#(use thunderbolt!) main verse

[mastcrmarksman]

Cliff Notes Version of Main 616 Verse

Some of these events have happened through plotting, discord, and wire, and why you may not find the threads on my blog.

ZERO Upon clint's return to new york post freefall events and the headcanon/blog lore events of ohio (reason for going sober) [ see this post ]

ONE He has been attempting to go sober, he's had a few relapses and has almost given up a few times, his longest stretch and it'd the one he is on now is five and a half months

TWO He was recruited for the Thunderbolts after several rejections from trying to start a new team or move back out to the west coast

THREE Carol Danvers is his sponsor, who has helped him out and been a friend toward him when he hasn't thought he has had any left. ( @ / danversiism is the Carol )

FOUR Even after the months and time he has dedicated to the Thunderbolts, he still has not felt that it is his team or that they are doing anything meaningful and he has been an unhappy "leader" om probation

SIDENOTE Additionally, I think TBolts 2022 did a shoddy job with the whole PR centric team and in general, it'd a short read with poor attempts at call backs and does not treat clint with respect. So in taking inspiration some other comic events and media at the time

FIVE Roxxon is the parent company of the PR agency that Mayor Cage is using for the Thunderbolts. Helen is a very good PR manager, and perhaps doesn't realize, that Roxxon owns her agency, as Roxxon is generally a corporate evil and anti superheroes, Roxxon had funded the Underage Hero Welfare Act which wasn't a good thing, as it genuinely arrested children / young heroes and vigilantes and put them in "schools" and mistreated them and attempted to brainwash them.

SIX So based on that, you imagine the idea of if Marvel had given Tbolts 2022 an actual plot and cared about the team, if they had perhaps taken an angle like introduce Roxxon since in past few years, it seems we are gearing towards a crossover wild Roxxon takedown event (Tony's new run is literally going to be Roxxon-Stark war. Thor's run has Roxxon trying to slander Thor to the public)

SEVEN While Clint has been quietly back in New York, he encountered a disheveled (for lack of better term) Hank Pym ( @ / pympartic ) and takes him in. Gets Hank to doctors and Doctor Strange, and manages to confirm this Hank alive and Ultron free. Not wanting to alert everyone, due to his own worries about Hank and respect for Hank's wishes, he tells no one about his appearance and takes Hank in. Hank Pym becomes his roommate rent free, and honestly has helped Clint find some stability by having someone living with him. He's kept Hank a secret, letting Hank be the one to dictate who knows he is alive or not

EIGHT Additionally, consequences for Clint's actions, he truly does not own the Bed Stuy building anymore and it's one of his biggest regrets. He does not live in Bed Stuy anymore, his new apartment is a two bedroom in a different neighborhood in Brooklyn arranged by Tbolts PR Manager, Helen, who happens to have a key by the way (canon fact).

NINE The combo of asking Carol's advice and her becoming his sponsor along for the fact, Clint has been living with Hank Pym and seeing him recover from his traumas, has lead to Clint really trying these days, and always managing to get back go sober because he likes being sober after his slips, as well as it has led Clint to opening his eyes with how dissatisfied with the state of the Thunderbolts.

TEN His roommate, Hank, has begun to make contact with more and more of their mutuals friends, letting them know he's alive and doing well amd this eventually leads to Clint getting back in contact with a lot with a more people.

ELEVEN Such as Tony ( @ / overclocks ) whom Clint has since asked for help from and announced he wants to be an Avenger again and is in the process of quitting the Thunderbolts, once he gets out the contract he signed but didn't necessary scruntize over details. Additionally, Tony has been kind enough to offer to help Clint and Hank out by allowing them to move into an old brownstone he still has (since your pr manger/boss having keys to your apartment is a red flag).

IN SUMMARY Clint's sponsor is Carol, he's sober and going on 6 months soon, he is quitting the Thunderbolts, focusing efforts to be Avenger worthy, he's moving into a vacant brownstone Tony owns, his roommate is Hank Pym back from "the dead" and he'd reconnecting with people such as kate bishop ( looks at dani @ / purplearchcr ) , steve rogers ( looks at dean @ / shieldslinger ), as well as making new connections ( looking at Cass spider zombie @ / spiderz0mbie ). Clint's in his recovery and redemption era.

This is in general the details I am working with when I write with everyone, and is my main 616 setting and plotlines I am developing or have had an increased interest in writing. So if you see these mentions in other threads, now you know.

There is going be shipping in this main verse in which Clint and Hank are gonna smooch (aka Pow and I are severely brainrotted over Hawkant. Clint should kiss his friend, should marry the old Ant Man and adopt kids with him).

Yet here's a little disclaimer / reminder. I am still multiship

(I love all my ship partners and the verses we develop 💜💕 shout out to lynn, aurora, archer, rain, rocky, pom, and ce. I love our ships so much i am looking at all of you)

I do have other 616 verses beautifully crafted with other writers/friends and based around my ship partners and our ships, and I have posts for those somewhere, or I will make a new own when I redo my connections page, but hey if you're writing partner you're my bestie and we could develop verses too).

[sleetsong]

This turned into a headcanon and now I must have a verse for this. Below is a detailed breakdown of the team, their move set and how they benefit eachother on the team.

It is not surprising that Ami is mostly a water trainer. However, her team is not just not for water & ice abilities but also for their ability to stall the enemy. A team built around set up and inflicting status on the other team.

#131 Lapras - Item: Damp rock (increases duration of rain). Ability: Hydration (heals any status in rain every turn rain is active) Nature: Calm (+ sp def , - atk) Life Dew - heal self and allies Snowscape - set up snowstorm (increase ice type defense by 50%, reduces solarbeam/solar blade power) Rain Dance - set up rain (lower fire type damage by 50%, increase water damage by 50%) Weather Ball - flexible depending on weather (rain = water, snow = ice, sun = fire, sandstorm = rock, no weather = normal)

#134 Vaporeon - Ability: Hydration (heals any status in rain every turn rain is active) Item: Leftovers (heals 1/16th HP per turn) Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk) EV: 252 HP, 180 Def, 78 Sp Def Scald - burn/s.t.a.b. (same type attack bonus) Toxic (poison damage per turn, gets worse every turn) Ice Beam Rain Dance

#121 Starmie - Item: choice specs (+special attack, can only use 1 move until switch) / Choice scarf (+speed, can only use 1 move until switch) items are team dependent. Ability: Natural cure for status heal on switch Timid (+Speed, -Atk) EV: 252 Sp Atk, 252 Speed, 6 HP Surf Psychic Thunderbolt Ice beam

#478 Froslass - Item: Focus sash (able to survive a knock out when at full health) Ability: Snow cloak, boost evasions in snowstorm. Nature: Hasty (+Speed, -Def) EV: 128 HP, 130 Sp Atk, 252 Speed Will-o-wisp (inflicts burn / lowers attack of opponent) Hex (more powerful when opponent has status like burn/poison/paralysis) Blizzard (doesn't miss in snowstorm, 70% accuracy otherwise, most powerful ice attack) Snowscape - snow weather set up - ice types get 50% def (no damage to non-ice types), blizzard doesn't miss

#873 Frosmoth- Item: Sitrus berry (restores 25% health when health goes below 50%) Ability: Ice scales. Halves dmg from sp atk. Nature: Modest (+Sp Atk, -Atk) EV: 252 Sp Atk, 252 Speed, 6 HP Quiver dance (increase speed/special defense/special attack) Blizzard (doesn't miss in snowstorm, 70% accuracy otherwise, most powerful ice attack) Tailwind (increases team speed for set duration) Bug Buzz (powerful/accurage bug stab)

#914 Quaquaval - Item: Lum berry (heals any status, 1 time use) Ability: Moxie (increase attack every time it knocks out opponent) Nature: Adamant (+Atk, - Sp Atk) EV: 252 Atk, 252 Speed, 6 HP Aqua step (speed boost/water stab) Close Combat (most powerful move/fighting stab, lowers defenses) Ice spinner (removes environmental hazards from the field, very important against stealth rocks, which would do 25% total health damage against Froslass/Lapras, and 50% against Frosmoth) U-Turn (chip damage / strategic retreat / bug type coverage)

Vaporeon will be the main staller and weather setup. With a bold nature, and specialized training to bolster its health and defense, it relies on setting up Rain Dance. With it's Hydration ability, any status inflicted on it (burn/paralysis/sleep/poison) will be healed in the rain. Holding leftovers will be the only real recovery for it. Due to the 50% boost from Rain Dance, Vaporeon really doesn't need any investment in special attack for Scald to hit hard. From there, Scald and Toxic will be the primary threats from Vaporeon. 30% burn chance from Scald can shut down a physically offensive threat and inflict a status on anything immune to poisoning (poison/steel). Toxic will put a ticking clock on any pokemon that it hits, and is devastating for any defensive stalls. Ice Beam is a solid option for coverage, and the rare freeze/frostbite (depending on gen 8 / gen 9 mechanics) can occasionally turn the tide of battle, whether by incapacitating a threat, or shutting down a special attacker. It is meant to tank and 1v1 most threats that cannot hit it super effectively.

Starmie is the hyper offensive sweeper. Timid in nature, it has been trained for speed and offensive power. Depending on the team that they are up against (if trainer knows the opposition ahead of time), they will either use choice specs for improved power, or a choice scarf to outrun any faster threats (especially in the gen 9 speed power creep meta). Surf / Psychic are the primary moves to use for the same type attack bonus against neutral threats, and Thunderbolt and Ice Beam give Starmie near perfect super effective coverage in combination with the other moves (Bug, Steel, Fairy, Normal, Dark, and Ghost are the only types that are NOT hit super effectively by Starmie on its own). Really simple: just switch in, use the most effective move (that it is now locked into), and switch out when needed. Its Natural Cure ability will heal any status effects that may have affected it whenever it switches out.

Lapras is another pokemon filling a similar role to vaporeon, only it's more tailored for double battles and team support. It will know both Rain Dance and Snowscape to set up weather to support the team. The rain will be most beneficial for vaporeon in case it cannot set up due to a lack of safe switch in / in a double battle where it would be better for it to use a move, but will boost all water moves on the field. Snowscape is more beneficial for Lapras itself, giving it a much needed 50% defense boost to act as a real tank, and will benefit any ice types switching in. Due to the double weather coverage, its only offensive move will be weather ball, which is double power and changes typing when the user is under a weather condition (rain = water, snow = ice, sun = fire, sandstorm = rock, no weather = normal). Its final move is Life Dew, where it can heal itself and its ally in battle (ally needs to be on the field and participating in fight). Lapras has a calm nature, making it good in a crisis to care for its allies both in and out of battle.

Froslass is a debilitator in build. While fast like Starmie, it lacks the same power. Frosslass has a hasty nature that has been tempered somewhat on its training to increase its speed to avoid attacks and some physical conidtioning to be able to stay in the fight just a little longer. It makes up for this with situationally more powerful moves. This pokemon will most often be switched in after Lapras sets up snow to ensure that its powerful blizzard cannot ever miss, and to benefit from snow's defense boost to other ice types. Other than that, it relies on Will-o-Wisp to debilitate physical threats with burns, and boost the power of its own Hex move. If it ever encounters a threat that it cannot win against, it will use Destiny Bond to take down the enemy with it. In desperate battles, sometimes Frosslass will be sent in solely for its fast Destiny Bond to neutralize a team-ending threat.

Frosmoth, the most elegant pokemon and specially powerful on the team, also happens to be the most modest. Despite its modesty, and what the pokedex may say about its abilities, Frosmoth can and will sweep entire teams if not dealt with quickly. Its ice scales ability makes it surprisingly resistant to special attacks, and when combined with Lapras' Snowscape for its defense boost, this moth is suprisingly durable. Its first move in most situations is using Quiver Dance, where its special attack, special defense, and speed are boosted. This makes its Blizzard devastatingly powerful, especially when combined with the snowstorm weather effect, where it bypasses all accuracy checks. Outside of that weather, its 70% accuracy makes it a high risk/high reward move. For reliable damage, Bug Buzz will be Frosmoth's primary move outside of weather, or against grass/psychic/dark types. While another offensive move may be a more typical choice, Frosmoth can support the rest of the team with Tailwind: giving the whole team a temporary speed boost. This is very useful in doubles or right before a switch/imminent defeat.

Quaquaval is the ace up Ami's sleeve. The sole physical attacker, this pokemon can truly stand alone against most threat. It has an adamant nature, it is nearly impossible to get this pokemon to back down, whether its through its dance performances, or in battling. Its training focused on speed and power, which also benefits its dancing outside of combat. Its Moxie ability makes it more powerful every time it knocks out an opponent, and Aqua Step makes it faster every time the move is used. As such, if used as a revenge killer or to finish off an oponent near the start of the battle, Quaquaval will snowball HARD. It also knows Close Combat, its most powerful move but also lowers its defenses, but that is usually not a concern when its offense and speed are being boosted almost every turn. Ice Spinner is a powerful physical ice type move that can also clear hazards like Spikes or Steath Rocks from the field, the later of which is devastating for each ice type on the team (especially Frosmoth). Its final move, U-Turn, allows it to do damage before switching out for another pokemon, ensuring it will get decent damage before strategically retreating.

Art Credit

[romancomicsnews]

Who should be the villain of Spider-Man 4?

Following the Watts Spider-Man trilogy, Peter Parker in the MCU has faced a number of his most iconic villains. From the villains of the Raimi-verse to Mysterio and Vulture, it seems like there are few villains left for a reported 6 more movies.

What's worse, villains like Venom, Kraven, and Carnage are being taken up by Sony Picture Universe of Marvel Characters (or SPUMC) with mediocre to bad films like Madame Web or Morbius.

While there is potential for new and fresh versions of Doc Ock, Green Goblin, and more to be put into the MCU, and I think they absolutely should, before we go there I think there are a number of solid to great Spider-Man villains who have not made their film debut who can add something new to these films.

I've put together a list of five I think could make solid contenders for Spider-Man 4, a few potential film ideas for each, and some casting ideas, all leading up to my favorite.

5. Swarm

Starting off with the least likely and my least favorite, Swarm was a Nazi Scientist and Beekeeper turned literal swarm of Bees. Due to his form, he can become intangible, fly, possesses super strength, and is the stuff of nightmares.

Due to his Nazi background, this character would need a complete retooling. Perhaps a scientist looking to cure death, or an Oscorp accident turning a good man into a monster.

If we wanted a more horror based superhero movie, this would be the way to go. This character has the potential to be very scary. Think Candy Man but a scientist hunting Spider-Man, perhaps for a cure or for getting in his way.

