#remember that if you need to bribe me for one of my Pokemon ;)

[in-tua-deep]

Going through ur master list of AUs and celebi incident? For gym leader AU? Please tell me more

okay i definitely tried to asnwer this the day it was asked and then my response was lost in a tragic incident and i lost all motivation but TAKE TWO

so what happened was this: the Umbrella Academy lived pretty isolated in the pokemon au. Like think big spooky manor on the edge of a smallish town, not far away from some really deep and fairly spooky woods populated by all sorts of pokemon. 

Anyway, when the kids were 10 they obviously were like “fucking finally, we can leave and go on our pokemon journey and escape” or at least were prepared to Go Forth and Make Father Proud or whatever. Except Reggie was like “yeah, no y’all aren’t leaving just yet”

To which Five, of course, rebelled pretty spectacularly and threatened to run away

“You’ll come crawling back within a day.” Reginald dismisses, because Five doesn’t have a pokemon and you pretty much have to travel through woods crawling with pokemon and trainers in order to get out of town.

Five says “oh? bet” and runs away anyway, deep into the woods

Does Five run into pokemon? Yeah, of course he does. However, he can also teleport and is a feral child who is ABSOLUTELY willing to wrestle a zigzagoon with his bare hands

and Five camps out in the woods with 0 supplies and 0 preparation and look, pokemon are pretty intelligent, right? They can usually tell the difference between a Child and an Adult of a species. Five is also intelligent, and so he absolutely follows the poochyena to the berry bushes which are edible, and gets himself a good meal out of it. 

Five is stubborn, and determined, and furious, and he’s going to live in the fucking woods if that’s what it takes because to go back is to admit defeat and that is not an option

So he does live in the woods. The pokemon adapt to him being around. He bunks down with bidoof or sleeps in the trees in nests of taillow and has an ongoing rivalry with the family or purrloin over who can find the best berry bushes

and then he meets celebi

Five is smart, but he’s young and he hasn’t exactly been deep diving into myths and legends in what little spare time he has. He doesn’t know about the mythos surrounding celebi, all he knows is this weird little onion fairy is friendly and lives to play tag - so they do. Five teleports around the woods and hides and jumps out and laughs when he manages to tag the little creature

and one day Five and Celebi are playing, and they get ‘home’ and find... nothing. The family of purrloin are gone, the pikipek who plucked twigs out of Five’s hair in the evening has vanished, the pidgey nest is in pieces

and then they hear voices, and Celebi looks at Five and grabs his hand right before they could be discovered and -

They’re in the woods again. Well, they is a strong word. Five opens his eyes, and Celebi is gone. It’s just the woods. Curious and wary faces poke out of the trees and the bushes, but none that he recognizes. A family of ratata are in the hollow that serve as the purrloin’s home. The trees aren’t arranged right. The paths aren’t the same. The woods look different and Five... panicks just a little bit okay

So he runs through the woods and everything looks familiar and also different, he can spot the craggy rocks where the pidove like the make their nests, but the berry bushes aren’t where they should be. The canyon is only half as deep as it should be, and the graveyard of bikes stolen from various trainers is absent

Five does the only thing he thinks he can do: he goes home

Which would be much more significant if there was a home to go to. Five gets to where he’s absolutely sure his village should be, where the manor should be, where his siblings live, and just. Keep finding more woods. He figured he must have taken a wrong turn at the caves, but when he backtracks it’s where it’s supposed to be. He’s in the right location, but the wrong... time

Celebi did this, he is sure of it, and so that’s who he has to find

Except Celebi is nowhere to be found, and Five looks. He trecks through the forest for miles every day, plucking berries from bushes with nimble fingers and curling up in nests of moss at night. The pokemon of this time aren’t especially wary of him and indeed often come chittering up to sniff him and ask him to play. Five wonders if they’ve ever even seen a human before.

(Honestly it seems half the pokemon have decided he’s a weird variation of abra or ralts? demonstrating his teleportation makes one concerned ursaring scoop him up and leave him at the feet of a gardevoir with grunts of diapproval but Five is a strong independent young human who doesn’t need pokemon parents)

Years pass, and Five learns the ebb and flow of the woods even more in depth than he did before. He makes friends, the various pokemon running around and helping him look for Celebi but who also tempt him into playing with them and helping them and just living

(sometimes, Five wonders why he’s even trying to get back. he wonders why when he’s curled up and soft and safe, when he knows in the morning that he’s going to go to the river to play. then he remembers his siblings, who are still stuck with Reggie as far as he knows)

He grows up in the woods with pokemon as parents and siblings, grows taller and older and is very good at mimicry. He hoots softly to the pidgey and barks with the growlithe and dances with the hoppip, learning a million different languages as he runs recklessly between the trees racing electrike to the lake with laughter on his lips

and then he finds Celebi again, on an unremarkable day when he’s challenged quilava to a game of hide and seek tag

and Celebi extends their hands to him

“I haven’t said goodbye.” Five protests, but Celebi extends they hands again and Five knows that if he leaves now he might not ever find the little creature again

(He thinks of his siblings and takes a deep breath and reaches out and -)

He’s back in the woods again. Alone again.

(He looks down at his hands, and startles, because they aren’t his hands. They’re too young, caked in dirt but without the calluses he’s gained over the years.)

He runs, he runs back to his village and almost bowls over a drainer on his desparate sprint. Even the sight of a person is so strange that it almost halts Five in his tracks, but instead he sprint until he’s standing in front of a sight he hasn’t seen in years

He’s at the manor. But it’s different still. The lawn is in minor disrepair, which isn’t that much but it’s still wildly different from Reginald’s exacting standards of perfection. Maybe the old man let things go looking for Five? Did Five’s absence affect things so much?

He hears arguing, and without even thinking about it he jumps and suddenly he’s in front of - a bunch of strangers?

“Five?” One of them says with a voice that wobbles, and Five immediately backs up.

“Who are you?” Five asks, but he’s pretty sure he already knows. There are six people here, after all, all who look hauntingly like the siblings he left behind if they’d been allowed to grow up in his memory.

“Five, Five it’s us. What happened to you?”

“No.” Five denies, “No. I’m back. This isn’t right. This is wrong.”

That’s how the siblings end up having to deal with a physically eleven year old Five crashing Reginald’s funeral or whatever looking like he’s been living in the woods for months or maybe years? Five tells them he’s older than 11, that he lived in the woods for years but doesn’t know what Celebi did to him. At first he wants to go hunt Celebi down again and demand he be taken back to where he should be, but Vanya stops him stating that they lost him years ago and they need him to stay now

So they get the fun honor of having to raise a half-feral pre-teen who hasn’t really had human contact since he was 10 and who seems more comfortable with pokemon than he does with people. Most of the fam are well on their way to setting up gyms/already being gym leaders/working their way up and so Five ends up as the dragon gym leader when he’s physically 13-years-old

His siblings are all like “haha yeah we’re all the same age I think? unclear” and when people point at five they’re just like “haha yeah celebi time travel bullshit is the worst amiright” and no one has the balls to challenge them on it

(Five didn’t become a gym leader at physically 11 because he had to be taught to reintegrate into society. He still naps in piles with his pokemon and has to be bribed into using a bed/sleeping indoors but he actually speaks to trainers instead of dropping from the ceiling and ambushing them for gym battles so improvement)

[vintagehedgehogdragon]

Hiking with the Obey Me characters

Warning: Angst, Fluff, GN/MC, spoilers? Lesson 1-2. 

You’re going on hiking date with the brothers and the side characters and you notice you somehow manage to get lost. It turns out they had the map upside down the whole time. (Assume no D.D.D service. Luke is strictly plutonic) 

Lucifer 

First off this probably wouldn’t actually happen.

Maybe the map was cursed by one of the brothers, not realizing you were going on this hike too. The map would read upside down no matter what way you held it. 

He’d be pissed, once you both realized you were lost. Instant demon mode.

He watched the fear in your eyes when he yelled while he crumpled the map and threw it as hard as he could. His pride is shattered, he doesn’t get lost, and he sure as hell doesn’t make mistakes. 

Finds out who cursed the map and punishes them when you two get home.

In the mean time wraps his wings around you while he pulls you in for a hug, comforting you while telling you he’s going to find a way out.

Holds you tight while he flies above the tree line to find your way back.

Once you get back you never speak of this moment again.

Mammon 

He really didn’t mean to, He’s not much of a hiker.

Once you both realize something isn’t right, you ask him if you can see the map.

“Oh Mams, honey. The map is upside down” you say as you cover your mouth trying not to laugh. He sees and instantly goes into demon form. 

He’s a blushing mess “Oy, stupid human. Don’t be laughing at me” 

You’re going to need to comfort him, hold him tight tell him you aren’t mad

Ask him to fly with you above the tree line, so you can see where you are and if you can find any landmarks. 

Asks that you not tell his brother’s what happened. 

Levi 

Good luck getting him to go on a hike, but lets say you went camping with the brothers and decided to take your boyfriend on a romantic hike

“Why would you want to take a gross otaku like me on a romantic hike?”

Takes a lot of convincing, maybe bribe him with a Devildom version of Pokemon go and he will cave.

You ask him to hold the map and give directions. 

You realize after about 20 minutes that the path has disappeared and nothing looks familiar. 

You ask him if you can see the map, as he hands it to you you notice that it’s upside down. You take it out of his hands flip it over and give it back to him. 

He’s upset, hides his face and is sobbing. After you calm him down he thinks “Hey this is just like this anime ‘HELP MY *PARTNER* AND I ARE LOST IN THE WOODS BECAUSE I HELD THE MAP UPSIDE DOWN” 

He thinks about what they did in the show and does exactly that to get you guys back. 

He won’t leave his room again for a while. Next time use a VR set.

Satan 

Another one where this probably wouldn’t happen. 

Again probably someone cursed the map or he got distracted by a cat. 

Once it’s pointed out that the map is upside down he nearly loses it. 

You put your hand on his arm and tell him to calm down and that you two would figure it out.

Once he goes back to his human form he stops and thinks about the next steps you two were going to take.

He gets you back safely and you now have a funny story between the two of you. 

He won’t say but he enjoyed problem solving with you. 

Asmo 

This only happens because he’s too busy taking pictures to post on Devilgram to notice that the map is upside down.

He starts complaining that his feet hurt and needs a break.

“Hey Asmo, have you been holding the map like that the whole hike?” You ask

“Yes, Why” “because it’s upside down!”

