#pmd is one of those series

[front-facing-pokemon]

[driftingballoons]

Is there any media that's left a lasting impact on you?

So I’m going to give two answers, one the obvious, and another bonus answer for variety’s sake :3

Pmd explorers has possibly had the greatest lasting impact on me that any piece of media ever has. As my introduction to pokemon, I felt like I was playing partly as Hero would’ve experienced it—with absolutely no idea what to expect, and no background knowledge of anything. But the way it quickly changed from “heehee creature adventure :3” to “what does it truly mean to live and how can you shine as brightly as you can, even in the face of oblivion?” caught me quite off guard. It really made me start to think about how I could try to make the most of my life, how people’s actions can be hugely shaped by their situations, and how you really can’t take even the most simple of things for granted. I played this at 12 y/o during an otherwise very disruptive/isolated time in my life, so I’m not sure if that’s partly why my brain latched onto this as much as it did, but I genuinely felt like it helped me get through it. Whenever I felt weak or powerless back then, I found inspiration from how strong hero, partner, and grovyle had to be to get through everything, and it felt like it made coping just a bit easier. Fast forward to a much better time in my life, and it’s helped me find a wonderful, incredibly talented online community and friends, and I have an absolute blast being able to interact with you guys and see your takes on the series!

The other piece of media that had a lasting impact was Allie Brosh’s book Hyperbole and a Half. I hadn’t known before reading it, but she actually had a blog of the same name around the early 2010s, where she’d post her funny comics and stories. The part that had the most impact on me was actually her iconic ‘poorly drawn’ MS paint kind of style. It made me realize that you don’t necessarily have to make professional quality art to make something worth seeing. This inspired me not only to start posting my own doodles and stuff online, but also changed my approach when dealing with a lot of daunting things. Whenever I feel like I’m not good enough/skilled enough to try something, I remember how popular her stuff was, despite looking ‘low quality,’ and it reminds me that doing something low quality is better than not doing it at all! 

[epicwafflepie]

I don't play Pokemon SV and don't plan to but the jokes about Penny finding the MC's mom hot is so fucking funny

[scribz-ag24]

If you got to pick a few first stage pokemon that are choices for a partner in pmd, who would it be?

ZORUA. i know everyone brings that one up but that's for a reason, they're a perfect pokémon for a partner. Maybe litleo could be cute as a partner, Espurr too. Flabébé could be cute as a fairy type starter? I think i'd like it better than a swirlix or the other one (spritzee? or sth like that?)

I don't remmeber much of the pokedex from gen 7-9 so imma just look those up. I'll just list some pokemon i like uh... rockruff, stufful, i'd like fomantis, maybe,as a grass type... in gen 8 i think wooloo, applin and hattena are cool. impidimp too, maybe, since meowth and cubone and MACHOP made it into the first game. And in gen 9 perhaps pawmi, smoliv and fidough. charcadet would be cool and popular enough to make it as a starter i think.

those are pokemon i think could work as partners considering the options we had in RT, but if the series ever come back i think it'd stick to Starters + Riolu. I hope they dont cut Eevee out again though :(

[sincerely-sofie]

How about 36 for the ask game (for your first main series game or first PMD playthrough)

(Referencing this ask game)

36. Do you remember your first Pokémon team? If yes, which one was it?

My first main series game was SoulSilver, and if I remember right, my team was comprised of Petal the Meganium, Fluffy the Flaaffy, CELEBI the Celebi I got from an event, and the Lugia you get to catch at the end of the game! I can't remember any other party members, though.

As for my first PMD playthrough, it was PMD2--- my hero was Kitsune the Skitty and my partner was Deu the Mudkip! I love those guys. I hold them dearly in my heart.

[acti-nerdington]

PMD: Children of the Creator

“To cosmic forms from tangent planes / We end as we began.”

A Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon/Warframe crossover.

-----

What if you woke up in a world in a new body, no memory to your name, six months after everyone says the world already "ended?" A world where the ancient past, the present, and the distant future all exist together at the same time?

That's a question Neesha, a human-turned-Fennekin, has to answer for herself, thrown into a world far beyond the scope of what she could possibly hope to imagine, on the run from a group of Beheeyem for reasons she can't even begin to understand, taking shelter in the small, humble Serene Village under the care of Nuzleaf.

