victory_road | 003//video;

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[The feed starts to Marik holding the small, freshly polished face mask of Yamask in one hand as he settles in to sit back down then passes it off to Chenzira, who looks quite pleased and sets it back to its proper spot on his tail. There's an amused smirk before he turns his full attention to his device. What a fitting time to bring up ghosts with the holiday he's unaware of approaching.]

I've been trying to learn as much as I can of Yamask since I arrived in this world. I think I've got a fairly good understanding of them by now. I wasn't entirely convinced of their pokedex entry at first but after spending more time with them, I believe there's some truth behind their story of origin. It's too on the nose not to be.

I don't know if anyone's interested in hearing about it. I.. guess if people want, I can post a summary of what I learned.

[It's a weird thought, that people might be genuinely interested in hearing what he has to say instead of him just talking to hear himself speak. Because he does that a lot. Not as much as before but still.]

I've tried asking some of the natives about it, particularly the people working at the Ruins of Alph but they all gave rather vague responses that didn't answer any of my questions at all.

[Marik clicks his tongue in annoyance.]

I know Yamask aren't the only ones with human origin. There's a number of ghost types that are said to be once human in their previous life and some that take others to the Afterlife.

[He's been reading up on the legends of the legendary pokémon in his free time, trying to make sense of everything.]

So both reincarnation and an afterlife exist here. Has anyone been able to learn any more stories or history about... any of those subjects? I'm genuinely curious.

[A pause as he exchanges a look with his Yamask.]

And does anyone have or seen a Cofagrigus in person? Neither myself of Chenzira here want him to evolve but I'm still interested in learning about his evolved species.

[attachment: text file titled "research notes"]

[ooc: I'll be tweaking with the info and layout as time goes on. ]

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At least I enjoy math, so when it comes time to judge the likelihood of certain traits I think I'll be okay with it.

So there's this one super creepy Pokemon- a Banette -that has a straight up horror movie plot behind it. Doll that came to life filled with negative emotions? Except apparently as a standard it has an earlier evolution- a Shuppet. So most of them can't have come directly from a doll.

Shuppets are really cute too. I kind of want one except I think I might be scared of a Banette. Oh man, do you have a Duskull? A Duskull would super suit you.

That definitely works in your favor then.

[Marik blinks then furrows his brow.]

Is the Shuppet considered a doll? Or does it have a completely different entry to its evolved form?

[This world, while lovely on the surface, is frustrating in its "mechanics."]

Oh- I do have a Duskull. Caught him when we were in Hisui. I had him in my party for a while but I ended up switching him out.

[That was an interesting night. His relationship with his Duskull is a strange one. He might have bested Gahiji in his scheme when they met but he sometimes wonders if he should release him.]

I'll have to add notes for them.

That's still cool, though!

It's considered a doll. But the Banette's story made it sound like it was just originally a doll that some kid owned, not what a Shuppet is. Which is super cute- did you ever make those ghosts at Halloween as a kid that were like tissue paper jammed wrapped in another piece of tissue paper and then tied off so it looked like a sheet? That's what a shuppet kind of looks like.

Anyway, while part of me hopes that the stories are just totally misleading, it seems like this place isn't that deluded so probably some of the first pokemon like these wierd ones were actually created in wierd situations.

Yeah. Can't say I've ever met a pokémon quite like him before, that's for sure.

I wonder then... was the Banette species discovered first? That might explain why some entries seem out of place. But that just makes things all the more confusing...

[The blonde tilts his head curiously.]

I've never seen paper ghosts like what you're describing. And what's... Halloween? Am I saying that right?

Edited 2022-10-16 04:25 (UTC)

...Your world doesn't have Halloween?

[That's one of the saddest things he's ever heard. But he jumps right into talking to him about it.]

It's... well it's got a long history like any holiday, but the coolest tradition is dressing up as either something you like or someone spooky, putting up scary decorations, and getting or handing out candy.

-Getting candy is mostly for kids, it's called 'trick or treat'ing, but it's still as cool to hand it out in my opinion. When I got too big to trick or treat I loved helping my cousins do it.

Edited 2022-10-16 04:52 (UTC)

I don't know. I lived a sheltered life so... it might exist? I just never heard of it or ran across it before.

[But as always with Hunk, he listens with earnest, painting a vague picture of the concept and activities in his head as the other describes it to him.]

Huh... We never celebrated anything like that back home... It sounds fun. Why is the candy aspect only for kids though?

Not a lot of countries make that big a deal out of it outside of the US, too. I don't know, I just like it because even though it's a 'scary' holiday, it's the one that lets you be the most creative. It's all about making and giving.

There's no big solid rule against it. Just for trick or treat you're expected to be twelve or under. Usually kids give it up about ten or so. But people will still usually give out candy.

...Where were you raised or is it okay to ask. [Though he doesn't want to make the guy admit anything unsettling on the network so he'll immediately back off if it sounds like a bad time.]

I get why you seem so fond of it. I wish we had holidays like that... Most of ours are just for honoring the Gods and the gifts of the land.

[Not like he could have decorated the tomb or gotten candy from his clan members anyways. Sigh.]

Huh. I think I... understand the point of the age cutoff.

[That's always a complicated to answer. Marik fiddles with his coat collar. He trusts Hunk enough to give him a bit more information than he normally would to acquaintances though.]

I was born and raised in Egypt. My family... had very strict rules and follow the ancient ways of our people.

There's probably some kind of fall festival here. I should look into it.

[He feels kind of bad for him. Traditions are one thing, but 'ancient ways' usually close the doors on change and progress. That's important. But he doesn't want to come off as insulting- he's got no idea of any specifics anyway.]

