Jeremy switched the Griffin family’s smart TV to YouTube. “Nintendo Presents” flashed on the screen. He leaned back with a smirk. “This is going to be rich,” he muttered.
As the video started, the familiar Japanese voice filled the room:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9Ax3r2MnC
申し訳ありません。あなたの声ははっきりと聞こえました。特にポケモン スカーレットとバイオレットがバグだらけのひどいものだった後、あなたは私たちがこれ以上パルワールドを追及することを望んでいないのです。私たちの仕事をより良くやっている人たちを追及する代わりに、私たちはできる限り最高のゲームを作るためにもっと良い仕事をします。どうかゲーム機を捨てたり売ったりするのはやめてください。私たちはファンプロジェクトへの攻撃をやめます。一部の人にとっては遅すぎるかもしれないことは承知しています。しかし、残りの人たちが私たちを許してくれることを願っています。
Halfway through, the English translation began:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwq1sYkGJZv
“We are sorry. We read you loud and clear. You do not want us to pursue Palworld anymore, especially after Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were such a buggy mess. Instead of going after those who are doing our job better, we will focus on making the best games we can.
We beg you, please stop throwing away or selling your consoles. We will stop our attacks on fan projects. We know this might be too little, too late for some of you. But we hope the rest of you will be willing to forgive us.”
Got it! Here's the corrected version, with Stodock as its own book:
Jeremy's eyes widened. “Oh shit! That was a heartfelt apology—live on the internet.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Now I can finally feel free to get a Switch 2. I didn’t want to buy one until this mess was resolved.”
Lois nodded. “I can definitely see that.”
Jeremy leaned back. “Palworld has so much more in it than Pokémon ever could. It’s like Pokémon for adults.”
Suddenly, Chris burst into the room, screaming, “What? Nintendo lost?!”
Jeremy grinned. “Yes, Chris. Nintendo was performing anticompetitive tactics.”
Chris’s jaw dropped. “Wait… so Nintendo was in the wrong? Oh my God! That’s why people were throwing their consoles at the Nintendo Japan executives and lawyers.”
Jeremy nodded. “Exactly.”
After a moment of silence, Jeremy noticed something. “Lois, I saw you have Wattpad on your phone?”
Lois smiled. “Yeah, I do. It’s a great source for free books. I always leave reviews and thank the authors for their work.”
Jeremy’s face lit up. “I have three full books on there and another one I’ve started, but I’m dealing with writer’s block.” He typed in his username.
Lois leaned in. “Let’s see… Stodock, Skyrim Emperor Dragonborn, Elija Galilee and the Delta Device Caper, and The Steamship Captain’s Wife.” She raised an eyebrow. “Impressive!”
Jeremy smiled. “If you read them in chronological order, you’ll see how my writing has evolved.”
Lois nodded, scrolling through the titles. “So, Skyrim Emperor Dragonborn is the first one?”
Before Jeremy could answer, Rose walked in. “Hey, J! Did Nintendo lose?”
Jeremy nodded. “They did. And they made a heartfelt apology on YouTube.”
Rose crossed her arms. “Good. But I doubt they’ll have the sales they used to for a while… if ever.”
Peter walked into the living room. "Whatcha readin', Lois?"
Lois looked up from her phone. "Oh, I’m reading one of Jeremy’s first published works on Wattpad. It’s based on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim."
Peter’s eyes lit up. "I love Skyrim! That game kicks ass. Did you know there’s even a version for Alexa? It’s not as good as the real version on Xbox or PC, though. And man, they’ve released it so many times—original, Anniversary Edition, Special Edition, and now Legendary Edition."
Lois smiled, scrolling through the story. "I’m just starting chapter one."
She began reading aloud:
"My name is Jarkin Septim. I am the Dragonborn, and I have been for two years. I’m half-Imperial, half-Nord. I just defeated Alduin, and the first thing I did was head back to Delphine and Esbern. Just as they were about to attack me for sparing Paarthurnax, I shouted, 'Gol Hah Dov'—Bend Will. They begrudgingly put their weapons away, the shout only barely working on them. I said, 'Had I done what you asked, the truce between the Stormcloaks and the Empire would’ve fallen apart.'”
Peter grinned. "Man, Jeremy really captured the vibe of Skyrim. I can picture it all perfectly!"
Jeremy leaned in, smiling. "Now, hold on. Don't get all fancy in your pants, Lois. You need to know that modding is built into this version of Skyrim. It adds things like cheat rooms, new player homes, and even quests. But it does disable achievements."
Lois’s eyes lit up. "Oh! That’s fine. Peter got me into modding with Minecraft. Remember that, Peter? You showed me how to use... what was that program? CurseForge, right?"
Peter grinned. "Yep! And look where it got you now—about to turn Skyrim into your own fantasy playground."
Jeremy nodded. "Exactly. And might I recommend something? If you end up loving Skyrim, you should check out Fallout 4, Fallout: New Vegas, and even Starfield. They’re all from Bethesda too, and each one has its own vibe."
