#they r also so protective of Stolas

[birdy-babe]

Oh my god they’re going to be best friends one day aren’t they

[grandstarlightmagazine]

Oh my god they’re going to be best friends one day aren’t they…(Read More)

[carto0ncritter]

One thing I noticed in this shitshow of an episode is how fucking ungrateful Stolas was for everything Blitzø did for him since he came to his place.

Him being a spoiled rich white asshole:

I hate his facial expressions so much, you have no idea

I can guarantee you care about these 'nice things' more than you care about your daughter btw

Oh, we also have, let's see here...

*insert the entire montage of Blitzø (Stolas' victim) trying to cheer his abuser up since he's now in love with him thanks to good ol' Stockholm Syndrome*

Seeing that cigarette reminds me of when Stolas uh... *checks notes* called Blitz an 'itty bitty imp (racist)' despite him clearly hating it, grabbed his cheek and used his horn to put out his cigarette (not to mention Blitzø's severe trauma being related to fucking fire)

Okay so anyway, I think Stolas said "Oh, when have you ever asked" bc Blitzø stole from him and his family 25 years ago. correct me if I'm wrong here but isn't it manipulative af to bring up smth that happened that long ago, also it's totally unrelated to the current situation. I swear it's like a grown ass man saying to another "Oh I still hate you because, uhm, remember that one time in 3rd grade when you stole my pencil..."

So... if Stolas still holds this against Blitzø, let me ask: why was he ever "in love" with him in the first place? Answer? He wasn't. Stolas only used this imp for his sexual fantasies and for him to get to experience his "fairytale romance"

P.S. Imps are a race his privileged ass has always been racist towards and he hasn't ever attempted to, uh... try to understand them better? Understand how they live? I mean if you truly cared about your "boyfriend," Stolas, you'd have put in SOME effort to change your mindset/behavior and WOULDN'T HAVE EVER SEXUALLY COERCED HIM

He also r@p*d you blitz

And no he didn't do much, he's powerful af. Using those powers isn't rocket science heck he turned an imp to stone in s1 he can protect himself but is apparently the "bottom" in the stolitz "relationship". Also no, him leaving Octavia clearly isn't a huge deal to Stolas otherwise he'd have fought to earn her forgiveness and not just sulk like a wimpy loser. YOU ARE NOT ONLY A GROWN MAN STOLAS, BUT A FATHER. At least you were supposed to be

So was not thinking about your daughter until you lost everything, apparently

AGAIN WITH THIS SHIT??? WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT A TRANSACTION AGAIN

Alright I'm signing off until the next season drops, if that ever happens

This episode sucked, but kudos to our girl Via who waa smart enough to see through her "father's" bs 👏

ALSO HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO THE CRITICAL COMMUNITY (and to non-toxic stans too)!

[pinkandpurple360]

I think I’m convinced that Viv is just lying about the intent of her work because she noticed her own writing issues and tried to actually make it look intentional.

Because literally everything in the show goes directly against whatever she’s saying it’s supposed to be framed as. “oh Stolas has little self-awareness in AT” okay so why the fuck don’t you call that out???

Viv: Replies to a tweet calling out Stolas for saying that Blitz made it all about sex with “he’s too caught up in his fee fees to realize it”

Also Viv: Likes a twitter post explicitly saying that Blitz did, in fact, make it about sex

And everything about the framing of Blitz and Stolas’ relationship in TFM and AT is consistent with how it has been framed before, but suddenly, now, that the show is starting to get more criticism for this, Viv tries to spew that shit I just mentioned above?

Part of Blitz’s “growth” in season 2 is about letting go of his biases and seeing that Stolas has genuine affection for him. Tell me, what narrative sense would make if the show suddenly walked back on that?

I really don’t believe that Viv is trying to make this a mutually toxic relationship because there’s so much evidence that she’s just lying about what she’s trying to do with her work.

She sees how popular the ship is, that her most diehard fans who protect her are pro stolas, so she likes their tweets. Even if they’re contradicting the show. It’s basically whatever the most popular fandom opinion is, she’ll try fit herself in as a fellow kid, and profit off of it. You should note that accusatory Stephen the gator tweet was made in response to a critique. And Stephen is a diehard defender of vivzie and stolitz fanatic. So he’s better for the brand than the r original person.

The circus was intended to retcon the events of murder family to not be stolas fault. Which makes no sense. None of his criticisms have changed because bartering a life for sex under duress is still wrong. Even if he’s a “desperate repressed gay bottom.”

