#but shulk is more fun to draw

[daeyumi]

Also since you deserve some more fun asks, who is your favorite Xenoblade character and how do you feel about the themes in the series (I’ve only played XC1 DE so not all the knowledgeable about the other games but I’m thinking of getting Xenoblade X)

oooooooooooooh omg a chance to yell about one of my fave games of all time??????

okay okay so to answer the first part of the question, my fave character is Shulk! might be a basic answer but he’s just overall a fantastic character, incredible story arc & idk like. just genuinely SUCH a cool character. HOWEVER my very close second fave is Reyn!! i absolutely adore reyn, he’s so fun & stupid & he makes me smile every time he’s on the screen. actually ur ask made me remember & dig up an old doodle of reyn that i did for the “thank you” page of the xenoblade travel zine! (i added a bit of color to him~)

actually, there’s very few characters that i actively dislike in xenoblade 1 lol. but yeah 3rd fave has got to be Melia, i love her so so much. 💜💜💜💜

(i do have other faves from other xenoblade games as well ofc but since u mentioned xc1. well. none of my other faves are quite to the same level as my xc1 faves anyways)

and yeah to answer the second part of ur question, i LOVE the themes in the xenoblade series, genuinely things that hit a very specific area of interest for me and that i think about on a regular basis even to this day, especially xenoblade 1. tbh i don’t think any of the other games in the series nail quite the same vibes as xc1, but i do love them all tho. idk something about the way xc1 handles foreshadowing, the cycle of hatred & revenge, the idea of preventing fate, and idk the whole game just kind of captures a unique feeling of wistfulness and melancholy that i find hard to describe. as well as other themes that i don’t really want to go into detail here in case ppl don’t want spoilers haha.

xenoblade x is a wonderful game, but i def enjoy it in a different way than i do the rest of the series haha. u may already be aware, but def don’t go into x expecting to find the same kind of storytelling as in the numbered xenoblade entries. x is much more about exploring, and kind of living humanity’s desperation alongside them- but less about a sweeping jrpg tale haha. that said, it’s still a wonderful game & i haven’t been able to put down the switch port since i bought it- i’m not terribly far into the game yet, but it’s already such a smoother experience to play than the wii u version was, lol. there’s so many wonderful quality of life improvements to the switch version of xenoblade x, and i can’t wait til i make it to more of the added content as well!!

thank u so so much for sending this ask, i love the xenoblade series so much- especially xc1- & feel like i don’t draw or talk about it nearly enough lol

[neogandw]

Page 4 of 6, the rest can be seen here.

Honestly this is the part where I just get to have fun with the training montage and the reason of why I love Smash Bros like I do.

The gameplay IS fun even if I don't actually play online matches all that much (I'm not all that competitive, I play mostly solo or with friends exclusively), but to me Smash Bros is a toy box.

I love these universes and Smash Bros has introduced me to many more over the years, to me its an introduction to various things I could learn and play with, and even more fun to me its concocting how these series gel together and how you could use their elements as playthings to craft a story or a cohesive universe.

I explored this before with another massive comic I made, honestly kind of one this is a sequel to. Its "The Strongest Fighter".

To me, I am not interested at all in "who would beat who", I prefer to think of "Okay, if these two were to meet, how WOULD it go down?" or "If so was in this situation, what would they do?", the joke of the Strongest Fighter comic is not to actually decide who is the strongest in terms of made-up power levels, but rather an exploration of how these characters view and talk about one of their own in a context disguised as a poorly thought-out question.

A lot of people tend to miss this, sadly, even if Shulk points out "Anyone can beat up Kirby" rather blatantly at the end.

So, going back to Page 4, its also similarly an exploration of the question "how do you go on about getting strong in this context?".

With splatoon, there's not much other than "pick up the weapon and sink or swim, we ain't an helicopter parent, you figure it out". But when you introduce the idea of a MENTOR (specially one out of universe like Peach is) how would you go on about teaching something so abstract as getting good aim?

Its not so much that Orange needs training in weaponry at all, I did make it a point to show that she was Super Fresh with everything BUT the Chargers back on Page 1, but that her aiming skills with the Charger are so off that:

Speedy targets won't stay still (Joker just dodging out of the way)

Her shots are blantantly obvious (Samus just leaning her head to the side)

She's not using shooting at a range, so her aim is so off that she misses even in Super Flat World.

So the training montage is tackling these issues.

Study up and learn how the weapon actually works, as I said her first mistake was skipping up Sheldon's explanation, so the first thing Peach does is explain the basics of the weapon to Orange (if you notice, the billboard does show things like leading the shot as exemplified with the Rabbid, using bombs to flush out your enemies and the importance of things like Ink Saver). Basic stuff, but you do hit the books to learn your tool.

Learn in a safe envoirement that is somewhat predictable, and it is slow going (notice the timer of the Break the Targets), get used to shooting long-distance first and foremost, no matter how long it takes.

Then you introduce the erraticness (AKA: the ducks) and practice off that, Orange hit exactly half and Peach mentions as much. The dog may laugh, but its a start.

And finally, put it to the test. I specifically chose Sonic to be the target to be hit because he'd be the most erratic, fastest and would NOT allow himself to be hit that easily. Landing a headshot on Sonic has to be the hardest thing you could do.

I did mostly pick scenarios that would be funny, but I did want it to be a ramping up in getting good. Not just jumping from point A to point B and just skipping to "welp, you're a god at sniping now".

Anyway, the hidden jokes and references of this page:

I used to be a teacher (programming, if you're curious), so the panel of Inkling Girl going to school is reminiscent of my experiences as a teacher and a student. hence why Inkling Girl's set-up on the school resambles what I know rather than the desks you find on Garreg Mach. Such as taking special attention to draw the ever present ruler, using a square notebook for math, the pencil sharpener and erasers being the ones we use down here on México and the bag being a knock-off rather than an official product. Its just sort of the norm you see around here.

You may notice the random calendar on the Garreg Mach page on the top left. On the coloring process I decided to add to the joke of Inkling Girl going to school by imitating a Persona UI.

Originally the joke was to have it be styled after P5's, but the UI used wound up being Persona 3's instead. Not only is it topical thanks to Reload, but the reason I did it is that curiously -just as I was working on this panel- I hit this date on reload ( 8/10 ) and it just so happened that THIS is when you downright lose an entire week worth of days because Mitsuru decided to sign you up for summer classes without consulting you. Fitting for Inkling Girl sacrificing her own free time to learn and study.

Small thing, but if you actually read Orange's notebooks you may notice she's dividing by zero.

Just to show how much Inkling girl sucks at aiming, the break the targets timer is there to show how badly she's doing. Normally during Break the Targets you either get timed to your best time counting UP if you're doing it on the dedicated mode or counting DOWN from 2 minutes if you do it from Classic Mode. The timer instead reads 28:05.15, meaning that Peach had her do it at her own pace and its been nearly half an hour of just missing shots (since she's only been able to hit 1 target so far).

Also, the timer number may be random, but its actually Splatoon 1's release date. I love to hide significant numbers like that on my works. I forgot to mention it but Peach's player ID back on page 3 was also a release date.

And to add on to the cute factor, the platform they're standing on in Break the Targets is actually taken directly from Peach's stage. So she's lending her own target test for the practice.

Fun fact: on the Duck Hunt panel you can see the UI discussing how many ducks have been hit by Inkling Girl. Not easily apparent though is the blue bar below the ducks.

THAT is the minimum requirement. In the original Duck Hunt the UI for the duck tally would shift over to the left and be compared to that blue bar, if you didn't shoot enough ducks to go beyond where the bar was pointing at the game would end.

Essentially, Peach is asking for a bare minimum of 4 ducks to be hit, which Inkling Girl technically did as she managed 5, but she's still frustrated due to the dog's mockery.

Irregardless of how the montage was gonna go on the planning phase, I always wanted to have Sonic be the last test for Inkling's improvement because -once more- I like to think more in-character when writting down these scenarios.

Sonic is the fastest thing alive, he's capable of dodging whatever bullet or explosive eggman tends to throw at him (capable, not reliable, it depends on player input if he does so or not). So he'd be perfect for target practice, specially for something like Sniping.

Sonic's pride would NOT agree with being shot in the face, admittedly, but he could be talked into it if asked as both a challenge and a request. Peach wouldn't put anyone in danger and it is really just ink, so if its for the sake of helping others, Peach could reliably ask Sonic to do it and he'd at least take solace in helping someone else. Though he'd likely taunt and make it as hard as possible due to his ego.

To show that it was amicable and that Sonic agreed to it I had the two bits of Peach handling a tower and Sonic giving a thumbs up, to show that he was in on the plan.

I could have drawn Green Hill Zone again (in fact, the planning phase did had it AS Green Hill), but I instead opted to go with Seaside Hill as the background (kind of a mistake on my part since Ocean Palace is OBTUSE on its architecture), mostly because I wanted some scenery variety with Sonic, its not always gonna be on Green Hill Zone, you know.

The Loading screen that Inkling is having on her head while she realizes she passed the final test is from Sonic 06, which I shouldn't have to tell you that its infamous for its loading.

I originally wanted it to be Splatoon's loading icons, but those would have required animation since they're not visually understandable otherwise. So I just went with the Sonic theme and made it match.

