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pcprminibigbang · 4 years

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PCPR Mini Big Bang Fic Claiming Time!

Today’s the daaaaay!

Under the cut, you will find the summaries of the fanfics our Writers have been working on. They have been posted anonymously, labeled only by number.

Artists, go through the summaries carefully and figure out which ones you’d like to work on the most! Please pick three choices and then hop on over to your email to send your fic claiming email to [email protected]! If you are confused as to how this process goes, please check your email inbox for emails Mod has sent concerning the full details on how to claim a fic.

For those not participating in this event, please feel free to read through the summaries as well to get a sneak peek of what our Writers have been working on!

Okay, that’s enough talking from Mod. Here are this event’s fics!!!

FIC #1 : CLAIMED!!!

He shuffles to the door, reaching for his gun just in case before he pulls it open, startling the short man who was waiting on the other side.

"Goddammit, Burger!" Vang0 hisses, leaning a little closer, eyes darting to the sides. "Can I come in?" He asks bluntly, as if they had been talking just a couple minutes ago and this wasn't their first chat in about a week. We're not that codependent.

"Wh- why are you out this late? And with a bag?" He frowns when he sees the uncharacteristic plain green duffle bag hanging from Vang0's shoulder, completely contrasting with the man's clothes, even if this time he went for more subdued colors.

"Let me in and I'll tell you," the blonde retorts as he puts a foot in the corner, ready to push himself inside as soon as Burger gives him room for it.

And Burger can't say no, has never been able to say no to Vang0, so he just rolls to the side and lets Vang0 in before slamming the door closed again.

"Why are you here? Not that I don't appreciate ya visiting, just... it's late and yer carrying a bag," he points out, tilting his head a little. "Y’know you can talk to me, Vang0, right?"

"Y-yeah, that's why I'm here, I-" he pauses, taking a deep breath "I got in trouble, I hacked into something I shouldn't have and I need to lay low for a while"

Vang0 Bang0 messed up, big time, he needs help to get off the radar for a while, and of course that his best friend Burger Chainz would help him, and a road trip seems to be the best way to make him drop from the face of earth until things have quieted down. But the empty roads bring nostalgia and an unearths feelings both of them thought deeply buried. They say that road trips change you, why should that be different in the cyberpunk future?

Vang0 Bang0/Burger Chainz, getting together fic, Teen rating, no ao3 warnings needed, maybe some minor canon violence. It's a slightly introspective fic, more focused on how Burger realizes some stuff and how he deals with it.

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: None

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FIC #2 : CLAIMED!!!

Turtleneck Heathen Today at 8:15 PM …… did u just ping me to ask if i wore heals

Badass Business Bitch Today at 8:16 PM *heels yes i did and do you?

Turtleneck Heathen Today at 8:17 PM not usually?? ill wear em if its like a big thing or w e i guess (Edited) i mean i havnet really had the oprotuntiy to wear em

Badass Business Bitch Today at 8:19 PM are you intentionally misspelling words to make yourself seem cooler to me?? Vang0 I watched you lick a stranger’s nose

Vang0 doesn't remember his birthday. Or his age. Or his interests, his likes, his dislikes, the password to his CollegeBoard account.

(Well, one of those is less important than the others.)

That being said, Burger wants to throw him a birthday party. Dasha is interested, despite herself. A series of assumptions are made, some feelings are hurt, and some lessons are learned.

Ships: Vang0/Dasha/Burger if you squint but pretty much a gen fic

Rating: Probably G, bordering maybe on T for swearing

Sensitive content: Canon-typical amnesia, a little bit of angst, some oblique canon-typical gun mentions, maybe a panic attack later in the fic- I haven't quite decided if that's gonna happen or not yet?

Other info: It's a pretty lighthearted fic focusing on the relationship between the three of them! No AU, pretty much just comedy and fun all the way through. I haven't ironed out all the details of what's going to happen yet, but that's gonna stay pretty consistent- there'll be some angstier/less funny bits here and there, of course, though.

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: None

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FIC #3 : CLAIMED!!!

Vang0 chewed his lip, feeling uneasy.

“What’s up, friend? You’ve got a big ol’ frown on your face.”

Vang0 blushed. “I’m not- I’m just- thinking. I mean, Joltik usually travel with their mother Galvantula, and it’s unusual for them to be seen without one, so these ones might have been separated from their mother.”

Burger frowned. “Well, that ain’t good.”

Vang0 nodded. “And Galvantula can get very angry when separated from their young.”

Burger opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by someone yelling loudly.

“BURGER! Burger, where the fuck are you!?”

Vang0 watched as Burger spun around and started towards the basement door.

“Burger!? Are you down here? There’s a huge fucking-”

“No, don’t come down-”

Burger was cut off as the door flew open, and someone catapulted into the basement.

Vang0 stared, eyes wide.

“Burger,” he said, “why the hell is Dapper Dasha in your house?”

Seven months ago, Vang0 woke up in a half-destroyed laboratory with no memories of his life before that. He's made something of a life for himself fixing people's technology, because he somehow knows how to do that really well.

And Burger Chainz is just another one of his clients. That is, until it turns out Burger's hiding ex-Pokemon Contest star Dapper Dasha in his house - who hasn't been seen in two years and just so happens to be Vang0's role model.

Vang0 definitely isn't freaking the fuck out. And he definitely isn't falling in love with Burger, either.

Vang0 Bang0/Burger Chainz. A Pokémon AU where Burger owns a farm, Dasha is an ex-contest star in hiding, and Vang0 has no clue what's going on. Rating: Teen. Warnings: mentions of blood and violence, nothing explicit

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: None

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FIC #4 : CLAIMED!!!

clink!

Vang0 Bang0 jumped in his seat as the van hit a bump in the road, speeding upon the old, graying highway. The trinkets they had collected over their various traveled crashed and banged, one almost hitting the window. The loud trinkets and music blaring from the car stereo didn’t phase Vang0. They weren’t sure where he was going, but it sure wasn’t home.

