hershey

he/him • John Friespinel • proship dni • art use okay WITH CREDIT • not spoiler free

[chocokano]

i've decided to make a page outlining my guidelines for my art being used for stuff :3 this isn't targeted at anyone specifically, but i've occasionally noticed my art being used for things i'm not comfortable with, thus i made this for clarity's sake

hersheysartrules's strawpage

[chocokano]

long bacon pt 1

happy pride!

[stibnitewires]

[chocokano]

happy pride

[stibnitewires]

What am I meant to tell him when he comes searching for you?

[chocokano]

this week's ep was so yuriful

ver with no text under cut

[hopelessmonsoon]

[chocokano]

navi ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

[stibnitewires]

Packaged deal, do not separate (no matter how much they want you to) [not ship art]

individuals under the cut!

[chocokano]

more dewdles

[chocokano]

I got this idea but then I also need to sleep but I'm going to forget when I wake up but pokemon diftloon from pokopia being approached by chibi spinel with a friede doll

"Friede dimension 🥺"

have i mentioned how much i love pokopia yet

[chocokano]

thank you for drawing Orla x Mollie!

of course! take an extra doodle ^_^

[chocokano]

something about character foils that are the only characters to be able to understand the other in a specific way despite being at constant odds with one another... itches my brain so well.. my 3 favorite pairings of all time all follow this i may have a type

[chocokano]

my goats..

[chocokano]

something about character foils that are the only characters to be able to understand the other in a specific way despite being at constant odds with one another... itches my brain so well.. my 3 favorite pairings of all time all follow this i may have a type

[chocokano]

i don't know how it took me this long (especially considering i've wanted to make smth like this for a While) but i thought i'd put together a post on just why i love friespinel so much, as someone who has been (obviously) obsessed with them ever since episode 14 first aired.

spoilers for the whole series ahead btw!!

starting with ep 14, one of the very first things that drew me to them is how they're intially set up as eachothers' "equal." in ep 14, when the two have their first battle, its the first time we ever see friede being pushed to having to terastalyze, and with his reluctant reaction its pretty clear he does not have to do this often, nor does he like to resort to it. yet, spinel is a formidable enough opponent that he has to. plus, prior to this, the show was really showing off friede as this uber powerful trainer, practically unbeatable.

then, we go to episode 16, where spinel gets a similar sort of set up; once he brings out umbreon, the main 3 really don't stand a chance against him. he only loses because of arbolive. this, like friede, establishes him as a threatening opponent, where little can stand in his way. yet, in 44, we see that is not the case, proven by friede beating him. they both have these moments of pushing eachother to their absolute limits, when at that point nobody else had been able to do so. and i think that's neat

then there is, of course, their shared researchers spirit. we know spinel latches on to friede as a sort of "research" opportunity after ep 14, in how leading up to episode 44 he made a whole room completely dedicated to trapping friede and to limiting his battle capabilities. he sees friede as something intriguing, as something to pick apart so he can eventually take him down. another thing, spinel tends to have 2 types of reactions to being bested. he either crashes out and gets super mad, or gets obsessed and intrigued. with his fights with friede, we get both of these, and i find this dichotomy really appealing. i love spinel's fight with being frustrated at friede's abilities while also helplessy devoted to figuring out everything he can about him.

in spinel's fights with friede, we also see one of his biggest flaws come into play again and again. he gets too overconfident in himself, misses something important, and then fails miserably because of this. with their dynamic, its one you would expect to have some weird imbalance, with how off the rails spinel can be. yet when you really look at it, there isn't one at all, because friede bests him time and time again. no matter what, friede always manages to topple spinel's schemes no matter how much planning and effort spinel puts in. meanwhile, spinel's obsessive planning contrasts beautifully with friede's more "going with the flow" approach. he highlights friede's biggest strengths, in his adaptability to any situation that he developed after meeting cap. even in spinel's plots, friede is able to pick out the weaknesses; his communication with cap lets him break out of spinel's carefully put together trap, and him trusting his gut in regards to beeheeyem's ability leads to him beating spinel once again. friede highlights spinel's biggest flaws, while spinel highlights friede's biggest strengths. they're perfect foils to one another

