#BOY MECHAS ARE MY SHIT

[24bughours]

Maybe the real gravity falls fanart i made for pride month was the fiddleford watching madoka magica piece i made along the way

[rapidhighway]

"archie bad" fuckin look at this

[welcometoteyvat]

ok very interesting quest in hsr

[deadsetobsessions]

Edit: thank you @tetranationaltortoise for pointing out that the Red Spot is on Jupiter instead of Saturn! Fixed it! You’re not nickpicking, you’re providing very appreciated constructive criticism (and a basic fact check I should have done lol) <3

Danny, as usual, hadn’t meant to become the local cryptid. Local being extremely relative, as his locality in this instance is… space.

He just wanted to have some relaxation time. He just wanted to do some homework, chill on Mars or something, and then call it a day.

This hero business was taxing and Danny took his breaks when he could. Take that, work-life balance! Just kidding, Danny had no work-life balance. His life is a mess and he's overworked.

What was it that Superman had said in that one interview?

“Evil never sleeps."

Apparently, that also meant Danny never slept either.

“Hrk!” Danny snorted awake, looking around wildly at the vast expanse of space to see what woke him.

….

Yeah, that’ll do it.

In front of him, merrily floating through space, is the battered remains of what used to be an asteroid and a mecha that’s a weird combination of Gotham’s vigilante hero, Batman, and Metropolis’ Golden Boy, Superman.

The vibrations of the collision had shaken Danny awake.

Danny got up, baffled as hell and half asleep still. He floated to the giant Bat insignia tumbling around, inching closer as he saw the- oh hell, that’s so cool, it’s a plane!- cockpit and the passed out hero inside of it. Danny clicked his tongue, the sound swallowed by the lack of air.

He shoved the plane closer to earth, passing it to a bewildered (and both beat up and stressed out) Superman, who did a double take at the glowing green boy chucking him the Toy-maker Batplane.

Danny had waved, blinked out of visibility, and had gone back to his nap.

After phasing inside the plane and nabbing a batarang from Batman’s pouch, that is. Danny will consider it payment for the clean up service he’d unwittingly signed himself up for.

And so went the first encounter.

——

The second time he met the so called Big Leagues, Danny had just come back from fighting Dan. He wanted a break, dammit, and if staring at Saturn’s gorgeous rings and gaseous formations helped him sleep better, then that’s what’s going to happen.

Then, a similarly green glowing Green Lantern “landed” to where he was floating curled up. Danny knew about Lanterns. Their council often tried to meddle in his court.

“Hello,” the Ring projected its Lantern’s words to Danny’s head. Danny tilted his head without looking at the Lantern. “I’m John Stewart. What are you doing out here, kid?”

Danny thought this guy had a nice, soothing voice. Powerful, as Latern tended to be, but infinitely kind.

Danny decided that this one wasn’t immediately on his shit list.

“Phantom.” He said, and the Lantern asked him to repeat it as the glow of his ring enveloped the halfa.

“Phantom. Are you lost, Phantom?”

“No, just dead.”

John Stewart paused. “…Dead?”

“I’m a ghost,” Danny raised his hands and phased it through the Lantern’s arm.

“Ah,” the man said, flustered. “Right. So… you’re just…”

“Hanging out.” As he talked to the Lantern, Danny had a rather amusing idea. He rotated himself- turned- towards Jupiter and pointed to the Red Spot. “That’s actually my grave.”

John Stewart paused. “I’m sorry…?”

“My grave. Don’t disturb it. It’s rude,” Danny lied through his sharp ghost teeth. “Your council disturbed my grave the last time they stopped by and it took ages to get it back right.”

The green Lantern shield enveloping Danny flickered as John Stewart went through the five stages of grief. To be fair, the council had last visited this solar system... a couple thousand years ago, so John was no doubt rapidly doing some mental math regarding Danny's age.

“The council disturbed your grave…?”

“Not that they knew it, those pretentious weirdos.” Danny pretended to be offended, just to see the struggle on John’s face as he debated defending the council or telling a dead child their grave didn’t matter. Because Stewart was a hero, he went with the latter.

“I see. I am sorry, on their behalf.”

“Eh, whatever. Just make sure they don’t do it again. So… what can that ring do?”

——

"Hi. Could you not litter in space, please?"

Wonder Woman whirled around, sword out and pointed at Danny.

"A... child? Who are you, child?"

"I'm not a child-! You know what, it doesn't even matter. See that?" Danny waved at the pieces of shattered meteor and smashed up alien tech floating outside of the watch tower. "Littering is not cool."

"How did you get in here?"

"I'm Phantom. This is kind of my neighborhood." Danny let his mouth run, sleep deprived and exhausted. "I'm dead, that's how I got in here. Could you not litter in my backyard, please?"

He had better things to do than cleaning after full grown adult heroes.

"Oh, you are the ghost child Lantern mentioned! I see! My apologies, the clean up will be starting in a bit." Wonder Woman slid her sword back into its sheath.

"Great. Nice meeting you. I'll stick around to make sure you young whipper snappers clean up properly."

With that, Danny sunk into the floor. After a moment's deliberation, he decided to take a nap in the floor vent.

——

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Danny jolted awake once more. Ancients, like mentor, like mentee. Robin stared at him, awkwardly wriggling through the floor vents.

"I'm taking a nap here," Danny grumbled. "What are you doing in the vents?"

"Me? What are you doing in the vents? I'm allowed in here!"

"Wonder Woman knows I'm here," Danny replied. She knows... probably? "I'm Phantom."

"Robin."

