#Super Robot Wars R

[over-the-time-flow]

Hey! I’m Hanbei, and this is the start of Over the Time Flow, my Super Robot Wars R screenshot let’s play!

I’ve always wanted to do a SRW screenshot let’s play, having read the LPArchive Alpha Gaiden let’s play during my formative years, and the more i’ve thought about it, the more i think Tumblr’s format might actually be conducive for an attempt!

With SRW R being untranslated, I will be translating the plot. For the most part though, this won’t be an exhaustive line by line translation except for particularly impactful lines or exchanges. Think less Tobias Grant’s Alpha Gaiden Let’s Play, and more Brunom1’s LPs.

Much like the LPs I'm taking inspiration from, I'll also be doing pilot and unit analysis as I acquire them, where I’ll briefly cover their lore/backstory, and then appraise them in the context of SRW R itself.

On my blog’s sidebar, you can click START to read the whole blog in chronological order so you can follow along from the beginning, and ABOUT to hear some more about my reasons for doing this.

On update days, I'll schedule my posts to start from 1PM PST and post once every 10 minutes until i’m out of content for that day. I can’t promise anything as consistent as posting every day, especially not once my summer break from uni is through, but I'll do my best to at least not go longer than a full week without an update day. I’ll do my best to make announcement posts in advance to let people know when an update day is coming up!

Posts that have translated content in them will be tagged with “#translation”, so if you’re only here for the plot translation/summary, you can filter for that specifically. Posts dedicated to analyzing pilots/units will have the “#rollcall” tag; posts where i explain SRW R’s (or the SRW franchise’s) system mechanics in-depth will be tagged “#mechanics”; if i have any thoughts i’d like to share on a plot point that deviates from its source, or how they adapted a scene or episode, i might make a post that’s just my thoughts on it, and it’ll be tagged “#srwramblings” so you can filter it out if you don’t want to see them. Finally, if i need to make any sort of announcement, be it to say in advance that such and such day will be an update day, or that i’ll need to take a break, or anything of the sort, i’ll tag it with “#announcements”.

Of course, the funnest part of doing a screenshot LP (and of doing it on Tumblr!) is the prospect of audience participation! And here’s the first of many opportunities to participate, and perhaps the most fun one:

The final stage of this game allows you to deploy 14 units (besides the main character, who will be deployed by default). As such, I'd like to leave it up to the audience as to who will be in our endgame squad!

Simply follow along and send in a request for someone when we meet a character who you really like (be it because you like them from their source material, or because you like what you see of them in-game), alongside their machine, if applicable (the characters who can switch machines are, as a general rule, Universal Century pilots, After War pilots, and Mazinger pilots, plus two specific characters from Nadesico who arrive fairly late) by clicking the ASK button on the sidebar. If you’re a very impatient person, you can also just send in a request ahead of time if you know the character is in the game or if you just happen to like a character like Amuro, Kamille or Koji, who you just know will likely be in any given SRW game without even asking, but if you do so, put a spoiler on the character you’re requesting somehow (such as by running it through rot13) so that i can respond to it, confirm to you the character will be in the roster, and then unscramble the character’s name on the list when they get formally introduced.

Do note that some characters won’t stick with you the whole way through, but if they truly don’t stick with you to the end in any shape or form, I'll point it out when I do their character analysis, so that nobody gets TOO excited about them.

If you send a character request through the ASK button, make sure not to do it anonymously, as I don't want to risk anybody double dipping. One character per person, please!

I don’t know how much (if any!) attention this LP will get, so i have no clue if i’ll have a full 14-character roster loaded by like chapter 5 or if i’ll get to the final stage with like 3 units in tow, but if against all odds this blows up and our roster caps out, you can still ask for a specific unit you want to see more of and i’ll do my best to show them off if only for a stage or two!

With all that out of the way, here’s the roster as it stands:

1. Judau - Full Armor ZZ Gundam (by @shoudesuka-mechadork)

2. Kamille - Mass-Produced v Gundam (by @tearsoftime0086)

3. Nxvgb - Uvtu Zbovyvgl Oynpx Fnenan (by @baldiosenjoyer) (spoilered)

4. Qbzba - Tbq Thaqnz (by @silentally) (spoilered)

5. Urreb - Thaqnz Jvat Mreb Phfgbz (by @mattman324) (spoilered)

6. Tnv Qnvtbhwv - Nrfgvinyvf (by @xgameoverx) (spoilered)

7. Garrod - Thaqnz Qbhoyr K (by @fire-bomber) (spoilered)

8. Arb Trggre Grnz - Fuva Trggre Ebob (by @accept-the-multiverse) (spoilered)

9. Sbhe - Mrgn Thaqnz (by @dayswhenibelieved) (spoilered)

10. Xvat fvoyvatf - Grknf Znpx (by anonymous)  (spoilered)

11.

12.

13.

14.

And i think that just about covers everything! I hope you’ll follow along and enjoy the LP! I should set up the MC gender decision poll roughly half an hour after this post goes live, so i hope people join in! Who knows, if this somehow takes off maybe i’ll do other games in the future. I’d love to be able to help other SRW fans understand games despite the language barrier.

[robussy-liker]

Two Cunty Robots!!

Full ver is in my pixiv!

[reversemoon255]

SHOKUGAN MODELING PROJECT SR-X

Saying nothing of its final quality, this is probably the scummiest release for a model I have ever seen. So, R-1 and R-Gun were both standard, mass produced releases, sold together (remember this, it'll be important later). Now, you'd think with that being the case, and their sizes, that R-2 and R-3 would both be separate mass releases, but they weren't. They were instead both a massively expensive P-Bandai release. And to top it off, many of its effect parts, alternate hands, and accessories came in another additional P-Bandai set, which also came with R-Gun's railgun parts. And SR-X only uses R-Gun with the railgun parts. So if you want an accurate R-Gun to go with your SR-X, you also need that third set, and you will own R-Gun at this point since it comes with R-1.

So to summarize, R-1 and R-Gun were a mass release, R-2 and R-3 were a P-Bandai release, and completed R-Gun is a different P-Bandai release. Really scummy way of draining someone's pockets.

R-1: The most standard robot of the set, it has a decent accessory pool, storage for all of its weapons on its person, and a vehicle mode. The additional joints in the shoulder parts allow for a wide range of movement that isn't impeded by anything transformation/combination related (in fact, it may be improved). The jet mode is sadly not that great (I'm pretty sure I've gotten the arms crossed every time I've transformed it), but I appreciate its inclusion.

R-2 Powered: For such a bulky bot, R-2 has pretty decent posability. While its legs are strange to work with at first because of all its transformation parts, they do have good range. The additional Powered armor parts also don't get in the way or impede movement or balance much at all. It's probably my favorite of the set.

R-3 Powered: It's so strange that most of R-3's accessories are for its base form. R-3 without its Powered upgrade is very simple to construct, but decently posable, if a little tricky at the hips, whereas the Powered parts are the most complicated part of the entire build.

R-Gun: R-Gun is very similar to R-1 in that it's a very posable with a lot of accessories and has a transformation to it. Unlike R-1, it's transformation is a lot more solid and doesn't require you to take it apart (apart from the railguns). I understand why those two were packaged together, even if the non-inclusion of the railguns still rubs me the wrong way.

SR-X: And the reason we're all here: the SR-X. It is literally the largest model kit I have ever built, standing around 14in/35cm. Despite being an enormous combination, it is extremely solid. I'm able to pick it up and move it around without the fear of it falling apart. It's also very posable, with multiple joints in the shoulders, two waist joints, very good ankles, and many more.

And with the accessory set, it's able to replicate, I believe, every finisher is has in the game. Giant sword, using R-Gun, glowy fists, leg missiles, goofy eye beams, its jump kick. You can even remove the front portion of the eye beam and place it on a pair of included glasses if you're feeling particularly sporty that day.

It does require a few adapters in the torso, and in the hips if you don't use the stronger replacement ones (which I did), but it was overall a very fun build, and putting it together was an interesting process in and of itself.

The Bad: In total, across all 3 releases, and including shipping, I spent around $500 on this set. And while I think this is a great model kit, I would never recommend someone drop that on this thing. I think maybe you could get away with half that? But not half a grand.

It doesn't help that there's technically a better, easier to obtain option. There was a release from RIOBOT last year that's a bit more expensive (around $650?), but does all the same stuff and a bit more, comes preassembled, is made of higher quality materials, etc. If you were going to go for this, I'd say just save up a bit more and get that one. (Although, looking at its specs, this one might be ever so slightly taller O_O)

The Details: I went pretty easy on this one (it is massive, afterall). I did some basic panel lining and used the included stickers. There were a few left over for R-3 when I finished that I still don't know where they go...

Overall, the SR-X is a ridiculous model kit on many levels, including its price tag, but other than that one I'd say they're all positives. I can't recommend it, but if you have a lot of money burning a hole in your pocket, there are worse things to spend it on. Just maybe don't buy them all at once.

[robotshowtunes]

Kei: Your lawlessness ends here!

Photo by Kseniia Ilinykh on Unsplash Bottom border from 3rd Super Robot Wars Z: Heavenly Prison Chapter (第3次スーパーロボット大戦Z 天獄篇)

[s-ublimewrites]

xanax (melissa schemmenti x f!reader)

synopsis: melissa needs a push to make a much-needed change in her life

words: 2.9k

warnings: swearing, mild angst (mel & reader argue), gary bashing, republicanism mention

note: i wrote part of this, didn't touch it for eight months, picked it back up, and now here we are: another fic where nothing actually happens between mel & r, but also everything happens. enjoy!

“Don’t go in there yet,” Janine stops you before you can enter the teacher’s lounge. 

“Uh, why not?” You prepare to step around her and she blocks your path. 

“Y/n, it’s tense in there right now,” she insists. She’s stress sweating, you notice. 

Your brow furrows. “Janine, it’s the first day. It’s…” you check your watch, “7:04am. How is it already tense?”

Janine checks over her shoulder and lowers her voice slightly. “So, you know Gary? Melissa’s vending machine guy?”

You fight the urge to roll your eyes. Yeah, you know Gary. You are, in fact, acutely aware of Gary’s presence in Melissa’s life. Listen, you’re super happy for Melissa - she seems to like him, they just spent the summer in Jersey Shore together. You just think it’s kind of weird how he relates everything to vending machines. And you’re kinda wary of asking Melissa who he voted for in 2016. And 2020. And, okay, maybe seeing him kiss her goodbye in the break room makes you want to puke. Whatever. 

“I’m familiar,” you say to Janine.  

