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sci-fiworlds · 1 year

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A Sci Fi Worlds Interview with Richard Freeman

Richard Thomas: Welcome back! Thanks for agreeing to do part II of this special two-part text interview. Part I for Room 101 got a lot of great feedback so I'm sure the BoA readers will be looking forward to this one.

Richard Thomas: Here here!

The two most successful monsters have to be the Daleks and Cybermen. What are some of your favorite stories featuring them and did you get goose bumbs like me when they finally faced off in Doomsday?

Richard Freeman: I always thought the Daleks were better than the Cybermen. Cybermen have no emotions and hence cannot be evil. Daleks are all that is worst about humanity boiled down into its most intense form. This with their totally inhuman form and tank like invulnerability make them very frightening. A Dalek kills for spite not logic. The best Cyberman story I think was the recent Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel. They finally looked like they could actually do some damage for once, rather than just looking like men in silver suits. Once again, of course, the woefully poor Star Trek ripped off another Doctor Who monster with their pathetic looking Borg. The Cybermen have been around since 1966 and would kick the Borg's collective arse! I loved Army of Ghosts / Doomsday. The return of the Daleks at the end of the first episode is my favorite cliffhanger in the show's history. The fight was a forgone conclusion though. We all knew who would win in a Dalek / Cyberman punch up. The bitchy banter between them was great!

Richard Thomas: One of the best remembered monsters of the black and white era has to be the Yeti robots of the Great Intelligence. Later in the series, the Loch Ness monster appeared in Terror of the Zygons. Personally I think this is great because it gets the young viewers interested in these topics, but as a cryptozoologist what are your thoughts on mixing fact with fiction?

Richard Freeman: Doctor Who, and the Jon Pertwee years in particular were my inspiration to become a cryptozoologist. The show was my first real exposure to monsters. I don't mind mixing fact with fiction as long as it is stated that it is fiction. I don't like 'mockumentories' that try to pass themselves off as real investigations. There have been a couple of really bad Loch Ness programs. One built up the idea of the monster as a prehistoric marine reptile then tried to make itself look clever by saying how such a creature could not live in Loch Ness. Ergo the program's message was that the monster, if it existed, had to be a plesiosaur. Plesiosaurs could not live in Loch Ness so there was no such thing as the Loch Ness Monster. This is bollocks. Nobody who has seriously studied the phenomena thinks the monster is a plesiosaur. The smart money is on some kind of huge fish possibly a giant eel.

As for mystery apes, I think the orang-pendek of Sumatra will be found first as its jungle habitat shrinks. These small, upright apes will often enter semi-cultivated areas near to villages. The mighty Yeti, in the vastness of its remote mountain forests, will probably escape discovery for quite some time.

As for a setting there could be many choices. I could base it around the Chinese legend of the Ying-lung, a winged dragon who killed the Chinese god of war (distorted memories of the battle with the Time lords). Or I could set it in modern day Japan as a tribute to the Godzilla films. Huge dragons rampage through Tokyo and create thought form servants that recall the yokai (ghosts and monsters of Japanese legend) such as the kappa, tengu, mouryo, oni, yunki-onna and so on. Or I could set it in rural England where a Wicker Man style cult worshiping a slumbering dragon plan to awaken it.

Richard Thomas: Two monsters rumored to be returning sometime soon are the Silurians and their aquatic cousins the Sea Devils, the original reptilian rulers of planet Earth. If you were writing their return story what would you do?

Richard Freeman: I would have the Tardis land in what the Doctor thinks is modern day London only to find that it is a tropical jungle full of dinosaurs. The Sea Devils and Silurians now rule the Earth and are doing a better job of it than humans!

Richard Thomas: While on the topic of Doctor Who's Earth Reptiles, what are your thoughts on Mac Tonnies' controversial cryptoterrestrial hypothesis?

Richard Freeman: I had never heard of the guy before you mentioned him. I have never bought the extraterrestrial hypothesis. The so-called 'aliens' are generally too humanoid looking to have evolved on another biosphere. If 'alien' encounters are objective events (and that's a big if) I think the creatures are coming through time or dimensions rather than from outer space. There seems to be a strange analogue with fairy lore as well.

Richard Thomas: That's probably the most likely scenario but I wouldn't rule out the idea that Mars might have been colonized by an advanced civilization millions of years ago. Kind of like the backstory to the Pyramids of Mars. Why not remind our readers again about your upcoming books and stuff.

