#because it really highlights that like. yes university is a really good thing. this should not be The Thing though

[violexides]

the American education system needing to be improved and more accessible because as it stands a lot of people lack access to adequate schooling and it has the potential to address really important subjects and provide social support for people

coexists with the idea that societally we should not be trying to pull every piece of information from the American education system because it is not equipped even remotely to address the knowledge that can come from a person's individual lived experience nor provide the information (en masse) that goes against the state that created it.

this is something i thinka bout a lot and try to re-articulate a lot because i am resistant to answering the question "why are you only studying abolition now, through a university?" but i think a lot of things can come out of that line of questioning. because it's not just about academia it's about the people forming those communities to have those dialogues and that is key that is critical. but that doesn't negate the fact that we should have school as a starting place, and a meeting place, for all of that.

[owlservice]

Four myths of smell

Because our grasp of smell is so poor, a number of myths and misunderstandings have accumulated around this sense. Clearing them up at the outset will help you on this journey to the centre of scent.

Myth 1: You smell with your nose. Although we can indeed smell by inhaling through our nostrils, we detect odours using neurons that are directly connected to the brain, which dangle down through the base of the skull, at about eye level [...] Really, you are smelling with your brain.

Myth 2: You smell molecules in the air. The molecules we smell are carried on the air, but we do not directly detect airborne odours. If your olfactory neurons were in contact with the air they would shrivel and die; instead, these neurons, which are found in a thin layer of skin called the olfactory epithelium, are protected by a layer of mucus. A similar thing happens with insects—their olfactory neurons bathe in liquid housed in their sensory hairs. For obvious reasons, aquatic organisms can only sense odours in water. (Yes, fish, crabs, lobsters, and so on all smell, too.) Any airborne molecule you want to smell has to get through that protective liquid barrier. For this to happen, there are special molecules called odorant binding proteins (OBPs) that are found in that mucus—effectively on the outside of your body. Their role seems to be to transport smell molecules through the mucus and deliver them to the receptors on the olfactory neurons.

Myth 3: We have a poor sense of smell. For a long time, scientists agreed with this claim, but in 2017, the neuroscientist John McGann of Rutgers University highlighted the real situation in an article entitled ‘Poor human olfaction is a 19th-century myth’. He summarized the key evidence and concluded that ‘human olfaction is excellent and impactful’. While it is generally the case that your sense of smell might be diminished if you are aged, or if you smoke, and you will generally be better at smelling if you are female (overall, women have a more acute sense of smell than men), in reality we all have an atomic nose [...] Your sense of smell can distinguish between molecules that differ in size by a single atom of carbon—people describe heptanol (an alcohol made of seven carbon atoms) as smelling ‘violet, sweet, woody’, while octanol (just one carbon atom more) smells ‘sweet, orange, rose’. Caraway—one of the components of curry—smells different from spearmint; the two smells have exactly the same atomic composition, but their structure is different. The molecules are mirror images of each other, like two gloves. The difference in our perception of those two odours is due to the way our olfactory neurons respond to the different molecular orientations.

So fine is our sense of smell that the number of odours we can distinguish may be near-infinite. For decades, researchers repeated that the average human could distinguish about 10,000 odours, but this figure had no scientific basis. In 2014 researchers in the laboratory of my good friend Leslie Vosshall at Rockefeller University tried to estimate how many smells we might be able to tell apart, based on mixtures of molecules. They came up with the astonishing figure of over a trillion. Although this mathematical model has been challenged, it seems probable that there is no real limit to the number of odours we can detect. The same will apply to many other animals.

Myth 4: We do not use smell much. Your sense of smell and your sense of taste are intimately connected. If you try eating something tasty while pinching your nose, making sure your mouth is shut, you will find that there is little flavour; but when you take your fingers away, you should get a sudden rush of sensation as volatile compounds from the food you are chewing whoosh up your nasal cavity and flow over your olfactory neurons, high in your head. [...] Our sense of taste is relatively rudimentary, divided into a small number of classes (the traditional salt, sour, bitter, and sweet, together with the more recently identified umami (meaty), fatty, hot/spicy, metallic, and the taste of carbon dioxide), while our perception of flavour is a mixture of the simple world of taste and the rich, multiple dimensions of smell. In many languages, flavour is colloquially called ‘taste’ even though smell may be the dominant sense giving flavour its subtlety. [...]

Smell has long been a powerful aspect of human culture. Fragrances have been used in rituals and ceremonies down the ages, while perfumes—often based on animal sources, such as musk from the scent glands of deer, or from plants—have been a significant part of many cultures. The modern perfume industry is perpetually creating new scents that promise glamour and excitement for both genders, in a way that other products cannot. Smell has even been used to tell the time—from the 11th century onwards, Chinese temples used aroma clocks, containing powdered incense that burned at a particular rate, to release different scents at different times. [...]

Smell is not just a mysterious biological phenomenon, with fascinating examples from across the animal kingdom, it is also a key part of our social existence that often goes unrecognized. 

Smell (AVSI) by Matthew Cobb

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

re: years of labor

I do wonder if she would’ve been able to let go of the relationship earlier if the narrative around Joe wasn’t “the worst thing happened to me but it doesn’t matter because I found The One.” That’s the thesis of rep, basically. His love redeemed all her pain and loss.

Except that it didn’t really! Ending it wasn’t just ending it but also admitting what happened in 2016 wasn’t erased by him. Handcuffed to the spell she was under etc

That’s super interesting and I think I follow what you’re saying!

As someone who doesn’t know her and isn’t in her head, I don’t think that I’d feel qualified to make any definitive statements on that beyond speculation from what she’s written.

Most of the time I think that the very basic long and short of it is that she loved him, and that and the memories of when things were good kept her going through the bad spells, along with some determination to beat what she thought were her “Bolter” tendencies (and not maybe her gut trying to tell her their problems were more serious than anxiety).

I think there are probably a lot of what ifs around it, and I mean, from an outside perspective it seems like she maybe should have called it quits by the time she wrote YLM because it was clear things were very bad. But then it comes down to, it seems like she tried to leave and thought it was going to kill her, so maybe the real moral of the story is that she couldn’t leave for good until she absolutely had to, like she knew that there wasn’t a shred of hope that things were going to change.

And yes, I think now she understands that a lot of their relationship was tied into what happened in 2016, which again is why she revisits it in new depths on TTPD. Because coming to terms with some of the key traumas of her adulthood finally explained why she sought what she sought and coped in the ways she had over the years.

Almost like, his love in 2016 wasn’t the redemption or silver lining she thought it was, but more of a temporary tonic that staved off dealing with the actual trauma underneath. Hiding behind the bravado of rep (fuck you, you got yours but I’m going to get the last word, and in the end it doesn’t matter because at least I found my soulmate and he loves me for me) helped her deal in private, but it also painted over the severity of a lot of it it seems, and once she started clawing her way out of that and the trauma responses she’d developed, it seems like it might have started highlighting how different their outlooks were on life.

Like, I always took “handcuffed to the spell I was under” as more about the “one hour of sunshine” of it all: meaning, the rarer and rarer good times when everything felt like they did in the beginning were spurring her to stay because when things had been good they were GOOD and felt like an elixir. And she was clinging to the dreams they’d shared earlier on. But the idea that the spell is actually the fantasy about how he’s the thing that saved her from 2016 is such an interesting one and kind of falls in the same universe but a different facet of it.

[bluedalahorse]

In additional support of weird for YR fandom (weird looks a number of ways!)

Yes, I am super in support of @enjoythesilentworld’s post about how 2025 YR fandom should invest itself in weird fic.

I’d like to take that idea and elaborate on it and argue that “weird” fic (meant in the most complimentary way) doesn’t always have to be synonymous with crack fic or humor. It certainly can be, and at the same time, there’s also lots of other moods and genres a “weird” fic can take on. So I mean this in an encouraging way for those of you who don’t write crack or humor: you too can write “weird” in your own way!

Some of my favorite fics in fandoms before YR (I have been in many fandoms over the years) were the ones that made me go “I didn’t know I wanted to read a fic about this, but this story got me interested anyway.” They’re often ones that poke at the boundaries of commonly established and well-liked fanon, or took a deep dive into less-written-about characters in ways I didn’t expect. And then the author might choose an odd bit to commit to, but they commit to it nonetheless.

I try to take this approach in my own YR fics. I don’t have the comedic timing to be a good crackfic writer, and my particular brand of humor more often involves highlighting the absurdity of social norms. I tend to think my writing niche is bittersweet—sometimes leaning bitter, sometimes leaning sweet. The “weird” premises I like are less along the lines of putting the characters in a strange new world or situation and more just asking what I can do that’s a little outside the ordinary for fandom. Or, to put it another way, the ideas that feel less safe or marketable, or like they aren’t going to have an audience at all.

For instance, Five Times Felice Ehrencrona Was A Bad Friend was written during a time when a lot of fandom was praising Felice for being a good friend. Which she is! But I said to myself, surely Felice isn’t patient and kind with all of her friends all of the time? Maybe a fic about that wouldn’t be fascinating to other people, because Felice’s good friend status is a thing people enjoy about her, but it’s fascinating to me. So I committed to the bit and wrote it. I’m glad I did.

Or take Makes the Medicine Go Down. Ew, a story where Vincent like, gets straight married and reproduces and divorces and tries to be a good dad in spite of all this? Ew ew Blue, you’re going to take Vincent’s feelings seriously? So weird, right? But the idea wouldn’t leave me alone, and it gave me the big feelings, and I committed to the bit and wrote it. I’m glad I did.

August continues to grow in a positive direction after canon and deepens his friendship with Nils in university while Kristina tries to use August to make up for past mistakes? Swell the Numbers. Glad I committed to the bit because I really liked writing that fic.

None of these fics are weird in the sense that they are crack, but they are “weird” in the sense that they don’t feel super “safe” or “marketable” to YR fandom. Maybe they are safe after all, but I didn’t feel they were while working on them.

I spend a lot of time craving fic that pushes past the usual fandom archetypes, and focuses on characters who aren’t written about as often. Like, what if Felice doesn’t want to be a good friend and a listening ear all the time? What if Rosh has a day when she isn’t confident and sporty, and completely forgets how to talk in front of a pretty girl? What if Ayub loses his patience and gets into a big fight with Simon? Does Sara feel occasional waves of jealousy toward her friends, even after her transformative first year at Hillerska, and what do those waves of jealousy look like? What would it look like for August, as crown prince, to get a pet he ends up feeling really attached to and soft about? What’s the shy side of Maddie’s personality like? We know she’s brash and daring in English but so shy about Swedish she won’t speak it. What if Hillerska reopens without the main five, and Alexander and Henry and Walter are the new third year boys now, and they’re having serious conversations about what the way forward is? Do they rebuild the old system or try to push forward with a new one, and do they even agree on what leadership looks like?

You could write these ideas as crack/humor, or you could also dive into them as a more serious story. Maybe it’s a stretch to call these “weird” ideas, and maybe for a lot of people weird only means crack. But I wanna argue that weird can also just mean unusual, and unusual can mean deepening a character in unexpected ways that you’re worried no one is going to like. Well. I think we should all lean into “unusual” in 2025 too. Maybe more people will like it than we think!

[crystaldust]

HIGHLIGHTS FROM “What Am I?”

[session 13 of “Keys to the ultimate freedom” by Lester Levenson]

♡ The ultimate goal of every being is total and complete happiness with no taint of sorrow whatsoever. 

♡ “Attention! You have spent many lifetimes looking in the wrong direction! Stop looking without and look ye within! Only there will ye find that which ye have spent lifetime after lifetime seeking!” And then you meet someone like Lester: who tells you, “Seek ye your very own Self. Therein lies your complete happiness. Stop looking for happiness in people and things. Here you merely eliminate the pain of the desire for something, and the relief you get you call pleasure. And the pleasure is short-lived because the desire is not eliminated and is still there, and therefore the pain of it continues to gnaw at you.“

♡ Accept nothing unless you can prove it yourself. Prove it and it is yours. Prove it and then you can use it.

♡ The intellect does not avail it to us. The intellect can get us in the right direction to find it. The right direction is turning within, stilling the mind and experiencing this truth, this knowledge. And only by experience can we get to know it.

♡ Methods are many, but the very highest is the method that everyone uses in the final end, and that method is finding the answer to “What am I?” This quest should be kept up all the time, not only in meditation, but during the day. While we're working, no matter what we're doing, in the back of our mind we can always keep that question posed: “What am I?” until the answer makes itself obvious to us.

♡ Now, any answer the mind can give us must necessarily not be it because the mind is an instrument of limitation. All thoughts are qualified; all thoughts are limited. So any answer the mind gives cannot be right. The way the answer comes is simply by getting out of our own way - removing the blindness that we have imposed upon ourselves by assuming thoughts that we are a thinking mind body.

♡ So, the way is to pose the question “What am I?” and quietly await the answer. Other thoughts will come in, and the biggest difficulty is quieting these thoughts. When other thoughts come in, if we pose the question, “To whom are these thoughts?” the answer naturally is, “To me.” Then, “What am I?” puts us right back.

♡ In addition to posing this question until we get the answer, it is good practice in our daily life to be not the doer, be not the agent. Just be the witness! Acquire the “It is not I but the Father who worketh through me” attitude. 

♡ So, there are two things I'm suggesting, one is the quest “What am I?” and the second is, in life itself, be not the doer; be the witness. Let things happen; allow life to be. That's the way we are in the top state, and the best behavior in life is that which is characteristic of the top state.

♡ the greatest aid is to be not the doer, but be the witness.

♡ When we attain this top state, we are not zombies, but we are all-knowing and everywhere present. Everything falls perfectly into line. We move in the world just like anyone else moves, but the difference is that we see the world entirely different from the way everyone else sees it. We see our body and every other body equally as our Self. Likewise, every animal and every thing as our Self. Seeing everything as “I,” gives us that singular Oneness throughout the universe which is called God, or the Self. We watch our body moving through life like an automaton. We let it go its way. And since we are not really that body, nothing that happens to that body can effect us. Even if it were crushed, it wouldn't mean much to us because we fully know that we are not that body. We know our eternal Beingness and we remain That! So, one who has attained the top state is difficult to distinguish from anyone else. He wiII go through the same motions of life and whatever he was doing before, he might continue to do. But his outlook on life is entirely different. He is completely egoless; he has no concern for his own body. He is interested in others and not in himself, he is interested in all humanity. Whatever he does has absolutely no ego motivation. His body will continue to live its normal span and usually goes out, in the eyes of the unknowing, the same way most bodies go out, via so-called death and coffin. But the one who was originally connected with that body never sees any of this death. He sees this entire world and body as an illusion that was created mentally just as we create scenes, cities and worlds in our night dreams. When we awaken, we realize there never was such a thing. And in the same way, when we awaken from this waking state, we see that the whole thing was a dream and never really was. That the only thing that ever was, was my Being, the absolute Reality, being all beingness, infinite, all perfect, all knowing, all powerful, omnipresent.

