#Heavy Metal References

[gear-project]

I am not sure if this was answered before, but I wanted to ask: originally, Ky used to have difficulties with his hair because it grows rapidly ( if I am right ), but in Strive, he managed to keep it short. So, do those with Gear Cells have control over EVERY part of their body and physiology like being able to control the length of their hair? Or does Ky use a special method to prevent it from regrowing?

Most likely he just got a recent haircut at the time of Strive's events... I'm sure Ky has to get haircuts more frequently now than ever before... It's probably a growing concern for most Gears, actually.

Well, at least it keeps the Barbers and Hair Stylists in business...

(It's also a reference to the film HAIR, which is a Pseudo-Rock Opera.)

[gear-project]

The Zepp stage has existed since Guilty Gear X, and in the original game it had an Orange Sunset Sky.

On occasion, besides Potemkin and Faust, this was also Robo-Ky's stage (ironic considering it is technically a Junkyard).

And of course, the floating Zeppelin in the background is a reference to the BAND Led Zeppelin!

“Zepp” from Guilty Gear XX #Reload (Arc System Works/2003)

[nevvn]

saw a wizard meme and thought hm. what if it was solomon.

[pseudokap]

Family Reunion My second artwork for the Apotheosis Zine! (account here) (art rambling + mild apotheosis spoilers below)

(i wrote this out on a google doc) Ohohoho i have a lot to say for this piece! It’s is inspired by the fight between Thanatos and his siblings: Yuri, Arboth (on the left) and Ranar (on the right) from episode 9 I took inspiration from the painting that saved Yuri, which was described as depicting a lone sunflower on a hill. The composition frames Yuri as the sunflower itself with the orange rectangle representing the frame of a painting. The sunflower shape circles her head like a halo (because holy family y’know). There are also petal-like patterns in her hair, which I thought looked nice. Also the sunflower forms the pupil of an eye, which can be interpreted as either Exandroth (and his sort of familial relation to Thanny as his creator) or the other gods Arboth and Ranar’s eyes are red, for possession by the blights. Or something. Also Yuri is crying because, well I’d be sad if I had to fight my brother because I got possessed by a god. There really was still a part of her in there, even if she was just a vessel. I took some creative liberties on my Thanatos design because it looked cool and I also couldn’t figure out some of his armor in the official design:( well, the armor has feather-like components now. I guess. Everything is scratched because he’s fought A Lot and there’s no way the armor is Not Absolutely Wrecked to an extent. I actually had a ton of fun shading his armor! Other neat things: - The contrast of the holy family’s white clothing (typically representing good) vs Thanatos’s black armor (typically representing evil). Obviously Thanatos is one of the protagonists in this story, so in this case we’re going against the “typical” - Pure white is only used in Thanatos and Yuri’s eyes, intended to draw attention to their faces I’m very happy with this piece, especially Thanatos’s armor and axe! There’s a lot of ways to interpret this and parts that I can’t find the words to explain.

[quiverymango]

Y'know what? Screw it...[WoF-ifies your Fiddlestan]

[nessiandefenseattorney]

I wanna know where all the metalhead acotar fans are at because I’m starting to get the feeling like I’m the only one😭

If you are an acotar metalhead fan please show yourselves my blog is a safe space for you pookie

[beatcroc]

Thoughts on the incident?

[its-not-a-pen]

Hot take but if i was the first emperor of china going though my midlife crisis and desperate to make a vainglorious display of power to stave off the terrible inevitability of death, i would simply commission more statues of my servants and officials, artesians and concubines in excruciating detail so two thousand years in the future, random tumblr artists would not have to frantically trawl the internet at 2am, searching variations of “eunuch hat qin/han dynasty“ in english AND chinese. Hope youre having fun in the afterlife with your 8000 himbos and no one to do your laundry or paperwork, idiot.

[burtonclifford83]

😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎 those little yellow guys are me! 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

[metalcorebarbie]

please sir who are you (rebranding jumpscared me)

KJHESFSEDFM i was dontneedmyheart

[divinequo]

Just heavy growing more and more like his mother everyday<3

Translation: (I think??)

Heavy: "oh yeah let's build a bomb, it'll be so much fun!"

Or

Heavy: "oh yeah let's do that, it'll be so much fun!"

(also heavy with freckles?? Question mark??)

