#just adds to it. he refuses to be shown up by ANY of his children

[felikatze]

i've had dwyer for .2 seconds but i support his journey to smashing his father's head in with a coffee cup

[fantazygirl-blog1]

So tired of everyone (or almost everyone) making Misa into a kind, weak little victim, manipulated by Light.

That woman may seem sweet, but she's absolutely ruthless. She's selfish, obsessive, stalkerish and emotionally abusive (perhaps not in the traditional way but I will explain)

Way before she even met Light, she managed to kill law enforcement (which might I add, she probably didn't even know was law enforcement) and news reporters just to prove a point. They were just a means to an end to her. She wanted to thank Kira for killing her parent's murderer, but she didn't even stop to think once if the people she killed had families of their own, children of their own. She only had one goal: what she herself, wanted. More than that, Misa literally offered to immediately off her friend, that helped her with the tapes (and if someone offers to help you with that, they're a very close friend for sure) and it wasn't even Light's suggestion. It was all Misa, who saw killing her friend as a way to get Light to trust her. It's clear that girl is willing to kill anyone and anything if it'll help her achieve her goals.

Also, she's super obsessive. My girl traded half her lifespan with no hesitation on the off chance that she might be able to meet Kira. (Yes, she had a plan but there was no guarantee that her plan would even work)And the instant she saw Light, she started stalking him (even though she herself had problems with stalkers) to the point that she just turned up at his house with no warning. Imagine if a stranger just shows up at your house like that, pretending to be a friend and your mom lets them in. That's fucking horrifying.

Also, Misa barely knew Light for like a few seconds and she decided that he was going to be her boyfriend, and NOTHING was going to stay in her way, not even Light himself. She pressured him into being in a relationship with her, even though it was clearly unwanted, Rem literally threatened to kill him if he refused, and then she had the gall to tell Light she would kill any girl she suspected would go out with Light if she saw her with him. This is where the emotional abuse comes from (even though I dunno if I should call it that but I don't know how else to classify it). Misa doesn't really consider Light a person. For her, Light is more like a doll she can project her feelings on. She attributed him emotions according to her whims and acted like those were the reality regardless of Light's real feelings. She made herself the main character in his story, even after told and shown repeatedly tha she wasn't and got mad when years later she was still neglected and barely paid attention to.

I'm not saying all this to hate on Misa and this in no way a Kira appreciation post (my favorite Light is Yotsuba arc Light, I hate Kira tbh) but I'm just saying, if you're a Misa fan you should be able to accept the reality: she's not a weak, sweet little girl, manipulated by evil Light. She's capable of all the horrible things she does all on her own thank you very much and I'm tired of reading fics where Misa is treated like only a victim and given leniency while Light is treated as the only true monster.

I'm just saying, the girl didn't need a boyfriend, she needed a therapist. Badly.

[avelera]

To add onto your point about Viktor pushing people away I think this is shown a lot through his interactions with Sky. When they first meet as kids she clearly takes interest and wants to talk but he looks down to gesture to his boat when she is called away. He believes that it is his destiny to be lonely. Shortly after when meeting Singed, Singed asks “why aren’t you playing with the other kids,” and Viktor steps out from behind a rock to show him his leg. Singed’s response is a double edged sword because he says that “loneliness is often a byproduct of a gifted mind,” on one hand he is calling Viktor intelligent and implying that his disability isn’t what makes him lonely, however Singed still essentially reinforces the idea that Viktor is inherently going to be lonely because of his mind.

Later (in life, technically it’s earlier in the show) she flirts with him and he surprisingly refers to her by her last name only despite knowing each other for so long. This act pushes her away, especially at a time when he probably did need to ask for help as he had just coughed up blood earlier in the episode and passes out not long after she leaves. While I do not think he harbors any romantic feelings for Sky both the way she shows interest with him as a kid and as an adult proves Singed wrong. She doesn’t find his intelligence isolating, she admires him for it and wants to get closer but Viktor has put up a wall because he’s already internalized that loneliness is a byproduct of his existence.

She also does not even hesitate to try pull him off the hexcore when she has no idea what it is.

Viktor is often shown with themes of loneliness but it is contrasted with the fact that he is constantly around people that would move heaven and earth for him if he asked. This really shows that the internalized loneliness that makes him push people away and refuse to be selfish is also tragic because he and Singed are wrong. He does face a more difficult time being a disabled zaunite in Piltover for sure, but pushing out those who wish to be close is a fate he curated himself since he believes it’s how it has to be.

I think you said it very well!

One thing I love about having the full Arcane story with S2 is that we can really dig deep and analyze who these characters are now.

I'd argue Viktor came across as pretty... flaw-free in S1. He's still complex, but most of the problems he faces seem to come from issues outside his control, like his disability and his terminal illness.

I think S2 brought into focus what Viktor's flaws are, including his intellectual tunnel vision and, as you noted, his tendency to think himself lonely when he is the one constantly pushing people away, perhaps as a result of that awful line Singed fed him when he was a kid. (Silco and Singed are both great examples of damaged adults trying to help the children in their life, teaching them the lessons they learned, but in so doing scarring those children with their own issues and pain because their situations actually aren't parallels.)

So much of what Viktor does in S2 revolves around loneliness. Normally, I think such loneliness plots would be about someone finding love for the first time, or learning to love themselves despite it. But the strength and quality of Viktor's loneliness story, what I think brings it closer to a more realistic story, is that it takes two to tango. He's projecting rejection onto others like Jayce that isn't there. He's thinking he needs to isolate himself and even as a child to play alone, even though Sky was right there taking an interest. He was just too obsessed with his work (admittedly, work that would save him from a terminal illness so like, I feel him on this) to see that he was letting the life he had pass him by, or that there were people trying to help him, who were actively helping him if he just looked around.

He does it in 2.02 to Jayce too, by the way. Regardless of Hexcore influence, he chooses "the Mission" of securing a legacy over the friend who is right here beside him, offering help, who has come back to Viktor after Viktor chastised him for leaving his side. Jayce listened and he's back now, but Viktor is now so consumed by guilt of the other person he ignored that he's missing the loved one he's ignoring right now.

Viktor then builds this commune of people that sure as hell looks like a wall he's building against loneliness. He speaks with their voices, they are of one mind, they share their emotions, and yet Viktor still self-isolates there, spending his time with the hallucination of Sky, set apart from the other cultists in his giant bubble on the hill, making them look up to him like angels singing praises to God. And that too is lonely. It's not true connection. And by making everyone into One, it's still loneliness, it's still his old patterns. Combining everyone into one person with one will so they can never leave you (no one is ever shown leaving the commune, btw, all foot traffic flows inward) still ends up with him alone in the homogenous soup of everyone he turned into him.

Wizard Viktor is another example of this behavior, the ultimate conclusion of it, why he needs Jayce to get through to him. Only Jayce can show Viktor that his loneliness is in his own head, it's a product of his own behavior, he is pushing people away and ignoring them and then being upset when they're not there, and then when they come back he pushes them away again in favor of "the mission" in favor of "legacy", and even if it's in favor of finding a cure for himself, he pushes away people who are trying to help him with that. And he doesn't let Jayce in on the fact he's dying which is another example of not letting people who love him help him with his most important mission of saving his own life.

This is getting way too long lol but ok:

TL;DR One of Viktor's flaws is self-imposed loneliness that still makes him lash out at others and ultimately leads to some of his most heinous crimes like the assimilation of the cultists and attempt to make everyone into One Being, which is still the same behavior of self isolation, and that's why only Jayce can get through to him that he was loved the whole time and he's only lonely because he keeps ignoring his loved ones and pushing them away.

[see-arcane]

Eggers is really getting on my nerves - he now goes around saying how Ellen is actually a victim of XIX century and doesn’t belong, how her husband doesn’t understand her and how there’s a love triangle happening between Ellen, Orlok and Thomas. 🤦‍♀️ Just….why?! Why?

Playing very halfhearted devil's advocate, I can see how Bobby Egg would glean this from the original Nosferatu even without the Coppola influence.

Ellen is a victim of her time period!

Ellen Hutter is from a film made in 1922, with its story taking place in 1838. Neither period was a stellar one for taking women seriously or seeing them treated well/as equals (and fuck, just look around right now). A lot of directors and writers fall into this track of thinking when doing period pieces, because, yeah: Women Always Got the Short Stick. Especially women who behaved outside The Norm (c).

The problem here is that Ellen's weirdness is not a turn-off to Thomas, nor does it make her a pariah to her friends who host her while Thomas is gone. At most, Thomas can be pointed out as foolishly (but, fine, rationally) not taking Ellen's spontaneous Foretelling of Doom over a business trip seriously. Thomas' main character flaws amount to 1) Not believing Ellen until it's too late and 2) Insisting the supernatural reality is just him going mad/dreaming. But Ellen faces no other trial than the one she takes upon herself--the martyr sacrifice.

Herzog played with it pretty well, showing his Ellen/Mina-figure 'Lucy Harker' coming up against the walls of 1) Skepticism from the Learned Man, 'Van Helsing' bluntly refusing to listen to her about Nosferatu and 2) Everyone around her, men, women, and children, cracking under the fear and despair of the plague and just waltzing around in Danse Macabre happy-hopelessness, deaf to any warning from her. Again, not because 'Girl One Weird! Girl One is Girl! Let us jeer and torture her about it, as is right.'

