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#i still got so much wips but heck who said i gotta finish them before the year ends
caelanglang · 1 year
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Sour Drink
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close up of Chuuya being taller than Dazai
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zukkaoru · 3 years
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Fic Writer Review
tagged by @bisexualpercabeth tysm for the tag!! <3
1. how many works do you have on AO3? 85 lol
2. what’s your total AO3 word count? 489,407.. don't ask how much of that is just from the past year lol
3. how many fandoms have you written for and what are they? i have posted fics for 20 different fandoms on ao3 and i am not going going to list them all out but my top five are atla, 0uat, tlok, h$mtmt$, and tales of arcadia
4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?
1. plum blossom 2. you clutched my brain and eased my ailing 3. my calamitous love & insurmountable grief 4. five times ryan came out (and one time he couldn't) 5. feels like love
5. do you respond to comments, why or why not? i usually try to but sometimes i simply do not know what to say. or i let too many comments build up in my inbox and end up just not responding bc i'm overwhelmed oops
6. what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? uh. it's gotta be one of my old 0uat fics bc i don't usually like to write angsty endings anymore skdgfdj i'm not sure i want to link to any specific oneshot but if you're curious you can look back through my ao3 ig there's also looked me in the eye and told me you would never go away but that's part of a series so the entire coherent story doesn't end angstily lol
(continued under the cut)
7. do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written? i don't really anymore but oh boy. the craziest one i've ever written? one of my friends and i started writing a fic back when we were like ten and we literally called it The Megacrossover (the mega for short) bc we just. shoved as many fandoms as we could in that thing. it started out just being a pjo / hp / thg crossover where the characters got reaped for a hunger games based on their cabin at camp half-blood but then we ended up including doctor who and 0uat in the plot to get everyone out of the arena, and then we brought in olaf for some reason (?) and we also had plans to bring in characters from divergent and the maze runner but unfortunately we never finished. anyway. long live the mega. it's still in a binder on my bedroom floor at home
8. have you ever received hate on a fic? yeah but not recently. my favorite was someone hate commenting on chapter eleven of a doctor who fic i posted on ff.net that i wrote when i was like 13-14. and when i called them out in the author's note of the next chapter, saying "if you don't like you don't have to read" they commented again and said something like "well obviously you don't know if you don't like it until you start reading, stupid" like yeah bro but. eleven chapters? if it took you that long to realize you didn't like it, that's sounds like a you problem
9. do you write smut? if so what kind? nope lol
10. have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i know of lol
11. have you ever had a fic translated? nope
12. have you ever co-written a fic before? not besides The Mega. but corey and i create (mostly cursed) AUs together which is close enough <3
13. what’s your all time favorite ship? i am morally obligated to answer outlaw queen for this. but currently matchablossom is occupying all my thoughts
14. what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? oh there are so many atla fic ideas i have that i'm not sure i'll ever have time to flesh out and write. there's one i came up with based very loosely on the song snow by ricky montgomery that's sokka-centric but it's very complex and elaborate and i could definitely see it being upwards of 200k words and i just. don't have time for it which is very sad to me bc it would be so good if i did
15. what are your writing strengths? i'm so bad at questions like this. i don't know?? sometimes i write and i like everything about what i'm writing and sometimes i write and i hate it all. i guess dialogue ? sure
16. what are your writing weaknesses? action scenes. describing the physical details of the setting. sometimes (see: a lot of times) i write sentences so long and convoluted that they make sense to no one other than me.
17. what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? gonna be honest i really haven't seen that much of this? like i think it's cool when it comes up bc i love other languages! but i also always worry i'm going to be mistranslating something whenever i do it skdhjgfd also if you're going to be doing a lot of it, i feel like you should probably include a translation somewhere so people know what's going on without having to like. switch back and forth between the fic and google translate or smth
18. what was the first fandom you wrote for? percy jackson
19. what’s your favorite fic you’ve written? it's probably gotta be this ultraviolet morning light (which is now on the second page of my fics what the heck???) tuvml is my baby and the longest fic i've finished to date and i still think about how rising sun verse zuko and sokka are doing quite often. i've also still got a couple half-finished fics for that universe and a longer sequel i'd love to publish someday but i've been. distracted by other fics
tagging (with no obligation): @that-was-anticlimactic @smilehoneyy @bisexuallsokka @beachytablecloth and anyone else who wants to!!
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miximax-hell · 5 years
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As always, it’s been a hot minute. But, uh, hey! I hope you’ve all been fine!
Can you believe that this is actually my 20th reference sheet? That’s crazy. I am hecking slow, but I honestly thought I’d have stopped doing this (way) before I reached the double digits. But, hey, I’m still kicking!
And, to honour such a number, it was about time to add another Raimon baby to this blog, so I’ve gone for one of my very favourites. Shishido is very dear to my heart for a variety of reasons (that I will make sure to explain thoroughly when the time for it comes) and I’ve had this miximax in mind for a very long time. In fact, I’ve been ruminating on it since @raynef-art (btw, today’s Raynef’s birthday, so go and wish her a happy birthday if you can!!) and I talked about Shishido on Skype years ago. When was that, even? 2016? 2017, perhaps? In any case, it sure has been extremely long. But, thankfully, all of that ruminating led to one of my favourite pairs in this whole project! Katrielle Layton is a fantastic fit for Shishido, and I will do my very best to explain why this is the case in this post.
So, for more on ShishiKat, please check under the cut!
As always, I like to use this first paragraph to talk a bit about random stuff, so feel free to skip it if you want. Long story short, I’ve spent the last few months (since mid-May or so) job hunting like a beast. Big ol’ companies from all around the world, like Rockstar, Revolution, The Creative Assembly/Sega or Build A Rocket Boy have shown interest in me, but it’s led nowhere so far, which is extremely frustrating. Heck, there’s a company who contacted me first and they still didn’t give me the job in the end. >:| But I did an interview last Thursday and I should get an answer soon, so let’s hope that goes well...! It’s an awesome job, close to where I live (so I wouldn’t have to move), the company is super successful and two friends are already working there. It’d be incredible to join them and keep progressing in my career. And, well, money doesn’t hurt at all either. Gotta get into the wheel of capitalism. Anyway, job matters aside, I’ve recently finished some games that have become personal favourites of mine, like Valkyria Chronicles and Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star (even if the first one was arguably better), but the one that undoubtedly takes the crown is Marvel’s Spider-Man, which shaped up to be a game as brilliant as Insomniac’s previous titles, if not even more so, and has become one of my favourite games of all time. Sadly, Spider-Man isn’t originally a videogame character, so I won’t be including him in this project (as much as that pains me). So we’ll have to take other routes if we want to have a Marvel miximax here... I’m on it, but suggestions are still accepted.