Vang0 wasn’t focused on the road, he was focused on something...else. It wasn’t the other cars; there weren’t any. Most people stayed in Night City, so the roads weren’t full a lot, he knew that. But this road doesn't have anything, anything that would ever prove that anyone had ever existed near here. Not even a bottle.

After an eventful drive, Vang0 Bang0 finds themself on a beach with no discernable exits. No stairs, no ladders, not even a boat. Confused, Vang0 comes to terms with what he’s found in Night City, and what they’ve lost along the way. (Also they/he pronoun Vang0 rights)

There are no ships in this fic. I am likely to rate it Teen and Up audiences, since while there is no explicit or intentionally upsetting content, it might get a little sad at times. I’m not 100% sure about the exact direction my fic is going to go, there might be a car crash (not to graphically described, Vang0 is not hurt very badly, since this is [spoilers] a dream or metaphor about Vang0 coming to terms with memory loss). And since it is a dream sequence with no clear exit, this may be an unreality situation.

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: Only minor Artists can claim this fic.

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FIC # 5 : CLAIMED!!!

Upon Burger barging into Dasha’s bedroom and announcing that he got tick- stop screaming Vang0, it’s just me, got tickets to a film festival tonight, are you guys in, Vang0 informed him that they had “a job tonight, Burger, did you even check the zoogle calendar, we’ll go tomorrow or something,” and no, of course Burger hadn’t checked the calendar, that’s Dasha’s job, and sure we can get tickets for tomorrow too but the Winston Rider film is only showing tonight and I thought you guys might be interested -- “Winst- do you mean Winona Ryder?” -- and after about five minutes of schedule comparisons Dasha simply shoved Vang0 out of the bed and declared that she was going to the movie with Burger, Vang0 was finishing their job, and Burger was going to make her some coffee because “it’s too fucking early for this” even though personally, Burger thought 11:00am was a perfectly reasonable time to be awake -- he was probably missing something, or maybe Dasha had just been up late, Vang0 was definitely a blanket hog and Burger knew from experience that sharing a bed with them would be more likely to result in a semi-conscious tug of war than a decent night’s sleep -- so Vang0 got up to do their job and Burger went and made some coffee and Dasha relocated to the couch, where she downed the coffee and some eggs and promptly fell back asleep for another three hours.

Burger loved Dasha, of course he did, he loved spending time with her and he thought she was beautiful and the idea that they might be dating -- might have been dating for a while -- sat warm and comfortable in his chest, but, except, it just was that, he hadn’t realized that how they interacted might be how two people that were dating behaved, he was just hanging out with his friend, he did stuff like this with Vang0 all the ti- -- now wait, wait a second, now hang on just a second --

a.k.a. 5 times Burger missed the point +1 time he caught a clue

Dapper Dasha/Vang0 Bang0/Burger Chainz, Rating: Teen, content warnings for implied violence, drinking, implied sexual content

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: Only adult Artists can claim this fic.

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FIC # 6 : CLAIMED!!!

“What is this? What’s going on? Why am I dressed like I’m straight?” Vang0 hisses, gesturing to everything around him and the wrongness of it all.

“Seriously?” Candella rolls her eyes, unimpressed. “You couldn’t have scheduled your existential work breakdown until after our shift? You don’t see my lesbian ass complaining while I’m on the clock, do you?”

“I—What? Am I speaking another fucking language? You answered none of my questions!”

“Yeah because it’s 9am and the morning rush just ended so I do not have enough energy to indulge just,” Candella gestures at all of Vang0. “whatever is going on with you right now.”

“What’s going on with me right now is that I’ve found myself in a bougie caffeine establishment fever dream that just so happens to have the shittiest store playlist in the history of ever.” Vang0 says, bordering on manic as he looks up at the ancient speaker up in the corner of the shop. “Seriously, what is this terrible song?”

“Hey, Soul Sister by Train.” Candella still, amazingly, does not look alarmed or worried.

Or the one where Vang0 is a barista at Zero and One’s Cafe...except he’s not.

This isn’t his fucking job, this isn’t his fucking life, and it takes a quick look around the horrifyingly low tech coffee shop he’s in and the fact that he’s missing a USB port on his neck to be painfully aware that this isn’t his fucking universe. This is a 2010s over idealistic portrayal of adult mundanity that he and his friends are stuck in and Vang0 has to get them all out of this nightmare before he commits customer service acts of violence.

Bring it on, Coffee Shop AU. Bring. It. On

Dapper Dasha/Vang0 Bang0/Burger Chainz. An absurd existential romantic comedy where the trio somehow get transported into a Coffee Shop AU against their wills. Rating: Teen. Content warnings for slight absurd horror and canon typical violence.

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: None

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FIC # 7 : CLAIMED!!!

“That guy in my english class,” Dasha could hear through the speakers the distinct sound of combat boots stepping on cement. What was Vang0 doing outside at this time, alone? “The one I told you about! Burger-” “The one you’ve been crushing on for months and you’re too much of a coward to ask out?” Dasha already knew everything about this guy, Vang0 saw him on the first day of senior year in his english class and he hadn’t shut up about him ever since. 5’10, large and muscular shoulders, nice to everyone and just dense enough that everytime he said something you would automatically think “wow… thank fuck you’re attractive,” but not in an irritating way, you know? Vang0 exhaled, which Dasha interpreted as a yes. “Well I couldn’t ask him out even if i wanted to,” “Huh?” Dasha could hear the cogs in her own brain turning, trying to process what was being said to her. “Because he’s dating a blonde g-” she heard Vang0 stop on his steps and his tone becoming more dry, “are you even listening to what I’m saying?” Dasha yawned audibly and tried sitting up again. This time she succeeded, “yeah, yeah, I’m listenin’. How did you find out about this and why did you decide to call me at nearly 2 am instead of just waiting until tomorrow?” “I followed them and I saw them talking.” “You’ve lost it.” - Dasha received a call from Vang0 at 1:47 am one saturday night, and everything went downhill from there. They were not friends, she couldn’t understand why Vang0 acted like they were, but they weren’t, because Dasha didn’t have any friends. Except that, when she sees Vang0 struggling, for the first time in 18 years of life she decides that maybe this one idiot is worth getting soft over. And so she helps him bleach his hair over a cup of coffee and a can of Spunky Monkey. Because why the fuck not. - Main pairing is platonic Vang0/Dasha, background ship is Vang0/Burger. The whole story is from Dasha’s POV. Genre is just a very typical teen romance story except that it’s focused more on platonic bonding rather than the actual romance. Vang0 calls Dasha late at night, tells her he wants to bleach his long dark curly hair and cut his bangs after seeing Burger with a blonde girl, and he goes to her place. She helps him do the deed in her bathroom (she’s still elite) as they realize how much they care about each other. Initially inspired by that one scene in Scott Pilgrim where Knives Chau dyes her hair. Rating: general audiences, content warnings: lots of swearing, implied addiction/addiction enabling, shoplifting mention. CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: None