"So... what are you doing?"

"Knowledge is power," Robin intoned, clearly imitating the Bat.

Danny stared.

"... You're stalking the JL?"

"Information gathering!"

"Stalking," Danny concluded, ignoring Robin's grumble. "Yeah, okay. If you need help, let me know, I guess."

"I don't need help." Robin paused, tilting his head to the side like a particularly curious bird. "Unless you're up for some pranks? Green Lantern's been getting on my nerves lately."

Danny frowned at him. "I like John Stewart."

"You've met- no, not him, the other one."

"Oh. What do I get out of it?"

Robin reached into his belt pouch and pulled out... a bag of marshmallows? How the hell did that-? Ah, right, hammerspace.

"Oh, wait, can you eat this?"

"I'm dead, not tasteless. I love marshmallows, hand it over. I'll help out."

"Deal."

——

"I swear to god, Spooky, there's something in the walls. It's even creepier than you!"

Batman grunted. He'd stop Robin if he went too far and it started affecting Lantern's abilities on the field, but as far as the Dark Knight was concerned, the Green Lantern had it coming. Robins were vindictive on a good day. If Hal hadn't learned that from Dick, then Jason's retaliation was well deserved.

"Oh, maybe it's the ghost!" Hal said, looking around with his ring glowing.

"I thought John said he was a godling?" Diana polished her sword as she looked on in amusement.

"The boy." Batman grunted. "Not human, his pointed ears and green skin is proof of that. Did J'onn say anything?"

"Not yet."

"Whatever he is, he saved Batman. He's welcome in the Tower," Superman tilted back as his hearing picked up on Robin's and Phantom's snickering.

[infinizero]

Ok so

There is this trope about ghosts not reaching maturity until they've been ghosts for several centuries

There is ALSO the trope that ghosts fight as a sort of way to communicate

With the power of these two tropes combined-- I give you this strange headcanon:

Ghosts become mature adult ghosts after 500 years.

Danny and his usual troublemakers are all in the same "daycare".

He's just the youngest + most unique ghost so they like playing around with him the most. In other words, it's the ghost version of older siblings ordering their younger siblings around

As far as ghosts go,

There are blobs, ghost animals, shades (those are ghosts as we know it) and ghosts (aka Infinite Realms Beings) etc etc

The blobs and etc are, well, blobs and etc

But ghosts need a while to fully grow up and be considered adult

And so, if these ghosts are children, they need guardians or caretakers at the daycare right?

Correct

Baby ghosts are under the care of the nearest authority (Ancient or Leader or etc etc)

Except baby ghosts usually stay near where they were born and Danny and Co just so happen to be near Pariah Dark

Pariah Dark is asleep

But Fright Knight is there!

Except Fright Knight is also sealed

And it's one thing to wake up the ultra powerful megalomaniac tyrant kinda parent figure but not really you're supposed to have and another to drag your oldest adult sibling out of their room to touch grass

In other words, the surrounding authorities just went eh the babies can contact fright Knight if anything happens

But then Danny defeats Pariah and inherits his authority

So he technically becomes the caretaker of baby ghosts in the area while being the youngest baby ghost himself

Hence the other ancients visiting and *playing* with him to see if it's ok to leave the babies with this other baby

And since they're ghosts who don't have human guidelines or morals, decide that since he's that strong it should be fine to leave it alone

Besides he has Fright Knight! Good 'ol Frighty will definitely help out this new baby kid ghost with doing everything!

Meanwhile, Fright Knight waiting for Danny to come claim the crown and ring: ...

Cue Danny's rogues coming up to him to show him shit they accomplished

Youngblood : Phantom look at this cool baking soda volcano that spews out real lava!!

Danny: It does WHAT

Youngblood: Look!

Danny: NO

Ember: Hey Babybop wanna listen to the new song I wrote? It compels humans to start cults based on my name!

Danny: Ember, no

Ember: I think you mean Ember YES

Skulker: Ghost boy I have skinned an alien and brought you a pelt turned into a coat

Danny: ...you did WHAt

Skulker: It is nearing winter time and one must always be ready for winter time

Danny, having an existential meltdown after seeing his parents and Vlad get it on together: Desiree what the actual fuck??? Did you do????

Desiree: I merely fulfilled a wish

Johnny: Hey Phantom look we got matching tattoos to celebrate our anniversary!

Kitty: Wait what did you just say?

Johnny: uh, we got tattoos for our anniversary?

Kitty: ...our anniversary is in TWO MONTHS. THAT was for my DEATHDAY.

Johnny: ...oh shit

Danny, about to soup them both: Man, get good

Lunch Lady: Phantom have you eaten your proteins today?!

Danny: uh... Yeah?

Lunch Lady, already throwing meat at him: EAT MORE

Danny:

Box ghost: WITNESS! THE GREAT BOX MECHA!

Danny: oh come on seriously

And on the other hand,

Walker, dumping ten piles of paper in Danny's room: Phantom, here are the latest forms that need revisions

Spectra: What do you MEAN you're not allowing me to open a beauty salon in order to dig into other girls' insecurities and maintain my own beauty?! That's why it's called a beauty salon!!

Cujo and Wulf who are both the best boys and favorites, with smug faces:

Fright Knight still waiting for Danny to accept the ring and crown:

Plasmius: What the heck is this weird feeling my ghost side keeps making me feel??

Plasmius: is it... Is there perhaps a ghostly way I can adopt the little badger??

