#kinda has the wild robot vibes

[blueikeproductions]

Some cleaner packaging art for CyberWorld appeared for upcoming Amazon listings.

The character designs are definitely inspired by super robot anime of the past, giving the characters a fun throw back to Car Robots and the Unicron Trilogy. Megatron in his bull form is not out of place in stuff like Energon and RiD01.

On a related note, Sky-Byte takes his inspiration primarily from the Generations toy but his head evokes his old RiD01 head to me.

Curiously his Anchor Arm is detachable and can be equipped to his Beast … uh… Vehicle Mode head. I’m assuming it can be a new attack, but a lot of people say it evokes a crown. Others have lovingly nicknamed him “Land-Byte” because of his Hot Wheels monster car design.

Snarl definitely has a Junkion vibe, but whether he’s supposed to BE one we dunno yet. I don’t really see it being addressed either way, but a lot of veteran fans are content with the very idea of a Dinobot Junkion. I’m still impressed it’s Snarl of all guys, because he tends to be the forgotten one in favor of Slag or Swoop if Grimlock has another G1 style dino buddy in modern toys.

These toys, as mentioned before, emphasize a quick transformation on the packaging, a continued carry over from complaints from the Bayformers toy lines where several toys were becoming too complex to Transform.

These seem to strike a decent balance of the simplistic G1 era toys and the early one step toys of Beast Wars, which I’m fine with. The RotB toys were of a similar ilk and I like fiddling with my figures from it.

One thing I find funny is how the packaging on these guys refer to "Quick Change" or "Armor Up" based on what type of toy it is...

While Grimlock's toy instead says "CHANGES TO DINO!" with its own unique logo with Grimlock biting the words. It's so delightfully absurd, and exclusive to Grimlock, I adore it for that. Why Snarl didn't get any such logo for himself, I dunno, since he too CHANGES TO DINO!

Still not really sure I get the Armored Changers idea, as the accessories they come with are just flip out gun thingies rather than clip on armor like the Cyberverse Spark Armor or the Beast Armor from ROTB. The idea of a separate Transforming partner does evoke the Action Masters, which I kinda dig also.

The packaging seems to emphasize elemental typing more than expected, as besides referencing the biomes mentioned in earlier press, the same elemental logos are used for individual Transformers. Bumblebee and Optimus represent the city zone, Galvatron represents the desert zone, the Dinobots and Megatron represent the jungle zone and Sky-Byte represents the water zone.

I might be reading too much into it, but I wonder if this is meant to be analogous to Bakugan's elemental factions (and where they had Transformers style Clan factions that one time). It wouldn't be the first time Transformers referenced Bakugan, considering the RiD15 Cyclone Mini-Cons (and frankly most of their Mini-Cons were analogous to Pokemon and Bakugan, with Pucks and Torpedoes also evoking Trap Bakugan, Nanogan and Geogan).

As of typing we still don't have the full context on how the rules fully work in this universe, but Hasbro and Takara clearly are experimenting with an elemental idea going by this and Wild King, ESPECIALLY Wild King. CyberWorld doing something similar makes it clear other Transformers will also be categorized based on elemental affiliation too.

So we can assume the following:

Chop Shop (Insect Beast Mode): Jungle

Elita -1 (Boat Vehicle Mode): Water

Starscream (Jet Vehicle Mode): City

Mirage (Also Jet Vehicle Mode): City

Scorponok (Scorpion Beast Mode): Jungle or Desert. He's kind of a toss up, but leaning towards Desert being his affiliation. Maybe Galvatron and Scorponok dominate the desert zone in a nod to the Bay films.

Off Road Optimus Prime & Off Road Bumblebee (Off Road Vehicle Mode) City, Jungle and/or Desert. The toys were shown associated with the city zone at Toy Fair, but the Off Road theme would suggest they'd be used heavily outside of the urban jungle.

G2 style Megatron (Tank Vehicle Mode): City, Desert or Jungle

If the line is successful, or if they already had some additional characters in the can, I think it's safe to assume any additional Autobots and Decepticons we weren't privy to yet would follow this typing system.

And frankly both the Autobots and Decepticons could use more Water guys, as we only have Elita and Sky-Byte as the Water rep. Maybe they're rivals in this context? Hopefully it's a better developed rivalry than Sky-Byte and Jetfire was in Cyberverse... I could see Scorponok involved with the Water battles, Sea Scorpions are a thing, but it leaves the Autobots at too much of a disadvantage and Elita-1 is good, but she's not THAT good. I'm not expecting someone like Broadside or High Tide here, heck maybe they'll bring back Hammerbyte as a Sky-Byte retool, who's to say. Same goes for the Desert, since Galvatron is the only one of that typing for the moment.

Another curious thing is there seems to be a tagline: "More to Unlock". It clearly refers to other toys available in the line so far on the packaging, but the idea of Unlocking is curious. Perhaps it refers to what the Autobots and Decepticons need to do in story? What little we know so far says there's video game like challenges, so perhaps each elemental area is akin to a video game level, and they have to progress through? That would make the most sense.

Either way, the first wave of toys come out June 15th, 2025, with the second wave on October. The first wave is said to be Optimus, Bee and Skybyte, with Starscream as the only named one for the second atm. When the other guys and gals come out we don't know yet as of typing. Perhaps the first and second waves will have more characters? Only having Bee, Prime and Sky-Byte to start out is strange, at least strange in that they're not going in with the new Megatron, but maybe after the failure of EarthSpark Megatron, maybe they want to hold off a smidge on Megatron this time toy wise...

[oh1thehorror]

*coughs loudly*

Hello, ninjblr, I would like to share an AU I’ve been discussing all day with my dear friend @no-eyes-yet-but-vibing because it has a CHOKEHOLD on me.

I’ve affectionately dubbed it “Of the Earth” and now, as I am not good at drawing (yet) to show you through picture all the silly little scenarios I have planned, allow me to explain;

I like to think of the elemental masters as avatars of nature; they have domain over one aspect of it and are tasked with the protection of the world and its people. They’re basically parts of nature incarnate, if you will (with Lloyd being incarnate of life (I think of him as a funnel for all other elements), Wu creation, Garmadon destruction/decay, FSM is the origin of all). Consider, if you will, these avatars also gaining an animal form interlinked with their powers.

TLDR; shapeshifter AU, or His Dark Materials ripoff BUT BETTER.

Lloyd can transform into a Magpie: (Eurasian) magpies are playful in nature, and associated with luck (Magpie counting rhyme I think.) and shapeshifting (which is homage to Lloyd’s heritage as oni/dragon/human and also to the fact that he got aged up). Birds in general are also associated with freedom.

Zane is a Snowy Owl, first of all ICE AND SNOW, guidance (owl) and freedom (bird.) I feel it suits Zane really well. In terms of being a robot and not ‘flesh’, elemental power (canonically) overcomes that. We see he can do anything any other elemental master can do, and asides from that- he functions, thinks and feels like his human counterparts. He can instinctively fly the first time he assumes animal form ^^

Cole is a Weasel, as suggested by my friend. Weasels are strong and clever predators, but not necessarily what you’d expect. (And we tied it to transness. Perhaps Cole is transmasc in this au… hence the ‘not what you expected’. He’s so queer coded. He IS queer…) Their strength mirrors the strength of Cole’s element, and their habitats being forests give them that connection to dirt and earth and rocks and trees.

Jay is a Border Collie; and the first time it happens, everyone is surprised including himself. But this one’s about domesticity, about Jay kinda being underestimated and unassuming. The same way humans have forgone the very real and detrimental dangers of lightening and have utilised it in daily life through controlled electricity, dogs have been domesticated as friendly, loyal and useful animals by forgoing their origin as wolves/wild dogs. I think the attributes of a dog suit Jay really well; he is loyal to his team, strong and comforting, but he’s still fierce and powerful.

