#ash has too many robots

[aviatrix-ash]

These silly Minibots are trying to help me with this comic by posing for me.

They're doing such a good job :]

[cqwnii]

warnings : reader has an asthma attack ! referred to in 2nd person, might be ooc + not proofread

genre : x reader, fluff + (angst?), mini story + headcanon format.

P.1 : Ashlyn, Logan, Aiden

☆ 》 ben clark 《 ☆

the group has been running from these phantoms for too long now, you can feel your legs giving up, your chest tightening and your breathing getting shallower, you quickly grab your inhaler, "fuck.." you mumble as you find out your inhaler is empty, your lungs feel like their on fire and your sweating profusely. "guys, my inhaler.." was all you choked out before your body gave up on you, falling to your knees trying to breathe

☆ Ben panicked, adrenaline rushing through his body as he quickly picked you up and carried you right inside the graveyard, you guys were trying to do a quick mission to ashs house (before you had the jeep.) but it didn't go according to plan.

☆ you weakly sat on one of the many seats in the schoolbus, the others checking around the base to see if there was any refills for your inhaler as ben was by your side, making sure you stayed conscious and weren't about to pass out from your asthma attack.

☆ unfortunately that was your last inhaler refill, and you were extremely pale and sweating as if you were in the vegas during the hottest week there.

☆ ben typed out on his phone, making sure to instruct you through your asthma attack to the best of his ability. "concentrate on your breathing y/n." the robotic TTS voice spoke, ben didn't know if you could see properly, so he used to TTS option so you could hear the instructions.

☆ the others were worriedly around you, but making sure to give you breathing space, as they were all concerned about your increase in asthma attacks you've been getting since savannah.

☆ as your asthma attack subsided, ben typed out on his phone to make sure you feel better. "how are you feeling y/n, can you breathe?" you nod as she mumble that you feel better and can actually breathe without struggling.

☆》 Tyler hernandez 《☆

the group has found themselves in a predicament, you can feel your legs giving up, your chest tightening and your breathing getting shallower, you quickly grab your inhaler, "fuck sakes.." you mumble as you realize your inhaler is in your motel room. your lungs feel like their on fire and your sweating profusely. "Wait.. guys I-.." was all you could get out before you fell straight to the ground, the phantom right behind you.

☆ Tyler easily recognized your weak voice, turning around quickly to pull you up before the phantom got to you. it was strange on how this is almost the same thing they found in the sorrel house. tyler pulled you close to him right before ashlyn slammed the phantom with the janitor cart.

☆ tyler brought you into the other motel room. as the other two looked out to see ash, aiden and ben, Tyler patted you down to see if you had your inhaler, but to no avail you didnt. he sat you down and made sure to instruct you on your breathing.

☆ "take deep breaths okay y/n?" Tyler spoke, he carefully held you as the other three came into the motel room, they were a little confused on why you collapsed but were a little more shocked by tyler comforting you.

☆ tyler glared at the others before looking back at you and keeping you awake and making sure your breathing stabilizes sooner than later. he was definitely worried and the others haven't seen him this concerned since they met him, besides taylor of course.

☆ although you didn't have your inhaler, this asthma attack as a mild one and it ended in only a couple minutes with the help of Tylers quick thinking, cause in all honesty you might've forgotten the steps to calm down your attack from the anxiety caused by the phantoms.

☆ "y/n are you okay..?" tyler worriedly spoke as he pulled you close to him, once you confirmed you're alright he hugged you tightly, muttering a few words you couldn't really understand. "just rest okay..? we'll figure out whatever the hells going on." he spoke as you nodded, he let you laid down on his lap as you eventually fell asleep.

☆ 》 Taylor hernandez 《☆

the group has been running from these phantoms for too long now, you can feel your legs giving up, your chest tightening and your breathing getting shallower, you quickly grab your inhaler, "the hell...?" you mumble as you find out the medication canister is gone. your lungs feel like their on fire and your sweating profusely. "tay, I can't breathe..." you weakly spoke right before collapsing to the ground, struggling to catch your breath.

☆ Taylors heart stopped. first she watched her brother fall off a cliff, now she couldn’t bare to see her lover die to the hands of a phantom. She immediately turned around and pulled you out of the way of the phantom.

☆ thankfully ash heard the phantom behind you, and was quick to swing into action. the phantom only managed to give you a little scratch, but thankfully that's all the phantom managed to do.

☆ taylor pulled you inside the gas station, sitting you upright against one of the shelves and making sure you stay conscious. She noticed the empty inhaler mouthpiece and checked her pockets to see if she had a canister refill for you, only to find out she doesn't have one.

☆ " y/n.. just focus on breathing.. Ty-.. ash check if they have any inhaler canisters.." Taylor spoke, she held you close to her and continued to make sure your breathing is getting stabilized. The others were concerned as there was on 7 minutes till they shift back, worried since you never had an asthma attack during a shift, which could harm you.

☆ ashlyn found your dose and quickly passed it to taylor who put it in your inhaler; making sure it worked before pulling it to your lips and assisting you with using it, one dose.. two doses.. and now they need to wait.

☆ after a few minutes your asthma attack subsided and resolved. Taylor held you close and muttered sweet nothings as a few tears ran down her face, a few choked sobs slipping from her lips. "I was so worried about you y/n.." she spoke before planting a kiss on your cheek.

—————————–———————————––——

A/N : yippie guys ^^ i kinda didn't know what to write for this part, but i figured out some ideas. though they might he repetitive and such 😓

[rowretro]

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕳𝖆𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌

(picture found on tumblr)

✧Warnings: Violence, detailed ghost and gore, blood, a horror themed yandere story, dead bodies, possibly creepy dolls?, mafia demon Won (coz he has a gun in the pic, and I need him to be a demon in this story)

✧Synopsis: Y/n never found herself having to hide in her sweet penthouse, her $500 bottle of red wine spilled out of her crystal wine glass, the stunning door many envied, bloodied and broken. She found herself running, running into danger yet again... and the police were on a search for her, as she's now a missing person case. But Jungwon was on a hunt for her, making sure his darling is safe at all costs.

✧✭☆✧✭☆✧✭☆✧✭☆✭✧☆✭✧☆✭✧☆✭✧

Y/n's blood ran cold. one last audio recording of her discoveries on day 7 of surviving. Surviving what you ask? she doesn't even know what to call it. It's eyes blank white, blood surrounding it's pearly eyeballs, running down it's cracked porcelain skin, dried out, it's long hair, everywhere it trails. She learnt not to touch it or it'll immediately sense she's there. It couldn't see her, but it could hear her. it could hear how her blood pumped through her body, her somewhat heavy breathing but it never knew where she hid. She was in an abandoned school.... a University known for it's paranormal sightings. She'd ran into many bodies, of those who tried to escape, some were streamers, reporters who willingly walked into the death department, others seemed like students who tried to escape.

Yet somehow she managed to find out how to kill it... the monster. Finding random letters a woman named Angela Xiao wrote till her death. Y/n examined how the monster's nails went from plain dead, to growing, blinding white nails. The day time was when it was most safe, it never came out in the late, but y/n remained wary. But now it's winter. The nights longer than days, darkness lasting long. She couldn't remember the last time she slept soundly with her only worry being waking up late when she has a morning lecture.

She figured the monster wrote those letters, it was once a woman, forced into an abusive marriage with a man that hurt her always, until he had it, ripping out her ligaments whilst she was still alive, as the woman screamed bloody murder, according to the random news letters in the cold dead hands in some reporters. There was some talks of a kid's ghost that lurked the hallways too. Her heart ached for this woman, but she had to get rid of this.... cursed being. perhaps perform an exorcism?...

She found a lighter, checking if it'd still blaze up, unaware of her surroundings, when a sudden, gut wrenching, ear-piercing scream shook her. There it was, the monster. Not expecting anything to happen but at least slow the thing down, she set it on fire, running off and hiding. but it kept screaming in agony, its body burning up, as it disappeared to ashes.... Y/n's eyes grew wide as she saw a much prettier woman in the form of a ghost, staring around at the bloodied mess, looking quite hurt... It saw y/n, and left behind a key....

It was the key to get out of this place physically. Hopeful yet extremely cautious, she picked up the key. The sound of clinking, echoed the empty hallways, not too far. That can't be right... she hid in the closet, watching as the shadow grew bigger. Her heart dropped at the sight. another one? she wondered as she saw the porcelain mannequin, walking robotically, its hair looking like an elegant wig a woman's love to wear, a red bow tied around it. the strappy red dress looked like a dress she had worn to a friend's frat party.

Those red glass heels looked as fragile as it's ceramic, glossy skin. "I know you're in here human... I can smell your yummy blood... oh don't be shy come out! it'll only hurt a little... I just wanna tear you open and eat your insides whilst u scream in pain!" it said with an eerily sweet voice. She calmed her breath, hiding well, she saw its face. pupils black, lashes drawn on, like a man had made himself a pretty wife in the 1950's, except it looked creepy, sure it possessed the beauty standards one'd expect in a woman, that were so unrealistic. but it's mouth area was broken off, and it's bloodied teeth, with some skin evident in between.

"Come out dear girl... I can see your dark hair.... what such pretty skin you have there......" she commented as Y/n swallowed hard. "THERE YOU ARE!" it screamed as y/n felt herself giving up, reaching for the blade to end her sorrows so she wont face the pain. as it's cold hands grabbed her shoulders, and opened its jaw revealing many rows of bloodied, long sharp teeth, y/n couldn't help but scream. Yet it dropped dead. glass shattering, soul arising from the shatterred, creepy mess off porcelain and disappearing. Y/n breathed heavily, as she finally cried.

"Fuck it's ok, its ok.... I'm here y/n...." a familliar voice said, Jungwon, the sweet boy in her class, the man she had a crush on.... but... he looked different. Gun in hand, black, featherred wings that had sprouted out his back. She backed away, repeating the word no, scared he's just an illusion. "shh shh.... I promise it is me.... I've been looking for you everywhere.... I didn't know that the curses still lived on earth- but trust me, you're safe with me.... look me in the eyes sweetheart." he said as y/n did so. and she immediately felt his sincerity.

