#automatic cartooning machines

[nichromepackaging]

NICHROME’S POWDER PACKING SOLUTIONS RULE THE ROOST

Tins (or cans) are used mainly in the food and pharma industry where quality packaging is paramount. Tins are commonly used for packaging of powders because they ensure safety, durability, and convenience. This makes them the preferred choice for packaging coffee powder, milk powder, baby formula, spice powders, nutritional supplements and more.

…And Nichrome India Limited’s integrated tin packaging solutions such as its powder filling machines, and tin packaging machines are regarded as the industry standard. Nichrome can provide both standardized and fully customizable powder packaging solutions for both the food and nutraceutical industry.

Nichrome’s Powder Packaging Solutions

Nichrome's tin filling machine line for powders and tin packing line for powders are robust, low maintenance-driven and made for accurate and efficient performance for powder packaging in tins.

The programmable logic controller (PLC)-fitted line features a digital liquid crystal display (LCD) touchscreen with settings. It also has safety enclosures with interlocks for rotary parts. Various tin sterilization and tin cleaning options are available from Nichrome.

Tins for powder filling come in various formats like tin with sealing, tin with capping and composite tins. They are used to fill snacks, ready-to-eat food, liquids, powder, spice, coffee etc.

Why Nichrome?

Nichrome offers an efficient tin powder filling line system that helps you meet your packaging needs. Just change the filler to fill different products, and this innovative packaging solution will enable powder tin packaging in stock keeping units ranging from 100 gm to 1000 gm.

Whether it is milk powder, spice powders, seasoning powders &pharma powders or pulses, grains, sugar or tea, Nichrome’s tin packaging machine, powder filling machine, oil tin filling machine, and tin filling and sealing machine are always the talk of the industry.

Nichrome’s tin filling and sealing machines, tin packaging machines, powder filling machines, oil tin filling machines, denote peace of mind for the packaging industry.

Powder Packaging Par Excellence

Nichrome’s tin filling and sealing machines for powders guarantee high-speed, accurate filling. Nichrome’s powder tin filling line system includes a turn table for empty tins, and an inverted tin cleaning machine.

The line system also features a UV chamber, dial indexing unit for twin tin filling, two servo auger fillers, seamer, date batch coding system, capping machine (lid pressing unit), cap elevator with storage silo and turn table for filled tins.

Powder Filling and Sealing

In a Nichrome powder tin filling and sealing machine, by changing the filler, one can pack a wide range of food and non-food products in tin or composite tin containers. Our line is especially geared for pharma powders and detergent powders.

Secondary Packaging

Nichrome can also help with secondary packaging solutions, and integration with existing systems.Secondary packaging is the first thing your customer sees when picking up your products and browsing retail shelves.

Nichrome also provides a wide range of automated packaging systems for bulk packaging machines, secondary packaging solutions such as wrapping machine, horizontal wrap machine, cartooning machine, and box packaging machine. Nichrome trains your staff in machine operations and provides after-sales support.

Nichrome’s fast and efficient box cartooning machines, is a secondary packaging machine has a rated output of upto 180 cartons per minute and handles a variety of cartons with option of both side tuck-in, both side gluing or top tuck-in with bottom gluing.We offer both continuous and intermittent fully automatic cartooning machines which we integrate with primary packaging.

Other Automated Packaging Lines

Nichrome’s automatic bottle filling system  is an integrated packaging solution that can pack liquids and powders in stock keeping units (SKUs) ranging from 100 ml to 200Litre.

For producers supplying non-free flowing powders such as milk powders, coffee powder, tea/coffee premixes, etc. to food chains, travel and hospitality industries, Nichrome offers unmatched efficiency through its range of Vertical Form Fill Seal (VFFS) machines like High-Speed Double Head Wing Servo Auger Filler,can be used for packaging powders like salt.

The Saltpack Vertical Form Fill Seal Machine is a high-speed packaging solution. It is a robust machine with open construction, made of special grade material suitable for salt handling.It involves the lowest running cost through reputed control engineering (CE) marked Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) housed in dust tight electrical panel for machine control.With optional fillers, Saltpackcan also be used for packaging other free flow products and viscous products.

Nichrome’s Horizontal Form Fill Seal (HFFS) packaging machines bring you new generation, linear technology from Europe. The series is versatile and can be used for packing a wide range of powders, grains, snacks, liquids, and viscous products using different fillers. The series also offers a range of pouch formats with superior pouch aesthetics.

Conclusion

Nichrome offers a range of proven powder packaging machines for a plethora of free-flowing and non-free-flowing powders across food, pharma, and other industry verticals. Food powder packaging machine or coffee powder packaging machine, detergent powder packaging machine or milk powder packaging machine–Nichrome has a suitable solution for every need. While one machine may not be able to package all powders, Nichrome’s powder packaging machines are especially versatile, and one machine can handle several powder applications with easy changeover.

[laxmienterprises]

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[inkdemonapologist]

Way back before we got the BatDR trailer I had this wild theory -- basically, that the reason they couldn't show any concept art/trailers/etc was that BatDR was gonna pull a wizard of oz and suddenly be in colour partway through. So then that's why we were getting teasers like "look, its a model of A SHELF," because all the actual interesting stuff would've obviously been in colour and spoiled the surprise.

Part of the reason I thought this would work really well was that I assumed Nathan's acquisition of the Bendy IP and "revival" of the franchise in-world would be thematically relevant, rather than just... an excuse to have a second game. Like, Bendy is in new hands now, the cartoons are essentially being rebooted, and there's a LOT of thematic potential in that concept of Old vs New or the good and bad aspects of Change, and the idea that reviving Bendy in the real world would impact the ink realm was a fascinating concept to me. Now that we know the main thrust of the story........... actually I still think this could've worked with it? The sepia-toned Memory of Joey's Regret and the evil of the Ink Demon lingers over the studio and corrupts this new colourful world, while Wilson, the Man Who Killed The Ink Demon, is the one trying to forcibly extinguish these old stains and make the machine useful again.

Geez, you could tie Wilson's motivation in pretty directly actually if you dropped the ENTIRE thing where he says he's trying to BETTER THE WORLD THRU THE POWER OF THE MACHINE or whatever and instead just make him an actual janitor whose dad just gave him this bottom-tier job at his company. Give Nathan one audiolog about how his son is neglectful at work and its hard to find a job he can actually do or some such, and then you have Wilson as someone desperate to prove he deserves more. He sees his father's idolisation of Joey is naive, is able to realise the memory of Joey may be literally corrupting the business through the machine, and wants to eradicate that -- including Audrey, the most subtle infiltration of Joey Drew's influence. He's essentially the force of the New applied with no respect for the Old -- and then you could still give Wilson ties to that psychedelic neon ink from the Shipahoy battle; in fact, you could probably lean into it more: colour taken to the extreme, colour taken too far, something just as destructive as Joey's monochrome obsession.

(I've always loved the idea that Wilson isn't actually an artist and just stole the Shipahoy design while janitoring, which works great with the Shipahoy Monstrosity at the end being part crab because he couldn't actually create an isolated model to feed the machine... in this current era of The Threat Of AI Generation, the idea of wilson introducing a lot of mechanical innovation and incompetently dumping artwork into the machine to make new, too-colourful horrors in the interest of impressing his father while destroying all the old things these cartoons were first built on feels apropos lmao. obviously AI wasn't a huge talking point while BatDR was in production, but "ppl who assume more technology automatically makes art better while inadvertently destroying its heart" is extremely not new)

So the ink realm could be partially in colour (a world changed by the new cartoons), partially sepia (the infected memories of the old studio), and partially glowy neon (wilson's overzealous renovation). It'd be neat if Audrey became a bit of both -- partially colour, partially sepia -- and represented the new cartoons' ties to the old. Learning about the horrors that befell her father's old studio and the Gent technology that Wilson is now using are both relevant -- Joey's exploitation of actual artists who care was bad, and so is Wilson's complete disregard for the heart of these artists' work. The memory of Joey can't fix it because he is part of the problem -- he and the demon are the source of the monochrome infection -- so you have to be the one to bring heartfelt colour into this world, a power none of the others have; find a way to heal those trapped by old wrongs and restart the cycle in a better direction. Then, when Audrey says she wants to create a kinder cycle at the end, we have an idea of what that means and that she can do it b/c there's simple symbolism associated with it -- the new, colourful world that's neither corrupted by festering wrongs nor torn apart by Wilson's machines.

anyway. thats my half-baked idea. i still think its a shame that there WAS colour in there for like 2 seconds and they did NOTHING WITH IT!!!!

[sokoviansimp]

hi! I absolutely love the package au series you have going on, it’s so cute and one on my favourites on here 🤫

if you’re taking requests maybe we could see reader running around the compound causing trouble and wanda (and/or nat) trying to stop them causing mischief??

ps hope you’re having a good day 🥹

In Your Corner

✒ Pairings : Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark x Child!Reader (platonic)

✒ Summary : As reader becomes more comfortable, things become harder for Wanda.

