#i am officially an antagonist so that is interesting

[anonyb0b]

Lore adjacent art paired to Static by Minimall?? (I think henry did the same thing). Anyways I am really proud of how these came out

[edwin-paynes-bowtie]

Okay, so. I am very happy to inform y'all that I am beginning work on the first "episode" (chapter) of my Dead Boy Detectives season 2 fic today!

It has two potential working titles, both lyrics from Taylor Swift's Fresh Out the Slammer. I am not going to reveal them because I haven't selected which one I'll be using yet.

It will have 9 chapters. The official case titles are:

The Case of the Weeping Walls

The Case of Niko Sasaki

The Case of the Choked Cheerleaders

The Case of the Scorned Son

The Case of Hell's Own Track

The Case of the Shredded Tapestry

The Case of the Separated Soulmates

The Case of the Great Fire, Part I

The Case of the Great Fire, Part II

Each chapter will also come with a fun feature, but I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about that yet. :)

IF YOU WANT TO BE ON THE TAGLIST FOR THIS FIC, PLEASE COMMENT ON THIS POST. I will tag everyone who wants a tag, but only if they comment since that's how I'll keep track of the list.

Next question because I know this is going to be an extremely expansive and time-consuming project:

I would still post my usual DBDA content, including other DBDA fics, on this blog. The other one would be exclusively for longfic-related updates.

I would probably still reblog the chapters I post there onto this blog.

Finally, something for you to enjoy: a playlist for the fic! This is very short and uninteresting, but it will be an ever-evolving thing that probably gets long eventually, so please follow it if you're interested :)

A few spoilers under the cut that might impact interest (endgame ship, etc)

Unequivocal Payneland endgame (they're soulmates your honour)

Palasaki and NN/Kashi endgames

Happy ending for The Cat King, who plays a big role in the story

No Sandman crossovers besides potentially a Death appearance (I do not know Sandman well enough to include them)

BAMF Edwin scenes ;)

No Esther or Monty (sorry!) - there is a new OC antagonist

I'm currently trying to find a place for Jenny. I want to include her, but she will likely only have a few cameos since I can't for the life of me think of a plotline to involve her in.

I will be keeping up with Yockey-posted spoilers and incorporating them into the story when possible (so, Niko is the Principal, etc)

[marikbentusi]

I wasn't interested much in the Gwenpool Fortnite collab (fingerless gloves are a cute tweak), but someone asked on Twitter about "evil future Gwenpool" being labelled "Dark Gwenpool" ingame (which is what I've been calling my fan character variant since 2020):

"Dark" is a very common prefix for evil alter egos, so even if people occasionally mistake my comics for official material, I was certain this was a coincidence. But then the person also casually pointed out that she's called "Dark GwenPool" on Wikipedia. Huh?

No sources cited as far as I can tell. One of the original Gwenpool creators even agreed that "Dark Gwenpool" was never official:

I hunted down the Wikipedia changelog where apparently someone injected all the Dark Gwenpool stuff on 8th of April this year (2024). So maybe someone on the Fortnite team checked Google/Wikipedia instead of making up the name from scratch.

I tried to hunt down the wiki editor for questioning only to find out they are banned for being a sockpuppet account. In fact, that user was such a prolific sockpuppeteer that they've got their own Wikipedia page listing all 164 suspected alts. One of them is called "Batrocfrogg", what kind of canonization assist from beyond the grave is this?!

Since that lead went cold, I looked at the sources the wiki edit gave when talking about the character more generally. Aside from the official comics where she isn't called Dark Gwenpool, we've got:

"Peter Parker & Miles Morales: Spider-Men Double Trouble #2" – evil Gwen just has a cosplay background cameo there, no name drop.

Marvel Duel, a niche F2P mobile card game, where she's an antagonist.

The person who first pointed out to me that "Dark Gwenpool" was also on Wikipedia dug around and found a screenshot that evil Gwen is indeed called "Dark Gwenpool" in Marvel Duel:

Obviously I assume the Marvel Duel devs just made that one up without knowing about my comics. Case closed on that lead! But I'm not sure if the Wiki edit was based on this.

Marvel Duel, if we can still trust its wiki page, only released in eight countries. They are mostly in the UTC+8 time zone. The edit was finished on ~22:00 UTC+0, which would be Tuesday 05:00 AM local time if the editor is from one of those countries themselves. Of course, maybe the person played an emulated/jailbroken version (the game does come in English), watched a foreign Let's Play, or is just a super night owl. None of these are stranger than having 146 sockpuppet accounts. But it also doesn't exactly help the edit's credibility like I had hoped.

I also don't know if Marvel Duel included the name variations "Dark GwenPool" and "Dark Gwen" that the Wiki editor used specifically (in the screencap above she's stylized differently). The editor also called her the "evil alternator future version" tho, so maybe they aren't a stickler for details.

----

But yeah the TL;DR is that "Dark GwenPool" is currently the main name for evil Gwen on Wikipedia with no source cited. Marvel Duel calling her that as well was probably just coincidence. Maybe Fortnite also made it up, or they copied it from Wikipedia, or maybe they copied it from Marvel Duel itself.

I thought it was weird and funny enough to share. 164 sockpuppets. WTF.

[ultravioart]

How could they pull from Scottish punks and end up at that final result? Not even a pseudo kilt silhouette like how Kiriko has a pseudo Miko Shrine Maiden garments silhouette? Hazard should have had pushed shapes (sell the turtle aspect more, add more spikes) and more body mods (funky prosthesis or punk body mods, the lizard/snake man punks are free inspo).

For a punk 'freak' hero that uses bright graffiti, his design is much too plain and 'safe' imo, not colorful enough. I much prefer that cartoon icon we saw in Venture's trial because he does look really punk with a metal jaw and green hair, possibly cool yellow shades too?

