#I'm going to need to make more than one gifset of this episode

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

How to tell Arcane leaks apart from trailers and teasers

There are NO LEAKS in this post, so please read.

In summary: to identify leaks, look out for 1): watermarks, 2): unfinished animation rendering, and 3): poor image and video quality.

Tumblr isn't too bad right now, but Twitter is rife with clips and screenshots of the leaks, and YouTube has full uploaded leaked clips. These leaks show up on YouTube if you even search just "Arcane" or "Arcane season 2."

Here is a list of legitimate trailers and teasers posted by Netflix and Riot. These are not leaks and the clips and gifsets about them on Tumblr are from legitimate sources:

Season 2 first look

Season 2 teaser (short)

Ekko and Heimerdinger sneak peek

Season 2 teaser trailer

Jinx and Sevika sneak peek

There's some confusion in the tag about what constitutes a leak and what is simply a trailer or a teaser shared legitimately by Netflix and/or Riot. This is understandable because the first 5 episodes of season 2 leaked at the same time that Netflix and Riot were accelerating season 2's marketing.

Most people in the fandom do not want to be spoiled at all, and so are not excited about the leaks. Most people don't want clips, screengrabs, or even vague allusions to the leaks in the Arcane tag. They most certainly do not want spoilers sent to their inboxes, either. (DO NOT DO THIS. Don't be that person either on anon or off. Goodness gracious.)

Still, there is always going to be someone who posts the leaks in the fandom tags. However, there are many more people who make gifs and posts about the legitimate season 2 teasers and trailers. There are still almost 3 months until the first episodes drop, so we will be dealing with dodging these leaks for a long while.

Here's how to tell what's a leak and what isn't:

1): Watermarks

From what I've put together, someone at one of the dubbing studios leaked the first 5 episodes of Arcane season 2. In their entirety. However, these leaks were not production ready. The leaks are also completely watermarked and have a big running timestamp ticking throughout the run of all of the episodes.

This is difficult to visualize beyond what little Riot shared about the production of season 1 in Bridging the Rift. So I will post a NON-SPOILER screengrab of the title card of one of the leaks I took (just a few seconds before I realized I was looking at a leaked episode).

Below is a screenshot I took of nothing more than the Arcane title card from the season 2 title sequence. This is not a spoiler! Please use this example to help you tell a legitimate teaser from a leak:

Can you imagine watching 5 EPISODES of Arcane with these watermarks all over every single frame??? I'm begging you, do not subject yourself to watching Arcane in this manner, no matter how bad you want to know what happens in season 2.

These watermarks are practically impossible to remove, especially from every single frame. So any visuals you see that look clean, production-ready, and gorgeous from season 2 are definitely from trailers or teasers, not from leaks.

Here's a screengrab from the recent sneak peek posted by Netflix/Riot for comparison:

No watermarks, the animation is finished, the video quality is high. This is a legitimate teaser and not a leak.

2): Unfinished animation render

You don't need the full finished painterly animation from Fortiche to complete a dub. You just need basic character models and their movements, along with the finished script.

Much of the leaks are just this: the full complete scenes from every episode, character models are moving as they will in the final edit, the episodes' composition is complete, but the animation is unfinished and doesn't have the final painterly polish yet.

Below is a NON-SPOILER screengrab from Riot/Fortiche showing the animation process. This screenshot is from season 1 episode 5 during Vi and Sevika's first fight and shows the stage of completeness of the animation that most of the leaks show:

Notice that the scene is comprehensible, but the lighting effects and painting-like style of Fortiche is missing. It looks... okay, but unfinished-looking compared to what we know Arcane looks like. A big chunk of the 5 leaked season 2 episodes look like this.

Here's the final render of this scene for comparison:

However, I will say that I accidentally watched the first few seconds of the leaked season 2 episode 1 before it registered in my brain that I was watching a leak. There were watermarks like in my first point above, but for this particular scene, the animation was finished, and it seems like the sound mixing was finished too.

So it is possible that there are leaks floating around with gorgeous finished-looking animation. So look out for watermarks no matter what, and also -

3.): Poor image and video quality

When people say that the leaks are "potato quality," they mean it. On top of the watermarks and big timestamp across the runtime of all the 5 leaked episodes, the video quality is also pretty bad, certainly less than 360p.

The legitimate teasers and trailers and screenshots released by Netflix and Riot are all of very high video quality.

A note on early leaks

There are some leaks from earlier this year pertaining to Vi and Caitlyn's story that came from the Annecy Animation Festival Arcane panel. These leaks weren't treated as seriously because no full clips leaked, and they were mainly high-level summaries of season 2 plot points.

Those leaks are now difficult to tell apart from text posts about these new complete episode leaks. There are a lot of text posts out there about Vi and Caitlyn's story in particular as well as extremely spoilery text posts about certain characters who were in the Council tower at the end of season 1 episode 9.

There isn't much we can do about text posts

In the end, Tumblr has been pretty okay with keeping visuals from leaks out of the tag. I still see a potato-quality screenshot from the leaks every now and then. But most pervasive is people talking about spoilers from the leaks in text posts. These posts are tagged with the fandom tags and spoilers are only tagged sometimes.

Often, if the person is only vaguely alluding to the spoilers, they won't tag spoilers at all because they think being vague is enough. It usually isn't, because the post is still alluding to events outside of season 1 and the teasers/trailers.

The only thing we can do to completely avoid these posts is to not only block "spoiler" or "leak" related tags, but to avoid and block the Arcane fandom tags altogether, which is a shame.

Please, if you're someone who saw the leaks and wants to post about them, all I can ask is to at least tag your spoilers: "arcane spoilers", "arcane season 2 spoilers", "arcane s2 spoilers", "arcane leaks", or even just "spoiler", "spoilers", or "leaks" is better than nothing.

Even better would be to simply avoid using the word Arcane in the post and not tag the post with any fandom tags at all, keeping the post relegated to your blog with as little context as possible. This includes avoiding using the correctly-spelled character names in the post as well. Until the episodes drop in November, this is the most polite way I can think of to talk about the leaks and spoilers on your blog.

[twig-tea]

Communication styles, mirroring, and new relationship growing pains in Cooking Crush

In Cooking Crush ep7 we get a lot of really cute moments and really wonderful plot arcs that fly in the face of BL tropes (Nobly ghosting your crush because you think their life is better without you? Breaking up rather than simply agreeing to take time apart to focus or be in different places? Not clarifying your feelings? Making assumptions about your partner's physical comfort levels? Ten said not today, Satan!).

And! We also got a lot of more subtle goodness that I want to take a second to highlight around the feeling out of their relationship that happens between Ten and Prem in this episode. They each try out ways of showing affection, and of communicating, and it sometimes lands and sometimes doesn't, and they also take turns trying out one another's methods on each other! They slowly start to use more of each other's styles, and they get better and better at understanding one another as a result. I'm mildly obsessed, so let's break it down.

First, after Ten blocks Prem from leaving (communicating that he needs an explanation--first with his actions and then with words), we get Prem trying out the cute nuzzle-y apology in the grocery store, and then going in for a peck kiss (and Ten meeting him immediately and then getting flustered, loved this!). This was such a good moment because Prem uses the kiss in place of words, to indicate his feelings (he says "do you know now? you're not the only one" but doesn't specify he's talking about his feelings). This theme comes back in the episode later.

[gif by @gunsatthaphan; full set here]

At the cafe, Ten lies about having eaten and then not having eaten to appease Prem, and Prem immediately noticing and pinching him about it--this white lie for Prem's peace of mind clearly did not land well.

And then Ten tries to make up with him by mirroring the way Prem did to him in the grocery store (the cute nuzzling). And this seems to land better; Prem eventually gets flustered but tells him it was cute. And then Ten goes to get Prem food, because feeding one another is already an established-effective form of communication for them. Ten comes back and makes a really cheesy pun about sweet food/soulmates and it does not land and he sits a bit ashamedly back down.

[Ignore the two caption formatting styles, that was me being too lazy to go back to WeTV but wanting more screenshots so getting them from YouTube.]

He tries physical touch again instead, by reaching out with his foot. And again, it doesn't land, Prem confusedly asks him what he's doing. And then Prem accidentally (?) reciprocates--awkwardly because he doesn't really get it. And so Ten explains that this was supposed to be a signal that they should kiss some more. He decides to use words, and this works! Prem nods and goes with him to make out against some very unstable bookshelves lol

Ten asks Prem if he wants to continue--using words because that's what has worked best so far--and Prem gives him the green light nod again.

