#US Dollar Store Franchise

[usdollarstoreindia]

Embrace Profitable Entrepreneurship: US Dollar Store Franchise in India

[foldingfittedsheets]

When deciding who to work for there is a sliding scale of employers that goes from lil mom and pop shops up to corporate monoliths. I have worked at both ends of the spectrum and I can pretty definitively say that tiny businesses are hands down the most insane employers.

The sweet spot is a place that has like 10-20 stores; that’s the best possible work environment. They’ll be polished enough to have protocols that make work structured, but not so bogged down with bureaucracy that nothing can ever get done.

This story is not from that sweet spot. This story is from my time working at Oil and Vinegar. Now, like many little franchise stores, the idea was solid. There was on tap imported olive oil and vinegar and it was really delicious. Top shelf. Unfortunately, each location was like the Wild West because owners varied wildly.

My owner was the human embodiment of Mr. Krabbs. His eyes were just constant dollar signs. Throughout my training he informed me of the price of every single piece of equipment I touched and how much it cost to replace it.

He had cameras set up to watch us, and an app on his phone to access the live feed. He’d call us to ask what we were doing when he’d just checked a camera to make sure we were being honest.

Now, the trouble was he had two locations. His location further south did amazing. It was way more centrally located and got three times the foot traffic. The one I worked in was in the snottiest mall possible in Arizona and consequently the rent was through the roof.

It was not going well for my store. We didn’t get as much traffic, so there was only so much I could do in a day. I could dust, sweep, and wait for customers. I read a lot and was frank when he called to interrogate me. I always asked for additional tasks but he never had any. What could I do to prop up a failing business?

But this man was convinced there was some Secret Reason that the store I was in was doing worse. He crunched numbers, looked at staff, and eventually hit upon the most insane possible solution.

We used too much toilet paper.

We were probably stealing toilet paper! Bleeding him dry one single ply square at a time! How dare we need to use the bathroom?! His south location used half as much toilet paper as we did, we must be thieving little monsters!!!!

Friends. The south location was populated entirely by men. My location had three people on staff who had to sit to pee. It was so blindly transparently the source of the discrepancy but this man was convinced we were making off with toilet paper to bankrupt him.

So he implemented what he believed to be an entirely reasonable response to this base treachery. We were allowed to have one roll of toilet paper. At any given time, one roll was permitted to us. This was so transparently unhinged that we protested but he insisted. If we were low on toilet paper we needed to call him to drop off a roll that he brought from his home. Smiling jovially, he assured us he lived so close by that it would be no problem!

When we needed to call him often for more he started tearing his hair out. What were we using toilet paper for?! Why wasn’t his genius plan to stop our scandalous waste working??!

Finally, the manager, the only man on staff had to pull the owner aside and be like, “Look, man, their bladders are smaller. They need to wipe every time they pee. They need to pee even more on their period. Is this really the hill you want to die on?”

Yes. It was. The manager was fired unrelated reasons and denounced as a traitor. The toilet paper ration lasted until I quit and probably until the store closed six months later.

[phoenixyfriend]

Unrelated, I told a coworker about how Dollar Tree is closing several hundred stores and some random guy in the elevator with us just scoffed and said "Bidenomics"

Which

I managed to say "actually, no, it was poor management" before the doors opened

But who DOES that

Who says these things on a topic they clearly know very little about

(It was more than just poor management, they made a really bad purchasing decision of another dollar franchise that was then the subject of said poor management, but it's definitely not as simple as Biden Economic Policy Bad)

[malebodyexhibit]

Nacho Business (a Next Door Boy tale)

When Brent and I took that photo together, we hadn’t switch bodies just yet. In Sierra Vista, there were not many opportunities to be hired in well-paying jobs, especially as a Latino American. So when Brent offered me a job and didn’t hesitate to stand beside me as equal human beings, I accepted with a smile on my face.

Brent was the manager of the gas station and had worked his way to the top since he was teen. He was a good leader and spent many hours at work and many more at the gym. He knew he looked good, but it was part of his image. 

I was hired to many stay in the backrooms. In this conservative part of town, I as a brown-skinned resident had to avoid intimidating the sensitive customers. But my work ethic and leadership skills didn’t go unnoticed by management. Brent gave me more responsibilities and eventually I was assistant manager. We handled the store well. Of course, matters of race always deferred to him. If a customer couldn’t converse with me without dipping into casual racism, Brent stood up to the plate and shouldered the responsibility. Not only was his race a help, but also his charisma and built body. He could smooth talk any woman down.

Eventually it came to light that Brent was skimming money off the top of business. Higher ups came down harder than a heatwave in the desert. They gave him an ultimatum: resign or face a lawsuit.

Brent tried his hardest to fight back. He claimed he was the face of the store. No one would shop there when a Mexican was in charge. And I realized his kindness was a mask. He saw me nothing more than my race.

 But the owners of a multi-billion dollar franchise wouldn’t passively let a racist prick steamroll them with threats. They offered me the position of being the face of the store, and when I accepted, they forced the agency Next Door Boy to do a permanent swap of me and Brent.

I didn’t think they meant I would be the literal face of the store. I wore Brent for over a year now. I take more time off after becoming him. I love heading to the gym and bench pressing a fuck ton of weight. I get compliments from guys all the time. I never liked Brent’s douche bag tats, but it helps with picking up the ladies. With my managerial skills, I managed to get the store into top shape. I donate money to various charities around town. It’s my aim to reduce the racial troubles around here, and while I get to reap the benefits of the white lifestyle, I still try my beset to help Brent in my body.

It’s really despicable what they did to Brent. They practically wiped his mind clear. He lost most of his mathematical talent, literacy, and confidence. He acts the part of the uneducated, timid Hispanic worker. I try my best to help him. We go out for drinks and hang out playing pool. He gets crap occasionally for being Latino, but I manage to protect him. He practically worships me since he only vaguely knows he used to be me. He had begged me for his body back, but it’s out of my hands. I catch him checking me out when I change into my employee uniform, but I don’t think he’s gay. He must be dreaming of these biceps or the six pack abs he worked so hard on. A few times he tried to lecture me on how to run the store. I told him it wasn’t his business. A few of the other employees jokingly tell him “nacho business.” They don’t mean it maliciously, and I find myself saying it too. I feel maybe I’ve lost myself in this white hunk. Maybe I will  ask the company to give Brent his intelligence back. That way I don’t feel so guilty.

[g5mlp]

Is there any info on G5’s performance financially? People have been saying it’s been doing poorly since 2021, but there hasn’t really been much evidence. There have been pictures and talk of stores getting rid of it through clearance sales and such, but I find that’s more regional thing; all of stores near me not only still carry MLP, but it rarely goes on clearance, too. To add onto the confusion, Hasbro themselves seems/claims to be confident and investing more money into G5. At the same time, they haven’t mentioned it in an quarterIy report since 2021. I don’t know what think. How do you personally think G5 is doing?

