#actually no maybe just in a Hau-centric

[sylkhi]

Replaying Sun and Moon and just found out that young Hau got super scared when he saw Hala angry and that’s why Hala doesn’t get super angry in front of him??? The more you know.

[crystalelemental]

“books-are-my-life-stuff: Oh, you reminded me. Alola was actually my second favorite region after finishing Pokemon Moon for the first time. Despite the unfair difficulty of Totem fights, I enjoyed the environment, lore, legendaries, and especially characters of Alola. They were great, they felt welcoming, the characters felt very close to me, I love the tradition, and I felt "at home" in Alola.“

That’s fair, I won’t really argue that.  I do like the legends and the UBs, and I can get that someone might enjoy it.

“However, Alola now falls to fourth place after playing Ultra Moon only in span of a month after Moon. It's probably my fault, I should have given more time between the two games, but back then I didn't expect 80% of USUM as just rehash of Pokemon Moon, and the changes that USUM made, some are great (the QoL improvements, Hau being more awesome) but some are...not as much personally (Lusamine's character, the Rainbow Rocket postgame).

After some time, the flaws of Alola games for me start to show as I slowly get over the hype. I think it has similar problems as with every games in later gens: they leave other characters severely underdeveloped. Sure, it's not like Kalos where every single character is underdeveloped, but characters that aren't the Aether family are very much overlooked. SwSh fixed that a little bit but Marnie is still underdeveloped compared to Bede and Hop.

As a result, fans tend to focus solely on the developed characters: the Aether family, especially Lillie. Alola characters that aren't Aether family tend to be great as groups but as individuals they don't have much, there are obviously some exceptions like Hau, Kukui, Guzma, but even then they're still underdeveloped compared to Aether family. And the manga of Alola generation doesn't fix this at all, even though the XY version of the manga was great.”

In fairness, a lot of the “third” games tend to just be...mostly the same exact game, so I don’t think that’s what hindered it.  Almost the opposite; what they did change just wasn’t changed for the better, like the adjustment to Lusamine or the inclusion of Rainbow Rocket.  Other characters have always been fairly under-developed, but I think the problem is that as the games became more story-centric, it starts to hit a little worse.  When the games were mostly just straight gameplay with very few stops, it didn’t matter that gym leaders and the like weren’t that well developed.  You get a little bit, and you develop from there.  But in games where every goddamned route is at least one cutscene, sometimes multiple, it starts to hurt that you don’t actually know much about them.  It always especially bothered me in Gen 7 that you don’t actually battle the trial captains.  They may as well not even be there.  I know there’s supposed to be some what to face off against them, but for the life of me I don’t think I ever figured out how to do it.  So I don’t blame anyone for latching on to the few that did get that focus.

Also I’m kinda surprised the manga doesn’t do more.  I figured that was one thing I could count on with it.  I think the anime involved a lot of the trial captains.  I guess if you want character, that’s what you have to go with.

“I dunno, maybe I'm just holding an unreasonably high standard for modern Pokemon games in terms of story and characterization after Unova, which I still consider as the best, but Unova really did a great job in making a lot of characters memorable and relevant to the plot somehow, modern Pokemon games tried but kept failing to do so. If only the focus weren't too much on the Aether family and more balanced, the Alola characters would probably be stronger.

I still like Hau the most among all Alola characters though, despite him being underdeveloped and the manga proves that he still can be sidelined even further than the main games.”

No, I think that’s fair.  Considering they did do a good job with the development of a cast with Unova, I think it’s reasonable to expect a bit more from the later games as well.  There shouldn’t be any reason for the reduction in quality of what’s produced, and personally I’ll go to my grave blaming the decision to move to 3D models without extending the development cycle.  I feel like it’s super easy to track that as soon as they made that shift, things started falling apart in terms of content being cut or not fully fleshed out or recently just kinda not looking great.  It’s messy.

