#WHEN THIS RELEASES AND I BECOME A WHOLE MEW PERSON | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

beanieman · 7 months

Note

what are your thoughts on an 'everyone survives au', what they would do after the death game?

(Before I get into separate headcanons, I want to add that I think every single one of these characters would be struggle with paranoia. I mean, they were put in a death game.)

Sara Chidouin - Sara ends up staying at Joe's place a lot considering her Father was taken down with the company. It's easier for her to hang out with him then to stay at home, but she still calls her Mother daily to make sure she's alright. Other than that she continues going to class and her near death experience has only made her more determined to get good grades so she can go to a good school. She also finds a local kendo and joins as a student.

Joe Tazuna - Joe finds a lot of comfort with Sara staying at place. It makes him feel more secure that they're together, and the whole experience has certainly made him value their friendship. But outside of her, he keeps going to school with the intention of getting his diploma. He's not sure of what he wants to do after high school, but his experience has left him more determined then ever to live life in the moment.

More Undercut

Gin Ibushi - Gin goes back home and gives his Mom a big hug. He missed her a lot, and he's very glad to be home safely with Mew-chan. He was walked home by Sara and his Mother ensures that he can still see big sis Sara and all his other new friends. Despite his new connections his Mother is still worried for his safety, so she moves him to a private school that is much smaller. He gets a lot more help here and makes some good friends his own age, but he's still always excited to see Sara and Joe when they come to tutor him after school.

Keiji Shinogi - Keiji is forced to finally get therapy considering his friends around him know that he can't keep ignoring his issues. He gets a lot of encouragement from them, but he knows that the healing process takes awhile. While he works on himself, he gets a job as private investigator and helps people that the police won't. Also he dyes his hair a different color to symbolize a fresh start. (Also because the person writing this post hates his hair color.)

Alice Yabusame - With ASU-NARO's grip loosened, Alice is released from jail within a few months time. He doesn't go back to making music considering Reko already has an established band and he feels like he's intruding, but he still gets what he really wants. He gets to play music with Reko again. This time for fun without the pressure of stardom. As for his career...well it comes to him while he's reapplying hair dye. He decides that he would make a great hair dresser, and Reko supports him whole heartedly.

Reko Yabusame - With a near death experience to change her life, she decides to send Alice a letter in prison and offer a chance at reconciliation. He takes it, of course, and she's glad that she's the first one to great him once he's released. Outside of Alice, she decides to tour with her band. Life is short, and she wants to play as much music as she can in that time!

Nao Egokoro - Nao goes back and finishes her collage education. That's what's most important to her, but after her education is said and done she works out a plan with Mishima to become his official mentee. She wants to teach art to some day, but in the meantime, she's more than happy to attend all the shows Reko invites her to.

Kazumi Mishima - He goes back to teaching as that's his passion. Yet now he tells his story to his students as both a cautionary tale and a tale of persevering despite all odds.

Q-taro Burgerberg - Q-Taro goes back to playing sports. It's what he loves, and he's not going to let a death game slow down his passion. He also keeps in contact with Gin and frequently takes him to watch his games.

Kai Satou - With parts of both his families taken down with ASU-NARO, he is left having to live for himself. He gets a job as a chef and his own apartment in the middle of town. It's all very new to him, as is his friendship with the rest of the group. He talks to Q-Taro and Sara the most, often checking in on them to make sure that they're doing okay. He's even let Sara crash at his place a few times if Joe wasn't around and she needed a break from home. He really feels like she's family, and it fills some of the hole Mr. Chidouin left behind.

Kanna Kizuchi - Kanna is very glad to be home with Kugie and her parents. She's also glad that she has Sara and Shin's number and can call them anytime if she wants hangout. They both frequently come to pick her up to get ice cream, and they pick her up from school so she doesn't have to walk home.

Shin Tsukimi - Shin doesn't handle being put into a death game well. Even though he survived despite all odds (or percentages) he still struggles with shaking the fear. Anyway, let me elaborate on my AU about this exact scenario where Shin ends up traveling and living in hotels so no one can truly track his location. Also very important note that he keeps with Kanna and they eventually find out that they're bio siblings after he meets Kanna's parents and they recognize the name of his parents.

Dolls

Ranmaru Kageyama - Ranmaru gets Sara's, Joe's, and Anzu's number before he leaves the death game. Despite it all, it feels...refreshing to have new friends in his life that are happy to talk with him. He spends a lot of time texting with them, and when he's not doing that he relaxes with the knowledge that he has genuine friends.

Naomichi Kurumada - He's proud of everyone that they were all able to win, and he has a new outlook on teamwork considering they were all able to win together. He continues to box, but now he has new friends coming to watch him from time to time.

Anzu Kinashi - Anzu goes back to business as usual. She likes being a funny clown girl and wants to continue her craft. She would like to see her mentor again to tell him all that's happened, but she'll be happy preforming either way.

Mai Tsurugi - Mai goes back to the bakery and uses her near death experience as a way to make money. Anytime anyone comes in she goes "I just had the roughest time,🥺" so she will get better tips.

Shunsuke Hayasaka - Shunsuke tries to find a different job that doesn't tangle him up with ASU-NARO. He figures he'll try to get some kind of desk job, but in the meantime, he enjoys taking his morning jogs again.

Hinako Mishuku - It depends on how the participants escaped the death game. If ASU-NARO was running then she'd stay with the company and wonder what was next. Maybe it would be another death game, or maybe they'd do something new, but she is loyal since ASU-NARO presumably wouldn't get the chance to betray her in this route. However, if ASU-NARO was destroyed, then she'd have to find an entire new path in life. Where that could take her I couldn't say with as little as we know about her real personality now.

56 notes · View notes

seasidemew · 1 year

Note

🖊️ + your mewtwo

FINALLY!!!

Long post, I'm on mobile (':

Mewtwo is admittedly the one I've thought about the least as far as characterizing him and making him unique. I blame this on myself the fact that he's very clearly defined by his film appearances and because I'm hesitant to lay any groundwork that would step on the toes of the more famous blogs out there. Simply put, I need to draw him and work with him and let him unfold on his own just like the others, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

There's some stuff I do know about him, though.

He and his clones didn't just go their separate ways after the movie and the returns special. Most of the clones are wild, and they wouldn't see each other too much. A few are his buddies for life, though: Pikachu (Pikatwo haha), Meowth, Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur. The first two are almost always with him while the other three wander a little more. All five are caught and "owned" by Mewtwo, but if any asked to be released, he would do it in a heartbeat. He finds their autonomy and happiness to be a matter of the utmost importance.

He travels but has a home base in a ????? place that's fairly well-hidden from prying human eyes. I could see him having a more extravagant hidden-in-a-mountainside home in his region of choice (undecided) while occupying abandoned homes and such when he's far from home.

I think he probably keeps tabs on the various bad guy "teams," mostly because he knows he has a big bounty on his pretty little noggin'. He would actually have been the first at the scene of Six's destroyed lab, hoping to erase any leftover data and such. He would continue to keep an eye on her until they finally meet in the comic I'll possibly never draw.

I think I mentioned this in my post about Mew, but Mewtwo is technically her child. He was implanted into her as an embryo and eventually moved to the tube once he was too big for her to carry. He recognizes her as his origin but not really a mother. They wouldn't have ended on great terms as far as the first movie goes, but he wouldn't hold a grudge.

Though Mew's DNA was the basis for his creation, making him a clone of her, he is definitely mixed with other Pokémon as well--all in an effort to surpass the power thresholds both physically and mentally. I think the Alakazam line is probably the most closely related "normal" 'mon. Not sure if the whole added Human DNA thing is canon in this verse or not; I'm not particularly fond of it.

As a person, Mewtwo is a bit vain, taking pride in his appearance and luxuries. He would have just as many scars as Six (if not more), but he uses a glamour to hide them. He's a bit spoiled and misses the attention of the Nurse Joy he kidnapped, honestly. He probably stalks her, just a little, as a treat. He is prone to loneliness and this enjoys the company of his main partner Pokémon. I haven't actually watched Journeys, but I could see him harboring hurt and abandoned Pokémon and releasing them once they're better. He's kind to those who are suffering, but doesn't really go out of his way otherwise. He's also a fairly sentimental guy, to a fault. I like to think he probably has his old armor somewhere, even though it haunts him a little.

I also don't really plan to ship him with anyone or anything. He's giving aro/ace or at least demi vibes. He theoretically could breed, but I don't think l'm going to go that route. It's not like Six would ever be down for that, anyway.

Mewtwo doesn't currently have a mega stone. I'm not sure if I'll give him one or not. If I do, it'll either be X or something new.

Design-wise, I pretty much just went first film teehee haha. After meeting Jay Goede at a local con, I've become kind of a stickler for the original portrayal. I've started to draw him with a visible sternum, but it is nowhere near as pronounced as Six's. Finding the exact shades of purple I wanted to use was hard. His cloak thing somehow became a weird scarf, and I don't know why. It just stuck.

Anyway, hope that helps?? Thank you for the ask!! Feel free to poke if I missed anything or y'all want elaboration on something specific, for him or any of the other blog beans.

#answered asks #anonymous #mewtwo #pokemon

7 notes · View notes

ichika27 · 3 years

Text

The World Ends with You

(Yeah, it’s the same screenshot I used for my post about ep. 1. I couldn’t get a new one so...)

Ah, first week without the TWEWY anime to look forward to. I’m actually kinda sad cause I’d miss waiting for the episode every Saturday night (Ani-One posts theirs on that day here). I have some stuff I wanna say about the anime so I thought I’d make one of these plus this is a good way to end the twewy anime blog post series I make every week. I’ll try not to spoil until the very bottom of this post which will have a spoiler warning.

Also, this will be very long and rambly as most of my fandom posts are haha.

Story:

A boy named Neku wakes up in the middle of Shibuya with no memory and finds himself as a player in the Reaper’s Game. For a week he must partner up with a girl named Shiki and both of them must complete missions, battle creatures called noise, and survive as failure meant erasure.

Characters:

Neku Sakuraba - our main protagonist who somehow lost his memories and is now playing the Reaper’s Game. He’s a loner who isn’t too keen on getting close to anyone let alone working alongside anybody - unfortunately for him, it’s a requirement if he wants to survive. As a player he has an assortment of abilities to fight off noise and other enemies (in the game this meant he can use a lot of different pins).

Shiki Misaki - the nice and friendly Shiki becomes Neku’s partner in the Reaper’s Game. Unlike Neku she has knowledge of the game and fills Neku in on things he doesn’t understand. Her ability is to control her stuffed toy called Nyantan/Mr. Mew which she uses in combat.

Beat - the tough skateboarding player, he’s somewhat more like the typical hot-blooded shounen protagonist when compared to Neku. He’s protective of those he care about especially his game partner, Rhyme. He uses his skateboard in battle.

Rhyme - Beat’s game partner who is a lot kinder and calmer than him. Rhyme tends to be the one to reason with Beat when needed and the two are always seen together.

Yoshiya Kiryu - a mysterious boy who seem to know more than he lets on and acts at times acts suspicious. He prefers to be called by the nickname Joshua.

Sanae Hanekoma - a cafe owner who helps out Neku and the others and would give them advice. His advice prove to be very helpful and Neku takes them to heart. Seem to have a lot of knowledge about the Reaper’s Game but doesn’t seem to be a reaper himself.

Thoughts:

(I tried my best to not be spoilery in the character descriptions so some names weren’t written in full)

The World Ends with You (or in the original Japanese “Subarashiki Kono Sekai”/It’s a Wonderful World) is an anime based on the video game of the same name. It had to compress an entire game’s worth of story within it’s 12 episode run which meant they cut out a lot of things and combined some scenes to quickly run through them. It’s theme song is the anime version of the game’s original OP “Twister” although this wasn’t what was originally planned but an incident involving the band who sang the original theme forced them to make changes. The original voice actors from the game also reprised their roles for the anime. The series is created to be watched before the release of the long-awaited sequel game.

The art style is made to be similar to it’s game version (with a bit of change to adapt it as an anime like when it comes to body proportions). They also retained the effect of the characters from the UG (players/reapers) being brightly colored while those from the RG having darker/muted colors. While the noise are obviously cg, I personally liked this since they’re said to be from a different plane anyways so it’s a nice contrast to those from the UG and RG. They had to update the setting though as years had passed since the original game’s creation and they had to model anime version of Shibuya to what it’s real life counterpart now looks. The characters are also given smartphones instead of the flip phones they had in the game (anime-only watchers who are gonna play the game would have to get used to them still using flip phones though lol).

Okay so story-wise... it’s rushed. Of course it is. They shortened it so that what’s left would mostly be important plot points from the main story but they cut out many scenes that consist of character interactions and several little things that could’ve fleshed out the characters more. The gameplay is also made simpler with some mechanics taken away and the mini games weren’t adapted (RIP to Reaper Creeper and Tin Pin Slammer, especially the latter as you’re severely missed). The game boast an assortment of characters and some NPCs have their own stories but due to the anime’s limited run time, they had to either be cut out (and are just given cameos) or given smaller roles (and their stories weren’t adapted). They did, however, give a few bits and pieces of information that weren’t in the game such as some details about certain characters and one supporting character was given a bit more screentime that they did in the game version.

Despite the rushed nature of the series (which may or may not affect how one views the story itself), the anime made sure to adapt several important scenes and the dramatic stuff is made worse... like, they really had to make some deaths harder to take. The battle scenes were nice as well although my biggest complaint about them is that the boss fights were over too quickly. There were scenes that were changed for the anime version and there are those that I liked and those I didn’t but there are many which I think was as good as the game’s version.

Do I recommend the anime? The game is better, the characters and story are more fleshed out and the way the character/relationship development happens is better paced so of course, me, biased already would tell you to play the game instead if you haven’t yet. Do I recommend those who played the game to watch the anime? Yes! Yes I do. I think the anime is better watched when you’ve played the game and know the stuff that they cut out cause it’ll make better sense that way. Plus I found it enjoyable seeing the scenes from the game animated and the characters are speaking whole dialogues and moving. It’s great!

Even if the anime wasn’t perfect, like I mentioned before, they did their best to condense the entire main story in a 12 episode series and it tried to be as faithful as it could to the original story so despite the deviations when it comes to how things got to the way they did, if you summarize important plot points, they would be the same (with some details changed). Overall, it was very enjoyable and it wasn’t as bad as I feared when I heard how many episodes the anime was going to have.

Some spoiler thoughts:

It would’ve been better if the anime had more episode count than just 12. Cramming a 3 week story of game into just 12 made the thing very rushed with Week 1 only getting three episodes, Week 2 getting four, and final Week getting five. They had to get to the good stuff so they cut off a lot of scenes where the characters are interacting with each other which means they suddenly get character developments and relationship developments too quickly. It might not be that obvious to anime-only watchers but to me, it felt kinda sudden and it feels like it doesn’t work out well story-wise since Neku had to learn how to trust other people and make friends and with how he started vs. how he came out of it contrasting each other.

By the way, they made the characters look good in the anime. Especially Joshua. Have you seen Joshua? He’s so pretty in the anime. I want a picture of him I could stare at anytime I want to (I do not own a phone, sadly).

I like how they gave Eri more scenes though and that they changed her outfit for the anime so she won’t look exactly like UG!Shiki. All of her scenes though made me feel like I wish the anime gave closure to Shiki’s own story by showing us her and Eri making up. Another scene I liked in the anime is Neku’s fanboying of CAT when he finds out the truth. It was adorable.

Some info was taken away from the anime. Beat and Rhyme leaving home had scene dialogue and unlike Beat just narrating it in-game but they didn’t mention specifically why he was angry and his trouble at home. Joshua wasn’t present when Sota and Nao gave Neku a pep-talk either which is a shame cause I think that helped Josh as well.

