#look I know she is irredeemably evil or whatever

[spiritseeeker]

This singular frame was all it took to undo my very extreme hatred of Adam, Vivienne Medrano how dare you make me feel sympathy for this man-

Like, Adam before this scene? A blatant misogynist and a hypocrite who unabashedly revels in sinners' suffering. A guy who has no regard for anyone else, and who pisses pretty much every viewer off with patronizing jabs like "sorry sweetie" and "try to chillax, babe." Ugh, disgusting.

As the first man, it seems like he got an easy pass into Heaven. Maybe the angels were just saving face, given that their core pair of humans both took the fruit of knowledge of good and evil willingly, ordaining Adam on the technicality that "Eve did it first." But I think we can all agree that it was not on the merit of Adam's virtue.

And then Charlie draws blood during their fight in Episode 8, and, for the first time, Adam genuinely realizes he can be hurt. Like, for the first time in the duration of the show, in his entire fucking existence, someone shows him that he is not, in fact, an all-powerful symbol of power and superiority. He's just a guy with privilege who is just as vulnerable, just as flawed, just as human as the rest of them.

But once the mask is shattered, revealing the rather unexceptional man underneath, does Adam back down? Of course not—he doubles down. There's nothing worse than a narcissist who is virtually incapable of seeing the error of their ways, even when they're clearly backed into a corner. Bruised and bloody, he bellows that he's THE man; everybody should worship him.

For me, that pretty much hit the nail in the coffin. There was no redeeming a character like Adam (ironic, since he's one of the few characters in the show not in need of redemption).

So isn't it fitting, then, that his death didn't happen in some grand display requiring all of Lucifer or Charlie's might? Isn't it fitting that Adam falls to Niffty—not Lucifer, not an overlord, but a common sinner, who sees him as nothing more than a foot soldier that needs to be eliminated, a pest as easily squashed as a roach? For someone as self-aggrandizing as Adam, this has to be one of the most humiliating ways to die. The perfect end for an insufferable antagonist.

But nooo, Vivziepop didn't end it there.

Because INSTEAD, we hear Lute's heart-wrenching screams as she realizes that Adam has just been defeated; we see the look on her tear-streaked face when it registers just how badly he's been injured. The fear in her eyes at the prospect of living in a world without the angel she idolizes, the man she serves.

She's not concerned that she's just lost her arm, or that Vaggie is standing right there. In that moment, the only person in Hell is Adam, and all she wants is for him to stay with her.

Adam could have easily dismissed her feelings entirely. He could have spent his last breath hurling one last insult at Lucifer, getting the satisfaction of having the last word before his death. He could have thrown himself a pity party and cursed his fate.

Instead, this greedy, selfish, murderous fiend has the audacity to see Lute in his field of vision and flash her one last, tender smile.

We don't know for sure what Adam was thinking in this shot, but personally, I think it was something along the lines of I lost. Proud of you, Lute. I'll miss you. Goodbye.

Whatever his final thoughts are, we can surmise from his expression alone that he's accepted his fate, and that he's grateful his last seconds alive are locking eyes with someone who's important to him. Someone he cares about.

And THAT—that was enough to crack through that thick shell of hatred I'd developed for Adam and shatter it like the mask he wore for seven and a half episodes of the show. THAT 8-second moment was enough to make me reconsider my stance on Adam as an irredeemable villain.

(CURSE YOU, VIVIENNE!!!)

Does this scene cancel out all the heinous things Adam does throughout Season 1? All the lives he destroys, all the pain he causes to thousands upon thousands of souls? Absolutely not. But it does change my perception of Adam from "obnoxious egomaniac with no self-awareness" to "obnoxious egomaniac with no self-awareness that is a product of the flawed system he perpetuates."

And, I gotta wonder, what would Adam have been like if Heaven had been different?

[anthurak]

So here’s a few general theories I’ve got on both Eve and Roo, their role in the story, as well as at least one rather bonkers theory on how they/she are connected to Charlie.

Which means to begin with, we’re going to make the entirely logical step to talk about Rosie.

Because as I said in a couple posts after the finale, I think Rosie is actually Eve.

Or rather, as I now think, Rosie is an ASPECT of Eve.

To begin with, just about everything Rosie does with Charlie in Episode 7 to me just kinda SCREAMS ‘I’m actually a mysterious relative/family friend you never knew about.’ From the way she immediately goes massively out of her way to help Charlie, not just with the more overt problem of the impending extermination, but also her more personal relationship problems, not to mention little touches like how she insists on Charlie calling her ‘auntie’. As well as making a number of small references that could very easily be more direct foreshadowing:

Rosie’s whole ‘first husband’ comment could easily be a dig at Adam, plus her being a cannibal would make for a pretty clever callback to the visual joke of Adam eating ribs in the first episode.

We also have Rosie’s talk with Charlie about her problems with Vaggie, which feel especially relevant in light of the reveal that Eve seems to have had some kind of romance with Lucifer and Lilith. Rosie’s comments to Charlie clearly hint that she has her own regrets towards a failed relationship, which if she is Eve could easily hint at whatever went down between her, Lilith and Lucifer. Not to mention, given the CLEAR parallels that Charlie and Vaggie have to Lucifer and Lilith, it would be all too fitting if it turned out that Eve was the one helping to mend their relationship.

There’s also one other visual detail about Rosie… but more on that later.

So how does this tie back to Roo?

Well you know how I said I think Rosie is an aspect or part of Eve?

I think Roo is the OTHER part of Eve.

As in, I think that Roo and Rosie (hey, look at those similar names) are each the two parts of Eve that split apart when she became the ‘Root of All Evil’.

When you get down to it, I think Roo as a character and her role in the story as a whole is to be a subversive exploration of the idea of the scapegoat and Christian ideas/fixation on guilt and penance. Roo might actually BE this big, terrible ‘Root of All Evil’, ‘Embodiment of Sin’, ‘Unfettered Force of Chaos’, ‘Heart of Hell itself’ ultimate big-bad of the show that much of the fandom is assuming…

But only because she/Eve chose this role out of her own guilt and self-loathing. Eve only believes that she’s this terrible, irredeemable person at the root of all the evils of mankind, and has thus chosen to embody that.

And I think in the process of becoming Roo, this being of pure evil, Eve tried (emphasis on tried) to split off all the ‘good’ within her. Which in turn became Rosie. Alternatively, Rosie could have been deliberately split off from Roo to act as her agent, but may have become self-aware enough that she’s trying to stop/save Roo, hence her going out of her way to help Charlie. And of course this would also neatly explain her friendship with Alastor, himself likely also an agent of Roo.

Which in turn is going to be the crux of her conflict with Charlie, and the ultimate villain redemption of the story. Like of course we’re going to find out about Roo’s big, terrible villainous plots to perhaps corrupt humanity or subsume all of Hell or destroy Heaven and how she’s likely the one pulling Alastor’s strings and has maybe had him essentially ‘feeding her’ Overlords to increase her power and how she’s likely the cause of Lilith’s disappearing seven years ago and ending up in Heaven and all kinds of other things our heroes will have to fight against.

Until we get to our big, final confrontation with Roo and both we and Charlie discover that this terrible being of pure evil is in fact this traumatized, grief-stricken woman utterly consumed by guilt and self-loathing. The one person who, more than anyone else, NEEDS the help and redemption that Charlie has spent the whole show trying to offer others.

And also might be Charlie’s other mom.

