Kiba here, and it was just a couple of days ago that Toritori slapped me with half this pile of assignments from our temporary boss Aya Shameimaru. I'm not particularly resentful of her doing that, considering that her face had the look of having recently been slapped with the whole darn pile at one go. Unfortunately, that means less time for my gaming, but some of the more curious activities around Gensokyo Island more than make up for it.
Remember Hinoko Gassenarl, my fellow Japanophile? I hesitate to call her 'fellow', really, since an 'artist' like her doesn't actually consume Japanese culture but rather creates her own semi-Westernised knock-offs with all the yaoi pairings and Mary Sues and stuff. But anyway, yes. Hinoko was feeling rather depressed at having been dumped by Almaz Beoulve, who took one look at the sort of R-18 doujinshi she likes and decided he'd had enough of their relationship.
Well, Okuu's Look-alike, in cahoots with one of Hinoko's immediate neighbours, found a rather unconventional way of solving their problem.
The fire of love springs anew. And hooking up Hoshi and Hinoko was Shinichi's original idea, I was only checking the possible alternatives.
Okuu's Look-alike, the supreme dictator of Gensokyo Island, is known for saying some very unpleasant things about islanders' attempts to set each other up on blind dates. But in this case, she thought it would be a good idea to mend Hinoko's wounded heart by tugging at her heartstrings once again, and maybe yank them all the way round the other side until they snap in a different direction.
It's not just a metaphor, it's also a really cruel experiment of sorts. However, Shinichi Yasaka, the first third-generation resident of Gensokyo Island, really only had his friend Hoshi Toramaru's welfare in mind when proposing that Hoshi start a relationship with Hinoko. So... yeah, you could say no one was really on the luckless Hinoko's side in this last one. At least there's the chance her new relationship will turn out better this time around.
In other news, an unspeakable horror was unleashed upon the world today. Well, it's not literally unspeakable, it's just that saying its name three times will summon it to your presence whereupon you will instantly lose your sanity and will to live. Desco Kazamatsuri and Mitsukuni Haninozuka's first child, their daughter... I won't say it.
However, yes, she has been unleashed upon this world, which is to say she was packed off as a traveller and not invited to be a resident of Gensokyo Island as Okuu's Look-alike had initially hinted. I wonder why? Perhaps it's as I suggested earlier of wanting to preserve the theme of only using Japanese sources for character inspirations. Or maybe rather it would be the difficulty of administering an island where one of the resident's names simply cannot be mentioned under any circumstances. And we're not talking about Lord Voldemort here.
Maybe I shouldn't make my travellers too intimidating? People might delete them on first sight. Also, Skylar's quotation does a combo with Levi's (jeans).
She-who-must-not-be-named joins Recette Lemongrass and Armin Arlert's fourth child Skylar, who was sent off as a Pokemon trainer... I mean a traveller a couple of days ago but wasn't mentioned due to a lack of space. We wish them the best of luck in corrupting the entire world in a morass of madness and despair... er, I mean, hope they will be the very best like no one ever was. That's right.
And that's perfect timing, because speaking of Pokémon, we'll now be moving on to the very first resident of the fourth batch of eight islanders, that is to say the eight people living on the fourth floor here at Mii Apartments. Unlike the previous three batches, they weren't all invited to Gensokyo Island at the same time, but since then they've sort of grown together into a motley crew of sorts. So, first up on our list...
Hmm... what can we say about him? He's a villain. A really horrible fellow, who started a cult dedicated to environmental transformation, and aimed to unleash the true power of Pokémon in order to start a global apocalypse. It's...
PRAISE HELIX OR DIE IN OBSCURITY!
Um, no, it isn't. In fact, his favourite Pokémon has a double weakness to the Water type. But what's more important is who he is - one of the duumvirate of truly evil villains resident on Gensokyo Island. His name... Maximillian Magma.
Maximillian Magma
All information correct as of 8 March 2015
Argh!!! What is that ghastly horrid face supposed to be??? Nothing but pure undiluted villainy.
Name: Maximillian Magma
Nickname: Maxie
Date of Birth: 19th March 1996
Personality: Independent Thinker
Favourite Colour: Red
Quotation: "Go Team Magma!"