I mentioned before how the anime made things go too fast. They cut off chunks of not-main-plot story that let the characters interact with each other more which means each game day is shortened as well. I think it made sense that Neku wakes up at the scramble in the end and not stressed out because he didn’t go through as much as his game counterpart did. That said, game Neku learned a lot from more than just the main cast in the game compared to the anime so I like his character development in the game better.

They took away Tin Pin Slammer. I am sad and disappointed. I was hoping so bad for Another Day to be adapted even if it’s an OVA. That and the ramen incident are part of Josh’s week which meant some side of him wasn’t shown (I mean, anime fans don’t know he wasn’t there on week 3 since he’s busy playing a kid’s game elsewhere and how he could talk about food like he is from a cooking anime). Speaking of Josh, they made him very suspicious from the get-go in the anime. I understand as there’s a limited run-time and they can’t really afford to be subtle about it but it meant some of the fun interactions with Neku is gone and so are some scenes where they actually got along. At least they had ice cream together, I guess?

(I have more to say when it comes to Joshua cause he’s my fave character but this is long and my thoughts on it would make this way longer. I might make another post.)

In the end, it wasn’t perfect but the anime was fun and enjoyable enough that I found myself looking forward to it every week. Seeing scenes I recognize from the game in animated form (with voice acting!) felt exciting and awesome. I’ll miss this show and I still wish it was longer.

If you’ve read this far well, thank you. And also I’m confused why but still hopefully that was a good time-killer. I have so many other things I wanted to comment on but that’s for another time. Maybe.

#Subarashiki Kono Sekai #subaseka #the world ends with you #twewy #sana_post

6 notes · View notes

dopescotlandwarrior · 3 years

Text

Sinners & Saints-Chapter 12

A special thanks to @statell for all your help

Previous chapters at AO3

Chapter Twelve (NSFW) Chapter notes on AO3

The morning broke peacefully on the day Javier and Joseph were flying back to Paris. Claire had a huge breakfast for everyone on the foredeck and even Jamie was in attendance. He was looking better and was staying awake longer each day. He was indebted to these men for coming at a moment’s notice to help Claire with her grief.

Claire hugged each of them, waved, and blew kisses as the cab rolled away. Maia had come with them and now walked with Claire back to the boat.

“Has Jamie said anything about the scars yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Has he told you how he ended up with Hesser?”

“No.”

“Well, we have ten days at sea before we hit Jamaica. Maybe all that time alone will make him talk.”

“I certainly hope so.”

Darius was excited to get out to open water so Claire and Jamie got comfortable on the foredeck to say goodbye to Greece, civilization, other boats, people, everything except endless miles of ocean.

”Can we talk a bit Sassenach? Every time I get ready to explain things, I decide it’s not the right day to ruin for you and I put it off.” He stuck his nose in her hair and pulled her smell into his nose. “God, you smell good.” He sat up and looked into her eyes, “are you ready mo chridhe?”

“Yes, although I don’t think you’re capable of ruining my day. Your mouth is too beautiful, your eyes are too mesmerizing, your body is too close to me. So, do your best Mister Fraser, and don’t pout if I smile through your story.”

“It starts when I woke up in what I thought was a hospital. I was so scared, and I just wanted to find you, but people were holding me down and that made me fight more. My back was on fire and every movement was excruciating, even so I fought them until they knocked me out. This happened every time I woke up, many times. I saw the doctor standing over me once, at least I thought he was the doctor. He started shouting at me about not having a candidate for the white house and it was all my fault. He finally settled down and told me it had been a month since I fell into the water with Frank. I was shocked it had been that long. He said my wounds were starting to heal, but it would be a long recovery. He handed me a tape recorder and your voice soothed me and gave me hope.

“I can’t imagine how awful it was for you, alone, severely wounded with that man hovering over you. But you’re home now Jamie, and we can forget this whole incident if we try. We’re free with new identities, a shitload of money, our friends, and adventure ahead.”

Jamie brought her hands into her lap and looking straight into her eyes he shook his head sadly. Hesser plans to train me in espionage and counterterrorism. I refused and he laughed, telling me dead men don’t have a choice. Claire, there is a branch of the American government called Black Ops and Hesser is the chief. They answer to no one, not even the president. When he is ready they will come and get me for six months of training.

Claire sat up, "that’s ridiculous, he can’t force you to become a spy, or terrorist, whatever it is!”

Jamie held her hands to make her look at him and he shook his head looking like it was the end of the world.

“It’s not a matter of me, Sassenach, it’s a we”

“What are you saying? I will be abducted and forced to train in espionage, for Hesser?”

“He knows you are Casper, and I am the painter. He owns us and he is giddy with it. The worst part is no help or backup. If we die during the mission we have no identity within the CIA.

“That is why he saved you. So he can turn you into his personal super-spy and he can end your life anytime he wants just by turning your location over to the Europeans.”

“Hesser wouldn’t waste his time reporting me. He has no compunction about killing unnecessaries. His words.”

Claire was seeing the bigger picture and it terrified her. Hesser would become their puppet master and throw them into any horrible situation he wanted. It was unfathomable how cruel he was, it would be a life of torture, always looking over her shoulder, waiting for them to take her. She wanted to vomit and scream at the twist of fate that now promised a very short life for both of them.

“ I am going to lay down.”

Claire had pulled the bedspread off the bed and lay sleeping in her bikini. Jamie watched her with a crippling need for her love. It had been almost three months since they last made love and he fought with his painful erection every day until he felt strong enough to let it go with her. He could barely breathe because his heart was hammering in his chest. He could not stop himself from touching her.

Claire felt Jamie’s warmth press into her from behind. It was foreign to her and she felt her body react instantly. His arm came across her chest, strong and commanding, holding her in place and rolling onto his back, pulling her with him. He pulled at her bikini top savagely and she heard the straps rip as the garment was cast aside, leaving her breasts naked for his mauling hand. He pinched her nipple and she gasped before trying to get away from him. She wanted to control the activity and make sure he was safe from harm, but he wouldn’t release her nor did he speak. She felt the hair on her neck stand up when he panted into her ear.

He ran his hand down her stomach and into the lower part of her suit where he dropped his other hand and ripped it off of her. His mind was not his own anymore. He felt like a different person, out of control with need, barely able to have a coherent thought.

“Spread your legs, love,” he breathed into her ear.

“Jamie..”

“Spread them.”

His amazing fingers played with her bud and spread her lips open to the fingers of his other hand pushing into her.

“My God, your wet. Your body wants me and you’re powerless to stop me.”

He would not let up on her, even when she pleaded in her headlong rush to orgasm. She felt his strong wet fingers pull her chin to his lips kissing her into submission and his fingers were once again inside her body moving in and out in sync with his tongue. Claire moaned and her body was shaking when he stopped.

“Turn around Sassenach, I want to watch your eyes when you come. Straddle me, love, that’s it.”

She was out of her mind with this possessive lovemaking and watched Jamie quickly move through her knees and down on the mattress to hold her pelvis tightly and pull her down on his assaulting tongue. He could see her breasts bounce with her oncoming orgasm and the erotic scene nearly finished him. Claire moaned through her release and Jamie pulled her to him and held her while she pulsed and jerked. The second she opened her eyes, he took control again.

He flipped her to her back and ripped the buttons off of his shirt followed by his shorts. Claire was in a lust drunk haze and tried to rally with his fresh onslaught on her body.

“Tell me you love you me.”

“I love you, Jamie, more than anything.”

“Tell me you belong to me, tell me how you will make me come.”

“I belong to you Jamie and I want to feel you down my throat.”

Jamie rolled to his side and grabbed a fist full of hair, very close to her scalp so he could direct her head. “tongue out,” he panted and moved her tongue up and down the length of him before he shoved her face into his balls and watched her lick and suck until he almost lost his mind. She felt him lift her head to his cock and push her down on it, keeping her head clear of his view. He yanked her head away and held her away from him while he regained control.

“On your back.”

He pulled her legs straight up and held her ankles with one hand and watched his dick go in and out of her. Claire was moaning with a second orgasm building pressure and she begged him to let go so she could spread her legs and let him bang into her throbbing center.

He pulled her legs apart and pushed them wide. With each thrust he pressed into her and told her he loved her, he desired her, he would never leave her. Claire was mewing with every contact until he pushed into her deepest body and felt her orgasm start. Jamie just closed his eyes and felt her pulsing, her wetness, and heard her moan his name until it was over.

Two deep thrusts and he joined her in the erotic stratosphere where arms and legs disappear and existence is reduced to your core that pulses wtih euphoria.

Jamie grabbed his chest as he panted and dropped to her side, pulling her close.

“I’m sorry for being a brute, love.”

She tried to speak and gave up forming words that would fall tragically short. When she could speak again, she pulled Jamie’s head up from her shoulder and looked in his eyes.

“I will fight for you Jamie, no matter what Hesser throws at us I will never give you up. Please say you will never give up on me.”

“Never, ever, ever, will I give up on you, Claire.”

Jamie held Claire while she napped and his mind was racing for some way to out-think Hesser. He had them in a vise grip and cared not a lick for their lives. They were utterly disposable and when one was taken, the other would agonize until they returned. He wondered how long sanity would hold up under that torture.

Once Claire was deep in sleep, he made his way to the boat garage and placed a fresh canvas onto his makeshift easel. He didn’t make drawings or sketch the final picture but stabbed his brush into the earthy colors on his pallet mixing them lighter and darker, adding shadow colors and light ivory and peach, browns from light to dark and transferred the color to the canvas to rough out the forest where he played as a child with his three best friends, Ian, Angus, and Rupert. He painted the gorge, then changed it to the ravine they loved with a giant tree overhanging the edge and a long rope tied to its outstretched branch. He roughed in Rupert, clinging to the rope, smiling in the dappling sunshine. In his mind, he heard Rupert’s voice telling him he would always be on his side, no matter what.

Jamie threw his brush into turpentine and ran up the stairs to the bridge, where Darius was looking at his maps.

“I need to get to Jamaica right away, even if you push the engines beyond what is safe. I’m serious. I need to be there yesterday.”

Darius looked at him for a full minute, trying to think of any reason someone would risk the engines to cross the Atlantic so quickly. One thing he knew about Jamie was his intelligence, so he would know the risk.

“Done.”

“How long?”

“Seven days. Ish.”

“Thank you.”

As the days passed, Jamie painted, Darius used the autopilot and fished, Maia cooked and read her chapters for her online English course, and Claire touched base with the University and then sent her letter of resignation. It wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be. Rather, a minor event when compared to the horrific life she would endure in the days to come.

The weather turned warmer and humid two days out from Jamaica so Claire and Jamie slept on the sundeck, under the stars. If they didn’t make love when they first laid down Jamie would wake her with a warm hand and the race would start anew. It was exciting, and he would take her to the edge of acceptable passion and then push her into the erotic vortex. He had changed and both of them knew it. Making love slowly and softly was no longer on the menu but was replaced with something desperate, possessive, and domineering, yet wholly satisfying.

The last day of their journey, Jamie kissed Claire’s neck at breakfast and told her how lovely her hair was. He pulled on a shiny coil and it sprang back, making him chuckle.

Maia backhanded Darius’s upper arm and demanded he pay more attention to her. He rubbed his arm and scowled at her.

“I love you and you know that Maia, why the brutality?”

“You don’t love me enough, Darius!”

When he saw the tears start he jumped out of his chair and pulled her to him. Maia did not cry, not even at funerals, and here she was with wet cheeks. Claire felt sad for Maia and wondered what was happening.

“I love you Maia, with all my heart.”

“You love to fish.”

“I love you more than I love fishing.”

Maia looked up at him and smiled through her tears and then hugged him. And that was it. The spat was over and Maia was bouncing around the kitchen again. Claire squirmed in her seat, horrified at her sudden arousal, and ran to the bedroom.

“Jamie, can you get this splinter out of my hand?”

“Sassenach, come out to the deck, it’s easier to find in the sun.”

When she didn’t respond he followed her into their room and barely caught her when she jumped on him. He found her bossy lovemaking adorable until she pulled him into orbit and the slave became the ruler.

Later, Claire walked out to the foredeck and was stunned by the crystal clear water and marine life that was everywhere she looked. She grabbed the bridge phone and asked Darius how long to get to the island.

“One hour and I want a promise you will wait until we’re moored before you jump overboard. Claire?”

“Yes, yes, I will jump overboard, goodbye, and hurry.”

Jamie was dispatched to make sure his wife stayed on board and the two of them hung over the side of the yacht to watch for sea life. Jamie helped Darius with mooring the boat and the girls were overboard without a backward glance. Darius dug out the snorkels, flippers, and masks and threw them overboard before locking up the yacht and diving into the water. They all found a slice of heaven in the clear water and did not return to the boat until the sun was setting.

Jamie was exhausted and could hardly get the fork to his mouth for dinner. Darius told him to pace himself because they would here for as long as they wanted. Jamie laughed and said “too much fun” with his mouth full of peas. Claire found him asleep on their bed still in his trunks and she smiled at her prince, praying for some time before one of them was taken for training.

The following day they tendered to shore to look around and find some local fun. Jamie promised Claire he would catch up and took off to find a store and then a post service. He paid cash for the fastest service to Germany, then Scotland.

Three days later, Jenny received a package from a remailer in Germany. She pulled out a card and read the note as she struggled to the kitchen table to sit down.

Dear Mrs. Murray, Thank you for your order. Enjoy your new phone and see the operating instructions before plugging it in the first time.

She had not ordered a phone which was confusing, but she was stuck on the handwriting because it looked just like Jamie’s. That was impossible, and her eyes stung with fresh tears remembering him. She pulled out the folded instructions and on the inside he had written, “keep the phone on and with you at all times. JAMMF” Jenny stared at the letters and backed into the refrigerator before running upstairs to wake her husband and show him.

Ian rolled toward the tapping on his shoulder and smiled at his pregnant wife. He stared at the handwriting and the initials on the instructions. This was Jamie’s way of contacting them without phone taps finding him, or the cruelest joke in history. He pulled Jenny to his side and pulled the phone and cord out, plugging it in.

“We will keep it charged and on us at all times. Okay, Dove?”

Jenny reached for the ringing phone two nights later and immediately started to cry. She heard Jamie’s voice and thought she would choke from crying so hard. His calming voice helped her get over the shock that he was still alive. He asked her to wake Ian and turn on the speaker to which Ian replied “go ahead, Jamie.”

Jamie told them everything about Frank, Casper, his wife, and Hesser, the man in charge of Black Ops.

“Ian, will you find Rupert and tell him everything I’ve told you?”

“Of course Jamie, I’ll do it tomorrow. Why Rupert?”

“He’s a good friend and might have some pointers about dealing with Hesser, maybe he learned something in the special services.”

“Jamie, I feel so bad for you and Claire. I wish there was something we could do to help. Can ye get that tracking device out of yer arm?”

“I hope so, it’s something we’re working on.”

Jamie ended the call soon after and told them he would call another time. He never thought he would pit a friend against the likes of Hesser and hung his head in shame for having no other solution. It was never confirmed, but he knew things about Rupert and his time in the service. He prayed for forgiveness and his guilt raged for several days after.

Ian smiled at Rupert through the window as he walked up to the construction trailer. Rupert was the job manager for a new shopping center going up in Edinburgh. He launched out of his seat, shook hands with his old friend, and the two sat down to talk for a bit.

Ian knew there was a special bond between Jamie and Rupert because Jamie saved his life when they were eleven years old. Rupert, Angus, Ian, and Jamie were inseparable when they were kids, always looking for something fun to do with the long summer days. When it was hot, they would head into the forest to find the big tree that hung into the ravine, right over the rushing creek that cut through the woods. Jamie was first to swing into the center of the ravine and let go, falling ten feet into the water. Ian was next followed by Angus, but Rupert wanted nothing to do with it. It took all summer, but they finally talked him into it and he held the rope shaking from head to toe. He was quite sure he would fall to his death but none of his friends had, so he forced his bravery and jumped off the edge of the ravine. Unprepared for the stark terror of clinging to a rope over a drop that seemed one hundred feet down he refused to let go. Jamie got concerned and backed up to jump off the edge with enough speed to reach the rope. If he had missed, the momentum of his body would have dropped him into the rocks on the other side of the creek, so it was utterly heroic to an eleven-year-old.

