Savebats - Scratch Writing Camp July 2023 Proof

savebats

Main Cabin Daily #12: It's time to bring back another old favorite - the victorian flower daily! In the victorian times, flowers were used as secret codes and symbolized different things. Today, we'll be writing using the victorian language of flowers and incorporate their meanings in our work using Alba's brilliant project, https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/741579314/ . Write 400 words using 2-5 flowers for 300 points! You can claim an extra 100 points for sharing proof.

Note: Uh, I’m not what you would call caught up on Hermitcraft, but I saw “buttercup” in the list of flowers and knew I had too. As far as I know, Doc has no connection with Hydrangeas, but let’s pretend he does for the purposes of this daily.

Flowers Chosen: Buttercup (meaning childishness) and Hydrangea (meaning show-off)

Words: 1,009

Grian, Mumbo, and Scar. The Buttercups. The way Doc saw it, they would be better suited if they just used the truth of such a name. Such silliness, such idiocy, to annoy him on purpose. Did they not know what he was capable of? Doc may have chosen elytra with a simple butterfly pattern, but his horns were just as sharp as ever.

Doc plodded along the bottom of the world, kicking aside a few stray feathers left over from the first of the attacks against him. Sure, they hadn’t been the Buttercups then, but he wasn’t one of those unconnected people that didn’t know how Hotguy and Poultryman were. He knew. (And how would Doc know if they had not planned it all along? Someone who so represented what they called themselves must have been the plain all along, right?)

At least, when Doc tied himself to a flower, it worked. He knew he was a show off, and so did everyone who looked at his builds. From his diamond ore redstone to his now destroyed tunnel bore, all the way to the giant flag that flew over the hole to bedrock. It was all more than impressive, and he knew it. So why not tie himself to a flower that fit him? The hydrangea, a flower that showed off with its thick purple petals. He let them climb up the walls of his area, he let them grow up through the bedrock in an impressive show of strength, he let them destroy him.

He was just like them, really!

Unlike those idiotic Buttercups, who chose their flower more based on its perceived danger to him than its meaning, but still somehow fit the bill perfectly. They were stupid to challenge him. They were like a little kid thinking that it was old enough to gallop away from its mother, but was still lacking the horns to do so.

Doc knew that he was better. He knew that they were anything but right in what they did. These “buttercups” were nothing more than the meaning of their flower, they were not dangerous to him, (at the very best they were annoying) and they really needed to be taught a lesson. Doc's robotic eye flashed red enough that he saw the glow of it on a close piece of stone. A peace of stone that there was obvious copper missing from. Doc growled.

Even before this nonsense, those that currently joined as Buttercups had annoyed him for a long time. Too long. Grian had stolen copper, coal, and all other varieties of minerals from the land that Doc had so fairly destroyed himself. Mumbo had long been known for causing a massive headache from the sounds of farms that he built, which Doc was sure was supposed to be his job, and Scar was, well, Scar.

Doc had to get revenge on these idiotic Buttercups. And he knew that he had to do it in a way that was anything but simple. Like the purple petals of a hydrangea, Doc knew that the best way for him to go about this would be to show off. It was simply better that way, especially for him.

He could attack back with more chickens, enough that their bases would be unlivable from the sound and scent, and so many that even Poultryman would not know what to do. And, of course, he was definitely going to do that. (It was honestly only fair that way.) But he knew that he had to do more as well.

He was Docm77! A redstoner beyond belief, someone who owned a real life ender dragon, in the OVERWORLD. He could do something bigger. Something better. Something worthy of a showoff, something worthy of someone who knew what they were doing.

It certainly helped that he had picked up a little bit of magic overtime.

So, what did he want to do?

He could blow up more of their bases, but that didn't seem like enough at this point. Destroying a door, or even an entire building, was nothing compared to the destruction that Mumbo and Grian had set on his beloved tunnel bore. He had to do bigger. He had to do better. He had to do something so unbelievably annoying that even these Buttercups would not know what to do anymore.

He had to attack. He had to fight. And he had to do it in the most Doc way possible.

He looked up at his Enderdragon, coiling around her place as always, her sides rising and falling so gently that only someone with an enhanced eye like his could have ever seen it from down below. He smirked, tossing a cloud of redstone from his inventory into the air. It filled the air with a dusty red that Doc felt he had always known.

Oh yes, the dragon would definitely be a part of it, and he had a sneaking suspicion that those Buttercups would not be so strong next time. Next time, they would be ready to cower at his feet, just from the sheer annoyance of the task he would hand them. They would not have a moment to think, they would not have a moment to rest, or even a moment to work on their builds until his payback was done.

Yes.

He was ready, and he was ready to do it in the most show-offy way imaginable.

He fit his flowers just as well as they fit theirs, and he knew it. They, however, with their cowardice in showing their faces and their childish actions to fight against him, did not know what he was capable of. They pretended too, they always joked and bragged that he was going to be so angry as to kill them in cold blood next, but he had a better plan.

A much bigger and better annoyance than a simple death in a deathless land. And, he knew exactly how he was going to pull it off.

Eggs.

And a lot of them.

savebats

Main Cabin Daily #13: Another classic SWC daily - google translate! Copy and paste a song lyrics into google translate, and translate it into multiple different languages until the lyrics are completely different. Then, write a 400 word story based on the translated lyrics! This daily is worth 400 points, and 50 extra points will be awarded for providing proof.

Words (Doesn’t count lyrics, obviously.): 891

Note: I wrote this while my friends were listening to an hour long youtube video on full blast, I’ll fix it up later lol.

Cws: Talking about death and stuff. Don't worry though, the scene is from a kids manga, so it's fine.

Song chosen: Still Alive from Portal.

Google translated lyrics:
It's a win-win
I'm writing a book here
“Natural Justice”
It's hard to express your happiness
Understanding the nervous system
We do the right thing because we can
For the benefit of all of us
Except for the dead
But there is no need to shout for every mistake
Keep trying until the dough is done
Do it wisely and you'll make a good weapon
To live
I wasn't angry
Now I'm telling the truth
Even if you broke my heart
But kill me
I am also a broken hearted person
He set the whole place on fire
He was injured in the fire
I love your joy
These data are an important basis
We will release it in time after the beta is finished
I'm glad I didn't think about what I read
To live
Come and leave me alone
I think I want to stay inside
You can find a few things
i will help you
Maybe Black Mesa?
It's fun, haha, for a long time
Anyway, this cake is good
Very good with wine
Look, I'm talking about science
I look around, I'm glad you're not there
Research is needed, research is needed
The living people
Believe me, I'm alive
I learn and live
I am glad that I am alive
Though you die, I live
Until you die, I live
save
save

It was a win-win!

How could he have ever expected it? To lose, but to gain so much at the same time? His mind raced as his body tore through the sky, but he felt nothing. No fear, no interest, and, possibly most shockingly, not even a hint of the body destroying agony that he had felt only moments before.

The electricity had broken him, shocked his heart and brain to a sudden and abrupt change. He knew it had burnt his skin and hair, but he knew that he was still alive. His eyes were opened on a blue sky, where the shadow of the Pokemon that he had once cared about so deeply as to wish to sacrifice all of humanity to summon it. (Of course, the summoning would have been the start to that destruction, but it had become one in his mind.)

But now, as he spun through the blue gray sky, his red eyes half opened on the world, his mind seemed to have switched. His loss had not just been a win for Yellow and the gym leaders, but for him and his Elite Four as well. It was natural, in a way. Who would turn on their entire species like that? Right when the world had so much to offer. There was pollution and death and pain, yes, but there was also so much hope. There were people who believed in their whole species just as much Lance had trusted his friends. He had tried to fix things that, though they were certainly broken, had so many other ways of fixing.

People out there, people who did the right thing just because they could, but also chose to do something considerably less aggressive than what Lance had planned. He had jumped too far, too fast. What he had done would have been for the benefit of everyone in HIS eyes, but that “everyone” did not include the thousands of people and Pokemon that he would have destroyed to get there.

He fell, and he screamed as the feeling suddenly came back to his body. The power of the Viridian Forest, shooting through him with a strength that he would have previously found unbelievable, was healing him. But not only him, it was reaching out through the sky to everyone it could find. To his poor Aerodactyl, which had had no part in his horrific plan but had taken the fall for him as well, to Yellow and her Pokemon, which struggled in the sky from the last remaining shocks of the Pikachu's attack, to all of the rest of his allies and enemies, who were still stuck somewhere deep in the caves of Cerise Island.

His power, which had been gifted to heal, was healing.

He realized now what he needed.

He did not need to destroy, he needed to heal. He needed to move on. He needed to reverse. To try over and over again in order to get the reaction that he wanted, but not break into screams and rage when people did not listen. He needed to help the world, but not the way he had imagined.

He had meant to make himself and his friends into a good weapon, something worthy of controlling that which would destroy the world for him. But that had not been him. He needed to live, yes, he needed the environment to live, yes of course, but he knew that he also needed them all to live as well.

He wasn't angry anymore. And as the sky tore screams from his mouth, he didn't know if he had ever been. Clouds raced past, wind ripped through his ears, but yet… Before, he had not been telling the truth, but now he was. Even though Yellow had broken his heart and mind with her lightning. He could sing his new truth, but still would say, “but kill me,”

He was broken, and he knew that the world was too, but his power worked to save him. The power that Yellow shared with him, the power that she had harnessed so much more fittingly. So much better than he had ever been. Even with her underleveled team, her young face, and her strange determination, she was so much better. He was nothing compared to her, but in his defeat, he knew that he could be. She was as broken hearted as he had been, but he had been the one to set the world on fire. But it had hurt him just as much as it had hurt the others.

And he still loved her joy.

He was glad he could think now, even as the world rushed up to meet him, to live, even if he may have to be alone, to live, even if he knew he could never be the same again. He could be helped. He could find the truth, and he had, now that she had helped him.

As he fell, tears joined the stream of smoke and pain following him. Yellow had looked at him and, instead of attacking, had chosen to say, “I will help you,”

He felt full. He felt like laughing. He felt like crying. He was alive, the world was alive.

Who knew that he would be so happy to lose?

To save, and to save again.

Last edited by savebats (July 14, 2023 23:21:13)

savebats

Part 2 of the second weekly: A story using elements from someone else’s workshop (500+ words)

In Detail Description: Now that you’ve shared your workshop, it’s time to check out some of the workshops other people have written. Browse through the workshops people have posted, and pick one that interests you. Take some time to read through the workshop entirely and learn something new! — Afterward, using your newfound knowledge, write a 500 word or more story that implements elements that you have learned from the workshop you read. Have fun!

Workshop chosen: Types of Internal Conflict and Utilizing It by @Magnolia012.

