ohmyarceus | March - April Test Drive

No. There was a rescue around here that takes in pokemon that come from bad situations? Well, he got out. Spooked by something maybe. And I agreed to go look for him, but I didn't know exactly what a Geodude looked like. I just remembered what the Graveller looked like and, I dunno, I expected legs. And there wasn't legs. And then I yelled when I saw it and he ran and now he's here and I'm here.

Anywaya, yup. Name is Charlie. Pretty skittish. Doesn't seem aggressive. [So that's the sitrep.]

I mean, even if I can't get him out, I don't want to lose track of him. The rescuers were really worried.

[It's about 30% compliment and 70% an observation of the inexplicable that is Lance beefing up. But that Lance is married to Pidge really has Hunk having that 'Yup, I stepped right into an alternate universe!' feeling.]

U-uhhhh .... [He stammers out, expression going slack while his face is busy deciding what the best thing to do is.] Congratulations?

[Did Pidge suddenly get really femme or something? What's happening?]

I mean, congratulations. It's just not what I expected. Good for you, though!

Oh....I've been giving mine fruit as treats. I never thought about making something like that for them.

[Granted he was an okay cook. Most of the stuff involved quick meals that can be cooked over a fire. When did he have a luxury to eat a home cooked meal?

Out of habit he held his hand out in way telling Hunk not to move foreward to stay where he was. It was a habit he had when ordering his soldiers out on the field. He figured it was best to let the Pokemon come toward them before trying to make any sudden movements and scurry back under the porch. He honestly didn't want to be here all day either.]

Oh! Yes! [ Shinobu claps her hands together, before looking around her. Where's Ume run off to? Shinobu rarely cares about putting these little creatures in the "pokeballs" they've been supplied with, so her scyther should be around here somewhere... Shinobu looks side to side before up, and smiling when she sees that her green friend has climbed a tree. ]

There she is-- Ume-chan! [ The scyther's head perks up, and towards the pair. ]

[Oh, Hunk. You poor guy. Shiro shakes his head, unable to keep the smile off his face.]

Yeah, Geodudes don't have legs. There's actually a lot of pokemon that don't have legs. Or arms, some of them. They're really varied.

[He crouches down on his heels, peering into the brush. Nebula's pulsing yellow circles visible in the greenery. She's busily sniffing after the missing Geodude, trilling gently as she can.]

His name's Charlie, Nebula. [An answering yip.] She's on it. If nothing else, she can get through the bushes better than we can.

[~~Oh, we're really in it now, Gomma.~~ It... should be fine, though. He's not in any danger, right? For as long as they're here... it makes sense to treat Bucciarati as any other stranger.]

Um, sorry!

[Taking a step closer, Doppio pats his Wobbuffet on the head, which it responds to by tapping its weird little feet on the ground.]

Gomma's a bit defensive... I think your Pokémon might have startled him.

[Pidge does not often leave the sanctity of her home. She has a routine that she likes to stick to and that keeps her pretty grounded in about the same parts of the world. Except today someone has told her that they saw Hunk, and that's all the reason she needs to break out of her cycle. It doesn't even take her long to make her way to the Moo Moo Farms, which is where she heard Hunk was last sighted, and once she's there it's only a matter of time before she spots that familiar friendly figure.]

Hunk!!

[That's about all the warning he gets before Pidge is basically launching herself at him for a hug. It's been ages since the last time she saw him, after all. And he's one of the few people in her life that Pidge actually wants hugs from. It feels long overdue.

Hopefully Hunk isn't caught too off guard. Pidge was the youngest of the group, so the passage of time is more obvious on her than it is on everyone else from their team. She's gotten a little taller, not more than a few inches, but she's not quite as gangly as she used to be either. Her hair has grown out past her shoulders and is currently pulled back into a ponytail on the side of her head. But at least her voice and her lop-sided grin are unmistakable.]

Ohmygosh it's been forever! When did you get here?!

[With a final stern look directed to his Shuppet--who seems to huff in response--Bucciarati lowers his hand and turns in Doppio's direction.]

Ah... sorry about that, then. Bettina's been a bit worked up since we got here...

[But at this point, she was the best choice to be out with him while he was exploring--quicker on the uptake than Teodoro, and less prone to scampering off than his Skitty.

The Shuppet glares at the Mimikyu, the primary source of her agitation. The Mimikyu is either oblivious or pretending to be.]