Jamie caught the rope and told Rupert to hang onto to his waist, and then he dropped them into the water, pulling Rupert to the bank and going on about his bravery. Jamie was his hero after that, and Rupert made no attempt to hide that fact.

Ian looked Rupert in the eyes, remembering his break down at Jamie’s memorial, and decided to just blurt it out after swearing him to silence.

“Jamie’s alive Rupert, but he’s in trouble, so keep it secret please.” Ian told the story of Jamie being rescued and revived by a man named Hesser, a Black Ops CIA boss that threatened to turn him over to his captors or kill him outright if he didn’t follow orders. He covered Jamie’s marriage to none other than Casper, the art thief, the very person he gained his freedom to catch. Rupert seemed to be playing with something in his desk drawer while every word was seared into his brain. When Ian stopped talking, Rupert looked up, “Ye tell Jamie, I gotcha brother.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’ll be prayin for im.” Then he slapped Ian on the back and walked him out to his truck.

One week later, the moonlight shined on the raised barrel of a sniper rifle with a twelve-inch silencer attached to its end. An eyeball looked through the night scope from over a mile away and twisted the calibration dial and focus. Rupert crouched on top of a water tower with a clear sight to the CIA parking lot and Hesser’s vehicle. He had been in this position for three nights, waiting for the man to show up. When he climbed the tower that night he was relieved to see Hesser’s car in the lot and waited for his five-second opportunity to remove him from Jamie’s life. When Hesser walked out of the building Rupert trained his rifle on the man’s head, exhaled, and took his shot.

To the CCTV cameras, it looked like Hesser bent down to unlock his car door when he was actually sprawled on the blacktop missing half of his head. He wasn’t noticed for an hour, giving Rupert time to break the rifle down into separate plastic bags that he would return to his comrade-in-arms. He still had to drive the pieces back to Maryland, then he would jump on a plane back to Scotland. The only emotion he felt was relief that Jamie and his wife were safe.

“James Fraser, get out of the water this instant!”

Jamie looked up at Claire on the foredeck, hands on hips, looking exasperated. He knew there was no use putting this off and swam to the aft deck, throwing his flippers up on the boat and hoisting his body up after them. He found Claire in their bathroom with a chair pushed into the vanity right under the sink. She pushed Jamie’s head back and started mixing the chemicals to turn his red hair blonde.

She looked down at him and smiled, making his stomach do flip-flops. “Don’t look so scared Jamie, it will look good, I promise.”

“I don’t care how it looks Sassenach, it is a bit late for this, isn’t it?”

“Not if we can find a doctor on the island willing to cut into my arm and remove the whateveritis.”

“Why not use me as the guinea pig?”

“Because you have been brutalized enough lately. It’s my turn.”

Jaime could smell the chemicals being squeezed onto his hair and ran his hand up Claire’s leg, making her squirm and laugh. He closed his eyes when he felt her hands spreading the mixture through his hair. He thought about Rupert and wondered if he had taken the initiative. So far the news had been devoid of any attack on the CIA chief, and each day was one day closer to men boarding their boat and taking one of them away. Jamie shivered at the thought.

“You have twenty minutes to wait. Do you want your book?”

“Hmm?”

Claire could see Jamie was already falling asleep, so she left him alone and got the chair ready on deck to cut his hair. When she rinsed out the hair color, she noticed it looked very light and wondered if she made a mistake. The sun dried his hair as she cut it and when it was combed into his new style, he almost took her breath away.

“Are you looking that way because blonde is not a good color on me, Sassenach?”

“Quite the contrary, actually.”

“Wow, you were good looking before, but now you’re drop-dead gorgeous! That’s an American saying I learned,” Maia giggled, “it means you look even better.”

“Thank you, Maia,” he chuckled.

The next day they all went ashore, Jamie and Claire had a doctor appointment to remove Claire’s tracking device and the others wanted to see a bit of Jamaica. Claire was getting uncomfortable with the women staring at Jamie. One stopped on the sidewalk and just watched them pass.

“Jesus Christ, haven’t these people seen blonde hair before?”

Jamie gave her a squeeze and kissed the top of her head. When they entered the medical facility, Claire was getting nervous. What if the doctor turned them over to the police? It wasn’t everyday people came in with trackers in their arm. At least she didn’t think so.

The Jamaican doctor nodded a few times and looked at Claire’s incision that had healed to a thin red line. He was a man of few words which sharpened the edge Claire was feeling.

“Lay here and I will try to find it.”

The doctor came back into the room with a medical device that used sonar technology to find foreign objects under the skin. He pressed a wand into Claire’s skin around the incision and listened with headphones as he calibrated the machine. He was getting concerned because the machine was blinded by another pulse, but that was impossible. He moved the wand to Claire’s leg, then feet, then her back before he removed the earphones and turned the machine off. His face did not look right to Claire, and she was ready to come undone.

“Please doctor, tell us something, I am getting terrified because I thought this would be an easy removal.”

The doctor sat on his stool and shook his head. “The chip in your arm might be identifiable like a GPS bouncing off a satellite. But it is using some kind of sonar technology to ping into your body. Until you discover what it is pinging to, you should not remove it.”

“What?”

“What do you think it’s pinging to doctor?”

“It’s only a guess, but it might be looking for a second object that was introduced into your body at the same time. It could be anywhere and small enough to inject.”

“That makes no sense, doctor.” Jamie could hear the almost hysterical pitch to her voice.

“I think I understand. Sonar technology is also on the chip and it pings looking for something, like a specific shape that they injected. If we have the chip removed the ping sends a warning that it can’t find the shape. That’s as far as I got. So what then?”

“If someone wanted to know your whereabouts enough to implant a super RFID chip they don’t want you removing it and getting away. Just a guess, but when it’s removed, it may lock in your coordinates and …”

“The sky is filled with helicopters looking for us.”

Claire looked quite pale all of a sudden, and Jamie pulled her close. The doctor picked up his equipment and headed toward the door. He looked at them both.

“A life of crime does not suit either of you. Why not do an honest day’s work? Handsome men get pictures in magazines, make lots of money, put a hex on my nurse so now she just waits at the clinic door!”

The doctor laughed and left before seeing Claire’s eyes roll. On the way out, she regarded the nurse with an I-dare-you-look and they left, more rattled than before. Back on the yacht, they filled the others in on what they learned.

“That is diabolical,” Darius shook his head.

“I don’t get it,” Maia looked wide-eyed at the group.

"It’s a sonar warning system in case they have the chips removed. They put something else in their bodies that the sonar looks for. If it can’t be found, because the chip is removed, it locks in their location and they flood the area with agents. It is pretty hard to hide a yacht of this size.”

“Just take the other thing out as well then.” Maia looked at the three of them like they were dumb.

“They have no idea where the object is. It wasn’t implanted with an incision, it was probably injected.”

Maia rubbed her temples like she had a headache. “I’m going for a swim before I start dinner.”

Maia left to jump overboard, Claire went to feed Adso, and the guys went to the bridge to think and bounce ideas. Five minutes later, Maia ran up the aft deck and saw Claire sitting in the saloon staring into space.

“I get it now! Oh my God! You look like you just lost your best friend, but I’m still here, so get your ass in the water. Claire?”

When she didn’t move Maia boldly walked into the saloon and stood next to Claire dripping water on the Persian rug. She pinched her suit and a fat drop of water squeezed out and rolled down her hip. She pointed at it rolling down her leg.

“Okay, okay, Maia, I just want to sulk for five minutes.”

“No!”

Claire jumped in the water followed by fins, masks, and snorkels that Maia threw overboard. She felt the usual excitement pulling her fins on and decided to worry later, diving deep to catch up with her friend.

Darius and Jamie were on the side deck watching the girls dive for shells. The contrast of moods was not lost on Jamie.

“How can they be so happy? All they do is hunt for pretty things, they could at least spear some fish for dinner.”

He and Darius both laughed at the absurdity of his statement.

“I need to speak freely, Jamie.” Darius looked out at the ocean and took a deep breath. “What if the second object does more than act as a warning when the chip is removed? You said Hesser placed no value on your life other than what you could do for him. What if the second object is programmed to kill you, like releasing a neurotoxin if the ping stops?”

Jamie had a pained expression on his face and gripped the railing, making the veins in his arms stick out. “Certainly something to consider. Thanks.” He slapped Darius on the shoulder and left the bridge to find sanctuary before he lost his mind. When the turpentine hit his nostrils his racing heart slowed down and the painter came out. He pulled a canvas out of hiding and set it on his easel. It was Darius, on the bridge, the morning of their wedding. He stood looking out at the water with the glorious purple, orange, and magenta of the sunrise seen through the windows. Jamie was intrigued by his face. A wide smile flanked by deep grooves, solid jaw, and floppy hair, but his eyes shined with intelligence and calm confidence. His shirt was open and the instruments were reflected off the flat planes of his chest and stomach. Jamie’s expert use of color contoured his face like a photograph, and he stood back to look at the finished painting. He lettered “The Captain” in a lower corner and left to clean up for dinner.

Climbing the steps to the saloon was a shock when the rays of sunrise stung his eyes. He could hardly remember the hours of night going by, but the image of Claire looking at the picture and kissing him goodnight finally surfaced. He was filled with gratitude for such an extraordinary partner.

34 notes · View notes

imnotwolverine · 4 years

Text

The marriage pact - London bits

Henry Cavill x OC Alice - multi-chapter

< Part 14 | Part 15 London bits | Part 16 >

Disclaimer: some strong language

Author’s note: It was so much fun to do some actual research on Jersey’s history - even though it is only mentioned very briefly in this chapter.

Word count: 1.265

(Link to my Masterlist)

Dear readers,

One can find and do many things on our Jersey island, its rich soil housing some 107.000 inhabitants. But as it appears, the world has more to offer than multi-horned sheep, lovely beaches and close knitted communities. Today I’m once more writing from the metropolitan city of London, my journey taking me to meet some ex-inhabitants of our beloved Jersey.

In this “Old Faces goes London”, I’ll be visiting a baker who decided to bring his infamous Jersey-rolls to the great City of London, a linguist who strives to keep Jèrriais (our territories unique Norman dialect) alive and I’ll be having a cup of tea with an exporter of Jersey’s very own apple cider. Yum!

And, as time is ticking I will now bid you all adieu. Or, to keep it in the Jèrriais realms;

À bétôt!

Ali

‘Morning.’ Henry pressed a kiss on my cheek while he brushed past me, his hands busy with making toast while I prepped some lunch boxes. It was 6 AM on a Tuesday and, though I was far from awake, I did admit that I felt quite happy being here, in Henry’s Mews kitchen.

In the far corner I could hear Kal hogging down some food after an even more ungodly early doggy walk - from which I thankfully had been spared - and before long the kitchen was filled with lovely scents and we were all enjoying our breakfast.

‘Sleep well?’ I said, keeping my voice down as the walls were rather thin. Henry nodded, cup of coffee hovering beneath his nose, cheeks dimpling with a tender smile. ‘Sure did. Though looks like you are STILL sleeping.’ He laughed. ‘Mmm... I’m very much enjoying this dream, thank you very much. So please, allow me.’

‘Then so I will. So what are you up to today?’ He took a hesitant sip of the far too hot drink, scrunching his nose as he nearly burned his tongue, then decided to put it down, his hands instead moving to cut into the toast, his egg all gooey perfection as it oozed out onto the plate. I could see Kal push his head on Henry’s lap, hoping that his puppy eyes were enough of a persuader to earn himself some bacon. But apparently it was just another part of their morning routine, Henry’s hand near automatically running through the Akita’s fur before returning to his breakfast, no bacon bits shared in the process.

Sweet bears.

‘Going to have an interview with that baker in a little over an hour, then visiting that publisher followed by some work calls. You?’

‘No baker interviews unfortunately,’ He smiled. ‘Just meetings. Meetings, meetings, meetings.’ Henry shrugged, obviously not looking forward to it. ‘Oh..What do you want to do for dinner by the way?’ He inquired.

‘Eh…eat food?’ I grinned, earning an exasperated look from him. ‘Hahah..sorry..but eh..let’s just cook something at home. Shall I cook or..?’

‘Cooking as home is good, sure. And, Ali, honestly..I’m not THAT traditional. Maybe let’s just say that the first person who gets home, cooks? That seems to be more fair.’ He said simply, hogging down onto another huge bite.

‘Very well then, my fair feminist knight.’ I winked, also cutting into my toast, my nose sniffing happily as the savoury scents drifted into my nostrils. Gosh, how nice it was to be with a man that could cook!

—

Still somewhat catching my breath from hurrying from meeting to meeting, I sat before one man called Charles Dunham, his golden nameplate shining proudly on his paper-filled mahogany desk. From the moment I had gotten into his office, it became clear that the old, fat cheeked man was most eager to get me on board; a good cup of coffee and some cookies were moved onto the last remaining bit of his space on his overcrowded desk and before I could even take my first sip of the welcome drink, the offer was already on the table.

‘Simply said; we adore your stories. And from a business point of view we see great potential. You have a solid fan base, and we recently released a similar storybook for adults that sold like hot buns on the Sunday market,’ He grinned happily, throwing three cubes of sugar in his coffee and mixing it with a freakishly small spoon. ‘So we are more than glad to develop this project with you.’

I blinked over the rim of the cup of coffee, hot steam raising up from the porcelain. HOLY DAMN! I let out a soft giggle and smiled. ‘My…alright then. I had expected to have to give you my sales pitch and perhaps a kidney or two. I mean, I even made a whole presentation, but this is far better. Thank you so much for your trust and enthusiasm Mr. Dunham, it truly means the world!’

Mr. Dunham chuckled. ‘And the world better be ready. How about we start editing a first version in the next few months, fine-tune a few things? Oh, and I did have one small question; are these based on actual people?’

‘Some are inspired by a mix of people I know, though all characters are definitely fictional in nature.’

‘Well, perhaps you COULD add a slight reference to Superman, since he’s from the Islands as well. Our readers would surely love that.’

I felt my stomach somersault again. Oh Mr. Dunham..if only you knew.

‘Haha..well. We might have to look into copyrights there, but it sure is true that we, I, adore our homeland hero.’ I winked.

—

Oh the homeland hero. I did adore him, indeed. In fact I craved him really.

The moment I had gotten back to Jersey I felt like I had left a piece of myself back with Henry. Suddenly the air was bleak and my parents house was not my home anymore, the large but comfortable house feeling like but a shell of what it had been just days earlier. And it got even weirder when I was laying in bed.

Here I was, alone, my hand outstretched to the spot where he would lay if we would sleep together. I even tried to sniff the pillow he had slept on, to see if any of his scent perhaps lingered there.

It didn’t.

It had been a strangely eventful day today. First the very early flight, a sleepy Henry - quite unique to find in the mornings - driving me to the airport. And then the near desperate hugs and kisses we shared, followed by a restless flight. And then I had to quickly drop off my stuff before heading to another doctors appointment. This time for one of a more invasive nature; a number of physical tests had to be performed so I could enlist for a sperm donor. My plan B. Just in case everything failed with Henry.

But, in all honesty, it felt more and more like a doom scenario I was increasingly less comfortable with. Did I want to become a single parent, if all of this failed? Was that really my dream? Or was a child just a result of something greater I truly wanted, something I had pushed away and hidden from my still beating heart. Did I actually want something quite different?

Did I want..eh..love, actually?

As I lay there looking at the ceiling, small glow-in-the-dark stars speckling the otherwise dark surface, I came to the bitter tasting realisation that I had not really taken into account that there was suddenly this extra person who had come into the equation. This person I had wild make-out sessions with on my parents couch, as well finding in him the person who offers a listening ear and who would consolidate me and be there during a doctors appointment.

