Blue Askbox - Tumblr Posts
Hey your bill volo au was pretty cool, loved the idea! Now a couple of months ago I had this dream where Shauntal (don't know if u know who she is) was fused with Bill Cipher and I haven't been able to get the concept out of my head ever since then. So I was hoping since she's from Pokemon that u could draw the Shauntal and Bill Cipher fusion for me please? It would look fucking incredible if u did! Hope u have a awesome day
On principle I probably shouldn’t have answered this one- but the concept is funny and this is the first ask I’ve ever gotten so...
Here’s an edit of Shauntal’s offical artwork but she’s also Bill Cipher
hiii yes i just wanna ask if you could like tl:dr the pokemon bond system you use bc i RLLY like it but the fic you linked for it is like 50k words and hhsnnsnd i don.t. have time to read that rn ;w; srry if youve already answered something like this btw i just am rlly interested in it pls
Hello! Sorry for the verrrrrrrry late reply- I use mobile and apparently this ask only shows up on desktop? Quite annoying, and I'm sure you've long stopped caring about the answer to this question- but I'll answer it anyway because I love talking about lore so much
(Believe it or not the fic I linked is not required reading! It's just the inspiration that I drew from- and giving credit is important to me.)
Humans should have died out a long time ago. It's a simple fact really- how can such squishy, unremarkable creatures keep up with the magical monsters around them?
But that's the thing- they can keep up, and they have.
Because humans, above all else, are adaptable.
And so, when they bond with a pokemon, enjoy that pokemon's company for long periods of time- it leaves a mark, a change so subtle most cannot tell it exists at all.
Well most of the time.
There is a large overlap between adaptations and bonds. Adaptation requires exposure- requires a human to be subjected to a pokemon's magic again and again.... which is most likely to occur between a trainer and pokemon. This is something we've observed many times throughout history- psychic type trainers becoming supernatural themselves, ghost type trainers acquiring the sight, fairy type trainers... well, you get the picture.
Of course, that isn't really what you asked about did you?
Bonds differ from pokemon to pokemon. For some, it's more of an intangible thing, a growing understanding of their trainer, a more seamless partnership. For others, it's more literal, binding their souls together so that they cannot be separated, so that they will always be connected.
It depends heavily on the pokémon's type, species, and overall demeanor.
There's different strengths of bonds too!
Partners carry the strongest bond of course, an understanding between trainer and pokemon that no one else could hope to match.
A trainer's other pokemon carry a deep connection as well, even if it cannot match the might of a partner.
Pokemon that are not their own can leave a small mark on the soul just from proximity and fondness. These marks are so small that they are hardly consequential, just whispers of something that could be.
And then there's blessings.
Because legendaries love picking blorbos just as much as we do. (Almost every major trainer gains a small legendary blessing eventually. They rarely actually do anything, being more of the world's holiest game of 'dibs'. Even the divine get bored you know?)
About the bonds post: Can all pokemon see these bonds? Do they have some sense to see into the soul of a human? I know Lady Sneasler said that most pokemon would see her bond with Ingo on him first and thus leave him alone, so I assume this isn't just something legendaries and nobles can see. And is it something humans truly can't see, or something that only specially attuned people can see?
been meaning to ask you about this for a while
Yes! Pretty much all Pokémon can see bonds! The strong bonds at least.
See Pokémon of the more… benign types (like normal or water) have a harder time sensing the nitty gritties in the same way a psychic type could. They certainly couldn’t see a person’s soul the way a ghost type does!
I think it’s probably a little like dog scents- in the same way a dog knows who’s been by by the smells on something, a Pokémon can get a sense of who’s close to whatever human they’re looking at.
I think psychic humans could probably see bonds? Or at least ones who have trained to see it. (I bet Lucario trainers sometimes gain that skill on accident- what with the whole aura thing they do)
Permission to viciously maul colress to death sir?
Granted. Lady Sneasler will join you
23 for the aak game?
23: How do you deal with writers block?
Scream.
It’s hard to tell if I’ve had an true writers block since I’ve started writing fanfic as I usually chock “can’t write today” up to health issues. In those cases, I take a break and come back later!
Writers block from a narrative sense though? Bike rides!
