#the greatest robot on earth. so actually

[astroboyanalysis]

6. White Planet

I thought I'd be done for the night but actually, this one's extremely short.

Anyone in this outfit might as well be wearing a propeller cap and holding an oversized lollipop to be honest. Also I was pretty sure this was Rock on first glance but apparently he's a boy name Koichi. Sad!

Well I thought he was your best friend but I guess that hinges on winning th-ARE YOU HITTING YOUR SISTER WHAT THE HELL

I mean you don't love it enough to fix it if it isn't going to continue to be the world champion so it can't be that much.

(wakes up from heart surgery) "wheres my sister" who do you think donated the heart

Yea I dunno after he slapped her for trying to make him feel better and made it clear his love for the car his dead father created hinged on it winning a race this just doesn't really feel like that much of a win.

[tfp-is-my-lifeblood-lol]

I saw a Youtube comment talking about how, in the episode "Crosscross," Silas was able to track Jack's location and personal info via social media, so why didn't the Decepticons just do THAT all this time, so they could track the humans/Autobot base?

Then all the commenters agreed that it's because the CAPTCHA "I am not a robot" thing actually works on Decepticons, because they are, in fact robots.

I love this and it shall now be my crack headcanon.

(In all seriousness, I actually don't think it's a plot hole. I think it's a great example of the Decepticons' characterization.

The real reason Decepticons never tried social media tracking is because they're too proud to use human technology. To them, it's considered "inferior."

I'm fascinated by the idea that, if they hadn't underestimated human technology, they could have found all these Autobot secrets, like the location of their base and humans, EASILY. But they never bothered, because "oh, that's worthless human tech."

Keep in mind, in one episode, Starscream actually did explore the human internet, and almost located Bumblebee that way, but the others made fun of him for it (the tap-dancing monkey incident) so we can see they don't respect it enough to give it their time.

It also kinda shows how MECH, to some extent, has an advantage against the Autobots because they're all humans, and are therefore better aquatinted with Earth. Even Airachnid didn't realize social media would be a useful weapon until Silas explained it to her. The Decepticons are obviously more powerful since they're giant aliens, but MECH uses their humanity and Earth knowledge as their greatest strength. It's kinda neat.

[phantom-sleuth]

Wanted to make a rec post about a bunch of random sci-fi manga i like and hope that others enjoy as well.

Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction:

A story about 2 young women in their day to day lives as a giant alien ship looms over Tokyo. A fair bit of the story focuses modern social political issues in Japan and the mystery surrounding the mothership and the aliens and why they are there.

The series will get two movie adaptations later this year.

Dai Dark:

The story mainly revolves zaha sanko and how a legend exist that if one gets ahold of his bones they will have any wish granted to them, and so sanko needs to search through space in order to find whoever put this curse on him and kill them. The manga is made by Q Hayashida and features a very gritty world with very goofy and fun characters.

Battle Angel Alita/Gunnm:

A story mostly about a cyborg with a sense for battle wanting to fin her origins after crashing on earth. The series has 3 entries so far with the third being on hiatus sadly, the 3 series being Alita battle angel, baa last order and baa mars chronicle. However the series has excellent art a very good story and great action.

It currently has a 1993 anime and a live action movie

20th Century Boys

The story revolves around a group of adults who in their youth created a symbol to represent their friendship which is then used by some malevolent character called friend in the future for his own cult and his goal to take over the world. With most of the story being about trying to recall who he may be and how to stop his plot. Its a VERY story and dialogue heavy series, but its all worth it once everything starts clicking.

it has a short sequel series that contains the ending of the actual series called "21st century boys"

Pluto

Made by the same person as 20th century boys Naoki urasawa, its an adaptation of "the greatest robot on earth" story with its own unique spin. Its about the ongoing murders of the seven most powerful robots on earth. It deals in a lot of stuff about the sentience of the robots and their rights.

It currently has a full anime adaptation on netflix.

Planetes

A lot of the story mainly focuses on the struggles and relationships of the main characters with space mainly being a backdrop. Its a very interpersonal story and i can't really do it justice by just describing it so i recommend reding or watching it yourself.

It also has a full anime adaptation.

10,000 light year binoculars

This one is just a oneshot but i enjoyed it so much that i really had to rec it. Its about an alien girl with binoculars that allow her to spy on a boy on earth from her own planet and wanting to meet him someday. The entire oneshot is in color, the art is great AND its short.

Star tripper: Planetarium Ghost Travel

A very comfy manga that only recently stared to get fantranslated. Its about a guy called 303 going to "ghost planets where most of the inhabitants have gone into a deep sleep and turned into trees.

Heavenly Delusion/Tengoku Daimakyou

And finally Heavenly, it has two concurrent plotlines with the first one being about a boy and a girl going through a post apocalyptic Japan looking for "new heaven", while the second is about a group a kids in a sterile facility wanting to go explore outside the walls of said facility.

It has an anime that covers the first 5 volumes.

And those are all my sci-fi recs for the moment!!! Hope someone finds something new to enjoy of these here. apologies if the writing ain't the best i wrote this at like 3 am.

[psygull-arts]

expanding my canon of villains from dreams i've had:

THE STAR - this one was from last night, actually! a strange star that was attempting to control people on earth for its own obscure purposes. it was bringing about the end of the world, but nobody knew because it was happening so slowly so they just went about their daily lives. james sunderland was there

The Rapper Pitbull in the Barrage Antagonizer - i was in a gta-type parody crime video game and pitbull was chasing me. he was driving a dodge challenger (car), but since it was a video game they couldn't call it that, so instead it was the barrage antagonizer

The Test Tube Killer - this guy was from an eight-minute (i specifically remember it was eight minutes long) japanese short horror film i found on youtube and watched in the dream. in it, some scientists in a lab were attempting to synthesize the greatest slasher villain possible and just ended up making a weird little clone/robot guy

Jim Carrey with Wolf Hands - Jim Carrey with Wolf Hands

[ruereviews]

A review of “Pluto”

Pluto is a japanese seinen manga of the science fiction/mystery genre written and illustrated in 2003 by Naoki Urasawa, creator of works such as “Monster” and “20th Century Boys.” In 2023, a netflix adaption was released which was animated by Studio M2

A basic synopsis

Now, Pluto is actually a retelling of an arc from the famous astro boy (also known as tetsuwan atom) manga written in 1951 by Osamu Tezuka. Urasawa uses and transforms “The Greatest Robot On Earth” arc into a darker and more mature version of it’s original story. Set in a futuristic version of our world where humans live amongst sentient robots ,we follow a detective (also a robot) named Gesicht who is assigned to a case regarding the murders of the seven greatest robots in the world by an unknown perpetrator.

My thoughts

The first point I wish to make is how disappointed in myself I am for not watching this show sooner. I feel a genuine shame about it. I can’t find anything bad to say about it at all. The plot, the characters, the lessons, the animation, and even the personal impact it had on me and my life were just out of this world. This is not just some typical show about robots fighting, there’s a lesson to be learnt and tons of beauty within it’s messages. In my opinion it’s one of the best shows on netflix.

Althought it starts as a typical murder mystery story (this is not a criticism of mine) “Pluto” evolves and brings a new perspective on the concept of AI, making the robots very advanced in terms of their emotions. They hold the ability to love, they can have hobbies, and passion, and at the same time they can feel sorrow hatred to the point they are basically human, such an antagonistic supercomputer which has an almost primitive craving for power and control as well as displaying signs of narcissitic tendecies.

The plot becomes a commentary on the effects of war, as well as various ethics about topics such as revenge and forgiveness. It is very rare that a show makes me emotional however pluto succeeds at doing so. Every single character holds such an important purpose to it’s messages such as how we can become more than what society thinks of us as well as the beauty of love and even the natural world too.

