#all we get is individuals who like us enough

[sunsetandevningstar]

Bleh I cannot consolidate my thoughts on this.

I instinctively distrust, hate, and disagree with this kind of whole-sale censorship. It’s anti-democratic. It bolsters up the already too monolithic data-stealing, ai integrated socmed companies who are way too powerful in North America.

In Canada, our fucking all-seeing overlords completely destroyed the distribution of any news via socmed posts, and people have mostly already forgotten. It’s horrifying, and the end goal of making many of us only notice current events when the paid-for state sanctioned media reports (read: lies) about them has worked really, really well.

This kind of throttling of dissenting opinions is needed here because of the extreme level of white-collar crime that would be happening in plain sight in our governmental workings if we all could easily find news. It worked really fast, and really well.

So I can’t support blatantly censoring millions of people by removing their source of info distribution.

But TikTok is a massive security risk to you as an individual, in exactly the same way as every Meta and Google product are. This is just a true thing.

And despite the hope offered by new solutions like the fediverse, (https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/20/23689570/activitypub-protocol-standard-social-network) I can’t see how we could get there from here without a lot of misery and bankruptcy and all kinds of bad stuff.

As a person who has been around long enough to go through things like strikethough on LiveJournal, having your personal online presence not be so tied to any particular platform sounds ideal. Sooner or later, any socmed presence anybody currently has can be just shut down by the platform, or by the platform going bankrupt.

Basically I don’t know what to think.

I’m somewhat hopeful that Ed Zitron is correct that big AI is on the verge of fucking eating one of the idiot companies who’ve invested billions of VC in useless, dead-end garbage. (https://overcast.fm/+ABGz69bgWd8 )

Because that kind of shakeup could really be a good start to putting something else in place that isn’t owned by and can’t be taken over by megalomaniac supervillains again.

There seems to be a general malaise on most of Tumblr about TikTok getting banned in the United States.

I understand the problems, "brain rot", whatever but- A government banning a social media app that opened the world for many people is legitimately scary and upsetting. Say what you want but, there are MANY global and local issues that would not have gotten the same traction, recognition, and outreach without TikTok.

And then add to this that Meta/Facebook was one the largest lobbyists working to get TikTok banned... Like- I think folks should be more concerned about the implications of what this means, especially since the ban goes into effect the day before inauguration.

[evesedenramblings]

Despite what Damon Maitsu wants to think, he has been incredibly trusting and kind throughout the Killing Game thus far. His actions contradict a lot of his own inner thoughts. Even though he is often rude he’s also rather kind, and that’s important to recognize since he wants to believe he’s so de-attached from everyone.

I think the first thing that comes to mind is the first trial’s Pathos route, where Damon decides to defend Diana based on his gut feeling despite all the clear evidence- or, trusting Diana’s character to be true over his own deductions. The second thing is when he realizes his trust of Eva is built on nothing. What both of these things have in common is how mad Damon is about it. Damon doesn’t want to defend Diana, he gets incredibly mad at himself when he realizes he’s sympathetic to her crying and wants to trust in her. The same goes for Eva, but his trust is lost instead. Damon gets angry when he realizes the only reason he trusted Eva was because he fell into the “Us vs Them” mentality, and he automatically grouped Eva in with himself, but Eva didn’t do the same thing. At the core of the issue, Damon is mad because without even realizing it, he is a hypocrite. He claims the students shouldn’t be able to so easily trust each other, then went and easily trusted just the same- and chose the worst person to acknowledge he trusted.

I say Damon acknowledges he trusted Eva because I think Damon trusts the other students more than he realizes. He is easily able to engage in Free Time Events with every student, except Grace. The fact there’s no Grace FTE’s, or to be Meta an exception to “hang out with your favourites!” rule, makes it feel in-character that Damon trusts the other students enough with his safety, but not Grace. Also, a lot of what happens in those FTE’s like Jean picking up Damon by his ankles has to mean they’re at least some sort of comfort with each other. The other students do seem comfortable with Damon, even the youngest student Toshiko knows she can call Damon a cutesy name like Mochi- he’s unhappy about it but ultimately does nothing. Ingrid asks him to help with the laundry and he agrees- grumbles about it later to himself but doesn’t actually protest to Ingrid’s face, and does his share. There’s also the fact that Damon doesn’t protest the roommate rule, and then how immediately comfortable he gets with said roommate. He even prefers to sleep in Kai’s room at a certain point, as sleeping alone in his own room makes him too anxious as opposed to sleeping along with someone else. For someone who claims to be untrusting, Damon spends a lot of time with other people one-on-one and in group settings, and being kind to them as well.

The only time I can think Damon doesn’t cooperate with the group is when Eva shows him the Tozu Equation and he says they should keep it secret. However, even then, Damon means *he and Eva* should keep it secret. He still means to work with Eva, as their own private team. He doesn’t go work on it on his own at any point, and asks her about it later if she had made any progress. When she says no, Damon assures her that he hadn’t expected her to with all the ongoing issues. He believes her at face value and doesn’t go to check on it, and was kind to her about the issue.