The UI used for the last two panels are the stage clear screens for Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 1 respectively. Also, I didn't just copy-paste the assets from Splatoon 3 into the comic, every time you see the weapon icons like that its one of my recreation of those assets.

[bvannn]

Weekly Update October 6, 2023

I’ve been very volatile this week, which may continue next week or may not. I don’t know yet. I’ve been on weird cycles of doing a ton of art then doing nothing for a few days. It will probably continue.

So October is started and I’m an impulsive little greedy fuck so I decided to do three different prompt sets, but I’m doing them all differently. OG inktober is getting priority, because I feel bad about failing inktober 52 earlier this year. Maybe I’ll ink or digitize the few of those sketches that I never finished once I’m done, or maybe I won’t. Anywho I’m trying to do inktober daily, more or less. Second priority is goretober, because I need practice and also with life stuff being still weirdly volatile despite all I’ve done, bloody pictures are really cathartic. I’m tagging everything to be extra safe, even though I’m honestly probably over tagging. Idk day one was mouth stuff which really sets some people off so maybe I was overly cautious because of that, but I’d rather be over cautious than get in trouble. Lowest priority prompt set is cringetober, because even though I just kind of avoid most of the stuff on the list naturally due to personal distaste, I still appreciate the spirit of it. Cringe always has a place, even if that place isn’t on my monitor specifically. I’m not doing every prompt from that list because some of them I really can’t figure out anything Oc related (deadass almost gave up for ‘overly complex fit’ and drew Shulk Xenoblade and his ugly ass outfit instead, but decided against it because that’s against the spirit of the prompt set). I still want to fit in as many as I can, and even though most of those will be late, I’m still going to try. At a minimum I want to do the MS paint one that sounds fun.

Also I threw in a random drawing of Stitch this week. Maybe I’ll do other random drawings too, probably not. I’m already pretty behind on stuff.

So I’ve mentioned I’ve been slacking off with TRGA the past couple weeks but I’m trying to get myself back together with it. I’m trying to figure out timing a bit better, and I did finally get some assets I’ve been procrastinating on done. Jon now has actual soles to his feet, and soon Emile will have the sketch lines I’ve been trying to lean into with my art. I can recolor the foot sole asset for Tim and Emile also, although they won’t need it for this animation. I’m mostly at this point messing with actual movement timing and strategies to make the boys more distinct from one another, although I’m probably overthinking it admittedly. The current shot, 1-4, is by far my most complex in this regard, and may be the most complex of the animation, so chances are I’ll post a WIP once the ‘main’ character animation is done. Or maybe not. I’m not sure.

This week hasn’t been the best for personal life so my mood is extremely volatile, so there’s no guarantee anything will be consistent. My plan is to do one inktober drawing and one keyframe/batch of tweens/chunk of work a day for TRGA done every day, and then the additional prompt sets and/or general drawings done whenever possible, but I’m such a mess I can’t guarantee anything. I’m trying to get stuff together with doctors, since they have been telling me pretty good news, but my primary today said something that, while it would be great news, contradicts what a specialist told me. She did outright say to double check with the specialist since they were probably right, but you know how hard it is to get ahold of doctors for that so now I need to worry about that. I’m a mess this semester isn’t going very well, and tomorrow I’ll probably end up doing music instead of art which will suck because I probably won’t have anything to show for that for a while yet.

[rollypoliesonarock]

Shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk shulk

Fantastic new design in my opinion

Yes this is a picture of my screen I took with my phone

It's been months since I last posted art I'm just realizing

[goldenhydreigon47]

Smash Ultimate Roster Fun Facts:

(One per character and according to my headcanons)

Mario: Very supportive of the goals of the roster, even if he doesn't agree with their moral values.

DK: Can talk but only says, "Banana Slamma."

Link: Gender non-conforming and very adorable

Samus/Zero Suit Samus: Many think she's straight but she's actually aroace.

Dark Samus: Interacts with no one at all

Yoshi: Wags his tail often

Kirby: Petitioning for Bandana Dee to get in the next Smash Game (if there is one)

Fox: Feels a lot of guilt for ruining all the viability of half the Melee roster (more reasons why Melee is worse than Brawl and Ultimate lmao)

Pikachu: Belongs to Red but acts more independently.

Luigi: Slightly jealous of his brother, but its more of a friendly sibling rivalry thing.

Ness: Has the most obvious crush on Lucas.

Captain Falcon: Everyone loves this absolute Chad, and he cares about everyone as well

Jigglypuff: Still gets mad and draws on everyone's face when they fall asleep as she sings.

Peach: Sass incarnate

Daisy: Somehow even sassier than Peach

Bowser: Literally every kid's father figure

Ice Climbers: Feel like they deserve the hate they get for being so broken in Melee and Brawl.

Shiek: Trans Icon

Zelda: Her powerful magic kick in her Forward, Back, and Down Aerials were inspired by Captain Falcon's Knee

Dr. Mario: Not a doctor at all

Pichu: Everyone loves him because baby

Falco: Y'know Berdly from Deltarune? Yeah Falco's basically like him.

Marth: Is the most attractive person in Smash

Lucina: Was filled with serotonin when she met Marth for the first time

Young Link: Everyone likes him until they fight him

Ganondorf: Is a Captain Falcon fanboy, hence why their moves look so similar

Mewtwo: Meditates so he doesn't get wrapped in the chaos

Roy: Is our boy

Chrom: Everyone's second adoptive father

Mr. Game and Watch: Is secretly a zombie because the Game and Watch games are dead

Meta Knight: Unlike the Virgin Fox, he, an absolute Chad, is proud of how broken he was, furtherproof Brawl is better than Melee.

Pit: BEST BOY AND A PURE CINNAMON ROLL

Dark Pit: Wants Shadow in Smash because, well, he knows better.

Wario: Still petitioning to get Waluigi in Smash

Snake: Goes, "Hrnnnngh," at the beginning of every few sentences he makes

Ike: Literally everyone is still surprised with how buff he is

Squirtle: Was trained by Mario to perfect using Water Gun

Ivysaur: Is supported far more as the original Plant Gang instead of the idiotic chomper.

Charizard: Gets war flashbacks when seeing a single rock.

Diddy Kong: Pranks everyone

Lucas: Is protected by everyone, especially Ness

Sonic: Has races against Acceleratle Hero

King Dedede: Is a Supastah Warriah

Olimar: Frequently makes, "How's the weather up there," jokes.

Lucario: Since he's already one with the Aura, he's also studying Tarot cards.

R.O.B: Was given a replacement Ancient Minister garb in a good guy colorscheme.

Toon Link: Often paired with Pit in team battle because comedy gold

Wolf: Now has more of a friendly rivalry with Fox

Villager: Set up his own house for vacations

Mega Man: Wants Zero to be added to the roster SO BADLY

Wii Fit Trainer: Only tries to train those he/she deems unhealthy

Rosalina: Treats Kirby like one of her own children

Little Mac: Worst character in the game lmao

Greninja: Fights with honor and dignity

Mii Fighters: Literally no one cares

Palutena: Very proud of her

N E U T R A L

A E R I A L

Pac-Man: Talks with Game and Watch about the good ol' days.

Robin: Is trying his/her best to teach Pit and Kirby how to read

Shulk: Makes Bri'ish jokes frequently

Bowser Jr: Nobody hurts him during his pranks for fear of Bowser brutally maiming them

Duck Hunt Duo: Are good boys because doggo and ducc

Ryu: Constantly training

Ken: Trying to get Ryu to live a little

Cloud: Still getting waking nightmares over Sephiroth

Corrin: Often interacts with the other Dragon Types on the Kalos Pokémon League stage, his/her favorite being Hydreigon, obviously.

Bayonetta: Like Meta Knight, was proud of how broken she was.

Inkling: Has the most swagger out of everyone

Ridley: Joins Sephiroth in giving waking nightmares to Samus and Cloud

Simon/Richter: Christians, but very supportive of the LGBTQ+ community because they actually have standards unlike radical, right-wing, sociopathic Christians.

King K. Rool: Does sumo matches against Dedede frequently.

Isabelle: Gets several headpats

Incineroar: Has met John Cena

*[No one likes or cares about Piranha Plant]*

Joker: Gets everyone to hang out with the other Phantom Thieves, especially Mouse (Pichu) and Star (Kirby)

Hero (Dragon Quest): Is trying to teach Robin the spells he can use

Banjo-Kazooie: Best friends with the Kongs and K. Rool

Terry: Often trains against Ken

Byleth: Was depressed when first added due to the amount of hate they got, but are happier now that the hatred has thankfully died down

Min-Min: The only person so far to beat Little Mac at boxing.

Steve: Has building contests against Villager and Isabelle

Sephiroth: Is your new god now after killing Galeem and Darkhon

Pyra/Mythra: Tell their haters to, "Cry about it."

Kazuya: Trains very often against Ryu

Sora: Was welcomed with open arms by Pit especially

[hibitualmist]

Im not dead, welcome to a headcanon of the day: Shulk and Sephiroth and building an underground death machine for no real reason. They just thought it was a neat idea

anything else: wow i was gone for way too long. Really sorry about that. I still rlly like smash bros I just never had the motivstion to type something down. Doesn’t help that I didn’t write any of my headcanons down. I’m gonna try to post more and do more draw the squad cause those were always fun. I’ll try to see you in the next post byee.