And so they try again, and again get interrupted, and Ten gives up. But this time Prem uses Ten's method--words--to ask if he wants to continue, and Ten gives him the green-light nod back! Again, they continue to mirror one another's styles of communication when they see it works.

[Both this and the previous gif above done by @tenprems, with full gifset of this exchange and the mirrored nods available here]

This next tiny moment was cut from the YouTube version, but in the car, Prem gives Ten another one of the now-established-as-effective green light nods before jumping into his lap lol Loved these continuous check-ins and establishing of mutual interest!

Back in the cafe after giving up on making out--and how much do I love the frustration about not just being able to kiss all the time, and not having a good place to go because they both live with their families, this was so relatable--Ten says his feelings outright (this is the Ten way) and tries cuddling in again, because Prem said he thought it was cute before, and Prem responds positively by verbally saying he feels the same, which gets Ten to pop back up in excitement because this is the first time Prem has said aloud he has feelings!

I love this moment that follows because it establishes just how differently the two of them think about communication. Ten, until now, was unsure about Prem's feelings because Prem never said them aloud. Now that he has, Ten takes that as a signal to ask if they can move to the talking/hitting-on stage. Prem looks at him like he's ridiculous, because they just made out in three separate locations lol and points out that obviously they're already past that stage. To Prem, his actions should have been clear enough to communicate enough of his feelings to Ten. Again, like in the grocery store, Prem thinks actions are explicit and clear, while Ten finds them ambiguous and wants clear and explicit words. And as they continue testing and mirroring communication methods on these dates, Prem starts to use more words and Ten uses more actions, and they understand one another better.

[gif by @gunsatthaphan full set here]

Later in the episode, Prem brings Ten food, because as mentioned this is an established as effective communication method for them. He overhears the fight with Ten and his father, and leaves, because that conversation underscored his worst fears about his relationship with Ten--that he'd make Ten's life worse by being in it. Prem defaults back to his usual methods of communication--avoidance and action--and Ten holds him back and uses his words to describe his feelings. And Prem goes back to meeting him halfway and responds with words! He explains exactly how he feels to Ten.

And in response, Ten goes for action to comfort Prem--he knows this speaks to Prem more by this point.

And then he goes back to words and explains his plan to Prem to stay apart for now so that they can be together in future. Later, Prem runs into Ten at the cafe, and goes to touch him--again, action being his primary language of communication. He goes to leave and Ten asks him to stay, and explains with words that he'll be out of town for the mid-semester break. He asks Prem for a lunchbox for the trip--again, asking for their tried-and-true food in order to get reassurance of Prem's feelings for while they're apart. And Prem, in response, uses his words to confirm that he knows he's in Ten's heart. He then asks Ten for physical affection in return ("recharge my battery").

I love this moment in particular because it does three things:

Establishes that Prem is more interested in Ten's love than his money

Combines their communication styles by both being physical and verbal since Prem explained verbally that this hug was important to him

Confirms in Prem's style (non-verbal communication) that he's still open to physical affection even given their slightly ambiguous status.

And Ten immediately acknolwedges receipt of this message by kissing Prem--again using Prem's preferred communication method and mirroring his actions in the grocery store at the start of the episode--and then following it up with a verbal explanation (because he's Ten).

In the final scene of the episode, Prem brings Ten the food as promised, but explains he also included a written note with the food (more explicit communication!). And Ten responds to that by offering a hug. Every time one of them tries to meet the other halfway, the other does too, and it gives me LIFE.

Prem pulls away, and Ten checks in verbally, but Prem doesn't run off like usual. He stays to explain, because he's learned now that Ten needs that verbal reassurance around what's going on with him. And Ten responds physically, by wiping away Prem's tears.

He then tries this cheesy thing with the glasses as a metaphor, and it does not land, Prem is too practical.

[gif by @gunsatthaphan, full set here]

But he does make another metaphor about seeing only him--again, meeting Ten halfway. And then he tries to make a joke about how he, Prem, would flirt around while Ten is away, and again it does not land lol. He immediately backtracks and instead makes a cheesy pun, mirroring the one that Ten made in the cafe that did not land at all for Prem, and for Ten it clearly lands, he looks quietly really charmed by this. I loved this so much, there's something extra sweet about someone who hates puns making a pun for you because they know you love them.

And then Prem says explicitly and clearly in words, "I promise I will wait for you".

Ten starts his journey and opens the lunchbox, and reads the note from Prem. Unlike the previous (often partially failed) attempts that Prem has made to communicate his feelings through food without explaining what he was trying to say (I'm thinking of when he made that lunchbox full of things that turned out to be food Ten doesn't like, or when he made all of Ten's favourite foods and brought it to school pretending it was leftovers but the fact that Ten had read Prem's deleted text message made Ten understand that it was actually for him), this time Prem has explained with words exactly what he was trying to express with his choice in food.

These forays into feeling out one another's communication styles, styles of humour, finding one another's hard lines (don't lie to make me feel better; don't joke about cheating on me) and just getting a sense of what works and what the other needs, this is bread and butter early relationship stuff, and the show is quietly depicting it so well. I had such a great time watching Ten and Prem not just fall in love, but learn how to effectively be in a relationship with each other this episode!

Huge thanks to the giffers @gunsatthaphan and @tenprems being fast enough to make gifs that I could include in this meta! If anyone gifs any of these other scenes I described, especially the battery recharge and Ten popping up excitedly hearing Prem use his words, please tag me!~

[sunnysideoflondon]

käärijä boyfriend pokédex

in no specific order. some of these don't have links because i either can't find them or i lost them. if you have more to add, links i'm missing, incorrect information, etc please tell me :) i don't really go here anymore but i'll try to keep this list updated

count: 20

Bojan Cvjetićanin

lead singer of joker out + ESC 2023 contestant

do i need to make a list. do you want me to make a list. do i need to show you a li- *gunshots*

i could eventually list out as much as i can find though. or maybe that would need its own post

or you can look in my bojere tag

Robin Packalen

singer + UMK 2023 contestant

that umk interview where he slammed the fuck out of the button to say he'd kiss robin

Benjamin Peltonen

singer + UMK 2023 contestant

them allegedly pining over each other during UMK

jere said something along the lines of "he's a sexy guy. amazing action" but i cant find it

that tiktok of benjamin slapping jere's ass with persikan perään out of all songs in the background

Aapo Vuori

lead singer of portion boys + UMK 2023 contestant

they kissed and jere said it felt good (ver with translation)

UMK confessions where he said aapo massaged his shoulders and they kissed (probably a different kiss than the above)

KUUMAA (they count as 3)

band + UMK 2023 contestants

they will see each other in jere's bedroom

making kissy faces

gay sex onstage w johannes

Damiano David

lead singer of måneskin

THEY DID SOMETHING i don't remember what but i know people include him as a bf for a reason

Häärijä

he's just some guy

the tiktok (or ig story?) where he lifts up häärijä's coat to reveal ass

THAT ig post. the bulbasaur vs pikachu one

the onlyfans.

Jukka Sorsa

one of the daltonit

them kissing in front of a whole audience (more)

i think they did twice actually (or at least nearly) but i can't find the link

Matti Myllyaho

one of the dancers

is matti single? not anymore

Antti Tuisku

singer

him getting pinned to a pillar by antti and looking suspicious (more)

Jesse Voss

singer

onstage tomfoolery

also multiple other occasions

Niko Saarinen

celebrity

choosing the gay celeb over the obviously interested woman (more)

Mika Rajala

some skit maker?

getting suggestively invited into a bathroom

Joonas Kymäläinen

i have no idea who this is

making kissy faces at the guy (but it goes unnoticed)

Ludwig Gassner

alessandra mele's boyfriend

he got accidentally included within the marriage proposal

Random Audience Member

random audience member

get flirted with

Tommy Cash

estonian rapper that he collabed with (on ICIP)

olympiastadion. here are some gifsets, some screen caps, and the full video

the shower tiktok

Pekka Rinne

hockey player

how do i describe this. looking lovingly into each other's eyes or something

this urheilucast episode that hit me like a freight train

is the president of finland supposed to be on this list lol??? i don't know if i made that up or not

[wellofdean]

Thinking more about this gifset from ep 12x09, The Future, and just want to say a thing about what the word 'subtext' means, because it sometimes feels like what people think it means and what it actually means are not aligned.