Kai is an Ocelot; which are usually found in rainforests though can live in hotter and drier climates (I believe.) as long as there is foliage. The connection to the rainforest here is about his heritage from both parents; yes he’s the master of Fire but he’s also the son of a Water master- hence, somewhere hot and humid; a rainforest. Ocelots are good swimmers- so by instinct, when he’s an ocelot, Kai can swim; I like to think the elemental magic overcomes his fear of water but this doesn’t get carried over to his human form. Again kinda a testament to the strength of nature itself. I’m also gonna say it ☝️I personally imagined Kai to be trans aswell (EVERYONE IS TRANS?!/j/silly) and whilst male ocelots are uninvolved in the raising of young, female ocelots do raise their young alone which I view as a testament to the way Kai raised Nya alone.

Ray is decidedly surprised when he sees his son as an Ocelot; Ray himself is a Sable Antelope- which lives in the grasslands/savanna and is quite big and strong (with huge horns), so he thought that considering his son inherited fire from him, he’d be a bigger savanna animal as opposed to a smaller rainforest predator.

Nya is a Strawberry Poison Dart Frog! Which is testament to her being underestimated a lot as well!! At first, even she rejects the idea that she has the form of a small (smallest on the team!) amphibian- but she grows to find advantages in it (I imagine maybe spy work…). Bright colours usually have ‘girly’ associations- especially pinks and reds- but in this case, they’re a symbol of lethality. She’s small but deadly; unsuspecting but you shouldn’t underestimate her. She’s also a rainforest animal for the same reasons as her brother!! A connection to both water and fire- heat and humidity.

As some trivia, Maya is an otter! Eurasian, specifically- found more in temperate forests, cooler environments.

Wu is an Eurasian Owl. Big. Wise. Do I need to say more?

And Garmadon is a Hare. This is. This is based off a vibe but there’s also that aspect of kinda innocence turned dangerous? He’s a son of the FSM, but there’s something not right about him; he’s not a rabbit- with it’s childish and soft associations- he’s a hare with its strength, and maybe an association with child abandonment.

Bonus!! Skylor is a Spotted Hyena, where Spotted Hyena societies are very harsh environments, especially if you’re a male hyena (I view Skylor as transfemme so…). Hyenas are also clever and powerful scavengers and hunters, which often get a bad reputation as crude animals- something I think suits Skylor really well in the way she was introduced; the mistrust against her, the environment she was raised in.

Bonus #2!! Morro is a Cuckoo bird because of this cool characteristic called ‘Brood Parasitism’ where (usually a bird) an animal will leave their young in the care/nest of another animal and let that animal raise their young instead of doing it themselves. Morro was abandoned and Wu raised him ^^ Also birds and wind? Yeah you get it. I feel the colours (greys) also suit Morro quite well.

By instinct, the first few times Lloyd utilises his animal form (I like to imagine they learn to assume them at an age of elemental maturity? Maybe 13, at which point, they have all their animal’s instincts), he cannot fly by instinct because he got aged up prematurely. This leads to Wu teaching Lloyd how to fly and I find this adorable.

But yeah!! That’s. That’s it. I’m OBSESSED thinking about this so much.

[natsuki208]

I just saw DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot! 🤖 🦊 🐦

Tagging: @rascalentertainments (spoiler free too)

———

I heard a LOT of people calling this film a masterpiece and it finally got me curious to see it for myself. And you know what? They were right!

The animation is certainly no surprise, being somewhat similar to ‘The Last Wish’ and it makes the environments of the movie much more pretty. The score is so well done too, and I’m already hooked to the vocal theme in the middle of the film.

As for the characters, I’m already a sucker for the humble robot types who go pass their programming, so Roz immediately grew on me since her first scene. The fox is kinda like if Nick Wilde weren’t anthro but he has his own set of differences to make him stand alone. Brightbill was just adorable too with his robot mannerisms he picked up from Roz growing up.

After I think about it, this movie gives me a lot of ‘Leafie: A Hen into the Wild’ vibes. And if you’ve seen that movie and this one, you’ll understand.

The only two cons I may have on this movie is, like everyone else, was expecting this to be more of a silent film (like Wall-e) or at least have only Roz and other robots do the talking. Not that I don’t like it that the animals talk but still (at least it’s done better here than Wish). And lastly, the pacing does feel a little too fast for my taste. It kinda rushes through a few scenes and not really giving them time to breath, if you know what I mean.

Overall, I really enjoy this movie a lot and might be rising to the top of my Dreamworks best list. I most likely might see it again soon for best robot mom and fox dad. ^^

[fishuus]

i guess this is a rec list of stuff i liked in 2024?? no particular order, i just wanted to yak about some things i had a good time with.

bang brave bang bravern: maybe this isn't a legit comparison but i keep thinking of it as "what if samurai flamenco had a significantly tighter story (tomokazu sugita is also there)". if you like giant robots, you might like this. if you like a completely straight-faced commitment to the extremely funny bit of contrasting hard military scifi with the absurdity of classic giant robots, you might like this. if you're interested in sugita playing a robot who's a bottom, and also there's a lot of gay shit and the earnest power of true love, you might like this!

digimon story cyber sleuth & hacker's memory: a really fun set of turn-based jrpgs. cyber sleuth took me a while to warm up to (the localization could be better, to put it generously), but i came to enjoy its slightly offbeat sense of humor. hacker's memory, otoh, i loved from the start. it does a great job showing how cyber sleuth's story beats happened in parallel while still keeping the focus on a fantastic new cast and their own plotlines. the first game is a more standard digimon story about saving the world, while hacker's memory widens the perspective and shows a bit of the systems at play in the background. just a super satisfying game on every level for me.

shin godzilla: personally i love logging off work and my many meetings and watching a movie about a guy who has to go to even more meetings. i'm kidding, this was really fun (on account of all the meetings). i'll get to his kamen rider and ultraman movies too at some point.

gilgamesh (gardner & maier, also the david ferry version): paying my respects to the original yaoi 🫡

judgment: i wanted to try a rgg game without committing to playing 8 of them in order. turns out this is a perfect standalone game. it's such a tightly written story and character study, and it's really fun to play. kimutaku is so good at playing yagami so low-key, so tamped down, that when he explodes you really feel how angry he's been all along. the english cast is also great -- i enjoyed greg chun's take on yagami as well. (i played lost judgment too but wasn't quite so high on it. alas)

siren: watched sgf's excellent lp and loved this horror stealth game. the motion-capture work for the faces is a pretty cool workaround for the rendering limitations at the time while adding to the off-kilter vibe. i'm also a huge sucker for when studios lean into mixed media and use photos of real props (magazines, IDs in wallets, letters, etc) in their games. the story is kinda obtuse – and literally requires you to read extra official content to get some of the answers – but for something with such vague, stilted cutscenes with equally vague and stilted dialogue, especially with the added layer of a classic ps2-era english dub, i became attached to the entire cast stuck in this extremely bleak and scary scenario. i guess the best way i can sum it up is that it's a game that knows exactly how to play you.

digital devil saga 2: finished right before the world is actually set to end in 2025 in the game lol. it's so good!! i'm grateful that even after all this time, i managed to go into this mostly blind, because the way the plot reveal recontexualizes so much about the first game and the absolute rank relationship dynamics between some of the characters just blew me away. probably has some of my favorite character designs of all time, and i also think it's sooo fun to play thanks to my having turn-based long jrpg brain sickness. such an all-timer of a duology.

nine sols: i'm still not done with it on account of it being a parry-focused metroidvania and me sucking shit at both platforming and parrying, but it's great! it feels so confidently produced, kinda wild considering how different it is from their previous two games, devotion and detention (both of which i also highly recommend). the art and design work are beautiful, and i'm really enjoying how bleak the plot is. you can tell they made two horror games before this lol. i also love story mode. thank you, story mode.

風林火山韻雷 -bring it back-: lmao. anyway, it's a super fun song and mv that packs in everything i like about akyr (mixing traditional with modern both in the song and the imagery, high energy, everyone's great ofc but takayuki kondo especially killing it with that bridge, akyr making aggro songs about murdering their enemies).

[zahri-melitor]

Batman v Ra's Al Ghul, by Neal Adams: A Bronze Age fever dream of a comic, written in 2019-2021.

Neal Adams caps off his over 50 year career with DC comics by...them letting him write a book for the first time in a decade.

Now, Adams is famous for his Bronze Age artwork, not his writing, and it's deservedly so: this is not the comic you would pick up if you were interested in award winning writing. But I have to say, it's actually something far more fun than 'good writing'.

