#the way this little scene is so controversial is concerning in more than a ''this is just regular fandom drama'' way ngl

[fenharel-archived]

had the misfortune to read things in the solas tag again. 12 dead 27 injured

[bweeeb]

SWEETNESS

PEDRO PASCAL × READER

Summary: After an interview, the casua thing between you and Pedro ends up making the public suspect that he is not denying someone who is twenty-three years old.

warnings: nothing major, very cute, age difference but both are adults (obviously), bad writing maybe. Enjoy.

— So, according to the recordings, I think we all saw how close you two have become. How has that been?

You and Pedro smiled at the woman, who seemed to be around 35, interviewing you both.

The curiosity in her eyes was obvious.

— I think it’s been time well spent.

Pedro said, laughing and glancing at you, who was already laughing even before speaking.

— I think our characters demanded a connection of...

— Hatred and anger.

Pedro interrupted you, and you laughed loudly.

— Yes. That’s why I’ve been spending the past few months figuring out which tool is best for channeling hatred towards someone.

— Our makeup team has been covering up all the damage we’ve been doing to each other.

Pedro added, and your extravagant laughter made him laugh as well. You two really were doing some damage to each other, but that was your little secret.

— You can clearly see you can’t stand being around each other.

— No, we can’t.

You said with a smile, waiting for the next questio

— And the movie tackles a delicate theme about relationships and age gaps. What made you both accept such controversial roles? Especially you, Pedro...I’m sure you’ve broken all the minds of 20-something girls with this film.

— He definitely has.

— I don’t know what it is with you all nowadays, thinking an old guy like me is attractive. The conversation shifted back to you and Pedro, and the interviewer smiled with amusement. The chemistry between you two was undeniable, even more than you realized.

— Because you’re a man, you give off the feeling of being a man but don’t have to prove it. You know what I mean? You understand me?

You asked the interviewer, who nodded, agreeing that it was indeed a big difference.

— Of course, I’m a man, but an old one.

— Shut up and answer the question.

You said, laughing, as Pedro gave you a mock-offended look in his usual dramatic way.

— Honestly, I wasn’t going to take the role. When I got the audition, I just said, "Nope." But a lot of people kept telling me I’d be the perfect Nick for the book adaptation, and I hate disappointing my fans.

— So you still wouldn’t date someone in their twenties? Maybe?

— No.

Pedro quickly denied it, and you wanted to roll your eyes but didn’t.

— And you, darling?

Nice deflection, you thought, almost laughing at him.

— Ahm, I gave it a lot of thought, especially about the nude scenes I was informed of before accepting the role. I didn’t want to freak out my family. But once I learned more about the characters, I discovered the adaptation was from a book I love, so I couldn’t say no.

— That’s amazing. I heard you even got a real piercing for one of the scenes in the movie. Are you wearing it now?

The question was directed at you, and you smiled painfully, moving your hair away to reveal the piercings you got during filming.

— I added thirds and a helix. Yep, these guys are fine. — You pointed at the piercings farthest from the cartilage. — But I’ll be honest, this one is hurting a lot right now. I was even going to ask if someone could help me after this because it didn’t hurt this much when I got it done.

You laughed, and both the interviewer and Pedro looked at you with concern. Pedro leaned closer, moving your hair from your neck.

— Oh, crap, darling, it’s swollen. You need to take care of this. — He said in such a calm voice that even if the interview ended right then, the audience would already be glued to the screen. — Do you want to stop?

— I’m fine, thank you.

Without even realizing it, you brushed your thumb against Pedro’s wrist, where his hand rested on your neck to examine you.

Later, the interview was posted, and you almost laughed at how fast the channel edited it. Your ear was still throbbing like it was being pierced again, and lying on the couch, you felt like crying—not because it hurt that much, but because you hated the feeling of discomfort in your body.

— Darling?

You heard Pedro call you and looked over the back of the couch to see him smiling at you.

— Now I’ve finally wrapped everything up. No calls. Ugh. — He flopped onto the couch, and noticing your silence, he looked at you oddly. — What’s wrong?

— Nothing.

You denied it, not wanting to worry him.

— Look at me and say that.

He raised an eyebrow and laughed, sitting cross-legged on the couch.

— Nothing.

— Come on, baby, your ear is hurting, isn’t it?

You murmured your agreement. He then places a hand on your neck and places a kiss on your lips, you move closer, deepening the kiss until he pulls you into his chest, on the side that didn’t hurt.

— I’m sorry about this.

— It’s not your fault.

— No, but you seem exhausted by the pain, and I’m sorry for that.

— Thank you. Have you seen what everyone’s saying?

— I haven’t.

— You’re a terrible liar. They’re calling you a liar. You laughed, feeling comforted in his embrace.

— Me? A liar? Yo nunca mentiría.

— You’re a liar and ridiculously hot when you speak Spanish. “Oh, I’d never date anyone in their twenties,” and two seconds later, “And you, darling?”

— What’s wrong with that?

— Friends don’t call friends “darling.” Like, we’re friends who hook up, but you get my point.

You thought for a second and worried you’d sounded over the top in the classification you seemed to be giving you two.

— You’ve been the most argumentative exception I’ve ever made.

He said, and you nodded in agreement.

— I hope I am. I’d hate to find out another young woman took my spot as a legend.

— Legend for what?

— For being the youngest person in the world to hook up with the ridiculously hot Pedro Pascal. You said, and he laughed loudly. You didn’t know how far this would go, but you intended to enjoy the sweetness of that man for as long as it lasted

÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷

I hope everybody enjoy this.

Requests are opened!

[strawberryjackie]

Straight off the dome YJ Season 3 Finale thoughts (SPOILERS)

Yeah we're skipping Ep 9. I'm so sad it's over!

I think we can all agree that this hasn't been the best season. But holy shit did I have fun watching it and this episode was sooooo good my adrenaline was spiked the whole time.

Okay so uh wow. I was expecting a bigger cliff-hanger from the way they talked about it in interviews, but that certainly was one. And it took place on a literal cliff!

SO glad that the 8 survivors thing is lowkey invalid now since we know there were more than 8 people at the pit-girl ritual.

Shauna main characterism is real and I love her so much. She did annoy me once or twice in this episode I won't lie, and IRL I would be so scared of her, but she won me back during the Melissa thing. I knew you'd wind up to be fucking boring.

Okay controversial but I LOVED that what ended up being Lottie's downfall (no pun intended) was her just being super creepy about the wilderness to the wrong person! It's almost gotten her killed so many times, so I think it worked. Also her saying that the wilderness took their baby and Callie is the replacement is sooooo Lottie of her.

Where's Akilah. I liked her scene with Lottie but I was so concerned about her for the rest of the episode.

Poor Mari. I knew she would be pit girl but I really didn't want it to be her. Also DAMN she had maybe the most body-horrory mutilation scenes, that was AWFUL to look at.

Okay. I know this was not at all the point of this conversation between Travis and Shauna but can we talk about SLUMBER PARTY MAKEOUTS??????? Jackieshauna literally confirmed we just keep winning and winning.

Also Travis saying that he has Javi's thoughts is so sad, and also lowkey points to how fucked his brain must be from all the substance use out in the wilderness. Also maybe THIS episode should have been called 12 angry girls and 1 drunk Travis lol.

Adult Shauna kinda reaping what she sows, but also the scene between her and post-heart-consumption Tai was sweet. I wish we had more moments with them. Also their moment in the teen timeline was...way steamier than it needed to be? Idk maybe they're just really good friends...

A little sad that Jackie wasn't the antler queen but damn did I enjoy watching Shauna win. Even though she straight up lost right after.

Callie and Jeff taking space is so valid and I love their dynamic this episode, those two have incredible acting chemistry.

Van and Tai tearful hug is so important to me.

Nat/Misty dynamic this episode DELICIOUS YES PLEASE GIVE ME MORRREEEE

I want to make a million edits now but I have no idea what to do. Holy shit. We're done with season 3!! I'm sad but also so happy that it ended on a high note, this was maybe...the best episode of the season? Aside from 6 and 7 I guess.

Thanks to anyone who read and enjoyed these insane jumbles of thoughts love y'all. See you for season 4! (Showtime if you don't renew it I will FIND YOU)

[tangent101]

Lost Opportunities in Double Exposure

This started out in response to someone else's comments but honestly, I realized I was going so far afield that it deserves its own area and not muddying up waters around someone else's comments and tags ^^ So... there was a missed opportunity here that would have helped shape the character of Safi and also been more respectful to Max and Chloe for both Bae and Bay settings.

Imagine if Safi were Max's therapist in the game. Her asking questions about the "blue-haired girl" and the like would no longer be casual nosiness, but instead is a therapist trying to break through the shell of a client. She could have asked harder-hitting questions rather than one-and-done stuff that immediately leads to Max dating other people (Amanda) in both Bae and Bay settings. And the death of Safi would hit even harder because now there's concerns that Max killed her own therapist.

Let's go one step further. You could have several added lines from therapist-Safi about how Max's attempts to date other people never work out. Amanda would now exist in the Bay storyline but not the Bae one. (Amanda may even have broken up with Max and insisted that Max needs to speak to a therapist - she's acting in Chloe's stead here and even if she's no longer dating Max she still cared for Max.) You can eliminate any romance option in the game (Max is still with Chloe even if they're in a trial separation in Bae, and Max is seeking counseling over her issues that led to her breaking up with previous girlfriends in Bay), and focus more on non-romantic friendships and on a therapist/patient dynamic for Max and Safi.