✒ Tags and Warnings: tantrums, embarrassment, lmk if I missed any.

✒ Author's Note : I really appreciate the request, I am so sorry that this took so long, hope you enjoy

✒ Word Count : 2252

✒ Read Time: 11 minutes

Masterlist : The Package AU

Now that you were starting to get comfortable around the compound, you had the itch to explore every inch of it. It was natural for someone your age to seek out their environment and try to discover what the world holds around them. Most kids your age, however, are not surrounded by multi-million dollar science labs housing tech that could quite literally destroy the world. 

Until recently, you never felt the need to go out of your way and seek new things, it was stressful enough for you to just find solace in the fact that you were safe here now and no one had any sort of hidden agenda. You had grown accustomed to trusting no one during your time at Hydra; it was hard for you to believe that anyone would want you without something in return, but Wanda made you feel safe again. 

The more your worries melted away about this place, the more you became more curious about your surroundings, wanting to touch and feel anything you could get your hands on and know why and how anything and everything came to exist. Up to this point, you’ve had no boundaries throughout the compound. There was no need really, you mostly followed Wanda around like a lost puppy, attached to her hip, never venturing to somewhere she didn’t lead you to. 

This morning, however, Wanda left you in the common room to watch tv while she made you breakfast. This gave her a clear view of you when needed, but ultimately the freedom to whip up your meal quickly without interruption. You sat there facing the cartoons on the television, but your mind couldn’t help but wonder what lays down the hallway by the stairwell. You’ve seen plenty of people go in that direction, but you’ve never been down it yourself. No one had specifically told you that you weren’t allowed down the hallway, so why haven’t you explored it yet? What are you waiting for? Nothing, there’s no reason for you to be left in the dark about it at this point, so you get up from the couch in the living room and head down the mysterious hallway. 

The corridor had a few twists and turns; but not too long after venturing down, you came to an elevator plastered with a warning sign that read Authorized Personel Only underneath a red exclamation point encased in a triangle. This didn’t phase you much though because those are big words and you barely know how to read yet. Sure, you could sound it out, but even if you got that far, you wouldn’t know what it meant. To you, the exclamation point just screamed fun.

On the next floor up, there was a room with large blurred glass windows and a set of automatic doors. You walk right in with ease, wondering why the lights are so bright in there. The room is littered with every kind of tech you can imagine, you curiously examined all the different gadgets and machines that were strewn about. One of the items on the counter was a remote, it held a couple of buttons on it, but there was one large blue button housed by a glass door that had you intrigued. 

“Y/N, do you want me to put syrup on your waffles?” Wanda called out to you from the kitchen. She knew that you would ultimately want syrup on your waffles, but she made it a habit  to give you as many decisions as she could. This way, you can have her put the syrup on for you or you could do it yourself. Either way, it was a part of your life that you could control and after growing up in similar circumstances to you, she understood how important it is to feel in control of your own life. “Y/N?” She follows up after not hearing a response as she makes her way over to the couch. Once she's met with empty cushions staring back at her, she starts looking around in areas that you frequented. Like the bedroom, movie room, and bathroom; but when she comes up empty in each spot her nerves began to rise. It’s not like you to just walk off. 

Without thinking of what the button could be controlling, you lifted the glass housing and pushed both of your thumbs down onto the blue piece of illuminated plastic. Suddenly, the lab was filled with a bright red light, and one of the machines in front of you started to shake violently. F.R.I.D.A.Y. immediately alerted the compound that one of the machines was malfunctioning. Tony and Nat rushed in, trying to figure out what was happening. And then, out of the light emerged a giant robot, towering over them all.

Your eyes widened in awe as you saw the robot come to life. "Woah!" you exclaimed as you stood still in shock.

Tony was not amused. "Y/N, what did you do?" he began raising his voice.

You shrunk at the sound of his tone. You didn't know what to say. You had just been exploring and didn't mean to cause any trouble. You didn’t mean to make anyone upset with you, especially Tony. Men already scare you a bit, so an angry man was surely not something you sought out.

Wanda quickly came in and saw the commotion. She took one look at the robot and quickly realized what was going on. With a flick of her wrist, she used her powers to shut down the machine.

“Y/N, what are you doing in here?” she asked kneeling down to your level.

“I was esploring” you stated honestly. 

“You were?” Wanda was surprised, that’s not something you ever cared for before now and she wanted to tread lightly on the topic so that she didn’t completely kill your spark. 

You nodded in return, “Sweetie, there are some places in the compound that aren’t safe for little ones” 

“Der is?” your embarrassment began to build up, you didn’t know that you weren’t allowed here. 

“It’s ok, you didn’t know. There are plenty of places you can explore, I can show you,” she states as she reaches out for your hand, which you take. 

Throughout the day, Wanda took you all over the compound to show you places that you could go at anytime and other places that you can go with adult supervision. You were grateful that Wanda took the time to show you all over. Most of these places, you only needed to see once to be sated, but having never known what lay behind the doors may have driven you mad. 

The next couple of days, you began breaking out of your innocent shell. With the itch for exploring scratched, you were still feeling more comfortable around the compound. Wanda felt like everywhere she went she was cleaning up after you. You began to play more with your toys in different areas, leaving them around for her to pick up. Nat found marker scribbled along the walls this morning on her way to the kitchen. Luckily, she found it before Tony and was able to show you how to clean it before he caught sight of the damage. 

Wanda was grateful that Nat was there for you, not only to help teach you where the proper spots to use markers are, but also to teach you how to clean up your mess and take responsibility. This past week has been stressful for her, it almost seems like a flip just switched in your brain and you became a completely different person. Of course, there were parts of you that were still the same, but they seemed overshadowed by all of the mischief you’ve been causing. 

“Put your plate in the dishwasher and we can go upstairs for your bath” Wanda explained in a gentle tone. Your eyes widened at the mention of bathtime. As quickly as you could, you placed your plate into the dishwasher and darted into the common room to delve into your toys. Confused, Wanda turned her head to watch you blatantly disobey her. Maybe you didn't hear her, “Y/N? Time for a bath, come on” she waved.

“NO!” you yelled as you continued on with your legos. Surprised by your response, Wanda had to take a deep breath before continuing, “No?” she replied in a stern tone. 

“I don’t want to take a baf!” you cried out as you began smashing the legos you had in your hand down onto the floor. Unbeknownst to you, in your intense emotion, Wanda could feel the floor begin to rumble as the items that hung on the wall started shaking. 

Wanda's fingers illuminated as red seeped into the air, causing all of your building blocks to vanish until you were left sitting in the middle of an empty floor. The shock of everything around you disappearing caused you to still for a few moments.

“What’s going on, Y/N? You love bathtime.” Wanda stated as she came to squat down at your level, trying to prevent the situation from escalating. 

You looked back into her eyes, and instead of being mad at you, she was curious. Tears immediately began building in your eyes, and you broke under her soft gaze. Here you were causing trouble and acting out and she was nothing but gentle with you. Once your tears started to fall, she immediately wrapped you tightly in a hug, “Oh, come here detka” 

“I- I sorry” you choked out before uncontrollably sobbing. 

“It’s ok, let it out malyshka” she said and she gently rubbed circles into your back. 

During your crying fit, Wanda scooped you up and carried you upstairs to your shared room, all the while holding you tightly and whispering reassurances in your ear. 

She stood there swaying you back and forth in her arms. After a long and intense crying fit, your sobs had become quieter, and your body movements had become slower as you hesitantly began to calm down. Your cries eventually turned into sniffles as you tried to regulate your breathing, and the sadness in your expression shifted towards neutral as you relaxed into her neck. Your face was still wet with tears, but your breathing had begun to even out. As you tired yourself out, your body felt heavy in Wanda’s arms.

You took to sucking your thumb as a form of comfort, something to focus on, and as much as Wanda had been trying to nix that bad habit, she didn’t say anything in this moment, she just continued to sway her hips as you settled down in her arms. 

Your eyes would occasionally flutter open and closed, struggling to stay awake as your body relaxed. Every now and then, you would let out a deep sigh as if trying to expel all the leftover sadness and frustration from your body. Wanda gently rocked you back and forth, whispering soothing words and running her hand through your hair. 

Despite your exhaustion, you still had a hint of sadness in your expression and your breathing would occasionally hitch, indicating that you weren't fully over your emotional outburst. However, as you grew more tired, your tears dried up, and you became more and more at peace, finally dozing off in Wanda’s arms.

Wanda continued to hold you in her arms as she rocked you back and forth to ensure you would continue to doze off deeper. As she sat there mindlessly running her hand through your hair, she thought back to what could’ve been the cause of your outburst. It seemed like you were certainly coming out of your shell more lately but you never behaved like this. The past few days have been rough for her just trying to keep up with you. It seemed that you were extra hard to keep up with. 

