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pokeexehasstoppedworking · 3 years

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Love Doesn’t Do Encores Ch14 Battle Gym Leader Bea

You two had found yourselves out of Hammerlocke by sundown that day. But not before you went back into the town and stopped by that cafe you both had passed earlier, and each gotten a free piece of cake and small cup of tea from those coupon things that Applin Boy had given to Gloria as thanks for helping him. Cake and tea weren't exactly what you would call dinner but you weren't going to complain about free food. Your drizzilie sure tried sneaking it from you but settled for the small bag of fruit you tossed at it after you told him no.

"So," you asked Gloria after taking another sip of the tea you received, "You mentioned challenging Bea next right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Remember how I told you there was four gyms that gave the same badge?" You nodded. "The Fighting Type and Ghost Type gyms give the same badge. While the Ice and Rock gyms give a different badge from the Ghost and Fighting gyms, they give the same one as well. So either someone can just chose the Fighting or Ghost type gyms then move on and chose either the Ice or Rock type gyms. But I plan on stopping by both. The closest one just happens to be the Fighting Type Gym run by the Gym leader Bea. Not only is she the top fighting type pokemon trainer, but she's been the winner of the Galarian Martial Arts Championship seven years running undefeated. They say she can go bare fists with her machomp and win."

"Wow. She sounds really strong."

"She is. Which is why I think that's why Hop's going there too." She frowned stabbing at a piece of her free cake. "He said he wanted to become stronger. Challenging another strong gym leader right after defeating Kabu but loosing to Bede sounds like he's trying to conquer another hard challenge to prove he's strong. ...I'm worried about him."

"I know, but don't worry," you assured with a smile. You remembered enough about the game to know Hop would definitely bounce back, and after hearing him speak the other day, you knew he'd be fine. "He's a strong and has enough determination in him to move a mountain if he felt like it."

...She smiled at you. "Thanks Y/n. I knew I made a good choice in my traveling buddy."

You paused a moment...before blinking. "That reminds me. Why did you want me to come along with you back in Postwick? I mean it's not that I mind, but we were practically strangers then."

She shrugged. "I really don't know. I know it's gonna sound weird, but there's a really good atmosphere around ya. Like...You just give off good vibes, and my gut feelings are usually spot on anyways. An' I wasn't wrong!" She smiled. "You've been a great friend ta us!"

You smiled. Well that was strange. It was almost like what Sonia said about your 'good aura', but you weren't going to complain about the nice compliments.

"You're one of the gym challengers endorsed by Leon, aren't you?" Both of you looked up and blinked at the sight of an older woman, who looked older than Kabu, dressed in a blue and pink outfit with accessories, an umbrella in one hand, was pretty tall for someone you'd expect, and aquamarine eyes looking at Gloria curiously. Stunned that you two hadn't noticed noticed her walk up to you before now, both you two looked at each other before Gloria looked back to the old woman and nodded. She hummed for a moment before suddenly holding out something to her you recognized right away. "My name's Opal. If you want to know more, have a look at my league card." Gloria's brown eyes stared at the card for a moment before taking it from the lady. "I'll keep an eye on you, Child. I want to see what you can do when you go all out."

Both of you watched silently as she silently just...turned around and walked right out of the cafe. Like nothing had just happened. Leaving the two of you sitting there looking after her blankly before looking at one another with blank faces wondering if that actually happened.

Eventually you blinked as Gloria looked at the card handed to her. "Who was that?"

"According to this..she's Ms. Opal." She looked up to you holding up the card in her hand, "And the Fairy Type Gym Leader from Bellonlea!"

"What?" You held out your hand as she offered it to you. "Lemme see that." And true to Gloria's word, it was an official League Card with the picture of the very same elderly woman you just spoken too on it. "Huh." You handed it back to her. "I wonder what she was doing all the way here in Hammerlocke then?"

She shrugged before pocketing the card. "The same thing as Lee? Like maybe she's seein' the Chairman too? Or maybe traveling since I don't think anyone would challenge her yet. March is almost over so it's still pretty early in the year for anyone to gather many badges."

Wow. Almost three months had passed already? You must've lost track of time from traveling so much. You weren't too sure but shrugged. "Who knows? C'mon. Let's finish eating and hit the road before it gets too dark outside."

After the meal the two of you headed back out on Route Six as the sun nearly set in the sky making everything lightly darker but had enough light to still see. The lights of Hammerlocke shining out as the two of you left the dragon town. You were a bit nervous about running into Raihan or that Mr. Rose again, but you ran into neither as you left the town. Thank goodness. You and her then fell into the familiar routine of walking, camping, and more shaking of berry trees as you passed by them by chance. Only this time Gloria seemed to pick back up her hobby of taking pictures for her dex challenge again. The photos Victor had given her had filled up a good sizable amount of the book already but there was still more photos needed for it as well as for that curry dex challenge book she needed. It was a bit random but you were glad she found something to keep herself occupied on the way there, and photography was a pretty neat hobby. Although she didn't seem to be as into it as Victor was. If she wasn't doing that, she battled a pokemon here n' there as you either watched or gathered food or some other needed thing to be done and like before you traveled past a few small towns, houses, or other travelers heading in the opposite direction. No signs of the boys, but you were glad not having any more run ins with those Team Yell grunts as days passed as you two slowly made your way towards Stow-on-Side.

"So how long until we reach Stow-on-Side?," you asked one day while walking.

Gloria hummed for a moment before whipping out her phone and flipping through the screen once it turned on. Lately the region around you had started to get rockier with more and more hills and cliffs jutting out of the earth until it slowly consumed both side of the path the two of you walked. "According to Rotom we should be there sometime tomorrow if we keep on goin' down this pathway." That was great news! "Also accordin' ta this, there's another historical wonder protected by the Galarian Conservation Society! ...Hmm. I wonder if she'll be down here too??"

You rose a brow at her. "Her who?"

She looked at you. "When I was chattin' with Sonia at the vault I showed 'er some old pokemon fossils I picked up. Useless really. Ye find 'em sometimes and see 'em in your science classes n' museums and the like. I was gonna give 'em to Hop as a gift since he's into that kinda stuff but she told me an old scientist friend of hers was in Stow-on-Side trying out this new fossil restoration or somethin' like that. But she couldn't find any fossils to try 'em out on."

......You blinked. "Since when did you get fossils??"

"I found two by accident back when we 'ere in the Wild Area. Y'know. When I fought that wild diglett in the cave." You groaned remembering that experience. "And then some bloke traded me two he didn't want at the pokemon center for the applin I was gonna put back when the red-headed bloke didn't want it. I completely forgotten I even had them til I remembered just now."

"That reminds me. Whatever did you do with those other pokemon you were given? Especially that baby toxel. It looked pretty young."

"Ah! I sent it to Mum to take care of! She mentioned being lonely without us there so I thought she'd like raisin' the wee tyke!"

You rose a brow. "Can she handle a toxel??"

"She sent me pictures of the lil thing sleepin' with Munchlax so I think they're doing just fine!"

"If you say so."

The both of you traveled until the sun went down and you set up camp under a shady ledge before quickly packing up the next day at day light and going to travel again. Until coming to a bunch of bright stony ledges and cliffs in a dead end where the path ended just a few yards in front of the cliffside. .......Which left the both of you confused looking around.

".....Does this mean we're at Stow-on-Side?," you asked pressing you hand against one of the rocky hills before yanking and waving it back from the heat of them sitting in the sun all day. Speaking of which it was hot as you traveled. Must be entering summer territory. Your f/c eyes scanned up and down the cliffs surrounding you all and a hand pressed above your brows to block the sun. "Or did we make a wrong turn somewhere??"

"Can't be! We followed nothin' but Route Six all the way here!" Gloria had already brought out her phone giving it a little shake. "Accordin' to this Stow-on-Side's just up ahead!"

"So either your phone's broken or we have to suddenly learn how to rock climb." Your eyes scanned the ledges more. They looked a little too dangerous to just be climbing without any professional gear or unless you were a rock climbing expert. To which you had neither...."What about that corvisquire you have?"

"It's not big enough to fly either of us up these mountains!...*sigh* We might have ta just call a flying taxi at this rate."

Yeah. That might be the best option either of you two had at this point. ....Your Drizzilie, which had taken to fully putting itself into your pack with just his head peeking out from under the lid to avoid the sun, suddenly gave a look towards something shiny. Before it's eyes widened and it gave a loud chirp poking it's head out fully to the both of you. You looked over your shoulder as it continued to make noises at you. "Whoa! Hey. What is it boy?" It's arm popped out and he pointed his hand towards the other side of the dead end you were at. You both looked over and you blinked at something against the cliffside shining in the sunlight. "Hey! What's that over there?" You pointed and began walking towards it...Gloria blinked, before putting her phone away and quickly following after you. You approuched the shining thing and soon discovered it to be a- "It's a ladder!" Walking forward more it was indeed a metal ladder. Secured and bolted to the cliffside and going up until it ended at the very top of it. "....What's a ladder doing here?"

"That must be how people get ta Stow-on-Side from 'ere," Gloria reasoned. "Ya think they'd actually make this more easier to get too."

"You'd think so. Good Boy!" Drizzilie gave a huff before returning to it's spot inside your bag. Ok be tsundere. Pausing to look at it for a moment you grabbed it before immediately letting go from how hot it was. "...You really think this is the way?"

"There's no other way around here other than a taxi, and what do we have to lose? The worse case scenario is that we'll hit another dead end or just climb to the top and hail a cab like we were thinkin' anyways."

She had a point. And if you did end up just going to the top of the cliffs here you could get a better look of your surroundings. So reluctantly you nodded. "Alright. But let me go first to make sure it's safe." Slowly and with a sigh you grabbed the metal ladder wincing in pain when the hot metal stung your hands lightly, and began to climb up. It wasn't too hard or high of a climb, and you were fast to release the ladder as hard as you can also considering the weight on your shoulders, it made it a bit more difficult. Once you reached the top however and climbed up all the way, you noticed there was nothing but more ledges, dead grass, and...another ladder leading somewhere ahead of you. Standing up, once you deduced it was safe, you carefully looked over the edge to Gloria looking up at you and waved. "It's safe! And I found another ladder!"

Gloria didn't even hesitate after that. In her excitement you weren't sure if she just didn't notice the pain or bared it to climb up but you were there to offer a hand and pull her up with you once she was there. And you two wasted no more time and got climbing. Not baring to stand in this heat anymore. The second ladder you climbed up lead to the top of one of the larger clifftops, a small pond of some sort, and another much longer ladder leading you further and higher into the mountain sides and you two went. Your muscles were sore and tired from the extra weight of your Drizzilie who peeked out and down from your bag every so often, and your hands burnt under the ladders' metal. You were sure it wasn't enough to be badly hurt for a long time, but it sure stung, and you were paranoid that at any moment you would fall. But luckily you didn't and by some miracle forced yourself NOT to look down before making it to the third ledge and ..another ladder. Gloria right on your heels. Rinse and repeat. Climb, pray to whoever heard you that you wouldn't fall, get to the top, and then do it again. The both of you must've been on your seventh or eighth ladder and ledge at this point and you were resting on your knees exposed to the hot sun tired, breathing heavy, and shaking your sore hands. Gloria doing the same with her hands before reaching up to wipe her brow and look around ...Before spotting and pointing to yet another ladder.

"Hey look! It leads up to a tunnel of some kind!"

You looked to the giant black whole that the ladder lead into and groaned. "Oh PLEASE tell me this isn't going to be another mine."

"Only one way to find out!" She happily bounded towards the ladder, and with another groan, you slowly forced yourself to stand and followed after. Where does she get so much energy? And in this heat? She was already half way up the ladder by the time you got there and began slowly climbing, grip so hard your knuckles turned white to keep yourself from falling. Gloria making her way right into the tunnel and disappearing from view as you got closer to the top yourself. "Y/N!!" She suddenly shouted echoed by the tunnel. "Ya gotta see this!!"

"I'M COMING!!," you strangled out in a shout still making your way up.

Gloria was waiting for you when you finally got to the top, letting her grab your arm to pull you with a grunt into the shady tunnel with her. With a sigh as your sore hands touched the cooled floor of the cavern, you twisted your legs around, and just sat there breathing and wiping at your forehead from the long trip you two had suffered. Gloria was kind enough to let you catch your breath, considering it must've been harder for you with your Drizzilie being no help, for around five maybe ten minutes before you turned your head..and blinked at the light coming from the other side of the short tunnel. Gloria went ahead and started walking towards it...and you again forced yourself up and walked after her. But slower this time considering how tired and sore you were. She stopped by the cavern opening and once you caught up, your eyes widened.

"Holy smokes!"

Carved into the cliffside was the BIGGEST statues you had ever seen! The stone digletts stared out blankly onto the horizon and were blocked off by a chained fence embedded into the stone ground below it. Was this the historical landmark Gloria spoke of yesterday? She started walking forward and after a moment you followed staring up at the massive stone beasts before you. A flash of light going off as she snapped a picture of it while passing....Before she turned and with a gasp that had you snapping forward pointed excitedly.

"Y/n! Look! We found it!" What was unmistakeningly a stadium shone brightly in the sunlight as you looked and blinked, and before it was a couple small buildings, one including that classic pink pokemon center. You two wasted no time in jogging towards it past the statues and up a small flight of stairs carved into the stone floor, past under a wooden gate of some kind and over to the buildings ahead. Where you saw people. PEOPLE!! Walking around doing their everyday lives as usual! You two had successfully found Stow-on-Side! The tall two story buildings were all carved from stone as well with a couple small tables in the pathway you two walked that had a few people yelling at passerbys to come and bye from them as they sat under umbrellas from the hot sun. As you walked past everyone Gloria took out her phone again and after a few taps on it nodded in glee. "This is Stow-on-Side alright! Apparently the diglett statues we saw are part of some famous ruins including an ancient mural up the path by the stadium! We should go check those out once I'm done with the battle here!"

"Once we rest first!" You sighed and again reached up to rub your temple. "I'm beat from all that walking and climbing! And it doesn't look like this place has any inn or public place besides the center we can rest up in."

You both turned right still walking along the path towards the stadium.

"Yeah? Well I can check on my regional map of Stown-on-Side. It should tell u-" She stopped. Freezing like someone paused her on tv. Her face suddenly drawing a blank. Curiously, you stopped too and turned around to give a raised brow at her suddenly blank expression. Before you turned to look where she was looking. A whine coming from your backpack as your Drizzlie poked it's full head out. And you under stood why she stopped. IT WAS THE BOYS!! Both were talking to each other walking down from the stairs leading to the big stadium, until they happened to look down towards the both of you and stopped. The four of you staring at one another in surprised silence...Before Gloria straight up BOLTED towards them both! "HOP!!"

"Glori-AH!!" The poor boy didn't even get a chance to finish talking before he was glomped by the brunette nearly knocking the both of them over in the process.

"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!! YA PURPLE HAIRED LOONEY PONYTA!!," she shouted with a smile. "YA HAD ME SO WORRIED!! DON'T DO THAT!!"

"N-Nice to see you too!," he forced out strangled by the crushing hug, "M-Miss Y/N help!"

You walked on over but didn't need to pry them apart thankfully as she let go and let Hop breathed and clutch at his chest by the time you got there. Victor looking annoyed opening his arms. "And what am I? An invisible Sobble?" Gloria giggled before giving her brother the expected hug he wanted.

"We thought we'd miss you guys here by how long it took! Were you here that long?"

"Sadly yes," Hop answered rubbing at where Gloria nearly crushed him to dust. "Turns out there was a few people here itchin' to battle Bea before going on to harder gym leaders like Kabu, so we had to camp out for a bit for an opening."

Gloria paused...slowly retracting her hug from her brother and turning to him, face concerned. "Does...D-Does that mean you didn't win?"

...He smiled. "Took me two tries! But I managed to get my fighting badge!"

"You did!! Hop that's amazing! I told you, you could do it!"

He chuckled....before his face turned back to a neutral one. "But...Glory." His hands came to stuff themselves into his pockets. "I'm still not too sure what I should do about all that stuff I told you before. About me being weak and dragging down Lee's good name and all, yeah? "..He smiled again. "But the only thing I can do is get stronger right?"

With a sigh Gloria gave her own determined smile, reached over, and made him blink as she flicked his nose. "That's what we've always told you, Hop. I never lost doubt in ya."

He paused for a moment gold eyes blinking and looking cross eyed at his nose, before his face went pink again and he chuckled. "Y-yeah! A-Actually I was hoping for a b-battle with ya the next time I saw you." Your Drizzilie whined more. "Vi-Vic's been battling me and helping me build up my team and come up with new s-strageties on how to battle upcoming gym leaders. So I'm gonna try out all kinds of different things against you and see what works!..If you wanna battle that is?"

"Do you really need to ask? You're on!"

"Then let's do this! I bet an all out battle with my true rival will help me get my head on straight-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH-"

A screech that pierced your eardrums interrupting Hop from saying anything else. Immediately all your hands shot up to your ears and you all made some kind of cringed face or closed their eyes from the scream that came from directly behind you. You forced yourself to turn around at your drizzilie's head poking out from your bag. Mouth open wide and yelling at the top of his lungs before he abruptly stopped upon noticing you had looked at it in utter shock.....How could such a small thing make such a noise!! Slowly, the others uncovered their ears as well giving the three back and forth looks, before also looking in the direction of your bored looking drizzilie.

..........Victor blinked and pointed at your backpack. "What the absolute Arceous was THAT!?"

"I......have absolutely no idea." You eventually managed to get yourself to talk. "I've never heard him make a noise like that before."

"Could there be something wrong with him?," Hop asked rubbing one of his ears, "It is pretty hot and he's a water type. Maybe he's gotten dehydrated from lack of water or something?"

You jumped. YOU HADN'T EVEN CONSIDERED THAT WHILE TRAVELING!? WHAT THE HECK!! YOU WERE AN AWFUL TRAINER!! "I...." You swiftly turned nearly nailing Gloria in the side with your back pack in a panic. "I-I gotta get him back over to the center just in case! You two go ahead and have your battle!"

"I'll come too!" Victor stepped forward. "I meant to stop by anyways to grab some potions from the center."

If you heard him you didn't pay him much mind as you practically stumble-ran your panicked self back down what few steps you had climbed up towards the stadium and RAN towards the center with Victor right behind you. You nearly tripped and slammed in your haste turning the corner and RUNNING past the vendors calling out towards that bright pink building. The people inside jumping and looking on in surprise when you practically ripped the doors off their hinges bursting inside and without missing a beat flew to the wide eyed nurse joy standing behind the counter, swiftly turning your back where your drizzilie still bored looking despite everything that was happening right now, and in panic DEMANDED she'd take a look at him NOW!! Surprisingly no one moved, too shocked to really know how to react. It took Victor coming in and explaining calmly to the startled Nurse Joy what the drizzilie did and politely asking her to look him over did she finally react accordingly. She took her sweet time in the next ten minutes pulling your water pokemon from it's hiding place, making it sit on the counter as you watched a nervous wreck with Victor assuring you he was ok, and slowly and carefully examining him as a doctor would a patient during a physical....All to just smile at you and tell you essentially......Your Drizzilie...Was throwing a tantrum akin to that of a moody angsty teenager during puberty. ....You blinked and had to be explained to again as, even though Drizzilie was a little dehydrated from the hot weather, he was actually throwing a tantrum because he was hungry. So you, worried you might have let something bad happen to your pokemon without knowing, had panicked over nothing and rushed him over here to be told he was acting like a toddler not getting their way because he was hungry......WHAT!?

"He's perfectly healthy, you probably just haven't fed him today yet and he was just expressing that to you in what way he thought you'd understand. Although in this heat he is naturally a little dehydrated, and you yourself look it too and exhausted. My advice to the both of you is to rest here for an hour or two out of the weather and have you both drink some water. I'll lend you some and some pokemon food so it doesn't happen again. After all we don't want anyone dropping from the heat."

You sighed. Relieved Drizzilie wasn't really hurt, but annoyed he had scared you for no reason. You shot a scowl at the pokemon standing next to you and as soon as it made eye contact with you looked embarrassed to the floor. Nurse Joy was nice enough to give you some bottled up water and a small bowl of pokemon food for the two of you and you thanked her before Victor was nice enough to help you carry them over to the table and chairs in the corner. You gladly plopped yourself down in one chair exhausted, sighing as at last your muscles got a chance to rest among the cool ac of the center. Victor sat across from you as your drizzilie plopped itself on the floor by your feet with it's newfound food and water to make it happy.

".....Hey. Y/n?" You hummed from where you had laid your head against the table. "Are you ok?"

".......Yeah."

".......Would you like some water?"

".....Yeah."

He was nice enough to hand you a bottle of water which you chugged down before resuming your position of laying against the table silently resting. Even when the other two finally caught up to you and entered the center.

"My strategy goes right to the pot when I've got all these bad thoughts running through my head," Hop's voice came as you heard the door open just didn't look up.

"Yeah. But I also barely won. I blame the heat. 'Sides you're gettin' better!," Came Gloria's voice right after him.

"Hrmmm. I tried switching my team members in and out to max out their potential in every match up but we just couldn't get it together somehow. Maybe that's why I'm still so weak?"

"Call yourself weak again n' I'll drag ya ta Lee myself kickin' n' screamin' and have him talk ye out o' that crazy mindset!"

"Ok! Ok! I won't! No need to go all charmander on me, Mate. .......Oh! Y/n! Hey!"

"......Hi," you mumbled to Hop.

"So how'd it go? Is everything ok?"

"Oh yeah. Turns out he was just throwing a big whiney fit cuz he was hungry like a big baby, but he should be fine now. How was your battle?"

"OH! That's good to know he's not hurt or anything. It was fine thanks. I got to see how my tactics work on the battlefield and what to improve on. In fact I think we're ready to move on. Are you ready to go, Victor?"

"What?! You mean you're both leavin' us again?!" This time you did force yourself to look up. More out of concern than anything as Gloria stared at the two boys, and you noticed Victor had stood up from his seat. "B-But we just caught up with you!"

...Hop sighed. "I know, and I don't really wanna split up either but I still have some things I need to work out myself. And I wanna make more good choices when it comes to battling and strategies for them. .." He smiled. "But Lee really is the greatest trainer, and I don't want people laughing at him all because his little brother is rubbish. It's not enough. I've got to try harder and harder and hard 'til no one's laughing!"

"But....you're not rubbish to me."

Hop paused again before sighing again. "I know...That's why you make such a good friend and rival, Glory."

"............Hey Hop." The three looked at you and you hesitated for a moment. Would this change the game's story events?? Well it wouldn't hurt to give him some words of encouragement like you gave Sonia. "Listen. You got the Fighting Type badge right?" He nodded. "Then you're not rubbish! You said it yourself that there was a few other gym trainers were here because they didn't want to challenge Kabu yet. But you did. And you won against the guy that supposedly makes their numbers drop."