Eggers is doing for his Ellen what he did to Thomasin in The Witch. Leaning heavy on extremely grim hyper-realism as it might have been for a young woman being Odd in the 19th century. A factor that did not exist at all in the 1922 or 1979 versions. But it adds to the 'All the time period's humans around her are trash and backwards! no wonder she would rather die with Orlok!' of it all. So yeah.

2. Her husband doesn't understand her!

Is Thomas himself weird? Creepy? Into dark and eerie things? Nope. Dude's a human golden retriever.

But he loves Ellen and all that she is. The entire first scenes with them are them hugging and loving on each other. The first thing he does upon returning from his escape (other than mentally grafting a belief that it Was All in His Head) is crushing her in an embrace. He is proof that you don't have to be Grim and Gothique and Misunderstood to love yourself a Morticia. At most, we could say that he fails to clock when Ellen is lying to him--because she is shown lying to him exactly once.

When she says she is sick and tells him he must run to Prof. Bulwer for help. He does so immediately, leaving the house for Ellen to call in Orlok for the sunrise trap. At a stretch we could paint this as Thomas, the 'lighter' half of the couple, failing to understand the 'darker' half's acceptance of a deadly price for Doing What Must Be Done. Thomas Hutter is, if not childish, very clearly meant to be in a different story. He is more the flighty loving and beloved maiden than Ellen, the self-sacrificing gothic hero, is. If Thomas is ignorant, he is ignorant in the way of someone who was meant to be in a sweeter fairy tale where he and his love were destined to live safe and happy together who realizes too late they are in a horror story.

But to throw that tragedy out and just graft in, 'Well he's too dry and proper to really get her, I guess," feels lazy. Usable, but lazy.

3. It's a love triangle!

I mean. Yeah, it is. A love triangle just has to involve three people with attraction floating around between the three points.

In the original and in Herzog's, the triangle is 'Human Couple is in Love. Nosferatu gets a Crush. The Crush is used to Bait Nosferatu into the Sunrise Trap.'

But Bobby Egg is pulling a Coppola by deciding aaaactuallyyy, Ellen is super goth-horny for Orlok, not her unsatisfying unmanly cuck husband Thomas. The sacrifice is still technically there--the whole "We belong dead" of Ellen giving her life to make sure Orlok dies by sunrise--but it feels so damn pointless from that angle.

I have said it before, this premise is peak gothic. It is a very tasty notion to consider: A misfit who, being too weird and unhappy to live, but still bound by Morals enough to destroy herself and her would-be Ideal*** mate rather than inflict their horror upon an ungrateful humanity, is some very meaty stuff! Excellent even!

If. It. Had. Been. AN ORIGINAL STORY.

Ellen of the original was terrified. She was repulsed. She did not want to do what she knew had to be done...but it had to be done. And so she abandoned joy. Abandoned life. Abandoned Thomas, who she loved. All to lay herself out as bait in a trap and ensure that her beloved and the dying townspeople, including her friends, would be saved. That is the tragedy. Ellen was happy. Ellen was loved and in love. Ellen was singled out by Orlok's craving and so left as the martyr under the spotlight: Well, Ellen? What will you do, knowing what you know? Will you sit by and live and be left free of violation as the deaths pile around you? Hmm?

And, as Mina Harker was prepared to do before her, she put herself on the chopping block. It is brave. It is painful. It is unfair.

As I'm sure Eggers' Ellen's end will feel to some degree. The audience will be honed by then into grieving her loss, this misunderstood and monstrous beauty dying by bleeding and writhing to death under her would-be undead beau. But it will be an end less than the sum of its original.

[heteromerous-rhyming]

while i'm feeling stabby let's talk about action scenes in the percy jackson show (bc i refuse to let this go i refuse i do)

bc the actions scenes otherwise were not unfortunately memorable for me i'm going to be talking about the first and last ones and why they don't work both on a cinematic level but also on a character level. did i want to address the disappointingness of the st louis arch fight? yes. but literally cannot remember it beyond the fact that it was disappointing. which says a lot imo.

so. let's start with the mrs. dodds fight shall we?

i'm going to say it. taking away the sequence where percy assumes that he's wrongfully in trouble kills a bunch of subtle character work in the series.

in the books percy has a short monologue at the beginning where he starts off with "am i a troubled kid?" and so the lead up to mrs. dodds attacking him does several things. we, the reader understand that percy didn't (consciously) do anything, so we feel the unfairness when he's pulled aside - this scene asks us, the readers, to sympathize with the kid, not the authority figure. it sets up a fundamental theme in the books, that authority figures, and more specifically adults, can be challenged, can be wrong, can be terribly unfair to children. and this is important considering the protagonist of this story is dyslexic and has ADHD???

and they take it out. and it's really really galling.

there's so many other things that i could say about the character work in this scene. so many, like the fact that mrs. dodds' monologue about the gods is misinterpreted at first to be about the school - setting up the connection between the school administration unfairness and the gods unfair attitudes towards their children. like the moment when percy thinks that it might have been his ADHD acting up when mrs. dodds got up the stairs quicker than humanly possible. there's also less foreshadowing for mr. brunner being chiron, like the pen turning into a sword isn't even properly shown hello the pen suddenly having magical properties could be completely divorced from mr. brunner gifting it to percy.

there's just. a lot. of character work I'M LITERALLY SCREAMING IT'S NOT EVEN A HARD SCENE JUST PLEASE WHY IS THE SHOW ALLERGIC TO TENSION LIKE PLEASE

but they don't add in the conversations, they don't add in the moment of self-doubt, they don't add in mr. brunner. mrs. dodds just approaches menacingly. in broad daylight. like sir. the mist can cover a lot but it showed ares as a kidnapper. it doesn't make that much sense that it completely erased people's perception of mrs. dodds. like please.

(also idk if this is disney, but i think that it was incredibly frustrating that they really just removed percy's being treated as a delinquent and as a troubled kid. the show begins with the monologue but the monologue is kickstarted by percy being at "Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York." HELLO??? you could have had the exact same monologue but you change it for subpar themes????)

ok so it doesn't work on a character level.

does it work cinematically?

HELL NO.

this scene has already been torn to shreds and back (BUT NOT ENOUGH) so i'll be short. EVEN THE SPY KIDS HAS IMPACT SEQUENCES. ONES THAT LOOK REALISTIC MIND YOU. there's no impact. percy isn't pushed down by mrs. dodds, he just. trips? ig? silently? without any noise? ahahaha the lack of noise??? someone else has already mentioned the lack of noise but yeah once you hear (or don't hear) it, you can't un-hear it.

ahahahaha

ok but surely the show improved as they went on, as the filmed more etc etc. sure. but like. also no. (and also though i'm sure they did film these episodes in order lets also keep in mind that filming is not always linear)

ARES FIGHT SCENE WOOOOO LET'S GO

ok i did lose the video (i looked for it i swear, i took 30 min trying to look for it, which really isn't that long but yeah) but a lovely tumblr user here (i think i know who it was but i don't want to be embarrassingly wrong) edited the ares's fight with his internal monologue and an awful recorder rendition of that one song from the titanic and it really does encapsulate my thoughts. but yeah if you aren't familiar with the video.

when i was watching the final episode i swear i was trying to turn all critical brain functions off but it was really hard for me not to notice the increasing amount of time that ares just lets percy get up. i just watched dune (second part) so i was spoiled for good fight sequences but something i did notice was that in dune, when there is a pause in a fight it is FOR CHARACTER REASONS. the characters are DELIBERATELY NOT ENDING THE FIGHT. and that was not the impression i got from ares. it really wasn't.

and that took away from his authority/menace as a god ngl.

so yeah was the fight better than the dodds fight. 100%. like 500%.

does that make it a good fight sequence.... ehhhhhhhhhhhh....

(why did the scenes with luke have more tension than the ares fight hello)

and character wise. assassination. all the assassination. THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE CULMINATION OF PERCY'S CHARACTER ARC AHHHHHHHH. sorry. but like this was the point at which percy decides he's done running. and stands up to ares with all the taunts and quick thinking that we know him for. unfortunately the show thought itself better and erased that theme ahaha.

so this really is just a fight for the helm. no big reveals, no reading the actions and emotions of a god, no strategy, no trying to get to the water and ares stopping him. like

WOULD IT BE SO HARD TO JUST FOLLOW THE NICE LOVELY SCRIPT THE BOOKS GAVE YOU FOR EXAMPLE: shot of percy looking at the water, shot of ares looking at percy looking at the water, maybe a pan to the water here, percy moves towards, ares blocks. YOU CAN IN FACT SHOW BATTLEFIELD STRATEGY IN A MOVIE. BC BATTLE STRATEGY RESULTS IN STRATEGIC FIGHTING. WHICH IS WHAT THE VISUAL MEDIUM IS SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD AT. RIGHT? RIGHT???

ahahaha sorry just feeling stabby i don't really know why. anywho off to the senate meeting. i'm running a bit late but i did rsvp with a knife sooooo

[mdhwrites]

Is Belos the only Owl House villain with a fandom that's giving him more depth than the show?

Edit: I just noticed that you said TOH villain specifically. *smacks self* But also Kikimora exists... Or literally any fanfic about the S1 villains probably. TOH has a lot of dry puddle villains when it comes to depth. As someone who literally ever did King Sombra fiction for the My Little Pony, no. No it is not. In fact, I actually highly doubt that it's really that uncommon. A lot of pure evil villains will be warped and shifted as they hit a fandom so that they are more useful for shipping or can be more complex in their villainy than what was shown in the show. After all, when you start from rock bottom, it's hard to really not go up.