I'd love a Keith David, someone with a booming voice, scary, but can play sympathetic. Imagine the cat from Coraline or the Voodoo Man hunting Spider-Man, or desperately seeking a cure for his condition, killing anyone in his way.

I think characters like this have been done in the Raimi movies in particular, but could feel fresh in the MCU. Again though, it's a bit controversial being a former Nazi, and the retooling of the character may not be worth it if we're just scratching the surface of good villains.

4. The Prowler

This one is extremely obvious but worth a mention.

The only character already in the MCU, he has been casted extremely well AND has only grown in popularity. Putting him in as Spideys new big bad would not only ground the movie with a very human villain, but set up the story for Miles Morales.

Prowler can take the place of the physical villain of the film similar to Winter Soldier. His strings can be held by Kingpin, Hammerhead, Norman Osborn, Silvermane, or Tombstone, using him as a weapon against their enemies, including Spider-Man.

My main argument against this is simple, it isn't the right time. If we are doing Aaron Davis, we need to do Miles. I think that's better for the 5th or even 6th movie, but not yet. Let Peter have more years under his belt as Spidey before he teaches another.

He'd be a strong pick for a 5th movie, or even maybe a secondary villain in a 4th movie, but not a good main antagonist.

3. The Beetle

Abe Jenkins or Leila Davis have both donned the name The Beetle, an armored villain usually after money and fame. However, this character has a lot of range.

Sometimes they're a heroic member of the Thunderbolts, sometimes they're a petty villain, a genius, daughter of mob boss Tombstone, and sometimes even in a wildly different armor. There are a lot of ways to go with this villain.

Due to the flexibility of the character, we really can use them anyway imaginable. He could be a failed Stark employee (again), a genius prodigy like Peter, an antihero who kills, a terminator like threat, or anything in between.

I think having Spidey face an Iron Man of his own could be a good way to show his more intelligent side, and make Peter deal with the loss of Tony yet again.

Again the range give us quite a few ideas for actors. I'd really like someone who can do desperation and scary but intelligent. Jason Clarke I don't think gets enough love.

If we went with a younger actress and the daughter of Tombstone, I'm a big fan of Logan Browning. I think she'd make a great antivillain turned hero in the MCU, and be part of Spider-Mans new crew. Maybe help him engineer new (although be it not Tony Stark levels) of tech.

I think this villain has the potential to be brought up to Vulture or Mysterio status, they're just not my favorite as far as fresh and interesting.

2. The Jackal

This may be controversial but I'll die on this hill.

Miles Warren is a geneticist who has gone mad due to the loss of Gwen Stacy. He blames Spider-Man and swears revenge, turning himself into the monstrous Jackal.

The Jackal would be an excellent villain to introduce into the MCU and a Spider-Man movie so we can get a version of the worst comic book storylines: The Clone Saga.

Now before you think that is a terrible idea, remember that we just got a great Spider-Man movie based around a version of One More Day. So hear me out.

Having the Jackal create a Spider-Man for Peter to fight would be inherently interesting. Imagine a chase scene where two Spider-Men (both Tom Holland) are chasing each other swinging around New York. It could be as iconic as Zod and Superman in Man of Steel.

Adding the Jackal also means adding Ben Reilly into the MCU, a fun new addition which lets us see Hollands range. Who doesn't want to see edgy Tom?

The Jackal would also be very reminiscent of The Green Goblin while being something fresh and new. He can be scary and creepy, all while being a physical match for both Peter and Ben Reilly. We can get someone Dafoe type to ham it up and give us an iconic weird performance.

My pick would be Bryan Cranston. Forget Lex Luthor, let's let him ham it up and go nuts as a hairy Grinch style villain.

My only concern would be the backlash for even considering it from comic book fans. But, I think if done well, all will be forgiven.

1. Mr Negative

Anyone who has played PS4 Spider-Man and read my blogs knew where I was going.

Having Martin Li as the central antagonist would be a perfect balance for Spider-Man. He is superpowered, making him an equivalent to Spidey. He has the potential to be a mentor turned villain, like all great Spider-Man villains.

Li also is the perfect linchpin to crime villains in the Marvel Universe. He could create a Superpowered gang war against other villains like Kingpin, Silvermane, or Tombstone, putting Spider-Man in the center of something very grounded and dangerous.

Create a mob style movie with Spider-Man unable to fathom how deep crime in NY goes could be the refreshing story the MCU needs. It could add interesting Marvel characters like Daredevil, Black Cat, Punisher, Kingpin, Hammerhead, and more.

And it would all be centered around a character Spider-Man fans currently love. It's absolutely perfect.

I don't have a cast for this, as it would need to be a very gifted martial artist and seemingly good guy turned evil. But I think Marvel can nail casting.

All in all, Li would be the perfect villain for Spider-Man 4. Someone powerful enough to be a threat, fresh enough to be fun, and grounded enough to tell a very different interesting Spider-Man story.

Thank you so much for reading! Please consider following, and check out my socials and other sites here! And let me know: Who do you want to see Peter face in Spider-Man 4?

[shootsxruns]

𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖚𝖒𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖟𝖊𝖉 𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖌𝖎𝖗𝖑 : main verse.

based loosely on the earth - 616 comics , along with headcanons , anya is a twin child born to natalia romanova and bucky barnes after attempting to escape HYDRA. a month after their birth , HYDRA retrieves anya and bucky , putting her through the red room as well as the winter soldier program , and assisted stress testing to expose a possible mutant gene. ( includes chapters where she defects , tries to have a normal life , and later becoming and avenger as well as a thunderbolt. )

𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖇𝖞 𝖒𝖞 𝖘𝖎𝖉𝖊 : variant soldat.

in an alternate universe where james defects with natalia romanova , and going to work for SHIELD , anya is left with HYDRA to continue their work , after successfully convincing james and nat of anya's death. she would go on to become the winter soldier , and wouldn't see bucky again until attempting to assassinate captain america.

𝖘𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝖔𝖚𝖙𝖙𝖆 𝖇𝖗𝖔𝖔𝖐𝖑𝖞𝖓 : shameless based au.

based on the us version of the television series shameless , this verse is a weird homebrew of shameless , typical cop drama , and daredevil style super hero tales. bucky struggles to juggle supporting his family while cleaning up the streets of brooklyn one gang at a time.

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖙𝖔 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖉 : zombie au.

a homebrew of various zombie genres , bucky , steve , and natasha are former special ops in the aftermath of a zombie outbreak. trying to protect their family , and discovering the hand they may have had in outbreak taking place.

𝖜𝖔𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖗 𝖞𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖘 : stranger things au.

after bucky and anya defect from HYDRA , they make their way through europe , and find themselves state side and heading inland , to hawkins indiana. running into two rather familiar faces , and a group of unfamiliar ones , the group of heroes are forced to help this town combat soviets kidnapping kids for experiments , and something much more sinister.

[the-poke-nebula]

Sky’s Paldean Team

Due to the blog finally hitting the New Year, time to expand upon my main muse’s canon!

It’s no secret that Sky, no matter his verse, will travel to Paldea. Not to mention, in his own fashion, he’d start completely over in the region, like he did in Galar. Sky’s final team is as follows;

Cole the Skeledirge @ Leftovers

This was his starter! His ability was changed via Ability Patch to Unaware, Modest Nature, and its attacks are Torch Song, Shadow Ball, Earth Power, and Slack Off.

Croissa the Dachsbun @ Assault Vest

As soon as he saw Fidough he knew he had to catch one, not even knowing how cracked Dachsbun can be. Her ability remains Well-Baked Body, Adamant Nature, and her attacks are Play Rough, Crunch, Fire Fang, and Psychic Fangs.

Soul the Ceruledge @ Life Orb

While his Paldean Adventure technically allowed both paths, he chose a more Violet approach for his Team. Her ability is Flash Fire, Adamant Nature, and her moves are Bitter Blade, Swords Dance, Night Slash, and Shadow Sneak.

Bluster the Kilowattrel (Shiny) @ Leftovers

A good Flying-Type is always a plus, and one that has great coverage is a double-plus. His ability is Wind Power, Timid Nature, and his moves are Tailwind, Thunderbolt, Air Slash, and Volt Switch.

Anuktituk the Cyclizar @ Leftovers

With as insane a coverage that Cyclizar can get for a Normal/Dragon Type, why would Sky NOT use one? Its ability is Regenerator and its moves are Shed Tail, Shift Gear, Dragon Claw, and Body Slam.

Chien-Pao @ Life Orb

Now THIS ONE is an interesting Case. After having accidentally unsealed Chien-Pao from its resting place, Sky had to chase after it to prevent it from causing ruin. After capturing it, Sky realized that not only was it the souls of those slain by the blade of its teeth, but also that it didn’t want to cause Ruin. Sky gave it the chance it deserved, and now Chien-Pao, like Havoc before it, is a sworn ally to the team. Chien-Pao’s ability remains its signature Sword of Ruin, Jolly Nature, with moves being Ice Spinner, Swords Dance, Sucker Punch, and Sacred Sword.

Sky will also use the following, depending on the situation; -Clodsire -Baxcalibur -Koraidon -His Umbreon, Shadow -His Vivillon, Demonia

[fatedrain]

TAG DUMP!

「 🌊✧༄ —   ❝ Xingqiu at your service my liege! ❞ (MAIN ACT)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —   ❝ 'Twas on a deserted moonlit night that the hero approached the vile dragon's limpid lair. ❞ (musings)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —  ❝ Body and mind! ❞ (dash commentary)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —  ❝ Know my sword! ❞ (memes)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —  ❝ May knowledge guide you. ❞ (answered asks)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —   ❝ NOW PLAYING: ❞ (music box)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —   ❝ Evidently my hobby is reading. I'll read anything and everything. ...What's that mischievous grin for? ❞ (headcanons)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —   ❝ A word from Chi ❞ (OOC)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —   Check them out! (promo)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —   ❝ I can’t stop making new muses. ❞ (self promo)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —   ❝  I usually get Chongyun to handle these situations hehe... ❞ (crack)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —   Let me weave you a verse! (aesthetics)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —   ❝ Pikaqueue use Thunderbolt! ❞ (queue)

「 🌊 ✧༄ —   ❝ Are you keeping well my liege? ❞ (STARTER CALL)

[pikabxi-blog]

@akumatsuno liked for a starter!

Denki had just left U.A’s campus, looking to buy a treat for himself from the nearest convenience store, having finally saved up enough yen to do so. At least, that was the plan, but the faint sound of a spray can being shaken caught his attention, distracting him. From a quick survey of his surroundings, he couldn’t determine where the sound had come from. (despite standing right next to the mouth of an alleyway.) Darn, now he was really curious. (He sure did look like a fool, just standing still in the middle of the sidewalk the way he was)

[mutous]

Panda didnt care Kura had been away, All he cared about was he was back.

And he showed his happiness by running up and giving him a huge hug...knocking them.both over.

Unprompted asks | Always accepting!

The hug came as a surprise. As soon as he felt a body crash right into his own, seemingly out of nowhere, Kura didn’t have the time to steady himself before they both came tumbling down onto the ground with a loud THUD. Air briefly knocked from his lungs, Kura was stunned for a moment. He blinks several times, registering what had happened, before he finally glanced down at the other who practically clung to him.

“Ah. . .Panda! It’s good to see you too!” He finally wheezed out, gentle fond laughter escaping his lips as he eventually wrapped his arms around Panda’s frame, giving him an affectionate squeeze. “I’m guessing my presence was missed?”

[legobiwan]

From one low-key Bucky Barnes stan to another...got any good fic recs? 👀🥺

Bucky!!!!!!!

So.

I think most anyone can find the fandom classics featuring Bucky without too much issue, so I won't waste time listing those. (This You Protect, Ain't No Grave, Barnes vs. the United States, etc.) The thing about Bucky fics (beyond the sheer volume of them) is that they can have a tendency to fall into some serious tropes, especially the post-TWS recovery fics (please, stop infantilizing an internationally renown assassin, among other things). For lack of better ideas, here's a fic that's gen, not quite as popular on ao3, and very, very good:

Reconstruction by Jocelyn

I love a good Winter Soldier trial fic and this one does an incredible job of creating a believable scenario where both Bucky's torture and crimes are realistic given the set-up in the movies/comics. (Let's face it, he had to have killed far more than two dozen people over those 70 years and had to endure gods-knows-what along the way.) This fic also does an amazing job of world-building Wakanda and its characters (more comics-based than MCU-based) so they have agency and are not props for Steve and Bucky's mega-white boy angst. Along with this, this story features a very complicated Tony and deals quite well with the post-Civil War fallout without throwing anyone under the bus. And Wanda gets some fantastic moments. The end, which slides into Infinity War, goes a little off-the-rails, as the story suddenly jumps into something a lot more Loki-centric, but the initial 80-90% of the fic is A+.

Stucky

Confession time: Okay, so I will admit that Stucky fics are a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine, even though a lot of them are super-tropey and can run the risk of Flanderizing one of or both main characters (or Sam and Natasha, who also get dragged into this type of character assassination). Blame it on my month-long insomnia stint in July, I'll read just about anything at 3am. I had a small list of fics that I was going to publish, but I'm not going to get into it right now. Suffice it to say I enjoy the following themes (gen or slash) if done well:

Bucky thinks Steve is his handler

Bucky revenge tour

Competent badass Backy who still stabs the shit out of people

Steve revenge tour

And yes, Steve and Bucky on Vormir. Because pain.

FATWS

The world needs more gen/gen-ish FATWS stories. Here's one I really enjoyed:

The Old Words by kvikindi

Ignore the slash pairing on this one, there's nothing explicit in it. Fantastic exploration of the twisted relationship between Zemo and Bucky and a lot of Sokovian world-building.

FICS I WANT TO READ/TO EXIST

A post-Endgame (gen) fic exploring what Bucky does in canon, as in, how does he get that conditional pardon and what the hell is he doing between Endgame and FATWS, and how does he deal with Steve's decision to stay behind? (And is he really just...alone the entire time? That's sad. Oh, Bucky.)

As mentioned above, more gen FATWS fics. Specifically dealing with the fallout from Madripoor and the possible repercussions of, you know, Bucky's whole bar fight being recorded on a zillion cell phones and thus violating the terms of his pardon. Because I want to believe there's a reason for that. I want Thunderbolts and Bucky being blackmailed onto that team (the comics run is fantastic). Basically, give us more comic!Bucky characterization, as I love how he is constantly improving yet struggling with that moral line in the sand and the specters of his past.

But seriously, I would love a more fleshed-out FATWS-verse. More Sam! More Bucky! More Zemo! More Walker! More Lamar! Just...keep it gen.

