#its pokemon fire emblem right i should be okay at it

[microwave-core]

Which Pokemon character would most likely read Homestuck?

Penny is the first one that comes to mind. I'm conflicted between her being really into it or reading it ironically, but she's read at least some of it nonetheless.

But that's also kind of a boring answer, so outside of her I'd say...maybe Shaunna? I could see her blabbing all about it to her friends excitedly, leaving them confused bc she may as well be speaking gibberish.

I also think that Bianca and Rui (the companion from Colosseum) would stumble upon it, but wouldn't really understand anything.

[tmntkiseki]

Diary of an Idiot Trying to Learn to Draw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Part 1: Escaping the Comfort Zone)

Before we talk turtles and the early steps of my art journey with them, let's talk about me for a little bit.

Hello, most people know me by my online nickname, Star. I'm a perpetually tired gremlin in her late 20s from New England who still lives with her parents and two brothers. (I'm the middle child!) I love my two dogs to bits, I have a weird fascination with shipwrecks and maritime disasters, and I am a known art enjoyer to point of attempting to draw her own pictures. Sometimes it goes well, other times... ah, we'll get to that.

When I think about my history in terms of drawing, it all starts with anime. My first exposure anime was through a fairly obscure one called Sky Girls; I encountered it through Dance Dance Revolution: Super Nova 2 on the PS2, as the opening to the original OVA was one of the songs available in the game. I ended up watching most of the television series and I was quick to discover that, hey, there's an entire genre of animated television series that originate from Japan; subsequently, I ended up watching several anime that were popular during the late 2000s with Lucky Star, Haruhi Suzumiya, Clannad, and Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni all being shows that I watched during this period. It's difficult to say what entranced me so much about the art style quirks we so heavily associate with anime, but it's definitely had the biggest influences on my art; not just anime itself, but video games with anime art styles as well. If I had to name which pieces of Japanese media have affected me most in terms of art development, it would be Odin Sphere, KyoAni's works (especially Violet Evergarden), and Hidari (the character designer for three of the Atelier games and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.)

"Okay, but what about when you actually began to do your own art?" WELL, I can definitely say throughout elementary school I absolutely LOVED being in art class, but I didn't start seriously practicing until I was around 13; this was when my depression first reared its ugly head, but it was also about when I first got into fandom online. Now, the first fandom I actually made "content" for was Pokemon, but that wasn't drawing; that was fanfiction. The first fandom I actually drew for?

Call of Duty: Zombies. Yeah, I think we all have that one fandom we're embarrassed to mention that we were ever involved in. Regardless of the cringe factor, it was still important for me because that was when I first started interacting with other fanartists online and if I hadn't spent so much time drawing fanart of a bunch of WWII stereotypes while I was in high school, I wouldn't have laid the groundwork for what came afterwards.

In terms of overall skill, I'm definitely way better than I was back when I first started out, but there is still so much I have to learn; I do often look at other artists who are around my age or, hell, are even YOUNGER than me and think to myself "Why am I not that good?" and, ya know, art is an acquired skill that requires a lot of practice and due to my mental illness and lack of confidence/self-worth, there were periods where I would go for MONTHS without drawing anything, so the fact I'm not where I feel like I should be skill-wise is ultimately circumstantial (there are other personal shortcomings that have also been holding me back, but we'll get to those later). I have managed to learn to stop being so hard on myself and not be as perfectionistic, and I find myself drawing more and more for the fun of it and learning new techniques that'll result in better pieces rather than anything else. These are some of the Rune Factory 4 pieces I drew last year (all Arthur/Frey ship art, oops) and at this point I can look at them and think "Yeah, they're not perfect, but I also did a pretty good job."

All right, this is the part of the post where we finally get to talking about my experiences learning how to draw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles--specifically, the 2003 versions. It's been about a month since I started studying the show's art and even if I'm not the best artist on the block, I still have a decent amount of experience under my belt that learning how to draw them shouldn't be too hard, right? Right? I mean how hard can it be to draw four humanoid turtles?

Oh boy, of all the fandoms I've drawn fanart for, TMNT 2003 probably has one of the steepest learning curves that I have EVER experienced.

All right, what are some of the advantages do I have going in? There is my existing experience drawing, but I'd argue the fact that my brain is so hardwired to draw anime is an advantage in some ways. When I first looked at the show's art style (more specifically that of seasons 1 - 5), I was thinking to myself "How the everliving FUCK am I supposed to draw this?!" However, when I actually sat down and studied the model sheets, I was delighted to discover that a lot of the basic fundamentals that I already learned drawing anime bodies can be applied to the turtles; one of the only major adjustments I had to make was exaggerating the muscles of the arms and legs. Not only that, but one of the less human aspects of the turtles IE the plastron is actually incredibly useful as a makeshift guideline for the torsos; it quite literally divides them into chest, abdomen, and pelvis areas and I absolutely love it!

Unfortunately, that's about where my happiness with drawing the turtles ends and where my actual struggles start.

("Nekomata Mikey" from January 7th, which is probably my best and favorite turtle attempt thus far)

So, I suffer from a little something called "not liking to leave my comfort zone." It's not something that I'm incapable of doing, but getting me to break out of a repetitive routine and try something new or challenging is insanely difficult--no idea if it's a result of my autism spectrum disorder or not, but it definitely explains why I've hesitated to experiment more with my art and try new things... which is important if you want to further develop your style and improve. Oooooooh boy.

Now, I'm not necessarily looking to accurately replicate TMNT 2003's style, but I am hoping to maintain certain aspects when I draw the turtles. Stuff that is definitely contradicting what I'm comfortable with when it comes to drawing; the thick lines you see in a lot of the official art, the fact this show really likes using sharp angles to define physical features, the dark color palette of the first five seasons, the fact those seasons break the rule of "don't shade with black" that I've been taught from the beginning--a lot of stuff that I'm just not used to. It's hard not to become frustrated because half the time you have no idea what you're doing and have no idea whether it's going to look good or not.

Beyond that, there is the matter of the less human aspects of the turtles that are giving me a run for my money. I can somewhat handle the chunky three fingered hands and large two toed feet, but when I get to the heads and shells, that's where I start tearing my hair out. Even with multiple reference screenshots from the show and sassatello's tutorial on the head structure handy, I still find myself fumbling and making heads that are too angular and chunky (especially in the cheek area) or heads that are too round to the point of almost looking babyish. The shells are another matter entirely; it's weird because they are basically a dome-shaped backpack, but something about those things keeps throwing me for the loop no matter what angle or pose I'm drawing a turtle from.

*LOUD SIGH*

For all the struggles and frustrations I have, I'm still very happy to be studying and practicing how to draw the turtles. It's been about a month since I started pouring over the model sheets, taking screencaps from individual episodes to examine and annotate, and just drawing, and I've already learned so much. Not only that, but this whole experience of trying to figure out how to draw the main characters from an (almost) 21 year old cartoon has pushed me to look up... A LOT of tutorials for art skills I've admittedly been neglecting. Basic shapes used in the structure of the body, color theory and shading, all that good stuff. It is also a fact that studying the art of TMNT 2003 is exactly what inspired me to start posting all the model sheets and concept arts I have saved on my laptop. When you have a ton of art resources at your disposal, why not share them? Someone else might need them as much as you do.

I'm hoping to make another post like this in a couple months or so just to see how much I've improved, where I'm still kicking and screaming, and what areas I ought to focus on. Until then, take care and have a good day!

[gamequoteshowdown]

The Matchups for Round 3!!

Sorry I didn't do this for Round 2, I kinda forgot :)

Poll 1:

"You're just a corpse who doesn't know he's dead" - Valter, Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones vs "Teammates!? Friends!? To hell with that! Why am I inferior to you!? I was extremely particular about my life, my grades, my public image! So someone would want me around! I am an ace detective! A celebrity! But you… You're just some criminal trash living in an attic!? So how!? How does someone like you have things I don't!? How can such a worthless piece of trash be more special than me!?" - Goro Akechi, Persona 5

Poll 2:

"I am so fucking normal right now" - Harry du Bois, Disco Elysium vs “SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL IS GOING TO HAPPEN” - Harry du Bois (in the form as a potential mural painting), Disco Elysium

Poll 3:

"Take care, [player]. I was lucky to have known you. Though the parting hurts... the rest is in your hands!" - Grovyle, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky vs "Hello! This is the part where I kill you!" - Wheatley, Portal 2

Poll 4:

"I have no idea what to do with my life, but that's okay! Because I'm still working hard! Even if it's on nothing at all!" - Papyrus, Undertale vs "Despite everything, its still you." - Narrator/Chara/Frisk???, Undertale

Poll 5:

"Life is worth living, even if it hurts you, even if you hurt in it." - Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid vs “Oh? Is that how it is? Yeah, okay, I like you too. Neat! Still going to kill you, but now we can both enjoy a mutual romantic subtext to the murder.” - The Razor, Slay the Princess

Poll 6:

"Pick a god and pray!" - Frederick, Fire Emblem: Awakening vs "Take care of yourself, kid, cause someone really cares about you." - Sans, Undertale

Poll 7:

"Almost Christmas means it wasn't Christmas!" - Phoenix Wright, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney vs *clap ... clap ... clap ... * "Oh good, my slow clap processor made it into this thing, so at least we have that" - GLaDOS, Portal 2

Poll 8:

"Blood comes in four types: A, B, O, and AB. However! No blood test can determine whether a murder was committed… in cold blood!" - Phoenix Wright, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney vs "In the dark times, should the stars also go out?" - Steban, the Student Communist, Disco Elysium

Poll 9:

"When life gives you lemons, don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons, what the hell am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!" - Cave Johnson, Portal 2 vs "And the universe said you are not separate from every other thing and the universe said you are the universe tasting itself, talking to itself, reading its own code and the universe said I love you because you are love." - Minecraft End Credits, Minecraft

Poll 10:

"We do not have much connection, you and I. Still, this encounter feels special. I hope you won't mind if i think of you as a friend" - Solanum, Outer Wilds vs "Why are we still here, just to suffer? Every night I can feel my leg and my arm, even my fingers. The body I've lost, the comrades I've lost, it won't stop hurting. It's like they're all still there, you feel it too, don't you?" - Kazuhira Miller, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

Poll 11:

"Today, we're dancing for no reason. Someday, we'll disappear for no reason." - Unnamed NPC, Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 vs "Wait, which one is the one where you hear your tie talk to you?" "Mental illness." "Because I have that." - Kim Kitsuragi & Harry du Bois, Disco Elysium

Poll 12:

“You don’t know a thing about love! That’s why your wife left you!” “…I’m gonna do violence to yah.” - Gramble Gigglefunny & Wambus Troubleham, Bugsnax vs "Your god sent me because your confession was taking too long." - Sol Badguy, Guilty Gear

Poll 13:

"All your base are belong to us" - Cats, Zero Wing vs "You deserved better from me than one sword and a world full of troubles." - Chrom, Fire Emblem: Awakening

Poll 14:

"Memes, the DNA of the soul." - Monsoon, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance vs "I can't go to hell. I'm all out of vacation days." - Burgerpants, Undertale

Poll 15:

"I can't read!" - Sissel, Ghost Trick vs "Hold on, my boy. A gentleman should never ruin someone's dreams without a reason." - Professor Layton, Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Poll 16:

"Grandma's so proud of her little pumpkin, assassinating the President like that!" - Lily, Fallout: New Vegas vs "To feel sadness is to live... but as long as you are alive, the future is a blank page." - Merlon, Super Paper Mario

The polls will be released between 7 and 8 am on Monday! Rally up your fandoms cause Round 4 is the Quarterfinals!!!

[kodzue-ken]

The Way to Victory

Character: Hop (pkmn sw/sh)

Genre: angst/comfort

Length: 7.3k

Notes: this is a crossover with fire emblem: three houses but it’s just the characters that are hanging around, this might not be fully edited

“Aw, man!” Hop cried, putting one hand on his hip and the other on his forehead, closing that eye and sighing. “I lost again! You’re so strong Bede! I’ll win next time!” Hop returned his Rillaboom and smiled at Bede.

“I know,” Bede scoffed, running his hand through his hair. “I’m much stronger than you, I don’t even know why you’re competing!” He laughed, returning his Gothorita. Hop’s smile faltered at his words but he kept it up.

“Well,” Hop began, “my bro’s the Champion, so I’m gonna make him proud!” He put both hands on his hips.

“Honestly, I doubt that,” Bede shrugged, “if you can’t beat me, then you have no shot against the Champion.” Hop felt tears fill his eyes for a second before he shook his head and smiled again. Bede stared Hop down as he opened his mouth to say something else, however, he was interrupted by the heavy sounds of a Pokémon making its way over to them. They both turned to see a large Mudsdale coming their way.

“Hop! Kiddo!” A familiar voice called, coming closer and sliding off the Pokémon.

“Auntie Leonie!” Hop forced a grin as he greeted her. The orange-haired female grinned and opened her arms for him.

“Come give me a hug!” Leonie laughed, Hop wasted no time in racing over to her and accepting it. Leonie laughed and patted his head. “I see you’re doing some battling! I’m actually planning on meeting Lysithea here, if she can leave Allistar alone for a second!”

Hop laughed and nodded his head, “she’s really learning a lot from him, at least, I think she is.”

“Well, you know her,” Leonie agreed, she then turned her attention to the white-haired boy. “Who are you?”

“I’m Bede. I’m a challenger for the Gym Challenge and I was recommended by the Chairmen!” Bede scoffed, waiting for Leonie to act in awe of him.

“Neat,” was the only thing she said before she turned back to her Mudsdale and opened her arms. Hop watched as her Glaceon leaped into the waiting arms of her trainer. Hop watched as Bede stared with an incredulous look on his face as Leonie simply hummed and turned her attention back to Hop.

“Is Lys close?” Hop asked, remembering the blatant refusal to be called “auntie” or “aunt” by the short white-haired girl.

“Should be,” Leonie nodded, “Bead, was it?”

“Bede,” Bede corrected with a smile, adjusting his jacket a little and nodding his head. “I’ll be going now, better get stronger so we can have an actual battle next time. Or, don’t, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ll beat you every time,” Bede scoffed as he walked off.

“Alright now, you listen-“ Leonie began.

“It’s okay Auntie, I just need to do a little more training,” Hop smiled and stuck his hands in his pockets.

“Alright. But at least let me heal your Pokémon,” Leonie said, reaching into her saddlebags and healing them. Hop watched her as he fidgeted his feet, thoughts racing.

“Here you go, kiddo,” Hop lifted his head and smiled, taking his Pokémon back.

“Thanks, Auntie Leonie!” He grinned and went to race off.

“Ugh,” a voice stopped him in his tracks. “Of all places to meet. Why here Leonie, there are bugs!” A head full of white hair entered the area and Hop grinned.

“Lys!”

“Huh?” Lysithea lifted her head and when she met Hop's eyes she smiled. “Hey there, Hop,” she waved.

“Are you both gonna battle?” Hop asked.

“Yep! Lysithiea wanted to fight so we are!” Leonie bent down and allowed the Glaceon to jump from her arms.

“I did no such thing. That’s childish,” Lysithea scoffed, bringing her own hands up to pull the Umbreon off her head.

“Er...” Leonie sweatdropped, “of course not. You just wanted a friendly meet up and the best thing to do at one of those is having a pokemon battle?” Leonie sounded strained as she spoke but Lysithea shrugged.

“Sounds right to me,” she turned to Hop, “are you gonna watch?” She asked.

“Maybe for a little,” Hop nodded, thinking it would be a good idea to watch strong people battle so he could learn a little more.

“Of course,” Leonie said, deciding not to mention that Hop had changed his mind from before, she assumed it was nothing more than a change of mind because Lysithea had arrived and he didn’t have to wait. She nudged her Glaceon towards Hop and Lysithea soon did the same with her Umbreon. Hop settled himself on a small rock with Umbreon and Glaceon right next to him.

“Weavile!”

“Chandelure!” The two released their Pokémon and Leonie was awed at the sight of Lysithea’s Chandelure.

“It evolved!” She gushed, “where’d you get the Dusk Stone?”

“Allister gave it to me,” Lysithea hummed, very proud of her pokemon.

“Of course he did,” Leonie murmured, “did you pressure him or did he actually give it to you?” Hop laughed a little while Lysithea narrowed her eyes.

“Ugh! Chandelure, flamethrower!” Lysithea pointed, even though there was only one target, Hop assumed she just liked to do that when she battled. Her Pokémon listened and set a stream of fire towards the dual type.

“Night slash!” Leonie calmly ordered. Hop watched as Leonie still looked calm even though she was at a type disadvantage.

It was better than him, at least.

