#this is supposed to be episode 0 of a series I want to make

[astromoffin]

wips!!!

[ice-cream-writes-stuff]

Spider and Bats Snippets 2

[0.] [1.]

I headcanon Spider!(Y/N) meets Clark/Superman on accident before Batman does.

Just, imagine. Your heading to a part time job, super excited about it! Get on the bus, and wait... Then fall asleep..

The bus driver kicks you out at the Mertropolis bus station. Not good! You don't have enough for a ticket back to Gotham so you managed to get a part-time job at The Daily Planet, as the coffee runner! Simple enough?

Bumping into a meek Clark Kent, who is shyly thanking you for his cup of joe'. Then you, eagerly wanting a new friend in a strange enviorment, (again), asking about what he's writing.

"Wow Kent, didn't expect you to snag the new girl."

Lois teased light-heartedly. "Oh, ha-ha it's nothing like that. They're a good friend."

He shrugs it off as Lois shakes her head. "Sheesh, a lot of fella's make a LOT of trouble with that word. Good luck Smallsville."

Blinking in confusion, you were suprised she didn't notice you as you walk up beside him. "Huh... Wait, you think were good friends!?" You beam in awe at Clark, happily spinning around his desk chair. "Clark! You should of said something sooner!"

You let go, now thoughtful. "Hmmm, we should do friendship bracelets then.. I mean, I did make one with another friend of mine.. OH! I got an' idea-" "-Guh.. I-I think I.. Need to rain check.."

"Hm? What's wrong? You look dizy... Vomit-y."

I know there's different versions of how Batman met Superman. Personally, I perfer The Animated Series Ver!

I would like to think, Robin and Nightwing asked her to get Superman's autograph as a casual comment if Spider(Y/N) went to Mertropolis.

So during her "stay" at the other city, she'd often patrol and help a bit when she could.

Would totally meet Supes' on acident.

"Wow! Hello! Why is your city so much cleaner? I like your cape! Reminds me of Miguel-!" You try to descalate the situation.

You happily greet him, babbling as your buddy glared at you. You shrug at Batman's gaze, giving him a slight push. Herding him close to your side incase of any... Bad, course of action, between you and the supposed "Man of Steel".

Superman paused at the greeting, after thrown into a wall. He expected more hostily from you as well, since he read most crime-fighters were, due to the Gotham Gazette. Yet you seemed more occupied with keeping the Batman away from HIM.

Using his x-ray vision, he peaked underneath your masks.

"Bruce Wayne..." He mumbled under his breath as Batman shoved you to the side. Glaring at the super-powered male, "You peeked.."

"Hm? He did what?" You weren't paying attention, more focused on the destruction and damage. Frowning worriedly, knowung your "unexpected vaction" would meet it's end.

Superman The Animated Series: Season 1 Ep 16 - World's Finest Part 1

I can see Spider!(Y/N) being pen-pals with lot's of heros and vigilantes. Possibly even anti-heros and villians?

Carefully web-shooting the civillians away, you keep squint as you watch them dance in sync. Slightly envious, before shooting a glance at Batman.

He collapsed as groups of Music Meisters pawns held him down. Grunting as he tried to move away. You used your web to toss them away quickly. Huffing as you glanced down at your comrade.

Even with the ear-plugs, you couldn't help it!

As if spotlight shone on your cue, you sang encouragingly. Smiling underneath your mask, you hold out a hand to him. He grasps it as you slowly pull him up.

♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ."And you can rise above...!" ♫⋆｡♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.

The Brave and the Bold Season 1 Episode 25 Mayhem of the Music Meister!

We all know that THEE Batman has a certain type.

But this is for fun, so, (。ゝ(ェ)・)-☆

Overall, I stated perviously, it's more a comedic pairing that has many set-ups to be serious.

Watching Catwoman flee once more, you walk to Bat's side. Standing beside him politely, before.. Slowly... Reaching out your hand to his. Holding it firmly with no caution.

The vigilante glares at the action, yet you don't let up as he tries to shake your hand away.

You giggle as you watch your arm swing with his, your laughter becoming louder as he finally gave in.

Batfam relationship depends on if Spider!(Y/N) came before or after the Batfam was formed.

Personally, I perfer it before. I feel like it would show growth in Bat's and Spiders dynamic.

