#Ash Anime Archives Projects

[centrally-unplanned]

Ever ask yourself, "Man, I love it when creatives get into mudslinging shitfight about their work and try to cancel each other, I wonder if I could read over 3000 words about that happening in a niche subculture in Japan 40 years ago?"

So have I! So I wrote that.

Before Gainax, before even Daicon IV, the "Daicon Films" group, lead by Toshio Okada (with Hideaki Anno working on special effects) made the tokusatsu film "Aikoku Sentai Dai Nippon/Patriotic Squadron Great Japan", where nationalist Japanese Sentai heroes fight off the Red Menace via ridiculous antics. It was aired at sci fi convention TOKON-8 in 1982, and was a huge hit.

And it also sparked a two-year slugfest over whether or not it was fascist propaganda via magazine editorials and con panels that became the talk of the town of the SF community.

Half of this article is history. If you want scenes of Toshio Okada leading con audiences in a dance parody mocking the victims of the Hiroshima & Nagasaki atomic bombings - depending on who you ask of course - you are going to get that! If you have seen your share of Social Media fandom drama you will feel right at home.

But since this is me, its not really about that - instead I am hoping to use the drama as a lens to understand the radical changes happening in Japanese "subculture" at the time. This occurred right in the middle of the rise of "Otaku" as a coherent identity, and the undercurrent of the spat was that Japan's nerds were changing, and not everyone was okay with it. Some of the contours of that shift can be seen in the criticisms being leveled by both sides.

I thought about subtitling it "The Anpo Generation Tries to Cancel the New Anime Century" but I quaked in the face of being that insufferable. I probably shouldn't have.

Anyway for the ~5 people who may eventually read this, as always if you see typos or have comments let me know. Also shout-out to @himitsusentaiblog, the one other person who has ever talked about this film on Tumblr.

[yamujiburo]

Ketchum vs. Ketchum! Showdown in Cerulean City!

Woo! Finale time! I wanted to make this final battle feel special and give it more substance than I could do with just a comic. So! I got the help of @cyberwulf to write out this ending in fanfic form! Check it out here on AO3 if you prefer! If not, the journey continues below the cut~

prev / END

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / [X]

James Sidestory / Meowth Sidestory

A lot has happened since our Poké Moms began their journey. After a rocky start…

“*SQUAWK*”

…they’ve managed to catch some new Pokémon…

“Run! Run! Run!”

…in their own way.

“What a cute baby! You know, I have a son, too!”

With their month on the road almost up, Delia had just one more thing she wanted to do…

“I want to beat the Cerulean City Gym!”

But little did Delia know, there was a surprise waiting for her in Cerulean City!

“MOM??? JESSIE???”

“Let’s have a double battle! You and Ash versus Jessie and I!”

“You’re on! But I’m not going easy on you just cuz you’re family!”

“…What’s going on?”

Poké Mom Adventures

EP009

Ketchum vs Ketchum! Showdown in Cerulean City!

The water of the Cerulean gym battlefield glistened in the sunshine streaming through its crystal glass roof. Both teams gazed at each other with steely determination (and some lingering confusion, in Misty’s case) as above them, the Drone Rotom announced the rules.

“This will be a double battle between Gym Leader Misty and Champion Ash, and the challengers Delia and Jessie.” It projected a holographic image of both teams. “For today’s battle, each trainer may use two Pokémon. The battle is over when all of one team’s Pokémon can no longer battle.”

“All right!” Misty declared. ��This is an official League battle for the Cascade badge!”

“And bragging rights!” Jessie added with a smirk.

“We’ll see about that!” Ash retorted. Misty glanced at him, taking in his clenched fists and gritted teeth. She’d seen Ash determined before, but… there was something here that she was missing. However, with the Drone Rotom hovering expectantly overhead, finding out what that something was would have to wait.

“Come out – Corsola!”

The Coral Pokémon landed on the rock in front of her, eagerly crying its name.

“This is a water-themed gym, so I’ll go with a Water-Type,” Ash remarked. “Oshawott, I choose you!”

“That’s the spirit, Ash!” Misty exclaimed. “It’s the job of a Gym Leader to help trainers learn type advantage and weaknesses by specialising in one kind of Pokémon, and around here that’s Water-Types!”

“Water, huh?” Jessie frowned as she considered the three Pokémon she had on hand. “Well, I don’t want my delicate little Ziggy to get her fur wet.” With a flourish, she tossed a Pokéball high in the air. “Go, Venomoth!”

The Poison Moth Pokémon emerged, hovering over the water.

“It’s a shame we don’t have any Grass or Electric-types,” Delia mused. “I guess we’ll just have to do our best with what we have.” Pushing her bangs out of her face, she called, “I choose you!”

Ash and Misty’s jaws dropped as the light from Delia’s Pokéball coalesced into a very large, very stern-looking Kangaskhan.

“I didn’t know your mom had such a strong Pokémon,” Misty whispered.

“Neither did I,” Ash whispered back. Movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention and he looked down at his starter Pokémon. “Something wrong, Pikachu?”

“Pika…”

Pikachu gazed across the water at Kangaskhan, ears and tail up, alert to… something. But before anyone could figure out what had caught his attention, there was a small cry.

“Kangaskhan!”

The baby squirmed, spooked by the glistening water lapping all around the rock. She buried her face in her mother’s belly and cried again. Cradling her young protectively, Kangaskhan gave Delia an apologetic look.

“Oh, of course!” Delia exclaimed. “I’m so sorry. Kangaskhan, return.” Cupping her hands around her mouth, she called across the battlefield. “That doesn’t count as one of my Pokémon, does it?”

“Of course not, Ms. Ketchum!” Misty shouted back. “Please choose another Pokémon!”

“If she’s got one,” Ash said with a confident smirk. “I’m betting she’ll send out Mimey.”

“I choose you… Clefairy!”

“Looks like you bet wrong, Ash,” Misty laughed as Ash stared in surprise at the Fairy Pokémon.

Above them, the Drone Rotom moved into position.

“Begin!”

“All right, Oshawott!” Ash called out. “Open up with an Aqua Jet!”

With a determined cry, Oshawott blasted a jet of water across the field, hitting Clefairy square in the belly and knocking the Fairy Pokémon off the rock and into the water.

“Ash Ketchum!” Delia exclaimed reproachfully. “That wasn’t very nice!”

Thrown off-guard, Ash gulped. “S-sorry!” (Oh man - I can’t believe I’m actually battling my mom!)

On the opposite side of the battlefield, a wet and bedraggled Clefairy clambered back up on the rock ridge, scowling at her attacker.

“Shake it off, Clefairy!” Delia urged as her Pokémon did just that, sending a fine shower of water droplets flying from her pink fur. “Use Disarming Voice!”

With a deep breath, Clefairy shot a vortex of pink hearts towards Oshawott, taking the Sea Otter Pokémon by surprise and knocking him into the water.

“Good work, Deerling!” Jessie shouted triumphantly. “Now it’s my turn!” She pointed at Corsola. “Venomoth, use Poison Sting!”

Venomoth hovered uncertainly for a few moments, then looked back at her.

“It doesn’t look like Venomoth knows that move, honey,” Delia remarked.

“Well, Dustox knew that move!” Jessie protested. “Venomoth should know it too, aren’t they both Bug-types?”

Venomoth just blinked at her.

“You really don’t know what moves your Pokémon knows?” Misty asked incredulously.

“Of course I do, just – just let me think!” Jessie spluttered, clenching her fists. “All right, Venomoth – use Gust!”

Venomoth didn’t move.

“Whirlwind!” Jessie tried. “Psybeam! …Tackle?”

Venomoth looked back and forth between Jessie and the battlefield as it fluttered about agitatedly, utterly confused by the barrage of unfamiliar orders.

“This is just sad,” Misty muttered, getting a nod of agreement from Ash. Raising her voice, she called out, “Corsola! Use Spike Cannon!”

Corsola glowed, and a split second later a shower of glowing white spikes slammed into Venomoth, driving it backwards towards the trainer box.

“Oh, no!” Delia groaned in dismay, wringing her hands. “Maybe we should’ve practiced with our new Pokémon before coming here!”

“We’re not giving up!” Jessie snarled, clenching her fists. “Venomoth! Get back out there!”

With a trill, Venomoth shook off the spikes, and floated towards its opponents again.

“Corsola!” Misty called. “Hit it with another Spike Cannon!”

Corsola began to glow.

“Well don’t just hover there!” Jessie barked out. “It’s about to attack again!” Venomoth looked back at her, and Jessie gestured angrily towards the battlefield. “Just do something! Anything!”

