abiding-by-the-laws-of-color
Ghost and Condor make funny stuff :)
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Latest Posts by abiding-by-the-laws-of-color
been working on redesigning the elemental monkeys just to try and see what makes them hated in comparison to any other monkey pokemon
i think they just look very un-monkey like in proportion but they also just lack the vibes that make monkeys charming and that’s probably the issue idk
along with not looking different enough from each other so i plan on giving them all different shapes and proportions
also used beta simisage’s tail because i like it better
healing my dog with soda pops
the comic experience is realizing the fucking crazy pagecount, deciding to cut your losses, change your artstyle, and immediately killing a guy
My Maxie bloodline headcanons. I like to think Maxie's grandparents were in Sinnoh, his parents moved to Hoenn, and Maxie was born and raised in Hoenn
Meant to share this awhile ago but I printed test keychains for personal merch having reasons!
Though here comes a genuine question, I’m Indonesian and sometimes like going to art conventions (I have set up a Comifuro booth with my friends before I was back into Pokémon) and I’m curious if any of y’all’s are from Indonesia too, I’d love to know:
What generations/games are y’all’s into?
any pairings that you particularly like?
I’m personally someone who’s into Hoenn and Hardenshipping atm, say hi in the tags if we’ve got similar interests :D
additionally, if anyone knows how international shipping works hit me up.
for clarity’s sake, feel free to start a convo/comment or yap in the tags, don’t be shy, I might sell stuff one day and it’ll help
Did a comic test page based on this doodle I made like a year ago. Have young man yaoi lol
Archie and Maxie related headcanons I’ve had for a while
I have more than these that are closer to game info but unfortunately they are spoilers for my emerald comic. I want to ramble about them regardless so have like loose thoughts and stuff that’ll never get explored properly in said story lol. Some are hardenshipping and (very little tbh) team related stuff as well :)
Archie grew up somewhere near slateport, and spent a lot of time at sea with his adoptive father, Mr. Briney
Archie, Shelly, and Matt are basically siblings, they met as children and lived alongside/near each other up until they did their respective studies.
Maxie grew up and lived in Fallarbor town, his mother is a businesswoman that visits every month, while his father is a local street chef. He learnt how to cook some really good recipes but his cooking skills are limited to those dishes.
He was at one point Courtney's brother figure, he kind of still is but both are a little too caught up on work to properly hang out like they did.
Tabitha is the most emotionally intelligent of the magmas, he’s the HR guy with a psychology degree.
as much as he doesnt want to show or admit to it, Maxie has a mischievous streak. He's capable of making logically and morally questionable decisions (as seen in games). Most of the time he's prepared with an elaborate excuse, though.
Archie's cheerfulness is genuine, but he's got a lot of spite and real cold bitterness in that heart and if he feels like its necessary, he will let you know.
Archie has little spice tolerance, Maxie found out about this when he cooked for him at some point in the past
Archie and Maxie share an interest and taste in jazz, especially instrumental ones. Archie learned to piano at some point in his school life, and Maxie is decent at the violin
They met pre-college. That three-four month break before attending college was absolutely bonkers for them and you can say they had a pokemon adventure of their own
that point is when they grew their teams, became pretty damn good trainers, and became good friends.
They got together a few years into college
due to some unprecedented events a good 4-5 years into work (like age range wise about 27-28ish) and differing opinions on how to move forward from said events, they broke up. For the better, allegedly.
Maxie's love for ground types, similarly to Archie stems from loving his hometown and the place he grew up in. Yeah its dry and hot and somewhat unfriendly but it's familiar. Also Numels are just cute.
Archie can drive a boat, he's got a good intuition and can basically predict weather, mostly based on observations of how the wild pokemon are acting. He also has a pretty good grasp on memorizing places and usually can tell where they are in the ocean.
Archie has little to no memory of his biological family, but he eventually understands tgat he's most likely from pacifidlog, and that it doesn't really matter because he's got a perfectly good dad right there.
Archie and Maxie had to deal with long distance at some point, back when they didn't have advanced Pokenavs with good signal tech. Because they think it's kinda fun and sweet, Archie and Maxie communicated through letters. Peeko delivered them.
Maxie dresses masc in a way that he kind of only has two modes: Asian father and Business work man. He can have a sense of fashion but he barely explored that front and at present time prefers to be more practical.