[xenoblademisadventures]

Why the fuck does Mythras armor exist?! Here boobs are right there! they are wide open for attacks and getting hit in the chest hurts like hell!! 0/10 devs were horny and bad for combat

From a purely strategic mindset, I think the lack of leg or back armor is worse since that's a larger area to hit and is harder to defend against than a boob window. Besides that, I wouldn't consider it a huge deal that the person who wears a sundress into battle and is also a laser sword that shoots orbital missiles and is from a fantasy anime where sword beats gun doesn't have practical combat attire. Mainly because the setting and rules for how combat are allowed to work isn't realistic in the first place and embracing that lack of logic means you can lean more into other elements of a character's design. Trying to offset it could also put you more into the uncanny valley of the audience not know whether you're going for realism.

The larger issue with the boob window is that it makes her boobs way too overdesigned and draws attention from more important parts of her character design, such as her face and core crystal. That's also one of the two reasons why Smash Bros Mythra design looks really good while Xenoblade 2 Mythra looks horrible, they made the boobs slightly less overdesigned and redirected all of the attention the design draws to them upwards (towards her face). The leggings also really help the design because now there's a noticeable amount of dark colors to offset the light colors.

Smash bros did Mythra pleasant in a lot of ways. The fixed design is very good, but another favorite is how they made her sword activate and deactivate to punctuate her attacks. In Torna especially, her swordfighting looks really weird because her twinky arms are swinging a sword that's the size of her around like it's nothing, so it's really difficult to get a sense of weight. Having her turn the sword on and off lets her swing fast and look like a powerful blur. It emphasizes the movement really nicely. That definitely isn't the only way to fix the initial issue, but it definitely is an option that had a nice end result.

Besides that, there's the sexism angle. Zeke's open tiddies are there because it says something about his character. Both that he's a ridiculous funnyman and that he rejects Tantal. Mythra has a boob window because it's sexy. Zeke's boob window gets made fun of in a scene about how he's too stupid to freeze to death, Mythra's boob window gets made fun of in a scene where she mistakenly believes that Rex was trying to assault her. The boob windows are just not the same.

Xenoblade 2 is just very sexist in several ways and the character designs are one of those ways. I wouldn't consider factors like sexism and racism as a direct factor in how good or bad a character design is (like, the Makna Armor in Xenoblade 1 is some of the best designed armor sets in the game, that doesn't mean it isn't also blatantly racist), but it should still absolutely be a factor when discussing the design. Especially since stuff like sexism and racism is about trends rather than individual moments 99% of the time. Like, you're not going to get the game directly saying "women exist to support men" (at least in most modern games, I believe Xenogears directly said something along those lines in Disc 2). But you are going to get female characters being more likely to be put into support classes or fill supporting roles. In Xenoblade 2, a lot of the blades are women, is a healer, Morag is a tank. Those are both supports while Rex and Zeke are the damage dealers. When the protagonist is a dude, the story puts more focus on his personal story while when the protagonist is a girl, the story is more evenly spread between who gets the focus (Shulk, Rex, and Fei vs Shion, Elma, and Lora). And connecting this back to the character designs, Mythra's design wouldn't be sexist in a vacuum, but considering the overall trend of the female characters getting skimpy sexy gear while male characters get a lot more armor looking stuff that isn't about sex appeal, it does become sexist. I think Xenoblade X's alien armor sets illustrate the problem the most drastically out of any game in the series.

So, that's why I wouldn't consider the heavy sexism in Mythra's character design to be a reason that the design being bad, but it is definitely a bad thing that needs to be addressed when talking about it. I wanted to bring this up because people skirt around the issue a lot when talking about titty armor being bad and it is a legitimate reason to dislike the design.

Overall, Mythra's character design is difficult to work with because it has too many hanging parts that didn't need to be there, it doesn't say a lot about her personality, character designs don't follow the setting consistantly enough for Mythra's design to say anything about it, and the design draws a ton of attention to her boobs opposed to important stuff because sex appeal.

[yoshichao]

the Smashers and their Host - Chapter ??? 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!

[hi a year ago i was writing a chapter about characters getting sick but then a pandemic happened, making this no longer as fun to write. as a result i’m not going to be posting this one for awhile... but i’m going to share the beginning portion of it anyways. hope you enjoy?]

"Room service!" you call out, peeking into the room with a friendly smile and a tray in your hands. Upon your arrival, Marth sits up in his bed and tries to offer a smile in return... but it is visibly weak, marred by puffy eyes and a flushed face.

"Well this is a pleasant surprise." The Altean prince's voice sounds different from what you're used to. It sounds like he has a stuffed nose... which he does, of course. "If anyone was to be bringing me soup, I would have expected it to be Peach."

You step fully into the room, nudging the door shut behind you with your hip before making your way over to the bed where the prince lies. "It was Peach's idea to make soup for everyone," you confirm, "but after we started delivering it to people, I think the full brunt of the illness hit her too and I told her to go lay down."

Upon discovering that over half the Smashers residing in your mansion had come down with a cold, you took it upon yourself to be a good host and play a part in helping everyone make a full recovery. Of course, having lived alone and illness-free for god-knows-how-long, you were a bit at a loss at what to do... and thankfully Peach was all-too-happy to lend a hand. You recall she seemed tired from the beginning but did her very best to hide it, and an hour and a cauldron of hot soup later, the exhaustion seemed to hit the princess all at once. It took some doing, but you eventually managed to convince her that you and the rest of the team could take it from there. She (and Samus, who was rooming with her while mansion repairs were still being done) was one of the first people you delivered to, and her warm, grateful smile was enough to convince you that you could do this. You can trek across the mansion for hours to deliver supplies to forty or so different people all day.

Even with your handy "shortcuts", it's more draining than you thought.

"Oh dear." Marth chuckles weakly at your explanation. "Thinking about it... for as long as we've been in Smash together, I don't think I've ever seen her fall ill before... I suppose I didn't even imagine it happening to her."

You have a feeling that Peach has gotten sick in the past - she is just very good at hiding it and powering through it. You're certain she would have continued doing that this time as well had you not convinced her otherwise. However, instead of saying any of this, you simply shrug while placing the tray on the bedside table.

"Well, she is a princess. You can't have royalty looking all unkempt and snotty - that wouldn't be right at all."

Marth needs a moment before he realizes… you are making a jab at him. The prince is flustered for a moment before he lets out a laugh, which you respond in turn with a cheeky grin.

“Do I look that bad?”

He is visibly unwell, but you feel inclined to soften the blow to his vanity. “Nah, I’m just teasing. Anything else you need before I go?” You can’t help but glance around Marth’s room under the guise of checking if anything in particular is missing. You respect your guests’ privacy, so you haven’t been in many of their rooms after the move-in - including Marth’s. His room is fairly plain and orderly - the only thing that really screams “Marth” in here is the mannequin that is adorned with his familiar Smash garb. Said mannequin also holds his sword, Falchion. You suppose storing an outfit with armour on it in this fashion is easier than trying to keep it in the closet or in a drawer. Though considering you don’t see any other articles of clothing lying about, perhaps the closet is just full?

...How many clothes does this guy have?

You’re curious now, but decide not to pry.

“Thank you, but I should be fine,” Marth replies, bringing your attention back to him. “You’ve done enough already. Merely visiting me was plenty - you’ve certainly been a sight for sore eyes.”

For a moment, you’re flustered… but then you remember this man is currently sick in bed. His thoughts are probably a bit jumbled and unfiltered. And really, who wouldn’t feel better knowing there was someone bringing them soup? Beauty comes from kindness and within, et cetera et cetera. All these excuses and more fill your head as you effortlessly wave away Marth’s silly words - you, a sight?! Ha ha! Why, isn’t that saying often used platonically as well? Yes? Maybe? You are drawing a blank.

You’re so lost in denial that you forget to respond aloud. Marth seems to take your silence and (unbeknownst to you) goofy smile the wrong(?) way and starts stammering out an apology, possibly growing even more embarrassed than you are.

“I-I didn’t mean… What I meant by that was… Well, it’s not that I didn’t mean it, but I mean, I find you… quite… um…”

“If you want a sight, next time you need something I’ll be sure to send in the cutest maid we have on staff,” you joke, easily shifting the conversation to more comfortable territory. Marth relaxes at the topic shift and chuckles lightly, still looking a bit embarrassed.

“I’ll never live that moment down, will I?”

“Nope!” Your first embarrassing encounter with any of the Smashers has been so diluted by increasingly hectic and bizarre moments that you find it more funny than embarrassing these days. Well, you say “these days” like it wasn’t just a couple weeks ago that that happened… So much has happened since then that it feels like it has almost been two whole years! Really, it feels like the tournament should have started by now. Crazy how time works like that, huh? Ha ha.

Anyways.

“Anyways,” you say aloud, not sure where that oddly guilty train of thought came from. It was almost like someone was trying to speak through you to express their feelings. But that’s ridiculous! Best not to think about it anymore. “I’ve got more soup deliveries to make, so if you need anything, just…”

Oh. Oh wait you don’t have a system in place for this, do you? And you’re pretty sure most of the Smashers don’t have cell phones… Gah, you knew you should have implemented an internal phone line! Maybe you can ask Master Hand to sneak it in there while doing mansion renovations for future needs. If you do it, you’d have to do it in every single room one by one, which sounds exhausting. You already have a lot on your plate today!

