It’s Tuesday which means it’s time for Crossroads Comics!

This week we’re taking a look at Ask Unseelie Court by Psychoticmist. This blog is absolutely ADORABLE and while it’s currently on hiatus at the moment, it’s been on my list to review for a while now. The blog follows a character named The Judge, a Mimikyu that dwells in a realm known as The Witching Hour and is bound by certain rules. It’s an extremely interesting premise and execution thus far that I’m excited to see more of down the line. This blog is also unique in that it’s one of the first mixed medium blog I’ve reviewed thus far. What this means is, while many ask blogs will supplement their drawings with additional writing, there’s certain blogs that switch between drawn and written replies. It makes for an interesting change of pace since not only does it allow the blog to update more often, since they’re not required to draw something new each update, but also it really emphasizes the importance of the updates that are drawn. So right off the bat, Ask Unseelie Court already has a good system in place on how to emphasize the importance of certain scenes.

So what makes Ask Unseelie Court so interesting? Well I’d say the two strongest points for this blog are its characters and its worldbuilding. While we don’t know much about either yet, the mystery surrounding these is very enticing and makes me want to learn more about them in the future. I’ll get into the specific details in the spoiler section down below, but to give a brief overview, if the name of the blog itself wasn’t a dead giveaway, this blog centers around fae. Whether these fae are the same or separate from fairy type Pokémon is unknown at this time, but it’s definitely an already interesting concept in its own right either way because regardless, the fae of this world operate in much the same manner as the ones of Earth’s myths and legends. This is to say, if The Judge is anything to go by, many of the fae are bound by very specific sets of rules that correlate to their powers. It makes for a very interesting dynamic with The Judge, as these rules make it unclear if we can actually trust her or not. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what we’ve seen so far. While we have yet to meet any other fae, my assumption is they will also be subject to similar rules.
Spoilers Ahead


Breaking this down even further, let’s get into the real nitty gritty as to why I like this so much. As previously established, The Judge in her own right is an interesting character because of the various rules she must abide by. For example, she is bound by the “law of equivalent exchange”, where something must be given in order to receive. For the most part thus far in this blog, we’ve only seen minimal amounts of this, such as stories in exchange for a thank you, or berries in exchange for not being eaten, but it would be interesting to see how this would apply on a grander scale. What could one receive if they bargained a life? Could The Judge grant the recipient great amounts of power? Turn a child and a beloved pet into a talking chimera? Bargaining is a classic trademark tool of the fae that has been used for both good and evil in many tales, so it would be interesting to see how that applies here.

Additionally, The Witching Hour itself seems to have its own rules, as hinted at by another character, The Arbiter. Not much is known about this Delphox at the moment, and yet he is already as equally interesting a character as The Judge herself. The Arbiter claims to be the one to own The Witching Hour and assists in keeping witches from entering the area. However, it appears that this area is still dangerous to them, as they mention not being able to eat the food or pick the flowers, referencing an old fae legend about not taking things from within their realms, otherwise you’ll be trapped there. This is a bit strange considering The Arbiter claims to own The Witching Hour, so I’m very curious to learn more about them as well as their relationship with The Judge.

I’m also very curious to learn more about The Unseelie Court itself, since it appears The Judge was the one who devised this group. Currently, we only know of two members, The Judge and The Arbiter, and it’s not known how many other members there are or what roles they play. I’d also like to learn more about the land The Judge comes from, called the Nevernever, as well as their relationship with witches. Psychoticmist does state that Ask Unseelie Court does take place in the same universe as another older blog of theirs, Ask Witch Hunters. In this blog it is established that witches are “malevolent magic users who often use their abilities for their evildoing and for selfish reasons. Those who have not committed evil deeds can be saved, and those who are beyond saving must be exterminated.” Additionally, the FAQ also details the process by which one becomes a witch. “All Pokemon have the potential to become a Witch, however, certain types are more prone to falling toward the evil path, such as Dark-types, Ghost-types, and Shadow Pokemon. An existing Witch will play on the fears in a Pokemon’s heart and promise them powers. At-risk Pokemon who are in heightened negative emotional states are more willing to have their souls tainted than the average Pokemon, but only a trained Witch Hunter and the truly pure-hearted may fully resist having the darkness in their minds tapped into.” This leaves me with even more curiosities, since we see The Judge have an outburst at the sight of another Flareon in one of the more recent updates. Are the witches being kept out in order to prevent the inhabitants of The Witching Hour from being tainted? Or is there something more?
Spoilers End


All in all, this universe has a lot of interesting worldbuilding and characters already that I would love to see explored more in the future. The blog is currently on hiatus but hopefully the author doesn’t mind me shouting them out anyway as I eagerly await their return. You can read all the updates thus far on Tumblr. You can also support the author on Ko-Fi and Twitter.
And without further ado, let’s check out the rest of this week’s lineup!
Crossroads Comics
Land-Shaymin An adorable name!
PMD: Chanterelle Gasp! It’s them!
PMD: Explorers of Life Might’ve said a bit too much there, doll.
PMD: Wildfire No??
Pokémon: Team Buckshot I smell a Mad Max reference incoming.
Pokémon X Adventures So many cameos so little time!
Shinka: The Last Eevee Phew, well at least two of them are safe.
The Shaymin Café Simple math really.
ComicFury Comics
Charismata This scenery is gorgeous.
Devil Waltz Oh hello there. And who might you be?
In Blood We Rise A kiss written in the stars.
Mahiwaga Drat!
PMD: Burning Solstice Round 2! Fight!
PMD: Tower of Glass That’s a lot of light!
Slumber Town I imagine it is quite lonely, having no connection to the outside world.
Deviantart Comics
Basti’s Black 2 Nuzlocke All aboard! We’re Castelia City bound!
For What It’s Worth It’s back!!
Milos from Home Guildmaster isn’t having any of this.
[PMD-O] M0: A Guild Oddity Metronome inside is very bad.
PMD: Outlanders Oh no, Penny! Let her go!
PMD: Timehoppers Well that’s definitely very bad.
Simple But mom look at my cute Pokémon! They’re better than humans.
Soul Brothers Oh Corey no…
Off-site Comics
Ask a Flower Cart He was pretty convincing, I’d say.
Ask the Isle Luxu no, bad Darkrai!
Ask the Traveller Spooky? Is that you?
Mewtwo and Me Well that doesn’t look good.
Pokémon Explorers Comic They won! Woohoo!
TC-96 Awww Huey is just too cute.
Team Next-Gen What a fascinating bit of worldbuilding!
The post Crossroads Comics #154 – Ask Unseelie Court appeared first on Pokémon Crossroads.


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