And I don't imagine the earlier commotion helped any, if you heard any of that.

[Sounds of an ongoing battle and all. Oops.]

[His gaze follows Shinobu's to the branches, and he peers in earnest at the creature for a moment.]

Oh! I've never seen one like her...

Hello, Ume-chan! It's nice to meet you!

[Tink also makes the effort to buzz a few inches up off of Senjuro's head before fluttering back down. It's only polite!]

[Radley is in the park with his Eevees today. They're playing happily and looking for new friends. He wasn't expecting to suddenly almost trip over an approaching Pokemon. He stumbles, grabbing a tree so as not to fall over.]

Whoa!

[The Shuppet floats upward, almost seeming to giggle at Radley stumbling.

It doesn't take long for Bucciarati to come rushing over, seeming almost exasperated.]

Bettina! [He sighs and shakes his head before he turns to address Radley.] My apologies for her bothering you, I should've been keeping a better eye on her.

[Romelle turned the cookie over in her hand a bit, studying it, giving it a small sniff. Not that she didn't trust Hunk's cookie... Hunk was an excellent chef... but she was curious just in general about having one of these 'lemon drops'.]

Do you drop it as part of the cooking process?

[Because, why else would it be called a 'drop'?]

[Radley sighs too, but smiles easily.]

Oh well, you kinda have to get used to surprises here.

[He watches the Shuppet.]

She's a Ghost-type, right?

[His Pokemon come over, first making sure he's okay and then watching the Shuppet too.]

[He didn't - by the time he spotted Bucciarati, the battle was already over.]

I guess I missed it, but... What happened? Was it this little guy here?

[Doppio crouches down near the Mimikyu. Though he's heard about these guys, this is his first time seeing one up close. And it's pretty cute, but...]

Why does it look like it's been drawn on...?

Likewise, Mr. Bucciarati.

[She isn't the best at socializing. The past couple of decades of her life have mostly been about work, and being the head of the Emperor's Coven didn't net a witch much downtime. But Lilith has been back in normal society back home for about long enough to recognize her social shortcomings. So she just feels kind of awkward here.]

What... What did you name your Slowpoke?

[Pidge is very much the type to have a routine, certainly, and he'll eventually be glad to know she still revels in the same indoorsy things that she used to. But he is surprised, generally, to see her looking more like the girl that he teased her for dating so early on. (Before he discovered that 'she' wasn't a 'he', and that delighted girl was in the presence of a beloved brother.)]

[It's not a bad surprise at all. Just startling.]

Uhhh just- [He has to snap out of the bewilderment.] Just a few weeks ago! Not too long. I was doing a lot of walking and culinary research. [More than just eating, too. He was trying to learn new recipe, especially since he wasn't sure what ingredients would line up with Earth-normal ones.]

[He ends up extending his arms in an offer of a big hug.] Wow, this place made me miss out! You grew up on me. [Not that he was significantly older than her or anything? But the passage of time is definitely there.]

I've seen a few like that. Though most of them look like flowers or like an octopus or something so it's less like a rock head with ear arms. [He lowers his voice towards the end, like he's worried the Geodude will overhear him and decide not to come out ever, as he might be embarrassed to be a rock head with ear arms.]

[Hunk does his best with the types! It just takes a while to get the hang of a whole new lifestyle and swallow great swathes of information. Like every evolution of a pokemon. Though, fully against his credit, he should have learned that one early.]

She is a lot smaller. Especially compared to me. [And underneath the porch over there which Hunk is very sure he can't fit under. Even if he were to lose all his girth at once he still has his dad's shoulders.]

I'm glad you showed up. You've always been really good about getting situations under control.

They've got that here. Armin spends all this time in books and out doing his research with marine Pokemon. Sasha's food aggression's gotten way better now that she can eat whatever she wants whenever she wants.

Oh, and there's Mikasa too. She's little though, like, nine-ish? So don't talk to her about... anything. From her perspective, Shiganshina hasn't even fallen yet.

[At some point in during the conversation, the Slowpoke finally seems to register that his trainer has gone to do something else. It's about this point where the little guy wanders over, only to plop down by Bucciarati's feet.

With a faint chuckle, Bucciarati scoops the Slowpoke up.]

His name's Teodoro. For the most part, I've been naming my Pokémon names from back home. [A pause.] Aside from my Skitty. She was already named Buttons when I received her.

Weeks? And you didn't try sending out some kind of call in search of Voltron??