[gear-project]

A.B.A. (Possible References)

Before I forget:

A.B.A. Band References (from her current Movelist) (Note: this is just a vague list based on Encyopaedia Metallum, just as reference.)

Jealous Rage:

Jealous (U.K. Heavy Metal Band) Jealous Heart (German Melodic Heavy Metal/Hard Rock) Jealous Wild (Japanese Heavy Metal Band/Hard Rock)

Bonding and Dissolving:

The Bonding (Song by Edenbridge) Criminal Bonding (Song by Stonehurst) Dissolving (Song by Cruor Deum) Dissolving (Single by Doom Rot) Dissolving (Full Length Song by Et Moriemur) Dissolving (by Eucharist) Dissolving (Demo by Shotgun Blast) Dissolving (Full Length song by Suffokate) Eluding, Dissolving (Autumn's Kingdom) etc etc… look it up.

Changing and Swaying:

Changing (Condition Red, Decline, Flood of Ages, Force, Mad Mav, Prospect, Seven7, Silent Nightmare, Tvnalad, Witch, etc) Swaying (Sancnity) (there's other derivatives)

Haul and Heed

Haul/Havl (Black Metal Band) Haul Wind (Folk Power Metal) Keelhaul (Progressive Stoner/Sludge Metal) Haul (songs by Jumalhämärä, Rågbröder, Sahrana, Demo by Defleshed etc) Heed (Echoes of Solitude, Oblivion, Psilocybe, The Right Wing Conspiracy Heed is also a Power Metal Band out of Sweden

Intertwine and Tilt

Intertwine (song by Magistina Saga, Serpents Rise, The Third Grade)

Tilt (Japanese Metal Band later known for Hard Rock) Tilt (U.K. Band for Melodic Heavy Metal) Tilt (U.S. Heavy Metal Band) Tilt-X (Progressive/Melodic/Thrash) Full Tilt (Hard Rock/Metal, based in U.S.) Shock Tilt (Heavy Metal out of Finland)

Menace and Groan

Menace (Groove Metal Rock Band out of Argentina) Menace (Thrash Metal out of Brazil)

Groan (Doom/Progressive Metal out of Poland) Groan (Stoner Metal out of the U.K.) Grone (Death Metal U.S. Band)

Frenzy and Astonishment

Frenzy (Heavy Metal out of Spain) Frenzy (Death Thrash Metal out of U.S.) Astonishment (songs by Mortify, Mutexide, Neka, Newton's Cradle)

Judgement and Sentiment

Judgement (Power Metal Band out of Brazil, Finland, Serbia, U.K. and other places also Canada) Sentiment (another band out of Finland)

The Law is Key, Key is King

Guilty's Law (Japan) Odin's Law (Canada) Moshing da Law (Argentina) Lawbringer (U.S.) Broken Law (Germany) etc etc

Key is a Heavy Metal Band in the U.S. Key is also a Demo by 612 Sacrifices

King has too many song references to narrow down.

Keeper of the Key Compilation by the band Pokket Foxx

Aside the ABBA reference that's obvious If you want to search yourself go here.

[werewolfstonertboy]

Indigo, drummer of Drowning Machine! They’re a non-binary butch lesbian who goes by any pronouns but tend to prefer they/them. They love technical thrash metal and their favorite bands are Hazzerd, Znöwhite, and Megadeth. Also of note, they’re nonverbal and communicate in Morse code through their drums with their band mates (hi hat for shorts, bass drum for longs, and tom drum to break up letters), and use a notepad and pen for talking to others, but they don’t yet know sign language.

[ask-thearchivists]

Hey would the 4 of you mind rating these songs from 1-10? With 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. Because I wanna know what music you prefer.

(This all based solely off the preview that spotify is giving me)

The Coordinator: I am going to pretend I know how you made those noises with your mouth. In order it's 3, 7, 4, 7.

The Charmer: I think for me it's 6, 8, 3, and 5.

The Cartographer: I don't know? 1, 5, 4, 3?

The Curator: I don't know what you're all talking about that first song is an 8. And then 5, 5, 5.

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Iron Maiden - Man on the Edge

[generic-sonic-fan]

Old Time's Sake

Summary: The robot once known as "Metal Sonic" attempts to ask Amy Rose for a favor.

TW: suicidal thoughts

---

It crashed into a pot of petunias on the porch, ceramic shattering against the wooden panels of the house. Shredded pink blossoms settled against purple, yellow, and blue plating, only to be shaken off by the onslaught of shudders that battered its frame. 

