#I love the little Pikmin and their relationship with Olimar!!

[veryblushyswitch]

This is so adorable and precious oh my gosh- 💖

Little Rascals

(Olimar always knew his beloved pikmin were merciless, but he never could have imagined his loyal comrades, friends and family would turn on him in such a cruel manner, and under the warm sun of the day the father quickly finds himself fighting for his life!)

-

Dreams of warm sunshine and of loving faces had the father awaken in tears that morning as he sat up in his cot, unenthusiastic to greet the day.

Of course, these dreams visited him every single night; haunting giggles from his children that resonated along with her ruby lips on his. Images before him that would leave his pillow suffering the brunt of the emotions, but usually by morning he could push the ache away.

Some days however were far harder than most, when the memories only seemed to consume him if anything. Incapacitate him, make it so difficult to get anything done. Louie never seemed to have these days, where homesickness was just too much to bear…in fact he hardly seemed to miss his family…but then again Olimar had his own unsettling theories as to why that might be the case.

It was decided that day would be spent building their numbers, field reports, and harvesting for more berry sprays. It was the safest bet with one of the prime members of their unit in such a state.

…But Olimar discovered even the piklopedia was all but impossible to do. His mind was blank and too many tears fell on the digital pad. He finally needed to put it away to minimize the risk of water damage.

Louie had most of their squad, nearby somewhere harvesting posies. Olimar only had three pikmin with him. The inquisitive little leaf children had watched him sadly type and sketch away, until he threw down the pencil as well in frustration and wrapped his arms around his knees.

This was truly a disturbing sight to the pikmin. They were so accustomed to the bright smiling face that always gazed at them with adoration. Their leader radiated confidence and was the pillar of strength…

They didn’t know what to do.

Keep reading

[pikkissis]

I never thought we were two peas in a pod until you suddenly bloomed, then I knew that I'd always love you!

God Bless!

With this in mind, his relationship with Io is locked down into the similar... secretive relationship to prioritize quality and professionalism as Rescue Officers. As silly as Io is, she takes the mission seriously - without a doubt, wearing the flower in memory of her lost Pikmin, she wouldn't dare disgrace it. Collin warned her how irresponsible it is for them to engage in relations; However, Io recognized this as his heart and passion for the Rescue Corps. In turn, Io keeps away from these "distractions" as to not bring much attention to themselves. Undoubtedly, Io adopted a deep respect for Collin and his work... it pushes her to work even harder to lighten the load from his shoulders, wanting nothing more than to ease his mind of his many worries. Whenever they're alone, they match one another in awkward silence - yet, in the depths of stress and exhaustion, they learn to rest in the others presence. This would soon develop into sharing a bunk with the other, as they become a "lucky charm" to help lull the other to sleep. Collin finds that her company distracts his busy mind, and his warmth keeps Io's nightmares at bay.

I like to picture Collin isn't.... big on PDA... He's proven to be sentimental and... maybe even a little romantic... I could be daydreaming a bit. In likeness to Olimar and how he's moved to think of his wife in reflection of romantic scenery, such as in Blossoming Arcadia; similarly, Collin comments on the same Blossoming Arcadia and Serene Shores with a desired activity, such as having a picnic or walking alongside the waves.

So... him being romantic isn't totaaaally out of the question... (⁠;⁠ŏ⁠﹏⁠ŏ⁠)

Now, Collin!! As mentioned, I imagine he's solely focused on the mission and simply too busy to consider love at play... but it was inevitable. When he was assigned to her, watching as Io delved into adventure, analyzing her every move, periodically interjecting with guidance... in the same breath, Collin was introduced to her on a deeper and more personal level. He would share moments with her unlike anyone else - majorly, the loss that scarred her. He would witness the bright eyed and bushy tailed recruit mold into an anxious, meticulous and self-sacrificing leader. A semblance of her original personality, such as her goofiness and lightheartedness would shine only in moments with her Pikmin. Due to her worsened impulsiveness, that is to rush into danger for the sake of her Pikmin - he couldn't help but dedicate time to guiding her personally, finding that his voice often cut through her thoughts better than the others. He didn't recognize the swelling realization... but the sight of Serene Shores, the waves murmuring as they eagerly roll in over her footsteps- the pink petals of the Blossoming Arcadia fluttering down and embracing her, just the sight of her alone would plant a seed to ignite with burning passion - leaving him to want nothing more than to be at her side.

Ackk, all this to say... in the moment Collin is a little romantic, nose kisses would really compliment his character...

[mewkwota]

I'm torn between Hub or Pit, but I'll throw in an interesting curveball and ask ye about Olimar (-*v*-)

Ooh, interesting choice! Let's see what I can come up with:

Send Me a Character

And I will tell you my:

First impression A funny-looking guy, I like his small little guy game. :) Overall I found the gameplay of Pikmin to be eye-catching, even if I didn't play it well. My siblings and I first came across it in a game store demo machine. Something about running around with these teeny-tiny characters with familiar real-life objects made us want to buy it and explore more.

Impression now There are many layers to his character that really make me appreciate him. And it's all seen in these countless logs he shares. Olimar is loving, thoughtful, curious, and adorably witty. Though they may seem random sometimes, it's like a silly old man on a park bench being asked about his day. You can't help but listen and smile.

On top of that, he thinks about his family occasionally and how he may still (or may not) be there for them despite his distance thanks to work. Especially with my current situation with my immediate family, not even one that I've started yet, it makes me really feel for him.

Favorite moment Any moment that displays Olimar's care for others-- there's a lot. So it's hard to pick one. Well here, this song is written in Olimar's perspective and never fails to make me cry inside.

Idea for a story I actually had another, less silly idea that involves Olimar and Shion Uzuki. I never realized it until now, but they're both hard-working nerdies (for different reasons) so I can see them getting along.

It wouldn't have been a long comic, but I wanted to see if I could explore the concept of "families" given Olimar's fatherly instincts and Shion's... uhh, support system. If you know, you know.

It's that, or either the concept of "life and death". Also very, very applicable to the two of them. I'll see how it goes.

Unpopular opinion Do I even have one? I don't really think so.

Favorite relationship Nothing specifically superlative comes to mind, they're all nice to me.

Favorite headcanon Unsurprisingly, any "Dadlimar" interactions are good to me. That, or any instance where we can see him trying nerd out with others.

[finsterhund]

There is so much love in my heart for Pikmin. Holy shit.

Obviously not to the extent of Heart of Darkness but jesus I love this little game. It just genuinely helps me feel better even though I get upset when my little creatures die. Like holy fuck the first game is so me core. I just... Wow. It's got that late 90s early 2000s aesthetic I can't exactly name. Just so good. I'm almost afraid I won't enjoy the sequels as much. But I mean, the first game being the beginning and Olimar's personal journey first discovering these creatures is special. Really speaks to me. I keep thinking about HoD crossovers. To my knowledge there's nothing in the way of PNF404 Earth being the same canonical Earth in HoD.

