#Pokemon is the type to make “coincidences” between characters so I think it seems possible they will interact

[sxmmyspam]

I had a theory about Carmine's character. It's just a theory so don't take it seriously.

Carmine's character was introduced in episode 2 of arc 4 and she only interacted with Friede. I've seen a lot of people saying that this would be the only time we'll see her, personally I don't agree. Especially since she hasn't been animated in her BB outfit yet, and she wears it in her character sheet.

She appears on the poster so for me it makes no sense that she only appears for 5 minutes. Her character in the game is very interesting and could be easily added to Horizon, and possibly she will stop being against "outsiders". In the episode where she appears, she only interacts once with the RVT (in the end of the ep) and I think there is a reason.

(My point of view)➡️ I think her character will have nothing to do with them. I think it would be interesting if she interacted mostly or a good part with Amethio who will probably appear a lot in the arc too. Why? If Amethio ends up in Kitakami for some reason, if they meet somewhere there, she will probably start to come out with her famous lines and be against him because he is an "outsider".

Amethio is probably someone who has lost trust in people because of his grandfather and will probably have difficulty interacting healthily with someone. Already, he didn't think that Zir and Conia considered him their friend.

They will probably fight, him with his Ceruledge and her with her Sinistcha and they will use tera. and then, she will lose against him. (I think so especially since it would be the first time that Carmine tera. Sinistcha in the anime (since she didn't do it with Friede).

At this point, something will probably happen that will make them start interacting better and better and over time he could start to trust her and develop a healthy relationship with someone who is not an Explorers or an RVT. And she could start to not be against "outsiders" anymore. I also think that's why Kieran doesn't appear in Kitakami. Also Kieran has mini resemblances to Amethio (and both hit a wall lol)

As I said it's just a theory it's possible that they never interact but hey, who knows 🤷‍♀️

Also, I don't know if this is a hint, but they are also close in the arc 4 poster. They have 3 triangle shaped lower eyelashes, and are the two teenagers who have a rivalry with Friede. And they have a ghost type ace Pokemon. Funny coincidences, right?

[pkmn-unmeiverse]

little talks 1

Characters: Serena & Calem (platonic), mentions of others

Summary: Serena comes to realize how little she knows about her neighbor. First part of a story that will focus on how Serena and Calem start becoming actual friends. 

Warnings: mentions of death

Author’s Note: In my verse, while Calem does get along with Serena and co., he doesn’t really feel a deep sense of friendship with them, even by the end of the story. Over the years he does, but its mostly because Serena was the first to notice and therefore decided to take matters into her own hands so they could all get to know him (and each other) better. Also thank you to @sydchan and @moenecropyromancer for beta-ing!

The view of the sunset from the back of her altaria is beautiful. Autumn was soon approaching and the trees, crowned in various shades of yellows and oranges, made the last glows of the sun look like it spilt all over the land.

(She doesn’t think about how this scenery would have looked, if they had failed then, a couple months ago in that underground lab)

It’s beautiful, she thinks instead.

Serena didn’t mean to be out so late, really, but she didn’t anticipate racking up that many wins in the Battle Maison. It wasn’t a common sight, really, for a trainer to battle one of the Chatelaines twice in one day. Poor Evelyn was so flustered.

They land in front of her house, gracefully and with little fanfare. She gives her partner an Oran berry, and her eyes wander over to the other house, where her new neighbor and rival lives.

She sees him there, just outside their yard. Wearing a black suit. 

There’s many reasons why she suddenly, urgently decides to run up to him at that moment. For one, they hadn’t seen each other since their last weekly battle in Kiloude City, which was only a couple days after their birthday. 

(Yes, it was a ridiculous coincidence that she had to share even her own birthday with her rival) 

The other reasons all involve the facts that Calem is a very handsome and charming boy, that he has gotten many love letters from female fans since he became Champion, and that Serena’s best friend Shauna clearly likes him as more than a friend. Many possibilities were running through her mind, but she’s always been the type to go straight ahead and ask to avoid any misunderstandings.

“Calem!” she calls out. 

He turns to look at her. She could swear there was a different expression on his face before that soft smile he now directs at her. “Serena, bonjour. Or should it be bonsoir?” he says, looking up to the darkening sky. 

She gives a soft, amused sigh. Best to go straight to the point.

“I see you’re all dressed up. Going anywhere special tonight?”

“Ah..” he looks surprised, as if he had just forgotten what he was wearing. She watches him pat a bunnelby resting in his arms she failed to notice earlier. It seems to welcome his touch, and she wonders how long he’s had it.

“Actually,” he continues, stroking the little pokemon’s fur, “ I just got back from a funeral.”

That...is not at all what she was expecting. 

“Oh.” is all she ends up saying.

She realizes it wouldn’t be right to just leave so quickly after that so after a few seconds she continues, “My condolences, I didn’t...realize you had just...lost a relative.” She doesn’t need any second opinions to know how awkward her statement is. It isn’t like she’s had much experience with this sort of thing.

(Briefly, very briefly, she sees the boy in front of her go tense) 

“Oh no, it wasn’t a relative’s funeral. He was just an acquaintance, in a sense.” he explains, oddly casually. “I met him in Anistar City, mon petit Bellamy here took a liking to him so I let him take care of him for a while.”

(She ignores how ‘Anistar City’ doesn’t bring to mind the Gym or Gym Leader, or even the giant rock they call a sundial. She ignores how the only things that do come to mind are the words of a man so angry and frustrated at the world)

“You just left your pokemon in his care?”, she asks first because that sounds incredibly irresponsible for someone to do. 

“Oui.”

“Even though you barely knew him?”

“He seemed like a nice old man. And he seemed lonely. And I did go back to visit him, after...you know, everything,” he makes a vague, wavering sort of hand gesture. She decides to drop this line of questioning and go to the next important point.

“Is that why you were at his funeral? Because he took care of your pokemon?”

At that, he looks at her straight in the eyes. 

(She sees sadness, and something else)

“That, and well, somebody had to show up.”

(Resignation, frustration, and bitterness)

His hands stop their motions. The bunnelby’s ears stiffen, but otherwise it remains still.

She opens her mouth to say something, but apparently, he wasn’t done.

“He didn’t have anyone left. His wife died a year ago, and all his friends and family died years before that. He had no siblings, no children. The pokemon he had in his youth were all either released back into the wild or given to others who could take care of them decades ago. He’d been alone in that house for so long…”

Serena is stunned. He’s rambling, ranting, and this is something she’s never seen him do. Didn’t think he could do. Partly because he had struggled with the local tongue when he first came here and now he’s speaking it fluently, but more because he was never this expressive before.

That’s technically not true. His face and voice are still kept level, the only thing betraying his emotions are the number of words spilling out of his mouth. And how his eyes don’t really seem to be seeing her at the moment.

(Something in the back of her mind is telling her that she should be familiar with that look. She ignores it, knowing full well where and when and to who it was directed at)

After a few more seconds of one-sided conversation, he stops himself. Closes his eyes and breathes deeply.

“Apologies for that outburst.” he says, opening his eyes. But instead of looking at her he shifts his gaze to the bunnelby. Its ears go slack as the petting resumes.

“No, it’s fine,” she begins, not really knowing how to respond. Or if she should. “I think I should be the one apologizing for asking so many questions. I understand it can be difficult to talk about this sort of thing.”

She hears him sigh and sees his lips pull into a soft, sad smile. He doesn’t look at her when he speaks.

“Can I ask you a question, then? Since it’s only fair.”

That makes sense. “Oui.”

“You’ve never attended a funeral before, have you?”

“....I thought that would be obvious.”

“Mhmm, but I just wanted to be sure. You never know, it’s not like you can tell a lot from a person without asking. I mean, this isn’t even the first funeral I’ve gone to.”

Before she can say anything to that, her altaria makes a shrill cry from over her yard. It’s only then that either of them notice how dark it already was. Her stepfather must be worrying by now. 

Calem himself is a little surprised, more bemused. Something about him relaxes.

“Well, I guess we should be heading inside,” he says, already walking towards his own doorstep “Bonne nuit, dors bien!” 

“...De même.”

That night, she decides she’ll have to make “asking each other questions” more of a frequent thing between them.

