#an observation I've made

[verosvault]

🚨SPOILERS FOR FHJY EP. 5-11🚨

1 theory and and an observation I made for FHJY from episode 7-11!

1. Yolanda Badgood.

I've been thinking a whole lot about Yolanda Badgood ever since we discovered what happened to her in episode 9. 🥲

She was like...my favorite teacher so I have the right to be sad! 😭

1st thing I wanna say is that...just cause I've been posting scenes from episode 7 but I'm fully caught up to episode 11 right now.

In episode 7. There's 2 things that happen that are alarming to me somewhat, and these are things that occur before episode 9 where we find Yolanda's body.

1. Kristen goes to talk to Yolanda about Lucy Frostblade but doesn't get a very high roll and uses a cursed Fig bardic to get more info from Yolanda about Lucy.

2. Kristen tells Yolanda about how Lucy Frostblade switched their deity and Yolanda said she was going to go talk to Principal Grix about it but Kristen said that talking to Grix wouldn't be a good idea, so Yolanda goes to talk to Jace Stardiamond instead.

I know that we assume that Yolanda died because of the events that occurred at Frosty Fair...and that very well may be. But I really doubt that the rat grinders had any kind of specific target just on "Yolanda". I think Yolanda died because she got "too close" or meddled with something she shouldn't have.

I definitely don't think the Rat Grinders had any type of beef with her? Unless maybe I'm wrong?

I don't fully know. Just because...well...if they did have beef with her, that is also Buddy's teacher but then again...I don't know exactly how much the rat grinders even care about each other as party members or how much they care about moving into a "pass-fail" type situation.

But then there's also the thing about Jace. Could Jace be involved with this somehow? Have the rat grinders been getting by so well because Jace is secretly supporting them behind the scenes? Did Jace have something or anything to do with Lucy? Wouldn't that explain something if Jace was maybe hiding that form of Lucy changing her deity and that's why Yolanda never even got it? Jace maybe never told her cause he didn't think it was necessary because he wanted to "cover this up"?

I don't fully know. I'm overthinking with my theories and I'm- 🥲

2. Baron and the Mysterious Voice

This isn't really a theory but more-so an observation I guess?

In episode 11, we discover the name of this dead god that is apparently Cassandra's spouse that she was in some kind of arranged marriage with. I'm a tad bit confused because in episode 11.

Baron says, and I quote: "The Nightmare King, very angry, once again in the arms of HIS loving partner. I think you should be very afraid Kristen Applebees, but not of sweet little old Baron from the Baronies. You have plenty of fish in your fish pot to fry with your fish oil."

What strikes me a bit weird about this is that Baron refers to the Nightmare King/Cassandra as "HE/HIS" and that's like...now I don't fully know because MAYBE this is a slipup on Brennan's part? It COULD be! I don't fully know. But I don't think that it is considering that Baron does have a "stark FATHER" which I assume is also in reference to the Nightmare King. Father being another term used under "He/Him".

So, then I went to go back to the mystery voice again that we heard at the end of episode 5 "Mall Madness".

And the mystery voice who I ASSUME is this "Ankarna".

This voice says, and I QUOTE: "SHE is at my side once more."

"Do you wish for divinity?"

"I shall give you a master you deserve."

There was ALSO RED, CRACKLING LIGHT when he opened that portal that "YES" came out of!!! 0_0

The voice continues to say to Kristen: "I am coming for you. And when I find you, I will break you in a way that none who loved you will recognize the ruin I have wrought. Lean your soul in closer, that I might give you more than words."

So this Ankarna seems to be VERY hostile with Kristen! If this is Ankarna speaking! Which, I ASSUME IT IS considering that Cassandra is BACK at their side! I don't want to assume Ankarna's pronouns. But, Cassandra is back at their side and when Kristen heard that voice, she said she wanted to try to mentally link with Cassandra but this is the voice she ended up hearing instead.

