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Flareon Day 2017: The Flareon Addendum and Character Reveal
8 years ago
First off, here's the tag link on Pixiv before I forget:
http://www.pixiv.net/search.php?wor.....ターの日
Exactly one year ago, I posted a journal about Eevee's fluffy Fire-type Eeveelution, Flareon. That journal had two purposes: to let people know about Pixiv's fascination with giving Pokemon and other characters their own semi-official day, and to let out my feelings on the Pokemon's memetic negative treatment in the fandom. It was pretty popular last year, so why not go at again this year to further raise awareness? A lot of what I say here is a summary of what I said last year, so if you want to read my rant against Flareon as seen by the community, you can check it here.
So, what makes today Flareon Day? Well, of all the Eeveelution's days on Pixiv, I'm the least certain about how Flareon's date was chosen, since unlike most of the others, it seems there's no number-wordplay going on here. But knowing that they have their own nickname and tag for mocking Flareon, I initially guessed that the joke is that the 1/10 date is also "one out of ten." From my perspective, the answer's not much better, but despite that it seems the art that gets put on Pixiv this day, including the eight we have so far (about the same as last year) is done in actual celebration of this warm, fuzzy fluffball, though one of them did have a certain tag on it...
I only today had the sense to look up the first image for the Flareon Day tag and got this. If Google Translate is to be believed, they couldn't come up with a good pun on their Japanese name so they based it on the nickname they have for them. 唯一王, Yuiitsu Ou, or "The Only/One King." The problem is that they came up with that name in reference to their low viability. Essentially, it is the Japanese version of "Flareon has no moves" (which still feels awful to type). How that refers to Flareon's suckiness is beyond me, though it seems to refer to their fluff at times. One such example was posted this Day, as I alluded to. The tag does also show up on images that aren't itself mocking them, but in those cases it feels like they're applying the tag as if to say Flareon's an excellent "mofumofu" fluffball and terrible at everything else. But that aside, I guess I can see the pun if I take the first two kanji each as 1s, which they essentially are (唯 by meaning “only”, and 一 literally means “one”), and taking "Ou" as the number zero's O-shape. Which is still a bit triggering, just less so, but it's the damned principle of things.
Unfun fact: Entei's in a similar position as Flareon, a physical fire-type unable to properly use its physical attack stat for STAB. Difference being Entei got Flare Blitz first AND Extreme Speed via that one shiny Entei event just before 5thgen (Adamant nature-locked to boot), and they gave him freaking Sacred Fire (yes, it's physical) when they fixed them in 6thgen. Personally, I'd have to say Entei initially had even worse movepool issues than Flareon did. They've improved better I'd admit, like Calm Mind for improving that merely decent Sp. Atk and Extrasensory for better coverage... wait Psychic is apparently a poor offensive type outside of hitting Fighting. Maybe Entei did have it worse. The three legendary whatevers didn't get Shadow Ball, not even by TM, until 4thgen, meaning RSE Flareon had an edge above Entei back when it was physical. And there's the fact that Entei's best Fighting-type move is the pathetic Rock Smash, which no joke still found its way onto Entei's movesets back in the day because there was seriously nothing better. And here we have Flareon who may be wishing for Close Combat but will happily make do with Superpower (reducing defenses is preferable to reducing offenses if you didn't know).
Obligatory slight off-topicness aside, the point is that just as Flareon is 唯一王, Entei is 唯一神, the "Only God." And yes, they both have their own tags and even dictionary entries on Pixiv. Though I couldn't help but find it interesting that the latter also gets results for YHVH from Shin Megami Tensei, but the dic entry confirms it's supposed to refer to Entei. I guess what I'm saying is that Flareon's not alone, but they seem to be the more popular target. That, and I somehow get the feeling Japan likes making fun of low-tier characters.
Another addendum to last year's journal that I'm very much not happy about... I said that back when Twitch Plays Pokemon was going on, nobody wanted Flareon. That wasn't exactly accurate. There were some who did... trolls and saboteurs who intended to impede their mission. And evolving a certain Eevee into what is considered not just the worst Eeveelution but also one of the worst Pokemon competitively was one way in which the so-called "Dome Agents" succeeded. And as a result, it sort of rubbed off onto the most undeserving Pokemon ever. I still hold that even with all else equal up to that point, there would be no "False Prophet" if they were able to evolve it into anything else...
And that's why when I play 1stgen Pokemon, I make it a point to release all three fossil Pokemon, even Aerodactyl sadly. Ever heard of the Mew glitch? There's an extension of that where I fight a wild Ditto with a Pokemon in my party with the correct Special stat to correspond to the fossil I didn't get from Super Nerd Miguel.