I think the big thing about Belos that makes him bizarre is that where as a lot of other fandoms will just agree that the villain was shallow, the fandom is split on him. There are those like me who believes he's incredibly bland and doesn't care about his backstory elements because, you know, backstory is not a personality. A boring character with an interesting backstory is still a boring character.

There is a side of the fandom though who are REALLY upset about Belos' treatment in the finale because of all those crumbs of backstory that they see as what could have been. Hell, because people linked me a recent review of TOH, I saw people in the comments effectively being split on the reviewers main complaint about the show being that Belos is just bluntly, boringly evil. Some thought he was right on the money, others talked about the shortening and some argued that he was actually complex, you just had to dig for it. (No I won't link the review because of issues surrounding the person who made it. It's also pretty bare bones anyways and what you'd expect from a 12 minute, positive review of TOH.)

This is demonstrative of the issue with Belos though, isn't it? Compelling concepts that are all in service for someone who can be boiled down to "Narcissistic, genocidal, racist moron." Someone betrayed by family who abandoned him and his loneliness and pain lashed out upon the world? A ruler who believes that the oppression of his own people is for their own sake due to religious fervor? A human who believes the other world to be a hell that he must crusade against? Each of these is actually not a bad concept on its own but they're not all compatible together. Maybe any two can do it but these are only three of the like half a dozen concepts you could read into Belos through his backstory and actions, minimum, and pretty much all demand that he actually have more than two braincells together because he is really rock stupid. Remember: He never planned for how to murder the children of the Isles, only the adults. In fact, he made sure to ADD protections on the children rather than making it more dangerous for them which could have led to an actual decline in population.

I will always prefer how Belos presented himself in S1's finale, a portrayal that does NOT work with his actual goals. His statement of "I do not seek conquest, only unity," is just bullshit. Murdering an entire race isn't unity after all. Also why bother lying to the human here? Why not try to get her on your side? Be honest with her? Or trap her so as to make sure not to allow her to backstab you like your brother? I know people say time loop stuff but he is still trying to convince her to work with him and is disappointed when she refuses, while also MURDERING LILITH which is a bit of a big deal if he actually remembers them after so long, so I don't buy it.

That portrayal has always been my favorite though because it makes Luz and Belos have similar goals but differing ideologies for reaching those goals. Belos believes that unity can be found through order and control, even if it restricts expression, while Luz promotes radical expressionism and the idea that it is our differences that make us stronger. It's great theming and makes it so that anytime Luz doesn't make a friend because they're simply too different, she has to question if he's potentially correct.

But then the show does the weird decision that each characters individuality, besides one or traits, is slowly eroded away over the course of the show. Everyone is just a nice person. You get a jock added eventually with Willow but that's about it. You don't have anyone overly serious, minus when Hunter is putting up a front and defaulting to trained behavior, you have no goths, punks, pure balls of sunshine who are annoying, etc. like that. Not amongst those that the show doesn't frame as mostly a joke, like how Lilith's hyperfixations are treated.

It's an awkward element of the main cast that makes Belos as the grand villain really awkward. You can't have a villain who is still seeking unity like that without him potentially being able to point out how those around Luz have lost their personal desires and goals, their interests, besides Willow (and kind of Gus with his human interest that is still... awkward to put it mildly), and so genuinely how different are their methods when she isn't as inclusive as she claims to be?

Even Kikimora, perhaps the most alternative person when compared to Luz's comfort zone, is only brought into Luz's range when she presents herself as capable of being a strawman for Luz and Luz gets an in to say "Look! She's a person! At least in my eyes." Before, you know, she ditches Luz to continue to be ambitious and care about her own goals, evil as they may be.

I've gotten kind of off topic but I guess my main point is to also discuss how you get a villain like Belos to some extent. I can absolutely like a pure evil villain btw. I don't think Ozai is a detriment to Avatar as his pure evil nature matches the fact that the war he is committing is just as much a force of nature, destroying the land, as it is some asshole's desire to conquer, capstoned not with his fight against Aang but his literal attempt to annihilate a CONTINENT. At that point, your goal isn't conquest, it's total destruction. A literal scorched Earth.

But Belos? Every attempt to pretend Belos was nuanced or the like just brought him lower and lower.

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

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.

[tealeafconnoisseur]

Something I noticed about most children's media I have consumed so far (specifically cartoons), is that being queer is often treated as completely normal. Something that just exists and isn't pointed out.

While that's obviously great, I do find children should be taught about homo-, trans- or any queerphobia as well.

Because, whether we like it or not, it is unfortunately too common in our society. And while lots of media shows kids that it's not wrong to be gay, trans, enby, etc, they don't often show how to deal with people who oppose that.

And if they do, the homophobe is treated as a despicable and evil villain, who cannot be changed and has to be defeated in some way.

Or their entire mindset is changed by one nice gesture or something.

I disagree with both portrayals. Just because someone is queerphobic doesn't instantly make them a villain. On the other hand, it's not always that easy to change someone's mind and opinions. Human minds are complex as hell.

One example of a good portrayal of queerphobia, specifically transphobia is in Dead End Paranormal Park.

SPOILERS AHEAD

One of the main characters, Barney, is transmasc. Even though his parents accept him, his grandmother is the one who keeps deadnaming him and treating him like a girl, straight up refusing to accept him.

All while his parents just ignore her harmful comments, not speaking up for their son. That's why he runs away from home to stay in the park.

In the end, his grandmother doesn't magically change her mind or just dies. No, instead, his parents finally do speak up after Barney shares how hurt he is by their inaction. They tell his Grandma to either accept Barney as he is, or she is not welcome in their home.

I love how this situation was shown. It is realistic.

This kind of portrayal is something I would like to see more of in children's media.

Especially with the current rise of anti lgbtqia+ politics and people in the US and even in my home country, Germany.

If you know other good examples like Dead End, please do share and feel free to add your own opinions to this post, whether you agree or disagree. I want this to be an open discussion.

Thank you for bearing with me and reading my rant

[the-owl-tree]

PLEASE tear into moth flight's vision i am so interested in hearing ur thoughts about it

look at the time the fandom hyped up dotc so hard i got my hopes up and i vehemently hate this arc because of it. it is a hotbed of misogyny, ableism, shitty characters who are never portrayed to be wrong, abuse apologia, fatphobia, and did i mention the misogyny? like wow. they fucking hate women in this arc.

and i'll be honest when i went i first read moth flight's vision, i was already going in with a negative view because i hated dotc so fucking much...and i hated it! I ended up rereading it waaaaayy later and hated it AGAIN i have no clue why people put this arc or era on such a pedestal it sucked ass so bad. i want a written apology and financial compensation from the erins after i read it.

i know im being like a little dramatic but listen to me. i need everyone to hate this arc as much as i do.

Moth Flight's super edition is a mess of ideas, half-baked executions, and honestly...just bad? It doesn't convince the reader why a cat would be pushed to do this. Everything that goes wrong is because a) Moth Flight doesn't ask for help and b) Skystar, despite being redeemed, is a continuous antagonist that fucks over anyone for the sake of the plot.

The book is so afraid of having to deal with an actual redemption that Skystar is allowed to be the reason why Micah and Tiny Branch are killed yet the narrative refuses to foist any responsibility onto him. He's not allowed to be a villain, he's just there to service the plot then walk away scot free. Why? Why am I reading this??? What is the point of 6 books of this guy being an arrogant bloody dick with a half-baked redemption only for him to saunter out to cause problems with the books need it and don't even bother with sticking to him being an antagonist?! Anytime he's on screen I'm begging for someone to kill his ass already, I don't understand why the narratives tries to also push the blame on Moth Flight.

....speaking of her, her entire conflict doesn't work. Look, the idea of an individual problem leading to an entire societal wide change that cause more problems than it solves is interesting but the book doesn't sell it! The Clans are communal, she has tons of options in asking for help. The narrative is constantly patting my back saying see? see? she can't do it therefore it makes sense why she thinks no one can do it. It's an entire book of "how can a WOMAN raise her CHILDREN without her MAN" and the answer it gives us is: she can't :'( and by the end of the book i feel like i've been spit at. There's an overwhelming sense of disdain towards parents who ask for help (how Moth Flight treats Slate is cruel) and all of it is presented as in the right because the entire thesis is that despite living in a literal communal society where there's an entire rank dedicated to looking after children, single parents (read: mothers) are unable to look after children without a partner (read: the husband).

There's nothing wrong with a law being cruel or unfair, it actually adds to the story! It makes things interesting! But her entire story doesn't sell me on why the law was made, it makes me think more and more that the erins are really fucking weird about women (which has been made even more clear by that shitty kits & queens article no i will not let that go). But Moth Flight's conflict sucks ass, I don't buy it, and I feel I'm being shown one thing and told another.

I especially don't get why they didn't go with the obvious reason of having it be for superstitious/religious reasons (this shit is already so catholic, just go even further into the nun thing). Like, okay, here's my pitch of the law: kittens of medics are thought to be more at risk of curses/sickness/etc. Having it so Moth Flight's children share the same fate as other characters who are born to Medics: doomed to a life of suffering or go onto a path of destruction.

It wouldn't be true of course, the reason these children go off the rails is because the Clans expect them to but it would still be interesting!!

and that is my rant on this shitty super edition, thank you for asking :D

[bookshelf-in-progress]

The Six Swans for a fairytale retelling?