Yeah, it’s bonkers theory time :D

So back during the rough… twenty to thirty minutes or so between finishing Episode 7 and seeing the post-credits scene in Episode 8, I was VERY sure that Rosie was actually Lilith in disguise (as you can see from this rather amusing post/reblog :D), for basically all the reason I listed above about why Rosie feels like an in-disguise Eve,

But ALSO because of Rosie’s cheek blush-marks that look CURIOUSLY SIMILAR to Charlie’s own. And if you’ve read any of my numerous Rosebird Parents theory posts, you can imagine I immediately latched onto that.

However! This is NOT a theory that Eve is somehow Charlie’s ‘real mom’. That is stupid and I will not hear Lilith slander in this house. Note instead that I said that Eve might be Charlie’s OTHER mom…

Basically I think Charlie has three parents thanks to Lucifer, Lilith and Eve each actually being some variety of functionally intersex due to wacky angel/demon/primordial-human physiology. And the three of them conceived Charlie Gilgamesh-style via Lilith and Eve knocking up Lucifer.

Hey, I want this show to get WEIRD, okay?

Even just speaking generally, we’re already got more or less soft-confirmation that SOMETHING was going on between Eve, Lilith and Lucifer, and that Eve seemed to have specifically left Adam for Lucifer and Lilith. So I’d say it’s not at all a stretch to think that Lilith, Lucifer and Eve will turn out to be a tragic, broken polycule driven apart by each of their baggage and trauma.

Or that a major aspect of the show will end up being about Charlie (with Vaggie’s (and possibly Emily’s…) help) working to get her parents back together.

In fact, I can already imagine what a suitably cute/heartwarming/feelsy reunion Eve could have with Lucifer and Lilith:

Eve, having just been freed from her self-imposed prison/punishment by Charlie, is about to launch into a guilt-and-regret-laden spiel about how she knows how they must hate her and how she doesn’t deserve them…

Only for Lucifer gives Eve a big cute hug.

And then Lilith gives Eve a Big Damn Kiss XD

Simply put, I think it’s pretty clear that Hazbin Hotel is NOT the kind of the show to just go and make a woman the source of all the evil and sin and bad of the world and seemingly the ultimate big bad and NOT examine, interrogate and SUBVERT THE EVERLIVING HELL out of that concept/trope.

[firesnap]

i have a genuine question. i promise i am not at all trying to defend him. ive dropped him entirely, literally deleted everything i had of him and unliked his songs.

ive just been wondering like considering that he has been in therapy, and also considering how if he does take a year off and then comes back, why cant it be redeemable? like cant people change? cant we give them second chances? he is 27. is he just doomed to be an abuser forever?

its just scary and im asking as like a younger person who is in my very early 20s. i know ive made mistakes. i know ive not been a good partner or friend sometimes. (and yes i was also abusive to a past partner...im not proud of it and ive learned from it. i have never ever touched anyone in that way after that. it took awhile but my current relationship isnt toxic and i would never hurt anyone or hit them again yknow?) and it scares me that people keep insinuating that he is irredeemable. like cant abusers change and become better? dont they get second chances? if shelby has grown and healed in 10 months wouldn't it be fair to say the same for wilbur?

im just genuinely asking because based on everything i believe you are older than me and im looking for guidance and just...idk im scared. growing up on the internet has made me so scared of making mistakes and doing anything wrong because when it happens to others i look up to, its always treated as something they'll never be able to change or improve. makes me feel like imma just be a horrible person forever because i made mistakes in the past.

This is a really complicated question that multiple answers can validly fit.

I don't think, personally, that anyone is irredeemable. I think everyone is on a journey of forgiveness and some of us may need more grace than others.

This is tw// abuse even more than the current topic, but my mom was incredibly abusive. We lived in a very rural area and she had a lot of undiagnosed problems and trauma of her own that created a pressure pot of issues. After I was born, she suffered through full on post-partum psychosis that nearly ended about as well as that sentence implies it could have. She was incredibly violent, controlling, and cruel for years. My sister went no-contact with her the second she turned 18. A significant event occurred that eventually spurned her into seeking real treatment that lasted for years. It's still ongoing.

My sister is also still no contact and I support her decision 100%. Those are her wounds and what she needed to do to get peace should be respected. I decided I wanted a relationship with the person who came out of all that work and, even then, it's been hard. I don't know if she's redeemed herself, and my god do we still have bumps in the road, but I support her for trying.

With Wilbur, how he responds to this is going to really impact a lot of things. I mean, I know no matter how he responds I won't be going on whatever journey of redemption and healing he has to go through. I'm tired and I feel hurt enough. I would think, if he wanted to show he was sincere, admitting what happened would be a great sense of closure for a lot of people who put time and energy and faith into this guy for years.

Not every person that causes harm is inherently evil, but there has to be some kind of knowledge that you're aware of the harm you've caused. No one is stuck as anything forever, life is constantly moving, and most people aren't saying his life is just over. You can work on yourself. You can change. And I'm saying that specifically to you, anonymous.

(Saying this, actually, there ARE people who would argue once you've done x you're beyond redemption based entirely on their life experiences as a victim, personal histories and many other factors. Kinda like my sister, that's their choice. And you have to accept that sometimes you fuck up so badly that you will permanently lose some people from your life. But your life isn't over.)

But I do think, regardless of what he says or does about this, his time of controlling a large platform is at an end. He can still do a lot of things in his life after he works on himself -- editing, song producing, directing, writing or whatever -- but being in charge of a large impressionable audience that could enable more destructive behaviors is just not it.

[superb-fox]

I wanna talk about how Sousou no Frieren treats heroes and demons, because in my opinion it's masterfully done.

We really only learn about one hero, Himmel. Sure there's the Hero of the South but what do we really know about him besides he had future sight and he died? I'll focus on Himmel. I think what sets Himmel apart is how he acts, in typical hero stories they're portrayed as kind, strong, willing to do what's right, all that nice stuff and while I do think those are good traits for a hero, Himmel is shown differently. We almost never see him fight, every time we see him it is in relation to an action he took that influenced people for the better. He takes on countless detours and quests because he can't turn down people in need, every where he goes he's doing good, when people talk about him they never talk about how strong he was or how cool he was it's always about how his act(s) of kindness changed their lives. They're happier, better people because he came through their town. He changes everywhere he goes for the better because of who he is and how he acts. He quite literally changed the world not because he killed the demon king, but because everywhere he went he improved people's lives, and those people because they are better change more people's lives and it spreads and spreads and spreads until the world is better. From random towns people to our main characters, everyone is better because of him. Look at Frieren for example, a complete stoic who before Himmel just was living her life in the woods doing whatever. But after? She takes on an apprentice, travels from place to place continuing the good Himmel did, she learned so much kindness from him in the relatively short time they spent together. Pre-hero party Frieren would have gone to a town, blended into the background, and moved on. But now? She's taking on quests, helping people, and making lives brighter. Why? In her own words it's what Himmel would have done. Fern owes her life to Himmel despite never meeting him because Heiter took her in because that's what Himmel would have done. Frieren looks after her after Heiter's passing because that's what Himmel would have done. Think of all the good she's doing traveling with Frieren just because of that! It ripples outward forever because of a great hero's influence. In other words, he's not a hero because of his great feats or his power, it's because of who he was and that's how you write a truly great hero. 