♡ Q: To not be the doer, don't you plan? Don't you do everything normally? Lester: No, the right way is not to plan. Let it happen. Let go and you'll be guided intuitively. Instead of planning with thought, you'll do the exactly right thing, perfectly at the right moment, from moment to moment.

♡ Q: There is a situation where someone might take a position of that kind when he hasn't really felt it; for example, he will say, “I'll just stay in bed until I'm moved.” Meantime his rent isn't paid. Lester: So, he'll have to move! If we assume that we are there and are not, we are soon awakened to the fact that we are not there, see. Bob, I'm talking from a higher level now, the perfect state, where everything is in absolute harmony every moment. There you never think, and at every moment you know from within just the right thing to do. You're guided intuitively each and every moment and everything falls perfectly into line. Now, if you're not there, of course you have to think; you have to plan.

♡ Q: Well, in practice then, in the beginning, it's probably a combination of the two where things go very easily, and then there's a hump in which you have to plan. Lester: Definitely yes! In the top state you do by knowing; you just know from moment to moment. One feels “I know it!” That's just the way it feels and there's no thinking to it, only “I know it!” Q: I know from my own experience, I slip back and lay out a plan, but sometimes that plan comes very easily and quickly to me and sometimes I have to struggle like the devil to work it out, step by step and I don't know what's going to happen. Other times I just layout a plan and I know what's going to happen and I have no difficulty with it.

♡ Lester: The word “know” as you use it is the key. You know how that word feels when you say “I know it!” There's no doubt, not one iota of doubt there. And it happens. That's the key. That's the realm of knowingness. Make that all the time. Keep working for it until it comes and stays. The quickness with which we attain this is determined by the intensity of the desire for it. The more we desire this top state the sooner it comes. Everyone makes it eventually.

♡ Because of the state of affairs today, man is relatively low. We are very strongly convinced that we are a limited body and by long habit we are trying to hold onto it. So it's not easy to let go of this body, and because of that we need the grace of the Great Ones who in our eyes have passed on, but in their eyes, they're still here. When we recognize that they are still here, we can see them and talk to them the way we talk to each other. If we accept them partially, we can talk to them in a dream or a vision. The way we meet with them is determined by our acceptance of them. If anyone of us believed that he could go down to a restaurant and have a snack with Jesus, the way you believe you could do it with me, - if you had that much acceptance then you could do it..

♡ But the way He comes to us is determined by our acceptance of Him.

♡ The greatest humility is through surrender: not I but thou; it is not I, but the Father who worketh through me; everything I do is God's work, I am not the doer. It is surrender of the ego, the ego being a sense of separate individuality.

♡ The only thing that should concern us is what we do. For me, it matters not what your attitude is toward me. You could hate me with every cell in your body. But it's of extreme importance what my attitude is toward you. While you're hating me I should love you fully and completely.

♡ When we love, and only love, we are using the most formidable power in the universe. No one and no thing can harm us. We can never ever be hurt or unhappy if we would only just love without any hate.

♡ When you love fully you understand the other one fully. Love is understanding. It's identifying with the other one, being the other one. Coming down a step, it's wanting the other one to have what the other one wants, loving the other one, the way the other one is.

♡ Q: Then who is our enemy? Lester: In reality we have only one enemy and that's ourself. No one can do anything to us; no one can do anything for us. Someday you'll see this, that we in our consciousness determine everything that happens to us.

♡ Q: Then it is our idea of ourselves which is incorrect? Lester: Right. And that could be made better!

♡ Q: When you say understanding, do you mean understanding in a logical sense, or do you mean acceptance of them without question of the reason why they're doing things, good or bad; just acceptance of whatever they are in an entirety.

Lester: It's acceptance in an entirety. But the real understanding requires knowledge of what the universe and the world are. When we see someone doing wrong, we have to know that this is a god-being, misguided. He's looking for God in the wrong place. He's looking for happiness the way he sees it.

♡ Now this doesn't mean approving of his program, it doesn't. But whether we approve or not of his program, loving and hating are two different things than not approving of his program. So we love everyone, see them as misguided beings, forgive them for they know not what they do. They're like children, misguided. Attain the highest state of loving everyone equally as Christ did!

[the-blind-assassin-12]

INTRODUCING: TERRIFIC TWOSDAY because what's better than one rec? that's right, two.

Happy Tuesday, everyone! ... Or should I say TWOSDAY? In an effort to get through my TBR list and to shout about things I've been meaning to shout about for far too (two) long, I am going to be turning every Tuesday into Two Recs Day. I'll be highlighting two works in each category that I loved and that I know you'll love, too (2)! Check them out, and remember to show some love to the creators!!

Two Series Recs: This week, I am going with two series that are currently in progress. I know that finished works often get a lot of focus. As they should! I can tell you first hand that seeing a whole series through to the end is a TALL ORDER. But you know what is also very freaking cool? Hopping on board while the train is still in motion, catching up with previous chapters and waiting excitedly to see where the train is taking you! So without further ado, here are the two trains that I recommend you all hop on this week.

LIMINALITY by @something-tofightfor

Frankie Morales x F!Reader

Wolf AU + “forbidden romance”

9 Parts in so far (plus extras + POV switches)

Thrills. Chills. Swoons. Moons. This story is brimming with excitement and adrenaline… not to mention the heat. (Frankie is a whole entire menace, as he should be.) All the guys are here (yes, that does include Tom 🙄) and they are all captured so perfectly, as is their friendship with one another and with Frankie. It features a very confident, brave, badass reader, ancient lore, supernatural elements, family business, and one heck of a connection between our main characters. Every chapter flies by and leaves you wanting - needing - more, and now is an excellent time to let yourself get hooked on this one, because the action is only ramping up from here!

PASSENGER by @whatsnewalycat

Din Djarin x OFC!Charlie

Modern Trucker AU + dog Grogu

6 Parts in so far

Are you looking for a new OC to fall in love with and want to protect with your life? How about a morally gray long-hauler who moonlights as a bounty hunter? Well you’re in luck because this story has BOTH. It’s also got incredibly high stakes juxtaposed with really sweet, human moments. Charlie is one of the most charming OCs I’ve ever met (which happens to be one of her rules to live by- all of which are good advice for anyone to follow, IMO) and Din’s characterization is so very well done - as is Grogu’s. The theme of delivering the bounty vs doing what’s right is very present and extremely well done, and watching these characters warm up to each other and blur the lines is truly a treat. Get caught up and hitch a ride for the rest of the journey, because I know it’s only going to get better from here!

Two One Shot Recs:

GREATEST OF ALL TIME by @gnpwdrnwhiskey

Dieter Bravo x OFC!Ava

Meet cute + “Do you believe in aliens?”

Dieter needs a break from work and the hullabaloo that comes along with it, and has enlisted the help of his assistant to book him a solo getaway so he can just relax, reset and revive the vibes. Sounds great, right? It is, until he gets turned around and off the beaten track in the middle of the desert and meets the enigmatic Ava and her faithful pal Goat… who might be more than your average Great Dane. After a misunderstanding about where he’s supposed to be, Dieter realizes that the airstream desert oasis under the stars is exactly where he’s meant to be.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTERS by @sixhours

Joel & Ellie

Part of an existing universe

Even though I’ve not yet read the series that this one shot takes place in, it’s immediately gone on my list due to this little interlude. This is such a good character study of Joel and of Ellie - of what they’ve been through, what they want for each other, and how their relationship has grown and changed. It’s got some really beautiful lines and heartwarming/heartbreaking feelings. I love these two forever and ever, and this little slice of life shows just how much they love each other, too. Joel Miller is Dad of the century. Period. The end.

Two Art Recs:

Ezra & Cee Jammin’ by @thekawaiifruitworld

Literally every time this artist draws these two, my heart grows ten sizes to accommodate how much more I love them. JUST LOOK AT THEM! So goofy, so happy, so whole and healthy and and and..!

Joel Strummin’ by @nic0o-o

I whimpered when I first saw this masterpiece, and you will, too. Just go. Just go look. Look at his beauty. I dare you not to be in your feelings about this man after seeing this piece.

[becomingpart2]

It really bothers me how people inadvertently end up shitting on Skyler when the praise they send Kim's direction seems to rely on how good of a female character she is and by extension how relieved they are that we finally have a good one on the same level of the male characters. There's always this underlying tone that this universe finally has a complex female character worth talking about and getting invested into. And yes I agree that she is an interesting character but the underlying tone that seems to accompany that praise is a sense of putting down Skyler for being just "the wife" or, mostly, the battered housewife. It seems people are only ever interested in talking about her when they want to (rightfully) defend her from the misogynistic attacks she's suffered over the years or to talk about how much she suffered in universe. Not much about her as a character on her own, not much about how she's complex and interesting on her own.

I understand the need to highlight her suffering and how she was victim in all of Walt's bullshit (and unfortunately that is still needed) but I also think it's hypocritical and condescending (and a touch misogynistic on its own) to only ever see her as a victim and thus less of a character than someone like kim, that gets to be maker of her own ruin.

Skyler is not just the good loving mother that wants to protect her children from their father and the criminal world he inserted them into. She's also smart and funny and quick on her feet. She's able navigate and adapt to different environments and she does it well. She's proactive, she comes up with plans on her own; sometimes against Walt (ted, the pool incident), sometimes to help him and them (the carwash) and sometimes to help herself (the IRS thing or when she evades police by pretending to be in labor). She's also flawed like all good characters are.

There's a lof of the talk about how Kim has more agency, and while I think that's true and good on its own, it can often fall prey to the point of view that the only way for a female character to be a good character is if she dominates predominantly male spaces and make those her own. As if the only way to be interesting is if you do it in the same way men do. It's a little diminishing towards women that don't do that or aren't interested in doing that (I'd also call into question how effective is that agency when It's conveniently one that doesn't go against what the male partner wants).

It's interesting how I have seen people say that the reason some might not like Kim is because she's a woman that exhibits traits usually associated with men and how she's the one who "wears the pants" in her relationship with Jimmy. That's true but I think it's important to remember that misogyny doesn't make those kind of distinctions and while she might be hated because of that, more "traditional" female characters are hated just the same, if not more.

In fact, I'd argue that Kim is hated significantly less than Skyler ever was. A lot of the male viewers like her and most of the analysis you see of the show regards her as one of the best characters in television history.

It's also funny because that comment seems to imply that Skyler is the "traditional female character" archetype, the housewife that's only there to take the abuse and that's not true at all to Skyler or how she was received by audiences. A lot of the reason she was hated as much as she was (is?) is precisely because she didn't fit into the expectations of what a "good wife" should be like. Because she didn't bow down and take Walter's side, because she was too independent and didn't support "her man" when he needed, because she couldn't see where he was coming from (which, strangely enough, it's something Kim always does, regardless of why you think she does it, the fact is that she's always by Jimmy's side).

This is not an attempt to shit on Kim but rather to highlight how often the conversation surrounding her character seems to veer in the direction of inadvertantly putting down Skyler as "less" of a good female character when I would say both have strengths and weaknesses from a feminist standpoint.

[aangarchy]

Netflix atla live action review ep 7-8

Home stretch baby. I figured since i love the source material i should just be able to enjoy it, or at least be entertained by it somewhat. But even that was just not possible. I pirated it after the first three episodes just bc i didn't want to give netflix the satisfaction of a view.

It's not so much the acting, the costumes or even the bad/mediocre cgi, it's the writing. It's an absolute shitshow, a mess of the highest caliber. For someone who claims to love the source material, it really seems like Albert Kim didn't understand why a lot of the things in the original worked the way they did. Things that are important for character growth got removed, and lore that we normally don't see til later on in the show (or even in a completely different story within this universe!!) got crammed in. For no good reason too bc it doesn't really add anything, just gives us another obstacle or useless exposition that's supposed to explain another useless thing they added.

Both of the last episodes take place in the north pole. This makes sense somewhat because in the original all three of the last episodes took place there. The reason they did this in the original is to have room for all of the stories that still need to take place (pakku, zuko, spirit world, koh, waterbending training, sokka and yue etc.) However in this version, even though minutes wise we have more time, we have less story. Like way less. Also episode 7 proportionally is much shorter than 8 and it really gives issues with pacing.

Let's start with what annoyed me most. Where is the waterbending training? Where is it? The season's title is Water and Aang bent ZERO water this entire season unless he was in the avatar state. Katara "trains" yes, but it's mostly practicing moves she found on the scroll (which gran gran just gave to her? Why didn't this woman give it to her sooner???). She gets NO guidance from anyone, and the way she gets better at bending each time is because a BOY told her encouraging things. A BOY. In the OG we get Pakku saying "raw talent alone is not enough", which makes sense because bending in this universe is an extension of martial arts, and you have to train to become good at martial arts. This LA show however treated bending like a magic power, basically giving some mumbo jumbo about balance and a clear head and think of the people you love to become a better bender. And while yes, your mental headspace also is important (as highlighted in the original where zuko couldn't bend anymore bc he had no aggression left) it wasn't the only factor, it wasn't even the main factor.

When we arrive at the North Pole, Pakku and the chief of the North both expect Aang to help with battle strategy in order to stop the attack bc they're already aware it's coming. Aang tells them he doesn't really know how (wtf were they even expecting it mean that is a whole 12yr old) and they turn away going "guess we can't count on the avatar" like? Dude?? If they have such good intel that they already know the fire nation is preparing an attack, and that the Avatar is alive, how tf did you not hear that the Avatar is also 12 years old and far from a master of the four elements? Idk this weirded me out.

They removed the deserter episode, which means Aang doesn't renounce firebending, which means we get no storyline of Aang dealing with his conflicted feelings surrounding firebending because fire gives life, not just destruction. Katara also doesn't find out she can heal naturally. We just get told that healing is just a thing all waterbenders can do if they train for it. Katara's necklace has no significance at all in the story currently. Yugoda doesn't recognize that Katara is Kanna's granddaughter. Katara's gran gran being from the north originally doesn't play part in the story at all. Katara doesn't even once utter the words "this necklace used to be my mother's". Idk why that bothers me so much but it does. They also removed her rage at not being allowed to fight. Sure this show's Katara also goes to fight Pakku, but literally everytime she speaks she just sounds reasonable. She fights him not because she's So Enraged at not being allowed to become the master she's meant to be, but because the script demands it. She says it so matter of factly too. She's like a mellowed out shell of who Katara is supposed to be. I feel like this overall for her character in this show btw. I don't blame Kiawentiio bc i saw clips of her performance in other works (anne with an e notably) and she's good. This genuinely just seems like poor writing and directing. They removed all of Katara's passion. She's not warm, she's not feisty, she's not angry, she's not nurturing, she's also not flawed at all. I hate to say it but in this version she's giving Mary Sue, especially bc she just learns waterbending on her own, and then gets called a master out of nowhere. That's not how that's supposed to work. You're supposed to earn the term master.

