5 fun facts AU game: the ilcbt AU where XXC walks in on XY and SLs affair ahead of time!

oooh this is a fun one because it's so fucking messy let's goooo

the hurt Xiao Xingchen is going through, first of all. he's been pining for Chengmei for ages and not doing anything about it, and he kind of thought Chengmei was flirting with him but he wasn't sure so he wasn't making any moves, and he's been pining for Song Lan for even longer but figured he wouldn't/didn't want the same thing so didn't do anything about that, and he's been trying to balance two of his housemates' clear dislike and tension which is stressful as hell while he cares deeply about them both, and now he finds out that they're apparently having sex behind his back, only of course it's none of his business and it's not like he ever indicated he wanted anything so it's not their fault and really he doesn't have any right to be jealous and he should just be happy only they still don't seem to like each other very much but maybe he's just misunderstanding and

(it's a lot. XiaoXingchen.exe has stopped responding. he's upset and trying not to be upset and upset at himself for being upset.)

meanwhile both Xue Yang and Song Lan are like YOU about this, because clearly it is the OTHER PERSON'S fault that Xiao Xingchen is upset; Song Lan is like (pretty fairly) "you started it" and Xue Yang is like "yeah but I didn't see you turning me down."

Song Lan is self aware enough to also be upset with himself and miserable because of course!!! he actually loves Xiao Xingchen, he doesn't know what he's doing with Xue Yang, but also how is he supposed to explain himself

Xue Yang is not self aware enough to be mad at himself, exactly, but he is very upset, Xiao Xingchen is upset and this is unfun, definitely Song Lan's fault but now he's going to fix it just like he fixed the last time Song Lan fucked up Xiao Xingchen (no really, that's what happened)

Xiao Xingchen meanwhile is frantically going IT'S FINE, IT'S FINE, I'M VERY HAPPY FOR YOU BOTH EVERYTHING IS FINE so loudly he doesn't really register Song Lan's attempts to explain. also withdrawing from everybody, even a-Qing, who is like "what the fuck and why is this my life, I hate everyone in this house except you Daozhang, poisoning them both for sure"

Xue Yang makes an effort to fix things by finally putting the moves on Xiao Xingchen in a more concerted manner but this just upsets Xiao Xingchen more because now he's making Chengmei cheat on Song Lan and it's his fault because he couldn't keep from being jealous :( Xue Yang is like "that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard" but XiaoXingchen.exe is not capable of processing this input right now

anyway I have no idea how this resolves. probably something snaps somewhere and Song Lan and Xue Yang coordinate somehow to corner Xiao Xingchen into aggressive "no you have misunderstood the situation really we both just want to have you (truth) and not each other (lie)" and they fuck about it.

that helps for about an hour until Xiao Xingchen's head clears and he's like WAIT YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU STILL DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER and now he's stressed again

poor Xiao Xingchen spends a lot of the first installment of this au very stressed and this would be even more stressful for him

FrostedApple Incorrect Quotes

So I made a thing:

So I decided to make incorrect quotes for the main pairing in said thing, hope you enjoy

Glacia: I feel like doing something stupid. Lucifer: I’m stupid, do me.

Lucifer: Hey, random question, what are your favorite flowers? Glacia: Blue hydrangea, why? Lucifer: Glacia: Were you going to get me flowers? Lucifer: Glacia: Lucifer: ᶦᵗ’ˢ ᵃ ᵖᵒˢˢᶦᵇᶦˡᶦᵗʸ

Glacia: My future partner must be brave, strong, intelligent, successful and organized. Lucifer: steps on a caterpillar and proceeds to drop to their knees and sob while apologizing profusely Glacia: That one. I want that one.

Glacia: Due to personal reasons, I will be sinking to the bottom of the ocean in a large metal box. Eira: Did Lucifer say 'I love you' and you in turn say 'Thanks'? Glacia: THE REASONS ARE PERSONAL–

Charlie: I know you love her. Lucifer: I am not in love with Glacia! Charlie, staring at Lucifer: I was talking about mom… Lucifer: realizes Lucifer: Shit. Well, anyways-

Glacia: yawns Lucifer: Yeah, being that pretty must be tiring. Glacia: Then you must be exhausted. Angel: Will you two shut up? Some of us are lonely.

Angel: I dare you to kiss the next person who walks into this room. Lucifer: Screw that, I’m not kissing any of you. Glacia walks in Lucifer: Fine, I’ll do it. Rules are rules, you know.

Charlie: I need life advice. Lucifer, sipping Gatorade and eating cookie dough: You came to the right person.

Lucifer: Do you love me? Glacia: We’re literally married. Lucifer: Yeah, but as friends or—

Glacia: We're having a baby. Eira: Oh, congradu- Lucifer, slamming adoption papers onto the table: It's you, sign here.

Glacia: Eira is at that very special age where a girl only has one thing on her mind. Rosie: Boys? Eira: Homicide.

Lucifer: I hate to to tell you this, but one of you was adopted. Eira & Charlie: Eira: Was it Charlie?

Lucifer: God, I love Glacia. Rosie: Yeah, you fucking better.

Eira: A person can really hear themselves think out here. Eira’s mind: Did you leave the stove on? The front door unlocked!? WILL YOU DIE ALONE!? Eira: Well, that was a mistake.

Glacia: I'm bored, any suggestions? Lucifer: Sleeping is nice. Glacia: I acknowledge your suggestion, and I’m deciding to ignore it.

Alastor: Lucifer is a little bitch.

Glacia: Why?

Alastor: Number one, he's little. Number two, he's a bitch.