Cue flustered and angry Asmo. 

He probably won’t want to carry you while he flies so he goes up on his own and tries to find the way. Ends up asking you to use your pact to get Lucifer so you could get out of there

Beel 

Sweet baby accidentally dropped the map and picked it, he got distracted by his snacks to realize the map was upside down 

When you both realize it he sees that your slightly upset (not at him though at the situation) he’s upset too. Holds you tight and calms you down.

He will either carry you back and uses his sense of smell to get you home, or he will fly you back.

Belphie

Good luck getting him to hike

If you do he doesn’t hold the map upside down, he dropped the map and was just saying random directions as you went

You find out when he stops on the path so he could nap. Now you’re lost in the woods and your boyfriend is asleep. 

You check your D.D.D and see that you have no service. 

You use your pact to contact Beel to help get you two back

Diavolo 

Innocent mistake, he really tried his best.

He probably has never had to read a map without Barbatos being around.

He wanted this date to be special, and it defiantly was.

When you ask to look at the map, you tell him politely that the map is upside down.

He’s embarrassed but manages to fix it and get you back to the Castle.

He probably teleports you back to the castle or flies you back himself.

You weren’t going to tell anyone but Barbatos asked you about it when you walked in the door

Barbatos

He’s not even sure how this one happened

He just doesn’t make mistakes like this.

He looks into the future and fiddles with timelines so you don’t end up getting lost and make your way back to the castle.

You wake up to various treats and tea outside of your room at the castle the next morning as an apology.

Simeon 

He’s a mess when he realizes it.

He’s the one to admit it “Uhh Y/N I have some bad news. I’m really sorry but it appears I’ve been hold the map upside down”

He’s going to bend over backward just to show you how sorry he is.

He doesn’t give you the chance to be upset before he’s trying to fix things.

Probably ends up flying you back as well. 

Solomon (and plutonic Luke)

Solomon suggested that you go for a hike together

Luke overheard and asked if he could join you, of course you said yes. (It meant you didn’t have to eat any of the snacks Solomon packed)

After a while Luke was starting to get tired so Solomon offered to give him a piggy back ride

Luke noticed right away

“Solomon what are you doing? The map is upside down” Luke is crying hard you are upset because Luke is upset. 

He tries to remember a spell while you calm Luke down offering him some water while you both munch on some of the baked goods Luke made.

Solomon finds a way to get you all back

Simeon puts him on dish duty for the next 2 weeks as punishment. 

[professor-vanad]

Well, for specific reasons, a lot of it is that since the sanctuary got upgraded, we just have more resources to do stuff in general.

But it's also since we're in a very rural farming location in jhoto, lot of the pokemon here cant get particularly specialized attention locally, and old dude, welll....

Honestly it doesn't seem fair that a kind of pokemon that are usually supposed to be functionally immortal if cared for properly, is probably going to die of old age by the time they're 30, mid 30s if they're lucky.

So if there's any reasonable fixes to improve that life span, or any quality of life improvements in general that can be done before then, it's best to explore those opportunities now.

Or barring that, it's still worthwhile to make sure some in depth records are made of him for the public to be able to have some added insight on the process and history for how porygon were originally made while the old guy's still fit enough to travel around.

As for food and care I'll make you a more in depth guide soon, but just in case, you should make sure you can get some chansey eggs, since I know they can get pretty pricey in general, and might be especially hard to find in some regions.

And if its the case for you, just make sure to save the receipt. Old dudes chansey eggs are covered under our funding as a unique dietary supplement, and if you send me a receipt I can forward it, and the jhoto government types will refund you the money.

I started him on those things when I saw a theory that unfertilized chansey eggs (once converted to energy similarly to how a pokeball normally works????) were used as one of the primary raw materials for giving porygon physical forms and normal functions like being able to eat or reproduce in the wild.

Which piqued my interest, since it would make sense to have extra steps like that involved, or else every 12 year old and their grandma would be making their own versions of porygon in their computers.

But you can't trust everything you read on the internet, so I asked the employees at the local pokemon center if it was a good idea to feed them that, and they said chansey eggs were an "eggcellent" (yes, they did include the pun) option for elderly pokemon, so I basically shrugged and swapped him from his old food to eggs as his main meal, and he improved a whole bunch with like energy and being able to remember things, so I've kept him with the eggs as his main food source since.

I've seen some say that porygon dont actually need to eat though? But I dont know how much I can trust that, since old guy eats 3 times a day and doesn't go into computers, so I guess can't "eat electricity?" Or however that works? So I'd just stick with his schedule since it seems to work for him.

One egg should be enough for a weekend, but I'd get 2 just in case they need to stay longer.

Just scramble it, cook it, and split it up into 4 peices for one serving in the morning and one in the evening for porygon. Along with any sweet berry, some leafy greens, or regular pokemon kibble to go along with it, or for their lunch when they dont have the eggs.

As for dunsparse, they'll eat literally anything, but they're gonna be "on vacation" so just give them a serving of whatever it is you're eating so they can feel fancy and accomplished. Especially if its something spicy or with noodles or both.

But really they're just going to want some of whatever it is you're having, and I've yet to see them not be able to stomach something, so I'd say just roll with it and let them follow their usual "vacation at the neighbors farm/the school/parents house in alola" protocol and give them a little bowl of whatever you're having.

Old guy's only going to want to eat what your having though if its pink or they can recognize it as candy or ice cream. So you might want to get some small, pink, safe for pokemon candy for treats/bribes just in case.

Keep in mind they're both mini pokemon so they'll probably eat less food than you're expecting. Neither of them overeat though, so you can err on feeding them too much instead of too little since they'll stop when they're done.

Ok that was more than a bit of info on how to look after them, but I'll still give some more info soon.

Main thing is to get the chansey eggs before the visit since neither of them have any particular medications or anything.

Thanks for getting back to me! All that info on diet is very useful, thank you! I have made a note of it so please send on whatever additional info is necessary in your own time.

I’ve been thinking over your Porygon’s condition a lot since we last spoke. I’m curious, have you been in contact with Silph Co. at all? If not, I’m happy to do so on your behalf. At the very least, they are the best place to start looking for some more information on previous iterations of Porygon.

Now, while there’s not many assertions I can make without seeing the Old Man myself, I am... entertaining the possibility that, considering the likelihood that he is a beta version of Porygon rather than simply an older model, fixing the life-span issue may necessitate a ground up re-building of a lot of his core programming. I can’t say for sure what effect that will have on his personality and memory. This is not a guarantee or even a necessity, it’s just think you should be prepared to think about the possibility. He’s an exceptional case.

Regardless of any of that, it is definitely worthwhile to make a record of him. It would undoubtedly aid in our knowledge of how Porygon work. That theory about Chansey eggs is one I’ve hearing in passing too but if there’s evidence that they can improve Porygon quality of life, I would be very interested in knowing more about it.

[alolanrain]

Ash was often cast out by his teachers during Elementary and Middle school for being “ to rowdy, loud, and disrupting the class as a whole “ and “ unable to keep up with the class learning pace “ when he had a severe case of ADHD, it wasn’t until being shown about the Pokemon School by Mallow did Ash really want to get back into learning.

But what Ash didn’t know was that Principal Oak had access to almost all his records, that means his school records and his trainer records.

 his school records if printed out was a good size stack because most of it was nasty comments his past teachers had about him and there was a good chunk that came from teachers that he never had. His trainer records quadruple in size, making the other stack look like a few flimsy sheets of paper to the monument that was the accomplishments that he had acquired over the past few years. 

Thankfully Principal Oak had taken his time going through both stacks, highlighting what he himself think are key details, and scanning it into two PDF’s and adding the video links also. adding it to an email he CC’d the teachers that cold hold one more student in their class at such a short moment. it was only five teachers, and Professor Kukui was one of them. 

“ Hello all, I would like to state that I am sincerely sorry for reaching you all so late into the night, but I've got a particular student wanting to join our school and you five are my only teachers that have a spot available. in these links are the students School records, notes, and comments from past teachers and their Trainer records - note that I had highlighted details that I myself had thought were important in both documents but feel free to send me any notice or concerns about said student and it would be much appreciated if you all talked about what classroom would be the right one for them so that we can reconvene tomorrow. Sincerely, Principal Oak. “ 

Kukui was working on other scientific paperwork when he got the email, he had a feeling that he already knew who the trainer was but nonetheless he opened the email and the two docs on separate tabs. immediately he was taken back at how many notes and teacher comments from the first document that were all underlined in yellow highlighter. 

“ Ash had somehow had bribe the visiting Lucario and Riolu from interacting with his other classmates, and when confronted about this had denied it until going into a crying fit and brought to the Principals office where we called his mother and viewed the tapes. “ 

the first comment had left something incredibly sour in Kukui’s chest that curled between his ribs, his mind supplied that Ash hadn’t gone into a tantrum but actually pushed to the point of crying by a teacher. the comment didn’t even say if Ash had actually bribed the Lucario and Riolus to him or not. 

scrolling down the pages some he stopped at another comments. 

“ Ash couldn’t sit still during assigned reading time and when faced openly about it he said that he ‘ couldn't consintrate on his book because it was hard for him ‘ he was promptly sent to the Principal’s office and would be retrieved once reading time was over. “ 

now Kukui could understand that sightly, if one of his students acted antsy then it would slowly spread about to the rest. But asking him openly in front fo everyone else in the classroom instead of pulling to him to the side? that was just a dick move right there. 

he scrolled down more until he got to the section of his last year of Middle School. 

“ Ash is incredibly lazy and doesn’t work during most of the class hours. he would approach my after school asking for help with last weeks homework, I asked if his mother helps him. he replied that she’s been busy with her work at the deli shop. I asked about his father and he mumbled something that I had to tell him to repeat it louder, maybe if Ash had a father figure in his life he could actually get some school work done. “ 

Kukui couldn’t believe what he was reading on his computer screen, how can these people be teachers!? you don’t just say that to one of your students that was actively coming after school hours for help. The disgust was slowly started to thicken inside him, but he ignored the document for the email conversation that was happening instead. 

“ I personally don’t want a slacker in my class, all these notes from these teacher must be true! “ ah, good old Amy. Kukui is all for productivity but he know’s that if a student has a bad day, their going to be slower than normal - or in Kiawe’s case, faster and sloppier. 

“ You have a point Amy, but a lot of the comments accusing Ash never stated if they were right or wrong. so you just can’t go assuming that their all right. “ Victor was always apart of the neutral spot, his place next to Kukui since both of them had experienced bad teachers personally and actually worked with them. 

“ Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt, it say’s that he stopped going to school over 6 years ago, Ash probably wasn’t mentally prepared for school and Kanto does grade harder than we do. this might be really good for him! “ Kukui couldn’t help but figure out who his hackles rose at Petunia’s words. it maybe because Kukui had traveled Alola and Kanto himself, and he didn’t go to collage or any kind of further studies for a while after he got back from Kanto. 

he didn’t bother with a reply because he hasn’t seen the other PDF and so he couldn’t make a full judgment, and he knows Jackson won’t answer until morning because that’s just the type of person he is. 

looking over to the other screen he started from the yellow box surrounding the basic info of the trainer, only to stop and squint at his big screen. 

“ Name: Ashton Ketchum. Class: Pokemon Trainer. Starting Age: 10 - Current Age: 17. Titles: Orange Island Champion; secondary Champion to Kanto and Johto’s Champion Lance, reserving spot for Frontier Brain - though unlikely. Starter Pokemon: Pikachu {through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos}. Relatives: Delia Ketchum [Mother, Alive], -Unknown Father-, Kanto Champion Red Ketchum [Older Brother, Deceased], Kanto and Johto Champion Lance Wataru [Uncle, Alive]. Doctor Notes: has a severe case of ADHD and has quite the larger appetite for a boy his age and size. “ 

Kukui ha heard about Orange Islands and Secondary Champion during passing, but he never knew it was an actual thing. but he miraculously passed that information over to focus more on the Frontier Brain title, he knows from passing boring students that come from Sinnoh that the Battle Frontier doesn’t hold a spot for a person that was undecided - but apparently for Ash they did. 

getting over his initial shock he was hit by a different wave of emotion when he read through the relative section. He had personally met Delia, she was such a sweet woman during their short meeting and he he couldn’t help remember their last name for some reason. 

this kid - or young adult now - has been dragged through the mud as a young child by his teachers, doesn’t know who his father is and his brother is dead. pursing his lip’s he leaned back into his chair, Kukui pulled his glasses off to lightly chuck them onto the cluttered desk, his hands coming up to press the palms of his hands into his eyes. 

he was honestly fighting himself. 

Kukui had a good reputation with the kids he taught and watched graduate from the Pokemon School, but this year he noticed that Principal Oak had given him... he really shouldn’t call them special kids and those weren’t the right words in any way. 

Lillie comes from a small family, but a family with privilege and wealth, her mother sends over donations for the school to do big projects and that also help pay for any big field trips that they have. Lana’s father is one - if not - the best fishermen in Alola, he helps out the other Scientist if their work is surrounding marine Pokemon and they pay him a very big check every time he brings them the Pokemon on their list. Kiawe’s farm gives a bunch of free food for the kids that usually can’t bring their own lunch and is one of the most sought out brand for certain foods on all four Islands. Sophocles is the younger cousin of Molayne, and is a growing mastermind at technology. Mallow’s father runs one of the best restaurants in Alola and had been featured on many TV shows and some that even went international. 

but unlike them who were placed in his class for one reason or another by Principal Oak, none of his students have the same vibe like Ash. just being in the same room as the young adult Kukui felt like all the colors around him had turned more vibrant, more colorful in general. and watching him practically sink up with Kiawe during the battle between those three team skull kids was amazing, he spoke the commands to Pikachu in such a way that you just imidieatly know that he had been doing this for some time. and from how he interacted with Mallow, they acted like they already knew each other for quite sometime even though they haven't known each other for probably more than two hours. 

but the question rises, where would he stay? The empty loft sitting in his house collecting dust pushed forward in his brain and he knows for a fact that the other teachers wouldn’t give one of their rooms up in their house to a complete stranger. so it was perfectly clear to Kukui. 

ignoring the conversation still going on between the other three teachers he types out his answer to the Principal. 

“ Give him to me, I have a loft in my house since he’s going to need a place to stay and he had already met all of my students. “ he leaned back after he sent the message, chewing on his bottom lip as his mind flashed through the basic paragraph, he should start searching what could help ADHD people learn better. 

[sachinighte]

Tagged by the wonderful @uintuva, here you go darling <3

AO3 name: Memories_of_the_Shadows

Fandoms: Naruto, One Piece, Sailor Moon, Dragon Age, Harry Potter, MCU, Hannibal, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Stargate, Bleach, YYH, Inuyasha, Ken Akamatsu universe, FFXV, Hellsing, Underworld, BTVS, RWBY, Teen Wolf, YOI!, Voltron, BNHA, Pokemon (these are in no particular order and I tend to vacillate between them at random times. More will almost certainly pop up and I’m positive I forgot a few)

Number of fics: 80 (published)

1. Fic I spent the most time on: And Now I See The Sunrise: my Isaribi/Hinata sentinel/guide fic which I adore

2. Fic I spent the least time on: oh, god, I’ve been writing for years and I used to specialize in drabbles. I have no idea but it was probably one of my shorter ones

3. Longest fic: Philomel’s Lullaby: which is abandoned and terrible but still counts I guess

4. Shortest fic: Mikata: because I’m not going to count my terrible teenage poetry

5. Most hits: The Apple Now Is Sweet: you heathens. (Link is NSFW, click at your risk)

6. Most kudos: Don’t Ask Why It Works, It Just Does: which, fair, I’m also pretty proud of that one

7. Most comment threads: Again, it’s Don’t Ask Why It Works, It Just Does

8. Favourite fic I wrote: I have to choose!? Agggh, idk, probably Alive and Burning Brighter (my rule 63!Tony Stark), or And Till They’ve Seen The Light (my rift stabbing da crackfic), or And Now I’ve Seen The Sunrise (since I gave it to myself for my wedding, I sure hope I love it XD)

9. Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: Ack, okay, I know I only ever post finished work, and it is finished so I won’t do this, but probably Just A Dream? I just love it but I feel like I could do better. And I did start a sequel for it but I couldn’t get through it.

10. Share a bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on: Hah, you asked for it, here’s a bit from my massive Cullanders magnum opus that keeps growing and growing because these two are just made for angst (also, yes, I write in html, it makes publishing on ao3 easier for me):

“I’m sorry. It’s been difficult to leave the Gallows with all the upheaval. The Knight-Commander has become… more demanding of my time as well.” Cullen sighs heavily, then grimaces, his hand moving towards his chest before aborting the movement. Anders is uncomfortably aware of the many different ways people try to hide pain and equally aware of how difficult that can be. He doesn’t want to sympathize with a Templar, but Cullen would likely be more gracious about any healing than Fenris ever is. It might be okay. If Cullen really is hurt. “I fear… it’s not… in any case, things will have to come to a head soon enough. Neither the Grand Enchanter nor Meredith are willing to back down and, well, there is no one in the Gallows who is unaware of how precarious the situation is.”

Oh, Anders knows. For every mage he helps to escape there are three more that he cannot get to because the Templars come for them too soon, without warning. No one is safe. (And Anders sits here with one of the perpetrators practically <i>itching</i> to heal him. Void take him, he hates himself some days.) “So Hawke says as well,” he says instead, guardedly.

Cullen shoots him a look that is far too wry and knowing for Anders’ comfort but he doesn’t comment beyond a small grin, a cocked eyebrow. So Cullen has guessed who it is that is sneaking mages out through the basement tunnels. Maybe he isn’t as dumb as he looks. <I>And</I> he doesn’t seem inclined to say anything about it.

Maybe, just maybe, there is at least one Templar who Anders can trust farther than he can throw them without magic or Justice.

“You’re stiff,” he offers, instead of dwelling on such a revelation, something so counter to everything he has known since he was a child. “Let me see.” Cullen sighs, shaking his head.

“People would notice if I was healed, thank you though. It’s just… a training accident,” he says as though he doesn’t believe that it <i>was</I> an accident, although Anders will grant that it did probably happen during training. And with Cullen himself letting Anders off the hook for healing, that should be the end of it. He should let this go and revel in the fact that Cullen is uncomfortable and will stay that way for as long as the stubborn arse will take to heal.

“Just tell them you bribed one of the mages,” he says instead. It’s a plausible enough story--every Circle he’s ever heard of has those who do it, although Anders is fairly sure Cullen isn’t one of the ones who would--and one that most Templars will accept even if it’s scornfully. (Anders remembers a time when he was the one getting bribed, though he was threatened more often than not rather than bribed. Anders had come to the conclusion very early on in his studies that he wouldn’t willingly heal Templars unless he had a very good reason and a laxer curfew, more candles or blankets, or someone ignoring a dalliance simply aren’t good enough. He remembers Flora was vastly more popular with the Templars as a result. Anders couldn’t have cared less.)

Cullen groans a bit, that aborted move to hug himself appearing once more, and sighes. “Fine. You’re right. Just because I can’t afford the downtime right now, not with the entire city like an overfilled flour mill with some young idiot striking a flint in the middle of it.”

Anders stifles a laugh. Cullen normally gives Fenris a run for his silent and broody money, or is shyer and more bashful--though similarly, and <I>constantly</I>, offended--than Velanna whenever he or one of the Rose’s workers brings up something particularly crude. But every once in a while he shows his Ferelden farmboy side and Anders can almost forget that Cullen is everything he hates.

The wound is red with the start of an infection and poorly wrapped. Luckily, it was only a glancing blow, shallow enough that once Anders cleans it out and heals what he can it won’t even scar. Justice howls in anger at the edge of Anders’ perception and Anders mentally shoves him away.

“They should teach you how to field dress injuries in training, not magic you can’t even use,” he says lowly, maybe to distract from how warm Cullen’s skin feels under his fingers, from the wiry dusting of golden curls on his chest. Anders is surprised every time by how <I>human</I> Templars are. He probably shouldn’t be. Cullen sighes and pulls away.

“I don’t disagree that field dressing would be useful,” he says. Anders wants to get angry, wants to <i>want to</I> fight, but really, he’s just tired. Tired of political statements, of this arrangement they have, of still having to fear for his life and sanity. Anders didn’t ask to be born with magic. Nobody but the worst blood mages do.

(He’s seen a few of them, people who make deals with demons for magic because what they really want is <i>power</I> and they all think they will get away with it. Unscrupulous and bold, every single one of them think that they’ll be able to stop once they get the one thing they want, but there’s always another thing on the horizon that only blood magic and more deals can help with. All of them were caught eventually, and grouped with mages who have never done a single harm in their entire lives. Legions of power-hungry blood mages who thought nothing of selling another person into death or worse for the sake of fleeting dreams of power. And for what? A moment in time that they could try to satiate their greed. Is it any wonder that it’s mostly nobles who end up taking that path to power?)