Now let's talk about demons. People with third grade reading comprehension have made the comparison to real life peoples. That the text is saying that demons being just an irredeemable evil race is racist and compare it to how in real life people do that to justify genocide, but this cannot be further from the truth. Demons in this world are an offshoot of humans like elves and dwarves are. They're similar enough to look like humans, speak like humans, their magic is something special to them but similar enough that with study humans can use it just as well. However demons are truly the farthest thing from humanity you could be. The best way to describe them is how when you see two animals that look so similar but they're in entirely different evolutionary families. How a rabbit and a hare look similar but are so SO very different. Demons are closer to animals in that they do what they can to survive. They trick, they deceive, they hunt. These are not evil things, this is nature. A lion is not evil for hunting in packs to eat one antelope, a bird is not evil for walking a certain way to imitate rain and attract a worm. However when it's applied to something that looks and acts so incredibly human it can be seen that way. The lion ganging up on someone is not a fair fight, the bird is lying to and tricking the worm, these are absurd statements. Demons are a divergent evolution of humanity that cannot comprehend the traits that make us human but will use them to hunt us. They do not understand malice or bonds or guilt or love, they are solitary beings that understand power and magic. They biologically cannot understand it, them learning these emotions is like if a cat suddenly sprouted tentacles, it just can't happen. But because they lack the very traits that make us human while looking so human, they appear evil to us. How could something so human-like act so inhuman? Perform such evil acts without a seconds thought? But they're not evil, they can't even understand evil. Them using maternal love to have someone drop their guard and become easy prey is such a basic thing like waking up in the morning they cannot comprehend why people think it's bad. The problem isn't that one is evil and one is good, it's that evolution set these two species on such polar opposite courses that they truly can never understand each other. Yet they're still so close that there's always that feeling of that things could be worked out, that these two peoples can co-exist, but it is just biologically impossible. And that's tragic, that's heart breaking, for one species to exist peacefully the other must die. These beings so close to us yet so far must die. There's no way around it, no negotiating, no compromise, evolution and nature have played this sick dance to pit these two brothers against each other and it absolutely should hurt your soul, but it must happen.

[epicfroggz]

I wonder why Marika despite her atrocities is giving the benefit of the doubt and people try to invent so much justification for her actions but Messmer is reduced into a genocidal maniac and nothing else. It's getting more confusing when people hate on Messmer for what he did to the hornsent while also justifying Marika. Like how Messmer is irredeemable for committing genocide but Marika is reedamble and righteous for it when she was literally the one who ordered him anyway make it make sense 😅

Man, I don’t know either! Of all the demigods, Messmer was the most committed to being Marika’s weapon of war, her spear, an extension of her desire for justice and revenge. She pointed her spear at the Hornsent, and Messmer wholeheartedly agreed and went after them. (slight rant below)

(please read the following paragraph with great bitterness)

And also reclaimed the native lands of Marika’s people and protects them, and is trying to help those who have suffered in jars for ages, and fosters in his highly disciplined army a culture of acceptance and respect for those of other walks of life (even making them his commanders), and personally mourns those he has lost even if it is because they rebelled against him. But no, no, Messmer is just a genocidal maniac, mhm. Never mind that he and his men are suffused with profound grace, more potent runes than any other army found in the Lands Between, that their cause is deemed holier by the Greater Will itself than all the petty wars of the Shattering combined—nah, they’re just evil to be evil, sure whatever. Marika, though? She was totally correct to write the Golden Order in such a way that her son was branded a traitor for the powers he was born with and can’t change about himself, no matter how much he tried. She was totally correct to make him despise himself. She was totally correct to abandon him out of fear. Look, she condemned the war despite being the one that desired it! She actually isn’t flawed, and can never do wrong!

Going to stop now because it’s making me sick. I hope I’ve managed to express that, I agree, the sentiment you describe in your ask is so nearsighted it’s baffling. I love Marika and her story, but because she is a deeply flawed god—she loves her children, but by loving her children she ruins them, it is absolutely fascinating. And her children all find their own way to fight for themselves, in the end—to become Lords or Gods, just like she wanted. It just took her removing herself from the equation for them to be able to do it. :(((

I digress, but yeah, trying to redeem these people is tiring, why can’t we just enjoy the tragedy instead?

- Froggo

[notedchampagne]

Honestly i also think that a lot of the romanticization of Ianthe vs infantilization/fear mongering of harrowhark is also that like... We don't really get to see Ianthe suffer the nastier parts of shit mental health. Like, we know she cries to sleep, for like a line or two, but we're not pressed against her intimacies and the inside of her head (hehehe pun intended) like we are with harrow.

It's easy to infantilize Harrowhark because we get to see her struggling, we get to see the thought processes that lead to her lashing out, we get to see her suffering through. Well, basically everything, more than we see her putting on the dignity, and even when we do, we generally get to see the lead up, or we are with someone who responds in kind (thanks gideon).

With Ianthe we basically *only* get the facade, even when the Issues Are Blatant, and even if when she lashes out she does her utmost best to seem in control, much like harrow. The other characters do Not Give A Shit, so neither do we, as readers, feel naturally inclined to it.

Plus like. I might be reaching, but sometimes i feel like tlt fandom needs a character to be "pathetic", or to suffer, in order to... Idk how to word this bc englishs not my first language, but essentially pay penance? In the fandom I see a lot of people who feel Uncomfortable recalling their fave did bad shit, and like, needing to either justify it for themselves or others by going "oh look how she suffers", essentially infantilizing their characters so they don't have to acknowledge the worst edges, which is a choice, I guess. They not only do this with Harrowhark, but also with Gideon, Pyrrha, Mercymorn, etc.

They also do the opposite, by rejecting the possibility of suffering for characters they consider evil, most notably with John. It's not possible for them to be over their heads, or for them to have made a mistake. Either they were deliberately planning it, or they deserved it somehow, or their actions *later* meant they retroactively deserved it, and may be pointed as the cause for it happening.

Which is... Uncomfortable, to say the least, even if I'm only latine.

anyways. TDLR: People should just say they look really fucking cool dripping with blood and determined. At this point ill even take an I support women's wrongs/woman's right to murder or whatever

Sorry for going in a tangent on your askbox or of this doesnt make sense its like nearly two am and i cant sleep

this is very real and leans into what ive observed in fandom as well! tlt is a house party full of morally gray characters but i feel like when we are panicked to discuss someone being "evil" or otherwise the two closest avenues are infantilization/reduction (i can fix him, theyre pathetic they cant do anything right im protecting them) or full villainy (i like them Because theyre evil, irredeemable, they deserved it so i dont care)

hope you sleep soon

[galactic-cumslut]

bleed magic

this was originally titled heavy metal heart but anyways here’s some evil!rick bc i love men who are totally irredeemable,, i hope it’s not obvious i didn’t know where i was going with this..bc i didn’t

rick is a mean dom, slave/master dynamics, afab reader, lots of degrading, cockwarming, exhibitionism , he just wants to show off his power be frl

you liked to think you had an ounce of pride in your body. it was just a thought though. in reality you had none left. he made sure of that.

“c-c-come to me pet. on your knees immediately”. he had said,long legs spread on his throne. his eyes bore into you daring you to refuse him.

instantly you fell to your knees, awaiting your next command.

“what an obedient slut, look at me a stick out your tongue”.

you wanted to resist. anyone could walk in at any time and see you in such a vulnerable state-being used by your lord. the teasing would surely kill you if the sheer embarrassment didn’t first.

a sharp smack to your face threw you back into reality. you hesitated. one thing rick doesn’t stand for is hesitation, once he gives an order he expects it fulfilled immediately.

“are you de-deaf or something, bitch? or do i need to s-spell every little thing out for you, jesus christ you’re stupid. tongue out. eyes on me”.

fear overcame you and you did as you were told. you expected him to insert his fingers inside your mouth but instead he leaned down and spit directly onto your tongue.

“swallow”. he commanded.

as shocked as you were you quickly swallowed. if wanting to be hit again.

rick seemed pleased with you eating up the fear in your eyes.

“there we gooo, all it takes is a little discipline with you huh”? he stroked your cheek gently and you willing lean into his touch. “you just want to be a good little slave for your master hmm”?

rick was almost never gentle with you so of course you were quick to answer. eager to receive more praise. “yes sir”.

