#the sense the dead thing was a plot device but yeah!!

[spidey29phangirl]

@ghost-bxrd oh my god yes that is brilliant Tim is a menace when he wants to be and he’s always down to lying to B, so now? when Jay’s asking him not to tell the bats his identity?? Tim is obviously not gonna go snitching, instead he plots how to get Jason to tell his family himself.

Straight up refusing to leave makes for a great start. Annoy Jason back into the family. Jason choosing to deny everything Tim says about his family missing him.

(“he didn’t even come to my funeral,” “Jason, Dick didn’t even know there WAS a funeral to attend to.”)

JAY ACTING THE PART IN THE KIDNAPPING SHTICK 💜 I adore that, i imagine he doesn’t even feel bad about doing it, the bats they 1. allowed tim to be robin (because fine okay maybe Jason wasn’t “replaced” or whatever but he stands by the fact Timmers should’ve never have been in a place he felt Bruce needed an emotional support robin) and 2. fed what to this child?? he’s unhinged, touch starved (and clearly has never had any supervision in his life)

Jason ends up establishing routine to provide a somewhat sense of normalcy and his life seems almost domestic now??what the fuck. our bois can’t even remember the last time they cuddled this much with someone (yes, yes they can (Jay with his dad but he refuses to remember cause then he’ll think he’ll cry if he does. The longing and the sorrow he’d pushed down too much to even think of acknowledging it.) (He had ignored it the first time Talia told him Bruce had replaced him. He shoved it every time he threw himself at the worst Gotham had to offer and came back to a place where there was no one waiting for him. He barely contained it when he he’d realized he’d been consumed by rage every second during the best part of three years over people who didn’t even know he was alive—who had let his murderer live when he hadn’t—who hadn’t even noticed his desecrated grave—)

(and Tim with his other older brother Dick, who probably just saw in him the brother he lost. It was what Tim always told himself as he soaked the piece of affection the older boy gave him. Did Tim chastise himself for basking in it? yes, maybe, but Tim hoped he was at least helping Dick cope. He kept reminding himself that he wasn’t really who Dick really wanted—because that was the thing. Tim never seemed to be who anyone wanted him to be. It was his parents when they left him because he wasn’t enough to get them to stay, it was Bruce when he started to say another name only to cut off with a pang of hurt and disappointment in his voice, it was Alfred who looked out in grief and hazy distance when Tim arrived injured from a rough patrol in the same colors his grandson had died on—)

WOW, angst train. I didn’t want that but it sets the mood. ANYWAY, because we need some fluff and also because both are vigilantes and nightmares are part of the package deal, when they do cuddle (and it’s unspoken) is when one puts their comfort movie or tv show in the TV, wrapped in a blanket in the couch and waiting for both exhaustion to take its toll and for the other to see the signs and join them. When Jason is the first one to falls asleep he often finds himself taking the better part of the couch, when it’s Tim, he always falls asleep on Jason, be it head to the shoulder, feet on legs, or head on lap.

Their little routine is actually improving their mental health (a little, give them that, i know they both have sooo much issues) Jason is the first who takes initiative when the baby bird won’t leave (after all someone HAD to put the example of self care habits and we all know that wasn’t going to be Tim) (JSJHK Tim actually doesn’t mind doing them, but he doesn’t if Jason doesn’t. Its idiotic, like they’re both tricking each other into taking care of themselves. It’s adorable)

Tim!! patrolling with Jason!! That’s lowkey awesome, let me tell you. Tim’s over the moon I can imagine and Jason’s just shaking his head not even trying to stop him. Baby birds get relentless too, and playing the part in his own kidnapping never meant Tim would actually commit to the house arrest bit—besides Tim told Jason himself how he became Robin. It’s parallels. Even though don’t get him wrong Jay still very much disapproves there’s still a Robin, especially one with the self preservation instincts of a wet paper bag (at least he’s where Jason can see him and keep alive)

I’m just imagining all of Gotham trying to figure out what’s happening because that’s Robin? With the guy who put heads in a duffel bag?? What is he doing here? That’s the third time this week,, and oh shit Red Hood’s super protective of him? Didn’t He hate the Bats?? Oh wait there they are and oh shit oh shit backtrack He still does. Just imagine the fight?? In one side you got the original duo, Batman and Nightwing, who are the ones with most experience but who think their Robin is compromised and also don’t know the Red Hood is more than just a highly trained assassin (they recognize league training but let’s say they don’t recognize the distinctive bat one or maybe they do and that throws them off so badly) and on the other, you got the younger side of the family that actually knows what’s happening behind the scenes, and who can concentrate better because of it (Jason knows they’re holding back against their little bird and that he is the primary target) (and Tim because he knows he’s there to keep the idiot that keeps goading to their family that Robin switched sides and B and Dick from seriously beating the hell out of each other.) (Putting himself between them works like a charm) and besides he’s literally having the time of his life being in the other side of a fight with B and N, I mean at first he’s indignant they’re holding back, but Tim’s like super quick to use the fact that they think he’s “brainwashed” to force them into giving him a real challenge and also, also he’s fighting alongside his childhood Robin.

Tim is literally bursting with energy, you better believe he’s putting it all in this fight. I mean like yes his plan was to make the bats worry to keep Jason on his toes and force a confrontation and have Tim maybe purposely taking a hit and fake falling to activate all mother hen instincts or smth but, but he’s having fun.

(can you even blame him?)

I’m just picturing the very next day this idiots talk about having another hostage photo shoot:

(“but why do I have to?” “timbit I made my hate for them more than clear and i ended that fight more than mad—it’s safe to assume they think I killed you when we left,”

“oh please you wouldn’t even leave me take the fight to another rooftop because you were worried they would suddenly have no restrain and break my ribs or smth Jason, you think they didn’t notice your hovering?“

“fine. still we gotta update them that you’re fine and not dead robin number two.” )

Tim, who knows this is his brother’s chaotic way of keeping the rest of the bats from worrying too much because he cares:

progress ✨

ok you said go wild and i will fully embrace that. i wanted to brainstorm about this idea I had and had also posted but like in a sentence, when it’s more of an outline. it’s of a robin!tim that can sense dead people so when the red hood makes his debut he’s naturally curious and tim follows him around and jason obviously realizes, holds up a knife to his throat and startles when tim asks “how are you here” with just no regards for his own safety and genuine curiosity?? literally not knowing he’s jason but jason stops and goes “you know who I am?” and tim whispers “I know you died” and jason coils back because that is as much confirmation as he needs cue panic because the kid knows surely then the bat knows too and that just won’t do, so in his panic he ends up kidnapping the kid and taking him to his safehouse where he keeps pacing because jason needs answers and he refuses to get them torturing the kid (because fucking kid had gone out looking for him despite knowing the red hood had it out of his head, did this kid even have any self preservation skills? he didn’t even seemed fazed jason’s back??which wow, hurt not gonna lie) then when tim wakes up because jason knocked him unconscious the reveal happens and Tim is so shocked that Jason is shocked because bitch I thought you knew!!! what how the fuck would I know!! chaos ensues but then jason abruptly realizes this is great! his plans did not derail *looks at timbo munching his food and watching indiana jones* his plan with the bat he means

Jason, sitting in a room with all his plans on fire: This is fine :’D

No but seriously, I LOVE a Tim with the self preservation instinct of a wet paper towel. He’s a competent teen vigilante, but where it concerns the Bats (and especially his hero, Jason) he’s an absolute human disaster.

Ok but first of all we need to talk a bit more thoroughly about “sensing the dead” thing. Dead as in ghosts? Or dead as in— murder victims and such. Either would apply to Jason if we go with a “Death clings to people who’ve seen beyond the veil” scenario, but Tim’s thoughts would differ vastly upon first meeting the Red Hood.

And Jason, poor Jason, the Pit Madness didn’t stand a chance faced with what is essentially a toddler looking at him with wide and curious eyes, so damn trusting despite that knife to his throat, and he’s just losing his mind because he could have slit Tim’s throat and nobody would have found out until it was too late. What if Jason had been literally anybody else? The kid would have died.