Once more, glowing white spikes shot towards Venomoth. This time, however, Venomoth dove towards the attack, sweeping its wings in front of itself at the last minute. Blue blades of light cut through the barrage of spikes, one hitting Corsola and driving it back.

“That’s Air Slash!” Ash exclaimed.

“Air Slash, eh?” Jessie shot her opponents a triumphant smirk. “Venomoth! Use Air Slash on that pitiful pink Pokémon again!”

“Hang in there, Corsola!” Misty called as her Pokémon was driven back for a second time. “Use Recover!”

“Don’t let it recover, Venomoth!” Jessie yelled. “Air Slash again!”

As her Pokémon geared up for another attack, she noticed Delia gazing at her in rapture.

“You’re so ferocious when you battle, Smoochum,” Delia remarked dreamily. She lowered her voice, waggling her eyebrows. “It’s kinda hot.”

Jessie blushed and giggled. “Baaabe, not in front of the twerps.”

Misty wrinkled her nose in disgust. “…Smoochum?”

“Freak out later, Misty!” Ash yelled. Venomoth was bearing down on Corsola, and the Coral Pokémon didn’t have much left. “Oshawott! Use Hydro Pump on Venomoth to protect Corsola!”

Leaping high into the air, Oshawott sent a powerful jet of water directly at Jessie’s Venomoth. With a cry, the Poison Moth hit the floor between Jessie and Delia, bounced once, and fainted.

“Hey, no fair!” Jessie bellowed, stamping her foot. “I was distracted!” She recalled Venomoth with a scowl. “I ought to ground you for making me look bad!”

“This is really weird,” Misty mumbled.

“You have no idea,” Ash sighed wearily.

“All right, you big blue blob,” Jessie growled to her faithful Patient Pokémon, “get out there and let’s win this thing!”

Saluting, Wobbuffet waddled forward, straight into the water. Jessie pinched the bridge of her nose as Wobbuffet awkwardly clambered up onto the protruding rock.

“Wobbles can’t attack unless he’s attacked first,” Delia murmured to herself. “Oshawott is strong, and Corsola can use Recover to gain back health. That means I’ve got to make this next move count!” She looked to Clefairy, wet and winded but not out of the battle. It was risky, but…

“Clefairy! Use Metronome!”

“Metronome?!” Misty exclaimed as Clefairy began to move her fingers hypnotically back and forth. “Now anything can happen!”

“Hold tight, everybody!” Ash called, just as the Fairy Pokémon’s fingers turned white.

Razor-sharp leaves whipped through the air, striking Oshawott and Corsola. The Grass-Type move was too much for the dual Rock/Water Type, and Corsola collapsed into the water, fainted. Oshawott was driven back against the rock ridge, and Ash held his breath, but the Drone Rotom only counted Corsola out.

“Oshawott! You hanging in there, buddy?”

With a grimace, the Sea Otter Pokémon gave him a determined nod. “Osha!”

“Ha!” Jessie cried triumphantly. “Now we’re even!” She clenched her fists, calling tauntingly across the battlefield. “Who’s next, twerpette? Togepi? Psyduck?”

“She sure is cocky for being down to just Wobbuffet,” Ash muttered.

“Not for long,” Misty replied with a smirk. She plucked her second Pokéball from her hip.

“Go – Gyarados!”

Delia’s eyes widened and Jessie took several steps back as the gigantic Pokémon appeared in the water. It glowered down at both trainers, making Delia swallow hard.

(Now’s not the time to lose my nerve! Gyarados is just a Pokémon like any other. All I have to do is-)

“Hey!” Jessie exclaimed angrily. “No fair using such a powerful Pokémon! What, are Staryu and Starmie at the Pokémon Centre or something?!”

Taken aback, Misty gaped at the former Team Rocket member in disbelief. “Since when do you care about playing fair?”

“Since you decided to use that monstrosity on a first-time trainer!” Jessie retorted with a shake of her fist. “That’s cheating!”

Misty paused, almost second-guessing her choice of Pokémon, when she remembered who she was dealing with. Squaring her shoulders, she shot back, “You’re not a first-time trainer!”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Ash muttered.

“I heard that!” Jessie bawled.

“It’s okay, honey,” Delia murmured, placing her hand on Jessie’s shoulder. “We can beat them. We just need to use strategy!”

“Gyarados!” Misty called out. Jessie may not have been the best trainer, and her track record with him was hit or miss, but Wobbuffet could reflect almost any attack. It might just have been luck, but Clefairy’s Metronome had taken out Corsola and left Oshawott just barely hanging on. There was only one choice of target.

“Use Hurricane on Clefairy, now!”

Rearing back, Gyarados shot a powerful blast of air directly at the Fairy Pokémon, sending her flying back to the trainer box.

“Oh no!” Delia cried. She knelt by her stricken Pokémon’s side, but it was obvious even without Drone Rotom saying so that Clefairy couldn’t continue. “You did a wonderful job, Clefairy.” Recalling her Pokémon, she rose, pushed her bangs out of her eyes, and called her second Pokémon.

“Mimey, I choose you!”

Ash clenched his fists. No more surprises – he knew what Mimey was capable of. Oshawott was tough, but he’d taken a lot of damage. If the Sea Otter Pokémon only had one move left, then Ash had to make it count.

“Oshawott! Hit Mimey with Aqua Jet!”

“Mimey, dodge it!” Delia cried out.

The Barrier Pokémon leapt high in the air, leaving Ash to watch, powerless, as Aqua Jet splashed harmlessly on the ground between his mother and Jessie. But before he could call out another attack –

“Now, Mimey, Focus Punch on Oshawott!”

There was no time for Oshawott to get out of the way. Mimey dove straight down, fist outstretched, and scored a direct hit. Both Pokémon vanished underwater. All four trainers held their breath. After a few seconds, Mimey burst out of the water, effortlessly leaping onto the rock. A moment later Oshawott floated to the surface, fainted.

“Good work, Oshawott,” Ash murmured as he recalled his Pokémon. He turned to Pikachu. “Looks like my mom’s a tougher trainer than I thought. You ready, Pikachu?”

The yellow mouse nodded, one tiny fist raised. “Pika!”

“You be nice to us now, Pikachu!” Delia cheered brightly.

Jessie was less optimistic.

“Babe, this isn’t looking good,” she murmured urgently. “I’ve been beaten by that Pikachu a zillion times! And that Gyarados looks strong. And mean! I don’t know if…”

She trailed off as the other woman took her hands.

“Now you listen to me, Jessie Ketchum.” Delia gazed into her eyes, a look of fierce determination on her face. “A zillion battles. A zillion losses. Against that very Pikachu. And you never gave up. So you’re not gonna give up now! Okay?”

Jessie stared back at her. Time seemed to stand still. Delia’s fingers were warm on her own as her words of encouragement hung in the air.

“Jessie… Ketchum?”

With the briefest of nods, Delia turned to face their opponents.

“Ash honey, don’t you hold back just because I’m your mom!” she called. “We’re going to give it our all, even if we lose!”

“She’s a lot like you, Ash,” Misty laughed. As Ash tugged the brim of his hat down to hide his blush, she raised her voice and called to the challengers. “You’re doing great, Ms. Ketchum! I’m really impressed by your abilities as a trainer. Now show me you’re worthy of the Cascade badge!”

“Hey!” Jessie yelled indignantly. “What am I, chopped liver?! My Venomoth pushed your Corsola to the brink!”

Misty grimaced. This was all still too strange – Jessie was a good guy? Jessie and Ash’s mom were… partners? She struggled for something positive to say about Jessie’s performance so far.

“Uh – yeah!” she managed. “It was, uh, really great how you figured out that one move.”

Jessie put her hands on her hips. “Ugh, could you sound any more insincere?!”

With a growl of impatience, Ash cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled across the battlefield. “Hey! Are we gonna battle or what?”

“Oh, we’re battling, twerp,” Jessie shot back. “And we’re gonna win!”

Ash grinned. “You ready, Pikachu?” The yellow Pokémon turned to look at his trainer. Ash pointed. “Quick attack!”

“Ha!” Jessie scoffed as Pikachu zigzagged along the rock ridge. “Wobbuffet, use Counter!”

Pikachu leaped forward…

“On Mimey!”

Delia and Jessie gasped as Pikachu pivoted and went straight for the Barrier Pokémon. Taken by surprise, he took the full brunt of the attack, losing his balance and hitting the water.

“A fake out!” Delia exclaimed. She beamed at her son with pride. “That was so smart of you, honey! You had us completely fooled!”

“Baaabe!” Jessie hissed. “I get that you care about him – I do too – but right now he’s the enemy!”