So, as a starting point, subtext is defined as "the implied meaning or underlying message of a narrative that is not stated directly. It is the unexpressed thought, feeling, or emotional throughline that lies beneath the text."

The scene in the gifset linked above rife with subtext, and it's really very obvious. But first, there are several layers to the text. There's the visual: Sam looking concerned, Dean working on Cas's truck. There's also the context of the other events in the episode. In brief: Cas returns to the bunker after being out of touch for so long that Dean was worried, and angry with him; Cas tried to return the mixtape Dean gave him and Dean refused to accept it; Cas tells Dean he feels like he just keeps failing and Dean stresses that they need to work together; Cas 'plays him' and steals the Colt from under his pillow; Dean threatens to 'kick his feathered ass' but notably does not follow through. Right before this scene Dean throws Cas the keys to the Impala like it's a totally automatic for him to do (it's not!), only to have Kelly drive off with his Baby, and with Cas.

Here's the transcript:

Sam: How did this happen? Dean: ( Scoffs ) What? The lying? The Heaven plan? Or the fact that I'm working on this stupid truck? Sam: No, I mean, what's wrong with Cas? Dean: Well, he hasn't exactly had a banner year. I mean, think about it. Between Lucifer... (huffs out a breath) ...killing Billie, Ramiel, everything's been blowing up in his face... And he's so desperate for a win right now, he can't even see straight. Go ahead and give it a try. (Engine starts)

So the text of this scene is a combination of what we see, the context in the episode, the wider context of the show and relationships, and the lines.

Here are some examples of the subtext in this scene:

Dean has given some thought to how Cas is feeling.

Dean understands that people make questionable decisions when they are feeling down and defeated.

Dean has been there, and done that.

Dean sympathizes and empathizes with Cas.

Dean's frustrated, but Cas is still family to him.

Dean cares about Cas and wants to help him.

Sam does not quite know what to make of Cas's behavior.

Sam knows that Dean will know better than he does what is motivating Cas to do what he is doing.

Dean is emotionally closer to Cas than Sam is.

Sam relies on Dean's reaction to Cas's recent actions to know how to react himself.

Dean wants Sam to understand and sympathize with Cas, and not judge him too harshly.

There is much more one could add to this, but nothing I've said above is the least bit controversial; it's nothing more than a basic understanding of the content of the text, and it is very clearly communicated. Understanding these things in this scene is not rocket science, and everything I mentioned above is indisputably there as unspoken but clear emotional throughline in the text.

Subtext is not a mysterious puzzle, or a ghost floating around in a text that is invented out of the audience's desires, it is the actual emotional force and content of it. Ernest Hemingway is a long way from being my favourite writer, but he was, nevertheless, a heavyweight champion of subtext. He called it the 'iceberg theory,' or 'theory of omission': the text (words themselves) present only a small part of what is happening in it, but it is important to note that subtext is part of the text like the unseen part of an iceberg is part of an iceberg. A text without subtext would be very boring indeed, and would leave nothing for our minds to do when we process it. It's difficult to imagine any narrative text that doesn't have it.

I think that a lot of the time we say things like: I want Destiel to be explicit, not 'just subtext', but look at what is communicated via subtext above! Virtually everything that's important about the scene! Subtext is not imaginary thing the reader adds, it is part of the intent of the text, and Destiel is more explicit than this in the text in a lot of ways because it is the bones the text is hanging on -- it may not be spoken, but it is part of the structure of the text, and that's because of things like the way Ruby and Sam's story parallels Dean and Cas in season 4, or the way Dean's entire motivation in purgatory is Cas, and when he gets back from purgatory, he can think of little else, or the way Cas very obviously parallels Colette in the MOC arc and there is no Abel, or the entire widower arc, or the fact that main emotional arc of season 15 is Cas and Dean's break up, reconciliation, Cas's confession and finally Dean's despair and willingness to just die in the final episode. There's a lot of that that simply doesn't make any sense without Destiel as a structural element in the narrative.

There are so many ways in which the whole story is BUILT AROUND the assumption that Cas is Dean's strongest bond and partner, and around how important Cas is to Dean's emotional life, which is why I think it's often more accurate to say that Destiel is CONTEXT, because it's actually the reason why we understand the subtext of so many scenes and arcs in the story.

The fact that Cas loves Dean is not subtext, it is explicitly stated, and the fact that Dean loves Cas is not explictly stated, but it is present in the text at so many levels, that to call it 'just' subtext or imagine that it is some kind of unacknowledged, unavowed ghost in the narrative is not accurate. There is no way to understand a thing like Dean's devastated face at Castiel's pyre, or why Castiel leaving in season 15 feels like a divorce without it. Destiel is the emotional force of it, and moreover, it's the part of the iceberg you can't see because it's underwater, but it is fucking there, and IT WILL FUCK YOU UP.

[spicyvampire]

Okay so after the whole Sakuna/Wansarut and Phaya/Tharn "characters description" fighter (protector)/healer+protector(mediator) post, now imma talk about about our resident Snake (PhD), Doctor Chalothorn being a fighter and well how do you convince a fighter to not fight?

I've already made a whole gifset about this but I needed to put the stuff into words cuz u just can't say everything in a gifset so this post is gonna be about a few things, first of all, the way Charlothorn's goals shifted in the last 2 episodes, from wanting to kill Phaya so he can have Tharn, to wanting to save Tharn and Phaya's end not really mattering anymore, and second of all Tharn's role in this shift and where have we saw something similar to this shift before aka Wansarut and Sakuna and how Wansarut even did that

Same disclaimer as the last one applies : pulling this out of my ass from watching the show, these are raw out-of-order thoughts, ill try my best to separate but like the last post because I'm going to have to go back and forth between Wansarut (love of my life, talking about Wansarut has to be my favorite activity rn), Sakuna, Tharn (smooching him smooching him), Phaya and Chalothorn this might get hard to follow but hey that's what it's like inside my brain so welcome to the mess

Putting it under keep reading

So like I said in the last post, Chalothorn is a fighter, like you can't get more fighter than this, the man is literally the prince/ruler of Nagas and he is right in the middle of the battle field anytime there is a fight to be had, and like I said in Sakuna's part of the post he is a level that can probably can only be rivaled by Sakuna's brother, you can't be a higher level of Naga fighter from what I understand, so like how do you fight this man if you are Wansarut and Sakuna? (ep. 8)

Keep in mind that : the answer is that they never were supposed to fight Chalothorn

SCENARIO 1 : Chalothorn wins

This is what we've seen in the show, Sakuna/Wansarut/Phaya/Tharn would never win against him in a fight because they just aren't strong enough to began with, Sakuna and his Garuda were not Chalothorn's level when he was alive, Wansarut is a healer/protector not a fighter, Phaya can only do ✨Sparkles✨ of Garuda powers as of rn and while Tharn can do some powerful protecting he is of the gang the person who is the less in contact with his past and magical self (other than for protecting Phaya magic, we have not even seen his Naga in this lifetime) and also his past self wasn't even a fighter, so it makes sense that Chalothorn just keep killing them and every single one of their reincarnations, he kills them so much that it was destroying his own soul (ep. 8) because surprise he is getting affected by the little cyclic karma thingy they got going on too, this isn't just about Wansarut/Sakuna and PhayaTharn, Chalothorn is trapped in this shit too

Clearly fighting is not the answer, because even if you win, which Chalothorn has been doing a lot of, you still lose, Chalothorn is losing control of his Naga form, not only does it destroy his soul (ep. 8) but he might just not be able to turn into his human form anymore aka would be forced to be a Naga forever (ep. 9)

Another lost of this is that he keeps losing Wansarut and having to wait for the cycle to start again so he would get another chance, like the level of psychological damage getting done to him because he kills the one he loves and he is always left behind alone to wait is enough to drive anybody insane (ep. 11)

And I think that's one of the reasons why it took him so long to understand that he should let Wansarut/Tharn go, because when you do something so despicable and keep doing it over and over again you have to justifies your bad actions to yourself so you don't break and the more you justifies them the harder it becomes to see clearly through them, so you just keep doing it, like Chalothorn probably hates himself more than he even hates Phaya or love Tharn at this point because he keeps killing reincarnations of Wansarut, like this is his reaction to killing Wansarut the first time, falling to his knees screaming and everything (ep. 8), the cognitive dissonance in that man's brain must be insane