Hasbro has much bigger fish to fry, and they have been cutting costs for basically everything that they can. Wizards of the Coast is now the only part of Hasbro that isn't losing money and Hasbro still laid off lots of that division's staff in December 2023.

Because Hasbro is doing inventory reductions across all their franchises, and because a lot of people have switched to online shopping over the past decade, it's difficult to use anecdotal observations to judge MLP's success. There does seem to be a broad sentiment among MLP toy collectors that the franchise hasn't been doing as well.

The reason that MLP isn't mentioned in Hasbro's investor reports any more is primarily that in 2022 they changed their definition of "franchise brands" and started calling MLP a "portfolio brand" instead, reflecting that it was no longer one of Hasbro's seven biggest brands, but there could be any number of explanations for how that happened.

MLP's no longer been Hasbro's biggest "girl brand" since they got Peppa Pig in 2019.

MLP's growth was primarily because of Friendship Is Magic, and that growth mostly happened before 2015. (Hasbro avoids emphasizing revenue decreases, so that's probably why MLP's revenue wasn't mentioned as a dollar amount after 2015.)

The 2021 movie, My Little Pony: A New Generation, didn't have a properly measurable impact, because its originally-planned theatrical release was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Brian Goldner, who was Hasbro's CEO for about 13 years, died in 2021, and was replaced as CEO by Chris Cocks (yes, that's his real name). It's not clear if Cocks has made any good decisions yet.

It's obvious that both Hasbro and the MLP franchise have seen better days, at least financially, and Hasbro's level of investment into MLP has clearly been decreasing. However, the viral success of G4 isn't something that could be easily replicated, and G4 itself wasn't able to sustain its own viral or financial success. It would probably be fairer to compare G5 to other TV shows/toy lines based on standalone movies than to compare it to G4.

[mintichoco]

'Boruto' series re-envisioned

tw. opinions (and the wording is all over a mess so read at your own risk), plot-bashing (is that even a thing?)

[This is my opinion on what Boruto, as a sequel to one of the greatest Shounen franchises should have been. Remember, this is entirely my wishful thinking and I don't mean to disrespect any of the writers, animators or the fandom.]

Boruto, as an MC, had immense potential. This point has been chanted to the ground but it is true. He is a third gen Uzumaki and second gen Hyūga. And we all know Uzumaki have monstrous chakra reserves. What he needed was to work hard for it. Where was the training arc?

Think about it. We never got much backstrory about the Uzumaki clan and what their motives and morals were. It would have been cool to see another character use the chakra chains (beside Kushina and Karin). He could have explored Uzushio, the plot could've called for contacting the remaining Uzumaki who supposedly scattered all over the globe.

Maybe Boruto could have worked with seals? Minato, his grandpa, is known as one of the greatest seal masters. If the writers were going for symbolism, why not use that?

Same goes for his Hyūga lineage. We get so much info about the Uchiha in Naruto, it could have been refreshing to see the Boruto lore delve into the Hyūga faction, which isarguably the third (or even the second, not counting the Senju) strongest clan in Konoha.

Think of all the jutsu Boruto could have had in his arsanel with a Byakugan. It's hightime they get the deserved recognition.

Coming to another member of Team 7, Mitsuki is a clever character idea but ultimately wasted postential as well.

If the power scaling continues to get upped in the pace as it is now, there will be nothing left for the Time Skip. Shippuden gave us Sage Mode but Mitsuki already has that. Viewers will look for something new and we all know even Kishimoto wrote himself up a wall with Rinnegan and the Otsutsuki race. What will Ikemoto give then?

Speaking of Otsutsuki, it was sort of dissapointing to see them getting introduced this fast. Some will say Boruto is slow paced and yes, I agree, but in terms of keeping that air of anonymity, it fails terribly.

It would have worked better if instead of Momoshiki landing like a bug out a tree, they got clues and rumors instead.

The whole Code and Kara situation should've been handled first and then led to the reveal of an Otsutsuki nest, perhaps?

Or a portal like the one in Last to a mirror dimension or somthing where the Otsutsuki live? Maybe a dive into how they came to be? It is revealed that humans are an entirely different race and what we see of the Naruto cast are a mix between Otsutsuki and humans.

Also, WHERE IS THE BACKSTORY? Same thing with Hyūgas really. The Hamura thing came out of nowhere. The Last is a below average excuse to tie up loose ends.

Now, Kawaki, I have a love-hate relationship with him. On one hand his backstory provides the perfect intro to post-war tragedies (and a hc of mine that smaller villages in the outskirts still get ignored in favour of the capitals)

But he just feels like a dollar-store Sasuke. As if the writers were like, oh Boruto needs a rival? Add in an angsty guy to contrast his sunny demeanor. I know this is a recurring trope in shounen but it works because it is handled well.

And people say Boruto is handed everything on a silver platter? Kawaki basically lives with the freaking Head of the Village, the elite of the elites, is looked after by the former heir to the Hyūga and gets to be a genin because he has a cool explody power? And all that why? Because he is a mistreated orphan? (what about the kids who lost their parents in the war? what about aforementioned kids in small-sized villages? what about cases like sumire? what makes Kawaki SPECIAL, naruto?)

Kawaki shouldn't have been given any of those benifits. Let him figure out how the world works, let him make mistakes, show his potential as a good guy, let him prove himself as a character worth stanning. Give him a serious politics-based arc explaining that part of the Boruto era rather than some murderers chasing a boy with some magical cure.

Coming to the side characters (yes, I'm saving Sarada for later and there is a reason behind it), let's start with Shikadai. First thought, he is the most carbon-copied version of his dad out of every next gen character.

It's no news that scenarios and often characters revered as prodigies are dumbed down to make him shine but imo most of it is owed to the factor that there is no element of suspense or an ultimatum for that matter.

Kakashi, Minato, Itachi, Orochimaru, Shisui worked as prodigal characters because of the situation. It was war time and kids were forced to grow up. The stakes were high and even then, the plot revolving around them was such that it made them raise the bar higher.

Shikadai seems flat compared to many characters. Remember, Shikamaru was not called a prodigy, he even flunked tests because he was too lazy, but whenever the situation was tense, us viewers could count on his snippets of thoughts for a clarification, or little behaviors to show he realized and often times refused to work for what is right over what is needed because that is smartness, taking a level-headed decision with the least collateral.

On the other hand, Shikadai is fed information and he just 'explains' stuff like a NPC.

I can't help but think, what if Shikadai inherited Temari's temper? Mix that with Shikamaru's actual genius (not the baby puzzle-solving we see in that one arc with Kakashi) and he could be one of the team members to look for clue about the Otsutsuki's existence. Also, I'd like more windstyle-user Shikadai plz.

Moving on to Inojin. He is also one of those characters that I neither like nor dislike. He's just... there.