Lucifer: We should get you to a doctor for a check up immediately. What if it happens again, and there isn’t anyone around to help you? What if it’s congenital? Oh my God! Was it me? Did I hurt you? Glacia: …You realize any other person that made their partner pass out on bed would simply feel really proud of themselves, right?

Glacia: Is something burning? Lucifer, leaning seductively on the counter: Just my desire for you. Glacia: Luci, the toaster is literally on fire.

Stormbringer: A Pokemon Emerald Nuzlocke, Part 17

This is it. It's time for the Pokemon League. Our party are all at Lv.60. Their moves have been fine-tuned with TMs. Items have been equipped. Heals have been purchased.

Vulcan the Blaziken has been here since the beginning. He's strong, he hits like a truck, and he's pretty darn fast too. He's going to be our main Pokemon for Sidney and our secondary for Glacia. He doesn't have much to offer for the Champion, but this run goes to Steven so he'll have his time in the sun eventually.

Aurora the Gardevoir is our lucky encounter from right near the beginning. Fitting that I'd get a shiny of one of my favourites in legit the second run I ever do where I can't keep my Pokemon. She's a fast Special Attacker with Psychic and Thunderbolt as her main moves, with Hypnosis and Dream Eater to give her some healing and stalling if need be. The abundance of Water here means she's going to have a lot of use for her Electric moves.

Volt the Manectric is also a fast Special Attacker. That's going to be kind of a theme. He's kind of a one-trick pony but he's going to be our main for Glacia and Wallace both.

Terra is our Earthquake-spamming physical powerhouse, she's on deck for Drake and some of Phoebe's Ghosts. I just have to keep her away from the half-dozen Ice Beam spammers on these teams.

One of our two newcomers, Harbinger the Absol is a physical attacker who hits things really, really hard with his Attack stat, and doesn't really do a whole lot else. He isn't really going to feel the lack of STAB, hopefully.

And lastly, we have Proxima the Starmie. With the wrong ability and the worst possible nature for their species, they've been screwed by RNGesus a bit, but nonetheless, a Starmie is a Starmie. This is still one of the best Pokemon in the entire game. They're going to sweep Drake. That's what they do.

These are our heroes for the final act.

Nexolord & co. shenanigans (Nexomon 1)

It's honestly been a long time coming, though mostly for the nostalgia and hype for Nexomon 3, but I figured I would look back in the story for any context clues to Nexolord/Metta's personality and abilities mentioned from his siblings, Overseers, or anyone unlucky enough to get on his bad side. Obviously it's going to be a massive list (with some spoilers for to Micromon and Extinction), but here goes!

First off, there's no real timeline on how long Metta's been Nexolord or when he started his Omnicron revival plan into action, but I'll put in a generous estimate of 2-3 years before the main story since he already put way too much fear into people's hearts to go against his authority until MC went ham on his master plan. Same goes for him commissioning MC's parents to build the resurrection machine and revive Omnicron for real.

For Overseers, I would assume that ex-Nexolord Remus originally had Hilda, Khan, and Jack until Metta took the title (and adding five more to spread out his influence). But it's also funny to assume that Metta indirectly assigned his siblings/Champions to a certain Overseer that either complement or conflict their personalities...You know, for shits and giggles. -Fenrir/Fona -> Ivan & Ira (Fiery spirit and moderately irrational) -Nadine/Ventra -> Remus (Unstoppable force vs. Immovable object) -Merida/Arqua -> Hendrick (90% charm and 10% backstabber) -Zetta/Luxa -> Spencer (Snotty rich kid with inflated ego) -Ulrich/Grunda -> Jack (Reliable leader but goes against authority to protect his people (Mostly connected to Netherworld Ulrich)) Nexolord/Metta -> Glacia (Cold-blooded tactician with an extreme ego trip) -Deena/Nara -> Khan ("Subtly" associating the family traitor as a wild savage who only cares about the world and harmony over complete authority...Harsh, even for a kids game)

Metta's childhood in the Frozen Tundra was already going to be shrouded in mystery from the get-go (and obviously exclude flashbacks in-game to avoid spoiling his identity), but he left a pretty deep impact on the three people he interacted with in the past (Glacia, Juliet, and Malk). -First, Juliet's a fangirl for him, so much so that she'll completely ignore his plan to destroy humanity if it meant getting a sliver of attention from him or one-up Glacia as Overseer. She also believes that he's a vampire (either when they were kids or into adulthood) and regularly reads cheesy YA vampire novels that she "accidentally" leaves on her kitchen table for someone to notice. -Glacia is 110% loyal to Metta and will gladly brag to anyone she meets on how she's the most "true and loyal Overseer" there is. Also, she's the only Overseer who's aware that the Champions are Omnicron's children (minus Remus figuring it out through context clues), so she somehow earned Metta's trust to learn that fact as well (though whether she knew Metta's true form too is up for debate). -Finally Malk "I taught [the Nexolord] everything I know" Micromon is either the best/worst person to be Metta's tutor (re: legit father-figure) to make him become the little tyrant he is now. Whether it's to fuel Metta's already-burning hatred for humans (being a sentient AI that destroyed Project Pixekai in revenge of the programmers who created him), teaching him useful skills to gain control over others as a leader (master manipulator, master technician, and more!), or giving Metta the emotional support he never had from his siblings or dad (headcanons galore!). Also love the little gimmick that Malk's name isn't shown to the MC since he doesn't properly introduce himself to them; only Metta calls him by name once when they're the only ones in a room or during Malk's last hurrah speech before MC fights Omnicron and disappearing for good. Also, Malk mentions meeting a younger Nexolord/Metta sometime after busting out of Pixekai and adjusting to human life, so he might've tried disguising himself long before they teamed up. Now I want to know if Metta first learned that Malk wasn't human or vice versa, but I would love to know what babey Nexolord looked like before he went anime villain mode. :)

