#reveiw

[just-jae]

"Apology Tour"

Helluva Boss in respects to the episode "Apology Tour", demonstrates an overt shift in storytelling that not only went far out-of-character, but handled their portrayal of a toxic relationship, ironically in a toxic way.

To start, Im aware that the show has had storytelling flaws, and have since moved on and accepted that it's ultimately unplanned story subject to retconns (Such as with Moxxie, Stella, Octavia and Stolas) as well as just not going in any particular direction sometimes, especially given these are relatively new characters and personalities, and a story started as a small side-project with only one planned season, compared to Hazbin Hotel, who's characters have been in development since Viv was a kid, whom she had a clear and set vision for by the time Hazbin Hotel started production.

That being said, these past few episodes give me an impression that the focus of their story is shifting, due to the lacking cohesion between prior setup and Apology Tour and the one-sidedness in this episode's story, even if we only rely on the show's content for context.

They set up that Blitz is self loathing, having developed a deep-seated self hatred after causing the death and traumatization of people he cared about, internalizing other's opinions, effectively having given up on being the person he wants to be and considering himself a failure in that regard.

But, its not just self loathing, as Apology tour insists so strongly. Its also disillusionment with love. Blitz once knew love in the form of his mother, Fizz his best friend, and (maybe) his sister at least into his pre-teen years. He even attempted to confess feelings for Fizz with a letter on his birthday, and still cares about his sister enough to go look for her when she leaves the insane asylum.

He nearly believes Stolas's texts and his words in Full , because that's who he is at his core, someone who loves and longs to be loved, but convinces himself that Stolas doesn't actually mean what he says, and thus acts accordingly. Somewhere along the line he learned that "It's an act" after being betrayed, abandoned, or otherwise hurt by people he trusted with his heart. People like his father, Fizz, exes, or even people he set up performance act for, whom ultimately rejected him-- hence why he gave up.

"You tried a solo act, it didn't work out so well."

Unlike Stolas, who, since birth has been raised by emotionally distant, fake people who pretty themselves up despite being rotten and who "pretend to want to fuck his scrawny twig-ass" (his wife btw) because they have to. Honestly, I don't know why he'd consider his relationship with Blitz to be any better than his wife's.

Because they were drunk the first time i guess >=>… Seriously was that episode even canon--

Blitz went into the room already certain that Stolas was getting bored and about to cut him off, making efforts to appeal to Stolas-- a guy whom he considers an unpleasant chore to be around, insisting "I can do better". He even begs, that he'll do anything with DESPAIR -- as if expecting to be even more uncomfortable just to maintain their arrangement. And this moment shows clearly that Blitz never wanted to do any of the stuff their "relationship" is built on. He's there because those are the terms Stolas set for being allowed to use his book.

"Once a month, you return the book to me, followed by a night of passionate fornication!" Stolas, as usual conveniently ignores that this is the situation Blitz has been in since they met and proceeds to act like Blitz is the jackass for hating him AFTER ADMITTING THAT THEIR RELATIONSHIP was "NOT RIGHT". Blitz doesn't even initially steal from Stolas (when they're children) because he wants to, but because his dad is making him do it.

In Full Moon, Blitz snaps and goes on a rant about "Everything you've put me through" and how people like Stolas have tended to treat people like Blitz, because just as Stolas feels hurt, Blitz has also been hurt, as much as he tries not to be, such as the sentiment he expressed in "Ozzy's" (Which, btw was their last serious on-screen conversation), that Stolas has made him feel used more than anything. Even if Blitz initiated their arrangement, Stolas trying to make it an emotional relationship feels like a lure to be hurt, and having to reject that offer, especially after seeing a genuinely loving relationship, also forces Blitz to verbalize WHY he rejects the offer, being that at no point has Stolas done anything but sexualize Blitz and disregard his own disinterest and discomfort, which has been apparent throughout the serise.