Let's talk about Yue. Amber Midthunder is a great actress, but damn, that wig. Their budget was over 100 million dollars and yet they couldn't give my girl a lace front? Her wig was so structured and stiff, and if it were any other context like cosplay or a drag show this would have been perfect. Now it just looked really unnatural and instead of the hair being platinum it was gray. Yue's character got given more to do here. They changed the story to have her break her own engagement, but it's implied that the reason she did this is bc she met Sokka in the spirit world and... fell in love? Idk it was a bit weird. Both Suki and Yue were inexplicably entranced with Sokka. In the OG it's implied that Yue likes Sokka bc he's so different from the boys in the north, kind of like a city girl falling in love with a country boy. But here it feels different, he doesn't stand out at all compared to the other boys, and Hahn isn't a dickhead like the OG. I will say i like that Yue is a stronger character here. She takes charge of her own destiny and she is the one to realize that she can save the moon spirit, and wasn't told by someone else that she could do it. I am confused by them making her a waterbender, but i'm not mad at that change per se. I liked her sacrifice scene, her own acting was great. Sokka however... i genuinely burst out laughing, like so loud. The zoom in on his face, the expression, it was too much and too little at once. Overall, Yue's story was okay. Was it better than the original? Debatable. But it wasn't bad and that's a win.

We get Avatar Kuruk way earlier than we originally got him. I'm still kind of confused about the whole "you can talk to past Avatars but only in their shrine with their statue" thing, because if that's the case how in the hell is Aang ever gonna ask advice from Roku (or Kyoshi, since the writers clearly have a bias towards her and want to make her the main Avatar guide ig) without having to travel all the way to the shrine? Can they only talk in the one specific shrine or can we take a miniature set of Avatar action figures with us just in case we ever need advice? Also this lore abt the shrines and statues is flawed at best bc later on Kuruk shows up for Aang during the fight, while they're not present at the shrine. Either way, Kuruk was far from the go with the flow Avatar he was characterized as in the original. I know that we got some insight into Kuruk's story in the Kyoshi novels, and turns out it's a lot darker than expected, but Kuruk never let that change his character. He always remained chill, or at least kept up the facade, and i don't think OG Kuruk would be the type of man that is angry about how his life turned out. In this version, Kuruk is this scared, mean, bitter man who is really unsatisfied with his destiny, which he lashed out at Aang for. He seemed really angry at Aang to for no good reason. We're also not supposed to know this part about Kuruk's life yet. It's too much information and de waste time learning about his life story, the only reason we learn it in the first place is to explain the Special Spirit Killing Knife. Also the actor for Kuruk.... yikes bro. Idk which hallmark movie they pulled him from but he and his stupid polar bear hat looked like ass the whole time.

So there's this weird part about Kuruk having a Special Knife that is able to kill spirits. Idk if this is a thing from the Kyoshi novels that also made it into this show bc truth be told i haven't made it far into those novels yet at all, but it was strange to me. Somehow Zhao has this knife. We don't know how he ended up getting it (did the fire sage give it to him? I didn't see it but i might have missed it) and we pretend that this is the Only Thing that can kill spirits even when the spirits are mortal. Doesn't that negate the fact that the spirits are mortal, if they can only be killed by a Special Knife? Also there's this weird convoluted part about how the spirits actually live in the spirit world and only cross to the physical world once every ice moon to know what it feels like to be "mortal" and choose a different "mortal" form each time and this time they happened to be fish. But still, they can Only Be Killed By The Special Knife. Huh? What's the purpose of this added extra lore? I saw someone say the underlying point is that it shouldn't be this easy to kill spirits but.... that's the whole idea behind the Ocean and Moon spirits having permanent mortal forms? Them being mortal and choosing a form as insignificant as a fish, constantly circling each other to represent the precarious balance between Ocean and Moon, a balance that can be thrown off very easily. The whole point was that they're fragile so why add all this extra exposition for no reason? Why make the spirits harder to kill if in the end you're still just gonna have a guy stabbing a wet bag and not some rough spirit killing battle?

Zhao also just gets told by the fire sage that killing the moon is a thing he can do. I don't like what this changes about Zhao's character. Zhao is supposed to be this cunning man. He's scary, determined, strategically inclined, but alas overconfident and willing to go too far which ends up being his downfall. His ambition is what led him to do his own research by visiting a spirit library to find any weakness he could potentially exploit, and that's precisely what he found. In the original, Zhao always fought for his own career. His own accomplishments got him the tools to try and beat Zuko in the Avatar race. But in this version, Zhao just keeps getting handed things. He's a slippery snake that plays friends with Zuko and then tries to steal the glory from under his nose. He gets handed the archers, he gets handed the information on the moon spirit, he gets handed a war balloon (which completely ruins the surprise of the fire nation suddenly having air power at the invasion), and he gets helped by Azula of all people. It makes him look a bit chumpy in this story, and it really worsens his villain qualities.

On a completely other note, this LA seems to have a thing for making adults yell at a 12yr old Avatar for leaving the world behind, and it doesn't make any sense, because in this story Aang left on Appa for a joyride to clear his head. Aang didn't purposely leave. He had every intention of returning after an hour. Yet every adult in this show, even the past Avatars that know damn well Aang didn't flee from his responsibilities, yells at him bc he accidentally got encased in ice. And somehow this Aang gets made to feel worse about it than OG Aang even though he deserves it way less bc this Aang didn't actually run away! I don't like what this changes about Aang's character. In the OG, Aang has one fatal character flaw and that's avoiding responsibility. He runs away, and has problems with taking accountability for what his actions cost the world. He goofs around, plays games and likes to have fun to avoid having to face his destiny, all while carrying the guilt and blame for the century war. It's a huge part of Aang's character journey. The guilt he feels isn't misplaced bc Aang knows he ran off, and he knows that the world is in its current state because of his decision. In the end he takes responsibility by showing up to the fight with Ozai alone. In this LA, even though by all means Aang shouldn't feel responsible, he ends up taking responsibility right away. He goes to Kyoshi Island, not to goof around and ride giant koi, but because he knows he can talk to Kyoshi there. Kyoshi yells at him for leaving (again, why? She knows he didn't run away) and gives him a vision about the watertribe getting destroyed. Instead of panicking about it (like OG Aang did after finding out abt the comet) he just accepts that he needs to go and help. And while this Aang does get to have fun moments (i especially loved how in the first episode he sees playing watertribe children and immediately joins them, that was quintessential Aang), he just seems very down and serious a lot of the time. He's scared of people getting hurt and is very worried abt the safety of his friends to the point where he agrees with Pakku and tells Katara she shouldn't fight. It's not Aang at all bc OG Aang was rooting for Katara when she fought Pakku. To sum it up: i think the casting for Aang was perfect. A cute southeast asian skater kid that loves to have fun and genuinely just looked the part? Brilliant! I am genuinely not upset at Gordon's performance at all (although sometimes i wish he'd enunciate a bit better). But the writing messed up the character so much that i couldn't even feel the joy for having the perfect looking Aang. I will say Koifish Godzilla (Koizilla if you will) looked dope. What did confuse me abt the Koizilla scenes is that sometimes there was no music (which is a choice i often like bc it gives the scene extra gravitas) and then sometimes there was a majestic score playing in the back, like they couldn't choose how they were gonna execute it and just picked both. I know that's nitpicky but it bothered me nonetheless.

Speaking of Koizilla. Wtf was that thing they added about Aang "succumbing" to the ocean spirit and being "lost"? They didn't even explain it at all, but both Yue and Iroh talked about how Aang would be lost forever now. We don't get a why, we don't get a how. And "lost" is such a vague word for it too. Like would his spirit be lost and only his body remain? Would he be completely swallowed up by the ocean? Would he remain Koizilla, forever rampaging at the ice wall? They added this for extra tension i guess, but it doesn't really work when only minutes later Aang is able to return no problem bc Katara talked him out of it, so we don't even get to find out what "he'll be lost forever" means. Also: the scene with Katara talking Aang out of it was cute, but the execution was weird. Originally Katara gives this speech when Aang goes Avatar state at the southern airtemple. I like that they still kept Katara's speech to Aang bc it highlights their bond which is especially important for later on in the show, but I don't like how now Katara had to give this really heartfelt emotional speech to Aang in front of everyone else at the northern watertribe. It's supposed to be quite an intimate moment between her, Sokka and Aang as a new family, they're supposed to promise they won't let anyone harm him, which eventually calms him down. Here though Katara's just yelling these words at him in front of everyone and all the intimacy is gone. It also doesn't work as well bc we barely got any time of the gaang bonding. They spend episode 3-6 apart most of the time, so really they shouldn't feel this bond towards each other just yet. Because this LA removed a lot of the side adventures, we don't get the feeling that these kids have known each other for months.

Another thing they removed is Appa and Momo as characters. In the original they each get their own moments, we even got one whole episode with Appa as the main character (which won an award btw). Here though, Appa is solely used as a transportation animal and Momo... honestly i don't even remember what he does but i think it's mostly a small comedic bit? Also he hands the acorn to one of the characters. This is a bad change bc in these episodes Momo gets hurt so bad he nearly dies, and it has no emotional impact at all bc he's just an accessory in this story. I felt no emotional attachment to Momo and he just has no personality. I wonder how this choice is gonna play out when we get the kidnapped Appa story bc so far it's not looking good.

Anyway, for positives. I warmed up on Dallas's performance a lot, i wasn't that mad at Ian Ousley's performance and there were moments where he genuinely made me laugh. The cgi for the creatures was decent, but for the backgrounds it looked horrible. I liked that they showed how devastating the Seige of the North ended up being, with the unnamed kid and Hahn both dying. I liked the effect showing those two had on our main characters. I liked when Aang, Sokka and Katara all worked together taking out that one firenation ship. I liked the way they showed Sokka and Yue bonding. I really warmed up to the costumes as well, i still wish they dirtied it up a little to make them look less new.

There's probably some more positives but they're really minor compared to the negatives and also my brain is just done atp. I'm never gonna rewatch it for more analysis either bc i don't think i'll survive it lol. I might make another post abt my opinion on the show as a whole? Like an overall summary? Bc this shit is VERY long and i do apologize. If you made it this far, uhm. Thanks for caring abt my opinion so much that you sat down for like 10 minutes to read my angry yapping? I appreciate it.

Anyway bye

[flagellant]

Regrowing my hair has been such a wonderful experience of reclamation for me and I want to tell you about it because your long hair men posts are part of why I’m regrowing it.

So, for context, I’m a trans dude. Since I was little, I’ve wanted to shave my head. When my brother and dad shaved their heads for a cancer charity, I wanted to do it too, and I wasn’t allowed. Every haircut I got right up until I left home was controlled, in some part, by my parents. I hated having a layered cut the way my stylist did it because it made my hair hard to put up. She would always tell me I needed to get highlights to emphasize that I was a natural blond, that I needed keratin treatments so I could look like other girls, that I should do this or wear that to make it “suit my face”. And I hated it. Finally, I managed to convince my mom to let me get it cut short-ish in 10th grade, but it was a stylish, girlie pixie cut that didn’t suit me at all. But it was better than nothing.

When I went to university, within a week of moving in, I took the bus to the mall, bought a cheap set of clippers, and shaved my head in the dorm room sink. When I looked up, I finally saw myself looking back. I kept it shaved pretty tight for a while, because I had to be walking outside with wet hair in subzero temperatures. But this year, I’ve started to let it grow back, and I was worried I would hate it again and stop seeing myself when I looked in the mirror but I haven’t. It’s my hair now. Does it look like a mullet? A bit! Does it look kind of silly and weird? Yes! But it’s MY hair now. It’s not the “best style to suit your face shape” or “the style everyone else has”, it’s me. The grown women in my life who feel a sense of ownership over my hair say I would look better if I cut off a few inches at the back. When I tell them that I don’t care and that my goal isn’t looking good, they get confused. But it isn’t. My goal is to look like me and I do and I’m so happy. So, thank you for posting about long haired men so often. You’ve inspired me to take back something I didn’t even realize I didn’t have.

It's literally such an empowerment thing. I'm still only now starting to really feel like I'm able to experiment and figure out my presentation of my self and I'm having a terrified blast! I'm glad my posts could help even if only a little bit with that :3

[branwendaughterofllyr]

Thank you for answering my previous ask! :D I have some thoughts on "a poison tree" that I wanted to share, so I couldn't help but write another one lol. So already going into it I love the backstory you gave Larys! His confession about his upbringing was such a haunting and memorable moment, especially through the lens of little Alyssa (who shouldn't be anywhere near him tbh). The way you portrayed her perspective as a child feels so real and... sad, somehow? Her disappointment with the limited life she can have as a woman in such a stratified and sexist society was really poignant, and her desperate search for someone to fill the void her mother left were highlights that resonated deeply within me (along with Larys' struggles as a disabled person in Westeros, since I'm disabled myself). Alyssa and Oldgon not only fit perfectly into the original story but also enriched it in ways that F&B and HOTD lack. This is so rare in fanfiction today and requires a tremendous amount of work and research, be it into the original work's lore or actual history. I'm really grateful for you sharing such a passionate and dedicated story with us.

On a side note, I apologize in advance because I have so many questions! Will "a poison tree" feature another character's POV besides Alyssa and Oldgon? Do you watch or read any analyses of HOTD/ASOIAF? If so, which ones? I think you would really enjoy the YT channel Hill's Alive. Lastly, could you recommend some of your favorite fanfictions for HOTD/ASOIAF? Bonus points if they're long fics!

Oh my gosh, I just about started giggling and kicking my feet when I saw this ask. Thank you so much for giving me the space to talk endlessly about my fic!

I saw Matthew Needham’s interview where he talks about his headcanons for Larys’ backstory, and it basically came down to his mother dying in childbirth and to be honest… I thought that was pretty lame because every mom dies in childbirth in this universe haha (even though I did it myself with Elinor lol). It’s just very lackluster to me, and I was already coming up with my own backstory for the Strongs at the time. Larys to me is a very… underutilized character, especially in fics. Many of the characters in F&B serve as parallels to characters in the main series, I think there’s a lot to Larys as a basically a caricature of Tyrion through the lens of history, an evil disabled man with unknown motives, who exists only to be the villainous traitorous wildcard. It’s very hard to get a handle on Larys in F&B because he’s really a character that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense based on what little we know about him, and while I thinks it’s worthwhile to consider him in the light of how Tyrion is viewed by a society that pre-judged him and will allow him no lenience, it’s deeply annoying to me that the show chose to do very little with him (especially in s1) and just make him a cackling villain who kills his own family just because. And this is not to say that I think Larys is a good guy, not at all, but I think there’s room to explore why he is the way he is.

