Pokémon The Princess and the Post (One-Shot)

[Fennel]

Content warnings: None

The Princess and the Post​

Of all the letters that had been delivered that morning, there was only one that Erika had any interest in reading.

In the small room where she was standing, morning sunlight was starting to stream in through the open door, illuminating a large patch of the tatami floor. From the adjacent room, she could hear the sound of seaweed broth bubbling on the stove and the gentle clink of bowls and cutlery as Victreebel placed them onto lacquered trays for that day’s breakfast service.

Slowly, she peeked around the side of the door that opened out onto the courtyard. There, she could see Bellossom standing on the far side of the yard slowly and methodically sweeping the ground with a small straw broom, its eyes fixed in a vacant gaze towards the storehouse.

She only had minutes to spare before breakfast would be served.

Fully confident that she was, in fact, alone and unseen by anyone else, she surreptitiously slipped the letter inside her kimono.

Erika then made her way down the hallway, out the back door and down the worn stone steps into the garden. She hurried past the early gingko sprouts, the blue and red chrysanthemum beds and the greenhouse where she and Victreebel had planted the smallest, most delicate tomato seedlings into pots last summer. She made her way past the grape vines snarling their way across the bamboo trellises and the low strawberry plants sitting comfortably under green mesh netting.

Finally, she made it to the end of the garden where the old willow tree stood, its branches hanging curtain-like and almost touching the ground. She gently parted the branches with her hands and stepped through them into the shady shelter close to the willow’s gnarled trunk. She then knelt down at its base and gently smoothed her kimono over her knees, safe in the knowledge that no one from the house could see her.

Erika took the letter out from the folds of her kimono and, with slightly trembling fingers, slit it open and took out the folded piece of paper from inside.

Her eyes scanned the page from top to bottom, only taking in a few words at a time at first. But as she read and re-read the letter, more thoroughly each time, the meaning of the words steadily washed over her and she gave a deep, heaving sigh.

Reaching inside her kimono, she produced another small blank sheet of paper and an envelope. With a small pencil, she wrote on the paper one word: “Yes”.

At that moment, the sound of a bell gently tinkling came from the house. Erika quickly stashed both pieces of paper away and stood up, brushing away the stray leaves and blades of grass from where the embroidered fabric of her kimono covered her knees. She took another deep breath, calmer and steadier this time, and turned to make her way back towards the house.

—

“Remember, you must apply the right amount of pressure - no more, no less.”

“Yes.”

“Become one with the surface of the paper.”

“Yes.”

“Allow the spirit and grace of the gods to move through you.”

“Yes.”

Ren watched with narrowed eyes as Erika pressed the brush head into the inkstone, the handle held in a perfectly angled position. The bristles swirled around the deep black pool until they were slick with ink.

Though the room itself was heavy with silence and concentration, the distant sound of children laughing and playing in the nearby school yard drifted in through the open doorway.

Ren was a tall, slight man with a shaved head and spectacles.

“Now begin.”

Erika held the brush aloft above the blank paper and slowly brought it down until the tips of the ink-sodden bristles gently grazed the paper’s surface.

“No, stop.”

Erika lifted the brush from the paper and set it down onto the wooden rack on the table. “I’m terribly sorry,” she said, placing her hands on her knees and bowing deeply towards Ren.

“You’re not at one with the paper,” said Ren, a touch of impatience audible in his voice. “You are prepossessed with thoughts of the self. These thoughts must be surrendered in order to attain oneness and successfully write,” said Ren.

“I apologise, Sensei,” said Erika.

“Let us try again one more time.”

There was a small rustling sound from the corner of the room. Ren and Erika turned towards the sound to see Victreebel standing there. The tips of its leaves were slightly touching in front of his pitcher as though in thought.

“Is something the matter?” Ren asked.

“Perhaps that’s enough for the time being,” said Victreebel to Ren. “We are approaching the end of our allotted time and she has still not made any tangible progress.”

Ren’s brows furrowed slightly. “A little more time is required to complete today’s session. I can assure you I am more than capable of delivering my targets as promised.”

“Your quality of teaching is not the concern here,” said Victreebel, edging closer to the low table where Ren and Erika were sitting. “I only express trepidation about putting too much pressure on the princess when we are so close to finishing for the day. Perhaps a fresh start tomorrow will be the best course of action?”

