood of the audience and everyone began chanting the famous lyrics. 

you were awestruck. 

they certainly did not sound like a band that had gone on hiatus for a few years. every strum from the guitars and bass were on rhythm, the piano was harmonizing beautifully with the song and every stroke of the drums was on perfect beat.

you felt like you were transported back in time. you were experiencing the exact same feelings you had when you watched your friends jumped around the stage, having the time of their lives as they performed.

you truly missed this feeling.

after covering cnblue’s ‘i’m a loner’, the crowd went even crazier.

“this is a song for someone special, i hope you remember this song.” younghyun said to the microphone in english.

the meeting of two drumsticks commences the final song.

you froze when wonpil began singing the first verse.

why why why do I stare at the ceiling every night?

this song... isn’t it ‘i’m serious’? you felt a feeling of deja vu pulsed through your body.

i gave you so many hints so you can notice but you don’t

you felt your heart beating rapidly. 

“...it talks about how this man or woman is seriously in love someone but the person’s acting ambiguous.”

i’m serious my eyes say that i like you why don’t you feel it? my face is so obvious

immediately, you looked at him with an open-mouthed stare, younghyun, at the same time, made eye contact with you.

“confess, serious, feelings… do you think he has a liking towards someone?”

it finally clicked in your head. “the english phrases... they were hints?”

in the end, i just made you listen to useless things and i let you go with a smile why am i like this?

“wait...” your ears perked up at an unfamiliar part of the song that you had never heard before.

i try to start a conversation to figure out how you feel trying to pass it off as a joke but why don’t you know? i’m only looking at you

“speaking of guys, you never seemed to have a guy you like.”

“what do you mean? don’t you remember my super junior phase?” you raised your brows.

younghyun let out a sarcastic laugh, “donghae? i’m speaking realistically.”

you stroked your chin, thinking deeply. “maybe jungkook from bts? he’s cute.”

when the song ended, there was a brief silence before everyone applauded

instead of joining the majority of the audiences with clapping, you were experiencing shortness of breath as the one particular verse of lyrics rang over and over in your head.

i can’t stop loving you

i can’t stop loving you

i can’t stop loving you

how could you not realize that you were the one all along?

when night falls, it concluded the end of the festival.

ever since the end of the performance, you were at a loss for words. you returned back to the store where nayeon and henry bombarded you with burning questions.

“i...i-- i’ll tell you guys later.” you sighed, taking a seat down on one of the plastic chairs.

you kept telling yourself that it was a joke, “no way he likes me, i’m practically like a sister to him.” 

you got up from your seat abruptly, breaking your train of thoughts.

“nayeon, i’ll go change first then i’ll come back.”

you needed to get distracted, all these questions were perpetually killing you inside.

after changing out of your stuffy bear costume, you walked back to the store where students were already packing up and preparing to leave campus.

you and nayeon helped carry cardboard boxes with leftover poster back to the studio.

“wanna head for supper later?” she asked you as you closed the studio door.

you were about to excuse yourself for the night but you changed your mind quickly. “sure, i need a few drinks anyway.”

you, nayeon and henry were about to exit the campus before your conscience asked, “i wonder where’s the five of them. i haven’t seen younghyun after the performance too...”

you shook your head. “now is not the time to think about this.

henry had also invited jinyoung and hani to join along.

when the five of you were settled down at the restaurant, henry managed to break the ice by starting the conversation on his character during the festival.

“you have no idea how many side-eyes i received from people today... it was the absolute worst.” 

jinyoung laughed, “now you understand how i felt when i dressed up as no-face?”

“that’s different! people still know you are handsome under that layer of face-paint.” henry argued.

“henry please, let this serve as a lesson for you to never be late again for important meetings.” nayeon patted henry’s back.

you and hani burst into waves of laughter.

at that moment, a group of people entered the restaurant and you instantly recognized who they were.

“hey! guys! over here!” henry called them over.

oh no.

jinyoung joined a couple more tables together so that it can fit everyone. 

“yo, paddington.”

“jae, are you not going to drop that?” you sighed.

great, why does younghyun have to sit on the opposite?

“y/n! did you see our performance?” wonpil asked excitedly.

you glanced at younghyun, who was looking at you with the same curiosity before answering, “yes! you guys were amazing!”

dowoon did a little drum movement and jae awed at the younger boy’s little action.

“what did you think of the last song we performed?”

you tried to contain your shock from the question, looking at him confusingly.

“what do you mean younghyun?” you acted as if you were clueless, then bringing the glass of alcohol up to your lips.

“you’re such a bad liar y/n.” 

why are you doing this to me?

you didn’t respond much after younghyun’s probing.

your nerves were running wild in your body, causing you to fidget slightly. hoping the alcohol would calm you down, you poured the content down your throat again and again.

“hey, enough.” someone took your glass away before you could take another sip.

it was none other than your best friend.

i’m tired. you breathed out exhaustedly, getting up from your seat slowly and said, “i need to head out for some fresh air, don’t mind me.” 

once you headed outside, some of the stuffiness from your chest disappeared a little.

you spotted a little playground on the other side of the road and you turned and looked back at the restaurant. “just for a little while.” you mumbled to yourself.

the playground was deserted, there was an air of serenity and it helped relieve a terrible headache you were currently having.

you plopped yourself on the empty swing, slowly moving back and forth as you loosen your neck and let your head dropped.

“i thought we were just good friends. but now... something feels different. if... if i were to... tell you i like you... what would happen?” you spoke, allowing your feelings out in the cold night air.

you looked at him as a friend until you realized you loved him.

credits

sighing deeply, you got up from the swing. “enough dilly-dallying y/n.” you reminded yourself.

looking up, you felt your heart stopped. 

“how long have you been here?” you asked cautiously.

“why didn’t you tell me?”

you fell back onto the swing, bringing your hands up as you covered your face.

“y/n...”

“you weren’t supposed to hear that younghyun.”

“i-i’m sorry.”

“don’t be. it’s not your fault i have feelings for you.” 

uncovering your shaking hands from your face, you turned and looked up at younghyun with a forced smile, “let’s pretend you didn’t hear anything. i’m going to head back home now, please tell the rest i’m sorry for leaving so suddenly.”

“wait--”

before he could complete his sentence, you hurried off.

the next morning, you woke up in cold sweat.

 the incident of the previous night had led you to a sleepless night, despite how tired you were.

“right, it wasn’t a dream.” 

reaching out your phone from the nightstand, you checked whether you have any missed calls or messages.

0 missed calls or unread messages.

were you hopeful that he would call or text you after what happened? 

probably.

you eventually got out of bed, taking a few minutes to get prepared for school.

unlocking the door, you headed out. you told yourself no matter how much you wanted to hid from him, you have to face your own shame no matter what.

“y/n!” 

younghyun?

“oh... wonpil!”

“what are you doing here?” you asked while locking the door.

“ah, younghyun told me to come to wake you up if you overslept.” 

you pursed your lips.

“well, i will have to thank him later.”

“he says he’s sorry that he can’t walk you to school today.” wonpil relayed his message.

“it’s okay. you’re here,” you replied.

this was your nightmare coming to life, a slip-up that has suddenly caused an unplanned tension between you and your best friend. for a long time, you’ll be haunted by the fact that everything will be awkward between the two of you, he’ll be reminded by your one-sided love while you’ll be reminded by your embarrassment.

no wonder he called wonpil to walk with me to school.

the two of you walked to school together, except the fact that this daily routine was replaced by wonpil.

after a short walking distance, you and wonpil finally reached campus.

“y/n! wonpil!”

“dowoon?”

wonpil and dowoon shared a look.

“i’ll take y/n from here.” dowoon smiled, linking arms with you as he dragged you away from wonpil.

“dowoon... what is going on?”

“you’ll see.”

after climbing multiple steps of stairs and take random turns, the two of you stopped in front of the recording studio.

“once you head in, go into the recording booth and put on the headphones okay?” dowoon instructed.

you nodded your head slowly, following his instructions although you perplexed by what was going to happen.

in the recording booth, you put on the headphones carefully.

“y/n, can you hear me? if yes, speak to the microphone.” dowoon asked.

you gave a thumbs up. “yup. crystal clear.”

“someone is going take over and give you further instructions, hold on~” 

you watched from behind the glass panel as dowoon got up from his seat and left the recording studio.

“huh?” 

checking your phone, you realized you only have an hour before lecture.

