#but it's informed speculation

[dykealloy]

such a small detail but I cannot stop thinking about law leaving kikoku by luffy's bedside when he went out to talk with hancock and ivankov. idk it stirs up a lot of questions. like does law do this often? does law, like zoro, talk to his well-behaved cursed sword like "kikoku, sit. watch." before he leaves to go have lunch or a well deserved twenty minute post-surgery nap. is this the protective equivalent to leaving a baseball bat by the bedside? doctor's bedside manner emotional support blade? but then I also can't help but notice that it's unsheathed. which... actually, who is that sword protecting really, just sitting there? did luffy wake up more than once in the cradle of that submarine while his body was still recovering? (drugged up to the gills, entirely noncoherent, unable to be reasoned with, going in and out of consciousness, the only thought running through his mind being "ace"). probably would've been a nightmare for the heart crew

[skeletal-butterflyy]

Even max could write “Love your shitty little sister Max” to Billy, the brother that abused her that she could barely stand to be in a room with that she secretly wished death upon, at the end of her letter. While mike can’t write love at the end of his letter to his girlfriend who he cares about very deeply? 🤨 I know what you are mike wheeler.

[too0bsessedformyowngood]

Do you think the general public in the dc universe knows all the superpowers of each hero in their own city (or the bigger heroes). I just thinking, heroes probably don’t advertise their powers or what abilities they have so the flashier and more used powers are more well known, but the subtle, or not outward powers are probably more obscure knowledge or speculated on.

Just imagine like people making Wiki articles or known powers of each hero and getting in debates of what powers so of them have. Like on Reddit there is a long ongoing article of weather or not Superman has super-hearing and x-ray vision or has echolocation. Like when Batman first showed up some people adamantly thought he was a shadow demon or could control darkness, and there still resents of that with like people trying to spread ‘gotcha facts’ that Batman can actually control clouds and that is why it’s always overcast in Gotham. Or like ‘Top 10 Superpowers you didn’t know these Justice Leaguers had’ videos and on there is like, “Martian Manhunter has Telepathy, there has been reports from people who he has saved of him talking to them in their mind while saving them.” Even misconceptions of what group a hero is a part of. Like some people adamantly believe Starfire is a Super just from a different family and that’s why her powers are just slightly off, like they confidently believe that Tamaraneans is just the group of Kryptonians she is from and refuse to do any research or listen to new information.

Just the general public in the dc universe speculating on things about the heroes that wouldn’t be as well know or known really at all by the general public.

[supercalime]

The amount of digging, stalking and over analyzing that required for yall to now say “it was obvious” and “we were right all along” is one of the reasons they never went public with their relationship before actual marriage, just like Joey Richter and Lauren Lopez getting engaged and Keith and Becky habersberger out of nowhere telling they had a baby.

I’ve been a fan of smosh for like 12 years and the shipping (yes, I know they said they don’t care, but even if they said to stop yall wouldn’t anyway) and nitpicking every single interaction between cast members (I’m not even gonna get into the fanfics and inappropriate comments) were why I kept my interaction with the fandom to a minimum.

Im happy they’re married, really. I’ve been happy for other influencers before. The issue was never denial. I did wish it was a prank because I knew this exact response was going to happen.

This feels like fans were trying to out them when they weren’t ready. If they truly felt safe making the relationship public, they wouldn’t have gone to lengths they did to hide it. Poor Courtney probably had an engagement ring that she couldn’t wear because of fan reaction. I mean, I remember seeing proof of them together through reflections on a glass! It isn’t normal.

A similar situation has happened in a fandom before. Remember when fans were speculating about a Malec wedding in the shadowhunter finale? Finding every single piece of evidence on social media, bts footage, etc? And in the ending the characters got married? But you know why that wasn’t weird? They were fictional characters, made to entertain us, with story arcs. No actual person was at stake.

And you know, I love smosh and obviously this rant isnt directed towards the fans who are just surprised and happy for them (which I am too, congrats to them), but it still bother me.

Publicly, they were coworkers in a comedy channel who made jokes, played characters, played games, etc. Smosh has never been about romantic relationships between cast members and it saddens me that the fans made most of it about shipping when they have so much more to offer.

The point is, we are not entitled to information about their lives and speculate about it. Too bad this can’t be a learning experience because congrats, yall were “right all along”.

[loucifersbitch]

okay so a flight instructor tries to talk Athena through landing the plane. i'm assuming this is the guy but of course i don't know for sure. i'm guessing based on the stills we've gotten

and if this emergency scenario is following Airport 1975 then this original plan will end up failing. and what happens in the movie then? a pilot rappels from a helicopter into the airplane

now, who do we know that has years of experience flying AND knows how to rappel AND can be calm in an emergency? perhaps a certain firefighter pilot would be a good choice?