Though she begins to remember her human life in chunks, these memories are less than comforting, and only serve to worry Neesha the more she learns about herself.

To top it off, her new friend, a Chespin named River, seems to know very little about herself as well, but it soon becomes clear that she's far from just an ordinary Chespin.

What starts as an odd friendship turns into a journey to find themselves, one that will lead them on an adventure between worlds, an adventure that defies reality, time, space... And the Void itself.

Our Heroes:

Neesha:

Through the eyes of my peers, there is a glare that radiates.

A confused, admittedly awkward Fennekin. Though she might not be a human anymore, that doesn't mean she's lost any of her tenacity. Once she starts something, when she puts her mind to something, she does her best to steel her resolve and see it through to the end. She'll do whatever she can to make sure she does the right thing, even if it hurts her.

River:

In a world where I feel so small, I can't stop thinking big!

The very definition of look before you leap. A very headstrong, stubborn little Chespin who doesn't really seem to think about what she's doing before she actually does it. Much like Neesha, she has no idea where she comes from! But it hasn't really bothered her much! ...Well, until now, anyway, after a particular school lesson causes her to have a very strange dream. One that might not actually be a dream, but of a memory from whence she was first conceived. Or rather... Created?

Oh, and those metal arms she's got? Well, uhhh Let's just say she doesn't exactly get them by choice.

-----

Why Warframe?: Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon and Warframe are two games that are near and dear to my heart. Both of them impacted me emotionally more than I ever could have imagined, and when I started playing Warframe last year, I never thought it would end up becoming such a huge part of my life, as much as Pokemon was.

The more I played Warframe, the more I began to think of ways to connect it to Pokemon, and it all blended surprisingly well. So many elements of these two completely unrelated, drastically different series and games have in common, and it just kinda rolled from there, really.

Basically I'm a big dork who wanted to pour two of her biggest hyperfixations into a massive passion project lmao

How long will this fic be? I have no idea! I've been working on it for a year up to this point and I just recently crossed 200k words, which far eclipses any other project I've previously worked on. I'm in this for the long haul and I'm excited to carry y'all along this journey if you choose.

[symphony-tv]

quickly threw together another bingo card for tomorrows direct

as you can see there’s a few repeats from my other one because those could be in either direct tbh

also im gonna be so real most of this is me just throwing stuff at the wall because i have no idea what they’d announce this late into the switch’s lifespan 😭

(explanations below the cut)

Obligatory Farming Sim: self-explanatory

Deltarune Chapter 3: i heard some rumour there’s gonna be a “shocking reveal” that isn’t nintendo-related in the direct, which could be anything really, but i feel like this is probably up there for “most out of left field reveals”

FE4 remake: again, self-explanatory

Tomodachi Life 2: PLEEEEEEASE NINTENDO

New Ace Attorney: i don’t know too much about AA but hasn’t it been a bit since a brand-new one came out? there were those remakes but that’s not really a new game

Splatoon 3 Splatfest news: there’s one happening soon so they might throw in some hype trailer thing for it

Sonic news: there’s a racing game coming out soon as well as that Sonic Rumble thing supposedly getting a trailer soon, i’d say this one is pretty likely

Silksong: wouldn’t be a nintendo direct bingo card without this

Netflix randomly coming to switch after years: again, self-explanatory

Surprise DLC for an old game: idk i think it’d be funny if they just randomly announced DLC for like Mario Odyssey or something

Danganronpa news: i was kind of out of ideas by this point honestly 😭 i don’t know what the hell they’d announce unless UDG got ported (extremely unlikely considering the subject matter) but there’s always that 0.1% chance of a new mainline game

PMD Explorers of Sky HD: i’m predicting this direct is gonna be mostly remakes so i wouldn’t be surprised if this gets announced

Metroid Prime 4 news: i honestly think they’re saving this for the April 2nd direct but who knows?

Mario Movie 2 teaser trailer: it’s been long enough since the first movie, so maybe?