“Don’t worry,” Marth says, “it’s only a cold. If I need anything, I have enough strength to get it myself.”

You open your mouth to protest but… actually, he has a point. It’s not like anyone seems to be sick with the flu or anything. And most of the Smashers are adults - they are all perfectly capable of getting up and retrieving anything they may need or want. Well, R.I.P. to anyone staying on the top floor because you still don’t have an elevator, but… they can at least leave a message on the door or something. Whatever.

This is already proving to be a very good learning experience at how unsuitable your mansion is in its current state for hosting this many people. You’ll have enough experience and knowledge by the end of this that you could run a rental business in your realm if you wanted.

“Well, if anything changes and you start having trouble, just leave a note outside the door,” you decide definitively. Going door-to-door to check on people would be tiring (and you’d also risk disturbing people who are sleeping) - but taking a walk through the halls every couple hours to check for notes or whatever? Easy. Even your shortcut-less partners could manage that.

Speaking of your partners, you should really be getting a move on.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Marth replies, wordlessly giving you the go ahead to skedaddle on outta here. “Thank you again for this.”

And he gives you such a kind and warm smile despite his ailment that you are practically stumbling out of the door, unable to figure out why it feels like there are butterflies inside you.

...Helping people out is good. That’s all.

Shaking away the strange feelings this encounter brought, you pop yourself back into the kitchen, where you are instantly greeted with the smell of hot soup. The room is warm thanks to the literal cauldron y’all made a day’s worth of soup in with Peach’s help, which remains on perpetual heat. There are only two Smashers in the room right now: femme Robin, who is using a laddle to scoop the soup into bowls and prepare the trays for delivery, and R.O.B., who is just on his way out with a tray balanced on his metallic arms. He stops when he sees you appear from nothingness, staring silently at you for a moment before turning his head back to a neutral position and rolling out of the room. Shrugging off the encounter, you approach Robin and the table of food trays.

“A couple more down - how many are left?” You spot the stack of trays that haven’t been prepared yet, each with a Smasher’s name stickied onto them. “Oh. That’s how many…”

“You work a lot faster than the boys do,” Robin chuckles, her voice notably different-sounding than usual. You’re pretty sure she’s sick too, but unlike Peach, she hasn’t been overwhelmed by it yet and waves away any concerns you’ve thrown her way. “R.O.B. can only carry one order at a time, and the Pikmin keep spilling or dropping things… or eating it. Shulk is… well, I think the stairs are too much for him.”

“That’s understandable,” you chuckle. Yeah, your team is not the greatest for this job. But you’re still thankful for the help. “You are giving him orders for people on the lower floors though, right?”

Robin gives you A Look before gesturing to the soup and the pile of crackers and bread… among other world-specific foods that are apparently good to eat when sick. “Hey, I’m busy putting everything together here! I don’t have time to tell everyone where to go! Just pick up a tray and go, that’s what I’ve been saying.”

Oh geez, not even you’re completely familiar with the rooms that the Smashers chose for themselves. You can imagine Shulk having to search every floor just to find the name he’s been looking for is on the top… Thankfully Peach managed to round up any and all roommate scenarios before leaving to rest, or else this could be even more hectic.

“Fair enough,” you relent, unable to stop yourself from smiling at the others’ hardships. It is admittedly funny to think about, but you intend to work hard enough so no one tires themselves out at what would otherwise be an endless task. You’re hoping that after this first round, you’ll all have a break when you only have to deal with specific orders… until dinner time, of course. Then this chaos will begin again.

“Ugh, and no one has even delivered food to my poor, sweet Lucy yet!” Robin groans dramatically, hand to her head like she’s acting in a movie. “Here I am, selflessly toiling away for the sake of everyone else, while my only daughter continues to suffer! Oh, won’t somebody deliver this soup to her in my stead?”

“Uh… Yeah, sure, I could do that. Or if you’d want I could stay here while you--”

“Oh you will?!” Robin cuts you off before you can finish, grinning as she scoops up the tray with Lucina’s name taped onto it and forces it into your arms. “You’re a lifesaver! A knight in shining armour! I’m sure she will be SO happy to know someone as sweet as you is looking out for her…”

With an awkward (but amused) hum, you accept the tray and adjust it so you’ll be able to grab a couple more. Before you can start browsing the selection though, Robin starts coughing - first soft, but then she’s leaning over and hacking into her arm. Uh oh. “Robin, why don’t you go lie down? I think the rest of us can take care of things from here.”

“No no, I’m fine. Really,” she says, considerably less bombastic than before as she manages a smile. You can tell that it’s forced. “Someone has to prepare all this food and look after the kitchen!”

She’s… not exaggerating. Olimar’s Pikmin tend to sample the selection any time they’re in here to pick up another delivery. And then there was the one time Kirby came in today…

...Best not to think about that nightmare.

“Well… maybe you can at least take a break?” you suggest, not wanting her condition to get any worse via pushing herself too hard. You all may need the help, but… you’re sure you can manage! “There aren’t too many trays left to prepare--” Ten isn’t much, right? How much work could it possibly be to put food on a tray? “--and we could just have Shulk or R.O.B. watch the kitchen.” You’d volunteer yourself, but like Robin said, you kind of are the most efficient person on hand right now. Even Palutena has this cold - there’s no one with teleportation powers well enough to lend a hand.

Robin puts a hand to her face, clearly considering your offer. You notice how tired she looks now that she’s not overcompensating her energy to hide it. “Oh, but…”

“You could bring a tray with you,” you tempt. “Go lie down, eat, maybe read or watch a movie? Then maybe in an hour if you feel alright you can come back…?”

The tactician is silent, envisioning the possibilities you are proposing. Finally, she nods and steals a random tray, ripping off the name and sticking it on one of the empty ones. “Alright, you got me. I’m convinced. Say hi to Lucy for me, okay?!”

With a cheeky grin, she leaves the room with food in tow. Briefly you wonder if she had been looking for an excuse to go sit down for a while now…

After Robin is gone, you start browsing the trays so you can deliver more than one order in a single trip. Should you try for a bunch on the same floor as Lucina, or should you grab some for higher floors instead so your partners can catch a break? Just as you think you’ve made a decision, a certain Monado Boy enters the room with an empty food trolley.

“I ran into Robin on the way here,” Shulk says in lieu of a greeting. He looks tired, but devoid of any cold symptoms that everyone else seems to have. “She said she was taking a break but seemed rather… excited about it. I don’t suppose that means we’re down another member?”

“I guess we’ll find out if she comes back or not,” you chuckle. You’re pretty sure Robin is a fairly reliable person but… she can be rather sneaky about her true intentions. “Either way, I think we’ll be fine! We can do this!”

Your positivity is infectious; Shulk returns the smile, albeit weaker than yours. While you’re certain he’s probably just tired from running around so much to help people, you can’t help but ask him again:

“Hey, are you sure you’re feeling okay? You’re not sick too or anything?”

Shulk shakes his head. “I told you before, I don’t seem to have it. Really, I don’t feel sick at all.”

When you asked him earlier, he told you that he had a weird history of never getting sick at the same time as his friends. He just never seemed to catch the same bugs as them. His explanation for it was as good as yours - which was no explanation, because he doesn’t know how it happens either. Just luck and coincidence, probably. When you try to imagine Smashers with strong immune systems, Shulk would have never been at the top of the list. He just… he looks so frail! But you can’t fight the facts: he’s one of the only human Smashers who is still perfectly healthy right now.

“How about you?” Shulk asks, returning the question. “You haven’t started feeling sick, right?”

He must be worried that you are going to ditch him too. “Nope! Like I said earlier: I don’t get sick. Like, at all.” You honestly can’t remember the last time you had gotten sick. Certainly not since you “moved into” this world, which was… well, it’s been awhile! Assumedly, it’s just one of the many perks of who you are and the realm you live in. Regardless, it’s been long enough that you’re convinced that “virus immunity” is one of your many undefined abilities.

Unfortunately for you, “not being a clumsy fool” is not one of your cool superpowers.

“Oh no!” You let down your guard for just a moment and accidentally let the trays in your hands tip, dumping all the food and utensils onto the ground. Man, you’ve been doing so good today! Shulk helps you clean it up, but a certain issue remains.

"Ugh, what if specific foods were on those?" you bemoan aloud. "I can't remember what came from each tray…" And you don't know anyone's tastes well enough to remake them. Though you suppose you could just leave the soup plain… put a bit of everything on the side…

"Who were they for?"

"Lucina, Yoshi, and Villager."

"In that case, I think…" Shulk picks up a blue-and-white bag among the mess. "...this is for Villager."

This makes perfect sense. "Now for Yoshi… probably all the fruit?”

Shulk ponders for a second, then nods. This also makes perfect sense. The two of you put all the bananas, berries, and peppers onto Yoshi’s tray.

“That just leaves the soup for Lucina!” You grin and rush over to the still-warm soup pot and fill a new bowl. “That was easier than I thought.” You are pretty sure you didn’t make any mistakes whatsoever. Except… wait a minute.

