#its just fascinating to watch

[jheselbraum]

I feel like this is a problem with Gravity Falls specifically but I feel like a lot of the clearly-a-self-insert oc's people make to ship with Ford are like, absurdly hot, and that's fine, this is not a judgement call at all, but for this show specifically it's just... Incredibly obvious that the oc is way out of Ford's league to the point where sometimes the artist has to visibly make Ford hotter in order for the relationship to seem plausible

[puppyeared]

aughg

[isthatacalzone]

me: *seeing people yell about how they did Glintshore & Percy's death in the show*

also me: ..................anyway

[krillford]

I like to think they infodump to each other (this is what love looks like)

[redrobin-detective]

Rewatching the Umbrella Academy has me thinking once more about Five being just Five. All the others have normal civilian names, chosen by Grace supposedly, except for him. That leaves two slightly hilarious options.

Five was asked about a name prior to hopping forward in time and was like 'nah I like being a number' and blinked away or the more plausible option that

The names were chosen after Five left

Which leads me to this idea that each of the Umbrellas had given thought over the years to a name for their lost, wayward brother.

Luthor: Guy. Am I the only one seeing Luthor crying because Five had been the Boy within their team and then never got to grow up but if he did he'd be a Guy. It feels like him to equate Five's alias to his name.

Diego: Diego would come up with nerdy, annoying names for a nerdy, annoying brother. He'd think to himself that Albert would fit him and Diego would call him Albrat when he was being a prick. If he were still around that is.

Allison: Allison would be flipping through the baby book when pregnant with Claire looking for names with meanings like Lost or Traveler or Beloved Son coming up with names like Wendell or Calian.

Klaus: Klaus would absolutely refuse to mentally settle on a name. He's gone through a million of them from Mario to Klaus Jr to Off Brand Peanut Butter Cup to Jeff. It's easier to play around with different names than to think about how Five isn't around to choose.

Ben: He seems like the kind of dude who never really formed any other names for Five. Like Five is Five? He listened to Klaus's ideas from silly to serious and Ben was never able to take them seriously.

Viktor: He'd given it some thought during childhood but never really thought about it seriously until Five returned. Though unmentioned, some of the ideas that Viktor had tosses around - before and after Five's return - were some suggestions Five would have approved of.

[rukafais]

thinking again about how the reason the character work in drizzt hits as often as it does for me is, imo, that the author makes really good use of third person limited. characters simply don't know what they don't know. they grow around constant pain like a fucked up trellis and can't articulate their problems because they don't have the words and don't know where to start. they have desires that are forbidden to them or something they can barely put into thoughts let alone words but they're driven by that sense of wrongness or rightness anyway. characters yearn for things that they can't articulate or understand that they want and constantly come to blows with themselves, other people or the world around them because of it

[skitskatdacat63]

I am going to cry, thanks very much!

[moeblob]

OC !

[ratatatastic]

i love the poker table and all the shit that has come from it if not because you can see exactly who's the loudest persistent bitch there and who exactly finds that endearing spoiler alert its exactly who you think it is womp womp

deeply important to me on a "whos the best and whos the worst at the table" maffhew and benny insisting forsy is the best because of his good pokerface and his consistency and even swaggy agrees that forsy is pretty good meanwhile benny cant help adding an "ekky thinks he's the best" while he's at it and swaggy has to get his two cents in as well: "and [ekblad] thinks he's pretty good."

and when forsy gets asked best and worst he decides he can't say worse and instead only lists the people he think are the good and: "ekky's pretty good actually but he's very... he's a little bit more wild so he's got some big swings."

and at first it's like oh maybe this is a benny/swaggy bullying ekky moment as they're prone to wont to do (ekky deserves it and likes it) but then forsy immediately says afterwards that c*usins is: "but i think nick c*usins. hes doing pretty good. yeah, I know, I know... we're gonna get him though."

