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welcometothejianghu · 10 months

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Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 成化十四年/The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty

(The) Sleuth of (the) Ming Dynasty (it's hard to get an agreement on how many definite articles should go where) is a beautiful, high-budget 2020 drama about a weenie genius detective, his long-suffering and deeply traumatized sugar daddy, and the eunuch with the most difficult job in the Great Ming: keeping these two dumbasses from getting their fool selves imperially executed.

Depending on how you like it, it's either an OT3 or an OTP with an intense, underage third wheel, and either way, it's delightful. I wouldn't call it a comedy, but it has very many funny elements that keep the drama fun and engaging. The first half is full of shorter mysteries that are clever and thoughtfully plotted, and the second half goes in on the longer mystery that ties them all together.

I've already done my quick guide to the early-episode characters, if you want a taste of just how many people are running around and how wonderful they all are. But in case you want to know a little bit more before you commit yourself to a 48-episode series, here's five reasons I think you should watch it!

1. The whole thing smacks of gender

Yeah, this was originally going to be selling point #2, but I know what the people want.

This is not a show about gender. But boy it is a show that has a lot to say about gender, and not just by way of critiquing premodern Chinese gender roles (though it does do that!). Many of the cis characters are either a) somewhat gender nonconforming, b) canny enough to weaponize binary gender expectations, or c) both. Sui Zhou's entire third-act storyline is about how expectations of masculinity exacerbate PTSD in veterans. Three different AFAB characters either dress or live as men. The part where one of the male characters goes undercover in drag is played for laughs, but the joke isn't 'ha ha, a boy in a dress,' it's 'ha ha, this particular boy in a particular dress, and also he's terrible at it.'

And that's even before we get to the eunuchs.

There are several professionally dickless, permanently unmanned characters running around. One-third of the OT3 canonically had his external genitalia nonconsensually removed when he was five years old, and because of this, he has been given unimaginable authority. He's basically the second most powerful man in the entire empire, and he only gets that way by being unquestionably, ostentatiously, and genuinely submissive to the first most powerful man.

I have seen other Chinese media where eunuchs are treated like sinister clowns, good only to be the bad guys and the butts of jokes. Sleuth's main eunuchs are real and complex characters, and because of this, the show gets to explore what it is to live in this weird third-gender category of incredible power and powerlessness.

Now, don't go into this expecting woke gender treatises. Wang Zhi's never going to sit down and go, "You know, my friend and fellow eunuch Ding Rong, because of my lack of a penis, I understand my relationship to masculinity differently than other men do." But the show understands that even if he doesn't say it, it's true. And that makes a lot of the characters and their relationships just so much more interesting.

2. Uncle Jackie Money

Sleuth was the was the fourth c-drama I dove into, following the Untamed, Word of Honor, and Guardian -- or, Some Money BL, Less Money BL, and No Money BL. So imagine my absolute wall-eyed shock to find this was All The Money BL, courtesy of its executive producer, Jackie Chan (seen here with some of his handsome boys):

Sleuth looks good. The costumes are amazing. The sets are stunning. The cinematography is beautiful. Everything is so detailed, and while I can't speak to the absolute historical accuracy of all those details (see point 3), they're still gorgeous. In fact, you know what? I'm going to shut up and show you some of the promotional images.

(For actual screenshots, I'm just going to point you at @rongzhi's tsomd photoset tag, as they have done a tremendous service to the fan community -- though do beware of spoilers.)

Uncle Jackie's influence doesn't end with the money, though. Even though things get a bit goofy and wirework-y near the end, most of the drama's fights are shows of real martial arts skill. You can see his fingerprints on a lot of the choreography -- I'm thinking particularly of the time Tang Fan tries (and fails!) to stab Sui Zhou three times, which is pure Jackie Chan high-speed dexterity.

Add this one to the category of shows your Average American Television Enjoyer Who Can Handle Subtitles would like. In fact, I have shown the first episode to my normie father-in-law, who was impressed. Show it to your dad! See if he picks up on the gay!

3. I am from ... HISTORY!

The Chinese title translates to "The 14th Year of Chenghua," which works out to the year 1478. There are some clear anachronisms, but they tend to be played for comedy, so it's hard to hold that against them. On the whole, though, the show is trying real hard to evoke a very specific moment, and I feel it does so beautifully.

This does, however, mean that several of the characters are real people. I don't even have a good sense of how many of them are based on historical figures, that's how many. Hilariously, Wang Zhi's tag on AO3 used to read "Wang Zhi (?-1487 CE)."

Moreover, these are characters I've seen pop up in other media, played very differently! In particular, Noble Consort (up there in blue) tends to be written as an uncomplicated villain elsewhere, whereas Sleuth gives her a chance to add some goodness to her badness, until, damn, you can't but root for the bitch. (It also downplays the cradle-robbing, which, honestly, is for the best.)

You may have guessed from the eunuch section earlier, but it bears repeating: Wang Zhi is straight-up the best character in the show. He's smart as hell, and he has to be, because the second he's stupid, he's dead. I actually consider it helpful to know ahead of time that he's never going to do a heel turn -- I feel like on my first watchthrough, I was holding my breath for the first two-thirds of the show, waiting for his sudden but inevitable betrayal. It does not come. Wang Zhi is one of the heroes.

He's also, like, evil. He orders people flogged, tortured, and executed. The very first thing you see him doing is sinister as hell. And the show clearly doesn't think this is good, but it also doesn't judge him for it. He's a traumatized seventeen-year-old who has not had a normal moment of his entire life. He's working thanklessly for a boss who could kill him on a whim -- and he's doing it because he literally, physically was made for his job. He's mildly freaking out because he has no emotional grounding to help him understand that these weirdos want to be his friends.

Was the real Wang Zhi like this? That's beside the point. The point is, you get to see how someone in that position could wind up as the war-crimes-committing platonic ideal of a little meow meow.

4. oh my god the food

Warning: This show will make you hungry.

Again, beware of spoilers, but @peppersandcreamsicle and @qinzai have put together an entire cook-along Google Doc so you don't just have to drool -- you can do something about it! Or you can just read it and learn about Chinese cuisine, which is a little more my speed.

