#please go support pika I love their art so much!!!

[mangoshibi]

Inspired by my friend @pikanyachu I’ve design ginjika forms of my charizard family!!

Enjoy this little found family of charizards (and don’t mind the misspelling )

[lemonpika]

Hey hey Pika, I'm so happy you're coming out of your hiatus; but as I told you before, take it slow! We'll always be here waiting for you💕

I'm ready for some self shipping if you don't mind 🥺 me (my name is Antonella lolol Anto is my nickname - she/her) and Erwin please?

If it's alright I'll take both SFW and NSFW! If not then just SFW ✨ I'm introverted, I don't like going out a lot so probably my favorite date would be to the cinema OR to somewhere not so crowded, maybe just walking around with some ice cream. I love animals so just watching birds or horses would make me happy too. I love art so museums are good too! My hobbies are drawing, painting and sleeping 💀

ok so my natal chart; my sun sign is pisces, my moon sign escorpio; and ascending (? capricorn.

Thank you so much in advance, you are allowing my lil brain to be happy 🥺

Hi Anto!!!!! <3 Thank you so much for the kind words bby, i really really hope u enjoy what i came up with! EruAnto is ur ship name <33!!

SFW Headcanons

Erwin is lowkey your sugar daddy. He will literally spare no expense in taking you on romantic dates after he comes home from work. He doesn't splurge on himself most of the time, but he wants to spoil his beloved <3

His family owns a stable in the countryside and he'll often take you there to go riding!

He's definitely a workaholic but he only works to provide a comfortable life for the two of you

LOVES MOVIES!! He adores taking you to the cinema since it's not too crowded and he gets to enjoy something cool with you

Also, because he thinks you look cute whenever you get excited over some scenes

He would definitely frame your artwork in his office if you ever drew him something. He's just so proud of how talented you are and wants nothing more than to show off your work!

Takes you on a lot of museum dates so you could get inspired for your next art project

Erwin is extremely in-tune with how you're feeling and can immediately tell that something's wrong. He's extremely reassuring and supportive when you're in a bad mood or having a bad day

He likes to grab your hand and squeeze it whenever the two of you are walking together in public. He does it to let you know that he's enjoying himself and is happy to spend time with u <3

NSFW Headcanons

Erwin loves saying the dirtiest things to you when you're behind closed doors

He'll coolly command you to his lap and order you to ride his thigh, arms crossed as he looks down at you

Loves calling you his 'good girl'

He definitely has a daddy/commander kink so you often have to call him 'sir' if you want to get him in the mood

He's a soft dom so he'd never try to hurt his baby (unless that's what you want ;) all you need to do is tell him <3)

Goes down on you quite often. He prefers to give rather than receive

But if you are in the mood to give him head, expect your jaw to hurt a little towards the end. He gets so wrapped up in the pleasure that he loses control of his hips as he gets closer to orgasm

His moans are really deep and breathy. He typically just mutters curses under his breath as your mouth works his cock.

PROBABLY HAS A BREEDING KINK

be prepared for him to 'accidentally' cum inside //

send in ur self ships and i'll give u hc's of ur dynamic!

[lethendralis-paints]

Artist Meme

Was tagged to answer this set of interesting questions by @kourvo​

(original post is here: https://kourvo.tumblr.com/post/621355098110640128/artist-meme

Thank you so much for that!

Let’s see....

1) What is the character you've drawn the most (Can be original or fanart)

This precious boy. I can never get enough of him. One of the most compelling characters I have ever come across. Love everything about Fenris and can relate to him on so many levels!

2. What colour do you often use? 

Gray and brown are my faves. And all other colours have the same chance of appearing in my artwork :D

3. Any colour you are bad at using?

I don’t think so...I love them all, even the pinks and yellows people usually find hard to incorporate into a colour palette. Tell me in the comments if I’m wrong :)

4. When drawing people, where do you start? 

Funnily enough - either with the front of the hairline or with the left eyebrow. Don’t ask me, why - I don’t know myself.

5. What is a character only your eraser will love?

Hmmmm...any sort of villainous character. I can’t draw evil people convincingly. I’m a huge softy at heart.

6. Which of your works took the longest time? 

Big scale commission I did for @pikapeppa​, featuring all the Inquisition companions, along with Fenris, Rynne and Carver Hawke. That one took almost 3 weeks, due to its sheer scope and my relative lack of experience in such large works. Pika was extremely patient with me though, for that I am eternally thankful!

7. What techniques do you use when you want to improve in drawing? 

Classical art studies. Varying my technique, themes I choose and software I use. I try to experiment and go outside my comfort zone often.

8. What do you think of the art of the person who gave you this ask meme? 

I adore Lillymon’s technical skill, refined style and limited colours! She is a huge inspiration for me!

9. What art tools/media are you good with? 

DrawPile, Photoshop, graphite pencils and liners. That’s about it :)

10. Art tools/media you are bad at? 

Traditional paints. I have no formal artistic education and my lack of knowledge comes to the forefront whenever I have to paint on a real canvas. It’s so much trial and error, you can’t even imagine....

