#and i still remember being told that the types i get wrong and think pokémon are by mistake are often cooler than their actual

[front-facing-pokemon]

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Hiiiiiii

If it’s not too much trouble, could you do a platonic team star x team star member!reader who became a dragon type specialist squad leader and joined because they got bullied for being a fan of other famous dragon type users like Lance and Raihan?

(Sorry if this is too specific)

Oh no worries, I like specific so it's all good!

..........

"I'm gonna be just like them one day.." Sighing dreamily, you sat down at the cafeteria table, watching a video on your rotomphone while chowing down breakfast.

It was footage of a fierce Pokémon battle in Galar--a showdown between two of your idols, who were among the most famous dragon trainers of all time: Lance and Raihan.

Of course, you looked up to many other dragon type users in Paldea, but these two in particular kickstarted your dreams of becoming one yourself, inspired by their interviews and fierce determination.

You also hoped to meet them and have a battle, although that was a little too farfetched for you right now..

Yet you didn't let that discourage you from forming your own dragon team, using your studies at Uva/Naranja Academy to teach them all the best moves and remember type matchups.

Tatsugiri was your main partner, and when combined with your Dondozo..it was an absolute powerhouse in double-battles--albeit this academy usually focused on the traditional single battles.

You were also currently raising a Drakalok, Cyclizar, Arctibax, and Sliggoo, and you cherished all of them dearly. Tatsugiri was a bit of an attention hog at times, though, and always wanted to stay out of its ball and on your shoulder.

You didn't mind it, of course. Whether you're heading to class or to a tournament where dragon trainers were going to participate, you always went together.

Life was perfect.

Except for-

"Still prattling on about being the next famous dragon gym leader, huh?"

-one of your bullies already ruining your day before it could even begin.

For some reason..a few kids at the academy really had it out for you simply because you admired famous dragon trainers. You didn't think there was anything wrong with looking up to your idols. But apparently they thought you were being too "obnoxious" about it and sought to make your life utterly miserable.

It only got worse when you spoke up about it to a teacher, as that bully got off with nothing but a slap on the wrist--that being to train their Pokémon as "punishment".

By sheer convenience, they had ice and fairy types. And that teacher only gave them the chance to make their team stronger and further intimidate you...to the point where you're afraid to go outside, fearing they'll drag you into a battle.

You've kept silent since, hoping to avoid them at all costs and try to keep your grades up. But unfortunately, Arceus wasn't smiling upon you today...and quite frankly, you were tired.

Huffing, you switched off your phone and scowled up at the bully. "Still following me around campus, huh?" You mocked, with Tatsugiri hopping on the table and mimicking your expression. "That's kinda creepy if you ask me."

"Well those stupid fangs of yours are creeping everyone out." They sneered, pointing out your sharp teeth. "Halloween is over, y'know."

"I've already told you..these are canines, and they are real."

"Yeah? More like real freaky."

"Look, just leave me alone before you anger Tatsugiri." You warned, watching as their gaze shifted to your ace, falling silent for a moment or two...

Before erupting into laughter. "Oh wow, I'm soooooo scared of your stupid sushi roll! What ever will I do??" They shook their head. "If you want my advice, dump this thing and get yourself a real dragon. Like a Charizard or-"

"You don't get to decide WHO I can have as a partner!!!" Your hands slammed onto the table as you stood up, fists clenched with anger. Even though you could see people's heads turning in your peripheral vision, you didn't care. "Tatsugiri may not look it, but it's more powerful than you'll ever know! You don't know our bond, so just back off already!!"

"Oooooh, I didn't know you knew Outrage..better not hit yourself in confusion." They snickered.

"...why are you like this?" With slumped shoulders, you frowned at them. "Why do you keep tormenting me day after day?! I've done nothing to you. Is it a crime to admire my heroes? To wanna be like them?"

"No, but you'd be an embarrassment to every future dragon tamer. I mean who'd wanna see a pathetic thing like that in the Elite Four? Or on a Champion's team? Raihan and Lance would laugh in your face and crush you if they saw-"

"STOP IT!!" You finally snapped, hitting the table again before taking out one of your pokeballs. "Do you want a battle?! Is that what you want?!! Then you'll get it-!!"

"[Y/n], what is the meaning of this?"

Hearing the voice of the director made all the color drain from your face. The bully just smirked as you slowly turned to Harrington, seeing him looking at you with a frown.

"This is the second disturbance you've caused in this same area. You know battles aren't permitted inside the academy."

It's only then did you realize everybody in the cafeteria was staring..and you shrunk back in embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry, Director. I didn't mean to shout. They were just-"

But when you tried to point out the bully, they were gone.

How convenient.

"From how it looks..you were intimidating them. And you should also know we have a zero tolerance policy for such behavior."

"But I wasn't..they-!" You tried in vain to defend yourself, yet the look on Harrington's face told you he didn't wanna hear any of it.

"We can discuss this further in my office. Return your Tatsugiri to its pokeball and follow me, if you will."

"....yes, sir." Defeated, you gathered your things and put Tatsugiri back into the pokeball (much to its dismay), before commencing the long walk of shame to the director's office.

Maybe he will believe you.

.......

"He didn't believe me either. What's the point of "standing up for myself" if I'm just gonna get in trouble?! What's the point if they're always gonna get away with it while I face suspension?!"

"Suu.."

"I know I kinda let myself go back there, but...th-they kept pushing me and pushing me! Why couldn't he understand that? Why doesn't anyone here understand-?!"

"Tasu!"

Calming yourself down a little, you looked to Tatsugiri, who sat on your bed and looked up at you with sad eyes, wishing you weren't being so harsh on yourself.

"....well, I know you understand me, buddy." You quietly sighed and sat down, bringing it into your hands as it nuzzled your cheek. Immediately your shoulders relaxed. "I'm sorry. Thank you. I'm just...it's been frustrating. But I swear I'll never replace you for any other dragon. Not even for a shiny Charizard."

"Yip-yip?!" It cried out.

"Believe me! I won't." You chuckled, although you stopped as you thought over this morning's events...

And suddenly you felt sick to your stomach.

Just thinking about going to your afternoon class today made you feel ill, wondering who was going to harass you two next...and if you'll be able to do anything about it without getting into trouble with the director.

Now that you've gotten your second strike, you had to be careful not to lash out like that again.

But what else were you supposed to do?

Let them continue to bully you around and make your poor partner feel absolutely worthless? How was that fair to either of you?

At this point, you've ran out of adults in this academy to talk to...besides the nurse, of course, although she seemed more adept at healing Pokémon than counseling students.

Even if she was willing to listen, you doubt anything would change.

Nobody here took your side or could possibly understand what you were going through-

"Roto-to-to~"

Your rotomphone started ringing, displaying an unknown caller ID. Normally you'd ignore it, although Tatsugiri had a better idea and decided to slap the screen with its fin, answering it.

"Tatsu!" You grumbled, pulling it away from your phone before addressing the stranger, feeling embarrassed. "Sorry! My Pokémon-"

"Greetings, am I speaking to [y/n]?"

".....uh...yeah?" Your eyebrows furrowed with confusion, not expecting to hear a distorted voice on the other end of the line. "And who am I speaking to exactly?"

"My name is Cassiopeia. Leader of Team Star."

"Team Star?" You blinked, remembering all of the rumors you've heard about this organization. They were a small group of kids who got bad grades, skipped school often...and sometimes harassed others into joining them or pulled pranks on teachers.

Why would their leader contact you?

Or better yet...how did they even get ahold of your number?

"Correct. We've been watching you for some time, and we see your pain. It must feel awful...being pushed around and intimidated all because you admire some famous trainers. And when you finally have the courage to defend yourself and your Pokémon...suddenly you're the bad guy? It's so unfair."

"How do you.....l-look, um..Cassiopeia. I got a lot going on right now." You mumbled, hoping to end this conversation quickly. "I'm facing suspension if I cause one more scene, so I don't think I should be talking to delinquents like-"

"That is a lie. Team Star isn't a group of delinquents. We're so much more than that." They interrupted you, sounding a bit annoyed. "The truth is that WE are the victims. We who were shamed and excluded for the crime of being ourselves. The system has failed us, [y/n], and we formed this group as a way to stand up and stand out."

"...ah, I see." Now you were growing a bit more understanding and sympathetic towards them. You always had a feeling that your classmates overexaggerated how "evil" this team really was, making comparisons to Team Rocket and organizations that were legitimately evil and criminal.

But obviously, you never put your two cents in. You were already getting bullied enough just for saying Lance and Raihan are cool dragon trainers you wished to meet.

You were already getting bullied enough just for admiring some famous dragon trainers.

"So...obviously you're trying to sell me something." You huffed, kicking your feet up on the desk. "You want me to join your team as one of your goons-?"

"Oh no. I actually have something much better in mind." Cassiopeia cut in once more. "We've seen how you battle with dragon types. Very impressive, I must say. You never back down from a challenge. You're fierce, protective..and you demonstrate incredible leadership."

That felt flattering to hear, considering all the times you've gotten criticized for your battling techniques during Ms. Dendra's class.

Recently, she actually made you apologize to your classmate, whose Pokémon was actively bullying yours and provoked it into using a powerful move that knocked it out in one hit.

Why was that such a problem?

Because you weren't supposed to be battling, but the bully kept pushing you into one--and of course, Ms. Dendra didn't see that part.

Only the part where you broke the "No-OHKO" rule she had written into her lesson plan for that day.

Now you were struggling to get your grades back up in battle strategies, which was hard since you gained a reputation as being "too aggressive"..when in reality you were just so afraid and fed up that no one would listen to you.

So hearing this complete stranger give you praise felt genuinely good.

"Oh! Ah...thank you." You decided to bite the bullet. "So what's your offer?"

"We believe you're a good fit to be a squad leader. We have one more slot available. Interested?"

Your heart immediately jumped at the opportunity, although part of you was still holding back.....wondering if it was worth getting mixed-up with people like Cassiopeia and Team Star's revered leaders.

This could very well throw away your entire future and your goals of becoming the next dragon type gym leader. You could be expelled for sure, or even blacklisted from partaking in tournaments.

But at the same time, you were so tired of living in fear and dealing with all of this alone.

Why should you have to? That's setting a terrible example for your Pokémon--they shouldn't have to see their trainer living like that. You had to be brave and stronger, but that was almost impossible if you were just going to suffer repercussions for trying.

Cassiopeia took your silence as hesitation. "I know this is a lot to think about. But trust me, [y/n]. Team Star can do more for you than the Academy ever did. You'll get to train without limits. Your name will be known by all, and nobody will mock you or Tatsugiri ever again. That is what you want, isn't it? To grow stronger together? To stand up against those who wronged you?"

Hearing them mention your partner made you look to the Mimicry Pokemon in your lap. Seeing the way they put their fin on your hand and gave you a small nod ultimately solidified your answer.

You weren't turning back now.

"We can discuss this tomorrow if you'd like-"

"No, I made up my mind. I'll take it. When do I start?"

..........

"Looking sharp as always, Revavroom."

With a sharp-toothed grin, you gently patted the head of your Starmobile--specifically the Revavroom attached to it, as it rumbled in happiness.

Then you hopped onto the vehicle, climbing up to the stage where you could survey the rest of your camp, observing your goons hanging out by the vending machines and driving around on their Cyclizars.

This was the Achird Squad base stationed at Casseroya Lake, and for about a year or so...you've also called it home.

The location was perfect for a mighty dragon leader such as yourself, allowing you to keep watch over the Tatsugiri and Dratini herds you'd see in the waters from time to time.

It was far better than the cramped dorms of the Academy. They would never have let your dragons roam free like Dragapult, Baxcalibur, and all the rest were doing right now..

Ever since joining Team Star, you never looked back and never regretted your decision. You became fast friends with the other bosses, with Atticus even designing some cool armor plates for your outfit that resembled a Kommo-o's scales.

Although things have been...rather weird as of late.

Especially since it was the anniversary of the incident.

Back at the Academy, you and all of the leaders came together with the ultimate to confront your bullies once and for all. It was meant to finally settle who was the strongest, and how you were sick of being pushed around.

Least to say..the tables have turned, and everyone knew your names.

The bullies ended up running scared, barely putting up a fight themselves before scrambling to heal and recall their Pokémon.

You felt pretty good about it, especially when you knocked out that jerk who made fun of your teeth and admiration for dragon trainers in one fell swoop.

But then you looked around and saw everyone's scared faces. Many were recording the battles, spreading them all over social media, or shielding their own Pokémon from potential harm--even though you never intended to hurt them whatsoever.

It turned into a huge scandal over who was in the right or wrong, although in the end your bullies played the victims, dropped out of school, and ended up being listened to the most.

They made you out to be monsters who just attacked them for no reason..and it almost got you all expelled.

However, Cassiopeia took the blame, and while you were pardoned, Harrington, the deputy director (who tried erasing all records of the scandal and bullying to "preserve" the Academy's image), and many teachers left, guilty that they didn't do more to prevent this.

It would have been a bittersweet victory for Team Star---had your leader not also vanished, their last message being a call for the organization to disband.

To this day, none of you understood why they'd do that...or why they think you'd ever wanna leave this team and go back to your studies.

How could you after the faculty messed up this badly?

How could you after they still sided with the bullies?

How could you after they tried to cover up what really happened?

In the end, you all promised to stick together, abiding by your codes and living out on the squad bases. You occasionally met up for discussions and battle plans, although you always held onto hope that if the team kept going long enough....Cassiopeia might come back.

You've tried contacting them through various means, yet none of your Rotoms could retrace their calls nor social media posts. Everything was gone.

As though they wanted you all to forget ever meeting them..

It never made sense to you, considering you could really use a leader back then.

But what's done is done, and you winded up assuming a de factor leader position, given your team was the strongest out of all of theirs. Of course, Ortega was less-than-pleased about holding a vote on it, but you won the majority and he eventually got over it.

Now you've been training your Pokémon more frequently, and only because there's something called "Operation: Starfall" going around--and apparently some Paldean trainer was going around tackling each base with the hope of claiming their badges.

One of the codes was that being defeated in battle meant surrendering it, and that means...

Someone was dead set on shutting down Team Star for good.

But you wouldn't let them. The other bosses were your friends, family..and you'll be damned if you lost them, too.

"Boss! The others are comin' in!" You heard one of the grunts shout, and you looked towards the horizon in surprise.

She wasn't kidding.

Ortega, Mela, Eri, Giacomo, and Atticus were at your base's entrance, waiting for you. Although you were eager to see them after being occupied with training for so long...it didn't concern you that all of them chose to show up at once.

But you refused to show any sort of alarm, huffing as you jumped off the stage, mounting your partner Cyclizar. "Let's ride!" You barked, allowing it to sprint towards the group at full speed.

Your cape fluttered in the wind as it leaped across a small stream, all while Tatsugiri--who was resting in a small basket attached to it--held on for dear life.

Upon arriving, the bosses stopped their chatter and turned as you slowed down, stepping off Cyclizar. You gave it a small pat on the head, assuring that it could rest, before looking at the group.

"So we meet again...what's with the sour faces?" Your eyebrows furrowed at their expressions. When nobody was immediately speaking up, you huffed. "Come on, out with it. You can't come all this way to my base just assume I can read your minds-"

"We come before thee bearing..a warning." Atticus muttered, bowing his head in shame. "The student you've spoken of hath proven to be quite the adversary."

"Is that so? Surely they haven't claimed all of your badges, have they?"

"........"

"Why is no one talking-?"

"Because we got our asses handed to us." Mela bluntly stated, clenching her fists. "We got absolutely smoked...and now you're the only one left."

Your eyes widened in shock and horror, although you didn't get the chance to respond as Ortega cut you off.

"Now before you freak out on us all..we did try our best. We did everything you and Cassiopeia taught us. But this kid....they're good. Almost too good. And this guy named Clive was helping them out the whole time, getting under our skin and everything...."

"Well I wouldn't say that." Eri looked at the fairy trainer, crossing her arms over her chest as she frowned. "He wanted to know where we're coming from and why we're doing all of this."

"...and you just told him?"

You could see everyone tense up, and you just scowled, wondering why they would do this.

"What makes you all think he would care...or why anybody from that academy would care about us now?" Your eyebrows furrowed as Tatsugiri sat on your shoulder, mimicking your expression. "Nobody cared when they hurt us...nobody cared when we were literally begging for help. Look, I know keeping this group together was hard, but it's no excuse to-"

"Honestly...I'm kinda tired of this charade. At least someone's willin' to listen to us now.." Giacomo remarked, frowning a little bit. "But here's the lowdown, [y/n]: we got beaten into the dirt and followed our code, so now we're here to give ya a little heads up before this kid comes after you next. We're sorry. But we tried."

"And we still don't know who's really behind this sting operation.." Mela grumbled, shaking her head in worry. "Someone wants to shut us down for good, and it's definitely not either of those new students. They're just being used to carry out the dirty work."

"I might have a good idea on who it is...and I swear, they'll answer for this." You bared your teeth. "But I'll save my dragon rage for this trainer. Wherever they are, whatever they're doing...I hope they know I'm ready. Because I'm gonna defend Team Star...defend us....until my last breath."

"Su! Su!!" Tatsugiri trilled in agreement, nuzzling your cheek, to which you couldn't help but smile a little bit.

"Well whatever happens next, you have our full support, [y/n]." Eri smiled as she patted your shoulder. "Badge or no badge, we stand behind you."

Everyone else chimed in with agreements, smiles on all of their faces as well--although Atticus' wasn't immediately noticeable, you could see it in his eyes.

Knowing this group still cared about you and believed in your battling skills made all the tension leave your shoulders.

"Thank you, my friends. Hasta la vistar ~☆"

""""Hasta la vistar, and good luck, [y/n]!! ~☆""""

[natjac]

My entire life I’ve been forgotten. Being the closeted gay kid with only girl friends I didn’t get to go to the sleep overs and wasn’t invited to the parties cuz I was the quiet kid in the back. I had interests no one cared about when I talked to them or they would call me obsessed.