When I first saw Hazard's official design I honestly thought it was a Rein skin. I just hope future skins for Hazard are more punky. JunkerQueen and Zarya both have rather punk-y skins, and Lucio has a concept art based skin, so I am hoping for something more "out there" and fun for Hazard.

Punk is not, and has not, ever been 'conventionally attractive and palatable' and with Hazard's backstory, him being intentionally 'outlandish' would have only reinforced his outlook and story.

Like, people don't love Rein because he's eye candy, they like the hero fantasy of a big knight, being a shield, that he fights for others bravely. People don't love Doomfist because he's eye candy, they love him because his mechanics are hard to perfect but rewarding to land, and his sophisticated antagonist plotline is super engaging, and the hero fantasy of a big powerful genius with a giant fist is badass!

But Hazard? He's eye candy, sure. Got some piercings, but so does JunkerQueen. Plain black leather jacket and pants... okay but Young Cass and Ashe in general do that too. Hell, a young Tracer(in the comics she had a very punk hairstyle) was way more punk than Haz was as a teen. I don't understand why they didn't PUSH his punk design further, when we have characters like Roadhog and JunkerQueen on the roster already. Hazard is very conventional for an overwatch design, he looks like he could be a side character in a gang instead of a main hero... Boomslang(viper Phreaks member) atleast has interesting shapes on her design! The Junkers are scrappy and DIY-low end tech (scrap guns, explosives, knives) survivalists, so imo the Phreaks could have been like a Sombra-version of Junkers, cyberpunk but WAY WAAAAY more out there with wild body mods and DIY high end tech (plasma weapons, energy swords, multiple arms, etc). I did peep a retractable energy sword from Hazard in the cinematic but why not just build a nonretractable sword into his base design instead? He already has a gun arm (like Orisa).

I really do think the metal jaw would have made Hazard instantly recognizable, but man, atleast keep the toxic green spiky hair!!! Haz is brunette, so why choose blonde as the 'punk' color when his body shape is already so similar to Reinhardt? Doomfist already has a "one arm is a weapon" so that's not Hazard's iconic detail, Mauga is already shirtless so that's out as an iconic detail, and the crystal spikes aren't nearly present enough in his design to make it out like that is his iconic 'thing' imo. Meanwhile, look at JunkerQueen: she is somehow MORE punk than Hazard who is intentionally being punk. And even then, I think people forget JunkerQueen has mag tornado powers in her gauntlet. Many Overwatch 2 heroes struggle with visually telling the players what a hero is/does via the design. And don't even get me started on Venture's nonsensical jacket design lol. Juno and Hazard feel like the designs where 'simplified' from concept art so that making skins for them would be easier. Juno looked better with the armor pieces, and Hazard would look better with green hair and a metal jaw.

[bibibbon]

Within the narrative of MHA, All Might is supposed to be a "comic book hero" while All For One is a "comic book villain" doing good and evil for good's/evil's sake (like how early superhero comics in the 30s were written). But their ways of Heroism and Villainy could no longer suffice in a world that his become so nuanced and grey in tone, which is why, as part of the "passing the torch" theme, AM and AFO pass their roles as symbols to their successors, with Izuku learning what makes Villains the way they are, something AM and the other OFA holders never bothered to do (please ignore the fact the he was only ever successful with Gentle Criminal) and Tomura gaining the goal of wanting to destroy everything that reminds him of what made him a Villain in the first place, as he's come to despise a society so rotten that it is capable of creating someone like him (this is good). But all of that nuance to Tomuea's position as the main antagonist were ruined when Hori placed AFO into that role again to suck the enjoyment and nuance out of the entire third act, completely undermining and destroying the "passing the torch" theme previously established.

Hi @patrickowens86 👋

The clear cut theme of good and evil within MHA was introduced early into the story with people taking a clear cut role of either hero (good) or villain (bad). The beginning of the story literally describes the awakening of quirks as "fantasy becomes reality". This theme of fantasy becomes reality is repeatedly brought up with yoichi and all for one directly and has a lot of all might imagery indirectly hinting to all might.

As a way for the world to cope with people gaining superhuman abilities they tried to follow what was most familiar to them which was comic books. This ultimately "worked" for the most part until the rise of deku and shigaraki where like you said We're familiarised with a grey space that's the in-between of good and bad. The whole passing on the torch to the next person theme was established from the very beginning of act 1 and continued all the way until the middle of act 3 until it ultimately failed due to Hori choosing to bring back all for one in shigarakis body which ended up being a horrible writing decision that robbed the series of potential.

All might and all for one's actions are continually foiled with the way they treat their supposed successor and in reality after the training camp arc that resulted in the fall of all might and the the arrest of all for one shigaraki and Deku were officially given all of the responsibilities and handed the whole torch to carry on.

The problem is that shigaraki wants to destroy everything his goals never developed into proper ones of him specifically wanting and targeting to destroy hero society. The closest we get is him wanting to get rid of the status quo (aka heroes to him) and the narrative usually frames his destruction as completely evil (without going to acknowledge that the status quo of MHA has harmed many) or that destruction and violence is simply in shigarakis blood (what redestro has continually said to shig during their fight).

I think it would of been more interesting if we got the concept of izuku creating a society safe for others and shigaraki destroying the status quo that then enables for izuku to create. I do think that the ending aka chapter 430 tried going down that route but the execution was lacking horribly and it also didn't work due to how underdeveloped izuku and shigaraki's dynamic is.

Izuku's role was supposed to be for him to reach out and understand villains. He was supposed to understand the grey space and see the corruptness of society. Chapter 1 Izuku starts in a perfect way for him to see this with the prologue being "not everyone's born equal that's a lesson I learned at a young age". Izuku is also a victim to hero society but horikoshi lacks nunance when it comes to his victims so Izuku ends up being a good innocent no can do wrong victim while shigaraki is the complete opposite. In the end Izuku and shigaraki are framed as two extremes of two different sides with no proper nunance to them.

