I noticed something really REALLY cool about Legends arceus while looking up references, and it's so little, I don't know how many other folks have noticed it!!
The pokedex you get at the beginning of your journey;
Perfect, crisp and brand new! So many pages to fill! Untouched by anyone ever, the first to ever exist! The original pokedex.
But at the end, with a completed pokedex;
The title of the book is all ripped and damaged! It's been through so many surveys and treks out in hisui's wilderness! The edges of the blue cover are faded and dulling, maybe got wet a few times with run ins with outbreaks, being jostled around in a pack exploring around the region. The black binder holding it together after all this time is equally as banged up, probably barely keeping the stuffed pages inside safe and tucked away, but still doing its job.
This is the first ever pokedex, this is the one that began the understanding of pokemon as we know it, bringing humans and pokemon together as friends in the distant future. Before technology advanced and made the pokedex we were first introduced to in Kanto so many years ago.
It's falling apart and has been waterlogged a few times, it's recorded so much and survived raging lords, hordes or pokemon, alphas, an exile, gods of time and space, a banished deity, and faced almighty sinnoh.
And it was written, filled out, carried and protected all this time, by a kid who did their best to help the professor who first met them in Hisui.
And it survived.
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literally blame @neometalsilver for this but here’s how fucking unwell I am about Sonic being Tails’ parental unit.
context: this is using my own timeline of the games/headcanons so yeah. if shit doesn’t register as canon refer to that.
ANYWAY-
Sonic just found a kid when he was 11 while living in the woods and took him in because what was he supposed to do? he’s not a social person, he doesn’t know how to keep friends, but that’s a kid. a scared kid that needs someone to look after him. he doesn’t think he’ll do a great job, but he has to at least provide the kid food and safety. at least until he can figure out what’s best for the kid.
he’s lucky Tails is a genius and can already read and write because he can’t talk. he doesn’t want to. the sound reverberates in his head and makes him sick he can’t talk. Tails is okay with that though. he reads whatever Sonic hastily writes on paper and he learns sign language faster than Sonic had.
food’s already tight. it’s hard to scavenge and Sonic can only steal so much food without locking himself out of every town or village on the islands. he’s already malnourished as hell himself and now he has to find more food.
Sonic eats even less. he has to. Tails is 4, Sonic is 11. he can deal with less food. Tails is growing and even though Sonic can’t run as much because he’s so tired. his metabolism eats through whatever food he manages to eat for himself. his body hides it though. he looks fine and Tails is looking better and the kid is okay and that’s. enough.
Mighty and Ray meet up with Sonic again and Mighty sees Tails and He Knows. because that’s what he did. Sonic doesn’t know what to do when Mighty gives him a look that’s knowing because he doesn’t know what he’s doing and he sure as hell didn’t know he and Mighty were still friends because he doesn’t know what friendships even are.
Sonic doesn’t understand people. he never has. he doesn’t trust people all that much. he can work with people when necessary but that’s… that’s all. people are scary and cruel but god there’s this kid that’s looking up to Sonic and maybe. maybe he should try and believe the world is good because he wants things to be good for his kid.
his kid?
the kid. he’s taking care of Tails but he’s not…
he “borrows” books from the library to read them. to teach himself about the world he’s bared himself from. he reads all the lessons kids are taught. he learns how the world works and then teaches Tails and sure he could just give the kid the books because god the kid is smart but he needs Tails to believe that he is capable.
Sonic needs to prove to Tails that he is reliable. that he’s gonna be there and get them out of whatever they get into. or whatever Robotnik forces them into.
he will do what he has to.
but he’s so scared. he’s not used to people relying on him or being attached to him. he’s so scared of that attachment he wants to run he has to be alone, alone is safe but Tails is there and he’s sleeping and he’s cuddled up to Sonic and Sonic cannot and will not be like the cruel adults that exist just to make his life worse.
when Sonic 2 happens he’s so proud of how capable Tails is. he’s not that nervous, Tails is doing great. sure, he doesn’t love Tails being dragged into stuff like this but it’s okay. it’s okay because Sonic will always be there to take the hit if Tails doesn’t dodge in time. and that’s fine. he’s a kid and learning. he can be clumsy. Sonic’s sturdy anyway.
when they meet Knuckles, Sonic is glad that the echidna seems to take a liking to Tails as a sort of older brother figure and it reassures Sonic that Tails would still have someone. Knuckles is not like Sonic, he is not going to take care of Tails like he does, but he's a protective figure, Sonic doesn't have to worry as much if he needs to be alone. which god he does. his skin is itching.
he loves Tails but he is itching to run.
when they move away from the islands, Sonic is quick to make sure Tails has shelter. he forges whatever he has to so that everything can be in Tails' name. both house and workshop. all of it. they're Tails', not Sonic's. Sonic can't have a house. he's been living in the woods so long that living in a house is so scary to him. he can't.
not yet.
when Shadow dies, Sonic mourns. death is not a foreign concept to him, but Shadow's sacrifice strings. Tails falls ill not long after and Sonic takes care of him. Tails has a high fever and in his delirium calls Sonic dad.
dad.
dad.
Sonic is aware of his own mortality, he almost died when he was 8/9. Shadow's death doesn't make him realize he will die someday, but it along with that keyword makes Sonic realize that when he dies he will be orphaning a child. his death will affect other people. he's not just some kid in the woods anymore. Tails will mourn like he does when he does.