I sorta wanna explore it, but if ya'll got ideas Im open to it.

-

{Yay! Another self-indulg work! Lol. I was inspired once again, I really just love that more people are intrested in the idea than just myself! Horray! Comments, art, reblogs are always wanted! This is purely for fun! If anyone gets the easter egg I put, let me know!}

[bloodyshadow1]

i love the boys, but this last episode was dumb and they need to get someone who actually understands how celebrity popularity works. No, Starlight would not lose all of her support because of what she did. Don't get me wrong, she'd take a hit initially, but the boys has had a problem with popularity tanking and recovering like it's a 0 vs 100% game. Annie would lose some of the people she wanted supporting her initially, but she would have a huge amount of people online supporting her and donating to her charity afterwards.

Not to mention the circumstances in which she beat the crap out of Firecracker. The bitch was on live tv for hours with her conspiracy theory bullshit defaming Annie, no one would judge her for beating the crap out of her for that alone. But the fact that she leaked private medical information that she had no legal way of obtaining, no one would actually judge Annie for beating the shit out of Firecracker. Who by the way confirmed that she slept with an underage boy a few years ago. I know the series is a play on how celebrities can get away with anything, but that wouldn't just blow over in a matter of hours.

I get that it's supposed to be Vought is the all powerful corporation who controls everything but this was dumb and bad writing. Everything about Firecracker is easy for the good guys to Spin, a gunman tried to shoot up her charity, two of her supporters were openly framed for something they didn't do, and Firecracker is so bad at being a conspiracy nut with easily refutable takes.

If anyone was going to lose popularity over their brawl it would be Firecracker. sure you could spin her being assaulted by a crazed woman, but it doesn't change the fact that she admitted to being a pedophile (or one of the sub distinctions) openly, but she got her ass beat. Firecracker isn't just a conspiracy nut, she's a supe and not a member of the 7. Getting her ass beat by the woman who she's supposed to be replacing, after she's been defaming Starlight for so long would make her look like a weak chump, not a victim. There would be a thousand memes making fun of her talking shit and getting hit.

Again, I like the show and I am fully aware of the satire they're doing. But it is just not good how they're doing it. It's bothered me since the stormfront stuff in season 2, and it's gonna keep bothering me for the rest of the show probably

[atamascolily]

I saw an incredibly interesting theory on Reddit that has unfortunately been deleted by the mods, so I wanted to discuss it here because I've never seen it anywhere else. OP began by pointing out that there are 13 timelines in Scene 0 in Magia Record, and the ending implies that the main anime timeline is Homura's 14th loop overall.

This contradicts Urobuchi's oft-repeated statement from a con panel in 2013 that that the number of loops was "approaching 100", which a lot of fans take to be canon, but was never clearly defined in the original series. (For what it's worth, Urobuchi has also gone on the record saying he didn't think too much about the mechanics behind Homura's time travel, so I suspect this is one more example.)

If there are truly 14 timelines, then it would go along way towards explaining why there are 14 Clara Dolls: each one would thus be a metaphorical--and quite possibly literal--representation of one of Homura's time loops. You could also make a case for a possible 15th timeline after Madoka's wish resets the world to account for the "missing" 15th Clara Doll; I personally believe that "Ai" is the Homura we follow for most of Rebellion, so that isn't strictly necessary, but you do you.

As a bonus, it would also retroactively explain why there are 14 "strings of fate" binding Madoka and Homura in episode 11 - this might have originally been metaphorical, because the animators didn't want to draw so many strings (though I suppose they could have), but it would now be literal as well.

I know a lot of people are emotionally invested in the idea of 100+ loops, but this idea makes a lot of sense. Up until now, the exact number of loops has not been a major plot point (and only 5 are explicitly shown in the anime), but it will be interesting to see if this comes up in any capacity in Walpurgis no Kaiten.

[aannonn]

⭑.ᐟ˚⭐彡 // bold text , strong colors , spoilers

A TLDR about the podcast for those who don't really want to watch the whole 1 hour and a half video !! :> ( I had posted it here before but I deleted it cause I wanted to wait a bit until I finally 'completed' it (technically speaking 'cause I'm only really making a TLDR at what my brain stuck onto or else I may get burnout. (っ °Д °;)っ) so I wouldn't have to edit this post every time . . lol ... feel free to add anything else in the reblogs/notes though !! ^ _ ^ )

The Most Successful Stick Animator in the WORLD Ft. Alan Becker - Dojocast Ep.6

。─ ⭐ Animation vs. Animator/Minecraft Stuff !!

