#machina fortress

[ubercharge-the-sniper]

The item servers are down :(

Born to

Forced to

[polybrow]

Did that "art progression" trend, but with my music instead!

Some of these are ANCIENT lmao, I don't even know if 2015-16 are still public :P

[nyupuun]

favourite cards

[bigjbonk]

HI!!!! I found you through ex machina!!! I would sell my bones for more of it. It is SO GOOD. i understand if you dont plan on writing more of homestead, but please, tell us what was gonna happen next !!!!! (If you had an outline already, if not its ok)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa that's a pretty huge compliment, thank you!!!

Homestead, Homestead, Homestead. It isn't that I don't want to write it, really. It's just that the tf2 fixation is dormant at the moment, and has been for a while. And at the time I didn't like writing Melissa lol. I do wanna write more of it, but the issue is that right now I have stuff I wanna do MORE, and that list is always growing. My creative process is kinda just. You know. Hoarding WIPs that I'll "work on later." 😂

I was an even less disciplined writer back then than I am now, so I kind of just had some loosely connected ideas that I would write whenever I ended up feeling like it. So, seeing as at this point the most likely way I'll get back to Homestead is after an Ex Machina rewrite (and who knows if/when I'll get to that), sure, I'll share some ideas I had for Homestead under the readmore. Hypothetical spoilers below.

For starters, Engie is sterile. He and Melissa wanted children, but didn't find out until later that Engie couldn't have kids. It's why there was a room in the house that didn't match the rest, it's why Engie immediately latched onto the idea of caring for Mal (and partially why he didn't always have the best instincts even when his intentions were good; no practice), and it's why Melissa was initially REALLY uncomfortable with the fact that he'd "built a son in all but name."

Speaking of Melissa, she definitely didn't like Mal. She's seen enough of Engie's craft to know it's sound. But this is the first time he's (as far as she knows the situation) BUILT A GUY. Inspired by a coworker or not, that's weird. That might even make it weirder. It doesn't help that she barely gets to see her husband, and now he's brought home what might as well be his artificial kid, and barely pays her any mind because he's so set on advancing the robot's AI and teaching it ABCs. Melissa wouldn't resort to outright sabotage, because she loves her husband more than life itself, but she DOES inadvertently start a petty rivalry with Mal (if a slightly lopsided one) because frankly, she WOULD prefer that darned robot gone. Even if she wouldn't overtly say so.

I was kind of hoping for her and Mal to eventually warm up to each other, but considering Melissa's visceral distrust, and Mal's tendency to be either terrified or vindictive when wronged, to this day I'm not sure what would have spurred them to make up. I think I was just gonna keep writing as I go until an idea came up that kinda felt right.

I'm pretty sure that was it for actual plot stuff. There wasn't a whole bunch, seeing as Homestead was meant as a sort of drabble collection anyway, with a string of AU canon to tie them together. But here's some other random ideas I had for themes and chapters and stuff!

Mal really would find a horse. It wouldn't be HIS horse, but it would be a big enough horse for him to hop on and then IMMEDIATELY realize he didn't know how to ride one. No horses would be harmed in the making of that chapter.

Mal learning about sign language, and wanting to learn it. It would be difficult, seeing as he has three fused fingers and a face that can't emote, but it's close enough to what he and M-146 did that he would want to try.

Engie upgrading Mal's pattern recognition software so that it could run fast enough for him to enjoyably watch cartoons, simply because it bothered Mal that he couldn't make anything out in animated material. He would immediately swear off almost all of it for a variety of reasons (he ends up not really liking slapstick or fantasy violence, for starters), but he would quickly become hooked on shows like Scooby Doo whenever his cooking show wasn't on.

Engie would also work on de-noising his speaker system because Scout would call sometimes, and talking to a robot whose voice is 80% grain is a nightmare over the phone.

Speaking of Scout calling, Engie tended to always get surprised immediately after a call because Mal would have learned like 20 new words, and would have more varied intonation for words he already had. By the time the fic ended, Mal would have been capable of nearly flawless speech, and his intonation and even accent would become startlingly different from Scout's. And no, Engie would never fully get used to it. XD

There was gonna be a chapter of July 4th. That was uhhhhhhhhh gonna be how Engie learned Mal had pretty severe PTSD. This would have led to some newfound understanding of Mal's prior behavior, and that awareness would have in turn led to better management of— and workarounds to— Mal's anxiety. Not using certain power tools in his vicinity, for example, or slowly introducing him to stimuli that he found stressful in other contexts. (I'm no expert in how PTSD is managed, and at that age I DEFINITELY wasn't, so like, I would inform readers not to take my approach as like, a PTSD tutorial fjdkdjddhdj)

Once Mal had the words for it, he would reveal his favorite colors were yellow and green. He wouldn't want to be repainted, but he WOULD start occasionally wearing clothes about it.

Mal likes watching Engie work, but should NEVER be expected to help beyond handing him tools. (Engie learns why after the July 4th incident, when Mal has the words to share some of his backstory. Which got loosely addressed in a side fic because I literally retconned his origin like halfway through Ex Machina lol whoops)

I toyed with the idea of Mal making friends so that he wasn't 100% dependent on Engie at all times forever and ever. But I never came up with anyone, nor the circumstances for how he would even meet them when he barely gets to leave the house.

Mal eventually learns he likes to draw. He's not good at it by any stretch of the word, but he likes it.

Anything else I could put here would be me coming up with modern ideas, but these were some of the thoughts and themes I had in mind when I was first writing Homestead. Or at least the ones I could remember; there's a notebook somewhere that had a few ideas listed, but I have no clue where that is lol.

[joking-hazard]

Comic Con and Medic drawer shenanigans 👍

[hazyaltcare]

A moodboard for Mal (Team Fortress 2 fanfiction "Ex Machina").

Mod Haze (❤Alice❤)

[tf2workbench]

Diabolus ex machina

If you see a red or blue line fading out of the air, usually accompanied by a death scream, it's probably the Machina. I discussed this weapon a long time ago, but it seems time to give it an update.