In the end both izuku and shigaraki were done dirty. Shigaraki was done dirty by not having his leadership role in the overhaul and MVA arc properly developed and he got his body hijacked by AFO ruining the passing on the torch motif while Izuku was stripped of the proper agency and autonomy for him to get proper intropsection and character growth so he ends up being an incredibly static character.

[bottlepiecemuses]

Let’s Be Honest He Appeals To Women A Different Way

People call Oda Oda sexist, but in my opinion focusing on his target demographic isn’t bad. Girls aren’t excluded but I think it’s good he’s not automatically pandering to them through romance because in my opinion if he did those elements would feel forced in this show. And I think unintentional pandering to your unintended audience tends to be better than when you intentionally do so and it could potentially turned off that segment. 

The most obvious attraction that women have to this series is the dilf hot males, especially the villains. Seriously, it’s really the most unintentional of pandeirng that Oda creates these types of villains and the female audience eats it up. While most shonen series focuses on hot young men, this series give attraction to old men as well and we female fans are eating it all up. 

And again the female characters, despite the criticisms of same character mold I do think when it comes down to it excluding romance has helped. Seriously, while on the surface level the latter three are attractive and used for fan service, Oda does his best to also flesh out their characters. For instance, Nami and Robin are different types of smart guys on the crew and are critical to helping Luffy on his journey by traveling safely through the world and knowing the secrets about the messages of the Poneglyphs. In my opinion, it makes them stand out to me because they serve more than fanservice but also as people who have their place in the story. They might not get as much fights, but they manage to be strong female characters in their own right. 

Another is Vivi who isn’t the strongest fighter but has the strongest spirit and has taken on evil organizations and now the government itself to stand up for what she believes is right. Vivi might not be an official member but she is in spirit a close secret ally of the crew and her presence really brought a great dynamic from the crew that makes them all still miss her being around. 

And finally Big Mom why is she on this list, because interesting enough Oda could have just made her a one dimensional fat fuck, but instead he made her a complex character even though she’s a villainess. And even though everything she’s gone through is not an excuse for her behavior, it still makes her a compelling character to read because again someone like her ended up this way because so many people wanted to use her and enable her worst qualities for their selfish ends. And in the end we have a woman who not only can’t emphasize with people and feels entitled to everything due to how she was taught to see the world. In my opinion Oda, didn’t have to do this but I am glad and it makes antagonists like her very happy to see. 

And again even though One Piece isn’t about romance, it really gives compelling canon couples some spotlight. Seriously, one of them is Capone and Chiffon, who you wouldn’t think make a wholesome couple but they do. He seriously showers this woman who was so abused by her mother for what her sister did and adores the son they have together. He even goes up against her brother who was going to kill her even though she pleaded to leave her. This guy really does love his wife and would anything for her like a real man would. And again in my opinion, lovey dovey romance is something Oda will never do but I admit I think any woman would want a man like Capone to stand up for her like that. And in my opinion, if you ever see a married couple in this franchise you will bet your ass that married couple will have something deep and lasting. With exceptions being Yassop and Big Mom herself. 

[kneesheee]

50 Things to Know about the Disney-verse

1. Ursula and Maleficent are rivals so Uma and Mal being rivals also tracks.

2. The Evil Queen and Maleficent are rivals for Hades' affections and for the status of "The Evilest of Them All'.

3. The Evil Queen claims not to be Hades' girlfriend, but they just had "an interesting weekend" on Castaway Cay. And therefore, I headcanon that she is Hadie’s mom. Probably conceived sometime around Evie’s banishment.

4. In the Disney Villains: Top Secret Files, Maleficent is featured in her own section. According to the pieces of information provided, Maleficent's last name is Faery.

5. She was actually invited to Aurora's birth ceremony and that the invitation simply never got to her castle because she burnt the postman to death (believing him to be a trespasser) before he could deliver it.

6. Her dragon form also appeared in The Little Mermaid series episode "Heroes" as a sea dragon.

7. Captain Hook tried to charm her, only to be zapped away leaving behind his hook. Jafar also tried to woo her while they sat together, only to end up being literally burnt.

8. It was revealed in "A Christmas Cruella" that she did want a puppy before becoming her villainous self.

9. Cruella has a brother named Cecil and a niece named Ivy. However, Cecil is not Ivy's father, meaning that Cruella and Cecil must have another sibling (most likely a brother) who is Ivy's parent.

10. In 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue, Cruella has set up a toy factory next to DeVil Manor. She seems to have tried online dating, where she has supposedly wed herself to Professor Farzboom, a meek professor who helps her make her toys. So there’s Carlos’ dad.

11. In "Max's Embarrassing Date", she went on a date with the Beast and asked if he came in a medium, which the Beast became annoyed of. After the Beast gets soaked with soup he was eating, Cruella is unhappy as she would have to get him dry-cleaned.

12. Walt Disney's early vision for The Rescuers revolved around the kidnapping of a polar bear from a city zoo; writers considered reusing Cruella as the main antagonist (presumably driven by her desire for the bear's fur).

13. The concept art of the film shows Cruella wearing an outfit made out of crocodile leather. Because The Rescuers was set more than a decade after 101 Dalmatians, Cruella was given a period-appropriate update. Aside from her '70s alligator-chic outfit, Cruella is accessorized with Sly and the Family Stone-style sunglasses. In other sketches, De Vil is depicted in bell-bottom pants and a pair of platforms. Other concept art showed Cruella driving a water vehicle similar to the one Medusa uses in the final film.

14. The Prince is usually known as Prince Charming, though some source material shows that his name is Henri, or Henry. However, he was never referred to by name anywhere in the film. Not even mentioned as "Prince Charming".