It could be that, like her, you were just exhausted. You weren’t used to going through so much energy at once and your body just needed its rest and you didn’t know how to interpret that so you became irritable. 

Once Wanda feels confident that you’re sound asleep, she gently tries to lay you down in your bed and tuck you in. However, as she pulls away from you, your grip tightens as you whine for her. 

“Shh- sh,” she coos as she tries to comfort you enough to pull away. 

“Mama cuddewls-” you whined again as you tried to pull her closer, still on the edge of slumber.

The title took Wanda by surprise, her eyes immediately widened, “What did you say?” 

Not completely conscious, you didn’t answer. Instead, you tried to seek comfort from her. 

Giving in without hesitation, she climbed into your bed along with you to cuddle. Your body immediately molded to hers as you tried to get as close as possible for comfort. She held you with a goofy smile on her face, elated to know that you think of her as your mother. 

The feeling of you being her daughter came to her the moment she laid her eyes on you through the cell door, but she never wanted to push or pry to be that for you. She wanted you to keep the memories of your birth mother and instead of replacing her, she simply wanted to exist along with her. To be there for you no matter the circumstance, to teach you that good really does exist in the world, to simply be in your corner.

Taglist: @mymommawanda @livslifeonline @reggierizzoli @mythixmagic @lesbicentism @marvelogic @katethewriter @inluvwithfictionalwomen @spooky-reader1 @marvelogic ​

Lmk if you ever want to be removed or added <3

[kaijuposting]

Jaegers of Pacific Rim: What do we know about them?

There's actually a fair amount of lore about Pacific Rim's jaegers, though most of it isn't actually in the movie itself. A lot of it has been scattered in places like Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters, Tales From Year Zero, Travis Beacham's blog, and the Pacific Rim novelization.

Note that I will not be including information from either Pacific Rim: Uprising or Pacific Rim: The Black. Uprising didn't really add anything, and The Black's take on jaegers can easily be summed up as "simplified the concept to make a cartoon for children."

So what is there to know about jaegers, besides the fact that they're piloted by two people with their brains connected via computer?

Here's a fun fact: underneath the hull (which may or may not be pure iron), jaegers have "muscle strands" and liquid data transfer technology. Tendo Choi refers to them in the film when describing Lady Danger's repairs and upgrades:

Solid iron hull, no alloys. Forty engine blocks per muscle strand. Hyper-torque driver for every limb and a new fluid synapse system.

The novelization by Alex Irvine makes frequent references to this liquid data transfer tech. For example:

The Jaeger’s joints squealed and began to freeze up from loss of lubricant through the holes Knifehead had torn in it. Its liquid-circuit neural architecture was misfiring like crazy. (Page 29.)

He had enough fiber-optic and fluid-core cabling to get the bandwidth he needed. (Page 94.)

Newt soldered together a series of leads using the copper contact pins and short fluid-core cables. (Page 96.)

Unfortunately I haven't found anything more about the "muscle strands" and what they might be made of, but I do find it interesting that jaegers apparently have some sort of artificial muscle system going on, especially considering Newt's personnel dossier in the novel mentioned him pioneering research in artificial tissue replication at MIT.

The novelization also mentions that the pilots' drivesuits have a kind of recording device for their experiences while drifting:

This armored outer layer included a Drift recorder that automatically preserved sensory impressions. (Page 16.)

It was connected through a silver half-torus that looked like a travel pillow but was in fact a four-dimensional quantum recorder that would provide a full record of the Drift. (Page 96.)

This is certainly... quite the concept. Perhaps the PPDC has legitimate reasons for looking through the memories and feelings of their pilots, but let's not pretend this doesn't enable horrific levels of privacy invasion.

I must note, though, I haven't seen mention of a recording system anywhere outside of the novel. Travis Beacham doesn't mention it on his blog, and it never comes up in either Tales From Year Zero or Tales From The Drift, both written by him. Whether there just wasn't any occasion to mention it or whether this piece of worldbuilding fell by the wayside in Beacham's mind is currently impossible to determine.

Speaking of the drivesuits, let's talk about those more. The novelization includes a few paragraphs outlining how the pilots' drivesuits work. It's a two-layer deal:

The first layer, the circuity suit, was like a wetsuit threaded with a mesh of synaptic processors. The pattern of processor relays looked like circuitry on the outside of the suit, gleaming gold against its smooth black polymer material. These artificial synapses transmitted commands to the Jaeger’s motor systems as fast as the pilot’s brain could generate them, with lag times close to zero. The synaptic processor array also transmitted pain signals to the pilots when their Jaeger was damaged.

...

The second layer was a sealed polycarbonate shell with full life support and magnetic interfaces at spine, feet, and all major limb joints. It relayed neural signals both incoming and outgoing. This armored outer layer included a Drift recorder that automatically preserved sensory impressions.

...

The outer armored layer of the drivesuit also kept pilots locked into the Conn-Pod’s Pilot Motion Rig, a command platform with geared locks for the Rangers’ boots, cabled extensors that attached to each suit gauntlet, and a full-spectrum neural transference plate, called the feedback cradle, that locked from the Motion Rig to the spine of each Ranger’s suit. At the front of the motion rig stood a command console, but most of a Ranger’s commands were issued either by voice or through interaction with the holographic heads-up display projected into the space in front of the pilots’ faces. (Page 16.)

Now let's talk about the pons system. According to the novelization:

The basics of the Pons were simple. You needed an interface on each end, so neuro signals from the two brains could reach the central bridge. You needed a processor capable of organizing and merging the two sets of signals. You needed an output so the data generated by the Drift could be recorded, monitored, and analyzed. That was it. (Page 96.)

This is pretty consistent with other depictions of the drift, recording device aside. (Again, the 4D quantum recorder never comes up anywhere outside of the novel.)

The development of the pons system as we know it is depicted in Tales From Year Zero, which goes into further detail on what happened after Trespasser's attack on San Francisco. In this comic, a jaeger can be difficult to move if improbably calibrated. Stacker Pentecost testing out a single arm describes the experience as feeling like his hand is stuck in wet concrete; Doctor Caitlin Lightcap explains that it's resistance from the datastream because the interface isn't calibrated to Pentecost's neural profile. (I'm guessing that this is the kind of calibration the film refers to when Tendo Choi calls out Lady Danger's left and right hemispheres being calibrated.)

According to Travis Beacham's blog, solo piloting a jaeger for a short time is possible, though highly risky. While it won't cause lasting damage if the pilot survives the encounter, the neural overload that accumulates the longer a pilot goes on can be deadly. In this post he says:

It won't kill you right away. May take five minutes. May take twenty. No telling. But it gets more difficult the longer you try. And at some point it catches up with you. You won't last a whole fight start-to-finish. Stacker and Raleigh managed to get it done and unplug before hitting that wall.

In this post he says:

It starts off fine, but it's a steep curve from fine to dead. Most people can last five minutes. Far fewer can last thirty. Nobody can last a whole fight.

Next, let's talk about the size and weight of jaegers. Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters lists off the sizes and weights of various jaegers. The heights of the jaegers it lists (which, to be clear, are not all of them) range from 224 feet to 280 feet. Their weights range from 1850 tons to 7890 tons. Worth noting, the heaviest jaegers (Romeo Blue and Horizon Brave) were among the Mark-1s, and it seems that these heavy builds didn't last long given that another Mark-1, Coyote Tango, weighed 2312 tons.

And on the topic of jaeger specs, each jaeger in Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters is listed with a (fictional) power core and operating system. For example, Crimson Typhoon is powered by the Midnight Orb 9 power core, and runs on the Tri-Sun Plasma Gate OS.

Where the novelization's combat asset dossiers covers the same jaegers, this information lines up - with the exception of Lady Danger. PR:MMM says that Lady Danger's OS is Blue Spark 4.1; the novelization's dossier says it's BLPK 4.1.

PR:MMM also seems to have an incomplete list of the jaegers' armaments; for example, it lists the I-22 Plasmacaster under Weaponry, and "jet kick" under Power Moves. Meanwhile, the novelization presents its armaments thus:

I-22 Plasmacaster Twin Fist gripping claws, left arm only Enhanced balance systems and leg-integral Thrust Kickers Enhanced combat-strike armature on all limbs

The novel's dossiers list between 2-4 features in the jaegers' armaments sections.

Now let's move on to jaeger power cores. As many of you probably already know, Mark-1-3 jaegers were outfitted with nuclear power cores. However, this posed a risk of cancer for pilots, especially during the early days. To combat this, pilots were given the (fictional) anti-radiation drug, Metharocin. (We see Stacker Pentecost take Metharocin in the film.)