He blinked wide eyed, not really expecting that. "Yeah...But just barely. And not exactly how I would've liked."

"So? That didn't stop you from winning on your FIRST try either way. How many trainers besides you two have those bragging rights?? The dude's so powerful he personally says congrats to anyone who does beat him. A guy doesn't do that unless only a few actually manages to get past him. Sure Bede may have beaten you. Sure he said a bunch of stuff about you and your brother, but he's just doing it because he's trying to get under your skin. He's trying to make you doubt yourself. He's trying to make you lose." You pointed to the wide eyed looking boy. "Hop. You CAN'T just be calling yourself weak. Leon and you are both strong. Just in different ways and Leon sees that in you. Why else would be agree to sponsor you in the first place? Haven't you seen what you've been able to do so far?" You gestured to his back pack. "In there somewhere is four badges ok? Four badges that you won on either your second or even first try. Do you think I could have done that? Absolutely not. You have four badges and you just need eight to compete at the end of the year! It's been three or four months and already you've come farther than most of your rivals in the challenge." You smiled. "That's not rubbish or weakness Hop. That's your true strength plain and simple."

Hop continued to stare at you with those bright gold eyes for a long moment, before the biggest smile you had ever seen on him came through. "...Yeah...YEAH!!" He pointed at you. "You're absolutely right! ...I...Still need some time to think about a few things, but I appreciate the words."

You smiled and nodded. "You'll figure it out eventually. Until then, just keep calm and work hard and you'll get there. Don't worry yourself over what Bede said because Gloria's right about him being wrong."

With a nod, Hop turned back to Gloria who blinked back at him. "I'm off, mate. Off to find the kind of pokemon that I can really draw the strength out of."

She frowned. "We'll meet up with you later tho...Right?"

"Oh you know we will! I still have to beat you sometime. I'll see you around. Ok?"

....Gloria nodded and the two of you watched as they bid farewell and after a moment they were gone. You two looking after where they left....before you looked over at Gloria's sad face. "Hey. Are you alright?"

After a second or two she nodded. "Y-Yeah." She inhaled. "Yeah I'm good. It's just a bit unfair y'know? Gah!" Her hands came up to grip her head. "I wish I could just get my mind off all this!"

You opened your mouth to speak- "That child." And practically yelped, jumping up, as the both of you whirled around face to face with....Opal. The elderly woman staring at where they boys left. "Gym Challengers should battle for the sake of their own pokemon. Why worry about saving the Champion's name? We all know he's unbeatable."......You exchanged a look with Gloria. "Anyway, here's a little something for letting me watch your battle." To your surprise what she handed out (more like put in Gloria's stunned hand-) was another league card. "Now on you go, Child. You're headed to the Stow-on-Side Gym next, no? The Gym Challenge is about having fun."

You both watched silently as she once again appeared out of no where, before ignoring anything she just did, and just...Left! Gloria finally blinked before curiously looking down at the card in her hands. Slowly turning to you as she rose a brow. And looked up to you. "..This is Bea's League Card."

....You blinked. "You mean the gym leader from this gym?" She nodded. "Why on earth would she have that?"

"I'm more confused on why she's here too."

"I'm more impressed she managed to do all that climbing required to get here. Wouldn't be surprised if she did the smart thing and grabbed a taxi....But she's got a point." You pointed to the card in Gloria's hands. "We came here so you would challenge Bea. If you want to get your mind off things, then a battle against her would be the best thing to do just that."

Gloria stared at you a moment. Before looking down to the card in her hands a determined look coming over her as she inhaled and pumped a fist into the air. "You're right again! I came here to challenge the fighting type gym and it's leader! I didn't spend days travelin' and climbing an unholy amount to just quite now! Hop plans on challengin' me 'n the finals! I owe it to him to at least try my best to get there with him! If he can do it then so can I too!" She turned, her mind dead set and seeming to forget you. "Look out Bea! Cuz 'ere I come to get that badge!!"

"You can do it!," you called after her as she suddenly ran out of the center, fist still high in the air. And leaving you sitting there by yourself. After a moment you sighed and leaned your cheek back down against the table. You were too tired and sore to move at the moment and your back could use a rest from days of lugging that troublemaker aro- The chair in front of you creaked as Drizzilie climbed onto it, before pulling itself onto the table and sat there next to your head, careful to not sit on your hair spilt over on the table behind you. After a moment it gave off a questioning sound and tapped your head as if expecting an answer outta you. You blew out a breath. "I get you're used to being carried around by now, but now you're bigger and heavier. And it's starting to strain my back out." It made another squeak noise. "That means you're a big boy now. One day you're gonna be taller than ME!" You were right that Inteleons were genuinely taller than most humans if you remember right. "What then? You can't expect me to piggy back ride you everywhere. It tires me out. So after today, how about you start giving walking a try?" Your answer was a few pats to your head. "I'll take that as a yes. Because there's NO way in heck I'm trying to carry you back down those ladders."

It was...mostly a blur right after that. It was almost embarrassing how fast you were to fall asleep sleeping half way on a table, but you must've been more tuckered out than you thought. You weren't even too sure how much time had even passed. All you can remember was waking up to a flash of light from behind your retinas making your sleeping body flinch....And your hearing picking up giggling from a far distance. And the feeling of something pressed against your neck. It felt like a cool water balloon just laying again your neck, not that you didn't mind being inside from the heat and all that, but you definitely shied away from the something that was shaking and as COLD AS ICE sniffing at your cheek. With a groan from being deep in sleep for so long, your eyes slowly blinked open to blurry yellow-....Yellow?? You blinked back more in your sleepy stupor as your drizzilie laid lazily like a cat in the crook of your shoulder and next as you yawned. Reached a hand up to rub at your eyes. And looked at the yellow dinosuar as it tilted it's head at you curiously. Blank faced you sat there and stared at it. ......It blinked and gave a small noise. And you yelled up immediately shoot up to your feet as the thing gave a scared sqawk like a parrot and dove itself to cower behind Gloria shaking. Drizzilie chirping in annoyance at being disturbed from it's spot of rest on the table next to you! Everyone in the center was either hiding behind the counter or like you pressed against the walls away the scary looking pokemon who looked like a giant yellow dinosaur trapped in a blue upside down acorn. The thing gave a sad noise as you stared at it, body pressed against the wall, your chair knocked over in the process of getting up. Gloria was already cooing at it soothingly and patting it's head, camera slung around her neck and a picture in her other hand........You pointed.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING!?"

"Calm down, Y/n. Ya gonna scare Arctozolt even more than the wee babe already is," she said calmly patting it's head.

......You blinked. "I SCARED HIM!? Gloria what IS that?!"

"Oh this?" She gestured to the thing glancing around nervously. The only ones not so freaked out about it was apparently her and your Drizzilie who looked more annoyed it's nap was cut short. "Remember that scientist las I mentioned before? Well I found 'er wonderin' around with the weird contraption in hand. You were still sleepin' when I went back out for food so I figured why not give it a try? This is only one of four new wee ones I've got....But I wanted to come to you straight away because...well..." She looked nervously at you with a strained apologetic look. "I think we might have ta make a run for it."

.........You blinked. "....Run from what?''

She hummed making a rolling motion with her now free hand. "That scientist lady may be lookin' 'round for me cuz I ran off with her 'research'." She gestured to the pokemon who pressed it's nose against her arm curiously.

......"Gloria." You peeled yourself from the wall finally. "PLEASE tell me you didn't steal those pokemon."

She scowled stuffing the picture into her pocket. "I nay stole anything! Especially since it was mine in the first place! They were my fossils she just did some science whatcha-may-callit to 'em. It's not my problem she throws a fit once she sees me flee with 'em. 'Sides. Do ya really want them cooped up in some lab being studied like statues?"

....Well...You couldn't argue with her there. So with a breath in you breathed out calming yourself and held up your hands. "Right." You quickly moved to grab your bag, Drizzilie taking the hint and hurrying to climb off the table to join after you. "Ok then. Let's leave. And put that thing in it's ball-" You paused. ".....hey. What about Bea?"

"I told you I came for the Fighting Badge didn't I?", she asked pulling out a pokeball, in a flash of blue the light the thing was gone. "And I walked out with it as well! No need to worry ye head off!"

You nodded already going to the door. TIME TO LEAVE!! The last thing you wanted was to be arrested by a scientist for tampering with her research or stealing or-...Or whatever Gloria did while you were out cold. Darn it you had to stop being such a deep sleeper! You should've went with her instead of sleeping in! "Which is the fastest way out of Stow-on-Side?" You asked speed walking to the doors with your pokemon at your heels easily keep up with Gloria in tow behind you.

"The fastest way out is the back path leading behind the stadium." She said pointing as you sped walked out into the hot sun. "It's up that long stairway past the mural!"

You nodded. Sounded good to you! And your body was well rested from that powernap so you had the energy now to spare. Footsteps slapping against the stone pavement the three of you sped walked past people who looked like they'd seen a ghost. Oh no. Don't tell me Gloria paraded whatever ancient thing that was on the way there! Looking around, you peeled your eyes out for any sign of an angry scientist with a machine or anything the like. And you did run into a scientist. Just not the one you were fearing. As you two made it up the first flight of steps that lead to the stadium and path to the mural, a dash of yellow side lined you.

BARK!!

WHOA! You yelped and swung your arms out as you stumbled a step, only saving grace was Gloria who thanks to her quick reflexes grabbed onto your pack and pulled you back upright. Catching yourself back onto your feet as the yamper culprit wagged it's lightning bolt tail and panted happily at the both of you before giving off another loud bark. ....Wait a second. A yamper?? What was a yamper doing all the way up here? That could only mean one thing.

Footsteps rapidly approuched. "I'm so sorry!" You both turned. "Is everyone ok?"...Yep. It was Sonia. You both sighed in relief to see her. Thank goodness! It was just her. The red headed scientist quickly approuched scowling at the happily panting pokemon before wagging a finger at it and placed one hand on her hip. "Bad boy! You know better than to run off and scare people like that!" The dog pokemon tilted his head at her but otherwise didn't change it's expression as she turned to you two apologetically. "I'm so sorry about that. He can get easily excited. But it looks like my yamper really likes you, huh?"

"Sonia." A hand on your chest as your headed tilted back with a smile of relief, "Thank goodness it's only you."

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come examine the ancient ruins and mural around Stow-on-Side after flipping through all those history books in the Hammerlocke library." They had a library?? "I thought maybe something was here. Anyway, we've run into each other at a good time." She happily turned and gestured up the way towards the stairs you two were about to run up anyways. "You know the mural here in Stow-on-Side I just mentioned? It's said to tell the story of the hero of Galar as well. Though what's there today is actually a replica of the ancient art that used to be here."...She paused...and you blinked as she turned to Gloria with seemingly a bright new idea in her mind. "Say. You tend to have surprisingly sharp eyesight, so I was wondering what you might think when you see the ruins?"

Gloria blinked..her hand coming to rub her arm embarrassed. "Uh..Actually I haven't see the ruins or m-mural yet."

She blinked taken a back. "Oh really?,'' she asked surprised. Gloria nodded embarrassed and Sonia held up a hand in assurrance. "Hey that's alright. There's a first time for everything. Since you haven't see it yet, how about we go together since I'm heading there anyways?"

"Would we!?," Gloria beamed and you coughed to gain her attention.

"Aren't you forgetting we're supposed to be leaving town for something?," You pressed raising your brows.

"Yeah. We're still going the same place anyways. But don't ya think running would make us look more suspicious?"

You opened your mouth...but closed it. She had another point. It's make you both look suspicious if either of you just ran outta here like a ghost was chasing you, it'd make you look like you were fleeing the scene of the crime. Acting along with Sonia like tourists would probably help you both blend in here a little better with the other people walking up and down the stairs...You nodded. Alright. You'd do that but then you two had better skedaddle while you had the chance too. Sonia looked please at your answer and would've probably expressed it too, if it wasn't for the earth rattling KA-BOOM sound that went off like a bomb somewhere above all of you. The echo of it boomed across rattling the sky, and you and the other two girls, and a whole bunch of other people looked up in alarm at the frightening sound. Which had come in the direction of the very place you were about to head off too. Sonia's yamper made a distressed bark sound and scampered behind the woman's legs. Drizzilie too seemed mildly surprised at the sound. The best you would describe it as a far away grenade or a firework going off, but who'd have either of those around here!?

"Wha...What in the world was that!? What's going on up there?!," Sonia managed to asked out before another ka-boom noise had you all more startled. "Sounds like it came from the direction of the ruins, too!"

"Maybe some of the old things are collaspin' in on themselves from age?", Gloria suggested.

That made a worried look come over the young scientist and a hand came up to her cheek. "Oh no! That's not good! Those are historical sights we're still studying!"She gave a look to the pokemon still cowering and shaking behind her heels. "Let's have a look! Come along, Yamper!" Her heels left loud footsteps in her wake as she turned and ran towards the stairs the yamper whimpering like a scare dog before quickly running after it's owner.

You yelped as Gloria suddenly grabbed you too and yanked you into a run after her. "Come on! We gotta see what's goin' on too! That's are way outta here remember!?"

You didn't argue with that. Only willed yourself to ran with Gloria after Sonia who was already ahead of you running up the flights of stairs as fast as her legs could carry her. Without the extra weight on your shoulders anymore it was really easy to keep up with them as you all ran past people who were looking with concerned, confused, or scared faces up towards the top of the stairs. One little boy even gripping the pants leg of who must've been his grandmother sobbing in fright. Sonia was the first to reach the top of the hot weathered stairs and stop facing what must've been the source of the sounds because ANOTHER giant boom noise echoed throughout the sky. Your heart raced in your throat, and your lungs heaved as you picked up the place. The second one to get there was Gloria and then a minute later you right behind her and then your Drizzilie who had resumed to running on all fours just to keep up with the lot of you. And the source of the noises were laid at your all's feet. No it wasn't a grenade. Or fireworks. Or even ruins collasping in on themselves from old age. It was a HUGE elephant looking pokemon who must've been the size of a large soccer mom's mini van who had it's trunk halfway stuck inside the cliffside where this strange but beautiful looking hand painted mural was drawn onto the cliffside. A giant hole was in the mural sadly disrupting it's beauty as many spiderweb cracks surrounded it as the elephant thing forcibly pulled it's trunk out of it scattering rock dust and tiny fragments at it's base. And the white haired boy encouraging it on as he pointed.

"Yes! Destroy it! Destroy it all!," he shouted to the elephant pokemon in absolutely frustration, "We're going to find those Wishing Stars!" Your eyes widened in absolute SHOCK. Holy heck!! It was BEDE!! What in the world was he doing!? The others must've been in shock too because they didn't react at all staring in horror as the thing raised it's trunk again and with a sickening crunching gravel sound slammed it's trunk back into the whole it created. More cracks slowly forming across the pretty painted picture. "We've got to bring the chairman more wishing stars if we want to please him! Copperajah! If you're truly the chairman's pokemon then you should feel grateful for this chance to help him find wishing stars!" The thing gave out another elephant sound and repulled it's trunk out from the now slightly bigger hole it made.

"BEDE YA BLOODY KOOK!!," you both jumped as Gloria finally found her voice, hands flying to grip her head as she stared horrified at the destruction before her. At the sound of her scottish accent Bede let out a high pitched wail of surprise and whirled around back pressed to the pokemon's side as his wide purple eyes stared. Surprised no doubt to see Gloria there. She threw her hands at him and his mess. "WHAT IN THE WHOLE STUPID HAIRBALL BRAIN SCHEME OF YERS ARE YE DOIN' NOW!?"

Bede continued to stare at her wide eyed for a moment, before instantly righting himself and dusting himself off. "Oh my. You again." He was WAY to calm for this to be normal. "So you think that you can start collecting wishing stars now and get in the chairman's favor? That's the way of things, is it?!"

Gloria blinked and looked at him like he was stupid for accusing her of something so...so...Well stupid too. "Have ye stumbled and hit your head on somethin' or is your head so stuffed full of that fluffy hair ya can't see what you're doin' right there!?" She pointed even more at the destroyed mural. "And what are ye goin on about wishing stars for!? Like I give a ratatta's arse 'bout lil rocks when I already have the one I need!"

"I see. So you have some cunning in you. But I won't have it!," he growled pointing back at her in anger. "I won't allow anyone to stand in my way! I have to win this for the chairman! Do you really think I'd let you keep me from everything I want!!"

"Did ya even hear what I just said!? I don't want ta git in your way! I want ye ta stop damagin' that thing! Are ye deaf!?"

He chuckled without any happiness. "Oh yes. My partner's move is simply splendid, wouldn't you say?" He held up his hand and with a snap the copperajah as he called it gave a giant elephant roar before lifting it's trunk back up and striking back into the same place it had been before hand. "Now leave me be until I can figure out what to say to you officially!" He turned back around. "I have work to do."

"What do we do!?," you turned to Sonia in a panic as she as panickedly looked back to you as you helplessly pointed at the GIANT elephant thing. "I can't take that thing on with Drizzilie! I can barely beat my own sleep time!!"

"I-I-..." She stammered looking around panicked hands lightly shaking not sure what to do herself before whipping to the stairs to everyone there. Sweat on her face. "SOMEONE GET THE GYM LEADER!! SOMEONE GET BEA NOW!!"

Good idea! Bea would absolutely be able to stop this but by the time she got up here that mural would've been nothing but rubble- ?! "GLORIA NO!!!" Your hand snapped to stop the girl but she was too fast as your hand grabbed empty air.

Gloria had dropped her bag to the ground. Her hands gripping her camera so hard her knuckles were white as she charged forward with speed you hadn't seen her use before. The copperajah pulling it's trunk back again to slam it for the hundredth time back into place in the crater it made in the rock as Bede persisted in barking at it to do so. It's trunk lifted high to the point it was about to slam it back down, when Gloria slid her way between them and the mural, before holding up the camera- "SAY CHEESE!!" And a flash of bright white shot out. The copperajah gave out a pained wail as it turned itself away from the flash quickly shaking it's head. The trunk that was raised to strike the mural more instead coming to it's own body to rub at it's eyes. Bede himself flinching back with a angry cry followed by a growl and gritted teeth as he was stopped.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?," he cried out angrily to her arm wiping at his eyes before blinking wide purple eyes full of confusion at the scowling girl. "I'm doing this for you! I'm doing this for everyone in Galar!!"

"What you're doin' is destroyin' Galar! Not helpin' it ya dummy! Why would I want ya doin' this for me!?" Bede stopped seeming stunned and...it might've been your panicked mind but he looked a little hurt at her words as she glared and held up her camera at him like a weapon. "Now stand down before I get more evidence of yer crimes!"

"...I...But why? How can this be?" ..He numbly pointed at her. "How could someone like you get in my way? I was the one chosen by the chairman! I was the one to defeat the champion!" He cried out at her. "I'm one of the elite! Someone who can shoulder the future of the Galar Region!" He pointed at her. "YOU EVEN AGREED WITH ME!!"

"Since when did I agree with destroyin' ancient sights for bloody sparkly rocks!?"

He didn't get time to anwer. In fact none of you did as a group of footsteps made their way from from behind you and your Drizzilie chirped in surprise before diving in front of your legs to avoid being swarmed by a few people in police suits like you'd often see Officer Jenny wear, a few gym staff people in white suits, and at least three pokemon that you supposed was to help restrain the culprit. You and Sonia looked around yourselves surprised but relieved to see the police coming FINALLY, and Bede suddenly looked even more panicked hands at his sides and lookig around widely as he was affectively surrounded.

"Make way for the Chairman!" Hey! You recognized that woman's voice. And turned just in time for the Chairman himseld and an angry Oleana part their way through the crowd. But instead of feeling relief anymore, a bad feeling pooled at the end of your stomach. "Challeger Bede!" She yelled and just when you thought Bede couldn't have gotten any paler, his skin turned such a white the bright white of his hair could've been considered darker than his skin tone. "I wondered what you were up to when you asked to borrow Chairman Rose's copperajah.I can't believe you'd try to use the chairman's pokemon to destroy a historical sight!"

Wait wait WAIT! HOLD UP!! They actually let Bede borrow THEIR pokemon without asking what he was doing and surprised about this!? ..A low rumble noise came from the wall as a piece of it slid away between the cracks around it. A few pebbles falling from it and landing right behind Bede's feet. No one noticed but Gloria who was still standing between Bede and the destroyed mural, blinking and looking up at the stone wall. You all were too busy watching the show between Bede and his sponsors to notice.

Bede had stood there stunned for a moment before scowling and pointing at her, but his tone was obviously scared. "Who cares for some ancient ruin when the next thousand years are at stake!? Did you stand in the path of a pokemon's simple beam or something?" Wrong move. Oleana looked even more angry now. "How do you expect to support the Chairman with that sort of thinking!?"

More pebbles fell down and Gloria looked right up, twisting her body around as she took a few steps back staring at the wall.

"Bede." Bede Froze. Absolutely. Freaking. FROZE as the Chairman addressed him holding a hand up to Oleana who immediately stood down at his motion. "Young Bede." His hand was slowly returned to his pocket, the chairman's eyes scanning his pokemon who still shook it's head and the absolutely destructon of the once beautiful mural. And shook his head. How was he so calm about this? "It pains me to say this but I am truly disappointed."

".....W-What?"

"It's true that I'm the one who found you, back when you were all alone." He sighed reaching a hand up to rub his head. "I saw talent in you. You reminded me a little bit of myself back when I was young. That's why I sent you to a trainer's school, to give you a chance at success. But trying to destroy the mural, part of Galar's history! You show no love toward Galar!" He looked back up to the boy who by this point was lightly shaking. Just staring at him like a little scared mouth. "You are clearly not a worthy challenger for the Gym Challenge."

"W-W-WHAT!?," Bede shouted at him. "B-B-But all I have ever done was for you!" He placed a hand to his chest. "All I have ever done was for Galar! Y-You must be joking right!? You're disqualifying me from the Gym Challenge?! But you're the one who endorsed me! T-T-There are a hundred different ways we could sort this out!" He insisted more desperate. "Why are you chosing the worst possible option?!"

Mr. Rose just held up a tired hand again. "I don't want to hear anymore from you, Bede. We will decide what to do with you later. For now you will return to Hammerlocke with us."

"B-B-But-.." He looked around in a blind panic around himself at every staff, policeman, and other adult there watching him. More pebbles falling and Gloria's eyes widened in danger. "I-I REFUSE!! THERE WAS A MISTAKE!!"

"Challenger Bede," Oleana stated firmly, "I'll be taking those wishing stars you have gathered. And you WILL be returning with us to Hammerlocke."