which immediately discredits why he thinks ekky is a good player because both benny AND demers were like c*usins is the WORST at poker

and if you think oh forsy is just a carebear of a man and he cant choose the worst- NO HE DOES NOT. HE ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT BECAUSE in the same interview he has no qualms of naming lundy as the worst playoff beard (2nd year in a row btw): "its gotta be one of the finns probably... lundy" and calling out luosty for his culinary abominations: "luosty is eating—he's putting raw onions in the pasta which is... yeah thats a little... weirdo, weirdo!"

this is just forsy whos very bad at hiding his bias and will warp the world in favour of it because he'd rather die than not pick ekky for TWO whole questions (best at poker and best playoff beard)

and with primetime panthers we learned that ekkys too loud and pushy for both benny and swaggys taste that they both elected him as the worst seatmate on the team plane which is so comical that mr. im not very good at poker but I still sit with them and get shocked when ekky bounds over and wants me to play too would say such a thing huh

and the double whammy is that swaggy prefers forsys who's the complete opposite of ekky

and i just think everyone going, forsy is nice quiet and reserved in his facial expressions and ekky is loud insistent and not as good as he thinks he is, is just sooooooooooo

[nanami-is-nanamean]

In the middle of writing the worst day of hs!gojos life and like-- ive been thinking abt this hc for actual years so i might as well drop it here while im figuring out how to Put Words Onto Page

I imagine that pressing a hand against Gojo’s Infinity would give you a sense of extreme vertigo. Kind of like Kenjakus giant ass catfish curse that made Yuji think he was falling, but somehow both infinitely (heh) worse and better.

Better because hey, at least the feeling is isolated to the limbs that are against Infinity, and Worse because holy shit the feeling is isolated to the limbs that are against Infinity.

Because like... think abt it tho...

Infinity works via achilles paradox-- "any moving object must reach halfway on a course before it reaches the end". Infinity makes that paradox real by giving an infinite amount of halfways between the object and the end. The end being himself.

That would mean then, that whatever object touches Infinity and gets blocked by it, is in a constant state of forward motion, held only in place by the endless halfways it must go thru to reach Gojo. Honestly, as i think abt it more while writing this post, it feels to me like Infinity is kind of like a black hole or bottomless pit. It keeps whatever object moving towards the center (black hole) but it never gets any closer to the point that its basically still (bottomless pit)

Imagine then, what it would feel like if you were the "object" going up against Gojo’s Infinity. Like, not even punching him. Just giving him like, a high five or leaning on him or something of that nature.

You go to pat Gojo’s shoulder to give him some physical affection but as your hand descends to meet the dark fabric of his uniform, it. Keeps. Going. Down. But, you're looking at your hand. Its perfectly still on Gojo’s shoulder. But your hand, it still feels like its moving. And if you're sensitive to motion, this is the part where your head starts to spin/get light-headed, this is the part where your knees get weak. You feel that its still going, why is it still going, its frozen still, but your hand. Keeps. Going. You want to topple over, but you're on still and steady ground and youre properly supported on your feet, but your hand keeps telling you that its still going down down dOWN DOWN DOWN--

And then gojo turns off his Infinity and snaps you out of ur mini panic attack. Oopsies!

[lover-of-mine]

Fought 'til you tethered me, swept under surfaces, never enough of it...

[sometinybees]

I'm going to scream at some arcane season 2 takes I've seen on TikTok the purity mindset is a curse

Like NO ONE is a morally perfect/good person in this show!!!!! They've all made awful decisions that have hurt people!!!!! That's the point!!! And it's okay and so very normal to like a character even if they've done some really bad shit. The amount of "man they want me to like THAT person after what they did?" Type takes are making me want to pull my hair out like YES! BECAUSE THEY ARE INTERESTING AND NUANCED CHARACTERS YOU CAN BOTH ENJOY WATCHING THEM AND ALSO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING IS FUCKED!!!!!! WHY IS THIS SO HARD