The next trump card is having stolas as a victim of Stella be used to absolve him of all wrong doing and need to be saved. Blitz may even say “none of what you did to me and my family matters anymore, because you were a victim of this mean rude woman”

She’s also said she likes tweets that have incorrect theories to mess with people about what’s canon. Which is a really weird mind game to play.

It’s a pretty chaotic blunder to have a character correctly call out another for doing things we the audience have witnessed ourselves, then try to tell us he’s biased and needs to unlearn what is objectively factual.

[verboselocket38]

I think about this a lot when watching the show but like.... Just because the Vees are horrible people doesnt make the main characters any better?

Angel dust killed people, Alastor killed and ate people, Husk was a former overlord and owned the souls of many people, when Charlie saw her friend have a horrible boss whos been hurting him she doesnt do ANYTHING despite being the PRINCESS OF HELL. Theres a difference between being nice and being stupid, and Charlie is just stupid... like PAINFULLY stupid and childish.

Just because you try to show a character who is a "Worse Murderer" does not mean crap since your other characters literally killed people as well! They suck as much as the "worse murderer" if they killed ONE PERSON.

When Charlie wants sinners to be redeemed, it doesnt seem she puts rules on who can or cant go to heaven. So basically all they have to do is just do a bunch of trust exercises and trust falls and all their crimes are forgotten and they can happily prance in heaven with their victims 😊

People say that this is suppose to be apart of Charlie's "Nativity" and like- fine. I could of been OK with that if it wernt for...

A) Charlie was born in hell, she should know or feel that all the stuff seen and done in hell is "normal" by their societal standards

and

B) IF THOSE EXERCISES DIDNT WORK

Heres the thing, Sir Pentious goes to heaven in the final episode. All he did throught the series is trust exercies and that bit at the end to protect the hotel (He didnt sacrifice himself guys, if he did he would of atleast got a hit on Adam). I know his backstory will be mentioned in season 2 but assuming he killed someone when he was alive, that is not enough to redeem someone. I love Pentious but he doesnt deserve heaven, I'm sorry 😭

Like yeah- the Vees suck as people (Especially Val) but you cant act like the main characters are good people when they do the bare minimum and believe doing less drugs and trust exercises excuse you for murder.

Heck... Even in Helluva Boss our Main Characters are assassins and Striker, who is also an assassin, is the bad guy cuz hes trying to kill Stolas. They try to paint striker as "worse" when our main characters are equally as bad.

It doesnt matter if a character commited more murders than some other person that murders. At the end of the day they are still murderers.

Rosie: "She's flawed.... But who down here isnt?" BISH YOU ARE A CANNIBAL, THAT ISNT A FLAW.

Charlie: "Sinners made mistakes too when they were alive" MY GUY MURDER AND R*PE IS NOT A MISTAKE, ITS A HORRIBLE ACT. THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING WHEN THEY WERE ALIVE WHEN DOING THOSE THINGS!

Sorry about the long post but this just makes me mad and I had to rant about it :/

[luneemeritus]

I really want to see Octavia's internal conflict about the situation around her and her own existence. Because, until now, we only see her dealing with her daddy issues problems (which I understand the criticism, it bothers me how she's one-dimensional at this point). But I want her to deal with the truth about her existence as a precotionary heir from an arranged marriage.

(TW: MENTIONS OF MARITAL R@P3 AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE)

Her parents were forced to marry. She only exists because her mother raped her father multiple times before getting pregnant (or whatever the term for bird/egg pregnancy is). If her father was able to choose and live the life he wanted since the start, she wouldn't exist. Her existence was forced upon the person that she loves the most (because yes, she clearly loves her father very much despite their complicated relationship). Octavia only exists because her father was forced into horrible, abusive circumstances.

Octavia was born to be an heir, to serve a family. She wasn't planned out of love, like other kids usually are, and this is extremely painful to know. Specially considering that she is the result of a marital rape. Yes, Stolas love her more than anything, he's doing his best to protect her and make her happy, but still, imagine dealing with the fact that you only exist because of coercion and abuse.

