#They're not Super Interesting or anything since they're Not a Main Character but they're an English Teacher!

[gu6chan]

man........ i start thinking about my black butler days and a new rp blog of this one comes calling back to me like the devil

[wayfinderships]

Missing U.kai hours! Kiss kiss kiss for him! <3 He's so handsome methinks!

[commonmexicanname]

Good Omens and the Miracle Chimes

Don't say anything... Just... Watch this please? It's a compilation of some miracle sounds throughout the show. For EVERY Miracle Chime, come this way...

This has been my Roman Empire since my first viewing.

What I'm hearing is...

Aziraphale's miracle chime is distinctly different from other angel's miracle chime. Makes sense, main character, and all. His has this "singing" to it.

Crowley's miracle chime is just a hissing sound. However, I have no other demons to compare it to.

When they perform their half miracle, it starts with Az's chime and ends with Crowley's. They overlap ever so slightly, but you can clearly hear them both.

As for the last miracle sound(s?) of the show, I first hear Az's miracle sound, and after a few seconds, Crowley's. But, they're both distorted.

I just... Can't stop thinking about that last miracle sound(s?). What does it mean? I mean, I have theories as to what it could mean, and maybe I'll make a long post about it one day. I'm not a writer though, so it would take me a long while to write down all those thoughts of mine. For now, I'm just glad to have finally made this madness into a thing I can share.

Inspired to make this video thanks to this post by @noneorother.

And here's hoping @embracing-the-ineffable also finds it interesting enough for their post.

P.S. I'm on the fence about making a super cut of every miracle sound in season 2. If anyone is interested, please let me know. I'll just need help making a list of timestamps of all miracle sounds as I know I'll miss one otherwise. Update: Supercut is in the works! Update 2: If you missed it, the supercut is done and pinned on my blog!

[popfizzles]

What started as a joke with @kittyacelia about making FNAF animatronics ACTUALLY kid-friendly, ended up snowballing into an exercise in character design and world-building.

We call them Nanny Animatronics (since "Toy" and "Plush" have already been taken). They're far softer with pastel palettes, rubber teeth with plush exteriors to avoid accidentally hurting children! They're all housed under a pizzaplex type building that functions Entirely as a daycare.

I'll add extra notes about them individually under a readmore!

Nanny Freddy is the one kids go to for advice and generic help. He's super comforting, makes his rounds across the daycare saying hello to everyone. He gives GREAT bearhugs and specializes in calming down tantrums or panic attacks.

Nanny Chica loves playing house with children! She teaches general safety, like how to properly interact with stoves or electrical outlets. She's also equipped with a database of every kid's food allergies, and makes sure nobody eats anything they're not supposed to! Her cupcake (unpictured) is named Sugar and is basically just a fully sentient stress ball toy that loves to be thrown and fidgeted with.

Nanny Bonnie is the music teacher, and loves to help kids stay in touch with their louder and excitable sides. He loves to listen to kids talk about whatever they may be interested in, and has a learning database equipped with trivia to hold conversations with kids about any topic. He's the one children infodump to!

Nanny Foxy is the smallest of the bunch, and he loves to run around with the kids! He will play pretend with children, and is even equipped with the ability to detect injury and proper First Aid knowledge to help if a kid trips and hurts themselves while playing.

Nanny Monty is the art teacher, and teaches kids to use their hands for good (like creating art!) instead of bad (hitting, pulling, or smacking). He's very good at breaking up fights and helping kids deal with anger in a reasonable way.

Nanny Roxy loves to play dress-up with kids, but her main objective is to be there for kids, and recognize self-esteem issues. She's ready to pep-talk children at a moment's notice. Everyone is a winner in Roxanne's eyes, after all!

The Mediocre Melody animatronics are all localized on a stage in the daycare, and take turns putting on different types of shows for the kids. Nanny Mr. Hippo loves telling stories for kids, even stepping in to tell naptime stories for the younger kids. Whereas Nanny Orville does small magic shows, along with his assistants Bonbon and Bonnet! The other Mediocre Melodies (Happy Frog, Nedbear, and Pigpatch) are present, but undesigned. When they aren't doing their shows, they act as an extra set of hands for the others.

Nanny Springtrap (modeled ONLY in design after a horror show attraction) is activated during October for Halloween events, and teaches kids that there's no reason to be afraid of monsters. He also advocates for safety around strangers, and that it's okay to always tell an adult if you see something scary. He (along with a currently undesigned Nanny Dreadbear) come every Halloween to give goodie bags to the kids.

[irishmammonagenda]

hii , do you mind doing diavolo x m!court jester reader?

i saw a post with a king x jester trope and i could not get it out of my head 😭 it can be headcanons or a short drabble, wtv you want!!

hihi! this is such an interesting thingy to write and i apologise for taking a while to write it, writing male characters is fun but lowkey kind of hard for me😔✊

i also dont know what jesters do and my knowledge is watching horrible histories when i was younger so this is widely inaccurate heehee

no but fr i think in another universe diavolo would be a jester tbh

dividers by @/ioveartfilm

grma for requesting <3!!!!

Funny Funny (I'm in love with you.) Diavolo X M!Court Jester Reader

He laughs at your jokes like a man on crack

You're his favourite employee in the castle and your room is right beside his chambers (he made sure of it)

You sneak into his room for sleepovers sometimes. Barbatos has given up on propriety.

The Little Ds help you with your super cool jester preformances. They're surprisingly good at dancing and balancing plates.

You use the Little Ds as juggling balls sometimes.

Diavolo has promoted you as much as possible, bro atp people think you're a consort instead of court jester.

like they will full on go up to you to pitch ideas or put in a good word for Diavolo since he'll listen to you.

Barbatos also forces you to tell Diavolo news that'll make him angry or upset since he takes it a lot better coming from you.

Unrelated but you'd 100% be friends with Solomon and Thirteen. Which is awkward when theyre in the same room together.

Apart from Barbatos and Lucifer occassionally disciplining you, you are untouchable.

"Your Heighness...." A noble bows in front of Diavolo's throne. Why that scumbag had requested an audience with the Demon Prince, you had no idea. Technically you weren't even supposed to be listening in, but no one had noticed you on the chandelier yet so that was their problem.

And your problem when Barbatos eventually found out. Said Demon standing beside Diavolo's throne.

You watch as Diavolo nods along, uncharacteristically serious. "What do you need?"

"Well...I believe if we stopped trading pickles to the humans it would be a lot less daunting to create them-"

You blink. What the fuck. Bro requested an audience for this? Damn, this was so unserious it was good material for your next stand up routine.

You watch from overhead as Diavolo blinks, his wings stiffening ever so slightly, the crimson-haired prince raises an eyebrow. "You want to stop trading pickles to the Human Realm?"

"Yes, My Lord." The noble responds earnestly.

"No."

The demon blinks, astounded.

"Excuse me, may I ask you repeat that, my Lord?"

"No. Human's love pickles. They're our main traders. It'd sour relations even more." Diavolo says, you watch as Barbatos takes a deep breath, and as the Demon Prince begins to get annoyed.

You stiffle a laugh at the noble squandering, which leads to your downfall as you move your hands over your mouth, taking them off of your jester hat.

Which falls.

All the way down to the ground.

The bells on the hat jingle.

Barbatos' eyes are trained on you like a hawk. So are Diavolo's, but his eyes are more of an excited child on christmas than anything else.

The noble's eyes widen.

"Sup?" You grin awkwardly. The noble, sensing a way out of this pickle debate uses this as an excuse to say his goodbyes and leave.

Diavolo doesn't even notice. Barbatos just shakes his head ever so slightly.

"That guy was in a real pickle...!...Haha...right guys?" You laugh awkwardly, and despite the fact you're not funny at all, the Prince cackles like it was the best stand up routine he'd ever heard in his life.

You were currently at a banquet talking to the Little D's about your next juggling stunt when a demon approached you.