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FIC # 8 : CLAIMED!!!

vang0 officially disappears on march 23rd, 2040. exact time unknown, but whatever conspires that morning takes place before burger wakes up.

if he’s being honest with himself; he’s seen it coming for a little while now. vang0 isn’t the routine type, he’s young and whip smart and drinks so much redbull that the stuff must pump through his veins.

burger’s an old dog. older than vang0 by at least 2 years, he’s sure. he doesn’t have much, and god doesn’t that sound cliche, but he’s stupid and optimistic- and really. he must’ve known somewhere that the kid wouldn’t stay. he’s got a nasty drug habit that burger cant support and a look in his eyes like he wants the world- burger cant even buy him a fake ID.

this happens sometimes, the coming and going. vang0’ll disappear for a week if he’s lucky, a month if he’s not, but never longer than that.

no use crying over spilled milk.

vang0 goes missing, burger velmently pretends nothing is wrong until he doesnt, and dasha has to pick up the pieces.

missing person fic, burger/dasha/vang0 implied, but nothing explicitly mentioned or talked about, drug use mentioned, mature, canon typical violence, kidnapping, and other canon typical shit- it is night city after all lmao, kind of introspective, alot of burger just thinking back on his relationship w vang0 and shit, but there is some plot as well ig

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: None

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FIC # 9: CLAIMED!!!

“Anyway, dude, what’s up? Or did you just come over for a cola because you ran out of your own?”

“Oh, right,” Vang0 says. He is still thinking about the man, and Dasha, and Dasha and that man, and Dasha’s long fingers and Dasha’s hair falling over her face as she purses her lips and blows upwards, her breath scattering strands of brown hair around her sharp cheekbones. “Um, there was something on the forum, I think - I think there’s a thing. For us. Should we call Burger?”

“Oh, Burger’s here,” Dasha says. “Somewhere. Burger!” she yells.

“Burger - but he spent the night?” Vang0 says, brain processing too slow somehow.

Dasha doesn’t respond.

“Did you -”

“Have a threesome?” Dasha asks, in her usual blunt way. Her face is pretty expressionless, eyes severe under the liner and blinking less than a person should, but Vang0 knows her pretty well, he can see the corners of her mouth turning up. That means she thinks something is funny. “I don’t think so. Burg!” she calls over her shoulder. “Did we?”

When Vang0 sees a JumpTrash post about vandalism at a club down town, he figures it will be an easy job for the trio - find out who did it, have Burger intimidate them, done. But things are more complicated than they seem, and the gang ends up drawn into a complex scheme involving the Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss, conspiracies and hit men, and people from their past they thought were long gone. Along the way, they'll have to decide what they want out of this job - and what they want from each other....

This is basically an elaborate CAPER, with a bunch of feelings and shit thrown in. It's a job and then it's a crime story! Its kind of a noir? Can I write a noir? WE"LL FIND OUT. It's gonna be fairly long assuming I can get my act together and put in all i want to put in. Like every good story, it's got plot and whatnot but the plot is just a fulcrum around which to wrap some found family polyamory shit, baby. It's Vang0/Dasha/Burger, duh and it takes them a minute to get there but they'll get there! Its gonna have canon-typical violence, basically - none of the trio die or anything, but other people do, and there's blood. There's gonna be a sex scene because I'm not an AMATEUR. Drug use, too, but mostly in happy fun ways. I haven't fully sussed out some of the flashbacks, but probably some oblique references to past traumas, probably Vang0. Nothing explicit, no reliving events or anything. Also i'm 1000 years old, be warned!

CLAIMING RESTRICTIONS: Only adult Artists can claim this fic.

#polygon #polygon cyberpunk red #pcpr

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nelvana · 5 years

Text

In which a present is prepared

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: (This is it!) Next: In which a birthday is celebrated Previous [ARC 1]: In which the lost are found back home

It’s calm. A cool breeze blows by, ruffling the furry hide of the scarred cubone and picking up her scarf slightly in the air.

Nelvana sat on the ground, leaning back to set her hands on the grass while she stared up at the open blue sky. It really was a nice day, and for now she could relax in the warm rays of the shining sun.

For once, she was alone at the Team Galaxy base, resting out on the lawn. Her teammates were all off doing their own thing, presumably, and that was quite alright for her. After all, there were less missions posted on the board for them to do, now that the disasters were slowly settling down as the world’s balance fixed itself; providing them with much free time to enjoy their future. Though, none of them would ever go too far on their own, and even now Nelvana could relax with the knowledge that her friends were off somewhere around Pokemon Square, and that if she wanted to see them, she would easily be able to.

However, being alone with one’s own thoughts rarely stays that positive for long. Nelvana couldn’t help but find herself thinking over recent and upcoming events.