Hop said he would only watch a little but he was soon mesmerized by the strength that Leonie and Lysithea displayed. Leonie’s Weavile had been wiped out by Chandelure only for Leonie to snap around and knock Chandelure out with her Mudsdale. Lysithea frowned and released her Trevant, where Leonie let out another cry of surprise about her Phantump evolving. Hop ran his fingers through the two eeveelutions fur and hummed. Lysithea never showed any interest in the gym challenge, only an interest in Allister and about his gym (Lysithea just wanted to become a gym trainer or someone that could help Allister if he got sick, even though Bea could’ve taken over the gym for that day)

Hop envied her. Lysithea has set her sights on something and was shooting for it. Hop had also heard that Lysithea wanted to open a bakery, so she was trying to get more money, but Lysithea wouldn’t ever admit it. 

Leonie, on the other hand, participated in the gym challenge when she was younger. Hop assumed Lysithea had as well but she never said so, claiming that it was “childish to get into it”. Leonie had made it to the final but never got past the other gym challengers. If anyone asked about her time in the challenge she would simply laugh, and say that she had a wonderful time but now likes to be a guide to the next generation of gym challengers.

Hop had heard the tales from a few other gym challengers that a “women riding a Mudsdale” had helped them get somewhere. He was proud of her.

Because she had a place. A dream. And she had done it.

“Hey!” Hop called out, Lysithea and Leonie stopped their battle. They were both down to their last pokemon; Leonie’s Lucario and Lysithea’s Aegislash.

“What’s up, Hop?” Lysithea asked.

“I had fun watching your battle but I think I’m gonna go now!” Hop waved, patting Glaceon and Umbreon and standing. “I’ll see you later!”

“Yep! See you kiddo!” Leonie grinned and waved. Hop smiled at the two and walked away.

He walked through the areas of the Wild Area and let his thoughts go.

What’s to say that Bede isn’t right? Bede is someone that he had to fight again. Those were the rules of the gym challenge.

Bede was strong.

Bede had full confidence in his Pokémon.

Bede was recommended by Chairman Rose.

Bede had beat Hop more than once.

Bede was stronger.

Hop had no chance.

Hop was weaker.

Hop couldn’t ever hold a candle to Leon.

Hop felt the tears come back as he shuddered and walked through the Wild Area. Hop hated it, was there really no chance for him? He was stuck in his head.

Hop didn’t stand a chance. He was a fool for thinking he could become Champion, a real idiot for thinking he could beat Leon. He couldn’t even beat some of the gym leaders in one go, even if it was a bad matchup for them. There was no reason for Hop to continue the gym challenge if he knew that he couldn’t do anything. Instead, all he’d be was a disgrace to Leon. Even though competitions weren’t held in Galar, Hop was certain someone would find out that the mistake that was Hop was related to the competition idol, Lorenz. Hop felt the suffocating thoughts swirl around in his head and he realized that there was no point in the gym challenge. He should just go home and maybe see if his pops would introduce him to the ways of competitions, maybe Hop could be worth something there.

Let Bede win. Hop decided, after all, if Hop has no chance, who would?

“Anyone actually,” Hop mumbled, it wasn’t like Hop was the person to beat, in fact, he was sure anyone could.

“I wanna go home,” Hop murmured, glancing up at the sky.

———————————————————-

Postwick was a good town. Hop trudged up the hill and towards his house. He spotted the house at the top of the hill now had a “SOLD” sign, as he watched the door open and a boy with ashy-colored hair stumbled out, turning and calling out over his shoulder. “I’ll be back soon!” He turned forward and started jogging in Hop's direction. As he got closer Hop noticed that he had pale green eyes.

“Hi,” Hop waved, catching the other guy's attention.

“Hello!” He smiled, “my name is Ashe, it’s nice to meet you!”

“I’m Hop!” Hop forced a smile. Ashe nodded his head and moved past him, leaving Hop to continue his walk.

He reached his house and raised his hand to knock on the door. As he did the door swung open and Hop found a Sudowoodo staring at him. “Hey,” he said.

“Sudowoodo,” Sudowoodo said back.

“Is that my SON!” Claude appeared and shoved his Sudowoodo out of the way.

“Hey, dad!” Hop grinned and stepped inside, almost immediately Claude pulled Hop into a huge hug that lifted him off the ground.

“You’re just in time, I know you probably didn’t come home for this but will you watch it with me?” Claude, who was still holding Hop, made his way into the living room where the TV was on and showing a competition. Hop laughed a little and nodded his head as best he could.

“Sure, dad,” Hop said. Claude let out a booming laugh and settled down on the couch still holding Hop. Sudowoodo had shut the door behind them and came into the room, Hop then realized that all of Claude’s Pokemon were sitting out, except for his Rillaboom. The Liepard, named Leicester, settled itself cozily in the corner but was close enough to be a part of the rest of them.

Hop was always in awe of his father's Pokemon, they just looked so strong and had been raised with love and care. Hop turned his attention to the TV and smiled when he saw Lorenz standing on stage with a bunch of other competitors.

Lorenz was wearing a purple suit with two “tails” that matched his hair, there was also a sprinkle of gold accents throughout. Of course, there was the Lorenz staple, a red rose, tucked into his breast pocket. His long purple hair was pulled to one side, where it was then braided into a waterfall braid. On the other side of his head, he had two small clips, one was a rose and the other was a small dragonish-looking wing. Hop had once asked his fathers about the hair clips, curious about why his papa would pick such ones. Lorenz and Claude had smiled and asked him if he believed in past lives. When Hop has said maybe Lorenz and Claude have told him that they picked the rose as something that was purely Lorenz but the wing had come from a discussion they had where Claude had mentioned that if he was born in a different place he would’ve loved to roam the skies on a Dragon/Wyvern, along with a bow; but Claude had said that part wasn’t necessary. To bring his attention back to the TV, Hop lightly slapped his cheeks and stared. Standing next to Lorenz were Salazzle, Espeon, and Roserade, Lorenz’s usual team for completions.

Claude smiled at his husband and Hop could practically feel the love they had for each other. As the other contestants were being introduced Claude turned to Hop. “Something’s on your mind,” he said. It wasn’t a question, Claude just knew.

Hop nodded, “yeah, but can we watch this first?” Hop hadn’t watched a competition in a while, so he was a little curious.

“Introducing our last competitor! He’s on a winning streak right now, but who knows what he has planned,” the announcer cried, his voice booming over the TV, “his name is... Lorenz von Riegan!” Once his name was called, Lorenz swept forward and his Roserade released a stream of flower petals that Espeon lifted so they fell around him. As the petals touched the floor Salazzle huffed and they burned up a little, showing no trace of what he just did. Lorenz took a deep bow before returning to his natural position.

As the competition began Hop was in awe of Lorenz’s ability, Hop had never seen Claude battle but Leon had said that if Claude really wanted to do the gym challenge to become champion, no one would stand a chance.

When the competition finished, Lorenz got first place, Claude turned to Hop, and Hop nearly started crying the second he smiled. “Now, why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you, Hop,” Claude put his hand on Hop’s head and ruffled his hair.

“Do you think I can drop out of the gym challenge?” The words fell out of Hop's mouth before he could stop them. Claude’s eyes twinkled knowingly as he stared at him.

“I do,” Claude said, nodding his head and closing his eyes.

“Th-“ Hop began

“But is that what you really want?”

“Huh?” Hop blinked.

“I asked you if that is what you really want,” Claude repeated, “I know that you’ve been wanting to do this for years, not even Lee telling you no couldn't stop you.”

“Maybe I had my eyes opened,” Hop argued.

“Maybe you did,” Claude agreed, nodding his head, “although, did you open them yourself, or did someone else open them for you?”

“W-what are you talking about?” Hop asked.

“Hop, my son, I need you to understand something,” Claude said, pulling on Hop’s arm so the teen was wrapped in Claude’s arms as they sat on the couch, Claude waved his hand so his Quagsire could turn off the TV which was now playing interviews with the losing competitors.

“Understand what, dad?” Hop murmured, and even though his words were muffled Claude seemed to hear him clearly.

“You need to understand that if you’ve come to a realization, who and what gave you the realization? If it came from within you, started by you, thought through by you, and the only help you got from others was that they would stand by you, then you were the one who came to a realization. Because it all started with you and it ended with you, too. However, if someone else gave you the idea, and they were the ones who forced you to come to a realization, you can’t say that you came to a realization, can you?” Claude’s words were spoken in such a soft tone that when he finished, Hop felt tears springing into his eyes and he didn’t say anything except push himself further into Claude’s arms and let the tears fall.

Claude said nothing but let Hop cry.

Claude smiled at him, for he was sure that Hop had realized what was running through his head.

Claude pressed a kiss to the top of Hop’s head and pulled the boy closer and leaned back.

Soon, he was close to falling asleep and by the soft snores that came from the boy laying on his chest, Hop already had.

When Hop woke up he was fully wrapped in a blanket, like a blanket burrito, and there was a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen. Hop unraveled himself from the blanket and made his way into the kitchen and spotted Claude cooking something.

“My son has woken up!” Claude cried when he spotted Hop standing in the kitchen. Hop laughed and nodded his head. 

“I’m here,” he agreed, moving to go sit at the table and wait for Claude to be done. A plate was set down in front of him and Hop wasted no time in digging in, the food probably the best thing he had ever tasted in a while. Claude was always good at cooking. Lorenz on the other hand? Let’s make sure he stays to baking. 

“Want to talk a little more?” Claude said; he wasn’t looking at Hop. Hop decided it was because he couldn’t face him.

As if Claude heard him, he snapped his head around and held his gaze.

“Sure,” Hop agreed.

“I’ll always believe in you, Hop,” Claude said, grabbing Hop's hand, “I know that you can do whatever you put your mind to. Hop, my son, I know you can win,” Claude smiled, it was warm.

So warm.

Hop would’ve cried again if he had the tears.

“I lost a battle,” Hop began, he looked up to Claude’s gaze and noted how nothing changed, nothing shifted. “It was against this kid named Bede. He was recommended for the gym challenged by Chairman Rose, did you know that?” Hop stumbled through his words.

“I didn’t know that,” Claude nodded, there wasn’t a shift in his eyes or face, he just kept staring at Hop, looking at him. Holding his gaze with nothing but love in his eyes as he listened to what he was saying.

“I lost against him and he said that I wouldn’t stand a chance against Lee and that I had no shot at winning,” Hop admitted, he wanted to tear his gaze away, and focus on something that was in the distance.

But he couldn’t.

“He’s a terrible person,” Claude said, raising his coffee cup to his lips, Hop hadn’t noticed that.

“He was strong, though,” Hop said.

“Doesn’t change much,” Claude nodded, “kid seems like a dick. Being strong doesn’t change your personality. If anything, it makes it worse.”

“Really?” Hop questioned.

“Look, Hop, if you want to drop out of the gym challenge, I’ll let you,” Claude said, “but I want you to look inside yourself and make sure that’s what you want to do,” Claude stood and moved so he was sitting next to him and pulled him into a hug.

“I don’t think I want to drop out,” Hop mumbled, “I want to beat Leon.”

“That means you have to train a little more, trust in your Pokemon, because they will always be there,” Claude nodded his head and released Hop. “I’ll take you to the train station, does that work? Where were you?”

“I was in Stow-on-Side,” Hop said.

“Well, I don’t have a flying type with me but I can take you to the train station. Believe in yourself, Hop,” Claude smiled and stood, holding out his hand. Hop took it and Claude pulled him into the foyer.

“I’ll go get everything,” Hop said and darted off into the living room. Claude watched with a smile on his face.

“Let’s go!” Claude said, opening the door as Hop came bounding back in. “Lorenz is coming home soon, by the way.”

“He is? Papa is coming home?” Hop grinned.

“Yeah,” Claude nodded and grabbed Hop's hand and the two began the walk to the train station.

When they reached it, Hop turned to face Claude and smiled warmly. “Thanks, dad,” he said.

“Of course, Hop, I love you,” Claude smiled and pressed a kiss onto Hop's forehead.

“I love you too!” Hope grinned and they hugged one more time.

Claude watched as the train holding Hop slowly moved away, he smiled and touched his forehead slightly before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. “Hilda? Yeah, it’s me, can you do something for me?”

———————————————————-

Hop laughed and he jumped into the air as he held onto the gym badge he had just gotten, he was making his way to the Pokemon center before the ground started rumbling. Hop’s head snapped in the direction he thought it was coming from. His feet were moving before he had a chance to stop them and he raced toward the area where the mural was.

“Hop!” Cried Sonya when she saw him, Hop picking up his speed so he could reach the redhead faster. “Somethings happening at the mural!” She shouted.

“Let’s go!” Hop bounded past her as he ran towards the stairs and jumped up them, skipping steps until he reached the top. Bede stood there and next to him was a Copperjah that didn’t look like Bede’s Pokemon.

Bede must’ve heard the footsteps because he spun around and fixed Hop with a look. Hop’s breath caught in his throat when he saw him.

Bede looked like a mess.

Even though it couldn’t have been more than a few days since Hop had last seen him; Hop knew that he hadn’t slept at all. The eyebags were huge (they were so big they probably could’ve carried all of Lorenz’s suitcases, Hop thought, in an attempt to bring some light to the situation) and his eyes seemed too wide. Hop stared at him for a second longer and that’s when he realized that Bede was shaking where he was standing.

“Oh, it’s you,” Bede said, “how nice of you to come watch me! I’m doing this for the Chairman-he NEEDS Wishing Stars, however, so I’m going to need you TO LEAVE!” He shouted.

“Bede-,” Hop began.

“NO! I can beat you, you’re easy to beat, you-you-you’re,” Bede took a deep breath, “fight me.” His words weren't questions.

Hop had no chance, he hadn’t gone and healed his Pokémon after the battle with Allister so he knew it would be even harder to win. As Hop hesitated Bede seemed to grow more agitated. His eyes were darting around and his breathing got a little more labored.

Hop was panicking.

“Come on, Hop,” Sonia spoke from next to him, causing Hop to turn her way with a start. He hadn’t noticed her before. Hop was stuck in his head and thinking when he heard the clicking of heels.

“Not today, dickwad,” a familiar voice echoed. “Your battle is with me.”

Hilda Goneril.

With pink hair and an outfit that was ready to walk down a fashion runway, she stood there and glared. She took a few steps forward and he stared at her light pink ankle-high heeled boots (The family had gotten them together to give to her, Lorenz jokingly suggested a rose instead).

Bede stared at the newcomer and nodded quickly. “Fine then.”

“Oh, goodie!” Hilda laughed, “I even brought something for you!” Bede sent out his Duosion and Hilda only smiled as she struck a pose and released her Clefable. Bede seemed to smirk at the sight of her Pokémon, after all, she didn’t have an advantage. Hilda hummed and put her pointer finger on her lower lip. “Hmm... seems like I don’t have an advantage. This is certainly a small issue! Hehe!” Hilda giggled and waved her hand. “Night slash! Hehe!”

Bede’s eyes narrowed and Hop could only watch the way Hilda battled Bede. It looked like Hilda was lost. She kept returning and sending out her Pokémon. Her Aromatisse made an appearance, as well as her Alcrimie and Sylveon. Bede looked baffled as he watched her laugh and prance around. Somehow, much to Bede's chagrin, she had managed to knock out his Duosion and get his Gothorita down to about half health. Laughing again, Hilda returned her Sylveon and released her Togekiss. She was rocking back and forth as she watched the battle. Being slightly giggly she ordered her Pokémon to strike with Pluck. Gothorita stumbled but didn’t faint yet. Bede’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re just like Hop!” He snarled, “worthless. What are you even doing??” Through his cold words, Hop could pick up on the distress and strain that seemed to be holding him in place. It seemed like Bede was doing something in order to prove his worth, even if he had none. Hilda’s lip curled a little as she stared at him.

“Come on back, Togekiss,” she ordered, Bede stared at her and Hop could see the beginning of tears in his eyes. “Tyranitar!”

Gothorita, who was already weak, fell.

Hattrem and Ponyta never stood a chance.

Bede returned his Ponyta with wide eyes and the shaking of his body got bigger. “No.” Was the only thing that slid past his lips. “I was recommended by the Chairman! He trusts me! I’m doing this for the Chairman! I was the strongest! I-I-I should’ve been able to win! I-“

“That’s enough, Bede,” Chairman Rose made an appearance. He stared at Bede with a look of disappointment and something else in his gaze.

Hop could only stare as it all unfolded in front of him.

Bede was going to be kicked out of the gym challenge? Wasn’t that a good thing? Hop could’ve had a chance!

But then Hop thought about Bede’s face.

No, Hop decided, he wasn’t going to be glad Bede was forced out of the gym challenge, he wasn’t going to stoop to his level.

Hop watched as he was led away, watching as Hilda raced up to him and pushed a bag into his hands before turning and making her way back to Hop. 