Victreebel looked over at Erika, who was kneeling with her hands on her knees and gaze turned downwards to the floor.

Ren sighed. “Yes, very good.”

Ren stood up and bowed towards Erika, who bowed back but remained sitting. “Please remember to practice your breathing techniques for tomorrow,” said Ren. “I trust that a… fresh start tomorrow will no doubt yield better results, as your warden so kindly suggested.”

Without looking at Victreebel, Ren stepped out of the doorway and into the courtyard, leaving Victreebel and Erika alone.

For a moment, neither of them moved or made a sound.

“Ahem.”

The sound came from the open doorway. The duo turned towards the sound and saw Bellossom standing there, slightly silhouetted by the bright sunshine that was streaming into the room from behind it.

“Can we help you?” Victreebel asked.

There was silence as Victreebel and Erika continued to stare expectantly at Bellossom, though its face appeared blank and eyes were unfocused.

Suddenly, it spoke.

“The bearer of flames knows not the hand that extinguishes the light,” it said. “But only in darkness can we understand the truth.”

There was quiet in the room as the words hung in the air. Neither Erika nor Victreebel said anything or even moved an inch. The only sound was the distant shouts, yells and laughter of the children playing in the school yard.

Finally, after a few long seconds, Victreebel broke the silence.

“Very astute,” it said drily. Instead of waiting for a reaction from Bellossom, Victreebel turned towards Erika. “If you please, Miss,” it said. “It’s time for your next appointment.”

Erika stood and made her way towards the door that led to the courtyard. Victreebel waited until she had left the room before following in her wake. As he exited the room, he brushed past Bellossom, who was still standing in place, stock still and gazing blankly into the room, apparently unaware that it had been left completely alone.

—

“Okay, concentrate! Now… go!”

“Yes! Jumpluff, please use Tackle!”

Jumpluff jogged across the ground, steadily gaining speed as it did so. As it got closer and closer to the wooden target at the end of the courtyard, it started to skip, and then jump, until it jumped one last time to make contact with the target, which it smacked with a light thwack. A light cloud of cotton enveloped it and the target. Jumpluff fell to the ground while the cloud of fluff floated away in the light breeze.

“Thank you,” called Erika to Jumpluff. “Excellent effort.”

“Yes,” said Shun, walking over to Erika. She placed a hand on Erika’s shoulder. “Good effort. But we will try that one again. And this time, more feeling in the voice. More passion. You must convey full command and authority over your helper.”

Erika nodded. “Okay, Jumpluff. Please try again!”

Both Erika and Shun watched as Jumpluff continued to lie motionless on the dusty ground beside the target at the other end of the courtyard.

“Is he…?” Erika said uncertainly.

Shun shook her head. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Give it a moment.”

Jumpluff did not move.

“Get up!” called Shun commandingly, clapping her hands. “Come on, now! Get up at once!”

But still Jumpluff did not move.

After a few moments of silence, Shun turned to Erika. “I think maybe that’s enough for today, princess.” She turned and clicked her fingers twice in the direction of the far corner of the courtyard. From the darkness, Victreebel emerged and made its way towards where Jumpluff was lying.

Shun swiftly put her arm around Erika and began to lead her away towards the other end of the yard. Shun had silvery-grey hair that she liked to wear up in a bun tied at the back of her head, and her sleeves were perpetually rolled up to allow air to circulate through her arms and chest.

“Now, remember what we covered today about tone and authority. You’re in control. Always. Right?”

“Yes.”

“And passion, too. You must convey passion in your commands.”

“Yes.”

Erika had no choice but to allow herself to be led away back into the house by Shun, who kept her arm firmly around Erika’s shoulders until they were back inside the house and the door to the courtyard had closed behind them. However, she did manage to surreptitiously turn her head backwards as they removed their shoes before stepping inside - in one quick glance, she saw that the spot where Jumpluff had lain was empty, and Victreebel was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that seemed to be left was the old wooden target and a small, scuffed patch of dusty ground, which was the only thing that suggested that something had occupied that spot mere moments ago.

—

The stew was nearly ready.

Victreebel removed the pot from the stove and turned off the gas. It removed the pot lid, and, after allowing the steam to dissipate a little, sniffed the pot’s contents.