[hellofastudysession]

the thing about stanley is that he knows he can never be hurt by the narrator in a way that matters and that is exactly why he gets hurt in the end. the thing about stanley that no one gets is that he always has the upper hand over the narrator. there is a reason he stays and its not because hes trapped. until he is. because he wants to be. the thing about stanley is that making him either a completely full-fledged literal office worker or a nothing-at-all blank slate player character ruins the best part about him, which is that, if you reach the end, he chose to be here

[syncrovoid-presents]

Alastor's Deal (Thoughts, Theories, and some Predictions)

This won't answer the who, but aims to dig into the why, and plausibly narrow down the terms of the deal. Long post ahead!

Evidence

First off, the finale was incredible! But what Alastor's song showed was that his ""death"" against Adam wasn't entirely a surprise, but rather planned. Alastor's song revealed that he was looking for a loop in the contract, a way to slip past the deal without having to directly break it. He already made a deal with Charlie for a favour, but that might have been a safety net of sorts, something to guarantee himself a fighting chance if his "dying for the hotel" plan failed.

His surprise was at how fast it happened, not that he nearly died. Alastor craves control, he wears his smile for control, he makes deals for control, his magic highly influenced by controlling others too. His Modus Operandi is control, and he faced the battle it started with him being in control. He was outwitting Adam, he was faster, sneakier, even kept his hands behind his back while dodging just to show how little effort it took. But Adam's weapon sending an angelic beam of power? That wasn't in his plan, that wasn't in his control.

Control is something Alastor seeks over everything, which is why the deal is so brutal for him. The deal takes control from him, and his constant smiling and jokes and contained urges for violence is him trying to have some sort of freedom. It's highly implied that, unless it's for the hotel, he hasn't used his magic for his own reasons. He hasn't eaten or killed anyone unless it is for the hotel, and even that was implied to happen only during the Mimzy incident. He hasn't gotten to make any deals either, at least no real deals, no deals for souls.

I'm far from the first one to say that his deal is forcing him to help the hotel, but it's only now that we see the true extent. Alastor's entire personality, goals, and being has been changed against his will. He is now a tool for the hotel, the sword and shield, the magical provider, bringing them whatever they need to succeed despite the odds. Without him, it would just be Charlie, Vaggie, and Angel Dust. Sir Pentious wouldn't have joined, repairs would've taken far longer, the staff would've been just Charlie and Vaggie, et cetera. Even his deals are just him trying to gain something out of helping the hotel.

Alastor is bound to the hotel and his powers are also bound to the hotel. He cannot be selfish, he cannot do anything unless it's for the hotel no matter how desperately he wants to do otherwise. And yet it seems like his powers are limited too.

Alastor has immense levels of powers, so much that he was taking down a large portion of the angel army single handedly. Had Adam not been there, it's not outlandish to claim that Alastor could have taken down the angel army by himself. This is why he was feared. This is why "no one crosses the radio demon". If these are his powers when their limited, imagine just how powerful he truly is?

The last evidence I'll state before moving on is that Alastor didn't return back to the hotel until it was rebuilt, yet still didn't use his magic to cause chaos.

To simplify, on his end the deal forces him to use his immense power for the benefit of the hotel. He cannot actively do anything to bring harm to it, and he cannot use his magic unless it's for the good of the hotel. And he cannot escape from the deal if the hotel is destroyed, so the deal isn't about the physical hotel, but rather the concept of it. As long as the hazbin hotel exists in the heart of those involved, Alastor is bound to help.

Why?

Now the why? I believe that, whoever he made the deal with him was, they want the hotel to succeed. Not only that, I believe that by forcing Alastor to stay there and help while limiting his capability for violence, they are also trying to rehabilitate Alastor.