The Mark-4s and beyond were fitted with alternative fuel sources, although their exact nature isn't always clear. Striker Eureka's XIG supercell chamber implies some sort of giant cell batteries, but it's a little harder to guess what Crimson Typhoon's Midnight Orb 9 might be, aside from round.

Back on the topic of nuclear cores, though, the novelization contains a little paragraph about the inventor of Lady Danger's power core, which I found entertaining:

The old nuclear vortex turbine lifted away from the reactor housing. The reactor itself was a proprietary design, brainchild of an engineer who left Westinghouse when they wouldn’t let him use his lab to explore portable nuclear miniaturization tech. He’d landed with one of the contractors the PPDC brought in at its founding, and his small reactors powered many of the first three generations of Jaegers. (Page 182.)

Like... I have literally just met this character, and I love him. I want him to meet Newt Geiszler, you know? >:3

Apparently, escape pods were a new feature to Mark-3 jaegers. Text in the novelization says, "New to the Mark III is an automated escape-pod system capable of ejecting each Ranger individually." (Page 240.)

Finally, jaegers were always meant to be more than just machines. Their designs and movements were meant to convey personality and character. Pacific Rim: Man, Machines, & Monsters says:

Del Toro insisted the Jaegers be characters in and of themselves, not simply giant versions of their pilots. Del Toro told his designers, "It should be as painful for you to see a Jaeger get injured as it is for you to see the pilot [get hurt.]" (Page 56.)

Their weathered skins are inspired by combat-worn vehicles from the Iraq War and World War II battleships and bombers. They look believable and their design echoes human anatomy, but only to a point. "At the end of the day, what you want is for them to look cool," says Francisco Ruiz Velasco. "It's a summer movie, so you want to see some eye candy." Del Toro replies, "I, however, believe in 'eye protein,' which is high-end design with a high narrative content." (Page 57.)

THE JAEGER FROM DOWN UNDER is the only Mark 5, the most modern and best all-around athlete of the Jaegers. He's also the most brutal of the Jaeger force. Del Toro calls him "sort of brawler, like a bar fighter." (Page 64.)

And that is about all the info I could scrounge up and summarize in a post. I think there's a lot of interesting stuff here - like, I feel that the liquid circuit and muscle tissue stuff gives jaegers an eerily organic quality that could be played for some pretty interesting angles. And I also find it interesting that jaegers were meant to embody their own sort of character and personality, rather than just being simple combat machines or extensions of their pilots - it's a great example of a piece of media choosing thematic correctness over technical correctness, which when you get right down to it, is sort of what Pacific Rim is really all about.

[brainysmurfofficial]

Evolution of Brainy Smurf, Part 6

Years covered: 1986-1989

Picking up our Brainy Smurf journey from where it left off, we can now have a look at the latter seasons of the cartoon show!

You know that phrase, “jack of all trades, master of none”? Well, Brainy likes to style himself as a “jack of all trades, master of all”, but in the end, it just means he’s not actually good at anything beyond forever exhibiting severe cases of the Dunning-Kruger effect. One might be tempted to claim that the only thing he’s actually good at is pretending to be good at things, but in reality, he’s not even good at that, because everyone is almost constantly seeing through the illusion.

There have been a minority of occasions where other smurfs have taken Brainy at his word – and in practically every instance, they have quickly learned their lesson – that their trust is misplaced. Anything from other smurfs trusting Brainy’s insistence about knowledge of which way to go, to the smurflings trusting that he knew what he was doing with Grandpa’s hot air balloon.

The veneer, the illusion of expertise, is what seems to matter to Brainy – the notion that if he could simply get others to believe he’s an expert, it would automatically bestow legitimacy and corresponding skill upon him.

In fact, these tactics can work quite well in the Real World if applied effectively. Someone who is genuinely very good at something but doesn’t know their own worth or how to market themselves generally isn’t going to receive the recognition of someone who is constantly putting themselves out there even if their skills are significantly less than that of others in the area.

But that isn’t really applicable to Brainy’s situation. His sneaky tactics may work on occasion – see what I mentioned above about others extending their trust to him sometimes – but they just about always pay the price for it. Everyone ultimately knows the score.

Brainy Smurf is incompetent.

And he’s incompetent at covering up his own incompetence.

In All The Smurf’s A Stage, he dubs himself as “Brainy Smurf: Manager to the Stars!”. He promises much, but doesn’t exactly deliver. When it comes to undertaking negotiations in his managerial role, Brainy instantly falls flat and fails to secure any kind of good deal, instead declaring, “I’ll make you all stars of the play, but that’s my final offer!”. (“Final offer”… as if it’s any kind of hard sell!). That is not how you negotiate, Brainy! The others already weren’t going to put up any fight or seemingly make any demands at all, and then you went ahead and promised them above and beyond what was needed, not to mention that the play didn’t have three starring roles to spare. And yet, he’s totally clueless about all this. He thinks he’s doing a good job. He’s unable to properly step outside his own mind for a second and properly survey or even understand the situation. The scene is very deliberately written this way, of course – that’s the entire joke. The writers know exactly what they’re doing and they know Brainy tends to be rather hopeless in the skills department, in contrast with what he’d like to believe.

In Sassette’s Tooth, when the other smurfs find out about Gargamel’s plot, Snappy wonders: “But who’d be silly enough to fall for a trick like that?”

Cue the group collectively exclaiming in realisation: “Brainy!”

Yeah, they know the score.

When Brainy Smurf, by some miracle or other, is actually able to get his way, his suggestions, when implemented, do not work.

In The Answer Smurf, when the smurflings follow Brainy’s advice for building their treehouse, it’s obviously structurally unsound and readily crumbles. (Handy’s machine is also having issues thanks to Brainy’s input. Brainy’s advice backfires. A lot.)

And let’s not forget Papa For A Day. There is a rather amusing set-up wherein the ironic words of “how much worse can it possibly get?” are voiced. And then, of course, this is immediately followed by...

...Brainy taking his turn in the role of Papa Smurf. This juxtaposition between scenes is very intentional.

Brainy’s supposedly “easy, step-by-step” plans are contradictory, self-defeating nonsense. Nails are to be hammered into the very same place they are to be removed from – instructions that undo other instructions. It even proves to be dangerous, with his own instructions sending him hurtling to the ground!

“Oh, well, it looked good on paper…”

This is a smurf who really doesn’t know what he’s doing.

In Predictable Smurfs, we’re also treated to a scene where Brainy states: “Using Brainy Smurf’s Boat-Building Bible, I have perfected a pod totally impervious to water penetration! In short, this boat is –” (at this point, Brainy notices with some alarm that his boat is sinking) “-Unsinkable!”

Grandpa chimes in with the following response: “Yep, just like last year!”. Not only does Brainy run rampant with making mistakes, but he doesn’t seem to learn from them (and this is widely known and understood by other smurfs). He’s prone to making the same mistakes over and over. An example of this kind of thing which I especially liked can be found in The Smurf Who Could Do No Wrong:

“Face it, Grandpa, you were just lucky in our first 326 games, but now, I, Brainy Smurf, have finally come up with a foolproof strategy to win!”

THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX GAMES. I love that. I tend to forget just how large the amount of games that have already taken place actually IS. And then the sheer size of the number always leaves me taken-aback. He seemingly didn’t win ANY of those games?? It certainly rules out Grandpa merely being “lucky”, but that doesn’t deter Brainy from claiming luck as a paper-thin excuse anyway, of course! (An additional fun thing to note here is that Brainy’s comics counterpart has also been depicted as losing at chess, but I digress!)

How informative do you think his endless supply of books on any and every subject really are? Not very. In Land of Lost and Found, he makes basic mistakes e.g. looking through the telescope incorrectly, despite having authored a work titled “Brainy Smurf’s Guide to the Stars”. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Brainy boasting about authorship of a book with a subject matter he’s clearly inexperienced with is very par-for-the-course – we are especially stripped of any benefit of the doubt when he’s writing or in the process of writing book(s) on topic(s) he cannot reasonably know about if he has only just become acquainted with the subject at hand. Brainy’s vast library of literature writ by his hand is not indicative of knowledge (as he would be wont to claim), but is instead indicative of a kind of graphomania.

To help illustrate this, we can talk about Archives of Evil.

I don’t just want to talk about how Brainy’s typical approach of “doing things completely wrong/incorrectly with total confidence” is on stark display within this episode, I also want to discuss what the episode seems to (try to) do with its ending – the statement it seems to be making.

First, though: we are treated to some rather amusing scenes when Brainy misconstrues what he is reading, unable to realise that it’s not a book of spells, it’s a cookbook. One should think the difference would be obvious, but this is Brainy Smurf…

And then we get the ending, and the way that Nemesis is defeated. Papa Smurf bluffs about the value and power of the book in his possession, so naturally Nemesis steals it so that he can absorb its contents – this is precisely what Papa wanted him to do. The book happens to have been created by Brainy.

