#this better get notes

[lazerjester]

the colors got fucked up💔💔💔

[ixenarcaniss]

Okay buckle up because I have opinions and theories and I figure why not shout them into the internet. We're talking about Pokémon today.

I've always been fascinated by the level of symmetry in the designs of Pokémon title legendaries. Let me explain. The obvious peak of this is in the designs of Zekrom and Reshiram from Pokémon Black and Pokémon White.

Reshiram, Pokémon's own Blue-Eyes White Dragon, is a dragon/fire type, elegantly shaped with more flowy, organic details resembling fur or feathers (i.e. its wyvern-style wings or twin plumes on its head). Its tail acts as a huge furnace, capable of emitting a red hot trail of fire as it flies.

Conversely, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Zekrom, is a dragon/electric type, slightly more anthropomorphically bulit, with more harsh, geometrically shaped details (i.e. its singular, antenna-like horn, or its muscular, almost mech-like upper body, arms, and wings). Its tail is a giant generator, capable of emitting a blue trail of crackling electricity as it flies.

By the standards of the time, these two might have been considered somewhat over-designed pokémon were it not for their stark, austere color pallets, which mirror each other excellently. Reshiram is all white with blue eyes, attacking with red fire, and often depicted with a background of black smoke. Zekrom is all black with red eyes, attacking with blue lightning, and often depicted with a background of white storm clouds.

Overall, they have this phenomenal quality of yin and yang, mirroring and opposing each other aesthetically and thematically. Other legendary duos/trios/etc. do this to varying degrees, following different strategies. Some contrast each other as much as possible (i.e. Groudon, Kyogre, & Rayquaza or Xerneas, Yveltal, & Zygarde), while others share an overall theme or aesthetic (i.e. Solgaleo & Lunala or Zamazenta & Zacian).

This brings me to my actual topic for this post, the newest title legendaries, Koraidon and Miraidon, featured in Pokémon Scarlet version and Pokémon Violet version respectively. Bear in mind I haven't actually finished my playthough of Scarlet, so there may be some details about these two that I'm missing.

There are two main ideas at play in these pokémon's designs. The first is their main theming. Koraidon and Miraidon as a duo represent a relationship between past and the future, with each one coming from either the distant past or far future. In fact, in Japanese, '"korai," or "古来," means ancient, or ancient past, while "mirai," or "未来," means future.

This theming is aesthetically apparent, as these two pokémon as a pair have something in common with Reshiram and Zekrom. Koraidon is very organic in its design, being very explicitly animal in shape, and sporting vibrant plumage reminiscent of the decorative dress of some traditional cultures. In contrast, Miraidon is very mechanical in its design, featuring modern details like metal claws, jet engine legs, and LED screen eyes. Different as these two are, representing disparate eras, they do share a similar basic shape.

That shape is the shape of a motorcycle.

Yes, the other main design tenet these two share is the strict requirement that they both function as lizard motorcycles. Unlike other entries in the series where title legendaries are only encountered around the climax of the main story, a distant promise of a powerful new pet, Scarlet and Violet introduce their respective legendaries right away as mounts. These guys each have a few different forms for running, swimming, gliding, and when powered up for battling, but apart from the same basic structure and posture, they share some convenient features which allow the player character to hop on and ride: some sort of "wheels," some curvy handlebars, and a nice comfy place to sit and steer.

It's a bit of a weird theme, slightly awkward in that animals and wheels don't generally mix, but seeing as riding either pokémon is a core mechanic central to the gameplay of the large open world, it works. And it doesn't stop at mechanics. The ability to ride these two pokémon has surprising connections to worldbulding. Introducing the non-legendary pokémon, Cyclizar:

As I understand, Cyclizar (cycle lizard, as you can imagine) is the evolutionary midpoint (evolution in the Earth science sense rather than the Pokémon world's sense which more resembles life-cycle metamorphosis) between the ancient Koraidon and the distant future Miraidon. It's significantly smaller and simpler in its design than its legendary counterparts, allowing it to fit in among the standard creatures of the Paldea region. It does however maintain the same basic motorcycle lizard shape as Koraidon and Miraidon. In fact, NPCs commonly ride on the backs of Cyclizar as a popular means of transport much like the player does with Koraidon/Miraidon. A pokédex entry mentions that this relationship between humans and Cyclizar has existed for over 10,000 years, suggesting greater continuity of connection to the two beasts of past and future.