“It’s done,” he says, instead of replying, instead of the rant that Justice is beating into his temples. Anders turns away and starts to gather up his things when Cullen blushes and touches his side.

“Thank you, Anders,” Cullen says softly, and it sounds so sincere that Anders has to leave without saying anything else at all. He needs to remember that Cullen is a Templar.

Not someone sweet and sincere, who blushes easily and listens well. Just a Templar. He’ll show his true colors soon enough. Five years is nothing against a lifetime of proof.

Ah, sh*t, I tag whoever would like to do this?

[hgfstreamchats]

Pokemon Yellow Nuzlocke: Part 1

Hello! Greetings. This website seems determined to change how it works every week or so. It's revolting. I still haven't gotten around figuring out how to archive. Assuming there is a way to do so. Soundwave's apparently worked something out, but nothing for the long term. Until they stop fiddling with the site itself, then there's no figuring out a permanent system. Eugh. Any hints as to what this is? A short film that should have won at the Oscars and didn't. And I've been incredibly surly over this. I see... Unattended children die in a clay mire? And how! hello! Hello there! Hello. what is happening here Bad decisions. good times, then In an asbestos mine -- nobody's favorite mineral to eat. Too late then. He died as he lived -- choking on lungs full of cold, wet, sucking asbestos and groundwater. how very existential A cautionary tale in not allowing children to wander. It's very Cybertronian!

Alright. Now let's see if we can get this emulator working. Flawless paragon of its kind, truly Oh, there we are! Is the sound alright for everyone? No problems? It seems to be working fine. coming through perfetly clear and 16-bit Fantastic! What to name your rival? Oh, so many possibilities. and only seven letters to do it in Let's see, who do I hate? and, if the name is too long, do you have a demeaning nickname Fair enough. True, and cutting his name short probably WOULD annoy him more Oh, immensely. The hardest part of this game is apparently thinking of names. I'm having fun so far! it's almost like it didn't stand a chance against a rodent that literally stores lightning in itself Your rat is displeased. Look at that face! We'll get along perfectly! Alright, here are the rules of the game. First pokemon encountered in any given area is the one we catch, fainting means death, and we get one Mulligan on Lambo because he's my special, darling little boy. Seems straight forward enough. Do you have to name all the monsters you catch? Every single one. So you get attached Absolutely. If we're not all crying before this project is at an end, I've failed as your master of ceremonies and you can point and laugh at me. I promise to point and laugh if you get all your monsters killed before reaching the next city. That's reasonable. Oh yes, back to the naming screen! Scrap. That was an accident. I thought you could only catch the first pidgey you encountered in this area? We're cheating a little because it's the first area. Tsk tsk. yeah, aren't we basically still in the forced tutorials bit? Game hasn't properly started yet Exactly. Hence The Rat With No Name, whom I'm sure we'll all grow to accept regardless. Unless it dies. then we'll accept it as The Rat That Lasted Less Than An Hour UI'm here! What did I miss? Hello! We watched a child drown in a mire, and now it is time for imaginary monster catching. Nuzlocke edition Ahhh I'm just seeing the rabbit loading screen If I'd known we were starting at the old time, I would have been here! Also, hang on while I reload Night human! Welcome! So, I hear the game music, but there's no video. Can anyone else see... anything? It is working for me. Same Gosh! This is exactly what I wanted to deal with. If I'd known we were starting at the old time, I would have been here! Also, hang on while I reload Night human! Welcome! So, I hear the game music, but there's no video. Can anyone else see... anything? It is working for me. Same Gosh! This is exactly what I wanted to deal with. Yeah, Rabbit's been... just stellar tonight Let me save and then try something. .............................. Son of a glitch. Well, that's why we save often. I'll try a different browser. I'd be lying if I said I din't fear for the Rat With No Name's Future. Eh. To be fair, you probably should. He's very delicate. He probably cries a lot. I think I need to reboot. brb Look at them clearing out those harmless, low level wild mice and rats. That's my team! Devastating the local ecosystem. The perfect hobby for ten year old children. pff, wait 'til we start catching the ones said to be responsible for the weather Assuming we get that far. I do not think the Rat is going to make it that far along. Don't you talk about my Rat that way. It's not his fault he's good at nothing. Time to move out of the baby field. And start playing with the rules properly? Yes nd I'm still not getting any video. Very odd... I'm using Rabbit Share. Does that make a difference? I don't know Hold on. Let me try rebooting it. After I name the new bird. If it's working for other people, then the problem is on my end yeah, best guess? Video drivers are acting up. wait! there it is! woo! Okay, so, Chrome works, Opera no longer does, I guess. So are we permanently back to starting at 6-6:30, or is this a one-time thing? A one time thing, at least until spring. I was feeling under the weather, so no newspark wrangling tonight." Ahhhh If I'd known I wouldn't have stayed late at work, and then run errands, and then gone out for takeout... Hmm, name suggestions for the bug? Or at the least, not those last two things "Twinkie" Ha. Now, who shall die Two mons enter, one mon leaves! And then you take the loser's money. ...it lets you JUMP OVER short hedges! well, yeah, I mean that's just general death match rules regarding money, right? So are they GIVING you the money or are you looting it from their dead/unconscious body? Mostly throwing it at you so you'll let them rush their monsters to medical aid Ah, so you're mugging them. Though, I guess they start out trying to mug YOU, so... You've killed their monsters. It is a bribe to avoid being slain as well. and this is a Nuzlocke, so they WILL kill you given half a chance It's a dangerous pokeworld out there I never knew bullying children could be so much fun! I find that statement highly suspect. Indeed, I am fairly certain you've enjoyed bullying children before this. Those were human children, they didn't count. These are Pokemon universe children. Very different. Aah, I see. *raises eyebrows* So... Pokemon universe children aren't human? .... According to the lore, they are also Pokemon. What, really? Ew. It is a strange universe That would explain why they all look the same, I guess. Or, uh... you know what I mean. The Nurse Joy lore is actually FASCINATINGLY weird Oh help me, that's adorable. I'd like to make it through the gym without casulties. *casualties It is going to be a challenge. Ooooo! A new one! Okay, rules be scrapped, I want her! We won't tell. In the name of gender diversity. Who needs rules, anyway? Besides, poison is pretty much the most fun type to play with Woohoo! Oh, it has horns? "Horny" No. "Spiky" Also vaguely inappropriate. Shoot, I was going for VERY inappropriate. Moonbeam. Very inappropriate would be something like Valveula'. Ooo, nice. I should have named my rival Valveula. You should have. You could do that next time. She's blue and thorny. I should have called her Arcee. /me hurriedly disguises a laugh as a cough A PURPLE one! Nice. In the interest of not cheating quite so much, I won't use him. I'll tuck him away and use him if worst comes to worst. Maybe the name should reflect that? Hmmmm. No room for "There's Been An Accident." exigency? "Whoopsie"? Ooh, I like that. 😃 Another! She's having none of it. If little Alpina/Arcee's going to survive the gym, she's got to learn to kill everything she loved. yeah, I've seen this first gym break the teeth of the unprepared LOTS of Nidorans all of a sudden Where were they when catching one wouldn't have been cheating? Hiding from you. And how did that work out for you, Nidorans? Have you caught all the pokemon you're allowed to before the gym? I have. There's mankey in the forest, but that's more cheating than I'm willing to do. Ahhhh. Well, would you look at that! Look at what? Little Twinkie's growing up. Oh! : ) Soon he'll be a full grown twink. Honestly, if I'd realized he was green and not yellow, I would have suggested, like... Bean It worked out this way. I guess it did! Maybe he's, like, an Easter twinkie That he is! My god https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/513t76TJEVL._SX355_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/513t76TJEVL._SX355_.jpg images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com Oh, I thought it would actually show the image. Whoops Silly question, but does that... cost anything? To heal them up? not a cent Nice! Yeah! Take on Brock! Kick his ass! I'm at least going to get some experience off his little lackey trainers. Well now. That was too close a call for the Rat With No Name. You could just call him Boy. Time to face the first gym leader I just realized this is Zelda music Or nearly. Time to die. Rock hard defense. Pfffhehehehe Nice. *cheering* The cheating to get her was not in vain. See, children? Cheaters always prosper. We'll go to the moon cave, then pack up for the night. Nice. Oh no! You let that monster die. RIP Lambo. Ah, ah, remember! Lambo gets one mulligan! I remember. Just as he shall remember this death. Oh, well, that's alright then. He's seen what's beyond. He'll never be the same. You monster. On the plus side, the upcoming Gym has plenty of targets for his traumatized wrath That should stop him from murdering us all in our beds. Yes, that's right; have him murder other pokechilds instead. There's nothing behind those little eyes of his. Now that's not true. His death has placed the void of oblivion within his gaze When you gaze into the void, Lambo gazes back. He knows there's nothing watching out for us. Hmm. What to name the pig monkey? Witwicky. Ha. That's mean. I like it. I've been told I'm a mean individual. Probably by jealous people. Anakin. It's small and fat and full of life, like Lambo was until about 15 minutes ago. I love it. And it LOVES sand. : ) : D my children. I'm so proud. They're in the news! And I think that's where we'll wrap it up for now! This seems like a good point. Aww. Well, it was fun! Thank you for hosting tonight's nonsense. you survived, you got a badge, and there was only minimal cheating! It's the best scenario we could have hoped for! And for our traditional parting high note... A for effort. I'm sure it tastes fine. PFFF Why is he dying I like the cookie lodged in his head. His life is pain. I like the expression oh my god I called it. That's his dick. ... A very high note to end on. I'm glad you think so! That was great. Good night, everyone! Thank you for coming and enduring all of that level grinding! Goodnight! thank you, good night! Thanks for the stream, and goodnight!

[lcvedol]

time: start! | entry 1 | prologue

x/x/x

I don’t know what to do. How to start..it’s so confusing. I’ve never really needed to mark my words down in a place like this, I’ve never had this much in my mind before now. Is anything going to ever read this? I mean- I write down things a lot! Song lyrics, thoughts, secrets.. I’d like to think of it as just something that belongs to me. It’s comforting, reassuring, even if It’s just me basically talking to myself. Maybe this is like a vent log? I can’t really look at this like a diary yet, so I guess I can just ramble here until further notice. 