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

And if I said that Mike and Will's relationship has always been romantic and that them finally getting together is just them accepting their relationship for what it has always been from the start

[pinkeoni]

ppl know that other characters can be at this church, and byler can still happening, right? like this one scene doesn't have to go exactly the way you think it will and it won't effect the overall outcome of their relationship

[bubblewrapsnek]

Something I don't see talked about much in Phantomarine, and myself included don't know how substance vs how much stylization it is, but I do find it wierd that all these nobles, royalties, ships and important landmark are named after marine life, meanwhile they are so deeply culturally tied to a god that dabbles in animals of the sky. And it's not like there is only Cheline as a symbolical bird in their culture, Cheth says "another one of my sister's dumb birds" or something to that effect, meaning there is plenty of symbolical birds in their faith, you would expect their royalty, their imagery to develop around the sky, not their enemy

[self-spaghettification]

The Mystery of Aaravos The Banter Lodge

So, recently an account called "The Banter Lodge" has popped up. April 30th, to be precise. You've seen it. I've seen it. We've all seen it. On Twitter, posting various images in the TDP official style.

A few nights ago, it debuted on Tumblr as well. "Coming May 2024" all of the promotional images and the website itself say.

Who is this account? Is it fan made, is it official? It's May, when exactly in "May 2024" is it coming?

Well, me and a few friends took some time to try to piece the mystery together, and so -- while it may still be 'coming', only dropping hints, I am here to tell you what I know now!

History

Website Code ( I love computer programming so I took the time to dive into that!)

Purpose

A. History

Who's Running the Banter Lodge?

To know that, first we need to delve into the history of the Twitter account.

Despite these images and site debuting less than a month ago, the account itself was founded way back in 2022, and originally called @BantherLodge, with an H, as it is in the show.

@BantherLodge is no longer available, and while it initially did not seem to be connected to The Banter Lodge, there are several interactions linked to the current one, Banter Lodge without an H.

In fact, here is the same tweets linked to the current (banter) account version.

Now we've established that @'BantherLodge' and @'BanterLodge' the same account with a changed name and identity, here is the most important past interaction:

@‘bantherlodge’ is mentioned here, and they are on this call. that said, WHO IS REALLY BEHIND BANTER LODGE? well based off the tweet, it seems that it’s 6 members of the cast and then 2 guests, @‘thebantherlodge’ and @‘ladytheebug’. But don’t take my word for it. Here, more confirmation:

Another person in the call happened to tweet about it too, this time with labels.

Now let’s take a closer look at these two guests. Sara @‘ladytheebug’ seems to be the one on the right, and by process of elimination, on the left is ‘bantherlodge’. aka:

Max….

Max the Mystery! ‘Sara’ and ‘Max’ isn’t really enough information to know more along with no connection to other socials so it’s hard to pin down who they are or what connections to previous fandom projects or creative projects in general they might have. However, they are still connected.

Besides the partially deleted various back and forths between these two accounts, this tweet about the Bait screensaver in the background is additional confirmation that this is @‘bantherlodge’ and @‘ladytheebug’: (note use of word ‘our’)

FURTHERMORE:

Said TV embodies this duo: A person who loves Bait (evident from so many of their tweets) and a person who loves the Banther Lodge…

Reminds you of something, doesn’t it?

“but hold on, just because there’s all these coincidences doesn’t mean the account could be passed on to someone else to run this.” Ok, but one last thing. If that was the case, why would they still be following Sara? In fact, it’s the Only person that they’re following besides TDPO?

(and their following has even been recently updated within the last few days as before then it didn’t include Eugene and Boone.) So, in conclusion,

Max of @‘BantherLodge’, and possibly Sara, (with or without TDPO but I’ll get to that later) almost certainly are the people behind the curtain of this Banter Lodge mystery.

Now, about said mystery… what exactly is the trail building up to?

well, to find out more about that, let’s glean what we can from the website.

B. Website Secrets

The website itself is very simple- A background, the image of the Banter House, and some text saying "Coming May 2024." But, beneath the deceptively simple surface, there was more to be found.

On May 1st Caprinae got this from the page. She also tweeted about it, after which the site changed to remove much of the css, including the part about the episodes and subscribe button. I was pretty excited about this as someone with a few years of coding experience, I wanted to mess around in VSC and see what I could find out.

After formatting the code the most noticeable thing is this right?

