#killing game busters

[waveglox]

(NOT SHIP ART) collab with El !! ik theres another official crossover character for gonta from sanrio but i cant see him as anyone but pompompurin

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

What was the bad take BTW? I am curious. There's so many bad takes out there I feel like it could have been anything tbh.

It wasn't even really THAT bad of a take, I've definitely seen worse. I just personally don't think Gonta and Kokichi were ever really friends (especially on the Kokichi side of the equation) and I dont think the killing game busters was a plan that was ever meant to succeed. I get into it a Bit in the essay im writing because it's relevant to my take, so I won't get into it here. (Also. it'd take too long LMAO)

[lunagame]

I'm going to hell for this- 💀💀💀

[muzothecat]

Today in Danganronpa V3 : January 28, Day 17

Iruma gives the others a tour of the Virtual World, explaining the rules and showing them the map.

They divide into two groups to search for clues and are isolated by Iruma destroying the bridge.

After a loud noise in early morning, everyone logs out and discovers Iruma's dead body.

Saihara investigates with Ouma's assistance, due to Momota being a suspect.

The fourth class trial takes place.

When under suspicion, Ouma reveals the true culprit to be Gonta, who lost his memories from the Virtual World. They worked together, Ouma devising the plan and Gonta carrying it out, to counter Iruma's murder attempt on Ouma and spare the others from the Outside World.

Momota can't accept it and insists on accusing Ouma, Saihara counters him.

Gonta gets voted as the culprit and executed.

When Ouma starts to mock him, Momota attempts to attack him and gets knocked back. He starts to cough up blood in front of everyone but refuses Saihara's help.

Ouma is alone and says he'll put an end to the Killing Game.

End of Chapter 4

[gentomologist]

@kindliar

Needless to say, this has been an overwhelming state of affairs to return to. He can't be certain how much time has passed, and the inactive phones means he can't look and see how many friends or other familiar faces are about. Still, he's wasted no time trying to readjust, relying on established survival skills for others' benefits as well as his own.

Today, though, a distant fire catches his eye. He pursues it out of curiosity, mostly, drawing closer to the telltale smoke and faint crackling 'til he sees its light — and more importantly, the one apparently tending to it. Gonta hears himself gasp; an involuntary little sound. "Ouma-kun?"

As ever, he'd recognize that scarf anywhere (even if there are... extra features he's never seen on his friend before). Instead of thinking about how Ouma might feel upon seeing him, he continues talking. "Ahh, Ouma-kun! Gonta really found you!" The relief in his voice, paired with surprise and a typical helping of emotion, is impossible to miss. "Are you okay?"

[astonmartinii]

it must be a sign | oscar piastri social media au

pairing: oscar piastri x fem deaf! red bull engineer!reader

when the two most unbothered people in the paddock combine their joint powers to be the it couple

request sent by the lovely @bibissparkles xx

author's note: heyyy so many of you won't know but i am actually deaf - i am 50% deaf in both ears and wear hearing aids so i love requests like this! (all i do most of this stuff as a deaf person, turning off your hearing aids >)

MASTERLIST | TIP JAR

yourusername

liked by maxverstappen1, oscarpiastri and 302,446 others

yourusername: you can't complain about the dutch national anthem when you can just turn your hearing aids off

view all comments

user1: the way max's engineer is as sick of that damn song as us

user2: turning off her hearing aids makes how bored she looks during podiums make sense

yourusername: it was a banger during the mercedes dominance but would it kill someone to play the australian anthem

danielricciardo: i knew you missed me

yourusername: sure, jan.

user3: her and max signing slay to each other will always be so personal to me

maxverstappen1: gonna pretend you didn't just say that

yourusername: boo hoo babe, you gotta lose something sometimes

user4: babe? are the flowers from max?

maxverstappen1: would rather choke on my own spit and fall into a pit of snakes, hope this helps ❤️

yourusername: rude! i wouldn't want flowers from you either :(

user5: i swear we get into this argument every weekend, i think people will still assume they're together until their married to other people

liamlawson30: stop using me as a messenger pigeon please and thank you

yourusername: but i thought red bull gave you wings?

liamlawson30: do not use a pr answer against me 🤨

yourusername: no comment

liamlawson30: choke.

yourusername: idk what's going on in the red bull junior academy but spit in helmut's coffee not mine

user6: y/n consistently giving all the red bull guys shit is my favourite thing ever

user7: the amount of times the sky broadcast has caught her waving them off or taking her hearing aids out lol

oscarpiastri

liked by yourusername, landonorris and 782,309 others

oscarpiastri: switched four tyres for two this weekend

view all comments

user11: you can't distract us with your slutty bike pics WHO THE FUCK IS THAT

landonorris: A WOMAN? A WOMAN? IS THAT A WOMAN OSCAR JACK PIASTRI?

oscarpiastri: yeah i'm pretty sure

landonorris: don't play smart with me buster - why was i not informed?

oscarpiastri: i don't ask to be informed of every time you get rejected in the instagram dms

landonorris: FAKE NEWS

oscarpiastri: okay buddy

user12: i be seeing the sign language book, oscar you are so real for that

user13: that's my king, i need a oscar and y/n link up in the paddock - my unbothered queens

user14: she's in the likes !!!!!!

logansargent: oh we've entered the soft launch phase i see

oscarpiastri: and what?

logansargent: someone is feeling defensive this morning, dude i won't tell i've already kept it a secret for so long

landonorris: HE KNOWS? DOES BEING YOUR TEAMMATE MEAN NOTHING?

oscarpiastri: he's my childhood best friend?

logansargent: there's levels to this game norris

landonorris: @oscarpiastri consider yourself UNDER SURVEILLANCE

oscarpiastri: okay girly

user15: oscar has the patience of a saint, the mystery gal may want to rethink it before having to deal with them all

yourusername

liked by maxverstappen1, danielricciardo and 381,044 others

yourusername: unrelaxed, unbothered, moisturised ✨

view all comments

user18: queen SHIT THAT AIN'T SHIT

user19: but this mystery man IS

maxverstappen1: yeah sorry about that... but at least boyfy has made his instagram debut?

yourusername: about time, he's too sexy to gatekeep

maxverstappen1: well i'm not going to agree out of respect for you

yourusername: so you don't think he's sexy? i might not be able to hear but HE CAN MAX BE NICE

maxverstappen1: first of all it's a text, second of all i've been way too nice to him

yourusername: he beat you in padel fair and square you're just SHIT AT IT ❤️

maxverstappen1: you know that's a sore subject WHY WOULD YOU BRING IT UP

user20: my queen was really like you wanna tell me to fuck off? oh here's my sexy boyfriend

user21: jos verstappen really didn't know who he was tangling with that gal may be chill but she doesn't take shit

user22: she's like a female version of oscar lol

user23: i knew there was a reason i liked her

this comment was liked by yourusername

danielricciardo: why am i left out of everything these days?

