#Never been so happy to have a costume locked and loaded in September

[unashamedly-enthusiastic]

Husband was browsing Halloween costumes on his phone when the toddler GASPS, and with a voice of awe and wonder says "daddy you get that one?"

And what daddy could refuse to dress up as their daughters favourite thing in the entire world?

[ultimate-distaster-material]

-Shuichi Saihara Birthday Special- Birthday Boy~Vol.2

SHUICHI POV

I wake up to the unbearable sound of the monokubs yelling into the monitor, alerting me to wake up. Something about today felt different from the last, as excitement flushed through me, and had absolutely why I had felt like this. Today had a quite special feeling to it that I couldn't recognize. Yet I ignored the thought and quickly got dressed, brushing the sprinkles of dust littering my uniform and wasting a full 5 minutes contemplating whether or not to wear my hat to breakfast. I decided to leave it behind, trying to fight off my addiction to wearing it. Plus, if things got out of hand, I could always come back for it.

I briskly walked out of my dorm, venturing to the kitchen to fix myself a coffee and relax. I love coffee.

"Shumai!"

I instantly knew who that voice belonged to. My lovely boyfriend, Kokichi Ouma. I turned to witness him bouncing excitedly towards me, with a big box rested in his arms. I pondered for a moment.

-Why does he have a box? And why does it have wrapping paper on it?-

Suddenly everything clicked. The special vibe to the day, the present Kokichi was carrying, and why I had felt an overwhelming excitement earlier.

It was my birthday.

September 7th

I waved happily at Ouma as he inched closer, somewhat struggling to carry the present and running out of breath rather quickly. I quietly chuckled at his attempts, and watched him as he almost dropped the present onto the seat and collapsed into my arms, panting heavily. I continued to laugh at his childness and ran my fingers through his silky purple locks, while he impatiently looked up at me, before suddenly jumpscaring me by throwing his hands into the air.

"Happy Birthday, Saihara-Chan!"

I smiled as he aggressively hugged me like a human teddy bear, and I thanked him soon after. I watched as he began to speak, not expecting what happened next.

"Saihara-Chans a big meanie! He doesn't wanna open my present!"

He wailed, clearly attempting to make a dramatic scene as crocodile tears poured out of his purple orbs, hitting the floor with a slight splat. I rolled my eyes and picked up a present.

"Calm down Koki. I'm opening it now."

"Yay! Let's see what you get Shu-Shu!"

I gently peeled the checkered wrapping paper, revealing the box hidden inside it. I was a little scared to open it because it was from Kokichi, yet I still trusted him. Carefully, I opened the box, to reveal a ton of objects scattered inside.

"You didn't' have to waste all your money on me, y'know."

He grinned and put his arms behind his head, doing his signature pose.

"Don't worry! I used Momota-Chan's money instead!"

"WHAT?"

"You heard me, nishishi!"

I sighed and pulled out one of the objects, which was a stack of mystery novels. I swore he could see the stars in my eyes, even without looking. I studied the books, acting like a child on Christmas Day. If he got a cent for every time I said thank you to him, he would be rich. I peered down at the box, reaching for the next object. Mascara. I glared at him.

"Really?"

"Y e s"

I sighed and placed the mascara back into the box, pulling out a black coffee mug instead. I smiled at the object, studying the designs decorating its outsides. Beautiful thin streaks of teal blue slashed across the side, and the deep black colour surrounding the lines.

"Thank you for this, Kokichi."

He smiled at me, swaying back and forth on his heels, his black and purple shoes digging into the tiles. I carefully placed the mug onto the table, and grabbed another object from the box. A checkered scarf. dug through the box to find the very last item. I let out a long relaxed breath as the last item sat perfectly in my hands. A realistic drawing of Kokichi and I, hugging each other. I peered up at my boyfriend, curious.

"Did you draw this?"

"Maybe."

I sighed and stared at the beautiful picture in my hands, before gently placing everything back into the box.

"Sidekick! Maki~Roll and I are here to wish you the best birthday to ever happen in the galaxy!"

"Shut up. You're just embarrassing yourself."

Maki sent a deadly glare at Kaito, making him shiver a little as he handed over the present. I ripped the wrapping paper that was littered with stars and gazed down into the box. I picked up the first item, which was a plastic covered CD of some sort. I inspected the disc, reading the information on the back. My Chemical Romance. I had been secretly wanting this for a while, yet would never admit it. The only person I told was Maki, because I know she honestly doesn't care about judging people other than Kaito and Kokichi. And maybe a few others that I shall not name. I peered back down into the box, double checking that I hadn't forgotten something. The only thing there was a 'Milky Way' chocolate bar that I would eat later.