Still, there is an obvious elephant in the room: Damon is still an outsider. He’s not part of the group, there’s no equal exchange of first. The obvious solution, and one Damon comments on himself multiple times, is that he’s cooperating with them only to gain their trust, *not* because he trusts them. However, I think Damon is lying to himself, or is just unaware of how much trust he puts into his actions. For a comparison, I want us to look at Eva. Eva only spends time individually with Damon, who she “trusts”. Other than that, the only time we see her with others is to gather information or purposefully be seen while plotting her murder. We don’t have much insight on her rooming situation but Diana’s comments imply Eva was often absent from their room. Eva tends to lurk in the boiler room alone, specifically because nobody wants to go down there. She has no interest in her classmates and doesn’t trust any of them, and only takes interest in them when she needs them. Now this could just be a difference of strategy (Eva wanting to gain trust when the time was right, and Damon wanting to gain trust in advance) but frankly, it didn’t work. Damon spent more time cooperating with the class, and yet in the trial they hesitate to believe him over Eva based on his character. The only reason they choose to believe him is because they take a moment to reassess everything Damon has been saying, and draw a logical conclusion. Damon has still gained no real trust from their group, so what was the point of everything he’s done if it amounted to nothing?

Damon, whose situation is extremely close to Eva’s, is willing to share his living space with another person, to the point he shares the bed with them (his idea btw), not even swapping the bed every night. Eva feels more safe alone with her own mind and intelligence, but Damon has always reached out to other people for security. After Tozu threatened him, Damon went to Kai despite his belief Kai might kill him. When Wolfgang turned the group against him, Damon automatically latched onto the one other outcast, Eva without even realizing it. He’d already latched onto her from the moment they awoke in the boiler room together.

I definitely missed some stuff, like how Damon was the only one willing to grab Kai’s ring in the FTE- just say no if you don’t want to do it Damon. It’s going to be important to remember how kind he is in these earlier chapters since that kindness and trust he employed has now been thrown back in his own face and spit on (thanks Eva), so I’m not sure we’re ever going to see Damon be this unintentionally kind again.

[karamazovposting]

go go gadget talk about the speech patterns and mannerisms that the brothers have (Alyosha, Ivan, Mitya, and Smerdyakov)

And to think I had made a post about this but never posted it and deleted the draft because I thought nobody would care, sigh.

I don't know if it's just me due to some sort of déformation professionnelle (I study theater among other things and sometimes I recite lines from books out loud to help with both memory and acting skills, and also because it's fun), but by the way Dostoevsky writes his characters speaking I can perfectly picture what they might sound like in my mind and that's insane (he's an insane writer all around) and not only that: you can tell what kind of person the character is not by what they say, but by how they say it. Again, insane stuff.

I'd say the brothers are the perfect example of this: they're the main characters so they talk enough for us to pick up on each individual's speech pattern and they have very distinct personalities that get to shine during the entirety of the book.

Dmitri is a mess and the way he speaks perfectly mirrors his behavior and Dostoevsky makes sure of showing that by writing his lines with lots of exclamation points and ellipses: he often jumps from topic to topic with no resemblance of coherent thought and speech pattern and has a tendency to ramble with passion for quite a long time. Even his insane amount of crying gets written down and integrated in his speech pattern; our Mitya has a lot of feelings and is not afraid to show them (good for him!). Given these little hints through the pages, I picture him as someone who speaks with lots of emotion (he's a dramatic person indeed and that definitely influences the way he speaks) but with no fixated pacing, volume and intensity because I feel like his voice and speech mannerism would shift a lot depending on his mood in a rollercoaster-like up and down motion if it makes sense, even though I do picture him as talking fast for the most part.

Ivan's feels similar but also completely opposite: he's dramatic and passionate and he feels a lot, but in a way more controlled manner and his voice is pretty much always described as being firm (which is shown by there being fewer ellipses and exclamation points in his lines), so I've never imagined it as showing much emotion, not even while talking to the devil; I feel like no matter what Ivan feels, his voice never fully shows it (his language might though, it's rude as hell). While his speech pattern can be all over the place because he is all over the place, it always remains coherent with who he is as a character and as a person (I've kinda talked about it somewhere in my bipolar Ivan Karamazov series) and never really gets rambly: even his spiral into madness is controlled. On that note, I've always found the way Ivan's lines are written in Pavel's confession's bit striking: our guy here is definitely going through a lot, this is the most important part of his arc, and yet he doesn't lose it completely. Lots of short sentences, lots of periods, little emotion: his voice is still as firm as ever. This leads me to think of him as someone who speaks in an effortlessly powerful manner and in a fixated pattern (not too fast but not too slow, not too loud but not too quiet; perfectly even and neutral) and with a voice that's almost monotone, except for when it doesn't have to be; he's used to speaking in public after all.

Alyosha is sweet, we all know that, and I think it reflects on the way he speaks as well: the use of punctuation and the length and pacing of his sentences suggest he speaks calmly, and personally I think sometimes it resembles the way Ivan speaks a little. His lines are written to never have any hint of hostility in them even in contexts where that would be expected (like when interacting with Rakitin) and even his sarcasm is written to sound soft; I'd say his speech pattern, while not as fun as Dmitri's or not as cool as Ivan's, is probably my favorite out of all four brothers': it's clear, straightforward and easy to follow and it feels fresh and balanced (no rollercoaster-like motions for example). He seems like someone I'd like to hear talk y'know, or a character with a way of speaking I'd like to be able to emulate; there seems to be a comforting and soothing element in it. Also, one thing that's lost in English translations is that Alyosha talks to children using the formal second person, which in my opinion is very indicative of his character and is also something I really like about him.

