#rampaging cyborg

[theomnicode]

Saigenos emotions

So if Genos still continues to be self-destructive after the happenings in the webcomic, I could foresee Saitama being genuinely pissed at Genos' lack of care in himself, especially if it's a sore subject like Rampaging Cyborg where Genos would probably not give a single shit about himself even if he got hurt, as long as his family was avenged. He wants to make sure he would win, no matter the cost to himself.

Saitama can express empathy, but I don't think Saitama fares well with sadness, most of his negative feelings are expressed as annoyance, indignance and anger and at times, apathy.

Meanwhile Genos would blow a fuse because he would think Saitama doesn't understand just how important this revenge quest is for him.

If Genos doesn't give his everything on the mission to get revenge on the Rampaging cyborg, then what is he and what is he doing? It would feel like he failed his family, failed himself and everything he did was for naught and he's just been sitting idle and wasting time. It would also feel like betrayal if Saitama doesnt support him.

Saitama would be so, so incensed because Genos declaring it would be worth giving up his life for revenge is him basically saying Genos sees no value in himself and that hurts Saitama deeply, because he feels the opposite, that Genos has brought a lot into his life and the commended Genos on becoming stronger on this aspect not too long ago. Saitama doesn't really talk about his feelings, but at some point it should be said out loud.

They'd almost come to blows too because Genos wants to go blow up the Rampaging cyborg and Saitama doesn't let him, because he would end up getting hurt in a way that cannot be repaired any longer.

Saitama trusts Genos, but he also worries for his well-being so much. Saitama would have to use actual debilitating force on Genos to stop him because Genos has grown so strong at this point and he definitely doesn't want to do it. He definitely doesn't want to break Genos.

This one time anger and frustration would make way to sadness and Saitama would cry, because Genos is his best friend and he values him as a person and he doesn't want Genos to just throw it all away. That or Genos starts crying first because it hurts him that Saitama doesn't let him avenge his family and Saitama is so strong he can't just run away from him. But upon seeing Genos cry, that is the final nail in the coffin on Saitama's emotions and the floodgates open and when Genos sees Saitama actually cry, he's so shocked his own anger just deflates.

Saitama bottles up his emotions and it would be good on Saitama to actually cry his eyes out once in a while and now that he has a social circle, show that it's acceptable to also cry. Saitama and Genos would patch up by hugging each other.

[zylev-blog]

The batkids decide to hop on the trend.

Dick, walking as Steph records: We’re vigilantes. Of course we have to be over dramatic.

(Cut to Nightwing back flipping off of Wayne tower)

Tim: were vigilantes. Of course we have issues with caffeine.

(Cut to a video of Tim as Red Robin snoring while hanging from a grappling line. Batman can be seen in the background facepalming.)

———

Damian: No.

Tim: oh come on, Robin, we’re all doing it.

Damian: I refuse to partake in such idiotic videos.

Tim: (while Damian is still behind him) We’re vigilantes. Of course we get to punch people without getting in trouble.

Damian: actually—-

Tim: Robin, you’re supposed to play along—

Damian: I am not going to spread false information—

Steph, interrupting: well, I’m not one of Batman’s sons so he legally can’t yell at me.

Tim: wanna bet?

(Cut to Batman scolding all three of them about the improper use of force)

—-

Duke: we’re vigilantes. Of course we go to Batburger.

(Cut to Duke happily eating a Batburger meal, and playing with a Signal toy)

Duke: what? I’m allowed to have hobbies.

——

Steph: we’re vigilantes. Of course we can scare anyone we want to. Right, Black Bat?

Cass: (nod)

(The next series of videos is a compilation. The first is Superman being scared, followed by Green Lantern, Flash, Cyborg, Starfire, Dick, Tim, and a failed attempt to startle Wonder Woman. Cass isn’t even upset about not being able to scare the woman, she accepts the defeat with grace.)

——-

Dick, Tim, and Steph: we’re vigilantes.

Dick: I’ve gotten stranded on the moon. Don’t ask.

Tim: I got lost in hell.

Steph: I accidentally followed Green Lantern into space.

Tim: what? When?

Steph: turns out if you hug a Green Lantern really tightly, their life support on their ring will support you too

Dick: yknow, Batman shouldn’t find out about this-

(Cut to Batman’s lecture about the proper use of protective gear when going to space)

——

Dick: we’re vigilantes. Of course we’re best friends with all of the villains.

(Cut to Red Hood kicking down a door)

Jason: hey (bleep), you’re late to dinner

Dick: (currently tied to a chair and gagged)

Jason: hang on, I’ll help. (Shoots everyone and unties dick) Harley said she’s going to rampage if you’re not there in five minutes.

Dick: Blame these guys, not me! (Jumps through the nearest window, shattering it, and the sound of a grapple is heard)

——

Jason: I’m a crime lord

Dick: and I’m a vigilante

Jason: and you’re ruining my video, (bleep) off. (Shoves Dick out of the frame, ignoring Dick’s muttered cursing) now that we got the riffraff out, let me start over. (Brushes imaginary dirt from hands) I’m a crime lord. Of course Batman fights me every other day. I look forward to the day I can break his kneecaps.

Dick: (shocked) Hood!

Jason: what?

Dick: he’s your dad too!

Jason: yuck, don’t remind me.

——-

Duke: we’re vigilantes. Of course we know all of the gossip. (Very obviously looking around) like for example, Superman has the biggest crush on Bruce Wayne—

Clark, who was obviously eavesdropping: Nonononononono—- (trying to turn the camera off as he darts into the frame. There’s a flash of red, blue and yellow as Duke and Clark fight over the camera)

——

Tim: we’re vigilantes. Of course we visit other cities.

Wally, as Kid Flash: What the (bleep) are you doing in Central City?

Tim: I’m honestly not sure, it’s so bright that I think I’m blind.

[quitealotofsodapop]

Who else prefers DBK in his pre-cyborg fluffy form?

tbf my dude is a little messed up after getting smashed by a mountain for 500 years.

Brotherhood Era: My dude is like a teenager.

Samadhi Fire-Era: Look at this happy dad! Also I just noticed that his horns are smaller here - they likely grew in the years leading up to his rampage.

Pilot Movie Pre-Mountain-ing: Dude is pissed. Reasons unconfirmed.

Fresh from the Mountain: My dude missing his hair and half a horn. Covered in scars. But him and his wifey seconds from smooching either way.