It had been one week since the meteor that threatened the world’s balance and the very fate of the future itself had been destroyed, and six days since the trio of Nelvana and her two friends that had traveled from that dark future had returned from being erased from time and space itself. Of course, not everything had fixed itself so quickly. While the number of rescue requests that turned up on the board were fewer than before, there were still enough to fill each morning with work, even with there still being other active teams in the area. Many had expected there to be a sudden spike in evolution with the balance being fixed and everyone making up for lost experience, but so far there was still nothing.

On a less world-wide scale, Nelvana missed Gardevoir. Guilt ate away at her for not even really being able to thank the spirit guide for all of her help, and not being able to speak with her anymore felt just as bad, especially after Gardevoir had expressed just wanting to have some company so badly.

Regardless, Nelvana also knew that it would do her no good to continue dwelling on these issues which were currently outside of her control. As much as she longed to be able to do something about them, she couldn’t see any possible solutions, no matter how much she stressed over them.

What was within her control though, was the birthday of her best friend, Keahi. The torchic had been bubbling with excitement for the event for days now, and there were still three days until the day itself. Everyone else couldn’t help but find themselves excited for her as well, especially those who hadn’t really gotten the chance to celebrate anyone’s birthday before, which happened to be most of the team. Keahi, as usual, was fine with explaining how things should go. She had expressed wanting to have a small party with the team, where they could play games, enjoy some cake together, and hand out presents.

Nelvana didn’t want to mess this up. She wanted to show how much she cared for Keahi by getting the best present for her possible, but wondering what that gift would be had been plaguing her mind every since the torchic had mentioned her birthday.

“Hey, Nel! I’m back!”

Just barely as Nelvana’s thoughts wandered back to her partner’s birthday, the very person she was thinking of returned. Keahi beamed over at the cubone, waiting to make sure that she had her attention, before bolting over to her and tackling her into a hug.

“Hey Keahi,” Nelvana hummed, wrapping an arm around the warm torchic. “That didn’t take you long.”

“Of course not! I only went to order a cake from the café, you know that doesn’t take long!” Keahi replied with a giggle. “I hope you weren’t bored while I was gone.”

“Eh, maybe a little bit,” Nelvana murmured, “I was just thinking of what to get you for your birthday,” she admitted, absentmindedly running her fingers through Keahi’s feathers.

Keahi met Nelvana’s gaze, “again? I told you already, I don’t really mind what you get me. It’s the thought that counts after all!”

“I know…” Nelvana sighed, “I still want to make this good though.”

Keahi laughed, “I should’ve known. You really aren’t one to settle for less when you can do more, huh?” she said, “if only I could provide you with a better wish list…”

Nelvana rolled her eyes, “you haven’t provided any wish list!” she responded with a snort.

“That’s because I don’t have anything to wish for!” Keahi replied, lifting up a taloned foot to playfully kick at her partner. “I have everything I could have wanted. My biggest dream was to be in a rescue team, and here we sit as a gold ranked team! I have my home with all my stuff, and the best friends that I could ever ask for. What do I put on a wish list now?”

Nelvana paused, her expression softening after such a response, but then she smiled again and gave Keahi a pat on the head, “alright, fair enough… I’ll just have to figure out something eventually. All the others seem to have ideas anyway, so this isn’t impossible.”

“Actually! That’s a good point!” Keahi exclaimed, standing back up. “Why don’t you go ask the others what they thought of, and they can inspire you to think of something on your own!” she suggested, “and I can even go find something else to do in the meantime so I don’t get spoiled on the surprise,” she added, shaking out her feathers.

“Are you sure?” Nelvana questioned, “I wouldn’t want to just leave you alone.”

“Don’t be silly, I’ll be fine! I’ll just go check on Spinda and Gulpin’s progress again or visit the kids or something!” Keahi chirped, “if this helps you get your thoughts settled, then it’ll be fine.”

“Mm, alright,” Nelvana chuckled, standing up as well.

Nelvana brushed the grass from her fur, then proceeding the pick up her club that she had left resting beside her. Keahi waited patiently for her friend to be ready to go, and then the pair silently left the property and headed down the familiar path towards Pokemon Square.

At Pokemon Square, they were greeted with the usual joyful atmosphere around all the citizens. With summer slowly reaching its end, many of the pokemon were out enjoying the warm days while they lasted, while others were hoping to get the jump on the next season by setting out decorations nearly a month early.

The sight that Nelvana appreciated right off the bat was two of the other Team Galaxy members, Alex the grovyle and Ceebee the shiny celebi, over by the Kecleon Stand. They were the two others that Nelvana had lived with in the future, or as they had currently dubbed as the dead timeline, and who had traveled back in time with her to fix time itself. While Nelvana’s amnesia prevented her from remembering them properly, she still felt the warm familiarity every time she saw her old friends. Those two were usually together anyway, evidently Ceebee felt more comfortable with either Alex or Nelvana than anyone else, despite having become fast friends with the rest of the team and even most of the town.

“Hey, there’s Alex and Ceebee! You can go talk to them. I heard they were thinking of present shopping anyway, so that makes the timing right,” Keahi commented, nudging Nelvana.

“And how would you know what they were doing?” Nelvana asked curiously, raising a brow.

“I overheard them on my way back over to you, but I made sure to hurry on past so I wouldn’t get spoiled,” Keahi told her, “speaking of, I guess I should head on my way again. Good luck with getting inspired! See you later, Nel!” she continued before giving a wave of her wing and hurrying away.

“See you, Keahi!” Nelvana replied.

Nelvana watched her partner head north to Whiscash Pond, before turning her attention back over to the nearby pair, who had noticed her nearby. She headed over to them at the stand, where they seemed to be getting instructions from the two brothers on how to use the roll of colored paper that Alex was holding.

“Hello there Nel!” Ceebee hummed, “what brings you over here?” she asked.

“Oh, I actually wanted to ask about gift ideas for Keahi… but, uh, what are you guys doing?” Nelvana responded, eyeing the paper curiously.

“We’re trying to teach these two to use freaking wrapping paper of all things!” Purple-Kecleon snapped, smacking his hand down on the table dramatically.