The reason Max and Chloe aren't texting each other in the Bae setting may even be that Chloe is going camping with David and they're going to be outside of any cell towers. (From personal experience, when you're 8,900 feet up on a mountain in the Rockies, you don't usually have cell coverage.) And the lack of texts in Bay from any exes is because the breakups were not on the friendliest of terms (due to Max not wanting to go to counseling).

We could even have a scene in the game where Chloe gets a voice line! Chloe is telling Max that she needs to talk to a therapist about what happened a decade ago, because it's still eating away at her and Max's refusal to talk about things is poisoning their relationship. But if the player chose Bay, then it's a blue-haired ghost-Chloe talking to Max in a dream and Max wakes up sweating and in tears wondering what the fuck is going on... and maybe that she does need to talk to someone. To a therapist.

Max could even talk about having "dreams" in which she's in Arcadia Bay and can change time and make things better but how things keep fucking up no matter how much she tries. In the Bay setting she mentions dreams of a week with Chloe that never happened and then how she has to let Chloe die at the end... and in the Bae setting she talks about horrific things like the Dark Room and her fears of sexual assault and the like.

We have here ways by which Chloe is not in the story in a Bae setting that is still respectful of Chloe and Max's relationship and with only a little bit of extra work allows for a separate Bay setting that still leads Max to seeking out a therapist... and also lets Safi become someone who is trying to help Max with her issues. It is not that difficult to do either, which raises the question of why didn't D9 do this?

The answer to that is that Deck Nine (and potentially Square Enix) has a problem with Ashly Burch and Chloe Price and thus assassinated her character. And hey, you know what helps sell games? Controversy. You know what a game company does not want to encounter? Apathy.

We have seen an initial round of anger and passion about what D9 has done to Chloe. But we are now seeing a decline in interest in the game. There's one of three reasons this could be the case. First? The mercenary decision to charge $30 extra to have two weeks extra to play the first two chapters of the game. People have responded but a lot of folks may be avoiding spoilers, and once everyone else can start playing the game we'll see a lot more people talking about it. Second? The fact that we only saw two chapters released, so the only ones talking about bigger spoilers are those who hacked the game and data-mined information from it. Third? The decision to move away from an Episodic format so that players aren't waiting a month or two for each chapter, thus allowing for increased hype as each new part is released (as the first two games were).

[canmom]

Animation Night 197: we're back, let's make some shit!

Hey everyone! Happy year increment.

Animation Night hasn't been on in a while, for a variety of reasons - some of them good. And I can't promise it's going to be back as a truly regular thing, necessarily. This year, I want to focus on making stuff, and spending time w people irl. If I'm blogging a lot, it's a symptom... The release of short story A Summoning, and the next two to come, is step one on that. As-yet unnamed short film project, presently in the scripting stage, is another.

With that in mind, maybe Animation Night has served its purpose. But I'm not done with Animation Night! And to set things off on the right foot, here are two films about making art for your perusal.

Look Back surely needs no introduction for the sakubuta/weeb slice of my audience but for the rest of ya, let's set the scene a little. We have here the adaptation of a one-shot manga by our god Tatsuki Fujimoto - yes, he of Chainsaw Man! and Fire Punch, Goodbye Eri... - about two girls Fujino and Kyomoto, very overtly based on Fujimoto himself, creating manga. A story of all the intense highs and lows that come with making art, gradually escalating until an abrupt turn to tragedy late in the story that is pure Fujimoto. It's a thoughtful, slightly enigmatic story, the thought of thing that scratches an itch in your brain and leaves you oddly fired up afterwards.

The story of the animated version, recounted as well as always on sakugablog, is also rather dramatic. So, this workaholic madlad Kiyotaka Oshiyama, fed up of how anime usually goes, was the furious driving force behind a really unusual production. It's one which let the key animation of Oshiyama himself (who animated about half the film) alongside industry legends like Toshiyuki Inoue go through without the usual redrawing step, that is, without the overly-clean stiffness that tends to bring in - an approach that really let them bring out the most incredibly lively and organic animation, the kind that really lets the emotions spill out of the screen.

Like, you know me, my favourite anime is Eizouken, you know how much I love stories about girls making pictures together. But this one is really something special. And, hey, after all the controversies over whether Mappa!Chainsaw Man missed the mark or not and how it ought to have been, we have a Fujimoto adaptation that everyone seems to agree is just perfect. Hooray!

There's much, much, much more to praise on the technical side: gorgeous colour design, super smart boards with incredibly funny elaborations on Fujino's 4koma strips, pacing that really gets the feel of a Fujimoto manga - just about everyone in this year's animation awards had something to add there. And it is also really short, much more like an OVA length than the usual big film. It is just as long as it needs to be: the perfectly tight production.

Which means we've got room for another.

So the other film I've got to show...

...is not as likely to be on your radar. Nobody's even gif'd it. I saw this one at the Scotland Loves Anime festival a few months ago, and it only very recently landed on Nyaa. So let me spend a few more words introducing it.

If Look Back is the work of industry veterans at the absolute top of their game, A Few Moments of Cheers is almost aggressively new, but in other ways its story is quite similar to Look Back. The director, Popreq/poprika of the three-person studio Hooray, is basically a baby - someone who established himself making music videos in Blender, such as this:

or this:

Popreq's style is characterised by bright colour, creative shading effects like the screentone dots you see in the first video, and lively mobile camerawork - really leaning into the unique qualities of 3DCG as a medium.

So much so that someone with money approached him like 'hey can you make a movie of this'. That movie concerns, get this, a young Blender animator specialising in music videos - but it's not actually autobiographical per se, it's just that writer Jukki Hanada pretty much wrote the script around Popreq.

The stylistic debt to Makoto Shinkai is certainly there, with the warm light washing over every surface, the dramatic shots of the sky, etc. etc., but this has its own story to tell; it is about the meeting of people at various points in the brutal cycle of artmaking. Kanata (the 3D artist in question) is a bright young thing full of fire and hope; he becomes aware of his teacher Yu's talent for singing in a chance encounter on the street, unaware that she's been so ground down by her unsuccessful efforts as a singer that she's basically on the edge of giving up - a predicament shared by his friend Daisuke, who has reached a point of unfulfilment with painting.

Kanata becomes convinced he must make a music video for Yu, and his faltering efforts and the fallout of that push him onto an arc of understanding. And much as it's got that Shinkai melodrama aspect, climactic chase and all, it really does hit some notes about the pain of not making it. So much anime about making art follows the templates of sports anime: the gradual rise in fame and escalating tiers of prestige like stages in a league. It's welcome to have a film more focused on exploring the emotions of not making it.

The methods of production are also notable. At Scotland Loves Anime there was an extended interview between Jonathan Clements and Popreq which really went into the production nitty gritty... something they promised to put online but I can't seem to find anywhere. Perhaps something to follow up on later. Popreq refused to be seen on camera (despite Clements claiming he had an exceptionally beautiful bishōnen face lmao) but came across as terribly sincere. I will have to recount from memory...

The film is of course mostly rendered in Blender - in fact, there's an incredible sequence of Kanata animating in Blender that is one of my favourite parts - but it also brings in some even newer tech: its animation is largely accomplished motion capture, using a variety of tools and software, including 'Perception Neuron' used to capture crowd scenes. Popreq himself plays nearly every character with an affordable mocap rig from his home. Only a few sequences, notably the live music performance scenes, used more traditional mocap studio tech. Here and there for more cartoonish scenes, 2D animation is mixed in, fitting in very seamlessly with the lineless 3D.

This single-actor mocap approach puts it in the company of The Pig That Survived Foot and Mouth Disease, the Korean film which I wrote about here. In both films, the tech enables a style of film that just couldn't be created before. Pig That Survived takes a more naturalistic approach to acting befitting its dark Shakespearean drama, while Cheers tends to go for more comical exaggerated motion - at least for its main boy. But honestly Popreq knocks it out of the park with the acting, conveying much with a subtle head tilt. (It helps, I suppose, to be his own cinematographer as much as main actor.)

I went into AFMOC without expectations (I just thought it looked neat on the programme) and was very pleasantly surprised, and it absolutely exemplifies the spirit of just, making some shit with whatever tools come to hand. So that's why I wanna bring it to you today, and even put it alongside a masterpiece like Look Back. Between these two films... well, they say what it's all about, really. Art about the struggles of making art can get a bit wanky, but when it's done well, it hits like nothing else. And both of these films leave me fired up to make something true. I hope they'll do the same for you.

Naturally I'm starting stupid late. Animation Night 197 will be going live in just a second at the usual twitch.tv/canmom, movies starting in about 15-20 minutes - we'll be watching AFMOC and then Look Back! Hope to see you there, and either way, happy new year freaks! I wanna see what you can't resist making, in whatever medium and idiom calls to you, just like these anime kids.

[lizzzybooo]

Ok this is going to be a controversial hazbin hotel take (or maybe not I wasn't in the fandom when it peaked maybe it's everyone's take) but I just really don't like the way Charlie is treating Vaggie.

I mean I think they're super cute and I love them both but Charlie sometimes acts so self centered with her. Like putting her on the spot asking her to lead the trust exercise, but immediately making her feel bad for the way she does it. And ok fine whatever I can kinda overlook that part though it immediately felt iffy to me, but the way she was mad at Vaggie for not telling her about her past (which is a valid reason to be mad!) but then was saying "I tell her everything, how could she do this to me?" or something like that, I mean?? Vaggie loves her SO much I think Charlie definitely sees that even in the middle of this, and the fact that she didn't ask herself once in those scenes "how is it possible I never asked her enough about herself all these years we've been together to find that out?" Because I mean if you tell a person everything and they share nothing about themselves that should be a point for concern along the way, and I'm pretty sure Vaggie would have told her if Charlie took enough interest in her life.