“Didn’t I deliver this earlier?” At your query, Shulk glances over to the particular tray you’re pointing at. It’s labelled for Peach and Samus, but you’re certain that this was one of the first deliveries you made!

...Wasn’t it?

“Um.” Shulk seems just as puzzled as you were. “Honestly, I’m not sure…”

You try to reach further back into your memory, but it seems to get further and further the more you try. Today’s events have been a blur of chaos and confusion. “...I guess I’ll just do it again??” It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember doing it, if the tray is here then that means you have to deliver it! You pick up the tray and put it on your trolley, then start loading the trolley up with more and more trays until it’s full.

“Oops, I almost forgot…” You turn and look at Shulk, who is also loading up a trolley. “Shulk, can you take Lucina’s? Robin asked me to, but I’m out of space.”

The two of them seem like good friends anyways, you’re sure Lucina will be more happy to see Shulk than to see you.

“Sure thing.”

Not wanting to waste anymore time, you start pushing your food trolley out of the room. As soon as you’ve exited the kitchen, you warp to the second floor of the mansion. Static dances on your skin from the instant transmission, but you ignore it as you approach Peach’s room.

[hello again its me, this is the end of the preview. there wasn’t much to it and it ends on such a Nothing note but i hope you liked it regardless. one day this will end up in the fic, but not anytime soon i think lol. i hope you have a good day/night.]

[askroahmmythril]

Reference List for amiibo Fighter Names (Set 4)

37) Pichu : Zap Nezumi - Those who have been with my channel for awhile might remember a cute and charming Mega Man style game called Nezumiman.  I love that game so much and would love to see a sequel.  Squeakuel?...  Anyway.  Most of the bosses were dubbed (Element) Nezumi, depending on their power.  So Pichu gets to fill in as Zap Nezumi!  Up top we have all the various stage bosses, and Pichu is dressed in all the fashion items Nezumiman gets for beating them.  He’s got Perfect Fashion!  Which according to Nezumiman, also involves having Dr. Gyoniku’s butt in the background.

38) Pikachu : Agent 25 - Actually a self reference, this one.  Agent 25 is a “character” that has appeared in some of my silly bits I’ve done for past videos.  Theoretically his real name is Conduit, my Lv. 100 Pikachu, but he serves as an agent for me, going by the codename Agent 25 (his Pokédex number), protecting me from annoying talent agents trying to zap me with a dragon prod for taking time off.  We went with a full-on James Bond style for this one.  A minor detail, the display of PokéBalls in the nameplate having five empty circles before it is supposed to reference the display showing how many Pokémon a trainer has in a battle, thus, he’s the only one here.

39) Pit : Icarusicus - What can I say, I grew up with Captain N as a kid.  Back then, as a gamer, you took whatever media you could get.  Captain N was cheesy as heck, and got a lot of source details WAY wrong, but it was still fun in its own weird way.  In that cartoon, Pit was instead simply named Kid Icarus, and had a habit of inserting “-icus” at the end of everything he said.  So here the more modern Pit is faced with a blast from the past, his cartoony old weapons and contact from Kevin and Princess Lana.  Neo added more details, like some Mega Man sprites recolored and restyled to look like characters in Captain N.  Including a Simon Belmont sprite given his look from the cartoon, blue bomber jacket and blond hair and all.  The building shown is the Palace of Power, Princess Lana’s base of operations.

40) Pokémon Trainer : RedVersion - Again a self contained reference to Pokémon.  The trainer he’s based on is Red as he appears in Fire Red and Leaf Green.  Thus, RedVersion, in reference to the original Red Version of Pokémon.  Neo and I both had the idea to try to pose the Pokemon and Red himself like how they’re posed in the original game sprites.  Neo also went an extra step, using minimalist colors to mimic how the sprites looked on a Game Boy Color or Super Game Boy.  While I do like the idea, I might ask to stick with full color just to mimic the amiibo itself if we do indeed redo these.  The overall look of the card was designed to look somewhat like the original Pokédex.

41) Robin : ShipREKT - Again, Fire Emblem is not exactly my area of expertise.  But this silly idea came to mind, knowing Robin’s game has a lot of “pairing people up to increase bonds” mechanics.  Sooooo Shipping : The Game.  So I just had the silly idea of drawing him in super charming anime style.  Of all things, I think I was largely influenced by a scene from the Unova episodes of Pokémon where a male Minccino was using Charm.  I suppose this is a good time to mention that, in cases where only one figure was released for a character, I go with that style for them, so for instance, there’s only a male Robin card, only a female Wii Fit Trainer card, no wireframe Little Mac, no Koopalings, etc.

42) ROB : Spin Cycle - I mean, ROB’s all about spinning his gyros, that’s really all there is to this one.  The colored swirl in the background was supposed to mimic the red and blue colors of the gates from Gyromite that he’d help you move.  However, it also kinda looks like the colors of those infamous Tide pods.  Which... I mean, spin cycle IS a laundry term, so yay accidental references?...

43) Rosalina : Cosmic Mama - I love Katamari!  Seriously given that was a Namco game, I would have loved it if some Katamari music got in on the Pac-Man stage.  Ah well.  This was one of those where I just couldn’t resist the reference and sneaking the Half Inch Prince into the picture.  Neo further personalized some of the Lumas, as well as adding the famous “I feel it!  I feel the cosmos!” quote.

44) Samus : Chozen One - A self contained Metroid reference, and a silly pun.  Samus is the “Chosen One” in the sense that a lot of Chozo prophecies as seen in the Prime series seem to center around her actions.  So just a combination of Chosen and Chozo.  I had worried that Samus would be hard to draw in Visio Home, but it turned out to be really good for drawing the defined lines of her suit.

45) Sheik : HARP HERO - While I’ve never actually played any of the Guitar Hero games, the fact that Sheik generally just follows you around to teach you new songs via her harp made this idea stick with me.  A shame she doesn’t use her harp for anything in Smash...  Seriously feels weird that she doesn’t.  Anyway, I had the track display the notation for Bolero of Fire.  For some reason, the scene of her teaching you this one just stuck with me as a kid as one of the most iconic scenes with her.  This was also drawn before we started putting character icons in the nameplates.  In his version, Neo added the Sheikah eye symbol to the nameplate.

46) Shulk : RA1NFALL - This is a reference to Project Rainfall, a community effort to coax publishers into localizing a few select games in the US.  If memory serves, Xenoblade Chronicles was the first and perhaps most prominent game to have been part of this effort, hence my putting a 1 in the name.  I didn’t really have a good solid way of drawing rain in Visio Home, so Neo added that on his end.  Really this one probably saw the most changes between versions, as I really had very limited info on Xenoblade.  My frame as such is.... really clunky looking.  Neo was able to make something far better looking on his version.  The symbol on Shulk’s Monado here means “rain,” so, uh.... umbrella utility!

47) Sonic : SpeedRacer - A reference to the anime of the same name.  Sonic here is posed like Speed after he jumps out of the Mach Five during the Speed Racer title sequence.  Meanwhile Sonic’s car here is the one he drives in Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed, as well as being on the game’s Starlight Carnival track.  Neo gave me the idea to have a Coconuts peeking out of the trunk of the car to mimic Chim-Chim, the monkey mascot of the Speed Racer team that had a habit of stowing away in Speed’s trunk while he was racing.

48) King Dedede : ThreeDeDe - A joke on 3D imagery, such as that found on the Nintendo 3DS.  The first Kirby game for the 3DS, Triple Deluxe, even had a mode where you played as King Dedede on his own adventure, so hey, him celebrating this moment of glory does not seem out of character for him.

[flamebearrel]

Ness (smash) Steven (su) and Sonic (also smash) for your ask game!

Ness BrOTPs

Snake - Ness has built up a huge admiration for Snake over time - what he’s been through, how he powered through it all, his weapons and abilities and sense of humor and the like. He essentially feels like Snake is a second father figure, and is honestly pretty shy about it. But Snake is happy to spend time with him and makes sure he voices his approval more frequently than usual, cause Ness’s face lights up every time and he finds it so sweet

F!Wii Fit Trainer - As someone interested in athletics but not speedy enough to play competitively, Ness quickly latched onto WFT’s more relaxed fitness and yoga sessions as a way to get moving instead. Over time she effectively became his Cool Aunt that he’d come to with new discoveries and questions! One particular thing they often do together, as a very-confused-with-tech lady and a kid who still lives in the 90s, is try to figure out new tech and ignore anyone who tells them they’re doing it wrong yes I know cameras aren’t new they’re just messing around in the linked example

Toon Link and Lucas - The first pair of people his age that he really clicked with, since Young Link was a lot more solitary and the Ice Climbers just didn’t become part of the super-tight group they formed. These three can find pretty much anything to do together, and they often like to discuss their families. When it comes to competition, their teamwork excels - they’re somehow always in sync, especially with Ness always leading the team (until Villager joined the friend group in 4 and started competing for that role)

Luigi and Dedede - While they don’t usually go out of their way to hang out, the three of them just feel really connected with each other post-Subspace. Expect lots of knowing smiles, inside jokes and eye contact from across the room, to the extent that people know they’ve got secrets but no one ever gets a real hint as to what they are. They will also most certainly team up if they have the chance, but honestly that’s when they do most of their catching up rather than trying that hard to win anything

Steven BrOTPs

What makes this easier is that he forms some kind of relationship with pretty much every character in the show, so let’s talk about a few we don’t get to see him with much!