I'm also excited to see Octavia's relationship with Stella. She constantly witness her mother's abuse against her father, yet she still doesn't understand the situation completely. Fair, she's a kid and is living under terrible circumstances. But she needs to know the truth, maybe not every detail, though. Which lead me think: before, I thought Stolas is the one who needs to explain the situation for her... but now that I think about, I changed my opinion. Why? Because I doubt Octavia would believe him completely, since she could think he's "giving false excuses to justify his cheating". I think STELLA will be the one to explain everything to her.

Which is, you know, very dark and tragic. Imagine if Octavia ever confronts Stella about her behaviour towards Stolas, and then in respond she's dumped with terrible reveals about the nature of their marriage and maybe even more explicit details about the domestic violence. Idk, maybe she overhears Stella joking with her friends about the times when she raped Stolas, imagined how heartbroken and horrified she would be? But as the wise Mewtwo once said, "the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant, it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are." So yeah it doesnt matter if you were born throught a bad circumstances, you're worth and valid 🙌🏼

Angst aside, I want Octavia to be a savage and powerful witch, learn all the magic her father teaches and more. I want her to be a powerful witch princess, the one that puts fear onto humans and other demons. Let 👏🏼 her 👏🏼 be 👏🏼 unhinged 👏🏼 she's a royal demon after all

[sir-subpar]

Striker redesign/reimagine!

Might tweak a few things in the future, but here he is!

I'll talk about him under the cut, because I have some things to say

Okay! So: Striker

Let me start by saying that I don't really hate his design as is. I think he looks fine. But! As somebody from the southwest, I wanted to add a little extra southwestern style influence on him. And I also wanted him to look more like a rattler.

Now if some of you might be a little confused by the blue, I do have an explanation for it. Admittedly this is more personal than logical, but here's a cool little factoid about my nick of the woods.

As I've mentioned multiple times, I'm from the southwest, and we have a local very old Superstition around here, the Superstition goes that West is the direction of evil. It's where the sun is swallowed and darkness rises. What time were evil spirits would rise and torment the living. But it was said if you painted your window sills or doorways blue, you would be safe. Blue was the color of safety and protection.

So I kind of gave Striker little blue accents, as a reference to that color of safety. I like the idea that it's a comfort color for him.

Anyway! Aside from my barely filtered Self Indulgence, here are my thoughts;

I don't like his fingerless gloves, 90% of the characters seem to have fingerless gloves, literally everybody in the main cast has fingerless gloves or something similar. I like fingerless gloves, but I'm sick of it being everywhere in this show

As mentioned before I wanted to make him look more snake-like, so I gave him a rattler Style tell, larger fangs, more orange toned, a different horn Style just a match a little bit better. And eyeball imagery on his clothing. Since rattlesnakes sometimes look like they have eyeball patterns

Gave him scars, I was just like with millie, I feel like he's got into a lot of fights, and since they're both from wrath they should both have some Battle Scars.

Speaking of Millie, I had this idea for a rewrite, let me know what you think. What if Millie was actually considered the weakest in her family growing up? Which has caused her to be very self-conscious about her strength and constantly want to get stronger. All of this leading to her currently being extremely competitive to the point where it can be detrimental. And what if, when she wasn't able to actually help around the farm, the family had Striker come over and help?

Striker could be a long time family friend she grows up with, but also goes on to resent because she feels he is, in a sense, replacing her.

So the Harvest Moon episode would be more about her feeling an internal rivalry with him rather than a cliched masculinity episode with Moxxie

Maybe he goes easy on her because he cares about her, and she notices, leading her to feel like he sees her as weaker, which is very insulting to her Pride.

This could be why she eventually joins IMP, maybe assassinating humans makes her feel strong.

Those are my thoughts with Millie and Striker. Now, to explore another Dynamic that I'm sure you guys have been eager to hear my thoughts about...

Striker's dynamic with Blitzo

It probably doesn't surprise any of you, but I thoroughly believe that they had far more chemistry in this one episode, then Blitzo and Stolas do throughout the rest of the show

Clearly Blitzo likes him, and at the very least, Striker does have some respect for him upon their first meeting

The way he talks to Blitzo, it plays into what Blitzo actually *wants*. He offers a ticket out. A way to success without being shackled to Stolas

Striker calls Blitzo: impressive, sir, above sucking on a pompous Goetia.

Stolas, on the other hand: my impish little plaything, adorable, itty bitty imp, constantly baby talks him, "Blitzy" which was established Blitzo hates.

I will get to Stolas eventually, I have some thoughts I'll Explore More with him. In due time.