"Hello." She smiles, her red lips glossy.

"Sup."

"Well, I was wondering if I could ask a favour or two....." She looks hesitant but composed.

You nods your head, the bells on your hat jingling. You're convinced Diavolo put them on there to serve as some sort of cat bell.

"Well....I had an idea for expanding our trades of magical herbs to human world Alaska...since a few witches have been living on quote on quote 'lesbian cottages' there."

You whistle. "Damn. Do they have huskies?"

"A lot of them, from what I hear." She nods, her tail wrapping around her leg absentmindedly. "Could you put in good word for Lord Diavolo for me?"

"Sure?" You tilt your head, the bells jingle slightly.

The demon grins, "Thanks he'll listen to you more thoroughly!"

Little D No.2 pops out from your breast pocket. "That's because everyone thinks you two are gay for eachother."

You yank him out of there. "Go annoy Mammon."

"Sir yes sir!"

At this point you should be the Avatar of Pride.

"Sire. I'm telling you. He just stabbed several upper class demons with a rusty spoon!" The demon knight urges Diavolo, who isn't even looking at him.

"You expect me to believe that?" Diavolo tilts his head. You nod vigorously from where you're covered in entrails and holding a rusty spoon in your hands. "MC wouldn't hurt a fly."

The knight looks from you to him with a lax jaw.

What.

The.

Fuck.

That knight's putting his two weeks in now icl.

^^ idea from that one person on tiktok (sirleoninsunglasses) i cant get it out of my head.

can you tell im a merlin fan.

gang idk what noble people talk about i made these discussions up as i went along but i can assure you that pickle trading and lesbian witches in alaska are actually the only thing nobles talked about in history i pinky promise

[audiart]

I like your post series ideas, I'm interested in the fate of two characters who were deprived of a happy ending: 1. The first is Doll. Since Uzi was able to bring back Cyn, what's the problem with bringing back Doll? + besides, maybe it's just a stylistic element or Uzi's tail with the first image of her new design has redness.

2. The second is J. Since Cyn got a second chance, J deserves one too. + your designs of Nori and Cyn are super cool. Let's hope that at least Porter won't get psychological trauma

Hehe you're the first to point that lil detail out!

Yes, Doll is in there. She's a silent observer and hasn't made Uzi aware of how close she is to the surface.

The Absolute Solver is a hive-minded network that all users are connected to; to be infected with the Solver means your consciousness and neural network exists far beyond your body. ("I have backups")

If the main host of the solver knows who they're looking for well enough and how to do it, they could theoretically bring any Solver host back to life in a new body.

But Doll is just so so tired after her long fight, her consciousness just floating in the AS Network with fleeting visions of how the world's moving on without her is enough for now.

As for J, she has a lot of trauma to recover from. She's the sort to lash out at friends and isolate herself and isn't coping well with ANY of the changes to the monotony that was her life.

She spent decades denying Tessa's death, decades pretending their mission was anything more than meaningless genocide, hunting down rogue/patched Solver Drones, and preparing for ASCyn's arrival.

Sometimes on their flights V, N and Uzi see J in the distance but their pings never receive a response. She's often found around Pod landing sites but doesn't stick by long enough for anyone to find out why.

And thank you!!! Porter's time will come. She has some big shoes to fill and bigger expectations to meet; let's hope she won't crack under the pressure.

[southangel]

Hi! How's it going?

Can I get some headcanons about the main four with a twin sibling!reader? How would the dynamic between them and people around them look.

You can choose if they're identical or fraternal twins. 

Main 4 Being their Twin Sibling

Warnings: none

Notes: Platonic, gender-neutral as well! Will be fraternal twins, since identical twins are typically the same gender. A little rushed, wrote most of this late at night.

Stan Marsh

Being Stan’s twin would be fun, I think.

You’ll obviously look similar, but not so similar to the point where people bombard you guys with questions.

You would be the older one, by about a minute, and you would definitely tell all his friends about it.

He hates you for it.

Since you’re related to Stan, you’re also related to Shelley, meaning you both get attacked by her.

Luckily she’s a bit nicer on you, only because you’re friends aren’t as annoying as Stan’s.

You don’t really hangout with Stan and his friends unless they need you as a backround character for a game, otherwise you would be with your own friend group.

Your personalities are very similar, people could probably tell that you’re related by just that.

I feel like Stan would be the type to scam you out of favors, but quickly feel bad then do something in return for you.

You used to both walk into school together, but after moving onto the farm and having to wear those Hemp shirts, it was embarrassing.

You both agreed that two people with Hemp shirts walking together was more embarrassing than one, so you split up.

You would be friends with Wendy, since gossiping about Stan is so fun for you both.

Imagine you and Stan both doing homework together, staring at the worksheet before eventually giving up.

You guys played Terrance and Philip on the TV afterwards, so it was okay.

“Tell me if Wendy says anything bad about me, please?”

Kyle Broflovski

Being Kyle’s twin sibling would be interesting.

Kyle would be the older one by about 3 minutes, but he isn’t obnoxious about it and doesn’t care.

Kyle tends to be the smarter one, so he wouldn’t mind tutoring or explaining every bit of work to you, you steal his answers when he isn’t looking.

You used to hang out with Kyle and his friends, then Cartman started going after you as well even though he hasn’t before.

If you ever get a partner with a stable relationship, Kyle would be happy for you, but I feel like he would be a little jealous since his romantic luck is absolute shit.

You guys are the types of twins where everyone can tell that you’re siblings, and it’s super annoying getting asked the same questions everyday.

Sheila would probably make you guys share a room, and you both hate it.

I know she would be the type of mom to dress you guys up in matching outfits when you guys were younger as well.

You and Kyle would be the type of twins that talk at the same time, doesn’t matter if you say the same things or not.

It’s so bad that some people swear you can mind communicate, you wish.

The only bad apart about being Kyle’s twin is that you’re practically engaged in everything he does, which is really annoying.

“Mom, do we really have to be matching?”

Kenny Mccormick

I think having Kenny as your twin sibling would be really nice.

Although your household and environment at home really isn’t great, you both still make the most of it.

You guys might share clothes, not often though.

Kenny is older than you by 5 minutes, bigger gap than the rest, but he genuinely doesn’t care.

You guys don’t really look alike that much, so it’s only when they realize the last names are the same that they notice you guys are siblings.

It’s a good thing nobody notices though, or else the questions would be a hassle.

You and Kenny would definitely each take turns taking care of Karen, hanging out with her or getting her small things from time to time.

I feel like Kenny sees you as the other half of him in some way, not because you’re his twin, it’s because you’re his twin.

He would take you down to work at City Wok, so that you guys could make some extra money.

You and Kenny both payed half and half for that Sony PSP, using your saved money from City Wok.

You guys fight over the PSP daily, not bothering to make some actual working time distribution on the device.

You would definitely find Kenny cheesing all the time, in the act.

All you do is walk away because you don’t really care, you just hope he doesn’t get into too much trouble.

“Do you like it, Karen? Me and Y/N saved up for it.”

Eric Cartman

Cartman definitely hates you, partially.

You’re his twin, and he sees that as a terrible thing because of how he exaggerates having to be stuck to you all the time.

You DEFINITELY don’t look like Cartman, at all.

Maybe there’s only some similar features, but you should be glad to not look the slightest similar to him:

Cartman would make fun of you for being to nice, than start screaming at you once you become annoying like him.

He can’t make up his mind over anything, and it only makes him angrier when he thinks about how you’re older, only by a minute.

You’re embarrassed about being related to him, but at least you kind of secret information to blackmail him with if he ever gets too annoying.

Liane let’s you guys do whatever you want, as long as you and Cartman are together most of the time.

You guys are forced to become partners all the time in projects and school assignments, and you almost always are the loudest ones in the room because of your arguments.