Delia tapped her fist against her head, grinning nervously. “Oh, right!”

“This is hurting my brain,” Misty groaned.

“How do you think I feel?” Ash grumbled.

Delia took a moment to centre herself and assess the situation. Pikachu didn’t have a Type advantage, but his Electric attacks were powerful – not to mention that Mimey was still wet. Of course, using them ran the risk of electrifying the entire battlefield, including Gyarados, but only one Pokémon needed to be left standing in order for that Pokémon’s team to win.

“Mimey!” she commanded. “Use Psychic on Pikachu!”

“Mr Mime!”

Mimey fixed Pikachu with an intense stare, his eyes and hands glowing blue. Blue light enveloped the yellow mouse as he was lifted into the air. Pikachu strained and struggled, but couldn’t break free.

Ash groaned in exasperation.

“Misty, go for Mimey!” he called. “If you weaken him, maybe Pikachu can break free. Plus, he’s a lot stronger than Wobbuffet!”

Misty nodded. “Right!”

“Hey!” Jessie objected. “Just because it’s true doesn’t mean you have to say it!” She shook her fist at them. “I raised you better than that, Ash Ketchum!”

“Wha – ” Ash took a step back, flabbergasted. “You didn’t raise me at all!”

“The heck I didn’t!” Jessie retorted. “Who kept an eye on you while you twerped your way through eight regions, huh?!”

Misty rubbed her temples. The whole situation was giving her a headache.

“Gyarados!”

The Atrocious Pokémon stirred itself and looked her way.

“Use Crunch on Mr. Mime, now!”

“Oh no, not Crunch!” Delia fretted, as Gyarados reared back, a sinister purple aura swirling around its fangs. “That’s a Dark-Type move!”

“Wobbuffet!” Jessie barked. “Get between Mimey and Gyarados and use Counter!”

Saluting, Wobbuffet leaped in front of Mimey, his body outlined in orange light. Crunch hit, hard, and bounced back twice as hard. Both Gyarados and Wobbuffet recoiled from the damage.

“Wobbles!” Delia cried out, as Mimey caught Wobbuffet in his arms.

“Don’t you quit on me now, Wobbuffet!” Jessie shouted.

Wobbuffet saluted weakly as Mimey pushed him back onto his paws. The distraction worked, and Pikachu dropped back to the rock, freed from Psychic.

“Keep the pressure on, Pikachu!” Ash yelled. “Use Iron Tail on Mimey, now!”

“Quick, Mimey!” Delia shouted as Pikachu somersaulted through the air, tail glowing white. “Use Reflect!”

Pikachu hit the invisible barrier and flew backwards, landing in the water.

“Gyarados!” Misty commanded. “Use Crunch again!”

“Mimey, keep using Reflect!” Delia shouted. “Don’t let them in!” She had to think. Poor Wobbles, he didn’t have much left – one more shot from that big Gyarados and that would be it. Not to mention that if Crunch hit Mimey, the battle would be over! She’d completely forgotten Gyarados could learn that move! Oh, maybe she should’ve used Zaggy instead…

Mimey obediently continued to use Reflect as Gyarados and Pikachu attacked from either side. Slowly the invisible barriers began to box them in, till Mimey and Wobbuffet were crowded together on the rock.

“Babe!” Jessie urged. “We have to do something or we’re gonna lose!”

“I know!” Delia groaned. “I just…” She cupped her face in her hands, pulling down on her cheeks. “…I don’t know!”

“Ms Ketchum!”

Delia lifted her head.

“You can’t let us back you into a corner!” Misty called. “Use your environment to find a way out!”

Ash shot her a glare. “Hey, whose side are you on?!”

“It’s my job as a Gym leader to help trainers to learn,” Misty explained with a smile. “Did you forget?”

“You didn’t help me when I battled you for the first time!” Ash replied indignantly, poking his thumb into his chest.

Misty glowered at him.

“That’s because you still owed me a new bike, Ash Ketchum!”

“Aaagh!” Ash placed both hands on his head, tugging his hat down. “Can’t you let that go already? It got repaired, didn’t it?”

While their opponents bickered, Delia had taken Misty’s words to heart.

“Use the environment…” she mused. There was only one place Mimey and Wobbles could go – but first they had to do something about the double attacks coming their way.

“Jessie!” she hissed, beckoning her partner to come closer. “Can you have Wobbles use Counter?”

Jessie looked at Wobbuffet, sweating nervously as he stood behind Mimey. She nodded.

“Okay,” Delia replied. She whispered quickly in the other woman’s ear. Jessie grinned, then straightened up.

“Wobbuffet! Use Counter on both those attacks!”

Without any hesitation, Wobbuffet moved in front of Mimey, body once more enveloped in an orange glow. Crunch and Iron Tail came back double on Gyarados and Pikachu, sending the two flying backwards. Both Pokémon landed hard on the rock, Gyarados almost wrapping around it with the force of the blow.

“On your feet, Pikachu!” Ash called. “It’s not over yet! …Huh?”

He blinked at the empty battlefield. Mimey and Wobbuffet had both disappeared. Ash tensed as he scoured the water for any sign of the enemy Pokémon, but the surface was still settling from the last bout of attacks. The sunlight streaming through the roof didn’t help either – it made the rippling water glitter.

Misty spotted movement a second too late.

“Look out-”

In tandem, Mimey and Wobbuffet burst through the surface, taking up positions either side of Gyarados and Pikachu, trapping their opponents between them.

“Good work, you two!” Delia cheered. She pointed dramatically. “Now, Mimey – use Psychic on both of them!”

Once more, Mimey’s eyes and hands glowed. Both Gyarados and Pikachu rose into the air, enveloped in blue light.

“Great strategy, Ms. Ketchum!” Misty called, earning a dirty look from Ash which she ignored. “There’s no point going for Wobbuffet – he’ll just Counter our attacks again.”

“Right,” Ash agreed. “We’ve gotta take out Mimey!” He raised his voice. “Pikachu!”

Misty did likewise. “Gyarados!”

Delia grinned. “Just as I thought.” She looked at her partner. “Get ready with Mirror Coat!”

Jessie blinked in confusion. “…Huh?”

“Thunderbolt –”

“Hydro Pump –”

“On Mimey!” both young trainers yelled in unison.

“Mimey!” Delia called, just as both Pokémon charged their attacks. “Drop them, use Light Screen and aim at Wobbles!”

“Aim at WHO?!” Jessie exclaimed.

There was no time to explain. Everything turned on a split second. Pikachu and Gyarados began to fall through the air. Several volts of electricity and a powerful torrent of water hit Mimey’s Light Screen and barrelled towards Wobbuffet.

The diabolical beauty of Delia’s devious plan suddenly caught up with Jessie. That pair of pathetic Pokémon were in for a –

“Now, honey!”

Jessie almost fumbled the command.

“M-Mirror Coat!”

Wobbuffet glowed, shrouded in a reflective aura. Everything seemed to slow down. The attacks hit. They bounced back at Mimey. Pikachu and Gyarados fell. Ash’s mouth opened in a silent noooo.

The timing was perfect.

Gyarados and Pikachu fell in front of Mimey, taking the full brunt of Thunderbolt and Hydro Pump, doubled by Mirror Coat. The sheer force of the attacks drove them along the surface of the water, causing huge plumes of water to rise into the air either side of them. The battlefield disappeared in a shroud of surf and spray.

“Pikachu!” Ash cried out.

All four trainers held their breath as the mist began to clear.

Jessie cried out in dismay on seeing Wobbuffet floating belly-up in the water. Ash groaned on spotting Pikachu doing likewise. Draped over the rock, Gyarados lifted its head weakly, then dropped it again.

Delia scanned the water, a smile spreading across her face as Mimey swam to the rock and clambered up, standing tall with a cry of, “Mr. Mime!”

“Wobbuffet, Pikachu, and Gyarados are unable to battle,” the Drone Rotom declared, as Ash sank to his knees. “The winners are the challengers, Delia and Jessie!”

“I… I can’t believe this…” Ash moaned.

“We…” Jessie couldn’t stop staring at the battlefield, Drone Rotom’s words ringing in her ears. “…we won?” She looked to Delia, and the joyful look on her face confirmed it. “We WON!!!”

Delia shrieked as Jessie caught hold of her and lifted her high in the air, doing a twirl before setting her back on her feet and peppering her face with kisses. “Hahahaha!” She turned to their opponents, pulling down on one eyelid while sticking her tongue out. “Suck it, twe – I mean, Ash and Misty! I knew this day would come sooner or later!”

“Jessica, I know you’re happy, but don’t be a bad winner,” Delia chided gently. “Magnanimity in victory goes a long way.”