SCENARIO 2 : Phaya wins

Now let's imagine for a second there that they did win, Phaya succeeded in killing Charlothorn, and then what? Isn't Charlothorn just gonna reincarnate and come back for them again? Like yes it might take some times but it will happen, and then Phaya and Tharn would be the one destroying their souls and making their karma worst, that's just not a solution

Also we saw with Narong's case part of the show that "victim turned attacker" is not the answer (anyways that's what the show says), when Tharn and Phaya are talking to the abbot at the end of episode 5 the abbot keep repeating that over and over again killing is not the answer

When Phaya Says "Those victims are left with no choice but to fight back in order to survive. They have to kill." The abbot answers "The basic code of moral conducts for human beings like us is the 5 precepts. One should be abstained from killing other living beings. These precepts can bring peace and happiness to your family and the society. Undertaking the 5 precepts will benefit not only yourself but also the people around you." Basically straight up telling them that [not killing] is the only answer that will bring peace to everyone

Also so many parallels can be made between Narong and Chalothorn (which is probably why it was easy for Chalothorn to possess Narong to attack Phaya but let's not get into that), because like isn't this Chalothorn? (ep. 5)

His mind is so clouded by anger and wanting to kill Phaya and getting Tharn that he is obsessed with it, he literally do not see anything else, specially if Phaya is in the room and/or mentioned, like I said a bit higher in this post, he hates Phaya, but he probably hates himself too, and so much hate and anger just blinds people

Also sidenote that I'm not really gonna dive into : How do you think Tharn would feel about Phaya killing Chalothorn, knowing what u know about him? like Tharn loves Chalothorn as a friend, and that's even if Chalothorn is responsible for all the bad things in his life (ep. 12)

Tharn may be looking at Chalothorn saying this but he said "Please stop killing each other." he could not be more clearly talking to both of them, he doesn't want Chalothorn to kill Phaya but he also doesn't want Phaya to kill Chalothorn

SCENARIO 3 : Tharn Wins

Now lemme say this, you can literally never convince a fighter by fighting him, like if you've ever had a fight/argument with someone you know that you cannot reach a compromise in the heat of the fight when everyone is angry and losing the control of their emotions, it just doesn't work, but what does work in the context of the show?

Wansarut and Sakuna

And now I'm back to Wansarut (<3<3<3<3<3<3) and Sakuna because well Wansarut did change a fighter's mind before already, this is part of Wansarut's power that's why I also describe Wansarut as a mediator, and what did Wansarut do exactly?

Well Wansarut healed Sakuna, even if he is from the enemy side, and took care of him and acted in a way that was protective of him, even if again Sakuna is an enemy of Wansarut's people (literally brother of the Garuda king) because that Wansarut's character, Wansarut is a healer/a protect/a mediator that's how Wansarut fights (ep. 8)

Then Wansarut tough Sakuna about Naga culture (Naga offering and breathing fire to pay respect to Buddha, on the 15th nigh of the 11th waxing moon)

And while being in love with each other did facilitate this change of view in Sakuna (which would later turn him a bit into a protector of Wansarut), you really do not need to be for this to work, like the best way to change people views on some things truly is just to expose them to the thing from the POV of the people living it, when nobody is in any immediate danger

And that is exactly how Tharn succeeded in convincing Chalothorn that the love between Phaya and him is good, by being there for Chalothorn and taking care of him, and being patient, until Chalothorn was ready to let him go on his own, not in the heat of of fight when everyone is angry and putting the blame on each other, which was again so healer/ protector/mediator of him like I talked about in my other post

Tharn and Chalothorn : the final

So with Wansarut and Sakuna we saw how Tharn could change Chalothorn's mind and what really does work, now imma dive into the last 2 episodes of this show aka the shift in Chalothorn

So in episode 6, Chalothorn says this

And at that time I think those words were true cuz that's literally what he has been doing isn't it? Like everytime he lost, both Wansarut and Sakuna's reincarnations died, so he was "okay" with killing Wansarut, as long as it meant that Sakuna was also dead and they weren't together (crazy way to fight cognitive dissonance if you ask me) but then something changed around episode 11 because Chalothorn started saving Tharn even if Phaya was still alive? (Ep. 11) (ep.12)

The importance of Chalothorn saving Tharn those 2 times, is that 1) now Tharn knows what the fuck is going on and 2) (like I said in the other post) Tharn end up understanding that Chalothorn can be talked too and reasoned with (the abbot would call it enlightenment), because in that 2nd saving he told Chalothorn to not kill Montee, and Chalothorn listened

Sidenote : Wansarut also did tell Chalothorn to not kill Sakuna and Chalothorn did listen that time too, like Wansarut has a BIG influence on this man (wish we saw their relationship before the mess), the only reason why the fight did continue was because Sakuna did not let Wansarut go

Why did he listen then? because he loves Wansarut, it really is as simple as that, and that's why he also listened to Tharn with Montee, because our chronically involuntary celibate man is head over dick for Tharn (valid and relatable)

So remember when I was talking about cognitive dissonance and stuff, well by ep 12, Chalothorn cannot justifies killing Tharn anymore, he is tired, he is turning into a Naga, and he cannot stand seeing another reincarnation of Wansarut die again, but most importantly he cannot stand to see Tharn die by his own hands

It's easy to concentrate on Phaya's distress in this scene but Chalothorn is in as much distress as Phaya, you can hear Chalothorn's voice break when Tharn is dying in both Phaya and his arms after asking them to stop killing each other, they are both screaming Tharn's name, and this time Chalothorn just listen because this is too much, his hatred for Phaya is just not important anymore, killing Phaya is just not as important anymore because anyways Tharn did choose him didn't he? isn't that what he wanted? even if Tharn clearly is in love with Phaya, Tharn did choose to come with him, so in a way none of this shit even fucking matters anymore

So for the 3rd time, he saves Tharn, this time by literally giving Tharn his soul so he would live (wish we saw him breaking down over Tharn dying in his arms in the Naga caves until he ended up giving Tharn his soul tbh), Chalothorn chooses to save a life instead of ending one and thus ending the curse on his part

[khaopybara]

Started off the episode with mays terrible parents 😠 (I’m smad at the mom. Mad that she won’t defend May or stand up to her husband and sad because she is probably scared af of him. Divorce that man asap!)

Young May: How can someone be hurt emotionally?

Mays dad: hold my beer 😈

Hate that man with a burning passion!

Thankfully we quickly moved past that and onto the oonmay camping date. May struggling to remember that she’s supposed to be completely blind, the pluto necklace 😭, SEX IN THE CAMPER VAN 🫦🫦🫦. Oom’s twin senses were tingling so hard during that scene that she ended up waking up from her coma AND IMMEDIATELY LOOKING FOR MAY BECAUSE SHE ONLY REMEMBERS HER AND NOT PAUL!?!? Oy vey 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

Ai seemed completely heartbroken right after she spoke with her grandma but it doesn’t seem to be stopping her since we see her texting May about cashing in for her reward while her sister IS RIGHT BEHIND HER. Bold Ai, very bold. and then AND THEN… the back to back reveals had me BOUNCING ON MY BED!!! Ai finding out may was the attorney who defended the guy who caused Ben to be paralyzed AND THEN IMMEDIATELY FINDING OUT THAT KOSAL WAS THE ONE WHO CAUSED MAY TO GO BLIND ALL BECAUSE Ai MADE SOME OFFHANDED THREAT OUT OF ANGER!!!!!

The repeated “i love her”s while breaking down had me breaking down 😭😭😭😭.

PinPangJan…

I totally understand that pim needs time after her breakup before she can jump into a new relationship but GODFUCKINGDAMMIT part of me wishes she moved on as quickly as pang! You and i seem to be switching stances on the whole throuple thing. I was initially hoping for a love triangle in which each person’s feelings went both directions(the ever rare true triangle!). Here we have Pang likes Jan. Jan likes Pim. Pim is still pining for Pang. Does Jan even like Pang? Doesn’t seem like Pang ever really loved Pim. I need someone who has read the books to tell me if pim ends up happy. That’s all I need to know!!!

Some last random thoughts…

-is ton breaking HIPPA every time he gives May an update on oom?

- i find it interesting that Jan basically knew everything about May from the start but didn’t say anything!!!!