I guess we're both going to have to get used to new traditions. But we can bring a few of our own, no matter what's planned here.

Let me know if you find out anything.

[There's at least one good thing about his upbringing and that's keeping a long lost religion and culture alive despite how much the country has changed.]

Yeah... I'm looking forward to it. This place seems to share a lot of similarities to Japan from what little I saw when I was there so I wonder if the holidays will be similar too. ... Not that I actually know of any. But I really enjoy getting to experience new things.

Yeah, that was my favorite part of being in Voltron. Experiencing new cultures and helping people. [Helping people being the very best part of it.] We had a lot of Japanese holiday celebrations where I grew up in Hawai'i.

Do you have any special holidays? Like, you'd think all religions would come with them.

What's Voltron? If you don't mind me asking.

Huh... Hawai'i is relatively close to Japan, right? That's cool that you got to experience their celebrations.

[Marik takes a moment to think over the various holidays. A lot of them involved festivals and processions. He couldn't take part in many of them due to being barred from going above ground but he at least read about them, made small celebrations with his siblings, or heard about it from the other clan members.

He frowns and hides his eyes under his hair for a second or two before he forces himself to look back up and offer a smile.]

We have a lot. Like I said, it's usually for celebrating the Gods themselves, their stories, and the growth of the land. I don't think the rest of the country celebrates the same ones the different clans do... The Beautiful Festival of the Valley is a big one. We always honor our dead but this festival is when we go all out. There's a huge procession with all sorts of different gold, jewelry, food, drinks, and so many flowers. Then there's the Gods' Birthdays... And ah... I believe it translates to "New Years."

[At least his smile seems more genuine now.]

People drank. A lot. Those were some of the rare times I saw the clans truly happy together. ... I think there's even a holiday where everyone just gets drunk.

Now that I'm old enough to drink I actually want to celebrate like that sometime. But I wanna be around people I know for it, so I'll have to find someone to come with me.

Voltron is a robot meant to protect the galaxy. Five robot lions would join together to form it, and each lion had a paladin. I was the paladin of the yellow lion- not my first choice since I don't like fighting, but I enjoyed the other stuff a lot.

[And he did really enjoy just being out there, doing the right thing, even the times it required violence.]

Halloween is kind of a celebration of the dead, too. [He wonders what the sad look is about, but this time decides not to ask in public.]

I'd love to join you but I'm only turning seventeen this year...

[Unless you're able to drink as a sixteen year old.]

Oh. Oh. Wow. That sounds like something you'd read about in a comic. If your world's technology is that advanced then... you must be from the future? And you're a hero. That's really cool. You must have seen all sorts of things then!

[Marik's not sure if he should be thanking him or not for his service. Would that embarrass Hunk? Maybe it's better to just keep it casual.]

Is it? How so?

You'll have to let me know when your birthday comes around. 18 is the age in most countries. [Not the US but... well, the US is slightly less of a thing in an intergalactic government.] I'm 19 now but my life's been pretty hectic the last few years.

[He hopes he's friend enough to make that kind of offer, too, even if they still haven't met in person. And if he thanked him, he'd probably manage to look bashful about it.]

It's Altean technology. Way beyond what Earth had at the time we found it. What year are you from? And Halloween comes from an old tradition where you leave out offerings for the dead. The 'Day of the Dead' also happens around that time- different culture start, similar idea to celebrate the departed. Things just changed over time and more got added to it. So maybe a good time to line up some traditions, huh?

[Congrats, Hunk. You're officially the first person he's actually telling this to. Not even Kaiba knows yet. ~~Usi will change that though. Fufufu.~~]

... It's not until December. The 23rd. Guess I'll have to wait until next year before I can join you for a drink, assuming the legal drinking age here is eighteen.

[He figures Altean is some sort of alien technology given the other's phrasing.]

It's 1997 back in my world but our technology is pretty similar to here.

And I never knew. Does the candy play a part in offerings as well or is that just something fun for children? Sort of like how we obviously weren't allowed to drink the alcoholic beverages so we just had fruit juice.

[He fiddles with his coat again.]

... I'm glad to hear other cultures still pay respect to their deceased.

I think most cultures do. It's a great uniter between civilized worlds- caring about the people that came before us. Treating them like they mattered.

I... never actually looked it up. I probably should have. I know it was also a harvest festival, so maybe it came from handing out cooked snacks? Sadly no way I can google about my own world from here.

[He is from the future. But the important part?] December 23d, huh?

[He'll have to remember that. Birthdays are important. He probably won't set a giant trap like he did for Lance but he can make sure he has a pyramid-shaped cake or something.]

That's good... I... worry about that sometimes.

[Once a tomb keeper, always a tomb keeper, no matter how much he tries to fight it.]

Eh. It's not a big deal. I was just curious. You've already given me a lot of information about both pokémon and different holidays. I really appreciate it.

[Marik will both love it and die of embarrassment if Hunk makes an Egyptian themed cake. And then not know what to do because his birthday hasn't been a good thing in over six years.

... It will be nice to create new memories for it. Fun ones.]

Y-Yeah. Don't go to any trouble though. It's not that important to me.

Hey, no worries man. I'll be cooking for whatever winter holidays they have here, I guarantee it.

[Which means he'll absolutely try to do something, but he'll at least make it look casual so Marik doesn't feel indebted if he does it. Everyone should have their birthday remembered in some kind of friendly way.]

[He has been successfully distracted from the fact that Hunk knows his birthday.]

Oh yeah... I wonder what kind of festivals they'll have here...

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I'm so glad Hunk brought up Halloween XD

His heart breaks for him. Ignore that question mark.

Lmao

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