[justasmallbloginabigklainefandom]

Great OMGCP fanfics

All the Sights of Paris by writingonpostcards

Eric and Jack meet atop the Eiffel Tower. It's the beginning of a few whirlwind days together, but Eric's leaving soon. How much can really happen between them in just a few days?

--

Jack holds out his hand and Eric takes it. Instead of shaking it like Eric was expecting, Jack pulls him in gently, and kisses him once on both cheeks. “See you around,” Jack says with confidence.

Like breathing was easy by lillaseptember (part 7 of a series)

Jack has a panic attack. Bitty (and the kids) help him through it.

--

“We have seven kids downstairs who all think you’re their hero. And it’s not because of the reasons you think it is. It’s because you pick them up from practice with the same terrible puns every Tuesday, actually listen to what they know is their ridiculous teenage gossip, let them win wrestling matches in the most dramatic way imaginable, watch Aristocats with them 17 times in a row, kiss their injuries better, memorize presidents with them, make that godawful mac ‘n’ cheese for ‘em.”

Set Your Old Heart Free by IBoatedHere*

Jack doesn’t find Bitty after graduation. They don’t kiss. Jack doesn't go to Madison for the 4th. They still fall in love.

falling into place by furyofthetimelords

Your soulmark doesn’t settle until you’ve met your soulmate.

Neither Jack or Eric notice when it happens.

Irreplaceable by JustLookFrightenedAndScuttle

Bitty gets too wrapped up in his worry that his relationship with Jack could cost Jack too much.

Breakaway by AntarcticBird

The first time Jack sees him is at the beginning of his sophomore year at Samwell, a completely normal Monday night, and at first he thinks he has gone insane.

Excuse Me While I Kiss This Guy by PorcupineGirl

Jesse Snowden knows all the best restaurants and gourmet food shops in Providence, so when Jack Zimmermann starts bringing in incredible baked goods, he's eager to find out where the new bakery is. When he meets the man behind the pies, he decides that there's no way Jack could really appreciate this guy's talent the way he does, even if they are friends. He starts hiring Jack's chef on the side, in the hopes that maybe once Bitty's done with college he'll come work for Jesse.

Good thing there is absolutely no way whatsoever that Jesse could possibly be misinterpreting this situation.

Mother’s Weekend by rosepetals42*

Hello there! Long time, no see (my bad I know) but, here: an Alicia Zimmermann-centric piece as she goes to Parents’ Weekend during Jack’s freshmen year. [focus on Alicia, Jack, and Shitty] 6k

Imagine being a tadpole though by rosepetals42

Outsider POV, zimbits, canon-compliant, 2nd person, 4k ish, yes this got way longer than expected

when it’s over (you’re the start) by onawingandaswear

Jack goes to sleep in Providence next to his boyfriend and wakes up in Montréal to discover he’s been in a coma since 2009. Refusing to believe Samwell, Bitty, and the Falconers were all a dream, Jack tracks down the real Shitty, Lardo, Ransom, and Holster to find they’ve shared the same group hallucination for years. Now, they’re on a mission to find Bitty, the love of Jack’s non-existent life, and the only member of SMH they can’t seem to get in contact with.

ABC by alphardhy

effort, n.

It is worth it.

Jack and Bitty's relationship told through short dictionary entries. (The title is quite self-explanatory, really.)

Ice Crew Please! by rosepetals42*

Jack Zimmermann was drafted first by the Providence Falconers when he was eighteen years old. He is good at hockey. Very good. His team won the Cup his second year and now, in his third year, they are looking good. Jack should be on top of the world. And some days, he manages to convince himself he is.

He’s not, of course.

Enter the Ice Crew.

a tale of love and how it finds you by nightswatch 

Bitty sees Jack Zimmermann almost every morning, but he’s never said a single word to him. Honestly, Jack Zimmermann probably doesn’t even know that he exists.

Revenge is best served @ by Perpetual Motion (perpetfic)

The ESPN hockey anchors take a cheap shot. Bitty takes one back.

i'll see you with your laughter lines by the_one_that_fell*

Eric Bittle was fourteen when his soulmate died.

