When It's All Over Author Summary of Mewblade

by Vaporeon Lugia Krabby

The one thing I haven't done, and as my final tribute to the Mewblade series was actually talk about it. I let the novels speak for themselves, to be read through on their own accord. There have been decisions I have made that I have been proud of, and others I deeply regret. To complete the epic Pokemon saga of my Mewthree is where in the end the author has the final word.

When It's All Over

(Author's Summary of the Mewblade series)

Written by: Vaporeon Lugia Krabby

Introduction

One of the things that all artists and writers need to do is reflect. The moment when an image or a story is done, it is time to sit back and think over what did well and what did not when it came to the created material. Reflection is an activity I actively share with myself and with others, mostly through my comments about the art I create. This has never been done for the writing. Writing has to be able to speak for itself, and not only that, a wall of text prior to reading a novel can set the reader up for impressions that were intended after the story was finished. This is what this lengthy exposé is about. If my images can earn at least a hundred words to describe them each time, surely the novels that have been so lovingly crafted deserved the same. I guess what really can be said is this is an attempt at solace, coming to terms with the inevitable end of something that took up nearly half of my life.

What did I enjoy?

Mewblade.

Of the things that can be concluded about the entirety of the series, was that Mewblade was the driving force behind it. She started as a confused, brash child in "Her Beginning" to become a fully fledged individual in her own right by the start of "Where I Stand". Throughout all of it, the motivation was to make her go from her literal beginnings to the character I had always aspired for her to be. By the time "Where I Stand" rolled around, she owned that novel with the modesty and determination that showed a Mewthree that could take from the evil origins of Team Rocket and be what she needed to be as a Legendary Pokémon.

I love Mewblade, if it is not obvious enough. The feelings expressed about how Coline and Mewblade see their own relationship in the final novel is my own personal impressions of this most favourite of characters. Having her develop was as important as teaching her life lessons and giving her individuals to keep her motivated and happy. To get from point A to point B, as it were, was to perfect the ideal of Mewblade. Though I may have abused and hurt her incredibly, it is all part of preparing her to be a conscious killing machine, something which would never be obtained without the forceful guiding of my hand on her existence. First and foremost in terms of our relationship, is that I am Mewblade's mother. To see her on is my duty to Mewblade as a character.

In some part of the universe, if she ever did exist, I am quite certain Mewblade hates every fibre of my being for justifying the resurrections, abuse and dilemmas as no more than the equivalent of a parent punishing her child so they learn to not make the same mistake twice. Then again, if I really did not enjoy Mewblade and the promise of making her perfect there would not have been this story. It could have ended multiple times over, yet it continued on to the very end. No finer a send off could I have given than the applause of the supporting Legendaries, led on by Ho-oh, the executor of my will.

Mewblade, my most precious, beautiful creation, I love you with all my heart. Shall I raise my hands and clap, a glorious applause to everything in you I think is perfectly flawless, yet so perfectly flawed.

The characters.

Mewblade's story was not all just about her. There was a large supporting cast of characters, from the more active main supports, such as Mewtwo, Mew, Moltres, Coline, and Eevee/Eve to the likes of the Mewthrees, the Legendary Pokémon, to the various humans and Pokémon encountered throughout the story. Even the predecessors made their decisive appearances, all catering to a cast that spanned well over fifty named characters. Without interactions the story loses meaning, each interaction meant to shape another character's impression of the world around them. If anyone shaped the world around them the most, it is Benevo, the Chosen to Iustitia from "Life and Law: Iustitia". The one character whose impressions of the pre-Ancient Greek world were implied to have inspired culture, art and even law millennia into the future. The biggest, though equally subtlest influence that no one may have even noticed.

The biggest influencers were of course both versions of Mewblade's family, the genetic variety and those that proved most loyal. Swadeaqua herself carried almost the entirety of "Family Matters", where Vicebane was the deciding conflict in both that novel and "Death, Decisions and Destiny." As antagonists, they gave the story its much needed drive. Deoxys can be credited for facing off against a Mewblade who had learned her life's lessons, and had a whole world to show for it. While negative in nature, they are all equally appreciated and enjoyed for being what they are to Mewblade. In this universe, it is all about balance.

