#alex gestalt

[ourworldofwonders]

oh how i miss them

[amiracleilluminated]

[silkling]

Terrestrial

So this is purely self-indulgent. I wanted to write a Combiner Terrans AU so I did.

Also, the Terrans' combined form uses far/faer pronouns. I figure if any character is going to use neopronouns, it's going to be the alien robot whose made up up five other alien robots of varying genders.

More info on this AU at the end.

———————————————————————————————————

Awareness crashed into existence with all the force of a cannon blast. Vents slammed open, and optics flashed wide. A gasp escaped from a new vocalizer, and the massive frame swayed as if dizzy.

They…no, he? She? No, no….none of those were right. But what was? Knowledge bloomed, from deep in their–faer–spark. Yes. That was right. Fae were not he, or she, or even they. Fae were fae. Fae had no knowledge as to why such was the case, but it was. It was simply right. Fae felt it to the very depths of faer spark. And faer name…yes, fae knew that too. 

But…what were fae? The answer came quickly, instinctively. It was an answer fae knew in the depths of their code. Fae were a bot. A Terran. No…no, fae we’re not one Terran. Fae were five. Or…were fae five Terrans? Fae felt like fae were one. Fae were faeselves. But if fae prodded deeper into faer spark and processor, they sensed the edges of five other sparks. Were fae…made up of other bots? 

Fae shifted their pedes, optics wide as they looked around in confusion. The confusion quickly mixed with surprise. Fae were so big! There were green things– no, trees–all around, but fae towered above them all! Beyond the trees, was an expanse of forest that looked endless. Fae were in a clearing.  A very big one. There was a large lake at the edge of the clearing. But where were fae? And why were fae here?

Knowledge, in the form of memories, tickled at faer mind. Mom had brought faer here. Alongside faer brother and sister. And faer Dad!  Fae’d come with other bots. Bigger bots? But…that wasn’t right. Faer memories said the bigger bots–Megatron and Optimus–didn’t tower over the trees. So how could they be bigger if fae did tower above everything else? 

Did…did these knowledge-memories come from the five bots that made fae? That…seemed right. At least, fae thought it did.  But then, that just made fae wonder again how they could be made up of other bots, and how and why fae had come into being. Fae were their own bot, fae knew that much. Even if fae were made up of five others, fae were not them. Fae were fae.

Fae were started from faer internal musing when fae felt something touch faer knee. Fae looked down, and brightened when fae saw Megatron. Yes! Fae knew this bot! Fae knelt, and Megatron backed up quickly to make sure fae didn’t accidentally squash his pedes under faer knee. Probably a good idea. Faer body still felt strange to fae. But good!

“Hello!” Fae greeted, then jerked and squeaked in alarm at how loud faer voice was.

They looked to Megatron quickly, hoping fae hadn’t hurt his audials, and that’s when fae saw Mom on his shoulder. “Oh! Mom!” Fae chirped.

“Uh.” Mom was looking up at fae, clearly surprised. “Hey, kiddo.” She said. “You…think I’m your mom?”

Fae blinked, then hunched in on faeself. “Yes? You take care of me. I always call you Mom. You said I was family?” Fae frowned. “Or…you said the bots that make me are family? Do…do I not count?” 

Fae…couldn’t fault Mom, if that was the case. Mom obviously hadn’t expected or known about fae. Even fae hasn’t known about faeself!

Mom shook her head quickly, then relaxed and smiled up at fae. “No, no. I’m just surprised. You’re…your own bot, right? Not a combination of my other kids?”

Fae smiled shyly. “Yes.” Fae agreed. “I am me, and I am one.” Fae lifted faer shoulders, feeling a swell of pride. Fae liked faeself, even if fae were new!

“So you are.” Mom agreed, smiling up at fae. “So, do you have a name, kiddo?”

Fae beamed down at her, armor flaring with a sense of warm, buzzing happiness. “Yes! I am Terrestrion! I am fae/faer!” Fae chirped.

“Terrestrion.” Mom mused, then smiled and leaned forward. “Hey, baby. Wanna give me a hug?”

Fae beamed brighter, and offered her faer servo. She climbed on, and fae brought her to faer face where she leaned in and embraced fae as best she could. Fae churred softly in contentment, faer face squishing into a happy, squinty smile. Mom chuckled, smiling back.

“Welcome to the family, Terrestrion.” She said warmly. 

“Thank you!” Fae chirped.

There was a cough by faer knees, where they were still kneeling, and fae blinking before making sure Mom was stable in one servo, and fae offered the other to Megatron. He stepped into it, and fae lifted him up to beam. 

“Hello! I am Terrestrion! I am fae/faer!” Fae introduced themselves. Fae knew Megatron, but Megatron did not know fae. 

“Yes.” He smiled faintly. “I am aware.” He hummed. “You are very articulate, for a combiner. Especially for your first time combining.” He observed.

“Oh!” Was that was fae was? A combiner? That made sense, but fae didn’t know hat a combiner was. Fae didn’t think the five bots who made faer knew either.  “Is that what I am? What’s a combiner?”

“A combiner is a bot who is made of five or more other bots, each of whom are the combiner’s components and transform into one part of the combiner’s frame. When combined, the components share their sparks, and their consciousnesses fade to allow the spark and consciousness of the combiner to form.” Megatron explained. “We just observed you combining for the first time. Your components are five young Terrans.”

Fae nodded, taking that all in. “Oh, yes, I know! I feel them! Their minds are quiet, but I know they made me!” Fae tilted faer helm. “Make me?” Fae mused. Fae knew the names of faer components too. It was like it was written into faer code, right where faer own name was.

Fae paused as something Megatron has said slid through his processors, and fae latched onto it was an eager desire to learn more. Fae wanted to know everything! “You were surprised I’m articulate?”

Megatron blinked, looking surprised again, before he chuckled in faint embarrassment. “Indeed. I have known a few combiners. The more stable ones were fully capable of speech and complex thought, but never on their first few combination attempts. I was surprised you are so stable so immediately. It is rather unusual, in my experience.”

Fae blinked, then frowned. Oh. “Is that…bad?”

“No, young one.” Megatron assured fae gently. “If anything, it is very good. It means the social bonds between your components are strong enough that you onlined without any conflicts in your own coding or core processor. It’s always good when a combiner is as stable as you.”

Fae blinked, then beamed brightly, only to pause as Megatron lifted a servo to his audial. Fae watched them talk, idly tilting faer helm to very carefully bump their nose to Mom in a gesture of affection as fae watched. After a moment, Megatron nodded and lowered his servo. 

“Optimus is returning with Alex and the children.” He said.