Adult life got easier. I made good friends but was still always felt like the plus one. Spending nights in country bars and other places where my friends met guys and I was their support cheering them on and protecting them but always alone after.

Guys treated me like shit when I would talk to them. Disrespectful, ghosting and putting me down to make themselves feel better.

Then I met you, and you did none of that. You listened to me, even with things you knew nothing about like when you saw my best friends had Pokémon types assigned to them in my phone and you went through all the types to pick yours out even though you knew nothing about Pokémon cuz of your religious parents.

Remember the map I made of all the meaningful places we had been to as a valentines present and I used all those bitmojis cuz that show you met me (you said my bitmoji on Snapchat was cute). Remember the home theatre we made at your apartment? Or when it snowed on campus and how pretty it was. Remember when we got our rescue do Brie?

Fixing my moms place after the contractors stole from her. Going to Del Rio and meeting your family. Your dad and mom both inviting me into their house to celebrate Christmas with them. Taking a secret Vegas vacation my sister and best friend payed for just so they could meet you. Remember when I would drive to Houston in summer with no ac just to have lunch with you during your internship? Remember all the amazing “alone” times we had? The things I could do that no one else could.

And so many more wonderful memories and moments.

You showed me love, affection, attention, and made me feel attractive for once in my life. You did so much good for me. You became my best friend and my boyfriend. And yea you messed up. A lot.

You cheated and I forgave you each time. I’d ask why and you wouldn’t give me anything but “i don’t know.” But those were a drop in the bucket compared to the good times. The laughs, the love.

I helped you through your mental illness, took you into the hospital and talked to your family when they thought I was just your roommate. Four times I did that. Never held it over your head but only wanted to help you. I moved from everyone I knew to be with you in North Carolina, to support and love you when you got into Duke. You said you wouldn’t get in but I knew you would. I never doubted.

At my sisters wedding you told my best friend you wanted to marry me. 5.5 years on my life all of the unfaltering love, dedication and sacrifice. All of it would have been more than worth it for a life time with you. That’s all I ever wanted.

A month later you told me you had cheated and didn’t think you could stop. You said it was something you needed to work on, on your own. With out me or anyone else. So we planned to break up. Maybe get back together after you grew. But we agreed I shouldn’t be in that pain anymore.

Then you got into a new relationship in less than 2 months. With a mutual friend that I was wary of your friendship with. And you spin the same story again. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. I don’t think the flirting and us texting till 4 am led to us getting together. You are just trying to make things fit in your narrative.” Even though you are supposed to be working on these issues on your own. That’s why we broke up right?

And after you guys got together and we were still trying to help me deal with the breakup the compassion and apologies changed to mean spirited comments and frustration. To the point of our friendship and all mutual friends with us had to be cut out. I lost all of them. Because you did wrong.

The worst part of this all though. You act like the last 5.5 years didn’t exist. You have no respect or compassion for what I did.

Because if you did I would get genuine apologies and answers for what you did. I wouldn’t have been forgotten about when you and your new boyfriend talked to our friends to make sure that they were ok with it and you hid it from me. You two apologized to them but not me. Neither of you are accepting or acknowledging that the flirting and shit led up to this. Or the lies you’ve told. Or possibly worse how you cared about others feelings but forgot about me.

And that’s my fault for believing that some measure of love you had for me would carry over. Or our friend and you to respect me and apologize for the months of flirting and pain you two caused me afterwards with the lies and backstabbing.

You will never understand what you did to me. To bring someone to such happiness and then utterly destroy them. To the point that I sit and wonder which parts of our relationship were real and which were fake.

I don’t know if I’ll ever stop caring and loving you. You became my best friend, and I lost both that and my boyfriend at once. And the loss of respect and care on your end… nothing I could have done would have prepared me for that.

Now I sit here every day, trying to move on. Trying to find a reason to keep going. With thoughts of ending my life bombarding me because if someone that I cared for and loved that much can so easily forget about me and erase me from his life like I was nothing. What am I doing here.

Anyway I’m going to therapy starting this week. I think it may help. I hope it does and I hope I find someone who will accept every good and bad part of me and will embrace them.

I don’t wish you ill will despite all of this. I want you to be happy and healthy.

But I know you will be haunted by us. Even if you act like you aren’t. Haunted by memories of what you threw away. For who you threw away. For the pain that you caused me.

And I hope I forget you. Because you have now tainted all the good times. I never thought that I would feel this way towards you. I know I never will forget you. But if there was an option to I would take it now.

Our relationship was to date my proudest accomplishment. But you are my greatest disappointment.

[pastelparsec]

Just heard two Beauties talking smack abt Ghost, Dark, Poison, and Dragon types all because 'they're evil' and 'Fairy Types are sooo much better 💅🏻'. Fullt af snobbpikklum!

Ghost, Dark, Poison, and Dragon Types are my favorite and I can't fucking stand it when people insult them all because of some damn stereotypes.

Don't get me wrong. I like Fairy Types, having a few of my own (mostly Mimikyu), but still!

They're just mad that their precious Clefairy is weak to my Muk!

Ghost and Dark types seem to always get the worst of it, so lemme clear some things up:

Ghost and Dark Types are some of the most kind Pokémon I've ever met. The reason they attack people (and a few of my Sableye and Spiritomb have told me this) is because people attack them all because of what they are.

Like, look at this Dusknoir for instance:

Contrary to popular belief, this does not mean, 'Human, your soul is mine!'

This is more of a greeting that Dusknoir do in battle to their opponents. They are quite polite Pokémon, and have such gold hearts as well.

Dark Types get the worst of it because of their reputation as the 'evil' type. In reality, these guys are such gentle beings.

For example, my Krookodile, Megatron, is a gentle soil. I found him as a Sandile in the Desert Resort getting picked on by Maractus. I had my Mandibuzz, Knockout, distract them while I shielded him with my back, should those Grass Types catch whiff on what my plan was. A Ranger seen what was happening and shooed the Maractus away. He then helped me get to a Pokémon Center to heal the poor Sandile. It wasn't long before Megatron chose to stay with me.

He's got a Grass Type phobia we're working on due to that experience, but he's great friends with my Grass Types. He's even saved them from Ice Types.

Dragon Types get it almost as bad because they're the villains in folklore. Dragon Types are very chivalrous, generous, and thoughtful.

My Hydreigon, Deadly, is a great example of this. I was wandering around Victory Road in Unova two years before Kyurem froze Opelucid, starving and only having Berries. Then, this Deino came running up to me with a Rage Candybar that probably fell out of a Trainer's bag. I split it evenly between my team, him, and myself. He then gently bonked his head on a Dusk Ball, allowing himself to be captured.

I think I don't need to explain why Poison Types get a bad reputation. There are actually a few of them that help to clean up habitats, cities, and the like. My Garbodor, Marcel, loves helping the Rangers cleaning the routes and kther related places. They love his company so kich that he's actually an honorary Ranger.

So, guys, gals, non-binary pals, and Poké Pals, remember this: These four types aren't what they seem to be.

{Fullt af snobbpikklum! - Bunch of snobby pricks!}

[rubiatinctorum]

There are two types of Pokémon creepypastas I remember reading as a teenager: creepypastas about the games, and creepypastas about the Pokémon world. Mostly I would remember the ones about the games, because the ones interacting with the fictional world didn't feel like anything I wasn't supposed to know. It's horror fanfiction, which is cool, but it didn't stick with me personally to remember long-term. Some of them had basis in Pokédex entries, and as much as I liked a good horror story now and then based on one of those entries, it felt like normal horror fiction, confined within the garden walls of safe fictionality.

The ones that really stuck with me were about, on some level, Pokémon games being games. Stories about glitches and secret coded threats and adverse effects individual elements could have. To this day, I turn the system volume off in Lavender Town even in HeartGold because I'm so freaked out and superstitious about a made up story I read or heard about a decade ago. After all, having heard about game-breaking glitches and details changed in localization, about MissingNo. and bad eggs and all kinds of shit, it makes a person with very little knowledge of what a game can and cannot do really unsure of which stories are real and which are creepypastas. Add in stories about fake game cartridges (something that do exist) with threats and death and gore to a level which would never happen on a real Pokémon game but could be put in a home-cooked faux-Pokémon game if made by a malicious actor, horror enthusiast, or someone with a rotten sense of humour about to let it fall into the hands of the wrong neighborhood ten year old, and the possibility of what could exist gets even broader.

It gives a person high standards, and multiple sleepless nights.

Maybe it's why the further into these stories I got, the more I would find myself disliking the ones that made absolutely no sense. Oh, your GameBoy bled when you put the cartridge in? Is this fucking Cabinet Man? (accuracy note: Cabinet Man hadn't yet been released, actually, so I wouldn't have said specifically that). The official Pokémon game told you that you were responsible for your dead niece's departure from this world, but displayed nothing when your friend tried to set off the interaction? A game like that cannot tell which user plays it. There's no specialized facial recognition software on a GameBoy or DS, as far as I'm aware, so it shouldn't know the difference between your playtime and your friend's. Until the DSi they don't even have cameras. You know, it's stuff like this, where the technology is doing things that technology literally cannot do, that I started to feel like these stories weren't doing much for me, especially compared to ones that knew their tech and made a plausible, fictional, fucking horrifying story out of it.

I think some of these stories could thrive if they leaned into being generally horror fiction, straying away from attempts at being urban legends. I think some of these stories could thrive if they didn't rely on their core premises being about technology that people knew it couldn't do certain things, even if they weren't 100% sure of what the upper limit is. MissingNo. is real. Lavender Town fooled enough people I still find threads asking if it was real. Pokémon (spins wheel) Skulls and Crossbones where the (throws a dart) player is (picks a slip of paper from a hat) sucked into the game and (consults an augur) forced to be the chimneysweep for the Daycare Centre for all time is a fucking reach, as interesting fictionally as the premise might be to explore in a story if we all play with the understanding it's fiction. There are things we know Pokémon cartridges and Nintendo systems do, and there are things we know they Nintendon't.

I don't think a good story should have to be plausible (duh, I write about vampires and ghosts and witches considerably often). Lots of great science fiction relies on the technology going beyond the normal bounds of what technology can currently and in some cases will ever do. But I think that when you invoke specificity of console and brand, whether that's a Pokémon game and a GameBoy or whether it's Microsoft Outlook and a laptop running Windows 10, people who use those systems and technologies relatively often if not daily will be familiar with them enough to not believe for a minute if a story tells you that's what tried to pull an honest to goodness Cabinet Man or suck someone into an isekai. I'm not saying it will break everyone's suspension of disbelief, but it sure breaks mine, and then it just seems silly and out-of-nowhere.

[bi-lunita]

When I was a kid my mother told me “your dad is a chameleon” because he could make friends with almost anyone. But these friendships he made were mostly surface and were about him figuring out the things he had in common with those people and really leaning into. As I get older I realize that I too am a chameleon. I can get along with many different types of people by putting many different types of traits on. By fitting into certain molds and seeming more appealing. My dad and I don’t do this on purpose. I learned to do it to survive, because a friend and ally is always better than an enemy. But being a chameleon only works for so long. I do not hold friends groups and instead bounce around. My surface traits really on working on keeping surface level relationships. I don’t remember who I was or who I’m supposed to be. The things I do that come naturally aren’t “normal”. Kids don’t find new ways to organize their Pokémon cards every time they get a new pack. Teenagers don’t normally wait to join a game and start by making a spreadsheet of everything they think would be perfect. Adults don’t fidget or impulsively rawr or have to reorganize the way their folders are placed or have to wait until the clock strikes that :00 mark on any hour to start a task or drop things even though they were holding them two seconds go or a million other things that I do. That I’ve been told isn’t normal. But my dad lets out a high pitched squeal when he’s excited. My dad is blocked and can’t start anything when he’s stressed. My dad likes to keep all his old documents organized in perfect files and if you break his organization than it’s a hoarding issue cause he doesn’t know how to classify it. My dad can get overly angry about what is right and what just doesn’t make sense. My dad is kind and made us breakfast everyday. My dad smiles even when things go wrong. My dad tells you it’s gonna be okay. My dad ends every call with “Are you happy? Good. That’s the only thing that matters”. My dad isn’t perfect. He’s a chameleon. He’s never fully himself and got lost somewhere along the way. My dad isn’t always normal or nice. But my dad loves us, he cares for us. My dad wants to do the right thing. He isn’t perfect, but he’s trying. So maybe it’s not such a bad thing to be like my dad. Maybe instead of hating being a chameleon, instead of feeling like Im never me, maybe I should remember that every shade of color I express is still me. Maybe a chameleon is me expressing every color inside.

[icharchivist]

hello icha!!!!! learned from my mistakes and typed this out in a separate document. first i have to say im feeling a very deep connection with citron as of late bc i was giving myself a pep talk abt like physics and i told myself "face up and man the music!" and was like "...is that wrong. theres that song called man against the music isnt there... yeah it must be right" and. well i realized later. i also think the phrase "dont cry because it happened, smile because its over" is very good. also I’m halfway thru creating a very eclectic list of like. a Pokémon team for each a3 character which is… something. kinda knew it would happen to me. might take a while for me to finish it tho now that I’m halfway bc I’m suddenly having a crisis like “wait shit I’m only confident on my understanding and characterizing of like 4 characters am I good enough” so… it’s slow going lol. anyways. i finished that damn physics thing I was giving myself a pep talk about and so am treating myself to autumn/winter. happens that watching these events is also like. the only thing which reminds me to actually like. log into a3 lol. i am so bad at gacha games. probably a good thing in the long run. ok starting from the top!

hisoka going "zzz" as his reaction made me immediately go... oh dear, please dont fall asleep in the bath and guess what happened. yeah. good thing homare was there lol. speaking of i fucking adore homare and his poetry. id buy his collection. i also wish there was a collection like if there was a master list of every poem he says in like. at the very least main story. if not i will literally do it myself. i love homare so much im like him in that back when i had to play dodgeball id always be like kufufufu they cant hit me if im friendless enough that no one pays attention to me but like in my case it actually worked out. on the subject of the pillow fight tho, hisoka's crazy strong pillow fight throw... one more mark on the list for suspicious, maybe assassin occupation. this event made me realize how much i missed winter like. i saw the stranger pretty recently (which has caused the effect of be being like "taichi!! thats my boy!!" in my head everytime he shows up lol but anyways i havent gotten to a winter play yet so im VERY hype. especially bc this seems like it stars hisoka and homare??? like oh!! oh!!!! also detective fiction... im swooning. i also just enjoy the hisoka homare dynamic a whole fucking lot i think its nice how homare was like "yeah im ride or die for this funky lil amnesiac, why wouldnt you be?" and its just like. nice. feel like hes always reaching out to hisoka which is like. man homare is so nice.

back to chronology. ofc sakyo goes cheap for the hot springs lol. on brand as ever. was very hype for the azuma sakyo dynamic bc all i remember is like azuma trashing everyone including sakyo at some game or the other in one of the winter chapters and it was very good. or was this a clip in like a stage play? either way it was delightful. at first i misinterpreted taichi going "…" after azuma and sakyo said theyd never been on a field trip bc like. taichi being quiet or noncommunicative... after going thru autumn troupe act 1 it makes me fear for my life a little lol. anyways im glad he was just like planning fun times. speaking of taichi tho we got a tasuku taichi pair for etudes!!!! im not spoiling myself for later events but i hope to GOD tasuku and taichi do like a lead co lead in SOMETHING or at least like some mixed troupe event i want them to talk!!!

also dunno if this is an intentional pun but i enjoy that its called high spirits at the hot spring bc like oh theyre having fun but also bc like. "spirits" is used to refer to a certain type of alcohol i think? which is cool. dunno if its intentional but i liked that. anyways the talent show. taichis moving rendition of single ladies... ok i know it said single fellas but like. we know. wonder if that line was a different song in japanese? its not too old at ALL tho imo. anyways the way banri and juza being themselves Are the entertainment... flashback to when banri slaps juza live on stage instead of doing a stage slap lol. my reaction to azuma essentially went:

azuma: I can offer to bare my soul, and a little more ;)

izumi: what do u mean by that???

me: hey tasuku and omi were shirtless what's ur problem with azuma

anyways i reread and from what i understand they were maybe only flexing and doing a gun show? which like. no wonder it didnt last too long then lol. also explains why they didnt have shirtless sprites i suppose lmao. i am SO curious abt what azuma ended up doing tho that fade to black is so mysterious! did he tap dance? did he pole dance? the world will never know...

oh also im not like super familiar with azuma yet but my read on his personality is definitely like "I am so touch starved All The Time but I will be chill. :) :) this is fine :)" like he just seems to rly like being around people! just like basking in presence whether or not hes rly talking that much.

i enjoyed that juza mentioned pillow fighting with his lil brother... thats nice! i think a lot of this event was just focused on ppl having fun over the drama lol bc it got wrapped up sooo quick. i liked the bit where sakyos worried that izumi was out late searching for him tho it was so sweet. table tennis match was very fun although id argue calling hisoka and juza the two quietest tho lol like... banri exists so juza isnt quiet. just like inevitably. finally, the event cg!!! azumas hair tied up... so nice! thats how I tie my hair up sometimes tho it doesnt look nearly as nice lol. taichi rambling abt his first love for so long tho... lol. ill be honest i have to reread autumn bc i was not aware of this whole situation until it came up in the stranger and i like inferred from there. the end of this event was nice! it was cute. i dont rly have much thoughts on it but im so hype for the winter play

Hello:!!! so good to see you again, freshly learning from your mistakes then :3c

the connection with Citron is a BLAST to read about. I am glad that Citron is there, on your mind, supporting you at every turns of language. It's beautiful.

AND OH THE POKEMON LIST!!! thrilled to hear about it being a wip ongoing! take your time ofc and i hope you'll feel more confident as you go for your characters interpretation! i believe in you!

lmao i'm glad the events help you remember to play a3, i'm sure that by the time you'll be done with the events you will have unlocked so much of act 2 you won't have to worry too much about it. Anyway i'm glad you treat yourself to good things :3c

of course Hisoka fell asleep in the bath. tbh this event was a lot of "Hisoka almost dies in a spring house multiple times if it wasn't for his troupesmates". Between sleeping in the bath and almost swallowing the table tenis ball... where would we be without Winter, and especially Homare, taking care fo him.

