#based off Louie from pikmin

[dapnee]

I haven’t posted since I bought a house and own a dog now.

[tragiccomedyenthusiast]

"I find the color unsettling."

here's my pride month post for the last day of pride month because im really really smart. hi

[splitster]

answering more asks!!

featuring pom wraith, pingo, ocs?!, and older art check it out (three's some art 💖)↓↓

THANK you!! ohhh i do have old pikmin ocs... i actually revamped my old captain a while back, i can share him:

i had a whole crew of pikmin ocs who were a part of the S.S. Harmony, they were gonna be SUCH a nuisance to everyone they ran into...

i thought about making a rescue corps oc for fun. hrmm! maybe...

AHHH thank you!! i've seen a shocking number tags and asks from people saying that I'm apparently the reason they like Dingo now? and i have to say that is so mind boggling to me, because when i first played Pikmin 4 I didn't care about him at all!! he was a nothing sandwich to me... but then i drew him a few times... and started thinking... and then things went downhill and now i REALLY like him...

(referring to this post) i think dingo is better when he's withered

(referring to this comic) I HEAR YOU... I HEAR YOU... but if any tear at all would cause oxygen poisoning, i wouldn't be able to draw them all battered and cool :(

i imagine that there's a seal around the neck in case there's a breach in the suit's lining. so as long as their backpack (life-support) works and is connected to their helmets, then they can breathe✨

(referring to this post) Olimar would be horrified because he knows Louie, and if he sees that note there's only one thing it could mean! his coworker tried to eat pom!! if pom hasn't been outed as wraith and Olimar is questioning her, she'd just say Louie bit her and then refuse to answer any follow up questions 💖

Shepherd would be... concerned. she might think they have a weird fling going on and louie's talking about a kiss? she probably wouldn't realize Louie quite literally means he ate something from pom. oops!

that's a really good question... I'll be honest, with a lot of the "when and how did x happen" questions, there's not an official timeline or anything; the pom wraith au is sort of an umbrella with a bunch of different stories and what-ifs underneath it. although there was one story where louie does find out her secret!

louie and pom end up bridging their differences (with the help of olimar), and become good friends while pom is continuing the rescue effort. then there's a very unfortunate incident where pom and louie are away from the base and they're attacked... pom has to reveal herself to defend them and she accidentally hurts louie :(

its fine though, louie doesn't care what pom is. they're both freaks in his mind and that's all that really matters. he does end up having to defend pom from olimar (who's been made vindictive through his trauma with the plasm wraith) sometime later!! here's some older art:

sure

me too! they do NOT get along... louie's kinda pissed at her for chasing him around on PNF404 and beating him in dandori battles when he just wants to stay there and vibe. pom meanwhile doesn't understand him, he pisses her off too! she likes olimar a lot, and as an outsider it looks like louie doesn't appreciate the friendship olimar offers him. to someone who's trying to understand and participate in this whole friendship business, she thinks he's ungrateful and weird. they do not get along!! at the beginning at least...

AHHHH!!! THANK YOU!!! WAHH...🥺💖💖 i'm very glad you enjoy my silly little art style!! i want to make things very squishy so i appreciate that 💖

i don't think that man is going to live!

wait actually if you eat enough maybe you just turn into a wraith. that'd be scary! hopefully olimar's there to stop him

that's a fun thought! he would probably be able to sense that something is off about her. but he'd also probably just think "she's weird like me." honestly, the whole wraith thing doesn't really matter much to him -- the only thing it changes is that pom can now offer her tendrils as a skewer for his cooking at any time and location!

i think i'm gonna call her rose wraith!! and ohh, i didn't know that... i was just gonna call her rose wraith since she has a rose head. i'm creative i promise

(referring to this post i think) AHHH hehe... honestly, when Pom first learns about Dingo's fear of blood, she only tries to keep him from it because it's really annoying dealing with your coworker when they faint. he's like a sack of potatoes when he's knocked out. but yes, as they become actual friends pom will (subtly) do her best to keep blood away from dingo. it's fortunate she doesn't have any!

she might not get phobias, but she understands what its like to have a crippling fear, so she's empathetic!

THANK you. he has sunglasses. he's pretty cool

AHH THANK YOU... i like them a lot... 👉👈

let the marching pikmin give you the energy you need to practice🫡

[citruscrisp]

Pikmin Age Headcanons Pt. 1

Kinda been wanting to share what I think each Pikmin character went through to get to where they are in the present! My only request is you don't hate on me for these. Just respect them or give me insight on things I might have missed.

🛠️Alph - Age 22 Grew up watching his grandfather Drake work on aerospace projects since he learned to walk. He goes through school, graduates high school at 18, attends KoTech (Koppai School of Technology) for 4 years and graduates at 22 with his Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering. Straight out of college, he is selected to join Charlie and Brittany on their Pikmin 3 journey to collect fruit and save their planet.

🪴Brittany - Age 24 Graduated High school at 18. Studied at KoTech, majoring in botany in the Life Sciences Academy of the school. Started off in small businesses that ranged from plant-based medicinal studies to help Koppai’s food crisis until being selected to embark on her journey with Alph and Charlie at the age of 24.

🦆Charlie - Age 28 Graduated High School at 18. Studied at Kotech and was part of the Ranger program. He became a space ranger at 22 and goes on ranger missions for years assisting in treasure collection to support his family financially until being selected to go on the Pikmin 3 journey with Alph and Brittany at age 28.

🔵Louie - Age 25-26 Graduated Highschool at 18. For a a year, he didn't do much with his life and often explored the area's around his grandmother's house, such as the mountains behind her house. He didn't go to college and didn't have an idea of what he wanted to do so his family forced him to start getting minimum wage jobs that constantly fired him due to his laziness and obsession with food breaks for years. He finally winds up in Hocotate Freight at the age of 25. Accepting him despite not having a college degree due to the business being pretty unprofessional.

🔴Olimar - Age 35-36 Graduated high school at 18. Studied Biology, got a BA at 22, but didn’t want to take it further. He falls in love in college and marries when he is 25, they have their first son when he's about 26. This makes his son about 9-10 years old. Then they have a daughter when he's about 30. This makes her around 6-7 years old. He ended up at Hocotate Freight, mainly excited to travel space. Hestarted here after a few minimume wage jobs out of college and started at 27. He has been working there for 9 years.

⚫President - Age 40-41 Graduated high school at 18, was very active in business and studied it, getting a masters in business at the age of 24. He became active in climbing the corporate latter at Hocotate Freight, but was also very gullible. He finally becomes president at the age of 35, being president of Hocotate Freight for 5-6 years, replacing Olimar's previous boss.

⚠️PIKMIN 4 SPOILERS BELOW⚠️

📡Yorke - Age 28-29 Graduated high school at 18. Studied at Kotech for 4 years and graduated at 22 with a bachelor's in Aerospace engineering. Went on treasure missions for years to send his family money. Currently continuing to do so.

This is prone to be edited frequently but this is just what I got for now!