“of course you do my darling little cum slut. on your feet at once”.

he offered you his hand as to help you up from the uncomfortable position between his legs.

“i’m going to explain what’s going to happen and you’re going to listen closely”.

you nodded, almost eager to hear what he had up your sleeve.

“the council is coming for a visit very soon and since you’re my most obedient servant you’re going to be shown off. it’ll asset dominance as well as keep attention on me”.

again you nodded, unsure of what he meant by his words. usually he didn’t allow the council anywhere near his lair. ‘what could have changed’ you thought.

“you have one job y/n. you’re going to sit still and stay quiet. your only duty is to look pretty”.

———————-

“welcome council of ricks. i trust you have all been briefed about the reason you are here”. rick bellowed , addressing the six other versions of him sitting in his court.

you in the other hand were in another world of bliss, sitting atop his cock infront of so many men.

less than an hour ago you were worried about someone walking in on you and your master. oh how things have changed. the many eyes locked onto your body-it gave you a feeling of power.

the feeling of his cock twitching inside you was enough to have you drooling. you did your best to sit up straight and smile.you didn’t want to disappoint your master after all.

as if he could read your mind he bucked his hips up slightly causing you to gasp in a mix of surprise and pleasure. “be a good girl infront of the other ricks and you’ll get a biiiig reward”. he whispered in your ear, nipping at your lobe.

“shall we conduct business”?

the group became silence and focused their eyes on rick…or they tried to as you stole their attention away from whatever brining speech rick had planned up.

“i understand that you’re all infatuated with my newest plaything” he started, a crazed grin spread king across his face. “give me what i ask and she is all yours”. fuck his speech, you were a much better bargaining chip.

[yuseirra]

Mm..; well, I went and checked the hikaai tag

I actually don't really look up the tags here anymore because I get nervous,

Um.. Um.. I'm sorry for being an embarrassment(I SURE POSTED A LOT...) But I found a lot of things worthy of drawing about them and there was something that really drew me in about the two of them!

It happens when I really like a ship. I enjoy thinking about two people sharing a very strong bond, having a deep attachment toward one another, caring a lot, I can go on about that and explore about it on and on. I never get tired of it. I've been doing it whenever I join fandoms. It's something I find very precious and these two had something intriguing between them.

I think...I'll be still able to provide more, thankfully.

My chest is actually lifted to a degree(if they're going to refrain from explaining anything at all??) Because I refuse to downright just take the guy as a monster when we DON'T KNOW how things exactly played out!!!;; why can't they show it to us?? The whole thing about lies? Covering up? Was that what this character was supposed to be about? Then ISN'T the public's perception of him what's WRONG because, he'll be known for being Aqua's killer when he ISN'T. HE DIDN'T WANT HIS SON TO DIE. THIS WASN'T THE OUTCOME HE'S WANTED, evil or not. That much is still clear. It's still unfair. If he's bad, let him face the consequences of what he's actually responsible for. We don't know. This isn't justice then! So, you know what. I am not going to take him as the evil behind it all. I could sense some kindness in him even if what's left of it's a remnant of what he's originally used to be. This wasn't a person that should have turned out this way. I could see it really well.

Nothing about what Kamiki's told to Aqua about the nature of the industry turned out to be wrong, did it? People flock together and they entertain themselves with stories, isn't that what's happened to Ai? And now it'll happen to Ruby? Gosh, this really does feel like a bad/normal ending route of a video game. What more did we need to unlock the "true end" and find out the real truths of what's been happening? Sad or Bad or Normal ending or not, however, the writers should EXPLAIN what's been going on still. What are they going to do if they can't do that within the given limits of their own piece?

Since things are so indefinite, I can take things as positively as I'd like, out of all the possibilities, huh? And I don't think it'd be so far from the real truth either... I don't really see Ai having fallen for some "monster" because they were smiling very happily together in their thoughts of each other. The positive emotions they had were mutual. He was so happy to be with her. That wasn't a lie. She wanted to be forever with him and he thought she made him feel alive. I think that's precious. Whatever they'd become. I don't think...Hikaru would have EVER tried to harm someone he felt that way towards. The guy used to be TIMID.

Oh this got long again but, since the series is ending there wouldn't be a lot to add about, heard there's going to be live action and Hikaru may get some scenes there? Seeing what the recent writing's made of him, can I..;; trust them to write him in a way that treats him like a human being? Idk, it's been so confusing because I was ALWAYS able to read out some parts of his humanity as he appears(I actually wholeheartedly resonate with the idea that the guy must have had a noble soul.) but they make the other characters treat him like an irredeemable villain that shouldn't be regarded to have a heart.

I'd like to think he was an essentially good person. And at least.. There will not be ANYTHING left to completely refute and deny me of this impression I have of him. I'd like to think Ai chose a kind soul to be her partner. What happened after she died and what's become of him...what is with this man? I can't BELIEVE that's still ambigious, trust me, I'm very strict about morals and being in the right. That's why I was so nervous. That's why I kept questioning. I need to know something in full in order to be able to judge something, it's unfair to do it without it being so and.. It seems like we'll never know. I'll never have to worry every week and question whether everything about him and Ai were to be lies. Maybe it is but??; I've come to the conclusion that their love was actually real. It did bring disasters but I think they really did care for one another?? Things could have been so much better. I think they really could have been happy with the twins and them having formed a loving family could have become reality, because Hikaru was never so hostile towards the twins after all except that one really freaky thought he had but HE DIDN'T GO THROUGH WITH IT. He probably.. Really could have felt Ai in a pretty solid sense if he did but he still didn't(no but what was really happening there????)

I can come up with some things. I'll do it, even if I end up looking at other works. Thank you for viewing my works regarding this couple ;v;)♥ I'm.. Glad to say they saved me some positivity left but that's not because the ending was good, it's because I already had it within me and the work didn't blow it out. I'll draw something about Aqua too this weekend because that boy deserves it. I have no idea why he couldn't just live unless he has to sacrifice his life to form a seal to kill his dad who can't normally be suppressed... Having him die... Really doesn't contribute to the story in any way the way I see it, I'd see if there's a point to it but I don't see it having any meaningful message with Ruby being how she is in the ending either. Her "growth" sort of.. Reverted back didn't it??;; so, it's better if Aqua just lives. Literally no one wanted it to happen. He himself wanted to live. What will become of his soul?? Tsukuyomi should take responsibility for having put him in that body and let him live a normal life!! He got caught up in other people's mess until the very end!

[ilikekidsshows]

Would love to know your take on Nathalie’s "redemption."

Oh, you guys want Dunking on Nathalie Hours next? Okay, this is gonna be really ranty but I promise it's based on actual analysis. Yeah, let's go.

Look, Nathalie and Félix shouldn’t have been redeemed. Not because I think they’ve done anything irredeemable, but because it just wasn’t logistically feasible. The very rules of their universe mean that their “redemptions” were always going to be only surface level, that they’ll just profess to how much they care about Adrien without actually doing anything to prove those feelings, because Miraculous just loves meaningless words that don’t amount to anything these days, like with Marinette apologizing for her lying while lying some more.

Even after they “join” the good guys’ side. Nathalie and Félix are both still complicit in whatever crimes and villainy Gabriel commits because they know he is Hawk Moth. They know where his lair is, so they could even produce evidence to prove it to the police. Because Nathalie and Félix don’t get Gabriel put away, they allow his evil to persist and him to keep committing his crimes. This is especially flagrant because they claim they want him away from Adrien, but they literally have the power to take Gabriel far away from Adrien and don’t act on it.