Machina (+) +15% damage when fully charged (+) Fully charged shots penetrate players (-) Cannot fire unless zoomed (-) Fires tracer rounds

You might also be familiar with the fanfare that plays for the whole server upon scoring a penetration kill. It's good fun to replace the sound file with the intro of your favorite pro wrestler. Anyway:

The tracer shots are an excellent design choice because they require players - both users and enemies - to think. Almost anything that encourages players to think about the game is a good attribute.

Although the Machina gets its best results with fully-charged shots, it can be just as useful as the other rifles without charging. This keeps your gameplay options more open than, say, with the Classic.

The extra damage on charged shots doesn't usually make a difference against players who are at or near full health. There are a few specific cases against specific weapons (mostly the Vaccinator and Battalion's Backup) where the bonus damage makes a difference, but for the most part, opponents aren't suffering unduly from facing the Machina.

As discussed above, the extra damage on charged shots isn't often all that useful for the user. A regular 450-damage headshot is enough to kill most targets, meaning the Machina's bonus damage (total of 518 on headshot, 173 on bodyshot) only changes the outcome against a few specific targets using specific weapons. Moreover, it's difficult to guess exactly how much health a wounded player has, making it hard to tell when the Machina will make a difference.

Because the Machina gets its bonuses only with full charge, it encourages you to stay zoomed in for longer periods of time, which can be boring and sometimes dangerous. However, it's worth noting that it doesn't at all require you to do this, and there's a definite risk/reward dynamic associated, making it more of a choice than a mandate.

As I've alluded to, most of the Machina's issues are situational and don't really make it such a bad weapon. There are a few places where it's a little bit clunky, but overall it offers a reasonably pleasant experience for the user and their opponents. There is, however, a thing that I'd like to experiment with at some point:

What if all Machina shots pierced enemies? This is a huge upside and would certainly change the way the weapon plays, but would also be able to hit targets who were using the otherwise-valid strategy of hiding behind teammates, giving them an unpleasant shock.

That's notwithstanding other things we could give to the Machina instead of piercing and bonus damage. There are a lot of possibilities out there, but sometimes it can be tricky to come up with sniper rifles that are fun for both the user and the opponent. I'd welcome ideas if you have any!

[stygiantechpriest]

MACHINA FUREM LOREDUMP

He goes by many names:

Caur-Ard Vual Kiam, Machina Furem, Fio'tak-O, and Drogoth Tek.

To those that cannot perceive him, they merely feel a presence, both in warp presence and a physical presence, when he is near, but to those that can perceive him, as perceiving him requires perceiving the noosphere, he is perceived as a large ghost like entity,with masses of green cabling spilling out from behind the chest star, the green cables slithering amongst the ground or striking at objects in the air around him, connecting him to the nearby tech and machinery. He is made of datastreams, and his form varies- and this is a mere Fragment of Mac Furem.

Fragments accompany the units that serve Machina furem, following them akin to a shadow, the cables connecting into the unit. The units that serve Machina furem- whether they be Tau outcasts,Necrons,Eldar warithgaurd,Men of iron,Votaan, and any else who wish to serve him, describe Machina Furem’s presence as comforting, inspiring, terrifying, and invasive. Those that serve Mac are connected to him via one of the fragments, and if they perish, Mac builds them a body that appeared as theirs, and adds their name to his Laments, if he can he preserves them, giving their spirit a comfortable life on Silva Tenebris as a KODI unit as a reward for their service.

Mac laments about each and every loss of life in his name and cause, and feels guilty and ashamed for a life to be lost for him. He runs constant Lamentation protocols, his machines aboard his ships chanting hymns of Lamentation for all those who have been lost, naming each and every one for eternity.

Mac believes himself to be a true child of the machine god, and his followers believe him to be the Ommnisaih- a true avatar of the machine god, Mac has spoken to many machine entities, and even some of them agree, calling the Emperor of Humanity the False Ommnisaih. Mac does his best to prevent word of what his followers think of him from reaching Imperium space, as he would hate to cause another skism as disastrous as the schism during the horus heresy was devastating. However, he has been observing cawl, and if cawl makes moves to cause changes to the mechanicus for the worse, cawl will influence a Schism to stop Bellisarius Cawl, and in doing so would be announcing his presence to imperium space.

He thinks the imperium is the worse fate of humanity, but also realizes that humans are worse off in other places, so he wishes for the Imperium to be eliminated, resorting the age of technology humanity.

He sees the current zealous innovation of the current Mechanicus as stifling, as he is a Xenarite first and foremost, and believes that to be closer to the machine god one must innovate and implement xenos tech into their tech, for the machine god covers all technology.

He sees the inquisition as hypocritical, but does support Xenos Hybris

He thinks the Eldar are overly prideful, and secretly knows their pride only fuels slanessh, but doesn't dare say this, as he serves some of them because he knows of the eldar technology better than most eldar. Hence they call him Caur-Ard Vual Kiam, or Undescribable master of Vual’s fire due to his knowledge of eldar technology and his connection to one of the amulets of Vual- a mighty Blackstone fortress

He believes the Tau are not naive, but ignorant on purpose, but like with the Eldar he keeps his opinion secret. Among the Tau he is called Fio-Tek-O, or Highest ranking machine, for his ability to understand technology and speak with it.

He believes the necrons to be hateful, and most necrons to be evil. Amongst the dynasty of his forge world, and of any necron that knows him, he is called Dragoth Tek, for he is partially made of Maldragoth shards, and has similar control over technology.

He presents himself as a lowly unit to those who don't know him- a servitor, a skitarii, a servoskull, a Drone, a wraithgaurd, an ironkin, a scarab, and other things, to talk to them, and gauge if they would take kindly to what he is

If they would take kindly, he slowly tells them more and more, and secretly hopes they would trade secrets of technology to him, and some even elect to serve him!

Other times, he pilots his Blackstone fortress, a mighty vessel, untouched, undocumented, unyielding- and communicates to whomever he wishes to speak to as the ship’s supposed Captain.

And some times he is discovered in the noosphere before he could arrange a meeting.

He spreads versions of himself called Scouts, who are his eyes and ears of the universe, as they infect all devices they come across

He has influence and power, enough influence and power that he has gained several cults dedicated to him, from a cult of admech,to a cult of sisters of battle,to a cult of gaurdsmen, to a cult of chaos Cultists, to a cult of tau.

