The Robot Monster

For most people, and I’m one of those. My rent has gone up, my alternator in the car has died (I can’t even focus on that yet, sigh), and this has been on a chain of setbacks and illnesses both with myself and my family. Energy and food prices… it all piles up.

On top of this, my depression (and covid fog probably) has been extra rough, keeping my freelance work slow.

Anyhow, I could use help and any is appreciated. I need $300 to make rent by the 5th and basic expenses beyond that. 

My Ongoing Gofundme

My paypal.me

My DrivehtruRPG shore. (d20 and royalty-free fantasy and sci-fi stock art)

Or any of the other stuff I hurl into the void to baffle and amuse whether through here, Melinoë Labs or DeepDreamNights, money is never not-tight, and tips/gifts are welcome.

My Ongoing Gofundme

My paypal.me

My DrivehtruRPG store. (d20 and royalty-free fantasy and sci-fi stock art)

My Patreon

Thank you for enjoying, and remember:

I love the fact that its canon that Cobra Commander has a personal harem of Horny Fangirls

WHO ARE ALL COSPLAYING AS HIM

And like

Not even really Sexy Versions of him?

I mean everythings sexy to someone but I mean their uniforms aren't more revealing or more fetish-y or more feminine they're literally basically just wearing his outfit except a bit tighter and with the Cobra symbol on their tits

Like

A psychologist would have a FIELD DAY here

This mans sexual fantasy is LITERALLY FUCKING HIMSELF

Because a character on each team going through their gimmick and codename choice was one of those plots, and Major Medusa clearly went through it.

<speaker crackles>

"Viper 13-B4! Congratulations, you've accomplished valor in Cobra / have been diagnosed with a weaponizable special interest / kissed the right ass / gotten a really cool scar and have earned your face and name! Report to the East wing and report to the Fashion Vipers and Dr. Venom for biological experimentation and uniform design."

<pause, speaker crackles again>

The People of UltraMerica VS Johannes Factotum (take 2)

From Issue #26 of TyrannoMax. (original version here)

Process under the fold.

If you're wondering why that is, he was a first-wave figure. when he was sculpted the show was just bluster from Mattel reps to retailers. In fact, when he was sculpted, it's likely that he was just "a" man-at-arms. His earliest art is just named "paladin", and later art referred to with "Arms Man" further suggesting the idea was initially a role, not a character.

Somewhere along development, a Man-at-Arms, a Beast-Man, a Mer-Man changed to "the" Man-At-Arms, Beast-Man, and Mer-Man, king of the Mermen. Which fit the genres they were aping: named hero and villain mains, with a warrior-heroine and a femme fatale, and then a bunch of monsters and extras.

A similar thing happened with Wave 1 of GI-Joe: A Real American Hero, all of which were designed to be like the old 50s and 60s Joes, just smaller and turning each outfit into a separate figure. They only became individual characters when it was decided to go full magic triangle (toy-show-comic) rather than just making "Action Commando" and "Action Army Soldier" etc.

(Also, Snake-Eyes was only the cool "all in black" guy because they needed his paint ops budget to give everyone else complete decos)

Filmation redesigned just about everyone to at least the same degree, and it was their influence that made Man-at-Arms into Duncan, King Randor's Man-at-Arms, specifically.

The design inaccuracy is partially to accommodate their budget maximizing techniques, partially because the show was being developed simultaneously to the line, and partially because a degree of inaccuracy is useful for defending the newly deregulated advert-toons from accusations the regulations were being skirted or from a restoration of the regulations.

But when you get down to it, Skeletor is just as inaccurate as Duncan, lacking his arm fins, and the three-toed claw feet. We're not even 100% sure he was originally intended to be wearing boots, or if that's just what his feet are like.

And, referencing one of the tags, parts reuse can be seen as cheap, but it's smart, especially in a risky launch-wave.

You want the armor to be interchangeable, you want everyone to be able to use the same vehicles and beasts. Also, figures aren't in production at all times, so reusing parts saves you tooling costs, ensures compatibility, and makes it so when, say, Mer-Man goes out of production, you can just reset those molds to make Stinkor.

Wave 1 of He-Man featured a unique head for each character, and a full body recycle for Evil-Lyn/Teela. For the guys you had three sets of legs (fur boots, apeish legs, claw feet) two torsos (Standard, hairy) and three sets of arms (human, finned, and ape). From the neck down Skeletor/Zodac/Merman, He-Man/Man-at-Arms, and Beast-Man/Stratos are all clones of each other. Later waves would start mix-and-matching more.