Other workshops I had fun reading: How to Write Realistic Conversations, Workshop on Worldbuilding, and Short Stories and How to Write Them

Note: This isn’t very good, please be nice if you decide to critique it. qwq I am already aware I overuse commas, I’m working on it lol.

Words: 1,200

When Blue had to choose between his values, he had long chosen based on what would keep him safest. And, after the disaster that had been his training with Chuck in Cianwood, he had also long kept his grandfather's thoughts far out of the equation when it came to ‘safety.’ Of course, Blue knew that there was no logical way for Professor Oak to know what would happen to his grandson when he sent him to Cianwood, but it still made Blue question his loyalties to the old man.

But now he had to choose.

He still loved Professor Oak, even if it was deep down in his gut, so the truth of his situation had hit him like a Machamp when he’d first heard it. It was that awful truth, that horrible reality, that had sent his mind into a frenzy to battle with itself.

The truth was… well, Blue’s grandfather was missing, and no matter how much Blue knew that it was not a good idea to trust the man’s judgment, Blue still cared about him. So, in that case, what did he care about more? The life of the one who had raised him after his parents were out of the picture, even while keeping the job as leading Professor of the region? Or did Blue want to focus on his own life?

Somehow, even though he knew it was not, Blue’s mind convinced himself that it was selfish to want to live for himself.

He knew that there was no way running into the Rocket Base was safe, even for a trainer like him, but he also knew that he was going to have to throw away his safety if he wanted to save his grandfather. And more than that too, if he wanted his town, the beautiful town of Pallet, to remain unpolluted, he was going to have to do this.

The others may have been fighting to save the Pokemon, but Blue did not care so much about them. Of course, he loved his pokemon (and a part of him screamed for him to focus on them), but he had been shoved so hard to always focus on his own safety that he didn't care so much anymore. He needed to fight for his own safety, his freedom, and for a clearer mind, but since Team Rocket had stolen his grandfather away and thrown trash into the rivers and poison into the fields, Blue was forced to throw away his safety in response.

He didn’t like the feeling of putting himself up like that.

Like he was the main course, but the cook too.

Like forks and knives were stabbing into him all over again.

On top of the memories, he was fighting himself, and he didn't like it. He was already going to have to do enough fighting once he actually got into the building, he didn't need to be beating himself up over things that he was going to have to do anyway.

He knew he was going to throw away his safety for this, and half of his mind screamed at him. It screamed so loudly and so truthfully, reminding of precisely what he had dealt with back in Cianwood, replaying every little insult and every little touch. He could feel water slowly filling his mouth as he struggled to breathe, he could feel heavy punches coming down on him with every failure, and he knew that it would have to happen again if he were to save his grandfather and town.

And he was willing to, wasn't he?

He had to fight for this, but what about the injuries that he so very strongly did not want to endure? He had to fix this, but what about his broken heart that he knew could very much shatter even more? His breath caught in his throat, but he kept moving forward.

Always keep moving. Always keep fighting. It was practically the lyrics to the song of his life at this point. No matter what happened, he always kept fighting. He moved on. He pushed through the mental struggle, at least, to his best ability anyhow.

He shoved past the door, screaming out confident sounding insults as he went, even though he knew that was not the way to go about this without getting caught. But honestly who cared? There was no way he was going to avoid a fight, so why go in wimpy and weak? He knew he was going to get hurt, and he knew it was easier afterwards if he couldn’t blame himself for what happened.

His legs shook with the painful strength of his memories, and his body ached with the echoing reminders of what he had endured. Still, he knew he was to keep moving. He fought against his own mind, but since there was no winning in that business, it didn't pay to do anything but keep moving now. He had chosen his path, even if he knew he may regret it very soon.

Behind him, Red followed. Though he struggled to keep up, Blue could see that the determination on his face was as real as the panic that sizzled through the air between them. In fact, Blue could tell that Red's emotions were very similar to his own, though Blue doubted that Red was thinking about much other than the feelings of the Pokemon that Team Rocket had taken for themselves.

He knew that should not make him annoyed, but somehow it bit into him.

He felt useless, as though the confidence that he threw out before him was just for show.

Still, Blue continued to run, feeling the battle in his mind continue as he and Red tripped up staircases and down hallways. Blue steered them clear of teleportation panels, knowing that his own mind was far too frazzled to trust one of those. It would be giving up the one thing he had allowed himself to keep when he had run in here, control.

Blue needed to be in control, but his mind was too busy with infighting to let any single idea take the reins. Save his grandfather. Stop the pollution. Help Red's goals. Keep himself safe.

Keep himself safe.

There was too much too worry about, and too much fear to keep any single part of it going. He could feel hands around his waist, repositioning an attack that he didn't understand why he needed to connect with his goals. He could feel himself losing focus, only to be shocked back into reality with a kick to the gut.

He could feel so much, but he knew he could not focus on any of it if he wanted to get through this.

He had to get through this.

But yet, every moment seemed less and less likely that he would.

Behind him, Red screamed, and Blue could do nothing to protect him as the ground disappeared beneath his rival, dropping him away to who knew where, and leaving Blue alone.

Alone to his own mind, and the evil laughing that suddenly filled the air around him.

He was not safe. He was not in control.

And he knew it.

stvrriii

@savebats

The story is really good, but there are a few parts where you could make the sentences easier to understand. For example, instead of saying “he had long chosen based on what would keep him safest,” you could say “he always chose what would keep him safe.” Overall, the story is interesting and well-written, and there are no misspellings or anything like that.

savebats

stvrriii wrote:
@savebats

The story is really good, but there are a few parts where you could make the sentences easier to understand. For example, instead of saying “he had long chosen based on what would keep him safest,” you could say “he always chose what would keep him safe.” Overall, the story is interesting and well-written, and there are no misspellings or anything like that.

Thank you!

(Also, sorry yours is coming so late, I had to drive somewhere for groceries lol.)

savebats

Weekly 2 Part 3: Feedback on another SWCer’s work using the Critiquitaire (200+ words)

In Detail Description: This is the final section of this weekly! For this part, you must submit your writing piece from Part 2 to the Critiquitaire and also provide 200 words or more of feedback towards another SWCer's work there. — (Note: you can also claim Critiquitaire points for this separately from your weekly points!)

Comment on the Critiquitaire: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/873238821/#comments-344967746

Words (Of mine, not the original): 489

Piece I Critiqued: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/694457/?page=22#post-7382585 (by scratch user @stvrriii) Some is copied into this, but I didn’t critique every single paragraph, only the ones I had something to say on.

“The moon, Earth's only natural satellite, has captivated human imagination for centuries. Its bright, white disk in the night sky has been the subject of myths, legends, and stories throughout history. The moon's impact on Earth is undeniable, affecting the planet's climate, weather patterns, and tides. But beyond its influence on our planet, the moon is a fascinating world in its own right.”

I find this to be a very good introduction, as it describes the moon completely truthfully to how it has been seen by humanity throughout the ages, but also goes on to describe how it actually works in just a few short sentences. I must say that it’s mostly a good draw to me because I like the moon, which is to say if I wasn’t interested in reading non-fiction I’m not sure how much this would draw me in. (But on the other hand, if someone really doesn't want to read non-fiction, nothing is going to make them want to, you know?)

I’m also a bit afraid of space, so I like how this writing doesn’t seem to be going off the deep end with deep space facts. (At least so far, anyhow.)

“The moon's surface is also home to towering mountains and deep valleys. The moon's tallest mountain, Mons Huygens, rises to a height of over 15,000 feet, while its deepest valley, the Hadley Rille, extends for over 60 miles. These features were formed by the same geological forces that shape Earth's surface, including volcanic activity and tectonic shifts.”

This is a great paragraph which, as far as I know, has well researched facts. They are specific while not being so particular that you could easily find fault in them later. It, and this might be sort of weird to say, also reminds me of a very specific children’s book on the moon in the style that it presents information. Don’t worry though! This is a good thing! I just find this to be an effective way to present information, and I wanted to bring that up.

“One of the most fascinating things about the moon is its phases. The moon goes through a complete cycle of phases every 29.5 days, as it orbits Earth. When the moon is full, it is a bright, round disk in the sky. When it is a crescent, it is a thin, curved sliver. These phases are caused by the relative positions of the moon, Earth, and sun, and they have been the subject of countless works of art, literature, and music.”

I certainly agree that the moon is most interesting when you look at its phases, and this paragraph does a good job making me remember that with just the first sentence. Sure, it’s not exactly revolutionary, but there’s a reason why some things are common in writing. It’s good, it adds interest, and is quickly followed by a specific fact, which is then topped off with a good description of what said fact ends up looking like in real life. I also like the way you ended off the paragraph, which draws you from the direct facts back into the way humanity sees the moon, which I have always found interesting.

“In recent years, there has been renewed interest in the moon, as scientists and entrepreneurs explore the possibility of establishing a permanent human presence on its surface. Private companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin are developing technology to make this dream a reality, while NASA and other space agencies are planning new missions to study the moon and prepare for future exploration.”

I may be afraid of space, but this paragraph still manages to instill a hope in me for the future of space exploration. It explains plainly what people want and introduces companies that wish to do such things. (The use of the word “dream,” is definitely what makes this paragraph so effective, at least to me.)

“The moon is a fascinating world, with a rich history and a promising future. Whether viewed from Earth or explored up close, it remains one of the most captivating objects in the night sky.”

Very nice closing! I quite liked this piece the whole way through, from the well researched facts to the interest adding sentences that were effective while not being too over the top. I will say that the writing is a tiny bit dry at certain points, but that’s no matter to me, as that is the sort of non-fiction I tend to enjoy reading. (Also, most of it isn’t dry at all, and it’s so short for a non-fiction piece that I can’t imagine how hard it would be to completely eliminate a ‘dryness’ thing.)

Great job! I loved it.

savebats

Word war with @syrozenne ( https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/872186840/#comments-345098679 ) Edit: I won! Yippie!

I rambled about Blue, I dunno if it makes sense lol.

Words: 342

Blue raced along the path, his feet tapping along the stones and rocks like the sounds of a battle from far in his childhood. Beside him, he could hear his Pokemon running too, hands at their sides (or wings at their backs), flippers and paws and feet and claws, all scratching at the same speed as his own feet.

He was running for his life, or, at least, running to practice running for his life.

Blue was known among dexholders for his ability to train his Pokemon to do things (though he could also have been known for training other trainers or himself, quite honestly) and running was one of the important things that he prided himself in teaching. If a pokemon couldn't run (or swim or fly or whatever they were good at) how could they ever battle well?