Maximillian Magma, or rather Magma Leader Maxie as he is better known, is the leader of the villainous Team Magma in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and its remakes Emerald, and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (ORAS). His personality and motivations were changed significantly in ORAS, and as his character on the island is based on his ORAS appearance this description will dwell exclusively on that.
Maxie is a scientist and researcher who believes that the expansion of the land mass upon which humans can live will lead to the betterment of humanity as a whole, and as such he set up Team Magma to work towards that end by summoning Groudon, the primal Pokémon of land. However, due to such unilateral activities effectively amounting to environmental terrorism, Team Magma quickly fell on the wrong side of the law and the player is tasked with stopping them in Ruby, Emerald, and Omega Ruby. Naturally, Maxie and Team Magma are also opposed by their polar opposites Team Aqua, led by Aqua Leader Archie.
Maxie's character in ORAS is presented as conceited, smug, and aloof - he's completely convinced of his own intellectual superiority and that the course he's taking is right, no matter what the costs. However, this façade quickly breaks down and he's effectively reduced to a laughing stock at the end when his theories come to naught and he even loses control of his own organisation's activities. Just look at his defeat animation! My personal view is that in the games he's a villain who is set up on a pedestal of seeming impenetrability, specifically to be knocked down so we can all have a little catharsis at his humiliation. But it's exactly because of these quirks, as well as his more distinctive design and facial features, that I decided to use Maxie's Omega Ruby redesign as the base for his Mii look-alike.
In contrast with the original, here on Gensokyo Island, Maximillian Magma has taken on a life of his own like many other look-alikes. From being merely a mockery of a misguided extremist, he has evolved (dun dun dun dun...) into a truly evil villain, plotting together with his partner-in-crime Baldren Gassenarl to conquer the island for themselves. I mean, just look at him! That cross-eyed stare, that menacing grin... and he thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.
Okay, maybe not, but it's fun to imagine since the two of them are the most shifty and obviously villainous people on the island, and they also happen to be good friends and have the same favourite colour and a fascination with fire. It's probably a result of giving him a 'proper' first name, Maximillian, instead of just calling him Maxie. I have a strong dislike for contracted names and prefer to use proper ones whenever possible, but in Maxie's case it may have had some... unanticipated effects. However, considering the nature of this game, it's probably more interesting to have someone who's regarded as an out-and-out truly dangerous villain instead of a pretentious buffoon.
Maxie and Yuyuko, happy together... well, feed Yuyuko anything, and she'd be happy being together with you too!
Wife: Yuyuko Saigyouji
Best Friend: Minamitsu Murasa
Children: Koyomi Saigyouji, Yuuko
The pairing of Team Magma Maxie and Yuyuko Saigyouji is no doubt one of the oddest on my island. I mean, Maxie is a scientist and self-proclaimed extremist in the game, and here he's an actual bad guy, while Yuyuko's just a happy-go-lucky ghost princess that wants to eat, sleep, have fun, and eat some more. How are they compatible at all? I haven't a clue, but I'm sure there must be an explanation somewhere!
Maybe Maxie promised to use the expanded land mass to grow more food to feed Yuyuko, or moving bodies of water repel ghosts somehow and less ocean means Yuyuko is more free to roam. Who knows? But they seem pretty happy, if anything Maxie could be keeping Yuyuko and her death-inducing powers as a secret weapon in the event that Archie or any of his assassins try to attack.
Maxie and Yuyuko's family is probably better explained on Yuyuko's entry when it comes up, as it draws inspiration from a certain source related to her, while Maxie and Minamitsu Murasa's special relationship has already been described on Murasa's page. It's rather terrifying what a mutual grudge against the ocean itself can lead to, but thankfully Maxie isn't in a position to execute such a plan as of yet. He won't be getting his hands on Groudon any time soon!
On a side note, ever since their introduction, Maximillian Magma and Archibald Aqua have yet to meet each other. I mean, they've been in the same screenshot together, but they don't speak a word to each other and they most certainly do not play together. The two of them have the exact opposite personality, not merely in personality types but also in the exact parameters chosen to define their personality, so that might have had an effect. However, it is surprising that two islanders who have been around for almost three months have yet to ever even talk to each other, and not knowing each other at all means that they'll never fight. Perhaps a special invitation may be in order to bring about the cataclysm of the century.