15. The story takes place roughly in June. In the movie, the sun rises slightly before 6:00 AM (in France), as it would within a few weeks of the summer solstice. Also, by this time, a pumpkin would have grown to 20–40 pounds.

16. The debate of the setting of Cinderella has always been a problem, but most people can agree it is French; however, there is a small amount of people who think it is Spanish because the female names end in "A" but that does not really cut it so deeper research shows that the thing on Anastasia's head is a peineta or headdress used in Spain along with formal attire also the French furnishings and the Spanish furnishings within the same time period are very similar in style.

17. Cinderella is the “oldest” princess in the official franchise being 19 while Snow White is the youngest being 14. Also, Snow White’s prince was suppose to be 18 according to Disney’s records.

18. In the third movie, Cinderella’s shoe size is mentioned to be a size 4½ in women's. According to Disney's Villains' Revenge, Snow White has smaller feet than Cinderella.

19. Cinderella was actually rich at the beginning, even before she married the prince. This was exempted, however, as she was forced to work as a servant.

20. In some stories, Cinderella's real name was Ella (short for Eleanor), and because she would always lie in cinders, her stepfamily would call her CinderElla. However, in the Disney film, "Cinderella" is truly her name by birth.

21. Cinderella's last name would likely have been Tremaine since her stepmother's name was Lady Tremaine unless Lady Tremaine kept her maiden name.

22. According to Disneystrology, Cinderella’s birthday is September 6.

23. According to the Disneystrology book, Snow White’s birthday would be on March 6.

24. Cinderella is magical. She has a special ability to empathize with animals, perceive what they say and communicate with them.

25. Melody is the very first human-merperson hybrid in history, making her birth a significant historic moment in both human and Atlantican history.

26.She is also not considered a canon descendant’s character and considered to be from an AU, but apparently, Beauty & The Beast, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and The Little Mermaid are considered to be happening roughly around the same time in the disney timeline.

26. Melody's bedroom is Ariel's guest room when she first took human form and stayed with Prince Eric, albeit recolored with brighter colors.

27. Contrary to popular belief, Jasmine's age has never been confirmed or even referenced in any of the Aladdin movies, television series, or other spinoff projects. In the original film, the Sultan declares that Jasmine must be married "by her next birthday", but never specifies how old she will become on said birthday.

28. An early story concept for the original film had the Sultan saying, "Jasmine, the law says you must be married by your sixteenth birthday.", which would have made her fifteen years old. This concept was scrapped when Jeffrey Katzenberg became worried about sending the wrong message regarding the idea that fifteen year old girls can get married. Thus, the line was changed to "married to a prince by your next birthday.", leaving Jasmine's canonical age unknown.

29. One of the Disney Princess magazines has a story about two of Jasmine's cousins named Farah and Nadine. Whether they are considered canon is unknown.

30. Although the exact date is not clear, Jasmine's birthday is in late January or early February. This is because when Aladdin and Jasmine fly on the magic carpet, Chinese New Year is being celebrated over in China. This holiday can fall anywhere from January 21 to February 20.

31. She also has another cousin named Sharma who teaches at The Royal Academy.

32. Nasira is the better sorcerer between her and her twin brother, Jafar.

33. According to Disneystrology, Tiana’s birthday would be on December 25, Christmas Day.

34. The trailer implies that Gaston may have been aware of the Beast's curse, and had ulterior motives besides wanting Belle as his wife for attempting to kill the Beast, as the trailer described him as being "one man who wants to keep the spell alive," although it is unconfirmed whether this was the case in the film itself.

35. Despite various concept materials, as listed above, give Gaston the surname of LeGume, the Bimbettes during the song of "Belle" refer to Gaston as "Monsieur Gaston" and Belle in the reprise twice sarcastically refers to herself as "Madame Gaston" suggesting that Gaston is his surname in the final version.

36. The Bimbettes (individual names Claudette, Laurette, and Paulette) are blonde identical triplets who fawn over Gaston. They are inspired by Belle's sisters from the original Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.

37. They are the first Disney characters to possess green eyes without being villains

38. These girls worked their asses off in the comics to get Gaston to notice them. 😩

39. Its implied in one comic that Belle and Gaston were friends when they were children.

40. Ironically, despite Belle being considered by the village to be the most beautiful woman in the village, Laurette once disguised herself as Belle flawlessly enough to fool Gaston initially, which conflicted with the claim that Belle's looks had no parallel.

41. Even though he is referred to as a prince in the opening, none of the characters directly refer to him by that title. In addition, the first draft for Woolverton's take of the film indicated that the Beast was intended to be a duke instead of a prince.

42. According to the first stained-glass window featured in the film's opening sequence, Adam’s family motto is "vincit qui se vincit" (meaning "The winner is who wins himself").

42. Though the Beast's official age is not mentioned in the movie, it is strongly indicated by the narrator's statement that the rose "would bloom until his 21st year." As the rose has already begun to wilt by the time Belle arrives at the castle, it is very likely that the Beast is 20 years (i.e. on their 21st year) of age by this point.

43. In authorized supplementary comics, most notably The New Adventures of Beauty and the Beast, the Prince is never shown as being older than a preteen when he's shown as a human; moreover, the palace staff all refer to his pre-curse self as "a young boy" or "child". Two individual comics show that the Prince was originally a few years older than Chip, who didn't age during the curse, and shows him as being a couple of years older than Belle herself. The comics also show that the Prince has had a few run-ins with the disguised Enchantress, meaning that he'd still be a preteen when he was cursed.

44. Despite her slim figure, Belle seems to have considerable strength. She may have lifted the Beast, as evidenced by the Beast being placed onto Philippe's back, although this was never shown on-screen. Later on, she was able to pull the Beast up onto a balcony.