[thatonepikminperson]

The Dandori Battle Post (How to destroy the AI really)

Dandori Battles aren't really that bad, but sometimes they can be a bit hard, so here's some advice in case you're having trouble getting that Platinum medal (Spoilers for Pikmin 4's Dandori Battles Below)

Trail Run: Player with 10 Red Pikmin, Olimar with 5 Red Pikmin, Moss with Buff L.3

First of all, abuse the hell out of my favorite strat, Oatchi go do it. Just sick Oatchi on anything 10 or higher in weight, and if Oatchi has Super Buff, just sick him on whatever the hell Moss is trying to bring back. You can also try to get the nugget piles, as they quickly add to your score (Or Olimar's if he goes for them)

Battle in a Box: Player with 5 Ice Pikmin, Olimar with 5 Ice Pikmin, Moss with Super Buff Lv. 1, Intro to the Bonus Item

In this Dandori battle, Olimar doesn't understand that when a creature dies in an icey form, it won't drop it's corpse. If you get the Bulborb, it's a lockout for that Bonus Item 90% of the time. Go for the nugget piles, as Olimar doesn't really prioritizes them as much as he should. Also bully him sometimes, it's fun.

Dandori Castle: Player with 5 Yellow Pikmin, Olimar with 10 Yellow Pikmin, Moss with Super Buff Lv.2, Intro to the Golden Sniffer and Items

Olimar will not try to go for the Golden Sniffer or Items, so ABUSE THE HELL OUT OF THEM. He can still get them, it's just not at the top of his prioritizes. You most likely won't have to abuse the Bonus Item AI trick as seen later, but if you want, just get it after Sunseed Berries, those are easy to steal from him. Also, don't lower the thing near the electric wall, or even break the electric wall. Just use Oatchi, it's a waste of time. TRUST. Also, around this point in the game, you should dedicate a button to the IDLE ALERT, because hot damn it this item good. It allows you to call you're army back to you if they are at the base without interrupting the other tasks you may have active, like carrying back items or nuggets. Very good item to use.

Leafy Showdown: Player with 5 Rock Pikmin, Olimar with 10 Rock Pikmin, Moss with Swallow, Intro to the Sneak Bomb

Now it's time to bully the old man with my favorite Oatchi related strat, called MURDERING MOSS. No really, if Moss swallows something you want, just sick Oatchi AND ONLY Oatchi on her. She'll get stuck in a loop of spitting out the item, picking up the item, getting hurt, and repeat cycle until Moss dies. If you sick Pikmin on top of this, Moss with shake them off and break the cycle Oatchi created, so don't do that. Also, Olimar doesn't really seem to prioritize Bonus items on land, for some reason. If it's the Sunseed Berry, then he'll go after the ones in the water, instead of the four near his base. Dunno why he does this, but he does.

Hot Sandy Duel: Player with 5 Red Pikmin, Louie with 15 Red Pikmin, Moss with Swallow

This battle is where the Bonus Item AI stuff becomes important, as this battle can range from easy as hell to wtf nintendo depending on the starting bonus item. If it's Downy Snagret, Firey Bulbax, Sunseed Berry and/or Water Dumple, you're going to have a bad time. The one you're looking for is the Scorchcake, as Louie's AI will grab his Pikmin, run over to the creature, and press X. Most times, this ends up murdering his entire army, and if it doesn't, get Oatchi to steal the Scorchcake for you. Also never use the firestarters, Louie's AI won't either and it's a waste of time really. Don't fight the Firey Bulbax, let Louie do it for you :). The Oatchi trick still applies. Also if you want, since the Louie AI doesn't know of the Oatchi trick, you can get have him swallow it and lead it all the way over. Also start paying attention to the multiplier that some items get, as if you are beating Louie too badly, the game will pity him and give him a 5 times multiplier and you a 2 times.

Final Battle: Player with 5 Winged Pikmin, Louie with 20 Winged Pikmin, Moss with Swallow

Same everything that applies up there, but add on that the Bonus items you are looking for are either the Insect Condo, or the Portable Sunset. Both have one on the board as the game starts, and Louie most times won't go for them. If you get anything else, you'll have a bad time, especially if it's the Sunseed Berry. Make sure to Sneak Bomb Louie, and while you're at it, you can just throw a mine on top of his base, which can explode his entire army. Ignore the Baldly in the middle, trust me, not worth it. Nuggets are also back as a good way to own Louie. Keep some Pikmin back at the base, just incase Louie sends over the Sneak Bomb via Pikmin.

[atomicpizza64]

Yet another 50 villains for Lorch!

I’ll try and stick the major spoilers for Urasawa’s Pluto, Persona 5 and Watchmen under the cut. It might not work, and there is still spoilers for various other media, so beware!

Debatable for some but I don’t care. I will try and explain some reasons why they aren’t totally bad, and I’ll keep adding to it as I’m not sure it’s 50 yet

Mr Nobody (Doom Patrol): Your honour, he’s just a goofy guy! Hasn’t actually done too bad (at least in the comics), he’s just following Dadaist principles

Rhorchac (Watchmen): messed up childhood lead to screwed morality but he still has moments of mercy, attempts to fight evildoers

Gideon Gleeful: kinda just a kid raised in a cult who let attention go drastically to his head

Roxie Richter: (Scott Pilgrim, mostly Takes Off): enraged by Ramona abandoning her, takes it too far but got over it after a heart to heart

Darth Vader: Took his grief extremely far, destroys a greater evil at the cost of his life

Harry Lime (the third man): it’s mostly just charisma. Pretty nice to Holly… but may have killed a bunch of kids.

Dr Frankenfurter (RHPS): YOUR HONOUR HE IS JUST A GOOFY GUY

Plankton: completely ineffectual.

Father (C:KND): repeats the chain of harm caused by his own dad

Gladion (Pokémon): joins team Skull to rebel against his abusive mother

Guzma (Pokémon): forms team skull to vent dissatisfaction with the trial system and support loners, implied to have gifted kid burnout and an abusive parent (at his parent’s house on Melemele island, there is a bunch of golf clubs that are described as “broken and bent” 😬)

Asgore: Tries to kill Frisk but only to save his beloved kingdom and its innocent inhabitants

Oersted (live a live): desperately trying to repent. I’m not too familiar with his game tho

Badeline (Celeste): a manifestation of anxiety

The time Empress (Cris Tales): sort of sacrifice a few to save all motivations

Spamton: ineffectual, ostracised and betrayed by a partner

Eldegard: idk if I can summarise it here

Bowser: flips from game to game, sorta falls under goofy guy

Alice Hiiragashi (P5S): bullied relentlessly in high school, tries to be bigger than she actually is

The Enchantress (Shovel Knight) possessed version of your partner

Kokushibo (Demon Slayer): always felt massively inferior to his brother

Akaza (Demon Slayer): lost his adoptive family

Shadow the Hedgehog: lost his best friend

The narrator (Stanley Parable): ends up stuck in a horrific time loop, has moments of kindness

Pikmin Louie: sorta just acting based on bad social skills

Catra: scarred child stuck in a war manipulated by parental figures

The collector (owl house): scarred child in a war manipulated by a parental figure

King Andrias (Amphibia): desperately tries to atone, manipulated by his dad and the core

Pink (The Wall): suffered bullying at school, absent dad, smothering parent and a cheating spouse

Spinel (SU): abandoned by her only friend for hundreds of years

Vace (I was a teen exocolonist): young kid with no real anger outlet

Norman Bates (Psycho): unable to get any help he desperately needs due to the time period

