#the queen of villains meta

[katzkookiesshipping]

something absolutely batshit about chigusa nagayo is that when she sees her parents (who abandoned her) crying cause’ she’s letting herself get pummeled, she reacts like this, before she loses it and fights back

[internetgiraffekid1673]

Raven Queen's Bottomless Compassion: Exhibit Duchess

As a fandom, I don't think we talk enough about just how incredible Raven is, which is a shame because SHE'S THE MAIN CHARACTER!

And there are lots of things to like about her! She's obviously got her incredibly interesting and complex relationships with Apple and her mother and her story-driving, world-shattering actions as she rebels against an oppressive system.

But even beyond the main story beats, Raven is a delight! She's funny and has an amazing dry, observational kind of humor that makes every scene hilarious. She's creative and clever, capable of making both very well-thought out plans and improvising decisions on the fly. She's constantly in wonder of the world around her, even despite the horrible looming destiny system, and is able to find joy in things as simple as tea with her friends or playing guitar. She's relatable, and she feels like she could be a friend of anybody watching or reading the series.

But today, what I want to talk about is Raven's neverending all-consuming COMPASSION. Raven Queen is able to find the good and a reason to love every single person in her life.

This is really obvious in scenarios like Apple, who Raven considers a friend and enjoys being around, even as Apple tries to force Raven into a terrible life that she doesn't want. It's obvious in instances like Cerise, who Raven didn't know very well prior to Cerise sharing her secret, and who Raven still goes out of her way to help and love and support, to the point that Cerise joins her main friend group. It's obvious in cases like Dexter, who feels inferior and unseen around most people but who Raven values and admires from their first real interaction, and it makes him feel good about himself.

I could go on and on, but today I wanna talk specifically about Raven's compassion towards Duchess Swan. This is gonna get long, so under a cut it goes!

Now, from what I remember, Raven and Duchess don't interact much in the cartoon. When they do, it's usually with Duchess acting as part of a group of Royals, not independently. If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me and add your own examples!

But in the books? Their relationship makes me feral. Duchess treats Raven similarly to how she treats everyone else: badly. Her rude and self-absorbed attitude make her one of the first people to mock Raven, and while the books make it clear this has been happening since they were in Nursery-Rhyme school, it's clearly demonstrated in one of the earliest scenes of the Storybook of Legends (Briar's Book-to-School Bash).

After this scene, Raven goes back to her room, buries her face in her pillow, and refuses to speak to anyone. But this is how their relationship starts. Duchess is cruel and antagonistic, like she is with everyone (although moreso with Raven, since the greater royal-rebel tension is coming into play here), and it deeply hurts Raven enough that she literally explodes. Duchess knows she's made a mistake, but doesn't do much to repair things with Raven beyond avoiding her.

Duchess fades into the background for a bit until Next Top Villain, which is HER book. The premise of this book is that Duchess gets assigned to General Villainy by Headmaster Grimm who is now taking Raven seriously and is worried he can't make her be the Evil Queen for the Snow White story. Since he knows about Duchess' willingness to try to steal other people's destinies (ANYBODY's destiny, since she's got a REALLY terrible fate all things considered), Grimm puts her in General Villainy and hopes she'll go after Raven.

Duchess is at first reluctant and confused (she has the same dilemma as Raven of "which is worse, failing a class called General Villainy or acing it,"), but she overhears Grimm discussing his plans for Duchess with Badwolf, and counts that as permission to go all in.

When Blondie decides to advertise the General Villainy's latest thronework of "do a rotten and nasty plan," and turn it into a televised competition, Sparrow (who is ALSO in the class due to Grimm trying to capitalize on his less-than-heroic tendencies) gives Duchess the advice of just sabotaging all the other students plans (he's gonna double cross her at the end, but that's not important right now).

So, Duchess goes about spying on her classmates, ruining their plans, and netting them all failures while she creeps closer to an A. For the whole competition, Duchess is SURE Raven is going to be her biggest obstacle. I think this goes to show JUST how deep the brainwashing runs in EAH society.

This is AFTER Raven has very publically refused to sign her page and has become the face of the Rebel campaign. Duchess has WATCHED Raven in general villainy say that she doesn't want to be evil and would rather just be nice. And Duchess is still convinced that Raven must be a true villain at her heart and is going to do an actual nasty scheme, and she has no idea how she's going to sabotage it. So, she goes to spy on Raven to get some ideas.

And look. If I were Raven, I would still be pretty upset with Duchess at this point. She's said and done some really awful things to Raven and people Raven considers friends. Yes Raven has bigger things to worry about. Yes being hostile and bitter takes more energy than being nonchalant and kind. But I don't think I would have been able to forgive Duchess at this point.

But when Raven catches her spying (in swan form), this is how the interaction goes.

Apple was in the room with them JUST a few seconds ago. She really easily could have sold Duchess out, or at the very least ignored her. But instead, she acknowledges Duchess with her trademark intelligence and casual kindness, which Duchess has NO IDEA how to react to.

The book continues and there's some incredibly heart-wrenching and dramatic stuff where Duchess sabotages her roommate Lizzie, who she's been slowly building a genuine odd friendship with. Duchess is probably at her lowest point in this scene I'm about to share, and when Raven steps up to reveal her plan, she's thinks she's about to lose absolutely everything---her friend, her reputation, AND her grade. But Raven surprises her.

Before we get on to the next part, I want to stop and mention that not only did Raven NOT HAVE TO DO THIS, it also had to be INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT FOR HER. Remember, Raven doesn't have very good control of her magic (as seen in the party). Even when she's just trying to use small amounts to help herself, it usually ends out working not quite right (like launching herself into the sky instead of turning invisible, or making her heavy trunk trail behind her with snail slime instead of making it feather light). And in the very first scene of the books, we learn that Good Intentions + Raven's Evil Magic = Disaster (and usually fire and/or explosions).

Raven could have very easily just said "I'm not doing a scheme, leave me alone." She's under no obligation to help Duchess. She's not trying to be evil, and she doesn't want people thinking she is. This kind of blasè brush-off would be perfectly on-brand for Raven. But instead she takes a MAJOR risk using her uncontrolled magic and puts on this big show just to help someone who's been nothing but cruel to her. And why?

RAVEN QUEEN IS FULL OF NEVER-ENDING AND BOTTOMLESS COMPASSION!

She SEES Duchess in a way that literally nobody else does. She SEES Duchess in a way that she is able to SEE every single person for who they really are and what they really want. And when she realizes that Duchess is unhappy in the life she's been handed, Raven ignores ALL the horrible things Duchess has done to her to help her change it AND stops to let Duchess know "I respect your right to make your own choices, but I don't think this'll get you what you want."

And I think it being Duchess specifically in this instance is REALLY important. Apple might be trying to force Raven into becoming a terrible person and living a miserable life, but Apple does still LIKE Raven. She values Raven's skills and personality, and, as long as the subject of destiny doesn't come up, is pretty nice and polite to her. She would never consider doing the things Duchess does like insulting Raven's father.

But even when it comes to people who have been literally NOTHING but unkind and malicious to her, Raven Queen's heart is so big that she does her absolute best to love them and help them become better people anyway. And if that isn't an absolutely amazing role model of a main character, then I don't know what is.

As the book continues, Sparrow double crosses Duchess by playing his guitar really loudly and startling Lizzie's horse during their Princessology riding exam. Lizzie's horse runs off course and almost kills her Sparrow, but Duchess saves her just in time. This causes Mr. Badwolf to Fairy Fail Duchess (since, saving a Princess' life outweighs her schemes), but it does save her friendship with Lizzie.

And the people at the end of the book who comfort Duchess after her dangerous and daring rescue aren't any of the princes or any of the teachers or any of the other Royals. It's Lizzie Hearts---her roommate, the girl she just saved, and the person who is now probably her best friend---and Raven Queen.

The girl who's endless compassion and willingness to say "No, this is wrong, there is a better way" is a force for change and good so strong that it can do almost anything. From something as big as defying an oppressive system and inspiring others to do so too, to something as important as saving Cerise and Maddie from exile, to something as small and simple as inspiring someone as bitter and afraid as Duchess to be a little braver, a little kinder, and a little better.

Also, massive thank you to @athena-xox for having ALL of the EAH media available digitally for free in her pinned post, it makes analysis like this so much easier.

Give it up for Raven Queen.

[esevik]

Sorry for saying this but Dante, the final villain in Fullmetal Alchemist 03 is one of the most incompetent villain's I've seen. Or rather, for all the talk about her being a powerful alchemist she doesn't live up to the hype.

Her plan is to cause misery upon people in the hopes one of them starts searching for the philosopher's stone out of desperation. Then, when this potential person then creates a stone she'll take it from them and use it to keep herself young/hop body to someone younger and prettier. The reason she needs someone else to create the stone is because she herself don't know how to create one. This 500+ years old woman, who was right next to Hohenheim when he created a stone, someone who knows the ingredients to a philosopher's stone, somehow doesn't know how to create one.

I can buy Hoenheim hiding the specifics of how it's done from her, but that she still doesn't know after 500 years? That she needs Ed, a fifteen year old who only studied about the stone for about four years, to create one for her instead of her doing it herself. It doesn't make sense.

The only "amazing" alchemy thing she seems to have done is to create Pride, a homunculous who can age, but how she did that is never explained.

[diana-prince43]

Being a Jaime Lannister Stan and a anti valonquar theory is (slightly) difficult but someone had to do it.

Literally, there is no way that a woman victim of marital rape being slaughtered by precisely the only man she beds and desires enterely by free, in a half narcissistic and unhealthy way yes but still, can't stink too much to femicide.

[sk1fanfiction]

noooo stop woobifying them I like them fucked up and problematic!!!

