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TAG WITH @howl

POSTED ON Jun 16, 2022 16:25:57 GMT

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Howl’s feet had gone numb but that was the price they paid for public transportation-- just them, and Sequera next to them, bumping along on a shitty old bus seat, legs crossed beneath them to take up less room. Their Greninja leaned forward in some version of a meditative silence, but Howl was twitchy. Years of living under the Rockets Kantonian Regime would do that to you.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, their iced coffee was now a bland, luke-warm amalgam of peppermint, white chocolate, and water, proof of the constant, ever-pressing heat; waves of humid stickiness trying to feel open the bus windows like prying fingers, fighting against the raging AC units stuck at the front and back of the bus.

Hoenn was beautiful. Hoenn was moist.

As the bus pulled into the Lilycove station and their location crackled across the airwaves, Howl sat up and winced at the tingles flooding down their legs to their feet. They stumbled for the doors, lifting their ghostly-feeling limbs with some difficulty, and only making it down the stairs thanks to Sequera’s assistance. The bus peeled away from the stop with a squeal of breaks and a heavy burst of exhaust, and then Howl and Sequera were alone in the blasting Lilycove sun.

“This region,” Howl said, shading their eyes against the celestial orb in question, “is far too bright.”

Sequera swiped Howl’s phone from their pocket and navigated to the maps app-- with some difficulty, given she had sticky, webbed hands. Once the path for Ranger HQ was set, the mechanical voice guiding them along, the two set off.

Ranger HQ, much to its credit, looked older than the other buildings lining the strip-- but that didn’t stop tourists from pausing out front to snap pictures and read the plaques buried deep in the cement of the staircase. Howl dodged around them and climbed the stairs, pushing through the door into the blessed aircon.

“Oh, mother of mercies,” they said, voice a heathenistic whisper, “I love you, modern technology.”

Before the front desk lady could give them a weird look for talking to themselves, they stepped up to her station and dug out their ID. And, because they’d run into this issue during their emancipation, their immigration, and when signing up for their Ranger position, they said, “I’m here to see Commander Anderson.” A beat. “Howard McCoy,” they added, the murdered name a bitter taste in their throat.

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[attr="class","dorado5"]#Laurence Anderson

[attr="class","dorado6"]in the garden of evil i'm gonna be the greatest
in a golden cathedral, i'll be praying for the faithless

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Ven

Lars

he / him / his

thirty-two

july 26

Sootopolis, Hoenn

don’t know, don’t care

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1210 height

nessuno vince.

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TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jun 16, 2022 22:19:43 GMT

Thankfully, this time, Lars was in his office.

(Getting rid of some remaining paperwork, but then again, what else was fucking new, why was there so much paperwork piling up again?!)

He heard the buzz of the intercom, before realizing that he had another recruit to show the ropes today. At least this would provide him some much-needed distraction from the endless boring drone of paperwork that had piled up once again.

“Send them up to my office,” he remarked, checking to make sure that the tin of caramel squares was filled to the brim. Mmm, caramel.

While he waited for the other to show up, he made sure to clear out the desk of as much paperwork as possible.

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HoMac

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Lavender Town, Kanto

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TAG WITH @howl

POSTED ON Jun 18, 2022 20:03:29 GMT

Laurence Anderson likes this

[attr="class","dorado2"]

The front desk receptionist gave him a polite smile and depressed a button on her intercom, assumedly radioing up to God himself that his next victim was here. Howl swallowed, mentally scolding themselves for thinking of it like that. One of their new mantras was to not be so damn negative. But sometimes, it was hard.

God responded with an affirmative and the receptionist pulled out a little slip of paper-- the graying, fuzzed lines marking it as an oft-copied piece-- with a map on it. She pointed to the square lobby and gave Howl directions on what to do once they’d exited the elevators to rendezvous with God

Please stop calling him that, the little voice in Howl’s head pleaded as they thanked the receptionist and headed off to follow the map, Sequera in tow.

It was easy enough. Ranger HQ was decorated in that no-nonsense matter that had served countless offices for years and years-- asphalt carpeting, white-painted walls, abstract artwork dotted here and there for a smidge of color without being too progressive. The lift was a plain old metal piece with no windows (contrary to the newest fashions of elevator shafts) that spat Howl out on the correct floor with a grating computer voice alerting them to this fact.

Once there, they started walking in the wrong direction until Sequera grabbed them by the back of their jacket and spun them the correct way. They proceeded down more asphalt-carpeted hallways until they reached the Head Ranger’s office.

The door was open. Howl screwed their courage to the sticking place and stuck their upper body in the doorway. “Uh, hi!”

Sequera rolled her eyes and gestured with both hands to the doorway, signalling that Howl should stop being a coward and walk in. They cleared their throat and did so, raising a hand in greeting.