Blitz has, up until this point, made it blatantly clear that he hates having sex with Stolas, and avoids doing so unless he needs to maintain access to the Memoir.

Blitz has been completely transparent about how he feels about their relationship from the get-go.

ALL that being said, it's becoming apparent that "Apology Tour" marks a noticeable shift in the storytelling style, where the writers are starting to portray specific unrelated life experiences through these characters, even if it doesn't line up with the situation set up by previous episodes.

In apology tour, Blitz not only doesn't take Stolas' breakoff seriously, but doesn't even believe that Stolas genuinely doesn't want to fuck anymore (despite having started the episide thinking he was getting bored, and having a history of breakups). And even exhibits behaviors of being possessive of Stolas, going over to his house to insist on nothing being different, getting angry when Stolas kisses another guy, even claiming that he "Stole" his bird.

In apology tour he's angry at Stolas, not for putting him in an emotionally vulnerable position, but for being emotionally vulnerable and rejecting his sexual advances, which felt not-only OOC as fuck for Blitz but resembled traits of a narcissist more than someone who was self loathing or emotionally insecure. He even says shit like "Stolas always wants to talk to me" as if suddenly he can't fathom that someone doesn't like him or doesn't want to be with him rather than the opposite mindset that's been set up throughout the series.

Apology Tour wants to tell a story of projected self loathing, but uses experiences with narcissistic tendencies to do so, through a character that, prior to this specific episode was anything BUT, and whom specifically had a history of initiating breakups SPECIFICALLY because he didn't think people actually loved him and were just luring him in to be hurt (or because he was predicting things were starting to go downhill and just decided to be to first to jump ship).

I can tell this episode is a depiction of personal experiances with breakups from certain kinds of toxic relationships, but the entire time these characters didn't feel like themselves but other people in their skins.

What bothers me, specifically, is that in sympathizing so one-sidedly with Stolas, Apology tour villainizes Blitz, and disregards the mistreatment HE'S endured from Stolas, suddenly blaming him for Stolas's insecurities and heartbreak when AT NO POINT did Blitz ever pretend to like their arrangement or be interested in Stolas. AT NO POINT were they ever even in a relationship. It was a transactional fucking that STOLAS required for Blitz to use the book. Stolas catching feelings doesn't obligate Blitz to suddenly put his own heart on the line, especially when he's already vulnerable in that he relies on Stolas for his business to operate.

STOLAS HIMSELF admits that their relationship was transactional in FULL MOON. AGAIN, Stolas was the one who made sex the requirement for getting the book in the first place when he could have just been lending Blitz the book without that.

This whole time STOLAS has been the one controlling the terms by which their relationship is maintained, and never made an effort to pay attention to how Blitz felt about it until Blitz actually told him no, even then he completely disregards the obvious vulnerability and fear of being hurt to focus instead on Blitz's self loathing.

"Why cant you just open up to me--someone who's talked down to you multiple times, litterally called you a plaything, needlessly disregarded your boundaries and discomfort, and who exploits your need of me for sex-- and just admit that you hate yourself?? I've tried so hard to be nice to you since the first time you refused to do what I want! Why aren't you giving me what I want?"

Like. TF? How is Blitz the bad guy here?

This could have been remedied just by swapping the character's roles.

Stolas should have been the one portrayed as a clingy, emotionally deaf asshole, (That he's been since his first appearance), who struggles to comprehend genuine love and actually being loved-- as opposed to Blitz who's just afraid of loving and self-punishing.

Blitz should be the one who's catching a break here.

An alternative approach to this story: Blitz realizes there's another way to get to the living world, and warily asks Stolas to help him get it, even offering to keep banging afterward as thanks, or, taking a risk that maybe Stolas genuinely cares about him. Stolas is too insecure to actually choose to give Blitz that freedom and potentially never see him again, and/or take him seriously at first because he's so sure everyone's happy with the current arrangement-- an arrangement that, frankly he's familiar with after living with his wife for years.

