#i could go on but... maybe another time

[kopw]

It makes me think about Kenny’s IWGP US title reign after he beat Ospreay…

i considered dedicating an entire section in that post to how aew handled the ospreay-omega feud (and the fan reactions that followed) so as you can probably guess i'm incredibly happy to be prompted to talk about it separately. as it is something i'm very passionate about

(it's also what i alluded to when talking about a "story-heavy match" at forbidden door, so... you know)

i think a few things go into why kenny only had one defense with the belt, but the most important thing that stands out to me is that he wasn't supposed to have a second "reign" with the belt, per se. all he needed to do was take the belt from ospreay, and then drop the belt back to ospreay, because these were necessary story beats in their feud. what happened in between was... largely inconsequential in the grand scheme of things—and, upon passing the belt over to aew, they continued to treat it as such

as this was all happening, i remember thinking that maybe there was an underlying reason that had to do with... something shoot-related, i guess. maybe something like kenny wanting to be in the best possible shape for forbidden door, having less matches until then. but then the cage match with mox happened and that whole idea flew out the window

so, what remains is... the idea that aew didn't care about the us title belt. even if this wasn't the case, it definitely felt like it. but, then again, i also sometimes think about the possibility of kenny having a slew of dead-end squash matches (akin to the proving ground matches they keep putting athena in over on roh) and how... that would've been leagues worse than one memorable match with jeff cobb. but, at the end of the day, they definitely sidelined the belt itself while it was in kenny's hands

it's a bit ridiculous, actually, because over on the new japan side of things, the absence of the belt had a bigger impact than the presence of it did in aew. the mini tournament, ospreay's chase for the top contender spot... that's where all the action was. this, of course, was only ever brought up in passing, and in the video package they featured on the actual ppv

speaking of forbidden door, i think going into that match you were pretty much required to have known what was going on in new japan, otherwise the result left you either confused or even outright dissatisfied (ignoring the portion of the outrage that was simply just people disliking ospreay himself). without wrestle kingdom, without resurgence, without dominion, without ospreay's promos... the whole thing falls flat on its face. and it's because it's a new japan storyline that just happened to have its conclusion at a crossover event. it's an ospreay-centric story that kenny inserted himself into at historic x-over, and if you look at it from any other angle, it doesn't make a lick of sense

[reborn-from-taxes]

The revised version made me think of an AU where they meet in Xianle when they're both teen, Xie Lian as a prince and Hua Cheng as a young noble who's an absolute menace. More of my insanity in the tags

[clumsypuppy]

act 4 :(

@chipper-smol and i came to a realization

[biblically-accurate-dca]

substitute

[solitairedeere]

i was never as optimistic about the ending of bnha as some villain stans were, but i never thought it'd end so badly it left me wondering why horikoshi ever bothered to humanize the villains or make them complex characters at all.

like-- i expected that at least 1-2 of the 3 villains who were heavily foreshadowed and outlined by the narrative as people to be saved would be, you know, actually saved. i didn't think that was a high bar. i've been let down before in fandoms where everyone was certain a character would live and then they didn't, so i tried to keep my hopes low. AND YET.

what happened to tomura was upsetting, but i wasn't that shocked after how disinterested the manga has seemed to be in him for like, the past 100 or so chapters. a bit surprised, because you'd think if anyone would succeed in the 'saving' mission it would be the MC, but whatever. dabi, well, they've spent a lot of time showing the way his quirk destroys his body even before this arc, so that also sucked but at least it didn't feel completely out of left field.

