#because now there's a chance Volo could be in and I'm sorry I have to save for him

[pokeworldrevisited]

So-

I was wondering since Legends first launched if the characters would appear in Masters and here's two of them. Had to wait a year but if I remember correctly it took a little over a year after Sword and Shield came out before Gloria (first Galar character) to be added into Masters.

Now that we know for sure that Legends characters will be added, there's a lot of stuff I'd like to know. Once such thing is how they handle Warden Ingo. I doubt it'll be too angsty, this is Pokemon after all. But it would be interesting if someone looked at the Warden, then at the Subway Bosses and went '!!!'

Another curiosity is which Legends protag will Dena make the kid summoned by Arceus and who'll be Laventon's assistant. Dena has a habit of making one of each pair of protags the 'actual' protagonist. Maybe Adaman and Irida's story could imply which one's which.

Also, seeing as Adaman and Irida are in masters, here's to hoping that they could get Sygna suits + pair up with Origin Dialga and Palkia. it'd be fitting seeing as Adaman and Irida are outright able to communicate with their respective deity.

Plus there's the possibility that whichever Legend protag's the sky faller, they could form a Sync pair with Arceus. Could be super OP, not gonna lie, but it would be pretty cool to have God available. (Especially if Volo's added around that time. Imagine how pissed he'd be if he saw the kid he tried to kill once not only achieve his dream of meeting Arceus but actually got to form a sync pair with it)

[blackjackkent]

Aight, Jaheira, tell Hector the secret you've been keeping from him about what you were looking for at Danthelon's? It's Minsc, right? TELL ME IT'S MINSC.

"I have not been overly generous with the truth. I came here to learn of the Chosen, true enough. But I set my Harpers searching for someone else too. Tell me - what do you know of a man named Minsc of Rashemen?"

Yessssssssss!

Karlach, once again, goes into fangirl mode at once, because she is the best.

"Ahhh! Oh my god! MINSC!"

<3

Narrator: The name is as familiar as Jaheira's own - a hero of the Time of Troubles who saved the city more than once.

Hector, history buff that he is, most definitely knows a lot about Minsc (and Jaheira, and Caden, and the whole pack). He had a couple of big grins here as the narrator was going over this, but I think his smileyness is primarily because Karlach is so excited, which always makes him happy.

"He traveled with you back in the old days," he says promptly, nodding.

Jaheira smiles dryly. "I sense you mean no insult, calling scarce a century ago 'the old days.' Which is considerably *more* insulting."

Hector winces, opens his mouth to apologize, but Jaheira shakes her head, waving it off and continuing, "Minsc is an old friend. Perhaps my oldest. We fought at one another's backs times beyond counting."

Her face twists with sudden pain and she looks away from him towards the floor. "And the last time I saw him, I left him to die."

(A/N: !!!!!!!!

A couple things here - first of all, calling Minsc her oldest friend is, in my mental worldstate, inaccurate but only by a matter of a couple weeks. Caden is still alive in Faenya-Dail with Aerie, but he and Jaheira met Minsc very early in their adventures in BG1, just outside Nashkel, and the three other people in the party earlier than him (Khalid, Imoen, and Rasaad) are all now dead, one to Irenicus and two to old age.

Second - why *isn't* Minsc dead? Isn't he a human? Has Minsc been an elf the whole time and I didn't realize it? Or is it like Volo and I'm just supposed to not question it? :P

Third - NOOOOOOOO. :( Left him to die? What happened? I need to be taking notes in case any of this affects the next chapter of my post-BG2 fic. XD Although hopefully it won't.)

"What happened?" Hector asks with some concern.

"Before we ever heard of this Absolute," Jaheira says gravely, "we received word of a gathering of cultists in the Undercity. What we found was the first dark seed of this plot - a circle of cultists, with mind flayers in their midst. We might have ended it there, cut off at the root. But before I could send for help, Minsc charged in alone."

(A/N: Yeah, okay, that does sound like Minsc. XD )

"It was chaos. He was overrun, dragged down beneath a mass of tentacles. I had a choice - stay, and let word of this cult die with us, or leave him and live to fight another day."

Her voice is flat, weary, sad - but determined. She still has hope for this man she has lost.

Privately, Hector suspects he is probably dead. He has fought small groups of mind flayers and they have been the hardest fights of his life - and those were not fights he made alone. But he can only imagine the anguish he would feel, faced with such a choice as Jaheira faced in that moment.

"I'm sorry, Jaheira," he says quietly. "That's a cruel choice to have to make."

She smiles tightly. "The world takes much from those who presume to defend it," she says. "But sometimes, you get to take it back. So don't be sorry, because I mean to use you if you're willing."

She looks at him questioningly, waits till he nods in response. Of course he will help her.

"Infection. Indoctrination. Eradication," she goes on. "That has been the fate of everyone the cult has captured so far. But it has not been yours. With your help, perhaps it need not be Minsc's either."