Mr Burns (the Simpsons): often completely ineffectual, moments of kindness

Jack Torrance (the shining, mostly the book): manipulated, attempts to make right but fails

Frank Butterman (Hot Fuzz): only doing what he does out of a misguided desire to make the town he loves absolutely perfect

Winslow Leach (Phantom of the Paradise): taken advantage of and had his life’s work stolen

Zuko: scarred child in a war manipulated by a parent

Jessie and James: two kids from different kinda messed up backgrounds that want to rebel; also very ineffectual

Hans Beckert (M): unable to get the help he needs due to time period

Tetsuo (Akira): teenager who needs an anger outlet; the main reason he was chosen for the experiments was by chance, so Kaneda is aware of his status as a foil; has no control over his powers

Nox (Wakfu): will do anything to archive the goal of reunification with his family

Toga (MHA): ostracised and turned to villainy due to the gory nature of her powers, doomed yuri

Ice King (Adventure Time): ineffectual; lost his mind and has no idea what happened

Sy (1 hour photo): desperately lonely, implied to have been driven to join the perfect family due to childhood trauma

Croix (Little Witch Academia): slipped into darkness due to jealousy, sorta repents

Alma Madrigal (Encanto): went through the war and the death of her husband, just doesn’t really know how damaging she can be

Seymour Krelborne (LSOH): a meek guy who found himself in a position of control and desperately tries to hang onto it

The Kid (Blood Meridian): genuinely tries to be a better person at the end

All of the gang (IASIP): almost everyone had a terrible childhood and show prominent moments of kindness

Uncle Deadly (The Muppets): haunts the theatre, but was straight up murdered by his own critics

Hal 9000 (2001): doesn’t have much control of his actions, as it is the result of a coding paradox

the iron man (Black Sabbath): mistreated by society before a “then let me be evil” realisation

Q (ST:TNG): silly guy, somewhat of a trickster mentor, in the way he gives lessons for the crew, even if 18 people died that one time

get rekt

PLUS: Takuto Maruki: he just really doesn’t want what happened to his partner to happen to anyone else, even if the world stagnates

Goro Akechi: young kid manipulated by an abusive parent

Ozymandias (Watchmen): does potentially halt the end of the world, but at the cost of numerous lives

Goji (Pluto): witnesses the death of his family firsthand

Sahad/Pluto: scared kid manipulated by a parental figure, abeit after a war this time

[ferhog]

Getting into Metroid This Past Month:

I first learned about Metroid (as well as most Nintendo franchises that weren't Pokemon and Mario) through my friend's copy of Smash Bros Brawl at around the age of 9. Samus being a hot lady underneath the cool set of power armor left enough of an impression for me to try and draw her from memory, but I otherwise had no interest in actually playing her games for most of the following decade and a half. In that time I learned a bit of her lore from Smash Trophys, Game Theory videos, and watching the first few minutes of Other M cutscenes to hear the lady from Smash Bros talk, but it wasn't until shortly after the release of Metroid Dread when I watched some late game cutscenes from the game and GameXplain's Metroid movie pitch video that I became interested enough in the story of the games and Samus as a character that I decided to downlo- I mean obtain copies of Zero Mission and Fusion for my Visua- I mean Gameboy Advance, which I held off on starting until I worked through my gaming backlog more, and it was earlier this summer that I decided the time had come.

The Metroid Manga: Before starting Zero Mission as my first game I read the manga so I'd get a good sense of Samus' backstory before starting. Now I knew what to roughly expect thanks to the Gamexplain movie pitch adapting much of the story, but overall I enjoyed it more than I was expecting. I probably don't need to tell you that Ridley was the absolute highlight. His pure evil is matched only by Louie from Pikmin in terms of Nintendo villains and it got me very invested in his rivalry with Samus throughout the games. Aside from that, my favourite part of the manga was Samus' characterization and her relationship with her bird dads. I have a real soft spot for all adoption related tropes so I really like the idea that Samus was taken in by what was once the most important race in the galaxy and inherited their legacy of keeping the peace, which she basically turned into a job via bounty hunting. However a lot of what the manga does is better in concept than in execution, as the art is hard to follow a lot of the time and much of the story is sped through quite quickly, no thanks to how much time is spent with the extensive cast of side characters. When Samus started her zero mission I held off on finishing the story until I played the game, and while I'm glad that they went with adapting the game at the end because we got to see a climactic fight against Ridley it is super bizarre that they didn't commit to the idea and just stopped when Samus reached Mother Brain. The manga is absolutely worth reading but best thought of as a companion to Zero Mission, probably best read afterwards.

Metroid Zero Mission: My experience with Metroidvanias was basically just Hollow Knight, the first Dark Souls, and Bloodborne, and while I was excited to experience the same sense of adventure I also feared getting lost as per this franchise's reputation. However I surprisingly managed to make my way though the whole game with only one thing I had to look up, which embarrassingly was the same mistake David Jaffe infamously made in Dread, as I failed to realize I could shoot a ceiling open even with enemies there to hint that I could. I think the game has the perfect balance between freedom and guidance as someone's first Metroid game through the chozo statues that mark your next destination without telling you how exactly to get there. Combine that with it being a remake of the first game and I think it was just the perfect game for me and anyone else to start with. My biggest issue gameplay-wise was just the fights against Mother Brain and the two black Space Pirates were very frustrating, the latter because the combat just didn't feel designed for a fight that reflex based, at least not for a newcomer. After finishing the game I felt compelled to earn the Zero Suit Samus ending, which I accomplished by constantly scouting out the optimal routes and resetting so I could get through them as fast as possible.

AM2R: I wanted to play these games in story order so I knew I had to play some version of Metroid 2 next. After trying out the original Metroid that you unlock after beating Zero Mission I figured the pre-NES games weren't going to be fun for me so I wanted to play either AM2R or Samus Returns, and I went with the former as it would be easier to find and would be closer to the game I just finished. The game is a very impressive feat for a fan-made project, though I think it was the one I had the least fun with overall. A few hours into the game I listened to the Some Call Me Johnny review which mentioned it being very hard, and that made sense considering it was a fan project by big Metroid fans for big Metroid fans, but it did result in a few of the bosses being quite frustrating with how much skill they demanded, particularly with the space jump which I struggled to understand the timing of. I didn't feel like instantly replaying it as I did with Zero Mission but I really loved how they adapted the ending.

Super Metroid: "This SNES game probably won't hold up that well right?" Thought the guy whose first console was the PS2.

Super Metroid is one of the greatest games of all time.