“what are the two of you up to?” you were about to send a text to wonpil and dowoon before a music began to play in your ears.

in life, there aren’t many days when things go your way there are more days when it didn’t go my way will today be another one of those days? i am pretty worried

after I tell you these words i’m not sure if we can go back to smiling like we are now but I have to i

like you i tried holding it back but i can’t anymore now i can tell you i want to love you

your phone slipped out of your hand, landing on the soft carpet as you listened to the chorus.

“who?” you whispered, turning and faced the glass panel.

someone else was inside the studio with you, and it was neither wonpil nor dowoon.

it was someone you had least expected to be there with you, observing you intently with an indescribable expression.

i’ve thought of you like this but if you don’t feel the same

you just need to tell me “i’m sorry” and i’ll be fine

like you i tried holding it back but i can’t anymore now i can tell you i want to love you

you could feel the emotions building up your body as the violins (or an orchestra) joined with the final chorus of the song, and you bit your lips from trembling.

when the song ended, he finally spoke, “i hope my song expresses what i want to say to you.”

you sucked in a deep breathed, then spoke into the mic. 

“you don’t have to do this just because i like you.”

he smiled, “why not?”

why?

“you must’ve have pitied me because i’m your close friend. you didn’t want to feel bad for rejecting me because you’re afraid your guilt will eat you up.”

he let out a laugh. “y/n, why in the world would i do that to you?”

you sighed, removing your headphones and headed out.

“y/n... where are you going?” 

he held your arm just as you were about to leave the studio.

“younghyun, don’t you understand? we’re friends, for a very long time. i’m afraid after this moment, i’m not sure we can go back to being normal, being friends. i don’t want to lose you because of my feelings for you.”

he loosened his grip on your arm. 

“what if i don’t want to y/n?”

“what...?”

“what if i don’t want to be just friends, y/n? can’t you see? please, look at me. it took me a lot of courage to do this. ever since you got close to jinyoung, i went crazy. completely out of my mind. when i found out from jinyoung that you rejected him, i was ecstatic! from there onwards, i began to drop you hints... well in english because i was still scared. you weren’t the only one scared of losing this friendship y/n, i was terrified! every day, my feelings for you blossomed, and i don’t think i should hold back anymore. what i’m saying is, i like you y/n.”

you were astonished by his words.

after all, a man that you had been crushing on finally proclaimed his romantic feelings for you.

“i-i... is this a dream?” this was all you could muster out of your mouth.

sighing, younghyun lowered his body. the next thing he did literally pull the soul right out of your body.

he pressed his lips against your forehead, then proceeded in embracing you.

“is this still a dream?” he whispered in your ears.

you felt your vision blurred, a giggle escaped your lips as you embraced him back.

“you’re not crying are you?”

“stop it! these are tears of happiness, you idiot!”

a chuckle erupted from his throat, “well, that’s good to hear.”

there were cheerings from outside the door, and you and younghyun could easily guess who they were.

“wow our boy bribri beat us all here in getting a girl first!” jae exclaimed, his fingers furiously typing a new tweet talking about his single life. 

@/youngk93 got a gf today, why am i still single #whyamialone #singlelife #tindercan’tevengetmeagf

wonpil and dowoon pressed their ears against the door while intertwining their fingers together.

“wonpil and dowoon, give them some privacy please.” sungjin grabbed them each by collars.

jae wiggled his brows, “yeah, give them some privacy. go get it brian!”

sungjin continued to drag wonpil and dowoon away. “jae, can you hurry up and for once, stop using your goddamn phone.”

“hold on-- i’m reading the comments! wait--! @/jiminpark07 replied to your tweet: look at yourself in the mirror first b4 asking why you are alone, loser. dude, she’s asking for trouble.”

the day finally ended with you resting on your bed, relaxing your sore back as you looked up at the ceiling, a content smile plastered on your face.

the only sounds in your room were the snorings coming from the person beside you.

you turned and faced him, reaching out and lightly traced the side of his face.

“i always felt a little alone and scared in this small, empty apartment. however today, it suddenly felt so full, just because you are here with me.”

you slowly shimmied closer to him, careful not to wake him up from his deep slumber.

“i’d like to be with you all the time, create as many memories together as possible.”

although he never told you this yet, you are his sun, his moon, and all his stars.

end.

[pokemon-challenges]

Sycamore poses only a small challenge by virtue of leading with a Bulbasaur that knows Growl and Leech Seed, and managed to get both off in the first run, killing Gwyneth before I managed to beat the Squirtle. Thankfully, Squirtle knows Tail Whip rather than Growl, and on a third run I got lucky with Bulbasaur using Vine Whip so I could take it out with Take Down without too much lost.

I picked a Charmander and named her Narnia. Unfortunately, her next destination is the box, no matter how “fantastic” Professor Sycamore thought me using a second Pokémon might be.

(Attack stat is at 21, by the way.)

Calem rather unsubtly leads me to Plot and Lysandre rather unsubtly announces he’s evil. I was really hoping to get to fight Calem, but unfortunately he says something along the lines of “competing” and then doesn’t actually give me the option to fight him. Shame.

Despite the poor RNG I get, Tierno’s fight is unremarkable. Gwyneth does hit level 19, though, so we’re getting really close to Diggersby and Double Kick (though I’m only taking advantage of one of those.) Gwyneth comes close to being knocked out against a trainer’s Kadabra but pulls through confusion with 5 HP and a likely-necessary Quick Attack critical hit.

Gwyneth tries to evolve and learns Double Kick. I replace Double Slap with it. It is very nice against the many normal-types on this route, and about now it hits me that I’m going to have a lot of issues movewise later on.

Next step is Parfum Palace. I spend all of my 15k on a haircut and then potions. I’m adorable.

(The guard just lets me in free, hilariously enough.)

The actual visit is nothing noteworthy and fortunately neither is the Snorlax fight. I had to grind awhile to be able to beat a trainer with a Pancham and then it took several tries to beat the Team Flare double battle. I won that one mostly due to luck and had to replace Take Down with Return.

Of course that means the next challenge is the gym! Only one trainer gives me any problems, and that’s because his Dwebble takes three moves to KO and is followed by a Relicanth capable of four-shotting me, even at level 31. I ended up cheating a bit and using one super potion just so I’d have the experience points.

Grant is easy up till the point his Tyrunt gets a Rock Tomb critical hit and Mud Shot misses just after, letting it knock me out easily. On the next run Double Kick does slightly less damage than last time and doesn’t two-shot, thereby letting Amaura knock me out with Rock Tomb.

Next try, however, Double Kick crits Amaura and leaves me with no damage taken. Unfortunately, Mud Shot doesn’t 2HKO Tyrunt, so Gwyneth is knocked out yet again. The wise thing to do would probably be go back and grind levels, but I have never known sense in any form (see: this blog), so instead I throw Gwyneth at Grant’s Pokémon repeatedly.

On try ten, Gwyneth unparalyzes herself with Amie the turn Thunder Wave is used, and then Mud Shot hits twice.

I think this calls for a break! < 3

[felcieinfangirlland]

I was living my life peacefully when suddenly @ikenew tagged me and was like “hey here’s 22 questions for you [insert evil laugh]”

1. Favourite voice actor?

none tbh, because I... don’t know them OTL

2. What was the last thing you ate?

pasta with bolognese

3. Left-handed or right-handed?

right handed (mostly, i’m supposed to be left handed so there’s still some stuff i do with my left hand) (not that you demon)

4. What’s your favourite song at the moment?

monsta x - shine forever

5. Have you ever been to different country? If so, where? If not, where would you like to go?

i’ve been to spain, portugal, italy, switzerland, czech republic, japan, french guiana (duh), brazil... i think that’s it? the country i really wanted to see was japan so I can die i guess. I’d still love to see crete (& greece) and mongolia for “roots reasons” and south korea looks attractive... tbh the only place i don’t really care for is the us (for erm i don’t want to die reasons)

6. Favourite colour?

purple

7. Which two characters from your favourite fandoms do you think would get along really well? Why?

*shrug emoji* i think chad from bleach & boyd from teen wolf would get along, silently brooding from afar yet probably being the nicest dudes around once you get to know them past their “cold” exterior

8. Do you like to cook?

sure, i mean, i’m french

9. What was your favourite subject in school?

art, i liked literature but my enjoyment of it was tainted pretty often by terrible teachers

10. Favourite ships?

i am still into stiles x derek & draco x harry (don’t judge) (jk judge me, i deserve it), and currently, even x isak, magnus x alec... clary x izzy though it’s hard when you only like one half of the ship lol... i don’t really watch or read anything because Work but... i just finished preacher and TBH, tulip x jesse x cassidy? yes pls. in the book i’m reading (our dark duet)... august x colin probably (certainly, i had ridiculous hopes for these two since book one lol)

11. Do you have any weird life goals?

making a rainbow cake is my ultimate gay cooking life goal.