A strong, savoury smell emanated from the pot and filled the small kitchen. Inside the pot was a thick, unctuous beef and vegetable stew, resplendent with juicy hunks of beef shin; hearty chunks of carrot, celery, onion and potatoes; and seasoned heavily with a melange of herbs and seasonings that infused the whole dish with a rich and fragrant aroma.

Victreebel nodded silently to itself.

“Pass me the bowls,” it said.

Bellossom slowly picked up the small, pristine, white bone china bowls, one by one, from the lower shelf and carefully placed them on the counter in front of Victreebel.

Four bowls sat on the counter, neatly lined up next to each other.

“And the spoons.”

Bellossom then did the same with the spoons - bringing them up from the lower shelf, one at a time, placing them in each of the bowls at exactly the same angle.

“Good.”

Victreebel lifted the pot of stew, which was still steaming, from the stove and placed it on a woven mat on the counter next to the meticulously arranged bowls and spoons.

Its tentacles fell to rest beside it and it became still, looking downwards at the floor. Bellossom continued to stand behind the counter, also silent and its gaze directed downwards.

For a while, nobody spoke.

Eventually, Victreebel quietly cleared its throat and uttered:

“I know what it is that you did.”

Bellossom lifted its gaze from the floor to look up at Victreebel. However, it remained silent as Victreebel locked its gaze with it with an impenetrable look in its eyes.

“I’m not angry. I should say that first. Just… disappointed.”

Bellossom continued to be still and silent.

“The concern that you have shown for the princess is admirable. However, the notion that you should help her take matters into her own hands was… ill-advised.”

The pot of stew on the counter was steadily cooling off; the wisps of steam escaping into the room were steadily growing thinner and travelling slower through the air.

Outside the kitchen, there was only the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze. Night had nearly fallen, with only a few flecks of dark orange and light grey from the dying sunset visible from the kitchen window.

“There shan’t be any punishment for you or the princess. That much is evident. But we must re-emphasise how important it is for us to continue to help her on the path that she has inherited.”

Stacks of pots, pans, bowls, kitchen implements and trays sat on shelves lining the kitchen walls. The shelves were clean and free of dust, though some were rickety and roughly hewn from dark wood.

“My suggestion is that we draw a line underneath this all and continue on as normal. No further action will be taken. Although I must of course stress how imperative it is that you do not do anything like this again under my watch.”

The stew on the counter had almost stopped steaming.

“Do you understand?”

Bellossom, who had been staring at Victreebel all this time, chose its words carefully.

“Where explorers refuse to tread, fear begets indifference. But only in remembrance of past magnanimity can we consolidate our shared fates.”

Victreebel opened its mouth as if to respond, but paused and stayed silent. The stew on the counter had now cooled off to a comfortable temperature, safe for consumption.

“It is time to serve dinner,” said Victreebel.

From the corridor, Erika straightened up from her position outside the kitchen door and smoothed out the creases of her kimono. She reached into the folds of her robe and took out the two pieces of paper - one, the letter that had arrived that morning, and the other, her response that she had hastily written by hand when under the willow tree - and regarded them closely.

From the kitchen, she could hear the sound of food being served and Victreebel quietly issuing directives to Bellossom. She stowed the papers away in her kimono and hurried along to the dining room, where she knew that supper would be served soon and the evening's schedule would continue on as normal.

 

[Negrek]

Hey, Fennel! Glad to see a one-shot from you here. I have to say, I went into this expecting a cute slice-of-life with Erika, only to be surprised and delighted that it's something else entirely!

You do a wonderful job of building up the atmosphere here. The usual elements one would expect from a depiction of Erika's life are on full display here: delicious food, lots of plants, traditional Japanese cultural practices. But as it quickly becomes clear that something is wrong here, these domestic elements take on a more eerie quality. This isn't a beloved home where Erika enjoys slow living with her pokémon; this is a beautiful cage where Erika struggles to escape from the weight of expectations. The little domestic touches take on the same quality as Victreebel's manner in the final scene: perfectly calm, perfectly normal, but with a threat lying beneath. The whole story has a dreamlike quality where nothing is quite as it seems, which I really enjoyed.