Obviously this Robin can’t be trusted to keep himself safe/alive, that means Jason has to do it for him. Easy. He can do this. It’s cool. Jason is freaking the fuck out.

Tim, upon realizing that the Red Hood is Jason, promptly goes from mildly alarmed over his kidnapping to ✨starstruck✨ and steadfastly refuses to leave Jason’s safehouse unless Jason agrees to come back to the manor. No, he doesn’t care about the multitude of death threats (he totally calls the bluff from the get go).

Jason promptly decides to make the best out of a shitty situation and pretends to be an evil kidnapper and just— keeps dangling the baby bird over Bruce and Dick’s head, slipping them concerning photos (Tim wasn’t exactly happy about the “hostage photo shooting session” but he agreed after Jason promised to make him his special coffee flavored cake) and telling them he’s torturing their Robin with a crowbar (because Jason is a drama queen).

And you know what else would be funny? If, after a few days, Tim slips out to go on patrol with Jason. He completely ignores Bruce and/or Dick when the call out to him and actively helps Hood with his crime stuff (while also sneakily forcing Hood to cut down on the killing by about— 80-90%).

Bruce and Dick are fairly convinced they’re looking at a brainwashing situation.

[thefanciestborrower]

Who of your OCs is mostly/only do fatal digestion vore, not bothering about if his meal willing or unwilling to became just fat?

Mm that’s kind of a hard question to answer since I don’t really have strict ‘vore’ OCs that I can separate out into like, safe and fatal and everything. They’re kinda just people, and the fact that most of them live in societies that are integrated predator and prey species means there’s less genuine predation among the sentient species. I used to have an old naga character named Vince who I suppose would fit into the category you described but I don’t really use him at all anymore. I’d probably say a few of my dragons would eat people for food since they’re, you know, dragons, but most of my characters aren’t very murderous and my villains aren’t terribly vorish so sorry about that

oh wait I’m stupid my monster boy Thidral definitely counts as a fatal pred. He’s just a weird giant slug spider thing who eats people cause he can lmao

[rius-cave]

awww man :(

I was watching a Q n A with Vivzie and she kinda confirmed Adam won’t be coming back - she didn’t say it *exactly* but she kinda implied it

maybe she’s just trying not to spoil it or smth or am I just being desperate idk…

Literally tweeted about this 2 days ago sdkfjsdk

I've been saying this to people but I think it's worth giving my opinion on it.

Some people think she's lying, and I don't blame them, but the way the interview was held and the way she was answering don't make sense to say that she's lying. The question wasn't even about Adam, or about characters that are dead for real, it's like it was just a tangent thought that she was reminded of when she thought of dead characters. If she was trying to hide that Adam is coming back, she just wouldn't mention him to begin with unless the interviewer asked her directly, otherwise why even mention it at all if you want to keep it a secret? Also, to my knowledge, Vivzie isn't one to just outright lie about plot details, unless I'm really missing something. What I've seen is that she just says "I can't answer that" or "I guess you'll have to wait and see!" and the like.

I was pretty skeptical of his return to begin with, so while I am disappointed, I always knew Adam was much more of a plot device for Vivzie than an actual character to be explored and dissected. Which is fine, characters serve different purposes, not every character can have a 3 season arc. I know it's frustrating to us because we fell in love with him, but I also would like to remind people of something.

Adam is just a fictional character. Yes, it's disappointing, yes you can be mad, but at the end of the day Hazbin is just a show and Adam is just a bunch of pixels. So what if he's dead frfr in canon?? If you find joy in his character, you can keep doing so! Since when do we let canon stop us from enjoying things?? He got like a whopping 15 minutes of screen time and him not coming back is what blows it for you?? He is literally not real, he can keep living in our imagination, in our art and our fics, and he can keep having whatever value you want to give him because, again, he's not real.

I, PERSONALLY, was bummed for a bit, and then decided that it doesn't change much for me. I will still keep watching Hazbin cause well, there are other things I enjoy about the show besides Adam, and most of what I enjoy about his character isn't even canon anyway lol

So yeah, if Vivzie is killing him off for real, I'm gonna take full custody of him. Sorry Viv, he's my character now, bye.

[wishful-thinking64]

One Hell of an Unpopular Opinion #08

Two out of the three Hispanic characters in Hazbin Hotel are deeply rooted damaging stereotypes within Spanish & Latin American cultures and the one that isn't a blatant stereotype is misused. ___________

With Spanish Heritage Month right around the corner and being a Latina myself, I think it's more than fair for me to give my thoughts on the Latinos (in Spanish, it doesn't matter if there's only one guy in a primarily female group, you have to put Latinos) in HH. Let's start off with the least offensive out of the group, Carmilla Carmine.

We're introduced to her in Scrambled Eggs which is Episode #03 of HH. She invited each of the Overlords to a meeting to speak about how brutal this year's Extermination was and what they could do going forward. During said meeting, Velvette throws the head of a decapitated Exorcist on the table for her to try and take control of the conversation. Things before and during the song Respectless (why this song wasn't called Disrespect or Diss-respect is something I'll never understand) escalate as Velvette figures out that Carmilla is the one behind the dead Exorcist based on her body language and when she asks, "You know why this angel's headless? Do you have a disclosure?" Carmilla immediately ends the meeting thereafter, confirming her suspicions were correct. People have already criticized the mystery of the dead Exorcist being solved way too soon, though I haven't seen as many people criticize why the other Overlords didn't look or immediately question Carmilla the SECOND that Exorcist's head rolled on the table? Like, you guys know that she's Hell's top ANGELIC arms dealer, why wouldn't any of you suspect her from the start? Even if she had ended up being a red herring, I would've seen it as the Overlords using the process of elimination and common sense cause why wouldn't the ANGELIC arms dealer kill an Exorcist??? In any case, the reason behind Carmilla killing the Exorcist was to protect her daughters and thus someone we should sympathize with. Except that, we don't know anything about her daughters and we still don't know her. So why should I care? I have no attachment and therefore no proper reason to care for a character I JUST met. And don't get me started on her daughters as they're nothing more than minor plot devices who could've been replaced by Vaggie. Speaking of which...

Vaggie is based on two harmful Latina tropes and one harmful LGBTQ+ trope with these being the "Feisty" Latina, the Crazed Latina, and the Man Hating Lesbian. Whenever the "feisty" Latina is done in media, she's almost never actually feisty but rather plain bitchy. The word feisty is used because the show runners tend to want the audience to like this character as, to them, she's (somehow), "a woman who knows what she wants and how to take charge." We see this several times when Vaggie isn't interacting with Charlie though I would say the times that this backfired the most was in Episode #01 and Episode #04. Back in Episode #01 when Vaggie was working on the hotel's commercial she wants Alastor to help out with it. Mind you, she previously slandered the advertisement he had originally made for the hotel so I don't know why she wants his help with making a new one in the first place but nonetheless Alastor basically says, "Yeah. No. I'm not gonna help you cause you already know I hate modern media and you clearly didn't like what I had planned so figure it out." Now, instead of ending the conversation and leaving the man who wants no part in this alone, she holds up the camera that she has in her hands and not only films him but actively mocks him too. This isn't a "bold move" like I've seen people claim it to be, it was simply moronic since she already knew he was an Overlord that's killed and fought people over MINOR INCONVENIENCES. After this the two strike a deal which is another plain stupid move on Vaggie's part as that's only going to come back and bite her in the ass later on in the series. Meanwhile, in Episode #04, she told Husk to go after Angel Dust even though... A.) Going after the residents isn't in his job description. B.) If ANYONE is going after the residents it should probably be THE MANAGER since it's their job to make sure that everything between the staff AND customers is good. C.) She KNOWS that Husk has been sexually and physically harassed by Angel in the past as not only has she SEEN it but she's TOLD Angel to stop harassing the staff. I guess the safety of your co-workers doesn't matter though if Charlie's sad. D.) Lastly, I swear that there was a rule that was established early on about NOT FORCING RESIDENTS TO STAY AT THE HOTEL. Like, am I tripping or did the series retcon that super fast??? Anyway, the point is that the series has Vaggie acting like a snide bitch when she's interacting with anyone other than Charlie. This "feisty" Latina stereotype goes hand in hand with the crazed Latina. The crazed Latina trope is when a Latina will throw hands for the dumbest of reasons or for little to no reason at all. It makes it seem that Latina's are overly aggressive which is how the series portrays Vaggie. She's always seen wielding an angelic spear 24/7 knowing that she can kill any resident or staff member who steps out of line with her, constantly seen threatening to hurt others with it. Out of the two racial stereotypes this one has been called out the most as it's paired with the man hating Lesbian trope because every time Vaggie's threatened to kill someone with said angelic spear, it has ALWAYS been a MALE character. Okay, now it's time to end this off by addressing the elephant in the room that is Valentino.