45. Belle is currently the only official Disney Princess to have hazel eyes.

46. In the beginning of the original 1989 storyline, found on the Diamond Edition DVD, Belle's birthday is celebrated, and the cake reads "Happy 17th Birthday Belle", providing evidence that she is 17 in the movie, or at least that she was originally planned to be 17.

47. Contrary to popular belief, it's not made clear whether Belle was actually born a peasant, as she implies that she wasn't born in her home village in the opening song, but rather moved there. In addition, her owning books at her cottage implied that she is, or at least was, considerably wealthy (as back in the time period of the film, books were considerably expensive).

48. In the musical, specifically the song "No Matter What" one of the lyrics had Maurice stating "You are your mother's daughter; therefore you are class ... crème de la crème", implying that Belle was part of the social upper class. This was also supported by Belle having a portrait of her and her mom in the Enchanted Tales of Belle attraction.

49. In earlier drafts, Aladdin had three human friends named Babkak, Omar, and Kassim.

50. In the episode "Two to Tangle", it's revealed that Aladdin has unexplored magic powers hidden within his soul. This may possibly be a link to him being "The Diamond In The Rough".

[witheredoffherwitch]

Speculations and Spoilers: A Breakdown of the Trailer

Overall, here are my initial thoughts on the trailer: it exceeded my expectations. I was prepared for the rumoured "leaked" version but I am pleasantly surprised with what we got instead. The aesthetic of this season has already improved - the colour grading, costumes, and makeup all seem to have upgraded from previous seasons.

Now let's get to the trailer itself. I won't analyze every single scene, but rather focus on a few intriguing ones and share my own theories. Just a heads up, there may be some spoilers mentioned in the following observations. So, proceed with caution!

The first shot of Rhaenyra is absolutely heartbreaking. She appears shattered and defeated, likely searching for her son's body by the Shipbreaker's Bay:

Both shots seem to be part of the same sequence as she is wearing the same outfit.. and the first shot could be the aftermath of her unsuccessful attempt to find her son's remains.

In the next scene, we are presented with two dragons on opposite sides: Syrax and Rhaenyra on one side, and Seasmoke on the other. This will potentially show Addam or Laenor swearing allegiance to Rhaenyra's cause.

The third scene I wanted to highlight is Alicent caught in the midst of a riot. While many assume it will occur during the funeral procession, I believe it takes place much later in the series. One hint is from the leaks revealing Alicent's funeral attire, which looks quite different from what we see here.

The first image is from the leaked footage, while the second one is what we see in the official trailer. It's possible that they may have reshot the scene with different costumes, but it seems unlikely. In the second scene, which I assume will be set much later in the season, it seems likely that they might finally introduce the Shepherd. Personally, I will be thrilled if they bring him into the series earlier on as he becomes one of the most prominent voices against House Targaryen. His early introduction will showcase his growing hatred for their dragons, and his sermons will only become more antagonistic as Rhaenyra's rule progresses. Eventually, it will lead to the infamous storming of the dragon pit where the mob will eventually slaughter all of their remaining dragons.

A brief glimpse at Helaena's scenes with B&C and her attending Jaehaerys' funeral procession:

The second scene captures her gazing upwards, likely indicating one of two possibilities: 1. she is giving the command for Dracarys to Dreamfyre, or 2. she is looking up to see Aegon on Sunfyre, who may perform the final rites himself.

In addition to Rhaenyra's dragon-riding scene, we are shown Baela and Aemond on their dragons. Baela is decked out in armour, possibly indicating her involvement in a war. This supports the popular theory that she will be present at Rook's Rest.

Baela's scene has many fans speculating that it may be when she witnesses the death of Rhaenys.

Moving on to the Aegon scene, I am thoroughly amused by his attitude. I was afraid we would be stuck in another sombre period with Aegon, but thankfully we have moved on and entered his cunty phase.

Lastly, I won't delve deeper into these two scenes since I've already addressed the question here.

However, I have heard the theory about it being a dream sequence, which is something I personally prefer over the idea of it being about Alys.

Now, my final thoughts: Rhaenyra looks more pro-active as most of us had expected earlier. However, I still doubt if they will include her in any of the war sequences. Her role will be much more covert (which the maesters wouldn't have known to record in the history texts.) On the other hand, Alicent appears to have given up this season altogether. A side note: both women look stunningly beautiful in the trailer.

Aemond continues to dominate as the most interesting character, and it seems we can anticipate his reign as Prince Regent this season. Even in his brief appearances, he manages to captivate our attention and leave us wanting more. Aegon will be taking charge and we can expect a major comeback now that he is leading the Green faction.

AND that concludes everything for the time being! I may come back to this post later and make some revisions, but for now, this is all.

[golvio]

Since Echoes of Wisdom is a top-down Zelda game, I’m not expecting the game’s story to be super complex or involved, but I’ll admit I am curious about certain characters & implied background events.

In particular, I’m curious about who these three unique NPCs from the Gerudo Desert region are:

The woman with the golden trident is most likely the current Chief, given that I’ve seen screenshots of her standing up from a throne holding the trident aloft are circulating around. But who are those other two people?

I suspect the woman in white might be the chief’s sister, since her hair resembles the chief’s hair and the gemstones she’s wearing are the same color as the Chief’s. Also, Nintendo would not have the gonads to put an official confirmed lesbian couple in their kid-friendly game no matter how G-rated “This lady’s the queen and her wife is also the queen” is as a concept. However, the woman in white also seems to be a person of importance to the Gerudo given that the guards are answering to her. There was mention of an “Ancestral Cave” elsewhere in the trailer. Could she maybe be a high priestess or keeper of some sort of sacred site of worship or burial who acts as a spiritual leader to the community?