Hall of Shame 2017:
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust......st_id=59333462
-I guess we can add this simply because of Flareon's face. When they first revealed Extreme Evoboost, I noticed they put Flareon in the very back. This image confirmed my suspicion that it would fuel this sentiment. I feel like they're making fun of Flareon for being there like "how do i do that," maybe lampshading that Flareon's partaking in a stat-buffing ritual despite only getting Work Up (which Eevee and thus all of them get) for that purpose. Level 29 is when most Eeveelutions get their signature stat-buff move, but Flareon gets... Scary Face. But as this image is calling Flareon out, I'm calling this image out, as well as the commenter who posted "唯一王hhhhh"
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust......st_id=49355498 (Scroll down to 6th image)
-Throwing this one in too due to the tragically common "lol arcanine outclasses flareon, could literally replace them" joke and Flareon's ( ﾟДﾟ) reaction at getting shafted. A real damn shame, I would've liked this one if not for that joke.
http://jhallpokemon.deviantart.com/.....oves-198373971
-This one still pisses me off enough that I'm gonna list it again this year. That, and it gives me an excuse to look at this Captain Falcon/Master Hand image that shows up when I search "no moves" on dA.
Tags for making fun of Flareon:
http://www.pixiv.net/search.php?word=唯一王
http://wildcritters.ws/post/index?t.....=flareon_sucks (still NSFW)
-Because I still have undying fury with the fact that these tags even so much as exist, and because I'm still confused about the 唯一王 nickname, assuming there's more to it than just some sort of cruel irony.
Well, I don't have any new positive images/posts this year to share (still upset over that one confession blog going away), but I do have an opportunity to preview some spur-of-the-moment writing with a Flareon character I've had ready for far too long. I did something like this in the Leafeon Day journal last year, and while I'm still secretive over that Leafeon character, I'm more than ready to introduce my Flareon with you guys. Here's a tentative preview of what I have in store for this character.
---
"It's you, isn't it..."
"Oh, hey there! Yep, I finally decided. I got myself a Fire Stone, and now that I'm evolved I can live my dream of being like-"
"You'll never be like me now."
"What?"
"You should not have done that. You should not have evolved, not into a Flareon"
"Wha... what do you mean? This isn't like you..."
"Flareons... pitiful, weak creatures. You could not have made a bigger mistake."
"Becoming a Flareon will be the worst decision of your life, and there's no going back. Of all the things you could have been, you chose the most pathetic. Anything would have been better, yet you chose this. All because you looked up to me? Aspired to be like me? Now look at you. You have no hope. You've doomed yourself to be forever useless."
"You can't mean it... How could you say such things? Aren't we frien-"
"No. I'll not waste my time with your kind now. You're utterly worthless to me now."
...
That flashback again... Once more Novaglint slept through that nightmare. The moment he evolved was the moment he was betrayed. It still didn't make sense. Not a single Eeveelution here shares the feelings his former friend did. The fact that he's not the only Flareon living here ought to be proof enough.
The recurrence of this scene only compounded his confusion. Why would specifically becoming a Flareon have caused him to turn on him so suddenly? Flareons like him can't be worse than the others. His new friends, the fellow Eeveelutions of Etamit, have taught him that. They even celebrated his choice of evolution. What weakness did he see that was serious enough to warrant instant hatred? All because Novaglint looked up to that damn Pokemon... such foolishness. He should never have been like him.
He should be... better than someone who would so casually toss a friendship aside. If there's one thing he can count on, it's that he knows he's better.
The worst part is reliving that memory. That flashback, that nightmare, it keeps coming back. And now it's recurring ever more frequently. What could it mean?
It was time to strike back against this bad feeling.
---
So, meet Novaglint. An unexpected betrayal from his best friend who sees no redeeming qualities in Flareons leads to him fleeing from his old home and finding solace once he discovers Etamit Prairie. Harmony is the highest virtue in this Eeveelutionary community, and they would never turn down a shunned Flareon.
Of course, Novaglint's former friend is not an Eeveelution. I don't want to give a whole lot away, but I must make that much clear in case anyone might come to that conclusion.