I think the easiest way to describe the incredibly wild vibes of this title are 'Adams writes a multiverse Bronze Age time travel AU fic', where the cast technically consists of a modern set of characters (Dick is Nightwing and both Tim and Damian are Robin), but all of the characters are drawn, talking and acting like they just walked off a page in 1974 or so.

For assistance, that's: Dick in the yellow with the very 70s black vest; Tim in the blue t-shirt; Damian in the red t-shirt; and Bruce in the suit. You end up keeping track of them in this title by their haircuts.

Bruce and Damian here cannot remember anything about being Batman and Robin; Dick and Tim appear to have shown up with a fantastical story that cannot be proven (as I said, this has INCREDIBLE reality hopping AU vibes).

Some of the characters have been mindwiped. Some of the characters are robot duplicates. A whole list of characters Adams helped create show up largely because he created them (seriously Kirk and Francine Langstrom show up for a couple of pages mostly to give Dick and Tim an airlift into a difficult to reach entrance to the Cave). Nobody sounds particularly in character at any point, but that's not really a problem in this comic, because what it really is is a giant jolt of Bronze Age style writing nostalgia direct to the brainstem.

They don't make comics like this anymore and reading one written in the 2020s like this reinforces why.

Deadman's brother Aaron and sister Zeea show up; his brother is busy pretending to be an alternate Australian version of Batman called Marvin O'Hearn, and his sister is a psychic running around in the most 70s outfit imaginable controlling things and mindwiping Bruce on Ra's orders.

(And yes, if you too just asked 'Boston Brand has siblings???' the answer is 'kinda sorta but definitely not these two', however given Adams was writing Boston in 1968 at one point he's got as much right as anyone else to claim there are additional siblings)

There's a group who PRETEND to be the Court of Owls but secretly are a group of industrialists called The Money who want to control the world via paying for legislators, judges and industry (and yes I realise that sounds exactly like the Court's thing, but Adams was almost 80 when he wrote this, he can have an expy Court if he wants one).

Bruce pretends to be Matches for a good chunk of the back end of this comic and it actually acknowledges that Matches Malone was a real gangster before he died and Bruce stole his identity (something other writers and the fandom often forget), because Adams wants one more spin with the character he designed.

There's also a moment in the sixth issue where one of Ra's pet scientists tries to sell a panel of Gotham execs on a perpetual motion machine based on electrolysis as his replacement for the current Gotham power generators and at this point I lost it giggling at the portrayal of Ra's as a cheap charlatan.

(There is also a sneaky joke that only works if you know what British salad cream is; there's this sequence of the kids talking about Alfred making sandwiches with 'crappy salad dressing' instead of mayonnaise, only this tray has been made with mayo...and it's a hint that Alfred has been replaced by a robot. I laughed; I suspect it might be non-obvious to American audiences)

This is not a comic to read if you are interested in 'main continuity' or 'coherence' or even 'good writing'. However if you want some wild antics that feel like someone's 3am fanfic AU written in pure Bronze Age vibes and to see the last work of one of Ra's Al Ghul's creators? Give it a chance. You'll never be able to predict what's on the next page.

[simp999]

I feel this is cringe but it itches the back of my mind like no other… since it’s late 60s early 70s in tf2, mercs reaction to there being a new recruit who is a female pilot? I’m sorry if this sounds like? Hyper specific ? But she’s like hot biker/pilot bitch who is like the epitome of Cool Girl (tm) flared ripped jeans and tight tank tops yk?

GOING INSANE OVER THIS ITS SUCH A COOL IDEA

I'm so sorry about how long it took to make this and how short it is, I'm trying to do all my requests in order of what I received em ww

TF2 Mercs x Badass Fem Pilot! Reader Headcannons

Wc: 730

Themes: uhh Fluff? Romantic and platonic depends on character

A/N: Sniper bias whoop

A/N 2: okay so. I try to stray away from fem reader stuff but this THIS is a complete exception because I love the idea sm

Taglist: @emotionally-alive-sniper @moopy-milk @skeleton-stomper-xoxo @emotionallyunwellmedic @physically-robotic-medic

Masterlist

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Scout: 

-God,, he is immediately in love with your style and vibes.

-Yes, in a simpery way

-Will absolutely fumble on words and flirt miserably

-"Hey girl are you a pilot cause uh you’re really cool"

-Absolutely will find clothes that he thinks suits your style and be your #1 hypeman 

Soldier:

-Wants to touch all the buttons

-"SHOW ME YOUR MEDALS!!!!!!"

-Does respect the effort and time you’ve put into training definetly. But is always asking you to prove yourself

-Okay you can pilot but can you do 30 pushups. Right here right now.

Pyro:

-Doesn’t think of you any differently if you’re female

-A new cool friend!!

-Just an adorable little goober. Okay maybe they get to sit in the front sometimes

-Loves loves loves making drawings of you and them and planes!!!! And clouds

Heavy: 

-Protective older brother.

-He is SO overprotective of you. You remind him too much of his sisters.

-You’re strong just like them but,, it’s just scary, y’know? He misses them

-Often just kinda chills around- and won’t stand for ANY harassment or anything rude. AHEM spy AHEM

-And the clear bias for you? It’s honestly funny at times

-He definetly makes you sandviches and just. Silently takes care of you

Engie:

-Rocket boosters for the planes. He’s gonna bring it up on multiple occasions

-Makes you little plane trinkets out of wood and stuff!! Pyro paints them :]

-Is so interested in infodumping about mechanical stuff with you- he’s glad he has somebody that just. GETS HIM yknow?

-If you need someplace to go chill away from the chaos that the mercs usually bring, the workshop’s your go-to. Late night convos are the best with this man

Demo:

-Roughhouses!!

-Treats you like one of the guys

-Respectfully ofc but. You’re getting noogies

-Will be offering you beer n stuff, he treats you like a really good friend

-Lives for your vibes

-He thinks you’re so badass!! Hell yeah!!!

Medic:

-Kay so. You probably had to go through lots of training right?? So!;

-Rivalry for first aid.

-Hear me out

-Everyone all of a sudden wants you to help make them feel better when they get small injuries because of the one time you mentionned you had to do a buttload of first-aid courses

-So. Lots of who can make it to the scene and get (injured person) back on their feet the quickest

-Does ask you if you’ve ever expirinenced or witnessed anything wild- such as big crashes, and how people dealt with the situations

-Loves your stories despite pretending to hate you- it’s just a friendly rivalry!

Sniper:

-He’s not one to really apprach you, but he does definetly admire you from a distance.

-He thinks you’re too cool for him :( 

-But eventually one day, you’ll ctach him stargazing- and you’d have the amazing idea of bringing him for a ride just the two of you so that you can see the stars

-.God maybe he just fell in love I MEAN WHAT????? ANYWAys

-He LOVES stargazing with you!!

-You get to tell eachother stories and it’s overall really calming- a nice from the hectic mercenary life

-He also happens to know a fair bit about constellations, so he’ll infodump unconsiously if you let him :) 

Spy:

-Spyyyy… dislikes your ideals, and has traditional values

-Not a fan of the way you hold yourself, but will eventually warm up a bit

-Im sorry,, I just don’t like Spy aheh anyways

-You probably end up showing off your skills- not of purpose though, just- you seen a natural at what you do, and that’s when he sees that maybe there’s a reason you’re such a big deal

(Bonus!) All:

-They all fight over who gets to sit in the passenger seat. Some are more civil about it, for example Engineer or Heavy- but they still want to sit in the front for their own reasons. You may have walked into the room only to find all the mercs fighting iver who’s calling shotgun for the next ride.

“I AM GOING TO PRESS ALL THE BUTTONS!”

“NO WAY CHUCKLEFUCK, I’M SITTIN’ NEXT TA THE HOT CHICK!”

“No. Heavy will sit next to pilot for protection. Is only fair.”

“Ya’ll- I have some things I’d like to see up close in the cockpit, I think I should be next.”

“Mmhhph!!!”

.

.

.