"I- N-No wait!" He was grabbed by two men in those white gym uniforms and his purple eyes shrank as Oleana walked towards him.

That's when the Chairman turned towards the rest of you and smiled apologetically. "AH! Sonia! And Gloria and her friend too!" You both turned to the Chairman as Gloria paid no attention to you, the Chairman, or Bede's shaking form as Oleana collected what looked like more sparkling gems out of his pockets. "Terrible shame all this." he gestured to the seen before him and you wanted to hurl at how disgustingly calm he could POSSIBLY be about all this! "An absolute disaster." OH YOU THINK!? "I never wish to see us lose challengers for this sort of reason. Yet we do what we must do to keep things fair and sportsmanlike."

"Then why did you lend him your copperajah without watching him?," you found yourself saying with a frown, "Or have a young boy collect stones from possibly dangerous mines?"

He fell silent, giving you a look that could have been surprised at what you said as you still stared at him. The reality of what you had said not catching up to you then and there because on top of what just happened something else struck. The sound of cracking walls and moving gravel made everyone look up as the cracks and wall of the cliffside moved ever so slightly under the weight of the lose boulder as it slipped free and fell down towards the earth. Down right towards the scrambling and screaming people. Right towards the frozen form of Bede as his mouth opened in a silent scream at the heavy rock barraling towards him as he stood in it's shadow- Well the rock did made contact with the ground, shattering into lots of tinier pieces on impact. Everyone yelped and cowered, arms flying up to shield their faces or turning away as the tinier rocks flew everywhere. Bede and Gloria laid upon the ground sprawled out from where she tackled him out of the flying death maker's way. Both groaned out before sitting up. Bede once again freezing at the sight of Gloria being so close and pulling him up into a sitting position with a scowl!

"Ye alright?"......he slowly nodded. "That's good." Before she began shaking him. "WHAT THE ABSOLUTE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU!? NOW DO YA SEE WHY IT WAS A STUPID IDEA YA DUMMY!? YA COULD'VE BEEN CRUSH BY A STUPID FLYIN' BOULDER!!"

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" A loud female voice cried out and if you thought Oleana's loud voice was scary it was nothing compared to the slightly smaller than you woman who stomped her way through the crowd barefoot, angry, and with at least three fighting type pokemon behind her. Just how many people were going to show up here!? And how could she stand walking around barefoot on the hot ground!? The grey haired woman looked absolutely shocked at the state of her town's mural and all the debry around the ground from it, but unlike everyone else who stood around taking a long time to react, her reaction was instant. Anger flooding her features and her face looked like a tea kettle ready to pop as it turned beat red. An accusing hand was pointed at the destruction caused. Wait. She looked familiar. "WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!?"....Oh right! You saw her on the card Opal had given Gloria! It was Bea the gym leader of this place!...And she did NOT look happy to see what happened. Even more unfortunate for Bede some people around him pointed him out to the angry woman and once she snapped his gaze to himself still half held by Gloria, you could tell he was just one more heart attack away from fainting. "SO IT WAS YOU!!" She pointed right at him. "IT'S BAD ENOUGH YOU INSULTED THE TRAINER I ENDORSED BUT NOW YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY OF RUINING MY TOWN'S SUPPLY OF INCOME TOO!? WHERE DO YOU THINK SOME OF THE MONEY TO KEEP THE STADIUM RUNNING COMES FROM YOU LITTLE PUNK!? I SWEAR BY THE TIME I'M THROUGH WITH YOU YOU'LL BE GLUING THE ENTIRE THING BACK BY HAND WITH NOTHING BUT A LITTLE CHILD'S GLUE STICK!!" By now Bede looked pale enough to pass as a ghost.

"Bea now, now." The Chairman held up his hands to her in a calm manner. "Calm down. I'll pay for all the damages and repairs to be fixed. We'll have an exact replica of the mural back up in no time at all. It'll be like this never happened."

"WHAT?!" She snapped a look towards the chairman. "AND LET THIS LITTLE TROUBLEMAKER GO UNPUNISHED FOR ALL THE TROUBLE HE'S ALREADY CAUSED!?"

"I never said he wasn't going to be punished. We were just about to figure that out just now I assure you."

She huffed crossing her arms. "Oh yeah? Is that right? If you ask me you should take away the gym badges from him-"

"NO!!" Bede gave off an 'Oof' as Gloria suddenly grabbed him to her in a protective manner and his face hit her shoulder as he blinked confused. The adults looking at her in a way that made you nervous just standing there watching.

...Bea got a look of realization over her before she pointed at Gloria. "Hey. I know you. You're the trainer that I just badge the Fighting type badge too. Are you in on this too?"

Gloria shook her head no. "NO!! Are ye kiddin' me?! I'd never do somethin' as stupid as this!" Her hand pointed at her. "BUT YA CAN'T TAKE AWAY HIS GYM BADGES!!" She then pointed at the Chairman who blinked at her. "AND NEITHER CAN YE!! BEDE WON THOSE FAIR N' SQUARE!!" Bede blinked and looked up to her in shock. "YER RIGHT THAT HE SHOULD BE PUNISHED FOR DOIN' WHAT HE DID!! BUT GYM BADGES ARE A SYMBOL OF ALL THE HARD WORK YOU PUT IN AS A POKEMON TRAINER JUST TO GET THEM!! ONCE A GYM LEADER GIVES THEM TO YA IT JUST SHOWS HOW MUCH YOU IMPROVED AND GROWN FROM THEN!! IF YOU TAKE THEM FROM HIM THEN YOU'LL BE DOIN' NOTHING BUT TELL HIM HIS WORTH AS A TRAINER IS NOTHING AND I WON'T ALLOW THAT!!" Her grip on him increased slightly. "Punish him for what he did to the mural if you want, but don't you DARE take his gym badges from him!"

You weren't sure whether you wanted to bury yourself under a rock or be proud of her in that moment, but her words got the Chairman to stare at her a moment. Humming and eyeing her protective stance frowning at him before he sighed and nodded. "She's right Bea. I won't tamper with the progress he's already made thus far, but he sure will be answering for the mess he's caused everyone today." He gestured back down towards the stairs. "Come. Lets discuss what we can do about the mural out of the hot sun alright? Ms. Sonia I don't suppose you could stand by until my team gets here could you?"

Sonia blinked."...OH! I-i-...Sure."

The two of you stood there as everyone and their pokemon trickled out of the destroyed area and back down the stairs after the chairman and gym leader who shot a nasty glare at Bede before she left. ...Bede slowly pried hmself away from Gloria falling back onto his bottom as she blinked. He got up shakily, dusting himself off in the process, before looking back to her. The two of them silently staring at each others for the longest time.

"Bede," He jumped and turned to Oleana as she stood there waiting for him expectantly, "Come along. You're aware the Chairman doesn't like to kept waiting." Bede paused for a moment looking between her and Gloria exactly once, before turning and started walking towards her. She turned and walked away from the three of you as Gloria slowly stood herself. Bede not sparing either of you a head glance as he walked past the two of you head down without a word.

The three of you stood there watching everyone leave down the long flight of stairs silently ...before you finally broke the silence by looking at the mess as the copperajah lumbered past after it's owner. ".....Well I can say for certain that this so fair has been the most eventful day I've ever had in my life."

"Tell me 'bout it!" Gloria grumbled dusting herself off as she walked over to you to which you looked at her.

"Hey. Are you ok? You're not hurt are you?"

She shook her head no to your relief as she still deeply frowned. "I know the show ponyta was a looney but I didn't think he'd have the gall ta pull somethin' like this."

You hummed. ".....Somehow I don't think that was exactly all his fault."

"Whatcha mean by that?"

You went to answer her but was cut off yet again by voice. "Now that I think about it..." Both of you looked to Sonia who hummed. "You know. During one of Bede's matches, I heard the announcer say that Bede has no family. Apparently it was Rose who took Bede under his wing, and so Bede was battling for the Chairman's sake." Gloria looked between you two surprised, but you were more angry than surprised at this point gaining a frown. You had pretty much picked up on that by now. "*sigh* But that's a story for another day." She looked to the destroyed Mural. "Oh poor Bea. What an awful turn of events. I hope the mural survived all that."

"I doubt that." Gloria kicked a decent sized rock away from her at the mention.

And then that's when the rumble started. Just like the sound of the rock that nearly crushed Bede, only there was a lot more of it! The three of you looked up in horror at the cracks in the once pretty mural finally giving away under the strained weight, and it fell apart.

"LOOK OUT!!"

You quickly grabbed Gloria and yanked her behind you as your Drizzilie once again ducked behind your legs for cover as the rocks fell away and crumbled to the ground in a heap. Sending smaller rock fragments and dust everywhere making the three of you cough up a storm. But it's when you looked up however, is when the REAL mystery began. Because when the two of you looked up....your eyes widened. In place of where the mural used to be was a pile of rubble and a hole in the cliffside. But in the hole ..was a couple of statues. Two of which were two GIGANTIC dog looking pokemon holding a sword or shield in their mouths, and behind them were two kings carved into the stone.

"...Hey." You glanced at Gloria shaking dust from her hat and Sonia walked up wide eyed to the statues. "Are you ok?" She nodded before plopping the hat back onto her head. "Good. What about you Sonia?.....Sonia?" You blinked and looked over to the orange haired woman gaping up at the statues...Huh. Why did they seem familiar to you?

"......Not a brilliant turn of events, but the ruins were brought into the light for us to see!," Sonia finally said after a long moment of silence. "What does this tell us about Galar's legends?"

"Uuuuh." You rose a brow up at the statues. Not really sure if she was talking to you or not. "A....sword and shield?" You guessed based off what the things were holding in their mouths...Hey. Wasn't this whole game's thing revolved around a sword and shield or something??

She nodded. "Right! More than any hero, there's those things that appear to be pokemon that stand out! Not just that, but those pokemon appear to be holding a sword and shield as if they were using them! Anything else look interesting to you?!"

"Uuuuh. ...Those two guys there." You pointed to the two king statues. They're the same as the tapestries aren't they?"

"I didn't notice that! Oh good observation! There really were two heroes. But if that's the case then why only the one statue at Budew drop inn?"

You shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe whoever built it didn't feel like making two giant gold statues."

She hummed. "More than any statue of a hero or old tapestry, these ruins made in truly ancient times must show us the real truth! Which means that....."

"....The sword and shield are pokemon?"

"YUP!!" She snapped with a smile to you making you blink. "I was thinking the same thing! Seems like at some point in history the sword and shield were combined with the two actual pokemon and treated as the same thing!" She hummed looking back to all the rubble. "But then what? They just faded from history? Two young heroes. The sword and shield were actually pokemon. But why would the truth of these ruins be hidden when their stories were depicted in artwork?"

"...Maybe they had something to do with it?" She looked at you and you pointed to the human statues. "The kings or whoever they are. They went through a lot of trouble hiding this..maybe it was to protect the things that protected them."

She hummed. "Possibly. We won't be too sure until I get Mr. Rose's approval to study it more. Thanks! With your help I really feel like we made a big discovery here!

"Not sure how I helped but your welcome!"

"..So there was history being covered up by all that over stylized artwork. I'm gonna have to look into this some more. OOHH!! IM SO EXCITED!! NO RESEARCHER HAS EVER MADE SUCH A DISCOVERY-" A bark caught both of your attention as Sonia looked down at her feet in time for her yamper to drop something white at them. And she blinked. "Hey boy. Whatcha got there?" Not a bone you hoped. She quickly reached down as you leaned over to look and she stood up with a white mask in her hands. It was covered in does and a bit yellowed with a few scrapes, and had three black holes in it presumably for a person's mouth and eyes. "Well would you look at this. I dont think this is from the ruins. ...It kinda reminds me of the one's Allister wears."

"Who?," you asked trying to see it. Sonia handed it over to you and you grabbed it from her to get a better look.

"Allister. He's the boy who's in charge of the Ghost type Gym just down the road there." She pointed towards the exit path from Stow-on-Side. "It's located by the Stow-on-Side cemetary, but it'll take a full day just to get there from here. I just mentioned it might be his since the only one I've ever seen with that kind of mask was him at the Entrance Ceremony....But I guess you'll be headed to Bellonlea next, right?"

You opened your mouth- "Y/N!!!" You were nearly knocked to the ground when Gloria ran up to you and grabbed you suddenly. Yanking you forward hard enough to send you stumbling a few steps as she panicked. "It's that restore scientist lady! She's headed up the stairs this way!" She pulled you into a run away from Sonia as she watched bewildered down the path away from here. Your Drizzilie running at your heels.

"Bye Sonia! Good luck in your research!!," you called back.

Guess you'd be able to finally leave Stow-on-Side.

#pokemon shield #pokemon sword #pokemon piers #pokemon swsh #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon piers x reader #Reader #Reader x Piers #Piers

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heyheydidjaknow · 3 years

Text

It is 6 am. I know that it reads like I’ve never heard of pacing. Trust me, I’m aware. Quite frankly, I am entirely too tired to care. It might not even be as bad as I think it is. It’s possible, I guess, but not likely, I don’t think. I don’t have proofreaders, and it’s probably too edgy or too soon for more edge but you’re along for my ride and I’m sorry. I’ll probably rewrite it at some point, but right now I’m happy I’m even awake right now to post it. My eyes hurt and I'm a little queasy but we are powering through. Having said that, let's torture some fucking teenagers.

Chapter 12

Donatello stares at the small knife intensely.

It is an incredibly boring-looking one. Knowing as little as he does about culinary arts, he does not know the exact use of it, its size and shape giving him very little insight into its use in that environment. He is willing to make an educated guess and assume the blade itself is made of carbon steel, which is not exactly a strange choice for a knife in his opinion. It is not a combat or survival knife. It is hardly sturdy enough to last long in a combat setting. He is tempted to call Mikey to ask him to identify it for a second but thinks better of it.

After all, it fell out of your pocket. Questions would be asked.

He picks it up off the floor, weighing it in his hand. ‘This is a kitchen knife, right?’ He picks your jacket off the floor, folding it neatly and placing it on the back of a chair. ‘Why would she carry around a kitchen knife?’ He rests his head on his arms, holding the offending tool in front of his eyes, continuing to analyze it. ‘To fight? She knows carrying around a knife like this with no combat experience is a bad idea, right? Don’t people usually use pepper spray or something when they want to defend themselves?’

An image flashes into his head. You, standing alone in an alley, pointing this poor excuse of a weapon at a member of The Foot or the Purple Dragon. You, falling back and hitting your head and bleeding out with a knife sticking in your side because you fell on it wrong—‘It’s not even in a sheathe’—and trying to crawl back out into the street, begging to god not to—

He blinks, noticing his knuckles going pale around the handle, mouth weirdly dry.

He swallows. He forces his grip to loosen. ‘That’s dramatic.’ He gets up, slipping the knife back into the pocket of your jacket, hoping he put it in the right one. ‘She’s fine. She’s probably just scared after everything that’s happened. It won’t come to that.’

He sets back down, picking the last gas mask up and turning it over in his hands to give him something to do. He will not have time to properly test whether it works exactly as planned, but he is fairly certain that it and its brothers should allow them to breathe with little difficulty when they need to go into the TCRI building through the elevator shaft. If that is the plan they go with, anyways-- he had elected to stay out of the planning party, seeing as creating explosives strong enough to destroy the portal is enough of a challenge on its own, and he has faith in you and his eldest brother to come up with a good course of action. You guys always did. Bradford was dead after all, a fact that he had been informed made their lives considerably easier. In your words, “Mousers are the fucking worst, and if Bradford had gone off and recruited Stockman, we would have to deal with all of that way sooner.” You had quickly admitted that you did not know how long the peace would last, but you seemed pretty satisfied by the way things were happening overall, despite his accidentally causing the power cell to be stolen—“We’ll have the whole thing under control after this mission, don’t you worry.”

You had also claimed that you had the staking out of Shredder’s lair under control, but that is neither here nor there.

The door to his lab slides open. “Donnie,” you call, “we need to go over the game plan. How’re the explosives coming?”

‘Why is there a knife in your pocket instead of a taser?’ “Theoretically? Well.” He shrugs, getting to his feet. “I can’t really test if they work, but they’re good to go, probably.”

You smile teasingly. “They’re not gonna go off randomly?”

“Probably not.”

“Probably?” Your smile widens.

“No promises.”

“Well,” you grin, “I sure hope they’re good explosives in that case; wouldn’t wanna almost bleed out again.”

His stomach churns. “For sure,” he agrees, crossing the room as you start to “walk” back to the war room/kitchen. “Have you guys decided on anything?”

“Well,” you sigh, “Leo’s bein’ Leo if that’s what you mean. I don’t mind their plan, mind, but it seems a bit silly.” You hold the door open for him. “After you.”

“Dude, totally.” Mikey nods eagerly in agreement to something someone said. “I can get him on board, on prob.”

“Good.” Leonardo taps his finger against the blueprint splayed across the counter. “Now all we need is a big enough box.”

“There should be crates down by the docks.” Raphael looks over at you. “Any stores up top sell ‘em that big?”

“Probably.” You lean against the doorway as Donnie steps past you. “You guys know we don’t know what they’re breathing, right?”

“Yeah. So?” The green-eyed brother gestures to him. “He can figure out letting us breathe.”

“Can and did, but I’m not sure that’s what she’s talking about.” The tall boy crosses his arms across his chest absentmindedly. “If the gases they’re breathing are highly flammable—which, knowing the absurd biology of the Kraang, isn’t out of the question—” You stifle a laugh, covering your mouth, “using explosives in there might blow the roof off the place.”

“That’s good, ain’t it?”

“Not If you don’t want to be pressure cooked, no.”

“Is there some other way to destroy the portal?” Leonardo laced his fingers together, leaning his elbows on the worn island.

“Without knowing the metal they’re using?” He shakes his head. “Even if we did, I’m not sure if I could safely create hydrochloric or nitric acid, especially on such short notice, let alone transport it.”

“Then we’re screwed.” Raph looks off. “Perfect.”

“Unless you feel confident in busting out of that building on a time crunch, we’d need someone to be close enough to the bomb to actually use the detonator. Seeing as we need all hands on deck, we really don’t have anyone that could fit the bill.” Even with his back to you, you notice his tension. “Unless you guys just want to crack a window or something, but that would kinda negate the point of doing the whole stealth thing, setting off an obvious alarm.”

“That’s not true.” Mikey points out the obvious. “Y/N could do it.”

“I’m down,” you shrug, moving your hands to slide in your nonexistent pockets. “You’d need to let me know when to do it so I don’t fry you guys, but I might as well add domestic terrorism to my non-existent rap sheet.” You smile wryly at that.

You think you hear Donnie mutter something before speaking up. “I’m not sure there are any buildings high enough up or close enough to be an effective--”

“Sure there is.” Mikey, again. “There’s that apartment building across that alley. It’s plenty tall.”

“Oh yeah, huh?” Raph smiles sharply. “Even has a fire escape to climb.”

The idea of climbing anything anywhere makes you want to vomit, but the idea of having to deal with whatever goes on with the saving of Leatherhead later is enough to ignore it. ‘Stop being a pussy,’ you reprimand yourself, feeling vertigo already. ‘It’s a fucking ladder. A twenty-story high ladder, yeah, but it's still just a ladder.’

“She can’t use a ladder,” the tallest brother protests. “She can’t use one of her legs.”

“Then she can take the stairs, or we can carry her there before we go.” You take slow, deep, quiet breaths. “It’s no big deal. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind doing it, right?”

You are suddenly incredibly grateful that you are leaning against a doorframe. The idea of being carried over buildings, twenty stories into the air, makes the ground sway underneath you. You subtly dig your fingernails into the walls on impulse, trying to slowly relieve the pressure.

“It’s not about—What are you even talking about?” You barely register his bashful embarrassment, swallowing thickly. “I’m just saying…”

You can barely hear them, shutting your eyes as you feel sticky, warm blood on your fingertips, dripping down in between your digits. You wipe the phantom liquid off on your jeans quickly, thoroughly, opening your eyes to see what you register as the other three ragging on Donnie about something you do not catch. You lock your knees to keep them from shaking as bad as your hands, ignoring the nausea and staring straight ahead. ‘Your folks didn’t raise a wuss. Your hands aren’t wet. Snap out of it.’

You force yourself to focus on counting threads in your sleeves. You get to thirty-five before you feel someone shaking your shoulder.

“Dude, you alright?” Mikey was waving a hand in front of your face, having apparently crossed the room from his seat on the counter. “Hello?”

Your eyes snap up from your wrist to look at him. “Hm? Yeah, totally.” You nod. “Just zoned out is all.”

He put the back of his hand to your forehead as if he knew what he was looking for. “You sure? You look sick.”

You nod again. “Just didn’t sleep well last night. I’m fine.”

“Do you plan on zoning out during the mission?” Raphael smirked. “Don—”

“No,” you cut him off sharply. “I’ll be fine. When are you guys going?”

“A couple of hours.” Donnie is staring holes into you. “The hours listed online say actual people work until then, but the actual building is open for another few hours, so by the time we get far enough down to hopefully not feel the effects of the blast, we won’t have to worry about witnesses or people getting caught up in it.”

“Awesome.” You start out the door, using the walls to limp back to the lab. “Meetcha back here in an hour.”

He runs after you. “Need me to come with you? I can help pick a crate out.” The way his words spill out is not lost on you. “O-or I could drive you there if you want—it’s bad to walk around so much on your leg, especially at night.”

“If you don’t mind vomit in your party-wagon, sure.” You slip through the gap in the door, grabbing your jacket and pulling it on. “Honestly, Donnie, I’m fine.”

“But—”

“I walk home all the time.” You use the chair to roll over to your walker, snapping it open and getting to your feet. “I’m just going to go to a hardware store, buy a couple of the largest boxes they have, grab some dinner, and come back. Besides, you have to worry about getting in, right? I’ll be fine, really.”

He wants to argue. He does not.

“Text me if you need anything while I’m out.” You maneuver past him with a bit of difficulty. “Want me to pick up some pizza while I’m out?”

“… yeah.” He nods, shaking off the feeling sinking into his gut with a bit of difficulty. “If you want some, you’ll have to eat it on your own, though.”

You smile back at him. “I’ll get something else to eat,” you roll your eyes, voice oozing with honey seemingly unintentionally. “Don’t you worry too hard about me, now; your brothers give you a hard enough time as is.”

“Don’t get yourself killed and I’ll think about it,” he jokes, mostly serious.

You laugh. “I’ll try, Dad.”

He has never noticed how loud you walk until today. Maybe it is just that it is unusually loud in comparison to him and his brothers, or maybe it is the sound of it knocking around the concrete walls of the lair bouncing the sound off the walls, but he cannot help but notice it, how easily he can identify where you are just by listening. How has he never noticed that? ‘You could hear her down the street, walking past. Anyone with ears could tell where she is, no problem.’

