#I HAVE THOSE POLLS AND EVERYTHING BRO i should catch up on those

[sea-jello]

every day i live knowing i will never get australian boyf riends content

[lionheartkrbkzine]

Lionheart’s Interactive KiriBaku Twitter Thread

Pro Heroes, Bed-Sharing, Fake Dating, Quirk Accident

Rating: T (for swearing & canon-typical violence)

At the end of each Twitter update was an overnight poll where our followers got to decide the direction of the plot or details about story elements!

Feel free to reply with your thoughts, predictions, or desires, and Head Mod ET and Social Media Mod Belle will do our best to incorporate your ideas! This is a thank you and a way for us all to collaborate together until application responses are sent out on April 5th.

🧡❤️💥⚙️💥❤️🧡

Three buildings were on fire, and it wasn’t Bakugou’s fault.

Blackened smokestacks billowed above the Tokyo cityscape as he and Kirishima raced toward the scene. Bakugou took to the skies while his partner swerved between sedans and work trucks parked bumper-to-bumper on the roadway. Bakugou’s boots skid on the rough gravel of rooftops as he blasted from one to the next, his scorching propellant warping the air behind him, leaving trails of Schlieren lines in his wake.

He crouched on the edge of a four-story building above the battle, glimpses of a hero battle raging beneath the haze of ash and concrete dust. Heroes with water-based quirks tried and failed to mitigate the damage of six gangly beams of red-hot light.

“Riot, you got eyes?” he asked into his earpiece.

“Not directly on the prize, but I’m getting intel now! Are you seeing how the beams flicker in and out?”

“Yeah. Probably low level of quirk control or erratic mentality. Or both.”

“The team leader on the ground says the villain’s in a donut hole of concrete. Rubble’s piled up on all sides, so no one can get to him.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Amateurs.” The villain probably got himself cornered in a pit of fallen debris and figured he could wait it out or cause enough damage to try to make a run for it. “Shock Diamond, then.”

“Now?! Finally?! Hell yeah, let's go!"

Bakugou felt the heat of the lasers as one shaved the side of his building. He sneered at the heroes doing a piss-poor job of containment and checked behind him for the extent of the damage. A singed line gouged into the wall of a parking garage, but it stopped with a blunted tip before it speared the next building. The lasers didn’t seem to work like Aoyama’s — they could only extend so far.

Not made out of light, then. Kiri will be fine.

Not that he was worried about his partner. Kirishima could handle himself.

Even if Bakugou did pack the idiot a lunch every day and nudge him to go to bed when he fell asleep on the couch. And bought him cold medicine when he stayed out late walking Mirko’s seventy-eight-year-old receptionist home on dark, rainy nights. And bleached and dyed his roots when they started growing out.

But he wasn’t worried. The fact that the beams must be a form of slow-moving energy just gave them a tactical advantage. It had nothing to do with the fact that Kirishima’s hardening was more sensitive to concentrated light attacks yet the hero would bulldoze his way in front of them anyway.

The idiot’s voice rang through Bakugou’s earpiece. “Greenlight, Dynamight!”

“No matter how many times you say it, the rhyme doesn’t get any catchier.” Like a swimmer, he gripped the edge of the roof, rose halfway from his crouch, and dove into the pool of ash and smoke head-first. 

Catching the current mid-air, he soared closer to where Kirishima was probably charging into the fray. Bakugou used the familiar shock of red hair as his signal and dropped feet-first, sending down a counterblast to stick the landing. 

As Dynamight set himself up directly behind Red Riot, they charged the villain in a single-file line. 

Without missing a beat, Kirishima extended his arms behind him at the same time Bakugou pushed his chest into the other man’s back. Kirishima’s arms locked onto Bakugou’s sides.

Bakugou tucked his chin, extended his hands behind him, and sent out a blinding explosion.

They rocketed forward — an unbreakable wall and a ballistic force. The perfect offense and defense. Explosion and Hardening. 

Dynamight and Red Riot: Shock Diamond.

As they smashed through the rubble, the devastating strength of Red Riot’s quirk wracked through Bakugou’s body, but Kirishima held him tightly against his back. The shock waves cleared from Bakugou’s spine, and he jumped into the rapidly-clearing fog of smoke and dust.

His eyes widened. He whipped his head from side to side. He stopped, listened.

The pit was empty.

Meeting his partner’s eyes, Bakugou could only think of one thing to say. “What the fuck?!”

But Red Riot was similarly dumbfounded, his brows furrowed and jaw hanging slack, glancing around the center of the crater.

Bakugou kicked at a fallen pebble, its mere presence offensive in the heat of his frustration. 

“Dynamight! Red Riot!” An aged hero with a sky blue costume ran toward them, waving his arms in ridiculous circles and spraying arcs of water through the air. “Good work out there!”

“We didn’t do shit! We just busted through a wall!”

"What Bakugou means to say is 'thank you', sir!”

“Well, the guy’s a problem for tomorrow’s heroes now. I’ve sent a team to scout the perimeter, and the police have his mugshot and quirk info. Another group is putting out the last of the fires. We’re lucky it’s a weekend — no one in those office buildings meant no casualties.” The older hero jiggled and sloshed as he rested his hands on his service belt, the edges of his existence just barely see-through as his costume molded to his mutation quirk. “For now, we need you two to handle some of the media coverage while we start to get a section of road opened back up.”