Mewblade's primary supporters all were designed to guide Mewblade through whatever turmoil she faced. Mew doted, Mewtwo guided, where Moltres expressed loyalty, Eevee was for friendship, and Coline was eventually for love. In situations where Mewblade was at her worst, one of them was always present. In "Death, Decisions and Destiny", Mew twice attempted to save her daughter's life. At multiple times Mewtwo was there to advise Mewblade through the rough moments, maybe not always saying the right things, but at least he listened. In the moment of "Family Matters" when Mewblade was at her worst, Moltres expressed her unending commitment. It was the very thing Iustitia in "Life and Law: Iustitia" had sworn her to do some four and a half thousand years before. While Eve was never the most active of contributors, she teased but did not judge. Coline, was the very person that made Mewblade fight to her brink, the combination of all the good things in her other supporters, mixed with someone who loved her dearly.

Having support networks was an important theme in "Family Matters". The basic idea was that whoever you are bound to does not necessarily have to be the family one was initially designated with. Swadeaqua, Harddense and Demisewan emphasized this themselves, with humans that worked well with each of the individuals. Stanford and eventually Nichole showed their own commitments to the Mewthrees in their own ways, each breaking their cool facades the moment they realized the Mewthree they were most attached to was lost. Actually, between all the newly introduced individuals in that novel, Nichole was the one that showed the most dramatic character depth. Harddense just happened to grow on her, the need to see him succeed and be whatever the Team Rocket's interpretation of a 'better' Pokémon happened to be. Hard not to love Harddense, really, which made losing him so difficult. Not everyone that fought Mewblade was a bad guy.

Now not everyone who was neutral with Mewblade was particularly good either. The Legendary Pokémon were the other remaining group of characters that remained present in most of the novels. Based on written tone, it is rather obvious to what impressions can be made about the irritating Zapdos, the snooty Celebi, or the deceptive Ho-oh. Not all of their characters were fleshed out, and they really did not have to be either. The only ones that mattered the majority of the time were the ones that carried over to "Life and Law: Vita Sanguinence" and "Life and Law: Iustitia". Of course, having characters that are less developed can equal for some slapstick humour at times, making someone like the cowardly Raikou entertaining for certain ploys. In a forum of Legendaries, it was necessary to still show these different attitudes, as a way to gauge how each saw their own responsibilities, and those of the Decider of Fate. Mewblade was the most important in position after Ho-oh, of which garnered the different attitudes expressed in the novels.

The story.

Talking about the story without the concept of Mewblade is a difficult thing to describe as Mewblade has always been the primary motivator. In classic literature, we followed the adventures of a tragic, female anti-hero through the intense responsibilities of a god's version of 'coming of age' narrative. There is aspects of that design that I did not like, but of what I enjoyed was how most of that can make for good novelization.

We started off with a Legendary Pokémon who did not even know she was a Legendary in "Her Beginning", that eventually must bear a difficult task in "Death, Decisions and Destiny", with her resenting all that she is in "Family Matters" before coming to terms with what she is and what she can do for others in "Where I Stand". Spread out in three lengthy books, the transition might not be so obvious though following the climatic story structure, the resolution phases make it clear. It is the sort of character development that is hard to attain, and one of the things I most enjoyed about the novels as a whole.

Individually, each story was broken into acts involving fights, Herculean resurrection tasks, as well as combinations of character interaction, life lessons and various levels of deceit and revelation. It aimed for tragedy and action, over comedy and romance, though both flitted in at odd intervals. If anything, bringing in controversies was probably the best part of the story. With the Mewthrees' juvenile ages yet adult bodies and intellect, it made for certain story aspects that one cannot play on with a normally human cast. Of the list of topics that can be deemed unsettling included the following: Children cast into adult roles without achieving adult experiences on their own. Portrayals of psychological disorders and their accompanying coping mechanisms. Abusive or convoluted romantic and sexual relationships due to experiences on part of the junior individual. Issues regarding non-human rights for sentient life. Enslavement and obligations through groups or organizations. Archaic law, culture and rituals practiced and dictated by overseeing individuals. Religion in application with death and accompanying mysticism. Ethics regarding creation and management of individuals born through artificial means. Gender identity issues, along with abnormal gender and sexual roles. Abnormal sexual practices and sexual behaviours including incest, asexuality, sentient animal to human relationships, bestiality, homosexuality, life pairing, abstinence, nymphomania, pedophilia and rape. Handling of psychological, physical, emotional and spiritual abuse of those involved, or those doing upon others. Responsibility of governments and citizens regarding animal welfare and the environment.

