What would you say Molayne's music taste would be like?
He tries to appreciate just about any music, even if just a little bit. But, he really enjoys finding small and upcoming artists- the kind of artists you might discover when looking up covers of videogame music or anime openings. The genre of music is less important to him than whether the music itself is enjoyable.
It's also worth mentioning he's not the kind of person that enjoys listening to music on full blast. It's not because he's embarrassed or anxious about other people hearing the music, it's more just because he's not very fond of anything excessively loud.
If Leon, Guzma, and Plumeria, and any other character you think would make it amusing, were dropped back in time so no tech for translation exists yet, and they're in a country they don't know the language, who would adapt quickest and learn the language the fastest?
Do i do silly little prompts??? I LOVE silly little prompts!!!
Out of the three of them, I think Plumeria would pick it up the fastest. She's very well-read and actually makes an effort to learn a little bit of any languages her grunts speak, so odds are, she probably has at least a basic understanding of how the language works, or would be able to figure it out with some time. Despite this, I think Leon would have the easiest time actually "communicating" with folks, at least in the very beginning. He just uses his natural charisma to pantomime or convey in any way he can what he's trying to get across. Guzma... he has no hope... it would be a very long time before he could communicate effectively.
Out of all the characters in the story, the one that would have the absolute easiest time in this scenario would be Raihan. That's because in Jolly Rogers (and Galar League Intrigues), he has an eidetic memory and is otherwise extremely brilliant- even earning his doctorate by the age of 19. I think he'd have little to no trouble picking up the language regardless of where or what it is!
Molayne's hobby being weight lifting is really interesting!
It's not a hobby you'd expect from a guy who mainly works with computers but that's precisely why I like it!
When did he start lifting? Can he lift his steel type pokemon?
First, let me be transparent that I didn't come up with that headcanon all on my own 😅 In post game of USUM, if you go into Kukui's basement, Molayne shows up with a Machamp and says he's there to borrow Kukui's gym equipment. There's then like a "cutscene" that implies you stay there and watch him work out for a while?????
Point is, I thought it was great and I really liked the idea of him just discreetly working out as a hobby, not telling anyone about it, and becoming quietly jacked.
I like to imagine that he started some minor stength training on his own when he was off doing his island trials just because he found the majority of his partners were pretty hefty and wanted to be able to give them all the same amount of love and cuddles. He started getting more serious about it when his beldum evolved into a metang. They got sad because Molayne wasn't able to lift them for cuddles. Now that they're a Metagross, Molayne is really committed. I don't think he's able to deadlift Metagross at this point, but it's definitely a goal he has (that, of course, he has told no one).
How would the Jolly Rogers characters handle being temporarily transported to an alternate universe (perhaps via ultra wormhole) where they meet evil versions of themselves, and what would those evil versions be like?
Ok, so this is a super interesting question in terms of Guzma because, looking back, there was probably a time where Guzma genuinely would've considered himself "evil". It was for the sake of survival in a way, but I'm sure he's not proud looking back on those days. Of course, then there's the consideration that, well, petty crime isn't exactly Every Villain Is Lemons, which is a fair point. So what about in the even he went to a timeliness where he is through and through EVIL? So, I'm trying to imagine what that would look like and what would be the evil Guzma's motivations. I'm thinking an evil guzma would take the whole King of Destruction thing to a far more literal sense- I'm talking full on flattening of every town he comes across with zero disregard for human or pokemon life. Now THAT would be truly evil. And how would our dear Guzma react to such a person?
With horror. He'd immediately recognize that this is a version of himself that did not develop out of nothing. If he let himself just a little more room for the hate, anger, and spite inside him to grow... this would've been the result. And in this particular universe... it WAS the result. I think he would feel pity for his evil self. This man has been beaten down by the world so much for so long, he's lost all compassion and empathy in his heart. Nothing brings him joy nor peace. He's so far gone, he doesn't even realize he's suffering.
Leon on the other hand... on the surface level, he seems the same cheerful battle expert. However, every word out of his mouth is dripping with sickeningly saccharine platitudes and surreptitious prevarications. He learned it from the best at the craft, after all.
This evil version disgusts Leon, to say the very least. Unlike with Guzma, this scoundrel is not a version of himself he understands nor relates. Leon can't fathom what events would lead to his heart and mind being corrupted so thoroughly by greed and pride. Someome who lies, cheats, and tramples his way to the top and, once hes there, hes unsatisfied and only wants MORE. That's not him. That's not Leon. However... that is THIS Leon, and that is one hard pill for our lad to swallow
❤️ - I think I have to go with "He kept his eyes locked on Leon's face, but gritted his teeth behind closed lips, his cheeks and ears burning like he was slapped across the face with a live sizzlepede." The image of being "slapped across the face with a love sizzlepede" was just so fucking funny to me when i wrote it. It still makes me laugh when I think about it.