Richard Freeman: I have two books out now, Dragons; More than a Myth? from CFZ Press and Explore Dragons from Heart of Albion. My new book The Great Yokai Encyclopedia; an A to Z of Japanese Monsters will be out later this year from CFZ Press. You can follow my cryptozoological expeditions at www.cfz.org.uk

Richard Thomas: Thanks mate, hope we can do this again sometime.

READ RICHARD THOMAS'S SCI-FI WORLDS COLUMN FOR BINNALL OF AMERICA

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architectnews · 3 years

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arch8 Re-Vision competition 2021

arch8 Re-Vision Design Competition, 2021 Contest, Architectural Prize News

arch8 Re-Vision Design Competition 2021

1 July 2021

arch8 Re-Vision Competition

RE-VISION

We laughed, we cried, we raged against the dying of the light, which was the ending of our favorite shows. Sitcoms have been there since the dawn of tv… From a CRT television to a flat-screen to our laptops to all-powerful OTT platforms, sitcoms have come a long way. But there is always that one show, that one sitcom you can watch over and over. Whether it’s before you go to bed, during your meals, or after finishing the most boring assignment ever.

The one with a character you admire, the one whose dialogues are like your second language, you got the idea… Right! We’ve seen it so often that we are aware of all the details. So what if we tell you that now you can change it and show people your perspective. Show them how it could have been if these sitcoms were shot in this day and age with you as their interior designer. So now, you’ll have the same people as before but with the needs of today’s world.

Whenever we propose a design for our clients, we try to incorporate every requirement of them. But our ideas are based more on our experiences and less on the profiles of the users. Because well, for God’s sake we just met them!! So if we are provided the possibility of knowing our client inside out, can we now propose the best-suited design for them? (Of course, we can!)

Having said that, ARCH8 is here with yet another competition for you all, this time an interior designing competition. We shortlisted 3 most famous sitcoms of all time: Friends, Big Bang Theory, and How I Met Your Mother.

Re-design any one of the following apartments:

1. Monica and Rachel’s apartment 2. Joey and Chandler’s apartment 3. Sheldon and Leonard’s apartment 4. Ted and Marshall’s apartment

You can download the .cad files of floor plans at arch8.in

Character Sketch

A little something to help you out.

1. MONICA: Monica is a chef in her early 30s. She is obsessive about things being clean and in order. (‘ Things shouldn’t be just ‘health department’ clean, they should be ‘Monica clean.’) She likes to host gatherings and invite people over for dinners and parties. She is the ‘mother ‘ of the group and can be sometimes dominative.

2. RACHEL: She has switched jobs from being a waitress to an executive at Ralph Lauren. All her friends come to her for fashion advice. She likes to shop. Rachel is very careless (as she says,” I shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions anymore.”) She is funny, spirited but pretty self-involved. She does not easily get along with other women (“That’s OK, Girls tend to not like me”).

3. CHANDLER: Chandler is a funny guy (Jokes are his ‘thing’). Chandler works in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration but nobody knows where he works (he’s a ‘transponster’). Chandler’s generally embarrassed by his parents, his job, and his relationship status. His sense of humor helps him cope with all of these problems. He is notoriously sarcastic. He is the highest-earning member of his friends’ circle.

4. JOEY: Joey is an actor whose work can be seen in the show “Days of Our Lives”. He is a child at heart and a foodie (Joey doesn’t share food). He likes all the kitsch art. He never gets in a serious relationship. He is dim-witted but good-natured. He likes to play foosball and is a big fan of ‘Baywatch’.

5. SHELDON: Sheldon is a theoretical physicist. He lives his life with rules and regulations and is obsessed with logical reasoning. He is interested in comic books and science fiction. Sheldon comes off as a stereotypical nerd and really has no qualms about it (but he is not crazy, his mother got him tested). He is socially awkward and likes to spend most of his time at home and at work.

6. LEONARD: He is an experimental physicist. He is a huge fan of Star Wars, science fiction, and comic books. Leonard is extremely nerdy and mainly associates with people who fit this description (“12 years after high school and I’m still at the nerd table.”). He also plays the cello. He is lactose intolerant. He lives in the apartment by Sheldon’s rules and regulations.

