If you live a life of doing nothing, then nothing can ever harm you. Nothing except memories that is, memories 625 would rather not have.
—Summary to I Was Beautiful Once
I Was Beautiful Once
is a 2005 Lilo & Stitch Fanfic written by DaveNevius (known as WatsonSword at the time of the fic's publishing).
One normal day, Experiment 625's time spent watching television and eating a sandwich is interrupted by a remnant of his past. As the flashbacks triggered by that go on, we find out the whole story behind his creation, his relationship with the other experiments, and all the events that brought him to where he is today.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- An Arm and a Leg: 625 initially has four arms like Stitch, but being exposed to radiation damages the lower pair so badly that Jumba is forced to amputate them.
- Anguished Outburst: 625 gives 624 one after she tries to comfort him over the accident that permanently deformed him, shouting about his downfall and the way her help affects him before attacking her:625: You don't get it do you? There's nothing of the man you once knew left inside me! I'm a husk! I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, some kind of yellow amorphous blob! Those games and those sandwiches? Those are the only things left in my life! Oh sure, there's you, but you know what? But you're nothing more than a pain in my side now. And do you know why? (tearfully) Because I'm worth your attention. I'm not worth your attention, I'm not worth your feelings, I'm not even worth your pity! And when I see you wasting your time and effort on me, well I know how much of a hassle I must be now, and it makes me feel horrible. You get it? You make me feel horrible! (raises his paw) So take this message to heart, and don't ever waste your time on me again.
- Beauty to Beast: 625 is created with golden fur, smooth velvet-like skin, glistening almond-shaped eyes, loppy sharp-ended ears, and sharp fangs. Being exposed to radiation, however, makes his fur coarse and colored like earth-toned vomit, his eyes saggier and his ears shorter, while his fangs are filed down to buckteeth after being pitted.
- Berserk Button: Calling 625 ugly strikes a nerve with him, as proven when Gantu does so. As the story goes on, it becomes apparent why he's so ashamed of his appearance.
- Break the Cutie: 624 breaks down in tears three times in a row in Chapter 5: once after she sees what has happened to 625 after his accident permanently deformed him, once after 625 assaults her for giving him the attention he feels he doesn't deserve, and once when he refuses to stop Jumba's arrest and save the rest of the experiments.
- Break the Haughty: 625 starts out as Jumba's ultimate experiment, and because of that, as well as his handsomeness and destiny to found the galaxy's dominant species, he's arrogant. However, when an accident leaves him permanently deformed, he's so deeply hurt that he resolves to become a Lazy Bum.
- Bystander Syndrome: When Jumba's being arrested by United Galactic Federation troops after creating Experiment 626, not only does 625 refuse to do anything about it, but he says "I forgot the part where this is my problem.".
- Cerebus Retcon: This fanfic posits that the reason 625 is such a Lazy Bum is because of a traumatic experience spurring him on to resort to doing nothing more than playing videogames, watching television and eating to prevent himself from going through anything similar.
- The Chosen One: 625's flashback reveals that Jumba created him to be his ultimate experiment, and lead his species to take over the entire galaxy.
- Disintegrator Ray: After the swarm of Scythera falls on 625, a bright light engulfs the room, reducing everything except for 625 himself to ashes.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: After 625's accident, 624 tries to comfort him... only for 625 to shove her to the floor, rant at her over her attention, and even slash her across the cheek.
- Driven to Suicide: After 625 is permanently deformed in an accident, he runs out of the laboratory, before proceeding to jump off the rig it's located on and into the ocean below.
- Formerly Fit: 625 is initially created with a muscular physique, but a combination of an accident that deforms him and his subsequent lifestyle change made him flabby and fat.
- Glory Days: We find out that before 625 was a Lazy Bum, he was destined to be Jumba's best experiment, as well as have the legacy of the galaxy's dominant species.
- Happy Flashback: 625's flashbacks in the first three chapters revolve around the joy he got from life at first.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: When Gantu informs 625 of his permanent disfigurement from the radiatiion he was exposed to in his near-fatal accident, 625's train of thought leads him to think of his new self not only as a being about to go down in history as the definition of failure, but also as a lesser being in comparison to his beloved 624.
- Hope Spot: After 625 recovers from the accident that almost killed him, he takes solace in the fact he can be with 624 again... before Jumba reveals to him that the radiation of the accident permanently deformed him.
- I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: After 625's flashbacks stop, he decides to pay Stitch a visit and let him have 624's affection if she comes back, on the condition that he takes good care of her.
