#ash but more

[firedragon1321]

So...this is all I have to say about Pokemon Horizons. I will not repeat it on this account. I have blocked the tag, and I have also blocked tags related to it. After this post, I want nothing to do with it. I just need to get this off my chest so I can move on.

If you’re excited for Ash’s replacements- do not read this. Nothing good in here. Continue scrolling and have a wonderful day.

If you’re not happy or ambivalent- welcome to my dungeon.

This show is gonna be Sue-Town and I hate it.

First, let me post my definition of a Mary Sue, because I’m sure someone will say “but you’re only saying that because Liko is a girl, you sexist pig! >:(”. Mary Sues are real, and they are not gender-locked. That is a myth perpetuated by Sue-lovers, who want to encourage people to write freely without being attacked. While that’s understandable for Little Miss Peggy writing her first fanfiction, it’s less acceptable for a big corporation. So I’m going to use the term “Sue” and ignore its baggage.

To determine what a Sue is, I use three rules. I made them in high school. I made some adjustments to spread away from fanfiction and use gender-neutral language. But the ideas still stick-

The character is “more” than human- usually a sign of author wish fulfillment. They look positively beautiful at all times, have no character flaws, and are generally free of the messiness of human beings.

Everything goes the character’s way. They face no real difficulties over the course of the story, and can do no wrong. Even if the author has to defy logic, they will clear the character’s shining path of all obstacles.

Other characters in the presence of this character alter their behavior. They may fall head over heels for this character, put them on a pedestal, or take them under their wing even if they normally wouldn’t. If the other character is a villain, the “problem” character will become main target of their hatred/jealousy/evil plan/etc. to provide the illusion of conflict. In short, the character is the primary concern of as many other characters as possible.

I can’t say if the Horizons cast will follow these rules at this point in time. But I have enough evidence that leans in this direction.

Liko and Roy both possess mysterious, powerful objects, despite being rookie Trainers. This could lead to Sue Rule 2 depending on how those objects are used. I can guarantee that one or more other parties are gonna want those items, which is Sue Rule 3.

The Rising Volt Tacklers and the Explorers are both tangled up with the protagonists- new Trainers with batfuck nothing except these rare and powerful items. This screams Sue Rule 3. Why else would these seemingly powerful groups tangle with newbies and/or care?

Liko’s only real struggle as of now is Sprigatito won’t listen to her. Which is just a copy of Ash’s Pikachu in Episode One. I’m going to take that with a huge grain of salt. If Liko’s first conflict is a copy of Ash’s first conflict, that’s an early sign she’s going to get swallowed by his shadow. Which doesn’t mean anything good for her as an individual character. Could be Sue Rule 1 later is she doesn’t have her own flaws.

Then, there’s this, which doesn’t make me confident-

“It seems that pendant has a secret-”

*shows a fucking shiny legendary*

“-and that secret is linked to you.”

(Trailer here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c_hMehCORQ)

This could constitute Sue Rule 2 if Liko gets to keep that shiny, or otherwise control it. Giving the characters powerful Pokemon can help make their lives easier. Other characters start with powerful creatures like Charizard (Friede) and Ceruledge (Amethio). These aren’t legendaries, but remember how Ash’s first Trainer battles were against common, unevolved wimps? This seems like a bit much for new characters to deal with. Sure, they’re probably not fighting Charizard. But we know for sure Liko will go toe-to-toe with Amethio.

Which brings me to a problem all these characters share. They look so damn boring. Here’s the mentor! Here’s the rival/villain! Here’s the cheery announcer! They’re character types trying to fill the shoes of a very iconic character. It’s going to take a lot to step into that role successfully, including well-written characterizations. But, um, this ain’t Digimon, where characterization is a priority. Pokemon very rarely has knockout character development.

Which brings me back to Sue Rule 1. I don’t have enough evidence to securely convict anyone of Sue Rule 1 crimes. Well-written characters can overcome all these other issues. But boring/flat characters cannot. Their flatness exemplifies the minor issues, building into a tower of Sue-ism.

“But Ash made friends with legendary Pokemon! He did other stuff you whined about! He even saw Ho-Oh on Day One! Is he a Stu?”

Answer- no. Here’s why-

Ash breaks Sue Rule 1 because he has flaws, especially at the beginning. He is child-like and naive. His intelligence in any field outside of Pokemon (and food, kind of) is very low. At the start, he’s also arrogant and a sore loser.

Ash breaks Sue Rule 2 because he doesn’t get to keep the legendaries he meets long-term. The one mythical he does keep- Melmetal- has a bad losing streak. He loses more often than not. The three big tourneys he won were unheard of to most of the world (Orange Islands), in their infant stage (Alola) or required eight whole episodes to get through the last two battles alone (World Coronation).

Ash breaks Sue Rule 3 because he usually has to prove his worth to other characters. In later seasons, he’s respected as a powerful Trainer. But that’s only after he’s slogged through multiple tournaments and made his mark.

I kind of hope I’m being resistant to change. All of this could be proven wrong later. Horizons does have a bigger story focus than the original anime, which means the characters could be written better. But that also makes characterization even more important. I’m sure Horizons would be just fine as a special like Origins. But it’s meant to replace a world-famous legacy character, is throwing dazzling shit around to distract from basic writing issues, and not convincing me it’s wearing those twenty-six-year-old sneakers very well.