So, Shishido! Who doesn’t love Shishido? He’s just so lovely. Look at him! Look at him right now! How can someone without visible eyes be so PRECIOUS? Don’t you just want to channel the annoying aunt within you and pinch his cheeks and nose? Well, we still can’t do that, but we can try and do him justice by giving him a truly awesome miximax. (The quality of the art that accompanies said miximax may vary in quality, but that’s not Shishido’s nor Katrielle’s fault--it’s entirely mine for not being better.)
So, friends who have been here for a while and have a good memory may be thinking, “Hold on a minute, you! The Professor Layton franchise has already been represented within this blog--you miximaxed Fudou with Hershel Layton himself!” And you’d be right. You might even be thinking I’m betraying my own rules by using two characters from the same franchise. Well, that isn’t the case, as PL is a Level-5 franchise and I may (and tend to) use up to two characters from each franchise made by L5. It’s all here. But, even with all of that, there’s still a question that remains and that I figure many people might have in their heads: if Fudou is already miximaxed with Hershel, isn’t Shishido basically a copy? Does Katrielle really add anything to the table?
I’m glad you asked. Well, I’m glad I asked, because that’s what led to all of this. ww And, thankfully, yes. Yes, she does. But before answering that question, we have a much more important question to ask:
Who is Shishido Sakichi?
Hino, that lovely piece of work, is actually really fricking good (when he actually tries) at something I’m unable to name, hence why I will refer to it as “scattered storytelling.” It’s similar to environmental storytelling in the sense that we’re never directly told many things, but we can still figure them out thanks to the looks of a character, the scenarios we see, audio queues, etc. Video games offer many resources to build up rich environmental storytelling, but what Hino (and probably many others--it’s not like he invented the wheel!) does is give us hints scattered across different pieces of media to try and figure out what some of his undeveloped characters are all about. And let’s be real: original Raimon is a lovely collection of undeveloped characters. So let’s check out a few things about Shishido and see where they take us.
Shishido was one of the first members of Raimon, being one of the 7 players the team had before they were forced to look for more people to have a match against Teikoku. He was, however, replaced by Kidou when he joined the team, and he stayed as a benchwarmer until he got injured by Gemini Storm. Then, as he joined the Dark Emperors, if you talk to him in the game before the match, he mentions how he’s been pushing himself past his limit for a long time, only to keep feeling like he’s mediocre. Finally, during the match between Raimon’s older and newer members, he is shown facing Kidou and getting past him despite how afraid he was of engaging directly with such a big rival.
On top of that, his in-game descriptions go like this: “He is becoming the team’s key-man by developing his own pace,” (IE1) “His laid-back personality can make him the butt of his team-mates' jokes“ (IE2) and “The Aliea crystal has given him an invincible self-belief“ (IE2 DE). Let’s admit that it’s not a lot to go by, but maybe we can get something out of all of this.
As usual, I explain this better in the heat of the moment while talking to someone who’s ready to listen, so Raynef or my girlfriend probably got the better version of what I’ll be trying to explain now. However, those conversations are so old that I'm having trouble retrieving them, so... welp. ww Let me try anyway.
Judging by what we know about Shishido, we can try to figure out what his character development has been like. We get his first in-game description as soon as we can see him in our in-game menu; that is, before the first Teikoku match even takes place. At this point, aka at the very beginning of the game, Shishido is a player that is “becoming the team’s key-man.” Slowly, perhaps, but he is on his way. However, this process is halted abruptly when Kidou joins the team, as he replaces him as a regular first-team player. Now, a valid question would be, “why did Kidou replace Shishido and not any other midfielder?”
It would make no sense to get rid of Someoka or Kurimatsu to let Kidou in the pitch, as he’s not a forward nor a defender. But, among all the midfielders in the team, why Shishido? Why not Handa, Shourin or even Max (who is technically a forward, but has been playing as a midfielder, so it’d make a lot more sense to bench him)? The most obvious answer would be that everyone else has abilities that Kidou can’t properly replace/mimic/make up for; or, in other words, that Kidou is like an upgraded version of Shishido more than he is an upgraded version of any of the other characters. And what is Kidou, exactly? A brilliant midfielder with incredible control over the ball and a great strategist overall. It’s this last part that we’re most interested in: he’s a strategist. A game-maker, that is. What one could easily call a vital part of a team or, even, in more poetic words, a key-man. What Shishido used to be, or was going to become, before Kidou showed up to steal his spotlight. Not to mention the incredible pain one must feel upon being replaced like that... (This was best explained by @mimiflieder on her fic, Change of pace--it’s about Handa and Ichinose, but the same thing applies. I totally recommend checking it out!)
This theory is further supported (in sad ways) by his in-game description in IE2. His personality remains the same (laid-back and doing his at his own pace), but he has gone from being a key-man WIP to the butt of his teammates’ jokes. Sure, the jokes are blamed on this laid-back personality, but something doesn’t quite add up. Check out his quote while he’s a Dark Emperor: he’s been pushing himself too hard to achieve nothing. Is that really what you’d call ‘laid-back’?
In the best case scenario, everyone sees him as being laid-back and chill to the point of being funny: he’s not making a fuss about being replaced in front of his teammates. However, he’s been trying as hard as possible in secret to become the best he can possibly be... only to still be eclipsed by Kidou and the other talented members of the team in every sense.
In the worst case scenario, his attempts to improve are very much obvious to his team, and the lack of results or the gap between the two key-men not becoming any smaller is what makes him the butt of jokes (but I hate this scenario because Raimon babies are all sweet and supportive boys who’d never do this. I DON’T CARE IF TEENAGERS ARE CRUEL AND STUPID BY NATURE. RAIMON BABIES ARE BETTER THAN ACTUAL TEENAGERS, OKAY, AND THEY’D NEVER DO THIS. THEY ARE PRECIOUS LITTLE ANGELS.)
In either case, he was destined to be--heck, he might have already been in non-spoken parts of the game--Raimon’s game-maker, but when Kidou came around with his superior skills, Shishido became, simply put, obsolete. That made his self-esteem sink and eventually threw him in the arms of Aliea in a desperate attempt to finally be better and stand up to Kidou. That’s why his in-game description as a DE talks about his boosted self-esteem, much like Handa’s talks about how that jack-of-all trades is using the meteorite to become master of all.
And, of course, this makes that scene during that final match ALL the more relevant: not only does it signify the triumph of hard work and resolution over sheer talent, fleeting as it might be, but it’s also the end of a long, long journey of self-deprecation, self-improvement, guts and sheer fear. Shishido was literally SHAKING when he saw Kidou running towards him, but he pulled himself together and won. He was no longer the inferior one, the replaceable one, the laughing stock. Little and unexplained as it may be, it’s a truly emotional finale to his personal and unspoken journey.