“No problem! Leave it to us!”

Flubber strode off, his boots leaving wet footprints on the asphalt.

Bakugou turned to his partner. “No.”

"Hey— where are you going?! You can't just leave the press to me all the time!"

Huffing, Bakugou slipped through an unblocked alleyway, brushing concrete crumbs off his shoulders as he took deep breaths. Normally he would feel some semblance of guilt about leaving a crime scene or abandoning Kirishima to fend off the harpies on his own, but the villain did escape. Bakugou might as well join the search of the perimeter.

A sharp scream had his feet slapping the pavement before his brain caught up.

Rounding the corner of an office park, the street opened up to allow for a municipal park one block long and one wide. Amidst swing sets and jungle gyms stood a proud maple tree. In one of its branches clung a girl no more than six years old.

Below her, a group of parents huddled in a crescent moon around the trunk, some gawking, some enjoying the entertainment, and others consoling one woman in the center of it all. Bakugou made a beeline for her.

She jumped at the hulking form of a grenade-adorned hero. He never tried very hard to work on his public image.

“Oh, Dynamight.” The whites of the woman’s eyes gaped in surprise, and she looked back and forth between the imposing hero and the girl high up in the tree. “She just— She feels more secure when she’s up high, and she got scared by all the noise and the lights, so she climbed into the tree, but now she can’t get back down and she’s too high for me to reach her, and I can’t climb up—”

“Stop.” The woman snapped her teeth closed with a click. “I’ll get her down.”

She didn’t look especially reassured. Shit. What would Kirishima do? Probably flash a smile and bang his fists together or some other cute-ass Kirishima-ism. Bakugou gave her a closed-mouth smile and a stiff pat on the shoulder instead. That’ll do.

Grasping a branch with one hand and placing the flat of his boot on the trunk, he hoisted himself into the tree. He climbed higher and higher, wary of the thinning branches. When he couldn’t fit on the remaining limbs, he lifted his arms out for the girl.

“C’mon, I’ll take you back to your mom.” His voice was soft, low, and practiced. The girl eyed him warily, but after catching a glimpse of her mom below, shuffled into Bakugou’s hold. “Good job. Just hold on to me like you did to the branch, okay?”

She nodded against his shoulder, and he began his climb back down.

“What’s your name?”

“Matatabi,” she mumbled.

“What were you doin’ that high up?”

“Wanted to catch it.”

He frowned, wondering what it was, but they had reached the bottom and he had reached his patience quota for the day. Especially when the girl threw a fit in his arms, hissing and wiggling, and pushing and scratching at him. “Oi!” He dropped her, and she scurried to her mom, leaving him with whiplash and three welts on his bicep.

“Oh. Oh, dear.” The mother looked like she was about to confess to murder. Great. “Did she scratch you?”

No shit. “Yes, but it’s completely understandable.”

“Ah, awe, thank you—” at least he got a smile out of that one “—but, um, there may be a bit of an issue?” Of course there is. “She seems to activate her quirk when she scratches or bites.” She grimaced, floundering for her next words.

He took a deep breath. It wasn’t the kid’s fault. “It’s fine. What should I expect with the effects?”

“Um. Cat?”

He blinked. “Cat?”

She nodded. “Cat.”

“Dynamight!”

They both looked up then to Red Riot’s jogging figure, dust and cement billowing behind his ass cape. 

“Everything alri-oh.” Kirishima was staring somewhere above Bakugou’s forehead, his mouth formed in the perfect ‘O’ shape.

“What are you looking at?!”

“Ears.”

Bakugou’s stomach fell into his butt. “What?”

“Bro… ears. You have… ears.”

“No.”

“Dude they look so soft.” Slow hands lifted higher and higher, above Bakugou’s face up to the top of his head. “Can I just—”

Bakugou slapped his hands away. “Don’t you dare,” he hissed.

Kirishima chortled— chortled! — and turned to the mother of the tree climbing, cat nabbing daughter.

Bakugou watched the exchange with clenched fists.

“I’m so sorry!” She bowed low, almost tipping her kid onto the ground. “Is she in trouble?”

“No, no!” Kirishima smiled at them. They seeped into it like a warm blanket on a cold day. “We’ll just get your contact information in case we have any further questions about the quirk—”

A sharp pain stung both of Bakugou’s palms. He hissed and checked his hands, tuning out the rest of Kirishima’s mediation.

Claws. He had ears and claws.

Well, at least he had another weapon now — that was pretty cool, actually. As soon as the thought passed through his head, the claws retracted into his nail beds, leaving behind his normal, blunt nails.

He felt his ears droop to the side of his head.

“So… do you want to head back to the agency?”

He looked up at his partner, giving him his best baleful glare with the ears and all. Kirishima just snorted. “There’s no way in Hell I’m going back there like this.”

“Awe, but you could be our new office mascot.” He reached forward to pet Bakugou’s ear again. He was unsuccessful. “Alright, alright,” he laughed, pulling out his phone, “let’s call Mirko and get our next orders, then.” The ringer blasted loud and clear, Kirishima holding his phone in selfie-mode.

“You little shit! She doesn’t need to see!”

They played a game of impromptu tag until their boss picked up. She, of course, immediately burst into guffaws of laughter. 