Metroid Fusion: I was real intrigued going into this game given what I'd heard about its linearity and extra story focus compared to the prior games but it was still a shock going straight from 2 playthroughs of Super Metroid to this. It didn't even really feel like Metroid, especially with how you were essentially playing through levels via Adam sending you through specific locations with specific tasks. Eventually I got used to it and fully accepted it as a Metroid game as I was increasingly required to be more explorative, though I think of all Metroid games I've played it has the most needlessly abstract methods for mandatory progression. The example which I eventually gave up on and looked up was the yellow Space Pirate X which which could only be damaged with a shot to the back apparently? There was seemingly no visual hints for that and the doors didn't even open if you absorbed the X before they formed the Space Pirates. While I figured out the other examples on my own I just felt I had to blow up way more seemingly random walls than normal. The bosses were generally very fun except for everything about Yakuza. A super long lead up to a boss that kept killing me super easily before I figured out how to avoid its grab attack, followed by a struggle to regain health for the ensuing SA-X encounter with how little health you get from enemies that could fly in out of nowhere and do more damage to you than you were regaining. Speaking of the SA-X, it wasn't in the game as much as I was expecting, but each encounter was quite memorable, especially when I was hiding behind power bomb blocks and it dropped a power bomb. Overall I didn't like most of this game's choices, but I like it when franchises try new things so I wouldn't say anything should have been changed except for how much health you get from enemies. This was the 2nd game I didn't feel like instantly replaying.

Metroid Prime: As of writing this I am currently a few hours into the first Metroid Prime, specifically having just gotten the boost ball. The Metroid formula was very well translated into 3D and the visuals have aged amazingly. I may be playing a remaster but most remasters still don't look this modern. But curiously this has been the Metroid game I've spent the most time away from during a playthrough, going several days without picking it up again. It's not that I dislike playing it, I just don't feel as much of a strong desire to keep coming back to it. Maybe I just feel the need to catch up on other stuff after playing so much Metroid. I do think I'll get around to playing the rest soon enough.

One of my biggest impressions overall is that Metroid is actually quite underrated despite how iconic it is. Samus seems mostly remembered as a Smash Bros character and her iconic twist as one of gaming's first female protagonists, but it doesn't seem like that many people actually play the games. It's also funny that while Samus is famous as a sex symbol in the Smash Bros and general gaming fandoms, it seems that the actual Metroid fandom prefers their Samus cooler than sexy. Anyway I'm looking forward to eventually picking up Dread, the game which first hooked my interest into this franchise, and the other 2 Prime games. Maybe I'll even pick up Other M if I see it around.

[sirwow]

As I’m currently resting my wrist from drawing and I’m still thinking out more detailed story beats for WC I thought I’d just do some random rambling about my Pikmin au that won’t be very organized lol. Also adding a cut here as not to flood anyone’s unfortunate timeline

First off since I imagine I’ll get asked this someone someday, a small list of all the local losers preferences.

Olimar - Straight Cis. Doesn’t really get anything outside his bubble but is supportive regardless.

Louie - AroAce Cis (also has the tism). His only love is food.

Alph - GayDemi Cis. Likes love but not actively looking for it.

Brittany - GayDemi Cis. Her and Alph always laugh about the fact people think they’re dating just because they show physical affection to one another sometimes.

Charlie - Bi Cis. Koppite crew is literally the LGB.

Pom - Straight trans. You are not safe from Pingo propaganda.

Terry - Bi Cis. Probably doesn’t even know what being bi is and just thinks he has to make up his mind.

Penelope - Pan cis. Olimars shock when he found out when they were dating that she found girls cute too.

Zack - Pan trans. Saw he had 13 brothers and said wouldn't it be funny to have another.

Yorke - Straight cis. The most gay looking straight guy.

Nelle - Straight cis. to yorke "i hate you sm. wanna kiss"

Dobbs - Gay cis. Charlie and Dobbs are the local toxic yaoi so sorre

Shepherd - AroBi cis. the only dates that exist are DOG PARK dates.

Collin - BiDemi cis. Currently married to coffee and 4 hours of sleep

Russ - Straight cis. Probably does have a wife but no kids

Yonny - AroAce non-binary (F to NB) masculine presenting. Galaxy record for being the first person to survive giving top surgery to himself.

Dingo - Straight cis. Yonny makes fun of his failure of flirting.

Bernard - AceBi cis. He will never realize hes being flirted with at any point in time.

Now thats done, some more stuff about just some general relationships people have with each other. Olimar and Louie when Louie first joined HF were pretty neutral about each other even after 4 but after 2 and deeply apologizing for leaving him behind scared, Louie and Olimar got much friendlier with each other. They started carpooling and even spending some time outside of work together. While Terry thinks Louie is cool if a bit strange sometimes, Lebe is rather more skeptical and scared of him. Penelope worries he might be a bad influence but can't help but worry about Louie as much as Olimar does when Oli vents to her about Louie.

Alph and Brittany are best friends but their relationship isnt the most balanced at times. Brittany is quite quick to getting emotional and blaming others for things. Alph tries not to hold it against her too much given hes aware of her issues and why she is like that in the first place but it can rub off on his timid nature. Though he admired Charlie all through 3, Brittany's negative comments eventually changed Alph's perception on Charlie to just being someone he works with.

Now some of my own world building brain rot wo! a time system, joy. I was just thinking about how do people keep time between every other planet so i propose: Galactic time. Galactic time is not based off anything but purely numbers. 1 "day" is 20 hours long and there is no PM or AM. Its based of a single founding clock that all the other galactic clocks follow now and is usually exclusively used for interstellar work and jobs or meeting up on different planets. The galactic months are all 25 days long with only 10 of them. a galactic week is 5 days long and though i don't have names at the moment the months and days also have different names as not to get confused with any planet names or calendars they might have.

thank you if you've read my ramblings this far. have louie drinking paint

[crypticcupid]

S/I Masterpost

Just so everyone else and I can keep track. To be updated...

Aqua - Transformers/HoSt/HiSw/Helltaker >Aqua (TF:Prime) is just some homeless dude that ended up discovering the Cybertronians. Depending on the affiliation depends on how secretive they are kept and different dynamics. However on the Autobot’s side they live on the base as they have nowhere else to be. She can be seen as acting as a voice of reason to the kids, and generally tries their hardest to help when possible. >Aqua (TF: Animated/R.I.D/G1) is just a chill guy minding their business. Turns out randomly discovering alien robots can be pretty fun if not possibly stressful as Hell. >Aqua (TF: Bayverse) has firmly been an Autobot supporter since the beginning and revels in getting to know these cool bots. His moral compass is more grey and just wants to pick fights with the government at any opportunity. >Aqua(HoSt/HiSw) takes place in those AUs from the old DeviantArt days where the trolls come to Earth are just vibing and adjusting to society. >Aqua (Helltaker) is a thrill seeker that likes to ghost hunt and just so happens to come across a portal to Hell. Upon falling in he meets The Helltaker and they team up for a demon girl ‘harem’. Let’s be real, it becomes a found family dynamic too quickly.

Azura - Kekkai Sensen >A bartender who works rather close to the agency and keeps an ear and eyes out for the agency for any info or leads. Their blood technique allows them to create crystalline structures, sharpened weapons, and if an enemy is distracted can even crystallize them for a short term. He’s an endless source of advice and loves to help those that come through the bar.

Blaze - Pokémon >Blaze is a simple trainer who constantly is getting put in situations by forces outside his control. He has a passion for battles and a fondness for competitions when the occasion arises. He’ll never miss a chance for a battle as he loves to show off his Pokémon's skills in battle.