And I think that I wanted to approach it through the eyes of a child, who might not have absorbed quite all the biases yet, or at least doesn’t understand the nuances of it. That’s why I wrote that bit where Larys expects Alyssa to ask him about his foot when she’s staring, and then is surprised when she asks about the ghost thing, and this entire thing goes completely over Alyssa’s head. I actually do kind of like the show take that Larys is seeking out people similar to him in Alicent and then Aegon, lonely damaged people that are isolated. But yes, Larys should not be allowed around children, especially ones that will straight up ask whatever questions on their minds. I think Larys’ confession was half-malicious, half-intended to be helpful, much like some of Cersei’s conversations with Sansa. Better to be traumatized early and learn that the world sucks. Really, he’s doing her a favour here!

One thing I tend to find…. Very heavy handed in most fics is how heavy handed the sexism can be, and how “modern” the sensibilities of the female characters. I think there’s a lot to be explored in the more insidious and underlying aspects, as well as the more obvious and in your face ones. Like, she’s grown up around men (of noble birth) who have been able to make their own ways in the world on paths simply not open to women, and as a child she doesn’t understand precisely why she can’t do the same.

I actually wanted to make Oldgon, for as much as he loves his daughter, still submerged in misogyny that he’s not really questioned much. Like, nice and/or smart people are not immune to the biases of their society! And Oldgon certainly isn’t, even if he has more fondness and respect for women due to his upbringing by Alysanne than other men, and he still expects his daughter to obey most of the rules for women even if he thinks education and curiosity are virtues for both the sexes.

I’m very glad that Alyssa has come off as a sort of melancholy character, especially since I think there’s an inherent cheerfulness to Oldgon even though he’s had a lot of tragedy in life. I wrote much of Alyssa I during the wintertime, when I suffer from pretty bad seasonal affective disorder, and I think that the pre-Dance Red Keep is a pretty disordered and lonely place to grow up in, even though it’s full of people. The severed emotional ties, the inherent distance between family members, all contribute to that. I also wanted to give her a really complex relationship with motherhood, that I will continue explore as the fic goes on!

I don’t currently plan to have any other character PoVs for Poison, it was always going to be just Alyssa and Oldgon in my head. But I have been making plans to do much more extensive fake F&B excerpts for events neither of them are present for. You may have noticed that I’ve introduced a new source for my version of F&B, Perkin Gaunt, who will survive the Dance (spoiler lol) and write his own history of it. Writing the F&B bits is actually really hard, but I like thinking about how the history got recorded, by who and why and to what end.

I actually don’t like watching ASOIAF YouTube videos or listening to related podcasts at all, a lot of the really popular ones have opinions I deeply disagree with or just find really annoying, and I’ve disliked the ASOIAF fan industrial complex since the days of GoT, and my opinion has only sunk lower as HoTD started airing. I’ve seen a few of Hills Alive’s videos, as one of my friends sent them to me, and I think she’s got some decent takes overall.

For ASOIAF fics, I like iron fears the rot by @undeniablespice which is a genderbent Theon Greyjoy AU. I’m currently still mad at the most recent chapter for making me feel things about the deaths of the older Greyjoy sons. I also love any work by just_a_dram but I’ll recommend their most recent finished work, which is a Jonsa space opera AU titled Lupum Luna

In the F&B/HoTD realm, I’m always recommending @aifsaath’s series The Sky is Always Red Above Valyria (great title that I am insanely jealous of) and their other series, co-written with @gwenllian-in-the-abbey Our Fathers Clad in Red which is a book canon AU, where Aegon II marries Baela after the Dance. I also like solitariusvirtus’ Aegon III/Jaehaera fics, and I’ll recommend every tomb, every sea, spit the bones from your teeth as a good one shot starter. This next one is probably not for everyone, but I have been fascinated by glory days by behemoth for a while, which is a pre-canon fic exploring Viserys’ enmeshed relationships with his father and Daemon, with plenty of uncomfortable moments, but it’s heavily informed some of my own headcanons about the family for my fic purposes lol.

Anyway, feel free to ask any questions, and I will spill more of my ramblings!

[widowed-mistress]

Okay! As per my last post, things I think people should add to their Steven Universe and Gravity Falls stories.

Grown Up Steven during Events of Gravity Falls

Steven does not need to be in every adventure

Yes, I want him to cultivate a relationship with the twins, BUT I want him to have his own life

I don't just want him to be their protector because they need to learn lessons on their own too

Give. Him friends!!! Wendy and hee group could potentially be friends with him since they're similar to the Cool Kids, BUT u like the Cool Kids, Wendy and her friends doesn't really *think* ahead about other people

For an example of a stark contrast, the Cool Kids take seat belt safety seriously AND grilled the gems for being too hard on Steven. "He's just a kid!" One of the few times an adult stood up for him.

Meanwhile Wendy, who I love very much so, took advantage of Mabel to get an afternoon off from work with full pay after trashing the Mystery Shack with her friends. The Cool Kids have responsibilities and passions they take seriously and realize the sacrifices of them. That doesn't mean they don't act like teenagers and hurt people while being selfish, but they take more accountable. I imagen Steven trying to befriend them only to realize this and back away, making friends with Soos and Stan since their accountability standards are higher.

Stan knowing Steven is "weird" and entrusting him with keeping the kids safe

For a few monsters, Steven's powers are useless, but to make him defenseless against Bill? C'mon now. He SUBCONSCIOUS uses these powers and we see that when he does do things on purpose, he is GOOD at it. His gem is a gem whose main powers revolve around creations and destruction of things dead of alive. I'm not saying make him OP, since that is not fun, but I feel like he gets nerfed too much in these stories. Which is why I emphasize, don't let him go on every adventure

It would be nice for him and Connie to be used as a good example of a healthy relationship for Mabel. She tends to just throw herself to relationship, so her learning indirectly what makes a good relationship could be sweet.

Him and McGucket as friends. Please. Hand and knees, need this.

Even though Mabel and Dipper don't appose each other like Ford and Stan do, their differences are highlighted once Ford arrives, Steven would be a good meadeator between them

Steven could be the PERFECT obstacle during Weirdmaggedon, I'm talking Bill purposefully curropting him obstacle.

I'm talking building up a relationship between the adults in the show and having THEM take care of it. While I loved Future's ending (cried a lot). I also feel like nobody really acknowledged that many of Steven's problems arrived from adults putting their problems on him. It was mostly people saying they WOULD support him now

Grown Up Steven after Events of Gravity Falls

At least ONE person not fully trusting him

The family thinks he's trying to hide that he's "weird," he is not. He is VERY happy that he gets treated like a human while not hiding that he is a gem, actually

Make him friends with the woodland creatures

Can Fall in Either Category

Good adult figures in his life

Normally these stories focus on him being human in Gravity Falls. No! Well not completely. He probably arrives wanting it to start out that way but as he realizes how normalized weirdness is here, he begins to finally embrace both halves of himself. Existing as both gem and human without separating the other. Using his gem abilities but not for life saving events. Let him have his own fountain/garden in Gravity Falls

Stan slowly learning how Steven lived before (van life, eating bits for free at the Fry shop, cooking eggs using a waffle pan, nobody forgot that the only reason baby Steven and Greg didn't freeze when he was a baby was because Vedalia was out of town right?) And they bond over i

[fountainpenguin]

Been bingeing T.U.F.F. Puppy and Bunsen Is a Beast while I've been sick. Here's a liveblog of highlights I enjoyed:

Every line of dialogue in these shows is fantastic...

- "You don't need to breathe- You just need to obey my every command." - "In the interest of our friendship, which is way more important to me than anything in the world... I'm taking the speedboat. Think about it- You don't want the hassle of owning a speedboat!" - "I've been nice this year. And by 'Nice,' I mean I've kept my more sinister acts on the downlow through deception, deceit, and occasionally framing others." - "This is the greatest moment of my brief life!" - "Anywho, Santa... You're looking buff! Have you been hitting the gym~?" / "Are we seriously doing this?" - "To protect my standing on the nice list, can you please refer to me as Marsha during this particular evil mission?" - "You guys have to save Christmas! ... I would, but I'm in a box and I'm 5." - "You don't need to know the laws when you're a criminal. Or a baby! Just a little fun fact I thought I'd throw out there." - "I know you are lying to me... Your status says I'm lying to The Chameleon." - "You voluntarily touched me in an affectionate way!" - "I love our new crib! It was an impulse buy. (Gasp)- We should steal a baby to put in it!" - "If I'm so dumb, how come I've been getting away with slowly poisoning you?" - "You're going down for armed robbery!" / "They're not armed." / "Are you kidding me? Have you seen this man's guns?" - "Let me leave! I'm not even helpful!" / "I'm never helpful and I'm still here." - Okay... Such good animatic redraw material.

- So many silly characters, many of whom look like cinnamon rolls but would actually kill you. I love them. I should finish my 'fic WIPs. Dudley's later flanderization-characterization still makes me sad... He cared so much about working in Season 1 that he couldn't settle down on vacation. He'd explore, he'd volunteer for things, he obsessed about paperwork... That's who he is... He was good at his job. I miss him.

- Who do you think has the higher kill count: Chameleon eating [confirmed sentient] bugs his whole life, or Keswick wiping out his home dimension? ... I guess it would HAVE to be Keswick because he would've killed the bugs too, huh?

- I really love the worldbuilding vibe of "You're allowed to kill other creatures, but if the ambulance is called, everyone is treated equally." Yeah, we sell flea collars and body spray. Yes, the Chief got incredibly sick when Dudley wore a flea collar into work; that is a thing that happened.

- Making one of the main characters a flea was pretty fantastic in itself, let's be honest. How many anthro shows have a bug main character (unless the show is all about bugs), and how many of them have a special mobility aid thing that magnifies their appearance, keeps them off the floor, gives them extra strength, etc... It's great.

- I love the Chief's monitor cart:

Why does it sit in chairs? How can he use the hands? Outrageous.

- It's heavily implied that even the creatures that look and act feral are actually sentient, which just makes Kitty bringing the Chief dead mice as a form of affection so much darker...

[cnt'd]

- How on earth did The Chameleon get invited to career day to speak to little kids about being a super villain? Whose idea was that?

- I love "Guard Dog"- It's probably my favorite episode. So many good quotes, such a goofy set-up, you get to travel outside Petropolis, it delves into some of the in-universe witness protection lore... It's great.

- I love Chameleon snuggling with Dudley because they're handcuffed together and he's cold-blooded. I like the end when Kitty is handcuffed to 5 people at once, but Dudley leaving her that way feels justified because she left him for the entire ride to Petsburg.

- I particularly enjoy Kitty only having 4 limbs, so Larry and Francesco are both chained to the same leg. I feel like they could very easily rip that off, especially with how often Francesco tries to eat stuff.

- I wanna talk about Chameleon's side hustle of going on dates with people who ask him to shapeshift into their dream person.

- Wannabee was forced out of the auditorium halfway through his evil scheme so the students could have play rehearsal.

- I will never be over Wannabee gushing over how cool he thinks it is that he can make honey and that he will outright tell you he makes it mouth to mouth. They could've given us bees passing the honey by hand, but no... No, we get to see them do it mouth to mouth and Wannabee brags about it. Hilarious.

- My adoration for Birdbrain is also growing. What do you mean he's lonely and cloning himself to save his species? What do you mean he can just walk into T.U.F.F. headquarters and shred their files for his nest material because he's endangered and they can't hurt him? That's hilarious.

- I think I said this years ago, but I really like how there's no romance between Birdbrain and Zippy. He hates her equally to all his other henchmen. Everyone he works with is useless, so he leaves them in the car with the window cracked instead of bringing them to heists. Man wants a partner and kids so bad, he puts up with the most annoying people you've ever seen... He hates them so much...

I can't stop thinking about the B-plot in "Pup In the Air" of Birdbrain trying to keep his deposit on the house he rented, but his henchmen just keep making terrible choices-

- Every time I think about how Owl's name is Terry, it just cracks me up. I don't think Birdbrain knows Owl and Bat have first names because the only two things they ever say are "Who?" and "Where?" so they can't communicate who they are as people.

- Also, shout-out to the commitment to Bat being blind. Unclear if he uses echolocation... He just kinda runs around. Why on earth does he have a gun?

Bonus screenshot to highlight Bat's gorgeous wing design:

- Why don't Owl and Birdbrain get feathered wings? DO they have feathered wings? I assume they don't, because Owl flies like this:

And we know Birdbrain can't fly, but his arms don't become wings either:

- Obsessed with Snaptrap having the power to erase minds and the only time he uses it is when wiping the minds of critics who were mean to his dancing clone.

- Some of these hero-villain relationships are so good... Dudley broke The Chameleon out of the holding cell so they can enter a two-person contest. Dudley pretends he's been poisoned and The Chameleon just goes along with it because it makes him look like a cool villain. Kitty gets dance lessons from Snaptrap... Dudley and Snaptrap were roommates... Snaptrap dated Dudley's mom... Dudley dated Birdbrain... They are so goofy.

- Speaking of Dudley dating Birdbrain, that episode cracks me up for many reasons, but one of them is definitely "Dudley getting in the way and being a pain even when he's trying to do his best job being sweet and helpful." "I'm blowing kisses~ And now they're hitting you~" /starts jabbing his fingers all over Birdbrain while Birdbrain's driving

- Can't stop thinking about how much I love Larry. Him and the evil crew he pulled by being a silly brother-in-law <3 I wish they would've delved into the Larry & Snaptrap are brothers-in-law thing in-show (It was only confirmed in outside trivia iirc), but... them.

He sit:

This would make a great "Draw the squad" meme, actually.

Oh, I just looked it up to see if I could find a source (because it was years ago that I read this fact and I suddenly worried it wasn't real). No direct source link, but here's what I found on the Wiki:

I've always assumed that means he's married to Pat since she's the only confirmed sister Snaptrap has-

But like, I think about this all the time... The Snaptraps are canonically a crime family, so did Larry know what he was getting into? Are they on good terms? They're not divorced. Is it a forbidden love? I still want a huge rivalry between the rats and the shrews... It would be so funny...

We know Snaptrap and Francesco share a bunk bed (or at minimum, a room with bunkbeds in it). I assume Larry goes home to see his wife, right? We know she's an actual successful criminal who thinks her brother is a failure, so, like... why does she let her husband hang out there where he's being tormented daily?

