#}The Lion's Journey (XY)

[franstastic-ideas]

Later down the line, but at some point right? "ChampionLegacyShipping" I briefly considered DandelionShipping but it was already on the A to Z Pokemon Shipping Database. Because well, LeafGreen and Leon's name comes from Dandelion. Hence why his japanese name is Dande. I tried using something with folklore/fairytales, lion and plant connections, found nothing XD Oh, but they both come from quiet, peaceful towns. But SleepyTownShipping lacks spice. HumbleBeginningsShipping??? Lmao I'm starting to feel stupid. GreenLionShipping? Tell me about Sisterhood 👀

I may be biased due to my deep love of flowers, but Dandelionshipping is my favorite from these suggestions.

In the language of flowers, dandelions represent resilience, growth, and making wishes come true, something I feel is in line with the themes of the series as a whole.

But the name has apparently already been taken, so back to the thinking board, I suppose.

(INCOMING UNSKIPPABLE CUTSCENE)

Sisterhood is an alternate universe starring the female protagonists with a different timeline compared to canon. Several characters' ages have been altered, and each protagonist begins her journey at eighteen or older.

This universe also blends aspects from all versions of the core series, so the events of XY and RSE/ORAS in Sisterhood are as though Pokémon Z and Delta Emerald existed.

Or that's the objective. The same can also be said for the events of USUM, they're implemented as something akin to a DLC that takes place in SM's post postgame.

So I'd say the universe is mostly canon compliant when it comes to the plots of the games, but there's a great deal of character expansion that happens here, and sometimes that means tweaking a few things for the sake of the story I'm trying to tell.

For example, Volo didn't purposefully seek out Giratina in Sisterhood. He found Giratina weak and injured in Turnback Cave, and although logic, common sense, and basic self-preservation instincts told him otherwise, he decided to help.

It wouldn't be an alternate universe if there weren't alterations in the universe, after all.

But one of the things I take most pride in about Sisterhood is that each protagonist has her own personality.

There's the silent but vibrant Leaf, the unceasingly compassionate and gentle Kotone, the hot-blooded and brawny Touko, the mysterious and cold Akari...

So you may understand now why a character page is on my list of things to write. Each girl even has her own title!

One last detail is that, although every story in Sisterhood is written with the intention of being possible to be read as a standalone, all of them are actually connected, much like the games themselves. There are several references to one another in the text, but it's not at all necessary to read everything.

[nutsandlightningbolts]

Vials and Tribulations

((A plotted starter for @blazingfirefighters ))

It was markedly more difficult for Clemont to perform his work on the road than in a lab or workshop. Even a pokemon center allowed for some stability in his operations. But he was determined to keep to the time schedule that he’d set for himself to meet the demands of his consulting work. In recent weeks, his workload had become heavier, especially when his diversions that marked his own curiosity into the newest member of their travelling group. A small, strange, green creature, presumably a pokemon, that they’d come to call ‘Squishy’. Unlike the inventor, Bonnie had a propensity for giving shorter, succinct names for those things that decided to name.

However, his curiosity into that particular subject was set aside for the moment as he glanced over to see Squishy sunbathing on a nearby rock. While it appeared to still be feasting using, what Clemont had speculated to be, some form of photosynthesis, the rest of his human and pokemon companions were taking a reprieve from the lunch he’d made for them shortly before in this forested clearing that adjoined the road. But Clemont’s schedule and ever active mind wouldn’t allow him the time of day to dawdle. Instead, he was hard at work at his makeshift bench, testing various vials of fluid for their conductivity rating and recording the results one at a time.

“Sample 015, viscosity ranking 7, increased density of carbohydrates and lipid content...” he muttered to himself, making some notes before setting the vial into a holster and dipping two metallic electrodes into the green, slimy substance. He shifted over to the charger on his makeshift table, rotating the dial on watching the meters rise on the machine as he saw the substance begin bubble lightly.

[silvysartfulness]

Writer meta asks: 3, 19, 20

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway) 

I already answered this one in another post - there’s no special such scene; if I want to write just a standalone scene I’ll do it as a one-shot and imply context and set-up in-writing. But there are scenes I look forward to writing; for the Roadtrip, a lot will go down and shift perspectives all around in the arc I mentally call the Mountains of Mist arc. That’s definitely a bit I have high hopes for!

... Technically the scene I’m supposed to be writing right now has also long been one of the “oh yeah, I’m really looking forward to this one!” bits, except now that I’m actually about to write it, I’m finding myself a bit frozen. Hopefully I’ll be able to push through this block and make it as good as I previously envisioned it...

Oh, no wait! To be honest - there are a few scenes I haven’t managed to find a good place for in the Roadtrip timeline yet, but have been very entertained by in headcanons, and that’s a fair number of WWX and XY interaction scenes!

I don’t know if I’ll manage to work things out enough in the story to make any of that fit, but I have a vivid image of WWX and XY literally bumping into each other at the market street of a random town while departing a liquor stall and candy stall respectively. XY is delighted by the chance meeting and toothily compliments WWX’s reflexes in catching the falling bottles, WWX is mostly “wtf how are you still not dead??” about things. If I can get the timeline to allow for it, it’s a scene I’d still love to write, but we’ll see.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?) 