“But baaaabe!” Jessie whined. “I’ve never had a victory this magnificent before!”

Delia just smiled and gave her a peck on the lips. “I think poor Wobbles wants you,” she remarked, nodding to the battlefield. “We’ll need to get him to a Pokémon Centre with Venomoth and Clefairy.”

Jessie nodded and went to haul Wobbuffet out of the water.

“Come on, you,” she grunted as she dragged the Patient Pokémon back onto dry land. Briefly she removed her cap and wiped the sweat from her brow. Fine, so she couldn’t taunt the twerps any more. Victory still tasted pretty sweet.

In her arms, Wobbuffet stirred and smiled weakly up at her. Jessie couldn’t help but smile back.

“How about that?” she murmured to him. “You’re a winner, Wobbuffet. I bet you can’t wait to tell the others.”

He managed a salute and a quiet “Wobba…” before Jessie recalled him to his Pokéball.

Ash, meanwhile, remained on his knees in the trainer box. “I can’t believe we lost to my mom.”

“You gotta admit, that last strategy was a thing of beauty,” Misty replied with a smile. She’d made her way out to the rock and was cradling Gyarados’s head, absently rubbing its crest. The big Pokémon opened its eyes and let out a quiet rumble. “I guess now we know where you get your battling skills from, champ!”

Stepping out of her sneakers, Delia carefully negotiated the slippery rock and fished Pikachu out of the water. A couple of vigorous rubs from his head to his tail, and the Electric Mouse Pokémon opened his eyes.

“You were great, Pikachu,” Delia murmured. She tickled him under his chin, getting a weak “Chaaa” in response. She made her way back to the side of the battlefield to find Ash, Misty and Jessie waiting. “You were great too, honey.”

Ash managed a smile as she handed Pikachu to him. “Thanks, Mom.” He gasped as he was pulled into a hug.

“That was such a fun battle!” Delia exclaimed. She loosened her hold just enough to look at him. “I can see why you like this so much.”

“Watch out, Ash,” Misty teased. “You might just have a new rival on your hands!”

Ash let out a distressed yelp.

“Oh no, I don’t have time for that,” Delia assured him with a wave of her hand. As Ash sighed with relief, she cupped his cheek and tilted his head up to look at him. “But travelling around this past month and battling with you today… it’s made me feel a little bit closer to you.”

Ash blushed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Aw, Mom,” he mumbled with a grin.

“Ahem.”

Ash and Delia turned to see Misty holding out a Cascade badge.

“This is yours, Ms. Ketchum,” the Gym Leader declared. “You made the battlefield, your Pokémon and their moves work to your advantage. I’m impressed!”

“Oh, you’re too kind, really,” Delia replied, blushing as she accepted the badge. Its blue surface seemed to glitter in the sunlight streaming in from the roof. “I’ll treasure this, always. Thank you.”

“That’s how you win a badge fair and square,” Misty teased, shooting a wink Ash’s way.

The Champion rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

All three turned to see Jessie holding out her hand.

“What about me?” she demanded. “The perfect Pokémon battle partner? Trainer of vicious Venomoth and wild Wobbuffet? Where’s my badge?”

Misty sighed. Jessie had been on the winning team, and she had won a badge fair and square, but the whole situation was still bizarre.

“I’ll give you a badge if you explain what all…” She waved her hand between Jessie and Delia. “…this is about.”

“Delia and I dating,” Jessie scoffed with a shrug. “It’s not that complicated.”

“I got that part,” Misty shot back irritatedly, “I just…” She looked from Jessie, standing with her arms crossed, to Ms. Ketchum, who had one hand on Jessie’s hip, to Ash, who looked like he was hoping the floor would open up and swallow him. “…you know what, never mind.” Reaching into her pocket, she took out a second Cascade badge.

“I can’t believe this is happening, but… you earned this!”

Jessie let out a little cry of joy as Misty put the badge into her hand.

“Oh, Deerling, look how pretty it is!” she gushed. “Do you think maybe we could just get the prettiest Gym badges?”

“I don’t see why not,” Delia replied. “With James to run the restaurant, I can take vacations more often!”

“James is –” Misty glared at Ash, who pulled the brim of his cap down and giggled nervously. “We’re going to the Pokémon Centre and then you’re telling me what’s been going on, Ash Ketchum!”

“Let’s all go to the Pokémon Centre,” Delia suggested. “Our Pokémon battled hard today, they deserve a good rest.”

It wasn’t long before Nurse Joy’s tender care had Venomoth, Corsola, Oshawott, Clefairy, Wobbuffet, Gyarados and Pikachu feeling like their old selves again. Delia squeezed Jessie’s hand, murmuring “that’ll be you one day, Smoochum” as they watched Joy work.

“Well, we should get going,” Delia declared once they had their Pokémon back.

“We were going to stay and have dinner, Ms. Ketchum,” Misty said. She eyed Jessie reluctantly, but made the offer anyway. “…You’re welcome to join us.”

“That’s sweet of you, Misty, but we’ve been away long enough,” Delia replied, to both kids’ relief. “It’s time we headed home. Thank you both so much for such an amazing battle.” She hugged Ash tightly. “Don’t stay away too long, honey.”

“You know I won’t, Mom,” Ash replied, blushing. He shot Misty a grin. “I’ll be home right after I kick Misty’s butt in our rematch!”

“Then I’ll see you soon,” Delia murmured. She let go of her son and gave Misty a quick hug and a wink. “Try not to beat him too badly!”

“Hey!” Ash exclaimed indignantly.

Delia stepped back, joining her girlfriend near the door of the Pokémon Centre. She gave her a look and nodded to both kids. With a sigh, Jessie trudged up to Ash and gave him a stiff hug.

“See you at home, kid,” she mumbled. Letting go, she turned to Misty. “Thanks for the battle and the badge, I guess...?”

The two gazed at each other for a few awkward moments, then Jessie took a step closer, slowly lifting her arms.

“Aah!” Misty hurriedly moved back, holding her hands up in front of her. “I don’t think I’m there yet.”

Jessie dropped her arms with a huge sigh of relief. “Great! Me neither.” She offered her hand instead, and the Gym Leader shook it.

Ash and Misty stepped outside the Pokémon Centre to see them off, their goodbyes ringing in the air as Delia and Jessie got on the road. Jessie slung her arm around her girlfriend’s shoulder.

“Happy, babe?”

“Yes and no,” Delia sighed. “I’m sad my journey’s over, but I couldn’t be happier about how it went. I made three wonderful new friends, foiled a nasty poacher, and that battle today –” She clenched her fists in front of her. “ – I never felt so alive! I can’t wait to tell Professor Oak and James and Meowth all about it!” She slipped an arm around Jessie’s waist. “I’m so glad you talked me into this.”

Jessie preened. “Oh it was nothing, babe, I –”

She broke off as Delia took hold of her hands.

“Thank you for making my dreams come true,” the other woman whispered. Jessie’s heart caught in her throat as she saw tears shining in Delia’s eyes. “Not just today, but every day we’re together.”

Jessie smiled, warmth blooming in her chest.

“It’s the least I could do,” she replied. Delia deserved more, so much more, for putting up with her, believing in her, loving her. Not to mention all she’d done for James and Meowth too. Maybe one day –

- but before Jessie could continue the thought, Delia leaned up and pulled her into a tender kiss.

THE END

“Oh, I can’t wait to get home to our nice comfy bed!”

“Ugh, me too. I hate sleeping on the ground.”

“…who said anything about sleeping?”

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Autistic Anime Boys Round 1 Matchups!

Side A

L Lawliet (Death Note) VS Muichirou Tokito (Demon Slayer)

Gohan (Dragon Ball Z) VS Kiibo/K1-B0 Idabashi (Danganronpa)

Haruka Sakurai (Milgram) VS Seishirou Nagi (Blue Lock)

Satoru Gojou (Jujutsu Kaisen) VS Seto Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Umetarou Nozaki (Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun) VS Tamaki Suoh (Ouran High School Host Club)

Gin Gagamaru (Blue Lock) VS Taisei Yoshida (Assassination Classroom)

Itona Horibe (Assassination Classroom) VS Souichi Tanuma (Those Snow White Notes)

Light Yagami (Death Note) VS Tenma Matsukaze (Inazuma Eleven)

Shouto Todoroki (My Hero Academia) VS Sunny (Omori)

Broly (Dragon Ball Super) VS Kaworu Nagisa (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Yu Narukami/Souji Seta (Persona 4) VS Sechs (XBlaze)

Kiyotaka Ishimaru (Danganronpa) VS Kento Nanami (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Nate River/Near (Death Note) VS Kyouya Ootori (Ouran High School Host Club)

Mash Burnedead (Mashle: Magic and Muscles) VS Noiz (DRAMAtical Murder)

Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist) VS Kabuto Yakushi (Naruto)

Lan Wangji (Mo Dao Zu Shi) VS Rui Kamishiro (Project Sekai)

James (Pokémon) VS Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece)

Yuusuke Kitagawa (Persona 5) VS Tsubasa Yuunagi (Hirogaru Sky! Pretty Cure)

Hitoshi-san (Nyan~ Neko Sugar Girls) VS Illumi Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter)

Mikazuki Augus (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans) VS Wakatoshi Ushijima (Haikyuu!!)

