Ariento asks:

I’m, uh, not sure what house words are… but I think this sounds neat?

In the TV show Game of Thrones, and the Mediaeval fantasy novels on which it is based, each of the ‘houses’ – the great noble families – has so-called ‘house words,’ basically a fancy name for a motto, like House Stark’s “Winter Is Coming,” or House Greyjoy’s “We Do Not Sow.”  Promotional materials for the show include posters that depict a house’s sigil (a wolf, a giant squid, a three-headed dragon, whatever) alongside its motto, and one of the internet’s pastimes is creating new images in this style for other people or groups, like “House Google – We Are Feeling Lucky,” “House Wayne – We Are the Night,” or “House House – It’s Never Lupus.”  Google image search “Game of Thrones house words” and you’ll get some idea of what’s going on here.  HBO has a website where you can make your own.

Starting tomorrow…

Just something I’ve been working at on-and-off for… I don’t even know how long; since before the sixth generation started, I think.  Something that will now give me a little titbit to post every day, in addition to my usual writing, of course, which will continue at its now-traditional snail’s pace.

Have you ever wished that every evolutionary lineage of Pokémon had its own Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones-style ‘house words’?

…you haven’t?

…well… too bad.  They do now.

Anonymous asks:

You could maybe tie the Aphrodite Pokemon thing with encantados, Brazilian dolphins who take human shape, go to parties, and seduce women back to the water with them. Maybe throw in a mermaid/siren angle too? It’s deceptive and sometimes pretends to be a human. It can sing a beautiful song that’s lured sailors into wrecking their ships. Though this is just starting to sound like Mega Lapras or something of the sort.

Well, the thing is, at this point you’re doing a Pokémon based on the encantado, not on Aphrodite – which, to be honest, I think is sort of a better place to start anyway.  The notion of Pokémon based on the Greek gods doesn’t really sit all that well with me, just because the whole point of the Greek gods is how human-like they are in their moods, desires and flaws.  It’s really interesting from a cultural or theological perspective, but kind of “meh” as a basis for designing Pokémon.  Or at least, that’s what I think.