Would I make Blitzo and Striker a couple in my Reimagined Helluva? I don't know, because I don't really think it's necessary. I do think however that Striker eventually could become one of Blitzo's friends.

I have a very specific scene in my head:

____

Blitzo's uncertain about Striker's offer, he doesn't know if he should actually trust him, if he should uproot his whole business for the stranger just because he's saying the right things, or if he should just do what he's doing now and see if he can get success.

They fight, for a bit, Striker keeps talking throughout their tussle, tempting Blitzo to join him on killing Stolas.

They are equally matched, both holding the blessing tipped rifle, in a tense game of tug o' war.

Their rumble goes on for just long enough that now, Striker looks out the window, to see his opportunity to kill Stolas while he was on stage has passed.

Striker sighs, dissapointed as Stolas is once again surrounded by guards blocking his clear shot.

He releases his rifle, causing Blitzo to stumble back a bit.

He composes himself, straightening his clothes and dusting himself off.

"Tell you what Blitz, I'll give you some time to think on it."

Striker takes Blitzo's hand in his own for a moment, his tone of voice more welcoming than before.

He pulls away, revealing je placed a Buisness card with his phone number in Blitzo's palm.

"And when you decide what you want, you give me a call."

____

So! Those are my thoughts!

If I were in charge of the show, I would let Striker's business card sit on Blitzo's desk, or in his wallet, showing the audience that Striker is still in the back of his mind, even if Striker doesn't make a direct appearance in a few episodes.

I had a lot of fun with Striker, as you all can probably tell, he was one of my favorites before season 2 happened.

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

The sad thing about stolas fans is that I'm like 99% positive they wouldn't like him if he was straight.

For example, when they accuse Stella of r*ping him, they always bring up that he's a gay man. You know, as if it somehow that's what makes it SA. Or to net him more sympathy. Somehow, I doubt they'd change their tune if it turned out stella was a lesbien (cuz these fans are allergic to giving stella any sympathy or admitting she was also a victim).

They also refuse to admit the deal between him and blitz was at least in a gray area (something the character himself admits). But I'm positive if this was a straight ship, they would admit it was at least somewhat toxic or had issues.

I know alot of these fans are lgbt+ but it really feels like they're infantlizing stolas as this poor uwu gay guy, whose super sad and weak cuz he's a bottom (cuz blitz is not uwu by fans as much and it think its cuz hes supposed to be the strong, gruff top) :/

It's kind of pathetic and stereotyping that they can't imagine a gay man like him being privelged or abusing his power especially when he's supposed to be a damn demon. You can make him vulnerable but at least give him a backbone so you don't artificially try to make him look like the victim who needs protecting. The refusal to see him as even gray has hurt his character.

[magaprima]

As Lilith was created as a fully grown woman, when she took her first breath, she woke to being literally fully grown into adulthood and expected to behave as such, but she has literally had no childhood or teen years. She has never been r a child or teenager, a period of life which is essential for our development and who we become when we are adults. Imagine being thrown into adulthood at the age of 5, let alone the age of 0. I mean, look at the classic 00s film 13 Going on 30 and how differently she looks at the world and deals with things? But Lilith like....woke up 21 essentially (well, there’s no specific age for how she appeared on first creation, this is just me throwing out a random, generally accepted adult age), having never spent the time getting to that point. This is partly the reason why she often has so little patience or understanding for teenage drama and behaviour, because she has literally never been there. Zelda might say she despises teen angst, but at least she has been there and knows it’s expected. Lilith has no such experience to draw upon. 

Her ‘childhood’, a time when we’re supposed to be safe and protected, and having no responsibilities or obligations, a time to develop through play and imagination, was filled with being told she was a wife to a man who didn’t respect her, a man who was as much thrown into adulthood as she was. And that’s not even touching on the fact these two ‘fresh’ creations were then exploring sex, meaning Lilith’s first experiences weren’t only negative, but were negative in a time when all her first experiences of all things were being developed. 

Similarly, she has no parents. The closest thing she has to a parent would be the False God since he created her, but he clearly doesn’t count, and even if he did, his favourite human ‘child’ was obviously Adam, so the one semblance of a parent she had sided with the man who was making her life a misery, who was being cruel to her. 