He cared and was obviously not really wanting to leave. And I, to be even more honest with myself, well, I didn’t want him to leave either. I needed to keep him close and listen to him if I wanted this to last.

Rolling on my side I picked up my phone. 11.30 PM. He’d probably be sleeping now. I bit my lip and decided to text him, even if he’d only read it in the morning.

“I just tried to sniff the pillow but your scent is gone. I miss you😢”

Quite immediately a message returned. A selfie, taken with a flash in the starkness of a dark bedroom. Henry’s face sulkily grabbing onto a pillow. “That makes two. I miss you three!”

I giggled, silly bear, then imitated his picture, taking one myself, his pillow squeezed tightly in my arm, head resting on top. “Sweet dreams bear. I’ll keep your pillow safe.”

And then a little voice chat message came in, his silky deep voice filling my heart with joy; ‘Sweet dreams Ali.’

Oh sweet were my dreams indeed.

If only..if only he were here to share them with me.

General tagsquad: @harrysthiccthighss @tumblnewby @magdelen69 @thereisa8ella @mary-ann84 @darkbooksarwin @summersong69

Fluff lovers squad: @star017 @perhaps2remember @pterodactylterrace @witchersqueen @desperate-and-broken @toomanyfandomsshreya @deliciouslysassyarcade @pamacs-macs @cavilladdict @scorpionchild81 @lebguardians @sofiebstar @amberbabem @mis-lil-red @aestheticqueenb @misslalaland-blog-blog @ilieherecharmed-fics2readnrec @michelehansel @henryfanfics101

Want to be added to or removed from the tag list? Shoot me a message!

#henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill fluff #henry cavill x OC #henry cavill x author #fluff #romcom #london #busy life #jerriais #london bites #the marriage pact

36 notes · View notes

antialiasis · 3 years

Link

More actual writing! This time, a rewrite of my 2012 one-shot Butterfree, about a trainer and their Butterfree.

Some rambling about this story and the way it’s been altered in this version below the cut.

When I first wrote Butterfree, the idea behind it was based on my own experience with my original Pokémon Yellow save - where I beat Brock with a Metapod-turned Butterfree, and Butterfree was amazing and an instant favorite, only to somehow tragically start to lag behind after a while. I ended up ditching it on the PC and replacing it with a different team member, but always felt a little bad about it. (On my later games, though, I’ve kept Butterfree on my teams basically any time I’ve had the chance.)

So originally, writing out the memories portion just came very naturally, putting that feeling in-world. The continuation, though, I had a bit of trouble with. See, obviously this trainer is laden with guilt and regrets about what they did, hoping to finally release Butterfree from where they’d kept them unjustly trapped. But the idea of actually ending with Butterfree just leaving felt... incredibly unsatisfying, after the story has been consisting of this buildup about the trainer’s intense guilt regretting what they did and them finally owning up to it and letting Butterfree go. It’d just be “We tell you this thing needs to happen, and then exactly that happens.” It felt kind of like the “and then... they successfully catch Mew!” ending of TQftL. I couldn’t actually end it that way.

At the same time, though... could Butterfree actually stay, after that? They were trapped in a box for six years. If they ultimately just shrug and don’t mind somehow, isn’t that kind of bad and unsatisfying, too? We can’t just act like everything’s fine now, right?

What I ended up with was an ending where Butterfree wants to stay, and the trainer, still guilt-ridden, accepts that - but is left wondering if Butterfree stayed out of some blind devotion that they just wouldn’t admit, or if maybe Butterfree just didn’t have a concept of betrayal, and they would’ve been equally happy to stay if they’d been actively abusive, or had never shown any guilt at all. In the final abrupt scene-paragraph, the trainer concludes surely Butterfree’s happiness is genuine - but this was meant to read as kind of desperate, that they manage to convince themselves in the end but really who knows.

I was just about satisfied enough with this - an ending where Butterfree stays, but everything isn’t fine. But I was never properly happy with it. The final paragraph was super abrupt. The angstiness of it felt vaguely tryhard in some way I couldn’t quite articulate.

So, fast-forward eight years to me, in 2020, wanting to finally post an actual fanfic on the Thousand Roads forums. Butterfree was probably my most successful one-shot, so it was an obvious first candidate. I reread it; I mostly liked it, but the ending still bugged me. I concluded you know what, I’m just going to let Butterfree be happy. Half of the people who read it had taken the last paragraph at face value anyway and apparently liked it that way, so really, why shouldn’t I just have the ending be actually happy. It wouldn’t have to be that big a change; I’d just replace that last paragraph with something a bit more substantial and convincing.

So then I got started on actually editing it... at which point I became less happy with it. I realized that really what was bothering me was that it really wasn’t at all obvious why Butterfree stayed; the buildup didn’t work with Butterfree leaving, but it also didn’t properly build up to Butterfree staying, didn’t make that the logical conclusion - and the narrator’s self-loathing never properly improved.

Moreover... why weren’t they just talking to each other.

As I’ve grown up I’ve become increasingly convinced that radical communication solves a whole lot of human problems, and suddenly it just stuck out to me, super hard, that the trainer didn’t just communicate better. They even had a line early on where they lamented not having talked to Butterfree, and yet still didn’t! Towards the end of the release scene, the trainer thought about how they weren’t sure there was any one thing they should have done here - and now my brain was just screaming TALK TO THEM, GODDAMN IT! THAT’S WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE!

...So I rewrote the ending altogether. The alternate ending where the trainer communicates. Some of basically the same stuff still happens at first - they do communicate a bit in the original, with a kind of kludgy bit of sudden psychic powers - but then, you know, the trainer actually tries to make a best possible effort to ensure Butterfree is choosing this because it’s what they actually want. Both Butterfree, the trainer, and their other Pokémon end up so much happier in this version, because the trainer communicated about their feelings, and made sure Butterfree could communicate back, too.

What I went for with the Butterfree’s actual character here, which I hope gets across, is that Butterfree really is just a bit excessively selfless and loyal - but their relationship ends up better and healthier from both ends, with the trainer becoming a more considerate person who really does listen to their Pokémon, and Butterfree learning to actually express what they want (and have those preferences recognized and respected).

And so, this originally mostly angsty one-shot is now more a bit of angst that then just becomes happy and wholesome. A strange direction for me to go in, and in a way I sort of miss the old second-to-last scene and its musings, but. C O M M U N I C A T I O N

#pokemon #pokemon fanfic #butterfree #actual writing #ramble #art #writing

12 notes · View notes

maxwellatoms · 4 years

Text

The Dead Meat Script (from the Quarantine Book Club)

TL;DR: Here’s the link:

https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A9e2aa451-e04a-433a-b76f-a47f295aadcf

And here’s more about the script and the project, if you’re so inclined:

Remember that time I tried to make a movie about a dog in quarantine and a society that runs on toilet paper?

Back in the decidedly quaint year of 2013, I was suffering through a bad career move. And a messy breakup. My world seemed to be coming apart at the seams. I didn't know where my next job was coming from, and all of the prospects looked bleak. So I decided to break myself out of my rut and just make something. I then proceeded to drive myself insane for the next seven years.

I wrote Dead Meat as a satirical take on action movies at the time, the decay of American society in general, and my own self-loathing. Some of the jokes weathered the years better than others, and every year or so I'd go over the script to see how I felt about it. What you're seeing here is the most “final” version I produced.

Honestly, not much changed from the original 2013 draft. I did one big addition pass in 2016 because the script was only 88 pages at that point, and I wanted to make sure that I broke the 75 minute barrier for home video. I also felt like Dead Meat and Suzuki's relationship was a little anemic, and (like the violence) I felt like it was very important for the relationship to feel real. Or as real as you'd want a relationship between a woman and a puppet to feel. So I added the scene with Suzuki and Dead Meat talking in the bus while heck is sleeping. That later led to the Black Mirror, which made Suzuki's struggle more visual than it had in the early drafts.

The electoral college joke was a jab at the 2000 election. It's probably important to remember that this was all written before 2016. And before Fury Road. And before the Happytime Murders and the current glut of post-apocalyptic ultra-violent comedies and real-life people hoarding toilet paper. Anyway, the Electoral College line was going to stay until I could see it in context, and then I'd decide it I needed to cut it. The goal was to be subversively satirical, and not painfully on-the-nose. This dilemma would recur in another dozen forms over the course of the production.

What would have been shocking and uncomfortable revelations are now probably pretty pedestrian. Heck(!), I mean the whole thing starts out with a torture scene. At the time, it was a reaction to a smattering of torture scenes that started to crop up in late night dramas like “24”. Now I don't think I can even turn on a teen CW show without seeing someone tied to a chair getting their fingers cut off. We've become as desensitized as the characters in the story, so I think that some of the impact has been lost.

“Bieberism” has been through a lot of iterations. It's unlikely that Justin Bieber would've made it all the way through production. The idea was that there's this other wasteland religion based on some appropriately dopey celebrity. That's another decision that would've been made in the final days of shooting to make sure that the gag was relevant. But hey.. The Biebs is on a comeback, so who knows?

When I read Dead Meat now... I still feel things. Assuming you read it, hopefully you will too. I'm releasing it to the internet today because... well, because I may as well. We're all trapped at home (stay home you bozos), and if this script can bring a chuckle to even a few people, I'll take it!

As most of you know, Dead Meat became too expensive in terms of money and personal time for me to complete on my own, so while I do plan to make the trailer and hopefully sell the idea somewhere, this is as good as it's gonna get. At least during Quarantine.

As always, thanks for sticking with me!

ENHANCING YOUR MEAT:

If you do decide to read it and want the “Premium Experience”, here are a few tips:

MUSIC:

This is all fantasy now, but I was going to try to license two songs. One for the opening credits and one for the end.

When you get to the “DEAD MEAT TITLES” on Page One, play “Bloodstains (original)” by Agent Orange, and then stop playing it right in the middle of the crazy scream.

When you get to the top of the last page, start playing “You Make Lovin' Fun” by Fleetwood Mac. There's no way I could afford that song, but since we're just fantasizing... I think Mick will forgive us.

VISUALS:

I have a ton of stills and gifs on my Tumblr, though Tumblr's admittedly a slog. I'll try to find some time in the coming weeks to get a collection of pics and gifs together. What you won't see is what I was planning for the color correction. I wanted to have the tone be a fairly typical green, de-saturated wasteland most of the time. But when the violence kicked in, so would the color. A lot of the environments (including my kitchen) were designed to support this idea.

And the violence itself was meant to be rough. Like... fucking horrific. I felt like we needed to see just how awful the world had become, and just how blasé' everyone was about it. I wanted the final battle to reach “Dead Alive” levels of gore.

There are a lot of other things you won't “see” in the script. There's no mention of a couple of the characters pitched in the Kickstarter (like Mew-Tant) because they were going to have ad-libbed dialog during the action scenes. As with my animated projects, I like to give the actors room to play. Potentially any of the dialog or action in the script could've been replaced with some brilliant moment ad-libbed by the actors. There are also some purely visual moments that exist only in the storyboard or in the unfinished footage. Like any project, Dead Meat grew beyond what was on the printed page.

I guess I'm just saying... As long as you're using your imagination, imagine big. ;)

As always, if you have any questions about Dead Meat or screenwriting or the dangers of independent filmmaking... you know where to find me!

XO,

Maxwell

121 notes · View notes

nixmatize · 4 years

Text

Making room for someone new (chapter 4)

First || Previous || Next

Read on AO3

Halfway there! I’m having way too much fun writing this for @marigami-week, so do expect to see more from me even after this week is over...

“Marinette. The akuma can wait a few minutes. We need to talk.”

Marinette could feel what little blood was left in her face quickly draining out. Even though she thought Kagami was very trustworthy, and had even been planning on making her a permanent miraculous holder alongside herself and Chat Noir, she didn’t want her identity revealed to anyone until after Hawkmoth was safely locked behind bars.

And this weekend, she had screwed up so many times – fighting with Tikki, leaving the earrings behind, failing to stop M. Clerc from getting akumatized, almost being caught by the akuma’s powers until Kagami jumped in to protect her – she didn’t know how anyone though she would be a worth guardian. She had made so, so many dumb errors.

“Kagami, I swear I can explain -”

“Marinette. Thank you.”

Her frantic attempts at somehow getting out of admitting to being Ladybug were cut off by the raw sincerity in Kagami’s voice. Kagami’s whole demeanor was soft, with smiling eyes and an upward tilt to her mouth. Marinette found herself breathless in the face of such warmth from someone she had once assumed to be so cold.

“I didn’t have friends before you,” Kagami continued, “not really. The closest I had was Adrien, and we were more pushed together by out families and extracurriculars rather than any choice. When you solved the friendship puzzles with me, when we went to orange juice together, when you continued making the effort to be my friend even though no one was making you and your friends were even trying to convince you that you would be better off without me, you showed me what true friendship was.”

Kagami tilted her face off to one side slightly, one of the few times Marinette had seen her allow herself to be honest with her feelings. Marinette’s felt a warm buzz of feeling rise in her at the sight of Kagami being willing to show vulnerability around her – being trusted with the weaknesses of such a strong person was one of the greatest honors she had ever received.

“And knowing that you’re Ladybug,” Kagami continued, “knowing that you’re the one who trusted me to fight alongside you on our very first day of real friendship-”

She swallowed, and lifted her eyes back to Marinette’s. “Knowing that you put that trust in me is the best gift I’ve ever been given. So thank you, Marinette.”

This time, Kagami was the one to initiate the hug, awkwardly drawing Marinette closer.

When Marinette reciprocated, pulling Kagami even tighter and resting her face against Kagami’s shoulder, Kagami practically melted against her.

Although she was still unsure how to go from here, given her mistakes and the unprecedented fact that someone else knew she was Ladybug, Marinette couldn’t help but be comforted by Kagami’s words. There was no going back to how it had been before, so maybe Marinette needed to focus on how to make the best out of the present moment – and if her mistakes had finally allowed her and Kagami to become close friends, it wouldn’t be too difficult to find that silver lining.

After savoring the embrace for one last moment, Marinette pulled away, hands falling to hold Kagami’s between them. She could feel herself tearing up slightly. “Thank you, Kagami. You didn’t know how much I needed to hear that.”

Although she felt like her words were inadequate in the face of Kagami’s heartfelt admission, it brought a small smile to the other girl’s face. However, it was still clear that Kagami was carrying some other weight, because Marinette watched as the tension seeped back into her shoulders.

“I would… understand,” Kagami began haltingly, “if you did not want to be friends after today, though. I sincerely apologize for intruding on your secret and using your miraculous without your consent.”

“Kagami, no. Of course we’ll still be friends. I would have been taken down from the akuma for sure if you hadn’t swooped in.”

Tikki floated up into the conversation, startling Kagami who had all but forgotten about her presence.

“And you only used the miraculous once I gave permission, and passed the earrings back to the true holder as soon as possible,” Tikki piped in. “That’s a lot more than most people would do, when given the chance to use one of the two most powerful magical artifacts in this part of the world!”

Kagami warmed at the praise.

“Much as I’d love to stay and continue talking,” Marinette said reluctantly, “I really should meet up with Chat to take down that akuma.”

Kagami winced at his name. “He might… not be too happy right now. When he tried to hold me back from chasing after you, I may have slammed him in the chest to daze him for long enough to get away.”

Although some part of Marinette was upset at the thought of her partner hurt in any way, she couldn’t help but breat out into laughter. Chat Noir could be so arrogant and prideful, and the thought of him trying to hold Kagami back from her goal and being taken out in one hit was unfairly funny to her. Kagami was on a different level entirely; her kitty never even stood a chance against a serious, focused fighter.