[There's no actual anger behind that accusation, at least. It's just Pidge having to jab at him for something, because she has no actual ammo to use against Hunk. However long it's been, he's still one of her favorite people and that kind of earns him a pass on most things.

Which is probably exceedingly obvious because she absolutely goes in for that hug. She even squeezes to the best of her ability before pulling back again, the grin on her face about as bright as it gets.]

I've been here for plural years, Hunk. [Because, you know. Time anomaly. It happens. Super normal Team Voltron stuff, actually.] It was bound to happen.

It was, yes.

[The head of the Mimikyu's disguise tilts to one side as Doppio crouches, as if it's tilting its own head.]

I would assume that would be to give its disguise a face of some sort...? To make it look more... [...] ... Believable, I suppose.

A) Network

[Sephiroth has no earthly idea where he is, or even why he is. Not only should he be long dead, but his head is...clear. The hissing rage, the seething insanity, the pervasive whispering will of Jenova...it's somehow all gone. Well...perhaps an overstatement. He has plenty of rage left, for instance, but it's no longer in control of him. But the insanity and Jenova do seem to be wholly absent, their absence the shock of having the background hum of the universe suddenly stop when one hadn't even been aware they were hearing it.

There is absolutely nothing comforting about finding himself sane again. He's traveled much too far along a path of bloody ruin; turning back to look at what he's driven through to get where he is now is unspeakable. The fact that this doesn't drive him insane, again, he views as some kind of punishment. Perhaps taking shelter behind mindless hate again would be considered too merciful.

Still, his practical nature wins out. The world has never once cared about his suffering - has far less reason to than ever, really - and he has no expectations for it to start. And in the meantime, he appears to be alive, somewhere he doesn't remotely recognize. And the monsters here are shockingly passive. He needs to do something with himself.

But he's definitely not attaching his face or voice to anything. He imagines he's attained a certain level of infamy.

The question is, which of the thousands of questions he has is the most pressing? What questions does he have that strangers might be able to answer? And how does he best solicit information?

He ends up spending quite awhile crafting his post, despite it being quite short.]

Would anyone be able to explain why everything seems heavier here? And why my senses seem duller than usual?

[There. He feels those are relatively generic questions, and comfortably vague. The simple fact of the matter is that Sephiroth has lost the inhuman edge to his strength and physical abilities he's accustomed to, and it's messing with his perception of...essentially everything.]

B) Goldenrod Department Store

[Sephiroth is not actually trying to attract any attention at all. In fact, he would vastly prefer to hide his identity if he could at the moment - but that's not possible with his current outfit, and...the change of clothes he was provided with. That requires going somewhere people are, inevitably, to find some way to be less conspicuous.

So really, all Sephiroth is doing right now is walking. Not even particularly fast, in order to let the little Cubone toddling behind him keep up to some degree. But the thing is...it's basically impossible for Sephiroth to not attract attention. Hell, he practically attracts crowds.

The clothes are a good place to start. The bared chest, the belts, the long leather coat over leather pants, the heavy boots. Then there's the waterfall of silver hair, or the literally glowing green cat's eyes. There's the absolutely effortless air of presence, a man who's used to commanding respect and armies alike, someone who is mostly unfamiliar with the concept of fear who has (up until recently) always had the power necessary to accomplish anything he sets his mind to.

And even if you set everything else aside, there's the fact that he's a positively looming 6'6". Literally head and shoulders over much of the crowd.

At some point, having had to slow nearly to a stop for his Cubone, he sighs and turns back to it.] This would go much more quickly if you would simply let me carry you.

[The Cubone, hugging its bone to its chest, shakes its head stubbornly no.]

C) Wildcard

[Seph's just going to be wandering around with his starter, observing and (almost definitely) holing himself up in a library at some point to do research on this weird place. Feel free to run into him anywhere! Except don't actually run into him, you'll probably knock yourself out.]

Edited 2022-04-08 12:29 (UTC)

Video; Outside New Bark Town

[The camera is set up to show a very tall, thin and darkly dressed man a few meters away, with a female Murkrow on his shoulder. He has a long length of twine with something shiny tied to the end: close inspection shows it to be a polished spoon. He starts swinging the twine and spoon over his head, getting some decent momentum going, before letting it go. He gives a sharp whistle, signaling the Murkrow to give chase. She snatches it out if the air easily, dropping it in his hand when he makes a different whistled command. This continues a few more times, each throw a different distance and height, the man even yanking the twine back once to force a sudden change of direction. Those that can understand Pokemon will be able to tell that Murkrow is loving this. Those that come from Fodlan will be able to recognize the whistles as pegasus training calls.