Moving my body is an excellent way to get my thoughts flowing- and it’s good for you! I’ve also found it helpful to go to bed and think about it tomorrow, do research (the source material has quite a bit to work with after all), and just come up with the craziest stupidest solutions to the narrative problem to get the blood flowing.
(Or vague post about heatran on your tumblr and ask your friends for help lol)
Five minute doodles part two
That’s the last of it! Thank you for participating!
Consider: Emmet falls into Hisui and loses his memory (since that seems to be a common theme) but he knows he's looking for someone. Like in your other AU, Ingo and Emmet met after only a couple of days but they don't actually recognise eachother. Both are face blind and would recognise eachother from their coats but currently they don't have their coats, Emmet left his at his hideout to dry while Ingo finally caved and took it to be repaired after a particularly bad run in with an alpha. Both hit it off and feel the need to be with eachother (brotherly instincts and all), Ingo still teachs Emmet to survive in Hisui while Emmet teaches him to unlearn to mask and all that fluff but neither truly know who the other is until months later they finally see eachother in their coats when Emmet finally agrees to move in with Ingo. Even when neither remembers the other, they are still brothers.
(For the Warden Ingo and his Brother AU)
Oh! Fun idea Anon! Let’s run with that concept shall we?
Consider this:
Winter had just fallen over the land of Hisui and Ingo had begun bunkering down for the season.
Melli had long left to spend the season with his clan, and Ingo was supposed to do the same- but he couldn’t bring himself too. He loved and appreciated his clan, he really did, but he couldn’t handle the displeasure and judgment from his clan mates for an entire winter. He had already spent his first winter in Hisui with them and he had no plans to repeat that experience. (Winter was so much worse then the other seasons too, as his clansmen had nothing better to do then gossip at his behavior and way of speaking- to judge him for the skills he could not master despite them being easy for children to do. There was nowhere to run, nothing to do but hunch his back and quite his voice, smile wildly despite the pain it caused)
Unfortunately, Ingo’s third winter was already off to a terrible start- as an encounter with an particularly grumpy alpha had left his coat nearly torn in two. While he was normally content to handle simple repairs on his own, something of this magnitude required a much more… skilled hand. And while he would normally turn to Melli for something like this… well, he doubted Melli would appreciate him making the long and perilous winter journey for such an non essential reason.
So, with heavy heart, Ingo stored his coat away somewhere safe, where it would stay until the snow melted and Melli returned to the highlands.
Meanwhile, Emmet had no muking idea where he was.
Actually, he had a lot more questions then that, but his location was a lot more pressing then existential questions of “Who am I?” “Where did I come from?” and “Something is missing, what is it?”
It didn’t help that the Pokémon were weirdly aggressive there- something that just felt wrong honestly. So aggressive in fact, that his previously pristine white coat had gotten ripped, dirtied, and stained in the short time he had been there. And it he doubted it would get better. So, with a heavy heart, Emmet found a safe nook to keep his coat and hat in- before promptly running into an enraged Pokémon that drove him off a cliff.
Thankfully, he was mostly alright, but his leg was almost certainly broken, and he doubted he would be able to move it anytime soon. Which, in a place like this, meant that a painful death was all but guaranteed.
Of course, this isn’t a tragic tale- and Lady Sneasler managed to find him before something horrific happened, bringing the poor injured man to her warden.
And well-
They both can’t deny how familiar the other feels, how they must have known each other before. Ingo’s mannerisms feel like home to Emmet, and Ingo could swear that Emmet’s voice is the one he hears in his dreams. Yet both of them are far too uncertain to mention it to the other, so it remains something unspoken between them. But what is spoken?
Oh Sinnoh, Ingo has never met someone as wonderful as Emmet- someone as easy to talk to and fun to be with, who understands him with ease and desires his company as much as Ingo desires his. And Emmet? Well Emmet still has no idea what he was missing before he came here, but with Ingo he isn’t sure it even really matters. Ingo is home, and that’s all that really matters to Emmet.
When Emmet’s leg heals enough for him to walk around alright, he directs the group to where he hid his coat. Ingo is surprised when he sees it of course, and excitedly shows him his own. Neither of them really think too hard about it though, figuring that it’s just the uniform of their shared passion- whatever the heck a train is.