But it's not just about how good the food looks. Food is a vital emotional part of the series. People bond over it. They make and share it as a sign of love and care. It indicates status, ethnicity, interest, personality. The show's message about the healing power of cooking for the people you love will bring you to tears.

And yes, Sui Zhou is the main one doing the cooking, so get ready to drool over both the dishes and the handsome man preparing them.

Oh, and as though that weren't enough, Fu Meng Po can actually cook in real life. He's so dreamy. Absolute unreal handsome man with a devastatingly sexy voice. (I know my opinion might be different if I could hear his Taiwanese accent, but I can't so it's not!)

5. An Unsunk Ship

So like I said, my intros to c-drama couples had been WangXian, WenZhou, and WeiLan. That meant I'd basically come to terms with the idea that you can't have a main couple in a BL-but-not-really drama without splitting them up at least a little in the end, for no-homo plausible deniability reasons.

Tang Fan and Sui Zhou are still definitvely, unequivocally together when the story ends, as the iconic pentultimate scene of the series confirms with beauty and simplicity. I refuse to give any more details than that, but that ship's afloat.

(These shirtless pictures aren't from the end, but I wanted to include them, and I didn't have a better place to do it. ...Also, you know, ships and water? Yeah?)

And I think their winding up together reflects Sleuth's entire attitude. Tang Fan is made of sunshine, and the series loves him for it. There is tragedy aplenty in this show, but there's no misery. It is ultimately a hopeful show that believes in the power of second chances, if you're willing to take them. Time and again, the moral of the story is that you are only ever as good as the people who have your back -- but you have to be willing to let them have your back. Let people help you. Let people cook for you. Let people give you a reason to keep living. And then keep living.

Also, Sui Zhou gets two good kabedons off on that little twink, which means they're legally married now. I don't make the rules.

Bonus: Banger opening theme

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This is one you will watch all 48 times.

Bonus #2: The Halo Video

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This is the video that made me go, huh, these Sleuth boys seem like other boys I've enjoyed! Perhaps I shall enjoy them as well! And then I did. So if that might be convincing to you too, well, have at it. Even if it isn't, it's a fascinating three-minute study of shared those-boys-are-in-love visual language across these shows.

Fair warning that it contains shots from right up to the end, so if you'd rather go in completely blank, give this one a pass until later. (Excuse me while I now go watch it for the 10000th time.)

Have I convinced you to watch it yet?

It originally ran on iQiyi, though Viki's got it as well, and Viki's is free if you're willing to put up with some ads about it.

...I just noticed iQiyi's description of the series reads, "When the two handsome leading actors Darren Wang and Fu Meng-Po work together, what will happen? A lovely prefectural judge and an arrogant embroiered [sic] uniform guard join hands to crack unusual cases! Are you going to choose a new idol?" And you know what? Yes. The details are a little off, but that is the correct spirit. Thank you, thirsty blurb.

#sleuth of the ming dynasty #the sleuth of ming dynasty #tsomd #成化十四年 #sloof #i made this #rec post

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g-xix · 10 months

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Love I would make an omelette if you do a NSFW alphabet for either one of the Cals. 🍳🍳🍳

LOVE U, LOVE OMLETTES OMDS <33 And ofc you can get an NSFW alphabet for the wonderful CalLUX cuz he's CUTE like fuck, proof:

Cutie. Anyways, here's the alphabet (+ link to KSI and W2S's versions!)

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A = Aftercare (what they're like after sex) I think after doing it he wants to make sure you're all okay. He skedaddles to get a damp towel to clean you up and to press to the back of the neck to cool you down.... Also asks a lot to make sure you're physically okay and asks whether he was good enough- almost sounds like he's worried for you, but you know it's just his way of showing love and concern

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner's) Thighs. Love, love, loves your thighs. Loves how they're just so soft and comfy- he's a mix of either wanting to lie his head on your thighs and rest, or wanting his head to be between your thighs with your fingers threaded through his hair

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically) He's so fucking good at giving head- like, it's unbelievable. Headcannon is that after you've cum, he'd lick your thighs and core all over again just to taste your cum- even though your legs were already fucking shaking from post-orgasm overstim

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs) One time whilst you were abroad on a girls holiday he felt really horny all day and didn't know what to do... Ended up looking through your insta and pleasuring himself whilst looking at pictures of you. Post-nut clarity he realised how weird he was for doing that and never told anyone (occasionally in conversation he gets a flashback to it and completely blanks out of the convo in sheer horror)

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they're doing?) I think w Lux you would've gotten into a relationship quite early on, and did your first times with one another. Pretty much all experience you've had is just with one another, so whilst it was quite awkward and intermittent at first- the two of you are now experienced and know exactly what you're doing with one another

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying) Missionary. He is a LOVE MAKER, and being able to see your face contort with each thrust, be able to lean down and press kisses between your chest and mark up your collarbones that easily is something too good to pass up on for Cal

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.) You two are so comfy in the relationship that yeah, you can joke mid-sex. Whilst he's bottomed out you could look up at him and joke What, did you put it in? and he can say whatever jokes he wants back

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.) I feel like he doesn't have much hair growth as it is, so it's not really chaotic down there. Keeps it clean and shaves if he needs to, he isn't really bothered and neither are you

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect) Quite intimate and loving in the moment. You've done rough sex before whilst you two were really fucking horny, but generally sex with Cal is a lot more personal and intimate + you leave feeling well and truly ♡loved♡

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon) Knows he can't always have sex when he's horny and you're busy, so he tries to wait for you instead of jacking off... but I reckon if he couldn't wait, then he'd have you completely in his mind whilst doing it

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks) PRAISE. I feel like it's a two way street asw. He's one to praise you for how "fucking gorgeous" you are and how "beautiful you look under me"... But he loves being praised too- told he's doing so well and he feels so good... All the praise goes STRAIGHT to his head

L = Location (favorite places to do the do) You know back when Harry, and Cal² lived together in an apartment block, they had a hot tub and gym area on the roof? I reckon that after a long week, you and Cal would go up there to relax, but end up just dogging over (or sometimes in) the tub, surprisingly turned on by the risk-factor of someone just walking up and being able to see the two of you going at it