This is a lot of consideration to go into the design of an entry's title legendaries. Details not only convey and support the game's lore, story, and world by connecting the two pokémon to each other, but also creatively support the game's mechanics and core gameplay. Namely, Koraidon and Miraidon suggest the themes of past and future, history and modernity, while giving the player the freedom to more easily traverse and explore the Paldea region. While I can only vouch for Koraidon, having played Scarlet myself (with Miraidon presumably being almost identical mechanically), it serves as an effective mount as well as companion, and I found it quite charming and endearing.

All this being said, I noticed something else interesting while examining these pokémon's designs. It always bothered me that a new main series Pokémon entry would choose Scarlet and Violet as its titles. After all, the very first games in the series were already Pokémon Red and Blue. (Technically Red and Green came first upon release in Japan but I digress.) It seemed weird to essentially title a game "Pokémon Slightly Different Red," but now I think I might have figured out what led to such a choice.

In looking for symmetry in Koraidon and Miraidon's designs, I considered their colors. Koraidon is mainly scarlet, with some black and white details, plus some accents of dark blue/violet. Miraidon is mainly violet, with minimal amounts of black and white detail, plus some accents of... yellow. Huh. Was hoping for more scarlet to better mirror Koraidon in the same way Reshiram and Zekrom mirror one another. Oh well, let's keep looking.

Koraidon is a fighting/dragon type. No obvious reason to be red there. The fighting type is generally represented by orange iconography, but fighting type pokémon aren't really any more likely to be orange or red. The dragon type is usually represented by purple iconography, but again, dragon pokémon aren't really any more likely to be blue/purple. Miraidon meanwhile is an electric/dragon type. Electric typing is much more apparent in this design than fighting is in Koraidon's. At least it might explain the presence of the yellow, as electric types are yellow a decent amount of the time. In fairness, Koraidon does have yellow eyes, but that's not exactly an even yin and yang balance.

Alright then, so if they aren't type-based, and they aren't even mirrored, what are the colors of these pokémon telling us? Are they just arbitrary? Chosen just because they look cool?

Have you considered:

I can't quite relate it back to the theme of past and future, nor to the theme of radical lizard motorcycles, but as compelling thematic opposites, you could do worse than the ends of the visible light spectrum. Maybe it's a stretch, but it could relate to the game's mechanic of terastal pokémon—that is, pokémon temporarily powered up in a way that crystalizes them, scattering light as if through a prism. Again, I haven't finished this game, so I can't say how related this phenomenon is to Koraidon and Miraidon, so for now, it's just a vague idea.

In lieu of that, let me present some more evidence that the visible light spectrum may be the intended theme. Consider Koraidon. It is mainly bright red, representing the longest wavelengths humans can see. It also has details in blue, at what I'll call ~2/3 into the the spectrum. On the other end, Miraidon is violet, representing the shortest wavelengths humans can see. It also has details in yellow, at what I'll call ~1/3 into the spectrum. Ah, so there is color mirroring, just not how we expected! Colors are grabbed from mirrored areas of the spectrum, mystery solved!

But there's one more clever detail in this clever system.

Cyclizar... is green.

Yup, this guy, temporally located smack in the middle of its two distant relatives, is also chromatically located smack in the dead center of the color spectrum. No, I can't really account for the red in its cheeks (although I realized that the detail is a neat midpoint between Koraidon's natural jaw and Miraidon's hinged one), but beyond those little spots, this guy's color perfectly captures the evolution of a species across distant eras. What a lovely little snapshot of our moment in Paldean history.