You genuinely feel that living with Cartman is like hell on earth, and you can only assume he feels the same but with amplified hatred.

Sometimes it seems like he likes you though, it’s weird.

One time you were coming back from a sleepover and he came to hug you, talking about how he missed you sooo much, he made you do his homework in return for being affectionate.

If you ever get a love interest or partner, Cartman is already on his way to asking everything about them.

It’s not like he cares, he does, he just wants to know who you’re really talking with.

He’ll probably be really weird about it for the first week, then get over it and start being annoying once more.

“You took a really long time at that sleepover, now go do my homework.”

[docagonthoughts]

MY PROBLEMS WITH THE LEGEND OF ZELDA MOVIE

Okay, hi.

I have a LOT of reasons this movie should never in a million years happen, but my family is getting sick of hearing them, so I'm here to share them with you because I'm very frustrated with some school things right now and I need to channel my anger into something that matters.

First is that it's going to be live-action.

This was a terrible choice on their part because no matter who they cast as Link and Zelda, they aren't going to be good enough for the role. And no, I don't mean as in acting skill, I mean in terms of appearance. They're just not going to be able to capture it.

Second of all, casting.

Casting for this movie will be tricky for multiple reasons. Like I said previously, whoever they choose to cast won't be able to capture the physical essence of the characters. Not only that, but they can't cast a super famous guy (ESPECIALLY not Tom Holland) because Link is always supposed to be a little nobody twink who shows up with a 'i have no idea what I'm doing but I'm doing it anyway' mentality, not some hotshot guy everyone knows.

Third, twink-y-ness.

As we all know, Link is twinkier than a Twinkie, and if they fail to capture that, what is even the point. We need to see Link in at least one slutty outfit with a stupid hairstyle or else that isn't Link, that's just Chad.

Fourth, the target audience.

The target audience is probably my main concern with this movie, if I'm honest. Based on recent media, I've seen many things get taken over by 10 year old humor, Jack Black (no hate on him, but I think ykwim), and bad graphics. That's where I get concerned.

A good majority of the people who love the Legend of Zelda like I do are older than the age of 10 and don't want this movie to be overly goofy or 'watered down'. Like I said before, the Legend of Zelda games are whimsical, but also very dark at times. That's what makes them perfect; there's a balance.

Fifth, Link himself.

If you didn't know, Link doesn't usually talk or have a super distinguishable personality because the creators designed him with the audience in mind. You're supposed to be able to imagine Link in any way, even as yourself.

Now, that's not to say he can't have a personality. I'm just saying that whatever personality they give him will not work.

Not only that, but I just know they're going to make him talk. I know it. Now, i know some people are probably like 'wEll, DrAgON, How aRe theY suPPOsEd to MaKe him INterEstIng If HE doEsN'T TAlK?', to which I pat them on the head and remind them of the incredibly successful movie 'The Quiet Place' where all of the characters were silent and used sign language. In this movie's case, ONLY LINK would be silent, making it even EASIER for them.

Sixth, is Hyrule.

Now, I don't have too many concerns about Hyrule itself since it's pretty easy to make a movie pretty in terms of the landscape, but if it looks anything remotely similar to the Minecraft movie trailer, I will not watch it.

Seventh is the Villain.

My main concern with whichever villain they choose (most likely Ganon, but I think it'd be interesting to use a different villain like Vaati or the Demise), only because I don't want them to act like Bowser did in the Mario movie. Don't get me wrong, I think that worked for Bowser. But for Ganon? No. And I swear to you, if the villain or ANYONE is played by Jack Black, I will have an actual meltdown. (Love you Jack Black, but please no)

Eighth is the music.

As we all know (or at least you should), the Legend of Zelda has some of the most beautiful music ever. The Song of Storms, Zelda's Lullaby, Ballad of the Wind Fish, these are all great songs. If they screw this up, I will hate it.

And finally, number Nine: the essence and vibe of the movie.

This is my other main concern. Can I explain to you why I love the Legend of Zelda so Much? No, I can't. All I can tell you is that the 'feel' of it is what I love. If they fail to capture the whimsy and the wholesomeness but also the underlayer of darkness that the games possess, this movie will bomb.

Let me give you a few examples of other medias that failed to capture their source material:

Star Wars (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker). All three of those movies sucked imo because they didn't feel like a Star Wars movie, they felt like a Star Wars fanfiction. This isn't any of the cast's fault, either. They did good for what they were given. But the movie itself (expecially the character changes in Luke) lacked that feeling the other Star Wars movies hold.

Star Trek Discovery and Picard. Both of these shows are objectively the worst Star Trek series. And, it's for the same exact reasons as those Star Wars movies. THE PEOPLE MAKING THEM AREN'T FANS OF THE FRANCHISE!!! They don't understand them, they don't understand why people LIKE them. But if you look at their newest show, Strange New Worlds, it's doing spectacularly. Why? BECAUSE THE NEW WRITERS ARE FANS OF THE SHOW. THEY GET IT.

If you couldn't tell, I'm very passionate about this one.

In conclusion, you can tell that my hopes for this movie are incredibly, painfully low. Can you blame me, though? This is my favorite thing in the world, an I'd love to have a movie about it. But in recent times, movies and shows based off of already beloved things have not been doing well because they don't capture the feeling of them. The people put in charge of these movies most likely haven't played a single Legend of Zelda game in their lives, so they don't get it and they aren't going to be able to capture our souls like the games do.

Thank you for listening to my messy rant.

[pandaofsecrets]

I really really really love the idea of the Miraculous being based on broad abstract concepts. It makes them super versatile in what powers they can provide, which helps keep the plot from going off the rails while still being fresh and interesting. The problem is that the concept (heh) wasn't utilized well at all. So, indulge me in a long-winded breakdown of ML's power system.

The cracks started showing almost immediately. The Cat and Butterfly Miraculous are okay, but the Ladybug for some reason can purify akuma and has restoration abilities, which. First of all, purification should be the Cat's ability, because it represents the destruction of impurities. Second of all, how does the power of creation allow you to restore things? I know someone will say Marinette is recreating what was destroyed, but if that's the case then Adrien is long dead and the character we're seeing right now is just a replica. Fun! Miraculous Ladybug also does more than just recreate, since we've also seen it destroy byproducts of the akuma attack, like Horrificator's slime. So if anything, it should be a combined ability of the Ladybug and the Cat. I'll talk about unifications later, let's just stick with the Miraculous for now.

The Fox and the Turtle started out great, but ended up being disappointing. Here's the thing, both Protection and Illusion have a lot of potential applications, like for example someone who uses the Fox could convince someone that anything they're saying is true, stick them in an illusionary dreamscape or even induce pain in them without actually wounding them. Someone who uses the Turtle could deplete moving objects of their momentum, make themselves immune to the opponent's magic, or imbue objects with durability. This would have made the fact that Volpina can do multiple illusions while Rena can only do one a lot less infuriating, because Rena would have had a bigger power set to draw on. Volpina on the other hand would be limited to just illusions, so she'd be able to get more mileage out of them, like a breadth vs. depth thing. Instead it's just. Rena can only do one illusion. Carapace can only do one shield. Boring!

Things got really shaky with the introduction of the Bee Miraculous, because that one isn't even related to its stated concept! "Subjection" means "bringing someone or something under one's control or influence". I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like mind control and telekinesis, not paralysis—paralyzing people sounds more like the Turtle. The writers sort of tried to fix this by changing the Bee's concept to Action, but that's almost worse because it's power is to prevent someone from taking action.

The Dragon and Rooster have a similar problem of power not really matching concept. "Perfection" means "the act of improving or making better", which sounds like the Dragon should've been a healing or restoration type Miraculous. In fact, the Rooster should've had the same power, since "sublimation" means "making nobler or purer", so the Dragon and Rooster should've really been one Miraculous instead of two. Speaking of which...