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going) Cuddling and just being all domestically loving. I think a few little kisses behind his ear, a few hugs from behind and wrapping your legs around his own... It doesn't turn him on per say, just makes him love you and want to develop that chaste kissing into him kissing between your legs whilst you praise him and squeeze your thighs around his head

N = No (something they wouldn't do, turn offs) Age play. First heard about it at a shoot when someone said "He's so old they must have some weird sort of age-play sex life", and Cal hadn't a clue what that meant. After asking, he was mortified at the idea of pretending to be younger or older than himself or you were.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.) Giver. Such a giver because of how much he loves hearing your moans and the way his name sounds rolling off your lips between your whines. And the way he holds your plush thighs with such force he knows they'll bruise- but you still push them together around his head, giving him such pleasurable headrush as he licks between your legs, savouring every fucking moment between your folds

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.) Slow + sensual, if you couldn't have guessed it. There's no rush to make one another cum- he's holding your hand and praising you whilst he thrusts, telling you how perfect you are

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.) Not really into them- never really has had the need for a quickie. If you two have plans but you can't wait to rip one anothers' clothes on, then you'll scrap the plans- send off a voicenote between pants and rugged breaths that you'll "have to reschedule", or for the others to go without you. If ever you can't make it to nights out because the two of you are too busy fucking before you've even left the flat, Cal will make you send a voicenote apologising whilst he thrusts into you at a punishing pace, leaving you to try and regulate your voice and not fucking moan as you explain to whoever's on the phone.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.) That long into the relationships? Yeah, experimenting is alright but it's not all that common for you two. Vanilla's quite satisfying and whilst experimenting is all good, sometimes you just find it gets in the way.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?) Tbf I think Cal could go a few rounds, but he's more into making you go more rounds. He's eating you out first, then pushing two of his long fingers into your overstimulated hole and scissoring them to your second orgasm. Chest heaving and words almost whispers between heavy breaths, you're persuaded to go yet another round by his sweet praises and coos, and make it through to the third round- legs twitching and barely able to walk after Cal's antics

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?) You own toys and he's happy with just using a hand for himself. Has used a toy on you before during sex though, and was surprised by how much you liked it... Sometimes if it's lying not too far away, whilst he pounds you he'll hold a vibe to your clit because he knows how much difference it makes for you

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease) A little bit, likes to tease you verbally with little maims like "Awh can't you take anymore?" but ends up praising you afterwards anyways because he can't taunt you without telling you how "beautifully fucked-out" you look...

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.) He isn't too loud, a few quiet groans... He mainly goes for dirty-praise talking you instead of making noises. You on the other hand let out moans and tell him how good he feels- but generally neither of you are stupidly loud. You look to keep it in the bedroom where it's only you two hearing one another's noises

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character) Tried phone sex once... Whilst you were on a business trip one night, down on the Isle of Man whilst he was bored and horny in London, he called you to check if you were free. He got his hand, you got your massager, and the two of you got started on yourselves, your high whines and moans music to Cal's ears even if it was through his phone's speakers

X = X-ray (let's see what's going on under those clothes) Probs a bit above average and grows when he gets erect to an impressive six-seven inches. Maybe a bit on the less girthy side, but it never fails to leave you feeling completely fucked full.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?) Not very high tbh, he doesn't have a really high sex drive. You have the higher sex drive so whenever your horny he generally just takes it as an opportunity to give you head or fuck you

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards) Not interested in sleeping afterwards, probably wants to care for you instead.

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Hope you enjoyed reading!! Feel free to interact- whether that be a comment, vote or follow! Requests open, feel free to submit what u wanna see... Much love!!

To see more, here's my MASTERLIST

And here's my WATTPAD, with 50+ more oneshots to read

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rodgewp · 1 year

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Never finished B&W1. Really need to try B&W2 though

#my art #fanart #pokemon #bianca pokemon #Bianca #pokémon black and white

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ghostypetrainer · 1 year

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Thinking about the "captured!Ingo vs. Emmet plus literally all of his and Ingo's pokemon" fight in the Modern Zoroark Possession AU. And. Uh.

First of all if we include all of the pokemon Ingo and Emmet use in B&W and B2&W2 plus the four pokemon you've mentioned black fox!Ingo having. That's. That would be like 17 pokemon. Which is a lot more than six. (I can absolutely see Emmet being willing to break regulations on how many pokemon can be carried at a time here tho. Especially given the circumstances. Also. He will need all the help he can get, so I vote to let him use all 17.)

Secondly. Out of all 17 of those pokemon. None have a type advantage against Ingo. Only two would have supereffective moves against him (Durant and Chandelure). And of those two, Durant is the only one Ingo wouldn't have any supereffective moves against.

If the events of the Modern Zoroark Possession AU take place after Black and White (which would make sense), then I'd guess most of the pokemon Emmet are using could arguably be in the upper 60s in terms of level. However. Ingo is level 100. So uh. Depending on his effort levels and nature he could have over 400 in special attack. Idk how natures or effort levels would work with like... an actual person though.

Steel and Dark types would work best defensively against the moves you've listed Ingo as having, but he'd have at least one effective move for each of the pokemon Emmet could possibly send out. (5/17 of Ingo and Emmet's pokemon are steel types. None are dark type.) Granted, every single one of those seventeen pokemon would have at least one effective move against Ingo. So. That's Something, at least.

So! In conclusion, that battle was definitely absolutely insane even if you completely ignore all of the closely associated angst. Ingo can probably one shot a significant chunk of his and Emmet's pokemon. Also Durant probably played a significant role in Emmet winning. Either that or Emmet carries a lot of dark type tms around and had at least some time to prepare.

Well starting off, if we're going off of Chandelure and Durant's game movesets... they would not have any super-effective moves to use against Ingo. Hisuian Zoroark are normal/ghost, which means they're completely immune to ghost type moves! (As well as fighting and normal type moves.) In fact, the only moves that deal super-effective damage against one are dark type moves... which none of Ingo and Emmet's combined group of Pokemon have on their game movesets. Oops!

But yeah- suffice to say, it's one rough battle! On one hand, at least he's not getting the frenzy power boost that he would in the mainline zoroark possession AU... but on the other hand, that battle has three different trainers engaging with it (Emmet, Elesa, and Akari). Here there's just Emmet!