Metta definitely was the one who gave his siblings their fake Champion names, mostly on the joke of Fona/Fenrir being Metta's guard-dog for a good chunk of the story (even accompanying him to Grunda's grave and keep a eye on Overseer Jack for the excavation). Besides that, it makes sense for Metta to have every opportunity to make a jab at his siblings and put them in their place in the current hierarchy. -Fenrir: Marsh/Fen-dweller, Norse mythos wolf that would bring disaster during Ragnarok and was bound by a chain shaped like a silk ribbon. [Similar motif to Nexomon Fenrir to have giant prison cuffs on his wrists and collar-like design on his shirt.] -Nadine: Hope (French), messenger/admonitory or showerer of blessings (Arabic), "the courage of a bear" (Russian) [Latter fits cause of her assigned Overseer being Remus and her tendency to put combat first over talking.] -Merida: Pearl (Mairead, Celtic), "one who achieved a high place of honor" (Latin), "a chaste girl" or "like a mother" (Persian) [Persian seems more ironic since Merida's nice when she gets attention but throws a major hissy fit if embarrassed or mocked.] -Zetta: Inquiry or quest (Greek ztsis), "a person that is intellectually curious and has a thirst for knowledge" [Mostly ironic since Zetta's dumb as a brick and has a love for shiny things.] -Ulrich: Noble or regal ruler, noble/rich heritage (Old German) [Grunda never had the chance to get a Champion name (until Netherworld), but it's interesting how his Nightmare makes him the ruler/guardian of Solus Desert and protects his people from the big bad Nexolord Remus...At least he got his priorities straight?] -Deena: Valley, church leader, spear ruler (Hebrew/Old English/Old German); "compromising, passive, and more likely to stay in the background rather than front and center" (myfirstname.rocks) [Even if she was a major part of Ulzar's fame, Deena keeps herself as inconspicuous as possible to ensure the MC's success too. Definitely didn't want to be caught up in the family drama again, you know? :)]

It is somewhat confirmed in the Netherworld end-story that Nexonium/Nexomite is more commonly found in the literal afterlife than in the normal world (and stupidly expensive too), and it also has the ability to incapacitate any Nexomon in its vicinity (when powered by a NexoCore) or keep a Nightmare running without a Warden to guard it. So who's to say that Metta used Nexonium to create the Nexocore, easily violating Ziegler's rule of keeping the dead dead and creating a power source that won't get traced back to him (you know, since he commissioned MC's parents to make it?). And it also shows that Metta had Nexonium stowed away in his old house, most likely studying its components in there or in the bunker.

And last but not least, it's not exactly confirmed if Metta actually sacrificed himself to revive Omnicron like the rest of Champions; he doesn't have a personal Nightmare like the other four (+Grunda/Ulrich), and you only get to find Metta's true form after the Netherworld story (ie. Killing Omnicron for real, dooming the current Nexomon species to extinction, and making a bridge between the Netherworld and real world to finish loose ends). Speaking of bridge, it's also confirmed in Extinction that just after MC destroyed Omnicron's soul, Venefelis was unleashed with the single goal to kill Hilda; unintentionally serving as the bridge for the Nexomon War and the future to come in Nexomon: Extinction. ...Also the MC (The Ghost of Nexomon Past) gets Metta's jacket and was buried in it pre-Extinction, so I'm betting the madlad did the blanket dog trick and it somehow worked against the MC and Nara. I mean, Metta's about the size of a bowling ball (five-pin/duckpin maybe?) so he might've had a chance to pull it off when MC was distracted by Omnicron and he just assumed the guy was gone for good.

Anywho, that's all I have for now, hope you enjoyed!

History and Geography of Magix

Many millennia ago, the Great Dragon created a Galaxy which contained multiple planetary systems. One of which was the Magic Dimension – a solar system with two suns and one inhabitable planet – Magix.

The Dragon went to rest on that planet, split up its magic into ten parts and scattered them across the globe. They stabilized into Magical Cores which had great impact on their surroundings.

The first people evolved close to the Core of the Essence of Magic. But as more time passed people began to leave the city and move to build cities around other Magical Cores. Those would grow to be kingdoms, with their capital closest to each core.

When the Great Dragon felt the end of its life was nearing, it decided to give up the Dragon Flame to a powerful Mage, which tuned her into the first Fairy and Keeper of the Flame. And when the Dragon did its last breath the magic which was left within it flowed down to the Lands Between, where it still keeps moving and not taking shape. Thus, turning the area into wildlands in which magic is either controlled by strong magic users, or rather impalpable to unexperienced ones.

The First Fairy created a Golden Kingdom, purely made of Magic, above the biggest lake of the lands. It was also where she was killed by her three sisters, the first witches. They trapped her spirit inside the kingdom and put a curse on it, to keep it untouched by time.

As they were gaining more and more power, they reached immortality. However, their spirits could be removed from their bodies. Those got destroyed and their spirits imprisoned in the deepest trench of Omega – Oblivion.

The country with the Golden Kingdom was named in honor of the first Fairy – Arcadia. The grounds were decided to be neutral and it turned into a place where everyone of every kingdom could come to and be save.

Years later a group of powerful magic users came together to create another Magical Core on an island, which was still unpopulated. They created a new society, which worked very different when compared to the nine kingdoms.

Thousands of years later the three witches were still able to cause mayhem on Magix. They destroyed Domino through the hands of a young Wizard, turning the kingdom into an icy land. Most Dominians fell under that curse, only a few could escape.

At the same time they send a Witch to destroy Jotunn. The landmass melted down into the ocean and most citizens fled to continue their lives in other kingdoms.