Arguably, you could claim Félix went further than Nathalie on the redemption, because he at least tried to tell Marinette Gabriel was full of shit. She just conveniently forgot that episode happened when it was time to actually take Gabriel down. Even so, at this point, Félix has access to one of the strongest Miraculouses and he won’t use it to take on Gabriel himself. He won’t even make sure that Marinette understood his cryptic message to her. It’s a gesture as pointless as his words, because he didn’t follow through.

Now, here’s the thing; in the end it doesn’t matter what Nathalie and Félix might want to do, because they just metaphysically can’t stop Gabriel. The very rules of the universe they exist in won’t allow them to lift a finger against Gabriel, because they are not Marinette. Miraculous has never allowed anyone other than Marinette to save the day, at least not without Marinette getting a lion’s share of the glory, even before the retooling turned Marinette into the center of the universe. Nathalie and Félix won’t go to the police with their information, because then they would be responsible for taking down Gabriel, not Marinette. This is even apparent in Félix’s failure to communicate his knowledge to Marinette. He chose the most convoluted method and didn't follow through, all so that Marinette could stumble into the knowledge herself, because god forbid if a character other than Marinette Astruc is allowed to do anything in the universe Thomas Astruc created for his little pretend daughter.

What was I talking about again? Right, Nathalie’s supposed redemption. I think Miraculous’ characters do too much talking and not enough acting when it comes to their motives and intentions. Why should we trust anything these characters say when they don’t act on it? Nathalie isn’t a good guy, she’s Harley Quinn lite: the only reason she stopped being evil is because she got bored of being evil and her always-shitty supervillain malewife was shit one too many times. Just because she stopped actively committing evil acts doesn’t mean she’s good now. At best she’s neutral, at worst she’s just an accomplice who retired from active villainy since she still keeps her boss’ secrets despite her claiming she’s done with him.

[theenemyod]

Reasons Magisterium is better than harry potter (in my opinion):

1. Actually seems to acknowledge that these are children, not irredeemable monsters. Draco shouldn't have been hated for the entire series because of something he learned and repeated from his father when he was eleven. Maybe he was a bitch, but he was a child. I think if Call or Jasper were in hogwarts they'd be hated.

2. The teacher who borderline tortured his students isn't redeemed because he had a crush on a girl when he was a teenager.

3. More interesting villains, with far more interesting backstories. Like, even though there is a reason, Voldemort was just born evil, and I don't think it's ever said why he hates muggle borns specifically. It doesn't make sense. Meanwhile in Magisterium there's at least some hint of a backstory for every villain, even Master Joseph, who I think was fucked up slightly being Maugris's apprentice.

4. Sort of more realistic defeating villains. MC isn't somehow not hurt at all after defeating the villain with a single spell. Even after the main villain/bad guy/antagonist dies, it's not fully over. They still have some supporters and what's left of their army, for hp it would be the death eaters, which I think are mentioned in one line and that's it after Voldemort is defeated. In magisterium,after The Enemy 'dies' there's Master Joseph, after Master Joseph dies there's still Alex, after Alex dies there's still the chaos ridden, then Alex fucking comes back.

5. The all powerful villain isn't defeated by a literal baby. I can see the logic in how Constantine was "killed" by Sarah's knives, she was his old friend so he probably didn't think she would actually kill him, and he would've been exhausted by the continuous use of magic. With Voldemort being killed by baby harry, how? I know "a mother's love" and whatever but seriously? And if it was that why has never been looked into before? Does a father's love also work? A non binary parents love? A grandparents love? Does it only work on babies? Why has it not happened until then? What is even going on?

6. Not written by a transphobe.

I think hp is okay but at least a little bit overrated to be honest. And fuck jk Rowling.

[i-am-the-oyster]

Ok I’m asking this question in the most polite way I can. I’m very very new to the fandom and just the Beatles in general and I just have to know the pure truth on John and Cynthia. Any time John is ever posted on anywhere, like TikTok, insta, ect, people are always flooding the comments saying John beat his wife and kid. Why is that such a popular belief when that didn’t happen? I know he slapped her once or something but people are alway saying it and I just want to know why if it’s not true. Again I’m asking this in the most respectful manner I can. Thank you !

Hello nonny!

I can tell this is an important and emotive question for you, and I hope I can respond in a way that is helpful to you without avoiding the truth.

I don't like the way that John's violence is often discussed---people do like to make complicated things out to be simple---but we can't avoid the fact that John was a violent man. He said it himself [1], Cynthia said it [2], May said it [3], Yoko sat next to him while he said it and she didn't deny it [4].

In her 2005 book, Cynthia claimed he only ever hit her once [5], but four decades earlier she told Hunter Davies a different story [6]. The way I interpret this inconsistency is some combination of personal revisionism (as we all do when we look back on our lives) and choosing a particular version of John to publicly remember after his death.

So what are we to do with this knowledge? This may be controversial of me, but I don't believe in dividing the world into Abusers [irredeemable] and Non-abusers [decent].

If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

-- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

John was violent, yes, but he also recognised that about himself and worked on changing. None of the Beatles were (or are) pure, and as fans we each need to decide for ourselves how much we engage with that reality, and how it affects our relationships with them and their work.

It's also worth noting that John was a notorious revisionist himself, and that whatever he said later, he really did love Cyn.

[1] "I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically — any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn’t express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women." --- John discussing the song Getting Better in an interview with Playboy 1980

[2] "Molly, the cleaning woman, once caught John hitting me, really clouting me. She said I was a silly girl, to get mixed up with someone like that." --- Cynthia to Hunter Davies in the official biography (chapter 7)

[3] "He was drunk and looked very confused. Slowly he reached out, put his hands to my throat, and began to strangle me. As his hands closed tighter I screamed out and I tried to pull away, but he was incredibly strong." --- May Pang in her book Loving John (chapter 14)

[4] https://amoralto.tumblr.com/post/46083471661/september-5th-1971-st-regis-hotel-new-york-in#notes

[5] "The next day at college he followed me to the girls' loos (toilets) in the basement. When I came out he was waiting with a dark look on his face. Before I could speak he raised his arm and hit me across the face, knocking my head into the pipes that ran down the wall behind me,". She goes on to claim that John promised never to hit her again and he kept that promise.

[6] See note 2 above. These don't sound to me like they could be the same incident.

[crimeronan]

the "your dead daughter might A) be alive, B) be a Princess in a Realm and C) i fucking Hate Her" is in fact the Funniest Conversation ever to me. how does that GO. how long does it take vee to build up the courage to say that shit?? does vee just DROP IT or does vee slowly start dropping hints for camila?? i dont think theres a good way to say ANY OF THAT TBH.

the funniest and most likely option to me is vee just. accidentally slipping up and mentioning luz's name along with her backstory tm, and then looking over and camilas eyes are just so very narrowed like "vee... honey. is. is there something you have been not telling me. im not mad. but. i feel like i need more Context here." and vee just starts SWEATING BULLETS.

GOD, THIS WOULD BE REALLY FUNNY. i think the actual fic will take it in a more serious direction but i love imagining it for the bit. vee is like "i have never kept a secret" and camila goes "secret secrets are no fun, secret secrets hurt someone" and vee immediately bursts into tears. I Fucking Guess .

i need to actually write it out to get more specifics of how exactly the (real) conversation goes.... but vee Does tell her all at once. after spending a decent amount of time going, "but maybe i could just Not tell her, maybe she never has to find out, maybe i Can live with myself if i don't tell her." <-girl who is lying to herself

at the Very Least, vee doesn't have to convince camila that the supernatural is real. camila got a healthy dose of all of that really fast. and camila knows about vee's past in an Evil Castle Dungeon like... way, WAAAY before she knows anything about luz.

however. i think the worst part for vee is going to be explaining the I Fucking Hate Her part. and it's not even because she thinks camila will be upset with her or think less of her or whatever. it's because, from vee's perspective, the news she's breaking is, "your dead kid is actually worse than dead because she's alive and irredeemably evil and the whole world would be better if you'd never had a baby."

she is not going to phrase it this way (CAN YOU IMAGINE). but telling camila what luz is now -- or at least, what vee THINKS luz is now -- somehow feels worse than if vee could just give camila dead-kid closure. vee would Dearly Love It if the truth was instead, "yeah, a human toddler wandered into the isles years ago and died in the woods, i heard about it once. sorry."

and vee does..... kind of hate herself for that.