It's one hell of a battle. Emmet likes to joke afterwards that the real reason Ingo is no longer a Subway Boss after things have settled isn't because he was removed from his position by a court of law... but because Emmet banned his broken ass from the Subway. Legandaries and Ingos banned. Those are the rules, yup!

#asks #zoroark possession au #but make it modern #submas #emmet voice: But I won anyways. That means I am the stronger trainer #ingo: I don't think that's how it works #emmet: it verrry much is how it works.

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doktorpeace · 8 months

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The Great All Generation Nuzlocks Roundup - Part 2

A continuation of Part 1, this encompasses the remaining games.

BLACK 2 - I love you Unova I love you so much you're so fucking good. I know B/W1 like the back of my hand, they're like home to me. So I went with B/W2 for additional challenge and just because of the broader encounter variety. Little did I suspect, that fate would have something in store for me.

This game had by far the most tumultuous early game, and it is in fact the game I wiped most in! I wiped three times before the second badge, and two of those were at Cheren! However, soldiering on, we eventually broke through the early game and clean through to the opposite side of a run. For most of this run a core contributor was a Magneton which I gave Eviolite to. As expected, a Steel/Electric type with 1.5x defensive stats is incredible for in game purposes, however, I blundered them away late in the run. Despite being consistent and undeniably helpful, I wasn't all that torn up by the loss. It actually freed up my team to have less type weakness overlap! This is definitely one of the stronger teams overall we got, with Whimsicott in particular truly surprising me with the sheer number of enemies it could just sit on and whittle down at little to no risk. A true champion.

But most importantly of all, our friend returned to us! A 10% chance of encounter, in only one location, Chargestone Cave. I didn't even know Nosepass could appear there! I was ecstatic and broke naming convention for the return of our true friend, Cao Cao the Probopass. This run, which had overcome the trials of the early game, now held the Mandate of Heaven and was destined for success. But getting through wasn't enough. Our true quest was now getting Cao Cao through to the end.

Unlike in Platinum, he had a +Sp. Attack nature this time and with Power Gem could dish out some serious damage! A very slow Volt Switch also allowed him to safely pivot us into our other team members to keep momentum up and enable a lot of powerful plays. Mienshao was a remarkable lategame encounter who truly did a lot to trivialize the late and endgame and paired well for a Volt/Turn core with Cao Cao. A very powerful team indeed, though Ampharos was mostly just There and saw no use in any major battle. She simply was late game, just-in-case backup filler after we lost Magneton on the Plasma Frigate.

In the end, not only did we succeed in getting our new friend through to the end of the game. He even dealt the finishing blow to Champion Iris. Fate blessed us with a second chance and we did not squander it!

In his well earned retirement, we've managed to move him all the way up to Paldea, thanks to his return in Kitakami. Any Region, Any Adventure, True Friends Always Stick Together!!

I love Unova and now I have another great memory thanks to it. Truly the GOAT region.

This game had a nickname theme - Food Biproducts, and Cao Cao

Total Wipes - 3 (Wild Magnemite Gym Leader Cheren Gym Leader Cheren)

Y - I hadn't played through Y except the once at launch, so I was honestly rather excited to give it another try. I did, however, challenge myself to not use any of the gift pokemon given to the player since you can make a whole team of them and I had a great time for it.

Gameplay wise, I quite like Kalos. It has great aesthetics and introduced pretty much nothing but great new designs. Unfortunately, however, it contains Writing and Characters and that part is basically all bad. I do think there's a seed of an interesting story with Lysandre and Team Flare but like, damn, they totally beefed it on this one, lmao.

Oh well, at least I had fun! And I don't have much else to say.

Aerodactyl and Snorlax were our absolute GOATs this run, plowing through most of the game. We actually blundered away Oats on the literal last trainer in Victory Road by not playing around a crit and I REALLY didn't want to grind up another Pokemon, so I simply carried his fainted body through the Elite Four and Diantha, largely on the back of Garchomp. This run really did endear me more to Garchomp, whom I've never used before and never been the biggest fan of. Even with a -Attack nature in the Fairy Region she simply annihilated everything I set her upon. Great pokemon, makes any team dramatically better for having it, lol.

Overall Kalos was exactly as mediocre as I remembered. But a mediocre Pokemon game is still quite fun minute to minute, so it's not all bad and it really let me look forward to the next region, which does away with TMs and is generally excellent.

Garchomp Sweep.

Total Wipes - 1 Gym Leader Viola

SUN - I recently played through Ultra Sun for the first time and jeez that game is quite the letdown compared to the vanilla version. Almost every change made worsens the experience in some way, and in many cases outright erases core character's arcs. It's not totally without merit, but picking vanilla Sun was an easy choice.

Alola is just plain fun. I had a great time but also don't have much to say! This run overall went pretty smoothly with the only critical loss being our Decidueye at Aether Paradise super late in the game! As a result, Exeggutor was a super late filler who ended up doing almost nothing.

Almost every member of this team impressed me though. I genuinely did not know Toucannon was so good! An incredible moveset and genuinely great stats for the early and mid game let him do a ton of work! Undeniably falls off late, but that's okay. Eviolite Charjabug is also shockingly great as a pivot and defensive stopgap for most of the game. It was almost better unevolved than fully evolved, lol. The real star of this team in the late game was Carracosta, what a beast. Shell Smash setups with sturdy and wide lens for high base power, perfectly accurate STAB just CRUSHED the elite four, champion, and final Hau fights.

Alola was fun, easy breezy, and a nice step up from Y, though I think it's the game that took by far the longest to clear. It does have a lot of cutscenes, but I like the charcaters and story so that's fine.

Total Wipes - 0

SHIELD - I'm a Galar appreciator. This region has issues but the core gameplay experience is not one of them. In fact, I think Galar has one of the strongest campaigns in the series for purposes like this, it's very Arcade-like. Brisk pacing, a well balanced difficulty curve, a shockingly tough final boss, and just a great and fun mechanic in dynamaxing. This game is a lot of fun to play through and I was pretty happy to get to return to it. I love cooking curry and playing with my funny guys in camp but I had to be careful not to do that so it wouldn't give me mechanical benefits, lol.