7. TED: Call him an architect, a hopeless romantic, or a know it all, you can say that he’s the embodiment of it all. Since college, Ted has been in many toxic relationships where he was considered an outcast or “not traditionally cool” i.e dorky. Interests… telling stories, falling in love, believing in destiny, avoiding confrontation, Renaissance Faires, crossword puzzles, Star Wars, breakfast foods, show tunes, girls who play bass guitar, giving “the best” gifts, and reading serious literature. (Random girl: What made you want to be an architect? Ted: Well you know, the soul of an artist, hands of a master craftsman… it was inevitable)

8. MARSHALL: Though he is arguably the kindest member of the group, he never shies away from a spirited debate, usually shouting “Lawyered!” if (well, “when”) he wins. A lawyer who’s madly in love with his partner in crime, Lily (his fiance). Creator of a funk band called “The Funk, The Whole Funk, And Nothing But The Funk”, he is a 6’4, supernatural (i.e Bigfoot, loch ness monster, and ghost) nerd and a foodie with a passion for star wars and playing (and winning) board games.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENT

The Proposal to be presented on One Landscape Oriented A1 Sheet. Proposals may be presented using any technique of your choice (sketches, diagrams, 3D visualizations, model photos, CAD drawings, etc.) Team code (UIC) to be mentioned on the Top Right-Hand corner of the sheet. The proposal MUST NOT include ANY INFORMATION (name, Organization, School, etc.) that may give away your identity. All text must be in ENGLISH, with a MAXIMUM of 150 WORDS for project explanation. All dimensions should be imperial or metric units.

SUBMISSION FORMAT

841MM X 594MM Submit in .jpeg format of file size not more than 5Mb. Submit your entry at: [email protected] The subject of the mail: Your UIC (XXXXX) Name of the file uploaded: Your UIC (XXXXX)

*Participants Teamcode (UIC) will be provided by ARCH8 once you have completed the registration process.

REGISTRATION DETAILS

Indian National / Foreign National

Early-bird Registration 1st July – 15th July ’21 350 Inr / 7 US$

Standard Registration 16th July – 31st July ’21 420 Inr / 10 US$

Late Registration 1st Aug – 15th Aug ’21 540 Inr / 15 US$

NOTE: A team can have up to 3 members. The amount is non-refundable. Late registered participants will receive 5 extra days for submission.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Anyone can participate irrespective of profession or qualification, and present their ideas. Participants can submit multiple entries but that would require multiple registrations. A team can have up to 3 members.

TIMELINE

Registration deadline: 15th August 2021 Submission deadline: 20th August 2021 The submission deadline for all the participants who registered between 1st August and 15th August is 25th August 2021 Result announcement: 30th August 2021

*All the Deadlines are 23:59 – 24:00 IST (INDIA) The following dates can be a subject of modification, if necessary.

PRIZES

Total cash prize worth 15,000 INR.

Winner: Cash prize of INR 7500 + Acknowledgement on our website and social media + publication of the participants’ interview (Video) on website + 40% discount on your next architecture competition + certificate of achievement

1st Runner-up: Cash prize of INR 4500 + Acknowledgement on our website + publication of the participants’ interview (Video) on website + 30% discount on our next architecture competition + certificate of achievement

2nd Runner-up: Cash prize of INR 3000 + Acknowledgement on our website + publication of the participants’ interview (Video) on website + 20% discount on our next architecture competition + certificate of achievement

10 Honorable mentions: Acknowledgement on our website + 10% discount on our next architecture competition + certificate of achievement

Participation certificate for all the participants.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The competition aims to explore how participants think through the basic functionality of spaces of the house, meaningful conceptualization behind design, thoughtful aesthetics, and expressive presentation.

Entries will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. ORIGINALITY 2. INNOVATION 3. PRESENTATION

FAQs

1. What is the nature of the competition? ‘RE-VISION’ is an open idea design competition challenge that is open for students, professionals & any individual with a creative mind.

2. Who can participate in the competition? Architecture students, Architects, Interior Designer, Civil engineers & anyone with creativity can participate in the competition.

3. How many members can be a part of a team? A team can have a maximum of 3 members. You can also participate individually.

4. Will every participant get a certificate of participation? Yes, every participant who submits a panel will receive an e-certificate.

5. What should be done in case a payment mode is not available in a particular country? We request the participants to write about the issue at [email protected] to get other payment options in such a case. We will send all possible payment methods.

6. How will a team get its Unique Identification Code? The Unique Identification Code ( UIC ) will be mailed to your registered e-mail address within 24 hrs after completing the registration process. There is only one UIC code for all the team members of a team.

