#don't get me wrong there are some really SHITTY main characters

[chenfordswopez]

I'm honestly starting to think that the Leia hate is just a "I hate her because it’s cool to hate a main character" thing.

[1296-very-good-year]

I know most ppl aren't scientists and don't really care about the Hextech plot itself, so I'm going to try and explain why the thematic flip season 2 made bothered me so much by comparing it to a theme most of Tumblr actually does care about. Here we go!!

Imagine a season 1 of a show with a heavy discussion about biological family vs found family. Our main character has a shit family. They're abusive and awful, and our MC leaves them to live/travel with their friends.

Lets say there is nuance here. The reason their bio family is abusive is for entirely sympathetic reasons, and maybe some of their behavior towards our MC is justified. They're still shitty, but maybe they could change? We see some of them take steps in this direction.

Let's also say some of the MC's friends are shitty too. The first season ends without a clear answer to the question: which family should the MC choose? Are there other options? To cut only the abusive ppl out of their life? Or, maybe some of these relationships can be repaired?

Let's find out next season!!

And then in season 2, not only is our MC beaten over the head by the narrative that their biological family was always the correct choice, it turns out there was never anything wrong with their treatment of the MC at all!

And then the MC learns that ALL of their friends were secretly horrible people, even the ones we never saw do anything wrong, and we're explicitly shown with alternate timeline bullshit that no universe exists where our MC can ever be happy with them. And also the MC has to kill themselves because they were so horribly wrong to even want to leave their bio family in the first place.

This is exactly how dramatic the shift in framing was in the Hextech plot.

Heimerdinger was NOT framed as correct in his stance against Hextech in season 1. Yet, in season 2 he is.

Jayce and Viktor's dream to create magic was framed as noble, if risky, and despite their flaws getting in the way, we saw they could overcome them and change for the better. In season 2, their dream was actually rotten from the start, and no universe existed where they could overcome their flaws enough to do a lick of good. The best they can do is die to prevent their creation from ending the world.

We saw that Hextech had the potential to be used for both good and bad, and then in season 2 it turns out it was ONLY capable of bad.

And as a "Science is capable of good" trope enjoyer, I fucking hated it!!!! Especially after being lured in by the nuance in season 1!! Thank you for your time!!!

[showtoonzfan]

Now that the episode is out officially, here’s my rant review of Oops!

PROS:

- Fizz and Ozzie were adorable and I honestly love them. Despite the sex jokes, you can tell they love each other for who they are OUTSIDE of sex. While I did wish we would have seen more, (like how Ozzie took him in and fell in love) they’re still adorable to watch. They’re the better version of Stolitz, can the show be about them instead?

- Brandon’s voice acting holy shit, he really knows how to sound like he’s in tears or is broken. As much as I hate the character and feel no sympathy, he displayed genuine and broken emotion very well.

- Alex Brightman Alex Brightman

Okay that’s it. Moving on to the Cons. Bear with me, it’s a lot and I go back and forth a bit. 😭

CONS:

So for a quick short summary, this episode:

- Once again puts more focus on the filler plot rather than actually focusing on the relationships between the characters, so all we're left with is a 10 second clip of Fizz being burned while the rest of the episode is surrounded on sex jokes/petty bickering and Stolas and Ozzie sitting around.

- Completely erases what made Blitz and Fizz's dynamic interesting in the first place because it retcons it with a dumb miscommunication trope about how Fizz actually wanted to see Blitz and Blitz tried reaching out to him. Not only does this feel like a cheap attempt to make Blitz out to be sweet/sympathetic and NOT the one in the wrong so Fizz can suck up to him, but this also makes no sense within the narrative.

- Has Fizz forgive Blitz despite him being the last person anyone would think would forgive him. (So honestly ruins Fizz himself because it turned him into a soft boy who's forgiving compared to the asshole he was in Ozzie's) All because Viv would sell her whole soul before she even remotely considers painting characters like Blitz and Stolas out to be the one's in the wrong.

- Takes Stolas out of the hospital completely, erasing all the drama/tension Western Energy had and proves that that episode was utterly pointless.

- Turns Striker from an interesting complex villain to a Saturday morning cartoon goon.

- Proves to us that Crimson is just a flat tool and gives us more prove that the world building rules Viv set up in season 1 legit don't matter.

-Ruins Blitz/Barbie's feud now because now you're making Barbie look like the one in the wrong since the fire was an accident. God forbid a female characters emotions in this show are justified.

But if you want my more in depth rants, it’s under the cut! (There’s a lot so bear with me lol)

- As usual WAAY too many sex jokes and swearing. It gets annoying and repetitive at times and some of them distract from the main plot. There’s a long and I mean LONNG dragged out joke of Fizz talking about Ozzie’s dick, then later saying he’s hard when Striker has a gun to his head, as well as Blitz making a joke about him and Fizz making out once they hug. Again, Viv can’t be serious for 2 seconds without an unfunny shitty gag. I genuinely wonder if Hazbin is ganna be like this, where a character is in a life threatening situation or a deep dark serious scene happens only for the next scene to be sex related.

- This is one of those “shit happens because the plot demands it” and it shows. Crimson and Striker COINCIDENTLY meet up with each other, and Fizz and Blitz just so HAPPEN to be in the same exact area they are. Viv wonders why we call her shit a fanfic and this is what we mean, when she creates wild wacky plots and focuses more on THAT rather than the actual character writing. This entire episode hinges on a useless poorly last minute planned kidnapping plot that didn’t need to happen. Also way to once again make the characters idiots so the plot can happen, cause Fizz KNOWS Ozzie worries for him and that the Greed Ring is dangerous, yet purposefully puts the spotlight on him.

- Stolas did NOT need to be in this episode. The plot completely ignores the fact that he was in the hospital the last time we saw him, and he’s only here for Stolitz banter. You’d think that a character admitting they have feelings for someone would be a big deal but he just flat out says it and it’s so underwhelming and feels half assed with no weight to it. Fan comics have made more dedication to this than Viv has. We're supposed to believe him too despite the show failing to actually SHOW us this. Same for Blitz ranting about how “nice” Stolas has been to him, laughing at his jokes and liking his posts…hey Viv, can we actually SEE that on screen so it’s more believable? Or are you only determined to show them sexually flirting? 😑

- Once again Viv felt the need to shove a B plot into this episode and this one sucks because it’s just two characters sitting and doing fucking nothing. It felt like Viv had no idea what to do with Stolas and Ozzie, and I refuse to believe that Ozzie just sat there knowing Fizz was in danger. If anything he would have said “fuck the paperwork” and went to save Fizz himself. Way to show that gif of Ozzie getting mad as a sneak peak to get fans excited, only to see that Ozzie spends the rest of the episode sitting in a dark room LMAO what a let down.

- Ozzie is weirdly chill and cool with Stolas and it’s something I don’t get. While he did say that Stolas had the real “spirit of Lust” in S1E7, it still gave you the impression that he was also more poking fun at Stolas rather than respecting him. The whole point of House of Asmodeous was that Ozzie outs him and publicly embarrassed him. Stolas literally was intimidated just by Asmodeous’s mere name, and hid his face around him. It seemed like Stolas certainly didn’t want someone like Ozzie to know about his private life especially since they’re both part of the Ars Goetia. Now here Ozzie is just cool with him and it feels like a missed opportunity for their dynamic.

- Stolas confessing his feelings about Blitz also makes…no sense narrative wise. I thought the whole point of The Circus and the ending to Western Energy was that he was realizing that Blitz didn’t like him that way and was finally waking up. I thought that’s why he was doing this whole crystal deal in the first place, so he can let Blitz go, yet the show keeps flip flopping and insisting that these two love each other and are good for each other. It’s really making you realize how this season and the previous stuff set up is becoming nonsense because the writers retcon EVERY damn episode. Also….why the hell is Stolas telling Ozzie his feelings for Blitz? Out of all people, why is it Ozzie, the person who outed Stolas and embarrassed him. Why is Stolas even respectful of Ozzie? He has no reason to, and he’s not under the impression that he’s dating Fizz either. I get that he needs the crystal but mentioning his love for Blitz makes no sense.

- Striker and Crimson teaming up to kidnap Blitz and Fizz was such an ass puller last minute decision. It feels overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time, more because it feels like Viv has no idea what to do with these two villain characters other than give them something evil to do to start the plot. Also…why…are they working together? It feels so random.

