#pokemon insurgence rewrite

[fangaminghell]

I'm still working on East's design for my au overall, but here's one that I like!

Work and off work ig :P

[the-new-torren-region]

also ok i’ve actually realised what made the insurgence cults not hit as hard as they could have

like. ok. they don’t really act like cults?? especially the leaders. they act just like evil teams who really want a specific legendary. i think this is really exemplified by jearn saying

“come forth and serve me!” to rayquaza.

i think it would have hit a lot harder if they properly worshipped their legendaries. with jearn i understand if he more just wanted rayquaza’s power, but with persephone for example, nothing about her personality or fighting style screams darkrai

idk. bit of an incoherent ramble but it’s something i wanna implement more

[fangaminghell]

Fr tho I wasn't expecting East to become a character I would latch on to. Like months ago he was a character I had no idea for and he's my poor old blorbo who's just trying to get his job done, while also being in a abusive.... relationship? With Jaern who only holds things that East holds dear above his head, and East himself still having just the tiniest feelings for. All of which he only ends up getting sacrificed to Rayquaza, despite all of his efforts to stay on Jaern's good side, despite trying so hard to survive. Like this poor man.

Please get this man on vacation. I don't think he's ever been on vacation.

[fangaminghell]

Okay so, I’m an idiot who’s obsessed with Zenith.

What’s he like in your AU?

Hi :)

Oh Zenith, there's a lot going on with him, and hopefully I remember everything cause I haven't touched his stuff in a while.

So basically - Zenith was born and raised in the Infernal Cult. The infernal cult has been around for. A loooooong while, not exactly around the time that the region was created, but definitely somewhere along the line there. Zenith's story actually takes place in the 19....20's? Yeah the 1920's. Details aren't fully realized, but at that specific time, he was the head of the infernal cult, right after his mother. And at that specific time, he had a rival- the chosen of meloetta, Riya. There was a confrontation between the two, and Riya took Zenith's life ....in exchange for her own. With Zenith dead, the infernal cult pretty much crumbled without it's leader, despite the efforts of it's even most devoted followers. The story would have ended here, a tale of a hero dying to rid the world of another evil.

Would have ended.

See, Zenith did die. And he honestly thought he was a goner until he got a visit from none other than Nyx. And Nyx had a deal for him. She would bring him back to life, even give him a bit of power akin to his old rival, in exchange for his service to her. He would collect the crystal shards for her,and then give them to her when the time comes. Zenith agreed without even thinking. So then and there, Zenith was able to crawl back up from the dead, and revive his cult from what little it has become. Oh and he's also basically immortal. This deal was really enticing you can see why Zenith didn't even think before agreeing. That's the backstory.

In modern times, Zenith is still a librarian.....in his spare time anyway. But his main cover up is actually being the Torren regions most beloved idol. Turns out Zenith had a knack for singing and showman ship- something that actually caused his rivalry with Riya I bet- she was a singer dancer in the 20s. As for the power that Nyx given him, like I said it was essentially a bit of Riya's. He had the power of voice. While he couldn't fully mind control people, he could still slightly influence them/suggest to them via his voice. Hence why he honestly has such a big fanbase. The details are iffy for this part, but his biggest goal is to use the crystal(?) to amplify his voice powers to the masses. Taking it from subtle suggestion/ influence to full blown mind control. Also he most likely doesn't use his real name lol. I imagine Zenith had plenty of fake names over the years, hence why he was able to stay underground for so long. That and just being sure to keep his looks hidden unless he can hide it well, like as Zachary or whatever his idol persona name is.

Zenith in my au is also pretty loyal to Nyx, seeing her just as much as a god as Groudon. That being said.....if he were to be able to get the upper hand on her and take her out, he probably would. The guy really likes power, and if he can no longer be on a chain to someone else, he would. Still, I see him as being pretty devoted....even when Nyx hardly gives him anything after that lmao.