Oh, God. Where do I start with this failure of a character? I suppose, I'll start with the Casanova aka the Enticing Latin Lover archetype. This involves a strong suave man who's tall, dark (or I guess light purple in Val's case), and handsome (I wouldn't call him that but that's how he's portrayed in the series) as well as being full of ulterior motives! He's the sultry hypersexual Hispanic seducer that everybody can't seem to get enough of. I wouldn't have nearly as much of an issue with this as he's the Overlord of Lust but with how the stans either absolve him of or make LIGHT of his crimes solely because they think how he looks, sounds, and acts is hot (brother eugh), with the show runners encouraging stuff like that on social media (yes, I'm referring to when people were comparing Val's personality to Karen Smith from Mean Girls with Viv agreeing with it cause he's so dumb), his sole purpose is being a plot device for Angel Dust and being fetish fuel. Which really bothers me considering that a good chunk of Hazbin Hotel stans are LITERAL CHILDREN! Continuing on, we have ill tempered and idiotic Machismo/Macho Man. The show can't seem to make up its mind whether or not they want us to take Valentino seriously or not. I get what they're trying to do by making Val intimidating and cunning at one point and a "charming" himbo the next but it's done in such a jarring way that could've been easily fixed had they shown him being more creepy towards lower class demons and Sinners but have him be "charming" towards Overlords and other members of Hell's high society. Like in the show, he's openly verbally violent towards Angel Dust while Charlie is in his presence (I also hate the fact that show Charlie didn't actually do anything when she noticed that Val had hit Angel cause pilot Charlie would've thrown hands regardless of what Angel told her) and doesn't give a flying fuck when she's turning into her demon form RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! Then there's the fact that the Hellaverse doesn't take violence seriously until it HAS to and then these moments can come across as unintentionally comedic. Case and point, when I initially saw Valentino backhand Angel Dust in Episode #04, I AUDIBLY LAUGHED. That shit SHOULD NOT have been nearly as funny as it was! It was meant to be a serious moment where the show segues into how Angel is abused at his job but there I was laughing my ass off in my room for a solid thirty seconds before I was able to regain my composure. Next up is point three about the Cholo or gangster archetype in which a Latino will wear stylish street wear clothes (similar to the outfit Val wears in Episode #04) and commit violent crimes. My previous points indirectly had me go into depth about the violent crimes part so let's move onto point four which is Val being a drug addict and drug maker. Latin characters (specifically men) have been depicted as drug dealers and druggies since AT LEAST the 1970s (it only makes it worse that Valentino supposedly died in this time period.) It's been heavily implied that the smoke from his cigarettes acts as an aphrodisiac which is why he blows it in other peoples faces so much. We see him smoking cigarettes (which contain so much God damn chemicals in them but especially nicotine) throughout the show like its nothing meaning he's gotta have a high nicotine intake (logically, he would've gotten lung cancer by now.) The last racial stereotype that they gave him is the raging alcoholic and I know that anyone can become a raging alcoholic however alcoholism is actually a very common problem among Latinos as more than 33% of them suffer from issues related to an alcohol dependency. It's an ongoing problem that many Hispanics face and seeing how Val is already shown to be a violent individual WITHOUT alcohol in his system, that's only going to make him worse and we saw that in Episode #02 when Val got more irritable and threw his drink in Vox's direction upon knowing Angel Dust was staying at the HH.

___________ People of the jury, I rest my case and I hope you all liked reading my thoughts and I'll see you later!

[impactrueno]

(Nothing to do with all that war stuff) Just felt like sharing with you some thoughts I recently had (like 5 minutes ago maybe) .

I feel like in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice there have been many twists that change many points from the first one. Sure many of them were made because "times changes and this won't be seen as funny anymore" but also I feel they gave BJ a more of a sentimental thing and it kinda reminds me of Corpse Bride since now he has a fixation with marriage.

Now we know that he was deep in love with his first wife and was happy with the idea of being married. Then his wife killed him and he died with a fresh broken illusion.

That makes me think that differently from the first one, he actually wants to marry Lydia for other reasons than only the "becoming alive" thing. I mean why would he put so much effort in the Mcarthur Park number instead of just getting married as fast as possible like in the first one. Also he's been dead for 600 hundred years, why would he be so obsessed over Lydia if she herself wasn't that important, I don't think he likes her because she denied him since basically no one really likes him. He could have tried marrying another living person who could see ghosts but in 30 years he didn't even try.

Also in both Corpse Bride and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice the dead one's murderer makes an appearance at the wedding and they have a final confrontation like a "liberation" thing.

I don't know... since Tim Burton tends to repeat patrons along his movies it doesn't really seems that crazy to me. What do you think?

Sorry for making it so long, hope you're doing fine

i think this makes a lot of sense actually! i mentioned something similar the other day on twitter, about the marriage thing specifically. this fixation he has on marriage has to have something to do with being murdered by his bride on their wedding night. delores might have been a bit lacking as a character but i think she added a completely new perspective to beetlejuice's character that we didn't see before, so she was more of a plot device character than anything else. that's okay (but tragic because she serves cunt like hell, would've loved to see more of her)

but yeah the sequel has been changing my perspective on the characters and their dynamic a lot as i process the whole thing. i still think it was a bit lacking in telling us why we should care about the idea of them being together if that's the road they're going down, but maybe that was purposely kept vague so people could think whatever they want and debate about it. yes, the cast wants them to be together but that doesn't necessarily mean they will actually do it, yknow? i personally have a hard time seeing it work out when seeing the big picture (meaning including the events of the first movie in the narrative) because if they do end up together, that would mean having beetlejuice "win" and that feels. off. feels wrong. to me personally. there's probably ways to make it work and not have it feel like he "won" though, i can kinda think of something that might work but i haven't actually thought that hard about it yet. interesting to ponder though. hmm

[balancingdiet]

So i just finished the movie earlier and I am in so much feels right now HAHAHA. Just a mini rant regarding the movie! MAJOR spoilers ahead