Arcadia is the magical as well as political hotspot of the planet. It's a picturesque landscape with lush green plains and evergreen forests. In the middle of it is the biggest lake of the lands and above that lake floats the Golden Kingdom of the first Fairy. Its capital is Magix City. Andros is a small tropical landmass with a chain of more than 75.000 islands, which look as if an undersea reef were stripped of its water - a vast landscape like that of the ocean floor. Many species of coral grow across steep cliffs with dangerous depths. The shores if those islands have golden sand and the sea shimmers silverly. The main island and capital of the kingdom is Tides. This kingdom shares its Magical Core with the underwater queendom Nereia. Callisto is the land with the highest mountains, steepest cliffs and more than 20.000 floating islands. Its capital Asteria is on the largest sky island. Domino was a warm kingdom. The main landmass is of cooled down lava from volcanoes. Only two of which remain to be active. The capitol is between those two – Sparks. Eraklyon has wide lands with a stony terrain and a lot of sharp, crystalline stalagmites, where next to nothing can grow. Its capital is Diamond. The kingdom shares its Magical Core with an underground kingdom – Downland, which is a large system of caves. Jotunn was a landmass of pure ice. Nowadays there is only a small iceberg left. Glacia, the former capital, was built around it. Linphea has the densest and darkest Forests, as well as the prettiest and most exotic flora. Its capital is Marigold. Melody is a place of Harmony and Music – even the wind whispers a melody. It is a mostly wet and hilly landmass, where every plant has red leaves. The capital is called Harmonia. Pyros is a mostly swampy area which turns into a jungle as one gets closer to Linphea. It is also known as Lands Between or Wildlands. Serenia is a place of storms and wild weather. So, it always looks kind of destroyed. It's the smallest kingdom of Magix and has Aurai as its capital. Solaria is a desert with many oases. It's the biggest kingdom even though it is split up into multiple smaller cities. The largest one is the capital, Luminae. Zenith was always cold but by now it is even colder. A big part of the landmass got destroyed when Jotunn was wiped out. There is not one patch of grass within this land, as it's all been built over. The temperature was cooled down to keep the technology running as efficiently as possible. It is the land which is societally and technologically the most advanced. Its capital is Titania.

Omega doesn't have a Magical Core and is the place on Magix where magic is the weakest. It is a small island group in the middle of the deepest part of the ocean. But there is also an even deeper frozen dry trench - Oblivion, in which an Ice Serpent lives. It's the place where the most dangerous criminals get imprisoned.

The Skies of Magix

The Undergrounds of Magix

How slutty are Brendan and May?

Brennan has 10 Gardevoirs per nature for his personal collection and a team of six shiny Gardevoir he brings everywhere with him, just for his own personal pleasure.

It's simple:If he is not inventing something new or doing conferences,he is having sex with his Gardevoir harem or with one of his numerous contacts in Hoenn (Roxanne is especially in love with him as fellow genius of high caliber and she is the woman he has the most "sympathy" for ,Winona and Flannery are less common but they still get fucked on the daily,but his main "fellow slut" is the MILF Glacia).

May is also a power slut,as smart as brennan it's not rare for her to walk around completely naked except for her heels and welcome all who want to fuck her, but in general, she is known as the "virgin killer" She loves timid men(especially those with big dick,but she doesn't discriminate) or smart nerd, weakness is a big turn on for her.Tate (now an adult,let's not get ahead of ourselves) is her favorite victim, whom she rides without mercy. She also has a small army of gardevoir,except way less than Brennan who is obsessed with them (she has 20 and all of them are males).

The longest they can go without sex is 2 hours,but everyone in Hoenn accepted this fact due to their genius being essential to the region.

may: what's with the list?

Well, May, the list of ideas and objectives for rewriting and updating the advanced series is kinda long, but it’s got a lot of cool ideas and plenty of stuff that’ll be based off of moments and scenarios from the games and manga. And those ideas and objectives are…

1. Making sure that the original voices stay throughout Battle Frontier, Mirage Pokémon, and Temple of the Sea.

2. Adding Brendan Birch into the anime to be Ash’s main rival.

3. Updating and expanding the Team Magma and Team Aqua arc.

4. Adding Magma Admin Courtney and Aqua Admin Matt into the advanced series.

5. Having Ash and May dance together during the ball in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.

6. Making the Groudon/Kyogre arc bigger, more suspenseful, and down-right amazing (and similar to the Groudon/Kyogre arc in Pokémon Adventures: Ruby and Sapphire).

7. Adding more hints towards Advanceshipping (Ash x May) in the advanced series.

8. Adding Richie into the advanced series (to some degree).

9. Giving Steven Stone a much bigger role in the advanced series.

10. Adding the Hoenn elite four; Sydney, Phoebe, Glacia, and Drake (from the games Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire … and the manga) into the Advanced series.

11. Having May catch the Swablu (in “True Blue Swablu”) after she nursed the cotton-winged Pokemon back to full health.

12. Adding a few additionally new episodes to expand the Team Magma/Team Aqua arc.

13. Having May actually win the Hoenn Grand Festival.

14. Having Ash win in the Hoenn Elite.

15. Rewriting several existing episodes to give them more depth.

16. Adding a Pokémon Special; Return of the Wish Maker.

I have completed a run of Emerald. We've been watching the Hoenn anime and it put me in the mood for the games. Pretty great still! Much worse time overall.

My team, as it turns out, was Not Ideal.

Sceptile was the starter. Fun fact, I think the last time I ran Treecko in Gen 3, or really ever, was before Gen 4 came out. I opted to prep from my last Emerald run, getting a Bagon that learned Dragonbreath and Crunch to pass along as egg moves. Miracle hatched a Naive female with what felt like really good stats (seemed higher than the initial starter), and had a great time with it. If I had planned my team better, I likely would've gone Earthquake as the fourth move to make Wallace less of a problem.