(Another and more positive way to look at it is that Shishido is meant to become Raimon’s game-maker and key-man AFTER KIDOU LEAVES, so all this time by his side has been a massive training camp of two years to learn his ways and then add his own twist to everything he’s learnt. This leaves some issues hanging, but it will at least let me sleep tonight.)
What we have here is a pretty solid theory pointing at Shishido having what it takes to become a game-maker. But, hey, that’s just a theory! A GAME THEORY! ...And what this means is that there’s evidence supporting it, but we have no way to confirm it unless one of you guys can go and casually interrogateview Hino (and if you do, that’d kind of come in handy, actually). However, the pieces fall together a bit too well to be just a coincidence, right? At least, I think so. And even if they don’t, we don’t have much more to go by, so... it’ll have to do.
Anyway, we’ve (somewhat) answered the question about who Shishido is. It is, therefore, about time to answer the main question this post laid on the table: is Katrielle a good aura to use when her father is already part of this project? And, even if she is, why would Katrielle be the best match for Shishido? Let’s start by explaining what makes Katrielle non-redundant despite bearing her father’s surname and being very similar conceptually.
In essence, Katrielle and Hershel fulfill very similar roles: a smart person who likes puzzles and is hired to solve mysteries no one else can solve. But anyone who knows anything about these characters will know that, really, they are absolutely nothing alike.
Hershel is the perfect gentleman: well-behaved, modest, calm and cold-headed regardless of the situation, polite to a fault, boasts perfect manners, and he manages to get along with even the most unfriendly people in the world thanks to his infinite patience, unwavering kindness and the smile he has on his face whenever he greets someone. Not to mention that his investigation process is long-winded and meticulous, and keeps telling Luke to not make quick assumptions when he jumps into conclusions ahead of time.
Meanwhile, Katrielle is pretty much the polar opposite: proud (heck, the first episode of the anime has her saying her skills are better than her father’s!), funny, dramatic to a fault, jumps to crazy conclusions so fast that everyone around her is always surprised by it and doubts she even put any thought into them, has a quick temper sometimes, she works as a detective just for funsies (and glory, to some extent, as she’s constantly struggling to be taken seriously by people who’d rather talk to her dad), she’s easily swayed by yummy food, instinct and imagination move her much more than hard evidence... This alone is enough to make the personalities of ShishiKat and FudoLay totally different, but, of course, this train doesn’t run on personalities, but on powers and skills. So let’s discuss not what Kat offers, but what Shishido needs.
We’ve established that Shishido was a game-maker in progress. Now, let’s keep in mind that this project includes all of the main characters from IE, IEGO, IECS and IEGalaxy, and they could all potentially be sharing a side of the field with Shishido, so let’s see whom he is competing against.
Of course, we have Kidou, the genius game-maker, the absolute commander of the pitch and, well, a living legend trained by another living legend: Kageyama. He has a miximax too, but you guys have not seen it yet. In due time.
We have Fudou, whose natural intelligence is (arguably) on par with Kidou’s and has received some training by Kageyama as well, even if he didn’t reach the same level of legend nor acted as a game-maker nearly as much as Kidou did. Fudou is, however, enhanced by Hershel Layton, whose influence upon mixitransing helps Fudou stop being such a little shit. That allows him to focus enough on the game and on his teammates to surpass Kidou as a serious and cold-headed strategist who is able to treat every situation as a puzzle and find the precise moves needed to solve it. Not to mention that, of course, Layton boosts Fudou’s intelligence as well.
Shindou has his miximax, which turns him into a "gamemaker of truth who can appraise people and the general situation, while combining both stillness and motion." Pretty self-explanatory.
Taiyou and Hakuryuu, upon mixitransing, become "midfielders of unparalleled accuracy, who can see into the future and attack the enemy's weak spots with their analytical reasoning." These two aren't technically game-makers in Chrono Storm, but Zhuge Liang was a frigging strategist and these two are given analytical reasoning through their miximax. Not to mention they were probably game-makers when they were part of their original teams.
The way the canon tried to keep Shindou and Taiyou/Hakuryuu from overlapping was by casually disregarding Zhuge Liang’s strategist side and focusing on her Keshin and ability to see the future/what no one else can see, so we can scratch Taiyou and Hakuryuu, as they won’t easily be taking the role of game-makers anymore. We can also discard Kidou, as FudoLay completely outclasses him for the time being. (Look at me, I sound like I’m writing an article on Electrode for Smogon--) So, ShishiKat’s only real challengers are FudoLay and, uh... does Shindou’s miximax have any kind of fandom name? I heard people refering to Kirino’s miximax as Kirino d’Arc, but that’s about it. Anyway, to keep it simple, I’ll call it ShinOda until someone brings up something better.
So, yeah, ShishiKat is competing against ShinOda and FudoLay. ShinOda focuses on a complete control over when to move and when not to move, arguably to preserve his teammates’ and his own stamina and maximise what everyone can do with their natural reserves of energy. FudoLay, on the other hand, uses analytical thinking to find the most efficient moves in any given situation. As I mentioned, he treats every situation as a puzzle, and, as Layton would say, “every puzzle has an answer.” One specific and perfect answer that FudoLay excels at finding, using the minimum number of steps necessary and turning the solution into pure art. He is, however, still Fudou, so he’d probably push his teammates to the limit in rough ways in order to achieve that perfection he is aiming for. And it’s still Layton, so we can expect some long-winded thought processes that take long to pay off--but when they finally do, HOO BOY.
It's good being analytical and smart, but perhaps, just perhaps, Shishido could use a little something to make him different and stick out among his peers. Something that is a bit more... proactive. Unpredictable. Slightly impulsive. But still as witty as one can ever be. He needs to combine the brains with the brawn, and blend it all together with much-needed cheerfulness, since all the game-makers we’re dealing with here are cold or outright pricks.
Shishido needs to improvise to the point of making things up for no reason and eventually making them work in almost miraculous ways. Focus less on what’s in front of his eyes and more on what other possibilities could be there. Act more on instinct than on careful observation. Give commands that are a lot more roundabout that those of Shindou, Kidou or Fudou, but end up paying off in ways that not even he could always predict. Jump into the problem head-first and solve it in-situ instead of looking at it from afar and pondering for long periods of time. And, of course, among all of that, he needs an enormous self-confidence to pull it all off, as his premises may seem utterly ridiculous and he must believe in them whole-heartedly to convince everyone else.
Katrielle Layton checks every single one of these boxes. It’s Katrielle, and Katrielle alone, who can turn Shishido not just into a replacement for the times when Kidou and Fudou aren’t around, but into a true force of nature that can assist the team at all times. It makes Shishido useful and non-redundant--which is, of course, much more than the anime did for him. Let alone the manga, where Shishido didn’t even appear. (I mean, the manga gave us Tamano bby, but still--)
And the best part is that they don’t step on each other. ShinOda is fantastic (and I won’t comment on my own ideas), but no one is objectively better at being a game-maker than the rest. Different situations will call for different approaches, so their relevance will shift as the rivals change or as the rivals adapt to one style or the other. Or, heck, they can simply all work together to keep their rivals guessing and come up with even greater strategies that combine everyone’s fortes.