Her eyes flick to the cameras, then back to you. “Okay. Well. On the last day of their Jersey Shore trip, something happened. Melissa is pissed and Barbara totally knows why and I think they’re maybe mad at each other about it? Anyway it’s basically a war zone in there and you need to tread very carefully, Y/n.”

There’s genuine fear in Janine’s voice. Poor girl has definitely suffered the wrath of Melissa Schemmenti this morning. 

“Do you know what happened?” you ask. 

Janine shakes her head. “No, but Barb keeps shaking her head all disapprovingly and saying ‘Melissa Ann Schemmenti, just you wait until Y/n gets here,’ so…” 

Her Barb impression is… pretty bad. You don’t comment on it. 

“Ah,” you say, “so I’m the bomb-defusing robot you’re sending in so Melissa will stop being mean to everyone. I see.” 

Somewhere during your time at Abbott, grumpy Melissa has become your responsibility. Not that you mind very much. You like being the only one that can get through to her when she’s like this; you like that everyone knows it, too. 

“If rugs are Xanax for second graders,” Janine says, “you’re Xanax for Melissa. Good luck!” 

Janine scurries off and you take a deep breath. Here goes nothing, you suppose. 

It’s just Barb and Melissa in the lounge — you figure the palpable tension that hangs between them has scared everyone else off. They sit at different tables, decidedly not talking. Melissa’s face is buried in her phone, glasses on the end of her nose, and Barb stares at the yogurt that she’s stirring but not eating. 

“Good morning,” you offer softly as you step into the room, trying to give an air of ‘I’m perfectly normal and don’t know anything about your potentially-failing relationship.’

Melissa’s eyes flick up from her phone, landing briefly on you before she returns to whatever is on her screen. Barb, though, snatches up her bag and her yogurt and is on her feet moving toward you. 

“Maybe you can talk some sense into this one,” Barb says to you furiously. She keeps walking, heading right past you, and slams her yogurt into the trash before exiting the room. Somewhere in this time, the camera crew has the good sense to scram.

You look at Melissa. She looks back at you. 

“What?” she all but spits - angry, sure, but also upset. Hurt by something. Someone. Your hatred for the vending machine guy is set in stone. 

“C’mon, you don’t get to be mad at me - I literally just got here,” you remind Melissa and drop into the seat next to hers. 

Melissa doesn’t say anything, but she looks at you with less loathing. It’s a good first step. 

“You traumatized Janine,” you reattempt. 

“A strong gust of wind could traumatize Janine,” Melissa mutters. She puts down her phone and finally looks at you, moving her glasses to sit atop her head. “Why? What’d she say t’ya?” 

You remember Janine’s words — tread carefully. “Not much. Something about things being tense with you and Barb… Something about Gary.”

Melissa’s jaw sets and she looks at her lap and she doesn’t say anything. 

“Did you fight?” your voice is gentle.  

Melissa plays with her fingers and shakes her head. “No. Well, I don’t know. Kind of? I don’t know. Maybe.” 

You stay quiet while she thinks about this (you didn’t intend for it to be such a difficult question, but you don’t say that).

“Not yet, I guess,” Melissa finally decides. “We haven’t fought yet.” 

You nod, beginning to understand. “Does Gary know that you’re potentially going to be fighting?” 

She shrugs. “Dunno if I wanna make it a thing.” 

“So, there’s two things going on here? You’re mad at Gary for something, and Barb is mad at you?”

She nods. You nod. She suddenly becomes interested in her cuticles.

“Okay,” you retry, “which do you want to tackle first?”

“Neither.”

“Melissa.” 

“Why dontcha just drop it?” Melissa snaps. 

You don’t back down; rather, you give her a pointed look, and she sighs heavily — her international sign of realizing she was mean to you.

You try again. “So, Barb is mad at you.”

“Mhm.”

“Because of the Gary thing?”

“Mhm.”

“Did you fuck up, or did he?”

Melissa goes quiet again and you kick her under the table. 

“Hey, I don’t care either way. You know I support women’s wrongs,” you do your best to keep your tone light.

This draws a half-smile out of her. “Him. Mostly. Then, kinda me… Kinda.”

It’s your turn to stare at her, because what the hell are you supposed to do with that?

She huffs out a sigh, averts her eyes, and her words come out in a rush: “He fucked up and did some stuff and Barb is mad that I haven’t dumped him yet, okay?”

You nod, trying to piece the information together. “So, you wanna give him another chance, but Barb doesn’t? That’s… not usually how this goes.”

“I’m old, alright?” Melissa breathes out, any trace of venom having left her words. Now, she just sounds exhausted. 

“Hang on,” you hold up a hand to halt her train of thought, “what? First off, no you’re not. Second, what does your age have to do with anything?”

She looks at her lap. “I found someone who wants to settle down with me. I got divorced and wrote off love then found it again and I can’t afford to be throwin’ it away.”

Every once in a while, Melissa will let you see her frayed edges like this. They’re ragged and raw and tender and she trusts you to not probe more than necessary. It makes you feel… something. Something deep and warm that burns inside you like brandy and makes your hands tremble. 

“But?” you coax gently, and she runs a hand down her face in something akin to defeat.

Melissa’s eyes flick to the door, and you know she’s making sure there’s no camera crew and no Janine.

“But somehow we got this far in without talkin’ about politics. I mean, I talk about it. All the time. And he nods, so I thought we were on the same page, but…”

Christ alive, I was right about the elections, you think, and clamp your mouth shut (it is so not the time for an I Told You So).

For the umpteenth time this morning, you choose your words with care. “I’ve never known Melissa Schemmenti to compromise her beliefs for anybody.”

And, well, there it is. You’ve said the thing that both Melissa and Barb knew you’d say, and she wouldn’t be able to fight you on it, because it’s you. Her Xanax. 

She spends a moment chewing on her bottom lip, and her voice is low when she says, “I don’t wanna hav’ta start all over again.”

It occurs to you that this woman is deeply scared that she’s never going to be loved again. 

You don’t know how to reassure her that you’re not going to let that happen. 

Instead, you just say, “Yeah,” because what else is there to say?

After a beat, you add, “You also don’t wanna hav’ta date someone who thinks they’re putting litter boxes in classrooms for all the kids who identify as cats.” 

Melissa huffs out a somewhat incredulous laugh and blinks away the tears that you weren’t planning on pointing out. She shakes her head like she’s clearing out cobwebs. 

“I was hoping we could just ignore it. That it would be one of those things we don’t talk about,” Melissa tells you. 

You look at her pointedly. “Right. Until he tries to tell you that unions strip you of your individual voice and makes you watch NewsMax after dinner every night. Melissa, you’d murder the man.”

The glare you receive in return only confirms what you both know: once again, Melissa is incapable of arguing with you, and she’s kinda peeved about it. 

“Why d’ya gotta to be so…” she fishes for the appropriate word, “…right? It’s obnoxious.”

“It’s obnoxious that I know you?” You suppress a smirk. 

“Yeah.”

“So you want me to let you keep dating a republican?”

Melissa crosses her arms over her chest. “Shut up.” 

“You gotta dump him, babe. Before there’s a questionable campaign sign in your front lawn,” you stress, and she groans. 

“Then who’s gonna take me to Ocean City and haul me back to the hotel room when I’m eight Manhattans deep and three g’s in the red?” She pouts. 

Your eyebrow quirks up. “Is that your only qualifying factor? I can do that.”

The pout gives way to a small smirk. “So, I dump Gary and you take me to Ocean City? Is that the deal?” 

You pause. Or… maybe ‘freeze’ is a more accurate word. 

“I… guess?” you manage to get out.

Melissa considers this for a moment, head cocked to the side. “Not a bad incentive.”

How did we get here? you briefly wonder, and you push the thought aside. 

“So you’re gonna leave him, then?” you try to keep your tone light, hoping to urge her back toward your main objective. 

Melissa huffs, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. You wanna be my knight in shining armor. You’re not gettin’ me to Ocean City that easy, kid.” She smirks, but it’s tight. Almost forced. 

“Hey, I’m just saying that if all it takes is some drinks on the boardwalk, I’m your gal,” you laugh softly, and she cracks a smile back. 

For a brief moment you feel like you’ve successfully dodged the bullet; Melissa’s more relaxed now, some of the tension having left her shoulders. You just have to coax her a little bit further. 

“I’m serious, Melissa. You deserve way better than a guy who…” is politically vomit-worthy “… doesn’t share your values, y’know? You don’t have to settle.”

That’s when something changes in the way she’s looking at you. The smirk disappears, her eyes narrow, and when she speaks her voice has cooled significantly. 

“Settle?” Melissa repeats. “Who’s settlin’?”

It’s like the air thickens around the two of you. You try to backpedal, to shove the words back in your mouth and swallow them, but it’s too late. Melissa is putting those walls right back up. 

“I don’t need you to swoop in and save me, Y/n,” her voice is sharp, intentionally chosen to carve out space between the two of you. “I’ve stuck it out through way worse than this, alright?”

You sit back in your chair a little and do your best to keep your voice even. “That doesn’t mean you have to-“

“I don’t have to do anything.” Melissa is already shaking her head, voice firm. “I didn’t ask for advice.”

Ouch. Okay, so, she’s kinda pissed. Usually your talks go a lot better than this, and you’re both laughing by now. Then again, usually the talks are about Ava’s inadequacies as a principal or some annoying parent. Not Melissa’s love life and sense of self-worth. 

“Melissa,” you try to control the damage, “I’m not trying to-“

“I’m not some delicate little flower who can’t handle a little trouble. You know me,” Melissa leans forward. “I’ve dealt with way harder stuff than Gary screwin’ up a little. You don’t know half of what I’ve gone through, so don’t sit there and try to pretend that you do.”

Her words hit you square in the chest. You didn’t know what to expect coming back to work after not seeing Melissa all summer, but you didn’t imagine it would be like this. 

Not that you imagined it often. Definitely not. 

You had hoped nothing would be different between you, but she’s evidently putting you at arm’s length now. 

“Melissa, I’m just saying,” you take a breath and try to regroup, “you deserve better than him.”

“Better than what?” Melissa shoots back, arms crossed securely in front of her chest. “Than a guy who wants to settle down with me? Yeah, he’s got some rough edges. So what? Who doesn’t?”

You make a mental note to unpack that sometime down the road. 

“Rough edges?” your eyebrow raises. “Melissa, I’m just trying to make sure you’re happy and not… settling.”

You’re hyper-aware of your use of that word again, and so is she. 

Melissa looks at the table and her jaw clenches. “Yeah, well, maybe you don’t get to decide what settlin’ looks like for me. We’re not on the same page with this, alright?”

In the tense beat of silence that passes between you both, you can feel her withdrawing further from you. The months you’ve spent apart have made it all too raw, too soon. She leans back, arms still crossed, face set in a stubborn scowl. 