And generally throughout entire season, Vaggie just loves Charlie so much and sees it as her duty to make her dreams come true- which is of course, something she put on herself and is not Charlie's fault, but Charlie seems more than happy with this arrangement, either so oblivious to it (which is part of her self centered behavior) or worse, is aware of that and is too comfortable with their dynamic to do anything about it. Charlie shows like almost zero interest in who Vaggie is, what her dreams are, what she thinks or how she feels. And I really don't think she has any bad intentions, and I know a lot of other things are going on, but it really rubs me the wrong way.

And even after that, there was no acknowledgement of how hard it probably was for Vaggie to lose everything she knew, everyone she probably considered her family that were so quick to cast her aside, and instead her trust issues were treated as a ~quirky~ little personality trait (and I know they probably didn't have time to delve into that, but they took the time to show how caring Vaggie was towards Charlie and her family problems, they could've shown some reciprocation at least).

And honestly I wouldn't have a problem with that necessarily, for example I don't have a problem with how toxic Blitz and Stolas are in Helluva Boss, because I see how it contributes to the story and to their personal character development, and it's very much acknowledged and is part of the narrative, but here it feels like Charlie x Vaggie are treated like this perfect power couple and their only problem is Vaggie lying, like, no???

Maybe they'll dive deeper into it next season idk, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth

[fantasylover145]

I honestly don't like the similarities between Chim and Doug with the season 5 storyline. I know that is definitely controversial. Chimney is nothing absolutely nothing like Doug and he doesn't deserve to be compared to him at all. I'm just surprised that Maddie hasn't is all. Like Maddie when truly thinking about everything that happened in season 5, even though it is entirely irrational, never thought that it was even the slightest bit similar or doesn't see the connection to her ex?! Obviously, Maddie knows that her husband did it out of love. But Doug stalked Maddie and went on a cross country road trip to find her and Chim did the same thing only Chim did so after being violent with her brother not her. I'm absolutely fucking not saying those two characters are anything alike. Chim went across the country because he was concerned for her mental health and safety, whereas Doug wanted to control, abuse and manipulate her. But in the mind of a domestic abuse victim they would look pretty fucking similar and I'm surprised she wasn't a little wary of Chim after that, especially after hearing that he punched her brother. Even though we all know AGAIN Chim is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING like Doug, to a victim of domestic violence for over a decade the similarities are a little jarring honestly. Realistically, Maddie even if she rationally knew that Chim would never in a trillion years hurt her or Jee Yun, as a trauma response and a survival tactic would be her needing space but also time to process seperating the two in her mind. I know they didn't get back together immediately after they reunited but the fact that none of this was a conflict is just crazy. Especially, when I doubt Maddie ever thought that the love of her life would hurt her little brother, even if Chim's feelings were justified, his actions were not. I'm not bashing Chim or saying he is a villain or a abuser or even a violent person or anything, I don't want this taken the wrong way. I love Chim with all my heart. But as a victim of childhood abuse myself if it was me, I would be worried and afraid and it would take me some time to process. Maddie already had a deep fear that it would happen again and that was one of the reasons it took her so long for her to get together with Chim. But sometimes you just can't help it, you think even the people who love you the most may also hurt you the most.

I would truly love an episode or storyline of Maddie and Chim going to couples therapy, of her needing some time after hearing how he hurt Buck, because no matter what the reasons it will sound exactly the same to her, Doug will probably have said similar things, "I'm sorry it won't happen again, I didn't mean it, I wasn't in my right mind, I was just so hurt and overwhelmed and angry, I would never do that again, I said I'm sorry". Realistically, Maddie would need a minute to sit with it and learn to seperate them and would need Chim to prove that he wouldn't hurt her or her brother again. Even if she knows that he would never hurt her, even if she knows that he has already proven himself a million times over, she would likely still need time to herself to forgive him for hurting her brother. Because she doesn't want to get hurt again but also she wouldn't want to be around a person who has assaulted her brother. Like does she even know at this point?! I would love to fucking know, I'd love a scene of maybe Buck making a joke about Chimney punching him again and Maddie finding out. It's just ironic that she went off on Buck rightfully so about tackling Eddie during basketball accident or not but has nothing to say about her husband punching her brother?! Maddie would definitely blame herself for Chim punching Buck since she was the reason in the first place. She has more than likely blamed for herself for Doug's abuse as well, so it would hurt even more for her to feel like she's the reason for Buck getting hurt.

But also in couples therapy, I would love for Chim to talk about his feelings after Maddie left. I'm just now noticing the similarities with Maddie and Chim's dad. Both running away and leaving Chim all alone to take care of someone who can't take care of themselves. Chimney probably felt like he was 15 years old all over again feeling similar to what he did when his father abandoned him to take care of his dying mother and Maddie abandoning him to take care of their baby girl. Even though of course AGAIN these are two wildly different scenarios, it doesn't mean it doesn't dredge up some old feelings for Chim and abandonment issues. I know everyone talks about Buck's abandonment issues extensively and even Eddie's, though to a much lesser extent. I haven't really seen anyone talk about Howard Han's. Chimney desperately needs to discuss with Maddie and a couples counsellor about how terrified and scared he was but also about how abandoned he probably felt. I want Maddie and Chim to discuss all of these things, I want Maddie to talk with a therapist and Chim about what happened in the woods and Chim to talk about the deep betrayal of his new friend/close acquaintance stabbing him.

I would much rather have an episode of Maddie talking about in therapy about how she's a little scared that what happened to Daniel may happen to her kids. Because everyone loves to talk in fan fiction about Buck realising he can't/shouldn't be a donor to Connor and Kameron because of the risk of the kid getting childhood cancer but Maddie hasn't really talked about her potential fear of Jee getting it. Additionally, it would be interesting to see if she recognises herself or even Buck in Jee, I'd love to see Maddie's feelings about everytime she see's Jee fall over or hurt herself and whether Maddie is worrying about if Jee Yun is hurting herself to get her attention like Buck did with his parents when he was a kid, or what if Jee's bruising is a sign of something wrong. Like I'd would rather have a storyline like that than Maddie getting kidnapped AGAIN!! It would  be the third fucking time!! Maddie has been held captive THREE times!! It is fucking boring at this point all the storylines for Maddie are her crying constantly, wife/mother role, dispatcher and finally kidnap victim. How many fucking times can this woman cry and get kidnapped?! Thats why I am not excited for 8x09, I think JLH is fantastic and talented but so underutilised and her scenes get repetitive and boring when they keep recycling the EXACT same traumas over and over again. I am still going to watch it because I love the show but this storyline is tired, played out, and boring. I'd much rather have an episode of Maddie talking in therapy about her fears of becoming like her mother than getting kidnapped AGAIN 🤦‍♀️.

[i-donot-forget]

New Gen, ep 1 y 2

Finally I had time for a "little" review! I'm late but better late than never. Like many, I had my expectations and I can say that, apart from 1 point that concerns me and that I will mention later. I am pleasantly surprised with the final product.

Let's start at the beginning and I want to say that I really like that they give us a full context about Ysaline's life and her family from the very first moment, it helps me to connect with her, unlike Candy who in ep 20 I think we just meet her parents. And like Ysaline, I'm ready to make the same mistakes again and even worse (Why go for 1 boss? if you can go for 2 😏)

The animations, I don't want to leave out the animations, from the changes of expression of our character in each dialogue, to the, at first weird but then not so weird, "camera close-ups", I loved them. Thomas peeking out from the side of the screen or when a route approaches us in the moments of the dates, are an extra touch that helped me to get more into the story.

Regarding the routes and characters in general I want to say that I find them nice, it is a varied group in personalities which is what interests me the most and I want to discover who have their own groups and who are besties (the scene where they all run into Devon's office is awesome). Now with the routes, from second 1 I declared myself Jason and Thomas route, which I tried to follow but to my surprise, just following my instinct I ended up on Devon and Jason's routes…. (by the way the new Cassy/Nath) The personalities of the routes are well defined and, at least in my experience with Devon and Jason I felt "chemistry" that with the others I didn't (and that's ok, I'm not looking to fall in love with everyone).

Now talking about plots, I feel they have a lot to draw from, and although I know that showing the Cosy Bear Cafe event would be very difficult due to the personalization of each player, I don't deny that I would like to see it in NG. I don't mind that some arcs may be cliche, as long as they take risks as they have been doing in MCLLL, I want to see controversial and/or sensitive topics!

And finally… my ONLY complaint, and more than a complaint is a concern, is the issue of the points and not the PA's, no, not at all, I made a very quick calculation and it's fine. But the gems is another thing, 2 per day + 7 on the last day of the month gives us between 65 and 67, if they release 1 episode every 2 months, well that's perfect, you have 130-134 gems for the episode. What's the "but" then? I'm a sl@t and I like to have special moments with more than one route… in this case 2, if it is 1 additional scene per route and each one costs 120 gems, in an episode I would have 240… so I would have to wait DOUBLE to play an episode my way, to my taste… Is it unforgivable? Not at all, it's a detail in fact, but if someone would read this, they could lower it a little… just a little, maybe to 100 and I wouldn't feel so devastated ☹️

Other than that, and to close. New Gen was a positive surprise, you can see the love that is in the game, in terms of gameplay, graphics, animations, etc, etc. 100/10 nothing to say, excellent work. I TRUST that this quality that reflects the growth of Beemoov as a company and MCL as a franchise, will be seen in the plot, in the arcs and in the development of the routes, which after all, is the most important thing for the players.