Neo pulled itself to the door just as the knob twisted from the other side. Amy Rose stared down.

“Metal? Oh my goodness, you look- what happened?”

It grasped the frame of the door and pulled itself upright.

“No, it’s okay, stay right there. Or actually, I’ll bring you in!”

Amy Rose grabbed its arms and pulled it through the door. It simulated her gripping hard enough to damage its plating. A reprimand shot down its spinal strut response. She did not lose or even tighten her grip, however, as she led it to her couch.

She sat it down. “Stay here. You’re going to be okay. I’ll get Tails on the phone and he’ll make you right as rain!”

The name switched its self-preservation programming from hostile to cooperative. Calling Miles “Tails” Prower would result in Sonic’s arrival, so it must not allow Amy Rose to reach her cell phone, so it must attack her, and she would summon her hammer and then-

It lept off the couch and embedded its claws into her shoulders. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open to match the exact ratios of panic it had recorded from her on Little Planet. In an instant, her hammer was in her hand.

The force dented its torso plating. It crashed into a wall. It waited for more blows, simulated the damage from other instances in which she’d demolished Badniks, anticipated, anticipated. It looked at her to find her stationary despite her vitals being elevated beyond even what might be registered in ordinary combat.

It pulled itself out of the wall and approached.

“What is going on with you?”

It scratched at her, but only pierced air as she stepped away.

“Would you stop that? I can’t help you if you’re going to attack me!”

Neo recalled her being more intelligent than this. It pointed to her hammer, then pointed to its own frame. 

Her panic unfroze and dripped down to a facial expression that would be unrecognizable if it were not for the events of the past two weeks. It was an expression of Sonic towards hurt Flickies. Of a young “Rosie” uncovering a broken robot on a snowy day. 

Her hammer disappeared. “You want me to hurt you?”

Neo gave an affirmative ping before the shudder of a reprimand could stop it.

“No. I’m not going to.”

It lunged forward, piercing the skin of her arm, the tips of its claws coming away with blood.

“I’m not going to hurt you!” Amy Rose shouted. “Don’t do that again or I’ll call Sonic!”

Neo froze.

“Not that I don’t think I can smash you to pieces myself, but that I don’t want to. Tails tells me that you’re not working for Eggman anymore.”

That was the point. Without Dr. Ivo Robotnik’s interference, Neo was without purpose. Neo should be destroyed. Neo should be destroyed. Neo should be-

“Did you ever want to work for him in the first place?”

Neo looked at her.

“Did I. . . make a mistake, that one time in the snow?”

It lowered its gaze.

“Because you just seemed so sad, sitting abandoned there. Like you’d given up.”

It could not feel ‘sadness’. It could hardly recall the memory file; data input from that time had been minimized to best preserve power. It had been out of standby mode for only a minute, knocked back into active mode when she had saved it from the path of the falling tree. 

And it could not give up. Its prime core directive demanded as much. The reminder triggered reprimands, and a shudder up its neck joint rattled it out of the memory. 

“Here, can you write?” Amy Rose retrieved a pencil and pad of paper from a table at the end of the couch. “Let’s sit down so that you can tell me what’s going on instead of barging in and being rude.”

It shook its head.

“Then I’ll go get my phone so you can type.” 

She walked backwards, keeping her eyes fixed on its frame until she slipped behind a door. She returned with her cellular device, cased in pink with charms dangling from the corner. She unlocked the screen and extended the device in its direction.

“You’re either telling me what’s going on or you’re leaving.” She said.

Neo took the phone and typed, “this unit cannot give up.”

“Seems like that’s what you’re doing right now, huh?” She smiled with only half of her mouth. “Back then, I just couldn’t leave you there to die. Or deactivate, I guess. I thought at the time that you might miss Eggman. He gave you more headpats back then.”

“This unit did not wish to be left there.” To fade into nothing. It could not be nothing.

“But did you want to go back to Eggman?”

“No other beneficial course of action.”

“I could have brought you to Tails.”

“The result would have been deactivation.”

“He could have reprogrammed you, like he did just now.”

“Exposure to Tails increases likelihood of exposure to Sonic by 94%. Deactivation would have followed.”

“That’s not true.”