“Hey, cut us some slack here,” Alex chuckled, tugging on the wrapping paper. “We didn’t get this in the dead timeline, y’know. Besides, you and your bro will get paid for this either way, so why do you even care?”

“Wrapping paper?” Nelvana repeated, poking at the paper. “What do you wrap with it? It doesn’t look that strong,” she commented.

“This is used to wrap up boxes! More specifically, boxes that have presents inside!” Green-Kecleon answered, “there should be enough in this roll for all of you to wrap up your presents for Keahi.”

“Why do you wrap up the presents?” Nelvana asked.

“To keep it a surprise! It’s half the fun!” Ceebee chirped, fluttering closer to the cubone as she spoke to her. “Er, apparently, at least. Keahi has mentioned it a few times, after all, so it does sound right.”

“Oh, yeah. That does make sense,” Nelvana agreed, “anyway, I came to ask you guys what you’re getting for Keahi. I’m still having trouble thinking of something,” she explained.

“Still? You’re really overthinking this, Nel,” Alex teased as he repetitively experimented with the roll of paper by tugging out some paper before trying to roll it back up again. “I’m sure that whatever you give her, she’ll like.”

“Yeah!” Ceebee exclaimed, “try not to worry so much! But if you’re looking for ideas, you could draw her something. I heard that cards are usually made for birthdays, you could do that!” she suggested.

“Mm, yeah, I considered that,” Nelvana sighed, tapping her club on the ground. “But I feel like I could do more than just a card. It doesn’t feel like much of a gift.”

Alex shrugged, “your choice. I kinda have to agree with you on that thought process though, but also Ceebee is right about the art idea. You are one of the only ones that could take an artistic route on this, and make it look good, so that would make your gift unique,” he said, “Ceebee ‘n I are taking a more practical route on this.”

“That does sound like you, less like Ceebee though. I would have expected you to try making or finding something,” Nelvana responded, glancing up at the celebi flying in place in the air.

“Heh, yup… maybe next time. I think I still need more time to adjust to this… time, before I get that creative with gifts.” Ceebee admitted, “I really wanted to find a plant for her, but she also mentioned that she wouldn’t be good at taking care of it, so I changed my mind,” she continued before holding out a small cardboard box in front of her. “So, I got this instead! It’s a fire gem, she’ll be able to boost a fire-type move with it,” she said in a yell-whisper.

“Oh, that’s really nice!” Nelvana hummed, peeking into the box to view the diamond shaped red gem inside the box, which almost appeared to burn with its own little ember inside the crystal.

“Thanks! I hope Keahi will appreciate it. It’ll make that flamethrower attack go off with a bang,” Ceebee replied, hugging the box close to her. “I just need to wrap it, and then it should be good to go for the big day,” she added, glancing over at the wrapping paper Alex was still fiddling with.

“My gift isn’t quite ready yet. I ordered the TM for rock smash, since Keahi doesn’t have a fighting-type move yet. Apparently torchics don’t even get to learn many fighting-type moves, which is disappointing considering what they evolve into. So, I figured I’d help with that,” Alex explained, “besides, that way we’ll have another team member with a fighting-type move, since we only have you right now, Nel. I was going to look for recycle so we could just reuse brick break, but apparently torchics can’t learn that.”

“Recycle is a pretty rare TM anyway,” Purple-Kecleon chimed in, “I’ve been meaning to get it in my stocks at some point, but it can be a challenging one to get your hands on. I’ll have it here someday, but not in time for your teammate’s birthday, I’m afraid.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it. Just do let us know when that arrives, I believe Rayden can learn it for us,” Alex replied, “now then, about the wrapping paper…”

“As we’ve already explained, it’s pretty easy. Measure, cut, and tape,” Green-Kecleon responded, his voice muffled as he leaned behind the counter to bring out some scissors that were hidden back there. “I’ve got some scissors here, if you’d like to borrow them?”

Alex’s mouth crept up in a grin, “do I need to pay to use those?”

Both kecleon brothers laughed, “only if you break them!”

“Could I cut this… without those?” Alex murmured, his grin only growing as he unrolled some of the wrapping paper again and the leaves on his arms began glowing in anticipation.

“Alex… please don’t cut the wrapping paper with leaf blade,” Ceebee sighed, narrowing her eyes at the grovyle.

“Do it,” Nelvana whispered, a mischievous glint in her blue eyes.

“I’m going to do it,” Alex taunted, shifting his left arm closer to the paper.

“Don’t! You’ve been offered a perfectly useful tool for this! Just use that!” Ceebee hissed, crossing her arms across her chest.

Ceebee’s protests fell on deaf ears as Alex took hold of his impulsive idea and swiped the glowing leaves across the paper in one swift motion. There was the sharp “ssst” sound as the leaf blade move made a clean cut right through the wrapping paper, nicely slicing it so that there was a decently sized piece of paper for Ceebee’s box left in Alex’s right hand.

However, to pull this off as efficiently as he did, Alex had to let go of the actual roll in his left hand, dropping it onto the ground. While Pokemon Square wasn’t known for being built on any sort of hill or slant, the momentum from Alex’s swift movement was enough to send the rest of the paper rolling away, unrolling all the paper wrapped around it as it did so.

“Ah! Shoot!” Alex yelped, watching as the roll easily got too far away from him to simply reach for.

“There it goes!” Nelvana giggled, “that was a good cut though,” she added, looking at the piece that the grovyle had been left with.

“Ceebee, would you mind going to get that with your telekinesis?” Alex asked.

“Ha! Nah, you go get it! This was your idea; you deal with the consequences of your actions!” Ceebee laughed, sticking her tongue out at him.

Alex rolled his eyes, “fine, I’ll go get it, be that way,” he huffed, “take this then, you’re welcome,” he added, shoving the piece of paper at Ceebee before bolting after the runaway roll of wrapping paper.

Nelvana continued giggling as she watched the grovyle hurry after the roll, which had made its way into some bushes by now. Ceebee rolled her eyes, but laughed again as well, beginning to try folding the paper she had been handed around the box.