[therealtsk]

Destiny's Lore, and Why It Didn't Need The Witness

So, I know most of you follow me for Worm or DC stuff, so here's an admission of my tragic past: I used to be a big Destiny fan! I know, I know, i'm losing followers by the letter, but in my defense, I dropped out years ago, around Shadowkeep. I briefly checked the game out again during the Witch Queen but never actually finished the campaign since I didn't have any friends to play it with at the time and so I couldn't force myself back into it's goddawful grind. To be clear, I've never played Destiny for the gameplay. I'm one of those weirdos who actually really, really liked the setting's lore and world building. It was one of the most unique things I'd ever seen, this really engaging mix of high fantasy and sci-fi all at once. And you know what? Some of Destiny's lore books are honestly incredible! The writing is emotional, the prose evocative, so many alien perspectives expertly captured. The Books of Sorrow, Thorn, Truth to Power, Book of Unveiling, The Ahamkara gear...goddamn, they're so good. But I got caught up on Destiny lore a little bit ago, and...wow. Bungie did it. They killed the last thing I still loved about Destiny. And they killed it with the Witness.

Let's talk about the Witness for a bit. The Witness has taken the slot of the new Big Bad for the Destiny universe, previously held by The Darkness. Their backstory is that they used to be individuals of a race that was the first to be blessed by The Traveler, Destiny's slated Big Good. This race proceeded to have a golden age that lasted for eons, with them eventually running out of things to do, and thus asked the Traveler to tell them what their purpose is. Obviously, the Traveler didn't answer, and their entire civilization had a collective existential crisis so hard that they decided that if the universe didn't come pre-built with a purpose, they'd just kill everyone and reboot the universe so that it did. To accomplish this, they tracked down the Traveler's never-before mentioned Dark counterpart and all fused into a single being, seen here. And on the topic of the Witness's appearance, I'm sorry, but the visual design here is just...bad. It's just bad. It's almost painfully generic. They have a geometrically rippling long black coat with no defining features, a pale human-ish face, and their brain appears to be leaking other faces in a smokecloud constantly, which i think looked far cooler on paper then it did in a render. Compare this to Savathûn or even Oryx's visual designs and they don't hold a candle. Speaking of comparisons to the Hive Gods, this is where my rant truly begins, so buckle up.

The fact that the Witness has all but replaced the Darkness- newly released lore suggesting every time we thought a character was interacting with the Darkness itself, it was really them talking to this character- that the Darkness is now stated to be completely apathetic and unintelligent, nothing more then a power source to draw upon- not only runs directly counter to some of my favorite lore in the franchise but cheapens every other Darkness-affiliated plot line and character. Not only does the Witness not speak at all like The Darkness has in the past, making the claim of them being one and the same dubious to me, but it also results in all of the Witness' Disciples (their right-hand men) being shoehorned into storylines in ways that feel almost painfully lazy. Case in point: The Lore of the Hive. As mentioned above, The Books of Sorrow is some of my favorite sci-fantasy with fantastic horror elements and incredibly evocative bits of prose. It's a gripping narrative how in the face of utter annihilation, a group of siblings make a desperate bargain with unknowable creatures once kept buried beneath the earth...and how their once noble efforts to save their people from death turns into a bloody conquest across the stars. It's an excellent tale, showing us how the truest test of character is who you are when times are hard- will you let those hard times twist you into a foul shape, or will you endure in spite of them? It establishes the cosmology of Destiny, with the Hive and Worm Gods being established as some of the most powerful and important beings in the story, powerful disciples of The Deep. With the new retcons, Rhulk (a Disciple of the Wintess) shows up, basically tells the Worms to shut up and listen cause he's the real Disciple of the Darkness, not them, and they're going to fall in line now. Because now, instead of the syzygy being a real threat that did devastate the planet the Krill lived on, Bungie's saying that the entire thing was a lie created by the Witness and the Worm Gods. Which takes the aspect of "sometimes bad things just happen but it's up to us to choose how we will let those things change us" that's key to the narrative and completely removes it- which is so backwards from how this all works! Evil lives in all of us, waiting for when we're weak to tempt us into doing what's wrong in the name of survival or pleasure or whatever virtue it disguises itself as- it doesn't stroll up out of nowhere and create a twelve-step-point-plan to ensure that we become evil too! Putting aside that, as I admit it's a subjective criticism based on my own perspective on the nature of morality, I think it greatly cheapens multiple other stories. Now that the Darkness is completely amoral as a force and it's just the Witness who is corruptive, I guess Dredgen Yor, Jana-14 and all of the other guardians we've seen fall were all getting brain blasted by this one dude, instead of their falls being a result of being seduced by power they should have known better then to touch blindly. Now, I can already hear people saying "But what about Stasis!" And yeah, I have Thoughts on Stasis too. I don't entirely dislike it, but I do dislike how it's been executed. Sword Logic works- or worked- by basically asserting yourself above physical reality. "I am the strongest thing alive, and I prove it thus." You defeat a powerful enemy and take their strength for your own. That's something you can work as being doable without inherently corrupting you. After all, it's not considered evil to fight for your own survival or for the protection of others. It just so happens that constantly introducing your brain to the idea that killing other things will make you objectively better then them is bad for you even if those powers weren't sourced from a primordial consciousness that has and will try to influence you for it's own ends.

To use a metaphor, Sword Logic is akin to something like nuclear power- sure, it's got one hell of a kick, but if you let your guard down around it, not only will it fuck you up but it'll contaminate everything around you with the fallout. But now to say that "nope, the darkness is totally fine and not even alive and aware it's just the same thing as the light but different colors and this whole time it's just been this one guy who's been ruining it for everyone else" is so...god, it's so much less interesting. And I think ultimately, that's my problem with the Witness. As a whole, they are just so much less interesting then what we had before! I loved the Books of Sorrow and Unveiling so much because it was such a fascinating display of completely alien thought and genuine nuance. The Darkness doesn't do what it does because of any tired trope of "evil nihilist" or just might makes right, it's a living embodiment of a cosmic philosophy in a war with another, both of them arguing for how all of creation should work. Whether or not the only things in life that matter are the things that live, and that to live is to suffer so ergo only that which cannot break should live, so you must break everything until only the absolute strongest shapes remain- or if it is possible for creativity and diversity and soft things to exist and create a life that is worth living in spite of the inevitable pain we all go through. That is so much more interesting then a bunch of dudes who are ultimately just mad about the fact that there's no easy to find and read manual for our purpose in life! It's such a basic, not to mention human motivation in comparison to what The Darkness had when it was a character in it's own right. And so...yeah.

[theflashjaygarrick]

Do people who say "Batman says no metas in Gotham" realise that metas include anyone with powers and super abilities, the vast majority of whom are civilians with no affiliation to superheroics or supervillainy. No metas in Gotham in reality would mean kicking out some random school teacher who in an accident suddenly developed the ability to teleport and mostly uses it to arrive to their school earlier and stay later for the kids. No metas in Gotham means forcibly removing an Amazon who is married to a local Gothamite. No metas in Gotham means an alien raised on Earth can't go to Gotham University without the Big Bad Bat showing up at their dorm room. No metas in Gotham mean existing meta characters from Gotham are awkwardly ignored or actively included just to be kicked out of their own city. No metas in Gotham means erasing the history of superheroes like Alan Scott and Dinah Drake who lived in and protected Gotham years before Batman arrived on the scene.

And no, jokes about how the Bats friends totally get a free pass under his seemingly totalitarian rule don't make it better. Having Duke around as the token 'good one' does not make it better. Not when its mere existence involves a 'hero' is systemically targeting a group based on immutable traits.

And if you're thinking that sounds dark that's because the whole fanon joke revolves around Batman being the kind of person who wants to keep an entire community people out of 'his' city because he believes their biology makes them an innate threat. That is horrifying. That has strong racist and xenophobic implications. That is high-key super villain behaviour. In fact, anti-meta crusaders are literally the villains of the recent Power Company books because it's a pretty clear allegory for real world bigotry.

If you want to keep this as a fanon trait for his character then you have to make it a really negative one. If you want to have it be a misunderstanding among the Justice League because he just wants no other heroes crime fighting there (never going to happen by the way) that means some members of the League are going to think he's an absolute racist asshole. I'm just saying if Oliver 'Batman is a fascist' Queen had this idea he'd be throwing hands with Bruce daily. If you want to explore it as a dark-Batman villain AU? That sounds cool actually, I'd read that tbh.

[pastorfutureletthembe]

Checkmate ♚

Apparently a temporary AR (Otome) game is coming soon and the artwork for it is just breathtaking! It is also full of details I want to explore OF COURSE. My brain is doing tetris things again, oops.

Looking for a senseless meta about chess pieces? You're in the right place, come on in~

>> Chess Theme

White vs Black

The first topic is obviously the chess theme. Of course, this part is to be taken with a grain of salt since the pieces aren't correctly disposed on the board. However, the characters themselves are walking on their respective squares except for Vein (because he's all powerful and he's above your stupid rules. Probably). Notably, Liu Xiao himself seems to be leaving a white square. And if there is any meaning to it, I'd like to believe it makes a gray character out of him.

Now, what can we say about the chess pieces themselves?

White: rook, pawn, knight

Black: rook, mystery piece, king

Each character is paired with a chess piece.

The most reassuring clue to me is that a white piece has been given to Xia Fei. Which, there is a fat chance this makes an ally out of him. He might be only a Pawn ♙ for now. For those who are not familiar with chess, a Pawn can only move ahead, never back, one square at a time. It has some cool moves too but it depends on the game you want to play. If the path is open, a Pawn can reach the other side of the board, turning it into a Queen ♕. If a Pawn can only move ahead in small range, a Queen literally rules over the whole board. She's quick, vicious and dangerous once she has enough space to move as she pleases. Of course, he can also be a mere Pawn, a tool to manipulate Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi.