The animation is incredibly gorgeous, and is remniscient of urosawa’s iconic artstyle too. The use and switching of colour tones really hammers the messages home for me, especially when there is a brighter sort for imagery of nature, overall tying the series together.

Overall Rating

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

[cyber-puppygirl]

season of the dawn is literally my favorite destiny 2 season of all time and it’s so fucked up that like basically all of its content is gone.

as a guardian you hear stories of legends, guardians whose power and resolve rival those of gods and are revered as such by humans and guardians alike. this is taken a bit further with Saint-XIV, who was one of the many guardians who fought at the twilight gap; a fallen siege on the last city of sol where dozens of guardians died their final deaths.

this point is even further proved with Saint in the curse of osiris dlc where you venture into the infinite forest, a vex simulator that they use to predict many futures, and find his final resting place inside. a burial place made for Saint by the vex; an unfeeling robot hivemind. what made them do that you might ask. he fought them endlessly for years until they found a way to counter his light specifically, strip him of it and ultimately, killed him.

on him however, you get the best weapon in the entire game ever: the perfect paradox. at first glance it just seems like a Saint-XIV themed shotgun, but when you read the associated lore tab is where everything for the season of dawn starts to get set up, 2(ish) years ahead of its release. it’s a note from Saint to you, personally. he loved hearing from you that the last city is alive and well and he loved to hear how much it’s changed, he talks more about that and a couple other things that he wouldn’t know due to being trapped in the infinite forest for so long. at the end of the note he then claims that the shotgun you gave him has served him well. that’s right the gun you picked up off of Saint is originally YOURS.

anyway fast forward two years and osiris is asking you to venture into the infinite forest again but with his sundial, a time machine made to be used exclusively inside the forest to stop the red legion from using it to change the course of the red war. but as you do that you find Saint ALIVE inside the forest, fighting. you meet with him and talk a bit, or well your ghost talks. and he tells Saint about the last city (he left earth to try and colonize mercury during the dark ages, after earth was overrun by fallen, not knowing the vex had doesn’t there first) and to let him know all he’s done isn’t in vain. and then, your ghost materializes the Perfect Paradox for Saint, and tells him “my guardian made this out of spare parts and Light and sheer will to aid you”. you wish him luck and then you are pulled out of the forest. you meet him a couple more times with the last time actually saving Saint-XIV, the greatest titan who ever lived. he tells you he is gonna stay inside the forest for bit longer, he’s not done tearing through the vex just yet. you get a cutscene where he says “since the day met you i swore i would make it my duty to follow your example. i’m still trying”.

being able to interact and talk with guardian legends like osiris and ikora or zavala, or even iron lord saladin is great these guys are very cool powerful guardians. but this is different, you changed fate like in the vault of glass, and saved a legend. and for that he idolizes you. you, the nameless guardian who never speaks. moments like these are why i play destiny, because in that moment i, just like anyone else, in that moment became legend.

[justinforprez]

My Fellow Helldivers

So we all know that the material needed for FTL is contained inside the bugs (actual lore)

they are basically the scrin from C&C

But why don't we just harvest the stuff?

Why go on suicide missions to kill bugs?

Well, why do you think the missions are so short? Why do you think we all have to wear helmets all the time? Why are the robots humanoid and positioned exactly as far away from the bugs as possible? its all related

You see they send us down to kill the bugs and the orange spores infect us.

WE ARE BECOMING BUGS

once the timer ends they send it collection teams to get the FTL material

But they can't send them in while spores are there.

Why do "liberated" planets get re-infected? its on purpose

They need more FTL bugs to fuel the forever war

we have to die quickly so that we don't become monstrous and we can't remove our helmets so we can't ever find out whats happening to us.

We will never get to vote because we are supposed to die on the missions. the only people who can vote come from rich families but somehow made it to Colonel and above without any scars.

"Dive in the Pod. Kill the Bug. Buy the Season Pass. Own Nothing. Be Happy." - George Soros

Now this is all fact but the robot part is a bit of crackpot theory but hear me out

The robots look like humans. ugly ones.

There are two possibilities as to why.

Super Earth created them to harvest bug parts without mutating into bugs and they went rogue.

they are aliens and they sent human looking androids (ugly) to try and stop us from becoming like the bugs.

Option 2 is pure speculation but option 1? Well there are signs

Where are humans concentrated? towards the bugs. So where would you run a secret govt experiment? away from the human populace. maybe even on a rogue planet just outside the galaxy. Although i would dispute that.

they know they will get caught eventually so they tried to make robots and when those robots learned about the heinous actions they rebelled knowing that humanity will only get stronger over time(of course). they knew they would discarded jsut like the helldivers once they weren't needed and also they didn't like being turned into robots against their will.

Now this is the craziest part and even I don't believe it but its interesting

What if

AND I AM SAYING "WHAT IF" AND NOT THAT i BELIEVE THIS

but what if super earth isn't at the center of the galaxy?

yeah that ones a doozy, I know

I won't dwell on it but why is the greatest thing ever, super earth, at the center? its almost artificial looking. like the galaxy was made specifically to cater to some kind of chess game where we are but pawns. like aliens who want to toy with us and see what we are capable of have placed concentric rings of challenges around us. is this to contain the great and powerful humans or is it to test us so we can ascend as they have?

Crazy cult shit right but its interesting

[autisticsupervillain]

It's Fictional Throwdown Friday!

This Week's Fighters...

Peridot vs Sir Pentious!

Conditions:

Both sides have three days of prep time.

Scenario:

Looking for resources to help the Hazbin Hotel survive the upcoming Extermination Day, Sir Pentious steals a portal to the mortal world and begins plotting a way to steal Gem Tech to bolster his machines. Peridot discovers his intrusion and begins prepping for Pentious's invasion.

Analysis: Peridot

After the supposed death of Pink Diamond, the mighty Homeworld Empire entered into era 2. It was an era of dwindling resources, rampant mismanagement, and aloof Diamonds more interested in grieving than in running their empire. It is this state of affairs that led to the eventual defection of Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG. Though, to her friends, she well always be known simply as Peridot.

But I'm skipping ahead. Peridot was initially just a lowly era 2 engineer sent to check on the Cluster. She was stopped by the Crystal Gems and eventually came back to Earth with a powerful Quartz soldier in tow so she could finish her work. That didn't go to plan and she soon found herself stranded on Earth, which she feared would soon be destroyed by the Cluster.

As a result of this, she was forced to team up with the Crystal Gems and save the Earth in order to prevent her own annihilation. During her time with them, Peridot began to bond with the Crystal Gems and grew to value the Earth and its life forms. When she was unable to convince her superior Yellow Diamond of their pragmatic value, she realized that the perfect idolized image of Yellow that she had in her head was wrong. Yellow Diamond was just a petty tyrant in charge of a crumbling Empire and Peridot would have nothing to do with her. So, she joined the Crystal Gems and turned against her former home, becoming a hero sworn to protect all life on Earth.

During her time serving Homeworld, Peridot was equipped with Limb Enhancers. These little gadgets allowed her to fly, hook up with Homeworld databases at a moments notice, walk on walls, and telekinetically lift and throw people as strong as Pearl. They also allow her to shoot powerful blasts out of her hands that can blast a hole in a crash spaceship. This feat is roughly equivalent to 0.093 tons of tnt.

Source:

Peridot doesn't need her limb enhancers to be effective however. While she is unable to shapeshift fue to being an Era 2 Gem, she still has all the other advantages inherent to Gem physiology. Her body automatically adapts to the gravity of any planet she's on, allowing her to walk around on the moon as easily as she would on Earth. She can seal things away inside her gem for safe keeping, can bubble people and objects and teleport them away to her home, and can live for thousands of years without aging. If her body is heavily damaged, it'll poof into smoke, leaving only her gemstone behind. This allows her to regenerate her form in a quick amount of time, though if she wishes to change how her default for works than the regeneration may take considerably longer. She even has an ability unique to her, where she can manipulate magnetic metals, even using the ability to fly when riding on a trash can lid.