Ahaha. I suspect if you do a word count in my writing, you’ll see the word “pain” repeated at somewhat alarming frequency?

I like to describe body language, especially what people are doing with their hands. And eyes, I pay a lot of attention to eyes.

As for tropes, just stamp me with the “redemption arc” stamp and move on. I love, more than anything, characters who have to face their mistakes and go through a painstaking journey of sorting messes out, setting things right. Sometimes willfully, out of a genuine desire to make things better. Sometimes reluctantly or even trying not to, only sullenly agreeing in the end for one well-founded reason or another.

I love to write messy characters, greyscales, heart wrenching situations where both sides are equally wrong and right. Am also absolute sucker for “hard, cold-hearted character, absolutely coming apart at gestures of care and kindness”. That gets me every single time.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

Uh-oh. You've done it now. I'll place the rest under a cut, because I can and will talk about this at length.

I already wrote in a previous post about the layers of meaning in my chapter titles, so I'll leave that aside for now.

I love using symbolism and allegories in my writing. There are some obvious ones at first glance – I often refer to Xiao Xingchen as the moon himself, especially from Xue Yang’s point of view (the moon has been one of the few proxies for Xiao Xingchen he’s had for a long time) His inner light, something with beauty and integrity but also phases of both light and dark and the ability to shift inbetweeen, unreadable. The same way I will often use ice and frost to describe Song Lan - ”he realized with frostbite clarity” is a sentence I remember that I liked writing for him.

Xue Yang isn't as clear cut; his themes shifts depending on the pov character – Song Lan thinks of him as serpent-like, and there's a wolf-theme coming up as well. But my main subtle motif for Xue Yang in this story is the tiger. Drawn partly from the obvious angle of him being able to create a Yin Tiger Amulet of his own, as well as wearing clothing with a leopard-spot like pattern in Yi City, and finally Wei Wuxian's comment of ”releasing the tiger back to the mountain” when learning Xue Yang escaped punishment for the Chang massacre. In Chinese animal symbolism, the tiger is the king of beasts, something very powerful and clever, but also unreliable, prone to lash out.

In one of the first chapters, Xue Yang is described as being ”bound with enough ropes and knots to subdue a tiger” and there are many references to the Yin Tiger Amulet throughout. I drew him and Song Lan as shishi statues in the illustration for chapter 7, feline guardians of the dead that can be interpreted as lions but also tigers. So that's a semi-secret theme. :)

Another layer of symbolism is the Daoist philosophy sprinkled throughout. Sometimes directly, through outright quotes, but often more subtly in how Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan relate to the world and other people.

”Take action by letting things take their course, he reminded himself. The more he hurried, the longer it would take to get where he was going. He could be patient. Would be.”

”He smiled again, grateful for the understanding, for the simplicity, patience, compassion.”

“An empty patch on the ground,” he signed. “We'll make the future a spot where nothing is yet growing.” “An empty spot, where the Universe may plant a seed,” he finished. Song Lan nodded, made the softest hum of agreement.

“Now, now - haven't you heard, Song-daozhang?” he giggled, unsteadily, hauled along in unceremonious jerks. “Treat those who are kind with kindness, but also treat those who are not kind with kindness, only thus is kindness obtaine-... ow.” ← Xue Yang is not above throwing their teachings in their faces for his own benefit, either.

Another thing I enjoy writing is how Xiao Xingchen will very easily fall into familiarity with both Song Lan and Xue Yang when he interacts with them, but they're two very different kinds of familiarity, and he's often not at all aware himself that he's doing it. (They are. Especially the party not currently being interacted with, glaring daggers at the other.) He often just... assumes they'll do a certain thing, and they'll automatically find themselves doing it.

They are both utterly dedicated to him, though they may not realize it themselves, and he certainly doesn't. He doesn't want to take anything for granted with Song Lan, and he doesn't dare trust Xue Yang, but in the little moments of thoughtlessness, they'll just accidentally fall into old familiar roles of attachment, and then blink awake, surprised and disturbed at the ease of it. ♥

I also find it delightful how Xue Yang absolutely despises Song Lan, but is still ready and willing to rope him into herding Xiao Xingchen when necessary - and Song Lan will grudgingly follow his lead, to a point. They may not like it, but they do have a goal in common in keeping their person safe.

There is a certain point to the fact that Xue Yang mostly only mentally refers to a-Qing as ”the girl” in his mind. Nothing quite as strong as actual remorse, but it's a slightly chafing subject he does avoid thinking about. She wasn't supposed to die - hurt, yes, be punished for her perceived part in the destruction of their happy home, but not die - and now that Xiao Xingchen is back, it is odd, at times, that she isn't there as well.