[mythtakens]

“these characters should be mentally healthy before they get together 😌” ummm no I actually think we should smash their mental illnesses together like clumps of play-doh and see what colors it makes

[twig-gy]

people NEED to stop gatekeeping making music like ohhhh i don’t have an instrument ohhhhh i don’t know music theory ohhhhh i’m not gonna pay for some program. SHUT UP. take my hand.

you need NONE of that shit!!!!! there’s a website called beepbox.co. literally all you have to do is press things until it sounds a modicum of nice. it’s easy it’s free and it works on anything which has a browser because it’s a website.

if even ONE person starts making music bc of this post it will be worth it.

making bad music is just as important and okay as it is to write badly or draw badly or sing badly. you AREN’T BEHOLDEN TO MAKE GOOD MUSIC. making music is not utilitarian HAVE FUN. HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!

[lesbianralzarek]

"life doesnt get better, you just get stronger" does NOT include ages 11-17. life does in fact just get better from there. those years are dogshit. like, you do get stronger but its mostly just a factor of not being 11-17 anymore. positive thinking helps but it doesnt fix whatevers going on at 15, you have to brute force through that one raw

[hinamie]

mentor

[electoons]

oh m-...ahhh...my pockages

[pbnmj]

also by the way i am always obsessed with how spider-people just click and can work together without anything being said in spiderverse . mcu spiderman being like "omg ive never worked in a team” “how are we going to work together” “well im on a team so i’ll lead us" like that was the most boring way to do it . spiderverse instead saying "we just know how to work together because our histories and lives are so linked, its like knowing someone your whole life. seeing the self in the other. our lives rhyme.” LIKE I LOVE YOU GUYS

[thesociallyanxioussociopath]

Part 3 of Alastor's really bad awful day~ What's worse than having to go on a fake date with your rival ? Your other rival (one-sided) deciding to play paparazzi, of course.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4 (end)

[meteorito618]

Vox watching the final fight like it was a sports game was so funny, so I did something. It reminded me of a video that went viral over here (Argentina) like 10 years ago, of a fan watching a soccer match; the audio is from that video. Here's the whole thing

Instagram

Twitter

[winter-seance]

Most of David Tennant's Filmography, 1988-2023

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

[sakuravalelp]

Don't eat anything else - Part 2 - DP X DC

Previous part

Masterpost

This is the only chapter where I'll tag people. Please, if you want to follow the story from this point on, follow the master post :).

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"You both should stop eating the food." Came Babs voice through the comms. "Danny asked Tim to not eat anything else. We suspect the food may content poison."

Bruce subtly shared a look with Cass before returning to nodding at Masters' proud rambling about his latest contract. They had both stopped eating long ago. The soup was good; Masters’ words about Danny being a good cook weren’t a lie. However, Bruce couldn’t identify the chunks of meat in the soup.

He initially thought it was pork, though the texture seemed somewhat similar to veal. By the fourth piece of meat he ate, he could confidently say he didn't recognize it. When he looked at Cass, he saw her using her spoon to play with one of the pieces of meat on the edge of the plate, a frown hidden behind her polite smile. He was sure then that the meat couldn't be one they had tasted before.

Bruce has tasted every kind of meat that should be available to Masters. He has even tasted exotic meats that Masters would probably never encounter, having represented humanity in intergalactic meetings as Batman. Not being able to identify the meat discouraged Bruce from eating more, and it seemed to have had the same effect on Cass. They had kept their food mostly untouched, using the excuse of waiting for Tim and Danny to return before eating. It was a good call; the meat being poisoned could be the reason it was unrecognizable.

"If any of you feel any symptoms, turn off your comm." None of them made a move to do so, and after a couple of minutes Babs continued, "I'll call Bruce in 10 minutes to create an excuse for you guys to leave."

Bruce would have liked to think that they had not yet consumed enough poison for it to affect them, but there's always the possibility of it being a delayed-effect poison. If Masters' plan with the poison was to kill them, then a delayed-effect poison would allow Masters to avoid being immediately connected to their deaths.