Reluctantly, Marinette squeezed Kagami’s hands one last time before releasing them. “Tikki, spots on.” The familiar wave of makic bubbled over the surface of her skin, spilling raw strength into every corner of her being. Ladybug opened her eyes to an awestruck Kagami, gaze wide and mouth slightly ajar in wonder. Giddling, Ladybug lifted her hand to Kagami’s jaw and lightly pushed her mouth closed.

Acting entirely on instinct, Ladybug leaned in to press a light kiss to her friend’s cheek. “See you after the battle’s over, Kagami,” she said before jumping off.

As soon as she was a couple buildings away and far out of sight, Ladybug sat against a chimney to give herself a moment to process. Even though she had done nothing improper between friends, her face was a furious red.

Hopefully Kagami didn’t think she was weird! Well, from just generally being around her (and the past day) Kagami was probably aware that she was a Walking Disaster, but that kiss was a bit far even for her. She was usually much more respectful of her more reserved friends’ personal space. This one lapse didn’t mean anything, she was just so happy to have Kagami on her side as a confidante and partner that she got swept up in the moment. Obviously she knew that Kagami didn’t want her intruding into her personal space like that.

(Little did she know that just a few blocks away, Kagami had one hand pressed to a rosy cheek, grinning like a lunatic. For the first time in a long time, Kagami showed absolutely no regard for who may see her broadcasting her emotions so clearly; she stumbled out of the alley and back toward the bakery with palpable glee radiating off of her.)

Ladybug knew that there were so many things she would need to sort out – apologizing for her overstep, deciding what Kagami’s new knowledge would mean for choosing her as a permanent hero, apologizing to Tikki for their earlier argument – but for now, she had a job to do, and she needed to focus.

Flipping her compact open revealed that Chat Noir was north of her location. Hopefully he was at the site of the akuma trying to take it down, so that they could work together and end the battle as soon as possible. She wanted a moment to sit down and sort through her thoughts.

She swung gracefully through the streets in the direction her yo-yo had pinpointed Chat Noir.

When she got there, it wasn’t the controlled battle scene she had hoped for, but rather complete chaos. The akuma itself was smashing up the mayor’s hotel, punching through one window at a time and eviscerating each room as much as possible. His mind-controlled minions fanned out over the area, breaking everything they could reach.

Nearby, a ruffled Chat Noir crouched on a rooftop behind a big sign, looking like he was just trying to make himself small and avoid the akuma’s notice.

Ladybug swung in next to her partner, watching as he turned to her, relief and adoration blooming across his face as he took in the sight of his regular partner. “Bugaboo! You finally came!” He flashed a flirty smile, “The sound of you landing next to me is always mew-sic to my ears,” wiggling his kitty ears for emphasis.

Exasperated, she crouched next to him, looking out to survey the villain for weaknesses or any objects that could be housing the butterfly. “What’s the deal with this villain?” she asked her partner.

To her annoyance, Chat just shrugged.

“Then what have you been doing since he started rampaging?”

Chat’s cat ears twitched back, laying close to his skull. “I got attacked by a fake ladybug akuma when I was coming in to try to fight this guy! And then she disappears to who-knows-where after kidnapping a friend of mine, I’m left alone with The Destructinator 9000!”

Ladybug just huffed. “I could understand being reluctant to fight on your own, Chat, but we’re heroes. You should have tried to stall him or prevent some of his victims. Now that he’s built up such a large group, it’ll be harder to get to his object.”

Chat just shrugged, before slinging an arm of her shoulders. “You and me, Bug, we got this. Let’s go with our usual: I use my devilishly good looks and stunning charisma to distract the akuma, then you sweep in to snatch the butterfly when he least expects it.”

He winks at her, then dashes off the top of the building toward the akuma, shouting for its attention. “Chat-!” she starts, affronted, before realizing that it was a lost cause. The akuma and all of his nearby minions were closing in on Chat, making it harder and harder for him to escape as the crush of enemies cut off his possible escape routed one by one.

Alarmed, Ladybug called for her lucky charm.

“A grappling hook?” she asked, staring down at the object in confusion.

Her eyes scanned the street quickly before the puzzle started to make sense.

At that moment, she turned her head just in time to witness Chat get hit by one of the akuma’s tosses, his eyes going blank and white as he was turned into just another mindless acolyte of the akuma.

She was so fed up with this; he hadn’t even needed to go out into the fray yet, since the akuma hadn’t spotted them, and would be much more usefull helping with her plan than using the cat miraculous to destroy as much of the area as possible.

He was usually a good friend, he knew how to make situations seem lighter, and his heart was in the right place, but sometimes working with Chat Noir was more detrimental to her abilities as a hero than helpful. Once he matured a little bit and learned how to stop flirting and focus on the mission, he could really be a great partner – but for now, he was just reminding her why she wanted to get a third permanent miraculous holder in the first place. Having someone focused and dedicated on their side would make them much more formidable.

Sighing to herself, Ladybug got to work.

First she had to get as many of the brainwashed followers out of the way, which wasn’t too difficult. All of them wanted to chase her down and take her miraculous, but the akuma itself was much slower than its minions, so it wasn’t too difficult to lure then far enough away.

Next was shooting the grappling hook across the street, fairly close to the ground but not too close. Once she wrapped the gun part around a nearby lightpost, she had a solid line set in place.

She stepped out so that the rope was between her and the akuma. Normally she would have a bit more fun with the dramatics – there was definitely a good quip in her somewhere, if she had the brainpower to think of it at the moment – but with her partner under Hawkmoth’s control and only two minutes left on her timer, she wasn’t really in the right headspace for “fun.”

When the akuma ran at her, his foot caught on the wire as planned, and a well-placed loop of yo-yo string around his shoulders pulled to make sure he crashed to the ground as hard as possible.

Just as Ladybug had suspected, the akuma was hiding in one of the bits of shattered pottery. Once most of his armor cracked under the force of his fall, a small black butterfly lifted over the disaster that the street had become. Ladybug shot her yo-yo out quickly to purify the butterfly, zipping as far away from the scene as possible as the reporters started to flood in.

Ladybug released her healing swarm of ladybugs, and then droppedinto an alley a safe enough distance away just as the transformation released back over her.

Marinette stood there to catch her breath for a moment, feeling high-strung after flying solo through such a high-stakes situation.

When she looked back up, her kwami was frowning at her thoughtfully. Somehow Marinette had almost managed to forget their last argument, but as soon as she made eye contact with Tikki, apologies started spilling out of her: “Tikki I am so sorry for fighting with you, obviously you have more experience and I should have listened better, and anyway I shouldn’t have gotten angry enough to actually sever our bond-”

Tikki put one of her little paws up, floating gently in front of her. “No Marinette, you don’t need to apologize.” Her antannae drooped despondently. “I guess I haven’t payed enough attention recently. I hadn’t seen how much these fights drain you, and today – Chat noir dashing off like that… I had hoped he would be the perfect yin to your yang, but I can see that he still has a lot of growing to do to fit that role.”

“And Kagami makes you happy, Marinette. I don’t want you to let that slip by.”

Marinette found herself nodding along, because she did work well with Kagami, and while Chat was a great friend, she saw herself working better as partners with Kagami right now. She was intense, but that made her great at what she did, because she focused and tried and faught without giving up. She could come off as a little cold, but Marinette had seen enough of her inner kindness to know that she was a great person, if a bit slower to open up than most.

And Kagami was loyal. She never fell for Lila’s lies like the rest of Marinette’s friends, and she had brought the ladybug miraculous back to Marinette without hesitation when she could have taken it to use for herself. Marinette knew what the rush of power felt like when using a miraculous. The fact that Kagami had turned her back on it so readily and without prompting for Marinette’s sake only raised her opinion of the other girl.

And even more than that, Kagami now knew Marinette was the one who could hand out the dragon, but instead of trying to use her new knowledge to wield Longg again, she seemed content to wait and trust Marinette’s judgment.

She was lost in thought for a long moment before her brain processed another possible meaning to Tikki’s words.

“Kagami makes me happy as a friend,” she emphasized to her kwami, face heating hup despite her best efforts.

Tikki just smiled innocently up at her.

“What! I have a crush on Adrien!”

Tikki let out a small giggle that sounded like chiming bells, smiling at her chosen. “I won’t tell you how to feel, Marinette. But your Adrien-wall has been taken down piece by piece, and you talk about Kagami a lot more than would be expected of someone who has hung out with her only infrequently.” Cheeky smile widening, Tikki added, “and that kiss on the cheek seemed a bit more than friendly to me, judging by how much you two were blushing after.”

Sobering slightly, Tikki looked at her chosen with wide blue eyes. “Just think about it, Marinette. Don’t let something good pass you by just because you’re too afraid to act.”

Marinette’s head spun with this new possibility. Though she had never really thought about it consciously before, she could see in retrospect that some part of her was always drawn to Kagami. There were as many pictures of her on Marinette’s wall now as there were from Adrien, and Marinette had been hanging out with Kagami whenever possible for a while now.

She blushed even more furiously, thinking back – right before the friendship game, she had been ranting to Tikki about how unfairly cute Kagami was.

Marinette wouldn’t decide on anything now. If she chose to pursue Kagami, she would never make her feel second-best: Marinette would only go after Kagami once she was sure that she could place the other girl first like she deserved.

Ad that may not be as hard as it once would have, she mused. After all, she had barely thought about Adrien the past couple of days except in passing, while she had thought of Kagami much more than anyone else.

Lost in the daze of her own thoughts, Marinette was startled by the chime of her phone.

K: I am very sorry not to be at the bakery when you get back, but after the attack was so close by, Mother wants me home as soon as possible.

K: I look forward to seeing you soon, though; this weekend was very fun and I would appreciate your company again, if you wanted to hang out again soon

Marinette smiled dopily down at her phone, thinking of the little disgruntled wrinkle that would formed between Kagami’s brows as she wrote those words.

M: No worries! See you soon :) <3

Her face was red after sending the text, but something about it just felt right. The only upside of not seeing Kagami was that it would give her a few days to really think over everything that had happened, and be certain of her own choice.

By the next time she saw Kagami, Marinette promised herself, she would make a decision; whether to stubbornly hold fast to the old crush on Adrien (that had been fading in the face of his oblivious friendliness and inaction with Lila, she now realized) or… to move onto someone that made her really, really happy just to be around for the first time in a while.

This choice had sneaked up on her, but now that she was really seeing it for the first time, Marinette couldn’t help but smile to herself on the way home.

From her hiding spot, Tikki smiled to herself as well. Even when things didn’t go as planned, these things had a way of working themselves out. Though some part of her was sad for Adrien because Chat was further than ever from wooing his ladybug, most of her was excited to see Marinette just unabashedly happy again after all the drama at school. Tikki needed to remember that Marinette was young and just starting to find herself; learning what (and who) made her happy was more important right now that sticking to Tikki’s own idealized version of reality.

She nibbled on the bits of cookie in Marinette’s pocket, just happy to watch this all play out.

#marigami #kagaminette #kagami tsuguri #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug #making room for someone new #ml #mlb #MADwriting

16 notes · View notes

wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 4 years

Text

Michael in the Mainstream: Pokemon Generation I & II

Pokemon is one of the biggest media franchises on the planet since 1996, and while it’s never exactly hit the same highs as it did back in the 90s, the franchise has been going strong for over two decades regardless. So, in honor of the latest entries in the franchise, I decided to take a look back at the old generations and look at what worked and what didn’t about them, though obviously in my own style. And what better place to start than the original two generations, Generations I and II?

Let’s start with Generation I, which includes the three games that started it all – Red, Blue, and Yellow, though back in the franchise’s homeland of Japan they had Green instead of Blue (hence why we got FireRed and LeafGreen, but no WaterBlue). These are the games that launched the franchise into the stratosphere of popularity, and for a long time they were held up as the gold standard of Pokemon games, attracting a die-hard base of “fans” known as Genwunners, who would bash anything outside of the first 151 Pokemon. Lately that sort of opinion has declined, though you still get the odd person here and there whining about how newer Pokemon designs look like Digimon, which indicates that the person saying that is unfamiliar with either franchise.

But what of the games themselves? What are they like? I have long expressed distaste for the Gen I games, mostly because of my hatred of Genwunners, but ultimately my opinions on the games are a lot more mixed. I do believe that Yellow is a genuinely good game and probably how the first generation should be experienced if you really want to go back to the old games, but my opinions on Red and Blue are a bit more mixed – but, shockingly, mostly positive.

You see, here’s the thing with Pokemon games – even at their worst, they’re still fun, and Red and Blue prove that. These are impressive games for their time that had the misfortune of aging far worse than a lot of their contemporaries, mostly due to the nature of the games themselves – any sort of franchise based on collecting and battling among groups of friends is going to need a lot of polish between releases, which will inevitably leave older games in the dust, especially when each generation after would add more and more Pokemon with each new generation. But even if they haven’t aged all too well, there’s still plenty of fun to be had here, though a lot of it is not in ways the creators intended.

Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first – the balance in this game is absolutely atrocious. There are some types that are just objectively better than others, some types are so scarce as to be utterly useless, some moves don’t work like they’re supposed to, some of the computers use moves they shouldn’t know… the game is a hot mess, to put it lightly. At points the games feel frustratingly unplayable, especially when you come up against Sabrina, the gym leader wielding the all-powerful type of Gen I, Psychic.

The more mixed parts of the game are the story and the beloved, exploitable glitches. The story here… well, there isn’t one. There’s sort of an excuse plot in place - you have to beat all the gyms, challenge the Elite Four, and battle your rival (who you can name whatever, but I’ll be referring to him by his canon name, Blue). Other than that, though? There’s not really any sort of overarching plot. You kind of just wander into situation after situation on your way to the next gym. Even the whole Team Rocket plot here is mostly just you beating them up because they prove to slightly inconvenience you at every turn. Unlike in later entries, where the player is roped into saving the world from destruction at the hands of all-powerful PokeGods. Here the plot is basically “Young boy accidentally foils the Mafia while on a walk with their pet.” It’s so hilariously simple it’s hard to totally hate it, and to be perfectly fair a lot of early RPGs had rather simplistic plots, and this was one of the first handheld RPGs, so I cut them a bit of slack here, especially seeing as we at least got Giovanni out of this.

The glitches are infamous and iconic, but even them I’m a bit mixed on. Like, I love Missingno as much as everyone else, but I think tat if you need to break a game this hard to have fun, it kind of ruins things. I feel the same way about the glitches as I do the Crissaegrim in Symphony of the Night sure, they’re cool, flashy, and powerful, but they make the game so pathetically easy from that point onwards it just isn’t that entertaining anymore.

Still, this game does excel in one area: character. There are a lot of great characters in this game, human and Pokemon. A lot of the gym leaders are absolutely iconic, and the Elite Four is mostly interesting, though I will say that they lack a lot of character compared to later Elite Fours (though he Gen III remakes ameliorated this problem). It’s pretty impressive how so much character was able to be crammed into these characters even though they are ostensibly just roadblocks on your way to the next gym.

Then there are the Pokemon. The designs in this generation are pretty simple, occasionally to a fault, but there is a reason for this: a lot of Pokemon are based on yokai or tsukumogami, both of which are pretty essential in Japanese folklore. Tsukumogami in particular are something the franchise seems to absolutely love, with the Voltorb and Magnemite lines being notable examples from this generation. Other Japanese folklore represented in this Generation include kitsune, which the Vulpix line is explicitly based on, kappas, which Golduck is inspired by, baku, which the Drowzee line represents, and so in. In fact, the entire concept of Pokemon is so entrenched in the concepts of yokai and Japanese spirits that it is endlessly amusing to see Westerners nitpicking the designs, ignoring the cultural meaning behind them. Pokemon have a variety of inspirations obviously, but the weirder you think a design is the more likely it is to have been based off of some sort of yokai.