Finally - have some teasers for future written chapters! The apples of the merchant in Tanzhou will make a reappearance, as will the beggar girl by the gate. Xue Yang will write Song Lan a heartfelt poem in an upcoming chapter. Song Lan is made to promise to write a couple of old ladies letters. Xiao Xingchen performs emotional manipulation so badly it offers the other two an unexpected moment of bonding. Xue Yang slips and does an unprompted Good Deed and instantly regrets it. (it does help when Xiao Xingchen smiles at him.)

There are more themes of foreshadowing in there, but I also don't want to spoil things, so I'l leave it at this for now.

As always, if anyone has any specific questions about the Roadtrip, please feel free to ask! I may evade if it's spoilery, but 99.9% of the time, I'll happily flail for hours about this story – and it helps keeping me inspired and writing, too! ♥♥♥

[vasleon]

So I’ve personally been handed a lot over the last few years. Especially this year, but you learn some people come and some people go. Best friends can turn into enemies. Your thoughts and situations may change. But there should be no shame in being a work in progress, because realistically, unless you’ve reached ‘self actualisation’, we all are. I’ve moved on from a lot of it and continuously moving on from others and improving myself. In the process of working on myself a lot I have built a barrier against a lot of negativity and a wall considered to make me a ‘tough cookie’, but I honestly prefer graphene (as said in my ‘Unfair Remix’). Saying that it has allowed me to become stronger in building something for my family, the people I love (and love me back) and my friends (that love me back also), and I’m on a journey that will allow all of us to WIN. If I eat, WE eat. The people that desert us don’t get a look in because the saying goes, ‘don’t expect a seat if you brought nothing to the table’. I have a lot to say on this but I’m sure they will come out in song as well as future posts. For now, as much as there’s positivity, there can be Savage and Revenge mode ;). Because I’m not sure if you’ve heard this saying before but… “If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair, you’re fooling yourself. That’s like expecting the lion not to eat you because you didn’t eat him.”. Some people are naturally evil, and I have learnt from that. So people who have felt this before, keep your head up, and … Just remember this line anytime that you’re feeling down:
You may not be there yet but in time you will receive your crown After all the work I do, After what they put me through, Feeling of so much to prove, They want me to lose, But I won’t I said its… Unfair - VAS LEON 📸: @dazthedirector & @troyaplus https://www.instagram.com/p/B34F19SA-Xy/?igshid=to9l4ribk8hu

[redcarpetview]

159 DOCUMENTARY FEATURES SUBMITTED FOR 2019 OSCAR® RACE

   LOS ANGELES, CA – One hundred fifty-nine features have been submitted for consideration in the Documentary Feature category for the 92nd Academy Awards®.

   Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles and New York qualifying releases.  Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules in order to advance in the voting process. 

      The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:

   “Advocate” “After Parkland” “The All-Americans” “Always in Season” “The Amazing Johnathan Documentary” “American Dharma” “American Factory” “American Relapse” “Angels Are Made of Light” “The Apollo” “Apollo 11” “Aquarela” “Ask Dr. Ruth” “At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal” “Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable” “The Biggest Little Farm” “The Black Godfather” “Blink of an Eye” “Blowin’ Up” “Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes” “The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story” “Bridges of Time” “The Brink” “Broken Dreams” “The Bronx USA” “Bruno Sammartino” “Buddha in Africa” “Call Me Intern” “Carmine Street Guitars” “The Cave” “Chasing Einstein” “Cinema Morocco” “Citizen K” “The Cold Blue” “Cold Case Hammarskjold” “Combat Obscura” “The Cordillera of Dreams” “Cracked Up” “Cunningham” “David Crosby: Remember My Name” “Debut” “Diego Maradona” “The Disappearance of My Mother” “Don’t Be Nice” “Echo in the Canyon” “The Edge of Democracy” “The Elephant Queen” “Emanuel” “Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops” “Fantastic Fungi” “#Female Pleasure” “Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles” “Fiddlin’” “Finding Farideh” “Finding the Way Home” “5B” “For Sama” “For the Birds” “Foster” “The Fourth Kingdom. The Kingdom of Plastics” “Framing John DeLorean” “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” “The Game Changers” “Gay Chorus Deep South” “Gaza” “Ghost Fleet” “The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash” “The Gospel of Eureka” “The Great Hack” “Hail Satan?” “Halston” “Hate among Us” “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel” “Heimat Is a Space in Time” “Hesburgh” “Honeyland” “Hope Frozen” “The Hottest August” “Humberto Mauro” “I Had a Dream” “Immortal” “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley” “It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It” “Janani’s Juliet” “Jawline” “Jay Myself” “Jim Allison: Breakthrough” “Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People” “The Kingmaker” “Knock Down the House” “Letter to the Editor” “Liberty: Mother of Exiles” “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” “Love, Antosha” “M for Malaysia” “Maiden” “Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound” “Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love” “Meeting Gorbachev” “Midnight Family” “Midnight Traveler” “Mike Wallace Is Here” “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool” “Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements” “The Most Dangerous Year” “Mosul” “Moti Bagh” “My Home India” “My Name Is Daniel” “On the President’s Orders” “One Child Nation” “Pavarotti” “The Proposal” “Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz” “Q Ball” “The Quiet One” “Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins” “Reason/Vivek” “Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project” “Reinventing Rosalee” “The Rememberer” “The River and the Wall” “Roll Red Roll” “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese” “Running with Beto” “The Russian Five” “Satan & Adam” “Scandalous” “Sea of Shadows” “Serendipity” “The Serengeti Rules” “Shooting the Mafia” “16 Bars” “16 Shots” “The Spy behind Home Plate” “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken” “Talking about Trees” “Tell Me Who I Am” “Tesla Nation” “This Changes Everything” “This One’s for the Ladies” “Tigerland” “To Be of Service” “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” “True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality” “A Tuba to Cuba” “Walking on Water” “Watson” “Western Stars” “What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael” “What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?” “When Lambs Become Lions” “When Tomatoes Met Wagner” “Where’s My Roy Cohn?” “Who Will Write Our History” “Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation” “Wrestle” “XY Chelsea” “Ximei”