The man, Hubert, starts walking back to the gear, wrapping up the twine and talking as he goes]

Fasinating creatures. Their ability to understand and learn commands goes beyond any beast I've ever encountered before.

[he reaches his pack and puts the twine away, the spoon still in hand. He holds it up for the pokemon, but while she stares at it VERY intently she makes no move to snatch it]

Though I'm curious on how much of that is innate and how much is the machine they come in. I'm not interested in brainwashed loyalty.

[Murkrow makes an annoyed 'krrrr' sound at that, and Hubert turns to look at her. They stare down for a moment until Hubert appears to see something he approves of and nods]

Release.

[ and instantly she snatches the spoon, happily clacking it around in her beak as Hubert switches off the broadcast, seemingly satisfied]

[It's a fascinating video to watch, honestly, Bucciarati can't really look away until Hubert's finished.]

I think it's innate to some degree--I've heard they can get rather unruly if you can't command their respect.

[There's a Slowpoke and a male Nidoran at each of Bucciarati's sides when he responds, and while the Nidoran seems rather focused on the video... well. The Slowpoke is staring off into space, as Slowpokes are wont to do.]

[Well, this is a complicated series of emotions for Claude to speedrun through. He doesn't exactly have the luxury of taking his time, because Dimitri's mental state has improved immeasurably since they first arrived but he's honestly not at all sure how it'll respond to the appearance of Edelgard's most loyal hound, so he'd really better get ahead of this first.

First, there's a sort of amused pleasure. Back in Garreg Mach, Claude had always rather enjoyed Hubert - more specifically, he'd always rather enjoyed aggravating Hubert. The guy just takes himself way too seriously, and it's so easy to needle somebody like that in countless entertaining ways. It didn't hurt that Hubert was smart - Claude's always believed that he, Hubert, and Sylvain were the most intelligent members of their respective houses, even if Sylvain usually tried to hide it. So Hubert had it in him to be a challenge for Claude, too, when Claude wasn't catching him off-guard, and that's always way more fun than going into a battle of wits against an unarmed opponent.

Of course, then there's also the bitterness and regret from the war, from their having become enemies. It's a little deeper with Hubert and Edelgard than with anyone else, too, because...well, thanks to Lorenz, Claude knows a lot more about Edelgard's terrible choices in allies than he did only a few weeks ago. And while other people in the Imperial army might have had no say in who their allies were...Claude feels that Edelgard and Hubert certainly must have. (Of course, Hubert would probably sit up on his haunches and beg if Edelgard asked him to, so if Edelgard decided to work with those shadowy figures in the dark Claude doubts Hubert would have questioned her judgment...but what's the point of being someone's retainer if you don't help steer them away from terrible ideas?)

And, finally, the deep concern. Whatever might have been in the past, Claude has no idea how things are going to go here. They'd been at war back home, after all. Claude may have no serious issues with setting that aside here, where the conflicts of home don't mean much and can't be affected by anything they do, but Hubert might think very differently. And that's setting aside all the potential for conflict with...well, just about everyone else from home. Dimitri might be the biggest concern, but he's far from the only one.

...oh, boy, and then there's all Claude's secrets that he's no longer playing so close to his chest anymore. Is that stuff going to get back to Hubert somehow? And just what will happen if it does? There's way too many possible variables in play here all of a sudden, all because of one pale nerd.

Well...nothing to do but sound Hubert out, he supposes. Test the waters. What's the worst Hubert can do? Make sinister allusions at him? Again? He turns his video on.]

Hey, Hubert, long time no see! [He speaks as cheerfully as if absolutely none of the complex mental calculations he's been doing have been happening at all, and in fact he hasn't even considered Hubert might be anything but happy to see an old classmate.] Interesting training technique. Especially for a guy, come to that. Don't pegasi generally refuse to have anything to do with men? I don't know what you'd need with their training calls...

March - April Test Drive

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B.

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I'm so sorry, I fell down a video editting hole for a bit.

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[Action]

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no worries! you are tooooooootally fine~ <3

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Sephiroth | Final Fantasy VII | OTA

Hubert von Vestra | Fire Emblem | ota

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Well who's this tall glass of ten straight espresso shots, no sugar