I had to do a bit of counting, and I checked three times- there’s a total of nineteen people here, including me. We all just woke up in this..dusty, dirty room with no recollection at all of how we even got thrown into here. I can’t remember what happened, how I ended up here, but I was supposed to be on some kind of tour. Trapped in this room with so many different prodigies was a little stressful, but also kind of weird. My classmates..they’re all really different compared to one another. So many different talents! There’s even some kind of Vending Machine Placement Scout (her name is Atsu, and I like her hat). 

It’s so weird, I feel so alone despite the fact I’m with so many people. We all had to solve some kind of escape room puzzle? Everyone worked really hard to get out though, and I wish I could’ve been a little bit more of help..I’m not really the smartest- so I couldn’t really understand what to do. It was freaky, though, we were basically locked in! If we didn’t get out, would we have starved..? Would someone have just left us in there to die? God,I don’t want to think about it, but a REALLY tall guy managed to solve the puzzle (Cape! I think? He reminds me of a Pokemon, but I don’t know if he’d like me calling him that, so I won’t say it to his face! ^^;;). It was all number based, apparently, after we all put our heads together. It took a couple of hours, but I’m so relieved we got out all in one piece (I can’t say the same for my brain, though). 

I should probably talk a little bit about the people here, I guess! I haven’t gotten to talk to all of them, but I got to converse with a couple of people- maybe I can just talk about what I think of them? Is that rude? Probably, but I think I have an excuse for the time being. Whoever threw us in here must be happy with themselves, because I feel like I’m going insane already. I don’t have any idea who threw all of us into a room together, but it sucks, as you can probably guess.

Okay, first, I tried to pair up with this one guy..but I don’t think he was looking for friends? Not sure, but he seemed kind of down in the dumps (understandable have a nice day), so we paired up together! I didn’t get his name, but he had bleached hair and some black glasses. He didn’t directly seem rude, though, I’m sure he was just kind of cautious! I get that, maybe I shouldn’t have been so forward trying to befriend him? Ah..I’ll work on that later!

Tatsu-chan! I took a break from looking around to talk to her. Really excited girl, I like her a lot! She keeps messing my name up, but I don’t really mind, I just don’t want to seem rude if I try to correct her a lot. She’s the Ultimate Urban Legend, and I’ve heard a little bit about her? I scroll through the internet a little more than normal people, so I’ve caught some glimpses of her name. She’s an off the rails kind of girl, but she has good intentions. She just wants to have some good fun! I can understand that. There was this person in a grey bodysuit that came over in an apron, looked at me, and then immediately BOLTED. What did I do!! Was there something on my face??? God, I really don’t want to make a fool of myself in front of 18 other people!! They’re a chef, though, because I got to help them out a little bit in the hallway once we broke out of our freaking jail! They just seem shy, though, so that’s cute! I don’t mind shy people, it just takes time for them to break out of their shell. uvu

Setsuko-chan seemed helpful in our investigations, Atsu-chan as well, they both seem smart. One’s more friendly than the other, but I’m sure they’re as worried as I am. Ultimate Secretary, Ultimate Vending Machine Placement Scout, kind of wary about Setsuko-chan, but she reminds me of my mom, a little. Not in a weird way or anything- she’s just seems to be really mature and hard-working, so I’ll respect her anyway. I haven’t talked to Atsu-chan much yet, but she did a lot to break us out of here, so I respect her too! I just don’t want to be a bother to any of them, I was probably one enough not doing much in our investigation..T_T

Yves-chan made some kind of remark about someone bashing our heads in?- I don’t think it was a threat, but now I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight. :( Wtf :’( But she seems pretty! And cute! I like her hair! I’m sure she only said that because she dabbles in the horror genre, so I understand. It’s worth a chance to talk to her later, though! Her and Hisanobu-chan, the baker, paired up and got along pretty nicely I think? He likes to use “OHOHOHOHOHO” a lot! Except not in capitals. And not that loud. That probably seemed offensive, please don’t read this, ok?? <_<

There’s Elliot-chan! Tall, muscular, bartender, pretty good looking for a high-schooler, but I’m not hitting on him or anything!! He seems nice, but I haven’t really spoken to him. He seems like he knows what he’s doing, though! So that’s nice to have in this big dysfunctional family of ours (I mean class I’m just joking I swear I don’t know anyone here). 

There’s..uh...team...Team Fen..Fenrir? I think that’s what the monologue man called it? It’s ran by Protagonist-chan! I’m kidding, but he keeps calling himself that and I don’t get it!!! This isn’t an anime we’re in, it’s an escape room, I kept telling myself! But he has cool shoes that light up in the dark, so he automatically gets Shizuka Points! +500! Then there’s the bowlcut dude! He vapes, but I don’t know anything about vaping, but at least he didn’t blow it into my face or anything! Him and Rune-chan are bros, I think? And there’s Fleur-chan! She’s pretty, I like her hair a lot! She’s tiny too, and overall just pretty soft looking! Dirty mouth, though. And that’s the team! Maybe it’ll expand, later? I’m happy that they’re getting along.

There’s..someone in a gas mask. I don’t know who it is, but they seem kind of rough and tough like the bleached-hair dude. Haven’t spoken to them, but maybe I will...later?????? Idk? It depends on the time and place. Why are they wearing a mask though? :thinking emoji here: It’s a mystery!

The ice skater! Diantha-chan? I think? Yeah, her. She kind of rubbed me the wrong way just a little bit with the random comments, but I’m sure there’s more to her! I’m just kind of a little worried to see it, an ice queen at heart, I guess!

There was this random guy who gave me the sink eye when I tried to politely bribe the keypad (it had emotions- idk technology is crazy ok!! It looked like it had an AI), so I guess he doesn’t like me much! He’s the merchant, from what I read about him, but I won’t spare any details- he’s scary, and I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to try and talk to him. I’m going against my own morals on this one!

Mitama-chan! She seems like a real mom, and she was helpful too! Really nice and strong, pretty much the perfect girl from what I’ve seen of her! She’s an art appraiser, so I guess she has a pretty sharp eye, too. She’s someone I’d love to talk to over a cup of hot chocolate or tea! Whatever works for her.

Oliver! Ollie! Ollie-chan, yeah! Haven’t talked to him, but he seems like a real storyteller! He’s kind of uptight (which is again- understandable, have a nice day). He’s a writer, so I’m sure his mind is an enigma. I don’t know much about him otherwise. Cute name though! ^v^

Then there’s Kihaku-chan! He’s super chill and he’s a musician too! A taiko drummer! I can play the guitar and piano, but not the drums- so I applaud him for that! He’s a rhythm gamer, too, at least from what I remember when we talked! We did like the briefest collab in the world (when I was carrying someone too! Lololol), but we sounded absolutely beautiful together! He’s super talented and I admire his work a lot, even if I’ve only heard him once! I hope we can be friends and work more together!

And I think I covered everyone! What a colorful class I have, right? I hope I can meet their standards. I’ll update this more once I get the chance as time passes, mostly about people, events, the usual! Maybe write a couple of song lyrics in here when I get the chance? Might as well work in this, too! Hopefully nothing bad happens, but I’ll still write it down just in case.

Signing out,

miya☆

[junker-town]

The rise and collapse of a scalper’s sports card empire

Bribes, parking lot deals, and the cards you never had a chance to buy.

Warning: The following story contains strong language.

Tyrone sits in the middle of his three monitor setup like the cockpit of a fighter jet, one hand grasping a cup of coffee, the other his vape, alternating between stimulants and watching a scramble over spots in his newest break. “This shit’s been up 40 minutes and we only got two slots left,” he yells to his two business partners, pulling cards for their latest singles orders.

“Tyrone,” who asked not to go by his real name to keep his anonymity, elevated his hobby for collecting cards into a business three years ago, and turned it into an empire. Now he’s coming face-to-face with it all collapsing. “I knew we didn’t have forever on this,” he says, “I just figured it’d be the feds shutting it down, not some dumbasses at Target.”

May 14th was the end of an era for Tyrone. Target made the announcement they would no longer sell NBA, NFL, MLB or Pokemon cards following an incident outside a Wisconsin store in which a customer pulled a gun on another who’d just purchased cards. Signs, now posted all over stores in the country, read “To ensure the safety of our guests and team members, effective May 14th, MLB, NFL, NBA and Pokemon cards will no longer be sold in stores until further notice.” Walmart has not made an official announcement at this time, though there’s increasing speculation that they too will pull cards from shelves.

“That shit had me f***** up,” Tyrone says, shaking his head. “I dunno how it’s been working up north, but ain’t nobody in my area getting good shit from Target anyway.”

Tyrone began turning his hobby into a business like anyone else trying to get cards. He arrived at stores early on Friday morning, learning that cards weren’t stocked by Target and Walmart employees, but rather independent merchandisers who would enter the store on distributors’ behalf, and place items on the shelves. Tyrone would wait until the merchandisers arrived to put out the new cards, then pounce on them, buying out the store and immediately flipping them on eBay. It was a weekly ritual. Hit a store, move to the next, do the same.

“I’d spend HOURS in the car each week,” he laughed, remembering his beginnings. Tyrone quickly realized there was too much inconsistency. Sometimes he’d miss the merchandiser, or they’d go to another store first and throw off his route. Random shoppers would buy a fat pack (a wrapped package of multiple packs) as their nostalgia kicked in, having no idea what they were buying. This made his stock unreliable.

“It got exhausting, and frustrating as shit got bigger. That’s when I got smart about it.”

I know Luka and Ja, not Squirtle and shit.

After months of shadowing deliveries and driving around, Tyrone approached one of the merchandisers in a Walmart parking lot, and befriended them. He needed as much product as he could get his hands on, they needed to do their job. “I made it work for both of us.”

At the time the only thing really popping was basketball cards, particularly the highly sought after Panini Prizm series. If you went to Target or Walmart hoping to find Prizm basketball only to find it out of stock, there’s a good chance Tyrone had it, and you never had a chance of buying it.

“It was so easy back then,” he says. “They’d come in, put the shit on the shelves, snap a photo with their phone to show they did their job — then immediately pull it back down and buy it.” To the distributors, Tyrone’s merchandisers were doing their jobs, to the public they just thought they were too late and missed out on the cards. No one was the wiser, except for the merchandisers and Tyrone.