One of the benefits of creating a story focused on a Mewthree was that it opened a lot of issues that are not normally considered by default. While a lot of these issues were not actively touched upon, they did become themes that directed the progression of story or determined the nature of interactions between characters. While a lot of the story seems to be all about fighting, the parts that I think back fondly on were the character interactions that came in or around said fights. Even though emotionally charged, the death scene for Harddense in "Family Matters" is one of the most shattering displays of humanity within the entire series. This seems to be the most agreed upon. If the author can make people hate what you wrote because of how distressing it is, then they did something right. Of the other scenes that strike me the most is the same notion of emotional turmoil, when Mewblade started having to fight for her life in "Where I Stand". The story comes alive the most when someone's life is on the line.

The music.

There is something almost profound of writing through tons of dialogue with the aid of the melodies: Chicane and Jan Johnston for Iustitia, a mix of sadly melodic tunes and Within Temptation for Vita Sanguinence and the compilations of multiple artists and producers such as .C, Sonic Team, Kotoko and Disturbed to polish the motivations for Mewblade. Some of the images that support a lot of the visual work tend to have the songs as their titles. Literally, the plot for "Life and Law: Vita Sanguinence" was formulated from the song "Ice Queen" by Within Temptation, which is exactly how the primary antagonist of that story received her nam. Without a good track to keep me going, it is hard to see if some of the scenes could come forth with such emotion, intensity or the perfect pacing without it. Then again, if a person listens to the same song for ten years, waiting that long to use it, it had better be good.

The art.

Creating visual media for this epic was what probably is going to be most remembered rather than the story itself. Through the pictures it offered deep insights in to the character's, their flaws, their hopes, dreams and aspirations as well as the secret fears and the darkness that always threatens to swallow them whole. Some of these images became the concepts that grounded the novels throughout their entire span. The trashing vines called forth by Chaos Vita Sanguinence in "Life and Law: Vita Sanguinence" used the image "Cry For Existence" got its inspiration throughout the scene. Images for "Where I Stand" and its long space fight were the most prolific. Because of its prevalence in the art, it was the one scene out of all that I refused to settle for less on.

The fans, fan art, fan writing.

This is always the part that amused me the most. Through the art, the story came out slowly, as well as its ending and despite the fact that "Where I Stand" came out June of 2011. There had been stories already covering for events after "Where I Stand" long before the final novel was finished. People tried to either bring back their favourites, or create new copies of the Mewthrees. Then there was the loving fan art, which covered for everything from crossovers involving Final Fantasy, to hypothetical love interests with Mewblade. While I can say a lot of the work I did was essentially for myself, it made me aware and that ever more committed to the fact that there was a community out there, not just for Mewblade, but for all the Mewthrees that had failed time and time again to be any more than a drawing on a page.

What would I change?

Some of the things I would change are listed as either regrets or explanations. A couple are annotations that can be given in shorter blurbs.

1.) Remove the excessive foreboding and hearsay. Having an ominous outlook throughout the entire series made for high expectations, but also simply became draining as it was drawn out for the length of several books at a time.

2.) Reduce the amount of resurrection scenes. These were generally repetitive and boring and difficult to vary despite the fact that it was done successfully. Also the supernatural aspect was the one thing that kept Mewblade from being much of a character at all.

3.) Rewrite "Her Beginning" completely. The version that is actually available online is a rewrite. One version exists in a small, hand printed format within a folder. The other version was a text file that was later edited into the current master copy. It flows poorly and did not age well.

4.) Give "Death, Decisions and Destiny" a better title. The title was the way it was since it and the fan fiction "Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden: Dimension Devastation" were written around the same time. The preference was to have long titles with a lot of D's in it for some strange reason, and looking back on it, it still does not sit right.

5.) Pace "Death, Decisions and Destiny" better. The entire second half of the book was spent setting the stage for the Legendaries, their rules and actions, as well as some of Mewblade's fledgling abilities. It however resulted in a very slow read that was not too interesting.