[ayy-junipei]

Why You Should Watch Bang Brave Bang Bravern

An essay by Junipei while they wait for they friends to come online so we can watch episode 3. Some spoilers for episode 1-2 I guess

Reason 1 - It be Nefarious

Ok so let me tell you how I came to actually watch this show. I have a friend who does one of those seasonal anime review podcast things and I was basically helping man go through the bottom of the barrel. Things that were either going to be cute for an episode before its gimmick ran into the ground or just straight up trash. I was the emotional support Juni.

So we boot up Bang Brave Bang Bravern knowing only that it's a generic mecha show with a fucked up name and a bromance thrown in for fun. That's what we thought

THAT'S WHAT WE THOUGHT

We thought things were getting interesting when the aliens showed up. Ok it's not just a gritty anime it's a Pacific Rim Top Gun thing, ok, that's more interesting than what we thought, that's fine.

AND THEN BRAVERN SHOWS UP.

AND WE REALISE THIS ISN'T JUST A GRITTY REALISTIC MECHA. IT GOT COLLIDED WITH A FUCKIN SUPER ROBOT SHOW FROM THE 70s.

I have not had my jaw this dropped since episode 1 of Code Geass. We were played like fiddles bro.

So we watch episode 2, wondering where the hell its going to go from there. IT GOES TO-

Reason 2 - Robot Gay Hell

As a person who enjoys human sized people kissing 10ft tall death machines, I have been starved my entire life. I take what I can get.

So imagine my surprise when the show sets up that Bravern is head over heels in love with his pilot Isami. So much so that he refuses to let anyone else get in that cockpit. Wahey!

It has mostly been played for a joke, that's the one single downside. That's not very sustainable. BUT I am very curious to see where it goes. This leads into-

Reason 3 - Something is UP my Dudes

If the carefully planned bait and switch says anything, it's that the show has a lot more planned up it sleeve. And you see that in allmost every scene. Bravern and the one-dimensional aliens creates a massive tonal dissonance with the original part of the show.

You see, the realistic gritty mecha bit is still playing out like a realistic gritty mecha. Our boy Isami gets waterboarded by the CIA for any info he has on Bravern. Things don't magically get better after Bravern saves the main cast, the Earth is going to shit real fast.

So if you think of Bravern and the aliens in the context of the more realistic part of the show, shit is mighty sus. Are you really going to take man's word that he's a hero here to defeat the bad guys?

It could turn darker, it could turn spicy, or it could sustain the show past the "gimmick turns stale real quick" problem anime has these days.

If you've made it this far good job soldier, now get out there and make me some gott damnged robot yaoi. I HAVE STARVED FOR 20 YEARS FOR THIS CONTENT. GIVE IT- GIVE IT OT ME NOW

[kiiingsnake]

may I ask about your thinking process when drawing mecha?? you're amazing at it and that's fascinating

oh yes you absolutely may ask I would love to talk about it

the main thing I consider is detail. it's all detail, really. how and where to put it, and how to not drive myself crazy drawing it, because i like my machines detailed as fuck sometimes.

I first decide on how complex i want my robot to be. the term i'd use for it is greebling- it doesn't have to make too much sense, but it needs to look visually interesting, and its easier to do if I know what I'm aiming for. I find that the key to mechas and robots is a good balance of very detailed, unified, cluttered components and bigger, less intricate plating. take the beetle mecha, for example.

I wanted this one to be pretty damn complex. very greebled. the areas of black wiring provide dense patches of unified detail, while its carapace is less intricate but utilizes sparse details, layering, and differences in color to keep up the visual interest. its got dimension. its got things to focus on. its got shit going on all over the place but in different ways so that some things stand out more than others. there's also enough variation in these sorts of designs to keep me interested in the drawing process for a long while instead of getting bored or exhausted, which is why I love drawing mechs so much.

There are also these two iterators i drew a while back, which are less complex, but are good examples of how i like to detail plating/shells.

I really, really enjoy considering how the different pieces will fit together, and how to make sure one singular component doesn't look too flat or too greebled for what I'm going for. my favorite techniques for this are Give That Fucker Some Tubes and Add Some Geometric Lines To That Bad Boy.

(my warhammer characters are pretty good examples of variations in my greebling techniques.)

in conclusion: oogh.

[pyreofsunflowers]

jupiter family media taste hcs

this is stupid but idrc. my blog.

David listens to like, classic 90s rock. Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins - that whole lot. He also really likes classic, OG 80s metal (metallica, judas priest, dio, etc.). He developed his music taste from 95 to 99 and never really got into stuff after that. Hes a grumpy old man about his music and will never stray from his ol reliable stack of dusty CDs. Where he's a grandpa about his music though, this man will watch basically any movie that comes out and say "that was pretty good" in his opinion cinema peaked with 2001 a Space Odyssey and Saving Private Ryan. Hal tried to show him Akira or Ghost in the Shell and he got wayyyyyy confused. He doesn't really watch TV other than blankly staring at history channel and animal planet "documentaries" and manly man reality TV shows when there's nothing better to do

Hal has a really eclectic collection of music that is constantly changing. However the most common thread of music he likes is 80s New Wave and synth - The Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Joy Division, Duran Duran. That kinda stuff. However his playlist went on to be full of vocaloid songs, neo-synthwave, break core and he got into more experimental stuff as he got older (even then he never fully dug deep, just started listening to Bjork and Kate Bush yk?) He also loves soundtracks and *loves* lofi hip hop. We already basically know Hal's taste in movies/tv so instead im gonna say his favorite anime movie is Akira, his favorite non-anime movie is Brazil and if you ask him his favorite anime he'll go on and on and on about a super obscure mecha anime from the 80s. I think hes a massive cinephile and huge nerd about his movies and shows but it's literally only for anime and sci fi and occasionally action stuff. Ask him about the complexities of Apocalypse Now or the symbolism in Blue Velvet and he'll just give you a blank stare.