“Hi,” they tried again, “uh, H-Howl McCoy, here for the Ranger initiation. Ooh, are those caramels?” They stepped up to the desk and hovered over the little bowl, tempted to reach out and snag one.

Sequera rolled her eyes again.

[attr="class","dorado3"]

[attr="class","dorado4"]

[attr="class","dorado5"]#Laurence Anderson

[attr="class","dorado6"]in the garden of evil i'm gonna be the greatest
in a golden cathedral, i'll be praying for the faithless

[attr="class","bycrane"]made by crane

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Lars

he / him / his

thirty-two

july 26

Sootopolis, Hoenn

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ex-head ranger

1210 height

nessuno vince.

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TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jun 19, 2022 21:14:52 GMT

In the time it took for the other to come up, he’d managed to clear most of the remaining paperwork…

Most.

There were still a few more reports here and there, but holy shit, they were the ones he didn’t like reading after a long day… he’d decided to stall finishing that last pile until after the end of today.

(This was, of course, presuming he still had enough time left after today’s mini orientation.)

And then the door creaked open—

Before an exasperated-looking Greninja all but had to show them the way inside the office. Lars had a feeling that the dual-type had seen so much shit and wanted to be done of it.

(Much like how Alpha had seen enough shit for more than one lifetime, but that’s a story for another day.)

“Make yourself comfortable,” he continued, gesturing at the seats that were on the opposite side of the desk. “And help yourself, that’s why the can’s open,” before he himself grabbed one of the caramel squares and ever so casually popped it into his mouth.

Weren’t they a nervous little bunch?

“I can feel the nervousness radiating off you… calm down,” he continued in a softer voice as he leaned back in his chair. “Wind yourself up even more, your body’s not going to forgive you later,” he shared.

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HoMac

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Lavender Town, Kanto

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Strugglebus

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15 height

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TAG WITH @howl

POSTED ON Jun 25, 2022 17:00:22 GMT

[attr="class","dorado2"]

The commander’s desk was a gathered-together kind of disorderly that hinted at a weight of tasks-- cluttered, but not chaotic. The commander himself was tall and blonde, long-limbed, and the kind of narrow that hinted at a wiry strength. Howl felt dwarfed in his mere presence-- but then, Howl felt dwarfed by a lot of things.

“O-oh, thanks,” Howl managed, setting themselves gently in a chair, thighs pressed together and hands in their lap. Sequera preferred to stand, but gave the commander a respectful bow. She did have much of the air of a beleaguered older sister-- the tired sort of proud that pressed lines into your face and made you sleep well at night.

Howl hesitated on taking a piece of candy until Lars did-- only then did they follow suit, working the sweet around in their mouth before swallowing entirely too early and having to choke down a cough.

Sequera rolled her eyes once more. See what I’m working with here?

“Sorry,” Howl said, realizing at that moment they could feel the tension in their shoulders, the snap of the tendons against their collarbones, the rigidity rising up and down their spine. “I, uh. It’s been a long road to get here, and I still can’t really believe this isn’t a dream, you know?” Especially when you’re Howl and your mom microdosed you with LSD as a child to make you act weirder for her TV show and now you have terrifying, vibrant, realistic nightmares because of it, but they left that part out.

[attr="class","dorado3"]

[attr="class","dorado4"]

[attr="class","dorado5"]#Laurence Anderson

[attr="class","dorado6"]in the garden of evil i'm gonna be the greatest
in a golden cathedral, i'll be praying for the faithless

[attr="class","bycrane"]made by crane

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Lars

he / him / his

thirty-two

july 26

Sootopolis, Hoenn

don’t know, don’t care

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ex-head ranger

1210 height

nessuno vince.

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TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jul 3, 2022 17:02:25 GMT

“Of what, that you’re no longer in Kanto?”

Of course he had a copy of the other’s files already on his desk and gave it a quick read before they’d come up to see him—

Ah, Kanto. The place that Matias had told him about that was still a wreck. Or a mess. Whichever one applied first, that is; considering that there was little to no way to confirm if shit back there was really falling apart at the seams or—

His mind flashed back to that press conference some time ago, and he bristled for a brief moment before calming down again.

“Well, one thing I can guarantee out here—there’s a lot of adventure at every corner and turn. Color me curious, though—out of all the places one can travel to, why here? Why Hoenn?”

Why in the place that’s about to get blasted to bits by a meteor? he added darkly to himself, yet didn’t say that part out loud.

