-swoops in and crashes-
Hey bud. Hope you don't mind me reviewing this because I've been meaning to ever since you first put this up but I never got around to it...till now!
And hopefully this is considered substantial enough to not break the rules.
First off, congrats on completing a multichaptered fic. Since that's usually so hard to do with fics, what with the many unfinished ones across the internet, because of the fact that, well, they're a hobby.
Second, I'd like to say that I kind of read this in two stages. The first one, when you first put this up and up to chapter six, I read it with only the basic knowledge of Awakening (and no experience with Persona) and second stage, from seven to ten and epilogue, is after playing about 75% of Fire Emblem (and a lot more experience with Persona). I read chapter seven about a few months ago, decided to stop reading and then just came back to this from eight to the epilogue, a few minutes ago, and then read chapter one to six (plus April Fools' six because I love it). So I had two experiences with this fic for the first half-ish of the story. And it was pretty interesting.
Chapter 1-6
Again, when I first read this fic, I barely knew Awakening. At the time, the most I knew was the prologue and the first four chapters from watching videos and it's plot. I had only played the GBA games of Fire Emblem at this point. So when I went into this story, though it was because it was a cross-over between two franchises I liked, I technically didn't really know the Awakening characters too well. The most I knew was Robin and Lucina, and a little of Chrom, from Smash.
But despite that, I still enjoyed it. It was interesting to see how badly the Palkia and Dialga were reeling from what happened in Spear Pillar. It was funny to see Palkia having trouble picking a location despite the fact that, as Palkia herself pointed out, she's a literal space goddess (though I think that's why you were having trouble Palkia. If you made handle the space of your universe, it'd be hard to be impressed with others, I'd think).
The relationship she has with the other of the members of her trio was also interesting, as well as their personalities. Palkia's trying to cheer up Dialga because despite how cheerful she seems, she was still rattled by what happened and is exactly why she wants to cheer him up by being a good sister. Giratina's mostly fine because all he did was get mad and rage at their captor. And Hoopa...is Hoopa. He's a more light-hearted and prankster-type trickster with a thing for treasure and portals. And loves doing portal shenanigans. Because Hoopa. (Did I mention I like Hoopa?)
Anyways, yeah, they're gods, yeah, but they still feel like a family. Palkia trying to do something and went to Giratina to help but he's not because he's distracted from playing. Then he accidentally does. And then when they finally show it Dialga, he's all sceptical until Palkia explains herself along with Giratina. And then he's like "Okay. I'll give it a try. I needed it anyway". Oh and also Hoopa. Hoopa's there.
The humor was great for me. I laughed at all the jokes thrown around. Even if I didn't quite understand the full extent of some of them. Like that that Homestuck reference. Though what I know now is even less than what I knew of FE when I first read this, well...in all honesty, I don't blame Dialga for wanting to drown his sorrows in alcohol. It does make me wonder how'd he feel about Doctor Who. Though at least the Doctor tries not to mess with fixed points in time.
Or the April Fool's chapter. I mean, I laughed at it the first time. I thought it was funny that these two characters that obviously see each other as friends are being shipped anyway. But now, after basically becoming obsessed with Persona and eagerly awaiting for the released of P5 Scramble, I know that it's a pretty accurate re-enactment (just with different characters) of the event in PQ and I love it even more. Especially that Tharja was the one to interrupt the "wedding" because who else would have the role of interrupting the wedding?
So yeah, basically, now that I know more about Awakening and having played it myself, it made me appreciate the Awakening half of the story even more. Like the fact that we get to see some focus on Virion, Libra and Panne, characters I don't see get much spotlight (not that I'm too surprised of that) and that I really like (Libra the most out of three). And that, yeah, I knew the doomed timeline was a bad thing and I basically went "uh oh" like Palkia did. But now that I actually experienced it, my emotional experience was more "oh crap!" since I saw what it was really like for those affected by the doomed timeline.
I will say though, a part of me wonders how would the gang handle what happened in Fates. Yeah, I know, a huge can of worms, but still. Just a thought.
Anyways, before I summarize my thoughts on the second half of the story... Reactionary style stuff.
Chapter 7
[Who ships Robin X Tiki?]