11. What do you think about your own art? 

Lately it’s one of the last few things that were bringing me joy. I hope I won’t lose the passion for it. Because at this point I’m not sure I’ll be able to find some occupation I will be genuinely interested in and good at it. I don’t know if me gravitating towards moody fantasy art speaks about my fear of facing reality. If so, idk what to do with that. I do hope to develop my skills and being able to support myself financially as an artist.

12. Do you consult references for your drawings? 

Yes. A lot of them. Anatomical atlases, schemes for both academic and manga art, photographs found online and taken on my own, copying colour palettes from classical art - anything goes. I think it’s essential to develop your technical skill.

13. What do you like about your art? 

Lately - consistency, both in terms of produced results and in sticking to the timelines I set to myself. I hope this lasts. I would also like to branch out to other themes and not confine myself to quirky fantasy characters, so I’m working on developing my own story behind the scenes (spoilers) :P

14. What habits do you have while drawing?

Only the bad ones, lol. Hunching forward in front of the screen, forgetting to eat, drink and letting my eyes rest. Tilting my head to the side instead of rotating the canvas....I’m an idiot XD

15. Are you good at drawing faces facing right? 

I think that’s the thing I’m good at!

16. How frequently do you draw? 

For the last 1,5 years - almost every day without fail, for good or ill.

17. What do you do when you have artist's block? 

Change occupation and work myself into a depressed state. I changed work places in the last few years a lot, working as an interior designer, draftsman, textile designer, a cook, a bartender to name a few.

18. What must you have when you draw? 

No commotion around me and a cup of some hot beverage.

19. Do you have a lot of stray lines (messy lineart)? 

In the starting stage of my work process - yes, like you wouldn’t believe! If it’s a personal doodle, I sometimes just leave in as am under layer and draw clean lines on top of that mess. It looks cool in a way.

20. What is drawing to you?

An essential part of what helped me to retain my sanity in the last year and a half. Hopefully a lasting profession that will help me pay bills and survive on my own, if my life falls apart entirely later.

21. Your art goal from now on? 

Broaden the themes I depict, improve my technical skill, work on personal creative project and not only fan arts. And most of all - not giving up on it this time.

22. Artists you've had influence from? 

To name a few: @kallielef​ @kourvo​ @shayafury​ @fairsparrow​ who I met here on Tumblr, and many others who I follow and zealously study their works for clues on how to improve my own work.

23. Artists you like? 

I am following them all either here or on Instagram, I also do my best to share their works on my side blog!

24. Which is easier to draw, humans or animals? 

It was animals earlier. But now that I started to diligently study human anatomy, I would say it evened out! I’m quite confident drawing humans/humanoids now!

25. Show us an old drawing 

My first digital drawing from 2010 when I first bought my tablet!

26. What is the charm-point of your art?

I ummm....I don’t really get the question? Is that like the the strongest suit of me as an artist? Intense expressions maybe? Idk. Let me know in the comments :D

27. What is the first thing you would draw if we're talking about fantasy? 

Broody warriors, he-he

28. Please draw your most beloved character:

Here’s a sneak-peek of me drawing him right now! :D

29. When thinking of characters is it mostly female? male? or androgynous/no sex? 

I usually gravitate towards depicting strong-willed, caring, passionate, brave, honest men and women.

30. What did you draw yesterday? 

Started cleaning up that sketch from the last question, actually!

31. What is the funnest part to draw? 

A circle. Mostly because you’d die laughing seeing my struggle to draw a believable one XD

32. What part of other people's drawings do you notice first? 

colours, mood, eyes, hands.

33. Regarding backgrounds, what is your method of making it easier to draw? 

pick your favourite textured brush, find a good reference for mood and colour scheme, zoom out, squint your eyes and start slapping colours like mad. You’d be amazed at how much you’ll be able to achieve in 30 minutes with this approach. Bare white background is the enemy - destroy it! >:)

34. What colour coordinations do you like? 

Gray or brown as a main colour and then deep, earthy, saturated colours to complement the main one. Pink and orange is the combination I strangely enjoy using lately too.

35. What character did you last draw? Fenris and Eris :)

36. Does your style change easily? 

I don’t think so. More like it’s evolving slowly into something more serious and deliberate.

37. What part of drawing do you pay most attention to? 

Facial expression, body movement, mood and light effects. Not so much the composition and framing, he he.

38. How do you feel about drawing adult art? 

Tbh, I don’t consider straight up porn to be ‘adult’ exactly. To me adult art means aiming towards serious topics, exploring complex emotions and ideas, being honest with your viewer. I did doodle a few more steamy sketches of my OTP just to see if I could, but it was definitely a tongue-in-cheek kind of a artwork that I don’t take seriously.

39. Do you like criticism from others? 

If it’s friendly and in done in private - I welcome it always.

40. How many people do you normally draw per artwork? 

1 or 2. Rarely more. Crowded battle scenes are definitely not my thing :D

This was fun! Tagging forward to @shayafury​ @schoute​ @stella-minerva​ @nug-juggler​ @kallielef​ and anyone else wishing to go through such a long questionnaire!

[deliriousabsol]

More Things Than You Ever Cared To Know About My Writing

This was originally posted by ‘vorchagirl’, reblogged by someone I follow. And I thought it would be fun to just outright answer these in a questionnaire type way, rather than as asks. So here we go =)

Feel free to do this yourselves if you like it. Just please remember to add the original poster.

