S07~E78 | A Stitch In Time
Welcome back to @pokepocketzine week!
Leftover sales for PokePocket, a tiny zine about tinier Pokemon, are officially open. If you haven't jumped on the fun, you can still do so until July 31! So, hurry up!! What are you waiting for?!?
Today's fic is about a mystery that definitely isn't given away by the featured image on this post. Can you figure out who (or what) is responsible for the rash of vandalisms in Alola and beyond? This story is available in print through PokePocket — Volume Two.
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Fandom: Pokemon
Tiny Pokus Focus: Mimikyu!
Summary: "You're listening to The PokeMystery Hour, where we try to catch all the dark corners of this great, big world. In today's episode, our team investigates a rash of vandalism reports out of the Alola region that may point to the existence of a new Pokemon — with a penchant for stolen fabric."
And, of course, look out for all the other amazing artists and writers who are showing off their work! So much love went into this project, and I'm incredibly proud to be a part of it.
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You’ve just finished moving the last of the boxes into your new apartment. This will be a fresh start for you, a chance to do everything over, new town, new you, thats the saying right? You stick your head out the window and get a deep breath of fresh air, looking down at the town below. This is it, a real chance to be a new person, live a life full of excitement and intreage, and most of all, to make some real friends! There’s just one problem: Your heart begins to leap again as you see all the “people” below you. You’ve been trying not to freak out about it this whole time but….
All of your neighbors, they’re all… Monsters!?
The streets below you are filled with all kinds of creatures. Jagged, horned lumbring 9 foot beast, scittering clicking and chittering octopeds, you think that lady down there might just be a series of interconnected rings and eyes? Ah this is too much! You know you said you wanted to start over but you didn’t think it’d be so scary! You slump against the wall and slide to the floor. *sigh* How are you supposed to make any new friends now? When everyone is so? Intimidating! Much cooler than you! And might also be incredibly deadlyl!
You spend at least an hour or two in that sad state before mustering another scrap of confidence. No! You’ve come too far to back down now! There has to be someone here who’s befriendable. Someone approachable, preferably who’s power level is in the single didigts. You open your door a crack and begin to scout out potential friend targets, retreating inside if anyone gets too close, lest you risk making direct eye contact.
At last, you spot someone! She doesn’t seem too scary, and she lives right next door! The perfect target! Your dip into the kitchen and, using 3 apples, some wheat and a small campfire you constructed out of the remains of your moving boxes, you craft a pie! The perfect housewarming gift, that is aside from a cardboard campfire apparently.
Before you know it you're knocking on her door, hands trembling with excitement and fear. After a few moments she opens the door and you get your first good look at her.
The figure before you is a medium height, and is at least mostly human shaped. But the similarities stop there as the entirety of her body is made of, churning, bright, greenish blue slime.
–Monster Info–
Name: Sips
Lvl: 3
Species: Slimegirl
Sips is almost illuminated from within, as you can see bubbles and particles rising within her, dancing in her plump shape. Everything from the tip of her fingers to the strands of her hair are rounded with soft edges, the latter looking more like large globs of jello, purposely shaped to imitate hair that frame her face on both sides.
And speaking of which she's staring at you and oh God have you been staring at her this whole time?? It doesn't matter!! There's a glint in her eye and a peppy smile on her face, and that is the face of someone who's more than ready to be your new friend!
You think,
You hope.
Either way there's no turning back now!
FRIENDSHIP: START !!
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Hot take maybe but I think Bertie would be FAR more likely to survive the first two months of Dracula than Jeeves would be. Bertie has a healthy sense of self-preservation. Jeeves consistently underestimates how dangerous a situation might get (Steeple Bumpleigh, the club book) because he’s overconfident about his level of control over any given situation. He'd handle Dracula masterfully if they faced off in England, but on Dracula's home turf? Much more doubtful.
I realize this might be a tough sell, so I will explain further (or it's not a tough sell, and I'm going to explain further because I want to). (criteria taken from @canyourfavesurvivecastledracula) Without further ado.
Would Jeeves and Wooster survive Castle Dracula?
Jeeves
Jeeves' survival will depend on how long Dracula finds him more entertaining than irritating. On that basis, I don't think he's long for this world. On the one hand, he has a huge wealth of knowledge about English society and culture that he can recite perfectly from memory. That should buy him at least a little time with noted teaboo Dracula.