It was only when winter finally ended and Melli moved back into the highlands that they finally figure it out- and only because Melli was freaking out about their eerily identical faces.
(Of course, by that point such things mattered little to them. As far as they were concerned they were already family- becoming twins was just a bonus)
Warden Ingo: This is Emmet, he's like a brother to me. Melli: I'm pretty sure he IS your brother, twin brother. Warden Ingo: Even better.
Emmet: It’s like I’ve known him all my life!
Melli, growing increasingly exasperated: I’m sure you have
Idk if you've already answered this question or not but what stems do you apply to Ingo and Emmet (and Elesa if you want to add her)?
Oh I don’t normally get asks, so this has been a verrrrrrry exciting 24 hours!
(I’m assuming you’re asking about stims here btw. If not, feel free to correct me)
I don’t think I have anything particularly ground breaking in terms of stims headcanons tbh. Hand flapping is a must of course, (It’s a stim I didn’t really do much before joining this fandom- nowadays I do jazz hands quite a bit lol!) and I definitely think of Emmet as a pacer. Elesa strikes me as the type to constantly be fiddling with her hair, headphone cords, or any dangly pieces of clothing.
Taking my own stims into consideration, I’d peg Ingo as a hummer. Hums when nervous, hums when he’s thinking, etc. He’s just making passive sound all the time lol. Counting backwards from ten is a good grounding technique- but I could imagine him reciting a memorized Wikipedia article under his breath when he needs to keep calm as well.
I bet Emmet’s stims are more physical though! Finger drumming, rocking, shifting from foot to foot- I can’t imagine this boy sitting still! Walks with a pep in his step and with swinging arms of course! A real delight to be around :D
Ingo v Melli
Autism v ADHD
Imagine Ingo and Emmet not realising that they're brothers until the get back to the present. They've spent a year or 2 together Hisui before coming back to Unova. Either Ingo or Emmet vaguely remember where their home is and drags the other there. When they enter their house is empty, Elesa currently has all their pokemon that day, but it's full of memories. They are surprised to find the wall apartment covered in photos of them growing up together and they spend the rest of the evening looking through an old photo album as they slowly remember what they had forgotten.
An interesting idea! But that brings up the question, why didn’t anyone else recognize Emmet as Ingo’s brother?
Obviously, the easiest way would just to give Emmet (or Ingo I guess) horrific facial scarring that makes him look nothing like his brother.
That makes me sad though, so let’s do something more fun!
Emmet had done it! He had reached the creator of the universe and pled his case, begging for his brother to come home. Unfortunately, Arceus wasn’t in a very generous mood at the moment, so it kinda just told him to accept that Ingo was gone and move on with his life. Emmet, of course, was far too stubborn for that, insisting that he and his brother are a two car train and shouldn’t be separated.
To which Arceus was just like, “Really? Prove it.”
So Emmet is sent to Hisui with both no memory AS WELL AS a completely different voice, hair, clothes, face etc. Just kinda plopped down in the Pearl Clan settlement as a very confused man. This was supposed to be an unwinnable challenge- concocted out of pettiness by Arceus because Emmet was so annoying.
Jokes on Arceus though, because as soon as Ingo walks into the settlement and starts doing pokemon related things, Emmet speed walks over to ask questions. And oh! Would you look at that! Those two get along weirdly well!
But yeah, when they go back Arceus fixes Emmet’s face and body (because it, at the very least, isn’t a sore loser), and the twins get to do the Spider-Man pointing meme. (Or, we leave them facially blind and they literally don’t figure it out until they get home as the original ask suggested)
If Ingo smiles like :3
Does Emmet frown like 3: ?
I’m supposed to be editing chapter four rn
Do you have a certain uniform in mind when you think of Fae Lady Sneaslers uniform? Bc I am very tempted to draw her with one. It has gripped me.
Mostly she just has a hat
But if you have ideas I want to see them. I am 👀👀👀 so hard and I will love you forever if you draw something
Waiting for Lady Sneaeler to meet Emmet in Feral in Hisui
Lady Sneaeler: HOLY ####! A shiny Ingo! *checks for Arceus's mark but finds Giratina's instead* and this one's in leagues with Satan.