What Boruto needs is better world-building and ain't no better way to accomplish that than exploring side characters. Inojin doesn't have an affinity for the Yamanaka mind-body-switch so make him train for other stuff.

Let viewers know where jutsu like that stems from (yin and yang release), give him some productive time with the border patrol, stress on the fact that Konoha's citizen don't go to sleep at peace just knowing Naruto will pull some god-level jutsu.

The Yamanaka are an extremely important part of the security system. Remember how Inoichi was part of the team figuring out Pain's black chakra recievers? Make Inojin do something similar with, perhaps some Otsutsuki relic or remains (going with the mystery au)

Then comes Chocho. How to put it simply? At first I despised her. And no, it has nothing to do with her appearance. Actually, I find her and that new girl from the recent Labyrinth Game arc, Batta, amazing.

The fact lies with her attitude. Tell me one attribute that comes to mind while thinking of her other than Butterfly mode and eating chips. Sure, she loves to eat, we get it. The fact again boils down to her falling flat as a character.

Chocho could use her lightning release in many ways and it must be strong too, considering her mother comes from Kiri. She could have earth-release, that would be great to see as none of the main cast prior to this have that.

And if they are going for a Ino-like character, let the girl have some reality to her. A twelve-year old girl is far mature and has other troubles than just thinking about cute boys and girls.

She can retain that aspect but make her serious when it comes to missions, or her family, show her spending time partaking in her hobbies that do not include eating, ogling at movie stars and muttering un-funny jokes and inuendos. Give her depth, for a lack of better words.

And for Hagoromo's sake, LET THESE KIDS HAVE SOME SORT OF GOAL and not just exist because their parents hooked up smh.

Last but not least, Sarada. I, like many others, really like her character. She isn't yet another girl who despises anything remotely 'girly' and is not afraid to show her emotions and voice her thoughts loud and clear. She is practical and relatively smart without being an overkill.

What bugs me is her very existence.

No, I do not want to get roped into a 'sasusaku : good or bad' debate but they just don't make sense to me. And this is coming from someone whose first anime ship as a ten-year-old was sasusaku.

In any case, Naruto (not citing the last few chapters) made it clear that Sasuke did not see Sakura nor Karin as a romantic interest. And honestly, I still am onboard with him being an aro ace because, hello representation!

And whatever happened behind the scenes post The Last are only headcanons, so the idea of Sasuke suddenly marrying Sakura seems a stretch to me. Let alone him having a kid who he suddenly cares so much about after ignoring her for twelve years...(coming to the problem of 'as to why he did that anyway' later)

Sarada, in my opinion, should not exist.

Like, okay, Naruto has a kid but why should Sasuke as well because of that? PTSD is a thing and we are repeatedly shown that Sasuke has grown a fear of familial bonds due to obvious reasons.

If we calculate their ages, the new gen was born sometime when they were 20-23 y/o. Yeah, I'm willing to bet Sasuke did not get past that nagging anxiety of eighteen years in just three or four.

If they wanted to make Sasuke the mysterious sensei figure who is rarely in town and is always going in these crazy amazing solo missions, don't make him a deadbeat dad. Come onnn...

Canon!Sasuke would never just abandon his wife and child for the sake of the village that ruined his family (again, trust issues), the village that he saw ab*sing a child because of something out of his control (who's to say Sarada was not picked on and scrutinized because she is a former nuke-nin's kid and an Uchiha like Naruto was due to Kurama?)

Instead, Sasuke should have just been a traveller. He should still be wandering the nations to find his way in life, being someone beyond an Uchiha and escaping the burden that was placed on his shoulders at a very young age.

You know how I keep mentioning the small villages that probably get ignored? Show him helping them, him cleaning up traces of corrupted organizations like in the last few episodes of the anime.

Show his kinder, softer side in a believable way (not the comic relief that Boruto provides), show us him seeing the beauty in life and finding a reason to live.

The Sasuke we see now just feels like an empty shell. I remember seeing a post the other day saying that he showed genuine emotions in Shippuden but now he looks like he has lost all motivation to even stay alive. And he was definitely guilt-tripped into returning to Konoha.

Yes, that would mean Sakura would remain either unmarried or marry some no-name character. Though, that seems unlikely as her pining over Sasuke eliminated all chance of relationship progress with any other character.

It would be refreshing to see her let go of her childhood crush and just moving on, leaving behind the last link to a Sakura she did not accept, the one she changed. I don't mind having an episode dedicated to them having a heart-to-heart as good old pals, all romantic feelings aside.

Maybe on that bench too, if you get what I mean. It would show us how far they have come, as shinobi, as Konoha's ninja and as people, from naïve kids to being the village's pillars.

Now, as to what the overall plot of Boruto should be, I have this idea of the war still going on when Naruto ends. Just hear me out.

If Ikemoto wants to resolve the Otsutsuki matters in this series, why not begin it with an intense fight scene where the generations following the main cast (Konohamaru and the rest) are fighting some low rank entities who serve the Otsutsuki.

It could lead to multiple of these strange class of aliens attacking from portals like ones the Rinnegan creates and base the entire series as a survival genre. Not only would that raise the stakes from being a one-episode conflict resolve, as it is now, it would mean the generation in the middle would become hardened veterans who the kids could look up to, not cannon fodder.

Make the prior war times return, but this time with an unknown race altogether. Make rifts between the Alliance, comment on how that affects the social and economical standings of various nations, involve the Daimyo.

Naruto can still be the all-powerful Hokage but make the rest of the caste equally useful.

Another idea that just popped up while writing this: what if they made mosters like in the Worm series appear? That threaten the world and some villages are forced to break the truce as they believe some ancient jutsu caused these attacks but cannot figure out from which nation.

Not even jutsu, it can be scientific modelling too since the Boruto era are scientifically far advanced.

Maybe I'm just reaching but with the huge power scaling like they have done, the stakes actually need to be high. Or else, every situation that they come across, we know they will get through it because of high rank jutsu they possess.

And for the last issue, just 'Boruto'. As in, the name. I'm aware it is supposed to be an homage to Neji but it feels so rip-off. There are so many good ones like : Hiro(for its irony as he is to be a hero and it starts with 'H'), Akihiro (personal favorite, means bright), Kaito (means ocean, an homage to the land of whirlpools), Asahi (mirror's Hinata's name meaning which is sun), Shinya (genuine, personal favorite), etc. etc.

A/N : That is it for this part. I can make another as I have ideas just buzzing in my mind and no time to turn them into fanfiction. Let me know if you enjoyed these and feel free to PM or reblog adding your own ideas too!

Also, anyone wanna be friends? 😅 I really want to rant about Naruto with someone and none of my friends watch enough anime to even comprehend what I'm saying most times.

[magicwithclass]

Value Boosters in Bloomburrow.