So thanks for reading ❤️ and see you early tomorrow morning at the office…

[andros-paidophonoio]

My other controversial trait is I don't care for but I also don't hate Lore Olympus lmfao. I think it's frustrating to me for various reasons but all of them are completely different from the main reasons I see people hate it and I rarely see MY complaints and critiques come up which is pretty funny. Not that some critiques don't have merit, but a lot especially I remember from several years ago were ur run of the mill "sexualizing fetishizing & the young women r being led astray" from the same people also being nostalgic about their effervescent Twilight phases and problematic cartoon husbandos and it's like, let's be fucking real

I understand the being concerned about it giving the Wrong Impression of the mythological characters etc but it's just visually and stylistically SO different and distinct and basically looks and comes across like Teenybopper Inside Out. I feel like thinking it represents anything realistic to the irl material feels a little idk.....losing chess to a dog-ish. Losing chess to an archie comic. Personally I get more concerned about adapations that have an appearance and sheen of being "accurate" or educational and serious while peddling more misinformation XD So that in mind, most of my evaluation of the story is a bit separate from that aspect, which has already been discussed and analyzed a lot–i generally try to evaluate based on the internal world that a story creates and how it comes across to ME.

More of my thoughts (playing defense AND personal haterisms)

I personally find the main Fantasy of the comic to be extremely vanilla LMAO and Fine...its basically "what if I was a super hot and pretty girl but ALSO sort of underdog-ish but ALSO I had sexy older BF who was kind and listens to me and wants to worship the ground inwalk on and we have cute little fluffy conversations and dates and ALSO I'm super sexy and evil and powerful but ALSO Good and Innocent and Blameless--" it's kind of an incoherent mess, but it's trying to appeal to a variety of fantasies all at once, and I think the desires that are expressed are pretty basic ones lol. I know there's also the rumor (?) of the Hades basically being authors self insert Mads Mikkelsen au crush or whatever which ppl made fun of but like genuinely What is Wrong With That. It's a bit silly but how is that problematic or my business.

I actually liked Perse's character and parts of her arc, I think the strongest parts of the comic was parts like the gentle romance portions where characters got to "be themselves" and just hang out in more slice of life style stuff (before it weirdly delved into therapist talking). There are some really great expressions of emotion and nervousness around sex and desire and shame. And the fantasy of having an understanding person to be a friend and talk to and open up to and speak in a respectful way was pretty sweet, and a lot MORE gentle than tbh a lot of Edgy Romance where theove interest is just Mean and Insulting for a while. So while I find aspects of maybe the characters getting flat, I found that personally kind of more positive in terms of "lessons and takeaways." So it's funny to me when ppl talk about the comic as The Most Evil Fetishizing Ever when so much of it honestly feels sanded down to Niceness lmfao. I also weirdly found that it felt at times very sexually or sensually restrained–like I get it's for more younger audience, but the kind of coy dancing around stuff at times (I wonder from webtoon meddling) felt weirder than maybe being more open about it. In a weird way, the rape scene from earlier on in the story felt more explored in how it had an impact than later parts. I wonder if that's because it was before it became so popular and also started getting more attention and criticisms that then seem to have subsumed into the work in weird ways.

I guess it's overall, in the end, one of those stories that is very much speaking to the modern age and the modern (straight ig) young women; where the OG Story and hymn was about grief of losing child to a marriage out of ur control (and includes the comfort of other mothers or matriarchs), I feel this (clumsily) speaks to a kind of different struggle. Aka the issue of wanting to express and enjoy sexuality freely but being faced with the prospect of interpersonal sexual violence, or people seeking to control said sexuality either out of protection or their own gain, the idea that you become seen as "evil" once u express ur sexual desires or become "tainted" by association with a man in a way that isn't a Socially Sanctioned way. It's clumsy, but it's real, and a lot of stories I see in this subject are grappling with this a lot. Esp for an era where many women do have a lot more freedom to pursue and find partners by choice than in ancient times, but the journey to that kind of happiness can be held up by such adverse experiences and subsequent emotional states/expectations.

I think my problem with a lot of romantic stuff, including this, that wants to balance these twin fantasies–one of being Very Powerful and Dangerous, but also of being Blameless and Good, are often kind of at odds and can result in some pretty Bad Storytelling that often ends up kind of trying to backtrack and do apologism for the Bad Actions in a way that just feels weak And noncommittal (if ur gonna be evil girl BE EVIL), and also kind of gets weird because The Protagonist, and the Couple(tm) must Always Be Good, and this cannot always be the case!!! In fact, it can make characters end up looking worse lol. Solomon's Crown does this too and that I am offended by for the same reasons!!!

Anyways, I haven't finished the whole comic, although I found a lot of the later arcs very intriguing although it took too fucking long to get to it because of the other problems that irritated me which consist of the following in no particular order:

THE VERY UNFUNNY HUMOR. I hated the jokes so much. I feel this is a problem with a lot of serials where they try to stay topical but boy I do not give a shit. That and when characters started speaking more like therapists, it brings the Drama to a screeching halt. And we are supposed to be HERE for drama!!! This is the main reason it always takes me so long to read like there will be an interesting serious scene and then the jokes will be so bad and deflating the impact. Sad!

Minthe. Treatment of her character left a bad taste in my mouth; last I left off I kind of liked more time spent on her, but in general i just felt really weird about the role her character played

Generally disinterested in all the other characters aside from the main couple. Perse is really fun and I feel there's the most "real" experience poured into her mixed with fantasy.

The opening episodes are indeed extremely off-putting to me so I don't blame people for not getting into it bc it starts off with some bro-y behavior that is corny. And it never quite feels "established" in its setting which is an issue to me with a lot of webtoons but for here especially it feels very like I said earlier like Teenybopper Inside Out. These characters are fantastical concepts, but only at times do they feel real as People

Anyways it's one of those things where I can genuinely see the charm in it--i can see exactly why it blew up how it did, but also like most webtoon it invites the most simplified types of comments ever where every single character has to be Good or Bad and if anyone does anything complex everyone throws a riot. So I don't doubt that the environment in which the story was produced affected the way that it is formatted and created. In this sense it's an interesting work to consider culturally and sociplogically. I think it is part of the greater conversation of why such works connect to people for greater or ill at all. Still, the Bad Jokes will keep me from probably having the true knowledge and I definitely will continue going my own way

(I do have a few AU concepts tho I'd like to think about sometimes....infeel like some aspects of the story I think a transmasc perse is interesting to think about, especially the whole weird definitions of the "fertility goddess" and "pure maiden" aspect, and the desire for LO!Apollo to want them to embody kind of an Ideal Wifepartner to gain power and prestige...more disturbing but also interesting implications and stakes to think about. canon LO I see seems to be about moving from maiden to the fertility goddess aspect but what if there were other identity avenues to be explored? Also I was thinking that a lot of the LO haters I get it we don't like cringe heteros that's fair but I know a lot of y'all r reading BL that use the EXACT SAME TROPES but even more corny and it's like.....sometimes humans crave corniness I get it. It would be too many layers of gender for the original to even be considering lmfao but since a lot of the story is about finding the Self and also facing resistance for it, I don't think it would be unthinkable....the fantasy worldbuilding going on is like ??? But sometimes it produces some stuff I think more deeply about)

[grace--le--domas]

PJO- Some Show Recommendations for the showrunners if s2 is greenlit

Season 1 was kinda...boring? Honestly, that is the last thing I expected a PJO adaptation to be. The books aren't perfect, but they are fun! There is friendship, adventure, humour, all while still the characters grapple with some pretty serious stuff. The show (except for the first two episodes and the finale) feels stiff.

Show is too exposition-y, the pacing is off and it of course breaks the cardinal rule of show- don't -tell.

Thankfully, the concerns are easily remedied. Coming of age stories are a dime and dozen, and I think that the showrunners could actually learn from the TV shows and movies of past. So, I compiled some recommendations for them :) Read on if extensive analysis is your thing :)

Buffy The Vampire Slayer- Honestly, this is theee coming of age story. It follows Buffy (the chosen one), as she navigates high school, college and eventually adulthood, along with slaying vampires. And instead of a sullen main character, we as an audience are treated to a sassy, take-no-prisoners variant of the chosen one trope. There are so many similarities between Percy and Buffy- both are loyal to a fault, sarcastic and stubborn. They understand that they cannot escape their respective destinies, but they'll be damned if they don't see things through their own way. Both are brave to a fault, and adore their found families. The writers could take some inspiration from BTVS and Buffy's character arc (to an extent). Bonus- BTVS has great examples of melding humour in serious situations.

2. Mission Impossible Series- This one might be a bit controversial, but hear me out. I know most people consider the MI films popcorn flicks-and they are- but most the movies in the series are paced excellently. There is a sense of urgency in MI films- which was severely lacking in the PJO show. Have a deadline, let me feel anxious for these kids.

MI also has some excellent action scenes. And before you say, well PJO is not an action series, I would like to say that I agree- but the beauty of adaptating something is that you get to change things. Well paced action sequences, even if they are about a minute or so, are necessary break up the exposition dumps. It breaks the monotony. It makes you feel afraid for these kids, who are running from one dangerous situation/monster to another.

3. Dune (2023)- Thematically, Dune is vastly different from PJO. I am including it in this list for several reasons- editing, cinematography world building and sound editing.

To put it bluntly, I don't feel connected to the world of the PJO series at all- which is a shame because it is an incredible world! Greek mythological creatures co-existing with the modern world! Modern myths! Greek gods!. But it is all introduced in the most boring, exposition-y way possible.

The cinematography doesn't shine until the last episode. I want interesting shots, fluid camera movements- just anything that breaks the monotony of scenes. For example- I loved Poseidon's introduction, why wasn't this type of cinematography present in the rest of the series. Shoot the gods differently, make use of different camera compositions. Experiment a little for god's sake.