Sunny ended up with like. The weirdest combination of her parents tastes. She LOVESSSSS vocaloid and LOVESSSS anime but in a tweenager in the mid 2010s way you know. This girl was in the Black Butler, Attack on Titan, Fairy Tale, Soul Eater TRENCHES. She also got into a lot of alt music but it was. you know. Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco and baby's first alt band stuff. What a crazy lil gal.

Raiden was a nu-metal kid big time. He was always bumping Korn and Slipknot and System of a Down. He was also really into 90s industrial like Rammstein, Nine Inch Nails, and KMFDM. He kinda grew out of this but not really, just mellowed out and got into more 'mainstream' alt like Radiohead and Elliot Smith. As we know, Raiden is a canonical filmbro (getting into fights with random women about pointless details in movies). I think he lovessssss neo noir and crime thrillers. Anything dark and gritty he just adores. Taxi Driver, Fight Club, Fallen Angels, Clockwork Orange, Crash, Prisoners <- whatevere this genre is he just eats that shit up. Hes a total snob, but not like. In a french film school way in a over 500 entries on letterboxd way. He's subscribed to like evry major movie review channel and it's impossible to take him out to any kinoplex because he just starts ranting on the state of modern cinema. He still maintains this snobbery and its only gotten worse lmao

[neurotypical-sonic]

mecha is gonna fuck this poor boy's ankle up soooo bad. and his entire body. does mecha even know about the importance of hydrating??? the answer is no. knuckles gives him a water bottle (under the assumption that he's sonic) after he sees mecha panting and coughing and shaking and squinting, and mecha drinks it and hes like oooh my god what is this. this shit is magical. but he doesn't say this and he still has the flattest expression ever because he hasnt figured out how to emote or talk yet. he drinks from this water bottle like how you drink water at 4am and knuckles is like "hey uhhh sonic you good" but mecha has finished drinking and now hes limping away on his fucked up ankle. he's on a mission and not even knuckles and his magical water can stop him. knuckles is like "huh. I don't think that was average sonic behaviour" but doesn't quite know what to do so he just kinda. lets him walk away

[toadstool32]

I my mind eggman has planned his future in 3 categories

He wins and destroys/enslaves sonic n friends n he gets his empire of mecha critters finally

He goes out in a blaze of glory and takes sonic down with him. Poetry if u ask me

If and or when sonic ever settles down with a girl or a boy I don't know and he adopts like a critter of his own and he's all retired and old and frail and can't run anymore while eggman like idk uploads his conscious into a big computer and wears a cyborg body or whatever and is still kicking around sending bots to destroy everything and then sonics kids take it up to kick his ass jr and Ivo0.2 it's the same shit as always sonic and eggman for 10000years

[farabruh]

Coming back to Deniz liking mecha hc Yknow, if you look closely at the background, Deniz actually has a thing for cars, cause why else would you have a poster on the wall with it

He even has a robot that is similar to those transformer toys

Also look how happy he is while imagining he's driving a car for real

Now, my headcanon is that Deniz really likes cars and as a young boy he watched a lot of Transformers films and series, which led to Erol having to buy him toys and that's when he got his talking robot that immediately became his favorite Later he would look for some cool arts with Optimus Prime or some shit and come across with Evangelion And that's when he discoveres mecha and anime in general He already watched all the hits like Evangelion, Gurren Lagann, Code Geass and is not planning to quit anytime soon

A little sidenote, but may I mention how geeky Deniz' behavior is in general? I mean, everytime whe someone talks about soccer teams he's like "yeah I know them", which is fair I guess since he's a footballer but no-one from the gang does that so....

[malve-valve]

im actually curious, how do you view the Blitztron relationship working? b/c i got my own way(s) (plural, it skews sometimes) but im thinkin you've got your own way of thinkin about it and Im curious because theres not a lot of it around, yaknow? (I've only read one-two fics of it)

also your image

https://imgur.com/LgTeMNB

Houghghghghgh I have so many thoughts! (Once again the linked art is under the read more)

I am an absolute sucker for “I want to give everything to you including myself” sort of things like

In my headcanon, the reformatting surgery was something that Blitzwing (plus Octane and Astrotrain, “borrowed” from others’ headcanons) volunteered for. He said yes because then he would be more useful to the Decepticons and, more specifically, Megatron. And sure it’s unhealthy but also it’s The Decepticons, very little of them have healthy relationships.

It’s also partially the power dynamic. You’ve got this ancient warmonger and his pet living weapon and I just. Megatron watching as Blitzwing tears into another mech on the battlefield until he’s told to stop by Megatron himself. Blitzwing holding back on attacking a disloyal Decepticon cough cough Starscream because he wants to be perfect for his leader.

And then, maybe, in the bedroom, he can be that perfect Decepticon, just in a different way. He lives to serve his Lord any way he is ordered.

Anyways it’s not very healthy at first because one side is almost obsessive and the other doesn’t take it seriously because Megatron’s a little busy trying to win a war. It gets better as time goes on because damnit I want my boy to be happy.

I actually started shipping Megablitz when I thought about some things regarding the AllSpark shattering at the end of S1 and it’s destruction awakening long-dormant lines of code and activating the good ol’ nanite production and gestation tanks in every Cybertronian that has them. And, of course, the heat/rut cycles because mechanical beings acting animalistic is my JAM. I can spread that shit on toast and eat it all day.