With the discontinuation of the draft booster, there was a void in the market for a cheaper booster product. Play boosters typically cost between 4 dollars and 6 dollars, depending on the set, and that is actually quite expensive for a casual experience. The audience has been demanding a cheaper booster product because people like the thrill and excitement of cracking packs. The adrenaline is quite addictive and that experience can not be matched by opening a preconstructed starter deck or commander deck. Even so, they did attempt to put a taste of opening packs into commander decks in the form of the collector booster sample pack. Wizards of the Coast's market research must show that adding the collector booster to commander decks leads to more people going out and buying more product. The sample pack is not meant to be a free include but is meant to mimic the, "first one is free," drug mentality that gets so many people hooked. The starter decks and commander decks do a great job, value value, of giving players a product that they can play right out of the box and upgrade over time. Yet, you need to know your market! Of course, you should buy the singles you need and not risk your money on what is essentially a mystery box. However, that is simply not the reality of our world. People want to open pack. Players want to experience the rush of tearing the pack open and smelling the new cards. The sense of excitement as you flip through the cards. Your anticipation builds as you get closer to the pack hit. The, either you hit big and want to relive the experience or you miss and you feel the urge to open more packs until your body feels the reward chemicals released into your body. The value boosters are merely a product meant to prey on our emotions and desires using research to maximize squeezing money out of groups of people. That can not be replicated by buying cards on the secondary market. Wizards is selling a feeling. Other companies like card kingdom or tcgplayer sell cards. It is possible to sell emotions for a reasonable price but these products typically target people with addictive personalities and are exploitative. Do I think this new value booster is any more exploitative than any other random booster product? Currently, there are are a lot of unkowns. First, the price of a pack, or even an approximate price, has not been stated. There is no more msrp but they sometimes include an approximate cost. In the very short article that introduces this product, there is no discussion of the price. It is only stated that this is a more budget-friendly option for players that just want to open cards. The price is going to matter. Sometimes I would see pokemon or yugioh cards in family dollar or dollar tree. These packs were only a dollar and less than two dollars. As a parent, shutting my kid up with a one dollar pack while I shop could prove worth it. How many times did you beg your parent for something in a store as a kid that you didn't even really want? Getting mtg cards into these dollar stores will widen the audience that is exposed to the game. Now, kids will start to recognize mtg from a younger age because they see the products alongside pokemon cards. If the price of a pack is less than 2 dollars, I will say that the value pack will be a success. It is a cheap way to get cards into the hands of a younger audience. Society is typically much more ok with spending a buck or two on something rather than 5 dollars. Wizards of the Coast is releasing this new product to widen the brand and not really to sell more cards. These value packs are meant to expose children to mtg when they are young as an on ramp to the game when they are a little older. if I have mtg cards as a kid and then I see a crossover with my favorite franchise, then these marketing strategies are meant to continuously draw people back into the game. Expose someone to something when they are young and you may have hooked them for the rest of their lives.

[marine-indie-gal]

Been awhile since I haven't drawn any Tabaluga lately, not since that I've finally got a chance to watch the Kristin Fairlie version online since I first found the Mackenzie Ziegler version from it's Alternate Stupid Title, "Ice Princess Lilly" only to fool a lot of people into thinking it was a Frozen knock-off from a Regular Old Dollar Store. Though it's still not a big surprise from Me for the US to give out some CGI Movie Adaptations of Kids Shows from an Old Decade under their own Cheap Titles like "Here Comes The Grump" to "A Wizard's Tale" and even "The Magic Roundabout" to "Doogal" (seriously, the last one sucked ass. Even though I haven't had a chance to watch the British version, I heard a lot of good things about the OG version of that Other Adaptation much better than how Weinstein butchered it with their own Pop Culture references).

So I had a small talk with my Friend, @djinarocks of how we loved Tabaluga and how that Arktos is one of our Favorite Villains of Musical Theatres (compare to Von Rothbart from "Swan Lake" and even The Mouse King from "The Nutcracker") after I introduced her to this German Franchise.

While that both Me and My Friend love Obscure Media a whole lot, we both ship Tabaluga/Lilli together as a Romeo and Juliet like pairing (since these Two Elemental Kids did reminded Me a lot of that Other Elemental Romeo and Juliet Movie made by Sanrio (not to be confused with the Pixar one that is)). During in one of our conversations, we talked about on how we wondered if Lilli didn't leave Iceland and started her own New Life up in Space if Arktos did raised her and treated her as his own Actual Heir (something as if his own Mother would've liked to have Grandchildren if the Son were to pass the Whole "Dictator" thing to his own Children like a Family Thing).

If you're one of the Fans who both love the Musical and the Show other than the Movie, you'd probably would know that Arktos created Her, only to lure Tabaluga in for exchange of his Fire (in which the 2018 Adaptation did by its own self, but without the Whole "Give Your Own Fire to Me" thing and replace it into having "One Last Hero to be Killed" scenario that made Arktos into a much more Sinister Creepy Dragon Genocidal Monster as an Akin Contrast to the OG Arktos). But since Me and My Friend had this "Thought" if Lilli didn't leave Iceland, what if Arktos had a different way with her? Something like raising a Heir and make them a Future Dictator for your own Country. If anything, that could've had make Lilli give her so much more character other than just a "Love Interest" (akin to the Movie's Lilli as well).

Basically, Arktos creates Lilli through Sculpture (but it goes different than the last one than in the show through a twist), instead of creating a Trap for Dragon Bait, he actually creates Lilli as a single heir of his own so that way she'd beat Tabaluga to rule all over the lands one day. After trying to wind her up with a Wind-Up Key, Arktos thought of a better solution by breathing her into Life to make her Real. He names his own Daughter, "Lilli" because after researching through a Book about Humans, he mispronounced the name "Lilith" (The First Wife of Adam) into "Lilli" and mistaken Her as Eve (Adam's True Wife) (because that's clearly how he created her according to some of the Musical's lore from what I can remember). Although while Tabaluga was deeply in love with Arktos' Humanoid Daughter, Arktos forbid their own love and didn't want to be a Father-In-Law to his own Arch-Nemesis (whose the Son of his First Enemy).

Teaching his own Child everything about Iceland Life, Lilli was somehow fascinated by the World of Greenland and wanted to explore around Other Countries instead invading to in which, She and Her Father have a Huge Conflict about. Unlike the Movie's Lilli, this AU Lilli has more personality than the one in the show of her single appearance; She is more Meek and Shy with a Quiet Personality but is still Curious about the Entire World that she demands to ask a Whole Lot of Questions (even if her Father dares to answer one of them). Despite their own disagreements, Arktos loved his own Daughter deeply similar to how his own Mother passed on her Son's Spoiled Love to Another (even James would still have to be Lilli's own Manny whenever his Penguin Butler would have to keep an eye on her whenever the Father's not around).