That was how he saw it, and it was certainly how his team decided to see it too. In fact, back when he and Red had accidentally swapped teams, his Team had refused to do all of the nonsense bonding activities that Red had wanted them to do, instead choosing to train on their own. (He had pretended to be angry at Red then, but he had truly been so proud of his Pokemon that he could hardly even muster up the emotion.)

They had done it all by themselves!

That meant that they understood what he wanted to teach them, and also why it was so important. Of course, he would expect Sizzor to understand, and even Charizard, but some of his newer Pokemon (like Porygon Z) seemed a bit less likely to understand quite the same way. Of course, they all understood when he was training them, but if he had that little mixup with Red again, he was still not sure exactly who would break eventually. (As his Porygorn eventually had joined Red in his silly activities.)

Blue grinned as he ran.

He understood his Pokemon, and they understood him. And he would not have it any other way.

Last edited by savebats (July 16, 2023 21:18:42)

savebats

Description: For today's daily, we're going to take inspiration from mixed up emojis! Go to emojikitchen.dev and create any combination of emojis—then, use your creation as a writing prompt. Write at least 300 words to earn 400 points for your cabin.(If you can't access that website, choose one of the combinations from this project instead: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/870068209/ )

Emoji combo: Pleading emoji and fire emoji

Words: 316

Note: I'm gonna write more of this later, probably, I was just in the middle of watching Pixar's Planes and realized I needed to speedrun this lol.

Sapphire was a fire type trainer, so long as you looked up her apparent “starter” Pokemon. That being her Blaziken, and not her Aggron, obviously. That was, of course, completely normal. Lots of people chose to be fire type trainers, in fact, out of the population of trainers who received starters from a professor, fire types tended to be more popular than water or grass. (Though it was, admittedly, sort of difficult to find trainers who received starters from professors, unlike what the media might tell you.)

Sometimes Ruby wondered if it was a coincidence that so many Pokemon trainers gifted that luxury to choose their starting type chose to train fire. Fire. Wild, hot, gorgeous, dangerous, show offish… It was so many things to so many people, and quite honestly it did not seem to be a coincidence that the trainers who could choose often ended up choosing it. Fire was freedom, very helpful when you were living by yourself in the woods, and just a wee bit crazy, just like a Pokemon trainer.

When people said that the type you chose to main reflected your style, they weren't always wrong. Ruby would have considered himself beautiful, flowing, and strong, just like water was. He was sure that Emerald liked how little you can order a plant around. (And, for that matter, Wally probably related to that as well.) But out of the Hoenn dexholders, Ruby had always thought that Sapphire fit her type stereotype the best.

Fire, wild and dangerous, show offish and, well, hot.

Sapphire was all of that and more when he looked at her. When she looked at him with big shining eyes, pleading for one last hug or kiss before he went out on stage, or bared her teeth with anger in a battle… She was like fire to him. So free. So perfect.

So much of everything to him.

savebats

Main Cabin Daily #17-18: For our second bidaily of the session, your first task is to create and share a bizarre picture of an odd arrangement of everyday objects (for example a tower of forks or a row of clocks interspersed with carrots). If you are unable to take a photograph, a drawing or collage will work as well. However you choose to create your image, make sure to upload it to a project and share it in the main cabin's comments. — Then, claim someone else's picture, and write a 400 word analysis, story, or poem about whatever the image depicts. You'll earn 600 points for doing this bidaily, and sharing is required for both parts.

Mine: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/33415323/comments/#comments-229226295 + https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/875893471/

Others I enjoyed: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/33415323/comments/#comments-229173299 + https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/875688000/ and https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/33415323/comments/#comments-229202587 + https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/875802347/

Used: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/33415323/comments/#comments-229165077 + https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/875661683 (@Thecatperson19 on Scratch.) Includes: Window, thimble, pins, needle, button, thread, scissors, and a wee elephant

Note: I’m not great at poems, but I didn’t know what else to do.

Words: 421

Green leaves reflect green windows, they will
Open to dip a hand into the sky.
Black scissors rest atop a black sill
Thimbles and needles, I wonder why.
Thread slices grass into tiles
Blue sky open way up when
A sky that goes on for miles and miles
I scribble out the rest with a pen

Walls that stand up like sandstone cliffs
A wee little elephant shape
Unlike me, it never speaks in bluffs
Warmth delicious as a grape
Orange and green and black and white
When I look out there
It's endless height
But I cannot guess a single part of where

A slice of blue and a splash of green
Birds sit out there in the dawn
But to walk out and join them, that I am not so keen
…on
Well that's a shock!
The elephant seems to know how to…
…talk!
He even hands me a nice brew!

Coffee? From a stranger?
Let alone one who lives among needles?
I can't even call it a ranger-
Since needles don't tend to double as nettles
Unlike the grass outside the open glass
A screen that is bypassed by…who?
I sure wish that I, like them, had a pass
Out into the windowless expanse of which a bird can chew.

The elephant speaks to me
Telling me tales of this and that
Using words like “we”
When discussing the mud that he used to track across the mat
Stories of open doors
And old friends spun ‘round thimbles
And wild boars
All of whom knew how to use their symbols

Tales of the land
On which he couldn’t help but keep pace
I can't help but wonder if it was, in some way, planned
To tug me into this place
Of hope and history
Of a snake and getting bit
He gives me buckets of sympathy
Though I doubt I deserve it

An endless stories of all the glory
Of castles of needles and thread
Of which I now take inventory
Storing way up in my head
The tales of unending searching pain
of the fighters of forgotten kingdoms known
and those all holed up in the rain
tossed from their royal throne

They now lay bare down on the other side
A curse to them my heart cannot imagine
When it comes to a trip outside
I seem to have lost my passion
Why take the step through that open space
Past thimbles and thread
When I have already found my place?
Listening on this bed?

savebats

Main Cabin Daily #19: July 20th is International Moon Day, and to celebrate, we're bringing back the constellation daily! Choose any constellation or celestial body, then write at least 300 words about how it came to be in the form of a story or a fictional essay. Feel free to do some research into your chosen subject and incorporate that into your writing as well! This daily will earn you 200 points, but you can get an extra 50 for sharing what you write. — Additionally, to celebrate moon day, make sure to thank Luna ( @Luna-Lovegood-LOL ), one of our hosts, and Moonlit ( @MoonlitSeas ), who helps to run the MBC!

Celestial Body chosen: The Moon

Note: I really don’t like posting original work, so I hope y’all don’t mind if I wrote a myth about the moon as if it came from the Pokemon world. (Don’t worry, I still made up the plot and writing and everything.) Also, sorry if I missed any Pokemon with connections to the moon, lol. There were a lot more than I thought there were.

Words: 2,402

A long time ago, in a time that only Arceus itself can remember, there was no moon in the sky. When it came time to slip into night, the sun dipped below the horizon and away from sight, leaving an endless blackness of speckled stars, but no moon. At first this caused no problems, as many of the Pokemon spent much of their awake time in daylight anyway, and those that chose night for themselves tended to enjoy it for the darkness, but that all changed when Cresselia was born.

However, it was not the Cresselia we know today. No, this Cresselia was made of all shadow. A creature of the night that once existed, and a creature who longed to change that.

Cresselia did not like the layout of the night sky, what with its darkness that served only to inspire the bad dreams from which Darkrai feeds, and it wanted to do something about it. So, with no clear ideas, it decided it would travel the world in search of something to change the unfairness between the day and night skies. But as it flew, it kept having to stop to help cure the bad dreams sent upon the Pokemon it passed, growing angrier and angrier each time it had to shed a feather to dispel said nightmares. It knew that it could not keep those bad dreams away from everyone just by itself, not when the night was filled with nothing but darkness.

It knew that it needed help if it wanted to pull its wish off, so as it traveled, Cresselia began to look for others who thought the way it did. First, Cresselia found a herd of Musharna, who drank the stuff of dreams.

“Musharna!” Cresselia landed in the middle of the herd, chirping with gentle waves of its wings, “I need your help!”

“With what?” The leading Musharna yawned. He looked annoyed to have been woken from his dream, but not so much that he wouldn’t hear Cresselia out, “What is so important that you would wake me from my dream in order to hear it?”

Cresselia bowed its shadowy head, “I did not mean to wake you, Musharna,” it said calmly, knowing to keep polite if it wanted help, “I thought of a way to improve the dreams of the Pokemon in this world, and I was wondering if you might be interested in helping me,”

The Musharna did look interested at first. “Improving the dreams?” he mused, thinking about the flavor of the dreams he fed so often upon. He paused for a while, blinking as great billowing clouds of purple dream mist drifted around him, but then slowly nodded. “How do you plan to improve the dreams of another, Cresselia?”

Cresselia smiled, it might be getting somewhere here! “I was just thinking that nighttime is too dark for good dreams!” it opened its wings wide for effect, scattering dark feathers across the herd of Pokemon around it, “If it had something like the sun to light it up a little bit, then maybe the dreams of all of us would improve!”

The Musharna looked on as Cresselia continued, getting more excited as it went on. “I’ve even got a name for it!” Cresselia said waving its wings at the herd around it, “The Moon! Like your name! Musharna!”

The Musharna thought about that for a while, and Cresselia felt its dark wings itch in anticipation of having a new helper in its quest. Someone like Musharna was worth a lot more than they often let on. However, it seemed that now was not the time for this particular Musharna to share that worth.

“I cannot help you,” he said finally, shaking his head sadly, “I fear that, if the night becomes as bright as the day, then many Pokemon will be unable to fall asleep at all,” Cresselia frowned, but Musharna was not yet done. “To us, who survive on the dream mist of others, a bad dream is better than no dream at all.”

Cresselia was saddened by this, but it found that it did understand. If it had been the one living on dream mist, it knew it would have taken no chances of possibly losing what kept it alive. It nodded and lifted into the air on still dark wings. “Thank you Musharna,” it said as it tried to hide its sadness, “thank you for listening.” However, by the time Cresselia had finished speaking, the Musharna was already long since asleep.

“Alright,” Cresselia said to itself as it passed over fields of tossing and turning Pokemon, each stuck in their own nightmare, “Maybe someone more like the sun will be able to help me, since they have a different view on dreams than Musharna or I,”

Thinking this, Cresselia set off for the place it knew those that it searched for would rest in. It was a warm place, with plenty of light that would have been let in, had the sun been in the sky at night. (Cresselia couldn’t help but think that it would be even more beautiful had this new ‘moon’ idea graced the space already.) Cresselia landed outside, floating slowly on clouds of shadows as it searched for those that it needed.

Due to the brightness of them, of course, they were not hard to find.

“Solgaleo! Solrok” Cresselia called, fluttering its dark wings in order to raise to the height of the great (and rather surprised) lion, “I need your help!”

Recovering from his shock, Solgaleo titled his head to the side. “With what, Cresselia?” he asked, “What would bring you here at such a treacherously dark time as this?”