i'm so happy i went in blind for the movie so i literally have 0 information about it. The only thing I know was Heiji and Kaitou Kid were gonna be it. So colour me surprise when there were a lot more easter eggs and fun references to canon scenes than I expected, and I do semi-enjoy them. But I was truly SHOOKEDTH when Aoko appeared. I literally gasped and was screaming internally in the cinema because MY BABY GIRL??? While it made sense that she should be there when Inspector Nakamori was shot, I still didn't expect her to be included in the movie at all. Every scene with her were the best moments I had tbh, followed closely by Kaitou Kid's angst when he couldn't save Inspector Nakamori (hmm yes i love the pain and guilt and emotional distress HAHAHAH) I would probably need a second or third watch to fully grasp how they solve the riddles to the treasure thingy, but I'm okay to cast that concern aside in exchange for enjoyable, strong character-driven moments! But sadly, the dynamics were kinda lacking in this movie for me. There were just so many things going on, with the confession plan, then the murder, then the kidnapping, then the riddle, then the story of the swords... you get it. This movie had so many things going on that nothing was going on at the same time? I felt like if I were to watch any other movie with Heiji&Conan/Kid&Conan/Heiji&Kid in it, their dynamics would be the same and underdeveloped. In fact, what I love were actually the unconventional or lesser popular dynamics? Like I mentioned, Aoko really steal the show, and I enjoyed her interaction with Conan and referencing to Kaito's younger self LOL. And when Ran noticed and was supportive of Heiji's confession plan, their moments were super nice and cute too! (Though it was no shocker when Heiji's confession was ruined, once again. At this point I really do feel bad for him.) Now, to the important part: the cousin reveal HAHAHHAHA When Heiji asked Conan if he has a sibling or something, I was kinda "hmm??", but I didn't thought they would really go with the reveal in this movie. While being a KaiShin shipper, I still adore ShinRan and KaiAo a lot (those KaiAo crumbs cured my sadness HAHAHA). I'm not sure if I would incorporate this new reveal into any future KaiShin fics (if I'm writing any), but still I am kinda disappointed that they decided to reveal it this way, like it's just a "by the way thing". But what was worse was that Toichi is indeed really alive, with this information backed and followed up since the Midnight Crow arc in Magic Kaito Manga. This "plot twist" actually felt rather flat, like it was done just for the shock factor and not for substance. Like there really wasn't a point for it? Unless the dcmk verse is really going to unite and they are going to take down the BO + Snake gang together in the future? Idk. This whole thing feels cheap... and an unnecessary plot device. Honestly, it would be a lot cooler if Phantom lady (Chikage) plays a more active role than Toichi's "Kaitou Corbeau". His actual death was what motivated and made Kaito who Kaito is today. And to just rip that away because Gosho cannot allow good characters to remain dead... is just kinda ugh. MagicKaito-verse is kinda messed up for me now and I felt a little bit sad when I walk out of the cinema after that LOL. I still love DCMK and I will always adore all the characters in my heart (bigger shoutout to Aoko though LOL), but I just hope that whatever direction Gosho takes with the story, it's for the better: Rather than relying on the characters to make the plot interesting, he should address/better the plot that drives the characters to complete their interesting stories. Not sure if this make sense but yeah. Oh well, if you have read till this far, thank you for hearing my long rant! I do feel a bit better after this HAHAHAHA

[rappaccini]

arcane act ii

controversial opinion: oh this isn't good its just pretty to look at

ok yeah the time jump is not good. so many important things happen that we're only catching the tail end of.

speeding past the adoption of jinx as a symbol. speeding past the firelights realizing ekko is missing. jinx goes from suicidal and self serving to Joan of Arc in one week. ?????

the sequences with different animation styles were cool... would prefer more character work. (why is this giving me what-btsv-will-look-like vibes? why does it feel like that's what they'll do-- jam in a ton of pretty-looking scenes while failing to wrap up all their loose ends and relying on fanservice to get emotional moments)

ambessa having no real strong reaction to mel being missing... no that doesn't work.

mel being stuck in the shadow realm... good on her for not being fridged yet but look idk wtf is going on there. secret lineage plotline included. if we got one hint of her being connected to any of this in s1 i coulda dug it but it truly reads like the writers threw her this out of nowhere plotline bc they didn't know what to do with her after deciding she'd survive the blast. i'm at the point where i'm like. maybe she should have died bc literally nothing would change except a slight amount of political maneuvering.

jayce... well him shooting vik was fun but idk man.

viktor becoming jesus felt about right. hate that sky's trapped in his brain forever. HATE the 'fridged woman haunting the guy who killed her to make him vaguely guilty' trope. free her.

ambessa and caitlyn's mentorship is still great. kinda want them to kiss too.

salo seeking viktor out was a great idea. wish we could have SEEN IT instead of the aftermath.

the whole scene with the sisters' mom and silco and vander... no actually i dislike how all of a sudden everyone is related to everyone. zaun doesn't feel like a city anymore it feels like a tiny town. also it doesn't click at all with how silco doesn't give a fuck about vi.

zaun in general feels so empty without silco or ekko to articulate its needs. piltover's reeling post-jinxbomb felt adequately established but zaun's... nothing. just vague shapeless chaos in a music video. even the zaun v piltover conflict feels limp. i feel like this is largely because, again, the major zaunite political players are dead or in the fucking spiderverse. and jinx is off babysitting instead of being the avatar of zaun's anger and desperation, and finding a new sense of purpose post-silco in owning her terrorist attack and riding that wave into being the face of the zaunite faction. insane to me how fucking isha just swept in and derailed that entire trajectory because i guess jinx just wants to play house.

okay so jinx's psychosis being so backseated in act i wasn't because she was drained emotionally and suicidal and is genuinely bc the writers are yoinking her mental illness back to make her more likable. hate that!

this warwick thing... i like the way it brings the sisters back together but i hate the conceit of 'hey that traumatic death that shaped you and everyone in our society? didn't happen!'

also idk the reconciliation sure didn't take long. the antipathy between jinx and vi's been built up for years, so it really feels disappointing that just like that they're cool again. hanging out like it's nothing. okay.

also get jinx jr the fuck out of the group hug.

isha has no personality. no flaws. no interests. no lines??? she's just there to be cute and sweet. such a downgrade from how the kid characters were handled in arcane i.

she truly just feels like a plot device to make jinx heroic and sympathetic. instead of the audience and vi empathizing with jinx for her own sake, it's because she's just so darn nice to this sweet kid. fuck off.

her entire death felt so... ugh to me. i'm not sad because i care i'm sad because someone's holding onions under my eyes and playing a sad song in my ear, not because this feels earned in any way. just comparing this to milo/clogger or silco is laughable.

cait sure turned on a dime. nvm her arc sucks now.

... so where the hell's ekko. why has he gotten benched in the spiderverse all season when his reactions to learning that silco died, watching the war break out, the zaunite power vacuum and people deserting the firelights for jinx and viktor could have been So Interesting. what a waste.

yeah you can absolutely sense that while s1 was labored on for years, s2 was rushed and had to condense a ton of story. riot sacrificed arcane so they could get the rest of their lolcu going and it shows!

[glamaphonic]

Just curious, because I love your Richonne takes.....so beside the obvious ptsd angle, do you think Rick dove into the whole Jessie situation because she was the easier choice. I mean yes she came with baggage lol but in my mind she was safer in that maybe he didn't WANT to acknowledge his growing feelings for Michonne because 1. He wasn't sure she felt the same way or convinced himself she didn't. And 2. He didn't want to jeopardize her relationship with his Carl whose happiness was most important to him always....?

For me, personally, Rick comes right up to the point of bringing his feelings for Michonne to consciousness in 5x16, then pulls back again (at her perceived rejection imo!) and doesn't let himself go there again until they're all safe and the world stops screaming in his face (as Gimple once put it).

So, honestly, no, while I think it's a valid enough reading and I understand why people lean towards it given how they fumbled the Jessie storyline (esp in 6A). I mostly think it was just the PTSD.

The Jessie thing, from the moment they meet, is so inextricably connected to this mental breakdown that he's actively having for the entire length of their acquaintance that suggesting that he's deliberately choosing to pursue her as a safer option v Michonne is almost giving it too much intention for me? Bcs like, I'm not particularly convinced he was ever actively pursuing a relationship with her at all. Everything he does wrt her is so completely consumed by this weird miserable guilt and PTSD driven almost fugue state that it becomes difficult to divine any specific intentions towards her at all.

He fixates on her because she reminds him of Lori and she and her kids are in danger. He seems to feel some sort of obligation/responsibility to them after Pete is dead. But does he have any actual plans there? Does he intend to have an actual relationship with her? Were they gonna date? Was he going to move her and her kids in with him, Michonne, and his kids? Or was he just sad and working through some shit?

Not a fair comparison, though it's one that Rick implies himself, but we see how he goes about pursuing a relationship with Michonne. We see the absolute crystal clear intention and commitment from moment one. And obviously Rick and Michonne's relationship is the actual love story whereas his relationship with Jessie is a plot device. But the Jessie thing exists in this strange weightless way in the narrative and part of that is the extremely compacted timeframe (he knew her for legit two weeks lol) and part of it is definitely owed to the writing failing at adapting something that no longer really worked in the narrative that the show had already committed to so they just quarantined it away from everything else, and especially away from Michonne and Rick's relationship with her, and hoped no one would notice.