“I’ve been fine without your opinion all summer and I’ll be fine without it now.”

You sit back in your chair and try to not let the sigh you let out sound too irritated (or too hurt). This isn’t your first rodeo with Melissa, but still… Ouch. 

“All I’m saying,” you start gingerly, “is that just because you can get through something, it doesn’t mean you should.”

Melissa’s eyes narrow again, but they’re softer this time. She’s listening — even if she doesn’t want to be. 

“I know better than to try to tell you what you can or can’t do,” you continue, keeping your tone casual like you’re discussing the weather. “But I know you, Melissa. You don’t accept less than what you deserve. So if you’re ’sticking it out’ with Gary, there’s a reason, but I don’t think it’s the reason you think it is.”

Melissa doesn’t speak right away, just… stares, with this thoughtful expression. You let the silence hang between you, allowing your words to sink in. 

“You dunno everything about me, Y/n,” she finally says, looking away from you, and her voice has lost some of its edge. 

You offer a small smile. “I never said I did.” 

Another beat of silence. You can see her chewing on your words, probably fighting the urge to make it an argument again. This is always the hardest part — getting her to let go of the fight without feeling like she’s losing. 

“I just… I think you’re worth more than whatever this is,” you say carefully, making sure to keep your voice low. “And maybe it’s time you stop sticking it out just because you’re scared of what comes next.”

That does it. You see Melissa flinch, just barely, but it’s enough to know you’re getting through to her. 

“I’m not scared,” she mutters, but it lacks any real conviction. 

You don’t argue with her, just nod. “Yeah. I know.”

Melissa shifts in her chair, arms still crossed, but she’s less tense. She’s still mad, sure, and maybe she’s even still mad at you, but the fire behind it is dying down. 

“You always gotta be so damn calm, dontcha?” she grumbles. 

“One of us has to be,” you chuckle softly. 

Melissa finally cracks the tiniest smile, her boot nudging you under the table. “Good. You’ll need that calm at the craps table.”

“You’re totally gonna hold me to Ocean City, aren’t you?”

She shrugs. “Gotta have somethin’ to look forward to since you’re makin’ me dump my usual company.”

“Hey, I’m not making you-“ you pause. “Oh. So… you’re gonna do it, then?”

“Yeah,” Melissa nods with a sigh. “I guess I am.”

You just nod, and it seems like Melissa is really absorbing the fact that she’s about to be single again. She looks at the clock like it’s a ticking bomb. 

“Guess I’ve got some time to figure out how I wanna do this,” she says, and you know she’s going to be an anxious mess until 3:30 rolls around. 

“One thing at a time,” you offer a small, supportive smile, and she nods. 

She chuckles softly, more tired than amused. “Right. Should probably focus on my thirty second- and third-graders first.”

Right. Teaching. The thing you’re here to do. You both stand up and start gathering your things. She doesn’t make for the door when you do, and you stop. 

“It’s gonna be okay, Melissa,” you reassure her. “And you know where to find me if you need me.”

Melissa nods and takes a steadying breath. “We’ll talk later?” She sounds almost… hopeful. 

“Of course,” you smile. “If I recall, we’ve got an Ocean City trip to plan.”

Melissa huffs out a small laugh and gives another nod. The tension seems to leave her frame slightly as she finally heads for the door. You follow behind her, knowing the hardest part of the day is yet to come. But maybe, you think, everything will turn out just fine.

[amerricanartwork]

RW Headcanon: Goodnight, Moon

AHHH YESSSS, now that that Lilypad essay is done I can FINALLY share these—!

Hey, @ghostlycoze! So you remember a few months ago how I made that drawing acting on the Moon beepsnort headcanon, and how in my last reblog I eluded to the possibility of drawing out some of your headcanons again? Well, it looks like that time has come, and this time I've got not just drawings, but lots of additions to another headcanon of yours!

This time, it's from your tags in these three posts, which I also saw a while ago! Yet for some reason I began thinking about it again recently, and as is my nature with ideas I like, I decided to develop it further, and even draw it this time!

Also, just to preface, you'll see I did a bunch of notes beside the actual drawings as well. I'll share the picture and roughly type out the notes (in case my handwriting is a bit hard to read) as well as whatever info I couldn't fit on the page. Some of the text also just says "robots" rather than "iterators" because some of these ideas are stuff I actually imagine applying to robot characters in general! Maybe I'll make a post on that someday...

With all that out of the way though, the actual headcanon is under the cut! Hope you like it!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

What are iterators like when they’re sleepy? Do they even get “sleepy” the way we humans do? This headcanon answers that question with a focus on the iterators’ puppets. Much of this info is also framed in the context of a hypothetical “worm-off-the-string” scenario, since I believe that’s the main situation where sleep and getting tired would actually matter to the iterators.

Firstly, when iterator puppets are low on power, until they find a place to recharge they usually enter a power-saving state where, to conserve what’s left of it, their energy is temporarily redirected away from some of their less-important processes. The side-effect of this, however, is that iterator puppets show symptoms of drowsiness kinda like humans! Whereas humans may yawn, stretch, or rub their eyes when sleepy, iterators will often make sloppier/less precise movements, close their lenses a little, and may even have a harder time thinking, since they sometimes shut off some processors and other cognitive functions until they can recharge. The most common symptom, however, is slurred speech, coming from less power given to their speech-forming software.

Another very-common sign of iterator sleepiness is frequent beeping, often in place of words. This is because, like slurred speech, beeps take much less energy and processing to make than analyzing data, formulating a complex response, then vocalizing it clearly. Beeps are thus far more efficient for conveying simple emotions and reactions than words. Looks to the Moon in particular gets super beepy when she’s tired because she and other early models relied more on beeps for communication — they were made back when things like vivid emotion weren’t as taboo in Ancient society, and iterators were meant to be more friendly and openly interactive with their citizens — so she’s more used to beeping to easily express her emotions. 

As a side-note and mini-headcanon (wow, real headcanon-layering action here), while even the newest iterator puppets can beep, the older iterator models, as a result of this design influence, also have a much greater “beep-vocabulary” with a wider range of sounds that shrunk with the generations. Their beeps are thus a lot more expressive as well, with some sounds even being similar in nature to animal noises or regular speech! I imagine the entire range of their beeps would closely resemble shorter versions of the “droidspeak” sounds of the astromechs in Star Wars.

But, back to sleepy iterators. 

When it’s hibernation time, iterators enter a “sleep-mode”, where almost all of their systems are shut down and recharging becomes the primary objective. However, compared to how I imagine other robots, iterator puppets have a unique way of recharging. Rather than shutting off completely and absorbing power from an external source, iterator puppets have a few key systems within them that remain on even during sleep-mode. These systems, just like those in their superstructures, are capable of converting nutrients into power directly. They emit a soft, rather comforting whirr while the puppets sleep — the only sound iterators make while sleeping, and comparable in nature to stomach sounds during digestion. Otherwise, though, the only other systems remaining on during sleep-mode are a few basic senses, and a program that decides when to “wake up”. The presence of this program also means, uniquely to iterators again, they can wake up on their own, rather than having to be powered back on by someone else like other robots. Overall, these systems are yet another aspect of iterator designs that make them far more biological than many iterators (*cough* *cough* Pebbles *cough*) would like to admit.  And in my imaginings of a “worm-off-the-string” AU, systems like these are one of the main sources of both physical and internal conflict for these characters.

Also, since most of their systems are off during sleep mode, iterators sleep, both figuratively and literally, like statues. Whatever position they fall asleep in is the position they remain in the entire time unless a.) someone moves them or b.) they wake up and move on their own. This also means (unfortunately, if you thought these ideas would be cute) that iterators do not snore, shift around, sleepwalk, sleep-talk, or dream while in sleep mode.

That’s about it for this headcanon as it applies to iterator puppets overall. Now, I’m gonna get into how I imagine Looks to the Moon specifically likes to sleep.

In addition to getting very beepy, Moon also gets very cuddly when sleepy, though some of this comes from her affectionate personality. However, it's also due to a lasting trauma from her collapse. Of course she's learned to tolerate the rain over time, yet after spending so many cycles being rapidly drowned over and over in her can — with endless disorientation and senses so out-of-control from being disconnected from most of her superstructure, no one around to comfort her save for the occasional wandering creature, and the knowledge that her own beloved brother was responsible for this — it’s still left a fair amount of bad memories with her, especially from those cycles most recently after her collapse/revival, and this general unease often resurfaces with the sound of the rain. Therefore, whenever the rain comes, this trauma serves as another, more internal reason Looks to the Moon always wants to fall asleep holding onto/being held by someone, or at the very least while sharing the shelter with someone she loves. 

On a more positive note, since I’m now officially a Lilypad shipper, I imagine that No Significant Harassment is Moon’s default choice of cuddling partner! It can be a little hard to get in position — I imagine Moon always likes to be the little spoon despite her being slightly taller than him — but they manage! Moon pretty much always falls asleep first, because, as the oldest model of the group, and having sustained the most damage post-collapse on top of that, she simply doesn’t use power as efficiently as the others do and therefore gets tired much more easily. In some ways, the poor thing even feels a little guilty about it; she’s supposed to be the leader of this group, and yet here she is, tiring out after less travel and growing drowsy before the rain even starts! Luckily, Sig makes an effort to ensure her she’s more-than worth keeping around, because after every awful thing the world has thrown at her kindness, the least she deserves is some quality guilt-free nap time! And sometimes, if they want a little alone-time (or if Pebbles gets too fed-up with their lovey-dovey gestures), it’ll be just the two of them, and perhaps their slugcats, cuddling together in the shelter. 

And speaking of slugcats, Moon’s second choice of cuddles is Rivulet! Being very soft, warm, and equally cuddly, she makes another good source of cuddles for Moon. And sometimes, if Hunter’s also around and willing, the two join forces with Sig and Hunter for a big, soft, cuddle-filled slumber party!

Still, though, Sig is definitely no. 1 provider of snuggles for Moon. But he loves her dearly, so for the most part he doesn’t mind! Since she falls asleep first, some of his favorite moments each cycle are from just watching her and holding her close as the rainfall echoes from outside; she always looks so beautiful when she’s relaxed, and having her in his arms makes him feel like he can protect her no matter what. So he never really minds when Moon, slurring her words, tiredly asks for him to hold her while she enters sleep mode. 

