I was around when it was available but never played it
I joined after they disabled it and have never played it
I didn't know it was ever available to play
Voting ended onMay 9
Who else remembers having to wait ages for a match-up because barely anyone hung out in there, so the only way to really guarantee a match at all was to ask in the forums for someone to join you
I didn't PVP a ton, but I did take my Kelp Beds team and my Mire Flyer in a couple times. I don't remember if I did well or not, it's been a decade...
I remember that there wasn't a notification on matches starting, so I had at least one I wasn't paying attention to the tab and switched back to, went "Oh no! How long have you been sitting there waiting?!" and forfeited... if that was anyone on here, I'm sorry!
I also remember there being some sort of organized level 1 fights (possibly a Lightning Dom initiative?) but I never actually participated, it was just something I would see folks talking about on the forums. Seems like an interesting meta, kinda like how Pokémon has Little Cup (level 5 unevolved battles, as opposed to the standard level 50 ones of the main formats, Smogon OU and VGC).
what is an "ID/image description" (and why you should add them to your posts about L from pokémon)
[ID from alt: L's battle intro where he looks at the viewer with a determined expression, with his left eye open to reveal that it's gone white with cataracts. Captioned: "You are challenged by Pokémon Trainer L!" End ID.]
L is a disabled character. Specifically, a vision-impaired character. He's blind in his left eye, and we don't really know the condition of the other one. Blindness is a spectrum, and L is somewhere on it, even if we don't know all the details.
This isn't a novel observation. Here on the L side of the Z-A fandom, it's easy to find posts about L's eye, and the potential symbolism, or potential design inspiration, or speculation about exactly how his eye wound up like that in the first place. But you know what's harder to find?
Unfortunately, it's hard to find posts about L — even posts about L's loss of vision — that are actually accessible to blind or low vision people in real life!
Blind and low vision people use the internet and social media. This is often made possible by screen readers, a software that quite literally reads the text and buttons on one's screen out loud for a user. (There are also versions using Braille displays instead of TTS.)
What happens when a blind person, using a screen reader, encounters an image? The screen reader doesn't know what the image is... unless there is alt text or an image description (ID). The blind user is excluded from the post and the conversation... unless there is alt text or an image description.
I hope it goes without saying: if you're posting about a vision-impaired character, like L, you should make an effort to make your posts accessible to vision-impaired people in real life. That means writing image descriptions — or asking a volunteer to write them for you, more on that later. I don't see a lot of L fanart that has image descriptions. Posting about a vision-impaired character, without thinking of the real vision-impaired people who might see said post... I don't think anyone's being actively malicious, but it's unintentionally not a good look. The last thing I want is to shame people, but I do want people to be aware of who IDs are for, and why they're so important. Hence, this post.
(Also? Again, I don't want to call people out, because going sicko mode over innocent mistakes helps no one, but I've even seen posts about L's blindness or eye trauma that include images without descriptions. That's really not a good look. Blindness and disability are more than a piece of symbolism or angst for a story! Blindness and disability exist in real life!)
Do you think L would eventually use a screen reader? Just my headcanon, but I think that he would! He's obviously tech-savvy (or once was), and I think he could initially have some internalized ableism about his vision impairment and the potential use of assistive technology, but he has all the time in the world to work through it. Not everyone who uses a screen reader is "completely" blind, and a lot of people use them because sight reading is technically possible, but takes effort or causes eye strain.
Okay, now that we're on the same page — how do you write an image description?
First off, it's completely okay if you're not a master immediately. Bad IDs are still way more helpful than no ID!
Second, when I write IDs (especially fandom IDs), I have a similar process I follow each time. You don't have to have the exact same process, but if you're getting started, try following a mental checklist like:
What type of image is it? (Game screenshot? Fanart? Screenshot of Tumblr tags?)
What character(s), if any?
The important information contained in the image. This varies depending on the image, and can be one thing or many things. Maybe it's what the characters are doing; maybe it's what the text/dialogue says; maybe it's both. What's the image being shared to represent in the first place?
To demonstrate, here's an example:
[ID from alt: screenshot of L after being defeated by the player, with a melancholy smile as he says: "Excellent! I can feel the fire of your convictions burning deep within your heart!" End ID.]
And here's how the "steps" that played out in my brain:
What type of image? Screenshot. (Honestly, it was clear from the context of the rest of the ID that it was a screenshot, so I could've skipped saying so, but it doesn't hurt to mention it briefly.)
What character? L.
The important information: At a glance, the things you'll probably notice about this image are L's expression and his dialogue. So that's what I focus on in the ID, instead of taking a detour into the background details that aren't really relevant, like the vines growing on Hotel Z.