“What was in the bag?” He asked.

“Brownies, Claude told me to give them to him,” Hilda nodded.

“He told you to give them to him?” Hop tried to sound anything but hurt.

“Yeah, he put a small dosage of stomach poisoning in them, he should find the need to vomit once or twice, nothing else,” Hilda shrugged, linking her fingers together and stretching them above her head as she rocked back onto her heels.

“I’m sorry, you did what?” Hop blinked.

“Nothing to worry about,” Hilda nodded, “now come on, Marianne is waiting.”

“Wait!” Called Sonya, she was staring at the mural, which cracked and began to fall.

Hop was still reeling from what he had just learned about the legend and he silently thanked Bede. He followed after Hilda as she made her way down the steps and towards a familiar blue-haired woman. Marianne was holding her Cubchoo in her arms, while her Flygon held onto her shoulder from behind. Her Vaporeon found herself uncoiling from around her legs and trotting up to Hilda, who smiled and released Sylveon. The two eeveelutions pushed their heads into each other and let out small cries.

“Aww, look, Marianne!” Hilda gushed, “doesn’t this look familiar?” She winked.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Marianne murmured.

“They act just like Claude's and Lorenz’s do!” Hilda whined. 

“If you say so,” Marianne hummed, her Rapidash trotted up to her with a small bag in its mouth. Marianne took it with a soft smile and turned back to Hop and Hilda. “Claude made brownies.”

———————————————————-

Hop made his way out of the Hammerlocke gym, grinning widely as he stood in front of the gym. Standing before him was Raphael with Ignatz close by his side.

“Hey there kid,” Raphael laughed and waved his hand.

“Hello,” Ignatz said politely.

“We watched the match, you did really well,” Raphael said.

“I think that Uncle Ignatz could give him a run for his money, maybe even take the title,” Hop admitted, “maybe because he does weather while you go for straight power...” Hop trailed off.

“Could be,” Ignatz nodded, pushing his glasses up his nose, “happy you trained with me now?” Ignatz smiled.

“I always thought it was important,” Hop smiled. Ignatz smiled and Raphael clapped him on the shoulder. The two adults laughed as Hop nearly stumbled to the ground.

“Oh? You think I could be defeated?” Raihan appeared behind the trio and caused Hop to jump in surprise.

“Well,” Raphael said, “Hop just did.”

“That he did,” Raihan agreed, “it was certainly a good battle.”

“Want to go out to eat? Ignatz here can make a great curry!” Raphael’s booming laughter filled the street and Ignatz smiled up at him and shook his head.

“I have a feeling that Hop wants to make it to Wyndon as soon as he can, we can all go out together after the tournament,” he smiled, sticking his hand into his pocket. Hop flushed at his words but nodded a little bit.

“I would like that a lot,” Hop admitted and flashed a smile at Ignatz. “I might be able to catch the last train if I head out now,” he said.

“You really are their son,” Raphael snorted, “during their gym challenge Claude left as soon as he beat the last gym leader and when the tournament came to a close Claude wiped the floor with everyone,” he laughed.

“Dad became Champion?” Hop blinked, tilting his head to the side.

“Just for a little, he soon forfeited his title so he could go chase after Lorenz who was in Sinnoh doing his competition thing,” Ignatz supplied, “people were super shocked by it but I’m surprised it took him as long as it did.”

“Oh, totally,” Raphael snorted, “when he found Lorenz, apparently he had a glow up. Lorenz used to have the most hideous hair,” he said.

“I know, for some reason, dad leaves a glamor shot with it up,” Hop mumbled. “Papa takes it down quite often, I’m not sure how sad it is to have so many of that one photo,” he put a hand on his chin.

“No way, I can’t believe that,” Raphael shook his head.

“No, no, I can most definitely believe that, it’s Claude after all,” Ignatz sighed, “I’m just curious about what Lorenz does to get him back.”

Hop thought for a moment, “if I’m right, I think papa uses his Espeon and puts everything Claude usually uses super high up somewhere and then refuses to help him,” he pondered. Ignatz and Raphael burst out laughing and shook their heads.

“You have the craziest home life,” Raihan observed. Hop laughed and pulled his water bottle out of his bag and started to drink. 

“Aren’t you dating Leon?” Ignatz raised an eyebrow.

Hop spits the water he was drinking out.

“Maybe,” Raihan shrugged his shoulders, “better get going Hop. The train’s leaving soon,” he nudged Hop into the train station direction.

“This conversation is nowhere near over,” Hop called over his shoulder as he started to jog away.

———————————————————–

Hop stood in the lights of all the other people and gym leaders. He couldn’t believe it, he had gotten so far. Marnie had been the hardest rival he had to face but he had pulled through and now had a shot to take Leon down.

He glanced around him at all the other gym leaders who were also trying for the same thing. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy but he also knew that he believed he could win.

Hop was certain now.

He was going to beat Leon.

As he turned back to enter the waiting room there was a familiar voice behind him. “Wait!”

Hop turned and froze when he saw Bede making his way over to him. His eyes seemed clearer and he looked like he had fallen asleep since the last time Hop had seen him. He adjusted the pink and teal shirt he was wearing before running his hand through his hair.

“I want to have a final battle with you,” he said. “I want to prove that I’m strong. Oleana was the one who forced me to get those Wishing Stars, and yet, the Chairmen disowned me,” his voice was quiet and Hop stared at him.

“I’ll accept,” Hop said, even though the announcer was saying other things.

“If I lose, I’ll stop being a Pokémon trainer,” Bede said, holding out his hands.

“Fine,” Hop said, staring back at him. There was no hostile look in his eyes, no look that would draw out the hatred Bede must’ve felt towards Hop, instead he looked calm.

“The Champion himself has accepted this challenge!” The announcer cried.

Why? It wasn’t Leon’s battle.

It was his.

And he was going to win.

They walked to their places and both looked at each other. “One last battle,” Bede said. “Mawile!”

“Rillaboom!” Hop clutched onto his bag before narrowing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“Play rough!” Bede ordered, flinging his hand out. Mawile lunged off the ground and threw herself at Rillaboom.

“Snarl!” Hop retaliated. Mawile stumbled back and Rillaboom suddenly snarled, dark energy shooting out at Mawile.

“Once again!” Bede called, and his Mawile sprung forward, she looked ready to go.

“Rillaboom-!” Hop cried. Rillaboom jumped to the side and sent Hop a small nod. “Drum Beating!” He ordered.

“No!” Bede cried, watching as Mawile fell to the ground and he had to return her. “Gardevoir!”

“Rillaboom, back,” Hop returned his Rillaboom and released his Corviknight.

“Dazzling Gleam!” Bede ordered, Gardevoir spread her arms out and small blasts of energy went flying at Coviknight.

“Steel Wing!” Hop countered and watched as Corviknight extended out his wings and spotted the silvery sheen that covered the wing as he flew at Gardevoir. Bede looked furious at him but Hop couldn’t care less.

Hop was going to win this battle.

“Dazzling Gleam, again, Gardevoir!” Bede growled out and his Gardevoir did what was ordered.

“Come on, again Corviknight!” Hop clenched his fists. Coviknight lunged once more and Gardevoir stumbled to the ground.

“Why are you beating me??” Bede cried out, the distress in his voice high. “Rapidash!”

“Steel Wing,” Hop ordered.

“Physic!” Bede cried. Corviknight took the hit full force and nearly fell out of the sky.

“Come on! Hold it together for one more Steel Wing!” Hop begged.

“Finish it!” Both Pokémon raced at each other and landed their attacks. When the dust cleared both Pokémon were down.

“Tsk. What’s with that calm expression? Think you’re going to win?”

“Not really,” Hop admitted.

“Hatterene!”

“Rillaboom!” Hop glanced down at his bracelet and he clenched his fists.

“We’ll show you a truly great pink. It’s time for my dear Hatterene to Gigantamax!” Bede returned his Hatterene and the Pokéball enlarged. He threw it over his shoulder and Gigantamax Hatterene appeared. Hop took a deep breath and called his Rillaboom back.

Hop patted the top of the big Pokéballand tossed it behind him. “Max Starfall!” Bede ordered, his voice loud to be heard over the crowd.

“Max Darkness!” Hop ordered his Dynamax Rillaboom. Bede’s Hatterene hit first and sent a powerful stream of stars towards Rillaboom. Hop held his breath and Rillaboom retaliated with his Max Darkness. Hatterene seemed to be low on health.

“No!” Bede cried, “I’m strong! I’m stronger than this! Hatterene! Max Starfall!”

“Rillaboom! Max Darkness!” Hop gasped, he believed in himself. He could win.

Hatterene fell and Bede returned the Pokémon to his Pokéball. “Good battle,” he clenched his fists close to his chest. “At least everyone can see how good fairy types are. Well, as I said, I’ll retire from being a trainer.”

“No,” Hop shook his head, surprising himself.

“No?” Bede sounded confused.

“You’re a great trainer, why would you throw it all away because of one battle?” Hop walked forward and held his hand out. “I think you’re a strong trainer.”

Bede blinked before walking up to him and grabbing his hand, “maybe you’re right...” he looked up at the crowd who were all yelling their praises and Bede felt a small smile etch itself onto his lips. “Good luck with the rest of your challenge,” he said, shaking his hand and turning the other way.

———————————————————–

Hop took a deep breath as he made his way through the tunnel to make it to the stage, for the second time. He was glad that Chairmen Rose had been able to be stopped, but that was then and this was now. This was it.

The final battle.

Hop was going to win.

He stood in the middle of the field and watched as Leon made his way to meet him. “If it isn’t my little bro!” Leon laughed, “I’m proud of you for making it here, but don’t think I’m going to give up my title so easily!” Leon laughed.

“Well, Lee,” Hop grinned, “I wouldn’t want you to!”

“Let’s make this a battle they’ll be talking about for ages!” Leon put his hand out.

“Let’s do it!” Hop grabbed his brother's hand and they shook hands. As they walked back to their places Leon called over.

“We’re gonna have a champion time!” He struck his pose and Hop felt a grin coming onto his face.

“You know it, Lee,” he said. They both took a deep breath and started their pre-battle rituals. They both rubbed their wrists and jumped in place for a second before bringing up their hands and slapping their cheeks. Leon grabbed his cape and threw it off, pulling out a Pokéball as he did.

“Aegislash!"

“Dubwool!”

“Sacred sword!” Leon ordered, “little bro, super effective attacks are a good way to go!”

“Cotton guard!” Hop ordered. Dubwool covered itself with cotton so the sacred sword damage was less.

“They’re still super effective!” Leon laughed, “but don’t get caught up in them! Once more!”

“Zen Headbutt!” Hop cried. The two exchanged blows like this a few more times until the Zen Headbutt landed a critical hit.

“Nice one, Hop! Think about your next move!” Leon laughed, returning his Aegislash. “Haxorus!”

“Body Slam!” Hop cried first.

“Dragon Dance!”

“Again, Dubwool!” Hop was clenching his fists now as he watched the battle.

“Dragon Claw!” Haxorus slashed outward and Dubwool collapsed.

“Snorlax! Heavy Slam!” Hop reminded himself to breathe as he watched the battle in front of him.

“Dragon pulse!” Leon ordered but blinked when Haxorus lurched forward and then stopped. Telltale small streaks of yellow flash up his body, Heavy Slam had paralyzed him. Hop’s face lit up at the chance and he shouted at Snorlax.

“Hammer Arm,” Snorlax swung its fist and slammed it into Haxorus who went flying back. “Once more!”

“You’ve grown up, little bro!” Leon laughed as he returned his Haxorus. “But you won’t get much farther. Seismitoad!”

“Snorlax, back!” Hop curled his fingers around the Pokéball and then released his Rillaboom.

“Muddy Water,” Leon waved his hand.

“Drum beating!” Hop’s face glowed when Seismitoad went down with that one hit.

“You know when to make a super effective attack count, Hop!” Leon laughed. “Cinderace!”

“High Horsepower!” Hop bounced on the balls of his feet and he grinned.

“Pyro Ball,” Leon waved his hand, “I’ve got you here!”

“Rillaboom!” Hop cried, the Pokémon had managed to hold on. “Come back!” He returned his Rillaboom and grabbed another pokeball. “Snorlax!”

Leon was watching his brother with a proud grin. He was so proud of how far he had come and couldn’t wait to tell him. Leon watched as his Snorlax appeared before him, swinging his arm quickly and causing it to slam into Cinderace. “Counter!”

“Snorlax!” Hop cried out, watching as the Pokémon let out a loud cry before falling as well. “You did well,” he pulled back the Snorlax before throwing out his next Pokémon, “Corviknight! Drill peck!” Cinderace jumped away from the attack but didn’t count on Coviknight swooping in again and delivering the blow. Cinderace fell to the ground and Leon called it back.

“You’re doing so well, Hop,” Leon grinned, “but I’m not letting you get any further! Dragapault!”

“I’m gonna beat you, Lee!” Hop played with the edge of his glove and pointed forward. “Steel wing!” Dragapault flew back a little before shaking its head and steadying itself.

“Dragon darts!” The small dragons on top of Dragapaults head were launched at Corviknight. Corviknight dodged one only for the other to hit.

“Come on, Corviknight! Steel wing!” Hop ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath as Corviknight flew at the Dragapault.

“Dragon pulse!” Leon didn’t seem too concerned that he was on his second to last pokemon, instead, he looked excited.

Attacks were exchanged until both Corviknight and Dragapault were knocked down. Leon pulled out his Charizard’s pokeball and looked at Hop.

“This was an exciting battle, but I’m not letting you beat me! Charizard!” Leon cried.

“I will win, Lee!” Hop said determinedly, “Pincurchin!” He released the electric type and stared at the bracelet that was on his wrist. 

“You’ve done well to get me here,” Leon said, “but this is as far as you’ll go, you won’t beat Charizard! Gigantamax go!” Leon held the big Pokeball in his hand and he grinned as he threw it behind him.

“Come on, Pincurchin,” Hop murmured and did the same.

“Max Flare!” Leon laughed.

“Max Thunder!” Hop ordered. Charizard powered up and launched a flaming hot attack and Hop brought his hand up for a second. Pincurchin was holding on and summoned waves of electricity that it threw at the Charizard.

“Max Flare again!” Leon ordered.

“Come on, come on, come on! Pincurchin Max Thunder!” Hop was holding his hands close to his chest. Pincurchin launched its attack and it was enough, Charizard began to shrink and fall to the ground. Leon turned and returned his Pokémon.

Hop stared.

“Pincurchin shrunk back to normal size and jumped into the air along with Hop.

“I won!” He laughed. “I really won!”

“I’m proud, Hop,” Leon said, walking towards the middle of the field. “I don’t think I can express how proud I am of you,” he smiled, and put his hand on Hop’s head and began to mess up his hair. “That was an amazing battle, thank you, Hop.”

Hop had no clue what was going on. He had beaten Leon and then there were so many people talking to him, all saying different things.

Hop managed to get away from everyone and found himself staring at his family. “Great job out there, Hop,” Ignatz said, his smile warm.

“That was a great battle, kiddo,” Leonie patted him on the back.

“That was certainly a great battle! I have no idea how you could do all that,” Hilda said, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“It was very cool,” Marianne smiled. 

“That was totally amazing!” Raphael said, his laughter booming off the walls.

“You definitely deserve the title of Champion,” Lysithea smiled and ran her fingers through her hair. 

“Oh, is that my son?” A voice Hop hadn’t heard in a while spoke from behind him.

“Papa!” Hop cried, spinning around and jumping into his arms. Lorenz laughed and spun around. Claude appeared and wrapped both of them in a hug.

“I’m so proud of you, you did absolutely amazing!” Lorenz sang and waved his hand as he pulled Hop further into his arms and out of Claude’s. “It was an amazing battle,” Lorenz smiled widely.

“Are you glad you didn’t drop out, Hop?” Claude asked.

“Yes,” Hop nodded, “I am, and I understand what you meant.”

“I’m glad, I love you, Hop,” Claude put his hand on Hop’s shoulder.

“I love you too,” Hop smiled.

“Don’t leave me out of this!” Lorenz laughed, pressing a kiss to Hop and Claude’s cheek.

Hop was proud.

Hop was happy.

Hop won.

[stargazer-balladeer]

Hey! Can I do the wish list thingy for Takumi (Fe) and gold (pokemon)

🧚‍♀️

Characters: Takumi (Fire emblem: fates) & Gold (Pokemon GSC, HG&SS)

Notes: (i had to redo this bc tumblr didn’t save my work ;;w;;) I- I LIKE U- U HAVE GOOD TASTES- merry christmas-!! (While doing this, my spotify decided to play “Lost in thoughts all alone”- 🤧 i love how my playlist coincidentally played that lmao-). I hope this is good- ;;w;;

Takumi

With Oboro & Hinata

“Oh? It’s almost Christmas..”