Nintendogs: i was trying to think what semi-forgotten nintendo series could sneak in here and tbh a Nintendogs announcement has a solid chance

3rd party JRPG: every direct has one

Persona 3 Reload Portable: this is never happening but it would be so funny if this is how we got a FeMC comeback (i would cry though she deserves to be in the main game)

Among Us Update: idk how alive among us still is but they’ve announced stuff in nintendo directs before

One of the Sims games gets ported: so i dont think the switch could handle TS4 but the anniversary editions of TS1 and TS2 came out not too long ago so they might bring Sims 2 over or something

Surprise Miiverse comeback: could you imagine lmao

Random SSBU update: i ran out of ideas

Pokemon game on NSO: yeah the pokemon presents thing just happened but they might surprise us with the original gameboy games

Something gets put on the App Store: they might announce a mobile game for one of their franchises (think AC Pocket Camp or Mario Run type stuff)

Fortnite trailer: again. i ran out of ideas.

[pixxyofice]

rules: make a poll with five of your all time favorite characters and then tag five people to do the same.

from @eldragon-x

(me trying to limit it to one per game series) uhhhhhhhHHHHHH fuck what am i into

i don't like tagging people so. umm. do it if you want to :3 also wow those images messed up. enjoy

[sugarmasonmearii]

[PMD Day] Explorers Camp Under the Cherry Tree

---

... under one full moon night.

This is my entry for PMD Day, happening at August the 2nd.

Looking back, whenever I do something this grand, (scenic BG, fancy style shading), it's usually in the form of commission. Thought of trying it for the PMD Day Art.

The scenery is partly inspired by Minecraft's Cherry Grove biome, hence the sakura tree acting as the feature piece of the scene. With my PMD AU cast from The Lucid Explorer, and Mountain Luxio, having a good time in the camp, whilst Iago (Floragato) tells stories and folklore of his home region.

Now to those who had followed TLE so far, you might be wondering why is it that Sylvir (Skitty)'s partner a Shinx, and not a Luxio (Mason). Well, that, I cannot answer for now, as this scene is not related to both AUs... This is just a fun little scenic drawing of mine to celebrate PMD Day. --- Team Avant-garde: > ??? (Shinx) > Sylvir (Skitty) > Meredith (Lombre) > Wisteria (Barboach) > Homer (Electrike) Mountaineering Felines from MtLu: > Louise (Luxio) > Iago (Floragato) > Benjamin (Torracat)

---

If you're interested in a commission from me, [do check here] for details. Or you can check my [Carrd art commissions.] Or you can DM me too.

You can support me via [Ko-fi] and/or [Patreon] too!

---

The Lucid Explorer is a Novel-format AU based on my first PMD Explorers of Sky Run. Mountain Luxio is a PMD Explorers AU comic series inspired by the game Celeste.

Pokémon, PMD and Celeste are (c) to their respective owners and franchises.

Art and OCs by me. Do not repost elsewhere, or copy!