-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----

(That night, she does not sleep well. 

In her dreams, she’s at a wake.

In her dreams, Calem is sleeping quietly, peacefully, in a casket.

In her dreams, someone...someone…

She wakes up, with no memory of the dream)

[753398445a]

A Liveblog of Harley Quinn 2x2 Riddler U

Full disclosure: I read the synopsis for this episode at one point and still remember that it involves Riddler doing something vague but bad to people in a school. Also, YouTube decided to recommend me a video titled ‘Harley Quinn 2x2 Reaction! Batgirl Vs. Riddler!!’ so I suspect Batgirl may be in this one. I know that when I look for liveblogs I want both the person’s reactions to the events and thoughtful analysis of the material, and I'm sorry that I won’t be able to fully provide the former.

So predictions: I think Riddler will die by the end of the episode. Also the trailers showed what appeared to be Harley and Ivy incognito with Batgirl, so that’s probably going to be them infiltrating the place. Not sure why Clayface wouldn’t be tapped for that kind of role, maybe something happens in this episode that puts him out of commission? Speaking of commission, I think Commissioner Gordon is going to be involved, on account of his niece or daughter (I don’t know which she is in this continuity) having a role. And of course Batgirl is going to fight The Riddler, with said fight apparently being worthy of two exclamation points. Random shots in the dark: I think Bruce will wake up but be an amnesiac, and I feel like Sy’s been in a lot of episodes lately so they’ll probably not have him in this one. [Four outta seven ain’t bad.]

Something I appreciate is that while the writers are having Harley be pro-anarchy they’ve also been pointing out how much losing civilization would suck, like with that line from Ivy last episode about difficulty acquiring sushi and now with Harley’s frustration over needing electricity. I wonder if by the end of the season she’ll have changed her stance on this sort of thing.

So they don’t know Joker is alive, which is something pretty obvious but the implications thereof only just now clicked for me.

...that pretty clearly means that he did use the rendered fat of dead zebras. Which raises the question of how/why he knew how to make candles out of dead animals - I feel like that’s a pretty niche skill. Also, how many zebras were there, if he killed multiple (or at least, had access to the corpses of multiple) and there’s still one in the background? I don’t really visit zoos but I would think zebras aren’t something they’d have a lot of.

Oh, so he’s the Dean of Riddle U. What a fun coincidence! You know, Jim Rash is a really talented guy and I’m happy he was chosen for this role. I preferred his role as a supervillain in Sky High to his role as a supervillain here, but that’s more because I love that movie so much than any sort of flaw with his performance as Nigma.

So beyond looking forward to Jazzfest, Ivy also likes a band that Bing describes as ‘an American folk rock music duo‘. I guess she has varied taste. Or possibly just wants to display the poster despite not liking the band, which would fit with the aspect of her character previously established in episode seven - she cares a lot more about what people think of her than she lets on.

Speaking of Ivy’s subplot from the Queen of Fables episode, its Kite-man (Hell Yeah!). I agree with Ivy, that joke was cute. Heads up: The remainder of this paragraph incorporates information I’ve heard about regarding future episodes. Honestly I was halfway expecting to hear that they’d broken up offscreen to make way for Harlivy, hopefully the fact that they haven’t means the writers will pull from the comics and make that an open relationship. It’d suck to either kill him off or break them up and then just immediately have her get into another relationship.

That’s Barbara, right? I feel like its gotta be, but it could be a fake-out. Harley, you can’t complain about Clayface’s unnecessarily complicated characters last episode and then make up such weird names in this one. Damn it, I actually expected there to be some sort of payoff for that Clayface bit but couldn’t figure out how to phrase it. I was expecting it to be more of an eleventh-hour type deal, but still! Also, I should’ve asked this earlier but how exactly is Harley planning to co-opt the water and electricity?

Surprised to see that Dr. Psycho is still chafing about his role on the team, it seemed like he’d accepted it. I don’t think that the writers are building up to anything with that, for the record - he’s just the Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist who has to be miserable with his lot in life for our entertainment.

I noticed the sound of sirens during that establishing shot earlier and didn’t mention that it didn’t make sense (because the cops are gone) out of a desire to be less nitpicky. Apparently that actually wasn’t a mistake on the part of the creators, but rather foreshadowing. Neat!

Harley and Ivy dancing to the music is a fun touch. I like when shows incorporate little details like that that don’t actually matter. Also, Jim is here. Called it! He’s doing about as well as could be expected, to be honest.

Can’t Dr. Psycho make forcefields? This is cool and all but I feel like it isn't necessary. Also, I’m wondering if this excursion will culminate in that shot in the trailers of him emerging from the portal atop what I’ve been told is a parademon.

How could the party be a fundraiser for Jiminy if Barbara already had time to score wristbands for it. Unless the bands just work for any party? Or maybe that jump between the scenes of her being chased by Harley and Harley and Ivy invading her dorm was a lot longer than it seemed.

Loving this subplot with "Stephanie”. I’m honestly curious about how things go between her(?) and Chad.

Clayface is still vulnerable to electricity? Pokemon logic taught me he would be immune. Eyyy, that’s the Inquisotortor guy! Also, Poison Ivy doesn’t resist electric attacks? Its like these guy’s haven’t bothered to learn the type effectiveness chart at all!

God, Harley’s a dick. I find it entertaining, but a major part of her growth last season was in not taking her team for granted, so her doing so again is disappointing.

Clayface, no. Chad set you up, don’t fall for his silver tongue again!

Still no Frank. Wasn’t his last appearace him mentioning that he was getting more sun exposure than what was ideal? If he doesn’t show up soon I’m gonna assume that it was a fatal amount.

[yoshichao]

the Smashers and their Host Ch13 Preview

Series: Super Smash Bros.

Characters: Reader, Literally Everyone In Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Summary:  You're an inter-dimensional being that owns a huge estate situated on the cusp of spacetime. You've been asked to rent out your mansion for the upcoming Super Smash Bros. tournament. What could possibly go wrong?

Tags: Reader-Insert, Romantic & Platonic Harem, Comedy, Fluff, No Smut

Read the fic here!

[So after a year, I finally finished chapter 11... During my writer’s block, I actually started on what was then going to be chapter 12, but I’ve seen then squeezed another chapter between them in the plans. So, if all goes according to plan, this will be May’s update. Anyways, I feel like posting it so!! It’s not as meaty as the chapter 11 preview - this one is only about 2k words instead of a whopping 13k - but I hope you enjoy regardless!]

You can’t help but stare as the roller coaster above slowly reaches its peak before plummeting downwards, accompanied by a chorus of screams. Just watching the cars zip through loops and corkscrews makes your head spin, and you find yourself grateful that you aren’t on that particular ride. You don’t know if your heart could take it.

The repairs at the mansion finished with accompanying fanfare (well, in your head, at least) and you thought you’d be able to sit back and relax for a bit. Your new life had other plans, of course, and the Smashers were absolutely insatiable, so you had been invited to join them to an amusement park. Honestly, you should have declined - you wanted to! - but…

“Pleaaaaase?” Roy had been the one to ask you to join them, giving you puppy dog eyes as he held the brochure out. The park was in a place called Nimbasa City - recently expanded! grand re-opening! - which you recognized as a place in the Pokemon universe. 

“You know you can go without me, right?” you tried, still feeling worn out from all the Social Activities and babysitting you’ve been doing lately. The other day, you found DK using Pac-man as a bowling ball to “prank” anyone wandering the halls. Then the following day, you’re pretty sure Villager and Toon Link had a slingshot competition with the mansions’ windows. And then the day after that, Leaf helped you play detective to find out who was stealing all the speakers throughout the mansion, just to find Diddy Kong using them to create a “gaming set-up fit for a king”. 

Why.

Completely oblivious to your weariness, Roy’s expression remained enthusiastic, even when he gave you a mock-frown. “Sure, but, you said we would hang out together next time everyone was doing something!”

“I did?”

“Yeah, you did!”

Oh right, you did. You did say that after he wasn’t invited to the sleepover. Curse you and your desire to keep everyone happy! Now you have to go!

And so, after someone consulted Master Hand about building a temporary transporter directly to Nimbasa City, here you are.