Dusk - Friday Night Funkin' >Dusk is a close friend of GF(Roxanne) who eventually was adopted by the Dearest family as their odd-ball son. He can frequently be found tagging along with GF and BF when they aren’t on dates. Shockingly he can’t really sing, but instead claims to tag along for other’s battles as “Morale Support”. Has a 9 - 5, but his passion lies in art which they do pursue in their spare time. All the money he makes is easily more spent on his friends than himself, but that’s fine when your adoptive parents give you a monthly allowance that is basically your rent.

Myst - Splatoon >A friendly veteran squid by the name of Myst with the catch-all pronouns of He/They/She. From a nondescript town somewhere south of Inkopolis, but has seen most of Inkadia in his travels. Works at a local venue in Splatsville where they meet the latest musical talents. (Credit to @sleepyship for this excerpt)

Nova - Madness Combat >Nova awoke with very little memories of his life prior to the Madness over taking Nevada, but still he gets along in life as best he can. At first they spent many days just trying to get by until being come across by Sanford and Deimos. Once the two men decided he wasn’t a threat, and seemed more than competent to help, they let him tag along.

Rill - Pikmin >Rill works at the same company as Olimar and Louie, focusing more in the actual office/factory area. However, he also gets some jobs to transport from time to time. Especially with larger orders. Upon a trip to PNF-404 to assist Olimar and Louie on an odd job for more treasures and surveying. Rill enjoys the planet so much. Despite being mostly lonely when on the planet, they take great comfort with the Pikmin nearby.

"Spooks" - Horror Sona >-

Swift - No Straight Roads >Your average NSR worker busting their ass to make ends meet while pursuing their passion in the spare time they have. No one is quite sure what they are, and they seemingly refuse to elaborate upon being asked because they always seemingly get distracted. While they don’t agree with all of NSR’s protocols or general vibes, he can’t argue with the pay.

- - - ||Dividers by @/cafekitsune||

[struttinevilshroom]

Papa's Freezeria Deluxe is the Greatest Game Ever Made (and I'm not joking)

That statement sounds like a joke but I am being 100% serious. I'll say it again, Papa's freezeria deluxe is the greatest game ever made or atleast it's my favorite game ever. You see, I'm not much of a gamer and I'm only discovering the world of video games now that I know piracy and have money to spend on games. The games that I bought as a child were usually second hand and on a console that was slowly being pushed out of the mainstream by the next one in line so games became more difficult to find and I stopped playing. I don't have many games that really stood out to me from my childhood, maybe Cars 2 for the Playstation 3 but I say that in a joking tone. If you were to ask any one of my friends what games from their childhood left an impact on them, they'd have a myriad of answers to give you. My one friend that I've mentioned in the Pikmin 4 review would probably choose every game in the Wii library. For me though, one game stands out and that is Papa's Freezeria, the original one. I think back on that game and that time very fondly. Me, my sister and my cousin were all huddled around my small laptop, taking turns and swapping after every day in game. We played the other Papa Louie titles and those all improved on Papa's Freezeria by adding fancy new features and bells and whistles to make them look superior to their predecessors but no matter how many new aspects they added to the later releases, I always went back to Papa's Freezeria.

When I think about the evolution of the Papa Louie games, I think about something my science teacher usually says "build your science scaffold everyday" this quote is actually seemingly unrelated but my debate coach says that it's always good to use quotes to get a point across and the point that I want to get across is that the Papa Louie games all build on one another. At the core is very stable formula that every game employs but with each title, they build on that like a scaffold, see it wasn't unrelated (it was unrelated but just roll with it) but the thing is my debate coach also mentioned that another good way to get a point across is through reference to stories or anecdotes. What is a scaffold without a good foundation, it's like that story from the Bible about the house on the rocks vs the house on the sand. The house on the sand would inevitably fall no matter how well it is built. No matter how many fancy bells and shiny whistles they add, without a good formula at the core of a Papa Louie title, it will fall. They all have the same formula but I feel that Papa's Freezeria perfected it. Every Papa Louie game has the Order station, the Build station, the Wait station and the Top station. Order station is where customers Order food, the build station is where you build the plate, wait station is where you cook the food which results in the player having to wait a certain amount of time, the top station is where you add finishing touches like decorations. Sounds simple but some games really mess this up by making the wait times too long (Papa's Taco Mia) or the top station too difficult (Papa's Sushiaria) or even too simple (Papa's Burgeria). Papa's Freezeria got this formula right from the get go. The formula is not too complicated but it has nuance, it appears challenging and impossible until you get the hang of it.

Every customer grades you individually on each station and then gives you an average based off of all the stations, you begin to fall into a groove where you get 99% ratings consistently, I've gotten a perfect score twice in a row with the strictest customer. Not that this game is easy, it's a system that you have to find for yourself.

Now, when Papa's Freezeria Deluxe came out, I was ill, I was really feverish and I thought I'd never play a Papa Louie title ever again due to Flash going down but then I saw Jerma play Papa's Freezeria Deluxe on steam and I bought it immediately. By the way if you think that Papa's Freezeria is too easy, watch Jerma play it, I watched this man struggle for 5 hours and like in that one episode of Breaking Bad where they play the full theme song, my ego got the better of me and I got up and had to show this old man how it's done, even in my sick state (it wasn't that bad, I'm jusy trying to craft a scene here). I downloaded the game and me and my sister played for 5 hours straight. I wrote a steam review on the game that quadruples the length of any essay I've written for school.

It was odd though, revisiting something from your childhood and being a completely different person now that you're experiencing it again. When I first played Papa's Freezeria, I must've been 9 years old, my sister 5, my cousin 11. Now revisiting it, I'm 17 years old, thinking about college and university, my sister is 13 years old, wondering how she's gonna adjust to high school, my cousin is 19 years old in her first year of university, just trying to keep herself afloat. As much as things have changed since then, it took me back and even for 5 hours, I was able to feel like a kid again and i didn't have to stress about school or if my marks are good enough for whatever university I had in mind Back then and I could just enjoy the game, it was lovely. I play it to calm myself down, I worry too much, I'm always overthinking every minute detail in everything and I drive myself crazy. Look at this review, it's just a game where you make sundaes but I've extrapolated some profound meaning out of it. My worrying helps me in my reviews a lot and it helps me to be descriptive in my writing but outside of that it's nothing but a bother and I'm sure we all worry too much at times, this game is good for that, you don't have to worry once you get in the groove of it. I also admire the tropical setting of it all, the music which gets repetitive and I usually have other music playing in a YouTube tab.

Man, this game means a lot to me. I love that they made this Deluxe edition and I've heard through the wire that there's another release in November of this year. I recommend it, it's worth every penny. It really does mean a lot to me and I've always known that in the back of my mind but now writing this and actually stating how much it means to me, I finally realize the full extent of what this game means to me. Thank you for reading this one, even if it was about Papa's Freezeria and maybe too pretentious but I've come to terms with the fact that I'm pretentious and that's OK, atleast it gives these reviews some personality. Anyway, I'll catch you later with something else I'm not sure what just yet.

[saltedsolenoid]

Pikmin 4 trailer thoughts:

okay first off i am SO happy that this is actually happening

I like the art style! The graphics are super cute!! Looking at the main character, i genuinely really hope that they aren't customizable? A selling point for Pikmin, at least for me, has always been that the main character(s) are always super well detailed, and we get a lot about how alien this new world is from their reactions!