7. What is the use of a Unique Identification Code? All the participants are requested to use their UIC at the top right corner of your submission as it is your identity for the competition-related processes.

8. What to do if a participant does not receive the UIC after making payment? In such cases, the participants are asked to mail their payment receipt [email protected].

9. Does the 150-word limit include legends & one-liners in the sheet? No, the 150-word limit is for the proposal explanation only and it does not include the legends & one-liners on the sheet.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

1. In case you still have questions related to the briefs and the competition, please send them to [email protected] 2. It is possible to amend or update any information relating to your registration including the names of team members once registered, mail us your query at [email protected]. 3. Participant teams will be disqualified if any of the competition rules or submission requirements are not considered. 4. Team code (UIC) is the only means of identification of a team as it is an anonymous competition. Hence, a submission with its UIC will be disqualified from the competition. 5. The official language of the competition is English. 6. The registration fee is non-refundable.

arch8 Re-Vision Competition image / information received 300621

arch8 Architecture Competitions

arch8 Lock-Unlock Competition arch8 Lock-Unlock Competition

arch8 Street-a-float Design Competition 2021 Street-a-float Design Competition 2021

arch8 studio Competition arch8 studio Competition

Architectural Contests

Architectural Competitions : links

Architecture Competitions

Archiol A4TC Architecture Thesis Competition Archiol A4TC Architecture Thesis Competition

CUBE Design Competition 2021 CUBE Design Competition 2021

REVERENCE: Memorial Structure Design Competition REVERENCE: Memorial Structure Design Competition

Comments / photos for the arch8 Re-Vision competition 2021 page welcome

The post arch8 Re-Vision competition 2021 appeared first on e-architect.

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imagine-loki · 6 years

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Abandoned

Title- Abandoned

Chapter/One-shot- Part 8

Author- starrynight35/starrynightfantasies

Original Imagine Imagine Loki witness a person abandoning a pet, he pays little heed at first, humans, of course, are fickle creatures, but on hearing the human use words like “runt” and “worthless” something in him stirs. Looking into the box human has dumped the animal in, he realises it is a small black furball.

Rating- G

Notes/Warnings- F- bombs, the usual :) Notes/Warnings: Language, A few F-bombs

You can read it on AO3 here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12152160/chapters/29338554

Loki cut his eyes over at Bucky, and Bucky could see that Loki had switched moods. He had gone from laughing about being one of Fennie’s ‘daddys’ to really pissed in about 2.3 seconds.

“Hold her.” Loki gently pushed Fennie toward him, and Bucky did as he was told.

Suddenly, Loki’s hands were wrapped around Tony’s throat, and Bucky didn’t know what to do. He wanted to stop him, but there was nothing he could do with the tiny kitten in his arms.

“So help me, Stark you had better not be fucking with me right now,” Loki said through gritted teeth.

“Loki, stop,” Bucky pleaded. “I don’t think he’s doing this to screw with you, man. And even if he is…it’s not worth it. Think of Fennie.”

“I’m…not fucking with you,” Tony choked. “I think I found…Jorm…Jormu…just let me go and…I’ll tell you.”

Loki was infuriated. He couldn’t believe his own ears. How did Tony even know Jörmungandr’s name?

Loki wanted to strangle the metal man. He wanted to choke the life out of him just for allowing his son’s name to pass through his mind. How dare he? How dare he even mention Jor’s name? Loki thought the mortal would have learned his lesson after making that tasteless comment about Fennie, but evidently he had far less sense than even he could have predicted.

His hands tightened on Stark’s throat as he considered the idea that the man was actually trying to prank him. Had Steve told him about their conversation at Petsmart? Had Bucky? Loki allowed his eyes to slide toward the soldier for a moment. The look on Bucky’s face told him that he knew nothing of this. Steve. Loki gritted his teeth as he felt Stark’s feeble attempts to shift underneath his hands.

“Loki…please, just let him go. He’ll never let us go to Petsmart again,” Bucky whispered.

Loki felt his fingers give way; heard Tony gasp for air, and immediately moved away from him.

For a moment, Loki’s knees felt as if they would give out. He didn’t trust himself to move, so he simply stood there staring at his feet.

“How do you even know his name? Who told you?” Loki muttered.

“While you were gone, I asked Steve for help. I didn’t want to get your hopes up if I couldn’t actually do anything, but after some extensive searching and illegal hacking, I found information that might help.”