Cresselia bowed. “That’s precisely it, Solgaleo,” it said, and, turning to Solrok now, “I ask you both to help me find a way to get something like the sun in the sky during the night. Something that will keep this beautiful cave of yours bright at all times.”

Solrok looked interested, but only a worried hum escaped him. Solgaleo, however, purred in interest. “Come on Solrok,” he said, patting his friend gently with one massive paw, “Think of how lonely the sky is without someone else in it! Wouldn’t it be more fun at night if someone like you could hang out with you?”

Cresselia nodded, but felt a small worry in its belly. Someone? Did that mean that Solgaleo was imagining a Pokemon like him? Someone like the sun (or, Cresselia supposed, the moon), who was alive? But Cresselia had no time to correct that confusion, because Solrok spoke.

As always, Solrok’s voice was a crackle of worry, but Cresselia couldn’t help but think that it sounded even more so than normal. “That would be great,” Solrok admitted, “but I already have friends who can hang out with me at night! If I had someone like me in the close sky, I’d be scared that my other friends would leave me,” It looked up at Cresselia with its scared red eyes, “I couldn’t have that happen!”

Cresselia nodded comfortingly, setting one dark wing over Solegeleo’s paw on Solrok’s back. “Of course not Solrok, I couldn’t have that happen either.” Cresselia lifted its wing again and fluttered backwards a step or two, “Do you have any of your friends you would like me to ask for advice?”

Solrok nodded, but it was Solegeleo who actually answered. “Yes,” he said, “Umbreon might have input on this, you should check with her,” Solrok nodded again, and Cresselia smiled.

“Thank you Solegeleo,” it said, “I will,”

And that Cresselia did, even though it had to make its way back out of the beautiful cave and into the darkness of the soon to be changed night. Thankfully though, Umbreon wasn’t a hard Pokemon to find. The glowing rings in her fur made her stand out quite severely, even in the darkest swamp. Cresselia wished it could have bright feathers like that, but alas, its wings were just as dark as ever.

“Umbreon!” Cresselia called, floating down in front of the Pokemon, “I need your input on something,”

“On what, Cresselia?” Umbreon asked, looking up at the dark shadow in front of her, “What could you possibly want from a night Pokemon like me?”

“I thought you might like a light at night,” Cresselia said calmly, “but Solrok said it didn’t want it to be like the sun, I thought you might have something to say.”

Umbreon sat still for a long time, turning over the words in her head. A light in the night, like the spots on her fur. The worries of her friend, who always got nervous over things that ended up being very important in the long run. Eventually, however, she nodded.

“I’d love a light at night,” she admitted, “but if Solrok doesn’t want it to be too much like the sun, we could always make it different!”

Cresselia thought this over, staring at the warped rings shapes in Umbreon’s glowing fur. Something different from the sun. Something dark enough to keep Pokemon asleep, while being bright enough to scare Darkrai away. Something that changed identity when each passing Pokemon gave input.

Phases.

“Thank you Umbreon!” Cresselia whooped, rising into the sky faster than it ever had before, “Thank you very much!”

Cresselia didn’t stop flying for twenty nine days, so hard it searched for Arceus. The world became a blur below it, but the input of the Pokemon it had spoken to did not change in its memory. Not too bright. Not too similar. Like a good friend. Phases. In fact, Cresselia was halfway through the thirtieth day when it ran into Arceus. (And I do mean literally, so busy thinking about the thoughts of those it had asked, it was.)

“Cresselia!” Arceus said once it had finished steadying the profusely apologizing Pokemon on its hoof, “What brings you here?”

“Arceus!” Cresselia gasped, wings aching as it rested on Arceus’ hoof, “We need a moon!” Arceus tilted its head thoughtfully, but Cresselia didn’t slow down. “Something like the sun, only dimmer and at night, which changes its shape from time to time! It will make the dreams of the Pokemon better, and give those lonely in the nighttime a friend!”

Arceus chuckled and looked up at the dark sky above them. “A moon?” Cresselia opened its mouth to say more, but before it could, a stream of glowing dream mist rose from its wings, blasting high into the sky. Cresselia stared in amazement as a flickering form of rock began to form out of the mist. Exactly what it had imagined.

“But Arceus!” Cresselia yelped, spreading its dark wings, “can you just do that? Just make something new because you want it?”

“Well,” Arceus said, rising high into the sky with Cresselia still on its hoof, “To add something this large to the far sky, we need to balance it with things in the sky, the close sky, and the earth, correct?”

Cresselia nodded, and then jumped in surprise when it realized that Arceus was prompting it to give the ideas. But what could balance out something this wonderful? Cresselia thought about all of the Pokemon it had met across its journey, and ideas began to fly out of its mind.

From the moon’s cloud of dream mist, some pink Pokemon fluttered down to the now far away earth. They had small wings and curled tails, and Cresselia somehow knew what they were called. Clefairy. As Cresselia watched, open mouthed from Arceus’ hoof, the Clefairy began to sing, hopping in a circle and spreading their happy dream mist across the land near them. They were to make the dreams better, and Arceus nodded approvingly.

“A good choice,” it smiled, “A Pokemon to help keep joy on earth in times that the moon is darker,”

Cresselia smiled back, confidence growing as it let the creation power of Arceus flow though its shivering black feathers. “And for the close sky,” Cresselia murmured, allowing a chunk of the moon to break away in the dream mist, taking the form of a crescent, but reminiscent of Solrok’s brave face, as the Pokemon formed, “a Lunatone.”

Arceus smiled wider, “One more space, sweet Cresselia,” it murmured, “One more miracle.”

Cresselia felt the full power of Arceus flow through it. Times before the earth, before the sun, before the sky. Times that were empty of not just the moon, but of everything. Times that needed someone’s help to get them kicking.That’s who Cresselia was in that moment, the creator to get something kicking.

Or rather, flying. A friend for Solgaleo, a Pokemon so unquestionably unique among the others that only one as glorious as he could ever take his place in times of the night sky. A creature of not just the moon, but of night. As Cresselia focused, allowing the sky behind which the Lunatone had broken to bend, Cresselia thought about it.

“Lunala,” the unformed dream mist seemed to speak it it, “that’s what I am,”

And who was Cresselia to argue?

The power broke away in a blast of dream mist, as the large bat Pokemon broke through into reality. Wings the colors and consistency of the starry night, curved ears to make the curve of the moon that had formed it, a mischievous grin as it broke free into reality.

It was all real now. Really real. There was no going back. Cresselia sank into a bow on Arceus’ hoof. “Thank you Arceus,” it sobbed, feeling the new shining light of the moon on its black feathers and hearing the song of new friends up from below, “Thank you for letting me do this,”

At this point, Cresselia thought there was nothing more that Arceus could do to surprise it, but it turned out that it had been wrong. When Arceus smiled and murmured, “Thank you Cresselia, for all your caring work,” the world flipped once more upside down.

“For your work,” Arceus continued, raising ever further into the sky, “I will make you a piece of your moon as well,”

Before Cresselia could even ask what that meant, it got its answer. It felt its body begin to glow, feathers changing in color and shape and the body of the formerly shadowy Pokemon began to shift. Black and gray glowed as brightly as the now full moon above, and Cresselia saw the world anew.

savebats

This was a 50 headed hydra attempt that totally flopped, oopsies. (For those not informed, a “50 headed hydra” is when you try to write 500 words in five minutes.)

Words: 319
Cws: Very vague injury, trauma, and death mentions.

In a world like this, it was hard for a young person not to feel alone. As it was, it was hard for adults not to feel lonely sometimes, when half of your friends had already left you on journeys of their own back in school, and when the other half slowly fell away from the job, (or fell to it). It was hard to maintain relationships when you were busy maintaining the strength of your Pokemon and the amount of food you packed for yet another endless trip.

But at least adult trainers had practice with it. Practice with that unhealthy balance, practice making their way through the world, practice with fighting and fighting and doing nothing more. Practice with injuries and endless challenges. With getting lost in the middle of the woods or the middle of a cave, with finding their friends broken off the path of some washed up road.

But younger trainers had not become so practiced, not yet. (And, in fact, some of them would never have the chance to.)

Blue was one of such young trainers, one of many who was shoved into the lifestyle too fast to process what was happening. He stayed snarky, of course, but he often found that, the moment he was alone (truly alone), that his self confident persona started to slip.

From the moment his parents had disappeared, Blue’s life hadn’t been the same. Of course, he wasn’t exactly open to the same life that many other young trainers were, given that he was the grandson of the “great” Professor Oak, but he ended up with just as many scrapes as them anyhow.

Scrapes from falling down hills, scrapes from falling off his old bike, scrapes from simple battles, and scrapes from things that were much much worse. Things that were unimaginable. Things that were uncommon. Things that were all too understandable among Pokemon trainers.

Evil things.

savebats

(Probably) Finishing up a very short Franticshipping oneshot that I think I put the first part in here?

Characters from Pokemon Adventures.

Words: 1,029

She was beautiful, so much so that, though he had always found the most important aspect of himself his own beauty, he paled in comparison to her. She was bright eyed, sharp toothed, muscular and fast, with hair that fit her just right, even though the style of anything but professionally done. Her hands, which moved with such delicacy that they could hold a newly hatched Torchic without so much as a shake, but also held with such strength that even a metal fountain was not safe from her.

Her determination that pushed through any odds, her resilience to keep burning on, even after hours chucked under a metaphorical cover of dust. Her strong biting words, and her strong actual bite. She was everything to him, and she was the burning warmth of fire in his gut.

Beautiful. Tough. Cute. Cool. Clever.

Somehow, Sapphire and her stupid trainer stereotype met every single one of the categories Ruby cared so much about. Somehow, she was literally perfect in his eyes. So when he looked at her, his hands shaking behind his back as they gripped the bouquet he had stored there, his breath caught in his throat.

“What is it Ruby?” She asked curiously, “Why are your hands behind your back?”

Ruby choked slightly, if she wanted to, she could smell the air and probably pinpoint the species of every single one of the flowers he had picked out for her. “Um,” he said finally, spinning away from her as she attempted to peek around his arms, “A gift for you-!”

His words ended in a yelp as she reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling it and the flowers out into the open for her to see. If he had been expecting that, he would have probably been able to resist it, but as it was, the feeling of her fingers around his arm made him so weak at the knees that he wasn’t entirely sure that was true.

“Sapphire!” he yelped indignantly, unsure which of their faces were brighter red as she processed the gift, “I was going to give them to you!”

Sapphire was rendered speechless for a moment, though her fangs glinted in the light of her newly renovated cave as she opened and closed her mouth. Ruby thought she looked a bit like a fish, but like, a really pretty fish. Like a really pretty fish.