Oh? Oh! Yes! Fae hadn’t noticed earlier, but faer siblings and Dad weren’t here, even though fae knew they’d all come here together!

“Oh! Where were they?” Fae asked eagerly.

“The kids forgot their snacks.” Mom said, sounding amused as she leaned against faer cheek, seeming content to let faer have faer affection. “So Optimus took them to the nearest store to get more. It’s a bit out of the way, since we’re in the middle of nowhere. Alex went with them to keep the kids out of trouble.”

Oh, yes. That made sense. And now fae remembered, too. Faer siblings had been so excited to go out on the weekend camping trip, to a place where faer commoners could run and play freely without fear of being seen, and then when they’d gotten here faer siblings had realized that they’d left their snacks at home. They still had food for their meals, but no snacks for in between. 

Fae looked up as fae heard footsteps, and then Optimus, Dad, and faer siblings were stepping out of the tree line. Dad and Robby and Mo were holding bags, but all four of them froze when they saw the scene. 

“Hello!” Fae said brightly. “I am Terrestrion! I am fae/faer!”

Optimus spat static, staring at faer with wide optics. “Combiner.” He finally gasped out.

“Yes.” Megatron agreed, clearly amused. 

He gestured to faer, and fae set him down on the ground, though Mom seemed content to stay where she was. 

“Optimus, Alex, children.” Megatron said. “Meet the combined form of the Terrans.”

That seemed enough to jolt Dad from his stupor, because he was quick to squeal in delight and dart over to faer. He climbed onto the servo Megatron had vacated, and fae lifted him up to smile at him. 

“Hello Dad!” Fae chirped, absolutely thrilled to see that he was happy to meet faer. 

“Dad!” He gasped, then turned to Mom. “Oh, Dottie! They’re-“ he cut himself off, then shook himself and corrected himself before he continued. “Faer really another Terran kid? Ours?” 

Fae blinked, then beamed even brighter when they realized how easily Dad had accepted and self corrected. Fae knew faer pronouns were, perhaps, rather non-traditional, but they felt so very right for faer. 

“Fae sure are.” Mom smiled at Dad and leaned in to steal a kiss from him. The act of affection made faer squeak in delight. “Though this Terran baby is a whole lot bigger than the others. We’ll manage, though.” She smiled up at faer, and fae grinned back.

“We will.” Dad agreed. He smiled warmly, then leaned in to cuddle against faer face and give faer his best approximation if a hug. “I’m so very pleased to meet you, Terrestrion.” He said cheerfully. “But why don’t you put us down? I think your brother and sister want to say hello as well.” 

“Oh!” Fae gasped, then nodded eagerly and lowered faer parents down. 

They stepped off faer servos, and Robby and Mo wasted no time in clambering onto faer servos instead. Fae lifted them again, smiling as faer siblings all but vibrated with glee. In fact…fae would  feel their excitement, bubbling alongside faer own. But how? A nudge from faer memories, and fae realized how. The cybersleeves! Yes, fae were  connected to their siblings! 

“Hello!” Fae greeted. 

“Hi!” Mo gasped, her eyes wide and shining. “You’re really a combiner? Made up of our siblings?”

Fae nodded. “Yes! The Terrans are my components.” Fae paused. “That makes me Terran too, I think.”

 

“Yeah it does.” Robby grinned. “And it makes you our sibling just as much as the others.”

Fae chirped happily, overwhelmed with the sheer joy of their acceptance. They laughed, holding their cybersleeves to their chests.

“Oh, all those happy feels are you?” Mo giggled, grin in up at faer through her laughter. 

Joy was infectious, it seemed.  Especially when fae were directly connected to faer siblings. 

“Yes!” Fae beamed. “There is much to be happy about! I am new, and I exist! The world is so exciting, and there is so much to learn! I have a family, and Mom and Dad care for me, and you are my brother and sister and you love me!” Fae announced, all but vibrating with the force of their glee and excitement. 

Robby was laughing, patting faer servo with one hand. “You’re right! That is a lot of to happy about!” He laughed again. “But oh man, you’re so bright!”

Fae blinked. “Bright?” Fae looked down at faeselves. “Are my biolights dialed up too much?”

Mo gave a squeal of laughter, her hands clapped over her mouth as she sat in faer servo.

“No.” Robby grinned. “Not, like, physically bright. Just…you. Your personality. Your feels. All the other stuff. You’re bright.”

“It’s nice.” Mo chimed in, giggles fading as her grin brightened. “Bright feels are always good, even if they’re intense enough that it feels like I might explode.”

“Please don’t explode.” Fae said somberly. “I love you too much.”

“Aww.” Mo giggled, rocking forward so she could throw her arms against faer face and hug faer cheek. “Not literally. It’s just a lot. You have a lot of really big feels, but it makes sense! You’re a really big bot!”

“Oh.” Fae blinked, then relaxed and smiled again. “That’s good!”

“Very.” Mo nodded seriously, and then she laughed and popped to her feet. “So! Let’s play!”

“Play?” Fae blinked again.

“Play what? Faer too big to play our normal games.” Robby pointed out.

“I could…be less big? I could split again.” Fae offered, though fae wasn’t eager to. Fae’d only just come into being! They wanted to exist for as long as they could!

“You don’t need to.” Mo assured. “I know a way we can all play!” She pointed to the lake at the edge of the clearing.

Oh, yes. Fae had forgotten about that. But when Mom and Dad and all of the group had arrived here, Mom had decided to make camp here. Because water activities were fun for camping trips. But fae didn’t understand what that had to do with the conundrum at hand. At servo? Hm. 

“Oh!” Well, it seemed Robby understood, even if fae didn’t. “Yeah, good idea Mo!” He turned to faer. “Hey, Terrestrion, can you put us down? We’ll be right back.” 

Fae nodded, then lowered their servos. Faer siblings slipped off, then hurried to the truck Mom had driven here in. Fae watched as they rooted around the trunk, then grabbed something and scurried around the back. Fae blinked, confused as fae tilted faer helm.

A moment later, Robby and Mo slipped out from behind the truck wearing their swim suits. 

“Come on, Terrestrion!” Mo called out, racing over. “You can still play with us by the lake!” 

Fae didn’t see how, but fae would humor her and see what she had in mind. Fae crawled over to the lake, seeing no point in standing just to walk a short distance, then sat on the edge as Robby and Mo caught up. Behind them, Mom and Dad and Megatron and Optimus followed. 

The adults had been talking quietly, but fae hadn’t been paying attention. It wasn’t faer business, but fae supposed they were wanting to stay close to Robby and Mo and faeself to keep an eye–optic?–on everything. 