–

1. Favorite place you travelled to?

Japan! Japan, man...

2. Favorite movie and why?

the 5th element along with la cité de la peur because I have no dignity and i like to laugh, i guess

3. Favorite color and why?

purple because shinji’s eva is purple along with all the other best things in life

4. Woods or lake?

Woods (haven’t you seen my trees aesthetic tumblr, i mean...)

5. Character you want to see grow healthy and strong (I guess I’m asking for character development)?

none! i want all of them to suffer and be miserable

6. Least favorite character?

idk... i’m still bitter about mal from the grisha trilogy so here, kill that fucker.

7. Top 3 songs you listen the most?

lately: monsta x “shine forever”, nct 127 “cherry bomb” & yezi “anck su namum”

8. Favorite mythical creature?

not to be a typical slytherin, but i was fascinated by the Hydra as a kid

9. Chinese and solar signs?

horse and sagittarius ayyyyy

10. Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur?

charmander... pls... (good time as any to tell y’all that i’m now the proud owner of a charizard)

11. Playing games on hard mode or watching streams of people playing the game?

even better, i watch people irl playing video games lmao, my friends usually call me to tell me their game schedule and then i just drop by to watch them lol

I’m not tagging anyone because, unlike that fake hufflepuff @ikenew, i ain’t evil.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #90

“i’d rather die on my feet than live a life on my knees.”