I'll have you know I've seen a few fics with that ship. and i would say i ship it too but i ship male robin with more characters than female robin who i exclusively ship with chrom so i dont feel like i have a right to say i ship them
[Palkia tells Robin to apologize then talk with them]
I can already see where this is going.
[Robin has achieved A Rank!]
Yep. And it's your own fault Palkia. But you already know that.
Chapter 8
[GRIMA RETURNS]
GOSH DANG IT. And I was being so hopeful about it but NOPE.
Chapter 9
[Tiki appears with young Morgan and dies fighting Grima]
Dang it. I love Morgan (I will admit a bias to male Morgan because his supports in general are a lot more sweet than female Morgan's...). That was just heart breaking. And now Robin probably is killing himself inside even more since he basically just killed his own wife now...
[SEVERAL YEARS LATER]
And that is why Lucina is pivotal in changing the past. In all seriousness though, OH MY GOSH I didn't expect a time skip. Like at all. Or little female Morgan earlier. Or Palkia going MISSING. Geez...
[The gang plays D&D]
... My mind simultaneously blew itself and yet I still was able to laugh my head off at the remnants of the Shepards playing what was essentially D&D. And it's even funnier considering both series (Fire Emblem and Pokémon) are RPGs.
[Dungeons & Druddigons]
Avoiding copyright, Giratina? Oh wait, he's probably playing a D&D specifically from the Pokémon world. Okay, makes sense.
[Lucina greets with her sword (presumably Falchion)]
I know this is a zombie apocalypse, thus it makes sense for her behavior to be like that and it's sad when you think about it but I can't help but laugh.
[Dialga finds Morgan then Palkia and talks Palkia into rejoining. Palkia goes "Ok. Let's go."]
Maybe it's just me or maybe it's because Palkia's got like, hundreds of years of experience and thus all she needed was a pep talk, but it felt a bit fast with me.
Female Morgan's a troll. As she usually is.
[Palkia sees Lucina and has an idea]
So, plot of Awakening now?
[Noire and Nah notice Virion and Libra]
It's not that big of a deal, but I'm a little confused. I know you probably kept it ambiguous on purpose (cause shipping wars I'm guessing) but are Nah and Noire saying that one of the two are their respective dad? Or both of them are their fathers somehow? (Polyamory?) Just making sure 'cause Noire said "father" twice.
And I guess it's confusing because on one hand you're very ambiguous on Noire and Nah's parentage...you aren't that much with Kjelle and Owain (fathered by Chrom and Gaius respectively). So yeah.
[Owain being Owain]
AND THUS THE GREATEST CHARACTER TO HAVE WALKED THIS PLANE HAS ARRIVED! IT IS HE! OWAIN DARK! THE LEGENDAY SCION OF LEGENDS IS HERE TO GIVE THE MOST BOMBASTIC CAMEO OF ALL TIME!
...I couldn't help it. I love Owain (and Ophelia but she's not in this story so shh...)
Chapter 10
[Chapter 10 title]
I laughed again. Love the reference. (And no, not Avengers Endgame for those thinking that)
[First Grima POV]
A part of me wished it went on to describe what he saw in detail for one paragraph because my mind just went all crazy with descriptions from reading that and then realizing it was just one line. But that's probably my preference for dramatics.
[Virion says Morgan's in the restroom]
Are kidding me, Virion?
Okay, as funny as that was, I don't think Virion is as stupid as that, as silly as he is. But, eh. Plot must happen so never mind.
[Palkia tells Morgan to go after the vessel]
My reaction: Palkia you idiot! I know you're in the middle of a fight but still... You idiot!
[Morgan's fine]
Also my reaction: Oh, Morgan's fine? Oh good. She realized pretty quick. Now if only that was enough for the Morgans in the Future Past DLC...
[Palkia talking to Grima]
I skimmed Negrek's review so I don't really need to repeat it, but I just want to point out that this is the point where I agree the most because, though I find Palkia and Robin's friendship fine, it didn't feel as strong as it could be to make this feel like a completely convincing "My good friend's dead, now I'm pissed and you're gonna regret it" interaction.
[Palkia shows her TRUE FORM to Grima]
Good for you, Grima. Now you finally realize that, as powerful as you are, you're the one that's a false god.