Notably, while she is far weaker than the other crystal gems, she is actually physically capable of taking hits from them. Even Steven was impressed by her durability and she could take a punch from a pissed off Pearl. While she obviously can't take hits from Garnet, she shouldn't be laughably below that level either, as Pearl isn't any slouch herself. As such, she be infererior than, if comparable to, Garnet's output of 142 kilotons.

Source:

Peridot's greatest strength, however, is her intelligence. She is a scientific genius capable of building giant robots using only barnyard scraps. As a matter of fact, using nothing more than a toaster and random scraps, she can build her Peri-cannons, powerful turrets capable of hurting enemies on par with Pearl and Amethyst, putting them in the same kiloton ballpark that her durability is in.

Peridot may be a loud and overconfident clod, but she's more than proven she's earned her confidence, despite her many shortcomings compared to other gems.

Analysis: Sir Pentious

Is Hell truly the last stop for a sinner's soul? It's an existential question for many people. Where does the bar lie for whether someone deserves eternal torment? Who decides? And what does it say about heaven that hell exists at all? If hell is forever, then does that make heaven a lie?

None of these questions mattered much to Sir Pentious when his soul first dropped into Hell. Initially, this flamboyant 19th century supervillain only cared for one thing: taking over Hell! So, he'd set out with his steampunk airship to conquer the Pride Ring, waring against all other sinners for the coveted title of Overlord.

He... wasn't particularly good at it. The actual Overlords of Hell, Sinners who managed to carve out a particularly large territory for themselves in Hell's pride ring to lord over their fellow damned, saw him as a joke at best and a disposable pawn at worst. Sir Pentious would try over twenty times to take down the dreaded Radio Demon Alastor. Alastor doesn't even remember his name.

But Pentious's luck seemed to turn around when the trifecta of Overlords known as the Vees contacted him with a special assignment. He was to infiltrate the Hazbin Hotel to spy on Lucifer's daughter Charlie to keep her out of the Radio Demon's clutches. Predictably, Pentious fucked it up.

Unpredictably, when the Vees left Pentious to die, Charlie genuinely accepted his apology and took him in to her hotel to try and redeem his soul. It starts with sorry.

Pentious turned out to be one of the Hotel's biggest successes... if only because he was never that good at being evil. In combat, Pentious is all but completely helpless by himself, as he relies heavily on his Egg Boi minions and steam punk inventions to fight for him. His only real tricks, besides his slippery serpentine body, are his hypnotic eyes and venomous fangs.

With his inventions, however, he can turn himself into a major threat. His small Egg Boi minions, though not particularly smart, come equipped with deadly ray guns and an undying loyalty to Pentious, while Pentious's air blimp comes decked out with missles and lasers that can reduce city blocks to bombed out war zones. Pentious is a gadgeteer genius who can throw together canons and doomsday machines overnight. Blow up his blimp and he'll be back with another one later the same day.

Pentious's most impressive quality is his tenacity and durability. No matter how many times Alastor rips apart his machines, Pentious will just build new ones. He's even survived getting blown up by Alastor on a near daily basis. Even Overlords far weaker than Alastor, like Vox, are strong enough to destroy volcanos, requiring an explosion roughly as powerful as 182 kilotons of TNT, so taking any hits at all is impressive.

Source:

Sir Pentious has even survived multiple Extermination Days, wherein the warriors of Heaven come down to massacre the sinners of hell so that they don't pose a threat. Angels are some of the only beings powerful enough to destroy sinners permanently, as their weapons destroy souls, which Sinners can otherwise just regenerate from in Hell to restore destroyed bodies. Pentious has been in Hell ever since the 1800s and he's survived every single yearly Extermination Day that came his way.

Most impressively, however, when Adam, the First Man, lead a charge to genocide all of Hell, Pentious worked together with the rest of the Hotel's residents to fend off the assault. He'd infuse his devices with stolen angelic weaponry, to use their soul destroying properties against the Angels, permanently killing the previously unkillable armies of Heaven. In the end, Sir Pentious would sacrifice himself to take on Adam directly, giving his after life and redeeming himself for the people at the hotel that he'd grown to care about.

After the battle, the new Hazbin Hotel would be built in his image, with a portait of him hanging over the door to commemorate his sacrifice. Unbeknownst to the friends he left behind, Sir Pentious would be the Hotel's first big success. For the first time in millennia, a Sinner from Hell had been redeemed. His sacrifice would allow him to ascend past the pearly gates as a Seraphim, proving what Charlie Morningstar had always believed for centuries. Inside every demon is a rainbow.

Throwdown Theme:

Throwdown Breakdown:

This... is very tricky.

Both of these characters are tanks who rely on inventions and weapons to hurt people who can hurt them. While Pentious is just slightly more durable (142 kilotons vs 182 kilotons), they are comparable enough that their weapons should be able to hurt each other. Similarly, both characters can keep up with those who can dodge light beams and lasers.

While it is true that Peridot cannot permanently kill Pentious, Pentious also can't continue the fight once he dies, as he can't leave Hell under his own power once he respawns there.

I feel like Peridot's arsenal is overall more impressive than Pentious's. Her flight can allow her to get past his Egg Bois, her metal powers can interfere with his blimp, and his venom wouldn't work on someone inorganic like her. However, Peridot has no real counter towards Hypnosis once Pentious lands it (it's his first go to in any situation without his weapons, besides just running away), and I don't think she can really overwhelm him through force. The only things she has that are definitely out of Pentious's league are the hand ships and the Diamond Ships... neither of which are really hers. The Hand Ship was given to her by the Diamonds and her ability to repair the Diamond Ships really doesn't equate to building her own from scratch.

And then... there's the angelic weapons.

...Does Peridot have a soul? Steven Universe doesn't really say either way whether Gems have souls, they're kinda just magic rocks with an implied mechanical origin. Steven himself has some somewhat spiritual powers, such as body swapping and entering people's dreams and minds, but none of those are explicitly stated to be soul related. You could argue they would under Hazbin's magic system, because mechanical beings have souls (IE. Vox), but those are just Sinners who manifested as robots in Hell. The only truly artificial beings in Hell are the Robo Fizzarollies, but while they're definitely sapient, we're never explicitly told if they have souls either. In fact, you can argue against that because we know definitively they don't regenerate from their souls like Sinners do.

But, again, many of Steven's/Rose's powers have a soul bent to them, including several instances of Steven outright leaving his own body, so....

...I think I'm leaning towards yes. The spiritual nature of certain Gem's powers and the fact that this scenario relies on Gems being a naturally occuring Sapient species within Hazbin's universe, makes me think that, in the scope of this debate, Peridot does have a soul. She probably isn't getting into Heaven though, given how strict the policy seems to be.

Hmm, I'll be honest, this is a tough call.

Sir Pentious has two instant win options, with both holy weapons and hypnosis, but Peridot's mobility and metal control is going to make landing either of those difficult. Sir Pentious is certainly more experienced (while Peridot is much older, she's only seen live combat relatively recently. Sir Pentious has been getting into gang wars since the 1800s.), Peridot is much smarter scientifically. Repairing advanced spaceships is a bit more impressive than building steampunk blimps with death rays attached. Both are about the same level of boisterous, hammy, and overconfident and both used to have cowardly tendencies before their character development kicked in.

Like... I genuinely keep going back and forth here. Does Peridot gets her soul destroyed before she can beat Pentious down? Ultimately... I'm going to say yes.