6.) Change the title of "Where I Stand". It really should be "Where She Stands" since it sounds like I am making Mewblade my proxy. The title though was committed to many years before the book was even written and in order to not confuse anyone, "Where I Stand" remained the title.

7.) Give Coline more of a brain. Outside of the novels, I joke about her being a 'Barbie', due to her figure and blonde locks, though she acts like one.

7.) Remove Ash and Co. completely from the plot. They were originally a plot device in "Death, Decisions and Destiny" meant to bring Mewtwo into the scenario; however, I probably could have thought of another plot device without having to use those characters.

What do I regret?

Killing off Vicebane in the first 18 pages without properly introducing his character.

Part of the reason why the other Mewthrees were so developed in turn was because it was clear that Vicebane was not. As a character Vicebane appeared in "Death, Decisions and Destiny" to be simply an obvious source of evil that Mewblade had to kill, nothing more. In a way, this was perfectly okay. Most people who developed any appreciation for this character did so through the comics and images of him, not through the novel directly. He had an exceptionally large amount of potential in terms of abilities, and sadly these were never explored. While I regretted what I had done to him, it took many years before I actively mourned it.

Killing off Mewblade, period.

There are comics, images and other blurbs of information that hinted on what I was speculating would be the actual end, though all included the fact that she was dead. The choice of ending where I cut it off right before Deoxys and Mewblade were to be affected by End To All Things seemed to be the most dramatic. It also was chosen because, to be honest, I could not fully commit myself to one idea. I love Mewblade dearly, and would like to see her go on forever. So this was my way out of not truly killing her, despite the fact I commonly claim she is dead. Granted, there needed to be an ending, and the idea of her being gone wraps up more loose ends and prevents the other literary fears from rising up.

For treating Swadeaqua, Harddense and Demisewan as nothing more than cannon fodder, and committing to the 'doomed to die' mentality.

Of course when it came to killing Swadeaqua, Harddense and Demisewan, I seemed to not have much of a problem with this. When I killed Swadeaqua and Harddense, due to a substantially long time working on their characters, it was hard to justify killing them at all. In fact, when typing the final draft, I sobbed fitfully during the scene in "Family Matters" between Swadeaqua's death, up until most of Demisewan's final fight was underway. Ironically, I managed through Mewblade's final scene quite well.

Explained later is why I ultimately committed to killing them. Demisewan was sort of obvious in context, where Swadeaqua could have possibly been reasoned with. I do not believe anyone will ever forgive me for killing Harddense. There is nothing more painful than reading a character screaming for their life.

Not creating an ending for Mewblade that explains everything.

The whole reason why I am writing this writer's review is because there was many things that were never covered. Simply put, they could not be covered properly in context. By making characters that emulated gods, also came with the fact that the whole universe around them had to also be explained for. I was not going to create a whole other novel just to essentially explain where I assumed Deoxys actually came from, or how exactly everything plays out a million years on. As much as it seemed to be needed, it was just too tiring of an idea to explore.

Designing Swadeaqua and Vicebane with shallow personality flaws.

Both Swadeaqua and Vicebane had personality dominate flaws that both were alternate versions of full-blown psychopathy. Vicebane ran entirely on his ego, where, when challenged by Mewblade his sole focus of derision went to her instead. Swadeaqua's manifested in a more obvious but different way.

Being that psychopaths are master manipulators, then Swadeaqua usually displayed this one and used it well. On the other hand, psychopaths not having true empathy (they learn to manipulate people through practice, not through a sense of humanity), this conflicted with her high sex drive, forcing her to constantly seek mental and physical bonds with individuals that could not make her happy.

Unfortunately for both of them, when confronted with Mewblade neither one passed her test as something worth salvaging. I like Vicebane a lot, and would have liked to see him develop as an individual that could help people. The same goes for Swadeaqua, where seeing her reformed and genuinely happy would have been nice. Sadly, both of them came with personality problems, that if showed in people, are not curable.

Designing Vita Sanguinence to be so fatally stuck in her ways.