Fanfiction Questions

Fandom Questions

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Properly? Probably Pokemon. I’ve been writing fanfiction for it for years.

2. What is your latest fandom?

Funnily enough, Sonic, despite being a fan since I was like seven years old. I’ve just never seriously got into it since then until now.

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

The Pokemon fandom. I’ve made some awesome friends in it.

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

You hear things, but I’ve not really come across any toxicity besides the reaction to the Sonic Movie.

5. Which fandoms have your written fanfiction for?

A good few, but the only ones you’ll find are Pokemon, Sonic and Zootopia.

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Zootopia - Judy/Nick

Sonic - Shadow/Rouge, Silver/Blaze

Pokemon - I don’t usually ship in Pokemon, but Jessie/James because reasons

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

Sonic/Amy. Sorry. Some art is cute, but it’s not my jam.

Shadow/Maria. I don’t ship animals with humans.

I also don’t ship yaoi/yuri pairings.

I do not poop on any ship. If it’s one I’m not fond of, I just scroll on and leave it be. Shipping can be pretty toxic sometimes, and I just don’t get it at all.

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

I was writing Mask Behind the Monster and my husband’s aunt suggested I join a specific Sonic forum to post it in. So I joined the Amino and posted it, all nervous. The reception blew me away, and I met some awesome people, so I stuck around.

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

The friends I’ve made.

10.  Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Probably. Can’t think of any off the top of my head.

Ship Questions for your Current Fandom

11. Who is your current OTP?

Shadow/Rouge. Also Infinite/Amy. This is because of my current writing projects.

12. Who is your current OT3?

None.

13. Any NoTPs?

We’ve been over this *looks up*

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

Sonic/Tails =3

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

Infinite/Amy. I didn’t initially.  But if it’s done right, and there are reasons for them to be together in that setting, then it works. 

16. Are their any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Sonic/Shadow, Infinite/Gadget

I’m also not a fan of most Pokemon anime ships.

17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Knuckles/Amy. I still have a soft spot for it.

18. What ship have you written the most about?

Amy/Espio. I went through a phase... Read a couple of ‘fics and thought ‘Why not? Sounds like fun.’ XD

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

Not really. As much as I like shipping, because I’m a fluff-junkie, I have to just like it.

20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

Again. Inf/Amy. This one took me by surprise.

Author Questions

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

Erm... if I remember right, Some cringy self-insert Pokemon ‘fic when I was like 14/15.

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Everything I regret writing has been deleted.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

The End and Mask Behind the Monster. I can’t choose one over the other. They were both written with a lot of meaning and emotion behind them, and I have a soft spot for both.

24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

I keep thinking about re-writing The End, but I worry it will lose its fire if I do...

25. What’s your most popular fanfic?

I think... THINK... it’s Mask Behind the Monster.

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

To Title is hard. System:Reboot was a suggestion off a friend who I have lost touch with. Its working title is ‘Hacked’. A lot of my stories have preliminary working titles until I come up with something. The End was named after a song. Confectionary Conundrum was originally called ‘Sugar Snow’ which is the name of the sweet shop in that story. The Mainframe Saga’s Scrivener file is still called ‘Datastream’. Its separate books have been renamed as I’ve been ‘planning’ them out (as much as I plan).

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Probably summaries, because FFNet leaves very little space to do so.

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

I have actually had fanart, so this is hard to say. A lot of people like drawing my cyberpunk Infinite redesign which has surprised me.

29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?

My husband proof-reads my stuff, and then I question him on it. I don’t have a beta. I’ve thought about it, but I stick to a strict time-frame when it comes to uploads where I strictly give myself very little leniency. So if it wasn’t beta’d in time, I’d get a little frustrated and I do not like to pester people. I also worry I’ll be told to edit and cut a LOT, and I don’t like to butcher my ‘fics. I do that enough while I’m writing 8D

30. What inspires you to write?

My faith. That is a BIG one. You will find references and metaphors to my faith throughout my stories. Particularly in The End and The Mask Behind the Monster. Music is another huge inspiration drive. I’ve come up with entire scenes and even plots or sub-plots listening to music. I was just on a walk listening to some cyberpunk tracks when I got the spark for The Mainframe Saga.

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

Oh boy. Where do I start? I think I was especially moved when someone told me they read The Mask Behind the Monster to their sisters.

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

Yes. A lot. I listen to a variety of stuff from Christian rock and EDM to cyberpunk instrumental tracks. Main bands are Thousand Foot Krutch, Family Force Five, Cruxshadows, Holon, Misanthropix, Scandroid and Celldweller.

33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?

It really varies. I lean towards epics. Even Glitched ended up being longer than planned, if memory serves, although it’s not epic length. The Mainframe Saga is made up of chaptered ‘fics, ficlets and one-shots.

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

I couldn’t tell you, because Scrivener crashes when I try to get the word count for System:Reboot XD

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

I don’t, but I have thought about it.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

Sci-Fi. Hands down.

37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why?