I'm SO GLAD you like Homare that much! he's so so good! i'm sure there must be a masterlist somewhere, or well. can be done anytime i guess?? but yeah Homare is fantastic and LDJFDLKFJDF the evil plan to avoid dodgeball from both of you.. this is incredible DLKJFDLKF. But yeah alas he's loved by his own so he gets hit smh.

And yeah Hisoka is just acting sus huh.

BUT YEAH... YEAH... WINTER... BELOVED.... I feel regular and normal feelings for Winter as you know, s o .

(i'm so delighted that you feel that way about Taichi though, as he deserves!! what a good boy!!!)

But yeah Winter play next!!!!! i love the winter plays so much i hope you'll like it as well!! aND YEAH HISOKA AND HOMARE AS A DUO... for a DETECTIVE story?? so good.

I'm sO GLAD you like their dynamic! yeah i adore it too. Homare was so quick to leap into taking care of Hisoka? Like i mean he immediatly called him sleeping beauty when they first met, and immediately decided to be his roommates to watch over him, and then he did everything to take care of him and it's just so sweet. Homare has such a big heart he's so gentle with Hisoka. Homey and comfortable, whenever Hisoka admits it or not ahah.

ahah wouldn't be Sakyo if he didn't need to stay cheap. BUT YEAH the Sakyo/Azuma dynamic is pretty good. oh the event you talk about i think is in some of his very first backstage storyes (that you can read if you have them since they're at this point of the chronology). There's one where they play a mafia game and Sakyo is warry of Azuma because "people like him are those you need to worry about the most" and Azuma is just ":) you wound me :) i would never :)" and then Azuma wins the game and starts to mess with everyone. It was so fun. and yeah i see which clip you mean for the stage play!! it's so so fun they have such a neat dynamic and i loved to see it in this event as well.

and omg worrying about Taichi while he was just there preparing a fun time! this child really would have worried us all back then huh

but AHH YEAH TASUKU TAICHI.... It's such a neat dynamic! ofc i won't say anything but man i love the potential of their stories, as the two ex Godza boys. To see them bond and be comfortable with each other always make me so soft.

OH NICE CATCH FOR THE PUN! i think it must be the reason for it tbh, i love it! thanks for pointing it out!

The talent show was really fun yeah ahah! I wonder what it is in Japanese too but at least the localization was hella fun!

"anyways the way banri and juza being themselves Are the entertainment." THEY'RE SO SILLY I love them so much

AND LMAO YOUR REACTION AT AZUMA I LOVE IT. YEah i think Tasuku and Omi are just flexing (which is Still. SO FUNNY. Just there saying "our talents is.. our muscles...") meanwhile Azuma is like "my talent is that i'm crazy hot :)"

But YEAH Azuma... AZUMA WHAT DID YOU DO....

your read on Azuma's personality feels pretty spot on to me ahah omg. Staying with what you know about him, the fact that with his job and all, he seems like he's starving for connection while also terrified to make himself emotionally vulnerable. He loves staying with people, listening to them, caring for them, and he's touch starved as hell (i mean it's his job) but he doesn't seem to really know how to be on the receiving hand of affection. there's a flair talk, i can't remember where, with Omi at some point, where Azuma compliments him, and Omi is just "mhm.. but you know i think that it's more about you" and ends up complimenting Azuma in depth and it let Azuma dumbfounded because he didn't expect Omi to trick him at his own game, while Omi just genuinely don't get why Azuma is reacting that way. He gives he gives he gives, and he's genuinely happy with that, but he seems to have difficulties to take, or to demand for something, while also starving for it. I have so many emotions for Azuma.

Any mentions of Juza's little bro are the best things. I love this type of mention TwT

And yeah it was such a laid back event. Honestly deserved after the crying fest that was The Stranger imo. It's good to relax once in a while and it was nice to have them have fun. There was the bitterness of both Azuma and Sakyo's past that was always a bit looming but everyone was working so hard for them to enjoy themselves that the joy just overtake any sadness i loved it.

Sakyo worrying about Izumi is always adorable TwT

And yeah the Table Tennis match was so fun and chaotic LMAO. I love the dynamic between Juza and Hisoka. Just two usually quiet boys who like sweets. Except that yeah like you say, as long as Banri is around, Juza cannot be 100% quiet. Rip.

THE CG WAS SO PRETTY i loved seeing it. And omg you can share your hairtips with Azuma how nice :D Azuma manages to make everything look beautiful smh....

Oh yeah Taichi and his first love! if i recall he mentions it quickly at the begining, that Yuki reminds him of his first love, and he says that again at some point - then the fake Portrait he does he mentions his first love again. And since then it's been a reccuring topic so yeh :3c

but yeah! this event was really sweet and laid back, not much to say about it, but it was nice to have it at all!

Hope you'll like the winter play :3c

Take care and thank you again for your thoughts <33 i love reading them!! bless you!!

[triangularjuice]

Remember? -A Pokémon Story-

Chapter 16: The Visitor

You inhale sharply, opening your eyes, but only to be met with darkness. The sweat on your skin makes your (h/c) hair stick to your forehead. Your knuckles turn white from your grip on the sheets. You find yourself laying in your bed in the Professors' house. You bring a hand to your forehead, rubbing your temples, trying to shake off whatever just happened. It seems like Xurkitree appears in your mind more frequently when you're asleep. It makes it a lot more challenging to get a good night's rest without having to worry about being attacked by a creature made of cables and zip ties.

You glance to your left at the small alarm clock. It's still pretty early, but there's no point in trying to get any more sleep. You swing your legs over the side of the bed and stretch. Cato stirs at the base of the bed, but doesn't get up. You stand up and head for the door.

You slip out of your bedroom and walk silently to the front door. You try your best not to wake anyone: especially Ash, since he sleeps on the loft in here and not in a bedroom. You crack the door open and quietly exit, sighing as you sit down on the porch's top step. Your head aches and your whole body is sore. You close your eyes, trying to ignore the pain. You feel the soft Alolan breeze brush against your face, and the smell of the ocean wafts up from the beach.

You breathe in the crisp morning air, listening to the sound of Pokémon around you. Your muscles relax, enjoying the quiet sounds of nature. Your small moment of peace was soon interrupted by the sound of a door pushing open behind you. Glancing over your shoulder, you see Cato sit down beside you. You smile at him and put a hand on his back, feeling his soft fur between your fingers.

"Quite a mess we've fallen into, huh?" you mumble. Cato gives a small sound of agreement, looking over at you.

"I've been thinking," you start, "If we find a way to go back to our own world, does that mean we won't be able to see Ash, Pikachu, and the Professors ever again?" You look over at Cato, and he stares back at you with sad eyes.

"I don't want to leave them behind," you say quietly, "but I don't think we have a choice if we want to go home."

You lean against Cato's tall frame, wrapping your arm around him in a hug. He leans into your side, and you rest your head against his. He's always been there for you, and you've always been there for him. Your mind wanders to the times when you were little and you would hide from the scary scientists your dad worked with. Cato would stand guard at your hiding spot, making sure you felt safe, even if there wasn't a real threat. You smile at these memories, and you wonder how much you've missed out on by being kidnapped. You two sit there, watching the sunrise, until the door behind you opens once again. You and Cato turn and see Professor Kukui standing there.

"How long have you two been out here?" he asks, yawning. You shrug, not really knowing for sure.

"Well, better get up and around, we're heading to Aether Paradise in a little bit. Burnet thinks she found a way to send you home," he says. You look over at Cato with wide eyes, and then back to the professor.

"Really?" you ask him cautiously. He smiles down at you two.

"She told me she has an idea," he says, cryptically. You and Cato stand up, but your head spins and the world feels like it was pulled out from under you. You clutch your head and regain your balance, wincing at the growing headache. Professor Kukui grabs your arm, holding you up.