“Whoa, it’s even cooler than in the pictures!” Roy, determined to take you up on your offer to spend time together, arrived via teleporter alongside you. While the mansion has been abuzz over another multiverse outing, you have no idea who actually intended on going. It’s already midday, so there are probably plenty of Smashers already here…

Pulling your gaze away from the roller coaster, you notice that your redheaded companion was also staring intently at the Rayquaza-themed deathtrap. His expression is strained, leading you to believe the both of you are thinking the same thing.

“Why don’t we start with getting something to eat?” you suggest, thinking of the safest option possible. Oh, but if you end up going on rides with a full stomach… Hm, maybe that’s not as safe as you thought. But Roy eagerly takes your suggestion and you have no choice but to follow him to the food court.

“That’s a great idea! I’m dying to see what kind of food this world has!”

You can’t help but agree, but his words have curiosity bubbling within you. “Have you never visited the Pokemon world before?”

“Only once, during Melee!” His grin is almost infectious, though it mellows out as he continues talking. “We never came out here during the last tournament season! ...Or at least, not while I was around.” Roy frowns a moment before putting on another smile, though this one seems a bit more forced. “Melee’s whole thing though was that we were travelling to a new universe for each round of the tournament. For the Pokemon world though, we took a blimp to the stadium, so we didn’t really get to explore…”

That’s right - you forgot Roy was technically only invited to one full tournament, so he wouldn’t have had as much time to relax and travel around with the others. It was only by popular demand that he was invited for the “extra” tournaments, appearing alongside Ryu as a secret opponent for the champions of the mini doubles tournament. They’d both go on to appear in the remaining tournaments and random matchups of the season. While that would have given him a few months to participate in fun activities with the others, you have to imagine a lot of that slows down during tournament season.

“But, a few Smashers and I snuck out between matches to check out the local town.” Roy continues his story sheepishly, smiling fondly at the memory. “And then we uh, went a bit too far… got lost in a cave… We made it back just in time for our next match, but Master Hand really gave us an earful…” He laughs awkwardly, and you find yourself snickering at the idea of Master Hand panicking when he discovered some of his hotshot superstars have gone missing. 

“Who all went with you?”

He counts them off on his fingers as he lists everyone. “Me, Pichu, Young Link, Popo, Nana... oh, and Ness. Pikachu ended up being the one who found us lost in the cave.”

You can just imagine the six of them running in circles trying to find the exit, just to have Pikachu show up and use its familiarity of the region to lead them out in mere minutes. 

...Huh. Funny, most of those six are Smashers that didn’t get invited back every year afterwards. And you remember there had once been rumours that Ness wasn’t going to be invited back to Brawl…

...Eh, probably just a coincidence. Master Hand wouldn’t exclude someone over an incident like that.

“I’m surprised Pikachu didn’t try to get you even more lost on purpose,” you say offhandedly. Roy’s expression is surprisingly contemplative.

“Nah, Pikachu used to be cool back then. Like, sure he liked to hype up the crowd, but outside of matches he was really chill.” He pauses. “I was surprised to find out he kind of became a jerk. Apparently he’s just been that way since the start of Brawl.”

“Really?” And here you thought the first tournament had been the catalyst to its inflated ego, where the electric rodent had won both the singles and the doubles tournaments that season. Pikachu’s record during Melee was pretty average… maybe something else happened between that and Brawl? An event none of the Smashers would have known about? 

Roy shrugs - he’s just in the dark about it as you are - and you notice you’ve arrived at the food court, signalling the end of the conversation. You spot a Pansage, a Panpour, and a Pansear behind a long counter. Pansage takes orders and hands them to the other two monkeys, who then proceed to rush around unnecessarily chaotically to put the order together. This seems like the type of environment where mistakes are easily made, but a lot of people seem to be eating food from here, so apparently they know what they’re doing…?

You end up ordering a Rawst Burger and a lemonade, while Roy gets a corn dog and a soda pop. On your way to finding somewhere to sit, you spot Falco getting his hot dog stolen by the Duck Hunt Dog. You’re glad he’s too far to notice you laughing.

“Look, there’s space at that table!” Your attention is brought back to Roy, who is pointing at a table with only one other person sitting at it. Coincidentally, the spiky blond haired dude there is someone you recognize as part of the Smash crew. Roy takes longer to recognize him - it’s not until you’ve both rounded the table to sit across from the swordsman that he addresses him.

“Oh hey, you’re that guy… uh, Rain, was it?”

When the blond looks up and you see his face, an involuntary snort arises from your throat as you try to hold back laughter.

“It’s Cloud. Cloud Strife.” Apparently they offer facepainting somewhere at the park, because Cloud’s face is covered in ink that resembles a bunny. When combined with his completely serious expression, you have to hide a smile behind your hand as you sit down. 

“Right, that’s it. I knew that.” Roy sits next to you, raising an eyebrow at the swordsman across from you two. “What’s on your face?”

“It’s a rabbit.”

“I guess someone is offering facepainting somewhere?” you clarify helpfully, and Roy’s face lights up in recognition.

“Oh! That sounds fun.” He looks to you with enthusiasm. “Hey, what animal do you think I should get? Heh, probably something fierce, like a lion, or--”

“A puppy,” you reply without hesitation, interrupting his own ideas. Roy looked shocked at your suggestion - almost even offended. Whoops. 

“A-A puppy? Not like… a bigger dog? A wolf, maybe…?”

“I think a puppy would suit you as well,” Cloud agrees. Roy’s jaw drops as he’s left struggling for an objection, but Cloud moves the conversation before he can say anything. “They also do portraits - look.”

He hands you a large rolled up piece of canvas paper that you’ve been curious about for awhile now before returning to picking at his funnel cake (mm, you gotta get one of those later). Roy leans into your personal space to take a look as you unroll it.

Oh my. That is certainly a caricature. 

Roy almost immediately lets out a laugh. “Wo-ow! That would explain your face.”

The canvas blocks your vision so you can’t see Cloud’s face, but you can hear him exhale deeply. Rolling the portrait back up, you place it down on the table.

“I like the style! The art is very clean.” You’ve seen a lot of skill levels in the art found in your mansion, so it’s pretty easy to think outside of “bad” and “good”. Then of course, there’s your own art to consider… yeesh. “I think the artist really captured your character.”

“That’s what I thought,” Cloud responds with a nod, relaxing in the seat. Roy snorts beside you, and you refrain from elbowing him quiet in favour of shooting him a wry look.

“What, you think you could do better?”

Your challenge seems to actually take him off guard, and he fumbles to regain his confidence. “Uh… pfft. Of course. Anyone could do that.” He tries to laugh confidently, but there’s a clear nervous edge to it. Refusing to show him mercy, you play along by feigning amazement.

“Really? Wow, I’d love to see that. Maybe we should have an art show back at the mansion! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“O-Ooh, I mean… You really think people would be interested in that…?”

Cloud recognizes the game you are playing and chimes in with an immediate “I would”. You do a gesture as if to say “see??”, smiling bright and devious until his resolve finally breaks.

“F-Fine! I’ll do it! But don’t say I didn’t warn you, cuz I’m… really good!!” His voice shakes with anxiety at the end, and it takes all you have not to burst out laughing. This is good. This is so good. You’ll have to file this “art show” idea away for down the road, so you can spring it on him again unexpectedly. Although, torture and humiliation aside, you actually suddenly are curious if any of the Smashers are secretly artists. 

“Yes! I’m looking forward to it!” With a grin, you end the conversation by finally picking up your burger and taking a bite into it. Huh, it tastes… fruity. Bitter. Wait, that must be because there are Rawst Berries used in it. Guess you should have seen this coming. You don’t hate it, but the taste has definitely taken you off-guard and you’re not sure you like the mix of meat and berry. 

You must have been making a face because Cloud slides his funnel cake plate halfway across the table. “Here. I probably won’t finish it anyways.”

Forgetting about his previous worries, Roy smiles and reaches for the plate. “Ooh, don’t mind if I do--” To his dismay, Cloud hits his hand away.

“I didn’t offer it to you.”

