Your favorite scenes

[BossCar]

I’d imagine that we all have certain scenes that we really like the end result of.

My fic is up to chapter 20 on A03, but I’m holding off posting all 20 at once here. However, there’s a scene from Chapter 16 that might be my favorite one within all 20 chapters.

Spoiler

As the video group chat continues. Hilda notices the glossy black box that Valen has snuck next to Rosa before he strolled off “Hey, it looks like Valen left you something before he went back upstairs.”

Rosa glances to her right and notices the glossy black box, stating, “You’re right, Hilda.” Rosa slowly carefully opens the box, curious to see what Valen had gotten her. “Let’s see what it is.”

Suddenly, Rosa becomes speechless for nearly a minute, causing Melanie, Hilda and Leaf to stare in confusion as to what's going on. Rosa raises her eyebrows as she keenly eyes the item within the box. Rosa’s jaw drops as she lets out a small gasp when she sees what Valen has gotten her as a gift. “N-No way...there’s no way...Valen actually remembered...this?”

As her eyes widen in astonishment, Rosa takes out what's inside the box: an dazzling, diamond line necklace with a enchanting, green emerald at the bottom that has a coiled up Serperior engraved on both sides. As the emerald sparkles like a starry night sky, Rosa’s hands begins to tremble slightly, as she can't believe that this is actually happening. She can’t believe that she’s not only seeing this rare piece of jewelry right up close and personal with her own two eyes, but its hers, all hers. How, just how did Valen remember something this specific? Rosa’s mentioned this low production necklace to Valen on only two separate occasions within the several years that the two of them have known each other. Rosa has wanted one for years, but she never imagined that she’d be able to own one of these. However, one example is now resting in the palm of her right hand.

“I...he..he remembered...something this specific about me,” Rosa murmurs as her voice trembles, her skin tingling all over her body as tears start to stream down Rosa’s face.

Once the other three girls notice what Rosa's holding, they aren't sure how to respond either. Hilda and Leaf stare with their mouths gaping open. As for Melanie, she’s recalled that Valen won’t even go out and buy himself a comb to groom his disheveled hair, yet he just gifted Rosa a magnificent piece of jewelry that had to cost him a pretty penny.

Another one, this time from 18

Spoiler

Valen’s gotten so used to being lonely, serious, and gloomy that he needs a warm, gentle, and loving touch. Thus, Rosa decides to start over, slowly walking towards Valen. Rosa sits down on the edge of Valen’s bed, sporting a somber smile. Rosa kisses Valen on the lips while using her right hand to lift up Valen’s left hand, grasping it with a tender touch. Rosa fixates a loving gaze at Valen, using her left hand to caress his right check. “Hey sweetie, it’s going to be okay. Everything’s going to be okay. I promise you that you’ll be okay,” Rosa softly consoles Valen. “I’ll always love you and I’ll never leave your side.” Rosa’s affectionate gestures and words soothe Valen, causing the tension within him to slowly dissipate. Valen feels a surge of warmth flowing inside of him, sporting the faintest of soft smiles. While Valen thinks it sounds a tad bit ludicrous, it's like he can hear and feel the genuine affection and consideration that Rosa has for him.

 

[Negrek]

This is a great idea for a discussion! Based on what you've shown here, it looks like your favorite scenes tend to be a bit romantic, huh? Tender moments between characters can be loads of fun to write.

Since I'm writing a very long fanfic, I'm fortunate to have room for a lot of favorite scenes! And I know I'll manage to miss some obvious ones in this post, heh. All my favorite favorite scenes are still to come, so I can't post them because spoilers.

Although I'm very proud of some of my action/battle sequences, my true favorite scenes tend to be your gooey character interaction type ones--usually positive and often with a bit of humor to them. I'm curious whether the same would be true if I were writing something more generally light-hearted... part of what makes these bits fun is their contrast with most of the rest of the scenes in the story!