yourusername: snooze you lose

danielricciardo: I AM AWAKE REPLY TO MY TEXTS

danielricciardo: I JUST SAW YOU PUT YOUR PHONE ON DO NOT DISTURB

yourusername: protecting my peace

danielricciardo: i'm on to you buster

oscarpiastri

liked by maxverstappen1, yourusername and 1,209,455 others

tagged: yourusername

oscarpiastri: overjoyed to get my first (proper) win in formula one and even more overjoyed to have my amazing girlfriend (and even better engineer) up on the podium with me

view all comments

user27: so this was the special occasion?

user28: so this is why she said she wanted the australian national anthem over the dutch one?

user29: this is now my roman empire

yourusername: babe is so fucking good and i'm so fucking proud

oscarpiastri: i'm so glad to have been able to share this moment with you

yourusername: you deserve this and more, i love you

oscarpiastri: i love you too xx

user30: wait so oscar knows so much more sign language than i thought

user31: he looked so excited and even mark knows some

logansargent: he forced (we were happy to do so) me, mark and his family to learn as soon as he secured the date lol

oscarpiastri: and now we're all so cool because of it

logansargent: cool and able to chat shit without people knowing what we're saying

yourusername: best bit about it tbf (everyone please learn, it's a beautiful language)

landonorris: I KNEW IT

oscarpiastri: no you didn't

landonorris: no i didn't :( i'm hurt

oscarpiastri: if it's any consolation, we didn't tell many people, max and logan are exceptions

landonorris: WHY WAS I NOT AN EXCEPTION???

yourusername: boo hoo

landonorris: i'm not gonna say anything back to that you kinda scare me

yourusername: good ❤️

yourusername

liked by fernandoalo_oficial, oscarpiastri and 529,778 others

tagged: maxverstappen1 & oscarpiastri

yourusername: me and a racewinner (and our world champion third wheel)

view all comments

user32: fave trio in the paddock no competition

logansargent: logan erasure

yourusername: we love you logan, sunday roast at mine this weekend ❤️

logansargent: SCORE

user33: every time you post there's a new plushie

yourusername: we usually get one to commemorate a big weekend and we both got one for osc's first win

user34: that's so FUCKING CUTE

oscarpiastri: it's all fun and games until you don't fit in the bed because y/n feels too bad to put any of them on the floor

yourusername: they have FEELINGS OSCAR

oscarpiastri: she cried one time when max set off the smoke alarm cooking breakfast and the bed alarm shook so bad that all of them were thrown to the floor

yourusername: it was HARROWING but it also did wake me up so at least we know it works

maxverstappen1: actually my favourite couple to third wheel, but enjoy it while it's here osc, i won't lose again

yourusername: yeah sorry osc it's actually my job to help max win so you're gonna have to wait for him to retire if i have anything to do with it

oscarpiastri: not even for me :(

yourusername: sorry not sorry (i'm really sorry, i love you so much)

oscarpiastri: i love you too even if you won't sabotage max for my race :(

maxverstappen1: okay i know i said you guys are cute but that's enough for today

yourusername: we ARE cute thank you

oscarpiastri: the CUTEST

fin.

note: heheheheh i hope you enjoyed this, i love requests like this xx also on the comment about the bed alarm i had one in uni halls and when the alarm went off that baby SHOOK it was kinda scary

[content-d3leted]

Undertale is actually the best game of all time. (Prepare yourself for some rambling lol)

Its characters are so unique and loveable, and the plot and the universe its in has so much depth, there's so many easter eggs throughout the game, all the different AUs are so creative, and the soundtrack is AMAZING-the songs are so incredibly intertwined with one another with all the motifs throughout the music, it is just an all-round immaculate franchise, and I adore it.

I can't quite remember how long my interest in it lasted, maybe 2 years? But I first discovered it in September 2019, by watching jacksepticye's playthrough he did in 2015, where I became completely hooked on it! I remember learning all the names of the songs in Undertale's soundtrack by heart in chronological order, and also drawing the characters for hours on end!! Genuinely one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life.

My favourite character is Papyrus (NYEH-HEH-HEH!!), with Mettaton coming in at a close 2nd place. But to be honest, every single one of the characters are brilliant!!

For about 4 years I've been trying to kill Sans (unsuccesfully), but I can almost get past the last stage by now, so thats progress at least..but tbh it was such a horrible feeling to murder everyone else, especially Papyrus, on the genocide route- but it had to be done I suppose.

Undertale means ALOT to me, especially since it helped me get through some super difficult times back when I was in school, due to really bad depression etc. It also helped me make an irl friend too (who is now one of my best friends)! So yeah, undertale truly means the world to me.

And deltarune is just the same, completely incredible!! The battle theme (Rude Buster) is one of the greatest game songs I've ever heard, and I often listen to it on repeat. I had a short second phase of undertale/deltarune a year after my first one, where I became obsessed with Sweet, Cap'n and K_K. They are such good characters aaaaa I love them!!! I can't wait for chapter 3 of deltarune to be released soon!!

But omg the undertale/deltarune soundtracks are so fun to play on instruments (especially piano for me), especially fallen down, home, your best friend, death by glamour...the list goes on lol.

Undertale also introduced me to my first ever gay people so I have Undyne, Alphys and Mettaton to thank for making me realise I was in the LGBT+ community!!

So in conclusion, Undertale is the best game. Yes.

Why are you reading this surely you have better things to do

[lunarin64art]

That one Barbie Movie meme but Killing Game Busters addition.

[revalition]

OCT 18 - ELECTROCHEMISTRY Go to party planet. Love and be loved by drugs.