“Are you okay, my lord? Should we go inside now?” - Hinata

“I’m doing okay. It’s just.. the days seem to pass so fast recently. But it feels like this day is going by slow..”

“That’s probably because you’re missing your s/o.” - Oboro

“Wha-! Nonsense!”

“*chuckles* you don’t need to deny it, my lord. It’s quite obvious you’re missing [Y/N].” - Oboro

“*nods* yep. Even lord Ryoma, princess Hinoka and princess Sakura noticed!” - Hinata

“... *whisper* was I really that obvious..?”

“Why don’t you send them a prayer, my lord?” - Oboro

“I’m sure they’ll appreciate the sentiment.” - Hinata

“Why bother? It’ll not reach them anyway.”

“C’mon! It’s just a prayer! It’ll not hurt, right?” - Hinata

“Yeah! It’s just a simple prayer. C’mon, lord Takumi, for [Y/N].” - Oboro

“*sigh* fine. But you two are acting suspicious..”

“What? Of course not!” - Oboro

“Yeah! We just want you to give them something special!” - Hinata

“I’m not even gonna bother arguing with you two.”

“Since this two idiots seem to be so keen on making me pray, I have no other choice. How are you faring, [Y/N]? I hope that the outside world is treating you kindly. Even though it’s only been a week since you left, I’m finding myself missing you. I miss your cuddles. I miss your hugs. I miss your kisses. I miss everything about you. As much as this is getting embarrassing, I really do miss you. So come back quickly, okay? I would love to hold you in my arms again. Merriest of Holidays, my love. May the wind guide you back to Hoshido and to me.”

Gold

With Silver

(I’m gonna guess you mean the manga gold- 🤧)

“.. why are you here?”

“To watch the recently released movie. I’ve been waiting for it for months now.”

“Why can’t you watch in the cinema then?! Why here in my house?!”

“Well, the cinema is far from where I am living right now.. and besides, its free here.”

“WHA- WHY YOU—!”

“... hey.”

“.. what?”

“Why do you look sad? Did [Y/N] dump you or something?”

“WHAT. NO! Their just.. on a journey.”

“Journey? To where? Is that why you two aren’t being all lovey-dovey in the couch?”

“Tsk. You do know that I can kick you out any time right?”

“Eh. Still, where? And why didn’t you join them?”

“Who knows. But I’m pretty sure their just here in Johto. As for why.. they didn’t want to bring me along.”

“.. huh? Why? Did they finally realize how annoying you are?”

“GET OUT.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I DONT NEED YOUR SORRY-!”

“I’ll shut up. Just let me watch this movie-!”

“Tsk. Fine. But after that, I want you out.”

“Deal.”

“.. hey. [Y/N]. Where exactly are you? Why didn’t you let me join you? It sucks that I’m here all alone, with Silver no less.”

“*sneeze*”

“Anyways. Hope you’re doing alright. I’m actually excited to see what kind of Pokémon you caught and befriended! Oh! In compensation for leaving me here all alone, you better tell me everything that happened in your journey. Come back soon okay? Atleast come visit. I want to see you smile again. I want your hugs and kisses and love. Ah, it’s already almost Christmas right? Merry Christmas! Ya better be here soon to celebrate it with me and the others! We’ll be waiting for ya!”

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

So when it comes to FE: Awakening I said once I hoped that Pokemon Mystery Dungeon time travel mechanics were in play - averting the bad future means that everyone from that future world disappears from existence - so that the game could emotionally ruin me as much as Explorers of Time did. That did not happen - I should have expected that from my experience with Three Houses, Fire Emblem games end quick and there’s not much time for wrapping things up, so they couldn’t/wouldn’t take the time to explain that and unpack that. Because that would kind of be a huge thing to deal with.

But I had these tags on that post

#you know that if this isn't how the game works itself out then an AU of that will be the first thing i do #bc man. pmd explorers. few games have ruined me more than i was playing Explorers of Time 

and now that I know that the game doesn’t work itself out that way, I just said to myself "listen how fucked up would this concept be. And also how thematically interesting and complicated!” and then I wrote 2000 words thinking about it.

-

Naga told them that Robin was going to disappear with Grima’s death. Okay, fine - I mean, not fine, but they know that. Robin and Chrom are fighting over who makes the final strike against Grima because of that. Everyone is anticipating that.

What they’re not anticipating is when Lucina, Morgan, and the other kids to start fading away the same as Robin did, like the way the Risen crumble into dust, dissipating in bright light

“What’s happening?!” Chrom demands of Naga, because again, obviously, not expecting this. 

“They are children born of a future that no longer happened,” Naga explains. “How can they continue to exist when the world that they came from, the times that bore them and shaped them, no longer happen?”

The cost of victory is this: Robin’s life (it is unlikely she will return, Naga says, but Chrom has faith, he always does in Robin), and these particular lives of the children of Shepherds, children who wrote themselves out of existence so that another self would have a better future.

The cost of victory is this: Chrom has seen almost all of his family fall away from him. His wife, and his son and daughter, his nephew, and other comrades-in-arms and friends, are gone.

He still has a daughter, Lucina, back at the palace in Ylisstol, Lucina who is a child who has grown without her parents around - how old is she now? How long has this war in Valm and with the Grimleal lasted? Has Lucina learned how to walk and speak her first word while her father and mother were away at war? She was two months old when they left her; does she recognize Chrom when he returns?

This is Lucina and it is not Lucina and it will be Lucina and it will never be that Lucina. Chrom had a grown daughter who was strong and clever and beautiful and determined, who saved his life and saved the world, who inherited a Brand and a sword and the deepest grief of loss from him. Chrom has a baby daughter who will grow up with a Brand and someday a sword and never that grief from his death at her mother’s hand. She will have the life and the world that her other self fought for. Is this the same Lucina, or is it not? Did Lucina who went by Marth die just as she achieved everything she fought for? Or is there only one Lucina, one who will be happy now for never needing to fight a war and lose her parents, one who assured herself a better future and now gets to grow up in it?

Chrom is a firm believer in the future never being written in stone, in destiny being thwartable.

But what does it mean to write a new future when there are parts of the old that you miss so dearly and want back?

The Shepherds’ children from the future were their children and also, because of the unnatural time-travel-wrought closeness in age, their friends and comrades. And the Shepherds will someday have children again, but they will not be friends or allies in a war that was already fought.

What does it mean to miss a version of someone who will not truly exist like that again?

Miriel works on her experiments, refining techniques that she developed with help from Laurent, and she misses her son even though he is toddling around at her heels, chubby little hands turning pages of her notebooks. She can teach Laurent all that she knows and all that she learned from a him that no longer exists, but it will be decades before she can consult with him in the same way.

Sully knows why her future self, the self that she is becoming, stopped training Kjelle in mounted combat. Sully’s recent past self continued training Kjelle as the closeness in age meant Sully could always be right there in battle to protect her daughter - that she wouldn’t grow old enough to be sidelined while Kjelle was still fighting. “We can fight side-by-side for the rest of our lives,” Sully told a Kjelle that no longer exists, because she didn’t know or expect then, none of them did, that these children of the future would write themselves out of history. And the Kjelle who now exists is too small to put on horseback, and Sully wonders if someday there will come a war that Kjelle fights without Sully at her side, and she wonders if or when she would stop training Kjelle to fight on horseback.

Cherche has to explain to a confused wyvern what has happened to her “twin” and her other new, dear friend - dear family, in fact. But there’s a spark of familiarity in Minerva’s eyes when she sniffs newborn Gerome for the first time, like she knows before Cherche says it who this is, like they both know that one day this will come full-circle. Wyverns live for a long time. Perhaps one day Gerome will inherit Minerva as his mount, without Cherche’s death as the catalyst.

These children of a terrible future were precious and cherished comrades-in-arms, friends, and of course beloved children. It feels wrong to act as if they never existed. It feels wrong to try to keep them a secret talked about only among the adults behind closed doors. But does telling the children of the Shepherds when they are young about the people they in a different timeline became cast a long shadow?

What is it like to grow up in a shadow, trying to live up to someone else, when the shadow is that of your own self, and the someone else is you, but from a darker future that will never be?

How do their parents balance dwelling on a future that will never be, when they knew its inhabitants in the past that was.

Chrom carries his baby girl around the grounds of the palace at Ylisstol, showing her the hole he years ago broke in the wall where a Lady Marth once made her entrance. He shows her where she saved him from assassins, where he saw her face for the first time, not knowing then, of course, who she was to him. Not knowing then who she was to Robin, who was with him. (Not knowing then who Robin would be to him.) And then he wonders if he shouldn’t. If it will hurt Lucina down the road to be compared to a different version of herself. If it’s better that she’s so young that she won’t remember what he’s telling her now.

In averting the future that Lucina knew was written, Chrom and Robin were still following a sort of script. They knew what they needed to do, or not do. The future is open now, an empty expanse. Chrom does not believe in the strength of destiny; Chrom believes in the strength of people and the love that ties them together. Love, not destiny. Morgan is not destined to exist. Chrom wants Morgan to exist, because he loves him, because Lucina loved him and will love him again when he exists again for her to.

But there’s a certain fear that dwells within the blank slate of the future. Chrom believes in Robin, always and forever, and he will search the world over for her if she does not return to him first, because they are two halves of a whole and they will not let each other go. Robin will come back to him. He believes in that with his whole heart and everything he is, but it creeps up on him in the dark of some sleepless nights, with his young daughter cradled close, of what it would be like for Lucina to grow up without a little brother. For Chrom to never see his wife and son again.

Robin does return. Of course she does.

But how long was she gone? A week, a month, a year? 

She destroyed herself and Grima for the sake of everyone’s future. But the children of that future in some way destroyed themselves, too, for the sake of their own futures already past. To change their pasts in the future.

What it means is that Robin returns to a smaller family than she left. To no son at all, and a young daughter who looks at her and sees not her mother but a total stranger. And Robin barely knows her own daughter, either. The Lucina she knows was an adult, and is gone, and a memory.

The Shepherds’ children might grow up beneath the shadow of memories. And not just their parents’ memories of the person they were in a future that will never come to pass.

Robin dreamed memories of her other self, because they shared the same heart. 

And maybe that was because it was Grima’s heart, the heart of a nigh-godly creature, but hearts are strange things. Robin’s heart is made up of pieces of everyone she loves, now; it isn’t Grima’s. 

Maybe human hearts share memories - dreams - of a life that is past and future and will never be.

Robin doesn’t dream of new memories, anymore, because Grima is dead and her other self no longer exists. But the memories she saw before still haunt her in her nightmares. She saw them enough to remember them, burned into her mind like they are her own memories. Of a life that could’ve been and almost was and already was and is no longer where she killed Chrom. She herself knows the feeling of what it was like to strike at him; she pulled the (metaphorical) punch, but it would’ve been all to easy not to. Whether she made a mistake, or whether Validar made her.

All the Shepherds have nightmares about the war. That happens, because of a war. But Robin alone knows what it was like to have someone else’s memories as dreams. 

Robin alone can realize why it might be that Lucina wakes up crying so often in the night. Lucina doesn’t yet have all the words necessary to explain, not yet, still too young to comprehend the horrors that she lived in another time, but it becomes clear to Robin after she observes on several occasions that if Chrom wakes Lucina and sits with her, she’ll immediately calm down and drift back to sleep. But if Robin is the parent that she first sees upon waking, she’ll only continue to scream and cry.

“One of her last memories from her future self was of someone who looks like me possessed by Grima and trying to kill us all,” Robin says quietly, when Chrom has finally gotten their little girl back to sleep, held safely in his arms and her head against his chest so that she never saw that Robin was here, behind him. “And who knows if Grima in my body ever attacked her in her future. Of course she’s scared; she has those memories, and she’s too young again now to truly understand any of that.”

“To understand that it isn’t you she’s seeing,” Chrom says.

“But it was me,” Robin says. “I was her. She was me. I killed you. I was Grima. I killed Grima. It’s always me.”

“Not this you,” Chrom says. “Not this life. Not this time.”

Robin, too, knows what it’s like to be haunted by the shadow and memory of someone you could have been and once were and never will be.

[pixelroseartist]

Roleplay Search

I'm out of school, I'm bored, and I'm free y'all! So, heres the deal folks, I wanna rp, and I've been itching for a lot of them. Here are some rules:

1. Be able to at least type a paragraph or me. I dont mind one liners because we all have a life, but if its constant, I may say something.

2. I tend to ask people if they're okay after 3 days, I've had people ghost me for no reason. After two weeks, I do tend to move on. If something happens, and you dont gotta give me details, you can tell me, you can be like, "hey something came up" and I'll make sure I dont bug you again. I'll say this now, YOUR HEALTH IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A RP!

3. You are more than welcome to vent to me, I am perfectly okay with it. We all sometimes need to vent, and I'll offer advice if you want it as well. I'm no therapist, so please, if you're having dangerous and dark thoughts, go see someone!

4. Do not drag me into drama, it's not cool and it causes me to get aggravated really fast. Unless that person affects me directly, I'm not getting myself involved.

5. Understand I have a life, if I dissapper, do not be afraid to message me after 3 days. I have anxiety and sometimes I just get nervous.

6. Do not control my characters, unless I give you strict permission to, and vice versa. It's simple respect.

7. DO NOT, and I repeat this, DO NOT ask me for personal info, simple as that.

8. Understand I call everyone mate, dude, etc. If you are uncomfortable with that, please let me know. I am going to respect boundaries, your comfort is my priority!

Some rp things:

1. I only do Oc x canon. I may do Oc x oc, but your oc has to really catch my interest or the plot catches my interest regarding your oc. I am happy to double up on oc x canon because I think it's fair.

2. I need build up to romance folks! Unless we heavily discuss predetermined relationships.

3. I only do MxF. I've had exteremly bad experiences in the past with doing MxM and FxF. This is not against anyone and I hope you understand.

4. Diversity is my cup of tea! Anything goes! As long as it isnt too ridiculous.

5. Please let me know what characters you are most comfortable rping as, like I said, your comfort is my upmost priority!

6. You are welcome to share ideas, I full encourage it!

7. Aus or crossovers? Honey, you've come to the right person!

8. If you have any personal headcanons for a character, you are welcome to use them, I fully encourage it!

Fandoms:

Pokemon

Kingdom Hearts

Fire Emblem (Fates, Awakening, Echoes, 3 Houses, I may budge on Heroes)

MHA

Soul Eater

Animal Crossing (the animal characters would be humanoid with animal features, like having the ears and tail)

JJBA

Kid Icuras

Persona (4 or 5)

Megaman

Obey Me!

Smash Bros

Overwatch

Devil May Cry

Finally, you may contact me here or on Discord! My Discord

Discord: PixelArtist#6125

Anyhow, that should be everything! I hope we can rp soon!

[eggoreviews]

Nintendo Direct Feb 2019 BREAKDOWN

So, that direct was pretty okay right? If you missed it or even if you didn’t, I’m gonna be taking a look at everything announced and giving it a vague excitement rating! Enjoy!

Super Mario Maker 2

This was a pretty great way to kick off this direct. With the promise of a host of new features coming in this entry to build upon the first, including the introduction of slopes (finally) and a new texture pack based on Mario 3D World, I reckon this is definitely one to mark in the calendar. Mario Maker 2 is slated for a, gratefully soon, June 2019 release.

Excitement Rating: YEEHAW

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

The long awaited third entry in the MUA series, to the surprise of many, is in fact a Switch exclusive. For those who don’t know, this is a hack-and-slash fighting game, of course tied heavily to Marvel comics. This entry seems to be riding in off the back of Infinity War, with Thanos and the Black Order showcased as central villains. Honestly, this game looks like it could be fun, especially with friends, though I don’t think it’ll turn out to be anything special.

ER: Sure, why not!

BOX BOY! + BOX GIRL!

This adorable little puzzle platformer is making its debut on Switch this spring, with the promise of local multiplayer and more levels than ever before. Looks to be a goodun for fans of cute, minimalist art design and box-based puzzles and the like.

ER: Cool! Those boxes can move!

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Ver. 3.0

Nintendo sort of slapped us in the face with a lovely, welcome announcement of a new Smash update! Oh boy! New features! And then they turn around and say they aren’t gonna tell us what they are.

Oh.

Kind of makes me question the point of putting this in the direct a little, but I’m sure whatever they’ll add will be cool! On top of that, a tentative release window for Joker was given (before the end of April this year) and we got a cheeky look at some of the new spicy amiibos, being Snake, Simon and the Pokemon Trainer lot.

ER: Yay?