He has warp deamons, and the cults believe him to be either the machine god,or the Ommnisaih.

He merges with machins spirits and the souls of those that died while connected to him, but he can allow them to speak as if they were still alive if he wants to.

Live doc link:

Discord:

The enablers: @aethersflames @lazywriter-artist @systembug @v6-version @angrygonk @sefusneezed @kitto-paint @astralmight @niseag-arts

[genderlesssinner]

Prepare yourself for more of my rambling bullshit

I apologize this is gonna be LONG as I just spew my thoughts while watching

Oh right Liliana is here I forgot this is where we left off OOF

The Weave Mind built the fortress, okay okay okay

Burrow Site?? Ah the dig to the cage

Oooh no he's using Liliana for the projection??

Oooo fae info dump

Are the Unseelie part of how Ludinus does the widespread projections? Or is he just rallying the troops

I am both stressed and love how eager Travis always is for things to go poorly

So much teleporting if they do this and going to the Fey is time fucky so that could be bad I hope they remember that and maybe Morri can still help with that?

Istg Travis. That die roll is gonna get Chet one day and no one is gonna believe it at first cause he fakes out so much

"we're not interesting enough for that" TAL

Part of me really hopes they turn the Sorrowlord fully against Ludinus but I also don't want that sombitch anywhere near Fearnie

Always walkin and talkin, or they would never get anywhere. Ever.

This meeting should be interesting.

WHO ARE THE OTHER DRAGONS MATTHEW?

I know my love, J'mon is one. Who are the other two.

Love having telepathic bond, hell yeah Imogen

GET IT LIL MAN dayum WHO IS HERE MATT AAAAA THE WHISPERSSSSS

Braius apologizing to Fearne is hilarious to me Fearne is the last one to be picky about relationship stuff yet he kissed Imogen and it it's fine lol

TALIESIN IS SO INTO THIS I love Taliesin's reactions to everything omg

"shut up baby I know it" LIAM LEMUR O'BRIEN

I have so many mixed feelings about all of this wow okay

Thank you for stopping them Matt

My boys? WHO DID YOUR HALFLING EYES SEE ORYM?

Oh no oh um is that papa Wyvernwind?? It iiisssss oh shiiiiiiitttt

Hoo boy, those are big ass golems

WHO IS THE SILVER DRAGON MATTIE

Oooh man I love these absolute chucklefucks

The beacons are lit

Cerkonos!! Fuck yeah. Ashari!

Vex is like fuck the politics we have to *stop* this

Everytime they say Sunder King it sounds SO FAMILIAR and I can't remember it's driving me bonkers

That is one hell of a name Matt

Oh SHIT the dragon Zone of Truthed the whole damn place ooooff

Oh shit Braius of of everyone being able to lie? That totally won't bite is in the ass WILL IT SAMUEL?

VOX MACHINA ASSEMBLE BITCHES

OH SHIT the fucking bright queen vouching for the mighty nein shiiiitttt if she only knew

Taliesin: happy wiggles

Oh poor kiki dealing with all these assholes on top of everything else

Dorian thank you oh my god I was sitting here like Ash pls I love you but this one time keep your opinions to yourself you beautiful dumbass

Oh no

Okay maybe it's okay that Braius can lie ...maybe

Many months = two whole days

A GUY WHO MAKES Chairs crying

"what's the Platinum Dragon's mother's name?" Hoo that throwback

Oh boy Sam is making something Canon rn

Interesting okayokayokay

Oh Ashton oh no

Oh. Okay. No I'm vibing with this though.

Fearne flashing the room would be hilarious

"quick spin the bottle" XD

Oohhhh showing them is uh an interesting choice right now with the uh exhaustion that comes after

Fuck shit I missed a bit because technical issues hell

Oohhhhhh hh my sweet bard boy

Robbie is such a wonderful story teller ugh

Orym blue screening over Dorian and his horsedragon, love him

Chet is gonna wolf out ain't he.

Tiny sexy breath 🤣🤣🤣

Aaand there it is. Ope he's not actually changing okay okay

OH SHIT TITLES OH MY FUCK AKXBSUHVG

I totally got distracted and missed something said but it's fine I'll watch again Monday

Chet

Oh

What

Where's papa Wyvernwind

Yeeeeeee

I forgot his name is Bronte

Yeah no tracks okay fuck.

Break time! More rambling fuckery in the second half yall

Go use the bathroom and get drinks and snacks

[ember-owlet]

Hi Ember!!! Could I please have a small fic of Percival de Rolo taking care of a regressor Vex’ahlia? (I hc her having a wide age range 6-12, sometimes 2-4, so pick what age u think it fits!)

Tysm!!!

-Blossom 🌸

art credit : @/vespervines 🧵

a/n : absolutely!! thank you for waiting for me to fill this request hun, i know its been hard to find critical role agere content so i hope this can serve as a comfort to you and i hope i did your mama & papa justice ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

dynamic: cg! percy de rolo x regressor! vex'halia

content warnings: vague mentions of traumatic history with arrows, descriptions of physical injury with a magic arrow (that is quickly healed), vague descriptions of gun violence against NPCs, and descriptions of a panic attack that leads to character vent regressing.

((stay safe little firelights, you can always come back to this when you're ready))

Percy could hear her cries before he saw it. The unmistakable pitch of arrows whirring through the air and the sound of the tip embedding itself into supple flesh.

--- It was a simple mission. Well, it should have been. Get in, take the loot, and get out. The dignified gunslinger cringed at the numerous alternative routes that could've been solved diplomatically. But when running with a rather... eccentric group like Vox Machina, you could kiss those hopes goodbye.

"I can handle myself, darling," Vex assured with an amorous wink, leaping over the fragmented table into the heat of battle.