Lois browsed through the Creation Club, her eyes scanning the mods. "Let’s see... a new player home, some enhanced graphics, and—oh, a dragon that looks like a giant chicken? I’m in!"
Jeremy laughed. "Solid choices. Now, you might want to think ahead about what kind of build you want. Is your character going to be good or evil? Are they siding with the Empire or the Stormcloaks? Or do you even want to do the main quest line?"
Lois grinned. "I don’t know yet. Maybe I’ll just wander around and see where the world takes me."
Peter chimed in, "That's the best part about Skyrim. There’s no wrong way to play."
Lois held the Steam Deck tighter, already lost in thought. "Alright, Tamriel, here I come."
Lois started the game, her eyes widening as the familiar intro rolled. "So, this is the classic start, right?"
Jeremy nodded. "Yeah. On my game, I’ve bypassed all this with an alternate start mod."
Lois tilted her head. "Alternate start mod? What’s that?"
"It lets you begin as someone who isn’t the Dragonborn," Jeremy explained. "You could be a simple merchant, a soldier, or even a bandit. Totally changes the experience."
Lois’s curiosity piqued. "That sounds cool! How many mods do you have?"
Jeremy grinned. "Oh, I’ve got 50 mods loaded through Vortex Mod Manager and another 30 in my Skyrim SE Modder. I’ve turned this game into a whole new world."
Lois glanced over. "Can I get those mods on this?"
Jeremy scratched his head. "Not sure if it’s available for Linux or SteamOS yet, but we’ll check later."
Her attention snapped back to the screen as the cart trundled toward Helgen. "Man, look at this. It’s like watching a movie."
Jeremy smiled. "Yeah, you’re riding with Ralof now, but trust me—when you get the choice, go with Hadvar. His uncle’s got a stash of supplies that’ll make starting out a lot easier."
Lois nodded, already engrossed. "Got it. Supplies first, dragons later."
Jeremy leaned back, feeling a bit mischievous. "I’ve got cheat codes loaded up in a text file on the SteamOS desktop if you’re interested, or I can just tell you them."
Lois looked skeptical but then gave him a knowing smile. "Normally I would say no, but yeah, if you know them by heart, I’ll let you slide."
Jeremy chuckled and pointed to the screen. "Click on the on-screen keyboard option and press the tilde key."
Lois did so, and a little black console screen appeared at the top of her game. She looked up at him. "Okay, now what?"
"Type in player.additem 0000000f 1000000," Jeremy said with a grin. "That’ll give you 1 million septims."
Lois typed it in and watched as the amount of gold in her inventory skyrocketed. She looked up, eyes wide. "No way. That’s a lot of gold!"
"Yeah, and if you type the same thing but replace the ‘f’ with an ‘a’ at the end, you’ll get 1 million lockpicks," Jeremy added.
Lois couldn’t help but smile. "Oh, now we’re talking."
Jeremy’s voice lowered slightly as he gave another tip. "You can steal in the game, but if you get caught, the guards will arrest you unless you bribe them."
Lois raised an eyebrow, a grin spreading across her face. "Ah, I see. Thanks for sharing that. I think I’m going to enjoy this game."
Jeremy nodded with a knowing look. "Trust me, it only gets better from here."
Jeremy grinned and gave Lois another tip. "Alright, to toggle God mode, it’s just tgm."
Lois typed it in and immediately noticed her character’s health bar staying full no matter what happened. "Nice," she said with a satisfied smile.
Bryan, overhearing their conversation, walked over and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you teaching Lois to cheat at a game?"
Jeremy shrugged casually. "Oh, Bryan, come off your high horse. 1. It’s a single-player game. 2. If the game developer provides the cheats, that means they don’t care."
Rose chimed in, agreeing with Jeremy. "Bryan, Jeremy’s right. Leave him alone."
Jeremy nodded, continuing his explanation. "Besides, if it were a multiplayer game and I were in a multiplayer lobby, I wouldn’t do that, because that is cheating. And yes, my family knows this. I’ve done this ever since I was little with Game Shark and Game Genie."
Lois laughed. "So you’ve always been a cheat, huh?"
Jeremy smirked. "Only when the game lets me."
Peter crossed his arms and looked at Bryan, his tone firm. "Bryan, drop it. End of discussion. He’s not harming anyone. I use cheats. Everyone uses cheats, it's not against the law. And it's between us and God, and you have no right to judge."
Lois added with a raised eyebrow, "By judging Jeremy, you’re being what you hate—a hypocrite. Because didn’t you use a ghostwriter to write faster than the speed of love, and didn’t you also neglect to give them credit like you promised to do?"
Bryan froze, eyes widening as the realization hit him. "Oh my God! You’re right." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "I didn’t think about it like that."
Peter gave him a look that said everything. "Exactly. Now let’s move on."
Jeremy paused for a moment, his voice calm but firm. "I am the ghostwriter who wrote that chapter for you. I was asked to do it by a friend who was in the hospital, and they never thanked me. And you never thanked them, so it's a triangle of people who were unthankful."