On the story side it's thin boned and that's fine, imo. After several generations of more serious or involved stories it's a nice palette cleanser for the franchise and further it helps serve the core experience of this game being 'you start the game and are in the wild area with access to 100+ species within 30-45 minutes'. There is truly no region better for, simply, playing through with a new set of 6 guys you've never used before. Even with that thin plot I still think Hop is the best rival in the franchise's history. He has a strong, easily identifiable character arc and uses the most different species of any trainer in the entire series besides N, who's whole thing is he uses completely different teams every time.

Hop struggles with inferiority to Leon and then to you and in the mid game dramatically changes his team around several times just to try and beat you! He even boxes his starter for one of them and NO other rival does that! In the postgame he realizes he's not necessarily in the top 1% of battling trainers, but pursues a career as a researcher which is great! I really like Hop, he's ace. I just wish his final team weren't so shit though. He uses so many different, cool, species and his final team has both Dubwool and Snorlax on it, for some reason? It's weird.

Anyway, I love playing through this region and this team rocked. I blundered away several encounters, including losing Badnik the Golisopod, at level 50, to Raihan because I didn't pay attention to the fact that his Duraludon has Rock Type coverage. Mantine was a very late filler pick, however, he actually accomplished a good bit and was a great teammate for what little time we had him.

This team has the biggest gap in level between its top runner and 6th man, and that's largely because I saved every rare candy in the game to ensure Cinderace specifically was equal to Leon's Charizard before that fight. It's such a strong mon I wanted to maximize what it could do. This region does have extremely few encounters outside of the Wild Area so it had two modifications to normal encounter rules - 1) In areas with no Wild Encounters (the two Mines) the first pokemon I run into is my encounter. One was a Drillbur and the other was Badnik, both of which I lost :(

2) I'm allowed to have one encounter from the Wild Area each time the game directs me there, for a total of three. Once right at the start, once after clearing Kabu's Gym, and once after clearing Raihan's gym. For these, I still took Random Encounters from shaking grass, but I did allow myself the nicety of choosing which region I wanted them from.

Overall, the former had a moderately large impact on the run since Golisopod was a great encounter but the latter didn't end up mattering really at all.

The true star of this run was our Route 1 encounter, Greedent. He is Him. Payback is the first TM in the game, immediately giving him a 100BP Dark move to hit ghosts with. Body Slam for STAB, Cheek Pouch gives RIDICULOUS survival with sitrus berries (58% extra HP in every battle! Equal to basically 150 extra health in the mid and late game!) all game long, stockpile for defensive boosts, rest to net heal even while continuously attacked. He swept the ghost gym, he swept the fairy gym. He swept half of Leon's team, including Haxorus and Dragapult. HE IS HIM!!! Greedent is so fucking strong and is my friend, I love you Greedent.

This game is the first time since Crystal where our starter made it all the way through.

Total Wipes - 0

VIOLET -

RAAAAAAUUGGGHH THIS GAME RUNS LIKE DOGSHIT LMAO!!!! IT'S BEEN LIKE 6 MONTHS AND IT STILL RUNS AWFUL!!!!!!!

However, I do like Violet for what it is. It lacks so may QoL features and just generally basic niceties and polish and yet it's so much more than the sum of it's parts. I guess that's what happens when you get the author of Cowboy Bebop to help write your game's story. Like, imaging getting that guy and then rushing the game out after a ONE YEAR development cycle. Geez.

Paldea itself is a fairly forgettable region that is full to bursting with incredible Pokemon designs and characters. It's the small things that are memorable rather than the region itself and I truly wish to see a 'complete' version of this game someday. Hopefully, the game being rightfully lambasted and made a mockery for releasing blatantly unfinished and buggy as fuck will light a fire under The Pokemon Company's ass and force them into actually giving GameFreak time to produce their damn games! You know GF themselves want to put out better than this!

Still, it has its strengths. Again, the scenario design and gameplay are quite fun and they're what I would consider the only 'truly' nonlinear Pokemon games. Gens 1 and 2 have 'Fake Nonlinearity' since doing things in a nonlinear fashion is basically a waste of time and effort. Those games were still made with specific paths in mind, but Paldea wasn't (mostly). While the gyms, titans, and team star encounters each have set levels, you're still free to do them out of order and you actually get the breadth of the region to explore and run around basically immediately. If you master some basic movement tech you can get practically anywhere without any of Koraidon/Miraidon's upgrades, too! The one true downside to this is only Gym Badges increase Pokemon obey levels when it really should be any badges that do.

For encounters in this game I only got encounters via Tera Raid Dens (Besides the Starter and Poco Path, which can't have Raid Dens) since those are truly random! This region also has BY FAR the fewest possible encounters with this method, at only thirty-ish, which makes every last one count! Thankfully, with easy access to vitamins, EXP candies, and nature changing mints, maximizing your few encounters is easy and fun.

Getting a Steel Tera Type Applin as our very first random encounter set the stage for the whole run. Eviolite Dipplin was an unbreakable monster. Dragon/Grass coverage with Recover and Reflect made a mockery even of super effective hits and crits. This whole team is slow and bulky (besides Cetitan) but Dipplin was the slowest and bulkiest of all by a mile. All six members worked in great harmony and were able to overcome all challenges without any real risk or nail biter moments. They were just plain consistent and strong. Lumineon is a firmly Mediocre Pokemon, but thanks to aforementioned mints and vitamins, we were able to max out his HP and Physical Defense. With Leftovers, Aqua Ring, and the debuffing moves Chilling Water and Icy Wind, he could turn any physical threat into setup fodder for Skeledirge (Torch Song), Muk (Minimize), Dudunsparce (Coil), or Cetitan (Snowscape + Slush Rush). This team's playstyle was often slow and methodical but could explode into vicious sweeps very easily.

Cetitan in particular truly just bowled over the endgame. The Elite 4, Champion, Final Nemona and Final Boss all got swept mostly or entirely by Cetitan after a single turn of setup with Snowscape. Slush Rush with Ice/Ground STAB on Ice Spinner and Earthquake just annihilated everything. What a monster, I love my huge whale friend. This team was basically perfect and nothing could challenge their stability and strength. A truly excellent note to end on.