- Striker’s character especially is all over the place. First he’s working for Stella, then he’s painted as the best assassin in hell, and now he’s…looking for more work I guess and working for Crimson? Why? Does this guy even have a motive anymore? It feels like his character is just dangling around until Viv wants to use him for another wattpad kidnap plot and it ESPECIALLY shows when Striker escapes for the THIRD fucking time. Can this character/storyline actually GO somewhere or are you just going to keep introducing him and have him run away. 🤦🏽��♀️

— How did Crimson not know who Striker is despite him being labeled as “the most popular assassin in hell”, and how the hell does Crimson know Ozzie and know all the information about him being in a relationship with Fizz?? Oh right because we needed the plot to happen somehow. Still, even if Crimson did know that Ozzie was the "weakest" and loved Fizz, (which….what about Beezlebub?)) he still should have known he was playing with fire. I get that he's supposed to be evil and intimidating but how could he have predicted that Ozzie would actually stand down and fill out the paperwork? He could have immediately came there and killed Crimson for all he knew. It's just distracting how..not planned this shit was.

- Fuck this episode for calling Striker a supremacist. It makes no sense?? Viv is trying SO hard to villainize him despite him being the one in the right and it pisses me off. He has every right to be mad at the upper class, he’s part of the lower class that we’re said Hell takes advantage of, but god forbid we call out Rich and powerful Stolas because that would mean he’s a b-bad person and we can’t have that complex morality! This is so not a “eat the rich” story and it shows bc Vivzie is rich as hell. Striker as a character deserves so much better man. Congrats writers, you had an interesting character and motive set up for him, now he’s nothing but a silly goon that you might as well kill off already cause you clearly don’t care about him. Crimson meanwhile is just a piece of paper, a boring plot device I could give less of a shit about. I thought his motive was to go after Moxxie, now he’s just doing fuck whatever because this show desperately wants a bad guy for their filler fanfic plots.

- We get more world building issues, Ozzie and Fizz are so determined to hide their relationship for obvious reasons, but then at the end of the episode just say “fuck it, no one would dare tell anyway”. So now they’re being open about their relationship and lmao I told y’all the newspaper scene of Ozzie being called out for being a hypocrite wouldn’t go anywhere. Even if Ozzie did threaten his workers to not tell, they can’t be so sure that someone wouldn’t see or snitch, it’s kinda a retcon too cause they were pretty lovey dovey in Ozzie’s. Still, it makes the characters look dumb and it makes the rules Viv set up for Hell once again not mean anything.

- We finally get to see Fizz’s backstory in action and it’s executed in the most underwhelming way possible. It’s literally a fucking 10 second clip of what went down, and rather than experiencing the event for ourselves, it’s in flashback mode but with Fizz’s voice talking over it. That’s it. I’ve seen fan comics/fanart that built this shit up better than Viv did, that actually took the slow time and dedication it needed, and here it feels like such an afterthought, like Viv could care less. Maybe if this actually was a character driven show like Viv claims, Stolas, Striker, and Crimson would be taken out of the picture and then that would leave us with PLENTY time to actually explore and develop Blitz/Fizz, bc most of this episode is just them pettily bickering and Stolas and Ozzie sitting around. But nah, we gatta have our fanfic kidnapping plot. Same goes for the reveal of Blitzo’s mom dying in the same fire. Glad to know that she got the same treatment Moxxie’s mom did, where we don’t even know her and yet we’re supposed to feel moved and care about her death. You nailed that one Viv. 👍

- I predicted that this episode would victimize Blitz and have the fire incident be an accident, (because Viv is a pussy writer and can’t make her characters actually do bad things like god forbid) but I never thought they’d actually have the balls to have Fizz forgive Blitz immediately in the same episode and pull the “actually turns out that horrible thing you did to me helped me in a way”- trope. Biggest flaw of the episode, fuck you Viv. I was actually going to applaud Blitz for taking accountability, but then the dialogue reminds you that an abuser wrote this, and he shifts his apology to “okay but I lost something too see so it’s not all about you” as if he’s fucking dismissing Fizz’s trauma and making it about himself. “I love flawed characters” my fucking ass. I would have smacked a bitch if I was Fizz because Blitzo loosing his mother in the fire too isn’t an excuse?? Fizz lost his fucking ARMS AND LEGS, and at the end of the day Blitzo STILL KNEW HE WAS HELPLESS IN THE FIRE BUT LEFT HIM BEHIND. He could have gotten help and came back, but didn’t. If this were a good show Fizz would have threw that apology back in Blitzo’s face and said “I don’t care if it was an accident or not, you still left me there and then proceeded to loathe me for years”. This is why Helluva will never be Bojack cause at least characters in that show who got treated horribly by him knew when to say “no, fuck you.”

- The episode retcons again, this time they make it out to be that Blitz TRIED contacting Fizz the years they were apart but no one would let him see him. Then they say that Fizz actually WANTED to see Blitz but assumed he didn’t want to, so their entire feud was solely because of miscommunication?? Number one, show don’t fucking tell omg. And number two, that makes ZERO sense. Blitz talked badly about Fizz in Loo Loo Land, and when they finally reunited in Ozzie’s, it was clear they fucking loathed each other. You got the impression that Blitz was petty and jealous just because Fizz was more popular, and Fizz not only loathed him for the accident, but liked to rub in his face about how much of a big shot he was. They literally do that in this episode too, so the episode is literally contradicting itself. Blitz and Fizz had multiple chances to meet up with each other, you can’t just say “oh they couldn’t because no one would let them”- So which is it? Did they hate each other because of bad blood, petty drama, or that they thought the other didn’t want to see them? Pick ONE Viv and stick to it, but she never does. Their feud was interesting and now you ruined it just to have some sweet happy ending. “Adult mature show” my ass lol.

-Bottom line is Fizz shouldn’t have forgave Blitz so easily, or forgave him period. I find it funny how he says “it’s hard to just forgive you” and then he literally does lol. I feel so bad for Fizz fans, him and Blitz’s feud was honestly interesting, so to see all of this go down in a half-assed piss poor way as if this was Care Bears is….wow. The fan interpretations had more thought and care put into this storyline but what else is new lol.

- I’m really tired of these shitty annoying songs. If you’re going to get Broadway actors, please put effort into your songwriting and actually have them sing something good, not something that’s literally nonsense. This Fizz song sounds like it took less than a minute to write and Sam Haft was just thinking of anything he could think of at the top of his head. Also Why the fuck are Striker and Crimson just STANDING there while Fizz sings. They look like idiots, just SHOOT them omg. If this were a funny show, Fizz would have started his first note and Crimson just rolls his eyes and pulls his gun out.

- Fizz and Ozzie kill the lawyer but not…Crimson? Despite Fizz knowing what ring he’s in and even Ozzie knowing what he looks like? Same for Blitz, he doesn’t try to make sure Striker is dead. I get that the plot demands for these two to still be around, but there’s a way to keep them alive without making the main characters look like fucking idiots. Also Stolas just leaves without doing or contributing anything to the plot yay.

- Fizz: “Let him have it, you could say he’s earned it”— Uhm….Nope. Blitz did NOT earn shit. He didn’t even earn Fizz’s forgiveness. Last time I checked, the moment Blitz cried and said it was an accident, Fizz forgave him, knowing he didn’t mean it. What effort did Blitz do to “earn” that as well as the crystal? Because he saved Fizz and didn’t leave him behind for the SECOND time near the end?? Cause if so than the bar is extremely low. That’s the bare minimum, just because Blitz cried and felt bad about it doesn’t mean he should be let off the hook Viv. I hate this so much, what a shitty conclusion, it feels forced just so Blitz can have the crystal and just so the writers can once again paint him as the one in the right. It’s almost insulting that they make it seem like Fizz was in the wrong for assuming Blitz starting the fire too, same for Barbie.

God what a shitty day it is to be a Fizz fan, I’m sorry. The episode did NOT do him justice. Fizzarolli deserved better than that half assed gaslighting apology for someone who lost their arms and legs man, and I’m tired of the show letting every character suck up to Blitz and Stolas for their horrible treatment just because they feel bad. Not only that but the episode (as most recent HB episodes) was a huge time waster. Everyone was really hoping for an in depth walkthrough of his character/backstory but again, when he’s not with Ozzie, the rest/most of his screen time is dedicated to him being helpless and pointlessly arguing with Blitz, plus a long dragged out nonsense song that didn’t need to happen. It felt like SO much time was wasted when we could have used the runtime we have to dive deeper and see more, like….again it would have been nice to see Fizz’s life AFTER the accident and how he became well known as well as how he fell in love with Ozzie, but his backstory is briefly scratched upon in a single scene and that’s it, all because Viv wanted this filler plot and wanted to dedicate more time to THAT rather than actual character expansion/development, something we could have got had you took out Stolas and Ozzie’s B plot and Striker and Crimson.

Viv is so on her way to murder/ruin every character that isn’t Blitz and Stolas and I won’t be here to watch further. I’ll check out the Mammon music video thing but that’s it man, this show is going off the rails, Adding Fizz to the character adoption list!