Tony took a deep breath. He had known Loki wouldn’t react like a normal person, but he didn’t realize he would be in a life threatening position. However, he could understand where Loki was coming from after the way he had treated the god in the past. Tony absolutely would have fucked with him about his kids had he known about them when Loki had first moved into the tower. In that moment, he was glad he hadn’t known. He would probably be dead.

Loki finally looked up, and Tony saw that his eyes were slightly glassy. He reached over to take Fennie from Bucky’s arms, running his long fingers over her back. She stretched and yawned, and Loki blinked a few times. It seemed Banner had been right; Fennie was like a therapy animal for Loki.

“Stark, you do realize that my son is not…a mortal child, right?”

Bucky was nervously glancing from one man to the other, wondering how long it would be before he had to break up a fight. He resisted the urge to snort when Tony replied.

“You mean, he’s a god, like you?”

Loki closed his eyes and let out a breath through his nose. “Go do some more research, Stark. When your feeble brain finally grasps what I mean, come tell me if you’ve really found my son.”

Bucky wasn’t surprised when Loki stalked to his room and slammed the door behind him. He made no attempt to follow his friend, even though he wanted to. Loki obviously needed to be alone for a few moments.

“Tony, what did you find? Do you really think it might be Loki’s son?”

Bucky rarely spoke to Stark. Their relationship was unsteady to say the very least. Stark didn’t trust him, and Bucky knew it. That made speaking with the guy really uncomfortable, even though Bucky tried to be civil with everyone in the tower.

It was difficult when every threat; every new blip on the radar just might be Hydra, and everyone thought he might have something to do with it. Bucky hadn’t had any contact with Hydra in a very long time, but he was tainted. He would never be able to shake the reputation he had gained as a Hydra assassin, and he hadn’t even wanted that. He’d never even known it was happening to him.

Tony rubbed his face angrily. “I don’t know. I just don’t know. What did he mean? How is Jorm- Jor- whatever his name is- different than other kids? If he’s not a god,” Tony said the word with obvious disdain, “then what?”

Bucky glanced toward Loki’s closed door. He didn’t want to say anything because Loki should have told Stark himself. Then again, if Tony thought Jörmungandr was just some regular dude, this situation was going to go downhill very fast.

“Steve knows. Go ask him. If he thinks it’s okay to tell you, he will.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Fuck.”

Loki sat on the edge of his bed holding Fennie as close as she would allow. He needed her warmth next to his body. He could feel her quick breaths and her tiny fluttering heartbeat in his hands, and it comforted him more than he ever thought possible.

He felt guilty for getting so angry with Stark, but he couldn’t help thinking the metal man had been playing a cruel joke on him. Now, he was almost certain Tony wasn’t pranking him, but Loki knew there was no way he would find Jor. Odin had cast Jor out of Asgard decades ago, and no amount of Midgardian internet searches would be able to locate him. It was a lost cause.

Fennie wriggled in his hands, and he loosened his grasp on her. Her bright eyes focused on his face, and he imagined that she understood his pain.

Tony caught Steve in the middle of watching The Wizard of Oz- again. He never understood Cap’s fascination with the movie, but then again, he hadn’t lived through that era either.

“Steve, I need some more information,” Stark said, sitting down next to the soldier.

“Hold on…this is the good part,” Steve gestured to the television.

Evidently, the 'good part’ was when Dorothy walked into the world of color for the first time. Tony thought there might be some kind of metaphor for Steve’s life there, but for the life of him he just couldn’t think of it at the moment.

“Alright, shoot.” Steve faced him.

“Well, I just talked with Loki. He tried to kill me. Would you like to explain exactly how his kid is different from any random person on the street? Apparently, that’s important.”

Steve burst into a fit of laughter that surprised Tony. He hadn’t seen Cap laugh that hard in ages. Not since Bucky got his metal arm stuck in an elevator at Macy’s trying to wave at a pretty girl who worked in the men’s department.

“Oh, he’s different alright. Tony, Jörmungandr is a giant serpent,” Steve gasped.

No. Tony didn’t believe that. He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Come on, Steve. I’m not that gullible. Loki put you up to this. There is no way he has a horse child and a serpent child. No fucking way.”

“Actually, he does. Then there is the giant wolf, Fenrir. That’s where Fennie got her name.”

Both men turned to see Thor standing in the doorway looking amused.