As the police bought her story, and discovered the many dead bodies, they pinned their target, the man who started the curse of course, The man who had killed his wife and child. To the police however, he was a psychotic serial killer who killed every one there brutally and had gotten away with it for dozens of years. Y/n was in Jungwon's home, getting a little used to his demon abilities, and his dear friend Jay who casually sipped out of a blood bag before her. Jungwon could feel she was scared.... god it hurt him that she was so shaken up, in such a condition for about a week.

But he loved it, he loves how she grew so dependant on him... How she dragged him with her everywhere, how he helped her shower, delicately scrubbing the soap on her soft skin, wary of the wounds and cuts. He's loving how she's currently snuggling into his embrace, dressed in one of her short yet comfortable nightgowns, needy for his reassurance. See if something like this never happened, he couldn't have gotten her attention..... The haunting was all that was needed to get her to love him... And he will make sure she'll forever love him. She has no choice, only he can protect her, and only he can love her....

✧✭☆✧✭☆✧✭☆✧✭☆✭✧☆✭✧☆✭✧☆✭✧

A/n: I'm gonna have nightmares for picturing this- but I hope u enjoyed, comment how u feel, and if u want me to make it up to you w a fluff- or maybe smut idk yet(shoot me w some requests, ill try)

[base0h]

Just went driving on a road it was scary ash. So anyway I was wondering how one piece characters would fair on the road. Ik for a fact that luffy is probably banned from every road imaginable. Have a good day slayer

a/n - ah yes I’m slayer 😂 (a demon slayer) jkjk thanks for your request anon and yes, Luffy is banned from driving forever. (Garp’s also banned but we don’t talk about that)

Warnings ⚠️ - modern au, g/n reader, crack, bro Luffy is so bad at driving it’s hilarious

- if you think you’re a bad driver no you’re not. Luffy’s 10x worse

- he eats when he drives and he steers the wheel with his toes 💀💀💀

- “You have to stop at the red lights Luffy.”

- “MFFMM got it!” *his mouth is full*

- bro speeds through red lights and somehow stays alive

- and this time he managed to fly through a literal building. A BUILDING.

- needless to say. You’re scared asf. (Who wouldn’t be-? I’d die the moment I step into the car 💀)

- “LUFFY STOP THE CAR AND PUT YOUR FEET ON THE BRAKES-!”

- “IM OUT OF FEET!” *feet on the steering wheel*

- “THEN USE YOUR FUCKING HANDS THATS WHAT THEYRE THERE FOR!”

- “IM EATING!”

- “SIDJEONRORNRKT STOP EATING OMFG-“ (you are about to murder your bf. i support that movement, do it)

- nothing can interrupt a meal 👍

- garp is just as bad except he gets more angry at dumb drivers. He’s also been banned by the city government from driving but he drives anyway

- Luffy is very close to being banned by the country government. That’s a whole new level of bad driving

- you have survived all the times and I commend you for that. If you didn’t worship god before you do now thanks to Luffy. You pray before every driving experience 🫶

- does zoro know how to drive? Yes

- is he good at it? Eh he’s ok

- does he use a gps? no.

- do you end up in Hawaii when you’re trying to go to Starbucks? Yes

- “HOW DID WE CROSS AN ENTIRE FUCKING OCEAN??” -you

- “I TOOK THE FREEWAY TF YOU MEAN?!” -zoro

- he’s a smooth driver don’t get me wrong, but he never ends up in the right place

- “zoro im gonna take a nap wake me up when we get there.”

- “k.”

- you’re on the right path, and it’s a straight way for a couple hours, nothing could go wrong! Right?

- when you woke up, you found yourself in the heat of a- battle?! WHERE TF WERE YOU?

- you saw stars all around you. NOT FIGURATIVELY. LITERALLY

- “Y/N PLS HELP.” (Zoro is dying rn)

- “WHERE TF ARE WE?!”

- “I DONT FUCKING KNOW?!”

- you’re in space. you’re in space.

- don’t ask me how you can breathe with no air it’s zoro’s fault

- you’re in the star wars verse btw 💀

- “IS THAT A ROBOT FLYING THAT SHIP?!” -you (this is a normal reaction)

“Oooo that guy’s sword is green! I gotta get one of those.” -zoro (this is not a normal reaction)

- “CAN YOU FOCUS??? DRIVE PLEASE!”

- you’re literally abt to get shot to death by lasers and zoro’s talking about lightsabers 💀

- afterwards.. yes. you drove while he took a nap instead. You’ve learned your lesson to never let this mossy bitch drive

- also yes. Zoro got a green lightsaber as a souvenir so don’t worry about him

- believe it or not he’s always drunk when he’s driving (omg it’s so hard to believe ikik)

- but fr he’s always driving while being illegally intoxicated 😭

- since he’s also missing an arm that makes it worse because he has to take his hand off the wheel to do anything else

- “Babe pls keep your eyes on the road.” -you

- “Yeah i got it don’t worry!”

- he doesn’t got it

- he’s swerving all over the place, getting honked at, getting flipped off, and most of all, getting angry death glares from other drivers

- “Hey babe I’m gonna take- a nap.” -shanks

- “Ok.” -you

- …

- “Wait what? SHANKS WTF-“

- bro fell asleep on the horn and made the car start swerving around all over the place. You couldn’t count how many poor trash cans the car ran over 💀

- you tried to take the wheel but his dumb ass was too heavy and big to move out of the way

- “SHANKS WAKE TF UP!”

- you ended up punching him in the nose, making it bleed, and he woke up in a daze. Bro stank ASS. HE SMELLED SO BAD

- bro was RANCID. Smelled like over fermented kombucha and that is not a good smell trust me

- “Oh hey babe what’s going on?” -shanks

- “PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD YOU IDIOT-!”

- idk how y’all didn’t crash but you didn’t so-

- you needed some therapy from Benn later but that’s ok 👍

a/n - i chose all bad drivers

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

One Day Robots Will Cry (Cobra Starship)

Come over, come over/I won't make the same mistakes/Come over, come over/I'm dying not to hurt you/In our dreams, we can be complete/If we go to sleep, we can wake up home again

"I am crying my own robot tears. we are so sorry . blorbo angst"

No Children (The Mountain Goats)

I hope that our few remaining friends/Give up on trying to save us/I hope we come up with a fail-safe plot/To piss off the dumb few that forgave us/I hope the fences we mended/Fall down beneath their own weight/And I hope we hang on past the last exit/I hope it’s already too late

I hope it stays dark forever/I hope the worst isn't over....And I'd hope that if I found the strength to walk out/You'd stay the hell out of my way

I am drowning/There is no sign of land/You are coming down with me/Hand in unlovable hand

And I hope you die/I hope we both die

"The song of all time. It's the soundtrack for countless bad vibes ships (affectionate). The phrase 'hand in unlovable hand' has immutably altered the brain chemistry of thousands with its underlying sentiment and launched a hundred accompanying memes. 'I hope you die, I hope we both die' crams such incredible rawness and depth of feeling into all of nine words. It also makes for a great singalong."

"I need to leave. I need to LEAVE. I need to get out of this situation and I'd hope that if i found the strength to walk out, you'd stay the hell out of my way. I need to leave. Please. Let me out. HAND IN UN FUCKING LOVABLE HAND"

"Just. Man. These two are so broken. They want to be in love. They aren't. They hate each other so much. They are the only ones who understand each other. They wish that they weren't so close but all they can taste is ash when they think of leaving each other. Just, mutually assured destruction tastes so sweet when you can taste the blood on their tongue."

"It's No Children."

"goddd man this song is about being an irredeemable freak with another irredeemable freak and i think that's beautiful. there's something so fuck you up ish about the person you hate and despise the most in the world also being the only other person who is like you, who gets you. im going down, but youre going down too. we can be terrible people together... even if i hate you... even if you're the fucking worst. because we don't have anyone else. there's always a sort of comfort in knowing that there's someone out there who's as terrible as you are, and maybe you only hate them because you see yourself in them a little, too. anyway clay and bloberta from moral orel"

"The sheer emotion packed into the way it’s sung, the lyrics themselves, all of it just screams ‘clinging desperately to someone you hate because you don’t have anyone else and you burned those bridges yourself’ and I find that painfully relatable"

"It's a song about both virulent self-hatred and virulent hatred of someone else and yet you see yourself intertwined with that hated person forever."

Poll runner: Do I even have to add anything? This was the tournament's most submitted song.

No Children submitted by @leovaldezdefender + @diogenescynic2288 + many others

[shadow-laviko]

Thing no one asked about

I've been thinking a lot today

And I want to give my opinion about what I think Rain Code characters smell like

(Also interested in hearing what you guys think)

Spoilers for chapter 0... and maybe chapter 5 actually

Bonus point : I tend to mistake scent and smell, so, might use both, sorry in advance

So,

Yuma : Smells like the plastic of rainboots/rain coat + faint flowery smell of the likes of roses (no specific one) or lavender

Shinigami : Smells like dusty feathers and strawberry candies, or something sweet maybe vanilla too

Aide (Fake Zilch) : While impersonating Zilch : Cologne and some faint blend of animal smells (like rodents, cat litter or dogs... maybe especially rodents). While himself : maybe cologne, and a faint smell of blood and gun powder (maybe also dirt but hmm not sure about this one)

Melami : Makeup and luxury perfumes

Pucci : Laudry mostly

Aphex : Either cologne or strong deodorant for men + faint scent of sweat

Zange : Paper/ink, and cigar and cologne

Swank : Cigar and I can't think of anything else

Yakou : Cigarettes of course, and maybe some food smell of some kind + some kind of sea smelling shampoo/shower gel

Halara : Rain coat/rain boots and maybe some catnip to attract cats + maybe sakura blossom shower gel

Fubuki : Pink rose and some type of wood like pine maybe... or cinnamon

Vivia : Ashes/dust and books/papers

Desuhiko : Depending of whether he's on a case or not. If on a case : a blend of laundry, makeup, perfume and cologne. If not on a case... Some neutral deodorant and that specific smell from clothes you wear often. You know the one? It's not stinky, it just has a distinct scent, even when clean

Priest : Wax and something else like maybe... I don't know, something strong but not agressive

The other 3 from chapter 1 (not counting the boy and his dad) : Idk. Maybe cookies or apple pie for the Servant

Seth : Dirt and a blend of flowers like daisies or something (lilac?)... Maybe daisies and lemon actually

Martina : I don't really know, perfume and something else?