Hector nods again, slowly. "We can try, Jaheira," he agrees cautiously. "But we don't even know if he's still alive." He is wary of offering false hope, when the chance of success seems so slim. He would be glad to find this man - for Jaheira's sake, and for Karlach who is bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet next to him - but could he truly have survived the situation Jaheira has described?

Jaheira nods soberly. "I'm not asking for promises. Just the chance." She shrugs. "The point is moot without a means to find him. Wihtout the Harpers, we shall have to find another path. I'll have a better idea of what that is once we're through the gates. It seems I need to reacquaint myself with this damned city..."

[kharmii]

now that these reports come out about the truth of everything messed up, shi**y and sinister going on in the trans community gibes me hope that we're witnessing the beginning of the end of this madness and lunacy.

I've seen posts of people being upset about these reports not realizing the people wanting to help and save these people... but I guess you don't want to be saved if you have a "freedom to do everything without consequences" card to be revoked from you... Honestly I'm torn... I feel sorry for all the people pressured into this shitty mess but I can't say I feel too sorry for the people abusing their newfound power and harrass anyone with opposing views...

My hope that once I'm an old lady people look back at this time and think: "WTH was wrong with these people???" has chances of becoming a reality and it gives me comfort...

What needs to happen, -and what eventually will happen- is that there will be hordes of adult survivors who will give testimonies of how they were manipulated into mutilating and sterilizing themselves at a vulnerable age. They wouldn't have had the emotional maturity to be given that sort of agency. People need to wait until they are adults to vote or buy alcohol, but they can chemically sterilize themselves before puberty? They can take drugs that will disintegrate their bone structure and set them up for cancer at an early age because it's super trendy on Tumblr?

Side note: I'm surprised someone hasn't told me personally that I should be arrested for saying such things. That's what they are doing to JK Rowling right now. I keep seeing all the posts here on Tumblr smearing her and basically calling her a criminal because her opinions on biological reality challenge the world views of the militant left delusional narcissists who have to destroy all non-believers. -Like really? She is considered a threat to you people because she doesn't believe, say, a female cosplayer with XY chromosomes is really a woman? -And you think her life and career should be destroyed over this?

Same with those people on the Volo Nation Discord who had a member recently do a plug where they wrote: "Bans are not issued based on what someone draws or writes outside of the server save for extreme circumstances or bigotry (but I'm not gonna vet every newcomer). Your actions within the server are more important." Hello, but didn't you people discuss me in a private channel and throw me out, even though I was a committed lurker and never contributed anything? Were you that petty and narcissistic you saw my opinions as a threat on a forum devoted to simping over a fictional blonde cartoon character?

Here's a hint. Being clannish little twats in whisper networks is a very feminine stereotype, even though a lot of people in fandom fancy themselves as being masculine. That's not to say most women are actually like that. Perceiving females as being cliquey and gossipy is actually a product of culture misogyny. Woman-haters will base all our characters on the actions of the worst, just because they are often the most vocal and vicious. Anybody with a desire to fight against the patriarchy could try doing better. To be fair though, it is considered masculine to want to murder people and stomp their heads into the ground, which is something the radical left has always proven good at throughout history.

Secular progressivism: The cause of more death and misery than all religious wars combined.

Transgender movement: High casualty modern human sacrifice.

[crystalelemental]

November’s always been a wildcard for Masters, what with no holidays except American Thanksgiving to celebrate. 2020 gave us a Time Trial and the sole Prestige Event (don’t remind me…), 2021 was the Poke War Game, and 2022 was the Unova Villain Arc. What do you foresee us getting this year? More Paldea? Maybe the new story arc?

I'm not entirely sure. I'm going to discount the possibility of the main story getting its next direction, because nothing in the Dev Letter suggested it. So I'm going to assume one of three things.

One: Volo time. We don't know for sure what he'll be, so it's very possible it's just...PokeFair. I personally don't expect this, it feels rare that they double up on any particular region two months running, but it's not impossible. Though I personally want Field Master Fair, to partner with Cynthia.

Two: Paldea. Nemona showed up shortly after Hisui, so Paldea feels like it could do the same thing again. If this happens, I fully expect Arven and Penny. That friend group is by far the most popular aspect of those games. Penny and Sylveon would be huge; Fairy's not the best in the meta right now and regardless of role, she could really shake it up. Arven needs to be Support if he's going to stand a chance. I'm sorry dude, but this year alone we've gotten NC Marnie, SC Zinnia, and Akari, all of whom are bonkers overpowered. Even if you keep up on the damage, you're not taking a slot from that core.

Three: Special Costume event. While they did away with this last year, it wouldn't surprise me to see it make a comeback now that there isn't a Villain Arc situation to fill the month. Truthfully? This is my most hoped for outcome. Special Costume events tend to have some really fun sync pairs, and generally great costume designs, with the majority of recipients also being first-timers (this past set being the exception). I think it'd be fun to get a nice, eclectic costume banner before Hisui returns to wrap up the Volo stuff in December, personally.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Blair Plays: Legends Arceus (Phase 4)

...Oh my good gracious. His voice.