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker Updates

Here’s one that definitely caught me offguard, but I’m more than happy with it considering I just picked up the game. Part of the new Captain Toad content is free, adding in proper 2 player co-op where you can both play as Toad. The paid ‘special episode’ stuff struck me as a little odd, considering this game was already a Wii U port that’s now getting even more paid DLC. Regardless, it’s not too pricey and you can even pick up the first DLC course now, with the rest coming March 14.

ER: That’s cool! 

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

This not-quite-Castlevania game could easily be mistaken for a knock off of that franchise, but seems to have some defining elements of its own. The art style is bold enough to make it unique and the game seems to have an interesting variety of puzzles and side quests to make this more than just a run of the mill 2D platformer. An obvious choice for those with a Castlevania shaped hole in their hearts.

ER: You go bouncy vampire lady

Dragon Quest Builders 2

What is basically just Dragon Quest Minecraft with a story mode apparently, this oddly charming sandbox game was seemingly popular enough to warrant a sequel. And I won’t lie to you, it got me a little excited. As a fan of Dragon Quest its art style and general building-ness, I think I might have to pick this one up. And it’s got a cool retro map!

ER: I’m not excited, you are

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age: Definitive Edition

In case you hadn’t guessed, I literally adore Dragon Quest. The bright colours, the developed characters, the expansive world, awesome monster designs, great soundtrack and lame sense of humour, it all just gets me. It just sort of sucks I already own this on the PS4, where I can’t access all this new content. Oof. But yeah, pick this up if you can. You won’t regret it if you’re a JRPG fan.

ER: More like echoes of an exclusive age amirite

Disney Tsum Tsum Festival

Oh.

I won’t lie to you right now, nothing screams ‘soulless’ to me more than small Disney plushes with all the personality taken from them being stuck into totally random minigames. Don’t get me wrong, I love Disney (mostly through Kingdom Hearts but that’s besides the point) but I don’t think this elicited much excitement in anyone.

ER: I guess this exists, huh?

Starlink: Battle for Atlas - Spring Update

This was another one that surprised me. Considering how mind meltingly badly Starlink bombed, partly down to its odd reliance on the whole ‘toys to life’ craze that died out in 2013, I really didn’t think there’d be any further support for the game and they’d just sort of slip it under the rug. But nope, we’ve got some more Switch exclusive missions involving some more Star Fox characters, as well as the introduction of Wolf’s buddies. Honestly, I think Nintendo needs to do themselves a favour and just release a new Star Fox game.

ER: Great, if for some reason you bought this!

Rune Factory 4 Special & Rune Factory 5

Here’s a series I’d literally never heard of until last Wednesday, but the only way I can describe it from what I’ve seen is it looks to be a cross between Animal Crossing and kind of also Dragon Quest. You cook stuff, you farm stuff, you fight things and you can get married if you want, so definitely cool if you’re a fan of the series. But also cool if you’re someone who wished Animal Crossing was a bit more JRPG. Alongside the announcement of a remastered Rune Factory 4 later this year, as well as confirmation of Rune Factory 5 sometime in the future.

ER: Cool! Plants and stuff!

Oninaki

An action RPG with an intriguing premise and a rich, dark colour scheme, Oninaki seems very eager to set itself apart from other JRPGs on the market and still manages to stand out just a bit, even in a direct that’s basically been packed with JRPGs. Oninaki explores themes of reincarnation and grief, following the story of one grey-haired dude saving lost souls from a place called the Upside Down the Beyond to stop them from turning into monsters. Another one to add to the list if you like edgy RPGs!

ER: Edgy and cool

Yoshi’s Crafted World

Another update for this adorably cardboard entry into the long running Yoshi series, we’re finally getting close to actually being able to play it. Nintendo showcased some of the more interesting variants of gameplay, with the use of rafts, cars and planes definitely making this seem that there’s some substance here to go with the style. Alongside this, a demo released on the eshop so go play that if you haven’t already and decide if it’s for you!

ER: Wow, this game has a Labo costume! I’ll definitely grind for that!

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Finally some more info about Nintendo’s latest instalment in their anime Game of Thrones series Fire Emblem, we got a big ol infodump about some of the stuff to do with the game. While the video itself will explain everything better than I can, this time players will be able to interact with three kingdoms and three main protagonists, all of this centralising around one academy the game is set within. Overall, this game certainly looks interesting to play, but one I’m not quite sure I’ll be picking up just yet. Basically, if you’re unfamiliar with the games but love a tactical RPG, this one is a no brainer.

ER: Edelgard’s design is pretty cool. If one of them has to get into Smash, I hope it’s her.

Tetris 99

The game many have been calling Tetris Battle Royale, this is the very first Nintendo Switch Online exclusive offering and it’s totally free if you’re a member. It’s Tetris and you have to win against 98 other people, also playing Tetris. Nice!

ER: Tetris block for Smash

Dead by Daylight

As a game I got for free through Playstation Plus, it should be fairly obvious that this port isn’t one that excites me greatly, especially after seeing the quality of the graphics in the trailer the direct showed us. While the concept of an online match with several survivors and one killer sounds good on paper, it seems as if the quality of this port may leave a lot to be desired. But still, this could still only be early development footage and we really have no idea how it’ll look by the end.

ER: Tentative

Deltarune

Undertale is one of my favourite games of all time, so of course it excited me to find out I’d finally be able to play the sort of sequel, Deltarune, which Toby Fox has taken in the interesting direction of splitting the game into chapters. The first of these chapters will be free (yay I like free) and it certainly seems like the same abstract sense of humour and charm present in Undertale has been carried over to this sequel. Definitely one to watch.

ER: Always excited about cartoon doggo

Daemon X Machina

This mech-fighter has been floating around in various Nintendo directs for a fair while now and it’s encouraging to see the game come close to release. In a commendable move, the producer of the game has offered a free demo of the game allowing you to pilot your own custom mech and experience a boss battle in the demo known as ‘Prototype Missions’. The aim of this to gain feedback from potential players in order to make the game as good as it can be, which is amazing! It’s honestly a bit of a dream world where every game developer and publisher is as open and transparent as these guys, so kudos to them. As well as this, the game looks pretty heckin’ fun so it’s definitely worth picking up the demo off the eshop and giving these guys your feedback!

ER: Big ol’ robots hell yeah

GRID Autosport

As of yet, the Switch has lacked a realistic racing game. Enter Grid Autosport, which seems to be packed with a variety of cars, tracks and game modes, including all DLC from the original release of the game. Not one for me, but I’m sure there’s plenty of Switch owners out there whose racing fix isn’t quite satisfied by Mario Kart.

ER: V big if ur a car person

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

This game was notably created in collaboration with neurologists and those who experience psychosis in order to properly portray the main character and her mental health struggles. Following the quest of Senua as she fights to save the soul of her dead lover, this game created a huge wave through the industry when it first launched and won major awards for its artistic design and performance. While this isn’t one I’ve had the chance to try yet, it certainly looks as if it provides a brilliant, emotional experience from beginning to end.

ER: A lot

Mortal Kombat 11

This was one everyone basically already knew about, but this direct gave us a reminder of the release date and various features such as custom characters. For fans of this long running, brutal fighting game, get April 23 in ur brains.

ER: Cool

Unravel Two

This adorable puzzle platformer sees you and, optionally, a friend take control of two little creatures made of yarn as they navigate a colourful world and help each other pass various obstacles. For those fans of platformers like the Yoshi series, Unravel is definitely one to consider.

ER: Cool

Assassin’s Creed III Remastered

This is the iconic stealth fighting series Assassin’s Creed’s first outing on Switch, but if this footage is anything to go by, it’s not looking brilliant. While this once again could be put down to unfinished development, the first look at a game is often the most important, and a slow frame rate shown during the direct could mean this game isn’t what fans want it to be.

ER: Tentative

Final Fantasy Release Dates

For fans of the legendary and slightly intimidating JRPG series, several games in the series both new and old will be coming to the Switch in 2019:

Final Fantasy VII on March 26th

Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY! on March 20th

Final Fantasy IX is out now!

ER: Cloud is my favourite twink

Astral Chain

Admittedly, at a first glance, this title in a brand new franchise didn’t particularly excite me. But after having another look, I can definitely see where all the hype is coming from. This looks to be a hack-and-slash sort of action RPG with all the edgy story elements and setpieces of that ever so popular steampunk genre that players seem to love these days. With all these mechs, explosions and edgy voiceovers, it makes me think that Xenoblade Chronicles and Deus Ex had some kind of torrid love affair. On top of this, with a dev team that has Bayonetta, The Wonderful 101 and NieR: Automata under their belt, this is a game that will almost certainly impress when it finally comes out on August 30. Platinum Games might just have another winner here.

ER: Big yes

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

oKAY, let’s be real, this is the one that really knocked it out of the park. At least for me it did. As the final reveal, this made me scream a little tiny bit. I think we’d all heard the rumours of a 2D Zelda coming to Switch, but I was highly skeptical to say the least. But a wonderfully charming and artistically bloody P E R F EC T remake of Link’s Awakening?? HHHHHH. They even kept all the Mario enemies for some reason! Oh boy, whenever they release this in 2019 apparently really can’t come soon enough.

ER: AAAAAAAAAAAAA

That was all for this direct! I hope you enjoyed my silly, unplanned breakdown of all the cool things that happened. Til the next direct!

Oh and if you’ve got a craving for more game news, be sure to check back on my blog March 1st for the second ‘issue’ (lol) of my monthly viddy game mag!

Stay hydrated my dudes.

[wolfgabe]

Nintendo E3 2019 Thoughts  Part 1The Direct

ce Okay so with yesterday behind us I felt I might as well offer my own opinions on the main event of the day the Nintendo Direct.

To start off I like how rapid fire a lot of Nintendo’s Directs have become. While it’s not as flashy as a full blown conference it pretty much cuts out most of the padding and helps make things arguably more focused. I wasn’t expecting them to cram so much in within 40 minutes and I admit I thought at times they would do a Smash Ultimate and spend a bunch of time on one title which of course never happened now then onto the games themselves

Dragon Quest Hero or should I say Dragon Quest Gang for Smash. Pretty much something most of us expected. Personally I have nothing against Erdrick and Pals and it was inevtiable really that we got Dragon Quest representation in Smash considering how in Japan DQ is pretty much on the same level as Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Minecraft here in the States. As easy as it is to complain about more anime sword boys when you look at it DQ was pretty much one of our only options for an additional SE rep considering how stingy SE is with Final Fantasy as well as the fact that Sora is pretty much a massive legal minefield for obvious reasons. I kinda find it clever really that rather than just represent 1 game they instead use the Hero as a means to represent the entire Dragon Quest series as whole.

Following that up fittingly is another trailer for Dragon Quest 11

Doug Bowser makes his E3/Direct debut and already the memes are out in full force

H̶o̶t̶e̶l̶ ̶M̶a̶r̶i̶o̶ ̶2̶/Luigis Mansion 3 is looking great. Seriously I just love how clean everything looks. It’s almost like the Luigis Mansion Dark Moon Artwork come to life/ Too bad we didn’t an actual release date but really for a game like this I would be surprised if they don’t go for  an October release.

A Dark Crystal Game That was unexpected

Link’s Awakening now with Dungeon Maker. Seriously I can’t help but keep imagining a Zelda spinoff that’s basically a Zelda themed Dungeon Keeper

Trials of Mana and Collection of Mana Not exactly my cup of tea but it’s cool seeing The Mana Collection available on Switch right away

Witcher III for Switch. Another rumor that  turned out true. Bring on all the oerformance jokes and PC master race trolls. Panic Button doesn’t appear to be handling this one but I can’t help but wonder what sorcery they used to get this game running on Switch

Fire Emblem Three Houses Not really big on FE myself. I get why some people are complaining they basically spoiled the big twist but I figure that Nintendo may have did it on purpose to show fans that it’s not just Harry Potter with a Fire Emblem Skin

More Resident Evil love for Switch which is nice although I can’t help but wonder why they chose a port of RE6 over the remake of RE2

No More Heroes III another bit of a surprise. I admit for a second I thought I was looking at some new Power Rangers mech game. Great to see after Travis Strikes Again

That new Contra game looks eggghhhh but its cool we are getting the Contra collection too

Daemon x Machina. I actually did get some enjoyment out of the demo and what I saw with the mech customization looks interesting but I seriously hope they fixed the framerate in the final release.

Panzer Dragoon Another one that came out of nowhere. Switch has been seeing quite the amount of Sega love. Now if only we could get a Sega Ages port of Daytona USA

Pokemon Sword and Shield get a brief shoutout. Figured they wouldn’t spend too much time on it considering how it just got a direct last week. And like that the R34 crowd has already abandoned Sonia for Nessa go figure.

Astral Chain got a new trailer. Pretty interesting game and no doubt it will probably have an insanely over the top final boss as with fine Platinum tradition

Empire of Sin pretty interesting management/strategy game looks like it might be worth a shot when it comes out.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 Not a big Marvel person but personally I think its a bit funny really that UA3 has better models than the SE Avengers game.

Cadence of Hyrule Finally have a release date and its right at the end of E3 which is cool

Mario and Sonic at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Figured they would give a shoutout to this game.  Eggman looks surprisingly hot in shorts.  Why is nobody talking about the majesty of Barefoot Wario?

Animal Crossing New Horizons Finally the game pretty much everybody was waiting for. So it would appear Animal Crossing has now transformed into Minecraft. Jokes aside I can’t help but love the idea that you are pretty much now building the town yourself and populating the island from scratch. Okay actual path creation tools and the ability to place furniture outside this is too much. It’s kind of a bummer the game won’t be out till next March but its understandable really considering how packed Switches release schedule looks for the rest of 2019.  Also Tom Nook being a greedy little shit as usual and where is Isabelle please don’t tell me Nintendo you forgot our precious doggo girl.

The obligatory switch game/port sizzle reel. Nice recap of things to come. Another MS game confirmed with Super Lucky’s Tale. Also the Spyro Reignited Trilogy has finally been confirmed for Switch and PC which is great.  Alien Isolation? didn’t expect to see that game get ported. Still no release date for A Hat in Time Switch though

Now for what is arguably the two biggest bombshells to come out of this presentation

First off, Banjo Kazooie in Smash. I cannot freaking believe it a character where the Grinch Leak actually ended up turning out to be right!!! I admit even I had my doubts that we would actually see this come to fruition since I never thought MS would be that chill about letting Banjo show up in a game hosted by one of their own competitors. Of course competitor may not be the right word here considering how surprisingly chummy MS and Nintendo have gotten with each other as of late. I can’t help but find a sense of inner happiness and satisfaction when my own theories and hunches end up being proven correct. I just knew there had to be a reason why Blast Corps and Jet Force Gemini spirits were found in the game files for Smash Ultimate never mind the fact that MS in their E3 schedule clearly suggested we should watch Nintendo’s own E3 presentation. I admit when I first saw that Jiggy bounce by I kinda started to lose my collective shit. The whole reveal was just so brilliant from the way they basically parodied their own trailer to how happy the DK crew was to see Banjo again. Its almost like Sakurai and Nintendo were reading everyone’s mind. I am really liking Banjo’s Smash design and how they basically went for more updated version of his classic look rather than just settle for the Nuts and Bolts design. A perfect way really to drive home the point that Banjo has pretty much come home. And I cannot believe it they actually got Grant Kirkhope himself on board to compose new music for Smash. I admit I am loving that Spiral Mountain remix and you can even make out bits and pieces from other Banjo levels too. I can’t wait to hear what else there is with Banjo. While I am mainly a Nintendo person I would just like to give thanks to Phil Spencer for helping make so many Nintendo and Smash fans wildest dreams finally come true. Now perhaps see if you get the original Banjo games as well as maybe a Nintendofied version of Rare Replay perhaps on Switch

And finally capping off the direct was the reveal that an actual follow up to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is now in development. When we will see this title in full I am not sure but the brief teaser looks like they are hinting that Ganondorf himself could be back from the grave. Now I am hearing how the devs say they were inspired by Red Dead Redemption 2 does that mean more detailed horse mechanics?

All in all I would rate Nintendo’s E3 Direct an 8/out of 10. A few points were docked from the Animal Crossing delay but there was still a lot of games that I am interested in due out in the near future as well as some wonderful surprises to boot. I would personally say Nintendo was probably the best part of E3 this year and they made me a very happy gamer

[crystalelemental]

Can you explain to us non-FF players what was so awful about Fates?

FE.  Very different trainwrecks.

And...probably?  I had a TON of posts about the problems in the game, but I can try to do an abridged version here.  Or at least, I’ll make an attempt.

Starting with the obvious, they took one game and split it into three, then charged us for three separate games.  It was complete horseshit from second 1.

Face-rubbing minigame.  You know Pokemon Amie?  Imagine doing that with humans.  That’s the waifu simulator they put in this game.