(another thing i'd like to note, though this goes further into interpretation. they both seem to take notes of eachother's styles as they fight, with spinel even subconsciously incorporating some of friede's strengths into his own battle style. spinel plays a very very defensive fight in ep44; when friede's has a hunch about beeheeyem's ability, wouldn't it make sense for it to have a similarly defensive ability? there's also spinel in 86, when he attacks cap with an electric type move. he claims it was all intentional, but was it really? he mumbles under his breath immediately after that it was a mistake. meaning, later in the battle, he's making it up as he goes along. despite hating friede's "hunch" so much, he's taking from his adaptability, even if subconsciously. again neat :3)

there's also the fact that the two, despite seemingly being "opposites," are actually incredibly similar, in that spinel is a friede who never met cap. the spinel of today and the friede of then both have the same mindset of knowing everything there is to know, getting lost in their overconfidence in their own abilities. though while friede found his spark, and a new meaningful partnership with cap, spinel didn't. while friede moves on with his research in his own way in the field, spinel stays holed up in his lab. had friede never reached out to cap, he could've ended up just like spinel. had spinel reached out to something that struck that researcher's intrigue like friede did, maybe he could've turned out much different. (represented by spinel staying with exceed while friede left)

with this, i think friede could have a unique understanding of spinel that the rest of the cast (minus maybe liko, in other aspects) wouldn't have. he has been where spinel is. he's familiar with spinel's flawed mindset. he just moved past it; he made that necessary step of reaching out to cap, where spinel never did. and despite spinel seeming to hate everything friede stands for, he's still intrigued by and compelled towards him. even after being bested by friede's adaptability in 44, he takes the initiative (albeit completely from the shadows) to find out all that he can. (and this could've been great if anipoke properly locked in on this, but i digress...) horizons often emphasizes the importance of reaching out, of taking that step yourself to meet those important to you. we see it with liko and spirgatito, liko and dot, we see it with friede and cap. and i think, if the show were to let spinel develop to the point where he too can reach out like that, friede is really the perfect choice.

i also think spinel would be an opportunity for interesting friede development, by giving him a meaninful dynamic with someone so much like him but in a much more sinister way. i like poking his brain and making him grapple with being unfortunately attached to the Worst Person Ever, and i like making the one who is seen as this ideal of the good side, as their indestructible leader that they all aspire to be like, end up understanding and empathizing with the one who is the antithesis of everything they stand for. i think this dynamic humanizes them both, dragging spinel up and friede down to a more flawed and human medium.

i think they both bring out a lot of the most interesting parts of eachother's characters and i think that's very neat :3 anipoke if you're listening let them interact at least one more time PLEASEEEEEE

[chocokano]

big dump on my thoughts on spinel/how he's been handled in the show as of late. and also obligatory "no i am not justifying spinel's actions i'm aware he's evil and a criminal or whatever" disclaimer

(stealing it from a discord ramble i went on LOL major spoiler warning ofc)

and i will add i do think that if anipoke locks in, they've set it up to fix a lot of my issues with where they've left spinel (for example, umbreon checking up on him in prison, and showing the kid reconcilinf with his dachsbun right before the spinel prison scene) but as it is i am... not satisfied

[hopelessmonsoon]

!!!! I loved reading this. Whenever you whip one up, I'd love to read your Horizons word dumps. They're very nice and smooth to read (imo). You struck all the gripes with Spinel's character perfectly. (Especially the umbreon part. I know a lot of people want umbreon to go to someone else, but... It really wouldn't build upon anything. In fact, I'd say it worsens the narrative around her.) Your analysis makes me really excited for whatever fanfic you decide to whip up!!! 🩵🩵

[chocokano]

thanks so much!! i will admit the only reason this seems so well organized is that this is maybe the 4th time i've gone on this same rant LOL (this is just the only one i've made public). and yeah the umbreon part is what i'm most passionate about like... i might really drop the show if they make someone else catch her. i feel like that'll fully ruin the point they're trying to make about bonds, if they can throw away one of their earliest established trainer/pokemon bonds that easily, and will also leave spinel's character feeling completely pointless. again, ty! i'm glad my deranged rambles about my favorite pokeguy have been so well received LOL

[stibnitewires]

she's still got some unfinished business