“I’d meet them at the end out their route, give them a stack — normally double what they paid, and everyone was happy.” As far as he sees it, Tyrone thinks the merchandisers got the better end of the deal. They just needed to meet him and make some quick money, he had to do the leg work to move the cards on the back end, but with prices skyrocketing it was worth it.

It wasn’t long before demand outstripped Tyrone’s supply, even having most of an east coast state in his pocket. He needed to expand, and began hitting up friends and family members in other states, bringing them into the fold. Before long he had numerous states, stretching from the east coast as far Texas in his network. Everyone giving kickbacks to merchandisers, sending the product to him, and profiting as he became able to sell product online for four times their value, sometimes even more.

“I was making less, because everyone needed a cut — but who cares. I was clearing $10k a month easy.”

Flipping fat packs and sealed product was nice, but the real money came in when Tyrone started getting his hands on hobby boxes. Larger, 12 pack boxes which brought more money, and more opportunity. “I can make stupid money on a case break, you don’t even know.”

A box, or case break, is a multi-participant venture in which a large number of people essentially gamble by buying pseudo-shares in a mass opening. Let’s say someone has a case of Prizm, you might pay $500 to get randomly assigned a team, then get every card from that team opened in a case.

For the individuals participating, it was a potential gold mine. Lucking out and getting the Pelicans could mean landing a five figure Zion Williamson card, at the expense of someone who got assigned the Hawks, and coming away with nothing. Trae Young isn’t worth big money, so Atlanta is seen as a dud slot. For people like Tyrone, selling the slots represents no risk — and all upside.

“Let’s say I’m paying three grand a case. I’m turning around and making five times that it in a break.”

With everyone desperate to open product hoping of landing a chase card, Tyrone was just in it for economics. “I’ll leave the gambling to the gamblers,” he says, “sure I’ll open something now and then for fun, but nah, moving sealed is where it’s at.” Soon, not even his vast network was enough to keep him in the cards he needed.

The fever spread from basketball into everything else. First football, then baseball, and finally Pokemon. “Pokemon makes me too nervous man,” Tyrone says to a friend who suggests they start buying it up, “we don’t know shit about those. I mean, can we break it? I don’t know. I know Luka and Ja, not Squirtle and shit. I’ll stick to what I know.”

“You have no idea how dirty this all is.”

As far as Tyrone saw it, he was providing a service. It had become impossible for anyone to get sealed product without spending thousands on boxes, and he felt that private card shops were cracking everything they were getting and selling singles online. Even then, he felt a little bad about what he was doing. “It sucks man, like I remember collecting cards as a kid,” Tyrone tells me, “none of these kids have a chance at buying packs. It’s all being eaten up.” As far as he was concerned, if Tyrone wasn’t scalping cards, someone else would — so why not him?

A large impact on the card market came not from flippers like Tyrone, but from Wall Street. During the economic downturn caused by the Covid pandemic, an increasing number of investment bankers were looking to diversify their portfolios with collectibles, and basketball cards were at the top of the list. Grading services like PSA and Beckett, once tapped only by enthusiasts trying to secure their most valuable cards, were now being flooded with requests to grade from big-dollar firms, aiming to solidify their investments.

“You have no idea how dirty this all is,” a lanky man named “Tom” calls from the back room as he assembles as eBay order. “I know this goes all the way through the system. I know Wall Street is talking to Panini and they’re engineering all this. Shit, I think ESPN is in Panini’s pocket too, pushing these players they know are signing.”

“Man, you’re tripping,” Tyrone says, rolling his eyes, not buying Tom’s conspiracy theories. “Don’t listen to him, I mean shit IS dirty, he right about that — but nah, nothing like that.”

Whether you believe the wild theories floated by collectors or not, it’s unquestionable that there’s a massive card shortage and it’s pushing prices through the roof. If you want to find a rare Zion Williamson rookie card now it’ll take not a few hundred bucks, or even a few thousand — but a second mortgage on your house.

Card collectors were tracking the price spikes daily, but when word got out to the general public that there were five- and six-figure cards being pulled from packs, it started a frenzy. Go to any store that stocked cards and you’d find empty shelves, people who were never interested in cards before were lingering around the section, looking to quickly make four times their purchase in a matter of hours be reselling online.

Word of Friday stocking got out. It wasn’t long before there were lines down the sidewalk, in the middle of a pandemic, of people waiting for store doors to open to they could rush the card rack. “My people started getting scared,” Tyrone said, referring to his merchandisers. “Not like they were afraid of getting hurt or nothing. They just didn’t want the drama of pulling the shit off shelves, someone reporting them and losing their jobs.” Soon the merchandisers started to pull out of their deals, no longer interested in the risks the quick money brought. It became more and more difficult for Tyrone to secure large numbers of cards.

This is the harsh reality of the #Pokemon TCG right now. It’s a mess pic.twitter.com/3RnbeGz07A

— Pokémon News (@TrainerINTEL) May 22, 2021

Then the news came cards were being pulled from shelves. “Nobody was ready for that. Shit, I don’t think Panini or Bowman were ready for that,” Tyrone says. Overnight the network he’d cultivated for years collapsed, but this wasn’t a man who looked like his world was crumbling around him — rather, he seemed calm. “I knew it was coming, just not this way. I have plans, believe me I have plans. Just not ready to talk about that yet.”

While Tyrone pivots to whatever he’s doing next, on Friday May 21, one week after pulling cards from the shelves, Target opened them up again for online-only sales. This time with strict limits to how many packs and boxes people could buy, effectively killing the scalping market. A great day for general consumers, and perhaps the nail in the coffin for those who made a living off cards in the last few years.

When reached for comment Target corporate said they had nothing to add to the card situation beyond their initial statement posted in stores.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Elanor liveblogs Pokemon Sun for a bit

I poisoned it with Toxic, so I thought maybe it wasn’t a Poison type. But then I remembered that Tiamat has Corrosion, so all bets are off.

Died suitably quickly to a High Horsepower, anyway. Good hoss.

“So, it’s true…” Lusamine murmurs as we finish, and the Squid Thing returns to Annwfn. “I still need that Pokémon. I need to get it back.”

“What?” Hau asks. “Miss Lusamine, did you say something?”

Now holy shit that is a textbook evil smile. Welp, there go any hopes I had of Aether not being evil. Washed away in one smile. Annnnddd…

She blatantly means Bippy, right? Lillie broke Bippy out of an Aether facility, back at the start. That’s how this one knows her. This PokeFucker wants to open up an Ultra Wormhole, possibly for world domination and possibly for sexy fun times, and needs Bippy to do it properly, maybe, or to control the Space Squids, or… whatever.

Lillie’s bad-ass.

“That creature we just saw was undoubtedly an Ultra Beast…” Lusamine says. “An unknown being from another dimension that suddenly appears from the Ultra Wormhole… It looked like it was suffering… Like it pained it to be in this strange place… I can’t bear to see that happen! I will save it. And I will love it!”

Biblically.

“Thank you…both of you… Thank you so much!”

Okay we are leaving. I think this was a test. Do you feel this was a test, Hau? I think it was.

“Wicke,” Lusamine orders, marching us to the needlessly fancy lift. “These two are still in the middle of their island challenge, aren’t they? Please deliver them to their next island.”

“O-oh! At once, ma'am!” Wicke says.

“I will go to check that none of our poor resident Pokémon came to any harm,” Lusamine declares. “And I need to speak with Mr. Faba about exactly what happened downstairs. And of course… I will have to start preparing the foundation for our newest and perhaps greatest duty yet: the protection of the Ultra Beasts!”

She’s looking dreamy. Let’s leave quickly.

Back downstairs at the ferry, Hau is back into high spirits.

“I never thought I’d actually get to see the Ultra Wormhole in my life…” he says, looking at me pointedly for a micro-second. “We’ve gotta tell Professor Burnet about this the next time we see her!”

“I don’t know if what happened should be rightly described as an accident,” Wicke says delicately, trying to fend off a potential PR disaster. “But… I think it’s probably best if you do so. Anyway, I was very glad to meet you both. Please take this to remember your visit. Some malasadas for Hau…”

“Yes! Big Malasadas!” Hau cries, all urgency forgotten. Well, they did their homework on how to bribe him, didn’t they? “Awesome! Isn’t it crazy how malasadas taste even better when you eat ‘em together with someone else?”

“Yes… I think I know what you mean,” Wicke says oddly. “Meals always taste better when you share them with the ones you love. And for you, Elanor. A TM for the move Psychic.”

WHAT where are my damn malasadas.

“I hope you both have wondrous adventures on your island challenge,” she says.

“We will!” Hau beams. “Thanks, Ms. Wicke!”

Back on the ferry. Hau is eating his malasadas, naturally, while we try to discuss what to do next without the nosy bastard in the seat in front knowing what we’re really saying.

“Ho… My heart’s still kinda racing, you know?” Hau says. “The Ultra Wormhole is real… And Ultra Beasts are real, too! The world is just way too big… I bet we’ll discover even more new things on the next island, too!”

Gods, that’s probably true. There’s no way Aether haven’t reached there, too. Thinking about it, if the tapu fought the Ultra Beasts back in the day, they’re probably going to be interested in those. Plus that’s where Lillie’s heading –

“We’re gonna need all the energy we can get,” Hau says decisively. “Time to dig in! You want a malasada?”

Of COURSE I do. Want Psychic on anything?

“Ahhh! So gooooooood! Shoot, I already ate the whole thing!”

Never change, Hau.

[artpharos]

just some really long-winded thoughts I have on vgc, and what it means to me

When I first started playing VGC 6 years ago, my community had close to nothing. We had no official sponsorship, we had no way of getting to Worlds that didn’t cost us $3k to play in the Last Chance Qualifiers. All we had was surviving off competitions on the off-chance the local distribution company held a TCG event (which actually did lead to Worlds tyvm) and we at the VG side could hold a small tournament of our own. Nothing official, but man, we worked so hard for those tournaments. Every year, we struggled to do things by the book- no hacking, no shady business- in the hopes that TPCi would recognize us and give us a way to play at Worlds. I remember getting yelled at by our community organizer for playing smogon singles because smogon singles isn’t official and therefore TPCi might not look kindly on us if I posted about smogon singles on the group itself. And through it all, we knew that we’d never have the chance to play at Worlds because of the cost, and the lack of opportunity, which, year by year, seemed to slip further away. 