Cyborg Upgrade: He don't look happy, but needs some armor.

S3/4 Healing: I believe you mentioned this to me in the past! DBK has actually been healing throughout the seasons. We can see that his fur is growing back and many of his scars have healed.

[edledamianfan]

Is jon becoming a cyborg. I hope not😭😭😭

(But damn purple eyes)

But man if they did actually turn Jon into a cyborg (I again hope not). The more I think of it the more I feel like damian is losing his friend a second time. Like first the age up and then this.

Like if he sees Jon again in this state. He'd be so devastated that he couldn't save him the second time.

Or yk the writer just ignores this potential entirely which I'm sure they're gonna do. Sob.

But please please please give them back. Just a little.

(It'd be cool of damian taking revenge for them, in his own way. Whether it'd be rage, rampage, or tactical stuff in the shadows )

[silvers-starrway]

Alright time to gush about Tulip's origin since they're officially in the @sonic-fankid-showdown!

Tulip was originally created to be their timeline's savior, a cyborg made to resist whatever prophesied calamity would strike. Tulip was seen as a tool first and foremost. Unfortunately, due to the horrible circumstances in which they were created Tulip ends up being the catalyst that dooms their timeline and destroys it when they go into a hate induced rampage. When they snap out of it they have no memories of going berserk, seeing the carnage makes them wish to be in different place and by some stroke of luck the universe listens.

Their ability to change probability kicks in transporting them to a timeline that would have the best outcome for them. After being transported to Silver and Shadow's timeline and being adopted they actually start behaving more like a kid. Silver eventually learns how their original timeline got destroyed and that they caused it. He's unsure if telling Tulip would be the right move. If their original world got consumed by flames then he'll do his best to keep that from happening to his timeline. Shadow meanwhile tries to nurture Tulip knowing full well what it's like to be seen as a tool first and person second. He keeps a close eye on them in case their troubling memories ever resurface.

That's about it for their backstory right now!! Hopefully I'll be able to post more little fun facts about them leading up to and during the showdown. It'd make my day if you voted for them when the polls go up on April 24th!!

[leorawright]

The re8 lords finding their soulmate (in this au every one has an identical symbol to their soulmate) but only after its to late.

Alcina: Already been killed to be turned into wine

Donna: Already been torn apart by her dolls

Salvatore: Already been transformed into a Lycan

Karl: Already been transformed into one of his cyborg monsters

Noooo the angst (I had to give one a happy ending so Karl's kinda works out)

Warnings: death, slight mentions of mauling (not detailed)

Lords finding their soulmate when it's too late

Alcina Dimitrescu

She was going over the different barrels of... wine in the cellar when she came across one of the bodies that hadn't yet deteriorated

It had her matching soulmate mark

She was absolutely devastated and sat in the darkness of the cell holding your body and tracing the soulmate mark

When she came out of the cellar, she took your body with her and gave it a proper burial as she thought it was the least she could do

Donna Beneviento

She was slightly panicked when you entered her house, so she hid and let Angie do the work to get rid of the 'invader'

But she noticed the soulmate mark through the rampage of dolls too late

By the time she got to you and the dolls stopped attacking, you were already dead

She was frozen and so mad at herself for hiding

She took you to her gardens and decided to bury you there, in the midst of her plants

Salvatore Moreau

He barely had time to check every single person before he added the cadou so he never noticed your soulmate mark

The next morning he was going over the test subjects when he noticed you, a half transformed lycan with a soulmate mark that matched his

His stomach immediately dropped as he began trying every single remedy to possible turn you back human

Sadly, none of it worked and you were fully transformed to a lycan

Moreau was devastated that he lost the one person who might've been able to actually love him

Karl Heisenberg

He barely spared more than a single thought towards the people he experimented on

So when he was in the middle of adding metallic parts to your body he noticed the mark on your wrist

The mark that matched his

He began cursing to himself as he removed every part of metal that he could while keeping you alive

When you did awake he was so relieved

When he saw that you were scared he revealed his soulmate mark and apologized over and over for not paying closer attention

He's been waiting for his soulmate and he doesn't know if he can lose you

[gofancyninjaworld]

The real fight is about to begin

I was joking/not joking to a couple of people that Genos's next job might be advocacy for cyborgs. The recent batch of webcomic chapters expand on things most chillingly.

In chapter 149, we see Mr. Fuzzy intending to create a world in which unmodified people will not be able to survive:

Earlier, in chapter 147, we see Machine God Eguro explain to Zombieman about a world in which people no longer have free will.

Horrific. This plan needs to fail completely and their cyborgized victims either freed or allowed to perish, depending on what's been done to them. That's no way for a person to live.

However, this world is also full of cyborgs who chose to modify their bodies. They're going to be caught up in the inevitable backlash: either they're going to be seen as victims or as one-time oppressors.

Once he gets done with hunting for Metal Knight and the Rampaging Cyborg, life is only going to get tougher for Genos. His next challenge is already taking form.

Something TV Tropes noted was that if you want your audiences to think a character evil, just make them a cyborg. It has been refreshingly not true in OPM, where it's been more accurately noted that body modification is something a person has to a) really be committed to and b) have the means to do it. The relative societal privilege enjoyed by cyborgs is going to be ended by some very greedy individuals who think that having much means deserving more.

[superman86to99]

Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey #2 (May 1994)

At last, we find out Doomsday's secret origin! And then kinda wish we didn't, because it's pretty gnarly. In fact, this might be the most disturbing character origin in all of DC Comics, including Vertigo and that "Dark Multiverse" thing they were doing a while back.

But, before getting to Doomsday, Superman has to deal with the mess he left in Apokolips last issue. Thanks to Doomsday's rampage, the Cyborg Superman has taken over the planet and plans to turn it into a new Warworld so he can take it around the universe, conquering other worlds. Yes, he wants to turn the worst planet in existence even worse.

The Cyborg has easily taken care of Darkseid's Parademons by transmitting a frequency that melts their brains. But where's Darkseid himself? He was last seen taking a good beating from Doomsday, and when Superman runs into him, he's... not in great shape.

"DARKSEID IS. TIRED."