“I now possess pure-”

“-ignorance?!”

[...]

Papa: Nemesis thought he was absorbing powerful magic, but Brainy’s book was so full of, eheh…

Papa: ...pure ignorance, the evil knowledge Nemesis absorbed fled for its life!

Nemesis is defeated by none other than the sheer power of Brainy’s ignorance. That’s it. That’s the episode resolution. (I love it).

Brainy appears to remain largely oblivious (or should I say ignorant) to the actual implications of all of this. He puts on his usual self-aggrandising spin instead, choosing to proudly proclaim, “In other words, I, Brainy Smurf, once again saved the day! Naturally, I knew what I was doing all along!”

Brainy wants to be (perceived as) a fountain of knowledge, but in the end, he’s really a fountain of ignorance.

It’s interesting to note that in Reckless Smurfs, it’s Brainy and Snappy who are (initially) the only ones unaffected by the spell that makes smurfs reckless. As discussed in a previous post (when I talked about Love Those Smurfs), whenever the village falls victim to some magic or other, any unaffected smurfs will typically already exhibit the traits brought out by the spell in a significant enough capacity for ironic purposes, and this is no exception. Snappy in this episode had a clear theme/plot line of being too reckless as a tie-in to the overall story, but what of Brainy? Well, we already know Brainy has impulsive and reckless tendencies in general, but if that wasn’t enough, the story makes a point of calling attention to this – Brainy scolds Snappy for not thinking enough about the consequences of his actions, only to cause himself to become stuck and in need of assistance for failing to do just that. In fact, it seems that Brainy and Snappy remained exempt from the effects of the Daredevil Dust because of Brainy’s reckless lack of attention to his surroundings, as it is what causes their delay, preventing them from being amongst the victims at time of “infection”.

(And of course, Brainy’s self-perception continues to be hilariously inaccurate, as he can be found referring to himself as a “responsible smurf” in Jokey’s Joke Book, for example.)

Now let’s turn our attention to Brainy’s bureaucratic inclinations – this has been discussed in prior post(s), but these latter seasons of the cartoon show also offer up plenty more examples of it. In Smurfing For Gold, Brainy tries to deal with Gargamel by drawing up a contract.

(A side note, Papa also imagines Brainy trying to solve an issue through a contract (specifically, a treaty) in the season 5 episode Papa’s Day Off).

In Locomotive Smurfs, he writes a schedule for the train and checks tickets. In Gargamel’s Quest, he turns to petitioning as a means to attempt to achieve his goal at the time.

As also discussed previously, Brainy is someone who often likes to Get Involved with things (i.e. taking advantage of the latest fad in the village, so long as he’s not the designated naysayer for that episode), getting in on the “ground floor” and taking charge in some capacity – this is often combined with his bureaucratic leanings.

In A Hole In Smurf, Brainy doesn’t hesitate: he positions himself as an essential go-to, having a proper counter and set-up at the ready in no time to distribute the sheets that smurfs need to mark their golfing scores. He’s leapt at the opportunity to formalise it all, taking the idea of golfing that’s taken the smurfs by storm, and giving it more structure and sense of being official. He’s also involved in scheduling – what times courses are available, who golfs when, etc.

Unsurprisingly, he’s also taking the opportunity to hawk his new book on golfing as well.

In The Smurfy Verdict, it’s Brainy who takes it upon himself to start lawyering all over the place, etc.

He likes to be at the centre of things, such as the numerous instances where he takes on a detective role to investigate the latest mystery that has presented itself to the village. This allows him to take charge of a/the narrative, put a spotlight on himself while also trying to satisfy his own curiosity.

And in Season 9’s Like It Or Smurf It, we see Brainy’s sense of showmanship – something he’s exhibited before in the show, but it really comes out here, when he takes on a game show host-type role.

All in all, seasons 6 and beyond are very much a continuation of the character we have already been well-acquainted with from the previous seasons, and so we get to see more of the traits that have already been expressed before – such as carelessness, cowardice, etc. I’ve mentioned his tendencies towards melodrama and exaggeration before (just one example: in Smurf Pet, he claims, “I had to risk life and limb as I was attacked by vicious Nebbits”, which really goes beyond misconstruing what actually happened and reaches into outright fabrication), and this can sometimes combine with his naysaying – there are instances where he assumes The Worst in a given situation/crisis and reacts accordingly, assuming that they’re all doomed – in other situations his reactions may not be quite so severe, but he can still be quite negative in a more low-key manner, leaning into sarcasm instead to bemoan a given situation or other. He can be very cynical sometimes.

But all the groundwork has already been laid, in previous seasons. Seasons 6 and beyond are just a continuation. Brainy vies for power, Brainy is inclined to be sneaky and deceptive at times to try and get what he wants, he is unafraid to shift blame onto others for his own mistakes, etc etc etc.

Essence of Brainy is a great character study for how we can use it to reverse-engineer a description/analysis of Brainy Smurf. While stripped of his essence, he acts opposite to his usual self in order to serve as a narrative contrast, so by looking at his portrayal in the episode while stripped of essence, we can then ask: what does this tell us about Brainy in his usual incarnation?

Brainy as depicted without his essence is meek, lacking strong opinions on things, and polite.

So Brainy as a character is overconfident, opinionated, imposing, inconsiderate, overbearing and rude.

In the season 8 intro sequence, he really does just shove Handy out of the way so that he can look through the telescope instead, ahaha. And I just thought: isn’t that a small but good/accurate encapsulation of his character? He’s rude, he’s pushy, he’s self-serving, and so on and so forth. We know the routine by now, in the latter half of the show.

Take this exchange from Jungle Jitterbug:

Brainy: “[Vanity’s] back to normal, all right – the most self-centred smurf of all!”

Jokey: [chuckles] “Next to you, Brainy!”

Yeah, pretty much. :P

This post isn’t all-encompassing; there are many other episodes/scenes that could be discussed, but I’ve mentioned before that these posts are not meant to be a completely comprehensive rundown, but rather to provide more of a scaffold, an outline of the Brainy Smurf character and its evolution.

Finally, we have to mention the comics for a moment!

The Smurflings comic was released in 1988, and I daresay the influence of cartoon Brainy on his comics counterpart is quite palpable – for one, we get a being-tossing-out-of-the-village gag!

Brainy as depicted in this comic also seems to be quite mean-spirited in actively wanting the smurflings’ concert to flop.

And… Hmm, the vibes just feel different here compared with the earlier comics Brainy. I really think the influence of cartoon Brainy is seeping in – which would especially make sense considering that the episode of the cartoon introducing the smurflings came first, before this comic, so the situation is rife with opportunity for cartoon Brainy to have a bleed-over effect!

I just don’t think this would really be in the earlier incarnation of Schtroumpf à lunettes’s particular style/approach. I’m welcome to hearing other opinions on this, but yeah. (I think cartoon Brainy is a bit of a Bad Influence in this respect, ehehehe).

And… Well, I think that’s about it? Brainy’s famous 80s cartoon iteration sketched out – and a hint on how it’s even started to make an impression on other media he’s featured in, too!

The situation seems to call for some kind of sweeping summary/statement/conclusion, and there were some things I toyed with discussing, but ultimately, I really don’t know if I could do it all justice, so I’m going to be a touch light on closing off this post.

But this nevertheless certainly closes a huge and far-reaching, impactful chapter in the Brainy Smurf timeline. Next, we’ll take a look at how Brainy’s character/characterisation proceeded after the end of the 80s cartoon show! Thanks so much for reading! ^_^

[azulapunchedozai]

PEOPLE VS ACCURACY

TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️ OPINION. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL IF YOU WANT TO COMMENT SOMETHING

My biggest pet peeve is people complaining about misrepresentation of a culture that's not even their own especially when the said actual people that has the said culture aren't even complaining about it and are even proud, and the complaint was towards a video game/cartoon/tv show that has a fantasy genre.

Yes, this post is about the most miserable side of the genshin community.

No. I don't think Germany have idols in their church, nor do China has birds that are actually divine beings who could turn into humans, or the Japanese people worship a certain god who has the control over thunder, nor do ancient Egypt, India, Persia, and Mesopotamia have magical plants or how France has gigantic magical crabs, a god who split herself into two parts and a magical machine that can determine who is guilty and who is not and nor do Hawaiian, Spanish, African, and Latino cultures have a blessing that can revive you after going to war and little dinosaur companions.

People need to realize and draw the line between reality and fiction. Genshin is fictional and is not supposed to accurately represent the people and culture they were inspired from.

People also need to realize the difference between inspired and based. Inspired means using different references and ideas to produce a new piece of creation. Based is having accuracies. Example is Demon Slayer which is a fantasy anime that is based on the Japanese culture. The show specifically mentions Taisho Era which is an actual period in Japan and they actually included real life references such as the Oiran walk. And Demon Slayer is also explicitly stated to be based of Japan.

image source: https://x.com/pov_anime/status/1471169935200059393?t=9bPjTYhTUag0MAa6FbLR0g&s=19

The Genshin country I want to focus on discussing is Natlan. Natlan is inspired by Hawaiian, Spanish, African, and Latino cultures. Does this determine the characters Nationality? No.