However, Masters shouldn’t have a reason to kill Bruce Wayne and his wards. Unless the man had discovered that they were investigating his contracts, which Bruce doubted. It was more likely that the poison was some sort of chemical restraint or chemical submissive, which would explain why Masters' contracts always seemed to end ridiculously in his favor. It would be easy to make such deals with someone who was drugged to be more agreeable with you.

Not that Bruce would be willing to take the risk to find out, especially with Cass having also ingested the tainted meat. He was glad he had brought the poison antidote kit with him. Despite this, Bruce wasn't sure about cutting the visit short, at least not for all of them. Tim had been gone with Danny for a while now, and if Danny had informed Tim about the food, they were probably exchanging information at the moment. Maybe Tim was in the process of offering Danny help, and Bruce didn't want to interrupt that.

"Renovations will be starting next week, and I'm sure the place will end up being quite popular," Masters finally finished his rambling.

"It sure sounds like it will. You certainly got yourself a great deal with Kensington, Mr. Masters. I'm curious, what is your negotiation method?" Bruce asked, hoping to gather more information.

Masters had been surprisingly adept at avoiding any conversation about the negotiations themselves, always sidetracking the discussion or giving half-answers. Drugs in the food was a good hypothesis and would be the best outcome for them, as such substances usually shouldn’t take too long to get out of their system.

Yet, it didn't explain how Masters' business partners seemed to stay committed to their contracts long after they were made. The furthest they had gotten from them was confusion about how they had reached the point where they accepted the contract's conditions. However, they all seemed convinced they had gotten the best outcome possible, despite obviously getting the short end of the stick.

It pointed to something besides drug usage. Maybe Masters got blackmail material from them while they were drugged? It would be easier to draw conclusions if Masters had even the smallest slip about it.

Masters smiled, taking a sip from his wine. "Ah, it takes years of practice, Wayne. It isn't something one can learn in a day, and only those with the capacity can master it," he said. Then, before Bruce could ask any follow-up questions, he continued, "Now, Daniel and young Mr. Drake sure seem to be taking their time."

"Oh, that doesn't surprise me," Bruce said, shaking his head with a fond smile, playing farther into his "Brucie" persona while lamenting the lost opportunities to get more leads on what Masters was doing. "They're around the same age. Surely they got distracted talking about whatever is of interest to kids their age these days."

"I would be glad if my godson got along so well with your son, Mr. Wayne," Masters said with a practiced smile, though a hint of calculation flickered in his eyes. He gestured vaguely with his wine glass, his tone deceptively sympathetic. "The loss of his family hasn't been easy for him, and building a connection with someone like Mr. Drake could be beneficial. However, it is quite rude to leave the guests waiting. As his guardian, I must address this. I’ll go search for them." Masters stated, standing up from his seat.

Luckily, Bruce didn't need to interject to stop Masters from interrupting his son's conversation with Danny, since the two boys appeared by the door as if summoned by Masters' comment. Danny visibly tensed the moment he spotted Masters standing in his place.

"Daniel, it's good you're finally back. I was about to go search for you," Masters said, throwing Danny a stern look.

Danny opened his mouth, probably about to apologize for the wait, but Tim beat him to it.

"So sorry, Mr. Masters. I had to take a shower before changing clothes."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Mr. Drake," Masters said as he looked Tim up and down, evaluating if what Tim was saying was true. His eyes lingered on Tim's wet hair for a moment, and the tension in his eyes relaxed a bit. "It is Daniel's fault for throwing the soup on you. Now, shall we continue with the dinner?" Masters sat once more on his chair.

"Should—" Danny started, slightly stuttering when Masters' eyes returned to him. "Should I serve new portions? Since the ones on the table are probably cold by now?" the intensity of Masters gaze increased with every word Danny said. In response, Danny lowered his gaze to the floor, and shifted nervously.

Danny's voice was way too small by the end of his sentence, but Bruce could sense some hidden urgency in his tone. Remembering that Danny was the one who had warned them about the food, Bruce could infer that he was trying to further prevent them from eating it. It gave Bruce the impression that Masters had also caught onto that fact, given how tense the man was.