When Tabaluga got over his own crush for her after their first meeting, he basically decided on how to teach Lilli to be more "Independent" whenever she'd come and visit Greenland (either with or without her own Father), even with the help of her own Friends. Although that while most of the Greenlanders didn't like Lilli at first, the Ice Princess then expand more of her Kindness to her Surroundings as throughout her own Arc between Seasons 2-3, She and Tabaluga develop more of their Romance (instead of having a Rushed One). After the Frozen Defeat of Arktos, Lilli then decides for her own life that it is best to join her own Boyfriend and become the Rulers of both their own Lands after a Long Journey ahead of having Each of The Four Seasons be released every year as they start their own New Life together, thus, ending their own Families' hate feud.

I've probably should've had put this in my version of Tabaluga but oh well, at least this is probably from a Simple AU where if Lilli did had more Character than just being the Main Character's Love Interest. 🤷‍♀️

BTW, when I finally got a chance to watch the First English Dub Movie online, I was so Happy that I got a chance to seeing the Scene where Tabaluga and Lilli sing their own Love for Each Other from one of the Musicals and let me tell you it was sooooooo Adorable to see Tabaluga and Lilli's love for each other, which makes my Love for the Both of Them even more 🥰

And while that I still haven't checked out the Rest of the Musicals and their Songs (since I still can't understand German as Someone who wishes to learn more about Any Foreign Language for the Same Person who watches Foreign Cartoons all the time), I did try out the Original versions for "Devil In White" and "I'm Feeling You" as I still need to practice more of my own Tabaluga homework. XP

I was also afraid on how I would deal with my own first time drawing with Canon Arktos after doing my own version of Him (since his Left Arm was a bit hard for Me), but I think I nailed it after trying to draw out their own Canon Designs from the Franchise.

Arktos and Lilli (c) Peter Maffay, Rolf Zuckowski, and Gregor Rottschalk.

[bootlegmagicalwands]

Why Not Buy Bootlegs?

Today, we’re telling you exactly why people could - and should not - buy bootleg items.

We’re primarily looking at magical girl wands from series like Pretty Cure and Sailor Moon, but the below also applies to a variety of figures and props from across all kinds of fandoms and collectibles.

#1: The Cost

One of the biggest arguments people put forward about buying bootlegs is the price - but that isn’t as strong an argument as people seem to think.

Pretty Cure’s Flower Echo Wand retailed for just 1,300 JPY - that’s roughly 13 USD. Meanwhile, the most common bootleg of this wand retails for also 20 USD, and is primarily sold on Chinese exclusive websites. Yes, you read those prices correctly, it was originally more expensive to get the fake!

Now, this has been out of production for years, which does push up the market value a bit. But it is still significantly easier and cheaper to purchase secondhand versions of the real thing, going for as little as 15 USD new in box on secondhand sites like Mandarake, which ships globally, or Mecari JP.

And this isn’t exclusive to less well known franchises. 

Bootleg versions of Sailor Moon Live’s clear Moon Rod go up to 30 USD. On the other hand, the real thing goes for as little as, you guessed it, 30 USD when in used but working condition, with new in box ones going for 50 USD. You can’t even buy two bootlegs for that!

That doesn’t mean all of the “real” items are always cheaper or easily obtained - perhaps ironically, series like China’s Balala are difficult to obtain official merchandising for when outside of China, but bootlegs of it are remarkably rampant. 

Plus, any high-quality replicas such as Proplica items will typically cost anywhere from 10 to 100 times as much as their fake counterparts, and have the higher quality structure, screen accuracy, and gimmicks, that the fakes will lack.

#2: Accessibility

We’ve already covered above that these can easily be bough used on Mandarake - check out THIS POST listing tons of globally shipping anime merch stores  - so this argument already feels flat for us.

But, there is some merit to it. Simple chibi style bootlegs can often be bought in local dollars stores for very little, while larger versions are easily found on underregulated conglomerate giants like Amazon and Aliexpress. On the other hand, the real thing takes a lot more patience for preorders and secondhand shop scouring, knowledge of stores - which again can be found in the link above - or even the use of proxies to purchase off sites like Taobao and Mecari. And, as mentioned above, some official items may be exclusive to their respective countries, which can require extra skills and resources.

While none of these things are truly difficult to learn, they can seem daunting and confusing to new collectors, and will put off people who prefer instant gratification.

#3: Cosplay & Kids

This, to us, is the most sensible and excusable reason to buy bootlegs. When it can be difficult, expensive, and time consuming to get your hands on the real thing, especially those that are vintage or limited edition, the last thing you want is for a child or cosplay pose to destroy it!

The same thing goes for wanting to paint it to make an OC weapon, especially given many bootlegs are already incorrect colour schemes that may work perfectly for your design without the need to deface and devalue the real item.

Sometimes, the real thing just isn’t realistic, at the end of the day.

#4: Sometimes They’re Just Cool(er)

We’d love to own that ridiculous spider-man crossover wand, and this blog’s owner couldn’t resist this telescoping Cardcaptor Clow wand made of metal. So many bootlegs, especially the crossovers, feature strange and cool new combinations of characters, art styles, colours, and even product materials.

The vast majority of official items also have very standardized gimmicks, especially when buying from within a franchise. This can feel boring very quickly! Many bootlegs have additional or unique tricks, such as all these different bubble blowers, or the ones that work as remotes to control a spinning doll, that make them feel more interactive and fresh.

That doesn’t mean the real thing can’t be fun or innovative, but they are often limited to what is depicted on screen on order to make sales.

#5 Art Theft

At the end of the day, bootlegs are art theft. When you choose to support theft over artists, them and the companies producing their work miss out on money. And without money, shows end.

Sailor Moon's sales were credited with providing the necessary funds for new seasons, not the actual viewership or manga sales. If that money had been spent on bootlegs instead of the real thing, the reality is, the Sailor Moon anime may have ceased to exist. So it is essential, especially for smaller ventures, for fans to purchase the real thing and not the fake in order for the series to thrive.

#6 - Market Value

You may be surprised to learn that bootlegs, in and of themselves, have a surprisingly active market and fanbase that’s separate from the real wands.

As we mention on the post about this Korean Sailor Moon bootleg, all the good factors above, along with the virality, age and location of the item - which adds to scarcity - can lead to a bootleg being just as, or even more valuable that, the real thing. Banned items like the Evil Stick, which find notoriety outside of magical girl spheres, can often be worth far more than their original dollar store tag.

However, all value is relative, and as trends come and go, the price of bootlegs tend to fluctuate far more than the real thing.

Would you buy a bootleg item? Let us know below, and share this with your friends for their thoughts!

[n1ghtm4r3-p01s0n]

Welcome to today’s “Special Interest Brainrot”; today, here’s a list of Halloween costumes I think the Ben 10 trio would wear.