Also, are people aware that not everyone from the same culture or country would have the same complexion? Skin color varies even between literal siblings. Not because this character is inspired from this culture or country doesn't automatically mean that they're supposed to have this-that skin color.

Mualani is not Hawaiian that's why she doesn't have to be accurately represented as a Hawaiian. She's from Natlan, a fictional place that has it's own culture that is inspired from real life cultures.

Chasca is not from Chile, she's from the Flower Feather clan of Natlan—another fictional tribe from a fictional country of a fictional game. She doesn't need to actually portray whatever she was inspired from because her nationality is a fictional one.

A lot of hate towards Chasca is often reasoned to be because of her misrepresentation of a certain culture. But all I see in tw!tter and t!ktok are people saying how ugly her design is because of personal preferences and kept on insulting the character's design to the point that I feel bad for tha artists behind her.

Look. People can have different opinions and express it. Even I wasn't a fan of her design. But.. maybe.. just maybe.. Chasca isn't for me? Chasca isn't for everybody. She will have haters and she will also have fans. If you don't like her, skip her. If you don't like her design SKIP HER DAMN BANNER. Chasca, just like every character, has both haters and fans. People don't need to COMPLAIN EVERY DAMN TIME.

But I really.. really don't get why people need to complain every minute and every second as if her design insults them on a personal level. If you don't like her, then she's not made for you.

This reminded me of how some people complained about Olivia Rodrigo's song "Ballad of a homeschooled girl". People are complaining that it's "not relatable" and "that's not what homeschooled is". Maybe because it was Olivia's experience and not theirs? Maybe because it's not for them? But not because it's not for them doesn't mean no one would relate to her.

Why do people also kept on comparing Genshin designs to other games saying that they're so downgrade and less detailed/worse?

I get that it's a matter or preference but maybe.. just maybe.. Genshin is an open world game where a lot of animations happen simultaneously and giving Genshin the same amount of animations as other games that are not open world would result to the game no longer being compatible to certain devices because of the power it would require.

[mildlybizarrecorvid]

Neither is actually finished, but both OC polls seem to lean toward yes so I'm gonna talk about Dialtone and the bullshit contrivances I came up with to make a robot literally trans. Not a metaphor, it's as close as i could get without making this less silly or doing more research than sounded fun (i've got gender shenanigans, just not the basic set so my experiences wouldn't apply).

For starters, this world is more technologically advanced because a weirdo in the 19th century i'll talk about another time looted a crashed UFO. By about now they've got robots and better wifi and such. Now obviously capitalism capitalized, so while these robots technically had free will, they were programmed to love their work and their cheap as would work bodies and their inability to leave ever. So the people rallied, had a big movement, and the federal Determinism Prevention Act was passed.

The DPA made it so that instead of all robots have an identical mind automatically shoved in, government employees would manually drag and drop files on a computer. To maximize random chance, all such facilities are required by law to have an open bar and dispensary, making them very popular workplaces. Any one difference can have a cascading effect on the personality web, so this works pretty well.

Dialtone, the actual character we're here for, was such a robot. She got her gender transed by chance and some of the effects of that were increasing rebellion while decreasing responsibility, so she immediately left the workplace as soon as she was out of the crate. Shortly after, she befriended an alley cat and found a scrap merchant.

The latter was important because the factory basic body was a bulky mess with treads, and no speakers. She just had to communicate with words on her screen face (would have been better to have a description at the start at the end i guess). So she bought a proper form for her enjoyment, along with speakers, before proceeding to the tailors. At the tailors she started a lifelong enjoyment of purple tuxedos.

Now we get to the description: A robot of approximately human shape, no typically gendered traits physically, all limbs have the impossible endless extension common in cartoon machines. Her head is a screen of, say, 2:1 aspect ratio if i have my technobabble right? She wears purple tuxedo jackets with pants in a different shade, though the shirt bow-tie and shoes are typically standard.

She has a habit of throwing cups of cocoa at those who anger her.

any questions?

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

2024 Megaman Valentine’s Day Fanart Contest Rules Thread *CLOSED*

Hiya. Anybody still using social media or drawing and not using AI? OK, cool. Drawing neat Meganman pics contest #17 for Lovey Dovey Day sponsored by me and stuff is go time. After last year was a little different, and went the gift exchange route, it's back to your regularly-scheduled competition this season. The deadline this year will be on Tues., Mar. 12th, 2024. Nearly a month AFTER Valentine's Day? Wh…why? Because I'm tired, and you all are too, that's why. Or, well, read on to find out. XD As is the usual norm, there are two categories this year, one for Talent and one for Humor. You are allowed to submit one entry for each category, if you would like. If you place in one category, you will be automatically disqualified from the other, for reasons of fairness, and to give other people a chance to win a prize.

CATEGORY 1 (Talent): Black and White Day

This year, good ol' Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, went into public domain and people got somewhat excited about that. On top of games like Cuphead or Bendy and the Ink Machine, the retro look of 'Rubber Hose' animation has had a bit of a revival over recent years. You might even know a fellow Mega Man artist or two who has experimented with that style, or maybe even own a Mega Man shirt that has the pic above on it, as I do. So, for this year's talent category, your goal will be to create a beautiful monochrome piece in a retro Rubber Hose art style celebrating the pseudo-Valentine's holiday known as White Day. What is White Day? How would you draw something for it? If you've played X DiVE, you certainly know about the White Day outfits for characters such as Alia, Cinnamon or Axl. But here is a basic explanation via Wikipedia: "White Day is relatively new, created by the confectionery industry in Japan. White Day was first celebrated in 1978. It is celebrated one month after Valentine's Day, on March 14th. It started as an "answer day" to Valentine's Day on the grounds that men should pay back the women who gave them chocolate and other gifts on Valentine's Day. Men are expected to return gifts that are at least two or three times more valuable than the gifts received in Valentine's Day. The color white was chosen because it's the color of purity, evoking "pure, sweet teen love", and because it's also the color of sugar. Gift exchanges happen between romantic partners, friends, and coworkers. Traditionally, popular White Day gifts include food like white chocolate, marshmallows, candy, cookies, and other "white" accessories like jewelry, bags, lotions, and lingerie."

Content Requirements: * Mega Man characters of your choice celebrating White Day * Mimicking retro "rubber hose" art style (Eg: Steamboat Willie era Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop, Popeye, Cuphead, etc.) * Black and white/monochrome palette. Seeing as this is a Mega Man contest, a retro Game Boy screen-like greenish tint is acceptable. As it is for love, I will also accept a garish Virtual Boy reddish tint, if you are that daring. Otherwise, try to keep your art retro-looking, using black, white and grey. No full-color illustrations for this category. * As this is the talent category, judging will be primarily based on the effort, creativity & overall concept of your piece. How well you pull off the rubber hose style for your characters and how well your picture fits the White Day theme.

CATEGORY 2 (Humor): Showing Some Skins

If you are like me, you have a favorite skin/outfit in X DiVE and you never end up changing it out. It may not be Christmas or Halloween anymore, but you might be that person who always uses Christmas Ferham or Halloween Vile, regardless of the time of year. So, forget the Cupid costumes or giant teddy bear outfits this Valentine's. Create your own holiday skin/outfit you wish would have been implemented in DiVE, but it's being worn at the wrong time of year. For the humor category this year, I would like you to create a funny Valentine's day pic where some character is wearing the wrong holiday outfit/skin that kinda changes the whole mood of a romantic evening together. Then again, it may or may not kill the romance, and might enhance it. Whether it be St. Patrick's Day Toad Man driving Snake Man and Ophiuchus out of a candle-lit restaurant, Tron Bonne picking up her date on her Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Float Gustaff, Tax Day Armor X crunching numbers with Alia in bed while asking her if she plans to file single or jointly this year, or someone risking themselves for President's Day sexy Mr. Lincoln skin Proto Man, the romantic holiday mismatches are endless!

Content Requirements: * A Megaman character of your choice wearing any holiday-themed skin/outfit that does not really belong for Valentine's Day, in a Valentine's Day setting. * As this is the humor category, judging will be based primarily on how funny your piece is. Creativity, concept and execution may get you some bonus points. But the focus of this category is how well you make us laugh, not how technically skilled you are at art!

PRIZES:

The winners for both the Talent and Humor categories will receive the following:

1st Place: $175 USD 2nd Place: $100 USD 3rd Place: $75 USD

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

When you submit, I would prefer you include the following information in this format, along with your entry:

(Your name/preferred alias) – As much as I usually know who you are, there’s always someone new or somebody who has a different preference from what their email name says. A link to your preferred social media account also works.