Roy looks torn. You’d feel bad for him if it wasn’t so funny. Likewise, you usually try to politely decline gifts so as to not seem greedy, but you are enjoying having fun at Roy’s expense. “Thanks!” You put down the burger and reach for a piece of the doughy, sugary treat. Ripping it off, you pop it in your mouth and audibly hum in delight. Hehe, you’re a real devil!! If you wanted to be really mean, you could mention how sad it is that Roy can’t know how good this is, but you are not that cruel. Not right now, at least.

Between stealing chunks of funnel cake and continuing to try finishing the burger (nnnnnope, still tastes weird!), you let your mind wander to thoughts regarding the swordsman across from you. Back in the day, Cloud was a popular request to join the tournament despite existing extremely far away from the bubble of universes Master Hand typically picked from. When he was announced as a surprise participant in the final Super Smash Bros. 4 season tournament, fans exploded with excitement. You were honestly surprised to see him on the list for the Ultimate roster - you hear that Cloud Strife is a tough guy to work with and that’s why he doesn’t make many multiverse appearances despite his popularity. Not even the heads of the more local Playstation All-Stars tournament could get him. Master Hand must have really pulled some strings to get him to participate in Smash not once, but twice.

[...and that is unfortunately all I have. See you next month for chapter 12!]

[darkzeruda1214]

The Destiny Trio as Pokemon Trainers??

Oh… whoa,

Sorry. That was one of the most random questions I’ve ever gotten. But at the same time really interesting. I do like Pokemon, I grew up watching the show when I was younger. And still a fan of the show and games today.

Now I won’t deny that your question left me thinking. What kind of Pokemon would the Kingdom Hearts characters would have. I’m not 100 percent sure what Pokemon team the characters would have. But I’ll give it my best shot

Now I will have to modify your question and might split it into three parts (for the three trios) if I ever get back to going on it. Not sure if I’d be able to write it for organization XIII (Or the Disney characters... I’m sorry, but Disney and FF characters will have to strictly stay out of this one). 

I don’t think all the KH character would all get a full team, but I’ll try to think more into it.

However, I do believe that they would all get at least 3 Pokemon with them. (But again I do have a hypothetical team for all the trios) But for now I will only focus on the Destiny Trio and a brief explanation as to why I gave these Pokemon to them alone.

I did make a couple of ground rules before I started, one being, that neither of the characters would share the same Pokemon, regardless if one is evolved and the other is still in the first stage or so.

So let’s say I gave Sora a Gardevoir and Riku a Gallade. Since they are both from the same Pokemon line, regardless of different evolutions and are of different genders, they would counteract with each other (and while it would make sense, make the challenge way too easy). So I would cancel that.  

Also, like I said I gave myself a challenge, so there are no starters. And absolutely. No. Legendaries.

*But since region starters are a primary Pokemon that every trainer has to get at first, I decided to add a “hypothetical case” if I were to give them a starter. (And as an added bonus, each starter has to be a different type, so if I give character B a fire type, character A and C must be EITHER water or grass). Just an extra challenge for me.

Also, one Eeveelution since Eevee has the ability to change it’s type when it evolves. And I think everyone has a special type of personality that would fit them well with a certain element.

Also I’m strictly sticking with Gens 1-7, since Pokemon Sword and Shield hasn’t been released when I wrote this.

With that said were we go with the Destiny!

...

Sora

Starting with the one and only protagonist in the majority of the titles, I think it’s only natural I only start with our little cinnamon bun. His type of Pokemon team was a little tricky to come up with considering his easy going personality. But I think I managed to get a stable kind of team. I don’t think realistically he would be very balanced out in types, but since I based the type of Pokemon they get from personality his a little balanced here.

So the main three Pokemon he could possibly have would be:

Eevee

Klefki

Litleo

Okay. Okay. I know I said Eevee was a hypothetical case for everyone, but I’m gonna have the bend the rule slightly once because of the reason behind it. Now as far as why I gave him these three is simple. As for Eevee’s case, since the beginning of the game Sora has been rather classified as this “normal boy.” As stated by Xehanort, mentioned in KH1 and even by Nomura himself. He was just a normal boy so people would be able to relate to him.

So Naturally Eevee stuck with me (not because his hair and Eevee look pretty similar in a sense) but also because Eevee is known as the evolution Pokemon. And as you all know, Eevee can evolve into any Pokemon type (currently only 9 types at the moment when I wrote this analysis). And Sora has shown time and time again to shape his own destiny by his own hand and choices. Despite being that “dull, ordinary boy.” So to me Eevee was the best option.

Again, I know I wasn’t going to add Eevee other than a Hypothetical Pokemon, but I think Sora earned the spot to be the exception because of what kind of character he’s portrayed as.

Now as for Klefki, the answer is obvious. Sora’s the first character to show that he has a Keyblade when the games first came to existence. And while Klefki isn’t exactly one of the most strongest Pokemon it is a good support Pokemon. And to me that really “speaks Sora” because of “his friends are his power” and how much he supports his own friends.

So maybe not a powerhouse, it still speak reflects Sora’s character.

Litleo has a few reasons why he’s on Sora’s team, and namely because of a certain Pride Lands exploration. But also just in general because I’ve always seen Sora having fire as favorite magic spell. So naturally fire would be a good Pokemon type for him. (Also it doesn’t help that in monster’s inc he’s a cat-based monster and the Simba summon is fire based, so...)

Now as for the rest of his team in this hypothetical case scenario:

Lucario (He’s a fighting steal type, which also reflects on Sora’s character and Keyblade)

Pidgeot (His name means sky in Japanese, it would be criminal for not for me to give him a flying type. But also I think Sora would like to have a Pokemon to fly once in a while and I think Pidgeot fit’s the glove)

Lapras (A certain Atlantica incident inspired this one. But also Lapras is shown to be large enough to carry it’s trainer across water. And in a sense that would also be Sora since he doesn’t have trouble to carry extra weight to help his friends) Also Lapras is adorable and so is Sora.

(The starter I think he would more likely get would be Charizard) (And he already has normal Eevee, so…)  

…

Riku

This one was a bit of challenge for me to figure out, but in the end I managed to get something in. I’m not 100 percent happy with this team, so if you might think that there are other Pokemon who fits him better, I understand why, but this is what I got.

The main three he would call upon the most would be:  

Zoroark

Lycanroc (dusk form)

Aegislash

These three Pokemon spoke a small little story to me when I put them in that specific order.

Zoroark was the first Pokemon that came to mind when I thought about Riku’s team. The majority of the time we see Riku’s he’s struggling or is using darkness to help him win his fights or get an advantage. So there’s no way I wouldn’t give him a dark type I think Zoroark made the most sense. Not because it’s solely a dark type, but also because it’s an illusion fox.

And while not cannon to the game (at least to my knowledge) the anime has shown that Zoroark has the ability to transform into people. And to other Pokemon. And that’s what happened to Riku, whether he wanted to or not, when he used the powers of darkness Riku turned into Ansem seeker of Darkness. And to me that spoke a nice Pokemon for Riku to have on his team.  

Now as for Lycanroc (more specifically dusk form), Riku also came off to me as this “lone wolf” kind of character. And yeah sure there is Mightyena, and let’s not forget Lycanroc’s midnight form. I felt that while Riku did have darkness, it’s not too much to the point his entire team would be all dark types. And so we get to dusk form, for one the reason I gave him Lycanroc is because it’s a rock type which coincides with his name. Because Riku means land.

And while I do like the midday form, since it looks more a like a wolf, the Midnight form suited his style more. But at the same time, I didn’t want his team to solely reliant at the night. And so we have his dusk form. And Dusk Lycanroc speaks a lot of Riku’s transition from the darkness to the light. Because he chose neither light nor dark. But the road to dawn. Which to me felt like a mixture of both. (Heck his Keyblade is called “Way to Dawn” which has a combination of both light and darkness) And closest we got to in between was Dusk form. So I think it worked the best.