° . They have been working on AvA 11 for over a year ;; 20 minutes long ;; Probably the biggest one they have ever worked on ;; They are doing their best to push it as early as they can , possibly around early december or even late november // { 54:07 }

° . They have a Minecraft Short being worked on about BedWars ;; This one's been really complicated since they are using real Minecraft acting with stickfigures // { 54:56 }

° . Next thing coming up is a Three-Part series about Green ;; It's a surprise. lol // { 55:40 }

° . AvA is going to be atleast Three seasons ;; As long as AvA and Minecraft are popular they are gonna keep going // { 57:08 }

° . King Orange used to be King Gray for a long time ;; Alan was considering to make him a light purple for a while // { 58:10 }

° . Alan's favorite is The Second Coming // { 1:06:36 }

° . Alan had different ideas for the 'fight scene in the box // { 1:19:29 }

° . Animator vs. Animation was originally supposed to be a trilogy ;; At the end of AvA3, everyone was supposed to die ;; His senior year college Teacher, who knew about his animations, gave him the idea to continue the series // { 16:45 }

。─ ⭐ Alan Becker's Production Team & Other Stuff !!

° . Alan's biggest inspiration was his lead animator; Terkoiz = The same one who worked on AvPhysics // { 1:00:07 }

° . Alan is the lead creative ; Hatena is the line producer ; There are three project leads = One takes care of AvA , One takes care of AvM , One takes care of Everything Else ; The animators are not segmented into only a certain series , they work on everything based on their skill set ; Also a Production Assistant that helps Hatena takes notes // { 1:02:34 }

° . An advice for any animators struggling to break into the industry/studios be it Indie or major ones : TLDR: The best thing you can do as an Independent artist is post your work as much as you can, and eventually opportunities will land and you have to take them as they come. You have to put yourself out there; Get yourself into as many doors as possible, and just get to know everyone. // { 1:07:29 }

° . They got inspiration from BoxOfCrayons' Voices Plus Faces !! // { 1:15:27 }

° . Alan made Animation vs. Animator 1-4 completely on his own. ;; Animation vs. Minecraft was when he decided to experiment in having a team of animators, and he did it with the diamond armour as it was an extremely tedious process (he taught 5 animators to do that). ;; in Animation vs. Youtube, Stone and Oxob were the first two animators he trusted to animate stickfigures. // { 27:45 }

° . ABTV is basically a loop compilation of all the AvA/M videos they ever made ;; They are trying to make it fun by adding little transitions between the episodes like "you're watching ABTV !! ^0^" ;; Eventually it'll get to every single transition between episodes; Is unique // { 48:44 }

[idonthaveany]

About the petitions to have the whole season of Good Omens

I previously re-blogged one, and now I deleted the reblog, for the following reason:

if Amazon thinks that we want a serie and not a movie, they'll cancel it again. If we write a petition on the lines of "we want the movie if there's no alternative, but we wish to have the whole serie" the petition would have 0 impact on Amazon. But if we say "we want the whole series" than Amazon will most likely read it as "they don't like the idea of the movie" and they'll cancel it. I honestly would love to have all 6 episodes, and I really would love to see everything as it was supposed to be, but folks, let's not throw away all the struggle and job done in these months to get this movie! We did get something, is it disappointing that it is shorter that what it was supposed to be? Yeah! But it is something! Let's not risk to have this canceled as well, please!

These petitions made sense before we came to know how difficult it was to have this finale, and we thought they just decided to shorten it. We than came to know that, actually, they had already canceled it, and were afterward convinced to at least make this one episode.

It took long to convince Amazon to give us those 90 minutes, and, from what we know, it seams like they didn't want to produce even this single one, and that they're doing it with as little effort as they could (I'm talking about those who decide wether to produce it or not, I'm not talking about the cast and the crew and all the people that will work on it, which I'm sure will give anything and everything and they'll do their job with lots of passion and love). So if Amazon thinks that there won't be enough people to watch it, they'll cancel it right away. They've already done it once, and than they were convinced to give us at least a movie, and all they need to cancel it back is a snap of their finger. So, again, please let's not make this happen again, please!