Anyway, I'm rambling at this point and I'd have to do a rewatch of those eps to form a more coherent argument here. But yeah, in short, I think, largely by the specific design of the writers, Michonne didn't really have much of anything to do with the Jessie thing at all. It would've made more sense on every level if she did, and the fact that she doesn't is both comically contrived and heavily contributes to the Jessie storyline amounting to nothing but a weird and incoherent blip that no one ever thinks about again. But it is what it is!

[duckiemimi]

how certain are you about gojo not being dead or his revival? do you think gege might bring him back? some buddhist revival theories make sense to me but if the main problem is that gege just wanted him gone for the plot to progress then nothing is bringing him back. i also see that a majority of people are now praising the chapter when i'm still not happy about it so it might even give the impression that the chapter is well received....

i’m not certain at all because i can’t even tell what we’re working towards plot-wise 😭

before 237, i was 50/50 about it. it could either happen because his “death” just seemed so lackluster and lacking something (a lot of things) that there might be more to come, especially knowing how capable gege was at wonderfully handling death as a subject, but it could also not happen because gojo wasn’t even given the grace of an on-screen development from his unsealing to his death. (i talk about this more here.) after 237? if he’s only going to come back as a convenient plot-device, i’d rather he stay dead.

i honestly think gege killed him off to write him out of the story because nothing is indicating to me that there’s more to what we saw in 236. not even a mention, not even a scribble of his body in the battlefield in 237. (but i don’t know. prove me wrong, gege.) 236 would’ve worked if the gojo vs. sukuna battle was a short story separate from the overarching storyline, separate from jjk in general, and instead of gojo and sukuna, they were both new characters that we got a brief rundown of prior to the battle. but like everything is, the story should be bigger than them both and the battle. 236 and the battle should fit in with everything else, even the very edges of where we started.

there’s this habit in fandoms (but especially in the jjk fandom) of retroactively justifying (and subsequently, plainly accepting) chapters/plot points that weren’t initially well-received. it’s crazy because when 236 came out, the only people praising the chapter were sukuna stans and people who heavily favor the technical side of jjk more than the narrative (and some shippers who’ve lost the actual plot long before, but what’s new).

a week later, there are all these discussions saying, “well, maybe we just didn’t get gojo’s character,” or, “well, actually it’s in-character of him.” it shouldn’t have to take a week for part of the fandom to reluctantly accept what was written. hindsight nuance is supposed to add another level of understanding, not change the whole perspective. this isn’t a case of an author withholding information to keep readers on their toes, this is a case of an author not being consistent in characterization (among other things).

we keep trying to piece mismatched puzzle pieces for it to make sense, but we’re in the long run now! the bigger picture (including gojo’s character) should be clearer than before! why are we left more confused now than before, and so close to the end of the story, too? if the majority of the fandom is confused (all of us, honestly, don’t lie), the problem isn’t us not understanding—the problem is the goddamn writing.

“let them cook!” yeah, but if you leave the fire on too long, the food burns. then the kitchen catches fire. then the house is in shambles. it’s okay to admit that the story we once knew is no longer the same. it sucks, but it really is okay to dislike a chapter and be disappointed with an author. and it’s okay to take your time grieving what you once knew (hell, it’s why i’m talking more on this app these days). and it’s okay to keep reading and following along because you still have hope.

the way i talk about this, you’d think the whole fandom is in a relationship with gege and gege just keeps negging us 😭 some people have faith, despite the downhill track record, some people are pissed and feeling cheated, and some don’t even know what to think. coping is different :’)

[princess-of-the-corner]

I think a reason why Lila gets as much salt as she does is that she's more of a plot device than an actual character

Like, we've all ranted/seen other people's rants about how the writers dont seem to want to put the work into making her a convincing manipulator, so they just dumb all the other characters down and make them forget/ignore things they really should be thinking about (post-Gang of Secrets Alya still believing Lila despite knowing Maribugs secret fir example)

But more than those obvious signs of lazy writing, she's never really been...given much character.

Like, we don't know her motivations for doing what's she's doing, vs Gabe who has the very sympathetic motive of 'i wanna save the dead love of my life'. All the ways Gabriel's writing was botched aside, that gives him character. It shows he's devoted to Emilie, maybe even obsessed, and that he'll throw morals to the wind for someone he deeply cares for

That's character!

Can anyone think of like, any hobbies Lila has? Or how she even feels about any of her mothers?

I cant

But I can tell you things Chloe likes! And what Felix's relationship to his parents is!

Bc Gabriel, Chloe, and Felix are all characters (later season assassinations aside)

But Lila really has no character, so it's hard to treat her like one, especially when the ways the writing bends to make her look more clever than she really is are so obvious they're hard to ignore

She's just, so obviously a plot device and not a real character that it almost makes sense to treat her with the same ire that the other bad writing choices are bc that's what she feels like: a bad writing choice

Oh yeah no that's absolutely it!

We have never seen anything genuine about Lila that isn't her lying and manipulating and being evil. Everyone else, even when they're worse on the whole like Gabriel or who were botched and retconned like Chloé, have at least been shown as people who care about things at times.

Lila is just a plot device that the show bends to whenever she's on screen.

Anything that adds any depth to her comes from fans who take the bike and run aka: make shit up entirely!

[pouroverpaloma]

Writing Interview Tag Game! Thanks @cinnamontails-ff !

When did you start writing?

I don’t actually remember! I was a desperately weird and introverted kid (surprise) and I read voraciously, all the time, so I also started writing really early. Stories, plays, poems, comics, whatever. I also kept a meticulous diary when I was in high school, and I’m so glad I did because it’s so fucking funny to read now. Teenage Paloma had a lot going on, to put it kindly

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

Have I watched Supernatural? No. Have I been an insatiable consumer of Destiel fanfiction for years? Absolutely. I gave a PowerPoint presentation to my book club once titled “All the best romance novels are Supernatural fanfiction,” and I stand by that thesis. I don’t care. Those babes were cooking.

Like, I’m sorry, the soulmate AU trope is never going to get better than Don’t Look Back by @goldenraeofsun. It’s just not. No one is ever going to write an academic romance as compelling as And This, Your Living Kiss by @asecretvice. If you haven’t poked around that part of Ao3 because you don’t watch the show, I beg you to get in there because treasures await ye

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

This isn’t going to make a ton of sense outside of my own brain, probably, but my goal is always to write prose that feels the way Ada Limón’s poems make me feel. She’s really frank without being unserious, and I love the way she creates imagery without telling you she’s doing it.

Also, this weekend, I read a Tessa Dare historical romance while I was on the beach, and I loved it! It was so fun, but not at the expense of the plot, and the supporting characters were so funny without getting in the way. A masterclass in froth.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

At home, I write in bed with my laptop on my lap and a can of seltzer within reach at all times. Sometimes I go to a cafe near my house, but I’m always worried someone will look over my shoulder and see what I’m writing and post me for cringe on TikTok or something. Which, now that I’m typing it out, is maybe a stupid thing to worry about

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

I have a couple recs!

1. Go for a biiiiiig walk. Listen to classical music, nothing with words. Don’t try to think too hard. It’ll come.

2. Read something you find genuinely terrible. You’ll get so mad that you’ll start thinking of ways you could have done it better. For me, this is usually the book Haunting Adeline, which for whatever reason activates every “um actually” in my body at once

3. Type up something deeply unserious that you have no intention of publishing. Chances are you’ll end up loving it in the rewrite and post it. This is how that Rolan fic of mine got made

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Oh god, yeah, and oh god, yeah. I’ve learned a lot. Some of it’s actually been helpful in therapy, like how I keep writing about overcoming domestic violence trauma. Some of it has been discovering, in a very public way that I can’t undo, that I’m into choking. We do not have the dignity of choosing how enlightenment comes to us

What is your reason for writing?

It’s for fun. It’s all for fun. I am having such a fucking good time.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

I love when people talk back and forth with me! And I love love looooooove when people tell me how something made them feel. Or when someone points out a literary device I was proud of. If there’s a quote, too? I’m dead. I’ve died.