Where things really went off the rails was the Peacock Miraculous. The Peacock honestly warrants an entire separate post, but I'm getting ahead of myself. First of all, what does the concept of emotion have to do with the ability to summon a kaiju? Second of all, if the power to create a kaiju should've gone to any Miraculous, shouldn't it be, you know, the Ladybug? But no, I guess the power of Creation loses to a turkey with delusions of grandeur.

And this got even worse once the Zodiacs were introduced. Just about all of them have powers that could've easily gone to the main 7 we already had. The Ox's concept was already covered by the Turtle, the Tiger, Monkey, and Eagle do basically the same thing as the Cat, and the Mouse and Goat are basically just the Ladybug again. The Butterfly might be the worst afflicted by this. Not only is the Rooster's power of giving any power already covered under it, but one of the meanings of "to transmit" is "to send from one place to another", so the Horse's teleportation ability should've gone to the Butterfly. We could throw the Dog's power in as well, since all Fetch does is teleport an object instead of a person. Heck, since space and time are the same thing, the Rabbit's time travel should've also gone to the Butterfly. I mean, I'm glad it wasn't because that would've made the Butterfly extremely OP and would make it very hard to explain why Gabriel hasn't won by now, but you get the idea.

The only Zodiac Miraculous that are somewhat unique are the Dragon, Pig, and Snake, and even then the Snake Second Chance ability could be expressed as Butterfly (time travel) + Turtle (stasis) and the Pig's Gift could be expressed as Butterfly (empathy) + Ladybug (object) or Fox (illusion). Even the Peacock can be basically be broken down into Butterfly (empathy) + Ladybug (creation) + Bee (control) + Cat (destruction).

This brings me to my last point: unification. The way we were told combining the Ladybug and Cat works in Origins, you'd expect that unifying the Miraculous would create a new power that is the combination of the already existing ones. This means that the writers wouldn't have had to invent a new Miraculous every time they wanted to use a power, which would have saved money on character models and lead to a lot of interesting teammate match-ups. Instead, all the heroes get is the ability to use the two powers at the same time.

[sissytobitch10seconds]

I think it's kind of interesting that Viktor is overshadowed by his siblings both in the canon and fanon.

In season one I could understand it. Despite Viktor being the main character that literally drives the entire plot, everyone focuses on the other characters. People make fun of Luther for talking about the moon all the time. Everyone is almost creepily obsessed with Klaus and the Vietnam fling that he had. No one really talks about Allison, but her story is primarily linked with Viktor's since she's trying to heal their relationship (fandom misogyny too). I think that there's a decent amount of talk around Five since he's such a fascinating character. There's quite a lot of talking about Diego too, since he loses Eudora and spends a lot of time trying to take care of Klaus. But no one really talks about Viktor and the amount of shit that he goes through in s1. All the siblings other than Allison completely abandon him too, and Allison only wants the idea of a 'sister' that she's built up in her head since she lost her husband and daughter.

In season two, it makes even less sense to not talk about what Viktor has done. He has a queer love story with Sissy and we get to see way more development and chemistry for, Klaus and Dave had a montage and some sad lines from Klaus as opposed to an entire arc through ten episodes, but no one really does anything with it. Allison gets basically no attention for the same fandom misogyny issues as before. Five gets some attention because of the fact that he's exhausted and still dealing with the Commission (his fight scenes are amazing). Diego gets the same treatment as Luther did but a little more deserving because the plan to save JFK was stupid. Luther gets totally sidelined and ignored too, but people really hated him in S1 so I'm not surprised. Klaus gets all the attention again even though his plot outside of Ben possessing him is honestly really boring and makes me so uncomfortable.

Season three is where Viktor should have gotten the most attention. If we're considering the fact that the TUA fandom has a very queer audience, then they should be super excited and celebrating the fact that Viktor is trans. Not only that, but he's also working his ass off so that he can fix things for Allison and get her back to a timeline where her daughter exists or back to the sixties. I think a lot of people ignore that, giving Five more credit than he deserves for trying to fix the world when Viktor was doing that until Harlan showed up and he wanted to handle that first. A lot of attention during the debut went again to Klaus, which was actually warranted this time since he was plot relevant by showing us things about Reggie and discovering his powers. Diego got more attention since he was parenting Stan and fighting with Lila, which was nice. Five got some meme attention but nothing serious and Luther got a little bit of genuine love. But mostly people just posted the conversation where Viktor comes out to his family and continued to ignore him.

Now Season four is out and no one cares about Viktor. He stands up to Reginald and says all of the things that he needs to say, he fights like Hell to try and save Ben from the Durango and get him someplace stable, he owns a bar and got fucking KIDNAPPED. No one is talking about him, all people are doing is complaining about fivela and the ending.

Viktor moved to Nova Scotia probably to get better trans healthcare, but also because none of his siblings care about him. My man is a tiny trans man that got kidnapped and ransomed off the street and they couldn't care less about him when they show up, Five is taking notes about the room they're in instead of checking to make sure that his childhood best friend is okay. Luther may have made him best man at his wedding, but it was just because Viktor had only just come out and all the other siblings were non options (never been close with Five, butted heads with Diego who didn't even want the wedding to happen, not their Ben, and Klaus was officiating) which was the same reason Lila was Sloane's maid of honor. Diego and Viktor barely spare two words at each other despite their closeness in the comics. Lila and Allison say something briefly to him before they also fuck off further into the plot.

Viktor isn't liked by his family despite them trying to include him in it when it's convenient for them, and he's also disliked by the fandom. I went into the TUA tag and about half of the top twenty posts were about someone else with him tacked on as an afterthought.

[kimbap-r0ll]

Twist ch competing against their rivals for the male lead role for a play the reader stars as the other lead role because in the play the other lead role and male lead kiss at the end, and they're damn sure that they aren't going to miss the opportunity to sneak a kiss from the prefect a.k.a their crush. Can you do headcanons of different rivalries and different plays, like riddle vs. azul, do anything please!

Hi, thank you for the ask! This is a really funny idea, I think I'm going to go with two pairs for this one, who knows there might be a sequel. Hope you enjoy!

Leona, Malleus, Vil, Neige rivaling each other to be the male lead of a play

Leona vs Malleus

Leona wasn't interested in being part of a play and Malleus just wanted to do it for fun. The two only started to actually pay attention when they saw your name as the already chosen main character. Turns out, this is a love story, and whoever the male lead is gets to kiss the main character

That's when things really start. Like Leona first thought "yeah yeah there's all these other people, I won't have to try hard—IS THAT MALLEUS"

Then Malleus was also like "Hi ^-^" and didn't think much of the rivalry between the two. If anything, if it's another thing he can use to tease the lion prince, then might as well (probably thinks the two of them are good friends but in reality it's a one-sided friendship haha)

You've never seen such dramatic acting from the two of them. Leona's actually trying, it's scaring Ruggie. You don't know why you got signed up as the main character, you really just wanted a good role but not this where two of the scariest people on campus were fighting for the spot

If Malleus wins, he'll be suave about it. He won't really rub it in Leona's face (though Sebek will) and he will be delighted about being able to be closer to his crush. Not only that, but the more time he gets with you the merrier! When he does have to kiss you, he's super gentle about it, probably a very soft kiss

If Leona wins, you bet he will rub it in Malleus's face. He will be like "yeah it wasn't hard" but he really didn't think he would make it. If you congratulate him, he'll be flustered but will try to hide it. I feel like when the time comes for him to kiss you (his crush), he'll be super nervous and end up almost pecking your lips (that's it). Ruggie will tease him lightly about it

Vil vs Neige

The fight of the century? Who would've thought! If you thought being already a popular actor/actress meant a lot of drama magazine articles about you, you're wrong because that number will just double with this new fight.

Vil originally wanted the main character role but he now feels like he NEEDS it because...well...his crush is literally the male lead's true love! If Neige gets it, not only will Vil have to see you kiss that bastard actor but Vil won't get to spend as much time with you.