Coming to sound, yeah this one was the most disappointing of all. There are no memorable sound motifs, which is a shame because sound can convey so much more than words in certain scenes. I say Harry Potter music and you instantly think about the charcteristic symphony. This is missing sorely in the tv show.

Sidenote- I would have chosen Nathan Barr as the music composer (missed opportunity Disney). Look up his work, and you'll understand why I said this.

Coming to editing, yeah the editing is clunky at best. That is all I have to say about that for the moment.

Let me know if anyone wants a part 2 :)

[mdhwrites]

about your aventurine rant- i don’t think agreeing w/ ratio’s assessment is the best stance to go with. ratio admits himself to his personal bias and he’s shown to be a jackass to people he thinks are stupid. even if he wants to spread education, he’s still mean and rude to people who are ‘less educated’ than himself, and saying aventurine is stupid despite knowing he had no education as a kid is kind of…? and agreeing with the (again, opinionated and biased and ignorant!!!!) statements from sparkle and ratio isn’t the best. aventurine isn’t stupid, gambling requires a level of logic and maths that isn’t elementary, and if he was stupid he sure as hell wouldn’t be one of the stonehearts. we also aren’t sure WHAT ratio’s motives are or how ‘allied’ he is with aventurine. from what little we know they can literally just be allied for one small thing, ratio isn’t against the idea of working for his own goals and we don’t know if ratio would betray aventurine. caution for a gambler isn’t a dumb move.

Before I get into this, I will actually admit that I didn't provide as much evidence as I should have in the first blog for what I knew was a controversial take. Let me correct that.

Let's start first just with your supposition that Ratio isn't an ally of Aventurine's: They are LITERALLY working together. They are LITERALLY both a part of the IPC (the Intelligentsia Guild is a branch of the IPC). Ratio only tries to leave so as to tell their BOSSES that the person assigned to lead this fucked up at step one because he managed to lose all of their leverage. They are LITERALLY working together but here's the thing:

Ratio just wants to know that this gambler has a plan that has a chance to succeed. He would have worked with him if Aventurine had even TRIED to give him one.

Now I won't say the scene is perfect. As far as I'm concerned, Ratio seems to flip flop a bit character wise because he's willing to actively try to hurt Aventurine when later apologizing that he didn't mean to offend. The latter is much more in character for Ratio, who does judge people on merit, even if harshly. Also, the line where he calls Aventurine a Sigonian thrall is just... Not good because it's entirely without reason to be brought up. It's not an answer to Aventurine's question, it's just to point out that he was a slave. It's really bad exposition which a LOT of the stuff about him Sigonian feels like. Not character work, just exposition. This becomes even more true as not true to Ratio's character because Ratio actually does give Aventurine a lot of time despite Aventurine still not being willing to tell him his plan. If it were just that Ratio was racist and biased, he would have left when he said he would and not listened to another word out of Aventurine's mouth. He would have been looking for any reason to drop this Sigonian Thrall like a hot rock. Instead, he sticks around despite the fact that the second Aventurine walks in, the onus of trust is on HIM right now. Aventurine has already fucked up in a slight way by being late and wasting his colleagues time, but also in a major way by losing his gifts and the cornerstones and so now he needs to give Ratio a reason to believe that Aventurine can do this. To trust him as the lead on this job.

But he doesn't. Instead, after trying to point the question back at Ratio, he plays his parents being dead for pity, a manipulation to get Ratio to drop the trust thing because otherwise he has no reason to bring it up. Even in the next line, he admits that his parents DID teach him life lessons. So Ratio should trust him because his parents are dead and because this grown ass man, who has had to theoretically work with a LOT of people, doesn't understand the foundation of literally any partnership. Not because, I dunno... Anything else? Anything tangible? Like Ratio hasn't, besides the out of character racism (again, the man does judge people by their merits and someone who supposedly is against ignorance should not lean into something almost always built on ignorance), given Aventurine a reason not to trust him. To not want to work with the person who is in this room to WORK WITH HIM. But then again, Aventurine gives NO ONE a reason to trust him. Not because of his race but because he's an asshole who seems to think he can just tell people to work with him and they will. The ONLY time he actually offers someone a reason to work with him is at the end of the patch when he's talking to the trailblazer about their deal. Even Black Swan admits she has no reason to work with him besides the fact that she thinks she can trust him because he's a 'good businessman'. He doesn't give Ratio a reason though and he doesn't even TRY to give Sparkle a reason. He doesn't even resort to "Don't you want to be on the winner's side."

Speaking of the racist part: This is... Rough. I am against bigotry in all forms. In theory, I empathize with someone who has been mistreated and mischaracterized for their race. It is dangerous to bring in racism for a fictional race though because it's a very complicated topic, especially when you're using it as effectively exposition on that race. It is how we know what people think of Sigonians after all. If this is meant to be negative stereotyping though, that people are judging him for his eyes and not his actions, then these traits should appear untrue in regards to him. Then he as actually experienced racism.

So what are the traits? Especially the ones most assigned to Aventurine? For the race as a whole, they are, as described by Sparkle to literally point out how Aventurine is following the stereotype: Liars, thieves, social manipulators and wolves in sheep's clothing. So, if we want to say that Ratio and Sparkle are being unfair to Aventurine, ignoring his actions because of his race's stereotype, rather than just pointing out that he is a Sigonian for *shrug* Character exposition mostly frankly? We have to interrogate if Aventurine matches this description:

Liars: I will give him this. While he makes a couple claims he can't verify 100%, he actually hasn't appeared to lie to anyone. The closest he comes is claiming his parents didn't teach him life lessons before then, you know, saying they taught him a life lesson once Ratio drops the subject the statement was useful though. He does actually even correct someone though when it would have been useful for him to have let her be wrong as admitting you stalked someone for longer than they thought is kind of a bad look for you.

Thief: We have not seen him steal anything so this is bluntly untrue. However, he is also never accused of theft or given a chance where stealing might be useful to him and passing it up/or doing it so it's really still up in the air.

Social Manipulators: Aventurine claims that his parents died before he could be taught that trust is an important part of any human relationship. However, he literally says, no ambiguity, that they taught him, "Friends are the weapons of the Avgin." Then with Sparkle, he confirms, "I am an Avgin."

...Did... Did you literally just say that above actually working with people and being nice to others, your culture taught you to use people and see them as tools? Which mind you, IS how Aventurine treats everyone. Everything is quid pro quo. Everyone is out to backstab each other. You cannot escape his game because you're already trapped in it. He will KIDNAP you, say it was saving you, and portray others as villains (he cannot prove Acheron killed Duke Inferno. His story instead could apply to pretty much everyone here but blaming it on Acheron is the most useful here. He also only lists murderous aeons for what she could be, even though he doesn't know. Again, that paints her as dangerous and thus he is the 'safe' option) so as to make his arguments more enticing. He literally uses the death of his parents to get Ratio to drop a subject. Sparkle accuses him of being silver tongued as the only truly direct insult on his character. THIS is the trait she is using the Sigonian bloodline to interrogate and it's the one that holds up the most true for him, especially since he STALKED HER FOR FORTY FIVE MINUTES! If I were in her shoes, I'd have a pretty negative opinion about this creep too, especially because only do that sort of thing to gain information you can use on someone else because you know you don't have leverage on them if you just went and talked to them like a human being, which Aventurine isn't treating Sparkle as even before talking to her.

The ONE kindness I will give him here is that he doesn't blackmail the trailblazer with the truth he has. He promises he'll give us an option after he shows us it. That is a genuinely good moment and good for any redemptive qualities of his character. It is a moment that helps but by no means fixes the rest of these problems.

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Acheron saves us. As far as we can tell, he uses honeyed words and an excuse to be in our room in order to make us vulnerable so that he can better use us to his ends, like a wolf pretending to be a sheep. Then he finishes his talk by menacing us and saying that we are already a part of his game. As far as the presentation goes, it looks like he's about to grab us by the shoulders and drown us in the dream pool. It is shot like the moment before an over the top action villain murders one of his henchman with sadistic glee. So yeah, he counts for this one too in my opinion.

So for the stereotype of his race, especially of the one that he is actually accused of being... He just is it. They are not being bigoted towards him, they are being ACCURATE, at least with what he is most commonly doing. After all, even the talk with Himeko ends with him excited to see what his 'friends' will do for him. Now, it is still wrong for them to do. Bigotry is awful but you do have to treat it differently in a narrative where YOU decide what those stereotypes are. To write a character who leans so hard into the negative stereotypes of the race you made... is not a great way to write a character who is trying to gain sympathy because racism is happening against him, especially when he honestly comes across like he'd potentially use this to his advantage.

Final point: Him being a Stoneheart or gambler proves nothing. They are only titles. If you want to SAY it means he's smart, go ahead. Show always beats tell though. A character's actions are more important than their words or titles. Meanwhile, this dumbass rejected help from a colleague who is there to help him and work with him, who he kept waiting, in the same conversation he's talking about needing friends. He stalked someone for 45 minutes who he wants to make his 'friend' which gives her ZERO reason to want to work with him in any capacity. Then he menaces someone he wants to be his FRIEND for NO REASON. Aventurine is not good at his job.

The closest he ever gets to a win is against Himeko, who is BAFFLING in this update, because he's right. She asks for a favor for nothing in return except a title which I just called out as meaningless. He also calls this out, which is showing his hand, before accepting the soft power which... Also makes the soft power moot, meaning he actually did do exactly what Himeko wanted him to. Give him what she wants while owing him nothing. After all, the idea behind soft power is that you garner good will with someone by doing acts that have no strings attached. That people want to be around you because you are simply a good ally to have, not just because you can make a deal with them. Aventurine on the other hand explicitly makes it clear that he's doing this because he plans to call on a favor from us. Not that we HAVE to do it (you know, until the end of his conversation with us in our room which is effectively him saying we WILL help him) but that he WILL make a price for this, removing the good will that he should be trying to gain.