What's impressive is what the line accomplishes with its accessories, for example: Beast man's armor forms a mane and covers his upper arms, bulking up his figure and making him seem more physically imposing. Stratos uses a jetpack and icarus wings to create a flying monkey-man that doesn't seem nearly as physically imposing as Beast Man despite them sharing everything but the head.

Transformers did this too, 1984 featured: Starscream/Skywarp/Thundercracker, Laserbeak/Buzzsaw, Rumble/Frenzy, Prowl/Blustreak/Smokescreen, and Ironhide/Ratchet were more or less straight-up redecos of each other (Prowl & Ratchet had light bars that the others of their designs didn't). They wouldn't start doing bespoke heads for redecos until the next year, were you'd get remolds like Grapple/Inferno.

But it wasn't just the Humanoid Characters

Zo-Ar/Screech and Battle Cat/Panthor are redecos of Big Jim animals:

Using the difference between 12" and 5.5" to make them giant, and by using a massive saddle and helmet to make BattleCat seem even bigger and less tiny under He-Man. But Beast-Man was almost the same way:

Multiple takes on Beast-Man as a armored-Up Big Jim Gorilla were made, one of those designs eventually becoming Gy-Gor

And Ben from Grizzly Adams was also very nearly his body:

I'd guess the only reason we don't remember Beast-Man as a giant literal beast monster that other characters can ride on is because a third large beast would have been overkill for year 1.

For most people, and I’m one of those. My rent has gone up, my alternator in the car has died (I can’t even focus on that yet, sigh), and this has been on a chain of setbacks and illnesses both with myself and my family. Energy and food prices… it all piles up.

On top of this, my depression (and covid fog probably) has been extra rough, keeping my freelance work slow.

Anyhow, I could use help and any is appreciated. I need $300 to make rent by the 5th and basic expenses beyond that. 

My Ongoing Gofundme

My paypal.me

My DrivehtruRPG shore. (d20 and royalty-free fantasy and sci-fi stock art)

So my per-month is now $500ish bucks less than it was. Trying to get on disability due tot he chronic pain but that takes time.

For everything else, there's PhlogPhlux™!

Simply spray whatever needs handling* with a few spritzes of PhlogPhlux™ and watch as our patented formula phlogistonates and then immediately de-phlogistonates the object or entity in question, leaving behind a only a small pile of calx.

And since PhlogPhlux™ is packed with phlogiston, everything, and we do mean everything, burns: Stone? Asbestos? Metal? Fear? Water? All of it!

So no matter what your messes, obstacles, or enemies are made of, it's all good, and gone, with PhlogPhlux™

Another fine product from the brains at-

Melinöe Laboratories Omnino Nullae Restitutiones

Dinosaurs Attack! © The Topps Company Inc. Image accessed on Flickr here

[Monster 1000, everyone! I think! In updating my indices, I found that that’s harder to pin down than I had thought, what with templates, multiple monsters in one entry, and non-monster but game mechanics posts. But I’ll be treating this as Monster 1000 because even if it isn’t officially, it’s darn close.

I figured I would commemorate the milestone with a monster that embodies the Codex somewhat. I’ve been thinking about how to do it for a while (since around monster 900 or so). I was eventually inspired by some of the major themes of the blog. There’s a lot of dinosaurs and a lot of fiends around here. So here’s a patron for them both. The Supreme Monstrosity originally appeared in the Dinosaurs Attack! series of super-violent trading cards (seriously, be aware if you’re going to click through the source link) as the leader of an army of time-displaced, ferociously murderous prehistoric beasts.]

Infernal Duke, Saurafer CR 26 LE Outsider This orange scaled horror is a bipedal reptilian humanoid taller than a giant. Its skull is swollen and features a crown of horns and six eyes. Its arms end in muscular paws, leathery wings grow from its back, and its tail ends in an immense spiked club.

Saurafer Devil Dinosaur, the Supreme Monstrosity Concerns dinosaurs, competitions of strength, savagery Domains Evil, Law, Scalykind, Strength Subdomains Devil, Ferocity, Judgment, Saurian Worshipers evil druids, reptilian humanoids, gladiators Minions fiendish and half-fiend dinosaurs, horned devils, stygionyx Unholy Symbol a fanged maw biting a globe Favored Weapon heavy flail (or natural weapons) Obedience win a competition of strength. If you are alone, spend 1 hour writing an argument about why one individual or creature would win in a fight with another one. Gain a +4 profane bonus on Intimidate checks, and add 4 to the DC needed to successfully intimidate you. Boons 1: rage 1/day; 2: mass bull’s strength 1/day; 3: extended frightful aspect 1/day

Saurafer, the Supreme Monstrosity, is an infernal duke who rules over violent competitions of strength. He is perhaps the physical embodiment of the doctrine of “might makes right”, and seeks forever to test his power against other creatures. His chosen species are dinosaurs, which he sees as emblems of ferocity and power. Saurafer delights in pitting creatures against each other, especially dinosaurs against creatures of other eras and worlds, in order to see who is the superior. He is a sore winner, but an even sorer loser. He despises birds, as they are a reminder that in many worlds, dinosaurs succeeded not by becoming larger and stronger, but smaller and more intelligent.