I finally filled this prompt by writing "Without Words" as my story for the Four Loves Fairy Tale Challenge. Since I put the story in a separate post, I'm going to self-indulgently use this ask to provide some author's notes.

For quite a few years now, I've had the idea to retell the ending of this fairy tale from the prince's point of view. It's so dramatic! He's protected this woman for years, and had to be deeply in love to do so, and now he's faced with enough evidence that he has to put her to death. How do you deal with that? I fully intended to use his POV to fill this prompt, yet, every time I tried, I couldn't make it interesting enough to hold my attention.

Then a few weeks back, I had the image of the prince begging his wife to speak, while she had to stand strong and refuse, despite the pain it causes both of them. This became much more interesting (and easier to write as a short retelling), because the prince's conflict comes from not knowing, while her conflict comes from fully knowing what's going on and having to make the hard choice not to save herself.

From the first spark of this idea, the couple was named Eliza and Christian. Eliza because of Andersen's fairy tale, of course, and Christian because Andersen's tale is Danish, and Denmark has had ten kings named Christian. His name became even more thematically fitting when I decided to write this story for the Inklings Challenge.

I debated whether I should retell the "Six Swans" version where the heroine is accused of killing her three children, or the "Wild Swans" route where she's just accused of witchcraft. The witchcraft charge is enough to condemn her to death, is more directly related to her task, and makes her story parallel her stepmother's better. However, the missing children angle made this much more painful and implied a stronger bond between the two of them. They're not only married, but they've had three children together! He's protected her against two different accusations of murder! The fact that he's been so supportive up to this point makes it even more dramatic when he finally is forced to execute her.

It does seem a bit ridiculous that he's let this go on long enough to lose three children, but that just adds to the drama of the moment. Christian knows Eliza well enough that he doesn't believe she could kill their children, but after three murders, the evidence is getting harder and harder to explain away, and even the king has to obey the law, so he signed the execution order to prevent rebellion from his government.

If I hadn't written that opening scene, I'd probably be rolling my eyes at some of the language--"the way our souls entwine"? Really? Who talks like that? But sometimes you just gotta write something very, very sappy. It's good for the soul. And I have a good excuse because I posted on Valentine's Day.

On a structural level, my favorite line in the story is probably, "Does the prisoner have any last words?" I was struggling with how to transition between Eliza musing about Christian and her brothers to the moment of breaking the curse, when that line of dialogue occurred to me, and the scene fell into place. It's a standard line for this type of scene, while tying in perfectly to the specific conflict here. Plus, it stops the guards from tying up Eliza long enough to keep her arms free for shirt-throwing.

This story taught me a lot about how to strategically use telling vs. showing. The standard points of the fairy tale--the breaking of the curse, the reunion with her brothers, the mother-in-law's crime, and the recovery of the children--are all told, rather than shown, because this story is about the bond between Eliza and Christian, and stopping to show anything else distracts from that. Like, I had tried to show the brothers explaining about the curse and the lost children, but that tangled me up in the logistics of the scene, and made me drop the thread of Eliza and Christian's relationship. Reducing it to summary allowed me to keep the focus where it needed to be.

I am sad I had to push her brothers so far into the background. That family bond is such an important part of the fairy tale, but the story's focus means I only get to name one brother.

Usually, one of the youngest brothers is stuck with the swan's wing, but I gave it to the eldest, because 1) I wanted to be different, 2) In the limited space, it allowed me to feature both her eldest brother and the swan wing brother at the same time, 3) giving the wing to the crown prince creates much more interesting conflict.

Retellings that give the youngest brother the wing usually go on and on about how he's torn between his ordinary human life and the freedom of life as a swan, and that's so whiny and boring to me. Giving it to the eldest brother, however, has concrete political consequences. He's crown prince! Will the people accept a king with the permanent mark of a curse? Can he leverage this imagery to his advantage? Now that he's lost his dominant hand (I made sure to make it as inconvenient as possible), he can neither write nor hold a sword, which could have profound effect on his reign. Giving him the wing could be a bit like Rabadash's curse in The Horse and His Boy--something that forces him to prioritize peace--especially since I've written him as a bit of a war-monger. Even with his limited amount of page-time, he fascinates me, and I'd kind of like to see where his story goes.

With the brothers so blithely talking about going home and taking Eliza with them, I imagine that in the interim of seven years, events have transpired that have eliminated the stepmother as a threat. Going home is just going home to a beloved father, not going to war.

Initially, I had wanted Eliza's first spoken word to be her husband's name. When that proved to be impractical in the execution scene, I considered giving her no dialogue, to prove that she doesn't need words to be a force in the story. Making her one word of direct dialogue be her husband's name felt like the perfect compromise.

In offering to let Eliza take the children, Christian is really being reckless. He blithely talks of transferring the crown, but any one of his kids--who he's offering to let grow up in a foreign country--could one day decide to take advantage of their valid claim to the throne to try to take over his kingdom. He's really lucky that Eliza forgave him.

Portraying the final kiss as "I let my silence speak for me", was not intentionally inspired by Gaskell's habit of referring to kissing scenes as "delicious silence", but I'm kind of pleased by the connection.

I'm proud of that final line. Ties everything up so neatly and concisely.

[jacquelinemerritt]

Diamond is Unbreakable: Episode 5 Review

Originally posted May 29th, 2016

Keicho’s father and the cycle of abuse.

“The Nijimura Brothers, Part 3” is the final episode in this storyline, and in it we are introduced to the emotional crux of the story: Keicho’s father’s monstrous nature. Thanks to a leftover “flesh bud” implanted by Dio in 1988, Keicho’s father has become a mindless green ogre who can regenerate from any wound, and Keicho reveals that his purpose is granting people Stands with the bow and arrow was so that he could find a Stand capable of actually killing his father, a quest that has been thus far unsuccessful.

Keicho’s desire to kill his father would seem to be a natural result of a typical cycle of abuse; his father beat him and Okuyasu as children, and it was only after Dio showed up that things became better for them, as Keicho’s father was now capable of providing for his family. The consequences of the abuse clearly still affect Keicho,1 however; growing up under his father taught him that violence is the only solution, and so he desires to use violence to “solve” the problem of his father, even going as far as to beat him into submission when he refuses to stop searching through a seemingly empty chest.

The chest isn’t empty, however, and when Josuke notices this, he uses Crazy Diamond to reveal the true reason Keicho’s father desperately clawed at it: it contains the fragments of a family photo, a photo that upon being put back together causes Keicho’s father to burst into tears. Despite being unable to communicate and generally acting bestial, Keicho’s father’s primary concern is having a chance to look upon an image of the family that he once had, and that he once loved dearly.

Keicho is thus forced to see that his abusive father is a far more complex man than he had previously given him credit for, and it here that Okuyasu attempts to reconcile with him, and set him on the path to looking for a way to heal his father rather than kill him. Unfortunately, Keicho’s own abusive tendencies are shown he when he chastises his younger brother for being incompetent, as well as through his willingness to disavow him over something as trivial as touching the bow and arrow.

Before the brothers can conclude their conversation, however, Red Hot Chili Peppers shows up, and he decides to completely shatter the pacing of this episode, which had previously all been carefully building to Okuyasu confronting his brother.

Now, on a certain storytelling level, this makes sense, as the introduction of Red Hot Chili Peppers gives us the catalyst for events going forward, but the timing is completely ineffective, breaking off the only real interaction between the Nijumura brothers that we’ve seen over the last three episodes. The only saving grace of this moment is that it is used to add complexity to Keicho’s character, as he immediately shoves Okuyasu away and takes the fatal blow himself, saving his brother’s life.

What’s left of the episode is an ominous phone conversation between Jotaro and Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as a moment where Okuyasu shows up at Josuke’s house to walk with him to school. As much as I love how adorable Okuyasu is in the last scene, these moments both feel completely out of place with the rest of the episode, and seem shoehorned in as setup for future episodes.

Rating: 4/5

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Stray Observations

That the plot of this episode is all about introducing an unexpected consequence to the defeat of Dio adds to the meta-commentary of this series being a follow-up unintended by Araki.

Perhaps it’s just me, but I don’t believe it’s an accident Dio decided to implant a flesh bud in the abusive father of two innocent children. It’d give him the ability to prevent their abuse from continuing and provide for the family financially, while still gaining an extra Stand user as a servant. Sounds like a win-win in his book.

[litnerdwrites]

Yes! Yes! Yes! 100% Yes!

And can I just add, imagine, as a child, growing up in an environment where you see your father berating and emotionally abusing your mother? To see your own Uncle berate and threaten to kill your mother, and have your aunt, her sister, only make half assed attempts at defending her, giving no consequence to her husband when he or his family, cause let's be real, it's more his family than hers, won't listen to her. Can you imagine? How terrifying is it to live in a house where your entire family is so comfortable threatening to kill your mother, and even your mother thinks, to some degree, they'll do it.

Imagine if Nessian's kid had powers like Nesta, but didn't want to scry or use them for whatever reason? Amren was comfortable using Elain to make Nesta search for the trove, so what lengths would she go to, to make Nesta's child do as they want? Of course Nesta would volunteer on her child's behalf, but what if she can't do it some day? Or what if she keeps doing it and it wears her down too much? What if the IC insist the child be the one to do it?