Vita Sanguinence is very childish in her manners of thinking. She is explicitly sweet and naïve, one of the ideas that life is a rather innocent concept. Now to have her so stuck in her ways that it is to a major fault was not really the proper way to go about her crisis. Like with Mewblade, who hates resurrecting, Vita, as a Decider of Fate representing Life had to equally detest dealing in death. This was not a flexible idea when the whole goal of "Life and Law: Vita Sanguinence" was for her to kill Ice Queen. What it resulted in was a character so infuriatingly stubborn that even despite her dislike of not wanting to harm things, it was hard to sympathize with her situation.

Designing Iustitia for the sole purpose to make an example of.

Iustitia was to be an example of what a bad Decider of Fate was, so that when Mewblade was selected for her task, Ho-oh was justified in its paranoia. This meant that when Iustitia's writing did finally come up, that she had to come across as a lot more evil than what her nature actually is. To put this forth, Iustitia began to treat her abilities as toys as well as those that she used them on. I have to hate her for what she did, but am somewhat annoyed that it was not a character I wanted to dislike. Unfortunately, someone had to set an the example.

Not giving any of the Chosen more face time with their Legendaries.

The Chosen in the series were: Silver the Lugia, Legendary Chosen to Vita Sanguinence. Benevo and Flaming June, human and sub-Legendary Chosen to Iustitia. And lastly, Coline and Eevee/Eve, human and Pokémon Chosen to Mewblade. Silver, Benevo and Coline all had romantic interests in their Deciders of Fate to varying degrees. It was unfortunate that for Benevo and Coline especially that I did not further indulge in their happiness or the happiness of their Legendaries. Designing a story where fighting was predominant rid any notion of romance, and in a sense robbing normalcy to characters that needed it.

Making all three Deciders of Fate basically gods.

Designing Mewblade to be a god-mod was the product of being a young teenager who rationalized that, "Anything better than a Mewtwo has to be really cool and really powerful." This of course resulted in a character, that even as I read through the novels, was not particularly relatable the majority of the time. A lot of the reason why "Family Matters" was written in the manner it was, was to try and calm the nature of Mewblade, and make her not so much of a powerhouse. Now why this was not done for Iustitia was part of her character development, since she was the example of what Ho-oh feared Mewblade would become.

In the end, simply by adding the resurrection process alone, along with the extensive mind-reading capacity unfortunately diminished Mewblade's worth as an individual. To make a character omnipotent does not make them a character worth wanting to know.

What needed more explaining?

Why I did not include any Pokémon past Ruby and Sapphire?

I started these novels when Gold and Silver were out, and intended to include the following set after it only because Deoxys was in it and the other Hoenn Legendaries made for the excellent third conflict. While I expressly kept an eye on following sets to check for Mewblade copies the idea was not to compensate for Nintendo's continued addition of more Pokémon.

Why didn't Giovanni just capture the Mewthrees in Pokéballs?

If every resolution in the Pokémon World could be rectified with a Pokéball, it would be, but they are not. Yes, they could be caught in balls, though to contain Mewblade would require likely a Masterball. The other Mewthrees had personalities that benefited from not being in Pokéballs, so if they were put in them, it would automatically negate their effectiveness as Mewthrees.

What is Ho-oh?

In "Life and Law: Iustitia", Ho-oh was hinted to be the 'Lord over the Sun', the one who punished Zeus for his trespassing. With Ho-oh's 4.5 billion year age, it also matches the age of the Sun. In "Life and Law: Vita Sanguinence" it refers to itself as the "guardian of this world". Its metaphysical nature is mentioned throughout Mewblade's novels as well. Ho-oh is an avatar of the Sun's solar system, responsible for looking after all of its planets. As a physical entity it both gives and takes life, and due to its age, it sees most activities on Earth as a natural cycle of biology. At one point the theory was that it was some sort of divine being, or an angel, though that idea was later rejected in favour of a sentient star to go along with a semi-sentient universe. Essentially, every star has the potential of being a Ho-oh.

What are the Fates?

Depending on what idea is committed, the Deciders of Fate are either avatars, messiahs or physically realised representations of the three fundamental concepts of the universe: Life, Law and Death, referred to collectively as 'Fates'. (Life being the creation and coagulation of matter and energy. Law, being the physics of the universe that dictates its function such as molecular bonds. Death is the loss of energy.) In "Life and Law: Vita Sanguinence", it was Ho-oh who initially guessed what Vita Sanguinence must have been, creating the title 'Decider of Fate' for her as it recognized from who her soul was parented from.