I watched the episode where Snaptrap gripes that Larry's face scares off girls, but like... that's so funny. Is it because he's married? Some of the other members of D.O.O.M. - like Ollie - are sad that girls don't talk to them, but Larry doesn't, like... ever discuss that. I wish he would've bragged about being married. I think it would drive Snaptrap up the wall. Maybe he does. I really wish we would've seen Larry at the Snaptrap family reunion. Larry, your wife...

I doodled Larry with his Murray hair because it's cute when he ties it back :)

- It will never not be funny that when Larry defected and founded his own league of villains, he broke the entire crimefighting system by refusing to call in advance to tell T.U.F.F. what he was about to steal. Overnight sensation. Everybody hates him for that.

- Once upon a time, I joked that Larry probably worked with his brother-in-law instead of his wife because Snaptrap's crimes are smaller, so Larry probably gets out of jail sooner and can spend more time with the kids, house, etc. Knowing what we know about what a meticulous planner he is when he takes over, I think that sounds about right. It's all one big, elaborate thing... That's very Larry.

- There are so many little moments of the Snaptrap-Larry hatred I enjoy, like how they play word games together and Larry just gets in his face about it. Larry rarely communicates directly with T.U.F.F. (barring the episode he's his own villain), but in "Girlfriend or Foe," he jumps on the call just to brag about how he's beating Snaptrap in the game and I think that's fantastic. Even back in "Share-a-Lair," they were playing word games.

- In the truth syrup episode, Snaptrap admits he doesn't actually hate Larry, but he's hard on him because he thinks Larry has the most potential to be evil... but Larry straight-up confirms that he's been putting black widows in Snaptrap's gym bag. It's so funny to me... Snaptrap is mean in predictable ways, but do not mess with Larry. He'll get you back.

- I like how they went on a gameshow where Snaptrap had to guess Larry's secret desire, and it was-

The reason they lost out on their free vacation to Maui was because Larry stuck a rattlesnake in Snaptrap's pants at the airport and they couldn't get on the plane. He just can't help himself... He hates him so much. I just love them. He sit...

Why does Larry just have access to rattlesnakes and cobras? What does he do in his spare time?

- I like when Snaptrap breaks out of the holding cell to get snacks and then he goes back. That's always great.

- I love how committed Mikey is to being president of the Beast welcoming community. He has ONE JOB and he's going to do it. He loves his gift baskets. What do you mean Muckledunk's biggest export is silent whistles and they sell 9 per year? What.

- Everything Mikey says is fascinating to me. Also, within the first ~60 seconds of knowing him as a character in Episode 1, you get so much... He's an extravert, he does his research, he knows his town history, he plans ahead, he gets excited when he doesn't mess up his prepared speech, he's savage for no reason... It's great. Flawless character introduction.

- Like... Just the entire dynamic of "Bunsen is the first Beast to come to human school - and he's a member of a species known for eating humans - and it's on Mikey to make him feel welcome, not just as a fellow student but as an authority figure" is really interesting to me. Most of Bunsen's friends throughout the series are Beasts, which makes sense- Bunsen's actually pretty shy. Like... you wouldn't guess it by looking at him and his role as comic relief, but he's definitely less social than Mikey.

This screenshot just tells you the whole series dynamic:

It's Mikey and Amanda at each other's throats and Bunsen anxious in the background. SO funny. I also watched "My Gym Partner's a Monkey" years ago (and a little bit of "Squirrel Boy"), and both those shows lean into the "human is the comedic straight man and the non-human is the wild one" vibes.

But no... not Bunsen Is a Beast. It's Mikey who's the energetic, off-the-wall wild card. Bunsen just lives here. He's straight-up just a nerd who got sent to human school. Love that for him. Mikey's driving this car, but Bunsen keeps him from plowing into buildings and lakes.

Literally your best defense against Mikey is that when he gets too excited, he faints. This happens in multiple episodes.

Bunsen has such incredible "Perfectionist, told he's mature for his age" vibes... In Episode 1 when he almost eats Mikey, he whimpers, "Sorry, Mikey... I failed to co-mingle..." Everything in Bunsen's plot line comes back to "If you screw up, we can kick your whole species underground again." That's so much for a little guy. Ugh. My heart. I think he'd get along fantastically with Hazel. Mikey would be a lot for her.

- Every time Mikey and Bunsen try to say something in sync, but fail to do so, it's funny to me...

Your honor, this is a show about friends and kindness...

- I totally forgot the person Amanda invited to school for the "someone you wouldn't normally hang out with" event was someone with a restraining order against her. That's objectively hilarious.

- Cracking up at Mikey asking Amanda for break-up advice. Also, Bunsen warned him that if he tried to have a break-up talk with Willa, she might just eat him, and Mikey did it anyway. There is one thing this boy will not compromise on and it is "I am not comfortable with this. Stop coming onto me." Love that for him.

- I forgot Mikey got invited to a dance by Bunsen's cousin and he was so terrified he stopped breathing.

- "Extremely horny rich girl" & "Guy who will lure her in with promises of kisses and then dodge at the last second so something horrible happens to her" is such a funny combo. Mikey-Amanda rivalry, you will always be famous to me... You cannot get Mikey to accept her flirtations... He would sooner chew his arm off, I think.

- I can't believe Mikey threw Amanda off Santa's sleigh. Flying above the city. Really high. On purpose. Of course he would.

- I always forget Bunsen's house was just, like... built in the middle of the decorative roundabout piece.

- Mikey sending his own clone to run his conspiracy club is still one of the funniest plot set-ups I've ever seen. I didn't see it coming because Mikey was bringing in clones for every club he's in, but... yep. I can see how this went wrong. Mikey is such a terrible dad to his clones; it's so funny. He just dunks on them every time he sees them.

- I like how Nerd Mikey is equally as unhinged as regular Mikey. Logically he would be - He's a clone - but what is going on inside his head... Sir, you can't just leave school property to go back in time...

- What do you mean Mikey is in the "Amanda Stares at Mikey and Makes Tiger Growl Sounds" club. I mean, by default he kind of has to be there, but that's so funny...

- Totally forgot Mikey wants to write a song called "Hey Mom- Get Out of My Room." His hatred for his clingy parents plagues him constantly.

- Amanda- "I'm going to watch Munroe change his shirt. Raowr." / Mikey, screaming- "I will DIE in this shirt!"

- It is SO funny that even if you ask him directly, Bunsen will avoid questions about whether he eats people, but his first instinct to smelling Mikey covered in barbecue sauce is to tell him he smells delicious, and his first response to his BFF Wolfie suggesting they eat Mikey on a plate of noodles is "That does sound good." Hey. what.

And Wolfie knows Bunsen's hesitant about it, because he blatantly calls Mikey delicious, removes Bunsen's eyes, and tries to eat Mikey while Bunsen's looking for his eyeballs. Later he actually does get him in his mouth. And Amanda. omfg Wolfie...

We literally get to see a health class short film that's like "Let's talk about people-eating urges and feelings of guilt that come with it!" omg. Bunsen, why is that in your house? Why was that already on your person? Do you wanna talk about it?

I wonder if BiaB would've done better if it had been played with Invader Zim vibes. These shows have similar energy, but Zim has the colors and music to match its dark vibe. BiaB also gets pretty dark, but the colors and music make it so peppy and cheery... I think that's silly. You can tell it's got FOP energy (Sweet on top, horrifying underneath).

- Bunsen has so much anxiety about following rules even when they're in direct conflict to his happiness... He is doing his best...

- Forgot Bunsen is personally offended to learn that humans don't give Santa gifts, because Beasts give gifts to their present-giver. He just has such a strong sense of personal justice and loyalty...

- I cannot get over Bob slowly fading from the timeline, but continuing to report the news anyway. He's flickering, gradually losing his legs, but he acts like nothing's wrong.

They brought him a stool because his legs got disintegrated... They throw things through his head..

- I can't believe Amanda almost put a kitten in a woodchipper.

- Mikey's parents are so overprotective, distant, and weird about him, they canonically have not given him The Talk about where babies come from. He doesn't know his middle name.

- I LOVE how Mikey's relationship with his parents is just, like... him screaming that he wants them to back off and let him grow up. They just spy on him with a drone. "Stalked by his parents" is such a silly thing to do with your main character.

- They leave him at home to fend for himself, but still micromanage what he's allowed to do (Ex: He can own a llama and a scary praying mantis, but not a dog). Heavily implied they avoid their son because germs. There is no doubt in my mind they will continue spying on him when he's an adult. That's rough, buddy.

- Is Mikey a kleptomaniac? He just steals things... Amanda's dog. A shopping cart. He took some guy's lamp for no reason. He just took it on his way out.

- It's not like "Mikey is a massive guilt-tripper" was new to me, but it's still SO funny to watch him blatantly take advantage of Cosmo and Wanda even after Timmy repeatedly asked him to stop wishing. Timmy gave him an inch and he fought for a mile.

- Perfect depiction of the Mikey-Timmy relationship:

Mikey, please stop running Cosmo and Wanda ragged- / I totally hear you. No <3

- Mikey is older, but Timmy is unquestionably the more sensible and responsible one of this duo. Which is horrifying.

iirc, the "Beast of Friends" crossover took place when Season 10 was airing, though it's probably pre-Chloe since she wasn't there. Consider: Timmy resisted Chloe as a godsister because Mikey had already turned him off to the idea of sharing fairies.

- I totally forgot Mikey got sent to the future once. I can use this...

- Timmy calls Mikey "kid who's older than me" because Mikey didn't like him just saying "kid"

- Mikey adored the crossover. I think Timmy's glad he didn't have to hang out with Mikey any longer than he did. Just in August, I scrapped my "Best. Day. Ever." prompt for the 130 which was about Mikey running Timmy ragged, but... I kinda want to bring it back. Mikey is exhausting. He will break you down.

- I like how Mikey was excited by everything Timmy showed him, but Timmy was uneasy about Bunsen's house; it's Timmy who took charge of trying to explain things as realistic to his confused dad. Mikey literally did not care if people were put off.

- I still think it would be funny if Mikey and Dev switched drones for a day. Also, you'll see this in my Dale character profile on the sideblog, but my headcanon is that Mikey grew up and went into security with a pinch of robotics on the side (taking after his parents), so he just, like... bothers Dale. They met as kids when Mikey tagged along on an installation trip for the Dimmadomes, playing into my long-time headcanon that all the rich people in Dimmsdale have wild security systems because of Mikey's parents. Dale does not like him. Mikey's been mailing Dale Waffle House coupons for 20 years. There are no Waffle Houses in California.

- Mikey would snap Peri like a toothpick. He's just a lot and I cannot imagine a world where Peri has the patience for him.

Anyway, thanks for reading my liveblog. Silly, silly...

[starryoak]

Thoughts on Undertale Yellow

Just wanted to write some thoughts down on this amazing game! Spoilers below, obviously.

I’m going to split my thoughts into the positive and negative, because while it is an amazing game, there were a couple pretty significant flaws that IMO brought down the experience.

THE POSITIVES

This game positively oozes creativity and passion from every pore. The fact that I’m going to be complaining about some things shouldn’t take away from the fact that this is an amazing game that took 7 years to develop, and clearly shows in how polished as a product it is. The criticisms, when they come, should be taken as just a part of life; nothing can be perfect, and I don’t think that pretending that a game is flawless does it any favors. It’s certainly better than I can do, just for releasing a finished product, lmao.

This game is visually gorgeous. Obviously it’s still a pixel art game in the style of the original game, so it keeps itself simplistic, but there are so many little animations throughout that are so smooth and charming that I really was impressed. Genuinely just very pleasing to look at, from the animation to the character designs, which fit perfectly in to Undertale’s universe, which I found very impressive.

The game’s humor is very reminiscent of Undertale, and I was really surprised by how much the incidental dialogue and setpieces felt like they would fit right in with Undertale’s humor, while still being original and clever in its own right.

The game’s worldbuilding was really impressive to me, it felt like the Dunes fit perfectly into the Underground in such a natural way, the lore of the Wild East, I really loved the underlying story of how it used to be the Meadows before the Mines uncovered a massive swelterstone, a giant heat generating gemstone that slowly turned it into the desert it is in the present. It felt very true to the melancholy nature of the Underground and how the Monsters are running out of space, wishing on gemstones in the ceiling because they’ve never seen the stars, it just really clicked.

The story is just. So good. Well, up until a point. I’ll get to that in the negatives, but like. 80-90% of the story is just full of the same infectious fun that Undertale itself had, Starlo’s antics and getting accosted into being his deputy, the rest of his gang, the Wild East in general, game just really gets you to love these characters so much. And in the Neutral Route, killing Starlo and how it leaves his family worried about his sudden disappearance, how nobody really suspects you, it’s a very good gut punch! Starlo is definitely the highlight of the game, but he’s not the only one, just one that really was plain to see.

The ending and final boss of the Neutral Route is just. Very brilliant. Yes, technically a retread of Omega Flowey from canon, but it’s just so good at it that it can really get away with it, it takes it even a little further than canon in very fun ways. The art is just fucking gorgeous in every way, I’m so impressed by what they pulled off with that. Bravo, bravo.

In general, there are so many little details that really shine in the different playthroughs, like El Bailador’s fight in Merciless reverting to the traditional bullet box gameplay instead of the Guitar Hero style it normally takes, stuff like the long final chase in the Steamworks changing from Axis chasing you to you chasing Axis in Merciless, the music in battles being unique for each area and also if you’re in Pacifist/Neutral vs Merciless, it’s incredibly impressive and really helps set the mood.

Most of all, what I found the best part of the game, and really the most interesting and amazing, was the innovation in the battles! Undertale did a lot of fun things, but I felt like this game really pushed the limits of what I was expecting from the bullet box gameplay style. Stuff like aforementioned fight with El Bailador’s Guitar Hero gameplay and the way his fight changes in Genocide, Starlo’s lasso holding you in place and how you have to snap the rope, not just the unique bosses; even the regular enemies have incredibly clever attacks, like Goosic’s attacking in the same side of the bullet box as the music is coming out of your speakers/headphones, genuinely just very interesting and clever. They clearly thought a lot on how to innovate the gameplay of Undertale, and it really worked. Incredible, really, cannot praise the gameplay enough.

THE NEGATIVES

This is most likely going to be an unpopular opinion, but I did not like Martlet, and she’s such a major character that not liking her is a problem when we spend so much of the game with her. For one, the audio clip used for her dialogue was grating, but that’s really a minor quibble. The more important reason I disliked her is that it felt like the game was constantly yelling in my face “LOOK HOW FUN AND QUIRKY THIS CHARACTER IS (: DON’T YOU FIND HER CUTE AND/OR RELATABLE?”. There were times when she was enjoyable, but the overall experience felt like they were trying to recreate Papyrus without really succeeding at making her an interesting or unique character. The fact that she’s the final boss in the Merciless Route feels very… predictable. Like, there wasn’t really a possibility that she wouldn’t be, y’know? They couldn’t avoid it, what with the decision to parallel canon, they were going to have to have someone be Undyne the Undying/Sans. The thing is, the boss itself isn’t bad, because as mentioned above, the actual mechanics of this game are brilliant, but narratively it felt very expected. Plus, I don’t really remember if they ever adequately explain why she has the serum in the first place, it feels like it raises too many questions.