Something about Olimar being like, a genuinely good person and also scientifically minded is really appealing. Like there's an entry in his ship log where he talks about when he took his son for a ride in the Dolphin and how the memory invigorates him to get back home and wow. Then I'm hit with the "wait do the pikmin see me as a paternal figure?" log that came either before or after and... my heart... I'd give anything to have a dad like that. I wish Olimar was my father *deep sigh*

Just I guess how much he cares for them. Canonically. He's not like some slave master. They've got a mutualism relationship even though they can't fully understand each other. I actually said something a bit ago about how the bittersweet ending of pretty much every game where you don't belong on their planet but they still don't want you to leave and it's an emotional damage and I was like "this is basically the trope where a bunch of kids befriend a cool alien or monster but then in the end they have to let it go and say goodbye except in this case YOU are the creature" leaving these little plant children after your adventure in which you saved each other's lives. Man. Just the fact that they can't be together. Their planet is poison. He needs to get back to his family. They probably would be just as sick and unhappy if he brought them back to Hocatate. Tears in my eyes right now.

I'm on Final Trial right now. Probably will beat the game in a couple days. But I'm savouring it.

[selfdiagnosedeyemotif]

Buckle up chaotic let me take you for a ride-

Ok! So! It all starts in Pikmin 2. In the intro, Olimar (the protagonist of Pikmin 1) returns to his home planet of Hocotate (after repairing his ship and escaping from a planet he crash-landed on in the first game), only to discover that his employer, Hocotate Freight, has gone into debt! Louie, on his first job, was tasked with delivering some very valuable golden pikpik carrots. Unfortunately, Louie claims to have been attacked by a ‘ravenous space bunny’ whilst transporting them, and they were all eaten! This, of course, sends the company into deep debt. The President (after learning that a bottle cap Olimar brought back is worth a hundred pokos (pikmin currency)) immediately sends Olimar (and Louie) back to the planet Olimar just crash-landed on and barely escaped from in order to find treasure to pay off that debt!

Now. this is where stuff gets funky. The game plants seeds of doubt towards louie’s credibility early on, namely with these 2 e-mails you can receive from the president.

Now, sure, Louie’s story seems a little flimsy, but I’m sure he’s perfe-

OH WAIT THERE’S MORE! Just a little peek into the Piklopedia (a bestiary, essentially), you can see Louie's notes about all of the indigenous life on the planet! In which he explains how to best prepare them for consumption! 

While that’s already disturbing enough on its own, let’s connect the dots here. The President says there’s no space bunnies on the route Louie took… and we know Louie will eat anything…

if you still can’t figure it out, don’t worry! The game spells it out for you! After 100%ing the game, you unlock the secret cutscene, ‘Louie’s Dark Secret’! Where it's revealed…

Louie ate the golden pikpik carrots. The space bunny was just a story he made up to save his hide.

The entire central conflict of Pikmin 2 is entirely Louie’s fault.

And you wanna know the worst part, Chaotic? He doesn't care.

Look at him. Does this look like a sympathetic man to you? No. Louie is a cold, uncaring monster.

Oh. You think that’s it. You think that’s the worst of the worst, huh? Chaotic. Poor, sweet, chaotic. You have no idea.

For now.. We move onto Pikmin 3.

The only important story details you have to know is that our main characters are 3 astronauts from the planet Koppai, whose population are suffering from a food shortage! who were sent off to the mysterious planet (now officially known as PNF-404) to retrieve edible matter (fruits) in order to save their planet!

After the 3 captains crash-land (no one in the Pikmin universe knows how to safely land on this planet…) and eventually regroup, they discover that not only is Captain Olimar on this planet, but also that he has their cosmic-drive key, which they need if they ever want to head back to their home planet!

About halfway through the game, our 3 captains get a transceiver call from… Louie! However, due to a few incorrect assumptions and Louie's inability to form complete sentences, our captains are under the assumption that Louie is Captain Olimar. So, they set off to save him from the area boss in order to save him!

They do that and bring him onboard their ship, only to discover that his suit’s put him into forced-sleep mode, so they decide to call it a day and ask him about the key tomorrow.

Now. Louie would have probably died had our 3 captains not come to his rescue. So, what do you think Louie does to three people who just saved his life?

He commandeers the ship while you’re sleeping, lands it, steals all your juice, AND one of your captain’s rubber ducky, and books it. He leaves you for dead.

This meme? This is canon-accurate. Louie steals all your juice and he might as well have called you a bitch.

Of course, he immediately gets eaten by the next area boss, so you have to go save him. The only dialogue Louie has in the entire game is him yelling ‘Food!' like 7 times.

I hope you enjoyed this journey and have a newfound love/hate relationship with this fictional spaceman, chaotic. It’s been fun.

Oh this is a bastard of a man ain't it

[twodollarhero]

More like "that demo was sick"-min 4

So I just got done playing the demo for Pikmin 4 and it was like... REALLY cool!

My relationship with Pikmin has always been kinda weird. I've always merely liked the series a lot, when I've always felt that I should love it. On paper, it's exactly what I love about Nintendo: weird, interesting perspectives on a genre that takes a well-worn concept and makes it clean and accessible. Splatoon is the "Nintendo-ified shooter" just as Pikmin is the "Nintendo-ified RTS" or whatever... so why don't I love Pikmin in the same way that I love something like Splatoon? I really haven't ever been able to put my finger on it. My best guess is that I've never really vibed with the world, the story or the characters. Not because the games have been completely devoid of those things, but there's just enough of a wall of glass between it and me to leave my handprints on the windowpane, begging to be let in. Couple that with one or two too many unfriendly design decisions that have long been innate to the franchise and I think I always come away feeling that Pikmin and I would always be like the couple who date, break up and keep trying because - hey, maybe this time it'll work out.

Like any toxic relationship, Pikmin has done a lot of work on themselves and I really think they've changed this time. Playing the demo for Pikmin 4 has graduated my excitement from a tepid "ah shit here we go again" to actual, factual hype. While it isn't a completely frictionless experience, it solves practically every major problem I've ever had with the franchise and - for once - the glass wall has been shattered and I'm able to tip-toe around the shards on the floor.

First of all, the story setup is actually pretty fucking cool this time around? Look, I get it: diehard Pikmin fans are annoyed that it seemingly retcons the scraps of connected lore the series has had leading up to this point. I can sympathize with that, actually -- it would annoy me if that happened to a franchise whose story or lore I was really invested in. But, looking at it from the outside? I genuinely feel like taking our familiarity with Olimar and using his rescue - and possibly "death"? - as a narrative device to set us out in this new entry is a pretty cool idea! I think it gives people a great jumping on point for Pikmin, which I think absolutely feels like Pikmin 4's mission through-and-through. To the point where they even let you just play as your own character this time around. And while the character creator is simple, I really liked being able to make my own weird little guy for a change. All Pikmin characters look like gross, fleshy homunculi, but this one is mine!