Neige probably didn't think much of it, but he did want to be closer to his crush so he just tries to be optimistic about it. All of his friends hype him up, his fans hype him up (though some are jealous of you), and the paparazzis and news anchors won't shut up about this love triangle. Are there fandoms about Vil x you vs Neige x you? Yes.

The two of them have stunning auditions, honestly the judges might have to turn to favoritism or flipping a coin because the two are just SO GOOD. You decide not to watch since you think it might help them focus, but if you were there expect yourself to have been a flustered mess because omg they were wayyyy too good at acting as a love interest

If Vil wins, not only will his already high ego shoot through the roof, but he'll have something to one-up Neige in and get more time with you. He won't confess his feelings quite yet, but expect him to be a lot more gentle than you see him around other students. His kiss, when the time comes, is very soft and will make your heart skip a beat. Fans will be raving about you and expect a lot of fan edits haha

If Neige wins, he'll be humble and tell Vil that this is just a play or a movie, nothing related to real life. However, he's just so hyped to have a role with you two as the main characters. He congratulates you on your role and the two of you are just so sweet to each other throughout the whole production. The kiss he gives you is warm and heartfelt, you almost think he's not acting (he's not, but he won't tell you he has a crush on you because he's a bit shy with that). Fans of Neige x y/n will go ham too, expect a lot of fan edits as well

[dhrubajjj]

pomefiore pirates/seven au!

pomefiore had a super vague theme in my mind compared to the other 2 dorms i've done, regal and fancy, which doesn't give me much to work with. surprisingly so far they're my favorite of the bunch i've designed and feel pretty coordinated which was what i wanted.

more under cut (i figured out how to do it + got a lil rambly)

vil -> he took me the longest to design and is the one i'm least pleased with out of the three of them, if i changed anything it'd be his top, that is the main thing that bothers me. but putting that aside i wanted to keep his regal 'i'm better than you' vibe hes kinda got, his dress (cape?) thing drags behind him and is made of raven feathers which is a reference to the evil queen's pet raven. his design was pulled heavily from his dorm uniform which is one of the things that bothers me but overall he looks cute.

he's more of a singer than an actor in this au since i don't think as a sea fairing pirate theres gonna be too many people wanting you to act in their plays. vil tends to work at the mostro lounge at times, either to repay a favor or for his own benefit, singing songs and sometimes when the mostro lounge puts on a performance he'll play a part in it too.

ortho has taken an interest in vil and the two chat whenever they're both there, mainly when idia just meets up with azul to play their games, but the two of em have become friendly. vil teaches ortho how to sing or act and ortho pays attention (drama club canon wow)

rook -> his design was based on his masquerade outfit which made my job super easy. the leather armor, or protection, on his left arm is the protect his arm from the drawstring of his bow whenever he shoots which was a fun bit to add. his collection of vials and the bottle on his belt i took from his science clubwear, then there's his hat, the black feather on his hat is actually a raven feather from vil's outfit.

i can imagine rook showing up to every one of vils performances at the mostro lounge cuz that's just how he is. floyd hates him, whenever rook shows up at the lounge its hard to find floyd which only spurs rook to harass floyd further even if his actions are motivated by curiosity.

i think how rook went from being apart of savannaclaw crew to pomefiore probably went like a couple of fights, vil threatens to kill him and then rook is just like "wow!!!!!! beaute!!" then he joins them or smth ill figure it out

epel -> another easy one since he has a masquerade outfit, his scarf and socks were made by his grandma before he joined vils crew. his design is pretty simple compared to the rest of them but i like it, the tassel on his belt is from his dorm uniform and the gloves were taken from his masquerade outfit. i pulled his hair into a half ponytail hairstyle(?) which just clicked w/ me.

epel does a lot of the heavy work around the ship despite being oh so small and while he doesn't mind going to the mostro lounge it isn't his favorite place. i can see it being too fancy for his taste.

anyways 3/7 dorms done! i might do ramshackle for funsies but characters like the staff and other students/family depends on my mood.

[doodler16]

part of the reason i won't watch s2 of hazbin hotel is because of the vees. and no, im not talking about how they're all accomplices to valentino raping/drugging people. i think that's actually the one bit of subtle villainy i appreciate, even i can't fully appreciate it because of the creators barely disguised rape fetish. i really just think were done so dirty compared to their fun instagram versions that were allowed to be terrible and a cute found family all at once, and pretty much everything added to their canon selves goes against what their appeal was before to me.

valentino? a charming and suave, but manipulative pimp who rules the porn industry in the ring of pride, and who's been ruling said industry since he died in the 70s, making him a powerful figure with history in hell AND with one of the main characters, his abuse victim angel dust who's been there longer than him? what great potential!

the monkey paw finger curls. valentino is now a stupid bitch who needs vox to put him in his place and treat him like a violent overgrown toddler who's never heard the word no. makes shitty porn no one actually likes despite supposedly being super duper sexy and the playbill claiming everyone wants a piece of him, made his very first porno with angel be titled "my cousin and me", (even though it would've been a great chance to show val and angel bonding over porn and sex in the begining when angel started working for val and THEN have it slowly devolve over time, but fuck you we need more sex jokes, clearly,) and is implied to be not well liked by even the other vees. tries to seduce the princess of hell by drooling all over her arm and is given quirky habits like arts and crafting while he talks about all the people he's tricked into working for him. totally not a weird or lame or inappropriate way to portray a pimp at all, shut up and buy the 300 dollar three vees print,

velvet? a fun, bright, but chaotic force that holds the vees together due to having died recently with a good understanding of social media, who dominates the fashion industry in the pride ring and doesn't take shit from anyone, especially not the men she's working with? what great potential!

the monkey paw finger curls again. velvet gets the bare minimum attention needed to acknowledge her existence as another vee and not just an assistant, gets one song that doesn't mean jack diddly shit to the story at all and just gives her an excuse to be a bitch, then doesn't even have enough budget to sing in the finale. is implied to also hate the vees because she never enjoys spending time with them seemingly unless she gets to film her old toxic yaoi dads making out for clout and nothing else. will probably continue to get the bare minimum treatment for a female character in one of vivs shows with no interesting personality like she had before, (which was all just given to nifty in retrospect so she could be a joke character, but it makes even less sense because nifty doesn't even act like she's from the 50s so what's the point of making her drool over bad boys and bdsm other then for the Funny,) and MIGHT get redeemed, but who knows and who cares anymore,

vox? a business man who's been around since the 50s and has a business partner valentino who he's implied to have a relationship with, along with the addition of velvet to give him some modern day help? what great potential.

the monkey paws finger goddamn motherfucking curls. vox is a pathetic bitch who beefs with alastor and does nothing else so alastor can look better and cooler and goes "YES IM SO FUCKING HARD RN. THIS IS BETTER THEN SEX" in a way that's so fucking obnoxious that it gives s1 blitz a run for his money. also the leaks revealed that the only reason he was given hypnotism powers is so he can really just hypnotize angel into being a brainless obedient employee that can't consent to ANYTHING if he ever steps out of line, (theres a s2 leak where angel has red hypno vox eyes, another where he's tied up to a chair, and in the red smoke comic that masquerade references during the abuse sequence with val and angel, ex; "ive killed bitches for half the shit you've pulled!" "when i say cum, you say, yes, val.", ends, with vox hypnotizing angel into submission while angel begs to val to be spared.) like i realized before anyone else that they only gave him hypnotism powers for that reason and nothing else; why else would you give a business man, who can use his charm and voice to trick people into trusting him, a power that FORCES people to trust him anyway?

i feel like half of these issues might be excusable if any of them even actually liked each other like how velvet used to enjoy the other voys, even if it was at their expense some of the time. but no, they all just work with each other because they have to and that's it. fuck the found family, only the main characters get that! the main characters, who's characterization is slowly being butchered too, if al and pent are anything to go by. not even the s2 leaks i did see of the vees interested me; the s2 leaks feel like an excuse from god to give me a glimpse of what i'll be missing out if i don't stick around for vivziepops shows in 2025. and boy, i won't miss it.

