u/silverdragonwolf

So, to my understanding, Kobold lore has some issues. Personally, I think their design has some things that need addressing as well, but ironically, both can be dealt with using the same thing. To my understanding, Kobold lore is fragmentary at best, or, at worst, conflicting, unconfirmed rumors masquerading as facts. All we know for sure about Kobolds is that they are giant humanoid rats and have an obsession with candles.

But what if the classic Kobolds we are familiar with in Warcraft are not the originals? What if they're a corrupted splinter faction from the original Kobolds? Kobolds who have a design so different from the classic version that when known races of Azeroth meet them, they actually have some sort of cognitive disconnect upon hearing the species introduce itself as a people.

To be clear, this is more lore theory than anything picked up with context clues; see the line above about lore issues with Kobolds in Warcraft.

We know Warcraft has Gnolls, some of the early Human and Forsaken quests/missions involve fighting Gnolls. I'm not really sure on the lore regarding Gnolls in Azeroth. What I do know is that in quite a few settings like Warcraft have Gnolls be a result of demonic corruption of Spotted Hyenas (also known as "Laughing Hyenas"). What's funny is that we can actually use Spotted Hyena as a foundation or template of Gnoll society. Before we go further I feel the need to mention the lack of noticeable female models for the Gnolls; yes, this is important for later.

Okay, first: Spotted Hyenas are aggressively matriarchal; how so? The lowest-ranked female is ranked higher than the highest-ranked male; take a moment to really think about that for a bit.

Second: female Spotted Hyenas have an anatomical feature that made early African peoples have lore about how these hyenas shift genders whenever they want (I would use the proper term here, but I'm worried about my choice of terminology getting me in trouble with the mods, so I won't use it here and just leave it to your own independent research).

Third: Research on teaching learned behavior that involved Spotted Hyenas actually showed they are able to teach learned behavior to other members of the group better than any other creature, including apes, they scored better on teaching learned behavior than several apes used those same studies.

Four: Spotted Hyenas have jaws able to literally crush bones, and they regularly make them part of their diet. Of the 4 living Hyena species, 3 are in the Bonecrusher group, and Spotted Hyenas are in that grouping, and they are the largest living hyenas.

There's more I could say, but I'll leave it here.

Indonesia has quite a few different Catfish species. And the only Catfish Pokemon we have is Wishcast. I think it could be fun to see convergent Catfish lines based on the Meowth and Skitty lines, more Skitty than Meowth, since Meowth has gotten multiple regional variants already. That said, it could be fun to see a whole new line of Catfish Pokémon in the region as well, preferably a different type combo from what Wishcast has going.

How do you think it could play out?

To be clear, I’m not suggesting Krabby get a new evolution that replaces Kingler. Also, Krabby and Kingler need something to bring them to the forefront for a bit. Personally, I think it could be interesting to add another evolution stage; last I checked, Mega Kingler isn’t a thing yet. That said, I think it could be fun to see Krabby get a new split evolution, with Kingler going to the Male Krabby while the new evolution goes to the female Krabby. Now that I think about it a bit more, Kingler doesn't really need an extra stage in the line; it just needs a few buffs to make it more competitively viable. That could mean some stat boosts, a new ability, some new moves, or some mix of the three. Giving Krabby a new female evolution could be fun to see, and if they make it a slightly different typing, that could bring it into a new niche. I've been throwing around the idea that Krabby could get a new evolution based on the Giant Mud Crab for a while now, and making the female evolution based on that, along with a Water/Ground typing, could allow it to occupy a different sort of niche than base Kingler.

But that's all my thoughts on the subject; what do you have to say about any of it?

With Chaotic’s return confirmed for just a month from now, I thought it would be a good idea to discuss some things that are hopefully in the plans for the future of the franchise.