.... (looks at calendar) yup definitely october 18th today, don't mind us. this didn't even take that long, I wish I could have done more for one of my fav boys. we were putting off a task we didn't want to do (update resume) which meant getting stuck doing nothing at all for 2 days :)))

tomorrow is full of stuff we dont want to do too so... might fall behind on skilltober a bit. it's ok. but it's almost 2am and we gotta be up at 8 so gonna stop rambling now!!! (much love from the main guy who runs this blog and echem!! we're both here!)

lotssss of stuff under the cut! of my wonderful guy!

fun facts:

- has a swear score of 9/10 (calculated by yours truly) second only to half light

- he damages volition only once and heals volition 10 times! that's also the most healing out of any of the skills

- this impolite guy never once says sorry or please. he does say thank you once (to idiot doom spiral for inviting them to party)

- calls you Harry 3 times, boy 7 times, son once, man 13 times (+ calls volition man twice lol), baby 13 times, darling once, buster once, sir once, chief once, buddy 2 times, brother twice, detective 3 times... he talks to you a lot! I'm sure I'm missing some too

- calls himself your mesolimbic reward pathway, your glands, receptors/GABA-receptors, your pleasure response/centres, your electrochemistry, your parasympathetic nervous system, your moral compass (uhm...), your brain (that's a bit presumptuous) again probably missing some

- the 30 screenshot limit is *evil* >:(

also, electrochemistry's name translates directly to electrochemistry in almost all the languages disco has been translated to (which is interesting on its own, electrochemistry is the study of the chemistry of electrons moving) except the chinese translation -- 食髓知味

I don't speak a word of chinese so forgive me if this is off but google translate directly translates it to "Eat the marrow to know the taste". Apparently it is an expression meaning that once you've had a taste of something (the marrow) you will want to have it again, and is used in a negative way.

it... describes echem's role in the game quite clearly. anyway this seemed way too cool to not share.

onto the quotes!

he's so sassy

true! true! tell him echem!

I love love love this one. echem recognizes joy. kim's joy!!

shhhhhh

volition only trying to rein in electrochem... he's all alone out here haha

so delightful, happy electrochem!!!

no 😭 why is he *like that* sometimes. rhetoric knows he's gonna suggest something stupid before echem even opens his mouth. actual idiot. this is a godly check too! he gets sooo stupid at high levels...

hitting this guy with a rolled up newspaper >:|

pleaseee volition make him stop talking. he's so bad. I know he's just doing what he knows, but he's doing it in a manipulative way

look how stupid he is <3 this is when you make the jump for your coat, while you're falling through the air...

alternate outcome!! this line is actually so sad ☹️ noooo... sweetie your precious friend is still there it's okay you'll be okay

electrochemistry making this horrible situation even worse! pleaseee dude not *THE EXPRESSION* I want to strangle him. volition fighting for his life out here

he wants to be famous <3

I didn't mean to put 3 quotes in a row of authority and echem getting along but here we are. echem just wants to buy stuff he doesn't know any better!

one millisecond before hurling the pétanque ball into the ocean... at least he had fun doing it

he praises you for pouring your alcohol on the ground to honour the people you and kim have killed in the line of duty. okay my dude...

YES shit on the kingdom of conscience! someone has to!

what is wrong with him? (affectionate)

these increasing difficulty electrochemistry checks... thanks for making everyone regret asking man. and regret ever leveling you up that high in the first place...

if you rejected the task to find a drink, echem doesn't want it!

echem turning down the opportunity to use the expression, and it's just cause he isn't interested... dying. dying here.

this is a classic and a favourite. I was like 3 minutes into the game when I got this and was like ohhh... what's with this guy. oh dear.

bad :( don't call him a *lamo* stupid skill. him referring to himself by his own name is funny, I don't think any of the others do that

idiot doom spiral cuts him off here. but electrochemistry is the only skill that talks about the basal ganglia (Ancient Reptilian Brain). After some research it looks like the mesolimbic pathway and basal ganglia are closely related, and certain structures are even shared between them. Which might explain why electrochemistry is more in tune with ancient reptilian brain than the other skills. There's actually a really similar thing with perception (smell) talking to limbic system, and the olfactory system and limbic system share pathways in the brain. fascinating. which then raises the question of if pre-martinaise harry knew these things -- knows what a mesolimbic pathway is, and an olfactory system and a basal ganglia, and then named them accordingly? or if it was something else...?

(hopefully this is right, I'm a programmer not a neuroscientist. if someone who actually knows about brains knows more please say something lol)

anyway. onto other quotes.

look at them, look at the idiots <3

he's so sarcastic. look at him, focusing on what really matters! good job buddy

he's gonna kill volition one of these days. also happened in my first playthrough lol, my very high electrochemistry meant I became very fond of volition very fast.

volition... volition beloved, trying to stop you. electrochemistry *lying*. I believe volition about the vow, shush. but also... it is sooo sad that he thinks you guys can't make it without speed :( it's clearly that thought process, that it's better to risk your own health and save as many people as you can, that got things to be as bad as they are... he's got so many issues.

anyway. I've never hit 30 screenshots so fast, yikes. I love this guy so much. I have *so* many thoughts about him... how his role in harry's life would change after being sober and clean for a while... he just wants you to be happy.

[agentlizardofowca]

For the fic ask game may I ask for ✄ DVD BONUS for Let's All Assume the Worst please and thank you and please 🙏

- TesIsAMess

Deleted scene for Let's all assume the worst.

Post credit scene with Lawrence, because I am in love with him.

Only cowards hide out in their rooms for more than a few hours. So, after a day of hiding out, Perry ventured back into the house. Making eye contact with anyone (except Phineas) was awkward, because they all looked at him like they knew his darkest secrets now.

Every time someone's eyes trailed to the vague remains of the bruises on his neck, Perry had a strong urge to rub at them.

The boys were in bed, Candace was playing the ducky m(o)mo-rpg in her bedroom, Linda was at after-dark-cooking-class (he still wasn't sure what that meant,) and Lawrence was chilling on the couch, watching whatever movie was playing on channel 5.

It couldn't be awkward between them, Perry would rather die than be awkward around Lawrence. So he pulled up his socks and sank into the couch beside him.

For twenty-three seconds they watched the movie in silence.

"Do you remember, when I said you could tell me everything?" Lawrence asked as he struggled himself into a less skewed position. He was halfway between lying down and leaning on his side. It was amazing because this pose did the impossible: Lawrence was perpetually chinless, but in this pose, he somehow had a double chin anyway.

Perry nodded as he recalled the exact moment Lawrence alluded to.

"And then you signed I can't tell you anything. I'm mute Lawrence, don't be rude." Lawrence grumbled in the deep voice he used to impersonate Perry, as Perry half-assed the same signs just like he'd done all those years ago.

Lawrence turned his head and looked at him with a lopsided smile. "I didn't mean it. Please don't tell me everything."

Perry chuckled a little and stuck his feet under Lawrence's back, just to bully him.

「There is so much you don't know,」 Perry signed with a smile that threatened to tell him more, even if he had no intentions of telling Lawrence about his recreational interests.

"Perry stop now, please."

「I was tied up just a few days ago.」 Not a lie, but context really made a big difference.

"Perry!" Lawrence repeated, this time more desperately.

「Nice and tight,」 Perry signed with snappy movement.