As for Pavel, I find his speech pattern interesting because it has a strange pacing, with lots of commas and longer sentences that suggest he speaks calmly just like Alyosha does or even slowly, but unlike Alyosha's lines, Pavel's are written in a way that conveys an almost ominous undertone due to the placing and frequency of the commas. One thing that stuck with me is how somewhere at the start of the novel Pavel's singing voice is described as "sugary" because honestly that's how I would describe his speech pattern as well: similar to Alyosha's somehow though not sweet but instead sugary, insincere, like a way of speaking that was fabricated with the sole purpose of fucking with someone's mind. And succeeds at it. I mean, most of the times we "hear" Pavel speak he's talking to Ivan, which I think is quite important because you can tell he articulates himself in a similar way Ivan does, but at the same time it seems his speech pattern has developed in a completely different direction, like mirroring Ivan's but not quite right. I feel like he's a person who knows what specific inflection is just right to use for a particular situation and I read his lines like that, without a fixated inflection but with the same constant slow cadence and smoothness. Also he's the only character we canonically know the vocal range of and not only do I appreciate Dostoevsky for giving me the chance to imagine what his voice might sound like, I also think specifying that he sings in falsetto instead of using his modal voice was a clever choice; it's kinda like a wordplay in a sense y'know.

I hope I made myself clear in this one lmao; it's just that when I think about this stuff I often have images in my mind that it's hard for me to put into words (like a particular speech pattern can be described with just one straight line while others can move in circles or have curves, or the rollercoaster-like thing I said earlier), but I couldn't just draw four different graphs and post them with no explanation so I just skipped the graphs part. Just know that in my head this is very clear and that if I could talk through pictures I would.

[luckyblackcatxiii]

Hello! Sorry in advance if this has already been answered somewhere. I really admire the way that you design outfits for your characters and wanted to ask if there were any reference sources that you recommend for designing D&D-ish fantasy outfits. Have you just picked up trends/patterns over time? Are there a certain time periods or fashion eras that you like to emulate in your designs? Media that has inspired the designs? Thanks for sharing your amazing art with us!!

Hey there!

No apologies needed, you'd be the first to ask me this (that I remember in the last couple of years, at least)

I think my biggest suggestion to anyone who wants to design outfits for characters--fantasy or not--is to first do some studying on how clothing is structured, as well as historical and/or regional fashion. Whether that's taking a class or just going through various medias that cover the topic, such knowledge helps you get an overall roundness on the basics of how clothes work, how they can be applied to the human figure, and just why certain fashions became in vogue via the times, emotions, economies, psychology and culture they reflected. All which can then serve as inspiration and guidance on how to go about clothing your made up person/society/etc, because after all: not only do we dress ourselves to reflect our own individuality, but people have been doing that for generations before us. Whether it's the fabric used or the shape of the silhouette, clothes tell a story! And a lot of it is interesting!!!

Also, the more you understand clothing, the more believable and strong your designs will present themselves.

(You'll also suffer the curse of recognizing how inaccurate a lot of historical TV shows and movies are with their depictions of costuming, then have to stifle this down so as not be obnoxious to those around you! Yay!!)

When it comes to designing fantasy things though, the best part of drawing from reality and historic fashion is you can have references without the feeling of having to be entirely beholden to accuracy (while still--I should hope--being respectful enough to avoid borrowing more personal aspects of cultures who may not appreciate parts of their identity being used without knowledge/context applied). I often like to mix and match different time period/regional aesthetics and mesh them into something that becomes seemingly familiar yet unique enough to call my own, and it seems to pay off in the long run.

Aside from that, I like to keep in mind the practicality of an outfit--why is it being worn and what is its purpose?--while also making sure it defines the most important aspects of my character, as well as has a nice shape/sillhouette. After that, aesthetics, personal enjoyment, easter eggs, and overall fun make up the rest of the designing process. Be sure to indulge once in awhile, if not always if that's your vibe!

On that note: I personally like to depict western clothing between the 15th-early 20th century, with the Georgian and Edwardian era being my favorite. Though, thanks to my VtM game, I've definitely grown a deeper appreciation and affection for the 20s more 'recently' and with Curse of Strahd, I've been having a ton of fun getting more familiarized with Slavic and Eastern European clothing. I have a lot of CoS NPCs that need designing (and I'd like to do a fashion zine for Barovia someday, so I've been doing a lot of research as of late...)!

If I'd have to give credit to any media that's inspired my own designs, I'd have to say Odin Sphere (or any fantasy based Vanillaware game, really) is always there in the back of my mind when I'm tackling a fantasy look. I'm absolutely blanking on anything else, but i'm sure there's plenty of inspiration that subconsciously sits in my brain just Ratatouille-ing my hand when I decide to design things AHAHAH~ I'm sure once this is posted, it'll all come rushing to me...