Bakugou was so ready for today to be over.

“Hey, boss! What, uh— What do you suggest we do here with uh, Cat...kugou?”

“I’ll kill you,” he whispered.

“Hell if I know, I’ve never needed flea prevention.” Bakugou balked. “Take him to the vet, I guess!”

“Yessir!” Kirishima hung up before Bakugou could even process the words that just came out of his boss’s mouth.

“I am not—” he huffed “—going—” huff “—to the fucking VET!”

🧡❤️💥⚙️💥❤️🧡

If All Might himself had told Bakugou that hero life would involve sitting on a metal exam table in a veterinarian’s office, he wouldn’t believe a word of it. Not because it was impossible. Just because Bakugou would never get himself into that kind of situation.

He craned his neck back, glaring at his reflection in the operating mirror hanging from the ceiling. Two ash blond ears twitched back at him.

He sighed, crossing his arms and adjusting his seat on the hard metal. If I grow a tail, I’m gonna scream.

After what felt like hours of waiting, twitching, and reading pamphlets about “What to do if you have a fat cat,” the vet finally strode through the door, Kirishima hot on her heels.

She turned, frowning. “Oh, I’m so sorry — I know you’re hero partners, but technically the exam room is family only."

Bakugou’s eyes flicked to Kirishima. His partner met his desperate glare head-on.

[llantano]

Turning Leaves, 7. What We Need To Cling To

Dorian listened to the quiet house after David left. David had gone to find out what Viki was doing that gave her such an advantage in the polls. Dorian wasn't sure where the rest of her family was.

She tried to entertain herself with keeping busy for a while but there was nothing distracting enough to keep her attention. She was standing alone in the middle of the sitting room with a cup of warm coffee between her palms when she realized she had an opportunity to visit Shaun.

She abandoned the drink in the foyer as she changed into a buttoned jacket and grabbed her purse.

The hospital was cool and sterile and her shoes had soles that did not click against the hard floors. She did not want to draw attention to her visit. She smiled amicably to each nurse she passed in the hall as they nodded to her on their way to take care of whatever task was at hand.

She watched them to be sure they didn't look overwhelmed as she continued with hesitance to an open visitor area and read each room number on the sides of the doors. She had reached the door she was looking for when someone stepped out of it and turned to her.

"Dorian Lord?" the middle-aged African-American woman, who was wearing a homemade shawl, bit with a disapproving tone. Dorian could see the family resemblance she held with her children.

Dorian stepped toward her, swallowing as she offered an apologetic smile. "Mrs. Evans?"

Mrs. Evans sighed at her, frowning, with nothing to say. Dorian's jewelry seemed to catch her eye for a moment, but not in a good way.

Dorian extended her hand. "Shaun always told me such wonderful things. And we're so glad to have Dr. Evans on staff here in Llanview."

Mrs. Evans crossed her arms and kept her gaze fixed on the other woman, leaving Dorian standing in an awkward position with her hand outstretched.

In a brief instant, a taller man appeared out of the hospital room and reached forward from behind Mrs. Evans, grasping Dorian's hand. "Doctor Lord?" he asked in a pleasant voice.

"Mr. Evans?" she asked, nodding to him as she shook his hand, relieved to find someone pleasant and reasonable.

"Richard," he told her as he put each of his hands on his wife's shoulders. "I see you met my wife, Phylicia."

"Yes," Dorian confirmed to him, smiling and shifting her feet, uncomfortable. "I was just about to tell her what a wonderful family you have."

Mrs. Evans glared at her. "Did you come to offer your condolences, or to apologize?"

Dorian eyed her, confused by her attitude. She looked at Shaun's father and then back at his mother. "Actually," she answered in as sweet and humble a tone as she could muster, "I was hoping to speak to Shaun."

They all three turned and looked in the doorway at her comatose ex-employee.

"He's indisposed at the moment," Mrs. Evans bit.

Her husband started to speak – to offer some word to sway her – but Dorian interrupted.

"Mrs. Evans, I would really appreciate it if you would just let me have a minute with him. As a mother, I deeply identify with what you are going through right now, and I understand your feelings about all this," she insisted. "Shaun was always very good to me, and I was often unappreciative, but I am absolutely devastated that this happened to him – and that not only was he hurt in my home, but it was while he was trying to protect my family." She interlaced her fingers backwards, holding her palms to the middle of her chest as she gazed at Mrs. Evans, her eyes pleading for understanding.

"He was willing to risk his life for your family," Mrs. Evans informed her, "And you fired him from probably the best job he ever had." Her angry words revealed her pain. "He loved working with your family, and I always felt he was safe with you." She shook her head as she spoke, her words heated and emotional. "And even after you fired him, he was STILL willing to lay his life down for you all."

"I know," Dorian whispered to her in apology. "And I'd like to thank him for that," she said, her inflection sounding like a question, keeping check on her own emotions and measuring her breath.

Mr. Evans guided his wife toward the waiting area, nodding at Dorian.

Dorian watched them until they were seated and then turned back to Shaun, stepping into his room a little bit at a time, trying to wrap her mind around him as she crept to his bedside. She had seen hundreds of patients like this before – some she knew personally and some she didn't – but Shaun intruded on her emotional stamina. He looked so vulnerable and so quiet. His face, his body, and his features were clearly Shaun. His lack of strength and lack of passion were not.