Tails will be alone again when Sonic dies.
it doesn't matter how many of Sonic's friends take on a role in Tails' life, Sonic will be abandoning the kid in death. the thing he promised himself he wouldn't do. but what can he do? he's going to die young. it's only a matter of time.
he weeps amongst the trees. he is helpless to do anything besides prepare the kid.
things go on as normal. more adventures, more fights, more injuries, more fussing. it’s as normal as it can be. and sure maybe in the back of Sonic’s head he’s constantly trying to prepare Tails for when his only parent is going to leave him, but it’s minor. it’s fine.
when Sonic finds Emerl on that beach he knows the feeling that fills his heart. he knows that he’s gone from one kid to two.
everything about raising Emerl is rushed and a little different, but Sonic’s never had a normal experience raising a kid. weird is his home base.
there are a couple moments that get Sonic’s anxiety pumping. when Eggman says he has both Emerl and Cream hostage Sonic can feel the fear fill his veins, but of course Emerl gets both himself and Cream out of the situation. that’s his kid.
and it warms Sonic’s heart when he sees Emerl and Tails interact. something about Emerl brings out the childlike qualities of Tails and it’s endearing and so so heartwarming.
but nothing stays good forever.
Sonic had a choice. the world or his child. it wasn’t fair. but he couldn’t let Emerl destroy the planet. if only because he couldn’t force Emerl to deal with that amount of guilt. that wouldn’t be something the robot could live with. he prayed that he would be lucky and that Emerl would survive but…
“This was Gerald's final program... Should a weapon go out of control, the weapon will terminate itself...”
stupid fucking Gerald programming a self-destruct into a being with thoughts and feelings. stupid fucking Eggman gloating as if he won. as if this was something this was something to celebrate. stupid fucking Robotniks. stupid fucking world.
he didn’t regret the burning hot rage that took his over. he didn’t regret regret breaking Eggman’s jaw. he didn’t regret letting the dark energy blind him. he was blinded by tears anyway.
and god, Tails sounded like such a kid when he asked if Emerl would come back if the world was peaceful and Sonic couldn’t crush a kid’s hopes. especially not his own. his only. Sonic could barely keep it together as he agreed with Tails.
he made Tails stay the night at Vanilla’s house, too heartbroken to comfort the kid. tomorrow. he would do it tomorrow. when he had time to grieve on his own first.
turns out grieving was fighting with Shadow until they were both crying. Shadow lost his last connection to the Ark and Sonic? Sonic lost just about the worst thing he could’ve.
it wasn’t fair.
Sonic didn’t mean to be so much more protective of Tails going forward, hell of any kid he interacted with, going forward he just… he could deal with a lot of things. he had been through hell and back. pain was something he had learned to accept as part of his life. hell, maybe part of him would be lost without it. but he couldn’t lose Tails. for god’s sake if he was doomed to an early grave why was it so damn hard to have his kids outlive him?
he noticed Tails starting to doubt himself and that’s the last thing he wanted, Tails was so much better than him in so many ways, but he couldn’t… he couldn’t get over his fears.
was having Tails alive more important than him having a good self-esteem? Sonic was so lost. he had no frame of reference. Sonic had never had parents. no one to look after him. to show him what to do or what not to do in raising his own. he wanted Tails alive but he didn’t want Tails to have a miserable life. how was Sonic supposed to show Tails that he was more than capable without risking the kid’s life?
he didn’t know.
he tried but everything kept getting worse and Sonic didn’t know what to do and-
6 months of torture gave him plenty of time to think. too much time, really.
Sonic thought about plenty of things. but his mind always went back to golden fur and blue eyes. was Tails okay? sure, Sonic ran away a lot to do his own things, but never this long. had anyone taken up on taking care of Tails? did Tails blame himself? he shouldn’t. he’s just a kid.
safe to say he was not happy when he heard that Tails was missing when he got back. he was already upset with his boyfriend, and now his kid was just alone in an active war zone. Sonic knew Shadow had probably watched the kid from a distance but that wasn’t enough. Tails was 12 for fuck’s sake!
Sonic kept up the smiles, of course he did, but it only reinforced that Tails would be alone when Sonic actually passed and that… maybe Sonic was more mad at himself than anyone else.
or maybe the cruel workings of Fate. but no… that couldn’t be it. Sonic had defied fate before. but…
he didn’t know what he was mad at anymore. it didn’t matter.
Tails was in his arms again and maybe, just maybe, Sonic would teach Shadow about parenting.
just in case.
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i'm gonna give away where i work with this status lol but i feel like way more people need to be aware of what the national immunization survey is.
the national immunization survey is a survey conducted on behalf of the CDC via phone. it's the CDC's primary source of immunization data in the country, and it's been going on since 1994. random phone numbers are called to make sure that people from all backgrounds are being fairly represented, so it's a totally random deal if you're selected to participate. i know there's a ton of weird scam calls out there, but if you get a call from someone about an immunization survey and the caller ID says CDC NATL IMMUN, it's 100% legitimate.
you can read more information about it on the CDC's website.
even if you have never been vaccinated, are against vaccinations, etc, your response is important so the survey results aren't biased and so your voice is also heard. the survey is not trying to convince anyone to get vaccinated; it's just collecting numbers. it's also about more than just covid vaccinations. (like i said, the survey has been conducted since 1994, so it far predates covid.)
even if you don't want to participate, please don't be mean to the interviewer who called you. we're just trying to make a living. you would not believe the things we get called, and it's so beyond unacceptable. literally all you have to do is ask the interviewer to remove you from the list. you have to say those exact words and then we'll leave you alone. please for the love of god stop cussing us out. just say take me off the list. it's that easy.
tl;dr if you get a call from the CDC about a survey, it's NOT a spam call. be nice. we're tired.
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