if i wanted to watch rapists get away with heinous shit and be rewarded for it, i'd turn on the news and see who's about to rule the United States of America. it's why i won't stick around for helluva either - the obsession the creator has with these terrible characters who have no concept of consent, to the point they poison the narrative and become creators pets, has become so gross and draining to watch. i just can't anymore tbh! because if you told me 4 years ago that valentino and stolas would've been treated this way by the stories they're in, i wouldn't have believed you.

its not even that i want them to be changed or "less problematic", no, i WANT them to be problematic, and interact with a world in hell that treats them as such. i want to see sinners talk about them honestly in private, or express dislike they can't be too upfront about, or even have other overlords and powerful people (like the main fucking character) point out and try to punish their actually vile behavior in an understandable, but comedic and hellish way. because this is hell - so why shouldn't bad people who do bad things suffer for them in some way socially if they can't suffer in hell the traditional way?

but that's the kind of thing you'd expect from a show made for adults. this wasn't a show made for adults, it was made for teenagers, kids, and 30 year olds with zero critical thinking skills when it comes to media and enough disposable income (and need to escape from reality due to likely poor mental health because of the way the world is rn,) for them to not give a shit to develop said critical thinking skills, and just buy the shiny new merch of their problematic favs when they drop. the audience they write for gives them money and praise, not feedback on a story.

in conclusion, the vees are just wasted potential and creators pets to me at this point, thank you for reading my big ass rant because i hate their canon versions sm 😭

I am curious and interested how far the enabling will go. Vox and Velvette seem like the type of people to be “ride or die” for Valentino for the worst reasons. Valentino got can rant about Angel Dust for ignoring him for 5 seconds, then proceed to reveal to his team that he raped and physically abused Angel Dust as punishment. Then Vox and Velvette would cheer him on for doing said action instead of calling him out or distancing themselves, continuing to proudly hang out with him in the public eye and calling everyone haters. At the same time, I feel like Vivziepop will double down on the Vees somehow.

While, I still am interested how Vivziepop writes Valentino in season 2. In season 1, he feels so downgraded and is only “intimidating” to Angel Dust’s perspective. I feel like it could’ve worked even more if Valentino was this uncharacteristically nice, charming boss everyone in the pride ring respected and was enchanted. Valentino having a large fanbase too and everyone wanted to work with him because he’s just so darn nice and talented! But obviously, there will be subtle creepiness to him that the audience can’t put their finger on.

For example, Anon: Valentino’s debut episode could’ve been about Charlie going into the porn studio to check up on Angel Dust only to be suck into Valentino’s charm. He doesn’t lick Charlie but respects her ambition and creativity regarding the hotel even if he doesn’t personally agree with Charlie’s ideals, being the first person to treat her with the highest respect. We the audience, see the two bond as artists. How artists are treated as scum and how artists must stick together. The audience along with Charlie would see how the porn studio would work too, Valentino would conveniently treat his sex workers including Angel Dust with respect since Charlie is in the room.

Charlie (ignorantly) and Valentino would mention and joke about how Angel Dust doesn’t know what he is talking about since he is a druggie. The episode would end on Charlie leaving the porn studio on a happy note, not knowing and ignorant about Valentino’s true intentions. I would’ve written it as a slow process as abusers aren’t always in your face especially when a friend is involved.

Valentino is the show is basically a manchild that is treated as the toddler in group which makes it extra hard to him seriously. There are times where I question whether to take him seriously or laugh. I think that’s the reason why I appreciate and like Paranoid DJ’s version of Valentino as he is an authoritarian figure who is treated serious and is self ware about his actions.

Vox is such a mess when Alastor is in picture or involved. Like if you cut of all the parts of him bitching and screaming about Alastor, and it only showed him and Valentino in episode 2, you at least see the business man in Vox and how much control, influence and power has in the Vee team.

That scene when Vox tells Valentino “yo Angel Dust is your slave and you got him on contract, so chill out. We have a reputation to keep together.” All logic goes out the window when Alastor has 5 seconds of screen time. It’s interesting in the comic that follow Alastor, it was the exact opposite. Alastor was pissed the moment Vox was on screen and swore. Vivziepop achieved her goal, she got many people to side with Alastor in comment section on YouTube. In the Instagram posts, it was showed that Val would physically abused Vox, soo take that as you will.

Velvette, the backbone (apparently) of the Vees (the only female in the trio who doesn’t do much). Crazyyy, totally not a repeated pattern in Vivziepop’s works where the females barely get any attention. It’s so funny because, it mentioned that Vox/Val saw Velvette as a daughter but now it’s crickets. Nobody knows what to say about Velvette’s involvement. The annoying part she has so much potential. Velvette could’ve been a great foil to Charlie, the one who teach her (in Velvette’s own ways) how to be a leader, that you must take charge no matter how rude you are.

Without “Respectless” no one would remember Velvette. Like sure, maybe 1-2 scenes where a fan could quote a line but compared Vox/Val, it is no competition. As vile and controversial as Val is many can bring up memorable aspects he has done throughout season 1 (I’m sure even without looking it up). Same with Vox even his moments can be cringey. But Velvette is just crickets, her entire “iconic” hinges on Respectless.

The writers make it sound like she will do something impactful or big later but 5 episodes later and no Velvette. I mean she does appear in the last episode, doing nothing. And, Vivziepop sucks at budgeting soo of course she doesn’t say anything. They should’ve cut out the Vees in episode 8, they didn’t do anything of worth.

I will admit, Raph’s involvement is hard to ignore. It’s like an equivalent of a bug consistently buzzing into your ear. Raph isn’t just a simple fan of the show, they are a storyboard artist and he has a big influence (whether he knows it or not). Especially, when Vivziepop has this annoying habit of make fan related stuff canon without adding her own twist to it. At first when that scene of Val threatening Angel Dust with the whole dick scene.

I got deju vu, I immediately went to Paranoid DJ’s comic dub of it and my suspicions were correct, even the other commenters noticed. I chalked it up to a coincidence/pure inspiration and nothing more. Then when I watch Raph’s Valentino’s animatic, the background scenes were very similar to the official episode. Then there is the infamous dance scene. And, I couldn’t ignore anymore, once you see certain aspects of Raph’s work you can’t unsee it. To be fair, even before Raph’s involvement Vox did have the hypothesizing eye but yeah I did see the leaks when it shows Angel Dust being hypothesized and does happen in their rape comic. But, I’m a bit hopeful that Vivziepop won’t completely copy Raph’s comic to a tee, just take inspiration and a few ideas from Raph here and there.

Either way I don’t blame you not wanting or planning to watch Season 2. I will be honest, I’m sure you won’t miss too much Anon. I can definitely see more drama and controversy coming from season because of Vees (mainly Val).

[curiositydoorunlocked]

The Recent News

Spoilers ahead for Stranger Things 5, including photos of actors on set.

Look, something about all this (the leak + the photo situation) feels… fishy, and I can see people in various tags are getting various levels of upset by it. So as someone who has been around the block a couple of times, I want to say something. 

First of all: hi, everyone! I’m glad to be here. I’ve been a fan of ST since early-mid 2020 and involved in the fandom since mid-late 2020 (on other accounts, which have since been deleted), so I feel at least marginally qualified to say what I’m going to say. That being said, I drifted away from the fandom before S5 filming began and haven't watched the show in a while; if I get anything wrong please feel free to correct me.