Another issue is Illyria. What if the child doesn't want to train at the war camps, or enter the blood rite? What if they don't want to be a Valkyrie either? What if their hopes, dreams and desires don't politically or militaristically benefit the IC, and they take issue with that? I know Amren probably would. Would Cassian respect his child's wishes if they refuse to take part in the blood rite? Or train at the war camps? I know Nesta would probably be on her child's choice, but Cassian? I doubt it. I expect that the best we'd get is him making them train anyway, but somewhere else, like he did to Nesta.

Imagine growing up in a home where you regularly see your father show more affection to his supposed sister, your aunt, than his own wife?

Let's also not forget that the IC would have no issue undermining Nesta's autonomy and authority as a mother. They did it in regards to her own life, and again regarding the dread trove in hofas. What gives us any indication that they wouldn't do it again in regards to Nesta's child, with the argument that Feyre is the aunt/High Lady, and Cassian is the father, as if Nesta's consent is ergo null and void? If Nesta were to take a stand to protect her child, be it verbally of physically, they would gaslight and abuse her until she breaks down and complies.

How can anyone think this wouldn't be an incredibly traumatising environment for a child to live in. What makes this different from the way women are treated in Illyria or the CON? Where powerful men make choices about a woman's life, without her consent, and use every piece of her to their advantage they can, only to beat her down for daring to disagree? That environment would be horrible for a child to live in, and Nesta would probably blame herself the whole time for the trauma her child endured at the hands of the IC, as if the IC, especially Cassian, aren't entirely to blame?

When you marry, or 'mate' in this case, someone, they're your new family. Your spouse, and children are, from that moment forward, your immediate family, and your priority. Not your boss/brother, or your sister/whatever she is to him. Your partner. Your husband/wife/spouse, and your kids. They should be put before all else, and Cassian has shown that he can't/won't do that. He isn't fit to be a father, and Nesta, at this point, isn't fit to be a mother. Hell, I haven't even figured out if she actually wants kids, or if she just wants them cause Cassian wants them, and if she doesn't have them, everyone and their mother will hound her to, either for Cassian's sake, or to pass on her powers (Amren's argument, probably. Does she value anyone beyond their powers? Cause if not, why bother coming back to life, seriously?).

I know this might be an unpopular opinion, but I really don’t want Nesta and Cassian to have kids. In fact, if it ever happens, I’m going to lose it. Cassian has consistently shown that he doesn’t truly stick up for Nesta when it matters, and I find it baffling when people try to claim otherwise. Sure, he might defend her over small, inconsequential things, but when it comes to the moments that really matter—the ones where her safety, dignity, or even her life is on the line—he’s either silent or outright against her.

For example, when Nesta was threatened with execution by his High Lord, where was Cassian’s outrage on her behalf? Somehow, in that moment, he managed to be the angriest person in the room—at Nesta. Not at the people threatening his mate with death, but at Nesta herself. That kind of reaction tells me everything I need to know about how little he actually supports her. And what’s even worse is that he never sticks up for her in a way she can actually see. He might defend her when she’s not present, but that doesn’t mean much when he can’t or won’t do it in front of her. To me, it’s as if he’s ashamed to stand by her publicly.

Nesta deserves a partner who will defend her fiercely and without hesitation, someone who understands the depth of her trauma and her worth. Cassian, on the other hand, consistently diminishes her struggles and turns the blame on her for his own frustrations. So, the idea of them having children—bringing innocent lives into a relationship where there’s already such a clear imbalance of respect and support—feels completely wrong to me. It’s just another way Nesta would likely be set up to carry the emotional weight alone, while Cassian continues to falter in being the kind of partner she truly deserves.

Let’s say Nesta and Cassian have kids—something I’m already against for a multitude of reasons—but let’s go there for a moment. People love to talk about how Cassian owes so much to Rhysand, how his loyalty to Rhysand is unwavering and absolute. That’s fine if it’s just about Cassian himself, but when you bring children into the mix, it becomes a lot messier. Does that same blind loyalty extend to his own child? What happens when the Inner Circle inevitably starts dictating the path Cassian and Nesta’s child should take? If Rhysand or the IC decide that their son or daughter should do something dangerous—be it for Velaris, Nyx, or the Night Court as a whole—is Cassian going to push his child into that role just because Rhysand says so?

We’ve seen time and time again that Cassian doesn’t stand up to Rhysand, not even when it’s about Nesta. So why should we believe he’d suddenly draw the line for his child? If Nesta is against putting their child in danger—and she absolutely would be—is Cassian going to stand with her, or will he just side with the IC again, telling himself it’s for “the greater good”? And what if Rhysand, in his High Lord arrogance, decides to berate or humiliate Cassian and Nesta’s child the way he’s humiliated others in the past? Is Cassian going to step in and tell Rhysand to back off? Or is he going to stay silent out of “loyalty” to his High Lord? We’ve already seen Cassian fail to defend Nesta when Rhysand and the IC crossed lines with her—what’s to say he wouldn’t fail his own child in the same way?

And here’s an even darker thought: what happens if Cassian is put in a position where he has to choose between his own child and Nyx? Because let’s be honest, the IC has made it very clear that Nyx is their priority. If there’s ever a scenario where Nyx’s safety or future conflicts with that of Cassian and Nesta’s child, can we really trust Cassian to pick his own blood? Or is he going to fall back on that same unshakable loyalty to Rhysand and Velaris, even if it means sacrificing his child’s well-being, dreams, or even life?

These are not small questions. They’re the kind of conflicts that arise when someone’s loyalty to others outweighs their loyalty to their own family. Cassian has already shown us where his priorities lie when he didn’t stick up for Nesta during her most vulnerable moments. If he couldn’t do it for her, why would we believe he’d do it for their child? The idea of them having kids only highlights how deeply flawed and imbalanced their relationship is—and how dangerous that could become for anyone who relies on Cassian to choose them over the IC.

I know people are going to say I can’t bring up “what if” scenarios when it comes to Nesta and Cassian having children, but I absolutely can and will. These are exactly the kinds of things you need to think about when you’re considering children. Having kids isn’t just about how cute they’d be or the idea of expanding a family—it’s about responsibility, protection, and making decisions that prioritize their well-being, no matter how hard those decisions might be. And when we look at Cassian’s track record, there are glaring issues that need to be addressed.

What if scenarios aren’t just hypothetical—they’re preparation. They’re about asking tough questions: Will this person defend their child in every situation? Will they be able to separate loyalty to others from loyalty to their family? Can they provide a safe and supportive environment for their child to grow up in? With Cassian, I have serious doubts. People like to argue that Cassian would be a great father, but his inability to consistently stick up for Nesta against the Inner Circle shows a troubling pattern. If he can’t stand up for his mate when Rhysand or others overstep, how can I trust him to do it for his child? It’s not outlandish to imagine situations where his loyalty to Rhysand or the Night Court would conflict with what’s best for his family—because that’s already happened with Nesta.

Parenting isn’t just about love; it’s about action. It’s about hard decisions and protecting your child, even when it means standing up to people you care about or respect.

People like to dismiss these concerns, but they’re real. They’re exactly the kinds of things that can happen in a world where power, politics, and loyalty are always in play. These aren’t just random, baseless hypotheticals—they’re extensions of behaviors we’ve already seen in Cassian. If he couldn’t stand up for Nesta, who has been humiliated, threatened, and dragged down by his so-called family, how can I believe he’d do better for his child? These are the kinds of questions that must be considered, because having a child isn’t about what works in the moment—it’s about building a future where that child feels safe, protected, and prioritized above all else. If Cassian can’t consistently prove that he’s capable of doing that, then these “what if” scenarios aren’t just speculation—they’re warnings.

I also don’t think Nesta is ready to have children—and honestly, I don’t think she will be for a very long time, if ever. It’s not a criticism of her as a person, but rather a recognition of where she is emotionally and mentally. Nesta has been through so much trauma, and while she’s made strides in healing, that doesn’t mean she’s in a place where she’s ready to take on the responsibility of motherhood. And the truth is, not everyone needs to be a parent, nor should they be forced into that role if it doesn’t align with where they are in life.

Motherhood requires a certain level of emotional stability, patience, and selflessness. Nesta has spent so much of her life being forced into roles she didn’t ask for—caretaker for her family, the scapegoat for everyone’s frustrations, and now a warrior in a world that doesn’t truly understand her. She’s only just starting to rediscover who she is outside of those expectations. To thrust her into the role of a mother would be unfair, both to her and to the child, because she’s still working through her own pain and figuring out how to live for herself.

Nesta deserves the time and space to fully heal and to decide what she truly wants out of life, free from the expectations of others. Becoming a mother isn’t just a matter of love—it’s a lifelong commitment that requires you to be in a place where you can give your child the emotional support they need. Right now, Nesta is still learning how to support herself. She’s still processing her trauma, learning to trust, and rebuilding relationships with the people around her. Adding the pressure of motherhood to that mix would only risk reopening old wounds or creating new ones.

And let’s not forget how much pressure the Inner Circle would likely put on her if she did have a child. Nesta has already been judged and criticized for every move she’s made; imagine how much worse it would be if she became a mother. Every parenting decision she made would be scrutinized, and knowing how they’ve treated her in the past, it’s easy to see how they’d weaponize her struggles against her. That’s not an environment where anyone, let alone someone like Nesta, could thrive as a parent.