👻 - Let's see... my wildest headcannon is probably how becoming a "faller" works. Basically, going through a wormhole causes the person to become "infected". Much like a virus that lies latent in your cells, there are these particles that exist in the body. These particles are what Ultra beasts are able to sense, and what they mistake for wormholes, attracting them to fallers. There's some more specifics to it than that, but I don't wanna get tok crazy into the biological jargon
💥 - A big canon thing I would change is that Team Skull wouldn't be disbanded at the end of the pokemon sumo games. Crime and mischief aside, Team Skull did provide a community and place for many people who have nowhere else to go. I think it would've been more impactful for Team Skull to transform into something else (ya know, something not based in crime) and for Guzma to become more of a proper leader figure instead of returning to his childhood home (and to the parent that was heavily implied to abuse him)
🎨 - in all fairness, I've never gotten fan art of any of my fics so literally anything would make me go absolutely feral with happiness. But, if I think of a specific scene I would love to see... I think it would be from ch 12 in JR. Guzma and Kukui are kids and they climb high in Lush Jungle to look up over the canopy. It's a scene I've imagined so vividly in my head again and again and again... I just think itd be awesome.
🎬 - Bro, this is a lot of pressure lmao. I really dont know all that much about actors and stuff... at least not those who would be in the correct age ranges for these charcters. I mean, putting all that aside, if I just base it on aesthetics and overall vibes, I think the cast would be Cooper Andrews (Guzma), Janelle Monáe (Plumeria), uhhhhhhhh......ok I really dont know who'd play Leon. I know that there are some dark skinned actors making waves in Bollywood, since darker skin is considered undesirable and avoided when casting (it's just discrimination, idk why I worded it like that). Anyways I think it'd be fitting for one of those young men to play Leon. I just don't know enough about any of them or their movies to give an educated opinion of who it should be.... anyways those are the only characters in my story, right? Right! Moving on....
💥 - I feel like my cop out answer would be to give Guzma naturally white hair. I like it aesthetically and have created an entire lore reason just for it to be there lol. Oh wait, actually I forgot another ask I got actually had this one too, so I'll just leave this cop out answer here and say what I was gonna say next when I answer that one!
If Leon was a trans guy in the Jolly Rogers universe, I imagine that he would have had a really hard time of it his whole life thanks to certain people. If he was still champion and everything mostly happened the same up until he goes to Alola, how would meeting Guzma and the rest of team skull go, considering they view gender completely differently than what Leon might be used to dealing with?
So, to answer this question I'll probably reference some parts of the story, so 🛑spoilers🛑 for anyone who hasn't read it....
Now, there are, of course, prejudices in Alola as there are most places toward trans folk, hence the twin's (oc grunts Pink and Blue) situation. However, I think Leon will come to be surprised that the snarky Skull Boss does not poke fun at that aspect of him even once.
We've already sort of seen how Guzma views others in terms of sex and gender. For example, even when thinking about the twins, he only ever describes them as 'boys', 'brothers', 'morons', etc. The fact that Blue is trans is not something that ever crosses his mind UNTIL someone else brings it up and dares to misgender him. I imagine, that even if he clocks Leon as trans without the champ straight up telling him, it's more of a footnote in Guzma's brain about him than anything else. So, let's say Guzma was asked to describe Leon's most defining traits... his brain would probably turn up things like "man younger than me," "dark, long hair," "bright eyes," "scatterbrained," "large, muscular chest," etc. In other words, though Leon is a trans man, Guzma sees him as simply a man first and foremost. This is likely not a conscious thing Guzma does, and has roots in the fact that the majority of positive adult influences from his childhood happened to be māhū.
This may actually lead to some misunderstandings. I know that being trans for some folk is a very important part of their identity and that they would much rather have the distinction between transman and cisman. In my interpretation of Leon, I don't think he'd care as much about the distinction and would focus more on being seen and thought of as a man in general. However, the fact that Guzma is so unreactive (and almost uninterested) in the fact that Leon is trans is actually a bit of a shock and kind of confusing (but also refreshing). He may think Guzma is just messing with him or being insensitive and just "pretending like he isn't" as I'm sure he's had to deal with in the past. Alternatively, he just thinks Guzma is completely oblivious to the fact. Of course, any of this would be resolved once the two just sat down and had a bloody conversation.
I could totally see Leon stressing about needing/wanting to tell Guzma he's trans and being unsure how he'll take it and finally mustering up the metaphorical balls to do so only for Guzma to be like, yeah I fucking know that already??? I'm sure some entertaining banter would ensue.
The rest of the islands aside, I think Leon would find himself extremely comfortable and at home in the shady house, it being very inclusive and accepting, a good bit of its residents being some flavor of queer, neurodivergent, misunderstood, etc. I'm sure some of the grunts are thrilled to have him (as a trans adult) around- physical affirmation that yes, it's not a phase, yes you can grow up as the person you want/are meant to be, yes you don't have to compromise for anyone else's sake, yes you can, you WILL be happy.
I think Leon would really enjoy that. He's use to being a role model, but this is different and I think it means something important to him. I also think Leon would really appreciate the idea of māhū and the idea that gender is not simply "one or the other". I think it's validating and would help him be more accepting of himself, allowing him to be proud of his more "feminine" features or tendencies without feeling like they detract from his masculinity or identity as a man.
I think Leon would also be able to extend some of this to Guzma himself. As it's implied in the story thus far, for himself gender is a difficult subject to breach due to the abuse he suffered from his father. The understanding he subconsciously extends to others, he subconsciously does not grant to himself. I think Leon sharing with him some of the struggles he's overcome through the years, may connect some synapses in Guzma's brain. Maybe Lee can get him to acknowledge the contradiction within himself....