That is, except when this happens and he’s stuck in that spot for the next several hours…

A few more ideas to this headcanon:

Moon’s third choice of cuddles is Five Pebbles. It’s a bit interesting, because in basically all other scenarios Pebbles insists on sleeping alone in a separate shelter, even though he’s actually rather touch-starved (though it'll be a while before he admits it). Moon is one of the only people he’s actually willing to sleep with, besides occasionally Artificer (in which the feeling is mutual and no one else must be in the room). If I someday decide to ship Pebbles with someone, I imagine he’d also be willing to sleep with them, again, only if no one else is around to see it.

To elaborate on the last point and shift to Five Pebbles’ perspective, the reason why Pebbles always wants to sleep alone is because, as I imagine the worm-off-the-string story so far, Pebbles’ biggest internal conflicts are learning to accept all those “worldly attachments” the Ancients so strongly rejected, and overcoming his god-complex and fear of relying on others. And one of the main ways this manifests is him being so deeply embarrassed to be dealing with these basic survival needs — like yet another one of the savage beasts roaming the world, after having been a vast mechanical god so far above those primitive creatures — that he refuses to let others, even his friends and family, observe him in such a “pitiful” state whenever possible, and resolves to try and overcome it alone. 

To further continue this idea, this is why Moon sometimes insists on sleeping with him. Even though he’ll have to overcome these conflicts on his own, it doesn’t mean he has to be alone while he does it. She makes an effort during these and other moments in this scenario to assure him that it’s okay, no one’s gonna judge or punish him for living this way, and she’ll always be there if he ever decides to accept some help. Pebbles always falls asleep with his head buried in her chest and holding onto her very tightly.

The iterators often like to sleep with their slugcats, who in the AU also stick around a lot to help guide them as they figure out the ins-and-outs of organic survival. 

Both Moon and Pebbles tend to sleep in a curled position. It's actually very similar to how slugcats generally sleep!

Pebbles is quite the workaholic in general, but it also means he has a hard time falling asleep — not because he doesn’t get sleepy, but rather that he often denies it or its significance in an attempt to get more done that cycle (and because, again, he’s “too advanced” for animalistic things like sleeping). The group often has to literally drag him to bed to get him to sleep, and Sig often teases him when his lenses start drooping and his syllables begin to stretch.

In extreme cases, where almost all of their power has been exhausted, iterators won't just slur their words anymore, but their speech will often lose coherency overall, like a spoken case of very drunk typing .

When sleepy, Moon not only slurs her words, but has a tendency to say rather strange and very silly things. It’s another side-effect of less power being used to actually think through her words. There have been many instances where the whole group erupted in laughter after Moon made a really out-of-left-field comment!

Oh, and here's one last quick doodle based off one of the ones above:

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Aaaand that's all for another headcanon! Even though it took me a whole week to do the drawings, it was SO fun getting to develop this idea, especially since sleepy Moonie is such a cute concept! I am so glad that you shared that little idea, Ghost!!

And speaking of which, if you've made it all the way down here, Ghost, may I invite you to add any more ideas to all this, if you want? I'd especially love hearing ideas for the other iterators' sleeping habits (how fast they get tired, what position they like to sleep in, who they usually sleep with, how they wind down before bed, etc.)! I mainly focused on Moon and a bit of Pebbles at the end, since I'm still trying to get a read on Sig and Suns's personalities (especially Suns), so it'd be fun to even further expand on this idea in that regard! Of course, you don't have to, but it's a proposition!

But regardless, I hope you and anyone else who made it to the bottom enjoyed my contributions to the idea! And be sure to keep the adorable headcanon ideas coming!!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Bonus: Here are the full sketchbook pages, in case anyone was interested in seeing the completed layout! I think I'm gonna be making more of these kinds of drawing/explanation combo artworks!3

[bestanimatedmovie]

Tumblr’s favorite animated movie, Round 2!

Classification round | Round 1 | Round 3 | Round 4

These are the matches for round 2!

Results overview

Part one:

Alice in Wonderland vs The Adventures of Tintin

Anastasia vs Wreck-it-Ralph

Atlantis: The Lost Empire vs Megamind

Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus vs Rango

Beauty and the Beast vs The Prince of Egypt

Big Hero 6 vs My Neighbor Totoro

Brave vs The Iron Giant

Coco vs Toy Story

Coraline vs The Lion King

Encanto vs Grave of the Fireflies

Fantastic Mr Fox vs Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Finding Nemo vs Kiki's Delivery Service

Hercules vs Perfect Blue

How To Train Your Dragon vs Up

Howl's moving castle vs The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Inside Out vs Wolfwalkers

Kung Fu Panda vs Treasure Planet

Kung Fu Panda 2 vs Who Framed Roger Rabbit vs Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper

Lilo & Stitch vs Ratatouille

Monsters Inc vs Princess Mononoke

Mulan vs Shrek

Ponyo vs Song of the Sea

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish vs Shrek 2

Rise of the Guardians vs The Emperor's New Groove

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie vs The LEGO Movie

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron vs The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Spirited Away vs The Princess and the Frog 

Tangled vs The Incredibles

The Last Unicorn vs Toy Story 2

The Lorax vs Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie vs Turning Red

WALL-E vs Your Name

Part two:

101 Dalmatians vs Sailor Moon R: The Movie

A Goofy Movie vs Rugrats in Paris: The Movie

A Silent Voice vs Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Astro Boy vs The Pagemaster

Barbie Fairy Secret vs Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses

Birdboy: The Forgotten Children vs Star☆Twinkle Precure the Movie: Wish Upon a Song of Stars

Brother Bear vs Meet the Robinsons

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie vs Isle of Dogs

Chicken Run vs Watership Down

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time vs Klaus

Ernest & Celestine vs Liz and the Blue Bird

Fantastic Planet vs Kirikou and the Sorceress

Hoodwinked! vs The Nightmare Before Christmas

In This Corner of the World vs Ringing Bell

Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem vs Persepolis

Kubo and the Two Strings vs Robots

Lu Over the Wall vs The Legend of Hei

Metropolis vs Whisper of the Heart

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind vs The Great Mouse Detective

Night Is Short, Walk on Girl vs The Secret World of Arrietty

ParaNorman vs The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Penguins of Madagascar vs Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

Phineas and Ferb: The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension vs Promare

Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part III: Rebellion vs The Secret of Kells

Stormy Night vs Digimon Adventure: Our War Game

Tehran Taboo vs The Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Book of Life vs The Sea Beast

The Boy and the Beast vs Tokyo Godfathers

The Brave Little Toaster vs Unicorn Wars

The Breadwinner vs Zombillenium

The Little Prince vs The Thief and the Cobbler

Wolf Children vs The Phantom Tollbooth

[ultravioart]

Also I read up a little bit more about omnic lore and it seems the basics are:

Mina Liao essentially created the brand of robots we know as omnics. She is the direct creator of Aurora, Athena, and later Echo. Aurora was the first sentient omnic, and the first omnic to achieve legal personhood. Then the omnic crisis happened. The god ai Anubis (supercomputer ai gone rogue) controlled nonsentient omnic drones to fight humanity and aimed to eradicate humans. Anubis lost the war, and was contained. During sometime after the omnic crisis, Aurora sacrificed herself in hopes of giving sentience to other omnics, in an event called "The Awakening," and it was successful. It seems this is where the Iris was born, as golden light had flashed from her body during the event. (It seems the Iris may be some kind of god ai harnessing light tech, an 'ascension' of Aurora's intelligence? Zenyatta's extra arms seems very similar to the light tech Lifeweaver and Symmetra use.) The omnics connected through the Iris is this "finite generation" of omnics Ramattra refers to, and wishes to protect. In reality, any omnic's body can be rebuilt, but no new sentient life/mind can be created. This means sentient omnics connected to the Iris are gone for good when killed. No amount of replacement parts can bring back that unique sentience/life. Each omnic is apparently able to feel the "loss" of a fellow sentient omnic life, and this kind of intelligence may be similar to colonial organisms like Siphonophores or super organisms like Ant colonies. The Iris seems to be an intelligence blurred between a "colony" and an "individual" organism. A hivemind that nests itself in sentient omnics, if you will. It seems Sentient Omnics default to "base programming" when under duress. Bastion has PTSD that flashes him into default war programming, and Ramatta's grief and trauma pushed him into his R-7000's base programming of commanding drones into war. We can even see how Orisa had changed personality over time, even though she is not a part of the Iris-sentience, so it seems life experiences shape the intelligences of omnics compared to a "default" programming they all have. Echo is very much still in this "default" base programming, she acts very similar to Orisa when she was new to the world. It seems most sentient omnics are aro-ace, with some sentient omnics either being romantic or open to romantic relations, as seen with omnic-human couples. It also seems sentient omnics have no concept of gender, with omnics picking up gender identities from humans/pre-sentience experiences of the roles they used to play in human culture. Echo is an exception, for she was made with Mina Liao's visage, and seems to embrace that. "Omnic" is just a brand of robot, so there are various omnics that are not "sentient" in the same way Iris-connected omnics are. Wrecking ball's robot, Torbjörn's turrets, Athena, and Orisa are all examples of omnics that are not a part of the Iris-sentience. Lastly, there are some parts of omnic culture that are unique. Lots of clothing for omnics seems to be about self expression and personal sentimentality, avoiding areas like shoulder joints for easier movement. From Ramattra's story it seems physical contact, like a comforting hand on the shoulder, is inherently human, so omnics presumably do not touch each other normally. It also seems omnic emotions are hard for humans to understand, and human figurative ways of speech ("the apple doesn't fall far from the tree", etc) are hard for omnics to understand (Zenyatta still struggles with this sometimes). Some omnics are not capable of understanding human humor. From one of the comics it's shown that it is funerary custom for omnics to graft a part of a lost friend to themselves in memory, like welding bits of metal to themselves, or attaching wires. This may very well be what Ramattra's "hair" is--sections of spinal cable from other Ravagers, as the only way Ramattra can repair himself to use parts from scrapped R-7000 kin. A notable red cord may very well belong to Lanet, a colleague and friend he lost during the London uprising.

[stop-spreading-this-poll]

Active Polls

Upcoming polls:

Not always like that: Persona vs DC

Hate Allegations: Resident Evil vs Supernatural

Overpowered: Civilization vs Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

You made that up: Undertale vs Star Wars

Poll Results:

Ages: Ninjago vs Spider-Man Across the Spiderverse

Parent Theory: Portal vs Phineas and Ferb

Stupidity: The Locked Tomb vs Percy Jackson

Canonically Trans: Bob's Burgers vs A3!