“Alright!” Mo crowed. “Now you pick us up, and we can use your hands as a diving board!”

Oh! Yes, now fae understood! 

“Not too high!” Mom’s voice was sharp as she cut in. “Terrestrion, honey,  I don’t want you standing up if you’re going to play like that, okay? It’ll be too high of a jump otherwise.” 

Mo and Robby complained, but fae blinked and nodded. “Okay Mom!” Fae wouldn’t do anything to hurt faer siblings!

“And be careful, okay?” Mom said gently. “Your brother and sister are a lot smaller than you.”

Fae went still, face shifting into something more serious. “I would never hurt my family, Mom. I will protect them. All of them. Always. My job is to be like a guardian.”

She blinked rapidly, then softened. “Good.” She said softly. “But how about you let us adults protect you as well, alright kiddo?”

Fae smiled shyly. “Okay, Mom. And when I’m stronger, I can protect everyone.”

Mom nodded, then turned back to the other adults, and fae took that as faer cue to look back to faer siblings. They lowered their servos, letting Robby and Mo climb on, and then lofted them above the depths of the lake. 

The two humans jumped, and they all continued to play that way. For some time, Robby and Mo were content to just keep jumping off their biggest sibling, but eventually the game changed. Fae began to splash at them, making small waves that sent the humans tumbling and laughing. Fae were careful, optics sharp as they kept a close watch over faer siblings. Fae were ready to pull them out the second it look like they needed it. 

As time wore on, fae continued to play with faer siblings, and the adults went on to set up camp properly. Fae found faeselves lost in thought. It was understandable that Mom would be worried. But fae also knew that fae would snuff faer own spark before willingly hurting any of faer family. 

Fae didn’t realize that they’d lagged in the game until fae felt Robby touch faer servo.

“Terrestrion? You okay?”

Fae blinked, opening faer mouth to reply before fae paused. “I am well. I am merely….” Fae paused, searching. “Tired.” Fae realized. 

“That is no surprise.” Megatron said from behind faer. “You have been combined for several hours. Most new combiners cannot hold their form for this long.”

Hours? But it hadn’t felt like that! But then when fae looked around, fae realized that the sky had changed significantly. It really had been hours. 

“Oh.” Fae frowned. “But…I do not want to go.” Fae said softly, suddenly nervous.

“It won’t be forever, baby.” Mom said gently, walking over. 

Fae turned to her, then crouched until faer chin was pressed to the ground so she could press a hand to faer cheek. 

“We’re still out here for a few more days. You can combine again as much as you want while we’re here. And when we get home…” she paused.

“It’ll be harder for you to combine.” Dad said as he walked up to faer as well. “We’ll have to make sure you only ever combine somewhere where there’s no one around. Finding the time and space for that will be difficult. But we will manage it, I promise you.” He smiled and leaned into Mom. “We’ll make it work. You’re family now. We’ll take care of you.”

Fae swallowed, spark thrumming with nerves. “Promise?” Fae whispered.

“We promise.” Mom said gently, meeting faer gaze evenly.

“Okay.” 

Fae smiled shakily, still nervous, and a Robby and Mo sidled up next to Mom and Dad to shoot fae a reassuring smile. It would be okay. Faer family would take care of faer. Megatron and Optimus were standing close by, and fae could feel the gentle reassurance in their fields. All would be well. 

Fae released a slow vent, then closed faer optics. Fae had to figure out how to decombine. Fae delved into their processor, following the strings that connected faer to faer components. In the spot where the strings met, there was a nook. Fae looked it over, tugging at it. This was how they were supposed to decombine. But how? Fae didn’t know what to do.

Fae felt a prickle along their coding, like an instinct urging faer on. Fae was supposed to lean into the nook? No…no, fae was supposed to tuck in. Curl faer consciousness into it and tuck tight. 

Okay. That was doable. Fae relaxed, gathering faeselves close and tight, then tucked in and let faeselves drop into the nook.

Awareness faded, and a single conscious split five ways. Nestled into the sparks and processors of faer components, Terrestrion slipped into a peaceful rest.

———————————————————————————————————

So, as mentioned in the beginning, Terrestrion uses neoronouns. There's a reason for this. I figured that, since fair made up of five bots who all use different pronouns, it'd make the most sense. He/him wouldn't fir because of Twitch, Hashtag, and Nightshade. She/her wouldn't work because of Thrash, Jawbreaker, and Nightshade. They/them might have been good, but I still felt like even that wouldn't work for all the others (sans Nightshade). So I needed something different. Then far/faer was suggested to me and I feel like it fit! So that's that.

ALSO! This is important. This is marked 1/2 chapters. I am planning a second chapter, but I don't know when I'll be able to post it. But just know that this work is functionally complete. Chapter 2 is just going to be these same events from Dot's POV. So this fic is self contained, basically. Chapter 2 won't add any new story, just new insight, and also some tidbits into what Terrestrion wasn't aware of or paying attention to.

Also also, for anyone curious: I picture Nightshade and Hashtag as the legs, Jawbreaker as the torso, and Twitch and Thrash as the arms.

So I think that's all I wanted to say. Let me know what y'all thought!

Until next time, folks!

[laurelwen]

Interview with Gregory Read (director of Like Minds)

So, I had to transcribe this so I can use it for some new Like Minds content I'm working on (analysis), so I figured I might as well share the work with all of you. Ngl, I laughed and laughed at him saying he didn't want the characters to be gay. Honey, did you even watch these scenes as you were filming?

He had to die.  It was a necessary means to an end.

Read:  What I was interested in was looking into juvenile psychology and looking at why do we have sociopaths in our society.

Narrator:  17 year old Alex, played by Eddie Redmayne, is charged with the murder of his friend Nigel (Tom Sturridge).  Lacking any substantial evidence, the police call in forensic psychologist, Sally Rowe (Toni Collette) to help prove his guilt.  But what she discovers is a tangled friendship full of enigma. 

"Why do you want to know what I believe in?"

"It'd be a good place to start."

"Gestalt."

"Gestalt..."

"An organized whole in which each individual part affects every other, but the whole being more important than the sum of its parts."

"Yeah, I'm familiar with first year psychology theory.  Should I be impressed?"

"It's not what it is.  It's how you use it."

Read:  I found this great paper on gestalt psychology and it was really fascinating.  It was such a...almost like a door opening to me, because it started talking about how you can have two sociopaths that can come together into a close environment and then create something bigger between themselves.

Have you ever had that feeling that there was someone inside your head, listening to your thoughts?  I read this article on twinning, about how two people can communicate across countries, through their minds.  There was something about this guy.