[ifbench]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

So, here we are. It's been over three years since the last PMD game, and almost 8 since the last one that wasn't a remake. Where does this leave us? Will we ever get another new PMD game? I don't know. Personally? I have hope that the series isn't dead. That one day, we will get another. But I can't say for certain. But even if this is the end…what a legacy PMD has left us with. Five lovely games, each with their own story to tell, their own joys to be had. Sure, some may be better than others, but they all carry the spirit of PMD within them. Rescue Team is a story about finding yourself in a foreign world, of finding home in the unlikeliest of places, of how even when the rest of the world is against you, you'll always have some people who believe in you. Explorers is a story about overcoming impossible odds, of staying true to oneself, of shining bright at world's end, of how if your legacy is still remembered, in a way, you'll still be alive. Adventure Squad is a story of finding joy in the little things, of how even simple acts of kindness can turn around the hearts of a whole village. Gates to Infinity is a story about holding onto hope even in the most desperate circumstances, of friendships that never truly die, of kindness begetting more kindness, of changing the world for the better, one step at a time. Super is a story of learning who you truly are, what makes you yourself, of how negativity is a necessary part of life, of globe-spanning friendships, of entrusted hope, of how you can do amazing things, of how it's ok to need help. Each one has its own, unique take on PMD. Each one has its own themes, its own joys it wants to share. Each one complements the rest, and all together? They make something truly wonderful. While it's possible that PMD might never return, that attatchement we have to it? That love we have for our partners? That joy we have when we remember our favorite moments from it? That will never truly fade. It might be buried, might be forgotten, but it will never truly die. It will always be there, waiting to return. In a way, PMD will never end. Like Special Episode 5 of Explorers teaches us, if our legacy is remembered, then we're still alive, in a way. Our spirit still shines bright, still affecting others. As long as we continue to cherish PMD, it will never die. I'm crying so hard as I type this all. I love PMD. I love it with all my heart. I think a good way to show why PMD will never truly die is to take a look at the fanworks made for it. There are hundreds, if not thousands of fanworks created about PMD. Comics, fanfics, askblogs, and more, all telling their own stories about PMD. All created because of love for PMD. Silver Resistance. Victory Fire. Hands of Creation. Warped Skies. Quenched Torch. Legends Legacy. Shatter. Daily Life in Pokemon Paradise. Flake-N-Rudy. Askanotslownotking. Free Fiction. The Dreamstone. Places We Call Home. Galaxies Above. On Borrowed Time. Fledglings. Liberators of Fate. Sierra 10. Flowerbeds. Irau's Journal. Psychic Sheep. Zero the Hero. Path of Valor. Even those of us who aren't telling full stories, those of us who make fanart, those of us who make fanmusic and remixes, those of us who just gush about PMD. We're all keeping PMD alive. To everyone who has ever made any sort of PMD fanwork, discussed their love for the series, or even just recommended it to a friend. To anyone who has ever helped keep PMD alive. Thank you. Even if we never get a new PMD game, it will never truly die, as long as we continue to cherish it. Thank you all so much.

I have my own PMD fanworks, if anyone wishes to check them out.

Eternal Shadows, a PMD story taking place post-Super, about a human-turned-Oshawott who wishes to return home.

In Tandem, a hybrid PMD and trainerfic, about a PMD Tropius who wishes to become a trainer in the human world.

Then, Then, and Now, a hybrid Rescue Team and Legends Arceus story, of a protagonist who goes through both.

A Comprehensive Guide to Items, a guide to items in the PMD world, and how they work, written in-universe by the Rescue Team partner.

A Way to Reunite, a Gates to Infinity oneshot, about an alternate epilogue if the Worldcore didn't exist.

Day of Heroes, a oneshot celebrating the four main PMD games. The protagonists and partners of each game celebrate a holiday dedicated to them, together.

I also have a variety of PMD askblogs.

@ask-team-searchlights is an askblog for the cast of Eternal Shadows, and @ask-world-savers-council is an askblog for the cast of Day of Heroes. And @adventuresquadharvest is a new askblog I started today, for giving love for Adventure Squad.

If you decide to check out any of these, I hope you enjoy.

I'm also always available to chat about PMD! I have a bunch of headcanons and worldbuilding about the series that I'd love to talk about more! Feel free to either approach me in DMs, ask me on this blog, or contact me on Discord! My username there is ifbench, same as here.

I hope you've all enjoyed my PMD rambles. Thank you for listening.

[eldragon-x-moved]

should i play a pokemon mystery dungeon game? i only have a switch atm and the only one they have is Rescue Team DX

ive only really played the main series of pokemon so far so i dont know anything about the pmd games but lots of people seem to like them and being a pokemon sounds cool and i miss pokepark

ANON. ANON YES YOU SHOULD PLAY POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON if you like plot driven games because pmd is basically pokemon for story-driven games enjoyers.

I havent played Rescue Team DX buuut as far as I know the story is basically the same as the original Rescue Teams plus it functions better so youre not missing out on this one unless you'd like to see how the old game looks with the 2d pixel style.

Explorers is the fan favorite and deserves it tbh. It has the strongest story which probably has the darkest tone and while you can play Explorers of Darkness or Time, Explorers of Sky has much more mechanics, Dungeons, and storybeats, including Special Episode 5 which is one of my favorite things in the PMD series. However physical copies of Sky are expensive as shit so you might wanna look for a rom or just play Time/Darkness and check out the extra story stuff on youtube. There's whole cutscene compilations of those.