The Fates took opportunities to essentially introduce themselves into physical existence at a time of universal distress. When it seemed like a good time to bring about more life, they did so with Vita. As with Iustitia to bring about a sense of balance, and Mewblade when they needed to kill something. All three Deciders of Fate are individuals, separated from the Fates that inspired them, with the exception of an individual item(s) that each carries constantly. The items help channel the energy from the Fates directly, allowing Vita to create from nothing, Iustitia to disrupt the bonds of the universe, and Mewblade to nullify everything.

What is a soul?

In "Death, Decisions and Destiny" the soul was mentioned to be attached via 'soul energy'. The energy was essentially listed as a clock that counted down the time before an individual passed on completely. A weakened body could not carry depleted soul energy, vice versa. Soul energy, however, is not the soul itself. The soul is mostly the essence of an individual at their full potential, basically a personality with moral values and capabilities attached to it.

When a soul departs its body, it is assigned to various aspects of the universe, as explained in "Where I Stand". Souls are recycled within the universal system. Once a soul begins to establish itself as an individual it can move on to different parts of the universe. Unless under Mewblade's direct intervention using End To All Things, souls are not destroyed and continue to be a renewable resource.

What are the full extent of the Pokémon Laws?

The Pokémon Laws are never fully outlined in concise detail, though are covered extensively within all of the novels.

A sub-Legendary obeys the orders of his/her/its Legendary in the Legendary's duties of whatever their species excels at. Sub-Legendaries are also responsible for providing further potential Legendaries. A Legendary is solely devoted to their duties ahead of all else. (This is why they lose all mortal functions, which are considered distractions.) As sub-Legendaries provide the reproductive capacity for their species, Legendaries do not copulate. All Pokémon are encouraged to aid a Legendary in crisis. All Legendaries in crisis are responsible for their crisis. All individuals cannot attack or kill a Legendary unless approved by the Decider of Fate (or in the absence of, the majority of all aware Legendaries). All individuals cannot imitate or disrupt the duties of a Legendary unless in the absence of a Legendary in which case a sub-Legendary or Legendary can assist. Chaos bonds are strictly prohibited. Punishment varies between death for all individuals, and stripping the powers of a Legendary if it is a lesser charge.

How are the Mewthrees and Mewtwo mentally designed?

The accepted belief of training any individual is through neural networking, which is how we as people learn. We engage in activities that over time help us learn. As reference to the movie "Mewtwo Strikes Back", Mewtwo did have to be trained but was still a fully aware individual despite never having left his tank. Due to this, the idea was that Mewtwo and the Mewthrees were exposed to neural stimulation of sorts that allowed them to develop their intellect and personalities. It is noted in "Family Matters" of the programming flaws amongst the personalities of the Mewthrees, an affect of not properly designing material for their brains to base themselves off of. Or in the case of Swadeaqua specifically, actually purposely designing flawed material to result in her nymphomania.

For Mewtwo and Mewblade to have stepped away from their designated influences, Mewtwo eventually learned through the acts of Ash Ketchum to value others, where Mewblade mostly could thank Vicebane for effectively breaking her ties to some of the more rigid of her mental influences.

Why was Mewblade a Legendary and the other Mewthrees not even sub-Legendaries?

This was explained in "Death, Decisions and Destiny". As Mewblade consists of Mew and Mewtwo DNA exclusively, she was the only one able to be a full Legendary amongst their set. All of the other Mewthrees either lacked the Mew genes, or had genes of other Pokémon that were not Legendary Pokémon at all.

Why Iustitia was a Legendary despite being human and Mew went with the fact that humans are not Pokémon at all negating the validity of that DNA altogether. Vita Sanguinence never had this problem as her genetic components were purely Mew.

What happens after everyone dies?

We already know what happens when everyone dies as Mewblade's experiences commonly hinted on an afterlife. This was a recurring theme throughout all three novels with her. What happened to the individuals that died though is a bit more specific.