Superman is briefly tempted to leave Darkseid to die, but he ends up dragging him to safety and using the Mother Box he borrowed last issue to heal him, because Superman gonna Superman. Just when Superman is lamenting the fact that he doesn't have enough time to go back to Earth for help, Waverider shows up... only to instantly remind Superman that he can't help, due to his sacred vow as a protector of the timestream.

Superman, however, basically tells Waverider to nut up or shut up and use his temporal powers to give him helpful information about Doomsday. Waverider finally succumbs to Superman's bullying and shows him a vision of a "distant planet" circa 250,000 years ago. The planet seems to be uninhabited except for some spiky monsters who kill anything in their sight and a group of scientists inside a reinforced dome. The leader of the scientists is an alien called Bertron who is obsessed with creating "the ultimate form of life" by any means necessary. Including, we soon find out, baby murder.

Following Bertron's orders, the scientists launch an alien baby into the hostile atmosphere and just sit by and watch while the spiky monsters tear it apart in seconds. Then, they scare the monsters away with their weapons, send someone out there to scoop up whatever's left of the baby, clone a new infant from that DNA, and repeat the whole process.

After 20 years of doing that every day, the baby has evolved to the point that it now takes minutes to be torn apart instead of seconds. Also, it's now considerably uglier.

Within 30 years, some of the scientists are starting to show reservations about working at the baby murdering factory, but the progress is undeniable. By now, the baby (more like a large bald dude) is able to survive in the hostile environment indefinitely and actually fights back against the spiky monsters... who kill him every time anyway, but still. Progress!

An indeterminate number of decades pass, and the "baby" has turned into a big, hulking creature that Bertron calls "The Ultimate." The minutes of survival have stretched into full years as the Ultimate walks across the planet hunting the spiky monsters until none are left. Bertron is ecstatic that his creation has finally become an unkillable killing machine. So... what now? Well, suffer an ironic death at its hands, of course, because it turns out Doomsday remembers the thousands of deaths Bertron put him through.

According to Waverider's narration, Doomsday might have wiped out all life in that planet if he hadn't stumbled upon Bertron's supply ship. He ended up bouncing through the universe like a murderous ping pong ball, until he reached a planet called Calaton, whose royal family had gained metahuman abilities through the amazing power of inbreeding (that's not a joke about royal families, that's in the comic!).

After years of being unable to stop Doomsday, Calaton's royals gave up their lives to form an energy being called the Radiant, who looks like Silver Surfer but powered by cousin porking (miraculously, he seems to have all his limbs). It took a week of fighting and an explosion that destroyed a fifth of Calaton, but the Radiant finally managed to kill Doomsday. Unfortunately, the Calatonians have a strange custom that says they can't destroy the bodies of planet-killing aliens and must instead dress them up in gimp suits...

...and launch them into space, which is how Doomsday ended up crashing into Earth in that capsule he finally escaped in Man of Steel #18. This concludes Waverider's presentation.

Back in the present, Darkseid wakes up from his healing nap just in time to recognize that the Cyborg has launched some missiles at Apokolips' food pens to starve the population, because that's what he'd do too. Superman doesn't feel great about teaming up with Darkseid, but he'd feel even worse if innocents died, so he slows down the missiles while Darkseid gets rid of them with his Omega Beams. Darkseid tries to Omega Beam the Cyborg away, too, but he actually survives the blast (that's two people who CAN "withstand the unsurpassed force of the Omega Beams" in as many issues).

Although the Omega Beam hurt him, the Cyborg uses surrounding machinery to repair himself and, while at it, become a giant mecha. Superman hits him with the full force of his heat vision...

...but once again, eye lasers prove ineffective against the Cyborg, since he just rebuilds himself again, even bigger this time. Darkseid, however, claims he was still recuperating from Doomsday's beating before, but he's in tip-top shape now -- and proves it by hitting Giant Mecha-Cyborg with the REAL strength of the Omega Beams, completely disintegrating him. Sorry for doubting you, eye lasers.

With the Cyborg out of the picture, Darkseid thanks Superman for his help by telling him to get off his planet and go chase Doomsday wherever he is. Deesad reveals where he teleported Doomsday to last issue: Calaton, the planet where they already beat him once, figuring they can just do it again -- but Waverider points out that it's exactly the opposite. Because of Bertron and his gang of baby killers, whenever something kills Doomsday, he evolves to surpass it... which means Superman has no chance against him, either.

Everyone present agrees that Superman is pretty much screwed, but Superman says he doesn't care... while his inner narration shows the opposite. In fact, he's terrified, but he's still going after Doomsday to stop him or re-die trying. TO BE CONCLUDED!

Beard-Watch:

It's coming back! You know a Superman story is getting intense when he hasn't had time to shave in a while.

Don Sparrow points out that Superman's "tough guy stubble" seems to come out of nowhere after Waverider's flashback sequence, but I can think of two explanations for that: A) Superman was affected by some minor chronal energy that caused him to age extra fast, at least around the face, or B) that was a long-ass flashback sequence.

Plotline-Watch:

Okay, disregard what I said last time about this miniseries being hard to place in the continuity: Superman explicitly says he's "stronger" and "better" before blasting the Cyborg with his heat vision, so this is definitely happening during the "super-charged powers" storyline. The only hitch is that this is supposed to be taking place during the period when Superman was constantly breaking things and shooting off his heat vision without meaning to, and there's nothing like that here, but that's for the best because 1) that stuff got pretty annoying and 2) minis like this work better if they're not that tied to the ongoing plotlines. No one wants to see five pages of Jimmy Olsen trying to renew his driving license in the middle of a Doomsday fight.

One reason Waverider decides to get off his ass and help out is that he remembers the time he had to watch Superman get beaten to death without doing anything, so he kinda owed it to him. That happened in The Legacy of Superman #1.

There are a couple of references to Armageddon 2001, the 1991 crossover that introduced Waverider: he mentions he was an "activist" before he became a golden being with a flaming head (he even vandalized a statue of Monarch, his original timeline's super-dictator) and when he shows Doomsday's origin to Superman, we see the same psychedelic effect shown in Armageddon whenever he'd touch a superhero to snoop into their future.

What isn't referenced is the time Superman lived in Apokolips for a while, first as an amnesiac anti-Darkseid revolutionary and then as his mind-controlled "son" (in 1987's Legends crossover), but that's understandable since all those memories were wiped from his mind at the end of that storyline.

Did Darkseid really kill the Cyborg, as Superman seems to think? Nah. We'll find out what really happened soon enough.