...Ehh, I really don't feel like I did too well on the writing demo there. Felt a bit repetitive typing it at first, and even I got tired of drilling the same points into my own head. At the same time, I felt a lack of inspiration in writing that up. Maybe it's because I was also writing about a character who, you guessed it, represents this aspect of the fandom I hate so much. I was still able to slightly touch this up afterwards, but this is a mere preview for a story that's a bit far into the timeline. I'll definitely have a more polished product when that point comes.
http://www.pixiv.net/search.php?wor.....ターの日
Exactly one year ago, I posted a journal about Eevee's fluffy Fire-type Eeveelution, Flareon. That journal had two purposes: to let people know about Pixiv's fascination with giving Pokemon and other characters their own semi-official day, and to let out my feelings on the Pokemon's memetic negative treatment in the fandom. It was pretty popular last year, so why not go at again this year to further raise awareness? A lot of what I say here is a summary of what I said last year, so if you want to read my rant against Flareon as seen by the community, you can check it here.
So, what makes today Flareon Day? Well, of all the Eeveelution's days on Pixiv, I'm the least certain about how Flareon's date was chosen, since unlike most of the others, it seems there's no number-wordplay going on here. But knowing that they have their own nickname and tag for mocking Flareon, I initially guessed that the joke is that the 1/10 date is also "one out of ten." From my perspective, the answer's not much better, but despite that it seems the art that gets put on Pixiv this day, including the eight we have so far (about the same as last year) is done in actual celebration of this warm, fuzzy fluffball, though one of them did have a certain tag on it...
I only today had the sense to look up the first image for the Flareon Day tag and got this. If Google Translate is to be believed, they couldn't come up with a good pun on their Japanese name so they based it on the nickname they have for them. 唯一王, Yuiitsu Ou, or "The Only/One King." The problem is that they came up with that name in reference to their low viability. Essentially, it is the Japanese version of "Flareon has no moves" (which still feels awful to type). How that refers to Flareon's suckiness is beyond me, though it seems to refer to their fluff at times. One such example was posted this Day, as I alluded to. The tag does also show up on images that aren't itself mocking them, but in those cases it feels like they're applying the tag as if to say Flareon's an excellent "mofumofu" fluffball and terrible at everything else. But that aside, I guess I can see the pun if I take the first two kanji each as 1s, which they essentially are (唯 by meaning “only”, and 一 literally means “one”), and taking "Ou" as the number zero's O-shape. Which is still a bit triggering, just less so, but it's the damned principle of things.
Unfun fact: Entei's in a similar position as Flareon, a physical fire-type unable to properly use its physical attack stat for STAB. Difference being Entei got Flare Blitz first AND Extreme Speed via that one shiny Entei event just before 5thgen (Adamant nature-locked to boot), and they gave him freaking Sacred Fire (yes, it's physical) when they fixed them in 6thgen. Personally, I'd have to say Entei initially had even worse movepool issues than Flareon did. They've improved better I'd admit, like Calm Mind for improving that merely decent Sp. Atk and Extrasensory for better coverage... wait Psychic is apparently a poor offensive type outside of hitting Fighting. Maybe Entei did have it worse. The three legendary whatevers didn't get Shadow Ball, not even by TM, until 4thgen, meaning RSE Flareon had an edge above Entei back when it was physical. And there's the fact that Entei's best Fighting-type move is the pathetic Rock Smash, which no joke still found its way onto Entei's movesets back in the day because there was seriously nothing better. And here we have Flareon who may be wishing for Close Combat but will happily make do with Superpower (reducing defenses is preferable to reducing offenses if you didn't know).
Obligatory slight off-topicness aside, the point is that just as Flareon is 唯一王, Entei is 唯一神, the "Only God." And yes, they both have their own tags and even dictionary entries on Pixiv. Though I couldn't help but find it interesting that the latter also gets results for YHVH from Shin Megami Tensei, but the dic entry confirms it's supposed to refer to Entei. I guess what I'm saying is that Flareon's not alone, but they seem to be the more popular target. That, and I somehow get the feeling Japan likes making fun of low-tier characters.
Another addendum to last year's journal that I'm very much not happy about... I said that back when Twitch Plays Pokemon was going on, nobody wanted Flareon. That wasn't exactly accurate. There were some who did... trolls and saboteurs who intended to impede their mission. And evolving a certain Eevee into what is considered not just the worst Eeveelution but also one of the worst Pokemon competitively was one way in which the so-called "Dome Agents" succeeded. And as a result, it sort of rubbed off onto the most undeserving Pokemon ever. I still hold that even with all else equal up to that point, there would be no "False Prophet" if they were able to evolve it into anything else...
And that's why when I play 1stgen Pokemon, I make it a point to release all three fossil Pokemon, even Aerodactyl sadly. Ever heard of the Mew glitch? There's an extension of that where I fight a wild Ditto with a Pokemon in my party with the correct Special stat to correspond to the fossil I didn't get from Super Nerd Miguel.