Motherhood isn’t something that should be forced on Nesta as part of her “redemption arc” or used to soften her edges for the sake of a storyline. She has the right to take as long as she needs to heal, to figure out her purpose, and to decide if children are even something she wants. Right now, she’s still building her own foundation, and until that foundation is solid, I don’t think she’s ready—or that it’s fair to expect her—to take on the enormous responsibility of raising a child.

Nesta has so much self-loathing buried deep inside her that the idea of her becoming a mother feels almost impossible for her to even comprehend—because she doesn’t believe she would make a good mother. Nesta has spent so much of her life feeling unworthy, undeserving of love, and like a burden to those around her. Even as she begins to heal, that inner voice of doubt and self-hatred still lingers, constantly telling her she’s not good enough. How can someone who struggles to see their own value believe they’re capable of raising a child?

Nesta’s guilt and shame run so deep that she often feels like she poisons the people around her, no matter how hard she tries to do better. She believes that she’s failed her sisters, that she’s failed herself, and that every relationship she’s ever had has been marred by her inability to let people in or show them the parts of herself she doesn’t hate. Those feelings of failure and inadequacy would only intensify if the question of motherhood ever came up. Nesta would likely convince herself that she’d ruin her child, that her anger, her fear, and her pain would seep into them and make her unfit to care for them.

It’s not hard to imagine her rejecting the idea outright, not because she doesn’t care, but because she believes her love wouldn’t be enough. Nesta has always struggled to reconcile her desire to protect the people she loves with her belief that she’s not worthy of their love in return. When it comes to something as vulnerable and selfless as raising a child, those fears would only grow louder. The idea of creating a life, of being responsible for nurturing and shaping another person, would terrify her—not because she doesn’t want to love, but because she doesn’t think she’s capable of being the kind of mother a child deserves.

Nesta has spent so long convincing herself that she’s irredeemable, that she’s nothing more than the sharp edges and pain people see on the surface. Even as she works to heal, to accept herself, and to believe that she’s worthy of love, it’s a long and difficult journey. Until she can see her own value, it’s hard to imagine her believing she could provide that kind of unconditional love and stability to a child. And the tragedy is that Nesta does have the capacity to love deeply—she just doesn’t see it in herself. Until she can, the thought of becoming a mother would only amplify her self-loathing and fears of failure.

It’s not that Nesta wouldn’t care for a child if she had one—she absolutely would. But she would carry the constant fear that she’s not enough, that she’s somehow damaging them, or that they’d be better off without her. And that’s heartbreaking, because the truth is that Nesta’s love, while imperfect, is fierce and unyielding. But until she can see that for herself, she’d never believe she could be a good mother.

[amicidomenicani]

Question Good morning father, First of all, I would like to thank you for your disponibility and precious presence through this service. I have been married for five years to a wonderful woman who brought me to the faith when I didn't have much of it... and let me add that I love her very much. We have two beautiful children who are fine, thanks be to God. We have always tried to keep the Church teachings as the foundation of our relationship since our engagement, not without difficulties. However, after our second son we are not capable anymore of having sexual intimacy... Mostly because we don't want another pregnancy: It is difficult enough with two sons, and life goes on at a frantic pace. My wife is frequently tired and in those rare moments without our kids around she never looks for me... just a few hugs and nothing more, that's enough for her. On the other hand, as a man I would like to be more active: however, I respect her decision even if that makes me suffer... Sometimes I fall into the sin of masturbation thinking that by "venting" my desires I'll be able to leave her alone, but that's never the case. I only end up feeling dirty and a sinner before God. I suggested we try using natural methods, but she refused in fear of making a mistake and remaining pregnant. Contraception is out of the question... we believe in the freedom of sexuality as something beautiful created by God for men, not as mere fun. A priest guiding us as a couple once said that rules shouldn't flatten everything and everybody; they should instead follow the couple's reality, therefore every decision that is to be taken, it should be taken serenely and without remorse. That's all... I would like to know what you think about this and if you have any advice. I also ask if you could pray for me, my wife and our children. Thank you, have a nice day. Answer Dear friend, 1.  Let me start from the last part of your email, namely from what your spiritual guide said. He would have told you that rules shouldn't flatten everything and everybody. According to your words, one should examine the meaning of God's law. Does it express normative requirements for our life or, on the contrary, is it some general indication to take into account? 2.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that "the moral law is the work of divine Wisdom. Its biblical meaning can be defined as fatherly instruction, God's pedagogy. It prescribes for man the ways, the rules of conduct that lead to the promised beatitude; it prescribes the ways of evil which turn him away from God and his love. It is at once firm in its precepts and, in its promises, worthy of love" (CCC 1950). It can't be said: God didn't think of my situation; or worse, the divine Wisdom doesn't know where to guide me. 3.  The meaning of God's law is well shown by Moses when he exhorts his people to follow it with enthusiasm: "Be careful, therefore, to do as the Lord, your God, has commanded you, not turning aside to the right or to the left, but following exactly the way prescribed for you by the Lord, your God, that you may live and prosper, and may have long life in the land which you are to occupy" (Deuteronomy 5, 32-33). That's why we should be filled with confidence in God's law. When we cooperate with divine Wisdom we entrust ourselves to the wisdom that brings boundless good and happiness: "To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless" (Psalm 119, 96). There won't be any regrets. That's why the Jewish people don't want to turn aside from it and keep on commemorating it: "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long" (Psalm 119, 97). 4. By following God's commands we become wiser than all men: "Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts" (Psal

m 119, 98-100). 5.  Moreover, if we follow the ways of God we are freed from all evil: "I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me " (Psalm 119, 101-102).  That's why the Lord teaches us to entrust his ways, to love them and declare: "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws" (Psalm 119, 103-106). 6. I'd say to trust the rules. The one about marital debt, for example, whereby marital intimacy should be accorded to the spouse if it is asked in observance of God's law and with respect for the needs of the partner. Love isn't only a gift. Sometimes it is also a duty. 7. The conclusion given by the priest following you two could create a misunderstanding. He certainly intended to say this: every road you'll take in observance of God's law shall leave you serene and remorseless.  8. Your spiritual guide surely knows what the Second Vatican Council had to say about marital intimacy: "spouses should be aware that they cannot proceed arbitrarily, but must always be governed according to a conscience dutifully conformed to the divine law itself, and should be submissive toward the Church's teaching office, which authentically interprets that law in the light of the Gospel" (Gaudium et Spes, 50). As you can see, it doesn't say to take every road you want, because you might go astray. Our conscience isn't infallible, it can be wrong. 9.  Moreover, in regard to the problems that may arise in conjugal intimacy the Council says: "when there is question of harmonizing conjugal love with the responsible transmission of life, the moral aspects of any procedure does not depend solely on sincere intentions or on an evaluation of motives, but must be determined by objective standards. These, based on the nature of the human person and his acts, preserve the full sense of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love. Such a goal cannot be achieved unless the virtue of conjugal chastity is sincerely practiced. Relying on these principles, sons of the Church may not undertake methods of birth control which are found blameworthy by the teaching authority of the Church in its unfolding of the divine law" (GS, 51). 10.  As you may notice, the Council recalls the fundament of moral law, which rests upon the dignity of the human person, always to be treated as an end and not means. Contraception is an obvious manipulation of the person who isn't respected for what they are but is "adjusted" according to the needs of the other. John Paul II said that through contraception the spouses "manipulate and debase human sexuality, and with it themselves, altering its value of total gift" (22.8.1984). 11.  And again: "the unitive meaning of the conjugal act mustn't be artificially separated from its procreative meaning because they both pertain to the inseparable truth of conjugal act: one is carried out with the other and, in some sense, through the other. Therefore, when the conjugal act is robbed of its interior truth by losing its procreative capacity, it no longer becomes also an act of love" (22.8.1984). 12. To conclude, always trust God's law: it is infinitely more far-sighted than our views. And above all, it knows from what evil to protect us and where to guide us. I bless and entrust you, your spouse and your dear sons to the Lord. Father Angelo

[bloodpen-to-paper]

Small but neat detail I realized upon watching Helluva Boss S2 EP1: “The Circus”

When kid Stolas went to the circus, his father refused to be there in person. He had a servant carry around a mirror for him to look through, yet oddly enough Paimon actually seemed to be paying attention the entire time. In every shot we see of Paimon while the performance is going on, he’s excitedly clapping and very invested in the show (save for when he’s examining Stolas’s reaction to Blitzo). Paimon not being there in person didn’t seem to be an excuse to not invest in time with Stolas, as he clearly did just that.

However what it did seem like, based on some key dialogue, was him not wanting to be around Imps (or more specifically, the middle/lower class).

The moment Paimon “enters” the circus tent he’s looking around uncomfortably at the rest of the audience, all comprised of Imps. He ensures they get a seat far enough from everyone else.

"Is there a spot that is close to the front, but also far enough that I don't have to *sniffs* ugh, smell the poor?" (Timestamp 2:15)

Paimon seems very classist and self-absorbed as a result of his own wealth, and tends to view those of lower status as having lower value to his. Mind you, he’ll still have Imp servants and make deals with impoverished ring leaders to rent out their sons so his can have a playmate for the day (you could make an entire essay on how “buying an Imp child” adds to this idea), but he generally has a very low view of anyone not on his “level”.

Stolas, however, is a bit different.

For one, Stolas doesn’t seem to have any problem with being in proximity to or in spaces dominated by Imps/”the poor”. He could honestly care less, and as an adult he’s shown to engage in pleasant conversation with Imps of all sorts, even giving an in-person speech at the Harvest Moon Festival, a gathering made by and for Imps.