This has gone on pretty long and I admittedly feel like an unqualified egomaniac after yapping as much as I have, but I hope this helps, if not offers some overall insight on my own process! Thank you so much for your inquiry and kind words, I'm so glad you enjoy my stuff and look forward to supplying you more in the future! :,3c <3

[cannibaldetective]

this has probably been talked about, but martin burning statements in s3 and it being simplified to a tantrum and his feelings for jon, erasing him as a person outside of jon and the archives shows a lot not only about martin but also elias.

martin has always been reduced to jon's plus one or jon's employee, and he wasn't even chosen by jon (not until s4). elias immediately pokes fun at him and tries to make everything about him seem as small as possible and that his association with jon is all that really matters, "of course did jon tell you to do this?" martin is not allowed to form his own thoughts according to the eye, according to elias someone who holds a mass amount of power above martin's head, his life, his job, everything he has going for him. martin even assumed that elias is going to threaten him with bad things about jon, someone who makes up a very small part of his life up until this point all because of how much he's been manipulated and controlled that it slowly makes him feel smaller, like the world he lives in is so much smaller then everyone else around him. it makes him insignificant. the lonely was always coming for him, because everyone else made it that way. then his mothers actions in his childhood is used as a weapon. this also shows once again how martins existence is reduced to another's. his father. his mother could only see his father but not the person he was. nobody has ever seen martin for the person he was (which honestly makes peter lukas manipulation in s4 worse - esp in MAG 159)

this could even be a commentary on fandom and queer ships (even ships in general, but queer ships do get this treatment a lot more imo) where the characters are entirely watered down to their ships instead of who they are as characters and their analysis is watered down to each other and only each other - and I see this a lot with martin, alongside characters like will graham, viktor, michael shelley, gerry keay, anya even marceline and bubblegum! characters and their valuable storytelling elements and lessons just are removed for the sake of shipping discourse.

elias is now shown to only care about jon, something VERY clear during the entirety of the show. he cares about the monster he can create with jon more than anything. elias isnt a cunty queen (even though we love to see him that way, which is totally fine) he is a monster, who wants to use and abuse whoever he can control. elias has always been on a power trip, even when he was jonah. he ability to just survive through the horrors has given him enough ego that it means he can do whatever he wants to whoever. elias has always wanted martin to be controlled outside of the eye. he wants him excluded, he wants him insecure, he never wanted him to feel this sense of inclusion just imposter syndrome. a feeling that he's forcing his way into things because that's how he wanted to design him. elias designed jon AND martin. he made them how he wanted.

elias being portrayed as a queer icon in fandom doesn't help but continue to reduce martin as a character, which honestly sucks.

martin deserves to whine and cry and be uncomfortable by the supernatural because for the entirety of his employment his been tortured by the idea that he isn't valuable unless he's being helpful. does this make him a people pleaser? not really. does this make him a damaged individual who for his entire life has been reduced to nothing but another person in his life? yes.

again this goes towards tma's themes of humanity and individuality, what makes you human but what makes you an individual? why are you different? why can you do what they can't?

[yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy]

As a NB, Taash is a huge blow to non-binary representation. Yeah, give the non-binary rep to the rudest, most emotionally immature, hypocritical companion. Make their personal quest about them getting all defensive when their mom reasonably asks about what being non-binary is, because oh my God how dare Mom be ignorant to this super abstract concept that is difficult to articulate to someone who does not perceive the world that way, cancel her with death. Make Taash coded autistic to give them the excuse for being a poorly socialized brat that gives you no option to tell them to shut the fuck up like any reasonable person in the real world would tell them to do because autism is no excuse for rudeness and casual disregard for other peoples’ feelings.

Like why are we feeding into the stereotype that NB people are immature brats who expect the world to freeze when they’re misgendered and for people to flagellate themselves with stupid performative punishments when they slip up or don’t immediately grasp the concept? This is literally how Republicans and conservatives see us. These are the jokes they make about us to invalidate us because they think that’s how we behave, and then you have Veilguard literally say “Yeah we’re like that lol”. If it’s some sort of subtle attempt at satire, it’s a shitty one that I’m not laughing at because it’s a waste of NB rep just to be ironic. If it’s sincere, it’s an embarrassing power fantasy that only the lamest and most miserable person on earth would find cathartic.

Imagine if Emmrich was the non-binary companion. Keep his personality and appearance (ok tweak it so it looks far less modern), but you learn in his romance ‘actually gender is not that much of a concern for me. In death we are all the same.’ and the reason he looks like *that* is because he likes it. You could add more depth to his fear of death with the question of “Have I lived as my most authentic self? Am I truly who I am, or have I fallen into the trap of reflecting what society expects of someone born with the body that I have?’ because there is this worry that some NB people like myself have where we’re not outwardly “NB” enough, like we don’t practice what we preach. Most importantly, Emmrich would never use the term “non-binary” to describe himself. He would have a term or phrase he would use to describe his feelings that someone of that setting would use to represent how queer people would characterize and conceptualize their gender and sexuality for themselves before they had access to all the precise modern labelling. He could call himself some untranslatable word that he’s transcribed from some foreign language—Tevene, Qunlat—or he gleaned from some epitaph while working with the Mourn Watch, an epitaph for a Planasene tribe member who was given the designation that roughly translated to “neutral” for referenced sex (gender and sex being interchangeable to these ancient peoples). SOMETHING cool like that. Something thoughtful and full of far more depth than thunk “I’m non-binary”.

Personally to me, non-binary is a political philosophy as much as it can be personal expression. You can dress “binary” and be non-binary because the point is that it doesn’t matter, and that is the beauty of it. There’s freedom in that nihilism and exploration, and Emmrich would’ve been a cool gateway to that sort of ‘live as you wish because we’ll be dust eventually’, especially from an older man. We have very little queer older men rep in media, and far, far less rep of NB individuals over 30 just in general. Being NB is seen as a phase dominated by young people. Emmrich would be that bridge and perhaps even that door for older individuals who might not have considered they were non-binary because it’s a young person thing or what have you.