TL;DR- Horizons is a cast of Sues as of now. I could be wrong. There is plenty of time for me to be wrong. But the red flags are all present. Horizons is not providing the same heart that made the original anime a success- merely empty trinkets and fancy lights.

Post Script

As I said before, I’m not going to pester the Internet with this any more. This is a vent post to get my anger out. People who reblog this to steer away from the topic- or to attack me- will be blocked. People who come in later with “aged like milk, lol” will be ignored. 

I’ll scope out Horizons just to see if I’m wrong. If I’m right, I’ll drop it like a hot potato and will never mention it again. It’s not worth stressing about it any more than I already have. I’d rather celebrate the character we lost than hate what replaced him.

[stil-lindigo]

bite of winter.

a comic about a princess who died in the snow.

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creative notes:

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all my other comics

store

[ashoss]

this idea wont leave my brain please help me !! YIPPEE HADES BATKIDS !!!

without the bg and text under the cut :))

asdhj probably gonna post like,, two at a time because thats ,, a lot,,,, of drawing ,,,,,,, so heres tim and jason! i think i got the hang of it more with jason lol

ALSO ALSO!!!

thank you to those who helped me with the titles for the batkids!! they were all really good :D (all on insta lol)

timothy: the tenured - thomson_at

[ranilla-bean]

✨ The Mercy of Magpies 《喜鵲之恩》 ✨

3...2...1... takeoff! 🚀 @ash-and-starlight & @ranilla-bean here to launch our project for @zukkabigbang2024 🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛

Rating: M Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender Pairing: Sokka/Zuko Chapters: 1/15 Beta: @faux-fires

Tags: Alternate Universe - Space, Space Opera, Depictions of Violence, Minor Character Death, Dilf Zukka, War, Han solarpunk, loosely inspired by Red Cliff (dir. John Woo), Decolonisation, Ghosts, the narrative is haunted, Getting Together, Slow Burn, eventual sexual content (i prommy), BBL Ozzy, thematically relevant magpies, interplanetary old man yaoi saves the galaxy

Summary:

In the XXXth span of the galactic war against the Phoenix King, the Avatar, Master of the Four Elements, summoned his trusted advisor to his side… Avatar Aang, prosecutor of the long war against the Fire Nation, tasks General Sokka with the recruitment of a secret friend hidden on his old home planet Emptiness II, razed a century ago. There, Sokka finds an impossible community, where peoples from all quadrants of the galaxy have taken root—headed by the Phoenix King’s own son Zuko. As he comes to trust them, Sokka becomes invested in the community. But war is barrelling towards them, and he must harness the spark between himself and Zuko to save Emptiness II… and the rest of the galaxy.

check out the rest of the chapter 1 art here!

[lazylittledragon]

dood dump <33

[climbdraws]

new keychain designs

[obsob]

love is stored in the parallel play

[frostedpuffs]

i never shared this doodle of a scene from ppu ch.37 did i

[speremint]

Is this a safe place to share my cat girl flirting with the local doctor milf

[dinzeeyz]

Makin my way through PD during the Riptide hiatus like these dudes

[firedragon1321]

Okay Fuck It

I’m not staying as quiet on Pokemon Horizons as I planned, because of this.

(I might revisit this topic- block the tag “ash but more” if you don’t want to hear me rage against Horizons.)

I joked that Liko would meet/catch a Legendary Ep. 1. I didn’t expect to be right.

From what little is currently available- Liko’s pendant glows at some point, getting her up close and personal with an unknown Pokemon.

Notice the similarity to confirmed legendary Teragapos.

(He’s in the upcoming DLC, btw.)

People who watched the original anime might recall a similar scene with Ash in episode 1-

But Ash never got this close to Ho-Oh. Ash was not directly connected to Ho-Oh through a magic gem thing. There’s a difference between spotting a rainbow chicken flying around and being DIRECTLY CONNECTED to a legendary- potentially one connected to all types. This is Ho-Oh but “more”- a mysterious bond, rather than a chance meeting.

This is Liko trying to be “Ash but more”, “Ash but better”. And it kinda pissed me off.

On a positive note, this does give me an idea on a post on how to effectively create expies/derivative characters/etc. I’ve made tons of characters based on other characters, to the point where I’ve mastered the art form. Beck is a more effective Ash expy than Liko is shaping up to be. However- to be fair to Horizons- I will wait a few more episodes to see if she’s really trying to be “Ash but more” before I include her in such an essay. I don’t want to write her off as an example of a shitty Ash expy on Ep. 1. She’s just leaning increasingly in that direction.

[spicyboelives]

Ash From Evil Dead 2! Sketch Request from my Kofi :)

[emry-stars-art]

@neilimfinejosten said coffee shop au last month so you’ll never guess what I’ve been thinking about

A few thoughts under the cut!

Andrew works at a coffee shop in a college town, so far with all the foxes except Aaron, and Neil’s been far away on the run. I’ve been putting Robin in this one and I bet Seth hangs around the shop for Allison. Aaron will pick up a shift or two but mostly he’s focusing on school.

Anyway one day in a cold winter a new guy comes into the shop looking to warm up, and Andrew just happens to be working the register (rare). It’s hard to tell with the mask, but this guy doesn’t seem to be much older than him or the team, and Andrew can catch glances of bandages and band-aids under his clothes.

He becomes a regular through winter, but none of the baristas can decide on his name because he gives a different one every time he comes in.

[ashoss]

the best robin!!!! and that weird guy that follows her around ig

[leminaus]

needed to draw them

[psyduckz]