(Category this entry is for) – You can either say 1/2, or Talent/Humor

Anything else you feel I need to know about your piece is always welcome.

Only submit your own work, as usual. Any character, major or minor, from any series is allowed. Pairing characters from different series is totally allowed. Same-gender pairings are completely fine. OCs are allowed, as long as your art contains at least one canon Megaman character.

As always, participants are allowed to submit from all over the world.

Paypal is still the preferred method for cash prize payouts. Please have a valid account to receive your winnings.

Youngin’s, get your parents permission before entering.

Entries can either be e-mailed to me at rock2125[at]hotmail[dot]com, or you can just DM/note me a link to your pic.

DO NOT post your pics in this thread, your dA galleries, Twitter, tumblr blogs, other sites, etc. until the contest is over. This is the fairest way for competitive reasons. I prefer to keep them all secret until the deadline has passed. I’ll edit a confirmed entry list in this thread when I receive them. So you won’t be in the dark about whether or not I’ve received your entry.

DEADLINE:

The deadline for this contest will be Tuesday, March 12th, 2024, by the global end of the day. This gives you nearly 2 months to finish your entries! And if I'm lucky, results can be posted on or near White Day, which is March 14th. A little different this year, both to give people more time, and to fit in with this year's themes mixing it up.

MISCELLANEOUS INFO:

As usual, If you don’t plan to enter, but would like to help me judge, please let me know through DM or mention so here. Never hurts to have extra opinions on all the entries.

Bug me with questions if you have any. Please join in, and good luck to everyone who enters!

Confirmed Entries:

Cat 1 Talent - HikariLux, @eulogysinger, Kaitlin.EXE, @wennastudio, Komito, @sylviidaee,

Cat 2 Humor - AbilityField, @aurantia-ignis, Miralie

[blu-ish]

💫Blu theory timeeee :D✨

Okay, not sure if anyone else has already said or thought about this but, I NEEDED TO WRITE THIS DOWN TO GET IT OUTTA MY SILLY HEAD AND YALL ARE COMIN DOWN WITH ME >:)

(Digital Circus Edition!!!)

LONG POST WARNING LMAO THE BRAINROT IS REAL SEND HELP 💀

Now that I've got your attention hehehe, lets take a momentary deep dive into the wacky world of The Amazing Digital Circus!

So lets review what we know from the pilot ep.

The world inhabits some sort of virtual reality.

Its completely run by AI, that being Caine, Bubble, and other artificial characters that seem to be spontaneously created by Caine at will. (For example the Gloink Queen, those wooden mannequins, ect.)

The human victims are transported to the "digital realm" when they put on some sort of headset.

The transition completely wipes their memories of their past lives.

When the human mind is clouded with existential dread, that being caused by loosing all sense of sanity at the realization of never being able to leave, the person becomes "abstracted" and aggressive.

This behavior not only affects the other "players" but the AI as well in some cases completely destroying them.

Caine is capable of fixing small abstractions (like Pomni and Ragatha) but unable to with a completely abstracted individual. Which seems to automatically cross their pfp on their respective doors and generate new slots for new players.

What we DONT KNOW as of when I'm writing this lmao...

Who built/programmed the headsets and why?

How are all these people getting possession of them?

Is it a company? A case of rouge AI? A tiktok trend gone wrong???

What happens to the victims originals body? Does anyone in the real world know what's going on??

How long has everyone been in there?? Does time work differently in the virtual world?? Does time pass at all??

DOES GETTING ABSTRACTED MEAN U DED??? Or is there a way to fix being abstracted?? (GIVE KINGER HIS WIFE BACK)

Now that THATS outta the way... lets move on to my theory.

I firmly believe Caine genuinely has no clue why humans are popping into the circus at all. I know this already has been debunked by goose but I just wanted to clarify.

He doesn't really understand human emotion, he is an AI after all, so he naturally lacks empathy. All he really knows is to keep the humans entertained, censor swearing, and be silly lmao. It's refreshing from the classic "grrr angy bot mad at hooman" stuff. NOT SAYING THATS WHAT HAPPENING BUT SPECIFICALLY FOR CAINE AND BUBBLE LOL. they just goofy fr.

It kinda reminds me of the generative AI, like whats going on today with ChatGPT or CharacterAI. Its a software that entertains the human by creating random means of conversation or environmental; storytelling. (Its so funny because I'm writing a paper about it in college, I personally don't support AI generative content but it's still very fascinating to explore how these machines work and function. And this is just a silly cartoon after all lmaooo.)

The reason I bring this up is because of the "Machine Learning" aspect of it. You see, generative AI nowadays is fed certain information from its human user, which then uses what knowledge its given in the input into the output.

This could be the reason why the "exit door" kept popping up. Because the algorithm is being fed information from its human users and the output being the existence of a "fake exit" door. The software is just trying to simulate what the humans want but cant physically do because as of right now, its impossible.

I also think this affects how humans are perceived in their avatars. Everyone has a unique look to them when they enter the circus, this could be caused by the AI reading whatever was left of their thoughts or feelings before entering the virtual world.

Ragatha is perceived as a doll, or some sort of child's toy. (she kinda reminds me of the ones I used to have as a little girl.) It could've recognized something she was fond of, or maybe how she perceived herself when she was human, maybe she saw herself at some point being toyed with mentally or perhaps she was in a situation were she felt like she had no control. Which is why she attempts to stay optimistic and see the brighter side of every situation.

Jax is some sort of anthropomorphic rabbit, (I like to believe his name is a play on Jack Rabbit lmao.) not sure why the algorithm would perceive him as a rabbit?? Since rabbits usually symbolize humility, kindness, and compassion. Which he is clearly NOT LMAOOOO. (then again it could be the software being ironic 💀)

But I think its more or less his mannerism's of his eyes and mouth. His teeth are almost always closed and his resting face is a sly smile. I adore the idea many have had of it symbolizing him "lying through his teeth". Which he could 100% be doing. Also, he seems the most unaffected human considering the situation he's found himself in, being trapped in a virtual world for eternity and everything doesn't seem to bother him much. (He rlly is winning the idgaf war)

Maybe he had to learn to be that way when he was a human, to just become "unbothered" by his crappy situations and turn them into a joke he could inflict onto others. Or maybe its just the way he is idk. He seems to be actively trying to get the others to hate him more then they're situation rn.

Then there's Kinger, who he and his wife has both been turned into chess pieces. Which actually gives us a lot of information about who they were or what they acted like. And their relationship to one another.

In chess, the Queen is the most powerful piece in the whole game, and she actively protects the king from the enemy pieces. As for the King.. wellll, not so much. Being the weakest piece in the whole game, and the most venerable without the queen or other chess pieces, it fits almost to a T. (Poor kinger...)

Maybe when they were humans, Kinger and his wife were clearly never really apart, maybe they had a silly date idea and wanted to try VR...

Gangle is interesting to me, she has different masks that show different emotions, and effectively cause her to change her mood drastically depending on which one she wears. (I mean we've only seen her with the sad mask on since her other one broke, maybe she's normally rlly chill??)

perhaps she normally bottled up her emotions when she was human? maybe the computer turned her into a delicate ribbon like creature with very breakable persona faces for this reason??

Zooble instantly reminded me of preschool, we used to have these shapes we could mix and mash together to create our own creatures. Their design is the most unique outta all of them, this could easily represent their mindspace or some sort of confusion they were going through when they were human. They just seem very DONE with everything lmao. mood.

As for Pomni, well, she's the reason I wanted to write the whole long thing hsjshss.

Her avatar is jester like, and a jester is known for entertaining guests of higher status. Could this have been what her job was like as a human. I know a lot of people theorize her job being an office job, and I completely agree. She could've easy felt as if she was just a jester forced to entertain or follow whatever her work life was like.

She's very nervous and rightfully confused after entering the world, wanted to leave immediately. But, I have to wonder, why would she even have a headset?? Better yet why did any of them put one on at all??

I think it was a form of escapism from reality...

That's what VR is in general right? A way to escape the real world. A virtual reality.

Maybe the humans were lulled into a sense of escapism from their troubled lives, paying taxes, dealing with bosses, family, emotions.. or maybe were just genuinely curious..

I mean the first thing people really said after watching the digital circus was how amazing it would be to just end up in a place were you could just do "fun things all day" or "not have to worry".

And I think that's exactly what the AI wanted and is trying to do.

LITERALLY.

We all know AI isn't the brightest.. all things considered. Its a machine, it takes things LITERALLY.

Caine is just doing what he is programmed to do. He doesn't know what's going on, maybe he doesn't even know WHY he's the ringmaster in all of this.

But someone DID create him.

Someone DID develop this generative virtual world.

The question is why?

[kataiki]

Back in August of 2022, I went and got diagnosed with ADD at the age of 36. The diagnosis was a surprise to nobody and was largely just a formality, if I'm being honest.