From the treasure collecting and caves: we're going back to Pikmin 2, babey! I feel like that, at least, is super evident. From the new dog companion to the obvious mechanics and even the shape of the Onion. I assume that this is just because of all the backlash about Pikmin 3, which was undeserved imo?

Also guessing from the graphics and the dog and the character designs we've seen: I guess that this game is going to be a step in a brighter direction from all of the rest of the Pikmin games. One of my favorite things about the Pikmin franchise as a whole was how it stepped into horror with cutesy little creatures at your side-- Olimar was contemplating how he was likely never going to see his family again. Louie's disappearance in the second game. The Pikmin deaths. The enemies. How the protags in Pikmin 3 had to save their whole planet, and almost died trying, and could just totally fail. I hope that this Pikmin game keeps those horrific elements, and I think it'd be doubly effective if they pulled it off well with the cutesy style and mechanics.

Also! The backgrounds and locations!! I'm super excited about the idea of exploring parks and homes and the main characters (possibly) being horrified at the idea that something killed all these giants that were the human race.

Also: the castaway. It's probably one of the characters we've seen before, and I only say that because I feel like the Pikmin team is scared of backlash based off of, like, everything in this trailer. They got enough hate for Pikmin 3's protagonists, so they likely don't think it's a good idea to just get rid of the last protags entirely. Which I suppose is reasonable.

I'm rather curious to see more about the culture that the new protagonists come from. Are they from Hocotate? Koppai? Considering the usage of the word 'castaway,' it's entirely possible that they could be members of an intergalactic traveling species related to both! Or at least that's what I think.

Nonetheless: i'm super excited. I had to wait a few minutes for my heart to calm down before writing this. I do hope it lives up to the 10 year wait! oh jesus it's been 10 years

[snailstrailz]

Repost because the original fucked up!

Louie/Nilas (OC) fluff, no pikmin 4 spoilers, Based on the idea that Louie's love language is sharing food

Nilas rubbed their eyes before returning to scribbling at a notepad.

"I gathered more treasure and wildlife remains today. I do believe I may have discovered a new subspecies of bulborb mimic, which I managed to examine thoroughly before the leafling got his hands on it. Whatever he's making with it smells quite nice! Though I am a little reluctant to ask if he's willing to share, given his standoffish nature he's displayed. Though, the treasure, a fruit from this planet was a decent snack to hold me over. I have to promise myself I'll eat a real meal since Ellie isn't around to make me get up and have lunch at the moment. On the topic, still no sign of her nor Grove. If only l has Grove's tech talents. I could fix the radio and contact the rescue corps. For now, my only hope of finding them are the pikmin."

Nilas ran their fingers in their hair and sighed, setting down their pen. They relaxed in their chair, shooting up when they heard the sound of someone shifting behind them. Nilas whipped around in their swivel chair, seeing Louie in all his leafy glory. 

He flinched and the suddenness of Nilas' movement, one arm coming up instinctively. "Oh, sorry. I guess we spooked each other." Nilas chuckled awkwardly, "is there something you needed, Louie?"

Louie hesitated, "... yes, I brought you this." His voice was quiet, nervous. 

Nilas was so used to Louie being around food and food-adjacent things that they didn't even register him holding a saucer loaded with hot stew. "Oh?" Nilas was so caught off guard by this sudden generosity from the leafling and his unwelcoming demeanor. 

Louie quietly crossed the room to Nilas and handed them the warm dish, Nilas taking it because they didn't know what else to do. "...thank you, Louie." Nilas said in quiet bewilderment. They stirred the stew around a bit with the spork stuck inside it. 

"I noticed you skipped dinner." Louie stated flatly, fiddling with his fingers as he shifted on his feet. Nilas looked down at their food. A mixture of pikpik carrot, potato, and the dwarf bulborb all mixed in a thick aromatic roux. 

Absent-mindedly, probably because the appearance of a meal reminded Nilas' stomach that they were hungry,  Nilas scooped a generous amount of the stew on their spork and popped it in their mouth.

Flavor exploded on their tongue, making Nilas' eyes widen. They went for another sporkful at the same time they gulped down the first and took another mouthful. And another. And another. Nilas was so consumed with eating their meal that they didn't notice Louie was still standing there until they were about halfway through. Nilas swallowed what was in their mouth, "this is fantastic!" They exclaimed, making Louie shift and wring his hands more.

"...thanks." he murmured. Nilas raised a brow. Though his face was covered in leaves, they could tell from how he was carrying himself that he would be blushing. 

"I didn't think you'd notice that I forgot to eat. I didn't even realize." Nilas noted, scooping up more stew in their spork. As they spooned it into their mouth, they chewed slowly this time, savoring it's flavor.

"... I notice a lot of things." Louie replied, "I just don't do anything most of the time."

As Nilas swallowed, A silence fell between them. Louie wasn't one for eye contact, but his eyes were locked with Nilas'. His lips were firmly pressed into a line, but twitched at the corners. Is he trying not to smile? Nilas thought, chewing yet another clump of delicious bulborb meat. 

"So how have you been? I haven't seen as much of you lately." Nilas asked after swallowing and going for more. 

"...fine." Louie said.

Nilas looked down at the saucer as they prodded it with the spork. There was no veggies or meat left, just the scraped up remains of flavorful brown juices. 

"... I'll take that." Louie blurted, "... so you can get back to working." He added quickly, just now turning away in his fluster as he awkwardly swiped the empty dish from Nilas' lap and scurrying off like a scared breadbug.

"... thanks." Nilas said as Louie left. They weren't sure he heard them, but that wasn't at the forefront of their mind right then, unlike the strange fluttering feeling inside them and how they could feel their cheeks and eartips heating up. Maybe Louie and I will get along after all. Nilas said to themself. 

[princess-of-the-corner]

Day 1 starts off strong, with Olimar taking control AWAY from the autopilot in order to dodge the meteor that caused him to crash last time.

However, while approaching the Valley of Repose (a winter location), the ship hits a stray tree branch, and Louie is unwittingly ejected.

The ship ejects Olimar shortly after landing, and remarks on Louie's disappearance. It then notices a small group of Pikmin battling a Dwarf Red Bulborb, and instructs Olimar to whistle them over.

After the Dwarf Red Bulborb is killed, the ship instructs Olimar to contact Louie using his communicator (read: Press the "switch Captains" button so the player can switch control to Louie). Doing so switches the player over to Louie, and he discovers the Red Onion, which expels a specific seed, and triggers the Pikmin growing tutorial.

Once Louie has raised up enough Pikmin using the Pellet Posies, he can then head back to the landing site, but comes across the first treasure along the way: a Duracell D Battery! (Remember, post-apocalyptic Earth.)

He can dig it out, but needs more Pikmin to carry it back, requiring that Olimar and Louie reunite so they can combine their Pikmin Squad's (and also carry the Dwarf Red Bulborb corpse back to the Onion to produce the remaining Pikmin needed to carry the treasure to the ship).

After the Duracell Battery has been delivered to the ship and named "The Courage Reactor" (value: 280 Pokos), it announces that that's enough work for one day and orders everyone to head out.

The Pikmin board their Onion, Olimar and Louie board the ship, and take off into the night sky as the nocturnal predators come out to hunt. (In all three numbered Pikmin games, any Pikmin left behind at the end of the day are killed by nocturnal predators.)