We know of two inventions that Peridot has that can hurt people of Pentious's level of durability. Her Peri-Cannons (which she can admittedly put together quickly mid combat) and the robot she built in her competition against Pearl. The Limb Enhancers have never shown to actually harm a Crystal Gem beyond throwing them around with telekinesis, after all, and metal manipulation would rely on the random scrap Peridot picks up actually being able to hurt Pentious. This is compared to Pentious decking out most of his arsenal in soul destroying holy weapons, which would bypass the Gem's regeneration (holy weapons have been shown to nullify healing factors before, such as Vaggie permanently losing her eye when Sinners and Angels can otherwise keep going from having their heads crushed). Hitting Peridot would be difficult, but unlike Peridot, one hit is really all that Pentious needs.

Ask me about this again tomorrow, I'll probably change my mind again.

This Throwdown's Winner is...

Sir Pentious!

[thebibliomancer]

Earth X #12

The penultimate issue. What a crazy time it has been.

Look, tandem Silver Surfers. A surfboard built for two.

Also, Tony. This is his issue. Last time he revealed that he’s been hiding in a giant robot this whole time. And he launches it to buy time when the Celestials land on Earth.

Why are the Celestials on Earth? Earth is their egg.

What is he buying time for? Black Bolt screamed a name into deep space. So for whoever’s name that was to show up.

What’s going on? Just so much. Everyone is mutated because Black Bolt set off a terrigen bomb after blinding Uatu the Watcher. A psychic kid called the Skull tried to take over the world and got his neck snapped by Captain America. Which aggroed the Celestials because the Skull was their failsafe, to keep humanity under control when everybody mutated. Because everybody mutating was the Celestial plan, so that the egg would have powerful guardians.

What’s been going on? Everything. Spider-Man got his groove back. Reed is Doom. Namor is half on fire. Machine Man is the new Watcher. There’s a werewolf on the Moon. And I did mention that the Earth is an egg!

Earth X is a wild ride.

The Celestials are big.

They’re big, they’re here, and they’re going to wipe out all life before humanity does any more damage.

That’s less than ideal if you like humanity. Or Inhumanity as it has become.

Tony Stark is Earth’s last line of defense and we already know he’s not going to survive this. He’s just buying time.

His latest, greatest armor is a heavily retooled Red Ronin. Which was a giant robot built to fight Godzilla and which Tony has been improving in the years since the terrigen bomb.

It shoots Iron Men as bullets.

That’s cool. Probably not efficient. But cool.

A giant Iron Man that shoots smaller Iron Men and if you look at the screencaps, it still looks like an angry, flailing toddler next to one Celestial.

And there’s at least ten of them.

But this is apparently what Tony has been preparing for his entire life.

Or so Reed speculates. He attributes Tony’s constant preparation for the next threat to come over the horizon to some subconscious sense that there was something wrong with Earth. But Reed says a lot of stuff in Earth X.

Most of the subplots have been taken care of by now. But there’s a few left.

Uatu the Cantwatchanything gets John Jameson to pull the Ultimate Nullifier on Machine Man. But that doesn’t go anywhere because the sun comes up over the Moon and John turns into a wolf in a spacesuit.

We finally follow up on Loki’s role in all this.

He was part of the trip to the Realm of Death plot earlier. Teaming up with Clea to betray Thor and the Hulk and then betraying her to get yoinked to Asgard for punishment. Leaving Loki free to plot to take Earth. But Aaron had an off-panel conversation with Loki.

What he apparently told him was all that exposition about Asgardians actually being shape-shifting aliens whose powers, appearances, and personalities are based on what people observing them think they should be.

Loki is furious. All this time as the scheming villain just because someone thought there needed to be one. He had to talk in that faux Shakespearean just because someone thought gods would talk that way!

(This feels like a precursor to the more meta God of Stories stuff. So Earth X gets another tally for ideas borrowed.)

He tries to tell the other Asgardians but nobody believes the trickster.

So he stabs himself to death. To make a really emphatic point.

The most dramatic.

Anyway. The doomed fight Iron Man is waging against a whole Host of Celestials.

Yeah.

He gets the thumbs down and goes down in flames.

The Celestials smack him down. He manages to walk out of the wreckage but a shard of metal is poking through him.

He walks away from the fight but not very far.

But he looks up into the sky and knows he succeeded in buying enough time when he sees Silvered Surfers.

And the Silver Surfer(s) herald another arrival.

Towering over the Celestials even more than they themselves towered over New New York.

Hi Galactus.

You were pretty explicitly said to be dead.

Did Black Bolt scream your name so hard you stopped being a star?

One last mystery for one last issue.

Although I still don’t know what the X in Earth X means. Thirteen issues counting 0 and that hasn’t been explained.

[positivelybeastly]

Tell me why Simon’s upcoming marvel verse tpb (releasing between xforce 49 and 50) decided to highlight that issue (the one where Hank kisses Simon) out of all the possible issues that actually like. Are meaningful for him as a character and his supporting cast not just the one where he gets gay kissed by a guy who proceedes to dress up in his clothes, his girlfriend wonders if she would be better off getting back with his brother, and the guy who kissed him calls him a chickenplucker before he dips. Like it’s not really an important Simon issue, probably not even the best Hank/simon friendship issue but it kind of feels like they’re saying getting gay kissed by Hank is at least the fourth most important thing ever to happen to Simon, possibly more so than the whole evil and robot brothers thing

I do not understand I feel like the goof kiss is something that can very easily be interpreted as homophobic since essentially it’s saying “what if two men kissed would that be wacky or what”. Why would you bring that up again. Unless…? (Bi Hank real?)

"C'maaaaaan, you aren't still dwelling on that ol' gag, are you? It was for fun! You don't think Bugs Bunny has feelings for other fellas, do you? Just a little harmless horsing around, between two old buddies who hadn't seen each other in a while, on account of one of them being dead! We all get a little excited when that happens, don't we?

. . . Okay, so maybe that doesn't happen to you guys so often, but when it happens here, that's a - very common reaction. Nothing gay about it. And it's not like there's anything wrong with being gay, or bi, or any of that, either! I'm just not. Capiche?"

So, this is one of those things where it's like - I'm 99% certain this is just a weird coincidence, or that this was picked by a staffer with a sense of humour, or something, BUT.

There's the 1%.

There's the one 1% that has to check, and, hey, what happens if you Google Wonder Man Beast?

NOW.

I WILLL ADMIT THAT PERHAPS THERE IS SOME SEARCH ENGINE SKEWING GOING ON.

BUT.

THAT IS FAN ART OF GAY HANK AND SIMON ON ROW ONE, PEOPLE.

The cover for the issue with the kiss is row two!

The kiss itself is row three!

Like, full disclosure, I have absolutely Googled 'Wonder Man Beast kiss before', to get the panel to talk about my thoughts on Hank's sexuality before, so maybe there's some stuff going on, but, friends, Google 'Wonder Man Beast' and tell me what YOU see, because I am curious.

But for real, let's talk about this TPB.

Read this product description.

"Learn more about Wonder Man, the energy-powered Avenger who doubles as a movie star, before and after the release of the Disney+ series!

Few heroes in the Marvel-Verse are more wondrous than Wonder Man and none is a bigger draw at the box office! Get to know Simon Williams, the world’s greatest Avenger-turned-movie star, beginning with his momentous debut - in which he is gifted amazing power, but must defeat Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in exchange! Will he go bad, or make a heroic sacrifice? Don’t count Wonder Man out just yet!

Soon he’s back, breaking into Hollywood and tussling with heavyweights like the Sandman and the Abomination! But who needs enemies when you can have a best friend like Hank McCoy, the bouncing, blue-furred Beast? Prepare to discover why Simon and Hank are the greatest double act in Avengers history!"

I should remind you, this is not the Beast and Wonder Man book, that is a SEPARATE collection. A separate collection with art that has been HALVED to make THIS collection's cover, I know that Nick Bradshaw art anywhere.

But let's also talk about the issue selection!