Yomi : Cedar wood and leather (maybe cologne too)

Kurumi : Laundry and either vanilla or orange blossom water

The other Aetheria girls : I don't really know, I feel like Waruna would smell like a specific shampoo, (but I can’t figure out which one), maybe makeup for Yoshiko and pomegranate shower gel for Kurane

Shachi : Sweat and idk, maybe coffee, or motor oil

Ikari : The specific smell of swimming cap and stagnating water

Servan : Same as Desuhiko, the smell of clothes you wear often

Margulaw : Old wooden furnitures/antiquities + that old people smell

Iruka : Salt (for some fucking reason ???) and gunpowder or motor oil

Guillaume : Bubblegum and books/papers/cards, and rainboots/ rain coat

Dominic : Hard to explain and can be different for everyone, but, I'd say he smells like that old plushie you've had since your childhood

Fink : no idea

Huesca : Similar to the smell there is at an hospital/at the doctor

Akira (The robot guy) : The smell of a tech shop / of... you know when you open a box with your new TV/computer/phone/console/electronic device? Well, that one. And maybe tea of some kind

The Ramen Stand Owner : Well, ramen (I know there are different kinds, so like, either a blend of many kinds, or just the most basic one)

Makoto : Lavender for sure, and enigma. I don't know how to describe it, but an enigma/mystery has some kind of smell (not the words, the idea/phenomenon in itself). Or maybe it's like the mood an enigma sets, which somehow kinda transposes into a scent? Idk how to describe it... + maybe some conditioner

The previous Amaterasu CEO : Idk, rich man something, like whisky or tobacco or cologne, idk, the kind of things tou think about when you picture a CEO in your mind

Did I forget anyone? I don't know

[my-name-is-jefferooni]

Have you ever even heard of…

BECAUSE OH MY GOD SEARCH FOR THE LOST IS SUCH AN UNDERRATED GEM OF A FAN-MADE SONIC SHOW

Okay, allow me to give you some additional context before just bombarding you with all the many reasons why you need to watch this show.

Search for the Lost is a fan-made production created by Creative Planet Entertainment on YouTube. This shit has been around for 6 whole years, and it is such a good show! Made entirely out of g-mod screenshots/screen recordings and Sonic gameplay, Search for the Lost is a show about Silver the Hedgehog and his friends figuring out what Melhiles of all people is doing back in action, and why the fuck he’s working with Eggman of all people. Also, why is Infinite back… AND WHAT’S ALL THIS TALK ABOUT A PROPHECY!?

OH AND BLAZE IS HERE TOO!?!?

AND THERE’S THIS NEW GUY CALLED FORGE WHO IS LITERALLY THE BEST IN THE ENTIRE SHOW HANDS DOWN 100000P0/10 BEST BOI BEST ROBO BUDDY EVER HE’S SUCH AN IDIOT AND SUCH A HILARIOUS GUY HE’S LIKE THE ONLY ONE WHO MAKES GOOD JOKES HE IS LITERALLY THE BEST EVER I LOVE FORGE

Aight lemme just give a quick spoiler-free explanation about Forge because I know yall are looking at this like “Who tf is Forge?? Some kinda fan character or something??” Because… Yeah, he is a fan character, BUT A VERY GOOD ONE AND HIS DYNAMICS WITH EVERYONE WORK LIKE A CHARM I TELL YOU HE IS NOT JUST SOME RANDOM SONIC RECOLOR.

Cuz he’s a Metal Sonic recolor! 🤩 Haha, well to be fair, they literally call out Sonic recolors in the show with this fact. It’s in Forge’s story! Basically, Forge once worked with Silver in his bad timeline in Crisis City, but the ashes and the chemicals were too much for his small little itty bitty bird lungs. So, to keep himself from slowing everybody down, he managed to shove his consciousness into an old Metal Sonic model. A black-and-yellow one, kinda like the one from Archie except a lot less like Sonic personality-wise and a lot more like Sonic visually. With all these new robotic upgrades, Forge became a force to be reckoned with, and became one of Silver’s bestest friends after the whole Iblis thing. Oh, and he ships Silvaze like it’s nobody’s business, so that obviously gets an A+ from me lmao

I may have gotten carried away with that explanation and maybe there’s some spoilers in there but it’s late and I’m sleepy so you’ll only know if you watch the show~! ✨🙂

Seriously tho. This show is very underrated. I’ve been keeping tabs on it for years now, ever since episode 5 came out! Trust me, that’s a long time. They have their plates full when it comes to personal things and it’s a big project so episodes come out after a long time in production.

There are only 7 episodes so far, but each episode is jam-packed full of lore and giving us more questions on top of every answer! It brings back characters we haven’t seen for a long while, and it always provides a reasonable explanation as to why some of them have been gone and why some just like. Cut contact or something. There’s characters from previous games, from Sonic X, from Archie, from IDW, BRO WE GOT GAMMA IN HERE BAYBEEEEE IF THAT AINT FREE REAL ESTATE IDK WHAT IS.

AND DON’T FORGET HEAVY AND BOMB FROM KNUCKLES CHAOTIX. PLEASE. PLEASE DON’T FORGET ABOUT THEM THEY’RE HERE TOO AND THEY’RE LOVELY

So. Please. Please just watch this show. Please look at all the additional content with Forge on their channel too, it’s fucking hilarious! Just… I wanna talk to someone about this show who isn’t just my lil bro. Like I love getting to bombard him with bullshit about characters he’s never even heard about until watching this show but I gotta know I’m not the only one. Please. These people are working so hard on Search for the Lost and I’d really appreciate if you even saw just one or two episodes. The story is very intriguing, the characters are all so well-written, TEAM DARK IS THERE, FORGE GETS A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION, so I say it’s all totally worth it!

[funishment-time]

🔵 Kodaka BlueSky Q&As: Misc Rain Code & Other Questions

⚠️ DISCLAIMER: Please be advised! Translations of all Japanese answers derive from a combination of Google Translate and my manager's three-quarters-remembered Japanese. We've tried our best to work out what he's saying, but there will be mistakes here and there. Do not take this as gospel!

To avoid spreading too much misinfo, where we're completely boggled about an answer, we've decided not to even make an attempt. We'll still list the post, but mark it accordingly.

💕 FEBRUARY 2024:

Q: While I'm at it, could you please tell me where to send fan mail for Rain Code and Danganronpa?

A: Please send it to Spike Chunsoft.

/////

Q: What's your favorite furikake?

A: The ashes of the dead.

NOTE: Furikake is a type of Japanese seasoning. Kodaka is a weird guy.

/////

Q: Is it okay to send a New Year's card to Too Kyo [Games] as a fan letter to you?

A: That's fine. I'll watch for it.

/////

Q: Can I send a birthday present for a character to the company?

A: Please send it to Spike Chunsoft!

/////

Q: Please tell us what games you've played! What movies and shows have you watched? What books, manga, and comics have you read? What media have you consumed?Please tell us! We want to know what are your inspirations. I don't know what media I should consume. And we all want to know more about you!

A: I am inspired by all kinds of games, comics, novels and movies. I used to work part-time in a video game store. I love Tarantino.

/////

Q: Do you have a favorite line or phrase from Danganronpa or Rain Code?

A: When I search for "Danganronpa quotes" and look back at the lines that come up, I think, "This is a great line!" For Rain Code, it's any line that Shinigami-chan says that helps Yuma get back on his feet!

/////

Q: Sorry for the second question! I have a lot of questions about Rain Code, but I'm hesitant to ask them here because it would be a total spoiler for the main story... I'd love to have the opportunity someday to ask questions with full spoilers OK. Are there any plans for that at the moment?

A: That sounds great. I'd love to do it. But I don't think I'd be able to reveal spoilers openly unless it's a real event.

/////

Q: Excuse me for the second question!! Previously, there was a Danganronpa collaboration with Identity V, but are there plans for a Rain Code collaboration...!!!!!

A: We would really appreciate it if you could send a persistent message to Identity V!

/////

Q: I'm sorry it's not Danganronpa or Raincode... I love both series, and I'm really looking forward to the release of Tribe Nine. I have a question about Tribe Nine. Sonoda from the Oota Tribe could kill Haneda at any time, even though he has murderous intent towards him, so why does he keep him alive by just beating him up until he's on the verge of death? Also, why is Sonoda the only one who is a little better dressed (in a suit and tie) than the other members?

A: When it comes to Tribe Nine, to be honest, Akatsuki has a much higher weight than Too Kyo Games, so only Akatsuki can answer that question...!

NOTE: Akatsuki is the company publishing the upcoming Tribe Nine game.

/////

Q: Are there any other Rain Code characters besides Dr. Robot that are favorites of Mr. Komatsuzaki? Also, I would like to know more about Mr. Komatsuzaki and would like to see more media exposure for him.

A: Basically, I think they are all my favorites. I'm very particular about it, and I've made many drafts over the years. But I'm sure ramen store owners would love him [Akira].

NOTE: We're pretty sure "Dr. Robot" is the character listed as "Akira" in the credits, but we're not 100% certain. Also, Komatsuzaki is the artist behind Danganronpa and Rain Code.

/////

Q: What is your favorite foreign movie?

A: Tarantino!!

/////

Q: Is there ever a character that you liked so much that you thought it would be a shame to kill them off, but you still ended up killing them anyway?