And you know we could explore these ideas more if Veilguard had, I don’t know, extensive dialogue trees and opportunities to talk to our companions outside of demarcated “hey I need to talk to you” events, shitty banters, and lil intramurals between the companions that Rook is just a bystander to like a camp counselor or head of HR.

[divorcedwife]

Im especially interested in your opinion of the companions! Did you like any, how would you rank them, how did they compare to other games.

I did enjoy veilguard myself cause admittedly im a combat enjoyer (boo me now) and the combat was great to me. But what is usually good in dragon age/bioware even if everything else sucks are characters and their stories and interactions and that was so bad in veilguard imo.

Still I liked Davrin and Emmrich and Bellara myself, rest were very mixed, and these three also suffered from bad dialogue and Bellara also from some overt cutesiness.

hehe noooooo i wouldn't boo you! this game really made me realize that i prefer video games as a form of interactive storytelling rather than purely for gameplay, but i mean, i feel like im the weirdo here if anything. video games are games first... as much as i like the combat (especially when it's in big open fields, with opportunities for cover ; god is it satisfying to slowly take down a mob of enemies through clever dodging and hiding, i wayyyy prefer that to spamming the flashy special moves), it feels empty to me if i dont feel connected to the world. ideally, i'd love to play games where i enjoy both, but if i have to pick, i'll prefer a game that i find unfun to play but where i like the writing

i think it's a pretty weak cast, yeah. individually, but also as a group, they lack chemistry to me. most of them get along just fine, but not in a way that's particularly fun or exciting. their relationships aren't interesting to me because they're very samey, both in that most people are friendly and also that they start out friendly and end up friendly. dai isn't a game i love, but for all its flaws, it definitely had fascinating character interactions to me. blackwall's friendship with sera is so different to his friendship with cassandra or with solas, and he's initially wary of cole but grows to like him after a while. and these people all have their opinion of blackwall changed forever by revelations. that's what's lacking to me in companion relationships! growth... change... i did enjoy davrin and lucanis's bickering at least. i also did like how emmrich talked to companions, his therapy talk was actually charming every time i liked emmrich and davrin the most! my only problem with davrin is how often he felt shackled to assan, like the writers felt the need to remind us that he has a cute griffon every three seconds in case we were losing interest. but as a character, i found him really cool. i like how level headed he is, i love how he can't tell when lucanis is messing with him on purpose, those feel like great warden traits. emmrich, i really liked that he had the flaws to match his qualities - i love it when he complains about needing to teach TEN students (gasp!), or when davrin asks him if he knows how to wash dishes and he responds like someone who hasn't washed a dish in ten years, and so on. that's definitely what i found lacking in most companions - actual flaws! it's mind boggling to me how much of the lucanis banter i heard was spent clarifying how unproblematic he is. like he doesn't kill children, doesn't kill people who acted in self defense, doesn't kill innocents. what??? he doesn't even have flaws from growing up rich in a mansion... or being the ultimate nepo baby.................... that made most of the companions feel pretty shallow to me, like they were born right before the game began and had lived nothing

lucanis has enough little things about him i like that i would still say i liked him, but he's not getting honours from me. i like his design (it's very satisfyin to draw somehow), i liked spite, i liked the idea that he's trapped in the ossuary in his mind, i loved going to the mansion and seeing how barren and sad it is there. but i think his romance is my least favorite of any i've done in any dragon age games, and i would say that he was a worse boyfriend to have than the one who tried to kill me and also than the one who turned out to be an axe murderer in disguise, cause at least these two liked talking to my characters! lol

i'd put neve next but if im being honest with myself, i disliked more about her than i liked. i liked her bitter cynic pessimist traits, but i found her somewhat inconsistent on that and generally too friendly. the remaining characters, i didn't find anything compelling about them, i dont remember any moment that i liked with them :-( i really wish i did! i gave everyone as fair a shot as i could, i didn't start out this game looking for things to hate, but they really didn't do anything for me. i think bellara suffered from the fact that i dont really like all the technology in this game, i prefer low magic sad unwashed fantasy. at least she was very beautiful so she does get point for that

[crooked-wasteland]

I've now gotten 3 asks about how I would rewrite Hazbin Hotel. So here, here is a rewrite idea.

Adam is Second in Command

Adam being both the head of the exorcists as well as Sera being a terrible overseer and uninterested in what Adam is doing makes no sense. Even with the argument being that she's concerned about Hell rising up, it doesn't explain why she wouldn't take more control of the exorcists. She basically allows them to govern themselves and relies heavily on Adam of all people. In Season 2 they are trying to make her morally grey with how she comes to regret the exterminations after Pentious is proven capable of redemption, but it is undercut by how she treated Sinners as subhuman.

If they are in heaven, they deserve to be a person and if they go to Hell they don't. But it solidifies this idea that people need to prove they are worthy of respect, love, and life. Which is the fundamental core of White Supremacist ideology. Most racists have exceptions to their dogma, because those individuals "proved themselves" in some way or manner that they are deserving of respect. Usually by being useful or successful.