Homare Arisugawa (A3!) VS Kamille Bidan (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)

Subaru Mikazuki (My Roommate is a Cat) VS Atsushi Murasakibara (Kuroko no Basket)

Tanaka (Tanaka-kun is Always Listless) VS Natural Harmonia Gropius (Pokémon)

Haru (Tsuritama) VS Giorno Giovanna (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Floyd Leech (Twisted Wonderland) VS Laios Touden (Dungeon Meshi)

Touma Akechi (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.) VS Trafalgar D. Water Law (One Piece)

Lotte “Roy” Carmine (BlazBlue) VS Gon Freecss (Hunter x Hunter)

Nahoya “Smiley” Kawata (Tokyo Revengers) VS Senkuu Ishigami (Dr. Stone)

Ash Ketchum (Pokémon) VS Mafuyu Satou (Given)

Alhaitham (Genshin Impact) VS Shichirou Balam (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun)

Shintarou Kisaragi (Kagerou Project) VS Izuku Midoriya (My Hero Academia)

Toshinari Seki (Tonari no Seki-kun) VS Takashi Natsume (Natsume’s Book of Friends)

Side B

Haruka Nanase (Free!) VS Tsukasa Tenma (Project Sekai)

Takeo Gouda (My Love Story!!) VS Karna (Fate)

Shintarou Midorima (Kuroko no Basket) VS Kim Dokja (Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint)

Roronoa Zoro (One Piece) VS Junpei Tenmyouji (Zero Escape)

Sig (Puyo Puyo) VS Kanata Shinkai (Ensemble Stars)

Kyoujurou Rengoku (Demon Slayer) VS Yugi Mutou (Yu-Gi-Oh!)

Legoshi (Beastars) VS Gaien "Enkidu" Enkidou (Under Night In-birth)

Doppo Kunikida (Bungou Stray Dogs) VS Hiroshi Odokawa (Odd Taxi)

Kusuo Saiki (The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.) VS Katsuya Serizawa (Mob Psycho 100)

Nagito Komaeda (Danganronpa) VS Haruhito Yano (Odd Taxi)

Yotasuke Takahashi (Blue Period) VS Manjirou "Mikey" Sano (Tokyo Revengers)

Kyouya Onodera (Talentless Nana) VS Misumi Ikaruga (A3!)

Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney) VS Shu Itsuki (Ensemble Stars)

Meguru Bachira (Blue Lock) VS Ren Mihashi (Big Windup!)

Ranpo Edogawa (Bungou Stray Dogs) VS Kaito (Vocaloid)

Zero (Puyo Puyo) VS Masayoshi Hazama (Samurai Flamenco)

Genos (One Punch Man) VS Jotaro Kujo (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)

Vivia Twilight (Master Detective Archives: Raincode) VS Sora Harukawa (Ensemble Stars)

Satori Tendou (Haikyuu!!) VS Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic X)

Houtarou Oreki (Hyouka) VS Kabane Kusaka (Kemono Jihen)

Ghiaccio (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) VS Tenya Iida (My Hero Academia)

Malleus Draconia (Twisted Wonderland) VS Tetsuya Kuroko (Kuroko no Basket)

Kensuke Aida (Neon Genesis Evangelion) VS Goku (Dragon Ball)

Shinichi Kudou/Conan Edogawa (Detective Conan) VS Toya Aoyagi (Project Sekai)

Rei Suwa (Buddy Daddies) VS Gin Ibushi (Your Turn to Die)

Jade Leech (Twisted Wonderland) VS Akihiko Sanada (Persona 3)

Xiao (Genshin Impact) VS Loid Forger (Spy x Family)

Souya "Angry" Kawata (Tokyo Revengers) VS Sabro Sabnock (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun)

Apollo Justice (Ace Attorney) VS Tobio Kageyama (Haikyuu!!)

Kurapika (Hunter x Hunter) VS Saitama (One Punch Man)

Sol Badguy (Guilty Gear) VS Langa Hasegawa (Sk8 the Infinity)

Subaru Natsuki (Re: Zero) VS Yusei Fudo (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds)

[satancopilotsmytardis]

When All For One dies fighting All Might, Tomura finds himself being shuffled around by the doctor until he can be useful. When he lands in the hospital with all of the fodder, taking up the other bed in the room with the coma patient kid is the best he's going to get as far as roommates go. And then that kid wakes up. He knew his father wanted Shoto to be his new successor, but he didn't expect to stumble home with a weird cryptic kid on his tail and find his little brother being beaten and trained the way he used to be. As that anger is welling inside of him, his shadow lashes out and brings all of his barely-formed plans to fruition, and in a matter of minutes he, his brother, and this unhinged stranger are fleeing the burning house. Now they have to deal with everything that comes next together.

Word count: 20,570

[chaoslynx]

Chapters: 1/1

Word Count: 2203

It's late. Ash knows, on some level, that he shouldn't be out of the room by himself right now. It's not safe, and—and it's not allowed. It's just that, sometimes, he'd like to pretend he can forget what he is. Pretend he hasn't taken it to heart yet, that it's not as branded on his soul as it is on his body.

While staying at Max's house, Ash gets up for a drink of water.

[bluewolfangel01]

Kitsune Katsuki

@gglitch1dd had an amazing series on ao3 which I love very much! (Link below) So I drew kitsune Katsuki in his fox form, since I wanted to give the author some fanart and cause Katsuki in his fox form has a strong hold on my heart ❤️

Forged in Flames and Ashes - Chapter 1 - Glitch1d - 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own]

[istaris]

siren’s song

Rated: Explicit

Relationship: Shinazugawa Sanemi/Tomioka Giyuu

Tags: #Top Shinazugawa Sanemi #Bottom Tomioka Giyuu #Sex Pollen #but it's actually sex ashes #anyway #Fuck Or Die #First Time #Anal Sex #Anal Fingering #Rough Sex #Kissing #So much kissing #one sided enemies who fuck? #Sanemi is high out of his mind and absolutely smitten #Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot #Mildly Dubious Consent #tagging it just in case because you know #it's a fuck or die #but they're still very happy about fucking each other silly

Summary:

“It’s- the ashes,” Tomioka grits out. “They’re poison.” He pants for a few seconds before fixing Sanemi with a slightly judgemental look. “Tried- to warn you.”

Sanemi lifts a brow back at him, his mind supplying in vivid colors the fact that Tomioka did try to warn him. Nothing to be done about that now though. It can't be that bad anyway.

[lunamonroeao3]

I had the pleasure of volunteering for @arcanefans4gaza as a fic writer💕 thank you to the anonymous donor who gave me my prompt!

Prompt: caitvi edging

I did my best with it! :) enjoy, ya filthy animals

[burymeinmelodies]

I'm offering writing commissions in exchange for donations to certain GoFundMe's for people in Gaza--

I'm Mel. I write a lot of fanfiction, primarily for Percy Jackson, and have been posting for a few years now. Recently I've been getting asks from people living in Gaza who need donations to evacuate or get medical care. I'm not currently able to make such donations myself, but I know how to write, so I'm going to try to use that skillset to help out as much as I can.

How do I request a commission and what will it look like? If you're interested in commissioning me, you can DM me (not send an ask) to let me know what you're looking for. I write a lot of found family and platonic relationship stories but I'm flexible. Once we agree on content and length, I'll get to writing. I'll send you a PDF of the finished product and, if you're okay with it, post it on AO3 as well.

How much do commissions cost? My baseline is $10 per 1k words. I don't feel that anything less than that would be a productive use of my time (except maybe in the case of a very long fic). If you are able and willing to pay more than that, it would be greatly appreciated. You will pay by donating the agreed upon amount and then forward me the email receipt.

What fandoms can I request fics for? Below is a list of fandoms that I am familiar enough with to write for. I would also be open to writing original works or nonfiction, if anyone is interested.