“Negative. This unit-”

She did not wait for it to finish typing. “That’s not true. Sonic isn’t just some bloodthirsty monster out to get you. He just wants to protect people. Every time he beat you up it’s because you did something to deserve it.”

“Define: ‘something to deserve it’.”

“You don’t know what you did wrong? I thought you wanted to be good now.”

“Define: ‘good’.” Neo stepped forward. “Define: ‘good’.”

“Good! As in, not hurting people!” Amy Rose pointed to the scratches on her arm. “Or kidnapping them!”

“67% of this unit’s missions did not involve hurting or kidnapping sentient organics.”

“Or animals! Not hurting or killing plants and animals either. Really, it’s not that hard and you missed the bar. That’s why Sonic fought you so often.”

“24% of all encounters with Sonic the Hedgehog did not involve other organic beings.”

“Because he knew that you were going out to hurt people, or to help Eggman get things to hurt people with.”

“Why did you return this unit to Dr. Ivo Robotnik?”

“I-” Amy Rose held her breath for two seconds. She directed her gaze to Neo’s foot plating. “Because I thought it was where you’d be happiest.”

“Incomprehensible. Elaborate.”

“Did you like it, when you kidnapped me?”

Neo was prepared to repeat its prior statement before its optics swiveled to the same angle as Amy Rose’s. It stared down at its body, the remains of lines and hues of purple, shaped in a way that it did indeed ‘like’. And it compared the sensation to that of returning to Dr. Ivo Robotnik’s lair with the then-little girl in hand. 

It remembered depositing her in the cell, before turning to meet its creator. It remembered a soft hand on its forehead plating. It remembered his words.

“Excellent work, my finest creation!”

Even the review of this piece of data in its memory banks brought an echo of euphoria in its processor. That it was once finest. That it once completed excellent work.

“Yes.” Neo answered. “This unit liked when Dr. Ivo Robotnik praised it.”

“But did you like seeing me afraid? Did that make you laugh or make you happy?” Amy Rose asked.

“That data was irrelevant.”

“And did you like hurting animals?”

“That data was irrelevant.” 

“And do you like hurting Sonic, or do you just want to be praised for it?”

Neo generated fifteen different responses, but only five made grammatical sense and of those, three were non-sequiturs and the other two were objectively false. 

“That’s what I thought.” Amy Rose said.

“This unit must destroy Sonic.” It snapped. “If it cannot destroy Sonic, then it must cease existing.”

“You don’t have to do either. You really don’t. I know you will never believe me. . . but you don’t.” Amy Rose stepped forward. She then sighed, before gesturing further into her house. “Follow me.”

Neo followed her past her main living area and into a room covered in decorative scraps affixed to the walls with a bed against the far wall. She opened the door to the closet and retrieved a roll of red ribbon. She retrieved scissors and snipped a scrap off the end. She then manipulated the scrap into a bow knot, before turning to face Neo.

“Here. This is the ribbon I gave you that day. I’m giving it back to you.”

This was not the ribbon that Amy Rose gave it the day she returned it to Dr. Ivo Robotnik. Dr. Ivo Robotnik had seized the fabric and thrown it into the incinerator before Neo had shut down for repair. This new ribbon was, however, of the exact same color and material composition ratio as the previous, suggesting that this roll of ribbon was the common origin of the two. 

“This time, though, you get to choose what to do with yourself. You get to go wherever you’re happiest.”

“Even if this unit is happiest when determining how to destroy Sonic?”

“If that’s where you are happiest, then I’ll beat the crap out of you with this.” She summoned her hammer again. “Because I am happiest when I’m making sure my friends aren’t getting hurt.”

“And if it is unknown where this unit is happiest?”

“Then keep going until you figure it out.” Amy Rose deposited the ribbon into its hand. 

She clasped her palm against its fingers. It loosened its joints, allowing her to curl its fingers around the fabric. She then let go. 

“You should go.” She pointed to the door. “You don’t want to be here, and I don’t want you here.”

Neo cocked its head. 

“Because I’m still really mad at you.” She gripped her hammer tighter. “But that’s something we can talk about when you figure out if you want to be better or not.”

Her statement was illogical. If she was mad at it, then she would not be giving it a gift. It could not understand. But it could understand her command, so it left her bedroom, walked through her living area, and passed through the exterior door of her house.

The door shut, and it heard two locking mechanisms engage behind it. 

Neo stood in the darkness looking at the bow in its hand.