Maybe this could reveal that Stolas just felt that, being used/needed (for the memoir) was the only way he was even going to get close to something resembling a relationship and just hesitated a bit too long, causing Blitz to quickly back out and go for the crystal himself. Then maybe Stolas shows up to help anyway and they have a similar conversation as in Apology tour, without the made-up "we all hate this guy, its all your fault, you're the shitty one" party that, if anything just reinforced Blitz's self loathing.

Seriously. The dude's even a better dad than Stolas is-- he actually pays attention to Loona, and is capable of loving her and interacting with her even when she's a dick bc he's used to people being dicks and not kissing his ass when they're not drunk-- unlike Stolas.

So why does Apology tour make the entire situation Blitz's fault and make him soley responsible for their and EVERY "relationship's" failure? Why isn't Stolas made to confront or even acknowledge the way he's treated Blitz up until Ozzy's? (except for some flirting in a filler episode and some texts on a phone)

Why does the show make it BLITZ's obligation and responsibility to be sensitive to Stolas's feelings and vulnerabilities and to be vulnerable to Stolas after a majority of their relationship BY STOLA'S OWN ADMISSION has been transactional with Blitz being the one reliant on Stolas and therefore having an unfair power dynamic?

Because its not their story, they're being used to tell someone else's story.

Stolas sure does prop himself up as making efforts to be kind and loving pretty often. I guess that's why his daughter hates him so much and feels unloved and abandoned, why Blitz never felt loved by him, and why we literally see Stolas abusing and bossing around imps that work for him, if not talking down to them like he does to Moxxie and Millie.

I can accept that the show is veering more toward using the characters to tell personal stories, and that the change is probably going to cause a loss of serial cohesion, but this was such poor way to handle the relationship and dynamic between these two characters and is infantilizing and glorifying Stolas as a pure -of-heart sweetie way too much.

Because we even saw before, that when when they're just cuddling, Blitz adores it. He likes the idea of a relationship, and having someone to hold, in a non-sexual way but can't let himself actually be vulnerable, especially not with people like Stolas who talk down to and take advantage of his reliance in order to maintain access to an asset they need to run their business.

This was careless. It's like watching a truck full of baggage veer across several lanes to make a last-minute exit onto a different highway and spill half of its bags all over the road in the process.

I had a problem before when they tried to portray Stolas as a kind and caring father who's done nothing to earn his daughter or spouse's spite. And I have a problem now when they try to blame and villainize the person who had less power in a relationship and has been shown not only being mistreated and used but capable of loving and respecting others, as shown with his relationships with Loona and Moxxie, and emotional vulnerability even when they don't want to be.

I do appreciate that they're putting in effort to portray painful personal experiences, but for fuck's sake at least review the history of the characters you use to tell the story before you go and blame someone in the LOWEST CLASS OF SOCIETY who RELIES on the other MUCH MORE POWERFUL person for FINANCIAL STABILITY and whom ALREADY PANDERS to SEXUAL DEMANDS AGAINST THEIR OWN PREFERENCE for the failure of a NON EXISTANT RELATIONSHIP and FOR NOT LETTING THEMSELVES BE VULNERABLE WITH SOMEONE THEY ULTIMATELY DONT TRUST.

I was actually rooting for them to finally break tf up because it's toxic af, and they somehow managed to make me hate it.

Literally they could have just swapped their roles and made the story make a lot more sense based on the setup, but No, Stolas is the sweet and innocent romantic one that needs saving and Blitz is the tough, cold hearted, reads hand, clingy jealous ex with narcissistic tendencies… for this one episode…

-----

Okay upon looking into it further it looks like a lot of the mismatch between what Stolas says and what Stolas does is intentionally him being in his own head. I really wish they would make that clear instead of Blitz being portrayed as such an ass-- like more assholish than usual, having an entire party of people who hate his guts in particular as if he's somehow worse than the average hellspawn, and having Blitz not refute most of the criticisms Stolas throws at him.