I think the definitive Gen I experience is Yellow, which is inspired by the anime. You start off with Pikachu who follows behind you at all times, you can acquire all of the starters, the game overall feels more polished (but not overly so), and you get to fight Jessie and James. It’s a lot of fun, and it doesn’t heavily alter the story, instead adding a few neat little additions, something that would become common with third versions in the franchise. The Kanto games are a solid start to a franchise, but they definitely could have used a bit more work…

That’s where Generation II comes in.

Generation II honestly feels like what Generation I should have been like, leaving Red and Blue as the unpolished alpha, Yellow as the beta, and Gold and Silver as the full release. In fact, it kind of leaves the second gen feeling a lot more like an expansion pack than anything else, but not in an obnoxious or bad way like a certain other game (COUGHOverwatch 2COUGH). These games are so much better in just about every conceivable way, it’s not even funny.

A lot of important series mainstays made their debut here. The biggest and best is probably the introduction of the Dark and Steel types, the latter of which really feels like it should have been in Generation 1 to begin with. Steel quickly established itself as a very defensive type, and Pokemon of that type are just naturally tough due to Steel resisting nearly every other type in the game, with it only being nerfed slightly once the games jumped to 3D. Dark on the other hand was extremely cool in concept, but a lot of the Pokemon of the type were not able to properly utilize their impressive movepools due to Dark being classified as a Special type and a lot of early Dark-types running with high physical stats.

Let me clarify real quick: prior to Generation IV, the type of the move determined whether it ran off of Physical or Special Attack, no matter how ludicrous it seemed. That means Dark moves like Bite and Fire moves like Blaze Kick ran off of the Special Attack stat despite almost always appearing on Pokemon that had much higher Physical Attack, leaving a lot of Dark-types in the dust until the Sinnoh games rolled along and balanced things. Still, this bump in usability did not stop Dark-types from being popular and beloved, with Pokemon like Umbreon, Sneasel, and Houndoom all debuting here in the land of Johto.

Speaking of new Pokemon, fewer were added this time around, only about 100, sort of fitting in with this game feeling like an expansion pack. A lot of the new Pokemon are odd and gimmicky, with strange creatures like Unown, Delibird, and Shuckle making their debut here, as well as the almighty Dunsparce. While time would be kind to some of these (Dunsparce and Shuckle in particular have gained niche uses and cult fandoms), other gimmicky Pokemon got left in the dust. Still, I do think having weird, gimmicky Pokemon adds some flavor to the world. If there’s one thing I am upset about, it’s some of the Pokemon that were cut from the game, revealed to the world in the prototype version of Gold and Silver that leaked online. We almst got a new Shellder evo that looked like Slowbro’s tail, as well as Pokemon like Lickilicky debuting two generations earlier (and with a far better design). Still, what we got is pretty impressive, and though I find Johto a tad bit vanilla, there are a lot of Pokemon I love in this generation.

Another great addition to the franchise is lore behind the Legendary Pokemon. Gen I did have a bit of lore in regards to Mew and Mewtwo if you chose to read all of the journals in Cinnabar Mansion, but the bird trio got nothing and sort of just felt like random bonus bosses than Pokemon really deserving the title of legends. In this game, every legend introduced feels legendary. Entei, Raikou, Suicune, Ho-Oh, and Lugia all have fascinating lore behind them, and while they don’t play a major part in the story or factor in to Team Rocket’s plans (save for Suicune in Crystal, who has its own subplot), it showed that even this early on they were working on making the legendaries feel bigger and more impressive to the point they deserved their title as legends.

Then of course there are the new additions to gameplay and collecting that helped really make the franchise shine. The introduction of held items is one of the most significant; now there were even more ways to improve your standing in a battle! Give your mon a berry, they’ll eat it when their health gets low! This feature would be expanded on in later games, but its start here introduced a whole new world of possibilities. There was also the splitting of the Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defense a choice that helped balance the games and not completely overpower the Psychic type. And speaking of, Type distribution was quite a bit better in these games, though the new types Steel and Dark as well as Ghost and Dragon were still fairly underutilized and rare.

Then there is the introduction of gender and breeding, which allowed players to get new Pokemon by leaving two Pokemon in the same egg group in a day care together. This not only allowed for the introduction of new baby Pokemon (which are largely useless and Pokedex filler if I’m being honest), but it gave the transforming blob of jello Ditto a new lease on life, as it could breed with absolutely ANYTHING, even some genderless Pokemon. Finally, we have the introduction of shiny Pokemon, Pokemon that had a different coloration than normal Pokemon and that almost surely existed to show off the power of the Game Boy Color. Back in Generation II, shinies were guaranteed to have perfect IVs of some sort or another to make their rarity more worthwhile, but this was scrapped after this gen. Still, there is nothing cooler than having that fabulous Pokemon with its incredible sparkle pop up while you’re roaming the wild, and nothing sadder than realizing you don’t have any balls to catch it.

The story here is also improved, which is a plus. A rarity for Pokemon games going forward, these games were true sequels to the originals, taking place a few years after the events of the Gen I games, and so the plot concerns the player getting roped in to not only stopping the remnants of Team Rocket trying to rise to power yet again, but also fighting off a mysterious rival named Silver, all while trying to complete the gym challenge. The stakes are a bit higher this time, but not overly so, and the plot definitely feels bigger and more important, with their being a sense of “I have to stop Team Rocket or something bad could happen” rather than “Ugh, these guys are blocking the way to the next gym, guess I better get rid of them.” And if that’s not enough, this has one of the more impressive post-games for the series… for its time. Much has been made of the late, great Satoru Iwata’s impressive cramming of the entirety of Kanto into the game, and you won’t hear me say that for the time these games came out what he did was impressive.

The thing is, this accomplishment has aged about as well as the games the Kanto region debuted in. Gen II’s version of Kanto has a very poor level curve, meaning you can basically steamroll through most of the gyms, and a lot of areas are blocked off, gone, or cut down. While it is cool to see all these places two years after the original games, it’s not nearly as fun when you’re crushing underleveled Pokemon and you can’t access Cerulean Cave or the legendary birds. When you finally acquire all the badges though, you get to head to Mt. Silver and make your way up to one of the definitive bonus bosses of the franchise – Red, the player character of the original games. He’s a pretty tough opponent, and the game seems to lean towards making Yellow the true canon game as Red has all three starters plus Pikachu,

There’s not much else to say, as there isn’t too much negative to say about the Johto region or the games. The definitive version is, of course, Crystal, as it has a bit of extra story and polish to it and even let you play as a girl for the first time, and though there are aspects that the remakes of these games would improve on, the Generation II games are actually extremely solid and a lot of fun to play to this day, even if they haven’t yet achieved optimal balance for Pokemon. At the very least, they’re a lot more fun and playable than the Gen I games.

It’s pretty undeniable that the first two generations put Pokemon on a pretty solid path of progression and started the franchise off with a bang. There was really nowhere to go from here but up, and boy oh boy did they ever go up from here.

#Michael in the Mainstream #Review #video game review #Pokemon #Red #Blue #Yellow #Gold #Silver #Crystal #Generation I #Generation II #Kanto #Johto #Team Rocket

16 notes · View notes

lovehaswonangelnumbers · 4 years

Photo

New Post has been published on https://lovehaswonangelnumbers.org/saturn-in-aquarius-how-isolation-has-brought-us-closer-then-ever-re-invention-of-old-systems-revolutionevolution/

Saturn in Aquarius- How Isolation Has Brought Us Closer Then Ever, Re-Invention of Old Systems, Revolution=Evolution

By Astromomma

On March 21st/22nd, Saturn, the planet of: restriction, obligation, karma and order, moves from his home sign of Capricorn, into Aquarius. Aquarius, the 11th sign of the zodiac, represents: the maverick, genius, voice of the people, originality, invention and hopes/wishes. This is just a taste of this transit as Saturn will only stay in Aquarius until early July 2020 before going retrograde back to Capricorn. In late 2020, Saturn will re-enter Aquarius where he will stay until 2023.

Saturn in Aquarius is here to bring order and structures to: large groups, social interaction and upcoming inventions. Of course, we are already seeing a lot of this playing out with the current pandemic. The term social distancing was just a mere phrase in our vocabulary, prior to the last 2 weeks. This phrase is quite a literal interpretation of what Saturn in Aquarius represents. I expect as the transit continues to see more restrictions on large group gatherings. On the positive side, Saturn in Aquarius could also produce sub communities of folks that are tired of the government’s rules and decide to go ” off grid”. While there are already lots of folks living off grid lifestyles, we could see these being formed even more rapidly as more restrictions are placed on our freedoms.

The last time Saturn was in Aquarius was in 1991-1994. This was a time when the general public was first introduced to the world wide web. The first “www” code was released by the CERN making internet access available to everyone. Interestingly enough, it is this invention that is now keeping us connected to one another as we are shacked up in our homes. Within government systems, this transit is bringing up the need to re-invent all systems that no are no longer progressive or forward thinking. This is where we could see an old remedy( Saturn) be re-invented and revolutionized( Aquarius). Certainly, there will be more restrictions on travel, as Aquarius is an air sign. Again, tying it back to ” social distancing” and regulating the ability for us to see whoever we want, whenever we want.

Saturn in Aquarius is here to bring awareness and responsibility back to the people. Through the limitations and bailouts from the government, we are realizing in a big way of how we must care for ourselves when times get tough. Aquarius is the sign of the people and universal love and unity. How can we truly unite when we cannot see and feel one another? Through technology of course, which also happens to be ruled by Uranus, Aquarius’s ruling planet. This ” disconnection” we have all been going through has surprisingly brought us closer then any kind of device could accomplish.

It is the unity of consciousness that this transit will invoke. You can separate people on the physical level but you cannot disconnect them from their soul and heart. It is time with this transit for us to step up to the plate and become a united force like we have never seen in our lifetime. Saturn in Aquarius is here to: teach us how to live with social restrictions but not be divided, create better systems that promote change and progress and remind us that even while distant, how we truly are ONE.

For this special transit of Saturn in Aquarius, I am doing an extended sign horoscope on my Astromomma Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/astromomma. These horoscopes, which are channeled from spirit, give you: practical, tangible and enlightening advice on how best to navigate this transit according to your individual sign. Patreon, is a huge supporter of mine, and is a subscription based model of a $4 or $6 USD monthly contribution, that gives you access to all my special extended horoscopes and articles. Thank you for your continued support as it allows me to continue to show up and produce astrological content here on FB.

******

LoveHasWon.org is a Non-Profit Charity, Heartfully Associated with the “World Blessing Church Trust” for the Benefit of Mother Earth

Share Our Messages with Love and Gratitude

LOVE US @ MeWe mewe.com/join/lovehaswon

Visit Our Online Store for Higher Consciousness Products and Tools: LoveHasWon Essentials

http://lovehaswonessentials.org/

Visit Our NEW Sister Site: LoveHasWon Angel Numbers

https://lovehaswonangelnumbers.org/

Commentary from The First Contact Ground Crew 5dSpiritual Healing Team:

Feel Blocked, Drained, Fatigued, Restless, Nausea, Achy, Ready to Give Up? We Can Help! We are preparing everyone for a Full Planetary Ascension, and provide you with the tools and techniques to assist you Home Into The Light. The First Contact Ground Crew Team, Will Help to Get You Ready For Ascension which is Underway. New Spiritual Sessions have now been created for an Entire Family, including the Crystal Children; Group Family Healing & Therapy. We have just began these and they are incredible. Highly recommend for any families struggling together in these times of intense changes. Email: [email protected] for more information or to schedule an emergency spiritual session. We can Assist You into Awakening into 5d Reality, where your experience is one of Constant Joy, Wholeness of Being, Whole Health, Balanced, Happy and Abundant. Lets DO THIS! Schedule Your Session Below by following the Link! Visit: http://www.lovehaswon.org/awaken-to-5d/

Introducing our New LoveHasWon Twin Flame Spiritual Intuitive Ascension Session. Visit the link below:

https://lovehaswon.org/lovehaswon-twin-flame-spiritual-intuitive-ascension-session/

Request an Astonishing Personal Ascension Assessment Report or Astrology Reading, visit the link below for more information:

https://lovehaswon.org/lovehaswon-ascension-assessment-report

https://lovehaswon.org/lovehaswon-astrology/

Experiencing DeAscension Symptoms, Energy Blockages, Disease and more? Book a Holistic Healing Session

https://lovehaswon.org/lovehaswon-holistic-healing-session/

To read our Testimonials you can follow this link: http://www.lovehaswon.org/testimonials

Connect with MotherGod~Mother of All Creation on Skype @ mothergoddess8

Request a copy of our Book: The Tree of Life ~ Light of The Immortals Book

Order a copy of Our LoveHasWon Ascension Guide: https://lovehaswon.org/lovehaswon-ascension-guide/

**If you do not have a Paypal account, click on the button below:

If you wish to donate and receive a Tax Receipt, click the button below:

Donate with Paypal

Use Cash App with Our code and we’ll each get $5! FKMPGLH

Cash App Tag: $lovehaswon1111

Cash App

Donate with Venmo

VENMO

Support Our cause in the creation of the Crystal Schools for Children. Visit our fundraising link below:

LoveHasWon Charity for Crystal Schools

Support Our Charity in Co~Creating the New Earth Together by Helping Mother of All Creation. Visit our fundraising link below:

Support Mother Earth!

Support Us on PATREON

PATREON

Support Us Through Our LoveHasWon Wish List

LoveHasWon Wish List

We also accept Western Unionand Moneygram. You may send an email to [email protected] more information.

***If you wish to send Donations by mail or other methods, email us at [email protected] or [email protected]***

**** We Do Not Refund Donations****

MeWe ~ Youtube ~ Facebook~ Apple News ~ Linkedin ~ Twitter~ Tumblr ~ GAB ~ Minds ~ Google+~ Medium ~ StumbleUpon ~ Reddit~ Informed Planet~ Steemit~ SocialClub~ BlogLovin~ Flipboard ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Snapchat

#5D Astrology #Astrology Updates

3 notes · View notes

clarencejc · 4 years

Text

Choices to Make (Part 1)

Summary: April Hudson, a biologist studying animals and neighbor of the Cullen's, notices something wrong one day on her wilderness cameras which leads to her life being changed forever. Curiosity killed the cat.

(No pairing) Please like and comment, but remember to give me credit for my story!

Fall 2008

It was another rainy day in Forks as I drove back to my house after work, my red Ford hatchback quietly sloshing down the wet roads with the windshield wipers set at a quick pace. My name is April Hudson, twenty-one-year-old garden business associate and wildlife watcher with a completed degree in biology and still living with my parents. Was, at least.

My parents had to move further south for their twin jobs leaving me alone upstate after graduation with their small house in the middle of freaking nowhere. I loved the rain of Washington until I had to leave and come back and get reacclimated to the weather.

I was fine with the arrangement where they would periodically check in on me but most of their time is dedicated to their work. The only real neighbors I have are the Cullen’s but they’re nearly five miles away from, now my, little cottage, so there is almost no way to really call them neighbors.

The most I’ve ever seen of them is passing by them in their cars and even that was too short. They were all introduced once when my family moved in but that was only once and since then I only see them when they need to stop in for flowers or ferns for their home.

As I pull up to the cottage, the light from the bathroom is still on from the morning. “Damnit,” I sigh heavily. ‘Always forgetting to turn that one off’ I berate myself silently in the confines of my warm car.

I grab my beat-up leather work bag in one hand and jog inside to avoid being more wet and cold than usual. ‘It’s the last thing I need.’

“Hello, my little Mitten,” I greet my sweet little tabby cat with a smile. I’m greeted back with a small ‘mew’ before chuckling to myself and feeling the soft fur under my fingertips. Stripping off my clothes and getting rid of my bra, I finally feel free and alone in the quiet house.

I don't feel like I'm the prettiest girl in the world with my large hips and thick thighs along with this dry skin in such a moist environment, but it’s my house to do what I please in it. I run my fingers through my shoulder-length hair as I let it out of its ponytail when a sound catches my attention.