Here are three that I really like, so far (note: spoilers for the first ~35 chapters of Salvage, but won't make much sense unless you've already read them):

- The scene where the protagonist turns Nate over to Team Rocket, in the holding cells under Saffron City. I think there's a good sense of tension in this scene, where we first encounter the boss of Team Rocket. I'm always here for the protagonist trying and failing hilariously at being human, and I hope that it trying to pass itself off as a real Rocket grunt is both humorous and adds some nice suspense to the scene--will it actually be able to pull this one off, or is everything about to explode when it blows everyone's cover? I also love the resolution to this scene, when Nate is reunited with his pokémon. It's a touching moment, and one that I hope catches some people off guard! Nate's attitude towards pokémon is hinted at towards throughout the story up until that point, but the protagonist has completely failed to pick up on it, so I hope it's something where a first-time reader might find the outcome surprising, but someone paying close attention or rereading can instead see this one coming and appreciate it as a fulfilling emotional moment instead.

- The aftermath of the semifinals of the Pokémon League, a big battle where the characters manage to eke out a narrow victory. There aren't a lot of unambiguous wins in this story, so it's nice for them to have a very clear-cut victory and the chance to actually celebrate a bit. It's also an important turning point in the arc that's been developing between the protagonist and Nate, where it gets invited to be a part of the celebration with he and his team, rather than imposing itself on them. All in all this is one of the most feel-good parts of the story, probably.

- I also love the floor lasagna scene because it's a bit ridiculous and funny, but also has what I think are some nice character moments. There are zero adults in this room, despite Leo's sweater vests and disdainful attitude towards the other characters; I like that he gets a little spotlight here doing things other than computer-ing. I also like that while the scene is (I hope!) pretty funny, it's also rather sad and pathetic for Nate... despite coming off a big success at the Pokémon League, he's still plagued with way, way bigger problems than winning a tournament, and Leo can play him like a fiddle without even particularly trying. There's also the fact that if Nate and Leo had worked together instead of being petty at each other, they probably could have gotten the best of the protagonist and escaped, and instead what they choose to do is... this. And the floor lasagna itself was a good reminder of the protagonist's nature, I thought. It's looking more humanlike than ever at this point in the story, but its cheerful willingness to eat somebody else's dinner off a (dirty) floor is 100% in line with its actual nature as some kind of weird feral human/pokémon hybrid without real respect for basic social mores.

 

[BossCar]

This is a great idea for a discussion! Based on what you've shown here, it looks like your favorite scenes tend to be a bit romantic, huh? Tender moments between characters can be loads of fun to write.

Since I'm writing a very long fanfic, I'm fortunate to have room for a lot of favorite scenes! And I know I'll manage to miss some obvious ones in this post, heh. All my favorite favorite scenes are still to come, so I can't post them because spoilers.

Although I'm very proud of some of my action/battle sequences, my true favorite scenes tend to be your gooey character interaction type ones--usually positive and often with a bit of humor to them. I'm curious whether the same would be true if I were writing something more generally light-hearted... part of what makes these bits fun is their contrast with most of the rest of the scenes in the story!

Here are three that I really like, so far (note: spoilers for the first ~35 chapters of Salvage, but won't make much sense unless you've already read them):

- The scene where the protagonist turns Nate over to Team Rocket, in the holding cells under Saffron City. I think there's a good sense of tension in this scene, where we first encounter the boss of Team Rocket. I'm always here for the protagonist trying and failing hilariously at being human, and I hope that it trying to pass itself off as a real Rocket grunt is both humorous and adds some nice suspense to the scene--will it actually be able to pull this one off, or is everything about to explode when it blows everyone's cover? I also love the resolution to this scene, when Nate is reunited with his pokémon. It's a touching moment, and one that I hope catches some people off guard! Nate's attitude towards pokémon is hinted at towards throughout the story up until that point, but the protagonist has completely failed to pick up on it, so I hope it's something where a first-time reader might find the outcome surprising, but someone paying close attention or rereading can instead see this one coming and appreciate it as a fulfilling emotional moment instead.

- The aftermath of the semifinals of the Pokémon League, a big battle where the characters manage to eke out a narrow victory. There aren't a lot of unambiguous wins in this story, so it's nice for them to have a very clear-cut victory and the chance to actually celebrate a bit. It's also an important turning point in the arc that's been developing between the protagonist and Nate, where it gets invited to be a part of the celebration with he and his team, rather than imposing itself on them. All in all this is one of the most feel-good parts of the story, probably.