Kevin

- Muscular slasher horror villains (e.g. Leatherface, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Ghostface)

- Gomez Addams*

- Gerard Way in Black Parade

- Laughing Jack

- Nemesis (Resident Evil)

- The Terminator

- The Predator (from the horror franchise of the same name)

- 80s Glam Hair Metal

- A werewolf (just a cheap mask he got from the dollar stores, some wolf gloves and his normal clothes)

- Trevor from GTA 5 (including recreating some of Trevor’s spawn in animations)

- The Phantom (from the Phantom of the Opera)*

Gwen

- Morticia Addams*

- Badass heroines from Kevin’s favourite movies (e.g. Laurie Straude, Ripley (Alien))

- Christine from Phantom of the Opera*

- Sabrina Spellman

- Winifred from Hocus Pocus

- Generic witch costume

- Raven from Teen Titans

- Generic elf costume (maybe to reference her voice actor’s Critical Role character?)

* = couple costume

Ben

- He literally has the Omnitrix, of course he’s using it even on Halloween

- A normal ass guy

[usdollarstoreindia]

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[cringywhitedragon]

Looking away from the bad choice Nintendo chose to do with Palworld, they have done something good in terms of Lawsuits and went after some bootleg Gatcha games in China

Recently Nintendo won a $15 million dollar lawsuit against 6 companies that were producing and profiting off illegal bootleg Pokémon games.

These games, which are often Gatcha Games are regurgitated up onto the App Store or Google Play store in droves usually with the same premise (Take a traditional Pokémon game battle mechanics wise and make catching Pokémon locked behind a very very pricy and P2W Gatcha system designed to trick little Timmy into wanting more, sometimes there’s catching mechanics but no it’s all about that cold hard cash baby as after a certain point the “devs” just give up if there is even a story to begin with.)

You may have seen these in passing on YouTube or that one weird Mario Odyssey rip-off a few years ago.

The game that’s been placed front and center for everyone to see is a certain title called Pocket Monster Reissue (Yeah I have no idea what that title is supposed to mean either)

This was kinda the only video I could find on it. Yes it’s in Chinese but there are English versions of these games floating out there.

It’s your standard Pokémon Gatcha ripoff affair: Ash, Gary/Blue, and Oak (along with other popular characters) appear, it’s a rehash of Kanto because that’s what the kids want, megas and legendaries are oddly locked behind a very high paywall, stolen artwork, Engrish, etc… etc…

The whole nine yards or whatever…

Something you may not know is that it is usually pretty difficult for these games to be taken down because well… China’s kinda had a long history of ignoring international copyright laws to the point, especially when it comes to gaming, that when these things get onto the internet, can spawn memes because of a funny Swede’s reaction to a horribly colored Mario and the Flintstones theme song.

Because of this, and also the use of shell companies that bootleggers use to hide themselves behind, catching and shutting down these operations don’t tend to be the easiest things for ip owners to go after.

And trust me, these things rake in the cash because well… You’re literally ripping off one of the most popular media franchises there is.

This game in question was raking in at around $42 million in a single year alone, Nintendo filed this suit back in around 2021 seeking up to $72 million in damages alone.

Yes I critique Nintendo for some of their legal aggression because y’all need to chill with the fangames, but this is great news because these games are dangerous for a number of reasons.

Also to make matters even stranger, one of the defendants in the case is a manufacturing company. While this hasn’t been confirmed, this company was likely being used as a means to lander money through or something similar.

Main article cited: https://automaton-media.com/en/news/the-pokemon-company-wins-15-million-copyright-infringement-lawsuit-against-china-based-game-developers/

[oftlunarialmoon]

5 Agere Activities for a Rainy Day (Indoors Edition)

Ciao lovelies! We’re moving into spring here where I am, and with the spring, comes LOTS of rain. There are many outside ideas to do for agere, (and yes, even some rainy day ones!) but today, I’d like to share 5 of my favorite agere activities to do on a rainy day, or on days where I can’t go outside (snow, too hot, etc.)..

All of the ideas I’m sharing today are my personal faves!

Idea #1: Change your doll’s (or stuffies!) outfits….or make them some outfits!

Super old pic, I know (I have wayyy different hair now, lol), but this idea is still one of my faves. Picking new outfits for my dolls is always super fun and sometimes I even have a mini photoshoot with them after changing their looks. I can also turn this idea into a full afternoon of play by setting up a “doll salon” to select their looks and they each get a spray of choice perfumes and hair brushes :) 

If you don’t have clothes for your dolls/stuffies, you can also make them clothing or accessories! I’m aiming to put some tutorials of that sort on the blog and possibly on the Youtube channel soon, but for now, here’s some tutorials that I have already made to get you started:

There are many fun and simple methods for making doll clothing or accessories, I once again have to highly recommend MyFroggyStuff’s Youtube channel for this! She has awesome ideas and she makes it all seem so easy. 

Idea #2: Take a fun Bubble Bath!

Taking a fun and relaxing bath is a nice way to both regress, and practice self-care! You can find cute bath toys like these at dollar stores, and bath bombs, bubble bath, bath fizzies, etc as well! I even love buying the “bath puppets” which are just washcloths that go on your hands like a puppet, and are shaped like animals! I have a sharkie and a froggie. When I take baths or showers, I like to imagine going through a checklist with my scrubby buddy (most often Mr Sharkie) to make sure I get 1000000% clean! Sometimes I even make a little song of this and hum it to myself. :)

It’s also nice having access to fun body washes and soap! My current favorite body wash is scented from “Viva las Vegas SWEET” which is some kind of perfume thing, but it smells like candy, and it looks cute out of the tube! (it’s pink and shimmery 0.0)

I’ve also seen body washes for babyshark, Barbie, and other kids franchises! Oh, and even some grown-ups products are still cute for this too! I have a Hello Kitty sugar scrub that was intended for grown-ups, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t cute anyway! :) Oh, and Crayola makes body wash “crayons” as well, the tubes are crayon shaped and the body washes are colorful!

Okie, okie, that’s a lot of me rambling about baths, sorry >.<

Idea #3: Play Video Games!

Sometimes there’s nothing better than wearing comfy clothes, having a nice snack, and playing video games! On rainy days this activity feels super cozy and wonderful, and there are lots of games out there that are cute and good for agere!

My current faves are Animal Crossing New Horizons on my Switch, Sandbox Coloring App on my phone, Nintendogs on my 3Ds, and Minecraft on my PC! I love that games are on a lot of different devices, so that I can always find something to do~

I think Animal Crossing is a really cool game for age regressors, and the New Horizons one is very cute for a lot of reasons! I can dress my avatar up in cute fashions and i can even buy…..pacis! and…..Cute kawaii dresses!!! :0 You could make your dream agere outfits in this game, and i do it all the time, tbh!

Idea #4: Journaling or Writing in a Diary!

I love love love my regression journal! I use stickers, washi tape, coloring pages, crayons, markers, and more on it, and it’s really freeing to have a journal that doesn’t need to be neat or tidy. My daily journal is also my regression journal, as I am someone who is semi-regressed all the time! :3 I also do vent journal entries in this journal (to share with my therapist), and lists, collages, doodles, info pages…lots of things! 

I have an article on here actually about Agere Journaling! 

