"Ordinary Girls" by Ember A. Keelty (PG-13)

[kuruk]

Fandom: POKÉMON
Pairing: Gen
Length: 6450 words
Author Website: FanFiction.Net account
Why this must be read: I believe that keeping the characterization of an established character while narrating in the first person perspective is very difficult, but Ember A. Keelty really pulls it off in "Ordinary Girls." I remember being floored the first time I read this fic: it's quite powerful, and the twist, open-ended "resolution" of this fic certainly leaves room for interpretation. The best part of this fic has to be the characterization of Mars and Jupiter, though. It's a spot-on depiction of the cult mentality and the way it lingers after the fact. Even when there are a few leaps in the ways that characters like Dawn characterizatized, we can understand how she got there. All in all, this is an impressively written and compelling fic.


Excerpt:

The moment we get to her room, she goes for the minibar. "What's your poison?" she asks me as she rummages around in it.

"Um," I say. "I thought you had coffee."

"Well, you know, it's not like this can get any more awkward!"

"I'm not allowed to have alcohol."

She pulls her face out of the fridge to fix me with a blank stare. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize," she deadpans. "You look very mature, you know."

"No," I tell her, "it's like what you said earlier. I don't drink poison, and… and, 'Alcohol is a poison. It plays havoc upon the channels of the mind, obstructing the flow of rationality while opening the floodgates to all manner of base emotions and unseemly impulses.'"

Dawn looks confused for a moment, then smiles crookedly. "Ah, I get it. 'Loose lips sink ships.'"

"That's not what that means at all."

"No, but it's more to the point. And catchier. Did he make you learn all that by rote?"

"No. He only said it once." She doesn't answer; she's gotten some bottles out, and is too caught up in mixing herself a drink. "You had lemonade at the restaurant. Pink lemonade."

"Do you have a problem with pink?" she asks, taking a chug. "Because I don't think we'll get along very well if you do. The rest of it I can forgive, but that…" The deadpan breaks, and she bursts out laughing. "My God, what am I doing? You're evil."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are! I don't know what you've done personally, but I know what you were complicit in: grand theft, kidnapping, murder — and then an attempt at something so awful we don't even have a word for it. 'Genocide' doesn't begin to cover it. Mundicide. Omnicide. Do you think if I give it a name, someone else will try it?" I stand speechless while she finishes the glass and pours herself more. "Just between you and me, I sometimes kind of wish that someone would. I can tell you that. You're no one to judge. I mean, I don't think it seriously, you understand." She turns to me suddenly, and for a moment looks very lost. "You do understand, don't you?"

"Not at all," I admit, and she scowls.

"Ordinary Girls"