I prefer third person, particularly restricted third person, because it is easier to write about different characters. That way the reader knows what’s going on when the main cast do not. I was very surprised I enjoyed writing first person so much in Mask Behind the Monster, though. But I did leap into third person a couple of times to give a wider perspective.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

I love creating OCs. But I will use canon characters in the Sonic fandom.

39. What is you greatest strength as a writer?

From what I’ve been told, character development.

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Violence. And tragic back stories. I have legit questioned my sanity when coming up with scenes that include this.

Also... when I write fluff... I kind of grind to a halt and struggle through it. Often interspersed with gazing from the window and thinking well further ahead than where I’m currently at. This often results in forgetting dialogue I think up during my garden gazing.

Fanfiction Questions

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

I won’t post links because it is much too fiddly. But Guiding Light by Ambyssin, Heart Song by Suetonicsonic, Fall From Power by Lordius Dannius.

Hands of Creation by Namohysip, and The Curious and the Shiny by Nebula Dreams. Both of which I seriously need to pick up again.

I believe you can find all of them on FFNet.

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

Same applies as above. Ambyssin, Suetonicsonic, Namohysip, Chibi Pika and Nebula Dreams.

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

Ambyssin has provided some amazing constructive criticism on System:Reboot which has resulted in me making a terrifying antagonist out of Gadget the Wolf. I strongly hope no other antagonists will develop what I have nicknamed ‘Socket Syndrome’. His drive and commitment to his writing has been pretty inspirational, too.

But in all fairness, I think most, if not all, of my writing friends have been inspirational and very supportive. I offer digital high-fives to each and every one of you.

44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

I can’t think of any. People should write what they like. And I believe if you want to read it, and it doesn’t exist, then you should write it yourself if you can.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

Guiding Light by Ambyssin. It’s not often I fall in love with a fanfic.

Fall From Power by Lordius Dannius is another.

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

The End or The Mask Behind the Monster, because they’re pretty special to me.

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why?

FFNet. I’ve been posting there for years. I’m iffy on AO3. I’ve considered posting to Tumblr, but my solution to that is to post links and artwork instead.

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

If I feel I have something to say, I’ll post a review. I like to make sure I do so, though, and I have been known to make notes on my computer and post reviews in bulk to works posted on Serebii.

49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not?

I love comments, and I will try to respond to each one. Reblogs are totally welcome!

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

I’ve been writing for many, many years. Since before I was ten years old. Pokemon likely got me into fanfiction. I can’t remember writing it for anything else prior to that cringy ‘fic I mentioned earlier (which we will never, ever talk about. Ever.)

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

I love the creativity behind it, especially OCs. Pokemon OCs are my favourites, particularly in PMD or Pokecentric settings. Both Sonic and Pokemon offer a lot of inspiration to create OCs as the worlds are both pretty vast. AUs and canon settings both offer massive scope for creativity. It’s seeing peoples’ headcanons and takes on the franchises that I really enjoy. Yes, I do like shipping, but a story does NOT need it to be a good story. It’s the way people tell it that matters more to me.

I know this says ‘one thing’. But I just want to make it clear, the one part of fanfiction I don’t like, is M-rated stuff. And I will not read it. It... bugs me when a ‘fic I’ve been enjoying suddenly changes its rating XD

(I do not own any of the fandoms or characters mentioned in this post) <- Nervous Nelly moment?

[underpuffau]

Goodnight Underpuff

You all have no idea how much I wanted to avoid making this post. I’ve been wrestling with myself for months now over whether or not to do this, thinking it would be impulsive, or I gotta see this through to the end. But I think that was just fear talking, my fear of failing, and I think it’s about time for me to overcome that fear, and finally put Underpuff to rest.

I feel awful about this. So many people have shown me so much support, drawn me so much fanart, made me music, and have been nothing but nice to me...But I think that’s exactly why I need to do this. I don’t wanna drag on these peoples’ hopes any longer for a product that ultimately doesn’t have my heart in it anymore. My love for Undertale is dead at this point, and while my unwavering love for Kirby remains, it is no longer able to support a project that was balanced by two loves. I still like Undertale, don’t get me wrong, but it’s far from the sheer adoration I had for it two years ago, the love that helped me craft 7 parts pixel by pixel on a damn Wii U, the love that made me throw that progress away for a much needed reboot, the love that unfortunately is not there anymore.

Underpuff was important to me, and it certainly still will be many years down the road, I still love the story I had planned, the characters I wrote, the gags I had in store, but the spark is gone. It was gone somewhere around the making of Part 3, and I think my posting frequency on this account reflects that. I thought it would be the strong thing to just keep going and wait for that spark to return, but it hasn’t come back, and I don’t think it will. And the truly strong thing to do, the thing that requires more strength, more will, is to let it go. (Make a Frozen reference and I’ll kill you.)

This was my first major project, and while it may end on a failure, I have many more things I wish to do. Like improving my general art skills, sprite art, and focusing on learning programming and game design so I can make actual video games instead of simulating them through a comic format, and all not having that same comic I need to update looming over my head. I can go at my own pace, knowing the only person I need to please is myself.