This framing is not removed just because Sera is black coded. Racist ideology is racist ideology regardless of what color it comes in. And even if you love the show, it is paramount to understand that the people behind the series are going to have their own beliefs and agendas that are still going to be filtered through Medrano's beliefs. And even if this is the result of a hired writer or not, it didn't touch Medrano that this sort of thinking is the definition of implicit racism.

As such, adding distance between Sera and Adam would have made it less scathing on her and show more of the bureaucratic "red tape" that I think was supposed to be somewhere in Heaven. Based on the first and sixth episodes, I feel like that was what they were trying to get across with Peter's panic over Charlie "not on the list" as well as her signing a contract just to meet with Adam. But it is so glossed over it may as well not be there at all.

And while I definitely do criticize Medrano when adding more characters to a cast, it usually comes from the fact that the additions do nothing to balance the cast and the story. Often adding new plot threads rather than integrating into existing ones. But here it is necessary. Add another Angel to be in charge of exterminators and Adam, who also reports back to Sera. Someone who is not objectively bloodthirsty, they are just doing their job (The Banality of Evil is a great reference). Meanwhile Sera is the one actually in control, but doesn't actually want to get too involved with the details because she finds the human impact of her decisions too upsetting.

I wouldn't have had this happen in the first episode either. Instead have it be episode 4 or 5 and keep everything in Hell, just have the interaction occur through the embassy.

She takes in numbers and facts without wanting to really know anything. So when Charlie goes to meet with Heaven, it should be Adam and his boss. Adam being insufferable and contrarian while his boss is apathetic and diplomatic would have made a better dynamic than having Adam and Adam2.0 (Lute). Having differences in personalities allows for more range of interactions.

Or, if you want to be more radical and clean up some of the fluff to the story, recycle a character into this role. Emily being Adam's superior actually sets a strong foundation for why they would even entertain and compromise.

And that isn't to say get rid of Lute. In fact, making her the second in command to the second in command is a perfect representation of Pick-Me Post-Feminism.

Rework the Timeline and Primary Threat

The 6 month timeline was a bad idea. It's clear they thought they had enough content to have an extermination at the end of the season, but no idea how to adapt to episode constraints. It makes no sense why the timeline is condensed to 6 months when we don't even see things happening in the show. Changes are practically instantaneous after a song and such songs are not a genuine show or reflection of the characters' wants and needs. It's a moment that "seems good for a song".

It also never confirms why they are reducing the time.

I actually like the Conan idea Anon supplied. Where the reveal of the dead Angel is what causes the growing tension. I would probably have cut the first 3 episodes to focus on one character each, similar to Creature Commandos did towards the end of the series.

For some reference, the show starts with the characters playing off each other and building their dynamics before going into their back stories. And the last 4 episodes, while balancing the current stories of the entire cast, tackle each monster's backstory one by one. They start with a sense of familiarity, so it makes sense to hold off on explaining their pasts until the story starts building tension. Interspersing it with the rising action towards the climax allows the audience to attach themselves to the characters in a complex manner. They aren't made one note for some tragic backstory to them excuse all the lives they take later on. You see them grapple with and indulge in their darkest self while also seeing where their humanity has been buried at the same time. You delight in their gratuitous violence and the carnage they leave while also wishing them happiness. Extremely contradictory emotions being balanced simultaneously is how you can quickly endear an audience to a group of sympathetic assholes. And James Gunn is one of the best writers for that trope.

So for the first few episodes I would focus on the characters' relationships with each other. Angel Dust not really participating, Vaggie being defensive of Charlie while also seeing Angel Dust as a lost cause, and Charlie desperately trying to instill change but not understanding Angel or Vaggie well enough because she is essentially a Hellborne Half-angel. Having her struggling to connect to sinners would have been an excellent source of narrative conflict early on.

It works with the B plot of episode 1 and connects better to the Pilot. Additionally, it builds a foundation for Lilith's motivations. Apparently in season 2 it is revealed she raised an army before vanishing, so focusing on Sinners rejecting Charlie during this time makes the most sense. It even allows some fanatics to accuse Charlie of being a traitor to even her own Mother. There is also an opportunity to bait at the idea of Charlie not being Lilith's daughter, but actually Eve's.

Keeping with the angel being killed in the extermination, have a rising tension be that exterminators have supposedly been spotted in the Pride Ring. Maybe they are searching for the missing angel and that is causing rising uncertainty and thus paranoia and desperation. It also can act as motivation for Sinners to go to Charlie. And Charlie sees this "threat of punishment" moving people to believe in her. What it means to rule through fear and how desperation creates Christ figures.

The exterminators find the dead Angel and are planning a preemptive mass scale invasion. No longer are they just thinking numbers, this is now war. And have the meeting between Heaven and Charlie be based on that. Heaven is meeting with Lucifer to basically say all bets are off and, if he wants to keep his family safe, they need to leave the Pride Ring before a specific time.

It shows that international hostilities are never so complete that the wealthy and powerful still look after each other. Even when they are supposedly enemies. It shows the nuance and complexities of class solidarity and diplomacy. It gives the foundations of how power becomes corrupt and how community and recognition supercedes even ideology.

And this is where Charlie meets with Adam and his commander and she has to make a deal. She can't call off another extermination, it is happening whether she likes it or not. But what if the only safe place is the Hotel? She explains her little rehab center and how she is trying to find a better way to reduce tension between Hell and Heaven by redeeming her people. Adam is opposed emotionally, talking about how undeserving they are and how their punishment has already been given, only to be silenced by his diplomatic superior.