Jeff - It took a while before they could meet up, since at first Steven only heard about him from Connie and then her cram school started, but when all three finally did (around Change Your Mind time) it was a pleasant surprise to see how many interests they shared. Jeff immediately started looking up to Steven and took to learning about Gem stuff, even volunteering to help with the construction of Little Homeworld! Eventually they start hanging out themselves playing video games and such, and Steven even gives him a warp whistle shortly before the movie so they can meet up more

Nephrite - Steven wanted to spend as much time as he could with Nephrite once she was healed - it was his chance to finally really listen to his friend after so long and he could just feel the excitement radiating from her to be back. For a while she came with him to Homeworld out of wanting to see how it had changed. Hearing others’ stories and tales and being able to tell her own really struck a chord with her, so she started studying therapy - Nephrite was actually the one who helped Steven get into it! In addition, Steven is happy to introduce her to Earth tech, and on his road trip she somehow always manages to sneak up and stop him for a hangout

Blue Zircon - Upon making changes around Homeworld, one of the first things Steven wanted to do was show some appreciation for the more trustworthy faces around there. Immediately he voiced his approval for Blue Zircon, calling to mind her amazing deduction skills from the trial. BZ also feels the trial let her see Steven as someone on her level rather than far above her - there are plenty of occasions where she calls Steven to ask for leadership tips or discuss plans, rather than any other leading Gem

Peedee - Though he doesn’t realize it, once Steven starts managing Little Homeschool he subconsciously makes comments on his work woes as he goes about Beach City. Peedee’s the first to pick up on it, and honestly, he gets it - soon the conversations at the fry shop/tater truck are getting longer and longer before Steven has to go. He recognizes the deflecting and watering down of his problems Schtu-ball tends to do too, and asks cautious questions so both of them have a better outlet when they talk. The realization that they haven’t hung out enough hits hard leading up to Steven’s road trip, so that’s what they do - Steven helps him relax a little more and Peedee helps with the plans

Sonic BrOTPs

I wanna point out that I know enough about Sonic to get all the important characters’ personalities and general dynamics, I just don’t really know the lore :,D so hopefully these are okay ahaha they took a while to think about

Mega Man - Buddies since the comics, and that holds true even to now. When Rock first arrived at Smash, it was the hedgehog that showed him around and helped him settle in - and the actually kinda overwhelmed Rock clung to his arm for quite a while. They like to host friendly competition all the time or poke fun at each other’s slip-ups. Honestly, though, it’s refreshing for Sonic to have a robotic friend rather than an enemy for once; in turn, Rock appreciates having a stable friendship with a former enemy instead of some vague tension-filled team up

Orange and Blue Inklings - During the first Ultimate pool party, Sonic wasn’t the only one who hanging around away from the pool - he was able to click with Amber and Neil almost immediately. The Blue Blur’s found himself completely enamored by the culture of Inkopolis, and these two are happy to share with him their “fresh” fashion tips and lifestyles. And if they so wish, they can become one of the most chaotic trios in the whole Palace

Mario - As much as he tries to play off the aloofness sometimes, Sonic always inevitably draws to Mario in a crowd. His “old man” just makes him feel a lot safer since he always backs him up, whether it’s a tough battle or just messing around (not only will Mario find it hilarious every time Sonic pulls something, half the time he can and will join in). Mario keeps the hedgehog at the top of his list for whenever he’s up for some sports, and while usually Sonic’s too caught up in stuff to join in, he makes sure to mentally cheer for the plumber every time

Shulk - His kind, nerdy vibes remind Sonic of Tails, so he’s more than willing to just walk up and start chatting with the guy. Initially Shulk didn’t think too fondly of him since their priorities and tactics seemed to clash a lot, but when Sonic started telling stories of his friends (specifically Silver and the aforementioned Tails), it definitely grabbed his interest. The two start talking about their own experiences with the future, and their regrets, and it definitely becomes one of Sonic’s more introspective relationships

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

for the ask meme: 2, 3, 9, 10, 14, 15, 18, 19, 34! :)

(XCDE ask meme, once again under a cut for length)

2: Favorite area song?

“Fallen Arm (Night)” owned my heart from the second it started playing.  I’m also quite fond of the Tephra Cave theme (even if I don’t find the area particularly interesting) and the threatening Holst energy of “Zanza’s World” is really fun.  OH and “The End Lies Ahead”.  I love the soundtrack a lot, can you tell?

3: Favorite cutscene song?

DEFINITELY “Prologue B” and “Riki the Legendary Heropon”, but “A Friend On My Mind” and “Once We Part Ways” make me cry every time

9: Favorite part of the story?

MECHONIS CORE/THE AWAKENING, BABY.  I live for angst and smug antagonists and this had both in spades.  I knew that something big was going to happen but the truth far exceeded my expectations!  Even now that I know the twists, it’s one of the most cinematic parts of the game and I’ve rewatched it who knows how many times now.

10: Least favorite part of the story?

I don’t much care for the Juju-running-off arc, save for Xord’s scenes and Dickson and Dunban’s Big Damn Heroes moment at the end.  It’s necessary for a lot of reasons, but once you know how it goes it’s not as interesting.  Let me get to the next part!

14: Favorite party member to play as?

Dunban, followed by Seven and Shulk.

15: Least favorite party member to play as?

Reyn, followed by Sharla.  I love them, but I much prefer to let the AI do the work.  However, if I ever buy a Switch so I can replay it, I might consider playing as Sharla more if I want to draw out my favorite boss fights.

18: Favorite Arts to use?

🌸 ~BLOSSOM DANCE~! 🌸  All of Dunban’s are fun tbh.  I also quite like Melia’s bolt and Seven’s sword drones.

19: Least favorite Arts to use?

Riki’s ether attacks are very useful, but also some of the least fun to use imho.  There are also about a billion Arts that I disregarded as soon as I got them.  I literally never used Guard Shift or Lock-On lmao

34: Pro-Riki or anti-Riki?

Who the FUCK is anti-Riki??  [Wayne Letterkenny voice] That’s a fight on sight

[mindboogling]

Modern!Newsies’ Smash Bros Mains

I need to finish a lot of the drawing requests/suggestions so here’s this in the meantime :P

Jack: The Cool Leader Guys or Adventurers - There’s a safe bet that Jack is going to play your tough or cool protagonist kind of characters AKA Link, Roy, Ike, Captain Falcon, etc. He cried tears of joy when he heard Roy was back. He’s the one who owns the Wii U/Switch and game. Everyone kind of just crashes his place to play.

Crutchie: Toon Link, Pikachu/Pichu, Isabelle, Kirby - The player that likes to play a lot of the cute and occasionally animal characters. Don’t underestimate though because he will freaking demolish someone with Toon Link, Kirby or Pikachu out of nowhere (puts the “cute” in “electrocutes your butt off”) Looks like a cinnamon roll, but could take you out like BAM! 

Davey: Marth and Robin - He hasn’t played much Smash which explains why he keeps falling off the maps, but Marth and Robin didn’t look as crazy or looney as the other characters and he thought the Fire Emblem characters were a lot more controlled in their strengths.

Les: Duck Hunt - What a troll. He learned to taunt from Race and likes the duck and dog a lot! He’s the little brother type of gamer who is asking questions and you’re not sure if you should let him win or wipe the floor with this kid. Although, he will definitely beat Davey.

Race: Sonic the Hedgehog- Big troll. He’s a button masher and a taunt spammer/master. He will scream random Sonic quotes from the 90s as to distract, but sometimes that may backfire too. (“GOTTA GO FAST-” *falls off the edge of the map*) The type of player that will crawl all over you like a cat to distract you while playing. 

Spot: Little Mac - He is ready to wreck some people up. Other than Little Mac, he will play some of the brooding looking characters like Ryu because WOAH, STREET FIGHTER or Charizard because it’s A FREAKING DRAGON likE EAT FIRE, BOI.

Katherine: Zelda, Sheik, Shulk - Likes having good control and a light character to move around easily. Secretly has learned all of the combos without anyone suspecting it and plays dumb only for victory (“Oh, what’s an ultimate? How do you move? What does this button do?”) A cheap tactic to get someone distracted in trying to “help” her, but first place is first place, buddy.

Albert: Bowser and Villager - Two entirely different mains, and it’s weird, but both mains are also a bit frightening. If he loses, he’s the type to laugh it off (probably with a ligma joke) or make up excuses for it (“Les was blockin’ the TV!”) Yes, he will yell during gameplay, which disturbs neighbors, but in this game, you GOTTA win.

Romeo: Mii Fighter - Started playing the characters that looked really cool, but didn’t feel like he really matched with any of ‘em so he made himself to main! There’s an on going joke that he likes playing as himself because it’s his own pretty face.

Elmer: Yoshi and Luigi - Has played Mario in the good old days, but likes how less threatening Luigi and Yoshi are next to Mario in Smash. The guy who doesn’t take the game too seriously and is probably having the most fun.