They'd never even gotten to meet.

Hold on Forever by an orphan account (part 2 of a series)

Eric Bittle doesn't think he's going to be standing at his boyfriend's sledge hockey game holding a sign that says, "Yo, Go To Prom With Me Jack Zimmermann," at almost thirty years old and yet...here he is.

these hands are meant to hold by worth_the_risk (part 1 of a series)

There are a select few times over the course of Jack and Shitty’s friendship when Jack, frozen like the Pond in January, has to be told to move.

Plans For The Future by ticktockclockwork

Contrary to popular belief, when Jack was spiraling, things did not move in slow motion. The frantic beating of his heart was anything but slow; the rapid fire thoughts pinballing around his mind almost incomprehensible in their speed.

In therapy, he'd often heard people describe their attacks as a slow motion train crash, a suffering drawn out experience that they were helpless to stop.

But for Jack, while ’train crash’ was definitely apt for what he felt, it was anything but slow and, in fact, he was usually the one at the controls.

All this to say, Jack was in a very bad place.

The Little Things That Give You Away by annathaema (moony)

"S'fine," says Jack, trying to keep it hidden from Shitty. "I wasn't really doing anything, just-"

"Knitting!"

--

Jack has an unusual hobby, but it helps.

Alive and Loved by Piehead

Bitty has depression. He lives with it.

Love Is To Be Made by DoubleNegative

“Jack turns in a slow, aimless circle in the middle of his living room. Blank white walls. Bare floor. A sofa, a TV, a coffee table: just the basics, really. Well, no wonder it doesn’t look like home; he can’t blame his apartment’s sudden coldness and its empty echoing spaces solely on the absence of one Eric R. Bittle. It just… doesn’t look like anyone lives here. It doesn’t feel like anyone lives here. He has no idea how to change that.”

(Or… Jack comes home from Madison to an apartment that doesn’t smell like cinnamon, and teammates who don’t know what he means he says ‘swawesome. It feels like it should be easier, turning the place he lives into a home and the people he plays hockey with into teammates. But even ‘easy’ things have always felt harder than they should.)

Puck Aversion: The Birth of A Goalie Superstition by Betweenthepies (Reikiari)

Every hockey player has their thing. Goalies? Even more so. So what is Chris Chow's? He will never touch a puck with his bare hands. (Five times Chris Chow won't touch a puck and one time he does.)

one of the gays by heyfightme

Bitty isn’t even sure whether he wasn’t meant to hear. It’s a party, and they’re all public, and it’s Bitty’s Haus too. More than that, it’s Bitty’s kitchen. There’s no discernible secrecy in operation.

“I mean, Bitty’s gay. One of my best friends; he put these curtains up.” The girl Holster is talking to – brown curls, white jeans, suntanned shoulders – looks to the curtains and coos, “Aww, that’s so cute.”

Bitty’s neck twinges.

—

in which bitty and jack are like: [sarcastic laughter] straight people

Wizarding sports by prongsyouignoramus and awfullyruby (not really a fic)

so @prongsyouignoramus and I had a convo that spun into a full blown hc so I thought I’d share this in the hopes it will one day inspire a fanfic author  *nudge nudge, wink wink*  or just for funsies, I guess

just two kids without their jackets by the_one_that_fell (3 part series)*

Jack makes a difficult decision and finds a new calling.

and not waving but drowning by the_one_that_fell (part 1 of a series)

Jack considered himself an Icarus of sorts. He never thought he’d learn to love the sun.

like a handprint on my heart by the_one_that_fell*

“Dude, we’ve got an over-competitive golf dad, a badass art freak, a pre-med lax bro on the verge of a breakdown, a chronically naked rugby player, a beat-boxing giant, and an itty-bitty, baking figure skater - there’s no way we came together accidentally. This wasfate.”

“Or it’s the normal progression of human beings making friends. Chill out, bro.”

(Or, the one where no one plays hockey, but it still manages to bring them all together.)

the messes of men by decinq (4 part series)

His first year in the NHL isn't easy, but Jack has spent his entire life playing through the hurt.