She leaned over him to speak to him at a more intimate level. "Shaun?" she whispered. She offered him a quiet explanation. "Listen, I know I might be the last person you want to hear from right now, but I just wanted to tell you…."

She paused and looked around, locating a chair, which she pulled close to him and sat in, picking up his large hand and holding it in a soft embrace between both of hers as she spoke from her heart. "I just wanted to tell you how much … I appreciate you, and how much … I want you to wake up, Shaun." She turned and looked over her shoulder, toward his parents. "Wouldn't you like to see Starr and Hope again? I know they'd like to thank you."

She sighed and sat with him in thought for a moment before speaking again. "Listen, I know your brother blames himself for this situation you're in … and most people are blaming Mayor Lowell for everything that happened – and he should be blamed," Dorian nodded, frowning. "But I don't think any of this would ever have happened if I hadn't worked for that … " she sighed before snarling, "… low-down, wretched … S.O.B." She looked around again to assure herself that she was alone with Shaun.

She clutched Shaun's hand and looked at him with all her sympathy. "You see, he knew where to find Hope and Starr, and I'm the one who told him Cole was undercover. So no matter what anyone else comes in here and tells you…." She took a deep breath. "It's all on me." She placed his hand back on the bed and straightened and smoothed his covers.

"The part of the whole situation that is even more detestable is that you were working for …Todd… when you were shot," she told him as she worked. She stood in place and furrowed her brows as a pang pierced her chest. "I'm just so glad you were there, Shaun," she whispered to him, sitting back down and leaning on the edge of his bed as she touched his arm.

"You can not imagine how relieved I was when I heard you were going to be alright," she smiled through sadness, tearing up. "We were all so traumatized … I saw the blood in the foyer … you lost a lot of blood." She shook her head and sniffled, trying to get ahold of herself as she forced herself to keep smiling.

The tears in her eyes did not let up, though she continued to succeed in holding them back. "And then when I found out you were in a coma, oh, god, my heart just felt like lead. You of all people … you don't deserve this. Your family doesn't deserve this. … And frankly, Shaun," she smiled through the tears she was managing to keep in her eyes, "I miss you like crazy." Her smile was genuine. "It's true. La Boulaie isn't the same without you there."

Again, she sat in silence with him, thinking. She took a deep, refreshing breath, clearing the sadness in her eyes.

"On the day I fired you, you were the only person who stopped to notice how I was feeling. I mean, other people knew I was angry – but you knew I was hurting, and you dealt with me … delicately. As much as I would let you. I was terribly ungrateful that day. And the next morning, when I realized what had happened – what I'd done – I didn't feel like there was anything I could do to fix it." She rubbed her hair back from her left temple in thought. "And then when you ripped up the invitation to dinner, I knew I was in big trouble."

She patted his hand. "You're like me, bro. You've got a big heart, but if someone wrongs you, they better watch out, hm?"

She sighed. "Langston said something to me that day – I don't remember it very well but it was … she said you were our friend, I know." She smiled at his closed eyes. "Shaun, you were practically a part of our family. I guess what I'm saying is … I know I would take a bullet for those girls, but it is hard to imagine someone else doing it, even if that is their job." She pursed her lips before speaking again. "I got my wake-up call here, okay? So – lesson learned – you can wake up now."

She sighed at him, exasperated. "Okay, honestly," she admitted to him, looking around to make sure no one was listening. "I could really use that friend I fired that day. I don't want to ramble on about the details of my very complicated life right now but … I need you, bro. We all need you. Your job isn't finished, right?"

She looked over at one of his monitors, studying it for a moment, appreciating the irony that medical technology could seemingly measure the strength of a person's life force. "Listen to me. I've been where you are, and I know you can hear what is going on around you." She leaned forward in her assertion. "It might not be very clear or make a lot of sense in that place, but you have to cling to it – listen to it, and believe in it. You'll find what you need. Just keep fighting – you have to defend yourself this time. Got it?"

She stood and laid her hand on his cheek. "Do me a favor. When you come out of this – yes, when – consider coming back to La Boulaie. I promise you that I don't say that because of a guilty conscience. We all want you back." She moved her hand to his shoulder, taking a deep breath before she turned to go.

His mother was standing at the window, watching. Dorian nodded to her and made a hasty exit.

She wasn't ready to go home, so she ducked into the hospital chapel and sat as if waiting for something to happen – some divine inspiration. She looked around in the solemnity of the place, with its prayer candles flickering against the gold cross at the front of the room. This was where she had met the mysterious female Mel. In her most private thoughts, she almost wished to see the woman again now.

No Mel came, nor did any inspiration to pray. After several minutes, Dorian decided to head home. She needed to know what David had found out during his visit to Llanfair.

[bwprowl]

Toy Nerd Super Bowl weekend hits and leaves me with the biggest amount of stuff I have to write about all year! The one-two punch of Toy Fair and Winter WonFes bring a boatload of reveals of all kinds, and I'll be running down everything I thought was remotely cool or interesting (and I'll still probably forget a few things along the way). Don't worry about overhyping ourselves too much on the distant future though, since I'll also get a look at some stuff you can pre-order right now, including Kirbys, cartoons, former exclusives, and a little video game you might have heard of called Overwatch. Then we finish this round of exciting drinks with a classic Iron Man chaser. So get comfortable friends, because it's the biggest Tuesday Night of the year for Toys!