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HoMac

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December 29

Lavender Town, Kanto

Pansexual

Strugglebus

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dead but rising,

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TAG WITH @howl

POSTED ON Jul 4, 2022 18:07:30 GMT

[attr="class","dorado2"]

“That, mostly,” Howl says, grasping onto that tendril of thought and riding it out like a pro-wakeboarder. This person was going to be their boss. He didn’t need to know the whole sob-story-weirdly-chaotic-childhood-gender-nonconformity-hullabaloo that Howl was currently shooting the wave through. “Mostly… being out of Kanto, yeah.” It was not a great place, all personal things aside.

Howl’s file must’ve looked a mess. There was quite a large cult following behind their mother’s TV shows, plural, and the ones Howl had been in as a child were some of her most popular. Which meant there was a cult following behind Howl, too.

Howl wondered what their name was listed as in Lars’ file.

“Uh, I mean,” Howl shrugged, thumbs twiddling in their lap as though they’d been put on the hot seat, “why not Hoenn?” Tickets were cheap-- must’ve been the meteor thing. Immigration here was also significantly easier than other places-- maybe the Rocket connections? Maybe, again, the meteor thing?

“It’s, like. Just crazy enough here that I can have a purpose without, maybe, also, dying?” It was hard to summarize that sentiment in words but there it was. “Immediately,” they amended, remembering the meteor thing.

[attr="class","dorado3"]

[attr="class","dorado4"]

[attr="class","dorado5"]#Laurence Anderson

[attr="class","dorado6"]in the garden of evil i'm gonna be the greatest
in a golden cathedral, i'll be praying for the faithless

[attr="class","bycrane"]made by crane

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Ven

Lars

he / him / his

thirty-two

july 26

Sootopolis, Hoenn

don’t know, don’t care

ranger & courier

ex-head ranger

1210 height

nessuno vince.

awards

3,790 posts

DOLLARS

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TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jul 9, 2022 16:55:30 GMT

Much as Lars was tempted to bust their proverbial innocence bubble of immigrating to Hoenn right at the time when a giant fucking meteor was going to be colliding its extraterrestrial face with the living surface that a lot of people called home—

He decided not to. At least, not yet anyway.

“I hope you’re ready to face whatever supernatural, strange shit’s floating around here on the regular,” he remarked their way. It was—crazy.

“And I mean that in the ‘so many legendaries suddenly appearing out of nowhere’ and ‘strange, paranormal things happening in all sorts of unexpected places’ regular,” he added as an afterthought.

“To be fair, being ‘normal’ is being in the minority here, if I’m going to be honest,” he continued as he reached for a piece of paper and began writing something, as he remembered what had slipped his mind earlier.

“Oh, and speak of which, take this down to the supplies department on your way out, and always have it on your person at all times.”

Lars then slid the paper across the desk—it was the form so that the other could pick up a first-aid kit for their own use.

“Accidents abound everywhere in our line of work, I hope you’ve got enough of a know-how on first-aid.”

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HoMac

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December 29

Lavender Town, Kanto

Pansexual

Strugglebus

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15 height

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76 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @howl

POSTED ON Jul 20, 2022 17:37:50 GMT

[attr="class","dorado2"]

Howl knew they were forcibly staring into the light-- like they constantly walked with their eyelids peeled open by their fingers, compulsorily making them look on the bright side. It was how they stayed alive.

“Please, sir,” Howl said, catching the wind of their old self, a burst of childish, roguelike charm, “supernatural, strange shit is my middle name.” And it practically was. Their mother was a famous psychic, back home, and Howl themselves had been a supernatural magnet.

Granted, it may have been the surplus of drugs slipped into their macaroni and sippy cups, but hey. It had happened.

“Thank you.” They slid the requisition form for the first aid kid across the desktop and tucked it carefully into their pocket.

“Hope I won’t let you down.”

[attr="class","dorado3"]

[attr="class","dorado4"]

[attr="class","dorado5"]#Laurence Anderson

[attr="class","dorado6"]in the garden of evil i'm gonna be the greatest
in a golden cathedral, i'll be praying for the faithless

[attr="class","bycrane"]made by crane

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Ven

Lars

he / him / his

thirty-two

july 26

Sootopolis, Hoenn

don’t know, don’t care

ranger & courier

ex-head ranger

1210 height

nessuno vince.

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TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jul 26, 2022 15:24:58 GMT

Well, at least the other was ready for whatever the hell was coming their way—it all really depended on what circumstances they would meet the multitude of Legendary Pokémon that were drawn to Hoenn like moths to a flame.

(Well, who would think of drawing Frosmoth to a flame, then the Frosmoth would just be plain incinerated because it was of two typings that were terribly weak against Fire. Okay, why was he getting philosophical again?)

“Just… just let me know when you’re going into something big. I’ll find time to join you so I can see what you’re capable of out in the wild.”

Because there was nothing else to it; having first-hand experience rather than doing things in a controlled setting was how he usually functioned.