This team reached it's 'final' state earliest of all, solidifying after just the fifth gym, whose level cap is 36 while Muk's evolution is 37.

This game is the only one where I completed all endgame content, and still lost no major team members.

Total Wipes - 1 (Team Star Leader Atticus)

I love Pokemon. It's a fun and fantastic series. It's got its ups and downs and right now it's definitely far from what it could, or should, be. But it's just such an impossible to fuck up gameplay loop it's just FUN to raise and bond with new guys!

If you've read this far, thank you! I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my experiences, and I'm willing to field questions!

My kingdom for Gen 10 to get a six year dev cycle.

#Pokemon #Nuzlocke

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bones-and-bluebells · 2 months

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Welcome to the bone garden! 🦴🥀

Bluebell - She/Her - 20s - Ace

Themes to be cautious of:

- Yandere behavior (Only platonic though. I don’t like romantic…)

- Religious themes/Cult behavior (I enjoy a good cult AU every so often)

- Horror (this includes but is not limited to gore, eldritch beings, monsters, and cannibalism)

- Forced Infantilism (Characters treating reader as though they are younger than what they actually are)

Fandoms:

- Welcome Home

- Pokémon (B/W, B2/W2, SW/SH, Scar/Vio, LA)

- Twisted Wonderland

- Obey Me

- Honkai Star Rail

- Genshin Impact

- Murder Drones

- Danganronpa

- Black Butler

- BNHA

Rules:

- Be nice (I’m not very confident in my writing)

- If I don’t write your request, don’t take it personally

- I don’t write romantic (might change in the future) or sexual scenarios so please keep it platonic

- Platonic scenarios are my life force even if there’s no yandere involved.

#pinned post #multi fandom #welcome home #pokemon #twisted wonderland #genshin impact #platonic yandere #genshin cult au #genshin sagau #murder drones #danganronpa #obey me #obey me shall we date #bnha #black butler

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aria0fgold · 9 months

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Hi, I'm Aria! Am now 24 years old >:3

'tis me ^ (old art but it's all I got. resized to tiny. as I am.)

'tis me too ^ (new art yay! resized as tiny once again.)

Any pronouns okay! I don't mind really! I use she/her for myself :3

Am writer!!! Aria0fGold in ao3 too, and a beginner artist! I have many interests :D But I'm currently hyperfixated on two, OMORI and Mahoutsukai no Yakusoku (Mahoyaku/mhyk for short). You're gonna see me talk a lot bout em.

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List of My OMORI AUs ehe

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Other interests are:

Detective Conan (Conan my disastrous son...)

Project Sekai (Emu is a sweetheart of a daughter and Akito is a rebellious son whose white knight card never came home)

AI: The Somnium Files (Mizuki and Iris are my daughters now and I will follow Boss to the ends of the world)

Pokemon (My childhood, only played up to B/W2 though and pmd sky? + the time one. It's been years since then)

TWEWY (Neku was a jerk but he was my jerk of a son and you're doing good sweetie)

Honkai Impact 3rd (Rarely play it now but Seele and Veliona are my daughters, Elysia and Eden are my queens)

Genshin Impact (Barely play it now too but Qiqi, Noelle, and Yoimiya are my daughters. And I hate Childe[lovingly])

Honkai Star Rail (Active in it, Asia server ehe. Seele all grown up now, proud of her. I hate Luocha and Kafka[lovingly])

And many more!!! Those are the ones I can list off the top of my head but there's lots more, like other anime, games, manga, manwha, manhua, songs (Mili)!

I love OCs too! I love anyone's OCs! I have a lot of OCs but you'll sometimes see me talking about mainly 5 (Alec, Ray, Water, Sephirah, Mel) + 1, the plus one is my OMORI OC that I've been neglecting for a while, sorry bout that Patch, dear.

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A list of my tags! I need this myself too:

aria rants - for when I talk about nearly anything

aria rbs - for reblogs (aria srb for self reblog)

ariart - for my art! :3

arianswer - for when I answer asks!

ariau - for my AUs! It's mainly OMORI AUs though!

ariawrites - for the very rare writing I put out

ariafic - for posting links of fics that I've written :D

ariaplays: [name of game here] - for when I live blog some of my reactions for a game I'm playing, used it for aistf! (ariaplays: aistf, the tag for it basically)

There's more, I'm sure there's more, but I can't remember them... But those are the main ones I use anyway so that's fine!

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Some more stuff about me:

Can be very talkative, I like rambling in the tags a lot, I put many additional thoughts there ehe.

I adore Omori (character) a lot, he is the bestest ever. And I adore Cain Knightley very much, and Owen, and I am a caiowe/owecai shipper (they make me insane)

There's multiple ships that I like in OMORI. I like photobomb, as well as sunflower, and kel/basil (I failed you both I'm sorry I don't know your shipname), suntan, sunny/aubrey (I failed em too, I'm sorry my brain aint braining well with remembering shipnames). Even the polycule ships are nice too. And heromari, of course :D

Feel free to send me asks! or dms! or tag me! I don't mind really, I like interacting with people. But at the same time I can be an awkward bunny that also doesn't know how to interact with people... unless you're a mutual, you'll be seeing me a lot then >:3

It's a surprise really how I managed to have mutuals, I love yall <3

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Aaannndd that's a wrap! Might edit this in the future to add more or something but I'm satisfied with this for now! Thank you for reading and have a nice day ehe! :3

#aria rants #introduction #this was harder than i thought #but it was fun nonetheless ehe!#aria intro #yea most of my tags consist of my name cuz why not #new pinned

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tarofairey · 3 months

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she still has two more years at blueberry, but i think lacey would already be mulling over her post-secondary education. looking at options. maybe considering studying overseas. but should she hold off on university, challenge the unovan league first? and what career would she even want? growing up is hard.

unova’s first fairy type e4 member sounds nice, though. or even champion. but if the current champ is the b/w or b2/w2 protag ( i.e. impossible to dethrone ) she’ll have to settle for being an elite lol.