[miscellaneousbullshit]

I love AFTG desperately but I genuinely think the main POV charactrs are the least interesting. Or well, that's not exactly it, but I KNOW their stories and I HAVE the explanations of how their minds work and I don't really need/want any more, y'know? The reason I can't seem to get this series out of my head is because there are SO MANY great side characters and I can't get them out of my head. I want to know EVERYTHING about them. I want their prequels. I want their futures. I want fanworks centered around them and their lives and perspectives (something that i've noticed are really hard to find? Any recs are always appreciated!) I love Neil and Andrew and Jean and Jeremy but WHERE are my Renee POVs? My Dan and Matt love stories (PLEASE I love them sm, I need to see how Matt got through to Dan when she was very much not interested in dating at the time)?Where are my Allison and Seth star crossed lovers tales? My Ananya/Cody/Pat fluff? My Thea Muldani healing journeys? My Nicky and Erik angst and hurt/comfort? My Wymack and Abby moments? Allison, Dan, and Renee's enemies to friends arc? The Vixens side adventures while the cheer for the Foxes? Betsy Dobson's backstory? Aaron Minyard's life with Tilda? Aaron Minyard's life in general? Aaron mending his relationship with Andrew (without him always being painted like he's in the wrong when Andrew has done some shitty things and routinely fails to give him any grace whatsoever)? Where is Katelyn falling for this grumpy guy in her first year bio lab? Where is Kevin day just trying to get THROUGH his day? Where is Maria's story of being trafficked 'rescued' and how it affected how she raised Nicky and views her husband? Where is my Wymack and Dan father/daughter moments? Wymack and Kevin's bio family journey? Where is my Xavier story? Where is my Stephanie Walker (who we only see ONCE in canon) taking in and loving teenager gangster Natalie SO much she becomes calm, faithful Renee? Where is Riko's pov villain origin story? Where is Erik's quiet distaste about how Nicky's cousins and teammates consistently and brutally shit on him and devalue him when all he does is love them? Where is Mary Howard's life on the run? Where is Stuart's memories of his sister? Where is Mary and Nathaniel's marriage and how Neil came to be? Where can I read how Cat and Laila met and fell in love? About Laila's family and backstory? How Allison broke away from her parents? How Abby became a fox (she's their nurse but no one who works with the team has a squeaky clean past. Wymack's parents were wicked, but how did Abby end up at Palmetto?) Hell, I would read the dean of Edgar Allen's pov of realizing he has no control over the Nest and the panic and anger at the implications it has for his career and I'd read it GREEDILY. I'd read Kayleigh Day and her friendship with Tetsuji Moriyama and the birth of exy and i'd SCREAM. I want these characters and their lives and their stories without Andreil or Jerejean always being the focus. I've seen the core romances, I've read them a thousand times over, and I don't want to read them anymore. I want to read the LIFE, y'know? So many compelling characters and details and I can't find enough of any of them. There's more to the series than the main ships and I wish I could find more content about it. Give me stories centered around the dozens of brilliant and compelling side characters, I'm BEGGING

[angelofverdum]

Yellowjackets 3x08

Jesus sighting again. Jackie Taylor, you can't help it; you are just that girl.

Did they honestly expect me to focus after opening the episode with a Jackieshauna scene? I had to stop and replay that scene again. My babies.

Shauna dreams about Jackie with her teen version because of course she can't fucking move on. She dreams of a Jackie so full of life and so true to herself. Shauna wants to make Jackie this evil bitch but then "Why didn't you say something?" Shauna, after 25 years still confused about what she wants from Jackie. She is not a fucking mind reader my love.

And btw fuck you writers "Shipman" stays on.

Obviously, Shauna doesn't want to leave. To go back to what? In the wilderness, she is free and has some kind of power. Even tho she is a terrible leader.

Also, She starts disassociating after Melissa mentions college because holy fuck there's no Jackie to share a pink and green room in college or fight about her getting into Brown, and she just gave birth and her baby's bones are in there.

Or maybe she doesn't want a job

There's something so sad about Lottie not wanting to go back because we know she's right but also it's absurd that she stays in the wilderness by herself. And it's way sadder that she is dead now.

Same thing with Natalie. She wants to go back but in the end she lived a very shitty life and was killed by Misty fucking Quigley.

Every week I say this, but please bring Teen Tai to the main storyline, my god. She is also unmedicated; there's something deeply wrong with her. I want to know more.

The adult timeline just showed cannibalism for the first time, and I think it is so delicious that it was Shauna because she was the one who gave them permission to eat Jackie.

I'm so anxious to see how the writers are going to pull the Van's storyline. Are they really going to kill her? Like seriously? There's no way they can pull something magical that heals her.

Melissa yapping to Shauna like she gives a fuck.

I don't mind teen Melissa because she is cute and dorky, but she is an extension of Shauna. We don't know anything about her besides that she has a stupid hat. And now, am I supposed to be thrilled that she is alive and back in Shauna's life? And I'm team let Melanie Lynskey kiss women on screen, but c'mon.

My other big problem with adult Melissa is that they killed Lottie. I'm not saying it like "They could only pay one actress" or whatever. What hurt me is that they really couldn't fit Adult Lottie in the story. Someone so important in the Teen timeline with such a delicious dynamic with the rest of the team.

And yes, that hat in adult Mel was incredibly ridiculous. They were having a serious conversation, and she was wearing that stupid hat. I'd have been ok if she had taken it off the moment she started talking to Shauna, like we get Melissa It was not a phase you love hats.

Some people are complaining that it was a boring episode if you don't like Shauna, and guess what? She is the main character, baby.

For me, this episode was really good and very funny.

Nat trying to get them together so they can leave. I know she misses Jackie the most (Not including Shauna, obviously).

It was an emotional scene but this bitch didn't pack shit look at that tiny backpack. Two leaves, a stick, and a dream.

Shauna getting defensive over Nat saying she is not the captain only to be gagged when she said "She died". Teen Shauna trying to push Jackie to the back or her mind, and NAt still respecting her as their Captain.

Shauna is a terrible girlfriend, my god. Tell me how I can interpret her relationship with Jackie other than romantic when Shauna hasn't been submissive to anyone but her. She didn't care about Mel, She talked some bullshit and got her gf happy again.

They gave Melissa a future, a kid, a wife, and a hat but not a last name.

Shauna got Misty STRESSED. Her wig was about to fly.

Too much Jeff. I usually don't mind him because he's with Shauna, but in this episode, the plot was focused on him, and who cares about him, honestly?

Adult Mel is full of shit. She wants to move on and she decided to contact Shauna the bisexual demon Shipman of all people.

She looks so much like teen Shauna s01 here

It's crazy how the teens and the adults are starting to look and sound alike. Moreover, because Samantha said they don't talk to each other about that.

The fandom assumed there were only 8 survivors because of the antler queen scene, but I'm getting the feeling there are more. Honestly, I'm just holding on to the last hope that my girl Mari made it.

Shauna had so many good lines in the conversation with Melissa. I stan with my cancelled wife idgaf.

Can we teen Shauna allucinate Jackie, pls? or saying Jackie's name.

Sophie Nelisse's reaction when she said "Or it" deserves an Emmy btw.

Thank you Ella Purnell, for always coming back to haunt the narrative. As long as Shauna Shipman is alive, you'll be employed trust.

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Currently Watching - April

aka The Masterlist

Because I love a good little list - in alphabetical order! 😊

Regularly updated during the month, latest update 26.04.2025

A little link to my favorite bl-tropes-collection 💙 If you have any ideas or special wishes, just let me know and I will look if I can prepare a set or already did one and tag you 😊

gif-requests are open, but you'll need to have some patience🌼

Here you can find all of my gifs.

At the end you can have a look at what we can expect in April with a MDL link and a link for a trailer (if avaible).

This is guaranteed to contain spoilers!

1. Business As Usual 🇰🇷 (4/6)

I hate the misscommunication trope so much and yet I am still watching and rooting for them! Just talk to each other and tell the other what you're thinking and feeling. Please. Don't live in the past. You still like Jinhwan, right? I know your pride is strong and you don't want to give in to your feelings and that you were wrong. But you are hurting yourself and Jinhwan without a good reason. Let yourself be happy!

2. My Golden Blood 🇹🇭 (7/12)

Story got a little bit better. Still like their chemistry. Still dream about some Tonkla/Nakan action... So Thara is getting weaker. Nakan is getting bolder. Tong is getting more recless. Mark is getting horny. I kinda like it here. And Mark already told Tong and the viewers that he wanted to eat him. Just do it. Please.

3. Perfect 10 Liners 🇹🇭 (8/24)

Yes, I started this one. The first storyline, sorry, but this was really not that good. I am not the biggest ForceBook fan, but they did a decent job with the plot they got. This making out on the other hand. Hello? Might be the best making out of them ever. I am not dissapointed with it. But the story of this grumpy senior who is really shitty and bossy around his nong and makes the latter with this to fall in love with him was not that special. But watchable.