Read:  I was aware that in gestalt relationships, they tend to be a, not always, but a lot of times it was partnering, where it was a husband and wife team, or two gay men.  So I was interested in that concept, but I didn't want Alex to be gay.  And I didn't want Nigel to be overtly gay--I think he's asexual.

"What'd you do with the knife?"

"I sense some hostility."

"Oh, do you reckon."

"Let's just call it fingerprint insurance."

Read:  I constructed those two different types of characters.  One which is controlling and very driven by his success and career.  The other who is totally insular and is obsessive.  And then draw them together into a close proximity and then basically let them loose and see what happens to them, and how they fire off each other, and how you end up with this kind of cat and mouse type game. 

"I don't want any part of this."

"Well, I'm sorry, Jack, but you were the one who got inside MY head."

"Well get out of mine."

"It's too late for that."

Read:  I wanted to use colors that weren't overt.  And I wanted to kind of let the school kind of be more womb-like amongst the urban sprawl of...urban decay.  So I wanted the outside world to be kind of these steely kind of colors, and greens, and darker tones.  And I wanted the school to be more mahogany and kind of warm tones.  And the reason for that is really to give a sense of the psychology of it.  And when you go into the interrogation room, I want it to be stark and bright and short focus.

"Tell me about Nigel."

"Nigel got what he wanted."

"And what was that?"

"Eternity."

Read:  Well the train is definitely, it's like Dante's descent to Hell.  It gave me this feeling, like it was almost like an umbilical cord to the outside world.  This train that rattles on its unsteady path between the womb-like school and the outside world, which is cold and bleak and hard and true and rough around the edges, where the school is pristine and perfect and starched collars and, you know.  So to me it was just showing those two worlds and then bringing them together in a gestalt amongst themselves, so the two world create the environment that creates these characters. 

(watch the video here)

[Like Minds Masterpost]

[currentlyonstandbi]

[squishfacestudio]

We're back!

Haven't posted in a long time. Homecooked Comics Festival has gone to bed, but Emerald Hill Comics Festival is our new event, and it's on this weekend.

Since we ended Homecooked, Victoria doesn't have any comics festivals focused on local work (as far as we know)! We're glad to start a new one. It's an experiment to run a festival in our new space at Studio Hall, and we hope it will have legs.

Join us! We have a great lineup of artists and retailers from Melb, Vic and around Australia.

Come and meet: Sticky Institute, Angie Spice, Peter Lane, Daniel Reed, Khale McHurst, Nhu Duong, Bruce Mutard, Mirranda Burton, Jo Asscher, Cockatoo Comics, Amplified Press (Owen Heitmann), James Steeth, Nem, Alien Mandy, Roger Stitson, Neale Blanden, Ira Francis, Steven Christie, Squishface Studio, Eli Abidin, Andrew Pilkington, David Mahler, Andy_drws, Reimena Yee, Ann Li Khaw, Stephanie Luo, Tree Paper Gallery, Gestalt Comics, Sabina Wills, Alex Smith, Stephen Cox, Benji Bajorek, Helen Graham, Ive Sorocuk, Zander von Stiegler, Jess Wilson (Dubblu)

WHEN: 11am - 4pm, Sunday 15th September WHERE: Studio Hall (319-327 Dorcas St, South Melbourne: on the grounds of St. Kilda South Port Uniting Church, next to the Port Phillip Men's Shed)

Entry is free!

More info.

Join our Meetup page for updates on the festival and other Squishface events.

[badasstransswag]

WELCOME TO THE BADASS TRANS SWAG BRACKET AD 2023, a tournament for canonically trans characters (that we haven't seen in many other polls) to duke it out, presented in a ridiculous and esoteric manner (convoluted as fuck bracket).

VOTING FOR THE FINALS BEGINS 2/27 AT 7 PM EST. MATCHUPS BELOW THE CUT.

ROUND 1:

TESTAMENT (they/them) from GUILTY GEAR vs. SAM NIGHTINGALE (she/her) from DIMENSION 20 (winner will go against CATALYST (she/her) from APEX LEGENDS)

ALEX FIERRO (s/he) from MAGNUS CHASE & THE GODS OF ASGARD vs. ARCEE (she/her) from TRANSFORMERS (winner will go against POISON (she/her) from STREET FIGHTER)

CREMISIUS ACLASSI (he/him) from DRAGON AGE vs. MADELINE (she/her) from CELESTE (winner will go against DORORO (he/him) from DORORO)

ORYX, THE TAKEN KING (he/him) from DESTINY vs. CAGLIOSTRO (she/her) from GRANBLUE FANTASY (winner will go against ROSEMASTER (she/her) from CUCUMBER QUEST)

ROUND 2:

ELEKTRA ABUNDANCE-EVANGELISTA (she/her) from POSE FX vs. ICHIKA SAKURAI (she/her) from HIGH SCHOOL HEROES

PRINCESS SAPPHIRE (she/her) from RIBBON NO KISHI vs. SUN WUKONG (he/him) from JOURNEY TO THE WEST (art by @antidotefortheawkward-art from this post, used with permission)

TAYLOR LEE (they/them) from THERAPY WITH DR. ALBERT KRUEGER vs. ELENDIRA THE CRIMSONNAIL (she/her) from TRIGUN

KAINÉ (she/her) from NIER REPLICANT/GESTALT vs. SYLVIA (she/her) from DRAGON QUEST XI

ROUND 3:

TESTAMENT (they/them) from GUILTY GEAR vs. ELEKTRA ABUNDANCE-EVANGELISTA (she/her) from POSE FX

ARCEE (she/her) from TRANSFORMERS vs. SUN WUKONG (he/him) from JOURNEY TO THE WEST

MADELINE (she/her) from CELESTE vs. ELENDIRA THE CRIMSONNAIL (she/her) from TRIGUN

ORYX, THE TAKEN KING (he/him) from DESTINY vs. KAINÉ (she/her) from NIER REPLICANT/GESTALT

SEMIFINALS:

ELEKTRA ABUNDANCE-EVANGELISTA (she/her) from POSE FX vs. SUN WUKONG (he/him) from JOURNEY TO THE WEST

MADELINE (she/her) from CELESTE vs. ORYX, THE TAKEN KING (he/him) from DESTINY

FINALS:

SUN WUKONG (he/him) from JOURNEY TO THE WEST vs. ORYX, THE TAKEN KING (he/him) from DESTINY

[tomothysturridge]

Gestalt, Leopold/Loeb, & Like Minds

Once again, Like Minds (2006) is sticky in my brain. This time because if we take the movie’s explanation of Gestalt as a framework from which to view Nigel/Alex and the very clear subtextual comparison to Leopold and Loeb (they come up twice in Sally’s research) then the idea that Alex is an entirely innocent party falls apart entirely and if the writing wasn’t so against a woman being right, Sally should have realized this.