As I said, like 80/90% of the story is really good!… but the thing is that the entire last bit of the Pacifist ending just completely collapses in on itself, and it’s really such a shame, because the rest of the story is dragged down by it. What’s such a shame is how it felt like it was going somewhere, I was incredibly invested right up until the reveal of the tapes, and the somewhere it was going is just. So disappointing. In some ways it was inevitable, what with Clover’s canon fate being what it is, but it felt like, just like with Martlet, they really stumbled over themselves in their desire to parallel canon’s plot beats. It feels like they wanted to copy the original Pacifist ending, with the Amalgamates and all, and it just wasn’t a good fit for the story whatsoever. Part of it, admittedly, is just that I disagree with their take on Boss Monsters not being specifically Asgore and Toriel’s species, but the thing is, it’s not just that. Chujin in general just feels like a massive tumor on the plot once he stops being a robotics engineer and suddenly for some reason is a generic mad scientist who suddenly has the knowledge and ability to be experimenting on Not!Determination and suddenly is a Boss Monster and suddenly we’re supposed to care about him and it just all becomes a muddled mess, built around living up to twists that it can’t successfully emulate because they were a one time success.

Ceroba is just not compelling as a character! The thing is, actually, I’m lying, she’s compelling and fun and interesting as a character right up until they actually reveal what her deal is, and suddenly it’s just, like. Well, suddenly I don’t like her all that much. Her husband specifically asked her not to involve their daughter, and then her daughter asks nicely and she does? Her daughter is like six or something! Why on Earth did Ceroba listen to her? I saw people say that, well, lots of Undertale characters have done bad things, but the thing is that those bad things are either not taken very seriously by the narrative, like how everyone tries to kill Frisk before they make friends and are forgiven, or make logical sense for them to do, like Asgore’s whole deal. Ceroba and Kanako’s story is in a unique cross section of ‘taken seriously by the narrative’ and ‘makes no logical sense to do’, where it completely destroyed my investment in her as a character, where suddenly she’s a woman who killed her daughter through her own stupidity against her husband’s wishes, while claiming she’s fulfilling them. And in another world, that could be compelling, but the game doesn’t seem to recognize that’s what she did, so I’m just left feeling numb to her entire deal, and given she’s the final boss with multiple cutscenes where I’m supposed to be invested in her plight, that’s not a good thing!

This is just a completely unfair nitpick, but what’s up with Ceroba’s name? The rest of her family and her last name follow Japanese style, if not specifically real names, but her first name is just. Gibberish?

This one is more nitpicky, but it ties into the final problem of the game, where felt like the 5 previous children didn’t get mentioned enough for being the entire motivation Clover has for being here. They’re mentioned in passing several times, but it feels like they could have done more with it. This is mostly a minor problem, though, it felt much more like something that needed just a little tweaking, rather than a huge flaw or anything. But the problem is that at the end, it really doesn’t feel like Clover has a compelling reason to give up their SOUL, and I wish there was something more to justify it when they just spent a huge fight to not give up their SOUL to Ceroba, y’know? It just feels like the game falls apart at the end because they couldn’t figure out how to end it while keeping to canon.

The thing is, the complaints I have don’t detract from how fun the game was or how much I loved most of the story, but I just had to share them because they were weighing heavily on my mind. My complaints are so long because it’s easier to put into words what I disliked, when going into every little thing I liked would take much longer and feel more like a liveblog of the game itself.

[theinsanecrayonbox]

Sabretooth War part 10

alrighty kids, we are FINALLY at the end of this mess. we all agree it won't be satisfactory, but let's see just how much of a let down it really is

It was 28* pages. the whole book was 55 pages. an average issue is 22 pages. i get it, it's the 50th milestone, and we're also doing the Wolverine anniversary, but sill... (*there are several splash pages/2-page spreads so my reader read those as singular pages, so it might more more??)

also, this is kinda one of the most lack luster out of the covers for this saga. it's not that engaging, it's kinda stock posed (especially for them) and it's just...not cool? we're at issue #50, we're doing anniversary stuff, this should be more appealing

we pick up where we left off; Logan vs Graydon on the beach while the Pit Gang and X-Force have ringside seats. Graydon saying his only goal in life is to be a wiener; yes, that's fine. Logan admitting he's a terrible parent after it's pointed out; that is good. Logan trying to talk Graydon into being a good guy; no. when Logan has done nothing but tear down Victor into being something pure evil that has no chance of redemption, as an immutable taint on existence itself, why would he assume anything connected to him could be anything good? do i think that; pft no, but i think Graydon's a wiener. but we're not talking about my perception, we're talking about Logan's and everyone in-universe. they all believe that the Creeds are vile and should be erased, that every bad action they have ever committed, no matter the reasoning behind it, is punishable. Graydon should NOT be exempt from that idea (not to mention he IS that terrible, deserves that treatment, and has NEVER tried to be anything other than that)

oh shutup, it would indeed

oh...never mind, the wiener boy is taken out IMMEDIATELY WITH NO FANFARE OR ANYTHING. WHY DID WE DEVOTE PLOT TO HIM IF HE'S USELESS AND WORTHLESS??? you built him up to be a big bad, but nope, he died like a wiener like he always does. i'd be less mad about this if we hadn't devoted such a big deal to his return and betrayal and yaddayadda. because you know what; those pages could've been used to develop the SabreSquad, or to delve into Vic's psyche better, or heck even give the Pit Gang or X-Force more to do (yes i'd've been hap[pier to have given more time to make the OTHER superfluous parts more important). but no, we have Victor's biggest regret in life show up to highlight his own shortfalls and vulnerabilities...to just get unceremoniously stabbed and dead yet again. he made no impact on anything, aside from a board wipe that could've been completed with those idiotic Stark Sentinels.

there is indeed no justice in this world

Logan's line could be impactful of we'd ACTUALLY took the time to point out the times he HAD CARED about people, and contrasted that against how his acre for them were their ultimate doom. we BRIEFLY touched that with Birdy, Holo, Bonnie, and heck even Graydon; he cared for each of them, and as a result they each died...and in the case of Graydon he sacrificed his own humanity to save him from hell only to see wiener boy not make something better of himself; with that second chance but just perpetuate the Creed curse of self hate taken out on the world enmass. seeing THAT should've been heart breaking. instead we get a dick measuring contest

but see that's the thing, this isn't about Victor's tortured psyche and his fall from grace, this is about "those with the powers make the rules" and "might makes right" and "unhinged animal vs the calm of man" or something, because of those lines up there, "You got no powers little man" "I don't need powers to put you down"

their powers are being animals; Victor has always embraced and not denied his nature, while Logan has always had to "fight the animalistic urges" and thus has made himself the pariah that all love. now he doesn't have that crutch; he has no powers, he is just man, while Victor has looked inward and rejected his own humanity to embrace nothing but the animalistic rage and power that brings. it is savagery vs civilized. but it's not done well, not at all...

good ra that was all before the opening text crawl X.x

last cast lineup, and Arkady is still absent despite being on screen, while Aurora and Northstar are still present despite not being in the book since part 2 or 3

no, nothing on the island works, where have you been

who are you to talk Mr OC, we still don't know you, none of us know you and none of you actually know Victor

i can't...i can't keep commentating on every little thing...

oh that's nice, a panel of Laura and Arkady fighting together to distract and calm me down (does he not have a ponytail?? is that one of my hair styles???)

we leave the B Teams to deal with the remainder of the Sentinels, so Victor and lure Logan away from them to go fight alone in the jungle. ok, fine, movement, logical progression for the stupid in progress. ok. we're in the Blob's tiki bar i think? fight scene, mysterious tunnel, mk......to the Council of Dumb's chambers. wtf. actually you know what, no, idc; the island is fallen into ruins, screw logical architecture. fine, Council chamber

he's mind melded with the Pit. i...fine. makes enough sense, eat Logan now please

he's not gonna stay down there though is he?

oh look another panel composed to distract and calm me down strategically placed (who's watching me????)

so yeah, Logan's gets eaten by the Pit and internal monologs about how Vic isn't playing fair by doing this now (baby >< )

the skewed panel borders are a very nice subtle unnerving detail; kuddos layout team

that aside, interesting that that's Zora/Silver Fox II

i am actually into this sequence...to bad it's cut far too short

i'll assume it's because of Tom they got pulled out, but where'd Laura's backup mask come from?

oh no it was the Cuckoo. that's dumb. you're dumb

X-Force all gangs up on Victor while eth Pit Gang sits back and smirks, and Cuckoo is going all holier and mightier than thou until Logan says "leave him to me"...

oh and he has his powers back because the Forge Armor had a Deus ex Machina in it to fix him. so once again, another highly built up plot point of super duper importance is just swept away pointlessly

splash page of pointlessness!

and another

sadly that's how the writers think about YOU Victor

so Logan cuts off Vic's hands, then move sin for the killing blow with the internal monolog being all "this is for my friends and family and all the people you ever hurt blahblahblah"

why is Graydon on the symbolic revenge reflection? he was a BAD GUY WHO WANTED TO MURDER YOU. i just...i can't, this is dumb

and he's dismembered. i'm not going to show that because i have used far too many images already and it's not even that intriguing. Logan is standing over a dismembered pile of Victor with a satisfied smirk while the B Teams stand behind him also smirking, and there's an angelic triumphant glow as if this is all super good and was super hard. all hail our infallible savior Wolverine >>

epilogue time; Cuckoo and sitting on a cliff with Quinthead (don't worry he gets better), the Pit Gang fly off into the sunset (don't worry Pya comes back), Logan stares into said sunset internal monologuing about how Krakoa was the best ever and he's learned to love again or something (i can't be bothered to care at this point) before looking to X-Force and taking up leadership of them for the umpteenth time.

SO as a FINALE to this whole 10 part saga...it's about on par with the rest. overly graphic for the sake of unpleasantness, and sacrificing actual character depth to make Logan look like the best eva and Vic is the ultimate evil that needs to be put down foreva and eva. as a Finale to the Lavalle trilogy...it's terrible. it was completely mishandled, so many threads started and left loosely hanging. what little character depth it had was probably from Lavalle, but he should've touched it more. this was a story that we've done before; we didn't tread on any new ground. the biggest new thing was the over the top gratuitous gore fest and that is not appealing. being unpleasant for the sake of being unpleasant is not appealing.

and honestly, i'm sticking to my conspiracy theory that Arkady was supposed to not appear in this at all. the panels in this issue were less drawn in afterwards to me, BUT his contributions were very nil and his inclusion did not add anything.

uhg i have half this issue left for just bonus Logan celebration stuff...do i care enough to do it? ok, sure, summaries though

Mutants on the edge of town: well it looks 97ish. some soda shop jerk kid has a Sentinel in hid barn...i find it very sus that doesn't know/recognize it as a Sentinel, but whatever. Logan and Jubes check it out and it wakes up so fight. interesting that it could detect heterochromia and defines THAT as a mutation worth capturing, thought it went after X-genes. but it blows up, the end. it's a fine enough bonus story i guess.

Endless: ah Percy, still at it with the overlt dramatic internal monolpg that sounds super deep and important but is just not. however i give you, he's Logan your life is one giant circle because we must repeat reapeat repeat.

oh...ok i know i said no pics for these, but this...this i liek and approve. you actually acknowledge that Arkady has become a good boy and that Beast is terrible. i...ok i give you a point for this sequence, thank you.

other than that, it's kind of an even more abridged Life of, but also the goodbye letter i guess since this is Percy's last run with Logan (except it's not)

then there's his actual good bye letter. and then solicits for other wolverine to read until the new titles launches in Sept with some previews that look very similar to Origin...repeatrepeatrepeat

so once again, the easiest summery: Victor is dead-dead yet again (he was decapitated, so there's a chance it'll stick (but Savage wasn't decapitated...) ), Arkady isn't dead and still with X-Force, Daken is dead-dead, Laura 2 is not dead, Graydon is dead yet again, and Logan sucks. the end

now to wait for August with the anniversary special *dead*

[quillyfied]

Hellaverse Theories: Helluva Boss S1E7 and S1E8

Welcome to Quilly’s Hellaverse Theories, where I overthink the entire Hellaverse! Finishing up Season 1 of Helluva Boss with this post! As always, spoilers for the s2.5 trailer speculation and we all know the O in Blitzo is silent so let’s get on with it, assuming the severe weather that’s passing through now lets me! (Spoiler alert: it kind of did. Halfway. You'll see later on.)

Starting with s1e7:

This is not one of my favorite episodes, but it does have so much good character development and theory meat to chew on, so I will push through the secondhand embarrassment and sadness. Just for you, lovelies.

I wonder what the sigil Loona activates goes to; it’s too squiggly for Stolas’. But the focus on it also makes me think it’s foreshadowing. Just gonna file that away with my “IMP and Stolas are legally boned” theory. Maybe one of the cameras in the DHORKS facility managed to get a look at the page of the grimoire that gets them back to Hell. Hmm. The outline of the portal is also red flames, which feels…different? Heck. I haven’t been paying much attention. But I’m pretty sure I thought grimoire portals were more purple and sparkly. Maybe that’s just Stolas’ portals.

Blitzo inviting himself along to MnM’s dates is one of his more underrated unhinged behaviors, imo; would love to see it pop up in fics more (and the ones that play with it, you have my sword and my heart). But he’s SO EXCITED. It breaks my heart for him a little. Moxxie has every right to be mad about it and frankly he really should be; go find and celebrate your own boring as fuck monogamy, Blitzo :P

Alright, 1:56 we start seeing the elevators that get Hellborn folks around the rings of Hell—and whaddya know, it matches up with the ring models that pop up in the background of Hazbin Hotel. Gosh I hope these two shows still exist in the same universe. It just makes me a little happier to think about. Oh, look, an Exorcist angel on the back of the newspaper Blitzo is hiding behind. Classic. Though it seems the Loo Loo Land fire is still front-page news. Is Hell for Hellborn really that boring? Or is it an old newspaper? Well, either way, it’s most likely just an easter egg rather than an earnest thing so eh.

A delightful detail: even the dumpsters in Lust are neon-lit XD (or possibly UV reactive? Unclear).

STOLAS MY SAD BIRD SON.