Main fandoms (have written for and participated in extensively)

Percy Jackson (and other Riordanverse books)

Our Flag Means Death

The Raven Cycle

The Hunger Games

Pokemon (the anime specifically)

Some other (mostly small and weird) fandoms that I could write for

These Thems (YouTube series)

Magic Tree House

Magic School Bus

The Scholomance trilogy

The Penderwicks

Heartstopper

Lumberjanes

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Firefly (TV series)

Little Women (or other Alcott novels)

Some fics I've written below the cut, so people can get a sense for my style:

A trans!Ash Pokemon fic ^

Some early interactions between Beckendorf and Drew from PJO ^

Deleted scene from These Thems webseries ^

Bianca di Angelo and her boarding school buddies ^

Reblogs are much appreciated!

[meeks-just-wants-to-scroll]

Fantasy AU Vanderbell ❄️❄️

Naha Micah nearly fucking dies by freezing outside on Mount Hagen.

Enjoy on AO3 or Tumblr…

Author notes:

I am not the proudest with this work but OH WELL.

Micah and Dutch can be interpreted as sexual lovers, romantic lovers, or toxic friends, or something else if you wish.

Dutch uses “son” in this fic as a general form of endearment. It doesn’t mean he sees the person literally as his son.

Dutch has good ol complex mourning that really fucks with him. Can interpret it as a variety of PTSD if you’d like.

——-

Distinction between fall and winter was a concept that existed in the gut of animal and man but yielded no visual tell in the valley of Mount Hagen: It was white, cold, and hostile year round. And yet every man in the Bell Gang knew winter was climbing handhold by handhold in the rock face.

Fire crackled in the abandoned cabin the two outlaws had shaped up to become their temporary sanctuary. At one corner was a curled up beast, larger than the house was intended to house. The other, a long-bodied serpent man huddled next to the pseudo sun.

The larger beast lifted his head to cast a solemn look over his jacketed shoulders. His once silky curls of raven fur were now matted on his long neck, at one end was the body of a sphinx: a black leopard with wings of a dragon. The other end held the taut face of Dutch Van Der Linde, cheeks sunken and bearded with neglect.

Micah looked grayer in his age; his gold hair got silver at the roots til he had enough of it and cut it short. Even the scales running his Crotalus atrox body turned to cobblestone with each shed. Yet his eyes never dulled. Even now, staring into the fire he looked stronger than Dutch. The snake in him allowed for longer bouts without meals; unlike Dutch’s large stomach that demanded constant upkeep. Upkeep that hadn’t been happening for a day now that they came to the mountain.

Micah’s eye twitched to the side, “you’re lookin’ at me like you wanna eat me. Didn’t your mommy cuff you over the ear for starin’?” Dutch’s leopard ear twitched.

“We need food.”

“What would we catch: Deer, elk, moose?” He snapped.

“Don’t talk about killing deer,” he calmly said but the vibrations in the floorboards told of the withheld growl.

Micah slithered before him in a beat and arched over the sphinx’s lowered head, his last nerve was stretching thinner with his overgrown companion. “You need to get over yourself. Deer is all we have up here, now eat what my boys have caught or shut your snout and ssssstaarrrrve.”

Dutch’s dark eyes were glossy: He got despondent like this at times. Since reuniting to lead the gang, Dutch’s little grieving act had been making Micah question why he even liked this male. He’s nothing like what he used to be way back in 1899.

Micah rattled his tail, face growing redder. “I’m not helpin’ you! If you really cared about us then you’d listen to me and eat somethin’. I’m not goin’ to treat you like some damsel in distress who needs to be spoon fed.” Dutch barely twitched a whisker in response. “Die! Die and make room for those who want to live. If you come to your senses, you can find me outside: the men and I need to blow off some steam. You know, keeping the moral up. The shit you used to be good at!” Sliding scales turned to boot stomps and a slammed door. Dutch glanced up, the jacket that hung on the wall was gone; going with the nasty-tempered snake in men’s clothing.

The wood breathed its last will and collapsed into ash the same gray as his beard. The drawn curtains and fall of night made the darkroom gluttonous in its swallowing of Dutch. His mind grasped for stimulus: conjuring images of faces, trees, summer warmth, and what he could not return to; the familiars he could not return to life. Heavy paws covered his eyes, then ears, but aided no relief.

Micah in his infinite wisdom would have begun talking at length to provide distraction, or the polishing of blade and bullet would glimmer in his peripherals and pull his mind from the intangible. In the valleys of shallow sleep, his body would coil along the length of Dutch’s and squeeze tighter than a mother clings to her dying son. It was secret and they never spoke of it before, during, or after.

Longing for that security got him to balance his old bones and plant unsteady paw after unsteady paw towards the door. The human-sized exit laughed at his magnitude. A sphinx, even as thin as him could never fit through. To the door’s surprise, magical creatures had tricks up their sleeves. The long neck rose to the rafters before it began shortening. Muscled arms, dragging tail, and atrophied wings flexed then shrunk down till they were figments. Fur changed texture and shape till it was no more, and or repurposed into clothing. The large jacket shrunk in time until it rested snuggly on a human’s body. Dutch pushed open the door and pulled his gloved hands to his face as a wind gust welcomed him like dog licks.

His reputation as a legendary monster preceded him in papers and by word, and yet few men under Bell knew of the fantastical secret right under their noses. Micah too slipped under the radar of his men: it’s just how they had to live in this world.

The human men smoked and drinked and picked at their teeth around the miniature campsites they rooted in the rock. The trees that tolerated the beating above and the snow below provided ample defense from the elements. The men glanced at Dutch as he walked by with his head low. He wasn’t Micah, and that was all they cared about; he was Bell’s plus one and that was that.

He approached one of the men. His dry voice cracked under his breath, “Have you seen Micah?”

“Big man? Sure…” nodded the man with skepticism. He wasn’t going to ask why Micah was needed, no one did because they feared what answer they’d get on why the two men spent so long in their private cabin. “Last saw him headin’ that way. Was loudly talkin’ about sendin’ a huntin’ group out for something special.” Dutch didn’t thank them for their time, simply departed as a wind-blown ghost down the mountain.

He followed the footpath baked into the slope. So many desire paths, it felt like one big snake carved through like butter. But no snake no matter its size could survive slithering so far; all cold blooded monsters must slow to a stop at some point.

Deer musk struck his animal olfactory bulb before he saw it, a quiet bunch of men heaved deer over their shoulders towards Dutch. The cold air made the warm smell of recent life all the lighter, it sucked into his senses against his wishes and circled him like a noose. His boots flash frozen in place, the hoarse shouting of a sickly buck echoed down the mountain but no man could hear it, only Dutch.

Finally, he snapped from his moment. The men were still coming his way, he could smell the activity of the men behind him as they came to investigate the newest catch. His disguise was slipping with his self-contained torment scrambling his mind. He could feel his bushy tail developing under his pants, if he spent more time in view, he would surely be caught. His legs twitched to run and he only had one way out.

He fled off the beaten trail and trampled up to the dense forest. He kept going, going, going, til his clenched jaw could finally melt and his breathing no longer whited out his vision. His gate grew uneven, caught between walking upright and dropping to his hands and knees like his gut desired.

He dropped to his senses, retching and quivering but not to create bile, but to return to form: his large sphinx body popped its joints as he stood and took a deep breath, at last able to breath with his full lung capacity and not the fraction accessible in that minuscule humanoid body.

Dull though it was, the smell of gun oil and deer blood caught his twitching nose. So cold and far from camp, no sane man would be out here shining a weapon. The specific gun oil was familiar, one Dutch had smelled day after day during the downtime of the past year. His boulder-sized heart dropped.

Wide paw after paw, he bounded through the icy stalagmites of trees, keeping his head extended outwards to pinpoint the origins. Untouched snow fought him and pulled each arm and foot down like Mother Nature wasn’t sated by just one frozen victim. He endured with a ferocity to save that he wished he had all those years ago when it mattered most.

He passed blood spattered snow; A shallow bloody divot in the snow where something was shot. Human boots stomped through the snow and lead back to camp, but one set kept going. Dutch smelled gunpowder in the tracks. He followed them til they grew uneven in stride, then where the person collapsed. The tracks went on as a wiggling line, like a massive branch dragged through snow.

Ahead of him the tracks grew shallower in their ungulation til it ended at a circular hole melted in the snow, it was deep enough that he couldn’t see inside until he was upon it and curved his head over the lip.

In the basin was Micah’s curled up form, jacket gripped tight til his claws punched through the lapels. Snow drift landed on his form and stayed as pristine as if it touched ice. Not a twitch racked his frigid body.

“Son!” His throat felt sore uttering that word for the first time in a year. He leapt into the hole carved by body heat and scooped up Micah. Limp as a rag doll. cold as rock and pale as snow. To expect a response from his fanged lips would be to expect dirt to talk.