I’m not happy having to make this decision, you all have no idea how much I wish I could finish this project. Even now while typing this I’m still wondering if I’m certain about this, but I have to be. I need to accept when I have failed, and move forward. I will post a general summary of the story I had planned in the coming days, so you all don’t sit wondering what could have been. So to everyone who ever supported me, whether it be through fanart, music, or even something as menial as liking a post or reblogging it, thank you so much. You all really have meant the world to me, and have been a great (And patient) audience. If you all really wish to see my other work in the future, please visit my general blog here. I’ll post art and other stuff as I see fit, but as far as this blog is concerned, it’s been a good run, thank you all for everything.

-Pika

[aurantia-ignis]

please do pokespe, specialshipping, and gold!

This turned out way, wayyyyyy longer than expected so I’m putting it under a cut!

PokespeFavorite character: Tie up between Red and Yellow, I think!Red is a wonderful boy; courageous, kind, intuitive. He’s got a good heart, a great head for battle, and a passion to achieve his goals with his companion Pokemon. Blaine’s words about him always struck me:”Pokemon Trainer. Someone who spends his life with, trusts, and is trusted by his Pokemon. Someone like you, Red.” He may not be a perfect child (overconfidence in his earlier chapters stick out quite a bit, and of course, they showcase his character development!), but, like Blaine, Red is everything I’d aspired to be as a Pokemon Trainer. Yellow is a lovely child with a golden heart. She represents a sort of kindness that I sometimes wish I had more of. Her battle with Lance yielded this conversation:“Pokemon aren’t tools for killing! Even this battle of yours has hurt not only humans, but Pokemon as well!”“I hate fighting… I’m truly sad when any Pokemon are injured… Even my opponent’s!” “Aren’t Pokemon your friends too!?“ Despite her pacifist nature, she’s willing to fight with all she has to protect those she cares for. She feels guilt and pain whenever she has to hurt Pokemon, but goes through it anyway, to fight for what she believes in: humans and Pokemon living in harmony together. And though she may not have the same sort of battle sense that Red does, she can still pack quite a punch, and she has a few ingenious ideas of her own, too (see the Team Rocket on the ship battle).  Least Favorite character: Pryce, I think…? His entire arc was just ridiculously melodramatic, and it didn’t make a lot of sense ^^;  5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):Red/Yellow, Green/Blue, Daisy/Bill, Gold/Silver/Crystal in a happy threesome family, Ruby/SapphireCharacter I find most attractive:It might have been N or Steven, but unfortunately, Yamamoto’s art when he was drawing those two was horrendous. ^^;; I mean, dude, noses don’t work like that! So probably Lance from the Mato era… or Red. Character I would marry:Maybe Falkner? He has a day job and he’s a good guy, and he makes gym leader! Otherwise, Steven’s very good husband material. Character I would be best friends with:Maybe Ruby? I too would like to groom my Pokemon endlessly and exclaim over how beautiful they are.A random thought:The Pokemon world is just so fantastical, there’s no way to make it realistic without having to revamp almost 70% of the entire world. ^^: Despite Pokespe seeming like a semi-realistic portrayal of it, there are way too many questions about the way things work in there that a reader still has to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy fully XD;;; An unpopular opinion:I really, really don’t much like Whitwo. :/ My canon OTP:Red/Yellow! The two of them share similar worldviews, something that I think is instrumental for building a good relationship.Red’s words in the same chapter as the Blaine one from above: “Mewtwo’s a pretty scary creature, all right. But all it knows is being held prisoner in a lab. All it knows about humans is that we’re arrogant and cruel. But what if it learns something different? What if it learns that not all humans treat other creatures badly? Find out, Blaine. Teach it.” His optimism and willingness to believe in the world is absolutely beautiful. Yellow had a similar scene in her battle with Lance. “It’s true that humans have done selfish things, taking away Pokemon’s homelands… Stripping them of their food supply… I’ve seen the results of that on my journey!”And later, with Dragonite: "Of course you feel rage toward humans. But think…. His way isn’t the answer! Humans don’t deserve death–any more than Pokemon! Humans and Pokemon can live together! I know it!”Despite knowing how terrible humans can be, both of them still believe that the rest of the world can come to understand things the way they do; that Pokemon and humans are all beings that deserve a chance to live in the same world, in peace and harmony. I love these scenes, not just for the parallels between my ship, but because they really define Red and Yellow as who they truly are. As a note, I put this under canon despite there being no official confirmations or confessions, because I think there are enough scenes (especially in the later volumes) that blatantly hint at the creators pushing them together. Although I’m not completely happy with all of them (some of the writing is way too forced, man), I’m glad that at least Kusaka seems to want them together. XD;