The line where Victreebel spoke up during Erika's lesson was the real record scratch moment for me. Rare enough to see talking pokémon, but having Victreebel be so clearly in charge of what Erika was doing was surprising, in contrast to the expected "trainer tells the pokémon what to do" dynamic. And other the human characters accept that Victreebel's the one in charge without question! (Seems like they're pretty complicit in keeping Erika locked into also have to wonder about the role of her human mentors in her life; we don't see a lot of them, but they seem pretty hard on Erika rather than supportive!) Really interesting choice to have Victreebel taking on the "overbearing parental figure who's determined to shape the princess against her will" role in this story. Where are her parents? (Slash how old is she? Presumably this is before she became a gym leader?) Is this a normal relationship for a human to have with a pokémon, like, is it traditional for Victreebel to have this sort of control over Erika's life? Stories where a child is being stifled by training , but having the pokémon seeming to be the primary architects of it here was an interesting twist.

All in all, I really enjoyed the eerie atmosphere and the unsettling details throughout this story. The scene where jumpluff falls over... dead? Badly injured? Maybe Erika's overreacting and nothing's seriously wrong after all? was particularly spooky. The irony in Shun telling Erika to put more confidence and authority into her commands, to show that she's in charge of the situation, when in fact she's in charge of nothing at all, was particularly great. In the end it's clear that nothing is okay here, but I'm also left with some fun ambiguity around what is considered normal, and the extent to which the characters think any of this is okay.

After reaching the end of this one I immediately went back to the beginning to get a better understanding of the opening scene. I'd started out thinking that the letter was something at most vaguely illicit, like a note from a crush, while after having read the whole thing the letter feels far more important, like a lifeline. I like that we never get to properly learn what's in it, but it's nevertheless clear that it must represent some opportunity for Erika to escape from this life, and how much it means to her. All in all a really tight and interesting little fic. Thanks for sharing it!

 

[zion of arcadia]

Hello, hello @Fennel ! Thanks for sharing such an atmospheric oneshot, I quite enjoyed it. It's interesting, because I just re-watched In the Mood for Love, and a lot about that movie reminded me of this story. I'll be vague since I don't know if you've seen it (although I'm not sure it's really a movie that can be spoiled, it's very much a vibes based experience) but the beginning with the secret in an object, the sense of surveillance and repression and alienation, all evoked a similar mood (heh) for me.

There's a pervasive sense of the enigmatic, brief glimpses of these characters lives and the uneasiness they inspire, a roundabout answer to a question witheld from us. I also think, and this might be a bit more out there, the way duty and love intertwine resonates throughout both. Victreebel is a disconcerting figure, ever-present and watchful, but you also get the sense he acts out of authentic devotion toward Erika--it's just a devotion that manifests through a looking glass darkly, a means to stifle and exert control. Bellosom is also acting out of love, a love that seeks to enable Erika's autonomy, even if it means she suffers and gets hurt, no longer shielded from the world by the strict regiment of her handlers. I like the anti-climax of the ending, too; we can piece together a pretty good idea of what probably will happen from here on out, but there's no true certainty offered to us. And it still provides an epiphany, ultimately, in Erika's response to the letter as well as her eavesdropping on Victreebel, a revelation of the extent of his role in her life.

I will say, I'm not sure the moment of violence with the jumpluff worked for me. But I can't really say it didn't work for me, either. I'm mostly ambivalent. I've been stewing over this for a while and I still don't have a satisfactory answer, but figured it worth mentioning since it's an important part of the oneshot and I had a reaction to it.

Other minor observations:

-There was a touch of humor with the human mentors that I appreciated, an undercurrent of absurdity to their teachings. I found it particularly amusing when Shun told Erika to be both in control and passionate.

-I really liked when Victreebel spoke. It was just so casual and normal within the story's framework, unremarked upon, a weird little quirk of the milieu that you never felt the need to explain. It's a small touch that really contributed to the dreamy, off-kilter atmosphere.

-One of the central paradoxes of the story is that Erika's teachers keep reiterating control, but Erika's life is very clearly out of her control while there.

Spoiler: line by line thoughts

Slowly, she peeked around the side of the door that opened out onto the courtyard. There, she could see Bellossom standing on the far side of the yard slowly and methodically sweeping the ground with a small straw broom, its eyes fixed in a vacant gaze towards the storehouse.

The repetition of 'slowly' clunks here. Honestly, you could get rid of 'slowly and' in the second sentence and just describe Bellossom as methodical, if you wanted.

As he exited the room, he brushed past Bellossom, who was still standing in place, stock still and gazing blankly into the room, apparently unaware that it had been left completely alone.