    Documentary features that have won a qualifying award at a competitive film festival or have been submitted in the International Feature Film category as their country’s official selection are also eligible in the category.  A shortlist of 15 films will be announced on December 16.

    Films submitted in the Documentary Feature category may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture.

   Nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards will be announced on Monday, January 13, 2020.

   The 92nd Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network.  The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

                                                                                                               # # #

  ABOUT THE ACADEMY

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a global community of more than 9,000 of the most accomplished artists, filmmakers and executives working in film. In addition to celebrating and recognizing excellence in filmmaking through the Oscars, the Academy supports a wide range of initiatives to promote the art and science of the movies, including public programming, educational outreach and the upcoming Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which is under construction in Los Angeles.

   FOLLOW THE ACADEMY

www.oscars.org www.facebook.com/TheAcademy www.youtube.com/Oscars www.twitter.com/TheAcademy

[nutsandlightningbolts]

((A starter for @sterlingsilverchampion!))

It had only taken a short helicopter ride for Clemont, his friends, his father, all the gym leaders, one member of the Kalos Elite Four, and the two champions to reach Anistar City in the wake of Lysandre’s last bid to remake the world in his vision of perfect beauty. Where once they stood as a wall against the Megalith’s advance to the sundial in an open field, they now found themselves and their pokemon nursing their wounds in the local pokemon center. They had clinched victory, if only narrowly, but not before the costs to the inventor’s home city, and with the risks that he and so many others took.

Clemont, himself, sat on a wide, cushioned bench in the pokemon center lobby, a sleeping Bonnie curled up against him with his upper arm acting as a pillow to his younger sister. He too was exhausted, and how could he not have been? He’d just been through an ordeal to which not many could claim any sort of equivalence.

Yet despite it all, it felt like a haze to the inventor; as though it were all so surreal that it had happened years ago now. But it was only mere hours since they had averted a disaster on a global scale. It was even enough to take his mind off one of the more personal revelations that had befallen him that day, though it still crept in the back of his mind. All of it was enough to keep him wide-awake, despite his body’s state of fatigue.

He looked wearily to the doors to the treatment section of the establishment. He’d sent all of his Pokemon to be treated, along with those of nearly every other person who’d partaken in battle against the crystalline Zygarde. He knew that his team were in good hands, but that didn’t alleviate the worry on his features. It certainly didn’t alleviate the guilt he felt either.

[nutsandlightningbolts]

@fateandfury​ liked this post for a starter (for Alexa!)

The 24-hour news cycle was already back in motion the moment the electric grid was back up in Lumiose City, and rumours and misinformation were abound in the wake of the chaos. In fact, the rampant spread of what may or may not have happened was itself, a force of some disorder for many people, not the least of whom was the city’s own gym leader.

With his own rebuilding efforts done for the day, Clemont found himself bound for the Lumiose Press. While it had not escaped the disaster Lysandre has wrought on the city unscathed, it still stood bearing only minor scars of the doom that had threatened not just the city, but the world at large.

And it was only natural that people would resort to rampant speculation to try and fill in the gaps as to how or why this happened. But that was why Clemont pushed his way through the double doors of the publication’s lobby, walking with some nervousness to the receptionists’ desk.

“I’m here to speak with Alexa. I have important information for her regarding the attacks on Lumiose City she may want to hear before anything is published.”

[nutsandlightningbolts]

blastingxff:

Cutting yourself off. She knew where he was coming from. She knew how these twerps thought. Distrust and getting to that point where you couldn’t possibly believe in the potential good in another being without some serious arguing, well, it seemed tragic. And yet. How many partners had she gone through before she found James? How badly had she wanted to dump him, because he had ditched her once and she didn’t want to be around for him to ditch her again? 

That had been years go, of course. During their training. Time had passed. They had grown older. James had matured- er, James had grown older, too. She had cut herself off, she knew it, the kid would get that. By this point she was more than happy to cut herself off from anyone, everyone, who would hurt her. And in her experience, the likelihood of someone wanting to harm her was far above the likelihood of someone not. 