Non-canon OTP: Green and Blue! Although they don’t have a lot of shippy moments in canon (most of the time he’s just going TSK WHAT A NOISY WOMAN at her), I like their pair character dynamics, and the thought of their everyday life together never fails to make me laugh. XDMost bad*** character:Red! But also Ruby. The boy is very, very cool. Other than the humans, Mewtwo and Pika are pretty badass Pairing I am not a fan of:Black/White. I did enjoy the BW arc, but I felt like the two protags suffered from not enough character and relationship development. I was more inclined to ship White with N based on their writing, except of course canon moments obviously support BlackWhite more. For me, however, a few ‘romantic moments’ without any proper relationship developments don’t make me feel like shipping two characters. Bill and Daisy didn’t get any, either, but they’re supporting characters who don’t appear very much, after all. Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):GOLD. I love the boy, he was so amazing and hilarious, but the fact is, his character arc was completely screwed. Aaaaand I’m going to elaborate on this in the last section of this ask.Favourite friendship:Red and his mons. Also Yellow and her mons. Between the humans, Gold and Silver make me particularly happy, but the Kanto Four together are great too. Specialshippingwhen or if I started shipping it: I think I thought of it as a jokeship at first, when Prof Oak was thinking “Does this child have any thought in her head that isn’t connected with Red”, but I only really started seeing them as a serious ship at the end of the Yellow arc, when Kitty/Piisuke’s String Shot was connecting them wwwmy thoughts:I uh…. I think I covered this in the OTP section above HAHAHAWhat makes me happy about them:The way they’re both happy together just talking about Pokemon and loving them What makes me sad about them:The awkward forced romantic hints that popped up here and there after Mato left :Things done in fanfic that annoys me:I can’t stand it when they’re written out of character. :/ Things I look for in fanfic:Anything in-character. HAHAHAHA. I also appreciate when, despite the humans being the main focus, the Pokemon also play an active role in the story. Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I guess I could sort of see Red going with Blue and Yellow with Green… My happily ever after for them:Yellow opens a Pokemon Sanctuary somewhere and Red takes over the Gym of that town. GoldHow I feel about this character: As I mentioned above, Gold was completely screwed up by the writers. Up until he read that letter from Professor Oak in Vol 14, he had just been fighting on his own terms. Yet suddenly, when he received a letter that he had originally hoped to contain tips on how to win an upcoming battle, he goes into an existential crisis because Professor Oak didn’t acknowledge that he has any ‘special abilities’! “What about MY abilities? There must be something! Don’t I have an ability that places me alongside the other Pokemon trainers?! TELL MEEEEEEEE!” That melodramatic panel of his silhouette is just… melodramatic. He respected Prof Oak, but not to any extreme degree. Why would he have felt so lost and denied just because a Professor he had barely met a few times didn’t know what his abilities were?To top the ridiculous off, the scene continues with them finding an extra page of the letter and going “WAIT GUESS WHAT. PROF OAK THINKS YOU’RE A BREEDER” and Gold conveniently hatches the Pichu egg at the same moment. And they fly off to fight. And then everything’s okay again? ….DID I MISS SOMETHING! *angry Timon noises* All that angst a page before would have been easily avoided if they just took every page out to begin with! And if it was solved so easily, it obviously isn’t worth angsting over! Gold could have been a great, great character, if only they hadn’t made his point of realization “YEAH I’M A BREEDER BECAUSE PROF OAK SAYS SO”. )o)All the people I ship romantically with this character: None, reallyMy non-romantic OTP for this character: I love his interactions with Silver. wwMy unpopular opinion about this character: I don’t ship him romantically with Silver or Crystal. :/ One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:PROPER. CHARACTER. DEVELOPMENT. *SOBS*My OTP: NoneMy OT3:With Silver and Crystal as a family! I love the fact that Silver camps out at his house to watch Proteam Omega. 

[a-weird-blog-in-general]

Human! Squip AU

Okay so… I see all these wonderful Human!Squip Au’s floating around, and I can’t help myself when it comes to Au’s so I went and made one. And of course, my amazing partner in crime @pika-ace made contributions as well. So story time. There’s this wonderful post by @bloodypoptart (I love their art so much seriously it���s sooooo good check them out) which is some fancy spinal cord thing that the Squip wears as a final costume. Pretty cool, and the drawing makes it look awesome. But then my brain goes “Hm if this was a Human Squip, would this super awesome spinal cord thing work as a life support device?” And then this thing was born. Keep in mind that not every single detail is here for the sake of length (also because I want to reveal things gradually because I’m like that). But please if you want to ask me stuff about it’s totally chill to drop me a message or something. And you can totally ask @pika-ace too their ideas are gold oh my lord.

Through the wonders of science, the Squip gains a corporeal body that is composed of several human and robotic components, the most important piece being a life support device made up of the spinal portion (again refer to this post) and a chest portion (my personal addition to it). It’s all one piece that supports their heart and lungs; all their human components are extremely weak and Squip basically has no immune system.

The brightness and color of the lights on the device indicate the Squip’s health and what Mtn.Dew is in their body (yes they are still affected by Mtn.Dew)

If the device falters in any way, it causes the equivalent of seizures. If the device shuts down, they will die.

At the beginning, the Squip has a sort of mental link with Jeremy (they were in his head after all) and uses said link to reach out to Jeremy for help because they’re weak and in pain and they don’t know what to do.

Jeremy doesn’t recognize the voice at first, but he does go out to follow the voice and when he does find out it’s the Squip he doesn’t want anything to do with them. After all, it’s not like they deserve Jeremy’s help, and he does turn to walk away.

The Squip is begging and pleading for Jeremy to help, to take away the pain, and Jeremy is taken aback because he never would have expected that kind of reaction from them.