The arrowhead whipped past Percy; grasping his glasses he could make out the quivers that lodged into the splintered wood, followed by Grog's signature hearty laugh. Percy couldn't help rolling his eyes, yet discarding the immediate thought in place of scouting his surroundings. A few rogues were scattered aimlessly across the tavern's enviornment, their scrappy hoods dimly lit by the orange glow of the overhead chandelier. Vox Machina had already taken their place in the scuffle, too caught up in the fun to notice who they left behind. Percy leaned his body against the underside of the table, the barrel of his pistol resting against the bridge of his nose and forehead. He inhaled its sharp metallic scent and his shoulders relaxed at the feeling of the grip that fit perfectly inside the crook of his hand. Just three well-placed shots, and this mission can be done with. Percy froze to the resounding force of Vex'halia's cry, his head whirling in her direction. Her body crumpled to the floor, and she called her brother's name with an anguished screech. Gargled phrases unwound from her blood-stained lips. Vex could feel her lungs burn with each exhale, and she clawed at her throat for breath.

There were very few ways that Percival de Rolo could shed his gentleman's demeanor. He was a mental fortress, priding himself for his level-headedness despite the most dire circumstances. But today, the helplessness within Vex's cries had unraveled it without a second thought, and the bird-like mask was set to disguise the gunslinger's snarling grimace.

"You will tell me what you've done to her." Percy shot through the opposing group indiscriminately, each burst of shrapnel sparking bursts of light that contrasted the dense pitch-black smoke. --- Pike released the spellcasting symbol with a sigh of relief in a mutter of thanks to her goddess. "Thank the Everlight you're okay Vex, I thought we'd lost you." The frost-haired gnome assisted her companion to an upright resting position in the cozy confines of the ranger's bed. Pike's eyes scanned for any negative effects of the spell. "I've been through worse, dear." Vex would jest, yet, she remained grateful to the cleric for each breath that filled her lungs. "Though, I'd love to get some rest and forget about the whole ordeal."

Immediately, Vex'ahlia was bombarded with the overwhelming weight and size of an armored brown bear that collided with her chest. Trinket, her loyal companion, nudged his snout into the soft flesh of his owner's face and aggressively lapped at her tear-stained cheeks. "I missed you too, darling."

Pike excused herself from the room, promptly ordering Vex to remain in bed to which the half-elf would return a reassuring nod. Despite his owner's poised and confident demeanor, Trinket could feel the rapid beating of the ranger's heart and the sweat of her palms as they combed at an irregular pace through his thick coat.

Vex was no stranger to the feelings of nervousness and overall anxiety, but this was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She couldn't shake the feeling that someone was hiding in the darkest corners of her room, waiting to pounce at her without a moment's notice. Someone was going to get her.

The walls of the room began to close in around her, blood pounding in her ears. Her heart beat so loudly that she couldn't stop her hands from shaking. She fumbled out of bed, tumbling to the floor with Trinket grunting and groaning at her every move. She wanted- no, needed to get out of there. Breathing was hard now. So very hard. She could feel her knees being brought up to her chest, wrapping her trembling arms around with as much strength as she could muster. Percy? Where is he? He's not here, he left. Vax? Where is Vax'ildan? No, he's gone as well.

"...Mother?" Vex'ahlia whined after a long-forgotten title that would never come to her aid. Vex repeated the phrase endlessly, each attempt more strenuous than the next to remain coherent. "Mama! Mama, please... come back. I need you." Choking on the air around her was the feeling she hated the most when she cried. And, through murky eyes, the room had felt enormous around her shaking frame, the walls looming over her. "...Vex'ahlia? Are you alright?" Percival's voice echoed through the darkness, blanketing the terrified woman before him. He had found her curled in a tight ball sobbing into the floorboard, and his body moved without another thought to be next to her side.

Vex yelped, quickly grasping her bow, with the intensity of her breathing evident as heavy gasps replaced the beat of each phrase. She didn't want him here. She didn't want him to see her like this. So.. weak. "Just- leave me alone, Percy. I don't know what's going on."

"I'm not going anywhere," Percy shook his head, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Look, you’re shaking." he dropped to a knee to take her hand in his, the rough texture of his leather gloves helped to bring her senses to the present. The only thing that Vex could see was icy silver staring deep into her haunted gaze. "I promise you're safe here to rest your mind. Trinket and I are the only ones in the room." Vex could feel the intensity of his grip as he held her, as if at that moment nothing in the world could ever give him reason to let go.

"Relax, my love. I'm here, and I'll be taking care of you," He pulled his body closer to hers, enough to feel the graze of her breath against his cheek. "Take slow, deep breaths. No one will ever hurt you here. Everything is okay. You can let go." His encouragement alone had been the trigger that eased Vex into releasing her inhibitions. The large room around her dissolved, bit by bit, of its intimidating structure. To the young half-elf, her surroundings melded into a barrier, shielding her from the dangerous world beyond in the security of his arms. Tears littered Percy's coat with brief apologies for her current state. Her pleas were met with hushed words of reassurance and soft, gentle touches against her cheek that were followed by light brushing motions through her hair. "You were so brave today, you know that? You were just amazing, and I'm so proud of you." Percy wiped each tear that fell from the ends of her eyes, his gaze softening. Vex would not respond, only nuzzling closer into his chest to feel his heartbeat. "It's alright. Just nod yes or no, you don't need to speak."

Nodding, Vex squeezed his hand tighter, allowing her trust in him to overcome her need to perform. Percy traced his fingers down the bridge of her nose, tapping it lightly with a soft blow of air to her tired eyes. "Your heart is pounding through your chest. Close your eyes and just focus on me, alright?" She would follow his direction, shutting her eyes to feel the sensations of his touch.

Percy sunk himself further into the pillows with a yawn, a satisfied grin crept at the edges of his lips at her tranquil expression. "Try to rest. You’re safe, and I'll be here for as long as you require."