On the other hand, he would be absolutely no fun as a vampire plaything. Jeeves cannot be got. Sneaking up on him while he's shaving will yield zero reaction (though that's at least good for his short-term survival--given that, although he DID take the crucifix from the old woman out of politeness, he certainly isn't going to wear it. The rules of fashion don't go out the window just because you're in a spooky castle). Then, although managing the whims of rich jerks is not an insignificant part of a valet's job, Jeeves usually does this by bending his employers to his will. Dracula is not the sort of employer this will work on. It'll just add insult to injury when on top of being impossible to scare, NOW Jeeves is telling Dracula that his favorite cloak is several centuries out of fashion and he's not allowed to wear it anymore.
Jeeves will 100% go exploring in the areas he was told not to go-- though to be fair, he MIGHT actually get away with this, what with his superpower of appearing in rooms without being seen or heard. Said superpower might save him from the brides as well (though this is by no means guaranteed). Since I find it doubtful that Dracula would come to rescue his annoying ass, not being noticed is his best defense.
There are a couple other things working in Jeeves's favor; the question is just whether they'll be enough to save him.
He DOES know shorthand, and could try to send coded letters. He might even have the foresight to squirrel away some extra stationary where Dracula can't find it. But could he get them posted? Would it even do him any good?
He certainly has enough cultural literacy to figure out what his new boss is pretty quickly. If he didn't chuck the crucifix out the carriage window, he might start carrying it around in his pocket.
Psychology of the individual, sure, but the individual in question is a 400-year-old vampire who lives in an isolated castle in a foreign country and is regarded as a terrifying mythological figure in the surrounding villages. Jeeves has never come up against anything this alien before, he's cut off from his normal resources, and opportunities to play people against each other are limited.
He probably has enough upper body strength from all that shrimping and fishing to climb the wall, so he COULD escape if he wanted to, if he survived long enough. It's just, again, that overconfidence, and also Dracula has a vast library full of rare old books that are entirely at his disposal. He's keeping his eyes and ears alert for potential escape strategies, of course, but I don't see him being as desperate to get out as Jonathan was.
There are just a lot of "depends on"s here, and I'm not convinced that luck would shake out in Jeeves's favor, all things considered.
Bertie
Bertie is so perfect for the job of Castle Dracula Prisoner it's like it was made for him. Think about it. Being held against his will in big manor houses comes more naturally to him than breathing. He's afraid of things that are scary. A lifetime of dealing with Aunt Agatha has made him the world's preeminent expert in "curl[ing] up in a ball in the hope that a meek subservience [will] enable [him] to get off lightly." He will NEVER go exploring in places he's been warned away from if nobody is forcing him to (Rev. Aubrey Upjohn's office notwithstanding. There were biscuits in there). He's both fun to talk to and easy to toy with (and extremely English). A+ prisoner. Dracula adores him.
In my opinion, Bertie is at Castle Dracula either because Aunt Agatha got some wires seriously crossed and thinks he’s going to meet an eligible potential bride (I mean, there are certainly brides there), or because Dracula has something Aunt Dahlia wants him to steal (far less likely, given that one of Dracula’s THINGS is famously not owning anything silver). Either way, he's shown himself entirely willing and able to escape down drainpipes if a sitch gets too scaly.
He DOES take the crucifix, and DOES wear it (which is what will save him during the shaving scene, because you KNOW he's going to jump a foot and cut himself like the dickens). He's read enough supernatural goosefleshers to be genre savvy about terrified old women cryptically pushing crucifixes into one's hands. I also think his sunny disposish endeared him to the villagers, and they were particularly vehement about urging him not to go. He doesn't speak German or Romanian, but he's empathetic enough to recognize Pure Terror. So by the time he actually gets to the castle, his imagination is already running wild and he's plenty aware that he is in imminent danger.
I think the biggest risk to Bertie will be the brides; whether or not he's susceptible to trances, if he thinks they're trying to marry him, it's against the code of the Woosters to turn them down. But that only becomes an issue if he comes face to face with them, which, luckily, I think is unlikely on account of the aforementioned "won't go exploring" (and if he did, Dracula would definitely rescue him).
I'm inclined to say due to his drainpipe-escape habits that he WOULD be able to climb the wall and MAY attempt to sneak into Dracula's room to look for the keys if his desperation grows to outweigh his fear. Whether he does or not, though, he does NOT have the stomach to attempt shovel murder, and therefore won't get magic brain fever, and may very well simply walk out the front doors when the people come to take the boxes away. OR he climbs his way out like Jonathan did. Either way.
When Bertie tells this story at the Drones later, Tuppy will say that no doubt it's been greatly exaggerated and all that probably happened was that he spent a couple months in an oldish house entertaining a weird loner.
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