Also, I’m watching Katrielle’s anime with my girlfriend and that is what made me consider her for this project in the first place, so props to her! (But sorry for butchering the design, dear ww)
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mittensmorgul · 5 years
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not a strictly spn question, but, as someone who wants to start writing, how the ever-loving fuck do you pump out so many fics so fast?? i’ve been working on outlining the same three stories for like a year (not really) ((but kinda))
Hi there, and congrats on that much outlining! I… don’t outline that much, ever, for anything. But I also don’t think I crank out fics all that fast. It might seem that way sometimes, but the Pinefest fic I posted in February has actually been drafted (and through several rounds of editing) since last August. I only just posted it for Pinefest. So it might seem there was only a month and a half between me writing that and the thing I posted last night, I’ve actually been working on THAT since January… three and a half months for 30k isn’t very fast. :P
I’m putting this under a cut because it’s kinda long, and possibly boring or irrelevant in the big scheme of things…
(I once wrote a 105k word original novel in 15 days, and a friend of mine wrote a 130k novel in just over three days on a deadline, but heck that is atypically fast… and nearly killed them… no really they developed shingles from the stress of it, do not recommend)
So I might be slightly biased here, but at some point you gotta stop outlining and start writing. That’s the secret. You can’t crank out stories unless you actually start writing them.
That said, when I say I don’t outline, I mean I have notes for fic that range from this, for my 8k short:
*soulmate situation described here: http://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/173681098950/i-saw-a-writing-prompt-that-went-like-this-you Officially written and posted on 11/14/18 as Lost Time.
that’s just a link to a post that inspired the thing, to this, for a 65k fic: 
*NAILED IT! How could I fanfic my way through this baking show? or maybe I should just… write fanfic of this… (notes document: Cakepocalypse notes) (in process as of 4/1/18 as a potential dcbb as Cakepocalypse) (posted 6/23/18)https://archiveofourown.org/works/15017792
(sorry, I removed the link to my notes doc, but what I am willing to show of that:
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wherein a lot of those 15 pages consists of images of the cakes in each challenge for my own personal reference while writing.)
Basically the ONLY two fics I’ve ever written an outline for structurally required it:
Cakepocalypse and Around the World in 24 Days, both fics based off “reality show” formats– Cakepocalypse was basically Nailed It!, and AtWi24D is the Amazing Race (and over 101k, based on about 5k worth of very detailed notes I’d be happy to show you if you come off anon). There was no way I could keep track of that many “contestants” and all their challenges, travel, baking, guests, etc. without keeping these sorts of detailed notes.
My previous pinefest fic, Winchester 275, was a 57k AU based on a two sentence thing that had been sitting on my to be written list for YEARS:
*(writing for pinefest, working title of Winchester 275 as of 8/29/17, draft finished 11/29/17, posted 3/6/18 http://archiveofourown.org/works/13788693) astronomy night at a dude ranch in arizona, Cas brings the telescope, dean only sees the stars in his eyes oh god did i actually write that down? yes. yes i did.
And my first DCBB, Revenge of the Subtext, was 80k based on a one sentence prompt: http://mittensmorgul.tumblr.com/post/130269813965/meangreenlimabean-mittensmorgul.
So if your fic doesn’t NEED you to make such detailed notes, just start writing already. :D
When I first started writing (loooong before I ever started writing fic), some of my encouraging friends told me some interesting stories. We got to talking about how annoying it was that so many people respond to someone saying they write with, “Oh, I’ve been thinking about writing a novel for years,” or something else along those lines. My friend told me she knew a guy who had been outlining his novel for more than a decade, but never seemed to be able to get it quite right so that he felt he could start writing. With that sort of attitude, he probably never will, you know?
You will never have a “perfect” outline. Just like you’ll never have a “perfect first draft.” You have to have a draft to be able to edit it, you know? Can’t edit a blank page, and an outline can only take you so far before it becomes so fleshed out that it ceases to be an outline and looks more like a first draft.
So set a writing goal for yourself. Shoot for easy to start with, and then you can tweak the goal as you fall into the habit. Say, 200 words a day. Or 1000 words a week (because in all honesty you might miss a day here and there, and you shouldn’t get down on yourself for that, either). I personally shoot for 1000 words on days when I write, but I’ve been doing this for more than a decade now. I don’t always make it, but sometimes I double that, or quintuple it, or more. And I have scheduled days off (Supernatural nights when new episodes air, and usually the day after, and Monday night when I play pub trivia and it’s Mr. Mittens’ night off work). But outside of those days, barring extreme exhaustion or illness, I try to write at least 1000 words a night.
Being that I’m not an outliner, I feel I need to say that I always know the whole story before I start writing. It’s all up inside my head, running like a film that I “transcribe” into a fic. So even if I don’t have a written, bullet-pointed list of plot points and emotional beats, I do have the “finished product” looping through my head continuously until I transcribe it all. I know that’s not actually useful writing advice for most people, and I have no idea if this is how anyone else approaches writing, but it’s how it works for me. Minor details may only show up while I’m writing, but the whole story is already there.
This is why I never, ever post incomplete, wip fic. I am a compulsive editor, mostly because I don’t create detailed outlines before I start, and for the sake of continuity, editing is my friend. Can’t go back to insert a reference into chapter 3 that will become important by chapter 14 if you posted chapter 3 half a year ago, you know? Your readers are not gonna go back and reread your updates when you remember that Important Detail never actually made it onto the page in the exact way you needed it to way back when. :P
Now, an outliner MAY have picked that detail up and inserted it before they ever started writing, but one thing folks might not understand until they actually start writing: Actually writing the thing out, making it flesh and letting it breathe, will inherently change your two-dimensional outline. I’m not saying that your plot will derail itself, but only once you begin bringing the story to life, begin living on the page through the characters, will you begin to feel them as living beings, and can really begin to understand them and make them feel real to readers. No outline can do this, and will always fall short of feeling “good enough” for this reason.
(sorry, a lot of how I feel about writing sounds slightly unhinged when I try to talk about it, so please remember that the first original novel I wrote was based on a recurring nightmare I had after a psychotic break, which I literally wrote as therapy to banish the Bad Thoughts. Yes, it worked. Yes, that’s why I still write this way more than a decade later.)
But this is where you’ll begin to fill in the “gaps” inherent in any outline. Personality quirks, inside jokes between characters, feeling their feelings and translating that to the page. But also picking up all the dangling threads like repeating themes and emotional triggers.
I think I’ve gone way far off the path here…
Basically, pick one of your outlines. Decide you’re gonna start writing it. Then start writing it. It’s that simple, and that seemingly impossible. Write one sentence. Then write another. Then write lots more.