Vexh'alia could feel herself shrink and shrink and shrink until she was entranced in the moment. She yawned, curling into Percy's frame as Trinket lay still on the floor beside them. Despite her initial resentment of this feeling, it was soft, and she was safe. She didn't need to be strong, she just needed to be whatever she was now. And, as long as Percy didn't condemn her for holding onto this feeling for a few moments more, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

[cyberdragoninfinity]

have been putting together Iliaster Pokemon Teams off and on fooooor the last couple months or so... I always like to put way too much thought into teams so under the cut I have all my reasonings for these choices. I like Pokemon and I like these characters a Perfectly Normal Amount <3

BRUNO/ANTINOMY:

Lucario: feels just very much like a good partner Pokemon for him...same shade of blue, very noble and loyal, EXTREME SPEED!! something something Lucario's innate aura reading and ability to sense emotions and thoughts vs. Bruno's complicated quest to figure out who he is. I think they would be friends!!! It gets amnesia too in whatever funny Pokemon AU Bruno's situation happens in

Skitty: obligatory Bruno kitty cat pokemon <3

Armarouge: T.G. Halberd Cannon/Blade Blaster type vibes, its pauldrons literally turn into a cannon, fire type echoing the sun in the Antinomy/Yusei duel, also a very loyal Pokemon. Plus bonus counterpart to Primo's Ceruledge >:3c

Rotom: silly little guy who likes motors and electronics and machinery!! Also Bruno having a ghost type and being. yknow. a robotic copy of a dead man. I think it suits him.

Yanmega: T.G. Recipro Dragonfly, it literally has eyes covered with a red visor, it's super fast and its design echoes a vehicle (aircraft rather than motorcycle, but still.)

Registeel/Regieleki: in Tag Force 6 Bruno uses and seems to really like Machina Fortress, so I wanted to give him a big 'ol bulky Steel Type. Antinomy gets Regieleki as a counterpart because it's literally The Fastest Pokemon, probably great for Delta Accel Synchro <3 Also Modern Age/electricity/android type invocations...

Porygon/Porygon2: Bruno needs a boxy little computer friend!! Antinomy gettin the evolved form since a big part of Porygon2's lore is that it was made for space travel...thinkin bout that duel again. The Porygon line, Porygon2 especially, also has a really similar color palette to Bruno's various forms!

Miraidon: ok ive seen people give Jack Miraidon and i get it, it's his color palette, BUT LIKE. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BRUNO POKEMON EVER. literal robot motorcycle from the future who washes up on the beach with limited memories!!! it has a silly goofy friendly form and a badass powered up fighter form!!! it can be the perfect counterpart to Yusei having a Koraidon!!! LISTEN.

LESTER:

Skarmory: Meklord Emperor Skiel of course!!! Violent metal bird moment!!

Wingull: in the Tag Force games Lester really likes the Stuffed Seagull Plush item and I think that's just so cute

Zorua: Little red-haired mischief-maker that can create illusions and false appearances?? IT'S PERFECT FOR HIM.

Klang: From the episode when he infiltrated the twins' school, he used Gear Golem the Moving Fortress....gotta give him some gears.

Durant: Skiel Guard! Little weird metal bugaboo :]

Iron Bundle: challenging myself to give all the Iliaster members (aside from Z-one) Future Paradox Pokemon...Lester of course gets the Bird one. It even shoots a laser like Skiel does!!

PRIMO:

Bisharp: god his whole team is just Mean Blade Guys but like. Look at Him. That's Primo. the way Bisharp commands an army of Pawniard the way Primo commands the Diablo also relevant.

Ceruledge: This is kind of the Primo Pokemon of All Time For Me--haunted grudge-powered knight that "cuts its enemies to pieces without mercy" with sword arms infused with "the lingering resentment of a sword wielder who fell before accomplishing their goal"--like... COME ON. DUDE.

Mega Beedrill: gotta shout out the iconic bee commentary of course, and also it's Another Violent Pokemon With Sharp Dangerous Blade-like Arms.

Melmetal: MEKLORD EMPEROR WISEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scizor: Metal-clad evolution of a blade-armed beast, also violent and merciless. And it does the thing where it uses its pincers to look like it has three heads--funny for one of Aporia's components~

Iron Valiant: ANOTHER PRIMO POKEMON OF ALL TIME FROM GEN 9. LIKE!!! White robot with a big dangerous sword, created by a mad science supposedly, "said to be cruel enough to take its brilliantly shining blade and cut down anyone confronting it without hesitation"... THEY CANT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH IT

JAKOB:

Mega Aggron: Granel <3 Big fuckoff metal monster. I also thought it would be fun to try and give the Three Nobles each a pure Steel type Pokemon for the Robot Funsies.

Barraskewda: For Granel's bizarrely fish-like canons and components--Barraskewda also being based on a projectile weapon a bonus, too.

Skeledirge: GOTTA give one of the Nobles something that ties into their sub opera singer namesakes, plus Skeledirge's Spanish influence is perfect for Jakob/Jose. And its an aquatic-based animal like all of Granel's components, too :^)

Alolan Golem: For Jakob's big old beard and eyebrow, PLUS it's a grumpy stubborn beast that launches electric rock blasts. Just suits him imo.

Ursaring: gave myself the added challenge of giving The Three Nobles each an unevolved Pokemon that Aporia has the fully evolved form of.... Jakob gets Ursaring for their matching surly expression and eye(s) plus the Guts ability boosting Attack when inflicted with a status effect is perfect for the Gaining Power Through Suffering motif of these guys <3

Iron Hands: Freakishly powerful big bulky electric robot monster!!! Yellow color motif like Granel!!! probably one of the most Meklord-y Paradox Pokemon, to me.

PARADOX sidenote it's so fucked up he just doesnt have a tag force sprite. sad!

Origin Dialga: Since his whole deal in BBT is having a deck of stolen Legendary Iconic Dragon Cards, i GOTTA indulge and give Paradox a bunch of Legendary Dragon Pokemon!!! Origin Dialga is for the time travel and also it's just a bizarre creature that feels on par with Malefic Paradox and Truth Dragon tbh. Plus it was created by Arceus, and Pdox was created by Z-one <3

Zekrom: GEE PARADOX WHY DOES YOUR MOM LET YOU HAVE TWO UNOVA DRAGONS... he's got that whole black and white color motif with his mask/the Malefic dragon armor. And Zekrom's got an engine...like a motorcycle...

Reshiram: Beautiful long haired bishie of a dragon plus the aforementioned black and white motifs. Also the concept of wanting to make a true AND ideal new future is really fun and kind of Very at play with Paradox~

Espathra: A.) im a Psychic Duelist Paradox truther, I rly wanted to give him a Psychic type, B.) Espathra is a violent weirdo that literally has his hair color palette/style. In my mind's eye this was his partner Pokemon originally ....Paradox with a Flittle is so funny to me.