She sipped her coffee, grinning a little to herself in attempt at cheeky self-comfort. Survive? Hell yeah she could survive. But, “It wasn’t that part that taught me how to survive. It was all the shit that came after. Being a young kid on the streets, that was the easy part. Hiding is easy. You learn how to turn things to your advantage. What you should and shouldn’t eat. How to stay warm without drawing attention,” she sighed, “No, that was pretty easy. The hard part was everything after. You know, when I actually thought I could be something more. Dreams shot down. Break-ups. Men who suck at treating women with any decency. You need more food too. That part sucks. That’s when I gave up and joined… the team.” 

She appreciated his sentiment. She really did appreciate the twerp giving her a bit of space to talk. Time to reflect and to relax despite her unrelenting emotions. She honestly did, “Thanks for the… support,” if that’s what it could be called. She wasn’t as good with words as James was, “But even though I might have survived physically, I quit the fight. That is my fault and everyone does fault me for it. Not that I can blame them.”

While she accepted his smile and did take note of his words, she could only shake her head. Friends? Making friends? No, “I suck at friendship,” she said simply. What friends did she have in her life? Which ones hadn’t turned on her at some point? Which ones hadn’t abandoned her when she needed them the most? There was mounting evidence that friendship wasn’t something she would get in this life. James and Meowth maybe, and one wasn’t even human.

“I know how that turns out. I know what happens. I can’t put myself there anymore. It always hurts too much. I’m don’t hate myself that much.”

That was where she and he differed, he realized. His childhood was what had made him a survivor. Her trials that had forged her into what he saw now came later, and struck more deeply and more emotionally than he realized. It wasn’t just a matter of neglect and loneliness; it was a matter of trust broken one too many times. That, he could understand, at least, though she’d been forced further and further along the spectrum of distrust than where he currently sat. They were survivors, but on different ends of the spectrum. His was born of necessity. Hers was born of humanity’s capacity for cruelty. It made him cast a sad face towards her before it aligned towards the ground. The last thing she likely wanted was his sympathy. Her pride wouldn’t allow for that. And there wasn’t much of anything he could say to try to assuage her from that pattern of thinking at the moment.

But as she spoke of giving up the fight, he found his gaze snapping back up to her, his lips thinning as he let her finish before he finally shook his head. His offer was rejected, but he wanted to leave her with at least something she could think about before he let her have the rest of the day to herself.

“Nobody really gives up on the fight, truly. Not even the ones who think they’ve fallen the furthest,” he let out a heavy breath, “Whether misguided or not, you’re always fighting for something, even if you’re not conscious of it. You took to Team Rocket because you felt you had nowhere else to go. That’s not giving up, that’s finding refuge. Any port in a storm… as the saying goes.”

His stare had tracked forward, to Prism Tower in the distance as he spoke, before he finally stood up for the first time since he’d procured their coffees. He gave her a kindly look as he finished, raising his cup to her as he gave his last piece, “I don’t think anyone is perfect at friendships. I know I didn’t have many before I met Ash and Serena. We exist on a scale, but it’s possible to move one’s self on it if you set your mind to it. But it isn’t easy, especially if you let the… slider on that scale get stiff on that one setting. Much like a radio. It still works. The controls have merely rusted.”

Clemont downed the last of his coffee, moving to the trash can to dispose of it before he turned back to Jessie, “If you want to try and help budge it loose, you know where to find me. I hope the rest of your day proves…” he paused, seeing the first break in the clouds that the overcast day had to offer, a small ray of sun poking through, “… a bit sunnier than it has thus far.”

He gave a shallow, curt bow before he strode off towards Prism Tower, hands in the pockets of his jumpsuit as thought to himself about how it was the first time he’d walked away from her, rather than the other way around. Strange, as it always had been her who found him on their past two meetings, while he found her today. Maybe the third time would be the charm, if these changes were any indication.

[nutsandlightningbolts]

@blastingxff

His eyes scanned the crowd instinctively as he quietly browsed the market stalls.

A flash of red here and there caught his attention but it was usually just a hat, or some other piece of fashion.

No sign of her, as far as he could tell.

“Good…” he mumbled to himself, as he turned back to the items on display. The fresh produce captured his attention once again. If he wanted to make a meal truly worthy of one of the last dinners that he, Ash, Serena and Bonnie would share together for a long time, it needed to have ingredients to match.

He took his time, inspecting the specimens before finally bagging them and having them rung up by the cashier.

He made his way through the bustling summer market crowd when he stopped dead in his tracks.

A tall woman with red hair, and a seeming flair for high fashion, shot him a quick glance before returning her gaze to an array of jewels in the window of a nearby shop.

Clemont’s paranoia took root and he quickly sidled over to a nearby bench to sit down. Under the guise of checking his bags to ensure he’d gotten everything, he quietly peered over to the woman, still seemingly enthralled by the collection of silver, gold, and gemstones.

“Definitely looks like Jessie…” he mused to himself quietly, steeling himself for what he believed would be an inevitable confrontation.

[nutsandlightningbolts]

@blastingxff liked this post for a starter!

Clemont felt almost like he was going to slide out of the chair.