"Avengers (1963) #9" - makes sense! His very first appearance, his villain turn, his death. You HAVE to include the origin issue, it's the law. 5/5, perfect choice if you want to know what Simon is.

"Wonder Man (1986) #1" - first issue of his first solo series! Absolutely makes sense, fun little one-off thing that shows how Simon is adjusting after his hero turn, shows off his personality, self-contained, beautiful. 5/5, excellent choice.

"West Coast Avengers (1985) #25" - fun little story showing off his movie career and his up and down relationship with fame! And it doesn't rely too much on other continuity, you can just pick it up and go and have fun, even if the other Avengers parts might confuse you a bit. 4/5, good choice, a bit of a deep cut.

"Avengers (1998) #14" - awright, let's pull this one up and have a look. What is this issue actually about?

Our cover.

Hmm. Well, they seem like good friends!

Aw, cute! I love when comics break the fourth wall like this, I wonder what they have in store for us.

Oh! A . . . two page spread of, Hank . . . shouting, "Hi honey, I'm home!"

Looking a little demented, there, Hank, you okay?

. . . Hank? You . . . okay there?

. . . Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

You - got him flowers, Hank?

H-Hank, you're . . . wearing, Simon's, old . . . safari jacket . . ?

So, there IS some Simon only stuff in here, which is good, and catches you up on some of the events of his other solo series, which is good! This is good Simon content! Okay, cool!

O-Oh.

Chickenplucker?

FUCKING WHAT.

Okay, we need to check another website, there's NO WAY.

THAT is the issue you chose?

THAT ONE?

Not A+X #12?

No, wait, shit, we're trying to beat the allegations.

Um. Um. What about, what about that one Avengers Annual?

SHIT, ABORT, ABORT.

Uncanny Avengers #28! That's good, wholesome fun, right?

FUCK. FUCK, FUCK ME, GODDAMN IT.

What about - what about Wonder Man vol. 2 #6? That's safe, right?

And at this point, the poor Marvel staffer gave up and said, FUCK IT, THE GAY KISS IS LESS GAY THAN THE REST OF THIS SHIT.

Like, come the fuck on, now.

But no, that's the reason why that issue is in there.

Because it's somehow less gay than every other interaction they've had.

I have no idea if it's intentional, but how has every single writer since 1981 managed to write these two like tender hearted lovers? Why does Simon at his most asshole in Wonder Man vol. 2 act like Hank is his personal damsel in distress and smile more at him than he does his girlfriends? It's not impossible to write male friendships in a non-gay way, it really isn't, and yet.

You keep.

Managing.

To make it like this.

Hank McCoy is bisexual and in love with Simon Williams. Whether he, or the writers, have realised it, THAT is the story they have managed to tell. Maybe one day they'll catch up.

Maybe one day soon, if they're smart.

[tennessoui]

continues to stare at you

ok so SPACE TRAVEL and PERFECT REPLICANT BODIES and WEIRD WORK-LIFE BALANCE.

the premise of the black mirror episode is this: in the 1960s (but sci-fi, don't think about it), two astronauts are on a small space shuttle travelling to [place] for [large number of] year to do [something in space idk the destination is NOT the point here]. the ship has the most basic amenities to keep them alive; food, treadmill, all the space equipment.

when the astronauts go to sleep, they activate a computer by their bed and lie down in a weird niche in the cushions, and then - they wake up! in perfect replicant robot bodies on earth. they 'work' on the ship during the day, and when they sleep they go home and spend time with their families. their robot bodies have their entire consciousness for the duration of their sleep, they look exactly like their real bodies and move and feel like them (unclear if the robot bodies can do all the sex things, implied not in the show but it's very unclear and i will not go on a tangent to talk about the actual episode here).

in the episode the two astronauts have their own families and aren't even very good friends, they are Work Colleagues but like......i was watching and just Imagining the possibilities of Pining and Yearning in space, Obi-Wan and Anakin spending their days among the stars together and learning to resent the time they spend apart on Earth. maybe they're married to other people, maybe they're not, but the important pain is that they are not together at all times. there's cheating potential, i guess, but i just i just really love this idea of them being in love and only being able to be together on that little ship bc their lives are separated on Earth, it's cramped and bare and utilitarian but it's also the richest place in the galaxy because it's where they are together.

Oooo this has such angsty au potential especially if their robot bodies on earth are very far away from each other and won’t or cannot go meet so it’s just time apart when they could be together

both of them have families (either spouses&children or mothers&fathers who are older now and need help) and obligations on earth that they need to tend to but also both of them became astronauts because they love science as one of the greatest biggest loves of their lives…..and so it’s shockingly easy to fall in love with someone who they see every day who also loves science and exploration the same amount

and who is real and right there in front of them and easy to touch and feel…..I imagine they start pushing their bedtimes later and later so they can just stay up and look at each other and talk and it’s probably killing their bodies to be up so late and wake so early but it’s the most pleasant death they know 🥺

[astroboyanalysis]

7. The Greatest Robot on Earth

oh boy here we go

As a warning, this liveblog may take me multiple days (or like, a week, I literally don't know) to get all the reblogs on. The way you will know I am truly done is 1. I will say so on that reblog above the readmore and 2. I will post the next story. Won't do that until I'm done with this one, obviously.

Let's get started.

(I begin the first panel and am immediately affronted with what I must acknowledge is racism) ah

I am not the best person to speak on this. I am also likely not the first (although a quick google search has not revealed essays to me) to see this and recognize its heavy anti-arab racism and caricature. Because I am not the best person to speak on this, aside from pointing out that I do in fact recognize this and asking that you as the reader of this blog also recognize this, there is not much I am planning to discuss on it. I can't imagine there's much that hasn't already been said. It was wrong to portray a person or culture this way then, and it's wrong now. That's all I'll say for now.

Glad he has such a convenient visual for us. Also, I'm so fond of these robot designs. I love Pluto but boy are these silly and fun.

This sounds both normal to want and achievable as a goal, yeah

This is one of those just actually horrific moments, lmao. The gore of it all. The fact that his horns seem made to simply pass current through whatever touches them, or to arc electricity almost, is just wild. If I'm understanding the visual correctly and its meant to bring forward arcs of electricity like a taser, but at such a large scale, I'm fairly certain it would simply melt one of these robots if it didn't blow them up.

I'm glad we've moved past this visual.

I am somewhat curious if it was meant to be received as funny at the time. It must have been, right...?

Atom's characterization in the original manga is so starkly different to how its developed over time (and especially with multiple authors at this point). He's so ready to fight and doesn't stop to think at all - I'm so fond of the (cough, 2003, cough) idealistic and pacifistic Atom who only fights when there is no choice we've come to love now. The parallels between his appearance (childlike) and his views on the world (naive) are clear and the way that clashes with the events in the world around him and pushes him into these really difficult situations is just so much more compelling to me, idk. I really do love the "I don't want to fight you, I want to help you, I want to be your friend" (and actually meaning it) approach.

Some of what I really love about Astro Boy is that Atom's idealism has truth to it, but it puts him in conflict with others. The truth is somewhere in the idea that everyone has a right to exist, that everyone has value, that robots and humans can coexist - But just because it's true doesn't mean it's uncontroversial, and his existence being in opposition to others interests is what pushes him to make hard decisions. He's being shown again and again these conflicts that arise when humans make robots with bad intentions, when humans mistreat robots, when they try to live together, etc. etc., but his childlike and naive approach to the world LETS him keep hope that the better future he believes in will come to pass. His permanent youth is paralleled by his permanent optimism and the fact that he simply won't become jaded - or at least, not for long.

Gosh I can't wait to get to 2003 again.

I could talk about how the antidote to apathy and becoming overwhelmed with the horrors of the world is in what kids bring to the table forever. But it's all there, isn't it?

Anyway "I'll teach you to make a fool of me" while being inches away from certain death is very funny. "You think that's funny? I'm about to be hilarious"

Can't argue with that!