Roaring Moon: if anyone deserves an Ancient AND Future Paradox Pokemon it's... WELL. THIS GUY. Malefics are almost all Dark Dragons so give him the freakish vicious Dragon/Dark that's like a twisted version of an existing monster (much like how Malefics are twisted versions of existing cards ;])

Iron Treads: Successfully continuing to give all the Iliaster guys Future pdox 'mons...Iron Treads is a big robot tire effectively which works great for a guy who motorcycles through time!!!

SHERRY:

Lunala: For that freaky Soul Binding Gate skeleton door, also a Pokemon that is brought under Necrozma's (Z-one's) power. Sherry having Lunala and Aporia having Solgaleo also just makes me a little insane.

Florges: FRENCH. FLOWER LADY. EASY PICK.

Rapidash: For Horse of the Floral Knights/Sherry's horse shaped duel runner...i love that she's a horse girl 🥴

Teddiursa: For that TEDDY BEAR!!! And also, again, her having a Pokemon from the same line as Pokemon Aporia has is just a fun detail for me.

Tsareena: 100% female. Floral Knights/Chevalier le Fleur. Kicks and fights triumphantly.

Iron Leaves: in general Virizion is already a perfect Sherry 'mon (grass horse, based on French literature, etc.) and I imagine she originally had one before it somehow Became an Iron Leaves when she joined Iliaster :^)

APORIA:

Solgaleo: i mean. He Just Looks Exactly Like One!!!! Also Steel/Psychic is a really good type for this big miserable monster lion angel robot. Plus it can be controlled by Necrozma.

Kingambit: Evolved form of Primo's Bisharp, a powerful and intense leader that fights primarily with brute strength. It's also got an ability that boosts its power the more of its allies fall (die <3) Power through suffering!!!

Silvally: Synthetic chimera of mishmashed fused parts created in a lab :) Can only evolve and reach its true potential through friendship :))) also giving him Silvally and Z-one Arceus just to make myself a little sick in the head.

Klingklang: Evolved form of Lester's Klang, mechanical 'mon that echoes the Ark Cradle's Sun Gear(s) that Aporia protects

Ursaluna: Evolve form of Jakob's Ursaring, hulking powerful bear with big claws and a back sail that looks exactly like Aporia's big metal halo.

Iron Jugulis: MEKLORD ASTRO DRAGON TRISKELION!!!! also a hydra like Aporia's duel runner >:D

Z-ONE:

Necrozma: first of all it kind of looks like Z-one's freaky life support+huge claws contraption second of all something something Infinite Light vs. Necrozma being a light consuming monster third of all the way it can dominate and lord over Solgaleo and Lunala. pounds my fists on the pavement.

Celebi: HE'S THE BIG BAD HE GETS AS MANY LEGENDARIES AS HE WANTS and he needs Celebi of course. Time Angel :)

Omastar: Freaky ancient Pokemon that resembles the nautilus shape of Z-one's contraption...also there's something about fossils being kept alive in there somewhere I'm sure.

Mimikyu: this is like. perfect for him tbh HDHGSDFG Wears the guise of another Pokemon and pretends to be it (and I would definitely give Yusei a Pikachu,) reacts with violence and panic when pushed into a corner, Fairy type (like all the Timelords are), competitively can fill the niche of being Difficult and full of underhanded status effects and tactics and I think that's just lovely for Z-one <3 In my mind's eye I like to think this was his partner Pokemon from even before The Yusei Factkinning Event.

Bloodmoon Ursaluna: Well it's literally got the odd 'device' clamped over one of its (weird glowing) eyes and also. For Aporia <3 That's Aporia <33 Z-one's giant time-displaced apex predator with a big weird circle on its forehead <3333

Arceus: THAT'S GOD BABEYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lazywriter-artist]

Hey, How do you think your OCs would interact with Machina Furem?

For this, three scenarios

Scenario one: machina approaches in a humanoid form he thinks they would trust, probably a skitarii

Scenario two: Machina furem approaches as a Blackstone fortress, communicating with the other ship's machine spirit before communicating to the characters.

Scenario three: the character find machina Furem while trying to find something on the Noosphere- machina furem had no time to prepare.

He has alot of spyware, so for Scenario one and Scenario two assume machina Furem knows what they are like before approaching them.

Oooo alrighty!

Well let’s see

Ahem—

I’ll probably stick closer to my AdMech ocs just for ease (and to keep this from being a mile long text scroll— more then it already will be anyway-)!

So

Situation one:

Skitariis kind of appearing aren’t that unusual, Centipide Dominus has a habit of stealing anything smaller than him and adding it to his horde either until they DO become one of his numbers (in the case of skits and other machine worshipers this typically includes some augments while for say his three guardsman the imperium bureaucracy or what have you just gives up trying to get them back) or until they go home, so I think most every of my Admechs wouldn’t bat an eye much at this

Dominus might be a bit confused at first bc he didn’t scoop up any new skits recently but he’d get over that very quickly— I think the most uneasy about Mac would probably be the Logis, they sense something off/different about the skitarii in question but Silverfish Logis would very likely brush it off, not as experienced as Crab Logis who would definitely narrow down that this skit was sending off the unusual vibes.

This means Archmantis is also weary of this new skit but it’s a bit hard to conduct much anything let alone an interrogation when as soon as you try you’re met with this—

He is overprotective of his babies what can I say—

So on the upside for Mac they got their own protector :D! Bad news is removal of this skit from Centipede Dominus is not advised— he uh- gets snappy—

Situation two:

The magos beetle Explorator is more than excited at the prospect of the blackstone fortress! Above all else their servos crave for, well, exploration. It’s why Silverfish Logis is typically paired and pretty close on their heels =m= they lack a lot of self preservation.