Good luck! I know it’s terrifying. I’m terrified every time I pick a new fic idea to write and stare at that blank document. But I stare it down, give a hearty pterodactyl screech, and dive bomb the keyboard. It’s really the only way to do it.
It’s worked pretty well for me so far. :P
11 notes · View notes
digimondestined · 5 years
Note
1-50 :D (for xxx: Blurred Lines; 42: Aokise Songfics (Need You Now); 46: Try- and Keep Trying; 47, made up title: In the man behold a child) ❤️
1) How old were you when you first starting writing fanfiction?
Oof.  12 ish? FFNet But we don’t speak about it; the site or the writing :P
2) What fandoms do you write for and do you have a particular favourite if you write for more than one?
Right now, I’m more invested in aokise / knb fandom and well, once invested, it’s hard to pull my focus :P Other fandoms I’m interested in writing in as of the moment are Owari No Seraph (Gureshin :P) and Seven Deadly Sins (man, that’s lovely hell)
3) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.
Probably OCs? I haven’t written OC’s in a while but heck, reader inserts sounds kinda of awkward to write :P
4) What is your favourite genre to write for?
…is angst with a happy ending a genre?(Otherwise maybe coming of age?)
5) If you had to choose a favourite out of all of your multi chaptered stories, which would it be and why?
Blurred Lines is the only one that has an actual plot :P and is multi chaptered :P. It’s also got a couple of my favorite tropes such as mutual pining & simultaneous obliviousness. To be honest, I normally don’t edit my works before I put them out (sometimes I’ll get a loving friend to look at it tho :PPPPPP) because I can’t bear reading what I’ve written without cringing, but yeah, I thought Blurred Lines was pretty good :D in terms of writing skill because I’ve been able to read it again aha and I thank all the wonderful people who showered me the work with compliments.
6) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why?
LMAO WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I HAVEN’T ALREADY? If I delete stories, it’s always for the reason I’m disappointed with it in hindsight, or xD embarrassed I produced such poo.
7) When is your preferred time to write?
Night time becuz I like to procrastinate, it’s quiet and the dark is cozy.
8) Where do you take your inspiration from?
Other writers/stories, canon material, music, random insights at odd times, prompts sparked by single words or little phrases, prompts from sites or book quotes or from friends and epiphanies, and then mostly I don’t :P 
9) In your Blurred Lines fic, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote?
Chapter 5, the (two I guess?) scene where Aomine’s really upset and Kise makes it his job to take his mind off of it; it’s a memorable moment for both of them because Kise’s determination and hard work really gets to show (SEIRIN GAH; jskghjkghg sg lgsg gsjlsd) in front of two people that mean a lot: himself and Aomine, and for Aomine, it’s an example of how he can be weak and injured too, and is so much more than some give him credit for.
10) In your fic, why did you decide to end it like that? Did you have an alternative ending in mind? Nah, I really liked how it ended actually :) Happy after endings are my favorite :)
11) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?
I’ve only gotten harsh criticism once or twice and man, you should’ve seen me RAWRR in their faces :P. Sometimes self criticism- ex: dislike of plot- will get me to edit though; and then there are just times where I’ve been lazy but reading the work, I’ll see flaws that definitely have to be changed and will proceed to do so.
12) Who is your favourite character to write for? Why?
Aomine and Kise are the most fun imo. I go wild with both because of the complexity to both their characters and simply, the inspiration you can see from different works of other authors (Ex: MoustachePenguin wrote JustBreathe with Kise who had crushing depression and KaijosCopyCat wrote When It Rains, It Rains Bullets, where Kise is actually more jaded than Aomine is); point being said, there’s enough material to make a lot reasonable.Kise is fun for his masks and layers; Aomine is great for his relativity. And of course, you can always find a way to knit in angst of some sort :P 
13) Who is your least favourite character to write for? Why?
Lots man. Kuroko, Murasakibara-
14) How did you come up with the title for the xxx? - You can ask about multiple stories. 
SO. Remember how it was planned as a one-shot aha :P I’d gotten 3 chapters and ½ written out before I said screw it and posted them before gradually working on the rest :P 
Anyways, I’d only then finished on a final summary, and with one of the parts being “Lines Blurring”, I thought heck let’s roll with that.
Oh also! Had a hard time getting that summary out. gotta thank my special, one and only snowflake.
15) If you write OC’s, how do you decide on their names?
- Likes to indulge myself; I’ll base OCs of some real characters, then twinkle with the name little bit, maybe adding extra letters or finding names with similar meanings?
- It also has to do with how the name tastes. You know how some words just flow better? (Connotation and all that :P) but like, Jewel over Gem, Crystal over Jewel, Ruby over Everything, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
16) How did you come up with the idea for xxx?
Was a prompt- (voldetort :P)
but i was given an open ending option and then i took it and ran with it and turned it into angst with happy ending :P
17) Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on.
Kise stuck out his tongue, Aomine smirked, and they let Momoi laugh herself dry.
18) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?
Yah, who doesn’t? :PP (atop of the temporarily abandoned WIPs :PPP) Either loss of enthusiasm, lack of ability (time, but mostly procrastination :P) to write, or post-insights that lemme realize the story is unsatisfying to the point of repulsive :P
19) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to?
Maybe Blurred Lines? Struggle them through 2nd year of school, relationship where it’s so much more precious than a regular, “we-just-began-a-”relationship” because of the stakes. (But then I’d have to like write a conflict???and my inability to be creative would hinder that :P)
20) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?
I haven’t really “ended” any stories of worthy length, but for Blurred Lines :P. Which had an okay ending in my opinion, though maybe hurriedly carried out XDI imagine when I do get to finishing more/other stories, I might? Because I can be impulsive. :P But then again, I take a heck long time to procrastinate; and sometimes that means more time to think about how a story wants to go- in these cases, I don’t, usually :)
21) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?
I am heck into lots of writers.
Roch; VanillaDaydreams22 (tumblr) and just VanillaDaydreams (ao3) is a great friend and writer :P with a lovely, descriptive style of fluid writing.
A famous one would be moustachiopenguin - wrote lots of heart wrenching stories; aha we both know :P So, imagination, use of plot, detail, etc.
And then there’s an up and new coming one; her name starts with a Y and ends with a U.
22) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?
Literally all of them. :P Anything from over 4-6 months in particular is a bit of, no thanks :P
23) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?
I prefer music, even though sometimes it’s not helpful and actually, is a hindrance :P but music always helps the mood~
24) How do you feel about writing smutty scenes?
Laughs.
25) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?
Writing? Nah. Reading? Heck, few times.
26) Which part of your Blurred Lines fic was the hardest to write?