(Also Riku spent a good amount of time in Twilight Town, so…)

When it came to Aegislash, I will admit that it could be either one of the evolutions. But knowing Riku he would want to max out his entire team to reflect his strength. So the conclusion why I came to Aegislash is to continue the story, when he first started out as darkness, he soon came to the light but was still influenced by his past. So when he finally overcame that he started to fight against it and for what is right. And to me, I think the best way to demonstrate that was Aegislash because it’s a sword. And normally when I think of a fighter of good, I normally (stereotypically) think of a knight in shining armor. And the Pokemon that fit the category the best was Aegislash. And to me it finishes the story of Riku’s arc in Kingdom Hearts (or in this case, in the AU Pokemon)  

For the rest of his team, well might not be the best choice I figured it could be like this:

Gyarados (Gyarados is a Pokemon of both intimidation and hard work, in order to get Gyarados, either you have to beat it, or struggle to evolve a Magikarp. And Riku fit’s that bill pretty good IMO. Also Riku can be intimating if he wanted to).

Garchomp (This is mostly because I feel like Riku would have a dragon type, I know Salamence might be a choice. But I think Garchomp eased into the role mostly because of it’s design as well as being a ground type, again fitting to Riku’s name)

Sawk (Okay… I’m not going to lie, I’m not 100 percent sure about Sawk. There are other Pokemon that fit’s the fighter type better. And since Riku is a fighter, I wanted to give Riku a fighting type. In the end I just chose Sawk because of it’s color design, because Riku wear predominantly blue in KH3)

(The starter I think he would most likely get is Greninja) (Eevee would no doubt be Umbreon)

…

Kairi

Kairi was sorta like Riku, a little difficult to decide, as many of the Pokemon I thought would be nice also seemed… too redundant. I tried to limit the amount of Fairy types since that’s the closest we’ll get to a light type in Pokemon. But since Kairi is a princess of Heart naturally she would have more light compared to others.  (I wouldn’t be surprised if she had an all out Fairy team, but again I needed to give her something a little more realistic).  

So in the end I thought her main three would be:

Floette

Milotic

Meowstic  

The reason I didn’t go for Florges is mainly because I think Kairi would care little to evolve her Pokemon for power. I can see her be a bit of a strategist and Floette could provide a good amount of advantages. Also biggest reason I gave Floette, because one: Fairy type. And two, it’s a flower which goes pretty well with her Keyblade.

Milotic was sorta an easy pick because of Kairi’s name meaning ocean. And Milotic is a really pretty Pokemon. I can easily imagine Kairi wanting to join showcases or Pokemon Contests. And just in general it could also represent Kairi and the sign of strength. Despite not looking much, she can grow into something much more than just something simple and dull. (Though… it’s debatable after what happened in kh3... But that’s not the point right now!)    

As for Meowstic, it doesn’t really matter what gender Kairi would get, because I sincerely doubt she would care about that. But I think the female version would be more likely on her team, knowing how it’s typically girls with girls sort of deal. But beyond that, the reason I gave her Meowsitc has to be because it’s a psychic type. For as much as I can tell Kairi has been surrounded in and has magic, and the closest we’ll get to a magic type is psychic type. And while I know there are other Psychics that fill the role. I think Meowstic isn’t too much of a bad choice. That and it’s a cat, and there is a theory that Kairi is a chirithy just like Riku is a dream eater for Sora. So, I use that to help choose her Pokemon.

I think Kairi would definitely have the least amount of Pokemon compared to everyone else. But hypothetically for a full team, I thought this would work:

Ninetales (Alola version) (during my gameplay I noticed that Kairi used a lot of ice spells, so I figured that might be her favorite element in magic. That and Ninetales is really pretty in design and I figured it would be a nice addition on Kairi’s team).

Emolga (The biggest reason? Emolga is freaken adorable, and I know Kairi would have other cute Pokemon, that and it doesn’t evolve, which… sorta fit’s Kairi… but also I think Kairi would be interesting to see Kairi have an electric type that isn‘t Pikachu) that and I think someone else would more likely have Pikachu on their team 

Arcanine (I’m sorry, but no one can tell me otherwise that Kairi would not have a fire type. Despite her nature she has shown to be feisty and can get riled up. And honestly I wanted to give Kairi a Pokemon that does look pretty strong since the rest of her team has an appearance of fragility ~even though the Pokemon themselves aren’t~ I wanted to give her something that would show her fighting spirit too)

(The starter I think she would most likely get is Chikorita, unlike the others I don‘t think she would evolves hers. At least not beyond Bayleef, I feel like Chikorita would be comfortable being in it‘s first stage).

*The other starter that I feel would suit her as well is Fennekin. But her Keyblade is mostly flowers so I felt the grass type held a little more influence in what starter she would get

(I’d be an idiot to not give her a Sylveon)

...

And that’s pretty much it, I actually had a lot of fun writing this, and honestly I think I might do the others to. Also, please consider that this was done for fun and not meant to be taken seriously. I understand that others will have different views and opinions. And that’s totally fine, I see no harm in it at all. In fact I’m really curious,

What Pokemon teams do you think these character would have? I’d love to see what you all have in mind

That’s all for now, thanks for reading

[ospreys-watch]

Bird’s Eye Review: Pokemon Detective Pikachu

Video game adaptations tend to not do very well as feature-length films, mainly due to the length of most games being far too long to squeeze in the extensive details and lore many games entail. As such, game adaptations of any kind often tend to do better as graphic novels or animated series (i.e. Persona 4: The Animation or Netflix’s Castlevania). And with the absolute travesty that was the trailer for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog film (I honestly don’t know if overworking the animators to redesign the title character will save that movie), I admittedly had some reservations when I sat down to watch Pokemon Detective Pikachu on Sunday. However, the general response from my friends who had seen the film had been very good, and the response online even better.

I think what partially saved this film was that it was only covering the plot of a single game in the series’ 20+ year history; a Nintendo 3DS title with the same name, that wasn’t all that connected to the main series. The plot of the film (and game) centers around Tim Goodman, who teams up with a talking, wise-cracking Pikachu to discover what happened to his father Harry, who supposedly died in a car accident. However, the Pikachu has no memories of its past, with its only clue being Harry Goodman’s address stitched into its hat. It should be noted that the premise and some other plot points are the same between the game and film, but most of the characters are different to include a bit more diversity. From here on out, I’ll only be discussing the film.

When Tim goes to his father’s apartment (and meets Pikachu), he encounters and (stupidly) opens a mysterious vial containing a purple chemical; as he opens a window to air out the room, unknowingly causing a group of wild Aipom to go on a temporary rampage and attack the pair. This begins the investigation of a second plot point—a strange chemical compound called R being produced to drive pokemon mad. It becomes clear that Harry was also investigating this R, as when Tim and Pikachu manage to find a lead and encounter an underground pokemon fight club (Ryme City, where the film takes place, does not permit pokemon battles, normally a staple of the game series), the club owner recognizes Pikachu—and doesn’t take kindly to its return.

There’s so much I want to discuss about this film, but I’ll begin with the pokemon themselves—they’re fleshed out beautifully in this film, as if they actually belong in the scenery, affected by lights, shadows, water and other aspects of their environment. There is a scene early on where Tim is licked by a Lickitung, and saliva appears on Tim’s face right beneath the massive CGI tongue. Later scenes seamlessly blend CGI pokemon attacks with special effects, such as fire and water. Human actors are impacted by animated characters very clearly, though I feel like in some cases the movements were a big exaggerated. Pikachu’s fur is shown as short and fuzzy without seeming to be too much; Charizard’s scales have full detail, and even details of an electrical burn from a previous battle. The pokemon characters are a seamless blend of human and animal, visibly changing expression and showing that they’re not beneath instincts (such as when Pikachu is scratched on the chin and begins tapping his foot like a dog). My favorite pokemon depiction in the film, however, is Mewtwo. Heeded in-universe as one of the most powerful pokemon in existence, the genetically-created psychic type is shown as a blend of highly intelligent, yet still an animal at its core. It communicates telepathically, and I absolutely love the way they blended the audio for Mewtwo’s voice, using two voice actors, one male and one female—Mewtwo is a genderless pokemon, so this was a very nice touch. It’s clear the people who worked on the film were people who loved the series and wanted to be as loyal to it as possible.