He panned down the rest of Micah’s body: his legs reverted back to their natural scaled state out of stress. His long lower body was unguarded to the cold, sapping him of body heat until he had nothing to do except die.

“Stupid, stupid snake,” Dutch grit through his teeth. He wrapped him around his neck, like Micah would do when hitching a ride. He popped his collar to shield his living scarf from the cold.

With each leap through the snow, he felt Micah’s body flop jaggedly up and down. He had to pause momentarily to readjust him, pull him tighter. If it wouldn’t result in Micah’s bone’s breaking, Dutch would have tied him in a knot to keep him stable.

Dutch always had a plan, but now? Nothing came to his feverish mind. All he had was the white expanse before him and the black speck of cabin in the distance.

What if the men spotted him? Mythical creatures had no place in America anymore, the Pinkertons showed them that when they hunted down his gang. Now was the century of humans: gangs of humans organized by humans to hunt down mythical creatures. The Bell gang had been in need of a score, maybe seeing a black sphinx contrasted by white snow would look like gold and jewels to their alcohol-swollen eyes.

The time to decide was cut short each second he sped closer to the forest edge. The cabin was at a lower elevation than they were; the forest claimed a raised slice of land that looked down on the cabin. The cliff edge and the cabin were a mighty distance.

Cold air rushed in from the edge, snowflakes darting for Dutch’s eyes to blind him. He squinted through the blur and could make out the dark-gray rock where the ledge ended and tree roots jutted out. He had no good option except doing what he did best: be a careless leader.

He lowered his head and pushed harder with each landing paw. The sky egged him on, chanting that he’d miss his step and fall. A body-length from the edge, he bunched his hind legs, when they came down at the cutting tip of the rock, he launched himself.

Wings fanned out, quivering as the thin membrane grew fragile with the cold near instantly. In a long fluid arch, he glided through the air, arms outstretched for the cabin roof. It was only seconds before the black tiles lunged for him.

He landed on the slanted surface with a thunder clap. The wood beam inside groaned with a splinter but kept its shape. The roof tiling fell under Dutch’s weight, sliding him backwards towards the rocks below. A misplaced hind paw dislodged a tile and lost his footing. He threw his clawed fists into the ridge beam at the peak, they sunk into the tough wood and cured tar, providing enough traction to pull himself up.

He sneaked down the front of the cabin in a controlled manner. Crouched at the front door, he allowed Micah’s body to slip from around his neck. Dutch transformed and yanked his monster counterpart up the stairs and through the door swung wide open. Micah, even if resembling half human in his current form, was larger and heavier than Dutch. It took multiple attempts to get Micah through the open layout and in front of the dead fireplace.

Men shouted down the mountain, they must have heard the echo ripple through the mountain. Hastily, Dutch ran to grab the living rug that laid lamely in the snow. He shouldered it past the threshold and slammed the door behind him. He stared at the pathway, anticipating a mob of men to come running with guns drawn. But the voices stayed distant, sounding like men more drunk than in the mindset for monster hunting. Dutch sighed and slipped back inside.

Micah was out of it. The degree of his rigidity and colorless features was emphasized by the hard, rich floorboards that contrasted him.

He shoved his companion into a pile before the fireplace. With fresh wood, paper, and a match or two, the fire came to life.

The human act was pointless in the privacy of the walls now. Dutch unfurled his long body from the constricting skin and curled around Micah. His neck ran across the pointed scales running Micah’s curves.

There was a twitch, sounding like falling sand in a glass bottle. Dutch peeked his eye open and looked at Micah in his arms. His tail fell from side to side, the segmentations knocking into each other dryly. The wagging became stronger until it was the fur-raising warning of a rattlesnake.

“Micah,” Dutch commanded alertness. He took Micah’s cheeks in his paw and shook him awake. Gray eyes struggled to break the crust of ice sealing them. His pupils were sluggish to constrict, then dilate to fine tune his vision. Micah stiffened and tried to wriggle away, out of the pan and into the fire. Dutch gripped him tighter and yanked him back. Pinned to the ground, Micah’s slitted eyes finally focused.

“Duuuuutchie, knew you wouldn’t let me die,” he slurred. All the worry in Dutch’s body drained like the blood from his cheeks hearing that insidious voice once more. He felt the weight of a body in his hands, perhaps as light as Arthur may have weighed at that moment Dutch turned away from him and chose this snake instead.

Dutch couldn’t grasp what to say to his face. His claws itched to sink in between his scales and show how he felt. He forcefully snorted in Micah’s face. Dutch released him and paced the opposite end of the room.

“Come on, don’t give me the cold shoulder,” gasped Micah at the loss of heat. His lower body was unresponsive, he used his arms to claw each floor board and drag himself forwards. A paw came down on his back and squashed him like a bug.

He was a spinning dime, “You can’t fault a man for trying to save his second in command! I was huntin’ with the men, they caught a deer but I needed to get somethin’ for you.”

His sickly sweet tone felt slimy under Dutch’s sweaty pads. He wiped them off on his chest fur and lumbered to the fireplace at the other end. Micah followed behind, quicker than before. He wrapped around Dutch’s torso and squeezed. The extent of Dutch’s thinning was felt in how tight Micah’s plump rolls could indent his abdomen. Grim as the reminder of his health was, Dutch felt reassurance in the quiver of his heart; winter was finding its way inside him with Micah as its Trojan horse and he welcomed it. Dutch crumpled to the floor, Micah grunted with his body being crushed. He wriggled to get comfortable amongst the salt-and-pepper fur.

“I haven’t slept well. Excuse me… I’m…” Dutch trailed off, eyes sinking into the fire. “I haven’t been myself, since…”

“That was a long time ago,” Micah brushed off the memory so easily. Dutch was still going in circles trying to untangle his fur of these burs. In between brief silence, Micah apologized, “I was too harsh before. I didn’t mean it.” Micah formed a smile but saw there was no progress cheering Dutch up.

Maybe Dutch was waiting for that: for Micah to drop the act he put on when caught causing more trouble than was warranted.

He caught Micah off guard with his question, “have you ever considered eating one of your men?”

Blue eyes twisted from the fire to Dutch’s face. His wide eyes squinted, then scowled as if analyzing his words for some underlying test of loyalty, or morality.

“No,” he cut. “We don’t eat humans, you know that.”

“What’s stopping you?” Dutch was a rock but his raspy voice was reverberant in Micah’s head. “There are so many men, and you told me yourself how disposable they are to you.”

“Monsters don’t eat humans: I don’t eat humans, you won’t be eatin’ humans. That is unless you fancy angerin’ the hornet’s nest. Kill one human and twenty more will follow.”

Stomach growls pulled both of them from the topic of taboos. Micah squeezed tighter and Dutch groaned at the disturbance to his abdomen. His head fell into his paws; he didn’t hide behind glamor and words anymore. His ill-wellness was on display to all that could see, and Micah was getting an eyeful.

“There will be food for you, we just need to wait. We will get off this mountain once the bounty hunters pick up the scent of someone easier to catch than me.” Micah patted Dutch’s shoulder, transitioning it into scrubbing his tangled neck fur and up to scratching Dutch’s ears. “I’d let you eat my human legs if it wouldn’t result in me bleedin’ out.”

His joke and jab of his shoulder elicited no reaction in Dutch apart from a slow, tired blink. Micah traced the scales on his cheeks with his claws and shakily inhaled.

“You and I could go huntin’ together? It could be nice, just the two of us: I do the hard work and you keep me from freezing my limbs off.”

A black tail swatted and covered Micah’s mouth. “Stop talking. Let an old man rest” Dutch curled his neck inwards til he surrounded him, cheek pressed to Micah’s upper body.

Micah couldn’t argue, he too was exceptionally tired: physically and emotionally. He let his upper body relax into Dutch’s neck like a regal bed calling his name. His constricting hold loosened but remained securely around the panther’s body.

“Have faith in me, Boss. We’re survivors.” But Dutch wasn’t convinced; Neither one of them could survive long without the other in this changing world of men, monster, and winter.

[lanxyuu]

You're The Fishbone in My Throat

Rating: T | 1/1 chapters, 12k words | satosugu | angst, emotional baggage, happy ending

“So just tell me that if you were in my place, you would’ve burnt me to ashes on the spot.” Everything evaporates into nothing—every counterargument, every rebuttal and jab coiled up in Suguru’s mind. “Tell me that if I was standing here a year later, you wouldn’t have hesitated for the barest moment.” Satoru smiles faintly. It’s not caustic and cold like it was earlier, but it’s far from joyful. “And then I’ll get over it. I’ll take the loss I deserve for being such a fool.”