"Whoa, are you alright (Y/N)?" he asks you, concerned. You brush it off, not wanting him to worry.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good. I just have a killer headache, that's all," you mutter. He gives you a look, obviously not believing you, but he decides to leave it for now. You follow him inside so you can gather your things, but you pause. The thought suddenly crosses your mind that this could possibly be the last time you and Cato are ever here. If this plan of Burnet's works, then you'll probably never step foot here again. The thought makes you slightly upset, but you push the feelings down into the back of your mind, not wanting to dwell on it.

~~~~~

When you finally arrive at Aether Paradise later that morning, you're about as nervous as a long-tailed Glameow in a room full of rocking chairs. The six of you start heading to Burnet's lab, and you keep fidgeting with your sleeve, unable to keep still. Ash picks up on this and tries to calm you down.

"Hey, everything's going to work out! You'll be home in no time," he says. You glance over at him and give a small smile.

"I know, it's just... now that we know what's going on and we maybe found a way to get us back, I'm really nervous. I mean, I haven't been home for almost two years. What if he doesn't care if I ever come back?" you ask quietly, referring to your dad.

"(Y/N), from the stories you've told us, there's no way your dad would ever stop looking for you," Ash says with confidence. You nod, looking at the ground.

"Alright, here we are," Burnet says, unlocking the door. You all file through the door, but as you walk in last, a wave of nausea hits you. You close your eyes for a moment until the feeling passes. No one seems to notice, so you just keep walking.

"So, (Y/N), when we were here last time and I studied your blood and anatomy, I saw something else that was a little strange, but I didn't think much of it at the time," Burnet starts, "When you went to Kalos, I studied it a little more closely. It seems that your body's energy signature is slightly different from ours."

Staring at her blankly, she continues.

"Now, my plan is to scan your energy signature and trace it throughout Ultra Space to find the wormhole that has the same energy signature as you. Then, we enter the coordinates and open a direct wormhole to your world. You'll be able to walk right through and straight to your reality," she explains. You nod slowly, staring at the ground.

"So, are you ready?" she asks. You look up and see everyone staring at you, waiting for your answer. You take a deep breath and nod once more.

"Yeah, let's do it."

Professor Burnet directs you to stand inside a sleek looking tube. The door slides closed, trapping you inside. You stand as still as possible as the walls light up with bright colors. The piercing light hurts your eyes as they move all around you. After a few long, torturous minutes, the lights finally turn off and the door opens. Stepping out, your eyes readjust to the darker room, and you sway a little. Ash grabs onto your arm, helping you stand.

"You okay?" he asks. You nod, holding a thumbs up.

"Yeah, just a little dizzy," you say. Ash guides you over to the couch by the door and helps you sit down.

"You did great, (Y/N)," Burnet says, "Now, I'm going to try and find a match to your energy signature. I don't know how long it's going to take, though. Ultra Space is presumably infinite."

You nod again and close your eyes, another wave of nausea hitting you. It's stronger this time, and you can feel it coming up your throat. You quickly stand up and run a couple feet to the bathroom door, throwing it open and sticking your head right in the toilet. Your stomach empties its contents, making your muscles feel weak. You flush the toilet and sit back on the floor, the cool tile against your hot skin.

"(Y/N), are you okay? What happened?" Professor Kukui says from behind you. Humming in response, you stand up on shaky legs.

"There's some extra toothbrushes under the sink for overtime in the lab you can use," Burnet offers. You thank her and close the door so you can get washed up. When you exit, Kukui comes up to you and puts the back of his hand against your forehead.

"Geez, you're burning up!" he says, removing his hand.

"We need to get you some-" Burnet starts, but she's cut off by an aggressive beeping sound. You all look towards the computer monitor and see two green words flashing across the screen:

Coordinates Located

Burnet looks over at you with concern.

"(Y/N), we don't have to do this right now, we can wait," she suggests, but you're not having it.

"No, I want to do it now," you say. She nods hesitantly and walks over to the device next to her computer. She enters the coordinates from the screen and the machine starts up with a loud whirring sound. A ray of colors shoots out from the machine and creates a rip in the air. The rip grows wider until it becomes a hole filled with beautiful colors. The wormhole starts sucking in air, blowing papers everywhere and making it hard to hear. You were too busy admiring the sight to notice Burnet's concerned look.

"Something isn't right, look at the flow of the wormhole!" she shouts over the wind. You shift your focus on the patterns inside. The colors are flowing in the opposite direction that they normally do.

"It's like the flow is backwards!" you shout back, and Burnet nods. She looks down at her screen for a moment before her eyes widen.

"I think we accidentally opened a one-way portal, and we're going the wrong direction!" she yells. The portal starts making all sorts of strange noises, and none of them sound good. You cover your ears, the shrill sound of ripping a hole in reality pierces your eardrums.

"Shut it off!" Ash yells. Professor Burnet types frantically on her computer, but the wormhole stays open.

"It's not working, I can't close it!" she shouts. The wormhole starts shining brighter and brighter and you shield your eyes from the light. A loud crack rips through the air, and then the blinding light is gone. The machine makes a low whirring sound as it shuts off, and the room is filled with an eerie silence.

"Is everyone okay?" Kukui asks, "Burnet? Ash? (Y/N)?" The other two respond, but you stay silent, staring at the spot where the wormhole closed.

"(Y/N)?" Kukui says again. You ignore him. You're too focused on the figure that sits on the floor where the portal was. Your words catch in your throat as you try and call out to them. You swallow thickly.

...

"Dad?"

***

Chapter 17: The Reunion

[kuroosweakness]

Even more facts about 🐾 anon:

- Idk why but positive words hurt me the most, like when someone says I’m their favorite person in the world only to not mean what they said actually makes me cry a little, but what makes me the most sad is knowing when someone is there for me that I can tell everything in the world too. Just them hugging me makes me feel that.

- I got into anime bc one of my past fav youtubers was into it and so I watched it. I basically started w the YouTube starter pack but actually started w magical girl animes (like Tokyo mew mew (the one she watched) and glitter force) then I drifted to miss kobayashi’s dragon maid to shonen animes

- No thoughts, head empty

- My music taste is probably the average anime tiktoker, like I listen to everything but reverbed and slowed Or in Lo-fi like, Lemon Boy and Me and My Husband but my favorite song to listen to in reverb is Daisy

- I kin music, like it might be weird idc but I do like the beats that are happy but also unsettling? I kin those. Like Not Allowed by tv girl? The part that goes “ALL BY YOURSELF, SITTING ALONE. I HOPE WE’RE STILL FRIENDS YEAH I HOPE YOU DONT MIND” and just loops is the best part to me. “Kaiwa ga tsuzukanai na? Naze da dou shite da? Aho ka?” From to prob the rest of the song of Pretty cvnt by sewerslvt idk I haven’t listened to the full song lmao but the actual meaning of the lyrics don’t matter tho so just know I probably don’t rlly care to look up w that means so it doesn’t ruin it for me ;-;

- I’m a extrovert (:OOO OMG THOSE EXIST) yeah I exist 😩 it’s real easy for me to walk up to someone and start talking since I’m really open about myself and don’t bother to hide things... (except the stuff like y’know... reading fanfics cuz no sane person is gonna go to a random person like “I LIKE READING FANFICTION!” Like I’d probably scared of u now if I was a normie.

- I don’t like being told I’m wrong if I know for a fact I’m right. Like if I say the sky is green and you say the sky is blue I’ll be perfectly fine with that but if you question my intelligence in levels other than that like for a fact from an anime I really like and call me out for being dumb bc I said one thing wrong for example I say “kuroos fav food is grilled salted-mackerel pike” or “itadori’s type are girls like jennifer Lawrence and I find that funny” and you say “no thats stupid” I’m going to call you and scream at you or fight you on sight next time I see you there are no other options. Jk I’ll only threaten you w those and never do it bc I prob love u too much and just give you facts from a easy google search

- Bruh people need to love themselves more like how will you ever love other people if you don’t know how to love yourself? You should always love yourself first before learning to love others because why would you wanna spend your life hating yourself? You’re gonna be with yourself for the rest of your life, even when you’re dead when you really think about it.

- My sleep schedule is chaotic

- I view myself as a good person, but on a chart of chaotic good to lawful evil, I’m probably the most neutral person you’ll ever meet. And I’m genuinely like that. I abide by my own laws. The government doesn’t tell me what’s wrong but neither am I truly against it. I don’t do things like steal but I’ll run in the halls to get to where I need to go or be on my phone during class (most likely with permission because I’m always reading on my phone) that’s why I’m my hero academia and shows the have good and evil bro wtf? Imma be in the middle. I truly think myself as someone you can trust to keep a secret and help when needed but I won’t spy for you on the other group and rat you out. First person that asks I’ll prob help if it’s not hurting someone (most likely bc I’m prob naive and the way you word something like let’s say you asked me to go to a bank to make a deposit or something and now all a sudden come out with money bags like HUHHHHHHHHH? I THOUGHT YOU WERE MAKING A DEPOSIT NOT MAKING AN ILLEGAL WITHDRAWERY WITH ALL THEIR MONEYYYY? (Like my friends and I literally joke about this.) Now all a sudden I’m a getaway driver cause god knows I can’t trust the police with my life😩😩 tfw someone makes you rob a back w/o you knowing✊😔)

- Ayo idc what you do with your life I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, like people trying to peer pressure me into idk let’s say smoking, LIKE BRO I HAVE ASTHMA, IDC HOW GOOD IT MAKE YOU FEEL, ILL LITERALLY DIE IF I DO THAT WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO TRICK ME INTO IT

- I’ve tasted alcohol (REALLY IT WAS ON ACCIDENT I WAS AT CHURCH AND ACCIDENTALLY CHOSE THE WINE INSTEAD OF GRAPE JUICE) before and I will now say I’ll never drink it because that’s the nastiest drink I’ve ever drunken in life

- One of my favorite songs are Love Taste by Moe Shop

- My favorite Pokémon game is prob ultra sun and moon

- don’t ask why I decided to watch every Pokémon movie and play every Pokémon game from X and Y and up (I found a friend that has platinum and am playing it but it’s also the first time ive really lost a Pokémon battle and idk that just started something like how dare you win over ME? THE MAIN CHARACTER? YOU NPC, I HAVE THE AUDACITY TO E N D YOU RIGHT NOW)

- first things first, u seem such like a fun person to be around! 

- i get that, kind words definitely hits :’ you’re very lucky to have people like that in your life, and that person is very very lucky to have you in their life! 

- ohhh okay okay i’m assuming you fell into the anime hole too :D 

- me too, me too. no thoughts, just staying in bed with suna by ur side 

- ur music taste!! ✨

- i’m listening to “not allowed” right now and now i feel like skateboarding...you’re right, it’s very happy but also unsettling :) 

- an extrovert, okay okayy while i don’t understand extroverts, i’m very thankful for extroverts’ existence :)) 

omg i remember people talking about how they “used” to read fanfiction and i was sitting there like 👀 yeah i still do ...and now not only do i read, but also write- 

- ahhhh being told ur wrong when u know ur right is such an awkward place to be 😭i’m glad u stand up for urself though! usually, i just nod like okay, ig 

- i- it’s a lot harder said than done to love ourselves :’) especially when there are so many reasons we believe not to. but self love is the MOST IMPORTANT LOVE! 

- not to sound like a parent lmao but try to maintain a good sleeping schedule! it’ll benefit u in many many factors, especially in the future! <3 

- okay okayy u seem like a really interesting person,  i was very amused while reading that paragraph  :))

- i- yes, health > everything else 

- make sure to choose grape juice next time :’) !! 

- i’m listening to it right now hehe 

- pokemon!!! my childhood was full of pokemon ahhh 

- u definitely know a lot more about pokemon than i do, okay okay, the main character always wins ;) 

[akatsukifictionsblog]

Chapter 3 - Teddy Bear Hugs

Here is Chapter 3 

When Megan went  inside the living room Greg, and Andy were putting on their coats  while carrying heavy bags outside.  Megan sighed as the party was over, and her relatives were preparing to go home. .   Before leaving Diana had fixed up a few dishes of cookies, candies, and other treats to take back to their home. They were also taking a box of pizza, but there was still a good amount of food at the house. 

Once they were ready   Megan said good bye to her relatives, and went to go help her mother inside of the kitchen as she divided left over peices of pizza inside a single box.   Krystal was busy seperating pizza slices as she mummbled to herself that she had gotten too many pizza's. 

" I think we got more than we needed."  Krystal said as there were still six or more boxes of pizza. There were also tons of bread sticks, and sauce left over.   . While Megan was helping Krystal.  she  remembered her daughter saying something about her friends coming over for a Christmas bash.    Megan was getting some containers to put sweets in and storing them away for later. 

" Megan when are you friends coming over ?" Krystal asked . Megan smiled as she remembered  Sometime during the week before Christmas.  Megan's and her friends  had planned out to come to Megan’s house for a party.  However the party wouldn't be until the 30th as Megan's friends would either be out of the state to see relatives or working late hours, and wouldn't be able to be off until that certain time. 

"  We decided to bundle the Christmas bash with my birthday. But they wanted me to live stream opening packages in the morning if I could. " Megan answered. Krystal laughed at this as her daughter talked about her friends with a smile on her face.  " When do you think you'll be leaving in the morning ? " Megan asked. 

"It  depends on the weather, and how your grandmother feels."  Krystal answered unaware that they were being spied on.    Itachi was watching the mother, and daughter while Kisame was keeping watch in the other half of the sitting area.  Looking around  what appeared to be a refrigerator Itachi could hear the two talking about what sounded like a serious topic. 

" How much have you gotten done on your friends Christmas presents t that you started back during the summer ? I know you've worked hard on those outfits for your friends.  Krystal asked as Itachi listened in the conversation between the daughter and her mother .  Itachi then remembered that Tobi  had mentioned something about this girl, and three of her friends. 

" I am almost done. I still have a few things to finish like the hem on the skirt of  Candy's dress,  Kayla's shoes need finished,  while Rose's outfit is nearly completed.  I just have to box them all up tonight with the accessories I managed to get in the other day. "  Megan answered smiling.   Megan had been working non stop on a few cosplay gowns that she had designed herself.   Megan wanted to do the project to tell her friends how much she appreciated them. 

 Towards the spring time  Candy, and Rose would be leaving to go out of state for school while Kayla would be busy with her own studies going to a chosen school of her own as well as her part time job at the local retail store .     Itachi looked up as Krystal opened the door of the fridge, and as she, and her daughter made small conversation. 

Krystal stepped out of the kitchen when she heard her mother in the other room.  Itachi backed up into the halls quickly finding a place to hide until the coast was clear.  Under the small side table Itachi could hear the older woman talking again.  This time it seemed like she was looking for something, but there was nothing on the ground. 

" What are you looking for mom ?" Krystal asked. " Oh. I was trying to pick up this flower that fell in the floor, but it won't come up. Mabel here wanted to see it."  Abby said to her daughter.  Yet the sounds in the kitchen caused Itachi to slowly come out of the place he had hidden.  Peeking around the corner of the refrigerator Itachi found Megan silently putting away  things such as containers, and putting sweets in a few to put in storage.    At the same time Megan stood listening to the voices inside the living room.  She was smiling, but Itachi noticed a look in her eyes. 

" Pull yourself together.."  Itachi heard  Megan say in a quiet toned voice. 

As Megan was putting up the sweets, and other things in their proper place she suddenly had this feeling like she was being watched. Confused Megan looked towards the dining room as Itachi hid behind the refrigerator.  Itachi peeked out slightly seeing the girl blink in confusion.  Shaking the feeling Megan went back to the task at hand until. 

"  Megan ! " she, and Itachi heard as Krystal called for Megan to come to the living room. " Yes mom ?" Megan questioned as she finished up putting the sweet treats away, and headed towards the living room to see what her mother wanted.  Itachi saw a worried look  on Megan's face as she was wondering if something had happened.  " Is there something wrong mom ?"   Krystal smiled after having gotten a request from Abigale. 

" Everything's fine . Your grandmother told me that she wanted to see you open some of your gifts. I know you said you were going to open them up later . But do you think you can open a few for you grandma  before we take her back home ? "  Megan smiled, and nodded.

" Sure I don't mind. "  she responded. It just gave Megan a few more minutes with her parents, and grandparents before they went back to Abigale's house for the night .   Itachi looked around only spotting Kisame on the other end of the couch as he watched what was happening on his end.  

As Megan sat down on the love seat the sudden action caught the attention of her father, and step-grandfather. Krystal moved towards the  Christmas tree  looking for a package for Megan to open.  

" Krystal what is going on ?" Jeremy asked as his wife . " Mom wanted to see Megan open some  of her gifts before we went back to their house for the night. " Krystal answered as  the old woman seemed over joyed to have her granddaughter in the room again.  Jeremy seemed to agree to the idea as he turned to his daughter.   Krystal directed to which of the gifts that Megan would enjoy opening first. 

Megan was curious as her father carried over a rectangular box that was the size of a keyboard or something for her computer.   Seeing Itachi, Kisame quietly made his way over to where his partner was who was focused on the activity going on.  Jeremy soon pulled out his nice camera as Megan began to unwrap one of her gifts.  You could hear the camera make sounds, and the lights flash as Jeremy pushed the button. 

" What is it ?" Leo asked.

" That's what I want to know." Kisame said as he, and  Itachi kept observing the  girl as she started opening a few Christmas presents.  Megan's smile was wide as she opened up her gift finding it was a keyboard that she had been eying for sometime on the internet.  It was a black gaming  keyboard, that had a led light that  would  glow like a rainbow.  The keys even lit up for easy use if Megan had the lights off. 

" Rose, and Kayla  helped you out didn't she ?" Megan asked. " They sure  did."  Krystal answered " Thank you so much ! "  Megan replied excitedly as the next gift was given to her.  Opening up the package was the mouse that matched the keyboard, but this mouse had number buttons on the side that also glowed with rainbow colors.  Through the excitement Itachi moved to the underside of the loveseat, and peaked out seeing  Megan place her gift on the coffee table with the first. What kind of world was this with this type of technology ? Itachi questioned himself as he had fooled with computers before while with the Anbu. But they weren’t as advanced. 

 Again Itachi, and Kisame heard movement, but this time  Jeremy brought out a gift bag.   Itachi could also see the excitement from the grandmother who was talking to the invisible person next to her. Megan took the small bag and began to open it placing the tissue paper to the side with the pile of paper nearby. Inside of the bag was a new version of a hand held console, and a copy of a Pokémon game  that she already had the opposite to.  As Megan was opening gifts Itachi, and Kisame  heard the grandma complement her granddaughter. " Oh that is lovely, or How exciting don't you see Mable ?"   Megan smiled at her grandmother as she stopped opening presents in order to save a few for the next morning.   " Thank you mom, and dad." Megan said smiling as she put the console, and game on the coffee table, Itachi peeked out  while everyone in the room were distracted managed to pick up the small case with the game in it.  A strange creature was on the front of the package, and read the title of the game in question. " Your welcome. I am thankful for your friends. They helped us a lot with choosing your gifts. I am sure your going to be busy tonight."  Krystal said smiling. " Possibly.  I have a lot to finish tonight I may wait till tomorrow evening." Megan answered as she got up, and picked up the wrapping paper on the floor, and helped get things straightened up before her parents took her grandparents home.   While this happened  inside of Megan's room Pein, and the others had explored much Megan's room.  Sasori in particular was sitting on Megan's bed after finding a sketchbook with reference photos nearby.  It was full of rejected sketches of outfits, or of objects and people,  or Megan was saving them for a later date.  There were also sketches of various things like flowers, cats, butterflies. On the floor Hidan,  Kakuzu, and Deidara looked up at the large glass case that held figures in certain themes on each shelf  or some kind of object that belonged to that  series.  On the middle shelf were figures that looked like characters from the Naruto series. Which included the Akatsuki themselves.  Kakuzu looked at his figure double. 

" I didn't give anyone permission to use my image without some kind of fee." Kakuzu said as he scowled.  Hidan, and Deidara groaned as  activity continued on the bed. Tobi  was looking around on the side table when he noticed a picture frame with a few familiar photos. 

" Oh look ! Tobi found his picture !! " Tobi said excited as there was a photo Tobi had popped up in when  the girls were having fun photo sessions on that specific day. 