[mdhwrites]

The Owl House Season 3 Could Never Have Been Great

This isn’t to say it couldn’t have been good or enjoyable. However, the concepts at play and the setups for S3 were flawed so deeply that more S3 doesn’t necessarily mean a better S3 and could have never been something truly special. So why do I think this? Well, first let’s just state the obvious: While we’ve an abridged version of whatever S3 was dreamed by the cast, we have gotten their S3. The Collector exists so the crew’s willingness to abandon ideas and concepts for the sake of their narrative is only display as a firm “No.” After all, if they knew they had so little time, the Collector and the trip the human realm should have been cut. Period. There wasn’t time to make an audience properly care about the Collector or make trip to, or the return from, the human realm satisfying. So I’m basing this mostly off of the structure of the three specials. How they decided to build and lower tension because it’s hard to believe that there was ever a different plan. For some parts, it’s literally impossible to imagine a proper different plan that isn’t just what Amphibia did. Belos was almost always going to be needed for the portal after all and to be something that even COULD challenge the characters in a fight. Kikimora is the only villain in the Isles that has shown much agency of her own and built up at all besides Terra who the kids haven’t already beaten. These were fundamental problems going into S3 that the show wasn’t going to ever have proper answers to because it simply didn’t setup proper answers. But let’s talk about those villains because The Owl House is ostensibly an adventure show. It’s aiming for a big, dramatic, adventure/fantasy show climax as I write this the day before the finale. The first villain of S3 is Belos who at the end of S2 got beat with one poke by the Collector. He also was shown to be irredeemable, racist and an idiot who hasn’t even tried to keep up with what the human realm is like now while waiting for his final plan. He is an evil emperor though who is connected to Hunter and Luz and strong enough to even beat all five Hexide Squad members when together as he proved both in King’s Tide. He is a genuine threat who has no reason to hold back. He is the villain that works... But everything I just described also is why he needs to the big bad. No other villain who is strong enough to challenge the characters has any connection to them.The only person the Collector has a connection to is King. From just a basic storytelling perspective, Belos is the big bad. Is the logical final boss and he’s not being allowed to be that because they want to do the Collector. Worse yet, because of how natural of a cliffhanger going through the portal is, that’s the halfway point of the season. 10 episodes gone to the human realm with a bestial Belos being the only real threat there. So the rest of the human realm stuff would have had to be drama and slice of life while looking for how to get people back home in a realm that frankly should have less answers than the Boiling Isles and the Boiling Isles had few themselves and less that worked when read.

So how well did S2 setup drama and slice of life stuff in the human realm? Well, Amity’s been reduced to being Luz’s girlfriend and her daddy issues, half of which aren’t there and the other half doesn’t appear to be allowed to have actual angst so I guess nothing from her. Willow is barely a character at this point, having been mostly used for other characters and what was brought up in S3 Ep. 2 only works really for one episode. Gus is actually the best Slice of Life character with how his knowledge could be challenged and reactions to realizing how little he actually knows about humans but from a drama perspective he doesn’t have a lot because he’s only been taken properly seriously in two episodes of the whole series. Luz has angst that admittedly could have been pulled back and forth on for if she was staying or going but if they kept the characterization Luz has post Yesterday’s Lie of Luz literally seeming incapable of telling the truth to anyone besides Eda and King, you’re screwed in doing anything with her. She’s not going to actually be tackling the issue so you can’t actually make plots around it. At best, you can bring up through other characters for and against. But, you know, two of those characters are her best friends, one is her girlfriend and Camila is a literal saint who’s characterization would have had to be DRASTICALLY changed in order to make her make cases for staying in the human realm at this point. Hunter is the only point in favor for Luz needing to stay and Hunter’s big character finish against Belos is about how much he prefers the perks of being a good guy over having been an EC stooge so he still reinforces that Luz has done good. This is part of why Luz’s angst over the Collector is so assinine because even if in real life, one can easily ignore that people like them, they’ve done good to others, etc. like that (hi, I have depression myself), narratively is INFURIATING and easily can imply other things about her if not addressed or in a very careful way. I’ve talked about this in both Luz’s character finish and in how Vee kind of fucked Luz’s character by being such a good contrast to her. Speaking of, Vee is EASILY the biggest opportunity for something special but only if she’s willing to actually go against losing the life she’s gained. This is the first life that has been anywhere close to hers after all and having to restart for the girl who ran away would theoretically be crushing for her. But it would have to have a character actually criticize and stay with that criticism of Luz. Or more likely just have an episode where Masha and co find out what Vee is so Vee can keep her friends between forms because that’s easier to do. It also would have made another argument for Luz going back to the Isles because Luz just existing in the human realm is now fucking someone over. Vee covering up Luz’s disappearance also makes any inclusion of government agents like what Amphibia did for human realm stakes much harder because there’s no reason for anyone to be on alert in anyway like when Anne arrived but not her friends. And because I’ve covered everyone else: Hunter has slice of life potential because he still needs to actually become friends with everyone else, Huntlow probably would have a confession happen when he died because it could be built up and frankly it’s very likely that Hunter would feel like the main character of the first of S3 just because he’s simply the character with ANY real potential to do anything. And if you’re thinking “Well, the human realm itself can provide angst and slice of life oppurtunities”, we run into how S2 assassinated the identity of the Isles. After all, in S1 the main point of friction between Luz and the Isles wasn’t that it had magic, its magic effectively replaces technology, but that the Isles was crueler. The laws were more about conformity in a society that was actively hostile to each other than anything else. S2 has shit like “Child Endangerment Laws” and in general just makes the Isles feel like the fantasy complaint of “It’s our world but with more teeth!” So the first half of S3 from a conceptual standpoint is just kind of fucked. You don’t have a villain that can be around much. Your main other option is a gag. Your characters have limited opportunities for growth or challenges because you haven’t given them enough attention or actively sabotaged what potential they did have. You also essentially have to entirely change the format of the show because the new environment offers no threats so you have to lean into pure slice of life and comedy and comedy has been a common weakness for this show. Especially in the specials, it’s often effectively anonymous. Just point and laugh at someone obviously dumb or doing something wrong. ALL the comedy for Amity in S3 feels nothing like Amity, has no logic to it and could be done by anyone else. It’s done by Amity just because she needs to literally do SOMETHING as Luz’s girlfriend but at this point has nothing to contribute besides “Look at me now being comic relief.” This happened to Lilith too so it’s not just a S3 problem and Gus has ALWAYS suffered from being treated more as a joke, especially in S1, than an actual character. But hey, after they get through the portal, they now have the Collector, the Hexide Rebellion and the coven heads to deal with. Actually, scratch that last one. After all, there’s literally no reason for the Collector to be using the coven heads at all and we genuinely have zero explanation, outside of Raeda angst, as to why Darius or Raine are puppets but TERRA ISN’T. Or wasn’t. So we Kikimora and the Collector. Aaaaand scratch the Collector as well. You can’t have the Collector interacting with Luz and company because then his redemption would come too soon or the fact that he is so much more powerful than ANYONE becomes a problem for why they aren’t being turned into puppets. So your narrative potential for a half a season in the Boiling Isles comes down to Eda and Lilith, the Hexide rebellion (most of whom haven’t mattered in over a season at this point), trying to figure out how to free King and stuff with King and the Collector. Now that is actually enough to fill half a season. There is a major problem though. After all... The Collector needs to be redeemed at the end of that season and the last time we saw him before this, he potentially threatened to murder the Hexide Squad so he could play tag. That’s even more of drastic starting point than Hunter had as the Golden Guard. And reminder: Despite Hunter having effectively all of S2 to have his arc... It’s not a good arc. I would argue it’s not an arc. And Hunter had 6 episodes of S2, many of which were ONLY his stuff for the whole episode and he was able to interact with the entire cast. In order for the Collector to still be the dramatic finale, he cannot interact with the cast. He can only interact with King. And King has always been one note through the entire series, usually discarding one note for the next so they’re not getting full episodes. At literal best, the Collector could get 8 half episodes and then a two part finale.Buuuut then we get the problem the Collector had in the second special: The more time you spend with him, the more you humanize him, the less tension there is about the resolution. It becomes increasingly obvious that he’ll be redeemed and redeemed villains can’t actually harm the main characters because then it becomes harder and harder for the audience to forgive them. It’s part of why Zuko being 98% a bastard in the first season of Avatar is important to narrative tension. Not only did it allow him to be a good, early antagonist but it also made it hard to believe that he could turn good. His decision to go back to the fire nation kept that up. Kept you guessing and also allowed AMAZING character as to what was actually important to him. This is why his turn in season 3 is so powerful because you could never be 100% certain until it finally clicked and even then, you understood everything that he was giving up and all the reasons why he would and so even if you doubted, like the characters do, you believe it as an audience and are ready to see him work for forgiveness. There could never be satisfaction like that with the Collector. Going “He’s a child!” forgets the fact that the Titan who imprisoned him has also likely been dead for THOUSANDS of years. Bare minimum, he’s been trapped in his prison for over 400 years. The other Collector we see in Knock Knock Knocking is taller, yes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the Collector is a child. He simply has a childish personality and outlook on the world which is part of what makes him a terrifying final threat if he were an actual threat. Just because he looks and acts like a child doesn’t mean he is. A lot of that is likely to just use base, human instincts to pave over the fact that an audience wouldn’t accept the arc he’s undergone if he looked like an adult. So the finale is fucked, the first half is shaky narratively but could at least be enjoyable, what about the filler of S3B? Well, little of it could actually progress anything because how do you beat a god? And even if they find a solution, the more that it’s telegraphed that the Collector will be redeemed means the less a solution is necessary so it’s just killing time. So all you have left is dealing with Kikimora and Boscha as antagonists, both of whom have been jokes for over a season, WELL over a season for Boscha, by the time any of this would be happening. It’s even unclear as to what else they could be fighting or doing because how much did the Collector actually change things?