All of it cause I didn’t want to write it, I wanted to waste time~
- In the later chapters, carrying out Aomine’s realization for feelings was a little difficult; I had Satsuki sort of catalyze his action, because he’s pretty heckin determined to get Kise in his unconscious mind; Satsuki’s rejection just enforces the feeling he needs to express himself, though hard. But I occasionally would wonder whether Aomine was made too soft, or OOC in general.
27) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?
My impulsiveness pushes me towards flow; but for fics requiring detail, general outline help XD no matter how “general”.
28) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fanfiction?
Maybe just the fact that the fandoms I’d get to were in existence :D like how some of us talked about, would have been pretty cool to write with the other gazillion of fan- tho, then again, wouldn’t trade them for you guys aha
There’s a lot of things I’ve learned from it and only with the actual writing action have I come to understand the things :P
29) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?
Maybe Lazy or No Questions Asked. Lazy, because it was the first time I’d written something short but with a bit of story to it still, y’know? :P And then No Questions Asked because I just love the trope of uncertainty and obliviousness and pining in the middle of aokise.
30) In contrast to 29 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?
Honestly? Say It. It was short and okay but like, plot-wise? Not sure if it deserved all the kindness it/I got XD
32) Are any of your characters based on real people?
I haven’t written any OCs in a while! I imagine one I get back to doing so, they could be :P
33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?
Not quite sure. I have shit memory sometimes aha, but all the support is good :D
34) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?
On one of my first fics, which I’d written 24 chapters / 40K (GASP I KNOW :D IT’LL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN *SMILES THROUGH THE TEARS OF SAD*) I was told the other chapters should be deleted because it was so bad. But like, the reader had posted said criticism through at least half of the work so :P and a couple of chapters later, said, “This is better! But change everything before this.”I actually got a lot of help/reviews becasue I’d asked for them from various authors aha and fandom was popular and lively; the criticism just went straight through my ears I think. XD
35) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest?
I like getting a second opinion if I’m insecure about the idea (often, you guessed right
36) Can you give us a spoiler for one of your WIP’s?
No.
jkjk :P I currently have 4 active WIPs. 1. SECRET (for fanzine :PP), 2. As Long As You Love Me (CJ’s prompt) 3. Some Stuff Has Actually Changed 4. Oops I Did It Again
37) What’s the funniest story you’ve written?
What is humor explain??!?!?
38) If you could collab with any other writer on here, who would it be? (Perhaps this question will inspire some collabs!) If you’re shy, don’t tag the blog, just name it.
- You silly.- Roch + CJ- You, super lovely
39) Do you prefer first, second or third person?
3rd for the most of it. I’ve never written with 1st before but I’m considering it for a work that’d require an extensive cast. 2nd also strikes me as fun though, because of this angsty story I’d read where Kise was the narrator but done through 2nd? 2nd also seems very poetic and I’d like to try it out some day for fun :P
40) Do people know you write fanfiction?
Yeet :P
41) What’s you favourite minor character you’ve written?
Nijimura, Jellal, you name it XD all of them??? You know my tendency to avoid protagonists :P
42) Song fic - What made you decide to use the song Need You Now
It’s a quarter after one, I’m all alone and I need you nowSaid I wouldn’t call but I lost all control and I need you nowAnd I don’t know how I can do without, I just need you now
Angsty and perfect for pining ships.
43) Has anyone ever guessed the plot twist of one of your fics before you posted it?
LMAO I’ve never written a fic long enough for a plot twist to occur; B) I DON’T WRITE PLOT?? XD
44) What is the last line you wrote?
A victory, Kise should think, should be thinking. What is there instead is empathy, but sadness anyways. Oh Aominecchi…
45) What spurs you on during the writing process?
Not much. There are periods of time when I don’t want to write at all and I will find excuses of any kind to get off my laptop, or stay on, and just not write aha. What helps is typically at night when I feel semi-tired, I’ll be motivated to write enough to be a pleasant thought before bed.
46) I really loved your Try and Keep Trying fic. If you were ever to do a sequel, what do you think might happen in it?
GoM have a Winter Cup Banquet and there’s alcohol there. AoKise has done a lot more pining and both gotten better at hiding it. They meet awkwardly at the event becuz of their friends talking to each of their friends and then suddenly disappearing while AoKise are startled, staring at each other. Cautious tense talk tried to be made easier by both of them; Kise makes a joke like, “Alcohol would make this a little easier, right Aominecchi?”
And Aomine blurts out stupid becuz high strung, smth like, “Is that what you thought the last time?”
AND THEN, Kise is also high strung right, so his reply is probably something dumb; maybe a few more lines and then:
KISE ACCIDENTALLY CALLS HIM ‘DAIKI’ AND THEY BOTH JUST FREEZE AND BLUSH PROFUSELY BC THEY’RE REMINDED OF THE KISS AND FDSJFS AHO REALIZES KISE DID N O T FORGET - and he’ quick to press Kise for an explanation but Kise is sure this is going to lead to heartbreak, that Aomine’s frantic (heart beating at 12432 beats a second) and desperate (to know becuz becuz if Kise- if Ryouta-) demands of Kise to tell him the truth are from a place of piss/fury. When Aomine realizes Kise is only shying away from his emotional cornering/words more and more, Aomine does the only thing he can think of and kisses Kise again and again and again.
Kise realizes he means it, Aomine is almost heartbroken over how Kise couldn’t understand he meant it; both are overwhelmingly overjoyed becuz c’mon. MUTUAL pining, not just pining :P and then THAT turns into cautious, hopeful, cautious prompts for dating.
47) Here’s a fic title - In the man behold a child
(Uni AU)Aomine pines after Kise’s ass and he constantly sends him is inviting him: “C’mon Kise, kiss me and I’ll shut up forever.” and “C’mon Kise, I’d be a great fuckbuddy. No string attached but sex. I’ll be gone immediately.”, lots of, “C’mon Kise. I’m fun. I’ll give you want you want, what you need.” and more earnest and genuine stuff, “I know I sound like I’m kidding, and maybe parts of me were…but I meant it when I said I love you. And I’ll wait until you finally hear I’m fully serious.”
Eventually, Kise comes to realize he is serious. The fact that Aomine really has matured as a person over time and that he really loves Kise.  Who also realizes maybe a little bit of the fact that he’d never needed a real relationship because Aomine sort of checked off all the boxes; and so, (poetically aha; i thought of this at last moment XD) child Kise is also revealed in man Kise for being oblivious and little bit scared (because that’s what teens/kids are good at Aha?)
Ofc, then Kise finally says yes, though hesitant still; Aomine takes him slowly through love and all the good stuff :P
48) What’s your favourite trope to write?
Angst with a Happy Ending, Mutual Pining/Obliviousness & Uncertainty, Friends to Lovers, Friends to Lovers to Enemies to Friends to Lovers, anything with a slight of it’s hard and if we’re not being told we’re gonna make it through, how can i be reassured now that we will; but you’ve got friends to rely on so it’ll be okay OTHERWISE KNOWN AS Angst with a Happy Ending :P
49) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?