New Stuff: All's Fair

Toy Fair was first up on Saturday this weekend, and it felt a little bigger, like there was more cool stuff that appealed to me at this one than last year. As I did then, I'm just gonna go off piecemeal about each cool thing I saw in no particular order:

QMX, whom I mostly know for those little chibi figure things, are expanding their licenses from superheroes. This will include a nice statue of the Planet Express ship from Futurama, as well as a Q-Fig of Pinky and the Brain (who don't have enough modern merchandise)!

The Loyal Subjects also look to expand their tiny-toy lineup, in this case doing Mega Man figures, and miraculously NOT just starting with the MM1 cast! As well as Bass and Treble, they'll also be doing X (in armor) and Sigma.

Speaking of that sort of branching out, Cryptozoic will be doing Street Fighter figurines in the style of their mini-DC-Bombshells, and this will include a few non-SFII characters. Most notably this includes Ibuki, and makes me excited for who else they might get to.

And while on the subject of Street Fighter, Bluefin was also their doing their part to show off Bandai's import lines (Bandai notably doesn't have much of a presence at WonFes, so don't look for them below), including Tamashii's expanding SF Figuarts line. This includes Rashid and Cammy, thankfully branching off the previously-unsurprising Ryu and Chun-Li. They had a poll up on their web-site, apparently, for the next one, and you know I'm crossing my fingers for Karin.

Mezco's One:12 Collective line had plenty of their always-tempting stuff on display, most importantly their anticipated Popeye figure, who cuts that perfect blend of detailed and cartoony that Mezco has nailed on other toys like their Space Ghost.

Big Chief Studios will notably be releasing replicas of the puppets from the original Thunderbirds, a series that I'm continuously surprised always seems to get merch of some kind out.

Marvel Select had the main thing I wanted to see from them: Their GOTG2 Star-Lord. There are a ton of different versions of this guy coming out thanks to the hype for this movie, but after hearing about this, I figured it would probably be my definitive choice, and seeing it in person did not disappoint.

Marvel Select will also be doing their own version of Spider-Gwen, but...see below before you make a decision on that one.

They'll also be putting out a Kotobukiya Bishoujo statue of Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel, and she looks...not as affected by the Bishoujo line's stylings as you might have feared. Seriously, she clearly has a spine and everything, she looks pretty great and adorable!

NECA had one of the most absurd reveals of the weekend, announcing that they'll be selling a puppet version of Ash from Evil Dead! This thing is unapologetically done up in the recognizable Muppet style, and even sports the adorable moniker of 'Ashy Slashy'. I'll always appreciate how (not) seriously this series takes itself.

Playmates showed off their impressively-expanding Ninja Turtles line, including that they're finally doing Usagi Yojimbo! They also had Turtles in samurai armor, which mainly just served to give me traumatic flashbacks to Ninja Turtles III (handily NOT the best thing to wear the subtitle 'Turtles in Time').

The big thing I was looking forward to seeing from Playmates was more of their Voltron line, and it did NOT disappoint. First things first: They are doing action figures of ALL of the Paladins in their armor, along with Zarkon! They look great, and I'm probably going to get all of them. I really hope they get around to Allura and Coran afterwards. There's also a figure of the second Robeast (that rad laser-eye chameleon guy) coming out, as I'd hoped. 

Further, they're gonna be doing smaller, die-cast-constructed toys of the Lions that combine, so if the giant/expensive Legendary Lions were too much for you, these should be a delightful desk-size alternative. I'm even more excited for this line than I was a few months ago.

Along with their Power Rangers stuff, Bandai dropped a big surprise: Dragon Ball Z Dragon Stars, a western-focused line of 6-inch detailed DBZ figures. That's right, it's Dragonball in the Marvel Legends model, complete with a Build-A-Figure Shenron, and they look pretty good, all told! They'll be starting with the usual lineup of a couple Gokus, a couple Vegetas, and some bad guys (or whatever Beerus is now), so nothing I'm chomping at the bit myself (though a cheap Final Form Frieza is tempting), but there's a lot of appeal in wondering where Bandai of America will go with these if the line continues for a while. They certainly seem more likely to give us guys like Yajirobe or the Ginyu Force than the Figuarts line.

Hasbro's Star Wars line was there gearing up for Episode VIII at the end of this year, but understandably couldn't yet show off anything too specifically from that movie. They did have some new figures on display (Thrawn getting a release in the 3.75" line is certainly notable) but the most interesting tidbit to me was the Black Series line going to vintage-inspired cardbacks. I've always liked this packaging, and they look pretty darn good in this case. Certainly more eye-catching on the shelf than the, well, black packaging.

The 'Bro's Marvel lineup was also looking pretty great. They had their newest Legends lineups, including one with Jim Lee Cyclops, Disco Dazzler, and friggin' Shatterstar (god I am such a 90's kid). 

They also had a Spider-Man Legends lineup that included Tombstone! Their 3.75" line included such gems as the current (awesome) Spider-Man 2099 costume, the new Wolverine, and even a comic version of Jessica Jones (still need to watch that show). They'll also be putting out a pack with the classic versions of the Sinister Six!