Camerupt is one I don't think I've ever run ever. In general, it was a pretty excellent pick! Camerupt did a lot of great stuff the entire run...until the League, when it stopped having like any utility. It didn't even contribute that significantly to the Steven fight, since Earthquake is a thing. I want to like Camerupt, but it's not great in its debut generation's main game. Lots of problems. Then again, I did get Sassy, so maybe it's more a speed issue.

Sharpedo, by contrast, is excellent. Has no use for its physical attack given the HMs, but Surf, Ice Beam, Crunch handles a lot. Crushes Phoebe and Drake, contributes fantastically against Sidney, actually does help against Steven by basically one-shotting Aggron and Armaldo both. Fantastic Pokemon to run.

Altaria was...okay look this was not my best work. I got Quiet, and for some reason, my train of thought went "I should try Dragon Dance, because it has to have Fly." This was unfathomably stupid. Altaria didn't contribute much...until I got my own Metagross, and taught Altaria Perish Song. Then we had hilariously beaten Steven by locking him to his last Metagross, which couldn't OHKO my own, and letting Perish Song do its thing. Owned, idiot.

Seviper was one I wanted to use, based on an old ORAS run where it did pretty well. It did not do as well here. Like, it tried to contribute, but it was my lowest level Pokemon by a decent margin, solely because I just never had a situation where it was the best choice. The others covered pretty much everything it could contribute against, better than it did. Flamethrower didn't make up for the prevalence of Earthquake, Crunch didn't make up for Sharpedo being much stronger, and Sludge Bomb didn't have a whole lot of relevant targets. It would've been good for Glare while catching legends, but I tried and Groudon had Rest so I stopped trying when it Struggled itself to death.

The last Pokemon changed a lot. Initially, I was going to run Hariyama, who I regret dropping for Seviper honestly. It would've been a much, much better option for Glacia, who was a big initial problem, and for Steven's fight. Wallace too, probably. At one point I had Swellow, and dropped it solely because I just wasn't feeling it. Which wasn't a great reason but here we are. In the end, I ran those five for the initial League run, got bodied by Glacia twice, and by Wallace like five times. Tentacruel was a much more significant roadblock to the team than expected, given the only easy answer was slower and quad weak to Water. Which then made me regret not working on that Gardevoir after all, but I ran Gardevoir before, I didn't want to do the same thing twice. I considered Banette, but didn't really feel like it either. Which, again, maybe not my best call.

So in the end, I settled on Metagross. Who took a long while to get up to speed, but as soon as it evolved, contributed massively. I rolled Adamant first try, and with Earthquake, Brick Break, and Shadow Ball, it absolutely smashes the E4's first three. It's bananas. And it's pretty good for Steven's fight too, handling Cradily easily, which was a major, major threat in my last run. I do think Earthquake was...entirely unnecessary. It barely used it, and if I were to do it all again, I probably would've given Sceptile Earthquake to handle Wallace, and just let Metagross run Psychic or something.

We ended sub-level 60, though. Seviper was the lowest at 54, Sceptile the highest at 59, so approximately the same levels as the last team. Which is pretty good considering how much worse this team feels. Sceptile and Sharpedo did fantastically well, while Camerupt had its day in the Sun but falls on terrible times barring the Skarmory KO. Metagross is absurd, though, definitely enjoyed that one. But Alteria was too awkwardly set up, and Seviper didn't have as much to contribute on the team with the others around. This run also went a lot longer, because I was so wishy-washy mid-game around who the sixth was going to be, only to drop everyone and resolve using Metagross later.

I think the next game is going to be Platinum. I kinda ran out of steam on the last run again. But I know why. It's because @alphakuriboh...might be right about somethings. About how I play these games. Specifically, I got really over-focused on the plan for Platinum and it stopped being interesting and fun. So I think I'm going try without that fixation and just play to what I can pick up. Be a little more free-flowing. Though there are one or two that I'm kinda set on using this time around, I admit. I'm also thinking of dropping the starters. I don't like Infernape at all, so it'd be between Torterra and Empoleon, who are both, perhaps predictably, overlapped types with things I haven't run before. So I think I'd like to set them aside and try something a little different this time through. Maybe also be a bit less insistent on getting just Gen 4 Pokemon. I tend to focus on "the team has to be all stuff new to that game," but I could stand to be a bit more flexible.

I love it when you're in your Ocarina of Time era. All of your art is so cool! Can you tell me more about the OCs who are the king and queen of Harkos?

Well, here is the secret: I am always in the OoT era. My main Dominis siblings are from the OoT era. It is my favorite Zelda game ever. So I cannot help it!

Especially when it comes to the OG Phantom Ganon and Ganondorf. 👌✨️

And thank you very much! 🙏

And of COURSE. I'd love to share!

Adam is the King of Harkos.

The Kingomd of Harkos is smack down in the middle of Glacia and Isla. They are like a Colosseum-esque kingdom with gladiators and such. Very Roman inspired.

Iris, the Queen of Harkos, is the true leader of the kingdom. All choices and such come from her. She talks to Adam, and he gives the word for her (with her permission. We love strong, powerful women in this house).

Adam has the strength to fight a lynel without weapons. The people all gather around to watch Adam and other brave warriors face monsters in the cololsseum.

While Adam is brute strength, Iris is complete skill and endurance. She can kick ass just as much as Adam can in the battlefield.

Also, just as a bonus, Adam is the Dominis siblings' uncle.

Mysterious Being 2: .... But still... what was that... a memory?

------

???: It’s been standing at the main entrance for a while...