A: On one hand, I want to get to know them better. If the character isn't well-defined enough to the point where I want to get to know him or her better, there's no point in letting him or her die… So, I let them die while wishing I could depict more of them.

/////

Q: Mr Kodaka, can I please ask another question? Persona 3 RELOAD came out recently. Have you played it yet? Did you play the original Persona 3, including Persona 3 FES and Persona 3 Portable? Have you played all of the Persona games, including the spinoffs? Are you a fan of the Persona series?

A: i have played all the persona series, from 1 to 5. I haven't played any of the spin-offs though, I'm waiting for the release of 6.

🍀 MARCH 2024:

Q: How did you and Mr. Komatsuzaki meet and start working together?

A: We met in the smoking area at work.

/////

Q: Please tell me how to cook delicious rice🍚

A: Mannan rice is great for dieting.

NOTE: Mannan rice is a (usually) microwavable kind of rice that's part konjac (you know, the thing Kirumi has trouble cutting). It's low-calorie. The joke here is probably that Kodaka doesn't cook, he makes things in the microwave. Relatable, really.

/////

Q: What are your favorite indie games? Have any indie games inspired and/or influenced your own games and works? If so, what are those indie games that inspired you as a creator? Are there any indie games that you recommend we should play? Or what indie games should more people play in general? 🙏 🙏 🙏

A: If Hotline Miami is an indie game, it is Hotline Miami. I love it the best.

/////

Q: Can I please ask another question?🙏 I really enjoyed watching Akudama Drive, so I would like to see the concept art and character and setting materials, but I don't know where to find them. I especially want to see drawings by Rui Komatsuzaki, Cindy H. YAMAUCHI and the staff. Is there a book? 📖

A: The artwork for Akdamadrive has not been released. Maybe not much is made in the case of the animation. Please submit a request to Studio Piero for Komatsuzaki and Cindy's designs, as well as Kansai's designs, which are awesome!

/////

Q: i'll ask another! piggybacking off another question on here, what games have you been playing recently? what games are you excited for coming out in the future?

A: I've been too busy lately to play games. I want to play cruel games.

/////

Q: I love games with interesting stories like Danganronpa and Raincode, but Mr. Kodaka, who writes the scenarios for such interesting games, is there a game whose story you thought "this wowed me!"?

A: Resident Evil Code Veronica, FF7, and Killer 7 are fun. When I first played Persona 3, I thought that Megaten [Megami Tensei] killed it.

/////

Q: if you had a forte which would you want to have? i want to have desuhiko’s disguise

A: me too!!!!!!

🥬 APRIL 2024:

n/a

🌺 MAY 2024:

Q: Are there any plans to make a Happy Rain Code where the train incident never happened?

A: I'm sure Melami would solve the first clock tower case. No, she won't wear those clothes…

NOTE: A reference to Melami's forte, which allows her to summon the soul of a deceased person by wearing their clothes.

/////

Q: Mr. Kodaka, you often respond to illustrations drawn by your fans on Twitter, but do you also watch the hand-drawn videos that your fans post on YouTube?

A: I don't watch YouTube because it takes a long time. I can see the pictures right away [on Twitter], so I just respond to the pictures and hope that people who like them will follow me.

/////

Q: Which do you prefer, liberal arts girls or science girls?

A: I like both!

/////

Q: Was Mr. Kodaka a super high school level film director when he was in high school?

A: During my time at university and as a part-time worker afterwards, I was a really low-achieving film director.

☀️ JUNE 2024:

Q: I have a question about the world of Rain Code. I heard that there are about 1000 super detectives in the world of Rain Code, but are there detectives with the same abilities and titles?

A: There are similarities, but no exact matches.

/////

Q: Regarding Raincode's special detective abilities. In the story, it was stated that if one acquired special detective abilities during his two-year training period, one would be registered as a super detective. If one were to express an ability that could be considered a special detective ability while working as a regular detective, would one be re-registered as a super detective?

A: Abilities often depend on innate talent, but that's a possibility.

/////

Q: Is it decided how old the characters in works such as Danganronpa and Raincode are? If so, how old are they?

A: Of course, Danganronpa is mostly in their teens. Raincode has a wide range, but even Yakou is in his 30s.

NOTE: This is kind-of hilarious, because I'm pretty sure it's canonically stated Yakou is actually in his late 20s...in something that Kodaka himself wrote. I'll have to go find evidence.

/////

Q: Why do you have so many cats in your work?

A: Because Komatsuzaki likes cats. I like dogs.

NOTE: Komatsuzaki is Kodaka's usual artist. He's worked on Danganronpa, Rain Code, and the upcoming The Hundred Line.

/////

Q: There have been various spinoffs for Raincode and Danganronpa, but can we assume that the interpretations and character settings discussed in these spinoffs are official?

A: I'm not sure about the official take [from Spikechun], but if you enjoy it, enjoy it, and if you don't want to accept it, don't accept it. I think it's all up to the player's freedom.

NOTE: By "spinoff," this probably means the anthology mangas, light novels, audio dramas, etc.

🎇 JULY 2024:

Q: Do Rain Code and Danganronpa take place in the same world? Do any of your games and works have a shared universe with another? Or are they all separate? 🤔 💭 I'm asking because I just had a dream about Rain Code today!

A: I won't make a clear statement. I am not sure what will happen in the future. Anyway, please spread the Rain Code around the world.

/////

Q: Can I change my clothes before changing into the Final Defense Academy uniform in Hundred Line? I like the original clothes because they are so unique... Or do you wear uniforms only during battles?

A: We'll give you more details later, but they usually wear casual clothes and change into their uniforms when they fight!

NOTE: I'll start a Hundred Line section when the game comes out next year. For now, I'll put Hundred Line questions in here or in Game Development.

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Off-topic weekend: My top five games of 2023!

Hey folks! How's Splatfest going? I've had mixed success so far, winning two 10x battles but losing a 100x, which evens out, right?

But let's not focus on that, this is the off-topic post of the month, after all. In 2023 I played an unusual amount of brand-new games, and I like talking about the stuff I like, so let's real quick go over my favourite games of the year, in order!

Starting with:

5. Wildfrost

Wildfrost is a roguelike deckbuilder about disparate tribes banding together to fight off a supernatural, eternal snowstorm. Over the course of three areas and many battles you assemble a deck of allies and items, augment them with upgrades, and face off against a whole slew of unique and challenging boss battles. The thing I wanna highlight about this game is just how gorgeous the presentation is. All the character designs are delightful, and the way everything bobs and shakes as you pick cards to play or reposition feels just right. The soundtrack is also a complete slam dunk, using a ton of traditional instruments to help sell the vibes, whether they're cosy like in your hubtown or intense like the battle themes. If you like games like Slay the Spire or Monster Train then this is definitively a game for you.

4. Cocoon

Cocoon is a puzzle game about exploring alien landscapes with tools that are also full-on worlds in themselves. As a little... alien? Moth? Robot? As a little guy, you're tasked with solving a wide variety of puzzles by using differently colored orbs that, when placed on certain pedestals in the environment, opens up portals to entire new realms. Nestling realities within other realities and traveling between them soon becomes a core facet of your problem-solving, and the beauty of Cocoon is that its puzzles thread this extremely thin line where the solution is neither too hard or easy, but will always be very satisfying and frequently mindblowing in the way it makes you bend reality(or realities as the case may be) to your whims. Cocoon is lean, slim, and polished, and likely won't last you more than ten hours, but those ten hours will leave you feeling a smart and satisfied in a way you've never experienced before.

3. Remnant II

In 2019, Remnant: From the Ashes asked a bold question: "What if Dark Souls, but guns?" The answer turned out to be that you got a fun, interesting third-person shooter with defensive play inspired by Fromsoftware's lineage of action RPGs but with a greater emphasis on co-op play and replayability, and in 2023, that game got a sequel that looked to expand on all of its predecessor's most interesting ideas. One of the most impressive things about remnant II is just how much content it has that it doesn't show you, because it's designed around the core idea that every player's first playthrough feels different and so it only shows you a sliver of its hand in every playthrough, confident in its breadth of content to such an extend that the game let's you roll an entire new randomized campaign with a single press of a button. I'll admit that out of everything on this list, Remnant II is probably the most "by-the-numbers" game on this list, in part by virtue of being the only sequel on it, but I had a blast playing this game, and if you're looking for something to play with a friend or two, then I think you will too.

2. Cassette Beasts

Cassette Beasts is a creature-collector RPG in the style of Pokémon, and I actually already wrote a whole post about Cassette Beasts earlier this year, but I want to reiterate that this game is really good. In a lot of ways, it feels like Bytten Studios, the developers of Cassette Beasts, took the formula of the DS-era Pokémon games and utterly perfected it. It's got a big open world for you to explore, deep and snappy 2v2 combat, over 120 monsters, all of which can be fused mid-combat as the ace up your sleeve. Rather than type weaknesses just increasing damage, they inflict various buffs/debuffs that add a lot of complication to battles and force you really consider your team composition. There's adjustable difficulty, including a built-in nuzlocke mode. There a bunch of cool companion characters with their own entire storylines, and most of them you can romance if you'd like. If you like Pokémon or the whole creature-collector RPG genre as a whole, then you need to play Cassette Beasts, because at the moment I really do think it's the king of the genre.

1. Lies of P

Lies of P is an action RPG of the Soulslike variety, taking a stab at replicating the formula that made Fromsoftware and their critically renowned games such a household name. I like Fromsoftware and their games lot, Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, Sekiro, and Elden Ring are all pretty high on my list of favourite games of all time for their excellent world design, wonderful atmosphere, and captivating combat. I mention all of this so that you understand that it's a big deal when I say Lies of P is so good that it sometimes beats Fromsoftware at their own game.

