Mr K

22 / Enby / Drawer of gays In a few fandoms, MLP:FIM, Vocaloid, PJSK, Dispatch and Hannibal

[imblueker]

Welcome to my blog!

Just a few disclaimers to get out of the way

My art will usually be based on a real episode from the game Dispatch or I'll reblog cool art that may contain references to content from the game, so if you don't want spoilers, I advise you to not look at my stuff!

I will post things that are mature occasionally (blood, suggestive, adult jokes, etc) , so look out if you're not into that

Also my interests vary wildly so I'm definitely not going to post about only one fandom 🙏

[snackleggg]

Ow no guys, I'm having Thoughts about Bobby Robertson (Mechaman Prime)

The way we only ever see him saving civilians. The way we never actually see him, just the suit, maybe because he didn't have a hero costume, didn't intend to get famous as a "superhero", he was just a regular man trying to help the regular people who got caught in the crossfire of other fights and disasters.

Do you think he even wanted Mechaman to be some big legacy? Do you think he'd be horrified by all the pressure Robbie put on Robert?

Robert doesn't look very similar to Robbie but what if he looked just like Bobby? What if Robert never knew how much he resembled his grandfather because Robbie never showed him pictures?

I would argue that Bobby haunts the narrative of Dispatch more than Robbie. He was THE Mechaman. He was a regular man who wanted to save people. He went out there with no astral pulse, no team, probably no support from other heroes or hero companies because he was a "normie". In a way, Robert, without realising it, regressed Mechaman back to what it originally was supposed to be after he lost the astral pulse. A regular man just wanting to help people, to save people, and that's what he did for the Z-Team.

Just imagine you're a regular man, maybe a mechanic or inventor, with your family who you love, and there are some people in the world with crazy superpowers and every day you watch as other regular people like you die and are injured because of all the collateral damage caused by these powerful people fighting. Some of these people dying could've been your friends, your coworkers, your neighbours. You feel so helpless because you're just a normal person, how can you help? How could you go into these warzones and not become a casuality yourself. You have a crazy hairbrained idea and work day and night in your garage to put together something that can protect you in those battle fields. And then you go out there in a clunky suit and a stubborn will to save people and it works, you can save people. So you keep doing that, anytime you hear about people in danger, an out of control fire or a collapsing building, you rush to the scene, while the superheroes are busy taking down criminals you save the people caught in the crossfire. They call you mechaman, they start calling you a superhero, but you're just a regular civilian who wanted to keep your community of other regular civilians safe.

[imblueker]

Wait this actually adds a really sweet touch to his otherwise horrible family history to me

[painted-daisy-l0l]

Okay this is taking up the space in my head while I’m trying to make a character analysis so I’m just gonna get it out here. I wanna talk about the belief and want that Robert has for the Z Team to be better people.

The thing about wanting people to be better, is that at times you have to push them and tell them where they messed up/failed. Robert’s first shift is stated as being the best shift they’ve ever had and we are repeated told that the bar for them doing “well” is on the floor. Visi is shocked by Robert’s disappointment in her mission, and it’s not just their argument in the break room that shows this. She got him the donut he said was his favorite and, according to Waterboy, was smiling when she put it on his desk. She was probably looking to celebrate with him and then he pointed out just how poorly the mission went. This is something that she’s been taught by other dispatchers, by Blazer in a way, is acceptable and is floored when Robert tells her that it’s not. Does he go a little far in their argument? A little but it was a heated moment, they were both going for each other’s throats, and he does look like he felt bad afterwards.

If I had to guess, Visi reacted so angrily because Robert’s response was reminding her of some of the worse dispatchers the team had. I don’t think its a stretch to assume that a good chunk of their previous dispatchers were assholes, so its probably not the first time someone’s pulled an “I make the rules” card like that on her. I also think it’s the first time someone’s felt bad about losing their temper like that. Previous dispatchers probably tried to pull power of authority over the team and point out every one of their flaws. While Robert did do that with Visi in their argument, it was from a place of frustration that she treated a lot of the mission like a joke rather than a power play like previous probably were. I mean he even covers for her in two of the dialogue options cause he clocks that she reacted out of anger and he crossed a line in his own. He wants her to do better but he knows that won’t happen if every mistake based on emotion is met with punishment.