Aventurine having a tragic backstory and having people bring up his race does not dismiss these flaws in his character. When a villain talks about having faced adversity when he was young, that doesn't justify the cruelties he performed. When you tell a bully their abusive to others and they say their parents abused them, that doesn't make continuing the cycle of violence and horrendous treatment correct.

It just means that as a writer, you are using these real world elements to manipulate your audience rather than actually interrogating these matters. Aventurine is not some deep exploration of racism or the effects of slavery on a person. He's a dumbass with a tragic backstory who still needs to prove he's a good person, regardless of his race or upbringing, because so far he is simply not. He could improve with future updates but for the guy we are literally forced to work with in the end?

It's not exactly a good showing, for him or his people, or for the idea that him having been the victim of such injustices is going to actually be explored or have any nuance to them. In other words: It's bad writing.

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

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[mariacallous]

Considering how many of them (not necessarily any of the performers interviewed/featured) were saying they were supporting Trump in 2024, I don't know what to tell them now since Project 2025 was always going to target and censor porn (of any definition).

Asa Akira doesn’t want your teenager learning about sex from her videos any more than you do.

“It's devastating to me that someone's first experience of sex could be a gang-bang scene of mine. Like, that's not OK,” says Akira, 40, from inside a spacious villa at the Sunset Marquis hotel in West Hollywood, where she and other adult stars are getting their hair and makeup done for the seventh annual Pornhub Awards at the nearby Saddle Ranch Chop House.

The suite, which features a grand piano currently topped with different styles of fake eyelashes, has the distinct slightly burnt smell of recently straightened hair. A TV plays music videos by Lady Gaga and Avril Lavigne—I’m told a Katy Perry track was mocked relentlessly earlier in the day.

Akira, a 5'2'' titan of the industry who, according to the Internet Adult Film Database, has appeared in more than 900 adult films, understands the concerns about minors looking at porn, but she doesn’t think it’s a problem for her industry to solve. More so, she thinks it’s a societal issue that should be addressed with more practical sex education.

“If we had better sex ed, young people would not look to porn as education, just like they don't look to a movie to learn how to act in the world … When it comes to sex, or even being nude, we talk about it so little. Of course, when they're naturally curious at a certain age, the only thing to look at right now is porn, and of course they're gonna look.”

They might have a harder time looking these days, depending on where they live. Last week, the Arizona House of Representatives passed a bill requiring adult websites to verify that their visitors are at least 18. If signed into law by Governor Katie Hobbs, Arizona will become the 21st state to pass a similar measure since Louisiana started the trend in 2022. But in most cases, rather than rely on third-party services to collect people’s identification data, Pornhub has opted to remove its content from the impacted jurisdictions, meaning it is no longer available in at least 17 states.

Alex Kekesi, vice president of brand and community for Pornhub, says the site agreed to verify user ages in Louisiana, but it resulted in an 80 percent drop in traffic because people didn’t want to hand over their IDs. While Kekesi says Pornhub is in favor of preventing minors from watching porn, the company doesn’t believe these bans are the right way to go about it. Still, Pornhub remains one of the most visited websites in the world, which shows that the consumption of pornography, despite being controversial, is in fact extremely mainstream.

WIRED spent a day in Los Angeles with Akira and several of Pornhub’s other biggest stars as they got ready for and attended the awards show. The event was Western-themed, in spite—or perhaps because—of the fact that most of the age-verification legislation in the US is coming from the southern states. The stars in attendance discussed how social media censorship and Pornhub’s greatly reduced footprint are impacting their bottom lines, the pros and cons of shooting “mainstream” studio porn versus self-publishing their own videos, the struggles of online dating, and celebrating transgender porn—a category that’s been steadily rising in popularity—under a presidential administration that is openly hostile to trans bodies.

Pornhub is on an image rehabilitation journey. In December 2023, its Canadian parent company Aylo admitted to profiting from the proceeds of sex trafficking videos in federal court in Brooklyn. A 2020 New York Times investigation revealed multiple allegations accusing the site of hosting—and monetizing–videos showing child abuse; it has also been sued by dozens of women accusing it of sex trafficking. As part of an agreement with the US government, in 2023 Aylo, which has been acquired by private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners, consented to a three-year independent monitor and to pay a fine and damages. It also publishes twice-yearly transparency reports, says it has beefed up how it verifies the IDs and releases of uploaders and performers on the site, and partnered with the Internet Watch Foundation to create a set of good practices for porn sites in order to prevent the publication of child sexual abuse material.

“We are really quite buttoned up when it comes to our trust and safety protocol,” Kekesi says, adding they are incorporating AI into content moderation.

She says Pornhub supports an age verification system for users that could be done through a person’s phone, rather than by using a third-party site. Part of the reason she’s been doing so much press, she adds, is she wants governments and tech companies to “collaborate and work together on an effective solution.”

But many US politicians are taking a much harsher stance. Last week, US senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, introduced a bill that would criminalize pornography federally.

“Obscenity isn’t protected by the First Amendment, but hazy and unenforceable legal definitions have allowed extreme pornography to saturate American society and reach countless children,” Lee stated in a press release promoting the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act. The bill targets “actual or simulated sexual acts with the objective intent to arouse, titillate, or gratify the sexual desires of a person” and content that “lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”

A hidden-camera video published last year by the British nonprofit Centre for Climate Reporting showed Project 2025 coauthor Russell Vought saying the age-verification laws were a “back door” way of enacting a federal porn ban.

“We’ve got a number of states that are passing this and, you know, what happens is the porn company then says, ‘We’re not going to do business in your state,’ which of course is entirely what we were after, right?” said Vought, a Christian nationalist who is now head of the federal government’s Office of Management and Budget.

The age-verification laws have resulted in lawsuits, both from state governments suing website operators for allegedly failing to comply and from adult entertainment groups suing states for violating free speech laws. The US Supreme Court is currently reviewing a Texas case, which could have huge implications for the future of age-verification laws.

These measures appear to be, at least in part, ideologically motivated as part of a larger push for Americans to return to ultra-traditional Christian values, have lots of kids, and embrace old-school gender roles.

The funny thing is, when I ask Akira how she balances a porn career with being a mother of a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old, she says her job has actually allowed her to be around her kids all the time.

“In my kids’ eyes, I am a stay-at-home mom,” she says, sitting in front of a six-foot-tall mirror, her glittery turquoise eyeshadow popping in contrast to the baggy gray T-shirt and sweats she has on. “I'm kind of worried that they're not gonna understand the concept of work, because I'm home when they are.”

Akira’s own parents are Japanese immigrants, but because they are both creatives, she says they weren’t as strict on her as one might expect. Still, they did send her to private school, and while supportive, “they would literally rather have me do anything else in the world,” she says, laughing.

When she and her husband decided to start their own family, around seven years ago, she stopped shooting scenes with partners because it’s too time consuming. Plus, her husband would be too jealous, she adds.

“There's no way he could handle it,” she says.

Though she’s open with her kids about where babies come from and the proper names for private parts, they’re too young to understand what she does for a living, so she tells them she’s a video producer.

“I don't want to lie to them, you know. And I'm hoping that I'm laying all the building blocks so that when the time comes when it's appropriate to tell them, I can be like, ‘Oh, well, you know how I make videos—they're only for grown-ups,’”

Porn's peaks and valleys

Akira started out as a dominatrix in her native New York City at age 19 before moving into adult films. Initially, she mostly did movies shot by studios, and got off on it.

“Being on set, people watching me … You and the other performer are forcing this chemistry to make this product that people are going to jerk off to. All of that to me is hot.”

But self-publishing solo videos on Pornhub or OnlyFans, as she now does, means she gets to keep a much bigger cut.

“There are people who make millions a month on OnlyFans,” she says, though she won’t disclose her own earnings. At the height of her studio career, she was earning up to $4,000 for some threesome scenes, but she says studio performers don’t typically see any additional money beyond what they make on the day of the shoot.

Fellow Pornhub ambassador Queenie Sateen, who is up for the award of top lesbian performer, has only been in the game for three years, and has primarily done studio porn—“it’s more glamorous,” she says. She admits that having focused less on developing a massive OnlyFans audience may have been to her detriment. But even that’s not fail-proof. She says the top self-published earners she knows are seeing “big, big decreases in their subscribers.” She’s also heard about some studios using AI clauses in fine print that would allow them to use actors’ likenesses to create scenes they didn’t perform, another possible threat to their bottom line, in addition to potentially being unethical.

“There's peaks and valleys, and I feel like we're in a valley,” she says. As a musician, she says she’s considered a “re-pivot” in that direction if porn continues to be less lucrative. Akira chimes in that her primary source of income has varied over the years, from strip club tours to Snapchat Premium subscriptions to her branded fleshlight.

Frequent social media bans and censorship don’t make things easier. Akira, who is nominated for favorite social media personality, is on her seventh Instagram account because she says Instagram shut down the previous six. To avoid further scrutiny, her current account is so heavily sanitized “that it’s practically fraudulent.” Pornhub itself was kicked off Instagram, where it had over 13 million followers, in the fall of 2022.

“It hurts my feelings on a personal level,” Akira says. “On a business level, it makes things very, very hard. It's hard to sell sex when you can't promote it on any type of mainstream platform.”

Natassia Dreams, who is nominated for favorite trans model, is on her 16th Instagram account. As a Black trans star, she says being “one of the most marginalized on top of the marginalized, marginalized, marginalized in all of the fields, it's really special to have these moments and lift each other up.”