-I’m curious as to how much oom remembers. She called May her gf but also remembered that May was the attorney. I wonder if she remembers the moments after that when she realized May met and fell in love with Ai that day way back when.

I’m am so sorry about this insane amount of word vomit of all my thoughts and feelings.

-🤫

i've said this before and i'll say it again, i hope the dad dies. he's probably going to get arrested or have a quick redemption arc and ask for forgiveness for being a despicable human being, but in a perfect world, he'd end up dead in a ditch. "bibi that's so revengeful", i couldn't care less. he's abusive to his child, he's abusive to his nephew and given the mom's response to all of that, he is most definitely abusive towards her (and he know it's not only mentally, given that he didn't think twice before slapping may across the face after very reasonably questioning him). so anyway, hope he dies.

i spent my free evening playing baldur's gate 3 and when i tell you i would regularly remember the way may would sneak glances at oon… *sighs* is it yearning when they are already dating? anyway, i didn't go into the tags and none of my moots reblogged anything like it (i think), but i'm so on my way to make a gifset about that because it made me feel things.

the sex scene was so beautifully shot, too. the light and the mood and the way oon had her hair to the side and looked quite dishevelled, it was better than i could have hopped (also, here i am, yet again, even more excited about girl rules bc yes, beautiful sex scenes with feelings are always great, but i'm so ready for the messy and angry that i know all three couples will serve).

LISTEN. amnesia plots are so cliche and used to be so overly used, and it's also one of my favorite tropes for some types of fanfics, SO HOW DID I NOT THINK THAT WOULD BE A THING? OOM HIT HER HEAD FOR GOD'S SAKE. honestly, that's on me, i didn't even think of the possibility like a fool. but i was so heartbroken for oom, too, bc imagine you go through the heartbreak of finding out your gf is in love with your sister actually, and then you marry a dude you don't care about, and now you forget him, and think you're in love with your ex again! when she finds out, it'll be heartbreaking. namtan will make me cry again.

the thing about ai and oom tho, they aren't telling her about paul and may right away just to avoid her going through more traumatic stuff after surviving an i-don't-know-how-many-months coma. at least the impression i got was that they were going to tell her once she got stronger, but then, BUT THEN! the revelations about batman, and ben, and kosol come to light and i wanted to die right then and there. you can see oon's face dropping and her heart breaking with each new piece of information she gets. i wanna commend namtan again bc man, how can she cry so prettily and make me feel all of these sad things? she did so great, i love her acting. i love the way she plays oom and say "pls forgive may, for me". i love how in love she looks whenever she's with may. how fond of her sister and her grandma she looks. i love this woman.

YOU SUMMED UP THE PIMPANGJAN THING PERFECTLY (for me). here's the thing, and i think i've said this last week, too. if pang demonstrated she has ever liked pim romantically (bc even when they were together, i feel like pang was just keeping pim to fill in space), i would be fine with a possible throuple. but pang has no interest whatsoever in pim, while pim can't forget pang, and poor jan is in this crossfire, bc she's respecting pim's decision to not get involved with her, but i don't think she's romantically into pang, either. it'll be great if they all kiss. i can't wait to finally add earn to the girl kissers list i have, and add two names to her tab, BUT STILL!!

to be fair, ton has been lying left and right to cover may, so i don't think he's too worried about patient confidentiality. he's an ally helping out his poor lesbian cousin get the girl, we can forgive him.

i was already suspicious that jan knew everything. watching back, it's so clear that oom was trying to set oon and may up, and bc jan is oom's best friend, i can only imagine all the things they've talked about and how much jan must have comforted her friend after the revelation about may's true affections.

i think oom has a selective memory loss thing going on. as in she forgot all the most traumatic things that have happened in the past year and regressed. even tho i wish oom would make things messier, i think she'll get her memories back on her own soon-ish. i do wonder what type of ending she'll get bc i must say, i'm an oom apologist, and i need her to somehow get a cute girlfriend who loves her for her too.

[aceofwhump]

So I know for a fact now that I won't be able to make it through the whole series of This is Us because I watched a few episodes of it in one night and I went through like 14 tissues during just one of those episodes! It was only a couple of episodes!!!!!

I knew when this showed aired that I was never going to make it through the whole show and that continues to stand true. My god. And obviously I watched for Milo but I sobbed through those 4 episodes and then I kinda fell down the Tumblr gifset rabbit hole and I'm learning about the kids and about Jack and Rebecca and what happened to them and I AM DEEPLY UNWELL RIGHT NOW!!!!! DEEPLY!!!!

I start with watching the pilot which was great and I got choked up when one of their triplets was stillborn cause Milo is a great actor. But I was okay so I watched another episode. The one where you learn how Jack and Rebecca meet and that made me fall in love with the two of them so much more. So then I watched the chicken pox episode cause I needed to see fever addled Jack Pearson and that was a great episode. And then I watched a couple of episodes in s1 and s2 around those episodes. All fine. I did just fine with all those episode. I did cry and get very emotional several times but I'm like "I can handle this. Let's keep going and watch a really whumpy."

So then I watched the most depressing episode of anything I've ever seen holy shit. Which one? THE SUPERBOWL/HIS DEATH EPISODE! WHAT THE FUCK YOU GUYS I MADE A MISTAKE WITH THAT ONE! THAT WAS THE 14+ TISSUE EPISODE! That was a few days ago and I'm still crying over it! Oh I made a mistake watching that episode in particular. The other ones have been fine. Yes I cried at them all but it's an acceptable move on type of cry. But that one? Nope! Not well!

I already knew that Jack died and it was because of a house fire. I knew that going in. I knew that from when the show aired. But still, knowing that, I should not have watched this episode. I should not continue to dig into this more. It was a mistake for me to do so. Two of my biggest fears since childhood are my house catching fire during the night and losing my parents/family so THAT WAS SUPER FUN AND HEALTHY FOR ME TO WATCH YOU GUYS! Definitely made a bad decision there. Yup. I was well informed going in and I did not make the healthy decision. Also I could have turned it off but fuck Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia for being so fucking good at their jobs that I couldn't turn it off. My heart hurts more than I can describe and it brought up my fears all over again to the point where last night I couldn't sleep until I went downstairs to check that our crockpot was unplugged and all day today I've been gathering all my family photos into one area that I easy to grab in the middle of the night because I can't live without those. I would absolutely pull a Jack Pearson and go back into my burning house for my pet and my family photo albums. 100%. So yeah I'm definitely in a healthy spot right now. For sure. I totally did not cry so hard that I had to scream into my pillow.

Don't get me wrong, this show is fucking beautiful and heartbreaking and well written and so well acted. I cannot bring myself to stop watching more episodes at random, it's so good and I want to learn more about them. I am going to continue to watch episodes. I understand completely how it became so popular. But I also understand why everyone would say their hearts got ripped out of their body every week. My heart cannot handle this much emotion. Jesus Christ. How the fuck did the actors get through this? I can't even watch it without dying. How did they put themselves into it? Milo you asshole you're so good at your job! All of you actors in this show! You're too good! Stop!

I'm gonna watch a few more select episodes and probably continue the Tumblr rabbit hole but my god I cannot watch the whole thing. I can't.

Okay with that all said, I need to quickly talk about Jack though. The reason I wanted to watch any of this show was for Milo as Jack Pearson and FUCK ME! JACK PEARSON! I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT JACK PEARSON!!! He has been through so much shit growing up between his dad and Vietnam and his alcoholism and instead of breaking him, it made him kind. I'm such a fucker sucker for trauma filled man made kind by his pain. He's such a good dad and a good man and yeah he made mistakes, who fucking doesn't, but he loved his family more than anything and would do anything for them and he was so full of love it was overwhelming. And it's the whole their love is so strong it towers over everything and then one half dies and it's devastating because how do you have one half of that whole just disappear. I can't handle it kind of story. And and I just learned that in the finale when Rebecca died she wakes up next to him in heaven!?! Oh god stop! Stop it! They get to be together forever now!! They deserve it!

FUCK ME I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS

[kateknowsdramas]

My Dearest Ep 15/16/17 ~

Also known as the episodes in which we get Lotsa Bombshells

[Spoilers Ahoy]

I have a lot of thoughts about these episodes because SO MUCH happens.