Waverider's narration claims that, after Doomsday left that unnamed planet where he was created, the natives found Bertron's lab and became obsessed with genetic experimentation, "sending them down the path of a unique and disastrous future." On that note, Don Sparrow says: "I love the detail on page 27, explaining that had he stayed, Doomsday would have killed the entire planet. It’s like, who cares about some random planet?" Yeah, why are they giving us so much detail about that place?! Weird.

Patreon-Watch:

Our latest Patreon-exclusive article was about Steel Annual #1, an Elseworlds story set during the Civil War that, coincidentally, also features dead kids as a major plot point (Superman writers were in a dark mood in 1994, huh). Read that and more by joining Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Bheki Latha, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Sam, Bol, and Gaetano Barreca at https://www.patreon.com/superman86to99!

Also join me in reading more from Don Sparrow, after the jump...

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

On one hand, the concept of each of the covers just being a step by step sequence of the two main characters streaking into battle has a certain power and simplicity. But on the other hand, there’s little to differentiate them (particularly these first two) and it can feel a bit repetitive.  Another detraction is that the computer generated background on the last issue looked like a wall of flame, but shifting the colour to green just looks like a tie-dye pattern, which doesn’t make sense for the story. Still:  Great drawings of both characters.

The first few pages are another good showcase of Jurgens’ unique very tall panel layout, and while it’s mostly exposition (helped a lot by the gradient colour background representing the timestream) there are a few interesting, if odd details about Vanishing Point.  First, what the hell is that pediment on the window of Vanishing point?  It looks a little like Legion villain Validus, but not perfectly so.  Secondly, it’s so eccentric that the time viewer Waverider looks at here is an animated piece of parchment, complete with feather quill pen.

Further along the silhouetted image of an injured Darkseid is very cool.  The colouring is a real star throughout, but I particularly like the gold rim lighting on the red metal of the Cyborg’s face.

As we see Doomsday’s origins, it’s interesting to see how Bertron ages.  He looks like a malevolent E.T.!

The image revealing Doomsday’s final form is a classic, even if he’s starkers.  They also can’t seem to keep his physiognomy straight—if he’s solid mass with no organs, why does he need a belly button?  The ink spatters indicating his killing blow of Bertron are a restrained way of showing something gory is happening.

Calaton looks a lot like the fake Krypton from Adventures of Superman #500, though there’s a lot of nice design that went into a fairly short section of the book.  It’s funny that a story featuring Hank Henshaw, himself an alternate take on Mister Fantastic, would birth the Radiant, who visually is virtually indistinguishable from The Silver Surfer, who also made his debut in Fantastic Four comics. [Max: Ha! They should have brought Inbred Silver Surfer back for the Superman/Fantastic Four crossover featuring the Cyborg...]

Explaining the containment suit and metallic block where we first find Doomsday is a nice touch. 

We talked in a previous review about how Image-comics-inspired the colouring is on this mini-series, but how badass Superman looks throughout is also vaguely reminiscent of Image titles at the time.  The cross-hatching and tough guy stubble appearing (quite suddenly—he had none before his Waverider trance!) makes Superman look pretty tough-as-nails. However later in the book as Superman flies off to confront the Cyborg, his face shows so much concentration he begins to look vaguely like Manny Pacquiao—so you know it’s gonna be a good fight!  

The image of the Cyborg shaking like a ragdoll upon the impact of the Omega beams is a great, electric effect.  The single panel the most similar to Image comics must be on page 43 where Superman’s eyes glow red before blasting the Cyborg’s rebuilt body away.  While the “eyes glow red because he’s mad” effect is done to death today, when this was published, it was rare enough to be pretty exciting.  Darkseid’s march, and dialogue is pretty awesome as he takes care of the threat of the Cyborg Superman.  In that way, this is an odd issue—Superman has almost no effect on the outcome.  It’s Waverider who fills Superman in on Doomsday’s origins, and it’s Darkseid who destroys the missiles, AND dispatches the Cyborg Superman.  I suppose none of that would be possible without Superman’s mercy, helping Darkseid heal, but Superman mostly stands around watching the action in this issue.  Lastly, Waverider on page 46 looks a lot like Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it’s fun to think of his thick Austrian accent trying to make its way around all the timestream techno-jargon Waverider spouts. [Max: "Get to da Vanishing Point!"]

SPEEDING BULLETS:

Wait, did the Cyborg just flat out kill Desaad?  I guess not, but it was a cool line. [Max: He's alive by the end of the issue, but wasn't there a story that revealed Darkseid is constantly killing and recreating Deesad? Maybe he did that off-panel.]

Do you agree with Superman’s hectoring Waverider about giving him information from his unique knowledge of the timestream?  Superman would have some trouble with the old Prime Directive if he were in Starfleet.

Kinda nuts that the female scientist waited THIRTY YEARS to voice her objection to killing an infant all day every day!  There’s a lot of unanswered questions about these scientists.  What are they paid?  Do they get time off? [Max: I always got the impression that these scientists were aliens too, but this time I noticed Bertron says "this world of yours" to them... So I guess they're meant to be [SPOILERS] Kryptonians, from a habitable part of the planet? Their clothes do match the wardrobe in the early parts of World of Krypton, especially that one lady's earrings. Knowing their race, they probably did it just for the love of science... and launching babies.]

I find myself interested in “the beasts” that Doomsday combats while he’s developing.  We’ve never seen them before, or since in any stories set on… that particular planet. [Max: Same here. I like their cartoonish look, too. DC Nation should have done some Roadrunner-type shorts featuring Baby Doomsday escaping the spiky monsters and dying in some wacky new way every week!]

Page 23 they kind of bury the lede, just casually mentioning that if killed, Doomsday revives, evolved past whatever killed it.  That’s a pretty insane power level.

Bertron getting murdered by his creation was actually a pretty good metaphor for Krypton’s scientific community—coldly experimenting for science’s sake, with no thought to the consequence they may face in the future.  More on that in the next issue.

What kind of food do the food pens hold?  Like grain and stuff? [Max: Didn't a Darkseid-themed cereal box show up as a variant cover recently? Yep, found it. It's probably that.]

Everyone--hero and villain--all telling Superman he will for sure lose to Doomsday has to be a knock to his confidence!

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

Cool questions!

1: What's Chris/Thara & Jake/meredith wedding songs?