........but they're not even letting toga live???

i just-- what have we even been doing here? when zero out of the 3 characters that were marked out for saving were actually saved, you have to acknowledge that something has gone seriously fucking wrong with the storytelling. not even just from the perspective of a villain fan but from the perspective of someone who likes stories to be thematically consistent or satisfying in any way.

you can set up an expectation of these characters being saved and then subvert that and turn it into a tragedy- if done well that could even be worthwhile and interesting. but you can't turn it into a tragedy and then just... keep trucking along with the happy ending messaging and act like anything in the manga has been resolved and that the characters have somehow successfully completed their heroic origin stories.

like, maybe i shouldn't have expected this much from a shounen- at the end of the day it is still a shounen so i didn't expect to feel that it truly satisfactorily wrapped up all the themes it brought up around societal ills. but i expected it to at least resolve those things in a shounen-y way where they punch the problems and help these specific people and then you can feel good assuming that the state of things will continue to improve in the post-canon world of the manga.

instead we got... uh, none of that. the story refused to answer a single one of the larger questions it's been outlining for the past 400+ chapters. in the end, it was all flash and no substance, which again could've been fine, if it weren't for the way the story seemed to spend significant chunks of time trying to delude you into thinking it had substance.

truly makes me wonder what horikoshi thought he was doing the entire time. can it really all be blamed on burnout? the most that can be said for this ending is that it is, well, an ending. fuck dude, it is that.

and that's just... such a sad way to end a project that took up 10 years of your life.

[johnnyshrine]

★ 100 // “The Holy Bible”

[agerasiaa]

Rottmnt! Leo and TMNT 2012! Leo meeting in my head would only go one way:

Rottmnt! Leo, who grew up without the weight of being the leader or the pressure of being the "perfect" role model, finds himself in a new position as leader. While he’s naturally good at it, he’s not as practiced as TMNT 2012! Leo, who has spent his whole life carrying that responsibility. His brothers admire TMNT 2012! Leo's seriousness, his leadership skills, and the way he’s always in control. Rottmnt! Leo can’t help but feel that that Leo is everything he should’ve been—a better leader, the one who could keep everyone safe and make the right choices, and maybe even the one Splinter would have preferred, since everyone says TMNT 2012! Leo was always Splinter’s ”favorite.”

Meanwhile, TMNT 2012! Leo looks at Rottmnt! Leo, and he sees this version of himself who didn’t have to bear the burden of being the responsible one, the weight of constantly having to be perfect. He sees how his brothers love and admire Rottmnt! Leo’s carefree attitude, his ability to goof off and be himself, and wonders if they’d prefer that side of him too. He wishes he could have been like that—just a brother who’s fun to be around, someone who is loved for who he is, not just seen for what he does.

At the core, though, they’re both Leonardo. They both feel that their worth is tied to how useful they are, how perfect they can be for their family. They both believe that in order to be good brothers and leaders, they need to be flawless. And in each other, they see what they think they need to be more like: Rottmnt! Leo sees the disciplined, capable leader he believes he should become, while TMNT 2012! Leo sees the fun-loving, carefree brother he could have been if he didn’t have to be the "other parent.”

And this all leads to feelings of envy, jealousy, and, of course, friction between the two. They both struggle with the idea that the other version of themselves has something they wish they had—and it makes them question if they’re ever truly good enough as they are.

[beargyufairy]

Your hand in my hand

I could never choose to love another

Maybe, one day

I can learn to love you too

[sukibenders]

It's annoying how many Glinda fans, specifically a certain type, act condescending towards people criticizing Glinda's actions and her as a character, calling her out for how she operates in a way that benefits her by saying "Oh, these people don't know anything, they haven't seen Act II or read the books." But when they are told that both forms of media have been seen, they still get in their feelings, especially towards black and other poc fans who, when discussing Glinda, talk about how she feels very reflective of white feminism, respectability politics and performance activism (which she is), something that they know probably what it's like to be around people like that from personal experience. Just because you like a character, especially one who does bad things, doesn't mean you get to be rude to others or downplay their intelligence when they call these actions out. Glinda is often infantilized a lot in this fandom, from what I've gathered, even though (speaking from a movie standpoint) she literally sings about how she understands the way her society works and how she uses those rules to her advantage. There are many things that Glinda does that are fake and catty, and there's nothing wrong with calling that out. Also, another thing, yes some people haven't seen the musical (in person or in full) whether it not being available or just lack of interest, but there are ways to still learn about Act II before the second half of the movie comes out, whether through a quick Google search or just watching bootleg recordings of the musical on YouTube, people can learn, but you acting pretentious and downright hostile probably makes them want to avoid this fandom as a whole. Then you wonder why no one wants to engage with Wicked. You can like her as a character, all good and well as even I can find myself drawn to her, but let's not let your enjoyment of her cloud your judgment and having you lash out at people, because that's really uncalled for.