All of this is happening to her in a time when the rest of us born the normal way would be children. Imagine experiencing all that in your childhood. It would have a lasting, negative impact on your behaviour and personality and it’s no different for Lilith. It’s why she doesn’t always react to things in a mature way, choosing visceral reactions instead. I mean, obviously, over thousands of years, she has matured, she has grown up, she is no way shape or form new or a ‘child’ anymore. But her experiences in that formative time still dictate her behaviour as they would anyone. 

Her inclination to lash out violently (kill Sabrina to avenge Adam, snapping Stolas’ neck etc) without pausing in consideration of her actions is very much due to the fact that in that formative period of her life, she never learned how to healthily deal with and express her emotions, because she never had a childhood where she could express all that, learn the consequences and also be taught the right way to express herself by a caring parent. She has had none of the things that help someone become a well-rounded, functioning person. The fact she is able to have empathy and fall in love and by understanding and capable and determined etc is a testament to herself and no one else, because she certainly hasn’t had anyone to guide her. 

Lilith was born into adulthood and that has naturally effected her development and her way of approaching things. I would say it’s also why it took her so long to realise the Lucifer she fell in love with was long gone, because yet again, no parental figure or childhood experience to help make her see the truth. I think it’s also why we’ve seen her grow and develop so much in the short period of time of the series, because suddenly she is surrounded by figures she should have had in childhood, and, by working in a High School and working directly with teenagers both in the school and out, she’s finally having those teenage experiences, even if by proxy. 

[pricechecktranslations]

TTDS: The Emerald Girl; Chapter 2

Torture Tower Doesn’t Sleep: The Emerald Girl infomine under the cut

Scene 1

The scene opens in Stella’s bar, Stella talking to Raymond and the emerald girl/Tsukumo (looks 15-16) that he brought with him. She’s initially shocked, thinking Raymond is her father, because the girl calls him Papa (she has a very childlike manner of speaking). As a note, Tsukumo’s hair reaches down to her knees (both that and her eyes are emerald).

Tsukumo wants milk—though she doesn’t seem to know what milk is, first grabbing Raymond’s coffee before being corrected (despite having ordered milk before they left the capital a week prior).

Apparently, according to Hargain Tsukumo can’t retain any memories past three days, due to her mind being incomplete (she calls Raymond papa simply because he’s the first person she saw when she woke up).

Raymond is in town partially to retrieve the second half of the records that Romarius gave to Hargain. They’re waiting on Liam to show up in the bar, which he does shortly, wearing lamellar armor (he’s dissatisfied with it after buying it locally, but there’s a lot of restrictions to civilians buying armor in the capital city). On his right arm he has an ornate gold bracelet from Hargain—allegedly it protects the body from evil influences.

Raymond disparages him for believing a Crossrosier artifact, but Liam insists Hargain is the real deal. Raymond has to admit to himself that if he was a mere charlatan, Romarius wouldn’t have gone to him for help.

Liam is there mostly as an accompaniment—all combat will still be Raymond’s. He wants to get everything done quickly and get back to the mansion. He’s weirdly upbeat about the whole thing—Raymond speculates it’s because he knows about wraiths, and thus has no fear of the unknown about them.

Ends with a thought of his dubious allies in this, Liam and the emerald girl who wants more milk.

Scene 2

Cut to one week earlier, when Tsukumo woke up. Hargain explains she’s a “magical artificial human” (sort of—the word is the word for “artificial human” with “magic” shoved in the middle). A person he created with magic. He couldn’t make her from nothing however—he used a corpse in creating her. In a way, that makes it necromancy (which is forbidden).

Hargain’s not happy she thinks Raymond is her dad, but she woke up faster than he predicted. He tells Raymond he will take Tsukumo to Torcia Tower so she can unleash her power against a wraith—So, this is what Hargain was doing for Romarius.

The plan is also to capture Beritoad, not kill him, as Romarius wants his alchemy powers (this is why he didn’t kill Beritoad after defeating him, and simply turned him into a powerless toad). Raymond agrees on the condition that he get to accompany Tsukumo to Torcia Tower.

Raymond offhandedly mentions the wraiths, plural, in the tower, which gets Hargain confused. First because he thinks he means Rabiah, and then because he thought there were two underlings to Beritoad rather than three (then he admits he has trouble remembering things he has no interest in).

Hargain initially refuses, thinking Raymond will just ditch Tsukumo and report back to Romarius, before deciding to send Liam along with them to make sure he does as planned.