Archie on the other hand is more creative and explores several styles. He sticks to blue most of the time, though.
I stole this meme and edited this from somewhere because I’m gonna be fr most of my fun interesting plot relevant hcs of the silly old guys from Pokémon comes from my comic’s universe (Zephyr Comet) which only has like 13 pages out and if I say anything it’ll be spoilers for literally everything dies explodes
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨
well it only took uh. like. 5 days. but I FINALLY got my designs for Maxie and Archie done!! I initially just meant to draw over their official art to warm up, and then... I kept drawing so I just committed to it. whoops.
I wanted to do versions of them for the headcanon setting that @brannwen and I have! Featuring some slight tweaks to their ORAS outfits ( @endiecutieo6's lovely designs inspired most of them!! <3)
Headcanon rambling and design notes under the readmore:
Story/character headcanons:
(Overall, this setting is a weird mix of ORAS and Emerald. In simple terms, it's ORAS's characterization with Emerald's plotline)
Maxie is a trans man, and gay. Archie is a cis gay man.
Maxie is from Fallarbor Town, while Archie is from Lilycove. Maxie's family is fully Hoennian, while one side of Archie's family is from Alola. (He grew up visiting Alola yearly to stay with family there. He hasn't gone back to see them in a loooong time though, especially uh. after... gestures. all the kyogre and groudon shit)
They met after they both joined the Hoenn Pokemon Rangers in their 20s, and became best friends despite their differing personalities. Their mutual interest in the environment was an easy way for them to bond, even if they had different specific focuses
The major rift between them started when Archie confessed his love to Maxie, who rejected him. (Out of fear of being outed as trans, specifically. He was also in love with Archie, but was too afraid of what would happen if Archie found out about him being trans. the answer is he wouldn't have cared, u idiot)
When Groudon and Kyogre were awoken and underwent Primal Reversion, they possessed Maxie and Archie, causing the two to try and murder each other in Sootopolis City.
After Rayquaza quelled the fighting Legendaries, Maxie and Archie were left irreversibly changed -- neither human or Pokemon, with instincts and powers of the Legendaries that "blessed" them.
They spent a handful of months avoiding each other as much as they could (outside of the Delta Episode shit happening), until Maxie couldn't stand it anymore and went to visit Archie in Lilycove. While there, they realized that oddly enough, proximity to each other seemed to curb the surges of power (and irritability) they'd both been experiencing. Maxie hypothesized that it's due to the Red and Blue Orbs being able to calm the opposite Legendaries.
Maxie ends up visiting again after that, and. well. one thing led to another and they ended up confessing their feelings for each other and deciding to merge their teams to try and do Actual Good for the region. (keyword being try. they're doing their best, man)
May is basically their unofficially adopted daughter. Both of them think they don't deserve her forgiveness (she lost her parents in the natural disasters that the Legendaries caused) but she forgives them anyway, as long as they promise to try and Be Better. (Officially/Legally, May's been adopted by Steven and Wallace, who are only letting Maxie and Archie go without legal punishment because of May. also no prison could hold two people with legendary powers lmao)
May ended up in a similar situation re: Legendary powers, as Rayquaza offered her its power (either during the climax of the ORAS plot, or during the Delta Episode, haven't decided yet) and she accepted. While she doesn't regret her decision, it has made her feel even more aliened from other kids her age. Maxie and Archie have beef with Rayquaza over this, and they're particularly protective of May because they understand the struggle of being Less Than Human now.
Maxie's team consists of Camerupt (Igneous), Crobat (Travertine), Mightyena (Obsidian), Flygon (Arkose), Torkoal (Basalt), and Claydol (Shale)
Archie's team consists of Sharpedo (Styx), Crobat (Dango), Mightyena (Fang), Lanturn (Flicker), Kingdra (Admiral), and Dhelmise (Keelhaul)
Design/Legendary powers notes:
High emotions result in their markings (the black/blue lines on Maxie, and the red lines on Archie) to appear and start glowing. Especially high emotions/surges of instinct cause their eyes to change as well. Otherwise, they just have the "base" features shown in the post-game art.
If their power/instincts are particularly high/strong, they can start to become less lucid and more feral. It usually doesn't last long, and typically the other can snap the other out of it.