[fountainpenguin]

Liveblog remarks from my FOP: A New Wish re-binge (Up to "Lost and Founder's Day" since that's the last one on Netflix right now).

Liveblog opinions under the cut. If you don't want to see personal opinions or spoiler-filled references to later episodes, this post may not be for you.

- Not a liveblog technically, but I was shocked and delighted to glimpse ChalkZone as I was navigating to watch this show. Also, apparently all the FOP seasons (including Season 0) are on Paramount, which surprises me because I thought they only had up to Season 3.

- Forgot one of Hazel's early lines is describing herself as "New car smell." That's so funny...

- I really like Hazel doubling down (to Cosmo and Wanda) about how hard she worked to not complain when her parents uprooted her life and moved her to Dimmadelphia. I'd love to explore more of her pre-Dimmadelphia life.

- ?? Why did it take me this long to realize when Hazel told Tony the ant that they were the second "ant tony" she knew, she was referring to Antony? <- Because of how she pauses, I've always thought she had an Aunt Tony.

- The wish punch cards puzzle me so much. Why is it a big deal that one wish is "on Cosmo and Wanda" instead of Hazel? It's not like they charge her money for wishes, so what's the implication?

- Why are there so many kids playing VR games in the cafeteria?

- "You can't make us test prep during lunch! Isn't that illegal or something?" - Crying...

- Principal Krentz is so funny. Just in general.

- Extremely concerned about Angela and Marcus knowing (I presume) that Hazel was hosting a sleepover, but never coming down to check on her.

Do... do they NOT know Hazel is having a sleepover? HAZEL??

- I think I said this on my first watch, but Hazel acting confident during her Broadway show and then turning shy when everyone claps for her is adorable.

- Stuart / Hannibal replying "Yes" to Hazel's question of whether their mom often throws away trash inside a giant rug... ???

- I love Jasmine's backpack design (It has a cute flower on it).

- Dev licking the fan blades of his au pair drone brings me so much concern. Why did he do that.

- Marcus putting hours of research into how to do his daughter's hair is my everything...

- Wanda and Cosmo sitting in the corner when Diana is talking to Hazel... Wanda's just reading a book... Girl, your godchild is getting harassed by talking hair.

I think Wanda's reading the same book Cosmo later pulls out during "Weird Science."

- Why did Marcus pin bows to his eyes.

- I think I said this in my first liveblog, but it cracks me up that Hazel's response to losing her hair was to admire her bald head and how low-maintenance it was.

- Ah, maybe "Trial & Hair-or" is supposed to be the 'Episode 13 when Cosmo is a horse,' which he references in "Battle of the Dimmsonian." I did go looking a while back, but I must have missed this one.

- Trev and Bev are so funny... The puppy squeaks they make when Diana is yelling at Hazel... Nerds.

- Shout-out to Cosmo in this series and the many books he has on him at any one time. Specifically, I'm referring to his physics book in "Weird Science" because I am a "Cosmo loves physics books" truther ("77 Secrets of the Fairly OddParents Revealed").

- How did I miss Kennueth blushing and acting evasive every time he mentions the fairy that visited him when he was inside the whale? Okay...

- At one point, I drafted a post about Prime Meridian and the parallels to Dev and Hazel... I might go dig that up. I have opinions about it...

- Does Dale know Dev owns a sword?

Alternatively, if it's not Dev's, do I dare ask what childcare service the au pairs are supposed to provide with that sword?

^ Face of a man who has some questions.

- I would love to know what's inside Hazel's closet considering she owns a wardrobe where she actually keeps her clothes. Be honest... Did your dad put a machine in there to protect you?

- I remembered Hazel owned copies of her same sweater and jeans, but somehow I missed that she has like 3 dozen of the same pair of shoes. Girl knows what she likes.

- I still think maybe Cosmo shouldn't be putting on a 10-year-old girl's clothes, but I respect the presumed innocence that led him to explore new fashion options.

- I don't think Dale can drive and that's why he lets the helicopters crash to the ground.

- Dale's "buy one-time use items from me to save the planet' presentation is horrific. How on earth did he sway people into buying from him? Fascianting.

- Do Tina Churner and Mayor Teddy Bear share a voice actor?