Scene 3

Finally we’re in a scene in Torcia Tower. Rack is working on Josephine in the torture tool collection room. There’s also this funny bit (roughly translated: “She was talking to the box as though it was a dog or a cat that she owned. /But the box didn’t say anything back. /Obviously. /A box is just a box after all.”), which leads into some recap on how they view the torture devices as siblings, etc.

Maiden is there behind her. Lot of exposition in this part that’s just recap so I won’t repeat it. Rack’s happy that Josephine is finally recovered—she’d been sad at her being out of commission, being her favorite device after all.

Scene 4

Beritoad is bathing in the chapel on the fourth floor. His bathing pot was fixed by Maiden.

More recap on Beritoad and his circumstances. He still has a long way to go before he has his power back. He thinks on the people who have gotten in the way of that, listing off “Helios VI”, “Strasphia/Stolasphere” (sutorasufia—until I know who this is I wouldn’t begin to know how to translate it, but “Stolas” is the name of a mythological demon at any rate), and “Romarius”.

Everyone’s expecting Gibbet to bring in some new prey soon.

He’s gotten very concerned about Gibbet lately, thinking that he’s let her talk to too many people (that, and he can’t spy on her when she’s outside the tower). But he can’t entrust her role to anyone else—the moment Rack and Gibbet leave the tower, where his power can’t reach, they’ll revert back to their original forms.

More recap, but some new info—Beritoad’s clairvoyance power was once able to see even far off places.

Some confirmation that Beritoad cares about no one but himself.

He gets out of his bath, and then senses someone coming to the tower, thinking it’s Gibbet and their prey.

Scene 5

Torcia’s lock is simple as always, and Raymond easily lets the little crew in. Tsukumo runs out into the hall while Liam takes out and lights up a lamp he has on him. He’s got a long case with him, which contains a rifle he got earlier.

Raymond doesn’t think it’ll do much good—he thinks on the acid bullets that Lloyd had in the last book, but he doesn’t know how to make them. Benji could, but he didn’t go to see him because he didn’t want him to come with them and be put in danger (despite his initial act of using him as bait, he seems to have developed a friendship with the eccentric doctor due to his acceptance of him being part wraith).

He didn’t tell Stella they were going to Torcia, though she could probably guess. She didn’t ask to come along, which is fine by him as she’s a weak, ordinary girl.

He then realizes, looking at Liam and Tsukumo, that despite wanting to avoid getting a friend and ordinary girl involved, he’s already done that with them (pretty sure Tsukumo’s already been hinted at being stronger than she looks, but still).

Scene 6

They try to go through the secret passage in the fireplace at first, but as expected it’s been blocked up with quicklime. Liam starts looking for another secret passage, finding one on the floor. They can’t open it, as there’s no handle or lock or anything. Liam thinks it might be a secret basement—but then, they’re trying to go up, not down.

Liam comments on Raymond’s dynamic with Tsukumo, how he does behave a little like her parent. This brings up the topic of his looking young, and Raymond explains that it’s not just because he’s half wraith. He says that his time was stopped by a certain wraith fifteen years earlier. He doesn’t say which wraith (it’s not Romarius or the girls or Beritoad). Before they leave the living room, Liam picks something up and takes it with them (it doesn’t say what).

Scene 7

Beritoad sees they’ve entered, and has called Maiden and Rack to the chapel. He tasks them with handling the intruders. He explains the situation to them, Rack growing furious upon hearing Raymond’s name (due to him being the murderer of Hank). She almost transforms again before calming down.

He also tells Maiden to give up on befriending him. Then he sends the two of them out.

Scene 8

Hargain is sitting in a chair in his lab. There’s several tubes coming from the chair, connected to his head through gold rings that he’s wearing (?). He seems to be witnessing events somehow? It’s vague, he basically says something along the lines of, “Come, show me your power Tsukumo”

Scene 9

They’re now on the second floor. They don’t have Romarius’ anti-Beritoad-eyes talisman, so they were expecting Gibbet to be waiting for them there, but she isn’t.

Raymond wants to find out what Gibbet is—she bleeds, so he knows she isn’t a wraith. All of the girls, in fact, feel different from wraiths he’s encountered before.

Tsukumo notices the flowers that Gibbet has planted around. Raymond goes to pluck one (scraping his hand in the process, though it stops bleeding almost instantly). There’s a bit more recap—a lot of the first half of the novel seems to be setting things up for people who might not have read the first one for whatever reason?