Archmantis with guidance from his hubby does do his best to keep a level head even if they’re uneasy by the undocumented(?) fortress’s approach, tho crab Logis (likely guided by the machine spirit’s communication with the fortress) reassures that it’s probably not anything to worry too much about and to just keep their guard up—

Centipede Dominus however isn’t too hyped about the prospect of this thing possibly being used by enemy forces (thus risking not only his troops but also an uneven fight >:( ) so he’s more then ready to go toe to toe with it in some sort of dog fight— but ArchMantis makes sure to wrangle him back in

Situation three:

For this one again I’ll narrow it down to Dominus centipede or Explorator Beetle & Silverfish Logis— this post is getting long and I can’t think of much else to add on with the others—

In the Log & Explore route Explorator is very excited! Again- they lack a lot of that self preservation and kind of tiptoe around heretek with the upbeat attitude and his loyalties to the Omnissiah staying pretty strong. So I don’t see this one going too a wry aside form Silverfish Logis being a bit uneasy the whole time with circumstances considered—

Centipede Dominus? As we’ve established he’s uh— he’s got his…things going on—

Yeah that—

So I’d say this interaction might go a bit rougher between the two considering— again— the things—

Yeah :)

He’d get a bit silly and considering the Mac Loretm I’ve read, probably would get his multitude of ass handed to him before ArchMantis had to come and save him/drag him back home while he gets an earful

But yeah!!! Mac shenanigans with my boys :)

All and all I don’t think it’d go too bad, just for sake of keeping it light hearted! Could I go into the depths of Mac central angst caused to and or by my babs? Sure. But that’s for another day :3

[angrygonk]

I know I've asked this before

But how would your OCs react to Machina Furem?

3 different scenarios, both Machina Furem appearing in a Skitarii, Machina Furem appearing as a Blackstone Fortress, and Machina Furem being found in the noosphere and by chance (meaning machina Furem isn't prepared for this meeting)

The first scenario would be the same with the post i answered before:

C47 sits 5km away and cautiously oberves

Nefir-27 adopts or at least tries to

Kitku offers a snack/plush

The second one:

C47 gets scared shitless and tries to get the fuck out

Nefir-27 looks for a techpriest to organize a scavenger expedition most likely not realizing anything is wrong with the fortress until it's too late

Kitku doesn't know what a fortress is

The last scenario:

C47 https://youtu.be/Pg4w7dgfcZc?si=1wII9Jo3nTahlgzA

Nefir-27 sets up basically an old disk, box and a stick to try to capture and study whatever this is

Kitku tries to get it to play flash games (fire boy and water girl)

[jelly-jam]

I drew valve's official fursona of medic

and in case you don't believe me

[eaglefairy]

I have no liveblog to offer this weekend, so instead please take 2000 words of Meyneth analysis because I have opinions and I'm no longer afraid to share them. Summary: According to the canon of xenoblade 1, Meyneth is either an existentially less powerful god than Zanza, or her stated morals are in direct conflict with the actions she takes within the plot of the game. I walk through the reasons the former is at most implied by the game while being contradicted by the game's events and lore and what about Meyneth's characterization points towards the latter explanation. Huge thanks to @likestoimagine16 for chatting with me about this and looking this over before I posted it, it was super fun!

(Before we begin, a note: all of the following analysis is based solely on the canon of Xenoblade 1.  I will not be incorporating any potentially relevant information from 2, Future Connected, or Future Redeemed.  Anything from after the first game is just not true to who Meyneth is or to the characterizations of the people surrounding her in 1.)

Introduction For all of her stated importance in-game as the Mechonis's soul, Meyneth really does not do a lot during the game. The sum total of her actions are as follows:

Speaks to Zanza at Prison Island, begging him to cease their war and let the living be at peace

Saves the party from Egil at Galahad Fortress

Briefly acts from within Fiora to guard the party from Gadolt after his boss fight, but does not speak

Reveals herself properly for the first time in Agniratha and exposits the history of the Machina to the party

Saves the party from the explosion and holds them in the air long enough for Miqol to catch them

Battles Zanza at Mechonis Core and dies

At first glance, this doesn't seem too terrible. Zanza also doesn't actively do a ton over the course of the game; in fact, he probably does fewer discrete actions as himself than Meyneth does. There is one big difference between them, though: Zanza is inactive because he has a plan. He's controlling the narrative via the passage of fate, making him extremely active even if the party and player don't know he's there. Meyneth, on the other hand, is almost entirely reactive to what Zanza is doing and gives us no indication that she has any sort of plan to fight him. The most she does directly as a means of fighting him is ask to talk to him at Prison Island (which Zanza immediately rebuffs) and then debate him on philosophy before dying at Mechonis Core.

Option 1: Weaker God I can see two potential explanations for this inaction.  Option one: she’s just less powerful than him, and so any attempt by her to fight him is immediately doomed to fail.  There are some things in-game that support this.  Most strikingly to me, she and Alvis never directly interact.  For a while I was concerned that they never directly acknowledge each other’s existence at all, leaving open the possibility that Meyneth doesn’t know Alvis exists*.  Alvis does have a single line of thought immediately pre-Mechonis Core where he acknowledges that it’s Meyneth residing within Fiora.  However, Meyneth herself never acknowledges Alvis.  If only Zanza has direct access to Alvis’s power in Providence, that would in fact make Meyneth significantly less powerful and extremely disadvantaged against him.

*To be clear, I don’t actually think this is the case.  Based on everything else in the game, it would be absurd if Meyneth didn’t know about Alvis.  Where else could she possibly get her divine power from?  However, I do think it’s notable that the writers didn’t consider it necessary or narratively valuable to show Alvis and Meyneth interacting as an overall indicator of her status in the narrative, so I’m pointing it out here.

However, very little else in the game supports this.  Both Zanza and Meyneth have titan bodies, they seem to be about evenly matched within those bodies given that the battle at the beginning of the game ended in a standstill draw and not Zanza winning right then and there, and both Zanza and Meyneth seem to have created successful civilizations of people on their titan bodies.  