But what's a bit puzzling to me about this is how Baron refers to the Nightmare King/Cassandra as "He/Him" and Baron also mentions his "stark FATHER"! Another implication here of Baron using "He/Him" when talking about Cassandra.

But then Ankarna uses She/Her when talking about Cassandra.

I mean...it could be that Cassandra is gender fluid and goes by every pronoun??? It's just something I find to be interesting.. again...not any theory but just a cool observation that I've made. 😁

I'm trying to think about more theories as the show goes on but that's all I have for right now! 😂🤣💀

If I get another lightbulb moment, I'll post about it later! 😂🤣👏

[whatisgoingoninmyhead]

there's something to be said about how public unawareness about aspec identities contributes to the infighting within the aspec communities.

for example, I've seen a lot of "don't say ace people don't have sex because that's harmful to the sex favourable aces" and the opposite: "don't say ace people can have sex because what about the sex repulsed/averse?"

and they're both valid points, but because of it, aspec posts have to cater to the entire spectrum or risk starting arguments over this. Ideally, people could look at an aspec post and accept that it's for a different part of the aro/ace spectrum to where they are, but that's where the public unawareness comes in

because outside of the aspec communities, there's so little understanding of what the terms mean, that people within the community have to make every post generic so that the unaware won't see one post and make an assumption for the entire community based on it.

I see where every side is coming from, but infighting doesn't really solve any of the issues. The only thing that can start to solve it is more expansive aspec media representation, and spreading the "aro/ace identities are a spectrum" posts as much as possible to reach outside of the community, rather than trying to make specific posts fit that generic message.

[solradguy]

I've gathered that Mouthwashing is some kind of video game people have gotten into recently, but it's more fun imagining everyone suddenly getting really into oral hygiene

[revelingrexan]

ABOUT LUCIFER CUSSING

i found something that surprised me and that i think other fans will find interesting

TL;DR - from what we have so far, Hazbin's Lucifer doesn't swear much. cussing just isn't his favored way of showing surprise, disgust, or whatever else someone might swear for. altho, he will swear if he's (1) trying to look cool, (2) interacting with someone he's especially irritated or upset by, (3) VERY surprised and/or disgusted, or (4) singing in harmony with other characters lol.

____

LONGER VERSION: an interesting aspect of Hazbin's version of Lucifer is he's still very much an angel in his personality and mannerisms. he's spent many millennia in Hell, though, and has grown jaded and callous about many things. but that angel part is still there, is how i interpret his comparatively rare swearing and his goofy substitutions ("Oh my golly" and "Whoopie! Bye-bye!" being the most notably silly, which i love)

and here's my data set lol. from both episodes 5 and 8

if you don't count his uses of "Hell" when solely referring to the location (e.g. "The big boss of Hell himself!") or God as swears, then of his nine swears, five of them are to Alastor or Adam (four to Adam), and two of them are in the final song (one just an exclamation and the other with him singing in harmony with other characters)

the "other exclamations" sections are pretty loose; those are times other characters might use a swear or might use words or actions (e.g. flipping someone off) that essentially function as swears

i don't know if this character observation and my "four reasons he might swear" will hold water in season 2 (more data points!! heeheehehehe), but, even though Vivziepop frequently gets criticized for all the swearing in her shows, she does seem thoughtful about giving characters swearing "styles," so i wouldn't be surprised if this was purposeful and will mostly stay in place

[screenshots transcribed to text under the cut]

episode 5 cusses

HEEEY BIIIIIIITCH

oH! What in the uN. HOLY. HELL. IS THAT?

OH YOU TACKY PIECE OF-- ((interesting. finally noticed his mouth is animated for the cut off "shit"))

other exclamations

Oh, who am I kidding? This SUCKS!

Daughter? DAUGHTER! DAUGHTER CALLING!? /OH!/

Abso-LUTEly!

Oh my golly!

(chuckles) Alright then. >:3c

Hold on now!

Whoopie! Bye-bye!

Alright, I mean, look.