4. Something Is Not Right 🇰🇷 (4/8)

That episode hurt me. I felt so sad for Jeehoon. I am a fan of speaking your mind and if you can't hide it or overcome it, confess. But leaving your best friend and secret crush in the dark like this and treating him like shit, I have no understanding for Bawoo. Your best friend deserves better! Jeehoon deserves better. he is a sweetheart. And he likes Bawoo too so he won't give up on him and I guess will now use the last three days of darting to win Bawoo over. Never thought I'd be this invested in that show.

5. Sweet Tooth Good Dentist 🇹🇭 (4/12)

Is it okay to be angry at a series? I am kinda nagry at the choices here. Do I like drama? Sure. Do I like slow burn? Sure. But do I like a character playing with the feelings of another character, even though we as the viewers know he is lying, and treating the other character not nice? No. I don't like it. That is a weak plot choice to create drama. Let the new potential love interest come into picture naturally, without hurting our main puppy. So for now I am rooting for Jimmy...

6. Top Form 🇹🇭 (8/11)

Give these boys a break! I never thought I'd be this hooked with this series. But the stalking incident really does something for the story. And Akin is growing on me. I am happy Boom got another main role after Chains of Heart and this is an approvement, I would say. I can't tell what is happening next because what is the agenda of the guy-I-don't-know-the-role-he-plays is. But we only have three episodes left and I guess there is a lot of shit going to happen. But don't hurt the grandma!

Finished in April

Series

Goblin 🇰🇷

This was such a strange experience. I really enjoyed the Goblin and the Grim Reaper's friendship. I even liked the Gods and their meddeling. But the relationship between the Goblin and the Goblin's Bride? That felt so weird! She is so young and not only is he in his thirties, but he is over 900 years old! And while I don't have a problem with age gaps, I have a problem with power imbalance. Perhaps because I've experienced it myself... This felt not good. And I didn't believe the Goblin and his love for his bride. And the last two episodes were unnecessary in my opinion. We should have ended here. This would have been a perfect ending for me. But this series had really good parts. I cried a lot and I laughed a lot. Only the romance part was not mine. Overall still a good 7 out of 10 for me.

Close To You 🇰🇷

This is a series with four different stories and pairings. Some of them I liked and some of them were meh. The last one was not my favorite. But overall it is a good little series to binge. I am a bit short on words today, so just a quick rating. A good 6,5 out of 10.

Heesu in Class 2 🇰🇷

I love this series. It is such a little gem. It is not a bl. It is a kdrama with a queer protagonist. This series deals with unrequired love, with the struggles to come out and confessing to your crush, especially when you are queer. There are so many good analyses out there, talking about things I didn't notice. A wonderful experience to read all the text after an episode. And I am so happy those two got their happy ending. But I am also so very much happy that Heesu got the chance to be angry at Seungwon and openly hurting. And they are the cutest freshly in love people out there! Look at their smiles! The world around them was really well built. The sisters were lovely! And I adored Jiyu and Chanyeong. Oh such a good good series. Simple 10 out of 10 for me.

Movie

Short Film

Dropped in April

My Stubborn 🇹🇭 (1/10

This is no surprise, I guess. I tried episode one. But nope. I can't. MFlow is my red flag in the bl world. Well, not the only one, but damn, I won't punish myself through another of their series. There is so much wrong with this series and its first episode. They started the first episode like they did just to get some viewers, because they think we all are horny bastards (sometimes they're right). But not this time! The dialogues... the acting... the kissing... sorry, big no for me! The humor? Nope! Guess I made myself clear enough... I am noping myself out!

Looking forward to in April

Business as Usual - Trailer 🇰🇷 (Apr 3)

Something Is Not Right - Trailer 🇰🇷 (Apr 16)

Secret Ghost 🇹🇭 (Apr 19)

My Stubborn - Pilot 🇹🇭 (Apr 20)

The BangkokBoy - Trailer 🇹🇭 (Apr 26)

My Sweetheart Jom - Pilot 🇹🇭

[stiltsthegm]

I've been given a task, and by god I guess I'll do it. This will not be a comprehensive list, simply because there's a lot of Fate media I have not gotten to yet (or haven't watched/played in a long time).

S TIER

Saber (Artoria): Despite her primary route in F/SN being the least developed, Artoria is the GOAT. No matter how many other blonde women with swords Type-Moon continues to spit out, Artoria will always be THE Saber. She's beautiful. She's perfect. I desperately need her outfit.

Sakura: She's allowed to do as much murder as she wants. She deserves a little treat.

Rin: The first time she met Saber, she was about to get run through my Excalibur and STILL the first thought she had was, "Goddamn she's hot." Rin is a closeted bisexual disaster and a queen. Her fashion is immaculate. No one could fix her, but honestly it's pointless to try. If you don't love what's wrong with her, you don't deserve her.

Saber (Nero): She's beautiful. She's charming. She's a pansexual theater nerd. She has my favorite Noble Phantasm. Her bridal outfit goes SO hard.

A+ TIER

Bazett: She gets a lot of points for her incredible character design, being cool as fuck, and getting a genuinely fantastic character arc in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. Unfortunately, she loses a point for having 50/50 taste in men. Lancer? Yeah, sure, totally understandable. Respectable, even. Kirei, though? Girl, what the hell is wrong with you?

Rider (Medusa): She doesn't get much to do until Heaven's Feel, but boy does she make up for it once you get there. Has some of the best and most charming scenes in F/HA as well. Is basically Sakura's surrogate hot mom. Takahata is a genius for putting her in glasses, a turtleneck and jeans. I would love to spend an afternoon chilling with her in her little library.

Saber (Mordred): Artoria's angry, punk son. As a character? He rules. Great look, sickass armor, really fun attitude. The main problem with Mordred is how Type-Moon (and by extension, the fanbase) handles his gender situation. Trying to talk with a stranger about Mordred is like navigating a minefield. Will they be chill and understand what's going on, or will they be weirdly insistent about Mordred "definitely" being a girl despite everything he says and does? It's a coinflip, honestly.

Gray: A precious child. I adore Gray's aesthetic and personality. Her relationship with her adoptive gay dad (Waver) is one of my favorites in the whole franchise. Her scythe is sick as fuck. The only points against her are that it's very difficult to recommend stuff starring her. She's only in one anime (which, while good, is very confusing if you aren't already invested in this franchise). The only other officially translated content starring her are limited-time events in FGO. Some of the Case Files novels have been fan-translated, but not all of them. It's rough out there for Gray fans.

A TIER

Caster (Medea): The second MILF-coded murder-woman on this list. She's a little one-note, comparatively, but that note is played very well. She killed her first, shitty Master and got herself a stoic, noble husband who loves her SO much. I love how much they adore each other. It's so charming. She also tried to put Saber through a corruption arc via magical bondage and a custom-made wedding dress. Was it evil? Oh, extremely. But do I respect the hustle? Absolutely. The scene in F/HA where Sakura asks her for advice is one of the best in the entire fandisc.

Illya: I love how much of a gremlin she is. I love how poignant some of her scenes in F/SN are. I love how F/HA lets her (mostly) be a goofball. Although the first two games largely avoid the ickiness that comes with the territory of "18+ woman who looks like a child for Reason," there are still moments that make me side-eye Nasu, and it really only gets worse post-F/HA. I'm sorry, Illya. That magical girl manga isn't your fault, but if a character has to have a "please just ignore anything starring them after this point" caveat, that's gonna deduct some points.

A- TIER

Caren: A potentially controversial placement. I do appreciate her moxy and how fucked up she is. Big fan of all her outfits. Unfortunately, a lot of her scenes blend together for me and start to feel repetitive. This is likely due to her almost exclusively having scenes with Avenger. She's also the unfortunate recipient of the most off-putting sex scene in the franchise. Yes, even worse than the Rin x Shirou one in UBW. If she got more chances to interact with other people, she'd definitely place higher.

Otoko: I can count the number of scenes she gets in F/HA on one hand, but she makes a hell of an impression. Great design, great attitude. If Nasu wasn't a fucking coward, there'd be a scene where she gets her strap out of storage and annihilates Taiga.

B TIER

Taiga: I'm probably gonna get flak for this, but her humor is kinda hit-or-miss for me. Especially in F/HA. She's mostly fine, and she does have a great design, but the joke sometimes gets old. Also the whole "Jaguar Warrior" thing in FGO is a bad look. You can't be doing that, Taiga.

Luvia: The standard ojou-sama archetype. I enjoy her every time she shows up, but there's not much to her. She's at her best when she's a foil for Rin.

C TIER

The Trio: I've put these characters together, because that's when they're at their best. On their own? Completely forgettable. Together? Solid supporting, comedic-relief characters. They're totally fine. I will never remember their names.

D TIER

Illya's Maids: I'm not even going to look up their names. I have never been able to remember these characters. Nasu took the concept of "maid that's also a nun" and made it boring. They just get nothing to do. The two of them deserved better.