Not to bring up how Alex’s “Nigel’s death was a means to an end” comment should have been a fat clue again but mentioning that in conjunction with Gestalt should have clued her into the fact that what Alex meant was Nigel’s death was a moving part in the larger, more import whole of what they were trying to achieve. At some point before the trigger was pulled, either one or both of them had to have realized that — you could argue Nigel realized it in the moment and Alex only saw it after but in conjunction with everything else it’s hard to believe Alex was that slow to the punch.

This also leads me to another point: Nigel, at least at the beginning of the encounter at Casa Colbie has no intention of dying — he wants his Maraclea, that's why set the whole thing up, so why does he end up dead at the end of the night? If I'm being honest, my little conspiracy is that Alex realized before Nigel did that he had to die. Maybe he realized Nigel was truly his Maraclea (but that’s a topic for another day). Alternatively, perhaps one or both of them realized that they had to “become one” as Nigel puts it in order to be at their fullest potential. It is heavily implied in the film that Nigel is still “haunting” Alex. He can still hear him and feel him. If this is the case, Alex is both the unprincipled man and he has the implement for killing in his head. They can no longer be separated, they are one.

Also if we just map them onto Leopold and Loeb, it’s clear that Alex’s version of events want us to view Nigel as Leopold, the ‘dominant’ partner in the gestalt relationship and Alex as ‘Loeb.” Leopold is the one who believed that he and Loeb had some great destiny BUT if we look at the empirical evidence we are given, Alex is, function wise, the Leopold in the situation. He is the “unprincipled man” where Nigel is just the “implement for killing.” Also the only thing we are told by Alex that Nigel said that it is provable (Sally found the notebook) that he said is that entry on Alex in his notebook in which he accuses Alex of having delusions of grandeur. So let's take Nigel's only actual words at face value here -- If it is true that Alex in fact does possess delusions of grandeur as Nigel said, then that makes him much more like Leopold. Loeb also notoriously saw himself as a “submissive” partner to Leopold and wanted to be dominated by him. Similarly, Nigel seeks direction from Alex and sees himself merely as a “spade.”

All this is to say that I do not believe for a second that Alex is innocent of their crimes because when you dig into subtext of gestalt as presented in the movie and the irl case that the movie is based on, it is so damn hard to believe he is. I think this is the puzzle he wanted Sally to solve but she couldn't because of her bad writing.

This is also all very gay. Leopold and Loeb were very gay but again, that's a topic for another day.

[honeyed-latte]

I think it is profoundly interesting that Alex is such an unreliable narrator, yet somehow he's still the victim.

Like, Nigel is clearly the aggressor physically but the idea of the Gestalt makes Alex the dominant partner. The one, mentally, driving them forward as a whole. Nigel is the weapon, a blunt tool made for accomplishing a task and Alex is the tradesman.

They're both victim and villain at the same time and thats so interesting!!!!

[invisibleraven]

Oooh, scooby doo au with the combo of your choice!

Luke grinned as the Phantom-Mobile pulled up in front of the abandoned looking club. "Alright gang, we've got to see if we can find this ghost that is driving away all of nice Mr. Covington's customers."

"If you ask me," Alex said, as he triple checked their supplies, "Mr. Covington did not seem all that nice."

"Nu-uh," chorused Willie. "Totally not nice."

"It's like chill man," Reggie said, tossing a few more snacks into Alex's bag when he wasn't looking. "We don't have to like the dude to help him out or accept his money."

"Reggie's right," Julie said with a nod. "We get in, we find out what's really happening, we get out, we get paid-"

"We fund our demo!" Luke finished. "Let's go Phantoms!"

Look, it wasn't their fault that Mr. Covington thought their band was a group of exorcist's, given their name, but money was money when gigs had dried up and jobs were slow. None of them really believed in ghosts, so they figured it was just some disgruntled employee out to stop the business in it's tracks.

They crept into the club, which was dark, and hitting the light switch did little to illuminate the situation, given the bulbs had gone dead for the most part. "Yeesh, I thought this place was supposed to be swanky," Alex said with a whistle as he lifted a streak of dust with his finger.

"I suppose cleaning isn't high on your priority list when you've got a poltergeist," Julie said with a shrug.

"A whater-geist?" Willie asked.

"Ghost man, keep up," Reggie replied. "Gestalt entity, spectre, spirit. I know all the lingo."

"You hang out with Carlos too much," Julie said with a fond eye roll.

"Not my fault the little dude looks up to me!" Reggie repled.

"And we all love that he does but I think you guys bickering has effectively scared everything but the spiders away!" Luke hissed. "Trying to get paid remember?"

Then they saw it-a white figure off in the distance. The creak and groan of stairs, a moan, a rattle of chains.

"Can we like, make like a tree and leave?" Reggie asked.

"Shush dude," Alex cautioned. "It's probably more afraid of you than you are of it."

"I thought there was no such thing as ghosts," Julie said, a tremble of fear in her voice.

"That's witches," Willie replied.

"So we're not going with witch," Luke nodded resolutely. He nodded towards the figure. "Let's gp."

"Are you crazy?" Alex whispered. "We're not equipped to deal with an actual phantom!"

"It's probably some homeless guy squatting here who's trying to stake his claim," Luke replied.

"I say we let squatter's rights stand then," Reggie said. "We all know how tough it is to sleep rough."

"We don't get paid that way, unfortunately," Julie said, reaching out to squeeze his hand, then nodded to Luke.

"Alright boss, let's go." LUke crept closer, and then tackled the spirit. Only he went through the image, almost landing on the projector that was displaying the image.

"Ha, told you there was nothing to be scared of!" Alex crowed.

"Now we have to find out who turned it on," Willie replied, the rest of them gulping rather audibly.

The rest of their trek was a rather twisty turny maze, including a corridor of rooms that all seemed to lead back to one another, until finally they found a dark figure in the control booth.

Willie and Reggie circled him in rope, while Alex called the cops and Julie looked around to turn off any more projectors and on the lights.

Luke approached the figure, who was wearing a large rubber mask. "Now let's see who's really behind this whole thing." He pulled off the mask to reveal...

"Mr. Covington?" the group chorused.

"I almost had this place as a tax write off you fools!" he scowled. "You weren't supposed to actually come, just take the money. And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

"Well, crime doesn't pay," Luke replied. "But we will be sending you our bill."