They can’t find Gibbet (Raymond is a touch disappointed about that), and head up to the third floor (it’s the first time he’s actually been on the third floor). They reach the door that leads there at the to of the stairs when someone shouts “Fire!” and several little somethings are shot at them.

Scene 10

A bit of exposition on Josephine R—how what started as a rack device was mixed with other torture devices into a battle chariot. She’s added two artillery canons on the back since the last time, and it fires spikes.

Rack refused to let Maiden fight alongside her. Both because she wants to test Josephine R’s strength, but also because she wants to uphold their process, having Maiden wait on the fourth floor. This is because their power level varies depending on how close they are to Beritoad. Gibbet is weakest but has her power no matter where she is in the tower (though she loses her torture powers if she goes outside). Maiden is the most powerful, but is powerless if she’s too far from Beritoad. Rack is simply weaker if she’s farther away, but still has some strength.

Maiden has the power to drop objects through walls and floors, which is how she got Josephine R to the third floor. But Maiden’s powers don’t extend to the second floor, which is why Rack has to wait for them there instead of going down to the second floor to meet them.

Mothy’s writing on this is really nice and I’m sad I’m not translating it.

 Rack realizes that her spikes didn’t hit the people coming up the stairs, but rather a bag of quicklime. She hears them congratulating themselves on using that as a decoy, and sees Raymond coming up the stairs (as a note, Rack is periodically struggling not to lose it every time she thinks of Raymond).

Tsukumo is about Rack’s height. Raymond misremembers Josephine’s name as Julianna. Rack, infuriated, calls it “The legendary torture device resurrected after being burdened with a sorrowful fate” (rough translation—she clarifies the “sad fate” refers to him destroying it, and the “legends” it’s from are the ones she and Josephine R will make henceforth).

She fires again, one of the spikes catching Raymond in the arm as he dodges with the others. She moves Josephine to go after them, firing when they’re in sight (they haven’t run down the stairs, but are more hiding in the shadows.

As she pulls the lever, a strong wind blows. The wind grows in power, becoming a cyclone. It throws Rack off of Josephine and through a nearby window.

Scene 11

Soon afterward, Raymond is in the chapel. He prepares to kill Beritoad with his estoc, and Beritoad asks him who Tsukumo is (it seems the cyclone was her doing). Raymond’s as surprised as he is on her powers. Beritoad then says he has a guess on that (but is vague).

He taunts Raymond, implying that he doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into and runs a risk of destroying himself (I think Tsukumo is some kind of anti-wraith creature, myself).

Liam stops Raymond before he can kill Beritoad. They argue, Raymond putting Liam down for his position in Crossrosier. Beritoad watches them argue, enjoying it.

Liam pulls a gun on Raymond. Raymond of course could probably win against him (Tsukumo is napping the next room over), but Liam pushes on Raymond’s self-bigotry, stating that if he kills Liam, his friend, then he’ll no longer be human.

Raymond backs down, and so does Liam. Though Raymond claims it’s less that he’s been successfully persuaded, and more they don’t have time to argue, as Gibbet is coming back.

Raymond suspects Liam knew about Tsukumo’s power from the start, but they really don’t have time. Liam can’t find the records/book that Hargain wanted. He figures they can just have Beritoad tell them where it is later though (and brings up possibly torturing him, which Beritoad finds hilarious).

They grab him.

Scene 12

Gibbet is running back to Torcia from Mercerie City. Apparently it’s no longer good as a hunting ground (apparently someone has interfered with her work there, although it doesn’t say who).

Scene 13

What she had done with the city was invite the mayor of town into the tower. She had him tortured, but didn’t sacrifice him right away. Instead, she had him made into Beritoad’s servant—like Hank was (I don’t know if this means Hank was tortured into being evil or what).

When the mayor went back, he went to work sending people to the tower, one by one. And it was working—that is, until someone killed the mayor.

Gibbet had gone to his house to look into the matter, and there gotten attacked by his assassin (so, I think this means she’s running back to the tower because she’s being pursued? but it doesn’t say who the assassin is).

Scene 14

Gibbet arrives at Torcia right as the sun is starting to come up. She can tell something’s wrong right away—she can’t sense Rack, Maiden, or Beritoad around. When she gets closer, she notices that the window is broken on the third floor. And that there is a large wooden rack device on the ground outside.

She realizes after a moment that it’s Rack, having lost her human form due to being outside the tower. She can’t easily carry her inside, as she’s heavy and doesn’t have wheels (unlike Josephine), so leaves her there for now.