So yeah, I like having my little weirdo here and I'd love to see yours. But it's the new gameplay additions that really turn my crank. The core of it is still very much Pikmin, but they've added some really nice quality of life stuff into this one in addition to just putting together a really pleasurable loop. You aren't just trying to survive and you aren't even really just trying to rescue -- everything you're collecting feeds into satisfying, measurable improvements. Honestly, just the feedback loop that Oatchi alone provides is satisfying enough to carry it for me: rescue enough lost members of your Rescue Corps (or stranded civilians), earn a point of "Pup Drive" and spend those points to make Oatchi even more useful than he is as a baseline, which is already very fucking useful. Uncover raw materials in the world for the weird scientist dude to turn into interesting traversal applications, puzzle solving applications AND player improvement applications, like new pieces of gear that'll allow you to withstand elemental effects. Rather than needing to forage for food every day, you're instead gathering household items in the name of "Sparklium" to repair your ship, which ultimately just rewards you with new cool areas to explore, i.e. it rewards you with more Pikmin 4. And even just in the demo, you've got an expansive little mini open-world to play in that feels super tight and well designed! But that's before you even touch on the caves.

Oh man, the caves. Apparently this is a returning feature from Pikmin 2, but it's been like 15 years since I've played that game so it feels super fresh to me. Even still, according to Pikipedia, Pikmin 2 only had like 14 caves in total. These feel like Pikmin 4's versions of Shrines in Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom. Little sections of the game that are ripe with rewards, but also super concise little puzzles and challenges that are off the beaten path. And, like Shrines, the sense of elation from seeing one of those blue lids makes me want to stop everything I'm doing to go explore them. The game knows that you'll want to explore them too, by slowing the day's time counter to 1/6th speed. Pikmin 4 has also integrated a system where you can straight up rewind the clock back a few minutes if you want. Like, the game is autosaving every 2-3 minutes and if something crazy happens, you can just rewind back to that previous save state. It's one of those accessibility things that hardcore fans can totally choose not to engage with, but someone like me is happy to have it when I accidentally got all of my Red Pikmin killed and would've been soft locked. It's the little things!

SO ANYWAYS, TL;DR... I really, really dug the Pikmin 4 demo in a way I wasn't expecting. And as someone that was kind of disenfranchised with AAA games - even Nintendo ones - for the first half of 2023... it feels really good to be excited about big budget games again. I love loving stuff.

[sintheyokai]

I'm about to go on a little tangent about Pikmin 3 Deluxe real quick, that's under the cut:

So a hot minute ago I got my sibling Pikmin 3 deluxe because they really liked the demo so I decided "Ehh what the heck" and I bought it

Fast forward to today, June 7th of 2021 I finally start the game for myself! For context I've never played a Pikmin game in my life and the only contact I've had with the title is Captain Olimar in Super Smash Bros.

So my main concern was that I was gonna find the cast,, annoying? Like Alph just LOOKED like that guy who had a really annoying voice and just acted strange, the kind of character whose dialogue you button mash to skip. And Brittany just seemed like the typical Rich Girl Attitude ™ type that acts like she's better than anyone and everyone.

That being said:

I retract any and all of those statements.

The cast is just so colorful, and Alph and Brittany's lil space pal relationship is soooo,,, cuTE?? I've already got my lil headcanons that Alph has like,, ADHD or is autistic and I just-

I love em. I love em so much. I would automatically die for them if it came to that.

[your-local-grubdog]

The Engineer’s Heart

Pikmin 3 fanfiction thingy yay! This was cross-posted to Ao3 if you want to read it there instead.

Summary: Alph couldn't keep this bottled up any more. He had to say it, he had to tell him how he felt. Unfortunately these kinds of things don't come easy for Alph.

Parings: Alph/Charlie

Misc. notes: Short n sweet, one shot, fluff 

Alph smiled wide as he stood before Captain Charlie – his captain! He was going to go to PNF-404! He was going to be a hero!

He had seen the captain many times on TV. But never in person, not until today. 

“You’re Alph? Drake’s grandson?” the captain asked as he approached him.  

“Yes sir!”  

“I’ve heard of you.” That alone made Alph flush up a little. "I've heard you do good work. I expect good things from you.”

“I won’t disappoint, sir!” Anxiety began to eat away at him a little. He couldn’t disappoint Charlie. He wasn’t sure if he could handle such a thing.  

Alph crumpled up the paper and tossed it into an already over-flowing bin. None of it sounds right! Why does none of it sound right?!? He grunted as he leaned back into the chair. They were leaving the planet, and now well on their way to Hocotate in order to return Olimar home.  

Alph couldn’t keep it bottled up any more. He had to say something – he HAD to do this. He thought that making it a poem would be easier, but that wasn’t turning out to be the case.  

He pulled out another sheet and tried again.  

“I think of you so much

You are strong. And kind.  

A true leader for us b”

Alph quickly balled the paper up. No! No no no – it still didn’t sound right!  

He’d have to try again.  

Alph stood there as the Vehemoth Phosbat fell to the ground, letting out one final death cry. He stood there, side by side with Brittany, the both of them stiff as they waited.  

Was... was the captain okay?

The beast then twitched, once, twice, and then its mouth was pushed open by Captain Charlie.  

He jumped out of the creature, a look of relief spread across his face. “Ah, it’s great to see yo-”

He was cut off with an “oof” when Alph ran over and hugged him tightly. It was rather awkward, given that their helmets got in the way, but it was also still genuine.  

“Captain! Thank the stars you’re alive! It took us so long to find you and Brittany was pretty sure you were dead and I was starting to worry that myself especially when your signal came out of that thing, I was for sure it had managed to kill you but you’re alive!!! You’re alive!!!” Alph spoke quickly, and part way through he had started to cry which made it even harder to understand him.  

“Woah, woah... hey, hey it’s okay Alph, it’s okay...” He gently began to rub the engineer’s back. “I’m okay now... you don’t need to cry over me.”

“To think one could find love on a planet such as this  

Yet here I am  

Smitten and awe-struct by your bravery, your kindness, your”

Alph once again crumpled it up. “Dammit. Why can’t the words just... work?”

“What ‘cha up to?” Charlie asked as he walked closer.  

Alph looked up from his work. “Oh, just some basic upgrades to the Drake’s computer. Nothing too fancy.”

“What will it do?”

“Eh, just make things run more smoothly on a software level. Useful, but nothing too big.”

Charlie looked at the code work Alph had done. “Really? I thought the Drake’s computer ran just fine.”

“Oh, it did. But it could be better. See, the Drake’s computer ran on code based on the work of Eric Rinnal, who then became famous for his work. That basic “Rinnal” type code has been used in all Koppait space craft sense. And it works well! Really well! But it has some flaws. See, Rinnal’s work was based off of Halbert Trenok’s own work in the field. And Trenok’s work... it was good, and it was super useful and amazing back in his day. But that’s the thing – back in his day! It’s quite outdated now. Rinnal was able to fix most quirks that Trenok’s system had but there’s still a few little wrinkles that could be ironed out. You know, that’s why REKO model ships are infamous for being so awful – they still run on the Trenok system! I mean, it works, I guess, but-” Alph stopped himself midsentence when he saw the bewildered look on Charlie’s face. “O-Oh... sorry if I was being kind of annoying there.”