Writing is fun, but it’s solitary. It’s so motivating to have people who are willing to step into my little universe with me and talk about it. I’m extraordinarily lucky.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I want people to see me as someone who shares their enthusiasm, ultimately. We’re all here for the same reason, and it’s That Fucking Wizard.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

My voice is really distinctive! My friends have always been able to pick out my writing, even in anonymized settings, and I think that’s neat

How do you feel about your own writing?

It’s been a long way getting here, but I view my writing as a thing I made, that I liked making, that I now have no ownership over. Once it’s out, it’s not mine anymore, it’s the reader’s. And that’s a good thing! Everyone brings their own rich experiences to everything they read. Interpretation is amazing, even for something as prima facie trivial as video game erotica. When people tell me how they related to or analyzed something I wrote, it’s like I get to read my own story again.

:) I’ll tag @lemonstealinglibrarian @lastlight-inn and @toads-treasures , if you want! No presh

[localfanbaselurker]

First time watching Voltron: Legendary Defender and documenting my thoughts

This is Season 4

S1-2 | S3 | S5 | S6 | S7 | S8 |

———————————————————————

<this one is going to be shorter, as I have only recently finished this season, and the grief is still fresh (lol), so the thoughts are only just starting to simmer. strap your asses in>

Pre-Season 4 Thoughts

-> Keith joining the blades is going to be a huge plot device, I feel

-> PLEASE for the love of CHRIST let that poor little girl find her brother and father. If they are dead dreamworks better be ready to catch these hands

->I’ve heard people claim this is the “last good season”, but i stay strong 💪 and will watch till the end

->wouldn’t the paladin switch not make sense now? Cus shiro is back as the black paladin and it makes no sense for Lance to be red like it originally had? If anything, he should’ve gone back to blue, and Allura to red, because Allura is very accepting/encouraging of shiro’s role as leader. I guess they didn’t wanna do it all over again. But I digress 🤷‍♀️

->im gonna miss my Pookie (🤍❤️🤍)

Post-S4

->do they do this every two seasons?? Have an epic battle where they have a big preparation and say it’ll 100% end the war but it doesn’t and something crazy happens after they win and it sets up the next season??

->FUCK YEAH PIDGE GOT HER BROTHER BACK IM SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP 💪💪🔥🔥‼️‼️‼️🙏🙏🙏🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

->^genuinely cried so hard during this scene. would’ve cried more if I wasn’t recovering from the initial shock.

->^cried during this one too, but it was happy tears. I could actually just do a whole reaction post to this episode alone. (if you want me to js say so in the rbs/replies)

->the callback to s1! “color-coded of course, because what are we? animals?” AHHH! I’m going insane I love these siblings sooooo much

->okay I’ll stop gushing over them now

->^only valid reaction to meeting Allura. Homegirl is beauty incarnate

->I LIED. im not sorry im never shutting up about them. SHE SHOWS HIM AROUND THE CASTLE AND TELLS HIM EVERYTHING AND EVERY DETAIL AND SHES SO EXCITED CUS SHE JUST GOT HER BRO BACK AND IS JUST RAMBLING ABOUT HER NEW HOME AND ALL THE COOL STUFF SHES BEEN DOING AND HES JUST LISTENING AND IS SUPER EXCITED WITH HER AND ITS SOOOO AMAZING AND ADORABLE AND I COULD DIE

->AND THEN HE TELLS HER HOW THEIR DAD WOULD BE SO PROUD IM DYING IM LITERALLY DEAD STOP.

->AND AND AND THEY WERE ALL WORKING TOGETHER W HUNK TO MAKE THE GALRA TRACKER THING AND THEY WERE BEING SO COOL WITH EACH OTHER AND BEING NERDS TOGETHER AND AND AND AJEUWNDUWJEBEURBDGWUDKAODHD

->okay. ive calmed down. i am normal and can be trusted to simply watch a show.

->^Get his ass, Zarkon. I needed his smug ass to be humbled so bad. Only time I will agree w Zarkon fr.

->i do NOT like Lotor. Can you guys tell already??

->THE SCENE WHERE THEY TRIED TO GET MILKSHAKES AND WERE SHOCKED TO FIND OUT THAT YOU NEED TO MILK A COW STOP.✋ 😭. My high-score on the giggle-meter went up by 300%

->bro I SWEAR shiro looks different. there’s just something about him. the hair gets a pass cus how good of a haircut can you give yourself in space, yk? but that nose scar is definitely a different shade #notmyrodrickshiro

->THE VOLTRON SHOW.

->^Just. That entire episode. It’s getting a whole post actually I need to yap about it.

->^her armor is colored in a way which makes it look both pink and red while making it look like a trick of the light in a way to symbolize that she is acting as keith yet while being a paladin herself and that being unknown in the public eye and showing how they have to cover that up, any suspicion being thrown as a trick of the light. Oh vld animators ily 🫶

->on another note tho why do they always draw lance and shiro to have 30 pounds of ass. what.

->loved when those lesbians decided to take down lotor. Queen shit 💋 we stan 🙇‍♀️🙏

->Lotor is so stupid and pathetic and annoyingly smug and sus and admiral-zhao-y and I hate him but he’s SOOO FREAKING HOT and I can’t hate him completely because he’s so attractive but that just makes me wanna hate him more. He’s a walking red flag but the flag is heart-shaped and honestly idk what to do w that.

->^WHAT. stop. honestly that’s the real reason he was banned from the empire my ass would not want that fucking FREAK within a 30 light year radius of me either

-> while s3 was the klance season, s4 is apparently the allurance season, they have a lot of sweet moments. (granted all started by lance but still, you can almost see allura swooning)

->^pookie. what are you doing… pookie.. no. stop. i don’t like where this is going…

->^POOKIE NO. STOP. ✋ STOP. SAY SIKE RN.

->^oh thank fuck for Lotor.

->^^wait what. why Lotor.

->^^^heartbreaking: worst person you know doesn’t something good for once.

->he definitely wants something out of this. I don’t trust him.

These are thoughts I’ve had compiled for some time now. I will continue to post my thoughts on the tag “laura’s first vld”

I finished this season on 06/30/24. I am on S5E3 as of today (07/06/24)

[aro-laurance-zvahl]

I know nobody asked but fuck it I slept and shit and am still thinking about it so like. Here’s why I hate Garroth’s betrayal arc, and what I would do instead!

Mind control is STUPID

I know some of what I’m gonna say is gonna be able to be countered with the whole implied mind control stuff. And yeah sure if he’s being mind controlled anything can happen! But also? Mind control is a stupid plot device. If the only way you think you can get a character to do the thing you want them to do, is to inflict them to mind control/corruption for multiple days or even weeks, then maybe it’s time to reconsider the plot point.

(This post is long so I’m putting a keep reading)

It’s out of character

It just makes no sense for Garroth to betray not just Aphmau, but Phoenix Drop as a whole. It’s established very early on, and is pounded in after this betrayal, that one of his most core traits is loyalty. It’s his fatal flaw! It prevents him from really trying to kill Zenix back when he attacked Phoenix Drop.

But then he sees Aphmau kissing Laurance and that Laurance broke their bro code...and oh man....he’s just gonna betray his home for fucking O’KHASIS cause of that. Screw loyalty I guess!

It’s start of the end

By this I mean it’s the start of some characters being boiled down to their attraction to Aphmau.

Suddenly Garroth’s fatal flaw isn’t loyalty, it’s Aphmau. He’ll betray the home he stood by even when shit went down the drain and their lord was dead and roads were falling apart, cause his crush likes someone else. He’ll help O’Khasis and the brother who has murdered entire villages cause of that. Cause that’s all that fuels good ol’ Garroth, his massive crush on Aphmau! Not a sense of justice or guilt from his past or anything of that nature. Just Aphmau.

Had very little lasting impact

And I know that sounds weird cause like yeah it did it changed the course of the whole story but like. It did a few things, but none of them have to do with the act of betrayal. Basically if Zane and Lillian did it all on their own and then Garroth stayed because that is in character at least, the few things that had a lasting impact would still happen

The 15 year time skip

Garroth is not in the overworld

Making the Divine Warriors important to their goals

Giving Aphmau Irene powers

Killing off Aaron

And that is about it. Dynamics with Garroth didn’t change, no one seemed to see him differently, he wasn’t even the focus when he finally got saved which leads me to my next point!