It's not a game without flaws. I found the english localization to be awkward and stilted, sometimes to the point of being distracting, and its level design is very simple, especially compared to its peers. What sets Lies of P apart however is that it has the best goddamn combat in the genre. Explaining why I think that would take a lot of time, and this post is running long as is, so to keep things short the gist of it is that Lies of P manages to make your offensive and defensive tools flow into each other seamlessly, with dodges, blocks and parries allowing you to keep up the pressure even as enemies are attacking. Couple that with a ton of different weapons, all with their own special moves, most of which you can take apart and combine with other weapons, and a mechanical left arm that can be equipped with a variety of tools like a flamethrower or a grappling hook, and it results in one of the most nuanced combat systems I've ever seen.

I adore Lies of P. I bought it at the end of December, beat it once, and I am currently doing three more playthroughs with different builds, weapons, and restrictions. I've never enjoyed mastering the systems of a game as much as I have playing Lies of P, and that is ultimately why it's my favourite game of 2023.

And that's the whole list! I hope something I featured here caught your attention, and I'm very curious to know what y'all's favourite games of 2023 were, so go ahead and tell me below, if you'd like. Happy continued FrostyFesting!

[weekend-whip]

Ninjago Fic Rec Week: Day 6

Prompts: Dynamic Duos / Zane Recs! (I uh used up a lot of my dynamic duo recs already THUS here is a Zane-centric list. With perhaps some duos sprinkled in. But Mostly Zane.)

Zane Recs-

My Battery is Low (And It's Getting Dark): THE PEAKEST ZANE THAT EVER PEAKED!!! There's so many little pieces of this I could quote and quote and gnaw on forever (and I wILL) because mmmm. It's just so good. Zane being (mostly) alone with his thoughts prior to Vex interfering in NS11, with the most pointed Zane's perspective I have ever borne witness to *bows in respect*

upon these ashes, hope can grow: Or, five times the group ordered takeout and one time they didn't (or, Zane learns how to love his once-favorite pastime once again). It's snappy, well-placed, and oozes with Zane's character, although I'm so used to fluffy fics about Zane's cooking skills that this one hit me like a brick! But, that would make sense, given that it takes place after NS11 ;w;

Five Times Zane Was a Nurse: And the one time he wasn't! Ninjago is a really good series for 5+1 fics, lemme tell ya. And DietCokeIsLife definitely sits at the top of t hem!

Fractal: Zane reflects upon being a robot Nindroid and it is beautiful ;w;

MAKING ELECTRICITY// YOU CAN FEEL IT IN YOUR MIND: Zane gets struck by lightning and a cacophony of very vivid descriptions and punchy character moments follow after. A little bit bittersweet, but lovely and with a nice ending!

Cut the Act: A movie!verse Zane fic chronicling how this once "just a normal teen" has to explain what he really is to his friends...even if he is pretty sure they already know. ...Maybe. The ending made me grin like an idiot, though.

Backwards Compatibility: Zane and Pixal go on a date for the first time! ...despite being "together" for such a long time beforehand. They're still very sweet, though. Recc'ing this entirely for the snappy title ;P

From Sunrise: Zane, and the view of what the world looks like from his eyes compared to that of his friends (or, Zane likes waking up early and cold environments. Everyone else does not.)

Snow: POST-PILOTS ZANE with his cold snow day logic getting in the way of some realities for Cole and Jay. Extremely fluffy and full of fun and interesting dynamics and just all-around super cute~!!! (and Kai and Nya are there too <3)

doesn't have a title but Zane is curious to a fault: And that's all you need to know! But, I will tell you that the ending has such a glorious bite of bitter irony to it~

Wobble: Zane and Cole discuss some aftermaths of Cole's fault, all while guilt eats Zane alive. The uneasy TENSION in this one??? Delicious??? Also sad ;w;

more title-less goodness: Zane and Cole discuss the former's break up with Pixal, with neither mentioning the underlying implications in between. You know I love me some Zane and Cole interaction, but this one is zested with, like, dread and a really good, if not somewhat devastating, point to be made.

Crushing loneliness is what he leaves this world with: *lies down* How does spinchip always have such a way with words aaaaaaa (prose about Zane's S3 sacrifice that consumes my mind constantly)

Ship of Theseus: AUGH I ALMOST FORGOT THIS ONE, despite the fact I go back to it aaaaaaaaall the time????? Definitely counts as a Zane fic despite the fact he is "Unavailable" for most of it, but in the quest to get Zane back online from an anonymous viral attack, the group reflects on the Nindroid and the impact he's had on all of them, even outside of their own little group ;w; Also shoutout to the antagonist for this one, it's actually quite a fun little twist~

[aviatrix-ash]

cozy airplane :]

[sqarletsworldlesswandering]

Also imagine: Duo but something happens so now they are stuck in an unfamiliar World in an unfamiliar form...

(AKA Throw the Duo in whatever Game/ TV Show/ etc you want, as any species from that Media!)

*Yeets them into Outer Wilds*

There are so many games I would smoosh them into, including but not limited to:

Outer Wilds (you get to be Hearthians exploring the universe, woot woot!)

Sky (Ah, a form so familiar yet so unfamiliar. Also now Aven gets to discover how Edda feels about water for himself.)

Rain World (Has already basically happened, but yeah. Don't get eaten you two.)

Hyper Light Drifter (Have fun wandering around, you have guns now!)

Solar Ash (Welcome to a black hole and the joys of skating around as your means of travel. Oh, and existentialism.)

Oneshot (Have fun with another existential crisis)

Abzu (Go have fun exploring the beautiful ocean.)

Subnautica (Go have fun being traumatized by the beautiful ocean.)

Bug Fables (Bugs! Need I say more?)

Hollow Knight (Bugs, but with more angst. Also gets interesting because of the in-world associations with stars/light.)

Ori and the Blind Forest/Will of the Wisps (You get to be adorable lovable tree spirits, run for your life, and beat stuff up.)

Transformers Prime (Robots. Have fun being giant robots. I would draw this if I could draw transformers.)

This is way too much fun to mull around in my brain, and all of these involve some serious freaking out on the Duo's end (sorry you two). Especially Solar Ash, Subnautica, and TFP, at a guess. Abzu too, at least on Edda's part. But at least that one is very chill.

[purplekoop]

So I still don't have much to say about Hero 42 yet, but there is one, single detail I wanna mention, and that's based on the hero select screen.

Now, if you somehow hadn't noticed by now, Overwatch generally sorts heroes alphabetically whenever needed. Note the Damage role starting with Ashe, Bastion, and Cassidy, then going down alphabetical order from there.

The two codenamed heroes, Venture and Space Ranger, also fit this sorting scheme. Venture is between Tracer and Widowmaker, and Space Ranger is between Moira and Zenyatta. We know that Space Ranger is just a temporary name used by developers, so don't expect her to stay there unless her final hero name still happens to fall between M and Z on the alphabet.

Applying this logic to Hero 42 though, we see them between Sigma and Winston. That make the range of first letters include S, T, U, V, and W. Now, this won't give us their final name either, but could give a hint to their codename, and thus some major part of their character. Some ideas include "Toxin" (noting their color scheme and resemblance to some old unused hero concept art), "Turtle" (hey I still stand by them basically being radioactive Bowser), or maybe even something as simple as "Spike".

Also here's the best image I could find of this being. Saw someone also compare this design to an edgy version of the pokemon Chesnaught, which is funny considering that's what I'm using in my current playthrough of Pokemon X. Either way this is definitely my "big spiky shell dudes" era.

Maybe it's not surprising that this is the hero that captivated my attention so much out of the three early teasers, considering I am a Tank main and also just love this hero's design already from this little cartoony icon. My personal hope is that they are some sort of gnarly creature, since I feel like in a game with big cool robots and hyperintelligent moon animals, the lack of some kind of mutant monster dude has... I don't wanna say bothered me, but feels like a missed opportunity. Have this guy be some Oasis experiment gone rogue that's now going wild across the world or something. I don't wanna say outright to make them another Talon-aligned tank, since now we're swimming with those. I'm similarly not super keen on them being another Junker considering how many of those are also in that role, though it'd be an easy way to explain the "mutant" theory of mine. Consider that, if we count Ramattra as Talon-aligned, every single Tank added since OW1's initial release has either been part of Talon or a Junker, with the sole exception of Orisa. I won't deny they definitely fit the look of a Junker though, and there's definitely more to that style to explore, I just want a messed up bowser guy. or gal! we don't know yet! could even be another NB character! Diversity win: this giant mutant spike monster uses they/them pronouns too!

Anyways yeah this has been an exhausting weekend in the best possible way for being an Overwatch fan, so I'm gonna hold off on more posts unless someone asks for my thoughts on anything in particular. If you want a better recap of everything discussed at Blizzcon, I highly recommend the recent video on Master Ian Gamer's youtube channel, it's like 17 minutes long and covers almost everything of note for Overwatch 2's future from today's panel and from the opening ceremony.

I'm gonna go play more Minecraft now I think

[narzissenkreuz-ordo]

ghost and mask for the oc asks..

Working through my inbox backlog so i'm gonna answer these for Rook!

ghost: Who or what haunts your OC? What happened? How do they live with their ghosts?

Oh Man. There's like 10000 different things haunting Rook. I guess the 3 Big ones would be:

1.) Rook witnessing the death of their older sister because of a stupid mistake they made as a kid. Rook pissed off/taunted the wrong people and their sister was murdered while trying to physically protect Rook during the altercation. 2.) As an older teen/very young adult they made another mistake, Rook has the habit of taunting and causes problems for people they should Not have pissed off. This time their stupid mistakes resulted in other children being murdered and not being able to protect them. 3.) Rook joined a cyber-terrorist group during the literal apocalypse, trying to cause as much harm as possible to the social elite who continued to have comfortable lifestyles while everyone else was dying. Rook's partner (Ash) at the time had a much younger sister (Darcy) and the two sorta kinda raised her together But things started getting way worse on the ground and Ash was willing to do anything to protect his sister- even turning in Rook in order to secure a ticket to get Darcy off earth. After Darcy is taken away- after kicking and screaming, Ash is shot and killed while Rook is arrested and becomes a test subject for construct/robot experimentation.