My only criticism of the prose is that there were times when I felt you leaned a little too much on adverbs. I don't know that 'completely' adds enough to alone to justify its inclusion, for example. And if it does, then perhaps the sentence could have been fleshed out to explore the isolation and ostracization of the character more in depth.

Anyway, that about sums up my thoughts. Hope this was helpful, have a nice day!

 

[love]

“You are prepossessed with thoughts of the self. These thoughts must be surrendered in order to attain oneness and successfully write,” said Ren.

Yes, I find nothing helps me let go of my ego quite like having a stern man criticize my every move.

The tone here is subdued, yet creepiness comes through. Most memorable to me is when Victreebel and Bellossom are setting out the soup bowls, because it was hard to put my finger on why exactly it felt unsettling, but it still does. I think the spareness of the dialogue, emphasis on silence, and the meticulousness collectively make the proceedings feel ritualistic. Dialogue is broken up with description of a "dying" sunset and slowing steam, implying further silences while suggesting entropy. Come to think of it, entropy is suggested in Bellossom's first and almost only paragraph of dialogue and by the fainting (death?) of the jumpluff. Maybe this is part of the mystery of the story. I never figured out exactly what the letter was about, what Bellossom's words allude to, or why it seems so eerily vacant throughout. I find myself asking the perennial question, "Has too much been left out or am I just not smart enough to get it?", or the third possibility, which is that I need to know more pokemon lore. I have no idea what these characters' deals are in the games.

There are a couple points of description I want to point out. The first:

Ren was a tall, slight man with a shaved head and spectacles.

The second:

Shun had silvery-grey hair that she liked to wear up in a bun tied at the back of her head, and her sleeves were perpetually rolled up to allow air to circulate through her arms and chest.

These felt like non sequiturs and took me out of the moment briefly. In the first instance, maybe the intent was to contrast Ren's stern appearance with the children, but I'm not sure, and in the second instance, I don't have any ideas.

By the end, the promise of normalcy feels more like a threat than a comfort. I don't envy Erika's lifestyle.

Overall I like the atmosphere and spareness but feel as though I am missing something. I guess I'm not really supposed to know the contents of the letter and am okay with that, but I feel I was probably supposed to have been able to make more sense of Bellossom and the jumpluff than I did.

 

[JFought]

Hello, I’m here from catnip thanks to Negrek!

I like the structure of this fic, starting with an important moment out of context and then slowly revealing that context over the course of scenes that on the surface might seem mundane, but feel just ever so slightly off (some more overt elements certainly help with that, such as Bellossom’s cryptic way of speaking and the moment with Jumpluff). Once the story wraps back around to the letter at the end, the story around Eirika’s situation begins to come into focus, and I like how it makes that first scene read very differently the second time around.

The atmosphere is also very strong, and the mundanity is really the key element here, I think. I’m trying to put it into words, but there's an interplay between what we’re meant to understand as routine, and deviations from that routine, where characters will try to brush off and hide Eirika away from anything that might resemble tension or conflict. And then in the kitchen scene, the mundanity becomes the tension. The way that scene cuts between dialogue and the passage of time was really effective in demonstrating the dissonance that had been built up throughout the story, juxtaposing the only moment of direct conflict with something that matters more than conflict. I get the impression that Victreebell values routine over pretty much all else. He chooses not to discipline Bellossom because he would much rather things continue on as they have; he only chooses to withdraw Eirika from her calligraphy lesson out of concern for how pushing her might affect her performance for tomorrow (we can’t have her burning out, because then she’d need rest!); he does not reply to Bellossom, because the stew is ready, and it’s time for dinner. It all works out so that there’s a sense of fragility and tension to the normalcy in this story, with how much work the characters have to put into upholding (or defying) it. Idk, maybe I’m stretching in a few places, but it just randomly occurred to me that this wouldn’t have been too out of place in the daily life one-shot contest, so I couldn’t help looking at it through that lens lol.

Also, I like your portrayal of Eirika in this story. She doesn’t get a lot of agency, but the small moments of agency she does get do a lot to get across her character. I like how she says “please” when giving commands to her Pokémon, and moments like her sneaking around, avoiding Victreebell’s gaze, stealing a glance at where Jumpluff was, all subtly get across how she’s straining against the structure that’s been forced upon her. I’m rooting for her, I hope whatever’s going on with that letter works out for her! I can tell how important it must be.