So yeah no it can start out a couple different ways. Situation 1: It’s known among a lot of older mecha that Cybertronians used to reproduce sexually before the AllSpark became Cybertron’s primary source of life. Situation 2: The nanites and gestation tanks are actually a backup system in case the AllSpark failed for whatever reason. Either way, everyone gets really horny, so they all start to go at it. And interfacing is done recreationally because hey it feels good and has little long-term consequences and whoops that’s a sparklet. That is many sparklets. Everywhere. What do we do with all these tiny blobs that just came out of like half the population?

(I’ve actually got a Megablitz kid in the works; his name is Ripwire.)

So yeah no basically it boils down to “I want to give my all to you” x “I didn’t think you were actually serious about this and whoops I caught feelings for you” plus also some AllSpark shenanigans

This ended up a LOT longer than I expected it to but hey, that just shows how passionate I am about this. I’m looking forward to hearing your takes on it, Blitztron Anon!

As promised, here is the art they made:

I love the steam coming out of their mouths and weaponry, really adds a little something that I love!

[coredrill]

perhaps my most insane collection of brvn thots yet

do we think lulu is from the moon. i think this for three reasons. one: when she told superbia she was going to ride him the moon was quite large and prominent in the shot. symbolism. two: when she got her fancy hairdo, she had two little buns that looked like moons. three: “lulu” could come from “luna” the same way it could come from the first syllable of smith’s name. why would she become spanish? don’t worry abt it. also if she’s from there then maybe the “final battle” which obari allegedly said would take place in an unexpected location will indeed be on the moon (pls dont ask for a source on this bc i don’t think i could find it again but it was one of the like. EARLY early interviews iirc. or it was just a rumor. this part of the post is a joke anyways LMAO). however this IS a super robot show so i feel like the moon in general is actually a more expected location for me than like. idk. cleveland

everyone pointing out the animation differences maybe indicating different timelines is so funny to me cause like. if it’s NOT intentional, the fans are putting together a list of fixes to make for the bluray on a silver platter LMAO. also god i hope we get a western bluray release, i honestly am considering getting the jp one if it somehow winds up w eng subs though just cause i know it’s such a long shot for CRUNCHYROLL of all motherfuckers to put one together 🥲 discotek ur our only hope………………

i keep thinking abt the like. pacing of the previous fight scenes being reused in ep9 in such a smart way…………like with smith/lulu v superbia - isami/bravern v cupiridas AND with smith/lulu v knuth - isami/bravern v pessimism/vanitas they kept doing the quick jumps between each of the two fights in a way that made it clear that isami and smith were in conversation even if they were doing completely different shit, and then bringing that completely to the forefront this ep while isami is asking smith why he died and at the same time smith is refusing to die bc of his promise with isami. BLEW MY FUCKIN MIND to see the pattern reused like that, i swear to GOD everyone talks about how fun and hype this show is but it’s so damn GOOD too 😭😭 and then after that the fuckin. symmetrical docking ass cut and then later the gattai which has been held off for SO long bc they are no longer separate conversations. JESUS

called my shots too early tho w smith not melting ppl’s minds in a kaworu manner where they convolute the story x1000 to try to make him seem straight 😭 congrats white boy, your days are numbered until ppl start saying you love isami like he’s your pet dog……….also in a related fashion the giant naked smith fanarts are taking me out LMAO

you can tell idk shit abt fuck when it comes to time travel fuckery cause i rly am just here like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ atp LMAO, the serious theorizing is GONE. i trust the show to finish out in a satisfying manner and also in a way that my pea brain can understand and i’m rly looking forward to savouring these last 3 episodes :] and then rewatching the whole thing from the beginning once the remaining twists have been revealed and i Know :3 like not to get way too sentimental w 3 whole episodes left but we are so lucky to be following this story in real time you guys 😭 like i’m just gonna put the same post i made back after episode ONE here cause it’s true but times a million with what we’ve seen so far, truly this is such a special experience to have and i’m so glad this show waited until i got into mecha to get made so that i could like. Understand it yknow. anyways good for january 14 2024 version of me, you are so excited andyet still have NO idea the kind of treat you are in for 😭

“lewis” jumpscare tho omg. i forgot it took me like a week to figure out what the hell was goin on with all the characters first and last names LMAO. anyways everybody go look at sumiisa sekiha love love tenkyouken right now i am no longer asking

[sapphic-haymaker]

Fio Media Log #1: Gen 1 Armored Core Trilogy

Armored! Core!

I'm a mecha gal. I love my robots. but I especially love me some clunky "real robot" style mechs. I only got into Armored Core with 6, and i've decided to take a plunge into the first generation games with, admittedly, not too high of expectations.

And lemme tell ya. I was pretty blown away at how fun these are!

Visuals

Let me start off with the visuals, holy shit do I LOVE the visuals of these games. I grew up with the PS1 as my first console, playing Twisted Metal (Darkside main btw) is one of my earliest memories. I really adore the games that have come out recently emulating the PSX style (Psuedoregalia, Signalis, Ultrakill, etc.)

The blocky aesthetic lends itself well to mecha. A lot of the genre likes to build it's robots in simple, blocky shapes so Bandai can easily make model kits of them, and there's no shortage of obvious design inspiration among ACs

The first mission, which subtly informs you of a theme of the series, has you being paid to go murder some workers striking for better pay and benefits and some other stuff that probably could've been bought with the money they used to hire a 5 meter tall death robot but hey. not our department.