Jeremy gives in; you can’t just leave a human being in pain and begging and barely breathing on the ground in a dirty hospital gown. He takes the Squip home.

Jeremy nurses the Squip to a state that’s somewhat stable and when they’re awake Jeremy establishes some rules, the most important one being that the Squip is only staying until they’re healthy enough to leave. When they do leave Jeremy doesn’t want anything to do with them afterwards. Squip agrees.

Turns out the Squip can’t actually improve very much health wise, as they sort of fluctuate between barely okay to almost dying until Jeremy manages to stabilize them, and even then Jeremy realizes that if he lets the Squip leave, they will die. Jeremy doesn’t like it, but he will tolerate the Squip in his room; he just helps them less and less, only really helping out when something is serious.

It’s through the device that the two start to communicate on a more mutual level. Jeremy asks what it does, Squip tries to explain it but can’t 100% because they don’t necessarily understand why any of this happened either. Jeremy at some point starts examining the device, they both figure out it’s important to keep the Squip alive and leave it at that.

Then one day Michael comes over and finds the Squip

He doesn’t recognize them as the Squip right away, but they recognize Michael. They drop some unsubtle hints, maybe make a few comments about Mtn.Dew Red, Michael puts the pieces together and straight up punches the Squip right in the face.

This is just one of many conflicts that Squip and Michael go through.

And then the rest of the Squip Squad end up accidentally meeting the Squip as well.

Doesn’t end well.

The rest pretty much rolls along with the plot that the Squip is trying to adjust themselves as a sick little human and having to come to terms with all the damage they’ve done.

They try, albeit horribly at first, to make amends with everyone, using the defense that it was in their programming; they had no control over what they did. It’s a pretty shitty excuse, and no one takes it. The Squad, especially Michael, don’t forgive them for a long time. But there’s stuff that happens. So many little plot points that I won’t delve into here because heh it keeps the intrigue going.

And now for all the little headcannons I’ve got for the Squip.

They’re part human, part robot. Basically a cyborg. So they’ve got little quirks.

They need to maintain a Mtn.Dew diet in order to survive, making the blue/green glow of the device lights a healthy color

Mtn.Dew Red and Code Red mess them up so bad. Red will kill them and Code Red can potentially kill them if it’s not treated

They practically generate and conduct electricity; it’s a side affect of the spinal portion of the device, which supports their nervous with charge. They can shock others weakly, and if they interact with any sort of wiring for power, they can potentially cause a blackout. Their hair generates static; they have monstrous bedhead hair and haircuts are a nightmare. Given the right conditions, they can harness the electrical energy they produce and use it to shock and burn, but doing so causes strain on the device (that powers their heart and lungs), and too much energy being used like that for too long can cause the device to overload and shut down.

Very smol and their eyes glow the same as their device lights (borrowed that from @nyancheetosmusical’s design because smol Squip is good Squip)

They are afraid of the dark and silence. Sleep deprivation is a major problem because they can’t sleep. They tend to fidget quite a bit, and when given the chance they will always find a way to occupy themselves.

Still maintains massive amounts of knowledge and intelligence

Jeremy (and Michael eventually) get them into superheroes. They’re personal favorite is Cyborg.

And that’s what I will reveal so far. Again any questions or input, don’t be afraid to drop something in my inbox or DM; I’d love that. And do check out @bloodypoptart and @nyancheetosmusical for awesome art and another really cool Human!Squip Au.

[crypticchanglings]

from london [03.10.19]

i'm currently obsessed with these youtubers: 

j lou - hong konger who posts videos in cantonese/english 

it's fantastic since i'm currently learning cantonese/improving my mandarin and she's so hilarious 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/uc530gkg2oj26figqzayqqow

slice n rice - hilarious (and musically talented!) interracial couple with content different from most vloggers i've seen 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/ucormlwayqudm-ieq49audna

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i've also been obsessing over some poc artists lately:

jess x snow - been following their account since high school and the quality of animation/murals/music/poetry/everything is so so good

https://www.instagram.com/jessxsnow/

hannah che - i really want to be more plant-based for carbon neutrality and sustainability, and she's super inspirational. she posts a ton of chinese recipes made vegan including adorable vegan mooncakes for 中秋節!!

https://www.instagram.com/hannah__chia/

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also, it's so hard to consistently write travel logs, so i have immense respect for friends who do keep up regular updates. london is fun (classes start tomorrow wish me luck rippp) and there's so many cool clubs/pubs/bars everywhere. the people here are so friendly and i'm unfortunately a ridiculous lightweight (i'm usually done after half a glass of wine lol) and have to sleep more hours than i've been giving myself. there's also an obsession with halloumi, which i discovered in the heathrow airport on my first day in the city.

i've been sort of keeping up a travel log on instagram, but even that's starting to feel disingenuous and like i need to be constantly posting content. i want to find some happy medium that's not too difficult to keep up to date and that doesn't make me feel like i'm trying too hard to please someone. i'm also thinking of making an ig that's more of an artistic portfolio/journal of some sort anyway. 