Evil: 2001 A Space Odyssey vs Portal

Inspiration - My Chemical Romance: Twilight vs Fall Out Boy

This is a child :) : Invader Zim vs Touhou

Not what it's called! : Danganronpa vs Digimon

Canon Last Names: Vocaloid vs Devil May Cry

Creator Changed It: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure vs Tokyo Ghoul

Siblings: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon vs The Owl House

Same Character: Deltarune vs Pokémon Legends Arceus

Yandere/Stalker: Miraculous Ladybug vs Danganronpa

Original/Real Name: Genshin Impact vs Fullmetal Alchemist

Edit Hoax: DC vs Super Mario Bros

Siblings Pt.2: Danganronpa vs Invader Zim

Dark. So dark: Thomas the Tank Engine vs Phineas and Ferb

Spoiled: FNaF vs Warrior Cats

Not Deliberately/Willingly: Warrior Cats vs Mo Dao Zu Shi

Canon Ship: Supernatural vs Vanitas no Carte

This Design was the Original/Fake Leak: Death Note vs Suite PreCure

Quote: Sherlock Holmes vs Fullmetal Alchemist

Mom: Teen Wolf vs Invader Zim

This Character exists: Keeper of the Lost Cities vs Undertale

Teenager: Chainsaw Man vs Pokémon

Dead/Killed: Rhythm Games vs Plants vs Zombies

Women am I right: Red Dead Redemption 2 vs Ninjago

Promo Misconception: Twisted Wonderland vs Free!

****philia Accusation: Cookie Run vs Mobile Suit Gundam

So much over a mistranslation: One Piece vs Ace Attorney

Identity: Shin Megami Tensei vs Sailor Moon

Bad: Phineas and Ferb vs Teen Wolf

True Self: Miraculous Ladybug vs Danganronpa

Dumb: Touhou vs Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

Connected: Yugioh 5d's vs Undertale

Swearing: Homestuck vs Bungo Stray Dogs

Lesbian: Enola Holmes vs Mob Psycho 100

ADHD: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs The Owl House

Stats: Pokémon SGC vs Undertale

Portrayed by Fans: Dimension 20 Fantasy High vs Miraculous Ladybug

The Creator said... : Ace Attorney vs One Piece

Same/Different Universe: Star Trek Discovery vs Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

My poor misunderstood baby: Disco Elysium vs Helluva Boss

Just A Joke: Animaniacs vs Sesame Street

Ages Pt.2: Tangled the Series vs Sonic the Hedgehog

Relationships: Naruto vs Marvel's Avengers

Making Things Up?: Persona 5 vs Project Sekai

Worked on it: Monster Allergy vs Sonic the Hedgehog

Intelligence/Grades: DC vs H*rry P*tt*r

I decide their gender :): Bungo Stray Dogs vs Undertale/Deltarune

Doesn't Happen Because... : Total Drama vs Avatar the Last Airbender

Not in the Bible: Bible vs Pokémon

Cut Content: Persona 5 vs Portal

Not at Face Value: Persona vs Persona

Evil Pt. 2 Deltarune vs Undertale

Reading Too Much Into It: Haikyu vs Star Fox

He knows: Star Wars vs Undertale

Naming schemes: Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go vs Splatoon

Good/Enjoyable: Scott the Woz vs Homestuck

Abusive/Horrible Person: Epithet Erased vs Resident Evil 8

Literally: Supernatural vs Persona

Debunked. Multiple Times: Monster Hunter vs Five Nights at Freddy's

Credit: Vocal Synths vs Lilo and Stitch

Canon character misinterpretation?: Green Arrow vs DC

Something Something: Final Fantasy 14 vs Homestuck

Game Myths: Team Fortress 2 vs Geneforge

Headcanon not canon: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs My Hero Academia

Canonically gay: Pirates of the Caribbean vs Mob Psycho 100

Relationships Pt 2: Danganronpa vs Fairy Tail

They were the reason they went: Total Drama vs Danganronpa

What's canon: Gravity Falls vs The Henry Stickmin Collection

It's not that deep: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure vs Half Life

Intelligence: Resident Evil vs Bungo Stray Dogs

This is an assumption: Silent Hill vs Undertale

Either one or the other: Durarara!! vs Warrior Cats

One/Two dimensional: God of War vs Gravity Falls

Lesbian: Worm/Parahumans vs Portal

Relationship stuff: The Addams Family vs Gravity Falls

Family: DSMP vs Sonic

Void: Kirby vs Hermitcraft

Backstory: Pokémon vs Resident Evil

Crimes: The Band Ghost vs Scum Villain's Self-Saving System

Shooting and Taking: Person of Interest vs Star Wars

Stop saying this: Ghost Stories vs Madoka Magica

[krypticcafe]

❧ Customer Service Policy

aka The Rules

As much as we love our beloved customers, this cafe is a one-man crew and to make sure the place doesn't burn down and ruin things for everyone, we have our own rules and regulations regarding special orders along with some guidance for the lost.

Many thanks, ✎ Kryptid

❧ Before You Order:

I will do a max of 10 characters for headcanons or fics per request, but you may request more in another one. Depending on the request, I might take out characters or make a second part.

I specialize in masc, amab, dominant, and particularly gender neutral readers, but I'm open to all types.

Readers are automatically written gender-neutral unless requested otherwise.

I do character/reader and occasionally character/character fanfics.

Poly ships are more than welcome! Please state if it is poly, because I will assume you want them all separately.

I will not always accept requests. I write on my own schedule.

If you want a specific kind of reader, please directly state so, such as gender, assigned sex, and/or pronouns. For example,

May I have a transmasc reader with König?

Can I get Din Djarin smut with an amab reader with they/them pronouns?

Can you do Ghost x fem!reader?

I would love to request a könig/horangi/masc reader please!

Remember, it's better to be super specific than super vague for the best customer satisfaction.

✅️Will Write✅️

Polyamory/Open Relationships

Smut (certain kinks and within reason)

Mild Dub-con (depends heavily on request)

Platonic Relationships

Sibling/Related Readers

Child/Younger Reader

AUs

Comfort/Trauma Fics

Readers of all genders, backgrounds, etc

Dark/Psychological Fics (within reason)

Dead Dove (depending)

Half-Humans/Humanoids

Robots/Mechs

Light A/B/O

❌️Won't Write❌️

Explicit or Graphic Non-con/R*pe Smut

Dark/Psychological fics glorifying actions

B*astiality

P*dophilia

Inc*st

Certain Fetishes

Real People

Pregnancy

A/B/O Mpreg

❧ Flavors:

✎﹏Call of Duty

Simon "Ghost" Riley ('09 & '22)

John "Soap" MacTavish ('09 & '22)

Captain John Price ('09 & '22)

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick ('22)

König

Stray/Hound ('09 & '22)

Kim "Horangi" Hong-Jin

Gary "Roach" Sanderson

Farah Karim

Alex Keller

Alejandro Vargas

Rodolfo Parra

Sebastian Krueger

Nikto

Sobieslaw "Gromsko" Kościuszko

Keegan P. Russ

Logan Walker

David "Hesh" Walker

✎﹏Slashers/Dead By Daylight

Ghostface (films)

Danny Johnson/Jed Olsen/DBD!Ghostface

Jason Voorhees

Harry Warden

Michael Myers (films, DBD)

Pyramid Head (games, DBD)

Bubba Sawyer (films, DBD)

Thomas Hewitt

Brahms Heelshire

Trapper/Evan MacMillan

Anna/Huntress

Wraith/Philip Ojomo

Legion/Frank Morrison

Ji-Woon Hak/Trickster

Sally Smithson/Nurse

✎﹏Star Wars

Poe Dameron

The Mandalorian/Din Djarin

Cassian Andor

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Stormtroopers

✎﹏Marvel

Sam Wilson/Captain America/Falcon

Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier

T'Challa/Black Panther

Peter Quill/Star-Lord

Gamora

Mantis

Nebula

Steven Grant/Marc Spector/Jake Lockley/Moon Knight

Matt Murdock/Daredevil

Wade Wilson/Deadpool

Eddie Brock/Venom

✎﹏Marble Hornets/Slenderverse

Masky/Tim Wright

Hoodie/Brian Thomas

Jane the Killer

Eyeless Jack

Kate the Chaser

Slenderman

all rights reserved © krypticcafe, all fanfiction belongs to me and should not be copied, edited, published, sold, or translated without permission. all characters belong to their respective fandoms and creators.

[over-the-time-flow]

Char: "Why can't you understand? The humans you trust so much will destroy the Earth..."

...Hmm. That's... that's it? Something's missing. He didn't even say anything relating to his deep-seated mommy issues.

Oh well, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about.

In any case, Bright orders everyone to return to the ship, and he moves in to commence the Axis detonation operation.

...But something's wrong. Amuro feels something absolutely horrible. It's not malice... but it feels very dangerous. As if on cue, we hear quite possibly the worst thing you can hear over comms after your friends have boarded an unknown space vessel.

Astonaige: "Captain, what is that!?" Bright: "Wh-What in the world is that!?"

Amuro: "BRIGHT, RUN!!"

Terror fills the bridge. No one, not even Amuro, knows what just happened, but everyone felt that explosion just now. Astonaige calls in. It's an enemy, one he's never seen before...

...And it just killed Bright.

Before any arguments about the chain of command can occur, or Hathaway can process the death of his father, Astonaige too is killed.

A loud voice booms.

"This was your error. Your mistake."

Raul immediately recognizes this voice. Regardless, it continues.

"It's impossible to know of a mistake in advance. Thus, it was also impossible to have known me."

Tired of this, Raul deploys once more.

Raul: "Show yourself! I know what you did! I'll get you back for what you did to us on the Moon!"

"Raul Gureden, you and your friends' continued existences are my mistake."

"...I see, making mistakes leads to situations like this one."

"I never thought i'd end up in the Creator's position. But there's no way around it. This was my mistake."

All of this is flying over Raul's head. All he wants to know is who is the owner of this voice.

"My name is Duminass."

Just as Raul asked, it showed itself, much to the terror of everybody still alive. And to answer Raul's provocations...

"I must fight those who reject me..."

The frame is a mess, and the engine is leaking. If there was ever a time to put the spare Excellence to use, that time is now.

Crammed together into the cockpit, Raj and Mizuho set off to rescue Raul. This frame isn't suited for space combat, but they can't afford to be picky right now.

As they rescue Raul, Duminass readies its second strike.

The trio can't even consider themselves lucky in a grim sense for not being hit while they were wide open, as the damage to the Ra Cailum was critical; its nuclear pulse engines are going to explode.

And as if things couldn't get any worse, the first Excellence unit's Timeflow Engine is overloading. Raul can't stop the turbines, they're spinning on their own no matter what he does.

"...What is happening? I cannot comprehend..."

This probably isn't good.

The engine's output rises to over 200%. The engine itself should have no way of handling this much energy. And there's no way to stop it.

[kirinda]

(icon and header and art in this post r by @/cupiidzbow !)

my names voltaire and this is my selfship blog! i barely use this blog and it needs revamping, my main is ousama!