I also want to briefly ramble about my stickers, I have found 2 really good sources of stickers for my journal. The first is a subscription service called Stickii, which sends you a themed sticker pack every month, these packs include stickers from lots of independent artists and I really love each one I’ve gotten so far (I’ve gotten 2 so far.) **DISCLAIMER: I am not sponsored or affiliated with this brand, I just wanted to give a personal recommendation! 

The second is Blippo Kawaii Shop, which sells sticker mystery bags which I have an opening video of on OFT’s IG! :) I love their selection of kawaii stickers, and it’s always fun getting a package from them. Also… once again: **DISCLAIMER: I am not sponsored or affiliated with this brand, I just wanted to give a personal recommendation! 

Idea #5: Play with Legos or building blocks! 

Something that I love doing when I am small is playing with building blocks or legos! I like the Minecraft sets or the dollar store legos! :) I use the legos to build things for my mini town and dollhouse, as well as make dollrooms! :) 

Megablocks have larger blocks as well if you regress younger and want something more simple. Also… once again: **DISCLAIMER: I am not sponsored or affiliated with this brand, I just wanted to give a personal recommendation! 

You can use building blocks to make obstacle courses for your minis, specific types of buildings for playing pretend, mecha robots for epic battles…….>.<’ sorry my brain totally went to gundam XD

They also sell building block sets for making iconic characters like pikachu and other pokemon, as well as other anime and game characters! I think this type of block is called a nano block.

CONCLUSION: 

What do you think of these 5 agere activities for a rainy day? What activities are your favorite when small? Let me know in the comments, I love hearing from you lovelies and having great discussions!

And now for the most important thing in this outro…..I get to say……

STAY AWESOME!! You are awesome, just as you are, and you should look at yourself with love and kindness. Don’t forget to love yourself, whether you practice self-care, treat yourself, or take care of your future self by getting a task done ahead of time, self love is important!

Okie, all my ramblings aside, see you in my next post, video, or whatever comes next!

[zydrateacademy]

Sorry I guess?

This will probably be my only post about it, and I may or may not even bother recording the game for youtube. Listen, some day I’m going to be trans/non-binary. Came out to my brother and mother a few years back, with her passing my brother is the only one that knows I’m going a bit NB later. I know all the shit JKR has said, done, and contributed to. And I might be the only T/NB on the internet who’s saying: I’m probably going to buy Hogwarts Legacy. Saw a post on reddit at one point that no amount of justification can amount for money money in her pockets to put towards shitty associations. I don’t disagree, but despite all the buzz against them, Salvation Army is still ringing their bells outside all my stores.

I still have a few justifications that I just want to get off my chest and leave it at that. First, I stopped pirating games since the beginning of my first job back in like, 2014. I was actually playing a pirated Borderlands 2 when I got the call that K-mart wanted me to come in. Bought the game with my first paycheck. There’s also the fact that our household got a -few- emails from specific companies (EA being one of them when my brother and I pirated Spore) so I’d rather just avoid all that.

Piracy is also a bit complicated now. I’m in a subreddit dedicated to it and I couldn’t find any beginners guide. Over the years I’ve also come to rely and appreciate Steam’s automatic patching of various games that I play. I essentially don’t want to have to do a complete reinstall every time they patch out a bug. Saw a post referring to some program that allows you to isolate patch fixes without doing this, but again this is a bit over my head. Legacy will also be running Denuvo(sp?) or something which will apparently make the game much harder to crack. I know this reads like “oh no poor baby would rather fund anti-trans movements than reinstall a game once a month oh noooo!” Listen. Money is already spent. Funds are already there. Laws are already being passed. This arguement reminds me of my time working in grocery about people not wanting to buy specific products. My guy, the product is already on the shelf. The store has already paid for it, the money is already with the company. It’s marked up in-store so they can just get their own money back plus the profit, but not purchasing that cereal will not stop the money from already being there. I googled it. JK Rowling is apparently worth around 820 million dollars. And that information is a year old. The money is already there. I also read a post, some tweet-shot of someone saying “I don’t do politics” and the response was “Well, politics are gonna do you.” I mean fair, but I’m a part time produce stocker. I am not in a position to make a sign and march down to protest and boycott shitty practices. I am constantly seeing posts all over the internet calling for a boycott of this game but man, the game looks like something I’ve actively wanted out of the franchise for a long time. There was a series of games that you basically just play as Harry Potter throughout the same plots as the books, just game-ified. I wanted something more like what Legacy delivers, a sort of open-world class-taking sandbox. And they’re giving us the killing curse. Cool! Also you can be trans in the game. That’s pretty rad. I just want to enjoy things, man. I’ll bury my head in the sand while I play the game so I don’t bother anyone with it.

[gio-cosmo]

ooh, 14, 21 and 22?

Hiii ^^

14. Worst game you’ve ever played?

ooo this one’s tough…realistically, the worst game I’ve ever played is probably some low-budget knockoff wii game I played as a kid or something LMFAOO but I feel like that’s a predictable answer on my part. I feel like I’ve had pretty good luck with games I end up playing, I’m really picky so usually I just. Refuse to pick up a game at all if it doesn’t look interesting lmfaoo. I will say though….the two games I most regret purchasing are Fire Emblem Engage & Pokemon Scarlet 😭 they aren’t the worst games ever by any means but. They were both 60 bucks and I never play them. Very devastating for my measly bank account 😢 ALSO tbf I feel like the reason I dislike Fire Emblem Engage is bc I want another Fire Emblem game to kind of go along the same layout of Three Houses…not a direct copy obviously but Three Houses was just so good. It’s so good in fact that any time I play any other Fire Emblem game that ISN’T Three Houses I’m like….🫤 LMFAOO which I know isn’t a very good mindset for me to have and I should stop comparing them so heavily but…alas. BUT I suppose I can’t even really give Engage a proper rating since I haven’t finished it. Idk I just didn’t really care for the storyline or characters but that’s just me personally.