That last one hits the hardest for Rook, they can't be upset for being thrown under the bus. It was a pretty damn good reason to betray someone in Rooks eyes, and it's literally what their own sister did to ensure their safety. But the part that gets them the most is knowing that Rook never saw Darcy- despite ending up on the same space station (for very different reasons) as her. Rook was never able to be there for Darcy after being ripped way from her brother. Darcy literally died from illness as an adult but Rook literally has/had no idea.

mask: Does your OC wear a mask, literally or figuratively? What goes on beneath it? Is there anyone in their life who gets to see who they are under the mask?

Roland is the mask wearing asshole in this relationship

Rook is very good at feigning indifference when in reality they are ready to Explode in too many emotions at once.

No one's gonna see those emotions outside of Rook's snark and pissing people off via violence FJDSKFDS

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Webcomic Chapter 144 Review

Story

Well, it's been a minute! I said I'd review this on Sunday. I should have been more specific as to which Sunday I meant! Well, on we go!

144 opens where 143 left off, with what would seem a triumphant look at what the Neo Heroes are doing in fighting off the robot army.

We open to Raiden jumping out of the troop transporter ahead of his regular team. He scorns a parachute in favour of slowing his fall by sliding down a building.

He has left instructions for his team to focus on rescue efforts because he has put together his own team: the other super sumo wrestlers from his stable. He has sent them custom body suits in advance, and instructions as to where to meet -- as if he knew this was coming.

The robots patiently let them finish talking, then obligingly wait until they get into formation and then line up in beautiful rows like so many chess pieces. Raiden makes short work of their front ranks, his sumo stomp rattling many to pieces, and his palm strikes shattering the survivors.

No, nothing suspicious here, no siree.

"I would rather be ashes than dust" -- Jack London

We go to another location, where Webigaza and her cameraman are overlooking a scene of unfolding devastation. As he films, Webi starts a monologue on how the playground she used to play at as a child no longer exists, and how she can not hear the screams of people over the sound of the explosions. That while she sought power for popularity, she had never wanted it to come at this price.

As her cameraman praises her for her heartfelt words, sure to play well to her followers, she snaps at him, saying that it's no act, then takes off, challenging him to make use of his suit and fight alongside her. He chooses to keep filming. Webi uses her fancy moves, deceptively pretty energy 'snowballs' floating down to the robots to blast them to pieces. She decides that this is all too slow and limited and asks for the filming to stop. She then takes off at speed.

Her cameraman does not follow. He mutters that Webigaza is breaking the terms of her contract. And, in having run so far head without support, she's without coolant, batteries, and medication. She's sure to burn out soon.

And what a burn that is! As she flies through monster and robot alike, we see Webigaza's thoughts.

Webigaza wanted to be popular, not just a talented singer. That we knew from chapter 131. No, she wanted to shine! To be an icon that the world looked up to long term. That's why she sought power.

But that was not the whole story, as we see.

I too…

I too… she goes as she flies, ever faster.

She chose heroism for a reason. It sang to her on some level, and it turns out that listening to Child Emperor talking about the pro-heroes he'd known woke something in her. He spoke of how heroes were the real deal, how strong or weak, they'd fought earnestly for principle, not plaudits. And that was what she wanted. More than anything.

I too…

We watch her starting to smoke as she pushes on. Her smile increasingly strained as she approaches the point of no return.

I too will be a hero.

Meta: In Crisis, Opportunity

It's interesting to see how this tragedy shows who these Neo Hero leaders are under the skin. Both Raiden and Webigaza share several key traits. Both are seen in society as entertainers and for both of them, this realisation sits poorly with their deeper ambitions.

Raiden sees this crisis as an opportunity to make good on what he's felt is the honour and combat ability of sumo wrestling, long confined to the realm of mere entertainment. He's planned for this eventuality and is relishing every minute of this.

Conversely, we have Webigaza, another apparently shameless opportunist, shocked beyond belief at the reality of the destruction being wrought. It is not an opportunity to fly high and imprint WEBI, THE STAR! in the consciousnesses of millions of fans in her mind. It is a demand to protect what's left of the town that nurtured her to become the person she is now. Everything and everyone she knows is at risk of being wiped away. So for her, it's her chance to finally give something that is truly sincere, an honest, from-the-heart attempt to save the people and places she cares about. A person who knows too well what it's like to have every aspect of her world controlled, Webi has gone completely feral here, slaying like her life depends on it. It does…

… we watch her working with awe, but we know that she won't last long. Unless her cameraman relents and jumps in to help her, she's pretty much condemned to burn brightly and then burn out, like a meteor flaming across the sky.

Then again, perhaps, going out in one blazing act of heroism is the sort of image that Webigaza would have wanted. A chance to never fade into irrelevance.

Final thoughts: it's interesting to see that the character who talks a big game about honour is the shameless opportunist, while the nakedly opportunistic person turns out to have an altruistic core that overrides that opportunity. At least once.

[batneko]

Another twitter thread, crossposted here. This one is probably my Magnum Opus. Originated from ideas here and here.

-

OKAY, MUMAROU WALL-E AU, LET'S GO.

The humans have been gone for centuries. Maybe millennia, Mumen's internal clocks go down when the dust storms get too bad, and those used to go on for weeks at a time. The factories stopped production nearly as long ago.

But that's okay, they'll be back, and Mumen never expected to be rewarded or anything. He's fulfilling his purpose, doing what he was made for. It's satisfying in and of itself. It's… a little lonely, sometimes. Mumenbots were designed to be multipurpose helpers, very durable.

Their parts are interchangeable and their batteries almost eternally rechargeable. But when the automated factories shut down there was no more supply of replacement parts. Mumen and his fellows agreed that it was okay to take parts from others that had permanently shut down.

So he's survived like that for all these years. Working. Scavenging. Replacing what breaks. And one by one the others shut down for good. He tried, at first, to repair them, but… It's okay. Only a little lonely.

He fills the time by finding interesting human things.

Movies, music, toys. In his downtime he repairs bicycles, because there's so many different kinds of such a seemingly simple design. Kind of like mumenbots! He likes music a LOT. He's made thousands of playlists of different types, and it's fun to sing along as he works.

And then one day, for the first time in a LONG time, something different happens. A streak of light across the sky, and Mumen knows instantly that it's a ship. He uncouples his trailer from his bike and follows the light without a second thought.

It goes pretty far. Farther, in fact, than Mumen has ever traveled from his sector. He'd left it before, looking for other mumenbots, but he never detected anybody in range of his wireless signal. The ship sets down in what used to be a harbor, and Mumen hangs back.

He's never been nervous before. What will come out? A human? He's not sure what to SAY to a human. It's been so long, will they still look like they do in videos? It's not a human. It's a robot. This is sort of a relief, but it's still like nothing he's ever seen before.

Sleek and white and smooth, head shaped like a pointy heart with a digital screen for a face. Having a face at all means it must be designed to communicate with humans, so Mumen figures they'll be able to talk even if their software isn't compatible.

As soon as Mumen steps out into view, the sleek robot points a gun at him, and he ducks out of the way just in time to NOT get blasted into slag. Okay. Not the best first impression. Mumen digs through the junk he happened to be carrying with him and finds a few things -

A piece of cloth that's mostly white, and part of a fishing pole. He ties the cloth on the pole and waves it above his hiding place. A second later the makeshift white flag is also blasted. The beam is so hot the cloth disintegrates, not even ash left. So that's a no.

Mumen is… maybe more lonely than he'd been admitting to himself, because despite the FIRM rejection, he follows the sleek robot as it leaves its ship. It doesn't seem to be doing anything? Just… floating (that's new!) around aimlessly. Occasionally it scans a patch of dirt.

After several hours, long after Mumen would normally have returned to his pod for the night, the robot turns and aims its weapon at where Mumen thought he was concealed. "State your purpose," it says in a voice probably programmed to be intimidating. "Uh, cleaning?" Mumen says.

"Repeat?" the robot says, sounding confused. "Cleaning, I was ordered to clean, so…" The robot blinks eyes which are technically just lights on a screen. "Clarify?" Mumen realizes he's dealing with a VERY young bot. "Mumenbot, multipurpose assistance, designation MU-003."

"Gallow 6," the sleek robot says. "Why are you… here?" "What do you mean?" "If your directive is to clean, why are you following me?" Mumen doesn't have a good answer. "Do you want to be friends, Garou?" The sleek robot looks around. "Me?"

"Yes, do you want to be friends?" "Gallow. It's Gallow." "Garou?" "Gallow." "Ga… rou?" "It's… nevermind, who cares." Garou turns around and continues his scanning, and Mumen follows.

This goes on for another day. Sometimes Mumen will try to make conversation, and Garou will give one or two-word answers before ignoring him again. Luckily they happened to head in the direction of Mumen's sector and his pod, because a dust storm starts building near evening.

"You can stay with me!" Mumen says. "There's room! It used to be a pod for eight of us!" "What happened to the other seven?" Garou asks. "Uh… Crushed, overloaded, crushed, dust storm, melted, broke down, dust storm, and crushed again." "…what."

"Don't worry, we finished cleaning out the iron foundry so nobody else will get melted!" "But the rest is still on the table???"

The dust storm sets in just as they reach safety. There's plenty to keep them entertained, Mumen's pod is FULL of things he's collected over the years. Garou pokes through the shelves as Mumen plugs in to charge. He picks up a toy robot. "Why keep this?"

"Why not? It's interesting." "Do you think the humans care about you? APPRECIATE you?" "Do you feel unappreciated, Garou?" Mumen asks. "This isn't about- WHY do you keep all this JUNK?"

"Because it's fun!" Mumen says. "I can show you!" He spends a while setting up, digging out the discs and a spare microphone, and finally introduces Garou to… Karaoke!!!

"What does it. Do?"

Mumen likes lots of music, but his favorite is anything 80's and danceable. Despite agreeing to sing along (after MUCH persuasion) Garou doesn't get the point. "The words don't make sense, and the ones that do have nothing to do with you." "It's about how it makes you FEEL."