First up, I’ve been hearing a few rumors that a “Scanner app” for mobile devices is planned or in the works, but we realistically won’t see it pop up until maybe 2027 or 2028. And to me, this makes sense; of course, they would want to have a mobile portal where you can play the game on the go and input your card codes regardless of where you are, maybe even have a feature where you can "port to Perim" to search around for digital scans; but realistically, I think experiencing Chaotic and Perim like characters from the show might be more of a computer- and console-formatted game. But a new game for consoles and computers is probably best left for its own separate discussion.

As for the television series, I heard Bryan Gannon is seeing if he can find a way to continue the original animated series with a new season, which I think is a great idea for the nostalgia players keeping the currently existing game alive however they can who might need that final resolution to dangling storylines from the classic animated series, maybe even with the introduction of a new member to the main cast that is a M’arrillian player (which could bring quite a bit of issues for quite a few established characters in the series). But chances are the earliest we could see that is 2028, maybe late 2027. That all said, I think the most likely outcome with the animated series wouldn’t be a revival like the card game itself, which will hopefully have adjustments to some of the creatures to bring them more in line with their established lore and what has been seen in the classic animated series, but instead a full reboot of the animated series. All the main cast could be there for the much-desired hit of nostalgia, along with some new faces to introduce us to this new iteration of Chaotic. And going that route, I still see a similar timeline for the rollout of the animated series.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to getting Chaotic again.

Back in the day, the original Pokémon anime had what English dub fans call the “Orange Islands Arc,” and it had a few memorable moments. One of those was an entire episode where Ash and his companions aided a Glassmaker who was on a quest to find the mysterious “Crystal Onix” that the Glassmaker’s grandfather and mentor in the art had encountered, which allowed him to figure out how to make glass figurines of Pokémon appear a bit more lifelike by the way they shone and sparkled in the light. Here’s the part that matters for all of this: when they finally found the “Crystal Onix,” it was in the water of a seaside cave; it showed a resistance or immunity to Water attacks but a vulnerability to Fire attacks when the Glassmaker used his charmelon, which he referred to as his “glassmaking partner,” to attack the Onix. Some people might interpret this moment in the anime as an incredibly early tease for Regional Variants or Convergent lines

So, what if what the original anime called the “Crystal Onix” was, in fact, a Regional Variant or Convergent from a place like the region for Winds and Waves (still no verifiable news on the name for the new region)? Do you think they would just make it a Regional Onix that dropped the Rock typing for Ice typing, or a Convergent line to Onix that is dominantly an Ice-type (Maybe Ice/Water typed) if they decided to add it to the roster for Winds and Waves? If it’s more the second case, rather than the first, what do you think convergent names used by the line would be?

I thought it would be to discuss the lore of CritCrab himself. I’ve occasionally thrown out joking suggestions that CritCrab is, in fact, a giant Eldritch creature sealed beneath the sea since ancient times, in the form of a crab, and that what we see in his videos is merely the avatar his consciousness and power resonate with. But if the Council of Crabs is in agreement about this for whatever reason, what other theories/lore suggestions do you wish to bring forward about CritCrab.

Also, if any of this made it into one of his videos, how do you think he would present it?

I thought it would be fun to discuss the lore of CritCrab himself. I’ve occasionally thrown out joking suggestions that CritCrab is, in fact, a giant Eldritch creature sealed beneath the sea since ancient times, in the form of a crab, and that what we see in his videos is merely the avatar his consciousness and power resonate with. But if the Council of Crabs is in agreement about this for whatever reason, what other theories/lore suggestions do you wish to bring forward about CritCrab?

Also, if any of this made it into one of his videos, how do you think he would present it?

What if We Got a Movie with Edna and her Work/Family Drama as a Spin-off? This started before Incredibles 2 first aired but was in its early trailer era for the public, at the time I just thought it would be a fun little bonus to see Edna with a new assistant in an Incredibles movie who is in fact her mildly sarcastic niece or nephew that got dumped on her by her estranged brother due to her sibling recognizing their child having a similar personality to Edna from their time growing up together and not wanting to deal with a deadpanning sarcastic teenager.