IF YOU @ OR TAG ME IN A POST PLEASE @/TAG OUSAMA, MY URL IS AN OBSCURE CHARACTER AND I DONT WANT TO FILL HIS TAG WITH UNRELATED STUFF

im selfship tumblrs most hated thats how you know im a good blog baby yeah!!!!

do not follow me if you are a minor. do not follow me if you are a proshipper.

if you rb from misogynists ill probably block you its not my job to tell you when you follow one use that little brain in there

sharing f/os is awesome! be nice about it

F/O LIST AND SELF INSERTS UNDER CUT

MAIN GUYS

Kirinda (Eto Ranger) tag: 📸

Trafalgar Law (One Piece) tag: 🫀*note: I ship with all of the heart pirates and use the same tag for them. Only Law is a major F/O amongst them.

Masked Deuce (One Piece) tag: ♠️

SECONDARY

Banban (Garten of Banban) tag: 🥳

Kaito Kumon (Kamen Rider) tag: 🍌

Rowena MacLeod (Supernatural) tag: 😈

Shelda (Bugsnax) tag: ☮️

BOe (Магазинчик БО) tag: 🐰

Biznella (Super Sentai) tag: 🃏

Nellie Lovett (Sweeney Todd) tag:🥧

Chuck Keith (Gundam) tag:🌌

Olympia (Pokemon) tag: 🔮

Marcus Kane (Twisted Metal) tag: 🚧 *Only the Head-On and Black continuity

Lard Nar (Invader Zim) tag: 🛸

Misasagi (Rune Factory) tag: ⛩️

Self Inserts

Makoto Edamura (Great Pretender) tag: 🐱

The Director/Hubert (Interliminality) tag: 📺

All of my inserts use any pronouns while i usually default to he/they for them

My Eto Ranger self insert is Cabbage! He's shipped with Kirinda/Lydia. he's a...janitor i suppose? its his job to keep the ship and common area clean. he's super antisocial but enjoys speaking to kirinda while cleaning because it's less stressful than talking face to face with a living person. He falls HARD for that robot and their relationship begins before kirinda gets his physical body back but cabbage certainly enjoys the goofball regardless of form

My One Piece self insert is Karma! He's shipped with Law and sometimes the heart pirates in general as a polyship. Hes the user of the ryu ryu no mi model chameleon. He joined the crew a little after Sabaody after stowing away. He's kind of a menace but hes their menace. hes really bad at his job because he doesn't have the skills to utilize his fruits powers correctly. Law unfortunately sympathizes with them having childhoods that parallel at points. I do not have a self insert that i ship with Deuce. I have delusions about being Ace and we were partners

My GoBB self insert is named Eddie! Theyre an anteater who was made to work with disabled children and theyre shipped with Banban! I hope that doesnt sound weird I was in and out of sped classes as a kid so I wanted to reflect that.

My Kamen Rider self insert is Jules! They're shipped with Kaito and are a member of team baron. They dont really have any lore yet except for hardcore yearning lol. Might make them a rider too?

My Supernatural self insert is Voltaire!!! Hes shipped with Rowena hes a nachzehrer and certified menace. His ass should be dead but free will keep him alive bc hes Rowenas little play thang and keeps her slightly in line. Not by much. His heads so empty only thoughts of his pack and beautiful older women

My Bugsnax self insert is Sunnie Cuteloop theyre a magician! They heart Shelda we love faking magic. Two dif kinds of magic but you know.

My Pokemon self insert is currently unnamed and shipped with Olympia! They're also a magician I swear im not unoriginal I just do magic irl. They're the child of Hocus from the Oblivia region but moved to Kalos to pursue their career. They want to separate from their father and aim to be a better magician than he ever was.

My Invader Zim self insert is Tiere Ley a vortian scientist. They've been with Lard Nar since before the war but didn't officially get together till the Resisty was formed.

[smilesrobotlover]

Just wanted to let you know that your art has been reposted on r/Mipha, without linking, but credit. (credit being: bye robot lover)

... Shall I go wage war on them, or are you okay with the repost?

(I'll go link all of the posts the art was took from in the comments section.)

I have to ask, did they actually type “bye robot lover” or was that a typo? Cuz I def want my actual username “smilesrobotlover” to be credited.

Honestly, I’d prefer it if you asked me permission before reposting my art, or even linking my art instead of reposting it, but reposting WITH me being credited is fine. Since this person didn’t need to be hunted down and forced to give credit, I’ll let it slide. I appreciate them mentioning me. All I want is for people to know that I was the one who drew the stuff. But again, I want it to be my correct username so people can look for my blog. No spaces, fancy words, or anything.

Again, I’d prefer it if I was asked, or if it was linked. Knowing that people are saying things about my art without me knowing makes me uncomfortable so reposting isn’t something I’m super ok with. But credit is most important to me. If someone reposts my stuff without credit or they lazily say “credit to the artist” THEN I’d like it if you asked them to credit me or to take down the post (preferably taking down the post cuz they lost their reposting privileges)

Thanks for letting me know!

[thebookofm]

Recommended Reading

Here is a list of books, both prose and graphic, that I think are worth checking out. All of these books are speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, alternate reality, et cetera), since that’s essentially the only genre I read. Entries followed by a ♥ are my extra-special favorites. The ones marked with an H won at least one Hugo Award. Those marked with a Q contain prominent LGBTQ+ characters or issues.

Lighter Science Fiction

Douglas Adams: The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy and its first two sequels, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and Life, the Universe and Everything. The Hitchhiker’s Guide is a landmark work in SF comedy and is a must-read. If you are an audio listener, then I suggest starting with the 1978 BBC radio play, which was the original version of this story. (If you like THHGTTG, then check out Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and its sequel.) ♥

John Scalzi: Any of his SF, especially the Old Man's War series and the Interdependency series (The Collapsing Empire and its sequels). Scalzi’s work, with few exceptions, is not only very funny, but also includes some good science-fiction-y “big ideas.” If you are a fan of Star Trek, then his novel Redshirts, which won a Hugo, will be of particular interest. Interestingly in some of Scalzi’s recent work, such as Kaiju Preservation Society and the Lock In series, he never revels the gender of the main character. Almost all of Scalzi’s audiobooks are read by Wil Wheaton. Wheaton does a great job, but his voice does tend to make the listener imagine the main character as a man, even when there’s no textual evidence to support that imagining. ♥H

Martha Wells: The Murderbot Diaries (All Systems Red and sequels), winner of the 2021 Hugo Award for best series. Despite the name, this series of five novellas and one novel follows a human-bot hybrid (not a robot) security unit (SecUnit) as it struggles to protect its stupid humans while coping with social anxiety and finding time to watch soap operas. Plus, it doesn’t really murder all that often. The series is very funny, but it is also a surprisingly serious and insightful examination of sentience, autonomy, and living with neuroses. Wells, who identifies as neurodivergent, will write three more Muderbot books, beginning in November 2023, as part of her six-volume deal with Tor. I particularly enjoy Kevin R. Free’s narration of the audiobooks. I’m counting these books for LGBTQ+ representation because Murderbot is nonbinary and asexual, but since it isn’t human (and doesn’t want to be), nonbinary and/or ace readers (whom I assume to be human) may not find themselves reflected in Murderbot’s experience. ♥HQ

Scott Meyer: The Authorities series (The Authorities and Destructive Reasoning), Master of Formalities, and Grand Theft Astro. Meyer’s books are all hilarious, fun adventures. The Authorities books follow a privately funded taskforce created to investigate crimes that the police cannot solve. Megan Sloan is one of my favorite detectives in fiction. Master of Formalities follows a protocol expert in a far-future monarchy. My favorite gag in this book occurs when someone becomes his own uncle. Grand Theft Astro is a heist story with Meyer’s trademark humor. If you enjoy these books, check out his Magic 2.0 series, which is described in the Lighter Fantasy/SF Mashups section. Luke Daniels, who narrates all of Meyer’s audiobooks, does an excellent job with these stories. ♥

Ernest Cline: Ready Player One. This book is great fun, especially for those that remember the ‘80s or enjoy the popular culture of that era. The audiobook is narrated, very appropriately, by nerd icon Wil Wheaton.

Andy Weir: The Martian and Project Hail Mary. The Martian is the basis of the very faithful film adaption (which I also recommend), and it is super-realistic science fiction with a lot of jokes. Project Hail Mary feels much like The Martian (though far more speculative) at first, but a third of the way in, a major plot development shakes up the story for the better. ♥

Dennis E. Taylor: We are Legion (We are Bob) and sequels (the Bobiverse series). This series begins with the dark premise of the protagonist being uploaded into a von Neumann probe and launched into deep space, but it’s actually very funny. Ray Porter does a great job narrating the audiobooks.

More Serious Science Fiction

David Brin: Startide Rising and The Uplift War. In this universe, sentient species modify or “uplift” presentients to help them bridge the gap to sentence, after which the “client” species is indentured to its “patron” for 100,000 years. Humans, once discovered by the Five Galaxies civilization, only escape indenture because they have already uplifted chimpanzees and dolphins, making humans the lowest-ranking and most hated patron species in the known universe. These books have great worldbuilding and aliens that are very well developed in terms of both biology and culture. The other Uplift books are also good, but these two, which each won a Hugo, are my favorites. ♥H

David Brin: Glory Season. This novel is an amazing extrapolation of an agrarian society built on parthenogenesis. The main character is a rare “variant,” a person who wasn’t cloned but was instead conceived sexually via one of the tiny number of men on the planet. She and her twin must find roles in society without the benefit of membership in a clan of genetically identical women occupying an established niche. Plus, there are fun puzzles and Conway’s Game of Life. ♥

Vernor Venge: A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky. In this universe, the laws of physics vary with the average density in the galactic “neighborhood.” Thus, while the Earth lies at a point where only sublight speeds and human-level intelligence are possible, farther out in the plane of the galaxy and especially off the plane, superluminal speeds and superhuman intelligence can be achieved. Also, on one planet in the “Slow Zone,” there is a race of wolf-like beings who are not individually sentient but who achieve sentience (via ultrasonic communication) in groups of four to six. These books have spectacular worldbuilding, well conceived aliens, and some very compelling science-fictional “big ideas.” Can be read in either order, but publishing order (as listed above) is likely best. Each novel won a Hugo. ♥H

Vernor Venge: Across Realtime. This volume is a compilation of the novels The Peace War and Marooned in Realtime as well as the novella The Ungoverned. These stories revolve around an interesting technology for altering how time passes.