Huh-HO boy!

(VIOLENT WHEEZE) ((on balcony))

CHARLIE! (EXHALE) YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!

(COUGHED DISTRESSED WHEEZE)

(long sad exhale)

episode 8 cusses

...and now, I am going to FUCK you!

Nice try, douchebag.

You're in MY house, BITCH!

How's mercy taste, you little bitch?

🎵 HELL, you owe it!! 🎵

🎵 And then tomorrow it will be a fucking happy day in hell~ 🎵

other exclamations

Wait, what did I say?

(rapid entertained laughs)

Wuh-oh! :)

Whoa! :) Missed me! Not even close.

(frog blink)

Take your little friends... 🔥🔥AND GO HOME!!🔥🔥 Please. :3

Sooo... who's up for pancakes?

By God, Charlie! ❤️

Augh, this guy.

[hubbleablubble]

I'm hitting Zaknafein with the "Fishing Dad" beam

[lossisyours]

Spotted at the Palace Hotel: S. and B. having a heart-to-heart.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

i do understand and acknowledge that most people who pick up mdzs and get really into it walk away from the experience with wangx!an brainrot that brings them joy and suffering (affectionate) in equal measure, and--unless they're assholish at me or my pals--i wish all of those people well and hope that the veritable cornucopia of wangx!an content on this webbed site and AO3 is everything they've ever wanted out of their fandom experience. wwx is the protagonist, lwj is his court-appointed soulmate, their happily ever after is what most people pick up the books wanting to experience, and that's, you know, fine. live your bliss etc.

i just hope that one day it won't be such a hot and controversial take for fans who didn't develop wangx!an brainrot, and who found something and/or someone else more compelling and engaging about the text, to be able to say as much, and talk about it as much as we want to, without generating a bunch of passive-aggressive--or aggressive-aggressive--commentary from hardcore wangx!an stans who seem to take our disinterest in the central romance personally for whatever reason. like genuinely i would probably not dislike wangx!an as much as i have come to dislike them if i hadn't been inundated with very rude reblog commentary or anon asks early on in my fandom experience just for saying /checks my notes, "maybe jin guangyao isn't evil, actually. maybe wei wuxian did some things wrong."

dgmw, i'm glad that lots of people here are able to like jgy, for example, and still enjoy wwx and wangx!an specifically. but for those of us who don't, or who are struggling to rediscover some affection for the main pair, this attitude.... did not develop in a vacuum lol. i would just like for people to bear that in mind, i guess.

[hecatesbroom]

did I finally manage to write a brand new fic? I sure did!! with many, many thanks to the lovely @eeblouissant for inspiring me with these beautiful drawings of Blanche dipping Dorothy (and the incredibly sweet follow-up with Rose playing the piano, after our chat about this scene!!) I hope I managed to do it justice ;)

Summary

When Dorothy mentions she’s never been dipped before, Blanche and Rose decide to take matters in their own hands.

[boyfridged]

You may have already mentioned this in some of your other metas, and I just missed it, so please ignore this if it's redundant.

Do you think Bruce is projecting onto Jason by pushing him as a Robin? Obviously, Jason wanted to be Robin and was excited about it, and Bruce let Jason do other things, but (if I'm not mistaken) before Tim came into play, solidifying the whole Batman needs a Robin/support to keep him upright, Bruce and Dick becoming Batman and Robin, in the beginning, was also sort of a coping mechanism.

I think there are a few examples of Bruce enabling this kind of mindset. Like in Gotham Knights #43–44 (sorry), every time Barbara brings up Jason's inner turmoil, Bruce refocuses on his ability as a Robin; similarly, when Jason finds out about Two-Face and his dad, he is hurt, and Bruce acknowledges that but then does the same thing, zeroing in on reassuring Jason that he made a mistake but is still a good Robin.