[somegrumpynerd]

Remaining kitties for the garden

Here are all the kitties who didn't make it to the website and their pet screens c:

^The regular kitties (The nothing option would make Error show up and just kinda glare at everybody lol and there would be mirror and paper bag options to see Dust and Horror again)

^The winter kitties (The snow option would bring out Blue and Dream, the christmas lights brought Fresh and the stocking was Ink)

^The special pairs (I don't think any of these made it to the polls lol but putting out a bed would bring Horror and Dust together, putting out a rainbow cushion would bring Color and Killer (this was how you would finally be able to pet him) and putting down comic books would bring Epic and Cross, who would finally purr when pet with his bestie)

[saintvainglorious]

Fics I Enjoyed in January - DC Comics Fic Rec List Part 2

I am still neck-deep in DC fandom this month and the fics have been so so good. Unlike last time, I am too tired to write mini summaries/reviews, so I'm going to feature my favorite quote from each fic instead.

My first DC Comics fic rec list is here!

Floor Plans by @oh-mother-of-darkness (Teen & Up, 1k, 2016) “I really didn’t want to die,” he finished. “I was kind of hoping if I laid here long enough, I would remember what that felt like.”

Losing two brothers in six months takes an emotional toll.

almost right by @bitimdrake (Teen & Up, 3k, 2020) He desperately wishes that he didn’t know what Dick’s cheekbone feels like under a gauntleted fist.

Bruce sucks in a breath, hand raising to fix the cowl. Dick flinches back.

but more with love by @danishsweethearts (Teen & Up, 3k, 2022) Dick wakes up one morning, groggy from a dream that he thinks might’ve been about the circus and also about his favourite car and also about how lonely he is, and realizes that he can’t remember what his mother’s voice sounds like anymore.

O Robin, Robin, wherefore art thou Robin?

The Mechanics of a Hug by @sohotthateveryonedied (General Audiences, 4k, 2017) “You know… that crushing sense of depression? Like,” Dick chews his lip. “It’s. A physical weight. Makes it hard to breathe?” “Yeah,” Tim says, soft. He smiles, wryly. “I sort of hoped you didn’t, though.”

“So,” Tim ventures. “It's… what, a cuddle pollen?” Bruce just shrugs. “Something like that.”

No Pain, All Gain by @sohotthateveryonedied (General Audiences, 1k, 2020) Tim’s eyes go even wider. “You stole my organs?” “Technically,” Jason chimes in, “the doctors stole your organs. We just gave them permission.”

Bruce checks Tim’s IV. “Are you in any pain? Do you need more morphine?” Tim’s pupils are so wide that only the faintest ring of blue can be seen. He watches Bruce the way a five-year-old watches cartoons. “I’m all good, B-dog. All Gucci, like we cool teens say." His words are slurred almost beyond recognition, but Tim doesn’t seem to notice or care. "I could fight Superman right now.”

The Wind Sits in the Shoulder of Your Sail by @birdchildsnest (Teen & Up, 7k, 2020) “Oh my god. Bruce. I can’t even tell if you’re serious. When everybody finally eats the rich—they’re going to eat you first.”