Bryan was taken aback, the realization dawning on him. "So the person I hired... you?"
Jeremy nodded. "Yeah. I was on a writing forum at writing.com, a predecessor to Wattpad, Inkitt, Penana... all of those. Writing.com was the first of its kind."
Bryan’s brow furrowed. "The publisher said that chapter 11 was written in a different writing style than the rest."
Jeremy sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, because the person you hired didn’t tell me you wanted it written in your own style. They just asked me to get it done."
Bryan sighed in return, feeling the weight of the moment. "I... I see now."
Jeremy let out a deep breath. "Bryan, let’s let bygones be bygones. There’s no point in holding onto all of this. We’ve both made our mistakes."
Bryan nodded slowly, a bit of guilt crossing his face. "I’m sorry. I just... I also acted like how a writer is supposed to act, and you don't act like that... you act normal."
Jeremy looked him square in the eyes. "Bryan, it’s because I know who I am at the end of the day. And I know that fandom—especially writing fandom—is fickle. It’s not about acting a certain way; it’s about being true to who you are. That’s what matters."
Bryan nodded, finally understanding. "Yeah... you’re right."
Jeremy leaned back in his chair, a steady but serious tone in his voice. "Bryan, as a blind person, I've had my share of people telling me my writing sucks, or that I should just give up and live off the meager payments the government gives me from SSDI. But I say no. First off, if our government collapses, SSDI and social benefits will be the first things to go."
Bryan raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. "You really think our government could fall?"
Jeremy didn’t hesitate. "Bryan, I’ve seen how the Democrats treated those involved in the January 6th riots. One man was sentenced to 20 years in solitary confinement—do you know how unconstitutional that is? It goes against the whole idea of due process."
Bryan blinked in surprise. "It is?"
Jeremy gave a knowing nod. "I know you side with the Democrats, but Bryan, they’ll turn on their own quicker than you can say 'filibuster.' You saw how they forced Biden to give up his presidential campaign to Harris, right? Biden was barely making sense during his debates with Trump. He had to be propped up."
Bryan looked away, clearly uncomfortable, but Jeremy pressed on. "Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to start a political fight here, but just think about it. Politics, especially in America, can shift on a dime. People get power, and they will do anything to keep it. It's a dangerous game, Bryan."
Jeremy leaned forward, his eyes focused on the screen. He clicked play on the YouTube video, which started with the opening credits for Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura. The intro music blared, setting an eerie tone.
"Bryan, this video aired before COVID even happened," Jeremy said, glancing over at him. "Watch closely."
Bryan squinted, clearly unsure where this was going. "Jeremy, you can't mean—"
Peter cut him off with a loud, exaggerated voice. "I THINK HE DOES, BRYAN!"
Jeremy nodded, his expression serious. "As soon as COVID hit, I remembered watching this video. It talks about all these things, and then suddenly, bam, everything lined up."
Lois, who had been watching quietly, nodded slowly. "I can definitely see where you would think that."
Bryan, looking more unsettled now, shook his head. "But the CDC said those caskets were not for COVID, Jeremy."
Jeremy shot him a skeptical look. "And you believe them? When has the government ever told the truth about anything?"
The room grew quiet for a moment. Bryan opened his mouth to argue but stopped, unsure how to respond. Jeremy had a way of making everything sound so convincing, and now, with everything that had happened over the past few years, Bryan wasn’t so sure he could trust the answers he was always given.
Jeremy leaned back, letting his words sink in. "Look, Bryan. All I’m saying is don't just take everything the government says as gospel truth. Do your own research. I’m not saying you have to 100% agree with either side. I’m saying, use your own mind. And for me, in times like this, I ask for spiritual discernment. God shows me the truth."
Bryan was quiet for a moment, clearly considering Jeremy's perspective. Finally, he nodded slowly. "I never really thought about it that way... I guess we never could take the government's word as Gospel truth."
Jeremy gave him a small, knowing smile, then turned his attention back to Lois, who was still absorbed in Skyrim. She had made her way to Riverwood and was clearly enjoying herself. "Oh man, this game is fun!" Lois exclaimed as she explored the small village.
Jeremy grinned. "Now that you’re playing, I think you’ll be able to understand my story better, Lois. This game, the world, the choices you make—they’re all part of what inspired it."
Lois paused, glancing up at Jeremy with a smile. "I can already see some of the similarities. It’s like a whole new world, and I get to decide what happens."
"Exactly," Jeremy replied, his tone shifting to something a little more serious. "And that’s what I wanted to convey in my writing. The freedom to shape your own destiny, whether you’re a hero or not, and to make choices that matter."
Bryan, still processing the conversation, looked at the game screen. "Alright, maybe I get it now. This isn’t just about fantasy and games—it’s about how we choose to see the world and act in it."
Jeremy nodded, his voice a bit quieter now. "Exactly. It's about choice, about taking control of your own narrative."
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