Tony’s eyes bulged from their sockets before he recovered. “Well damn. I guess my lead in New Mexico wasn’t really a lead at all. It’s a good thing we didn’t take the jet out there to meet him. He’s probably just some gamer whose screen name is Jormu- Jorm- whatever the fuck his name is.”

Thor cocked his head to the side, staring at Tony for a moment.

“Wait. Are you actually searching for Jörmungandr?”

“Yeah, but I’m at a dead end now. I mean, where the hell am I going to find a giant serpent in the database?”

Tony had really wanted to help Loki out. Even though he was still mad as hell about his taking-over-the-world shenanigans, Tony thought everyone should be able to communicate with their kids. Even Loki. He almost understood why the guy brooded all the time.

“I know where he is,” Thor muttered, stopping Tony’s train of thought in its tracks.

“What?” Both Steve and Tony yelled at once.

Thor laughed. “Sure. He’s in some lake… in a place I believe you mortals call the Land of Scot, or something like that. Every once in a while he breaks the surface and scares the hell out of some tourists before diving back down. Then it seems no one spots him again for another ten years or so. I think he does that on purpose. He is a lot like his father; always full of mischief.”

Stark shook his head in amazement. “Are you talking about the fucking Loch Ness Monster?”

Thor’s face lit up. “Yes! That’s it. Where exactly is that again? Father keeps watch over that part of Midgard to make sure Jor doesn’t escape.”

#Loki #God of Mischief #Others #Submitted fic #submission #chapter 8 #abandoned #Starrynight35 #person #abandon #pet #fickle #words #runt #worthless #box #black furball

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sage-nebula · 7 years

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i was worried about big ol' lizardon, to be quite honest back when you had that one fic about alan meeting a random trainer. also about ash's charizard, so the fact that he's still around (and that ash runs a team of dergs while alan has lizardon and gabby) warms the cockles of my heart. I'm curious about Lapras, actually, since it also has dragon blood? Do the duo run into its pod every once in a while?

Ahh, yes! This one! For the sake of others reading this, I’ll post that little snippet, since it’s small enough to easily fit here:

The dragon was massive—easily ten feet tall, give or take, though Amy supposed she wasn’t always the best at gauging height. Its scales were bright orange, and though the flame atop its tail blazed with enough intensity so that she felt the wash of its heat even from where she stood, the blue eyes it looked at her with seemed gentle.

“Is that … that’s a pokémon, right?” she asked. The boy—the dragon’s trainer, Amy thought, if their matching pendants were anything to go by—nodded. “What is it?”

The boy’s gaze was no less blue, but was somehow more scrutinizing. He looked at her for what felt like a long second before he turned back to his dragon, who turned to meet his eyes.

“He’s a charizard,” the boy said.

“A charizard?” Amy repeated, and heat from the dragon’s—the charizard’s—tail flame was nothing compared to the shock she felt vibrate through her now. “You mean a—the final evolutionary stage of … charmander, right?” The boy nodded, and as he did Amy exclaimed, “I thought they were all extinct!”

The boy glanced at her, something inscrutible in his expression, as the charizard beside him made a sound that, to Amy’s ears, sounded almost … sad, or at least unhappy. Upon hearing the sound, the boy turned away from Amy again, and looked back at his charizard instead. The great dragon ducked his head as the boy raised both hands, and stroked the charizard beneath his jaw.

“Not all of them,” the boy said quietly.

But yeah, Lizardon is just fine. He’s just as immortal as Alan himself is, it just took a little longer for Xerneas’ power / that Infinity Energy to stop his growing completely, thanks to his species. Unfortunately, though, Ash’s charizard is not; he’s still going to live an extremely long time thanks to the fact that he’s a dragon himself (and Charizard, to me, always seemed pretty exceptional even for his species, so I could see him living to be a thousand or more), but he will eventually succumb to old age, since he wasn’t caught up in that blast. (He could have been, had the writers allowed Ash to have Charizard in Kalos, but alas …) Of course, thinking about it, it’s possible that Ash could always ask Xerneas to bless Charizard the way he did the rest of them, but I imagine that might require him to actually do something for Xerneas, and there might not be very much opportunity for that. Additionally, I feel like Ash would have a hard time asking for just Charizard, and not all of his other pokémon as well, which would just cause the favors to pile on and on. It might not be entirely convenient. (Plus, there’s no telling that Xerneas would even want to do that. Does Xerneas want to make other pokémon and humans immortal? Hmm.)