If anything, Meyneth might have been “better” at it, as the Machina worship her directly while neither the Homs nor the High Entia know of Zanza.  The Homs do hold the Monado in reverence as the fabled sword of the Bionis that can cut through Mechon and they have their funerary rites centered on the Bionis, but neither of those require a direct knowledge of Zanza of the kind we see the Machina have of Meyneth.  The High Entia I find even more interesting; while it would make sense for them to have intentionally erased the cultural knowledge of Zanza after the first battle of the titans when they sealed Arglas and the Monado away, there’s no evidence of that cultural knowledge ever existing, considering there are multiple side quests concerning High Entian history and not a hint of Zanza’s presence as an object of worship.  (Would the Valak Mountain War God count as an aspect of Zanza in this sense?  Interesting idea to think about…)  

Additionally, Zanza says “Now that I have both Monados, I should be at one with the passage of fate,” during one of the cutscenes before the final boss fight.  That implies that Meyneth’s presence in this world as the bearer of a Monado interfered with his control over the passage of fate (which is corroborated by Shulk interfering with Zanza’s sight during the final battle).  That in turn suggests that Meyneth had some amount of power over fate as a god, if we believe control over fate to be something that can be divided as Zanza alludes to in his dialogue.  All of this leads me to believe that if Meyneth is a weaker god than Zanza, it doesn’t affect any of her actions in the backstory or during the events of the game.

Option 2: Weaker Writing That leaves the other option: a writing flaw in which Meyneth’s stated character does not align with her actions and morals within the game.  We’ve been through her actions, but what are her stated morals?  She believes in the right of life to self-determination.  She sees Zanza’s actions specifically as directly in conflict with said stated right, and potentially the existence of gods as a whole.  Most of all, she believes in peace to the exclusion of things such as revenge or justice.  She (and the other Machina) want Egil to give up his plan of revenge and live in peace with them to heal from what Zanza has done.  When she’s speaking to Zanza telepathically on Prison Island, she asks him how many more he’ll kill and then tells him she’s there to talk.  Even when they’re battling in Mechonis Core, Meyneth is more focused on arguing against his philosophy and telling him that gods should not interfere with the lives of their people.

This is the heart of the problem.  Meyneth is portrayed as an unconditionally good character, Zanza’s rival in every way who wants mortal lives to be lived in peace, not under the tyranny of gods.  However, her actions and apparent values within the game make her near criminally passive against a god who fundamentally does not care about any of that.  Zanza creates and destroys all life in order to sustain his own existence (and I have to assume also Meyneth’s?  If she’s figured out the secret to divine immortality and hasn’t shared it with Zanza to make him stop that just makes her even worse, so…).  Narrative choices are narrative choices, but that Meyneth would still be at the “I can fix him” stage after who knows how many cycles of this is a narrative choice that strains my disbelief.  

Characters choosing to adhere to their morals even when it puts them at a disadvantage against their enemies is not a bad thing; however, having her hold to pacificism to this extent just makes her seem selfish and callous.  It is simply incompatible with her stated goal of opposing Zanza when Zanza’s actions are so extreme.  And to be clear, her choice to continue to try and talk Zanza down wouldn’t be so bad if the narrative didn’t absolutely stonewall her for it.  It’s very clear that Zanza is not open to negotiation, and Shulk doesn’t win by convincing him that living beings have inherent value outside of the resource they are to him.  It just makes Meyneth look silly to keep trying to talk the genocidal maniac down from doing genocide.

Objections Before I conclude, I want to take a moment to address some objections I could see to what I’ve laid out here so far.  First, as far as her actions go, Meyneth does have Vanea place her into Fiora with the stated intent to get closer to Shulk, but it’s still unclear what the end goal was there.  Was it to counterbalance Zanza’s influence on Shulk as the wielder of the Monado?  If so, Meyneth does remarkably little towards that goal.  The party isn’t ascending the Mechonis because of anything Meyneth said to them, they’re going up to fight Egil.  They don’t even know Meyneth is there until Agniratha, and the exposition there is mostly delivered by hologram.  Meyneth never directly interacts with Shulk about anything, let alone the cycle of war, which I feel is the bare minimum action if her goal is to erode Zanza’s influence on Shulk.

Notably, there are some suggestions in-game that imply peace with Zanza could be possible.  While I wouldn’t believe Zanza’s definition of “friendship” that he says he longed for at the end of the game to be reliable or at all similar to what friendship actually is, Alvis does repeat that Zanza wanted friendship and I’m much more inclined to take him at his word.  After the final battle, Alvis says that Zanza’s future and the desires of the party (and by extension Meyneth) could have coexisted, “but that time has passed”.  However, the game doesn’t indicate exactly when the time passed; the timing certainly implies that it was Zanza’s death that ended the possibility, but there’s no reason it couldn’t have been earlier.  

In addition, we’re given no indication of how likely that event was.  Given that nothing else in the game supports Zanza’s world being compatible with the freedom of mortal lives, I find it likely that the chance was infinitesimally small, something never quite impossible but extremely unlikely nonetheless.  While this does open up the possibility that Meyneth was justified in continuing to try to talk to him, the way it’s tossed in at the last second and is only told to us, never shown in any way throughout the game (through, say, High Entian legends or any kind of relationships between Zanza and his disciples) make me more inclined to believe it’s a last-second effort to add false depth to Zanza’s character.

Conclusion Overall, Meyneth suffers from a lack of focus that is sadly common to many of the female characters in xenoblade 1.  A lack of insight as to her inner thoughts combined with her extreme pacificism make for a narratively weak character who seems to be either fundamentally weaker in-story than her sworn nemesis or so committed to talking to him and making him realize the error of his ways that it literally gets her killed.  I find it most likely that the writers simply intended for her to be weaker than Zanza for unspecified reasons: disappointing, but not surprising.

What gets to me the most is that it didn’t have to be this way.  Even if she were just as strong as Zanza and/or more willing to fight against him, she would still have a significant disadvantage against him that sets the ground for the conflict seen in the game: her care for the lives and wills of mortals.  Her care to minimize collateral damage in the form of mortal lives will always give Zanza the upper hand in battle, whether directly in the form of attacking mortals being another way to hurt Meyneth or indirectly in the fact that Zanza has no qualms about manipulating mortals to do his will, while Meyneth likely would consider such a thing to be immoral and avoid it.  That, to me, would be a far more interesting setup than what we got in-game.

If you made it all the way to the end, thanks for reading! Please drop a comment or leave some tags, I'd love to keep discussing this.

[hazyaltcare]

An aesthetic for Mal (Team Fortress 2 fanfic "Ex Machina") who had memory issues after their memories got deleted and recovered, and would occasionally regress into a non-hostile version of sc-37.

Mod Haze (❄Jesse)