[Robin broken but Palkia frees him]
I didn't expect Palkia to try and free Robin. Though looking back, it makes sense.
What I did expect though (from reading a lot of Chrobin fics) is seeing Robin so broken. But it always makes me sad to see Robin like this, all guilt filled and everything...
[The current timeline is dying]
I'd like to mention that, though I don't mind what happened (it made sense in the context of the story after all), but from what the Hidden Truths DLC for Fates implies, the doomed timeline still exists, Grima is gone from that timeline also since he travelled to the past and that, after some intervention from Anankos, it's actually returning to its normal state again, with flowers and plants and all. It does, however, not mention if there are any survivors or not so there's that.
[Naga saying I love you to Dialga]
Okay, that's sweet (because I'm a sucker for fluff) but what the heck?! That was out of nowhere! (Don't worry I realize why-ish later. Just scroll down)
Epilogue
[Epilogue Title]
Also liked this title. In all honesty, chapter titles are both my favorite and most annoying thing to do.
[Hoopa checks the survivors he rescued. Tells one of them to give his shiny back as Palkia contemplates about what they need to teach them so they can stay in the Pokémon world. Hoopa becomes Professor Hoopa]
Of course someone stole something. It's gold after all.
I didn't expect that they'd be sent to the Pokémon world though. I can just imagine all the legal problems and culture clash though (and not just the "don't kill the 'monsters' on sight" bit).
[Morgan turns into an Axew; Panne turns into Nidoran F]
Didn't expect that either. But it's a cute mental image. And a cool one too when they reach their final forms. i kind of wished it was either dratini for "closest to holy dragon" or hydreigon for "closest to grima" but i like haxorus too so im not really complaining
I originally found it odd Morgan didn't want to help the other kids but then realized that she didn't grow up with them, so she, uh, for lack of better words, wouldn't care about that.
[Virion and Libra]
And this is probably what everyone wished their support conversation went, huh? Well, the ones who noticed and liked the HoYay anyway.
Either way, very funny you're putting the "French" character in a France inspired region. Don't know if that was on purpose or not.
[Mrs. Valentina]
Is that Mrs. on purpose or a mix-up? 'Cause I find it weird that Valentina's name has the "missus" honorific unless that's a hint she is in love with someone and may/may not be "married" to them.
[Robin in a better life]
I tried to guess but then...
Trivia
[Some ties to WAAPT]
...when you mentioned the We Are All Pokémon Trainers was involved with the end, I realized nope. There was no chance. I had only heard of the RP so I couldn't even make a wild guess.
[Wuzzles]
The only thing missing was a scene where Fredrick complains about Wuzzles. Otherwise it makes sense considering the comedic tone of the beginning.
[No Palkia X Robin but some people still ship it anyway]
Sometimes the shipping mind can't help itself. I certainly know since sometimes my mind does shippings when there is little to no reason for it or the interactions are just platonic. But I will say I just saw Palkia as just friends with Robin.
[Dialga x Naga]
Oh. That explained the out of no where confession. Well, I guess I would've been one of those people who didn't wish it came true because I really just saw them as friends.
["Post credits scene"]
My first thought was Badgerclops from Mao Mao but this was written before then so...
So in conclusion... I loved it. Were there problems? Yeah, unfortunately, most of it was pointed out by other people (the pacing, the lack of interactions between the Pokémon characters and the Awakening cast and some problems with dialogue) so all I feel like I can say is that I think the problem that bothered me the most was that sometimes dialogue from one character goes to a new line entirely when their previous line of dialogue wasn't a full paragraph to begin with. Unfortunately I can't find/remember where I saw this at the moment so uh...just keep it mind, I guess.
Other than that, basically I really liked how that, despite them being legendaries, they couldn't solve everything that happened but still managed to do the best they could anyway. Sure, they couldn't stop the doomed timeline happening in the first place, but at least they didn't prevent the "proper" Awakening timeline from happening and they also saved the rest of the people in the doomed timeline, including the last survivors of the original Shepards. So the ending was fine with me.
And yeah, that's all I can say about the fic. And that I'm glad I finally got around to this. now to see which of your other works i want to review...