" Picture ? A picture of you in it ? " Deidara questioned as he jumped back up on the bed, and Tobi pointed out a picture frame that could host four of five pictures inside of it.   The pictures were of Megan, and her friends , and one or a few of those photos had Tobi in it.  Pein, and Konan walked up behind Tobi and Deidara looking at the frame. " Are these the other three you mentioned ?"  Pein questioned Tobi. " Yes.  Tobi doesn't know where they are, but they are just as nice as  Megan is. Well some of them can be a bit temperamental,  Tobi can't wait for you to meet them, "  Tobi responded as Pein turned to  Megan's book shelf that rested to the right of the bed.  Like the glass case the book shelf had figures that were guarding  Megan's books.  Mostly the figures were themed to what books sat on which shelf. " Where did Zetsu go ?" Pein questioned as he pulled away from looking at the picture . " He's exploring the closet.  Zetsu spotted something on the top shelf. "  Konan answered as Zetsu was climbing the closet finding a hidden shelf with pillows, holiday items, and especially cosplay props. " What are these ? is our hostess a ninja too ? Does she make weapons ?" White asked. "  Who knows.  We will have to keep a close watch on her. "  Black answered as the plant man spoke with himself.   As Zetsu was coming down towards the floor  the others could hear the commotion outside of the bedroom.  Pein, and the others looked towards the open door as Kisame came to inform Pein what was going on. " What's going on Kisame ?" Pein questioned. " The parents, and the grandparents are leaving. They all went outside a little while ago, and the girl is seeing them off."  Kisame answered as the others followed Kisame outside into the larger area.  Like Kisame said the front door to the house was opened, and Megan was standing out on the porch.  Itachi was standing an inch from the door as he looked outside watching the family.

Krystal was standing outside with  Megan as she prepared to go back to her mothers, and Leo's for the night. The car was running as Jeremy had finished helping Leo get Abigale inside of the car, and Jeremy was coming back to goodbye to his daughter.  Krystal smiled, and hugged her daughter.

"  Are you sure your going to be okay ?" " Yes. I'll be fine  you need this time with grandma. " Megan answered as she hugged her mother good bye. " Okay, but if you need anything don't hesitate to call us, and you have the emergency numbers on hand right."  Krystal asked. " Yes. I have everything.  Also if I know the girls they will be pinging me every few hours tonight so I won't be too alone." Megan answered as Krystal laughed while Jeremy came to the porch.  Like Krystal. Jeremy was worried about his daughter staying at their home by herself, but was reassured she knew what she was doing. Jeremy gave Megan the basic run down of everything asking her if she knew what to do incase of a fire, or if something happened to call the police ecc.  Megan agreed, and hugged her father before he took the bags Krystal was holding in her hands to the running car .

" I'll call you once we get to your grandparents house, and before we leave in the morning. Also the weather called for a slight cold spell. Try to stay warm, and if you need anything call us. "  Krystal said as she hugged Megan again,

" What's going on ?" Konan asked as they watched the father come back for  Megan's mother, and helped her to the strange wagon . 

" The parents are leaving with the grandparents , and staying with them tonight. Then they will be traveling tomorrow on some kind of trip . The girl will be on her own tonight as well as the next few days." Itachi responded as he looked back out of the screen door.   The Akatsuki members watched from the screen door  as Megan stood watching her mother leave for a few minutes. 

" What type of wagons are those ?" Hidan asked as he noticed these specific ones were blowing smoke.  No animals were attached to them , and it seemed to be running on its own.  As Jeremy go in on the drivers side the headlights of the car turned on causing the Akatsuki bears to question even further. 

As Megan started back into the house looking back as she heard car doors opening, and closing.  Inside the house  Pein, and the others moved back finding spaces to hide in. Opening the door Megan stepped inside the house and turned back to close the door.  Hidan was hiding behind the piano as he tripped, and fell while Kakuzu made it to his hiding place.  Sasori, Deidara, and Tobi hid under the Christmas tree. While Itachi, Kisame, Pein, and Konan hid behind the couch  . 

" Where do we hide ?" White Zetsu asked black as both usually could disappear quickly. But for whatever reason. Zetsu wasn't able to use some of his jutsu like he usually could.  " I don't know just pick some place !" Black responded only to finally find a place behind the coat rack that had a covering of coats. Coming into the house  Megan  closed the door, and locked the door only to turn, towards the front door. The tail lights from her parents car started up the driveway. For a moment it sat there as an on coming car came by, but afterward  the car drove out onto the road, and disappeared into the darkness.  Once the car was gone  Megan turned away from the front door, and walked towards the sofa, and sat down for a few moments. It was only minutes after Megan sat down on the sofa did she hear the familiar pitter patters of claws against the hardwood floor. " Meow." " Was that a cat ?"  Pein questioned as  Megan looked up, and smiled as her two pet cats finally emerged from their hiding places.  When people had started coming in the house both of Megan's pet cats had went into hiding.   " No. Two cats." Konan said as she motioned towards the opening that lead to what looked like a master bedroom.  A black cat with white patches , and a grey, and white tabby cat came into the living room where Megan was.  Megan smiled as the two felines made their way around smelling the left over scent of people that had been at the house. 

" You two finally came out from hiding ?" Megan said as the two cats made their way into the living room.  Luna a cat with black fur, and a few white places in her fur came up to Megan and headbutted Megan's hands.  Megan giggled as she stood up from the couch knowing what the two wanted.  

" Meow." Luna answered along with her brother Calypso a large male tabby cat. " Alright. I know you two are hungry.  I just hope you don't mind the company tonight. " Megan said as  both cats followed Megan to the kitchen allowing the Akatsuki bears to come out from hiding.   Yet it was Luna that caused the bears to stop in their tracks as her ears picked up a strange sound.   Yet the sound of food seemed to direct Luna's attention, and followed her brother, and human to the food area. 

" Meow !" Luna meowed excitedly as Megan picked out a few cans of food.   Itachi, Kisame  Konan, and Pein came out from behind the sofa, and hid in the hall way.  Pein peered around as  Megan was feeding her feline friends. The cats were anxious as  Megan picked up their bowls, and got into the bottom cabinet where their food was stored.  

" Oh boy ! Tobi loves kitty cats !" Tobi said excited as he, Deidara, and Sasori moved from their own hiding places joining the first four in the halls.  Kakuzu, and Hidan soon followed, and Zetsu was the last of the ten. 

" Meow." Luna meowed excitedly as Megan was preparing their meal, but as she was doing so she then remembered something as she heard two familiar meows outside.    After feeding Calypso, and Luna.  Megan walked to the back door.  Standing at the backdoor waiting for Megan was a yellow cat, and a female tabby .   Yet Itachi noticed what seemed to be tiny ears meaning one of the cats had kittens. 

" What more cats ?" Hidan questioned as Megan went to the back door and opened it.  .   " Hi Nala come on in and get warm for awhile. You too Sally and get those kittens inside. It's really cold tonight, and we are due for a winter storm possibly.  "  Megan said to the two cats as the two came into the house. Sally looked back to the opened door and  meowed as three little kittens popped through the door as their mother called. . 

“ Are you getting into more mischief tonight Rascal ? “ Megan questioned as the kitten jumped into her arms, and on her shoulder.   Picking Rascal up off her shoulder  Megan placed him on the ground with his sisters.  Megan then fed the rest of the cats, and kittens.   Megan also prepared spaces  for the outside cats to sleep for the night.    After feeding the cats, and getting them settled for the night.   

As Megan was going towards her parents bedroom something caught her eye.  Megan stopped as she looked over towards the coffee table.  Megan was a little confused she remembered the bears were still in the box that she placed on the bed.  Thinking for a few moments  Megan wondered if one of her parents had done this while  Megan went to put something away in the kitchen. " Aw. Its like they are having a meeting. " Megan thought as she giggled to herself, and continued to her parents room to take a hot shower, and prepare for the long night ahead of her.  Going into the room Megan shut the door, and prepared to get into the shower.

" That was close .." Sasori said as the door to the master bedroom shut, and it allowed the Akatsuki members to continue their conversation.  While Megan had been in the room. and the others distracted.  Pein had begun reading over the scroll that Tobi had shown him.  Rolling up the scroll  Pein jumped up on the coffee table, and brought attention to the other members. " Now what are we going to do hmm"  Deidara questioned. 

" For now I am calling an important meeting about this issue. " Pein responded and turned to Tobi who had the rolled up scroll in his possession.   Pein was going to get to the bottom of this justu how it worked, and what it took to get everyone changed back to their normal forms.  Pein lead the members across the room in front of the Christmas tree using the rooms.  coffee table as a make shift meeting table. 

Pein stopped for a moment as he, and the others heard movement in what seemed like the master bedroom.  The sound of water could be heard as Pein began the briefing.   Again Tobi explained his side of the story how he found this world, and met the girl in question that he had met.  Pein, and the others listened closely as Tobi told the same tale, and his story remained the same. 

After Tobi's explanation  Pein began reading the scroll through the silence the other Akatsuki members could hear small pitter patters as the three kittens had finished eating, and was starting to play.    Pein raised a stuffed paw as he read the wordings. 

" I see... " Pein said.  Pein then looked up at the other Akatsuki members , and then looked at the scroll again.   " Gah ! Will you say f*king something  already ! " Pein heard Hidan shriek as he was growing impatient as always.   Pein ignored this as he continued reading as he looked to where the girl had gone too.   Konan could see the face that Pein was making, and it seemed that there was more to this jutsu than  Tobi realized when he cast it on everyone. 

.  The jutsu wasn't going to be easy to undo.  It was going to require assistance, and cooperation especially on the Akatsuki members end if they wanted to be human again .

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Blake x reader where it’s literally just them cuddling and he gets self-conscious since he lost his two limbs and reader says they still love him and kiss all over his face to make him feel loved. My boi needs love sobssss

"Are..you sure you're okay with this?"

"Of course, Blake. Why wouldn't I be?"

"..well, it’s just...never mind." As Blake sighed, he rested his head on your chest, hopelessly attempting to wrap his arm around you. But then he quickly remembered it wasn't there anymore; in its place was a stump that ended just after his shoulder.

Meanwhile, you had both of your arms wrapped completely around him, and while it made him feel secure...he felt guilty that he couldn’t hug you the same way. Not like he used to. You didn’t mind it, but he was still upset over it.

Of course, the frequent phantom pains didn’t help matters either. He'd get them in both of his missing limbs from time to time, which usually ended in panic.

Today they were particularly bad, so you were both cuddling together, with them eventually going away. He ditched his prosthetics so you weren’t feeling cold plastic or metal against your skin.

Despite you reassuring him it was fine, he decided to leave them off, valuing your comfort over his own.

Though staring at his stumped arm made him feel rather insecure...and had him thinking...

Even so, he wishes he listened to all of the signs to turn back.

He still didn’t understand why you’d stay with him, even after proving to you that he was an idiot who nearly got himself frozen to death.

You never berated him for going up to Mt. Silver without telling you..or said he “deserved” any of this (despite what his constant nightmares claimed).

But no.

He didn’t and this is what happened to him.

If only he told himself “becoming champion is enough”, then he wouldn’t have ended up like this. He wouldn’t feel like a huge burden on you; he wouldn’t feel like the most abnormal person in all of Johto.

In public, he’d notice the younger trainers and little kids who once admired him now staring and whispering things as he walked by.

None of them would talk to him like they used to...and he wondered if it’s because of what he looked like now. Surely it had to be strange to see someone missing a leg and arm--especially the champion himself.

You, on the other hand, haven’t stopped loving him one bit. You never treated him any differently. In fact, you recently scolded a few snobby brats who joked about him being a “normal/steel-type” because of his prosthetics, crushing their puny Pokémon in battle when the taunts have gone too far and insulted your relationship with him.

Not even Silver was as mean as they were.

Even though he pretended to be fine afterwards, their words still hurt like hell, and Blake hasn't stopped thinking about them since.

You shouldn't have to fight people because of him.

Tears started to well up in his eyes as he began to overthink everything, and he silently cursed himself for letting this happen. For letting his mind get off track.

Maybe they were right. You deserved better than him.

You deserved someone "normal".

This was supposed to be helping him calm down.

Yet, once again, he ruined things for himself and you.

The whimper that escaped his lips didn't go unnoticed by you, making you stop petting his hair and frowning. "Blake? What’s wrong, honey?” You softly spoke, worried that he was feeling those pains again.

"Wh-Why...why bother trying anymore?"

"Trying..what?"

"...to l-love me even though I did this to myself.." Despite his attempts to stifle his sobs, they came out anyways, tears slipping down his cheeks as he finally broke down. "Y-You could have anyone you want..why stay with this...th-this limbless freak?”

To hear him say that shattered your heart.

"Blake, you are not a freak." You hugged him closely, rubbing the back of his head as he cried quietly into your shirt. His good hand clutched desperately at it. “I don’t wanna hear you say that again. You think I’d love you any less because of what happened? Because of what a few stupid kids said?”

“..I-I..I don’t know. I just..I feel bad..because I’m not the Champion y-you fell in love with anymore-”

“That’s not who I fell in love with. I love the kind, funny, and selfless Blake Gold who cares for his Pokémon and never gives up on his dreams.” You corrected him, gently resting a hand on his stumped arm. “If you think this changes any of that, you’re wrong.”

He quieted down a little, sniffling as he looked to see where your hand was, and then his gaze went back to you, astonished. "Do you...mean that?”

Nodding, you smiled and rubbed his arm in comfort. “I mean every word. Let me prove it.” You then moved your hand underneath his chin, drawing him closer so you could kiss every square inch of his face.

He immediately blushed at your actions, but happy tears soon replaced his sad ones, knowing you truly did wanna stick by him. And that your love was still strong--perhaps even stronger than before now.

Part of him felt ashamed for ever doubting you and crying over the possibility you only dated him because of his fame, fearing you’d abandon him when he fell apart.

But no. You were here to stay for the long run.

You pulled away to look at each other for a few moments, and you could see Blake’s own smile returning. “I see you’re convinced now.”

“Yeah..I..I’m sorry..”

“For what?”

“For just..being an idiot, as usual.” He lightly joked. “I shouldn’t let this crap get to my head. I know you’ll always love me, I...I just...I guess I just needed to hear you say that.” Then he closed his eyes and snuggled back against you, burying his face into your chest.

“Of course,” you chuckled softly, petting his hair once more. “I’d do anything for my lovable idiot boyfriend.”

He just huffed, but said nothing more as his good arm squeezed you tightly.

Arceus only knows how badly he needed to hear your words.

[pikachu78109]

Idk, I feel like writing something dramatic or maybe something depressing. Some of the topics are not suitable for Wooloo, so if you feel uncomfortable or anything, then by all means skip this headcanon/reader insert/long read post. Anyway, there’s not really a specific theme, but if I had to pick one, it would be abusive relationships. This will be if the Galar characters were being abused and their s/o trying to help them out.

On a side note, I am taking break from writing any requested SWSH headcanons, seeing that my inbox has a lot right now. I’m trying to post as many HC’s as I can, but it will take awhile given that I am busy with upcoming finals in college and other things outside of social media. So, ask for your patience as I am doing all that I can to get more requested SWSH headcanons out and finished. With that said, let’s get onto the post.

Milo

-You didn’t really suspect anything happening much to Milo. I mean, Milo is a very sweet guy who loves to tend to his farm and his flowers. His Pokémon always feel relaxed around him and, so far, nothing really interesting has happened until a few months later. For some reason, you started to notice a few things that you knew deep down wasn’t like Milo. For starters, he wasn’t going outside as much. As a farmer, Milo has always been working outdoors, tending to the fields and the Wooloo alongside with his Eldegoss and Yamper. So, it didn’t sit right with you that Milo wasn’t present during the day time. Regardless, you try to think up a reason as to why he isn’t outside. Maybe he’s been dealing with a lot of Gym Challengers? Perhaps he’s caught a nasty cold? However, over time, these assumptions started to fade out and you clearly tell that something was wrong. Surprisingly, you spotted Milo the other day out in the fields, carrying bales of hay. Strangely, you noticed he had a blank, almost too concentrated look on his face. Which is out of the blue, because Milo always smiles when he works.

Taking an even closer look, you noticed how tight his scarf was tied around his neck, almost too tight that you started to worry. His mannerisms were another that drastically changed. Milo has gotten to be very quiet, almost too afraid to speak when being approached by someone. He wouldn’t even look at them in the eye. It suddenly dawned on you that Milo has been trying his hand at dating, something of which you could remember him saying to you once. Apparently, he met someone who has the same interests as he does and, not too long after, they became a couple. It happened so fast that you started to wonder if Milo might be having relationship trouble with his partner. After all, whenever you see them go on dates, you can tell there was something...off about the person Milo was dating. They wouldn’t pay attention to Milo and would get annoyed pretty quickly over the most trivial things that Milo do. You tried asking Milo if everything is alright, but he would reply by saying, “Everything is fine. They just had a bad day,”

Which, deep down, you know is false. Their sudden annoyances with Milo suddenly turned into something dangerous. While you would take your nightly stroll through Turffield, you could hear audible yelling coming Milo’s house just a few blocks away. Outside, you could see Milo’s Eldegoss and Wooloo huddled by the door, quivering in fear of what’s going inside. Knowing that Mill always puts a spare key underneath his welcome mat, you quickly opened the front door and dashed upstairs to Milo’s room. Upon opening the door, you could see Milo on the floor, holding his neck protectively as his partner looms over him, a belt in their hand. Immediately, you pushed the abuser away from Milo and stood over the gentle giant’s body. Before the abuser could do anything, you got out your Butterfree and told it to use String Shot, which luckily tied them down instantly. After calling the cops and getting Milo’s now ex-partner our of their life, you can only hope for a speedy recovery for Milo. When Milo comes to, you noticed the bruises implanted on his neck and understood why he tied his scarf so tightly. All you could for Milo was help him get up and move him towards his bed to get him to lie down. Milo looks at you in a tearful gaze, but mutters his gratitude. He also apologizes for not being honest about his situation and blames himself for not doing so sooner. However, all you tell Milo is that everything is okay now and they are here to help him in whatever they can. Appreciating this, Milo reaches his hand to caress your cheek and smiles gently as he wants to kiss you badly. Knowing this, you bend down to give him a kiss on the cheek and promise to stay by his side no matter what.

Piers

-As a Dark type user and singer, Piers has attracted a few fans. You were one of them who enjoys listening to your friend’s music and would stop by to help write new songs with him. Unbeknownst to you, there was news spreading around Spikemuth that Piers was in a relationship with someone. At first, you were confused, because Piers made no mention about being in a relationship. Still, being a supportive friend nonetheless, you feel happy for him. It wouldn’t be until a few months that you started to see less of Piers. Even Marnie herself told you that Piers has been coming home late at night and wouldn’t bother telling anyone where he was or what he has been doing. However, you manage to brush that off as something typical that Piers would do. You and Piers would sneak off all the time late at night to see any concerts that were playing. So, it didn’t bother you much when Marnie told you this. Instead, you would reassure her that this is Piers and that he always comes home late. Fast forward a few more months and you suddenly got word from a Team Yell member that Piers has cancelled one of his upcoming concerts. Assuming that he might have a caught a cold or might be busy with anything relating to the Gym Challenge, you also brushed that off.

After awhile, you finally come across Piers as he’s making one of his late night excursions. You catch up to him and, for some reason, he ignores you. His body language appeared tense, stiff even. Getting a good look at his face, you noticed how his eyes have bags underneath them and that he looked a lot more pale than usual. What caught your eye the most was the bandages on his hands and a few Band-Aids on his cheek and chin. You wondered to yourself: “Did Piers get into a huge fight with someone?” Asking this, you were met with a sharp tongue from Piers who tells you to piss off and that it’s none of your business. Feeling a bit hurt, you took a bold step forward and grabbed Pier’s arm, preventing him from walking away. You start ask questions, which Piers stubbornly refuses to answer. With each reply, you could pick up hint of fear and urgency in his tone, which prompts you to wrap your arms around Piers’s skinny waist, hugging him tightly. This was unlike you. You weren’t the most affectionate person nor someone who begged or pleaded. But seeing Piers, a close friend whom you hold near and dear to your heart, act like this...it scared the hell out of you.