The creators of the game went on record early on saying that, yeah, Awakening saved the entire franchise from death with its simple but impactful storyline, but it was kinda too simple so we’re gonna make it better.  They then proceeded to make the shittiest plot I’ve ever been involved with, filled with nothing but contrivances to make anything make sense.

Characters sucked.  There are like 5 good ones, and at least three are debatable depending on who you ask.  The problem with infinite supports is that no character ever changes, so whenever one character would support, say, Oboro (the worst example of this), they’d reach A rank and she’d move on from her blatant racism, only to be right back to racist central for the next character’s C-support.  As such, no one ever grew as a character, and no one was particularly compelling, especially because both sides in the war were idiots.

Speaking of idiots, the reason for the war?  Invisible soldiers from an ancient dragon god attacked people on both sides of the border.  Rather than investigate, they both immediately accused the other and went to war.  The reason no one pointed out the soldiers or dragon god?  If you talked about them, you’d be magically transported to the dragon god’s kingdom and mind controlled into working for him!  Yeah, pure contrivance, because otherwise your entire plot would be resolved in literally two seconds as someone mentioned what was going on.

THE BABY REALM.  So, in Awakening, you could get married and have kids.  They wanted to do that mechanic again.  But Awakening had time travel, so it made sense.  Here?  Instead, they had a baby, and you throw them into an inter-dimensional rift, where they will immediately be spit out at combat-ready age.  I think like two of the kids briefly mention being sad their parents weren’t around.  Otherwise, somehow no abandonment issues at all.  Leo is a fucking asshole, though.  Forrest deserved better.

Speaking of the kids, fuck the kids.  Again, there’s like 5 that were good, and at least 3 are debateable.  But I think we can all agree that Kanna is a horrible little gremlin we should’ve kept locked away in another dimension.  FUCK YOU, YOU’LL NEVER BE MORGAN

On the topic of shipping, the main ship?  Corrin and Azura?  Yeah, you’re cousins.  So after all the debate about the main families being incest, but they totally aren’t because you’re adopted and not related to either of them, the main couple of the game that I think the game itself actively pushes, is incestuous.  Fucking great job, team.

I could bitch about the difference in female costume design between this game and the rest of the series all goddamned day so let’s just say “Camilla is just there for fanservice” and call it a day.

The final boss is literally the stone mask from JoJo and yet the game is somehow still lame.

Speaking of the final boss.  That dragon god?  We never learn his motivation.  Or rather, we do, but only in the DLC.  So after paying over $80 for this shit game they sold to you three times?  You have to pay even more to get the DLC that fucking explains anything.

Weapons came with penalties now.  So strong weapons had severe drawbacks that made them less useful, and instead forging was the way to go.  How do you forge?  By buying like 50 copies of the same weapon, and farming endlessly for arbitrary resources through other players’ My Castles (I’ll bitch about that in a minute), then spending a shitload of gold in the forge to give it slightly better stats.  Hope you like farming!

Christ, the My Castle thing...  You know what Fire Emblem really needed?  Instead of steady progression through a story, it needed to grind to a fucking halt as you farmed out all your arbitrary resources that are now required, and get all your skills through this method alone.  Most of your game won’t even be the main story, it’ll be My Castle, the fucking shitshow nightmare they added into this series for no goddamned reason.

“We finally put in gay characters!” the series said, giving you version exclusive options of (1) the reincarnation of a stalker who abused her daughter mentally and physically, or (2) a gay man whose only defined personality traits are “sadistic” and “makes a lot of uncomfortable sex jokes.”  Fucking top-tier representation.  Shame you didn’t pick sensible options, like...I dunno, Soleil?  The obvious bi girl?  But no, Tharja 2.0, that’s fine.

But on top of that?  On top of all that?  Pick your poison from the following:

The english translation was so unbelievably bad, that most characters spoke in decades-old memes, and entire support conversations were outright removed for funny ninja moments like no spoken dialogue because ninjas don’t talk.  But at least they removed the incredibly creepy face-rubbing minigame that you just know someone was jerking it to.

OR you keep the Japanese version, where one support conversation is literally your main character drugging a girl who thinks other girls are cute, without her consent, to make her see men as other women and vice versa, basically so you can fuck and marry her, in what’s basically a point-for-point re-enactment of conversion therapy.  And that’s just one of the incredibly horrific things the Japanese version had in it.  There was an entire SITE listing the problems people had with how it portrayed things.

And that’s just what I remember off the top of my head.  I know for a fact there’s more.  But imagine going from “Oh man, a new entry into this, my favorite series” to getting all of this information, bit by bit, over months, and trying to convince yourself that it’ll be okay and you should still get it.  Then you get it, and it’s somehow WORSE.  That’s what the experience of Fates was like.  Constant horror and disappointment, followed by an attempt to compromise that backfired spectacularly and resulted in, bar none, the worst game I’ve ever played, with absolutely nothing gained.  I am a lesser person for having played Fates.

[moczothe1st]

Let’s Play Fire Emblem IV: Genealogy of the Holy War, Part 23: An Altenuous Situation

Part 22

Welcome back to another week of Let’s Tolerate Thracia.  …. I mean, let’s play Fire Emblem IV.  When we left off, we had just recruited the world’s worst hostage, and were about to send him back to save his doofus father.  Let’s check out our new kid!

So here’s Cairpre. He’s… he’s certainly around.  His Major Bragi holy blood and all those staves in his backpack should be enough to tell you he’s actually the second child of Claude and Sylvia, making him Lene’s younger brother.  How he ended up in Thracia, away from his sister and adopted by Santa Claus, will have to be a story for another time because right now we’re summarizing his unit and he’s… okay.  Basically another Claude. He starts off at level one, which is not as big a problem as it could be because he should never, ever be in combat anyway, and comes in with several long-range healing staves that will make his level shoot up fast. He’s just another healer, really. Not a bad healer, but nothing super impressive. 

He starts the long walk back to his adopted father to recruit him while Patty just keeps right on stabbing some helpless dude, like a hero.

Good job, Patty! The healer down south of her who kept patching that guy up should push her over the edge to another level, and she’ll be close to promotion.  And with him gone, other units who were busy keeping her target standing still can move to clear out Hannibal’s castle.

Mook: If you wish to claim it, you must first claim my life!

There was absolutely no need to do that. He’d have disappeared peacefully when I recruit Hannibal anyway.  I just wanted the free experience points.

Patty is learning to become a cannon lately, huh? When she promotes she’ll just wreck people.  Lana also gains a level from warping our remaining promotion candidates back to home base to pick up their new clothes, with Lene’s help. 

Your mom would be proud, sweetie. But not as proud as I will be of our four shiny new promotes!  

Oh, that’s beautiful. Tinni in particular is a standout here, because promoting to War Mage lets her use swords (which… no), Staves, and pushes her Thunder rank up to A so she can finally buy her mom’s old Thoron tome.  

And Patty is here too! Cairpre even gains his first level just from zapping the army with his Fortify staff.  A good one, too. I’m so proud-ish of him.  And from here, Seliph is finally close enough to recruit Altena…

Altena: My brother, Prince Leif, has explained the truth to me, and I can no longer oppose you. If you please, I’d like to join your ranks.

Seliph: Princess Altena?! … Ah, yes. That’s right! Prince Leif has told me everything, and we’ve both prayed you would come… He’ll be so glad to know you’ve joined us. You’ve made a difficult but wise decision.

(I like the implication that the entire drama with Altena was something Seliph knew about, but just kind of slipped his mind.)

Altena: … I can still scarcely believe this has all happened. And yet, the moment I gazed into my brother’s eyes, I understood everything.

(Platonically! She was gazing into his eyes platonically! God, I hate that I feel the need to specify that.)

Altena: His eyes revealed my father’s warm gaze…  and as clear as if it were yesterday, I felt for a split second as if I was swaddled in my mother’s gentle arms…

(PLATONICALLY!)

Seliph: I admit I’m still not entirely sure what King Travant was trying to do with you. I still cannot see what would have led him to spare you and bring you into his home after murdering your parents…

(… It was the holy spear of the gods that only she can wield. Why do so many people have trouble grasping that?!)

Altena: I’ve heard he once told my brother, Arion, that he sought to use the power of Leonster’s holy lance, Gae Bolg, as his own. For that alone, he needed me…

Seliph: You were little more than a tool to him?

Altena: I… I’m still not entirely sure. For all his cruelty, he still treated me as if I were his true daughter.

(… When?)

Seliph: Did he, now… I suppose I’ve never known much of his ways.

(That’s cool, neither did the writers.)

Altena: I must as a favor of you, milord. It’s about Arion… we need to help Prince Arion!

Seliph: Certainly! I’m hardly eager to fight a man of his fine caliber, if what I’ve heard is true. The only question is, can we convince him?

Altena: I’ll do my best to persuade him again. All I ask is a little time. Please, milord!

… and having had that dopey mess, also let Cairpre recruit Hannibal.

Cairpre: Lord Seliph freed me from Luthecia!

Hannibal: Cairpre?! Y…you’re safe!

Cairpre: Yep! Listen, Papa…. I want to join Lord Seliph’s army. Thracia’s changed so much lately…. I want to fight to help all of its people, and bring back the old Thracia!

Hannibal: Heh… you’ve grown into a splendid young man, Cairpre. Very well! I, too, shall serve Lord Seliph.

Cairpre: Yes! Thank you, Papa! First we’ll help free Thracia, and then together, we’ll challenge the Empire!

See, Altena? That was a nice normal discussion that didn’t make either of them look like total doofuses who weren’t paying attention to the war they were in. Ah, well, let’s take a look at the newbies.

So here’s Hannibal. He… well, let’s not mince words, he probably wasn’t worth the effort of recruiting him. He’s not a bad unit, inherently, being a General with Pavise, Vantage, and Adept (though with only 11 speed, it’s unlikely he’ll be activating that third one very often). It’s just that the majority of his stats are only ‘decent’ at a time in the game when many units are approaching ‘godlike’, and like Arden before him, he has a lower movement range than everyone else in a game where you’ll quickly find yourself wishing everyone would just get a horse. He’ll get a little use, but honestly most of the time he’ll be staying at our home base to make sure no random reinforcements sneak up and steal it from under us.

And after two borderline duds, we finally get our shining diamond of the map.  Altena is a monster; even unpromoted her stats are already mostly equal or better than Hannibal’s, and she’s got more levels left to gain than he does with better growth rates on top of it, thanks to coming with two different Holy Blood types, Major Nova and Minor Baldur.  She’s also a flying unit, meaning Fee no longer has to go everywhere alone, and comes into the army carrying all of Quan’s old spears, including the truly awesome Gae Bolg coming at last back to our hands after we barely got to play with it last time.  It may not be the almighty nuke that Forseti or Balmung are, but +10 each to Strength, Skill, and Defense is nothing to sneeze at.  Our two combatants can now head into nearby castles to face the Arena. I suspect… there will be slight differences in performance.

Altena: Seven wins, gained two levels: +3 HP, +2 Strength, +1 Speed, +2 Defense

Hannibal: Six wins, gained one level: +1 Strength

One of these two had a better performance. Though, in fairness, Hannibal getting creamed did let Lana gain a level from healing him.

Much better!  Okay end turn.

Legion of Doom: I suppose it was unavoidable… Fortify our defensive line. Until reinforcements arrive, we must defend the castle at all costs.

Brock from Pokemon: Heh, no matter. The rebels’ little rampage ends here. Ready, men? We’re going in. The Emperor himself’s put a handsome bounty on each rebel head. We mustn’t waste a chance to claim it for ourselves!

So there’s our next issue. The invading Grannvale squad to the north is fairly nasty. Entirely composed of promoted cavalry units and packing two healers with them; they’re hard to wear down in a single turn, and if they all get a shot at the same unit they can definitely take out all but our strongest kids.  So, you know, don’t let that happen.  To the south, at Grutia castle, is almost the opposite; a veritable swarm of ballistae, so Fee and Altena can’t even really get close, and a Dark Bishop with a siege tome. Once we get close to them they’ll break like cheap glass, but getting there can be risky, to say the least.  We’re going to split up; it’s a bit tricky, but in general the ballistae are not a huge issue compared to the bishop miniboss, so anyone who goes for the southern castle mostly has to have enough resistance to take a shot from him, or enough speed and luck to reliably dodge him. I go with Seliph, Leif, Nanna, Ares, Larcei, Shannan, Julia, Arthur, and Lana.  The rest of the army will be blocking off the pass to stop the incoming cavalry. Ideally, we’ll get a situation where we can split their attack across several people and then crush them on the return trip.  A few turns over movement, and we find ourselves…

Not even close! Everyone was too far away, and that first one snuck up on me real good.  I didn’t realize I’d put Lester at the edge of someone’s movement. I was so caught off guard I didn’t screenshot the combat (he dodged. Go archery!).  So our first step right now is to back the Hell up.

…

Well, okay, second step.

That’s for swinging at my squishy horse archer, jerkass. I draw back everyone to create a battle line that’s split in the middle by the castle; this should be drawing out a big chunk of the enemy without letting them focus fire on one character. End turn!

Not bad, other than the fact I forgot to equip Finn with his big-people spear and he got a little creamed. Cairpre, care to patch the team up?

Good kid. Rest of the team, rock out!

…. I really dislike that we couldn’t kill that fucking mid-boss. He hits like a truck and he’s annoyingly fast. I… don’t want to end the turn. I see it going badly. But… *sigh*… let’s see…

…. Yeah, I knew that was gonna happen. I knew it. Dammit. Reset.

Okay. This time, we are going to be brave and run away. Once more, kill the outer layer and flee. Go, my brave cowards!

And with this, the only character in the boss’s attack range is Arthur, who is parked in the castle and wielding Forseti. Yes, I am a vindictive person.  End turn!

… That’s it?!  You didn’t even take a shot, you fucker! Fine, fine, Arthur will come to you.  

Congratulations, Musar, you managed to land a single blow.  That is more than most of the foes he slaughters can achieve.  Arthur also gets the droppable Tornado tome from this boss, meaning he can sell the Elwind he’s been using for his sister to pick up later, or maybe it can go to Lana after I get a chance to promote her, haven’t decided yet. Cairpre even gains another level after healing Arthur’s boo-boos.

Good kid! Not very bright, but talented in his own way.  Now, hey, who wants to slaughter?

*sniff* Not bad at all. All that remains of this enemy force is one healer that Patty can chew on to her heart’s content. I have Lana warp Lester back to the home base to promote, and on the next turn she can do the same to Arthur.  This army is really coming together!  To the north, I’m going to let Cairpre have most of the villages; he’ll need money to repair his staves after spamming them to gain levels on this map. Lana will too, of course, but she…

Has a booooooooooooyfriend. Ulster is rolling in cash and he’ll only be getting more, since he barely needs to spend anything these days, relying on nice normal swords instead of legendary money sinks, so I’ll just have him give Lana all his wealth next turn.

Now, to the south, it’s… *sigh*… time to wade into the Ballista Storm, I suppose. This will be annoying, so I’m just gonna smash it as quickly and brutally as I can; Ares, Leif, and Seliph, go right for the boss and kill.  Everyone’s on a horse so they should only have to spend one turn being shot at before they reach and take out the boss. Eeeeeeeend turn!

And you know what, let’s just stop there? It’s like seven more shots of just that.  I hate ballistae so much.

Judah: This world is Lord Loptyr’s to smother in darkness!

I appreciate that I somehow managed to miss the cool-looking part of the Fenrir spell and got the weird hit-flash moment where the whole screen turns randomly blue. Now then, our turn, and let’s try to end this fast.

*whistle* Leif, I always forget just how much of a monster promotion turns you into.  Up to the north, meanwhile, we still have an army.  I know, I forgot them too.  

You do you, Patty. While Patty torments a priest… again… Lene takes this time to chat with her newly-recruited and long-lost brother that she doesn’t actually know.

Lene: Wait, you’re from Darna too?

Cairpre: You’re familiar with Darna, Lene?

Lene: Yep! I grew up in the abbey there. They told me my mom was a dancer, who left me there when I was about two years old. That’s why I’m a dancer now. I was thinking that maybe, if I did the same thing as her, one day I might find her again.  It’s kind of embarrassing, but I taught myself everything I know about dancing.

Cairpre: That’s really great of you, Lene! I, er, guess I thought wrong about you…

Lene: Not a big fan of dancers, Cairpre?

Cairpre: Not really…. At least, not unti I met you, Lene.

Lene: Awww! Thanks, Cairpre!

Cairpre gains +1 Luck from this, because…. Look, you need to stop asking questions. I also choose not to zap Arthur home after all; he doesn’t need his promotion, and I want him to shut up and marry Julia already, so I’m gluing them together for now. Maybe they’ll hook up, maybe they won’t, but either way I’ll demand they sex who they are told to sex. Instead, Lana just heals someone and levels…

And Lester takes his promotion.