And then of course there were the Transformers reveals. The Last Knight looks more and more like a movie I hope is good, since there's a lot of cool toys in there. We're getting a new Voyager-class mold for Scorn (one of the more memorable Dinobot designs from the last movie) as well as a retooled Drift, a new Hound, and new prospective money-making mascot Sqweeks. I still hate that name with a fiery passion, but I'll be damned if the little bastard's toy doesn't actually look pretty cool! 

The biggest reveal in the mainline though, and one of the surprise winners of the whole show, was actually the Leader-class toy of the new Megatron design! Turning into a big, badass jet and sporting a sick-looking sword, a flamethrower with attachable fire effects and some amazing detailing including a flip-up faceplate, this thing quickly shot to the top of my need list. It's just such a well-realized design that also works great as an actual toy. I hope the 'street date' for movie toys actually works out this year, since I could need to get one of these things on day one.

They'll also be releasing these Tiny Turbo Changers, little blind-packed SD figures of various movie characters that transform. There's a Starscream. I'm going to need it.

The RID15 line also packed a few surprises, surprisingly! The Team Combiners, like the ones we saw teased of Bumblebee's team and what appeared to be Menasor, will feature figures that all have individual transformations, simple as they are, and combinations that I *think* have some auto-transformation to them, similar to the Crash Combiners that just recently came out. They could end up like advanced versions of the ol' Power Core Combiners, and will even feature a Robots-in-Disguise-style Cyclonus turning into Galvatronus, which I guess is just a thing Cyclonus does now!

Finally the Generations reveals. Hasbro's really going all-out on us this year, knocking Titans Return even further out of the park than they already had, somehow. The big revelation was seeing Trypticon in person, and finding out everything he does. This includes Full-Tilt being a fully-fledged Deluxe figure now (and a Headmaster to boot), to his vehicular altmode being reimagined as a Nemesis-style starship, to him having a delightful Titan Master 'eating' gimmick that actually deposits the little dudes in his tummy jail, which is way more fun a thing than I was expecting!

We also got to see Overlord, finally, looking as bulky and boxy as I could hope (and even more extensively retooled from Black Shadow than I expected), and got confirmation of the long-suspected Octane and Blitzwing retools of Optimus and Megatron, respectively. They look great, Octane's actually got a lot of new parts (those wings) and Blitzwing gets his sword (which I was worried he might lack after Megatron didn't have it), and they look terrific together. Hasbro sold it well, having them stood together with the recent Astrotrain. There are more Deluxes and Legends on the way too, with Twin Twist expectedly retooled from Topspin (Wreckers fans rejoice!) and a whole-new mold Titan Master Windblade, with some rad-looking swords. Along with that there's the new Seaspray, who looks pretty much perfect, shipping with a rerelease of the exceptional previous Cosmos mold. All this plus a really cool retool of Shuffler into Ram Horn!

And of course there were those multi-packs we all heard about. There's two to start, and they're completely nuts. The big one is the Chaos on Velocitron set, which includes a Nautica figure retooled from Blurr. She looks very good, as she should, since the whole point is to convince MTMTE comic fans to buy the set for her. Fortunately, the rest of the set looks pretty neat too, including as it does a Rodimus Prime Titan Master head, a whole-new-mold toy of Clone Fastlane, a G2 Laser Prime-accurate redeco of the Voyager Optimus mold, and Six Shot done up as Autobot Six-Changer Quickswitch (who actually DID have a submarine mode!). The other set, Siege on Cybertron, doesn't include any comic-book darlings, but does include Takara's Super Ginrai mold (called 'Magnus Prime' here, and hopefully we'll find out what THAT'S about!), appropriately accompanied by Metalhawk made from Triggerhappy, plus Broadside recolored as Armada Tidal Wave, another new mold as the Clone Pounce, and a Titan Master of Thunderwing's head. Whew! I don't know exactly when these things are coming out, but I'll be totally ready to break the bank for them.

Really feels like Hasbro pulled out all the stops on these, they're practically BotCon level!

And that was just the first half of Saturday! After that, the evening brought WonFes, and all the surprises it could bring. There's likewise a ton of stuff here, and I know I'll miss some stuff, so let's just get on to it:

Oh god where do I even start

I don't fully know what this Dark Advent thing from Alphamax and Saitom is, but it's giving us this rad posable toy of this girl with a big smashin' arm, so I'll take it.

F-Toys will be releasing a line of various nudibranches! They actually look really pretty and well-detailed!

Alter will be doing a statue of Nikumi from Food Wars, a character it's really stunning I don't own a figure of myself yet (still holding out for a figma, really). This one looks good though, I at least like it better than the earlier Kotobukiya version.

Similarly, Di Molto Bene has a statue coming out of the only Girls und Panzer girl that ever caught my eye, Anchovie! She's eatin' spaghetti!

Anchovie's also getting a Cu-Poche. I'll have to go in for a toy of this character at some point, I guess.

The Super Master Stars Piece line of Dragonball statues will be doing the main characters, and they all look pretty standardly nice but-WOAH! This 2D style Vegeta is something else, something worth keeping an eye on.

Craneking appears to be making prize figures based on those infamous 'cutaway' images of the various classic Kamen Riders, starting with #1 (can't wait to see this one painted).