She goes inside to see what’s happened. She heads up to the third floor, and sees traces of the fight.

There are traces of a fight on the fourth floor too (the fight we skipped over). The iron maidens Maiden uses are tossed about here and there, and someone shot at them (though that likely had no effect). There’s no one around—all their prisoners were sacrificed recently.

Gibbet goes looking frantically for Maiden. The floor is flooded—which is odd because the only water they need is for prisoners to drink, Beritoad to bathe in, and Gibbet’s tea water. Not enough to flood this bad.

She figures Beritoad can’t be dead (though it’s clear he’s vanished), as if he was she’d become a mere torture device herself (which I’m pretty sure isn’t true but she doesn’t know that).

Midway to the fifth floor, she finds Maiden—now a mere Iron Maiden, larger than the others with a large keyhole in the center. This confirms that Beritoad, and his powers that were keeping her human, are no longer in the tower.

All the doors on the fifth floor have been broken in. All the books have been torn off the shelves (likely from Liam’s search for the Ending Records), but the Pot of Basuzu remains untouched. From this she finally arrives at the conclusion that it was Raymond—but then, that doesn’t answer why he didn’t just kill Beritoad where he was.

At any rate, she needs to get Beritoad back and restore Maiden and Rack. She mutters to herself about taking Rack back inside, and then hears someone (Rabiah) respond that she doesn’t need to outside the window (at first she thinks she’s hearing things, but then he speaks up again. Also, as a note, he calls her “honey”).

She freaks out at first, as he appears to her as a large raven outside the window (and birds freak her out). He opens the window with his talons and comes inside, to her horror. He objects to her trying to shoo him away (behaving as though he knows her). She claims to not know him, and he says, a bit lonely, (roughly), “Oh, right, you’re not Honey you’re Gibbet now”. (I’m not sure if this is implying “Honey” is some previous identity of hers or if I’m misreading it).

Seeing that Gibbet hates birds, he changes from a raven into a young man (the transformation is described as many feathers dancing around him and obscuring his figure). He has black hair, brown skin, and a beautiful face with the red star shaped tattoo on his cheek. Then he introduces himself to her as Rabiah, Beritoad’s loyal familiar.

[love-laugh-daydreamarevolt]

Exactly I cannot wait for more Octavia and stoles interactions, especially since we now know stoles would really like to be a family to her (bro literally wants her to be his daughter too)

Oh my god they’re going to be best friends one day aren’t they

[pinkandpurple360]

yeesh. "the only person benefitting outside of sex is Blitzo"?? they do know that's literally how the arrangement works, right? Stolas gets sex, Blitzo gets the book. the benefits Blitzo gets are obviously outside the sex because Blitzo didn't want sex, Stolas did. why is this so hard to understand? they make it sound like Blitzo was getting benefits out of having sex with Stolas too, which was just something Viv shoved in later to try to make Stolas look less bad. the most 'positive' reaction he has to sex with Stolas in all of s1 is reluctant agreement in Truth Seekers. the rest of the time he's just switched off, repulsed or annoyed

also not wild about the phrasing "Stolas gave up his livelihood to save Blitzo's company"

um, no. there is nothing in Murder Family to suggest Stolas gave a hoot about Blitzo's business - he says he's been permitting him to access the mortal realm less than legally but I don't recall he ever mentions knowing why Blitzo is doing that (or caring about it). He jumps right to 'favors for favors'

Stolas didn't 'give up' anything, that implies sacrifice. he willingly bartered it, knowing he was breaking the rules from episode 1, to get sex. before the deal was in place you could make a case he was giving up something but given his early characterization is entirely the R-rated rants down the phone it reads way more like he wanted an excuse to pester Blitzo. he shows disturbingly little concern or regard for his grimoire until Blitzo nearly got himself in trouble in Truth Seekers or Via went missing in Seeing Stars. the book is his responsibility but he does precious little to ensure Blitzo, a 'little imp', can protect it adequately

nitpicking here, but also - the book isn't his livelihood. he doesn't use it to make money, because he doesn't work to live. the book is his birthright that he's supposed to use as part of his duties. but he isn't earning a living with it and there's apparently very little checks so far he's doing his job right at all if he only needs it once a month

Don’t mess with helluva boss fans. They don’t watch the show.

They’d all like to pretend the first episode didn’t happen.