As for the figure in blue with the gloves and the hat—they’re definitely also Gerudo, but they’re dressed in a very unusual way that sets them apart. My first guess was that this was an older woman, maybe the chief’s mother, who’s acting as an advisor given that they were standing next to the throne in the aforementioned screenshot. However, they don’t look that old, given that we’ve seen old people with wrinkles in Zelda’s court in the form of Imoa and her brother, so I have another guess.

This person might actually be a boy, the current Gerudo prince, who’s either too young to take an active part in political life, or is maybe the younger brother or spouse of the chief who’s relegated to acting in a more supportive role because of his age and gender. Their style of dress is much more formal and masculine, being somewhere between the draped turban and robes you’d expect Indian royalty to wear and the iconic blue and gold khepresh crown that some Egyptian pharaohs wore.

It’d be really interesting to get some insight into Gerudo politics, particularly if a prince who isn’t Ganondorf is involved! Also, partly because it’d give us some insight into what “went wrong” with this particular version of Ganon if we have a baseline about what the role of prince in Gerudo culture is normally supposed to be like.

Speaking of Ganon, assuming he himself isn’t just an “echo” sent by some greater force, it looks like he himself might’ve been actively looking into whatever force Tri was connected to based on how the tablet behind Zelda in the room where she was being imprisoned resembled the waypoints Tri can use to warp you around.

Given that the Rifts seem to be “stealing” land tiles and making phantom echoes of monsters, and that the rift opening ability is tied to Ganon’s own “wand” that he uses to cast spells, could he have his own little helper buddy who’s given him the power to play Sim City in his own little pocket dimension? Is Ganon’s motive like the angry guy from the popup window in Sim City 2000, where he’s picking up his toys and starting a new Hyrule in the Dark World because Zelda’s dad cut back on transit funding for that year’s budget?

Seriously, though, it’d be really cool if Ganon functioned as a “dark mirror” to Zelda during what will presumably be his actual final boss fight. (Come on, do you really think he’d be fine with playing second fiddle to a new antagonist if he had even the tiniest glimmer of his original personality left instead of being a soulless shell like in ALBW? He’s absolutely gonna be the final boss.)

[froagles]

Hi! Just curious, but how do you imagine Mr. Sunshine (Dogday) and Miss Doom and Gloom (Baba Chops) ended up a thing? Also? What do you think their playlist look like? For me, some of their songs would include Maybe This Time from HSTMTMTS and Force of Nature by Melina KB

Interesting question, I don’t know if I could come up with a playlist because we know so little about Baba Chops in comparison to Dogday (which I hope will change)

A bit of a tangent, I have a feeling or at least am hoping that because of the whole “black sheep” motif and just that obviously if you’ve seen it the holiday official art she’s got a connection more specifically to Dr. Sawyer, with so many potential antagonists we know coming I honestly hope that Baba Chops is “the black sheep” aka someone trying to help us the player, I’m not 100% sure but I dare to dream, I just want more information on her honestly as a good bye or bad guy

Anyways if you believed the “Nightmare Critters are the opposites of the Smiling Critters traits wise” theory, whether she’s Catnap or Dogday doesn’t really matter I feel like Dogday would be gravitated towards her either in the sense that she and her crew (or just her crew) caused trouble and he’s confronting them or he’s introducing himself to her, either way I feel like obviously Dogday brings her out of her shell but I feel in the same way Baba could get Dogday to see things differently too, that might help him in relationships with people like Catnap too.

All that to say, I feel like it’d be incredibly gradual and maybe Dogday says something intentionally very meaningful but not expecting Baba to give such an intense response, or Baba responds to something he said so much happier or warmer than Dogday has ever seen that he simply blurts it out, something very them I feel, and something just very soft and cute

Oh but if you’re thinking a more fucked up wrong, Red Means I Love You of course I have more songs like Dear Diary but I’d have to explain my thought process and this is already too long lmao

[generouskittentidalwave]

Tobio talk

I honestly have come to the realization that as well known as Tobio is because of Astro, while Astro stays the same in his iterations, Tobio is so obscure that while he has a few constants (shy/introverted/polite/struggles with his messy room, cares about his parents, etc..) most about him changes in different forms of media, and is also kept unknown for plot reasons, even his name itself changed as it wasn't Tobio originally. Usually because he is hit with a truck, or killed some other way, in the begining before we get to know much about him.

I think the most character he has ever been given is in Atom the Beginning, and the 2003 anime via flashbacks and a visit from his ghost (ouch as that scene hurt me🖐️😭)

The 2009 movie gave him a bit more screentime but there his character was different as in they kept most of the constants but made his personality more mischievous, confident, and sometimes hilariously cocky as he tries to live up to Tenma's ridiculous expectations

I think the other one would be Pluto which we don't even see Tobio in at all, but we get a lot of insight on who he was via Tenma having his usual existential breakdown about his death at the dinner table, very much confusing Astro (at the time who grew up thinking he was Tobio), leaving him very confused on why his father is talking about him in third person right to him.

As for the rest he is only brought up via flashbacks, people talking about him, and his unfortunately short screentime in the beginning of almost every iteration.

Most people base his personality on Astro but even then that's very incredibly vague as in every iteration Astro is displayed to, not just have traits only Tobio would have and replicate things Tobio would do, but also have a personality pretty different to Tobio. Tobio is shy and reserved (usually), Astro is polite like Tobio was displayed as but is more open and extroverted, in the 2009 movie Astro and Tobio have similar traits that make them alike but their personalities are mostly different, same for Pluto, and many others.