Come 2013, I decided to go give Worlds a shot because I just ended my stint in the Overseas Immersion Programme my university demanded we go to in order to graduate, and I was in Seattle that year. Worlds was in Vancouver, just a short plane hop away. A group of my friends decided that since I was going, they’d go too- we didn’t expect to make it to Worlds. We wanted to try, to see, but mostly, to have fun with friends. Our only shot into Worlds was the Last Chance Qualifiers- opened to anyone and everyone, and only the top 4 players selected to go to Worlds. When I went, they had to cut off the queue at 400 people. It was a single elimination tournament- 7 best of three rounds. And surprisingly, I made it into Worlds- the first person from South East Asia to have ever done so. I didn’t do too well, but at that point, we didn’t care. It was a fluke, but we proved it- we could do it if we were given a chance. 

In 2014, a group of our players went again. One of our seniors made it through the LCQ and into Worlds too. At that time, it was still costly- but it was still our only shot at Worlds. 

In 2015, TPCi decided to throw us a bone and included us in the APAC region. (Yes, before that, ever since 2013, Australia and New Zealand had their own events and they didn’t have to spam the LCQ like we had to). That year, I made top 3 of the region. I traveled 3 countries, won a Regional, and honestly, I was at my peak. I qualified for a Day 1 invite even though I was third in the entire region (they would only allow the top 18 players of our region to participate, and only the top 2 got paid invites). I fought through Day 1, qualified for Day 2, and made it to top 36 of the entire world. It was a good run. 

Then 2016 happened. I had a falling out with one of the same dear friends that went to Vancouver with me. I was so depressed I just lost interest in a lot of things- friends, work, even playing. I mean I recovered (thanks to Rowlet), but even now, I don’t think I can ever really forgive or trust him again- and maybe that’s for the best. He’s now in New Zealand, so I probably won’t have to see him again.

But while I was going through that episode, in 2016, they introduced CP cutoff points for the APAC region. All you needed was 200 CP and you were guaranteed an invite to Day 1 Worlds. I could have made it (I was at 150 CP before I stopped) but anyway, thing was, compared to the past, qualifying for worlds was easy. People who I don’t think are actually that skilled players managed to qualify off sheer luck, or by sucking up CP from the events that our organizers worked feverishly to give us. Our organizers, who had for years been unable to do anything for the community, gave so much to them- and they’re unappreciated for it. A far larger contingent of players from Singapore were sent to Worlds- but only one of them made Day 2. I thought it was apt, given the skill level I had been seeing. 

But then in 2017, things just really went to shit. We had a guy that qualified for a Day 2 invite in my community that fucking bribed his way for it. He had puffed himself up and generated a cult of personality. People became so overconfident and certain that they deserved that Worlds invite that they treated sportsmanship like absolute shit. 

Our community isn’t large. Compared to most other countries, it’s small. It’s nowhere as skilled as the UK, US, LatAm, Japan, or even Australia. The playerbase is small- a lot of them don’t even play outside of local tournaments. They’re blinded by only what’s in front of them, not the world around them. 

I suppose that’s why I shouldn’t be surprised that someone could do something so despicable as getting his opponents to drop to him so that he could get a fucking paid invite to Worlds. 

But the worst part is knowing that if I was playing- if I was there- maybe I could have stopped it. Maybe I could have crushed him so that he would never be in the position where his ego is over-inflated, where he thinks that he can bypass the rules and spit in the face of the game- in the face of all our years of struggling, and suffering, in order for him to make it. In a way, it feels like a direct stab at the legacy I helped build for my community. 

I know it’s just a game. I know I have bigger priorities in life than to play pokemon. 

But this community is still the one that gave me friends, that made me feel- in a rare occasion in my life- like I belonged somewhere. 

And come 2018, I’ll play. I’ll play in order to make sure that nothing like this happens ever again. 

Will I play seriously? I don’t know- probably. I enjoy playing seriously, after all. Will I aim for Worlds? If that’s how the dice rolls go, sure. 

But I guess I just don’t want my community to fall to shambles if there’s anything I can do at all about it. 

[cosmosogler]

hi guys. today when i did the pokemon lottery i got the last three prizes in a row. kind of incredible considering they are all five-star lottery stalls and so usually pay out in the middle range with some high and low spots. i also got nothing in the haunted house treasure hunt thing. i’m not annoyed about it, just kind of baffled.

anyway i got up at a decent hour today! i had weird dreams about interacting with family again. i was at a “hospital” although really it was more of an amphitheater, and it took on that function a few minutes later anyway. i was with my family celebrating something but i was real sore from my gallbladder surgery so i didn’t really want to move around much. i didn’t take any painkillers last night so maybe the soreness just translated over.

at the end i guess i was tasked with tracking down a rogue a.i. in like a giant mall? i noticed it wasn’t really doing anything wrong besides acting shifty though. it was a complicated feeling. like, i knew things could easily go south real fast (especially with me physically out of commission), but i also wanted to trust the machine to do the right thing, but i knew that might not be very likely considering the way other people treated it. it was like a weird hope for the best and acceptance of the worst at the same time. i guess that’s pretty relevant to my life right now.

i got a haircut. just a trim. it does feel shorter. but i look like a dweeb with the stuff she put in my hair to make it lay straighter. dad and i brought home takeout chinese food for lunch. that made me... pretty sick, but not painfully i guess.

so after that i basically just waited around for mom to get home. mike squeezed eve in for an appointment today in the afternoon so mom was coming home early to take eve over to his office. since dad wouldn’t be able to drive her all the way out there and back and still have time to finish everything before work. i did some chores in the backyard with dad and my brother - basically just helped my brother with the patio furniture and picked up some stray dog toys laying around the yard. i didn’t do any heavy lifting or anything but i was still pretty sore and tired by the time mom got home. 

i was happy i’d spent a little time giving eve a good rub-down again before we’d gone outside. she burned her feet a little bit on the driveway. i was glad to see she remembered to run straight to the shade of my brother’s car while we waited for mom to unlock her car doors. it’s been a while since she’s needed to do that. i remember when we had to emergency panic-teach her that one time we were hiking in sedona. taylor and i had to take off our socks and i think we used uma’s hair ties? to tie the socks to eve’s feet to give her a little cover. i’d sprint to the next patch of shade and call her over and she caught on that the shade didn’t burn real fast. then when we got to the creek eve jumped in before we could get the socks off. so taylor and i had muddy-red socks after that.

anyway we drove to mike’s office and i tried to bribe eve with the cookies they keep in the waiting room. she wasn’t having any of it though. we got her into one of the patient rooms and i sat with her while mike and his tech did a quick physical examination. 

all things considered we got the best possible news. mike said she was in good health other than cancer leg, and he could fit her in for an amputation in a week. so that would give me a week to take care of her while she recovered before i move to florida. he reminded us that she could, of course, die for unrelated reasons (like a heart attack) at any time, but this would be the natural next step to take either way.

and eve finally ate the cookie when i offered it again. maybe because they didn’t try to take her temperature or update her vaccines or clip her nails. and she wasn’t trembling which is a big accomplishment for her!

when we were trying to get eve out of the car and into the office she got stuck between the backseat and the chair of the front seat. her leg was at a weird angle and she couldn’t move it or bend it enough to get it off the seat. so i shoved the front seat forward as far as i could to get her un-wedged. 

when we got back in the car the first thing eve did was get behind the front seat on the floor and curl right up there. so i couldn’t move the seat back. so i spent the whole car ride home with my knees smashed against the glove box. mom and i discussed the pros and cons of not having an exit to our neighborhood southbound on the freeway. you have to pass our house, drive two miles down to the first exit, turn around and get back on the freeway, drive past our house again, then get on the exit and get on the frontage road and drive past our house again, and then get on the neighborhood road and get to the house. well, there’s a few ways to get through the neighborhood, but they’re all kinda slow.

it adds more than five minutes to any trip where we’re coming in from the north considering the lights on the first exit are the two worst in the city.

one is never green, and then as soon as you can cross the bridge to get back on the freeway the green arrow turns red by the time you reach the light. so you get to DOUBLE WAIT.

anyway after that i gave all the dogs a cookie. and then i wasted the rest of my evening on youtube and junk. honestly i was wiped. knowing there’s something we can do for eve... it felt like i’d been holding a big ball of energy for the last full day and when mike gave a definite recommendation it just kind of escaped and i was dead tired.

i made myself dinner but it wasn’t very good and it also made me feel pretty sick and sore. i’m still reallllllllly stiff all down my chest and side. trying to wear a bra while out in public made everything 861 times worse.

ah dang, i forgot to ask mom or dad to take me to the pharmacy. i think i’ve only got one pill left on my current prescription. the pharmacy’s got a refill ready but i still can’t drive. technically i’m not supposed to drive or lift anything “heavy” (more than 15-ish pounds) until i do the follow-up with the surgeon, but i think at a minimum i should wait ten days. usually follow-ups happen within ten days but my surgeon just went on vacation so i don’t see her for another week and a half.

prescription as in my normal pills. not the painkillers. those don’t have a refill. i’m hoping sleeping will be a little easier tonight now that i’ve gotten through a full night without taking any.

i wouldn’t write about it so much here but interacting with mother has kind of shot my confidence so i am confirming to myself that i am using my prescribed medicine responsibly and as directed. 

interacting with dad... he said a lot of really hurtful things that play real easy into insecurities i have about interacting with other people. i feel like nothing he’s said after that, even after three weeks, has been as important or worth remembering.

i dunno. hearing “you don’t care about anyone but yourself” periodically over the years kinda makes you feel bad i guess? if you care about things like that. or if you’re insecure and worry about coming across as selfish and you do care about other people but you’re not very physically affectionate so they think you’re lying. hearing that kind of thing yelled in your face kind of bums you out. my other favorite is “you’re so egotistical, you think you’re too good to interact with anyone.” that’s stuck with me for a long time. i guess it’s been like 9 years now since i got that one dumped on me.

bullying doesn’t just come from classmates and your parents. other people’s parents and school administration like to get in on the action too sometimes. 

boy do i just love being told what i think. “you’re not really sorry” is another Greatest Hit. 

dad said more than one hurtful thing. i only gave one example here. thinking about what he said, thinking about what my parents must think about me to say things like that, makes me feel honestly kinda sick. it puts all the yelling politics sessions and car lectures in a new light. i used to think they would cast me as the “other side” in an argument because they genuinely thought i always disagreed with them forever. i told myself that was silly, they were probably just getting worked up as they thought more about whatever they were yelling at me about.

but now? i think, at least dad, does genuinely think i’m one of those “filthy idiot liberals.” 