Hahaha I love it!
Unfortunately, we don’t actually get to see Lady Sneasler’s reaction to Emmet as it ended up being. Too boring to write? Ingo just explains things immediately and they move on. Other things to do and all that 😔
Did that one Johto sneasel get lost in fairy land and then decide to work with trains?? :D
Haha, no not quite.
Hisui is a large and vast land where all manner of Pokémon live! It’s easily able to house both species of sneasels who intermingle and cross breed often. Any sneasel, sneasler, or weavile that is either part of, or adopted into the noble line is allowed to work on the trains.
So while most of them are Hisuian sneasels, you will see a few Johtoan sneasels running around!
Wait I bet the two clans would argue over if the train would better serve their own sinnoh (not that I think that the fae would be arguing over this. But you know. )
traveling the expanse of space.
Traveling in a timely manner.
God I can hear the early game Irada and Adaman fighting points
Fascinating isn’t it? How trains equally value both space AND time? That in order to run a good train station you must cross vast spaces AND be timely and efficient?
When you got time, do you have any tips on writing Ingo and Emmets dialogue? I really like how you write them but I can't seem to get their speech down. It's mainly Ingos which is annoying since he canonical has more dialogue than Emmet.
Oh thank you!! I’m glad you enjoy- writing these boys dialogue is one of my favorite parts of writing and has made me seriously consider how I write speech for every character I do. It’s been great practice!
Okay, actual advice time lol.
HOW TO WRITE INGO AND EMMET
(According to me, Blue)
(Now, keep in mind that there isn’t one true way to write the boys, and this is just how I personally write them. Take this with a grain of salt)
When you’re first starting out writing the boys I recommend writing dialogue in your own voice and then submasifying it.
For example, let’s take this dialogue and transform it:
“Sorry I’m late for work! My dog chewed through my nice pants so I had to find some new ones! It’s been a bit of a rough day today, not gonna lie.”
So starting with Ingo-
Ingo talks extremely formally and is super long winded. When writing dialogue for him, try to imagine a fancy British butler who uses long words and long sentences. Replace normal words with more “fancy” ones and use more words then you really need to. (A thesaurus can be extremely useful for this)
“My sincerest apologies for my tardy arrival!”
Then, pepper in train terms as much as possible. If he goes three sentences without saying something train related, find a way to stick one in. If you’re stuck, look up a list of train words and take inspiration (I’ll include a list of train expressions I commonly pull from at the bottom of the post) (Make sure to use “Bravo!” and “All aboard!” whenever applicable as well)
“I awoke to the unpleasant surprise of joltik holes in my trousers this morning- which delayed my cab significantly as I was forced to find an undamaged pair!”
I personally strive to use consonants (stuff like I’d, we’ll, don’t) as little as possible with the boys. For Emmet it’s to add to the choppiness of his dialogue and for Ingo it’s because that man would rather use fifty words when one will do. (It also makes them sound more professional!)
“Honestly, after a morning like this one, I pray that the remainder of today’s tracks prove to be much smoother.”
Another thing to keep in mind is that Ingo is extremely polite while Emmet is a bit more blunt. Try to use titles like “sir” and “miss” when writing Ingo- and then just don’t bother with Emmet.
Next up is Emmet, who I personally find much harder then Ingo! Unlike Ingo who’s dialogue you need to add words to, Emmet you need to subtract and simplify! This is the post I originally read to kinda get the jive of things, but here’s my pointers!
First off, figure out what concepts the are being expressed in your sentence, and split those apart.
“Sorry I’m late for work!” has two parts- an apology and an acknowledgment that the person is late. For Emmet we would want to split this single sentence into two.
“I am Emmet! I am late! Sorry!”
Next is vocal ticks! Emmet has several, and they should ideally be sprinkled in sparingly through his dialogue. (You can see that I used ‘I am Emmet’ in the previous section)
‘I am Emmet’ should be used when he is joining a conversation or when he’s about to say something about himself. It CAN be used more then once in a single conversation- but try not to overdo it.