[codenamethebird]

More Hades 2 rambles from me! Though this time round it's a continuation of a point I made in this post.

Specifically, that I think the final boss of the Surface will be a living human mortal.

A couple people on that post disagreed that it would be a human, mostly just because of boss fight mechanics. Which I do get, but this is my not so little refute of that idea (all in good fun of course, I very well might be wrong! I just have thought a bunch about it since then and wanted to ramble about it).

I'll be getting into later how the game could have a hard mechanically satisfying human final boss later, because first I want to talk about how it would make sense naratively. Not because anyone remotely argued this point, I just think it's interesting haha.

So let's go back for a moment to Hades 1, and it's final boss, Hades himself. On a mechanical sense, it makes total sense, Hades is the god and master of the underworld Zag is trying to escape. He would be the final obstacle. But what really makes Hades work as the final boss, is the story and emotional reason he's there.

The plot of Hades is ultimately about Zag's messy relationship with his dad. And that final boss fight is an ongoing conversation with him. While irl you and your questionable dad constantly fighting to death is not a great way to fix your problems, these are weird bound to underworld greek gods. Death is their weird love language for like half this cast haha. There is a reason Death is one of, if not the main love interest.

Okay now that I've established that, let's look at the one final boss we do know from Hades 2, Chronos. Now it's Grandpa's time to shine. Unlike Hades 1, he fits a lot cleaner into a more traditional villian role. The monster who literally takes over your house and takes your family hostage.

In that way, it is a personal fight for Mel to save her family, but Mel lacks a specific personal connection to Chronos himself. Obviously there's the whole Grandpa thing, but she wasn't like raised by him or anything. He is a convient big bad she can hate simply and wholeheartedly. While he does try to challenge her beliefs at times, Mel will never listen to him because of the whole family kidnapping thing, and Gramps equally doesn't want to engage with her either. He just wants to be a dick to her.

While I'm a firm believer in the "We (the gods) are actually the bad guys" theory, I don't think Chronos is secretly an angel. He did you know eat his kids and that entire scene with Hades and him just reeked of shitty dad vibes. While Chronos might be better for humanity, I think he really is using them as a prop and doesn't genuinely care about them. (This is a derail, but I do think the human army side of things including Prometheus will turn on Chronos at some point. Specifcally that they are already planning to).

But yes, basically, while I adore Chronos as a villain, you get none of the character growth from either party that you got between Zag and Hades in the first game. Obviously, we are still in early access, so there's more dialouge to be had. But from what we have seen, those two are not changing the other. So this is my roundabout way to say that must mean the Surface boss is the one that is going to be all about Melinoe's character growth.

I don't think I need to explain why fighting a human would be a fascinating place for character growth for humanities #1 hater Melinoe. Mel's the Hades equivalent in this game (not the Zag), who will not listen to anyone who disagrees with her. Getting beat up by a human might actually start to get it through her head.

But also I want to dig into why I don't think the final boss will be another Titan. I've seen Atlas thrown around a bunch as a possible final Surface boss. Also Typhon... I'm certain there are others. But I don't know what they would add to the narrative, especially as a final boss? I think there's more evidence for Atlas, so I'll focus on him.

It would make some sense, he was the leader of the titan rebellion and much like Prometheus, in certain versions of the myth he was also freed from his punishment by Heracles! Which considering Heracles suspicious lack of dialouge so far, and the dialouge he does have being a god hater, I do think he's the one who freed Prometheus in this game.

But other than those connections, what does Atlas add to make him an interesting antagonist to Mel? He's not particularly tied to humanity, and while his punishment sucked he did lead a rebellion against the gods (and traditionally the reasons have nothing to do with humans).

Mostly, in my opinion, if the game was going to have a titan also be the final boss for the Surface, it wouldn't be Atlas. It would be Prometheus. He's the powerful titan who has a legitimate gruge against the gods and who can engage with Mel in interesting ways, challenging her stance against the gods. But they have already used Prometheus, I don't know how they could write Atlas (or whatever titan/god) in a way that would be more interesting than Prometheus, and rival the Hades boss fight for thematic weight. Also, it would be 2 titans in a row, which isn't nessisarily a bad thing, but still.

I've also seen people throw around it might he Ares, which I will admit would I would be way more excited for that another titan. Theres some interesting ideas to be had with an Olympian who has betrayed the gods. But we already have dialouge with Athena where she says how Chronos' armies motivations wouldn't line up with Ares'. And I feel like going from a dude only obsessed with war to someone fighting for some kind of higher cause would be a jump in character. Not impossible, but a little weird.

And ultimately, I just think that a Human would serve the purpose better as an antagonist to Mel who would shake her worldview on living mortals in particular. A fight with Ares would mess with her relationship with the gods, but not as clearly with humans.

Okay now that I've talked about themes, how about what people actually had an issue with lol, how would a final boss with a human make sense from a boss fight perspective. I have three main ideas, that don't really contradict each other and could all exist in the fight.

1st idea: multiple enemies. We've heard that there are human armies, the final boss could possibly be a leader of them. We could have hords of enemies, could have select recognizable commanders that have different skill sets, etc. None of the Surface boss fights have multi bosses in them (they have random mobs but none like the sirens or Theseus and Asterius), so I don't think it would be strange to have it. And while stretching the definition of a human boss a bit, these other bosses could be ghosts and other kinds of beings (I just think the main boss should be a breathing human).

2nd idea and tbh my main one. Have them be a Witch! Or some other kind of magic user. I feel like this should be obvious, but a lot of the theming around Hades 2 is witchy/magic stuff and it's wild we don't have a major witch enemy yet (other than obviously Hecate, but for obvious reasons I don't count her).

I'm thinking some kind of High Priestess of Chronos kind of character, we still don't know exactly how Chronos was revived and this could tie in, but there's a bunch of ways you could spin a magic user! I think it would be a prime place to put a narrative foil to Melinoe. A fellow Witch whose family was stolen away by the gods who is looking for justice. Maybe when finally looking into a mirror, some of the stuff Melinoe's been told will finally breach her thick headed skull haha.

I don't think I really need to get into the technical about how a witch fight could be cool. But one idea, tying into my first point, a magic user could have mind powers and compell powerful beings to fight for them. This could be the Zag boss fight of borderline crack theories or even maybe the aforementioned Ares who maybe got captured during his war path. A magic fight doesn't need possessed enemies, but it could be cool.

And finally, my 3rd idea. You might be going, but how could a human be more powerful than Prometheus? Well first point magic, but more seriously, just have them be boosted by Chronos and/or other allies. I mentioned a theory about a high priestess sort of character (the power of God and ani--), but more specifically, if they do go the route of a foil to Melinoe, she has her boons from the gods. Much like Theseus in Hades 1, the final surface boss could gain the boons of Chronos/Prometheus/and the like. Maybe even a Chaos boon, they have already aided Chronos once, and there's a decent chance the humans might betray Chronos at some point so Chaos might be chill with them. This could also be a way to introduce more titan characters and the like without needing to make models for them haha.

But yes, tldr, magic human gives us both the thematic weight of it being a human, witch stuff to parallel Melinoe, and just cool powerful magic fight as a final boss (and it could parallel the Hecate boss fight, the first boss u fight and the last being magic based).

[ladyloveandjustice]

Winter 2025 Anime Overview: Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun/Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun Season 2

After a five year wait, one of my all time problematic fave anime is back, and the anime about a hopeless romantic and her weird little ghost friend continues! I basically wrote a novel when the first season of Hanako-kun hooked me, so you can check that review out for more information about the show. This is a season that contains multitudes—the first arc finally covers the time keeper’s arc in the manga—an arc that had some really good parts and introduced an ongoing dramatic conflict, but also unfortunately introduced one of my least favorite characters (and relationship dynamics) in the series.

That’s a bit subjective and I plan to tag this so I won’t go into detail since I have no interest arguing about it, basically the character in question’s behavior is supposed to be funny and it’s not, I don’t find their motives or dynamic with the character they’re obsessed with interesting (and said dynamic will dominate said characters screen time later on and she deserves better), and the bad behavior is only jokingly condemned and not seriously called out in the way Hanako’s possessiveness is.

 But then the second half covers my favorite arc in the manga, so I was a happy camper. This arc has a lot of emotional development for the main characters, with Mitsuba and Kou and Hanako and Nene all having great little stories, relationship growth, and dramatic moments, the premise is heartbreaking and creative, Mei is complex antagonist and great character, the manga comes out in favor of the power of girls writing self-insert OCs, and there’s a beautiful message about how fiction can help us keep going through dark times, and how it can be a way to live on. It’s so good.