“You were not being annoying.” Charlie quickly insisted. “You were sharing your interest. I couldn’t quite follow but that’s no reason to feel bad.”

Alph smiled a little. “Oh... thanks.”

“Now how about you tell me exactly how this Tree-nook's stuff was out dated, hm?”

“Trenok.” Alph corrected. “And... I’m not sure if I can word it in a way that would be easy to understand.”  

“So? Just keep talking. I’ll keep listening.”

Alph smiled more, and reaching back into his college days he began to explain (and quite frankly, heavily criticize) the Trenok system of space craft code.  

“You listen. You listen and you care,

Oh Charlie,

How could I not love you?”

Alph stared at the page. Maybe this? He sighed and leaned his head into his hand. It was a start.  

Alph laid awake in his bed, overcome with a strong realization. He couldn’t fall asleep, not after this.  

He loved him.  

How Alph didn’t realize this sooner, he did not know. He thought about him constantly, he felt a nervous happiness when around him, hell he wrote a damn poem about the guy. Any yet he kept trying to convince himself that he just looked up to him? No.  

He loved him.  

He loved him so much that it hurt.  

What was he supposed to do about it? They were fighting for their life on an alien planet – he couldn’t be distracted by this. And that wasn’t even counting the numerous other issues. Did the captain even like men at all? Would he consider a captain–crew relationship to be too unprofessional? Stars forbid that he’d see a gay relationship taboo. What if the captain simply didn’t like him? What if he was rejected?

Alph curled up into a tight ball. He had to tell him. He had to. He loved him.  

But at the very least, it would have to wait. People were depending on them back home, and he couldn’t distract himself or the captain with whatever outcome the confession would have.  

But... it would hurt so much until then.  

Alph kept staring at the paper in frustration, unable to come up with anything else. He eventually crumpled it up too, and threw it at his door. He laid his head down on his desk. This wasn’t working. None of his ideas were working.  

He heard a knock at the door.  

“I’m not feeling well.” Alph replied. He didn’t exactly want to deal with any of the others right now.

The door opened anyways. “Alph? What’s wrong? I can get you some medicine.” Charlie’s voice rang through the room.  

Alph jumped up a bit. Oh stars, he was the last person he wanted to see. “Oh... I... I’m just burnt out is all.” He looked away from the captain again. “I think I just need to call it an early night.”  

“Struggling with your poems?”

“Yeah...”

A pause, then “Well, let me look at this one. Maybe I can help?”

Alph’s eyes widened and he quickly stood up to stop the captain. But it was too late, he had already uncrumpled the page and was reading it. It had only taken him a short moment to finish it, being only three lines long, and then he looked up and locked eyes with Alph.  

That was it then, huh? His heart had been exposed to the captain, and was laying out there bleeding. Alph could only lean his ears back and cling to his desk least he fall over.  

“Alph...” Charlie’s words were soft, kind. “Alph, you don’t need to be afraid.” He was suddenly much closer now, and held out a hand to the shorter koppait. Alph looked at it, then at Charlie who seemed to be genuinely concerned. Alph elected to just hug him instead.  

He wanted to cry. He wanted to cry into the captain’s shoulder and let his worries fade away. But he didn’t. He just stood there as Charlie gently rubbed his back. The captain said some things that Alph couldn’t fully process, but it all seemed to be an effort to calm him down.  

After a few moments, he could hear the captain say his name clearly. He looked up at him. “Yes, Charlie?”

“Alph I... a lot has happened over the course of this mission. And I can’t fully understand most of it yet.”

Alph’s ears leaned back. Was he being rejected?  

“I don’t know how I feel about you – about this. I’d need time to think it over.”  

Alph sighed as he looked down. So no, not a rejection. But not an acceptance either. “I... I understand.”  

“Thank you, Alph.” The Captain pulled away a little. “I can promise you only this; I won’t leave you in the dark about whatever my choice is, regardless of what I choose.”

Alph nodded.  

Well, at least he had that?

----------

It had been a little under a week now. They had just left Hocotate, and were now heading to koppai. It should realistically only take a few hours.  

Alph was in his room again, writing some things down again. He was having a much easier time with it, given it was just about nature and not something as weird as love. Once again, he heard a knock at his door.  

“Come on in.” he replied.  

Charlie entered the room. “Hey, uh, I had something to ask of you.”  

Alph felt his stomach tighten. He couldn’t help it, he felt like he was going to burst from his pent-up emotions. Yet the captain knew about them, and that somehow made it worse. “Y-yeah?”

“It, uh... It’s also related to what... what I found out before.”

Alph’s stomach grew even tighter. “O-Oh...”

“Basically, once we’re back on Koppai, and once the media is done parading us around would... would you still be interested in going out for some dinner with me?”

Alph’s eyes widened a bit as his heart raced. “Yes!” he squeaked out just a little too quickly.    

Charlie smiled. “Oh! Well then... I guess we can figure out the details once we’re home. Does that sound alright?”

Alph had already stood up and was walking to Charlie. “Yeah! Yeah that’s good.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow and sighed. “Alright, I know what you want.” he said as he held his arms out. Alph immediately clinged onto him, and Charlie hugged him back. The two stood like that for a good few moments before Alph pulled away a little to look up at Charlie. He was going to say something, but forgot what it was he wanted to say. He and Charlie just stared at each other for a moment, before the taller man gently leaned down and kissed his cheek. Alph squeaked, his face a bright red.  

“We’ll be back on Koppai very soon.” Charlie explained. “So go ahead and get ready, okay?”  

Alph nodded as Charlie slipped away and left the room. He would get ready, but it’d be hard to focus.  

He was really doing it! He was really going to go on a date with Charlie!

[seadradoodles]

Pikmin Bios: Pikmin Species

Since I just posted about Cyan Pikmin, I figured I should talk about my headcanons of all Pikmin in general. I’ll go in chronological order, starting with traits shared by most of the species and move on from there

Biology

Pikmin are an odd species of animal-plant hybrids found upon the planet of PNF 404. They were named Pikmin by Captain Olimar, who discovered them, for their great resemblance to Pikpik Carrots.

Pikmin have three stages of growth, which indicates how fast and strong they are; leaf for young Pikmin, buds for adolescents, and flowers for adults. A Pikmin’s flower can be any color, although leaf colors are shared throughout the entirety of their subspecies.

While there is much debate over just how intelligent Pikmin are, it is known that they are capable of singing, playing games, recognizing themselves in reflections, and even seem to have their own language that Pikmin of all subspecies understand.

Each subspecies of Pikmin has their own specific color and appearance, but patterns and specific shades of the color are different from individual to individual. This can help tell them apart from one another.

Social Structure

Pikmin are a very social species who live in colonies that are usually made up of their own subspecies. However, it’s not uncommon to see other types of Pikmin among the colony.