The issue then is how many people would be sincere in their redemption if it was known that running to the hotel would make them safe? Every room would be packed to bursting as every sinner ran to save themselves and immediately abandon Charlie and her project once it was no longer convenient to them. Especially because they don't know how their exterminator was killed.

If Charlie wishes to spare her pet project, she needs to give them a good reason not to just go to war. Things will go back to normal, yearly exterminations included, but the deal with Lucifer would be amended to include Charlie's hotel as being safe only if she can find the murderer and bring them before Heaven for their final judgement.

Connect this storyline to the Vs. Carmella works under Vox but keeps her angelic weapon to herself because it's the only thing that can kill a Sinner. Maybe she is planning to kill the Vs herself because they keep control of her through her daughters. Maybe Valentino had them abducted to empower Vox over Carmella and take her territory. They are Val's victims in human trafficking and political plays, but during the extermination, Carmella took advantage of the situation and stole them back. Knowing that it would be assumed the people in charge of watching over her girls were killed by the angels and no one would necessarily look for her girls for the same reason.

Only for them to be attacked by an exorcist while fleeing and Carmella was forced to kill the angel to save them all. And because of that, she's trying to lay low and stay quiet during this whole situation to not raise suspicion that she has her daughters, or that it was her who killed the angel. Meanwhile Charlie is hunting her down to try and save her hotel. And this way Angel Dust's narrative with Valentino directly folds into the conflict where he can be a tool for Charlie and the narrative to get information on Carmella and solve the case.

There are multiple opportunities one could take with these ideas and not all of them are necessary to greenlight. If you don't want to suggest Eve could be Charlie's real mother, you don't have to. But if you enjoy playing with your audience and have an idea of how the reveal one way or the other would go, it's an opportunity. And the fact remains that you sometimes have to cut ideas.

But those are just some ideas and why and how I would have implemented them if I were to rewrite Hazbin Hotel.

[urstoryteller]

[dxxtruction]

"Louis acting like a pimp to Armand" And what is a pimp exactly? Quickly. And, oh so sexual trauma survivors can't engage in kink now without it being all about that? Pet names? They can't be submissive anymore? Consensually? Sexually healthy? Be serious. I'd hardly say there's much power difference between them during all this anyway, except that Louis is freer than Armand and it's been putting a strain on their relationship. Louis wants more from Armand, and less of this 'being his past' for them both, and so helping Armand with this could fix that. It's healthy to want to help your partners get out of a rough patch?

I mean, the whole exchange was very clearly set up as a "I want to help you" after such a great moment of vulnerability Louis feels just how much Armand is desperate for it. Louis called Armand so they could work out a plan together.

And the bit with the umbrella was Louis' way of asking 'are you willing to listen to me?' and Armand said yes by unfolding it. Louis goes on and explains, Armand is allowed to argue against it, but Louis makes his point. And then he gives Armand a way to make his own choice in it too. Armand's already decided 'I want you, more than anything else in the world', but Louis still asks after if he's sure of his choice, and with a name, Arun, that is the one of his fullest agency, running the point home. Honoring the situation Armand calls Louis Maitre - as a way of being like 'I'll do as you've said then'. To make this work he's going to have to give Louis some of the control, yes. But it's the first time such a role is ever established, and it was his choice to do it. So so what if they do it in a very suggestive way? They can't like doing that? I think it's them having fun.

I struggle to find how Louis is being overly domineering here when really he's giving and offering Armand the most agency he's ever had. Same with finding it manipulative. The manipulation was more earlier in the episode I think, when he was stringing him along, giving mixed signals. He's no longer toying with him like that. Louis might be pushing Armand, leading him on to make a decision, but he doesn't mean bad by it.

But back to this pimp thing. I find it frankly offensive that this is where people are going with this. I get it, but to run with it being the case is, on many levels, wrong.

Louis told us episode 1 this was the only sustainable line of work to support his family and keep their standing, at the time. It was never his choice to be doing this either but his blackness allowed no other options. He did what he did so his family could stay in that house and maintain all their same comforts. It gave him privileges most black men didn't have at the time that he wanted to maintain and even have more of. Anyway, it doesn't and had never defined him the way 'being good at running things' had. And in that case he just likes having that kind of control where he can get it, which makes sense.

The world is what placed that kind of role onto him of what he was allowed to be able to run, not himself. And on that he actually treated the sex workers he employed well and respected them enough to give them more opportunity.** He recognizes they don't have much in the way of options either.

Louis employed sex workers, yes, but he didn't subject them to abuse, (like how Armand was)*. He didn't oversee things in a way that would go against their consent (see; episode 1 again)**. Sometimes a job is just a job. And Sex work is work.

Armand's particular past with sexual abuses may strike a particular cord with Louis, given all that, but the very last thing either is thinking is that Louis' pimping Armand out here. This is merely their decision as companions, and had nothing to do with adding another line in a laundry list of selling Armands body out to people at the command of someone else. Armand rescinds some of his control to Louis' wishes, because he wants him, and he trusts him, that's all.

If you aren't allowing Armand that choice, and are doubtful it's fully his, you're putting him right back in the box of being defined by his abuses. Putting him back into that space where he isn't given any agency over what he does. (Which is exactly opposite of what the intent of this scene is for)*.

*: (edit) added for clarity.