As a child, he didn’t seem to have nearly as much of a mental barrier between himself and the lower class as Paimon does (proven by the fact that he literally develops a crush on Blitzo). He even bows for Blitzo as a social curtsey before his father reprimands him, saying “Don’t bow to that one; he bows to us. Idiot.” (Timestamp 7:40) 

When Blitzo is bored with Stolas raving about his books, Stolas agrees to play pirates "-if its what you want to play...", showing that he tends to act more politely and considerately to those of other status than his father did.

One could say this is highlighted in the very obvious parallel of “going to the circus”.

When Stolas wishes to cheer up Octavia in S1 EP2, he takes her to a circus, as his father once did for him. Except in Stolas’ case, he actually comes to the circus with Octavia in-person (even with Loo Loo Land being far more shady and crappy than Cash’s circus was).

So what’s my point to all this?

Well for one, this sort of classist behavior is definitely learned and taught. Even well into adulthood, Stolas never shows the same amount of contempt for the lower class as his father did. 

Now, this isn’t to say that Stolas is completely free of his father’s influence. The power imbalance and problematic view of the lower class/Imps that Stolas has is a central talking point among the fanbase when discussing his character and his relationship with Blitzo. He can be somewhat if not completely condescending when talking to those of a lower caste (as shown by his various conversations with Blitzo, Moxxie, Millie, and even the Imps at the Harvest Moon Festival). Even as a kid Stolas gets excited at Blitzo’s treasure hunting game on the proposition of it being “an Imp game".

My point is, Stolas definitely has some issues with classism/racism that must be sorted for his character to grow in a positive direction. However, considering the kind of social conditioning that is forced into the elite’s children, its a bit of a wonder that Stolas didn’t end up worse. He’s better than Paimon, and I think its an interesting case study on how certain ideologies/traditions can slowly die or evolve within each generation. Certain learned behaviors are passed down the family line, but each member can chip away at unlearning them. This sort of progress doesn’t often happen quickly, and hardly within one generation (it can, but that’s a lot of pressure for one person). Rather, its a slow change that comes throughout a person’s whole life, and within multiple generations. And I think its cool that Helluva shows that with Stolas and Paimon.

Who knows? Maybe the change we’re looking for will come from an unexpected source, maybe a grumpy teenager with a mild obsession for some “stylish” occult...

[dragynkeep]

I always found it weird when people tried to make Jacques sexist and claim Whitley was his favorite, which is why he mistreated his daughters. As it was never mentioned, he wanted a male heir just one he could control. That's why he accused Ironwood of stealing Winter away, and I'm pretty sure she was actually his favorite, and when Winter ran off he went down the line to Weiss. If it really was about having a boy he would've disinherited Winter and Weiss as soon as their brother was born a la Henry VIII. If Winter and Weiss stayed in line Whitley probably wouldn't even be an afterthought to Jacques. He'd keep him around in case he could prove useful but not prioritize him like he would his sisters.

It’s weird when people try and put any sort of bigotry except Faunus racism in, because RWBY doesn’t have any kind of bigotry in its world. There’s no sexism, no homophobia, no transphobia until May retconned that in V8, and the writers couldn’t even handle furry racism so, there’s that.

And Jacques, for all of his flaws, has never been shown to be sexist. As you said, if he truly was sexist, he would’ve named Whitley his heir the second he popped out rather than go down the children line. Winter was disinherited because she rebelled against him and went into the military, Weiss was disinherited because she rebelled and refused to be his little puppet anymore. 

It’s like with Adam. People keep throwing every flaw under the sun on him and try to make it canon, and all it ends up making is a flat character who blows up houses full of pregnant nuns for fun. That’s not interesting, it doesn’t add to Jacques as a character, it’s just unnecessary outside of using it as another stick to beat him with. There’s plenty of those around, calm down.

[seasonalmoss]

LITERALLY EVERYTHING THAT MY TWIN SAYS HERE

I also want to add, that as someone who was a lot like Wooly when I was younger, it hurts to see people demonize either of them.

the appeasement behavior, his meek attitude and in general how he acts is Incredibly realistic as a kid who was like him. Now I don’t want to sound like I’m projecting on him or that I’m equating him to me and saying he’s “basically younger me” because he isn’t. I’m simply saying that the way he acts and aspects of Wooly and Amanda’s relationship is Incredibly realistic as someone who had similar issues to Wooly when I was younger and as someone who has a twin (the person I’m reblogging) who had similar issues to Amanda, there’s a level of understanding to be had there. I bring it up because I know people will try to undermine it and claim that a relationship like there’s in the context of traumatized kids is unrealistic, but it really isn’t.

demonizing either of them can reflect on the way people treat kids IRL (and it has), if you can’t understand either of them and refuse to believe that their just hurt kids, then what happens when your faced with kids who act like them? Who have unregulated emotions, who have appeasement behavior, who has any of the symptoms and behaviors that these kids are shown to have? Because I know from personal experience that children like them do exist!

I don’t want any of them to be evil because as my twin said it would just be a cheap cop-out, but also it would just be another case of media demonizing kids and ultimately being about the adults and not the children. because regardless of who they actually are and what age they actually are, Amanda and Wooly act clearly like kids*, and are presented to us in a way to imply that they are just kids. So even if one of them was evil but they weren’t actually the age we thought they were? Well then why did you have them act so clearly like a child following up to this? The theory of either of them being evil supports a rhetoric that children aren’t mini humans in training but rather something that deserves to be demonized. And I heavily doubt that’s what ATA is about. and if one of them was evil it turns the story to be more adult centric and not about these traumatize children. It becomes “evil person did this evil thing to a helpless member of society” and not “children who are hurt and put in a situation like their’s is bound to have consequences on either party” I don’t want another story focusing on an adult and their problems. I want a story focused on the kids, I want a story showing that kids are just as human as anyone else but still are fundamentally just kids. I just think that if either of them turned out to be evil it would take away from everything they seem to be trying to set up. * It goes without saying the Amanda is a kid, but Wooly throughout all of the tapes acts like and behaves like a kid too, he’s immature only in a way child is and in general his demeanor is clearly that of a kid

Mainly putting this on my main blog because F/Ovember is currently happening on @staticshipstation (check that out btw)

But one of the reasons I have “if you villainize Amanda/Wooly DNI” is not only because.. well they’re my kids and I adore them. Like these are not villains these are my beautiful imperfect children.

But also because honestly?… I think it’d really hurt the story if either turned out to be true.

One of the reasons I love and adore ATA is its story and how fucking tragic and almost real it is. Guy with genuine heart and ambition wants to achieve his dreams (Sam) but some fuckass corporation taints his goal of wanting to help children (Hamlen). It’s the story of a shitty company doing shitty things to people who don’t deserve it.

And I’m sorry but having the wrench of “OH YEAH AND ALSO THE LITTLE GIRL/SHEEP ARE EVIL!!!” Is.. so out there and would honestly just be really awkward in the story.

Like are Wooly and Amanda perfect? By all means no. But people are acting like Wooly is some Disney twist villain from the 2010s or that Amanda is some spoiled brat. When the reality is that both of them, to an extent, are victims.

They just deal with their traumas VERY VERY differently.

Amanda keeps being invasive and even aggressive at times. This anger is justified, by all means, Jesus Christ. She deserves to be angry. But at the same time that doesn’t negate the fact she’s hurt people doing this, though it’s important to note that doesn’t mean her own pain doesn’t valid. Wooly tends to bootle shit up and push it to the side. When something in his so obviously wrong in front of him he hides it so deep. He’s scared it might trigger something and that he might get hurt.

These characters and the dynamic is just so deep and complex that the sudden twist of “OH AND WOOLY WAS WORKING FOR HAMLEN THE WHOLE TOME >:D!!” Or “AMANDA WAS ACTUALLY TRYING TO KILL YOU!!” In my opinion, minimizes everything set up.

I want to end this off by saying that anyone is valid for believing these theories, despite my qualms with them, I can understand how people came to these conclusions… however it’s just not content I really want to engage with personally.

[astaroth1357]

Demigod MC Series: Athena

So. I have to deal with the virgin goddesses… By mythos, there really shouldn't ever be children of Artemis, Hestia, or Athena (yes, Athena was a virgin goddess). PJ got past that by making it canon that Annabeth and her siblings were born from cracking open Athena's skull (yes, that's also more or less the canon explanation). They gloss over it real quick but I remember, Rick. I've always remembered and that mental image has haunted me for years...

I can't, in good conscience, ignore the history around Athena's worship (call it an academic restraint) but I REFUSE to do the skull thing. So, since I make the rules here, I'm going with magic adoption. They still get magic powers, they're just more human than demigod. Cool? Cool.

Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter, Athena

Lucifer

The human that popped out of the portal seemed to have enough sense not to attack everyone in the room for a change, but even Lucifer could tell that was more of a strategic choice than for lack of ability...

Their very existence was highly unusual… and quite worrisome. He wasn't even aware Athena could have "children" of her own, but apparently she had been taking in some particularly bright humans to raise and train like her own...

Unbeknownst to him, a surprising amount of human scholars, diplomats, and generals have her to thank for their trade… and that alone should speak to the level of intrigue at play here. 

Was this an accident or Athena's attempt to plant an Olympian spy in the Devildom too…? Either way, he didn't trust them from the get go…

Look, Lucifer isn’t stupid. Athena is a goddess of Wisdom and War and war happens on more than just the battlefield… 

Since they've shown up records have been going missing, official documents keep getting misplaced, and he swears that there's some kind of bug in the student council room...!