Reverse Infinity War-snap with Bucky and Loki working together (gen, please). I'm sure there are some out there and I just haven't found them. They are two characters who I think would have a fascinating dynamic.

More Zemo and Bucky fics (non-slash or at least very subtle slash). They have such a bizarre and twisted relationship and I LOVE it.

Alpine's backstory. I love Alpine.

[antinous-posts]

Mythology

Early life

According to Apollodorus and a fragment of Pindar, Orpheus' father was Oeagrus, a Thracian king, or, according to another version of the story, the god Apollo. His mother was (1) the muse Calliope, (2) her sister Polymnia, (3) a daughter of Pierus, son of Makednos or (4) lastly of Menippe, daughter of Thamyris. According to Tzetzes, he was from Bisaltia. His birthplace and place of residence was Pimpleia close to the Olympus. Strabo mentions that he lived in Pimpleia. According to the epic poem Argonautica, Pimpleia was the location of Oeagrus' and Calliope's wedding. While living with his mother and her eight beautiful sisters in Parnassus, he met Apollo, who was courting the laughing muse Thalia. Apollo, as the god of music, gave Orpheus a golden lyre and taught him to play it. Orpheus' mother taught him to make verses for singing. He is also said to have studied in Egypt.

Orpheus is said to have established the worship of Hecate in Aegina. In Laconia Orpheus is said to have brought the worship of Demeter Chthonia and that of the Κόρες Σωτείρας (Kóres Sōteíras; 'Saviour Maidens'). Also in Taygetos a wooden image of Orpheus was said to have been kept by Pelasgians in the sanctuary of the Eleusinian Demeter.

According to Diodorus Siculus, Musaeus of Athens was the son of Orpheus.

Adventure as an Argonaut

Main article: Argonautica

The Argonautica (Ἀργοναυτικά) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. Orpheus took part in this adventure and used his skills to aid his companions. Chiron told Jason that without the aid of Orpheus, the Argonauts would never be able to pass the Sirens—the same Sirens encountered by Odysseus in Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. The Sirens lived on three small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them, which resulted in the crashing of their ships into the islands. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew his lyre and played music that was louder and more beautiful, drowning out the Sirens' bewitching songs. According to 3rd century BC Hellenistic elegiac poet Phanocles, Orpheus loved the young Argonaut Calais, "the son of Boreas, with all his heart, and went often in shaded groves still singing of his desire, nor was his heart at rest. But always, sleepless cares wasted his spirits as he looked at fresh Calais."

Death of Eurydice

The most famous story in which Orpheus figures is that of his wife Eurydice (sometimes referred to as Euridice and also known as Argiope). While walking among her people, the Cicones, in tall grass at her wedding, Eurydice was set upon by a satyr. In her efforts to escape the satyr, Eurydice fell into a nest of vipers and suffered a fatal bite on her heel. Her body was discovered by Orpheus who, overcome with grief, played such sad and mournful songs that all the nymphs and gods wept. On their advice, Orpheus traveled to the underworld. His music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone, who agreed to allow Eurydice to return with him to earth on one condition: he should walk in front of her and not look back until they both had reached the upper world. Orpheus set off with Eurydice following; however, as soon as he had reached the upper world, he immediately turned to look at her, forgetting in his eagerness that both of them needed to be in the upper world for the condition to be met. As Eurydice had not yet crossed into the upper world, she vanished for the second time, this time forever.

The story in this form belongs to the time of Virgil, who first introduces the name of Aristaeus (by the time of Virgil's Georgics, the myth has Aristaeus chasing Eurydice when she was bitten by a serpent) and the tragic outcome. Other ancient writers, however, speak of Orpheus' visit to the underworld in a more negative light; according to Phaedrus in Plato's Symposium, the infernal gods only "presented an apparition" of Eurydice to him. In fact, Plato's representation of Orpheus is that of a coward, as instead of choosing to die in order to be with the one he loved, he instead mocked the gods by trying to go to Hades to bring her back alive. Since his love was not "true"—he did not want to die for love—he was actually punished by the gods, first by giving him only the apparition of his former wife in the underworld, and then by being killed by women. In Ovid's account, however, Eurydice's death by a snake bite is incurred while she was dancing with naiads on her wedding day.

Virgil wrote in his poem that Dryads wept from Epirus and Hebrus up to the land of the Getae (north east Danube valley) and even describes him wandering into Hyperborea and Tanais (ancient Greek city in the Don river delta) due to his grief.

The story of Eurydice may actually be a late addition to the Orpheus myths. In particular, the name Eurudike ("she whose justice extends widely") recalls cult-titles attached to Persephone. According to the theories of poet Robert Graves, the myth may have been derived from another Orpheus legend, in which he travels to Tartarus and charms the goddess Hecate.

The myth theme of not looking back, an essential precaution in Jason's raising of chthonic Brimo Hekate under Medea's guidance, is reflected in the Biblical story of Lot's wife when escaping from Sodom. More directly, the story of Orpheus is similar to the ancient Greek tales of Persephone captured by Hades and similar stories of Adonis captive in the underworld. However, the developed form of the Orpheus myth was entwined with the Orphic mystery cults and, later in Rome, with the development of Mithraism and the cult of Sol Invictus.

Death

According to a Late Antique summary of Aeschylus' lost play Bassarids, Orpheus, towards the end of his life, disdained the worship of all gods except the sun, whom he called Apollo. One early morning he went to the oracle of Dionysus at Mount Pangaion to salute his god at dawn, but was ripped to shreds by Thracian Maenads for not honoring his previous patron (Dionysus) and was buried in Pieria. Here his death is analogous with that of Pentheus, who was also torn to pieces by Maenads; and it has been speculated that the Orphic mystery cult regarded Orpheus as a parallel figure to or even an incarnation of Dionysus. Both made similar journeys into Hades, and Dionysus-Zagreus suffered an identical death. Pausanias writes that Orpheus was buried in Dion and that he met his death there. He writes that the river Helicon sank underground when the women that killed Orpheus tried to wash off their blood-stained hands in its waters. Other legends claim that Orpheus became a follower of Dionysus and spread his cult across the land. In this version of the legend, it is said that Orpheus was torn to shreds by the women of Thrace for his inattention.

Ovid recounts that Orpheus ...

had abstained from the love of women, either because things ended badly for him, or because he had sworn to do so. Yet, many felt a desire to be joined with the poet, and many grieved at rejection. Indeed, he was the first of the Thracian people to transfer his affection to young boys and enjoy their brief springtime, and early flowering this side of manhood.

— Ovid. trans. A. S. Kline, Ovid: The Metamorphoses, Book X

Feeling spurned by Orpheus for taking only male lovers (eromenoi), the Ciconian women, followers of Dionysus, first threw sticks and stones at him as he played, but his music was so beautiful even the rocks and branches refused to hit him. Enraged, the women tore him to pieces during the frenzy of their Bacchic orgies. In Albrecht Dürer's drawing of Orpheus' death, based on an original, now lost, by Andrea Mantegna, a ribbon high in the tree above him is lettered Orfeus der erst puseran ("Orpheus, the first pederast").

His head and lyre, still singing mournful songs, floated down the River Hebrus into the sea, after which the winds and waves carried them to the island of Lesbos, at the city of Methymna; there, the inhabitants buried his head and a shrine was built in his honour near Antissa; there his oracle prophesied, until it was silenced by Apollo. In addition to the people of Lesbos, Greeks from Ionia and Aetolia consulted the oracle, and his reputation spread as far as Babylon.

Cave of Orpheus' oracle in Antissa, Lesbos

Orpheus' lyre was carried to heaven by the Muses, and was placed among the stars. The Muses also gathered up the fragments of his body and buried them at Leibethra below Mount Olympus, where the nightingales sang over his grave. After the river Sys flooded

Leibethra, the Macedonians took his bones to Dion. Orpheus' soul returned to the underworld, to the fields of the Blessed, where he was reunited at last with his beloved Eurydice.

Another legend places his tomb at Dion, near Pydna in Macedon. In another version of the myth, Orpheus travels to Aornum in Thesprotia, Epirus to an old oracle for the dead. In the end Orpheus commits suicide from his grief unable to find Eurydice.

"Others said that he was the victim of a thunderbolt."

From Wikipedia

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Orpheus the musician & beast tamer.

Art by Brittany Beverung @artistfuly

[mastcrmarksman]

Clint in his main 616 setting

(excluding all the ships and ship verses I have)

★ ⸻ GENERAL

Name : Clinton Francis Barton

Title(s) : Hawkeye, formerly Ronin, Goliath

Gender : Cis male.

Age : in his 40s

Birthday : June 18th

Place of birth : Waverly, Iowa

Spoken & understood language(s) : English, American Sign Language, Italian

Sexual preference : Bisexual

Occupation(s) : Superhero, Vigilante, currently on the NYC/Luke Cage's Thunderbolts

★ ⸻ APPEARANCE

Eye color : Blue

Hair color : Blonde

Height : 6'3"

Major scars : A small vertical scar over the right side of his lip, a small horizontal scar that goes across his nose, various scars along his arms and abdomen from bullets and arrows (I need to make a scar map)

★ ⸻ FAVORITE

Color : Purple

Song : She's Always A Woman - Billy Joel

Food : Grilled food

Drink : Coffee

★ ⸻ HAVE THEY…

Passed university : Nope (only in alt verses has he even finished high school/middle school)

Had sex : Yes

Had sex in public : Yes

Gotten pregnant/someone else pregnant : Yes :(

Kissed a boy : Yes

Kissed a girl : Yes, a lot

Gotten tattoos : I'm gonna give him some

Gotten piercings : No

Stayed up for more than 24 hours : Yeah, bad habit

★ ⸻ ARE THEY…

A virgin : No

A cuddler : Yes

A kisser : Yes

Scared easily : Not that you would ever know

Jealous easily : Somewhat yes

Trustworthy : Yes (and sometimes no)

Dominant : Yes, when he wants to be

Submissive : Yes, he enjoys

In love : He's always a little in love

Single : Yes (again dependent on alt verses)

★ ⸻ RANDOM QUESTIONS

Have they harmed themselves : Yes

Thought of suicide : Yes

Attempted suicide : Debatable, he has sacrificed himself before

Wanted to kill someone : Yes, he's attempted and if you count Bruce Banner

Have/had a job : Yes, he also use to have a security job

Have any fears : Yes. Failure. Loneliness. Being the same.

★ ⸻ FAMILY

Sibling(s) : Yes, Charles Bernard Barton aka Barney

Parent(s) : Harold Barton and Edith Barton

Children : None

Significant other : Not currently (verse dependent again)

Pet(s) : Lucky the dog. (Verse dependent he has more)

Tagged : I stole from @prcspcr (Spock is a liar)

Tagging : take it from me babes 😘

[letswritefanfiction]

Pokémon Alphabet Challenge: V is for ‘Verse

Can also be read on ffnet here.

-

When he barged in, he immediately saw that the Battle was already over, and she was shaking the hand of a young boy in front of her. Whether the Battle had ended in win or defeat for her, Ash didn't know, but he also didn't slow down for her to make it through formalities. Once he was fairly sure that the echoes of the pool wouldn't distort his voice, he shouted, "Misty!"

In the empty arena, his voice spread like water, touching every wall and sounding almost like he had shouted from within the pool itself. Misty's head shot up at the sound of her name and soon she was standing ramrod straight.

"Ash?" she asked in a terrible shock. "What are you doing here?"

He ran right up to her, one hand on her shoulder, one on her cheek, then one in her hair, and one taking her hand. Then he grinned.

"It's you. It's definitely you."

 -

It had all started with a simple mission from Lusamine.

Well, it was from Lusamine, but it definitely wasn't simple. Simple was fighting and capturing the Ultra Beasts. Not simple was trying to find the root cause of why so many Ultra Wormholes were opening up in the first place, and why Ultra Beasts kept on coming through them. As far as the Aether Foundation knew, the only ways to open Ultra Wormholes were through Legendary Pokémon like Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma, sometimes through the Ultra Beasts themselves, and through the machine that they had created. And theoretically no similar machinery was in use anywhere else.

Not that it was the job of the Ultra Guardians to research any of the strange phenomena going on. But there were two sentences from Lusamine and Professor Burnet that locked them into this job nevertheless.

Lusamine: "We've hit a standstill on our research at the Foundation and we'd like to check out things on the other side."

Professor Burnet: "I've noticed a strange uptick in Ultra Wormhole-like energy emanating from you kids and Lusamine since you returned so, if you're up to it, you're probably the best candidates for the job."

That's how they came to be the lead explorers of Ultra Wormholes. And it was going great! Until that time they didn't manage to make it to Ultra Space at all.

They'd been growing increasingly familiar with Ultra Space. Sophocles had nicked a few more rocks and taken them back to Alola for study (that first one was still just for him, though). They'd also deferred to Rotom Dex to record videos and whatever data it found. So it was immediately evident when they came out the other side of a Wormhole and, instead of landing in a dark wasteland defying even their most rudimentary physics knowledge, they were dropped in a very normal-looking forest.

The first one to voice everyone's alarm, Lillie, asked: "Um, where are we?"

"Are we in Lush Jungle?" Mallow asked.

"No, the foliage is wrong," Kiawe answered. "This isn't a jungle; it's a forest."

"Kiawe's right!" Rotom Dex exclaimed. "The flora here doesn't match any that I have anywhere in Alola."

"It looks kinda familiar…" Ash said as he began to wander around. "Right, Pikachu?"

"Pika!"

"How can you tell?" Kiawe wondered.

The forest didn't seem to have any particular markers or anything else to make it stand out. It looked like any other forest anyone had seen ever. The ground they were on seemed relatively well-trod, so perhaps they'd found themselves on a part of a main trail. But aside from that…nothing.

"No, I swear I've been here before," Ash insisted. "See! Look!"

Sure enough, Ash ran over to a wooden board that had been hammered into the ground.

"Viridian Forest," he read confidently.

"Where's that?" Sophocles asked.

Sophocles looked even more nervous than Lillie. He was frowning, eyes darting this way and that, even shivering a bit as he stood there in his Ultra Guardian suit. And his thin eyebrows were nearly overlapping each other. Lillie, on the other hand, had taken Mallow's hand and was looking at Ash with determination.

"Viridian is the big city closest to Pallet! We're just outside it right now. Oh, don't worry, Sophocles; we'll be fine. I'll get us out of here in no time."

"O-Okay," Sophocles said, his muscles beginning to relax a bit.