what do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? heartbreak. what is your favorite bird? barn owls. i also love crows and ravens though because they're so smart. how would you like to die? in my sleep, but surrounded by family. i want them to actually know i'm dying so they don't have to deal with the sheer shock of just waking up to me dead. think of your last ten kisses, were they with the same person? no. do you think making out is slutty? no? will you cry at your wedding?  i can just about guarantee i will. how many wives or husbands do you want?  just one. what were you doing when you found out michael jackson was dead? i was swimming. would you rather vacation by a beach or a lake?  lake. what is your father's middle name? john. what's your favorite anime? "fullmetal alchemist." i like both iterations pretty much the same, both the original and "brotherhood." is there always going to be that one person you and a friend makes fun of? no. if you could live for a year with any foreign family, where would you go? germany! are you afraid of living alone? yes. i honestly don't think i could do it. what do you draw more than anything else?  meerkats. are you the type who is completely against abortion? why? fuck yes, because you will never get me to believe that a fetus is any more human after it's born. it's a human from the start. have you ever read a book that actually changed your outlook on life? "johnny got his gun" by dalton trumbo, my favorite book. it didn't change my perspective, but it definitely heightened my pacifism. do you brag about being different than everyone else? no, because despite being very different, it embarrasses me. what do you think about william shakespeare’s work? he's great. what would you do if your favorite animal became endangered? i would legitimately cry. i would go into a huge depression if meerkats ever went extinct. what’s your name, anyways?  brittany. has anyone ever complimented you on how sweet you can be? yeah. what was the last brutally honest comment you made about someone? like a week ago. a friend of mine posted her fucking self-mutilation pictures on facebook and i called her out on that bullshit. you don't fucking do that. she's honestly a pretty childish person that contradicts herself constantly, but i care for her regardless. do you keep in contact with any of your ex-boyfriends/girlfriends? nope. how was your birthday this year? i was in a mental hospital. guess. lmao. would you like to have a pet horse? if i had a big enough property, definitely. have you read the entire harry potter series? i haven't read a single book. have you seen the deathly hallows? i think so... but i didn't pay attention to it. can you play the piano? no. can you read sheet music? i doubt i could anymore. do you enjoy poetry? absolutely. have you ever written a poem? lots since i was in the 6th grade. angsty shit lol how long is your hair? it's long. like to my shoulderblades, i think longer. do you like the band n*e*r*d? haven't heard of them. would you prefer cherry cola or vanilla cola? cherry coke. i don't like vanilla coke. what is your favorite cover your favorite band has done? "how?", "whiskey in the jar" what is your favorite farm animal?  pigs! do you like pictures that are considered “hipster” and “indie”? yeah. if you could rid the earth of one thing, what would it be?  rape. do you prefer germ-x or purell?  germ-x roses or daisies; which do you prefer?  roses. count to ten in another language. eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn do you like fedoras? i actually do. what's with the hate around them? what band/song reminds you of your childhood?  the backstreet boys. have you ever had a cherry martini?  no absinthe?  no. horchata? no. last time you went to the beach, who’d you go with?  colleen and chelsea. favorite flavor for a milkshake? vanilla smoothie?  mango. when was the last time someone saw you naked?  uhhh. i'm not sure. either my mom did or it's been so long that it was jason. what is the greatest loss you’ve endured?  jason where is your favorite place to have sex?  i haven't had sex before but i'd assume a bed? what is the “worst” drug you’ve done? are there any you will never try, or any you want to try?  uhhh, maybe alcohol? i've never done legitimate drugs. i mean xanax makes doctors p nervous to give out, and i was on that once, but i never abused it. where do you like to be kissed? multiple places? which uncle do you see the most of? uncle rob, mom's younger brother. do you have your family as friends on facebook? yes would you help your best friend hide a body? absolutely not. do you have depression?  i do, but it's finally efficiently being treated. what kind of humor suits you more - irony or sarcasm?  sarcasm, i think. so long it's not hateful. who is your favorite that 70’s show character? hyde and kelso! but i love eric too. did you enjoy middle school or did it suck? worst three years of my life. have you ever done anything with a guy that you now regret? i regret kissing one, but nothing crazy. if you were to dye your hair, what color would you dye it? i currently want galaxy hair. what is your favorite energy drink, if you have a favorite at all? i don't like like 99% of energy drinks. do you know someone who threatens to kill themselves?  all the time. but she does it in a way that is very obviously crying for attention, not support. would you ever completely dye your hair the color green? no. i don't like green in general, but especially as a hair color. do the people in your town speak like rednecks?  some do. what kind of pie do you like the best, if you like it at all?  i don't like pie. have you ever thought of making love in a dressing room?  no, sounds uncomfortable. what is your favorite movie of all time? burton's version of "alice in wonderland" what is your favorite restaurant to go in and eat at?  olive garden. are there any lamps on in the room that you’re currently in? a guitar lamp. salt & vinegar, barbecue, sour cream & onion, or cheddar? hmmm. salt & vinegar. have you ever died in one of your dreams?  i have. which is tastier: fruity gum or minty gum? fruity do you believe in demonic possession? how about ghosts? angels? i'm iffy with demonic possession. anything boys can do, girls can do better - agree or disagree? your gender doesn't determine how well you do anything. have you ever punched someone and broke their nose? no. has a stray dog ever tried to bite you?  no have you ever tried yoga?  yeah. lost 40 pounds doing it some years ago. do you like the font century gothic? sure. bulbasaur, charmander, or squirtle? charmander, of course. does it scare you that even after getting a college education that not even that can guarantee you a career?  it's fucking horrifying. do you own a lot of graphic tees, solid colored ones, or more so just tops?  tops and graphic tees. any specific movie that you wish you could have a love like? [ex: the notebook, allie and noah]   the notebook.  obviously.  but SPOILER, without the dementia END SPOILER. can you remember ever feeling like someone stole your idea or took credit for something that was your work? if not, can you remember a time when you introduced a friend to something and they sort of began acting like they know more about it than you?   it's happened multiple times to me. if you were to ever imagine getting married, do you think you have a lot of people that would invite to your showers and actual wedding? or is it more like you’d be inviting long-lost family members and hoping for the best?   i'd only invite close friends and family. regarding your current or former high school, what is something that you really felt your school was lacking or what is something you would change about your high school?   you couldn't do something as little as even hugging.  but besides that, our principal was fucking awful. choose a male friend of yours. will you please describe him in a way that might convince me he’d be a good person to date?  he's a totally intelligent nerd and remarkably loyal.  very funny. if I handed you a voucher for a free tattoo from a renowned tattoo artist, but it had to be redeemed within 24 hours, would you use it?   i'd fucking scream in joy and then do it immediately lol when you are at a place where people are dancing and people are seated/mingling, like a wedding reception, do you dance or do you remain standing/seated?   i stay seated. what is your favorite kind of chips?  hot cheetos do you own a pair of converses?   multiple. have you ever dated a ginger?   no. do you watch american horror story?  i used to. would you date someone you had a 16 year age difference with?   no. what is your sexuality?   hetero. do you like lana del rey?   not at all. do you think suits are sexy?   hell yeah.  i am openly a huge sucker for suits. do you have a livejournal?  no. have you ever been seduced? by whom?   sure, and a past boyfriend. what’s the third letter of your surname?   "u" have you ever attempted origami? are you good at it? do you enjoy it? what’s your favorite origami to make?   no. do you enjoy classic rock? if so, who are some of your favorite classic rock artists?   classic rock takes up a good portion of my musical library.  so let's go through my favorites (i looked up a list so i don't miss any lmao): ac/dc, aerosmith, alice cooper, def leppard, guns n' roses, iron maiden, billy joel, judas priest (i consider them classic metal, but w/e, i'm going according to this list), motley crue, queen, and van halen.  this list also lists metallica and ozzy as classic rock, but stfu they're thrash and heavy/classic metal. do you get horny a lot?   actually, the longer jason and i have been broken up, i'm less horny. what gives you anxiety?   living.  lmao. do you think "bad romance" is a catchy song or an annoying one?   i honestly think it's catchy, but still very overplayed. could you ever complete a 500-piece puzzle?   i have before. which song did you last listen to on repeat?   lol honestly?  "i just had sex" by the lonely island + akon because i, out of the total blue, remembered that song from when i was a teenager and started giggling.  wanted to relieve the good 'ole times when that song used to crack me and my friend the fuck up. is your mom or dad the older parent?   mom. have you ever received anesthesia or morphine?   morphine, yes.  and it didn't do jackhorseshit for me. does the world make people cruel or do people make the world cruel?   now that's a good question!  but i think the latter.  the world, after all, is just the planet on which we reside.  it, alone, can't be cruel.  it's people who create standards, rules, society itself, etc.  so people make the world cruel. are people more likely to tell you to tone it down or to speak up?   speak up. out of fire, earth, water, wind, light and dark, which element appeals the most to you?   DARKNESS what’s one thing that you wish was real?   i'm taking what the previous person answered: healing potions from games.  that would sure be helpful. what was one of your favorite songs as kid?   apparently, "dookie" by green day lol.  mom always tells me about the time when i was a baby and we were at a putt-putt course, and that song came on and i started screaming "dookie!" and danced.  ... i was an odd child.  i am grateful i have no recollection of this event lmao. how much do you elaborate in survey answers?  i try to elaborate the best i can to make things interesting. are you a private person?   usually. what does your sister's hair look like? if you don’t have a sister, how about brother?  talking about my two immediate sisters, they both have long, brown, gorgeous hair.  nicole just put blondeish highlights in it the other day.  i envy how great her hair always looks. ever taken a shower with someone?   not since becoming "mature."  as kids, nicole and i would shower together sometimes. how many pregnant people do you know?  none, i think. do you have a tolerance for snoring or does it drive you insane?  it drives me up a fucking wall are you by any means broken?  i don't think so anymore. (:  broken things can be fixed.  never repaired entirely, but, y'know. do you believe in astrology and horoscopes?   not at all. are you irish in any way?   yep. are you good with confrontations?   NO.  i start crying. should we consider cheerleading a sport?   i mean... i guess?  it's physical exertion. do you know anyone with diabetes personally?   my mom.  other family members.  it runs in the family. do you like orange soda?   orange cream soda, yes. anything you find creepy that others probably don’t?   whale sharks.  their mouths are just so fucking huge and i think of them swallowing people despite the fact their esophagus is much too small. have you ever liked anyone whose name started with a "j"?   i loved someone whose name started with a "j" who was the last person you kissed?   to my dismay, tyler. where did it happen?  my back porch have you heard of the band behemoth?  yes, but i haven't listened to them. do you even listen to metal in the first place?  yes, mainly heavy and thrash metal.  i'm also a pretty big symphonic metal fan, but i really need to find more bands... do you have a deviantart?   yes. is there anybody famous you’re obsessed with?  mark fischbach and link neal please save me from this life of squealing torture what was the last thing you took a break from?   "world of warcraft."  well, i didn't have much choice, really.  my laptop has to be fixed.  i haven't played in months. what're you currently hearing?   markiplier & tyler playing "undertale."  i've seen this playthrough before, but i wanted to watch it again.  i'm not big on undertale, but i love how my boys make it so funny. are you afraid of the dark?   no.  i mean sure, i'd be pretty uneasy if i was in the dark somewhere i didn't know, but i wouldn't necessarily be scared. do you like yourself?   i'm getting there! (: do you have any piercings or tattoos?  five piercings, four tats. how would you describe your style?   if i'm actually dressing for an occasion, i'm like a goth-geek mix.  if i'm just running out somewhere, it's sweats and a graphic tee. favorite desserts?  ice cream! if you could take a vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?   the kalahari desert in south africa to photograph meerkats!! favorite horror movies?   "blair witch project 2: book of shadows" what are your parents’ names?   donna and kenneth/ken dark and dramatic makeup or natural makeup?  dark and dramatic, baby. satin or lace?  lace is sexy what’s something that fascinates you?  space.  coral reefs. favorite sea creature?  dolphins, whales, seahorses... do you drink alcohol?   very rarely.  not even once a month. weirdest fetish you’ve ever found out about and how?  the fetish of adults with diapers.  and deviantart.  would see drawings as such in groups and it would really fucking disturb me.  speaking of da, they need a fetish filter so fucking badly. if offered irreversible immortality, would you take it?   absolutely not. what is your favorite superpower? why?  metamorphosis because who wouldn't want that if you were a videogame character, what would your iconic weapon be?   bow and arrow your friend tells you that they are suicidal, and asks you not to tell anyone. is it more of a betrayal to tell someone, or to keep silent?  fuck it dude, i'm obviously telling someone.  that is a serious fucking matter.  i don't even consider that betrayal, that's called doing what's necessary to save a life. something that makes you smile?   mark fischbach. what’s your opinion on cinnamon rolls?   *intense drooling* would your parents be okay with you dating someone of another race?  yeah. have you ever heard of the band ‘the black keys’?   i have.  mom's a fan, i think. was your hair a different color when you were a baby than it is, now?  yes.  as a baby, i had dirty blonde hair, but it gradually turned brown.  it's currently dyed, though. do you need it to be absolutely DARK in order to sleep? how about quiet?   as for dark, no actually.  i have a hard time sleeping when it's totally dark, because i don't like being unable to see.  but quiet, yes. would it bother you if someone else used your hairbrush?   if it was a stranger or i thought their hair was dirty, yes. is it ‘soda’ or 'pop’?  soda. have you ever been inside of a cave?   no, but i wish!  i looooove caves! what’s your comfort food?   ice cream. what do you use your cell phone for, besides texting and calling?   i have an app on there to track my period, and sometimes i'll use it to go online. what's the creepiest movie ever?   there is only one horror movie that even makes me remotely uncomfortable, and that's "the rite."  the concept of being pregnant with a demon is fucking horrific.  i don't believe anyone ever has been, but just the idea is awful. did you ever do something you promised yourself not to?   yeah. what’s the craziest color you've dyed your hair?   purple do you like paranormal stuff?   YEAH do you have a favorite stuffed toy?   a stuffed meerkat named rebel that my ex gave me. would you rather be hurt physically or emotionally?   physically. do you over-analyze things?   literally everything. what's your favorite food?   jalapeno pizza tops the list.  but i also love well-made hot wings and strawberries.  kiwi, too. what's the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in real life?   MOUNTAINS what's the best advice you’ve ever been given?   "deal with the past, or the past deals with you," probably. does vintage stuff appeal to you?   yeah! do you believe that leaving a significant other for someone else is ever a good idea?   of course i don't.  staying in a relationship you no longer want is foolish and only hurts you both way more than leaving. do you want to be taller or shorter?   i don't really care.  i'm content with my height. are your eyes the same color as your dad’s?   no.  his are brown. what do you want right this second?   i want hot fries lol are you one of those people who never drinks soda?   i feel like soda is such a loathed thing on the internet.  but no.  i drink soda. is your vision good?   no.  i have to wear glasses, and when i don't wear them, i can barely make out the second row on those vision test things with the big "e" have you ever slow danced with anyone?   yes. have you ever witnessed someone else engaging in a sexual act?   my sister's friend pretty intensely made out with her then-boy toy on our couch once while i was present. do you think it’s attractive for a man to wear eyeliner?   that shit makes me weak at the knees lmao have you ever been to the grand canyon?   no, but i wish! when's garbage day in your area?   we have to take our trash on our own to the dump here. do you know anyone who hates or dislikes chocolate?   my grandmother do you know anyone who's racist?   yes. do you have more girl friends or guy friends?   girls. have you ever hated yourself?   yes. did your parents ever ground you?   yeah. do you own an mp3 player of some kind?   i still have an old fucking ipod nano lmao.  that thing's been going for a looooong fucking time. are you or were you popular in high school?   definitely not.  i was a loner. what're three of your favorite TV shows?   "fullmetal alchemist," "that '70s show," "supernatural" do you like things vampire related?   sure, vampires are cool.  i never really liked the romanticized stories, though. are your nails currently long?   no.  they never are. have you ever been to las vegas?  no.  it's on the complete opposite end of the country. if you met your favorite celebrity, would you be calm or star struck?   i'd be one of those people that inside is FREAKING THE FUCK OUT but would try sooo hard to stay chill. did/do you listen to britney spears songs?  as a kid i did. in the past week, have you ridden in a taxi?   i've never been in a taxi what shorthand do you use the most?  lol, omg, lmao are there any framed pictures in the room you’re in?   yes.  an exclusive promotional "silent hill: revelation" poster in japanese that i won in a giveaway. what show did you last watch?   "that '70s show," at least part of it. do you still make christmas lists?   yes, because mom asks me to.