Gates to Infinity is the first 3D PMD title, my personal favorite, and criminally underrated even within the community. I admit the gameplay is kinda bad but it has the best cast of characters and a really moving story about hope and nihilism and the importance of community. It also lets you build your own Pokemon Paradise with shops and fields around your house which is fun and Munna is one of my favorite characters of all time in anything ever please for the love of god give gates to infinity a chance even if you just watch a playthrough if you dont wanna deal with the gameplay i fucking love gates to infinity

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is the final installment before we got the Rescue Team remake. The plot can get kinda messy but its still really enjoyable and has a unique charm and imo the best soundtrack in the series alongside Explorers of Sky. If you get into the series I'd ask you to get to this one last as the stakes get high, theres references to past games, and the ending hits harder when youre familiar with the series (though its not required to understand the story).

[hannahp0calypse]

Reverse Unpopular Opinion meme

Pokemon :3

like a lot of people my age/generation/whatever, pokemon is Pretty Important To Me in terms of its influence on my life, creativity, interests, etc. pokémon ruby is one of the first games i remember really losing myself in, and probably the main reason i ended up growing up into A Gamer. a friend of mine in primary school showed me pokémon romhacks and the tools used for them, and some of the earliest times i poked at anything gamedev related was using those tools.

i'm a fan of when pokémon related stories get into the travelling, the adventure. the fantasy of this world to have the freedom to go out and explore and take risks but know you'll always have something to fall back on. at it's best, pokémon really is about the childlike wonder of discovering just how big the world is and how that innocence and hope is what propels people forward into the future.

not quite a positive statement, but i wish there was more pokémon stuff that went into weirder variants of the setting's core concepts. legends arceus' isekai story is a good example - same with the PMD series, the orre games, hell even pokémon conquest. the pokémon themselves have a broad appeal, with so many different mons that there's something for everyone, and that means there's a lot of space to play in how you use them, where you put them, how the player relates to them, etc.

i have this whole pokémon fan setting in my head for a ttrpg campaign i wanna run someday, about a medieval fantasy war story with pokémon as a major setting element. yeah, i could just come up with my own monsters to catch and use in the setting, but pokémon work as a "common language" so to speak in getting certain ideas and concepts across. that shared language of experience and nostalgia is a good foundation to expand upon.

also i can't make a post about what i like about pokémon without a) recommending the fangame Pokémon Tectonic - it's one of my fave pokémon games i've ever played, and i think if you enjoy the competitive-style teambuilding aspects of the main series or have ever wished the main games were just a bit more challenging you'll enjoy it too. and b) saying Fuck Nintendo. absolute scumbag company. make pokémon public domain Now

[onlyhereforghosttrick]

A bit of a simple question, but is there any piece of media (movie, game, writing, music, etc) you think is underated/more people should know about (or that you just realy recommend). Feel free to answer with more than one if you want to.

I don't know how to determine if something is underrated so uh- prepare for an onslaught of hyperfixations from the past couple years (mostly video games (and even more so DS games as it turns out)).

Ghost Trick

I don't know how to accurately depict how much this one has influenced me. It gave me my love for foreshadowing in twists. And clever gameplay integrated with the story. And flashbacks. And non-linear stories in general. Just one problem: I can't say anything about This game without spoiling just SO much of it. By calling two characters by their accurate name, you can spoil the final twists of the game, so I have to walk a delicate balance I mostly just didn't bother with when recommending the game. Well, this is your push to play it. (It got a remaster last year, which would be the most accessible way to play it, but if you don't mind a bit if illegality or overpricedness, the original release is always an option.)

Professor Layton

One of the less significant interests of mine, it's like a puzzle game mixed with a point and click adventure where you have to solve a bunch of miniature logic, sliding, counting, or other puzzles to progress, ton of fun, would recommend. It's getting its seventh entry soon [despite the alleged 'no further plans for games here in the west' or whatever], and it looks really cool! Might end up checking it out when it releases... sadly, most of the series is relegated to the mobile ports so that's the only place you're really able to find them, aside from their original ds or 3ds games. [keep in mind, I might just be unaware of some obscure ports.]