Like, Jason got it from Bruce, but he unintentionally encouraged that kind of thinking.

oh, i definitely think that bruce is projecting on jason and that it profoundly affected jay. and, while every single one of your observations is apt, i would add that what truly made it so tragic is that he projected his own worst traits on jason while being blind to the fact that jay already shared his best qualities.

tldr: bruce projects himself on jason in terms of grief (saying that jason needs vigilantism to work his grief through) and sees his own worst traits in jason (anger) but doesn't see his own best traits in jay (compassion, love, and sensitivity). ironically, jason does end up developing all of the (projected) worst characteristics of bruce (obsessiveness, and relentlessness in pursuit of the respective perceived idea of justice). this happens even though they were barely present in his early storylines, and only ever manifested when jason was scared or lost. later, they truly came to be because of his trauma relating to vigilantism.

and the long, long version, coming with panels and quotes: under the cut.

first i want to say that the following analysis focuses very specifically on bruce's mistakes, but i don't view the overall of jay's upbringing by bruce solely in these terms. from text it is also clear that bruce deeply loves and cares about jay, and that jay enjoys being robin. now that this is clear, let's get to particularities, and start with jay's origin story.

i truly never stop thinking about the significance of bruce meeting jay in the crime alley, the place of his parents' death. there's a lot to be said about it, but here the focus is, of course, on the fact that he sees a little boy, very much similar to himself, angry and hurt, in the same scenery that brought him so much grief. and jay in some ways does appear to be a mirror of bruce's own agonies, as well as a mirror of his own inclination for seeking justice; and somehow, bruce fixates on the first one, while almost completely dismissing the latter.

bruce looks at him and assumes that the remedy to jason's pain and anger is being robin; and he doesn't stop to think about it. (it has to be noted that there's also classism at play, classism that is mostly a result of writers' own beliefs – collins did state in a couple of interviews that that the motivation behind jason's background was to make his introduction into vigilantism seem less offensive, as jason has already been exposed to crime...)

i think, in this context, it's interesting to look at the two-face storyline even closer, and from the start too. in the beginning, bruce talks of jason's 'street' roots and assumes jay would go "down the same criminal road that took his father [willis] to an early death." he also talks of jason making a lot of progress. later, in batman #411, after jason learns that willis has been killed by two-face, bruce comments that jay "has never been like this...listless...almost pouting--"

this all, along with jay's cheerful and diligent behaviour from the previous issue builds an interesting picture for us: because we essentially learn that jay has been overall an unproblematic child. bruce, of course, attributes this "progress" to the training. however, for anyone else, the logical conclusion would be that jay's quick adjustment was simply a matter of finding himself in a safe and stable environment and receiving continuous support and attention from a parental figure. i find it rather questionable that jason's personality softened down because he had something to punch in the cave–– the more intuitive explanation is of course that he was angry and quick to fight when they first met because he couldn't afford anything else and because he was scared. but months later, in a loving home, he can allow himself to drop his guard; and his cocky attitude disappears until much later.

so the rather unsettling picture that we derive is that bruce is training jay to become a vigilante in order to "channel" his (nonvisible at this point) anger into something useful and just. and he clearly links this to his own trauma in batman #416 (that’s already starlin btw), in his conversation with dick, explaining why he took jay in: “he’s so full of anger and frustration… he reminds me of myself, just after my parents were killed.” bruce also mentions that soon after their first meeting, jason helped him and "handled himself well" in the fight, but he doesn't mention that jay has ran away from a crime "school" and intended to stop injustice on his own only because he was ignored.

the theme of bruce comparing jay to himself appears again in detective comics #574 (barr), where it is approached with a much more... critical look, thanks to leslie's presence and her skepticism of bruce's actions. after jason has suffered nearly fatal injuries at the hand of the mad hatter, bruce reminisces on his own trauma and motives. he tells leslie: "i didn't choose jason for my work. he was chosen by it...as i was chosen." leslie replies: "stop that! (...) you do this for yourself... you're still that little boy (...)" then, the conversation steers to the familiar ground and the topic of anger. in bruce's words, again: “i wanted to give jason an outlet for his rage…wanted him to expunge his anger and get on with his life…” and finishes "and instead, i may have killed him."