"I can't see the Ultra Wormhole for the trees," Lillie said, looking up at the sky. "I'm not quite sure how we're supposed to get back home from here."

"If worse comes to worse, we can always take a boat home," Lana said. "It should only take a few hours."

"I guess that's true," Lillie agreed, though she couldn't help but continue looking at the sky with concern.

Just then, everyone noticed a buzzing sounding from deeper in the forest. "What's that now?" Mallow asked.

"Uh…" Ash began to look a bit more worried and Pikachu's cheeks sparked. "Nothing we haven't dealt with before…"

"Hold on!" Rotom Dex cried. "If I record that sound, I can match it to—"

It didn't get to finish, though, as Lana shouted one word that made the situation very clear to everyone.

"Beedrill!"

The swarm burst through the trees, heading right for them, stingers at the ready.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu made quick work of the Beedrill, sending them all off flying the other way with the single blast. It wasn't enough to terribly injure the Beedrill, but enough to spook them and let them know that more pain would be involved if they didn't turn tail and return to the forest.

"Whew, glad we took care of that," Ash said as Pikachu fell back to his shoulder.

"Pikachu's so great!" Lillie exclaimed.

Before the buzzing had even fully faded, a rustling came from further in.

"What now?" Sophocles groaned, back to looking nervous, now hugging Togedemaru to his chest.

"I'm not sure," Ash said uneasily. "Stay alert, Pikachu."

"Chu." Pikachu raised itself to all fours, still on Ash's shoulder, fur raised in spikes like a Jolteon.

Pok��mon broke through the brush, stomping through the bushes and looking at the Ultra Guardians with disdain. But these weren't the Pokémon Ash was sued to seeing in the Viridian Forest. In fact, members of the Weedill, Caterpie, or Pidgey lines were nowhere in sight with the arrival of their new visitors.

"Those are three angry Kangaskhan," Rotom Dex whispered.

Nobody breathed as the Pokémon began to circle around them. This must have been nesting territory. Or maybe Pikachu's Thunderbolt had been just enough for them to feel threatened. Whatever it was, these Pokémon were big, and their power rippled off of them in the form of bulging muscles, barely hidden beneath armor-like skin.

"Does this happen often, Ash?" Lana whispered.

"Can't say it does."

Before they could begin strategizing a plan of attack, from the distance they heard: "Golduck, Confusion!"

The Confusion traveled in a tight circle, encompassing all three Kangaskhan, but not touching any of the Ultra Guardians or their Pokémon. The move froze all the Kangaskhan in place, and they heard the same voice that called the Attack cry out again:

"Run!"

And they did. Ash led the way, leading the group—hopefully—out of the forest. Fortunately, like Ash had said, they weren't far from the edge and soon came across a clearing with the view of a city in the distance. Then they noticed that another boy had joined their group. A boy Ash quickly recognized.

"Gary! Wow, thanks for saving—"

"Red, what were you doing back—oh. Sorry, I thought you were a friend of mine. He has a Pikachu too."

Ash blinked at their new addition, not immediately seeing any differences between him and Gary. They had the same spiky hair, brown with shades of auburn. Ash couldn't see a single difference in facial features, and he even wore a yin and yang necklace like Gary used to have. It was uncanny. But, to Ash's knowledge, Gary didn't have a Golduck. And he wouldn't look at Ash with the vacant expression of a stranger that this boy was wearing.

"No, my name is Ash, but you look exactly like my friend, Gary," Ash said with a grin on his face. "Isn't that cool?"

"Amusing coincidence," the boy said dryly, as though it wasn't amusing at all. Then he continued, "Anyway, I see you all are Trainers. If you're going to travel through the Viridian Forest, try to be more prepared. It's dangerous here."

"I don't think so," Ash said. "And I've spent a lot of time here."

"My mistake," the boy said. "It just looked as though the lot of you were about to let yourselves get attacked by those wild Kangaskhan. If you're here all the time, you should know that Kangaskhan never stop attacking when they think their child is in danger."

"Well, there aren't usually Kangaskhan here!"

"There have always been Kangaskhan here."

"We would have been able to handle ourselves just fine," Kiawe stepped in, interrupting the two boys.

"Good to know. Then I won't worry about you as I research the disturbance that seems to have occurred here."

"What kind of disturbance?" Lillie asked.

The boy sighed. "I'm not quite sure, but I just received data reading that there might have been a dimensional disturbance in this area. And my scanner says that there's otherworldly activity near here."

The boy showed off a large tablet that had some sort of a graph on it.

"Oh, that was probably us," Sophocles said. "We just came here via an Ultra Wormhole."

"A what?"

"An Ultra Wormhole," Lillie repeated, taking over for Sophocles. "We've been exploring another dimension called Ultra Space through them, but this time we seem to have landed here in the Viridian Forest instead."

"Well, that would explain the strange get-ups," the boy muttered to himself, looking over the group again in the matching uniforms Lusamine had given them. "Let's say I believe you. Would you be willing to tell me and my friends what you know?"

The Ultra Guardians looked at each other, reading one another's faces to try and get a gauge on what they were all thinking. Then Ash turned to the boy with a smile, their previous squabble forgotten. "We'd be happy to! Hey, what's your name?"

"Blue Oak," the boy said. "Viridian Gym Leader and grandson of the great Professor Oak."

At that, everyone gasped, looking at Blue in disbelief.

"Y-You say you're Professor Oak's grandson?" Ash asked.

Lillie turned to Ash and said, "Um, Ash…strictly from a theoretical point of view…I think we may be in another dimension after all."

-

Blue said he was obligated to take them to the Champion in order to figure out what their next step was. But they had to figure out a way of getting to him.

The first obvious solution was Kiawe's Charizard—and it turned out that Blue had one as well—but that would hardly be enough for the seven of them. Then, to everyone's surprise, Blue called out, "Green, I know you're hiding in the bushes listening, so please come out."

A pretty brunette popped out of the bushes, a big grin on her face as though she reveled in getting caught. She came straight over to Blue and put a hand on his face. "What's the matter, baby? Too proud to admit that you need my assistance?"

The Ultra Guardians—aside from being surprised by the girl's spontaneous appearance—all recoiled a little at the intimate gesture and pet name. Blue, for his part, kept a straight face, as though she wasn't stroking his face in front of a group of strangers. "Could we use your Pokémon to meet with Red?"

"What's the magic word?"

"Please?"

"Not good enough."

Blue sighed. "Pretty please?"

Green clapped her hands together, looking quite pleased with herself. "That'll do. Come out everyone!"

With a flourish, Green reached into her bag and released a number of PokéBalls into the air. The Alolan crew watched eagerly to see what Pokémon she would show off to them. But then, simultaneously, their heads all tilted to the side in confusion and they released a group: "Huh?"

There before them were three pink, blobby Pokémon, none of whom the Ultra Guardians associated with flying.

"What are we supposed to do with them?" Kiawe asked, nose wrinkled at the strangely unhelpful Pokémon. "A Wigglytuff, Jigglypuff, and a Ditto?"

"Fly, of course!" Green answered. As she said the word, her Wigglytuff began to get larger before their very eyes, expanding and, eventually, floating off the ground. When it was about five feet up, Green grabbed onto its leg and she, too, lifted into the air.

"Wait, that doesn't make any sense," Sophocles said.

"None of these Pokémon are capable of learning the move Fly," Rotom Dex confirmed, taking on a confused expression itself.

"Maybe things are different here!" Ash exclaimed, the only one of the lot to have already overcome his disbelief. "Pikachu, do you think you could fly here?"

Pikachu then began to puff himself up like the Wigglytuff had only to deflate a few seconds later and shake his head sadly.

"Okay, so two Charizard, a Wigglytuff, a Jigglypuff, and a Ditto," Lillie summarized. "Assuming we're all going, theoretically, that still leaves us three short."

"Just two, actually," Blue said as he released another Pokémon. A Scizor, which none of the Ultra Guardians had ever seen Fly before either. "But you guys should probably return your Pokémon to lighten the load as well."

Sophocles, Mallow, Lana, and Lillie returned their respective Pokémon, but Pikachu, of course, stayed out. Blue looked at him expectantly, and Ash explained, "Pikachu doesn't like his PokéBall, so he always stays out here with me."

Blue shook his head. "Figures."

"We're still two short," Mallow said, bringing them back to the task at hand.

"Leave it to me," Green said. "Ditty, Transform!"

Somehow, without further instruction, Green's Ditto began to grow and shape shift into a large, green serpent, orange tendrils bursting out of it. But it was in the air the whole time, certainly, and inarguably, flying. And certainly a big enough size for a number of them to ride on.

"Meet Rayquaza-Ditty!"

"Rayquaza?" Ash asked, looking a little bit surprised. "That's not quite what I remember Rayquaza looking like."

First of all, its markings were all off, and it was missing notches that Ash remembered on its body. And he certainly had no memory of the streamer-like orange bits that were coming off of it.

"Whatever, it's our interpretation of a Mega-Rayquaza. A friend described it, and this is what we came up with."

"Wait, so your Ditto can transform into other Pokémon without even having seen them? It can just approximate?" Lillie asked.

"Not just that," Green said with a wink. "Ditty can turn into anything!"

"Anything?" Lana asked, wide-eyed.

Rotom Dex's screen began to glitch a little as it said in a panicked voice, "Does not compute, does not compute."

"Literally," Green said to Lana, "Correct use of the word 'literally' too, right, Blue?"

Blue rolled his eyes. "That's right. Now let's hit the road. Who knows how much time we have before things start going haywire around here."

But as far as Ash and the gang were concerned, they already were.

-

Ash was immediately confused when, instead of flying west towards the Indigo Plateau, where he expected the Champion to be, they flew north-east towards…well, he didn't know. And he couldn't ask Blue about it either, because he was being lifted by his Scizor while Ash had taken his Charizard, being one of the few to have experience riding one. As they passed over towns, though, he was able to keep track of where they were. It was easy to spot Mt. Moon and then, before he knew it, they were descending into the heart of Cerulean City. He'd know it anywhere.

"Why are we in Cerulean?" he asked as those who had offered flying Pokémon returned them to their 'Balls.

"Because it's where the Champion spends most of his time nowadays," Green explained with a wink.

As the crew began walking behind Blue and Green, they noticed they were heading straight for a nondescript building. It had no interesting features or architecture to hint at what it might be, except for some large lettering on the outside. And once it came into view, Ash had one question.

"This isn't the Cerulean Gym?" Ash cried out, the almost-statement really coming off as more of a disbelieving question.

"It can't be!" Sophocles agreed. "This isn't what the Cerulean Gym looks like!"

The first time Ash had seen the Cerulean Gym, it had been kind of a corny circus-tent-looking building with a big Dewgong on the front. Then, it had been rebuilt to look more intense and challenging. All glass and sharp angles—something to be taken seriously. And he didn't know much about architecture, but it had to be the architectural focal point of the city, he was sure. This one before him was just a block with some windows. It got the job done, but it was hardly eye-catching.

"But here, it does," Blue said as they made a beeline for the front doors. "And it is."

The sliding glass doors opened up automatically for them and they found themselves in a fairly spare lobby, not looking much more interesting than the outside of the building would imply. There were some paintings of various Water Pokémon, basic chairs, a couple plants, and an unmanned reception desk.

The lot of them just stood there for a minute, and the Ultra Guardians were confused.

"Uh, are we supposed to tell someone we're here?" Mallow finally asked.

"Not necessary," Green said as she reached into her pocket. "This'll take care of that."

And out of her pocket came a red tablet. Rotom Dex immediately flew over.

"Ooh, an older style Pokédex! May I see? I want to check out what functions it has!"

Green held out the 'dex. "Sure! And you're about to see one of its functions in action."

As Rotom started scanning the Pokédex, Blue pulled out his and held it out next to Green's. After a moment, they both began beeping. Rotom flew back, eyes wide.

"What's that?" Sophocles asked in alarm.

"Just give it a second," Green replied.

For a minute, all they heard was the beeping of both Pokédexs, but eventually Lana said, "I hear another one."

Sure enough, there was a faint beeping coming from further in the Gym, growing stronger by the second. And then another boy, about the same age as Blue and Green, entered, Pokédex in hand. When he appeared, they all put their Pokédexs away as if on cue, and the beeping stopped.

"Very interesting!" Rotom Dex noted.

"Hey, guys; what's up?" he asked. "Who're your friends?"

"Not friends; more like lost Mareep," Green said. "Guys, this is Red, Indigo Champion."

"A Champion," Kiawe repeated, sounding impressed. "It's an honor to meet you."

"Aw, thanks," Red said. "Oh, wow, a Pikachu!"

Red ran up to Ash and Pikachu and reached out a hand. Ash started to say, "Hey, wait a minute, he doesn't like just every—" but Red was already caressing Pikachu's cheek just the way he liked it.

"Awesome! What do you call it?"

"Um, Pikachu?" Ash answered with confusion.

"Huh, that's funny," Red replied. "No nickname? Here, meet mine!"

Red took out a PokéBall and released a Pikachu in front of them. It was a Pikachu, no doubt, but definitely different from Ash's. It was a little squatter, stockier almost, though nevertheless in great shape. Its cheek sacks were a tad smaller and not quite the perfect circle's that Ash's Pikachu had, plus the marks on its ears were shorter.

"Meet Pika!"

"Not really a unique nickname," Sophocles whispered to Kiawe, who couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Pika and Pikachu excitedly made their way over to each other and gave a few sniffs. Then they turned around and locked tails, taking part in a Pikachu handshake.

"Incredible!" Rotom Dex exclaimed, taking pictures of the encounter, and taking note of Pika's measurements.

"At least that's the same in this universe," Ash commented, smiling at the Pikachu.

"Hey, guys! Did I miss anything?"

Just as Pika and Pikachu were separating, in walked a face that everyone found familiar.

"Misty!" everyone said in unison.

Everyone except Ash, that is, who shook his head and said, "No, that's not Misty."

Pikachu seemed to agree with Ash. Instead of leaping for her like he usually would, Pikachu stayed firmly planted on Ash's shoulder, if anything, retreating further from her.

"Is it one of her sisters?" Lana asked.

The girl tilted her head and looked at Ash strangely. "Actually, I am Misty. The Cerulean Gym Leader. And I don't have any sisters."

"No," Ash insisted. "Your hair is different. It's not as spiky and your bangs are thicker. And you're supposed to have three sisters."

Rotom flew up in front of Misty's face, bringing up its camera. Misty's face took up half the screen, while an image of another Misty—the Misty all the Ultra Guardians knew—showed up on the other half. Rotom declared, "They're a ninety-nine percent match! Almost the same, but not quite!"