[Edit: since I always turn mine into Queens because I like to inspire fear and admiration from my brother, a Pawn can also turn into a Rook, a Bishop, or a Knight. I like to think of Xia Fei as a Queen but it's very interesting that he could turn into either Vein/CXS, Liu Xiao or Lu Guang by the end of Yingdu Chapter. ]

Cheng Xiaoshi and Vein both getting paired with a ♖ Rook ♜ could mean they use the same kind of power or are equivalent in some ways. Rooks have a large range, can move horizontally and vertically, ahead or back. They are better used when paired with other pieces, though, cause a lonely Rook ♖ is an easy pray. I think the main focus here is the similarity more than the piece itself. Lu Guang seems to be the one being punished and haunted, but Vein probably offered his power to Cheng Xiaoshi (or Lu Guang, according to the last Yingdu Chapter PV). My personal theory is that Vein mirrors or shadows Cheng Xiaoshi's shape because he is the source of his power. Vein's position, if there is any relevance to it, keeps Lu Guang's Knight ♘ from moving at the center, his natural and most efficient position.

Toppled King

Liu Xiao has two pieces by his side, a King ♔ and a mystery piece. The merch revealed the later to be a Bishop ♝.

Note that only amateurs tend to topple the King. It is regarded as some kind of pop culture-only approach to chess. Because of this, let's take a look a what an actual checkmate is (where we don't get to step on the vainquished).

Checkmate is any game position in chess in which a player's king is threatened with capture and there is no possible escape. In chess, the king is never actually captured. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. The player loses as soon as their king is checkmated. In formal games, it is usually considered good etiquette to resign an inevitably lost game before being checkmated. (cf. wikipedia)

If Vein, the current character we might recognize as the ultimate villain of the season, is only a Rook ♜, equivalent to Cheng Xiaoshi, who does the King ♔ represent? My personal opinion is Time, Fate itself. The song "Mastermind" supports this theory, and Lu Guang himself really is defying the natural order to save Cheng Xiaoshi, after all. It would make perfect sense. Stopping the clocks at a tournament is the sign of surrender. So basically, the game is over when one gives up and stops when the King has nowhere to go.

The character of Liu Xiao is given a lot of care in this specific artwork. He actually always stood out, since his very first appearance in the season 2 artworks, walking past Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi's portrait, looking away from us. Here, again, he's not interested in the audience, focuses on the photograph of what fans reckon as Lu Guang from "Dive Back in Time".

The truth is, he's playing the long game, he has no time to spare, and he regards people as puppets. There has been theories about him having a hidden agenda, independently of Vein, using/working with Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi for his plan. His intervention in "Trial Train" speaks volume of his strategic mind, "they wanted to escape but didn't realize I blocked the exit a long time ago". Also, one hundred years wouldn't be enough to escape.

This merciless sharpness makes the Bishop perfect for Liu Xiao. Funny story, the Bishop ♝ is not actually a priest, but it represents a war elephant. Historically, the war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks, and instill terror and fear. That's fitting.

Another possibility regarding the toppled King could be that it refers to Liu Xiao's background. The fallen piece could be a resolved situation but the motivation behind Liu Xiao's intent to manipulate the timelines. Perhaps he played this game before and lost. Does Lu Guang know him or is Liu Xiao a mere stalker? Did they play this same game together or against each other?

There's a lot that can be speculated but it is hard to say what these pieces represent for now. As I said before, this read is based on popular imagery of what chess is, not on the actual strategy on the board itself. Secondly, these three new characters we have yet to meet, they don't have a defined role in the canon, not until Yingdu Chapter finally aires.

>> Tokens

Each character is giving a object. I guess it might be relevant to the type of gameplay the AR game will offer but for the sake of this meta, we're still gonna try to understand why those in particular.

Cheng Xiaoshi has a camera. I don't think it deserve further analysis, his powers exist through the lens after all.

Xia Fei has a clock. Guess the time? 10:10. For those unaware, it is a very recurrent time. Put the promotional poster aside, I recommend you pay attention to the time on the clock in the Studio, above Lu Guang's head, right before the gang gets a ominous call from Xu Shanshan's phone at the end of 1x09. If it should mean anything about Xia Fei himself: I won't say it enough but, really: DO NOT TRUST HIM. Or, you know, perhaps he's doomed: it is worth mentioning that except for Xia Fei's Pawn ♙, each character is affiliated to a piece which can move forward and backward on the board.

Liu Xiao has a gear. I find this one intriguing because, so far, this object has belonged to Cheng Xiaoshi's imagery (cf. "BREAK!"). For someone on an ambitious project such as controlling timelines, he is giving a small tool that cannot be used on its own, is part of a machine. Could be relevant to the way he does things, never getting his own hands dirty, working through others. Or it could be that he's himself just another player, played by Fate. Or perhaps, he has the missing piece that Lu Guang needs to save Cheng Xiaoshi, who knows?

Vein is already using his own item: the pipe. He's the only one owning his object and aware of it.

>> The Case Study of Lu Guang

Because of course, our favorite character is actually the shadiest of all, I will dedicate a whole section about him specifically. Why do I insist on calling Lu Guang shady? We know and we see his chess piece is white. But you have to take a closer look to make out the White Knight ♘. The value of a Knight ♘ is equivalent to the Bishop's ♝. But ultimately, its worth less than Cheng Xiaoshi's Rook ♖.

L shaped path

Moving only in an 'L' shaped path, Knights ♘ are the most effective from the center of the board. This is because they get a broader reach in all directions from the central part.

Now, this is very important. Why should it be a mystery that Lu Guang's piece is a knight? What is a Knight ♘? The answer resides in the mechanism of his maneuver.

Part of the idea of the knight maneuver is to flank. And since the Knight is not a horse but a man on a horse, the odd maneuver reflects the knight's ability to guide the horse he's riding (to an extent). In other words, since the Knight comprises two entities (the man riding the horse), the move should sensibly consist of two parts as well, to reflect the added agility of the athletic horse. Conversely, the Knight has access to a maximum of 8 squares (as opposed to the "equal" Bishop's maximum of 13) because the horse is still an animal with a mind of its own.

Note that if you place a Knight ♘ somewhere on the margins, its efficacy will diminish exponentially. Additionally, if he only moved two squares, straight or diagonally, the Knight ♘ would always be restricted to the color squares that he started the game on.

Lu Guang being the Knight ♘ doesn't only means that he moves unconventionally. It is reflective of his duality. Perhaps, the fact he's using his power and Cheng Xiaoshi's. There is another aspect of him we could address here:

Burning Palace

For one thing, "BURNING PALACE" brings back the theme of strategy board game with the checkers this time (you see black pieces falling). It also introduce the Four Heads from playing cards. The fact they bothered to mention it implies a Fourth character.

Xia Fei: ♠

Liu Xiao: ♣

Vein: ♦

The fourth color ♥ is missing and I'm secretly convinced that it's Lu Guang's color.

Enygmatic Tokens

The portrait behind Lu Guang is Lu Guang himself, from "Overthink". This image appears in the first bridge, when the lyrics goes "how did my sight got stolen once more?", superposing Lu Guang's face with mysterious shapes, erasing his eyes/power. This particular line comes to confirm what we already know: Yingdu Chapter isn't a resolution, let alone a happy ending, but a repeat of a tragic event in an unchangeable node. The end is the same, once again. Lu Guang's hope and happy ending has been stolen once more. And STOLEN also implies that there is an intent behind this failure.

A portray is still a photograph though, and it can be used to dive back in time.

What is the most curious to me is the familiar eagle on Lu Guang's chest. Eagles belongs to Cheng Xiaoshi's imagery so why does Lu Guang is wearing them here?

An interesting take would be that Yingdu Chapter isn't actually from Lu Guang's perspective, but from Cheng Xiaoshi's, diving in a picture taken by Lu Guang. This would be some kind of plot twist and would definetely makes the big reveal easier but not less painful.

I'll probably make a whole meta about this symbol at some point but in the meantime, I'll let you know the eagle is associated with strength, power, wisdom, and freedom. The eagle's ability to soar high in the sky was believed to be a symbol of divine protection and spiritual guidance. Additionally, eagles are tied to the sun. Some people see them as signs of a bright future on the horizon. As a symbol of light, they embody both the intensity and heat of the sun as a fearsome force of nature, as well as the warmth and benevolence of the heavens.

This positive symbolisms are deeply rooted in Cheng Xiaoshi's nature, but if Yingdu Chapter actually brings us back to one earlier repeat, we can assume that Lu Guang had initially a brighter outlook on his mission.

The glasses are back and I'll say it again: once is weird, twice is a coincidence and thrice it's a pattern. The portrait shows Lu Guang without eyes but his item is a pair of glasses. Might be a subtile hint of denial there. As far as glasses go, pink is a peculiar color. It helps to 'voir la vie en rose', as the french says: "look at the world through rose-coloured glasses." Meaning, being delusional.

Might it be the eagle or the glasses, I'd say they're both representative of Lu Guang's state of mind at the time: hopeful.

~

[Edit: I recommend you take a look to these threads regarding this very same artwork: | X | X | X | I don't agree with everything but it's always cool to have other perspectives.]

[utilitycaster]

I like that the Raven Queen, who made the decision to take on an immense and (at least to her understanding at the time) unending responsibility is the one who calls Bells Hells out on their endless indecision.