Piers would gently remove your arms around his waist and turn to look at you. This time, his eyes were pleading for you to stop and to leave him alone. Before you could say anything, Piers runs out of sight. Not wanting to give up, you followed Piers deep within Spikemuth, until eventually you saw Piers enter an abandoned building, not too far from the city’s exit. The building looks really dilapidated but it still harbored a few Galarian Zigzagoons and neighboring Toxals. You entered the property and could hear a few muffled voices coming from upstairs, along with some headache inducing music. Walking up the stairs carefully, you could smell a faint scent of something foul, which you immediately knew was marijuana. Spikemuth has its fair share of drug dealers so the smell shouldn’t come to a surprise. What did surprise you was the fact that you saw Piers enter a unlocked room, where he was greeted by shouts and some slurred speech. Treading behind quietly, you peered through the doorway to see Piers being shoved down harshly on worn mattress, the shirt off his back exposing his skinny frame.

Moving your eyes, you noticed someone standing over him, their voice loud and dominanting over the metal music. Putting the pieces together, you realized that this Piers was messed up s/o, someone who hides their time getting drunk and high while treating Spikemuth’s Gym Leader like a piece of sh*t. You noticed the bottle they were holding in their hand, the contents of which were emptied. By the time your eyes blinked, you heard the sound of glass breaking and a painful cry being let loose being followed up with insults and swearing. Not wanting to listen to this any longer, you grabbed your Pokéball that you always carried with you and brought out your Morpeko. By opening the door with just your foot, you immediately tell your Morpeko to use Nuzzle, which manages to paralyze Piers abusive s/o. Taking a look at Piers, you noticed the glass shards on his body and the specks of blood that appeared on his arms, chest, and bottom lip. After calling the police and having them arrest the abuser, you cleaned up Piers and waited beside him for an ambulance to arrive to take him to the hospital. Piers looks at you with a saddened yet grateful expression, his eyes locked onto yours. He grips your hand tightly until your knuckles are turned white and apologizes profusely as you held him. You shushed gently and brush his bangs out of his face while saying he’s safe and that he needs to stay still. You give him a kiss to soothe his nerves and quietly wait for help to aid Piers. With all that had happened, you never regretted following Piers that night and you certainly will always take what concerns people may have into account.

Raihan

-You knew that Raihan is a popular social media star when he isn’t taking on Gym Challengers. With every app, you follow him on every platform and like his posts, which mostly consisted of him taking selfies or blogging about the latest fashion trends that he came across. Being a close friend, you would joke about Raihan’s fashion choices or selfies because you knew how ridiculous Raihan’s hobbies can be at times. However, in this particular instance, you were pretty shocked to see a photo with an update that Raihan suddenly acquired a s/o thanks to whatever dating app he’s been using for awhile. You’re not against Raihan dating, since you know that being a Gym Leader can be pretty hectic but, regardless, you thought nothing of Raihan surprising announcement. With the weeks that followed, you noticed a lot of selfies of Raihan and his s/o, mainly consisting of cute couple poses, matches outfits, and just general romantic moments that can make you say ‘Aww!’ or make you eye roll. You were both. This string of selfies continued for a couple of months until they started to slow down unexpectedly. By the time another months has passed, Raihan somehow stopped updating his social media and hasn’t uploaded a selfie in days. This started to worry you because Raihan isn’t the kind of person who do this.

Not wanting to assume the worst, you figured maybe that Raihan was dealing with Gym Challengers, maybe he lost his Rotom Phone charger for the umpteenth time, or perhaps he might spending more time with his s/o, the latter of which you went with. Over the weeks, Raihan’s lack of presence started to gain some traction to the fans that follow him, including yourself. Because of this, you tried calling multiple times in hopes that he’ll pick up, even texted him twice a day since you were beginning to get more worried than ever. Unfortunately, your calls and messages would fail to come through because, for some reason, your number has been blocked. This was strange to you, because Raihan doesn’t block any close friends and relatives that he talks to regularly. Unless they did something wrong... But haven’t seen Raihan weeks, so there is no way you did something wrong in front of Raihan that was deserving of a blocked contact. Wanting to get to the bottom of this, you headed over to Raihan’s place to be up front and direct about it. You were worried, but also kind of ticked that he would block you without a giving a reason why.

As you approached his place, you could hear awful yelling coming inside his apartment that was accompanied with Raihan yelling back. His voice sounded off, like he was in pain and on the verge of tears, which didn’t sit right at all with you. You hesitated a bit but knocked on the door twice loudly. A brief moment of silence ensued. Stepping back, you heard the door open but only half way. You looked up to see Raihan peeking from behind the door, his face suddenly turned surprised to find his close friend standing opposite to him. You ask if he was doing okay and why he unexpectedly blocked you on his phone. From the background, you hear scuffling and sharp voice coming from behind Raihan. He winced at the tone and looked back you, flashing a smile that hardly looked genuine. Raihan apologized for the blocked contact and promises to unblock you soon before shutting the door completely, leaving you standing in the empty corridor. You nearly cried when Raihan did that...

That evening, you laid in bed with your Rotom Phone at your side, waiting to be unblocked by Raihan. As minutes turned to hours, you decided to look through his social media again, hoping to see if Raihan updated his selfies. As you did, you heard a loud banging coming from downstairs that caused you to jolt out of bed. Hurrying downstairs, you headed for your door with which the banging continued. Opening it up, you were surprised to see Raihan standing outside, breathless and shaking tremendously. Not wanting him to stand in that spot for too long, you pulled him inside and quickly closed and locked the door. As you turned around, you were greeted with Raihan hugging you tightly in a Bewear grasp, shuddering breath after breath in mixture of fear and relief. You asked what happened and Raihan confesses what has happened during the passed few months. Apparently the person who Raihan was dating was very controlling and domineering, who would constantly look through Raihan’s phone while he wasn’t present, and was the one who blocked you from Raihan’s contacts. Realizing this, you asked Raihan where this person was. He replied that his s/o went out after another one of their yelling matches, which caused Raihan to get hit on the face more times than he cared to count. He managed to get his Duraludon to knock his s/o out and contacted the police to arrest them on the account of domestic violence.

As Raihan is still shaking, you guided him into the kitchen where you got him a glass of water. Taking him upstairs to your room, you lied him down on your bed and took off his orange headband and unzipped his hoodie. You never seen Raihan like this before and it deeply upsets you that someone so confident and strong was being harmed by someone else behind closed doors. You gently kissed Raihan and told him that he did the right thing and that he is safe. Raihan asks if he could hold you, which you obliged. By being wrapped in his arms, you feel Raihan starting to calm down, but still feel tense and on edge. You rub his arms and pepper him with kisses with which he welcomes. Raihan vows to never use dating apps ever again because of that experience and wishes that he could’ve been more wary and careful with his actions. But, in the moment as he held you close, Raihan realizes that he made the right choice of seeking your help when he needed it most.

Hop

-You knew Hop when the two of you were younger and started on the Gym Challenge together at the same time. You two were pretty close and had the same interests. When you were apart from him, Hop would text you updates on what he was doing and how his journey is going. You know, the usual Trainer stuff. So, it would come to a surprise to you that Hop announced that he was dating someone. At first, you were hesitant to believe this because you have been harboring feelings for Hop for quite awhile. But seeing that Hop did not pick up any of your signs, you decided to not be bitter about this and congratulated Hop and his first relationship. You kept wondering to yourself if Hop told Leon as well, seeing that the two brothers would talk about to each other every now and then. Still, you went about your journey and decided that Hop’s relationships were his business and not yours. You would meet up with Hop at times to battle and you would notice a sudden change in attitude towards him. At first, he would appear pretty amped up and ready to battle but recently, Hop has been more... subdued. His battling technique was starting to falter more easily and his usual can-do attitude no longer felt present during the battle. You assumed if Hop was defeated by either a Gym Leader or another Trainers, possibly Bede, who knows? Hop would tell you not worry about it and to keep pushing forward.

For a moment, you accepted what Hop said and that he can shoot a text to you at any time. Further along into your journey, Hop wouldn’t text as often and this continued well passed the Gym Challenge after you saved all of Galar and defeated Leon in battle. Your phone would remain dead silent and wouldn’t be bombarded with any of Hop’s texts. It started to concern you on what was going on and if Hop was doing okay at all. You decided to try calling him but he would never pick up. Figuring that maybe Leon might know what’s going on, you asked him via text if he noticed a sudden change in Hop’s behavior. Surprisingly, Leon has picked up on Hop’s change of character and has multiple times tried to get Hop to talk to him, but Hop wouldn’t be responsive and would shut everyone out, including their mum who was greatly worried. With this fount of information, you headed over to Hop’s place in hopes of getting him to open up.

Upon arrival, you immediately scaled the stairs towards Hop’s room and opened his bedroom to find him in bed with the blankets over his head. Walking over, you lightly tapped his covered head and told him to show himself and that they needed to talk. Hop refuses and pulls the blanket tightly around him. This causes you feel frustrated and you manage to wrestle the blanket off of him. What you didn’t expect to see was Hop’s tear streaked face and disheveled hair and rumpled pajamas. His Rotom Phone laid there next to his pillow, the screen displaying an in text conversation with which seemed endless. Hop tells you to go away and that he is busy, but you ignored his wishes and quickly grabbed his phone. Scrolling through the conversation, you noticed how the messages started to become vicious and hard to read. There were many insults made about Hop, comparing him to his brother and even messages pointing out his flaws and insecurities as a Trainer. Looking back at Hop, you noticed that he pulled his blanket over his head again and could soft, choked sobbing underneath. Sitting down close to him, you gently tugged the blanket down to see Hop’s weeping face and gently tilted his face to look at you. You asked who he was texting and when he answer his s/o, you immediately blocked and deleted the person from his contacts.

Hop asks why you did that, with which you responded that this person has no right to insult or berate him like that. That all the things they said to him were lies and nothing more. Hop looks at the phone, his eyes fresh with tears, as he mutters self-deprecating comments about himself and that everything his now ex-s/o had said about him was true. You put Hop’s phone down and cup his face and gave him a kiss on the lips. Surprised, Hop pulls back and asks why you did that just now. You reply by saying that relationships are supposed to be loving and genuine and the relationship that Hop was in had none of that. You also confess your feelings to Hop, saying that you knew him for so long that you know who he is and the kind of awesome Trainer he has grown to be. Hop will doubt your words, but does try to see the trust in what you just said. He knows you do mean it, he just hopes that he’s able to see it for himself after dealing with so much.

Leon

-Being the former Champion of Galar, Leon has a lot of time opened up to him. Of course, he still gets recognized everywhere he goes, which is to be expected, and sometimes he attracts the media as well. You sort of expected this to happen to your friend and find it kind of hilarious that Leon is still prominent a month after his defeat. And given the time he spends at the Battle Tower, you haven’t seen much of him lately. It wouldn’t be until after a few months that Leon has texted you that he met someone at the Battle Tower and that they have been talking and hanging out quite a lot. You thought nothing of it and told him that it’s great. After a few weeks, Leon then released a text that he’s in a relationship with this person. You offer him your congratulations and carried on with your business. Knowing that Leon is a busy guy, you don’t get many texts from him. And since he has acquired a s/o, his texts start becoming a scarcity with which you find somewhat normal, if not typical for Leon.

That said, you often wonder what he was doing and question if he really is busy at all. Even so, you didn’t want to worry yourself sick about Leon’s whereabouts, because again, it wasn’t any of your business. During the weeks that followed, you suddenly got a surprising text from Leon asking if he could hang out a bit at your place. You said okay and, within an hour, Leon arrives. When you open the door to let him in, you noticed that he looked a bit...off? His hair was sort of messy (then again, it always looked messy) and the hoodie and pajama bottoms weren’t something he usually wore. You asked if he’s feeling alright, and he replies with a quick yes and comes in. He grabs your hand and leads you away from the door, heading into your bedroom. He flops down on your bed and curls up in a ball and...goes to sleep. Taking a closer look, you noticed that he did look more tired than usual and tucked him regardless of your confusion. By the time he woke up, Leon wonders where you went and begins to frantically search your place to find you. Eventually, he finds you in the backyard, gathering laundry with your Wooloo and you turn to see him standing outside the back door, looking a bit frazzled yet panicked. Coming over, you once again asked if he was okay, and once again Leon says that he’s fine and that he didn’t know where you were.

After a few awkward minutes of no talking, you went back to your laundry. Behind you, you heard Leon’s footsteps come closer and felt his arms wrap around your waist tightly. He leaned his head down to give you a kiss and by that point, you moved away. You told him that he had someone and that he shouldn’t be this close to you. Embarrassed, Leon begins to apologize profusely and says he didn’t know what came over him at that moment. Taking your laundry basket, you headed over to your Wooloo and picked the sheep Pokémon up and placed the fluff bean in your basket of warm clothes. You headed back inside where Leon quickly follows. By that point, you started to lose patience and placed your laundry basket down on your bed and turned to face Leon, looking a bit aggravated. Once again, you ask what Leon’s deal is; why he’s acting like this all of a sudden. Without wanting to further your annoyance with him, Leon begins to take off his hoodie, revealing a few bruises and cut marks on his shoulders and chest.

You are taken aback by these injuries and began asking him questions to what happened to him. Leon responds by telling you not to worry and that he can handled a few cuts and scrapes. On the contrary, you disagreed and hurried to find the first aid kit. As you began to leave, Leon grabs your hand and pulls you back to him, holding you still and gazing down at your with pleading eyes. He says that he can take care of himself and that he had a few disagreements with his s/o a few days ago, but backed it up that it was his fault for ticking them off. Realizing this, you urged Leon to not go back to them afterwards and to stay out. He initially refuses but hears your voice harden with worry. Eventually, he does what he is told. Placing Leon on the bed, you grabbed your phone and call the police to report a case of domestic violence and, after awhile, you hang up to turn your attention back to Leon, who was petting your Wooloo during this. His appearance was hard to look at, especially his face and how almost panic/frightened they appeared before. But, given that he came to you after dealing with his now ex-s/o’s wrath, you’re just glad that he’s here now, safe and sound.

[negrek]

4, 17, 18, 20? :D

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

Well, I was going to put something from "accolade" in here because I thought I did a pretty nice job of the atmosphere, with shifting clouds of steam and the flowing river, something clanking and splashing in its midst, obscured and then revealed again by the mist, but actually, no, revisiting it it's even more of a mess than I remembered and I like none of that, lol.

Ice is another thing I enjoyed playing with, though, and there are a couple lines I still like there. One is, "Lunete shook her head and watched Glace wander the courtyard, blowing idle puffs of ice that turned bushes to miniature sculpture." Nice and simple, but I think it does a good job of conjuring up the kind of glittering ice-rimed... things... plants turn into after an ice storm. I think it's an unexpected moment that's fun to visualize. Should definitely be "puffs of *frost*" rather than "puffs of *ice*," though.

I also like, "The glalie's displeasure shed from him in a litter of snowflakes." Again, I think this is just a fun mental image, and a way of making the glalie feel different than a human. When glalie get disgruntled, the temperature around them drops, so you get a little shower of snow... again, a nice little image, and something that people might not ordinarily think of when they think of ice-types. Shoutout to myself for picking this out of the doc and going, "Hey, I like this sentence!" and not realizing until I pasted it in here that it was in the wrong fucking tense.

17. Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?

Ahaha, well, I think many people perceive my writing, and probably me in general, as a lot more serious than it actually is? Most of my writing is just me having fun, and what it contains is unabashedly driven by rule of cool/rule of funny a lot of the time. Which, honestly, considering a lot of the nonsense that goes on in the chapterfics especially, shoudn't be too much of a surprise. There are certain themes that show up throughout, but generally speaking they emerge organically as a result of what I find interesting or because plot naturally accretes around certain aspects of the story or characters. But generally speaking my stories aren't really *about* anything except me having a good time.

18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.

Salvage has so many of these. So many! Which is kind of weird, because my previous stories haven't, despite Clouded Sky taking nearly as long to produce. It might be that I haven't been working on any big long chapterfics, and not even many one-shots, while writing it as I have with my previous fics, so maybe effort/ideas that would ordinarily go into those stories have ended up spawning all these spinoffs/mutations of the main fic instead.

As far as abandoned plotlines, this story has been pretty extensively and publicly restructured, so yeah, stuff's gotten lost in the shuffle... I used to joke to myself that the story had an unreasonable amount of hanging out on the beach given its overall tone, but thennnnn Mewtwo went and burned down the child's house and it won't be going back to its island again, so in fact the story now contains almost 0% beach from this time on, oops. (There is one scene in Orre that will take place on a beach, assuming it makes it all the way through to publication. It's not a plot-crtical one.) We also missed out on Nate going to prison, the child being Red (although that one could still happen), and one scene that I really liked where Nate got to lament the fact that his pokémon were all gone and it was all his fault. Now you'll just have to imagine it, since we won't be seeing him until he gets them back, if ever.

And AU's, so many AU's. Even way back in 2012 or something I was talking about one I was rather fond of, where the child demands that Nate read it a children's book, and he isn't about to put in the effort to actually do that and makes up something ridiculous solely based on the pictures. Assuming I still have the file around somewhere, that one will end up getting published as an extra at some point near the end of the fic. Other than that, I've got everything from alternate endings to a weird time travel AU that happens in a scene that isn't even in the main fic (because the child isn't there for it). There's also a rather extensive PMD AU that may or may not end up seeing the light of day at some point and which is gently referenced within the fic itself. It's perhaps not technically an AU, since it's not in any way incompatible with the main canon; you could choose to pretend that it happened or not without it changing the story as written at all.

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

Uhhh this one seems hard to do without spoilers. But I hope you've all been paying attention to the stuff about how psychic abilities work and their ability to warp the thinking of people around the psychic, especially over time. I'm quite proud of this worldbuilding thing, but people haven't commented on it much. The concept is central to the plot and drives basically all of the final arcs in Orre, so it's definitely worth thinking about if you haven't! Relatedly, there was a scene in one of the now-deleted Orre chapters (but it will 100% return largely unchanged in the new version) that dropped some info that I thought made it pretty screamingly obvious what's up with Mew and where she might be, buuuut nobody ever commented on that, either, so perhaps it wasn't quite as big of a giveaway as I thought, haha. If you're interested in trying to figure out the plot before the characters, all the psychic bullshit is what you should be paying attention to.

Also, Absol is very precise in her wording, and what I understand as the "twist" of this story (it's not much of a twist, way more important for the characters than anyone reading) relates to something the child's misunderstood for the entire story so far about something she told it.

[mattoyaki]

⚔️ Pokémon Sword Nuzlocke (Part 5) ⚔️

Took a few days off from playing because depression

Part 4 is here.

Let’s move forward, getting down to the nitty gritty!

Route 9

Very well designed Route I like how it branches off into different parts and it’s part water/part land.

I already caught a Mareanie here in part 4 so just gonna plow through some trainer battles.

That was pretty easy, now on to my least favorite part for the entire game - Spikemuth.

Spikemuth

Marnie is easy but god dammit her stupid Morpeko always gets flinches with Bite and it’s annoying as hell. Then she lands a crit with bite and nearly knocks out GurrenLagann, and flinches a forth time in a row 🤬. Luckily I hyper potioned that turn so it didn’t knock me out. I switched to SpicyNoodle and one shotted her ass with Bug bite.