Like, the most Blitz has to apologize for is blowing up at Stolas for trying to help him, but. That's all he did, yelled. He even waited for Stolas to reply and even tried to apologize. So. Idk, if they're really gonna chalk all this up to "It's Stolas being in his own head" they-- I want them to come down so hard on his ass after this.

[brokerplushsg]

Movie :D

Also uh dw for the 2nd pic it's an ad in the bg before the movie, btw we just watched Wild Robot and omg its as good as the reviews said it was, I especially love the ending line for some reason too shshdvdhhd

Although idk if its because I am used to watching longer paced shows but some scenes of the movie felt a litrlw rushed, overall still a great movie with a pretty artstyle and surprisingly beautiful scenes at times

[blood-drawn-by-love]

Imma need procreate dreams to lock in zawgoleenie

It has SO much potential but I nearly ripped my hair out making this few second storyboard. The fact it’s been over a year since its release (at full price mind you) and they still have no copy paste, merge tracks, or lasso tool. Like hello!!

TLDR I probably won’t be finishing this unless I come back to it after it gets lasso tool feature at least bc it is on their roadmap

character: Helel(pre-fall Lucifer)

[northernkingoffrogs]

I got an amazing comment on my fanfic on AO3, and I will now be fueled for years

[pocgamer]

Mythic Pathfinder: A Double Review!

I don’t think I’ve ever done a review where I had to use two books at once, but here we are. Paizo has been hard at work with the remaster of Pathfinder Second Edition, and the latest two books can be taken separately, but are best looked at together. So let’s dive into Lost Omens : Divine Mysteries and War of the Immortals! DISCLAIMER: I was provided with electronic copies of these books by…

[dailydoseofrant]

Kingdom Of The Wicked Reveiw

"In the end, the monster we feared didn’t come from Hell. He came from privilege."

Oh, this review is going to be a wild ride. The range of things I feel for this book is very unreal. Listen, the atmosphere of this? The settings? The premise? I couldn’t get enough. Dare I even say close to perfect? And the plot had me so very invested in every single way. But this actual story and the plot conveniences, the characters and their lack of critical thinking, the obvious plot twists? The Lord might be testing me. The whiplash I felt while reading this was a full experience and deserves a star rating of its own, truly.

When you open this book for the first time, the prologue will transport you to a stormy night in 19th century Italy, where two little twin girls are being gifted very special necklaces while slowly learning their witch powers and history from their grandmother. There are seven demon princes but only 4 the witches should fear, but somehow their necklaces will keep them safe, even though they are instructed to never place them together.

"One will crave your blood. One will capture your heart. One will steal your soul. And one will take your life."

Then the story actually takes place ten years in the future, where Emilia and Vittoria are now eighteen-years-old, but we see how that night has shaped their lives for the last decade in so many different ways, but for sure centering on those necklaces that were entrusted to them. Both girls are trying to help their family with their restaurant, find and follow their dreams, and lead normal lives, but they soon find out that normal and safe and happy was never in the cards for them.

Again, I do not want to give much away, because I think I very much benefited from not reading the synopsis of this story. But the gates of hell are weakening, and their city and family are no longer safe. Not only do they have to worry about hiding the fact that they are witches, but now they have to worry about demon princes, witch hunters, and other creatures that go bump in the night! But Emilia is thrust in the heart of it all, with her witchcraft on full display, when she makes a deal with a demon when she is most desperate.

Together, Emilia and Wrath (be still, my BDB heart) are forced to work together to investigate brutal and mysterious murders that are happening, but they are both looking for clues for very different reasons. My favorite part of this book was truly going alongside Emilia and seeing all these different settings. From secret casinos, to her family’s kitchen, surprise palaces, spooky beaches, to the scary and dark corridors within the church, I couldn’t get enough of all the different adventures in all the different places.