Everyone rolled their eyes at that, and laughed. Well, everyone except Mr. Covington that it, who just groaned. But no one could blame him-it was a truly awful joke. Thanks goodness that wasn't Luke's forte.

But hey, maybe if this music thing didn't work out, they could actually go into ghost hunting?

[analog-horror-deutsch]

The Mandela Catalogue

The Mandela Catalogue ist eine analoge Horror-Webserie des US-amerikanischen YouTubers Alex Kister, die im Jahr 2021 erstmals veröffentlicht wurde. Die Serie spielt im fiktiven Mandela County, Wisconsin, das von nichtmenschlichen „Alternates“ überfallen wird, die Menschen durch Manipulation und psychische Folter dazu bringen wollen, Suizid zu begehen, um dann zu Doppelgängern des Opfers zu werden. Die Serie wurde populär durch Reaktionsvideos und Analysen auf YouTube.

Handlung

In „The Mandela Catalogue“ geht es um das fiktive Mandela County, das sich mit der Gefahr für die Menschheit in Form unaufhaltsamer Wesen auseinandersetzen muss, die als Alternates bekannt sind. Dabei handelt es sich um eine Art Dämon, der die Gestalt von Menschen annehmen kann, um die Menschheit zu vernichten.

Original

Übersetzt

Komplett

Akt 1

Akt 2

[summerstrash]

okay so, like, y'know how in the 60s/70s, Lorna, like, gets gender euphoria from dating Alex, right?

and then in the 80s, she gets possessed by Malice, who Sinister says she was "made for," and the Lorna-Malice gestalt basically steals Lorna from Alex — leaving him vulnerable to Maddie's seduction, which hinges in part on them both bonding over feeling abandoned by their Great Loves — and also Malice-Lorna is familiar enough with queer slang to call Storm both "butch," and "rough trade."

And Maddie's seduction of Alex leads to him donning "her" clothes (Goblin Gown, flight/utility suit) and taking on her role with the computer center.

(— Maddie, meanwhile, is a woman working in male-dominated fields with no past beyond a certain point, created by mad science, who was denied a girlhood and literally is referred to as a "trap" for Scott, who throws over the traditional heterosexual family unit when she realizes it wasn't "supposed" to be hers anyway, so, like —)

And this whole situation leads to Alex contradicting Malice-Lorna's assertion that the "female of the species" is "invariably deadlier," by saying that, essentially, Inferno — i.e. his associations with Maddie — has made him "more deadly," while he's still dressed in Maddie's metaphorical clothes.

Absolutely wild. Fucking wild.

[aikideo]

so i was thinking about all the stuff about guustaldt in that alex mentioned once and that the psychiatrist seemed to get really interested in and it doesn't make any sense. and i'm sure that's just bc it was thrown in as a second thought

like the whole idea of gestalt psychology is that it's focused on the entirety of a persons mind and behavior and that individual actions or thoughts the person has can't be looked at as the main idea.

in therapy it's used in treating traumas. like trying to heal someone from a specific part of their trauma in order to find the larger cause of their issue.

and if that could work for nigel because his whole being was obsessed with the templar idea and more importantly obessesed with alex and just looking at one small thing of him, like when he gave alex help on his essay for example, makes him become a very different character. and bc alex was in turn so obessessed with nigel ( in that hate/love way) maybe that makes more sense as to why he believes it? bc it's a good way to describe this person that he's obsessing over? but then he says "it's how you use it" and in the scene where the paychiatrist is doing a lecture on gestalt she makes it sound like it's a sort of manipulation, or that it's similar to the idea of twinning?? like two people being able to communicate thru their minds??

so all of that is to say that i don't think the writers understood what gestalt is, bc it doesn't make a whole lot of sense

[laurelwen]

Texts in Like Minds: Sally's Books

After her first encounter with Alex, Sally returns home and consults a stack of books while listening to the recording of their discussion.  Of this stack, only two titles are discernible.  The first book is shown briefly and set aside, and the second is opened to a bookmarked page.  This large tome is titled Principles of Criminal Psychology (Fifth Edition), by George R. Booth and Andrew Porter.  Sadly, I cannot find even the tiniest scrap of the existence of this book online.  It is clearly a textbook, and presumably one she would have kept from her school days given that it’s directly relevant to her career.  The bookmarked page is titled “Chapter 27: Gestalt Theory”, and the opposite page features photos of Leopold and Loeb, who I have discussed elsewhere.  The text itself is unfortunately not clear enough to be readable. 

Returning to the first book we see, there is much more information to be found online.  It is titled Gestalt Therapy: The Attitude and Practice of an Atheoretical Experientialism by Claudio Naranjo, first published in 1993.

The recording Sally plays during this moment is their exchange regarding gestalt.  This concept is one that the movie highlights in this scene and again at the end during Sally’s address to her peers, but it does not clearly define or explain the idea of “gestalt” for the audience.  Gestalt first arose as a philosophical principle suggesting that the experience of the parts of something cannot fully represent the whole of that thing, like the notes of the song versus the experience of the song itself.  A cursory search of various articles online can give a brief overview of the core ideas of gestalt psychology.  Wikipedia says this:

Gestalt psychologists believed that breaking psychological phenomena down into smaller parts would not lead to understanding psychology.   Instead, they viewed psychological phenomena as organized, structured wholes.  They argued that the psychological "whole" has priority and that the "parts" are defined by the structure of the whole, rather than the other way round.  Gestalt theories of perception are based on human nature being inclined to understand objects as an entire structure rather than the sum of its parts.  

This gives us a more thorough explanation of Alex’s very brief description of “gestalt”, but does not provide much insight into the meaning of his hints to Sally or why gestalt would have any bearing on his relationship with Nigel.  The implication we are left to surmise is that these two separate boys have combined as individuals to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts, and Sally lampshades this idea at the end in her speech referencing the movie title.  However, examination of these two books has given me some new thoughts about the use of gestalt in the film and about Sally’s conclusion regarding the dynamic between them.  

Alex’s next words to Sally feel extremely significant and should be considered thoroughly: “It’s not what it is.  It’s how you use it.”  Given that both these books reference “gestalt therapy” specifically, it’s worth looking beyond the core theory of gestalt psychology to see how therapists actually use these ideas in practice.  I found a clear explanation on this page:

Gestalt therapy is an existential and experiential psychotherapy that focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts in which these things take place, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of the overall situation. It emphasizes personal responsibility. Gestalt therapy was co-founded by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls and Paul Goodman in the 1940s–1950s.

Gestalt therapy is built around two central ideas: that the most helpful focus of psychology is the experiential present moment and that everyone is caught in webs of relationships; thus, it is only possible to know ourselves against the background of our relation to other things.