‘Verrrrrrrry’ is another one! Other submas authors have him roll the r on other words as well, but I stick with verrrrrry. This one is easy to use- just extend the word very with extra Rs and use very whenever naturally applicable.
‘Yup’ is one as well- and one I admittedly don’t use often. It rarely jives with the way I write Emmet so I usually don’t bother- but you should definitely keep it in mind!
And of course, train terms! Less often then Ingo of course (since he says less words in general) but if you can find a way to fit it in, go for it.
“The joltiks chewed holes in my pants! Verrrrry naughty. Had to find new pants. Holey pants do not pass safety checks! Yup!”
Finally, the man likes his patterns! When writing Emmet it’s a good idea to have his Blubapedia page open nearby so you can just steal chunks of his script from that. (You can, and should do this for Ingo too!)
“Bad morning. Oh well. Follow the schedule! Everybody smile! All aboard!”
Of course, the man is perfectly capable of speaking longer sentences- but when and where he does so is up to the author.
All that being said, it’s important to remember that you’ll likely have to attempt their dialogue a few times before getting a sentence to flow right. Even for these examples I had to do a couple takes until I found one that really worked!
Here’s a couple of other notes for writing Pokémon characters in general:
Watch out for expressions and words that use animals. (like beeline or ‘in the dog house’) Try to replace those words with their Pokémon counterparts- (such as combeeline [which I’ve typed so many times I’ve started using internally in my day to day life]) or something that sounds close enough (like if your censoring f***, ducklett doesn’t work nearly as good as duck. So try muk instead!)
Do your best to replace religious swears with Pokémon religion! Instead of heavens, or the big G word, use words like, ‘Dragons!’ Or ‘Sweet Swords of Justice!’ (Of course, these are Unovan swears. For Hisui you should be using things like ‘Sinnoh’ and ‘great Time!’. Other regions have their own legendaries as well)
And finally, my list of train terms I pull from regularly!
Cab (or car): To refer to one’s body
“I am afraid my cab is in need of repairs.”
Tracks: A plan or intended route
“Very well! I will follow the tracks you have set!”
Destination: The goal or like, the actual destination
“Bravo! Your talent has brought you to the destination called victory!”
Station (or terminal): A location
“Very well! Let us set our tracks to the Pearl Clan’s station!”
Two Car Train (or three or four or whatever number you need): Friends or a team
“Emmet and I are a two car train!”
Couple (opposite being uncoupled): To join together
“I must ask that you couple your car to mine as we make our way through here. It can get quite dangerous!”
Engine: Another term for your body, but more specifically in regards to energy or drive
“I’m afraid I must rest my engine.”
Refuel: Eat.
“It is getting quite late- let us take a break to refuel.”
Conducting: Guiding
“I look forward to conducting you on this endeavor!”
Derailment (or collision, wreck, trainwreck): Something that has gone wrong.
“Apologies. It appears I have been derailed.”
Unscheduled (opposite being scheduled): Something unexpected
“Ah! A cave in! It appears we must make an unscheduled stop.”
Passenger: Person (or Pokémon)
“It appears we have picked up some unexpected passengers!”
Conductor: Ingo sometimes uses this to refer to himself (works especially well in Hisui)
“Passenger, please refrain from stabbing the conductor”
Delay: Something happening later then scheduled
“Apologies for the delay! Let us begin!”
Sidetracked: put off course
“Ah, but now I have sidetracked us with this talk.”
All aboard!: Good conversation ender 💙
“ALL ABOARD!!!”
wtf. another submas/splatoon fan named blue. we have to fight to the death now (or become besties)
Already in a death match with @ingo-ingoing-ingone but you can join in if you want
Rei: We lost Emmet in the crowd!
Ingo: Don't worry Mr. Rei, I know just what to do.
Ingo: WARDEN INGO SUCKS!
(Battle! Battle Subway Trainer theme starts playing)
Ingo: Ah, there he is-
(Gen 5 Battle! Gym Leader theme starts playing)
Ingo: Hang o-
(Gen 4 Battle! Champion theme starts playing)
Ingo: *sweating nervous as all 3 themes intensify as Emmet, Elesa and Akari get closer*
Mei: *somewhere in the crowd* YEAH HE DOES!
Whelp. It was nice knowing you Melli 😔