Glacia: I said meet us deep in the dungeon, not at the entrance... no one get near it, tell that to anyone who watches that area, quickly!

???: Gotcha!

[The “Mysterious Being” has... stopped their progress for a while... try and get their attention...? Before they decide to move on...? It might not be safe or... wise... to try and be a hero... Note, this is the ONLY time either being will be askable!]

<Previous

Some Hints:

> The Statue...?

>The Mysterious Being’s “Side Mission”

Inspired by 'it's not love, it's obsession': what are your thoughts on the parallels between Luo Binghe and Xue Yang?

oooh this is a fascinating one.

One of my favorite things about looking at MXTX's books as a corpus of work taken together is the ways in which you can see her evolving as a writer. I don't necessarily mean stylistically (I don't feel like I can speak to that, since I can't read the original), or even necessarily narratively (though I do think TGCF is the strongest narratively, for all it's probably longer than it needs to be). What I really mean is how you can see her coming back to the same themes over and over and exploring them with variations and shades of difference. There are very clearly things that are MXTX Concerns, as it were, that she revisits and echoes and plays with in all of her works; questions about justice and the cycle of violence are one big one that I've thought a lot about personally.

And when you're looking at the three books together, there are places where you can draw throughlines - for instance, from Yi City > Black Water Arc, or from (arguably) Xiao Xingchen > Xie Lian. In light of the trivia that Yi City comes at least in part from an older, abandoned story MXTX worked on when she was younger (per an interview with her, I believe), I feel like you can draw the line from Xue Yang > Luo Binghe as far as some of the tropes being played with. Xue Yang is (in some ways) an echo of Luo Binghe is an echo of an older story that had a character who may or may not have been named Xue Yang.

In obvious ways Xue Yang takes a different position in the story he ends up in than Luo Binghe does in his (he ends up an antagonist), but while one could look at the Song Lan/Xue Yang/Xiao Xingchen trio and posit Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan as the intended pair of whatever original story they came from, that doesn't, in my eyes, fit with the other relationships MXTX chooses to write. Xue Yang lives at a nexus of a lot of the things MXTX pokes at with Luo Binghe and, yes, Wei Wuxian, but also (to a lesser degree) Hua Cheng - the legacy of childhood violence, the importance and weight of small kindnesses in changing a person, the probing at the idea of people as irredeemable or incapable of change (and finding it lacking).

He comes from a disadvantaged, marginalized background (as do the other two protagonists) and, despite perpetrating atrocious acts of violence (Wei Wuxian actually, Luo Binghe less so in SVSSS canon but explicitly so in PIDW, which is the way Shen Qingqiu relates to him initially), kind treatment from a single person having a deep impact on their behavior. There's also the quality of deep, obsessive devotion, notably beyond death, that Xue Yang shares with Luo Binghe, Lan Wangji, and Hua Cheng (portrayed in the latter two cases as clearly and explicitly romantic and to be valued). Xue Yang doesn't occupy a protagonist role in MDZS (obviously), but he has some of those thematic qualities that tend to pop up in MXTX protagonists and/or love interests.

(Hua Cheng might stand out here, and he is different, certainly, but I would point to the very, very early identification of him as inherently ill-fortuned and bad to be around. Xue Yang has TGCF echoes, I'd say, to a lesser extent in Hua Cheng than in Jun Wu, but I don't think the echoes are absent from Hua Cheng, either.).

This positions Xue Yang, potentially, as (if we're using a crude metaphor) a little bit the Luo Binghe to Xiao Xingchen's Shen Qingqiu, with Song Lan potentially occupying more of a Yue Qingyuan place (but of course that's just speculation and we'll probably never know).

This is a lot of tl;dr but I guess the main thing I'm thinking about here is that while it's I think shallow to describe Xue Yang as a proto-Luo Binghe (or rather, ur-Xue Yang from that older story as), I think it's fair to see that relationship between the two characters as part and parcel of MXTX's revisiting, revising, and reconsidering the same themes over and over again in her work - in the same way, I think, that within the same story Wei Wuxian's parallels with both Xue Yang illustrate that same impulse. (And not, to be clear, as a simple "this one good, this one bad" morality tale; what MXTX is doing with her parallels is, I daresay, more interesting than that.)

anyway, there you have it. I feel like this went maybe a little left of what you were asking (maybe you wanted me to talk about the actual parallels in terms of character?) but this is a sub-category of that subject I personally find very fun to think about.

Actually it's a crime I never posted this art. It's my main OC Glacia but turned into a Hollow Knight character (Moth) running from a Vengefly.

(also: normal and Grimm Troupe sprite)

!!

OH MAN i already talk a lot about my main boy murasaki a lot (or show him off anyway) so let me will smith pose at the new one i just made for future campaigns.

his name is glacia avery (glah kee ah) and he's meant to be a ffxiv viera race-wise but can be altered depending on dm rules. i specifically picked viera because i was heart eyeing at the fact that female viera are super tall and the male ones are short, and injecting my agenda into it by making glacia a 6'2" trans man hehehehe

he's a bard and typically plays the harp but is more of a vocalist! a pretty decent range but he's definitely most proficient as a high tenor. he's transitioned to a certain degree so he has a pretty deep voice but he loved the sort of... siren song he could manage with a feminine voice so he retrained himself. definitely a little bit of myself in that part of him as a trans man who was a soprano and had to rewire my way of singing but still does pretty high notes!

anyway i was just gonna describe this part briefly but i'm gushing too much aodjhdfhgkfdk forgive my worms

what's gonna be rly interesting when playing him is like....he is dumb as a brick. and i say that with love because he's full of sunshine and kindness and love for others. but unfortunately his golden retriever ass brain has gotten him into trouble here and there. he tends to be a bit gullible.