However, he needed to maintain his composure. Despite having worked tirelessly all day on various restoration projects all over Lumiose City in the wake of Lysandre’s and Team Flare’s attack, his instincts told him he couldn’t be seen slouching.

He straightened himself up in his chair on the street-side patio. The café was packed, so his only option was to sit out under the still hot evening sun. There were no singles’ tables outside, so he felt rather self-conscious about sitting at a table across from no one. Clemont wasn’t much for social norms, but even he knew the implications that one could assume from such a sight.

Nevertheless, he quietly sipped away at his coffee, intermittently taking bites of a small lemon tart-like pastry while he glanced down at a blueprint, notepad out on the side as he scribbled notes.

He didn’t usually do his research outside of the workshop in Prism Tower, but circumstances had necessitated that he address the city’s problems before the gym’s. As such, his workshop was still a torrid mess. He was at least grateful that, for the moment, no one had decided to interrupt his work.

[nutsandlightningbolts]

[ @mezasepkmnmaster ]

Finding that perfect, sweet fruit Noibat adored was a difficult task.

Taking a page out of the Sound-Wave Pokemon’s book, Clemont had decided that taste testing every berry and fruit in the forest was an inefficient use of his time. Using the very same logic that Noibat employed, Clemont had constructed a small, handheld sonic emitter, resembling a heavily modded megaphone, that used sonar to evaluate the food itself without even having to touch it.

The only downside is that if the food was even remotely close to being overripe, the sound waves managed to oscillate at just the right frequency to cause the object of his analysis to burst into a sloppy sauce-like mess on the ground. Just like it did in that very moment.

“Process of elimination…” Clemont grumbled, jotting down a few notes onto a pad before he proceeded to sling a small bag of perfectly ripe – and uncombusted – berries onto his back and made his return trip to his group’s makeshift camp.

On his return, Serena and Bonnie were already well into preparing the trainers’ meals. That left Clemont with a moment to rest as he deposited the sack right next to Ash and the newly hatched Noibat before he took a seat on the other side.

“I think your discerning newborn will find these most appetizing,” he used his other hand to wave the device in exposition, “given that I tuned my new ‘Delicious and Nutritious Sonic Taste Evaluation and Projection Apparatus’ to the frequency that Noibat typically uses.”

He gave a quiet chuckle, “Only some… er… minor setbacks.” He quickly brushed off a spot of mashed berry from the arm of his jumpsuit.

[nutsandlightningbolts]

23, 41

42 CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONS!

23. How do they respond to difficult social moments? What makes them consider a social situation difficult?

Clemont is someone who does not thrive well in social situations in general. He’s already pretty shy and reserved except towards those he knows well. Put on top of that an awkward social situation that he (or maybe even others) don’t know how to deal with, and he’ll either just stay quiet, or try and say something to dispell the tension. However, his choice of topic tends to be even more awkward because he’ll draw on something obscure or tailored to his own interests that the other parties don’t know how to reply to either. That or he’ll simply just kind of slip away awkwardly.

In general, a difficult social situation for him entails trying to maintain a conversation surrounding a topic which he’s not familiar with (which is a great many topics, because he has a very narrow set of interests), or talking about anything regarding his past, and sometimes his own work (especially if he’s forced to bring up his various failures or mishaps). In general, he likes to keep the conversation off of him as much as possible.

41. What associations do they bring to mind? Words or phrases, images, metaphors or motifs? Why?

If you’ve read my timeline, you’ll notice that I theme all my timeline eras on titles based on Lions. Considering that Lysandre is the character from XY whose imagery tends to be more closely associated with lions (hence my old url for my old Lysandre blog being Maneofscience… hahah… puns), you wouldn’t expect me to make this comparison with Clemont, but there are a few reasons why:

a) Clemont in the anime gets the Lion imagery thrust upon him with the addition of Luxio/Luxray entering his party. On the surface, Luxray seems quite the stark contrast to Clemont in personality (fierce and instinctive versus calm and calculating). However, if you look deeper, you notice that Luxray is a very protective and loyal pokemon. Clemont embodies much of this too, being very protective of his creations, his family, his friends, his gym, and even his city. As well, you won’t find anyone more loyal and dedicated to all those same things.

b) As I developed Clemont’s story over the years (that is to say, alterations to canon, as well as post-canon development, I noticed parallels between Clemont and the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz. As such, I continued with that character allusion in my writing and classification of the various ages of Clemont’s life. He starts out quite meek, timid, and afraid of even the simplest things (talking to people, establishing relationships, and failure in general). But as he continues on, he discovers the courage he needs to face all these fears head on. He grows stronger, more confident, and is better able to deal with his own follies and shortcomings, and exudes greater bravery. This is even apparent during the progression of the XY-XYZ anime, and is further exposited in my own post-canon narrative. It’s a journey of growth from a lion cub into the fierce, powerful and confident adult that he becomes.

Some of his insecurities will always be there and he can still fall prey to old habits and feelings, but he’s far more able to handle these challenges than he once was.