Here's a hint - Maxie likes fire. A lot. Especially when it consumes the world. No wonder the avatar of balance Shiki Eiki is upset with him.
Food Preferences:
Favourite: Celery
Worst: Onion Rings
Okuu's Look-alike Rating - Celery: Don't Like At All! Bleurgh. Two of my big no-nos are crunchy vegetables and strong-tasting vegetables. Celery is both of these things. Which stupid human ever first thought of eating that stuff, anyway? You might as well stare at a tree and go "ooh, look at that succulent stem and leaves, I'd bet it's delicious" and chomp on it. Yeck.
And why does Maxie like Celery, anyway? Is he a vegetarian or something? You know who else was a vegetarian? Another immensely evil person from real life? No, not Civilisation's Nuclear Gandhi, someone else... oh nevermind.
Song Participation:
Too Much Water, Techno, joint-lead singer for Rogues' Gallery
Let me tell you about this song, it's a 7.8/10. Baldren and Maxie sing about coating the world in hot blazing molten magma and eating babies and about how villainous they are, while backed up by a whole cast of other villains residing on Gensokyo Island. What more do you need? Being true to character? What's that?
Some days it even rains indoors for poor Maxie. But the personification of fire and brimstone himself needs to take a bath every once in a while too.
Apartment: Apt. 401, formerly Apt. 403
Islander Rating: Average Tier
Maxie, being of the fourth batch of islanders, is right smack in the middle of the Gensokyo Island hierarchy which currently consists of just under eight floors' worth of residents. While describing him as ' average', it might possibly be more accurate to say that the fourth batch of islanders are the median in terms of islander levels. The mean level of islanders is actually below that of the fourth batch of islanders, due to the fact that islanders gain levels at a geometric rate relative to the length of their stay on the island, since fewer islanders means less competitors for Okuu's Look-alike's attention.
However, Maxie specifically is probably one of the lower-ranked of the fourth batch of islanders, again due to the usual problems of not having an All-Time Favourite food and getting into plenty of fights. In addition, despite occupying the first apartment on the fourth floor he actually wasn't the first of the fourth batch of islanders to be introduced - that honour goes to Shanghai Margatroid, the first child born on Gensokyo Island, and Maxie was moved to keep him further away from Archibald Aqua to prevent all hell breaking loose.
Nevertheless, he's holding his own - there is no special need for concern about his level (not that I express any special concern about any islander's level). He seems satisfied most of the time and most of his calls are for silly flavour-related activities like checking his head or stomach, or answering a strange question. Perhaps he's doing it to distract us from our investigation of his criminal activities.
Maximillian Magma is a one of a kind character whose presence is established by his contradictions. Though he embodies fire, he's calculating and cool as ice. He claims to be working for the betterment of humanity, but seeks to cause global climate disruption to further his cause. And while he's a snarky, conceited scientist with a mean streak a mile wide, and he's probably made the worst economic decision of his life by choosing to get hitched to a living embodiment of a black hole, who eats anything in her path.
Maxie, you're charming not because you're funny or you're so, so wicked, but because you juxtapose the two just perfectly. Now, there's a certain mustachioed man in a wetsuit I'd like you to meet...
That Trench Coat is the closest thing to his bizarre long-tailed coat and turtleneck combination. His fashion sense is so evil it'll make your eyes bleed.
BUNBUNMARU UPDATES, 7th March 2015
Relationships and Marriage
Unyuho Morichika and Margit Ravelli are no longer best friends!
Children
Hester, daughter of Desco Kazamatsuri and Mitsukuni Haninozuka, grew up. She was made to leave Gensokyo Island and become a traveller!
Margit announced that she was pregnant with her and Archibald Aqua's fourth child!
BUNBUNMARU UPDATES, 8th March 2015
Relationships and Marriage
Hinoko Gassenarl and Hoshi Toramaru became sweethearts! They were set up by Shinichi Yasaka.
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