basically he used to be a pretty famous performer, but he wouldn't manage or advertise himself very well, so he relied on other people to do that for him and trusted them to do it well. long story short he made a few too many deals, that sounded great and promising, to the wrong crowd.

so in whichever campaign he ends up, he's going to be in a lot of debt. he's not really too bummed out about it though as being on the run means he can see more of the world. this babes is a huge optimist, to his credit, and with his sunny disposition he can still win a lot of people over.

he just may need y'all to pack him a nice lunch before he eats his coinpurse

Throwing myself back into the Nexomon brainrot since there's already a bunch of tidbits (and personal headcanons) to Metta's quirks and general attitude to anyone/everyone he interacts with and no one's taking the time or thought into mentioning them. And you know…To see if anything changes on his part in Nexomon 3, and I will keep pushing this agenda until the game finally comes out :)

To list a few interesting things mentioned in N1 (and definitely a long post ahead):

First the canon bits out of the way:

-Metta (and Nara) are over a million years old after Omnicron's initial invasion of the human world and after Ulzar killed the other CoO and Doggo Dad, with those two being the last living members of the family up until Nara’s (temporary) death in Extinction. Metta specifically mentions "waiting a million years" for his resurrection plan to finally come into fruition just before MC fights Omnicron in the main story, but it's mostly a 'blink and you miss it' nugget of information (same goes for Ulzar revealing Nexolord's/Metta's name in the Netherworld DLC one time).

-Metta lived in the Frozen Tundra for an undetermined amount of time, possibly when Juliet and Glacia were in their early childhood; with Juliet slowly but adamantly believing that he's a vampire (will explain later) and still reads cheesy YA vampire novels into adulthood, while Glacia admires him for his cold-hearted nature and extreme lack of empathy to other humans.

-It's not exactly specified when Micromon takes place in N1 (or when Project Pixekai goes bust), but Metta possibly gained Malk as a tutor/evil accomplice sometime during said-early childhood and after Malk left Pixekai a broken smoldering mess behind him; refurnishing a bunker in FT into a secret lab/research facility to study the properties of Nexomon and possibly laying the groundworks to the resurrection plan (and Metta becoming an master technician as well).

-Some time after Glacia gets appointed as Overseer, she's the only one who was made aware that the Champions (ie. the Omnicron fam) are not human, and even says aloud about these super-powered monsters bickering like children over who gets to fight the MC and stop them reaching Omnicron's Tower. Glacia later throws herself into the Netherworld and corrals the Wardens to her side in a attempt to "save" Metta from the clutches of death, release Omnicron in his stead, and make him become the real NexoLord instead of MC...To be clear, Metta wasn’t dead, and he was still alive two weeks before the Netherworld story and no one figured it out!

-Metta might of had another name before defeating Nexolord Remus and gaining the title as his namesake (or just opted to call himself Nexolord until he got the clout to go with it), which is somewhat fair since he finally got the experience of being an only child for the time being.

-While Metta was also shown to have sacrificed himself to finally revive Omnicron, the Netherworld DLC only shows the element-based siblings (Fona, Arqua, Ventra, Luxa, Grunda) stuck in Nightmares with their own Wardens and MC getting stuck with Ziegler after the really weird implication that MC released Omnicron on accident in that two week time span (even if it’s never shown or explained). Not to mention a “joke” headstone later found in Extinction that makes you double-guess if he even died in the first place…

-And while it's not explicitly mentioned, but Metta might've put together the Overseers to reflect his terrible opinions of his siblings, the same goes for him riding the high of being a leader and roping said-siblings into pretending to be humans until everything comes together. As for the Overseers: Ivan and Ira could relate to Fenrir/Fona, Remus with Nadine/Ventra, Hendrick with Merida/Arqua, Spencer with Zetta/Luxa, Khan with Deena/Nara, and Jack with Ulrich/Grunda. To me, Hilda would've been scouted to become an Overseer due to her psychic abilities, but quickly defected to save humanity in her own way (ie. turning them into spirits/ghosts). Glacia would definitely be considered Metta's (most true and loyal) Overseer cause of said cold-heartedness but also being one of the few humans besides Malk who understand his true motives and wholeheartedly accepts his plan on reviving Omnicron.

And now for the headcanons! >:D -Metta would've had an incredibly hard time adjusting to, or even stooping down to, creating a disguise for himself despite his hatred for humanity; same would possibly go with him learning to write and/or read for himself instead of staying in hiding for all eternity. Also in contrast to the rest of the Omnicron fam using their powers or a surplus of energy to create a human form, Metta is just a walking human-shaped balloon and his head is the only solid part of his body (even his eyes are the same color as his main Nexomon body. Glass/prism eyes perhaps?). It might also solidify Juliet's vampire theory if he didn't take the time or effort to fake natural body heat, or having absolutely nothing to do with physical contact ever despite living in the tundra; and maybe his unnatural features were made to make himself as intimidating as possible (in complete contrast to his cringe ass bowling-ball self).

-Metta's ahoge (the blue streak of hair) might work like a pull-tab to "unravel" his disguise and reveal his Nexomon form underneath (almost like a candy wrapper). It could've spread as a rumor between the grunts (or by Zetta to tease him), but zero people would even have the balls to do it in the first place for obvious reasons.

-While Metta would despise every human who ever breathes in his general direction, he might have a reasonable amount of respect to scientists/inventors (possibly from Malk and the Pixekai Project) and any tamers with exceptional skill and strength (Remus, Hilda, Khan, and Glacia), even if it's only to use them for ulterior motives. Definitely betting that he even trusted Glacia enough to go on multiple rants about his siblings; either about how much he hates them, their naivety of the human race, or how these uber-powerful descendants of Omnicron got killed by a single human in the first place (ie. Ulzar). And yes, given how smarmy and egotistical Glacia acts around others, it's canon in my heart.