We're also getting a line of 'Cuter's' Rider figures in SD style, including #1 (or it could be #2) both by himself and on a bike, along with perpetual Mr. Popular Den-O, and current main Rider Ex-Aid.

1000Toys will be releasing this robot that turns into a box, appropriately named 'Robox'.

Megahouse's Desktop Army line is one I haven't kept up with, but the newest set, Dragoon, looks very appealing to me. I might like to get at least one or two from this one.

Speaking of build-up boxed toys, Aoshima will be releasing the 'DJ Booth Collection', letting you construct your own mixer and turntable setup. Depending on the scale (can't quite tell from that image there) this could be a useful thing for various figures.

Sentinel's Mega Man line, not to be outdone by a dang candy toy, will finally release a Volnutt Mega Man from the Legends series. I predict that this will do...quite well, at least amongst the people I know who talk about Mega Man.

Sentinel also showed off that they'll be doing a new, amazing-looking version of Machine Robo's Baikanfu in their Metamor Force line. I still need a version of this thing someday, maybe this could be it. It could hang out with my Revenge of Cronos bots when they're not being Go-Bots.

Azone's PureNeemo character doll series will be doing at least a couple New Game characters, starting with a nice-looking Aoba they were showing off and continuing later with Hifumi (who seems to be popular with everyone except me). Hopefully they'll also get to Hajime at some point, since it's still an absolute crime that the toy-collector character doesn't yet have any toys made of her.

Azone also had a bunch of new Assault Lily figures on display. Those new brown coats are really cool looking.

The AL girls were also being used to show off Little Armory's newest releases: 1/12 scale squirtguns! Nice to see even they don't take themselves too seriously, and these look like they'd be pretty cute to have around for your figma and the like.

I wasn't quite right when I hypothesized that the next in the Figure-Rise Mechanics line would be Cell in his science tube, but I was close! It's Trunks's time machine, and it includes the hatched-out husk of Cell's first larval form.

We’ll also be getting a model kit of the AT-AT from Star Wars, and it'll notably be 1/144 in scale: just the right size to fight your Gundams!

I'm not familiar with this Aria on the Planetes thing (I'm just gonna assume it's a dating sim) but the girls being done up as statues from it sure do look pretty, so here they are.

In the spirit of Armor Girls Project, Cross Frame will be putting out a GaoGaiGar girl figure, showing that even the most hot-blooded of mecha series are not safe from the siren song of moe.

On a similarly-styled subject, I'm not sure what this VLOCKer's thing is, but the design is neat and the modular part-swapping looks fun.

Kotobukiya is going to continue their line of Pokemon statues, seemingly in no particular order, as the female Trainer from Black/White 2 is up next, and will apparently be followed by the Trainer from the FIRST Black/White. Your guess is as good as mine.

Along with whatever THIS cool-lookin' figure is!

We got to see Takara's new Big Powered GV from their Diaclone Reboot line in prototype form, and it's more huge and glorious than I could have imagined. I can't wait to see everything it can do/turn into.

The Powered Suits are also powering along with some new accessory options!

Megahouse will be doing additional Drifters in their Super Action Statue line, revealing Nobunaga and Yoichi, at least allowing you to complete the power trio of the series. Japan always needs more stuff based on Oda Nobunaga!

Kaiyodo will be partnering with Union Creative to release figures of various animals, including this great-looking posable polar bear.

Kaiyodo also had one of the stunners of the show, with the revelation that the next in their Amazing Yamaguchi line of Revoltech-jointed Marvel figures would be none other than Spider-Gwen, and an incredible version of her at that! This caught everyone off guard, and looks like it'll turn out just as amazing-looking as their Deadpool, Spider-Man, and Venom. I already know it's probably going to be my definitive version of the character.

Megazone 23 must have picked up some steam for an older series, because it seems like more companies are taking a crack at its main mecha, the Garland. Arcadia will be putting out their version, affordably competing with Art Storm's ridiculously expensive premium release.

And Good Smile will be doing a model kit as well, which could end up even more reasonably priced!

Ah yes, Good Smile. They had a TON of cool stuff revealed to show off. Starting with Nendoroids, there was Lum from Urusei Yatsura, proving that not everything they do is flash-in-the-pan currently popular stuff.

And then more expectedly, Akko from Little Witch Academia, which while not surprising, was still nice to see.

They did reveal just before the show that they'd be doing a full line of Disney-based Nendos, thankfully not letting Frozen monopolize that corner of the line. I'm glad to see Rapunzel in there.

They're also going all out and doing a TON of characters from currently-airing series BanG Dream, which I hear ended up not being all that worth watching so far!

They also confirmed (again, unsurprisingly) that there will be more Overwatch Nendoroids after Tracer, with Mei and Mercy up next.

The Nintendo toys are continuing as well, with Lillie from Pokemon Sun/Moon (awesome) and Kirby in his robot from Planet Robobot (also awesome).

All that plus an absolute truckload of moeboats and swordboys, and that's just Nendos!

Figma side was a bit lighter, but still had some very cool reveals.

Continuing with Overwatch, Tracer will also be getting a figma, as will Genji (hey, nice that a husbando gets some love alongside all these waifus), and in this case I hope they eventually just make the whole damn cast.

More video game figma were revealed as well, including a full look at Odin Sphere's Gwendolyn, and she's looking as appropriately pretty as she should from that game.