Ace Attorney

Ace attorney is probably the one the most people will actually know about, this being a visual novel puzzle series where you work out logical contradictions in a courtroom setting to save clients from false convictions. Currently serves as one of the main inspiration for my current biggest project [which I admittedly don't have enough written to link here]. Arguably the easiest to play the full series of thanks to the recent collections coming out, spinoffs included.

The world ends with you

Twewy is one of the most recent inspirations on this list, following an amnesiac teenager through a week-long game of life and death. I haven't played the sequel in a while [and I can't anymore, thanks PS plus], so I don't exactly have enough info left to judge it, but the original is hectic multitasking at its peak. ...on the DS. I don't have final remix, so I can't testify as to its quality, although with how it kind of looks to me like they butchered the original's quirkiness thanks to the lack of dual screens, my recommendation would be to play the original on DS, then watch the cutscenes of A New Day [a story epilogue exclusive to Final Remix that preludes NEO] in a youtube video. Maybe I'm wrong about the butchering though- keep in mind, this opinion comes from a guy who think the ghost trick title screen in the remake was worsened by the addition of music. [mainly because it's not even original music, just the main theme- but that rant can wait for another day.]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

This one. Ho boy this one. The biggest influence in a while when it comes to executing non-linear storytelling and compelling characters. It took a while for me to find it and a bit longer to see the appeal, and boy was it worth it. Chances are if you find this blog, much less this post, you already know about pmd, but if you somehow don't, then allow me to recommend you play one of them, because trust me when I say they're ALL worth a try. [I haven't played super yet and I don't plan to play rescue team so I can't quite testify to those, but explorers and gates from my experience have all been pretty good with gameplay and excellent with story.]

Pokemon Adventures

Yes, another pokemon recommendation. No, I swear this is different. There's a chance you've at least heard of this without knowing the name. This being the manga where all the weirdly dark stuff happens, right? You know, like 6 of the unovan gym leaders being CRUCIFIED? [No, really.] While this manga is practically infamous for its content, as you might now, but I swear it's worth a read for the actual character it has, which is usually better than the games themselves at storytelling. And honestly, I'm glad ScarVi learned what made a good story, that being having actual characters involved rather than cardboard cutouts. ...Just a shame the game is tripping over its own feet half the time.

Ultrakill

This is a fun one, and I'm surprised not too many people know about it- basically, Ultrakill is a Devil May Cry-inspired First Person Shooter, where you play as a blood-fueled robot blasting his way through hell, where the whole game is designed to be as fast-paced as possible. If that sounds remotely interesting to you, I'd highly recommend you give it a try.

Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom hearts, yes, the infamous crossover between disney and final fantasy. Some might argue this doesn't count as underrated, but 1. Did you hear me or not? I said I didn't know how to qualify if something is underrated, so... and 2. I feel like people really only know that Kingdom hearts has a weirdly told story and that very few people actually KNOW that story. So yeah, I'd recommend giving the story a chance if you can- just make sure to pay attention to DDD specifically, because A LOT of people get tripped up there. Oh, and for the mobile games [which yes they are important why do you think this series got the reputation it did], the official source isn't great- watch a fandub instead.

Jhariah

A pretty indie artist I listen to sometimes, great for if your prefered type of music is 'the bpm is a higher number than there are atoms in the known universe'. Some personal favorites of mine are Fire4Fun, Risk! Risk! Risk!, and Re:Concerns.

Rhythm Heaven

Rhythm heaven is one of the more obscure games on this list, but it's a good one- basically just a collection of rhythm minigames without any throughline whatsoever, and it's a ton of fun- but also REALLY HARD. Its last entry was Megamix on the 3DS, but it had entries on the DS, GBA, and Wii. Megamix was more a 'best of' compilation for the series to that point, so if you can only get one of them, get Megamix- even if it is by FAR the hardest to get [legitemately] due to the lack of physical releases in most regions.

Sorry this took so long to get done! Hope the answer is satisfactory.

[scribz-ag24]

For the PMD asks:

3. Which final boss and/or final dungeon do you like the most (whether from a narrative or gameplay perspective)?

9. Are there any soundtracks you think are underrated or overlooked, or are there unused tracks you wish were in the game?