The human characters were, honestly, a bit flat, but nothing terrible. Tim, played by Justice Smith, is a cynical adult who gave up his dreams of being a pokemon trainer and hasn’t spoken to his father in years, harboring a sort of resentment toward him—he at one point in the film states it sometimes felt like his father, who lived in Ryme City while Tim was cared for by his grandmother (his mother had passed), cared more about pokemon than his own son—this can sometimes be a sentiment shared by children whose parents work demanding jobs, or travel frequently for work. Lucy, played by Jessica Newton, is an okay character, but at the same time, I feel like she looks too young to be an adult character (that’s just a personal thing, though). To be honest, she reminded me a lot of Hilary Duff during the Lizzie McGuire era—and that’s a bit young. But that’s really a minor gripe; other than that, Lucy’s a nice supporting character who proves herself to be useful to Tim without falling into the “sexy lamp” category (i.e. she has enough of a presence on the screen where she can’t just be replaced with a sexy lamp—look that test up if you’re curious), not to mention having her own ambitions that happen to coincide with Tim’s.

Naturally, the one who steals the show is Ryan Reynolds as the titular Detective Pikachu. He’s crass, overconfident, and a good foil to the much more strait laced Tim. It’s pretty clear he’s pulling a lot from his role as Deadpool in 2016’s titular Deadpool, but that doesn’t make him any less funny in the role.

Now, at this point, I want to talk about a few things in the film that bugged me, or I felt were worth noting. They’re relatively minor, but they are spoilers, so they will be down below the Read More.

[[READ MORE]]

I feel like the dialogue was a bit weak in some areas; most noticeably in the scene where Mewtwo speaks to Pikachu before merging Harry with him. Mewtwo simply states that “not all humans are bad.” I understand this is a children’s movie, but Mewtwo is a highly intelligent creature, and is highly likely the same Mewtwo from Pokemon: The First Movie, who said the famous line, “The circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.” I simply feel like “not all humans are bad” could have been said in a more sophisticated way. On the subject of Mewtwo, I understand he’s a powerful pokemon, but the idea of him being able to merge humans and pokemon seems a bit out of his range of abilities as a psychic-type.

The other issue was with Ryan Reynolds playing the actual father at the end of the film. Ryan is far older than he looks, but his youthful appearance did not work for him in this film—he simply looks too young to be the father of an adult son.

The villain’s motive, to merge people and pokemon to advance humankind, is a bit more complex than the typical, “take over the world” plot—the villain is an old man, confined to a wheelchair, who wants nothing but strength, and uses Mewtwo’s body and DNA (to produce the chemical R) to achieve that end. I have seen some arguments that the film is ableist because the villain is disabled. I just don’t think the film set out to be that way, and calling it “ableist” may be going a bit too far—granted, I am not physically disabled, so I can’t speak for anybody whatsoever.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and I highly recommend it—the people who worked on the film made it clearly as a love story to the decades-old series that’s inspired and entertained millions of players since its inception, and their hard work and research shows, from subtle dialogue hints (Pikachu says “Arceus” instead of “God” at one point, referring to the godly pokemon), to references in the environment that are there and gone in the blink of an eye. It’s a good film that’s worth a watch, with a decent mystery and plenty of action.

Gotta catch ‘em all, indeed!

[beardycarrot]

Nintendo E3 Hopes and Dreams

It’s probably dumb to actually hope for...anything, BUT HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS DAMNIT. Nintendo will have a twenty-five minute video spotlight, presumably showing off trailers for new games, while Treehouse Live will be going more in-depth with gameplay.

Nintendo’s big game this year is Super Mario Odyssey, which will be playable on the show floor, with Treehouse Live probably showing off some levels not available to the public. This is pretty much all we know for sure; anything else is just speculation (and wild hopes) on my part.

No Arms

Rebel that I am, I decided to start my list of things I want to see with something that I don’t want to see. Arms is coming out just three days after Nintendo’s presentation, and the reviews are already in. Anyone attending the event who would be likely to put out good press has already reviewed the game, so there’s not much point in making it playable on the show floor. I can see Treehouse Live dedicating a few minutes to showing off the game and maybe teasing some of the free DLC that will be coming out, but I really hope that’s the only focus this game gets. The spotlight video is only twenty-five minutes long, so they’d better not waste time on Arms.

Kid Icarus: Downfall

That title is completely made up, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a sequel to Kid Icarus: Uprising. Sakurai is working on a new game, which probably isn’t just the Switch port of SSB4. I can totally see Sora and Platinum collaborating on a new Kid Icarus game for Switch. Maybe this time with an option to keep in the Japanese voice acting? It’s a crying shame to dub over Minami Takayama.

Mo’ Like NOkémon

Yeah, I, uh... I don’t want to see any of the stuff from this week’s Pokemon Direct in the Nintendo spotlight. That trailer for Pokken Tournament was great and really showed off the potential of the Switch, but it’s a game everyone expected to see a Switch port, and we already know everything important about it for the time being. I’m okay with Treehouse showing off some of the new content, but I don’t want it in the spotlight. Same with Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon. A trailer wouldn’t be useful to us at this point, so just show some gameplay during Treehouse Live and explain what the game is there. Speaking of Pokemon, I hope that we’ll finally see an English release for Detective Pikachu, though I don’t know whether that’s really worthy of showing during the spotlight.

Golden Sun 4

This is a long shot, but a friend recently reminded me of the cliffhanger ending to Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. Unfortunately, that game wasn’t great, and didn’t sell well, so it’s entirely possible that nothing will come of the sequel bating. Which sucks, because the first two games in the series were fantastic. Since Dark Dawn, Nintendo’s just had Camelot working on bland Mario Sports titles... but with the latest one, Mario Sports Superstars, they’ve finally brought all the Mario Sports games (...and... horse racing) together into one package! They had the team from Namco that worked on Mario Super Sluggers helping out, so maybe the extra man power meant they were able to divert some resources towards a new Golden Sun pitch? I mean, with five sports games in one coming out just a few months ago, there’s no need to release another in the near future, so that totally opens them up their schedule, right? Right? Please, Nintendo, even just a teaser image showing silhouettes of the four Djinn types will do. PLEASE?

Retro Studios 2D Metroid

I know what Nintendo was trying to do with Metroid Prime: Federation Force. They knew that there was a big market for online gaming, and Splatoon’s unexpectedly huge success encouraged them to push ahead. Tri Force Heroes was... less, of a success, but people clearly liked online play and were clamoring for a new Metroid game, so it seemed like a perfect fit. Unfortunately, this is one of the few instances where Nintendo’s “develop a gameplay concept and then choose a Nintendo franchise to use it in” approach didn’t work. People seem to thing that Nintendo doesn’t care about the Metroid series, having done nothing special for its thirtieth anniversary... but bear in mind, Federation Force DID come out during the anniversary month. It just... would’ve been nice if they’d actually acknowledged it. ANYWAY, while Metroid isn’t nearly as popular in Japan as it is in the US, Nintendo DOES care about the series; it’s their only franchise in the Metroidvania genre, and it’s bad business to leave a market untapped.

All that said, Retro Studios has been quiet since Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze came out three years ago. They apparently didn’t like working with Kensuke Tanabe, and his role as a producer on Retro games and point of contact with Nintendo was supposedly filled by Yoshio Sakamoto, the director of the Metroid series. Considering Retro’s history with Metroid and their recent foray into 2D platforming with the Donkey Kong Country games, with or without Sakamoto, their secret project definitely feels like it must be a 2D Metroid game. When they finished working on DKC:TF coincides with when Nintendo should’ve started really thinking about the next Metroid game, and the silence on both the Retro and Metroid fronts is telling. It’s gotta be time to reveal what Retro’s been working on, and all signs point to it being Metroid... and a 2D one, I hope.

Zelda Maker

Somehow, it’s been over a year and a half since Tri Force Heroes, and three and a half since A Link Between Worlds. That’s not too soon for them to be far enough into the next handheld Zelda to at least tease it, right? Tri Force Heroes was barely even a game! Okay, maybe it’s too early for the next main series Zelda game, but they could definitely show Zelda Maker. It would need a lot more variation in visual styles than Mario Maker so that every dungeon doesn’t look exactly the same, and a ton of items and interactive elements so that people can make original puzzles, but I think it can be done. Realistically, I don’t think Zelda Maker is likely to happen... but this isn’t a “realistic expectations” list, it’s a HOPE AND DREAMS list!