Olimar and Louie receive an e-mail from the President to congratulate them on a job well done, and the game continues from there.

From the world map, the player can access both the Piklopedia (this game's bestiary) and the Treasure Horde.

The Piklopedia places a simulation of the plants and animals you can encounter into a simulated environment based off of whatever area you currently have selected on the World Map, and lets you throw Pikpik Carrots at them to see how they behave around Pikmin. You can also read Olimar's Notes on them to see his observations on the plants and animals' behaviors. Louie's Notes can be unlocked after collecting a certain treasure in the Post Game, and instead describe how you can eat them. The Piklopedia records Specimens Killed (except for environmental plants that can't be killed), Pikmin Lost (if the specimen can kill Pikmin), and Value (if the creature leaves behind a corpse at death).

The Treasure Horde works similarly, but you can't Throw Pikpik carrots at the treasures. You can, however, read Olimar's Notes on each Treasure Collected, wherein he tells a story related to the Treasure. If you collect all of the Treasures in the series, you can see the Ship's Sales Pitches for each individual treasure.

Unlike the first game, however, the tutorial continues into Day 2.

Inch resting!

[obsidian-warthog]

Pikmin 4 mid playthrough walkthrough

-Continued from my first demo save where I didn't even get the yellow onion or any leafling or blue onion, but did get Dingo. Decided to go ahead to the second area to see what it'd be like.

-Saw this area also had a yellow onion and made it my mission to get it. Ended up getting distracted by a side path for the other end of the map and needing a second day.

-AHHH OH OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK I FELL FOR A CREEPING CHRYSANTHUM?! Those guys haven't gotten the jump on me in years. Is that the same name as the flower enemies from 2? They look different but the name feels familiar.

-Between that and the cave with the mimics that had enemies dropping from the ceiling, my Pikmin 2 instincts were forcibly reawakened. Was proud of myself for spotting the electric spider under the treasure and using my captain to scout the whole surrounding area to trigger the other spider drops.

-The throwing reticle feels too sticky for large groups of enemies, like the skitter leafs. Can't believe skitter leafs actually felt like a threat instead of a little bump in the road, but there were so many of them in that one part of the cave wild blue Pikmin.

-Having to treat blue Pikmin as a limited resource was definitely a new experience.

-I feel like between the earlier acquisition and greater presence of water hazards on land the blues definitely got a much better deal here than 3. Hope they keep this up so flying Pikmin don't effectively cannibalize most of their role again.

-Liked the change in dialogue for getting Dingo before your first Leafling encounter. Also Dandori challenges are determined by order you do the caves, not the actual area, interesting.

-Got to the other side of lake opposite starting base and the one there, but ran out of time. Not liking the look of some of those flowers off to the side.

-Area 3 I went to the dandori battle off to the side and collected nearby treasure. Used a squad of reds to ascend the hill and defeat the cannon beetle because I didn't want to risk my blues or ice.

-The bonus item and mystery item mechanics make Dandori battles pretty interesting, also I can see the influence from bingo battle in those mechanics. Shame the mode has no online but I imagine it'd be more trouble than it's worth (wish we had a replayable mission mode though).

-Was so super hyped when the tide change mechanic got introduced, used it to build a bridge and pull the root just past the Dandori battle cave.

-With Oatchi in play that 100 weight item is nowhere near as frightening as Doomsday Apparatus. Definitely feels like buff and super buff is the path to go for Oatchi upgrades.

-Also getting into a better habit of using command level 3 to have Oatchi recall Pikmin and come back, that's valuable, but the idle recall item does steal a good amount of use, though I might be underestimating the safety of Oatchi rounding everyone up vs them all running on their own.

-Anyway after end of day I went back to the first area to get the blue onion. Was easy with a max squad size of fifty, didn't even need to use Oatchi.

-Rounded up the rest of the area as well as I could. Got into the top cave just as day was ending, where I found the doctor. Already noted castaways were based on order you got them rather than actual cave, but didn't realize story important ones were too.

-Had just enough time to set up the top base and push the bag down. Only missing two treasures for the first area right by it, already know how to get them from other demo file.

-And now I have the ability to do night expeditions, called it on the glow sap being needed to cure leaflings. Dingo is almost starting to give off Louie vibes with drinking the sap and abandoning Bernard.

-Really wish the base camp Pikmin sprouts would flower based on day rather than sitting around in camp. Leaving Pikmin to flower overnight is already heavily nerfed with the multiple bases. Makes the flowering side quest harder.

[alphiemar]

Since i have nothing to post, here's some random pikmin doodles from may when i was still in school

the olimar's strongest soldier was first made by someone on twt IDK WHO My bad .. i also have no idea how to find the og pic now. The "ohh i support" is based off of an interaction my friend and i had with someone in roblox LOLL theres a picture for it with the louie and olimar renders but i cant find it

here are the full pages also

i have more but i drew blue pen over red pen so i need to plug in my leds at some point and switch the colors to take a picture of them bc they are very hard to see as they are right now

IGNORE HOW I DRAW THE ROCKET, i am not .. very... fond of it so i am not spending more than 2 seconds drawing it

[your-local-grubdog]

Fragile Things Chapter 14: What If You Move On Without Me?

"What if I found the way back, But you weren't there?" - Centaur World, I've Been Looking for You

Decided to do something different with the images, hope you guys like it!

HUGE thank-you to @random-pikmin-fan​ who asked to draw this chapter's art!!! Here's a link to her Ao3 as well.

Oh yeah a link to the Ao3 post okay lets start the chapter already!

Olimar and Louie were laughing as they trekked across the Perplexing Pool. 

"That stupid slime ball didn't stand a damn chance against us!" Louie was beaming, a few pikmin taking a joy ride on his helmet.  

"Yeah! It seemed attracted to the light of our beacons… so it didn't know who to turn to!"

"Wonder why…? Say, what did you end up calling it anyways?"

"Ranging Bloyster! It seemed to fit, looking so much like a Today Bloyster but big." 

"Yeah, that works. I guess "big blobby bastard" isn't appropriate as a species name, huh?"

Olimar burst out laughing more at that. "No, it isn't. A shame too, you had good alliteration with that name."

"... I'll pretend I know what that means and let myself be proud."

The captain simply rolled his eyes at that as they entered base. "Well, ready to go home kiddo?"

They had finally repaid the debt. After almost two weeks of non-stop work, they were done. They were done! More than done in fact - they were only part way through the cave when they hit their goal. Still, they had to finish it as there was no other way to leave. But now they could finally go home. After all these weeks, Olimar could just fall against his wife and let the bad memories of this planet fade. Snuggled into her arms, nothing could hurt him.

Before they entered the ship though, Olimar stopped. He turned to the pikmin. This was it… he may never see them again. Well, he also thought that last time. Hopefully, then, the next time he saw them was on his own accord and in better circumstances. Kneeling down to their level, Olimar held his arms open. "Hey, I'm leaving now… it may be a long while. Okay?"