He blushed a bit harder.

“Thank yeh!” she finally choked, “Thank you so much!”

Ruby noticed that she had neither taken the flowers or let go of his arm, but he wasn’t upset at all by that fact. “You’re welcome Sapphire,” he said smoothly, trying to regain the cool flirtatious mood that he had been trying to go for in this, “I’m glad you like them,”

“I love them!” she gasped, finally letting go of his arm to take the flowers in a large hug (though Ruby would be lying if he said that he wasn’t a bit disappointed by the loss of contact between them), “How’d yeh know these were my favorites?!”

Ruby tried to smirk, but he was so excited by how happy Sapphire was that he couldn’t force the grin off his face for long enough to pull it off. “Did you think I hadn’t been listening to you when you were talking about your research work?” he asked, deciding rather suddenly that it was his turn to put a hand on Sapphire’s arm. He leaned in close to her ear, and, very happy with the darkening blush on her face, whispered, “I’ve been looking for clues for things you might like,”

Sapphire shivered slightly as she giggled, and then threw her arms around him excitedly. “Ruby!” she laughed as the bouquet swatted him on the back of the head, “I didn’t know yeh were listening!”

“Well of course I’ve been!” Ruby said with mock annoyance, “What else am I meant to do when the love of my life is talking about something she enjoys?” He felt the smile on his face grow as Sapphire continued to laugh into his shoulder, her arms wrapped so tightly around his chest that he suddenly found it slightly hard to breathe. Nevertheless, he continued, his tone now jokingly accusing, “Does this mean that you haven't been paying attention when we discuss contests? Is that what you’re admitting too?”

“No!” Sapphire laughed, pulling back from the hug and giving Ruby’s ribs a bit of relief (though he himself wanted nothing more than to be close to her again), “It just seemed like something yeh would do-” she did a little twirl, demonstrating a topic that she had Ruby had been practicing just the other day, “-but I’ve been paying attention!”

Ruby laughed as Sapphire’s face scrunched up in a pleading expression.

“Yeh really think I could do something like that if I hadn’t listened?” she said, doing the twirl again for greater effect and sending a couple of fiery orange petals flying out of the bouquet. “I’m the strong one here, not the dancer! Yer the one who knows all that beauty stuff!”

“I suppose I can’t argue with that,” Ruby said, leaning down to causally pluck a petal from the carpet, “but with your looks, all that ‘beauty stuff’ would probably be easy for you,” He looked up with a smirk, and Sapphire’s very predictable open mouthed gasp was the very cute sight that met him when he did.

“Me, beautiful?” Sapphire squeaked, as though this was the first time he’d done that, “I thought you were the beautiful one here!”

“Alright,” Ruby said, straightening up and fixing his hat’s position on his head, “I guess I am, I’ll take it back,”

Sapphire somehow managed to get in a very squeaky, “No yeh don’t!” even before Ruby had finished speaking, and the smirk on his face grew ever wider.

Sapphire was everything to him, cute, warm, dangerous, all of the things that he had ever needed in a woman. She was fire, and though he was water, he was determined to make this work. He had too, he had too for the most incredible girl he had ever known.

savebats

In Cabin Daily #10: How does being alone set the scene here? Does it make it more scary? Think of a scene where a character has to go through something with someone- it can be yours but it doesn't have to be. Now, re-write it, but the main character goes through the event alone.

Note: I chose the Pokespe scene in book three where Red is getting electrocuted by Surge, except Red doesn't have any of his Pokemon with him. No exact words or events though, because I think that the whole “not having Pokemon” thing really changes a battle like this. Also, it's currently unfinished.

Cw: Electrocution, being unable to think

Words: 1,256

“Ack!” Red yelped as he hit the ground, his tailbone immediately burning with pain as he made contact with the hard tiles of whatever room he had landed in. Instinctively, as he knew he was not in an even slightly safe place at the moment, he reached for his Pokeballs, which he knew should have been around his waist. However, his shaking fingers fell on empty slots, and his heart instantly jumped into his throat.

Red stumbled to his feet, his tailbone still aching as he desperately looked out across the dark room for his Pokeballs. However, the strange design of the room was enough to make him pause, even in the urgency of the situation. It was a square room, with the only bit of light the flickering glow from under a door at the other end. But it was none of that that was weird about it. It was the walls.

They looked mostly normal, but as Red stepped forward curiously, he took in the strange look of what could have been wires wrapping around each of them. There were about five on each wall, each running parallel to the tiled floor, except by the door on the other end of the room, which they ran under and away. Red tilted his head and stepped a bit closer to the wall, he had spotted his Pokeballs only a few feet away, a little bit of investigation before going to grab them couldn't hurt, right?

He stood quietly in front of the wall, listening to a soft hum emitting from the wires as he stared. His hand, which had stopped right before making contact with the wall, began to pull back as an awful feeling grew in his gut. He needed to get his Pokeballs, right now. But just as he was about to pull away and grab them, the door suddenly slammed open behind him. Red jumped in surprise, but when he wheeled around to see who had entered the room, he miscalculated his jump slightly, right into the wire covered wall.

The very instant his body touched the wall, hot, searing pain shot through his body. For a moment, his brain refused to work, refused to process the indescribable pain that was being inflicted upon him, and then it hit him as he screamed and jumped away, his hair sticking up even more than usual. /“Ow!”/ was the only thing his scrambled mind could seem to conjure up as his vision swam.

Across the room, the man who had entered the room was laughing. “You like the decorations?” he asked, as if electrical wiring covering your walls was the hit new trend and not an obvious part to some sort of truly awful plan, “I got ‘em special, just for you,”

Red stumbled slightly further away from the wall, panting hard. His body was still shocked through with pain, which made it harder than usual to think as he struggled to get his thoughts in order. He’d been electrocuted many times in the past, it was only natural for a Pikachu trainer, but there was only one sort of electricity he'd ever felt that felt like /that./ The electricity that Lt. Surge, Gym Leader of Vermilion city, Pokemon kidnapper, and, apparently, Team Rocket member, was in command of. The electricity that fried his brain so hard that he couldn't even think while it hit him.

The man before him swam into view, all muscles and evil grins, and Red knew he was done for if he couldn't get to his Pokemon in time. He slammed his jaw shut and made a leap for the Pokeballs, but before he could get his hands around one, another blast of pain made impact with his side, throwing him against the wall again and scrambling his brain into nothing but pleading screams once more. He couldn't think. He couldn't feel anything but agony. His side felt like he'd been hit by an actual lightning bolt. His eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed onto the ground, his hands twitching, mere feet away from his Pokemon.

“Now now Red,” Surge's voice sounded like it was coming from five miles away in Red's ears, “We can't have you getting your Pokemon, not when you're already in the middle of a battle.”

Red felt something close around his wrist, and he forced himself to try and shake it off of him as he was dragged to his feet. It, however, did not feel much like moving, and Red quickly found himself standing once more. This time, however, his arms were restrained, and, deep within his still stuttering heart, he knew he was totally done for now.

“Surge,” he managed, though his mouth felt like it was full of broken leather needles, “You're in Team Rocket?” His voice cracked with pain, but his eyes managed to get back into focus right as Surge hefted a heavy looking weapon back onto his shoulder.

“I sure am!” Surge laughed, looking Red up and down (probably pretty proud of the ‘restraining him with Magnemites’ idea), “One of the three members of the Rocket Triad,” he grinned in a way that twisted his face like he was being stabbed in the gut and enjoying it, “Not that you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting the others, now that you're down here with me,”

Red groaned as the Magnemites sent careful sparks down his outstretched arms. He curled in on himself slightly, but could not get any further in his attempts to escape, they simply held him too tightly. The Magnemite electricity was nowhere near as strong as whatever ran through the walls though, so Red was able to see Surge quite clearly. Horrifyingly, Surge looked positively delighted by Red's pain as he took a few heavy looking steps forward.

“You caused a lot of trouble back on the SS Anne,” Surge said casually, though he must have known that Red was in too much pain to respond, “I thought it would be fitting if /I/ was the one to battle you,” he smiled cruelly, and Red found himself panting as the Magnemites paused their sparks for a moment.

“But it seems you couldn't even get to your Pokemon in time!” Surge laughed waving with the weapon in his arms at the Pokeballs a few feet away, all of which were rolling as the Pokemon inside fought to get out, “So I guess that makes me the default winner, hmm?”

Surge was much closer than Red wanted him to be. Every patch on his camouflage jacket, even scar on his thick jaw, every slightly out of place hair in his army hair cut. Red could see them all, and he didn't like the increase in detail.

“No way, you-!” he started, but a sudden shock from the Magnemites cut him off with a screech. Surge chuckled and waved his free hand, and Red began to feel himself being pulled backwards. He yelped and tried to fight the creatures, but he could do nothing as their metal bodies brought him ever closer to the electrified walls. His mind was nothing but pure desperation, he couldn't go back to that pain, he couldn't!

But it seemed that no matter how much his brain screamed, it lost all coherent thought the moment his arms touched that wall. He screamed. He could not think. He could not see. He could not breathe. He felt nothing but agony, and heard nothing but Surge's laughter, suddenly miles and miles away.

savebats

Weekly 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/695082/?page=1#post-7382139

Intro: Welcome to the third, penultimate weekly! — In this weekly, loosely based on the new Action genre, we will be focusing on constructing longer pieces of writing. You’ll learn how to frame your story, how to incorporate a compelling conflict, include action into your piece, and much more!

Total words: 3,062

Total story words: 2,507

Part 1: Brainstorming for your story (150+ words, no proof required)

In Detail Description: To begin, you will be required to do some basic story planning. Visit this amazing workshop on structure by Birdi (https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/479806014/) for help. In this part, outline the fundamentals of your story, including the characters, the setting, the main plot points, as well as the ending in 150 words or more. Ask the main cabin for writing prompts if you're having trouble coming up with ideas. This part of the weekly does not require any proof.

Note: It doesn’t need any proof but you know me.

Words: 555

First off, I would really have loved to write original fiction for this weekly, but I hate posting original works online, so I’m going with a Pokemon fanfiction. (Since this weekly didn’t say anything about not being allowed to do that. Plus, I asked in the main cabin and nobody told me otherwise.) For this reason, I want to write about a Pokemon trainer on their journey through Rock Tunnel, which is a location from the Kanto games that scares me a whole lot.

I find myself needing to narrow down which character I will write, since I do not want to use my own Pokemon OC, since that would make the weekly an original work. So, as a result, I have the five Kanto dexholders (counting Ash of course) to choose from. Blue Oak, Green, Red, Yellow, and Ash. Since I already wrote Blue in Rock Tunnel earlier in Scratch Writing camp (and I have been writing him way more than usual), I quickly removed him from the list. That leaves Red (my favorite character), Green (who I like a lot but find very hard to write), Yellow (who I struggle to imagine on that side of the region), and Ash (who never went into Rock Tunnel in his cannon.)