But now, I think it could be more interesting for Edna to get her own Spin-off from the main series, because I just think she’s one of the best parts of the Incredibles as a whole and genuinely would like to see her as the focus for a bit. And I still think the added bonus of having to deal with the child of an estranged sibling is that she can genuinely see the same potential she once had as both an annoying hindrance and a great opportunity, because Edna is that kind of thinker. And I honestly think that getting a chance to dip into Edna’s family drama could be fun to watch. While the main series focuses on the Pars and their journeys of self-development and discovery, seeing the brilliant designer of Superhero costumes and her family situations could be interesting to see.

And yes, I am implying that Edna has an irregular, or possibly dysfunctional, relationship with one or more members of her family, but it's mainly because I think that sort of family situation could inform us about some of her personality quirks. And I just think it would be fun to look at the superhero angle in the Incredibles universe from the perspective of the designer of those outfits.

Thoughts? Different angles you think they could take with this?

What if We Got a Movie with Edna and her Work/Family Drama as a Spin-off? This started before Incredibles 2 first aired but was in its early trailer era for the public, at the time I just thought it would be a fun little bonus to see Edna with a new assistant in an Incredibles movie who is in fact her mildly sarcastic niece or nephew that got dumped on her by her estranged brother due to her sibling recognizing their child having a similar personality to Edna from their time growing up together and not wanting to deal with a deadpanning sarcastic teenager.

But now, I think it could be more interesting for Edna to get her own Spin-off from the main series, because I just think she’s one of the best parts of the Incredibles as a whole and genuinely would like to see her as the focus for a bit. And I still think the added bonus of having to deal with the child of an estranged sibling is that she can genuinely see the same potential she once had as both an annoying hindrance and a great opportunity, because Edna is that kind of thinker. And I honestly think that getting a chance to dip into Edna’s family drama could be fun to watch. While the main series focuses on the Pars and their journeys of self-development and discovery, seeing the brilliant designer of Superhero costumes and her family situations could be interesting to see.

And yes, I am implying that Edna has an irregular, or possibly dysfunctional, relationship with one or more members of her family, but it's mainly because I think that sort of family situation could inform us about some of her personality quirks. And I just think it would be fun to look at the superhero angle in the Incredibles universe from the perspective of the designer of those outfits.

Thoughts? Different angles you think they could take with this?

Given that the only current confirmed Shark Pokémon are Sharpedo and the Garchomp line (which are Landsharks), Winds and Waves are a chance to introduce one or more new Shark Pokémon. And there are quite a few choices to choose from.

There are 3 species of Reef sharks in Indonesia: The Blacktip Reef Shark, the Whitetip Reef Shark, and the Gray Reef Shark.

There is also the Indonesian Whaler Shark- which actually doesn't seem to hunt whales and is more akin to a whale shark, because it is a species of shark called a Requiem shark

There are also a few unique reef-dwelling shark species to tap into:

The Bamboo Sharks- bottom-dwelling sharks that hunt for crustaceans and small fish in the sand on the floor of the reef

Wobbegong Sharks- which are a type of Carpet Shark, which means they have very flat bodies they use to aid in camouflaging themselves in the environment on the floor of the reef

Walking Sharks- a type of shark that uses its fins to "walk" along the reef's floor and coral flats

Any one of these families of sharks could make for some interesting new Pokémon to meet in the new region.

Since we saw Krabby in the reveal trailer but not Kingler, that could mean a few things. First, Kingler may have a regional form; second, Krabby may have a new regional evolution that looks noticeably different from Kingler and has its own distinct name; and third, it may be somewhere in between. Also, the line could go from two stages to three. Personally, I like the idea that Kingler is just getting a regional variant and a new evolution.