Something from Warrior Cats
50) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?
(Both both is good)
YOU CAN’T MAKE ME CHOOSE.
But like, if angst with a happy ending counts as angst??? Than that :PFluff is good but you have to have a reason that makes it even sweeter :P
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barpurplewrites · 6 years
Text
Gotta Catch ‘Em All.
Found this half finished in my WIp folder and thought what the heck. A RumBelle and ensemble Pokemon Go come to Storybrooke fic.
Very Fluffy, like you are going to need to brush your teeth after reading this level s of fluffy.
-x-x-x-
“So, this is my favourite of the ones I’ve caught so far, it’s a Sandshrew. It’s not very strong, but none of my friends have one yet.”
Rumple peered at the screen of Henry’s phone. The creature was a buff yellow rodent, rather like one of the other Pokemon Henry had shown him in the past half hour.
“It looks good.”
Henry nodded enthusiastically and tapped at the screen.
“See as you walk around Pokemon appear. Look there’s a Jigglypuff in here. Watch, this is how you catch them, that’s a Pokeball.”
Rumple watched Henry catch the imaginary monster with a little red and white ball, he didn’t totally understand his grandson’s obsession with this game, but he was glad the he was sharing it with him.
“Got it! We could download the game to your phone and catch Pokemon together, if you’d like.”
Rumple smiled and handed his phone over to Henry. As the lad worked the technological magic that summoned the game, Rumple rubbed his eyes, there was a dull ache in his head, which was probably caused by trying to understand all the information Henry had deluged him with in the past half hour. That didn’t explain the dry tickle in his throat, Rumple made a note to have Dove look at the air conditioning in the shop, it must be on the blink.
“Okay so you’re set up now with you Bulbasaur, you want to go for a walk now?”
Henry looked so hopeful that Rumple almost agreed, but his building headache sent a stab of pain across his temples.
“How about I meet you after school tomorrow? We can catch Pokemons for a while then I’ll treat you to dinner at Granny’s.”
“That sounds great. I’ll see you tomorrow!”
Henry bounced out of the shop, almost colliding with Belle at the door.
“Hey Belle! Bye Belle!”
Belle gave the departing Henry a cheery wave, but her face fell into a frown of concern as she turned to look at her husband. Rumple looked pained.
“Are you alright?”
“Hum? Oh I’m fine, sweetheart.”
Belle crossed the shop to him and gave him a stern look, Rumple resisted for all of two seconds before he sagged; “I have a slight headache, nothing serious.”
“Have you overdone the magic today?”
Rumple frowned as he tried to recall what he’d done today; “Just a little potion, but one I’ve not made in this land before. The price must be different here.”
Belle pressed a cool hand to his forehead making him sigh in relief; he hadn’t realized he was that warm; “You’ve got a bit of a temperature. Come on I’ll drive us home.”
That Rumple didn’t put up any resistance to her driving his beloved car worried Belle more than she let on.
By the time they’d reached the pink house Rumple was snuffling, before the kettle had even boiled for tea that progressed into coughing and sneezing.
As Belle handed him the teacup Rumple slumped sideways on the couch in a faint. The spilled tea and broken china was forgotten as Belle’s practicality over-ruled her panic. A rapid phone call to Emma brought the Saviour and Regina to the door in moments. Between the three women they got the shivering semi-conscious Rumple arranged more comfortable on the couch and covered with a thick throw blanket. Regina worked a little magic and announced that Rumple had the flu. Emma raised a sceptical eyebrow; Rumple was sneezing tiny golden stars, and sweating a frankly alarming shade of pink.
“This doesn’t look like flu.”
Regina wrinkled her nose at the purple cloud Rumple coughed out; “Magical flu. It happens sometimes, it’s not contagious, but he’s going to be out of it for a day, or two.”
Belle relaxed a little, she knew of at least two books in the house that described magical flu, but since she had Regina here she asked; “Anything I need to know to take care of him?”
Regina shook her head, “Treat it like normal flu, fluids and rest. Call us if his temperature gets too high.”
With that Belle was left alone with her sick husband. She rolled her shoulders and got ready for a long evening. She wasn’t the only one who was going to have a restless night.
--
Hansel and Gretel were walking around the park hitting the Pokestops before dinner, and trying to track down a Ditto. Gretel’s head was bent over her phone when her brother suddenly said; “Pokestop.”
She didn’t look up, “I know give me a minute, my bags full I need to ditch some berries.”
Hansel caught her chin in his hand and pushed her head up, Gretel let out an annoyed sound before she saw what her brother was talking about; an actual Pokestop stood twenty feet in front of them. The siblings blinked at each other and shrugged.
“That’s new.”
In the game the park had three Pokestops and now they were looking for them they saw that all three were here in the real world.
“What should we do?”
Gretel shrugged, “Go on, give it a spin.”
Hansel frowned; “You give it a spin!”
She sighed and stepped up to the Pokestop. It felt solid enough under her hand and a good shove got it spinning. She stepped back sharply and watched with Hansel as it revolved and spat out three Pokeballs. Hansel nudged her; “Pick them up, they’re yours.”
As her brother was eagerly spinning the Stop for himself Gretel glanced around the park.
“Erm, Hans?”
The park was swarming with Rattatas and Pidgeys, actual real Pokemon stood waiting to be caught. Hansel’s eyes widen to a comical level.
“Call Henry?”
“Oh yeah.”
--
After a frantic phone call from Henry the heroes had gathered in Granny’s and were trying to work out how best to deal with the bizarre Pokemon invasion. Granny kept shooting glares at the Oddish sat on the end of the counter.
“Y’know it’s odd, I was explaining the game to Grandpa this afternoon…”
Regina raised an eyebrow at Henry; “That might explain this. Rumple has magical flu, it can manifest in strange ways.”
Charming nodded along; “Okay, so we just wait until Rumple is feeling better and this will all go away?”
Emma waved a hand at him as she finished her call to Belle; “Okay thanks Belle, let us know if anything changes,” – she blew out a frustrated breath and slid her phone into her pocket, - “Right Belle has hit the books and apparently a flu based manifestation this big must be resolved before Gold can get better.”
Regina groaned; “Well, that would be simple if we knew what the conditions were. What are we supposed to do with pocket monsters?”
Hansel’s face lit up with a grin; “That’s easy then!”
His face fell as everyone turned to look at him. Regina fixed him with a disbelieving sneer; “And since when are you an expert in magical maladies?”
He shuffled on his heels, as if trying to decide whether or not to run; “Erm, well I’m not, but this is Pokemon, isn’t it? So, we’ve gotta catch ‘em all, that’s what you do in the game.”
Henry was nodding enthusiastically; “He’s right, we need to catch them all, then Grandpa will be okay.”