#[ ooc. ]

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themattress · 1 year

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Why "Team Rocket VS. Team Plasma!" was permanently shelved, summed up in 15 seconds.

As we reach the end of the month that started with the scripts' release, I continue to think about how...cosmically absurd, borderline hilarious in a morbid way the whole situation is. Reading the script for Part 2 and seeing how Team Plasma was utilized, it really cannot be overemphasized just how badly Tomioka and the writers on Best Wishes bet the farm on Team Plasma circa Pokémon Black/White. The Myth Arc of the show was to center around the dual Heroes legend with Zekrom and Reshiram and how Team Plasma uses the legend for their "Pokémon liberation" operation. Ash reaching the Unova League and all the Gym Leaders he meets along the way there, Iris' heritage from the Village of Dragons and her empathetic bond with Dragon-types, Cilan's position as a Pokémon Connoisseur, Team Rocket's campaign to conquer Unova...all of those were supposed to link into this Myth Arc. In the earliest episodes of the series, you can even clearly see evidence of that. Just look:

But then a double whammy of Kafka-esque proportions occurred virtually back-to-back: the 3/11 disaster and Game Freak going with sequels, Black 2/White 2, rather than an updated special edition of Black/White. All that set-up above was rendered for naught, and the originally planned Myth Arc had to be abandoned in favor of a new one reflecting Black 2/White 2. And this is why even though "Team Rocket VS. Team Plasma!" is technically still a story in the Japanese version of the show, the episodes themselves couldn't be shown, because otherwise, well, the reaction in the video would transpire among viewers. Instead, Japanese viewers have access to the bare minimum of knowledge that Team Rocket and Team Plasma came to blows over the Meteonite until Pikachu destroyed it, after which Team Plasma retreated back into the shadows and Team Rocket was left to start over from scratch. Without the episodes to contradict anything, you can still imagine Team Plasma still being their B2/W2 selves in this brief conflict, with Ash and friends learning nothing about them.

After this, the only real holdover from the original Myth Arc is BW066, where an obviously intended return appearance from B/W style Team Plasma was cut and the Golden Dark Stone needed to summon Zekrom goes unused after being obtained; the only reason the episode was still permitted to exist is that the Heroes legend itself and Cedric Juniper's involvement in researching it ended up being a part of the new Myth Arc too, which also mixes Reshiram, Dragonspiral Tower and N's character development from B/W in with a story based on B2/W2 (The evil Team Plasma, led by Dr. Colress at Ghetsis' behest, kidnaps and experiments on Pokémon as part of a grand scheme to control a legendary Dragon-type so they can conquer Unova by force, with N having left them and now being out to stop them, which ultimately results in a climax at an out-of-the-way location connected to said legendary Dragon-type that Ghetsis wants under his control and at its maximum power). As Myth Arcs go it's a good one, harmed mainly by being needlessly truncated and not provided the ending it deserved, but it's also clearly not how Best Wishes was supposed to go when it began production. @ultraericthered put it best: "what was meant to be experimental, groundbreaking and truly epic in a way unseen in the anime up to that point ultimately became just another Atsuhiro Tomioka series." It's still my favorite of the Tomioka Pokeani series, but when the competition is the pandering cowardice of XY and the....everything of Diamond & Pearl, that's not saying too much. However, it certainly does make it objectively the most interesting series to look back at and analyze, not to mention elements from "Team Rocket VS. Team Plasma!" were salvaged and Team Rocket's villainous story arc was not severely impacted by the whole kerfuffle, so did things really turn out so bad?...Yes, no, and halfway between, tbh.

#Pokemon #Best Wishes #Team Rocket vs. Team Plasma #Analysis #What Could Have Been #Funny #Sad #Tragedy #Executive Incompetence #They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot #This has been a PSA

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famewolf · 2 years

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this is honestly the most fun I've had in a pokemon game since about B&W2/X&Y ! there are it's obvious issues, like performance and glitches which sucks ... this could've been such a beautiful release if they had just pushed it back

either way though, I am having a blast playing S&V. I used to blast through the game on release week, but the way this one is set up makes exploring every corner of it really enjoyable and worth it

love the little League gifts at the pokecenters and the milestone gifts for the Pokedex too! and so glad they kept the different sized pokemon. makes me stop and look for the biggest one i can find

#[static]#pokemon #pokemon violet #pokemon scarlet

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thunderblessedhero · 1 year

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Pinned Post

———

Hello! You may call me N, I’m a traveler from Unova who’s decided to- um, document my journey here, I suppose?

My dear partner’s blog: @pinkhairandpokemon

-N

———

Other Pokémon:

-Nox (M Zoroark)

-Dirge (M Hydreigon)

-Gizmo (Rotom)

Current Arc: Frozen Over

Past Arcs:

#Interlude Arc

#Muse Mixup Madness: What Once Went Right

This blog is connected to @pinkhairandpokemon, my OC Blake is the B/W protagonist in that universe. More info on my OCverse is on the pinned post over on that blog.

This takes a place a few months/almost a year after B/W, so B/W2 hasn’t happened yet. I mean you can mention the events of those games if you want I guess but you’ll just confuse N lol

Also in this universe the king of Plasma’s identity was never revealed to the public, so if ur character does know who N is he’s going to deny it lmao

If you’re wondering why he talks about having Zekrom so freely, it’s because 1. In this world the general public is pretty aware that some people just Have legendaries (like for example Quartz having Dialga and Blake having Reshiram) and 2. Alder told everyone that Team Plasma released Zekrom after the attack on the League, and never specified it was N who was her chosen, so the general assumption is that Zekrom found N some time after Team Plasma released her. If that makes sense.

(Update: he’s a bit more open about the Team Plasma stuff now, since he’s kinda realized hardly anyone here is from his timeline and already know who he is anyways. He’ll probably still refrain from speaking about it too much though.)

One last heads up: N is very smart, mod is Not. so I apologize in advance if he feels ooc I’m trying my best

#pokemon #pokemon rp #pkmn rp #pokeblog intro #pokeblog rp #pokeblogging #introduction post #interlude arc

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nat-stimmy · 1 year

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Anyone who says that SVs writing was bad is straight up lying they had an adult teacher apologize on behalf of the staff that failed bullied students rather than try to blame the students themselves for lashing out. Like c'mon. Come On.