It could also be interesting, and a little fun, for the Kingler line to be a convergent line as well. Indonesia is home to one of the highest diversities of Squat Lobsters, which are Crab Mimics that inhabit coral reefs; their closest living relatives are Hermit Crabs and Mole Crabs. Hermit Crabs and Mole Crabs are actually classified as False Crabs; they don't belong to the same family as True Crabs.

So, I was on a bit of a very specific kick regarding potential new Pokemon in Winds and Waves, and someone on one of the Discord servers I'm part of pointed out something that completely slipped my notice. What am I talking about? For the past few days, I've been obsessing about the idea of Peafowl Pokémon. For those who are a bit lost, the Peafowl is the proper name of the species; the male is called a Peacock and the female is called a Peahen (random side note here: the chicks/young peafowl are called Peachicks). I suppose some of you have pieced together that, with Browt's designation as the "Chickpea Pokémon," it would feel almost like a missed opportunity not to go all in when there is a bird that literally has the word pea in its name.

But here's the thing: Peafowl are sexually dimorphic; the males have bright, loud colors and showy personalities, and the females have a much more muted color palette (Dull, ghostly browns, whites, and blacks are basically their entire color identity); it helps them blend into the environment. And personally, I think a Pokémon based on the peafowl should reflect this, with the males being this bright and loud dual-typed Psychic. Before it was pointed out to me that this could be a potential final stage for Browt, I thought it could be fun to see as a Flying/Psychic type for the male, but as a Browt evolution, this would make it a Grass/Psycic instead; as for the female, my intial thought were she could be a Flying/Dark or Flying/Ghost to reference how how she blends into the environment and doesn't have that loud colorationo or personality (I'm preferential to the Flying/Ghost typing, personally) but as a browt evolution it could be a Grass/Ghost instead (and I'm aware that it's basically mirroring typing of the Alola Grass starter if it does that, but at least we have a few generations between the two so it's less of an issue than going back to back with the same typing).

And you'll notice I am basically advocating for starters getting split evolutions based on their gender, and yes, I am aware I made the female have a type advantage over the male; that was intentional for the case of this bird, since it's the female Peafowl that decides which male will be her partner, so she has an advantage in the mating game, by making the female have a type adantage to the male, it acts as a subtle referenc to this. I used this bird as an example, but not all pairings need to be that way. That said, if they are sexually dimorphic in the form of split evolutions, they will have to reflect this a bit more overtly, with the middle stage having elements of both sides of the evolution.

If Browt were to have its final stage be a Peafowl, which I have yet to see anyone do with their Fakemon final stages, it is my hope that they do make it a split evolution; it would be a fun extra surprise for everyone to see the starters with split evolutions as a way of celebrating the 10th generation and its region. Also, to my understanding, none of the starters before now were species that are sexually dimorphic. And while the dog that Pombom seems to draw its primary inspiration from is not notably sexually dimorphic, some species of Gecko are sexually dimorphic (so there's some hope for Gecqua).

So, assuming Browt will evolve into a Peafowl Pokémon and has a split evolution going one way for the male and one way for the female, what are some of the split evolutions you think would happen with Gecqua and Pombom for their final stages? How would the two divergences pair up in their type matches with each other? Feel free to explain it in as much detail as you would like or feel comfortable with.

That all said, I don't see split evolutions for the starters in the foreseeable future; it diverges too much from the comfort level the Pokémon tries to cultivate with its audience, or at least that's my understanding of how the franchise owners likely see it. My best guess is we won't see starters get a split evolution any time before Gen 15, at the earliest.

So, yeah. My hot take on Pacific Rim Uprising is that it's not a sequel and was never a sequel. We're told it happens in the world of the original Pacific Rim, but almost nothing is done to show it; in fact, the Mech and Monster Designs run counter to the philosophy of the original, and none of the confirmed people doing the real work behind the scenes for Pacific Rim are ever confirmed for Uprising.

So, Pacific Rim Uprising is just Fanfiction with a Hollywood Budget.

