#mecha scifi

[hallowgracie]

Amaru Warriors

Designed in the image of the dragons who ruled over humanity before in Miradorian legend, the Amaru Warriors are mecha controlled by two pilots with a strong connection, as determined by what is known as the “Red-String Compatibility Test.” They are used to fight the Night-Bringers, monsters that are corrupted versions of the natural fauna of Mirador's rainforests and freshwater seas that are now intent on attacking all humans on the planet.

The pilots' test is named for a superstition and motif in Miradorian folklore. Pilots who can control the Amaru Warriors and use them to their full potential have a deep, intimate connection—to the point that it is considered very common for pilots to eventually marry and be partners in more than one way. 

The mecha is powered by a pearl core harvested from the seas of the planet. Many of the oldest Amaru Warriors are still in operation—in a Ship of Theseus sort of way. This includes Nix Albireo’s own Amaru Warrior, Mercedes, which is thought to be among the first ever created. 

[technicallyclassyperfection]

Via print:

[torpublishinggroup]

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon

Hey look a badass new cover!! 🤯

The Archive Undying by @emcandon is the first volume of in the Downworld Sequence, a sci-fi series where AI deities and brutal police states clash, wielding giant robots steered by pilot-priests with corrupted bodies. 

Says the author: 

“The machines in The Archive Undying are behemoths because anything lesser would be morally decrepit. So whenever I look at this cover and I feel like that big, beautiful robot is going to eat me alive (even without a mouth! I am afraid to learn how that would work!), I’m terrified, but I’m also ecstatic, because it’s perfect. I can’t wait for readers to meet the rest of the feral mechs—as well as the people trying desperately not to be devoured by them.”

Check out the Official Cover Reveal on tor.com

Cover art by Sung Choi; Design by Christine Foltzer

GET IN THE ROBOT

[hallowgracie]

How Love and Deepspace Inspired Codename Mercedes

I've mentioned that my scifi-romantasy Codename Mercedes received some influences that inspired it. One that helped spark the idea that I revisited recently was the otome gacha game, Love and Deepspace.

There were several elements of Love and Deepspace that I liked and found compelling. I liked that the FMC was a monster-hunter with unique destructive powers, and the concept of how her powers resonate with the male leads in the battle segments. This part reminded me of drift compatibility in Pacific Rim, and was an initial inspiration for the concept for Codename Mercedes the first time around.

However, I ended up dropping the game. At the urging of a dear friend, I picked it back up again, only to find myself dropping it just as quickly. I wanted to like this game, to love it as much as my friend and everyone else did. But I just couldn't--I didn't enjoy the FMC's dynamics with the male leads in the main story, and I found the story to be stretched thin with too many tangents to truly follow.

This led me down a rabbit hole of deciphering why the male leads everyone else adored did not enthrall me, and that led to a few revelations that further inspired the dynamic between the leads in Codename Mercedes.

I think I'll keep the content of some of those revelations for future posts, as I'm further along in writing it. But this storyline will be faster-paced and more concise, with elements of political thriller and more traditional mecha anime plot beats.

Like Love and Deepspace, the combat scenes in Codename Mercedes will be about developing the relationship between Koa and Nix, and there will be themes of cosmic love, reincarnation, and the space between two hearts that might as well be as vast as the depths of real space.

I think if you enjoyed this game, you'll like Codename Mercedes. But even if you didn't, if there were ideas in the game that fascinated you but you couldn't get into it, I think you'll like it too.

Feel free to follow for more updates on Codename Mercedes and to learn more about the story and its world!

[hallowgracie]

Faith and Science in Codename Mercedes

One aspect of the planet Mirador and the people that live there is that they have a vaguely animistic religion and spiritual tradition inspired even more vaguely by the indigenous peoples who lived around Lake Tenochitlan and Lake Superior, two of the major inspirations for the settings. There are other influences as well, taking from Polynesia and Japan and their takes on animism and the gods.

After seeing a friend's take on a sci-fi futurism setting where the only options were atheism or death cults, I wanted to create a sci-fi world that has a faith tradition that is not portrayed as a cult or for stupid people. Faith can be beautiful when used responsibly. I am a deeply spiritual person myself, even if I have had to turn my back on many religious institutions in my own life due to the harm they have caused myself and others.