God, can I talk about him and Jaern for a second? They both are so similar but are so different in one big way. Both have this public persona of someone that is beloved and kind and charismatic and has the public's best interest at heart. But even with that persona.....Zenith knows who he is. He knows he wants power, he knows he enjoys the feeling of having people under his thumb. He knows that. But Jaern is convincing himself that what he is doing is in the name of justice, in the name of making the world a better place, when the reality is, he just wants to feel powerful. I haven't fully figured out how they would interact in the plot, if at all, but if they did, it would be so interesting bc I know Zenith sees the right through Jaern's bullshit. It's why he both kinda Jaern amusing and an insult. Because he's not owning it. Being a cult leader, to Zenith, is owning what you want while fooling the masses. If Jaern doesn't believe that what he wants, simply put, is power,then what is he doing. Who is he trying to fool, himself? Please. So as his idol persona, Zenith loves just picking at the guy whenever they have the chance to meet. I don't know if Jaern knows that Zenith the idol is Zenith the cult leader, I haven't fully fleshed that out, but man, I just love to imagine the power dynamic they have. Zenith has been a cult leader for a long time, so while technically, Jaern has the power of law by his side, he is honestly pretty helpless to the raw power that is the Infernal Cult,and they both know that. It's just. Fbghftbjvedhyg, I hope I'm making sense here.

But yeah. That's Zenith from what I can remember. If I didn't make it clear, I think he's a little fruity. He lived too long to give a shit about gender norms and who likes who, he's literally going to take over the world, who cares ( spoilers: he still dies bc lol Nyx never mentioned his immortality was linked to how much she needed him, so once he failed, he was good as dead).

[fangaminghell]

Remember the Lati siblings I did a while back? For my insurgence rewrite? Yeah here they are again. Latios is emo now. I don't know why I did this.

[fangaminghell]

Things that i doubt the creator if insugence would want that i'm doing in my rewrite:

Damien not being a complete punching bag

Nora having a more compelling character arc outside of being the "smart girl"

Zenith being a queer genderfuckery icon

Doomed Yaoi ( Adam and Jaern)

The player's mom actaully existing and being relevant

Insight on Reuka, Sylvan, Harmony and Anastasia's past together

Doomed Yuri ( Anastasia and Aubrey)

Family Drama more in depth

The oracle not being Some Guy paid to do a job and rather an actual magical being

3/4 of the elite 4 having a criminal past

2/4 of the elite 4 being trans ( one is canon, the other is fanon)

The plot actually taking it's fucking time.

Nyx being shown as a tragic character.

edit: i should say the game in canon is pretty queer friendly, at least it presents itself as such! but from what i've heard the creator is kinda a dick? so this is somewhat to spite him lol

[fangaminghell]

hey!! how come east needs a cane in your ver? is it for a permanent injury, a condition or for aesthetic reasons? :)

I have not fully figured that out yet! I don't think it's for aesthetic reasons ( though he did customize it bc he likes it to be fancy), but I do think he actually gonna need it! Just unsure the reason right now.

[fangaminghell]

any stuff abt adam and jearn? i remember writing abt them, they were fun

Finally getting around to this: sorry for the wait!

Outside of what i already stated, not much. Insurgence haven't been on my mind lately, so a lot of stuff is slipping for me.

I do remember that Jaern had a one sided attraction to Adam- not that Adam himself even knew. While it wasn't the main reason for Jaern's hatred (?) for Adam, it played a factor. Now, Jaern doesn't hate Adam's wife, Bree. In fact I would even say they were friends! But I would be lying if Adam rejecting him without even knowing it, while rejecting him again in his efforts to make Adam more hard on the cultist instead of offering help that they won't take - yeah, it's no wonder Jaern did what he did, at least from an emotioanl stand point.

I remember, also, trying to figure out how exactly Jaern and Adam met. I still don't know actaully, but i had the idea of Jaern actually being from Oranos town, since the town was named after the greek god of the sky and....ya know. Sky. Sky Cult. Yeah. That's at least something I can work with I think.

As for Adam, he genuinely trusted Adam with his life. They were best friends, once upon a time. I joke about in another timeline, they could have been a couple, potentially polyam with Bree, but honestly they could have! I dunno how Yancy would exactly feel about it, but it would be funny!

Again, sorry for this ask taking forever to get to lol. I'm rusty on everything insurgence atm sooooo. Gotta check my notes!