Spikemuth is literally a hallway. I hate it. It’s so uninspired and I can tell the developers were running out of time when making it. Would it kill them to delay the next generation of games? I mean really, we’ll all wait if it means a finished product..

Team Yell isn’t even a villain “team” they’re literally just obnoxious gym trainers.....so much wasted potential. And they’re not even like funny obnoxious like Team Skull, they’re just straight up cringe. Also what’s with the Kantonian Mr. Mime? Feels very out of place...

Gym Challenge 7 - Piers

Piers has a cool design I guess. I definitely wasn’t prepared to lose Witch Bitch this battle though. Malamar used Foul Play got a critical hit and one shotted her....I don’t wanna talk about it 😭

Death aside, I now have the Dark Badge.

Route 9

Back on route 9 a somewhat interesting development in the plot...only to be told to ignore it and let the champion handle it off screen. 🙃

Gotta continue the gym challenge, it’s the most important thing!

Hammerlocke

More cutscenes about the world ending, but don’t worry the gym challenge is the most important thing!! They really rushed the end of this story line....

I trained up a bit in the Wild Area and now it’s time for the final Gym Challenge.

Gym Challenge 8 - Raihan

I like the double battle format, it’s a nice switch up and doubles are my preferred format. It’s odd to me it’s not the official battle format in the games given that it’s used in VGC...

Pretty easy battle. I now own the Dragon Badge.

Some more cutscenes about the world ending but don’t worry - the championship is the most important thing!

Heading back to the wild area to catch Pokémon from the last two areas I haven’t been.

Wild Area - Lake of Outrage

My first encounter was a Braviary but I had no choice but to kill it as it was doing too much damage to waste time catching it.

Wild Area - Axew’s Eye

While I’ve been to this area before to get a Tart Apple for Wormy, I didn’t try to catch a Pokémon as I thought they were too high level. I was wrong. My first encounter was a Diggersby 😅

Himbo - (Diggersby) Lv. 37!

Naughty Nature; Alert to sounds!

Now that I’ve trained up some and completed catching in the wild area it’s time to head north for a Wyndon.

Route 10

Petition to bring back victory road please? Route 10 is at least better than Mt. Lanakila in Moon, but still.

Mr. Mime is my first encounter here, and a female Mr. Mime at that. Perfect as a psychic will help me out in the battle with Eternatus later. RIP Witch Bitch. 😭 Welcome to the team Trans Rights!

I do some more training throughout the route and the wild area to level up Trans Rights, he evolves!

Wyndon

After some more training in the wild area I’ve finally reached Wyndon and the league matches.

First battle is Marnie. Turns out Mr. Rime is a great counter to her team despite being mostly dark types. I demolish Marnie and move on to the next round.

Hop is as easy as he always is...

So, the whole “omg Leon is gonna miss our dinner” plot point is soooo lame like...we’re really gonna storm a building cause he’s late for dinner? Hop is extra af 😂. And Oleana is like “no one can disturb my boss but I’m giving the key to this guy...you’ll never find him.” Uhm????

So now I gotta battle this guy like 3 times for a key to a storm a building....cause Leon is late for dinner? Wtf is the point of this part??? The bad writing would be easier to overlook if I wasn’t battling in a white void the whole time cause backgrounds are too hard to make for a AAA home console game..

I’m sorry but like how does Leon missing a dinner affect the championship the next day in anyway??? This part is so stupid 😂😭

Okay but really what was the point of that entire part? We get to the top of the tower and Leon is just like “oh yeah, let’s go get dinner” like who even wrote this??

I’m calling it a night after that. I remember the story being really bad but wow....that was awful and I can think of so many other ways to actually develop Chairman Rose into a villain. I know this is a kids game so I’m not expecting much here. The story in Sun and Moon was pretty solid imo, and i wish I could say “well they did so much more with this game” to justify the bad story but like....where? Ooof, I don’t wanna rant on this right now.

Part 5 Recap

Current Team:

Sombra (Inteleon) Lv. 61; SpicyNoodle (Centiskorch)Lv. 59; Wormy (Flapple) Lv. 60; Stuff’n (Bewear) Lv. 57; Trans Rights (Mr. Rime) Lv. 58 ; GurrenLagann (Golurk) Lv. 57

Boxed:

Graveyard:

TootieFruity (Steenee); Witch Bitch (Hatterene)

Final Notes:

While the game is getting a little more challenging, it’s honestly depressing how obviously rushed this game is and I hate what capitalism has done to the gaming industry as a whole. I hate being so negative about this game because I love Pokémon so much...

Until next time

[mymanskabu]

I was replaying swish and the moment where Leon comes to find you in the Slumbering Woods, all huffing and fussing, inspired me~ Could I request Leon's s/o going missing for three days, not answering either calls or text, but then finally sending him a selfie of them covered in dirt and cuts, hair a mess, with their own batered up Charizard, trying to joke "I lived, binch"? Turns out they lost their phone during a poke ambush and sprained their ankle, but their Charizard needed to rest up~ 💖non

Drabble: Lost and Found~

You've got it anon! That part in the Slumbering Wield is precious. Worried Leon coming right up! ♡

ALSO, "S/he" stands for she or he. You can always replace it with whatever you prefer, just tryna keep it gender-neutral.

I know there's "they" peeps so I try to avoid the term s/he at all costs.

Warning: Does contain literally one swear word and a mention of not eating but not in detail. Does mention Grimmsnarl and will put it in the tags because I didn't know people were uncomfortable with the Mon.

Sorry about that.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

“I'm going to be gone all day, Leon. Take care for me, don't do anything too reckless,” You told him before stepping foot out the door. He quickly walks to the door, catching your hand and pulling you back inside to give you a kiss on your forehead.

“You be careful, too,” He said. “Perhaps you want to bring me back a rare Pokémon.”

“You wish.” You responded with a short kiss on his lips then made your way back to the door. “I love you, Leon.”

“I love you too.”

Saying those three words back to someone was a thing he never saw happening. He thought about this as he watched you leave further and further away until he couldn't see you. He remembers the first month of living together and being in a relationship he felt so giddy about it, it was weird. A good weird though, it was a new feeling.

He made himself busy throughout the day as he waited for you to come back. He was no longer Champion, so he had a lot of free time now. He went to visit his family; Hop was doing very well, he was going to be a great Professor. Back home he decided to clean around their home, you usually do it because you hate how he cleans, but he tried his best to recall how you organized everything.

“Where is s/he?” He sat outside waiting worriedly for you to come back. He couldn't help himself, he was concerned and stayed out late into the night. He called you, but there was no response. If you were going to be gone more than one day, you usually called or texted him about it.

A similar situation happened before but you had sent a picture of where you were. You had found a bunch of Goomy and decided to stay there to study them. You sent a lot of pictures that time. Yet, not one image came from you and you didn't tell him where you were going.

Should he assume the worst? Are you hurt? Did you get lost? Even worse, were you cheating on him? Was he overthinking?

“Where the hell did my phone go?” You were in a forest, it had been unexplored for a long time and you curiously decided getting lost in it was a good idea.

“You seen my phone, Charizard?” The Pokémon grunted at your question. It was eating berries from your bag to heal up a bit. It gave you a look that said, “does it look like I care?” You and Charizard had gotten ambushed by a bunch of Grimmsnarls, it was terrifying. Though to be fair, it was their territory. You didn't know you had walked into it and things went downhill from there.

“I could have just used a Full Restore, but you eat those berries. Not like it was for curry or anything,” You said rolling your eyes. Charizard stopped mid-bite into a berry and argued with you in Rawr.

“I'll give it to you! But then we have to find my phone, Leon's going to be really worried. I don't want him calling the entirety of Galar to search for his missing lover.”

Leon hadn't slept at all and you still weren't back the next day. You weren't wrong about him calling the entirety of Galar because he was damn near doing it. Leon sent you a message, it was a worried one, he hoped you would respond as soon as possible to it.

“Don't die on me.”

You've said that plenty of times to him as a joke and sending it made him feel better by a small margin. He sent a message to other Gym Leaders, asking them to contact him if they see you. He was pacing around the house, drowning in his thoughts. He kept looking at which side of the bed you slept on, at times laying there with his phone on his chest waiting for you to respond.

He tried searching for you, but to no avail and if he went further than what he knew, he was bound to get lost and there would be two people missing. Besides, what if you came back, and he wasn't there to lecture you?

“Are you full yet?” You asked your Charizard who was leaning on a tree and eating some curry. “I don't think I can be covered in dirt for any longer, I feel like I need a shower.”

It responded with a short roar. It gave you an angry look, then continued eating the remaining curry it had. “I get you're trying to finish but how do you think Leon's Charizard feels?”

Needless to say, it argued with you in Rawr again. You two didn't hate each other, you had an amazing bond with your Charizard but it was moody, snapped back at you with sassy sounding roars, and enjoyed being an arrogant bastard.

“Leon's going to go into hibernation if I don't find my bloody phone,” You said under your breath. “He probably didn't sleep, he probably burnt his toast somehow... is he even eating?” Your Charizard felt the sad mood change, noticing how worried you were about Leon. Charizard nudged you forward while it continued eating.

“Are we looking for my phone now?” You asked it. It gave you a curt nod and nudged you again, stomping along behind you as you walked forward.

Another day, another sleepless night of waiting outside for you to come back. Had he lost you? You were too stubborn to let yourself remain trapped somewhere. It was absurd that he couldn't do much from his position, he had people looking for you, looking out for you, and his hopeless sense of direction wouldn't get him anywhere. Even if he wanted to search, you failed to tell him where the hell you were going. He tried at places he has seen you go to but nothing, not even a sign of you stepping into those areas.

His closest friends checked up on him, tried to get him to rest or eat something, he was extremely stressed out. Leon tended to get a bit angry if someone pushed too much, so they knew their limits. They just wanted you to come back, this is probably the worst type of low they have seen Leon in.

They would come around and find him laying where you usually would. That's what he told them, “For some reason, it still smells like what (Name) wears.”

He sits outside late into the night again, waiting on you to come back. Tiredly staring into the darkness, he was hoping he would see your bright smile bring light into his life again. Ding! At first, he thought he imagined it but there it was again— Ding! With shaking hands, he picks up his phone and there was a picture of you. You were grinning like an idiot, one eye closed because your Charizard was head-butting the side of your face. You both looked like you'd been through a lot, both scratched up, covered in dirt and plants.

“I lived, bitch. I'll be back tomorrow,” He read your text out loud to himself. He was nearly in tears at the sight of you just through an image. He didn't even care that you had the audacity to call him a bitch, he had never felt so bloody happy. He knew time wasn't going to move any faster if he didn't sleep, so he closed his eyes after two sleepless nights.

“Charizard! Shut up! You're going to wake up Leon!” You choked on the laugh you were trying to hold back. It had hit its head on the door frame, despite having an adjusted door for Charizard it manages to be clumsy. It had started complaining in Rawr and you knew Leon was asleep since he's usually up earlier than the time you got home.

Leon thought he was dreaming, he thought everything about yesterday was a dream. Hearing your voice now was nothing but a hallucination and his brain to mess with his emotions. He got up regardless. He was exhausted and figured another day of sitting outside was waiting for him. He froze at the hallway connecting your shared room and the living room, you stood at the end of it. You were rubbing the top of your Charizard's head, with a soft smile on your face.

Charizard shook its head when it made eye-contact with Leon, alerting its trainer that he was there. You turned your head and your smile widened at the sight of him.

“Leon! You'll never believe— Are you crying?” He rushed towards you, instantly holding you in his arms as tightly as he could. As if you would disappear at any given moment. “Hey, I thought you wanted me to not die, I'm going to suffocate.”

His hands then held both sides of your face, your face flushed at the closeness and you didn't know what to say. You gently held his wrists for some physical comfort.

“I wasn't gone that long was I?” He scoffed at your question. You were going to speak again, but he hastily pressed his lips against yours. Your grip around his forearms tightened at roughness of the kiss. You gently coaxed him away, needing to not only breath but explain.

“What happened? Why didn't you reply to texts or answer calls? Where were you? Why didn't you tell me where you were going?” You held his face the same way he held yours and caressed the skin under his eyes with your thumb.

“Charizard and I got ambushed by a bunch of Grimmsnarls, we didn't realize it was their territory. I lost my phone in that fiasco, no idea where I was, Charizard was injured and couldn't fly us out.”

“Why didn't you tell me where you were going?” He repeated his last question.

“I forgot.”

The reason irritated him to some extent, but he was much happier to see you alive. He noticed the limp, hopefully it was nothing the hospital couldn't fix.

“Let's get my ankle checked,” You start. “Then let's get you some food, I don't think I have the right to be mad at you but I'm mad, then we can lay in bed together, okay?”

When your ankle did heal, you went back to exploring. You liked to do this on your own, but ever since that three day crisis, Leon had been going with you or having you take his Charizard as well.

“Leon?” You poked his bicep. His arms were wrapped firmly around you from behind you under a blanket.

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

You felt his sigh against the top edge of your shoulder followed by his warm lips.

“I love you too.”

[batskulldrag]

Phoenix by Fallout Boy

chapter thirteen is here. this one contains Romile, and plenty of fluff

Chapter Thirteen: Out of Hell by Skillet      

Virgil fluttered nervously past Roman for the third time. Roman watched as his nephew peered out each window and retreated back to the couch. Virgil drummed his fingers against his laptop and chewed the band aid on his stationary hand.

               “You ok Billie Stylish?” Roman asked, sitting down beside him.

               “Sure. I’m fine.” Virgil didn’t look up.

               “It’s going to be ok.” Roman put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Payton has laughed his last laugh. And he will spend the rest of his days being beaten up in prison.”

               “But what if Payton accuses you guys of being child rapists or something? Then he’s going to win because everyone always believes him, and he’ll have ruined your lives. Or he’ll lose anyway, but still manage to ruin the three of you, and I have to live with the constant guilt that this is all my fault for getting you into this. And Uncle Patton and Uncle Logan are going to be quiet about the whole thing while silent resentment grows, because everything was fine until I showed up. Or worse, they’re not, and they’re just gonna forgive me for bringing this plague down on them.”

               “That’s quite the soliloquy.” Roman patted him on the head. “And that’s not going to happen. Payton can accuse us of whatever he likes, but I know a secret.”

               “You can blackmail him?” Virgil jolted up.

               “No, it’s like this. You remember how the bastard always told you that people always side with the adult?”

               “Yes, that’s why I’m worried.”

               “Well, first of all it’s a fallacy. Secondly, what is true is that people tend to side against the man who is in prison for trying to murder a child.”

               “He wasn’t trying to kill me.” Virgil’s heart audibly sank. “Was he?”

               Roman leaned back in surprise. Payton probably hated Virgil, at the very least he didn’t love him. And the viper had put him in the hospital more than once. Yet, Virgil was still hurt to think that Payton wanted him dead. Why should he care what Payton wanted?

               “I don’t know.” Roman hugged him. “He trapped you in a burning building. If he wasn’t trying to kill you, then it just means he’s not a murderer per say. But at the very least, it means that he didn’t care if you died. And that’s not your fault. That’s on him.”

               “I’m sick of being upset about this.” Virgil made a sound halfway between a scream and a sob. “I know he doesn’t care about me. Why is it still a gut punch? Why do I even still care at all?”

               “Humans feel.” Roman rubbed his back softly. “And feelings never make sense.”

               “I hate it.”

               “Come on, let’s go do something to take your mind off things.” Roman patted him on the shoulders. “It’s about time you got to be a kid.”

                                                                               #             #             #

               Virgil chewed on his hoodie strings as the crowd gathered around the tour guide.

               “Sacred of ghosts, Sweeny toddler?” Roman teased, ruffling his hair.

               “I ain’t afraid of no ghost.” Virgil sneered.

               “No, but I bet they’re terrified of you. We might not even see any with you around.”

               Virgil laughed softly. Two hundred uncle points. Roman put his arm around him and they walked up to the guide.

               “Two spots in your tour please.” Roman said as he produced the fairs with a great flourish.

               “Oh, you again.” The guide exhaled. “And you have a kid with you. Great.”

               The guide took the money and Roman contentedly fell into step with Virgil in tow.

               “He doesn’t like you.” Virgil taunted. “Did you steal his boyfriend?”

               “Virgil, a man does not steal a life partner, nor does he win one. He woos one.”

               “Woo. Woo.” Virgil added with a straight face and a straighter voice.

               “And the tour guide simply doesn’t appreciate me practicing my improv while I’m on his tours.” Roman explained. “Although, he is a very nice fellow. We both work as nude models at the portraiture class. He’s straight, so I had no chances.”

               “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” Virgil mimicked.

               “You’ve been watching a lot of sit-coms?”

               “I can’t sleep some nights, so I just YouTube deep dive. And now I know how to make a life like moose out of old newspaper.”

               “Chamomile tea. Try some before bed, or warm milk.”

               “You make it sound like conspiracy theories aren’t good for me.” Virgil grinned like the Cheshire cat. “Did you know that there was this one lady who made her victims into soap, and she used the soap. But the worst part was she also turned them into cake, and she ate the cake.”

               “Remind me to get you some video games, something less… horrible.”

               “I thought video games cause violence.” Virgil smirked.

               “Sure, and vaccines cause autism. Pencils cause bad handwriting, spoons cause fat people and gays in media cause gay people.”

               “Yeah, I’m gonna murder a bunch of people because I’m playing Pokémon.” Virgil sneered, damn he was good at it. “It has nothing to do with the school system that does nothing to stop bulling, or the extremely abusive dad y’all sent me home to every day. It was the video games, Linda.”

               “What kind of Pokémon did you have?” Roman changed the subject away from Payton.

               “I had a Mew, a Haunter and a Psyduck. And a psychic type Evee.” Virgil sighed. “I went with the mind powered ones and all the ghost types.”

               “That sounds fun.” Roman beamed, finally one nice thing in this little boy’s life.

               “My dad broke my computer, and any other device that had my game on it.” Virgil looked at the ground. “I think they starved to death.”

               Why is it that whenever something good happens you show up to ruin it? You snake in the machine, I hate you. Roman silently scripted a call out letter to Payton.

               “Hey, it’s Dr. Picani.” Virgil derailed his train of thought.

               Roman looked over and spotted the familiar blond-haired doctor now wearing a brown T-shirt that displayed the Scooby Doo gang and khaki cargo shorts. More importantly though was the fact that his now exposed arms showed off an array of tattoos. Roman rubbed his eyes, no way. No way did this man, this doctor have tattoos. No, it was far more likely that he had a twin brother, and that was who they saw now.

               “He’s got ink.” Virgil squeaked in awe. “Let’s go say hi to him.”

               Virgil grabbed his hand and darted towards the doctor. He was alarmingly strong for a kid who only weighed a hundred pounds.

               “Virge, wait.” Roman said in a hushed voice, pulling the emo back. “I’m not sure we should.”

               “Are you a-scared of the doctor?” Virgil laughed.

               “No, he was in my still life class last week…”

               “OOOOOO, you’re embarrassed to talk to a guy who has nudes of you.” He was incorrigible. “Maybe if you ask nice, he’ll give the pictures back. Or are you afraid he’ll post it on social media?”

               “I’m not embarrassed for me, he ended up getting really upset and I consoled him afterwards.” Roman explained. “I’m worried if I talk to him it’ll put him in an awkward position.”

               “SUUUREEEE.” Virgil rolled his eyes. “Cause the dude who strips down and poses isn’t the guy in the awkward position.”

               “Why do you suddenly turn into a kid now?”

               “What’s the problem?” Virgil shrugged. “So he got upset, big deal. I cried in front of him a few times and I’m not embarrassed to talk to him. If you refused to talk to anyone who’s seen you naked or who’s gotten frustrated with painting, you’d have to be a hermit. Just like if I avoided everyone who has seen me crying about something, I wouldn’t be able to leave my room.”

               “You’re stunningly sharp.”

               “Hey! Dr. Picani!” Virgil yelled, which Roman didn’t think he could do, as he waved over to the doctor.

               Picani waved back and approached them. His legion of tattoos becoming clearer. Unsurprisingly, if anything about this could be considered unsurprising, most of his tattoos were from cartoons. The one that struck Roman in particular was the image of Lady Rainacorn wrapped around his left arm from shoulder to wrist. His right arm displayed a group portrait of Clifford, Courage, Scooby Doo, Blue, some green dog that looked like a stuffed toy who he didn’t recognize and Goddard.[1]  

               “Hey Virgil.” Emile greeted happily. “Hi Roman.”

