The year is 2019
Nobody expected Joker to be revealed by surprise instead of through a Nintendo Direct. It was strange, but not out of character for Nintendo.
When we didn't get a character reveal at E3 people were confused. Then all of a sudden they dropped Erdrick on the 4th of July, alongside the disconfirmations of Geno and Chrono, to mass outcry from the fanbase.
Jumping to conclusions, fans began to fear the unexpected. Any day a reveal could come out of nowhere, either confirming or disconfirming their biggest desires. Fan debates scaled into arguments which scaled into shouting matches which scaled into all-out wars.
Out of boredom and "for the keks" 4chan decided to brigade GameFAQs resulting in countless users both innocent and guilty being banned. When they attempted to hit Reddit it got so bad that the Smash Bros. subreddit had to be closed. 20 new Smashboards moderators were brought on in the wake of these attacks in case they were to make another hit, and they did. Even with reinforcements the moderation and administration team were able to hold on just long enough to weather the cataclysmic ****storm. 4chan then ended up turning on itself and attacking /v. This resulted in the creation of /sm, a board dedicated to Smash Bros, after 4chan moderators and administration unanimously agreed that "****'s ****ing cancer."
Banjo followed that August, and Lloyd was revealed in an October Nintendo Direct. Fans began to feel hope again. Maybe, just maybe this was all behind us.
Then came Leon on Christmas, and the out-of-left-field announcement of another Ballot to determine the final DLC character in February. Tensions reached an all-time-high. The fight was taken to Twitter as all of the remaining fanbases duked it out in a free for all that enveloped the entire internet. It was impossible to stay neutral. It was later found out that the intelligence agencies of Russia and China had all attempted to influence public say. Apparently they really like Waluigi over there. People compared this to the period of speculation centered around the Grinch Hoax, and many fans were driven away from the community as the final straw broke over the camel's back, and the Smash Bros. fanbase was consigned to a perpetual stereotype of toxicity.
In the fallout of it all, stood Sora as the winner. The twins from Astral Chain were also there for some reason but idc Sora got in.
That was two months ago. Since then the goliath of Smash Bros. character speculation has returned to dormancy. People have begun to resume their normal lives again. And just like that the memories begin to fade, as another chapter closes in the story of our lives.
~FIN~