-Metta might also enjoy food and literature but doesn't have the dignity to admit it due to said-hatred for humans. Might also be the reason why he put Hendrick in as a secret Overseer in Palmaya, both for his persuasion/mind games in recruiting more goons and his killer skills in cooking; discretely trying to recreate his recipes by the letter (or holding onto a recipe book or two) for self-validation in making something on his own.

-Speaking of the power of creation, Metta possibly made the Abyssal Tyrants as a side project along his initial Omnicron revival plan. I mean, he spent a million+ years to bring his dad back to life, but it's important to know in Extinction that the Abyssals appeared right after Omnicron's super-death. So who's to say that Metta also created his own line of Nexomon that follow his every command (or to scratch that itch of being King of Monsters himself)? From causing general mayhem (Braccus & Helevolk), picking off the weaker tamers hunting them (Inominox), willingly become cannon fodder (Pluvean), become scouts (Volcel & Caelesa) avoid human contact entirely (Rotramus), or make sure to kill two extremely specific psychics (Venefelis & Kroma); they follow the general scheme being as elusive and as unpredictable as possible just like their (possible) creator.

-And yes, I wholeheartedly believe that Metta created Byeol (possibly around the same time as Caelesa), either on complete accident or to hop on the Tyrant bandwagon in Nexomon Extinction. Whether it reflects his desires to always stay on top ("the star of the show") or the visual representation of jealousy over his new niece/nephew Solus taking Omnicron's throne instead of himself, who knows? Also personally believe that Byeol, ironically enough, wants to become human, possibly watching tamers from afar or putting themselves into battles as a form of "playing" to try and learn their behavior and skills. And I know I made another rant about it, but I’m pretty sure Byeol also has the ability to enter or manipulate dreams (either to look into a person’s mind or just mess with them for fun). Why else would a Normal-type Tyrant have a good chunk of Psychic-type moves at its disposal as well? Just some food for thought here…

Anywho, now that that’s out of the way, I hope you enjoyed this laundry list of fun! :D

SS Steven my beloved...

I'm a bit salty that I didn't get to EX him before his turn on Champion Stadium. He's sitting at 18/20 at the moment. Oh well, at least I got him, and that's all that matters to me right now.

The most difficult stage this week was Glacia. I originally tried a Misty/Steven/Hop team with Hop as the tank but without an EX support, I don't do enough damage to clear. Falkner was the next best pick, but that boy is ice weak, I ain't gonna tank with him. I decided to use SS Kris, as she just raises the teams special defense to +4 upon using Rain Dance and could do some chip healing after Glacia's sync with Mini Potions All. I got really lucky that Steven's TM kept on MPR so I could reapply Endurances after my supports fell and I was tanking Steven against +6 Accuracy Blizzards. Thank god none of them landed a freeze.

As for everyone else, Phoebe was easy. I was miffed that neither Volkner nor N landed a Paralysis, since this week was made for Static Shock N, but it’s all good.

Drake and Sidney were both an instant delete button. I didn't know if Drake was gonna spam AOE moves like his stage last week, so I didn't use both of Cyrus' TMs to not shoot myself in the foot. Thankfully he didn't, but I didn't want to take that chance. As for Bugtler Emmet, with Bugtler Ingo and Skyla providing buffs, I didn't need to sync with Skyla before syncing with Emmet, even with him at 1/5.

SS Steven was a real treat. I loved using him. I picked the Permanent Field Effects parameter so I could use Psychic Terrain at the beginning with Bianca and tank with her afterwards. Lucian only just helped with SS Steven's damage by dropping the opponent's special defense so he just cleared the table. He didn't nuke everything at once after his sync, as Wallace hung on with quarter health, but he was quickly finished off.

*kicks Giovanni in the gut and proceeds to curbstomp him* Sorry Giovanni. I have a new favorite Psychic type to use and main with.

Assigning songs from a show I was in’s intermission playlist to characters from ORAS because yes, the brainrot IS that bad and because no, I DONT want to study for my bio test today

White Silver Sands - Bill Black’s Combo: Mr. Briney and Peeko (it’s a goofy little song that fits well with a goofy old man)

Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy - The Tams: Aarune because idk there’s a lot of songs to get through and it kinda fits how I remember him

Time is Tight - Booker T. and the M.G.’s: uhhh May I guess. This is already harder than j thought. Not tagging this post, 97 year old tumblr user makes posts the old fashioned way

Sugar Sugar - The Archies: hm. Wallace and Steven because did you see the way they looked at each other during that one Palestine’s event in masters

Help! - The Beatles: Birch. If not just for the title and the zigzagoon moment

These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ - Nancy Sinatra: doesn’t fit many characters so. Zinnia I guess

Crazy Little Thing Called Love: main character’s mom I’m running out of people who fit these love songs help

Express Yourself - Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band: Uhhhh Brendan? (Why did I do this to myself)

Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond: Wattson listens to this so much

Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin: idk anymore Phoebe just to get someone down

All Right Now - Free: Sidney because this song has electric guitar and he’s a dark type trainer (DeNA logic)

I Want To Take You Higher - Ike & Tina Turner: Gabby and Ty because they want to make you famous

Back on My Feet Again - The Foundations: Professor cozmo because he’s gay and I want to put him here somewhere

Stayin’ Alive - The Bee Gees: Brawly works out to this

Windy - The Association: Zinnia or Winona (the reason I made this list)

Give Me Just a Little More Time - Chairmen of the Board: Glacia because honestly why am I still doing this

Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival: Archie because it’s funny

Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale: Flannery because. Vibes ig

I have great time management