He was grateful for the kid doing their best to protect them, but lamented putting them in a position where they had to risk confronting their abuser. Bruce really hoped Tim had convinced Danny to leave with them. It shouldn't be difficult to create a reasonable invitation for Danny after Masters' comment about how he was isolating himself.

"Good idea," Cass said with a gentle smile directed at Danny before Masters could make any move.

Masters' eyes narrowed slightly, but then he nodded. "Very well. Daniel, go ahead."

As Danny hurried to the kitchen, Bruce shared a subtle glance with Tim, who was retaking his seat beside Cass. Unfortunately, instead of the nod indicating that they could get Danny to leave with them if they created the opportunity, Tim just shrugged. It wasn't the sign for Danny refusing help, but the one for things being more complicated than they seemed. Bruce sighed, and before Danny returned from the kitchen, his phone rang. He excused himself to answer Babs' call, lamenting not being able to take Danny with them.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Bruce came back from his brief call with Babs with a worried face that Cass knew wasn't the one he made when actual "family emergencies" happened. It was exagerated and dramatic, it screamed "something terrible had happened," and was perfect for this kind of situations. Bruce quickly ushered Cass and Tim out, apologizing to Masters for the hasty departure. They barely had time to say goodbye to Danny, who had hurried back from the kitchen after Masters had shouted about seeing off the guests.

Cass noticed a subtle shift in Danny’s demeanor as they prepared to leave. His shoulders dropped slightly, and there was a fleeting look of relief in his eyes. However, that relief was overshadowed by the palpable fear that clung to him; his tense posture betrayed the anxiety he was trying to hide. It was hard to leave him behind, and Cass almost ran back when she caught sight of Vlad’s possessive hand on Danny’s shoulder and his venomous, angry eyes as she was walking out the door.

As soon as they were in the car, Tim immediately began checking the vehicle and himself for hidden microphones, with Bruce and Cass following his lead with little more than a raised eyebrow. Tim’s decision to search for bugs made sense once he explained that Danny’s room had been bugged,

"Honestly, Danny's so careful with his actions and words everywhere, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole property is bugged."

The drive back to the house they had rented was tense, the atmosphere in the car thick with unspoken concerns. Tim decided to use the ride home to update them on what he had seen. In turn, Bruce spoke about the dinner with Masters, detailing their regrettable failure to extract any additional information from the man. The evening ultimately boiled down to the suspicion that the food had been poisoned. Cass remained silent, not feeling up to talking.

She had her doubts about the food being poisoned; even if the poison hadn't shown any symptoms, her past training should have allowed her to identify it if she had consumed it. It seemed unlikely that Masters possessed a poison so sophisticated that she couldn’t detect it, and the thought only deepened her unease. She though back to how their hosts acted at the start of the dinner.

Danny looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. His eyes darted nervously between them and Masters, his hands trembling slightly as he served the food. The guilt and fear radiating from him were almost palpable, as if he believed he was committing an unforgivable sin by offering them the meal.

Masters, however, didn’t seem like he was planning to poison them. He behaved more like Damian’s classmates had when they once tried to trick him into eating non-vegan food at a gala. His smile was too easy, his gestures too casual, like someone who thought they were pulling off a harmless but cruel prank. It felt like he was purposely feeding them something he knew was outside their comfort zone and ethical beliefs, testing their reactions with a detached amusement.

From the very beginning, Cass had felt a deep discomfort about the food. The way Masters and Danny acted around it had set off her internal alarms. When she took the first bite of the meat, something immediately felt off. The texture was unfamiliar, and the taste was oddly unsettling—not in a way that clearly indicated poison, but in a manner that was subtly disturbing, she didn't know what she was eating. It made her skin crawl, and she couldn’t bring herself to take another bite.

The car coming to a stop in the house’s garage jolted Cass out of her thoughts. They all exited the vehicle, and Jason’s motorcycle was parked beside them as he opened the door. tightly clenched jaw. Like the rest of them, he was frustrated by their inability to take Danny with them, but he wasn’t vocalizing it because he was also worried about what they had eaten.