[fangaminghell]

The Cults in my version of Insurgence works a bit differently than how the og game does. In terms of lore anyway. I cannot stress that all of these ideas aren't really finalized. But they were what I got so far and what I'm working with until further notice.

So the basics of it is this: the infernal, abyssal and sky cult have existed for a long ass time. Back then they were the main three, if you will. I do think the space and time cults existed back then but currently I haven't really had a use for them, so they're being put in the background for now.

The main three cults lived in relative harmony with each other, though it was clear that the Sky cult was considered the head honcho of the three. For many reasons, the infernal and abyssal cults weren't exactly pleased with this, but they didn't really do anything about it. Until Nyx started to interfere with them. Specifically the infernal cult. Some "gifts" and manipulation later, the infernal cult and abyssal cult decided to form an alliance to go against the big bad Sky Cult. Which they did. And they won, causing the Sky cult to crumble entirely. And soon they were just the main two. Until in modern times,where Jaern decided to revive the dead sky cult. I'm currently trying to think of how and why, plus if he had any ancestry within the cult or not. But that's the gist of it.

The Darkrai cult was formed off the rage of a young Peresphone ( I imagine she was like. 18 when she started out) and over the past 7 or so years( she's prooooooobably 25 or higher in this rewrite/au. She seems like one of the younger cult leaders) has made a name for herself.

The perfection cult is something I'm not completely sure about. Reakra as a character is someone I'm still working on. Though there's a chance that it existed before the Darkrai cult? Again not sure.

Both the abyssal and Infernal cults have lineage based leadership. As in Audrey and Zenith inherited the right as cult leader from their parents. Zenith is. A peculiar case. He may or may not be immortal. Or somewhere close to it. We'll see.

And I think that's it? Yeah there's the damned cult but they're less of a cult and more of an entire civilization. So I'll probably talk about this later.

Edit: I forgot to mention that the infernal and abyssal cult still have an alliance in modern day though not as strong.

[fangaminghell]

A funny cursed idea

[fangaminghell]

I keep giving Jaern all these relationships man.

Jaern - Adam: One sides love/obsession/ hatred.

Jaern - Zenith: Weird homoerotic " I am smarter and better than you" but Zenith honestly has more of the sauce than Jaern will ever will and loves to taunt him about it.

Jaern - East: Honestly just abusive. Jaern has all the power here and knows it.

[fangaminghell]