the recognition that bruce's projection on jason and involving him with his work might have fatal consequences is, as always, fast forgotten once jay wakes up and proclaims that he wants to continue his work as robin.

but to circle back, i think there's something else worth our attention, something deeply ironic, that is showcased in that issue: that bruce has no evidence for jay's "rage." when leslie talks of bruce's past, she recalls his tendencies to get into brutal fights at perceived injustice as early as in school; when bruce talks of jason, two pictures that are juxtaposed, are that of jason fighting as robin and jason... smiling, playing baseball.

so, in the early days of jason's training and work in the field, we see bruce talking of jason's anger a lot; but we barely see it.

that being said, jay is angry sometimes– and i think your observation about how bruce deals with it is incredibly interesting and accurate.

we first see jay truly and devastatingly angry in the two-face storyline. bruce focuses on jay's reaction as robin, which is, in fact, aggressive. but something that he barely addresses is that jason's first reaction is sleeping all day, and not beating anyone to a pulp; in fact, this vengeful instinct seems to arise only when he is put right in front of two-face. and his third instinct, once the rage (very quickly) dies down after the altercation with two-face, is crying, because bruce hid the truth about willis' death from him. jay, while crying, asks bruce: "you have taken me out into combat-- but you spare me this?" in response, bruce lectures jason about how grief inspires revenge, which is, again, deeply ironic, given that jay seeking out revenge seemed to be prompted and enabled solely by the role of robin. moreover, his question suggests that at this point he saw grief ("you spare me this") and fighting as two different things.

the final is, as you said, bruce focusing on making it into a lesson on vigilantism, or, in his own words, "tempering revenge into justice." personally, i think in this way bruce directs jason to bring his grief into the field as a powering force, something that he didn't necessarily have an own incentive to do. the flash of compartmentalisation between his ordinary life and being a sidekick that jay has shown by questioning bruce's decision is lost. emotions are now a robin thing, and they have an (informal) protocol, a moral code. and when jay is confronted with an emotionally exhausting case next – the garzonas case, i believe that the focus on "tempering revenge into justice" is exactly the problem– we don't see jay crying, we see him frantic about finding the solution. this, right there, is bruce's obsessiveness, that in my opinion, was developed in jay specifically as a result of how his engagement with vigilantism combines with his deep sensitivity.

and, needless to say, his sensitivity is all the same as that of bruce – they both can't stand looking at other people hurting, they both wear their hearts on their sleeve, caring way too much – the thing is, bruce never quite acknowledges how they are similar in this matter. instead, he focuses on his sparse bursts of anger, wanting to bring jason closure in his grief the only way he knows it – in a fight for a better world. so, as you said, he focuses on jason's ability as robin.

which just doesn't work for jason. at all. we know it from how his robin run comes to an end: in the first issue of a death in the family (batman #426) alfred informs: “i’ve come upon him, several times, looking at that battered old photograph of his mother and father, crying.”  to that, bruce contends: “in other words, i may have started jason as robin before he had a chance to come to grips with his parents deaths.” he also tells jay that the field is not a place for someone who is hurting; a message that is the opposite of what he's been saying for years now, and something that i imagine was difficult for bruce to conceptualise, because then he would have to question his own unhealthy tendencies. it's a bit late to come to this realisation; bruce's self-projection that caused him to worry so much about jay's anger has already turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy that will fully manifest itself in utrh, when jason does the only thing he was taught to do with grief: try to channel it into justice.