NO LITERALLY THOUGH this game easily has one of the strongest storylines i think we've ever gotten in a game apart from b/w/b2/w2. genuinely Arven's storyline threw me for such a loop it was GREAT.

the school was such a breath of fresh air and team star was great and nemona is the best rival we've gotten i thought she was a joy to have around. like she and i are both very obviously autistic for pokemon this girl is NEURODIVERGENT

also if im being 100% honest, as a person who adores basically every pokemon game? pokemon games are not really known for having Deep Thoughtful Introspective stories. like none of the older games had that and its why Unova was so divisive at the time. i remember the discourse!!! i was there WHEN THE GAMES CAME OUT.

i think people are being way way too hard on these games because of the performance issues because genuinely i think that s/v are amazing visually and have a really good story and are also very fun to play even when its laggy

#not stim #asks #pokemon

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xxdemondogxx · 9 months

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Oooooo

I really like Orbémon Gen V too. Actually I like all of them even the ones you haven’t played yet but probably will have some bizarre 4th wall based clairvoyance for.

I would say my absolute least favorite is Orbémon X & Y, due to it feeling like the the New Super Break Siblings of the series. 2nd least favorite world be Sword & Shield even though ironically I think it fascinates me the most due to so many elements that went wrong with it.

As for Gen V yeah I really like the Green Furred guy too. I actually just came off the cusp of replaying White 2 recently! I borrowed it from my library because my library lets you borrow games(also I’m not breaking the bank to get a new copy). White 2 has a lot to do, even though I think the plot isn’t very good.

Also also I like collecting Ribbons on all my Orbémon because I’m a crazy person. It’s funny how Gen V doesn’t have ANY to collect, but then they backpedaled on that with Gen VI.

i really wanna play b/w2, but i dont have either of them. i got my copy of white as a gift for kissmas a few years ago, but i got it second hand and i think white 2 would be hard to find since i think they arent making games for the bintendo ts anymore, like they stopped a couple years ago i think. i played some of x (i think it was x? maybe it was y) on my cousins 3dts one time, but i never beat the game. i also think it sucked, but it was also the first 3d pokemon game i played so im a little bit sentimental. im not sure sure what my least favorite game would be though. i dont really like the 3d games, i prefer the 2d stuff, it has more character. the 3d models theyre using now are really bland imo. i think theres a new one coming out this fall, sims and noom i think? its for the 3dts so i wont be able to play it though, but ill watch people on kneetube play it i think.

#asks

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zaptap · 10 months

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i absolutely think we're due for unova remakes very soon, likely as the next game, but idk if they'll announce them before sv dlc is out of the way. seems like more of a pokemon day "this is what we're throwing out there this year" thing

seen people clinging to the idea that they do remakes every other gen but, so far, ALL first-time remakes (i.e. not lgpe) have happened 2 hardware generations after the originals

gb (rgby) to gba (frlg)

gbc (gsc) to ds (hgss)

gba (rse) to 3ds (oras)

ds (dpp and bwbw2) to switch (bdsp.... and _b_w?)

the ds was just when they started cramming 2 pokemon gens into one hardware gen so now that we're getting into ds remakes they'll probably happen every pokemon gen now

and if they continue having ilca or whoever churn out unambitious remakes then maybe game freak will keep putting legends games out around the same time.

arceus felt to me like it had pieces of what we've come to expect from pokemon remakes--the new stuff--so i think of it as being in a remake-adjacent category i'm calling a "reimagining." meanwhile bdsp avoided having much new stuff and instead provided an overly faithful recreation of the original games with graphical upgrades and gameplay modernizations and little else

are they going to do another ilca remake paired with a legends game? maybe. since legends was kind of an experiment, and succeeded, maybe they could try to work some elements into the actual remake this time. also after how glitchy bdsp was (more specifically, all the weird stuff they had to do with home compatibility to stop those Evil Cheaters) maybe they won't trust ilca with that again. or maybe they'll give them another chance, since game freak started out with a glitch-filled game too and maybe they've learned? idk

and what about bw2? so far they've been able to put things into the remakes to reflect things from the third versions (though bdsp really could've had a lot more from platinum) but how do you do an entire extra story with different protagonists and a 2 year time skip? they can't get away with just giving us bw2 outfits. $60 absolutely should cover both bw and bw2 in one, but i kind of doubt they'll do it. dlc maybe i guess? though that was a popular theory for platinum in bdsp that went nowhere, so who knows

alternatively i suppose they could release a bw remake as a single game and bw2 as another (remember how bdsp was found to be the same rom, just with a marker that determined the version? it would kind of make sense to do) but also that's kind of insane because you've never been expected to buy both games before, but in this scenario you'd have to to get the full experience. evil. too evil for tpci i think, but i suppose they could always get worse. i guess in that sense having a dual release of b+b2/w+w2 seems a bit more likely, dlc or not? if they don't almost entirely ignore bw2, that is

either way, i'm expecting unova soon. one week before black friday 2024 if tpci keeps insisting on their blatantly money-hungry release schedule they've been sticking pretty closely to for almost a decade now. would prefer they take more time, but i don't expect them to

........wait. i forgot. it actually might be johto's turn next. hgss is older than gen v, after all. whether that's going to be something with pokemon go elements mixed in again (isn't that game kind of on a decline now? idk) or something different, they might do something

so i guess 2024 johto, 2025 unova? wow idk. who give a shit tbh. point is both are probably somewhere on the horizon (though, unova is more certain i'd say since lgpe is just one game so we have no idea what kind of pattern those second-round remakes might take. maybe it was just a one-off)

anyway i've been wanting to replay gen v more and more for the past couple years but i haven't been able to make time for it yet. odds are i won't until at least when the remakes are coming. i replayed platinum shortly before bdsp released (actually started a couple months before it was announced...) and that was a mistake. bdsp was ok (though bad by pokemon standards) but it felt like playing the same game back to back except worse (very different from when i played ruby before oras, and yellow before lgpe). don't want to do that again so i guess i'll wait at this point

#pokemon #unova #pokemon presents #bwbw2

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