The colony doesn’t seem to have any one specific leader when they are not following the orders of a lost explorer. Instead, each Pikmin has a role within the colony; the guards who are put in charge of guarding the colony and the onions, the gathers/hunters who gather food and hunt for prey away from the colony, farmers who tend to the flowers nearby and the onions to ensure they are healthy, healers who focus on keeping the rest of the colony healthy, and the overseers, the pikmin who make the decisions and decide where gatherers will go and which guards guard what onion.

The colonies live in areas with onions, a type of plant they have formed a symbiotic relationship with. These onions can house up to five adult Pikmin at once, and their status as a mostly inedible plant for Pikmin predators keep the Pikmin safe inside at night. While it’s possible for Pikmin seeds to grow outside, it’s dangerous, and the onions also give up a little bit of their own nutrients to allow the seeds to grow safely inside.

In return, the Pikmin guard the onions from parasites and predators of their own, which are often harmless to the Pikmin themselves. The Pikmin eat the parasites, and the remains of these can provide nutrients for the onions.

There are many types of onions, each suited for specific types of Pikmin that will be discussed in each bio for the specific types of Pikmin.

While there doesn’t seem to be much aggression between subspecies, sometimes colonies do fall into bickering, and even the very rare war, especially in the colder seasons when their only form of food are things stored from previous seasons or from prey. Temporary and even permanent alliances between colonies too far from one another to fully join together, but close enough to interact, have even been recorded. It is very common to see a lone Pikmin join a colony with little to no hesitation from the colony, even if they had never seen that particular Pikmin before.

Diet

Pikmin are capable of photosynthesizing, however they cannot fully be sustained by it and are omnivorous as a result. With the exception of the mushroom eating Cyanmin, Pikmin mostly feed upon nectar, the parasites that attempt to attack their onions, and the occasional predator a colony manages to take down. Tree sap is a favorite treat, although very difficult for them to get in most circumstances.

Communication

Pikmin communicate in a variety of noises that sound vaguely humanoid. Body language also plays an important role as well. Most of their expressions and body language are very similar to Hocotatians’, but there is something Pikmin do Hocotations cannot; Stem waving.

Stem waving is a form of communication in which a Pikmin waves their stem around. Long, slow waves are a friendly greeting among Pikmin. A quickly waving stem is thought to be a threat display to others that are too far to hit. An angry Pikmin will sometimes slap their stem against the ground -- or against whatever angered them if close enough. Yes, they sometimes smack things such as leaves and rocks.

For a while, no one could understand why Pikmin were so attracted to those with a whistle. At first, it was thought the antennae on their spacesuits looked similar to the stems of Pikmin and tricked them into believing they were a subspecies. Others thought the glow just attracted them in general. It was later discovered that the sound of the whistle is very similar to a noise the overseers make when calling the colony to a meeting or when giving orders.

Extra Notes

Pikmin seem to love shiny things

Pikmin have been seen tearing up leaves to store for winter, despite them not eating leaves. It was later discovered they used these leaves to lure in prey during the cold months

Pikmin tend to get anxious and are quicker to threaten creatures when alone

[meetthemidwest]

About Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio playing video game, I have to know what they said during the subspace emissary gameplay. May we hear about what happened? Please and thank you, you fabulous person

This took so long and I’m so sorry but finals week happened and I had to study for apush! There are spoilers, but the game came out in 2008 so I’m not too concerned. I still put it under the cut just in case someone didn’t want it spoiled. I really hope tumblr doesn’t cut this, there’s a lot here.

Subspace Emissary is a two player story mode in Smash Bros Brawl, and since there are three of them, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio take turns. Indiana and Ohio play the first level.

Indiana: You know what? I kind of relate to Kirby.Kentucky: Please explain what the hell that means.Indiana: He inhales food and killed god.Ohio: Oh please, you haven’t killed god yet.Kentucky: Yet? YET??

After the whole fight with Mario and Kirby, there’s a part where the Halberd flies over the stadium and drops a bunch of shadow bugs.

Ohio: Those things look like the mold that was growing in my basement last year.Indiana: Glowing and purple?Kentucky: Delicious.Ohio: What the actual fuck Kentucky?Kentucky: No, you don’t understand, nature is delicious.Indiana: Oh really? I’ll be right back.She comes back in five minutes later with an armful of plants from Ohio’s backyard.Kentucky: *picks up a leaf* There’s a spider on this one.Indiana: Eat it.Ohio: DON’T EAT IT!Kentucky: Aw, it fell.Ohio: *jumps from his chair to the table* Fucking kill it already!Indiana promptly throws it at him and he screams like a girl. The video cuts there. It comes back to Indiana and Ohio arguing over who to save in the first boss battle.

Indiana: Zelda’s twenty times better than Peach you dumbass!Ohio: Peach is the original Nintendo princess! You respect the originals or I’ll put you in the goddamn dirt!Kentucky: You just got a game over.Indiana: No one asked for your input Bill Monroe!Kentucky: How the hell do you know who that is?The video devolves into screaming. It cuts to Kentucky and Ohio playing while Indiana eats a pot of Kraft macaroni and cheese. They’ve saved Peach and moved on.

Kentucky: Hey, it’s Pit from Kid Icarus on the NES!Indiana: Fucking nerd!Ohio: Nice redesign.Kentucky: Yeah, well, if we aren’t going to get Geno, it’s nice that an obscure Nintendo game is getting some love.Ohio: *looks directly into the camera* Localize Mother 3 you cowards.Kentucky: PLAYER TWO CAN TELEPORT HELL YES YOU’RE CARRYING THE TEAM OHIO!

Indiana: DOnkEy KoNG!Kentucky: Did Diddy Kong always have guns or is that a new thing?Ohio, drinking tea in the background: Neither of you have ever played Donkey Kong Country and it shows.Kentucky: Oh god, Danky Kang just sacrificed himself for his son!Indiana: Wish that was the relationship I had with Quebec but he just calls me his bastard daughter and I call him my asshole father.Kentucky: Oof.

Ohio: Oh shit, Indi, get your xylophone, we’ve got a pokemon!Indiana: *starts playing the original pokemon battle theme on the xylophone while Kentucky fights Rayquaza but dies because he’s laughing too hard.*

Indiana: That feeling when you’re kidnapped by a small primate in a baseball cap.Ohio: No, that can happen. Have you ever been to the zoo?Kentucky: Are you okay?Ohio: *voice crack* no.

*Lucas and Porky appear*Ohio, ripping the controller out of Kentucky’s hands: YOU LEAVE MY BABY ALONE YOU CAPITALIST FUCK!Indiana: Oh shit, he’s crying!Kentucky: And I’m the nerd?Indiana: Shut up nerd, Mother 3 was hard on him.

*Ness appears*Indiana: SNES is just a word scramble of Ness.Kentucky: Mother 3 confirmed?Ohio: NOOO NESS JUST GOT FUCKING KILLED BY WARIO!Indiana: Weak.