So, I had thought recently, earlier this week, it popped into my head.

Here's how it's laying out so far, assuming the Blue AI C.A.I.N.E. removed from his matrix in the finale manages to find a way to grow and develop itself, there are a few ways it could go. The other AI learned from C.A.I.N.E. and has some unresolved aggression issues that it probably will need to sort out at some point. So, what if the Blue AI finally finds a way to build its own playground, and somehow manages to get a completely different cast of scanned human minds to play with?

Assuming the Blue AI keeps the same characters as Caine in its name but spells out a different acronym, which could be a fun little exercise for everyone working on new names for Caine's sibling that is the Blue AI, it would not want to recreate Caine's project. In other words, it would try to avoid making its own circus. That said, it could go for the circus's well-known, and less appreciated, cousin, the Carnival, same series acronym, slightly different actual name. It could be doing something similar to Caine, just leaning a bit more AM from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream than Caine did at the start. The AI has to learn the same lesson Caine did, along with how to better work through and manage that anger it has been holding onto until we last saw it in the finale.

Now, the cast of this follow-up that takes place in an Amazing Digital Carnival is basically what Caine's "sibling" is doing with a whole new set of humans. The carnival setting also means the archetype groupings will be noticeably different from the circus that Caine put together. What form that could all take is still up to the imagination of everyone who wants to take part in this thought experiment.

So, what do you think the Amazing Digital Carnival will look like? What sort of characters do you think we would see? What sort of adventures/tasks/events do you think the AI will cook up for its captive audience/participants? How do you think the AI would introduce itself?

To be clear, nothing is confirmed regarding the future of TADC, and this is more of a framework for a working theory of what one follow-up to TADC involving the Blue AI. Personally, I think the Blue AI will use the same letters as Caine did for his name, seeing as his name is actually an acronym, but will have them mixed around to form a different name that is made from the same characters/letters. And I just like the idea of the Blue AI deciding to make things a Carnival instead of a Circus to differentiate itself from Caine. As for the brain scans of the cast, it could use the same ones Caine managed to access, or maybe it escaped to somewhere else in the bounds of the internet and found itself in an entirely new network with an entirely different set of brain scans to play with; either way, it make for some interesting story possibilities. If it's the prior, then we could hear some familiar voices with different looks and names in different sorts of interactions with each other, if it's the latter then we'll have a whole series of questions to deal with.

So, I had thought recently, earlier this week, it popped into my head.

Here's how it's laying out so far, assuming the Blue AI C.A.I.N.E. removed from his matrix in the finale manages to find a way to grow and develop itself, there are a few ways it could go. The other AI learned from C.A.I.N.E. and has some unresolved aggression issues that it probably will need to sort out at some point. So, what if the Blue AI finally finds a way to build its own playground, and somehow manages to get a completely different cast of scanned human minds to play with?

Assuming the Blue AI keeps the same characters as Caine in its name but spells out a different acronym, which could be a fun little exercise for everyone working on new names for Caine's sibling that is the Blue AI, it would not want to recreate Caine's project. In other words, it would try to avoid making its own circus. That said, it could go for the circus's well-known, and less appreciated, cousin, the Carnival, same series acronym, slightly different actual name. It could be doing something similar to Caine, just leaning a bit more AM from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream than Caine did at the start. The AI has to learn the same lesson Caine did, along with how to better work through and manage that anger it has been holding onto until we last saw it in the finale.

Now, the cast of this follow-up that takes place in an Amazing Digital Carnival is basically what Caine's "sibling" is doing with a whole new set of humans. The carnival setting also means the archetype groupings will be noticeably different from the circus that Caine put together. What form that could all take is still up to the imagination of everyone who wants to take part in this thought experiment.

So, what do you think the Amazing Digital Carnival will look like? What sort of characters do you think we would see? What sort of adventures/tasks/events do you think the AI will cook up for its captive audience/participants? How do you think the AI would introduce itself?