Rien du tout

1. pretty obviously the title card and the rest of the episode are a reference to Astro Boy 2. Boyd being named Tubio is a reference to Astro Boy’s real name Tobio (or at least the real boy he’s based on) 3.

A Sailor Moon cosplay 4. Inspector Tezuka, named after Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy’s mangaka.

5. Akita is an Akita dog (it’s a breed). Akita Shoten is also a publishing company that released a bunch of Astro Boy compilation volumes. He looks familiar but I can’t place if his design is based on another Tezuka character or not. Dr. Tenma with his lab coat maybe.

6. Some anime figure in Akita’s disgusting lab looks an awful lot like Usagi from Sailor Moon lol. Bunny ears because her name means bunny in japanese?

7. Osomatsu-kun/san! one of my favourite animes

8. Buggy the clown from one piece (minus the skull) I can’t tell if the girl is a reference to something.

9. At first I thought this one was a reference to Astro’s character Pluto, but it doesn’t really look like him and there’s no cop as far as I can remember?? So maybe this is just Mecha animes in general. 

10. Blink and you’ll miss it, Lupin III. He’s there in a few other scenes for like 3 frames max 

11. And lastly, Tezuka would’ve LOVED to have his own Ducktales episode, he was a big Disney fan, even drew Astro Boy hugging Donald.

GUYS.

GUYS.

We all thought Fria = Freya, the Norse goddess, because we all wanted that connection to Nora (or just because of the parallels with Atlas’ wintry climate), but… we’ve all been fools.

Who’s the woman wreathed in blue light who made Pinocchio into a real boy?

The Blue Fairy.

What’s another way to spell Fria? Friya. What’s that an anagram of? Fairy. Whose gift of power just confirmed that Penny has enough of a soul to be considered not only a real human, but a real GIRL as well?

For Oz

Its a Hard Knock Life

For Oz

Getting 

Betrayed

In 

Every 

Scene

Now its just him, and the Bean

[original]

(I’m sorry for how long this is. I went off and it got really long, but I don’t know how to add a “Read More.”)

In Norse Mythology, Freya is the leader of the Valkyries. Frigga is Thor’s mother. Fria likely alludes to both; the logical conclusion is that she has some connection to the character based on Thor. Incidentally, the character based on Thor’s last name is Valkyrie. Nothing is ever by coincidence in RWBY...

And in RWBY Chibi, Nora mentions her grandma, who is “scary strong.” Chibi foreshadows quite a lot in the series proper: Penny’s resurrection, the Volume 6 finale, Cinder’s fate at Haven, Neo’s return and redesign. There were no other cases of introduction of new characters in Chibi, but Nora namedropped someone in Season 1. That can’t be meaningless.

Nora’s new outfit, unlike her previous ones, prominently features a lot of blue, white and gray; all of which are colors typically associated with winter. The outfit itself is very reminiscent of Mantle fashions; specifically, those of the Happy Huntresses. I doubt this was a purely aesthetic choice.

Nora has always been the one advocating for Mantle. She tries to advocate for better conditions, asks Ironwood to help them, and stops him from declaring Martial law. It doesn’t make sense to have Nora almost exclusively be the only one really sticking up for Mantle, unless...

Nora is from Mantle. Samantha Ireland, Nora’s VA, confirmed we will learn more about her character this Volume. It makes sense to be doing that in her home town. It also makes sense for her backstory to be accompanied by more intense development; Nora’s character has been somewhat static up until now.

In addition to aesthetic and character, there has been a great deal of minor foreshadowing for Nora to be the Winter Maiden. She has been referenced as “lightning” in the last two intros. The effects around her eyes in the “thunder thighs” gag (which references the same skit where Nora mentions her grandma,) has lightning affects around Nora’s eyes... which look and awful lot like the maiden fire effects. Nora is the only member of the main cast whose eye color has been changed, and that change made her look even more maiden coded. Finally, her personality does somewhat match that of an original Maiden; Summer. While this is less concrete, it’s not irrelevant. Nora is maiden coded more than any other candidate.

Cinder says Ironwood has been “hiding the Winter Maiden for years.” That leaves plenty of time for Nora to have lost contact with her grandma before losing her parents and winding up in Mistral. The timeline absolutely works.

While I do think Winter is trying to be a good person, and do not think she is an antagonistic character, she is still ultimately ill-suited for Maidenhood...

For one, she views being the Winter Maiden as “a chance to do some real good for Atlas. For Remnant.” That is her order of priorities. The Maidens are each tied to a Relic, and thereby a kingdom, but are not meant to serve them. Amber was doing what the Maidens are supposed to. She traveled the Kingdoms, doing all she could to aid others with her powers. This is why the Maidens were created in the first place. To help others in any way they could...

Which is exactly what Nora (along with the rest of the main cast,) has been doing. She wanted to spare others the suffering she and Ren experienced, so Nora dedicated her life to being a Huntress, to helping others no matter what.

...Whereas Winter really only joined the military to escape her father. Being the Winter Maiden wasn’t her idea or her choice, despite what she’s told herself. Winter isn’t just unfit to be a Maiden; it’s an unhealthy choice for her.

Or, to summarize:

Nora clearly has a connection to Fria, who is likely her grandmother

Nora is heavily implied to be from Mantle

There has been a lot of symbolism and foreshadowing to suggest she will become the Winter Maiden.

Winter is very ill-suited to be a Maiden, while Nora would be an excellent fit for the role.

I will accept my status as a prophet is this happens, or as a fool if it doesn’t.

THIS SHIT WORKS OKAY, I AM DEAD SERIOUS.

The last time I saw this on my dash, I didn’t think it would happen, so jokingly I wished I could go to a fun. concert.

AND GUESS WHAT, I WENT TO A FUCKING FUN. CONCERT.

I SAW THIS ON MY DASH THE OTHER DAY AND THOUGHT “ITS WORTH A TRY” SO I WISHED I COULD GET A 3DS

LITERALLY LIKE 4 DAYS LATER MY DAD SENT ME A PICTURE OF THE 3DS XL HE BOUGHT FOR ME WHILE I WAS AT SCHOOL

GUYS.

HE FUCKING CALLED ME 20 MINUTES LATER

20 FUCKNG. MINUTES. LATER.

Well, its only the second episode and the entire thing was incredibly antisemitic.  Yeah.  If you didn’t realize it, let me point out why.

First of all, we find out Penguin is Jewish.  Lets see, Jewish stereotypes check?  Huge, long nose?  Yep.  Rich and corrupt?  Yep.

His Jewish wife?  Fat and ugly of course!  And she has a Jersey accent- you know, because all Jews are from Jersey right?

His Jewish son?  Incredibly wimpy, has never touched a woman (why Harley points this out, I don’t really care to know.), and wanted an army base with explosions and screams for a present because he needs to prove he has balls.

And then THIS:

What are the party favors at the Cobblepot barmitzvah?  Why, bags of money of course!!  Because RICH JEWS HurRhRHrururr.

This shit?  Its not okay.  And people aren’t even noticing.  Because antisemitism is still such a hugely ingrained thing in our society.  In fact:

This comment pretty much proves that making fun of Jews means ‘you have balls’.  So yeah, antisemitism is basically something praise worthy in a cartoon!