Not a super impressive promotion, but… a promotion. The turn ends there, and the enemy phase is a desperately sad event, with ballistae firing and missing again and again. It saddens me. I’m sad.

Look at that! Even Oifey doesn’t respect them.  

In any event, Patty finishes bullying the clergy and Cairpre zaps her…

And we dismantle some siege equipment.

And that’s that! The current section of map is over, so I take a few turns to move folks around; Cairpre starts trekking north to get his fortune, while the rest of the army splits up, most of them heading south to hook up with Seliph and co., but Patty, Ulster, Lana, Shanan, Tinni, Faval, and Altena are staying in the north to reinforce our assorted castles.  Thracians are tricky and they can fly, so you can’t leave your castles unattended for a second on this stupid map. The first time I played I actually managed to lose all of them but Meath just through sheer force of stupid.

And it is on this exciting note that I leave you for the week, gentle readers. Seliph, will you play us out?

(You may remember the previous update wherein Arion just suddenly turned into a rampaging douche. That state of events has stuck.)

Lewyn: I suppose that stubborn dracoknight pride compels him to fight to the bitter end.  I was hoping the legendary Arion of Thracia would be a wiser man than this… Seliph, I hope you understand we can’t turn back now. This last battle needs to be fought.

(Well, yeah, dude, his family has been trying to kill us for two weeks while we politely ask them to go away.)

Seliph: I don’t understand him. Why would Arion insist on fighting such a futile battle… how can he be so callous? Does he not understand the grief he’s inflicting on Altena?

… And hey, for once, Lewyn doesn’t spout some pseudo-philosophy at us! This really is a bright note to leave an update on. See y’all next week!

Total Resets: 27. I knew that boss was a bastard and I still let myself get caught off guard. For shame, me.

Part 24

[dreadwhoop]

My 3DS - 2013-2022

I've officially retired Nintendo's handheld device, the last trueborn descendant of the legacy of the Game Boy (those 2DS models are bastard children). It happens to equal the time of what it did replace being the original DS (2004-2013) and in many ways it both underperformed and overperformed.

It had a good run. Now it's a curiosity rather than an activity.

Below is a history of the device along with games, in the year I played them in, I have either completed to the credits or completed in another sense - some even going as close to 100% completion as you can imagine. None of these experiences were fairweather first impressions. I played them to the end.

Part 1 - The Early Years Vs the PSVita (2011-2013)

Let's be very clear about one thing - the PlayStation Vita was a serious contender and a bitter pill for Sony to swallow when it eventually lost out to the 3DS. Unlike the PSP Vs DS, this was not as surefire in terms of quality or support. The PS Vita was an incredible achievement in handheld hardware with its OLED screen and innovative buttons and touch-screen immersion. A powerful camera, a great library of games, and the potential to play on TVs and interact with other PlayStation models plus your PS+ subscription included games for the PS Vita making it a good investment. It should of won...except Sony felt it was a good idea to make everything proprietary. The memory cards, the charger, the firmware, all because Sony was petrified of people hacking the device. In building a fence of security so high to prevent unwanted users it alienated genuine interest. In many ways what killed the PS Vita wasn't the 3DS but the PS Vita. It had the chance to defeat Nintendo once again as it had before but its arrogance for finances and paranoia in its playerbase were its undoing. By contrast, the 3DS didn't start out very tempting as it was the first major released piece of hardware by Nintendo where it did NOT launch with a Mario title (and, you'll see, I never got a Mario game unless you want to count SSB as one) and the aging DS was still a better option. In 2012 they did correct some of the issues, namely the size and emphasis of the '3D' part, with the XL models. However it wasn't until 2013 they finally had killer-apps to support its purchase - namely Pokemon X/Y, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and Fire Emblem Awakening. Were they the most original choices compared to the PS Vita? No however they were safe bets and spoke of a longer support in a market where Nintendo could offer a platform to third parties far greater than their rival. Oh and being backwards compatible to the DS games helped.   I waited those two years as the war between the two waged until finally pulling the trigger. It turns out I had made the right choice.

2013 - Fire Emblem Awakening - Here's where it all began - the personal reason why the PS Vita lost out and why I decided to buy the 3DS. In a way it's the perfect marriage - the 3DS was made better because of Awakening and because of the 3DS the Fire Emblem series revived with new life. They completed each other in their validation to exist. Awakening was so densely packed with character interactions you'd almost think it wasn't a Strategy RPG at all and more of a life-sim playing out the interests of your various party members. It is a good game with many choices and a must play for anyone owning a 3DS. Just try to avoid getting a runny nose...

2013 - Kid Icarus Uprising - A lot of people seem to detest how this game turns your hand into an impression of a crab. Okay consider this for a moment - I'm left-handed. So I'm double-screwed yes? Wrong. See I went to the options and I tested out some configurations first. I made it so I didn't have to endlessly tilt the screen or curve my hands. It was still a tiring experience after 30 minutes so had to settle for doing maybe 1 or 2 missions a day before putting it down. The missions can be long. However if you can get around its reputation this is such a great experience. I wish this was not locked to the 3DS after 10 years. This franchise truly deserves better.

Part 2 - The Glory Years (2014-2017)

Now uncontested and the phone markets unable to match the quality, the Nintendo 3DS became responsible for also picking up the slack of the poorly designed Wii U and Iwata's legacy. What is there to say? Its library was immense. I have so many games I did not touch from Bravely Default to Yokai Watch, Tomodachi Life to Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Kirby: Planet Robobot to the newer Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright games. Then of course are the other 1st party IPs. I need not bore you with those too. The portability made it also an indie-game dream. The 3DS would remain a fixture for the last decade because it was uncontested - nothing could match its appeal in the market so focused elsewhere with consoles, PC, and other avenues like VR or streaming. It had gone from a risky endeavour to a global phenomenon. The prince of a heavy crown became a worthy king.

2013/2014 - Pokemon X - Did I mention the 3DS was backwards compatible? I decided to go on a long journey of getting every Pokemon I had got from the Gen 3 era and moving it into Gen 4, to Gen 5, and finally here into Gen 6. I had a LOT of Pokemon how many? Probably over 600, maybe closer to 700. The entire Pokedex was just over 700 anyways so this felt like the most complete Pokedex I've ever had completed in any Pokemon game. Given this achievement I felt for the next Gen, Gen 7, I should start fresh with a new mindset...

2013/2014 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - A Link to the Past is my all-time favourite Zelda game. It's classic adventure done right and a killer-app of the SNES. To make a sequel to this game, not Link's Awakening, but a true return to this Hyrule, this nostalgia, and then introduce new mechanics, quality of life upgrades, and overall labor of love from fans of the original to be the developers of this one, made it all the more appealing. This game is very underrated because I think people felt Ocarina of Time 3D and Triforce Heroes gave them particular impressions this wasn't as necessary or required but man I would choose this any day.

2014 - Super Smash Bros for 3DS - Wonky title aside, this was where I mained Lucina for a bit! Felt correct after the Awakening appeal. Not much else to say - of all games this was more the 'timewaster' versus dedicated to a cause.

2015 - SMTIV - I was the right person to play this game! I had never touched any Shin Megami Tensei games up until this point so the samurai setting, the overworld, its descent into the evil caverns, well none could prepare me for the genuine shock later on. I won't spoil it if you're not familiar with the series either but this is precisely why it's a great starting point. Even if you are a returning fan though it's still highly enjoyable. What I would come to learn however is the spin-off SMT Persona franchise would supercede its original series just as SMT had surpassed its book origins. What a weird franchise.

2016 - Resident Evil Revelations, Liberation Maiden, Gunman Clive 1 + 2, and 10-in-1 Arcade Collection - All of these were downloaded titles, like SMTIV, though only the latter 4 remain on my 3DS today. RE: Revelations is a triumph of showcasing the 3DS DOES have some power to it. Nothing felt lacking in frames or lagged whilst everything felt smooth enough to control. The graphics were just condensed enough not to become messes and honestly can't believe how impressive this all looks and plays throughout. Not the best of the series of course but for a handheld game? A classic. As for Liberation Maiden? I think it's a decent shooter and will usually try to support Suda51's projects. Gunman Clive oh man these games...they appear very basic platforming but the appeal is strong for such a budget title. It punches up much like the 3DS does as a device. Play them. 10-in-1 is really just me timewasting once again. Remember - handheld means portable means play for a small amount. I think people have forgotten a lot of games are made to be played for short durations not become life experiences. Speaking of which...

2016 - Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate - 400 hours. A rite of passage, this game was where I wholly embraced the appeal of the 3DS whilst, upon reflection, seeing just how limited it really was. The screen size and 240p resolution with the awkward inputs should of made such a daunting adventure untennable and yet without my playing of this I would not have gone onto Monster Hunter World which is documented on my twitter page from the start of 2018 to the end of 2020 (see the tallied monster hunted here on https://dreadwhoop.tumblr.com/post/640340823013277696/final-tally-large-monsters-hunted-in-monster and https://dreadwhoop.tumblr.com/post/640341124128669696/final-tally-large-monsters-hunted-in-monster if you like). It's all connected. The most important thing to remember - I soloed EVERYTHING, learnt it all without any help, and would of been capable of soloing Gogmazios too had it not been for the timer. I still beat it once going online of course.

2016/2017 - Pokemon Moon - Not something I am particularly fond of remembering because I documented me playing this game under a ruleset called "Super Torment" as a means of surpassing Nuzlocke Mode. I succeeded but felt it was too insidious to appeal to the masses. If you want to read my suffering please start at https://dreadwhoop.tumblr.com/post/155884160008/super-torment-mode-diary-prologue-day-1-recap

2017 - SMTIVA - You can find my review of this here https://dreadwhoop.tumblr.com/post/164496947038/how-about-another-review-shin-megami-tensei-iv

I will always love you Danu & Nozomi.

Part 3 - The Latter Years (2018-2022)

Everything from this point I will talk about in terms of games played didn't come out until after the start of 2017. Many have considered the 3DS's demise over a number of years - the 2017 launch of the Switch, the eShop's impending discontinuation, and other factors like Mobile Phones being now more powerful, VR and streaming becoming more realised and popular, and the Battle Royale genre becoming a major grab for large and new audiences...but it's for me the Steam Deck which signalled the final death knell.

The Steam Deck is, and will forever be, a superior choice to the 3DS. Is it more expensive? Of course! But going back to the early days, Nintendo needed to price drop and cost cut to ensure the 3DS's success. The success of the Steam Deck doesn't require such things because you have choices and, more importantly, it is able to tap into those markets Nintendo simply cannot. The 3DS lacks the power to compete in today's market and yet it's still the best option if you are strapped for cash. What was once an underdog story with a happy end, the 3DS is now part of a bygone age we may never see again if people continue to embrace current trends.

The future of Nintendo is in the Switch but what then? The OLED Switch is just a plaster on a very real bleeding out of a company who no longer seem capable of sustaining against financial titans like Microsoft or even investor groups like Tencent. Is it even possible Nintendo can innovate long enough to outlast even Sony? Possibly. All I can say is, as a Switch owner, I want them to succeed with innovation rather than having to sell out or be bought out. Maybe the time has come for them to consider a GameBoy Classic.

2018 - Ultra Sun - The ironic thing is, despite 3/4 of this game being a literal rehash of the original Sun/Moon games, I was in a unique position to enjoy it fresh. Not just because this time I didn't have to subject myself to stupid 'hard mode' rules but also because where I was at the time had no PC or Console access so this meant the convenience of its size and mobility meant I could enjoy this completely. I got to say the last 1/4 is very good to get to so for fans who never picked up the original Gen 7 releases this is a must.

2020 - Culdcept Revolt - After playing Super Smash Bros Ultimate I saw these characters represented from a series and thought 'huh this game feels obscure' and, whilst my 3DS was beginning to gather dust, I felt acquiring this game wouldn't be too difficult and was in fact cheap. What's it about? Well it's sort of classic fantasy with monsters but you go around a 'monopoly' board or some configuration of a track and as you land on spots you prop up those creatures. Honestly beyond this I want to say it gets really deep with details and the depth shocked me as did the OVERWHELMING ABOUT OF HOURS. Seriously you will underestimate just how tricky, puzzling, and overall rewarding it is to immerse in an obscure card game like this. A really strange result for me. Won't go back but glad I played it to the end. Wish I had got the book though! Yes I completed the universe. Yes I know who Pamela is.

2021 - Monster Hunter Stories - After my long experience with MHW, I opted not to play Rise in favor of this - and I felt happy by the choice. Rock-paper-scissors mechanic aside, it really was about time a game made the monsters themselves playable instead of just the hunters. I hope future mainline MH titles include this feature. A lot of classic monsters here. It felt refreshing.

2022 - Ever Oasis - Our swan song experience. If you think this game is just another management game like Animal Crossing mixed with Zelda elements then I fear you've misidentified this game. It is a game where you build an Oasis, gain residents, go out on adventures to get materials for your residents to make shops, maintain their inventory, and sell so you can then buy better investments whilst their happiness directly ties to your health but also they can also adventure with you along with other races specialised for such a task - some residents having unique abilities you need to progress or find the majority of content. As you grow your Oasis you get a large garden, expeditions, visual changes to the presentation of your Oasis, all whilst a story is happening to level you up, craft better items, and enjoy the 3D world connected from your Oasis to the far corners. The post-game was...rough, admittedly, but the festivals and my sister's joy seeing every Bloom Booth maxed out, every decoration, every road, and every recreational building, meant I could say this was one of the best ever made. Oh and I got the Goddess Factum Relic.

Part 4 - The Future

As I write this now, in August 2022, my 3DS has aged more than just from a historical standpoint - it is literally worn out and whilst these issues didn't impact the majority of the games I played by 2021 the signs were showing and for Ever Oasis all of the ones below existed hence why it may well be my last 3DS game. Here are the issues:

* The piece in front of the right trigger has lost the outer casing and, whilst it was glued back on once, its fully gone now. This means the 'R' button is limited and sometimes gets 'stiff' which means it doesn't register inputs. * The charger's wire port got corroded so it meant having to buy one outside of the included boxed one. Weird issue but there you go. Thankfully the actual port on the 3DS remains safe. * The battery has become semi-inert as in it only remains charged from full to depleted within around 20 minutes. This means I have to have it plugged in at all times to use it properly. * The analogue stick has become prone to lift off its base and stick to your left thumb upon consisent use. Not a huge issue - just plop it back on its base - but it's still a minor issue especially if you need to do some vital roll or something in a sequence. * The stylus pen...is still there! Yep I never lost it but I should probably mention it never got much use because later games tended to see it as a relic. Same with the '3D' features. See battery usage as to if I'd even risk turning it on so the actual 3DS's main selling factor is now redundant. * Finally, as if all those issues still seem managable, the touch screen's markings are starting to show up a little more than I want. The screen is still fine but it's definately been tapped a lot.

It's been loved.

In conclusion, the 3DS gave me a lot of wonderful memories. I can't really say this is the end because part of me may one day pick up one of those 3DS titles I never got to play and maybe give the thing one more shot at life. However, as it is with many things, one has to learn moving on means letting go and I want to embrace the new. I think in a world where the life of games are uncertain I'm happy I've still got this library of games so, even if they aren't new, they're still fun.

The games are fun.

[feheroestips]

Anyway on a real serious note which I’ve tried alluding to before with heroes, an in itself this is a really big tip, but when it comes to ivs, please stop asking yourself “Are they Salvageable?” or "Are they trash?” because by doing that your think negatively when you should be happy you got the character you wanted!!!! 

Please don’t trash your Hector because oh he’s -def or Sack off that PA Azura because she’s -spd, they are still valuable units!!!! It actually pains me to see people get upset when they find the unit doesn’t have the best idea, its okay to complain about it, but please keep your head up high! I know there’s a stigma in some groups were its perfect ivs or else ‘you shouldn’t even use the character then lol”

Who cares if they’re minus attack, speed defence etc, you have them!!!! While 3 or 4 points can make a difference, its not the end of the world, for example due to the 8% banner I’ve been asked is -atk Sanaki trash? Should I fodder her for triangle adept? and if you look at her stats she goes from what 37 attack to 34. 34 is still insane, for reference that’s more attack than Brave Lyn at base.

If you’re still struggling to grasp what I mean, for any fire emblem fan out there whose played pokemon right now, you still beat the game right? Even though the pokemon you caught had ivs on a much worse scale than what heroes offers including natures too? Its the same with heroes, sure there’s optimal ivs but even negative ones are still usable.

