Venia Silente's Nominations

It's hard to find competition for this one when it comes to worldbuilding. The world and the story for it are well developed and there's always some wiggle room and hooks available for showing more.

It takes on the best anime movie so far (fite me), picks up from the angles that everyone agrees the movie handled well (the concept of the Aura Guardian and having an interesting human character with lots of potential) and… well, it expands from there.

Umbramatic works on establishing an entire concept of the Aura Guardians not only as an institution but also as a (sub)culture, and shows it to us from an "insider perspective" by presenting us the story of a hero in the making. We all know how it ends - that only makes it so much interesting to see how a Hero of Rota is built.

When you read about the afterlife, in a world with creatures capable of things Pokémon are capable to do, a part of you hopes – and hopes against hope – that some things we consider tenets can be broken if it can make for a short, bitter-or-sweet story.

This OS made a damn fine job of building up to that hope that it would work yet at the same time the hope that it *wouldn't* work, that it would be worse if it did, and I feel like this is one of the rare times where, suspenseful as the fic is, one doesn't really want to see that continuation, because at a meta level some hope remains in the unknown, in the "nothing established on print yet".

Capitalism, fam, and what it does to people no matter the species. What this story shows is but a time slice of a degradation that can easily go on for months, for years and that it seems no matter the powers we adscribe to ourselves or to our characters, it's just not possible to escape.

Hopefully somehow, someday, we'll find out a better alternative. One that pays at least ₽1200 an hour.

How come the one, True way of giving justice to Dunsparce in this fandom not make it in yet?

This story gives off the vibes of classical, '90s Buffy the Vampire Slayers season finales and makes you lick your lips on it. There's simply no opportunity Namo leaves unturned to make something fun happen with the varied characters (who, reminder, are all Dunsparce here) even until the very end.

Fledglings hands down has become a staple of the genre. Regular updates, ever increasing content and a Pokémon world that *works* for the creatures that live there. And of course, the titular Mystery Dungeons every once in a while, but there's also a fair amount of mystery and of dungeons of their own.

You'd think a story completely built around dialogue where one of the two characters won't speak can't work, yes?

Well, see that then take THIS! "Fame" is a story where we have two canon characters, one of which canonically does not speak and the meta has gone to wonders about it. Then it manages to somehow construct an entire determinable, senseful, predictable (in a good way) conversation scene about a IRL relatable social situation entirely driven through dialogue. I mean, who doesn't ever have coffee with a friend? Who doesn't ever discuss the Fame Checker (really, it should come back).

I still can't understand sometimes how Melody managed this. I can still hear Red's entire dialogue-that-should-be-but-isnt in my head!

Really one could nominate over half the cast of "Fledglings" here (i argued this against myself for like an hour) and, this time, I really wanted to make mention of Guardia.

The little Cubone critter has grown from her times back in her figurative hut in the woods and over the years has come forth as an important asset to Team Traveller and a much needed friend to Pleo.

From her remote island Guardia wanders about the Cradle in divine task, to pass judgment on the Empire and the Company and even on Tromba all, and on their ass-backward justice systems that somehow involve *not* throwing a bone club at your enemy as sign of ruling from the dead. Thusly she brings justice both in battle and out.

I mean, this is her in a good day:

"If we were back in my colony, I'd be dragging you off to be judged by the dead myself!"

And you would be thankful for the opportunity.

It is very *very* difficult not to relate with this little Eevee nor to not find funny both his perception of life and his various misadventures.