He feels himself grip onto the door to keep himself from running after you and insisting he come with you. ‘If someone can hear her walking down the street, someone can hear her scream. They’ll call someone. Who would leave a teenage girl to get attacked?’ He does not answer his question.

He shuts the door. ‘And she has a point. I still need to figure out how to get us into TCRI without the cameras catching us.’ He sits back at his workstation to think. ‘It doesn’t have to be too advanced. A remote-controlled dolly wouldn’t take much time to build, and I have the code already.’

It is not an effective distraction, but it is enough to preoccupy him for a solid half an hour.

You are back at the time you say you are going to be back. The trip did not take you long, although carrying the boxes and food was an unforeseen challenge, and you bought yourself a burrito and soda, so all is well. You and the guys eat in the kitchen, you do not have another episode and, all in all, you almost forget about the fact you will have to be carried up a twenty-story building.

Standing and staring up at the building they had ended up next to is an easy reminder.

You swallow your dinner back, mouth dry. ‘Commit.’ You fold your walker up, hiding it behind a dumpster and hooking your arms around Donnie’s neck before you can chicken out, shutting your eyes tight, the humming of their van—you had walked—doing nothing to ease your nerves. You hear the others say something before the engine roars back to life, the tires squealing against the asphalt as they drive off.

“I’m not going to drop you,” he promises, barely noticing the extra weight as he hooks one of his arms under your thigh to pull your body flush against his. Your legs immediately tighten into a vice-like grip around his middle, pulling him even closer.

“Fucking better not.” He starts to scale the building with a bit of difficulty, with one arm otherwise preoccupied. “I’ll haunt your ass.”

He smiles at that. He jumps up, grabbing onto the railing of a fire escape and earning a squeak of terror and a quiet string of obscenities from you. He takes longer than usual out of necessity but finds a quiet joy in how hard you cling to him, swallowing laughs drawn out by your swears—his personal favorite is, “Oh fuck me Mother Mary!” which is a result of him overshooting the railing, resulting in both of you violently swinging back and forth for a time.

“Are we on solid ground?” Your voice is pleading.

“We’re on the roof, yeah.”

You let go, sliding down to your knees and lacing your fingers together behind your neck, breathing for the first time in the eternity—two minutes—it had taken to get there. You want to cry, your heart pounding out of your chest as you try to catch your breath.

“Are you okay?”

You nod once, shifting back and putting your head between your knees to regain your head.

‘Did I do something wrong?’ He crouched down in front of you, concerned. “You sure?”

You nod again.

“Are you being honest?”

“I will be in a sec,” you snap shakily.

He backs off, staying in that position.

You give yourself a count of fifteen before looking back up at him. “I’m good.” You take a deep breath, pulling yourself into him again. “Let’s do this shit before I’m not.”

The journey over is painfully silent, other than your guys’ breathing. Balance is the only real problem throughout. Holding you and making sure not to crush you makes the normal measures he would normally use to soften his falls impossible, meaning his jumps cannot be as high or far as normal—the last thing you need on top of everything else is a concussion. The trip might have been rendered shorter had it not been for the need for the Kraang to know nothing of their whereabouts, but he does not think it is too long until he moves to let go of you.

You do not let go of him.

“Y/N?”

Nothing.

“Y/N,” he says again, “we’re here.”

You do not move to let go of you, your heartbeat thundering against his chest.

“I’m going to set you down.” He unhooks your legs, lowering himself and setting you on the floor. “See?” He unlatches your arms, gently pulling you away from him.

Your face is white as a sheet, mind only barely registering the fact you were on solid ground. He would be concerned you were dead had it not been your incredibly fast pulse. You stared straight ahead, eyes unfocused.

You blink, pushing the hair out of your face as you get to your feet. “Sorry,” you mumble. “Zoned out. Tired.”

He hesitantly gives you the detonator. “Alright,” he relents. “You know the plan, right? You remember it still?”

“I’m scared, not dumb.” Your face flushes. “Sorry. That was mean.”

He blinks, confused. “It’s fine,” he shrugs. “Lack of sleep can cause irritability, especially in teenagers.” His voice is soft despite his own anxiety about the whole plan. He hands you your phone. “I’ll come back to pick you up. If I don’t in two hours, text me. If I don’t respond…” he trails off.

Your stomach drops. “You will,” you assure him firmly. “I know you will.”

“If I don’t,” he nods in agreement, if only for your sake, “hell will’ve frozen over anyway.”

You chuckle nervously at that. You reach over, cupping his face in your hands. “Seriously, though,” you make him look at you properly, “kick their asses for me.”

He smiles, his face heating up under your hands. “You got it.” He gets up. “See ya, then.” He smiles tipsily, waves, and runs off.

You watch him bound rooftops, grateful he had seemingly not noticed the violent shaking of your hands as you set the electronics down. You swallow again, dragging yourself and leaning your back against the ledge, crossing your legs in front of you. You lean over, placing the detonator down next to you carefully and picking your phone up. You shakily input the passcode, turn the volume as low as it would go, and press the speaker to your ear, sinking into a song with a slow exhale of breath. While you had refused yourself any illicit substances for the same reason you had gotten rid of your sleeping pills, you saw no issue with relying on music for some stress relief, the familiarity of the slower song letting your heartbeat match its rhythm.

You reach down, pulling your pant leg up and carefully peeling the tape from your good leg, wrapping your fingers around the handle of the paring knife and holding it at your side. Sure, you know, logically, it would do little but hinder you in a fight, but you felt as though you needed something, anything to make you feel less weak. You already feel the embarrassment from clinging onto him so tightly, tears pricking at your eyes. “You’re the literal definition of a damsel in distress,” you mumble, scoffing at yourself. “A young, unmarried woman who is in distress. A crazy damsel in distress at that.” You blink them away. “God, you’re really fucking pathetic, huh?” You chuckle, swallowing again and pressing the phone closer to your ear. “You’re almost a fucking adult and you’re scared of a little height and a little blood. Perspective, Y/N.”

It feels like an hour of sitting, knees now at your chest as you listen to music to take the edge off—‘Like taking ibuprofen for an amputation.’ Regardless of how effective it is, it does something, at least, and that is all you can ask for right now.

You jump out of your skin when your phone buzzes with a text. You fumble with it, pulling it to your face to read Casey asking if you were still free next Tuesday for his stupid fucking game. You text him back that, yes, you are, and hope he stubs his toe for the false alarm.

The text comes at eleven-o-three.

You almost drop the phone, the message “NOW” crossing your screen. You pick the device up carefully, craning your neck back to glance at the building across the street, feeling as though you missed something incredibly important despite knowing the contrary. You swallow one more time and slam your hand down on the button.

The sound of the explosion roars in your ears, your eyes widening at the light now illuminating the roof, images of that night burning in your head and squeezing your throat. You drop the detonator, covering your ears as the ground in front of you is seemingly set alight. It barely registers to you that it is a cold autumn night. Why would you care when all you can hear is screaming? Why bother when your heart is begging to be let out of your chest, when your blood is pooling under you and all your scars are open? All you can see as you shudder, shutting your eyes tightly, is that man’s sides slashed with glass, warm red dripping out of him and onto the dashboard.

You look up, choking on your fear.

You remember what you forgot.

The walls of the top three floors of TCRI?

They are made entirely of the glass now showering down on you.

Table of Contents

Chapter 11

Chapter 13

32 notes · View notes

yukiwrites · 3 years

Text

Behavior, Making the Difference

Thank you for the support as always, @xpegasusuniverse! This one was so fun to write, I hope you like it! I love exploring all of these different interactions!

Summary: Ricken, Lysithea and Hayato banded together due to their similar circumstances in their home world. They were now good classmates, who shared the same woes even in another world like Askr: why are they being looked down on, just because they were young?

Commission info HERE and HERE!

__________________________

The amount of Heroes being summoned in Askr grew day by day. The castle alloted to house the Order of Heroes had enough space for them all, yes, but there were some areas that a few groups of like-minded Heroes claimed for themselves.

For example, the western training grounds was now CHOP’s exclusive meeting spot. The eastern forest? Home to Heroes who would rather stay away from people to focus on calming their raging power. There was also a meadow past the southern garden, almost touching the outer wall, where the dragon-shifters liked to gather.

In the same manner, the central library was used as a classroom and gathering spot for the mages. It was big enough that classes could be taken on the second floor while others could quietly do their personal research on the first floor without one being a disturbance to the other.

Every other day, more experienced mages ministered classes on the second floor in favor of the apprentice mages. Merric’s was a particularly popular class due to how Young Merric also participated and asked many questions to his older self, which would extend the lecture for hours upon hours.

After class had finally ended, many of the students had stiff necks and sore legs for sitting up for so long. Be that as it may, one of the most eager students, Ricken, observed how Merric and his younger version interacted. On top of that, he noticed how younger Merric received different treatment whenever he went despite being the very same person who was just at the helm of the class.

Sure, the years of experience made a whole lot of difference, but younger Merric was in no way lacking in comparison to any other mage!

“Maybe it’s just ‘cause Merric’s tall.” Ricken grumbled to his deskmates, Lysithea and Hayato, as he looked up to his intentionally large hat.

Lysithea revised her notes calmly, resting her head on one hand. “At this point in time, young Merric has much more experience than Professor Merric had when he was that age. He’ll grow into a much stronger mage if he keeps up with this hunger for knowledge.”

Hayato nodded beside Lysithea, yawning loudly while he stretched his stiff muscles. “I do not know if it was due to the special summoning or if something different happened in his home world, but this young Merric has outstanding innate magical energy. It’s even larger than Professor Merric’s.”

“See? That’s what I’m saying. He’s much stronger than a lot of the adults, but he’s still treated like he’s not that capable because he’s young. They’re treating him like a little kid in favor of his older self!” Ricken protested with puffy cheeks.

“I do understand the hierarchy that comes with the territory of being a mage, so it’s not like I agree completely with you,” Lysithea pinched in, lifting her gaze to the red-haired young boy, “but I don’t disagree completely, either. They could treat him with the deserved respect of someone who holds that much power.”

“Though the man himself doesn’t seem to mind, unfortunately.” Hayato sat back down after cracking his neck a few times. “He sucks it all up, as though he himself feels unworthy of respect.”

“I suppose seeing how much you’ve grown can do that to people,” Lysithea mused, then mumbled so only herself could hear, “I’d be jealous if I wasn’t in such a hurry.”

Ricken’s cheeks only inflated more and more. Seeing people just like him, full of potential and stacking on accomplishments, being treated as less than they deserved made his blood boil. It reminded him of the constant ‘are-you-alright’s and ‘someone-your-age-should-rest-now’s he received on a daily basis.

“He shouldn’t be treated that way!” Ricken exclaimed, raising both fists up. “It’s the same everywhere! Back home, Chrom and everybody else treated me like a little, helpless kid and never saw how much I could do.”

Hayato crossed his arms, bobbing his head to the sides. “Just blow something in their vicinity; that will shut them up.”

“But I don’t want them to fear me! I want them to respect me! Besides, that’d probably just make them tell me I’m still too reckless for the battlefield.” Ricken’s shoulders dropped as he saw the exact scene being played in his mind, word by word.

“... Ah, you’re part of a specialized task force, right?” Hayato momentarily forgot that although the other two shared the same amount of potential and suffered from being berated by their ages, they weren’t the heirs of their tribes. He could get away with a lot of stuff because the heir was usually the strongest one, but that wasn’t the case with Ricken, who was simply one soldier amidst many.

Ricken sat back down, deflated. “Yeah, and there’s this other boy who got in after I did but no one treats him like they treat me! He’s only older than me by a few months, but everyone already sees him as a man and they never hold him back on doing stuff.”

Lysithea immediately remembered Petra, the princess of another country who studied with her under Byleth. They were both the SAME age, but no one treated Petra like a little kid. “... Is it the height?” She mumbled, though both of them heard it loud and clear.

… Oh.

It was the height.

Ricken took off his hat, then glanced up as though to remember how tall Donnel was compared to him.

… After a moment, he realized Donny was at least a head taller than himself.

“This is ridiculous!” However, Hayato was the one who slammed the table. He, too, was conscious of his height. “Bring it on, I’ll zap him with my magic and we’ll see-”

“Wait, wait, wait! I don’t wanna hurt my allies!” Ricken pulled on Hayato’s sleeve. “Besides, he’s not a mage, he’s- uh, I don’t know what he does exactly, but he’s a villager. Everyone trains with him and gives him tips and puts him on the frontlines without question… It’s unfair! I can hold my own, too!”

“That does seem like special treatment,” Lysithea nodded. “It’s unfair, but that only means that you have to overwhelm everyone with your effort. Study a lot and show them how good you can be to shut them all up.”

“Yeah... It’s my dream to be able to fight side-by-side with Chrom, but it’s not something for the far future. I can do it NOW, but they just don’t acknowledge me! It’s driving me nuts.”

Before the other two could reply, the sound of steps going up the stairs to the second floor interrupted them, which was unusual. It was an unspoken rule to use sound-muffling magic while walking around the library; not to mention that the second floor was commonly used for classes, so there shouldn’t be anyone going up at that moment, as the next class would only happen after dinner.

“C’monnn, up we go, Donny!” A familiar, peppy voice echoed. Soon, the blonde pigtails could be seen before the princess’ body: It was Lissa, Chrom’s sister and princess of Ylisse.

“W-wait, wait, Miss Lissa! I reckon we shouldn’ta be ‘ere now! Aren’t them egghead folks studyin’?” Being pulled by Lissa, Donnel held the pot on his head to hide his face, whispering in an attempt to be quiet.

“Nope, class was over a while ago, so now it’s Professor Lissa time! Take your seat, Donny, and let your big sister here teach you stuff!” She pulled out a monocle from her sleeve and a presentation stick from the other, pointing at the blank blackboard. “Now, todaaay we’ll learn about… Cloud formations!”

Apologetic, Donnel glanced around as he scratched the back of his neck, meeting Ricken’s, Hayato’s and Lysithea’s eyes as he sat down. He bowed to them before turning back to Lissa’s long winded explanation about Stratus clouds.

Lysithea’s expression turned cold as her optimal studying space had been breached. “Aren’t they from your world, Ricken? Don’t they know how this is a place of learning and not of fooling around?”

“Ah, um, yeah. He’s the boy I was talking about, too, but…”

“You said people don’t treat him like a kid, though? But look, even that young princess is making sure to even call him ‘little brother’...” Hayato commented, glancing between Ricken and the other two.

“I’m surprised, too. I only see people praising him and telling him to go to the frontlines more often. Princess Lissa can be annoy-erm, difficult to deal with, especially if you’re younger than her…” Ricken spoke with a jaded voice, as though he had experienced all of that first hand (he did). “I didn’t know Donny also went through that.”

Hayato cracked his fingers. “He doesn’t seem to be much older, just like you said.”

“Yup, I can only imagine they treat him differently because he wields a weapon, not magic. They might think I’m weaker than others just ‘cause I don’t have muscl-”

“That’s ridiculous.” Lysithea interrupted. “Mages are one of the most terrifying pieces of the battlefield. No one has any right to look down on a mage just because they’re more fragile than their weaponized peers.”

As both boys nodded, Ricken clutched his hands. “Yeah, but that’s the only conclusion I can come to, honestly. What IS the difference between us if not that? We’re basically the same age! I refuse to believe it’s because I’m- I… I’m s-shorter than him!”

As the three of them discussed, Donnel raised his hand to ask Lissa a question. “But ‘scuse me, ma’am, it’s the Nimbus kinda cloud tha’s the rainy one! Folks called ‘em that ‘cause no matter how fast you saw ‘em, they’d catch up with ya and wet all your laundry, that it would!”

“Weh? What? No! It’s the Cumulus one, I’m sure of it!” Lissa was bewildered for a moment before stomping her foot stubbornly. “I’m the older one here, so I know best, okay?”

Donnel scratched his head awkwardly. “B-b-buh… But the Cumulus kinda cloud’s the one’s looks likea’ tree, ain’t it? Mighty tasty-looking too, like a pretty treat I saw in one offa those fancy towns we gon ‘bout.”

“Nghhh!” Lissa shook with embarrassment and mortification. That wasn’t the first NOR the second time Donnel corrected her during her ‘classes’. She was the older sister here, darn it all!

In between the three mages, the princess and the villager boy, none of them could truly fathom the reason why people treated Donnel differently, despite their close ages. In other circumstances, perhaps, Lissa would be sitting at the table alongside Ricken, Hayato and Lysithea. However, since that was not the case, the group was fated to observe the duo.

If they had just a little more self-awareness, they might have realized that the simple and obvious reason was only one’s behavior and humility.

But perhaps, they were all still too young to realize...

#fire emblem heroes #lysithea fire emblem #ricken fire emblem #hayato fire emblem #donnel fire emblem #my writings #feh #yuki's commissions

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the-passenger-if · 4 years

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heya! sorry if this has been asked before, but i couldn't find it thanks to crappy tumblr... but do you have any fave WIP's? i'm currently looking for new stuff to play. kinda broaden my horizon XD and since i love your game, maybe you have a similar taste as me?? thanx!

Hey there :3

Yeah of course, there are a lot of really good ones, but my top ones are heavily character driven and most of them have awesome ROs

List of WIPs in no particular order.

SUPERHEROES/SUPERHERO-ADJACENT:

Freak: Amidst the Neon Lights. TW: a scientist is creepily gross towards MC.

From the author’s fingers: A fish out of water tale.

A young isolated MC without a ‘voice’ grows up in a lab poked prodded and tested for eighteen years finds themselves thrown into the chaotic world of powers and abilities beyond human kine. They will have an adventure that will define who they are and make an impact in a world they never knew existed.

RO after my own heart: Mh. No one really, but the MC and Silic are awesome.

WIP state: On hiatus

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Model Citizens: Unmasked

From the author's fingers: It’s a story about a world full of heroes with odd and amazing powers! But… you’re not one of them. You don’t have powers, and you don’t plan to go and fight crime. No, you’re just a model, everyday citizen. A reporter, in fact, tied into the events of heroes but never really a part of them

Except for one (well, two, but thats already said and done), little exception.

You work for The Nickelport Rust, a controversial paper known for one reason and one reason only.

Unmasking heroes.

RO after my own heart: V. and Ricky (with a special mention to Lucy)

WIP state: On hiatus

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Fallen Hero: Retribution

Enough said--also, Malin didn't write a summary for this one n_n"

RO after my own heart: Ortega. I would romance Steel and Argent too.

WIP state: Malin is running a closed alpha

SUPERNATURAL:

SoS: The Mortal Coil. This one and The ORPHEUS Ruse were big inspirations for The Passenger as discussed here.

From the author's fingers: Archangels were designated to serve the whims of their God. As Gabriel, you wield power and influence in Heaven. Yet your God, silent for centuries, has given you an order, one unlike any other you have received. You are to raise a satanspawn on earth, living in secret as a mortal. play as the archangel, Gabriel. Your cover is that of a junior detective with the Major Crimes division of JCPD. It’s supposed to be a straightforward protection detail.

But things rarely go according to plan.

Will you stay loyal to Heaven and their rules or will you play it fast and loose? Will you try to seize the throne or find your place on Earth? Will the satanspawn prove to be beyond saving or will you raise him to be a beacon of hope?

Work with the various supernatural factions in one of the few cities that is neutral in the war between Heaven and Hell. Fall in love, solve a few cases, and discover if your past will define your future.

RO after my own heart: Michael. That fucking brat.

WIP state: On hiatus

ADVENTURE:

Diaspora. You guys... Diaspora. If you're into Dragon Age, Diaspora is a must.

From the authors' fingers: it’s about a clan of people forced to flee their homeland and establish themselves elsewhere in the world. The Cine, of which the PC is a part, are traditionally a raiding culture, accustomed to theft and piracy as a way of life, meaning that few will welcome them as neighbors. Throughout the story, the PC will have opportunities to shape the perception of their clan, as well as the direction their people will take with their new settlement. Will you stick to traditional values at the steep diplomatic cost that may entail? Or, against the advice of your clan’s leadership and some of your close friends, will you try to change the very fate of the Cine, their role in the world around them?

RO after my own heart: Pan. There's no words to describe how much I love this magnificent bastard. They are my favorite RO ever too and a big inspiration for some of Roach's mannerisms.

WIP state: Kiku and August work on it whenever they have time but I would say it's pretty active for a WIP this big.

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Relics of the Lost Age. TW: for people being bigots; it has nazis, it has the kkk, you can punch them in the face tho :3

From the author's fingers: The game is basically a fun (I hope), swashbuckling Indiana Jones-em-up, in which you play as a 1930s archaeologist trying to locate a number of occult artifacts before various nasty types can get their hands on them. There will be high adventure in far-flung corners of the world, wacky stunts, Nazi-punching, the possibility of romance (4 possible ROs in total, although you don’t meet them all in Chapter 1), loss, betrayal and all kinds of good stuff along those lines. Give it a go; you never know, you might like it!

I've never watched an Indiana Jones film in my entire life, but this game kicks ass and its author is a very intelligent person and also a sweetheart. Go say hello!

RO after my own heart: Not a RO but I'm crossing my fingers for Maria Garcia Perez. Yes, mama, call me a dumbass and kick me in the face.

WIP state: Active. The Prof is a word-spurting beast :O

ANYTHING BY THOMB, REALLY:

But the WIP i'm following at the moment is the third book in the Evertree Saga, Lux: City of Secrets

From the author’s fingers: continuing the story that began with Evertree Inn and Sordwin. In this fantasy adventure, you return once again as an investigator of magical mysteries, this time exploring the many twisting tales of a city full of secrets. Can you balance all the commitments of your new life in the big city and rise above, or will you become just another nameless face in the crowd?

Also, Thom is truly a sweetheart.

RO after my own heart: Dandy. Dandy Dandy Dandy. (this one is a gender-flip and his female counterpart is Daisy)

WIP state: Active. Thom has 3 titles under their belt, they know what they're doing.

SLASHER HORROR:

Monsters. So so cool, also so so full of triggers--a character is super homophobic and a racist, other dude may hit a female MC in the face if he doesn't like what she's saying, so bear that in mind. I don't feel like the author was trying to be edgy, tho, he's just playing with old horror tropes and these people aren't supposed to be likeable anyways. If you like horror that's kind of Texas-Chainsaw-Massacry, this is a good one.

From the author's fingers: First off: This game contains ADULT CONTENT!!! It is a psychological survival horror, and intentionally contains content which some readers may find offensive. There’s a proper disclaimer in-game. But the warning is there. I’m choosing not to describe the content of the game because, honestly, I want it to be a surprise to anyone who has not read it but is intrigued. I want you to not know what to expect. wink

RO after my own heart: Nobody, but they are interesting to chat to.