And when I make an element for it to apply to (since all that code is just formatting for stuff on the page like the title, images, etc, in this case- an audio bar) + adding in an image and an audio file:

We get this

AUDIO and an image. It looks exactly like a podcast episode. It turns out there’s actually a bunch of code for formatting that’s not used in elements in the site (elements that exist: the title or image), but it’s there, so I made some elements it would apply to. technically, it’s supposed to have a parchment paper background too, but I just chose some colors that you could see the text on.

Doing so, we get this!

(Here’s a video version.)

Plus, Original Code and Modified Code if you’re curious

Anyway, so the site (at least at the stage the code was taken from) doesn’t appear to be finished and there was no Java script written (or at least, linked) but there is definitely the makings for a website for a podcast— some sort of nav bar with the episodes, on an episode page, the image and audio, and then a subscribe link at the bottom!

C. Purpose

Time to speculate on the real identity and purpose of the Banter Lodge. So far, we know it used to be called the Banther Lodge. We know it seems to be run by [insert here.] We know it is almost certainly a podcast of some sort. But what, and why?

Here are some possibilites:

1.Official Content to Tide Over Fans Til S6 As we know, to calm the frustration of fans at Netflix/TDP for the delay of S6, the creators have been putting out content every day for the fans to puzzle over and figure out the season six titles.

Based on the current schedule, it’s set to end on May 13.—although it could be ending either May 13 or May 14 (depending when they do the last hint) after these drop, there will likely be a lull in TDP content, which would be the perfect time for the Banter Lodge to launch.

+ The Banter Lodge teaser campaign has already been perfectly timed for when a bunch of fans would be online on Twitter checking in for clues to begin with.

If this is official content, it would doubly make sense—it’d be timed perfectly to tie the fans over until the actual season six campaign starts (ie, trailer). Considering these two fans also somehow got to have a private panel with the cast, it’s not impossible that they’d be working with TDP on this content, additionally the teaser images put out this far have been somewhat reminiscent of TDP official content—ie, Callum’s lodge notebook->Callum’s sketchbook, Refractions->Reflections, Dear Callum letter from Rayla, design style, etc.

However, there is one big reason I don’t think this is the case: it’s a little too sloppy. For example, if they wanted it to be completely anonymous and unclear what was happening, the tweet mentioning @‘BantherLodge’ in the panel would have been deleted and there wouldn’t have been any hints in the code. Of course, these could still just be honest mistakes. However, it also seems like it is building off of the current world in a more derivative, fan-content fashion, not necessarily adding new material the way TDP Official tends to. It’s copying the official style,—but almost too much if that makes sense.

Like altering a shot from the show for a teaser.

x

Don’t get me wrong. I love the way that they’re building off the world, I’m excited to see where it leads, but for whatever reason, to me, it just doesn’t seem official.

So assuming it’s made by fans, what kind of podcast is it? Second possibility—

2. Fan Made Talk Show

This seems like the most obvious conclusion, considering that The Banter House is a play on a location in TDP, and the word banter, which is synonymous with talking, but specifically back and forth, genial interactions.

Maybe it’s dedicated to analyzing the show or a particular aspect,—maybe centric to the lodge, crystals, Bait and Stella—maybe even interviewing cast/crew!

Well, to get a better idea of what niche it might be filling, let’s take a look at what TDP podcasts are already out there.

Hot Brown Morning Potion Podcast [2019-2023] Hosted by Tamika "Kuno" Williams and Hailey from Cartoon Universe. This podcast [is] full of answering fan questions, interviews, theories and all kinds of discussions on everything Dragon Prince.

News from the Breach [2020-2024] Your hosts Ceilidh and Yana are watching The Dragon Prince from start to finish. Each season of the podcast covers one “Book” (or season) of the Netflix series The Dragon Prince. In each episode we discuss two chapters of the series, except for the season finales.

Calm Chaos Club [2023] Join Kevlar and Lou each week as they discuss topics about animation, design, and all things related to The Dragon Prince on Netflix! With special guests brought on for unique topics and insights into the creative process, these bite-sized episodes will ensure you can get your TDP fix in anywhere and anytime.

There’s no harm in another talk show but as there are a few out there already (and for other reasons) I personally think this is not necessarily the niche the banter Lodge is going to fill. I mean, I do think that it’s still possible I mean, it could be centric to particular aspect around the lodge as mentioned.

However, there’s a possibility that excites me a lot more, that I’m hoping for the most….

3.Fan Made Audio Drama in the Saga Setting I have personally always been a huge fan of audio drama podcasts (TMA,TPP,WTNV) and if there was a dragon Prince audio drama podcast, I think I would just die on the spot honestly from joy. I also think it’s most likely because all of the clues so far have been very story/worldbuilding oriented, as well as writings from familiar characters’ perspectives. It seems as though a story is being crafted here, and I am all for it.