Anyway, you can ask me questions about Immortality AU at any time! I would have been happy to answer about Lizardon if you’d asked back then, and about Charizard as well, haha. I don’t do very much with it on the regular, but I really do love this AU, and I like thinking about it a lot, too. ♥

As far as Lapras is concerned, that’s an interesting question! To be honest, I never thought of lapras as dragons by species; they’re based on the Loch Ness Monster, and I always considered the Loch Ness Monster to be more of a dinosaur, like a plesiosaur. And I know some people think that dinosaurs are dragons, but for the most part I’ve always disagreed with that. Some of them might toe the line, such as pterodactyls (which is why Lance has an aerodactyl on his team as early as Gen I), but I never thought of dragons when I looked at plesiosaurs, and as such I never really thought of lapras as dragons by species.

But that said, even if lapras aren’t dragons, the fact that the Loch Ness Monster is still alive (I want to believe, okay) tells us that they’re very long-lived, anyway! Lapras are extremely rare even in the modern day thanks to poachers hunting them to near extinction (this is canon as of the Gen I Pokédex entries), so sadly, lapras might have the same fate as charizard a century or two later, back when a lot of the Immortality AU stories take place. They might be more legend than actual ‘mon by this point, a pokémon that people have read stories about, but think don’t actually exist anymore. =( But that said, the idea of something happening to Ash’s lapras is too sad for me to bear, because that precious baby never deserved any of what happened to her in the canon, she was a sweet cinnamon roll too pure for this sinful earth, and the idea of poachers killing her is just … no. No. I refuse to accept that.

So I imagine that what could happen is, perhaps most (or all) of her pod dies or is killed off through some means or another. Maybe at one point there’s an epidemic that spreads throughout the sea and makes different members of her pod sick, and maybe this was even intentionally done by poachers to make lapras easier to snap up. Particularly since lapras, as a species, tend to be very gentle and trusting, it would probably be easy for poachers to “befriend” them, only to actually betray them later and capture them, heal them so that they’re good enough to sell, and then sell them off. (Or maybe even kill them for delicacies … god, that’s dark, but in real life poachers are just that disgusting, so they probably are in the PokéWorld as well.) Lapras managed to escape this. Either her mother (who might have still been alive at the time) urged her to go, or she just recognized when there was nothing that even she could do for her pod and left, but she managed to escape. (Maybe she even was temporarily captured, but fought back and escaped from there. She wasn’t with Ash very long, but though he was of course always gentle with her, he taught her to be a fighter and a survivor. She remembers that even decades later.)

So she escaped, and then much like the lapras in the Gen II games, she finds a deep cave to live in—a cave where no humans really tread. She’s grieving the loss of her pod, and she has renewed trauma re: humans, so this deep, underground lake is just what she needs right now. There are some other pokémon there, and she does befriend them. She befriends the other aquatic pokémon that live in her massive lake with her, as well as the other cave dwellers that she sees when she surfaces. And she does surface, at least once a week (because I really enjoyed how the Union Cave lapras in Gen II routinely emerged on Fridays). She knows she has to keep pressing on, that she can live underwater most of the time, but that at least once a week she should take some time to enjoy the surface. Her cave is safe. No humans ever come down here.

… Until two humans do.

To be honest, they were just exploring. They were bored. Ash saw the cave, and he suggested they go take a look inside, because why not? Alan figured it might be good—there could be some good training opportunities in there. Ash thought maybe they could find some fossil pokémon. There was no reason not to go in the cave, and a lot of reasons to go into the cave, so into the cave they went. And they ventured through it, eventually coming down to that huge lake on the lowest level. And this just so happened to be the day (because of course it was) that Lapras was spending some time on the surface of her lake, but when all of her land-dwelling friends scattered, she felt true fear and alarm rush through her as well. No humans ever came down to this lake, but those—those were human voices. She was caught frozen, unsure of what to do. Should she plunge back down beneath the surface? Should she fend them off with Ice Beam? If she did, and she failed, she might be captured or worse. If she didn’t, all the other pokémon in the cave might be captured or worse. But—

Her indecision cost her precious time. The two human boys made it to the lake, and the shorter one was the one who saw her first. “Hey,” he said brightly, “a lapras!”

Once again, Lapras felt frozen. She knew that voice.