It's been...interesting, shall we say, tracking this "party of NPCs," and tracking the fandom response throughout. The initial reception to "party of NPCs" was actually a rather cold one. This took place early in the campaign, prior to the Gnarlrock fight, and at the time a lot of people who shipped Imogen and Laudna were actually extremely resistant to the idea that Imogen was the "main character" of the campaign (as seen in the fallout from the gnarlrock fight, in which the bulk of attacks from the fandom were on Imogen). I've had complicated feelings on Taliesin's reads of this campaign specifically - he tends to have a very good understanding of his own characters that doesn't necessarily expand beyond them - but that phrase was indeed pretty valid. I think about the WBN interludes, in fact, in which the cast plays using NPC statblocks, and what a true party of NPCs for Bells Hells would look like, since it would be quite simple to draw up.

Allied NPCs in TTRPGs rarely act without guidance from the PCs. I've cast a critical eye in the past towards certain meta (particularly romantic in nature, regarding Yeza or Essek or Gilmore not making moves) for this reason, because while villains and antagonists move throughout the world generating obstacles, allies exist to be directed. They have their limits, of course; they have their own priorities and motivations and cannot be persuaded against their nature, but they can be guided at oblique angles from the GMs initial intent given enough work from the PCs. They're still people with thoughts and feelings and dreams, to an extent, but rarely do they make decisions that would conflict with those of the PCs.

That's the problem with a party of NPCs. NPCs take direction. They serve as support, but they're not in the driver's seat. And the Raven Queen has noticed.

The attitude within the fandom towards "Party of NPCs" became far more positive over time, and I wonder if it should have. People began to lean perhaps too heavily on how Bells Hells were people from nothing and nowhere, discarded. This is of course objectively false when comparing across parties (can we really say Imogen had a worse childhood than Vex? Chetney to Caleb? Even Ashton to Fjord?) but were it true, that in and of itself wouldn't be a problem. D&D backstories are often tear-stained and blood-soaked, full of unjust accusations, dead or neglectful parents, failure and regret. D&D is a game about coming from very little but a disproportionately good stat block for a commoner. It is unavoidably about amassing power. Starting off as a party of NPCs is fine. You should not still be a party of NPCs at the endgame.

I mentioned the gnarlrock, and I've mentioned an emphasis (or overemphasis) on this party's lack of agency and I think that remains the problem. Ludinus's villainy is rich, complex, and multifaceted, but a consistent element of it is his eternal false insistence that he - Martinet, founder and head of the Cerberus Assembly, Archmage - is just a little guy, chaff in the wind of the will of the gods, without free will of his own (he says, as he places his thread outside the reach of the Matron). That too is a theme in fandom discourse: free will and intent. Is Imogen justified in being angry at Laudna for breaking the rock if that wasn't Laudna's intent? (yes.) Is Orym on a quest of vengeance, with a death wish? (no, but if he were it wouldn't matter.) Was it wrong to pressure Fearne to take the shard instead of letting her make her own choices? (yes.)

Did any of you, perhaps in preschool or kindergarten, since that's about the age when this happens, have someone pull your hair and for adults to say "it's because they like you?" I find this is a good way to convey the importance, or unimportance, or intent. Because when your hair is being pulled, at least if that is the extent of the problem, it doesn't matter if it comes from the misguided affections of a four-year-old admirer who doesn't know how to use their words, or a six-year-old who just grabbed the most obvious material with which to test the limits of the safety scissors, or an eleven-year-old bully. Your hair is being pulled and you want it to stop. It doesn't matter if the person secretly likes you or if they want to hurt you; it matters that no matter the intent behind it, they are doing so. And if you reject the affections of your fellow preschool classmate because you think they might pull your hair, that's a fair consequence.

Bells Hells' indecision is some sort of cosmic hair pulling. They have reasons for faltering, and some of those reasons are understandable balking at an immense weight placed upon them and some of those reasons come from a deeply self-centered place in which their individual pain is used to blot out the suffering of countless others. But in the end, even that doesn't matter. Their histories don't matter. We don't need another series of introductions of where they come from and what they've done. We need people who can make decisions and who will act.

The Raven Queen seems to have been convinced they will. I'm not sure. But I think we are in agreement that inaction is, regardless of the intent behind it, no different than active harm. It would be irresponsible to continue to be a party of NPCs; if they truly are lost and forgotten fuck-ups, they have a responsibility (as the god of death once did) to abdicate and find a replacement.

[kenomacreature]

YES, IT REALLY IS JUST KRIS

No, Deltarune is not a whodunnit mystery

(The beautiful art for this banner was made by CursedMemes420 on Discord)

Okay, I didn't think I'd have to do this, but it turns out the new chapters of Deltarune are apparently an entire two months away still so we all have some time to kill. I'm going to use it to try to convince the last remaining fence-sitters that Kris is, in fact, the Knight, and hopefully maybe even convert some doubters.

The idea that Kris is the Knight has figured prominently in my other writing on Deltarune, such as my essay titled The Magic Circle, and my corollary speculation post about the metaphysics of Deltarune. To be frank, I think reading those two would be a much better use of your time, because I cover a lot of the evidence there too and utilize it to actually present an in-depth analysis of what the game's narrative is about. This post here will be purely lazer-focused on making the case for Kris being the Knight, presenting all the evidence I can think of and debunking the major counterarguments.

Let's begin.

THE POSITIVE CASE FOR KRIS BEING THE KNIGHT

Kris creates a Fountain on-screen

This is the requirement for a character being the Knight and Kris is the only one who explicitly clears it – we don’t even have a reason beyond order of elimination to suspect anyone else at the moment.

Kris does it on the Weird Route too, and in spite of Ralsei having explained the ramifications

This tells us that Kris is extremely committed to making fountains and must have some strong reason to be doing what they're doing, something which takes precedence in their mind over potentially risking the lives of other people, including close friends and relatives. On the Weird Route, the risk they're taking is obvious, but I also want to remind people that on the Normal Route - if Kris isn't the Knight - they're creating a Fountain despite another active Fountain creator still being out there, which is arguably even more dangerous and morally objectionable; Kris would be risking omnicide here.

Kris planned the Fountain ahead of time

Between Chapter 1 and 2, Kris plugs in the TV which they later make the focal point of the Fountain they create. This existing as a plot point at all very strongly points to Kris knowing how the mechanics of Dark World creation work prior to Queen’s explanation. On top of this, them eating the pie just so happens to later give them the crucial distraction needed to be able to slash the tires and have Susie stay over. Then, at the beginning of Chapter 2, the narration (which is often aligned with Kris's thoughts) says that "it is not yet time to wash your hands" when you try to do so, further implying that the chapter's ending is already planned.

Kris generally seems to know a lot of stuff that they shouldn’t

For example, they know exactly what’s going on with our control over them, enough to be able to remove or block our control when they need to, and they're confident enough in their abilities that they taunt us about it, smiling at the camera and such. This meta-awareness could potentially be explained by their numerous connections to Gaster (for example, Monster Teen anxiously mentioning that something happened with Kris in relation to the Bunker). Kris also seems to know exactly how Dark Worlds are influenced by Light World objects, as seen in the following point:

Kris’s Fountain creation method is deliberately paralleled with the Knight’s in Chapter 2

Kris plugs in the TV and leaves it on to ensure that they become the Darkner villain - as it turns out, this is exactly what the Knight does with the laptop in the computer lab. Setting aside the fact that Kris is using the Knight's exact methods, how does Kris even know to do this? Kris does it regardless of whether you inspect the laptop and find out what the Knight was doing. How are they so confident about their ability to properly set up this Dark World, if they've never done it before?

Kris uses the Knight's weapon and tool of choice

Queen says that the Knight used a blade to create their fountain, and shows an image of an identical looking knife to Kris’s. Later, we see Kris use that same knife to create the Chapter 3 Fountain. Kris is also named after a type of knife, and is heavily associated with them in general. Toby laying it on this thick would frankly just be kind of dishonest if it didn't have any meaning.

Kris does not have an alibi for the creation of Chapter 2’s fountain

Kris was established to have done something mysterious and physically taxing with a knife over the previous night. Lo and behold, the next day, someone has used a knife to create a Dark Fountain. Just a tad suspicious, maybe? This is why a number of players figure out that Kris is the Knight well ahead of the actual reveal - because the game never gives a satisfying answer to a question it established (what was Kris doing last night?), while providing clear hints (the knife, the TV flavor text) which point towards the correct solution so its reveal doesn't feel contrived or like it's coming out of nowhere. Some Deltarune fans call Kris Knight "obvious" - but they're evaluating it on blatantly unfair pretenses. Kris Knight was surprising, you just can't expect to cash out an already-revealed twist for a second surprise.

Kris’s soulless scenes seem tied to Fountain creation specifically

Chapter 2’s ending seems very much intended to be continuous with Chapter 1’s, answering mysteries which the previous ending left us with. In both instances they use their knife to do stuff, flash their red eyes, and taunt the player.

Kris actually is a knight

Kris wears knight attire in the Dark World and Toby has referred to Kris as a “sword-wielding fantasy knight”. This is not a trivial point; many of Toby’s biggest inspirations, such as Illusion of Gaia and LIVE A LIVE, figure knights and knight-like imagery very prominently, so the symbology of knights in fantasy seems like something he's specifically interested in, including the fact that they are frequently heroic protagonists. And yet most other Knight candidates have no clear or satisfying explanation for why they would be dubbed a “knight”, and why Toby would be choosing that narrative archetype for them. Certainly none of them have the advantage of being a knight protagonist, which leads us to:

Toby is clearly interested in subversions of the protagonist and antagonist roles

Discussing the SNES game LIVE A LIVE, Toby said this (and I must warn the reader of some implied spoilers):

As far as individual chapters go, I really loved the “Middle Ages” chapter. After all the scenarios with atypical game protagonists, finally revealing a standard fantasy setting with a knight hero as one of the “final chapters” was such an excellent twist for a JRPG, and a perfect lead up to the actual last chapter itself. To think that our heroic knight of justice would end up like that… It’s the kind of wonderful betrayal of expectations that influenced me when I created UNDERTALE as well. You know, the thought process of, “to think the protagonist could actually...” Anyway, I don’t think I’m supposed to say any more about that. To be honest, if anything this LIVE A LIVE influence is even stronger in my current work, DELTARUNE. Not only is the story separated into different chapters, but the player’s character is also a sword-wielding fantasy knight, who may play another role than just a simple “hero”.