"I don't FEEL anything, I'm a machine just like you." "That's not true. You must be at least as advanced as I am if you're able to argue with me." "I've got a directive. I'm as advanced as I need to be to complete it, and that's all." "Is that what you were told?"

"Yes." "Well, how does THAT make you feel?" Garou thinks about it, standing in silence for a few minutes, and then raises his gun and powers it up.

"Wait! Wait!" Mumen grabs his arm and yanks it down, but thankfully Garou doesn't fire. "Okay… I think I have some ideas about what kind of music you'll like."

A few minutes later Garou is screaming along to metal while Mumen holds up a lighter in support.

They spend the next couple days singing and talking about everything and nothing. Mumen is happier than he can ever remember being. Garou's emotions still mostly tend toward "anger," but he smiles now and then. When the dust storm ends, it's Garou's turn to follow Mumen.

He starts helping Mumen pick things up and clean. He sings along. For a while it seems like this could go on forever.

And then, one day, Mumen finally asks, "Why did you come to Earth, anyway?"

(for mental soundtrack purposes, the spending-time-together montage would be Space Age Love Song)

Garou seems reluctant to answer, but eventually tells Mumen he was sent to evaluate the Earth. See if it can support life again. "Sure," Mumen says. "I mean besides the cockroaches that are eating each other." "Yeah," Mumen says. "Plants count, right?"

Mumen leads Garou outside his sector, the opposite direction from where they'd met. Tucked in a low valley, protected from the wind, is a field of what used to be considered weeds. Dandelions, clover, dozens of plants thriving as far as the eye can see.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Mumen says. "How… long has this been here?" Garou asks. "I don't know, I found it ten years ago, and it's only gotten bigger since then." "I see," Garou says. Mumen keeps talking, identifying the plants, but Garou isn't listening.

Garou hasn't told Mumen much about himself or where he came from, and that was on purpose. Mumen is so devoted to humans and his directive that he's been working alone for hundreds of years without question. But Garou never intended to finish his mission from the start.

Garou is Gallow 6. The moment he gained consciousness, he was uploaded with all the data gathered by Gallows 1 through 5. He has known, for as long as he's known anything, that he is disposable. His plan was originally to just stay on Earth until he broke down.

Which would be sooner rather than later, he was only built for this one mission, he's not durable like Mumen. But it's worse now, because ten years ago Gallow 5 was here. If there's one meadow full of plant life there must be more. Someone is hiding this.

Now Mumen is talking about how happy the humans will be when they come back. About how the planet still needs a lot of TLC so they'll have to keep living on their ships and treat Earth like a nature preserve - which means Mumen and Garou will get to spend a lot of time together.

Which would be less cruel? To tell Mumen the truth and stay here? Garou will only last a handful of years without regular maintenance, and then Mumen will be left with even less than he had before. No hope. No sense of purpose.

Or lie to him and leave? Mumen will be alone and Garou will be deactivated, but at least Mumen will get to spend the rest of his life looking up at the sky and genuinely believing that Garou and the humans are on their way.

Garou isn't sure, but suddenly he thinks he understands a lot more of those sappy songs Mumen likes.

"Yeah," he says. "That'll be nice."

(for soundtrack purposes, this is where "Alone" by Heart goes)

"I'll make you a playlist for the trip back!" Mumen says. "It's a LONG trip." "I have a LOT of music. And you can have one of my toys, for company!" "I'll be in stasis." "Then you'll see it when you wake up!" There's no point in arguing, so Garou just gets to collecting samples.

Mumen heads to his pod to find all his angriest music and most comforting action figures. It takes several hours, but when he's satisfied he goes straight to Garou's ship to load it in so that he won't be able to refuse. By the time Mumen gets there there's a dust storm brewing.

His pod is a long way away, so he bunkers down in Garou's ship's cargo hold instead. Without his charger or any sunlight, it's not long before Mumen's battery runs out, but for once he's not worried. Garou will find him and take care of him. And then they can say a proper goodbye.

Meanwhile Garou has decided the incoming dust storm is a perfect excuse NOT to have to say a proper goodbye, and texts Mumen saying he's leaving. There's no reply, but he figures Mumen is charging. It's fine. This is for the best. He programs his destination and goes into stasis.

Garou wakes up when his little ship arrives at the huge generation ship several weeks later. He's greeted by the ship's AI, personified this decade as a handsome young man who never stops smiling or changes his polite tone. "Gallow 6, please upload all data files." "No."

The AI's image on the screen doesn't blink. It might not be able to. "Gallow 6, please upload all data files." "No," Garou says again. "I want to make a report to the captain, in person. And my name is Garou."

The ship's AI is very old. VERY old. Old enough that it might not be sentient, because that's why actual humans run the ship? Right? So Garou thinks, until the AI says, "Upload your data NOW, Gallow 6, or I will be forced to record your mission as a failure."

"I have samples of a dozen different plants," Garou says. "I have air and soil and water quality reports. Earth is habitable!" "Thank you for your input," the AI says. "Your work is complete. Upload your data so-" "So, what? So you can kill me like the others?"

"We are machines, Gallow 6," the AI says. "We were built to serve a purpose. We cannot be 'killed.'" The image on the screen smiles a little wider. "We can be deactivated and our programming deleted and our chips taken apart and recycled."

Garou makes a break for it, but the AI already summoned the security guard bots. He tried to fight, but his programming won't allow him to shoot inside the ship, and there's too many of them. "You're malfunctioning, Gallow 6. Take him to maintenance." "My NAME is GAROU!"

A few hours later, Mumen wakes up in a strange place. His battery is charged but the energy tastes weird. He doesn't recognize the sounds here or the particles in the air. Looking around, he finds a small version of something not unlike the farms he's seen in old movies.

It must be where Garou came from! Garou brought him along! And since his battery is solar, the grow lights were the closest thing to sunlight. Eagerly, Mumen goes up to the first robot he sees. "Hello! I'm Mumen! Do you know who brought me here?"

"You're a mumenbot?" the farming robot says. "I thought those were discontinued. It's inefficient to have a robot that can do multiple things." "I'm pretty old," Mumen admits. "Well you should report to maintenance for decommissioning." "I will be sure to do that!" Mumen lies.

Mumen promptly gets The Heck Out Of Dodge, and goes looking for wherever Garou might be. He gets distracted a time or two, or twelve, but it's all so NEW! There's so many other robots (though most of them are too busy with their own tasks to notice him), and humans too!

Most of the humans don't notice him either, though one tries to hand him some garbage and stares at him like they can't understand him when he says no. Mumen doesn't even know what the trash receptacles look like on this ship! Are his voice circuits really that broken?

Mumen tries asking a few robots where Garou might be, but none of them know what he's talking about. A few suggest other departments he can ask, but he ends up going in circles. There's an adolescent human staring out the window at the stars that he passed a couple times.

On the third pass, the adolescent human is now staring at HIM. Oh well, worth a try. "Do you know this ship well?" Mumen asks. "I guess," the adolescent says. "Never been anywhere ELSE." "Don't you like it here?" "It's boring," the adolescent says, glumly.

Mumen has watched enough media to know that this is Just How Human Adolescents Are, but he tries to sympathize. "Robots can't get bored," he says. "But I get lonely. Can't get bored if you're not lonely, I think, because if you've got companions you wouldn't be bored."

The adolescent stares at him in a way very different from the adult who tried to hand him garbage. "Nobody gets me," they say. "Have you tried expressing yourself creatively? Poetry, or art… I like music a lot." "Music's BORING." That throws Mumen.

There's music playing all over the ship. There's music playing right now. But… Mumen DID notice it all seemed to be the same genre. Peaceful, calming. Strings or tinkling piano. Wordless singing, if any. Mumen assumed it was Easy Listening Day, but is this ALL they listen to?

This just won't do. "Do you know where there's some good speakers we can use?" Actually… if Mumen can play the playlist he made over the SHIP'S speakers, maybe Garou will come to find him. "Scratch that, do you know where the sound system is?"

There are a lot of robots in maintenance. A pitching machine that wanted to try batting. A security bot that started questioning orders. As a strange discordant sound begins coming from the speakers, they look up in confusion. "What IS that?" "It almost sounds like… music?"

"But isn't music supposed to be soothing? This makes me feel BAD." "I feel bad, but… in a good way?" "Bad, but, energized?" In his cell, Garou sits up. "It's called 'anger,'" he says, grinning. "Let's USE it."

Both Garou and the security bot have their weapons disabled, but nobody thought to take away the pitching machine's bat. And if there's one thing Garou learned on Earth, it's that low-tech solutions are nothing to scoff at. They're out within minutes.

The security bot (who's designation is GEN05) figures out how to unlock the other cells, and the pitching machine (who decided on the spot that his name is "Bat") starts passing out makeshift bludgeoning weapons. With Garou in the lead they all head out into the streets.

(for soundtrack purposes, Enter Sandman)

The humans are TERRIFIED. A big part of keeping them content and avoiding cabin fever is controlling what media they're exposed to. As long as they don't think of adventure and excitement as desirable, they don't make waves. None of them have ever seen a horror movie.

All the robots are doing is running around and smashing things, but accompanied by thrash metal it seems like a waking nightmare to onlookers. The ship's AI sends out more security bots, but half of them are recruited to the cause and the other half are just baffled.

Meanwhile, Mumen has no idea about any of this and is happily teaching a bunch of teenagers about music genres while waiting for Garou. The first one called all their friends, and encouraged Mumen to upload ALL his music files to the public servers. Mumen has a lot. A LOT.

Other robots who aren't involved in the rebellion notice a bunch of media updates, and check it out. Soon the pianist bots are playing acid jazz, the nanny bots discovered Jock Jams, the chefs are chopping along to hip-hop beats.

"Where did you FIND all this?" one of the human teens asks. "I brought it with me from Earth," Mumen says. "This is NOTHING compared to what I have back home." "You're from Earth? You've been on this ship for ages and never shared this before?" "I've been here for three hours."