Sep.20.23

[aroacesetitoff]

Infinight Interns Reference Sheet + Headcanons

Bartholomew Finn

-Vest of Slow Descent-i made it green based off his canon design and then gave it "feathered" hems to allude to its ability

-pre-Draconic Transformation Bart-gave him silver jewelry and the only draconic traits are gold freckles, fangs, and shorter horns

-post-Draconic Transformation Bart-gold jewelry to match with his dad (Simsun), and of course claws and scales and larger horns

-boatswain's call whistle-a reference to the Jebediah + Capt. Marge

-gave him the thigh dagger sheath-cause why not. I think Bart's that character in movies that has a shit ton of knives hidden in the most improbable places

-he's got a 17 string lute, but lets be honest i aint drawing 17 strings. painted a wave design on the body and the soundhole/rosette has a dagger design

-Breath Diagem/lute pick ftw

-scars on his hands (from doing hot boi sailor shit)

-not shown but i think he's got a bunch of tattoos (like "I <3 Mom" for Marge, flowers for Gum Gum, crossed anchors, etc.)

-pupils are slitted like dragons and a very dark shade of blue

Kyborg the Mighty/Kydelius of Everwinter

-Fun Fact: i used to do archery! so some of his gear is based off of stuff I had. But you know cooler

-Canonically his hair pretty loose, and its pretty but my god its gonna get caught up in his bowstring man. braided/tied it back for practicality

-thigh highs. no notes

-gave him an armored version w/ fur because his current design didn't feel like Everwinter-y enough

-its not terribly visible but he has the Belt of Sick Trick so i put a bird on it (vaguely Tony Hawk reference)

-the Longer Bow Krystallina-gave it a snow fall design + red accents

-scars from archery, since this guy shoots barebow

-the left (flesh arm) side is the most armored and unscarred, and the right (metal arm) side is scarred + unprotected (bc u know its metal)

-pupils are really dark shade of red as a reference to the Source Diagem

-metal arm-i took an anatomy class not a robotics one, so the structure is based off human musculature (kinda) and i put the Source Diagem in his shoulder instead of his hand

Gum Gum Galindor

-star boi 🌟

-constellations on the inside of the brim of his hat that Bart sewed for him-(Bart's a sailor, he knows his constellations)

-the flowers (orange @ blue) on his hat represent him & Bart. The orange ones bigger bc u know thats his big bro right there

-the hoodie+pauldron+cross body strap combo is a direct copy of Bart's design bc thats what younger siblings do u know

-made the patches to repair his coat stars bc why not

-Random Axe of Kindness-the cute lil heart does not detract from the fact that its an axe

-timeskip design i went for a gardener vibe bc he works in the Orchidnage now-i think despite having the worst dad of the group, Gum Gum would be a pretty good father figure

-Staff of Flowers-i wanted to reference Dia w/ this one so I tried to have this be the most colorful part

-Bart pierced his ears at one point

-i gave him constellation freckles that showed up post Dia reveal

-he has his manacles yeah but i wanted to design friendship bracelets for the rest of the team

-Mudd's-green thread with pink & white flower beads-the charm is Gumbo

-Bart's-leather cord with blue & gold beads and an anchor charm

-Kyborg's-brown leather cord, green beads, and a red arrow charm

-made his pupils a lighter shade of blue that glows when he uses Wild Magic

-edit: lots of scars, some from fighting, a lit from just tripping and shit. Also a dog bite from that one time

Mudd Bramblecrack

-i love him but it was so hard to come up with a design

-the pink streak keeps moving bc im inconsistent and also bc he has to redye/cut his hair constantly

-the "fur" cloak is the Cloak of the Secluded Garden, and its actually pine leaves & grass

-gave him a very simple tunic w/ a bramble design bc we would try to disguise his noble bg

-i put Mudd in a kilt bc i have free will and also he's Scottish. I dont think he would ever wear one unless for formal occasions tho bc i think they take a while to put on

-Gumbo :) + badger armor -this ones very specifically inspired by Lonna Bowstripe from the Redwall series

-originally had the purple gems on his tunic, made em earrings instead bc thats cooler

-Bramblecrack signet (?) ring-also the Virtues Diagem. Both this and his earring are purple bc its an ace reference (for me). The ring is definitely an ace reference bc i made it a black metal and put it on his right middle finger (ifykyk)

-pink paw pads + talons-less of a firbolg thing, more of a Moon Druid thing

-eyes are a rlly dark shade of green but glow a brighter shade when Wildshaping

-pupils are a rlly dark shade of purple (Diagem ref) and also horizontal like cows

Okay I think that's everything. If not ill just come back and edit it 🤷. working on the OG Infinights next so stay tuned or whatever

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

DreamWorks's "The Wild Robot" and TADC episode 3 review

Okay I'm glad I can squeeze two reviews into one so I have a lot to talk about! Let's start with the new DreamWorks movie, The Wild Robot. It came out last week and I highly recommend seeing it if you haven't already! DreamWorks deserves it right now, plus I like that the movie was creative (despite being based off a book) kinda made fun of AI, a bit. Well, the other robots and machines were the villains of the movie but Roz, the main robot who lived in the wild got in touch with nature and they tried to show a "nature is more powerful than machines" message which I liked. According to my friend, they left out a squirrel character called Chitchat and that's disappointing, but my favorite character was Fink the fox, he was so funny and had a personality that matches what a real fox is like. I like how the animal characters had personalities based on the animals they were, which is good. I love that movie and I love the mother-son type of story. We need more mother-child type of stories in animated media, but what I really like to see someday is a grandma-grandchild type of story. I hope to see that from DreamWorks one day, especially if the grandma is portrayed as normal and not a silly old lady comic relief, or old and helpless, but still a fun and gentle character.

Also, there's one thing to consider about The Wild Robot movie; don't expect it to be all funny and silly like Flushed Away or the Trolls movies! This one is more emotional and there was more action scenes. There wasn't as many jokes and funny moments for this one, this one was more to tell a story than to make people laugh. I admire them for that honestly, although there were a few little light hearted moments when they were teaching Bright Bill to fly and stuff, don't expect it to be a goofy funny DreamWorks story with clever jokes. This one definitely has more serious vibes, but not too much. The last DreamWorks movie I saw in theaters before this was Trolls 4, and it's definitely not like Trolls 4 at all. I still think this movie is beautiful, I'm just giving you an idea of what to expect. It's a beautiful mother-son type story, not a silly colorful movie with a bunch of clever jokes.

Now for The Amazing Digital Circus episode 3, there's a lot I wanna say! I'll start with the one negative and move onto all the positives. I'll admit I was uncomfortable about the Heaven and Hell thing, I'm very religious. I try to remember that at that point they were still in the digital world, so it's not real Heaven and Hell in that, and I think I went to the bathroom during that scene anyway. My bestie and I watched it together (I get scared easily and there were a few moments I looked away at). However, there's a lot that I enjoyed about episode 3! I'm sure fi you're a TADC fan, you already watched it so I'm not gonna go easy on spoilers. I'll just say it, Martha is so iconic and that part where she tied up Jax when her and Ragatha and Gangle were having tea, that was the best part! LOL Imagine how Jax felt being tied up by that tough Victorian-era ghost baddie! I also thought the moments where Caine tried to be the therapist to Zooble, were funny too. What really got me emotional was the thing between Kinger and his abstracted wife, Queenie. I really hope we get to see a Queenie flashback in the show! (I hope Gooseworx reads my review! ^u^) What really got me was the backstory, and when Kinger was staring at the creepy monster thing and saw abstracted Queenie, he said "You look beautiful, honey" that actually made me cry! I totally ship Kinger and Queenie!

So many couples in media nowadays are always portrayed as sexual, but we don't get to see enough of that true loving romance, especially not in Indie animations! This is a big deal! The Amazing Digital Circus really went all out with this one, they live up to their title as being the AMAZING digital circus! And yes, we need more couples being cute loving romance instead of just being sexually attracted to each other, we need to see the love aspect too. Love and lust are very different, I hate when people confuse the two.

Anyway, these are my thoughts on both! I squeezed two reviews into one and I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments too! Even if you don't agree with everything I said, still let me know your thoughts!

[whentvsfly]

S.E.E.S, but Pokemon. (Kudos to those who can tell who's who without the readmore)

More info after the cut!