2: Dark question (feel free to skip) have the starburst duo ever been kidnapped? Like from school or maybe from their place?

3: Has somebody ever try to get revenge on the duo?Maybe a family member of a goon they stop tries to get revenge?

4: Let's say the duo filled their months with any drink of their choosing & the goal is to make the other spit it out, what would they do to each other & who spits it out first?

5: What's the super twins like with starknights/titans of tomorrow? Or maybe just Jake & mar'i?

Hmmmm....Lemme see what I can come up with @pin-crusher2000 ;-)

1) Chris/Thara: "Can I Have This Dance?" by Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudges; they’d have a waltz on the dance floor to that song

Jake/Meredith: "Hold Me” by Fleetwood Mac; The newlyweds can through on a performance with Meredith and Jake on guitar and drums respectively playing along to it

2) I would say it was primarily Jake who got abducted from his school during recess and then held up for ransom money by some mafia goons. In particular, since Jake is connected to billionaire Bruce Wayne via being the son of the adopted Richard Grayson-Wayne, the hostage takers demanded a payment up to $2 billion if Bruce and Dick are to see Jake unharmed. Thankfully for the Bats and Jake’s loved ones, these crooks weren’t particularly too technologically savvy so it’s was real easy for Cyborg to take down their locations via their internet signals and within the two hour mark after they post up their demands, Robin!Tim, Chris and Mar’i all came to Jake’s rescue, utterly curb-stomping the crooks. Still Jake was deeply embarrassed by this situation and vows to be extra careful next he ventures out of the school boundaries during recess.

3) Hmmm….I can probably see some of the street gang punk friends of Kryptonian Phantom Zone Prisoner and enemy of the House of Zod , Vla-Bol, all assemble around their ringleader after he tells them of his recent defeat at the hands of Chris. This Gang of Four can then sneak into General Zod’s base of Fort Rozz, hijack some of those Zone crossing pods many of the Fort’s residents including Chris long ago use to travel to Earth, and invade the planet themselves, going a mini rampage in Hamilton County to get Chris’ attention and start up a massive brawl, Chris trying desperately to lead said brawl away from the town and into areas worldwide where no one else can get hurt. It was a tough battle with him on the ropes many times but Jake’s, Penny Troy’s and the rest of the StarKnights’ timely arrival helped turned the tide long enough for Chris to borrow his Dad Clark’s Phantom Projector and send these Kryptonian street punks back to the Zone where they came.

4) I can see Chris mainly going for Jake’s ticklish spots while Jake would try making Chris laugh as hard as he can with some intentional slapstick and doing a small stand up routine filled with puns and other jokes his Uncle Gar taught him. It’s not even a real contest; Chris gets Jake to squirt out his grape soda not just out of mouth but also his nose.

5) Hmm….Okay so at least in this version or at least for a possible version that satisfies both Kid!Jon fans and fans of those two; I’d have them being raised by Mon El, Clark’s Daxamite de facto brother, after having to rescue them from the tyrannical clutches of Mongul during a mission at WarWorld.

As for their bond with the StarKnights and the Tomorrow Titans, I can see Osul being close with Chris, almost brotherly bond between them while also having something of a kinship with Robbie Long, something one can see being mirroring the bond Clark and Diana have. As for Otho, She’s no doubt part of a lot of friend group formed by Mar’i, Lian and Irey, an honorary member of that little Tenacious Trio and their shenanigans.

One thing is perfectly clear though; Besides Mon El, Osul and Otha are both very close to Chris and Jon as per usual.

[rants-about-opm]

Depression, Coping Methods, and Genos

Right now, I feel like that one gif of Pedro Pascal laughing and then beginning to sob hysterically. Life is kicking my ass.

But speaking of depression, I wanted to do a little thinking about Genos, and his story.

His life has been pretty dark so far. Losing his childhood to the rampaging cyborg, becoming a cyborg himself.

But these aren't really the only big things that have happened to him. They're just the only events he's realized have had an effect on him.

Since then, he's become very closely involved with a man who has trouble reciprocating those emotions. He's been torn apart and rebuilt numerous times, losing bits of his humanity each times as he becomes more and more of a high tech murder machine.

His strength continues to fail him when he needs it most, meanwhile Saitama's time and attention becomes more and more divided on people he hardly sees as worthy of those things. Worst of all, no one seems to understand him, his goals, or his devotion to Saitama. He's often laughed off and ignored by people who are meant to be his peers, and even Saitama has no real interest in Genos' long winded stories.

That brings us around to his coping methods, one of the more prominent of which is his habit of long winded explanations of topics he finds important. His journey to Saitama, Saitama's time travel endeavor, etc. Aside from that, we have his obligatory journaling, his insistence on having a goal to work towards at any given time, and dependence on being able to respond to any given scenario with the calculated and emotionless precision of a machine.

That last one is arguably the most important, because of how it influences the above. Saitama is a very closed off person, and he expects Genos to respect that- which he does!

To his own detriment.

Genos is completely fine with their terms of agreement, but his overly compliant nature means his needs are ultimately ignored. The methods he's developed to express himself and interact with the world in a way that is comfortable for him are seen as nuisances in Saitama's lifestyle.

Ultimately, none of this seems to have much effect on Genos. At least, not in a traditional manner.

But Genos is not traditional, is he? And depression and anxiety can manifest in many forms.

I would argue that Genos' entire relationship with Saitama is one of the few visible effects of the internal havoc at play.

He seeks refuge and guidance under Saitama as an extension of his need to become strong enough to avenge his village. This leads to him suppressing his habits to conform. The problem is that he isn't Saitama, not even close. This is kind of where we see a devolution of Genos' ability to cope, as he descends into a manic state of endless self destructive behavior, enabled by Saitama's baseless encouragement and Kuseno's ability to fix whatever breaks.

Saitama is not a mentally healthy individual. As a result, any attempt to follow in his footsteps is not going to craft a mentally healthy individual. The problem is that both of these two are emotionally constipated. Saitama has lost connection with his emotions and had little desire to reconnect, and Genos works to shed all proof of his humanity.

We've already seen the end result of Saitama reaching his breaking point. I shudder to think of what will happen when Genos inevitably reaches his.

I feel like there's more to say, but this is getting long winded, and my brain is fried. If anybody has any additions or corrections to make though, I'd love to continue this line of thought, and maybe examine some other characters, since everyone in ONE'S work is mentally unstable in some way.