Once the door was opened, Bruce was ready to rush into his bedroom to get the poison antidote kit, but Jason stopped him,

"Hold on old man, I want to know what the note the kid gave Tim says. It may even say what poison was used; save us time."

"Mnn" Bruce said with a slight nod, and Tim started unfolding the paper in response.

The folded paper was as small as a pinky, but once unfolded, it revealed a full letter-sized sheet, and the text filled at least half of it. Tim skimmed the text as he usually did before reading aloud, but his face quickly drained of color. His eyes widened in horror and disgust. Instead of reading aloud, he kept running his eyes over the first line repeatedly, his gaze darting between Bruce and Cass. His jaw was clenched tightly, and he struggled to keep his composure, fighting against the bile rising in his throat. Cass couldn’t help but frown deeply, a growing sense of dread settling in as she wondered what the paper could possibly contain.

"Forgot how to read, replacement?" Jason said, his tone lacking its usual edge. He stood beside Tim, his expression a mix of uncertainty and concern, unsure whether to reach for the paper or not.

Tim takes a shudering breath, and Cass herself can't help but shift in her place, her anxiety growing, as they all wait for Tim to gain back his voice and finally read what Danny's note says.

"The meat on the food is human meat." Tim finally says with a strained voice.

There's a moment of silence in the room. Cass keeps her eyes on Tim, hoping, pleading, to find any signs that what she heard is wrong, but Tim only repeats the sentence. Her stomach churns violently as bile rises in her throat. Without effort, she sinks to the ground, her legs giving out as she begins to vomit. The pounding of her heart fills her ears, as black dots fill her sight and her hands tremble uncontrollably. She is dimly aware of Bruce doubling over beside her, and the sound of Jason hitting the wall.

She ate human meat. It may have just been a bite, but she ate human meat. The dinner had been made from human meat. Her mind recoiled at the abhorrent thought. The thought of the soup they were served makes her vomit once more. She gasps for air, her body shaking as she fights against the rising tide of revulsion, desperately trying to rid herself of the lingering taste and the horrifying realization of what they ingested. She feels Tims hand doing smalls circles in her back and realizes that tears had been falling from her face.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Danny's hands trembled as he injected himself with another dose of ectoplasm. The shaking made the syringe jab painfully as he withdrew it, causing drops of blood and ectoplasm to fall to the floor while the injury quickly healed. Ten minutes of continuous electrical shocks wasn’t the worst punishment he had received from Vlad, but it had the most severe drawbacks. His body had a harder time recovering from electrical damage than from any other kind of harm, and Vlad often exploited this weakness.

He took a deep breath as the last of the Lichenberg marks disappeared from his legs and arms, leaving only the ones he’d gotten from his death. He sat on the bathroom floor, staring at the ceiling, his legs and arms still trembling. He wasn’t sure if the tremors were from the electrical aftershocks or his own anxiety. Vlad had been furious about his little stunt with the soup and had once again reminded him that they weren't eating Danny’s friends because he was such a "compassionate guardian."

The reminder had thrown Danny into a couple of panic attacks once he was allowed to return to his room. He thanks he's advanced dissociative abilities for not having those panics attacks in front of Vlad. He doesn't wan't to know how the man would try to exploit that.

But even as his whole body trembles and aches, he doesn’t regret his decisions. This is his only chance for things to change. The Waynes are a powerful family with connections to the Justice League. While the League has not interfered with what has happened in Amity Park up till now, they might get involved if the Waynes reach out to them. It’s wishful thinking, and he’s risking a lot, but this gut-wrenching dinner has become the first glimmer of hope he’s had since his family’s death, and he’ll hold onto it with his half-life.

Once he's body stops trembling and he's head feels a bit clearer, he needs to text Sam and Tucker. He'll depend on them for this to not backfire on all denizens.

[dreamsandconstellations]

Song 21 be like:

[neverstayburied]

my thoughts on the mario movie so far

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji goes to Lotus Pier (No relation to the AU of the same name)

[First] Prev <–-> Next