"Hold on, I'm stopping this now before we really go into crazytown," Blue inserted. "All of them claim to have come here from another universe through a portal called an Ultra Wormhole. And I thought we should tell you, Red, the Champion, before figuring out our next step."

"Is there another me in this universe?" Misty asked, looking at the whole group with continued confusion.

There were vague affirmations, but all of the Ultra Guardians looked just about as confused as Misty did. Except for Ash, who was still looking at Misty with a scrutinizing stare. His eyes just about bugged out of his head when this guy, Red, put an arm around her waist and pulled her close. But no one said anything about it, so he didn't either.

"I'd love to help," Red said, "We've been noticing interesting phenomena in the region for the last few months that we haven't been able to get any leads on and it would be great to get some answers. But I'm not sure exactly what it is that you want."

"You see," Lillie started, "usually we travel through an artificially created Ultra Wormhole, and then we travel back through that same one to get home. But when we flew here, I noticed that the Ultra Wormhole wasn't visible in the sky where we must have come out. So now we're not sure how to get home."

"Can you create a new one?" Red asked.

"Not exactly," Lille said uncertainly. "Certainly it's possible, but, assuming you don't already have the technology, we'd have to create it. And none of us have the knowhow for doing so."

Red nodded very seriously at her and then put a hand behind his head and said, "Yup, that's definitely a problem."

Misty elbowed him in the ribs. "Babe, that's not really a helpful thing to say."

Babe?

Ash squirmed a little, but said nothing as the conversation continued around him.

"Well, since we have no current solution to our problem, and it'll likely stay the same for a while," Mallow asserted, "why don't we just see what we can do to help you guys out and then return to this little dilemma when we're done?"

"I think that's a great idea!" Green said.

"Why don't we go to my house?" Misty offered. "Get comfortable as we get to know each other?"

And that's how they came to be in a house that shouldn't exist, in an unfamiliar Cerulean City, in an unfamiliar Kanto region with no apparent way home.

-

The Misty Ash and the others knew lived at the Gym. The first floor of the building was the Gym proper, and the upstairs was their living area.

This Misty lived in a mansion.

They had been accompanied—by servants!—to an enormous sitting room with ornately upholstered chairs and couches that most everyone was afraid to sit on. But Misty and her friends plopped down and made themselves comfortable, which gave the Ultra Guardians the confidence to do the same. Misty dismissed the servants, but no sooner did she do so than another showed up with lemonade and shortbread cookies. No one in the group would have known what to do with themselves, if they'd all not had a little taste of this on their visits to Lillie's mansion.

Once that song and dance was done, Rotom was the one who jumped into action, wanting to share everything it had recorded in the past few months with Red, Blue, Green, and Misty. Apparently in this version of Kanto, there was no knowledge of Ultra Beasts at all, or the powers of the Legendary Pokémon of Alola, although their myths—probably not myths, everyone acknowledged—still seemed to exist. It showed footage of Ultra Space and the Pokédex entries for the Ultra Beasts that they had encountered. And everyone patchworked together the story of how they'd discovered Ultra Beasts in Alola—their Alola—and how they'd ended up in this new universe.

"Does that sound at all like what you've been experiencing in your region?" Lillie asked when their tale was told.

"I'm not sure," Red answered. "There have been no sightings of any reported 'Ultra Beasts', at least not yet."

"That's not to say that there aren't any," Green added.

"Right. But the opening and closing of Ultra Wormholes is still a possible explanation for what we've been seeing in the data."

"And what exactly is that data?" Sophocles asked.

Red looked to Blue for the answer. Blue sighed. "The long answer is that humans have always had an interest in other dimensions, particularly in how they relate to Pokémon. A number of Pokémon have been said over the centuries to come from other dimensions—mostly Ghost Pokémon which, as it turns out, is basically true—but actual research into it has been slow."

"Because it's so complicated?" Sophocles asked.

"Yes, it's difficult to access other dimensions, especially with any confidence that there will be few to no repercussions for doing so." Blue eyed the group. "As I'm sure you know."

Well, yeah they knew. Now. Maybe they hadn't put enough thought into what might go wrong in the exploring of other dimensions. They'd just fallen into it so quickly the first time that they hadn't really thought past doing whatever it took to save Lusamine. And they'd managed to perform so many trips without anything going wrong that it hadn't been on anyone's minds. After they made it home—if they ever did—they'd have to talk to Aether Paradise about having more failsafes in place.

"But the creation of Porygon-Z was probably the start of it," Blue continued. When he saw everyone's confused expressions he clarified, "Porygon-Z is an evolution of Porygon2, and its purpose supposedly was to be able to travel through alien dimensions. However, its creation was totally misguided and ended up an abject failure."

"Never heard of it before," Ash said.

"No data," Rotom Dex confirmed.

"Well, it's a human-created Pokémon, so maybe it doesn't exist in your world," Red offered.

"Anyway, about the same time that Porygon-Z was created, other dimensions really became a mainstream topic of conversation over in Sinnoh, where Dialga and Palkia actually opened up portals that people could travel through. Following that, there was a spike in research, specifically in the Sinnoh region, then Johto, then the technology spread to here."

"And we hadn't really needed it," Red said. "Until these past couple months. We have scanners that are supposed to show spikes in interdimensional activity that have basically been inactive for a few years now. But suddenly…"

Red trailed off with a shrug, but everyone knew what he meant.

"Well," Sophocles began, "judging by the fact that your Misty seems about the same age as our Misty, we can reason that our timelines must about add up. So if you guys have had this uptick in activity at the same time that we have, well, that can't be a coincidence, right? It has to be the Ultra Wormholes!"

"Otherwise how else could we explain ending up in your universe?" Lillie added.

A buzzing began emanating from Misty's watch at that point, and she looked at it with furrowed brows. "I'm gonna take this," she said.

Before standing up to leave, Misty and Red shared a chaste kiss on the cheek, and then she left the room to pick up the call. Once she was out of range, Mallow looked to Red, eyes dancing.

"So, are the two of you dating?" she turned to Blue and Green as well. "And you and you?"

Red scratched the back of his neck in an eerily familiar gesture and said, "Yeah, we—I mean, of course, yes. We are."

Ash, who had been petting Pikachu, froze in his motion. Usually, Pikachu would nudge him, trying to get him to pick back up, but instead he licked Ash's arm, trying to send a little comfort his way.

Green said, "What, me and Blueykins over here?" She poked a finger in his cheek.

"She's very different in private," was all Blue said.

"What can I say?" Green trilled. "I'm a performer."

"More like a trickster," Red corrected. "But yeah, they're seeing each other too."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Mallow said. "I'm happy for all of you!"

"Thanks, Mallow!" Green exclaimed. "I guess when you're in a group it's hard not to fall into dating each other. Though it looks like you all have avoided it somehow."

There were a few blushes throughout the Ultra Guardians as they either glanced at each other or completely tried to avoid eye contact.

"Yup! Somehow!" Lillie squeaked awkwardly, eyeing Sophocles who was licking his finger and swiping the platter on the table in order to get every last crumb of shortbread.

From his spot in Ash's lap, Pikachu looked up at Ash and gave him a toothy grin, wagging his tail into Ash's chin a bit. Ash's brows furrowed in confusion, but he began petting Pikachu again, figuring that's what his buddy wanted.

"Well, it looks like it's time to check your all's theory," Misty said soberly as she walked back into the room. "There's been a strange sighting outside of Cerulean that they want me to check out. Red, you wanna come?"

"Of course, babe," Red said, popping up off of the couch.

"We'll come too," Blue said, standing up and holding out a hand for Green.

"Sounds good to me," she agreed.

"Wait, we wanna come too!" Ash declared, leaping up.

Kiawe was the first to follow. "He's right. It's basically our job, after all, to handle these kinds of situations."

"Maybe in your world it is," Misty said. "But in this world you're civilians, so it's really best if you stay here."

"Actually," Lana started, "we don't legally exist at all in your world, so it shouldn't matter either way."

That rendered the others silent. No one could refute that.

Misty sighed. "Red, you're the Champion. It's up to you."

Red looked over the group once again, and grinned. "Well, look at them. They're already in uniform, right, so let's give 'em something to do!"

-

The group headed west outside of Cerulean, this time on foot, since flying had proven a bit of a hassle with the lot of them. Fortunately, whatever strange being had appeared outside Cerulean had been polite enough to stay on the outskirts and not jump in to terrorize the city.

"This should be the area," Misty said once the group had made it onto the Trainer paths.

"Must be," Blue said, taking out his tablet. "My scanner is showing even higher numbers than before. There must be an otherworldly creature here."

"Fascinating," Rotom Dex said, looking over his shoulder.

There seemed to be no sign of it, though. Mt. Moon was in sight and the Cerulean skyline was in the background, but there was not a strange Pokémon in sight. Spearow and Rattata, yes, but nothing that wasn't native to the Kanto region.

"How does this usually go?" Blue asked, turning to the Ultra Guardians.

"It's pretty simple," Ash said. "We find the Ultra Beast, catch it, and then return it to the Ultra Wormhole."

"Except we have a few problems with that," Mallow stated. "We don't know where the UB is, or an Ultra Wormhole, much less how to reopen one, and, Ash, do you even have any Beast Balls?"

"Beast Balls?" Green asked.

Without answering the question, Ash rifled through his pockets. "I have one," he answered, pulling it out to show the group. "Better make it count."

"Cool," Red said, getting up close to the 'Ball to look. "Man, I wish Crys could see this."

Ash bristled, pulling the 'Ball away. "Can't afford to lose this one," he said curtly, putting it back in his pocket quickly as Red pulled back.

"So that's one problem down," Kiawe stated. "Now it's about the UB and the Ultra Wormhole."

"Um, guys?" Lillie asked, her voice suddenly taking on a nervous tone that no one had heard in months. "I think I found it."

It took a few seconds for anyone else to spot what Lillie had, but sure enough, flitting between the trees was the only Ultra Beast that would draw a reaction like that out of Lillie: Nihilego.

"It's okay, Lillie," Mallow said, going to her friend and rubbing her arm.

"No, I know," Lillie said, frowning and looking seriously at the Pokémon. "I'm not afraid, Mallow."

"You know, you actually kind of look like it," Green said offhandedly.

Lillie turned to Green in shock. "W-What?"

"Well, with the hat. And then its tentacle…things kinda look like your hair and then legs. See?"

"No, I most definitely do not see!" Lillie exclaimed indignantly.

Green shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever. Just saying."

"Alright, everyone, stand back," Ash said, stepping in front of the group. "This is Nihilego, one of the most dangerous Ultra Beasts, so you'd better let me handle it."

"What makes it dangerous?" Blue asked. "It looks like a normal Pokémon to me."

"It's true that my mother's foundation has decided to classify UBs as Pokémon now," Lillie answered. "But this one has the extraordinary ability of merging with a human and taking over its mind. That's why it was originally classified as UB-01 Symbiont."

"It's a parasite," Sophocles summarized.

"So we should probably disarm it first so that it can't Attack any of us," Red said. "Maybe paralyze it or put it to sleep?"

"I've battled one of these before—I know how to handle it," Ash said firmly, ignoring Red's suggestion.

"Ash, Red's an expert battler," Misty said. "We could all work tog—"

"I've got it! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

The Attack made direct contact with the Nihilego, who turned to Pikachu and Ash with new focus. Then a tentacle lashed out, nearly grabbing Pikachu before he leapt to the side. Then another came and soon, Pikachu was zigzagging all around the field without an opening to get a hit in.

"Rotom, what type is Nihilego?" Red asked quickly.

"Nihilego is a Rock and Poison Type."

"Really?" Blue asked in disbelief, looking at the jellyfish-like Pokémon. He wasn't sure what his guess would have been, but a Rock Type sure wasn't it.

Red, meanwhile, was already in action. "Poli, go! Use Water Gun!"

Out of his PokéBall came a fully-Evolved Poliwrath who instantly began firing a thick spray of water at Nihilego, knocking it away from Pikachu.

"That's how you do it!" Misty cried.

Ash frowned. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out Type effectiveness," he grumbled just loud enough to be audible. "Pikachu, Iron Tail!"

The move just about connected with Nihilego when one of its tentacles shot out and wrapped around Pikachu, squeezing him tight as it moved to consume him like had happened to Lusamine.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted in alarm, instantly running towards his partner. He only made it a few steps before an arm reached out to stop him.

It was Kiawe.

"Ash, no," he said, looking his friend firmly in the eye. "You'll only get yourself hurt like Lusamine."

"But Pikachu—"

"Look."

Kiawe pointed toward Pikachu and Nihilego, where Poliwrath was using another Water Gun to keep Nihilego from latching. Then Ash had an idea.

"Pikachu, if you can, use Thunderbolt when the water hits you!"

No response came from Pikachu, but when the water blasted him, his cheeks charged up, and a shock of electricity took over both himself and Nihilego, who dropped Pikachu to the ground. Pikachu scampered back a little and Ash grabbed him up and hugged him.

"I'm so sorry, Buddy. I should have known better than to use a Physical Attack."

"Pika cha," Pikachu said by way of accepting his apology. Then, in his fashion, he jumped down and landed in a power pose, ready to restart the Battle.

"That was a good move," Red said to Ash, a grin on his face. "Let's continue to pool our power!"

Ash nodded. "Right. Pikachu!"

"Poli!"

"You know what to do!"

Together, both Pokémon shot out their strongest Attacks yet, Pikachu's Thunderbolt wrapping around Poli's Water Gun and heading to hit Nihilego at full strength. When the Attacks connected, Nihilego faltered and nearly fell to the ground. Lana patted Ash's arm.

"I think it's time, Ash," she said. "Give it all you've got!"

"Right!" Ash reached into his pocket again. "Beast Ball, go!"

Ash threw the bright blue PokéBall, and its light wrapped around Nihilego. The 'Ball fell to the ground and began to shake. Everyone ran over to it and watched as it wobbled from side to side.

"It has to work," Lillie murmured as she held her hands over her mouth.

And, sure enough, the 'Ball relaxed, locking shut, and the Nihilego was caught. Ash picked up the 'Ball and pocketed it once more.

"Glad that's over with," he said. "No sweat."

"Right," Misty said wryly, looking at him with an arched eyebrow. Ash's brows furrowed at the comment, but he didn't say anything.

"Hmm, this is interesting," Blue said, his scanner out once again. "According to this graph, there's still some interdimensional activity going on."

"Do you think it could be an Ultra Wormhole?" Sophocles asked.

"Could be. I mean, I wouldn't know. But I doubt it, because the levels are lower than back at the Viridian Forest, and there must have been one there in order for you all to come through, right?"