Wherever Alastor was before the hotel opened, it was somewhere where he couldn't interact with anyone. He was forced to be gone, only until the hotel opened. If the theories of Alastor making a deal with Lilith is true, then Lilith's character is important to consider. From what we know she is powerful and worked to bring dekonkind together. And that she too disappeared 7 years ago.

It's confirmed that Alastor destroyed many of the worse evils that existed in hell, the only ancient overlords that remain are civil and take part of overlord meetings. They are controlled, contained. There's more structure, and the only truly out of control, dangerous demon to remain would have been Alastor. It's possible that Lilith realized that she could use him to "clean up hell", waiting her time until Alastor was the last remaining biggest threat. That was when she pounced, seven years ago to capture him in a deal. We don't know why he would accept such a limiting deal, but I'd wager that it could have been for his life (either she was threatening him, or he nearly died and made a deal for his life).

Now that the deal is made, Alastor can't bring mindless chaos. If anything he is doing the most to help demons be saved from the extermination either through redemption or protection (we also didn't see him prior to the last, so perhaps he's also bound to protect during the extermination too?).

All while Alastor is handling and ensuring the success of the largest and most helpful demon-centered support system, Lilith is on vacation. Almost like Alastor is acting in her role, a mimicry of a spiritual successor of sorts. He's helping rally the demons together, helping shape Charlie into a better leader, helping prove demons can be redeemed. All while Alastor is either witness, participant, or manager of the strategies used to redeem sinners. Alastor is only a few steps away from taking part of the redemption program himself.

If Alastor's deal was with Lilith, then she's getting everything she could want. All the uncontrollable evils/overlords destroyed, a muzzle on (one of the most) powerful sadistic demons, someone to help guide her daughter, help demons redeem themselves, protection for her citizens from being killed or further tortured, and she finally gets a vacation. She'd be getting everything she could want, with the bonus of possibly rehabilitating Alastor in the process.

It's no wonder Alastor is so desperate to break out of the deal, to find a backdoor in the contract. This goes against everything he stands for. The stories of him broadcasting screams? Of killing overloards and owning soul after soul after soul? That is the real him, and it isn't exaggerated. If Alastor wasn't chained, he'd have the power and strength to destroy large swaths of hell himself. If he decided to do his own extermination with angelic weapons? He could kill as many demons as the angels do and more, because he wouldn't be limited by a single day period.

If his deal is with someone else? We simply don't have enough information yet to name them then. Whoever it is, they would have to believe in demonkind's potential for improvement, and possibly fear what Alastor is able to do.

Predictions

The last thing I want to touch upon is how Alastor might be able to escape the deal. First is what he tried, which is "dying" for the hotel. Or, more precisely, for everyone involved in the hotel, it was as if he died, so why would they still depend on him?

Next would be for the hotel to be destroyed, and considering that we don't know if Alastor was briefly free while he recovered or if he was just hiding out somewhere new because he couldn't stay in the hotel because it didn't exist, this one is still iffy. If part of his deal is staying at the hotel to actively protect it, the he was temporarily freed from that condition. Yet once it was rebuilt Alastor returned, proving that the destruction of the hotel building wouldn't free him.

The next possible way could be the death of the hazbin hotel spirit. If Alastor (or outside forces) were able to destroy Charlie's hope for the hotel just like Lucifer's dreams were crushed, perhaps Alastor would be freed. Considering how the finale went, it would take a lot for this to happen.

My final idea, and the one I predict will happen, is that Alastor outfits the person he made the deal with. He doesn't find a true "out", but rather will manipulate them into giving his power back. And this? I believe that Alastor's deal with Charlie was made for this reason.

If indeed the deal was with Lilith, and part of the deal seems to be ensuring Charlie's dreams come true, then Charlie is a delightful way for Alastor to manipulate the situation. How? Who knows, but I think that this will be a large part of the conflict of season 2.

[codacheetah]

Homunculus

[thermodynamic-comedian]

i am actually so insane about arkayne in a way i have never been insane about jonelias in and i don't know why. i don't know why