Of course, it's good to see how multiple people write IDs — and for multiple types of images, too. Here and here are fanartists who described their posts in the alt text, so you can look at how they do so (and also show them some love while you're there)! Here and here are examples of me describing fanart. You might notice that both of those OPs edited the ID into their original post, which was awesome of them, because that's a big help with accessibility!
Also, you can just scroll through @pokemondescribed if you want to see a bunch of described examples of Pokémon posts. That blog is great!
In general, here's a huge (fandom-nonspecific) masterpost of ID resources. Don't get overwhelmed trying to read it all at once, but if you have a question, there's a good chance it has the answer. That said, I'll also hit a couple FAQs right here, staring with:
How do I know what details to include?
Context matters. Ask yourself: "What is this image meant to convey?" and "If I was describing this image to a friend out loud, what would be the important parts I'd want to tell them?"
For example: if I'm describing a comic of L having a conversation with someone, that means I've got a lot of dialogue to transcribe, so I wouldn't get bogged down describing L's appearance or clothes. But if I'm describing art of L repairing his jacket, or if the topic of the comic has to do with the condition of L's clothes, then it would make sense to mention the patched-up state of his outfit!
Another context-dependent thing: when I wrote the IDs in this post, you'll notice I didn't specify "L from Pokémon" or "L from Pokémon Z-A," since everyone reading this post knows that because of the title. If I'm writing an image description for an isolated piece of fanart or something, though, it would make more sense to name the source material.
IDs or Alt Text? What's the difference?
IDs are written in the post itself (directly underneath the image, so a screen reader user can hear it immediately). Alt text is like an image description embedded in the image itself. You can click the "Alt" box on the images in this post if you'd like to see how it works.
Now, which one should you use? Either is a huge boost to accessibility, but using both alt text and an ID actually helps the most people with different needs — just like I how did for the images in this post, if you'd like to see examples. You can read about the reasoning for using both here if you'd like, and spoiler alert, it has to do with blindness being a spectrum, and different blind people navigating the internet differently. I would consider a post with either an ID or alt text to be an adequate "described post," but using both is extra inclusive.
What if writing IDs is difficult for me (for any reason)?
Have a disability of your own that interferes with writing IDs? Not confident in your fluency in the language you'd be writing in? Just really anxious about messing it up? Then that's nothing to be ashamed of, but that's why so many people volunteer to write IDs for other people's posts, and you should take advantage of their volunteered offers!
To find those helpful people in question, refer to this post: I want to make my posts more accessible, but can't write IDs myself: a guide. TL;DR: either you can ask in the People's Accessibility Discord server (linked in that guide) for someone to write an ID for you, or you can edit an ID into your original post when someone adds one in the notes on Tumblr. The first option is great if you don't have too much social anxiety about joining servers, but the second option is a good alternative if you do. (I get it. Don't worry.)
Most people who write IDs are disabled ourselves (which is kind of a problem for writing IDs sustainably, and we'd all like to see more abled people write them), but on the bright side, what that means is that we all understand why some people experience barriers to writing IDs. But accessibility still matters, so asking someone to write an ID for you will make a huge difference, even if you can't write it yourself.
Conclusion
If you made it this far in the post, thank you so much for reading. I'm not a screen reader user myself, but you've probably already guessed that I'm disabled, and that this is an important topic to me. If you have questions that aren't already answered, feel free to ask, and I'll do my best to help! I wish I could volunteer to write IDs for anyone anytime, but my own disabilities prevent me from doing that, so instead, I'll extend an offer to look over any IDs you have questions about (whether L, or Lysandre, or any Pokémon character, or any topic I have basic familiarity with, honestly). My DMs are open for this exact reason.
[ID from alt: L's final scene, where he smiles and says: "I shall travel across vast reaches in search of ways to create the world I yearn for." End ID.]
Making fandom more accessible isn't as easy as the press of a button, but it's not impossible or insurmountable, either. It just takes a group of people ready to learn, to help each other out, and build more inclusive habits together.
Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.
Yep, but it's changed over time. Usually I use "Renaiwom" for an account name and "Cirrus" for a character name (or "Stratus" if the game forces me to play as a guy). I had a different one when I was younger, kinda wanna let sleeping dogs lie on that front though.
(side note, my account name is "Renai FR", and I'm starting to like the idea that you can read it as "For Real" instead of just "Flight Rising". I'm more than one kinda thing, after all)
Do you consider yourself a lucky person when playing?
Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.
Yeah, I'd say I'm decently lucky. I get decent drops in games, I've hatched a couple doubles on FR and run into a couple shinies. However, I've never hatched a shiny, y'know? The luck only comes when I'm not specifically looking for it, if that makes sense.
Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.