"Perry, please you're killing me."

With the heel of his socked foot, Perry pressed into Lawrence's thigh. 「I'm joking. But. We're both adults, right?」

"We are."

「So it's no big deal.」 Perry hoped this might end it.

"It kinda is when you walk around with a bruise like that."

Perry huffed, resettled so he could look at Lawrence directly, and leaned in close, almost menacingly.

「I did not pretend to be mute and deaf when you started dating again, for you to be this weird about this now.」 And Perry gestured at his neck.

On the other end of the couch, Lawrence was suddenly a little pale and a little sweaty. "You heard us?"

「Sure did Daddy.」

Lawrence groaned and sank into the couch cushions as if wanted them to swallow him as Perry barked out laughter like an elderly hyena.

They didn't hear the front door opening, so they were caught off guard when Linda's voice sounded behind them.

"Now what are you two laughing about?"

They both whipped their heads around in surprise. Perry recovered first, and he climbed up on the backrest of the couch to try and sign, but Lawrence was almost as quick, and he wrapped both hands around Perry's waist and pulled him backwards.

Perry was now unable to sign because his arms were helicoptered wildly to try and stay upright. When he failed, both men tumbled to the floor, where they lay in a giggling heap.

Near the front door, Linda sighed and mumbled "boys will be boys," in a fond voice. She let them be.

On the floor, the two men tried to stop laughing, but every time they made eye contact they started up again.

Eventually, they returned to the couch, had a drink, and fought over the remote.

Perry insisted they watch myth busters, but before the first episode ended he had fallen asleep on Lawrence's shoulder.

Things were no longer awkward.

[randomlywanderingmoth]

Part of the problem with Fate Grand Order is the core gameplay is fundamentally flawed, and it's very difficult to restore "a fun game" around a flawed core.

Quick and Buster and Arts were all interesting notions, and could have mapped into action gameplay (if we were to merge FGO's ideas with FSR's gameplay I would equate them to fast attacks, heavy attacks, and weaker attacks meant to charge your special bar, but I digress).

As it is, though, it just makes for unpleasant feelings in gameplay, demanding optimizations (I would point out that in the international release we only recently got the ability to combo all three together, and made Quick chains strong enough to consider independently). Those optimizations rise up around every aspect of the game; only a select few Servants have the ability to AoE without accessing their Noble Phantasm, and they haven't even made it to international. There's a wide range of Craft Essences, but only a few that ever matter. Creativity in builds is tamped down around increasingly narrowed build notions as the devs design with over-optimized teams in mind.

The end result is a game that, optimally, advises you to use your super rare fully powered optimized support, your friends' identically super rare fully powered optimized support, and a high power damage Servant, and repeatedly fire the damage dealer's Noble Phantasm to either clear waves or kill bosses.

Speaking of which, from a lore perspective, this is also completely messed up. By the lore of the Nasuverse, a Noble Phantasm is a Servant's super secret ultimate move, only meant for the final hour. This is fully incongruous with the gameplay, where you typically throw the same world-ending mythology-defining techniques three times in a row and call it a day. (Entertainingly, in the International release, we've also made it to Traum, where we see faceless Servants fire their Noble Phantasms like simple artillery, but that's its own commentary.)

Like, it's so effortless to imagine better systems than this! Servants deployed on a chessboard-like map, heralding back to the themes of Fate Apocrypha; suddenly we don't need anything as mechanically obtuse as Class Advantages when we could organically differentiate each Class by how they navigate the board or how they fight each other (Riders can leap over enemies like knight pieces in chess; Archers can attack at range without moving; Lancers do really well on Attack but have poor Defense; and Berserkers can be the units of terror that lore implies!)

Alternatively, the Grail Battlefronts we've already seen- rework the entire game to operate more organically like that; maybe Servants can use skills without entering combat, but it exhausts their actions. Then different forms of gameplay can exist beyond just "mulch the enemy"; like "defend this location" or "collect these resources" or "defeat This Particular Foe".

Or, even if we had to work with just the system we have! Change THAT! Rather than select three cards from a set of five, have it go down the list; each Servant gets One Action to either pick from "Quick, Buster, Arts, Use A Skill".

As for Servant Customization, walk it all the way back, all the way back up to the Attack/HP boosting. Make it so that players can individually optimize Servant performance in different ways- this Servant has better output in Arts, that Servant has higher Crit Star generation. And for folks who'd already spent their Fous, you could just say "right, so anybody with Fous spent can now allocate those points into these new Stats! No harm done!"

Of course, in order to do this, they would likely need to construct a whole new framework for their game, whilst preserving the progress people have made until now.

Then again, they are presently building castles in the sand during the rising tide with one hand and bandaging bullet wounds with the other, so maybe a long shot like that is what they need.

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

The Chapter 4 Essay Part 1: Kokichi Ouma

A metapost on my thoughts on Kokichi’s overall motivations and Gonta’s actions during ch4. Split into two parts. You can find the Gonta half here: (LINK)

I think the way Kokichi acts when he’s telling the truth says something crucial about his personality. When he’s telling the genuine truth, his expression becomes carefully neutral.

(post trial, chapter 1)

To me, it feels like he’s trying very hard to keep this face of neutrality. Normally, he’s able to expertly express any emotion that he wants to. In these moments, its almost like the emotion he’s feeling is so overpowering that he’s trying to repress it in order to maintain control over the face he presents to everyone else, but isn’t quite able to do so.

Kokichi is very careful about keeping people from seeing the parts of himself that he doesn’t choose to show. His villain persona and constant lying is part of this- He wants to keep people away from him. During the events of the killing game, he uses the distance that he creates in many ways. Part of it was that not having many close alliances allowed him to go off and do whatever he wanted during daily life. This let him explore the school and investigate the truth of the killing game without interruption or much attention. Lying also gave him distance between the game and himself. Pretending that the killing game was fun might’ve been his way to cope with everything that was happening. I think Kokichi is really damn good at separating himself from his emotions, lying to himself to do what he thinks needs to be done. This line from Chapter 1 is pretty telling…

(post trial, chapter 1)

This was also something he says himself to Kaito in the exisal hanger during chapter 5.

(post trial, chapter 5)

I’m inclined to believe everything that Kokichi says to Kaito in the exisal hanger. As Kiibo says when Kaito questions it, “I think his dying words may have been the honest truth.” Knowing he was about the die, and that he absolutely needed Kaito’s help to get his plan to break the killing game to work- to achieve his genuine, true goal- I don’t see any reason for him to lie.

This emotional distance extends past just the killing game. I think it's a key part of how he interacts with others around him.