They do not :(

- ???? The Pe-Az voices are changed in the Netflix version from the one I first watched. Major whiplash.

There were minor details in the early episodes I didn't remember on my original watch, and I wonder if anything else changed. Probably not because that would be a lot of work, but who knows.

- I still think it's clever that most kids show off the Dimmadome logo on their phones, but Hazel has a ladybug phone case that hides hers. She doesn't care to flaunt the branding.

- I say this knowing full-well that taking over Fairy World and removing pizza from the universe are different levels of life endangerment, but something something, Guzman announcing that Dev "doing the right thing in the end" counted as kindness in "Peace of Pizza" vs. Wanda in the finale making a point to emphasize how little "goodness" Dev has in him despite him doing the right thing in the end.

Something something, Wanda turning on Dev for endangering her bio son, but she was happy to let Timmy spend seasons romantically pursuing a girl who blatantly tried to murder him and cut him into pieces... Hey, Wanda, can I ask about that?

I'm glad the danger senses are tingling, and I support that, but these really are two different-tone shows, huh? Certain aspects are so wild to compare...

It's interesting to rewatch some episodes and remember all the foreshadowing I thought I saw (Ex: Hazel telling Kennueth he should "rewrite his story" and "make things right" with Duckworth [Dev]) and how "hard left" the finale shifts tones from what I thought we were being set up for. Fingers crossed for a Season 2... I really want to know where they wanted to go with that Kennueth & Duckworth forgiveness moment, because apparently it wasn't the finale.

- I'd love to learn more about Duckworth as a character, because it's very clear Dev relates to him on a deep level (even tearing up when Kennueth tells him that he forgives him for what he's done, and Dev whispering "Duckworth would have loved to hear that").

Including a scene like that in the finale would've been a cool callback to this moment, and I was totally expecting it given the other parallels between Dev, Hazel, and Prime Meridian, so I hope we get that in Season 2.

- So funny Dev's the only one in the know to truly recognize Kennueth, but he also, like... doesn't question why a manga character is in the real world. So curious. Did he think he was a cosplayer? Did his mind get hit with magic so he can recognize Kennueth, but not make the connection that says "Hey, this makes no sense" ?

Why didn't they cut the Project H plot from the final script if it drops off immediately after its reveal... It makes me so sad. It totally sets you up for expecting Dale to do villain stuff, but he doesn't :c I need that man to get told off for stalking a 10-year-old girl. Please Dale, I want you to screw around in Season 2... I need to see you face consequences. Dev is a minor, but you know better than that!!

My mind is brimming 24/7 with a montage of Dale trying to sneak close to Hazel and inviting her parents over for dinner or following her to restaurants and bake sales. I cannot express how much I want to do an animatic full of Dale hiding under tables like a weasel.

- I really hope I get to see the Pixies in Season 2, especially with how much set-up they did regarding Hazel's love for dull paperwork, plus Irep's model having a square head. I'd love to know how Hazel and H.P. interact. Yet another man I do not want around children! - It drives me wild how much set-up there was in one plot direction, including the original takeover plot intended to involve the Pixies - whose thing IS taking over Fairy World when the Anti-Fairies have never really been into that - and !! I didn't !! get !! to see it !! The finale's hard turn plot-wise drives me bananas, and I really want to see if a Season 2 makes me fall in love with it. - I wonder if the OG finale plan got to the script-writing phrase or if the Pixies' appearance was scrapped before it was written? I would LOVE to know how Dev behaves in that Pixie-themed finale (where Dale was supposed to be the big bad) and if that finale still would have felt out of place to me... H.P., my beloved... Save me, H.P. I want to love the finale, but if feels weird on so many levels... I think I'll like it someday in retrospect, but please let Season 2 offer me that chance. I don't wanna write the post-episode life myself- I want to know what THEIR plans were.

- Shout-out to Guzman assigning homework partners in a way that breaks up couples who went to the Under the Sea dance.

- Why does Cookie keep feeding Furry stuff he shouldn't eat, like cameras? Girl...

Alternatively, why does Furry keep eating her stuff? Boy...

- Cosmo showing up in the conference room with no shoes...

- Very sweet that Hazel refers to Puppet Hazel as "old friend" and greets it warmly.

- Honorable mention to Puppet Hazel's consistent it/its pronoun usage in all its episodes.