"Grief carved me in half. And fury honed the pieces into a weapon."

I really loved the depiction of grief and depression in this book, too. How the weight of sadness can be unbearable, especially alone, when your world and future are taken from you right before your eyes. I also think Kerri Maniscalco did a really good job portraying not only the different stages that can be held within grief, but to also tell the reader that there is truly no wrong way to grieve. Heartbreak can be sadness and pain, but it can also be anger and revenge.

I also did really enjoy the romance and I think if you are looking to indulge in a new OTP that will remind you of 2015 then you are in luck with this one! I did enjoy Wrath a lot more than Emilia for the most part, but I feel like the plot convenience (and Emilia acting stupid) was the downfall of this book. I am not good at unraveling mysteries, but I truly unraveled this one instantly, I only wish Emilia could have a little sooner and it made the reading experience a bit annoying. Also, she gets upset at the strangest things, and wholeheartedly accepts the wildest things for no reason. I truly feel like her character was mostly used to move the book along conveniently instead of actually making her feel like a main character with depth and identity.

Also, I’m just going to say it, the grandmother in this book is one of the most infuriating characters I’ve read about all 2024. Like, regardless of prophecies, how are you going to be this mysterious with eight-year-old little girls and then really not fill them in on any blanks for the next ten years of their lives too? The grandma is really written to look like this cool and wise character who helps save the day, but I truly could not stand her or her shocked reaction when things would fall apart around her.

On top of the mysteries in this book being a bit of a letdown, I will also say that I felt like so many big events in this book kind of happened just for (hopefully) set ups for the next installment. I’m all for setting up things in early books, but it just kind of feels bad when absolutely nothing happens regarding these big chapters after the scene has ended. I feel like if this book felt more cohesive throughout, instead of just setting up for what is to come, I would have gotten so much of a higher rating from me, but I have to rate and review off the material that is given to me and it made for a bit of an infuriating reading experience.

"Man had a funny way of blaming the devil for things he didn’t like."

Overall, I couldn’t put this book down. Truly. And I would bet you a great sum of money that I will also pick up the next one, because this book ended on a very perfect cliffhanger set up that I greedily want to know everything about. This book really did give me nostalgic feels for some reason, it made me very hungry most of the time, and it made me truly never want to put it down. The writing is so easily consumable, and I really did fall in love with the setting and plot set up. I only wish it felt a little bit more like a full story and not just a set up book. I still predict that this book will do really well, and I think most people will have a very good reading experience with this with.

Rating:

3.5/5 - 4/5

[torbli]

MUSIC SHIT <333

i don't think AJJ understands my experiences being queer or disabled or even trans but their band is a rare case where it doesn't seem to matter to me

I think that the band is believably open to learning and if i sat the leads down and explained my perspective and experiences they would listen.

I wrote this cause I was thinking about why i loved their music so fucking much even though its not technically impressive,

I think its cause despite the earlier stuff purposely being edgy i perceive an honesty to it.

[jasprboi]

HOLLY SHIT RIDE THE CYCLONE IS THE BEST MUSICAL OMGGG THE DEATH AND SHIT CRAZZYY NOEL BRO????

[menergyreveiws]

THE ORIGINAL

Perhaps the most basic of the drinks. It has a grape flavor and is very smooth. Unfortunately, grape flavored drinks are almost universally bad, as it can come out feeling like the skin of the grape instead of the flesh, but the Classic does it relatively well. Overall, despite its flaws, it's a good drink, just not my first choice. Solid B

(post by: Clive)

[penreadstrash]

Cassmire: The Loyal Sword

Currently on chapter 67.

Overall Rank: 9/10

This Manhwa is one of my personal favorites, with a story about Cassmire, the lead, risking her life becoming a mercenary to get the medicine her younger sister, Aria, needs to live. Through an accident where she hit her head Cassmire she regains memories of her past life and a story where her sister is the lead character. Though she used to be the villainess in the og story she sticks with her sister and will do anything to help her. Past this point I will be talking about spoilers and specifics of the story so you are warned.