12. If you could change one thing about your favourite game(s), what would it be?

3. Hmmm, the one I'm most attached too is probably Primal Dialga in se5, although it feels a bit like cheating bc it's an expansion of the main story, so it kinda builds off the story of the main game + the great story in se5 xD. However, despite not having played gates, I think the Bittercold is the best "villain" of the series, I think it works amazingly as a final boss for that story (although Black Matter's final phase song is MWAH)

9. I don't really have any obscure favourites, but I think Aegis Cave gets a bit too much hate bc of the dungeon it's attached to, it's a certified bop imo. I do think gates and super's ost are bound to be a bit underrated if only bc of the drop of popularity of those games compared to the DS entries.

12. This is pretty similar to what you answered i think, bc I think the biggest flaw in explorers is the clunky dialogue it has sometimes, especially with partner repeating your name again and again, which is made worse by large amount of flashbacks.

Also, in Super Mystery Dungeon i would change the pacing of the second half/redistribute a bit the pertinent information for the final twist, bc, as it is, it takes away a lot of the feeling of the ending by having most of it consist in exposition of why the twist is happening. The ending still hits hard, don't get me wrong, and i get the sudden shock is part of what intends to make you feel overwhelmed and powerless, but it makes the ending feel a bit more "rational" than emotional.

[whentheleahvesfall]

1 and 10 for the ask game?

Have I played all of the PMD games?

I have not and therefore I’m not actually really a true PMD fan, I guess I’m gonna die-

For real though haha, the ones I have beaten are Rescue Team DX and Super, which was my introduction to the series after having watched a playthrough of Gates on YouTube. I do have a emulator copy of Sky which I hope to eventually get around to playing as well as a digital copy of Gates I bought just before the 3DS eShop got shut down, so hopefully I’ll get the time to eventually play them whenever I get the chance.

Hopefully soon.

Very hopefully soon.

Definitely hopefully and maybe very well truly soon.

*looks at backlog of games*

…Ah shit.

Opinion on Nuzleaf’s character? Also were you surprised by that twist?

Yeaaaaaaahhh, Leaf Dad my beloved! I love Nuzleaf’s character in Super and eventually beginning to warp into beating Dark Matter just to love his surrogate child is probably one of the sweetest things a twist antagonist has out of any of the PMD games. He reminds me a lot of Gengar and Dusknoir who become both unlikeable in the main story but gradually both attached to the relationships of redeeming themselves to the ones they love.

For Gengar, his relationship with Gardevoir as her former partner makes his warped heart finally gain rest as he proves he has love inside of him even after making Hero suffer through absolutely horrible conditions based on nothing than pure conjecture. It’s his love that breaks the curse placed on him and that’s his redemption.

For Dusknoir, him betraying Hero and Partner and the player realising that Grovyle was a main antagonist allowed I feel headcanons to grow about what came after in SE5 and then PSMD which canonically comes after all three other mainline games (I think?) in the series. Dusknoir realising that he has something to fight for makes his love for Grovyle more apparent after their talk, and him even being willing to fight for an unlikely future just to see a sunrise means to me at least he grew into the person who would eventually care for Hero were they ever to reunite.

Nuzleaf’s plot twist definitely hurt when I saw it, as for Hero, the first Pokémon they met is also the very one who supposedly “wiped all their memories” and him going as far to turn them to stone made me go “holy shit” and sit there for a minute to process what happened. After you realise that he’s been nothing but a pawn for Dark Matter the entire time, I feel once he eventually reconciles with Hero and sacrifices himself to attempt to defeat Dark Matter means he would really end up showing love for his child much in the same way Carracosta did. And I really, really want to imagine during when Partner leaves, that Nuzleaf pours his heart and soul into looking after his grieving child.

Hero’s lost everything.

A purpose in the world, as they already fought Dark Matter. Their lifelong friend, one they knew in TWO different eras, and one which they fought alongside as their shared story. Their will to see into the future (hence my PSMD fanfic title 😂).

And rather than kidnapping Mew to reunite themselves with Partner before eventually connecting with them once you reach Master/Grandmaster rank in the game, I think he just wants to do nothing more than to support his lost child for as long as it takes.

Giving everything he has just to make his child happy again. To smile again.