The change in directors is from the first season is noticeable, though the animation is a lot less limited, it’s notably less stylish and striking in its use of colors and elegant flourishes. Don’t get me wrong, it still mostly looks good and the cool art style that drew me in remains intact. There’s some really beautiful moments. I just sometimes found myself missing the pizzazz of the previous director sometimes. While the little manga panel transitions were there in part to cover up the first season's limited animation, I still missed how distinct that style was. It would have been nice to see what that direction could do with the second season clearly getting more of a boost resources-wise. But it's not the end of the world.

The caveats from the last season remain—the frequent mean spirited running joke about Nene’s ankles (as a manga reader, this does stop appearing as often in later arcs at least), and a good amount of ~funny pervert~ moments (though fun fact about one comment Hanako makes: a million chapters later it will be revealed that by “pervy stuff you could do with time travel powers” he meant…touching someone’s upper arm because apparently he’s secretly a Victorian child??? Also he’s legitimately embarrassed he said that later on, wow, growth). You can check out my first review I linked above for a more thorough rundown.

Some additional warnings: A character impulsively attempts suicide (but talks about planning to find a way to come back to life as they do). The attempt's method is not graphic, but I thought I'd warn just in case. Suicide is also discussed a few times, with a few nameless background characters making some shitty comments that are appropriately framed as a bad thing.

Hanako-kun as a story is interested in screwed-up romances and relationships in general, none of them are completely healthy. Personally, I don't need characters to be unproblematic and I usually find how the show explores these relationships really interesting, with a notable exception that I mentioned earlier. Hanako does do some screwed-up things that don’t respect Nene’s agency this season, but Nene reasserts her agency and thoroughly takes him to task for it. She’s so good, I adore her.

It’s a messy show, but it remains a rewarding one, especially if you love ghost stories and tragic ghost/human relationships like I do. I’m so happy we’re getting a third season soon. 

[mdhwrites]

Recently, I've been poring over the 'TOH critical' tags and, as someone who wanted to properly watch the show, seeing just how many flaws the writing and characters have kinda turned me off from even starting for a bit. Before I found these tags, I would have assumed Owl House was some kind of flawless untouchable masterpiece. Now, I can see that it is immensely flawed. Not bad, but flawed. It has great ideas that it just spaffs up the walls. In some cases that I've seen, it goes against its own message, which brings me to the point of this.

The show seems to have a message of 'be a weirdo! Be who you want to be and don't let anyone tell you to be something you're not'. This 'be yourself' message is fine in a vacuum, but then there's a character who's treatment in the show goes against this. Hooty! From the moment he's introduced, Hooty is presented as a weird creature. Even other people in the Demon Realm find him unnatural. He's kinda in his own world, and he says and does things that are weird. This would work well for the message, but the problem arises from other characters' treatment of him.

Everyone fucking HATES Hooty! They loathe him! They call him names, they hit him, they put him down constantly, the works! Everyone holds him in open contempt! I wouldn't really have an issue with this at first, but Luz also takes part in some of these actions. It would be one thing for negative/antagonistic characters to be doing this, but the self-proclaimed 'weirdo' main characters? She seems annoyed by Hooty's very existence. Don't get me wrong, he IS annoying, but he's also just being himself. He's a proud weirdo and doesn't let anyone stop him from being who he wants.

Why doesn't Luz love him?

He is exactly the type of person(?) who she should feel connected with. And the fact she joins in on some of the bullying is real shitty. Keep in mind Luz was ridiculed and ostracised for being weird, so her then turning around and being all dismissive and annoyed by someone who is, for all intents and purposes, just like her is shitty.

Personally, I would have had it that Luz really likes Hooty. She admires how he's so unapologetic in his weirdness. You could even still have Eda hitting him and calling him names, which Luz calls out. She knows what it's like to be put down for just being yourself, and she's not gonna stand to see someone else get the same treatment.

Or, another idea, Luz starts out sharing Eda's view on Hooty and being annoyed by him. One time, he does something or shows Luz something he's proud of. She calls him or it or both stupid, and Hooty just....cries. I don't mean overblown waterfalls-out-the-eyes crying, I mean he turns his head down and looks visibly upset.

Luz sees that her words have genuinely hurt Hooty. This could be her realising that Hooty isn't just some weird talking punching bag to hurl abuse at. For his weird actions and appearance, he's a person too. Her being mean to him just for being himself, she realises, makes her no better than her bullies.

Then, to make this even more shitty, the characters DO start being nicer to him later on, but only after he's proven himself useful. So that's a good message, isn't it? 'Love is conditional!' It really makes the 'found family' aspect of the Owl House residents feel all the more forced.

Tl;Dr It's okay to be a weirdo, unless you're Hooty!

(But that's just me! I hope all of this made sense and you can decipher what I'm trying to say😊)

So the short answer to this is that Hooty is essentially character/thematic assassination on... Everyone? Because the show wants to say "Be who you are! Have freedom! Express yourself!" Hooty however is constantly mocked, belittled and literally hurt by others with at best an apology. People treat his portable form as gross despite that letting him experience more of life and the one time people begrudgingly acknowledge he is truly good, they then force him to promise to not repeat the helpful behavior. He is not allowed freedom, expression or to be himself without ridicule, EVEN BY LUZ.

This... However has a bigger problem. Hooty is a bit character after all. If you want to claim he doesn't matter because he's just a joke... There's okay precedent for it. The problem is that then you have to ask what he's mocking. After all, gag characters are all about mocking a certain archtype or the like. King's whole point is to mock children who think themselves as self important and point out how deluded and funny that is, or how funny a deluded sense of self grandeur in general is, at least in the first season. As such... What is Hooty?

Hooty is Sheldon. Not literally but spiritually and this is gonna get kind of rough but here me out. For those who don't get the reference, Sheldon is the main autistic representation in The Big Bang Theory. He is also the most antagonistic force within the friend group. Not because he's evil or anything but because he his own certain ways of doing things and ways he looks at things and as such actually has a lot of episodes about expanding his perception of the world and of others learning to understand who he is and why he is the way he is. The show is actually shockingly respectful in this way, at least most of what I have seen of it, and I can portray this with the best joke I can recall from the series. It also will help me later in why The Big Bang Theory is better than TOH at one certain element people REALLY want to say TOH is great about.

The setup is that the other three main dudes are at a white board, discussing plans to go so see a movie. Every plan they devise runs into a road block because of allergies, time, etc. like that, not even only just because of Sheldon's quirks. However, then the lead, the Ross of the group, stops and goes, "I see it." The others squint and look closer before he adds, "It's the only way." The other two agree... And then they all just leave without Sheldon coming with. Sheldon pauses, looks at the board and goes, "They're correct. It was the only way."

I LOVE this joke... Because it's not mean AT ALL. One might think if they're overly sensitive that it is. I mean, how could they leave their friend behind!? But Sheldon is very honest and up front about his quirks and habits. These guys know him well enough that they know better than to force him out of his comfort zone. That he doesn't function that way. Sheldon KNOWS THIS TOO. As such, when presented with the options of telling Sheldon they can't go because they can't go without him or still having a good night and not making their friend feel bad for being why they couldn't go out, they choose to go out and Sheldon agrees that it was the correct option. They respected him while still living their lives.

And this is because The Big Bang Theory's pitch is not to be offensive to nerds like many online people like to make it out to be (I fucking hate people who call it 'Nerd Black Face') but to just make fun of us like any sitcom would. Sitcoms are parodies of real life. They always exaggerated characters we know are somewhat true. We know a Kramer, we know a Ross, we know a Barney, we know a Lorraine. Are they exactly like this? No, it's cranked up so that it's a comedy, that's the fucking point. But this comedic framing also allows it to be honest about ALL sides of nerd dom.

Sheldon is BY FAR made out to be the most successful, intelligent and wealthiest of ALL the guys. Also, all the guys are doing well in their fields and monetarily. Do they have widespread fame and acclaim? Not really but they're not discredited or anything, they just have interdepartmental bickering. That's accurate from literally every scientist I have seen talk about the subject. It's genuine about the good and the bad of the nerd experience while being entertaining.

So what the fuck does any of this have to do with The Owl House? And especially Hooty? It's actually quite simple. While TOH champions having a nerd protagonist, it presents the 'gentrified nerd'. The convenient nerd. They know about fanfiction but won't force you to actually hear about it. They have interests but not hyperfixations. They don't ever get lost down a rabbit hole because they're passionate about something or just want to tell you a neat fact.

Do you know who does though? Hooty. Hooty just wants someone who is willing to listen about his day. He has some weird quirks to how he behaves and he likes some strange things like bugs. He will talk to you for hours on a subject, randomly and just because he can and might forget that you might have other things to do. To me, those are very, VERY accurate parts of nerd life... And we're supposed to fucking HATE Hooty for these things. Remember the only person, in the ENTIRE SERIES to actually befriend Hooty instead of treating him at best as a convenience is Liltih... At the start of her becoming a joke. The only person who shows him real, genuine compassion... Also becomes 'The Cool Aunt' who hyper fixates on niche architecture and has her trauma of working the EC mocked as just being really bad at her job.