Tried to make everyone look like themselves without adding clothing/accessories. More difficult than expected, but a nice challenge!

I imagine either only persona users can use their moves (at all, or effectively, not entirely sure which) or when they use their personas (personamon?) they appear as an altered version of their fully evolved forms. Kinda like the second one better, as a way to use more powerful attacks and keep in theme with Persona games

Tried to keep them with their elemental affinities:

Mitsuru Kirijo: Sneasel. It just had the right vibe for her, and I curled the tail (feathers?) to make it look like her hair (although Akihiko is standing in front of most of them).

Akihiko Sanada: Pawmo. I needed electric type, and with his affinity for boxing and being fit, I figured an electric/fighting type would work well for him! Didn't want to do Pawmi because it wasn't yet fighting type (maybe he evolves sometime after The Fire) and didn't want to do Pawmot because no one else is evolved, so having him be max evolution would feel *weird*.

Shinjiro Arakgaki: Scraggy. A solely phys skill user HAS to be fighting type. There were several choices for him - Mankey was one, I believe - though something about Scraggy's appearance made me go with it.

Minato Arisato / Makoto Yuki: Castform (Sunny). I like to make the wild cards pokemon with several forms, or the ability to transform in some way. His 'base' form in Tartarus is Sunny, since Orpheus has fire attacks, but he shifts with whatever element he's using.

Yukari: Ducklett (Shiny). She was just going to be normal ducklett, but then I remembered the shiny was pink, and it makes her more 'special' and talk of the school, so I decided that's fine haha. Flying is the wind equivalent, here, so it was hard to Not make her some sort of bird. It works though, I think!

Junpei Iori: Charcadet. Needed a fire type, and charcadet seemed spunky enough to be him, out of the ones available. After Chidori [redacted], his personamon changes from an Armarouge-equivalent to a Ceruledge-equivalent.

Fuuka Yamagishi: Psy attacks don't exist in p3, though they do in p5, who I also already pokemoned, but Psychic still fits both psy attacks and navi abilities, so I'll let them overlap. She was able to avoid being killed in Tartarus for 10 hours, so she would have been using teleport to keep herself safe, as well as other psychic moves to detect where shadows lurked. Wanted a pokemon not usually known for attacking, to fit more with the navi role.

Aigis: Iron Valiant. Another phys-heavy user, so I wanted fighting type, and Iron Valiant happened to be just that. Looks like Gallade/Gardevoir (*is* Gallade/Gardevoir but in the future/ an alternate dimension?) but is also distinctly Robotic. Luckily most people pin the oddness about her as 'why is she fully evolved and in highschool' rather than 'hey, that's not a pokemon I know, what the hell'.

Koromaru: Houndour (Albino). There are not too many fire/dark pokemon, to go along with Koro's fire/curse attacks, and one of them just Happened to be a dog. I had to. I also made up an 'albino' coloration, based off of real albino dogs. If shiny, as a genetic mutation exists, then others can as well!

Ken Amada: Dedenne. Very similar to Koro, there are exactly two (2) pokemon that are electric/fairy, as I equate bless to fairy type, and one of those was a legendary. So Ken is Dedenne. It oddly works out, since he looks up to Akihiko, and they're both small, rodent pokemon (who happen to be their pkmn generation's equivalent of pikachu :P)

I have Many more thoughts on this crossover, if anyone wants to talk about it! I have a few more P3 characters planned out (Strega, pharos, ryoji, nyx avatar), P4's Investigation team, and P5's Phantom Thieves, though I need to actually Draw them all.

[abigail-the-bagel]

So I watched The Wild Robot today

Overall, beautiful movie. Plot felt kinda predictable, but so well done. It didn’t feel like ‘oh, here we go’ but more ‘oh, this is the only way forward, isn’t it’ and I appreciate that. Sometimes you need something you can see where it’s going, it’s kinda comforting. This is definitely a comfort movie for me now. Also it was so funny in places while also having a lot of weight to what would be happening at the same time I want it again. I must watch again.

Characters were so wonderful too, they felt so real and I like how I understood exactly where characters were coming from and why they were hurt and acting/reacting in a certain way, but no one was really framed as evil for being in the wrong. But also having characters were absolutely being called out and had to apologise when they did something messed up? We need more of both and dreamworks I thank you.

Music was absolutely amazing, shout out to the brilliant Kris Bowers who wrote it. It kinda reminded me of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron when there were Songs Playing During Significant Montages (tm). Stupidly beautiful music during very emotional moments got me crying in a cinema in public and I love and hate that.

But oh my goodness. The animation.

THE ANIMATION.

I absolutely adore the animation style DreamWorks has been moving towards recently, it’s just absolutely breathtaking. I wasn’t keen on it in Puss in Boots and the Last Wish because it felt a bit jarring, switching to a very different vibe compared to the first Puss in Boots movie, but here?

Utterly in love.

The landscapes, the characters, their movements, some of the scenes were just so beautiful I wanted to cry. Ignore the fact that I did. It was one of those movies where you could pause anywhere and it would feel like you paused on a masterpiece.

My jaw was literally on the floor for most of that film.

Mutuals better watch out because I will be going crazy over this movie in my other blogs.

[greenplantlizard]

drive 1-6, type ZERO, type TV-KUN & 7-9!!!

starting off things with kind of a long post lol, had some free time today (also drive's where rider series really start having a million bonus dvds and specials and such so look forward to like two or three bullet points on a secret mission Type WHATEVER every few episodes :D)

one day, exactly 108 robots showed up and started causing an almighty ruckus through the power of time slow (kinda) until they were stopped by a mysterious guy and his army of toy cars

six months later,,, deep in the terrifying world of The Cops, a detective with a trauma meets a talking fashion accessory and starts on a mission to kill all robots as KAMEN RIDER DRIVE!!!

also he has a car instead of a motorbike, hold your gasps

my dinner based apocalypse

oh boy that's backstory

HAHA OH MY GOD THEY REALLY ARE JUST LIL TOY CARS HUH

anyways, my man has one hell of a car, and he's definitely completely fine yes definitely not slacking off as a coping mechanism nooo

ah i see we're going for more goofy here :)

this belt has a smooth voice

wow that's,,, some headgear and backpacks youse have here

friendly small car

your usual spider and bat motif

it's now time to DRIVE!!!

oh he fast, the spiritual successor to tokusou exceedraft (aka that metal heroes show where a bunch of cops end up fighting satan)

i feel like im pretty neutral on tire changes as a gimmick, like,, it's ok, nothing wrong with it

funky spike

holy fucking shit that's a rider kick

secret department of the special department

BECOMING a belt? what could he mean by that

both of them are using the traffic lights wrong

"both of you may have come from the same source" - ah shinnosuke's seen kamen rider before,,,,

kiriko would have become a kamen rider but management ain't ready for that yet

heart and brain

when shinnosuke finds a clue, he can enter the Detective Dimension to put the clues together

from now on im imagining him doing some kinda ace attorney gimmick in his brain

bringing a new meaning to "looks maxing" (i refuse to write that out properly)

catch me evolving

this car jumps like a mario

tire change that gives you some kind of rack to dry your dishes on

AN EBOY IS HERE

no time to worry about that, there's a guy out here turning people into lugi's mansion ghosts

shinnosuke appreciates the importance of rest

hmmmm, weird artist guy

y'know what, nearly being turned into a paint ghost would be a traumatic experience yeah

"there's no telling what power it could weild!" i mean he has big tubes of paint on him so i wonder what kind of powers he could possibly have

the natural enemies, paint and casinos

horrifying visuals on that finisher

why hello machine chaser

"GUN!" cracks me up

proto drive huh

gotta love going to the office with the information pervert

oh my god they're both roidmudes aren't they

the insistence on making everything come out of the tires leads to some very odd weapons i kinda love it

first rider battle!!! kinda, i guess machine chaser isn't officially a 'rider' but like close enough right

drive trying to quip so hard but no

this guy thinks he's so slick

i need to hear more about these toy cars' internal lives

steering sword has train slash vibes

starting to feel like this guy has no idea what avant-garde means

OH GOD THE DIMENSION CAB'S ABILITY IS EVEN MORE HORRIFYING

what if big monster that punches you

belt with trust issues

just some friendly philosophical debates with chase

wait he drinks explosives?