Kokichi is an ultimate leader. I think he uses his talent throughout the game in an attempt to “lead” everyone from the shadows. He wanted to stop the killing game and escape with as many people as possible. However, his methods are very ends-justify-the-means. I believe that he did genuinely care about everyone at the ultimate academy, but in the detached way a distant king might care about his subjects. On the other hand, if he had to use or sacrifice a few as pawns for the greater good, that is what had to be done. It’s not like it didn’t emotionally affect him, but I think he was deliberately trying to keep his distance so that it would not impact him as much, and so that he could continue trying to tear the killing game apart with as many tools in his arsenal as possible.

(post trial, chapter 5)

With this core motivation in mind, this brings us to Chapter 4.

In my opinion, the Killing Game Busters was never a plan that was meant to succeed. From an in-game perspective, the idea that he was originally going to follow this mercy kill plan doesn’t make sense to me. Firstly, Kokichi already had suspicions that they were being watched as early as chapter 3.

(post trial, chapter 3)

…and he later confirms that he was fully convinced of this fact when Monokuma agreed to reuse the chapter 4 motive in the virtual world.

(post trial, chapter 5)

He knew that this killing game was for somebody else’s entertainment. I’ll go a bit into the secret of the outside world in a moment, but considering this, I don’t think he ever fully believed in it. Choosing to mercy kill everyone, in the name of a “truth” that was incompatible with what he had discovered… just doesn’t make sense to me.

Not to mention, from a narrative standpoint, I think the idea that he was completely for this mercy kill plan, decided to throw out the plan mid-trial, and then start an entirely different plan to end the killing game in chapter 5, isn’t very compelling. It weakens Kokichi’s overall character by making his motivation less cohesive and making him seem less organized over all, which I think is one of his strengths as a character. A Kokichi that is this fickle with what he’s trying to do would not have been able to write the script for chapter 5.

I think he always had different goals in mind with the Killing Game Busters. The first was something that is made very clear in chapter 5, but started here in chapter 4: He wanted to stop the killing to give himself room to break the game while minimizing deaths. The second was to further villainize himself, for all the reasons I talked about above, and some more I will get into in a little bit.

Seeing the secret of the outside world was undoubtably disturbing, regardless of whether he believed it or not; there is a noticeable shift in how Kokichi acts before and after he swipes that card key. Combined with discovering that Miu, someone he’d been working with closely, was planning on murdering him, I believe that seeing the destruction of the outside world pushed him towards more drastic measures than what he had been doing in previous chapters. He decided that in order for his plan in chapter 5 to work (which he had almost certainly already been planning at this point, considering how elaborate it was), he needed to make everyone question if pursuing the truth was the right thing to do at all.

After Miu’s body discovery, nobody was really worried about losing this class trial. Everyone had seen how Shuichi had guided them all to the truth and caught the blackened three times in a row, despite the unique difficulties in each case. They had full confidence in his abilities.

(investigation, chapter 4)

Shuichi is also not really doubting his abilities as a detective anymore. One of Shuichi’s core internal conflicts is his fear of the consequences of revealing the truth. Up to this point, it seems like he’s been moving past it. Especially after catching Korekiyo “Actual Serial Killer” Shinguji, who had no regrets or grey motivation for his killings. Shuichi’s morale, and subsequently everyone else’s, was at an all time high. (Of course, he was starting to feel a lot of pressure to solve these cases and save everyone on his own… but that’s another issue. ily Shuichi)

If Kokichi could take the wind out of Shuichi’s sails, really destroy the confidence he had built up so far, he could set up his impossible trial in chapter 5 to be more likely to work as intended. Everyone will be less motivated to try and figure out what happened if they are uncertain that finding the truth would actually result in anything good.

And I do believe he was trying to knock Shuichi off balance specifically. Damaging his confidence is one thing, but he was also deliberately trying to drive a wedge between him and Kaito. He antagonizes Kaito all chapter 4 investigation, including making up a nickname for Shuichi (“Shumai”) that directly riffs off Kaito’s closeness with Maki. He insists into the trial that he and Shuichi are partners now.

(class trial, chapter 4)

(Sidenote: Kokichi’s behaviour during trial 4 is genuinely really interesting to me. On top of the direct digs like this, he says a lot more subtle things to get under Kaito’s skin during trial 4 that I think are super neat to pay attention to.)

Theoretically, pushing Kaito away from Shuichi, combined with the powerlessness he’ll feel in the wake of the truth of both trial 4 and the outside world, could make him easier to convince to join Kokichi’s “side”. He even directly asks Shuichi to team up with him before leaving the virtual world:

(daily life, Chapter 4)

This leads me to believe that Shuichi was originally the one that Kokichi intended to use to build his impossible trial. I mean, if Shuichi was the one in the exisal hanger and presumed dead instead of Kaito, the chances of everyone else solving that mystery drops Significantly. Everyone else, aside from maybe Kiibo, was 100% convinced that Kokichi was the mastermind at that point. No one except Shuichi would’ve tried to dig as deep as he did, for better or for worse. I think this idea is supported by the note that Kokichi wrote next to Shuichi’s face on the whiteboard in his room (“trustworthy?”). He was clearly considering Shuichi as a person for one reason or another, and I believe this is it.

By condemning Gonta, who everyone else perceived as a kind soul who would never hurt anybody, someone who was struggling to understand what the virtual world even was with his amnesia, would be perceived by the others as kicking someone when they were down. Gonta has an absolutely miserable time through the accusations and wholly blames himself for how things turned out in the end. That, and Gonta’s actions were even well-intentioned. The secret of the outside world was apparently so horrible, Gonta thought it would be kinder to mercy kill everyone rather than force them to face it. This result would make everyone question if the truth was really as undoubtably good as they had come to think so far; Not only did Gonta suffer because they had to find the truth, but seeking the secret of the outside world would apparently also only lead to suffering. This would make them hesitate during Kokichi’s impossible trial.

(class trial, chapter 4)

As I said before, Kokichi’s second goal for trial 4 was villainizing himself even further. He says that this was a goal himself to Kaito in chapter 5.

(post trial, chapter 5)

Part of this villainization was just adding to the persona he had already created for himself and that I already talked about his motivations for before. The other part was what he says here. He specifically wanted everyone to think that he was the mastermind. This gave him leverage in two main ways. First, making himself appear to be the mastermind with an actual mastermind as hands off as Tsumugi genuinely gave him power over everyone else. He used this in chapter 5 to put a pause to the killings and give himself more room to enact his plan to break the killing game from the inside.