Granny huffed; “And how are we supposed to catch them, they snarl and snap if you try to pick them up!”
The Oddish had already avoided Granny’s attempt to shoo it off the counter, much to her irritation. Gretel pulled one of her Pokeballs out of her pocket; “You don’t catch by hand, you have to do this…”
She threw the Pokeball in the air and hit the Oddish perfectly; the ball rebounded and split open drawing the creature inside. As the ball closed and dropped to the floor every kid in the diner began a count.
“One,” – the ball wriggled but remained closed, - “Two,” – another wriggle, - “Three,” – the kids waited with baited breath as the ball gave a final wiggle before falling still and emitting a pulse of light.
“Nice catch Gretel!”
“Yeah, good one.”
Everyone watched at the Pokeball shrank and pinged out of existence, Gretel sighed; “Guess we don’t get to keep them.”
Charming clapped his hands together; “Right, now we know what we’ve got to do, we need to get organized.”
Within twenty minutes the trainers had explained the basics to those who’d never played before, and soon teams were heading out to the Pokestops to stock up on balls. Much to the surprise of the non-players there were plenty of adults who had gotten hooked on the game.
Emma teamed up with Henry, who was grinning like crazy; “Why so cheerful, kid?”
“Well, it’s not as if this is as dangerous as most of the stuff we face.”
She hummed an agreement, this would have been a hell of a lot worse if Henry had been telling Gold about Avengers or something before he got sick.
--
The Pidgeys and Rattatas in the park were dealt with quickly by Hansel and Leroy. Gretel called her brother in a panic from the graveyard.
“We’ve got a flock of Zubats and Ghastlys here. Who do we know that is a great pitcher?”
The flying Pokemon could be tricky to catch in game, and apparently Rumple had picked up enough from Henry to know that. Leroy grinned, “We’ll send Bashful over, his got a wicked right arm, sister, and he loves Ghastlys.”
Leroy and Hansel left the park and headed down to the docks where Emma and Henry were trying to deal with a shoal of Magikarps and Poliwags.
Regina was getting frustrated with Drowzees and a high level Snorlax. Her situation wasn’t helped by the fact she was teamed with Sleepy who kept dropping off, she wondered if Henry had thought it was funny sending them to deal with these particular Pokemon.
“Oh, wake up! We need more balls!”
Charming and Red were tackling the Bellsprouts and Eevees along Main Street.
“Y’know the little furry one looks familiar.”
Red nodded and tossed Charming another Pokeball, “Eevee is a popular one, you’ve probably seen it in the cartoons.”
Charming lobbed a ball at a Bellsprout, “Maybe, but I feel like I’ve see in for real somewhere before.”
Red just shrugged at him; “Don’t worry about it. On your left!”
It wasn’t another Pokemon, but Henry and Emma running along the street. Emma slowed down enough to call out; “Belle just called Henry, we need to get to Gold’s house ASAP.”
Charming called after her as she jogged by; “And you didn’t use magic, because?”
Emma turned and ran backwards for a few steps; “Henry started running before I could. Docks are clear. We’ll call if we need back up.”
--
On the lawn of the pink house, Belle couldn’t resist snapping one more photo. Rumple had become more lucid over the past hour and his temperature had gone down, but he was still giggly and more than a bit silly. When Granny dropped some Pokeballs off on her way clear the edge of the woods of Ekans, Rumple had slipped out the back door, worrying her sick until he called for her from the back garden. She’d found him sat cross legged on the grass nose to nose with something that looked like a bright yellow pangolin.
“It’s a Sandshrew, you’re a very good little sandshrew aren’t you? Yes you are, a good Sandshrew.”
She’d giggled at his sing-song voice and the cute way he bopped the creature on the nose, but became very cross when he vanished the Pokeballs he spotted in her hands.
“Rumple! We needed those to catch it!”
He gave her a sorrowful look and sneezed another cloud of golden stars, before wiping his nose on his shirt sleeve; “But, Belle, this is Henry’s favourite. He has to catch it. Please?”
He sounded like a little child, and she couldn’t refuse him; “Okay, I’ll call Henry.”
When she heard Henry’s shout from the side of the house she slid her phone into her pocket, not wanting to give anyone else the idea of taking pictures of the Dark One in the strange state. Henry skidded to a halt, closely followed by Emma who looked stunned at the sight of Rumple.
“Wow, he is out of it.”
Belle gave her a quick nod, and smiled at Henry, “He wants you to catch this one, says it’s your favourite.”
Henry bounced a Pokeball in his palm, “Okay, I got this. Grandpa?”
Rumple tilted his head back and over balanced, he ended up flat on his back grinning at Henry, “Henry, why are you upside down?”
“I’m not you are,” – He pulled Rumple carefully to his feet, - “Want to help me catch the sandshrew?”
Rumple nodded like a bobble head toy, “Nope you do it, its for you.”
Belle caught Rumple’s hand and gently tugged him out of the way. Henry took aim and threw the Pokeball, which the sandshrew promptly headbutted away.
“Oh no, no, no, Bad sandshrew,” - Rumple took a step forward wagging his finger at the Pokemon, - “You are Henry’s favourite. Play nice.”
“It’s okay Grandpa, all the best Pokemon are tricky to catch.”
“Oh, alright then.”
Rumple settled down again and Henry took a second shot. This time the ball bounce correctly and opened catching the sandshrew.
Rumple gave a twittering giggle, spoiled only by another sneeze, and clapped his hands together, “Well done Henry!”
He sagged and leaned against Belle, “I’m sleepy, can I go to bed now, Belle?”
Belle rubbed his back, “Of course, why don’t you head upstairs, I’ll be right up, okay?”
He gave her a dopey smile, “Okay. Night-night Henry.”
“G,night Grandpa.”
Emma watched him go in disbelief; “Oh man, I should have took pictures.”
Belle gave her a stern look; “He’s ill, he can’t help in and it’s rude and unpleasant to mock, especially when any magical user in town could catch this sort of flu.”
Emma look apologetic, “Sorry Belle,” – Her phone beeped with a text, - “Come on kid, the Zubats are being a pain.”
With a quick wave Emma headed off around the house, before he followed her Henry paused by Belle’s side; “You did get a photo of him and the sandshrew didn’t you?”
Belle winked at him just as his mom shouted for him to hurry up. Henry grinned, “Cool. See you later Belle.”
Being able to laugh with her and his grandson about his Pokemon encounter was one thing, but Belle wasn’t going to let anyone else in town see those pictures.
“Belle! Where are you Belle?”
“I’m coming, Rumple.”
--
The Great Pokemon Go Adventure made it into the Storybook. The pictures were copied many times as everyone wanted a memento of them catching the colourful pocket monsters. Belle was the only person in town who had take photos of the event, and only a few people ever saw the images of Rumple giggling with a sandshrew.
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