I think we can already see some connections with the story as Alex presents it.  Alex and Nigel are inextricably entwined in a web of relationship, and we the audience find it impossible to understand either character outside of this context.  

Here I would like to suggest some Doylian interpretation which I believe to be possible or even likely, but for which I can offer no concrete evidence.  We know that Greg Read initially intended to make a documentary about the phenomenon of two people who match each other’s freak so well that they enable a worsening of sociopathic tendencies to the level of violent criminal behavior.  In one interview, he referenced a paper he read about gestalt psychology which opened doors in his mind and led him down this path.  He had developed the documentary idea enough to show it to other people, and someone told him it would make a great fictional movie.  Based on this, I assume he must have acquired additional materials beyond that first paper, conducting extensive research on the idea in preparation for the documentary.  I posit that the books Sally uses in this scene are Greg’s books, or copies of the same books he had referenced.  All of Sally’s scenes were filmed in Australia, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility that he simply brought (or already had) his own books on set.  

Working from that assumption, the ideas found in Gestalt Therapy: The Attitude and Practice of an Atheoretical Experientialism might be taken as extremely influential on Greg’s thought process in writing this film.  While the whole text is not available online, there are a few excerpts one can read for free here.  (The book itself is available through multiple websites for around US$40 at the time of this post.)  If we examine the excerpts below within the context of the movie, a few things really stand out (emphasis mine):

Perls sometimes stated the principle entailed in such strategy as one of absolute validity: You never overcome anything by resisting it. You only can overcome anything by going deeper into it. If you are spiteful, be more spiteful. If you are performing, increase the performance. Whatever it is, if you go deeply enough into it, then it will disappear; it will be assimilated. Any resistance is not good. You have to go full into it—swing with it. Swing with your pain, your restlessness, whatever is there. Use your spite. Use your environment. Use all that you fight and disown.

This sounds remarkably like the process Alex goes through with Nigel, resistant at first and gradually leaning into the swing, learning to embrace and roll with all the things he was fighting against.  A case might also be made that Nigel partakes in this process as well: he too is resistant to Alex initially, but the train scene marks a turning point in which he seems to make the decision to lean into the violence that Alex offers.  

Returning to Alex’s assertion that it’s not about what gestalt is, but how you use it, these passages take on a whole new meaning.  Sally’s speech at the end of the movie suggests that she arrived at the conclusion, based on her belief in Alex’s version of events, that Nigel essentially used the techniques of gestalt therapy in a twisted, malicious way to manipulate Alex towards the culmination of the film. As she says,

“What follows, through a system of either intimidation, manipulation, or coercion, is the dominant individual begins to focus and influence the thoughts of the subordinate partner.  This process nurtures a subjective gestalt where similar thoughts, fantasies, and other interlocking elements conspire to form a greater and more volatile whole, therefore, a merging of like minds.” 

Now read the excerpt below in light of these descriptions: 

In the strategy which pervades Gestalt practice, the therapist is leading the patient through a process similar to that through which a child that is learning to sit on a chair needs to discover that he can sit only by giving his back to the chair, not by moving towards it. While this is a discovery that many make at a certain point in a typical session, a spectator may not share the insight. The patient discovers that his resentment was a diluted and devious form of healthy aggression, for instance, but this spectator may be frightened by what he sees as destructive loss of control; what the patient experiences as a rewarding and cleansing explosion of grief, brought about by the exaggeration of emptiness, the observer without familiarity with Gestalt may fear that the therapist, by urging on the patient’s symptoms, may lead him to suicide. The therapist’s ability to bring a patient to the turning point where his disowned destructive energies become his own purified strength will depend, in large measure, not upon technique alone, but on his experiential knowledge that this is possible, and in the consequent sense of trust in the constructive drives of which pathological manifestations are a distortion brought about by unhealthy denial and which can heal by itself in the presence of awareness. Such trust will enable him to pursue a given course of action to an effective degree, in spite of the patient’s chaos, rage, or loss of control—and will be important, too, in eliciting the necessary trust in the patient for him to let go. Gestalt therapy is based on the principle that to alleviate unresolved negative feelings like anger, pain, anxiety, and resentment, those emotions cannot just be discussed, but must be actively expressed in the present. Without that, psychological and physical symptoms can arise.

These passages represent the intended healthy expression of these principles.  If we take these ideas and techniques and twist them into an unhealthy, intentionally manipulative and toxic dynamic, it maps quite clearly onto the relationship between Alex and Nigel and the actions they take throughout the film.  Sally assumes that Nigel is in the role of the “therapist” leading Alex the patient through this process.  The movie’s ending presents itself as a twist and suggests that these roles were in fact reversed, particularly in light of Alex’s first interview with Sally and his ominous and vague statements about Nigel's death being a necessary means to an end.  If we accept that conclusion at face value, then consider how Alex “urging on the patient’s symptoms” may have actually “led him to suicide”.

The Gestalt therapist contrives experiments that lead the client to greater awareness and fuller experience of his/her possibilities. Experiments can be focused on undoing projections or retroflections. They can work to help the client with closure of unfinished Gestalts ("unfinished business" such as unexpressed emotions towards somebody in the client's life). 

What is the climax of this movie if not Nigel creating a violent type of closure with his unexpressed emotions toward his parents?  “It’s how you use it.”  Did Alex use gestalt therapy techniques to draw Nigel into this violent chain of events as “a means to an end”?  If so, what actually was the “end” he desired?

Incorporating this information into our interpretations of the movie still does not necessarily force us into accepting Alex as Mastermind as the only reading.  I think you can certainly see that dynamic, but it doesn’t preclude Nigel as Mastermind.  In my further reading regarding gestalt therapy, I found this passage in a blog post:

A thirst for experience is part of all life. Often though, this takes the form of a wanting to move on and on to other experiences than those at hand. A craving for more replaces the need for depth that could be our natural mode of contacting the world, had we not become desensitized to it. Intuitively seeking that depth or fullness of awareness that is on our birthright, and not finding it, we seek the substitute of environmental stimulation: spicy foods, rock climbing, high-speed sportscars, competitive games, tragedies on the movie screen.

This describes Alex perfectly and speaks to his own need for the gestalt therapeutic approach.  We could argue that Nigel addresses this drive for more experiences by bringing Alex into a focus on the depths of the present moment, existing in the now that Nigel creates for him as he attempts to understand his own feelings and reactions.  As the book puts it:

The Perlses believed that it is not our responsibility to live up to others' expectations, nor should we expect others to live up to ours. In building self-awareness, gestalt therapy aims to help clients better understand themselves and how the choices they make affect their health and their relationships. 