My Words on Your Skin by There_Once_Was_A_Girl (no. 1 in a 6 part series of standalones)*

Jack and Bitty have a unique soul connection, they can write back and forth to each other by writing on their own skin. They know each other long before they've ever met. But when Jack overdoses Bitty thinks he's lost the love of his life forever.

Your Fake Name is Good Enough by DoubleNegative

Eventually Jack came back to himself, as he always did, shaky and exhausted but alive, and Shitty wrapped up his rambling story. “Anyway, man, that’s why if you ever have kids you shouldn’t make bets with your hedge fund buddies on their names. You’ll end up with a son named Barnaby Sylvester Knight, and trust me, that is no way to start a father-son relationship.”

“That’s a pretty awful name,” Jack whispered. “Thanks, man.”

Shitty just squeezed him tighter and didn’t protest at all when Jack finally drifted off, drooling a little on his pillow.

you’ve got my number by ambrosius*

It’s not as if Jack was totally inept when it came to technology. He could handle his Tweeter (Tweety? Twits? Twitter? Did it really matter?) just fine and if he’s honest, he much preferred texting to calling most days. So when he gets added to a group chat full of strangers, well, he’s pretty sure he can handle whatever comes next.

Graduation Day by IBoatedHere

It takes Jack 50 days to finally see what's been right in front of him for the past two years.

Will Wonders Never Cease by PorcupineGirl*

Eric has landed his dream job: social media manager for the Providence Falconers! Not only does he get paid to tweet, for an NHL team at that, but it’s a job where he’ll be able to make good use of his magic - when nobody’s looking, of course. Everyone on the Falconers is a joy to work with… with the notable exception of Jack Zimmermann. Eric understands that Jack doesn’t like social media, but he could certainly be a little more polite about it.

Luckily, Eric has support from his Samwell buddies, as well as his best friend - a man whose face he’s never seen, and whose name he doesn’t know. They met on an online forum where witches can gather anonymously, since it isn’t safe for them to advertise their existence in a world where magic isn’t trusted. They’ve been friends for years now, but Eric is only just starting to realize that he might have deeper feelings for someone he can never meet face-to-face.

i didn't know i was lonely til i saw your face by dharmainitiative*

Still rebounding from a breakup, Derek Nurse moves into a loft in downtown LA and attempts to navigate living with five former college hockey players.

Or, a New Girl AU.

if you're going through hell (keep going) by onawingandaswear*

Eighteen years ago, Samwell suffered the tragic loss of one of their most promising young athletes. Ever since rumors have circulated that the school is haunted by the ghost of Eric Bittle. At least, that’s the only way anyone can seem to explain why the locker rooms smell like freshly baked apple pie on game days instead of the usual, omnipresent hockey funk.

Now in the twilight of his career, Jack Zimmermann is facing his own mortality and the last item on his bucket list?

Return to Samwell and disprove the rumor that his long-dead boyfriend is haunting Faber Memorial Rink.

And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here? by RabbitRunnah

Bitty goes to bed after his "lucky shot" having made a decision. When he wakes up he ... is not where he expected to be. He has a career, and a baby, and -- this is the biggest surprise of all -- a husband who looks a lot like Jack Zimmermann.

And you may say to yourself, my god, what have I done? by RabbitRunnah

The last thing Jack Zimmermann remembers saying to Eric Bittle is "lucky shot." That doesn’t explain, at all, why he just woke up in Bittle’s bed.

A companion piece -- this time it's Jack's turn to get a peek at his future -- to And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?

Inertia by foryouandbits

At the age of seven, Eric Bittle is tackled so hard in peewee football, it feels as though he's been knocked into another dimension. At the encouragement of his father, he avoids contact sports until he receives a scholarship to play hockey at Samwell University. The result is the same: every check on the ice hurts so much that Eric hallucinates another world. Eric spends the rest of his freshman year attempting to prove himself to his captain and his coaches. He questions his worth, his talent, and his sanity, and in his search for answers, he uncovers long-hidden secrets that change everything he has ever known.