Overall, I thought this was a really interesting one-shot! It’s a very compelling demonstration of structure and atmospheric writing, and it gave me some things to think about.

 

[Fennel]

Hello, hello @Fennel ! Thanks for sharing such an atmospheric oneshot, I quite enjoyed it. It's interesting, because I just re-watched In the Mood for Love, and a lot about that movie reminded me of this story. I'll be vague since I don't know if you've seen it (although I'm not sure it's really a movie that can be spoiled, it's very much a vibes based experience) but the beginning with the secret in an object, the sense of surveillance and repression and alienation, all evoked a similar mood (heh) for me.

@zion of arcadia Ah, nice one! I haven't actually seen In the Mood for Love yet but that and Chungking Express have been on my radar for a while. I'm interested to see the parallels you mention for myself so I'll try and get round to watching them soon.

I will say, I'm not sure the moment of violence with the jumpluff worked for me. But I can't really say it didn't work for me, either. I'm mostly ambivalent. I've been stewing over this for a while and I still don't have a satisfactory answer, but figured it worth mentioning since it's an important part of the oneshot and I had a reaction to it.

That's interesting to read, thank you. I'm enjoying reading responses of what parts of the fic did and didn't work for different people, and it's interesting to hear that that element didn't quite land for you even if it might be difficult to articulate why.

Spoiler: line by line thoughts

Thank you for the feedback regarding those points of improvement. I definitely agree with you on both of those counts, especially the note about leaning too much on adverbs, and will keep that in mind for future. I definitely want to aim for the prose in my next pieces to be a bit leaner and more streamlined in that regard.

Otherwise, thank you for your positive comments and for the canny observations and insights on the piece. Glad you enjoyed reading!

I never figured out exactly what the letter was about, what Bellossom's words allude to, or why it seems so eerily vacant throughout. I find myself asking the perennial question, "Has too much been left out or am I just not smart enough to get it?", or the third possibility, which is that I need to know more pokemon lore. I have no idea what these characters' deals are in the games.

@love I can definitely say it's not the third possibility as I didn't draw upon any sort of lore for the characters at all. I definitely wouldn't say it's a case of you not being smart enough, either! I will say that the interpretation of the letter as a sort of 'lifeline', as Negrek put it, is accurate to what I was intending when I initially wrote the piece. But other than that, it was definitely my intention to leave things like the letter's specific contents and Bellossom's dialogue on the vague side. It is still valuable feedback to hear that the vagueness and ambiguity didn't seem to work for you, though.

These felt like non sequiturs and took me out of the moment briefly. In the first instance, maybe the intent was to contrast Ren's stern appearance with the children, but I'm not sure, and in the second instance, I don't have any ideas.

Noted, thank you. I don't think I was aiming for anything specific with those descriptions other than to give the reader a bit more of a fully-formed mental picture of the characters being portrayed but I'll take your feedback on board that the descriptions took you out of the piece a little.

Overall I like the atmosphere and spareness but feel as though I am missing something. I guess I'm not really supposed to know the contents of the letter and am okay with that, but I feel I was probably supposed to have been able to make more sense of Bellossom and the jumpluff than I did.

It's interesting to hear what things did and didn't work for different readers and I hear you when you say the vagueness didn't work for you and you felt like something was lacking. I hope you enjoyed reading the piece nonetheless though and thank you for taking the time out to read and comment!

Idk, maybe I’m stretching in a few places, but it just randomly occurred to me that this wouldn’t have been too out of place in the daily life one-shot contest, so I couldn’t help looking at it through that lens lol.

@JFought I don't have an awful lot to say in response to your comment but just wanted to say I appreciate your thoughts regarding the final scene in the kitchen as that's one I was quite pleased with in the way it turned out. Thank you!

I’m rooting for her, I hope whatever’s going on with that letter works out for her! I can tell how important it must be.

Rooting for her here, too! Team Erika all the way.

Overall, I thought this was a really interesting one-shot! It’s a very compelling demonstration of structure and atmospheric writing, and it gave me some things to think about.

Thank you! Glad to hear you liked it and I enjoyed reading your insights into the piece, also.

Just wanted to finish by saying thank you to everyone who took the time out to read and write feedback for the piece (whether it was for catnip or not). I'm really pleased with the way this piece turned out and reading all of your comments and insights has been a real pleasure. A huge thanks again to @Negrek for volunteering your slots in catnip for this, it's much appreciated!