Heh, HEAVILY depends on the game. Some of my best childhood memories involved my little brother and I crammed in front of the family desktop playing LEGO Star Wars II. Some of uh, the opposite kinda memories were my little brother and I squabbling over hotseat Civ III. Some games are just not suited for being passed back and forth the same way as others.
As well, online games mean I can play with my online friends- no travel time required! But, couch co-op doesn't require everyone to have a copy...
I think my end vote is, in classic "Renai chooses the third option" fashion, DS Download Play. I only had one, maybe two instances of using this to its full extent- end of the school year and I could share my Tetris Party cart- but man, it was a blast. Best of both worlds, minimal buy-in needed but also no fighting over controls while you all hung out in the same area.
(the games I'm poking at off and on- neither is close to alpha so I don't talk about them much- are both targeting an online multiplayer model, but maybe one should try for couch co-op. Means I don't have to muck with networking code, ha!)
Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.
I mean, anything put down can be picked up again at some point, right?
Except if it hits End of Service. I never quite got to the end of Dragalia Lost, and while I know there's fan servers to have another go at it, it's not the same. I don't like games that go away, even as much as I understand that there are logistics issues with keeping a multiplayer game up forever. Did I think the plot was maybe going a lil sideways? Sure. But... I would still have liked to actually get there myself.
Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.
Underrated? I'm not sure I've played enough different games to quite count- and Flight Rising is certainly not underrated at this point, it's one of the most popular in its genre.
That said, I think I wanna shout out "Thomas Was Alone". It's a platformer, and though I wasn't quite able to finish it on my last run (the jetpack level got me), any game that gets you emotional when its player characters are *rectangles* is something special.
(Cinder to tie in Keel's shape, the fact Trail both matches and also has the diamonds is nice, Ridge H had the best color balance with the wide Trail stripes- Trail goes very busy and thin sometimes and that doesn't really vibe here, Saffron to match the darker bits of Cinder but there's probably some flexibility since Keel doesn't change colors that drastically)
Ok but like... I think vaccines are totally in-character for Plague. What's more "survival of the fittest" than crafting a disease to kill other diseases? Their healers are, at least from what I remember of the Q&A it came up in, already doing the "adds a little bit of sick to your injury so you come out stronger" thing.
My Plague rep is a vaccinologist and like, idk, I just think it fits. Get a little sick now so that when the bigger sick comes, you can punch it in the nose!
Anyways thank you for coming to my TED Talk, eheh.
Ok so, I didn't have time to make this fancy but, anybody want an Ask about your Flight Rising dragons? My current hope is to send one ask a day through... well, I'd like to do the whole month, but I can at least do a couple weeks. It'll be easier if other folks wanna play too.
To sign up, if you're ok both SENDING and RECEIVING asks, put a comment below with a brief overview of your lair's lore, ok? Also helpful: a link to your FR lair and/or wherever your lore is stored (#readingtime #woo!).
My thought for how the game works:
Sign up with a comment
I'll send new signups an Ask the first day, and comment at the end of the list (this is going up at 4:15 FR time or so, and I'll probably be doing this during Rollover, so, midnight).
On subsequent days, people ask the *next person below them who they haven't yet asked a question*, looping to the top of the list if they reach the bottom
(also, some ground rules- it's unkind to ask NSFW questions unless a blog has specifically opted in, yeah? And please post if your lair has content warnings so people can make informed decisions about what they're engaging with)
Follow-up to last week's art with one of the library regulars and both librarians- everything is fine here, there's no way this could possibly go wrong.
Kenneth may need a bigger desk though.
Seaheart's Charge was keeping the clan safe, and now he's grappling with a world in which he was unable to stop multiple tragedies from occurring.
I like rendering Veined as scarring, but there's probably a bit more going on here because Mr. Big Blue Boi here did get turned to stone for a bit. A fair few dragons who went through that took damage while statued, and now they get to live with the effects.
Quincy is a Fire dragon who enjoys working with plants. He's also got some health issues, particularly hearing, but he's a pretty mellow sort over all.
Quincy is "Lucky" because he's a self-hatched g1 who I saw pop out of the egg and went, "Ooh, you have POTENTIAL", ha! Sunset/Orange/Ultramarine with matchy Fire eyes.
This is also one of the first times I've gone for a chubby vibe to the character; I think it works well for this guy, he's got the right sort of friendly vibe.
Tannenbaum is one of my oldest dragons, hatched during NotN 2015. He's a melancholy toymaker/tinkerer, who is also stuck in the Statue Garden while I figure out what to do with his lore.
I'm realizing that I tend to draw Nocturne heads really big. Welp. That's a problem for caught-up Renny to do better with, eheh.