- I also love the floor lasagna scene because it's a bit ridiculous and funny, but also has what I think are some nice character moments. There are zero adults in this room, despite Leo's sweater vests and disdainful attitude towards the other characters; I like that he gets a little spotlight here doing things other than computer-ing. I also like that while the scene is (I hope!) pretty funny, it's also rather sad and pathetic for Nate... despite coming off a big success at the Pokémon League, he's still plagued with way, way bigger problems than winning a tournament, and Leo can play him like a fiddle without even particularly trying. There's also the fact that if Nate and Leo had worked together instead of being petty at each other, they probably could have gotten the best of the protagonist and escaped, and instead what they choose to do is... this. And the floor lasagna itself was a good reminder of the protagonist's nature, I thought. It's looking more humanlike than ever at this point in the story, but its cheerful willingness to eat somebody else's dinner off a (dirty) floor is 100% in line with its actual nature as some kind of weird feral human/pokémon hybrid without real respect for basic social mores.

Romance‘s certainly one. It came out well, because I’ve never tried writing a serious romance before this.

I’m guessing this Nate’s completely an OC?

 

[Negrek]

I haven't written much romance yet myself, so good on you!

Yeah, Nate's an OC. I write mostly OC fics, and this one is so old that it predates the canon Nate, haha.

 

[BossCar]

Here’s a scene that’s shows how much the main OC puts himself down. Poor Valen 😭

Spoiler

“Heh, I can’t win em all,” Valen says, smiling as he recalls Indra back into his Poké Ball.

”I can tell that Valen’s genuinely proud of his Luxray, but I think his Luxray could’ve won this battle.” Silver thinks to himself as he recalls his Arcanine.

“You’re way stronger than me,” Valen states, snapping Silver out of his train of thought. “I’m nothing compared to Dimitri and you.”

“Hey, don’t degrade yourself like that,” Silver chastises. “You've already proven to be on equal footing with Red and Blue."

“I lost to Red, and I barely defeated Blue,” Valen points out, sporting an amused smirk. “Meanwhile, you’re one of the few trainers who’ve actually managed to defeat both Red and Blue.”

“Neither battle was a breeze for me. Also, your Salamence managed to defeat Red’s Charizard in your second battle against him, and both Red and Blue praised your strength as a trainer,” Silver points out, furrowing his eyebrows. “Valen, when are you going to stop selling yourself short and accept the fact that you're strong?"

Valen lets out a deep sigh, his smirk having turned into a frown. "I'm weak, not strong." Valen bows his head down as an unrelenting feeling of heaviness overcomes him. "My personal demons are too strong, and I'm too weak to fend them off."

“He’s still got a long road ahead of him.” Silver silently laments.

 

[WildBoots]

Omg, nicely done, BossCar: you actually made Negrek gush.

floor lasagna

🙌

I don't think I have one favorite scene, actually! Usually, each chapter or one-shot has something I'm pleased with. But my favorite kinds of moments to write are often ...

A) two characters who don't want to talk have a conversation. Writing dialogue is always a struggle for me, but I like it and I think I do it well once I get it down

B) pokemon doing something cute in the background of a tense, unhappy scene. Like the slowpoke wearing (and then eating) a flower crown, the magneton with keys stuck to it, and the tyrantrum taking a dirt bath. The humans are busy angsting, but their pokemon are having a great day. ☀️

 

[K_S]

Love the idea for this topic, thanks for getting the ball rolling!

While I don't have a ultimate favorite scene I'm fond of the one in an AU I recently finished where Giovanni and Delia have it out about him being a mobster while she's on the run from Team Rocket. Presently on the books to edit the monster fic and post it here, but here's the RD version of it for those interested. Delia hasn't legally changed her name yet and goes by the moniker "Guena" at this point in the plot.

Spoiler: From Two Paths, SPOILERS

She wasn’t surprised to find Giovanni in her room, sitting on the edge of her bed, fedora set on knee, Persian at his feet, obviously waiting up for her.

She only wondered how long it’d taken him to get her present employer and land lord on his payroll. Assuming the man hadn’t been so all along. Black eyes flicked over her frame, mentally cataloging... something. While she considered him. His face was pale, there were black rings about his eyes, and she wanted, in one mad moment, to just to ask him; How was his day, what was wrong, because something had to be because he looked so tired.