[atrainersjourney-blog]

The Beginning

The sun shone brightly today, forcing Kiera to shield her eyes as she approached her destination. She wore a black, loose-fitting off-the-shoulder top over a cream tank-top. This was accompanied by a beige mini skirt over a pair of form-fitting jeans that belled out a bit and a pair of comfy-looking white sneakers. Pausing a moment, she fished in the blue canvas hobo bag slung over her shoulder and pulled out a rounded pair of dark sunglasses.

Much better.

Flicking back her dirty-blonde hair, she continued towards Professor Oak's lab with confidence in every step. Today was the day. She smiled, thinking of the adventures ahead with great anticipation. As she was pushing the door open, a handsome black-haired young man took it from her, sweeping aside to let her pass with a bow. Kiera felt herself smirking.

“I see you got here before me.” she chimed, striding past, then waiting a moment as he closed the door behind her.

“But not before someone else.” he replied with a wink. Kiera sighed her understanding and shook her head.

“Honestly, would it kill him to arrive on time once in a while?” she asked. The black-haired boy shrugged, adjusting his brown leather vest over his white t-shirt.

“Probably.” he said seriously. “The pain of not being the first to arrive and all that.”

“But he's early to everything!” Kiera complained, pulling off her sunglasses and giving her hair a shake. Since she was inside now, she decided to put them back in her bag.

Again, he shrugged, fiddling with his battered red baseball cap.

“Damn right.” said a voice up ahead. Kiera looked forward, seeing they'd come to the back of the lab building, where the Professor said he would be waiting. And sure enough, there was the topic of discussion. He stepped forward, tossing his short, ruffled brown hair, leveling his gaze with the man at her side.

“Only losers come in second.” he said in an undertone. Both men tensed, and Kiera prepared herself to step between them if necessary.

“And what do you two think you're doing?”

All three of them turned to find Professor Oak walking toward them. His face was stern with unspoken rebuke.

“I thought I've told you boys not to fight in my laboratory.” he chided, crossing his arms and looking between them. Reluctantly, they stepped away from each other, turning aside and muttering their apologies.

“That's better.” said the Professor. “Now come along you three. We're here for a reason, after all.”

This seemed to jar the young men out of their mood, and Kiera followed along as they eagerly approached a table where three poké balls had been laid out.

“As I've told you all before, I have finally acquired the pokémon I promised.” the Professor began, walking the table's length slowly. “One for each of you to start your journeys with. These pokémon will be your companions for the length of your journey, and your friends if you raise them well. Choose wisely.”

The brown-haired boy tugged the bottom of his collared black t-shirt and went to step forward, but the professor gestured to Kiera.

“Ladies first.” he said with a smile. The brown-haired boy immediately flared up.

“Gramps, that's not fair! How come she gets to pick first.”

Kiera and the other young man sighed heavily and rolled their eyes.

“'All's fair in love and war', or so I've been told.” the professor replied evenly. “Regardless, I think it's perfectly fair to ask you two gentlemen to allow the lady first choice. Right, Ash?”

The professor turned to the black-haired boy, who smiled.

“Of course,” he replied. “Come on, Gary, let Kiera pick first.”

Begrudgingly, Gary remained where he was, muttering darkly to himself.

Kiera smiled her appreciation to Ash and the professor before stepping up to the table. Each poké ball was marked with a different sticker. One had a green leaf. Another had a small flame. And the third had a water drop. Kiera inspected each one, her hand hovering over them in turn. It settled on the one with a leaf, and she looked to the professor.

“Bulbasaur,” said the professor obligingly. “A grass type starter, which will naturally grow faster than the others. Typically an easy-to-train partner.” He stepped forward. “Is that the pokémon you're choosing.”

Kiera gripped the poké ball and lifted it from it's place.

“Can I let him out?” she asked, looking at the professor again.

“Go right ahead.” said the professor.

Kiera gave the poké ball a light toss, letting it bounce off the floor. There was a flash, and out popped a pokémon in varying shades of green, a single bulb carried on its back.

“Bulbasaaaur.” went bulbasaur as he emerged. Kiera caught the poké ball as it bounced and tilted her head curiously at the pokémon.

“Hello there,” she said with a smile, crouching. “I'm Kiera.”

She extended a hand, as she might for a new acquaintance.

The bulbasaur looked at her curiously, a serious light to his eyes.

“Saur...” he said quietly. Slowly, a vine came from beneath the bulb, and he wrapped it around her hand. She giggled and shook it twice.

“Nice to meet you!” she said.

“Saur saur...” went Bulbasaur, still watching her seriously.

“Get on with it already!” Gary snapped impatiently. Kiera pursed her lips and gave him a look as she stood.

“I think I've chosen.” she said to the professor, earning a smile in return.

“And a very good choice, I might add.” he said cheerfully. “Now is there any particular name you're going to be calling him by? I'd like to have it for my records.”

Kiera put a hand to her chin and looked down at Bulbasaur. He was still staring at her in that same serious way, as if awaiting orders. His attitude so far reminded her somewhat of a character from a sci-fi tv show she'd watched with Gary and Ash as kids. She smiled. She knew what his name would be.

“I'll call him Rex.” she said.

“Good, good,” said the professor.

Not a second later Gary was up at the table and grabbing the poké ball with the flame sticker.

“Alright, this one's mine!” he said. “Let's go, pokémon!”

Gary tossed the poké ball without waiting for the professor's go-ahead.

Out came a small orange creature with a lizard-like body and a flame on it's tail.

“Charmander!” it cried excitedly, presumably happy to be out of its ball.

“Honestly, Gary, when will you learn the value of patience?” his grandfather scolded with a shake of his head.

“What's the point of waiting when you know what you want?” he fired back, spreading his arms.

The professor sighed, shook his head again, and started jotting something down.

“Alright, Gary, how about a name, then?”

“Cody.” said Gary without hesitation.

“Char!” said Charmander approvingly. Kiera gave Ash a look, and he smiled knowingly.

Walking forward, he picked up the last poké ball with a grin.

“Guess this one's mine, then.”

He gave it a toss. Out popped a light blue turtle with a curled tail.

“Squirtle.” said the pokémon, the sound without emotion. Ash smirked and crossed his arms, giving the pokémon an appraising look.

“Not much for excitement, are you?” he asked. The pokémon gave him a blank stare, which made him chuckle.

“And the name for yours, Ash?” the professor asked, sounding tired.

Ash gave Kiera another knowing smile, then nodded at the professor.

“Wolffe.” he said. “W-o-l-l-f-e.”