Buttons: Pac-Man and MegaMan - Likes the 8-bit aesthetic and plays them because of mascot rep. It’s like a blast from the past! Not the most intense gamer at all, but he likes seeing his friends have fun.

Specs: Fox - He’s more of a classic player and likes the Gamecube controller more. He is the type to try and think up of a strategy, but for some reason, isn’t able to lay a hit on button mashers like Race. He’s a good sport though.

JoJo: Pit - Mr. “I’ve never played this game before but I’m a natural, I guess” He thought Pit looked cool with his wings and bow and has never played Kid Icarus or any Smash Bros. games in his child life. It makes some of the Smash Bros. Strategists angry as heCK. 

Finch: Ness and Lucas - He had heard of Smash before but didn’t play often. When he was going through the roster of characters, someone went “UGH” when he went over Lucas and Ness. Now, he doesn’t stop saying things like “PK THUNDER!” when they play.

Blink: Snake - I mean, sure, bad eye buds, but! Blink likes the idea of the rugged spy. He’s all for it now, despite thinking it was kind of a waste of time for a game before. He grew more and more attached to it the more he played and it gave him an excuse to be close to the others cOUGH COUGH

Mush: Mr. Game and Watch  - That one friend that’s fine watching the others play. Although, when he does play, he is your basic jokester. He likes the simple look of Mr. Game and Watch and his wacky moves, despite the laggy flow style of his animation. 

Mike and Ike: Pokemon Trainer and Ice Climbers - They do the switch off thing with the controller and they are the first two to be told to share a controller (which sucks sometimes, but they’re chill with it.) Mike feeds the twin stereotype by choosing the Climbers (the iconic duo), but he also likes their cute design! Both Mike and Ike like the Pokemon trainer (although Ike prefers the trainer more than the Climbers) even though they can be just a tad OP. They’re so happy the characters returned! YAY TEAMWORK!

Smalls: Samus and Inkling - Oh, heck yeah they’re gonna go for the mcfreaking WOMAN WITH A MINI CANON ON HER ARM! Sometimes they don’t have the patience to charge her weapon for a strike so they play as the inkling (YOU’RE A KID, YOU’RE A SQUID!) Smalls is experienced at Splatoon, but still a good rookie at Smash. They definitely have a competitive spirit!

[mrauthor3ds]

Crazy Echo Fighter ideas (of known fighters)

- Ninten (of Ness): His moves could be like Ness’s for the most part, as they get their gear from the most similar settings in the Mother series. Maybe change PK Flash to Lucas’s PK Freeze, though, since EarthBound Beginnings doesn’t have PK Flash at all. Final Smash could be PK Beam Gamma (or Omega), with Ana and Loid’s assistance.

- Black Shadow (of Captain Falcon): It may be tough to differentiate him enough from Ganondorf, but perhaps making him more like Melee Ganondorf could do the trick.

- Impa (of Sheik): Could be Skyward Sword-based, if they really are going with series variety this time. Likewise, she may make her tools (needles, Burst Grenade, etc.) from that ancient blue energy - fighting like a genuine Sheikah.

- Azura (of Ike): Probably the wildest idea here, but the way Ike wields his long Ragnell sword could easily be translated to a lance user’s fighting style. Obviously, Azura would have to be on the light, mobile side, and use water instead of fire for things like the standard special. Would be cool if half her costumes were the Dark Songstress disguise.

- Shadow (of Sonic): Seems to be the most popular choice right now. Even with Sonic’s attacks, he could enhance the range and power with Chaos energy, even for Spin Dash moves. Up special might be substituted, though (maybe Mewtwo’s Teleport). Could use more “modern” sound effects instead of Sonic’s classic sounds.

- Tetra (of Toon Link): Use a dagger, but no shield, probably stronger than Toon Link, but also lighter. Maybe change the bow to the Bow of Light (longer max charge time, but more strength and distance in return). Final Smash could use Triforce of Wisdom, transforming into Toon Zelda during it.

- Celica (of Robin): Basically, a similar sword-and-magic style, but without breakable weapons. Instead, Celica could have just the one sword (Beloved Zofia, hoping) that’s between the Bronze Sword and Levin Sword in power, and her magic-based attacks could draw from her own health. Down special might be different...She doesn’t use Nosferatu in any form, but she could repurpose Marth’s Counter with Plenitude, focusing more on being a healing punish instead of a high-damage punish.

- Malos (of Shulk): Probably the least likely, but fun to think about, as Malos’s true weapon as an Aegis is STRIKINGLY similar to Shulk’s Monado (and he even uses Monado-based Arts). He could use the popular custom special Hyper Monado Arts instead, and his counter could use his dark ether powers instead of Visions. Either Monado Eater or an Artifice would be a must for a Final Smash.

- Ken (of Ryu): Him or Akuma, whichever. But anyway, Ken would obviously have his moveset tweaked to encourage more in-your-face combat and multiple hits, especially with his specialized Shoryuken. His Final Smashes may be different, too. Probably Shiryuken for up-close, and Guren Senpukyaku for ranged.

- Octoling (of Inkling): Only difference I can see would be in weapons (like with Dark Pit). Octo Shot wouldn’t be any different from Splattershot, but there are options to substitute the other weapons with. One idea I had for the smash attacks at least were Octobrush, Range Blaster, and Bloblobber, which would improve their attack range.

[airlock]

I’ve been seeing some fun and interesting speculation about who else could be echo fighters in the new Smash and decided to get completely nerd sniped- I mean, try my hand at something challenging: coming up with the entire echo roster

commas indicate “or”; I’m not tryna to flood this with echoes, aside from the 60-odd I’m suggesting-

1e (Mario) - Metal Mario, Paper Mario

2e (Donkey Kong) - Funky Kong, Cranky Kong

3e (Link) - Dark Link, Ghirahim, Mikau

[Dark Samus already in]

5e (Yoshi) - Woolly Yoshi, TTYD Yoshi, Boshi (beating Geno to the SMRPG rep, hilariously)

6e (Kirby) - also Kirby but different copy powers? eh, someone who actually goes there would probably have an idea

7e (Fox) - Krystal

8e (Pikachu) - Raichu, Alolan Raichu (100% wishful thinking on my part but I a m b e g g i n g y o u)... or Eevee I guess but ugh

9e (Luigi) - Mr. L, Waluigi (AH GO ASSIST YOURSELF, BAH, WALLELUJAH)

10e (Ness) - Ninten

11e (Captain Falcon) - Blood Hawk, Black Shadow (I think those are their names at least?)

12e (Jigglypuff) - Clefairy, Marill, Togepi, Cosmog, why so many pokémon good sphere

[Daisy already in]

14e (Bowser) - Wart? Cackletta? I dunno, I have a lingering feeling I’m sleeping on a really good idea here

15e (Ice Climbers) - it’s very early for this but I have to admit I’m rightfully stumped

16e (Sheik) - Impa

17e (Zelda) - what was the name of that purple zelda from A Link Between Worlds? might as well be that one, since we’re doing that Zelda

18e (Doctor Mario) - my memory’s real hazy on whether there’s genuinely been a Doctor Luigi or a Nurse Peach but if there’s been any of those then sure why not. or maybe Dr. Crygor? there’s a weird indirect line from Dr. Mario to WarioWare anyway...

19e (Pichu) - Pachirisu, Emolga, Dedenne, Riolu, Magby... look, I know I’m not throwing out any winners here, but it’s not as if Pichu is one-

20e (Falco) - Slippy, Peppy, General Pepper

[Lucina already in]

22e (Young Link) - Skull Kid I guess?

23e (Ganondorf) - Zant, Darunia, I guess Ghirahim could also go here

24e (Mewtwo) - Zoroark, Poipole, Mew

[Chrom already in]

26e (Mr. Game & Watch) - someone who’s really old think of something

27e (Meta Knight) - Bandana Waddle Dee I guess

[Dark Pit already in]

29e (Zero Suit Samus) - ... Zero Suit Dark Samus? har

30e (Wario) - I’m completely out of my mind here but hear me out: Mona

31e (Snake) - Raiden, Naked Snake, Venom Snake would be the obvious answers, but... it could honestly be any of the other billion gunslingers in the series? Liquid Snake, Revolver Ocelot, EVA, you name it really

32e (Ike) - Black Knight, Hector

33~35e (Pokémon Trainer) - Rival (note all the following echoes having a type advantage on their original!)

33e (Squirtle) - Treecko, Snivy, Chespin, Rowlet

34e (Ivysaur) - Quilava, Torracat

35e (Charizard) - Swampert, Feraligatr, Samurott, Empoleon

36e (Diddy Kong) - Dixie Kong

37e (Lucas) - I think he had a similar-looking brother with some tragic shit going on I guess? that or Kumatora, ignoring that she’s on his final smash now

38e (Sonic) - Shadow, or any of the other billion characters with roughly the same body shape as Sonic in the entire franchise

39e (King Dedede) - I have a vague feeling that there’s at least one boss that would work there but again, I don’t go there

40e (Olimar) - eh, I guess Alph kinda counts already

41e (Lucario) - Lycanroc, Blaziken, Lopunny

42e (R.O.B.) - something that actually sold whatsoever-

43e (Toon Link) - his grandma

44e (Wolf) - if any of his cronies actually stick to the minds of people who go there it can be that one I guess

45e (Villager) - hmmmmm, I don’t go there and I don’t have the foggiest, least of all with Isabelle confirmed as semi-clone instead of echo

46e (Mega Man) - Roll

47e (Wii Fit Trainer) - Wii UnFit Trainer! training you to become more sedentary!