Dreams got into porn in 2004 because it felt safer than escorting. But it hasn’t been easy, even with trans porn growing in viewership—there’s data suggesting it’s especially popular in red states—and being recognized for more awards. (Pornhub had five trans categories this year, after adding a new one in 2024.) She attributes it to an increase in fluidity around gender and attraction across the culture, but says trans characters in mainstream porn are often fetishized for the male gaze.

“I just feel like they don't want to project the trans woman as a beautiful woman, because it's in their fantasy. They want to keep a trans woman as that little dirty secret,” she says, adding that she wants to see more trans writers and directors, along with more romantic storylines.

While all of the women have their “no lists”—sex acts they won’t do—Akira says it’s a privilege to be able to turn down work. It’s a luxury she didn’t always have. When she started out, “I built my name on shooting Asian fetish content.” When she still shot with men, her no list ended up including reverse cowgirl because it’s uncomfortable. Sateen’s? “No mommy shit.” Dreams, meanwhile, says her no list includes a man she shot with for 11 years. One of the job’s occupational hazards, she says, is catching feelings for someone who is great in bed.

“You’re building this relationship but then it’s like, OK, this is just work.” On the flip side, being on dating apps like Raya, is “very frustrating.”

“People expect that you’re like this person they’ve seen in the videos.”

Showtime

After six hours of hair, makeup, salads, and getting into Western costumes designed by Chris Habana, who has outfitted and accessorized stars like Beyoncé and Rihanna, it’s almost showtime.

Akira wears a baby blue dress spotted with belt buckles, Sateen is in chaps, and Dreams dons a floor-length purple fur coat lined with cash. The three of them and a handful of other stars storm the Sunset Marquis’ hallways and grounds to take a million sexually charged family-photo-style pics, as non-Pornhub-affiliated hotel guests gape in confusion. Then they pile into a party bus and continue to pose for paparazzi-style photos as they clamor out into the night.

A woman on the sidewalk outside Saddle Ranch asks her friend who these people are.

“Those are the people your friends jerk off to,” her friend responds.

The Saddle Ranch has a red carpet, set against a wall of bounty-hunter-style “wanted” posters depicting famous porn stars. It’s an informal affair—90 percent just a party, with stars like Kim Petras and Diplo in attendance. There’s a mechanical bull, a giant banana mascot in a bandana and cowboy hat, and gift bags with weed gummies.

Host and comedian Jordan Firstman hands out the awards, which go by quickly, with acceptance speeches featuring lines like, “Thank you for everybody in this room who has fucked me so good.” The only speech I catch that approaches a political message comes from Girthmaster, an Aussie who ties for “best dick” with Spanish performer Jordi El Niño Polla. “I guess this is another reason immigrants are good,” the 6'6'' Girthmaster says, to loud cheers.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect is that it’s pretty tame, sexually speaking. Firstman, who tells me he’s been to Pornhub after-parties in the past and noticed a distinct lack of orgies, offers a possible explanation.

“I think it's like when you have sex for a living, the work events tend to be more social than turned up.”

Akira says for her the night is about celebrating sex positivity at a time when that’s getting harder to come by. Then she gets a little defiant.

“I’m 40 years old. I can do whatever I want with my pussy. It’s kind of sad that that’s radical.”

[masquayla-the-splendid]

(Not) small ramble.

This is why I love Tumblr, I can make text posts that aren’t on Twitter.

This whole situation with the Talbert files and the Pinkypills thing made me realize how immature the fnaf fandom has become. Like I thought I felt something change by the time Security Breach came out, but it became glaringly obvious when the Scott Doxx happened a while ago.

As soon as that happened, people were more quick to be angry at Scott's decisions that should not be public in the first place, than at the person who leaked that info "for the lolz." Like okay I understand if you're concerned where your money's going after knowing that, but then that should be the case for all transactions ever.

Then, the "in regards to whether the books are canon or not, yes." And then people got mad at him for not answering directly, or it just went over their heads and now they think the books are canon. Like guys, he's a troll, that's how he always is.

And in 2023, we had all the Fanverse drama, and people getting way too heated over different theories.

The Movie hate I have a theory for.

If you were in the fandom around 2015/2016, you might remember how often fnaf got generalized 'for kids' online, or that a large portion of the fandom were kids, so therefore it was cringe. (This is at cringe culture's peak btw.) Years later, the "fnaf vhs horror" videos introduced a more mature portrayal than the source material. I don't have tiktok, but I imagine clips of these got reposted like crazy. This lead to fans that left a while ago and 'cringe haters' to be like "oOOh what did I miss?👀" They are now in a state of "SEE, FNAF ISNT FOR KIDS, SEE?? SEE???" Cringe denial. Then, when the movie came out, they had their expectations ramped up for a gore fest in a similar style, but failed to realize Fnaf was always campy with little to no gore. This is why the table fort scene is "so controversial." Then, some other people who liked the movie, just not that scene, were coping with, "THEYRE JUST KIDS" or "THEY TRYING TO TRICK ABBY INTO TRUSTING HER." The former is more believable, but you can easily just chalk it up to, "They're entertainer robots. They're built to have fun. The murdery is the twist."

Then VR2 happened, which like a bottle of soda pop, went flat really fast. We were still doing things in VR1 longer when that came out.

And now we're at our second drought. The first one was in 2017 before fnaf 6. And again, people are throwing a fit about Scott "defending" pinkypills, and not at the person pretending to be Scott. It's not as bad as the first time, but it's notable. Which by the way, the way he handles these types of situations is very serious and mature from any other content creator. However, I feel like he just doesn't know where to draw the "okay what in tarnation??" line, because he fired the other artist for doing the same things.

Overall, the fandom has become really whiney about every little thing recently. I think it's because from 2014-2016, we were very centered with fan-creativity, and now, since there is too much content to digest at once for newcomers, we have become very centered with theories and lil blues clues. It also doesn't help that there isn't any new content to dwell on, so we're all stuck with eachother.

Twice in Dawkos interview, Scott says something along the lines of no matter the lore, all he cares about is that is characters are enjoyed.

[professional-rat-eater]

So when Obi-Wan dedicates his life to Anakin because he loves him, it's seen as admirable or at the very least is an interesting and worthwhile story beat to you, wrapped in an interesting tragedy. But if Padmé has compassion for Anakin after he's lost his mind (her husband btw, which is just as significant as Obi-wan being his master if not more because they're bound family) it means you were robbed of a Padmé who acted like a person'? I'm not following.

You said, “He loved him so much, even when anyone else would've given up, and in the end, Anakin was the one who killed him."

Sound familiar? So why does Padmé get treated with weird kid gloves but Obi-Wan is praised for his characterization?

Especially when Luke himself did the same thing as Padme and no one hand wrung about how they were robbed of a ‘real person' then

Firstly, it wasn’t Padmé’s compassion that was the problem. That’s actually my favourite trait of hers. It actually was very little to do with how she herself behaves and more about how the narrative treats her.

Obi Wan got to try to reason with Anakin and fight back. He got to defend himself when Anakin threatened him. Padmé was choked until she was unconscious and then died shortly after and that’s it for her. Obi Wan lives another nineteen years and gets his own show and is acknowledged as one of the most important Star Wars characters of all time. Padmé gets alluded to a couple of times and that’s it.

Luke gets his own trilogy of movies, in one of the most iconic characters of the franchise, features in TBOBF and The Mandalorian AND comes back in the sequels. He is the infamous Luke Skywalker, not Anakin’s son. That’s not what he’s known for. I just wanted more emphasis on Padmé’s political accomplishments than her being Anakin’s wife.

And Obi Wan doesn’t directly dedicate his life specifically to Anakin. I was being hyperbolic for the post. It can be viewed that way, but it’s not literally what happens. I just felt like posting something melodramatic about Obi Wan. He spends his life protecting Anakin’s children, not Anakin. But for the record: I don’t even like calling them Anakin’s children. He caused them nothing but pain, however Padmé only couldn’t raise them because Anakin took her away from them. As far as I’m concerned, Leia has two mothers and a father. One of the mothers is Padmé but the father is definitely not Anakin. He is blood related to them and that’s it. It was just for the post.

Everyone who knew Anakin eventually ends up having compassion for him at one point or another, and I don’t think I’ve ever said I don’t like that Padmé does. Anakin’s story is sad and her compassion is so moving and is a huge part of what makes ROTS so powerful. There’s nothing wrong with it, it's the fact that she dies shortly after and most of what she does in the prequels is centred around Anakin. Her scenes which show her as a key founding member of the rebellion were cut, the version of the script where she carried a dagger to fight Anakin was never even written and there were so many concepts for her that were scrapped which would’ve fleshed her out more.

This was also just one post. It’s far from all my feelings on the topic, although I’m not sure which of my ones about Padme you’re referring to. I post about Obi Wan because he’s my favourite, it’s not deeper than that but I have many many complicated feelings about his treatment as a character too. I dislike basically every single Obi Wan centric storyline in TCW because they’re out of character, but it’s simply too controversial a topic to get into. I can justify that take easily. I’ve written a literal dissertation on the topic with a full bibliography, but like I said, I don’t like arguing on the internet. It’s pointless and no one ever changes anyone’s minds on anything. I think Obi Wan in animation is the worst representation of him that there is, but it’s just too lengthy of a conversation to have online. You probably look at that statement on its own with nothing backing it up and make a million assumptions about me and my ability to critique the media I consume, and I don’t blame you. It just takes too long to have these conversations properly and there is little payoff. I just feel more strongly about Padmé so I dip into that conversation now and then, but I always regret doing it because there are always people who misunderstand, as is the case with every opinion posted on the internet.