Sweet Lord Arceus above, I wish there was a way to record audio on the Switch because you have no idea what just happened. (Actually you do, if you've played this game or seen any footage.) Pikachu...just used his classic cry. The traditional one, from the bygone age of Gen 5 and earlier. Before they made his cry into "Pika pika!" In all the main series games. I don't know why this makes me so happy. Maybe it's because I raised a Pikachu on my first ever team in Fire-Red, so the sound is nostalgic for me? Maybe, by getting the old sound byte back, I'm realizing retroactively how silly the change was? It never bothered me before, I just kind of shrugged it off. But now...oh, please don't change it back in Gen 9.

Surprise, fools. Check out Sybil's awesome new mask. I didn't even remember this was a thing, I think I vaguely recall hearing about it months ago but I was mostly just playing around, exploring all of the options when I went into Mystery Gift. Figured it wouldn't even matter because I don't have Nintendo Online anymore. But turns out I could get the mask anyway, and thank goodness for that. I want. A Hisuian. Zoroark. I want one so badly. He looks so freaking boss, and he's normal/ghost type! It's been my dream type for a pokemon for the past, like, three generations!

What was it Seamus said about Madam Maxime in the fourth move?

"Blimey, that's one big woman."

Or maybe I'm just incredibly short. Going off the history of Pokemon protagonists, it's most likely the latter. Either way, color me intrigued about these new types of moves, these new "styles." I doubt they'll captivate me as much as Z moves did, but hey, nothing will ever be as cool as Z moves, and Agile Style certainly has my attention. Two moves in one turn? That sounds stupidly overpowered. I can't wait to try it out. But apparently I have to "master" my moves first. Time to get training.

He was aiming to, apparently. Dude, just...why.

Y’know what, I don’t like this guy. There’s just something very creepy about him. I wonder if his group is going to be the antagonist of this game? I dunno, the more obvious twist is that The Survey Corps are secretly evil, and the start of Team Galactic, etc… but…I dunno. Cyllene just doesn’t trigger my “Secret Villain” alarms, and Volo kind of does? Not since Looker have I irrationally disliked a character this much.

...What in the ever loving fuck is that.

No, seriously, what the hell is that thing? Why are his eyes red? I want to get closer and check him out, but I'm also terrified. No, you know what, screw it, a true Pokemon Master (or Survey Corps member) has to show courage, right? If I die, I die.

...

I died.

He was like, LV45. Poor Runaway and all of the other expendables partners on my team stood no chance. Clearly, I'm not meant to fight him until later in the game.

We have now come to meet the Diamond Clan. More specifically, Mai, and I have just two things to say to her. 1) Your outfit looks amazing, if I join your squad can I have one too? And 2) Are you a Faller from the ATLA universe, or is it a coincidence that you're called "Mai" and look...exactly like Zuko's girlfriend? In any case, she judges me for using Poke-balls, which is hardly fair considering they have yet to make a game that entirely abolishes them, and is also blasphemy in a game where one can craft their own steampunk poke-balls. Like, I'm sorry Mai, but if steampunk poke-balls are involved, you will always be wrong.

"Do you have a minute to talk about our Lord and Savior, #493 Arceus?"

All jokes aside...y’know what, I did not see this coming, and I have no clue what it means. I mean, something tells me that “Sinnoh” is the Hisuians archaic name for Arceus, but...he introduced himself as “Arceus” at the beginning of the game, so…is that his real name? Or is it just because he was talking to a time traveler?

Wait, never mind, they worship Dialga and Palkia respectively…and they both seem to think their tribal god is the main one. Which begs the question, is there a clan for Giratina? Or is Team Galaxy the “Platinum” Clan of this game? Damn it, you’ve got me interested. Please, oh please say that I can visit The Distortion World in this game...

Oh lawd he comin-

No but seriously, Laventon is such a sweetheart and I'm not over it? Look at that smile, look at how excited he is to be supportive. I had to get this particular moment on screenshot because just, oof. What a cutie. I was thinking about giving all of the characters goofy little nicknames but I'm not sure I could keep up with calling this dude "Lavender" or something similar, just imagine how Celery and Velcro would take it?

..They...they didn't. No way they actually did it. There's no way-

Oh my god, they did it. Ascended fanon, here we come. I genuinely can't believe what I'm seeing, but I'm so happy that I'm seeing it. This is the kind of meta-joke that will never, ever bother me. They really acknowledged Kricketune and his infamous cry. Oh heck yes, heck yes and a half.

Oh and as it turns out, he is what's known as an "Alpha" Pokemon which, judging by the Red Eye, is the same condition afflicting that Rapidash I fought earlier. Which does make me a little nervous for the fights to come, both against this melodious monster and against whatever "Kleavor" is. Well, I can report that the first battle went well. Snagged and bagged the Alpha, so now I have a really, really big bug if I want to train him. But I don't think I want to. Someday, though. Someday I will capture that Rapidash.