"That's right," Lillie answered.

"It could be another kind of activity that we've encountered before," Red offered. "The Ghost dimension, the Distortion World…"

Blue shook his head. "The different kinds of energy read separately on here. It's definitely the same kind of energy that the Ultra Beast had."

"Maybe it's still Nihilego, even though it's in the Beast Ball?" Kiawe offered.

"I don't know…"

"You don't think…" Green started, looking around at everyone, then only at Blue. "You don't think it's them?"

Blue's eyes never left his device, but his lips pursed to form a thin line on his face. "Maybe."

"You know…that's kind of like what Professor Burnet said," Lillie reminded everyone quietly.

"But what would that mean?" Sophocles asked.

Blue shook his head.

"I don't know."

-

"I have a hypothesis," Lillie finally said.

The group had been in contemplative (relative) silence for several minutes, trying to sort out what to do with the new information that Blue's theory might provide them with. It would be nice to have Lusamine, Burnet, or Wicke at a time like this but, unfortunately, they were forced to find the conclusions on their own.

"What?" Lana asked.

"Let's say that we have a kind of residue on ourselves from traveling through Ultra Space. Maybe it's basically like a scent. So the Ultra Beasts can sniff it out and are drawn to us once they arrive in our world. Er, worlds."

"That would explain why our first spotting is after you all arrived," Blue said.

"And so close to where you were," Misty added. "And far from where we think the Ultra Wormhole is."

"Right, right, exactly!" Lillie agreed, getting excited. "If this is true, then we could use Nihilego to sniff out the Ultra Wormhole. At least, if we can find a way to mask our own presences."

"And then it might be able to open the Wormhole for us to follow through and back home!" Sophocles finished for her.

"Exactly," Lillie said. "Then it'll just be a matter of if we end up in the right world or not."

"And we'll deal with that when it comes," Kiawe said.

The group smiled. Once again, they had a plan. And an interesting theory to bring back to the Aether Foundation.

"You know what?" Mallow said suddenly, "This makes me feel a little fonder towards the Ultra Beasts."

"Even Nihilego?" Sophocles asked. Of all the Ultra Beasts that the Ultra Guardians had encountered so far, Nihilego had to have been the toughest, and the most damaging thus far.

"Yeah!" Mallow exclaimed. "It's like…they can't help it, you know? They're following us for a sense of home. They yearn after us like, I don't know, like they're in love with us! I, personally, feel flattered."

"Love?" Lana asked with a little snicker.

"Uh-huh! It's just like when that Dewpider thought that you were a Dewpider and was following you! They can't stop thinking about us, they wanna be around us all the time, they feel better when we're there—I'm assuming. I'm going to choose to see this as flattering."

"That does sound a little bit like love," Misty said, gazing at Red fondly. He smiled back at her and took her hand, giving it a little squeeze.

Ash watched all of this, eyes narrowing at the interaction between Misty and Red. Then he turned to Lillie determinately and said, "Let's go back to the Viridian Forest and find that Ultra Wormhole."

"Is there anything else you need of us?" Lillie asked Blue.

Blue shook his head. "No; I'd just like to see if this plan works."

"I guess we're flying again," Kiawe said, taking his Charizard's PokéBall back out.

"Actually," Green said, taking out one PokéBall instead of her previous three. "I've got you covered."

-

"Why couldn't we have thought of this last time?"

Kiawe was rolling his eyes and wearing an expression that he usually reserved for when Ash did something especially off the beaten path as the whole group stood back in the Viridian Forest, all holding hands, with a Mew in the middle of them.

Except the Mew then immediately dissolved back into the amorphous blob that was Green's Ditty.

Green shrugged with a playful smile on her face. "Oopsie, didn't think of it."

"We made it there anyway," Blue said in her defense.

Instead of enduring the long(ish) flight on strange Pokémon, this time, Green had told everyone to hold hands as she took Blue's and put on hand on her Ditto. Ditty had transformed into Mew, and then she'd called it to use Teleport, and they were exactly where they'd been when they'd first arrived in this universe.

"Now we just need a way to shroud ourselves from Nihilego," Lillie asserted. "But since we don't know exactly how it hunts us, I'm not quite sure what that shroud should entail."

"Ditty?"

Without another comment out of Green, Ditty began growing and slowly covering the Ultra Guardians with its squishy body.

"I didn't mean—!"

Lillie's exclamation was cut off as she was entirely covered by Ditty's body. Ash barely managed to throw Nihilego's Beast Ball towards the others before all the Ultra Guardians were completely engulfed in a thick, pink goo.

Red caught the Beast Ball with some difficulty, shaking his wrists out and wincing. Misty took them in her hands a rubbed a little, Red looking at her gratefully. They still weren't the same.

Blue, meanwhile, was looking at Green with amusement. "You didn't have to do that. You don't even know if this will do the job."

"But we also don't know that it won't. I think there's a good chance, since now they're totally covered in something from our world. And Ditty can completely vacuum seal them off."

"Then we'd better do this quickly," Blue said, gesturing to Red. "So they don't run out of oxygen."

"Right." Red nodded. "Beast Ball, go!"

He threw the Beast Ball in the air, and Nihilego flew out. The group watched closely to see if it acknowledged where Ditty was currently covering six human bodies and a Pikachu. It glanced about, but didn't seem to pay them any particular mind, instead turning its attention to the sky.

"I wish we would have tested this out with them first, to see if Nihilego was drawn to them without Ditty covering them," Blue said.

"Too late now, babe," Green replied, putting an arm around him. "Let's just watch and enjoy being the first ones to witness this mysterious being in our world."

"Not sure why you guys always have to be the people experiencing this region's 'firsts,'" Misty commented. "But there definitely is something cool, if rather dangerous about this."

"All in the job, Mist, all in the job," Red said.

Nihilego seemed to poke around the space before settling on a particular corner of the sky. It glowed for just a moment, hardly noticeable, and then the sky began to open up. It was like the sky had been made of glass all along, and Nihilego took a chisel to it and cracked it. Everyone intoned sounds of awe as the Wormhole opened up, and Nihilego slipped through it.

"Okay, better release them now, Green," Blue said. "They have to get up there before it closes again."

"And I've got just the idea for that!" Green declared. "Ditty, magic carpet!"

At Green's word, Ditty rolled up on one side, revealing the Ultra Guardians, who all gasped at the introduction to fresh air again, and then pushed itself under them, toppling them to the ground. Then, before anyone could get their bearings, they were all rising up in the air, towards the Ultra Wormhole on a floating carpet-Ditty.

"That was incredibly dangerous!" Rotom Dex declared as it floated above the group. "The oxygen levels—"

"Whoa!" Ash shouted, interrupting Rotom. "This is so cool!"

"I'm not so sure about that!" Sophocles called out in a worried voice. While Ash was pushing himself to his feet and looking down at the shrinking ground, Sophocles was on his knees, clutching onto the edge of the false 'carpet' for all he was worth.

"Thanks, Green!" Ash called, waving down at the group below.

"Yes!" Mallow cried out, now standing up as well. "Thanks for everything, guys!"

"I hope you have good luck!" Green shouted back.

"Me too," Lillie said just loud enough for the Ultra Guardians to hear. "I'm still worried we won't end up in the right dimension."

"Don't worry about that, Lillie," Ash said, casting one last glance back at the four down on the ground. "I know just how I'll know for sure."

Ash ignored the various looks the group was throwing towards him and looked down at Ditty.

"Alright, Ditty," he said. "I'm going to need you to fire us into this thing as hard as you can. You ready? One—"

"Wait, I'm not ready!" Sophocles shouted.

"Two…"

"Get ready, everyone!" Kiawe cried.

"Three!"

And with a bounce, Ditty shot them into the Ultra Wormhole, and everyone crossed their fingers, hoping that this time, they ended up where they belonged.

-

Even though they'd followed Nihilego in, just like last time they ended up missing its world of Ultra Space completely, instead landing on a sandy beach.

"Oof, rough landing," Mallow said, rubbing her bottom before pushing herself up to standing.

"We made it to Hau'oli City Beachfront," Lana observed, a note of excitement in her tone.

"That appears to be correct!" Rotom Dex agreed. "It matches my data one hundred percent!"

"But did we make it to our Hau'oli City?" Kiawe asked, also standing up, then reaching over to help Sophocles.

The group couldn't miss seeing the Ultra Wormhole disappear from the sky, leaving them alone on what was hopefully their beach.

"I told you guys I would figure it out!" Ash said, jumping up from the sand, Pikachu still on his shoulder. "Kiawe, I need your Charizard."

Kiawe took a step back, looking at Ash with confusion. "What would you need with Charizard?"

"I need to fly somewhere," he insisted. "C'mon, you know I know how to ride it."

Slowly, Kiawe reached for his PokéBall, but he continued looking at Ash skeptically. "And you're sure you'll know we're in the right place?"

"Positive," Ash declared. "Just need to take a short trip."

"Okay…"

Still with hesitation, Kiawe handed Ash Charizard's PokéBall, and Ash was quick to call him there on the beach. He swept on the Pokémon's back with ease, Pikachu hopping in front of him for easier travel. Then Ash kicked off, and they were in the air.

"But Ash, where are you going?" Rotom Dex asked, trying to follow him a ways.

"I'll be back in a few hours!" he called, ignoring Rotom's question.

Kiawe's eyes bugged out. "A few hours‽" he cried. "Why?"

"Just need to be sure!"

And before Kiawe could argue the point any further, Ash, Charizard, and Pikachu were but a dot in the sky.

-

He'd done a very similar flight in a totally different universe only a few hours prior. Only this time, instead of heading for a cement box, he was looking for a huge, glass arena.

It didn't take long to spot, which was his first hint that this was, indeed, his universe. He urged Kiawe's Charizard to descend and they came to a quick stop in front of the building. Ash had barely recalled the Pokémon before he was running in the automatic doors, Pikachu scampering after him to keep up.

When he was inside, he was looking around frantically in every direction, taking an extra moment before he noticed the wide-eyed receptionist behind the front desk. He ran up to her.

"Um, can I—"

"Is Misty here?" Ash asked, cutting her off without hardly realizing it.

"Uh, yeah, she's just finishing a Bat—"

"Got it—thanks."

"Wait! But there's only supposed to be one chall—"

The door closed on her before Ash could hear the rest of her sentence. He didn't care. He knew the rule, but he also wasn't a challenger, so he wasn't technically breaking it.

He was an old friend.

Luckily, from his recent visit, Ash felt fairly confident with the layout of the renovated Gym. He wasn't an expert by any means, but it was easy enough to make it to the Battle arena. After all, that was supposed to be the most accessible part of the Gym. Well, aside from the main lobby. When he barged in, he immediately saw that the Battle was already over, and she was shaking the hand of a young boy in front of her. Whether the Battle had ended in win or defeat for her, Ash didn't know, but he also didn't slow down for her to make it through formalities. Once he was fairly sure that the echoes of the pool wouldn't distort his voice, he shouted, "Misty!"

In the empty arena, his voice spread like water, touching every wall and sounding almost like he had shouted from within the pool itself. Misty's head shot up at the sound of her name and soon she was standing ramrod straight.

"Ash?" she asked in a terrible shock. "What are you doing here?"

He ran right up to her, one hand on her shoulder, one on her cheek, then one in her hair, and one taking her hand. Then he grinned.

"It's you. It's definitely you."

Misty blinked at him in confusion, a bright pink blush rising to her face. "Of course it's me, you crazy—uh, Theo, thanks for the great match; I hope you have good luck."

The young boy was looking at the two of them with vague alarm and didn't need any more of a dismissal in order to make haste out of the Gym. His footsteps echoed, his pace as fast as could be without breaking into a run as he left Ash and Misty alone in the Gym.

One of Ash's hands had dropped from her hair, but the other was still in her hand, touching the dry skin that she was never able to quite moisturize. His thumb was rubbing over the roughness and she blushed further, sure that there was no way Ash couldn't notice the particular shade of Tamato Berry that had taken over from her chest to the tops of her ears.

"It's you!" Ash said again, this time with a giddy little giggle accompanying his grin. "I can't believe it! Can't you see, Pikachu?"

Pikachu had, by now, jumped onto Ash's shoulder, and was nodding, squeaking out a "Cha" of agreement.

Misty looked at the Pokémon, noticing that he seemed far less alarmed than he would if Ash had truly gone off the deep end, which gave Misty some confidence. Ash was fine and, if she asked the right questions, she'd be able to figure out all that was going on.

"Why wouldn't I be me, Ash?"

Ash blew a raspberry, rolling his eyes as he did so. "Long story, but basically me and my school friends ended up in another dimension that had this guy who looked exactly like Gary and there was another version of you, but it wasn't you, you know? Your name was Misty and you were the Gym Leader but you looked different, and your hair, and no sisters, and you were dating this guy and just…Wow, I'm so glad it's really you."

Misty blinked a few times, struggling to keep up with Ash's quick pace—she was out of practice—but at least it all generally made sense. Well, Ash-sense. Sense for what she knew Ash's life often tended to be.

"Okay…" she said slowly. Then she smirked and, once again, Ash was perfectly sure that he'd caught the right Misty. "Who was my boyfriend?"

Ash frowned. "He was the Champion. Some guy named Red."

"Red?" Misty repeated. "That's awfully strange."

"Yeah, and his friends were named Blue and Green and he had a Pikachu too and he'd named it Pika."

For a moment, Misty tried to suppress her smile but before she knew it, a full-on laugh fell out of her. "Of course that's the kind of weird world you would find, Ash. I'd expect nothing less."

"Yeah, well, it's whatever. I know he was the Champion—whatever that means in that world—but he was whatever. You could do much better."

Misty stiffened a little. She and Ash were best friends and in all the time they'd spent together they'd chartered all kinds of different territories of conversation. They'd left nearly no stone unturned. But this wasn't the kind of thing they talked about. Outside talking about Brock's dalliances. It just wasn't.

"Well, thanks," she said uneasily. "But I guess I hope that Misty and Red are happy together."

Almost reluctantly, Ash said, "Yeah, I guess they seemed happy. I mean, they weren't, like, lovey-dovey or anything, but they touched and stuff."

Misty was suddenly much more aware of the feeling of Ash's hand in hers. Was this the kind of touch that Ash had seen her double and the Champion do? Or were they kissing? How romantic or friendly was it and what did Ash see it as?

"I uh…" Ash's voice was quieter now, even raspier than normal. His whisper always made it seem as though his voice wasn't made for it. Like his voice was made only for yelling in Pokémon Battles and he was only to whisper when it was something really private. Intimate. "I didn't like it. Didn't like…watching it."