‘Chirp! chirp! chirp! chirp!’ “What could that be my love?” I whisper lovingly partially to myself but mainly to Mittens as I walk to my computer where the noise is originating from.

I took up my parent's love of nature a while ago and hung up trail cameras to capture animals big or small traveling across the property, but there hasn’t been a ping in a while. Until now.

The computer’s white light fills the room as it wakes up whirring and as I click my way through the files, petting Mittens rhythmically, while the start of the video plays like usual with the wildlife until there’s something that’s not so normal. The big buck walks through the woods, like usual, and then there, right after the third second, the deer is gone. There and then gone just like that. A whole deer gone without a trace.

“What the hell?” I ask myself and I play it back nearly ten times before not being able to find anything wrong with the tape to indicate a glitch. “I guess I’ll look at the next one,” I say warily. My internal radar for weird stuff is slowly beginning to rise like a pressure gauge from the green zone to the yellow and the hairs stand up on the back of my neck as I start to feel not so alone.

The next camera I pull up is deeper in the woods near the middle of where the property is. A few seconds in there is a man beginning to dig a hole without any sort of digging equipment until there is a hole with the dimensions of a shallow grave, the deer is thrown in as though it weighs no more than a small sack of flour, and then the weirdest part occurs: The guy takes off his shirt, tosses it in with the deer, and then fills the grave back up again.

‘I know that shirt, I know that shirt’ I repeat before it clicks; ‘It’s the hair.’ The mop of blonde hair in the video is the same as the mop I drive by every so often; Jasper Cullen. It all comes together as I remember him coming in with Alice to get flowers wearing a light colored button up dress shirt.

“No fuckin’ way.” I rewind it and hit play again only to watch the same thing happen without fault. “Oh my god.” I don't know whether to watch the video again or to throw up my dinner from earlier. “Oh shit!” I cry out, startling Mittens off of my lap, and standing up abruptly enough to knock my chair back onto the ground. ‘I have to tell someone—wait, I can’t tell anyone’ I realize with a start. “The Cullen’s.” My blood turns to ice and my fingers become cold.

‘I have to get the shirt’ I tell myself and if I want to get back before dark then I’d better get out there and start digging now. I give a kiss to Mittens, feed her, and put on all of my gear like mud boots, insulated rain jacket and finally grab a shovel from the shed. I don’t bother putting my bra back on because I’ve already taken it off so it’s too much of a trouble to put back on and there’s no need since, hopefully, I’m the only person in these woods tonight.

Grabbing my headlamp in case, I start my walk out. It’s fairly short but the dig is difficult and plain annoying. The mud slips and sloshes around my boots as I try to dig the hole back out but after over an hour of straight digging, I finally get to it just around the four-foot mark. It doesn’t even look like he tried to hide the shirt separately as I tug it out of the narrow hole I’ve dug. I turn my headlamp on and turn around when something catches my eye.

There’s another area of raised soil about ten feet away and another ten feet in the opposite direction. ‘This is a dumping ground’ I realize and that feeling of terror turns my blood to ice once again. I fill the hole in as quickly as I can and immediately head home, not daring to look in the other mounds for fear of what I might find if I do.

I slam my door as I come in, not caring that I’m dripping wet as I tromp through my house. I sit on the bed and put the muddy and blood covered shirt on my coffee table and simply stare at it. ‘I have to tell them and then just forget about all of this’ I tell myself.

I find a drawstring bag to put the battered dress shirt in, slipping it under my bed, and try to sleep. Try being the key word. There is so much adrenaline running through my body that every time I close my eyes I see Jasper throwing that deer in, bloodied and dirt covered, before simply running off. ‘You can’t stay quiet.’

The next day is giving me a bad case of the nerves as I dresses in my nice black slacks and olive green blouse to meet the Cullen’s, well mainly either Carlisle or Esme seeing as all of their kids freak me out with how they stare, but I’m uninvited anyway, so there’s that problem. I decide to go at noon so that the rest of the family might not be there, especially Jasper.

With the CD with the copied video and the bag with the shirt in hand, I set out on the drive. As I get closer, more nerves collect in my chest making me breathe heavy and tremble at what they might say. I mean who knows, their son could be the beginnings of a serial killer and they could very well know about it and let me get killed too. The thought makes me slow down for a second before getting back up to normal speed.

My heart is beating out of my chest as I turn down their rock driveway and, after another thirty-second delay, I’m finally sitting there in front of their monumental house. “You can do this. It’s really easy, you’ve got this,” I whisper to myself as I grip the steering wheel tight enough to turn my knuckles white.

‘Stay calm and just be cool’ I think slowly as I try to slow my breathing. I walk up the clean steps and my hand trembles fiercely as I lightly knock on the frame of the door to avoid potentially damaging or even smudging the glass.

I see Esme walk toward the door, seeing as the whole house is nearly made of glass, and try to make my face look less like I’m going to throw up all over her.

“Hello April,” she greets and her voice sounds like music to my ears. I try not to get distracted by her looks but dear god she is beautiful. Literally, everything is perfect about her. “What brings you here?”

I find my heart rate rising even more at her being polite but if she knows why I’m here then she’s doing a damn good job at covering it up.

“I’m sorry to bother you today,” I start and she smiles warmly but it doesn’t help my nerves. “Well, um, I wanted t-t-to, uh, tell you something but I didn’t want to freak you out,” I stammer. ‘Get it together’ I yell mentally. “I have something to show you if you’ll let me, Mrs. Cullen,” I tell her politely back and hold up the CD.

“And what is in the bag?” she wonders with a pinched brow and tilted head. When it releases its tension there’s not even a crease in her skin, but I blink away the errant thought.

“That also goes with the video,” I tell her slowly. “If I may. . .?” I ask with a small gesture to enter their house and she lets me into the entryway. “Do you have a CD player or a computer I could play this on for you?” She nods her head and leads me into their house where we end up in a room with a computer and shelves and shelves of books.

With shaky hands, I start to take the CD out of the case and I think I should tell her a little before I spring on her that her son could be a serial killer or a poacher at best. “So I don’t know if you know this but my parents got me wilderness cameras while I was studying for my degree and that I have them in the trees around my property, um, and I got a ‘ping’ last night. Uh,” I pause as I try to get my tremors under control, “so I looked at it and I thought you should be the first to know what I found,” I end in a whisper so quiet I don’t know if she heard me. I glance at her to find her looking back at me with worried eyes.

I stand from the seat and offer it to her in case she needs to sit after watching something so unbelievable. I pull up the file and click the play button. The video of the disappearing deer and then Jasper digging the hole plays on a loop and I watch her expression change from surprise, to worry, back to a stony one that gives nothing away.

She knows exactly why I’m here. She brings her perfect hand to the mouse, clicks the stop button, and then looks at the bag I’m still holding in a death grip from my nerves. She goes to say something but I stop her before she can start with a slight hand motion and a look.

“And I don’t know if it was the best idea to do but I dug up the shirt because I want nothing to do with this and I don’t want it anywhere near my home,” I whisper and widen my eyes slightly to see if my point gets across, but I decide it’s better to say it anyway.

“I found two more mounds of dirt near this one, so I don’t care, and I won’t even ask what he is doing, or what you’re doing, but stop burying dead animals in my backyard,” I tell her severely.

She looks me in the eyes and then nods her head once. I let out a nervous breath. ‘Thank god.’ “I’m going to head home then. Here,” I hand her the bag with the shirt and then start to walk toward the door, resisting the urge to sprint. Everything inside of me is screaming for me to get the hell out of here.

She opens the front door for me and I leave without another word and don’t glance back as I walk to my car. The entire time I feel as though I’m holding my breath and once I’m finally in my car I let it out. I start the car and leave as fast as I can while trying to not seem like I’m running away.

The adrenaline is running rampant through me at this point and I’m shaking all over worse than a leaf in a storm. I let out one sob at the feeling as I finally reach my house. I hear a cacophony of meows and little cat screams surround me as I sit on the couch closest to the door and wrap a nearby blanket around me as tightly as I can. ‘What the fuck have I done?’ I ask myself softly.

#Twilight NoBella OriginalCharacterxTwilight

3 notes · View notes

aeronuzlockes · 5 years

Text

Ending of The Fall/From Grace

Thought I’d finally throw up my ending character arcs and stuff and do some final housekeeping here like a whole year after the fact lmao

So Leaf... I uhh... Looked at Daenerys and thought, “hey what if I pushed that righteousness the wrong way and made her do something really questionable and pushed her into the realm of villainy and looked to people for reactions!” -- Sees reaction to Game of Thrones s8 Me; Well I just... really dodged a bullet there, didn’t I?

Anyway

Leaf was, in Unova, going to do her thing for a bit, she was going to be dismissed from championship because of it in her absence, having her old friend from Johto take the spot. Kanto and Johto more or less bicker about who gets to be the champion with neither region being pleased to have a “foreign” person on the seat. But before that happens she does see to it that the Sevii islands get their own league instead of being stuck in the Kanto vs Johto battle for Indigo Plateau. She also then takes her release from duty to expose all the criminal and terrible activity in the League- her own actions and those of other people as she no longer has anything to lose (as far as she cares). When En has the Shadow Triad abduct her to the whatever electric cave. She comes in contact with the black stone of ideals and she is actually the one that triggers Zekrom’s release, but it’s slow because by contact with it I mean En held it out to her and asked her to be his queen and she took it from him and threw it in a general direction. She thinks that she could be a hero of the white dragon Reshiram, but John says no, it’s Iris. And he’s right. Iris is the hero they needed and deserved. Those dragons are true to their original people. (i just really feel like the hero should be indigenous) And Charlie’s role in the story was to exist and not become bitter and jaded like Leaf did in spite of it all. And realize that sometimes, it’s not on you to be the hero of the story.

Leaf was then going to contact Giovanni in prison- going rogue and taking only Avalon with her and leaving Arnold (and her past idealism behind her) And to Giovanni ask what purpose he had in Kanto; “You once told me that a child could never understand what you hoped to do. I’m not a child anymore.” And Giovanni sees someone who just needs a push over the edge to share his goal.... and that would have lead to a 3rd nuzlocke back in kanto many years later to visit the idea of Kanto legendaries; one of which a poison type legendary that was the source of the grim dark wasteland vibes.

And John Seymour; He survives the dragon battle- on the field being a physical shield protecting Iris as she commanded the dragon. Leaf goes missing in action leaving Arnold behind. He doesn’t want to go back to Kanto- he doesn’t like it there. And so he and Danny actually move to Sinnoh and ya boi sort of retires until she comes back (3-5 years later). Sam and Daisy are in charge of the Ranger base in Kanto in his absence and when he returns (him just making sure people are accepting). Leaf comes back, Arnold passes away, they move back to Kanto. Leaf goes back to Indigo Plateau, beats the champion (Noah) and then pulls a Kiyoshi in a sense and uses the pokemon of her team to make a new league and she and the Rangers see to pokemon and people living as equals as much as possible. Still rocky relationship with Leaf in some aspects- she never really forgives him for leaving her to take care of her mother, who also suffered from PTSD symptoms, alone. John still mostly in retirement... And then is called in to protect June, who is established as a source of political discord as other regions are not comfortable with Kanto having this ally of mass destruction (rightfully so) and Mew has always sought to destroy this legendary that was not meant to be.

And that is how he dies- Mew comes for June, he gets in the way to protect her

Which then would have triggered some uhhh fun stuff with Leaf. She goes after Mew. She starts putting the plan of Giovanni’s back into play... Team Red. She’s much subtler about it and far more powerful. And she knows how to work around the Rangers. She successfully captures Mew (something Jon could have done, but never wanted to remove Mew from the natural surroundings as it is a huge risk). She does not go to the legendaries however after meeting her girlfriend-to be wife. Softens back up and just sits on that card she has.

And then yea she awakens the big bad legendary of Kanto that’s basically the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse in one dragon for the sole purpose... of destroying it with Mew, who she then frees. And it was basically going to end with a big author shrug of “she did what she felt she had to, but was it really necessary? or did she do what she wanted to do?”

but that’s it

That was my edgy nuzlocke plot which was hilariously similar and probably would have been as well received as the last season of GoT /dabs

26 notes · View notes

chibipika · 5 years

Text

Chapter 36 Retrospective

“The Lugia Chapter” is a chapter that’s been in LC almost since the beginning. In the original, it was because Lugia had appeared to Jade several times throughout the course of the story, and it was her destiny to catch it or whatever. Then sometime in 2003, I changed all the Legendary captures into humans being chosen by them instead. Again, still destiny, and also Lugia was an entirely different character back then. I might post that version someday, just know that it looks nothing at all like the current version.

Then, somehow, in 2006, I came up with Jade and Lugia’s current dynamic, with their first meeting resulting in capture/torture, and Lugia’s personality becoming sharp-tongued and irritable. I’m not really sure how I came up with it—it seems to have sprung fully formed from the aether. It might have been because that was around the time I was trying to think of ways to deconstruct the usual Chosen One tropes, (as the chapter itself bears a lot of hallmarks of that.) I’m not sure if I wrote the Lugia chapter before or after I wrote the attack on Viridian in that version of the fic. If it was after, that would technically make this the 2007 version of the Lugia chapter? Well, either way, the ideas came together in 2006. That would make this part of Revision 9.

This version is strikingly similar to the final version that was eventually rewritten for NaNo 2015, (and published in 2019). The writing is primitive, and several plot elements are outdated, but the general feel of it is spot-on, and a lot of dialogue actually made it into the final version.

[Oh yeah, should go without saying, but SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 36.]

<I’m afraid you’re not going down to the stadium,> a voice within my mind said.

I stopped suddenly upon hearing those words, wondering if I had just imagined them. Searching for the source, I turned to see a small, pale rose feline hovering in the middle of my room, her long tail swirling around in the air.

“Mew,” I gasped, both surprised and relieved. “What are you doing here? And what did you mean by that?”

<You’re not going down to the stadium,> she repeated solemnly. <At least, not right now...>

A shiver ran down my spine when I heard her say that. She kept staring downward, refusing to look me in the eye. What was going on?

“Mew...?” I said cautiously, feeling both puzzled and apprehensive.

Finally the cat-like creature lifted her head and gazed long and hard at me with her large, bright sapphire eyes. She looked concerned, with a shadow of guilt mixed into her expression.

“What is it, is there something going on with the Legendaries? Why’d you come to me and not Ajia?” I asked, my heart beating faster from growing anxiety. Why was she acting like this?

<Your test...> Mew spoke so faintly that I could barely make it out.

“My...test...?” I uttered blankly.

Since this chapter was sort of written out of thin air, without any of the preceding chapters leading up to it, the intro to this scene is, as expected, pretty random and abrupt. I was fully expecting to change all of this once I had a better idea of the lead-up events. Note is that Jade is still at Indigo, and the Moltres attack hasn’t happened yet.

<The time has come,> she concluded, raising a paw and glowing with a blue aura. Suddenly, my entire body was enveloped within the same color of light.

“Mew!” I exclaimed as I was lifted off the floor psychically. A flash of light suddenly filled the room, blocking out my vision, and before I could say anything, she was gone.

“MEW!!!” I shouted, but it was too late. The glow vanished and I fell to the floor.

It took me a few seconds to realize that I had fallen not onto the carpeted floor of my room, but onto a hard rock surface. At first I couldn’t see anything, but that was only because there wasn’t much to see. It looked like I was inside a cave of some sort, enclosed on all sides by jagged rock walls and partially filled with water on one end. I rubbed my arms as my senses returned and I felt how incredibly cold it was in the chamber.

“Mew teleported me…” I whispered to myself. “…but where to?” I stood to my feet and glanced around, seeing no possible exit. The cavern was dimly lit, but the light didn’t seem to be coming from any visible source. It occurred to me that the water probably flowed in here from the outside, but I had no idea how deep it went, and I didn’t have any Pokémon that could swim long distances.