They've only been in their Primal forms when Groudon and Kyogre were, and were not in control of themselves at all during it. Both of them hope they never have to go through that again.
Weather affects them, with Maxie becoming lethargic and cranky if it's raining, and Archie drying out and losing energy if the weather is particularly hot and dry
Conversely, they are much more energetic during weather that "matches" them. Maxie LOVES it when it's super hot and sunny, and Archie practically bounces off the walls when it's raining/storming
To some extent, they can control the weather. Archie's been known to summon storms if he's particularly upset about something, for example
Prior to gaining the Legendary powers, Maxie ran cold (hence the 5 zillion layers of his Magma Leader outfit) and Archie ran hot. Now, it's the opposite, with Maxie's body temperature being very warm (and he has to consciously keep it from getting too hot, or else he risks melting things he touches), and Archie's being very cold. It doesn't bother them (they barely feel it), but physical contact between the two of them feels very good nonetheless.
Maxie's Mega Glasses were broken while Groudon had control over him, so he has new glasses post-game.
Maxie's post-game outfit is semi-based on his original RSE outfit, and it's specifically made so the slits at the side allow his tail easy movement despite him wearing a coat. He also specifically avoids wearing anything with the Team Magma emblem these days.
Archie's post-game outfit is basically just his RSE outfit, though he still likes wearing his wetsuit (after modifying it to accommodate his tail), and refuses to stop wearing his bandana, even though it has the Team Aqua emblem on it.
Archie got the facial X tattoo, and start filing his teeth to be sharp, after leaving the Rangers. He did it to match with his Sharpedo, Styx.
The scars on Archie's left arm are from wrestling with Styx.
Midterms eating me up? Draw old man yaoi for my survival
doing a ground/psychic nuzlocke with level caps in AS has gotta be one of my most nerve wracking Gaming experience i’ve ever had like EVERYTHING will kill you. The moment I see a grass type I quake in my boots. Fighting team aqua has been felt like actually fighting criminals. Yeah I brought this upon myself, yeah it’s fun, you should try it too!
okay weird question for the hardenshipping community
how do y’all handle maxie’s motivations? specifically in the case of his oras version. i know they were going really hard for an Extreme Opposites thing with him and archie in oras but the “doesn’t care at all about pokemon” vibe rubs me the wrong way, especially when his rse version referred to the land as the cradle of life for both humans and pokemon
like. i love maxie but as a nature/animal lover myself i struggle with his motivations sounding like that of a ceo of an oil drilling company lmao
(I also don’t like the implication that science and nature are Fully Opposed and are mutually exclusive but that’s neither here nor there)
so do you guys tweak his motivations in your headcanons? if so, how?
OH MY GOD
Made this meme to celebrate the monkeys not being dead
About 1-2 years ago I feel! The fun part is that I was listening to their USUM battle theme and went like “yeah man what *was* up with those old guys” went to tumblr. Liked some fanart. Looked at some posts. “Wait what do you mean the cards are real-“. Here I am now.
Something about dynamics, something about the “haha they’re kinda funny” to “shit I love the ship for real now” pipeline.
Yep! Both. Although I draw more than I write so the latter never gets to see the light of being publicized lol.
Overall, I prefer ORAS but I do also have an affinity for their RSE designs. They were onto something with Maxie’s OG coat I’m telling you, it just needs a few extra details (and glasses, they were a wonderful choice). Archie’s RSE design was much less characterized than the ORAS one, but I quite enjoy the darker colors and energy it gives off, but that could just be me enjoying the artstyle. ORAS is admittedly kind of goofy but that really adds the charm for me, also something something character design and how the newer ones very clearly show their personalities. OH not to mention the red-black/blue-white color choice which I noticed after reading a tumblr post. Absolutely insane. I am way too into this.
OH BOY! I Do have some. I can’t disclose certain interpretations because it is spoilers for my emerald comic but! I interpret that they met around the age of 16-17 (right before college) to have a few months of your typical Pokémon adventure, classic friendly rival dynamic (because I just enjoy the rivals to lovers progression). Sometime around working age (I’d say 25-30) they have the falling out (tm) due to very obvious difference in ideologies and goals and the like.
Usually around 37-45 in present day.
their ingame teams are fine, but I personally feel Archie should have a Walrein, Gyarados as a treat. (maybe even a Masquerain as a manga homage) and Maxie is a ground man. Give him a Flygon <- I say very biasedly. Other than that I have multiple team ideas but those mons are what I’d typically choose.