[sciderman]

Sometimes i remember a comics moment i randomly came across somewhere, where Sam Wilson mentiones a musical and Steve Rodgers says he doesn't like musicals, to whitch Sam goes "Guess that means you really are straight" and even tho i don't care about Cap America or the Avengers, the moment stuck in me for that quote by Sam. And like....Sci, any ideas if straight men actually don't like musicals or is that bullshit?

actually i think i know more gay men who hate musicals than i know straight men who hate musicals. i've had a drag queen stop me point blank when i was about to sing a barbra streisand song, and i know so many gays who pointedly hate abba. so based on my experience i think the inverse is true. most of the straight men i know are kind of impartial about musicals, but gay men? hate.

my theory is that a lot of gay men don't want to fall into stereotypes, maybe. but thaaaaat's just a theory! a gay theory.

[bookwyrminspiration]

what do u think livvy does when she’s not on page. do u think she’s just chilling

At least part of her off-page time must be dedicated to her physician job--both as the Black Swan's physician and as one of the elven world's pediatric physicians (Lodestar 229). Treating non-Sophie injuries and caring for kids, likely with a focus on twins/triplets/children of bad matches/etc, given her beliefs

Another part is likely dedicated to Black Swan missions separate from the kotlcrew--she mains in medicine at the moment, but I can't imagine she'd back down from other roles if she could be of use.

Otherwise I'd see her as someone just fucking around scientifically for the fun of it. Experimenting with plants, new ingredients, just exploring and learning--and visiting as many places around the world as she can. Spending time in neutral gnomish territories and exchanging knowledge, trying to hunt down info about ogre microbiology, slipping into human hospitals to treat people, etc.

She strikes me as a very active, curious, intellectual person. But also I wouldn't be surprised if sometimes she tries out some experiments on herself. for science

[swordheld]

i have been scrolling through ur page and noticed that u tend to put long, thoughtful tags underneath nearly every post u reblog & i just thought that was very endearing since the general trend is short and concise. im not sure why i felt the need to write u and let u know, but i just felt very compelled to. pls never stop being u.

this is so very sweet of you!! it's an old habit that i have held onto for the longest time, mostly due to the fact of tags being excellent for organization (my beloved) but also as a kind of extra space for whatever else you'd like to include without actually including it in the post when others share it for themselves! it's that perfect mixture of private n public.

for this blog specifically it's something that i enjoy since it's really an exercise or activity in enjoyment / enrichment? i like to think about why i was so inclined to reblog it, to pin it up to this lil space on the interwebs that's all my own. whether that's the colors, or the wording of things, or just what it makes me think about or feel, it's just a really lovely way of considering it all a little deeper!

which is not something that comes easy, or at minimal energy, sometimes! my likes are extensive (i keep attempting to clean them out and bring back my queueing system but we are up to 5k and i am very tired at the moment, lol) for that reason, and it's like a small goal to try to chip away at them over time, to see what treasure i can discover today.

alternatively, it's also a really nice near - time capsule of a thing; to be able to comb through my archive and see what has changed in my outlook, what sticks out to me now versus then, is really fascinating to see how far i've come and what's changed. there's something so lovely about time being instilled so deeply into this lil mini game of online scrapbooking that i adore; so i'm peached n overjoyed that you find some joy in it as well!!

this is all to say: thank you sm and i hope you try it out for yourself if it's something you think you might have fun with! let me know how it goes :)

[picklepie888]

[laugtherhyena]

Okay so maybe the wrinkly split head devil isn't the Aging devil itself, since it being called aging definitelly feels like a mistranslation and and public safety wanting to erase old age by sacrificing the younger generation fits the point the chapter is trying to get across much nicer than if the devil was aging itself (+ if you think about it for 2 seconds erasing aging as a whole is a terrible fucking idea since no one will be able to grow anything anymore and people will be stuck as babies and kids forever whereas erasing old age should just make people not age past adulthood and probably cause people who are already elderly to just dissapear on the spot)

But that doesn't mean i'm keeping Cherryboy the exact same because if old age specifically is enough to achieve primal fear level then aging as a whole has gotta be one too. So hooray! someone's getting a slight revamp in the future :)

[arttsuka]

how are you?

Honestly I've been better. Thanks for asking!

[bandzboy]

very much this... cr.