(daily life, chapter 5)

Although he then says “You guys can commit suicide together or kill each other… / Or, you can change your mind and stay here! You’re welcome to do that too!”, having experienced the secret of the outside world already, I think he’s pretty confident in what they will be feeling in this moment. No one is going to kill each other, and he knows that. He wants them to take that second option for the time being while he sets up his plot.

Making himself appear like the mastermind also benefited his impossible trial plan directly. Everyone would be much more likely to vote for someone they were convinced was the mastermind rather than one of their friends. No one would suspect that it was really him that was the victim.

“Using Gonta and making him into a murderer” was a significant part of how he villainized himself, but the way he treated Gonta during this whole experience was also a major factor. Starting as early as just after Miu was killed, he begins to be really aggressively mean to Gonta. He just straight up bullies him throughout the second half of the trial.

(daily life, chapter 4)

(class trial, chapter 4)

And then, after all this, he acts remorseful and sides himself with Gonta at the very end. It isn't genuine emotion like he felt before Kaede's execution, shown by his neutral expression. To me, this uncharacteristically open expression of grief feels like it was just set up to exacerbate the impact of his cruelty after Gonta’s execution. At this point, everybody’s little faith in Kokichi has been shaken significantly. With the shock of the trial, maybe you Could start to believe they were on the same side, as a team. Then, at the reveal of the extent of Kokichi’s manipulation, that is all ripped painfully away again.

(post trial, chapter 4)

(post trial, chapter 4)

Even if these parts of trial 4 make my stomach turn, I don’t want to imply that Kokichi is completely cold-hearted and unfeeling. Actually, I think there were multiple moments in chapter 4 that show him struggling to regulate his emotions and keep face around everyone else while he enacted this plan.

1: I don’t think Kokichi initially planned to make the reveal that Gonta was the killer as dramatic (or frankly, a bit traumatic) as it ended up being. He had been carrying himself a certain way during the first half of the trial, and I think Shuichi lying to his face in front of everyone about Kokichi’s own alibi dramatically changed his attitude. I mean, Shuichi lied (as he had done almost every trial and gotten 0 flack for) and Tsumugi even called him out on it, but everyone believed him over Kokichi anyways. So when Kokichi lies, it’s completely inexcusable, even though he’s been working tirelessly on his own trying to save everyone?* But when SHUICHI lies, and gets caught in it, people go along with him? They don’t doubt their trust in him for even a second? This double standard infuriated him. It’s at this point that he completely shifts in energy. If Shuichi, no, everyone, is going to disrespect him like this, he was going to make them suffer for it.

(class trial, chapter 4)

2: Kokichi only goes full villain after Kaito says “Kokichi, If you really cared for Gonta, explain yourself to everyone” in the post trial. I think that even though he was always going to paint himself as the villain, he was legitimately affected by the things that had just happened (Gonta’s death, Miu’s attempted murder, the secret of the outside world, even if he knew it wasn’t real) and what he’d just done. Even if he was trying hard not to be. The sudden shift he has from not saying anything to cackling about how little he cared about Gonta feels to me like he was kicking himself back into gear after trying to process some genuinely difficult emotions. 3: After Kokichi punches Kaito down, and everyone completely ignores him in favour of helping Kaito up, Shuichi says these iconic words to Kokichi: “Kaito always has us by his side, see? But no one wants to be around you. / You’re alone, Kokichi. And you always will be.” Kokichi responds like this:

(Post-trial, chapter 4)

There’s something about the way he cuts himself off, pauses, and then his mask falls. I think Shuichi’s words got to him more than he wanted them to. Honestly, Kokichi’s attitude towards cooperation, keeping everyone at arm’s length, and insisting (to himself) that he (as a leader) must fix the killing game completely on his own just seems so lonely to me. Even if he is intentionally trying to alienate himself and get everyone to hate him, being so viscerally cut into like this must have hurt. Especially from someone he was trying to work to get onto his side. It’s no wonder he quickly left after this moment.

This is what I think drove Kokichi in chapter 4. He’s a leader who wants to “lead” his classmates into safety, but he isn’t afraid to use underhanded, cruel tactics if he thinks it will get him ahead in the game for the greater good. He viscerally represses his emotions in order to keep himself going and keep everyone else away from him. He tried to destroy Shuichi’s confidence and drive a wedge between him and Kaito to get him on his side for his plan. He used and made Gonta into a murderer to villainize himself and discourage everyone else from seeking the truth.

Whenever I imagine Kokichi on his own, out of the spotlight of the Audience or the eyes of his castmates, he’s never as expressive as he is in the open. I think in reality, Kokichi is a pretty depressed and lonely person. His clownish personality isn’t entirely a facade, and outside of a killing game scenario, I think he would act pretty similarly to how he does in game. But I do think that he uses it as a mask for his true emotions. While I feel like the “evil villain” persona is a genuine part of Kokichi’s personality, outside of the killing game he probably doesn’t act on it as deeply as he does in-game. I also think Kokichi struggles with letting people become close to him, even without anything on the line. The killing game just caused him to lean into these aspects of his personality hard, and in potentially the worst ways.

*I feel like here it’s important to mention that personally, I still think the collateral damage he caused in his attempts to stop the killing game matters. A lot. I don’t think he should be excused for the things he did, even if he had good intentions. This makes him a really interesting, morally grey character, and I like that about him. EDIT: I can't believe I have to add this, but please do not use this essay as ammunition for harassing people who ship ougoku… I don't agree with doing that at all. I hope I made it clear that I find Kokichi to be a complex character whose mistreatment of Gonta was never targeted, and more just an aspect how how he isolated himself and how he manipulated others to end the killing game, even if it caused suffering to them in the moment. Kokichi cares about everyone in the ultimate academy, in his own weird, detached way. He's not completely heartless nor is he an abusive monster. And even if none of that was the case, it's never an excuse to harass people for disagreeing with you. Please be cool!! Thanks <3

[lunagame]

Ok yk what??? I'm gonna just gonna tell you a story called Ryan game!

Cuz I can!!!

(Mutant busters <Luna game> AU)

(⚠warning...⚠ BAD GRAMMAR, BAD STORYTELLING, MENTIONS OF BLOOD/DEATH AND SOME SWEARING!!! I'm gonna ruin you people's childhood... 😈😈😈)

Ryan was trying to get some fresh air or smth, he saw brutux there

Brutux:"Oh hey Ryan sorry I can't really talk right now because I'm looking for my books!"

Ryan: uh... How did you lost them???

brutux: idk, its probably here somewhere!

Ryan: I pretty sure you'll find all of them eventually!

*walks around and see vegan-su there*

Vegan: oh hey Ryan

Ryan: oh hey, have you any chances to see a book anywhere???