At least, back then, Tim had barely been a teenager. He could almost forgive his own volatility. And he’d been smart enough (scared enough?) not to tell Jack that he didn’t need him. What was his excuse now? Bruce was his dad (at least, in the legal sense), but (surprise, surprise) it turned out that Tim wasn’t any better at being a son. Or Tim and Bruce still have some things to sort through after the adoption.

I Left My Conscience On Your Front Doorstep by @dustorange (Teen & Up, 21k, 2022) He doesn’t want to be loved if being loved is like this.

"I think I'm leaving," Dick whispers. "I think I'm not coming back."

bad boys bad boys (whatcha gonna do) ♫ by @drakefeathers (Teen & Up, 20k, 2014) "They live their lives thinking they can charge through the city with the right to hurt and kill and destroy as many lives as they want. And they do it all without a shred of remorse." “But—” Damian begins, brow furrowed in confusion. “Isn’t that like you?”

a Jason and Damian as Batman and Robin AU!! featuring a bunch of graffiti, a rival dynamic duo, and Cat Jason (a cat named Jason).

The Biggest Mistake by @oh-mother-of-darkness (General Audiences, 1k, 2016) “I could ground him anyway, if it would make you feel better.” “He only said it because I called him ‘a garbage can so ineffective it actually became garbage.’”

"You know what really needs to be addressed? Bruce's truly terrible treatment of Damian." -Me, on a daily basis

been a number and a name by @wynterstars (Teen & Up, 35k, 2023) “Turns out if you just say ‘spacetime’ until people’s eyes glaze over they don’t really question anything you say. Also, somehow nobody expects me to be able to actually do enough math to explain it.”

On a field trip, Robin has a close encounter with the newest super in Metropolis, only to discover the hard way that Superboy secretly works for Lex Luthor. They agree to work together on a plan to free Superboy from Luthor’s hold, but Robin isn’t sure how far he can trust him—and his developing feelings only make things more complicated.

clean it like you mean it by @wynterstars (Teen & Up, 70k, 2024) "Wait, ugh, you're not my dead dad, right? If I'm getting a dying vision of my dead dad I want a do-over because he suuuuucked."

When Gotham's crooks have to scrub down their lairs, who do they call? Jason Todd, Gotham's first and only underworld crime scene cleaning specialist. He's spent his life dodging the Bat, but after a chance encounter he saves Robin's life. Tim Drake finds himself drawn to the conflicted rogue, and soon Jason becomes Robin's street informant. But they can only stay on opposite sides of the law for so long before something breaks.

3:16 by @wufflesvetinari (Teen & Up, 70k (WIP), 2023) “Try to decouple one thing from the other. I’m proud of you, but ice cream isn’t my grand statement about whether you’ve been good or bad today. Good things are good. Happiness is precious. Sometimes you just want caramel chocolate chip.”

The knife pushes thin along Dick’s carotid artery, cupping the indent between neck and jawline—forcing him to angle his chin. The metal is warm, pulled with execution speed from under Damian’s pillow. “Okay,” Dick says quietly, tracking the intricacies of his own heartbeat—counting the space between breaths. “Guess I did need a shave.” (With faltering steps, Dick and Damian become Batman and Robin.)

wolf-king of rome by @mysterycitrus (Not Rated, 25k, 2024) “You go after Joker, but you don’t kill him, because it’s not about the Joker dying, it’s about Bruce breaking his code for you. It’s about Bruce loving you enough to change himself for the worse. It’s about your idea of grieving.”

Jason doesn’t fear Dick Grayson. Fear itself has changed shape for him, since his return from the Pit - it tastes of dirt in his mouth, of drowning, of fire and blood and laughter, more than a tangible face. Still, he’d be stupid not to be cautious. Dick liked playing on an uneven field, and would do anything to keep him off balance, so he just had to stay focused. That’s the nature of the armistice, both waiting for the other to make a move. It’s like balancing on the head of a pin.