I also dislike the trope of faith and science being at odds. I am a scientist in my day job, and I can tell you that scientists--or at least, biologists and chemists--are some of the most deeply spiritual people I know. Many are devout to their faith traditions of choice and are able to reconcile any differences in dogma to the science. I think seeing the world on such a detailed level can inspire that similar awe as a religious experience.

In Codename Mercedes, there will be many positive experiences with faith depicted, and at no point will anyone be portrayed as stupid for believing in something beyond the physical realm. Hell, given that mecha as a genre often involves something spiritual powering past the mechanical and biological, I think it's critical to explore it in a book using this subgenre.

But there will also be explorations into those in power who abuse religion and faith for their own selfish purposes. I think it's impossible to tell a story about faith and religion on any level without addressing it--or at the very least, irresponsible.

I realize that this aspect--among many--of this project will be controversial. But I also think that this is a story worth telling and unfortunately, I think I have to be the one to tell it. Even if maybe I'm not the best suited to it.

The depictions of religion and faith in sci-fi and fantasy have to evolve beyond "church bad" and have to at least reconcile with that this is an important part of most people's lives around the globe. It's a topic that deserves nuance, respect, and most of all, a place in our world-building.

[hallowgracie]

A slideshow introduction to my scifi-romantasy wip, Codename Mercedes!

Codename Mercedes started as a Count of Monte Cristo retelling (in space!) that has evolved far beyond its initial inspirations. It's a mecha in the vein of Pacific Rim or Iron Widow in that co-pilots with deep spiritual connection to each other must work together to pilot mecha to fight terrible creatures that threaten to annihilate their futuristic society. One of the major twists being that the world of Mirador and their last stronghold in the city of Parima are inspired primarily by the Aztecs.

Koa and Nix are two pilots from Mirador, originally hailing from different warring tribes who have to work together to ensure humanity's survival. As they fall in love, they discover secrets about the demigods who command their armies and dragons who originally ruled over Mirador--and their own connections to both. It's in these secrets and bonds that they just might be able to end the war.

If you like stories like I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, Final Fantasy VII, or were incredibly disappointed with the Natlan arc of Genshin Impact, then you might like to follow the development of Codename Mercedes. Codename Mercedes is a scifi-romantasy novel that I'm working on with hopes of querying.

[hallowgracie]

codename mercedes reintroduced

genre | scifi, ya dystopia, romantasy, mecha, space opera

pov | 3rd-person limited

inspirations | Love and Deepspace, Natlan Chapter of Genshin Impact, Lego Ninjago, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, Star Wars New Jedi Order, Pacific Rim, Native American and Mesoamerican mythology & history, mecha anime, 2010s YA Dystopia

tropes | soulmates, enemies-to-lovers, came back wrong, dragons, mecha, red x blue, corrupted nature, war against nature, spiritual magic system (think the Force), cosmic mysticism

synopsis | If there is such a thing as soulmates, the mecha pilots of Mirador have finding them down to a science.

Nix Albireo is one of these pilots who has lost her previous partner, Koa Apophis, in a battle against the endless monsters of a corrupted jungle that has consumed all civilization on the planet Mirador except for the city of Antilla, humanity's last stand.

After nine months, Nix reluctantly puts her grief aside to rejoin the fight and is about to be matched with another pilot when Koa returns seemingly from the dead. Nix is overjoyed--but Koa's memories are hazy of his life before and his time in the jungle, and he has a new power that terrifies Mirador's demigoddess leader.

Koa and Nix are ordered to reconnect, in hopes that they can recover his memories, not only of his life before but of that missing year in the jungle and the origin of his new power. But doing so means that Koa and Nix will have to contend with their long and complicated history, starting when Koa's people, the Maurepas Federation, was still at war with Antilla.

But there's more than just a contentious history lurking in the shadows of Koa's mind. Together, they uncover secrets behind the history of Mirador and the people who came before--secrets that could possibly put an end to the war against nature.

author's note | I made an original post for this back in February 2025, but since then I've found different sources of inspiration and I've rerouted the story a bit. I'm doing a lot of research for this project and I've really enjoyed some of the ideas synthesized together because of it. I hope you'll enjoy where this goes too.

[hallowgracie]

Concept art testing for colors and general aesthetic for Codename Mercedes.

This was also supposed to be a concept for the male and female leads, but it isn’t quite right. . . yet.