She stifled habit. The temptation of going the easy route. And said nothing. He in turn, didn’t stir or move, save to let his gaze linger over her and read the tag on her apron and the assumed name upon her breast.

Mirroring the patterns she’d used on those trainers that had wanted to rough her up, she refused to make eye contact to forestall potential violence.

“You looked better,” He breathed. “In my colors, with my mark over your heart.”

And she smiled, met his eyes, because of course, he had to turn something so damned awful into something near beautiful, by just not trying. And, God and Mew both, her heart quickened at the hope she saw light his eyes. She couldn’t help herself.

“You already had it, it was just… it wasn’t your to keep, not while you kept up with what you were doing.” Swallowing, gathering her courage. “I could… it could be yours again, but…”

“You’d ask me to walk away. Step down.”

“It’d be a start.” Guena warned, and to that he leaned back, hair brushing the wall, and exhaustion decided her. Though stupidity incarnate she took a seat beside him, and thus there was precious little bed between them. The remaining little span between them was soon occupied by Persian, who popped his head between them with a soft “pert” and an eye scrunch that begged scratches.

“And if I refuse?” Giovanni drawled, indulging the feline without even looking down. His expression a mystery per angle of up and her deciding she’d had enough of sitting stiff besides him and taking what warmth his side could offer. She set her cheek against his shoulder, while he considered… things…

“Then,” Guena tasted the words, slowly, carefully, they were caress close, killing close. And William had not been shy in telling her tales, where Giovanni would quite literally rip apart his enemies with his hands for the satisfaction of feeling their suffering and making the temples of their body a bloody ruin. “Then I will know how much Will lied, first hand, won’t I?”

Of hands, hers closed over his, intertwining their digits, perhaps a mute plea, but really it was an assurance of sorts, a pitiful comfort. He wasn’t wearing his insignia ring, and in her mind that made him, in this moment, divorced from the man she’d fled. He wasn’t here acting as an executive of Team Rocket, and there was hope for her, for her child, in that.

His laugh was more felt than heard, a rumble against her ear that brought her thoughts to mind or the trembles before the sky would spit lightning. Nature, ever the show off, chimed in, and she stiffened, despite herself, and he laughed all the harder for it.

“He didn’t lie, dear heart.” Giovanni breathed, looking down at her as the lights about them flickered and flared. It was going to be a bad night, and the rain striking this… shanty of a house would rankle. Remind her of earthen wall and the scent of sewage though this place was much more sanitary than the holes and hovels Will had ushered her back and forth from. “Of all the things he was, William was no liar.”

Past tense, Guena expected it and her heart hurt despite it.

 

[HelloYellow17]

So far my favorite scenes I’ve written have to be the ones from the Pokémon’s POV. I’m not what it is about it, but they’re just so fun to both read and write! I love seeing Pokémon doing nonsensical things in the background, or playing with their trainers, or simply viewing the world through their perspective.
A close second, though, are the brief moments of banter between Wes and Rui. I just really love their dynamic and enjoy writing about their slowly developing friendship.

 

[Flyg0n]

One of my all time favorite scenes of Legendary Adventures is (semi spoilers)

Spoiler

the evolution of the MC's starter, a Zubat named Echo, into Crobat. It's an emotional moment wherein Echo learns to overcome his own insecurities.I like to think I did a good job capturing the emotions and the tension of the moment.

 

[BossCar]

So far my favorite scenes I’ve written have to be the ones from the Pokémon’s POV. I’m not what it is about it, but they’re just so fun to both read and write! I love seeing Pokémon doing nonsensical things in the background, or playing with their trainers, or simply viewing the world through their perspective.
A close second, though, are the brief moments of banter between Wes and Rui. I just really love their dynamic and enjoy writing about their slowly developing friendship.

Don’t act like you aren’t tormenting poor Wes 😂😭

One of my all time favorite scenes of Legendary Adventures is (semi spoilers)

Spoiler

the evolution of the MC's starter, a Zubat named Echo, into Crobat. It's an emotional moment wherein Echo learns to overcome his own insecurities.I like to think I did a good job capturing the emotions and the tension of the moment.

That’s an awesome Pokémon.