Vita Sanguinence and Iustitia, upon appearing in "Where I Stand" had been deceased for a minimum of four and a half thousand years. Likely they can sort of come and go as they please, though they were distinctly described as being deceased, though present to Mewblade. Only them and Vicebane are actively allocated to some aspect of the afterlife or universe and mentioned in some depth.

Vicebane was heavily hinted upon where he went, though the best description outlines a more or less abysmal choice of afterlife. This can be confirmed through Mewblade's experiences with him during her coma.

Demisewan, Harddense and Swadeaqua were mentioned only briefly to have joined Vicebane, as the afterlife has a certain habit of collecting specific individuals. Destinations are based on power, personality, self-awareness and so on does one get assigned to certain aspects of the system.

The question is not answered for Mewblade and Deoxys. Mewblade committed Deoxys to the same death as herself through a Destiny Bond. Whether she eradicated just their bodies, or their very souls, it was not mentioned. We can assume that after many harsh lessons during her life and discussion with Iustitia and Vita Sanguinence that destroying both their souls would not have been her likely choice. However, a few problems occur. Deoxys was an evil Legendary, and would have been assigned probably somewhere nasty, possibly taking Mewblade with it. There was also the issue that the abysmal plain that collected the other Mewthrees had taken Mewblade as well. A third option that was offered was that Vita Sanguinence could interfere in whatever manner, being the Life Fate which gave her some control over whether or not Mewblade even stayed alive. So what happened to Mewblade exactly, it is not known.

Why did I have to kill any of the Mewthrees?

Killing the Mewthrees was a plot device. Before any of the novels were started with any of the Mewthrees involved, their ending had already been committed to. There was a couple basic reasons why this was done.

One of the main reasons was that I simply did not want to carry on any of the Mewthrees for eternity, especially gods like Mewblade. Her being immortal was not going to commit to a good story ending, or end the possibility of anyone readily mucking with her. This same reason applied to all the rest. For killing all the physically reproductive Mewthrees went down to simply not also wanting to carry on their stories due to potential offspring. I had seen many a fan fiction that had gone that way and was set on not turning the works into a soap opera.

On the other hand, there was the notion that doing so was done out of shear callousness, which to some extent is true. To create a character against Mewblade that did not die defeated the purpose of having an enemy; an old school mentality that the best type of combat is the most righteous when the enemy falls.

Now could I have not stuck to this idea for the full twelve years of development? Of course, but then the problem remained of how to deal with living individuals. A long-lived Mewblade would eventually go mad. Swadeaqua, with a life expectancy of nearly five hundred years was a dangerous prospect to let loose on the world. Harddense and Demisewan needed Swadeaqua to be able to succeed at anything in life, without her, there is not much to say about the pair. Vicebane had to be killed, simply put. With Vita Sanguinence and Iustitia, their deaths were necessary for Mewblade to assume her title.

The coma.

Ah, yes. The coma.

The coma was an experience that joined the books of "Death, Decisions and Destiny" and "Family Matters", where after Mewblade resurrected Moltres she consequently slipped into a coma, her soul leaving her still alive body behind. The intention of it, as a plot device, was to humble the still arrogant Mewthree.

Most of "Family Matters" explains of what entailed, some of the details are small little blurbs, intended as such since otherwise they just become more sinister. Mewblade was trapped in one of the more terrifying afterlife plains during her transition through the 'soul to body' phase of the resurrection process. Essentially, she moved through it as she normally would, but instead of passing on just stopped in it. This also happened to be the same place where Vicebane ended up at the time (possibly for soul collection purposes since Mewblade was almost dead at the time).

Of the details, Mewblade herself had noted the duration of time spent being 'three mortal months', equating the time to be at least that, likely more that she endured being somewhere she did not like being. Vicebane's involvement came up a few times. She once told Mewtwo to "keep his claws off", relating their similarities. Through Swadeaqua's observations she noted Vicebane's lack of appreciation for her Legendary status, and how she rejected his 'advances'. Part of Mewblade's reactive behaviour in the Emma scenario was due to how she had been victimized in the same manner by her aggressor (being Vicebane).