               “Awkward indeed.” Virgil looked over at Roman with raised eyebrows.

               “Good evening Emile.” Roman added cordially. “Are you out ghost hunting as well?”

               “Yeah, I figured I should get out. And this sounded like a nifty idea. What brings you to this haunted cul-de-sac?”

               “We live here.” Virgil said smoothly with an air of villainy. “Well, lived here. We’re the ghosts that haunt these streets.”

               “Aren’t you the cutest thing?” Emile ruffled Virgil’s hair. “It’s nice to see you so excited.”

               Virgil scowled at the sidewalk as his face turned red. The tour guide started walking and they followed him in quite precession. Roman rubbed his hands in anticipation of their first stop. Now he had two people to impress.

               “I didn’t know you had ink.” Virgil pressed Emile. “And I really didn’t know you had that much.”

               “Yeah,” Emile looked at his arms. “I’ve got a couple of books worth of it. Lady Rainacorn is new. I think it’s healing up nicely.”

               “Did it hurt?”

               “Not as bad as my first one did.”

               “What was the first one?”

               “It was actually Clifford,” Emile showed them the portrait. “I got it to cover up a dog bite.”

               “Really?” Virgil leaned back in surprise.

               “Yeah, he was old and sore, and I tried to pet him. Still got me good.”

               “That’s awful.” Roman added.  

                “It’s ok.” Emile shrugged. “He was a good boy, he just got old.”

               “Alright our first stop.” The guide had everyone gather around. “This building stands abandoned due to the ghosts that torment anyone who dares try to live in it. The house was built atop an Indian burial ground. The spirits buried here cannot rest because of the desecration to their sacred place.”

               “That is wholly inaccurate.” Roman added loudly. “The tormentors of the building are remnants of the poor souls who died their when it was used as an unlicensed hospital in the eighties. The proprietors mismanaged their facility horridly and would even go so far as to steal supplies from the actual hospital. They would go on to receive more unwelcomed visitors from beyond in the form of men and women who died as a result of their theft. Malpractice insurance really didn’t cover that one.”

               “Really?” The guide looked bored. “Who are you tonight Roman?”

               “Dr. Roman Brown. Paranormal expert.” Roman put his arm around Virgil. “I’m here with my ward.”

               “How’d you get a kid?” The guide expressed genuine confusion and revulsion.

               “I’ve had Virgil for a time now, I caught him trying to pick my pocket. Poor creature lived on the streets.”

               “Really?”

               “Yes really.” Virgil retorted. “I was abandoned as a baby on the steps of a Catholic church. But they believed that I had demon’s blood in my veins and sent me out into the streets to fend for myself when I was four.”

               “You’re half demon?”

               “Maybe.” Virgil shrugged. “Who’s to say? All I know is that there are a lot of things that keep trying to pull me into hell.”

               “Really?” The guide scoffed.

               “Just last month a hand shot up out of the dirt and grabbed my ankle.” Virgil continued flawlessly. “I fought it as it tried to drag me under and broke my foot in the process.”

               Virgil pointed at his walking boot. The crowd murmured in astonishment. Roman’s heart swelled with pride.

               Defeated, the guide took them to the next stop.

               “Virgil, that was beautiful.” Roman said quietly. “The way you flawlessly wove your cast into the narrative as proof was inspired. I’m so proud of you, I may weep.”

               “I got good at lying.” Virgil looked at his feet. “I learned from the best.”

               “Never mind Payton.” Emile patted him on the shoulder. “You can just have fun making up stories tonight. Be a kid.”

               “Are those doctor’s orders?” Virgil looked up at him.

               “They are now.” Emile stood up straight.

               Roman noticed an indent in Emile’s shirt. It looked like a stud in his navel. Did he have piercings as well? Who was this man?

               “Here we have the next stop, it may not look like much, but Kim and Jim’s Bar and Grill was built on top of the remains of the old mortuary and is plagued with strange events to this day.” The guide explained, you could tell he hated this job.

               “Yes,” Emile chimed in. “There was a gruesome series of experiments in the mortuary and now the woods are inhabited with the results. Terrifying amalgamations made of severed limbs. Hands attached to feet, heinous arm-leg monsters and every other combination that doesn’t include a face. Stripped of their identities they roam around helplessly.”

               “And at night, when the drunks go home,” Roman added. “You can hear them crying. They’re in so much pain.”

               The audience and guide looked at them, baffled.

               “Of course.” Virgil suddenly said, gesturing towards Emile. “Dr. Emile Vankmen. Parapsychologist. A true credit to his field.”

               There were many nods. The tourists didn’t really care for a believable story, they wanted a good story. And by the sniped snakes of a gorgon salon, that is what they were going to get.

               They went through the stops, trumping the guide’s every tale with a gruesome murder, demonic happening or cartoon plot line. The crowd was eating it up and Virgil was teaming with energy. He seemed to be absorbing it and converting it into power.

               “Virgil is having fun.” Emile laughed.

               “I know,” Roman beamed. “We uncles know how to let one become a kid.”

               “Are you related to the other two?”

               “No, we’re just especially close.” Roman recalled fondly. “I cheated for Patton for a month while he was dealing with his mother’s death. Of course, without him knowing.”

               “How did you do that?” Emile looked confused and slightly impressed.

               “I wrote a few essays in character as him.” Roman brushed it off as if it were nothing. “I’m always up for a chance to practice my vocation.”

               “Virgil, don’t let him cheat for you.” Emile looked down at where Virgil was.

               Emphasis on was, because he was gone. Roman felt instant panic. He had lost Virgil! He had lost a traumatized child with anxiety! Virgil was probably terrified! What if he was hurt?!

               “Where did he go!!??” Roman yelped. “He was just here? Virgil!?”

               “Ok, ok.” Emile held up a shaking hand. “Maybe he walked to the front of the group.”

               Through their panic they heard Virgil scream, then the tour guide and a few tourists scream.

               The worst had happened! Roman ran to the front of the line and saw Virgil on the ground laughing while the guide stared at him irately.

               “Virgil!” Roman grabbed him. “Don’t do that again! I thought I lost you!”

               “Sorry.” Virgil relented rather easily. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I, I hadn’t considered that you’d notice I was gone.”

               “Well, I did.” Roman walked back to their place in the group, holding Virgil’s hand. “I want you to stay where I can see you. It’s dark and you don’t know the neighborhood, something might have happened to you.”

               Virgil was quiet as he looked at the sidewalk in confusion. He was probably wondering why no one was hitting him. In fact, he was probably wondering why Roman cared what happened to him. Roman sighed, he didn’t know how to un-traumatize a kid, all he really had to go off was how Logan had been after everything came out. And Virgil and Logan were drastically different characters with very different abusers. So, that wasn’t much of a comparison.

               “Virgil.” Roman put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry I yelled. But you really scared me, and I don’t want you wandering around where I can’t see you.”

               “You call that yelling?” Virgil looked confused. “It’s fine. I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m sorry.”

               “Ok. Let’s continue our tour.” Roman wrapped his arm around him. “But now you have to hold my hand.”

               “Whatever.” Virgil rolled his eyes and smiled.

               “And to this day, no one knows the cause of the building’s collapse.” The guide pointed at a vacant spot where a house had once been.

               “Actually, that one was us.” Emile interrupted, feigning embarrassment. “It was how we found out about Virgil’s powers.”

               “He has powers now?” The guide raised an eyebrow.

               “Yep,” Virgil picked up. “Demonic powers made the whole building implode. I can control them much better now.”

               “He had a nightmare that manifested itself into physical form and started haunting us.” Emile continued. “It picked us off one by one until only Virgil was left. Last thing I remember is just… blackness. No sound, no light. I don’t think I could even feel anything, then next thing I knew, I was just back and there was no more building. Not even rubble, just what you see now, with Virgil standing in the middle of it.”

               “Yes, I remember that night.” Roman joined in. “A hideous creature started roaming the halls. It was six feet tall, completely black and had no face. Well, no face on its head. But it’s chest. Right where men have a navel, it had a mouth. And when it opened that horrid maw a vertical slit went up to its pencil thin neck and showed a ribcage. A ribcage broken down the middle that it used as teeth. A long red tongue cleaned saliva and blood off the jagged ribs as it drooled in anticipation of its next meal.”

               “And the smell.” Virgil added solemnly. “It reeked of decay. Of maggot filled puss and blackened flesh. Not like cooked blackened, more like dead five times over blackened. And he enveloped his prey in darkness like a spider cocooning its next meal.” Virgil gagged, for real. The little one had just made himself sick.

               “And he took the other two.” Virgil looked at the crowd. “I was the only one left, and just when I was sure that I was gonna die alone, with only that, that thing as company, I felt this sensation in my gut. Like a burning. And it went through my whole body and a moment of realization overcame me. This heat was natural, familiar. I realized what I was, who I was. And that thing, well, that thing was gonna pay for what it did. So, I focused my energy, my hatred, my courage on it and the whole building came down around us, and the thing was sucked into the ground, leaving me standing in an empty lot.”  

               “Let’s just move on.” The guide was even more unimpressed with them.

               Virgil made faces behind the guide’s back for the rest of the night. Emile did as well. Roman sent him a few ungentlemanly hand gestures and internally called him a bitch. He had no taste for a good horror story. Heathen. That was an excellent description and a lovely climax.

As the night went on Roman noticed that Virgil was walking differently and always stood on his good foot whenever they stopped. When they were moving, he would either limp very slightly or hop on one foot, which he tried to cover up, but really couldn’t.

               “Is your foot hurting?” Roman asked, fairly aware of the answer and the lie that Virgil would tell.

               “No.”

               “Yes, it is.”

               “That’s a neat trick. Can you tell me if my neck hurts next?”

               “Alright, come on.” Roman picked him up.

               “What are you doing!?”

               “I’m going to carry you.”

               “Like hell you are!”

               “Come on, you really mean to tell me that you don’t want a piggyback ride?”

               “I’m an adult.”

               “You’re a teenager at best.”

               “That’s still too old.”

               “But someday you’re gonna be too big to carry.”

               “Yeah, yesterday.”

               Ignoring him completely, Roman slumped Virgil over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and kept walking.

               “Have you been sleeping better lately?” Emile asked, lagging behind slightly so he could see Virgil’s face.

               “Yeah. I guess.”

               “He,” Roman interrupted. “Has been watching horrific true crime stories on his computer.”

               “Oh, sure. Say nothing about the newspaper moose.” Roman assumed that Virgil was sneering.

               “Well, they proved that you shouldn’t be on your computer before bed.” Emile offered.

               “Uncle Logan told me the same thing.”

               “Wikipedia’s sleep routine doesn’t help him sleep though.” Roman accused.

               “I’m telling him you called him that.”

               “He knows.”

               They apprehensively arrived at their last stop.

               “This cemetery is a hot spot for paranormal activity.” The guide explained. “It is home to The Tunnleberry Vampire, the bipedal dogs and the ghost of many a deranged Civil War general. The most famous of which resides in that mausoleum over there.” He pointed to a large grey building with carved angels out front. “Legend has it that he was betrayed in battle and rose from the grave to exact his revenge on those who betrayed him. His lieutenant who spear headed the mutiny was found suffocated to death inside the general’s empty casket. The general’s body was never found.”

               “I believe the vampire was just the cemetery caretaker in a mask.” Emile interrupted. “He wanted to increase tourism in these parts to drive up the value of this graveyard so they couldn’t sell it.”

               “And those bipedal dogs turned out to be a pair of really hairy dudes banging.” Virgil shuddered. “I think it’s scarred onto my retinas.”

               “But that mausoleum.” Roman said seriously. “There is definitely something about that place. Something that haunts me. Something that despite all my years of ghost hunting still strikes me as the most unnatural event I have ever been unlucky enough to witness with my own eyes.”

                “Of course, there is.” The guide sighed.

               “It was back when I was still trying to get my paranormal business off the ground.” Roman dove into the story. “My then partner, and senior ghost hunter, Luigi Verd, was by my side the entire time. True blue he was, I’ll always remember him. We found ourselves in this graveyard investigating a series of disappearances around town. Mostly just troubled teens, alcoholics, and the homeless. But a life is a life, and a mystery is a mystery indeed. So, we set up.”

               Roman took a pause to let them get sucked in.

               “I was doing most of the lifting, as Luigi was recovering from a head injury. He had healed nicely in the hospital. The only sign of trauma was a stitched-up gash along his forehead. He was excited to have a scar to show off.” Roman looked at the ground sadly. “Or so I thought.”

               He could feel their anticipation.

               “Just as I had set everything up for our séance, we were hoping to ask the dead for a clue about the living. Anyway, just as I had finished these hooded men burst into the tomb. They were clad in floor length, red robes with their hoods pulled up to block out their faces. Before I could even react, two of them had me by each arm and they forced me onto one of the coffins and started tying down. And Luigi, who was like a brother to me, he just watched. They didn’t even go for him, but he just watched them bind me. I called out to him, and in response. He…” Roman took an exaggerated gasp. “He pulled out the stitch on his forehead. And his skin fell limp, but behind it where I expected flesh to be was more skin. And he pulled his face off as if he were removing a mask. And under the mask, under the face of a man I had known my entire life was this… this stranger! This figure who I didn’t know from Payton, slowly pulling the hide of my friend off his face. Wearing Luigi as a mask! The stranger laughed at me! He laughed at the brutal terror that welled up inside me! And he pulled out a long sharp knife…”

               “I was at the cemetery myself that night.” Virgil took up the story. “Following the dudes who were nice enough to not have me arrested for picking their pockets. In my childish mind I had sworn a life debt to them in that moment. But, little did I know that I’d be paying it off that night. Because that was when I heard the screams.”

               Mimicking Roman’s style Virgil paused and took a breath.

               “Being seven, whenever fight or flight came up in my brain I would normally fly. But that night, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why, I chose to fight. I sprinted towards the source of the screams and found the tomb doors closed to the outside. But did that stop me? No, with whatever strength a half-starved kid possesses I threw myself into the door and just kept slamming into it. I was in a frenzy! I just kept bashing into that door with all my weight. Seventy pounds of skin and bones ramming the door like there was no tomorrow.”

               “That’s where I came in.” Emile joined. “I had hit an alligator, literally there was a tiny alligator wrapped around my tire and was trying to fix my tire when I heard both the screaming and the constant thudding. I too ran to the source and saw a small child, bruised and bloody, hammering his fragile body into the concrete doors. The first thing I did was wrestle him away from the door before he killed himself. Then, I forced my tire iron between the crack in the two doors to pry it open like a lever. It budged open an inch, but then the men inside swung it open to see what was going on. I fought them as best as I could, even managing to break one’s arm. But then their leader pulled out this whip, made out of bones, human spinal bones and he snapped my weapon out of my hands while I was still reeling from the shock. Next thing I knew I was being chained to the floor.”

               “They took this distraction in their stride.” Roman shuddered. “And with Virgil and Emile dealt with they turned back to me. The knife wielder tore my shirt off in one swipe and drove his knife into my chest. Just when I thought I was done for I realized that he wasn’t about to stab me to death. Instead he slid the knife down towards my stomach, he was skinning me!”

               “I did the only thing I knew how to do.” Virgil jumped in. “I played dead. And miracle of miracles, they bought it. The one with the whip bent down to check on me, and I bit him. I sank my teeth into his wrist like it was the most delicious prime rib known to man. He fought me with his free hand, but no number of blows was making me spit that fucker’s arm out. I dug in until I hit bone, I ground my teeth to widen the wound, I sunk in until I was certain that he and I were one…”

               “And I took the opportunity to dislocate my thumb.” Emile jumped in on cue. “And slid out of one of my wrist restraints. With my free arm I put Virgil’s new chew toy in a head lock, he didn’t put up too much of a fight, as now he was woozy with blood loss. He collapsed, and Virgil started rooting through his body for the keys. Another robed guy came at me, so I did the worst thing I could think of. I grabbed his groin and I pulled with all my strength. He doubled over and Virgil tossed me the keys.”

               “With this madness going on, the leader had stopped trying to skin me and was now running towards the other two.” Roman took the reins once more. “He flew at Emile with the knife and they engaged in battle. Meanwhile, Virgil freed me, and I took the leader from behind. Emile dodged a stab and the leader fell into his own weapon. I took it from him, and Emile took up his tire iron once more. And.” Roman stopped. “Knowing that we couldn’t go to the police for fear of how deep this madness runs, without any other options. We… we finished them off.”

               “With that done. We sealed the tomb and vowed never to speak of it again.” Emile added. “And then we took Virgil to a hospital.”        

               “I had a collapsed lung.” Virgil added happily.

               The crowd applauded them and even the guide looked impressed. Emile and Virgil were satisfied, but Roman had one more trick left.

               “And,” Roman added, pulling up the hem of his shirt. “Here’s the receipt.”

               He pulled his shirt up to display a long scar that went from his sternum to his navel, well past his navel actually. The scar took the place of the more traditional bellybutton. It was still visible in the evening light. The scar itself was horrid looking. It was jagged, narrow in some places and bore the impression of skin grafts in others. It folded in slightly at his stomach giving a clear picture of how deep it was.

               The crowd gasped. Virgil squeaked in surprise and Emile looked on baffled (and hopefully impressed to be seeing Roman’s physique a second time.) Roman laughed to himself. This had been an excellent improv session and he had managed to both impress his nephew and a rather charming doctor.

               At the end of the tour Roman had done the gentlemanly thing and walked Emile to his car. The three of them laughed about their story telling talents and the tales of terror they wove.

               “Well, this is me.” Emile stopped at his car. “Thanks for walking me to my car. I didn’t want the cult to catch me alone.”

               “Of course not.” Roman agreed.

               “So, stop me if I’m intruding.” Emile started hesitantly. “But how did you get that scar?”

               “It’s far worse than the story.” Roman sighed.

               “Now you have to tell us.” Virgil bopped his shoulder.

               “Ok. I was born a conjoined twin.” Roman sighed. “They had to cut us apart. Remus, that’s my brother, has the same scar. Well, at least a similar one”

               “You both made it? That’s amazing.” Emile looked impressed. “Also, your names are Roman and Remus? Like Romulus and Remus?”

               “I hate it when people get that reference.”

               “Whatever would they have done if you were triplets?” Virgil taunted. “Hey, we all have Italian names.”

               The two adults laughed at Virgil’s observation.

               “Oh.” Emile started. “Would you two like a ride back home? I think Virgil over did it with the walking.”

               “That would be lovely.” Roman lit up slightly.

               “Woo.” Virgil said softly to Roman.

    ��          “Now Virgil,” Roman said as he buckled his seat belt. “What would you normally do if a stranger offered you a ride home?”

               “Fight him to the death.” Virgil said plainly.

               “Ok, the correct answer is to say no and run away.” Roman disregarded that comment.

               They pulled into the driveway and saw that Patton and Logan were home already.

               “Thanks for the ride Dr. Picani.” Virgil said quickly as he darted out of the car.

               He was inside in a flash, no doubt to tell his parents everything he had been up to. Good. Roman exited the car with a bit more grace.

               “Thank you very much for the ride back, Emile.” Roman said graciously.

               “PSHSHHSHH.” Emile swatted the topic out of the air. “It was nothing.”

               There was a pause.

               “I had a good time hanging out with you.” Emile said timidly.

               “I had a good time with you too.” Roman felt himself blush.

               “I know there’s still the court case and everything…” Emile blushed as well. “But after that, when there won’t be any conflict of interest… are you single?”

               “Completely.” Roman answered.      

[1] The dogs are Clifford the Big Red Dog, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Scooby Dooby Doo, Blue from Blue’s Clues, Gir from Invader Zim (Hi Marie Pippins, that one’s for you) and Goddard from Jimmy Neutron