I love when Ochanomizu gets to have a moment like this.

This moment directly parallels something Atom said earlier, actually:

Anyway. "If it was only about strength" is a very important quote here and I'll probably come back to it at the end of the story. He really sums it all up right at the beginning though. What a good father figure. Although he does say ""only"" 100,000 horsepower which seems silly.

Uran what the hell lmao. He's clearly upset why are you egging him on like that.

Ok I do love how angry and ashamed he is here. The Atom we see in this comic specifically seems to base a lot of his value on his ability to win a fight through brute strength, which is kind of interesting. It's also interesting when we see this sort of character be so submissive to authority - It indicates there's a heirarchy beyond strength that they do have to acknowledge (social capital, respect of elders, something in there), yet they value strength so highly maybe because it's the heirarchy they can control, somewhat. And yet here he's been told he's not allowed to get stronger to win.

(Guy that likes bugs) I'm getting some real bugs vibes from North #2's design

He's shaped like a praying mantis to me, sort of. I'm about to say the same thing when we see Gesicht as well, but he looks more like a fly.

The idea of this being impersonal is very strange to me, but also very compelling. I will ignore how much I love Pluto's approach to this manga because I'm not commenting on differences here, and I'm just going to talk about it as its own characterization. Like a normal person.

Why would Pluto have any amount of hatred towards the robots he's meant to destroy? They're more alike him than the one commanding him to kill them. There's a kind of tragedy in this, I suppose - although he's not particularly against hurting them, either. But the fact he feels a need to tell them it's not personal is interesting.

Uran also having the same idea of Atom's value that he himself does, but having very little care for Ochanomizu's wisdom on the matter (while Atom dejectedly accepts it as fact) puts them in conflict here - She expects more of him than he's showing - Why is he bowing down now? But Atom also values his own niceties, his deference to power, and his acceptance of the authority of the one who, in a way, owns him.

We do see that Ochanomizu tells Atom he's free in the first comic, yet Atom continues to treat Professor Ochanomizu as if he created him, and values his authority above all else. As of yet, we haven't seen him directly disagree with Professor Ochanomizu or his authority, and he does act basically the way any owned robot (or a child born to a parent) would (seems to stick around Ochanomizu, listens to what he says and obeys, etc.), just with far more freedoms and independence.

Basically, in this first iteration, their relationship is very difficult for me to parse out. He's certainly paternal, he's certainly a guiding figure, and he certainly has authority over Atom that Atom does not question, but Atom is given a full family unit outside of the Professor, and the Professor is not his creator.

We have not (yet) seen a reason for Atom to understand that Ochanomizu's authority is earned, like, for example, him disobeying and then finding that Ochanomizu was right all along. This iteration of Atom lacks the tendency of children to push boundaries or to think independently, it seems.

her pajamas are just so cute

CONFIRMED they're pants in this iteration and not a permanent part of his body.

Great question, Uran! It'd be awesome if we had any introduction to you or your creation before reading this comic so that this would strike us in any way at all. But alas, that is not the order of the omnibus.

Still, she has a good point as far as we're concerned. Why didn't he do that? Why aren't there a bunch of Atoms flying around all the time? I'm curious if the manga itself will actually answer this.

Pluto himself is so deeply interesting to me. He does smile while he fights the robots he's been ordered to fight, and while he kills them, and yet he seems to value robots in general on a basic level. He made it clear it was not a personal issue and was because he was ordered to, but it's still interesting to me that he doesn't seem to care one way or the other about violence. He doesn't like it enough to enact it when he hasn't been ordered to.

Ochanomizu has the authority to Forbid Atom from fighting. It's clear Atom is choosing not to, at Ochanomizu's request, so taking a hostage to force him into it also indicates to me that it's a choice to obey that can be overriden if Atom wills it (and that, without this motivation, he simply doesn't, or prefers to defer to Ochanomizu out of respect, obligation, or otherwise).

"Baby sister" is so cute considering that she never was a baby

His kindness.... What made him like that. I do love him so much

I do love that Atom's mercy plays a major role here. I think it's interesting that Pluto asks in the first place.

"That's what I was designed to do" is an answer that isn't immediately rebuffed by Atom with anything about freedom to choose your path or anything. He seems to mostly stay quiet on what other robots do in their positions, from what we've seen, and doesn't particularly care to help anyone liberate themselves if they don't already want it in the first place.

Can any Astro Boy scholars let me know what the original text says in Japanese and what the meaning of the word used is? Tomboy just seems so strange here and I'm curious how faithful the translation is to the original text. I'm not even sure how to go about finding a copy of the story in Japanese, frankly, because it's so old.

But why....? His father doesn't even seem to have his own take on this or care that it's dangerous, it's all about the fact that Ochanomizu told him to.

He's just very flylike to me

Again. horrific.

Okay I don't have anything to say but Cobalt's really cute in this panel. Anyway I'll continue this in a reblog because I've run out of images!

[jenukiart]

OC Stuff - BKW - The Bomb Brigade

This one's a doozy cuz each member has a lot going on so strap in!!!

Their job is to hunt intergalactic monsters, beasts, and other such dangerous anomalies. With Kisyku running around rampant across the Cosmos, he quickly becomes their biggest target yet!! While their heavy duty weaponry and means of combat mean serious business, the brigade often gets caught up in numerous misadventures (sometimes they're just outright hard to take seriously...)

Also.. I call them the Bomb Brigade as their official title, but I'd imagine in the actual story the name alliteration gets mixed up and butchered every single time, as if no one can remember the actual name hahahaha. Anywhos..

Bombs

Bombs is the head-honcho of the Brigade. He's a human from Earth who leads his team with great confidence (sometimes to a fault). He can be stubborn.. and.. hard to co-operate with sometimes.. but all in all he's a captain who cares deeply for the whole team. Each member to him is like family, so he's always doing anything he can to look out for them.

I'd imagine whenever the Brigade needs to put up with Kisyku (like a temporary truce, or whenever they eventually form an alliance later in the story), him and Bombs would be that kind of friendly rival dynamic that just has them constantly arguing while they have to put up with each others annoyances.

Bombs also has an interesting speech-style, adding a lot of S to the end of words and stuff.. He also has a big rocket launcher, because he believes anything can be solved with explosives.

Bits and Blitz

Bits is little shark-manta-alien-thing who was recruited by Bombs for his incredible technical prowess. He's super smart, and having four hands is quite helpful when you're the team's primary mechanic. Outside of his technical craft, however, he enjoys gardening a lot. Bombs even lets him have his own garden room on the ship! He also just talks with a lot of sailor/sea terminology hahaha

Bits invented Blitz before joining Bombs, but she was just the orb/eye part back then. She didn't get the laser cannon extension until Bits built Bash (yeah he built Bash too!!). Bits has been meaning to give her a proper robot body, but she's actually happy being just the way she is.

Blitz is like a sister to Bits, having a cheery heart-of-gold. She speaks in beeps, chirps, and whirs, but everyone can still understand what she has to say anyways. She's a great listener, and often the one the Brigade members (especially Bury...) confide in to talk about their feelings. Despite her physical limitations she's still a girl at heart, doing things like makeup and stuff. :P

Bash

The Brigade often searches through the aftermath of places Kisyku’s been for anything useful. He tends to really bust up facilities and machines for some reason. Bits managed to collect enough scraps and parts to give Blitz a laser cannon, and eventually construct Bash.

Bash is forged from the scraps of Kisyku’s destruction. He has one goal and one goal alone and it's to "kill the Celestial." That tunnel-vision mindset is kinda like Android 16 in DBZA, except Bash is also very arrogant too. He often sees himself as the superior being, the greatest, flawless, you get the idea. Somehow though, he's just co-operative enough to still be tolerable... except with Bury... him and Bury kinda argue like a LOT.

