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Some fanon trial captain rough sketches
Jan. 20th, 2019 08:09 pm( Read more... )
I think my favorite thing about Guzma being a bug-type specialist is the context we get it in.
In most of the stories I'm familiar with, especially RPGS, a character being associated with Unreasonably-Sized Arthropods, whether through actually being one, having them as minions, or just being really enthusiastic about that spider-themed decor, it's usually narrative shorthand for Irredeemable Disposable Satellite Villain, which is unfortunate for those of us that like the luminescent mantis aesthetic on its own merits.
But the thing is, this isn’t most stories. This is a fucking Pokemon game.
Pokemon is a series created by an autistic japanese man who grew up in farmbutt nowhere before they paved it over and wanted to use video games as a vehicle for making his childhood bug collecting obsession everyone else's problem too, except now some of the bugs are dragons and demonstrating that your bug collection is objectively cooler than the neighbor kid’s bug collection via Brisk And Sporting Duel is a totally viable source of income.
And it fucking shows, is the thing. In-universe, most of the bug users you’ll see are child hobbyists and the cultural attitude seems to be “Kids Be Like That but they’ll grow out of it eventually.” And a lot of them do! But there's also a lot of them that don't and every single adult bug-type expert we’ve been given pre-alola has been, without exception, a giant fucking nerd.
So that’s the culture, and if you grew up with these games and are better at pattern recognition than me you were basically entrenched in these two decades of worldbuilding showing us that in this particular context the Big Ugly Giant Bug Motif correlates, not with evil, but with Essence of Dork. The reaction is pavlovian.
And that's when they make an antagonist that specialized in Bug TypesProfessor Kukui is a Dad-Type Pokemon
Dec. 16th, 2018 08:29 pmThe best thing about Professor Kukui for me is that he’s not just a dad but a compulsive dad. Like making impulse purchases, except instead of hoarding yarn or rocks or some shit he’s spontaneously adopting plucky anime orphans.
Like normally with this category of character they kind of fuss and care everybody but save the Full Adoption Deal for the characters who are the most blatantly in the market for a steady home and an un-fucked up mentor. And taking in Lillie certainly fits that bill! But by the sound of it he Also adopted Hau around that time and brings him around to visit his wife about as often as he takes Lillie despite the fact that Hau already has a mother and grandfather who love him and aren't even remotely evil. And then he spends half the game Aggressively Dad-ing at the player character despite them Also having loving and non-evil family members present in their lives.
And then the anime gives him six whole kids to worry about, plus Ilima, who is his Ex-kid and Gladion, who is probably his Part-Time Son.
And then we go over to the manga where he only knows that Gladion Exists and Is Lillie's Brother for about nine seconds before he starts considering him to be Also His Problem
Plus the fact that in every continuity he probably considers Sophocles to be at least 12% his kid by default because of Molayne.
It's like he'll just make eye contact and go "Yep, it's time to adopt another kid." Kukui is going to parent the fuck out of Alola and nobody is going to stop him.
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With Appologies To The Dragon Age Fandom
Dec. 8th, 2018 08:53 am( Read more... )
I CALL IT "IDIOTS IN LOVE"
Dec. 8th, 2018 08:29 am( Read more... )