Declensions by @dustorange (Teen & Up, 13k, 2018) “Do not tell them your name. Do as I did to survive. I lied. I have always lied. Make one up. Do not let them have you. Say your name is…is…is…Richard Grayson. Or something. They are going to steal you; do not give them anything to steal.”

“My father,” Dick says, “worked the rope. It cut him. His hands were never clean.”

Passiontide by @bigdvmnhero (Teen & Up, 5k, 2025) Despite its faults, the day had tried to be good. He felt young, like someone's son.

On the 96th day Bruce didn't call, Dick remembered their old game. Three things he knew: 1) In three months, it would be Dick's death anniversary; 2) Bruce was still missing his check-ins; 3) Here Dick was, persisting. Imagine the things I'd survive, Dick thought distantly, if I loved Bruce less. Or: Agent 37 and his various crises of faith, on Day 277 at Spyral, Day 150, and Day -0.

the time you won your town the race by @silverwhittlingknife (Teen & Up, 4k (WIP), 2022) Tim. Tim is Dick’s. Death sharpens, clarifies these things. Who will receive the body, decide on the funeral, receive condolences, make all the decisions that matter. No one has questioned it, not even Tim’s friends. There’s a terrible clarity about death. If Dick said, let’s burn everything he owned, Alfred would do it.

He doesn’t know exactly what Tim would say. But he knows what Tim would do. Tim dies. Dick doesn’t take death for an answer. A Red Robin 12 AU.

door, opening by @cowboysorceror (Mature, 70k (WIP), 2024) Dick, with the keys to every locked door Jason has ever tried to open, tucked inside the cradle of his skull; all of that, snuffed out like a candle.

It’s barely audible, but he knows what he heard. A short, four-note whistle, chirping down – E, C#, then jumping up to A, F#, a little trill on the finish. He waits a moment, head turned slightly towards the dim shapes of storage containers between him and the ramp, eyes straining against the blackness. Long, stretching seconds. There it is again. His gloved hand, prickling with cold, closes into a fist. It’s a wood thrush. A small North American songbird that doesn’t sing at night, doesn’t live in the city. He knows what it means. It means hold, steady, not yet. It means wait for me, I’m behind you.

[creative-robot]

I know The Founders Cut, generally, is the edited scrubbed over version of genloss from Showfall in-universe (as well as a not-8-hour-long-three-stream-binge-night whenever we want to watch it again) but something that struck me as odd and I haven’t seen anyone mention yet, is this warning

It shows up right at the junction where the third act starts, where it appears the Hero is breaking free of Showfall thanks to Hetch. But here’s the thing, while a LOT less than the previous acts the audience still played a significant role in this act, even when really only given two audience interaction choices. Which makes me wonder, how real is this warning, and who is it for? Obviously the audience involved knows what happens past this point, but the audience is also implied to be an integral part of the Social Experiments, which is part of why things start to tweak out when the Founder removes them in the Founder Cut as the Generation Loss generation loses.

My first thought, was that obviously this is another bait and switch, a way to draw the audiences attention, seeing something that’s secret, something that’s not “meant for them”, which is a tactic I could see Showfall using in universe to keep people’s attention and add an air of mystery to their shows.

But

Showfall is doing all their experiments and these shows with a LOT of help from their censors to show it off, displaying a fun silly show that is definitely not uber fucked up and that is 100% just slime don’t worry about it, it’s kid friendly if it’s green! And I don’t think they’d want to bet all their cards on this one experiment doing well enough to their audience to not question the sudden shift in tone that follows this warning. Which makes me wonder.

They did their test, they did their experiment, and the evidence of this last act? I think it was a one time run, they don’t want anyone seeing this, it isn’t for the audience. Act three is specifically to both test and play with their Hero, Hetch’s new lines add a level to this, never once does he call the Hero by their name, just refers to Ranboo as their Role, and he’s not exactly. Nice? About literally any of Ranboos concerns, which wouldn’t really seem conductive to making an audience trust him, especially with his monologue at the end. Ranboo has escaped before, possibly right before act 1 started, they tightened the security on his mask to be unremovably part of them, Hetch doesn’t like the Hero but they’re a fan favorite so he can’t just get rid of them.