The pitch black background and illuminated bridge makes for some lovely moody atmosphere. A LOT of 1st gen is going to be same-y hallways and tunnels but when they go through the extra effort to make a place look like a place it ends up very nice.

The Controls

Hooooo boy. This was a STRUGGLE for me at first. See this lil game was released a month after Sony's dualshock controllers, the ones with actual analogue sticks and not just a d-pad, hit the market. Which means this highly technical game is going to make you control deliberately hard-to-pilot machines without any sticks! (and they wouldn't add support for them until 7 years later!!!)

I found the stock control scheme where Up/Down was moving forward back, Left/Right was Turn, L1/R1 was strafe, and L2/R2 was aim up/down COMPLETELY unhandlable. Brain could not parse it. But to my shock there was an option in the game settings to rebind the controls! Making all the d-pad buttons be movement and all the shoulder buttons camera controls made things click right away. But that's just for basics. As for advanced movement…. welllll.

Meet [13th Toll], the build I did most of the game on after spending a lot of time experimenting and testing.

You'll notice she's a quad leg type AC! that's because the quad leg type trades the ability to boost on the ground for the ability to have consistent fast movement, meaning you can move fast without actually being good at the game's movement. It was absolutely a crutch but the game never threw anything hard enough at me to stop using said crutch. The gatling gun arms just felt better than any gun in the game having a huge amount of damage and ammo… at the cost of absolutely financially ruining me. @ @

See. Every mission in Armored Core has a base pay, occasionally bonus pay or penalties, and then that pay is deducted by how many resources you used in the mission. Repair Cost is how much damage you took, and Ammo cost is how many bullets/shells/rockets/etc you chewed through. And let me tell you the Gatling Arms are strong but they cost so much money to fire that i ended up LOSING money on several missions due to operating costs.

Scrounging for cash is definitely part of the AC experience, it's not shy about it's anti-capitalist messages, going into enough debt due to failing missions or not performing well enough actually resets the game, having your character undergo experimental augmentation to make them better at paying off the debt presumably (this is kind of an easy mode. I never triggered it as I wanted to do all three games without it. Felt like it was the authentic experience)

The control scheme as noted is incredibly clunky, but in a way that feels befitting of a mech. In AC6 the combat and controls are incredibly streamlined and feel as good as it gets for the most part. But AC1 takes a real-robot approach and imposes some serious limits to how you can move and aim. It genuinely feels like you're fighting the controls trying to aim at a fast moving plane or an AC boosting past you. It's a unique feeling that leaves the player feeling less like an ultra powerful death robot and more a poor pilot desperately wishing something could turn faster than it physically can. I'm a big fan.

I blew through AC 1 all things considered, aside from that horrifically frustrating final mission. (platforming in a game with the worst camera controls ever took years off my life.)

It wasn't a cakewalk per say, but i never felt incredibly pressed to improve my skill or optimize my build all that much in the game. I pretty much did whatever. Very enjoyable experience all in all. Where I think things get interesting is the first expansion…

Project Phantasma

Released a few months after AC1, Project Phantasma is when the game REALLY made me focus in on what i wanted to do and made me sweat. For the most part it's missions are about on par with it's predecessor, with one exception: The Arena.

The Arena is as straightforward as it gets, 49 Enemy ACs, one on one, no distractions. Best Pilot wins. The first chunk of the arena is a joke, but then, out of nowhere, comes

RANK: 30 PILOT: Brutus A.C.: Back Stab

You see this fucker? This was my wall. This is where the real pain train starts and Gen 1 starts to stop pulling it's punches IMHO.

Brutus is an aerial ace. You'll find that MOST of the ACs in the Arena absolutely LOVE to be in the air. this particular asshole has a sniper rifle that will literally stunlock you for long periods of time, is incredibly accurate, and generally just makes your life hell.

Quad legs could not carry me to victory here, they genuinely just do not have the maneuverability to dodge the incoming hailstorm of sniper shots. I tried heavyweight ACs, thinking i could simply outlast him, Dead Wrong. Heavyweights were even more of failure. All that armor did was prolong the inevitable.

This is where I had to bite the bullet and start using regular legs. You move absolutely pitifully slow when not boosting, but boosting takes energy, energy conservation takes practice and skill. I used these next 30 Arena fights to learn how to move and shoot in these games and the experience was so satisfying and rewarding. I felt like I was just as quick as the AI and soaring through the sky right along with them by the end of it.

Meet [Phantom Lambda], she is as fast as I could make her, she is as light as i could make her, she carries a new weapon in the Phantasma expansion, the WG-RFM118 Rifle. Along with a magazine on the back slot, a "weapon" that does nothing but increase the ammo count of your other weapons. 300 shots was consistently enough to take out most Arena opponents aside from the thick armored heavyweight powerhouses.

My weapon choice was simple. It has an absolutely MASSIVE lock on reticle. So I could focus all of my brainpower on movement and avoiding enemy fire. I still had to do a fair amount of aiming, the enemy ACs in the Arena get blazing fast. but this strategy ended up getting me all the way through the game. And suddenly I only had one Gen 1 game left.

Story Tangent

Project Phantasma tried a lot harder to have a consistent storyline which was fine, if a bit clunky. There's a big bad rival mech named Stinger who ends up being pretty pathetic as you thrash him again and again. You get all your jobs from a woman named Sumika who is also a AC pilot, and let me say, I was pleasantly surprised to see a woman in old mecha media that isn't evil and/or dead.

Master of Arena

Master of Arena had a lot more time in the oven than Project Phantasma, releasing in 1999 while AC1 and PP were both 97', and let me tell ya. It feels like a FromSoft employee was watching my Phantasma run over my shoulder when I first booted up the game.