James S. A. Corey: The Expanse series (Leviathan's Wake, eight sequel novels and several shorter works). Fairly hard science fiction based on a politically strained three-way balance of power in a solar system that is confronted with terrifying alien technology. This series is the basis for The Expanse TV/web series, which I also recommend. The Expanse won the 2020 Hugo for best series. ♥H

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice and sequels (The Imperial Radch series). A far-future story in which a sentient ship formerly controlling and inhabiting many human bodies is now confined to a single human body (and with its ship self destroyed). These books attracted a lot of attention because the Radchaai language only uses female pronouns, and thus the gender of many of the characters is never revealed, but there's a lot more to this story than that. Ancillary Justice won basically all the awards offered in 2013. Leckie’s novel Provenance and her upcoming Translation State take place in the same universe but follow new characters. ♥HQ

Arkady Martine: A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace. A new ambassador (with the old ambassador’s memories shoved into her brain) is appointed to represent a “barbarian” space station to the “civilized” Teixcalaanli Empire, where she becomes embroiled in a succession crisis and meets people with names like Three Seagrass (my favorite character) and Eight Antidote. Eventually, she must also negotiate first contact with sentient aliens. These books are an interesting examination of imperialism and language. Both novels won the Hugo Award. HQ

Becky Chambers: The Wayfarers series (The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and sequels). This anthology series explores different cultures and locations in a well developed galactic civilization. Wayfarers won the 2019 Hugo Award for best series. HQ

Lighter Fantasy/SF Mashups

Scott Meyer: Off to Be the Wizard and its sequels (the Magic 2.0 series). These books are science fiction disguised as fantasy. An amateur hacker discovers a computer file that can be edited to change the real world. Within 24 hours, everything goes wrong, and he flees from the FBI to medieval England, planning to set himself up as a wizard using his new capabilities. That plan doesn’t go well, either. These books are laugh-out-loud funny and may be of particular interest to computer scientists. The audiobooks’ narrator, Luke Daniels hilariously brings the text to life. ♥

More Serious Fantasy/SF Mashups

Tamsyn Muir: The Locked Tomb series (Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, Nona the Ninth, and Alecto the Ninth [not yet published]). Charles Stross described the first novel as “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!” Honestly, I’m not sure whether to put this series under the “Lighter” or “More Serious” heading. There is a lot of humor, especially in the first book, but there is also quite a lot of horror and sadness. The second novel will absolutely gaslight you, forcing you to question your own sanity, but you’ll be glad you trusted Muir before you reach the end of the book. I can’t imagine anyone other than the excellent Moira Quirk narrating these books. ♥Q

John Scalzi: The God Engines. This novella, in which humans use enslaved gods (defeated enemies of their own god) to power their starships, is almost the only Scalzi work without a large dose of humor. It’s very good, though.

Anne McCaffrey: The first six Dragonriders of Pern books. (I've only read the first six.) These are science fiction disguised as fantasy and are classics in the genre. Far in the future, on an agrarian planet that has forgotten its history, humans ride sentient, telepathic dragons into battle against deadly spores that fall from the sky when another planet in an extremely eccentric orbit comes close.

Lighter Fantasy

Nicholas Eames: The Band series (Kings of the Wyld, Bloody Rose, and Outlaw Empire [not yet published]). Mercenary bands are the rock stars of the fantasy world in which these novels take place, attracting rabid fans and touring huge arenas. These books certainly have strong elements of humor, much of which is focused on the central conceit, but there is also a lot of action and pathos to be had. Both published books a great fun to read, and I’m looking forward to reading the third.

Tamsyn Muir: Princess Floralinda and the Forty Flight Tower. This novella subverts fairytale tropes and comments on gender roles while delivering an outsized dose of Muir’s trademark dry humor. Moira Quirk is hilarious as the audiobook narrator. I’m counting this book for LGBTQ+ because one of the characters doesn’t identify with any gender and because the story examines gender roles. ♥Q

Travis Baldree: Legends and Lattes. A female orc warrior retires from adventuring to open a coffee shop. "What's coffee?" everyone asks. This novel is well crafted, full of interesting characters, and very cute. My friend @novelconcepts aptly described it as “a beautiful warm hug of a book.” There's even a tiny touch of WLW romance, if you’re into that. Baldree is writing a prequel. Q

More Serious Fantasy

Brandon Sanderson: All of the series and standalone books that are set in the Cosmere (rather than on some alternate Earth). Mistborn: The Final Empire is probably a good place to start. The Stormlight Archive (The Way of Kings and sequels) is my favorite series of Sanderson’s, but each of those books is >1300 pages or >45 hours in audio form, so it may not be the best place to start. Era 2 of the Mistborn series (set 300 years after the Era 1) is probably the most fun. Sanderson also has many books not set in the Cosmere that are more than worth reading. His method of taking a break from writing is to write on a different series, so, every year, he puts out ~400,000 words worth of material (3-4 normal novels or a single Stormlight book). If you listen to the audiobooks of the Stormlight Archive, I recommend getting the hardcopy as well, since the art included really helps bring the world of Roshar to life. ♥

Scott Lynch: The Lies of Locke Lamora and sequels (The Gentleman Bastard series). Great worldbuilding of an original fantasy world with dark humor. Lynch finally completed his first draft of Book 4 (of 7 planned) in May 2019 after a 4-year delay, so I’m hoping it will be available eventually. I’m starting to give up hope, though.

China Miéville: Perdido Street Station. Very rich worldbuilding. Very, very dark. Don’t read this book if you aren’t interested in depressing storylines. Miéville’s other work is just as inventive and, in his word, “weird” as this one.

N. K. Jemison: The Broken Earth trilogy (The Fifth Season and its sequels). These books have an intriguing premise, extensive worldbuilding, and an interesting writing style. These novels won the best-novel Hugo for three consecutive years, which no author had done before. HQ

Alternate Reality (Including Alternate History and Steampunk)

Elizabeth Bear: Karen Memory. This novel follows a lesbian prostitute as she teams up with a lawman in a steampunk version of a Seattle-like city in the Pacific Northwest. I also enjoyed Bear’s space opera series, White Space (Night and Machine). Q

Cherie Priest: Boneshaker and its sequels (The Clockwork Century series). Steampunk + zombies = fun. This story begins with a plague of zombification erupting out of Seattle, and it finally provides a reason for Steampunks to wear goggles. ♥

Ian Tregillis: The Mechanical and its sequels (The Alchemy Wars series). Alchemy + steampunk robots + a little philosophy.

China Miéville: The City and the City. See the Detective Stories section of this document. ♥

Felix Gilman: The Half-Made World. Steampunk mixed with fantasy. Also, sentient, demon-possessed firearms.

Mary Robinette Kowal; The Lady Astronaut series (The Calculating Stars and sequels). This universe is an extremely hard-science-fiction alternate history in which a catastrophic event dramatically accelerates the space program. The Lady Astronaut of Mars, a short story, is chronologically last but was written first. There’s also a short story called “We Interrupt this Broadcast” that comes chronologically first but isn’t closely connected to the rest. Kowal’s second job is audiobook narrator—she narrates Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series, for example—and she narrates all these books herself. Interestingly, Kowal’s third job is puppeteer, so she’s pretty busy.

Scott Westerfeld: The Leviathan series, as described in the young-adult section of this list. ♥

Detective Stories in Speculative-Fictional Settings

Scott Meyer: The Authorities and Destructive Reasoning. See the Lighter Science Fiction section. ♥

John Scalzi: Lock In and its sequel, Head On. This series of detective stories takes place in a world where a disease has left millions of people “locked into” paralyzed bodies and forced to use remotely operated mecha to interact with the world. Scalzi never reveals the gender of the main character, leaving it up to the reader’s imagination.

John Scalzi: The Dispatcher series. As of a few years ago, if someone is intentionally killed, they stand a 99.9% chance of recovering with their body reset to a few hours earlier, which makes murder more difficult, but not impossible. Dispatchers are licensed to kill—I mean dispatch—people before they can die from injuries or illnesses, thus giving them a second chance. One such service provider gets caught up in illegal dispatches and a series of mysteries.  

Brandon Sanderson: Snapshot. Two detectives are sent into a snapshot, a detailed simulation of an entire city and its millions of inhabitants on a specific day, to investigate a crime.

China Miéville: The City and the City. This book is amazingly thorough exploration of a ridiculous premise: two cities occupying the same space. This novel is probably my favorite of Miéville’s books. ♥

Richard K. Morgan: Altered Carbon. A murder mystery with an SF “big idea” at its core. The basis for a Netflix series that I haven’t seen.

Superheroes and Supervillains in Prose

Brandon Sanderson: Steelheart and sequels (The Reckoners series). This is a young-adult series in which all super-powered people, called Epics, eventually turn evil.

Seanan McGuire: The Velveteen series. This series is McGuire’s funniest work and is available for free here, but I recommend buying the books to support the author. McGuire also has a number of other fantasy series under her own name as well as some SF/horror series under the pen name Mira Grant.

Comics and Graphic Novels

Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, and Matt Wilson: Paper Girls. This 30-issue comic follows four newspaper-delivery girls who get swept up in a temporal war on Hell Day, 1988. They travel to the ancient past and the far future, meet their adult selves, and learn a lot about themselves in the process. The comic was adapted into an excellent Amazon Prime series, which is a bit more character-focused than the plot-driven comic. Both comic and show are recommended. ♥Q

Ryan North: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. This comic was my favorite ongoing superhero series until its recent ending. Firstly, it’s hilarious. Secondly, since Doreen Green (Squirrel Girl’s alter ego) is a computer-science student, there are a number of gags about coding and math. Thirdly, the heroine usually solves her problem not by beating up the villains, but by empathizing with them, understanding their problems, and helping them find nonviolent solutions. Since the series ended with Issue 50, it’s quite possible to read it all. ♥

N. D. Stevenson: Nimona. This mash-up of fantasy and science fiction is not only filled with humor but also includes a surprising amount of sweetness. Q

Various authors: Lumberjanes. This young-adult comic series follows a group of cabin-mates at a summer camp for girls—excuse me, “hard-core lady-types”—as they encounter a surprisingly high frequency of supernatural phenomena over one time-dilated summer. This comic wrapped up its run after 75 issues. Q

Alan Moore: Watchman. There’s a reason many people point to this graphic novel as an exceptional example of the genre. Honestly the way the story is told is more interesting than the story itself, but the storytelling is well worth the price of admission.

Short Stories in Speculative-Fiction Settings

Various authors: Metatropolis and its sequels. This series of anthologies is a near-future look at how cities (and green spaces) might evolve.

John Scalzi: Shadow War of the Night Dragons, Book One: The Dead City: Prologue. Trust me, read this hilarious fantasy parody for free here.