The only thing that stays the same between Tobio and Astro no matter the iteration is their looks and most importantly their moral compass. No matter what Astro and Tobio have the same moral compass on things

Now this brings us into aus which do exist in the small yet vastly powerful and growing Astro Boy fandom

I don't count Aus in this as they aren't anything canon or official, but nonetheless it is the one instance where their moral compasses change. In this instance you have what I call the "what if?" phenomenon, that happens in every fandom where they take the wholesome lil guy and change their moral compass around, usually making them into a bad guy/antagonist for their own interesting plot and story explorations which can lead to pretty interesting au reads. And as a side note yes, I am aware some people may find it upsetting as it's always out of character and some people don't like seeing their favorite good guy made out as a terrible person or doing something terrible which is understandable, it's not my cup of tea either, but at the same time you shouldn't worry about it affecting your love for the character because you have to remember that it's not their actual character nor is it affecting their actual character/reputation as a character. As long as it isn't made into anything immoral then just let people have fun and don't bug them. It's not hurting you or anyone else, or taking away the reputation of the character. Just vibe and let vibe.

Now what does this have to do with any of this? Well two things actually. One not only is the "what if?" extremely rare here, but it's also the only instances of their moral compusses getting turned around. The fact it never happens in the official media, and rarely ever happens in the fandom itself, is something I find to be a pretty cool constant for their characters that is agreed upon 100% in canon and a lot of the times in the fandom as well.

And I believe it is because it helps link the two together as their moral compusses, or better yet, their hearts, being of the same tune, helps them react to important situations the same way as eachother. They reflect eachother. Despite their differences, Tezuka shows that they are still always connected by heart and always will be in their official works.

So anyway, Tobio deserves more attention as there is both so much yet so little known about him at the same time, and with his ties to Astro's past it makes him such a cool character that deserves much more recognition! ^^

[ultra-clashpects]

Hello everyone and Happy New Years!! I hope everyone had a happy new years however they chose to spend it.

I would like to apologize for my continued absence in posting, but life is getting stressful and busy and I haven't had as much time as I wanted to spend working on this project, but in the midst of everything, I have finally begun formally working on a project that I've been trying to begin since before 2020, and I am so happy to introduce to all of you:

CYANIDESNACKZ

The official Ultra Clashpects inspired Homestuck session. Following one of many protagonist and antagonist characters- Cyan Reynen- as they and their friends see what SBURB has in store for them.

I am so happy to introduce this side project of mine that I've been working on in the background for many years now and I now feel confident enough in it and the platform to begin producing it. It's created on the MSPaint Fan Adventures site alongside some of my favourite fan-works of all time.

I hope for you to hear me out on this and to check it out if it seems like something you would be interested in. I will occasionally post updates here on this forum if people are taking interest, but if not then you will rarely have to hear about it.

In regards to my regular content- I am going to see about being able to continue posting somewhat regularly again, but I am not certain I will be able to right away. I am always thinking and planning out my next post and writing in my head even when I'm not being able to produce new content for all of yall.

TLDR: I've been talking too much, so I'll sum everything up. I've created my own UC / Homestuck inspired comic that I'm producing on the MSPFA Site. Click the big bold letters up there if you wanna check it out. I'm not returning to posting quite yet but I just wanted to remind yall that I'm still somehow alive.

Okay have a great day/night everyone and I love you all <3

[roseaesynstylae]

Star Wars: Republic Commando: Hard Contact, Chapter 2

"Clone personnel have free will, even if they do follow orders. If they couldn't think for themselves, we'd be better off with droids -- and they're a lot cheaper, too. They have to be able to respond to situations we can't imagine. Will that change them in ways we can't predict? Perhaps. But they have to be mentally equipped to win wars. Now thaw these men out. They have a job to do.

-- Jedi Master Arligan Zey, intelligence officer"

I'm going to add any of these...I'm not sure what these extracts at the beginning of the chapters are properly called, but I'll add them whenever they're interesting.

Zey's comment about the clones reminds me of the line from Andor. "We're cheaper than droids, and easier to replace." The difference here is that while clones are more expensive and harder to replace than droids, they're superior.

And yes, Master Zey, it did change them in unexpected ways.

"It didn't feel so bad to be revived after stasis. He was still a commando. They hadn't reconditioned. That meant -- that meant he'd performed to expected standards at Geonosis. He'd done well. He felt positive."

The implication that "under-performing" clones are brainwashed, at best, is one of the Traviss's additions that I genuinely like, emphasizing the cold detachment of the Kaminoans before they become prominent in the series. It's also just a terrifying idea.

"Darman was careful not to stare -- even though any eye movement was disguised by his helmet -- because Jedi knew things without having to see. His instructors had told him so. Jedi were omniscient, omnipotent, and to be obeyed at all times."

And here we see the official beginning of the Jedi-Bashing count. It's subtler here, but it keeps popping up in ways that are unmistakable in the context of the series' attitude toward the Jedi Order. In multiple cases, such as this one, lines that wouldn't make me bat an eye in a different book, (or more accurately, a different author), but make me grit my teeth here.

The way this specific paragraph is written is very similar to how I'd write a passage from the POV of a character who thinks the antagonist is a good person, or is brainwashed, but I want to make it clear what's really going on. Only in this case, it isn't portraying, say, a Sith cult, but the Jedi Order, which is devoted to helping others, enforcing justice, and studying the Force.

Jedi-Bashing: 1

"'This is your unit of four, then? A squad?' He seemed to be recalling a hurried lesson. 'Almost like a family?'"

This might be a stretch, but I'm not cutting this series an iota of slack when it comes to the Jedi Order. The implication here seems to be "Oh look, the Jedi have no idea what a family is! It's so unnatural and wrong, not like the good, wholesome Mandalorians!" Am I being petty? Maybe. Does Kal Skirata ranting about baby-stealers get really fucking old really fucking fast? Definitely.

Jedi-Bashing: 2

"'My squad called me Atin," the wounded commando said.

Niner glanced at Fi but said nothing. Atin was Mandalorian for 'stubborn.'"

Okay, this bit is just funny.

"Darman -- a soldier able to withstand every privation in the field, and whose greatest fear was to whither from age rather than die in combat -- felt inexplicably uncomfortable at the idea of a Jedi having failings."