WIP state: On hiatus.

OTHERS I ENJOYED A LOT:

Wilhelmina

The Wayhaven Chronicles: Book Two

Through Broken Lenses. TW: so much abuse. Tread with care.

The Seven Heirs of Ophaesia: Part One

Fox of Sunholt

Supernatural in New York

Good Intentions. TW: I think this one may be triggering too, but I don't quite remember the specifics, sorry.

What a Brilliant Existence!

Spellbound: A Ghost Story

Seven days in purgatory

Burwick Destination: Book One

A Cage of Mist and Shadow

Please remember to pay attention to the last time WIPs were updated, you don’t want to necrobump a thread.

#ask #wip recs #hope i'm not forgetting wips #but these are the ones I quickly recalled as i read the titles #Anonymous

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apprenticegamemaster · 3 years

Text

Pern Au Lore Snippets 2

Because the last post got too long for me even under the readmore! Same deal as last time- feel free to steal my ideas if you think they fit your RP or something. I don’t mind sharing my sandbox, even if AM didn’t want to share with her fans ^^

For clarification about climate and geography, I’m using the first map that popped up when I searched “map of pern” in google. The map in my closest Pern series book only covered the Northern Continent and it kinda had half the middle get swallowed up by the spine area ^^;

Continuing from the Crafthall splits-

There’s generally minor Crafthalls wherever there’s a relevant concentration of resources, i.e. the weavercrafthall in the High Reaches, with journeymen being sent out to other holds as needed. That’s how you tend to get most laypeople for crafting- they learned just enough from a journeyman to make stuff that works for their local hold, and then passed down that knowledge after the journeyman had gone back to their Hall.

The Smithcraft hall is basically the closest thing to the Catholic Church Pern has in this AU, mainly as it’s pretty much the only major craft left to have a central authority point. Minecraft (lol), woodcraft, ceramics, glass, and the like all got mostly subsumed into the Smithcraft. Operations-wise, it’s more like Freemasonry than a religion, but the sheer fact that the Mastersmith is one of the few real continental-level authorities has meant that they’ve been able to make or break wars and inter-hold conflicts like nobody else. Sure, you’d still want a Harper to actually negotiate anything, but it’s kinda difficult to keep a war going if the Smiths refuse to make you weapons and armor to keep the war going.

Possible, but difficult.

The Harpercraft Hall has basically split in two- the Eastern and Western halls. The Western hall is basically what you get in the Harper Hall trilogy- basically entirely focused around music with a side of espionage. The Eastern hall is more generally focused on the decorative arts as well as music, from all the different kinds of painting to lacemaking. The Western hall gets more cred for being the older one, but in general it’s a weird case where many of the small holders aren’t even really aware there’s two Harper Halls- pretty much everyone thinks that whichever one is supplying their local Harpers is the one to look to. The split is basically down whatever river Lemos hold is on- west of that looks to the Harper Hall in Fort, east looks to the Hall located just to the east of Benden Hold proper.

The Weavercraft hall has no real central figure by the “modern” day in my AU- There’s a handful of smaller Halls scattered around the continent that all have slightly different specialties. There used to be a main Hall in Boll, but due to a few spats between Weavercraftmasters and a few wars between major Lord Holders, that broke down about a thousand years prior to the meat of the AU. Leathermaking suffered a similar fate.

Farmcraft and the related crafts of brewing and animal husbandry went pretty much the same way, but did so much earlier. What grows where is so highly local that the central crafthall isn’t always going to be able to help more than your neighbor could, and as for brewing? Nobody wants a central office telling them how to make their alcohol. Nobody.

Basically every hold has their own alcohol-making scheme, especially if they’re in an area where the water can be Sketchy. Pretty uncommon for the alcohol to be of any strength, though- even Benden’s wines will get watered down for drinking with meals, much as the Romans did. Teas and tisanes is a relatively common substitute in areas where supplies for such can be grown, and can be a fairly profitable export to areas where tea isn’t grown. Klahbark trees have enough varieties and is grown in enough places that it’s a pretty ubiquitous drink, at least for the large-to-medium holds. Smaller holds kinda depend on finding a local stand of the stuff.

Bread is fairly common in areas where wheat and barley and the like can grow, but tubers (potatoes) are generally the go-to choice for most medium-to-small holds in areas that will support them. Rice only really happens on Ista and just a bit of Boll, but exports of the stuff tend to be considered a luxury food for northern areas. Corn is actually very commonly grown, frequently alongside tubers, but three-sisters style growing is extremely common around Benden. Cornbread is occasionally eaten in the western end of the Northern continent, but the West tends to view corn more as animal fodder than anything else; the Eastern end of the continent uses corn both for animal and people food, but the people food more often takes the form of something closer to how Hispanic/Latin American food tends to take it- nixtamalized flatbreads, mainly.

Meats are actually fairly common, mainly in dried/smoked/salted/otherwise preserved forms, but fresh meat is hardly unheard of. There’s pretty large swaths of land that can’t easily be put under crops, but also can’t have timber stands or orchards due to worries about Thread. Leads to lots of herdbeast farming. Which kind of meat is most common depends on the area, but sheep/mutton is actually the most common outside of Wherry, followed by beef/cow. Pidgeons are actually the most common fowl meat- chicken operations are mostly around Fort and Ruatha, but pidgeons are a bit better about avoiding the kinds of tunnelsnakes and wherries the eastern continent has.

Wherry’s a catchall term for any Pernese avian. The kind most often eaten is basically turkey, but there’s a good handful of leaner and meaner varieties that are just killed to keep them from harassing the farm animals.

Wherrys, tunnelsnakes, and fire lizards are HARDLY the only local fauna beyond fish. Pernese ecology is just as wild and varied as Earth ecology.

Therefore, I have decided that Unicorns exist on Pern. They’re megafauna left over from Pern’s last ice age, much like a single-horned moose with six legs. They mostly avoid human settlement, but sometimes they’ll start nibbling at outlying fields of crops or newly-planted timber stands or orchards, and then you’ve gotta call in the wyer to get rid of them, because they get mean as wild boars around easy food sources. Dragons are pretty much the only way to get rid of them without getting a few holders killed trying to hunt ‘em down.

#dragonriders of pern #pern #meta #i will take a hammer and FIX the canon #okay time to use the sleep #see y'all next time!

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gayfrenchtoast · 3 years

Text

CONTINUATION OF HARRY POTTER IF LILY AND JAMES DIDNT DIE

Pt 2

This is my favourite movie in the franchise so buckle up, this has more words than some of my uni essays

Goblet of fire! Harry is having repeated nightmares About Voldemort and Lily and James don't know what to do so to try and cheer him up they agree to go to the world cup quidditch match after Ron sends Harry an excited letter about it.

(TW implied ab*se)

When they get there Harry and Draco spot each other and share a look. they both manage to sneak off for a quick hug and a talk and Harry is incredibly worried when he sees a bruise on Draco’s forehead. Draco doesn't want to talk about it but Harry is worried af so Draco agrees to try and sneak off again after the match so Harry can introduce him to his parents and they can talk about it. Draco reluctantly agrees.

(TW over)

The match goes great, Ron is swooning over Krum and being a closeted bi disaster.

after the match, Draco shows up as agreed and Harry takes him to meet his parents. James is a lil sus of him because “that's Lucius Malfoy's spawn” but once he talks and sees the nervous stuttering disaster who looks like he's ready to up and run off like a scared animal any moment he concludes that he would kill for him.

Draco admits he feels unsafe at home and his parents are trying to talk him into doing stuff he doesn't want to do. James straight-up asks if it's relating to the dark lord and Draco looks surprised but admits that “some of it” is.

kinda unrelated but James and Lily later agree that from the way their son was looking at him and all the things he's doing for him Harry probably has a crush on Draco.

Cue death eater attack.

Panic, James and Lily are in protective parent mode, they group up with the Weasleys who are too busy to be confused at Draco’s presence. they all go off running.

Harry and Draco get split from the others because they were clinging to each other's hands and in the panic, most of the others don't notice until it’s too late. They are both basically as scared as each other at the attack but for different reasons. Harry falls and gets kick knocked out and Draco has to drag him to a hidden area to hide until he comes to.

they manage to evade detection until Harry comes to just in time to see the Dark mark go into the sky. Draco holds him tighter as he sees it not realising he's awake until moments later. when the figure comes closer they both scramble up to run but the figure leaves and Hermione and Ron find them before the ministry attempts to stupify them and Ron and Harry’s parents yell at them furiously to not hurt their kids.

Crouch tries to accuse them of setting off the dark mark but that just makes Lily more furious, yelling at him that they're kids and “do you really think my son, the one who was almost killed by Voldemort as a child, would call the dark lord?!” Draco plucks up enough courage to tell them harry was out for most of it and They both saw a man shoot the mark into the sky. They aren't fully believed of course.

Then Lucius shows up in a flurry and grabs Draco, Chastising him for running off and “where was he?! there was an attack and he was in the middle of it?!” James steps up and informs Lucius that his son had saved his and he was very grateful and Lucius looks at all the eyes on him and claims he raised him well before muttering “not well enough” as he drags Draco off.

Draco and Harry share one more look before Draco is forced away.

At school, Mad eye Moody is introduced. Harry has heard of Moody before from his dad and something is very right AND wrong about him. Goblet of fire tournament introduced, other schools introduced, bla bla bla, Ron bi panic.

When Draco tries to talk to Harry Draco avoids him and Harry knows somethings wrong but since Draco is avoiding everyone but a few other Slytherins he struggles with what to do about it and his persistence to talk just causes a few arguments.

They watch Fred and George make arses of themselves and Harry gives an up and down of Cedric when he puts his name in cus that's one tall glass of water.

Champions get picked and Cedric being picked gives harry kinda crush feels but then Harry’s name comes out and confusion ensues. they accuse harry of putting his name in but are unable to pull harry out for some stupid reason.

When Draco sees Harry after that there's a sort of guilty look in his eyes but he still avoids him so harry cant ask

Harry gets more of a crush on Cedric every time they talk but knows that probably won't fly especially with the whole “sneaky Slytherin potter got his mane in the goblet of fire he's an asshole” shit going around school.

When he writes to his parents about it Lily sends letters to Dumbledore trying all she can to get Harry pulled out “he's a kid he may die!” but the headmaster replies with “there's nothing I can do” every time.In comparison James’ letter to harry basically is “knock em dead slugger :D”

Draco has picked Bullying back up to vent his obvious internal struggle which gets him turned into a ferret by Moody. Even though they’re in some kind of argument Harry jumps in to grab him and keep him from harm while Mcgonagal yells at Moody. Harry thinks to himself that Draco makes a very cute ferret.

when Draco is turned back harry is still holding him (bridal style of course) and Draco shoves him off which gets him dropped and they have an argument. Draco claims that he “doesn't need his help and he and his father don't think he’d last in this tournament” which makes Harry think Draco may have been lying to him since he’s siding with his father prompting an “I don't care what your father thinks and much less you!” and storm off

Ron is also mad because he belives Ron went behind his back to put his name in the goblet of fire (and that he now gets to compete with Krum) and calls him a Slytherin (derogatory) and that he should never have trusted him and known that Harry was a sneak from the moment he was put in his house

Harry really feels like everyone is against him but that just makes him want to prove everyone wrong.

Harry and Ron have their little back and forth with Hermione but actually ends up yelling at Ron that he was being stupid refusing to talk to him and even though he did well he never wanted this. He doesn't think he's special and Ron was supposed to be his best friend and understand when he's telling the truth.

Ron can't come up with a good comeback and stutters before he storms off.

With some advice from Moody and a heads up from Hagrid, Harry summons the firebolt his Dad bought him for Christmas that year and has a fly off against the dragon.

He wins and the crowd goes wild, even Draco runs up with the Crowd with so much relief on his face and looks like he wants to hug him yet remembers himself and slips away.

Harry will remember that.

Hermione is Happy and even Ron looks more upbeat and proud of his friend.

Celebration at Slytherin Common room, many Slytherins are happy at winning something, some are excited at the idea harry may prove they’re not all bad, Despite Rita Skeeta’s reporting.

Ron and Harry end meeting up outside of the dorm rooms and apologising and making up. They try to open the egg together which goes badly and they get caught sneaking about at night. Harry is happy they're mostly all friends again especially since he'd been talking Nevil’s ears off about all his problems since he was the only one who would hang out with him.

Ron and Hermione tell Harry how Krum seemed to be running into Hermione and Ron allot and kinda showing off, Ron has been hanging around with her allot more (which is unconfirmed whether it is a Coincidence or whether Ron started to hang out with Hermione more because Krum was “bumping into” them allot.) and Hermione ended up inviting Krum to hang out with them a bit. This was mainly to send Ron into bi panics more, deffinately not because she also may kinda like him, and Ron eventually admits to Harry and Hermione that he “may possibly” be a little bit Bi. Harry pats him on the back and tells him “at least you're not in the tournament and have a crush on one of your competitors.” “you have a crush on Krum too?!” “No! But I, y’know, kinda like Cedric. He’s nice!” cue teasing.

Harry gets letters from his parents congratulating him but warning him to be careful. James is more pumped at his victory than Lily and wishes he could be there to see it but He had apparently been “threatened with being turned into a spoon.“ if he tried to sneak in to watch.

Cedric later gives Harry some advice on the egg and Harry is so swept up in cute boy that he almost forgets the advice but he does find out what the next quest is.

Nevil gives Harry the Gillyweed for the test after being given the book as a very apt apology for a hufflepuff for scaring him.

Harry is pushed in and swims down and finds that the ones under the water are Fleur’s little sister, Cho Chang, Ron and Draco?

Harry is confused and tries to get both Ron and Draco but the Mermaids threaten him. Krum shows up and signals he's There for Ron. And Cedric goes for Cho but Harry knows Fleur went down and they're running out of time so he gets Draco free and does the good thing to free Fleur’s sister. he carry-swims them up while fighting off mermaids just in time.

Draco clings to him in a panic when he comes to when they surface and Harry doesn't let him push him away this time.

Hoorah Harry gets extra points for saving two people.

Ron is surprised Krum rescued him and ask and Krum be like "I actually like both of you and I was freaking out because I didn't know which of you would be under the water".

Ron bi panic stutters because his Boy Crush likes him and his cute best friend.

While they're all drying off Draco tells Harry that he knows harry still cares for him because of that and tells him he shouldn't and it clicks for Harry Draco may just be trying to push him away. He tells him even if Draco punched him in the face Harry would stop caring about him. Draco is frustrated by this and points his wand at him but ends up storming off, clearly conflicted.

Stuff in dumbledors office happens yada yada, Harry saw his parents at the trial he sees Barty Crouch at. already knew snape was a death eater turned spy.

I’ve decided the dance is here as a “last hurrah before the final task” because it makes sense.

Krum approaches Ron and Hermione and is like “I wanna ask both of you to the ball but I am apparently only allowed one date cus I have to do the Ceremonial dance with a partner” and they're both flattered and have like a little “you do it” “no you do it” but eventually conclude Hermione can do the dance with Krum (she is the prettier one) and then the three of them can hang out as secret dates later because Ron is publicly in the closet.

However, the secret bit is hard to keep because when people tease Ron for “not having a date” Krum keeps putting his arm around him and glaring at people to scare them off.

Harry isn't as interested in not having a date as he is about Draco not having one. Draco is annoyed Harry won't leave him alone and keeps worrying about him and they're having a little “argument” in the common room about it when Snape comes up all “Potter. you and Malfoy are making a disturbance. If you cannot solve your...relationship issues I will make him your date to the ball since you do not have one yet.” “Wh-but sir! Draco does not have one either!” “Making him the perfect candidate. You have until the end of the day to prevent this.”

Neither of them finds anyone who wants to go or is free in time.

Harry does ask the twins but they say to his face “why would you ask us? you’re gay” which is how Harry finds out there's a rumour that he's gay because he's obviously got some kind of crush on Cedric

Harry has no idea what sexuality is but he at least knows he's not straight.

This does not change their minds and when he sees Draco he can tell by the looks of him he's failed too. Harry decides to just bite the bullet and sits next to Draco. “look...I know you’re trying to push me away. I don't know why I don't know if you hate me or what but...I don’t hate you. I care about you. And I don’t mind going to the dance with you and we’re probably going to have to so I might as well ask. Would you go to the Dance with me?” “...my father better not hear about this.”

Draco and Harry end up going together.

Draco insists he's not going to get his feet stepped on so teaches Harry how to dance in their dorm room which serves for good bonding. they don't talk about why Draco has been avoiding him but when Harry messes up Draco’s chastising is fond and when Harry falls and knocks books on his head they laugh. they're finally back to teasing each other like friends and Harry can dance just well enough Draco is fine to dance with him.

Ron is dejected by what he's been sent to wear and Hermione doesn't want him to die from embarrassment or bail on their date so she helps him transfigure his clothes into something better looking and smelling.

Hermione is already radiant and Ron has a little heart attack because his best friend is cute?? and he and his best friend are both dates to the cute boy at the dance?? why are both of them so attractive?? panic??

The main dance goes pretty well. Harry only stands on Draco’s foot once.

At the main party bit they all dance and have fun mostly. Krum sneaks off with Hermione for a bit and she returns a little flustered and daze, tags Ron in and he sneaks off.

He and Krum are caught making out behind a curtain by Semus and Dean later.

Harry and Draco get teases because Hogwarts is basically a British Private school and “eww gaaay” but anyone who is outright prejudiced is grabbed by McGonalal and forced to leave so people catch on real quick that it's not something to make fun of.

Draco and Harry are having fun but after Harry leaves him at a table for a minute to go get some drinks he returns to see Draco looking spaced out. He asks what's wrong and Draco tries to deflect but eventually admits he missed having fun with him and he missed him in general. Harry asks why he was avoiding him in the first place and Draco shakes his head and gets up to leave but Harry grabs his hand and begs him to talk to him. Draco looks at him with the same look that he'd given him at the quidditch games and Harry knows immediately. They leave the party to talk.

(TW MORE TALK ABOUT AB*SE)

Draco admits that his father has been awful to him and has threatened him to stay away from him. he tells Harry that he was being groomed into becoming a death eater because they believed the dark lord was returning. Harry is horrified that the man to kill his family may be returning and Draco was being hurt and forced into things because of it. Draco is a mess because part of him still loves his family but he doesn't wanna stay there. Harry isn't sure what to do. He hugs Draco as he cries and tells him if he needs out Lily, James and he would tear down Malfoy manor to get him to a safe place. Draco is thankful but doesn't know if that would work. Harry says they could also go to Dumbledoor with this information but Draco is terrified that nothing would be done and they’d tell his Father. Harry agrees to be quiet for now but tells him he’d come to help him alone if he needed someone. Draco agrees to not push him away anymore and let Harry send a letter to his parents telling them about it.

(TW over)

A few days later, just before the maze trial, Draco pulls Harry aside at Breakfast with a letter in hand from his Father. The letter alludes that he won't be attending the Final trial as invited to because something is going down with the death eaters connected to the trial. Draco still doesn't want to go to Dumbledore or anyone so Harry just agrees to be careful and then gets to show Draco the letters he received from his parents saying they would literally do anything to keep Draco safe and would happily hide him even at the risk of imprisonment in Azkaban.

Draco is brought strange comfort at that.

Lily and James attend the final trial as do the rest of the champion parents. James is so stoked at how well his son had been doing in all these trials and bigs him up and gets him excited for the final one.

More responsibly Lily warns him to be careful and that she thinks something is off about Krum. Harry brushes it off because he knows and trusts Krum but when he sees him he realises he does look a little off and from the looks of Ron and Hermione they see it too.

When Harry sees Cedric with his excited dad he realises he has hardy thought about his crush on him since the Whole thing with Draco and the dance.

James sees Harry off with Moody and when James tries to talk to Moody as a friend Moody gives him a weird look and short responses. James goes back to Lily as soon as the maze closes the contestants are in, telling her somethings wrong with Moody. They discuss it as the trial goes on.

In the maze Harry concludes there's something definitely wrong with Krum after he sees him, immediately noticing he is Bewitched when he sees his eyes and what he did to Fleur.

So yeah maze happens, grab cup, portkeyed away, dark lord resurrection ceremony, Cedric fuckin murdered. Harry finds out he has some deeper connection with the dark lord after his blood is used in the ceremony. He also is vindicated, despite his fear, that he sees Draco was right when he sees Lucious as a death eater.

Voldemort messes with him by telling him about how he had almost killed his parents, that their and Sirius’s attacks drove him to try and escape upstairs, leading to his room. He tried killing him to emotionally cripple them but only got a finger on his head when Lily rushed in and with some unknown strong power nearly destroyed him. The Death eaters called Harry the boy who lived because of it. But now he was back and could kill harry however he pleased.

He releases Harry for their Duel, Cedric’s spirit emerges to aid him and with some unknown power and the help Harry fight him off and port keys his and Cedric’s body back.

do, dododo do do, dododo do do, do do do do do do- holy fuck is that kid dead?!

Harry bursts into tears and wails when he gets back to the entrance, crying about the dark lord.

Cedric’s dad manages to rush up and more crying ensues but when Lily and James try to get to Harry they re held back and only don't keep pushing because Moody pulls Harry away. They frantically try to follow, stopped by Dumbledoor and are delayed while they swap notes. Draco manages to slip out of the crowd and to them too, worried for Harry.

Moody reveals himself to be evil not moody and goes to kill Harry when Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Lily and James bust him and push him back, followed closely by Draco who rushes towards Harry.

Snape forces Not Moody to drink the truth Serum and make him tell them where real Moody is. James is incredibly relieved to see him.

They see not moody change into Barty crouch jr and try to attack the boys when they lean down to look. Lily makes them stand behind her and basically smacks Dumbledor away when he tries to grab Harry for his arm, gently taking it herself to show. Draco is terrified at the dark mark and audibly gasps, whispering “that's the same as...” cutting himself off when Jr looks and smirks at him. Croutch Jr tells them the dark lord has returned. Harry apologises but Lily hugs him with one hand and tells him it's okay and not his fault.

Draco, instead of being scared, looks defiant and to Harry. He asks “was he there?” and when he gets a nod tells them that his father has that mark and is a death eater and he has letters proving it. Jr’s face twists and he snaps at Draco “YOU WILL BE PUNISHED FOR YOUR INSOLENCE BOY!!” but is held back by Snape and Dumbledore ushers Lily and the boys out, telling McGonagal to contact Azkaban while Snape and James stay behind to guard Jr and get real moody free.