and i mean... i guess he’s right, sort of. not always. but i never told him anything about what i thought. i worry about what made him assume it was ok to decide i was his antagonist in this “argument” (lecture, yelling session) and what made him assume what my opinion on any topic was when i have never, ever told him what those actual opinions are. 

like, i don’t even barely tell my FRIENDS what my political opinions are unless i am completely comfortable. what in god’s name let him know what those opinions were? does my body language give THAT much insight into my thought process? do i just look like a smug asshole all the time or something?

asher said i just look anxious and tired all the time. i don’t know how anxious and tired translates to punchably condescending, but i guess, you can see a lot of whatever you want to see if you believe in it hard enough.

i’m up late... it’s weird how these comments turn into time bombs. like i think about it even when i don’t think i’m thinking about it and then suddenly i have emotions about it? it makes it REALLY hard to figure out what’s bothering me so much i can’t work all the time. is it really just because i feel too sick to eat and that makes me tired? or is there another reason stacking on it that’s making it just too hard to work through? something half-forgotten that i don’t know how to deal with but it’s decided to cause problems anyway? why do subconscious fears make me look (and feel) really lazy all the time? what even is lethargy. 

it’s disheartening to run into boundaries... the physical boundaries of your body, i mean. like i used to think i had an endless well of determination and grit that could get me through any rough situation. even though i was literally crying and angry all the time as a kid? i guess i just figured if i needed the mental/emotional energy, the motivation, i would just look into myself and find it there somewhere. 

but going to college all these years, feeling suicidal some of the time, experiencing my joints locking up just from fear... that motivation isn’t actually there. it’s not hiding under any of the stones i’ve overturned at least. i can’t just keep going and going forever. i can’t just say “i won’t give up!” and then actually not give up. i don’t got the gila monster death grip.

unless... i do, and i’m just too lazy to find it? why can’t i just try harder?? is this the kind of limit that’s all in my head and my *Attitude* will make everything better? because so far when i do that, when i keep going even though my body and brain say stop, my body breaks. 

mom always said i had no pain tolerance. then she found out my pain tolerance is incredible and it was just that no one believed me when i said i had severe chest pains. 

then after my heart surgery was over and done with, and i still had trouble exercising, my mom attributed it to “no pain tolerance” because i was “scared that any pain is bad now that something was wrong once.” 

so i guess no matter what i have no pain tolerance? i dunno.

um... i guess... the reason i put so much stock in what other people say about me, what they say about what i’m thinking or what i’m like, is because i can’t tell what i look like. i don’t have an outside perspective on myself. i depend on feedback from other people to adjust my behavior or whatever. so when i’m told or i realize that i can’t trust the feedback i’m getting from mom, or dad, or the principal, or craig or whoever, i start feeling like there’s no way i’m ever gonna figure out who i am to other people. and if i don’t know who i am to other people, how am i gonna figure out anything about myself? i need other people to tell me what i am doing so i have a name for it. my perspective is pretty bunk and ain’t very reliable. 

that’s probably unhealthy too. but my reality seems to be so dramatically different from other people’s realities that i need to figure out where the overlap is. how i can change myself to act more like the things i want to act like. when i ask “am i kind?” i usually get “not kind ENOUGH.” “am i trying?” “not trying hard ENOUGH.”

i mean how am i supposed to know what i’m REALLY doing? i don’t want to have delusions about myself. i can’t have only my opinion. my opinion sucks and i hate hearing it all the time. without anyone else’s input my head turns into a hellish echo chamber and i can’t figure out how reality works any more.

i wasn’t thinking about that today, not a lot, not more than normal at least. i’m mostly just relieved that there’s something i can do for eve. i’ve never had something i can do to actively make my dog’s life better at the end of their life. bernie had alzheimer’s, or the dog equivalent. she just forgot everything. and when she stopped recognizing me and my sister, and tried to bite us, mom euthanized her basically immediately. we put a lot of time and effort into keeping randi healthy when she had cancer but even after the money we spent and stuff she died on the floor. that was mom’s biggest worry about eve. that the money she spent wouldn’t matter. jake got bloat really suddenly and like two hours later he was dead. there was just... nothing i could do in those situations. but eve might get to live for a few more months. maybe i could see her at christmas. it’s a possibility. i’m afraid to get my hopes up, but knowing the option is there...

so, i guess, i’m sad about my life. but i’m happy about eve’s. and... i’m glad i will be able to help her for that first week. even though it makes me exhausted i’m happy i don’t HAVE to think about death for another short while yet.

[mimicveil]

   The beautiful Alola region-- though primarily for vacationing, those within the age of admission are expected to enroll and attend classes as all youth do. It’s okay if you missed registration-- truthfully, there is no due-date; the doors are open and the admission is free, all to make towards a better world and better battlers! So we ask you, future champion of Alola-- no, future champion of the WORLD-- will you be attending?    

     The basis is simple-- no matter your muses age or species (yes, Pokemon are allowed too, as well as Gijinkas!) they’re welcome to enroll in the trainer’s school. Though primarily for learning to battle, it also doubles as the actual academics that they’d learn-- but, honestly, think of it like a Highschool AU. Younger muses can be there too since there’s a headcanoned middle and elementary on the same grounds!     The rules and some info is under the readmore, so if you’d be interested in joining, like this post and we’ll send you a link! Otherwise, if you could, reblog this to signal boost it! You can come and ask questions in IM too if you’d rather do that!

    Also, it’s open to any and everyone in the Pokemon fandom-- however, we’ll be a litttle picky about crossovers so you’ll have to talk to us about that.

   Upon joining, make sure to fill out the user app and submit it to either the admin or owner! You’ll find it in the ‘’user-application’’ text channel when we add you in.

   Without further ado, here’s the know:

Owner: Phas (mimicveil) Admins: Void (iiwalani) Mods:  Spook & Roger (relicsxng and hyperspace-hoopa)

FAQ How does the school work? Think of the Trainer School as the same setting as it is in the anime, but split up in three sections-- ( elementary, middle, and high ). Though primarily for battling, the school is also for actual academics and studying. What if my muse is over age? They'd either be someone who is found around Hau'oli, someone held back a couple years, or can be thrown into College. The College will have more information soon, but for the time being, it's for battlers to train and prep for the newly made Elite 4 or for actual occupations in the Pokemon world. ( Cop, Breeder, Office Worker, etc. ) Alternatively, they could be a teacher or staff around the school! If you want your muse to be some kind of staff, ask the owner or admin and they’ll update your role! Can I ever add more characters? Yes! Just let an admin or owner know that you're going to add/subtract a character and give us any additional info that would need to go on the application and we'll edit it for you! Can I have an explanation of the five RP areas? Sure! Trainer School is the main one; mostly students enrolled in it will be found there, but Pokemon aren't banned from coming in too. It's relatively open to anyone that wants to pop their head in-- just keep in mind, an un-owned Pokemon might be seen as odd. Teachers Lounge is for the staff of the trainer and/or college. Teachers, janitors, counselors, the Principal-- the only students allowed in here are student council or a misbehaving student upon being pulled in. I.E-- if a student is breaking rules or causing trouble, cheating, loitering... etc, any of the authority staff can take them into the teachers lounge just the same as if it was the Principal's office for reprimandation. Any students given detention/in-school-suspension will have to stay in here as well for as long as they're given. College grounds is the college, otherwise it's the same as the trainers school. Hau'oli City is open to 100% everyone and is for general RP outside of school and whatnot. And finally, the tall grass is for wild Pokemon and the occasional trainer that wishes to capture them. CODE OF CONDUCT

1) Drama shouldn't be played out in any of the channels, keep it private or bring the issue to an Admin+. They will make a decision to fix whatever needs to be fixed, and they have the final say in the matter once it's brought to them.

2) Respect everyone no matter their gender, race, sexuality or anything.  We're all friends here-- so don't start shit over petty things. If you can't be accepting of your fellow roleplayer, this chat isn't for you.

3) People have triggers and you are expected to respect them. Please read through the list above-- and if you haven't done so already, asterisk mark your triggers ( Example, *blood or *abuse ) that can/will induce panic attacks when submitting your app to a mod. I want a differentiation between things that make you cringe and things that will actually mentally harm you so if, in worst case scenario, someone DOES slip up-- their punishment will be gauged by how much of an impact it had. The ''intense'' triggers will be bolded AND caps'd in the triggers channel so they are EXPECTED to be seen and remembered to the best of ones ability.

4) If you want to invite someone, you HAVE to come to either Void or Phas first. Not that we don't trust you, just that we want to make sure there's no problems surrounding said person before allowing them in // there's nobody already in the chat that has had problems with them. Let us know their name and their blog URL and we'll tell you if it's okay or not. Inviting without permission will get a warning the first time and a ban the second.

5) Muse duplicates are allowed, as are OCs, wild Pokemon, legendaries--- really, anything, so long as you're part of the universe. Crossover muses we'll be a bit selective with, however. Run it by me or Phas first.(edited) 6) There is no turn-based style to the roleplaying channels, so please be mindful not to cut another off // god-mod. Read through a bit to keep up to speed if you're taking part as not to cause accidental plotholes. ( I.E, someone picks up one muse-- but someone like two minutes later says they picked up the same muse. )

7) One-liner, para... even multi is all acceptable so long as you can keep up with each other! You don't have to use icons either, but I personally usually do and I know a few others who do as well.

8) Any Gijinka or Illusionary Pokemon posing as humans that wish to keep their identity secret will have so done. Only the Principal would be canonically aware of such, so unless a Gijinka has told you they are actually a Pokemon, don't refer to them as such unless it's in jest. Whether they wear human clothes or not, if they look primarily human it could be considered the norm in this environment Example being Iwa, who's dressed like a Bewear but is completely human or Latios who disguises himself as your  run-of-the-mill trainer -- showing no signs of being in-human despite the oddity that he's mute and communicates with a whiteboard, which can be easily excused.

The only other exceptions to this rule are trainers who have Pokemon that can speak with them, either through telepathy or other means since they could most likely tell the difference by something as simple as smell. However, even then, unless they tell the trainer right away 'X ISN'T HUMAN!'' the legendary at risk could always attempt to threaten and bribe said 'mon. 9) Recommended age is 15+, but this isn't 100% pushed. I'm rather vulgar with my language && sexual innuendos and stuff might slip here and there, practically-- just be comfortable with mature things. Nobody is going to smut in any of the public rooms I will personally kick their ass but everything else is fair game.