It is, genuinely, kind of gross to me. I've actually talked about this before that the show is so hyperfocused on a very specific, very small set of people for who it approves of, which is essentially whoever fits into Luz correctly, that anyone who felt excluded by the show is extremely valid. And yes, Luz has a montage at the start of silly, over the top and extreme behavior... That doesn't continue. At all. The one time she subjects someone to an Azura rant is to torture Eda enough to go to the Convention and that's only because they were already on the subject because King was interested. She quotes Azura but quickly and doesn't lose the thread. She might say a cute word like 'Snorses' but not even enough to make a break in the conversation.

She is convenient. Gus is only interested in human stuff when it's convenient. Willow will put aside her interest in plants when it's inconvenient. Amity just stops giving a shit about being an intellectual AT ALL post her getting a crush. Hunter wears a wolf t-shirt and gets into Cosmic Frontier enough to cosplay it for Halloween... But only Halloween. These are people who are extremely socially acceptable in every way.

Which... explains why nerds love them actually. See, I think Big Bang Theory does deserve criticism, it is by no means perfect and I would be VERY interested in hearing what the Jewish community thinks of Howard who is easily the most problematic character in the show but not all of the criticism is genuine. I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that we're used to a side, gag character representing the kind worst parts of us... But we're not used to being the focus. We can laugh at all the broke bitches who show up in Sitcoms or the jock failures who are meatheads, etc. like that... But laugh at ourselves? Why would we do that? Why would we allow that? We're better than what this show depicts, even if we're not.

It is inconvenient to the narrative we wish to tell ourselves that we are still the outcasts. That are we not part of the dominant culture and so it is unfair to mock our interests and lifestyle. But like... Marvel movies have been the biggest blockbusters for well over a decade and no one bats a fucking at that. D&D is quickly becoming a household name due to its ever expanding influence. We are not the outcasts anymore. Being into a weird cartoon is not some shocking thing like it was 12 years ago when Bronies first made people aware that this subculture of nerds existed. Times are changing but we still wish to see ourselves as only the victims, even as more and more our spaces show that they are just as evil, corrupt, manipulative and cruel as any athletic superstar or pretty boy actor's club.

A lot of these nerds want to believe they are Luz. Never wrong, never giving anyone a reason to dislike them, and always just passionate about the things they like, never annoying. And you know who those people would mock? Who those people HAVE mocked?

Hooty. Because he's more real. He's the demon they wish they didn't have to face in the mirror. See you next tale.

======+++++======

I really do want to re-emphasize this: FUCK HOWARD. Big Bang is NOT good for the jewish community and I don't think if I watched it nowadays I would be able to tolerate his depiction AT ALL. Also, Raj is also probably all sorts of rough too. I'm ONLY defending the nerd portrayal part of Big Bang.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[xx-j4nu5-c4t5-xx]

look what finally remembered it has a tumblr account 💀 hi everybody

I drew a couple premades with colors based on albums that remind me of them, thought y'all would enjoy

nervous - who really cares (tv girl)

ripp - sports (modern baseball)

I ramble about them under here

janus shut up about tv girl challenge 💀 this isn't even really my favorite band lmfao I just feel like it suits nervous and pascal so well. there's this overwhelming vibe of longing in that whole album, like you had something wonderful and now it's gone and you're scared that that was the peak of your life, and it's all downhill from here. now it's just the memories and the bitterness and the things you left in each other's apartments. OUUGGH IM RGRGH AUGH

drawing-wise I like how nervous's drawing turned out. I have a tendency to absolutely destroy my colors and make them all muddy and blended so being limited to like five colors total and having to use the screen tones and dithering effects and stuff made it feel really... sharp, I guess? I don't like how it interfered with some of the details (like the face) but it was definitely a good way to tie everything together. main gripes with this one are the bandage on his leg (I know the blue is like symbolic or something but why is it so much darker than his skin it looks stupid) and the brick in the background because WHAT HAPPENED 😭 I finished this drawing at like 3am and I really thought I knocked it out of the park with that

ripp's is definitely worse though. the cover for who really cares is incredibly simple, but the one for sports is a whole picture, and I feel like I didn't lean hard enough into the yellows that dominate most of it. the piece looks nice, don't get me wrong; the colors are way richer than I usually would've chosen and it looks awesome, but... it doesn't look anything like the reference. which was kind of the idea. with nervous's, even though it's not incredibly similar to the album cover, you can see where I'm going with it. I don't think anyone would know that ripp's was based on the album cover unless you told them. I set myself up for failure the second I used more red/orange tones than the yellows and creams. whoopsie daisy I guess

I can't really pick out a single song that reminds me of ripp from this album, but I feel like the whole thing gives off "I need to get out of my hometown asap" vibes, as well as the weird awkwardness that comes with figuring out what to do next, which I feel absolutely screams ripp. go struggling small town boy! struggle to navigate early adulthood!

anyway idk I kinda hate both of them just because I've been staring at them for probably six hours combined and I'm about to explode

I might do more of these with other characters but there's not a lot of other premades that I associate with entire albums rather than random songs so idk we'll see

as a parting gift here's a shitty doodles of pascal and nervous as the dogs from twin fantasy by car seat headrest

(the words in the background are random lyrics from the album)

[nerves-nebula]

being this angry in a trans way is reminding me of a story i was working on when i was younger about a nonbinary teen doing a ritual to get a new body and it turned out it didnt just give them a new body + life, it actually stole the body from someone else in their high school. and they had to work with the guy to give him his body back. cuz as much as they didnt wanna go back to their own life, they knew it would be insanely cruel to steal someone else's body for no good reason.

and they almost started to be, like, actual friends and stuff. but then they started to uncover some shitty things that guy did and right before they're about to switch back they're like... no, actually, you know what, you don't deserve a good life. you don't deserve a body you like or a family who will accept you no matter what.

and then i think the rest of the story is like those two going at each others throats about this whole body snatching situation. it was interesting i think and neither of the main characters were good people and i wish i'd thought about it more instead of dumping it cuz it was too hard to figure out.

the guy who got his body stolen was kind of a rapist, like not a serial rapist but like. a shitty teenager who didn't really understand consent and who used his social power to pressure people and held sexual photos over people's heads.

and the nonbinary teen was basically chock full of bitterness and hatred from abuse and neglect and was more than happy to have someone to take it out on. Even when they knew that what they were doing was morally indefensible because they personally didn't believe that anyone could do anything to deserve losing their bodily autonomy. but just because you know something is wrong doesn't mean you'll always do the right thing, yknow?

anyway point is. i wanna kill myself

[gilbertscocteaus]

idk if i've said this here but i really like how gilbert is portrayed as a victim despite everything ... he's TRULY not a perfect person, he's the kind of person that makes you say "okay he does do shitty things he needs to sit down what's wrong with him" and makes things worse for everyone around him MULTIPLE times, he hurts the people who care about him in some way (carl and serge being my main examples, there was genuinely no reason to be doing allat but also does he really know any better???? he's stunted to hell and back in various areas and advanced in areas that he can't even PROCESS properly because of the constant enabling and trauma. he's off the rails, he's awful, his intentions a lot of the time are to HURT -carl- and to push people away in the worst ways possible because he's either scared or angry -serge-)

anyway, abuse victims in media are portrayed as characters who do No Wrong a lot. characters that are gentle, and whose trauma made them softer, who are kind despite it all, who want to be better than the person who hurt them and stuff. you know the deal.

and it's not bad! trauma presents itself in a miriad of ways and that's just how things are, the environment and beliefs are what end up making the change (an abused child without a support net outside of their abuser won't have the same development as an abused child who does have SOMETHING or SOMEONE to hold on to)

gilbert, clearly, is out for blood. his own and someone else's.

because, technically, that's how he was raised. and auguste managed to make an environment that enabled those harmful behaviors (because they were enabling his own!)

when angry, gilbert explodes, he breaks whatever is in his path, and his intentions are to hurt, to break, to cause damage to anyone. auguste taught him that, auguste exploded towards him a lot, gilbert says it himself, he says that auguste would beat him up when he was angry, and those would be the only times he felt loved (it's also shown that auguste would sometimes be kind after he beat him up, but i don't think he mentions this)

(from the backstory chapters):

bonnard: are you sure you can talk like that about him? he's your guardian

gilbert: i just wanted to get his attention. i have to take drastic measures ... or he won't even touch me.

bonnard: what do you mean?

gilbert: when i make him angry (see how he's blaming himself? he's a child here, he's 9!) he treats me with so much violence that i feel like my head is going to be ripped off (because auguste shakes him around violently)

bonnard: i didn't know he was sadistic!