Unlike the weaponry used by the rest of the Brigade, Bash specializes in sheer physical strength and agility. He can spin his body around a whole 360 degrees, making him very a versatile threat able to keep up with someone as quick and nimble as Kisyku.

Eventually, Bits constructs the Giga Bash, a giant mecha that the Brigade uses at the climax of their rivalry with Kisyku in attempt to finish him off once and for all! This form of Bash is piloted by the rest of the Brigade, and has tons of features like missiles, swords, lasers, and all sorts of heavy duty artillery.

Kisk does.. end up beating the Giga Bash though.. I'd imagine it's then that they finally put the bounty stuff aside for good. Though I imagined later big story beats will have them bring Giga back out again to help out with massive threats Kisk faces.

Bury

Oh boy uhm. Bury is. interesting. She's my personal favorite member of the Brigade! It's probably why she's the only one I have a proper reference sheet of, haha

Not much is really known about Bury, The Brigade, by complete and utter luck, just found her unconscious on a desolate planet. They were there just looking for parts and stuff, so it was a complete "right place right time" sorta deal to even have found her.

Thankfully, they were able to recover her back to health, Bits even gave her a prosthetic arm to replace the one she was missing.

But Bury is a total mystery to the Brigade, she refuses to elaborate about her past, why she was stranded, etc. Whenever they prod her about it, she's very cold, rude, and defensive about it.

Eventually they just stop trying to push something out, and learn to just live with her as she is now. Doesn't mean things are awkward though. Despite her mean-girl nature, Bury gets along moderately well with the Brigade, still following orders where needed. While she has her problems with the gang, she still manages to tolerate her relationships with em fair enough.

Except Bash..... Bury argues with Bash like all the time them two like never get along, but it's mostly played up for laughs than anything really serious.

Though I'd imagine with time she grows a secret soft spot for them that she just doesn't wanna admit. It's probbaly why she still sticks around them. Not like she has anywhere else to go.

So the best way I can describe her is "space tsundere/troubled sister" hahaha

In terms of abilities though, Bury excels at both close quarters and long range combat, making her a threat on all covers.

Her laser scythe can be turned into a sniper rifle and vice versa with just a spin of the handle, so it's not like she's stick to one mode of combat at any time.

She REALLY doesn't like Kisyku, and is the only member of the Brigade who seems to ACTUALLY give him a a run for his money (see this saying is ironic because Kisyku is constantly broke but it's not actually about money sorry idk why I'm rambling I thought I felt so cool saying it)

But yeah, them two seem to not get along very well.... It's especially awkward when the Brigade is forced to team up with Kisyku for episodic antics. Kisyku genuinely doesn't know what her deal is though.

She just seems to have a lot going on that she just doesn't wanna talk about. For her to be so locked up about her past leaves her shrouded in complete mystery to the rest of the cast. I hope that one day if I can truly get BKW out there, I'll get to uncover her secrets to you all.

And wow that's them!! Hopefully you learned a lot about these guys, it's my first time sharing info about them like this!! Now I can go and draw my silly doodles about them :P

[cheetahsprints]

Prompt #6: Garden

Inspired by this post

• Sonadow Prompt Fills •

• Ambience Music •

*

Shadow waited. He scarcely glanced at the meteors passing through the endless sky.

Telling the passage of time was impossible.

The garden was not immune to its effects, though. That was the only sign. The flooring became cracked by some more persistent weeds that ate their way to the center. They crawled over Shadow's shoes until he couldn't see them anymore... those shoes that had been a gift from the Professor, the idea from his dear Maria. The columns faded and the paint chipped away. The robots that tended to the garden went defunct since no one came to repair them. As a result, the plants eventually wilted. Through all of that, Shadow barely moved more than a statue, aside from actions that were involuntary.

“Let’s play a game,” Maria had said, poking the dark red gemstone embedded in his chest. “You will stay here and stand very still. I’ll be back soon!”

So, he had waited. She hadn’t really explained the rules, he had soon realized upon reflection. However, it didn’t matter. He didn’t want to lose. He didn’t want to disappoint. He had to play the game the correct way, even though he knew she would never actually be angry with him.

He was the Ultimate Lifeform, designed to protect and heal. He could do such a simple thing as stay and stand very still. It was child’s play... literally.

He didn’t need food, but he eventually missed the taste and the feeling of being full. Enough time passed that his mouth grew dry and his tongue thick, without water. His muscles ached. He wouldn’t grow sick. He wouldn’t age. He wouldn’t perish like all of the flowers.

He missed their beauty, the rainbow of colors. He missed Maria’s voice, her fond looks, her laugh, everything. He missed the Professor too, because he didn’t appear either. No one appeared. The garden was theirs, him and Maria. The other scientists didn’t know about its existence.

He often wondered if he was playing the game right. Games usually ended before too long. Did he misunderstand something? Surely, it couldn’t hurt to give her a call and check… they could restart with more clarity…

Then, something new happened, finally, just before his decision was set into motion. A screen flickered on and disrupted the emptiness. It revealed a hedgehog with bright green eyes, a peach muzzle, blue quills, and a deep blue gem in his belly, the first face and splash of color that Shadow could feast his eyes upon in an unfathomable amount of time. His jovial voice caressed Shadow’s ears and lit the feeble embers inside of him. He spoke about harmony, about change, about freedom, friendship, and love.

He spoke about Maria Robotnik’s sacrifice to save the Earth.

He was ignorant of Shadow’s rage. He didn’t see Shadow punch the communicator to bits, bellowing with betrayal and agony. Shadow felt he was such a fool to have happily listened and watched her drift away.

The carefree blue idiot would feel Shadow’s fury when he descended to Earth, intent on destroying it. He and his silly little friends took a beating for having been there when Maria had gone on without him. Shadow was halted when he found out from the pink hedgehog that Maria’s greatest wish had been to protect the Earth and that was the purpose Shadow had originally been created to serve. However, the entity Black Doom had wanted to use Professor Robotnik’s resources for the destruction of worlds and later an organization of Earthlings wanted to weaponize his creations.

Shadow deflated into confusion and sorrow.

Sonic held him as he broke down and cried, feeling like a forgotten toy by the one he had loved most. He felt inexplicably safe in Sonic’s arms. He was a near stranger, yet it felt like Shadow was done waiting and had finally come home.

“She wanted you to stay safe,” Sonic reassured warmly. “She didn’t want anything to happen to you, and she probably hoped you’d get the idea and leave on your own, or that she’d be able to return to you when the danger passed. I’m so sorry, Shadow.”

“Thank you... Sonic...”

Perhaps, in time, his love could take a new form.

*

[mostdefinitelyahumanperson]

Lore Bits and HCs for my Magical Girls AU because I have Severe Brain Worsm

under the cut because it's a looooong boi (also not super organised or structured. oOpsie-daisy)

tl;dr : a ragtag found family (they're autistic and trans) find themselves battling space-cops with their newly acquired elemental powers because some autistic robot wanted to LARP as Its favorite anime

Zane

It's an alien-robot thingy from space

Like canon! Zane, It uses an hologram to appear human

Even by alien-robot standard, It's autistic

It became fascinated and enamoured with humans and Magical Girls so much that It revealed Itself to a few humans and gave them elemental abilities to create Its own Magical Girls team (that's what happens when the 'tism wins i guess)

It doesn't care that "Magical Girls" is supposed to be a gendered term 🤷🏼

Revealing Itself to humans is an alien crime, so now It's on the run

Most of the threats the Team fights is literally just alien-robot cops coming after It

Prefers It/Its pronouns, but because bigots use those maliciously, It only uses them with Its close friends. With everyone else, It prefers they/them slightly, but is mostly apathetic

Doesn't know how old It is in Earth year, but knows It's a young adult by Its specie's standard

AroAce, in a queerplatonic relationship with Cole and Kai

Very Tall (6'4'')

Dresses very conservatively, has an impressive collection of beige sweaters. Pants are always clean ??? (weirdo)

Cole

First human turned Magical. Earth powers.