Beyond that, there’s more instances of him putting in effort to get them to be better. During the meeting with Blazer and Chase after the first shift, Robert says “I need them to see that I’m all in and they need to match that energy.” Robert very much practices what he preaches as there are multiple instances of him matches their hazing in calls and in cut scenes. When Golem sends him flying and Robert responds by throwing a chair at him, that catches their attention. Robert was right in saying that the Z Team needed to be treated like a bunch of villains but he doesn’t mean it in the way people before him probably did. They don’t need a warden they need someone who will take action and match the shit they pull. Call him names? He’s got a few of his own ready. Send him flying? Receive a chair to the face and a slight lecture on being conscious of your surroundings. Villains trust action over words and Robert shows how serious he is about all of this in every interaction he has with them.

That’s not to say that words don’t work, especially sincere ones. Robert doesn’t just point fuck ups out to the team, he pushes them to correct it, applauds success, listens when the team say they’ll be good at something (Punch Up and the fighting ring, Malevola and the cultists, etc.), and gives encouragement/advice as needed (the Vanderstank mission with Sonar if you send him and a few of the disruptions show this pretty well.) His speech in episode three encourages the team to really consider why they’re in the Phoenix Program and gets them to stop sabotaging each other. The speech to Visi when she was at the playground told the team that he really meant what he said in the board room. He believed that the person that was most likely to get cut could still do good even if she believed she wasn’t meant for anything else. At the very least it got the team to give her a good send off since they all assumed she was going to be leaving. Robert knows how to get through to the team because he has an understanding of how they think and is above all sincere when just speaking to them.

Now, you could argue that Robert is doing most of this just to keep his job. If the Z Team doesn’t keep going then he’s out of a job, right? The thing is, Blazer tells him that the suit’s repairs don’t hinge on the Z Team’s success. There’s also the fact that SDN could just give him a different team to dispatch or a different position should the Z Team fail. Why put in all the effort if he has all these backups should the team fail? Why continue to encourage them and grow close with them if it’s all just for the job? Robert does want the Phoenix Program to succeed. He wants the team to be better. Sometimes he has to shift his thinking but he’s fine doing that so long as it gets people to listen. He’s someone who cares and wants to help people, even if he just needs to get them to believe in themselves.

All of that just to say I think Robert was the first person to believe in the team, as well as being the first one to push them to be better. He’s not a guy who works in half measures. He was given the job of getting the Z Team to succeed and he was dedicated, not just to the program, but to his team and helping them turn their lives around.

[imblueker]

Again, love this It's so helpful as a man who does not fully understand Robert

[m00nsh-ne]

I do think a lot of people don’t realize that the point of dispatch isn’t just the idea of redemption. I mean yeah, that’s the most blatant theme in it—the game about redeeming villains is about redemption, go figure—but dispatch is not only that. I think it more so explores the idea of a bonafide hero, which (you can say I’m wrong because I only have tumblr/yt but) I don’t really see discussed??

mecha man is slandered on LIVE TELEVISION for failing to avenge his father. even after years of being a hero the world only admonishes him when he finally can’t do so; invisigal tries to rebut robert’s criticism of her in ep. 2 by claiming that he’s “no real hero”; mandy confides in robert about how tired she is of the “Blonder Blazer” identity, saying that people see the hero before mandy; flambae refers to mecha man as a “real, actual hero” (really interesting considering how fast he called out mecha man in the superhero bar. . .); and there is a continuous choice in terminology when it comes to royd and robert’s conversations in “making the man mecha”.