It’s a tough lineup, honestly, but I think I can work it out. Green and Yellow are probably not options, because I simply can’t imagine them in Rock Tunnel well enough to make an actual plot line out of it (though I can very much imagine a random clip of either of them), which leaves Red and Ash. Red’s story, should I write him, would take him on a check through of the tunnel for lost and injured trainers, where he uses tricks with his Pokemon to get out of dangerous situations. Ash’s story, should I write him, would have him entering Rock Tunnelfor much the same reason as Red, and getting a little overwhelmed by how hard he finds the place to navigate, even with a great Pikachu.

To be honest, I would much rather write the story about Red, but it also seems like the kind of thing I could draw out for 9k words, which I simply don’t have time for now, seeing how late I’m starting on this weekly. I swear I’ll write it at some time in the future, but this is not the time.
In that way, I have narrowed down my character, location, and vague plotline. I plan to start with Ash right as he enters the cave, flashing back on the dexholder meeting that sent him there. The rising action will have him realizing he’s become lost and that his communicator isn’t working (or something) and will build to a climax when his Pikachu faints. He no longer has a source of light, and is understandably freaked out. But as he thinks about what his fellow dexholders would do to get out of it (highlighting each of their strengths and personalities as he goes), he realizes that he has something special he can do.

Aura powers. (For real, how did they let him have Aura powers and then basically never mention it again??? How?? This is a crime Pokemon company.)

He then uses his powers to get out, blah blah blah, and it’s all great. Yay!

Part 2: Introducing your story (300+ words)

In Detail Description: Hopefully you’re feeling inspired to get started writing! The first part of your long piece will be the introduction. You should aim to write 300 words towards this part of the story.

Words: 640

Ash flipped a piece of hair out of his eyes as he looked into the dark cave. He and Pikachu had been assigned on a sweep of Rock Tunnel for lost and injured trainers, though he wasn’t exactly what one would call the best dexholder for the job. Yeah, Ash had an amazing friend (who happened to be one of the strongest Pikachu’s the world had ever seen), which was certainly going to help him in here, but he was now realizing that he had no clue what he was doing.

He stepped through the natural doorway into the place, quietly walking down the thin tunnel to what he knew was the true face of the tunnel. Pikachu sat on his shoulder, quietly chirping to himself as he looked around at the rapidly darkening shadows around them. Ash could tell that he was wondering if now was the time to light up the area, but he and Ash had been specifically instructed to wait until he was actually inside the cave, so he held off, for now.

There were, however, only a few more turns until they found themselves in complete darkness. If that, and the way the walls had swooped away into oblivion by his sides, was any clue, they were in the belly of the thing now. Ash could barely see a foot in front of himself, and he knew it would only get darker from here.

“Alright Pikachu,” Ash murmured, reaching up to turn his baseball cap backwards on his head, but comfortingly brushing his fingers along his electric rodent’s soft fur on the way, “Light it up,”

Pikachu purred happily and leaped off of Ash’s shoulder into the air. Ash, though he thought quickly and squeezed his eyes shut, was still partially blinded by the sudden flash of light around them. He blinked rapidly and rubbed the spots out of his eyes, feeling Pikachu land back on him with a satisfied, “Chu~” sound.

“Great job buddy,” Ash praised him, even though his eyes still hurt a little bit, “We shouldn’t have any trouble getting through now.”

He looked up at the cave walls surrounding them, brown and dusted with mud and the occasional splatter of dried poison, little streams of water coming from who knew where and pooling on the ground. There were also quite a few large rocks scattered about the stone floor, some of which Ash could already see a few Geodudes hiding behind, but thankfully nothing worse. (Blue had told him some truly horrific stories from Rock Tunnel, and Ash was glad that he hadn’t walked into one, at least not yet.)

Of course, his Pikachu’s glowing light only lasted twenty or so feet in any direction, leaving a scary nothingness of darkness past that, but Ash was pretty happy with that. This way, though he would be much more noticeable to anyone in the caves, he could see things from a while off, which is what he wanted. (Besides, being easily noticeable was helpful for the people he was trying to look for here, wasn’t it?)

He took a cautious step forward, trying to grow accustomed to the way it sounded and smelled in there as quickly as possible, and then another, and another. Soon, he was walking just as he would have over the top of the tunnel, if a little bit more jumpy than normal. Every so often Pikachu would have to refresh the light, but he seemed fairly happy to do so, so Ash wasn’t too worried. At the rate he was going, he could be finished in only a couple of hours! Provided, of course, that nothing disastrous happened along the way.

But he should have known better than to jynx himself like that, even just in his thoughts, because it was just then that something went wrong.

Part 3: Establishing the rising action (400+ words)

In Detail Description: For the next step in the process, we need to introduce a conflict to your story. This is going to be what propels the entire plot into action. It could be that a character is given a dangerous quest, or a valuable object disappears, or anything else you can come up with - but whatever you decide on will shape the rising action and eventually lead to the climax. Use Gigi’s character motivations workshop to help you think about your characters’ motivations and how that might help create or influence the conflict: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/555257/ Write at least 400 words of your story’s rising action, and make sure you get ready for the climax!

Words: 774

Without warning, the sound of a large, no- scratch that, a huge Pokemon made him jump. Ash whirled around to find the source of the sound, his shoes squeaking on the rocks as he did. On his shoulder, Pikachu immediately sparked up his cheeks and dug his tiny claws into Ash’s jacket, but even with the strong Pokemon beside him, Ash was not prepared for what he turned to face.

His heart dropped, and his mouth fell open.

It was a humongous Onix, even bigger than the Crystal Onix he had seen back in the Orange Islands, and not just a regular Onix either, this one was furious. Ash knew that, logically, he and Pikachu should have been able to easily defeat it, but in the moment, his mind went blank. It was hissing as it slowly advanced, its terrifying jaws open in a way that Ash was experienced enough to know meant business. Behind it, its body slowly uncoiled, and Ash was suddenly so frozen with fear that he could not even think of an attack to give Pikachu, so terrified he was.

How, in all of the Arceus loving world, had something like that managed to sneak up on him? Had he walked past it without even glancing to the side? And if it had been hiding in plain sight, then how many other terrifying things had he missed in the darkness of this tunnel? How had he missed the telltale scraping sounds of its belly on the rocky ground? Had he even been listening? But no matter how it had happened, the one thing he knew was that he was certainly, one hundred percent, cornered.

The Onix raised its tail to attack, and Ash was shocked into movement. He leaped to the side, coming up in a roll as he just barely dodged a brutal looking rock tomb. As quickly as he could, he scrambled to his feet and sped off into the darkness. He couldn’t go back the way he had come, what with the Onix in the way, so he took the first path he saw, a dark twisting one that (even though Pikachu’s Flash) seemed to go off into infinity.

Behind him, the Onix roared in rage as took up chase. Ash’s heart was in his throat as he ran, feet pounding hard enough against the ground that he felt the reverberations of the pain all the way up to his hips. On his shoulder, Pikachu was hissing, but Ash was moving too fast for him to deliver a good attack and still land back on him, so he was regulated to just keeping up the light.

Ash felt the tingling in his skull that he always got when he was about to be attacked, and he quickly dove to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed by a Rock Throw from the very angry Onix. It was such a narrow dodge, in fact, that Ash felt a piece of stone brush past his hair, and immediately a thunk and a pained squeak told him that Pikachu had been hit. As soon as the rock made contact with him, the light that had been provided by his Flash move dissipated, leaving Ash alone in the darkness.

“Pikachu!” he yelled, reaching up to catch his friend before he tumbled to the ground, clearly fainted. He felt heavy in Ash’s hands, and he cursed as he continued to run, now completely blind in the darkness. Thankfully, as he continued to run, the Onix seemed to become satisfied with how far it had chased him, and he soon found himself alone. No giant Onix chasing him, no Zubats overhead, no audible Pokemon of any kind in the corners.

Ash skidded to a halt on the rocky floor, struggling to let his breathing catch up with him as he clutched at a cramp in his side. He didn’t know where he was, not at all. He opened his eyes as widely as he could to search around the cave, but he saw nothing but blackness. Unfortunately, Pikachu wasn’t going to be of any help, seeing as he was currently passed out cold in Ash’s arms, limp as a blade of grass that had been picked an hour or two ago.

Ash felt the familiar feeling of panic grow in his throat as the gravity of the situation began to set in. He had no clue where he was. He hadn’t been able to find a single person in need of help, and now he had taken the place of the person in need of saving. He was lost in Rock Tunnel. Rock Tunnel.

Part 4: Exploring your story's climax (300+ words)

In Detail Description: You’ve reached the climax of your narrative, and it’s finally time for some ACTION. Whether your hero is fighting a monster or secretly rushing through homework before the end of class, this moment has to have tension, drama and excitement. Write at least 300 words, and enjoy watching everything you previously set up pay off!

Words: 818

Ash felt like the walls were pressing in on his sides, and he hugged Pikachu closer to his chest as he stumbled backwards. He hadn’t brought any other Pokemon in here, instead choosing to leave them with Blue for a little extra training while he was out. He saw now that that had been a pretty stupid decision. His breath caught in his throat and he sat down roughly on the ground. He had to stay put to think.

He began to tear through his bag, shifting Pikachu into the crook of one arm as he tried to keep his breathing steady. But though he searched, he knew there weren’t going to be any healing items in there. He just never carried them! Quite honestly, he’d never been so screwed as he felt he was now, so he hardly ever even gave such things a second thought. (Well, there had been quite a few very close calls, but the ones that would have been better with a healing item were few and far between.)

The other thing he was looking for was Pokedex, but the only thing of note that he found was a rotten Razz Berry. Somehow he had forgotten his dex back at Blue’s house. He bit his lip and hugged Pikachu a bit tighter to his chest. His dex wasn’t exactly the best at radiating light, but since he knew that he hadn’t packed a flashlight, it had been his next best bet. Any sort of light would help him here.

He had been truly unprepared for this job, he knew that now. For some reason, that knowledge made him feel even worse than the fact that he was lost. Ash knew that he was the weakest link of the Kanto dexholders, he knew he had never been even half of Red or Blue, or even Green. Even Yellow, who was technically a weaker battler than him, had a power and care for her Pokemon that was beyond anything he could have ever hoped to achieve.

Blue wouldn’t have gotten lost in the first place, and even if he had, he would have at least had the skills to find his way out. (Besides, he heavily doubted that Blue would have been dumb enough to only bring one Pokemon in with him, even if it was really strong, and in that case, he had several Pokemon who could just sense their ways out, being psychic and all.)