"Atua told me to give this to you, Saihara~Kun!"

The random voice popped out of nowhere as I was thanking Kaito and Maki. I almost jumped off the chair in fright.

"A-Angie! How long have you been there-?"

"Only a few minutes, nyahahaha~"

I sighed and took Angie's present from her hands, the paper decorated with paint splotches and strokes. I repeated the process, open the box and find a new item to add to my growing collection. This time I had gotten a quite large paint brush, and a drawing of me. I gratefully thanked Angie for her gifts as Miu dramatically entered the room.

"Ayo virgin! I got something for you emo boi. Take it or leave it, it's from Miu Iruma herself! "

She sat down a few chairs away from me after handing me the box. I wasn't prepared. It was probably gonna be something sexual. To my surprise, it was a extra pair of her goggles, but just the way I would've wanted them. I've always told Miu her goggles looked cool, and now I was thanking her for giving me a pair.

"Also...Piano freak told me to give you this and say happy birthday for her."

She passed me a photo of Kaede and I playing the piano, which I admit seemed was a memory I would cherish forever.

As the day went by, I was almost buried in gifts and wrapping paper from all of my classmates. I got a load of new items, and I was grateful for all of them. Gonta had even gotten me a mini cage with a small caterpillar in it, so I could learn how the insect turned into a butterfly. And Rantaro got me a necklace that matches his. Tenko only go me some chocolates, claiming that she didn't wanna give me something better since I was a 'degenerate male'. Himiko had gotten me a beginners magic trick set and a guide to go with it. Tsumugi had sewed me a cool detective costume I had grown quite fond of. Kirumi and Ryoma had even offered to play board games with me and had rented me some books from the library. Korekiyo had gotten me a 'ritual guide', which I studied a little and was pretty interesting. Kiibo had even set up a huge slumber party for all of us. Kaede showed up eventually, claiming that she was helping Kiibo set up the surprise party.

I must admit, that was one of the most fun birthday I have ever had. Ever.

[smashingatsonicspeed]

FINAL BASE GAME DIRECT THOUGHTS

Well, we just had our last base game direct earlier this month for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It certainly was a doozy, and for most probably not nearly as hype as the August direct nor of course the Smash section at E3. But we still got some cool stuff. And I’m going to give my thoughts on much of what we got.

KEN MASTERS, RYU’S ECHO FIGHTER

Ken has practically been confirmed since September with the birth of the box theory. Regardless on what the fate was of many of the rumors/leaks it just looked like Ken was really the only true lock for the game. He looks neat, I won’t use him more then Ryu personally if I had to choose between the two to play as, But I get why he’s here, he’s pretty much the original echo fighter when it comes to fighting games. Sakurai even points this out later. Perfectly ok with Ken’s inclusion, but it is admittedly hard to get excited over someone you’ve practically known was already in the game since September. He does seem to at least to be the most different out of all the Echo fighters.

INCINEROAR, OUR FINAL BASE GAME UNIQUE CHARACTER

The other character nearly as expected as Ken though not quite as long. And not exactly as hinted since in terms of the unique fighter on the Box theory there’s no pattern hinting at who it could be. It could technically have been anyone. The character also got people to doubt it’s appearance after the “Grinch leak”, some people even saying Incineroar may have been Leaker bait sent by Nintendo. But nope, Incineroar was the real deal. And he looks fun! A pro wrestler type character I feel will endear him to fans who aren’t as into Pokemon anymore but can enjoy his personality in Smash. It’s also awesome to finally have a feline character in Smash.

BOX THEORY WAS CORRECT, GRINCH LEAK FOOLED A LOT OF PEOPLE

With Ken and Incineroar in we do need to mention how that it is confirmed in fact that Box theory was correct. The pattern was suspiciously there for Ken, and the Gen 7 Pokemon had not been known yet and while the Grinch leak may have put some doubt. It’s hard to see why the Pokemon Company would miss the chance to add a character. But yes, let’s just say everyone who had their hopes high after believing the Grinch leak just got their hopes crushed when the stuff being speculated about the box theory from September to early October came true. Heck, even though I was one who lowered expectations because of the Box theory, I admit at the very least the Grinch Leak fooled me in believing that some of the characters would become playable. I never believed the leak fully since my brain felt it was illogical for 7 characters to be announced with nearly only a month to go. But stuff like insider talk and that mysterious plant item shown at Wendy’s Tailgate had me thinking that at least say… Isaac made it or something. Props on a well done fake by the leaker, it’s not easy to make a leak that would cause the debates of the century in Smash discussions happen. Of course I do got to stop short of thanking the leaker because if it weren’t for the Grinch leak there were actually people who were bringing their expectations low and might of not taken this direct as bad as a result. There would of still been a meltdown sure, but the meltdown would of simmered over weeks of box discussion. it was only made worse with the Grinch leak.