Draco hands over all the evidence that his father is a death eater to Dumbledore and Harry gives a testimony of all he saw and all this is later taken to court. We will touch back on this in a minute.

Krum is freed from Barty crouch Jr’s Bewitchment and wakes up to a worried Hermione and Ron over him. he makes a stupid joke about dying going to heaven “because he’s Surrounded by angels” which gets him a slap from Hermione, Ron exclaiming “Mione!” a second before she kisses him. Krum has a stupid smile on when she moves away. “that was the best slap I ever got. do I get another?” he looks to Ron who mumbles “I’ll skip the slap” before he kisses him too.

You may have noticed but I stan poly ships arite? I couldn't miss this opportunity especially since I think Hermione could have had a pretty good relationship with big beefy bear Krum and when Ron’s Bi panic came in I couldn’t resist.

So Ron and Hermione both agree to write to Krum when he asks on the day he departs and he pulls Ron aside to tell him that If Ron knows Krum can like two people at once he should know he and others can too, looking to Hermione. Ron is a flustered mess but happily accepts a parting kiss.

They do write to him and get pretty good at long distance.

Lucius is tried and held under heavy suspicion of being a death eater as the courts refuse to acknowledge the Dark Lord’s return. the court battle takes a good majority of the Summer that Draco spends in Malfoy Manor with just his mother until it is ruled that Lucius is a death eater however since they cannot confirm that the dark lord HAS returned or which death eater acts he committed they would put him on house arrest. they do this even with Draco’s accusations of what he's done to him.

However, almost to try and make up for that somehow, they do allow Draco to decide if he wants to stay at home or go somewhere else. He soon decides that he’d feel much safer elsewhere so asks to be looked after by the Potter’s. the courts just about agree.

Woo! Draco saved! They stay at the Potter household for a bit until they conclude it’s not safe and moved to Sirius and Remus’s house which is well hidden.

Due to concerns about the dark lord, the rest of the Order of the Pheonix slowly do too including Ron, his family, and Hermione.

Cue Order of the Pheonix in another post because WOW this one was long!

#harry potter #harry potter rambles #fuck jk rowling #yes ron and hermione got a boyfriend before Drarry happened just wait #i'll get to it #harry potter au #harry potter re-write #james potter #lily potter #draco malfoy #harry potter and the goblet of fire #abuse tw #tw abuse

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faithylilac · 3 years

Text

The Party Party part 2

“DAX YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THINGS!” Faithy chaises Dax as he ran out of a random shop with a bundle of flowers. What was he going to do with these? I don’t know, keep reading and you’ll find out. I don’t have to tell you everything you lazy—

“Back in my times, you could find flowers everywhere! You mortals just HAD to invent roads and took up all the good flower land!” He yelled in defiance, still running away from the priestess.

Carter and Echo were still in the flower shop with the store owner who was trying to process what was happening. She was quite short with red and purpled hair, along with a giant mushroom hat to top her off. An absolutely adorable creature

“Man, leaving the hottest two people in this party to deal with his tab...” Echo said with a sigh. “Oh could I stab him? He’ll live.” Carter said, almost too excitedly.

“It looked like your mate might kill em first.” The store owner piped in.

carter sadly put the dagger he was holding away, while nodding in unison with Echo.

Faithy slams the door open, dragging an unconscious god by his foot with a bunch of destroyed flowers. “I have killed god, what will you do now?” Faithy announced with a dark look. He was very much alive, evident by his snoring. Apparently the store owner didn’t hear, because she didn’t react.

Faithy walked over to the desk, still dragging the god and slams a bag of gold and the flowers down. “He committed insurance fraud last week, this is his punishment.” She then tenderly smiled at the girl, “can you wrap these with red ribbon? That’s his favorite color.”

The store owner is taken aback. She actually takes a step back and looks at the large bag of coins, then at the flower pile. There seemed to be around 300 gold coins in the bag, though two could have payed for all the flowers the hooligan took.

“You said he committed insurance fraud?” She asked while sliding the bag of gold towards her to behind the desk so they couldn’t change their minds. The conscious members of the party nod in shame. The store owner quickly tied the beaten bouquet together and shoves it at Faithy.

“Yo! If you want to hear the rest of the story, meet us at the tavern tonight! Dax will even buy you a drink!” Faithy suggested.

“OooooOooooh! Dax buying drinks, I’m in I’m in I’m in!!!!” Echo shouted in excitement.

“Not to be the one that’s actually using the brain cell, but did he agree to that?” Carter asked.

Faithy just smiled and shook her head “no.”

“I’ll think about it, but no promises.” The store owner finally replied.

Without warning, Dax jumps to his feet, fully conscious. “I’m buying what?”

“Awesome! What was your name again, I did get to catch it earlier.” The priestess asked, all while ignoring the god. Dax just huffed and sat down on the floor. The store owner peered over her desk and giggled at his behavior. “You lot can call me CJ.”

After some time, the party was looking for the tavern in town. Echo said he was gonna scout it out, but forgot because he got swarmed with people for being hot. He first started wearing mostly black to ward people off, but his great fashion sense contracted that and gained many fans.

Carter ended up finding it, thankfully. He only found it because he was planning on robbing someone that went inside. Much to his dismay, Faithy was behind him and started praising them for finding the place. In other words, he didn’t get to rob the person.

The poor tavern owner had no idea what was in store for him and the amount of damage that will soon take place. It started as a normal evening, Dax had a crowd around him as usual to listen to his stories, Faithy and Carter were trying to tune him out, and Echo Hijacked the stage; though the owner didn’t mind, the whole tavern loved it.

“And in the mouth of the dragon, I threw the bag of carrots that my party members borrowed from a local farmer. The dragon then gagged on the bag, it was made of linen of course— and passed out long enough for us to make a getaway with the golden chest!” He ended yet again another tall tale of how he joined the party. Faithy was slouched over her chair snoring, it was the only thing to free her from the urge to correct him. Carter was just pickpocketing people while the priestess couldn’t stop him

But enough about the party, we’ve seen them in a tavern before; kinda boring if you keep retelling the same thing over and over and over and over— what’s do you mean this is only the second chapter? Anyway, our adorable shopkeeper friend, Cj made her way inside quietly and sat by Faithy who was still asleep.

As soon as CJ sits down, The priestess shoots up from her slumber and tackles her with a hug. “You made it!” She shouted. “Yeah... I’m not normally one to come here, you lot seem to be good fun.” To be honest, CJ didn’t know why she decided to come, they were a bunch of wackos.

But before she blinks again, the whole party is at the table with hot chocolate, all of their eyes on her. “Got you some hot chocolate kiddo.” Dax said, voice mumbled by the mug he was drinking from. She looks at the cup in front of her, filled to brink with marshmallows. That’s suspicious, that’s weird. She ignored her suspicion and the group before her started talking about recent adventures.

“I’m was actually in the running for being high priestess of Gjhar feiiled, but this one loser, Richard sabotaged me and now I’m on the run from the followers of my god!” The woman slumps in her chair, slightly sobbing as she drank her hot coco. “Like the cat god?” Cj asked. “Oh you should have seen it! Carter is terrified of cats!” Dax shouted. Cj just raises her eyebrow, but it didn’t seem like they were going to explain the story. She takes what she thought was the last sip, but as soon as she set down her mug, it started rising to the top again. She took a quick glance, surely she didn’t slip up, no no no! Who noticed, did anyone see what happened?

Dax was pointing his finger at her mug and slowly pulling his finger upward as her cup began to fill. A chocolate fairy? No those probably didn’t exist.... probably. “Um, what’s with the uh— uh that?” She asked, pointing at his finger. He just shrugs.

She looked elsewhere and her eyes landed on the goth one of the group. “Ummmm is your friend ok? He looks like a gargoyle just about now.” Cj asked the party leader. True, he was just sitting there menacingly, knees pulled up to chest and everything. “Listen I look really hot, like super hot. When you’ve managed to this level, you’ll understand sitting like this”

The next morning CJ opened up her shop and heard a lot of commotion outside. She peered out the front door to see a giant gold statue of— DAX? She runs outside to see a few people carving out details they really shouldn’t, not that she thinks they should be working on this statue to begin with. There were also people praying to it, not the weirdest thing people have done in this village, but still. She found Dax and ran up to him, hoping he would have some sense of what was going on.

“Is there a reason they’re building a gold statue of you?” Dax just laughed. “I’m serious, what is this?”

“I kinda just sneezed and one of the elders woke up from a coma or something. But it’s whatever, I don’t really care if people figure out I’m a god.” He replied. Cj’s jaw dropped. He didn’t say what she was thinking, no.... So he wasn’t a chocolate fairy like she originally thought.

“Come with me.” She quickly grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into her shop. She locked the door and closed the blinds so no one could peer in.

“What did you just— I. Who goes around Willy Nilly saying they’re a god?” She shouted, not loud enough for anyone outside to hear. He just laughs, “and you aren’t?”

Her eyes blew wide open. “WHAT!”

“Listen kid, I’ve lived for a very long time. I can sense you baby gods from a mile away.”

If you haven’t caught on, this is just a silly thing writing about my friends and I’m going to do my best to keep it no context needed :)

Masterlist

#the party party #friendfiction #part 2 #original story #fantasy setting #basically a dnd session #Garfield #cottage core goddess might fight chaos god???

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years

Text

Survey #332

i’m even more tired than before to try and think up song lyrics, i’m pasting from Word and then fucking off to bed lmao.

What was the last video message you received on your phone? I think it was a clip of Doris (Sara's beardie) eating and just being her perfect self? Was your last birthday cake homemade or store bought? Store-bought. One thing you miss about middle school? Shit, nothing. Middle school was the worst. Do you have any shirts signed by famous people? No. Have you ever entered an art competition? Yes. Would you ever pierce yourself? No. I am very much about having a professional do your body mods/art. Plus, I have tremors in my hands. Do you live in a safe neighbourhood? Supposedly. We haven't lived here nearly long enough to know. What is the last thing you did that shocked someone? /shrug Do you often find yourself questioning your future? Only always. Have you ever been for a ride in the back of a truck? Yeah. Do you like your license photo? I hate my permit picture. Are you into superheroes? Who’s your favorite? Not very, but I like 'em enough. I always say my favorite is Deadpool, but I know he's technically an anti-hero, but whatever. If you don't include him, uhhhh... maybe Spiderman. Have you started watching any new TV shows recently? No. Have you ever been able pet a normally wild animal, like a tiger or dolphin? No. :( At least, not to my recollection. Have you ever eaten snow? Yeah. There's actually a winter treat 'round here that you make with snow and sugar called snow cream. Good stuff. What is the messiest area in your home? Right now, the spare room/my wanna-be "office." What’s your favorite computer game genre? Still horror, like video games. Do you have any exes your parents never liked? No. Have you received financial help from your parents in the past 5 years? I'm completely financially dependent on them still. Are you a fast or a slow eater? I eat like, stupid fast, but without being messy. People *cough*Mom*cough* will absolutely point it out, but I seriously can't help it. Making a conscious effort to eat slow feels way too weird. What was the last thing you purchased from a small local business? I don't know. Is there anyone in your family/household whom you frequently argue with? No. Have you ever used chewing tobacco? Ew, no. Tell me what's on your mind? I've been considering yet again reaching out to some tattoo parlors and asking if they're open to hiring someone to handle the front desk and take care of business besides actually performing piercing and tattooing, given my tremors. My group therapy has kinda been encouraging me to use the possibility for social exposure, and besides, I'm very comfortable in the environment and just general aura of tat parlors. I'm sure I'd have to answer the phone, handle money, and obviously talk to costumers, but I know and accept that. I've been at such a stagnant point with my social anxiety in particular that I have to start pushing back harder, and doing this I feel would be one of the most relaxed, social job positions I can hopefully handle. I don't dare to even try this though until I get vaccinated to protect my immunocompromised mom. Writing this all out has actually been pretty encouraging about this idea... Do you wish you never dated someone you dated? Yeah, Tyler. It was such a "I'm lonely and he was nice in high school, so we'll try it" situation. I got nothing from it. Are you scared of growing old alone? Pretty badly. What are you listening to right now? I'm listening to/semi-watching John Wolfe play the remaster of Resident Evil 2. What breed was the last dog you saw? He was a German shepherd. Would you ever go swimming during a thunderstorm? No. Any time a thunderstorm was brewing and I was in the pool, I'd always get out. What is the next concert you will attend? Mom and I plan to see Ozzy when/if he reschedules his tour after he had to cancel with his Parkinson's diagnosis. What was the name of the last pet of yours that died? Teddy. :/ What's the highest science class you have taken? I don't know, actually. What makes you squeal like a school girl? No shame, seeing Mark and Amy do something cute together actually does this, lmao. What’s your favorite symbol? (i.e. the pentagram, the cross, etc.) Do fictional ones count? Because in that case, the Halo of the Sun from the Silent Hill franchise. I'm getting it tattooed somewhere at some point, I'm thinking the left side of my neck. I'm either gonna fashion it in a way where it looks branded on or carved into me. Have you ever been on anti depressants? For all of my pre-teen, teen, and some of my adult life. Apparently, I've only had one truly educated psychiatrist out of no less than a dozen I'd seen, because he fixed me right up. He taught me that those who suffer from bipolarity should avoid anti-depressants; they ramp up your bipolar symptoms. Instead, mood stabilizers are favorable. And what do you know, after I was prescribed a stabilizer and a catalyst for that medication, my depression decreased dramatically and became handleable. Have you ever starved yourself? Kinda. What’s the stupidest name you’ve ever given a pet? I had a guinea pig named Harry Potter. For no particular reason lmao. I'm not even a Harry Potter fan. Do you have nice legs? God no. Do you like fedoras? Okay so I know I am in the strong minority, but I actually do, haha. What is your favorite food group? Carbs. @_@ Have you ever got told that you should be a model? No, but one of the most flattering indirect compliments I've ever gotten was being mistaken for one. Jason's phone wallpaper was one of my favorite pictures of myself with my first snake, and someone asked him if I was a model. ;v;' What song is in a language you don’t speak, but you love it anyway? "Donaukinder" by Rammstein is one of my faves. Who’s a villain you sympathize with and why? SOBS Darkiplier bc his origins are so damn tragic and unfair. What book do you think should be directed as a film? Was The Giver ever made into one? I don't remember that book well, but I do recall it being absolutely beautiful. Have you ever found a stranger’s note somewhere? If so, what did it say? No. Have you ever edited Wikipedia? No. Have you ever edited any other wiki? Yeah. I have thousands on the Silent Hill wiki, where I'm one of the admins. I'm also a content moderator at the Team Ico (Shadow of the Colossus devs) one. Every now and again I used to go on the meerkats wiki as well, where I mainly fixed the fucking nightmarish grammar. Very briefly, I edited at the Dragons of Atlantis wiki as well. Do you get scared when you know some virus or sickness is being passed? Not very, but of course I still acknowledge the risk and am more conscious of hand washing and stuff. What popular social media platforms AREN’T you on? Snapchat, I don't actually use my Twitter, I don't have a personal Instagram... There may be more, idk. Is TikTok a "social media platform?" Because I don't have that, either. What was the name of the first porcelien doll you got? Never had one, given I was afraid of dolls as a kid. What’s your favorite Paramore song? "Decode." Would you be happy with a life without romance? To be entirely honest, I'd feel like I was missing something. Was your childhood happy? Mostly. What fundamentally matters do you? Love, kindness, peace, all that gooey stuff. Is true world peace ever possible? As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think so. The human population is far too big to come to a unanimous agreement on anything. Do you hold yourself to higher standards than you hold others? Yeah. Would you ever own a pet black widow spider? No. I'm getting more into the idea of owning invertebrates (I jabber enough about wanting tarantulas, and there are others, like mantises, I'm interested in as pets), but black widows, I'm not into the idea of having. Too venomous for me to be comfortable risking. If you have a job, what is the longest shift that you've worked? N/A Do you know all of the words to "Bohemian Rhapsody?" FUCK YES I DO. ^ Do you sing it with all of the different voices? sho nuff Do you own more than one copy of a certain book? No. Do you like interpreting poetry or just reading it for fun? Both. I love symbolism, so I get joy out of digging for subtle meanings in poems. Do you have a favorite Dr. Suess book? Yeah, it was always Green Eggs and Ham. Do you watch The Walking Dead? If so, favorite character? Not the show, but I've watched let's plays of the games, haha. In which case Clementine is inarguably one of the best female characters in a video game universe. Who has/had the most mature romantic relationship you’ve seen with your own eyes? Uhhh. I mean I never saw them much, but probably my late grandmother and her last husband. He was fucking incredible to her, and Grammy adored him as well. They helped each other so much and just obviously had the purest love between them. When was the last time you got something for free (legally)? What was it & have you enjoyed it so far? Lmao do balls in Pokemon GO count? Their occasional free boxes are the reason I can play the game because PokeStops are essentially non-existent here, so yes. What is the one fruit you can’t stand to eat? How about vegetable? The first one that came to me were oranges. I enjoy orange juice, but I just caaaaannot with the white veiny shit that you can't totally get off when peeling it. Without that, I might actually enjoy them, but idk. As for vegetable, asparagus is absolutely abhorrent. When’s the last time you actually recited the pledge? If you aren’t American, do/did you have anything similar in your country that you do during a time at school? Probably not since high school. Last person you shared food with? Ummm I have no idea. It's really just Mom and me here and we eat our own stuff. What was the last song you heard for the first time and enjoyed? I believe it waaas... "Down In The Park" by Marilyn Manson, maybe. If your life was a TV show, what would be the theme song? My inner high school emo just screamed "All Signs Point to Lauderdale" by AD2R. Who are some of your favorite female fictional characters, and why? Gahdamn, there's a lot. I don't feel like going through a mental list in my head and then describing why. A character (in anything) you wish hadn’t been killed off? Vol'jin; I think the entire WoW fanbase will forever be pissed about it. It was THE most "lul we dunno what 2 do w/ him anymore, let's let a totally random, unnamed, unimportant demon kill him" like what the fuck, Blizz. Most of his "oomph" was in the book, and I just really wish they'd done so much more with him in the game. Has anything “cute” happened in the past week? Off the top of me noggin, no. When did you last say “I love you”? Did you mean it? Yesterday to Sara. OF course I did. Is there someone who pops into your mind at random times? Hi, PTSD, how are ya. Have you ever slept all day? Essentially. When I was on a larger dose of my anxiety med, I physically couldn't stay up for barely even five minutes, and when I'd lie back down, boom, I was OUT. I stayed on that dosage for I think just that one day, it was so bad. Can you have kids? Well, I have a functioning menstrual cycle, so I would assume so. Doesn't mean I will, though. What colors of mascara have you worn on your lashes? Only black. Do you like eating sour things? Hell yeah, I love sour stuff, candy in particular. Do you like pickles? fuuuuck yeah Did you ever have a really close friend move away? Yeah, in elementary school. I feel bad I can't remember her name at the moment... What's the most creative thing you've ever done? I mean, I guess the things I've written in RP. What's the most creative thing someone has done for you? For me? I don't really know. Do you like to watch ghost-hunting shows? Sure, they're some of my favorites. What’s something you’d like to be better at? Social interaction. Have you ever stayed up to talk to someone who was sad? Yeah. Do you think you would make a good parent? No. I know I wouldn't. The only time I ever wanted kids was with Jason, and honestly, I really hope I don't end up with a man because I never want to deal with that urge again and make a mistake. I'm just in no way emotionally fit to be a mother. How many best friends do you have? Just one. What do you cry over the most? My PTSD, honestly. I never sob about it anymore, just shed some tears. What language did/do you take in high school? Latin for one semester, then all four available for German. Which sports do you follow? None. Who was the last person you talked about marriage or having kids with? About marriage, Sara. Kids, the subject was lightly touched upon with Girt, though "with" was never a part of it, but obviously implied seeing as we were dating with long-term in mind. Have you ever been in a house fire? No, thankfully. Have you ever made out for one straight hour? them is rookie numbers Are you any good at remembering phone numbers? No. I literally don't even know my own, nor my mother's. I need to fix that. Who is your best friend of the opposite sex? Girt. Do you have a bookshelf? If so, just one or how many? No. If I gave you twenty bucks what would you do with it? Save it to go towards Venus' terrarium. Is there a movie from your childhood that you still watch today? Well of course! I'm unashamed to watch any "kids" movie I enjoy, like Disney ones. Most "kids" movies tend to be better than those intended for adults, it seems... Are you afraid of mice? Oh no, I adore mice and I think had a pair as pets before I got rats. What type of souvenir do you usually purchase when on vacation? I can't really answer this; I haven't gone on nearly enough vacations to develop a theme. I can say confidently though it'd probably be something small. If you could see any musical on Broadway right now, what would it be? I don't enjoy musicals. Have you ever watched Doctor Who? One or two with Sara, yes. I know we at least watched the weeping angels episode. If you read, which book or series did you enjoy most as a child? Warriors by S.E. Hinton. Sometimes I wanna get back into them, but I am YEARS behind and more into Wings of Fire anyway, so. I don't read nearly enough for both. How do you get rid of your hiccups? Literally no trick seems to work for me. I just suffer lmao.

#survey #surveys #questions

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sharkfish · 3 years

Text

2020 writing summary ✍️

WORDCOUNT: 109,348 FICS POSTED: 10 (*plus a ton of poems)

last year’s summary included my top 5 and bottom 3 (by kudos) fics, but since i only had 10 posted this year, i’m going to list ‘em all with some thoughts!

below the cut to prevent endless scrolling...

a delight for the soul - 24k

No one has ever said Dean is smart, but inviting a client to his home is a new level of idiocy. He tries to counter the mantra of insults inside his head with it’s just Cas, but he wouldn’t be the first professional to get himself killed by a client they thought they knew.

The doorbell rings. It is just Cas, in jeans and a button-up shirt with sleeves rolled up his forearms. Dean’s heart pounds and he goes to his knees on instinct, eyes on the floor.

“Hello, sweetheart."

i returned to the world of bdsm aus (and sex work) and had a great time! dean’s not the kind of sub everyone is looking for, but he’s the perfect sub for cas. <3

boombox & cookies - 17k

“I think I misjudged you,” Castiel says.

Dean shuts and then opens his mouth like an idiot fish. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t do well with alphas and I’m not interested in being flirted with.”

“Hey,” Dean interrupts, “I swear that’s not —”

“Dean.” Castiel’s voice is deep and firm enough to shut Dean up. “I understand that now, but my original assumption was that you’re the kind of aggressive alpha who just wants to get his knot wet. You're not like that."

i won’t wax poetic for the millionth time about how great a/b/o is as a vehicle to explore gender roles, queer identities, etc, but this one goes hard on the whole gender role expectations as well as trauma aftermath... and, of course, an insane amount of sappy fluff.

born right in the doorway - 40k

“Jimmy’s heats aren’t usually as bad as mine, but —” Cas says, then closes his eyes like he’s trying to collect his thoughts. “He’s asking for you.”