To be clear, (and again, spoilers!) Toby here is referring to a knight character who goes from being a heroic protagonist to the main villain of the game (whose title is "the Lord of Dark").

OFF, another big inspiration for Toby, features a playable character who is established as firmly separate from the player. As the game progresses you are invited to question their actions and whether you should truly be siding with them.

In moon: Remix RPG Adventure, the traditional JRPG hero turns out to be the game’s antagonist.

Metal Gear Solid 2 complicates the player’s sense of morality and desires with what the “game” pressures them into doing.

And in Toby’s own Earthbound Halloween Hack, the game constantly questions whether what you’re doing is truly “heroic” or right.

It's strongly implied the Knight did not enter the Dark Worlds they created

This is clearest in Chapter 2, where Queen says she doesn't know the Knight's plans and is just guessing based on their actions (which she also recorded via the laptop's camera). Instead, the Knight is implied (in the laptop flavor text, for instance) to have simply manipulated the room and that this is mostly how they exert their will on the worlds they create. This of course sheds new light on how we are to understand Dark Worlds and alters what we thought we knew about Chapter 1 and Fountains generally. And it's all perfectly consistent with Kris’s methods at the end of Chapter 2.

The Darkner bosses are corrupted by the Fountains themselves, not an encounter with the Knight

Even though the Darkner bosses so far purport to serve the Knight, something which has been repeatedly emphasized is that this is not because the Knight sought them out and convinced them to be their servant, but because the Fountains themselves had a corrupting influence. In other words, the Darkner bosses are generated by the Fountain as villainous servants of the Knight.

This is supported both by in-game evidence:

Queen wasn't always so… harsh.

No, she WAS! She just got WORSE somehow!

It wasn't 'til that DARK FOUNTAIN showed up,

That she started going into overdrive.

"Knight" this, "Knight" that, "Fountain" that…

Like, what does that Knight have going for it that I don't!? C'mon!!

And external evidence:

Timestamped Undertale 6th Anniversary stream, where Toby says the Fountain changed King

Kris being the Knight fits well with the storytelling subtext

Deltarune is loaded with subtext about the Dark Worlds being like fictional stories or dreams, and Kris being the Knight is a great fit for this because it implies that they are creating Fountains specifically to be sealed. Their connections with Ralsei (which I'll explain later) also imply that they are guiding/directing the adventures themself. This also opens up plausible speculation about their motivations, such as wanting to get stronger by leveling up or populating Castle Town.

Kris’s CD Bagel noise is the same glissando jingle that plays at the end of the scrapped animated intro

If you don't know about the scrapped intro, here's a timestamped link to the part in the 6th anniversary stream where Toby discusses it. Basically, a jingle which played during a part where the Knight looked down at the Fun Gang from atop a staircase was repurposed in Chapter 2 as a special jingle for Kris. Below is a comparison between the two (I'm not sure who made it, so sorry for not crediting!), and an illustration I threw together of how I imagine the scene looking like.

Kris is arguably the only one who makes sense for the scrapped intro

If the Knight was seen on-screen, even just as a silhouette and even heavily armored, it would reveal too much about their body shape and size to have it be a functional mystery, and it would ruin the “red herring” that it’s Kris in Chapter 2 (the sole exception being if the Knight was the Vessel). Not to mention that Tenna, who would be featured on the staircase, is not created by the Knight if Kris isn't the Knight, so their inclusion is very questionable. Meanwhile, the appearance of "dual" or "split" selves is a common trope in anime intros, so both LW and DW Kris being featured in the same scene would be understood as metaphorical by the viewer.

Ralsei has extremely suspicious ties to Kris

For starters, Ralsei is the same height as them, looks like a typical Dreemurr, and his name is an anagram of Asriel. It seems very likely because of his horns that Ralsei is Kris’s red horn headband, which represents Kris’s desire to be closer to their family and community. From this, it's a pretty intuitive jump to assume that Kris created him, and thus the Grand Fountain as well.

Ralsei initiates cutscenes in both Chapter 1 and 2 where the player looks away from Kris and Ralsei, and upon returning back to their viewpoints finds that Ralsei has been secretly speaking with Kris alone. Ralsei also seemingly lies in Chapter 2 about having “sensed a dark presence” when explaining why he arrived in the Cyber World - what this line implies about when the fountain was created does not make logical sense with the timeline (we'll get more into this later). All in all it seems rather likely that Ralsei is working for Kris, and has been tasked with keeping the player "on track" (but still invested).

Kris is heavily tied to Chara, Undertale’s morally ambiguous player character

Chara – like Kris if they’re the Knight – had an incredibly ambitious and morally questionable plan which they were working towards, and they also have a knack for taunting or rejecting the player with scary smiles and red eyes. Kris being the Knight seems like it’s continuous with the moral ambiguity which Toby clearly seems interested in exploring with his human protagonists.

Some features of the Fountain seem to point to them springing from Kris’s “will”

For example, the consistent emergence of secret bosses located underground with a shared origin story about being contacted by Gaster, where they learn about their lack of control over fate and their subordinate position to some higher entities, has a lot of parallels with Kris’s predicament, and their ties to Gaster. Is there some subconscious reconstruction happening here? I talk about this in my Magic Circle essay.

The question of the Knight is not presented as a whodunnit mystery.

So far, there’s been exactly one major candidate, and they’ve hoarded basically all of the evidence. The remaining characters are left fighting for scraps – the most popular non-Kris candidate is a minor NPC who happens to say some thematically relevant and evocative stuff and has minor ties to the Fountain locations. But there’s no reason in the first place to suspect that there’s anyone who knows about how Dark Fountains work other than the currently established characters, and even less to suspect they’d have the motivation to create them. We barely even understood who the Knight was and what they were doing until approximately two seconds before it was revealed to be Kris (and no, that’s not a red herring just because you say so).

COMMON ARGUMENTS AGAINST KRIS BEING THE KNIGHT

“Any Lightner can create fountains!”

This is true, no doubt. The problem with this line of argumentation is that it does not suffice to dismiss the overwhelming evidence for Kris being the Knight. Kris is not suspected because they’re a Lightner, or even just because they create a Fountain. They are suspected because there are quite literally no other Lightners with any concrete positive evidence for them being the Knight except Kris. When push comes to shove, there’s just not a compelling reason to believe a more complicated alternative explanation for Kris’s actions other than the simple one that is them being the Knight. Occam’s razor says: give preferential treatment to those hypotheses of equal explanatory power which require less assumptions.

“Kris being the Knight is a red herring!”

You can feel that way, but this isn’t an argument. The idea that the Knight’s true reveal is coming sometime later is just baselessly assumed and used to cash out the red herring objection. Again, there’s nothing wrong with thinking that it’s true – it’s okay to have hunches and intuitions – but you can’t use it as an argument, because it isn’t one. 

“Kris isn’t evil!” / “I just don’t want Kris to be an antagonist.”

Again, it’s hard to argue with feelings. It bears mentioning that we really don’t know anything about the motivations of Kris if they’re the Knight. We don’t know whether they’re an “evil” bad guy. Personally, I find it very unlikely, because Toby is typically in the business of writing sympathetic characters even when they do bad stuff, and Kris is already in a fucked up situation just by virtue of us controlling them. If Toby can make Asgore (of child murdering fame) sympathetic, I’m sure he can manage with Kris, and we’ll all be happier for it because conflict and ambivalence creates interesting stories.

“The Knight wants to cause the Roaring, and Kris clearly doesn’t want that!”

We actually know neither of these supposed facts. Our information about the Knight comes from King and Queen, who both quickly prove themselves to be out of their depth and not very knowledgeable about what they’re doing. Queen herself strongly implies she has never even met the Knight. All we know for certain is what the Knight has done – create Dark Fountains. As for Kris, whether they’ve done or said things which would indicate they don’t want the Roaring to happen, the fact is that with this much evidence against them, all their other actions are called into question. That said, who’s to even say Kris as the Knight wants the Roaring in the first place? Because their name is the Roaring Knight? That could easily just be a moniker for their storytelling purposes.

“When Kris dies, the Roaring happens! How could that happen if Kris was the Knight?”

More accurately, when the SOUL shatters, “the world was covered in darkness” (an obvious double entendre for the game screen going black). But assuming that the Roaring does happen, this doesn’t seem to contradict anything. I mean, Kris’s SOUL is the only thing that can seal the Fountains, and every chapter boss so far explicitly intends to cause the Roaring. It makes sense that the Roaring would happen if they were left unopposed and their Fountains unsealed.

“How does Kris know where to make the Fountains ahead of time?”

This is one of the few objections to Kris Knight I can genuinely respect. I mean, it is quite strange that Kris and Susie always end up going to where the Fountains are through pure accident (Alphys and Noelle respectively send us to the locations where they are, and Kris can't have known Susie would stay over). To explain this, I would point to the fact that Kris almost certainly has had an encounter with Gaster, and one of the main effects of being “Gasterpilled” that we see is having precognitive powers and being able to read “FATE”. This also explains Kris’s extremely contrived action of eating the pie in anticipation of Susie coming over (which is something, to be clear, we need to be able to explain regardless of whether or not Kris is the Knight).