First I want to talk about Bridgerton S3. I closely followed that production in 2022 and 2023. Like Stranger Things, Bridgerton is a high-budget Netflix original show with a large cast, lots of public interest, an active fandom, and what I would call "special considerations" for filming. (In Bridgerton's case it's the historical element; in ST it's the sci-fi/fantasy element plus the historical element, albeit to a lesser degree.) They filmed for a shorter period of time than ST5 is expected to film for, yes, but many of the circumstances are/were similar. That brings me to my point: when Bridgerton S3 was filming, the best we got from the main cast was a handful of photos a) taken from relatively far away that b) did not spoil anything major. Luckily for us, the photos were clear, but in the end they didn't really amount to anything more than eye candy, something to get excited over.

In contrast, these photos from the ST5 set are clear, close, and most importantly reveal seemingly significant story beats/results. (Okay, the Mike and Hopper one isn't super close or clear, I'll give ya that. But it's still pretty damn close for a set that's supposedly locked down! Especially if they're filming a scene possibly related to a major character's death/disappearance!) Kinda odd, right? I'm not necessarily saying they were leaked on purpose to misdirect fans, because I'm not that confident in myself. I don’t have any insider/industry knowledge; I can only claim a healthy (perhaps too healthy?) level of skepticism. But I do want to put that possibility out there, because I think it’s an important one to consider.

“But wait,” you might say, “many parts of S4 were leaked, and leaked accurately at that. What’s to say these aren’t real too?”

That’s a fair point! Maybe production hasn’t learned their lesson from S4; maybe they’re truly terrible at preventing leaks and that’s the end of the story. Yes, they’ve spoken a little about security measures in the lead-up to S5 but that doesn’t mean those security measures were implemented well, or even at all.

Even keeping that in mind, I nonetheless implore everyone to chill the hell out. I say this again, with so much love: CHILL THE HELL OUT. This has happened before: even with the accurate leaks and clear photos we got during S4 filming, we lacked so much context. Mike and El’s “I love you” scene is a great example of this. There was quite the brouhaha over that leak in certain corners of the fandom… and yet the actual scene turned out nothing like the phrase “Mike finally says ‘I love you’ to El” implies. Another example are these photos (see above; my apologies for the poor quality!) of the Hawkins group in the parking lot of The War Zone. When those photos were leaked, I recall speculation that the scene would appear at the very end of the finale, that it related to an apocalypse situation, and so on, but not so! In the show it appeared before the final battle with Vecna: the town was in a panic, yeah, but no apocalypse.

That’s what I mean about chilling the hell out. We can’t assume the photos/leaks are genuine—and even if we did indulge that assumption (which is fair given production’s history!) we can’t assume we have the whole story.

Hang in there, folks. We survived S4 production and we’ll survive S5 production too :)

TL;DR: Hi, I’m new and also not new here. I made this account just to talk about this photo/leak situation because that’s how passionate I am about this godforsaken show. This is a little weird, but whether the leaks/photos are real or planted, stay calm. We know so little right now. Don’t waste your energy on blind panic, not when we still have another year(ish) to go.

[scottfreed]

Orion & Scott should be friends if not awkward step brothers. The forced antagonism is lame.

I had an argument with two people about the way I characterized Orion and Scott in a fic a while back, and I wanted to make a big post to compile my canon basis for writing them as somewhat distant brothers who respect and defend each other. I particularly had one fan continuously say Tom King's characterization is gospel and completely consistent, and I was an "abuse apologist" for writing them in a positive way. I wanted to pay particular attention to the question of succession since that's the main source of conflict for them in MM '17.

Orion and Scott have had numerous character interactions that have predominantly ranged from generally amicable to warm and familiar with key exceptions. (Rough recount incoming)

MM '74

Their first interaction Orion literally saves Scott's life so he and Barda can get married.

Dude is actually the one who called for the wedding in the first place. And he was playing the Bouncer. And look at him on Barda's side of the alter. He's totally the Maid of Honor:

Super Powers '86

(This was the first comic I ever read with both characters just to disclose my bias.)

Short but fun lesser known title! But there's some interesting world building happening. And Orion and Scott paling around in their co-rulers era:

They're buddies and its great. Also look and Orion's drip.

Look at this! The bois are co-ruling Apokolips for a brief stint. The exact opposite of Orion trying to "steal the throne form scott", He literally called him up to help him manage his own!

This is such a great expression of both their characters. Scott's survivors guilt for being able to escape the Hell of his upbringing and Orion's driving fear of ending up a tyrant like his father.

And look at this "interview":

We need to bring back authors doing make-believe interviews with fictional characters. Simply outstanding. The idea that in the face of nature and nurture they both gravitated to the light is honestly fascinating.

"(still hushed) Thank you, thank you, my friend..."

^^^ like... there are hurt/comfort fics that aren't as tender as this action adventure comic from 1986 😭😭😭

The New Gods Vol 3

But whoa what's this?

Bickering? I guess they do just inherently have an antagonistic relationship... except look what's actually being said.

Orion and Lightray aren't pissed because they think Orion is so great that he should be in charge of everything and Scott's in the way Ala Tom King. (It's because this writer didn't want to write for Scott in this title and the crappy answer for this is to make Scott an annoying "80s era pacifist" which is pretty shameful in the context of world-ending stakes tbh.)

But again, Orion's not miffed because he wants Scott gone. If anything, He want's Scott to be more involved in the fight against evil. He wants him to remember his roots. He wants him to be a part of New genesis. He want's him to take on more power and responsibility.

Plus, idk I'm projecting but it's almost giving: "hey the family misses you, please call/visit more" to me at least.

JLA/I ('90)

My heart is aching look at this! Called him his brother, gave a beautiful eulogy, joined the JLA in his memory. It's wild how the writing in this arc went wildly back and forth between quality and pure nonsense 😭

JLA ('98) - #24

This is how you do clunky exposition about who tf these characters even are showing up in this title all of a sudden.

Is it perfect? No.

But it's still a heart to heart desire to understand. Underline everyone's characters and central motivation. Boom. We're in and we're out. Back to the Justice League.

MM Vol 3 (1996)

Okay, so weirdly aggressive, right???

But, not quite, it was indicated that his reaction here was due to Darksied having just been resurrected and was influencing him.

But also take a closer look at what's being said! It wasn't a result of Orion being covetous of Scott's power or even wishing harm on him or anything.

Quite the opposite, in fact. He's telling him he needs to better protect his own life as future king, even if it means sacrificing others.

It's almost giving concern tbh.

Far be it from trying to kill Scott to steal NG from him, even in this ooc moment, he's chastising him to stay safe so he can come into his throne.

Jack Kirby's Fourth World (1997)

We get a fight and Scott gets over whelmed casue he's fucking around. Barda is lowkey laughing at him. But what does Orion do?

Dude Pops off. Pops off so hard everyone is concerned.

And then this happens:

Look! He struck Scott! Tom King is a genius! haters btfo.....

But wait. this was actually how it was revealed that Orion was possessed by DeSaad, because this was so wildly out of character for him!

Literally this action, that Orion-haters seem to think is like their mundane default character interaction, was so off-putting and out of character to all the other New Gods that they immediately knew something was very wrong. And it was. He was possessed!

lol gross...

But what about when he's back in his mind again? Well...

(idk who's serving more cunt in this tbh)

And here not for the last time we se Orion supporting the idea of Scott as the ruler of Apokolips.

Orion ('01)

(d...did scott do blackface in this cosplay??? lol)

This is the classic. We all know it. We all love it.

Look at Scott meddling in his life. You're fucking up pretty bad when the "god of freedom" has to step in to stop you.

Also the contrast between their actions when dealing with Sirius is better than any hackney fist fight or argument.

And how interesting is it that Scott's unwillingness to kill isn't treated as admirable and pure in contrast to Orion's evil-bad violence.

Nope. He was a kid. He wasn't strong enough yet to do what had to be done. And IIRC it was to do with what he'd just gone through with the emergence of the anti-life equation. But Orion was! And Orion was the one to finally put the poor soul out of him misery.