The professor scribbled a bit longer, then set his pen down with a sighed. Turning back to them, he put his hands together and smiled.

“Congratulations, kids. You've all chosen your partners. Well done.”

“Yeah, yeah, Gramps, get to the point.” Gary interrupted.

The professor gave Gary a withering look, then faced the room again.

“The journey you're about to embark on is an important one.” The professor started to pace slowly as he spoke. “Future generations will be shaped by the information you record. The research you provide will be the stepping stones of those who follow after.”

The professor stopped and smiled.

“Before I let you go, I have one more gift for each of you.”

The professor walked to a table further back, along the wall. On it were laid out three red devices, which he collected together and brought towards them. Starting with Kiera, he handed one the each of them.

“These are your Pokédexes.” he said. “Each time you encounter a pokémon, they will provide you with a name and some of the various data I've managed to gather myself. But these devices are not yet complete. What I would like from each of you is for you to add to them.” The professor returned to his slow pacing. “Observations, visible variations, eating habits... Anything not already recorded, I'd like you to enter in for later.”

The professor stopped between them.

“At the end of your journeys, I will compile the data and expand the Pokédex to it's full potential. As I've already told you, this journey will shape the future. I look forward to what you will find. Good luck.”

Gary sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, but managed not to comment. Instead, he turned to Ash, a wicked smile playing with his lips.

“Alright, Ashy-Boy how about we see who's picked the better pokémon?”

To his credit, Ash only slightly winced at the use of the childhood nickname. Gary had been using it to ridicule Ash for as long as Kiera could remember.

“Not in my lab, not in my lab!” the professor protested with waved arms. “Outside, you two!”

Gary made a sound of annoyance and muttered something, but he returned Cody to his poké ball and headed for the door. Ash returned Wolffe also, then turned to the professor with a smile.

“Thank you, Professor. I'm glad to have been chosen for this opportunity.”

“Yes, thank you so much!” Kiera added with a bow.

The professor's smile returned, warming them both.

“You're very welcome. And I know Gary appreciates it, too, though he won't say it.” He shook his head for the he-didn't-know-how-many-th time. “That boy is going to run into trouble with that impatient spirit someday.”

Ash chuckled.

“Don't worry, Professor.” he said. “We'll look out for him.”

The professor nodded at him.

“Be sure that you do.” he replied.

Ash turned to go, raising a hand in acknowledgment. Kiera gave Rex a smile.

“Well Rex, shall we go, too?” she asked.

“Saur,” said Rex with a nod. Kiera smirked, holding back the amused giggles, and followed Ash, Rex at her side.

[aethernoise]

Patch 3.5 gameplay discussion, part 1

Review & thoughts about the two new dungeons, Baelsar’s Wall and Sohm Al HM, below the cut. All mechanics related, no spoilers (unless you haven’t run them yet and wish to go in blind, which I always recommend).

-          First things first, as far as Baelsar’s Wall is concerned: The perfectly timed pack appearances on the “sideways elevator of doom” and the trash reinforcements throughout the dungeon are really, really annoying. The elevator sequence is timed in a way that��s a big “fuck you” to things like Enochian, BotD, Greased Lightning, etc—it was like the battle equivalent of when you’re trying to turn and the cars coming are so evenly spaced you’re stuck at the intersection forever. Related is the reinforcements thing, which started giving me strange flashbacks to SOS Battles in Pokemon Sun where the Zubats would just not stop coming. This is tricky for tanks, and a little scary for DPS who are happily AOE burning away, since the new mobs jump in before the others are dead and usually go right for the DPS (the threat table is established in advance, it seems). Luckily our tank was extremely competent and quick reacting (AND had been there before) so we didn’t take too much damage, but I can foresee this being hard for people until they get used to it.

-          I honestly don’t remember the first boss, but that must mean it wasn’t too much trouble. The second one has that delightful Blighted/Dice mechanic which will force people to get out of their tunnel vision, and repeated double-prey which requires the healer to be on top of their shit. Overall a fun fight. Griffin has some challenging mechanics, like that gaze + stun which I found VERY unforgiving; it must have a much quicker cast than gazes usually do, or maybe it has a cut-off point that is far earlier than the hit (a la Ascian Prime’s Universal Manipulation). The damage from the swords is survivable even if you only kill the one in the middle, but if the idea is to take down all of them, that is a serious DPS check.

-          Sohm Al is the more fun of the two, overall. There’s a little bit of reinforcement trash appearance but it’s not nearly as irritating as the ones at the Wall. It seemed like the trash packs were easier on the healer as well, as ours was actually able to DPS quite a bit.

-          Evil Bulbasaur and Evil Charmander were both pretty fun. I like the telegraphed-but-not-telegraphed mechanics in Charmander; once again, it will get DPS out of their tunnel vision. I got unpleasantly surprised by the tail-swipe attack the first time he did it, but from then on the fire breath and the claw strikes with the giant wind ups were fairly easy to avoid. As our healer observed, it’s a tough fight for melee, since the damn thing is moving around a LOT regardless of what the tank does to control it.

-          Speaking of tough for melee, the last boss (Lava Scorpion? Couldn’t figure out a Pokemon counterpart for him) is also making me glad that I can fight at range. I personally LOVE the chaos of this fight, with all the fire and explosions and lava spewing everywhere. As long as people know to kill the Claw adds first, it’s not too hard. I did however get into a bad situation where I was boxed in by lava and one step from being out of cast range. I did not try to Aetherial Manipulation over the lava, but I will next time for science (since it’s a slide and not a tele, I might still take burn damage, but it’s still faster than running through it). That will be a good worst case scenario option, but of course, I’d rather not get stuck in the first place.

I hope to tackle Dun Scaith and/or Zurvan normal tonight (depends on what the FC wants to do, probably), so more gameplay discussion inbound!

[rhyrhillian]

Journal 7-29-20 (Wednesday)

On Sunday the twenty-sixth, I played Dungeons and Dragons for the first time in months. Following the plot that I have completely missed out on due to my work schedule interfering with the previous sessions, the group has come to the conclusion that stopping the wedding is the only option. Randolph popped into the church to disrupt the wedding between the frost prince and summer queen. Apparently there are other characters that I’ve known have existed but Randolph hasn’t really met. So during this session, Blake played Faenor and Bilbo. Jo played Felix, Justin played Vincent, and I played Randolph. Alondite played himself. Which sounds hilarious but don’t misconstrue my intentions. In the end, the session ended in a failure. Or was it a tragedy after all? I played the best move by assassinating the priest holding the procession. I knew I couldn’t touch the summer queen and attacking the frost prince would be a death sentence. So, I killed the middle man using two pistol shots. Honestly, it’s the most memorable and creative thing I’ve done in dungeons and dragons. The turn itself took about ten minutes and I highlighted and audio edited it to be playable from my phone. I’m going to listen to it forever. The perfect break and enter scene. From crashing an airplane into a church, shooting a priest, and dramatically escaping the wrath of the frost prince and a zealous paladin warrior. That’s what I want to remember. In the end, we were outnumbered and outgunned. It didn’t help that Beth was missing, Faenor’s sword’s curse overtook him, and our bard was knocked unconscious by our own team. It was a series of bad events. But, hey, at least we stopped the problematic wedding. And we leveled up! Somehow

So I asked myself if I remembered how to play Pokemon card games so I downloaded the game boy color game. I picked the charmander deck only for the free charizard card. Don’t worry Bulbasaur, you’ll always be in my heart. Forget squirtle. Yeah, I haven’t forgotten the game. I know playing the card game in today’s environment will be impossible for me to wrap my head around so I figured I’d play the base vanilla game the game boy game was based on. I don’t feel like playing the modern card game would be impossible for me to learn, but I know how much time, preparation, and strategy it would take to learn. With that, I admit I simply don’t want to learn the new game metas.

[ghostmartyr]

Pokémon FireRed Nuzlocke [Part 4]

Still on attempt number one of beating this game with standard Nuzlocke rules + no fighting outside of Trainer battles. A death has occurred, but all in all, it’s been more optimistic than expected.

Barring some unfortunate experiences in a cave.

But it’s time for a new cave now!

Tunnel. Whatever.

Though I lied for the sake of convenient narrative pacing. Before we go inside Rock Tunnel and explore all it has to offer, there’s a trainer outside who is in need of some battling.