From here I will be breaking down the story in 3 main categorizes and just talking about things I really want to touch on overall.

Firstly the art: 10/10: I dont care that some of the costume choices are interesting, I've heard a lot of people complain about BDSM wear but it honestly isnt that bad. No, the reason this gets a 10/10 is Cassmires design, like she has muscles are scars and looks hot as fuck like look at her.

I am gay and love muscle women and it is very lacking in this genre so it is really good to see. And she is also very cute on top of it. But overall the art is good to look at and has amazing character design for all of the cast as well.

Story 8/10: This one is hard to quantify as we still haven't really gotten into the meat of the story. There some talk about things that happen later in the story like how in the og story Aria saves the world we haven't gotten into anything that bad yet. Though that might make it seem slow it really isn't, the story has more been focused on character moments and while things go off the rails it doesn't seem to be world ending yet. I have quite enjoyed the most recent aspects of the story, it is good to see both the main characters flaws and her strength all in the couple chapters.

Characters 8/10: This was the hardest one for me to choose a rating for as I love Cassmire she is one of my favorite protags, she has so many good moments and has and sticks to her morals to help people. My only issue is how they weaken her by making her overly reliant on her aura but even that makes sense. And her relationship with her family is just so good to see. I love how ruthless her sister is in defending her and how her brother cares about her and how they fight like real siblings. And how her dad cares about all his kids in his own way and just wants to support and help her and it just so sweet and they all care about each other so much and that's the shit I love to see I love a good family dynamic. The reason this is an 8/10 and not a 10/10 is because of all the ml's. They are all kinda mid it is just the same troupe over and over again and I get it shes kind she saves people but 4 dudes and they are all the ml's from the og story. And I dislike all the hair color changes it doesn't make sense also they are boring. Also none of the leads have good chemistry with Cassmire, they are all cowards who won't talk to her about what they are feeling. I hate them all have open secrets and not talk with each other, but this is a me thing I know I have seen people like these ml she doesn't really seem to have chemistry with any of them. This story would get a 10/10 if she ends up with no one and just lives happily with her family but it probably just me who thanks this.

With all these combined this overall story is a 9/10, a beautiful story with an amazing main character and her family but the weak ml's stop this story from being a true 10/10. Thank you for reading my unedited review have a great day.

[niblets-criblet]

I got my scout plushie in today and I LOVE HIM!!!! I’m going to take cosplay pictures with him in the near future but I just had to tel you how much I adore him right now!

I'm so happy you like him and I'm super excited to see pictures! Please show me when you do! 😍💕

[partyecuador]

Saying Good bye to a satisfied customer the legendary Gringo Loco

This is kind of like a review we were doing the line to get on Spirit but my friend has global entry and the airport of Guayaquil has the automatic check-in which we did we just got in and he is now safely back in his home state of NJ the man of the hour Gringo loco the terror of all women that need loving for a fair exchange of course.

[sillymilly]

I just got home from watching Elemental and the movie is POWERFUL!! It literally done something to my body that it NEVER DONE BEFORE!! My teeth were chattering and I was crunching the box of 🍿and I smiled the BIGGEST smile😁I ever done to a movie!!

Disclaimer; this movie won’t do any harm to your body

[maireveiwsblog]

[Review] - The Symbolism of The Whale (2022).

#NewReview with the critically acclaimed The Whale (2022) and the powerful symbolism within such a moving film. Check it out!

[nordinor]

Movie Review - Gladiator II

In this sequel to Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, we find that Lucilla (Connie Nielson) sent her young son into hiding to keep him safe after her brother was killed in the Coliseum during the events of the first film. Now grown, Lucious (Paul Mescal) is himself thrown into fighting in the Coliseum as he grapples with his past. What this film gets right is the cast. Denzel Washington is at his best and…