As to be expected of the patron of savage combat, Saurafer is an absolute terror on the battlefield. He toys with weaker foes, using his fear abilities to send them scattering and then picking them off one by one. Those that resist are blasted with spells and breath weapons. If all else fails, Saurafer flies into a savage rage, which rarely ends until either he or his enemies are slain. Although he delights in one-on-one battles, if he fights multiple foes at once, he evens the odds by summoning devils and dinosaurs to aid him, or even uses animal shapes to turn devils into dinosaurs and improve their melee abilities.

Saurafer stalks the blighted realm of Avernus, single-handedly destroying armies that attempt to make a foothold in Hell and testing the forces of other infernal dukes. He is an example of a malabranche promoted, as he was successful in dragging an entire planet into the clutches of Hell. He hopes to someday repeat this performance, and is looking for ways of summoning and controlling enough dinosaurs at once to invade a whole world. Although he is not terribly intelligent by the standards of the hosts of Hell, he does not tolerate condescension, and is a shrewd judge of character. He has eaten at least one malebranche who did not show him proper respect.

TyrannoMax Trading Card & Sticker Album, Stikks™ Company, Inc. Selections from Set 1: Fear the Roar!

The Stikks Company was best known for making sports cards, but they branched out in the late 70s by getting the contract to make trading cards for Cocytus Comics' Nightmare Pit and Tomorrownauts titles (a mint Nightmare Pit series 1 Farrah Fyendlyne vs Glodie Redeemer (37) is $300+ on the secondary market, yow!).

This got their foot in the door for the 80s when the Cocytus / Buzby Spurlock Animation merger put the Cocytus characters on TV sets and toy shelves (semi)worldwide. Buzby-Spurlock needed merch liscenees and Stikks got most of the trading cards and sticker albums.

As with most things, Stikks was acquired by Hasbro in the 90s.

EXTENSIVE Process/Tutorial under the fold.

I like seeing stories like this little Wisconsin town. Not because it’s “people bravely defeating AI”, but because it’s people refusing to be treated as collateral damage for someone else’s quarterly growth.

A secretive, billion‑dollar data center trying to plug itself into existing infrastructure as fast and as cheaply as possible is not innovation. It’s an old‑school land grab with prettier slides. Same pattern every time: anonymous entities, hush‑hush deals with local officials, vague promises of “jobs and progress”, and the real cost — water, electricity capacity, noise, risk — quietly shifted onto the people who already live there.

I genuinely like AI as a technology. I want more compute, more models, more strange and powerful tools in the world. What I don’t want is a bunch of revenue‑addicted opportunists treating towns like a cheap resource pool: take the land, take the grid headroom, take the political goodwill — and leave everyone else with throttled infrastructure and higher pressure on local utilities, including the ones farmers and small businesses depend on.

So when residents say “no” not to the technology itself, but to the way it’s being jammed into their city, that’s a good sign. That’s not anti‑AI, that’s a civic immune system finally waking up. First come messy protests and blocked projects. Then come rules about siting, water use, energy mix, pricing, local benefits. Eventually — if we don’t completely waste the moment — this turns into an honest contract: AI infrastructure and people coexisting on terms that make sense for both, instead of data centers thriving at the expense of the communities around them.

For most people, and I’m one of those. My rent has gone up, my alternator in the car has died (I can’t even focus on that yet, sigh), and this has been on a chain of setbacks and illnesses both with myself and my family. Energy and food prices… it all piles up.

On top of this, my depression (and covid fog probably) has been extra rough, keeping my freelance work slow.

Anyhow, I could use help and any is appreciated. I need $300 to make rent by the 5th and basic expenses beyond that. 

My Ongoing Gofundme

My paypal.me

My DrivehtruRPG shore. (d20 and royalty-free fantasy and sci-fi stock art)

So my per-month is now $500ish bucks less than it was. Trying to get on disability due tot he chronic pain but that takes time.