He didn't understand the pikmin just yet, and they did not fully understand their leaders in turn. Still, the pikmin seemed to know what was happening. This was it, their goal was completed, so they were leaving. With joyful squeaks and eyes full of tears, the pikmin ran for Olimar and Louie both to get hugs. Both Hocotations yelped and fell over as the pikmin kept piling up, desperately trying to get their share of affection.

They sat like that for a while, laughing and crying slightly as they shared their good-byes. Many squeaks from the pikmin were repeated: "Foe-lata! Too voe mo! Foe-lata!"

It was the same thing they said when he left in his Dolphin all those weeks ago. "Too voe mo" was something he heard oh so often. He knew it was important, he just didn't know what it meant. "Goodbye, little ones…" Olimar cooed, stroking back stems. "I love you. Please take care, okay?"

The pikmin didn't really respond, just repeating their little squeaks. That was fine, Olimar had essentially done the same thing.   

He couldn't let this go on forever though. He stood up, letting the pikmin squeeze in some final goodbyes, and turned to Louie. The younger man was covered in pikmin as well, and so Olimar had to help him up and peel the overly affectionate carrots off of him. They then climbed aboard the ship.     

Olimar headed straight for the control panel, already plotting a course back home. It'd take a few minutes, but it would ensure their safety. It was more than worth it. A few extra minutes spent was fine. 

"Plotting course back to Hocotate, you ready Louie?"

"Yes Sir! I'll head to the kitchen and prepare dinner."

"I appreciate it, kiddo." Olimar hummed as he spoke, light chuffs escaping him. He could already see Rose, Nova, Luna, and Bulbie so clearly in his mind's eye… the tales he could tell of his adventure, the rest he could finally have. Maybe he could take them all out somewhere nice. It didn't matter where they went or what they did, just so long as they were together. He then turned his head towards the ship's exit. Odd… he could've sworn he heard the sounds of Louie talking and a pikmin squeaking. Yet no one was there. Maybe he was just so used to those noises, his mind was filling in the blanks of the quiet ship? Speaking of the kid, maybe he'd invite Louie! Introduce him to his family, slowly integrate him in. He wasn't sure how they would react, but he wanted to try. No matter what, he at least would always consider him family. 

With Louie in the kitchen and the pikmin in their onions, Olimar had the ship take flight. 

He stood by the panel as the ship flew, just in case. If something happened he'd rather be right here to take manual control of the vessel. Thus, he waited until the ship was safely out of the atmosphere and preparing for hyper drive before heading over to the kitchen. "Hey buddy, what did you decide to make?" He asked as he poked his head in. 

But Louie wasn't there.

Odd, but maybe he was just in storage to grab a beast. That would make sense. He decided to turn and climb down there, scanning the large room for his co-worker.

But Louie wasn't there either.

Panicking a bit now, Olimar rushed back up the ladder to do a quick scan of the main floor. Bedrooms were empty, bathroom was empty, the ship was empty. Panic began to take hold of Olimar, forcing him to lean against a wall as his head spun and he struggled for breath. No, no no no no no - shit, that must of been Louie earlier then! 

"S-ship-" he struggled to get his words out, his chest was just too tight and he was losing all sense of balance. His speech was barely a breath, certainly not loud enough for anyone to hear let alone some cheap microphone. 

"Engaging hyperdrive." The monotone voice of the ship rang.

"N-NO!" Olimar finally caught his breath, adrenaline pumping through him. "NO, SHIP STOP-!"

"Hm?" The more animated of the ship's voices replied. "It's too late to stop captain-"

"I said to fucking stop NOW!" He practically screamed, fur standing on end. "LOUIE'S NOT ON BOARD!"

The ship was quiet for a long time before responding. "I-I'm sorry, Captain-"

"NO YOU'RE NOT! BECAUSE YOU ARE GOING TO FUCKING STOP AND TURN BACK TO GET HIM-"

"I can't, Sir. It's too dangerous to disengage hyperdrive early. We'll have to wait till we return to Hocotate and turn around-"

"NO! NO WE'RE NOT FUCKING DOING THAT - IT'LL TAKE A WEEK TO GET THERE AND BACK!" Olimar slammed his fist against the ship wall. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE DANGER, WE NEED TO GET HIM NOW BEFORE SOMETHING ELSE GETS HIM!"

"Sir, I can't-"

"YES YOU CA-"

"If I stop now the chance of crashing into something is too high. At this speed, the crash would destroy me and kill you instantly. Then he'll be stuck there longer as people wait to realize we're not coming back." The ship then seemed to sigh. "I don't like this any more than you do, trust me, but it's our only option."

Olimar buried his face into his hands, nails digging into his skin slightly as he just screamed. He pulled his hands down slightly, leaving small white scratches his fur hid, before slamming his hand against the wall again. This time he flinched, pulling his hand back and looking at the bright mark left from it. He leaned against the wall then, slowly falling to the floor.

"... again, Sir, I'm s-"

"Did you not check to see if he was here?!? Notice him leaving?!?"

"No, Sir, I didn't. My RAM was taken up making sure necessary systems were online and setting up the hyperdrive. There was no way for me to "notice" him leaving the ship, thus no record either."

Not enough fucking RAM?!? He knew his boss was starting to cut more and more corners with the ships and even their suits, but that was just… he didn't have words to describe his anger. He didn't have the energy to be angry anymore. The captain began to tremble, curling into himself. "W-what have I done…?"

"Olimar. You didn't do anything wrong. So many little things led to this, you couldn't have predicted them all happening at the same time. It was pure bad luck. No one is responsible, least of all you."

Olimar just shook his head though as his eyes began to water. "I- I left the boy there. I - I left him behind!"

"Olimar-"

"I've seen what nocturnal predators can do to pikmin in mere minutes, h-he won't even last a day there!"

"... we'll get him no matter what. But he has the pikmin, I do believe he'll hold out until we arrive."

The captain kept shaking his head though. "I don't - I don't know. I'm terrified. And I just left him!

"Olimar, it's not your fault-"

"I'm the captain!" He snapped back. "I'm responsible for everyone! I'm supposed to keep them safe!" His ears leaned back as he shook more. "And all I've done is forget about him entirely and get pikmin killed."

"... you also saved a lot of pikmin." The ship offered. "They still followed you. It'd be very easy for them to leave. But you never broke their trust. I promise, you'll get Louie back as well-"

"Don't promise that." Olimar hissed. "Please, I just -" he shook his head, shaking more now. He didn't know what to do. "Please leave me alone…"

The ship was quiet for a moment. "I will pester you to get food, water, rest, and the like. But I will leave you to yourself if that's what you want."

Olimar huffed, but he couldn't argue against the ship just trying to keep him functioning. "Fine, fine… thank you."    

"Of course, Olimar."

The captain slowly stood up, heading for his room. He stumbled in, head pounding and eyes burning, then reached up for something on his loft bed. He pulled the little space blanket down, just staring at it for a moment. It was so small, and so soft. He gently rubbed a thumb on it, looking over all the little stars and rockets plastered all over the thing. It once belonged to Nova, but now Olimar couldn't help but associate it with both of his boys. Both of them he left behind, one on a deadly hell world and the other to grow up largely without him as he worked to the bone to keep him fed. Letting out a broken wail, he slid against the wall and onto the floor again as he curled around the tiny blanket, burying his face in it as he sobbed uncontrollably.