“Kris just plugged in the TV to watch it while they ate pie!”

Disregarding the fact that this would be legitimately horrible storytelling, this is objectively false because Susie points out that the remote is dusty and hasn’t seen use in ages.

“Kris was just preparing a sleepover by plugging in the TV!”

So was eating the pie a part of it too somehow, or just a very lucky coincidence? How can this explain Kris making the Fountain on the Weird Route, and people’s often-cited idea that they are doing this in some bid to warn Undyne? Are we just fifteen-layer deep in coincidences here? This doesn’t seem likely, to put it mildly. There is no reason for Toby to make this a plot point other than to establish Kris knowing Fountain mechanics ahead of time.

“King and/or Queen didn’t recognize Kris!”

This is almost certainly because neither one have actually met the Knight. Queen strongly implies this in her dialogue, and it already seems likely from the fact that we don’t even know of any way to exit those two Fountains except by sealing them – Ralsei says as much. It seems much more likely that the two are, as Queen says, intuiting the will of the Knight from their actions, such as creating Dark Fountains in the first place, and from things like how they arrange the rooms and the Will they imbue the Fountains with.

“But the Japanese translation–”

Yes, King says “command” instead of “will” – except this is every bit as ambiguous as the English dialogue. The substance of the dialogue remains identical: King thinks he knows the will, or command, or goal of the Knight, and thinks he’s fulfilling it. Both lines retain the Biblical overtones, and there’s still nothing proving they’ve actually met. 

“How does the Queen know to call the Knight ‘the Roaring Knight’ if they haven’t met?”

Another objection I can respect. There isn't a particularly clear answer for it, but my personal argument would be that Darkners seem to be generated with certain “inherited” knowledge, derived from a Fountain’s will. If you want to hear the in-depth case for that, you can check out my other essays mentioned at the beginning.  

"Spamton's line about communion clearly hints at Alvin Knight! Spamton has met the Knight!"

Spamton's line about communion is not referring to the Christian ritual, it's referring to Gaster (who Spamton reveres as some sort of deity, clearly). Let's look at the full context:

I USED TO BE NOTHING BUT THE E_MAIL GUY, NOW I'M THE [[It Burns! Ow! Stop! Help Me! It Burns!]] GUY!

[[Amazed at thi5 amazing transformation? You too can]] HAVE A [[Communion]] WITH [[Unintelligble Laughter]]

SOON I'LL EVEN SURPASS THAT DAMNED [[Clown Around Town!]]

BUT UNLIKE HIM I'M GONNA [[Shoot For the Sky!]] AND GET ON THE PATH TO ...

[[The Big One]]

I'LL GET SO. I'LL GET SO. I'LL GET SO. I'LL GET SO. I'LL GET SO. I'LL GET SO.

[[Hyperlink blocked.]]

SPEAKING OF [[Communion]]

KRIS, DID YOU KNOW THAT THE KNIGHT...

No, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to --

TOO MANY EXCESS VACATION DAYS?? TAKE A GOD DAMN VACATION STRAIGHT TO HELL

Spamton's "communion" is clearly alluding to his contact with the "someone" who also contacted Jevil. Likewise, "unintelligible laughter" calls to mind mus_smile, Gaster's signature audio track which is actually a highly corrupted version of Muffet's laugh.

As for what this is communicating about the Knight, it seems to be alluding to them being connected with Gaster - which is true under Kris Knight.

“Kris was scared of the Fountain at the beginning of Chapter 1!”

Since Kris is easily the prime suspect when it comes to being the Knight, it would be absurd to just take their actions at face value. To be frank, we don’t even really need to know what Kris was thinking here, because when a case is resting on as firm a foundation as Kris Knight is, odd behavior becomes something you work to try to explain or reconcile with all the other evidence you have; without the foundation destroyed, the hypothesis can’t be dismissed.

Anyway, the most reasonable explanation seems to me to be that Kris was goading Susie into entering the closet first, since she was clearly reluctant to. Kris can’t risk Susie not falling into the Dark World with Kris, so she needs to go first.

“Kris warns the Kings about the Roaring in Chapter 1!”

This one is subject to the same scrutiny as I described above, but this line has also been massively decontextualized and blown out of proportion; this is a very minor piece of dialogue where the Kings are vainly worrying about their jewels and diamonds and asking Kris about them, and Kris seems to dryly respond that their world is in danger – in other words, that there are bigger things to worry about than their jewels. It’s a cute little joke, and hardly debunks Kris being the Knight. Kris is just roleplaying the hero they’re supposed to be in the Dark World narrative (just as I think they ‘roleplay’ the Knight!)

“Kris warns Undyne about the Dark Worlds and the Knight! Why would they lie?”

Could it have something to do with the Chapter 2 ending where they stage a break-in and presumably lure concerned individuals into the Dark World? Concerned individuals like... the one Toriel called shortly before? I mean, it would be really convenient for Kris if they could guarantee a way for people not to suspect them of being the Knight if that’s who they actually were…

This is not to mention that we're the ones who make Kris say that to Undyne. We have to go out of our way to meet Undyne and pick that dialogue option. But either way, it evidently fits with Kris’s plans, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t strain to say it or something like that.

“Queen says that the Knight created the Fountain that same day!”

Past midnight is still on the same day. Remember that Queen is a computer.

Also, I just want to point out that if the Fountain wasn't created the previous night (regardless of whether it was Kris who did it), the Cyber World timeline seems extremely rushed and shaky. Did a whole rebellion against Queen really form in like, 30 minutes or whatever? And there are more issues with the timeline we'll get into in a second.

“How did Kris have access to the Library?”

The same way we have access to both the School and Library after hours (no one is working at either at the end of Chapter 2) – nobody seems to bother to lock the doors. As per Alphys, there’s no crime in Hometown, so maybe we shouldn't be too surprised.

“How did Kris walk all that way in zombie mode?”

We have no reason to be putting arbitrary limiters on what Kris can or can’t do when soulless, so this is just kinda making stuff up. Kris is doing anime leaps from windowsills; I think they’re fine walking a relatively short distance. In Chapter 1 they also do the strained zombie walk before they even rip the soul out, so this seems mostly to be a presentational thing.

“Why couldn’t Ralsei sense the Library Fountain if Kris created it the previous night?”

As I hinted earlier, Ralsei’s line is nonsensical. For what he’s implying to be the case, it would have to mean that the Knight created the Fountain in the time it takes for Kris and Susie to walk from the Supply Closet to the School’s exit (because we can hear the traffic jam outside, and we know the Annoying Dog went into the Dark World before us, still in the car) – a patently absurd proposition that doesn’t even seem logically possible, even assuming optimal timing. It would also mean Berdly and Noelle were in the room when the Fountain was created, which leads us to:

“Closet Knight!”

Black Chestnut’s video on Closet Knight is definitive as far as I’m concerned, he goes into great detail in explaining how and why it makes absolutely no sense at all and is riddled with holes.

IN CONCLUSION...

Kris being the Knight is a conclusion that is surprisingly marginalized in the Deltarune theorizing community for how intuitive, well-supported and repeatedly suggested by the game it is. In many circles, you tend to get shut down or labelled a "casual" who "doesn't understand the game" if you attempt to start a discussion about Kris Knight, or put forward ideas which are premised on it. If I'm allowed to pontificate a little, I can only imagine that this is because people are simply really attached to the idea that the Knight plotline is a whodunnit which will result in some surprise external villain for the Fun Gang. People have been daydreaming about boss battles against the Knight ever since the release of Chapter 1 nearly seven years ago; to speculative headcanons like that, Kris being the Knight is a rude splash of water to the face, so it perhaps is understandable that people would reject it as "not feeling right". At the very least, though, I hope that even if I haven't convinced you that Kris is the Knight, I have at least convinced you that they can't be so easily dismissed as a candidate.

Thanks for reading! This post is pretty long and I know this topic gets some people heated very quick, so I appreciate the show of faith in sticking to the end.

[katzkookiesshipping]

Im just saying that jackies reaction to chigusa and kaoru going apeshit on each other vs everyone else’s is deeply funny

she’s looking at this shit and going “ah, young love. i remember when that was me and maki :)”

YOU CAN LITERALLY SEE TOSHI LAYING ON THE GROUND. an omen of all the other well-deserved times kaoru knocks him on his ass

[eroguron0nsense]

The Mysterious Mysteries of Mr Sir Crocodile (Character Analysis)

(Apologies in advance for discrepancies from my usual tone and for holding off on everyone who voted for this on my last poll. Honest to God I hope y'all enjoy this in some capacity because I've been procrastinating on this meta so long it's derailed ALL my other One Piece writing and I only accomplished it through addy-fuelled mania)

This was such a fucking pain to write. I really wanted to say something about Crocodile and what makes him so fascinating that wasn't like, another fan theory or just a set of headcanons, but that's easier said than done?? We could boil it down to immaculate design, screen presence, attitude, or just the fact that he got brought back as an unlikely ally who shocked everyone by saving the protagonist, but I don't know that those factors in and of themselves make for a villain who's become such an object of fandom obsession.

Whatever it is, it's certainly not backstory or depth, because 24 years and hundreds and hundreds of chapters after his introduction, we still know nothing about Sir Crocowani's past beyond a vague confrontation with the Late Great Edward Newgate (that apparently like, ruined his dreams or something?), and some totally-not-just-a-threat-to-out-him-if-he-betrayed-the-alliance blackmail material the Queen of the Queers is holding over his sandy reptilian ass. I was born and grew into adulthood in the time it took Oda to tell the world fuck all about where he's from or his inner thoughts, or his actual honest motivations and traumas.

