kintsugi
golden scars | pfp by sun
oooh wow you've been busy! delightful backlog to catch up on here.
chapter 7
It's interesting to see how deep the apocalypse stacking goes on this one! Nuclear fallout from Kanto already seems like a pretty short end of the stick, plus lack of natural resources to begin with, and now a super deadly plague. I was originally going to write that this seems like way too much to realistically go wrong in such a short span of time, but, *sad 2020 sounds *
But it's definitely interesting to see how this affects the characters--oh yeah, got orphaned by the plague, but that's sort of the least of my problems is a super bleak outlook, and it does explain why everyone is a walking bucket of trauma lol. Given how relevant it is now, I'm weirdly curious about how this disease plays into the larger scheme of things--the abandoned ghost towns are really neat (and Wes assuming that they were left behind because people are too silly to realize how long diseases linger vs ... just being sad that their friends and family died there, oof, big sad abandoned sounds, poor misanthropic baby). Are there other societal differences? I feel like you can't have a diseases burn through your population and not really see the aftershocks of itmore sad 2020 sounds.
I also thought it was really powerful how Wes and Rui have different reactions to their parents dying when they're young--Wes is grim, almost it is what it is, you know? He doesn't think he can do anything about it, and his parents dying is just a big piece of shit on top of the shit cake. But for Rui it's a source of pride, something to aspire her to strive towards. And whether Wes realizes it or not, this event certainly shaped him into who he is today, just like it did Rui. Really nice setup here!
Also! If the blood is still dribbling! Do pokeballs keep them in perfect stasis then, where literally nothing changes? Eternal fandom questions haha, lots of things to unpack from that. If so I was wondering why Wes later suddenly feels the need to turn the shadow pokemon into the police in immediately, when conceivably they could probably hold onto them for a bit in case a better opportunity arises.
chapter 8
A bit of a bridge chapter, but still some good stuff in here! The Pyrite scene-setting is really fun, and we get a closer look at how society would function/fail to function in the midst of all of the stuff going down.
Also, yay more Rui development! I'm glad that we're getting some look into her motivation and why she's wanting any of this. As mentioned a bit before, I wasn't quite sure why they decide that they have to go to the police right away--it seems like both of them are super distrustful of law enforcement, and neither of them really think this will help any? Both of them can pretty much count their police interactions on one hand, and all of them end with "and then my life became irrevocably and unquestionably worse"--it felt weird that their first instinct here was to go to the cops. I sort of see the case for Wes just wanting to drop the goods and gtfo, but I didn't quite follow why that's his real suggestion, or why Rui goes along with it (since she knows firsthand that the police don't seem to care about issues of pokemon/property for individuals).
chapter 9
I really love how the hole only gets deeper for Wes haha! Lying his way into this has now expanded to getting the mayor of a small town lying on his behalf; he is sooooo far up shit creek right now with his relationship with Rui, lol. I keep thinking we're kicking this can down the road, but I see now that we're just adding to it and making it way worse.
Conniving police chief is definitely an aesthetic I can vibe with, oof, sad law enforcement sounds. Sherles' lie at the end is just such a ratfaced thing to do omggggg.
I see what you mean about departing from the plot of Colo in these next few chapters, and I'm absolutely here for it! I normally hate failing upward stories, but in this case failing upward keeps pitting Wes into a worse and worse position with Rui, so I'm super excited for it--he's stumbled into being a cool noble big boi with a mission and powerful friends, but he actually wants none of it lol. I'm curious if he'll just eventually give up and start acting the part of the hero at some point, or if he's gonna fuck it all up before he makes it there.
I did wonder why they're so quick to believe that Wes is on their side here? It seems like he could easily be double-crossing them--just because he's anti-Snagem definitely doesn't mean he's pro-cops or pro-Pyrite or anything. He did blow up the last building of the squad he was with and he hasn't enthusiastically come out in favor of Pyrite, just stopping Snagem, so to an outsider I feel like he seems more like a loose canon than a potential ally.
chapter 7
It's interesting to see how deep the apocalypse stacking goes on this one! Nuclear fallout from Kanto already seems like a pretty short end of the stick, plus lack of natural resources to begin with, and now a super deadly plague. I was originally going to write that this seems like way too much to realistically go wrong in such a short span of time, but, *sad 2020 sounds *
But it's definitely interesting to see how this affects the characters--oh yeah, got orphaned by the plague, but that's sort of the least of my problems is a super bleak outlook, and it does explain why everyone is a walking bucket of trauma lol. Given how relevant it is now, I'm weirdly curious about how this disease plays into the larger scheme of things--the abandoned ghost towns are really neat (and Wes assuming that they were left behind because people are too silly to realize how long diseases linger vs ... just being sad that their friends and family died there, oof, big sad abandoned sounds, poor misanthropic baby). Are there other societal differences? I feel like you can't have a diseases burn through your population and not really see the aftershocks of it
I also thought it was really powerful how Wes and Rui have different reactions to their parents dying when they're young--Wes is grim, almost it is what it is, you know? He doesn't think he can do anything about it, and his parents dying is just a big piece of shit on top of the shit cake. But for Rui it's a source of pride, something to aspire her to strive towards. And whether Wes realizes it or not, this event certainly shaped him into who he is today, just like it did Rui. Really nice setup here!