Red was just as sure as Blue. In fact, had gotten through the cave without a single hitch his very first time through, and if he had gotten lost, Ash had no doubt that he would have just blasted his way through a wall to get out. He was fearless when it came to things like that, and so driven by determination that Ash knew that nothing would have stood in his way.

Similarly to the boys, Green had her own tricks up her sleeves. Ranging from heat sensing goggles to a nose that was apparently really good at sniffing out easily manipulatable people, Green could have gotten to help just as fast as Red or Blue could force their ways out.

And like her, Yellow had her own strengths going for her. She had grown up in a forest full of Pokemon, and though it wasn’t quite the same, she was most certainly used to getting lost in a place like that. Besides, with her Pokemon mind reading and healing powers, she wouldn’t have gotten cornered the way Ash had, never.

They all had something special they could do, but in his terror, Ash couldn’t think of anything that he could do. He and Pikachu always just blasted their way through their problems, which wasn’t any way to get through something like this.

What could he do that was unique? What could he do that was helpful?

What could he do at all?

Ash felt as if the cave was curling in around him. He could feel every stalagmite, every stalactite, every crack in the floor and every rock in the corners. He could feel Pikachu's soul as if it was a glowing light in his eyes. Wait a minute.

Feel?

It was as if his eyes had suddenly snapped open from being closed, and the cave systems opened in his mind. Branching tunnels reaching off to who knew where, mazes of water dripping through miniature cracks in the stone, trainers stumbling in the darkness, Pokemon moving about comfortably. He could see it all. Feel it all. …sense it all?

How could he have been so terrified as to have forgotten? He could do something that most other people couldn’t! (In fact, it was something that not even one of the other dexholders could do.) He had been blessed with aura powers, for goodness sake! He could get out of this easy! He just had to focus.

Part 5: Concluding your story (250+ words)

In Detail Description: In the final part of this construction weekly, you need to write a conclusion towards your story. Feel free to refer to the framework you did in part one of this weekly if you like. Using your framework and planning from part one, draft out a 250 word ending for your story. Good luck!

Words: 275

Ash took a deep breath and closed his eyes, allowing his focus to bring the layout of the caves ever deeper in his mind. He was, where? A cavern slightly off of the major route to Lavender. The nearest ‘human’ sense was? Two rooms over, currently battling a flying Pokemon, likely a Zubat.

Ash struggled to his feet, allowing his powers to bore down the tunnels as far as he could reach them. As far as he could tell, there didn’t seem to be any trainers in distress, and a lack of faint auras (besides the occasional sleeping shape and the Pikachu in his arms) told him that there weren’t many passed out Pokemon either.

Ash found a grin making its way onto his face. How hadn’t he thought of this before, again? This was the coolest thing ever! He was doing his job not only quickly, but also well! Of course, it was possible to miss things with it, as he wasn’t exactly practiced, but he was sure he could get used to this over time. All the stories of the horrors found in Rock Tunnel, while certainly real, no longer seemed like they would apply to him quite the same way as they would the other dexholders! He had a safeguard that even Green might be envious of, at this point. (And who would blame her! This was awesome!)

“Alright buddy,” Ash whispered to his still passed out Pikachu, “Time to get you to the Pokemon center.” And as he began his trek through the now very visible caves, he couldn’t help but grin. Now this was something he could get used to!

Last edited by savebats (July 23, 2023 01:21:45)

savebats

Daily: We've had a lot of fun participating in the past few dailies, but we're giving everyone time today to work on any pre-existing writing projects you have. Whether that's a novel or working on the weekly, make use of this day to work on some writing! Write 400 words to earn 300 points for your cabin.

Words: 455

This is part of a Pokespe dragon au thingy I've been doing for a while now.

After the close call with the guards, Ruby hadn’t exactly felt safe staying with the group any longer than was necessary to lead them to their room. Red supposed this was pretty natural, but the continuation of the conversation that Yellow and Green had continued for the entire rest of the day (really) had not exactly peaked his interest. Yes, he had tried to pay attention to what they were talking about, and he had for a while, but eventually he just couldn’t anymore.

There were too many names he didn’t know, too many atrocities he hadn’t heard of before, too much violence with too little peace in between to make things better. All in all, it was a conversation that he was quickly too stressed out by to help with. After all, he didn’t really have anything to add, and Green didn’t very much seem to want him there anyway, so why stay?

Heading back down to the dining room wasn’t exactly what Red had in mind though, seeing as Pika was practically scratching at Red’s hair to get a little air, so he decided that he was going to check on the riding dragons. Yellow seemed comforted by the idea of making sure Kitty was safe, and Green gave Red a nod as a go ahead, so that was what he set out to do. In fact, he decided to take the fun way out, because honestly why not?

Sliding open the window, Red looked out across the grounds of the Inn. He could see that the stables were much more full of dragons than they had been when he and the girls had gotten here, but he was too far away to specifically spot Kitty and the others. The sun was high enough for Red to assume that they were a bit past noon. (They had been talking for quite some time, it seemed.) If he was back home, and his mother was safe and sound, she probably would have been over to check on him, or at least could be heard humming from inside the house. His heart ached. He missed her.

Red took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His hands felt steady on the windowsill, which was more than he had been expecting out of them. He could do this. He could save her, wherever she was.

Bringing him out of his thoughts, he felt Pika’s tiny claws scraping against him as the little yellow dragon clambered onto Red’s head. He chirped angrily, like, ‘are we leaving or not?’ and Red couldn’t help but laugh.

“Okay Pika,” he murmured swinging into a sitting position on the ledge and allowing the dragon to take in the scenery, “We’re leaving,”

savebats

Main Cabin Daily #24:

Description: Welcome to Bestselling Bookstore! Write a blurb for your favourite or most recent writing project in 100 words, and share it with us in the main cabin comments. Then shop the comments, and make sure to comment on your favourite blurbs so they know you'd buy their book! Completing this daily will win you 200 points for your cabin.

Words: 172

When it comes to writing that I’ve made, I must say that my Gameknight999 x Dream SMP project is likely the most impressive. It’s not my favorite, it’s a bit of a mess (especially in the beginning) and it’s nowhere near done, but it’s over 54 thousand words, which I think has to add up to something, right? It hinges on the fact that the protagonist of the Gameknight999 series is named Tommy, while, especially at the time I began to write the fanfiction, one of the most popular Dream SMP characters was also named Tommy. So basically I swapped their universes and had the plot follow them as they do their best to get back to where they are from.

I’m not really into the Dream SMP anymore (and quite honestly I never was), but the opportunity was so good, I just HAD to take it, you know? And for something that is basically just one big joke in my head, 54k words of serious writing is a lot, isn’t it.

savebats

Word war with @Sandy-Dunes.

Link: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/872186840/#comments-346452777

Note: I was looking at Hetalia fanart before writing if you were curious. (It's about Hetalia.)

Words: 340

In a place like this, chivalry is hard to come by. A rotten urge keeps people sick, blowing up their hearts into a mangled mess of emotions and history as if they never saw themselves as human after all. A story of too much hurt and injury, a story of a lot more pain than was necessary.

That's what history is, in the end of things. It's the tale that spins the web (though that seems a little backwards, as it is not the tale spun from it), and it is the thing that keeps people like me going.

Me.

About me.

Some say I'm a monster, others say I'm a witch. Some speak of horrors or the bright light of my eyes in the dark of the night. I don't really think so. To me, I'm just as regular as the next guy over. (Though I suppose that's easy to say when you're me.) I'm just a person, and you're just a person, and they're just a person.

The simple fact that I'm immortal shouldn't change anything about that, right?

I have regular interests, even if they tend to be interspersed by the story of that history thing I was talking about earlier. I have regular thoughts and feelings, except when I don't. I'm just as human as an actual human, just boosted with a little bit of that cool, “stay alive forever” juice.

Well, mostly forever.

It quite depends on what really happens, when you think about it. But for the most part, I am forever. Not in the same way as history of course, but still quite important in the long run. In a way, really, I am history. (And my, that is quite a sickening thought.)

I am a dangerous person, in the end, but I am more than that in my heart. I am a nation of the past, a person of the future, and someone who cares deeply about what will happen next. I am nothing and forever, and I wouldn't change a thing.

Last edited by savebats (July 25, 2023 14:15:30)

savebats

Main Cabin Daily #25-26: Ever wanted to write like the showstopping and starstrucking @Stariqe? Jealous of @Alocasia's unbeleafable writing skills? Or maybe you want to learn how to cook up sweet creamy stories like @caramelize. Well, this bidaily is the one just for you! Everybody's got a distinct style, and we'll be playing a style swap. In the comments, post a writing piece that best represents your style (if you don't have a distinct style, pick your best or more recent piece). Then, claim somebody else's piece and try mimicking their style by writing a different 400 word piece. Pay close attention to sentence structures, perspectives, imagery, and characterization. Completing this bidaily will earn you 600 points! Sharing your writing is required.

My comment: “My writing style is kinda well described in the intro of that thingy I wrote for the second (?) weekly: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/695020/?page=1#post-7376699 and this shows it pretty well too, while also being real short: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/695020/?page=2#post-7387015” ( https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/33415323/comments/#comments-229683580 )

Person I swapped with: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/877212034/ ( https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/33415323/comments/#comments-229681781 )

Notes: Unfinished Franticshipping thingy??? Hooray!

Words: 407

Sapphire stood in place, resting her fingers against the trunk, smirking at the branches she had just climbed. “Come on Ruby, I know you can get up here.”

He looked up at her, red eyes glowing from more than just the leftover power of the orbs.“It's a tall tree, I might ruin my manicure if I climb it,” he responded

Sapphire shook her head and giggled a little. He was so strange sometimes. He knew that she knew what a battler he really was, so why he pretended he couldn’t climb a good tree, that she didn’t know. But it was okay, he was understandable to any girl- And oh Acreus was she girl for him.

“Come on Sapphire,” he pleaded, putting on his best begging eyes. “We can hang out down here, can’t we?”

Sapphire looked down at him and rolled her eyes playfully. She swung my feet off of the limb of the tree and wiggled them at him teasingly. “We can hang out wherever you want… But if you really want to stay on the ground like a worm, I can join you.”

She kicked off the tree and leaped gracefully to the ground, coming up in a roll. Ruby laughed good naturedly, and Sapphire caught her breath. He was so cute.

“Thanks for being so considerate.” he responded, batting his lashes at her flirtatiously. “I just got my nails done, I don't know what I would have done if I'd gotten them all messed up so soon afterwards.”

