When The Wind Is Slow, And The Fire's Hot

When the wind is slow, and the fire's hot

The vulture waits to see what rots

Oh how pretty, all the scenery

This is nature's sacrifice

Finally, finally after forever, the next part of FTGFTF is done. Sorry if the pacing is a bit janky, I may go back and fix it up, but I hope you enjoy the long-awaited Atlas fight and I hope it delivers. Put a lot of work into the actual fight itself.

Shout out to @dumpsterfirepropaganda for keeping me going and hyping this one up, and to @copper-sands , who despite knowing nothing about MMZX, has still been cheering me on!

The brawn x the glass flamethrower

getting back in contact with people after a depressive episode is so wild because it's like hey sorry i dropped off the face of the earth and never responded to your attempts to reach out for months i was six feet deep in a grave of my own making when i suddenly realized i didn't want to die down there and had to claw my way to the surface inch by inch on my belly like a worm until i felt the sunlight on my face again. anyway how have you been? how are things? but you can't SAY that so you're just like. um. hi. do you still like me 👉👈

Captain America, are you off to fight the bad guys?

Hey, mighty Superman, can you save us from ourselves?

Hey, Mr. Universe, can you lift us up above this?

'Cause I'm just Iron Man, I'm a ghost within a shell

Take a look around, just look around

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions

Why did they never mention, what's real and in between?

It seems the path we're on was paved with blood and sorrow

No thought about tomorrow

Just part of the machine, or so it seems

Yeah, so it seems

We're all living the dream

- Living the Dream, Five Finger Death Punch

So I heard this song and couldn't help but think it really hit a chord for most of the Megamen in ZX and Advent, for quite a few reasons, and the idea to draw something based on it wouldn't leave my head. You can tell who I haven't drawn merged before, haha.

Lyric explanations under the cut.

Captain America, are you off to fight the bad guys?

Hey, mighty Superman, can you save us from ourselves?

Vent and Aile, respectively, as to me they embody the classical heroes of comic books (especially Vent) and since they're kinda the OG heroes in ZX, it felt like there was a pretty good thematic correlation here between them and the kinda quintessential Cap and Superman.

Hey, Mr. Universe, can you lift us up above this?

A play on Atlas' namesake, the god who held the world up - but also I can definitely see a reformed Atlas being a hero who is very good at search and rescue due to her immense strength. That, and she's always putting on a front to appear strong.

'Cause I'm just Iron Man, I'm a ghost within a shell

Self explanatory for Siarnaq, I would say. Ghost within a shell is quite evocative of him.

Take a look around, just look around

Grey is still observing the world, still learning it's ropes. Endlessly inquisitive, endlessly thoughtful, the quiet observer.

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions

Semi-spoilers for FTGFTF but Aeo wanted to do good in the world (this is the line that originally had me linking this song to the ZX/A crew!), and at every turn it seems he's blocked by something. Model W corrupting him has absolutely not helped with this, as he's committed heinous acts in the name of hopefully achieving peace.

Why did they never mention, what's real and in between?

Ashe, learning the truth about the twins. That they're not unrepentantly evil, and it shakes her worldview.

It seems the path we're on was paved with blood and sorrow

Ahh, Thetis. You're doing your best to save the environment, but this ground is already blood-soaked, and you're adding more blood to it.

No thought about tomorrow

Just part of the machine, or so it seems

Prometheus and Pandora, living day by day by day, unwitting cogs in Albert's master plan.

And everyone else, believing that they're the ones partially responsible for the machine.

Anyways, enjoy.

Somewhat related to the question regarding original work, have some chibis of a few of my deity characters :)

Ironically they're the ones from the big story that I've actually finished, and a few won't actually show up in it, but I like their designs!

Micani, First Son of the Reaper (Deity of Death)

Oras, Manager of Time (Deity of Time)

Tyron, Punisher Everlasting (Personification of Judgement)

Tamora, Binder of Fate (Deity of Fate)

Jivana, The Divine Mother (Deity of Creation and Life)

Ladies and gentlemen, an idiot