When I, or any other site makes a set it’s always suggest ivs, in a ideal world, its not mandatory sure ivs might incline you to another set but that choice is up to you. I’m not saying Make your +def Delthea into a Tank but she can work fine either with or without good ivs. Sure if it’s a 3 or 4 star its a lot easier to get the ivs you want, which hey is a really big boon on 4 stars and means its easier to hunt but please don’t spend all your money for one good iv one, unless you are willing to dish out the cash or you can’t have it any other way.

For anyone who follows my blog, or my personal you know my +10 Lukas I worked so hard for is savage, able to solo things like tempest trials and you know what? he’s +spd -hp. What’s considered bad by a lot of people ( I won’t get into why I keep those ivs here that’s another story). The moral here is ivs as important as they seem they are, are really not.

I’ll leave you in the words of L’Archel;

"Rather than lament what you do not possess, you should treasure what you do."

[sorcererniles]

Get to know meme

i was tagged by @punchanten,(it took a while i forgot >o<)

RULES: Answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs (you know, if you can) you’d like to get to know better.

-

NICKNAME(S): Eevee, Ever since Highschool its been Eevee

GENDER: Guy

SIGN: Capricorn 

HEIGHT: 5′7″ - 5′9″ idk, i’m around there

TIME:  7:19PM as of this question

FAVORITE BANDS: Do I have one?

FAVORITE SOLO ARTIST: Um...gonna go with idk

SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD: The Final Song from Drakengard 3 (cover version by Milky)

LAST MOVIE I SAW: Infinity War with the family

LAST SHOW I WATCHED: Criminal Minds with mother

WHEN DID I CREATE MY BLOG: Hell if i know, just know I deleted an old one to make this one

WHAT DO I POST?: Random FE stuff and reblog some funny text posts and memes. Love fan art too.

LAST THING I GOOGLED: 

(yes it is pr0n related)

DO I HAVE ANY OTHER BLOGS?: Yeah a NSFW one i don’t go on anymore. tbf all the NSFW stuff are on my likes (hence why i have them privated)

WHY DID I CHOOSE MY URL?: Okay so it use to be ElementalEevee because of Elemental Master in Elsword being my main and Eevee being my fav pokemon, but since i have very little elsword or pokemon on my blog (which i should fix in the case of pokemon) I changed it to SorcererNiles Since my Niles nuked a conquest run as a sorcerer lol

FOLLOWING: 170 (I though it was less holy f...)

FOLLOWED BY: 306 (HOW DO I HAVE SO MANY)

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP?: Around 5-9 hours

LUCKY NUMBER: 7!

INSTRUMENTS: I don’t play any but the Piano and Violin are my favs, they sound so beautiful.

WHAT AM I WEARING?: White shirt, Cookie monster pajama pants and some socks. Aka basic pajama wear lol

DREAM TRIP: Oh my where to begin, Paris seems nice, Hawaii and Canada, Maybe Tokyo too.

FAV FOOD: Pizza! I will never get tired of it at all.

NATIONALITY: American, Hispanic (but cant speak spanish to save my life lol)

FAVORITE SONG: Thats a thing?

LAST BOOK I READ: Green Eggs and Ham (to my Niece, that counts right?)

TOP 3 FICTIONAL UNIVERSES I WANT TO JOIN: I have too many to just pick three. Pokemon, Fire Emblem Avatar the last air bender, are some examples in no particular order. 

Who to tag who to tag...hmm... @that-one-theatre-ghost @lordknightmon oceanicdancer @gaming-rainbow @rainripplesdailythoughts @hero-soleil @sidekickbootyshorts @thirsty4vidyagem @luminous-umbra @rache1card @queenevaine @anonymusaxolotl @djkalis @djingorango uh...um...i think thats it...Note you dont have to do it if you dont wanna.

[anglosurfmops]

My E3 Wishlist / Hype Post

I don’t always show it on this tumblr, but I am an avid gamer and Nintendo addict. Here’s a post / text splurge about what I want to see at E3.

NINTENDO STUFF

I love my Nintendo Switch. It’s an incredible piece of hardware and I’ve already got a dozen games on it. While 3DS will likely have some presence (especially in the Treehouse streams), I want the vast majority of E3 to concentrate on this new platform

Stuff we know about and will see (again) Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild DLC details - at the very least, we’ll get some brief footage and a date. I’m half-expecting them to say “you can download it RIGHT THE HECK NOW!” because that’s a great way to get people excited for an amazing game again.

Super Mario Odyssey - pretty much the only title that can challenge BotW for game of the year in my eyes. The first trailer was mind-blowing, seeing long-form gameplay footage is going to be even more of that.

Fire Emblem Warriors - Hyrule Warriors was a surprisingly fun game to play. Will a follow-up with a far-less-nostalgic IP be as good? We’ll find out.

Xenoblade 2 - the rumour mill is saying this game has been pushed back into the beginning of 2018 and that would not surprise me at all. What would surprise me is not seeing gameplay footage of this game.

Pokemon follow-up stuff - the recent Direct announcing Pokken Switch and Ultra Sun/Moon seemed custom-made to remove the need for Pokemon things in the E3 Direct, but we’ll still definitely have Treehouse segments for all things Pokemon, and the new 3DS sequels will be the cornerstone of any dedicated 3DS segment / montage in the Direct itself.

Mario Rabbids game - yeah, I’m as shocked this is actually real as you probably are. I don’t anticipate a big focus in Nintendo’s stream, since Ubisoft will have presumably already covered this themselves earlier. Also, Rayman cameo please?

Sonic Forces / Mania - Sega doesn’t have a major place to make announcements at most E3s, so if they were going to do a reveal of something special, they’d probably join up with Nintendo. I’d put money on some Nintendo-specific items for the Sonic Forces character creator (Mario hat, etc).

Surprises that seem likely Animal Crossing Switch - it’s been four years since the last proper Animal Crossing game and, at this point in Nintendo’s history, it’s pretty much their third pillar franchise after Mario and Zelda. Or maybe I just think that because it’s my favourite series in all of gaming. Nintendo put a heck of a lot of effort into their terrible Mario Party spin-off on Wii U, which makes me think a lot of the modelling and early design work for a proper Wii U sequel was already done before it got moved to Switch. Also, there’s a mobile app coming in early 2018, and tying that into a proper Switch entry makes sense to me. (I already use a phone app to track my New Leaf progress)

A proper Metroid sequel - there will be much gnashing of teeth if this game isn’t at least confirmed to be in development. If Nintendo value their hardcore crowd’s feelings at least a little bit, they should show something.

Super Smash Bros for Switch - just a straight-up Deluxe version of the Wii U edition, like with Mario Kart 8. Add the Inklings, Ice Climbers, all the DLC and a handful of other new things. Print money.

Virtual Console confirmations - maybe not in the main video, but Reggie is going to give some kind of firm answer on the lack or appearance of a VC service for Switch. 

Surprises that will probably never happen An exclusive Platinum Games announcement - Maybe it’s Bayonetta 3, maybe it’s Wonderful 102, maybe it’s something totally different. But Nintendo had a great relationship with Platinum last generation, and I want to see what they can do with the Switch.

F-Zero Switch - the Switch already has a great selection of fast anti-grav racing games, including Mario Kart 200c mode, but nothing beats the original.

GameCube games on the VC - do I think that we’ll see some more GameCube era remasters on Switch at some point? Probably, yes. Will we get a wide selection of GameCube games available to download on a regular basis? Probably not.

EVERYBODY ELSE

I play a fair amount of PC games and I do own a PS4, even though I barely play the latter any more. Still, I’m definitely keeping an eye out for the following:

More classic PlayStation - Ratchet and Clank was okay, the recent Wipeout collection is great and the Crash Trilogy is my most anticipated PS4 release right now. If they announce remakes (or proper sequels) to Spyro or the original PS1 Ape Escape, I might die of a nostalgia overload.

Steven Universe: Save The Light - this game looks incredible. Please announce it for Switch!

Star Wars Battlefront II - the PS2 originals were the basis of my entire relationship with my younger brother (okay, not true - but we drove our mum crazy with its cries of “losing command posts”). I outright hated the beta for the reboot and never bought it. I’m hoping for full local multiplayer, stronger single-player content and just an all-around more fun game.

Spider-Man - the PS2 version of Spider-Man 2 is still among my favourite games of all time. Insomniac have the skills to make this a great game.

God of War - I’ll admit, the God of War games were something of a guilty pleasure at the end of my teens. This looks to be going a more grounded route, which may pay off or might totally ruin the indulgence factor. We’ll find out!

State of Decay 2 - the first State of Decay, though buggy as hell on my PC, was a really fun and unique zombie action-survival game. A full new-generation upgrade could make this a genre-leader.

Cuphead - JUST RELEASE THE DAMN GAME ALREADY.

There’s probably a bunch of games I’m forgetting, but these are the titles weighing heaviest on my mind as E3 is about to begin. What games are you looking forward to?

[echoeternally]

its okay im only asking for these ones :). Jk 2 5 6 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Geez, that’s a lot. Well, 9, 12, 14, 26, & 26 were already answered in previous posts, so I’m skipping those. The rest? Uh…here goes.

2. Is there a ship you didn’t like at first but ultimately started shipping?

Hmm. Um. I guess Alex/Maggie of Supergirl. At first, I liked it better when Maggie rejected Alex, and thought they could go in a better direction for them after Alex came out, but was then rejected. And I still believe that. But, it’s a canon lesbian pairing, and they’re cute, so sure.

5. What is your most fluffy + happy ship?

…Nothing is. I have fluffy and happy moments that I enjoy and love, but ultimately, I don’t think that I have any pairings that started or will remain that purely happy at any time. Which leads to…

6. What is your most angsty ship?

Everything, probably. All of my ships are full of angst. My more known pairings that I support are gay, so easy gayngst right there. And then otherwise, I just like adding drama and struggles in for everyone. Because torture is good.

10. Is there a ship that makes your skin crawl?

Uh, not particularly. Like, you kind of have to reach for stuff that I wouldn’t think works, which most people either wouldn’t think of, or care about themselves.

For example, if anyone seriously shipped something like Fox/Pigma, kudos to you for going the distance on something so hideous and loving it, but goodness, that’s probably my limit.

Also, I guess stuff involving characters that are underage, but do nothing to age them up. Like, if Bowser Jr. is suddenly in an AU fanfic where he’s in his 20s and courting Peach’s daughter or something, ok, sure. But, if Bowser Jr. is paired straight up with Peach, as a child with an adult? Yuck.

11. What is a character you can only imagine in one particular ship?

The struggles of being a multi-shipper include that you’re typically good at pairing off characters and don’t need them to stay in their ships. Continuing on Star Fox’s examples, I guess, I’d pass Fox around to basically anyone else in the series that I think somehow works.

It’s pretty easy when characters aren’t defined enough, or if you’re not close-minded to headcanons like, “Fire Emblem’s Inigo/Laslow likes all the ladies, but would totally get with guys too, when he’s practiced enough.”

15. What is the first ship you had?

Isn’t this just a repeat of that “oldest ship” question? Whatever, I guess something basic. Mario/Peach, out of sheer laziness, because I liked them together as a couple a while ago, like around when the first games came out. I’ve paired them off since, and I did fall out of it at some point probably, but I don’t know, they’re a nice pair overall.

16. Is there a ship that made you realize something about yourself?

…As in…? I mean, I’ve realized that I love writing lots of pairings? And that I like cute, tender moments, amidst all kinds of hard, turbulent trials? Writing hero/villain things makes me realize how to be kinder to those that we don’t immediately understand? I don’t know, one of those should answer this.

17. Is there a type of ship you always go for?

Nerd/Jock or Popular/Shy have become my go-to pairs, especially gay ones, because yes.

Usual stereotypes in stories include some bigger, muscle dude in a bitter relationship/rivalry with a smaller, smarter guy, or otherwise a quiet, lonely girl that struggles to standout against a loud, popular girl.

So, whenever that happens and when I’m not rolling my eyes from it, I’m like, “But what if they secretly had crushes on each other instead?” And honestly, that’s so much more satisfying, like I can’t even begin.

18. Is there a ship the writers have ruined for you?

Oliver/Felicity, no contest. I think I still have it as a couple that I like, but the longer that Arrow goes on for, the more that I don’t like them together anymore.

It was a cute idea, it could have made for a cute endgame or fun one-off idea. But the writers of the show twisted it so hard to work throughout Season 4 and at moments in Season 3 and Season 5 that I literally can’t stand it.

When it gets to the point where Felicity gets a scene to punch not-Laurel, basically feeding into shipping war fans and siding with one over the other, that’s my limit. Shipping wars happen, but it’s best when writers and stories don’t go out of their way to side with one; you pick one to be canon in the end, not give them ammo to be jerks to other fans with.

19. Is there a ship the fandom has ruined for you?

Let’s stray from the above, because I barely touched into the Arrow fandom once to see Olicity shippers, and goodness, I don’t need to go back.

Hmm. I don’t think any Steven Universe ships have been ruined for me yet, but I feel a lot less comfortable supporting them like I used to. An official artist was chased off of Twitter by Amedot (Amethyst/Peridot) fans, and that was a pairing that I totally supported before I learned about that happening.

Outside of that, it’s not so much that ships get ruined as much as they grow stale to me. Keeping it with SU, I’ve grown very weary of Ruby/Sapphire. It’s like, the series has content that could go for any Gem pair-ups, but because they’re the canon lesbians, they win all kinds of cute and lovely fan art.

Like, I love them, but it’s exhausting to see and go, “Oh. Another fan art of Ruby and Sapphire being gay. How original.” It’s especially weird because they’re not main cast individually (Garnet is), so…yeah.

22. Is there a ship you’ll never admit you have?

Probably, I’m sure. By answering it specifically, that means that I’m admitting to it, right? So, good, I don’t have to think, lol.

24. What is one scene you want to see happen for all your ships?

Well, who wouldn’t want to see their OTPs get married? Isn’t that like the most obvious…really, why is that a question?

25. Is there a ship you wish you didn’t know existed? 

I guess not really. There are ships that gross me out. There are ships that bore me. There are ships that have fans that turn me off of them. But I don’t think there’s anything that I wish I didn’t know about. Otherwise, that would make me feel ignorant upon learning it, or I’d be missing out on some drama.

28. Is there a character you have several ships for?

Gosh, I really need to make it clearer that I’m a multi-shipper. Yes, I can ship multiple characters in multiple ways.

Mario, Peach, and Bowser are all in one love-triangle. I can pair that one off in any way, if not pairing all three of them off together. I don’t care.

Just because I would fight to have Machamp and Alakazam as a couple being a thing and actively encourage people to follow them, they’re not exclusive, and I could see either with other Pokemon.

I started Arrow and thought that the moments between Oliver and Diggle should have become romantic. Some episodes still make me think they should’ve been a couple.

Steven Universe has no “perfect” canon pairing outside of Ruby/Sapphire, and therefore everyone is open game. Do I like Pearl/Rose more than Greg/Rose? Some days. Sometimes Pearl seems better with Amethyst. Or Lapis. Or Peridot.

Every character I come across has a relationship with other characters that, if they have enough development, could be seen in a romantic light. Therefore, I like the idea of any of those.

29. What is the ship you ignore 98% of canon for?

Well, I guess that’s anything Pokemon, because Trainers are always needed, but I usually say, “screw them, go monsters.”

If it means anything with enough plot, then I guess nothing. I don’t really ignore canon, and like to work with it when possible.

If this means for confirmed canon ships, I usually acknowledge canon relationships, especially if it’s beaten to death with confirmation. It doesn’t mean that I’ll automatically like it, but I won’t pretend that it doesn’t exist.

30. Is there a ship you like but you dislike the fandom?

I think Steven Universe is the go-to for that. It’s most definitely not the entire fandom, but I’ve heard my fair share of stories.

Like in the above posts, I like many ships, and I like pairing off characters in Steven Universe any which way that I can. If anyone is looking to tell me, “No, you can’t do that, it’s not canon,” or, “No, you can’t do that, because this one’s better,” then that’s not ok.

The SU fandom is full of that kind of attitude, and the whole “shipping wars” type of attitude. I don’t approve of shipping wars, period. I like comparing and contrasting ships. I like that everyone has different opinions about pairings.

I like civil conversations on them, and people understanding differences and respecting different approaches to pairs. Even things that I’ve talked against, such as the earlier mentioned Fox/Pigma, I wouldn’t outright hate someone over. Like, do you really ship them together? Ok, cool.

There are all kinds of different flavors out there to try. Some you like, some you won’t. You shouldn’t be close-minded to that, and you shouldn’t hate someone for having a different taste from yours.

If the fandom thrives on debate topics that involve insults and rabid hatred of one another, that’s not worth the time or energy. It’s that simple.

There. Done. I feel like I completed the ask meme already, goodness.