unfortunately shinnosuke is too weird and crappy today to become type wild

what's a little neurotoxin between friends

lmao i was also gonna ask if mr belt was referring to himself in the third person

meanwhile the special crimes unit takes down some corruption or something i guess

that head tilt, did chase internalise that?

type wild is certainly a kind of design

god i love the people acting like they're being attacked in slowmo

ah, our obligatory cgi vehicle battle

"so rinna's been our mechanic the whole time :)"

i wanted to wait a bit before watching episode 0, because it was released after the start of the series, so i figured it'd be best to watch it after the show itself has had a chance to set up the global freeze and the mysteries surrounding it

neo shade huh??? like the guys from kamen rider g?

this guy is some kind of batman villain

aw yea, it's gonna be proto-drive time

saying "let me down" while fuckoff feet in the air wasn't your smartest move

luckily protoman proto-drive was there to save you

it's the real one for sure this time :D

and then all the stuff we already saw happened

well that didn't really reveal anything important we didn't already know, not that i was expecting it would, but it was cool seeing proto-drive in action

second special dvd time and we've got someone using the name lupin already!!! the ultimate one, no less

fuck you: steals your toy car

why hello 005 again

but who was lupin,,,,,,, >:)

i do love the interconnectivity we have between all the supplementals material already

anyways, inevitable reporter episodes

yeah you can smash a steel beam into those load bearing columns and be fine

ok the photo gimmick is pretty cool

ah yes the other one is cobra isn't it, because of course it is it was that or scorpion

just once i want to see kamen rider do their "original monster reference" theming but throw a sarracenia in there

mr belt really said hey you tried dodging, idiot?

the mystery grows

jun loves a little ankle action

kamen rider monsters love their bizarrely specific modus operandi, ever since kuuga,,,

i think door gun is the perfect name actually

chase is definitely the most interesting part of this so far

i think the kids would say shinnosuke's first attempt to use type technic shows negative aura,,, or something

some riders are born cool, some riders become cool, and some have coolness thrust upon them

type wild actually looks kinda cool to me when i can only see it from the chest up, fun fact

ohohoho he's becoming soft!!! :D

oh my god and i thought type wild was certainly a design,,,, i was right, however, type technic was a fucking CHOICE

like???

my elizabethan ruff hello

OH MY GOD WHY DOES TRIDORON TYPE TECHNIC LOOK LIKE THAT

THE AWFUL GRABBER

A CRAB?

*hits you in the face with a 10-ton weight*

next time, a once in a lifetime opportunity to star in a movie alongside a god?

[bookish-afrolatina]

Small But Mighty Book Recs

Looking for something small but mighty? Here are 3 novellas I read in January 😉

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Wow! This book is really beautiful. It’s slow-going, at first, because we need space to get to know Dex and their world. I think that the conversations between Dex and Mosscap hit this wonderful cross-section between humorous, reflective, emotional, and grounding.

There are so many quotes that I loved but I think the message that affected me the most was about purpose. I’m not gonna share what exactly, as I don’t wanna spoil it for y’all!

Also a heads-up, the adventure with the robot doesn’t begin until halfway through the book so you’ve gotta be patient! This is the first in a series.

The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

This is a mysterious & kinda cute YA speculative fiction book. It has a sort of steampunk vibe & takes place in a version of the U.S. where the Confederacy doesn’t lose the war. However, this is done well as it imagines New Orleans as even more connected to Haiti & Yoruba gods. The MC is headstrong which is always needed in an adventure like this. Her story is filled with spy craft, powerful women, & love of her city.

I enjoyed this book but would have loved a bit more character-building for the MC. The audiobook narrator also pronounces New Orleans differently than I’ve heard natives say it. This was distracting, at times.

In the Shadow of the Fall by Tobi Ogundiran

I am hooked!In The Shadow Of The Fall is a story about belonging, secrets, and faith. Despite this being so short, I felt fully immersed and invested in Ashâke’s journey. She has longed to be with her peers as a priestess and feels like something must be wrong with her if the orisha have yet to contact her. The pacing of this book starts off a little bit slow, builds some intrigue and then picks up speed towards the end. I’m assuming that is because the second book is meant to bring the action. I’m ready for that!

I highly recommend this book to everyone!

[loz-chainsofcorruption]

For the playlist, what about…

The Code by Nemo for Wild—same vibe, man

Problems by Mother Mother could work for Legend

Pompeii by Bastilie for Wild (The Calamity and the destruction it brought)

Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for the Chain as a whole

Pretender by AJR for… really, whoever you want to angstify (there’s this really good fic with an autistic Legend that I love, called something along the lines of “Your heart is confusing”)

Trees by Twenty One Pilots for Twilight (dusk)

Lost Boy by Ruth B. for Hyrule (if it hasn’t already been suggested that is)—works for Wild as well

Mouth of the River by Imagine Dragons kinda reminds me of Wars

Bullet by Saint Motel for Wild (I have a lot of Wild ones apparently)

Amnesia Was Her Name by Lemon Demon for, you guessed it, Wild

It Comes Back to You by Imagine Dragons for Wild during his adventure (why do I have so many Wild ones)

Life in Color by OneRepublic for Wind, Wild, and Hyrule

I Lived by OneRepublic for Legend talking about Hyrule, or maybe Time to Twi?

I am Not a Robot by Marina and the Diamonds for Legend

Shut Eye by Stealing Sheep for Four (like the only song I could find that fits him)

Rise by Katy Parry for Hyrule, Legend, Sky, and just the hero’s spirit, really

I’m Gonna Win by Rob Cantor for Wars

How Far We’ve Come by Matchbox Twenty as a nod to all those doomed Hyrules (The Calamity, the one that was flooded, the Downfall… maybe even Hyrule’s if you want a truly angsty fic prompt); also the whole chain in a bittersweet fic where they have to leave each other at the end

Curses by The Crane Wives for… well, the first bit could be for Sky, but really this song fits the Zeldas throughout the games (Canary in a Coal Mine by the same band is great for BotW/TotK Zelda to)

Harness Your Hopes by Pavement for… honestly I don’t know; this song is an enigma, but somehow feels very Link without objectively being like Hero or something???

Ok, the last few aren’t really for the chain specifically, but still. Sorry if this is a lot, I basically just scrolled through my music library and picked out all the ones that remained me of the chain. Hope you like these! :)

To help with length, my response is under the cut!

Oh The Code is super catchy >:o OH THIS IS FUN! OPERA AND RAP?? There's so much happening in this song? It's fantastic?? Added to the Chain's playlist actually bcuz I just , , I feel like it suits so many of them honestly...

Oh Mother Mother has some good stuff. And I see the vision in this one. Added to Legend's!

Pompeii is already in Wild's!

Anon you got good taste all of these have been such good tunes so far. Not only is Can't Hold Us going into the Chain's but it's going into Song's playlist (aka my Tri Force Heroes / Cadence of Hyrule Link LOL) so bonus points HAHA

OH THIS ONE I've got Pretender in Warriors' playlist already actually hehe secret self confidence issues hehe. But I think on second listen I can add it to Legend's (puts on a meaner vibe sometimes then I bet he really means) and Ravio's because. Well. I mean. That's probably pretty obvious HAHA

Trees - hmmm,, good song but.. I'm not quite sure it fits well enough?? I was actually considering Warriors because he let Proxi speak for him in game and almost died in that battle against the Dark Links but like... I don't think it's quite right. But ty!

Holy smokes omw I love this song I love it so much LOST BOY MENTION LETS GOOOO absolutely, yes, yes. Hyrule yes. Also suits Mask so well but not Time so much, so I'll hand it to my sister for her Mask playlist LOL

The second I hit "I'm overboard, I'm self-destructive, and self-important and anxious" I chucked Mouth of the River into Wars' playlist so fast.

I feel like Bullet could go in the Chain's playlist overall 🤔 so I'll do that

Omw these lyrics.. yeah they track for a Lemon Demon song. Added.