So first things first. My strategy is in goddamn shambles. Not only is my FCS (part that determines lock-on reticle) significantly nerfed, my entire loadout has been nerfed to the floor in the ammo department. Magazines would give 50% more ammo per magazine in PP, and my rifle had 200 shots base. Now Mags give 20% each, and the rifle now only has 160 shots. Meaning I've went from a maximum of 400 shots to a measly 224. Considering how many shots end up missing and enemy AC HP, this means the rifle that carried me is absolutely not an option anymore.

Meet [The Rook], my intent was to find a middle ground where I wasn't totally made of paper like I was in piloting [Lambda Phantom]. Focusing purely on optimized utility in her design, I wanted something mobile, durable, and I needed to fit a weapon that had decent range and some nice damage, I used the WG-AR1000,a mid-range machine gun and doubled up on mags. This gave me a whopping 1400 bullets to bullet hose the competition down.

While the story missions weren't any harder than AC1 and Phantasma, the Arena didn't have a slow ramp up like it did in last one. Right away i was thrown into a fight with a lightweight aerial AC raining pain down on me.

I ended up playing a lot more aggressively this time around due to the machine gun's much shorter range, meeting opponents up-close in mid-air as abusing the RFM118's long range to plink away at opponents wasn't an option anymore. This lead to a lot of problems against enemies with similar weapons like gatling arms, where we mostly just ended up DPS racing eachother, but i only have to win once, after all.

Overall I really enjoyed these games. I think the first one is a fun lil time and onboards you to the systems well enough, and if you're hungry for more the two expansions offer a nice challenge. I'm currently debating if i wanna do the EX Arena in Master of Arena or if i wanna jump straight into Armored Core 2.

I highly recommend you try these out if you've played AC6, it's systems and clunky control schemes are very neat lil relics of game design that feel completely lost in the modern era.

[jennycinco-5]

Miraculous Writer : Who cares about “Bad Redemption “ and Inconsistency as long as Fans will pay attention on “Love Square” riiiiiight~

I know that lot of you will said “ You just too salty ! “ “ Oh ! This just Kids show ! “ “Ooooh~ This cartoon is about silly-teenage romance” “This cartoon is about  L O V E “ etc etc etc 

WHO CARES ! I already abandon the Canon!ML before the leaks comes out  everywhere

After I check all the leaks I would like to said “ WHAT THE FUCK “ and “ I’m glad finally I no longer care about this show ! “. Because I can see Season 5 is a HUGE MESS and beyond the redemption ! 

As much as I hate how BLEACH Ended due to how rushed the ending and the pairing, At least its still manage to be better and satisfying ! Despite no fans like Newest Gundam series (The Witch from Mercury) and claim to be a “full of yuri or silly school drama series in mecha”, G-WITCH still manage to be a good Gundam series and restrain its dark and heavy element . This why Suletta still acceptable as MC by many Gundam fans beside being adorable clumsy and ditzy girl instead of edgy girl

Miraculous ? Its a HUGE MESS and will never satisfying ! 

Why ?

It’s all about inconsistency and dumb ways to “redeem the character”. ML clearly has no idea what kind a theme about the show ! It’s about Shojo-esque cartoon ? No ! It’s about superhero ? No ! It’s about LOVEEEEE~ and Hardship of being teenager ? Turning Red handle it BETTER than this shit ! It’s about girls power ? The MC constantly being punch sack for writer with their un-funny comedy moment, Most of Male antagonist is paint as “Misunderstood person” and constantly give a “redemption” while female antagonist are paint as “Pure evil Bitch” who deserve no redemption.

I like to said THREE MALAYSIAN SUPERHERO CARTOON is better handle on female character in both Protagonist and Antagonist side while the show is still aimed for young boys rather than a so-called “girls power” cartoon like Miraculous

Of course ML writer cares nothing about this as long as Fans pay attention on Love-scareSquare Riiiiiggght~

Aside from inconsistency, the WORST part about ML is about poorly handle a character especially about Redemption. Its seems that from That Guy logic, Redemption means that you will full blown into a new leaf as a “super duper nice character” without any progression as long as they have “tragic backstory” so they can pity on them.

In reality, redemption of the character is need a progression and not all of them will be become a new leaf as a “super duper nice character” in instant way. They could become a anti-hero at their best or still restrain their arrogant  side and still have problem or struggle during their redemption quest such as many character would not forgive them or always remember their worst attitude before redemption happens 

Aside Zuko, there are lot of character have good redemption such as Ken Ichijouji, Peridot, Karone/Astronema and  Ashi. Special mention Anime (especially shoujo anime) have lot of character who good on handling on the antagonist or an arrogant character by give them a good depth or redemption than Miraculous

Miraculous see “redemption” and “character depth” nothing more than for “Please feel pity on them ! “ instead of to humanized the character itself especially in  Antagonist side. This is ANOTHER biggest problem in Miraculous :

Gabriel “redemption equal to death”  and Felix “Redemption for luv” are MEH and very insulting for other main antagonist who undergoes real redemption

I know that lots of pro will said “Its GLOOB Fault because they didn’t want Brazilian kids reminder about their parents in jail so they push poor astruc to change the ending~” to defend this shit. Being kIds show doesn’t mean who have an excuse about why your show is bad for handling the Big Bad of the show

So according to Leaks, Gabriel while dying is begs to Marinette to keep his secret from Adrien and is remembered as a hero and “good father” for Adrien despite of his emotional abuse and the isolation on him for 14 years and the terror that his spread on Paris for a shake of “My Wife and luvely Son UwU” . Meaning that he is free from any serious consequence of his action despite of his death.