It's infuriating watching the MC suck up to Diavolo when he's almost certain that they're running their own agenda behind the scenes! And he can't prove any of it!! They cover their tracks too well!

Lucifer has one of those corkboards covered in newspapers and string in a secret wing of the Castle - 100% dedicated to just tracking the MC's activities…. The longer they're there, the more obsessed he becomes...

He swears between Simeon, Solomon, and MC he feels like a shepherd wondering why the sheep are growling… The Devildom has never been in more danger than it is right now... Send help.

Mammon

To be honest, he kind of thought that they were just going to be Satan 2.0 but that's not really true.

They're more than just a book sponge! Though they do read, like a lot. Let’s just say from one schemer to another… Game recognizes Game.

They come up with plans and ideas soooo fast, it’s insane! Honestly, there are times where he has a new money-making plot and he just brings it to the MC first to run it over. 

Nine times out of ten, not only do they sniff out any problems but they have a solution for him in a matter of minutes! His scheme game has been on point since they’ve shown up!!

They’re also even better tutoring than Satan is, so he’s even managed to get a couple A’s for the first time in his life! Lucifer actually told him he was proud (which he secretly recorded and now uses as a ringtone much to his brother’s regret...)

So yeah, he likes them... buuut that doesn’t keep him from thinking they act a little weird sometimes... 

Mammon: *points to a unused tower close to the RAD building* Over there is the Tower of Sorrow. We use it for storage.

MC: Ah. Interesting… *starts writing in a notebook, muttering* It may need a few minor tweaks but the location is defensible...

Mammon: *stops* Ya say somethin’?

MC: *looks back up* Nope! Say, you’ve been to the Castle a lot haven’t you? Do you know any good ways in?

Mammon: Uhm… Why do ya want to know that…? *starts looking around for Lucifer*

MC: In case of emergencies. I like being prepared. 🙂

Mammon: Look, I don’t know what Lucifer might’a told ya…

MC: I’ll pay you a thousand Grimm for it.

Mammon: Well shit, ya want those maps with or without color?

... Yeeeah, that’s pretty weird… But it’s probably fine. I mean, as long as they keep giving him money, who’s he to complain? 🤷‍♀️

Leviathan

Also thought that they’d be a lot more like Satan but was pleasantly surprised that they were into more than books.

What else did they like exactly? Military strategy!!

It’s been a looong time since he’s been able to talk to someone who’s actually interested in all the battles he’s fought, both in the Celestial Realm and the Devildom, and their curiosity is kind of flattering...! Not a lot of people take his strategic prowess all that seriously anymore...

Plus, they are the BEST partner to have any turn-based strategy game. Hands down. He once got stuck on a level of D-COM for weeks until the MC walked in and mopped the floor with the AI!! They have a serious head for probability and tactics.

The House once made the mistake of letting these two be on the same team during a Hell Game and they absolutely demolished the competition. Mammon didn’t even get a single shot off before half his team was lost to a rigged paint grenade… It took a whole day to clean up… 

However, Levi’s also noticed some odd things about the human… He likes that they’re interested in his past but maybe they’re a little… too interested?

Levi: -and that’s how we defeated the Four Horsemen before they escaped from Purgatory. 

MC: Wow, Levi that’s seriously impressive!! *furiously scribbling on a notebook*

Levi: Well t-thanks… 😅 But, uhm... are you writing that down…?

MC: Hm? Oh no, just doodling. *they lift up the notebook to show a bunch of cute little sketches on the page… and not the magic-based invisible ink all over them…*

Levi: Oh you draw too? Can you do fanart???

MC: Eh, sometimes. But say Levi, can you tell me about your naval ranks again? I’m still really curious… *gets the pen ready again with a smile*

Satan

Oh, it's been a long game of cat-and-mouse between these two… and unfortunately, it’s been pretty addicting too.

He honestly had every intention of tricking the human into making a huge mess do he could bother Lucifer, but at every turn they proved just a hair too clever for him...

He once gave them a cursed book to “lend” to Lucifer, but they saw through it the moment they touched it and lifted the spell before handing it over.

He rigged a podium to spray glitter during one of Lucifer's speeches but the MC disconnected the trigger mic before he even got on stage. It was pretty dang frustrating...

At one point he got so desperate that, just as a test, he tried to trap them in the House's Music Room. Fortunately for them, it only took a few minutes to work out an escape. They even passed by him in the hallway with a wink!

It's confounding! It's infuriating!! 

...and it's so damn sexy... He should be furious but he’s just in awe!!

Add on that they know their art, literature, and multiple different crafts thanks to the tutelage of their adopted mother and that’s it. He’s finished. This boy is in love.

Truthfully though, a part of him is 90% sure that they’re also gathering state secrets… Like, they’re watching Barbs and Diavolo far too close for comfort - but he just can't bring himself to care. 🤷‍♀️

The MC could walk into his room one day and say, "Hey, do you want to help overthrow the monarchy with me?" and he dreads it because deep down he knows that he wouldn’t say no…

Take some notes, kids. Some bad influences get you to drink or do drugs. Others pull you into a centuries long conspiracy to destabilize and topple rival realms from within… But he has fallen for their brain hard. Devil help them all…

Asmodeus 

They’re pretty clever, he’ll give them that, but uh… Are they a little off to anybody else?

Asmo is a charmer by birthright so he has a bit of nose for when someone’s just a liiittttle too nice… Not much of a nose mind you, because he can be thrown off by compliments himself, but enough to think that the MC might be a little too… “kind” for their own good...

First off, who wants to spend that much time with Levi?? They don’t even seem that interested in anime! They just keeping asking him for old war stories…

Then all the sucking up they do to Diavolo and Barbatos? Look, he gets it. Diavolo is a delicious piece of man-hunk and his butler could give him a lesson or two in sweet-talk (and he has), but they seem to be just a little too… nosy.

Of course, Asmo’s suspicions disappear pretty quickly after they start to spoil him with spa nights and beauty secrets they picked up from “casual research” into the subject.

And you know, get a little Demonus in Asmo and start massaging his back? Oh, sweetie he’ll sing like a bird!! … with gossip. Singing with gossip.

Asmo: So I’ve heard that Lucifer has been spending more time at RAD than usual… His whole club is talking about it, they think he’s meeting with some witch!

MC: Hm, is that so? *works on a knot near his shoulder blades* What do you think?

Asmo: Ooh~! Right there, MC! *purrs and lays his head on his arms* Well come on, this is Lucifer we’re talking about! I’m sure he’s just working.

Asmo: Hmm... though come to think of it, I think I heard him asking Barbatos for the spare keys to the Tower of Sorrow…

MC: Oh really? Huh. *works out the knot and gets up* I just remembered that I left some papers with Satan... I’ll be right back.

Asmo: You’re going already??

MC: *waves him off quickly* I’ll be right back, Asmo. *hurries out the door to do totally on-the-up-and-up things… surely*

Beelzebub 

Honestly he doesn't like this one… But not for the reasons you'd expect.

He agrees with everyone else that they seem a little shady, but Solomon and Simeon are too so it's not like that's anything new... 🤷‍♀️

No, no. He dislikes them because they're the person who FINALLY figured out how to keep him from eating all the food in the kitchen!!

Turns out that the trick was to put a teleportation charm on the fridge door that would send all the food away if it’s opened after a certain time of night… 

And where does it go? The Purgatory Hall fridge. And where does the Purgatory Hall food go…? The HoL fridge…

It doesn’t sound so bad until you remember that it means half of their fridge is now Solomon’s leftovers…. 🤢

After they put the same kind of spell on the pantry, it was all over… He couldn't get midnight snacks from the House anymore… Everything was contaminated by Solomon…

The MC is a nice enough person, he doesn’t have a lot of complaints about them, but he wants them to leave. Now. This is inexcusable… He’s so hungry… and he doesn’t want to die by “goulash” or whatever Solomon calls his latest culinary catastrophe… He’s still too young for death… 😓

Belphegor 

In a way, he absolutely could not have asked for a better person to help him get out of that attic.

… In another way, he got one of the worst possible people to try and kill... Like. They saw through his scheme sooo fast…

How was he supposed to know that the human had training in body language and sniffing out lies???

Getting the door open was a piece of cake for them. They knew enough magic to undo the seals and just rummaged around Lucifer's stuff long enough to find the key to the door. He could not have found a more competent individual for a break out, really.

It’s just… well he didn’t expect to go from locked in a room like a prisoner to tied up in enchanted rope, still like a prisoner but now mobile. 😑 

They even used his own hug ruse against him! They caught his wrists when they got close and tied him up before he could shake them off...

Admittedly, it wasn't exactly the best look for them either - what with walking Belphegor downstairs to the others like a one-man-prison-caravan but they're as silver-tongued as they are sly so they talked their way out of it beautifully… 

And like hell was he going to trust them after that!! And not even Beel liked them so something had to be up...

Well, you want a detective? Look no farther than Belphie (no seriously, it’s in the canon). He can put things together pretty fast when he puts his mind to it and watching the MC for a while gave him enough proof to work off of...

He always knew that, humans were bad news and the MC just proved it to him all over again. They are bad news, bad bad news and they’re going to-!

Overthrow… Diavolo…? Is that what he is getting from them…? Huh…

Wait a second, MC. You might just have him interested… 😏