(Also lol at how Stolas and Blitzo are both looking for an Alejandro :P)

This episode also is really good at highlighting all the painful underlying cracks in Stolas and Blitzo’s situation as it stands: Stolas’ naïve romantic obsession, Blitzo’s general assholery in using Stolas to get in to spy on his employees and ignoring Stolas once he gets what he wants, the way they can’t really carry on a conversation, the mismatched desires, and that’s all BEFORE Fizz makes his grand debut and the night goes straight to the toilet for them. I don’t blame folks who protested at this point that Blitzo doesn’t care much for Stolas, because it sure doesn’t seem like it. All Blitzo does in public is gripe about him and forbid him from diddling his holes, and in private he’s thorough but not really emotionally engaged. Yet, there’s still the fumbling to describe their relationship in the Harvest Moon Festival and the whole Truth Seekers hallucination that places Stolas pretty high on Blitzo’s emotional radar. Stolas’ feelings are pretty unambiguous, but his life situation is anything but, at least as far as pursuing any kind of relationship with Blitzo goes. Would Stolas like that? Yes, I think he would. But he’s still married and still figuring himself out. Second adolescence, I’ve heard it described. So much about Stolas feels…stunted. Juvenile. Like a man who’s finally discovering himself and letting himself be who he wants and is rather than who he’s expected to be. But more speculation on that front later, because this necessary but horrific train wreck has to play out first.

He's putting Gabriella’s streak in his feathers, KILL ME HE WANTS THE FANTASY TO BE REAL SO BADLY. You know what else this show does really well? Debunking the inexperienced hopeless romantic’s fantasies. Which isn’t painful at all and doesn’t at all hit way too close to home I’M FINE IT’S FINE.

“This is our first real date, after all!”

“Oh, yeah…I guess this is, huh.”

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGK

Like do you all GET IT? Do you FEEL how painfully mismatched that is?? It makes me want to break down crying, because for sheltered kids who lived out their escapism in books and TV and thought life was going to go a certain way because that’s the way it is in all the stories, this reality check, while necessary, is SO PAINFUL. Blitzo is no Romeo (Alejandro?), he’s no knight swooping in on a horse to sweep a prince off his feet, he’s not the daring rogue charging in at the last minute to save his beloved from a terrible fate (yet, I see u s2.5 trailer). Blitzo is just a guy. A royally messed up guy, but a guy nonetheless. And it’s that guy that is still so worth loving, once Stolas can wrestle the fantasies out of his system, and unfortunately this episode is the hard knock his brain needs. And it’s the tenderizing that Blitzo might unfortunately need to break down his own shell and examine what he really wants, the behaviors that he’s stuck in but doesn’t want to be. We haven’t even GOTTEN IN THE DOOR OF THE CLUB YET and I am a WRECK.

Can you IMAGINE being that bouncer, throwing out this sleazeball, only for him to show up half an hour later with a FUCKING PRINCE on his arm?? Blitzo’s game is insane.

Shoutout to the imp waiter who preps Blitzo’s chair with books, you’re doing great sweetie. (I wonder if it would be more condescending to produce booster seats for imps and smaller demons, or less.)

Double shoutout to Stolas’ little butler imp, whose name I don’t believe we know but I’ve heard Pringles enough times to become attached to it, who is rightfully having the night of his life (eat it Blitzo, your game might be insane but it’s got nothing on this guy). I’ve only seen screenshots of this, it always navigates away too fast for me to notice, but I hit the pause button jackpot tonight, folks. Also interesting that imps and other Hellborn are allowed to intermingle as much as they want, it’s just the upper crust that aren’t allowed to mix. Which tracks, but it still surprises me at the mixture of surprisingly realistic and almost mundane fantasy racism and classism that this show is choosing to play with, for a comedy.

This is just. So painful to watch. Mostly Stolas’ overcompensation for Blitzo’s full detachment. Well, not FULL detachment; he does respond to Stolas’ questions, at least. But the way Stolas is full-on twitching and vibrating trying to be a good date while Blitzo is a terrible stalker…lol look his way indeed lol lol lol. “What made you decide to ask me out after all this time?” “UUUUHHHH—” And the way Stolas’ face just FALLS, ARGH. (Don’t worry, Blitzo, your vindication is coming—only it also sucks and we’re all weeping, it’s fine it’s fine it’s FINE.)

FIZZAROLLI!! I don’t remember when the penny dropped about Fizz’s scarring but I know when it did, I was kinda horrified. And like most people, I didn’t really care for Fizz and Oz, just based on how characters I was already fully on board with were reacting to them. Having the full picture now, I’m tickled that this is their introduction, because once again it’s putting the entire audience on the back foot about them and it’s GLORIOUS. Because Blitzo with the Loo Loo Land Fizzbot? Priceless, hilarious. Blitzo with the actual source? OOF. Wow. You can taste the juicy backstory already. And Fizz doesn’t disappoint; he’s a joy to watch work, even if his entire jester schtick seems so incongruous with the exclusive Lust Ring club atmosphere (which honestly should have been my first clue that something was going On there but I was bingeing it all in one go or as close to one go as I could get, sue me).

He's such a bitch though. He’s SUCH a bitch. He and Ozzie are SUCH BITCHES. LET MOXXIE SING HIS STUPID SONG AND MOVE ON, YOU INSECURE OVERCOMPENSATING WAFFLEHEADS XD (and I see all of you cringing audience members, INCLUDING Blitzo and Stolas, BUMP OFF ALL OF YOU)

I do have to wonder the timeline on all of this, though. Like. Assumptions can be made that Blitzo adopted Loona about five years ago, maybe a little more. Sometime after that, Blitzo met Moxxie, and they started IMP, doing contracts on folks in Hell. And Millie joined after that, and she and Moxxie have been married for a year now but no clue on how long they dated before that. Hope that flashback of Blitzo and Millie meeting might give us some insight.

…listen, though. Moxxie goes overboard on the “I love yous” and I start to agree with his stupid audience. Uuuuugh hang on need to just. Crawl under a rock until we get past this one part.

Listen, Ozzie might look more like a shiny Haunter than a chicken, but designing the embodiment of Lust as a giant cock was the absolute funniest move anyone could ever make. Well played, Viv. Well played.

What is it with Alex Brightman and vocalizing the instrument solos? Because I’m here for it. Trumpet vs Guitar Solo, who would win?

Fizzarolli has a lapel flower that squirts piss. Of course he does. Weirdo. I love him.

It’s also interesting that this gig allows Fizzarolli and Asmodeus to basically be all over each other and it’s more or less fine. I mean, they’re fooling absolutely no one in-universe who’s been watching them for literally years, but for first-time real-world viewers…idk, I know I thought nothing of it when I first watched, mostly bc I was worried about Moxxie (and shortly Blitzo), but they read as Boss and Comedic Sidekick for folks who aren’t paying much attention and don’t really know what’s going on. I also find Fizz’s color scheme interesting; his eyes are almost more green than yellow and his teeth are often colored sort of greenish or bluish, I assume to make them stand out from his skin, but I wonder if these color abnormalities add to why Ozzie calls him Froggie.

BLITZO STANDS UP FOR AND PROTECTS HIS PEOPLE. Whether they want him to or not, but he does it, even knowing that Fizzarolli is not gonna be happy to see him. That’s BRAVE, okay!! Especially when Millie is more than capable of standing up for her and Moxxie both.

I said it before and I’ll say it again: Fizzarolli reacts pretty cool under pressure here for seeing Blitzo for the first time in fifteen years. Makes me wonder if they’d been hearing about each other on and off during that time (probably from Barb? But we don’t have confirmation that Fizz is still in contact with her either, do we?), so it’s less jarring, but WOW this confrontation with further context really stings. Even without the context, the way it plays out between the two of them speaks of bone-deep resentment on Fizz’s side, his razzing from earlier cranked up a notch. And the spotlight being red…hm. Interesting color choice.

“Last I checked, your love life is a pile of shit” Fizzarolli the last you checked, you two were teenagers and Blitzo was in love with you, how bad could it have been :P Though I do think Blitzo and Verosika’s relationship might have had a public element that would have been pretty easy to track, all things considered; even if they weren’t dating when she was actually famous, with how badly she got burned and how public her arm tattoo is, I’m sure she rants about it whenever the opportunity arises.

That little glance to Stolas, though. Speaks of embarrassment to me, not wanting Stolas to see what’s about to happen.

Verosika IN THE LUST RING telling everyone Blitzo didn’t return oral, though? Low blow :P But!! But but but!! This is the second very interesting thing that Verosika says that hints at their relationship being messy and deep: “a reckless heartbreaking freak.” Reckless and Heartbreaking are not words you apply to an ex who was just shitty in bed. Those are words you apply to an ex who left a trail of destruction in their wake far beyond the emotional damages of a breakup. An ex who left you in a financial lurch and with a ruined credit score and no car, perhaps.

And the way Stolas rises, like he’s about to jump to Blitzo’s defense—poetry. Y’know what else is gonna be poetry? His song in Apology Tour. I’ve been observing the discussion back and forth on if Stolas is going to be singing to the theme of “BlitzO Sucks,” or if he’s going to sing whatever defense he didn’t get to come to here in Ozzie’s, and here’s my two cents: Stolas is going to be singing about himself and his feelings. His heartbreak at the hands of Blitzo, but even that heartbreak is multi-faceted, many-leveled, and not insignificantly Stolas’ own fault. If the short sassy robe scene is during Apology Tour (I’ve seen compelling arguments for it being during Mastermind/whenever CHERUB attacks in the Lust Ring), Stolas is going to be hurt and angry and likely have every right to be, but from what we’ve seen…Stolas is also in love. And he isn’t blind to how Blitzo lashes out when he’s hurt, thanks to Ozzie’s. Verosika got the young Blitzo, the reckless and inexperienced one who trashed her bank account and her heart and kind of stalled her own growth and progress, too. Stolas is getting the more mature Blitzo AS he matures, which is a special treat. But the bottom line for my prediction for Apology Tour: it’s gonna start out as pointing out all the things Blitzo did wrong, then morph into the things about Blitzo that Stolas loves. Something to bring out those big doe eyes that Blitzo only very occasionally gets.

Anyway back to the roast at Ozzie’s.

“Are you sleepin’ with an imp?” MIND YOUR BUSINESS, WACKFORD.

I also love how Fizzarolli can’t seem to resist getting up in Blitzo’s face. Because. Y’know. They haven’t seen each other’s scarred-up faces up close for fifteen years. Yikes.

Ozzie pointing out Stolas’ family feels especially unfair when nobody knows the situation, especially between Stolas and Stella. But that’s Stella’s particular curse: all she has is her beauty and her status thanks to marrying Stolas. Which could make for a very compelling character, if she had any depth to her at all (note that “compelling” and “likeable” are not the same thing); she’s Stolas’ “smoking wife,” she’s “so lucky she’s attractive”. And Stolas? He doesn’t even get that much recognition; he’s known for when he starts to misbehave according to Goetia standards and that’s not a good place to be in. And good GRIEF, that man needs a divorce and a proper talk with his kid more than he needs to be dicked down, but that’s why we watch: they’re messy. Swapping physical intimacy in for emotional intimacy and bungling it so badly it’s gonna take like seven musical numbers to untangle is PRIME ENTERTAINMENT. But Ozzie is absolutely right: from the outside, Stolas’ affair with Blitzo is the perfect spirit of lust, the swapping of the stable family life for the more exciting sexual escapades with a lower-class unstable lover and destroying all of their lives in the process. That’s the consequences of sin at its best. No wonder he’s so elated over it. Especially since stirring up other drama keeps the heat off of Ozzie’s own worst-kept secret.

Now there it is, the controversial menu face-hiding moment, which Blitzo clearly sees as shame at being seen with him, and Stolas…little more unclear, but a charitable interpretation is shame at himself being perceived, at his dirty laundry being aired out in public. But consider that he CHOSE to be out in public with Blitzo, knowing that he’s a royal figure and being seen at a sex club with someone who is not only not his wife, but on the bottom of the social ladder, is going to cause a stir if he’s recognized. We know later that Stolas really doesn’t command much authority or garner much attention, but he IS known. Really, it’s understandable that he’s overwhelmed in that moment; it’s one thing to try and leap to Blitzo’s defense, but defending himself? Stolas doesn’t do that. He doesn’t rock the boat, he doesn’t cause stirs, he doesn’t get noticed. And being noticed for public infidelity? Kinda heavy, no matter what his feelings towards Blitzo are. Unfortunately, his reaction does have consequences. Damage scraping against damage. Wheeeee.

GET HIM MILLIE. I love you Fizz, but you deserved that one.

(Also, I totally missed Ozzie’s reaction to Fizz being smushed my first go-round; it’s fun to watch him flap about it and snuggle his Fizzy better.)

I also love how the rest of Moxxie’s song still gets applause, and really sets the mood for Stolas to attempt to repair the damage done. Unfortunately…it ain’t that simple. Especially with Blitzo, who just came face to face with the victims of his two biggest mistakes and got torn to shreds by both of them, THEN shunned by his new kinda-sorta fuckbuddy whom he might have feelings for shut up it’s transactional—

Anyway. Blitzo calling it a mistake and wanting to leave immediately? Surprised he waited until the song finished. But I do notice that Helluva Boss’s pacing tends to let things happen, THEN let characters react (Moxxie getting tranquilized and falling down, THEN Blitzo reacts; Fizz getting blown up a second time and surrounded by fire and failing to escape, THEN Blitzo reacts; it’s a little unusual but I’m not mad about it tbh), rather than showing more instantaneous reactions? I’m not sure how to put it, maybe that doesn’t actually make any sense. Anyway. Disastrous date nearly over.

Someone recently pointed out that Stolas teleported there, and Blitzo still takes the trouble to drive Stolas home despite everything, and I wish more than anything that we could see that conversation. Blitzo clearly wants Stolas out and gone so he can have his breakdown in peace, but he deliberately prolongs their proximity? Did Stolas ask? Did Blitzo offer? I need to KNOW, dammit. Because Blitzo comes incredibly close to crying while trying to extract himself from the situation and I need to know whose decision it was to let it get to that point.

Stolas is pushy and weird and condescending but my goodness does he try—and stop trying when a hard boundary is enforced. This poor guy. Gets settled in for a depression dinner, then gets asked on a date out of the blue by his pining-while-fucking crush, the date goes about as wrong as it can go and that’s before the public roasting, and his every attempt to fix it, smooth it over, or do damage control is shut down. No wonder Stolas immediately looks into Asmodean Crystals after this: his fantasy is shattered, and the reality he’s left with is sobering. This is good! It’s also really depressing and kinda hard to watch, despite being very, very necessary! More details later when he has his musical number!

Hang on have to have an emotional moment about how very emotional Blitzo sounds during this entire scene, because he’s on the brink of tears THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION. He’s trying so hard to hold it together in front of Stolas. But these aren’t emotions Stolas gets to see yet. He will soon though! Yippee!