“He’s asking for me,” Dean repeats, bewildered. He struggles to ignore the way Cas is obviously hard against the front of his boxer briefs.

“I believe you could make him more comfortable.”

“You guys know there are alpha services, right? It doesn’t have to be me.”

jimmy’s a huge stoner, cas is a trans alpha, dean is a fucking oblivious idiot the whole time, constant mating cycle-related boning, the longest fic (other than riptides) i’ve written in a thousand years... what’s not to love?

love in the time of quarantine - 6k

Dean says, “We should have sex.”

Cas chokes and looks up at him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that.”

“We should have sex,” Dean repeats, carefully enunciating each word. Cas keeps staring at him blankly. “It’s fun and you’re hot. Perfect quarantivity.”

my required “and they were quarantined!” fic for 2020. this one is a rollicking good time with lots of great jokes. and cas is trans, because i’m still on my righteous crusade to fill up the damn trans tags.

most perfect possession (riptides sequel) - 17k & counting

“Hey,” Dean says, grinning. “I kinda like you.”

“And you’re willing to announce it to all of our friends and loved ones.”

“Let’s do this.”

i continued working on the riptides sequel, because these boys will probably never entirely leave me. i love them so much and it has been so great to see what their lives are like as husbands.

punch walk - 1.4k

“Dean Winchester, get down from there.”

“Castiel Winchester, not all of us are clumsy,” Dean says. He’s in love with the stern squint Cas is directing towards him. “Remember that girl who got the first 10 in gymnastics?”

a demo day timestamp where dean hurts himself because he’s an idiot and maybe cas ends up being the one comforted.

reckless, not reason - 6k

“When I requested a — you know. ‘Companion.’ I was just being selfish,” Dean says. “So fucking selfish that I didn’t even think about what it would be like for you.”

“Don’t worry,” Cas says, almost as if from outside himself. “It was either you or someone else. Perhaps someone worse.”

“It’s a big deal to my dad for me to get mated. He’s always trying to match me with some asshole or another, and I — I can’t, Cas.” He drops his head into his hands, rubbing furiously at his eyes. “I’m fucked up, I guess, because I just — I can’t be a mate to someone, not for real. I can’t — consummate, or whatever.”

vaguely based on one of the ace prompts i got way back in summer 2019, i returned to the world of dragons, magic, and consent porn. with a side of john winchester’s A+ parenting.

slow dancing - 5k

Cas is near enough that their chests are nearly pressed together, an arm around Dean with the leather of their glove against his neck. They press close, the song just for Dean’s ears.

I know places we can go, babe/coming home, come unfold, babe/the high won’t fade here, babe/no, the high won’t hurt here, babe.

When Cas sings, everything else disappears. Dean loves magic, as long as Cas’s songs are for him every now and then.

for years i’ve had this idea fiddling in the back of my head based vaguely on the magic in holly black’s curseworker series (incidentally, the main character’s name is cassel lmao) and i finally put something together for it. (i hope to return to this kind of magic idea in the future.) writing this nb cas was also special to me.

suddenly seeing - 3k

Cas stares at his own tentacle as he runs the tip up Dean’s neck, slides it along his jawline, traces the rise of his cheekbone. No one touches Dean like this.

“It’s strange,” Cas says. “Suddenly seeing something beautiful where you couldn’t in the past.”

i’ve always wanted to return to octos and here we are! another fun lil octo fic. it wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last!!

when the wolf comes home - 11k

Daryl isn’t afraid to touch her. He’s afraid of what happens when it’s back to a dim cage and a wire mother. He’s afraid of when she leaves, runs, dies — his whole life, Daryl has watched people spin and burn out, sometimes just their soul and not their body. Life doesn’t treat his kind well and after Merle, he swore he’d never get close to someone again.

Despite all of that, Daryl reaches out and awkwardly slides an arm around Beth’s shoulders.

my first non-spn fic! i never thought i’d write a twd fic but i couldn’t stop thinking about ace daryl and beth in general. i also really liked some of the writing in this which is not something i manage to say very often.

#2020 writing summary #2020 writing tracker #sharkwrites

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catubarca · 5 years

Text

Harry Potter Next Generation Headcanons

im bored. im full of emotions, and am rly missing the HP world... i just want to write down my headcannons for the next gen kiddos tbh.

please remember these are just my opinions? its okay if yours are different. im just bored and want to share my thoughts,,

Teddy Lupin

his name is Theodore Remus “Teddy” Lupin. it’s just what it is

I don’t care what JKR says, to me his name will always be Theodore

i can’t do this “Edward” stuff im so sorry,,,

h u f f l e p u f f

proper school uniform? never heard of it

messy hair, messy clothes

punk rock child

we’re talking like,,,at least two (2) lip piercings ok

absolutely terrible in herbology. do not leave this child alone in a greenhouse, bad things happen

fuckin hoards chocolate

its a problem

dating Victorie Weasley

random bursts of dancing

keeps a lock of hair pink for his mother

lives with the Potters, enjoys pretending to be Ginny to ground his siblings

“Lily, why aren’t you coming out of your room? Dinner’s ready?” “You said I’m grounded! You tell me!” “What? Oh, for the- THEODORE REMUS LUPIN-“

s m i r k s

effortlessly cool,,, but so so dorky,,, in a cool way

Victorie Weasley

ravenclaw!

looks a lot like her mother, Fleur, but inherited those Weasley freckles

a little confused a lot of the time

absolute sweet tooth (teddy abuses this fact a lot)

Mom Friend™

will help you with your homework

always got a book on her

super beautiful and like,,,, the absolute nicest person,,, but

cannot dance

like at all

adores Charms class

a softie you don’t want to cross

“I’m the oldest”

Dominique Weasley

inherited the Classic Weasley Red Hair™

idolises her Uncle Charlie

“I wanna save animals and work with cool dragons, just like Uncle Charlie does!”

Bill almost has a heart attack

always bringing stray animals home

(“is that a lizard in your pocket, Dominique?” “Yes! His name is Blob.” “You know how your father’s afraid of reptiles, sweetheart, you can’t bring it inside.”)

Gryffindor child

favourite class is definitely Care of Magical Creatures, she and Hagrid like to talk about proper care methods for rare creatures

perpetual dirt stains

BIG middle child vibes

doesn’t really label her sexuality… just kinda does what she wants rly

all the pets in Hogwarts love her

rumours are she’s got an innate, natural magical ability to make them all love her

(she feeds them under the table)

it’s a mystery

big advocate for animal rights

f e m i n i s t

willing to throw hands at all times

usually all smiles though

one of those people who use their whole bodies to laugh

kind of an accidental heartthrob

romcoms

Louis Weasley

looks the most like his mother

ravenclaw

absolutely filled with curiosity. always reading or talking or learning

random facts

(how do you even find that sort of information?

you don’t want to know)

coffee boy

sort of musically talented?

he and James Sirius preach the importance of skincare to all who will listen

secretly full of sass and dry wit

vry graceful and fluid

e y e r o l l

awkward smiles? can never smile properly in photos

on the ravenclaw quidditch team

Ravenclaw Prefect

(“You might be older, but I’m taller.” “Fuck off!”)

only watches High Quality™ tv shows/media

kind of a disaster, despite the gracefulness

Molly Weasley

Classic red hair

comes across as a bit uptight, like her father

I don’t care what you think. (She really cares what you think.)

E y e b r o w s

death glares

drinks like 5 cups of coffee in the morning

studies,,, like a lot

definitely a Gryffindor though

mom jeans

always ready to debate a topic. will destroy opponents.

has been trying to start a successful Debate Club for like 4 years now

naturally falls into the position of a group leader

would be a teacher’s pet, if she wasn’t ready At All Times™ to debate the relevancy of the course syllabus or outdated teaching methods

got into a fight with Severus Snape’s portrait in Headmistress McGonagall’s office.

(Dumbledore’s portrait was laughing, until she turned and ragged on him for a bit. Minerva thought it was absolutely hilarious, so she just let Molly go at it for a while).

full of rage towards everything, but wears a very careful mask of aloofness

to calm down, she likes painting her nails

she’s very good at it

she’s also very good at painting and art in general, weirdly enough

Lucy Weasley

G R Y F F I N D O R

adores shitty puns and has a terrible sense of humour

brown hair, not red

loves to prank people, which makes her Uncle George very proud

Percy complains about her behaviour, but makes sure he knows he’s proud too

(charming all the cauldrons in the potions classroom to scream whenever they’re stirred takes a more complex understanding of spell work than one would expect).

a pit of a punk streak

rly loves hip hop

high key drama queen

does she ever stop yelling? we’re yet to find out

average grades in terms of theory, but she’s the best in terms of applying information

especially for her pranks

has allies throughout the castle, from the portraits to the students

the bigger the prank, the better

but is a firm believer in “confuse, don’t abuse”

all her pranks are mostly harmless

is a surprising lover of older literature, like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, an influence of her sister

a bit rebellious

Fred Weasley II

name isn’t officially “the second”, but it sounds cooler

James Potter, Lucy Weasley, Molly Weasley and Fred Weasley are like the Marauders 2.0

says “squad” and “lit” unironically

niche humour

hipster vibes

avid music lover

smiley sunshine child

takes after his mother the most in looks, just like his sister

a chill type of gryffindor

plays quidditch, and is an excellent chaser, just like his mother

the absolute undisputed King™ of puppy-dog eyes

just,,,, beautiful

the True teacher’s pet

hands in his work on time,, asks lots of questions,,, likes helping students understand their work,, what a boy

can hella nyoom

runs so fast

look at him go

as you might expect, loves a good prank. always down for a laugh

Roxanne Weasley

Gryffindor and pROUD

absolute Queen tbh

was definitely Head Prefect or Gryffindor Prefect at some point

loved by the school

absolute legend

G I R L P O W E R

infectious laughter

has a soft spot for Louis Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy

these poor disaster children,,,, they need a Mother

M O M

big mom vibes

mothers the hell out of all the first years

a feminist through and through

can be found nodding aggressively to Molly Weasley’s semi-deranged, furious ranting

YAAAASS

loves slang. uses so much slang. always up to date with trends and memes

has all the gossip

becomes a mess around pretty girls

absolute blushing, stuttering disaster around cute girls oh my god

her eye make-up game is killer

sparkly

Distinguished Lesbian

Rosie Weasley

did someone say Weasley™?

red hair and freckles and curls oh my

on the autism spectrum, has trouble socialising sometimes

hella passionate about stuff

hangs out with Scorpius and Albus, the Golden Trio 2.0

f em ini st

her jokes are the best. high quality sense of humour.

Ravenclaw

likes to read. it’s quiet in the school library, which is nice.

abysmal at herbology

surprisingly good at Care of Magical Creatures though? Animals are just,,, so much easier to deal with

overall, really good grades though

bit of a silent type, but she’s actually a riot to hang out with

actually pretty good at quidditch? She’s not on the team, and she’s not super interested in playing, but?? She’s not bad??

She can land a solid hit with a beater’s bat

(eyes you judgementally over the top of a book)

dry wit humour

will throw hands over chess

Hugo Weasley

hufflepuff

unbeatable at chess, like his dad

a lost puppy

someone please help this child

softie

kind of low-key emotional

so supportive!! and loyal!! high-key best friend material

foodie. loves food. please feed him.

takes a bit more after his dad appearance wise

loves to cook. spends lots of time with grandma Molly and his dad in the kitchen

Professor Longbottom is his favourite professor, because he’s more chilled and laidback.

other professors and classes fill him with Distress™

loves astronomy too

maths whizz, so good at arithmancy

(“uh, actually-“)

a little bossy, like his mother

is trying so hard

maybe a little too hard

a bit insecure and nervous, but so soft

please treat this child carefully and with love

James Sirius Potter

Gryffindor

L O U D

a fucking disaster child

what’d you expect, putting “James” and “Sirius” together?

DRAMATIC GASPING

flails his hands around when he talks

s t r u t s

bisexual mess, had a crush on both the Longbottom children at some point

is better than you at everything

including being a different gender

fuck you that’s why

so pretty

he’s so pretty

is thIS CHILD EVER NOT LAUGHING AT SOMETHING OH My god

laughs at everything

all the time

always

high-key emotional

badly timed finger guns

looks like a model in photos? wtf?

gets invited to Girls Nights™

wears nail polish and makeup

loves to yell at people about gender roles and defying stereotypes

TEA SIS

not on the quidditch team surprisingly enough, even though he’s pretty good

prefers to be in the stands, doing A+ commentary on the games

if he can get Fred to stop mid-air due to unbearable, suffocating laughter at least once a game it’s a win in his books

has it OUT for the hufflepuff quidditch team and no one knows why??

definitely makes puns on his name

it drives everyone insane

harry always replies he’s just making his namesake proud

that also drives everyone insane

smug lil shit

Albus Severus Potter

“It’s just Al.”

S L Y T H E R I N

will always find a way to get what he wants, eventually

“dad, why did you name me this way?”

unimpressed

sigh

hella smart. is topping at least five classes

Aunt Hermione is his favourite. She’s the fucking Mistress of Magic! All that power, the ability to make change and improve the Magical World as a whole-

sass master

the reason headmistress mcgonagall keeps a bottle of scotch under her desk at all times

the only potter child to inherit The Eyes™

absolute insomniac

kind of emo, but turns into a fucking softie around Scorpius Malfoy it’s hilarious

adverse to violence. prefers a verbal beatdown method

really tall? despite having shorties for parents??? no one saw it coming

(especially not Teddy. He’s always scared of losing his last few inches of height)

Functional Gay

he’s on the slytherin quidditch team, as a seeker

Lily Luna Potter

Gryffindor

FEMINIST

do not mess with lily luna potter

she may seem cute and sweet, but she will destroy you

inherited her father’s black hair

disaster lesbian

transfiguration is her favourite subject, by far

has no idea what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

Existential Crisis Father-Daughter Bonding Time™

do you ever sleep?

takes after Ginny the most in personality

also, kind of the most like James Fleamont Potter in personality, too?

Loves to help her brother out with pranks, laughs at him when he gets caught and she gets away with it

The only one of the Potter Children who hasn’t got into a fight with Severus Snape’s portrait

because she just ignores him instead

loves talking to the portraits around the castle

Super good at Quidditch, is on the team as a Chaser

Quidditch Captain at some point

adores Hagrid, but who out of the Potter children doesn’t?

Idolises Minerva McGonagall

just as oblivious as her father

Scorpius Malfoy

Actually in Ravenclaw, not Slytherin, much to many people’s surprise

abSOLUTE DADDY’S BOY

super close with his dad

Draco is just so supportive of like everything he does (unlike his father)

classic blonde malfoy looks

actually really funny?

a cuddler. loves hugs. always leeching warmth off of someone

he and Rosie sometimes finger-tip-touch which is their version of a hug, because he know’s she’s not super comfortable with touch

was basically adopted by the Weasley’s and Potter’s

James Sirius will murder for this child

booknerd, always rambling to Al and Rosie about new books coming out he’s interested in reading.

has had a crush on Albus Potter since like 1st year

always worried about making his dad proud, and keeping up the Malfoy name

sweet tooth

he’s just,, soft. just a warm, happy child. he wants love, and affection. someone tell him he’s doing okay, please.

needs,,, validation,,,

he’ll tell you out loud that he has no favourite aunts or uncles, but he secretly really likes spending time with his Uncle Ron

they had a talk, once, in like the middle of the night at a sleepover with Rosie and Al, about feeling insecure in comparison to others, and learning to be proud of yourself for your achievements

there were a few tears, but it was nice

Ron was actually the third person he told, besides his dad and Rosie, about having a crush on Al

openly a disaster romantic. trash taste in romance novels.

always welcome in the Potter-Weasley households

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radramblog · 3 years

Text

Objectively correct pokemon randomiser options

Randomisers have become a pretty popular thing in the pokemon community in the last couple years, especially with the the newer version of the UPR by Ajarmar allowing Gen VI/VII games to enter the mix more easily. Thus I present to those unfamiliar, the objectively best opinions about how to make your randomiser fun and not shitty.

You can find the current versions of the Universal Pokemon Randomiser here.

Base Stats: Look I’ve tried doing randomised base stats and it’s kinda miserable. Don’t recommend it, if only so you still have an idea what you’re working with.

EXP Curves: This one’s up to you, to be honest, but it is 100% necessary to activate some version of this if you want to randomise evolutions- otherwise, a Pokemon can only evolve into something with the same EXP curve, severely limiting what it can end up being.

Types: Similar to Base Stats. I don’t really enjoy having to relearn every single pokemon’s types, especially when randomisation means you don’t have design cues to go off.

Abilities: Surely keep it all random. Half the fun of this is seeing some random thing end up with Huge Power or something. With that in mind, I’d allow Wonder Guard, but it can lead to unwinnable situations earlygame and that’s no fun for anyone. Also, I’m not sure what the point of “follow mega evolutions” is seeing as half of them normally change abilities anyway.

Evolutions: Randomising this one can be fun, but it isn’t something I usually run with. Having a mon just chain evolutions over and over is very silly- surely leave limit evolutions unchecked. Regardless, I recommend changing Impossible Evolutions in every case just so you don’t have to finangle with emulator trading to get your Alakazam or whatever.

Starters: If you click unchanged I’m wondering what the actual point of this is for you. Completely vs basic with 2 evos is up to you, though normally I do the latter- I don’t want to start with something completely overpowered. The custom option is great if you just don’t change anything else, making it probably the easiest way to make a solo run/custom starter game possible.

Statics: Similar Strength is a new option here. Similar to the last one, I think it’s up in the air whether complete randomness or swapping standards/legends is better, as while Rayquaza being a Metapod is hilarious, it also means you’ve just wasted a lot of time.

In-Game Trades: I mean it’s not like you usually go for these anyway, so why not, give it a go, fuck it. It can look real funny sometimes.

Move Data: It’s like with typing man. I’ve seen people have fun with this, but I don’t want to have to keep notes when I’m doing my randomiser, yknow. I just don’t have fun with this one.

Movesets: Random same type is my usual, but I notice it tends to lead to getting not a whole lot of coverage. Game-breaking moves is mostly just Dragon Rage, considering how broken that is earlygame. It’s worth noting that randomizing moves at all has a check to ensure every mon starts with at least one usable attacking move, so I tend not to bother forcing it to have more moves or forcing damaging moves. Evolution Moves is a Gen 7 exclusive thing, and I kinda like the idea, so fuck it why not.

Trainers: The first Big One. Random and Type Themed are both viable, and I think even distribution just makes it so you aren’t fighting 100 Pidgeys or whatever. I like the rival carrying the starter. Similar Strength and Don’t use Legendaries are for cowards. I like bumping up levels a bit since randomly having legends everywhere means you are getting more EXP yourself, and forcing fully evolved makes sure it’s a bit more challenging. Double Battle Mode is something I haven’t tried but I’m keen to. Shinies and Trainer (class) names are fun just aesthetic so why not- its worth noting you can meddle with the settings so you can add in your own custom names and such.

Totems: I don’t have any experience with Alola randomisers at all, actually, so this is just my best guess.

Wilds: The other Big One. Catch-em-all mode is good if you’re intending to actually complete the dex, and such. Time Based Encounters are fun if you’re playing, like, casually? But most of the time that isn’t what you’re doing in a rando. Setting minimum catch rate is something I do if only so things like starters or Beldum don’t have stupid low rates, but I prefer not to bump it up too much.

TMs/HMs/Tutors: Levelup move sanity just ensures that it can learn the move by TM/Tutor if it gets it already by level. Random same type just makes the most sense to me, though leaving it unchanged can be funny- whatever Toxic or Return gets replaced by are just learnable by everything, for example. Full Compatibility just feels too powerful to me.

Items: RNGsus take the wheel. There really isn’t much more to do with this.

Special Shops: This refers to the second shop assistant in some Marts in Generations 4+. Having some of the spicier options available is good, and I don’t want to see regular shit in there, so I’ve given these options. I do think that having all the evolution items available somewhere is for the best.

Misc: Instant Text is cool and good, we’ve all seen the plot dialogue before. Banning Lucky Egg is for cowards. All Wilds calling allies is a Gen VII exclusive and is also obnoxious as shit, don’t use it if you like catching things. Don’t revert temporary forms is hilarious, it means you can just catch Megas and such in the wild and have them actually work.

#ramble #pokemon

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lnane · 4 years

Note

I’m gonna be super annoying and ask for the questions in increments of 5 (as in 5,10,15,20 etc) haha please don’t hate me

youre not annoying! i like doing this. i could never hate you, youre too cool <3

5: What does your latest text message from someone else say?

“yes”

10: When is the last time you played the air guitar?

i dont think ive ever actually played the air guitar. i dont play air instruments, like at all. at most i drum on things

15: Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

honestly it doesnt really matter much. on one hand i like attention, and performing and such. but on the other i also like taking photos of people and things, and being helpful and stuff.

for the sake of the question id say in front

20: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

my greatest weakness is probably my instinct to isolate myself from everyone else and refusal to depend on others for help. i always want to be indepentant and i dont know how to ask for help, let alone how to not feel like a bother while doing so. so i often end up just sitting alone not certain what to do.

my greatest strenght is probably that im very funny and sexy as fuck and that i try to treat people with kindness no matter where i go B)

25: Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

talking on the phone, easily. both tire me but video chatting can be extremely exhausting. idk why theres a difference. either way after i always end up zoning out and not being able to pay much attention or distracted and just being silent in general after a while, especially if theres several people on call.

30: Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.

wall.

air or bed

35: To you, what is the meaning of life?

have fun. do anything that makes you feel fullfilled and happy while causing as little harm to others. the goal of your life should be to, at the end of it, be able to look back and genuinely say “i lived a good life. i am happy with this”. regrets and pain will exist in it, but as long as it has been good for you, overall, you have suceeded.

40: Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

i dont have a drivers license for a car, but ive had a license for mopeds and tractors since i was 15 (which is when you can get em here in sweden).

ive not really crashed (which is surprising considering how often i basically slept on the moped), but before i got my license and the first time i sat on a moped i drove into a ditch. ive also fallen over a couple times when trying to park.

45: What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

i have no idea. i think i would say that one time when i was like. 6? 7? something like that and fell from my bed when jumping around playing and hit my forehead on one of the pole things on the bedframe, which was square. still have a visible scar from it.

50: Do you believe in magic?

idk. i want to, but theres also nothing proving its real. im sorta agnostic about it. it can be real and ive just not seen it yet, or its not real. either way, im not gonna know for certain until i see it myself.