Ice Climber. Wait, what?

This is completely out of left field, but... new Ice Climber? Nobody’s asking for it, nobody wants it, but I think they could do something with it on Switch. Y’know, a competitive co-op mode to make use of the Joycons? There are plenty of developers this could’ve gone to... Next Level, Sora... maybe a even Namco or Capcom? This game is probably never happening, but if it ever does, I can see it as a Switch eShop title.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

A Mario/Raving Rabbids crossover RPG was rumored months ago, and while there wasn’t really anything to support it, it seemed too weird of a concept for someone to just start a rumor about. Then, a few weeks ago, what appear to be internal materials from Ubisoft regarding the game were leaked... and then the Brazilian ratings board issued a rating for the game, pretty much confirming it. It’s unfortunate that all this was leaked, as this game was probably going to be one of Nintendo’s big reveals at E3. I don’t imagine the leak will impact their plans that much, so this will probably take up a good portion of the spotlight.

Fire Emblem Warriors

Nintendo’s been all about the Fire Emblem lately, and while I don’t expect any details on the next major game in the series, Fire Emblem Warriors is supposed to be coming out sometime this year. The reveal trailer told people pretty much everything they need to know, but I expect it to show up in Treehouse Live, and at the very least in a sizzle reel during the spotlight. Assuming the only sizzle reel isn’t indie developers, which it might be.

Animal Crossing Something-Or-Other

Switch is a great console for Animal Crossing, and I’m excited to see what they do with it. They’ve already announced some kind of mobile Animal Crossing game, which is another perfect platform for the series (assuming it’s not some weird Animal Crossing-themed puzzle game or something). If Katsuya Eguchi’s been working on the mobile game he probably hasn’t had time to work on one for Switch in addition to everything else he’s been involved with... buuut, if they originally started development on Wii U, the game could be close to release by now. Either way, I’m hoping to see something Animal Crossing in the spotlight.

amiibo-Centric Games

I love amiibo, but I’d like to see more games (other than the ones they’re made for) that use them. amiibo Tap is basically just demos of NES and SNES games, and I don’t know anyone who played that Mario vs DK-type game that uses amiibo. The best use of amiibo I’ve seen is in Super Mario Maker, where scanning an amiibo unlocks that character as a skin, and Breath of the Wild, where every amiibo gives you random materials (and Zelda ones give you special items). Codename STEAM also has playable Fire Emblem characters unlocked via amiibo of those characters, which is... random as hell, but still pretty cool. I want Nintendo to put out some games that make use of amiibo in a cool way, something like Skylanders or Disney Infinity.

Switch VR

I’m not all that interested in VR... at least, not as it currently stands. The Switch, however, seems to have been designed with VR in mind. Sure, the main appeal is that it’s a home console that you can take on the go and even has portable multiplayer... but it could also easily become a portable VR system as well. I mean, the unit is a screen with two detachable motion controllers; all they need to do is release a headset to mount it in. I think the screen on the Switch may be kind of a low resolution to use for VR, but it’s definitely a much more attractive solution than other platforms that do VR and nothing but.

Monster Hunter XX

I’ve been waiting for another console Monster Hunter game, and it’s finally coming to Switch with Monster Hunter XX! Currently it’s only announced for Japan, but the series is also incredibly popular in North America, so I’m sure we’ll get it. C’mon, Capcom, give us a date! Also, while you’re at it, work things out with Arthur Conan Doyle’s family (or just ignore them, they have no legal claim to early Sherlock Holmes stuff) and release Dai Gyakuten Saiban here!

RPGs! JRPGs! ARPGs! SRPGs!

I want Japanese role-playing games. We’ve seen enough of Ever Oasis that if it’s in the spotlight it will only be part of a sizzle reel, and... I’m really not sure what’s up with Octopath Traveler, but hey, weird lighting engine aside it looks pretty cool. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of it. I feel like they’ll finally be showing off the Switch version of Dragon Quest XI, though I expect it to be close to the PS4 version. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is pretty much guaranteed to make an appearance. That’s all nice and good, but I want more. I want the Switch version of Dragon Quest X to come out in North America. I want Slime Morimori 3 to finally come out here. Hell, Nintendo and Namco have been working together a lot recently, how about a new Tales game? A NEW MARIO & LUIGI GAME WITH WARIO AND WALUIGI PLAYING AN IMPORTANT ROLE.

I think that’s about all I’ve got. I really don’t know what they’ll have time for in a twenty-five minute spotlight, but there will supposedly be announcements made during Treehouse Live as well. Hopefully the trailers for things we already know about will be short and most of the new stuff for them will come from Treehouse. I really don’t want ten minutes of the spotlight to be taken up by Super Mario Odyssey, Mario + Rabbids, and Xenoblade 2.

[cupkayke]

For the fanfiction questions thing: 1, 3, 6, 11, 17, 21, 25, 27, 36, 40, 41, 46, 50 and 51 (I hope these aren't too many)

 Not too many at all! I like talking about myself lol.

Under a cut because longggggg.

1) What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Oh gosh, definitely Tokyo Mew Mew. I never wrote fanfics for it but I co-owned and then owned an Avidgamers RP site for TMM called MewUSA back in like 2004-2006. Avidgamers was a forum site engine that was pretty damn nice for its time (also FREE, that was a plus) and I spent HOURS creating characters, storylines, and layouts for it. There were TONS of individual in-character boards and I think we may have had up to 100 unique users at one point. The detailed characters/plotlines were BASICALLY fanfiction- I think I did an entire rp with myself between a few of my characters once- and it was a whole lot of fun. Some of the OCs from that site were repurposed into a longrunning rp I have with @liarino on AIM and I am FOREVER grateful that I met them through that site

Fanfic-wise, it was Full Metal Alchemist. I had a horrendous LITERAL self-insert OC fic called ‘Nice of Me to Drop In’ that was based on an RP I did with a different friend. Plot? ‘Fangirl of FMA LITERALLY FALLS INTO HER TELEVISION AND WAKES UP IN THE UNIVERSE AND FALLS IN LOVE WITH ALPHONSE’. The end. I never finished it but holy shitballs it got SO MANY REVIEWS. I’m surprised how many people actually enjoyed it- I did get some criticisms but despite the fact that it was so cringe-worthy that I took it down it still got sooooo much positive feedback. I sometimes wonder if people would still be reading it on ff.net if I hadn’t taken it down the last time I overhauled that account. I still have some Ouran oneshots on there that I wrote TEN FUCKING YEARS AGO that still get reviews. Dayum. 

3) What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

I have to say it’s a tie between the Tokyo Mew Mew fandom circa 2003-2006 and the Ouran fandom from about 2006-2008. My experience with them was limited to RP boards but I had the MOST FUN running MewUSA and a long-running Gaia RP ‘Hosting the Hosts’ because of the warm response to the concepts. The TMM fandom especially was super creative even back in the day- there were so many fan mew mews because the formula was so easy and that was one series that I didn’t mind OCs because the concept was easily applied. In-universe, the creator could have easily made more Mew Mews. So the possibilities were endless. That’s also the fandom I learned the majority of my writing skills from, even if I did get called out a couple times for shitty RPing. I got better and I was so sad when the engine finally kicked the bucket. Aside from the RP sites the TMM fandom had sooooo many fansites dedicated to the show- my other favorite being Neko Tokyo. I think that site might still be up… 

Ouran was limited to that RP I ran but damn I never had one so fun. That group of writers was hysterical and I actually met one of them in person because by sheer coincidence she lived near me. She moved soon after we figured it out but she came back for a convention and we hung out all weekend. Unfortunately I don’t remember her name and I lost her phone number T_T I wonder where she is sometimes. I wonder where a lot of my fan friends from back then are. The problem with early 2000s internet.

Tho I think Boueibu will be my new modern fave fandom.

6) List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

 Ohhhh dear. I’ll keep it to ones that I actually ship characters in because a lot of my early fandoms were MYSELF AS AN OC X HOT MALE CHARACTER. OTL. I was a weeb. Most of these are fandoms I’ve rped in rather than written fanfiction for, however.