John Scalzi: Miniatures. A collection of very short science-fiction stories.

Young-Adult Speculative Fiction

Brandon Sanderson: The Rithmatist. In an alternate United States (so not in the Cosmere), geometric drawings are used to defend the world against an onslaught of 2D creatures. If you listen to the audiobook, I strongly suggest buying the hardcopy as well, since the drawings included play such as strong role in the story. I also suggest the Reckoners series, listed above, but The Rithmatist is my favorite non-adult story from Sanderson. ♥

Scott Westerfeld: Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath. This series takes place in an alternate-history WWI, where one side uses steampunk mecha, and the other relies on genetically engineered animals. There’s a bonus epilogue online, for those how can’t get enough. The hardcopy contains some very nice illustrations. The companion Manual of Aeronautics provides much additional (full-color) artwork, though the character descriptions in the last few pages contain major spoilers. ♥

Mark Lawrence: The Book of the Ancestor trilogy (Red Sister, Grey Sister, and Holy Sister). On a world being buried under ice, an orphan with magical powers joins others like her training to become warrior nuns. Q

Myke Cole: The Sacred Throne series (The Armored Saint and sequels). In a land ruled by a religious tyrant who claims to have defeated devils from another plane, a teenage girl must fight to protect those she loves when the emperor’s vicious zealots arrive at her tiny village. Plus, there’s a steampunk mecha suit. The age of the protagonist points toward a young-adult audience, but this book has far more violence than is typical of YA novels. ▽

T. Kingfisher: A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking. “T. Kingfisher” is a pseudonym used by Ursula Vernon for young-adult and adult titles. This book follows a very minor wizard whose magic only works on dough. The story is full of humor and heart, and there’s more than a little (bread-based) action as well.

Anne McCaffrey: The Harper Hall Trilogy: Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums. These books are a subset of McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series, which is discussed eleshere.

Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games series. These books are the basis for the kids-killing-kids battle royale film series.

Children’s and Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction

Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events. Very well done, but also very dark. The Netflix series based on the books is also quite good.

Ursula Vernon: Castle Hangnail. This adorable story follows a would-be wicked witch who applies to fill a vacancy at the titular castle.

Brandon Sanderson: The Alcatraz series (beginning with Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians). These books take place on an alternate Earth (thus not in the Cosmere) where most of the world is run by a cabal of evil librarians. There’s a ton of fun adventure and silly humor, which my son loved when I read them to him as an 8- to 9-year-old. Be sure to get the later printings with art by Hayley Lazo; her work is great.

Kazu Kibuishi: The Amulet series (beginning with The Stonekeeper). A portal-fantasy graphic novel with beautiful art and an interesting, magical setting.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

CinemaCon takeaways...

Disney largely focused on this year, and not much beyond other than some Marvel stuff. A new song from MOANA 2 was previewed along with some footage, some of which that will presumably be - more or less - the first teaser for the movie. Whenever that drops, but the sequel seems to coming along nicely despite some concerns I've had over the production being a possible crunch job. INSIDE OUT 2's first 35min were previewed to high praise, though we do gotta remember that CinemaCon is first and foremost for exhibitors and those in the movie theater business. A chunk of a sequel to an $850m+ grossing movie is obviously going to go over pretty well, but I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy INSIDE OUT 2. The detail that really got me was the use of different animation styles - similar to the first film's "Abstract Thought" scene - to portray personifications of some of Riley's lost memories. 2D for what is reported to a BLUE'S CLUES-looking preschool show dog character, and a PS2-esque FINAL FANTASY-style character. I love it, the artists just going all out for the sequel and trying all kinds of wacky ideas. That interests me every bit as much as the new emotions and their respective roles in the story do. Disney didn't show anything beyond the December release of MUFASA in terms of animated movies, not a word on any changes to their 2025 slate. Again, being CinemaCon, they were more focused on what they had to offer this year to exhibitors.

Paramount made a big splash, apparently what they showed of TRANSFORMERS ONE was a standout (teaser WHEN?), while THE SMURF MOVIE saw a re-titling that's equally as generic... Just, SMURFS. The two Sony hybrid movies were THE SMURFS, while their all-animated movie was called SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE... Just a simple SMURFS... That's it. I'm still curious as to how the studio contracted to make this one for Paramount will make a neat style that is unique to the one Sony did for LOST VILLAGE. Will it be even more stylized and 2D-like? Or less so? The first of the new 2D AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER movies is called AANG: THE LOST AIRBENDER, and cast members have been revealed, including Dave Bautista as a villain. Some stuff from the new SPONGEBOB movie, subtitled SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS, got out as well. Paramount's theatrical animation is all just big IPs. We know how their heads feel about more original stuff. (Or stuff based on things never before adapted to film, before you come after me.) Otherwise, Paramount's presentation was largely for live-action fare: The ever long-gestating fourth Kelvin STAR TREK movie, an R-rated TMNT movie, Trey Parker and Matt Stone's new movie, Edgar Wright's go at Stephen King's THE RUNNING MAN, a TRANSFORMERS/G.I. JOE movie, and then some.

Universal showed some of DESPICABLE ME 4 and THE WILD ROBOT, but were absolutely mum about anything beyond that. Only a few 2025 live-action projects, like the FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S movie sequel, got dropped. Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri emphasized that original movies remain in that studio's future, despite getting no word on anything coming out in 2025 - between this summer's release of DESPICABLE ME 4 and spring 2026's SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE sequel.

Warner Bros.' presentation was unsurprisingly animation-free, outside of a WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM logo. Their next animated film, and the first under the "Warner Bros. Pictures Animation" moniker - THE CAT IN THE HAT, isn't here until early 2026 at the moment. Ya know, there's a certain hybrid movie that could've made a splash during their presentation that they decided to toss- Yeah, you know what? I won't go there.

While I didn't expect much, given the nature of CinemaCon, we still learned a lot of cool stuff I feel. As for Disney, we'll get juicier things - I reckon - come late summer with D23. Other stuff could debut at Comic-Con or elsewhere.

[diana--williams]

Every Hindi Movie I remember watching

2022 TO 2013

Brahmastra: Part 1 Shiva

Gangubai Kathiavad

Toolsidas Junior

Gehraiyaan

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2

HIT: The first case

Badhaai Do

Major

Darlings

Plan A Plan B

Ek Villain Returns

Shabhash Mithu

Dasvi

Dhrishyam 2

Chandigargh Kare Aashiqui

83

Hassena Dilruba

Roohi

The White tiger

Saina

Pagglait

Sardar Ka Grandson

Mimi

The Girl on the Train

Tribhanga

Ajeeb Daastaan

Meenakshi Sundareshwar

Tuesdays and Fridays

Madam Chief Mininster

Chhichhore

Malang

Tanhaji

Laxmi

Kalank

Street Dancer 3D

Khaali Peeli

Bulbbul

Love Aaj Kal

Guilty

Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl

Thappad

Class of '83

Jawaani Jaaneman

Jai Mummy Di

Yeh Ballet

Serious Men

Maskaa

Panga

Shimla Mirchi

Axone

Sir

Badla

Mardhaani 2

War

Dream Girl

Ek Ladki ko Dekha To Aisa Laga

Lukachupi

Student of the Year 2

Drive

Article 15

Super30

Manikarnika

URI: The Surgical Strike

Panipat

Kabir Singh

Bala

The Zoya Factor

Good Newwz

The Sky is Pink

Mission Mangal

The Tashkent Files

Kalank

Chopsticks

Romeo Akbar Walter

Saand Ki Aankh

Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota

Sultan

Stree

Badhaaii ho

Lust Stories

Aiyaary

Raazi

Andhaadhun

Simbaa

Baaghi 2

Pad Man

Hichki

Sanju

2.0 Robot

Zero

Namaste England

Dil Junglee

Love per Squarefoot

Once Again

Padmaavat

Raabta

Half Girlfriend

Badrinath ki Dulhania

Machine

Ittefaq

Shaadi mein Zaroor Aana

Mom

Qarib qarib singlle

Jab Harry met Sejal

A Gentleman

Ghazi

Guest in London

Rangoon

Toilet: Ek Prem Katha

Secret Superstar

Naam Shabana

Newton

Haseena Parker

Ae Dil hai Mushkil

Dear Zindagi

Fitoor

Sanam Teri Kasam

Airlift

Wazir

Rocky Handsome

A Flying Jatt

Sanam Re

M S Dhoni: The Untold Story

Neerja

Fan

Dangal

Sultan

Saala Khadoos

Baaghi

Kabali

Rustom

Pink

Befikree

Mohenjo Daro

Dishoom

Te3n

Akira

Baar baar Dekho

Azhar

Houseful 3

Force 2

Kapoor and Sons

Udta Punjab

Ghayal Once Again

Mirzya

Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh

Dear Dad

1920: London

Parched

Ek Paheli Leela

Dum Laga Ke Haisha

Hero

Roy

Dilwale

Shaandar

Tamasha

Dhrishyam

Dolly Ki Doli

Katti Batti

Mr. X

Gabbar is Back

Baby

Phantom

Dil Dhadkane Do

Manjhi- The Mountain Man

Alone

Bajirao Mastani

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo

Talvar

Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Welcome 2 Karachi

Brothers

Love Exchange

ABCD 2

Piku

Rahasyaa

Shamitabh

Jazbaa

Nil Battey Sannata

Waiting

Hamari Adhuri Kahani

Singh is Bling

Singham Returns

PK

Heropanti

Kick

Khoobsoorat

Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania

Main Tera Hero

Hasee Toh Phasee

Mardaani

Yaariyaan

Jai Ho

Ek Villain

Gunday

Bang bang

Happy New Year

Finding Fanny

Action Jackson

Mary Kom

Haider

Entertainment

Bewakoofiyan

Total Siyappa

Shaasi ke Side Effects

Purani Jeans

O Teri

Bobby Jasoos

Pizza

Boothnath Returns

Sonali Cable

Ungli

Super Nani

Gang of Ghosts

Holiday: A soldier is never off duty

2 states

Gulaab Gang

Queen

Hawaa Hawai

Vishwaroopam

Zanjeer

Ramaiya Vastavaiya

Madras Cafe

Commando

Akaash Vani

R..Rajkumar

Special 26

Yeh Jawani Hai deewani

ABCD: Any Body Can Dance

Himmatwala

Jolly LLB

Race 2

Raanjhanaa

Krrish 3

Chennai Express

Once Upon a time in Mumbai Dobaraa

Bhaag Milka

Kai Po Che

Bombay Talkies

Dhoom 3

Lootera

Fuckrey

Gori Tere Pyaar Mein

Jayanta Bhai ka Love Story

Gippi

Phata Poster Nikla Hero