“Alright, thanks for the help, but I think I’ll try finding the others soon and see what they think,” Nelvana told Ceebee.

“Okay! Good luck with that! Once Alex gets that back, I think we’ll move indoors; just so you know in case you come back,” Ceebee replied.

Nelvana nodded, “thanks for letting me know, I’ll keep that in mind. See you two later!”

Alex glanced back over at that last exclamation, “you’re leaving? Aw, alright. See you later, good luck with thinking of a gift for Keahi!” he responded.

The other two team members of the A Squadron on Team Galaxy were Tsuki the absol and Edgar the duskull. While everyone on the team got along really well, those two especially had paired off nicely; which was extra convenient since neither of them slept often because of their typing, and them getting along meant that they wouldn’t get as bored while everyone else rested each night.

Nelvana could recall having last seen them by the mission board, Tsuki explaining how they would wait and see if any new missions got posted while everyone else was off doing their own thing. Deciding that that would be the best place to start looking for her other teammates, she made her way eastward down the path. This theory was proven correct as she spotted the familiar pokemon hanging around the currently empty board. Tsuki lay beside it with her hind legs tucked under her belly and her chin rested on it front paws, while Edgar floated around, making circles around both the absol and the mission board.

“Hello Tsuki, hello Edgar,” Nelvana greeted, “you’re still here?”

Tsuki lifted her head, sitting up so that she could peer back at the cubone more easily, “hello there Nelvana,” she greeted with a pleasant smile. “Indeed, we’re still here. There were a couple missions added, and we have them now, if you were hoping to get back to work before the end of the day.”

“I actually wanted to ask about gift ideas for Keahi, but if you want, I can go back and let the others know that there are still more missions to get done,” Nelvana replied.

“Don’t worry, there’s no rush! They’re both item finding missions,” Edgar hummed, “we can talk about gift ideas! You having trouble?”

“A bit, yeah,” Nelvana admitted, sitting down beside Tsuki and leaning against the absol’s side. “I already asked all the others, but I figured I’d see if either of you two had anything new to suggest, or if I could get inspired by what you guys settled on for gifts.”

“Ah, I see,” Tsuki murmured, “well, I’m afraid I don’t have much to suggest. You do know Keahi the best out of any of us, so you’ve probably already thought of anything I could think of now,” she said, “however, if you think it will help in your thinking, I’ve decided to find some ingredients for Keahi, since that seems to be an enjoyable hobby for her. She appears to be quite excited each time any of us ask for a cooking lesson, at the very least.”

“Oh, that is a good idea! I bet she’ll enjoy that. What have you found so far?” Nelvana responded.

Tsuki shrugged, “I went back and found some of those chestnuts, as well as some berries and seeds.”

“That’s why she’s been impatient to go through some dungeons,” Edgar added in a playfully hushed tone, “she wants to find more food items!”

Nelvana giggled, “ah, that makes sense. How about you, Edgar? Are you looking for items in dungeons too?”

“Oh! Yeah, kinda! I’ve been finding some lucky items for Keahi to hold onto! Wanna see them?” Edgar exclaimed, already going over to a small sack that he had stashed away behind the sign.

“Sure,” Nelvana replied, despite knowing that he would likely try showing her anyway, it felt better to confirm and let him know that this was fine.

Edgar brought over the sack and set it down in front of Nelvana and Tsuki to show them. It wasn’t tied shut, so when he placed it on the ground it flopped over slightly, spilling a few of the items that had been inside. Just a glance told them that these “lucky” objects were mostly just random things one might find on the ground. There were many rocks, as well as some feathers and leaves. Curious, Nelvana reached in to see what else was included in here, and found a couple shells that were hidden deeper inside.

“I found most of these in the area! Isn’t that nice? They must be really lucky in that case, for me to have found them so easily!” Edgar commented, floating closer to the others. “I heard that finding coins on the ground can be lucky too, but I only found a couple of those laying about, and I gave one of them to Metapod,” he added, pointing to the mentioned coins, which had fallen into the bottom corner of the sack. “Do you think Keahi will like them? Felicity said that items with no price aren’t worth much, but I think she was just in a bad mood. Lots of things with no price have more worth than anything you can buy or sell.”

Nelvana couldn’t help but smile, “yeah, I definitely think Keahi will like these,” she assured Edgar, helping set the spilled objects back into the sack. “And you’re right about the money idea. It doesn’t need to be expensive to be nice,” she continued, “oh, and the rocks with a ring around them are especially lucky.”

Edgar’s eye lit up in a warm glow, “thank you, Nel!” he chirped, “I’ve been working really hard on this!”

“I can tell,” Nelvana hummed, handing the sack back to the duskull. “The kecleons have some wrapping paper and stuff for wrapping gifts, you should go see them.”

“Maybe I will! I haven’t used wrapping paper before, but I heard that it’s really colorful!” Edgar responded.

“Rolls pretty well too,” Nelvana added under her breath.

“Did we help you at all with your own gift ideas?” Tsuki asked, standing up and stretching for a moment before sitting down beside Nelvana again.

“Oh… I’m not sure, sorry,” Nelvana murmured, “I’m probably still overthinking this.”

“You could do some art for her,” Tsuki suggested.

“Ceebee already suggested that, but thanks,” Nelvana sighed, rolling her club back and forth under her hand in the short grass around them. “That might be what I have to fall back on at this point.”

“Well, Tsuki did say that you’re the one who knows Keahi best,” Edgar pointed out, “what’s important to her, that you could maybe make into a present? What really matters to her?”

Nelvana exhaled again, turning her gaze up to the sky, “she… she really loves the stars, and cool colors, and exploring, and battling, and… cooking, like Tsuki said. Keahi loves this team and our work together, and… and she really loves people. She loves us, and her family…”

Nelvana let herself trail off as she thought to herself about the question, and how it could connect to possible presents she could get or make for Keahi. For a moment, she couldn’t help but let her heart be warmed with the thoughts of what her partner liked…

…and then, finally, the right idea came to her as she thought about Keahi’s family, and how much she had always cared for them.