Act three is the cumulation of Ranboo being punished for things they don’t remember, for daring to break free from Showfalls control, this is Hetch taking the Hero and essentially majorly fucking and manipulating them to take his frustration out on a fan favorite they can’t otherwise get rid of or give a smaller role like Slimecicle. which is exemplified by the fact that we now know Charlie most likely was never able to actually able to fully snap out of the control, that even in act three in panic and confusion there was at least still a part of him being influenced by Showfall.

So the first two acts are the usual show, they have their posters, they have Squiggles to introduce them, they have goofs and silliness and only a couple slip ups that’re quickly dealt with, the usual rose tinted curtains. Act three?

Do not watch the following material

[quadrantadvisor]

Alright new Jason Todd headcanons in a dpxdc setting:

Danny is a "liminal" ghost, rather than a "half" ghost. He's alive and dead at the same time. (He's like Jesus Christ (in the church denomination I grew up in), fully ghost and fully human.) Danny, in human form, can go through a ghost shield, because he IS a living human.

Jason, however, is a reanimated corpse. He isn't a ghost, wouldn't have a ghost core, etc, he has a normal human system that runs ON ectoplasm. Jason CANNOT go through a ghost shield, because he is always an ectoplasmic entity. Danny can go through the Fenton Ghost Catcher and be split into a ghost and a human; if Jason went through the ghost catcher, he would straight up die.

(For my purposes I'm gonna say that Jason became an ectoplasmic entity upon his resurrection, but wasn't very stable. Dunking in the Lazarus pit stabilized his system but also poisoned his ectoplasm.)

I do think that Jason could learn certain ghost abilities if he learned to harness his ectoplasm, especially if they detoxed him off the Lazarus waters. He's probably already enhancing his stealth and strength in ways he hasn't really noticed. I think he's held back by the amount of physical matter he's lugging around, so maybe he couldn't fly, but I'm imagining temporary invisibility, or intagibility of like, a limb at a time. Maybe he can't walk through walls, but in a fight he can dodge by instinctively making the targeted part of his body intangible.

[feelo-fick]

I WANT ENDLESS BLISS!!!

HALF-AWAKE, HALF-DEAD, HALF-LIFE CRISIS

ALL NATURAL POMEGRANATE PULP.

FERMENTED TO PERFECTION, SAVOUR YOUR SAVIOR.

Q: What's your favourite food? A: THE ALE THEY SERVE AT THE TAVERN!

other versions : )

[hollowsart]

-turns myself into a Paper Mario Partner-

I'm a Pokey :>

Note: the sprite is incorrect, the regular cactus tail is perfect.

I gave myself arms & hands cuz I thought it'd be funny and tbh I really vibe with the look of it.

you can see my design concepts and 2 other ideas for what species I'd be that I got from 2 different quizzes I took.

In the end I felt like the Pokeys deserve some love, they're just funky little cacti creatures <3

almost forgot the sprite sheet below:

[oh-no-its-bird]

Trying to make slightly simplified shape/design references that I can maybe animate with. If I retain the energy and motivation to animate, I mean. Crossing my fingers !!

Cracks me up only a little bit that Orochinatsu is the youngest but also heads taller than the others. Truly youngest friend/sibling core

Might continue w some other ocs later, just bc its fun. Probably Haruka, let's be real. Maybe the other early konoha teens I dont think Ive posted much ab, like Orochinatsu's occasional on again off again Inuzukan girlfriend who only takes them on dates when its convenient for her (he's just happy to be there 👍) or the gloomy Uchiha boy who got to be Haru's decoy boyfriend that one time, or Shikasada's fiance. So many ocs such little time ,,, they consume me, I fear