- Watching Hazel overly enthuse about Dev in "Lost and Founder's Day" hits harder after "Stuck In My Head" where she was overly paranoid about losing her friends... Tell us how you really feel.

- Dale and his magical invisible earpiece... I see why I didn't pick up on the fact that his "Eat a lizard" comment was directed to his phone on my first watch.

- The way Dev talks big about his dad vs. the way he deliberately un-machos his dad when we see his thoughts, my beloved... I had a whole post drafted about this, but I must have deleted it because I can't find it now.

- I like how when Dale walks offscreen, you can still hear the jingle of his spurs. I looked it up at one point and I'm pretty sure he shouldn't be wearing those in public if he's not riding a horse.

- Does Dale re-sell Vicky's bear toys?? I'm pretty sure the designs match, in which case it is INCREDIBLY funny that the au pairs - presumably programmed by Dale - make a special effort to call them out on as poorly constructed toys. I'm not sure they've done that for any other object.

Is Dale keeping tabs on Vicky even though we know Vicky wasn't keeping tabs on him? Horrifying! :)

- When the scene cuts to Dev inside Dale's command tent, he has popcorn, implying he wandered the festival before looping back to see his dad.

- I like how a Founder's Day booth is selling wolfish hats that look like the one worn by a Dimmadome ancestor.

- Dale being incredibly high in the air and still managing to set off a smoke bomb by hurling it down as hard as he could - near a crowd of people - fills me with terror.

- Lol, the shadow of Hazel's hat glows gold because it's covered in lights.

- Oh geez, the Dimmadome house isn't just shaped like Doug's hat, but it's also shaped like his face...... Dale, c'mon, man.

- So curious about the decorative pillows on Dev's bed. I assume the au pairs make it for him, but it's an interesting detail.

- This is already something I took into account for my Dev character study, but I can't stop thinking about how the only time we see Dev's room in a state less than perfect cleanliness and perfection, it's when there's books and of toys at the end of his bed he was trying to distract himself with before giving in to misery at the end of "Lost and Founder's Day..." It haunts me...

That is all.

[wolfqueen66793]

‼️Sonic Prime Spoilers‼️

Warning: LONG!

Putting my thoughts together on this new season, overall I found it very enjoyable! Definitely my favorite season.

Loved the Sonadow! Lots of great moments from the two hedgehogs, it’s so very important to me that we got to see a softer more concerned side of Shadow, even if you don’t ship Sonadow you have to admit him not being a asshole was great!

However I do wish we got to see more of him, I’m definitely fine with the amount we got, not only for the season but the show overall! But I hate the trend Sega has made where they put Shadow in a show and he quickly gets put to the side lines.

I think a great thing they could have done with Shadow is when he’s separated from Sonic still have episodes with him! We could have seen him recover from the fall into the ravine and fight his way out as a episode, or it could have been a prisoner situation! (Or both) Nine could have some how contained Shadow after being weakened by the Grim Bots, that would let the writers keep a power house like Shadow out of the fight but not out of the plot. Anytime we cut back to Nine we would also be cutting back to Shadow.

There was also the 3-4 Episode fighting, now honestly I didn’t care but I did notice it. Did the fights get a repetitive? Yeah, It was a lot of repeating the same stuff but I forgive it because during this long fight was all the lovely character interactions and growth, which is what I think we should focus on. Dread choosing his crew over Treasure, The Roses, The great moment between New Yoke Knuckles and Sonic vs Nine (though that probably should have been given to Shadow honestly, he was in the fight but we saw him the least it feels) and I loved the relationship between Mangey and Sails.

But I do have a small problem with how they handled Mangey and Sails in the fight, the writers gave them a “Death” scene. Now that I was really down for, but looking back on it It just makes me think “why?” Now logistically it was probably the writers wanting to take some characters out to write less, which honestly fair enough! They had a lot of characters to juggle.