there is a consistent theme of attempting to be a REAL hero— and the utterly crushing toll it takes when finally achieved. people don’t care that you’re a hero, they don’t care how well or long you’ve been doing your job, they will only watch and stare at you for doing what is considered the minimum. it only matters when you slip. one of the strangest writing choices in my opinion (and I think a lot of people share the same sentiment) was robert being forced to cut someone. I remember distinctly getting to that part of the game, hearing blonde blazer say it’s to “raise the bar” and being so utterly confused?? like, gee whiz what an easy way to make your team hate you. and the fact it happens so early in the game as well? you barely know this team. you don’t know a lot about the team members, none of their motives, stories, etc. you are essentially taking a complete stranger and deciding to cut them off from their support network, friends, and job.

and I do think the game understands this— when cut, sonar/coop both go to red ring, which while sounding extremely banal, does make sense when you think about it. they have no other place to go to besides the phoenix program. with criminal records like that, they won’t find any work other than that of crime. as I stated before, you basically strip everything they had from them when you cut them from the team. where else are they to go?

invisigal plays a HUGE role in this convo as well. we know that she is probably newest to the program, compared to the other z-team members who are all extremely comfortable with each other (blonde blazer saying she “sees a lot of potential in invisigal”, meaning she couldn’t have been in the program for that long); she’s the rowdiest, insubordinate, and generally a wildcard. she’s impulsive and reckless and extremely immature. these are likely the traits the player likely gets from her first impression, and that’s why her argument with robert was so confusing to me when i first watched it. why is this defiant, arguably least hero-like hero out of the whole z-team trying to define what it means to be a hero, and to mecha man of all people? and not even to mention that this convo comes right after invisigal’s failed attempt at capturing thunderstruck, ending with an injured civilian.

and I think it’s all really just a heady dose of projection. invisigal understands the standard on what it means to be a hero because she’s always trying to hold herself to it. it’s very explicitly stated that invisigal WANTS to be a hero, she wants to be good. she is always holding herself to the framework of being a hero, and yet it is so unattainable for her. to not just be one, but to look like one; she patently states that she isn’t like blazer in the manner of which she can effortlessly be a hero, but that invisigal innately has “villain powers”. she is destined to be evil, because she doesn’t have the look, or the powers, or the destiny that allows heroism within the life that was bestowed upon her. that she’ll never be viewed as anything more than vermin, an average villain.

except that’s EXACTLY what the z-team aims to disprove, and that’s why I absolutely love them. the z-team is a fucked up group comprised of infamous, boisterous, unruly former villains, with their dishonorable lives and lewd humor. and yet they also saved the city. and yet they were able to pull together as not just a team, but the team that rescued la from a crime gang. and yet they care so very deeply for one another with their own flawed yet so very loud ways. yes, they were never the ideal group of elite saviors— they’re an insanely strange bunch of people. but they’re heroes, and they protect lives and community and their city. because they were given the chance to finally grow instead of being perceived as outcasts.

what I’ve been trying to say (very verbosely) is that the point of dispatch isn’t just the idea of redemption— it’s that, and the support, tenacity, and courage it takes. it’s that and the care for the person underneath it takes. it’s that and the understanding of an individual not just as an emotionless worker set to certain standards, but a moving, breathing person who needs someone to guide them, to support them, to see their potential and let them through the door. and that person is you.

[imblueker]

Loved this analysis arghh

[painted-daisy-l0l]

Can I talk for a second about how weird Flambae is about caring for people? Specifically about Robert partially into the game. Z Team will be mentioned but mostly as comparison points. He's known them for much longer so he's slightly less of a posturing asshole when it comes to them. When it comes to Robert, however, the posturing comes in full force.

With the team, especially Prism, Flambae isn't too obtuse about caring for them. There are multiple instances of him hyping them up or being protective. When Prism says she lost her first talent show, Flambae immediately responds with "Shit must've been rigged," because to him no one is better at singing than her. If you send him to rescue Sonar during the Red Ring attack, he says "If there's even a hair missing on Sonar's head, I'll fucking burn this shit to the ground." But then you get to Robert.