Tokyo Mew Mew- PuddingxTart. I like to read IchigoxKisshu fanfics sometimes but that ship is highly problematic looking back on it lol

Code Lyoko - THROWBACK. JeremiexAelita. Adorable.

Ouran HSHC - I’m fond of HunnyxHaruhi (as evidenced by my mostly abandoned ff.net account) but basically AnyonexHaruhi is super cute. I think I read a fic once where Haruhi was in a relationship with ALL of the guys and it was actually super interesting. I don’t think I can find it again, tho.

Harry Potter - Drarry.

Walking Dead - CarolxDaryl FTW. and Richonne. I’ve toyed with the idea of writing fanfics for WD but never quite get up to it.

Mass Effect - Shakarian. Fuck yes. Fun fact I have an unfinished smutfic on the mass effect kinkmeme livejournal that I will EVENTUALLY FINISH ONE DAY AND PUBLISH UNDER MY NAME buuuut for now it will remain an anonymous abandoned fic.

Boueibu - …All of them? OTL I can’t pick one ship… tho if you force me… IoRyuu and BeppuMoto OT3.

YOI - I think everyone’s OTP is Victuuri.

11) Who is your current OTP?

Victuuri.

17)  Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Since Boueibu is my current fandom- I immediately was drawn to Enatsu since s1 had a relatively large focus on them but I’ve kind of fallen out of actively shipping them. I like them as a couple and I think they’re def boyfriends material but they’re definitely a comfortable ship. Their personalities are just… drama-free, so their relationship to me just seems like a quiet background relationship. IoRyuu is a little more volatile and I really like ships where there is a lot of between-the-lines interpretation and potential for conflict. Also I just really like the Beppus

21) What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. The aformentioned ‘Nice of Me to Drop In’ FMA OC Mary Sue Self insert fic. Definitely the first one I ever published on the interwebs. Although I think TECHNICALLY my very first one was a Pokemon story that I was writing for a little kid neighbor of mine back when I was like… 11. I think I had just gotten a computer in my room and I remember typing it up and drawing some cover art for it… it was basically an expanded version of the episode where Meowth and Pikachu were handcuffed together or something… except there were more Pokemon involved and ALL of the characters were friends. Like Brock and Tracey were both with Ash and Misty and all of the Team Rocket people were friends for some reason. Idk I was a weird child.

Ohhh maybe a tie for the FMA fic was a Code Lyoko one I wrote around the same time called ‘Desert Rose’. I can’t remember now which was published first because I deleted them all. Another Mary Sue OC fic but I actually am still kind of proud of how I expanded the Lyoko universe in my head. I came up with new areas to Lyoko and like a central region and how they all connected. Nevermind the fact that the girl with a CAT THAT COULD OPERATE THE COMPUTER was the main character and obviously I shipped her with Odd because YumiUlrich and JeremieAeilita were OTPs. It was weird.

25) What’s your most popular fanfic?

If the story was still up it might have been ‘Nice of Me to Drop In’ because that fic still haunts me. Buuut it’s either ‘Naptime’ or ‘Desire’, one of my two Hunny x Haruhi fics from my Ouran days that I left up on ff.net for posterity. I have no desire to go read the cringe and find out which one has more hits but I bet it’s the G-rated ‘Naptime’ cuz ‘Desire’ is a) the first M rated Hunny x Haruhi fic on ff.net EVER and b) really really bad porn written by like, 16-year-old me. Oops. It’s a smidgen OOC on the part of Haruhi if I remember right buuut I actually still stand by the idea that Hunny is not as childlike as he seems.

Oh dear maybe that’s why I like Yumoto so much. Similar character type. OTL

27) What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

I feel like I’m horrendous at both but lately it’s titles that are giving me trouble. 2 of the 3 Boueibu fics I’ve written had different working titles that got changed the second the story went up to be published. I’m having a brain fart and can’t remember them but both ‘All the Pretty Little Horses’ and ‘Completely’ were titled something really stupid. And your giftfic was ‘?’ until I decided on the central theme lol.

36) What’s your favourite genre to write?

I don’t like reading romance novels but I love writing shippy stuff. Tension, build….smut

40)  What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Pacing in longer works, definitely. Also just… keeping up with it. I am a horrible procrastinator and if I don’t actually have a deadline with external consequences then I never get anything done. I can’t set my own deadlines because I can always move them. I can’t get my family or friends to set them for me because I know they’ll forgive me if I fail (how horrible lol). I have tons upon tons of unfinished fics from fandoms past sitting somewhere in the depths of my word documents folder and about as many original short stories. I have so many ideas but because I get easily distracted and also because I am now working full time and suffer from typical adult exhaustion I can only put a fraction of them on paper. 

My inner critic is also a fucking bitch. I can’t get her to shut her face long enough to write a sentence sometimes. Again, I have to have a deadline looming before I can put her on mute most times. If I have infinite time, she doesn’t shut up and makes me rewrite a sentence 100 times because it sounds stupid.

41) List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

Ahahahaha… I don’t have 5 simultaneously because I can’t just… not finish reading something before moving onto the next one. I don’t also read things that are unfinished unless they sound REALLY interesting because I’m stupid impatient. But I guess for my current fandom (Boueibu) I’ll link 5 fics I read recently that I liked! 

1) Pink Blood - @magiccatprincess (okay actually this is one I’m going to read soon because it looked interesting… so it fits the question lol)

2) tuesdays - @vagarius (because how can I not love something written for me?

3) Liar - BlackJoker77 (A whoooole lot accomplished here in not a lot of words. Also, Yumoto character study/reading between the lines? Yush.)

4) ….. ok I ran out of ideas. I don’t bookmark anything OTL. I’ll come back to this question at another time with an ACTUAL answer.

46) If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

I’m most proud of ‘Completely’ at the moment- I really like how I pulled off Ryuu’s voice and it’s most definitely a scene I wanted to see written… so I’m happy that I was able to provide that scene

50) How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

It was basically an extention of RPing for the writing portion of it- ‘Nice of Me to Drop In’ was basically a cleaned up RP and when it wasn’t rping it was fan gratification for the other early fics I did. As a kid I used to (and still sometimes do) make up stories in my head when I was about to go to sleep, and a lot of them were episodes of my favorite shows that I wanted to see. So I’d put some of them on paper. And then it moved into the ~romance~ category; I was a hopeless romantic as a teenager and like a lot of teenage girls I was kind of horny so fanfiction was a way to explore my sexuality in the comfort of my own head, basically. I still like me a good smutfic and bonus points if it’s romantic AND smutty. My bf can definitely tell when I’ve been reading something naughty….

51) Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

Okay, Imma do both! And I have 2 things to rant about because I can’t shut up.

Rant: This is more of a thing that I hate about MYSELF reading fanfics, but I hate that I get turned off of fics so quickly because of writing style. When I can push past beginners writing mistakes or mediocre quality writing I can sometimes find gem fics with plots/characterizations I find adorable, but more often than not I click out of fics after just a few sentences because I can’t stand poor writing. And I feel so elitist about it! Fanfics are free, fan-generated content. A lot of fanfics are written by kids or beginner writers. I have to keep reminding myself that not every fanfic author has gone to school for writing. They may not know the conventions of literature. They may not realize that they’re head-hopping in the middle of paragraphs. They may not know the proper way to punctuate dialogue (and I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW until grad school!!!!). If I let mistakes get in the way of content I may miss out on an up and coming writer. And lord knows I was horrendous when I first started. Everyone starts somewhere. I hate that it takes me so long to get out of teacher/writing student mode and truck through some writing that may not technically be the best but their heart is in the right place. 

Rant2: I don’t like how isolated fanfiction can feel sometimes. It seems like people don’t comment on fics as much as they used to, and I see these posts going around on tumblr about how authors LOOOOOVE comments and want more of them but then comments just… don’t appear. It’s not so hard to post one thing you really liked about the story, and even one thing you didn’t like. Comments help authors grow.I also don’t like how it’s so hard to find a beta reader or three to bounce ideas off of and proofread your work.

Gush: I love communities. I love the events fanfic authors put together. I love how when communities get tight-knit how everyone builds each other up and gives one another ideas. I just love fanfiction in general, really

aaaaaand SHEW. That was a lot. BUT DEF NOT TOO MUCH