Y’know what? While we’re here on the topic of storytelling podcasts, we might as well throw in D&D/TTRPG or even Tales of Xadia as a possibility because yeah sure. Why not? I mean, tabletop role-play games also involve a lot of talking so it would fit the banter theme. Who knows.

That's all! What do you think? Any other thoughts, additions or other speculation? Feel free to add on!

Thanks to @bycaprinae for Twitter screenshots, html, and general inspiration, and to @parroset for other help with the website part and general support!

[greendest1ny]

i wonder if wu caused the merge to save the realms from ras's master, who we know wants to reverse the merge, hence why he said 'only unity can save us', so maybe the merge prevents ras's master, whoever that may be, from enacting his true plans somehow? and that's why he's trying to undo the merge, so he can.. evil all over the place. idk. it's like 1 am and i'm half asleep.

[kat-rose-griffith]

I think I’ve made so much more Bridgerton content and analysis of Colin’s character and Luke’s acting than I probably would’ve done otherwise purely from the passion that I feel to positively counteract all of the creeps and assholes that keep being so hateful at him for literally just existing

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Eddie may not have said that he is straight on screen but Ryan has said it in interviews. I don't think he would call Eddie straight if it wasn't true. He would leave it unsaid like Oliver did regarding Buck's sexuality.

Hey Nonnie

I’ve said this several times - but I will say it again. Actors don’t know what direction their characters storylines are going to take - they can only speak for where there character is at at the moment of the interview they are giving. So an actor saying a character is straight means very little - Oliver referred to Buck as straight in interviews in the past - and look where Buck is now!

Plus Ryan has started using gender neutral pronouns in interviews and has talked about his delight at people from all demographics finding things in Eddie that has helped them - and that includes queer people. Ryan also has stated on multiple occasions that he is very much up for queer Eddie and buddie - if the show wants to go in that direction. we have enough subtext and foreshadowing in canon to make the conversations around Eddies sexuality valid. i would also point out that we know that Eddie was going to be the one getting a queer arc in s7 - but that they had to change it to Buck due to the availability of various actors, so to suggest that we are all reading too much into things - when we have plenty of evidence to validate our conversations is disingenuous. you don’t have to engage in those conversations - you can filter, block or scroll past stuff - and leave those of us who do want to speculate and enjoy discussing possible storylines for characters such as Eddie to do so.

We are talking about fictional people remember and so we can discuss whatever we want to discuss about them - it’s literally the purpose of fandom!

[mayasaura]

Tamsyn said she sent her manuscript in in January— why do you think we still haven’t hear anything? Do you think it’s just because they had to find a new print slot?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Perhaps they tenderly planeted her manuscript in the soft soil of early spring, only for the hardcover to tragically fail to germinate. I'm sure they plan to try again when the season is right, tho

[pianokantzart]

Do you think any future movies will show why there’s a warp pipe in the Brooklyn sewers? Given how Mario and Luigi only found it after crashing through a wall and Mario’s “Looks like nobody's been down here for years.” line, it could be possible that humans in the past have intentionally tried to cover up its existence.

As interesting as that would be, I wouldn't bet on it being explained any time soon. There is so much ground to cover in the Mario universe as is, so I don't see them investing time in that particular mystery it’s not important to the overall story (not right now at least).

The writers seem intent on leaving as much lore to imagination as possible, like how they dropped the loaded fact that Peach and Bowser had been sworn enemies for years before Bowser developed a crush on her. The "how" and "why" of their longstanding feud is left so vague that all I can do is theorize.

But who knows, I might be putting my foot in my mouth further down the line. Perhaps the reason Brooklyn's warp pipe was hidden is connected to Peach's mysterious origin story? We can only wait and see.

[the-physicality]

so i'm about to dive into college basketball in addition to pwhl in addition to wnbl [sydney only] in addition to nwsl playoffs bc my brain needs to be fed constantly

[wackytheorist]

The difference between bbhs limbos(?)

The colors are similar and the whole setting is similar but I want to just analyze a bit on how they are different(and why i think so).

The first thought that popped into my mind is that the spaces are personality based, and Bad has changed a lot through the timespan between these two events.

During purgatory, bad was in a not so great headspace, his ideals and motives were clouded and dark. This is visually represented here with the overall dark and numb vibe. Bad never really had a choice during purgatory: it was a lose, lose situation. The color pallet feels desaturated, his body was desaturated as well.

But the second time bad died, the circumstances were different. There was no goal, there was no loss and he knew that his death was approaching. The pallet and the sun is overwhelmingly bright because he had found his sunshines(dapper,pomme and maybe richas). He has a choice that he is forced to choose, the weighing scale means that he needs to put a definite value to his love which he cannot.