“I’m trapped,” I muttered in disbelief. “She’s trapped me here alone with no way out...”

And then a voice resounded in reply, <I wouldn’t say that you’re alone.>

It felt as though my entire body went numb, but not from the cold. The voice was telepathic, but I could easily tell that it most definitely was not from Mew. It was chillingly bitter, with a domineering edge to it that stuck within my head. It was the voice that haunted all my nightmares since that day—one that I had hoped to never hear again.

In the darkest corner of the cave, two eyes, radiating blue, peered out of the shadows with an icy stare that seemed to bore right through me. The glow slightly illuminated the creature’s face, revealing a sleek avian head with a mouth curled into a smirk.

<Welcome, human. Are you ready to face the consequences of that day so long ago? >

Man, though, despite being written in 2006/07 this is pretty-spot on. I can see why I didn’t change much.

My breathing was shallow and my heart was pounding. I couldn’t move; it was like I was frozen on the spot, barely even able to think.

Lugia called me here to kill me.

There was no other explanation. But why now? Why after so long? This couldn’t be happening, there was no way.

I clenched my fists, swallowing hard. It was just like last time. This wasn’t like the Rocket conflicts, with a struggle for survival. There was nothing I could do; I might as well have already been dead. But…Mew…why…?

Man, you can just tell I was having so much fun dunking on Chosen One clichés. Summoned by a Legendary? Grand, awe-inspiring, and important? Nope! Friggin’ terrifying!

Lugia raised an eyebrow. <No response? You’re quite pitiful, always letting fear control you.>

I bristled. Had to do something, anything. I clutched at a Poké Ball and held it up, my arm shaking. I’d battle. Yeah, that was it. I’d battle, and I’d win, and then we’d find some way out. Any way out. We had to. I was only vaguely aware of how unrealistic that plan was, but still threw the ball forward, releasing Chibi in a flash of black.

I glared at the Legendary. Chibi turned toward me with a stunned and disbelieving expression.

“*Jade, what’s going on? Where the hell are we, and,”—he glanced at Lugia—“why is…don’t tell me you’re…*”

“It doesn’t matter, just use Thunderbolt, hurry!” My voice felt dry and hollow.

“*What?*” he asked, clearly confused. All of the old Rocket situations had gotten him used to having to react immediately, even when released in odd situations, but this was too much.

“I said, use Thunderbolt,” I demanded.

He gave me an incredulous glare. “*No. Tell—me—what—is—going—on.*”

Lugia smirked tauntingly. <Even the half-legend won’t obey you. Is he tired of keeping you alive?>

Chibi whirled around to face her, strings of lightning leaping off his fur involuntarily. Some of his electricity hit Lugia, who recoiled slightly, eyes narrowed. <Oh…touchy, are we?>

The scene breaks here, as I couldn’t really figure out where I was going with the whole Chibi bit, so I just skipped to writing the next part. I do like the idea of Jade instinctively going for a battle (which is why I kept it for the final one), but actually sitting down to write the battle always bored me to tears (a pretty sure sign that it needed to be cut).

“Well, what is it?” I demanded brashly, angered at how she was toying with me. “You had Mew call me down here in order to get revenge, right? Are you gonna taunt me some more or just kill me outright since it didn’t work last time?”

For a while, she gave no sign that she had heard me, and I kept waiting for her to say something and break the unnerving silence that filled the chamber.

<Are you under the impression,> Lugia began slowly and menacingly, <that I tried and yet failed to kill you on that day?>

You’ll notice that Lugia is female in this version. All the Legendaries had genders. It wasn’t until 2015 that I finally made them properly genderless. At the time, I was sure I was never going to get used to it, and I accidentally used the wrong pronouns constantly. But now? It’s finally the other way around. Going back and seeing female pronouns for Lugia is like, “wat, ew, stop.” Then again, that’s kinda how these things go irl, isn’t it?

But yes, please don’t let this impact your view of Lugia now, as Revision 12 Lugia is quite thoroughly “wtf is a gender.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond, as she had sounded almost offended by my words. Had Ajia been right? Had Lugia really spared me?

“I…I didn’t think—” I started.

“I know that!” I exclaimed, frustrated at how she flaunted that fact. It was like talking to someone who had a knife to your throat. “And after today, what does it matter?!” I was trembling despite trying to seem unmoved by my complete lack of control over the situation.

With a very reserved tone of voice, the dragon-bird replied, <If you must know, I had Mew call you here today because I wished to speak with you in private.>

I relaxed slightly upon hearing that, but still had to wonder why Mew had looked so regretful about sending me here.

<Still, I can’t help but notice...you speak of that day as though it would have been my fault. As if to make me feel guilty for the situation. Do you see what I did as unjustified?>

Unjustified? Had I deserved it? My immediate thought

Another bit where I got stuck, went “uhhh, I don’t know where this is going,” and then skipped ahead to the next part.

“What events?” I asked.

The dragon-bird raised an eyebrow, as though surprised at my ignorance. <I was told you had read the words inscribed upon the shrine of Midnight Island. Or did they slip your mind?>

“What, you mean that thing with the Legendaries allying themselves with eight humans? What’s that got to do with this?”

Oh right, there were eight chosen before Revision 12. I actually made this mistake a couple times in the current Serebii thread until I finally got used to the idea that there were only seven.

With eyes slightly narrowed, Lugia replied, <Ignorance, human. You don’t realize the magnitude of what will happen in mere months. This is beyond prophecies now…we have seen it with our eyes, the actions of the so-called Team Rocket. Their strides toward power have paved the way for things to come. Even now, it is apparent… The eight would cause themselves to be linked with the legends by connecting themselves with those fulfilling them. And so at the same time, linked with each other.>

I really, really loved making Lugia say “ignorance, human” in the 2007 version. Although it is important to note that modern day Lugia still doesn’t ever refer to Jade by name. This is intentional.

It took me several seconds to understand what she was implying. Team Rocket’s Legendary captures were fulfilling the legends…which meant that none of the eight Chosen were predestined. It had seemed like that from the way Ajia described how she had become Mew’s Chosen, but I always figured that the legends had to involve some complex destiny.

But why was she telling me this?

Unless…

I stared long and hard at her, unwilling to believe it…it couldn’t be possible. It couldn’t be…

“So…so you’re saying…” I swallowed hard and continued, “that…I’m Chosen? Even after what I did?”

<Perhaps more so because of what you did, and other things among that. You have connected yourself with the Legendaries as few others of that rebellion have,> the dragon-bird answered.

I really like this bit, which is why it made it into the rewrite almost unscathed. I love that the big chosen reveal is treated as something horrifying and terrible rather than “aww yeah, I was ~Chosen by a Legendary.~”

“Because of it? Why in the…how—” I struggled, overwhelmed at the significance of what I had just been told.

Lugia closed her eyes in frustration and said, <Let me explain this as simply as I can. I understand that you have read the Midnight Island legend.>

“Yeah, and the Dark Crystal legend,” I added.

She paused slightly when I said that, but then overlooked it. <Then you know that the Midnight legend tells of the Eight Guardians and the Crystal legend is just that—about the trio of crystals. You are an interloper. You have no inherent significance in the legends whatsoever, yet your interference in the matters concerning the balance of power between human and Legendary as well as the fact that you know about the legends has forced you to become a part of them. Fate is nothing; action is everything. The Eight Guardians of the Order of Legends are obligated to seek out those interlopers deemed to have the strongest connection to the legends and the conflict at hand.

I can’t believe the “Fate is nothing; action is everything” dates back to this. What started out as just a fun way to dunk on Chosen One clichés turned into one of the core themes of the entire fic.

I didn’t have to be told who that was referring to.

oh no spoilers (…not really, pretty much everyone has guessed that’s what he’s going for.)

<No one truly knows what the new age shall bring, or how this conflict shall be resolved. One thing is for certain—once the alliance has served its purpose, it shall be as though it never was, and the turmoil of the Revolution and the legacy of the Crystals shall reign supreme,> Lugia concluded solemnly.

“Wait, wait…you’re saying this alliance doesn’t even matter that much?” I asked incredulously. “All it’ll do is just bide time in this stupid Team Rocket conflict until the real trouble begins?”

I should point out here that while this is still true, it has not come up in the current version. (Notice that Lugia didn’t mention the Orb or any the writings around it at all in the current version.)

“Do you Legendaries, like, spend all your time memorizing the legends and then interpreting them?” I asked, my tone slightly annoyed and slightly sarcastic.

I really loved this quip of Jade’s back when I wrote it. :V

Lugia was unimpressed with my insolent remark, and I could tell immediately that I had crossed the line. <Let me tell you something, human. The words of your little half-legend were not what swayed my decision that day. Grabbed my attention, yes, but you are alive right now because you fit this role. It is an honor. Were it not for our constant ‘interpretation’ of the legends…> here she paused, unsure of how to continue. Finally she sighed and glanced down. I thought I’d never see a Legendary show any sign of weakness, at least not before a human.

Wait, what? At first, I couldn’t figure out what she meant, but then I realized it. Neither side could survive without the other. Then a rather stupid grin crossed my face as I said, “You Legendaries need help? From humans?”

This line too. :P

It really was quite obvious that they did, seeing as many more of them would have been captured were it not for The Rebellion—yet another fact that made Stalker’s plans rather paradoxical. Lugia scowled, more insulted by the way I had said it than by the fact that it was true. I let the moment of immaturity drop and said, “Look, I’m honored, I really am, but…”—I sighed—“I told myself that I wouldn’t have anything more to do with Team Rocket. I’m not even on the Resistance…why not choose someone who is?”

Lugia didn’t answer, but rather shifted her wings and gazed at me peculiarly. I continued, “I’m tired of risking both my life and the lives of my friends.”

<Either way, you do realize of course that you’re connected to the Team Rocket matter whether you like it or not. This is simply to determine whether you shall be a part of the deeper legendary matter at hand,> Lugia explained simply.

I really didn’t want to reply, seeing as the whole point of my training for the past year had been as a sort of escape from the Rocket mess…while the members of the Resistance continued to keep the team in check. I leaned against the rough cave wall and stared downward, unsure of what to do.

I really was sure that the Resistance was out and about doing important things, despite having no idea how. The decision to have the Resistance be disbanded in the current version was a pretty spur-of-the-moment one fueled by the realization that I really just didn’t know what I was doing with them. The fic’s a lot better off for it.

I glanced over my shoulder and looked the seabird in the eye for quite a while, reflecting upon everything she had told me. I felt as though pure guilt would end up winning me over—guilt that I was hiding from a struggle over the control of the planet, one that many of my friends had an active role in. The last thought to occur to me, however, was what had gone through my mind that day when I had used the Master Ball cannon on Lugia: the bizarre fascination with Legendaries combined with the urge to wield that incredible power.

This is such a weird sentiment. It really doesn’t fit Jade’s current characterization at all.

Yeah, that was it…

“I’ll do it,” I said slowly after quite a while, my voice shaking.

Lugia nodded slowly with an odd relief in her eyes, looking genuinely glad that I had agreed. She motioned to me to step forward, and I did. Outstretching a wing, the avian dragon touched a feather to my palm and closed her eyes in concentration. An aura began to glow around her wing, slowly brightening and focusing itself around my hand.

Suddenly, a sharp jolt of pain shot through my arm. I recoiled back and gripped my wrist, not expecting that. I could see that my hand was still glowing, however, and slowly, the light formed into a symbol—an outline of Lugia’s head surrounded by rolling waves. I stared at the inscription, transfixed with awe.

I always was unsatisfied with how understated this was. This was supposed to be a major turning point for the fic, and it was over in two sentences with a tiny jolt of pain. NaNo 2015 was when I got the idea to expand this to be the culmination of all the pain and trauma that Jade has endured so far.

<You are marked,> Lugia said. <With you bearing my seal, the two of us, Legend and human, are linked. With this privilege comes much responsibility. You will find that we can communicate now, regardless of distance. Likewise, if you are in grave danger, you may summon me to aid you, if and only if you have done everything in your power to ensure that doing so will not expose us. But you must never call me somewhere simply for the sake of it…the consequences of such will be severe,> she added, narrowing her eyes.

I’m not sure why that last bit was necessary. I would think that if you’re trusting a human enough to be your partner, it would go without saying that they’re not going to summon you for a random battle or whatever.

Notice I said “summon.” In old LC canon, the chosen were able to summon their patrons to their side. This is outdated. While Mew can teleport to Ajia’s side, even if it’s somewhere she hasn’t been previously, that’s just because she could already teleport anyway.

I winced slightly, remembering the Psychic attack that I had endured before. Still, I nodded understandingly just as I had for her other rules.

<Most importantly of all, however…you cannot tell anyone about this. The Order’s rules are yours to follow as well. Do not betray the pact,> Lugia reinforced threateningly.

Unable to come up with any other manner of response, I nodded again. But then something occurred to me and I suddenly asked, “What about Ajia? Can I tell her?”

Lugia paused long and hard, as though unsure of what to say. After contemplating her answer, she finally replied, <I…suppose… The Chosen are supposed to remain a secret, even from the others, until the time is right, but…as you already know she is Chosen, it couldn’t hurt…>

This is silly. Why should the chosen be a secret from each other. Aren’t they supposed to help each other? And what does “the time is right” even mean.

I brightened up slightly upon hearing that—at least I wouldn’t have to keep it all to myself. “So then the fact that I knew about her and Mew had to have played a part in why you picked me, right?”

Lugia glanced away slightly, as though she had been hoping I wouldn’t say that. <Yes, yes it did… When Mew told me that you not only knew her Chosen, but also knew everything about the legends concerning them, I knew that there was no going back.>

“No…going back?” I echoed. “Why?”

She didn’t make eye contact and simply said, <Anyone with that much knowledge would be a threat. You would either have to join us of your own will, or die. If you had decided against becoming Chosen, I would have had to kill you.>

I wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that. But finally I knew why Mew had looked so worried when she had sent me here. She couldn’t say anything about it without my decision becoming forced.

Another detail that is surprisingly on point with the current version. The chosen pact requiring hard consent, where any guilting or pressuring would render that consent void, was pretty important, even back then.

Lugia nodded, knowing what I was thinking. <Mew was afraid that you would decline, given your past refusal to further involve yourself in the Team Rocket conflict.> She then turned toward the ceiling and let out a high-pitched cry in Pokéspeech. “*Mew! It is finished!*”

I knew that the Legendary communication had a very long range, and sure enough, there was an immediate flash of light as Mew teleported into the cavern. The cat-like Pokémon glanced around frantically, her eyes falling on me.

<She has agreed?> Mew questioned, looking both surprised and relieved.

<The pact is complete...she is marked with my seal,> Lugia answered with a reserved tone. But then the slightest trace of a grin crossed her face—similar to Mewtwo’s in that it looked forced, and yet oddly fitting just the same.

Mew let out a great sigh of relief. <I honestly wasn’t sure if sending you here would be condemning you to death, but…we really had no choice.>

That didn’t really make me feel better about the whole situation, but as the danger had passed, I didn’t care. I only nodded understandingly. She was right…I hadn’t wanted to agree, but hadn’t known that my life rested on that decision, so it was still of my own will.

All because of that capture… What had I gotten myself into?

Mew motioned to me and said, <I’ll take you back to your room now.>

“Oh, right…thanks…” I said, walking over. I took one last glance around the cavern before asking Lugia, “Where is this, anyway?”

<Underneath the Whirl Islands in Johto,> Lugia replied. <I suppose it could be considered my home.>

Mew raised a paw and the two of us glowed blue. The last thing I saw was everything dissolving, and then a bright flash of light. Suddenly, we were back in the stadium hotel room. The catlike Legendary nodded to me and then disappeared once more.

Aaaand, that’s it! The chapter went on a bit after that, but it gets into stuff that’ll come up in Chapter 37, so I’ll cut it here.

#LC #writing #pokemon fanfiction

4 notes · View notes