[nutsandlightningbolts]

Dear Serena,

Dear Serena,

My apologies for not keeping in contact as well as I wouldlike, or as much as you deserve. I’ve been a bit under the weather lately givena few revelations thrust upon me. Though that is honestly not a sufficientexcuse for keeping up with a cherished friend.

I hope that Hoenn has been treating you well in yourtravels. I hear it can be quite tropical in the climate there. I am not sure Iwould thrive so well were I to have to walk those roads. I may have to develop somesort of self-propelled carriage to shield me from the sun (or rain, I hear theycan have some nasty monsoons there as well on occasion) if I were to everjourney there.

Regrettably, I have not been able to view many of yourcontests, though the ones I have seen were quite impressive. I know that you’llbe able to accrue the ribbons you need to enter the grand festival withoutissue. I hope that you’re also finding what you’re looking for there, beyondthe obvious experience of broadening your horizons. I know it was not an easydecision to thrust forward on your own, and I am still immensely proud of youfor doing so.

And I may have to make a similar decision of my own soon,though it will likely take me quite the distance away from my home here. I hopeI can face that trial with the same conviction you are facing yours.

I hope you meet with all the success and discovery you willultimately earn, and deserve.

Yours in confidence,

Clemont Curie

[nutsandlightningbolts]

nimbasah:

Elesa raised her hand to her lips to cover the laugh she was trying to hold in. It was almost charming how he seemed to fumble around her. It was sweet, but still very much entertaining though she didn’t want to make him feel anymore flustered or embarrassed than he may already be. 

She also found herself smiling at the use of the SIB acronym, she felt slightly proud that he had taken to it. “I can understand how it’d be harder without SIB. It’s odd that it’s not connecting though,” she hummed in thought before continuing. “But I really don’t mind being your guide Clemont. It’s actually quite nice to meet you officially. As a gym leader, on break or not, it’s always nice to meet my fellow gym leaders, especially if they are electric specialists.” she looked over at him with a smile as she spoke. 

“Alright, I’ll lead the way.” she spoke, taking his gesture and leading the way. It wasn’t that far to get to City Hall where the archives were kept. Elesa kept up with idle talk, asking Clemont about his travels and if they went alright. Eventual the two ended up at their destination. Elesa led the way inside, holding the door for Clemont before striding up to the desk. 

She spoke to the gentleman about what they sought, and was pointed in the direction of the archives. She waved her hand for Celmont to follow as she made her way to the archive room. “Alright,” she started, looking around at the book stacks, all filled with many documents and files. “They’re all filed in alphabetical order by last name, so if we start with that we should be able to find something.” she suggested, stepping forward to head to where they would need to start. Luckily all the book stacks were labeled with what letter they contained for files. 

Clemont felt his spirits rise as she acknowledged his gym leader status once again, and her pleasure in meeting another electric specialist. He could help but grin excitedly as they walked together, gratitude painting his features as she led him, “I’m happy to meet you... uh...El- er, rather, Miss Sato,” he grew a little pink in the cheeks for having almost addressed her by her first name. He wanted to be, if nothing else, polite and proper with the woman who was so generously donating her time to help him, “I... have watched a few of your battles and... well... I’m not afraid to say...” well there was some trepidation due to his nerves, but he persisted, “...that I’ve looked to you for inspiration in forming battle strategies and techniques to counter type disadvantages!”

As they walked, he continued to speak of this, and more, as they made their way to the archives. He confessed that this was his first time travelling outside of Kalos, told her of his penchant for his successful as well as his less than successful inventions, and even his journey around Kalos with Ash Ketchum, Serena and his sister, Bonnie.

Clemont looked as the took in the massive archive. Two sections stood out to him,��“From what I see, we have two ways to proceed. There’s the Unovan trainer file repository,” he pointed to the shelves lining the walls to the right, “and the Unovan Census records,” he pointed to the shelves ahead lined with thick, hard-back books. He looked to Elesa, “If you were willing to, did you have a preference for which you wanted to search?” He eyed the books and the files both under the signs that denoted the letter ‘R’.

[nutsandlightningbolts]

littleblondemunchkinsister‌:

And….there went her brother, spouting the same spiel as always when he thought he created something that wasn’t going to blow up. The young blonde waited patiently, slightly zoning out as her brother insisted again and again that he’d created something amazing.

Lightning strike attraction? The youngling looked up at the clear blue sky. Oh yeah…her brother was losing his mind. Dedenne, admist the confusion as Clemont turned his back, promptly took off to hide in one of the other two trainer’s bags. No way was he going to electrojuice someone on purpose. Not unless it were for battle.

While Bonnie did notice her Pokémon take a leave to hide, she kept a straight face as to not give anything away to her brother when he finally turned back. She watched his face change slightly, his eyes emitting a slightly crestfallen aura ans he looked around for Dedenne. When he asked where the Pokémon was, the young blonde shook her head. 

“Big bro…Dedenne isn’t wanting another machine to explode. He probably took off to wait until you worked a few more things out.” Bonnie spotted a loose screw at one end and promptly walked up to it, pulling it out of place as the machine groaned. “Like this? What if you had attracted lightning and the whole thing fell apart?” She tossed the bolt at her brother, folding her arms. “I love your inventions Clem, but you have to quadruple check! You’ve had a couple inventions work! I’ve seen them! But when you get so over the top you miss a few things.”