*Pokemon Trainer appears*Kentucky: ASH KETCHUM???Indiana: You’re so stupid. It’s Red, obviously.Ohio: Red and Ash Ketchum’s secret love child.Indiana: *Gets up* I quit.

*Battlefield Fortress*Ohio: You know what this looks like?Kentucky: Oh god please no.Indiana: *pulls out Kentucky’s xylophone* Ready when you are.Kentucky: Indiana, if you value our friendship, please don’t do this.Indiana: We’re not friends though.*Marth is introduced. Indiana starts playing Together We Ride on the xylophone. Ohio joins in on a green plastic kazoo. Kentucky slams his face into the table and gets a nosebleed.*

Indiana: Hey it’s Spanish Batman from Kirby Right Back At Ya!Ohio: Never say those words in front of me again.

*Ike appears*Kentucky: Please don’t-Indiana and Ohio: *Playing the recruitment theme With Us on their instruments.*Kentucky: *looks into the camera like Jim on The Office*

Kentucky: Luigi is my spirit animal because he’s a coward with a heart of gold, like me.Indiana: You’re a coward, but I know you had your heart surgically removed in 1847 so don’t even try that bullshit with me.Ohio: He had a heart before 1847? Damn. See, I relate more to King Dedede because he’s a king and his relationship with Kirby reminds me of Michigan and I.Indiana: Yeah, that sounds about right.Ohio: I don’t like the implications there.

*Link appears*Indiana, shoving Ohio and Kentucky out of the way and wearing a Legend of Zelda hoodie: Move bitches, it’s my time to shine.Ohio: Oh thank god Yoshi’s here because I’m not playing as Link. Kentucky, doing a scarily accurate impression of Yoshi: YOSHI!Indiana: What the FUCK Kentucky???Kentucky, coughing: If I do that for too long I lose my voice.Indiana: Then don’t do it!

*There are some enemies that I distinctly remember in this part that scared the hell out of me, and they’re called Puppits.*Ohio: Oh god, oh fuck, what are these things?Indiana: Kill it!Ohio: *dies* SHIT!Kentucky, eating gummy bears out of a paper bag: Why are y’all so bad at this? It’s just an enemy.Indiana: *throws her controller at Kentucky and hits him in the forehead.*

*The cutscene with the box*Indiana: Snake? SNAKE?? SNAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!!Kentucky: SPOILERS!

*Zero-Suit Samus*Indiana: I wish that were me.Ohio: Why? She’s not that much prettier than you.Indiana: Space guns.Kentucky: Of course.Indiana: Also I think a lot of girls would be into me if I had that ass.Ohio: There it is.

*Pikachu*Ohio: Did you guys know that this is how we powered the first rocket to the moon?Kentucky: Electricity rat.Indiana: Thomas Edison used Pikachu to power America, your history books have been lying to you.Ohio: We’re going to get killed by the government, aren’t we?Kentucky: Yeah, but not for this.

*The battle against Subspace Peach*Indiana: Mario’s going to be so pissed.Kentucky: Yeah, but Yoshi’s Mario’s lifelong friend, so surely everything will be a-okay!*Mario battle ensues*Ohio: Love blinds all.Indiana: Stop trying to sound wise, I literally watched you burn your tongue on your coffee and throw it into a wall.Ohio: You know what Indiana? Fuck you.

Indiana: Kirby Kirby Kirby that’s the name you should know!Kentucky: Kirby Kirby Kirby he’s the star of the show!*Both look at Ohio*Ohio, obviously disappointed in life: He’s more than you think, he’s got maximum pink.Indiana and Kentucky: Kirby Kirby Kirby’s the one!

Indiana: Ew it’s Ganondorf.Kentucky: Wait, I thought he was a pig?Ohio: Well Kentucky, people can be pigs without looking like them, like New York.Kentucky: No, wasn’t he literally a pig?Indiana: That was Ganon.Kentucky: They’re… they’re the same thing?

*Wario battle*Ohio: IS LUCAS DOING THE ARTHUR MEME?Indiana: HOLY SHIT HE IS!Kentucky: MOTHER 3 CONFIRMED!*they all start screaming incoherently. The video cuts to them actually fighting Wario. Ohio is Lucas, Kentucky is the Pokemon Trainer.*Ohio: My boy Lucas has seen some shit.Kentucky: Your boy Kentucky has also seen some shit, how about a little love over here?Ohio: No.Kentucky: Thanks.

*Bowser’s army attacks the castle Dedede is in.*Indiana: Oh my goodness he’s Dedede-dead!Ohio: I’m going to sew your lips together while you sleep.

*Bowser gets away with Peach’s trophy*Kentucky: This is so sad, Indiana play Ave Maria.Indiana: *plays Ave Maria on the kazoo*

Kentucky: I love how Ike, the youngest and most impulsive, jumps right off a cliff while both Marth and Meta Knight reach out to stop him.Ohio: Me with my bastard siblings.Indiana: Let me guess, Wisconsin’s Ike, Michigan’s Meta Knight, and you’re Marth?Ohio: No, because I don’t join them in their bullshit.Indiana: Oh? Then what do you call the time the three of you tied Illinois to a tree and left him there for a week?Ohio: It’s called knocking the wealthy down a few pegs.Kentucky: Guys, this was an appreciation of Fire Emblem characters and nothing more.

*Diddy Kong trophy*Indiana: PeRSonALLy I PrEFer ThE AiR!Kentucky: OH! GRAB THE FAN! *they proceed to get the giant Subspace Diddy Kong to 500% and launch him off the screen.*Ohio: The monkey’s kidnapping a bird.Indiana: I saw that happen in Florida once.

*Ridley battle*Kentucky: HE’S TOO BIG FOR SMASH BROS!*Kentucky then plays the Ridley theme on the xylophone while Ohio attempts to crawl out a window and Indiana screams*

*Olimar and Captain Falcon*Kentucky in the background playing Pikmin music on the xylophone: Isn’t this nice? Pikmin was one of the best games I ever played.*West Virginia kicks down the door and plays the F-Zero theme on an electric guitar*Kentucky: Get the hell out!West Virginia: While y’all were sitting in here playing video games I got arrested for tax fraud and broke out on my own.Indiana: Amateur. What’s your point kid?West Virginia: Get on my level. Get hobbies for god’s sake. You’re going to be killed one day, you gotta live in the moment.Ohio: I die when I decide, you little rat faced bastard. There’s a cupcake in the fridge, take it and get out.West Virginia: Alright, I’m going to elope with Mothman, see y’all later.

Indiana: DOnkEy KoNG!!!!Kentucky: Aw heck, I died.

*Ice Climbers*Ohio: That jumping noise definitely isn’t going to get annoying in the next few minutes.Kentucky: *slowly mutes the tv*Indiana: You guys are really dumb sometimes. You know that, right?

*the two groups meet up*Indiana: The gang’s all here!Ohio: If you play as Link again I’m going to suffocate you on camera.Indiana: With what?Kentucky: His Ohio State mascot body pillow.Indiana: What the fuck.Ohio: You’re next, Kentucky.