Jedi-Bashing: 3

"Etain was neither a natural warrior nor a great charmer, but she was aware of her talent for spotting opportunities. It made up for a lot."

In this book, at least, I really like Etain. She's a good audience surrogate and her headspace is easier to get into than the other three narrators.

Jedi-Bashing: 3

Di'kut Count: 1

Main Post

[nothing-but-glitter-and-lashes]

just a girl who loves too hard, forgives too easy, hates too much, talks too loud, and is so so happy to be here 💖💖💖

pfp by the extremely talented @rosa-maltz

just realised i never did an official introduction!

name: nah

age: under 18

pronouns: she/her

sexuality: bisexual i think??? lmao

favourite song: guilty pleasure by chappell roan

interests:

CHAPPELL ROAN, maisie peters, sabrina carpenter, olivia rodrigo, conan gray, madilyn mei

(i have a chappell roan polls blog) (@chappellroanpolls)

musicals especially hamilton, heathers, etc.

taylor swift (@abiglifeinsurancepolicy - kind of dead though)

i write fanfic (mostly hamilton)

whump. idk why it’s just fun to write (@katwriteswhump)

my irl friends that have tags (so far)

maddy (#maddy being bi-conic*)

sophie (#sophie being the antagonist of my life*)

aishani (# aishani <3)

i mostly post things related to musicals on this blog, as well as LGBTQ+ content and updates on the genocide in Palestine. i have 2 side blogs. i will follow or interact with anyone who wants to, as long as you’re respectful.

my favourite taylor swift album is evermore, and my tay side blog has a quote from no body, no crime (cus it’s a banger). im not going to the eras tour, but i wish i was.

i am a minor, so please keep anything you talk about with me appropriate. and by that i mean, anything as long as it’s not completely disturbing and disgusting. i haven’t got like, a lot of triggers or anything so i’m fine with most content.

if you are homophobic, transphobic, aphobic, racist, sexist, ableist, misogynistic, or just generally disrespectful of anyone, just don’t come here <3

anyway! have fun y’all <3

see you guys around :)

[temperamentalaquarius]

so what do i have to offer to get a post with a scathing comparison of fanon Tim and canon Tim? 😂 this is an official request! the amount of cardboard cutout & self-insert Tim ocs i have found in the fanfics… it’s been really bothering me lately and your “bitch i might wing” posts give me life

I'm glad ur enjoying my descent, I am too ha ha!!

And boy do I agree with you. Tim is juuust white and twinky enough(but not nearly as much as fanon Tim enjoyers seem to think) on first spec for a lot of ppl to project on, so he gets...idk let's call it diluted. Short answer is that canon Tim would drop kick fanon Tim for speaking about Jack Drake the way he does.

Long rambling analysis is that fanon Tim leans into his time as Red Robin(because it's the only Tim comic they've read IF they've read it) which was more supposed to be a story of how someone behaves when they are so deep in their grief that they literally can't see which way is up than a display of how Tim normally behaves and thinks. Everything else is just kind of.. assumed filler based off of what his wiki says. As a result Tim gets written as this shy, spineless, borderline megalomaniac child who is ignored and undervalued when in 85% of canon he's the complete opposite(nu52 Tim is a blight). Where fanon Tim is a genius prodigy, canon Tim is the average smart kid with a big mouth who chose to be a hero. He had to contend with the knowledge and fear that he is not on the level of the other heroes and adapts to it by bringing antagonists to his level instead of meeting them where they are. He's interesting because he literally has to think differently but he's written as Bruce junior for some reason.

Also, unlike most of the batfam, he has(or had) strong ties to his civilian life, and had to find a way to balance them, something that is completely ignored in fanon when that was his appeal in the first fucking place. Instead, fanon warps his parents into these grotesquely neglectful charicatures to justify the truth of Red Robin when again, Red Robin was about grief through the lens of an unreliable narrator. Jack and Janet were just... parents? They were neglectful in the way that any teenage superhero's parents have to be so that they can be a superhero on the DL, and he loved them. Taking that away takes away the impact of their deaths on him, and strips away yet another element of his character. Also, I literally cannot overstate the impact that Steph had in Tim's life. Because ppl want to ship him with other male characters, their formative and thematically integral relationship gets tossed to the side along with all of the nuance that came with it.

Because I can't stop talking I also think that fanon Tim is also probably tied with Dick when it comes to suffering from the poor attempt at TMNTing of the robins- i.e. Dick is the face, Jason's the angry one, Tim's the smart one, and Damian's the fighty one while Steph&Duke don't exist because I guess there aren't any more one word traits to assign them. Tim is very smart, yes, but hes not the smartest(because obviously area of expertise is a factor) or the best detective of the Robins- and DEF not the smartest of the Batfam by any measure of intelligence- and it certainly isn't his defining feature like fandom wants ppl to think. He's got other things to him that are more interesting.

I just blacked out for 15 minutes, is this anything?

[irisenwrites]

One thing that makes it so enjoying to read your works is that you like writing action! So many people on ao3 don't like writing action but you seem to enjoy it! Some of my favorite moments in the pizzaverse are the fights!

Honestly about the maybe romance in the future..personally, I would prefer no official romance. I'm interested in the part 2 though! Really excited! Is black mask/or Two face going to make an appearence?

Thank you! I wrote pizza verse for the fights. I love action scenes!

The very first idea for the story came when I was thinking of Peter fist fighting Bane in an underground sewer system and how dope that’d be. It kinda became its own thing from there, especially after I finished reading Dark Matter.

As much as no romance would be good for gen enjoyers, Peter as I see him is kinda defined by his relationships. Don’t worry though, I am not a romance writer and it won’t be a main aspect of the story.

As you said I write action hehe

Neither of them are who I’m planning as the main antagonist for part 2. But they can show up for sure. Just not as the main bad guys.