**: (strike through) numerous people are saying I'm misremembering these points so disregard it. (Thought he was siding with Bricks, it was the other way around). (Technically one aspect of those opportunities were for getting around the law). I don't have a perfect memory, it happens. Let's not get mad about it. Doesn't change much of the point which is that Louis, now, Louis then, was always considering more about the running things and for stated purposes. So I guess I'd say he may only have respected the SWers enough sometimes for what allowed him to do that, and there are moments he certainly expressed remorse over the fact, but he has a great deal higher respect for Armand that is genuine. It's incomparable. Please read my added notes in the tags, it should address most other concerns.

[hero-dualies-pog]

why is all the transmasc/transfem discourse the exact same

[unproduciblesmackdown]

what if we held on to whatever we get the idea of as Normal as unquestionable & think all you can do to this normal is apply some veneers overtop it to be more polite & also resent that. maybe we could project that everyone who seems to be Annoyingly Disruptively doing more than this must be putting on a performance to look good &/or humor others b/c that's all we ever believe we're doing, & again, we resent even that much....maybe we could use our show of More Polite language to make the same points blaming everyone who our Normal mistreats for their own mistreatment

[nowendil]

whooooo having an anxiety attack about covid. again 👍

[mainfaggot]

just watched challengers at the cinema w my little sister. it was so intense wtf

[heartyearning]

context for today’s rant is that i got the feedback on my jury’s written feedback in the ‘general’ section (meaning it comes from more than one person) that i’m disrespectful towards my teachers and fellow students (i got it phrased in 2 different ways for flavour) & when i asked around today who said this so i could see how i could change my behaviour (btw none of my fellow students think this which i know bc i asked and everyone was shocked that i got this feedback) all of them were ‘i dont think this but it was discussed that’ which is funny bc it means the school’s computer system has a ghost or no one wants to fucking apologise to me for a very personal and hurtful comment that they can’t back up, but anyway, i was asking for clarification & my most diplomatic teacher (who i dont for a second believe to have written this feedback bc she’d have said so to my face no doubt) was like “well some teachers are worried about you and [best friend]’s clique & think it might turn into an Intellectuals Vs Others thing” (i don’t need to tell you this is so fucking out there i nearly fell from my seat like i have never said this in my life and when this very teacher saying this made a comment about one of my less-well read fellow students i was one of the ones who ‘‘rallied’‘ or whatever in her favour) and anyway then she continued “some ppl feel like u make condescending comments & you just need to remember not everyone has had your trajectory in life” WHICH IS FUNNY because she says this bc my bestie’s got a whole philosophy degree but i’m a highschool dropout with a lower than average iq in certain subjects. which obviously isnt even close to being the point and i do know that but i’m clearly feeling very upset and mad about this whole situation.

[kissingcicero]

For further considerations (I won't be rating like you sorry. Also sorry for the rambling.)

The Science Team: Mysterious. Which science? Do we all get lab coats? Evil scientist style?

Groupchat: Very good. It is like an endless onslaught of thoughts - messages?

Collection: Strange. Are we porcelain dolls? You gathered us? Like Collective, but implies some objectification.

Bunch: Sort of cozy. Like the Brady Brunch? Or a bunch of bananas? Or grapes? Fruity? Fruity system?

Circle: Odd. Are we all pulling chairs up to sit together? Is it group therapy?

Troop: Interesting. Sort of formal.

Lot: British-ism. I can hear which specific alter is saying this. "Oi, you lot!" Passable.

Crowd: Same guy for us. "Ay, you crowd!" Nice. Implies a larger lot though? Perhaps a bit of you're-in-my-way?

Bevy: Antique. Are you from the mid 19s? Implies busy, bustling.

Clique: Snappy. Mean Girls adjacent. But good, implies a level of you're-not-in-on that is accurate.

Crew: Like troop, it implies some seriousness, like we are all set to work on something.

Ensemble: Sort of a flourish. Theatrical. Or musical. Nice.

Squad/Squadron: Sort of formal. Like troop or crew. Or maybe a dance squad?

Weirdos: That's just rude.

Idiots: Could be affectionate, but is also just rude. Come on.

Things to call headmates other than "my Alters"

Headmates: solid 8/10, clearly a system term though

The Others: 7/10 kinda mysterious, not much pizazz

Family: 9/10 yeah replace those sorry ass relatives of yours!

Brothers/ Sisters: 8/10 personally I like calling them my brothers and sister, but tbh kinda sounds like catholic priests/ nuns. -2 points

Roommates: 9/10 Basic like headmates, but phrased in a way singlets understand

Friends: 10/10 Wholesome, although I am definitely not friends with everyone in here

The Voices: 3/10 People gonna absolutely think you're crazy

Greek Chorus: 5/10 It's funny when someone actually knows what you're referring to

Peanut Gallery: 7/10 Similar concept to the above, only more understood by the average person

Backseat Drivers: 9/10 The most correct one on the list, especially said with just a touch of contempt. Might make someone upset

The Collective: 8/10 very ominous, better when talking about the system as a whole singular unit

Comrades: 10/10 Like friends, but commier! Perfect!

Coworkers: 10/10 very accurate representation of how it actually works in here

The Council: 9/10 The Council has decided that it's really entertaining to refer to ourselves like that

Chat: -10/-10 How is it so perfect, yet so awful, yet so awfully perfect?