Vegan: A book??? Was it from brutux?

Ryan: uh yes-

Vegan: figured, cuz I did found a book laying on the ground somewhere, I already have it! You should probably give it to him right away.

Ryan: thanks!

*walks to brutux*

Ryan: found one of your books!

Brutux: thanks! But there's more that is missing...

Ryan: oh!...

Brutux: do you think you can gather the other ones???

Ryan: sure! How much books left???

Brutux: 50-

Ryan: ARE YOU KIDDING ME- 💀🔫 sorry, ill find it!

Brutux: thanks!!!

*Ryan looks for 49 books, but the last book looked awfully strange... It looked really dark and shadowy and it looked very cursed... It kinda frightened Ryan...*

*then he walks up to brutux*

Brutux: thanks for finding my books!!! OH THAT REMINDS ME!!! your brother is looking for you, you should probably go to him to see what's he's up to!

Ryan: o- ok...

vegan: hey Ryan sheriff is look for yo~.... NEVERMIND, pretty sure brutux told you!

*then he sees his brother, the one who wears a star and has a ginger hair... AH WHO AM I KIDDING YOU KNOW WHO IM TALKING ABT!!! ITS SHERIFF OBVIOUSLY!!! but let's see what he needs, but something weird just happened when Ryan just went up to him...*

sheriff: OH HEY RYAN, I WAS LOOKING FOR YOU BRO!!!

Ryan:...

Sheriff: so I was thinking... We should have a brother and me time, since we haven't hang out in a very long time!!!!

Ryan:...

Sheriff: ITS GONNA BE SO FUN AM I RIGHT RYAN!?

Ryan:...

Sheriff: uh... Bro???

Ryan: *stares at him*...

Sheriff: Ryan??? Bro... Are you ok???

("Kill him... Kill him.... KILL HIM NOW!!!")

Ryan: i- I'm so sorry little brother...

Sheriff: *gasp and screaming in pain*

(cuts and blood starting to pop out)

Ryan: *gasp into tears*

Sheriff: b-bu-but why???... *fells*

Ryan: no... WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!... *screaming, and gasping into tears*

After a little while he couldn't slept for a while and started to have... Nightmares...

But....

Sheriff: ;%:*;*:";*:TH!$ !$NT ØV3R BR∅TH3R;":*;;*;"

(This is from like Luna game 0, Luna game 0 was a prequel to Luna game 1, so ill probably make a 1st part of Ryan game story since this is kinda like a pilot yk??? Lmao! 😭💀🔫)

[tobiasdrake]

Hang on; you've talked a lot about how future Trunks is much more an assassin than a martial artist like some of the other Z fighters, to the extent that he doesn't even name his attacks. Does that mean Buster Cannon is anime only??? I'm devastated

Not as a named technique, though he does perform the move. There are three significant ki techniques that Trunks is known for, none of which he names.

Trunks is probably best known for the sweeping arm movements he makes when firing off his Burning Attack. These arm motions have never been explained what the fuck he's actually doing.

The arm motions, funnily enough, do come from the manga. But the name "Burning Attack" does not.

The technique itself just seems to be a standard ki blast, used as a feint. He deliberately calls Frieza's attention before firing because he wants Frieza's attention on the shot, allowing him to move in for the kill while Frieza's distracted with evasion.

There doesn't seem to be anything special about Burning Attack itself. So. Like. What the fuck he's doing with his arms? No idea. Never comes up again.

Later, during his fight with Vegeta to try and stop Semi-Perfect Cell from absorbing 18, he breaks out Buster Cannon.

Once again, no name: Just point and fire with enough force to take Vegeta out of the fight momentarily.

The third of Trunks's well-known ki techniques is what the games call Heat Dome attack. It's the technique he uses to kill Cell in his own timeline.

Which, to me, just looks like a really powerful Buster Cannon fired vertically instead of horizontally.

[akkivee]

there was a bbbat rhyme anima talk event today~ it was as chill of a time as it could be with kimura in the room lol but we got to hear some fun stuff from them!!!!

when asked what were their favourite scenes from the anime, kimura answered the place bbbat’s fight scene episode stood out to him bc it looked like a dungeon

ishiya-san really liked how this time around, they got to rap by groups in addition to teams!!!! it was really neat to sing with his fellow 2gumi lol

amasaki-san loves that one scene from bbbat’s episode where 2️⃣3️⃣🌙⚖️ were attacked by enemies while trying to hit the time switch. that whole it’s a shark!!!! no it’s actually humans!!!! scene is really funny lol

hayama-san really loved seeing everyone’s ending song animations!!!! like you could tell they were made with love and care for each division and their fans

sakakihara-san loved just seeing jyushi’s bandmates make an appearance and seeing them interact within the plot!!!

takeuchi-san really liked the visuals in sanity!!!!! especially that kaleidoscope visual they gave bat!!!!

they also asked for general impression in the anime and starting with bat:

hayama-san was really impressed with the artstyle lol. it’s the first time they got to see bat move and on top of that, the style pays a lot of respect to kazui-sensei’s art!!!!!

sakakihara-san liked how they managed to show jyushi’s growth as a person, have his still push him forward as he takes a step forward to help someone else

takeuchi-san got to see hitoya’s office for himself in the anime and was really impressed with how big his office is actually lmao

on bb side, kimura prefaced with how ordinary bb’s character setting is compared to like, mtc’s yakuza, policeman, soldier set up since they’re just a trio of bros. but that in itself is their power and it’s nice to see in the anime too

ishiya-san liked how they portrayed bonds in the anime and the strength those bonds brought!!! he gave an example of jiro feeling a little pressured but ready to step up to the challenge after hearing saburo’s contributions in the 3gumi episode

amasaki-san really liked how the anime showed a sense of each division protecting their hoods!!! kinda got hoodstar vibes lol

next they had to come up with a word or phrase that encompasses bbbat’s dynamic/vibes. for whatever reason kimura was really having a hard time understanding this as a concept (and it lowkey killed ishiya-san and amasaki-san’s braincells lol) but since bat were on it and ready they went up

hayama-san wrote ‘love’, sakakihara-san wrote ‘shounen manga’ and takeuchi-san wrote ‘one big family’

hayama-san said bbbat share similar expressions of love, bat shows their familial like love, bb has their love as siblings and ichiro and kuukou have carried on their love as partners from their naughty busters days (at which hayama-san and sakakihara-san started giggling like the fudanshi they are LMAO)

their energy and action kinda gives shounen manga to sakakihara-san!!!!