The Persona 5 protagonist is rather expectedly getting a figma. Less expected is the Pixie Persona getting one, alongside what is *apparently* a giant figma of Mara. Yes, that Mara!

About the furthest thing from a schoolgirl, Max Factory, dang.

Most surprising, but welcome on this subject though, was the reveal of King of Fighters figma! They'll be starting with Kyo and Iori, of course, but I have to assume Mai will be in there soon as well. There's another one where they could just make the whole cast and I'd be happy.

No new Monogatari figma at this one, but there is a new figFIX of Senjougahara's Second Season look, and I'll get it just to be able to add that short-hair head to my original Hitagi.

time for crab

Last notable figma actually shown off were that memetic classical Japanese painting for the Table Museum line, as well as a prototype (outta nowhere) of Hinata from Haikyu! Will this include a volleyball net to let your figma play? I hope so, but even if it doesn't it's a dang Haikyu figma! I'll probably need it.

There were a ton of just-announce figma as well. The BIG news for me was that they'll be doing one of Red in his FRLG look (probably my favorite design), something I've been hoping they'd do for aaaaages. I hope it's not just available through Pokemon centers.

There was also an announcement for a figma version of Priss from the original Bubblegum Crisis, and if the picture is anything to go on, will include her bike as well!

That's a lot of announcements that cater to me specifically, but if you're still looking for Sonoda stuff to make, Max Factory, might I suggest...Gunsmith Cats?

Aside from their big collectible lines there, Good Smile also has a statue coming out for Ramlethal from Guilty Gear Xrd (more standard look but less-space hogging than the FREEing version), as well as even newer character Jack-O.

They're also making one of Marie Rose from Dead or Alive 5 in her secondary costume. It's not my favorite costume, but it's nice to see anything DOA, and I do like Marie Rose in general.

Oh, AND they've got kits coming out for adorable little Scopedog and other mechs from VOTOMS, as well as tiny little Mechatro WeGo kits!

Oh, and you can't buy it anywhere, but check out this sweet garage kit of Wheel Gator someone had at the show!

So be good and know what to wish for, and maybe Santa Saber will bring you what you want!

And I think that might be everything! Holy cats, that was even more to write about than I thought it would be! Hopefully with me gushing about all that, you saw a few things in there that caught your eye too!

Wishlist: Deja Vu

So yeah, if you existed in the general vicinity of the internet last week, you’ve already seen that Overwatch’s Tracer is getting a Nendoroid. You’ve seen everything about it. I’ve got nothing new to say on the subject, I already talked about the other ones coming out up there, you got me. She’s up for pre-order, she looks really cute, you’re probably gonna buy it. Cheers, cavalry, etc.

Pre-orders are up for Funko’s Rick and Morty figures, adding another facet to this show you can indulge yourself in during the eternal wait for Season 3. If the toys look pretty simple, that’s at least in line with the show’s aesthetic, and they come with parts for a Build-a-Figure Snowball, which looks pretty great. Even if that does kinda throw a wrench into the Mr. Meeseeks figure, who is technically an army-builder.

These cute little Kirby stacking figures are coming out too, including Kirby, a few different Waddle Dees (apparently out to prove wrong my earlier statement that he doesn’t get as much merch) and even a star block and Maxim Tomato! These look like an adorable addition to your desk clutter.

And in a surprise twist, Sentinel’s previously ‘Con-exclusive Miku-styled Mechatro WeGo is up for pre-order at general Japanese retail! If you weren’t able to get this thing originally, it’s not going to get any easier than this. Hell, for that price, a cool-colored Mechatro with an oddly-Adventure-Time-based Miku is even tempting to me. Jump on it if you want it.

On Desk: If I Only Had a Heart

Well after hammering out a wall of text like that, best thing to do is unwind with some comfort food, er, plastic. The 3.75” Marvel Legends original Iron Man was a total indulgence purchase for me last week, and I’ve enjoyed having him within arm’s reach since. I’ve always loved the old ‘tin can’ design (equally so the movies’ outstanding take on it) so I’m glad Hasbro’s never been too shy about making toys of it.

This version uses a really nice deep metallic grey plastic to simulate the metal coloration of the suit, without worrying about silver paint and the chipping thereof. There’s plenty of details sculpted into his shiny surface, but not too much, so it doesn’t break up the simple roundness of the whole design. They’ve also included an added piece around the neck that  fills in where the head connects and adds an antenna, which is a nice bit.

The articulation is a bit limited, but not in a bad way given the design (the Mark I was never the most mobile mecha design in the world). His legs have great range of motion, with double-knees and universal ‘ball’ hips (which I’m normally not a fan of, but they work well on this design). The arms are a bit more restricted, only having the one elbow hinge and not being able to bend much past 90 degrees, but again, it works for the design and it all looks good. The hands are on swivels, and the odd pointing gesture the left is in is just more amusing for poses than anything else. I don’t know why they did it that way, but it turns out fun, at least!

He’s a good little toy, overall. The sort of thing I’ll probably keep within fiddle range for quite a while. This line is nice enough that I wish they made a few more that catered to me specifically like this.

Well I don’t know about you, but all that was a ton of fun for me! I’m gonna take a well-deserved rest everyone! Let me know what your favorite stuff of Toy Fair and WonFes was, be sure to have fun, and I’ll see you next week!