When Zane first arrived on Earth, It was lost and confused, and Cole helped It. That's how they met, and that's why Zane decided Cole has "the pure heart of a Magical Girl"

He was houseless when he first met Zane, they now have an apartment together

He's the oldest (25) and as such fills the role of big brother to the group

Gives very good advice, such as "most crimes are morally correct" and "punch nazis always" and "never talk to cops"

A source of emotional stability for the others, great at co-regulation, very chill

Living happily and healthily, and caring for his community, is his greatest protest

Used to have a shit relationship with his dad, but now it's better, which puts him in the perfect position to support Kai, Nya, and Llorie, who all have shit relationships with their parents

Draws very well, designed all of his tattoos

Tattoos are : Earth Dragon (right arm), Energy Dragon, Water Dragon, Lightning Dragon, Fire Dragon, Ice Dragon (all on left arm), Mountain Landscape (back), White Lily, Music Notes (both over his heart), Piece of Cake (right buttcheek), Pink Crystals (both legs), Mouth with Tongue Out (right inner thigh), there's probably more but I'm out of ideas 🤷🏼

High as a kite 24/7. He uses it as medication for his chronic anxiety and sensory issues

Autistic <3

Special interests include : music history, music theory, just music in general actually, philosophy, baking, geology, and vintage technology, especially retro gaming. he's such a loser <3 (compliment)

Very good baker, makes insane edibles

Dresses punk, but musically prefers prog rock because he's a tasteless nerd (also listens to punk, of course, other types of rock, metal, and some subgenres of dubstep)

Yellow and purple shoelaces

Very Tall (6'2'')

Besties with Nya (mlm and wlw solidarity)

Romantically gay, asexual, transmasc

He was on testosterone for a bit, he no longer is as he is happy with the androgynous in-between he's reached. Doesn't want any kind of surgeries

In a queerplatonic relationship with Zane and a romantic relationship with Kai

Kai

Met Zane through Cole

Got turned Magical because Zane figured he'd enjoy it (It was correct)

Resident Himbo. Not a single thought behind those eyes.

Had started apprenticeship at father's forge, but relational conflicts made him leave

He has a horrible relationship with his father, and *very* mid with his mother

Pays for Nya's college education by participating in a shady underground fight ring, The Slither Pit. wins a lot, makes good money

Also has a successful OnlyFans

Has a bit of a drinking problem, but he's working on it (it used to be much worse)

Autistic and ADHD <3

Special interests include : footwear, hockey, hip-hop, metallurgy, glass art, kinesiology (I don't know, man, he's a sport nerd or whatever), hot peppers and hot sauce

Crop tops, tank tops that show off side boobs, booty shorts, grey sweatpants, high-waisted pants, fire prints, red, varsity jackets. Vaguely retro vibe, with the most 90's hair possible (too much hair gel and frosted tips)

24 years old

5'6''

Bisexual, demi-romantic, transmasc

On testosterone, has had top surgery

In a queerplatonic relationship with Zane and a romantic relationship with Cole

Nya

She got turned Magical because Kai, Jay and Cole nagged Zane non-stop until It agreed to Magic-ify her. Kai was ecstatic when she ended up getting water powers (he thinks sibling having opposite powers is Very Cool™️)

Her initial reaction to the turning was to be fucking pissed. That's her initial reaction to anything that stresses her out. Once she got over the weirdness of the whole some-alien-robot-guy-turned-me-into-a-fuckin-magical-girl thing, she ended up embracing it the most out of all of them, she's practically a vigilante at this point

She can fight even better than Kai, as martial art is one of her favorite way of releasing stress

Along with fixing cars

And since she has a LOT of stress to release, she's very good at both of those things

Special interests include : machines, especially cars (her main one), Journey to the West, Queer history, apes (her favorites are chimpanzees), She-Ra and He-Man

Autistic <3

High-masking. It's giving her autistic burnout, so she's been trying really hard to learn to unmask. Her friendship with Cole and relationship with Jay play a big role in her unmasking journey, as they show to her that she can be safe and secure while being herself

Burned out, but she won't let herself rest :/

She's a double-major, engineering and gender studies

She has a terrible relationship with her mother, and very mid relationship with her father

Besties with Cole (wlw and mlm solidarity)

They have similar taste in music (rock, prog, punk, metal). They like shopping for vinyls together

She's a coffee snob. Annoying about it.

Really sappy cheesy lovey-dovey when alone with Jay, but more friend-like when they're with other people (she doesn't like broadcasting her softer side to the world)

Cargo pants, muscle tees, tank tops, leather jackets, distressed denim, steel-toed boots, army surplus, navy blue, army green, black and grey, camo print

Hair up in ponytail or bun always, for sensory reasons

22 years old

5'8''

Butch bi-lesbian trans woman

On estrogen and progesterone, doesn't want surgeries

In a romantic relationship with Jay

Jay

Zane turned spark Magical because spark was infodumping about anime and how much spark'd love to have cool powers

Is the only one on the team who can fly, Zane has no idea how that happened

Cannot stand still, cannot shut up. the AuDHD is strong with this one

Special interests include Sci-Fi, especially space stuff, Starfarer being spark absolute favorite franchise, Magical Girls anime, anime in general actually, machines, video games, snakes, chicken husbandry, animation

Engineering major. That's how spark met Nya

Wanted to also major in theater, but a double-major was way to much for spark

Is in an improv team instead, as a hobie

Spark's a very talented drag performer. makes costumes sparkself. Drag-sona is a genderless alien named Zap, uses zap/zapself pronouns

Favorite music genre is ~computer noises~

Drinks way too much pink monster. Collects limited edition cans

Has not only accepted, but embraced the cringe 😌

A furry, made spark's fursuit. Cole drew the design

Dresses like if arcade carpeting and techno-unicorn had a baby

23 years old

5'4''

Panromantic, demi-sexual

In a romantic relationship with Nya

Llorie

She's the baby of the group. She got turned because Zane needed a "chosen one" for Its fantasy scenario

She's not *actually* chosen for anything, but she plays along because she's just happy to be here

Going through the Magical Girl transformation SHATTERED her egg

She graduated from Darkley's, an expensive boys-only boarding school. She's just starting college, majoring in (uuh, I don't know yet. Is veterinary a major ??? I've never been to school.)

When in her magical form, she has non-human features, such as golden horns, fangs, a green scaly tail, pointy ears, and claws

Dysphoria hoodie, always. She's had it since she was 10 (it's running small, but she's very emotionally attached to it)

Her parents are both stinking rich, and emotionally neglectful. Her dad is a weapon magnate, her mom's a world renowned archeologist (that's a plot hole. archeologists aren't usually stinking rich ??? whatev's). They stuck her in Darkley's and pretty much forgot about her. She hasn't come out to them yet, but she's out to her uncle Wu, who was the only family member actually there for her throughout her life

She's autistic <3

She met the group because Nya can spot a baby trans from a mile away, and immediately entered big sister mode. Nya's been helping her navigate the early stages of transition, offered her an understanding ear, gave her advice. They're practically sisters at this point. Naturally, the rest of the group also adopted Llorie.

Special interest include Starfarer (duh), plushies, fishes, especially sharks, mythology/legends/folklore/fairytales

*skirt goes spinny*

18 years old

5'2'' (she's itty-bitty)

She's still trying to figure out her sexuality, but she highly suspects she's on the aro and ace spectrums. Trans girl.

[writer652]

Pluto: Once I destroy you, I will be the Greatest Robot on Earth!

Astro: You know, that's more of a nickname rather than an actual title, so there's no reason to-- (dodges a punch from Pluto) Whoah!