I'm so glad to finally see Jang Hyun and Ryang Eum's backstory. Where I thought he was the son of a noble family who was unjustly persecuted, it turns out Jang Hyun was a slave. This explains why he has so much compassion for the Joseon captives and others of 'low station'. It also explains his obsession with money and how his skills at negotiation and fighting keep him in a position of power. He finally escaped his poverty and abuse and has no intention of ever going back.

I also love the revelation that Yang Chun was the one who took in the runaway Jang Hyun and Ryang Eum. For as much as he's the 'grumpy old dad' and seemingly pushes people away, he protects people he loves (and may soon have a lady he loves too amirite?).

I have sympathy for Ryang Eum for sure. He's in love with Jang Hyun and resents Gil Chae for taking Jang Hyun away from him. What I'm very glad about is that in Episode 17, Jang Hyun finally gives him the ultimatum. Ryang Eum desperately tries to get him to 'move on' and pleads with Jang Hyun to go back to before they met Gil Chae. Jang Hyun makes it clear that he loves his friends but if anyone - anyone - gets in his way of loving and protecting her, he will never see them again.

My prediction is that Ryang Eum may prove his love and loyalty in the end by dying for Jang Hyun.

There were great character growth moments I loved too. The sequence where we see Gil Chae throwing herself into working in the fields [gifset here] shows how much she's matured since whining and complaining in Episode 5 when she had to dig for food. She's moved past the idea that she's better than anyone else - she'll get in there and do the job because it has to be done - she has no shame. She takes in the 'rejects' - the orphaned children and the woman expelled from her home. She divorces her husband not because he didn't fight for her - and, yeah, shacked up with another woman who's pregnant with his baby - but because she's in love with Jang Hyun.

Let's look at the reactions of Officer Gu versus Jang Hyun when Gil Chae tells them she was assaulted.

In the scene with Jang Hyun, it takes him a moment - not because he's shocked but because you can physically see the anger processing on his face - he wants to avenge her - wants to rage at the people who hurt her like he did when he found her in the slave market. His anguish at her pain could easily take center stage but he realizes that's not what she needs. She needs acceptance and love - that's what he gives her. Officer Gu never really loved her. He admired her and appreciated that she was smart and was able to get him back his fortune. When she was kidnapped, he sat back, assuming she'd run off because he never really understood who Gil Chae is at her core.

And we finally get communication! I was worried that we were going to see Gil Chae effectively trick Jang Hyun with the fake baby thing but I was so happy he called her out and they actually talked.

Three more episodes to go and I hold out hope that we will be able to see Gil Chae and Jang Hyun happy in the end. This writer does a great job with angst but does like her couples to come out together on the other side. Let's hope they're not trying to shake things up with My Dearest.

[alphinias]

Hiii, this is Alondra. OMG yayyy you have rescue hi surf a chance!! Penny for your thoughts?? Do you like it?? I haven't watched yesterday's ep yet bc I've had like no free time at all but I'm not afraid of spoilers, if you want to share what you think. we die like men (?)

I had to create a new tumblr for this bc I lost my old one but this two are making me feel things. (I might be trying to avoid my jiara heartbreak, you say? well, yes oh yes. do I care? not one bit)

Good morning!

I’m not finished yet either. I’ve only watched the first six episodes. I do like the show! I can’t say it’s amazing but also it’s the only show I’ve binged in months, so at least it has that going for it. Which that might be my mental breakdown talking so we won’t overanalyze that lmao.

Regarding Hina and Laka, absolutely 100% down for that to happen and it would be better than either of the other ships on the show for sure. They’re easily the two best characters. I feel like characters like laka’s popularity are always underestimated by writers and they think we care about some exes to lovers shit instead. That is the worst trope for a main couple… what were they thinking 💀

As far as if I think it’s actually going to happen in the future, eh. I need more content. It’s still early and I think there’s potential the writers see the potential chemistry down the road and hopefully there’s a little “oh 👀” moment later this season that can allow us to fully fledged clown. But I’m happy to delve into the delulu land of wishful thinking. God knows I need some delulu right now.

If I can find clips that don’t make my computer’s storage croak, I’d make a gifset for them! Let’s not hold our breath because my laptop sucks rn but I’ll look when I have some free time

[ladyluscinia]

Ok yeah continuing thoughts re: that gifset of Sam and Dean's conversation in 1x16 Shadow

Like. Ok, so the obvious takeaway is that Dean's being unreasonable here. And he is! Because S1 Dean is a scared little kid who literally just wants his family to all live together and not fight because he's cripplingly lonely and starved for affection and that's not a realistic goal because they aren't kids anymore and they can't just mentally stay kids until John remembers how to be a dad and gives Dean a real childhood. Yeah. Objectively that is unreasonable no matter how sympathetic.

Also unreasonable because Sam's bouts of John apologism up until now have been gestures toward forgiveness for their childhood, NOT a desire to actually go back to following John as patriarch (...and on a meta level it's the spn writers just never knowing how abusive they wanted John to have been, and therefore unable to ever have Sam reckon with whether he would be better off breaking from John entirely). So, yeah, obviously Sam doesn't want to go back to the way things were. That's a good and healthy boundary for him to draw while speculating "life after demon", and shutting down Dean on the idea that he's gonna fall back in line as a member of John's three man army makes sense.

But then Sam's half of the conversation feels like a good chunk of it is just missing.

Like he asks for Dean's problem, gets the teary eyed confession of Dean's feelings, and then offers absolutely nothing substantial back??? There's a really obvious space between "I'm going back to school" and "I'm not gonna live this life forever" and "you're gonna have to let me go my own way" where it would make sense for some sort of indication that he's not looking for Stanford excommunication Round 2 - but he doesn't actually say that. No hint of reassurance that he'd even call sometimes. Keep in touch. Want to grab a beer if Dean was in town. And Dean's mini-breakdown has that period of zero-contact at the forefront of your mind, so it's obvious what two extremes he's thinking of.

Like this whole thing just feels way colder than I suspect anyone would be trying to make Sam come across as right now, and I'm trying to put my finger on why.

Honestly my best theory at the moment is that it's an artifact of Kripke's intense S1 Main Character Syndrome around Sam? Like in the Main Plot™ episodes he writes Dean becomes way more of a caricature of Kripke's weird masculinity ideas + a foil for Sam and less of a character of his own (this is present in Home, for example), and therefore Sam vaguely saying "we're family" like. Covers it? That counts as the mature middle ground or olive branch or whatever that is contrasting Dean's stuck-in-the-past unreasonableness without needing to go into whether Dean actually feels reached out to?

But no one passed that memo on to Jackles especially so the audience is watching teary eyed Dean (who they just watched a few episodes ago go through the immense pathos that is Faith) and he's wrestling with the idea of his brother leaving for good after they just reconnected and he's getting emotionally stonewalled by conspicuous silence

[sasoriis]

Random finale thoughts...

They ended it at the perfect time, IMO. Initially, I thought they would end it with everyone falling, and leave it at that, but I like that they took the time show us everyone's individual reactions as they fell, as well as a preview of the castles itself. So creepy!

I went into this episode preparing to make another montage of Sanemi moments, but left feeling like each scene deserved its own moment to be highlighted....This is another way of me saying that this episode was beautiful. I mean, most of them are, but I'm finding myself staring at and replaying various scenes over and over again. I'm sure part of this is because of how long I've been waiting to see these scenes in motion, and I'm still processing the fact that they're finally here. Either way, I'm always happy to make more Sanemi gifs, and reblog other Sanemi gifsets 🥹 Speaking of which...

I love what they did with Sanemi this season overall. I know not everyone watches for the slower moments, but the filler moments this season were really special to me. We get to see more Wind Breathing, more of his friendship with Obanai, we hear about his beetles! The only thing still missing is his dog 😭. I don't expect a filler scene of him and his dog, I understand why, at this point, there wouldn't be a filler scene of him and his dog, but I'm going to continue to dream of having a filler scene of him and his dog lmao. Anyway, all of his scenes this episode were perfect.

....Which they really should be since he may not get another big moment for another, what, maybe three years???

I'll be honest, I was kind of disappointed at the trilogy announcement, admittedly for selfish reasons. I'm really looking forward to the UM1 fight, and was prepared to wait two years for Ufotable to animate Infinity Castle as full season, but movie trilogy implies to me that there will be one movie a year, meaning the UM1 movie won't be released until 2027. I also was really looking forward to seeing OP and ED animations for Infinity Castle. So, that kinda bums me out. 2027 is so far away!! HOWEVER.