By the way, the reason I didn’t mention Padmé in the post about Obi Wan is because I was thinking specifically about his relationship with Anakin at the time, not because he doesn’t think Padmé is important. A lot of the time, I don’t like to get into the specifics of Padmé’s character arc because she makes me too sad, not just as a character, but because of how many female characters have been treated in exactly the same way. Once you spot these pattern of how women are treated in media, it colours everything you watch after the fact.

I do regret calling Padmé “Anakin’s wife” in that post btw. The intent was to highlight how everything Obi Wan does comes back to Anakin, but I want her to be more than that and that’s my entire issue with her character. I know what I meant but it doesn’t read in the way I want it to.

There’s also the fact that there are a certain kind of Anakin fans who get very defensive when you criticise him, and it’s hard to discuss Padmé at length without doing that, so I have probably a dozen drafts just about her that will never see the light of day. I’ve been more Anakin-critical lately, but I don’t like online discourse if that isn’t clear. I don’t mind having a calm conversation with someone, but arguing with people on the internet is a waste of time to me.

The difference ultimately is that Obi Wan is male. I hate that that’s what it comes down to but it does. You cannot analyse Padmé in a vacuum because sexism is integral to all the problems I have with how she’s written and how she’s treated. There’s no long running history of men being killed to define female characters in media. There’s no long history of men being treated violently or objectified by women. I’ve never posted my opinions on Satine because they are too long and complicated but she ultimately faces this fate too. Star Wars has had male writers for the longest time and you can tell. If the women aren’t dying, something else is happening to them. George Lucas particularly always gets so close to making amazing characters and then falls short.

Leia is this super intelligent, brave, free-thinking political figure and member of the rebellion BUT she’ll spend a huge part of the last movie in the slave bikini. A really cool female Jedi is established in the prequels BUT we barely see her and also she’s basically just wearing a bra to fight in a war despite being a General. Ahsoka is going to be Anakin’s padawan which is such an exciting concept BUT she’s fourteen and barely clothed. Satine has a super intense backstory and very strong political views she risked dying for BUT her legacy is being murdered to get to Obi Wan and the most popular fan theory which the actors even encourage is that she got pregnant as a teenager (do not get me started on that).

Even Hera falls victim to the pregnancy trope, although we can’t blame George for that one. I find it hard to believe that someone who is so important to the rebellion is getting pregnant in the middle of it. Why does it always come back to pregnancy? If you like that trope, fair enough. I do not. I hate it almost every time but that’s more to do with how it’s handled rather than the fact it happens in the first place.

And then there’s Rey. I love her so much, but I don’t even want to get into all the ways she was done dirty by the writing of the sequels because sequels discourse is so overdone and exhausting. I have a lot I like about them and at this point, that’s what I’d prefer to focus on.

I can’t go through everyone because it would take so long, but the only significant female Star Wars character whose treatment I don’t have a single issue with is Omega and her show only ended a month ago and I am fearful for her potrayal in the future now that she’s an adult. I want better for my girls and Padmé treatment is just the biggest example. Her arcs in TCW are not significant enough for me that they offset her arcs in the prequels. Padmé didn’t even have to die then. It actually broke canon at the time that she did. She likely wouldn’t have lived super long, but we could’ve seen a little more of her fighting the Empire had she survived, but George would rather push the star-cross lovers narrative than let her stand on her own two feet.

I don’t mind many of Padmé’s choices on their own, I just wish she got more to do outside of him. She isn’t being treated with kid gloves, I just want more for her. Her relationship with Anakin shouldn’t be downplayed, but she had over a decade of political experience before she even started her relationship with him. I’ve read the novels about her and they are beautiful and I want more of that.

I’m just tired of women being used as tools to develop men when they have so much more potential than that. What I’m asking for really is more Padmé, not to change any of the creative decisions that have already been made. Add to it, don’t diminish it.

TL/DR: Padmé’s compassion is her strength and her love for Anakin isn’t a bad thing at all. It’s her best quality. I just want to see more of her. A few posts don’t represent my complete range of opinions. Even this post doesn’t do that. It’s a very long conversation, but hopefully this post makes sense.

[switchypanic]

My 'Hazbin Hotel' Takes

These might be controversial, but now that I've completely finished all of season one, I figured I would give some of my potential "hot takes" on it.

Spoilers below the cut!

→ I didn't mind that Charlie and Vaggie made up so quickly, I just wish they had more of a conversation about their issues prior to doing so. Charlie should have expressed WHY Vaggie not telling her was so hurtful, Vaggie should have expressed WHY she didn't feel comfortable telling Charlie the truth, that sort of thing. It wouldn't need to be a long scene, I just think it would make them making up feel a bit more natural and believable. → I can't stand Mimzy! I know some people like her, and they are allowed to do so, but I just found her so annoying. Every time she appeared during episode five, I found myself eagerly waiting for the scene to change so I wouldn't have to listen to her anymore. → Best song is a tie between 'Loser, Baby' and 'More Than Anything,' worst song is 'Welcome To Heaven.' → I like that Alastor's radio effect was dialed back a little bit from the pilot. While it was a cool effect, it made him hard to understand sometimes, especially when background effects like laugh tracks were overlaid with it. By giving him a more subtle voice effect, it makes scenes where it becomes stronger (such as when Alastor explodes on Husk in episode four) more impactful. → I found the 'Poison' sequence fairly well done (albeit a little too graphic) and think it portrayed its themes in a serious manner. However, I'm not an SA survivor, and I'm always open to listening to the criticism of others on this matter. → Alastor's most likely character progression for season two will be him betraying the hotel in some way. I just hope there are a few moments leading up to that moment that demonstrate the hotel IS having an effect on him to some degree (we can see a potential moment like this in episode five when he sends Mimzy on her way, but this is vague enough to where he could just be motivated by his deal or personal reasons rather than actual concern for the hotel residents). By doing this, it would make his betrayal feel all the more tragic, as we know Alastor really does CARE about Charlie and the gang but is still choosing to prioritize his own selfish goals.

[sapphic-suchoripterus]

might be some controversial takes about Hazbin/Helluva under the cut but honestly I really don't know what the popular consensus is about any of it. I'm gonna try to keep these short but here's a list of thoughts I have so far.

-I'm interested in where Hazbin could go. The concept of rehabilitation for sinners and how the meaning of rehabilitation could change, as well as the unbalanced power of heaven vs. hell and who are the true sinners is very interesting.

-I don't find myself laughing at the humor of any of these shows. It feels like the kind of humor that's only supposed to shock you with the vulgarity. Which is only really funny to a teenager, not the intended adult audience.

-the music is hit or miss, mostly miss. The Hazbin pilot songs I particularly did not enjoy.

-the animation and design are nice, tho I'm not really sure who to credit with that, as I have been made aware that Vivziepop tends to take "inspiration" from artists in an informal manner.

-really do not like the sound design. The noises are obnoxious, the volumes are all over the place and there have been times where I cannot hear what characters are saying.

-voice acting is pretty good. I understand that fans got very upset when a lot of the actors for Hazbin had to be recast with union members and tbh I'm not bothered by that. Support unions.

-im worried about what they're gonna do with Vaggie. She's starting out as the partner to the main character but she's also been established as the "PC" character who annoys the fan favorites Angel Dust and Alastor.

-I'm not at all interested in Alastor, he looks like a satire of the Vivziepop style.

-Angel Dust is interesting, and I'm not too bothered by seeing an openly and overtly queer character, even if it's not sanitized. I am a little concerned about how quickly his character depth was revealed long before the first season is even finished. Could Viv really not wait to talk about Angel Dust that much? What will be left to explore in the show?

-also like, we are getting a LOT of content for Hazbin including a spinoff already on its second season, tons of merch and lots of droplets of information that end up on the wiki BEFORE the first season of the show is even out and it doesn't feel right, like the crew is celebrating the success of the show before its even out. Weird stuff. Not sure if it's gonna bite them in the ass yet.

-the Helluva pilot was not enjoyable at all and I didn't actually start watching the show until the second season

(here comes the big one)

-I actually don't mind too much what's being done with Stolas. It makes sense that a person with very few friends and trapped in an arranged marriage with a cruel partner would make the decisions that he has, regardless of whether or not they are the right ones.

-What I am concerned with is if the story with Stolas was planned from the beginning, or if it was decided later on to recontextualize his character when they crew decided they liked Stolas more than as just a cutaway gag in the pilot.

-Moxxie and Millie are... okay. On one hand it's nice to see throughout everything Moxxie has been through, as well as literally being in Hell, he still retains his kindness, empathy and love for his wife. Millie is... okay, but I get the feeling that she exists to keep Moxxie from becoming the series punching bag, like as compensation. Or a way to inject some "wholesomeness" into our main characters. I keep hearing that a Millie episode is on the way, but I don't know what really to expect.

-as a furry/scalie who isn't into canine anthros, I'm not into Loona.

-I'm interested in seeing more of what the other rings of Hell look like, tho I fear that the Gluttony ring is going to be filled with fatphobic jokes.

-The action scenes are usually pretty cool, tho with the Vivziepop style it can be a bit eye-strain-y for me.

-vivziepop stans are scary. seeing them jump to her defense whenever she faces a major criticism is frustrating and it only incites a bigger wave of criticism. see this post if you want my extended thoughts about it.

-this series is being produced, written and released in a way I don't think I've ever seen so I'm gonna try to keep an open mind about it, but that does not mean I'm gonna enjoy it blindly NOR am I gonna nitpick it. I'm gonna keep up with it and maybe share more of my thoughts, tagged accordingly and under 'read more' lines.