Then we have Felix who according to Leaks suddenly simping on Kagami just because she is a Senti “just like him” and Kagami just accept him because he looks like her ex despite what already he done before to Marinette and Parisian in many previous episodes. No consequence or guilt of his previous action because Kagami defense him and the narrative paint him as “misunderstood baby~”.

That’s not a redemption ! That’s a Karma Houdini ! Neither Gabriel or Felix show a real remorse of their malice action and then Writer suddenly give them a “Redemption” because they want make Lila as big-bad since this is a “Girls Power” show which mean they need a female evil big-bad

If you want a give a Big-Bad a redemption either is resulting their death or being humiliated during their redemption quest to show how redemption is not an easy process and sometime they have struggle to do it.

You want to know where is a kids who is good on handling Big Bad Redemption 

Here Ken Ichijouji a.k.a Digimon Kaiser  a.k.a Ex-Big Bad of half season of Digimon Adventure 2

Initially a lonely prodigy boy who constantly being ignore by his parents due to their favoritism over his older brother. As Digimon Kaiser, he enslaved and corrupt many digimon, all because of his arrogance. After realizing that his bad deed is not a toys since he know Digimon are not mere a data but a living creature with emotion thanks to Wormmon sacrifice, he return back as Ken with full of guilt of his action as Digimon Kaiser. 

Despite he already forgiven by Daisuke and the other chosen children and is allow to improved himself as better person, some of Digimon still unable to accept his apology. See the gif above, he still unable to move on from the guilt even imagine himself being tortured to death by the other digimon. And this is comes from a 10-11 years old antagonist who used to have inferiority-complex with his older brother! Not a full grown man antagonist. And Digimon is a freaking kids show who not shy to show a children have a immense guilt about their action 

And Here we have Impmon/Beelzemon from Digimon Tamers 

A trouble maker digimon who always picking on human due to “not being respected by them” after see the toddler constantly argue to be his partner. He Become Beelzemon after being persuade by Caturamon and resulting on him become a power-hungry antagonist who would kill any digimon to strengthen his power

After killing Leomon in front of his poor partner (Juri Katou) and the other Tamers, he surprised and shaken to see instead of hate on him, Juri pitying on him and begged Dukemon to stop killing him due to feel guilt and didn’t want to see her allies losing someone anymore. Resutling on him feel guilt and ashamed. Despite his attempt to save Juri from D-REAPER, he always being brutally beaten by the villains. But is still his redemption being memorable by majority of fans

Digimon is a kids show just like Miraculous. But they are not shy to show any heavy or dark content to make the show become complex and those element actually give some character a meaning development

Here Miraculous give a heavy or dark content nothing more than fanservice and never meaningful for the show

Gabriel is NOT a “sympathetic gray antagonist” 

The show desperately try hard to make Gabriel as “Sympathetic” despite of what already he done toward his own Son and Parisian just because he being Hawkmoth “for sake of his family UwU~”

Sure there is nothing wrong to Humanized a villain . At least show it that the depth are genuine not a manipulation. Here they didn’t show how Gabriel truly bad about his action or his genuine attempted to be closer with Adrien because he truly love him not because of try to gain a control over his son. Most of Gabriel “kindness” toward Adrien are nothing but a manipulation

Disney has PLENTY a MC parents who portray as misunderstood. But I think Ming Lee from Turning Red to be mention of this section

Ming Lee is a realistically portray of “Tiger Parents” and lot of better than Tomoe Tsurugi who nothing more than a caricature of “Tiger Parents”. She is not a villain or Abusive mother of course, but her conflict with Mei is lot of interesting compare to Gabriel-Adrien. Although we can see her reason of her controlling behavior because of her mother, but the narrative didn’t desperate made fans to “feel sorry” about her like how ML do with Gabemoth and she still receive of consequence to pay a compensation of what already she done at SkyDome as Pandakaiju

Here in Miraculous, Gabriel didn’t receive of any serious consequences of his action as a villain or a abusive father because they didn’t want to “break Adrien little heart” and is hailed as hero and receive a statue

 Male jerks or antagonist are more redeemable than Female 

Aside from the Gabriel and Felix, a character like Alec, Rolland Dupain , the Ice Cream man, Mayor Bourgeois, even Jagged  Stone as “misunderstood character” who deserve to be “redeem” despite the horrid things they done to them such as mocking a interviewee in front of TV Show, a racist grandfather, creepy shipper who like to meddling teenagers love-live, a major enabler of spoiled brat and abandon his children for 16 years

Meanwhile 

A two spoiled brat teenager are are painted as “more monstrous than a grown-up man who is a abusive father and terrorist”, and two jerk mothers like Tomoe and Audrey as heartless bitch who don’t deserve to be humanized

Are you sure this show can be redeem ?

[mychlapci]

okay you jest about tfa sentinel being homophobic but i need you to understand that idw1 sentinel prime straight up thinks that conjunx endura holding hands and sharing fuel in public is sacrilegious. oh he's also canonically a minibot piloting around a larger body like a weird mecha suit but that's not important

-burnt ice anon

yeah i know what idw sentinel's deal is. his little breakdown about conjunx endura sharing fuel in public is ingrained into my brain like he is SUCH an asshole. i am not too fond of idw sentinel to be honest. he's on some protestant shit for real. my unfortunate affection only extends towards tfa sentinel my pal my sweet cheese my good time boy. though he's not much better