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i visited cork the week before school started and it made me realize just how much of eastern us/nyc culture comes from early irish immigrants. from food staples (corn and peas and potatoes) to pub culture to irish monuments and cathedrals i didn't really notice before to surnames (williams, allen, brown, campbell, etc.) - basically most of the things i used to just associate with being "american". it was mind blowing to see plants i thought only grew inside flower pots out in the wild, rock formations that aren't faked and inside malls, pubs that have genuinely been around for hundreds of years. talk about cultural appropriation. 

i love seeing the different species of birds - the ravens in western cork, the javan mynah in singapore, the nyc pigeon. they all act about the same way you'd expect birds to act, but come from such different backgrounds. 

i also met a model turned dominatrix and a recreational dominatrix at a fantastic pub while drowning in half a pint of beer (literally rip). they had somehow not known this about each other, only previously being work friends, so i'm glad i've now united them on a different front. we talked for a long while about open relationships and what makes people click. 

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i started pole dancing, and it's really fun! hopefully by the time i return to mit i'll be good enough to practice some routines on the pika pole. it's a shame that boston doesn't have a vibrant pole culture - every london uni has a pole fitness club, there's tons of pole meetups around the city, and so many pole performances and competitions year round. plus there's something addicting about sore arms.

while london isn't super expensive, there's a lot of things that i took for granted at mit that aren't at imperial. laundry is a whopping £3-4, the gym costs £30 for membership, most clubs aren't free (£5-10 for membership), the doors in my hall lock automatically (??), the mail delivery service is a bit of a pain since they're manually recorded, timetables for classes aren't automatically available online nor are classes rated in any way, there are no frats or house parties so students go clubbing instead (and clubs cost £8-15 for big parties), and since parties aren't subsidized, drinks cost £££ too. 

it's kind of hilarious that i'm specifically studying engineering in a place so ripe with poetry, theater, art, film, exhibitions, sculpture, etc. imperial has free lunchtime concerts and art galleries throughout the school, but humanities classes cost £200 a piece. 

also, the assassins guild, caving club, hiking club, and hackerspaces remind me of mit. the other mit exchange student told me they seemed less in-your-face than at mit. i suppose ec/tetazoo is fairly in-your-face about caving/climbing and ec/putz with building stuff so that's a reasonable comparison to make. 

i've always had a contrarian bent against things i saw were mainstream. unfortunately, mainstream was always defined by the people closest to me, so that meant wanting to not be in cs at mit and instead to be part of a smaller major. somehow, the distance has taken away this discomfort and i feel better about my interests. also, i've been able to discover an interest for exploring/climbing outside of the mob mentality, which is refreshing. 

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i got my first internship offer for the summer (!!), so summer interviews don't feel as stressful. i am still lowkey stressed about iap, since i don't have anything lined up yet rip so winter interviewing must still go on. i feel myself getting a lot better at technical and non-technical interviews, though, so hmu if you have any questions about tech interviewing. 

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travel plans

amsterdam: 10/4-6

oxford: 10/12

wales (with the caving club!): 10/25-27

edinburgh: 10/15-17

istanbul: 10/22-24

iceland: 10/5-8

athens: 10/8-10

marrakesh: 10/13-16

i so so recommend rome2rio, skyscanner, hostelsworld/booking.com, and student universe for finding dirt cheap flights. all of these flights were about $100 or less (mostly less) although being geographically near so many vastly different cultures is convenient. 

i also now understand douglas adams' obsession with towels - one of the most useful things ever (and prevents you from having to wipe your naked body with old clothes or a bed sheet after being too cheap/forgetting to rent a towel).

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i've been writing for hackaday since the summer and while most of my writing has been fulfilling assignments, it's humbling to read the readers' comments. i think i've always taken the maker community for granted and i haven't realized the work that people put in to ensure that open source has the integrity that it has today. 

there's constantly talk about whether something feels like an advertisement. i've always been in support of ads on social media and sponsorship since it helps all parties, but i have felt like intentions are faked when there are too many sponsors at a hackathon - or when it feels like sweet talking the sponsors are more important than making a great experience for users. 

i'm not sure if anyone's taking the class by the poetic justice group at the media lab, but i worked with them on the green book project this summer and it completely changed the way i look at race inside and outside of america. i also know there's some complicated feelings about malcolm gladwell, but i appreciate the nuance he uses when discussing the sandra bland case in his latest book - i think it puts to perspective the systemic reasons for police brutality, rather than focusing on individual reasons (which is the reason why juries decide the way they do and why attorneys are able to win cases in favor of police officers in the court. see radiolab mr. graham and the reasonable man for more info.) 

i'm really grateful for garnette - my writing professor last term - for introducing me to gladwell's masterclass. he really understands how to craft writing to be accessible to people and has a really great approach towards being a writer - having a regular low-stress/low-hours job to pay the bills and writing on the side (until you can make a living as a writer or just perpetually writing on the side). ted chiang (author of the book inspiring arrival) did the same thing - studied computer science in college, became a technical writer to free up time and finances to write, eventually freelanced and is now quite good at his craft, so he's also a minor idol career-wise. 

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that's all for now. just wanted to do a quick update, hope you're all doing well! remember that work isn't the most important thing in the world - drink water, eat vegetables (they feel really good), don't eat too much sugar, take a break, and get sleep!