gilbert: and even then ... i prefer that more than when he comes up to me ... but then walks away without trying anything.

sex and assault have also been used against him when angry, too.

so that sort of explains (BUT IT DOESN'T JUSTIFY) why he thought "oh i can do this to carl because i'm mad at him and because i know he wants me so bad anyway. then if it goes badly i can probably apologize to him and it'd be whatever." because that shit has been happening to him FOREVER. and he's been taught to think it was okay.

reading the scene again, you see he's taunting carl, saying that CARL is who wants this, and that this is his opportunity to do whatever he wants and satisfy that need to "possess" him

it's hard to explain a lot of things, but one thing that's clear is that he's using the language auguste and his abusers have used with him before ("you want this, so do it") and he thought carl might've followed along ... then he laughs when carl hits him, saying (direct quote): "hah ... i guess there's still space in you for god. that's great, cling onto him, protect him ... make sure i don't possess you ... make sure the devil (gilbert) doesn't possess you! make sure to tell that to serge, too. he's your best agent, your chosen one. but he needs to know that it's dangerous to get close to me! because I'M the devil that threatens to devour his pure heart! and if he gets close, he'll end up hurt."

a part of me wants to think he's projecting some of his own feelings towards his own abuse, because later on he does admit he feels trapped in his situation, he admits he just let people hurt him because he didn't know any better, stuff like that.

anyway, oof. he's portrayed as the biggest and main victim in kazeki despite it all, unlike auguste, who is very clearly the antagonist in everyone's lives despite him ALSO being an abuse victim (CSA and abuse in general from his adoptive brother)

i think it's nice that he's still seen as a victim despite that, because in the end all of this happens when gilbert is a child, a 13 year old, very poorly socialized and extremely mistreated and dehumanized throughout his life and stuff ......

it's really hard to explain how i feel about gilbert (despite me LOVING his character and feeling a sense of connection) without making it sound like i'm defending his actions because he's genuinely awful sometimes lol what am i even saying atp

[c-moon20-12]

(RANT AHEAD!!!! BEWARE⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️)

(ALSO SPOILERS⚠️⚠️⚠️)

I need jjk to end now and I mean NOWWW, like no sequels no side stories(maybe the rest living a happy life) no NOTHING I am soo tired of this manga Sukuna the main threat is gone Yuji got his friends back hooray.Though I think the ending is shitty everything is fine and dandy, pls gege is THREATENING me with a sequel and I think gege can't write for shit(sorry) there are so many plot holes and some unnecessary deaths that literally make my skin crawl don't get me wrong the way he writes Characters and their lore and stuff is glorious, and very well written but he doesn't do well with a plotline like AT ALL. Like why is he reviving characters and trying to hide their faces behind speech bubbles🤨🤨🤨(other reasons too this one is just kinda funny) like what is going onnnnnn just end it. JJK was fun until it got super super popular I really don't know Im just hating it a lot recently.

BUUUUTTTT like what do you think of the way it's going????

[yellowocaballero]

hi!! loved New Wave & its Jason addition, was wondering if you have any Opinions about the weird characterization of Jason in the comics/fandom?

Oh Jesus. You are talking to a certified fanon Batfam hater jkaljdsfkljsdf. In some senses, yes I do.

I see more 'good or at least interesting' depictions of Jason than I do pretty much any other Batfam character. A lot of the best Batfam fic has an extremely strong Jason POV. From a group dynamics perspective, having a Jason is important. Jason is important: his death irrevocably altered Batman as a series, marked a serious turning point in kid sidekicks and comics as a whole, and created a few pretty good storylines.

It's hard to say 'what's the real Jason characterization', because he constantly cross-contaminates himself. Jason's character is little more than the lens through which he's viewed, and what comes afterwards. Pre-Crisis Jason is indistinguishable from Dick. Post-Crisis Jason isn't that different either, until they decided to kill him, at which point they very quickly gave him all of his character traits we know him for today. Retrospectives on Jason for twenty years were of both this pre-post-humorous angry/impulsive version and The Dead Kid nostalgia, and now they're colored by his Red Hood anger and 'glory days' nostalgia. And then we've had the Batfam-ization of Batman comics and none of that matters anyway, because they're blorbos now.

@lazuliquetzal has remarked several times that the real problem with Red Hood is that you can use him for drama, like, once or twice - that he's a very good foil character for one or two very specific storylines. I agree. I think further usage of the RH as a villain should be separated from the Batfam, since you can't reconcile his pro-killing stance with the Batfam non-killing stance. Give him a different story if you want, but I think it's hard to slot the actual Red Hood character back into the Batfam. Not even sure that you should.

I think the main thing for me is that I don't understand why the 'good end' is always 'Bring Jason Home!' - why reconciliation is mandatory, why what we want is him moving back into the manor and having family dinners. Why. He's 19. Let him live by himself in his shitty apartment and smoke weed and shittalk his dad. He's an adult, he doesn't have to talk to any of you if he doesn't want to. He really doesn't want to. There is more than one way for a family to function, and it doesn't have to look like family dinners.

Regarding fic: obviously the softening and defanging is boring. There's an entire genre of stories where 'Jason hates Tim until he actuall meets him, at which point he's blasted by Tim's #woobie and starts taking care of him", but in the '10s the biggest conflict with Jason is that he irrationally hates a fourteen year old who did nothing wrong completely to the point where he keeps on trying to kill him. For a decade he was just melodramatic yelling. I think people are more interested in writing cute dynamics than they are characters, and Jason is forced into the sympathetic family dynamic as a result. Comics now do this too, because, fandomization,

Young Jason stories are also entirely whump, which is obviously boring. I've mentioned this before, but a big part of my thoughts behind the NW!Jason fic are just that there are a lot of 'Jason comes to the manor' fics, and in very little of them do Jason and Bruce actually like each other. It's pure whump and family bonding over any actual interest in the characters. Thing about whump is just - put in literally any character there, it doesn't matter. Pick anyone. Who cares.

This is all ignoring the number one biggest thing for me, which is: the fandom is obsessed with Jason, and I am sick of Jason, it is all Jason. Even Tim is worse off in comparison, because he gets moe blob'd so Jason can take care of him. Go write the women. Seriously. Jason's a whump magnet and it's exhausting, go write Cass Cain having a character arc.

TL;DR: Batfam fanfic only cares about cute brotherly fluff and whump and it is so fucking bad, man.

[ggswaywardgifrepository]

The things Khaos Reigns has done to my life LMFAO.

I truly have such mixed feelings about Bi-Han and Sektor as a ship. Like, one minute I'll see a really insightful pro-SekHan post and be like, "Yeah, I agree."

But then I'll see something more critical (where I naturally fall when it comes to the ship) and be like, "Yeah, no, THIS instead."

I guess that means it's a compelling ship, even if it's got issues. And don't get me wrong, I think it does.

I think both characters can end up in several places, and not necessarily together.

They could both be redeemed, realign with good.

They could both stay unapologetically evil.

One could choose redemption, while the other doesn't.

But this can all branch off even further.

Sektor could "betray" Bi-Han in favor of Liu Kang if she finally believes that's the only way to keep him safe. Or Bi-Han could choose his own redemption in line with this, and for Sektor, who has stood by his side through EVERYTHING he's done, could be the one who feels betrayed.

I also think differing perspectives on the Cyber Lin Kuei could come between them. I already think they see it differently. I've said it before: I think that Bi-Han saw them as pawns, like the Dragon Army who sparked the idea in him. And I think Sektor sees it as a means to enhance the capabilities, the lethality, of the Lin Kuei's most elite warriors (including herself). That Bi-Han wasn't right up there with Sektor and Cyrax getting his wannabe Iron Man on tells me they don't have the same end goal when it comes to this.

And we haven't even gotten to the Cyber Lin Kuei actually being cyborgs yet (although some intros allude to it being on Sektor's mind).

I think this could be a factor in their downfall as a couple, and worry, if that's the case, it'll be used as an excuse to redeem Bi-Han but throw Sektor under the bus. She'll be treated as this evil mastermind who manipulated his every move, which a: is a shitty thing to do to her, but also, to Bi-Han. It would make her too one-dimensional and him too easily taken advantage of for someone of his skill, intelligence, and standing. The main game already did this when they had him so easily swayed by Shang Tsung.

I also finally understand why the idea of Bi-Han/Sareena initially appealed to me more than Bi-Han/Sektor: it's a ship that offers hope for redemption. Everything we're being fed about SekHan (which might be intentionally misleading like the KR trailers all were T_T) seems to be doubling-down on them as Aftermath Shao/Sindel 2.0.

Ultimately, I think my biggest worry is that both Sektor and Bi-Han will stay evil but rather than be respected as the ongoing threat two people of their caliber should be (esp if they ally with others against Liu Kang along the way) they'll be reduced to fodder for whoever NRS decides gets to be the hero down the line.