The context of this is unclear but I wanted to write the last time Reukra and Sylvan seen each other until the main game. Please note that not everything is canon here, as the timeline of events are still wonky.

~~~~~

It wasn't the first time she saw Reukra in such a state. His hair a mess, eye bags heavy under his eyes, his clothes no longer in such detailed symmetry that Sylvan almost is unsure if this is her Reukra. Almost. This isn't the first time she has been Reukra so disoriented…..and she doesn't think it will be her last. But it feels like her last. She….she just can't do this anymore.

Harmony was the first to leave. As resilient as she is, she can only handle so much of what this….. organization was doing. She was always kind, like that. She swore to not say a word and she kept on that promise. Then Anastasia left which, if Sylvan was being honest, was bound to happen. Anastasia always had a strong personality, and would often clash with Reukra over ideas and projects. Her and Harmony probably were what kept Anastasia from ripping Reukra’s head off- not that the friendship wasn't there. Just that Ana and Reukra were…..a lot. And this project of there's was A Lot. So soon after Harmony left, so did Anastasia, swearing to never want to see Reukra again. It was…rough. Sylvan couldn't get in contact with her for a while, and even when she did, Ana was colder than usual. It hurts, it really did. Her dear friends leaving, her best friends deteriorating mental state…..it was all so much.

And now ….now it came to a head.

She thinks Ana and Harmony leaving are finally taking a toll on Reukra. It was foolish not to - she knows her friends. She knows he cares, even just a tiny bit. And outside of that, well. Harmony and Anastasia were both pretty vital to their operations. Them leaving had made progress stagnant, and for as patient as Reukra can be, no progress meant no perfection. And that's why he’s here. Panicking. Fumbling with papers, trying push out more than he could manage. It hurts to see. It hurts so bad.

“ Reukra,” Sylvan starts, keeping her voice even. Reukra looks up at her, dark eyes so broken and panicked- she hasn't seen that since they were kids. She tries not to grimace.

“ Sylvan,” he answers, getting up and slowly walking towards her. She gulps, stealing herself.

“ Reukra, I think-” she's cut off when Reukra place his hands on her shoulders. He grips hard, staring at her, his eyes begging.

“ I need this, Sylvan.” His grip gets tighter, “ I need this. I need it to be real,”

‘Please tell me it can be real’ is what his eyes plead, and for a second, she forgoes her original plan, wanting nothing more than to comfort her best friend. For a second.

“I….” she tries to gather her courage, “ Reukra I love you,and you're my bestest friend but I…I can't do this anymore. So I'm going to go,”

Reukra doesn't respond. He just looks at her and for the first time in a long time, she can't tell what he's thinking. His eyes, his usual tell, has lost its light and he just stares. He’s blocking her out. He’s blocking her out.

“ Okay” was all he said, letting go of her shoulders.

Just like that. Years of friendship. Gone. Just. Like. That. She knew this would happen! Why wouldn't it happen, she's leaving and she knows he's too far gone! The logical part of her is scolding herself for getting emotional about the inevitable. Her emotional side just wants to cry.

“ Okay,” she whispers. She turns around and starts walking. Nothing the click clacking of her heels and the shattering of her heart. She stops at the door. She turns around, hoping for miracle.

“ Is there anything I can say to make you come with me?”

Reukra didn't go back to his work. He watched her walk. A blank stare.

“ No……I don't think you can”.

Sylvan smiles. It's tense, and she's afraid if she lets it go she'll break down then and there. She nods her head, as if she understands.

“ Goodbye, Reukra”

She walks out the door. And that's that.

[fangaminghell]

East pokemon Insurgence is still the only one that I have yet to fully figure out for my au) rewrite. I feel bad, but I'm still stuck on him.

He can't exactly be an actual butler to Jaern, not with how I've set up his ancestry and his current backstory being planned ( he's from Oranos Town, but I could change that).

I think, maybe, he had something akin to grimsley? His family was rich but had fallen into ruin, and the only reason he's keeping himself a float ( heh) is with his gym leader job and working under Jaern. Maybe his family knew of Xavier's - a rivalry maybe? It would explain why Xavier never liked the guy and wanted him to be beaten ( outside of the bug is weak to flying stuff).

......I can totally see Xavier calling Jaern East's "sugar daddy" just to piss him off actually. That would be really funny.

[fangaminghell]

A continuation of this post of some cult leaders kinda sorta Fucked Up. I feel like I didn't do as good of a job with Audrey. I wanted to showcase this sort of. Numbness that happens to her. My whole thing with Audrey is that her being in the cult, while still her choice, was also due to the influence of the blue orb throughout her whole life. So in this state I wanted it to kinda look like she. Isn't fully there, you know? Because that's when all of her own actions are kinda being taken away from her. A puppet to the whims of something greater. And I dunno I feel like that doesn't reflect well here.

But other than that, these were fun to make!

[fangaminghell]

I think it's funny that I ended up giving East blue hair lmao. His hair is silver. Or at least silver ish. But I think I was really leaning into the " East and Taen are brothers" idea and now I don't wanna change it lmao.

And honestly we already had white-ish hair colored characters in Damian and Aubrey. Kinda Persephone but her hair is naturally brown in my au, she just dyed it white to match Darkrai. So it wouldn't hurt to have another blue haired guy.

[fangaminghell]

also i love how we both went in similar directions with east :3 he’s so fun to work with

I wasn't expecting to have so much fun with him! I wouldn't exactly say he's a good man, but he's very much a sympathetic one given his situation. Honestly better than what little we got from the man in canon.

While I think having a will is pretty standard? Especially for someone his age ( 38), I also feel like it's kinda sad when to take into the idea that he expected himself to die one way or another. He would tell himself that if he did what Jaern asks, he would be fine, but maybe that little part of him was just.... cautious. I haven't fully fleshed out East's family - I don't think his parents are in the picture anymore, and I've been thinking of having Taen be his younger brother + a younger sister ( not sure if she's his bio sister or adopted one), but overall I'm still brainstorming.