 My own interpretation is one of equal partners both playing the role of therapist and patient to each other.  Gestalt therapy relies on the ability of the therapist to set aside their own interpretations of the patient's experiences in favor of allowing or guiding the patient to arrive at their own understandings and conclusions. I do not think that sole responsibility can be placed on either Nigel or Alex, and the events of the movie could not or would not have transpired without the active participation of both boys in each other's lives.  While the context is a dark expression of these ideas, both Alex and Nigel help each other build self-awareness and achieve a better understanding of themselves.

Like Minds Masterpost

[gameforestdach]

Das Marvel-Universum steht kurz vor einem bahnbrechenden Ereignis mit der Veröffentlichung von Web of Spider-Man #1 am 27. März 2024. Dieses mit Spannung erwartete riesige Einzelheft ist nicht nur ein Comic; es ist ein Tor in die Zukunft der weitläufigen Welt von Spider-Man. Die doppelten Handlungsstränge von Zeb Wells Im Mittelpunkt dieser Ausgabe stehen zwei Handlungsstränge, geschrieben von Zeb Wells. Zusammen mit Ed McGuinness erzählt Wells eine fesselnde Geschichte über zwei Goblins. In einer parallelen Erzählung mit John Romita Jr. wird das Nachspiel eines Bandenkrieges beleuchtet, was die Bühne für eine bevorstehende epische Geschichte vorbereitet. Diese Geschichten versprechen, neue Dimensionen des Spider-Man-Universums hinzuzufügen und seine Überlieferungen und Tiefe zu bereichern. Spektakuläre Spider-Men: Das nächste Kapitel Greg Weisman, bekannt für sein erzählerisches Können, wird das Fundament für den zweiten Bogen von Spectacular Spider-Men legen. Diese Reihe, die das dynamische Duo Peter Parker und Miles Morales zeigt, hat bereits die Herzen der Fans erobert und die Vorfreude auf das, was als Nächstes kommt, ist groß. Die Rückkehr von Chasm und Kaine Steve Foxe und Greg Land kehren zu den Geschichten von Chasm und Kaine zurück, den Klons, die einst als The Scarlet-Spider bekannt waren. Ihre Rückkehr ist in Geheimnisse und Rätsel gehüllt, mit Hinweisen auf eine schattenhafte Gestalt, deren Identität ein streng gehütetes Geheimnis ist. Dieser Erzählstrang wird die Leser sicherlich in Atem halten. Die Einführung der Spider-Gesellschaft Alex Segura und Salvador Larocca führen die Leser im neuen Band von Edge of Spider-Verse in die Spider-Gesellschaft ein. Dieser Zusatz zur Spider-Man-Saga ist nicht nur eine Geschichte; es ist ein völlig neues Reich innerhalb des Spider-Verse und verspricht frische Abenteuer und Charaktere. 2024: Ein Meilensteinjahr in der Spider-Geschichte Web of Spider-Man #1 ist mehr als ein Comicbuch; es ist ein Statement von Marvel, das ihr Engagement für das Erbe von Spider-Man zeigt. Diese Veröffentlichung wird wichtige Spider-Geschichten und Charaktere vorgeben und den Erzählbogen bis Anfang 2025 prägen. Diese Zusammenarbeit von renommierten Spider-Man-Autoren und Künstlern ist ein Beleg für die anhaltende Beliebtheit und Bedeutung von Spider-Man in der Popkultur. Es ist ein Muss für eingefleischte Spidey-Enthusiasten und Neulinge in der Welt der Comics.

[badasstransswag]

WELCOME TO THE BADASS TRANS SWAG BRACKET AD 2023'S LOSERS' BRACKET, featuring characters that didn't make it the first time and a couple of new additions! Watch your favorite canonically trans characters that feel like you've been missing from other polls to duke it out in a convoluted and esoteric manner.

As a preemptive note, match-ups were randomized this time.

GO VOTE FOR WHO GETS THE SECOND MOST BADASS SLOT: ARCEE OR ORYX!

ROUND 1:

TAYLOR LEE (they/them) from THERAPY WITH DR. ALBERT KRUEGER vs. CATALYST (she/her) from APEX LEGENDS (winner will go against ELEKTRA ABUNDANCE-EVANGELISTA (she/her) from FX'S POSE)

TURKEY (she/her) from DOROHEDORO vs. ROSEMASTER (she/her) from CUCUMBER QUEST (winner will go against TESTAMENT (they/them) from GUILTY GEAR)

DORORO (he/him) from DORORO vs. ICHIKA SAKURAI (she/her) from HIGH SCHOOL HEROES (winner will go against ELENDIRA THE CRIMSONNAIL (she/her) from TRIGUN)

POISON (she/her) from STREET FIGHTER vs. METTATON (he/him) from UNDERTALE (winner will go against ARCEE (she/her) from TRANSFORMERS)

ROUND 2:

PRINCESS SAPPHIRE (she/her) from RIBBON NO KISHI vs. SYLVIA (she/him) from DRAGON QUEST XI

ALEX FIERRO (s/he) from MAGNUS CHASE & THE GODS OF ASGARD vs. KAINÉ (she/her) from NIER REPLICANT/GESTALT

CAGLIOSTRO (she/her) from GRANBLUE FANTASY vs. ADIRA TAL (they/them) from STAR TREK: DISCOVERY

SAM NIGHTINGALE (she/her) from DIMENSION 20 vs. CREMISIUS ACLASSI (he/him) from DRAGON AGE

ROUND 3:

ELEKTRA ABUNDANCE-EVANGELISTA (she/her) from FX'S POSE vs. SYLVIA (she/him) from DRAGON QUEST XI

TESTAMENT (they/them) from GUILTY GEAR vs. KAINÉ (she/her) from NIER REPLICANT/GESTALT

ICHIKA SAKURAI (she/her) from HIGH SCHOOL HEROES vs. CAGLIOSTRO (she/her) from GRANBLUE FANTASY

ARCEE (she/her) from TRANSFORMERS) vs. SAM NIGHTINGALE (she/her) from DIMENSION 20

SEMIFINALS:

ELEKTRA ABUNDANCE-EVANGELISTA (she/her) from FX'S POSE vs. TESTAMENT (they/them) from GUILTY GEAR

ICHIKA SAKURAI (she/her) from HIGH SCHOOL HEROES vs. ARCEE (she/her) from TRANSFORMERS

FINALS

ELEKTRA ABUNDANCE-EVANGELISTA (she/her) from FX'S POSE vs. ARCEE (she/her) from TRANSFORMERS