Thanks for reading!

[sireington]

DOOMBOTS concept

— Everyday is the last day here —

In an unknown, distant future, the remains of earth are stuck in an infinite loop where everyday is doomsday, red skies over everything as its inhabitants struggle to make something out of a life where everything ends with pain and starts over again. Pure humans, the ones that are mainly biological have seemingly abandoned their planet or disappeared, machines, robots, automatons, and highly evolved cyborgs being the only things left. These are the doombots.

So far the only defined character I have in this world is Allmaster Rix, a sort of stoic automaton that acts as king of a faction.

The doombots are prone to infighting, with cyborgs being one of the most separated groups as they are driven the most by their emotions. I’m sure being one of the last biological beings in this world would make them want to stay away.

Some bots have become insane or mindless beasts that tear apart whatever comes into their view. Of course, the loop makes it impossible for one to be permanently dead within the world of the doombots. Very few cyborgs become maddened, and most of the time they can snap out of their crazed rampage once the loop resets. It’s more rare for a maddened bot to gain back its sanity.

Some parts of the remains of earth (the doombot world) become more unfitting for surviving as a day goes on. Some caves may freeze over until the metal of your body becomes brittle and some vital motor becomes stuck. Some places simply quake so much that you easily fall into a ravine. They worst of places are the ones where the atmosphere is so weak that the brightness and burning heat of the sun becomes to much, eventually overwhelming the cooling system and overheating. If your alloys and systems are strong enough, you might survive longer, but eventually you will melt and your body’s integrity and strength will falter as it melts and breaks apart.

ya’ll can play and do stuff with this comment or whatever. Please. With sprinkles on top.

[johnvenus]

Theory: Kuma cured Bonney's illness by transferring it to himself. He then agreed to be turned into a cyborg so he would still be around to protect his daughter and the reason he is on a rampage right now is because he doesn't want her to find out.

I also find it likely that Kuma, Vegapunk and Dragon have some kind of contingency planned for the Pacifistas.

[balanceoflightanddark]

I've talked about MechaGodzilla in the past, but with a franchise as old and long as Godzilla's, it's inevitable that the character has changed over the years. He's gone from a tool of conquest to a defender of humanity to a raging mech turned against its masters.

But if I had to highlight my favorite iteration of the character, I have to go with the Millenium version that debuted in Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla and appeared one last time in Godzilla: Tokyo SOS. Aside from having arguably the coolest design, this MechaGodzilla (also known as Kiryu), actually does have something that the others don't: he has a character arc and isn't either a threat to be conquered or a tank.

The only problem with Kiryu is that talking about him runs the risk of sounding like a mad man. So disclaimer: everything down below is real. I am NOT making this stuff up. At all.

So our story starts in 1954 with the original Godzilla.

By now you should know the story. Baptized in the fires of the hydrogen bomb, the original Godzilla went on a rampage in Tokyo and completely leveled the city, killing countless. He was only stopped when the brilliant scientist Dr. Serizawa reduced him to a skeleton with the Oxygen Destroyer. Anyone who's familiar with Godzilla lore knows the story.

Well, in the continuity of the Kiryu duology, that skeleton becomes extremely important.

When a second Godzilla appears in 1999, the Japanese government knows they did some kind of superweapon to defend themselves (especially since conventional weaponry won't do jack). Taking a page out of Pacific Rim's book, they decide their best chance is a gigantic mech to fight the monster. But even then, Godzilla's vicious enough that even a conventional robot might not enough.

And here's where things get...interesting.

Thanks to recent developments in robotics and bioengineering, they're able to use the bones of the original Godzilla to build MechaGodzilla. The reason being that a robot that uses organic DNA will be able to react faster than a completely automated one. Plus, thanks to those aforementioned advancements, Kiryu would be able to fight as effectively and viciously as when it was Godzilla while remaining under the JDSF's control. Think of it more as a cyborg than a true robot.

So to reiterate, they built a mech out of the bones of the original Godzilla. It's also able to fight just as well as its organic counterpart. Something like an EVA from Evangelion.

...everyone still with me? Good. Cause it gets stranger.

Kiryu does turn out to be as good of a fighter as they needed. While he isn't as powerful as some of his other iterations, he's able to fight the new Godzilla on equal footing. He's able to fight Godzilla to a draw in the first film inflicting grievous wounds and even defeated him in the second with the help of Mothra.

There's just one problem. Remember how I said Kiryu was a cyborg brought to life by the original bones of Godzilla?

During his first scuffle with Godzilla...Kiryu remembered who he was when he heard Godzilla's roar. And when a monster realizes he's been brought back to life by those that gave him painful mutations, turned him into a living weapon, and made to fight one of his own...

He goes berserk.

Yeah, once the reality of Kiryu's state comes to mind, there's some serious questions on whether or not creating him was a good idea in the first place. For one, how exactly can anybody rely on a machine that thinks like a monster? For another, what are the moral implications of even creating such a thing and forcing him to fight what is essentially another of his kind? Or even bringing him back to life and thus playing God? These are actually given a ton of weight in the film as the ethical lines behind Kiryu's creation are blurred. Especially when MechaGodzilla being brought online is what's triggering Godzilla's rampages in the first place.

But the interesting thing here is Kiryu himself. There's a lot of hints that he's a lot more self-aware and in control than most people give him credit for. For one, he seems to have an affinity for his first pilot Akane and one of his technicians, Yoshido. His eyes almost seem to glow when Akane is in danger and flat out says farewell to Yoshido on a computer in Tokyo SOS. The implications are that he seems to sympathize with Akane's feelings of worthlessness and appreciates Yoshido treating him like he was an actual being despite essentially being a robot.

And then there's his relationship with Godzilla. Thing is...he doesn't want to fight one of his own. While he runs out of power in the first film before he can kill Godzilla, Akane speculates that Kiryu genuinely didn't want to fight anymore. While he'll certainly fight Godzilla to stop the monster's rampage (all the more impressive since this is technically the original Godzilla we're talking about), killing him is another matter entirely. Which creates a bit of conflict since his purpose is to kill Godzilla.