Suguru Geto comes back from the dead. Satoru Gojo comes back from the Prison Realm. Relearning how to exist beside one another again comes in stops and starts.

[centrally-unplanned]

Follow-up to my Fanroad Magazine archival scan post - let's look at some cute 90's anime art! Just random ones that caught my eye:

"Hey, what happened to me!?" As mentioned, this came out before End of Eva did - as such, Asuka & crew really didn't get much of an ending in the TV show. 100% how she would react to watching episode 26, props to our artist (春原てるも/Kasuhara Terumo)

There are just so many "Rei running with toast" pieces, it was clearly a combination of a meme amoung the fans and the theme for the magazine. Love how this one brought marmalade too - never compromise on taste, no matter how late you are.

(The artist's name is "actually, I'm a Shinji fan" btw lol)

I love finds like these - these toast-lugging Rei's are by people who are professional mangaka today! The first is by いちば仔牛/Ichiba Kousei, or "Marketplace Cow" - it ain't their birth name I am sure - and they are a founding member of the doujin circle UGO - which is still going strong! And our second is by (I am 80% sure on this one) うおなてれぴん/Uona Terepin, a quite-accomplished artist who adorably published their first professional work in 1997, a year after this. Their twitter feed is 50% big titty girls and 50% model tanks, absolutely based.

Hot👏Shinji👏Fucks👏, this piece is amazing. What else do I have to say? (緋月れん/Hizuki Ren - maybe, translating Japanese names with no context is hard guys -_-)

This is one of my favourite trends - so Evangelion has a lot of technobabble? And it is very frequently in English. So fans really liked recreating that aesthetic in their art. But in 1996 they didn't have access to like screengrabs from the show or scanned splatbooks on hand? Which meant they just used ~whatever English text they could find - generally newspapers at their university or library. Which means we get Toast Rei splashed on reports of stock indices in the global financial markets, and this beautiful moe-Rei/Asuka looking solemnly out over, uh, some report about housing prices and cholesterol levels? Technobabble indeed! (嶋屋みえ/Shimaya Mei, まなせ貴也/Manase Takaya)

Rei clone army! Adorable. (藤桜智美/Fujisakura Tomomi)

Okay, moving away from Eva, there is in fact a bunch of other properties in here with fanart, but these types stood out to me:

That seinen "Kids on the Street" energy that was peaking in the 90's; fully ~aesthetic. (Keiko Kuyuki)

And to end on a weird note:

One section of the magazine is just a free-for-all of thoughts, and one Yayoi Hirone decided to give us a girl caught in the middle of undressing...alongside a recipe for cooking shrimp. Which, if I am being honest, is a huge improvement over the bullshit they throw on recipes online these days. This is the future we could have had -_-

Anyway, I hope that was fun - if anyone is struck or amused by some of the art in the magazine, I would be happy to see what stood out to you!

[yamujiburo]

Thinking about Delia and her attachment issues because of ash and because of her husband and everyone always forgets her.

Thinking about how worried she was when Jessie said that she’s leaving. Thinking about how she thinks Jessie will leave like everybody else in her life.

Thinking about how I am now sick from this/pos.

I have a fic for you

@cyberwulf

[tboyswagcompetition]

HERE IS OUR ROSTER!

EDIT: FINAL RESULTS (characters knocked out are greyed)

WINNER: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!

There will be 80 participants in the tboy swag competition! I tried to pick a variety of characters from the nominations :) The bracket will be seeded (more popular characters will face off against less popular) and a list of character names, the series they're from, and the total number of nominations they received will be under the cut.

Voting will start tomorrow! (2/19/23)

EDIT:

here is the bracket so far:

Jesse Pinkman | Breaking Bad: 15

Danny Fenton | Danny Phantom: 10

Sonic | Sonic The Hedgehog: 10

Barney Guttman | Dead End Paranormal Park: 10

Dipper Pines | Gravity Falls: 8

Hunter | The Owl House: 8

Link | The Legend Of Zelda: 7

Apollo Justice | Ace Attorney: 6

Herbert West | Re-animator: 6

Mettaton | Undertale: 6

Kurapika | Hunter X Hunter: 5

Gomez Addams| The Addams Family: 4

Kim Kitsuragi | Disco Elysium: 4

The Scout | Team Fortress 2: 4

Will Graham | Hannibal: 4

James Bonde | Moriarty The Patriot: 4

Edward Elric | Fullmetal Alchemist: 4

Caspar Von Bergliez | Fire Emblem: 3

Peter Parker | Spider-Man: 3

Pete Conlan | Dimension 20: 3

Zuko | Avatar: The Last Airbender: 3

Dave Strider | Homestuck: 3

Mafuyu Asahina | Project Sekai: 3

Naoto Shirogane | Persona 4: 3

Leonardo | Rise Of The TMNT: 3

Leon S. Kennedy | Resident Evil: 3

Saiki Kusuo | The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K: 3

Reigen Arataka | Mob Psycho 100: 3

Miles Morales | Spider-Man: 3

James T. Kirk | Star Trek: 3

Len Kagamine | Vocaloid: 2

Casey Jones | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): 2

Robin | Teen Titans: 2

Guzma | Pokemon: 2

Felix Hugo Fraldarius | Fire Emblem: 2

Chip | Just Roll With It: 2

Adam Faulkner-Stanheight | Saw: 2

Julian Bashir | Star Trek: 2

Alphonse Elric | Fullmetal Alchemist: 2

Shadow | Sonic The Hedgehog: 2

Shin | Dorohedoro: 2

Akito Shinonome | Project Sekai: 2

Ash Williams | Evil Dead: 2

Columbo | Columbo: 2

Benoit Blanc | Knives Out/Glass Onion: 2

Tsukasa tenma | Project Sekai: 2

Michael The Distortion | The Magnus Archives: 2

Robin | Fire Emblem: 1

Zagreus | Hades: 1

Yamato | One Piece: 1

Prompto Argentum | Final Fantasy XV: 1

Vash The Stampede | Trigun: 1

Vax'ildan | Critical Role: 1

Vanitas | Vanitas No Carte: 1

Blue | Pokemon: 1

Johnny Joestar | Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: 1

N | Pokemon: 1

Shatterstar | X-Men: 1

Party Poison | The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: 1

Ryuji Sakamoto | Persona 5: 1

Warabi | Splatoon: 1

Keaya | Genshin Impact: 1

Mont Leonis | War of the Visions Final Fantasy Brave Exvius: 1

Soren | Fire Emblem: 1

Teruki Hanazawa | Mob Psycho 100: 1

Percy Jackson | Percy Jackson & the Olympians: 1

Jotaro kujo | Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: 1

Chai | Hi-Fi Rush: 1

Goro Akechi | Persona 5: 1

Dabi/Touya Todoroki | Boku No Hero Academia: 1

Laios | Dungeon Meshi: 1

Heinz Doofenshmirtz | Phineas And Ferb: 1

Puss In Boots | Shrek: 1

Galo Thymos | Promare: 1

Beast Boy | Teen Titans: 1

Ingo | Pokemon : 1

Emmet | Pokemon: 1

Ford Pines | Gravity Falls: 1

Stan Pines | Gravity Falls: 1

Luke Skywalker | Star wars: 1

[regret-with-a-u]

Under the moonlight, in a destroyed forest ground painted red and black with the blood and ashes of the fallen, Kakashi finds his God again.

He found his God wearing the face of his old friend, looking dangerous, unhinged, and completely alive. Kakashi never believed in anything holy, but now upon seeing him, breathing, and looking at him looking at him, Kakashi realizes; this is how people lose themselves in prayers and worship.

Or, ANBU!Kakashi meets an old friend, gives up his mask, finds his way in the road of life and eventually realizes he is in love. __________________________ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 _____________________________

OKAY SO!

I have written a small fic a few months ago when I was having my finals. Like literally… I finished it 1 hour before the exam. Sleeplessness is good sometimes… ANYWAYS! I AM FINISHING THIS BAD BOY!!! I only need to edit it then life happened and stuff lol THERE WILL BE 3 CHAPTERS I AM TRYING TO MAKE THE 3RD ONE GOOD!!

[chaoslynx]

Chapters: 1/1

Word Count: 1712

"It's really none of your business, now is it, old man?" Once he's said the words, he can barely remember the question Max asked. Something about where Ash was spending time—nothing he even had any reason to hide. But the defensiveness comes up from within Ash and lashes out, biting like a snake at anyone who cares enough to ask. Ash feels the blood drain from his face.

Ash waits for the other shoe to drop. Ash waits for a blow that never comes. Ash lets himself be forgiven.