55: Love or lust?

i want love, but i think i lust more

60: Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?

oh yes. perfume bottles, pride flags, paint, books, a giftbag, letters, needles, paper, a big dragon eraser, probably way more but im not gonna search my entire room for it

65: Give me your top 5 favourite blogs on Tumblr.

oh geez i suck at and hate this kinda thing. im gonna skip this one :)

70: Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?

i dont think i am what i ideally want out of a friend, but i do think i am the kind of person that i could get along with and be friends with. we would never talk outside of like, physical meetings tho.

75: What are the last four digits in your cell phone number?

4778

80: What size shoes do you wear?

42-43 depending on the shoe i think (keep in mind i am swedish we use a different system from yall americans and yall brits)

85: What’s the last song you listened to?

i am currently, as of im writing this question, listening to Alone by The Mowgli’s

by the time ive finished answering to all the questions im listening to Moscow by Autoheart (its such a good song i had to add it)

90: One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren’t really doing anything, they’re just standing around your bed. What do you do?

try to shoo them out probably. they gotta stink and i dont want their dirt in my room, its enough with mine and the dogs

95: You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

ive answered this one already but ill answer it again! finland. wanna give archie a hug and maybe a kiss on the cheek if theyll let me

#long post #ask thingys answered #hehe this was fun

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pixelgrotto · 4 years

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Ladies and lords of Waterdeep

From April of 2019 to June of 2020, I ran Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, a Dungeons & Dragons campaign for levels 1-5, for two groups - a party of three gals and a party of six guys. This was a tricky undertaking - mostly because as written, Dragon Heist is kind of a mess (more on that in a sec) - but also because I had to balance an adventure for two very different audiences that really only shared the commonality of being filled with D&D newbies. It was a worthwhile endeavor, though, and looking back on the experience reveals some interesting food for thought on how to remix an adventure, as well as how some ladies and gents experience roleplaying games differently.

First, let me briefly discuss the adventure itself. Dragon Heist is meant to be an urban outing set in the Forgotten Realms metropolis of Waterdeep, which I described to my New York-dwelling players as “pretty much a fantasy version of NYC.” Over the course of five levels, players inherit and possibly renovate an old tavern, catch wind of an ancient heap of gold beneath the city and run into a bunch of important figures from Forgotten Realms history, ranging from Laeral Silverhand to Volothamp Geddarm. All of that’s epic, and the only issue is that the adventure’s laid out in a pretty shoddy way.

There are four chapters in Dragon Heist, and the first is the only one that can be run with a minimum of hacking on the part of the Dungeon Master. The other three present a so-called “toolbox” of vague ideas for missions with Waterdeep’s various adventuring factions, as well as middling advice for scenes like a rooftop chase and a battle with a chain devil in a crypt, but it’s all highly disorganized with a minimum of connective tissue, requiring heavy lifting on the DM’s part to stitch together. The book is also rife with excessive red herrings for players to stumble upon as they search for the treasure trove, way too many characters with overly long names, and last but not least, there’s a lack of an actual “heist” in the grand finale, which is more scavenger hunt than Ocean’s Eleven.

With all these criticisms, why did I choose to run this book for not one, but two different groups at the same time? It was largely because I’d just finished playing through Dragon Heist with my own character - a mask-wearing teenage street urchin who fancied herself a swashbuckler. I’d had a more-enjoyable-than-not time with the folks I played with, but the guy who DMed had a habit of sending us on the aforementioned red herrings for multiple sessions at a time, with nary an interesting combat encounter or social challenge in sight. I don’t really blame him for this - especially seeing at how poorly the book was laid out afterwards - but immediately after finishing, I was approached by two friend groups who wanted to try their hand at D&D, and this gave me the excuse to see if I could do a better job.

Since I already had a clear example of which pitfalls to avoid, the version of Dragon Heist that I ran heavily remixed all of the elements in the book, with an emphasis on streamlining whenever possible and always making it feel like my players were accomplishing something. This is usually my underlying philosophy whenever I run a game, but it’s an essential strategy for newbies who might be driven off of roleplaying games altogether by bad pacing. For instance, as written, there’s an annoying series of fetch quests near the end of the story where players have to find a number of keys in order to open the hidden treasure vault. These keys are random as heck, ranging from semi-sensible McGuffins like a bronze dragon scale to bonkers junk like a ballad played by two dwarven bards and a friggin’ unicorn. This whole exercise in randomness reminded me of the worst of video game filler, and I cut it out entirely by having the son of the man who hid the treasure accompany the characters, with a drop of his blood activating the magic needed to open the vault’s doors. (This also led to an amusing situation where the guys were stuck as they ruminated on how to open the vault...until the dude playing the goliath suddenly shouted, “I GRAB RENAER’S HAND, CUT IT AND SMEAR THE BLOOD ALL OVER THE DOOR!” and I was like, “Okay. It...opens!”)

Because my players were nearly all D&D virgins, I also wanted them to get their money’s worth by encountering all four of Dragon Heist’s villains - Xanathar the beholder, the devil-worshipping Cassalanter nobles, Manshoon the cloned wizard and Jarlaxle the drow rogue. As written, Dragon Heist touts itself as highly replayable, since DMs are only supposed to choose one villain for their players to go up against. The problem is that all of the bad guys are teased on the cover, and the beginning chapters dangle most of them into the narrative with the players caught in the middle. This created a lot of confusion when I was a player, as my companions and I kept hearing about Xanathar and Manshoon...only for them to suddenly disappear halfway through as Jarlaxle took center stage as the big bad. And so, in order to circumvent this confusion and make both the boys and the girls feel like they were getting a quintessential experience with a minimum of loose ends, I threw in all the baddies. (I wasn’t the only one to do this - tabletop RPG designer Justin Alexander also recommends this approach on his blog The Alexandrian, where he offers an impressive revision of Dragon Heist that I probably would’ve used if I hadn’t discovered it too late.)

So, when it came down to actually rolling dice, how’d my two groups interact with the material? I think it’s safe to say that both the girls and the boys hit the same major story beats and had a grand time doing so, but the nuances of their experiences were fascinatingly different. The girls, for instance, dove into the art of roleplaying and devising histories for their characters, and one of them decided to play as an elf from a seafaring clan and gave me a whole backstory involving the ocean that inspired my “final boss” for Dragon Heist, an evil, decaying dragon from the Elemental Plane of Water that isn’t in the book. (Hey, it’s called Dungeons & Dragons, the story’s named Dragon Heist, and since I wasn’t sure if all of my players would stick around for future campaigns, I figured I’d better stick a notable battle with a big scaly lizard in there somewhere.)

The girls also got way more into some of the social justice subplots that permeated my version of Dragon Heist, pushing hard for Waterdeep to remove the anti-dragon magic bubble that surrounded the city and excluded an entire species from its borders. Their interactions with non-player characters - often progressing along the lines of “well, if you feel like you want us to do this quest for you, then we certainly can” - reflected this sort of empathy, and even though this sounds incredibly stereotypical, by the time the final session wrapped up, all three of the gals had either shipped or flirted with NPCs that they’d encountered during their journey. One of ‘em even ended up hitched with a baby!

The boys, by contrast, were much less likely to devise in-depth character histories beyond “I’M IN THIS CITY TO GET MY MONEY,” and their NPC conversations also frequently waded into “GIMME MY GOLD” territory. I don’t want to make it sound like their characters were just two dimensional mercenaries, though, because definite, organic progression occurred over the course of the campaign - the goliath who couldn’t read gradually worked his way through Volo’s Guide to Monsters and became fluent in Celestial after joining the Order of the Gauntlet, for instance.

Where the boys clearly felt more at home than the girls was in combat, probably because 1) there were six of them as opposed to the three ladies, and 2) they collectively had lots of video game knowledge, and D&D’s influence has kinda trickled down to every video game ever made. It didn’t take long for some of the dudes to begin subconsciously min/maxing their characters, and while there were two major deaths in unpredictable boss fights, the boys did go through a long period where they were just steamrolling everything to come their way and yelling, “LET’S FUCKIN’ GOOOO” as they did so. In contrast, DMing for the girls during combat sequences was occasionally a nail-biting experience where I didn’t know who was going to survive, and since some of this was due to my own slapdash encounter design where I underestimated the abilities of the monsters they were up against, I made sure to give them lots of friendly NPCs who could potentially offer a helping hand, or even resurrection spells if needed.

Both groups were aware of the other’s existence, and I’d sometimes playfully pit them against one another. (Example: The guys often forgot who was who, and one time one of ‘em looked down at his character sheet and was like, “MY NOTES ARE SUCH SHIT” which made me respond, “Well, y’know the girls take really good notes...”) But at the end of the campaign, when my players asked me which party was more fun to DM for, my answer was that both groups were great. The girls were bursting with imaginative roleplay, and they gave me real moments of glee as they responded to story twists with the legitimate surprise and wonder that comes from people who aren’t already overexposed to fantasy tropes and gaming culture. The boys gave me that feeling of what some fans affectionately call “beer & pretzels D&D,” where you’re shooting the breeze with your buddies, playfully teasing each other and going for broke in combat encounters.

I want to stress that the ladies I DMed for were absolutely not representative of how all women might approach D&D, and the exact same thing must be said for the fellas. This was no planned sociology or gender studies experiment that I conducted, in other words - it was merely a thing that I did with two friend groups, and the resulting experiences were two opposite yet totally valid sides of the same RPG coin. And while I doubt that I’ll run the same campaign in the future for two different groups at once (let alone a campaign as wonky as Dragon Heist), I like to think that as someone who tries to advocate for how roleplaying games can be fun, welcoming experiences for all, I played a small role (hah) in bringing swords, sorcery and storytelling to the lives of people who might not have experienced such imaginative forays otherwise.

Already, both the gals and the guys are whipping up ideas for future characters and checking out stuff like Critical Role...which means that my work here, at least for the moment, is done.

#pixel grotto #musings #tabletop gaming #dungeons & dragons #d&d #waterdeep: dragon heist

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inikavulpixelreviews · 5 years

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Let’s Talk About Pokemon - The Bug Type

Oh boy, it is indeed TIME for the finale of all these type reviews. Covering my absolute favorite type of them all: Bug!

I had always had a loving fascination with insects and arthropods since I was a young child. I'd not be shy to let them crawl on me so long as they weren't outright menacing like a particularly dangerous spider or some variety of ant with some mean chompers. I was THAT KID that caught caterpillars, fed them until they became butterflies, and then let them go. The kid that tried (and sadly failed) to keep an ant farm. I only kill bugs in my house that are being particularly invasive (and even then I always feel awful doing it); the rest I just escort outside. I don't care what any “whoa kill it with FIRE!!!!” kinda commenter says, spiders are pretty much welcome to stay in my room.

How sad is it that as I see it, one of the perks of having an outdoors day-job is I regularly get to make friends with insects?

Point is, bugs are good. They're good for the environment, and important to Pokemon's history itself. The man credited with creating Pokemon, Satoshi Tajiri, cited the major inspiration for Pokemon being his childhood memories of collecting bugs. OF COURSE bug would get its own dedicated element in this sort of RPG! As well as being one of the more populated types in the series.

It's just sad that it's not exactly THE most meta type out there. It's weak to a lot of types that are bad to be weak to like Fire, Rock, and Flying, but don't have much in the way of resistances or type advantages. The one real perk they have resistance-wise is blocking Fighting. They're at least good against some types that are handy to have a counter to. Either way, I pretty much CAN'T go a whole playthrough without picking up a bug buddy. It's impossible.

It also comes to light to me that, when you look over the whole roster of buggies like this, it turns out not one Bug is really designed to be “gross” or unappealing outright. I mean, I guess shed cicada skin can be uncomfortably crusty to the touch, but other than that, hmm. Nah, the closest we get is “arthropod menace” and that's about it. How do was have a COCKROACH Pokemon in the series at this point and the type is more or less squeaky clean as ever?! I guess I kinda do appreciate that Gamefreak rather legitimately celebrates insects as some really neat and fascinating creatures. Bugs aren't gross, they're cool! Bugs aren't nasty, they're neat! It's heartwarming to know a series as big as Pokemon sees insects and arthropods in more or less the same light as I do. Heck, I'm sure you could credit the series to warming up PLENTY of other people to be less squeamish toward bugs. Or at the very least think twice before they go squashing one that's minding its own business.

...That said, I wouldn't say no to them making more gross-looking bugs.

Top 10 Favorite Bug Types:

HNNNGH. This is too difficult. I can't. I gotta highlight more.

The Other Top Favorites:

There. My heart is a little more at peace now.

The Bottom 10 Least Favorite Bug Types:

Okay Fine

The 10 Bug Types I Wish Were A Little Bit Better:

Because the only Bugs in the whole type that just outright aren't my jam are Volbeat and Illumise, and that's it. The rest have just a little tidbit or two that I'd change or do a slight redesigning outright to get em to be up to par with other Bugs. Additional mention to Mega Heracross just because I'd almost rather Mega Heracross was its own, unique Pokemon instead of an alternate form of Heracross.

The Cutest:

Gen 5 is so good with adorable Bugs oh my goodness.

The Coolest:

The Prettiest:

The Spookiest:

...See what I mean? There is a CRIMINAL lack of spooky bugs in the Bug type!

Weirdest/Most Unique:

Shuckle is still a mystery.

Most Inventive Use of the Type:

How many times have I gushed about Shedinja's design throughout this whole review series? It's hard to make “the fact that it's a Bug” a real inventive thing by itself since it's a rather matter-of fact state of being for monsters like this. But these bunch in particular REALLY take advantage of their bughood and really show the designers at Gamefreak did their homework or just in general had some really neat ideas. Araquanid being a reverse of a real-life diving bell spider, a mosquito that sucks blood to increase its FLEXING capabilities, a cockroach that is a self-grooming neat freak just like real cockroaches are. Escavalier and Accelgor lumped together because of their specific interaction reflecting a real-life interaction between a beetle and its snail prey; albeit the ending is a little bit happier for this snail than in real life. Kricketune is a sadly unsung little stroke of minor genius in how a violin beetle gets to actually BE a violinist that plays its own violin body. Kricketune's just overshadowed by its own memey cry, sadly.

The Buggiest of them All:

I'm always perfectly fine with stylized body types when it comes to bugs, but I can also take a moment to appreciate the Bug types that are convincingly insectoid. Plus y’know. It helps when the odd bug type has the correct number of legs.

BUG TYPE WISH LIST:

NOTE: These Type Wishlists were written out before any news on new Pokemon from Sword and Shield. The Pokemon revealed over time will not affect these wishlists. Just to present them unaltered despite spoilers and in the interest of getting the wishlist out there, and to see which items on said wishlists get fulfilled by Sword and Shield!

[Inhale]

A Grasshopper/Cricket:

Despite their english names, Kricketot and Kricketune aren't actually crickets, but are actually moreso designed after beetles. So we've still yet to have any true orthoptera species of insect in Pokemon yet!! And that is a CRIME because Grasshoppers and Crickets are criminally underrated just because they're fairly common insects. God I could comprise of list of just some neat orthoptera I like. You could even kill two birds with one stone here by having an inter-species evolutionary line where a cricket evolves into a grasshopper!

Termites:

I'm still bummed Durant's evolutionary path is painfully underwhelming compared to actual ants. Where's like, the Queens?! And big-headed Majors?!? Either an expansion of Durant's current forms or a new set of Termite-mons would be really nice!

A Fly:

How weird is it that we've still yet to get a common house fly?! We technically have Cutiefly, but I'd love to see a more traditional-looking house fly. Or any other number of fly species if you're feeling adventurous!

A More Traditional Mosquito:

Buzzwole is absolute gold and I don't at all mind it, but I'm still feeling a bit of an itch (hah) for a more traditional looking mosquito. My first shot at making a mosquito monster in the form of my own Fakemon was incorporating the aquatic larval form as a scuba-diver that eventually evolves into a water-drinking and squirting big mosquito. MAINLY because I didn't think Gamefreak would ever even slightly elude to blood if they ever made a mosquitomon, yet here we are.

A Wheel Bug/Assassin Bug in general:

I just point out Wheel Bugs because they're easily my favorite kind of assassin bug, distinguished by the big gear-shaped hump on their back. But I'd love any assassin bug, really. Just look at their goofy faces.

A Giraffe Weevil:

I'm sure tons of people have seen pictures of this thing around the internet. And if you still haven't there it is. You will lay your eyes on this stupid thing and you will immediately understand why we needed a Giraffe Weevil Pokemon like, four generations ago.

A Bombardier Beetle:

While it may not look like much of the surface, this beetle is packing a venomous spray that it ejects from its abdomen to ward off predators! We could always use more Bug/Fire types, so why not pick this thing up and a flame-spewing or actual-bomb-chucking beetle!

A Dragonhead Caterpillar:

There is an irritating lack of insectoid dragons in the Pokedex that are actually classified as insects. You passed up DRAGONflies multiple times, guys! So fine, I guess I gotta pull out a more obscure wish; one of these bad boys! The Dragonhead Caterpillar is easily one of the sickest looking caterpillars out there, and totally befitting a Bug/Dragon type as is! The one sad thing about this is, like the antlions, it's another case where something's larval stage is a lot more neat looking than its adult form; for A Dragonhead Caterpillar would eventually become one of these:

...Yeah, while the Plain Nawab is pretty, its significantly less impressive looking than its caterpillar form, huh? Still no reason you couldn't just elect to give us a draconian butterfly while you're also at it! I guess I wouldn't be TOO upset even if an official Pokemon version of this bug wound up with a more fun base stage than its final stage.

Any Wooly Caterpillar:

I don't care which one you pick, a big ol fuzzy caterpillar is something CRIMINALLY missing from Pokemon at the moment!!

A Devil's Flower Mantis:

Mantids are some of the micro-world's coolest monsters. It's a shame then that the three mantid monsters in Pokemon so far are 1. A lizard with some mantis parts on, 2. More of a lobster, and 3. Not actually a mantis. And that sadly the latter means orchid mantids are out. While I'd be overjoyed to see any new mantis Pokemon, I think a Devil's Flower Mantis would be my personal go-to for a new mantis. It's just so god dang WICKED looking!

This Mind-Controlled Snail:

Because this thing has to be demonstrated in gif form to really portray the oddity of what's going on here. Although, the description is on the gross side, so here's a fair warning to skip past if you're squeamish.

This particular species of parasitic flatworm preys on snails. When they're eaten up by these unsuspecting mollusks, they'll soon find themselves getting their brain taken over by the pulsating worms that wriggle inside the snail's now-bloated eyestalks precisely to make the snail more enticing to birds to eat. Not only that, but the parasite also hijacks the snail's brain. Snails normally prefer damp and dark areas where they're relatively well-hidden away from any predators. These parasites force the snail into bright and wide-open areas like the tops of bushes specifically to make it as easy a meal as possible. They multiply in the bird's stomach before beginning the cycle anew when the bird, ahem, “drops” them off.

Obviously there's a lot of parallels to draw here from this and Parasect. But heck to it if I'd say no to a new, freaky mind-controlled hypno-snail. It'd be such a cool effect on an ingame model to see their eyes pulsating in color. You could even go ahead and make it a candidate for our first Bug/Psychic type!

A Stick Bug:

It's not super pressing that one gets in. I just think stick bugs are neat.

A Black Widow:

I know we got Ariados, but something feels missing from the spider roster in that we don't have a traditional creepy crawly-type spider. A Black Widow is about the most stereotypically creepy spider out there, but I'd love to see it for its potential either way.

A Peacock Spider:

One more spider while we're on the subject of spiders. And offset a spooky spider with a cute one! There's all sorts of fun takes to have on a peacock spiders.

A Pelican Spider:

No hold up. Wait a second. One more spider because I had literally discovered this thing as I was writing this very list. Look at this thing. Look at this spider. What the hell. What the actual hell. What is happening. What. I want one now.

APPARENTLY this Pelican Spider is a species of spider that specifically evolved to eat other spiders. Its weirdly long “neck” and extended mandibles are designed to keep its prey at a long length away from itself so they the spiders it catches can't retaliate with their own bites. That's so neat. I could see how you can intemperate that into a gameplay sense; make it specialize in biting moves and have an ability that makes all biting moves no longer make contact. Maybe that's not HUGE but.

A Dobsonfly:

Again, no pressing reason I can think of other than dobsonfly are underrated, and getting a nice Pokemon to go with em would be cool.

Gah, there's probably a good billion or so I could continue to think up but I SUPPOSE it's gotta stop at some point.

“How on Earth did we wind up with some internet person talking about insects for about half an hour's worth of reading?”

ANYWAY, that's the final of the type reviews. Sword and Shield are just two weeks away, believe it or not. It’ll be a while before I’m back into the funk of making reviews. As I’ve said before, I’d like to take a month or two to really absorb all the new Pokemon they have on offer. For a brief little preview-opinion, the new Pokemon are overall pretty dang good so far. There’s already a couple I’ll be excited to talk about, but if preview event-goers are to be believed, there's’ apparently a TON of new Pokemon to look forward to.

ANYWAY Future-talk:

I dunno if I’ll do something in the meantime review-wise. I would go back to look at the recently discovered Beta Pokemon from Red and Green and Gold and Silver, but I feel like I’ve not got a ton to add to that conversation in particular. (Literally the only hot take I can really come up with is the Baby Vulpix is kinda lame)

I MIGHT look into doing character design reviews for some non-Pokemon properties. I felt like it was eventually gonna happen at some point, I’m just not sure about it happening YET given SwSh are so close and once I’m ready for those reviews I’d have to put the non-Pokemon project on hold. Tell me what sorta series y’all would like to hear my thoughts on for character design. My personal biggest candidates are looking at the creatures from the Pikmin series, the various boss characters from all the various Mega Man games, and looking over the Champions from League of Legends, as well as reviewing the monster cards of Yu-Gi-Oh.

Mega Man would probably be the easiest. Robot Masters don’t exactly require deep analysis to critique their designs. (Though that wouldn’t stop me from getting rambly.) It wouldn’t be until the X, Zero, ZX, and Battle Network/Starforce series that the designs get crazy detailed.

YGO and Pikmin would be easy too, the only issue would be figuring out a format for what order to do them in.

League would easily be the hardest to do. Cause being the completionist that I am, I would want to cover EVERYTHING. Old versions of the characters, NEW versions, as well as every single skin. The problem is figuring out an order to put it all in. The easiest would just to do iit in alphabetical order and cover the skins of each champ as we come across them. But I’d ideally like to do everything in chronological order. Start with the first 40 champions and then pan out to cover each one in order of release, skins included. It’s just really difficult to find a consistent timeline on League content, especially for skins. I dunno. That’d be something I’d have to look into.

Either way, no matter what I end up going with, I’ll see you next time!

[Archive]

#Pokemon #bug type #The Bug Type #Pokemon Reviews

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