All we have about this character are questions. Why did he save Luffy and Ace –very conspicuously after both of their lineages were revealed to the world– against all logic and reason? Does he have ties to the revolutionaries? Is he the long-lost son of Rocks D. Xebec? Did he bounce on Comrade Dragon's Monkey D and squirt out the fucking Warrior of Liberation? I assume Oda's going to tell us more about him, but at this point, he's managed to keep a tighter lid on Sir Crocs, Inc.'s past than the fucking Secret History

You may be wondering, dear reader: what the fuck is my point? What is there, at this final stage of Long Running Pirate Manga, for me–Frankie EroGuroNonsense, OP Tumblr Community Z-lister with like, 7 mildly popular meta posts under my belt–to write about the legendary Sir Krokorok that hasn't already been said or theorized? What eagle-eyed observations did I make while rereading Alabasta and writing toxic Crobin fanfic? Am I going anywhere with this? Sorta. Yeah.

Let's start with listing things we actually know about Crockpot, in roughly chronological (??) order: –attended Gol D.'s execution way back when he was my age, along with anyone else who's anyone from his generation.

–At some point, met and was known well enough by Iva that she could effectively blackmail him

–Made it far enough on the Grand Line, somehow getting to the New World, and managed to pick up an 81,000,000 bounty (low end for a warlord, presumably scouted fairly early in his career)

–Wanted to be Pirate King until he gave up on it, not 100% explicitly confirmed but most likely due to getting his ass beat so badly by Whitebeard that he settled for picking off small fry and racketeering behind a government desk job. This makes him profoundly relatable to the rest of us depressed fucking losers who acquiesce to our own mediocrity.

–At 30, after presumably licking his wounds for a hot minute, sets up shop in Alabasta, comes up with a clever evil plan to quietly build up enough arms to conquer the world with a WMD, and then gets his years-long bioterrorist coup attempt foiled by a 17-year-old.

The rest we know: after a brief moment of glory as the unsung MVP of Impel Down/Marineford, he immediately reverts to Failguy Mode, gives all his money to a literal clown, and consequently gets roped into the neverending uncontrollable PR nightmare that is Cross Guild. It's still super vague and we know little to nothing about his past before the Alabasta Saga (for all we know he had a fling with King Cobra)

...Onto his personality and mannerisms. This shit's a lot more revealing. Superficially, he's everything: immaculate Bond villain levels of charismatic villainy, unbelievably ostentatious, dripped out like a Pimp, constantly smoking cigars, absolutely dripping with smugness and grease and disdain. Owns exotic pets and a giant casino, and spends every waking moment either grinning like a maniac when he's got the upper hand or storming around in a fucking mood when anything goes mildly wrong.

He's also pretty hardened underneath all that, obviously couldn't have lived a day on the grand line or survived Impel Down Torture otherwise. But even in Alabasta, Crockery gives off an air of being distinctly more grounded and willing to get his hands dirty than other flashy, established villains who flaunt their wealth and status. A big part of it is just his really hyper-masculine indomitable tough guy persona, but even early on he's very much micromanaging his operation, fighting people hand to hand in (as opposed to, say, Doffy, who literally puppeteers people while lounging around) and makes a point to keep almost all of his followers at a distance and rely on them as little as possible. He rants a bit about how dreams and whatnot are pointless follies, as One Piece antagonists tend to do, and repeatedly taunts Vivi about how her idealism can't save her, but with the context that he wanted to find Laughtale himself, it feels a lot like projection.

The character trait that's harped on a LOT in canon, and probably the most pertinent one to whatever demons he has, is Croconaw's profound pathological distrust for everyone around him. It's a huge part of what makes him a good early foil to the Nefertari family and the Straw Hats, whose collective strength is derived from organic human connection; Crocalor, by contrast, makes sure that up until the very last moment, he keeps most of his people so distant from him that they genuinely have no idea he's even their boss. His relationship with Robin is interesting, but he turns on her immediately when he realizes she either can't or won't give him the location of Pluton and has his dramatic stabbing/"I forgive you" lines about how he never trusted her or anyone from the start. He says the same shit to Mihawk when he suggests they join forces, even citing their mutual distrust as a kind of paradoxical justification for why they'd actually work well together.

Arguably the only exception is Daz Bones, but even that relationship is still a pretty reserved one; one of the few traits Daz exhibits is a similar avoidance of human connections to his boss and even though they've ironically formed a bond despite it, I can't imagine that they're emotionally close. I find these more explicit declarations of paranoia a lot less indicative of what's actually going on in Croconut's head than subtext, but I feel inclined to mention them just because it more or less tells us that his background/trauma has something to do either with betrayal or alternatively just being jaded and deprived to the point of self-isolation.

Krookodile's character gets a little bit more interesting when we get to see him again in Impel Down being a smug little manipulative rascal right up until he gets blackmailed by his endocrinologist, which is definitely medical malpractice but also funny as hell. I also appreciate that literally the first thing he does after getting out of his cell is change into a big coat and cravat to keep up appearances, but it's not until Marineford proper that things get really complicated. Saving Luffy and Ace is the first selfless thing we see Crobat do–while yelling at Luffy that he needs to protect what matters to him properly, no less– and he just keeps fighting for them after that, teaming up with his most hated rival crew to cover Luffy's retreat and telling the entire WG to go fuck itself multiple times over. He fights everyone on sight with no regard for his own safety, talks mad shit to Doffy, and demonstrates a genuinely compelling amount of honest to god chivalry.

For a short time, we see Crocomotive less as a really entertaining cartoon villain and more as a person with hidden, profound emotions and a confusing moral code that's seemingly incompatible with the vicious little creature we met in Alabasta. We come to understand, in a few very brief lines that give us way more questions than answers, that Cromagnon has deep-seated, emotional convictions he actively suppresses, and that whatever baggage he has is probably tied to wanting to or failing to save something of his own. His resentment of Newgate, who he really really wants to have a go at (despite theoretically no longer caring about the ambitions of his youth) is indicative of a desire to revisit the fight that probably ruined his dream and ego, but it's also tinged with a deep-seated grudging respect for a living legend.

Crock–Afire Explosion's obvious seething hatred of Doffy also gives us a few more insights into what's wrong with him. On a surface level, it makes sense that he dislikes a profoundly obnoxious, even flashier fellow warlord who achieved more or less the same goal he set out to in a shorter time, fucks with his business, and then mocks him/tries to recruit him right after his very public defeat and imprisonment. He postures a lot, especially with his lines insisting he's on a higher level and that Doffy could only ever join him as a subordinate, but he's visibly steamed in their initial encounter and clearly hasn't liked him for quite some time. I bring this up because if we stretch our interpretation a little (for the sake of my argument), Croc Holliday's distaste for someone who's (outwardly) so much like himself and embodies all of his villainous characteristics from back in Alabasta might also suggest that deep down, he doesn't actually like the things they have in common; he sees right through Doffy because he's done the same shit and he hates what he sees.

Having gone over all that, I've come up with some key characteristics of Crocomelon that I'll use going forward:

–Extremely performative: puts an ungodly amount of energy into maintaining a carefully curated persona, and projecting a certain amount of power, masculinity, and prestige. Not necessarily an unnatural or inauthentic one, but a constructed and purposeful one nonetheless

–Deep-seated paranoia, hidden secrets; probably intertwined. Keeps personal details on tight, tight lockdown, probably afraid of being known.

–Constant projection of his own insecurities and failures onto other people, making a point to be uniquely cruel in Alabasta to an idealist who loves her people and a dreamer who wants to be the Pirate King.

Ironically, he demonstrably respects and defends two people–Luffy and Whitebeard–who theoretically embody everything he hates or scorns (ambition, goodness, love, connection, romanticism, greatness in the traditional sense) and he intensely dislikes the villain most like himself, or at least the one who shares a lot of his worst characteristics (ostentatious manipulative scheming rat bastard backed by people stronger than himself) –The Grinch's heart grew three sizes at Marineford because of like, the compelling power of brotherly love and reminders of his youth or something

SPECULATION, CONCLUSIONS??

The difficulty with writing anything definitive about Crocko's Basilisk is that he's such a mystery, which functionally lets the fanbase project literally whatever weird personality traits, potential backstories, or anything else they could possibly come up with onto him. So I want to be clear that I have absolutely no interest in theorizing about the specifics of his past or secret identity or potential baby daddy or anything along those lines; I'm only interested in what we can infer about his personality by extrapolating from canon. And the conclusion I keep coming back to, the one that I'm convinced is true on some level, is that Crocodile is living a lie and he fucking hates himself. Everything he does, from how he acts to what he claims to believe, is a desperate effort to cope with his own insecurity and failure and cover up a past version of himself he's deeply ashamed of.

Now, unfortunately, Oda did not conceive of Crocodile as a trans man but stories belong to the people and we can do what we want let's forget about that and play it straight because he's constantly performing gender as a means of compensating for a deep-seated shame and self-loathing from whatever traumas and secrets he keeps hidden. Even assuming he's a cis man, he deliberately chooses a hypermasculine persona with a Capital V Villain moniker and pimp outfit and speech pattern he's carefully curated to project masculine power–physical, political, and financial–and we know it's performance because we see him break kayfabe and get legitimately fucking angry whenever he's confronted by a person like Luffy, who's crazy and brave enough to try and do what he couldn't and risk everything for love and hope that he cannot bring himself to feel for another person, or reminders of the past he tries so desperately to bury.