I like in particular the way they are portrayed as the "god of war" and the "god of freedom" and how the way this is explored isn't a black and white dichotomy. Scott recognizes Orion is absolutely needed to oppose Darkseid. And the way the two of them are working behind the scenes to protect and help each other repeatedly is so perfect.

And the way Orion decides not to kill Metron to protect scott not because it's wrong or whatever but because time travel could prevent anyone else from following the same bread crumbs and coming to the same conclusions is so funny.

But he was fully ready to kill Metron to save the weird little circus man.

But yeah I think its very telling that at the end of this character arc, Orion, in coming to terms with himself, must come to terms with Scott and their respective places in the world.

I just think it's cool that they each saved each other's life twice in this series. Scott prevented Orion form falling too far with his black racer gambit. And reminding him of his purpose. And Orion Saves Scott from the parademons and Metron.

I can only dream of the paradise we'd be living in if this characterization continued on into the future.

Cherish it. It's all down hill from here...

Death of the New Gods ('05)

Okay so this series isn't great, but at least it's consistent with how these two interreact with each other and kind of keeps to Simonson's continuity... kind of.

Orion aggressively defends Scott’s claim yet again. He looked like he was gonna deck Clark when he suggested Scott was not fit. I’m talking bolded, italicized and pt.18 font text when he first suggested it. "WHAT?" He "begrudgingly" admits Scott's not "currently" fit. But still declines that position for himself.

And the two of them discussing the fate of their people like this almost harkens back to '86 with the co-ruling.

This story is weird, with the worst interpretation of the Anti-Life Equation I've seen. And I'd argue both are ooc in general, but even in this slopy story there is no succession crisis. and they are working together:

(lol at his face here. The bois are trying to discuss their family business and clark is just standing there gobsmaked. rude tbh...)

And here is Orion saving his ass again for good measure:

I hit my picture limit, but Scott goes on to try to kill Orion and Clark later in this series.

Up to this point. Orion might have shoved Scott once or twice in weird circumstances but Scott was the only one who seemed to actually make an actual attempt on his life. Which is why the post reboot characterization is so freaking weird to me.

Tom Kings MM (2017)

(This is where it officially falls apart)

Cliché toxic masculinity abusive stepbrother who exists only to make Scott an even bigger victim. Steals the throne, is weirdly aggressive and abusive for no fucking reason. Tries to kill him in jealousy, etc, etc.

And unfortunately this has seemingly become Orion's standard characterization in the minds of most fans.

(Now, in those post-n52 reboot GL books (sorry tbh I don't feel like tracking them down rn) he's not AS bad as he was in the WW and Tom King MM, but he's still portrayed as being far less intelligent and articulate for some reason??? The idea that he's the dumb jock of the NG and not basically a warrior poet. It's better to go more himbo than violent monster I guess but it's still a far cry from his proper characterization.) I wonder if it had to do with his awful portrayal in that Wonder Woman run??? Idk.

... Jack Kirby didn't deserve this.

DCeased(?)

Ripping off Tom king directly. I'm not just saying that since I don't like the characterization. I'm saying this because they ripped this stupid fucking scene off beat-for-beat, Seriously, Tom King should sue this dude for plagiarism.

And like a game of telephone their characters keep getting mangled more and more. This is the writing equivalent of a bad photo copy of a bad photocopy.

I just gotta pray it stops here and we can get back to a normal dynamic for these two again. But this story's existence doesn't bode well.

MM (2021)

Orion and Shilo seem to be on good terms! He still doesn’t speak right but it’s still an improvement!

Buuuut, no relationship or character interaction with Scott and Barda's daughter at all??? Like that's the main antagonist (for some fucking reason) and they just say nothing to each other? ok sure why not at this point.

Like that's High Father's granddaughter!

Highfather is probably the cornerstone of Orion's identity. Even if you don't consider Scott and Orion to be brothers, she's still his family through HF.

Anyway, I just wanted to add at the end here that I find some of the fans (and writer's) continuous characterization of Scott as the loser wife guy and a massive victim all the time, and Orion the violent psycho, who is power-hungry and ambitious is lame and sucks.

And just to be a little biased. I think the dynamic from 50 years ago is better and more relevant to people today than the MM '17 version.

Think about it. There are more blended and mixed families than ever. Awkward and somewhat distant step-brother is so much more compelling and interesting than the chirst vs. anti-christ thing they keep doing.

“What Is It They’ve Sent Us?” “Hope.”

Barda '24

This book seems to be getting us back on track from what I've been able to see so far! I've been unable to get my hands on it yet but everything I've seen and heard about it is really exciting for me as a fan. I'm both excited and fearful to see what comes next!!!

[fablefrogg]

Will Byers Standing Up for El Doesn't Make Sense (From a Character/Narrative Standpoint)

Will Byers standing up for El from her bullies in Lenora doesn't make sense from both a character and a narrative standpoint.

First off, I truly think that if Will had stood up for her, he would have also been targeted and bullied. Look at what happened when the teacher jumped in to help El. That didn't solve anything; it only made the bullies more infuriated to the point that they came up with an elaborate plan to humiliate El at a public place (and with a lot of people that went along with this plan like the DJ).

I'm not saying that standing up to your bullies is ultimately pointless and that you should keep your head down in the hopes of them stopping because they very likely won't.

But we have to take into account Will's character. He has dealt with bullying for most of his life (and for his sexuality which could end in the very real possibility of him being hate-crimed since this was the 80s). On top of that, he has trauma from having to survive in the Upside Down and from being possessed one of its creatures, resulting in him indirectly killing the military soldiers in S2 when he is used as a spy. It's understandable why he wants to keep his head down.

El also seems to be in denial about the situation, considering that she lied to Mike about Angela being her friend, denied Will's claims when he points this out, and then tells Angela (even after the milkshake debacle) to tell Mike that they're actually friends.

Will isn't a fighter like Mike. He helps El in his own way by consoling her even though she pushes him away, knowing that she needs verbal reassurance (a possible parallel to El needing Mike to verbally say that he loves her), and offers to help her put her project back together. We must also remember that the one time he tried standing up for himself was to the Mind Flayer in S2 and he ended up getting possessed (while it was inevitable, it shows that standing up for oneself = negative results in Will's mind).

I don't personally believe that by not standing up for her, he has some hidden resentment against El because she's with the person he loves. Will has been on El's side the whole time; he just does it subtly. He lies to the police that what El did was an accident, he paces back and forth while ranting to Mike that Hawkins wouldn't be standing without her, forcefully tells the receptionist at the juvenile center that they're her family ergo let them see her, and even gets noticeably angry at Mike, the person he's in love with, for his distasteful comment at El at the dinner table.

I acknowledge that it would be super interesting to see a darker side to Will, but I don't think this is it. In S2, when he encounters the baby Demogorgon in the bathroom, he has good reason to kill it considering his trauma from the Upside Down. Instead, he reassures the Demogorgon, saying that he won't hurt it. If Will can offer empathy to a literal monster that comes from a source of trauma, there is no way in hell that he would hurt El, even if he did harbor feelings of resentment.

From a narrative standpoint, I'd say El being bullied is necessary to her arc and that Will stepping in would reduce the impact of that arc and her development. Her being bullied is a trigger event to her physical assault on Angela, confronting her with the one of the conflicts she's been internally fighting: she believes that she's a monster even without her abilities. It also serves as a catalyst and a parallel when she remembers the similar bullying she's experienced in the lab. Because Will didn't interfere, it makes El's development from coming out the other side the more powerful.

Additionally, Will supporting El in other ways other than standing up to the main source of her bullying makes sense with his own arc. Since the Duffers have said he will be vital in S5, that tells me that he needs to learn to stand up to fight, especially when they're faced against the Big Bad. He has to learn to stop hiding (even though that's what he does best) and learn to stand up not just for other people, but for himself, and once he accomplishes this, he'll come out confident and wiser.