it was at this time bb finished their answers and revealed they all so happened like woah crazy coincidence bruh wrote the same stupid pun that doubled as them saying ‘they’ve got some kick ass ball busting energy!!!’ and them flexing their bonds lol

bc of this takeuchi-san didn’t get to explain lol and after kimura poked fun at him for it, hayama-san managed to tie all their response together since they were still similar in vibe. amasaki-san said hayama-san was being too nice to them LOL 😭😭😭

the last segment was them playing a quiz game where they had to watch a scene from the anime and answer a weirdly specific question about it lol. bat won 30-29 (LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO) and it was very entertaining lol but there were two moments that made me really laugh lmao

at the start of it, ishiya-san and amasaki-san all of a sudden stood up and started jeering and shit talking like actual six year olds lol. not a single bat seiyuu had the thought to rise to the provocation LOL but takeuchi-san protectively blocked them with his arm and told them they didn’t to need to stoop to their level lmao

for the first question, they needed to answer what was ichiro’s phone battery at in the scene. kimura loudly stated this was his hour (he knew the answer lol) and as takeuchi-san stepped up to rep bat’s answer, hayama-san coyly leaned over to look directly at kimura to ask, ‘was it in the 70s? 🙂or the 60s? 🙂maybe 50s? 🙂’ and the way kimura just froze LOL

kimura: that was really scary!!! like yikes!!!! yikes!!!! i thought i was being puppeted for a second!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭

[blueikeproductions]

An update on the Transformers CyberWorld situation.

Without a shadow of a doubt, it’s the next cartoon as a new copyright notice on Hasbro’s part includes animated series.

So we’re moving on from EarthSpark. A well intentioned successor to Rescue Bots aimed older that … just didn’t stick the landing for many reasons (no Nightshade being Enby isn’t one of them, but among certain groups it didn’t exactly help either…).

So what can we expect going forward.

Honestly I think we’re in the middle of a shift, creatively.

Cyberverse & EarthSpark clung to a lot of IDW centric ideas about how the Autobots are shady & the Decepticons are the actual heroes.

Skybound and TFONE are to be returning to traditional Heroic Autobots and Evil Decepticons. Starscream & Shockwave are absolutely psychotic, Soundwave is more professional in an ends justify the means capacity, and Skybound Optimus being praised for a much needed return to the strong enough to be gentle vs the introverted millenial/Gen Z kid most stuff lately has cast him in. And just by official trailers and snippets alone, ONE’s fixed a huge problem with the cast system thing started by Aligned, by making future Autobots into the oppressed miners and from what we can tell, the future Decepticons being among those who either benefited from the system or joined Starscream’s splinter faction, a faction that likely has no benefits to Cybertron as a whole.

It does feel like there’s a bit of course correcting to go with a more traditional route most casuals expect. Even a recent toyetic promo for ONE where the actors play with the toys with some football players, among them is the one who calls himself Megatron, & the players express mild skepticism on an origin story, when they all know Optimus & Megatron are mortal enemies so why bother having them be friends previously or some such. I can always appreciate when a studio expresses self awareness and happily pokes fun at itself.

It also feels like they’ve realized they’ve both overexposed certain characters and also realized certain characters don’t work.

I think RotB and Skybound’s willingness to kill off Bumblebee shows even Hasbro might be sick of him now. His absence so far in early CyberWorld leaks seem to point in this direction too. A recent promotion and opening animation with Squad Busters doesn’t have Bee, but instead uses Elita. It also keeps Megatron and the Decepticons as the villains.

I don’t think Bee is going away, since he’s a major component of TFONE, Reactivate (whenever that sucker comes out), and that separate racing (?) game thing, but outside of EarthSpark, it does feels like they’re trying to move away from him a little. Cyberverse also sticks out as it’s pretty clear the writers wanted nothing to do with Bee after S1, but Hasbro marketing and rebranding made Bumblebee a huge focus, confusing matters, as despite the rebranding, Bee’s role had greatly diminished. (Like realistically, it should’ve been Bumblebee leading the Autobots during the Quint occupation, not Hot Rod if Hasbro was that insistent about it.)

Elita is also an interesting change. For years, Hasbro seemed content to ignore her (and her squad) in favor of Arcee, with Hasbro & IDW trying to beef up female presence with “OCs” Windblade & Pyra Magna among others to little fanfare. Indeed, Windy appears to be benched in favor of Elita-One who has gotten more attention post Netflix WFC (that god awful show did one thing right and it was bring back a Female Autobot people actually like to complement Arcee).

I stand by the series still has a villain problem, and EarthSpark didn’t help by trying to make the Decepticons sympathetic moody Autobots, but also not properly taking advantage of Mandroid, Croft and (so far) the Quintessons. This has been an issue for the bulk of IDW, Cyberverse, & RotB as well, by either omitting Megatron, trying to redeem Megatron into a good guy and/or his replacements not being up to snuff/killed off too quickly. Scourge & Mandroid were steps in the right direction but alas. The Quintessons are also a step in the right direction but Hasbro seems semi hesitant to do much with them, despite their increased presence. (I’m leaning towards it being most toys related to them don’t sell, which is what will make a future Void Rivals toy line interesting…)

So now we’re at CyberWorld.

The lack of Bee in favor of Mirage due to his popularity from RotB seems telling among the Autobots, though we don’t have Elita so far in this series curiously.

All we have to go on Decepticon wise is Galvatron, Scorponok, and Sky-Byte, but that’s still a pretty big change up.

While they still have relevance in TFONE, Screamer & The Waves’ roles in EarthSpark are mostly minor, with Starscream as the standout (in a bad fan fic kind of way). Skybound mostly has ignored Megatron, slowly building up to him in stuff like Cobra Commander, with Starscream getting the crap beaten out of him, and as of the recent issue, Shockwave’s fate isn’t looking too good, leaving Soundwave. It does feel like Hasbro is willing to experiment more outside of Screamer & The Waves, given their absence this far in CyberWorld. Galvatron is also a surprise, given the “Let’s make Megatron an Antihero!” phase started in IDW, that carried over to stuff like Prime Wars, WFC, CV & ES.

I feel like using Galvatron is an attempt to both move away from Megatron for a bit, but to also still technically use him (as a villain) as usually Galvatron IS Megatron. Scorponok, at least in comics and the Headmasters anime, is typically a main villain, but how that works here we don’t know yet. He’s either G1 Marvel Scorponok or BW Scorponok, there’s very little inbetween.

So I think what we have is a big change that is going back to basics like Skybound did, but is willing to still experiment with other characters to add variety. Plus let’s be honest, having multiple Megatron toys from three different things with little visual difference is a sign of stagnation. Shaking it up with Galvatron is an improvement post TFONE.