Sapphire shook her head, leaning against the tree she had just jumped out of. In the distance, she could hear the telltale sounds of a Pokemon battle happening, but somehow Ruby still managed to steal the majority of her interest. “You can always re-do them,” she pointed out, laughing slightly.

“Sapphire, I've honestly begun to wonder if you don't respect the arts!” Ruby gasped, putting an indignant hand to his chest. He sounded quite sarcastic. “The time that goes into things like this, and I've spent it talking to you!“

”Because you love me,“ Sapphire offered, raising an eyebrow questioningly at Ruby

”Because I love you.“ He agreed. Sighing dramatically and leaning against the tree next to her. ”I love you so much I come out here into the woods every day, even though I get mud on my shoes and leaves in my hair.“ He looked over at her and winked. Sapphire blushed.

savebats

Main Cabin Daily #28: There are no dailies from the daily team today— instead, you'll be coming up with your own daily! Come up with a daily in the comments that has a 300 word requisite. Then, choose and complete somebody else's daily to earn 400 points!

My comment: Take a look around the other cabins, does one of them catch your eye? Take inspiration from that cabin’s story, aesthetic, genre or layout as you write at least 300 words. (Extra challenge, though no extra points, try and slip in the name of that cabin somewhere into your writing itself.)

Daily I used: “Quick, ask a family member to shout out a random sentence. Done it? Good. Now, take that sentence, and use it for the /title/ of a story, and try to think up a 500 story from that sentence. e.g. (got this from my sib XD) ‘In Which Things are too Ironic.’ You could write about a character who lives in Ironic land before deciding to travel to Sincere land, where everything is /not/ ironic. If you are too lazy to ask a family member (I can relate), then you could ask me for a sentence, or just use the one I used above (In Which Things are too Ironic) I would love to see it when you are done!” (by @zodiacdog)

Cws: Violence and injuries (specifically burns) are mentioned.

Note: This is unfinished, but it was getting a little bit too dark for scratch so I cut myself off.

Words: 509

Title: Fire is All and Everything

“Fire is all and everything.” A silly phrase to some, since it had so many different connotations based on how you saw the flames, but to a Pokemon trainer, it often seemed true. Blue, who fought so hard and strong that he had practically become the fire dragon he kept on his team. Ruby, who saw Sapphire everything in his life he cared about. White, who had lost her fire type, yet still kept a fire trainer close to her heart. And uncountable numbers of other trainers who's lives had become one with the stuff.

A warm heart, an unbeatable strength, a ravenous hunger, a comforting memory, a horrible injury. Nearly every trainer had a tight connection to fire, and because they often lived on their own challenge money in the woods, even those that had never even fought a fire type relied on it more than many non-trainers could ever understand.

Even someone like Platinum, who had been far from a trainer when she started out, had quickly enjoyed the comforts of a friend with a strong fire type. Even someone like Sun, who lived in a very warm region, found success in the flaming blasts of his ace Pokemon. Schilly, who had lost her team, was able to rebuild from the ground up with the help of a fire type.

But, of course, fire wasn't always good for someone, and that fact was becoming abundantly clear as heat seared Green's cheek. (She had, of course, known it already. Silver had been burned by the flames of an exploding plane, Yellow had nearly fallen into an actual volcano, and plenty of others had taken one too many flame wheels to the back.) Green had managed to steer mostly clear of the negative effects of fire, somehow, so she wasn't all that excited about what was creeping towards her.

With her back to the wall, Green had a great view of the flames that were quickly taking over the battlefield. Off to the side, she could see her fellow Kanto trainers struggling against a large force of armored Pokemon. With a shock, Green realized that Yellow was missing from the group, so she frantically began to scan the battle for her. Thankfully, Green spotted her racing around and doing her best to help injured Pokemon and trainers, but it was clear she was getting tired. (And it was clear that Omny was quickly running out of water to douse the growing flames.)

Green desperately wanted to help her, but it was all she could do to keep herself out of the rapidly approaching flames. Blasty was keeping them back well enough, but they were at Legendary Pokemon levels, and Blasty was running low on water. They both knew that they couldn't get rid of them forever.

Green's breath quickened and she kneeled down, she was getting dizzy. The air was getting too smokey for her to stay alert much longer. Of course, that was, undoubtedly, the original plan behind the evil people who had gotten them into this mess.

Last edited by savebats (July 28, 2023 18:06:29)

savebats

Main Cabin Daily #29: In a galaxy far far away, a meowing polar bear is… STARVING. What an unfortunate result of climate change. Today, your mission is to bake a lasagna in order to feed the starving polar bears. But first, you'll need ingredients! In the comments, write 1 aspect of worldbuilding, 1 antagonist, 1 lesson, 1 line of dialogue, and 1 turning point. Then, claim one of each from five different people so that you have the five layers of your lasagna story. Make sure to write at least 300 words (you don't want undercooked lasagna, do you?) to earn 300 points! (Brownie points if you feed a polar bear on the daily team lasagna :3)

My comment: Worldbuilding: Discuss the details of a fictional species. Antagonist: A childhood enemy that got worse over time. Lesson: Main character learns that they can work as well together as they can alone, should they choose to. Dialogue: “But- but that’s not fair!” Turning point: A character discovers a stronger motivation to do something.

Worldbuilding: Each person has some sort of wings. Some people have robin wings, others have California condors. Some people are bat-like, some people more comparable to flying fish- although those aren't true wings. Try to envision a society where this is normal. - @Starthorn

Antagonist: The protagonist's brother - @silverlynx-

Lesson: Life isn't fair -@BookLover209

Dialogue: “Well, I had to do it.” - @Magnolia012

Turning Point: A sudden natural disaster shakes the setting. - @Sunclaw68

Note: I was gonna write Pokespe (Hoenn) fic, but I couldn’t find a worldbuilding that fit what I was going for, so I’ll have to shelve that for later. Enjoy some Warrior Cats wing au! I guess!

Words: 1,057

Hollyleaf crept quietly along the mossy forest floor, folding her dark crow wings tight to her back as she did. She kept her claws in, but felt her nose twitch as she sensed something in the air. That had to be it! That had to be who she was looking for.

Over the past few days, Thunderclan had been losing prey like down feathers on a fledgling kit, and Hollyleaf had promised herself that she would get to the bottom of it. In this dark forest night, she bended in well with the dark ferns, which was something good she could say about her dark fur, at least. She opened her mouth to allow the scent to mix better with her memories. She was sure that she recognized it from someone, but for some reason she simply could not muster up from where.

She could hear them, chewing messily on whatever they had stolen from the pile now, clearly unaware that they were being tracked. Hollyleaf lashed her tail in rage. How could someone, who she was now sure was a cat, betray the Warrior Code in such a way? To steal away food from those that truly needed it, for what reason? Some inability to hunt for the group?

Hollyleaf snarled, and the sounds from the shadowy figure before her stopped. /Good,/ she thought, /they'll be scared before I catch them,/

She leaped forward, fangs bared, claws out, and wings spread, and landing where the figure had been meer moments before. She hissed and whipped around as the large shape rolled away to the side, still masked by the dark sky above the and scent of all of the mice it had been pigging out on.

”Who are you?!“ She hissed, leaping forward again, but still somehow missing as the cat dove away. She'd only seen one other who could move that fast in battle, and she didn't very well like having the matchup with another cat, ”Why have you been stealing prey?“

The cat didn't answer, and Hollyleaf snarled again, spreading her wings even wider as a way to threaten the larger cat. But they seemed to be trying to turn their face away from her, so she wasn't even sure if they'd seen her.

”Answer me!“ She shrieked, jumping forward in an attempt to pull the larger cat down, but missing as large powerful wings sent them over her. Immediately she whirled around, but her claws raked on air as the cat scrambled up a nearby maple tree.

Hollyleaf hissed and followed after them. It was too tight in the forest to fly up, but if she could get them into the sky somehow… Sure, the moon was dark tonight, but maybe Star Clan's light would allow her to see the face of the cat she was fighting, and therefore reveal the identity of Thunderclan's thief.

Just her luck, the bigger cat seemed to have the same idea, as he climbed higher and higher in the tree. (An extra bonus of which was that, by the way they were climbing, Hollyleaf was now pretty sure that this cat was a Thunderclan cat, which made her even more irritated.

”Hey!“ she yelled, egging them on as the two cats reached the highest point in the tree, ”Fight me, you thief!“

The cat did not even pause when they reached the top branch of the tree, though the speckles of starlight down from the sky began to bring their pelt into a recognizable state. Orange-ish, with stripes. Large barn owl wings that spread open with a power unlike any other as the cat leaped into the sky.

Hollyleaf jumped after him, feeling the wind tear through her fur as she fought to keep up with the thief. He was unbelievably fast for a cat of his size, and something in Hollyleaf's brain was doing its best to connect the clues, but something else seemed to be doing its fair job to keep her from the truth. She wanted to hiss at that side of her mind, but she had enough on her paws already as she fought to keep up with the bigger cat.

See was so focused, indeed, on all of that nonsense, that she didn't even notice the clouds coming in overhead, slowly blanketing the familiar pelt back in a layer of shadows. They were fine with her, her crow wings and black fur had her blend very nicely into the dark, and the panic she could smell on the larger cat told her that they weren't a fan of that part of their chase.

The cat dove for the trees, and Hollyleaf swooped after it. She felt her face turn into a grin. She was gaining on them for sure now.

She felt her claws latch in their pelt, and her nose immediately filled with their scent as the two crashed through the tree layer. Her eyes widened as the cat yelped.

“Lionblaze!?” Hollyleaf shrieked, her claws still deeply rooted in that orange fur as the two landed in the branches of a large pine, ”Why have you been stealing our prey?!”

A crack of thunder overhead came with a sudden heavy downpour of raindrops that broke right through the needles onto her fur. But she hardly noticed them, instead shivering from wingtip to claws from the force of utter betrayal she felt in her heart. How could someone like this, her /brother/, break the Warrior Code so egregiously?

How could Star Clan be so cruel?

“Well,” Lionblaze started, his voice shaky and scarred, “I had to do it,”

“But why?!” screamed Hollyleaf, shaking her brother like he weighed nothing as thick lightning bolts raced across the sky, picking up leaves and branches like nothing as the wind grew. “What do you mean you “had to?” Are you insane?!”

Lionblaze flinched, and his wings shivered, but Hollyleaf did not allow him to move, a traitor like him could never be considered a friend to her, even as the clouds began to spiral down around them. Even as the rain began to wrap around an ever growing horror.

As Lionblaze struggled to speak, Hollyleaf felt blood pound in her ears, even flat against her head as they were. Her heart felt broken. In this storm, she could only find one constant.

Life wasn't fair.

Last edited by savebats (July 29, 2023 19:43:02)

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