I found myself wishing I had a better metric for how brutal battles are supposed to be--I know from earlier chapters that it's at least somewhat common for pokemon to die, and Wes certainly seems familiar with that setting, so I wasn't sure why blood was surprising here?Next was Novo. Wes hadn't got a good look at the Umbreon before returning him, so he wasn't sure what to expect - and he certainly wasn't prepared to see blood dribbling down his foreleg. Novo looked up into Wes' eyes with a weak mew. "Bri."
Also! If the blood is still dribbling! Do pokeballs keep them in perfect stasis then, where literally nothing changes? Eternal fandom questions haha, lots of things to unpack from that. If so I was wondering why Wes later suddenly feels the need to turn the shadow pokemon into the police in immediately, when conceivably they could probably hold onto them for a bit in case a better opportunity arises.
dropped a comma here!It was more like an ambush than a real battle,Wes growled to himself.
I thought this was really interesting commentary on battling/training--to me it seems like Wes is doing the bare minimum from what's described (looking them over and patching them up). So if this is above average ... oof! ouch. sad. oh no."You take really good care of them." Rui's voice jolted him out of his thoughts; she'd been so quiet, for once, he'd almost forgotten she was still there. She was curled up on the mattress with her back against the wall, watching him tend to his Pokémon with a small smile.
ohhey he's finally realizing that he's not as at peace with this as he keeps telling himself he isBut a tiny part of him whispered that maybe, just maybe, he'd been afraid to leave behind something that had been so integral to his identity for so many years.
! oh boy there are guns! curious to see how they'll intersect with pokemon, since especially for higher-profile trainers like Wakin, they seem to have a lot of overlap and/or be inferior.The harsh growl sounded from behind them. Over their shoulder, he caught a glimpse of Wakin's snarling face, the viciously triumphant eyes, the gun in his hand.
couldn't quite picture this--is this boy shouting over his own shoulder? Was he looking away in the first place?They sped off through the desert, and he thought he might have heard some words thrown over the boy's shoulder, but he didn't catch them.
I did really like this ending line for the dream sequence. You don't remember everything about what you do or say, but you remember how you felt.He did, however, catch the gleam of hatred in his eyes.
oh! no! my theory that this friend was secretly Wes is probably blownThe only pair of eyes that had ever regarded him with kindness.
"Do good, kid."
chapter 8
A bit of a bridge chapter, but still some good stuff in here! The Pyrite scene-setting is really fun, and we get a closer look at how society would function/fail to function in the midst of all of the stuff going down.
Also, yay more Rui development! I'm glad that we're getting some look into her motivation and why she's wanting any of this. As mentioned a bit before, I wasn't quite sure why they decide that they have to go to the police right away--it seems like both of them are super distrustful of law enforcement, and neither of them really think this will help any? Both of them can pretty much count their police interactions on one hand, and all of them end with "and then my life became irrevocably and unquestionably worse"--it felt weird that their first instinct here was to go to the cops. I sort of see the case for Wes just wanting to drop the goods and gtfo, but I didn't quite follow why that's his real suggestion, or why Rui goes along with it (since she knows firsthand that the police don't seem to care about issues of pokemon/property for individuals).
I liked how this chapter opens--both the narrative and the characters are really refusing to look the events of the previous night in the eye. And instead we get shenanigans about speed limits and messy hair. (Is Wes' hair a perpetual shitshow then? lol)Rui spluttered a little in disbelief. Her hair was a mess from their high-speed drive, with wispy strands sticking out at all angles.
This felt a bit too on-the-nose tbh. Which I'm a bit torn on, since teenagers can also be pretty quick to phrase these cynical and derisive rejections of humanity--it's one thing to feel these things (which the story has definitely made clear that Wes does), but it's another one to just blatantly say them like this? Not sure! I personally liked the more subtle cues Wes drops ("why does everyone keep touching me"/all of his convos with Rui).He almost snorted at the thought. Friends. Right. As if he would ever care to be friends with other human beings. His experience over the years very convincingly solidified his belief that they were all either rotten to their core - or incredibly stupid. Neo and Novo had proven to be the only source of friendship worth investing in.