 

[HelloYellow17]

Don’t act like you aren’t tormenting poor Wes 😂😭

Oh, I don’t deny it! xD

 

[Nubushi]

Interesting topic!

Giovanni and Delia

👍 I tend to not pay much attention to the anime characters and had never been interested in this pairing until I binge-read a Giovanni/Delia story a few weekends ago, and now I have to say, I am really digging it. It sounds like your take on Giovanni is a whole lot darker than the story I read, though.

I don't know if I have any absolute favorite scenes from my stories, but porting my Lyra/Lance romcom "The Pink-haired Cowgirl's Love Advice" over to TR today reminded me of how much I enjoyed poking fun at Lance and his capes (e.g. the scene where

Spoiler

Whitney threatens to blackmail him by telling everyone how many capes he really has

).

I also find that anytime I get feedback from readers that tells me they felt xyz from reading my story, and from their feedback I learn that I nailed it and was able to convey exactly the kind of emotion that I wanted to, it really affects my own attitude towards my writing and makes me feel that chapter/scene/moment was successful.

One of those is this set of images and metaphors from "A Hue Defiant and Brave" (second one-shot in the collection I titled "Forgiveness is a Shifting Wind"):

Spoiler: A Hue Defiant and Brave

The planet circled around the sun. Yellow and Lance circled around each other like gossamer-winged butterfrees, forever circling, unable to touch. Sometimes, she felt more like she was pouring her feelings into a bottomless abyss like the ocean waters rushing into a gaping, rocky hole, or like the planet hurtling through space and time towards its eventual destruction.

The one-shot as a whole still has some rough edges, but out of all my published stories, this might be the spot where I feel like I most successfully communicated the kind of emotional experience that I was going for.

/shameless self plug

 

[Bluwiikoon]

My favourite scene from Legendaries of the Present World is when Arceus gets tummy rubs!
I also like when Jirachi slowly realises why the man (unnamed character) brought them into his home. (For a wish, of course, but a very sad one!)

That and this from Zamazenta chapter:

Zamazenta nuzzled the boy gently, receiving a thorough head pat in return. The boy had not yet realised that it was not a matter of power that drove their losses, but a matter of restraint. Hop's brother had mastered the art of defeating an opponent without slaying them, an admirable skill in these times of peace. A skill the old wolf needed to hone, for he had only been shaped by the arts of war. Until then, he was perhaps too careful in order to avoid bloodshed.

My favourite pcb0000 scene is when everything is good and nice and nothing bad happens (i.e. the entire story)

My favourite Pokecure Warriors scene is when a boy is reading to his Espurr friend and the Espurr is just loving it 😁

 

[K_S]

I tend to not pay much attention to the anime characters and had never been interested in this pairing until I binge-read a Giovanni/Delia story a few weekends ago, and now I have to say, I am really digging it.

I actually got into the pairing when skimming the wiki on the musical. It was tangential and got my attention and I wanted to see how others spun it. After a foray down that bunny hole I tried a few versions on my own and here we are. As a whole my work tends to be darker, I loved the manga for going places the mainstream wouldn't even touch, and it shows. In my efforts I tend to write them as divorced (willingly on both sides due to "irreconcilable moral differences" to quote Delia from one chapter) or together pre-Rocket revelation.

They actually had a very sweet and adoring relationship in my main story. A back and forth of an emotional slant. Gio helps break Delia's fear of 'mon down, she softens his cruelty a bit, he takes her in when her differing moral stance with her parents get her kicked out/estranged, she helps him deal with the trauma of his upbringing, but the fact that he A lies about what he is, and B, is unwilling to stop what he's doing, is the final straw and she leaves for the sake of herself and unknown to him her unborn child.

Would you be willing to offer a title drop for your read? My cache of Delia/Gio fics running low as its' a bit of a rare pairing.

Laughs, self plug away, it's what we're all here for after all, finding and reading new fics... that and reviewing.

 

[Nubushi]

Would you be willing to offer a title drop for your read?

Sure! Though you might have read it already if you're making any effort to look for stories with this pairing. The Dawn Will Come by Kira_RaKesh, on AO3. It had some shenanigans that got increasingly unbelievable towards the end of the story, but still was a fun romp, and I really enjoyed the slow-burn romance.