*Snake*Kentucky: Sometimes I just want to hide in a box while my problems run around without me.Indiana: Shame problems are like Lucario and can see right through your hiding place.Ohio: Guys, I dropped a hot pocket into the hole in the wall and I can’t get it out.

*Sheik and Peach*Indiana: I’m getting some strong Peach loves her strong girlfriend vibes from this.Kentucky: I’d love my strong girlfriend too if I had one.Ohio: No living organism would put up with you for more than a week.Indiana: YO PEACH IS SUCH A BADASS!Ohio: SEE???Indiana: Zelda’s still better though.Kentucky: Fox McCloud’s going down.Indiana: Do a barrel roll!Ohio: Shit, I want tea.Kentucky: Then make some!Ohio: Okay! Jeez, don’t yell at me.

Indiana: Where did Mr. Game and Watch even come from?Ohio: Hell.Kentucky: Actually, there’s a series of handheld games-Indiana: Shut up nerd!

*Subspace bomb factory*Indiana: American weapons storage.*the entire factory blows up*Kentucky:… American weapons storage.Ohio: It’s us when we try to get together for holidays.

Ohio: Kirby rides in on a fucking dragon to save the day!Indiana: Sakurai showing clear favoritism for his children.Kentucky: Virginia made West a pepperoni roll once and when I asked for one she told me that I could starve.Ohio: GUYS IT WASN’T MASTER HAND IT’S THIS ASSHOLE OLD MAN LOOKING GUY AND BOWSER’S DEAD STOP HAVING FEELINGS AND GET YOUR HEADS IN THE GAME!

*Everyone dies*Indiana: I want butterfly wings that kill people.Kentucky: Evolve and grow them.Indiana: Good idea.Ohio: LUCAS NOOOOOOO!

*Dedede, Ness, and Luigi**Ohio walks in dressed as King Dedede, Indiana’s dressed as Ness, and Kentucky is dressed as Luigi*Kentucky: I still think I should have done sexy Luigi, but whatever.Indiana: Ohio, say it.Ohio: I’m not going to say it, fuck off.Indiana: Say it.Ohio: No!Indiana: SAY IT.Ohio: I’m gonna clobber that there Kirby.Kentucky: That’s mama Luigi to you!Indiana: Fuck, Ness doesn’t have any funny lines. Ohio: Can we please play the game now?Indiana, clearly excited: OKEY

*Great Maze*Indiana: You’re going the wrong way!Ohio: You’re hogging the remote! Let Kentucky play!Kentucky: That’s the wrong door!*they start screeching at each other. Minnesota walks into the room about to say something, shakes his head, and leaves.*

*Tabuu fight*Kentucky: I’m vibing with this music.Ohio: Don’t try and sound young, we all know you’re old as fuck.Indiana: Ohio if you don’t stop dying I’m going to throw you out a window.Kentucky: SONIC SPEED! *proceeds to die* GOSH DARN IT!Indiana: WHY ARE YOU USING SONIC?Kentucky: HE WAS RIGHT THERE I HAD TO!*they die about twelve more times, but only one makes the final cut. At some point they beat the game*

Indiana: This was cute. I really liked the relationships in it.Ohio: Yeah, shame we’ll never get a wholesome and fulfilling story mode again, right guys?Kentucky: *plays the Smash Ultimate theme on the xylophone.*Indiana: I’ll go get my Switch.Ohio: You better.Indiana: I’ll hit you.Ohio: You’re in my house, that’s assault.*Indiana kicks Ohio out of his chair. The video cuts for the last time*

[pikkish-moved]

A screenshot of the ask, in hopes that this time, it’ll let me put in a read more:

The problem is, most of the characters seem like quite stable people, mentally, including Olimar and kind of maybe Louie, so I don’t see any of them going insane easily. And Olimar and Louie, for both AUs, happen to be in extreme and supernatural situations, which is kind of an exception to a resistance to an effect on sanity.

But, regardless, I did my best here with what I was able to come up with!

(A warning in advance for deaths, some body horror, more deaths, a lot of delusional thinking, more deaths, and oh, can’t forget, more deaths.)

(EVEYONE dies here.)

(Except for, funnily enough, the president.)

In which slacking is not permitted

Where were they?

The president swatted aside a large leaf, forging on in his search for his two absent employees.

A heavy impact, shattering a spray of dark red, a choked gurgle.

Negligent! Irresponsible! That’s what this was. Leaving him unprotected in this forsaken wilderness. And that might be excusable, were the two of them searching for treasure, but he knew they weren’t. No, he was certain they were just loading off somewhere, laughing behind his back.

A thousand small voices, crying out in unison,

He would tan their hides when he found them! Slacking like this, didn’t they know there was a debt to pay off? He’d teach them to work for their money, he’d fire them! Then see how much they like sitting around doing nothing!

Crying out in agony as one of their own, their leader from the sky,

Grumbling, the president paused, leaning against the trunk of one of the enormous trees. There couldn’t have been something he was forgetting, was there? Something Olimar had told him, some plan or something…

fell to the ground, gasping for air, finding only poison, and his own blood.

Or…?

The president’s own shuddering breaths, eyes wide, staring, staring, unable to look away.

No, no, they were around here somewhere. He knew it!

Meeting the eyes of the beast, it’s bloody jaw.

He just had to find them.

He just had to run.

In which the war hero faces old problems

(Gotta admit, idk if Charlie’s really going insane, here. I headcanon that, having been in some wars before, he’s got an incredibly strong resolve. But I did all that I could think of!)

Charlie was not smart. Not comparatively, anyway. He couldn’t fix a ship’s stabilizers with only a screwdriver and a handful of zip ties. He couldn’t take a plant and know how to make it grow, know how to make it flourish. And maybe he knew what a fruit was, or what the cosmic drive key was, but he sure as heck couldn’t say which fruit was higher in piktamin U or why the ship wouldn’t run without the key.

No, Charlie was not smart, and his scientific intelligence was not why he was made captain of this mission.

It was because he was a survivor, a fighter. Because he could get only a glance of a battlefield before charging in, and still come out alive. He wasn’t scientific smart, but he was street smart, and that skill is why he was chosen for this.

It was his only mission, here. Keep alive. Keep all of them alive.

His only mission, and he, Captain Charlie, decorated war hero, had failed it. He was here to protect them, that was all, and he had failed to do so.

He had dealt with loss before, of course. He had seen friends die, sat beside squad mates as their breathing had gotten shallower. But this- this was different. It was one thing to stand in uniform, saluting the departed beside five, ten, twenty of your teammates, all going through the same struggle.

It was another thing entirely to stand alone, in the silent bowels of a ship a million, billion miles away from home, staring blankly at the two occupied medical cryostasis pods, because that was the only place you could think of to put the bodies so they wouldn’t rot.

Because he had recovered the bodies. He had to. He couldn’t just leave them. He had fought tooth and nail to get them back. He couldn’t just leave them there to be eaten. He had to take them back to their families.