21. A game you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving?

There’s actually quite a few where this has happened!! There’s been a plethora of games I’ve seen on Steam or in a store and I’ll look it over and be like “ehhh this really doesn’t look like my thing…but it has good ratings…and it’s under my recommended…” and then I’ll usually set it off to the side, and once I get really incredibly bored I’ll cave in and buy it just to give me something to do LMAOO. Needy Streamer Overload was one where I was very skeptic about at first, but I actually really ended up enjoying it (I especially love the soundtrack!) and also World of Horror! I remember seeing people say it was boring and the game mechanics looked so overwhelming so I put off buying it forever, but I finally got it a few weeks ago and it’s probably my fav horror game of all time now. I’m mentally kicking myself for avoiding it so avidly for so long! I don’t find it boring at all, I love games that are built to be replayed as many times as you want. It was funny though bc when I first started playing I was so confused..had me staring at the screen like ☹️ LMFAOO I WAS ACTUALLY BEFUDDLED. But after a few playthroughs it ends up being easy to understand which I am very thankful for. ALSO. Slay the Princess!! Another one I avoided for a while for..honestly idek why. But oh my GODDD I LOVE SLAY THE PRINCESS WOOO YAYYY 🎉 slay the princess honestly was such a crazy surreal experience idek how to describe it. It’s so awesome. It’s coming out on the Switch w a 200 dollar collectors addition thingy and oh my god. Bro. I am DEVASTATED at my lack of funds 😭😭 I actually have to put it out of my mind bc if I think abt it excessively I get really sad 💔 ANYWAYYYSS SHOUTOUT TO SLAY THE PRINCESS 🗣️🗣️ so wonderfully made, beautiful artwork, stunning music…omg. Also grotesque at times but in a way that’s just so fundamentally different and unique? If that makes sense? It’s all so meaningful and connected and they manage to express so many emotions throughout a playthrough. I’ve got every achievement and I’m so happy I gave it a shot :) OH. Also One Shot! One Shot is great…oh my goodness. Woaw. This is making me realize how overly skeptical I am about every game I ever purchase in the history of ever LMFAOO why am I so overly critical 💀 like why do I always have to mull it over for months smh 😭

22. Do you watch any other gamers?

As of right now, no. Not routinely, anyways. I used to be obsessed with watching YouTube game playthroughs as a kid, but I’m not really all that into it anymore. However! I will say that what got me into the Persona franchise back when I was a 5th grade child (?!?!??) is Kubz Scout’s playthrough of it on YouTube! I watched him tons as a kid (someone should’ve been monitoring my internet access for sure 💀) and I still watch some of his gaming videos every now and then. So. Shoutout to Kubz Scout’s for introducing me to my favorite game franchise everrr!! 🗣️🗣️ absolutely crazy that I was watching Persona playthroughs in elementary school though LMFAOO every time I think abt it I’m like … where were my parents at !! 😭

[autisticsupervillain]

Complete Monster Write-Up: Reza Zaydan

What's the Work?

Hitman is stealth action game franchise following the adventures of the world's greatest assassin, Agent 47. The World of Assassination Trilogy is the latest entry in the series as of now, with its third main story mission having two targets for 47 to bring down: Carl Strandberg and today's candidate Reza Zaydan.

Who's the Candidate? What have they done?

Reza Zaydan is a general in the Moroccan Army, known amongst his peers more for womanizing and social skills than for any actual military victory. A classic nepotism baby, Zaydan is always looking to get more power and is willing to sink to any low to get it if it means upstaging the rest of his highly successful family.

Willingly signing up with an international secret society called Providence, Zaydan agreed to become their Puppet King if they aided him in taking over Morroco. To this end, he hatched a plan with banker Claus Strandberg to initiate a military coup. When Strandberg gets caught steeling millions of dollars from the Moroccan public, Zaydan hires mercenaries to break him out of jail, leaving countless innocents and security personnel dead in their wake. This sparks a public outcry that causes riots all across Marrakesh, which Zaydan hopes he can use to justify a full on military coup, painting the Moroccan government as weak and incompetent to his fellow commanders for their inability to handle the riots so they'll join him in uprising.

To further fuel the flames, Zaydan has his people spread propaganda for the terrorist organization Crystal Dawn, hoping to use their supposed involvement to spark massive violent riots across all the most populated cities in Morroco. Once the dust is settled, Zaydan shamelessly admits he plans to have these false flag operatives executed so they can't contradict the narrative he's created.

When one of Zaydan's closest lieutenants and friends learns that his brother died in the Strandberg prison break, he threatens to go public with the truth behind the coup. Zaydan rewards this treachery by have him captured and tortured with advanced interrogation techniques, smugly taunting him about his dead brother in between rounds of torture. Out on the streets, Zaydan's soldiers have innocent people thrown out of their houses and workplaces to convert them to military bases for the upcoming coup, with one store owner in particular being threatened at gun point and told his family will be shot if he does not cooperate. Zaydan has turned the public school into his personal base for the coup this way, forcing the headmaster to live with a relative nearby as he now has nowhere else to go since he cannot work.

Desiring nothing more than to dominate his own country, Zaydan smugly admits that once all is said and done, he plans to throw Strandberg from a plane once he's no longer needed, happy to kill anyone who gets in his way of conquering Morroco.

Thankfully, Agent 47 is brought in to put a stop to this violent insurrection, eliminating both Zaydan and Strandberg before any further damage can be done.

Mitigating Factors?

Nothing concretely redeeming at any rate. Zaydan comes from a large, wealthy family and its suggested that this is what fuels his lust for power, but he never mentions them and no redeeming care or fondness is implied. Zaydan is not popular amongst his own troops, with many badmouthing him behind his back for being a cowardly nepo baby. Several of his own troops express disgust for his fondness for torture and his orders to shoot civilians, with him childishly blowing up at any he hears criticize him. While Zaydan gets on better with his lieutenants, he's happy to throw them to the wolves when betrayed, as discussed above. If directly confronted by 47, he'll even flee to save his own life, leaving all his troops, loyal or not, for dead.

He's not even liked by his girlfriends. One spy working for international terrorist group IAGO mentions that she hates him so much that she's considering quiting just so she won't have to keep dating him.

The biggest concern is being played seriously. There's an Easter Egg in which, if every soldier in the building is dismissed, Zaydan will start dancing a silly dance to goofy disco music. That said, this isn't canon. It's a silly easter egg with no baring or context in the plot and shouldn't be taken against Zaydan's canon actions.

The other issue is Zaydan's potential death, where 47 can drop a toilet on his head from the floor above while he whines about his soldiers disrespecting him. This is his only silly moment in canon, though, and its not enough to detract from how dead straight his atrocities are played otherwise.

Heinous Standard

Hitman's heinous standard is jacked. Just in the WOA Trilogy alone, we have a terrorist organization that got a diplomat and his family killed by leaking classified flight plans, an organ harvester who experiments on the homeless to create mind control technology, and a cult hellbent on spreading an apocalyptic plague around the world.

That said, Zaydan is the most heinous villain in his niche. The latter above examples are CMs in their own right with backing from large, international organizations. Zaydan is ultimately a small cog in Providence's large design whose mostly content just subjugating his own country. As far as dictators whose scope is limited to just their country go? Zaydan is easily the worst.

All the other dictators in the franchise that 47 goes after are all already retired by the time he gets to them, so their crimes are offhandedly described in conversation and mission briefings. Nothing they do goes quite so far in scope and attempted body count as Zaydan does. We see, in gameplay, most of his atrocities play out in front of us. Civilians forced from their homes, a whistle-blower tortures, a riot in the verge of bloodshed that Zaydan plans to spread to major cities all around the country, putting the pieces in place to justify gunning down thousands of innocent civilians to secure his rise to power. Yeah, I think he's bad enough by a hair or two.

Conclusion

He's got a yes from me. I think he just clinches it.