I never really liked the epilogue depiction of his character (the cream gravy line makes me laugh though), but the welcome home line and the found family trope always makes his bond feel really special and hopefully if I can eventually get around to doing it, I definitely want to write a chapter or a one-shot focused squarely on just those two.

Then it can just as much become the Hero’s main story after the Partner had their turn. :)

Waffling aside, thank you so much for the ask!

[sincerely-sofie]

Do songs that you listen often to ever remind you of characters or events from TPiaG or other stories you've written? It happens to me a lot with stuff from a story with OCs I've been helping my best friend make for years now.

Anyways, I'm asking about it because a song from my playlist reminded me a lot of Twig when I heard it while driving the other day. I had heard the song a million times before, but when I was thinking about the lyrics more they seemed to perfectly fit her internal conflict. The song was Blurt by Mega Mango if you want to take a listen.

The song is definitely just about dealing with mental health issues in general, but my PMD brainrot made it so that this was all I could think about after my epiphany. On that note, I want to offer you a congratulations for writing characters so well that they takes over my brain from time to time. I greatly appreciate it. :D

First up: Thanks so much for your kind words! Second: Oh my goodness. My friend, you are opening up Pandora's Box. 

TPiaG doesn't have as many songs associated with it as my other projects because it hasn't been in development for several years— however, a vital part of my story development process is listening to music and imagining all the animatics of the characters and storyline that I want to make set to them. I do this for every project that sufficiently resonates with the blorbo frequency in my brain, and TPiaG is no exception! 

In terms of songs that embody specific events but aren't connected to a single character, I regularly listen to “Turn the Lights off” by Tally Hall and imagine a sort of extended theme song animation for if TPiaG were an animated series. There's so many lines that mention concepts important to the story!

Another animatic song, this one set in the Dark Future when Twig was human and starting her and Grovyle's quest to save the world, is "Running Out Of Time" by Lin-Manuel Miranda--- specifically the stretch spanning at roughly 1:10 to the end of the song. I have a very vivid image of Twig repeatedly shouting at Grovyle that they need to abscond ASAP as he frantically gathers supplies that spilled out of his bag while they're being pursued by the sableye, and then of Dusknoir being dismissed by a ferryman as he's interrogating him on which way they went.

I also still listen to “Let's Get This Over With” by They Might be Giants and imagine the rest of that one unfinished animatic I posted forever ago. That song isn't as blatantly connected to the events of the game, but there's a few anchor points in the lyrics I really enjoy. 

As for individual characters and songs I associate with them, here’s a selection with links to Spotify for easy listening!

Twig:

"Hey, Doctor Doctor" by Milk in the Microwave

"Monster" by Half Moon Run

"Smile" by Ukuletea

"Feelings Are Fatal" by mxmtoon

... And now, "Blurt" by Mega Mango as well!

Ark:

"Problems" by Mother Mother 

"Rule #21- Momento Mori" by Fish in a Birdcage

"What You Know" by Two Door Cinema Club

Kip:

"I'm Not Fine" by Blixemi

"Don't Throw Out My Legos" by AJR

"Just Take My Wallet" by Jack Stauber’s Micropop

Grovyle:

"The Villain I Appear to Be" covered by Annapantsu

"Surface Pressure" covered by Annapantsu

(I don't know why both of these songs are specifically the versions sung by Annapantsu. Apparently she's Grovyle-coded in my head.)

Celebi:

(Insert any bubblegum pop or kawaii future bass song of your choice here.)

(Celebi has somehow evaded my ability to assign her songs. I’ll get her someday.)

Dusknoir: 

"I'll Be Good" by Jaymes Young

"Never Love an Anchor" by The Crane Wives

"I Was Me" by Imagine Dragons

Twig's Aunt:

"Family Jewels" by Marina and the Diamonds

"In Fact (Demo Version)" By Gregory and the Hawk

"Ain't It Fun" by Paramore

Twig's Mother:

"Brother" by Madds Buckley

And for those who'd enjoy some Travailshipping songs...

"You Are The Moon" by The Hush Sound

"Dark Clay" by Levi Weaver

"When the Day Met the Night" by Panic! at the Disco

"Can I Have the Day With You" by Sam Ock

"Tongues & Teeth" by The Crane Wives