This is why I say The Owl House wanted five seasons, not three, and only could have made this worked if guaranteed from go. That’s the only way the writers would have known they had enough time to properly build up elements into the statements they wanted, at least with the skill and lack of focus they have, and been able to make villains that could be stepping stones up to the Collector while making the finale not feel pointless because the ending was made obvious. And even then, that’s putting a LOT of faith into writers who have the attention spans of goldfish sometimes and a show runner who actively undermines her own world building for the sake of whatever idea or subversion or meta text that she wants to make. But, being fair... A full S3 could have at least been fun. At least properly dealt with some of these issues to make it so Luz didn’t claim she was going to break up with Amity through portal closure and never address it. To make it cute, charming, creative... But those aren’t elements that the show has often been celebrated for. It made too many characters plot devices. It made too many of them one note. It made too many into comic relief. It didn’t put enough thought into its magic or worlds. A lot of what it does is cribbing from better fantasy that knew what it was doing. And I think in general, the longer the show has gone on, the worse and worse these fundamental flaws, flaws that damage the long term execution of something far more than the immediate statements it can make, have become obvious. It’s how a fully fledged, independent, amazing character like Amity is reduced almost entirely to just being Luz��s girlfriend even by the end of S2A. So no. I don’t think a full S3 would have suddenly turned the show into the next Avatar or the like where it becomes a cultural touchstone. And no, I don’t touch on changes to s2 because by the end of S2, for ANY of this to even FUNCTION, the Day of Unity still had to happen. So all the flaws of S2B, or damn near all of them, would still exist because Hunter still needs to be 90% done with his arc to be there to go to the human realm. Belos’ rushed and bad backstory still needs to happen in Hollow Mind. S2B still wasted almost two entire episodes for Elsewhere Elsewhen and Them’s the Breaks, Kid, both episodes where only one plot point in the whole damn thing matters and at best is character neutral for all involved, negative in some cases, including Belos. And Elsewhere Elsewhen only has an important plot point if you think Luz’s angst about helping Belos meet the Collector is warranted at all. Which, no, I argue it’s not. It is an inter-tangled mess that never wanted only three seasons and never was willing to change to fit the time it had. And frankly, I don’t blame Disney for shortening it with these facts in mind. For saying it was too expensive to produce, too complicated to air since it’s not random episode friendly and too scatterbrained to be properly serialized and so they wanted this done. They wanted to be done with it. And since a full S3 couldn’t make it better, why not go with specials and save everyone some money and time then? Which is mean but with the product we got and the fact that TOH can only be claimed as somewhat more successful than Amphibia, a much more cohesive, much more television friendly show, why should a business have decided to dedicate more time to The Owl House? It’s realistic and unfortunate and I would love to be kinder. But my mind likes facts too much and the fact is that The Owl House had an amazing start which it simply didn’t have the planning or focus to make into a great series overall. All we could ask for was the ride to be enjoyable and that’s going to be up to you. ======== 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. And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[mywitchcultblr]

OMG I love Yaoshi and the path of abundance too! I suppose I just have a thing for misunderstood healers

Just in case this is not me shitting on people's favorite xianzhou husbando or waifu, go simp as much you want, go pull for their banners, this is not an attack on any xiaznhou blogs here or blah blah, nor am I saying "Ahhhh all the xianzhou are irredeemable evilz" whatever, but merely an analysis and critique of HSR narrative:

I hate how abundance is treated in HSR so far, I know all factions in HSR are grey but feels like the xianzhou doesnt get called out enough like the IPC does despite the atrocities they committed and there are arguments in the story telling "oh but the followers of abundance did this and that and OH Yaoshi blesssing are ruining planets" "followers of abundance are monsters and abomination anyway so who cares"

Sure you can argue that just a part of the grey narrative, but I have a feeling so far those arguments against Yaoshi and their followers are used to make the xianzhou more palatable to sell the banner and because space china cannot looks bad or else hardcore main land fans and the CCP government will be angry.

I know abundance followers are not perfect, there's no factions in HSR who are morally pure, but the narrative so far is so imbalanced to the point people on reddit thought Yaoshi and their followers are nothing but evil troublemakers who must be weeded out (fuck reddit seriously its full of moronic edgelord with the worst takes)

Also FYI just because the xianzhou are not happy after they got immortality, doesnt mean other yaoshi immortals followers are unhappy with their life or their planet suffering. In fact the food and water became ever replenish and I'll do anything to get that blessing

I'm not saying everyone in the xianzhou are evil no, but the narrative is so imbalanced and they dont get called out enough. Dan Shu diary can be missed and she ended up as a cartoonish villain.

And I legit cringed so bad when Loucha is called 'abomination of yaoshi' despite the fact he is sentient

And when there are condemnation of Xianzhou/Lan actions, its all hidden behind text that you might missed easily. So its kinda like brushed them under a rug???