"Well, Ash…you've never really been one for romance, lovey-dovey or mild. I'm pretty sure I remember a lot of fake-gagging back in our childhoods." She didn't know what else to say. What he wanted her to say.

"It was all wrong," he continued. "Wrong Misty, almost you but not quite, and wrong guy. I'd hate to see you with a guy like that."

Again, she was at a loss. All she could say was, "…the Champion?"

"Just—some guy," Ash said, clearly growing frustrated. His voice was no longer a whisper, but it was still just as raspy; he was almost growling.

"Ash," she pleaded. She took a risk and grasped his other hand, "what are you trying to say to me right now?"

"I—" It sounded strong. It sounded determined. Then it deflated after only one note. "I don't know. I…I feel really confused."

"What's your instinct telling you?" she pressed. "That's always been what you've had luck in. What you've trusted most."

"I—I just…" He stumbled a few times, his eyebrows looking almost like his brain was going to burst through them. "I'm the only one I want to see with you. Like that."

Her voice was a whisper. "Like what?"

Ash continued to struggle. He raised their hands. "Like this." He put his hands on her cheeks and hers fell to his chest. "Like this."

He stopped and she could feel his heart racing a mile a minute.

"Like what?"

"Like this."

He narrowed the gap, and the first thing Misty thought was that she could feel Pikachu's leg tickling her chin. She smiled a little into the kiss. Then she thought, she was kissing Ash. Or rather, he was kissing her.

They pulled away before too long, both breathing heavily, both from the lack of air and the profound nervousness that had found its way into their chests and was pressing onto their lungs. Before thought had entirely returned to her, Misty said, "I'm going to have to go to this other universe and tell its Misty thank you."

"For what?" Ash asked, oblivious as ever.

"For this," she said simply. "For whatever it is that happened over there that made you come running from Gods know where to my Gym."

"From Alola," Ash said. Then he rubbed the back of his neck abashedly. He'd been filled with an almost manic energy from at least when he'd arrived back in this universe, if not earlier, and was only just starting to come down from the high. "I actually took Kiawe's Charizard. I told him I'd be back in a couple hours, but…"

"But what?" Misty asked, a little confused, and a little hopeful.

"I think I might need to send Charizard back without me," he said. "And I can catch up with them later."

Misty grinned goofily. "I guess we need to go to the Pokémon Center then."

Ash grinned back, taking one of her hands in his once again. "Guess so."

-

In order for Kiawe to learn that his Charizard was going to be returned via the Melemele Pokémon Center and not on a winged trip to the Pokémon school, Ash had to make a few phone calls. It took a few tries to reach one of his friends, but eventually he reached Lillie at Aether Paradise, where everyone else was as well.

"Ash, where are you?" Kiawe shouted, butting into the frame to make himself heard. Lillie leaned away and smiled awkwardly.

"You left us, Ash!" Rotom Dex added indignantly.

Ash blushed a little, embarrassed now that he had to explain his little episode. "Actually, I'm in Cerulean City."

"I have no idea why you decided you had to go there to confirm our universe," Lillie said. "The rest of us came straight here to speak with my mother and everything checks out."

"Well, except for how we ended up in the wrong universe, how we made our way back to this one, and why you're suddenly acting so strange," Sophocles listed, ticking off his fingers one by one.

"And why you took my Charizard!" Kiawe added.

"Your behavior has been a little strange, Ash," Mallow agreed, but with a tad more tenderness than either Kiawe or Sophocles.

"Yeah, sorry about that, guys, I know," Ash said. "The other universe, uh, made me realize that I had some…unfinished business."

"Hi, guys!" Misty said, choosing that moment to come into frame. A quick glance down at Ash and his reddening ears told her that she made the right decision in doing so.

"Hi, Misty!" Lana said enthusiastically. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm just peachy, Lana, and how are all of you?" she asked. "Sounds like you've had quite a day!"

"We have," Mallow agreed. "I'm sure Ash will tell you all about it."

"Oh, he already has."

"I have pictures!" Rotom Dex added.

"I'd love to see them, Rotom, thank you!"

"Ash, did you go all the way to Cerulean just to visit Misty?" Lana asked.

The words didn't come to Ash right away, so Misty took over, saying, "It seems like it was something like that."

"What about my Charizard?" Kiawe begged again, his voice hitting full desperation this time.

"Your Charizard should be arriving at the Melemele Pokémon Center as we speak," Misty said simply. "I hope that's not an inconvenience to you."

Kiawe's whole body curled over a bit and he breathed, "No, that's just fine, thank you, Misty."

"Wait, so, Ash, you're not coming right back to Alola?" Sophocles asked.

Ash looked at Misty and couldn't help the soft smile that formed on his face. "No, not right away. But soon enough."

"But Ash, we have school!" Rotom Dex insisted. "And how am I supposed to accompany you when you've left me in Alola while you're in Kanto?"

Ash laughed. "I won't miss any school, I promise, Rotom."

Meanwhile, the girls were all looking at each other with growing smiles on their faces. "I think I know what's happening," Mallow said conspiratorially.

"I agree," Lillie said. "It's the only logical solution."

"What is?" Sophocles asked.

"I can't draw any logical conclusions!" Rotom Dex agreed.

"Oh, you guys will figure it out someday," Lana said, waving them away.

"Are we right, Ash? Misty?" Mallow asked.

Ash and Misty exchanged another glance. "You may be right, Mallow," Misty answered.

The girls all squealed. Sophocles turned to Rotom Dex. "What could they be so happy about?"

Rotom Dex had a question mark pop up on its screen. "I have no data."

Ash and Misty laughed at the scene before them and Ash finally said, "Well, it seems like I don't have that much time here, so I'm going to make the most of it if you guys don't mind."

"We don't mind at all!" Mallow said waving at them through the screen. "Have fun!"

"Hope to see you all soon!" Misty said, waving back.

When all the goodbyes were said and done, it was just Ash, Misty, and Pikachu sitting in front of the blank video phone. Then, as though it had been their habit forever, Ash took Misty's hand as they both stood up, and they made their way out of the Center, Pikachu on his shoulder.

The truth was, he'd probably have to head back to Alola that night for school in the morning. And he'd hate to worry Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet about where he was. He'd return to his friends, the Ultra Guardians, and they'd probably be called to another mission soon enough, probably to research how things had gone so wrong today.

But for now, he could only be grateful that they had.

[goldenornstein]

Profile:

Basics.

Name: No birth name. Ornstein was a name bestowed upon him by the Prince of Sunlight, after becoming his disciple.

Nickname Titles and Epithets: The Dragon Slayer. Champion of Sunlight, Strength of the Gods and Wielder of Divine Glory. Golden Lion, Lion Knight, Lord of Knights, Holy Knight, Knight of Knights, Holy Spear, Sun Spear, Blessed One, War’s Chosen One.

RP Status: Variable to slow activity. 

Fandom: Dark Souls.

Age: He has the appearance of a man in his late 20s, yet he’s thousands of years old.

Species: He’d be considered a ‘demigod’ of sorts. Perhaps the equivalent of an Angel; warrior and servant of the Gods. In reality he’s an individual from a regular humanoid race empowered by the First Flame’s stolen power.

Nationality: Born in some small village/settlement during the Age of the Ancients. However, his mother left with him soon after and thus he never really spent much time there. As an adult he would, of course, identify as a proud citizen of Anor Londo. Later, after abandoning his post, he would claim no affiliation or interest in any nation. 

Gender: demigender-masculine. He/him pronouns.

Romantic Orientation: Demiromantic; he doesn’t experience romantic attraction, at all, unless there’s a deep emotional connection beforehand.

Sexual Orientation: Demisexual; he seldom experiences sexual attraction unless there’s romantic attraction beforehand. Pansexual, with a strong preference for men and non-binary folk, then very little interest in cisgender women (mostly aesthetic and sensual).

Religion: He would say his faith and trust are with Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight — although, there was a time when his devotion belonged solely to Gwyn’s Firstborn; Prince of Sunlight and God of War. 

Relationships.

Birth Order: Only child, as far as he knows.

Parents: Father unknown — and unimportant to him. His mother was a nomadic scavenger, who abandoned her young son as soon as she thought he could survive on his own.

Spouse(s)/Significant Other(s): Single. As a knight of Gwyn he swore an oath to remain unwed and father no children.

Children: None. 

Closest People/Friends/Allies: Gwyn’s Firstborn and his select Dragonslayers (formerly). The other three Knights of Gwyn, Gough in particular as a fellow dragonslayer. The Silver Knights. The Gods and Anor Londo’s inhabitants in general. Those who prove to be faithful.

Physical Traits.

Eyes: large and almond shaped, very light amber/hazel with notable flecks of dimly luminous gold.  

Skin: Light to medium, warm undertone, scarred in several places.

Hair: Rich red, slightly wavy, waist-length; worn loose during times of peace, then neatly braided and tucked under his helmet when fighting in the battlefield. (The red plume is reminiscent of his hair, yes… but it’s just a plume.)

Height: 2.7 m / 9 ft.  

Body Build:  Tall and wiry muscular, thanks to a life of unfaltering ardours training. Long and strong limbs, broad shoulders, narrow waist, thick muscular thighs and arms, overall hourglass shaped. However, his body always tends to be lean rather than burly, as a consequence of the severe undernourishment he suffered during his childhood.

Notable Physical Traits: Height, hair, eyes.

Facial features: Harmonious and inherently soft-looking, despite his usual harsh demeanour. Full lips, large eyes, button nose, high cheekbones and smooth complexion.

Scars/birthmarks: Several faded scars across his whole body as a result of wounds received in battle. His chest, legs and right arm show the vestiges of an old, yet particularly gruesome dragon-fire burn, which almost took his life at the time and couldn’t be fully removed by magic healing. Sparse dusting of light freckles across his nose and cheek bones, shoulders, chest and all the way down his back. Lower back dimples.

Personal. 

Usual Mood/Expression: Stoic and disciplined, albeit also cold and disdainful at times. Perfectionist and determinate to a fault. Loyal, protective and driven by strong beliefs. Arrogant and self-assured when it comes to his skill and role as a Knight, even if he never boasts about it, regarding flaunting and vain attitudes as utterly undignified. Strict with others, but especially with himself, often to an unhealthy extent. Narrow-minded and stubborn about his ideals and belief. 

MBTI: INTJ.

Enneagram: The Achiever.

Four Temperaments: Phlegmatic.

Top TV Tropes:  Blood Knight, Cultured Badass, The Dragonslayer, Semi-divine, Shock and awe, Jerk with a heart of gold.

Prominent Traits:  Stoic, strict, loyal, arrogant, ruthless, intelligent.

Sins:  lust / greed / gluttony / sloth / pride / envy / wrath,

Virtues:  chastity / charity / diligence / humility / kindness / patience / justice.

Secrets: He suffers from mild PTSD which intensifies over time (becoming severe due to lack of treatment) originated during the war against dragons after a particularly gruesome near-death experience. He won’t talk much about his childhood and origins, such that some even assume he’s a highborn — which is absolutely not the case. He tends to keep any sadness, anguish, fear and exhaustion to himself, continuing as if nothing happened despite physical or emotional pain. He has a beautiful singing voice that only a few have ever heard.

Quirks: Getting up at the crack of dawn, every single day, to train and meditate during the morning. Thoughtfully cleaning his armour and weapons, even if they’re not dirty at all, just because he finds it somehow relaxing. Noxious tendency to overwork himself. 

Savvies: Advanced strategy and war tactics. All there’s to know about dragons. History, politics, linguistics, economics, mathematics, fine arts, religion — a true warrior must strengthen his body and mind equally, he would always say. 

Prominent skills: Martial arts, being one of his kin’s greatest warriors and the only true disciple of the God of War. Particularly skilled with his spear; the weapon of choice to kill dragons due to its piercing attack. He always carries a dagger as a secondary weapon and has a secret sentimental attachment to that kind of blade, which his mother taught him how to use. He can also wield most weapons with superior proficiency, as well as fighting in unarmed combat. Dragonslaying, which was regarded as the pinnacle of knighthood by the gods. Masterful use of lighting. Enough healing skill to keep himself alive in battle by using miracles.

Misc.

Hobbies: Ornstein enjoys sculpting, immensely, so much so that he has a large, private — secret — studio where he spends a good amount of his free time. Aside from his working table and sculptures, there’s also an area dedicated to other pursues, including a massive desk and a few bookshelves, storing a vast assortment of books, as well as transcriptions and translations made by himself. Then, there’s also his original poetry and calligraphy works, that will often combine in a mixture of literary and visual art. Mathematics is another passion of his, often applied to the design of sculptures and other projects, albeit also as purely theoretical developments. Outside the studio, Ornstein ordered the construction of a garden (still inside the castle) where he spends another portion of his free time. He’ll usually tend to it himself, with only sporadic help from servants. Other hobbies include swimming, especially during the night, and singing, although he won’t do any of it in public.

Element: Lighting.

Colours: Gold and scarlet. 

Day or Night: Day.

Smell: Burning amber incense; warm with a slight hint of sweetness, mixed with the ever-lingering scent of dragon blood.

Season: Stormy Summer.

Astrological Sign: N/A (But he’d be a Leo.)

Food: Wild boar with hot-spicy seasoning. .

Drink: Fine wine, fresh water.

Song: Playlist.

Bottom or top: dominant top, leaning switch.

Dominant or submissive: Dominant.

Rough or slow sex: rough.

[leapingtitan]

R∃/MEMBER (Individual Song Thoughts) - SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] 3rd Album

I made a review on the 2nd album, 2V-ALK a while ago so here is the next installment. This is mostly for the Sawano Discord server but I’m posting it here for convenience and safekeeping purposes.

01. Glory -into the RM- (violin: SUGIZO from X Japan; vocal: Yosh)

I really love the instrumental parts of this track. It works well as an introduction piece and is up there with ~prologue~ for me. The vocal parts with Yosh are a bit weak and turn the track from a badass instrumental piece to a stadium football game chant. The track can do without it. However, there is that one section after the chorus where Yosh whispers like he’s singing in a 2000′s alternative rock band and the vocals do this cool panning effect. SUGIZO from X Japan is on the violin and his parts are really good and have a lot of synergy with the sampled bagpipes and piano. The guitar chugs are also pretty cool and remind me of TBFworld a bit. Overall, it’s a good track despite the vocal section being a bit unnecessary. Speaking of, them lyrics. “Honor of dying alone”? Was this made for Thunderbolt Fantasy or something?