SPIRITS

Spirits is kind of interesting. It’s kind of another sort of event mode kind of thing with images of characters that you’re able to level up like in gacha games (Just without needing to pay money like the ones on Mobile phones)

ONLINE MODE

I often only use online to play with friends. But some of the changes to Online are neat. Preferred rules letting you more likely find someone who likes the same sort of competition you do. But might not exactly be perfect. Feels like the friend lobbies will be most preferable for many.

ASSIST TROPHIES

And here comes the final painful deconfirmations. Even the first one came to a shock to many since it happened to be Shadow the Hedgehog. Who of course was seen ever since Richter’s inclusion as a lock as a new echo fighter. And then there was Isaac, who looked like he was doing so well in the Ballot back in the polling days since he was missing completely from Smash 4. But he’s back… once again as an Assist Trophy. Spring Man who was thought to be certain for DLC is just an assist as well. (Rex might have been deconfirmed as well with that Mii costume during the DLC section)

But it wasn’t all sad deconfirmations. There was also fun new additions that probably are just happy to be there. You have a Fatal Frame protagonist, the Black Knight from Fire Emblem (Can’t wait to get screenshots of him and Sonic just for the Sonic and the Black Knight jokes), a Thwomp, Dr. Wily, Guile, and Akira. All awesome additions to the assist trophy line-up.

DLC CONFIRMED

As expected, DLC will be happening. The question is if this Fighter pass will be the only season of it or not. Also interesting to note that each fighter+stage pack is the same price as Ryu, Cloud, and Bayonetta. Possibly meaning that all DLC characters in the pass will be 3rd parties. Might not be the case completely but until we get a Nintendo owned character from the pass itself I’ll speculate that.

Though uh… I gotta talk about the one Nintendo character they’re offering as a free bonus until the end of January…

PIRANHA PLANT IS THE FIRST DLC CHARACTER

This was basically the point the Smash Speculator has either been broken or completely left my brain. Because under no circumstances of any speculation question about characters getting into Smash does the Plant meet any standards. For the first time ever, this truly is a joke/WTF character given to us by Sakurai. Even the earlier characters that were seen as joke or WTF characters had reasons to say they deserved to be there. But this plant isn’t even the most iconic enemy. It’s very much like Sakurai chose a character that goes against all preconceptions of Smash inclusion. I can’t even be mad, I’m too broken to be mad. I was just confused and laughing when it happened. I just hope the rest of the DLC doesn’t fall-in-line with this. That this is just the one troll move Sakurai pulls on us and doesn’t try again.

One things for sure though, I will never complain about Dark Pit again after this.

WORLD OF LIGHT

And while it’s certainly not quite as robust as we’ve been told it’s mainly an overworld and more fights. But we have our closest thing to Subspace in a long while. That intro cutscene we got might very well end up being the only real cutscene (Though I wouldn’t put it past there at least being a final cutscene at the end after beating the final boss) but was still great to see. And man it was like they Thanos snapped nearly the entire Smash roster except for Kirby. Perhaps my favorite part is Sonic slowed down to try to save Pikachu before both were blasted. My current main since Brawl, and my former #1 Main in 64 and Melee are a canon Smash friendship! ^^

But anyway, yeah it looks plenty interesting. I wonder if this will be the “streamlined” way of unlocking characters that Sakurai mentioned? Which speaking of which I was kind of surprised that wasn’t really mentioned in terms of unlocking characters which is weird since you’d think that is important in a game where you start with only the original 8 and work your way to unlock the rest. There are still kind of some unanswered questions despite this being the final direct. But I guess that will have to be saved for news publishers to talk about as we get closer to release and the NDAs start disappearing. And then of course the launch of the game itself

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, while again the character reveals weren’t as hype as before. I am still very much excited for the game and in fact already have the game pre-loaded ready for me to play on the very first second once midnight strikes on December 7th. We still have 6 more characters to look forward to play as or at least find out about next year as well. So character speculation isn’t quite over yet. But it will be pretty tight with only 5 spots barring a 2nd season being announced at some point. But right now, the game itself is important. And it’s nearly just a month away! Can’t wait ^^