“A lapras?” the taller boy said. Lapras didn’t know that voice. That boy was a stranger. But the shorter boy—her boy, the one human boy who was there for her when no one else was—always had good taste in friends. His friends were always safe. So— “I can’t believe it. I never thought I’d see one again.” He was smiling, too. This boy, the taller one—he had to be good, too.

And Lapras knew that her Ash was definitely good.

So she called out to him. She swam as quickly as she could over to the shore. And as she did, Ash’s eyes widened. Recognition lit in them. And he said, “Lapras? Lapras! It’s really you!” before he threw himself off the shore and wrapped his arms around her neck, laughing joyfully as she crooned and butted her head against his (so tiny head, he was so small—was he always this small?).

And that was how Ash got Lapras back. He had no idea she was still alive, hadn’t seen her in so long—but when they reunited, he took her with him, because he still had open space on his team, both he and Pikachu were delighted to see her, she was delighted to see him, and Alan was pretty warm to the idea of having her along as well. (Bonus, they also can now comfortably travel across seas. They could always fly, and Ash does have milotic, but lapras are easier to Surf on than milotic, and sometimes their charizard need rest.)

Anyway, I think that both Ash and Alan would focus their teams on dinosaurs and dragons (and Pikachu), simply for the sake of, well, these particular pokémon are very long-lived, they’re not going to age out and die any time soon, so it’s much easier to bond with them than it might be others. Ghosts could fit this, too, come to think of it; it’s not like a ghost can exactly die of old age. (And I don’t think we’ve ever been told if ghost pokémon can die or not. I’d think they couldn’t, because I mean … they’re not dead, per se, but they kind of are? Some are literally the spirits of dead children, so like …) So with that in mind, teams I imagine for both of them in this AU are:

Ash:

Pikachu (obvs)

Charizard

Garchomp

Noivern

Lapras

Milotic (nicknamed Mystearica, further nicknamed Myst)

Alan:

Lizardon (obvs)

Garchomp (Gabby)

Tyranitar (Bangiras)

Salamence (Bohmander)

Aerodactyl (Ptera)

Mimikyu (Kyuu)

I considered also giving Alan Fulbert’s altaria, since altaria are also dragons, Fulbert was like his grizzly uncle, and so it might make sense for Alan to look after Cumulonimbus as well. But in actuality, altaria are based on mythical birds from Chinese folklore, so I’m not sure if they count as a dragon by species … maybe, maybe not, but it’s also possible that he does take care of Cumulonimbus for a while, but eventually Cumulonimbus passes on. Or maybe Fulbert released Cumulonimbus as he got up there in age and was about to die, who knows. Either way, whether Alan has Cumulonimbus or not, one thing I like about Alan’s team in Immortality AU is that every single ‘mon can mega evolve, with the exception of his mimikyu. Since Alan had a real focus on mega evolution and wanted to become a mega evolution master, the fact that all of the pokémon in his possession can mega evolve is fitting, I think, even if only ever really mega evolves Lizardon.

For the record, that tyranitar is his tyranitar, the very same one he has in canon. I know that tyranitar are sort of based off a type of lizard, but they also kind of always reminded me of Godzilla, which is kind of like a dinosaur. Thus, perhaps Bangiras can live for a long time, too. (And if not, maybe swap out Bangiras for Cumulonimbus?) His salamence was perhaps captured (in its first stage, of course) as a tribute to Zinnia (because I have not let go of my Delta Episode adaptation wherein they become friends; I don’t know how they would meet in a prime timeline scenario, but let me dream), and I think it’d be funny as all hell if his aerodactyl was the very same aerodactyl that had once tried to eat Ash. Maybe they encountered it again, and it once again tried to eat Ash, but Alan decided to solve the problem by capturing it. Taming Ptera takes some work (Ptera has held a grudge), but it’s probably worth it. And I’ve always liked to imagine him getting a timid little mimikyu at some point (such as in my Alola AU), and on top of that, I think the idea that Ash and Alan have teams of dragons and dinosaurs save one (for each of them) is kind of funny. So Alan has his mimikyu, which—as a fairy/ghost—is sort of immortal in its own way.

And while some might think that Alan’s team must not like water very much, type advantage isn’t everything, and Lizardon is about ten feet tall. I really don’t think a little water is going to bother him much, especially when he’s mega evolved and it’s no longer super effective. :P

But anyway, that’s enough ramble from me, haha. Thanks again for asking!!

#immortality au #em-exceeds-change-zearu

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