Tying in with the blood thing as well with respect to setting up normal battle stakes in this setting--here it almost seems like we're seeing up that shadow pokemon are basically as destructive and dangerous as non-shadow pokemon. And in this case, where both Noctowl and Flaaffy are doing exactly what their trainers are telling them to do (where the previous concern was that shadow pokemon disobeyed humans), it doesn't seem like there's any difference at all.Several Trainers around the battle yelled and dove for cover as lightning bolts and psychic blasts shot from the ring and into surrounding buildings. Fluff and feathers flew; the two Trainers shouted helplessly at their raging Pokémon, but both of them were now beyond reason. The Ledyba and Shroomish, temporarily forgotten, exchanged a glance and cautiously edged away from the scuffle.
The girl finally returned her Flaaffy and whirled on her opponent. "What is WRONG with you?" she yelled. "Forfeit this match right now!"
"What?" he shouted back. "Your Pokémon was even worse!"
The governing forces of this fic are pretty Interesting to me as well tbh! The police in pokemon games seem ... generally incompetent, but here they're both incompetent and really abusive/manipulative. Oh no. Big yikes lol."That's because I do have a personal issue with them." Rui raised her eyes to meet his, and there was a cold anger in both her face and her tone. "They didn't lift a finger when my starter got stolen from me."
haha and that one line about the blood still has me thinking--so like, does time pass for them at all? Are they aware of the outside world? Do they just pop up in different locales and are like, oh neat, Pyrite?Wes decided now was as good a time as any to let Neo and Novo out of their Pokeballs. Normally, he didn't like to walk around Pyrite with them out in the open; Snagem may have been the most notorious gang for Pokémon trafficking, but they were not the only ones, and Pyrite was a trafficking hotspot. However, after seeing the mess in the square, he decided some cover would be a good idea.
ahaha so his secret identity is Japanese, got it! nice easter egg"Or should I call you Snagger Leo?"
chapter 9
I really love how the hole only gets deeper for Wes haha! Lying his way into this has now expanded to getting the mayor of a small town lying on his behalf; he is sooooo far up shit creek right now with his relationship with Rui, lol. I keep thinking we're kicking this can down the road, but I see now that we're just adding to it and making it way worse.
Conniving police chief is definitely an aesthetic I can vibe with, oof, sad law enforcement sounds. Sherles' lie at the end is just such a ratfaced thing to do omggggg.
I see what you mean about departing from the plot of Colo in these next few chapters, and I'm absolutely here for it! I normally hate failing upward stories, but in this case failing upward keeps pitting Wes into a worse and worse position with Rui, so I'm super excited for it--he's stumbled into being a cool noble big boi with a mission and powerful friends, but he actually wants none of it lol. I'm curious if he'll just eventually give up and start acting the part of the hero at some point, or if he's gonna fuck it all up before he makes it there.
I do have a lot of questions too tbh! So they know where the Snagem hideout is, but Wes (who was relatively high up in Snagem) is completely unaware of this? This seems like a huge tactical advantage that the police have, and it'd be kinda silly to blow it right here on the off chance that Wes ends up 1) being a traitor 2) being captured and blabbing or 3) just blabbing anyway. I imagine they're waiting to take out Snagem until the time is Right or whatever, but it does seem really hard to approach the Snagem hideout without being seen given how isolated and in the middle of nowhere it is--drones? Traitors? Teleporters? Idk but it definitely seems like the police have a huge advantage here and I'm not sure why they'd just reveal this info when maintaining its secrecy would help a lot more.Questions, so many questions, were bursting through his mind. How did he get this picture? And who took it? And how did he know where to find the hideout in the first place? How?
"You mean, more than it already is?" Sherles asked wryly. "What more do I have to gain from you? I already have you where I want you."
hahaha police mood, sad, oh man, oof."Now that's a good question." Sherles straightened a little, regarding the Snagger with critical eyes. "Why would I want you, of all people? I certainly didn't intend to involve you originally - but then you went and pulled that stunt in Eclo Canyon, and it had me wondering what you knew. And where your loyalties lie. If I'm not mistaken, you were no ordinary Snagem grunt. You were the best they had, a top-tier worker, were you not?"
I did wonder why they're so quick to believe that Wes is on their side here? It seems like he could easily be double-crossing them--just because he's anti-Snagem definitely doesn't mean he's pro-cops or pro-Pyrite or anything. He did blow up the last building of the squad he was with and he hasn't enthusiastically come out in favor of Pyrite, just stopping Snagem, so to an outsider I feel like he seems more like a loose canon than a potential ally.
easy persuasion check, amazing, excellent charisma"I mean it's obvious. Hiring other people to do all the dirty work for you while treating them as less-than? Sounds like every other authority figure to me."
oh yeah, this is never gonna backfire, ever."I...didn't want you to get involved." It was technically the truth, but in the current context, it sounded...so much nobler than it actually was.