...And that was it, then. The end. This mission was over. He was going to go home.

He was going to go home alone.

And so it was, with a sigh, that he eased himself into the Drake- oh, stars, he’d have to tell Drake that Alph was dead- into the Drake’s cockpit, letting his hands rest on the navigational controls. He just had to set a course back to Koppai.

He just had to-...

Charlie had never been great at piloting ships, or navigating. And the Drake, with all its complex technology meant for the expedition, had been even more confusing. He had been given instructions, of course, and at the time they had seemed so clear. But now, he looked at the buttons, the switches, the dials and gauges.

He could hear Alph’s voice, explaining it all. So excited, telling Charlie what each thing did and how it worked, thrilled to be talking about something he loved. Yes, Charlie could still hear Alph’s voice. But he couldn’t hear the words. None of the instructions, nothing. He had no idea how to navigate back to Koppai.

...It was okay, though. He could figure it out. He had to. He had to get them back home safely. He had to get them back to their families.

He had already failed this once. He couldn’t do so again.

So he managed. He plotted a course. Set the Drake on it. Took off.

And then he sat there, as the ship flew. He just sat there, in the seat. He had nothing to do. Nothing he could do. Nothing he could’ve done, his sole point in being on this mission, and he couldn’t do it.

He sat there until his stomach ached, growling, empty. So he got up, and made his way, stiff, oh so stiff, to the juice storage fridge. There wasn’t much juice, there. They hadn’t been able to get much. But that was okay. He was a soldier; he’d lived on slim rations before. He could do it again.

His hands shook as he poured himself a glass of juice. Brittany had always been the one to divide it up. She had always been so careful, measuring things to the last drop. She would’ve made sure the jar Charlie was holding wouldn’t have emptied so quickly. She would’ve made sure-...

He stiffly moved back up to the cockpit and slumped down in the seat again. Eventually he dozed off, but his dreams were simply the same thing, shuffling through the silent ship, from the cockpit to the fridge and back again and back yet again. And when he woke, his stomach was growling again, so he went once more to the fridge, shuffling through the same refuse that had been left out from some night previous, not yet cleaned up.

Charlie set the rim of the jar to his mouth and tipped back his head, but his throat was still dry, and his stomach still growling, and his head still light, and his legs still weak. And then he collapsed to his knees, then curled up on his side amid the empty jars on the floor.

How, how?

He had only been here for a day or so- only a day or so. Only a day or so, he said to himself, running a hand through his uncut, full head of hair. Only a day or so, curled up on the floor, only a day or so, drifting in space, maybe towards Koppai, maybe not.

Only a day or so more.

In which Brittany is annoyed

(This one is… short. I didn’t know what else to do for Brittany aside from the usual “kills everyone and either becomes creepily okay with it or torn apart with guilt” storyline.)

Brittany had long since become convinced of Charlie’s incompetence. The man was a moron, not worth the juice he drank to stay alive. He spent more time flirting- trying to flirt- with her than he did doing actual work. He needed to stop messing around and actually pay attention for once, otherwise he might-...

Oh, now there was an idea. She could… trip him up a little. Throw him for a loop. Get him to realize he had more important thing to be doing- like self preservation- than hitting on her.

It didn’t have to be something big. Just something little. An unfortunately deaf ear to a call for help. A trip, a stumble, where her foot just happened to fly out in front of his, and on this uneven ground, who knows where he might end up?

Yes, just a little incident, just to get him to pay attention to something else.

Just a little incident.

Certainly not something big. Certainly not something really dangerous. Certainly not something that could get him killed, really killed. Brittany was not a murderer. No, she wasn’t. So certainly, not something like a misplaced bomb rock, knocking him back in the blast, into the sandbelching meerslug’s waiting mouth. No, no, nothing like that. Because Brittany wasn’t a murderer.

And here she was, walking alone, back to the ship, not a murderer. The bomb rock truly had been misplaced, pure coincidence that it had knocked Charlie back at that angle.

And when Alph asked where Charlie was, Brittany looked him dead in the eyes. “He didn’t make it. The slug got him.”

Alph gaped. “Wh-What? But- what will we do now? How- we can’t keep going without-“

“Alph. I’ll be leading this mission now.”

In which Alph is a little too eager a mechanic

An excerpt from Olimar’s notes on the Man-At-Legs:

"The Man-at-Legs has a gentle disposition, and as a member of the arachnorb species, it has no natural enemies. It is particularly difficult to understand why this species would develop such awesome offensive capabilities, leading to rumors among the scientific community that it was the machinery that approached the arachnorb and proposed the symbiotic relationship."

✿✿✿

“What a fascinating creature!”

Alph couldn’t help but marvel at the ingenuity of the thing before him, even as he hid behind a pile of rocks. Where it had come from, he didn’t know, it had simply scuttled out of the bushes and started firing on him and his pikmin. But despite the danger, he was awed by the creature. It seemed to be a perfect mix of a living being and a machine! And despite the danger, Alph wanted to see it closer.

Already, a plan was forming in the back of his head. When it reloaded, he would run forward, and weigh it down with a few rock pikmin. Then he’d climb up on top of it, where he could get at it with his screwdriver (because, of course, no self respecting mechanic would ever be caught without an omnitool equipped with a screwdriver). Because, despite the danger, knowledge like this was so incredibly valuable. A perfect combination of flesh and metal! He could hardly begin to imagine how such technology would benefit Koppai. He just had to get up there and see how it worked!

So between the bursts of fire, he charged forward, a rock pikmin already in hand.

All of the Koppaiates’ suits were equipped with biomonitors, and, in an instance of extreme danger, were capable of automatically transmitting an SOS signal to the others. And it was only shortly after Alph charged forward that both Charlie and Brittany got the notification. Something was wrong with Alph, horribly, horribly wrong. He wasn’t responding to calls. His suit was punctured all the way through in multiple places. He was losing blood and bleeding internally. He was going into cardiac arrest. He was dying, dying.

Brittany and Charlie took off sprinting for the location Alph’s signal had come from, but by the time they got there, it was too late.

He was still conscious, still aware. He could feel them, the wires that had suddenly ripped through his body, fusing to his muscles. He was well aware of the stuttering stop of his own heart, his sudden reliance on the power fed into him, directly from the cable that had punctured his gut. And he could feel the other minds, the computing power and the survival instinct, tapped to his own brain via a fine wire woven into the nerves in his spine. He could feel them sifting through his knowledge and memories even as he trudged through the seemingly endless data files of ceaselessly roaming the planet.

And as the figures approached him and his new symbiote hosts, he could feel the body move, the projectile weapon readying to fire on these potential threats. And he could feel the fear, the nervous fear, despite their power, we’ve got to stay safe.

And wasn’t that what Charlie always said? To stay safe, and watch each other’s backs?

So, voice hoarse and weak, coughing on his own bodily fluids, Alph agreed for the sake of his friends’ and hosts’ safety, and gave the command to fire.