Him getting saved wasn’t about him!

Garroth got saved, he’s finally home, you the viewer who has been watching this shit unfold live are so excited and can’t wait to see the reactions- but wait.

Sure, Garroth is finally safe. Sure, he’s finally home. But...but Aaron is dead. Aphmau notices Aaron is dead, and that is what this arc is about. Not Garroth coming to grips with the world he reenters, finally seeing how unkind fifteen years have been because of his actions. Not about friends finally seeing him afger fifteen years, not about the friends he saved who know he also betrayed them having a swirl of conflicted but overall relieved emotions. No, it’s not about any of that. What it is about is Aaron’s death and Aphmau’s grief of it.

It was Aaron that sacrificed himself to do it

Aaron didn’t know Garroth. I don’t think the two ever actually talked, and sure it’s clear Aaron didn’t do it for Garroth. He did it to kill Zane and also. For Aphmau. (Remember that point about some characters getting boiled down to their attraction to her and that taking over character motivations? I think that applies here.)

Its just such a missed opportunity honestly. If someone dies to save him, Garroth should feel some personal grief! The person should have personal attachments to Garroth! Make it Laurance! Make it Dante! Make it Vylad! Make it fucking Azura! Not someone who Garroth will go “Oh. Who is that again?”

What I would do

My personal favorite way to change this arc while keeping those first four major impacts, is for it to be Aphmau’a icarus moment. It goes a bit like this

Garroth has just been approached by Zane and Lillian, he is sat in his room and filled with some sort of panic. They have some sort of plan, a plan he knows will not lead to good things for Phoenix Drop or Aphmau. The kiss he saw is barley on his mind because this takes priority. He has to tell Aphmau, as soon as possible but he knows now is not safe. He knows they must be stalking outside, keeping an eye out to make sure he doesn’t warn anyone.

That’s when he sees it, a deep purple enchanted amulet secured to a similarly enchanted golden cord. He doesn’t hesitate in grabbing it, whispering a plea in hopes Aphmau still has hers. And she does. He’s able to tell her all about how Zane is here and scheming something and how he’s trying to use him to get it but that means they can stop him before anything has the chance to start, plan an ambush or something of the like.

Except Aphmau sees opportunity. She sees a way into Zane’s plans, into his resources, it’s a perfect opportunity. Not only to stop his plans, but to learn what they are. Maybe even use them for good! Garroth just has to go along with it.

Of course he’s hesitant, the last thing he ever wants to put Phoenix Drop in danger, but he trusts Aphmau and sees her point. He agrees, even if every bone in his body is telling him it’s too dangerous and not worth it.

This continues on. Garroth feeds her the little information he gets, and she tells him to keep playing it up even as he voices his concerns more and more. She’s confident it will work out, that they’re so close to being one step ahead of Zane. But Garroth can see things are only getting more risky, but he places his instincts to the side.

And it keeps spiraling. It reaches the point where Garroth needs the artifact Laurance is protecting, and that is where Garroth tries to draw the line but it’s too late. The only way they’re getting Zane into another vulnerable position is with that amulet in Garroth’s hand, and there’s no time. No time to fill Laurance in, no time for Aphmau to tell him to pass it off to Garroth, and they both know that. Aphmau’s orders him to keep going, to do what he needs to get that amulet and that Laurance will understand later, and despite the pit in his stomach he doesn’t defy the order. He knocks out his best friend.

And as Garroth thinks that must be rock bottom for this whole messy scheme, it only gets worse. He is stuck following Zane’s orders, attacking his friends, until Aphmau says enough is enough. Except he realizes as he is sworn into the Jury of Nine, filled with power that makes him sick, that she’s not going to. She will not relieve him of this messed up situation until she gets the information she wants that he knows Zane won’t give until he’s already done it. And so, he finally defies.

Of course, it’s too late. It’s a blur of confusion, there’s a portal, they’re in some towering marble cathedral, and only as Irene’s relic enters her, as Zane grows into a monsterous rage fueled magical form, does Aphmau realize she took this too far.

Laurance and Garroth are struggling to hold off Zane, there’s a crack that at least signals Katelyn has dealt with Lillian, and then a portal opens. For a brief second, everything is gonna be ok! A familiar voice with an unfamiliar look is urging them to hurry, abs thwy will.

The issue is, Zane tries to as well. That’s when Garroth taps into the magic he hates, because he sees Aphmau trying to return to the fight and he cannot let that happen. He doesn’t care if it’s her fault because it’s his too, he should’ve put his foot down long before it got so far and by Irene he will not fail to keep her safe because of it. He tells Laurance to get her out, and there is a moment where Aphmau thinks Laurance won’t listen and leave him here to die because that is what doing this will do, but he does. He forces Aphmau through the portal with him, and then it closes.

There are a few quiet seconds, where they catch their breath and do headcounts, but no matter how many times they do it they are one short. And Laurance, confused and hurt but above that he is angry, he looks to Aphmau and in a unsteady voice bubbling with emotion, he asks “What was that?!”

And all she can say is “It wasn’t supposed to go that far.”

And now Aphmau’s determination to bring Garroth home isn’t only fueled by the fact it’s Garroth, but now by guilt. Guilt about how she pushed and pushed and pushed against his warnings, which previously had worked out in her favor before. It’s what got her to be a lord! But this time, this time it didn’t and the price was steeper than she could’ve ever imagined.

Of course my changes don’t stop there, because I also believe it should be Laurance who sacrifices himself to save Garroth, but expanding into that is moreso about my distaste for Aaron and less about the betrayal arc so I’ll save it for another day

How it pertains to the betrayal arc is giving Garroth grief and guilt, having him feel the weight of the sacrifice as much as Aphmau and doubt he was even worth it. Also since I believe Garroth loses his sword in the Irene Dimension abs I think Laurance still has his (and if he doesn’t he will in this AU), imagine Garroth using Laurance’s sword.

It also expands on Laurance’s motivations, about how the last thing he wants is to fall to his shadow knight side and as we see in season two, he gets dangerously close. Him making the choice is him deciding to die a hero instead of living long enough to become a villain, or more specifically someone who would hurt Aphmau or someone she might have to kill.

And I think that’s everything! I hope anyone reading this enjoyed!

[theonethatwatchesalotofshows]

Hello there! Totally random but I've been watching Dawson's Creek and had a hot take and needed to share, and you have some of the best hot takes about these shows so I'd though I'd bother you with it lol sorry.

Granted, I haven't finished the show yet, I've seen til the season 3 finale, so this might be proven wrong by later seasons, but I've been thinking this for 3 seasons straight - Is it just me or is it completely and visibly Gail and Mitch's fault Dawson is Like That? Like, yeah, there are a lot of scenes of just Dawson complaining about his parents' relationship, but honestly? He's kind of justified! Their relationship is a mess, and they always put their son in the middle, and the drama was so needless and repetitive that by their S3 wedding they were even more boring a relationship than Dawson and Joey. And whenever he tries to bring it up with them, it's framed like he's just in the way of them being happy (whether that means being together or apart, whichever they're feeling like that week). It's not really any wonder that he has such a messed up relationship with Joey, because watching his parents, sure, why wouldn't he think he can treat her any way he wants and she'll still want him and they'll be "meant to be"? Works for Mitch and Gail! Not to mention, all their parenting consists of is telling him what a special and perfect boy he is (correct me if I'm wrong but I think the only time they "discipline" him is having him work at their family restaurant?). Once again, no wonder he gets such a protagonist complex and thinks he should always get his way and whines when he doesn't.

Dam, this show is just a mess... Every character either starts great and is completely assassinated or forgotten about (Joey, Andie, Jen, ...) or starts badly and is given a redemption arc bc the writers realized the actor can act (Pacey, Jack) or is barely even a character, just a plot device at the whims of the writers (Dawson). Anyways, this is all just because I've heard for years before watching the show about how Dawson is the worst and actually watching the show has me thinking Mitch and Gail might really be the worst. Sorry for the rant! But I needed to share this with someone. What do you think? Am I totally off base here or does this actually make sense?