“I think I have an idea,” Nelvana announced, almost a whisper as she worried about second-guessing herself, but the more she kept thinking, the more it felt right. “Yeah, I think I’ve thought of something! Thanks for the help guys!”

“I’m glad that we could help,” Tsuki purred.

“Yay!” Edgar cheered, “I knew you’d be able to come up with something!”

“I’m going to get started, thanks again! Love you!” Nelvana replied, hurrying back off towards Pokemon Square in a spring of energy.

“Love you!” Edgar exclaimed, spinning around again.

Tsuki chuckled, “love you too,” she responded softly, “ah, and if you see the others, let them know that we’d like to get back to work soon!” she added.

“I will!” Nelvana called back over her shoulder.

Nelvana sped back into Pokemon Square, back across the path and past the Persian Bank over to the Kecleon Stand again. This is where she paused, taking a moment to look around and plan ahead again. No one was by the Kecleon Stand anymore, aside from the brothers themselves. Spinning around, she could see Ceebee talking to Keahi over by the café now, the latter of which had found a light blue balloon and was carrying it from a string in her beak.

Alex was no longer hanging around with them, but if Nelvana had been able to remember anything, it was to track down her friends.

She found Alex not at the Team Galaxy base, but just off of the Makuhita Dojo, staring off into the empty fields ahead of him. Nelvana quietly walked up beside him, silently enjoying the view with him for a few moments. There was no need to call out to him, since she knew that he had noticed her gaze the moment she had spotted him.

“Heh, welcome back. You weren’t gone for long,” Alex greeted, glancing down at the cubone. “Did you think of something?”

“Actually, I did,” Nelvana replied, “which is what I wanted to ask you about.”

Alex chuckled, “I assumed so. What did you come up with?”

“I want to make a bracelet. Like the one Combusken has,” Nelvana told him, “do you know where he got it, or if he made it himself?”

“Why are you asking me?” Alex questioned.

“Come on, I know you have an eye for items. You had plenty of time to notice and ask about that bracelet. It’s obviously important to him, which would especially catch your eye,” Nelvana huffed.

Alex laughed, “ah, you got me there! I did ask him about the bracelet. It was made by his boyfriend, Servine, who has sadly passed away. So, I’m afraid that you won’t get much help out of this route,” he explained.

“Oh, that’s… that’s terrible,” Nelvana murmured, the weight of the news dragging down on her mood for a moment. “I… I still want to make it though. I’ll just have to figure something out on my own.”

“I’m sure that you’ll manage. Just do a braid or somethin’,” Alex suggested, shrugging, “actually, won’t this be an anklet? Keahi doesn’t exactly have arms yet, since she hasn’t evolved yet.

“Maybe I will braid it. And yeah, I know she hasn’t evolved. I think she’ll still like it though. She can wrap it around her talons or something,” Nelvana said, “well, I guess I had better go find some string then. Thanks anyway. Oh, did you handle the wrapping paper, by the way?”

Alex scoffed, “I was hoping you would have moved on from that. Yes, I got the roll back, and Ceebee’s present is nicely wrapped. Why don’t you get to work on your’s?”

Nelvana laughed, “I will, I will… see you later then, Alex. Be prepared to get to work later, Tsuki and Edgar have been collecting some missions for us to do before the day is out.”

“Alright, I’ll probably hang out with them then. I’m in the mood for some more dungeon explorin’ anyway. See you,” Alex responded, looking back out onto the horizon.

The string that Nelvana was looking for wasn’t hard to find. While not many pokemon in the area were big crafters, the Kecleon Stand still had some in stock, just in case. She picked out three strings, deciding that braiding would be the easiest, and bought them in blue, purple, and pink, all in similarly pastel shades so that they would hopefully blend together and look nice.

With her few supplies collected for the task, all she needed to do was to find a nice place to get started. Nelvana settled on a patch by the Kangaskhan Storage, after checking with Kangaskhan if it was fine to lounge beside the stand. Kangaskhan gave Nelvana some tips for making the bracelet, as the motherly normal-type had done some crafting herself in the past.

Nelvana sat down, placing her club upright in front of her, and attached the three pieces of string together on it so that they would stay in place. Taking the strings in her hands, she began weaving them together, instinctively repeating the mantra “right over middle, left over middle,” in her mind to remind herself of the steps to this task. The repetition was oddly soothing, or perhaps it was just the simple craft itself that let Nelvana relax more than she had before. Around her, she could still hear the faint voices of various pokemon chatting to each other, which was a constant promise that everyone was doing alright.

Keahi was going to love this gift, Nelvana was confident of it.

Right over middle.

Left over middle.

Blue.

Purple.

Pink.

Right over middle.

Left over middle.

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: (This is it!) Next: In which a birthday is celebrated Previous [ARC 1]: In which the lost are found back home

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cryptoriawebb · 7 years

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Smufs the Lost Village: review

So I saw this forever ago, but there were so many movies coming out this review kind of got pushed on the backburner...

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. The trailers looked promising but I had heard it didn’t receive stellar reviews. I couldn’t imagine an animated film suffering from what I believed the first two Smurf movies did, but I was hesitant no less. There were a few years where Hollywood believed the only way to reinvent vintage material was to grossly mock it throughout, and even though the trailer didn’t look as though it was headed in that direction, I couldn’t be certain.

I’m glad I gave it a chance. The animation itself was colorful, crisp, and true to design. I actually found it something of an improvement over the original cartoons, but that might be my generation speaking. I found the palette played a large part in dictating atmosphere: always rich, but used in different ways (the blues and purples of Smurf village compared to the sickly yellows and greens Swamp of No return I think it was called?) I’ve always found it amazing how strongly a hand color plays in creating the tone of an environment: the female Smurf village (whose name also escapes me) also used several greens and golds, for example. In contrast to the swamp, there was a welcoming, almost dream-like quality floating around it, largely, I believe, to reflect Smurfette’s reaction.