Picknicker Heidi wants to battle. She has two pokemon, and the first is a level 20 Pikachu. tfw you miss having a Ground pokemon, but this challenge is made for grief and I shan’t shed tears. Clefairy follows the Pikachu. With, appropriately, Follow Me as its first move. Hee.

Anyway, Allenby handles both.

Back into the tunnel. Where we have a catch waiting for us.

Also Zubat.

Many, many Zubat.

There we go. A not-Zubat.

Caught! I dub you Athrun. I’m never going to do anything with you, probably, but you can stay in the party. In case something goes desperately wrong.

Now, with the power of Flash, let’s explore the part of the game I always hated most as a child. I don’t know if I understood Flash or how it worked or that I would be happier if I had it, but I have very distinct memories of grabbing a flashlight and shining it on my gameboy in an attempt to stomp my way through the cave.

I didn’t figure out until years later that light outside the game was not going to help.

Many of my childhood trials were self-inflicted.

Pokemaniac Ashton is our first contestant of the tunnel. He opens with a level 23 Cubone. I make the decision to switch Noin in, then immediately want to strangle myself because Noin is part Poison. But it works out, and she’s in to deal with the following Slowpoke.

Noin advances to level 25, and that’s the first fight.

A level down, Pokemaniac Winston wants to battle. He has one pokemon. It is a level 25 Slowpoke. Delightful. By which I mean slightly intimidating. Noin switches in, and I start reconsidering Allenby’s position as first in the party.

Shit.

That was a critical hit from Confusion.

...How do critical hits work in this gen?

2x a normal hit. So it normally does 24 damage. So to survive, Noin has to--ugh, screw it, I’ll spend a turn on a Super Potion.

(Normally it does 23 damage. So noted.)

Okay, this is fine.

Noin is also going to move to the front, since Pokemaniacs seem to trump Hikers in this area of the Tunnel.

...It was fine, then Slowpoke used Disable. Yay, okay, still fine.

We continue down the tunnel. Next opponent appears to be a Picnicker, so Allenby goes back in front. I feel like this is going to be a lot of switching things around. For real this time, since those Slowpokes are scary.

Thanks Martha.

Heero can fight the level 22 Oddish. As well as the Bulbasaur.

Another Pokemaniac moves Noin back to the front, and I’m already tired of putting this much thought into what I’m doing.

I dearly love these games so much.

His name is Steve, and he has a level 22 Charmander. Ah. Uh. Heeeeeero. ;-; Heeeeeelp. Then it’s another Cubone, and that one can go to Noin.

My party isn’t too battered from all of this, but the thing that I really dislike about caves is that they make me unwilling to go back to the Pokemon Center even when my extreme caution wants me to. I want to embrace the hover parent. My children must live.

But I really hate walking through caves, so I prefer all of my walking through caves to go forward. Alas.

And of course with the level 20 Machop. Ugh. This is why Noin doesn’t get to be up front for these things. Even if everything else Hikers have is of interest to Noin’s dietary needs.

Allenby will eat that, but the critical hit she also eats means Noin is in for the Onix. Noin hits level 26 and we’re all very proud of her.

Post-fight, Allenby gets a Super Potion and moves up front to fight the other Hiker in this room.

Local man bullies small child.

This one’s name is Allen. He has one pokemon, which is instantly scary. It is a Geodude, and fears are instantly assuaged. ...While Magnitude 7 is going to mean another Super Potion for Allenby. Who has just gone and hit level 27. Yay.

Hiker Lenny is up next. He’s got a level 19 Geodude, and a team count that promises more. Noin is going to handles the others to keep the damage risk at a minimum.

Oh, but then there’s a Machop, and Allenby can have that.

Geez, but Allenby is taking way too many critical hits for comfort. I’m basically using some kind of Potion after every fight. I can’t remember how long this tunnel is, but. I would prefer it to be ending faster than it seems to be going.

Real player characters have maps.

He has a level 20 Onix. And a name I wasn’t looking at when it showed up on the screen. Noin gets the level 20 Geodude so Allenby can please stop losing health. ...Same with the next Onix.

Oliver, that’s the dude’s name.

Hiker Lucas is next, bringing the level 21 Geodude.

...Aaaand a Graveler. For Noin.

Oliver doesn’t.

Picnicker Sofia! With a level 21 Jigglypuff! And a Pidgey?

...Zaft. Let’s... give you a try. Heero might be rescuing you, but let’s give you a shot. You won! You can’t fight anything else until we get you some medical attention, but look at that! A whole fight! All by yourself!

Now get out so Allenby can murder the Meowth.

Realistically, I think Zaft is going to have the same problem Ismail had. The training demands before Zaft can carry weight could kill our little Voltorb buddy. But I love Electrode. I’d like to use one. What I ultimately end up with is likely a question of whether or not I can get the Exp. Share, but still. Something needs to kill my rival’s eventual Gyarados, right?

Hey!

Naisu.

No, you can’t learn Rage.

Hiker Dudley says hello with a level 21 Geodude. I grant the next to Noin. As well as the Graveler.

And there’s a move tutor down here that teaches Rock Slide. That sounds like an Allenby move. Bye, Scratch. You had your time.

A Pokemaniac’s up next, so Noin goes in the front. Hi Cooper-san. Hi level 20 Slowpoke. Hiiiiiiii-oh fuck.

I clicked something.

The window closed.

Okay, let’s try to salvage this. I think Lucas was last. I’ll just... do what it says I did up above and hope I wind up in the same place. One moment that you won’t feel at all, please.

And back. Zaft escaped the Pidgey with slightly more HP left, but everything else is exactly the same, and we’re on the second Slowpoke with Noin.

And done. Nice.

Though when I was checking my team during my replay, there was. a thing.

What. Did. Did I give it that accidentally?

...Pickup can give you TMs? I guess? I don’t even want to look that up, in case it disrupts the magic, but that’s bizarre. Or not, since TMs are one and done in this gen. Still. What.

Okay, now to go up the ladder and figure out if Noin’s 2 Absorbs left will make it until Lavender, or if we’re spending a precious Ether on her.

Picnicker Leah blocks the way. Allenby looks at her level 22 Bellsprout with disdain. Her Clefairy receives similar attention.

Picnicker Ariana has more pokemon. Like a level 19 Pidgey. And a Rattata... is this worth giving Zaft some experience, or should I accept that Zaft is too far behind to catch up.

Let me think. I have three team members that aren’t leaving unless death takes them. The guaranteed encounters are Snorlax and an Eevee in Celadon. Vaporeon was going to be my choice for the Eevee, and I would be delighted to have a Snorlax, but I don’t know how realistic it is that I’ll be able to catch it.

Electrode’s only amazing stat is Speed. But Electro Ball could do some serious murder. So... I could have a glass cannon. Not a safe choice for this type of run, but I said I was expecting to have to do this several times. Fuck it, I want an Electrode. Zaft, you’re fighting a Rattata.

Hoo boy.

Switch training for the next Rattata. Heero can have it. Heero will also stay in for the Bellsprout.

Picnicker Dana has a level 20 Meowth. And a Pidgey for switch training. Heero will take care of it and stay in for the Oddish.

SUNLIGHT.

And battles I will be avoiding until I hit the Pokemon Center.

Aaaah, sweet, sweet healing.

Oh, and the Name Rater’s here! We can finally fix Ren the Pidgey’s name! Making Ren legal! If I ever feel in the mood to train up a level 3 Pidgey!

Back up to the Picnicker and Hiker.

And the walking Pokemaniac I sort of remembered was a Trainer, but got complacent about. I’m not sure I want Allenby up front for this one. Sigh. Pokemaniac Herman. Level 20 Cubone. Okay, that’s fine. Slowpoke goes to Noin.

Now we deal with the people outside the cave.

Aw.

Sorry in advance, Carol.

Level 21 Pidgey. A Pidgeotto follows, so it’s time to play Zaft chicken again. Heero, save our little buddy from the big bird. Yay, Zaft lives to see level 17.

Hiker Clark. Wassup. Hello level 21 Geodude. Noin gets the Onix.

Lastly, Hiker Trent is up. Level 19 Onix to start. Noin takes the Graveler.

Phew. Okay! We’re in the Lavender Town stages of the plot. I don’t think I want to go to the Tower until after the Rockets in Celadon. I might also be buying Zaft Carbos in Celadon. Undecided. I can’t remember how much my money means in this. Really, the current mission is just beating down every nearby Trainer until I am forced to find more by following the plot. The only question is if I go down first or left.