- Insecure Love Interest: After 625 is permanently deformed in the accident, the thing that affects him the most is the idea that he's nothing compared to 624, and how he doesn't deserve her anymore. This eventually leads to him lashing out at her for giving him the attention he believes he doesn't deserve from her.
- Instant Expert: When 625 starts researching sandwiches on his computer to impress 624, he's able to read the documents very quickly in comparison to their display speed, to the point where he finds the fraction of the fraction of a second the most comfortable pace.
- I Resemble That Remark!: 625 says this word-for-word after Gantu's barrage of insults against him.
- More Insulting than Intended: The plot of the story is kicked off by Gantu calling 625 ugly. This ends up pushing 625's Berserk Button and making him warn his master to never say that again, and we find out why it hit so close to home as the story progresses.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After 625's accident and attempted suicide, Jumba apologizes to him, and 625 accusing him of deforming him because he gave him the mission where it happened further depresses him.
- Never Be Hurt Again: This fanfic reveals that 625's slacker lifestyle stems from a traumatic experience and his subsequent desire to never go through with anything similar again.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: After Gantu calls 625 ugly, the experiment doesn't blow off that insult like he would most of them, but instead angrily warns him about it. This catches Gantu off-guard, both because it never happened before and because he didn't expect his minion to be capable of being serious. In fact, this sudden change in attitude keeps Gantu from finding more words to throw at 625, so he just leaves.
- Please Dump Me: After 625 finds himself unable to accept 624's attention and lashes out at her, his thoughts afterward imply that he did it to get her to seek other experiments more worth of her time.
- Punctuated Pounding: After 625 gets wet in his flashback, he shouts "I-Hate-Being-Wet!" as he smacks his ears to get the water out, each smack coinciding with one word.
- Rage Breaking Point: Despite 625 disapproving of the way 624 cares for him after his accident, he keeps his cool with her, mostly limiting it to snide comments at her expense. However, when she tries to cuddle up against him, he snaps, shoves her to the floor, gives her a rant over her giving him attention, and slashes her across the cheek.
- Refusal of the Call: After 624's attempt to reason with 625 ends with him lashing out at her, she starts to walk away, only for Jumba to call through the intercom that United Galactic Federation troops have raided the laboratory and are about to arrest him for creating Experiment 626, as well as that the Experiments will have to be dehydrated. 624 desperately pleads for 625 to stop the assault, as he still has all of his powers... but 625 refuses to help out in any way.
- Rubik's Cube: International Genius Symbol: At one point, 625 solves a Rubik's cube that Gantu has been trying to solve for over a month in a little more than five seconds, and it's stated that his leftover powers helped him solve it.
- Super-Strength: The strength test Jumba runs on 625, where he's placed in a hydraulic press, concludes that 625 is able to support 3004,126 times his own weight.
- That Man Is Dead: When 625 lashes out at 624 for giving him attention, he shouts that there's nothing of the man she once knew left inside him.
- Title Drop: After 625 is called ugly by Gantu, he contemplates his hand while whispering "I was beautiful once." to himself.
- Tranquil Fury:
- 625 reacts to Gantu calling him ugly by seriously whispering how he didn't appreciate the criticism, how it isn't denial, and how he'll be sorry if he does it again.
- After Jumba apologizes to 625 for sending him out on the mission that ended with him being permanently deformed, the latter angrily whispers "You should be. It was your god damn mission that did this to me.".
- Trauma Button: As 625 is watching Mission Unstoppable, the mission the heroes are on starts bearing similarities to his final mission, making him stop laughing and remember the events that transpired that time. More memories of that day are triggered by a scene where the heroes are being lowered into a tank of tarantulas which resemble the Scythera that attacked him.
- Troubled Backstory Flashback: Starting with Chapter 4, 625's flashbacks move on to the accident that killed his passion for his job.
- Voice Change Surprise: 625 is created with a soft and smooth voice, but after being exposed to radiation in a mission, he discovers that his voice sounds much more annoying, much to his shock. Jumba then reveals that his voice changed because of the radiation scarifying his vocal cords.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: When 625 first meets 624, he thinks she's a male like himself, and can't comprehend why her attention excites him, but as soon as Jumba informs him of her true gender, he understands that he's fallen in love with her.
- What the Hell, Hero?: After 625 refuses to stop Jumba's arrest to rescue his fellow Experiments, 624 grabs him by his sternum fur and calls him out on his nonchalant reaction:624: How could you say that! You've still got all your old powers! You can stop the assault! All the other experiments are counting on you!
- You Are Fat: After 625 frustrates Gantu, the latter calls his minion a "fat, lazy, unreliable, useless slob".