On Robert's first day, while everyone is laughing at his name Flambae says this: "You stuttering bitch? You can't be this shook on your first day, come on." Now, clearly he's joining in the hazing, but in a weird way he's also telling Robert to be calm. He's saying that its Robert's first day and he shouldn't be too nervous about in a very roundabout way. While he is making fun of his name, Flambae is also trying to give him some reassurance.

However, the main example of this is the entire gym sequence. When he finds Robert struggling to get out from under the bench press, he calls him an idiot for not using proper safety measures then helps him out of it. Yes, he repeatedly calls him weak then shows off how strong he is with the squat rack and saying how strong he is. However, I do think, in his own posturing asshole way, he was trying to reassure Robert. I know I might sound a little crazy with this but hear me out.

Flambae is not wrong in calling Robert weak physically. I know the timeline of Dispatch is supposed to take place over several months but that still isn't enough time to recover from the muscular atrophy that would come from a 3-4 month coma. The gym scene takes place in episode 5, halfway through the game and likely halfway through the timeline. Robert was doing something extremely stupid for being freshly out of a coma. He was pushing himself way too hard by trying to lift too much weight at the end of his work out, which is in itself stupid! Flambae was right to call him an idiot for lifting without a spot.

But that’s the thing, he clocks that Robert was pushing himself far beyond what he was ready for and he knows that there’s a reason for it. Robert is visibly skinny, lacking excess fat and most muscle mass. From the interactions he’s had with him, Flambae knows that he’s someone who used to be able to throw down with people stronger than him (throwing a chair at Golem and then lecturing him casually is not something normies just do) and he’s someone that has had “the burden of potential” placed on him. He’s smart enough to figure out (and yes he is more observant than he acts) that Robert is dangerously pushing himself because he has this expectation of himself to be what he was before, even so fresh into recovering from whatever got him like this. He’s not just calling Robert weak to insult him, he’s pointing out a fact that Robert doesn’t want to accept.

Then there’s how Flambae shows off his own power. Him using the squat rack was posturing but it wasn’t showing off in a way that was meant to make Robert feel lesser. If he wanted to do that, he would’ve added more weight to the bench press, kicked Robert off of it, then easily benched the weight while talking about how strong he is. Instead, he went to a machine (?) that requires stability to use and showed off how strong he was. He was showing Robert that he was someone stable enough to take on burdens because he knows Robert is too stubborn for just words and insults to work. He’s witnessed the same show-don’t-tell, matching-energy in him that the entire Z Team has.

After showing off, Flambae patronizingly tells Robert that he “can’t get injured cause we need you behind that desk to help the real heroes.” He is admitting that the team needs him and they need him safe. Robert pushing himself like this is dangerous and will end with him hurt or worse like it almost did. That’s why he told him “No more hero stuff without supervision,” and “It’s time for you to accept that you don’t got it anymore. And pretending you still do is bumming people the fuck out.” He’s not just making fun of him, he’s trying to dissuade him from doing something stupid like that again.

If he wants to work out, fine, but have someone there with him so he doesn’t push too far. Because the team needs him behind that desk and him doing this to the point of almost injuring himself will make them worry. Maybe he just cares because Robert is the first good dispatcher the team has had. Maybe he just likes that he’s making the lives of his friends easier. Either way, he cares about Robert and knows that, by this point, the rest of the team does too.

Now, why wouldn’t Flambae just say any of this? Well, they were at work and he has an image to maintain. Flambae is the posturing asshole at the top of the Z Team ranking. He is the manly brute that is so strong and full of himself. It’s the image he’s built for and he never knows when someone else is watching. He has to maintain it at all times at work when he’s not in the field.