I will flip a coin.

Heads. I’m going down to play with the fishes. Noin, take your place in first position.

Goldeen, level 22. Noin, level 29. Poliwag gives Speed, so Zaft comes out to play briefly. Allenby takes the next Goldeen.

Fisherman Chip is next. Ooh, our first Tentacool. Level 24. Goldeen is Allenby’s again.

Then comes Fisherman Hank. With one level 27 Goldeen. And Noin drank the exp, and saw that it was good.

Fisherman Elliot might be the fisherman I’ve been waiting for. Four pokemon. Could it be...? ...A level 21 Poliwag. Followed by Shellder. A Goldeen for Allenby. The Horsea can be Zaft’s.

Sigh. So many Water trainers. So few Magikarp.

Last fight South of Lavender until I deal with plot stuff. Lesgo. Noin and Heero vs. two level 24 Nidoran. All goes well except for Heero ending up poisoned. Ugh. There’s an Antidote for that.

Back to Route 8, and back to Allenby being in front.

Lass Julia has a level 22 Clefairy in need of punching. The second one is deserving as well.

Gamer Rich has a level 24 Growlithe in a similar state. Heero can have Vulpix so she has something to do. The Vulpix Roars out Zaft. I know better than to leave Zaft in, so Heero gets switched back to save her young one. Then Zaft gets Roared back out and Sonicbooms ftw.

Oh. I thought you were a scientist and switched to Heero in hopes of Magnemite. tfw only level 22 Grimer. And Muk. And another Grimer.

Hmmm. I think I’m going to try to see if I can make it to Celadon without fighting anyone else. I want that Eevee. For reasons of want. And the superMart there has lots of nice vitamins, and knowing how much that all costs will be useful.

Success!

One male Eevee for my first encounter for Celadon. Aiming for a Water type. Hmmmmmmmmm. Ribbons!

Naive, huh? +Speed, -Sp. Def.

Workable.

Look, you’re stuck being a Vaporeon. I’ll make it work, but that’s what I want, and I don’t have much room for choice in this Nuzlocke. Arguably that makes using you against the spirit of everything, but I care not.

Now the important things. Eevee learns Bite at level 30. Vaporeon learns it at the same level. There’s no reason to hold off evolving Ribbons. Now we go to the store and make a lot of decisions that leave my virtual wallet crying.

HA. Um. Yeah, okay, this can’t happen. Cute thought, very optimistic, but I am not spending all my money on drugging my pokemon that might die in the very next fight. I’m going to have to continue doing all the EV management the old fashioned way.

Reflect TM earned on the roof by giving a drink to a little girl. Giving people drinks is very important in this game.

Great, Water Stone and Leaf Stone bought.

Max adorbs.

There’s no reason to delay Noin receiving her Leaf Stone, either, which. is sort of depressing because yikes that moveset, but hey, let’s appreciate the added bulk and not poke holes in it.

Hooray!

Now we return to finding random trainers to fight.

Aw fuck.

A level 29 Rapidash and Ninetales. I am here too early. I put Ribbons in the second slot in the hopes of exp, but that decision might really bite me here. Allenby needs to swoop in and save the day. Hopefully she can.

Yes, she can. Her improbably good aim with Rock Slide continues, delaying its inevitable betrayal.

Yikes, that was scary. I just wanted the Fly HM.

Which I now have.

I’m going to leave Route 16 alone because I think the Snorlax blocking Cycling Road technically belongs to it, and I want as many chances at Snorlax as I can squeeze out. I will also grab the TEA before I head back to beating up Trainers.

As well as whatever my Route 7 pokemon is.

It’s Growlithe!

Hi Growlithe! Imma name you Duo!

And I can now go through the... guard thingies. They aren’t blockades... gates? Those.

Anyway, back to the Trainers on Route 8. Super Nerd Aidan sends out a level 20 Voltorb. Opportunity! Zaft and Heero do the switcheroo to make magic happen. Same with the next. And the Magnemite. Allenby gets the Koffing.

-gasp- A level 22 Poliwag! Zaft, look!

Hypnosis hits and Zaft falls asleep.

That’s honestly fine. You weren’t going to do anything.

Look Zaft, another Poliwag for you to do nothing against. And a Poliwhirl, even!

Every fight I let Zaft participate in, all I can think is how it would probably be way more useful if the teammate helping Zaft just took all the exp. Yet I persist. Because I want a dang Electrode.

Biker Richard wants to battle! Dick. He has a level 22 Koffing. Allenby can eat the second one. The Grimer is clear Ribbons food. Kill it, Ribbons. Kill it with your Quick Attack. Your wonderful Quick Attack that dodges Disables just as well as Minimize dodges everything.

And then Ribbons’ only attack was Disabled. Repeatedly.

Ribbons, let’s let one of the other party members handle this.

Welp.

Nothing can hit the Grimer thanks to all the Minimizes from waiting for Ribbons to get in a final Quick Attack. Sludge also keeps poisoning everything.

Noin finally steps in and kills the wicked Grimer.

Sheesh.

Biker Jaren, please don’t have a Grimer.

Biker Jaren has a level 24 Grimer.

Biker Jaren has a second level 24 Grimer.

Heero burns it.

Heero is a good girl.

Now we’ve got these people I don’t really remember.

I mean.

Hi Lass Megan.

Level 19 Pidgey for Zaft to share with Heero. Given the number of pokemon she has, this feels like a statement I will use multiple times. ...Fine, sometimes there’s a Rattata. Or a Nidoran. Or a Meowth. Or a Pikachu.

Bye Lass Megan.

I’m going to take a brief detour to go get my bike. I never traded in the voucher.

Now I have a bike.

Back to fighting. Lass Andrea is up next opening with a level 24 Meowth. Followed by another. And another. Win get.

Lass Paige is next on accident, because I was running along the side where glasses dude wasn’t looking. Oh well. Order isn’t that important, right? Level 23 female Nidoran, Ribbons, would you like to play? With Heero’s help, sure. Ooh, and followed up by a level 23 Nidorina. Allenby can help Ribbons with that.

Now glasses dude to finish off the row.

One level 26 Koffing.

Heero murders it.

Huh, and then I run into Twins Eli and Anne by accident. Sensing a theme, here. Heero and Ribbons versus level 22 Jigglypuff and Clefairy. No contest.

I think I’m going to give Ribbons Water Pulse so he has the chance to do something when I’m training him. Using TMs in gens where you don’t get them back is scary and blah, but he really needs something besides Quick Attack.

This is probably where I want to go face Erika. Before then, though, I don’t have a Route 8 pokemon.

-quick search-

Oh. Because I already have the ones I can get here.

Alrighty then. Time for Erika. AKA the Heero show.

Time to shine.

Lass Kay up first. She has a level 23 Bellsprout. Had. Allenby can take the level 23 Weepinbell. And we continue. Beauty Bridget up next. She opens with a level 21 Oddish. Allenby goes in for the Bellsprout. Heero back in for another Oddish. Allenby back in for another Bellsprout.

There’s going to be a lot of that.

Picnicker Tina next with a level 24 Bulbasaur. Then a level 24 Ivysaur.

Delete a Grass starter for Flamethrower?

Beauty Tamia is next. Level 24 Bellsprout. Allenby handles the second one.

Cooltrainer Mary almost has a full team. Leading with a level 22 Bellsprout. Level 22 Oddish is next. Weepinbell goes to Allenby. Gloom heads back to Heero. The Ivysaur is similarly nommed.

Two more before Erika.

Lass Lisa with the level 23 Oddish. And Gloom.

Beauty Lori with just one. Level 24 Exeggcute.

Now. One Trainer left in the Gym.

...Is it a popular theory that Erika is just blazed 24/7?

If it isn’t, it should be.

Good grief, and right out the gate we jump to a level 29 Victreebell. One Flamethrower is enough, but that’s still quite the jump, and I wasn’t expecting it. Level 24 Tangela feels more in line with what I was expecting. It meets a similar fate.

Last but certainly not least, a level 29 Vileplume.

And we’re done here. GG.

(Erika also hands out the Rainbowbadge and explicitly only has women in her Gym. Erika is the stoner lesbian leader we deserve.)

Wait, one more thing!

Only hey, we’re not done! We have the Giga Drain TM for Noin!

Best Gym so far for the squad. That seems like a good spot to pause at.