Kingdom Hearts III NEEDS A Goofy Movie World (Part 3)

Would it be too untoward of me to use the meme of the month…okay, last month…ish…to summarize the mission of this series of posts as well as artificially generate hype through an easily-repeatable phrase?  Yes, inevitably.  On the other hand, it’s still pretty funny.  So let’s go once more.

Kingdom Hearts III.

A Goofy Movie.

CAN’T ESCAPE FROM CROSSING FATE

Kingdom Hearts III NEEDS A Goofy Movie World (Part 2)

Akihiko, you wanna take this one?

*hurriedly links to relevant video*

Ah, yes.  That’ll do.

It's been a while since the first post on the subject, so let’s not delay any longer.  I don’t expect there to be a world based on A Goofy Movie in Kingdom Hearts III, even if it gave Squeenix the “justification” to pack in some extra DLC.  So barring some miracle shot out of a cannon from Mount Olympus, getting that world is nothing but a fever dream.  But since we’re dealing with hypotheticals, the question remains: how do you do it?  How do you squeeze that world in?

Luckily, I have an answer.  Here’s how I would handle it if someone was brave enough…crazy enough…?  Well, something enough to toss me the keys.  Let’s get in there.

Shower Thoughts with RWBY (Part 4)

All aboard the RWBY Volume 4 Headcanon Express!

…I would make a longer and more meandering intro, but given that this thing has reached Part 4, I think it’d be best if I speed things up and not drag my feet.  Alternatively, maybe I should hire a full-time editor to shadow my every move (and word) so I can make stuff that’s actually a manageable length.

Then again, if I did that, then I’d have less money for muffins.  Can’t have that.  So let’s get crackin’.

Shower Thoughts with RWBY (Part 3)

It was pretty much a given, but RWBY Volume 5 is officially in the works.

The voice actors are (as far as I know) in the middle of recording their lines, and assuming that everything goes well?  We’ll be seeing the next chapter of the story sometime in the fall of 2017.  That’s not too far from now, as of this post -- less than half a year, if we assume that Rooster Teeth is shooting for an episode drop on the Autumnal Equinox.  They probably aren’t, but that’s still a pretty short amount of time.  So before you know it, we’ll know where the crew plans to take the story -- not just the plot, but the development, the setup, the payoff, and the authorial intent. 

It’ll be interesting to see what they do in response to the fans.  I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have two fingers pressed deep into the pulse of the fandom, but I’d imagine that there are those who like Volume 4’s treatment, and those who resent it.  Whose voice will ring out louder?  Who will Rooster Teeth listen to?  Or will they ignore both camps so they can blaze their own trail?  Course correction is always a possibility, but even if they don’t go to that extreme, Volume 5 will 100% cement whatever style and direction the crew is going to head down.  So for that reason alone, I’m interested in seeing more.

Until then?  Let’s get back to the headcanon action.  I started with Yang and Blake last time, so let’s finish their story off and move on.

Shower Thoughts with RWBY (Part 2)

So what’s your take on headcanon?

I know that there’s a certain level of futility to it.  After all, I gave Street Fighter V the headcanon treatment before its story mode made the rounds.  There were enough clues to make guesses on where the upcoming A Shadow Falls would go narratively, and so I made those guesses -- about Necalli, about the nature of the Dark Hadou, and more.  Then the actual story came out, and…uh…I don’t want to talk about how wrong I was.

Fans and fandoms are powerful, but they’re nothing in the face of the actual content creators.  That’s probably a good thing in some cases, because A) you have to respect the creative vision of the guys and ladies in charge, and B) giving power to fans who don’t always know better can lead to….well, let’s call it “misfortune” and leave it at that.  The reverse is true, of course; fans can and do create stuff that makes the pros look like amateurs.  But as long as they’re on the bottom rung, they’re doomed to have their best work and razor-sharp skills languish in obscurity.  Why bother with it, then?