Merry Christmas, I'm Yours by RabbitRunnah

It takes Jack only a couple months after graduation to realize he's in love with Bitty.

It takes him almost 20 years to actually do something about it.

(Or, five Christmases Jack and Bitty spend together.)

right as things grow by wit

Loving and longing, one thousand miles apart: the summer of 2015, in which Jack realizes what he wants just in time for it to get on a plane and leave for Georgia.

[crystalelemental]

I've finally had the time to read through your Pokemon Team characterization! Gen 5 was when I realized that, maybe the Pokemon team and the arrangement actually had something to tell about the characters, but reading through your characterization made me realize that perhaps that already happened a lot sooner than I thought! Thank you for writing all of those, I had fun reading them.

Steven was the trainer that made me want to add Skarmory to my team. Raising it was rough since it's purely defensive, but I had a good experience having it. The Claydol setting the screens...I still remember my Emerald team almost getting defeated because my 10-years old brain didn't understand why his Metagross took less damage from my Blaziken. But yeah, Steven's Emerald battle was so much fun, and I agree his ORAS fight is kind of a downgrade.

I also like your analysis of Cynthia's team, and I very much agree with them. No matter what team she's using, she'll always be a challenge and difficult to defeat...that Double Team-spamming Spiritomb, I hate it. And the fact that I had to raise my own Garchomp just to counter hers in my Shining Pearl playthrough said a lot about how strong her ace is.

And your Hop team analysis...I love it so much! I think the story and characterization behind his team composition are more apparent than the others, especially because he takes center stage in Gen 8. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing, I like it. He's one of my most favorite rivals alongside N and Hau, so I am very happy when you did a post of him.

I read through Whitney and the Poison specialists too, they're all great! This makes me want to request some as well, but feel free to take your time and do it whenever you want to. I was going to request N's BW final fight team and B2W2 seasonal teams but realized that'd be way too much to work on, so...Morty and Zinnia! For Morty, you can do his GSC or HGSS, or B2W2 version, your choice.

I'm honestly interested to see what your characterization analysis of their team will tell about them, especially Morty (other than the fact that Johto doesn't have that much Ghost Pokemon selection he resorted to the Gengar line).

There's a lot, so I'll respond fully under the cut.

In completely fairness, I'm making up a lot. None of this is confirmed, but the idea is to showcase that you can make stuff up, and that's the basis of developing a character back in those times. Gen 5 was the first character-centric game where they really had a lot to work with, and Gen 7, oddly enough, really emphasized character moments to the point you have a pretty effective idea. But before that, you just cobbled together, and I really wanted to see more of that than just the Red and Blue favoritism stuff, so I decided to try my hand at this. I'm glad it seems to be at least somewhat popular, given how some of them got a decent response outside of my immediate sphere.

I was kinda surprised that his first ORAS fight is exactly the same. Like, it's almost the same movesets. Which is kinda funny, the way things change just by mechanics and movepools. But yeah, I really love the Emerald team, definitely my current favorite fight.

Cynthia's generally tough. I haven't done the BW or BW2 fights in a long time, so I don't remember them too well, but I can't imagine it's any easier. And...yeah, my opinion on BDSP is low, but I think as a good example of "Cynthia is always really weak to setup," Cresselia swept both of her big rematches in my game. Cresselia is stupid good as a Calm Mind setter.

Hop's felt slightly like cheating because we know so much about him, but it seemed to go over well with Hop fans, so I'll take the win.

Whitney's...might have been my favorite so far? Because there's so little to go off of. Well...okay, no, Geeta's was my favorite because I have an ulterior motivation (being contrary), but Whitney felt the most cobbled together from stuff we don't know. Which I think was more fun.

I can do all three. No promises on turnaround time, but I'll give each a try. And hey, great news! Morty's in a similar bracket to Whitney, and I don't actually know much about Zinnia! So this will be cobbling together nonsense real good.