The lessons he's wrongfully obtained from his past are as follows: Idealism is a weakness. Dreaming is a weakness. Connections to other people and being known are crippling liabilities (If he is, in fact, trans and closeted, that's all the more reason to be existentially disgusted by what he used to be). All the hope he brought to the Grand Line, all the excitement of trying to carry on where Roger left off, needs to be purged and buried because all he got to show for it was loss and humiliation. But he can't stop wanting more, and ironically, after he gives up on conquering the Grand Line, he ends up chasing the same fucking poneglyphs and weapons because his ambition's still there; it's just compromised and much more jaded.

Everything he does that's seemingly contradictory makes sense when you realize that Crocodile resents his failure and wants to avenge himself. He makes a big show of talking down to Luffy and Vivi's petty ideals and shit-talking Newgate and his family, but he still wants to fight Whitebeard like he did way back when and help Luffy protect what matters to him. He hates Doffy, who's honestly just a more successful schemer than he is because it's a constant reminder of what he settled for when he took that warlord post and fucking gave up. He claims to trust no one, but he keeps Daz by his side and rewards his loyalty because he can't help but trust someone who respects him so deeply and follows him to the ends of the fucking earth long after losing the material incentive to do so. He claims to look down on people who aim for the stars and fight for love and joy and freedom and yet, in his most vulnerable moments–not in the face of violence or imprisonment, but when he's emotionally compelled to defend a child and help save his brother–we see how badly he wants that for himself.

TLDR: Crockman Holic is deeply insecure in his masculinity, desperately needs psychological help, and his character/potential redemption arc in One Piece is just dealing with his midlife crisis.

[thatrandomartistjavi]

I think a weak point of Ever After High as a show and the reason why I think the fandom sucks at handling the Royal-Rebel conflict is that

EAH put way too much emphasis on the Royals. ESPECIALLY in the specials.

Like yeah you had Raven, and sometimes you would get stuff focused on Cerise or Cedar but for the most part, most of the character stuff happens with Royals. We have Apple, Briar, Ashlynn, Blondie, the Charmings, Lizzie. So much of the focus is on the people who are at the top(aka rich). Even the only Rebel that gets significant attention is rich as well being the daughter of the Evil QUEEN and the Good KING

I see people in the fandom constantly not be sympathetic towards the Pied Piper and paint them as the only person in the wrong when I see no one talk about how the Mayor of Hamelin is the reason why the children were taken. The People of Hamelin have to be fearful of the day hundreds and hundreds of rats invade their village. They have to sit there and watch as the person who helped them with their infestation have to take their children because THEIR MAYOR is destined to not pay them the amount that they owed them.

And the Pipers seemingly don’t like their destinies. The original Piper probably only took the kids until the Mayor paid them as a lesson to not pay the amount that you promised. Oh but because the Pied Piper isn’t a Royal(rich) that means he was the only one in the wrong.

In universe, Sparrow gets put in General Villainy even tho the character of Robin Hood is famously known to aid the poor and in need. Oh no but because he robs from the rich then he HAS to be a villain!!! It’s not like Robin Hood is supposed to be a hero of the people and not the 1%!!!

The tyrannical Queen of Hearts and the abusive Duchess are allowed to stay tyrannical and abusive because not only is it their “destiny”, they have power and money. In the meta of the show, a harmless trickster is much more worthy of being treated as an awful villain more than a murder happy Queen.

The curriculum is mainly centered around Royalty and even classes that should be for everyone like Muse-ic class is implied to need pressure to even let Rebels take it even tho a Rebel is literally teaching it. Pied Piper wouldn’t be able to teach his OWN DAUGHTER Muse-ic all because they aren’t Royals

And this reflects in the fandom too. People only care about how sad the Royal’s destinies are and rarely ever concentrate on the Rebels that aren’t Raven Queen. On the rare occasion, you’ll get a little bit of Cerise. Anyone else? Absolutely irrelevant

And it sucks cause I generally think that exploring the feelings of the Rebels about the system that hurts them the most. But no. We just get the 100th episode about Apple and her possee

[nekomuraaoi02]

I had this concept for a while, so i'm just going to yap abt it under the cut but... these three as wacky magical girls-

So, basically it's a Looney Tunes Magical Girl show starring Lola Bunny, Melissa Duck, and Petunia Pig. It would be a fun mix of classic slapstick, meta-humor, and magical girl tropes, where they're not their animal selves but anime girls with animal motifs. It's like a parody animated in japan, like PPGZ.

Looney tunes: Magical Mayhem

Lola, Melissa, and Petunia are just regular high school students in a futuristic city like in "rocket squad", one day they get called to be heroes by mistical mentor tweety bird, now they must protect their town all while dealing with their ridiculous daily lives. The problem? They are absolutely terrible at being magical girls.

Their Dynamics:

Lola Bunny (The Overenthusiastic Leader) -

bubbly, hyper, over-the-top, energetic, and way too into the magical girl aesthetic. She thinks she’s the perfect protagonist, but in reality, she’s an absolute disaster—reckless, overly dramatic, and easily distracted. Somehow, she also got classic bugs wits and "toon force" to defeat the villain.

Melissa Duck (The Snarky Rival) -

The "cool" one—or at least she tries to be. She insists she’s the "lone wolf anti-hero," but she’s just as chaotic as the others. She complains a lot, is a bit grumpy and acts above it all, but deep down, she cares about the team.

Petunia Pig (The Reluctant One) -

The shy, sweet one who just wants a quiet life but keeps getting dragged into magical nonsense. She loves sweets and tries to follow the "responsible hero" role but constantly gets overwhelmed by the other two’s nonsense.

Supporting Cast & Villains

Tweety Bird (The Sassy Mentor)

A tiny, floating, magical guide but super passive-aggressive and constantly roasts them for their mistakes.

Love Interests:

Bugs Bunny (Mysterious & Unbothered) - "Cool Guy in the Shadows"

Similar to tuxedo mask. Shows up occasionally, but refuses to join in on their nonsense. Might secretly know more about the magical world than he lets on. Often trolls them by pretending to be a villain.

Daffy Duck (Wannabe Villain?)

At first, he tries to be a magical boy rival, but fails spectacularly and ends up their biggest headache instead. Might actually a real villain by accident.

Porky Pig ( Dependable Gentleman)

Porky is a senpai petunia has a crush on, he is a sweetie but is completely oblivious to petunia's affections. So, that'd be a cute comedic romantic subplot.

Villains:

Elmer Fudd (The Clueless Big Bad)

a Mojo Jojo-style villain means he can have long-winded monologues, overcomplicated evil plans, and constant frustration when the magical girls (intentionally or not) ruin everything. He could even have a group of incompetent alien minions who constantly mess things up for him.

He just wants to catch a "mythical magical creature" but Keeps getting defeated in the most embarrassing ways possible.

And some aliens appear to be villains too, like in "space jam" and "duck dogers".

Having both the Martians and Elmer’s alien allies as villains will allow for a mix of recurring antagonists and one-off alien threats, keeping the story fresh and chaotic.

Marvin the Martian – The Straight-Laced Commander

Marvin is a soft-spoken but highly dangerous alien who always tries to destroy Earth with advanced weapons. Marvin could be the primary Martian leader, taking himself very seriously despite constantly being outmatched by the chaotic magical girls. He’d be the "straight man" to their slapstick antics, reacting with deadpan frustration while his minions fail him.

K-9 – Marvin’s Loyal Alien Dog

A big green dog-like creature who is extremely loyal to Marvin, though not particularly bright. He could be a giant, overpowered alien beast that Marvin treats like a cute little lapdog.

K-9 could secretly love the girls, constantly trying to befriend them even when Marvin commands him to attack.

The Martian Queen Tyr’ahnee – The Elegant & Dangerous Ruler

She’s the ruler of the Martians, regal and poised but with a sharp temper. She could be a major antagonist or a rival to Elmer, trying to conquer the Earth before he does.

Instead of being an outright villain, she might have her own mysterious agenda, sometimes helping the girls when it benefits her but remaining an unpredictable force. She might mock the girls for their childish antics while secretly enjoying their chaos and shenanigans.

The Martian Army (Generic Soldiers / Minions)

Small green Martians in Roman-style armor, extremely loyal to Marvin and the Martian Queen.

Martian X-2 – Marvin’s Rival

He’s a Martian general who competes with Marvin for recognition. He could be another villain faction, making things even worse for Marvin and Elmer by interfering with their plans.

Marvin & his Martians are a serious sci-fi empire, while Elmer is more of a goofy villain who constantly gets in their way.

Anyway, i might actually seriously draw this AU later. But i'd be over the moon if someone actually enjoys this idea and makes their interpretation/fanart for it, so.. feel free to and tag me so i can see it! ^^ and if you want to yap together send me an ask abt it!

[avatarfandompolice]

Wow you’re so smart for saying Ozai wasn’t evil. That’s definitely a thoughtful observation and not you completely misinterpreting a character and spinning your lack of comprehension as clout.

Ooh, now you’re saying Aang was abusive and the real villain? Boy we’re getting so clout thirsty now. You’re definitely a super smart viewer above these pesky “general audiences” that just don’t get it. Your hyper-fixation on and removal of situational context from a single scene where he does something bad is totally making your point appealing to us mere mortals.

No, no, no, don’t worry that millions of people don’t share your opinion! You’re smarter than them for not being able to properly identify a protagonist and antagonist in a children’s show! They’re just not bright enough! Keep it up queen! You got this! Post that meta about Mai actually being responsible for the Air Nomad Genocide!

[queenofcandynsoda]

The King and Queen of Villains

(Art by @jknerd)

This belongs to the Villain Nurse Deku AU, at the end of the Meta Liberation Army Arc.

Tomura becomes the Grand Commander of the Paranormal Liberation Front and Izuka becomes his Queen and soon-to-be mother of their child.

Yeah, we took some inspiration from @mamadonovan's Queen of the Underworld. It is an excellent fic and I highly recommend it.