And this night isn’t over, folks! Now we get to see Blitzo’s apartment, where he scribbles his face out of pictures of loved ones and flips through happier memories until he cries for real! What fun! The music playing over this scene has a name, I know, because it also plays when Stolas is in the hospital and realizing that Blitzo isn’t coming to see him and their relationship is probably even more fucked than he realized, but the name is “heartbreaking pretty twinkly tune” until I learn what it is because guess what it does to me!!!!

I love that it’s his mom and his sister that finally causes the dam to break. Because. Yeah, that’s the base root of his problems, huh? Makes sense. Even not knowing yet what happened, the weight behind how Blitzo reacts to seeing that picture is palpable. Blitzo doesn’t cry. Blitzo gets over it. Blitzo is always okay. Blitzo doesn’t do things like feelings or boundaries or appropriate behavior. But Blitzo sure as hell does cry when he’s at the end of his emotional rope and unexpectedly faced with memories of loved ones we haven’t met!

AND THE NIGHT IS STILL NOT OVER!!

Time to switch gears to s1e8, which despite the tonal whiplash is actually a perfect follow up to the emotional train wreck of an episode that is s1e7:

(In the spirit of full disclosure, I usually do these posts all in one sitting; however, it’s the day after I wrote the first half because the severe weather last night was actually pretty bad and I had to stop watching and writing because I was keeping an eye on the local news channel. But! Weather has passed, work day is over, and I’m ready to jump back in after reading what I wrote last night! I’m just pleased it turned out so coherent, despite how scattered my attention was.)

Aww, Loona! She’s so pretty! And so nervous! And I love her contact photo for Blitz, it’s just. So good. (And so on-brand for family; my contact photos for my siblings are also horrendous selfies they took of themselves when I left my phone unattended :P)

And Gluttony! A new ring of Hell!! Huzzah!! I love the look of it; almost Seussical, in a way, but also kinda…domed? Like a greenhouse? The honeycomb texture of the sky (????) certainly makes it look artificial. I want to see more of it immediately. And also, how much unexplored wilds are there in the different rings? Because that is PRIME fandom fodder. My kingdom for an atlas of Hell, Viv. (Also, very interesting that Wrath is the ring that produces the food, not Gluttony; makes me wonder what Gluttony’s major export is other than Beezlejuice.)

WE. DON’T. DESERVE. TEX. BEST BOY.

Also, love Loona for continuing to try this party thing out, despite it clearly not being her comfort zone. At least there’s one introvert out there who can do it. I LOVE the different looks of all the hellhounds, too, but the way so many of them look like dogs really makes me start to question if hellhounds parallel dogs in terms of pedigrees and breeding practices, too, which…eeeeugh. The social connotations of that being permissible and then possibly the grounds of a hellhound social hierarchy are really gross but also interesting. Like. Does the massive bitch (call it like you see it, Loona) come from an established hellhound facility nicer than the shelter Loona came from, or an actual family? How are hellhound families structured? They clearly have a pack mentality, and the fact that Beelzebub is known for throwing hellhound-centric (not exclusive, certainly, there are SO many imps at her party too, like wow, it’s just imps and hellhounds and I don’t see any other demons really, which is FASCINATING) parties but nobody says a word about it against her that we can tell is pretty great, actually. Kinda seems like in a way Bee might be trying to make the best of a shitty situation for hellhounds, at least, but we don’t really have enough information about her or the full social context for hellhounds to give her that kind of benefit of the doubt. Idk. I think Bee’s signature is on Loona’s adoption certificate (hellhounds originate from Gluttony? Or just the shelter Blitzo got Loona from?), but the context for that…I don’t know it. Maybe someone else does.

I saw all the hype on Tumblr when Ke$ha dropped as the voice of Bee, and I had some vague context for its importance to Viv, but I forgot about it when I was watching the show for the first time (which is funny bc I kept watching for her in Hazbin Hotel like a dweeb), so I will freely admit I very nearly teared up when I heard her voice and I was cheering like a maniac. Hell yeah, Ke$ha.

Also. Anyone complaining about her design. You’re entitled to your opinions. Your wrong, wrong opinions :P

Now, looking at Loona’s reaction during that whole glorious musical number: painfully awkward and shy around Tex, vacillating between disbelief and some begrudging awe at Bee, maybe kinda confused about why everyone around her is going this insane for what Bee is offering them. I don’t have a lot of experience with Loona’s set of issues, what with her being a foster kid who made it through the system on her own and all the anger and trouble connecting with others that comes with, but I’m gonna shoot my shot at trying to understand it anyway: she doesn’t trust Bee. Which is smart, given that Bee is a Deadly Sin, and another way that I find her similar to Blitzo in that she doesn’t respect authority in any way, nor is she charmed by outward displays of generosity, so she has a pretty good vantage point for seeing through any potential bullshit Bee might be trying to blow her way (like Blitzo seeing through Mammon’s shit but Fizz being blinded by hero worship). What’s also really funny is that Loona has NO IDEA who Bee is this entire musical number, so everything Bee is doing is just SUPER WEIRD to Loona without context. She’s primed and ready to see through another person’s veneer, especially the veneer of someone throwing a lot of flashy magic and candy around.

The problem? Bee is pretty genuine, but it’s easy to see how her mannerisms and phrasing could come across as fake, especially given Loona’s earlier confrontation with poodle bitch. ESPECIALLY since Loona has a big ole crush on Tex and yeah RIGHT is Loona any kind of competition with QUEEN BEE OF GLUTTONY (she is, but I don’t think she knows that). Loona can’t just snap her head off, not just because she’s a Sin, but because she’s someone important to Tex, who is important to Loona. It’s an unbearably awkward situation to be in—especially if Loona was serious about Bee being hot (listen my shipper brain is always gonna go for it, Loona/Bee/Tex WHEN), which adds another layer of complexity to this already pretty treacherous social terrain.

And poor Tex, being in the middle of this and not knowing what to do!! Guy just wants his new friend and his girlfriend to get along. Totally understandable. (Though, is it just me, or are there elements of Tex being maybe a little embarrassed by how Bee is in social situations?)

(Also, Bee relating this story about Satan and confirming that the Sins aren’t related—makes me want to take this and rub it in the faces of people who start to get weird about “but the Sins and the Goetia are like cousins” NAH Y’ALL THEY AREN’T EVEN RELATED TO EACH OTHER, THEY AREN’T RELATED TO THE GOETIA EITHER, unless that’s background context from other sources I’m missing, but if it ain’t in the show, I’m not fussing about it yet tbh.)

(The Sins being Charlie’s honorary aunts and uncles is canon, though, you’ll take that one from my cold dead hands.)

And after this whirlwind of an interaction, Bee sweeps off to be a good hostess, and…Loona tries to run for it, overwhelmed and embarrassed and more than a little out of her depth. And despite the fact that Blitzo is in the middle of his own emotional breakdown for the night, YER DAMN RIGHT HE PICKS UP THAT PHONE WHEN SHE CALLS. BLITZO IS A GOOD DAD ALRIGHT. Loona wouldn’t call him if she didn’t trust him and need him on some level. I’M FUCKING EMOTIONAL ABOUT THESE FATHER/DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIPS OKAY VIV HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME, A DAUGHTER WITH A FATHER.

But the knowledge that Blitzo was a known figure in the party scene, well known enough that the Silent O hasn’t gotten around to the old crowd yet—how interesting! Verosika days, I wonder? Pre- and post-Verosika days?

Another way Loona and Blitzo are so alike: a little bit of positive reinforcement from the right person at the right time, and they just melt. And Loona using the puppy eyes: super effective, bless her for being willing to pull that out. (Though Blitzo was right on the money for not wanting to put more stress on himself for the night, as the rest of the episode will tell.)

Blitzo is sad. He’s vulnerable. He’s ABSOLUTELY IN THE RIGHT HEADSPACE TO GIVE A DEADLY SIN A RUN FOR HER KEGSTAND MONEY. Listen probably not good for his physical or mental health but I’m kinda really glad that he got the opportunity to not only humble a Sin, not only get crowd validation, but hear Loona freely admit to other people that that’s her dad. HE DESERVES IT OKAY. (I have deep wishes, if Blitzo ever winds up in court for what IMP stirs up on Earth, for Bee to show up as a character witness for him, because there is prophecy in the next episode about what Blitzo wants to do and be when he grows up, and having the respect of at least two out of seven Sins would certainly put him on the map for Most Famous Imp Ever.)

I do like how Bee and Tex immediately look concerned for him, though. They’re good people okay. Sometimes it’s nice to know that there are decent folks in Hell to get through a tough episode. Especially since Loona isn’t in a headspace to recognize that Blitzo isn’t okay—especially when it’s Bee telling her so. He’s always a mess, he’s always fine (she needs him to always be fine), and Bee better get off her territory already. And tbh, Bee has maybe a little bit of an overreaction (which is what I think Tex is more upset about, Bee flying off the handle than Loona snapping at her), but lest we forget: she’s still a Sin. A Sin who is trying to help and is getting some serious attitude out of seemingly nowhere in the process, but she’s in charge of this party, and she’s trying to be nice about it but if Loona doesn’t respond to niceness, maybe she’ll respond to a giant bitch. Which. She doesn’t. She responds to Tex being sad, because Loona cares about Tex in a way she doesn’t care about Bee (yet??? Unlikely but I can dream). And as much as I would LOVE to see Loona and Bee in an earnest fight…not like this, I don’t think. And not with Blitzo in need of support right now. Because ultimately, Bee and Tex aren’t wrong, Blitzo needs to be checked on. That’s just good party etiquette, even without the hosts of the party telling you to go check on your friends. Man just downed an entire barrel of Beezlejuice after having to be CONVINCED to stay at a party when he’s always trying to drag IMP to bars. Loona letting her jealousy get in the way of actually hearing what is being said to her is understandable, relatable.

And I love that Bee apologizes to Tex for throwing her weight around. Seems like a thing she doesn’t like doing. I personally do have a little trouble parsing if her apology is sincere or not, if this is a recurring problem or not, because there are hints that it might be, but until we get more of Bee and Tex, it’s gonna have to stay speculation, and I like living in a world where Bee and Tex are actually good together, y’know?

Anyway, time to check in on Blitzo, which. Phew. There’s nothing wrong with you, Dennis, your voice and design are both perfectly sexy. Also, I love both that there actually is an Alejandro (or a Monica?) present, that said person has a bite mark scar, AND that the frame I paused on has Loona literally punching their face in Disney Hades-style, this will feed me for weeks thank you.

Alright. Captions spell it Beelzejuice. I know it would most likely be spelled that way because Beelzebub. I know there’s a sign for it on the wall of the Hazbin Hotel bar, which I could go look up right now to get a second source for spelling. But Beezlejuice is more fun to say and I’m pretty sure Viv’s musical-obsessed ass did it on purpose. So I’m gonna stick with Beezlejuice. At least in my analyses; I might spell it correctly in my fics. Assuming I write any more.

ANYWAY. Loona being the responsible one is Excellent. Because she’s an adult, and while Blitzo is her dad in the ways that matter, she’s also more in a position to try and help him out too than an actual kid would be, and my good dude needs so much help right now. And look! Loona has friends now!! Tex’s plans worked, he’s too good for all of us and I hope we see more of him in the future (beyond just Apology Tour, where he's working and thus on the BlitzO Sucks squad).

Gonna get a little personal and also gross for a second, warning about vomit talk: I recently went through a medical procedure where the point of the meds I had to take to prep for it was to clean out my digestive system. The second dose made me throw up, which I haven’t done in years. It was two in the morning, and even as I was trying very hard not to spill my guts and then lost that battle, all I could think about was this scene, where Blitzo needs to hurl—he needs that cleanse, physically and spiritually (please note this isn’t an endorsement for purging, at least not physically). He goes through the physical cleanse (an inordinate amount of vomit, like wow), but I think he still hasn’t fully spilled his metaphorical guts in a way he needs to. He certainly bleeds off the valve a little, admitting to Loona that Fizz is right and he’s gonna die alone and wanting her and Millie and Moxxie and Stolas to all be there when he does. (“just a wrinkled old weathered waste” kinda hits me in the squishy emotional bits, a little too close to home) He later finds resolution with Fizz, tries with Barb but gets rejected, and really needs to with Stolas. But he’s an unstable volcanic mess of emotions ready to pop. Have I mentioned yet that I’m REALLY EXCITED for Full Moon?

Poodle Bitch’s name is Vikki? Or was that someone else? Heck.

This terrible night is over, everyone is home safe and sound (well…safe), and that’s a wrap on my season 1 theory posts! Thanks for being patient! Might get one more post out tonight; we’ll see. Gonna take a break and see what happens. Until then: later!

[irhabiya]

idk if this is smth you’ve seen too but i feel kind of uncomfortable with these posts lately that are expressing a kind of empathy for zionists but in particular jewish zionists. saying things like “well they were raised to believe this and we should be understanding of jewish generational trauma that has been weaponized by israel” and i do understand the need to allow people to change and whatnot but im also struggling to express how deeply uncomfortable that makes me feel. i don’t feel any empathy towards an adult who is supporting israel. the most pressing issue right now that we need to talk about is not allowing a space for zionists to grow and change their mind, it is saving the lives of palestinians and advocating for their sovereignty. and if someone was formerly a zionist but then changed their mind im sorry but i don’t want to hear their story and how great of a person they are for changing. yes it is a good thing that more people are supporting palestine but this is not the time and place to be clapping yourself on the back showing off how great you are. its frustrating as well because i am not jewish and i don’t know if its my place to say this or feel this way. i was at a JVP event lately for my university and someone said “i feel uncomfortable when non-jewish people discuss the zionism of jewish people.” i think i understand where this person is coming from but i also feel that zionism should be condemned across the board, not only by jewish people but by all allies to the palestinian cause. i don’t know why the onus has to be on jewish people only to denounce zionism. idk this was long and ranty, you don’t need to respond if you don’t want to, didn’t really have anywhere else to share it. hope you are having a good weekend

i understand what you mean. i feel the same way to a certain extent, but also i do sympathize a lot with antizionist jews who were previously zionists. i think it's important to highlight their experiences and stories especially because a lot of the time they can articulate from experience how invasive and perverted the israeli propaganda machine is and how it works. things like birthright trips and being picked alongside a bunch of other jewish youth to go to aipac conferences where they teach them how and why to lobby the us government are things that most others wouldn't be privy to. and their experiences and outspoken support for palestine are deeply important to break the association between zionism and judaism. it only really annoys me when that detracts from palestinian voices, which i don't see very often. palestinian-jewish solidarity is invaluable.

i don't feel any sympathy for zionist jews who are old enough to think for themselves tho lol i'm glad i haven't seen that in my circles