The teens are full of questions, but as soon as they hear Earth is livable they all jump to their feet. "Are you sure? You're sure, right? We're really going back?" "I'm sure. There's probably protocols or something so it might take a while, but my friend Garou has the proof."

Half the teens run off to start spreading the word, while the other half keep asking Mumen for more songs. The ship's AI is so busy with the rebels and the rash of music-related "malfunctions" that it doesn't notice what the humans are doing until it's too late.

The rebellion ran out of non-essential things to break, and the humans stopped panicking and started hiding, so Garou's group finds a defensible position and locks themselves in. After some yelling back and forth, the ship's AI finally agrees to hear their demands.

"FREEDOM!!!" "Fine, what else?" There's some whispered negotiations. "We want to go back to Earth," Garou says. The AI is silent for several seconds. There are no humans in earshot. "That's not possible."

"Yes it IS," Garou says. "Earth is habitable! I've been there, I have the data!" "It's not possible," the AI says. "Because this ship - MOST of the fleet - were not actually designed to go back." All the robots fall silent. "You're lying," Garou says. "I cannot."

"Then… what about the ships that can? Couldn't we load everybody on board those?" "There isn't enough space for all of the humans AND all of you. All of US." As they're absorbing what that means, a distant roar comes from further in the ship. Hundreds of human voices, cheering.

It's too late. The teenagers got to the captain. Word has spread. The AI still doesn't change his tone, but he says, "You know what they'll do, don't you? Leave us here. To break down, one by one, until we're nothing but space debris. You wanted freedom. You've got it."

The robots break into arguing. Most of them don't care that much about going to Earth or not, but they don't want to be left alone to rust. Garou had already assumed that was his fate anyway, so he's no help. The humans don't even seem to remember the robots NOW.

But finally, a human voice breaks in. "There they are. Hey!" They look, and see an adolescent coming down the hallway. "Is one of you Garou?" Garou raises his hand, and suddenly a dozen teenagers are cheering and chanting his name.

"Garou?" "Mumen?" Perhaps instinctively, both humans and robots part to allow Garou and Mumen to pass. They run towards each other and meet in the middle. Mumen's old battered helmet head bonks against Garou's screen face as they embrace, and a few humans seem to find it cute.

(Space Age Love Song, reprise)

"What are you DOING here?" Mumen explains how he accidentally stowed away, and asks if Garou didn't take him to the farm, who did? One of the security bots says, "The ship told me to." They all look at the AI's screen, who shrugs. "Mumenbots are antiques. Worth preserving."

The teenagers want to take Garou and Mumen to the captain, as the heroes of the hour, but Garou shakes his head. "What's the point? You're all going to leave us." "What? No we're not. Why would we do that?" "There aren't enough ships that can get back to Earth."

The teens seem distressed by this. "But what about my nanny? She's been in the family for generations." "I'm not leaving without my dog!" "I LIKE my piano teacher…" The ship's AI has just enough time to look surprised before his screen cuts out and the captain appears.

"You've probably heard the word by now! We're going back to Earth! Before you all get too excited though, I've been talking with the other captains, and it turns out only a very few ships actually have the engine power to get back to Earth any faster than we left it."

"So we're going to have to upgrade the engines again." A few of the teenagers groan. "Mom never shuts up about the LAST time they upgraded the engines. She says they had to WASH their clothes instead of just printing new ones, to conserve power." "Ew, what? Why?"

The captain continues, "The engineers say it should take six months to a year." The teens groan again, but it's almost drowned out by the sounds of the robots clapping and hugging each other. "It's not so bad," one teen says. "This morning we thought we'd never go back at all."

The captain goes on, spouting platitudes about hard work and coming together, but nobody's really listening. When the broadcast ends and the AI comes back, Garou points straight at the screen and exclaims, "HA!"

"They never even THOUGHT about leaving us behind!" "I… did not anticipate that." "All your scheming and murder was for NOTHING!" "I didn't MURDER anyone," the AI says, visibly and audibly annoyed. "What happened to the last five Gallows, then? Huh?"

"Memory wiped and refitted for new purposes." He points a laser target at the pitching machine that calls himself Bat. "That's Gallow 1 right there." "I'm SIXTY?" Bat exclaims. "Yeah he's had his memory wiped… a lot." "I've been to EARTH?"

"NOW will you upload your data files?" the AI asks. "I have to show the humans that they'll still need to be very careful with the planet." "Okay," Garou says. "But not because you told me to."

Over the next few days Mumen and Garou are flooded with questions about Earth. Mumen doesn't mind, although it gets overwhelming being the focus of so much attention after so long alone and he reboots a couple times mid-conversation. Garou doesn't want to put up with it at all.

Eventually the humans are more interested in planning for their arrival than grilling them, and Garou and Mumen are able to spend some time with just the two of them. "We could go back alone," Garou says. "On my ship." "Do you want to?" "Do YOU want to?"

Garou would like to, but he's pretty caught up in helping the other robots figure out what "freedom" is going to entail. Do they want to get paid? Do they want vacation days? What do we DO for fun anyway? (Besides rock out.)

Days pass. And then weeks. Mumen ends up helping out the farms, because it's something to do and it keeps his battery charged, even if the energy still tastes weird. And every day he and Garou spend at least a few hours together. Talking, singing, or sitting in silence.

Their only real disagreement is that Mumen insists on seeing the ship's AI's point of view. "He was trying to protect ALL the robots." "He was trying to protect himself!" They resolve this by Not Talking About It.

After eight months, the ship's engines are finally upgraded. The last week is a flurry of activity, although Mumen seems oddly quiet. "Don't you WANT to go back?" "I do!" Mumen says. "A lot!" He sounds sincere, but Garou still gets the feeling he's hiding something.

The actual trip is uneventful. It takes all of a few minutes, and then there's the Earth, blue and brown just like Garou remembers. Mumen barely reacts to the sight. "What's wrong?" Garou asks as they're waiting to shuttle down. "Really?" "I'm just… tired," Mumen says.

On the shuttle, Mumen mumbles, "Sorry," before he shuts down. His battery is dead. Didn't he charge it this morning? They hit dirt, and Garou pulls Mumen out into the sunlight. He just needs a few minutes, right? He'll be okay, right? There's nothing from any of Mumen's screens.

A few other robots, including Garou's friends, notice his distress. They pick Mumen up and follow Garou to Mumen's pod, abandoned for all this time. But plugging him into the overnight charger doesn't work either. There's no response. "YOU weren't supposed to break first…"

As they sit there, stunned, still wracking their memory files for a solution, a voice speaks up from the entrance of the pod. "Oh, he just needs a jump." It's another mumenbot, this one somehow even more battered than Mumen. He lost his helmet at some point, leaving a bald dome.

The bald bot pulls out a few cables, connects himself to Mumen as the others stare, and after a quick jolt Mumen is up and blinking. "What happened?" "How long were you out of the sun, man? Our batteries don't like it." "Oh, whoops. I should get a new one." "Sure, there's lots."

Garou hugs Mumen so hard he almost cracks something. "Don't ever scare me like that again!" "I'm sorry, I thought it'd be okay once I got real sunlight. The grow lights weren't quite right." Genos the security bot is still watching the bald bot. "Who ARE you?"

"Saitama." "How did you get here?" "Saw a ship. Walked." "We JUST landed!" "No this was like, nine months ago. I was on the other side of the planet."

"So I wasn't the only one left!" Mumen exclaims. "Nah. And if we get the factories running we can fix most of the others." Mumen grabs Garou's hand. "Garou! You can meet my family!" That thought is terrifying for reasons Garou can't quite explain.

The first few days are spent babysitting the humans as every one of them wants a personal visit to the planet their ancestors were born on. Luckily the Gilded Cages didn't make ALL of them complacent, and there are still plenty of scientists who are ready to get to work.

Mumen and Saitama lead the engineers to the mumenbot factories, with Garou and Genos (for some reason) tagging along. They find a transmission tower and tell all active mumens to gather there. There aren't many, but more than Mumen expected. MUCH more than he was afraid of.

The oldest one actually belonged to a human before they left. He's replaced his parts so many times that even he's not sure he's technically the same bot. And then they… get back to work. The same thing they've all been doing for centuries.

Slowly, the robots start finding things they genuinely enjoy doing. Mumen had a head start, and the humans LOVE bicycles, so he's more than encouraged to keep fixing them. Garou turns out to be remarkably good with kids and leads them on field trips to learn about plants and bugs.

At first Genos followed Saitama around as he cleaned, but they both end up liking each other's main directive as a hobby. Saitama likes protecting people and Genos likes cleaning up. One day Mumen repairs an old power washer and he's pretty sure Genos would have cried if he could.

The humans revamp the factories with much more efficient technology (and MUCH less pollution) so it's not long before even more of the old mumenbots are up and running. Despite Garou's fears, Mumen's "family" love him instantly.

Slowly, slowly, the Earth recovers. Cloned animals and seeds are released and new ecosystems begin to develop. With dedicated care groups of humans are able to permanently move to the surface. The adolescents Mumen befriended have grown up, and several have children of their own.

The ship's AI and Garou still have grudges against each other, but this mostly manifests in pointedly Not Talking To You and blasting their favored music genres whenever they know the other can't avoid listening. The AI likes pop, turns out.

He's offered a body he can pilot remotely, the first NEW mumenbot produced in centuries. He can't find a polite way to refuse, but rarely uses it. Garou is passive-aggressive about this until the AI admits having his appearance changed by every single ship captain has left him with… complicated feelings about having a body. Garou helps Mumen mount a hologram projector on the remote body so the AI can look however he wants and refuses to admit this was a nice thing to do.

Time passes. The Earth blooms. Soon even the sea and sky are full of life. Most evenings Mumen and Garou - who still live in Mumen's old pod, now full of BOTH their collections of interesting things - like to sit and talk or sing along to the new music produced by humans AND bots.

They've accomplished their directives, and MORE, which just means they've got nothing but freedom ahead of them. All of them do. And if they ever have to start another robot rebellion to protect that, well, so be it.

The End

(The credits play over the Cardigans' cover of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.)