48e (Rosalina & Luma) - I have a feeling that you can hilariously adapt their mechanics to something completely different in the mario verse but I’m drawing a blank as to what exactly that’d be

49e (Little Mac) - Glass Joe, Super Macho Man, Mr. Sandman, pretty much any of the Punch-Out!! fighters who aren’t giga-heavyweights (and even some who are) could work really

50e (Greninja) - Sceptile (again more wishful thinking than much anything but P L E A  S E)

51~53e (Mii Fighters) - mii fighters but EVIL

54e (Palutena) - Viridi, Medusa

55e (Pac-Man) - Ms. Pac-Man

56e (Robin) - Celica

57e (Shulk) - please god let it be anything other than people from the new xenoblade

58e (Bowser Jr.) - besides all the koopalings, well... the fortress turtle? I dunno, I’m getting that same feeling I had with Bowser

59e (Duck Hunt) - banjo-kazooie of course-

60e (Ryu) - Ken

61e (Cloud) - someone who goes there can mentally fill in their favourite other FF protag I guess

62e (Corrin) - corn but on the cob-

63e (Bayonetta) - I go there even less than I’ve ever gone to any of the other franchises that I don’t go to here, I have a perfect 0 idea

64e (Inkling) - Octoling

65e (Ridley) - first thought is Meta Ridley but he’s already in as an alt costume, hmmmmmmmm

[Richter already in]

67e (King K. Rool) - could be a boss from one of the more recent DKCs but my memory’s foggy on those, hmmmm... or maybe KAOS somehow?

68e (Isabelle) - see Villager, although I guess she has a brother or something at least?

watch some part or another of this become hilarious by the time of the next smash news I guess

[xenoblademisadventures]

I feel like talking about how useful each party member's been so far in the underwear run.

Dunban is the hero of the run. I finally unlocked Dunban's 30% nude agility buff, which is the basis for the Naked Dunban Strategy. Thanks to skill sharing, everyone can have this ability equipped. But even before getting that, the average enemy already pretty much only hit him with ether attacks. His biggest issue is that he can struggle to maintain aggro, especially with hordes of enemies. When he's dodging 12 attacks at once, he can get locked in the dodge animation, which stops him from attacking or using arts. I also like how he has an attack where it just looks like he farts on everyone and it dazes them.

I also am realizing now that Reyn might be usable as a glass canon? He definitely can't face tank while naked and he has the lowest agility out of anyone present. He was surprisingly usable at the beginning but I don't see how a low agility face tank will be helpful in an underwear only run. The biggest problem with glass canon Reyn is that his attacks are largely AoE or specifically draw aggro.

Sharla's also suddenly useful because shield bullet is the party's only really useful non-agility defensive tool and it's not possible to equip status resisting gems into weapon slots, so stuff like Daze, Topple, and Sleep are extremely dangerous to the party. Her being able to attack from a distance is also good against enemies with AoE effects since some of those attacks just one-shot everyone. Healing Blast is also really good because the 1% of time Dunban does get hit, he gets hit hard. Sharla's just a very good defensive support. That's not great in the base game when Light Heal, Healing Gift + Summon Aqua, or Healing Breath are usually good enough to cover for the party, but it's decent in a run where defense doesn't exist. Shulk/Dunban/Riki is still a powerful team comp.

I like to use Shulk primarily as a support. Early game is a good time to lean on Monado Speed. Underwear run or no, don't hesitate about using the Monado Arts, Shulk's talent gauge fills really fast and the Monado Arts provide really useful buffs. Once I have access to Monado Armor and Shulk's 5 skill branch, he'll only get more OP as a support. Since armor is like Shield Bullet but for everyone but it recharges faster because of Shulk's fast Talent Gauge and his 5th Skill branch causes visions to fully fill the Talent Guage, if you're fighting while constantly on the brink of death, Shulk absolutely has the ability to trivialize the fight because you can now spam Monado Arts (in fact, this is what happened when I first fought the superbosses, Shulk was very OP). A lot of his Arts also debuff enemies, which is nice. Because a lot of his attacks are also positional, leading as Shulk makes it very easy to fill the party gauge, which is good for chain attacks.

I'm not great with Melia casually. But she is decent. Her being able to further buff stats like strength and agility and debuff enemies is good. One thing to note is that her buffs are percentage based, so Earth and Ice aren't going to be very useful for buffing defense and ether defense since those stats are going to be small. I also felt like agility wasn't a huge deal since the only threshold that matters is "dodges everything" and "doesn't dodge everything." Still, a 10% agility buff isn't bad and inflicting agility down on targets isn't bad either. I haven't gotten starlight kick or reflect yet, but I imagine both of those will be useful. It might be a good idea to give her HP up or something because otherwise everything one-shots her.

Riki is great for area control. He has an AoE sleep attack. Underwear run struggles with encounters with a lot of enemies, so Bedtime is extremely useful. Riki also has a healing art which is always helpful. He's also the closest thing to a face tank this run will ever get because of his high HP. The fact that he uses ether attacks with DoT effects is also great.

I'm currently at Valak Mountain, so I haven't gotten the seventh party member yet. Anyways, if you want to do a challenge run of Xenoblade, definitely try out underwear run. It's been a lot of fun so far.

[stage-selection-archive]

Character List

General

These characters can go in just about any RP.

Kyla Melissa Hayes

Kyla is a kindhearted chef-in-training. She also has magical powers. Her Character Bio can be found here.

Justinian Anderson

Justinian is a cowboy who’s obsessed with justice. He’s a crack shot with his revolver, and a bit humorless.

Percival Orlando Newman

Percival is the resident nerd here. He’s not that social and kinda awkward in social situations. He also can’t feel pain due to a childhood experience. It makes for some fun jokes at times.

Iros Raven Kiare

Iros is a deity. No really. He’s quite literally shadows incarnate. He’s the younger brother of the Kiare brothers. He also kinda died, so he’s more limited than his brother. To counteract this, he makes gems to have special effects. He’s really lighthearted, and you can often find him making a joke.

Umbral Alexander Kiare

Umbral is Night incarnate. You know how Batman says “I am the night?” Well Umbral is ACTUALLY the night, and doesn’t like how Batman is impersonating him.

Surprisingly enough, Umbral isn’t edgy, neither of the Kiares are. Umbral, though, is the serious type as opposed to Iros’ jovialness.

Ace Attorney

Jordan Koros

This man is a prosecutor, new in L.A from his hometown of Clewiston, Florida. He’s not used to California in the slightest, but that’s not gonna stop him from doing his job.

Mega Man

Enker

Enker is the first of the Rockman Killers. But being the first, he wasn’t given much of a personality. Wily’s since amended this fact. His, as well as the rest of the Rockman Killers’ Character Bios can be found here.

Punk

This Rockman Killer LOVES to fight. Despite his appearances, he’s a fair fighter, never wanting to fight an enemy when they’re not at their strongest. He has a bit of a problem of saying the wrong thing, unfortunately, so people often mistake him for some sort of rebellious, well, punk.

Ballade

His Mega Man and Bass CD Data actually says he’s stupid, but I don’t think that’s entirely true. He’s an amazing fighter, but not one to blame his losses on dumb luck. He can accept when someone is stronger than him. 

Unfortunately that means he’ll doggedly pursue that fighter so he can eventually beat them. Like Zagi from Tales of Vesperia.

Ranger’s Apprentice

John Clark

John is a Ranger. After escaping slavery in Skandia, he was a thief in Norgate for a while until he was caught by Ranger Berrigan, who decided “This kid’s too good at sneaking around to just waste away in a dungeon for the rest of his days,” so he trained John to be a Ranger. Now John takes up Norgate Fief’s duty as a Ranger, since Gilan can’t.

RWBY

Ethan August

I once described Ethan as “Just Happy to be Here.” That description has changed. Sure, he’s generally happy to be here, but all joy fades when he draws his sword. He’ll try to dissuade the fight if he’s facing a human/faunus, but there’s one shot before he goes all in. Mercy is something he really should work on, as he’s generally held back by his teammates from outright killing people in battle. His weapon is a Katana-Arquebus

Cyrus Sanders

There’s one phrase that can sum up Cyrus: “I’m sorry, you must be a level 5 friend to unlock my Tragic Backstory™.” He’s had some things happen to him, but he tries to stay positive. After all, how’s his team supposed to get through if their leader can’t keep smiling?

His Allusion is the Byzantine Emperor Justinianus, and his weapon? You know the phrase “The pen is mightier than the sword?” Who cares about such a thing when your Pen IS Your sword!

Xenoblade Chronicles

Shulk

Shulk is a 19 year old mechanic from Colony 9. After Mechon attacked his home colony, he took up the Monado, and went on a quest to slay the Mechon who killed his crush.

Note that when I RP Shulk, there WILL be spoilers for Xenoblade Chronicles. It is a VERY story driven game, so if you want to avoid spoilers, just block the Shulk tag in it’s entirety. The tags are “Shulk” and “Boy From Leg (Shulk)” for your convenience.