On coms, when it’s just him and the team, he talks about his niece and making potpourri (basically fragrant, dried flowers) with Golem. He has casual conversations about what normie jobs they would have and office rumors. He doesn’t have to put up a front with them, but in person he runs the risk of people outside of the team seeing him. He can’t be nice or soft around random people at work. He has to be an asshole in the gym because he doesn’t know if anyone is gonna walk in on him trying to reassure Robert. It would go against everything he had built up.

All of this to say that I do think that Flambae cares about Robert even though he’s such an asshole about it. He has an image to keep up. As much as he would like to tell Robert that he doesn’t need to push himself to dangerous extremes for some vague potential reaching, he can’t just be caring in public. He has to be the posturing asshole who can’t give a compliment or show care to save his life. He has to be obtuse about it and talk around the fact that the entire team needs Robert and that they care at all.

[imblueker]

Realized I need a deeper understanding of the characters for what I want to write so.... These sorts of analyses are so beautiful and helpful! and psst @overgrownplant with each passing day flambert is growing on me more and more, sigh (it won't dethrone watermech for me, but it is getting up there!!)

[cam-orange]

drunk cigarette

[imblueker]

@overgrownplant

[imblueker]

your art is incredibly beautiful they give me so much happiness and inspires me to draw every time! I just wanted to express my admiration, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt such a flutter in my chest looking at someone's art

Thank you!! 😭💙💙💙 Honestly I think impostor syndrome is something every artist struggles with, but it can be really tough to overcome so I really do appreciate every little sentiment like this I love when art makes me literally have butterflies in my stomach like I'm infatuated with the art LOLL so I'm honoured it can do the same to you 🥺

[qu4ntumch3m1calm3m0r13s]

Here are my dispatch miis!

[imblueker]

hello everybody my name is markiplier- wait what are you doing here-

[dinowatermelons]

Flambae’s the type to steal his boyfriend’s clothes for himself, but robert isn’t exactly known for his wide range of clothes, so now flambae is forced to modified one of Robert’s work shirts into something hot and sexy

[imblueker]

damn now i need to draw bae with basically his entire boobs out in the sdn shirt, OR, on the contrary the bottom is tied up in a cute little knot making it a fucking wide open crop- yeah no I need to draw this- as well as both rob and herm appreciating

[m00n-man2]

Can we get a doodle of waterboy?

someone left Abbath playing in the breakroom !!!

[imblueker]

@overgrownplant

[s0rinarl]

Robert after I uhhhh

[cam-orange]

I need you guys to write MORE social media silly crack treated seriously fic NOW

[imblueker]

holy fuck i love how mundane, but hilarious this is

[yourstrulyray]

waterboy will be fine!!! .........i think

[imblueker]

forgot i never reblogged this

[clacy2812]

Remember to hydrate

[imblueker]

prism's expression has me gagged, this is SO funny

[mihyniapiatocka0]

ugly agh ahh baby. I sniffed so much glue while making him

[imblueker]

god look at this fucking fella i wanna throw him against the wall lovingly

[imblueker]

So I was watching a video on chinese generals who were too beautiful for the battlefield and it made me think of Mo Dao Zu Shi and how I wanted to draw Robert with long hair sooooooo, ofc I had to do Waterboy too He's his less soppy self here, but tbh It'd be funny to let him be dripping wet while also dealing with long hair plus big clothes (nightmare) Anyway lowkey scary coz I wanted to do it justice LOL since I really love how stuff is designed in the historical/fantasy series (any untamed watchers here as well...?) I did consider making one of them more wei wuxian-esque, but truly I don't think either of them give off that vibe, maybe Flambae or Invisigal because they're more intense and reckless Was super fun actually (one of my longer pieces.. almost 4h), don't think too hard about where the top light source is coming from, I thought of the background afterwards HAHA Also no height difference in here, maybe they're kneeling

(the characters underneath for ref)

[bell-is-cool]

Irasutoya robert n waterboy

[imblueker]

THEY'RE SO CUTEEEEEEE AWWW