Look, look, Wild and Legend are so easy to find songs for so I don't blame you at all. They are leagues ahead of other in the number of songs they've got (though Wars isn't terribly far behind). Anyway I wasn't sure about It Comes Back to You but the more I listened and considered... Yeah. Wild.

I will put Life in Color in Wind's but I'm actually gonna put it in Four's too!

Guhhhhhh good song, man, you have such good taste!! I think... the Chain's. Like. Too each other in general.

GRAHHHHH ANOTHER BANGER!!! Yes for Legend, but also for Wars 💪

Shut Eye - my sister is listening to these with me and she just joked "I wish I had a playlist for Echo's Zelda LOLLLL" ANYWAY. I think I'm actually gonna put this in Hyrule's.

Rise - Okay the way I know this is just the Hero's Spirit in general is the way I'm putting it in my two OC Link's playlists LOL. Into the Chain it goes!

Always with the bangers, anon. We've got similar taste fr. Hyrule, Wars, and Legend for I'm Gonna Win.

Ok as much as I adore Let's See How Far We've Come, it's like .. just ever so slightly too,,, nihilistic isn't quite the right word but whatever that is for them. Like. Accepting that it's over?? If I had a Failed Timeline playlist things would be different LOL

Ohh I love the Crane Wives... I think I'll add this one to Wild's. Echoing where all my ghosts used to be... When this house don't feel like home... Yeah.

The very first line of Harness Your Hopes is immediately so @ Link. I... Will..... Put it in the Chain's.

TYVM FOR THE FANTASTIC SUGGESTIONS!!! I've said it several times but you've got GREAT taste.

[toujokaname]

Game master / Episode 14

Author: Akira

Characters: Aira, Kohaku, HiMERU, Hiiro

"Of course, HiMERU doesn't have emotions such as fear."

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[ Read on my site for a better viewing experience using Ois~su ♪ ]

Season: Winter

Location: Mountain Hut

About an hour later. The second checkpoint in the test of courage showdown, an abandoned house.

Aira: Ahhh, no way no way no way.... I didn't become an idol to get scared like this!

I just wanna go home alreadyyy! Munch on some convenience store food, and catch up on idol livestreams from the safety of my couch!

Kohaku: Yeah... I was real excited 'bout the test of courage and feelin' pumped, but now that I'm settlin' down, it's gettin' kinda spooky...

Even though I've got good night vision, it's gettin' too dark to see anythin'.

HiMERU: Thankfully, the weather is good amidst the misfortune, but when you enter places where the starlight doesn't shine through, it's like blindly feeling your way through the dark.

Aira: This place really has those countryside vibes, with no artificial lights at all. It takes me back to visiting my grandma's place in the past.

Hiiro: Aira's grandmother was from a country called France, right?

Aira: Yeah... It's not as rural as the Amagi Village, but all we had around our house were vineyards for making wine.

I remember hearing what seemed like wolf howls back then, it was super scary.

Kohaku: Now that ya mention it, there ain't any signs of wild animals or insects in this Amagi Village.

Though there's a presence within the buildings, it's likely just the villagers.

Aira: The villagers are kinda creepy too...

It's typical of a backward village, but besides that Takashi-kun who's a Hiro-kun lookalike, everyone else is holed up indoors, not even peeking out.

Hiiro: I think everyone's just cautious because outsiders are rare.

But, I was also concerned about what Oukawa-san pointed out.

Kohaku: Bit late for this, but quit callin' me “Oukawa-san," like I'm some stranger. Kohaku's fine.

Hiiro: Umu. I was also concerned about what Kohakucchi—

Kohaku: I didn't allow ya to go that far?

Aira: Stop! Only I can use that nickname! No stealing!

HiMERU: Fufu. It's scarier when people are silent, so it's helpful to talk even about trivial topics.

Of course, HiMERU doesn't have emotions such as fear.

Kohaku: You some kinda robot or somethin', HiMERU-han?

Aira: I have a theory that HiMERU-senpai's the most scared out of all of us... For some reason, he always hangs back where he can use someone else as a shield, never in the front...

HiMERU: Isn't this the most sensible arrangement? Given that HiMERU lacks the night vision of Oukawa or Hiiro-san, wouldn't he be inadequate to lead the way?

Kohaku: You're always so quick to make excuses...

Hiiro: Hehe. Well, it might be that the lack of signs of wildlife is the villagers' consideration. Maybe they've already removed them so we won't get inadvertently attacked.

But what we should be concerned about more than such trivial discomfort is that the ghost story Mayoi-senpai told us is gradually becoming more believable.

Aira: Yeah... I wanted to believe it was just nonsense to freak us out, but...

We're following the exact route they told us to take.

And yet there are still traces of the staff from the paranormal show, who got caught up in the mysterious phenomena.

Though it's probably all set up by Rinne-senpai and the other scarers... Even at the last checkpoint, there was something like a staff member's notes placed there.

HiMERU: Just like the account told in the notes, we stumbled upon vinyl strings and carvings left by the staff as markers.

Aira: Carvings? Were there really?

HiMERU: There were scratches on a tree made with a knife or something similar. It had dates and names presumably belonging to the staff of the paranormal program carved into it.

Naturally, those dates and names matched the ones in the notes.

Since there's no internet connection in this village, we cannot be sure that people with those names were once real and are now missing.

—Along with other facts that cannot be verified.

Aira: S-So, those notes and everything, they're all just made up by the scarers, right?

HiMERU: Who knows... It seems too elaborate for that.

It's not something that can be done overnight, writing lengthy notes and leaving traces exactly as described.

And the scarers arrived in this Amagi Village at the same time as us. It's hard to believe they had time to prepare for such a test of courage.

Kohaku: Yeah... After arriving in the Amagi Village, Rinne-han and the others were with us the whole time.

Of course, given Rinne-han's status, he might've ordered these preparations from the villagers.

He's always dead serious 'bout havin' his fun, but why go through all this hassle? And even if he did, what'd be the point?

Aira: D-Did he really wanna freak us out this bad?

I bet Rinne-senpai's out there somewhere, laughing away from behind some bushes even now!

Kohaku: Hmm... Even Rinne-han ain't that nasty deep down— Mm?

Aira: W-What's wrong, Kohakucchi? Don't suddenly stop moving, or you'll startle me?!

Kohaku: My bad... Hmm~ Must've just been my imagination.

(I've been feeling strange gazes for a while now... Even if they're the guys tryna scare us, there's too many of them, no?)

(Maybe the bored villagers get a kick outta watchin' the dumbass idols from the city doin' dumbass things?)

Aira: Ugh~! Can we just get this over with already?

This test of courage showdown's just the fourth match, so Matrix isn't even halfway through, right?

It'd be stupid to use up all our energy and strength being scared here. I wanna wrap up the unpleasant work quickly!

Kohaku: Right. In fact, it'd ruin the atmosphere if it gets light in the mornin'. We gotta get through the checkpoints as soon as possible.

HiMERU: Yes. The Amagi Village is smaller than expected, so it's fortunate that there isn't much distance to cover.

HiMERU: (But even that feels slightly offputting.)

(Based on Rinne's previous remarks, HiMERU had predicted that his hometown would be much larger—the size of a nation, even.)

(Has he been carelessly trusting of Rinne's penchant for grandiosity, overestimating its authenticity?)

[ ☆ ]

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[bylightofdawn]

Cannot escape the brainrot

Someone send help. The Tseng/Reeve brainrot is consuming me alive.

I keep thinking about that scene where Reeve is having the lowkey time of his life causing chaos and getting up to tech shenanigans and Tseng tells him to not have too much fun. And then this motherfucker has the AUDACITY to give one of the sexiest one-sided, so fast it's there and gone smirks known to man.

THIS MAN CAN SMIRK. REEVE TUESTI MANAGES TO BREAK THE STOICISM OF TSENG ENOUGH THE MAN SMIRKS AND MAKES JOKES.

I’m not saying Tseng is an emotionless robot. We’ve clearly seen him upset and mourning Zack. And tender with Aerith but who knew the boy had JOKES too?

This brain rot will not leave my head.