During combat, Mewblade displayed a dislike of stadiums (having been put on display for crowds), and also scenarios where she felt particularly powerless. Steel Wing was a move that she used, literally as a form of retaliation against Vicebane. Later on, Moltres mentioned in a confrontation of how Mewblade trusted her abusers. It was mentioned in "Where I Stand" that how she escaped her coma was through Chaos' assistance. Following awakening, Mewblade underwent a long period of doubt, amnesia and perpetual anxiety and even at the end of the final novel, still feared dying because of Vicebane.

How is the universe designed in Mewblade's universe?

As it goes, the universe is cyclical, dictated by three constant forces/truths of the universe. There is creation, there is the law that binds it, and the eventual march to decay. This is somewhat true for our own though in the Mewblade universe everything goes to an end, then essentially refreshes with new systems following final decay.

As mentioned, the three Fates of the universe dictate its function. The universe is comprised of multi-dimensions, some mirrored dimensions but as matter in this universe is finite, the extent of replication that can go on into other universes, or other dimensions is finite. Most of the 'dead' matter is stored essentially in a mirrored dimension, or the acceptable notion that matter exists in two places at once, the afterlife being the one that we as people do not see normally. One of the alternate versions would be that death would be defined as the dark matter of the Deciders of Fate's universe, which explains for Mewblade's control over it and not that of either Vita Sanguinence or Iustitia. We can reference Deoxys' statements in "Where I Stand" in regards to Mewblade either harnessing anti-matter or being associated to dark matter in particular through the mention of 'strangelets'.

As for the other aspect of the universe related to creationist theories, the answer to that is it sort of happened and sort of did not happen. Certain things are outwardly dictated by far more sentient individuals, though they generally exist within pocket dimensions, or some aspects of the afterlife in which the function of an area may be ruled by its equivalent of Legendaries. Anywhere where there are individuals needs its leaders, does not necessarily define them as gods.

Where do I go from here?

The one thing that can be certain is that there will be no continued writing regarding Mewblade and the other Mewthrees. With the finale of "Life and Law: Iustitia" there are no more plans to write about the adventures of any of them. This does not mean there will be no new material, just not of the novel variety. Sort of come to the reason that while the novels are important for fleshing out their characters, most of what has kept them going has been the ever constant amounts of visual work. The end of the writing is not a loss.

One of the things that I am not too sure about is whether or not I wanted to rewrite the story for something that was not related to Pokémon. The reality is that the whole point of remaking it is essentially to correct for Vicebane's short page time. Frankly, it is not the right motivation to base an entire series of novels on. With Mewblade, there is solace in her passing. It has taken some 8 years after ending Vicebane to finally realize that likely the only way to come to terms with him is to simply write about him. The thought of either writing for Vicebane or a complete new set of novels, none, or both is being actively contemplated on at this point though neither would be a continuation.

From an art perspective without pertaining to the full extent of the Mewblade project, that likely will not cease. In regards to writing in general, it also remains a bit of a touchy issue. When it came to writing for Mewblade, it was fun. The aim was to flesh her out into the individual I wanted her to be in the end. The stories for the other Fatalis Dators was much more forced in execution, almost chore-like. Given that, it may be a case where my motivations for writing is entirely character based, and I may not be able to connect with my written work without something I love.

There have been several written projects I have abandoned multiple times over and over again. The collective of nineteen anime fan characters all were suppose to be part of novels. Titles had been picked out, and rough outlines for their stories were created. In the case of the Sailor Moon fan characters, one of their scenes actually does exist in a rough draft format within a folder. And even worse, for the collective of Pokémon; that being Sunkissed, Sharimy and Poltereon, they actually had a short story going through final draft that ended some 28 pages in and was never continued upon. Did not find the plot to be terribly engaging, despite the nature of the characters and literally abandoned it. To make up for this, comics were created, though the point being made is that when it comes to writing, it has to be appealing to be finished, and if it is not appealing and finished anyway, then the results lack considerable refinement.

There will always be something going on. It is in my nature to keep myself busy with personal projects, it is just a matter of finding one that engages me and makes me want to create. Maybe it is time to consider adding something like more 3D models, or 2D animations to the mix. Guess we will have to wait and see.

I hope everyone enjoyed the experience with Mewblade. It was a strange, wonderful, yet complicated journey that took years to complete but now it is finally over. The insight that this experience has given me has been wonderful, and I hope to carry it on into the future.

~Vaporeon Lugia Krabby (Vanessa L. K.)