While the IPC atrocities are showed blatantly with Boothill story

Herta log mentioned a peaceful snake people who are blessed by Yaoshi but Lan KILLED ALL OF THEM just because yaoshi blessed them and this fact is not told directly but hidden behind a text.

Hoyo write themselves into a corner with the xianzhou, the basis of their faction story telling is grey to dark but they (so far) cannot portray the xianzhou as villainous or in a more honest way that will make this faction, obviously not honourable or good guys right?

Like this faction is actually more grey more darker but a lot of fans doesnt seems to grasp it? And I have seen some of them acted SHOCKED when I pointed that nah... Xianzhou is not morally good faction. (0 factions in HSR are morally good and pure) Because hoyo fans are notorious for their lack of reading comprehensions and this faction is portrayed as very favourable rn, because like i said china coded country cannot looks bad *rolls eyes*

You can't have your cake and want to eat it too.

Hoyo should have made the Xianzhou a chill, neutral faction like Liyue. I legit quit HSR during boothill banner, after I pulled him and find out another world is yet another xianzhou ship I just... Give up.

Not necessarily because I think everything will be awful or all xianzhou are irredeemable but like... I can't stand the narrative imbalance anymore and as Yaoshi simp I just can't stand it no more.

Maybe I'll return in version 10.0 when we finally see Yaoshi planet but if hoyo still paint Yaoshi and their followers as 'EvIL whO ShoULD be RIghtFULLy EraDICATed" I will fucking boycott Hoyo

I had a philosophical awakening because of yaoshi as well, that led to "yeah i dont think immortality is bad, and if there's a way for me to get it i will take the pill of eternal life" so yeah there's that

[muggle-born-princess]

Hello, genuine question but what about Chloe makes you sympathize with her but not Felix? (I meh about both of them. I was just genuinely curious because when it comes to those 2 people seem to always either love them or hate them)

@moonasthetic basically summed it up when they reblogged my post right here, but I will still give you my thoughts:

The reason why I see Chloe as more sympathetic than Felix is because while yes, both of them went through abuse and trauma that caused them to be the person they are today, I can't and will not sympathize with Felix due to how inconsistence his writing and arc have become. Throughout S4 and S5, we are shown to have Chloe be deemed as this irredeemable, heartless, and evil monster despite earlier seasons claiming that while she was an annoying brat, she was never deemed as a malicious witch as much as Thomas Astruc and the producers/writers want you to think. Bullied, insulted, belittled, and teased people? Yes. Wanting to actually cause them harm to the point where they're legit traumatized by her? No.

Meanwhile, with Felix, while yes they did foreshadow him the reason why he is this way is because he's a sentimonster and he's constantly ashamed of him, they right out make him do these heinous crimes such as stalking and harassing someone [Kagami] all because he feels that they have a "connection" or are "similar in a way," and committing genocide just so all the "little pwecious and misunderstood sentimonsters can live in peace and harmony," or whatever stupid crap they can pull out of their ass. (And yes, I did say this all in a mocking tone on purpose because that's how much I hate how this theory is true.) But does he ever get called out for it? Does he ever get thrown to an abusive person and force to live with them? Does he ever suffer the consequences for his actions? Hell no. They just make him go "Aww, he's a sentimonster that was abused! Let's feel bad for him!"

And yeah, I know what you're thinking:

"CHLOE NEVER SUFFERED THE ACTIONS OF HER CONSEQUENCES!"

Oh really? Let's go back and see some of the karma she did receive; whether they be too little or too big.

-In "Pixelator," she's denied a ticket to go to a Jagged Stone concert. Why? It's possible maybe she was seen as annoying to Jagged or maybe it was her punishment to treating Alya and Marinette poorly in this episode.

-In "Kung Food," Her father kicks her off the Judging Table after founding out that she was the one who intentionally sabotaged Wang Fu's soup. (And wow, I just realized that was one of the rare times Andre was an actual father.)

-In "Dark Cupid," she gets her looks ruined by Kim after humiliating him and then Sabrina sabotages her poster of Adrien when under Dark Cupid's spell.

-In "Despair Bear," she gets flour spilled on her after being rude to Mylene.

-In "Queen Banana," she gets indirectly kicked off of the movie group because she kept changing and bossing everyone around.

Oh, and in "Miracle Queen." she's kicked off the team for good for betraying Ladybug. Isn't that one already enough to say that she got karma for her awful behavior?

There's probably a few more that I'm missing, but these are the ones I can think of ATM.

To put it an end to this all, I can't see Felix as sympathetic due to how they decided to pull the sentimonster theory on us to make us sympathize with him, and to me, it basically says "Hey, as long as you're a sentimonster, you're automatically forgivable and a redeemable person!"

That's all I have to say.

[rom-e-o]

NSFW for crude, demeaning language and mentions of grape

Abigail definitely keeps blackmail backed up somewhere, for Bess in particular. So, when something is going right in Bess' life and Abigail finds out, or if she's just having a bad day, she picks out some dirty laundry and airs it.

So imagine Connie coming home to a completely catatonic Bess just staring unseeing at her phone with a video of Oliver, Abigail, and some of their gross friends laughing about his and Bess' first time playing over and over. Yes, Abigail kept this vile footage on her phone for years just waiting for whatever whim to flit by and strike her into sharing it, and when she does, she doesn't just send it to Bess like she usually does, she posts it everywhere. All of her social media. And there's no question about who or what they're talking about, because they are explicit with names and acts. Bess only finds out because Debbie, who makes it her business to keep an eye on Abigail's shenanigans because she does not trust that bitch but also loves to dive her hands elbow deep into drama and serve justice, gives her a heads up.

As if the one time Bess slept with Oliver wasn't already bad enough, now she knows Oliver talked about it with other people and they all turned it into a joke. They turned her into a joke. And now the entire internet knows. Btw, her socials are also mentioned in the descriptions of all the posts--so there's no way it won't be tied back to her. And we're not even going to mention the comments left on each post, though suffice it to say they're varied and colorful.

And if you're wondering, yes, in the video there are derogatory comments made about Bess' previous assault and the fact she had a baby. ("Well, you know why it took you so long to blow your load? Slut's gotta be all ripped and stretched out after gettin' stuffed with fat old man dick for a year then shittin' out his fatass kid. She ain't tight anymore--that pussy's been run through more times than a traffic tunnel.")

I hate Abigail almost as much as Oliver, and this just ADDS TO IT. They are so, so irredeemably evil for doing shit like that. AND BOLD, not to mention. The harassment charges would be in the millions, ESPECIALLY considering Bess’ connections.

If Connie comes home and finds her like that, on the outside, she’s tender and caring for Bess. On the inside, RAGE LIKE A DEMON SCORNED.

“Bess! What’s wrong? What are you looking….” (Hears the video, AND THE COMMENTS) “…okay. Come here.”

She’d gently take the phone and take her somewhere comfy to sit. No electronics around her. Just their comfy living room, or Bess’ room, or somewhere safe. “Let’s get some food, and some wine.”

If she wants to scream or cry, or just get drunk, she can do whatever she wants. She is more than entitled to that.

Once Bess has company (Debbie, Addie or Gal, likely), Connie would give her very expensive and very talented lawyer (who helped finalize Orin’s divorce) a little phone call.

“Hey, do you do libel and slander cases? …you do? Excellent! I need you to ruin two lives for me. If I send you some basic information, can you send a ‘cease and desist’? … Oh, you are an angel! Thank you.”

Add Wolf hearing about this, and it would be the first time since his redemption that he BURIED PEOPLE IN DEBT.

God, how desperate do Oliver and Abigail have to be to try to ruin Bess’ life at every turn?