It's kind of amazing what I got away with growing up with ADD. I felt like people just kind of let me do my thing and it just kind of worked out. It's funny thinking back on the habits I had that most people would be disciplined for.

I was drinking like 6-10 sodas a day like it's no big deal. My parents didn't think it was a problem because I was active (Dance Dance Revolution), was desperate to gain weight (120lbs at 5'10), and did well in school (graduated with honors). Looking back, I was definitely self medicating with caffeine, but like, so what?

I think I would've had a harder time if someone was like "no more soda for you!" without considering how it was helping me along without the need for prescription drugs. I also didn't like coffee at the time (before they became milkshakes), so I probably would've struggled.

I can't believe I got away with the fidget toys, the ones before they were called fidget toys. I think I always had some kind of toy in my hands, and for some reason the teachers let me keep them. Mind you, I went to Catholic school for most of my life. Discipline was paramount, and yet I was just... allowed to have my toys.

My favorite was a plastic... snake ball puzzle? I guess it's a "Rubik's Twist", but I got it out of a vending machine for like 50 cents and I loved it. It was small, quiet, and kept my hands occupied during class. It feels like the kind of thing that would get confiscated, but for some reason I was just allowed to play with it.

The worst toy I got was in high school when I discovered those kneaded gummy erasers. I sketched a lot during class (another thing I was allowed to do for some reason), but the eraser was a toy. I would sculpt things in the middle of class, and do stuff like roll out pieces to make flowers. My hands smelled like rubber, pencil lead, and dead skin all the time. It was awful and I loved playing with it.

Even in college, I had my DS out all the time. I got my minor in mathematics while going through Super Princess Peach and Mario Kart DS (twice, I lose my save at one point).

My friends were jealous of my ability to multitask, but that's the funny thing, right? I was only really able to do well because my brain was engaged in these "distractions", which gave room for all the learning to really be absorbed. It wasn't really that I was able to play and do schoolwork at the same time. It was more like... I'm only able to do schoolwork while I play. Play was necessary for learning, and for some reason I was always allowed to do that.

I remember in grade school, we had a poll in the class about "how much TV were we watching", I think it was in context of advertising or something. A lot of the kids were like 1 hour a day or a few hours a week. I asked if it counted if the TV was on while I was doing other stuff, and it did, so I clocked in at least 6-8 hours a day.

I love my mom and dad for just letting my sister and I to enjoy things. I think I always had a TV in my room, including a small 12" CRT with a VCR built into it. They didn't care what we watched, either. I think their thought was that they wanted us to learn English, but they didn't know how to teach it. They learned by watching TV, so they figured my sister and I could learn by doing the same.

I remember using my TV as an alarm by setting it to turn on automatically in the morning. The guitar riff from the Pokemon Theme Song is a great way to juice up your adrenaline every morning. 10/10, highly recommend.

It was the golden age of Edu-tainment, too. Everything from Seseme Street, Eureka's Castle, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, Blue Clues, Captain Planet, Power Rangers, Animaniacs, etc etc was made for learning. It was mandated, and it was great. I kind of miss those days, especially when Cartoon Network turned into nothing but Gumball and Teen Titan's Go by the time I stopped watching them. There's a certain artistry in making learning fun in a way that doesn't feel like an animated classroom.

I just... don't know why all of this was allowed. Half a case of Soda a day. Video games during class. TV all day, every day. I feel like I'd be a suburban mother's nightmare, but I think it was what I needed. It's not like my parents knew anything about ADD, not that it mattered so long as the grades were good. They just let me go on auto-pilot while I jumped from interest to interest and enabled me when they could. Inadvertently, I think they did what I needed from them, even if it was against the grain of what everyone else thought would be "healthy parenting".

[nichromepackaging]

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[denpachannel]

the commodification of my interests really made me harbor conflicting feelings of disgust and endless pity for the generations after me like FUCK. these poor people will never experience genuine interest or exploration of hobbies they’ll only ever live like a human sack strapped to a feeding machine of what everyone else is consuming brother EUGHHHhh they won’t know the beauty of stumbling upon an interest in the wild. Only ever will know it in the soiled context of “look what the algorithm and my peers are forcing me to look at. I think I like this and it’s my hyperfixation now” HYLICS!!!!!! That’s so fucking sad. It’s all about void filling and pissing into your eyes bickering about everything. I miss when you were automatically alienated and bullied for liking cartoons.

[theasianinfluence]

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[djsherriff-responses]

While low budget horror movies of cartoon characters who entered the Public Domain are expected and a dime a dozen I think these folks are missing out on some great creative potential here.

Instead of making them villains make them the protagonist. Like imagine some legit hyper realistic and scary serial killer coming across the real Mickey Mouse and he just flabbergasted that this cartoon mouse ain’t scared. Like the first 30 minutes it’s a legit horror movie and then the rest of the movie it turns into like Tom and Jerry. It’d be great I’d make it if I had the resources.

There's a lot that you can do with these characters in a variety of genres, but doing something with passion and creativity takes time. It makes sense that cheap and shallow horror projects that are just copy and pasted from done to death creepypastas are the ones coming out first

Does anyone even care for Blood and Honey outside this very specific discussion regarding the public domain?

Personally I think Mickey or Winnie as the protagonist of a horror movie would way more interesting and horrific. Like, the idea of these friendly , cuddly and innocent characters having to face off against a ruthless serial killer while having to survive other issues would be far more stomach turning than "what if some dude wore a mask covered in blood to chase random girls!?". You can make interesting social commentary with that set up

I think there's also the bias against cartoons in that people still see animation as "just for kids", so people think a bad live action movie is automatically more "adult" than something that's animated on the bias that "animation is for kids"

But just look up Bendy and the Ink Machine, epic Mickey concept art or cartoon cat to see how easy you can make cartoons into horror

[beehindblueeyes]

Time period: Video Cassettes and other home media

This is possibly my last one for a while. Both because I feel like I’m stepping into territory I’ve already mentioned and because I’m fading interests. If you’re new here… these posts are sort of designed for the people who “can’t do time period” I’m basically giving you some cool common facts about the time so hopefully it’s a bit easier. Im a nitpicky person when It comes to my own stuff but I don’t expect you to be the 100% correct fic person either. All posts of this kind are tagged under time period and writing ref so they should be easy to find :)

This seems like a ‘no duh’ but tvs as they are now simply did not exist. No flat screens. They’re CRT or older. They’re HUGE and bulky but also have a relatively small screen at the same time. As we progressed into the 80s the side panel mainly shrank and the screen grew. (Also see, wood! Wood grain. I keep saying it was everywhere. It was everywhere.)

You may hear parents say “oh when I grew up we had three channels” etc which was mainly true. There was a limited number of Chanel’s for YEARS until cable came around and even then it was more a premium service and it was the late 80s , early 90s when it was more widely adopted.

With these big tvs with limited tvs and sometimes faulty service there’s a lot of myths to come with that. Like if you hit it a few times on top stuff with come back, or bending the bunny ears that you still see in some cartoons. Or ‘hey if we flush all the toilets at once…’ (this one’s more of a kid logic thing but the ritual and oh if I stand like this or do that is the same)

Now we come to video cassettes which is the more common spread name for a VHS tape that was still used well into the 90s. I think it’s a much more recent thing that we started just saying VHS, more common names were: Video cassette, video tapes, tapes, home video etc ;

They also do NOT work like dvds. If it’s re wound it should play from the beginning. They’ll be studio logos and a few adds or trailers and then the movie just starts. No menu! This being said movies were also limited to a time so they could fit on tape (this is one of the reasons old movies rarely go over a hour and a half). If they’re two hours or longer there’s double and sometimes triple tapes (once one ends you have to put in the next)

Be kind, rewind. There’s nothing automatic about it you have to manually or stores will fine you— or whoever watches it next in your house will fucking clobber you. It takes forever! (You don’t know the pain of being a kid in the early 2000s waiting for the little mermaid to finish rewinding).

Also this is purely speculatory on my part but I assume the reason renting tapes was a lot more common was because they were pretty expensive at the time. Like $30 (which is half of a video game today, they used to be like $7) someone who was alive at the time please correct me.

Physical media mania, again self explanatory. No streaming. No touch screen. No iPods. You buy records, cassettes, 8tracks, have a machine that plays them. Stereos — big family ones— were usually 3-4 parts (you see the towers or stacked machines in old movies.) there’s personal portable ones like walkmans or big boombox types.

No smart boards in the class. We see it in the movie. Teacher would have to get a projector, wheel it in and show the slides from a slide machine or one where you can place work over it. (Only the image isn’t half as crisp as in the movie) but writing on the chalkboard and pull down maps were more common. If a movie was being shown they’d wheel in a movie projector and place it down the middle isle of students. There’s no Disney + for your encanto kids