02. EVERCHiLD (vocal: Akihito Okano from PornoGraffiti)

I admit the track has grown on me a bit and I definitely like it more than I did when the first preview video of it showed up. Still, as I’ve stated many times, I don’t really like happy and bright songs too much and prefer something with a stronger emotional impact. Still, the track is nice and again I’m glad Sawano did something different with the drums for once rather than layering electronic beats over an acoustic kit. My biggest problem with the track is the last chorus and the outro. “Tiny world is so stuffed all day, but nothing’s gonna change my story” is sung 6 times back to back and gets repetitive after the 2nd one. Should have just kept it as an instrumental. Other than that, I’m not the biggest fan of Akihito Okano’s voice. I like him more in the first Bnha OP for instance.

03. never gonna change (vocal: SukimaSwitch)

One of the tracks I’ve been most hyped for since the preview has dropped and boy does it not disappoint. I love the guitar and the drums and SukimaSwitch’s voice is really nice. It honestly reminds me some of the pop-ish music I used to listen when I was younger. The “2nd chorus” in the original PV was actually the bridge, to my surprise. The 2nd verse, which is new here, is really good. Love the guitar that comes in after the first few measures. Overall, the track is great.

Lastly, that instrumental outro section with the piano and guitar was completely unexpected but it’s amazing. It sounds like it would be a track rearrangement if never gonna change was an OST piece. Really good and honestly adds a whole new dimension at the end of an otherwise great track. My favorite so far.

04. narrative (vocal: LiSA)

Now we get to some of the tracks which have already been heard before in other releases. I’d be repeating myself if I go in detail like with the other tracks so the tl;dr version would be that I don’t think LiSA’s voice fits this type of Sawano music at all. Not that it’s a surprise considering the track wasn’t even composed with her vocals in mind. The instrumental is, for all it’s worth, actually not that bad. I don’t really mind the strings, or “casio pad strings” as dante calls them and it makes the song at least a bit more interesting.

05. i-mage (vocal: Aimer)

It’s been a long time since an Aimer and Sawano collab and unfortunately I don’t think the wait was that worth it. For the record, I really love Aimer’s voice but the song composition itself is what I dislike. Similarly to EVERCHiLD, the song just doesn’t have enough emotional impact, at least for me. I can see the appeal of it otherwise but personally it doesn’t do much on my end. The intro and verse are alright but the chorus is where it gets too playful for me to take it seriously and I found myself spacing out and losing focus on the actual track which hasn’t happened with the other songs so far. The 2nd verse has some cool bass going on but it sounds really noisy in the mix for some reason. Lastly, again, same problem with EVERCHiLD where the standout English portion of the lyrics, in this case “Light and dreams that children hold tight, now you have them in your right hand” repeats way too much in the last chorus and outro portions. Same formula.

Despite all of these complaints I think if I listen to the track enough it might grow on me. Might. But other than that, a bit underwhelming and personally my least favorite Sawano and Aimer collaboration for now.

06. NOISEofRAIN (vocal: swan with nishi Takanori Nishikawa from TM Revolution)

I’m gonna be honest here, it’s really hard for me to talk about this song without any irony and memes to go with it. This song just slaps. That’s it. I listen to it on an almost daily basis and have been doing so since it came out at the end of November. Can’t really say much other than it’s my favorite [nZk] song and Takanori Nishikawa is the OG.

One thing I have to point out though is that the mix in this album’s version is slightly different than the one in the narrative/NOISEofRAIN single, specifically the start of the first verse where there’s two synths that are either made really quiet or missing. Yeah, I’ve listened to this track way too much in order to notice the smallest things like that..

OUTRAGERS DRIVE ME NUTS

07. Binary Star (vocal: Uru)

This is the one older [nZk] song I can’t put my feelings into words for. I really like Uru’s voice and I hope Sawano collaborates with her again in the future, but the song itself is just... strange. Specifically the instrumental. It’s just really weird, having the strings and piano portion at first and then adding drums later on. I just don’t know what to think. I definitely don’t dislike it and I do enjoy it but that’s it. I actually really need to listen to it more often... 

You know what, Binary Star is really nice.

08. ME & CREED <nZkv> (vocal: Sayuri)

Okay... so... uhm. I guess this is it. This is the track. I’ve made fun of this song a lot back when we only had PVs to go on. I called it a lot of things and overall shared the server’s opinion that it’s not that great. But you know what? I listened to it once today, in the full album. Just once, didn’t really need to listen anymore to open my eyes.

By the way, little fun fact: It’s actually spelled Me & Creed in the original Blue Exorcist OST, or I guess if you want the full name.. “Exorcist Concerto First Movement”... something like that, don’t !songtitle me... but yeah I’m just delaying the inevitable here.

So, I have finally been able to have a fresh, reformed opinion on ME & CREED <nZkv> and express my true feelings. Because, well, the truth is...

...

It still fucking sucks.

Honestly... just.. why? First of all, out of all of the “High Pitched Jpop Vocalists That Do Not Match Sawano’s Composition Style” category members, Sayuri is by far the worst. And, you know, that might just be be for not preferring this kind of voice that a lot of Japanese singers, but I’ve listened to some of Sayuri’s own stuff and it’s not bad because the SONG ACTUALLY FITS HER VOICE.

Now, despite all of this the verse is alright. The chorus is where the harmonies really get out of hand and only make the already bad vocals worse. And it wouldn’t have been as jarring if the instrumental was decent but it’s not. Me & Creed is not at all the type of song that would benefit from overly punchy kick drums and toms and it loses its entire flavor just with the drums alone. It sounds like a below-average pre-rec demo of the original track and doesn’t even respect what kind of song the original is.

Also, this is made for a mobile game. I don’t know about you but if this was in a game as its main theme that would not give me a good impression.

Fun fact, this is the only track on the entire album that is under 4 minutes long. I guess you can say it came short in multiple departments. I give it an Aldnoah Zero out of 10.

09. Unti-L (vocal: ASCA)

After the traumatizing experience that is the previous track, I come to something that is actually good. Unti-L and never gonna change are my favorite new tracks from this album. I’ve been looking forward to this one since the first 5 second PV and I’ve been listening to the short version a lot for the past week. The song is incredible. 6/8 time signature, ballad-y sound, strings and good sound design in general makes for a solid and near flawless track. ASCA’s voice is very enjoyable and I find that it works well with the song since it was probably made with her vocals in mind unlike narrative and... the other thing.

I can’t really say much else, really. Great intro, verse, vocals, melody and overall sound. The instrumental break/bridge is also very pleasant with the simple guitar. Probably the most emotionally impacting track on the album and I love it.

10. Cage (vocal: Tielle)

The original Cage is interesting but I have to say I find it inferior to the <NTv> version from the narrative/NOISEofRAIN single. I’m not the biggest fan of the synth in the intro and the electronic drums don’t quite do it for me in terms of the overall sound. The <NTv> version is still superior in every way and has fits more with the melody and Tielle’s voice. Overall though, the composition is great but you can’t really look at the instrumental alone in both cases since Tielle’s voice makes the track what it is.

11. REMEMBER (vocal: mizuki, Gemie, Tielle, naNami, Yosh)

Should have just credited it as [nZchoir]. 

On a serious note, this sounds like something you would hear in a Disney Channel movie, especially the chorus. The track is surprisingly pleasant to listen to and I find it really catchy and easy to jam and sing along to. Also like the parts where there’s just one vocalist singing and the choir effect in the chorus is really nice as well. Again.. Disney movie.

I actually want to say more about this track but I definitely need to listen to it a bit more to make other comments. Other than that, it’s nice.

Conclusion

As a whole, this seems like a much more fresh album than 2V-ALK. It still doesn’t compare to the diversity and variety in o1 or how solid UnChild is, but I still think it’s at least on par with 2V-ALK despite not having all that many songs. Still, the new original tracks here (well, almost all of them) are interesting and despite my comments on some of them I do think they do their thing and make the album.. work, I guess. I definitely have some tracks I want to go back and relisten to a few of them though, which is a good sign.

I don’t have individual ratings for the tracks but in terms of ranking, a few hours after my first impressions and a few listens I would order them in the following fashion. The best is at the top and the worst is at the bottom.

NOISEofRAIN

never gonna change

Unti-L

Glory -into the RM-

Binary Star

REMEMBER

EVERCHiLD

i-mage

Cage

narrative

you know what goes here.

And that would be it. Thanks for reading!

[machimachilegends]

Energy manipulation on my blog (thematically) is supposed to be over 10,000 years more advanced than your standard shounen battle series, which is why the "True Self" style of fighting takes priority in-verse.

The more comfortable and knowledgeable of yourself you are, the quicker you improve so long as there are enough hardships to level up, with other factors kicking in depending on chemistry. It's the key reason after Suki and Damian reintroduce Awakening-like Transformations in their first tournament, many elites attained the Chaos State ability extremely quick (in the same year), thereby breaking Suki's sense of being the strongest and causing her to find new ways to dig deeper once that "wall" is found and climbed.

It's the main reason you don't see everybody using the cloning technique to become one man armies (Mirai could easily make 5,000 clones) or copying each other's skills to overrun the battlefield. They just aren't compatible enough. Even the copycat Damian has to adapt techniques in his own way to do any serious damage to foes, hence why their mental growth is correspondent with level.

This is also how the Effect Control ability every single muse I have (excluding Konami) can do; making thunderbolts that can mimic spell-binding to sheer alchemy that can both stop time and solidify it around an enemy to hold them tight and fists that act like a vacuum wave.

[feywildrp]

Welcome to Feywild’s seventh event!

It’s summer, and who doesn’t love a chance to get outside for the summer? The au-reality of our game, it is not currently thunderstorming and threatening us with a flood warning (as it currently is in real life). Prime time escapism: in the Feywild verse, it’s a beautiful summer night and Luna Park (in Coney Island, Brooklyn) is having a “Summer Friday” event where all tickets before 9pm are half price. There will be fireworks at 9:30pm and all are welcome.

For timeline purposes, the event is timestamped for July 27th at sunset.

It’s warm out, humid even by the shore, once you make it down to deep Brooklyn. It’s not a feyry event, and so there’s no compelling to go, but quite a few notable fey had mentioned they would be there, and the rumour mill started churning and now it’s become one of those ‘hunting’ nights where the fey show up in whatever they deem most fashionable for the situation and prowl on the humans for their fun—though there’s also fun, of course, to be had in the midway games and on all the rides.

The most notable of these rides is, of course, the Coney Island cyclone. It’s the mother of American roller coaster culture that first debuted on June 26, 1927, with 12 drops and 27 elevation changes that will still take your breath away. There’s also the Sling Shot, the stomach-turning Zenobio, and the Thunderbolt, among other thrilling options. There are midway games like the Fishing Pond, the Water Race, Balloon Darts, and Whack-A-Mole. Dining options include Coney Island Cones, pizza, hot dogs, White Castle, fried carnival fare at Luna Snacks, and down by the water, Place to Beach.

Coney Island is known for its colourful crowd of people. Don’t wander too far beyond the park as the surrounding blocks can get a little rough and hard to navigate, but inside, this is the stretch that produced the stuff of the Coney Island Mermaid Parade held last month. Attire can be as boisterous or as casual as desired. There’s also something to be said for tonight of all nights attracting the weird and wonderful from out of the woodwork: there’s a total lunar eclipse at 5 degrees Aquarius tonight. It’s the longest one of the century.

That’s just four minutes short of the longest such event that's astronomically possible.

That brings with it its own shifts, as it turns out. The hungry grass is found in the cracks of the sidewalks here, but even more prevalent are the occurrences of the hungry rocks. Some people have already found these littered about, but they grow in clusters all around Luna Park, looking almost on purpose, like displays. The hungry rocks have an allure about them, they seem to call to you, the way you’d pick up or touch anything that seems interesting when laid out so innocuously. If you touch these rocks, you’d feel a warmth radiate up through your fingertips and to your heart like a tingling.

The longer you hold the rocks, the harder it is to let go. If you hold them for a few seconds or a moment or two, it will feel really good, and you may not want to let go. During this part, the rocks will feed off your memories; the shorter the touch, the smaller and more inconsequential/unnoticeable the memory would be. Might be of your lunch yesterday, or how you got home—nothing you’d miss. But if you hold on longer, it will take more from you. It may take childhood memories, or memories from one of your lost loves, or memories of your siblings, your parents, your pets—something meaningful.

It’s up to you what memories are taken, but please send a bullet list of these memories to the main for us (they’ll be relevant later; giving us this only gives more depth for your muse for a later event, so we encourage it). 

Your muse can break contact early on, but the longer they hold, the harder it will be to break that trance contact and the more they’ll need help to break the trance. The odd thing is, the only thing that seems to be able to break this trance is a song from a Lark—if you can find her, if she wants to help you—or Brielle’s pipes played, but there’s little to no reason for her to have brought them. After you’re no longer touching the rocks, you’ll feel fatigued. These hungry rocks are scattered, waiting throughout the park, for anyone who is lured into interacting with them, shining like quartz lit from within.

Trigger warning: death, gore.

The rocks are only part of the shift. During the lunar eclipse, two things happen: the fey lose their ability to perform glamours, underscoring the weakness within the Courts. Perhaps—perhaps—the hungries and the weakness might coincide. But is one the cause or the symptom? And then—someone—amidst all the fun and the curiosities—toward midnight—Hyacinth* finds the body of an Unseelie fey in the style of Eurya from Imbolc: the fey looks... not newly killed, but rather purposefully moved there, to be found, and on the forehead is a 7-pointed star, as if mocking the protection of the fey. 

The Unseelie fey, Spruce, showed the same the slack of jaw and the iron coffin nails that had been impaled through the man’s eyes, killing him. It was long enough ago that it could have been done last month, or last year, depending on method of preservation used by the attacker. Lark identified the body as her adopted father’s cousin and a feyry coroner would later find he had both elixir #10 and a Seelie herb tranquilizer in his system, like the Imbolc attack. Nothing else was found near the body, resting as it was, sunken as it was, waiting as it was to be found beneath the blood moon.

**Notes: Akira, if you would rather Hyacinth not be the one to find the body, let us know! And if any Unseelie fey would like to be the “someone” who identified Spruce, just let us know and we’ll confirm for you if it was your muse! First come / first serve, hit up the main. [DONE] And a note on what I know will come: no, the loss of the ability to do glamour for all fey doesn’t effect the ability or potency of #99 (as that’s already been created through a Wild Hand). Mal can’t make more till his glamours return, though, so it will make #99 in higher demand, rarer, and more expensive.

Enjoy all! Ask any questions you might have!