At its barest bones, the plot wasn’t overly original. That said, in context, I found the focus on Smurfette mixed with expanding Smurf Mythos in a respectful and I’d say ‘serious’ way, worked very well. I’ve never been a big Smurfette fan: I found her too delicate and feminine as a child. As a tomboy, I tended to dislike female characters of that nature. As an adult, however, I look at things more critically, and I definitely think she was the right focus for this film. She’s not only the one female Smurf, but she’s also got an unconventional origin. I admit, despite being an animated reboot I was afraid Sony would retcon this. I admit, I prefer to go into most movies blind—after the first couple of trailers, I stayed away in order to avoid any spoilers and I certainly didn’t look up more info beyond its critical reception. An honest review, I think, comes from blank slate, rating aside. I like to know what I’m up against, if that makes any sense.

I also think this movie did a decent job expanding on Smurf personalities, characteristics and bonds. Brainy, Hefty and Clumsy were an odd but at the same time expected trio to accompany Smurfette on their journey. I do like, however, that they were more than their names made them out to be. They each had a lot of heart, and I felt their friendship genuine. Not only that, but presented in a way that was not over-the-top touchy-feely or preachy, which in my opinion, is a bit rare for a children’s film. And it was called a kid’s film by many critics. I get it, not every movie can possess the sophistication of Moana or Kubo and the Two Strings, but there was more maturity in this movie than say, Ice Age or Trolls. There was hardly any potty humor and far less over-the-top reactions than I expected.

Side-note: I liked the female Smurfs a lot. They had their own quirks without being too stereotyped any one way, which I actually find very interesting. I love that they were named after flowers and plants, as did I that they seemed almost to move more as a unit as opposed to one standalone trait. I wonder if that was alluding to how the female Smufs are, like Smurfette, who also doesn’t have one set defining trait. I mean they definitely had unique personality traits (Smurfwillow and Smurfstorm for example) but there was a notable difference. Or maybe it speaks of how their village is, the rules to live by or the way these Smurfs grew up (provided Smurfs grow up and don’t just appear out of mushroom dust or something.)

I will say that while I like this change in Gargamel’s antagonistic pursuit of the Smurfs, stealing their magic to enhance his own just seems far less intimidating than wanting to eat them. It’s also, at least, I think it is a more-heavily relied on trope. I understand times have changed, and the film seemed like they were trying to veer away from an overly dark tone. It’s just different, and it does succeed in maintaining Gargamel as a goofy, only moderately successful villain. I haven’t seen the series in several years, but I do feel like the film captured his essence and that of his animal companions, despite toning them down a few notches. If his character suffered from anything at all, it was the degree of exaggeration and silliness, but again, they toned him down. And I do like that he didn’t reform at the end. I didn’t expect him to, but it’s always interesting to see the hero’s offer of generosity blow up in their face. And I loved Gargamel’s dialogue leading up to that moment. Probably the funniest I found him in the movie.

Papa Smurf’s character was…interesting. I loved most of his interpretation: I’m not sure the balance between ‘serious father figure’ and ‘dumfounded humor’ worked entirely successfully. That said, I didn’t dislike his character. It’s hard to dislike anyone played by Mandy Patinkin. He’s the perfect father figure. My friend and I were joking the other day he must have some kind of ‘father figure’ phone, on reserve for whenever Hollywood requires immediate casting for any such father character. I will say I’m a little surprised Papa Smurf and Smurfwillow didn’t have any kind of history, but that’s for the better I think. It suggests this separation surpasses their generation and I hope it means we’ll see more of it explored in the future. If Papa Smurf and Smurfwillow want to become a thing (because let’s face it, there was something there) I’d be more than alright with that. Leading a village is a daunting responsibility. They could use someone to lean on.

Speaking of character chemistry, I actually didn’t mind Hefty’s little crush on Smurfette. Love interests aren’t terribly unsurprising, even in animated films, but this, I felt, remained mild enough it felt honest, natural as opposed to forced. And I also liked Smurfette’s reaction to it. She wasn’t a damsel and actually protested his protecting her, but appreciated his admiration as well, and when his protection actually led to his capture that was more important than the act of his jumping in the way. As it should be, and as it usually seems to be, but it isn’t always easy to tell what direction some movies will go. Admittedly, when I discovered this movie really would revolve around Smurfette I worried the director would turn it into a preaching pedestal for female empowerment. I have no problem whatsoever with female empowerment—I actually love it, having grown up in an era where most female characters were delicate sidekicks or love interests. I just don’t want it shoved into my face. I worried it was headed that way with the opening narration. A direct approach tends to go either very well or very poorly. There’s so much more to a film than that and a successful message not only blends in but promotes itself through strong, likeable and believable character development. It should never overshadow or corrupt the art of a movie itself. If it does, it veers away from entertainment into political propaganda and I just don’t want to see that. This is a personal preference of course, but it’s one I’ve believed for a very long time, frustrations or no.

Overall, I really liked this film. I laughed out loud now and then, felt engaged enough with each character to care, and I loved the use of that classic nineties’ song, Blue. It’s not a perfect piece, it’s not the most original and the ending was so predictable it was like watching the first Pokemon movie again; despite all this, when looked at in the context of the film on its own, I came away satisfied. It’s funny, I feel like this growing trend of animated reboots began with the Charlie Brown film. Maybe I’m wrong, but that was the first one I’ve seen that didn’t try to make fun of itself and didn’t try to be anything more than what it was. The characters, the art style, remained as true to the source as hey could and proved, at least to my opinion that what you think may not be cool anymore, what you think won’t sell, actually will. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Looks like the Smurfs are finally on the right track.

#smurfs the lost village #smurfs #smurfette #brainy smurf #clumsy smurf #hefty smurf #papa smurf #smurf willow #movie reviews #reviews #returnedtothecrypt

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