And he gets his chance in Tokyo SOS when he grievously wounds Godzilla...but then stops dead in his tracks when his "brother/son" cries out in pain. He then lets the Mothra Larvae to wrap Godzilla in silk and effectively bring the exhausted dinosaur to the earth, giving him an opportunity to finish the job. Hell, the pilots and mission control are basically ordering Godzilla's execution at this point.

Instead...he doesn't.

He gives off a roar that sounds like the original Godzilla, disobeys every command to finish the fight, and gently embraces his organic counterpart before taking them both out to sea where no one can reach them. Godzilla is able to live, and Kiryu (and by extension the original Godzilla) is finally able to rest in peace.

This is why this version of MechaGodzilla is my favorite. His whole arc to me was about choosing for himself and wrangling with his relationship to both mankind and Godzilla. About whether he should kill his own or let innocents get hurt. Or even just learning to move on past his grudge against people. Those are things you don't typically associate with kaiju movies. Cause in the end, Kiryu isn't just another mech or monster. He's got character to him as well. Something I think the Godzilla movies do well.

[tallaxia]

Death Machine article with director Stephen Norrington, Brad Dourif & Ely Pouget

Cinefantastique #26 - 1995

Brad Dourif creates the mother of all rampaging robots.

The mother of all psycho robots roamed the corridors of Pinewood Studios, England from September 2, 1993, for 12 weeks. But the 20-foot tall, cable-controlled star of DEATH MACHINE mav look vaguely familiar. Like a giant metallic version of the Alien from Rid¬ ley Scott’s 1979 science-fiction classic? "Well sort of,” replied director Stephen Norrington adding, "It’s like ROBOCOP, TERMINATOR and HARDWARE too! That’s why it got financed in the first place. But while DEATH MACHINE is in the same area as all of those genre movies, it has emerged from that place with a unique style and humor to become its own separate entity.” Trimark Pictures has picked up the film’s U.S. video and technical rights for release later this year.

Norrington makes his directorial debut with this selfpenned chiller after years of gaining a formidable reputation as one of Britain's best special effects masters. He began as Rick Baker’s runner on GREYSTOKE and has since worked on numerous blockbusters including ALIENS, RETURN TO OZ and YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES. "After GREMLINS 2 I began losing interest in effects,” explained Norrington. "I started writing scripts with effects twists and the third one I came up with was DEATH MACHINE.” By 1990 however, Norrington hadn't got very far in attracting any financial interest in his new ambition so he joined the ALIEN special effects crew “just to keep my hand in” and then accepted an offer to supervise SPLIT SECOND. While working on that futuristic actioncr, producer Laura Gregory showed interest in one of Norringlon’s other scripts. SPEEDER, as a possible sequel for Rutger Hauer. (The script: Norrington’s TERMINATOR meets A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, is now planned as a follow-up to DEATH MACHINE.) The interest led Norrington to meet future DEATH MACHINE producer Vic Bateman (Japan's Victor Company head), who handled the world sales for SPLIT SECOND.

Noted Dominic Anciano, who produced DEATH MACHINE with Bateman and had a massive European success with Peter Medak’s THE KRAYS, "Vic thought Norrington ’s writing and ideas were very commercial and urged me to take him seriously. Because SPEEDER was apparently all tied up with Laura Gregory, I asked Stephen what else he had written and was given DEATH MACHINE. I thought it was so unusual for a British writer to be that succinct in his writing, that passionate about directing, 1 felt I had to give him the chance and let him make it his way. DEATH MACHINE is the sort of movie audiences worldwide want to see and we seem to have a commercial knack for making them in Britain.”

Co-financed by Japan’s Victor Company and Britain’s Entertainment Film Distributors (the latter produced SLIP STREAM), the $3 million DEATH MACHINE is set in the 21st century and focuses on nightmare events taking place behind the closed doors of the Chaank Weapons Corporation. The company has appointed a new female Chief Executive, Hayden Cale (Ely Pouget), to ensure they remain the leader of the techno-armament pack. But she wants to fire their number one asset Jack Dante, a neo-hippie whose dark genius for weaponry design is the envy of the industry. However, Dante is a childlike psychopath incapable of making the distinction between right and wrong after years of watching hardcore cartoon violence on television and decides he isn’t going without a fight. The result is the invention of his most destructive instrument ever…the unstoppable DEATH MACHINE.

Norrington pointed out, "It’s a hybrid of a million things I love; maniacs, actor Brad Dourif [who plays Dante], psycho robots, corporate nightmares, DIE HARD action and huge hi-tech sets. And that’s only naming a few. It’s your average ‘Crazed cyborg on the rampage menacing great looking people' saga!” Added Norrington more seriously, "While DEATH MACHINE is grim with some blood and gore, it isn't a splatter movie. Underneath the surface it’s about losing one’s innocence and how you become dehumanized if you are involved in an industry dealing with destruction. Do such inventors ever think about what they’re doing in real terms? Does their judgment have a guilty edge? This is about that turning off point taken to the most horrifying extreme.”

It was this edge in Norrington’s script which stirred Brad Dourif’s stomach a little. "And when that happens, it’s a sign of good material,” noted the voice of Chucky from the CHILD’S PLAY movie series and star of BODY PARTS and GRAVEYARD SHIFT. "The main point of interest for me was the cartoon connection. Dante is so tuned into animation and the mass media, he mimics everything he sees. I m taking a lot of acting risks playing this part because his responses are all so unreal and based on recognizable things. Dante responds more to TV than people. He’s a villain but a hard one to hate."

Many of the crew have noted how Dourif’s on-screen identity resembles Norrington's own off-screen look. Dourif nodded sagely, "There arc numerous similarities between Dante and Stephen. It’s his personal story about the problems we will all face when the world becomes even more industrialized. 1 can honestly say that Stephen is the best director I’ve ever worked with. It’s the era of first-timers and I've had an incredible run of them. Stephen is better equipped than most to direct this sort of movie because of his visual eye, love of the genre and his special effects background."

For Ely Pougct, the attraction was the weird twisted logic of DEATH MACHINE. The actress who appeared in the recent DARK SHADOWS TV series noted, “In Hayden’s backstory, she was responsible for the death of a child. So hunting and trying to kill the ‘childlike’ Dante causes her major psychological traumas. However, I'm definitely the tough Sigourney Weaver figure in DEATH MACHINE. Despite the script's hard as nails exterior, Stephen has put in a softness, an underlying sadness allying it more to KING KONG and FRANKENSTEIN than the obvious hi-tech equivalents.”