I get it, and I can accept that practically, it's the best option. Ufotable has other projects, and the next three KnY fights are SO important to execute effectively. They'll need time to do that at the same time that they're working on other series. So...movies make sense. I can wait, because I know they're adapting this series with care and will do their best by it.

The only minor complaint I have this season is their adaptation Sanemi's height. He's shorter than Genya, and that's the truth I'm living lmao.

[hellaverse-events]

What is this?

Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss is about the structure of Hell through Vivienne Medrano's mind. With the completion of the first season of Hazbin Hotel, we are excited to host a themed week to focus on Hell a little bit more. Through the themed week, we are hoping for more content from you guys, whether it is art (of any media other than murder, we'll keep that to the shows only), fanfic or anything else that makes sense to you to create!

When is it?

HellaVerse Week will take place between October 27th, 2024 to November 2nd to honor the release of the Hazbin Hotel Pilot which is October 28th, 2019, and @random-nerd-posts is hosting other events between that time and can't do two things at once it seems.

HOWEVER! This should not stop you from creating fan works for the fandoms either! But if you post before the week, we might miss you, so be sure to tag us when you do post so we can share the joy of creation with you.

Are there prompts?

Yes! There are four to choose from each day and some alternate prompts as well. This post has the final prompts and explains the tagging system. Many thanks to the discord mods for helping ensure the list looked pretty and readable.

The theme of the prompts is rainbows, rings of hell and the seven deadly sins, which in itself is a load of days you can use as well.

What can I make?

You can make or write basically anything: haikus, limericks, 100 word drabbles, ficlets, long fics, traditional art, digital art, gifsets, cosplay, embroidery, etc.

Just keep the killings to the shows please, I don't need to be arrested for accessory to murder.

What about existing fanworks?

Feel free to link existing works you have completed in the past, but they need to be tagged accordingly so we can share the works on the blog and you get credit for the day. You can also recommend other's works (obviously crediting to the rightful creator) so that they can get credit for the day as well.

What if I'm not interpreting a prompt correctly?

If the prompt calls to you one way, but not another person's, that's fine. This is what we call the creative process and encourage it.

Is NSFW Allowed?

YES! For sure NSFW is allowed. Yes, we will reblog nsfw content. Do we feel uncomfortable with the possibilities of minors participating, yes, but we also trust that they know not to post nsfw content online. So don't do it.

We are allowing NSFW works because... HAVE YOU SEEN THE SHOWS?!?! Have you seen Asmodeus, or Hazbin Hotel episode 4? Yeah, those are nsfw, so can the content. BUT TAG ACCORDINGLY OR WE WILL NOT ACKNOWLEDGE IT!

For more clarification, check out our page of the blog: What is NSFW?

Are there other events for HellaVerse?

Not that we know, but there is a @nimonabigbang happening. The writer applications close March 1st. Artist applications close April 1st and more information can be found on the blog, which is run by @random-nerd-posts and @zyrafowe-sny.

There's also a @nimona-week going on, which is run by Zyrafowe and you should give them a follow.

Feel free to participate in those if you liked the movie/comic or like shapeshifters!

Feel free to send an ask if you have additional questions. We will also be updating the FAQ as needed.

[bird-inacage]

After your last gifset (the sun vs moon one) and in light of the two preview clips we get from next week - Sand shutting Ray's request to be friends down and Ray having his little jealous fit at the party - I keep thinking about the fight at Sand's apartment from the trailer. And what I think I'd like (but am sadly not convinced will happen, because why would they cause us the least pain?) is for that fight to happen after the party jealousy episode, and be because Ray's finally confronting some level of his feelings for Sand. What I'm imagining in my best-case scenario is: Ray has his jealous fit and goes to talk to Sand afterwards, with the intention of keeping Sand on the hook/reinstating the flirtation even though it isn't going to go anywhere. (I don't think he'd encourage outright cheating because that instantly = no more Mew.) Sand turns that down flat because "Do you think I have no dignity?" as per the OST clip. And Ray has another jealous/entitled meltdown and says he doesn't even want to be with Sand anyway, he wishes he'd never met him, and he bets those grapes were sour anyway etc etc. Anyway, I don't think it will happen, but I like the idea on the grounds of a) Sand having a backbone! Yes please! and b) continuing to set up Ray's inevitable full-bore bitch fit if/when the ex shows back up. I thought you might enjoy that scenario too!

Haha, Hello Anon! 👋

Firstly, I do hope Sand stands his ground. He's given Ray A LOT of chances. If he starts wavering, I'll flip a goddamn table. Sand needs to stick up for himself, but also narratively Ray has to feel the threat of Sand distancing to ever recognise his own feelings.

What I anticipate is things with Mew start to get a little rocky. Whilst Top is doing his level best to win Mew back, that's potentially when Sand's ex enters the scene. Timing wise, Sand is going to be much more susceptible to an old flame trying to rekindle whilst he's bouncing back from Ray. He's not in too deep yet to be opposed to the idea of moving onto someone else. So this is where the ex could do the most damage. Sand is a man of principle so if the ex showed up whilst he and Ray were already together, I don't think he'd be as easily swayed. Which is why I'd be inclined to expect the ex to show up before Ray and Sand have identified each other as lovers.

Now if that does happen, Ray is going to have an existential crisis. He finally has Mew, and yet he's not happy. He's seething. He's bothered. Perhaps Mew notices how worked up Ray seems to be over this.

What leads to the fight scene in Sand's apartment has to be pretty considerable. This fight looks 10x more brutal than the one outside the bar. And due to the sheer devastation in Sand's reactions throughout, I'm not sure this will take place next episode. I think whatever tension is brewing between them will need to escalate much, much more if it's to go from somewhat numb to utter anguish.

"You think my life will be better with you? It's only f*cking going down to hell." The dialogue could be read either as 'oh you think I'd be better off with you as my boyfriend instead of someone else (e.g. Mew)?' or 'you really think you would make my life better?' (in a more general sense).

But yes, I'm all for Ray going on a steady trajectory of losing his mind over Sand giving him the cold shoulder. Added in with the likelihood of things just not working out at all with Mew, and potentially Sand's ex rocking up. *Rubs hands together* I just need to see Ray jealous. That's all I really want. That boy was behaving way too cocky in the Episode 8 preview and he needs to be brought back down to earth. Swiftly.

Thanks for the ask! 😉

---birdie

[kmze]

So idk if I quite remembered just how close steroline's mouths got in 4x19 during the prom dance after Caroline tells Stefan he'll fall in love again... but I saw a gifset and it's making me need to rant about how I think Stefan fell harder way before he allowed himself to!

We know this 4x19 moment in particular meant enough to him that he wrote about it in his wedding vows, right? And at this point it’s quickly becoming canonically undeniable that Stefan’s feelings for Caroline aren't *completely* platonic— just a few episodes prior in 4x16, Stefan made it glaringly obvious that he was sexually attracted to her when he chose her as the “single hot girl” to dance with. (Something that could have been platonic if it weren't for Elena herself pointing out that it very much didn't look that way)

And of course he's not going to want to admit it. She's in love with Tyler still and even if she wasn't, she still has Klaus trying to win her affections. He's respectful of her relationship just like she was of his and Elena's.

But... I think some of that is also because he is just as insecure as Caroline is, if not more. 

I'm sure that Stefan figures Caroline’s old high school girl crush is long gone— they wouldn’t have been such good friends when he was still dating and in love with Elena if he didn’t. He has seen guy after guy fall for her (Tyler broke every bone in his body repeatedly for her!) and I think to some extent that must scare him.

The previous girls— I’m excluding Rebekah because he was in his Ripper state then and it wasn’t a long relationship— he has dated have both been equally desirable which ended up becoming an issue when they fell for the other guys wanting them. I think that Stefan is just as insecure as Caroline about never being the one that people choose in the end. Katherine was in love with Elijah and often just using him. Elena ended up choosing Damon. What if Caroline decided to still choose Tyler or instead choose Klaus in the end?

He's seen how compassionate Caroline can be to almost everyone, so it would make sense if he brushes off her obvious affection for him as typical Caroline bubbliness.... but just for *one tiny second* while they're dancing, you can see him almost crack and consider it.