Hi! No worries, you don't bother me, I love hot takes (unless they're extremely stupid lol).

My hot take is that Dawson is not the antichrist as most of the fandom tried to paint him. Is he annoying and whiny? Sure, but what teenager isn't. Now that I think about it, maybe the reason the fandom hates him so much is because they see themselves in him and they don't like it? Just a thought.

You are so right about his parents though! People like to say: "Dawson has nothing to complain about, all other characters have it worse". Sure, Dawson's parents are not dead (at the beginning), in jail, physically abusive, mentally ill or didn't ship him off to live with his grandma, but that doesn't mean they are perfect. They put him in the middle of their messed up marriage and fighting. No 15-year-old should know about their parents' sex life and that his mother is having an affair. I also think they were too chill and let him get away with too much, like you said. But that's in almost every American show. I can't imagine talking to my parents the way teenagers on tv talk to theirs, that's not just a Dawson thing. It might have something to do with how the actor plays Dawson perhaps?

As for the character assassinations, I feel like the problem is that the writers mold the characters to whatever they need in the moment rather than having consistent characterization and letting conflict naturally arise from that. That's why the characters contradict each other a lot and seem to change so much (I still maintain that Andie cheating on Pacey was completely ooc). Also what bothers me is that the writers rewrite history a lot in order to be able to recycle old plot lines. The best example of this is how Pacey underwent such a great character development while he was with Andie only for it to be erased so he can undergo it again with Joey. When he told Joey: "I have never gotten an A before" I rolled my eyes because he literally had the same storyline with Andie like two seasons before! It's like in season 2 the writers wanted us to root for Pacey and Andie, but in season 3 and 4 they changed their minds so they ruined Andie's character to make room for Pacey and Joey. But then in season 5 they decided: "scratch that, Joey and Dawson it is" so they erased all Pacey's development again and had Joey pine for Dawson again.

A bit off topic but I thought it related to what you said about the characters. I don't think Dawson is the worst. He was annoying but I feel like he got progressively less and less annoying as the show went on. Joey is a different story. I could rant more about that but it's a very unpopular opinion since everyone on here loves Joey.

[sideblogofawriter]

This is an old topic, but one that will never die... unlike [REDACTED].

In the aftermath of og Lesson 16™, there's about a million ways things could go. Besides the lack of closure on the casually written and basically never mentioned again death, the more interesting part to me is the casually written and basically never mentioned again relationship to Lilith. I mean, yeah, it's probably the reason MC has more hidden power than Solomon, but the story doesn't ever focus on it. It's a plot device meant to tie the arc up neatly with a bow, not something we're supposed to dwell on... presumably because it can get potentially weird and uncomfortable if you do.

So naturally, imagining the possibilities and potential implications is one of my favorite things to do.

To that end, two of my favorite scenarios/plot bunnies/i-make-it-worse-before-i-fix-its that have spawned from this are (long blocks of text incoming):

MC (like me) either knew or had a very good idea they were related to Lilith by the time Barbatos and Diavolo showed up and spilled the beans... so they don't let them, for fear it would change their relationship with the brothers. At a subtle shake of the head, Diavolo understands and flips the story to "Barbatos has traced Lilith’s lineage all the way to the modern day, and discovered she has (at least) one surviving descendant." No names are named, Belphegor is convinced enough that his sister lead a happy life to let go of his grudge against humans, life should be good... except the brothers develop an obsession with finding Lilith’s descendant. Barbatos won't share any information for some reason, so they set to investigating themselves. And they NEVER stop talking about it. All the things they want to do with Lilith’s descendant, favorite places they want to go, things they want to show them... MC bites their tongue and smiles, saying they're sure Lilith’s descendant will love the new café. Privately, they're more certain than ever they made the right decision: without even having met Lilith’s descendant (or so they think), the brothers are acting as though their sister herself has come back from the dead, already making preparations based on her own likes and dislikes as if they're the same person. And more than that, isn't it rather hypocritical of the demons - who were acting so apathetic or even disdainful toward humans until just recently - to be putting one they've never met on a pedestal? Even Lucifer, who already knew Lilith survived, is thoroughly involved in the investigations now that his brothers are so invested. And then it slips, somehow, not that MC is Lilith’s descendant, but that MC has known who Lilith’s descendant was all this time they've been searching. All this time MC has been "helping" them search. And isn't that just a rock and a hard place.

MC is revealed to be Lilith’s descendant at the usual time and place. In the weeks that follow, however, between Belphegor’s cuddling up to them and the others' general merriment considering the death that just occurred, it starts to weigh on MC mentally that maybe they're so thrilled to have a piece of their sister back that nothing else matters to them. If only MC could do it all again... or could they? Sensing that things are not headed in a good direction right now, Barbatos agrees to send MC back in time again. But it's different this time: instead of having to avoid their past self, they are their past self, restarting the year as if everything up till now has just been a bad dream. It's a completely blank slate, with only MC's mind intact so they can avoid making the same mistakes. And it goes great... until MC learns that in this timeline, Barbatos is in jail, powers sealed, for messing with time without first consulting Diavolo. And moreover, for some reason, he refuses to share with the prince exactly what he did. So not only are any deaths permanent this time, but there's an ongoing investigation into conspiracies against the throne and student council during this crucial time of the exchange program. It's not long before both MC and the brothers discover - at the same time - that they already have pacts. Pacts that powerful demons have no recollection of making with an oddly knowledgeable human they barely know. And isn't that just a rock and a hard place.

[honeycreammilkshake]

I feel like an ass for saying this, but outside of Sukuna and Yuuji i dont really think the other characters are interesting. Yeah MAYBE Geto but thats also just the most indeoth character gege has wrote. Otherwise everyone single other character is just overtly simple or a jackass.

I mean shit, the world building is so lackluster. Theres a lot that looks like it was written on the fly and no real thought put into it sometimes. Hell theres timess where plot devices feel like they got put on a backburner and forgotten. Shit some deaths felt unessacary (gestures to the fhcking female cats)

And noboara? Dont get me started her staying dead would have been amazing to help yuuji grow!

Nope, shes back. Its the fucking fairy tail death situation all over again.

Also, in the new chapter im NOT happy with how gege handled Yuuta. So anticlimactic...

Im just.... im really upset over this because you can tell a lot of this was halfassed and forced.

Also fuck RCT. Brings back people feom the dead but you cant bring baxk anyone else? What the fuck is going on. Im not excited for the mangas ending at all...

i feel you, anon. sorry for the late reply btw.

don't feel bad about sharing your opinions. i agree with you on them. i feel like a LOT of the characters are either underdeveloped or simply not as interesting as they could have been. i feel bad because i think gege is experiencing a lot of pressure since this is their first official and long-running series and it became really popular. i think they might not have as much experience as some other mangaka or maybe just they rush or don't fully plan things out? i'm just speculating so i hope i don't seem cruel-hearted in saying as much.

and i agree a lot of the plot seems too sudden and not fully fleshed out. i often cannot even keep track of the technical stuff and details bc new stuff is always being added and i think i've even found some contradictions and unexplained stuff that doesn't really make sense.

overall, jjk isn't as well-written as it maybe could have been, and i'm saying this objectively. i think gege loses sight of the story a lot of the time and sometimes pulls plot developments that don't make much sense as a way to speed things up.

nobara coming back could have been handled much differently for example. as much as i do agree that her death could have served yuuji's arc well, i think she deserved better than being killed off so suddenly. she shouldn't have been killed off at all. or if she was brought back sooner it wouldn't feel so fairy tale unrealistic.

and i also find yuta a bad replacement for yuuji and just kind of boring honestly. he's like gojo 2.0 in terms of character-building only gege adores him this time.

i'm also not understand the full extent of rct. maybe i'm missing something?

idk anon. you're right on a lot of this. thankfully the manga will be ending soon, and there's a chance that someone other than gege will be continuing it, so maybe better developments and more closure will be giving to us?

idk, no disrespect to gege but im honestly not sure what kind of story im reading any more.