(No comment)
If the Maxie’s Hidden Ball trick card counts then yeah. I have two keychain designs lying around and I REALLY need to print them out sometime.
Maxie, admittedly. I generally share more traits with him (the glasses it’s the fucking glasses guys oh my god) and that just kind of translates to me relating to the character more. Not saying I don’t relate to Archie because I enjoy traveling to the beach on holidays and the ocean is just awesome. Like you go king, go get more ocean!
side fucking note. I am an idiot. This was a followers thing. Haha lmao enjoy my rambles oops
I feel kinship towards the Hardenshipping community, we're all 20something year olds who love old men for some reason. So here's a little questionnaire about the ship :] feel free to reblog w your answers, use this as interaction and let your followers pick a number that u have to answer or whatnot!
1 . Since when do you like Hardenshipping?
2 . Why or How did you start liking the ship, if you remember?
3 . Have you ever drawn or written anything related to the ship?
4 . Do you prefer Maxie and Archie's old or new designs? Why?
5 . What do you think is their backstory? Do you have HCs on how they met/how their relationship used to be?
6 . What are your age HCs for Maxie and Archie?
7 . Build a team for either of them, or both; do you think the teams they have in-game fit them or not?
8 . Would you be in a relationship with either of them?
9 . Do you own any Hardenshipping merch or even just merch of either of the two?
10 . Who do you prefer? Maxie or Archie?
:]]
My fellow followers that came here for Pokémon here is a statement that when Deltarune eventually becomes tommorow I will dissapear off the face of the earth for a week. Just saying.
my archie and maxie !! :D
alright gang it’s comic bump time yeah. Chapter 1 has started! You can check it out in Comicfury as well :)
Link: https://zephyrcomet.webcomic.ws/comics/10/#content-start
YEAAAAAH CHAPTER 1 REAL YEAAAAH
Family photos I cooked up because why not, also consider: Drake/Briney. Okay bye.
-ghost
wakes up feeling like ass n stuff “Deltarune tommorow…..”
My ass missed hardenshipping day so I ran and made this for valentines haha. Enjoy old men kissing I guess. There was Yuri but I got tired and I need 2 prep for college so it’ll come someday 🫡🫡🫡
-ghost
Guys did you know Deltarune is gonna be real tommorow? The source is I was in a call with Toby Fox yesterday and he said “Deltarune real tommorow”
WHAT.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN "I MISS TENNA"
TENNA IS FUCKING REAL NOW
Assorted doodles and shitposts and incorrect quotes I made in the past uhhhhhhhhh (there’s a lot more I can dig through)
I keep spinning in my brain the headcanon idea of younger Maxie not at all being like how he is in present time. I like to think him as a guy that leaves no room for himself and is tied to his principles and work ethics and ideals but he wasn’t always that stiff of a person
IT’S OUT!!! I had a blast making this cover. Can’t wait to finally start posting pages haha.
you can enjoy it here in tumblr, or hop on over to these other places!
Comicfury:
Nuzlockeforums:
https://nuzlockeforums.com/forum/threads/zephyr-comet-an-emerald-nuzlocke.21974/
Cover page
Idk bro Hardenshipping PMD AU or something
decided to choose dragon-adjacent Hoenn Pokémon because I need consistency in the choice and they both surprisingly fit these Pokémon well
bonus pre-evos
-ghost
Hey people! It’s ghost. Finally revealing what I’ve been cooking for the past year!
I did an emerald nuzlocke run in 2023-2024, and I’m making a comic out of it. Super excited to share this with everyone. See you next week!
-ghost
I know most people are in near-unanimous agreement that the ORAS character designs are way better than the original ones, and for the most part I agree, its really hard for me to shake off how much I enjoy Maxies original look. Where the ORAS outfits lean more fun and cartoony, the original RSE outfits are perfectly understated... theyre simple but striking (The original team Magma grunt uniforms are the one thing i still completely prefer from the original games. The baggy hoodies and pants are so delicilously y2k...) They feel a little more grounded and believable, for whatever thats worth in a fantasy world of magical animals lol. Undeniably the glasses were the correct choice, though.
Made these yesterday, redesigned younger versions of them :)