So yeah I always felt like Stefan's "more than friendship" feelings started in S4 whereas Caroline's didn't realize S5 it's just that Caroline accepted hers more willingly because she had that crush on him when they first met. I mean the biggest proof we have that Stefan's feelings came about in S4 is that Lexi friggin' pointed it out! Lexi his best friend for over 100 years who knew him better than anyone knew right away he did not look at Caroline the way he looked at her, she knew there was something growing there and she only knew it from Stefan's perspective. I think Lexi saw that moment at prom, she saw how he almost leaned in and kissed her and she saw that breath he let out after she told him he's fall in love again thinking in that moment maybe she meant him.

I find it kind of funny that people don't think Stefan had any insecurity when it came to Caroline lol, because when he found out she had a think for him his first reaction was literally "why" LMFAO. He was completely shocked, like me, why would you like me? He's seen all these guys throwing themselves at her, he's seen she's got Klaus wrapped around her finger, he sees Tyler still hanging around, he sees Enzo calling her gorgeous and taking road trips with her, why would he think she saw him as anything but her friend. I think it's why he was so hellbent on everything being perfect with Caroline, he had so much insecurity she'd find happiness with someone else or just like Elena and Katherine he wouldn't be enough for her "hero never gets the girl."

[bellamyblake]

do you ever think of Bellarke and be all salty and bitter because you know they're suppose to be together? Always. as for bellamy week, i don't know if i am up to it because if i were, it means putting myself through it again by rewatching cause I need to rewatch before making anything. I had no problems going through it the last 5 gifsets this year. I just cry through the gifmaking process. dont' mind december but maybe january? i need to think about it.

Hey! Thanks so much for sending this ask! I absolutely love your gifs!

And yes, I do think about them and feel Idk mostly sad if that's the right feeling to describe it. I'll be honest, I was and am a big bellarke shipper, I love writing them, have always absolutely enjoyed their scenes but I think I was realistic when it came to them not happening. I guess I just didn't really believe it'd work out because of the other side of the fandom, because of J.ason, so I believe I had accepted it a long time before it actually ended. Does it piss me off? Of course. I think I didn't want to watch them be this big romantic couple say o.licity or anything else we actually saw happen in the time when shows were shows and not 5 episodes things. I guess I just expected them to give me a glimpse of what they could be-them being together, kissing, hugging and holding hands, the show ending. That's what I imagined, I suppose.

I've been thinking about it the past week (cause I'm rewatching older shows where some of the main couples do get together) and I've been thinking that in a way I'm also NOT sorry it didn't happen. I'm not sure Jason would've handled it well and I've loved what I've seen on screen, I know what it means and to me it doesn't necessarily have to be a romantic relationship for it to be something. That's just me and I guess that's why I survived this fandom in a way, because I never expected it and because it was enough for me. I recently read this book 'Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow' that talks exactly about that type of relationship, the one that transcends romance. That doesn't mean there is no romance but it means also so much more and I think of Bellarke that way, I always have.

I also really didn't think J.ason would've done it properly, so imo it's better this way.

I opt not to focus on the bad stuff. Of course I understand what you mean and how hard it is, for me it's hard too sometimes, I get angry, I tell myself 'couldn't there have been at least one kiss?' but I just opt to choose to love them as they are and create for them and write for them and that just overpowers the bad stuff. I see no point in focusing on the awful things. I know so many of us left because they couldn't handle the ending, I can't handle it either, it's awful but there's this other, bigger part of me that just loves them as them and somehow that's greater and can't be tained. Of course I understand everyone for whom this is hard and just want to forget it though. Life's tough enough that when you meet things like d.eath in shows it just breaks you even more.

As far as Bellamy week, I've decided I'll leave it for january because my december will be really busy with work and it seems so for the rest of the folks.I feel a little bad that I'm gonna skip a year but it has been a really awful year for me mentally and I know I should've done it earlier, I just never actually sat down to do it.

I'd love for you to participate, I really do love and admire your gifs (they're always so clear and well-colored in a way I can never make them!) I will hope to see you participate. In terms of rewatching, I actually do randomly rewatch when I start gifing, like if I choose a particular episode, I end up watching more than half of it if not all. I'm here if I can help your process somehow and make it better for you! <3

[khaopybara]

#like people wanting kant to be devil incarnate and style the saint of the saints

From the tags to this ask: https://www.tumblr.com/khaopybara/772039491673260032/re-your-reaction-video-gifset-maybe-its-just?source=share

Are...are people saying that about the episode 6 bowling scene?

I've seen a lot of baffling "criticism" of Kant and I am pretty sure it's just down to people not caring enough about him to pay attention. Because a lot of the things people say are missing are right there staring us in the face.

It's not the not liking a character. People are wrong imo but they're free to be. It's the insistence that Kant is evil or has no reasons for doing this or doesn't care about anyone involved that drive me nuts.

I had assumed Kant wouldn't be a very good or interesting character from the get go because Cameron was a total nothing in 10 Things despite being the catalyst for Patrick to pursue Kat. But I was wrong. There's so much to him and yeah, we do have to pay attention because so much of his characterization lies in what he isn't saying. That's at least part of why it has to be First playing him imo. Very few others could convey as much as he does in the twitch of an eyebrow or lip. But it's like people are just closing their eyes to it. Like if it isn't explicitly stated it doesn't matter. And even if it is explicitly stated he's probably lying anyway. And it's nuts to me that people can't see how trapped he must be feeling. Either Bison finds out and kills him, he fails or quits and goes to jail, or he lets the man he's fallen for in spite of himself be caught and loses him either through death or prison. No option is good for him, no option doesnt result in him losing something. I just don't get how people could actually be watching this show and take away that he's some awful, cackling villain instead of a dude who is cornered and miserable about it.

And it makes me so sad for First, who seemed pretty proud of his work at the start and now just spends all of his time apologizing for or trying to explain Kant's behavior. And he shouldn't have to do that even if Kant *were* the most awful person in the show, but it makes it worse that that's not the case and he still feels it's necessary.

Sorry for the long ask. I guess I'm madder about this than I thought.

i'm not sure if you saw this anon, and if you haven't, i'm sorry to bring you this image:

from an official account mind you, which makes it even worse, because they are just taking the part of fandom who are half witted and making a whole post about it (they've deleted it since i guess it wasn't as funny as they thought it was and would have more people backing them up, but what they got was people calling them out).

also not gonna submit people to my overly long rants that barely make any sense, so the rest is under read more.

i've said this a few weeks ago on twitter i think. no one's is forcing people to like kant (it's their loss honestly, because kant is a genuinely fascinating character), no one is forcing people to like kantbison. and you don't need deep reasoning to not like a character. sometimes you just don't click with them. people who dislike kant could just go, "yeah, i don't care about kant much" and move on (or even better, what i usually do, not talk about them at all! i know, what a novelty) and not have to come up with "kant is doing this for money", or "he doesn't care about bison/babe(!!!)/style" instead to back up their dislike. there's a saying in portuguese that goes a little like this, "when you shut up, you're a poet" and i think that's beautiful.

first talked about wanting to work hard so people can look at a character and say, "no one else could have played this character but first," and kant is exactly that character. no one else could have done what he is doing with kant regardless of the backlash because the backlash is coming from people who can't bother to care about him as a character. other people have talked about this more eloquently, but the lack of empathy is simply worrying tbh. what do you mean you see a man who had to raise his brother by himself bc their parents died in a plane crash, who had to find means to care for the both of them and you can't even bother to acknowledge that "yeah, maybe this dude had it a little rough huh". again, you don't need to like him, but at least try to understand him the same way you try to understand the two assassins and the guy who started hitting on a dude to win a bet.

and to be fair, first has been apologizing for kant since ep. 1. he knew people would be nasty. they were already nasty when ep. 11, 12 of only friends came out and boeing was a thing, and he kept apologizing for him (though i think it was mostly bc he said he wouldn't do what sand did). the thing is, first being first, probably didn't expect people to be so stupid and blind not to see kant's motivations and understand him and even worse when they can't separate the actor from the character and come for him instead (and mind you, and this made me pissed, kant haters who watched the reaction said "kant defenders are talking to walls because even first was angry with him" WHEN HE WAS ALMOST BEGGING YOU ALL TO SEE HIS SIDE!! ARE YOU SKIPPING PARTS OF THE REACTION AS WELL OR WHAT?!)

anyway…

kant protagonist. without him, there would be no story, no other couples, integral part of the plot, you all who hate him can eat shit.