Also the shift my shipping has taken in my latest foray into this fandom is wild. Baby!El was all about that Tseng/Reno vibe like pretty much everyone else who were into Turks. Sure, you put a Tseng/Rufus fic in front of me I would read it. There used to be this huge fanfic series which was Reno/Tseng and then Reno/Reeve of all cracky things which has disappeared off the internet sadly. I've been trying to find it but alas, only fic title I remember was something like "Did I scare you?" which is prolly wrong and I cannot find anything online.

So my Turks/Reeve kink is hardly new. Then DoC went through and while I never even finished that game cause it was kinda...bad. I do remember shipping Reeve/Vincent.

But this time around? Somehow I never even considered the amazing not-so-crack ship but actually kinda perfect ship of Reeve/Rufus. Especially in a post FF7. You have Rufus, the corpobaby who decides he knows what's right for the planet because his ego is so huge that he decides he's going to take over his father's empire from the inside out. And Reeve, the hardworking guy seemingly from humble origins whose sheer idealism will not let him rot away in a corpojob and decides to say fuck it after the plate falls and is going to take Shinra down from the inside out.

And then the world ends and Reeve steps up to lead efforts to save the planet and Rufus is secretly funneling him money to run said world-saving organization?? (though I will admit my memory is a little shady on that last part. I think that happened but it could be fandom but what glorious fandom it is.) Also might I present to you Rufus and his two super hyper competent sidekick ship of Tseng/Rufus/Reeve who specialize in keeping his moral compass relatively on the side of good when the capacity to do so much wrong is right there.

SO YEAH, WHAT I AM GETTING FROM MY LATEST DIP INTO FF7 FANDOM IS THAT I HAVE TURNED REEVE TUESTI INTO THE FANDOM BICYCLE IN MY BRAIN. Give me all the Turks + Rufus/Reeve ships please.

[angycryptid]

long ass post of all the media I enjoyed this year!

its a lot so strap in

movies:

Lisa Frankenstien: it came out around valentine's day and I heard NO ONE talking about it. it is defo in my top 10 movies of all time and if you like Heathers the musical and/or horror comedies you should go watch it right now. also besides heathers, it has a lot of the comedy and themes similar to the barbie movie, give it a watch!

Electric Dreams: 1984 scifi rom-com that is entirely avalible on youtube. if you are a Freak about 80s scifi this is the movie for you. Its about a guy who falls in love with the girl who just moved into apartment next door and is too nervouts to aske her out. fortunately his desktop computer becomes sentient and helps him out. Its super silly and cute, also automatic top ten movie for me, i think ive watched it a dozen times.

The wild robot: I'm a sucker for a sympathetic robot enough said

Dr. Strangelove or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb: Love me a cold war era dark comedy. its got an awesome vibe to it, and is kinda just nice for if you're working on a craft project. Everyone in that movie is freaking insane

Alphaville: niche 1965 scifi movie, kinda absurd to watch but i absolutely loved it. It is a french film noir, and it kinda has the vibe of an hour and a half long twilight zone episode, so it is DEFINITLEY not for everyone, but if ur into that stuff give it a chance

Raggedy ann and andy a musical adventure: perfect movie for a cozy night in, its just a fun 70s animated movie, i dont have much more to say than that!

Evil Dead: I finally got my hands on a dvd of the first movie (not evil dead 2, the first one). Besides Cabin in the Woods, probably my favorite version of the 'college students go to a cabin in the woods and get killed' trope. classic horror vibe and just overall fun to watch.

Rockula: can you tell i like horror comedies. Awesome comedy musical with a really fun cast of characters!

Books: (I pretty much just read sci-fi so if you loathe scifi, skip this lmao also i have no other outlet for this so this'll be a lot)

Full Novels

Space Odyssey series - Arthur C. Clarke: I re-read these books this summer because I hadn't been reading for a while! probably my favorite book series, and HAL 9000 is one of my favorite fictional characters ever. No one ever talks about the sequels, just the first one and usually the movie which is such a shame. Its a beautiful story about space travel and the whole peaceful yet scientific and observant vibe resonates with me a lot personally.

I, Robot - Issac Asimov: I've been meaning to get into Asimov's book series for years and I finally just sat down and read this collection. The book was enthralling and kinda felt like a series of thought experiments about robots and AI. plus the reoccurring characters are very fun!

Galapagos - Kurt Vonnegut: One of my mom's favorite authors, and ive been meaning to read some of his books for a while. As a zoology student the way that evolution is used as social theory in this book is very well done, and is a sucker punch for anyone expecting social Darwinism. the third quarter of this book is a bit of a slog, but the ending makes it entirely worth it in my book, and the pacing is super unique due to the narrator straight up spoiling most of the plot for you within the first few chapters.

1984 - George Orwell: I never read it for school but GOD DAMN. this is my favorite book I've read all year and possibly my favorite book of all time. Winston is such a unique yet deeply relatable character (for me, i know i got mental illness shit goin on tho so like whatever). All of the political theory in this book was eye opening and so so so well written, and the final section of the book ripped me into shreds. If you haven't read this book I would sincerely recommend, and it's a tragedy this got watered down to 'hehe literally 1984'

Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir: I'm only halfway through this one but this is such a chill and fun read! The sci-fi concepts are on point too, super fun ideas being brought up. Rocky my beloved. This may be up there with 2001: A Space Odyssey as a comfort book.

-Novellas, short plays, and short stories

I have no mouth and I Must Scream - Harlan Ellison: my favorite short story of all time. Discovered it in Senior year hs when i was going through a lot and it changed me as a person. I revisited it this year (and also played some of the 90s point and click adventure game adaptation) and i holds up just as well if not better. You would be surprised just how much is slammed into an 11 page story, this is my roman empire.

EPICAC - Kurt Vonnegut: read this bc i found out electric dreams was loosely based off it and I wanted more movie. Im now seriously considering getting one of the quotes tattooed. absolutely beautiful

LOKI 7281 - Roger Zelanzy: Wonderful little short story, quite silly honestly.

The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas - Ursula K. Le Guin: My friend recommended this to me as thier favorite short story. Gives off the vibes of one of those short stories you annotate in High school that fucks you up for like a week, good story.

Adam Link - Eando Binder: Short story series about a robot from 1939-42, somehow still deeply relatable.

17776 - Jon Bois: Digital novella about satellites watching football. Started out as a comedy and had me near tears by the end, the sequel 20020 is wonderful too

All Tommorows - C. M. Koseman: kinda the opposite of 17776 vibeswise, starts out as a serious horror novel and ends with a surprisingly uplifting and beautiful message of community

RUR - Karel Capek: Weird and baller play about a robot uprising, named my pet crab after one of the characters

Albums:

White music - XTC: very goofy, upbeat, and synthy pop album. super fun to listen to

Hip to the Javabean - Lemon Demon: super strange, comforting, confusing, and cathartic album to listen too. Lemon Demon is my favorite artist and this is his album that meant the most to me this year. (also if you've never heard it, I'd recommend his album Spirit Phone to anyone)

Wild Planet - B-52s: Very fun album, B-52s are my favorite driving artist and this album is so fun to sing along to. super silly and goofy.

Monarch of Monsters - Vylet Pony: Very good album, only came out 2 weeks ago and ive listened to it 3 times. Super impactful and is cathartic for all of the ugliest emotions inside (yes I found this artist through mlp fansongs, they are peak and i am cringe and free what about it)

Girls Who Are Wizards - Vylet Pony: Super chill album to just vibe out, perfect to draw to.

Starlight Express Soundtrack: Insane musical, the og 1984 soundtrack is super groovy and just fun to listen to.

TV: (I dont watch a ton of tv so this'll be short)

Andromeda: 2000s star trek style show. fun for like 70% of the episode until you think about the implications and then it becomes absolutely insane, like one of the main characters tries to kill like a few hundred children in like episode 3 absolutely wild.

Dungeon Meshi: super comfy tv show, nice to just chill out with. It's like a combo of high fantasy and a cooking show. all the food looks amazing

Malcom in the middle: One of my comfort shows and probably my favorite live action sitcom. Just an absolutely insane family that loves each other.

Bojack Horseman: NEVER BINGE THIS SHOW IN 6 DAYS DEAR LORD. Super good show as long as you actually think about the themes.

if you read all this based as hell