Hall of Shame 2017:
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust......st_id=59333462
-I guess we can add this simply because of Flareon's face. When they first revealed Extreme Evoboost, I noticed they put Flareon in the very back. This image confirmed my suspicion that it would fuel this sentiment. I feel like they're making fun of Flareon for being there like "how do i do that," maybe lampshading that Flareon's partaking in a stat-buffing ritual despite only getting Work Up (which Eevee and thus all of them get) for that purpose. Level 29 is when most Eeveelutions get their signature stat-buff move, but Flareon gets... Scary Face. But as this image is calling Flareon out, I'm calling this image out, as well as the commenter who posted "唯一王hhhhh"
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust......st_id=49355498 (Scroll down to 6th image)
-Throwing this one in too due to the tragically common "lol arcanine outclasses flareon, could literally replace them" joke and Flareon's ( ﾟДﾟ) reaction at getting shafted. A real damn shame, I would've liked this one if not for that joke.
http://jhallpokemon.deviantart.com/.....oves-198373971
-This one still pisses me off enough that I'm gonna list it again this year. That, and it gives me an excuse to look at this Captain Falcon/Master Hand image that shows up when I search "no moves" on dA.
Tags for making fun of Flareon:
http://www.pixiv.net/search.php?word=唯一王
http://wildcritters.ws/post/index?t.....=flareon_sucks (still NSFW)
-Because I still have undying fury with the fact that these tags even so much as exist, and because I'm still confused about the 唯一王 nickname, assuming there's more to it than just some sort of cruel irony.
Well, I don't have any new positive images/posts this year to share (still upset over that one confession blog going away), but I do have an opportunity to preview some spur-of-the-moment writing with a Flareon character I've had ready for far too long. I did something like this in the Leafeon Day journal last year, and while I'm still secretive over that Leafeon character, I'm more than ready to introduce my Flareon with you guys. Here's a tentative preview of what I have in store for this character.
---
"It's you, isn't it..."
"Oh, hey there! Yep, I finally decided. I got myself a Fire Stone, and now that I'm evolved I can live my dream of being like-"
"You'll never be like me now."
"What?"
"You should not have done that. You should not have evolved, not into a Flareon"
"Wha... what do you mean? This isn't like you..."
"Flareons... pitiful, weak creatures. You could not have made a bigger mistake."
"Becoming a Flareon will be the worst decision of your life, and there's no going back. Of all the things you could have been, you chose the most pathetic. Anything would have been better, yet you chose this. All because you looked up to me? Aspired to be like me? Now look at you. You have no hope. You've doomed yourself to be forever useless."
"You can't mean it... How could you say such things? Aren't we frien-"
"No. I'll not waste my time with your kind now. You're utterly worthless to me now."
...
That flashback again... Once more Novaglint slept through that nightmare. The moment he evolved was the moment he was betrayed. It still didn't make sense. Not a single Eeveelution here shares the feelings his former friend did. The fact that he's not the only Flareon living here ought to be proof enough.
The recurrence of this scene only compounded his confusion. Why would specifically becoming a Flareon have caused him to turn on him so suddenly? Flareons like him can't be worse than the others. His new friends, the fellow Eeveelutions of Etamit, have taught him that. They even celebrated his choice of evolution. What weakness did he see that was serious enough to warrant instant hatred? All because Novaglint looked up to that damn Pokemon... such foolishness. He should never have been like him.
He should be... better than someone who would so casually toss a friendship aside. If there's one thing he can count on, it's that he knows he's better.
The worst part is reliving that memory. That flashback, that nightmare, it keeps coming back. And now it's recurring ever more frequently. What could it mean?
It was time to strike back against this bad feeling.
---
So, meet Novaglint. An unexpected betrayal from his best friend who sees no redeeming qualities in Flareons leads to him fleeing from his old home and finding solace once he discovers Etamit Prairie. Harmony is the highest virtue in this Eeveelutionary community, and they would never turn down a shunned Flareon.
Of course, Novaglint's former friend is not an Eeveelution. I don't want to give a whole lot away, but I must make that much clear in case anyone might come to that conclusion.
...Ehh, I really don't feel like I did too well on the writing demo there. Felt a bit repetitive typing it at first, and even I got tired of drilling the same points into my own head. At the same time, I felt a lack of inspiration in writing that up. Maybe it's because I was also writing about a character who, you guessed it, represents this aspect of the fandom I hate so much. I was still able to slightly touch this up afterwards, but this is a mere preview for a story that's a bit far into the timeline. I'll definitely have a more polished product when that point comes.
Also, I liked your demo. It sounds like they'll be an interesting character to explore :3