Easy.  Because it’s fun.  It’s fun to come up with different takes on a story, especially when it’s something you really care about.  So let’s get ready to have a ball with an alternate, hypothetical take on RWBY and its 4^th volume.  More specifically: let’s start with Yang and work backwards.

Shower Thoughts with RWBY (Part 1)

Oh, I’m sorry.  Did you think it was over?  Did you think we were done?  Nah, son.  It ain’t over till it’s over.  Wind that clock back.

In any case, RWBY.  I put up a post a while back that went into Volume 4, and my less-than-ideal reaction to it.  I don’t think it’s a “season” that breaks the show beyond repair, but I do feel as if it’s the weakest offering yet.  It’s a shame I have to be so negative towards a show I genuinely like, but here we are.  And here I am, specifically.  See, when I was thinking about the post, I had more things planned than just taking a steaming dump all over Rooster Teeth’s 3D anime.  But in typical Voltech fashion, that post ended up reaching the 4000-word mark, and there wasn’t much room for anything else.  Like the positive stuff.

Here’s the thing: I’ve said on multiple occasions, and in multiple posts, that I want to be a writing hero -- a storyteller whose works can put smiles on the faces of others.  It’s a lofty goal, for sure, and one that can only be reached with sufficient amounts of training and skill.  Pumping iron or running laps aren’t what’ll make me a better writer, though; mental effort will.  And to that end, confronting RWBY presents me with a unique opportunity.  If I want to be a great writer, then I need to be able to provide possible alternatives instead of saying “THIS THING SUCKS” and moving on.  How would you fix it?  How would you do better?  And so on, and so forth.

So that’s what I’m going to do…eventually.  But first, there’s a question that’s been on my mind: are the characters in RWBY going to turn into Grimm?

Let’s discuss Street Fighter V: A Shadow Falls (Part 1).

Whew.  It’s been a while, but here we are again with Street Fighter 5 -- almost half a year after its initial release, as of writing.

You know, it’s funny.  A year ago I did a post aimed at trying to predict what sort of content Street Fighter 5 would have in its story mode -- the place of the Dark Hadou, the presence of Necalli, et cetera, et cetera.  And it served as a stark reminder that, yes, I write stuff on the internet.  That’s kind of a given since I have a blog, but I doubled down by uploading that post to Destructoid -- which led to it being shared on Reddit, which led to it popping up on EventHubs, of all places.  (Or it could’ve hit EventHubs first, and then went to Reddit.  God only knows.)  It’s always heartwarming to know that people have the chance to watch me make an idiot out of myself.  Like, c’mon, man.  Using the wiki as a “credible” source?  Get on the level, bro.

  

Street Fighter V: Headcanon Edition

Not to play armchair manager, but there’s a part of me that feels like it’s wrong for Daigo “The Beast” Umehara to play anyone but Ryu.  I’m not about to go doubting his skills or anything -- even if he was in a coma, the guy could play Street Fighter better than I ever could -- but you’d think that a guy who put so much into the franchise as well as embodies the tireless wanderer would have found his soul mate.  But in his recent EVO showings, he’s picked guys like Yun and Evil Ryu.  And I’m pretty much left saying “Is this it?  Has Daigo been corrupted by the power of the Dark Hadou?”

Well, it’s not like he’s turned evil in real life (or has he?!), so he’s free to do as he pleases.  But still, the allure of the character is just too great in Street Fighter IV’s latest -- and probably final -- iteration.  His damage output is incredible, he has nearly all of the tools Ryu has (and then some), and it only takes one hit for him to get started, i.e. melt an enemy’s life bar down to zero.  It’s almost poetic that one EVO had Daigo and his Evil Ryu beaten by John Choi and his normal Ryu, but that didn’t stop The Beast from sticking with the Dark Hadou.

So now I have to wonder: once Street Fighter IV gets phased out and the sequel gains traction, what does that mean for what’s ostensibly the most heinous power in the canon?  Frankly, I’m hoping for a lot.