“The fine acting from Brad and Ely has made DEATH MACHINE less derivative than I expected in truth,” admitted Norrington on the Pinewood soundstage where the glass Chaank offices have been created. He added, “Their unique characterizations have added some real potent surprises above those contained in the script. It's less reliant on hard-tech gimmicks than I anticipated and far more bizarre than I ever imagined. I see it as a more thoughtful cross between Sam Raimi horror slapstick and James Cameron energetic action."

Norrington loves those two directors. It’s the reason he included them in a script peppered with familiar names for the leading characters; Scott Ridley, Carpenter and, of course, Dante are other examples. Plagiarism as an art form!” said Norrington. "I wrote the script when I was still a frothing fan boy. Then someone pointed out Fred Dekker had done exactly the same thing in NIGHT OF THE CREEPS. How uncool! 1 ditched a few references after finding that out.”

Responsible for the special effects in Norrington’s feature debut is Creature Effects (CFX for short) an all-British outfit consisting of Dave Elsey, Cliff Wallace, Alan Hedgecock and Brendan Lonergan who together and separately have worked on numerous high profile movies including NIGHTBREED, RETURN OF THE JEDI and WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT. Norrington chose CFX mainly because he knew them, and their work, personally.

Constructing the Death Machine fell to Animated Extras, the prosthetic/ mechanics company owned by Daniel Parker and Nick Williams who worked on the Indiana Jones film scories, ENEMY MINE and MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN. They worked from Norrington’s design marquette for the killer robot. "The fullsize construction was so big and heavy it needed 12 people on the controls to make it move,” said Parker.

So was directing harder or easier than Norrington expected? He gave a wry smile and said, “I’d directed some award winning commercials and promos before DEATH MACHINE. Anyone could do it. I’m living proof that directing, in the words of the immortal, god-like James Cameron, is criminally easy. The only challenge I’ve faced had to do with time and money: staying at a consistently high quality on such a short schedule.”

[cipheramnesia]

You seem like the right person to ask. Can you recommend some horror movies that are about women turning into monsters? I saw Bite the other day and there's something incredibly satisfying about seeing the protagonist have all these problems with her personal life and instead of dealing with them like a responsible adult she turns into a giant bug and starts laying eggs in people.

I feel like I'm missing out on some because every time I get an ask about a really niche horror area my mind goes blank.

Anyway, not to state the obvious but Ginger Snaps (and the sequel) is a widely renowned werewolf movie about a teenage girl turned werewolf, which is about on the nail as you can get. If you're feeling adventurous you can also plow your way through the entire Howling series, which is sort of hit or miss on the werewolf makeup but the hits are pretty solid.

Species is also on the nose but, well, it's embarrassingly bad. Like, you'll be in there and thinking it's not so bad, but right around the time the alien hunter team comes in the whole thing nose-dives. Not mention the appalling job converting H.R. Giger's practical designs into CGI. Oddly enough the sequel is tolerable, with a mix of genuine camp, some genre savvy self awareness, and most of all practical effects during some of the more grotesque transformation sequences.

And speaking of grotesque transformation sequences, Bad Blood: The Movie (2017) delivers an impressively goopy and grotesque practical effects drive transformation of a woman into a frog monster. Bad Blood falls in that realm of "this is not good but everyone is trying really hard, they went for broke with the gore and glop, and they're all having a really good time so it's actually fucking great," It's a bit of a hidden gem of low budget horror.

And speaking of a repeated transition phrase, the low budget SheBorg movie feature an evil alien robot lady who goes around transforming people into other alien cyborgs with the plan eating an entire puppy farm and also taking over the world and then the universe. The only people who can stop their evil plan are a bunch of badly organized and not too brilliant Australian punk rockers. If you don't mind the sight of stuffed dog toys covered in fake blood being "eaten" this one is also pretty marvelous.

Traveling all the way back to the 1980s, the giallo classics Demons and Demons 2 feature multiple people transformed into murderous demon zombie creatures and they, y'know, go on rampages like one does. If you know and like or love the giallo genre chances are you saw these already but if not what are you waiting for? If you have no idea what a giallo movie is, these are going to feel very weird and also maybe pretty bad.

And just when you thought you'd seen the last of this transitional phrase, speaking of zombie, the Wormwood series (Road of the Dead, and Apocalypse) feature several women who become a sort of synthesis of zombie and human, developing unique abilities. They're just fantastic movies, bonkers combinations of zombie movies and apocalypse movies and the Mad Max movies. Whenever you hear any kind of accent out of Australia or New Zealand the chance of the movie being completely over the top fun go up by 75%.

Some runner up movies I think worth noting where there is no transformation per se, but the woman involved is for all purposes already a monster would be The Woman, Some Kind of Hate, and of course the obligatory recommendation of She Never Died,

[summerstormsandnoodles]

I'm still vibrating about the themes of robots and freedom in 1092

We have:

Akainu and Kizaru - the Gorosei's (and Imu's) perfect soldiers. Despite their own thoughts and feelings they will carry out orders perfectly with no hesitation. Robotic. Akainu seems more curious and weary re: Kuma than outright remorseful while Kizaru is actively grieving. Neither will step out of line though, they have a job to do, no free will to get in the way (making marines who act out and ignore orders like Koby, Kuzan, Smoker, Tashigi and Fujitora narratively very important)

Kuma - a cyborg, now more robot than man and supposedly entirely devoid of personality still acts on his own will. Still retains his honour despite being trodden on. Initially made to be a tool of the Navy but enslaved because they couldn't control him. Free and rampaging (yes YES the bear is out)

Vegaforce-01 - Vegapunk's dream robot. His version of what he considers mankind's dream. Definitely lived up to Vegapunk's dream. Unfortunately destroyed by Kizaru

The robot from the ancient kingdom - another actual robot. We don't know anything about it of course but it is awoken when Vegaforce-01 is destroyed and Luffy comes in with the drums of liberation and I'm so excited to see what happens

The two biggest things that stood out to me were (1) Kizaru lamenting his mission and having to hurt old friends but doing it anyway and Luffy as always cutting through the hypocrisy to get to the point - You DO NOT hurt your friends and you especially do not hurt Luffy's friends and (2) World Govt strategy relies heavily on crushing dreams because dreams represent freedom and the more I see it the more I'm convinced that D. stands for dream.