Clemont’s lip twisted as his own sister managed to pick out a fault spot that had evaded all his previous inspections. He caught the small bolt that she tossed his way, giving a heavy sigh as he stooped back down to his machine, pulling out a wrench from one of his larger, elongated pockets and tightened it back into place. The machine seemed that much more stable then than it did moments before, grateful that he hadn’t gone beyond priming the machine as quickly as he planned. Of course, Dedenne was still nowhere to be seen, and in their place, Bonnie was making an impassioned plea for him not test the device on her soon-to-be starter.

“Sometimes I check things so closely, that I don’t stand back to see the whole picture and miss someone quite obvious…” the man conceded the fact with a slightly depressed voice, tapping on the now tightened bolt, “But I promise you and Dedenne that, where it counts. I do my best to try to make sure everything is safe! Yes I know I have a rather dismal track record with my inventions, but every failure is a lesson learned, and for all of them, I become a much better inventor! It’s a principle of the scientific method! Devise a plan, implement it, test it, record the results, draw a conclusion, and try again with what you learned!”

He knew that a dissertation on the scientific method, however, wasn’t going to move his sister’s opinion, especially where the safety of her pokemon were concerned. He stared for a moment before hanging his head over in a resigned pose, his voice taking a similar manner as he spoke to her once more, “But… I can’t and won’t force you to partake in this. It wouldn’t be right of me to. I just hoped that not only would I get to learn something from this chance to use this latest work, but that Dedenne would be able to better learn how to control their attacks too! That is, after all, what this is designed for!”

It was a recurring theme of his work: To help benefit the lives of people and/or pokemon. And this time, he was sure it would.

But that wasn’t an assurance he was sure he could impart on his sister in a way that would make her feel confident enough to allow Dedenne to try their hand at this, and frankly, he couldn’t blame her. However, the idea that his own sister didn’t seem to have any faith in his abilities was a bit soul-crushing to him.

Vials and Tribulations

[nutsandlightningbolts]

littleblondemunchkinsister‌:

“Haha….” the younger Curie had slight difficulty leading the words she wanted to reply with to her tongue, volts of electricity seemingly still coursing through her brain. She crashed down to the ground, back first before being able to comprehend her brothers words fully. “Maybe….but …can’t protect my cheeks…”

Her leg gave a twitch before she sucked in a huge breath, jerking up so she was now sitting upright on the hard ground.

Her arms crossed as she looked at her future starter “We’ll need to control that yknow Dedenne. Otherwise you’ll send me blasting into the stratosphere.” She realized how big the word she had used was and took a moment to remember if she had a) pronounced it correctly and b) used it correctly. “That’s what you said last time right? When Pikachu blasted off Team Rocket? You said stratosphere, right Clemont?”

Dedenne gave a slight scowl before shrugging off the comment of the young blonde before running back into her lap, gently hitting her with his tail as if to tell her “ I know, I know.”

Clemont nodded in agreement with her assessment. Unless she wanted to wear a rubber mask to protect her face, a jumpsuit like his wasn’t going to offer her much protection from a nuzzle attack aimed directly for her cheek as Dedenne so often loved to give.

However, as Bonnie went on, even correctly utilizing the word she had doubts about using in the proper manner, the inventor latched onto an idea that stemmed from something else she said before that. He pondered for a moment until an idea popped into his head. He realized, then, that he’d been sitting on the ground, looking pensive for longer than he intended. He quickly picked himself up, brushed the grass off his jumpsuit, trying to make himself look more aware of his surroundings than he did moments ago.

“Uh, yes, you did use that right, stratosphere!” Clemont laughed nervously, holding his hand in front of his mouth to cough to try and hide his conspicuous nervousness before presenting his idea.

“But Bonnie, actually… there is an exercise we could try to do, something I’ve done with my electric types in the past, to help them regulate the amount of energy they discharge when using moves, or when not using them, and simply trying to perform gestures that can cause discharges, like Dedenne does!”

Clemont dove to his backpack and began frantically digging before turning around with a pair of objects in his hands: a large metallic box with a switchboard and measuring meters imbedded into the front, and a set of wires with small metal nodes attached to the ends.

“The Future is Now, Thanks to Science! Clemontic Gear, On!”

It was as though a chorus burst into sound from how dramatic Clemont’s voiced turned as he presented his work, “With this, we’ll be able to help train Dedenne to manage the level of discharge of their electric attacks! It’s my Voltaic-and-Current-Measuring-Plug-in-Anode-Cathode-and-Cable-Electricity-Monitoring-Apparatus!”

He placed it on the ground before both of them before placing his hands on his hips proudly, taking only a moment to adjust his glasses which caught the glare of the sunlight above, “With this, we can detect even the most sensitive of electric currents and train Dedenne to manage their nuzzle, thundershock, and more!”

Vials and Tribulations