But I wish there “Death” meant something more than just to get them out of the fight until the end where they come back with the Grim Big Bot, now I’m a BIG sucker for Sonic and Tails moments! And I love everything for them, I love there happy moments and I love there sad moments. Sonic and Tails’s relationship is my absolute favorite thing about the Sonic series! And because of that I wished there “death” was something more important, we got to see Sonic be actually hurt about there deaths and I love that! But I wish it just had a little bit more time, have it be the moment where he really starts to see Nine as someone dangerous, someone who can do some real damage, I know sonic is a guy who believes in second chances, and I’m not at all asking sonic to go into a blind rage and attack Nine, that just wouldn’t make sense. But I’d like a moment where Sonic would just yell up to Nine with anger but also sadness, he just had to watch other variants of his little brother die from another one of his brother, because he was too slow. (Or maybe I’m just a big sucker for angst and just like watching Sonic suffer)

And lastly there is the ending, now honestly all the other things I’ve mentioned before this point are things that I actually don’t mind but I’d probably just change a bit. And this also applies to the ending, just a tad less. I found the ending to be very unsatisfying and confusing, we were told we were supposed to understand why prime was so strange for the Sonic canon but we got 0 answers, and the ending is very open (which is a thing I don’t like for show finales, almost entirely) but, we we’re supposed to get 8eps this season but the season only had 7, that’s what Netflix ordered, so where is the last episode? What I’d like and what seems to be what others would like or at least have speculated is that Sonic Prime will get a extra long episode or Movie later down the line, to properly wrap everything up.

I’d definitely be down for something like that, it reminds me what Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles did with their show, after there show was put on a indefinite pause they were given the opportunity to make a Netflix movie to wrap up the story. And it’s one of my all time favorite movies! There is most definitely more that they can do with this show, and I really wish this turns out to be the case, because if this is where Netflix actually leaves the show off it will kinda suck ngl, a bad ending kinda can put a whole show off for me (not that this show will end up like that for me but still) and it would also mean Sega pretty much lied to us about understanding the timeline.

So I hope the strange cliffhanger we got with shadow taking the prism shards, the shatter spaces still being a thing and that random (most likely) prism energy blast with what looked to be a shadow of a large ship (probably the eggmen) appearing in the sky we will get that last episode Netflix ordered as a longer special that will help us understand things and give us a more satisfying ending!

But there we go! My thoughts and critiques on prime season 3. I definitely loved the season and I’ll be thinking about the Sonadow scenes we got pretty much every day just like the metal virus arc!

Here are some Sonadow pics for making it this far!

[crooked-wasteland]

How would you rank every HB episode from worst to best?

This took me some time to think on, but thank you for the ask.

So all the Helluva Boss episodes ranked worst to best (in my opinion):

The Circus

I have to place the season 2 premiere as the worst episode of the entire series, simply because it cemented the direction the story was going to go with all of the worst ideas floating to the top. The relationship mystery between Stolas and Blitz gets watered down to a childhood crush based on nothing. It is love at first sight, but then the writing performs gymnastics in order to justify Stolas’ attraction after the fact. It’s so painful in Seeing Stars and Oops how the writers really want us to believe that Stolas liked him as a person first and that is supposed to be shown in how Stolas thinks Blitz is funny when no one else does, but the series of events in the Circus will forever undermine that narrative. He finds Blitz funny because he is attracted to him. Not the other way around.

Aside from the issues with the overarching story, the entire structure of the episode fails. The idea of Chekhov’s Gun is one I believe holds merit as a fundamental tool. If you are going to introduce something like theft, acknowledge the danger of the event, repeatedly draw attention to the theft, and then just never mention any sort of natural conclusion to that plot point. If anything, Blitz returning to Stolas’ home 25 years later to do the exact same thing, necessitated a coming full circle moment of that particular plot point. The failure to identify even the most basic of narrative principles that was a solid through line of character, story and themes told me everything I needed to know about how the series was going to be handled.

Stolas’ song is a poorly-performed nonsensical word salad that I found lacked any cohesion to the character in the previous episode or the next. It’s an ugly song with maybe 2 decent verses where Stolas acknowledges that this was all playing pretend, but that eventually goes nowhere.

Additionally, Stella was officially ruined as a character, which ultimately ruined Stolas as a character. By not giving Stella depth, Stolas was also stripped of any depth or complexity. His reason for staying is dumbed down to “for the child”, and Stella’s motivation is thrown out the window in favor of “she’s awful and please don’t try to make her understandable, because then what if Stolas is held accountable for anything?” Stella is too important a character in Stolas’ story, to make her one dimensional is to make Stolas less interesting. Everything is interwoven in a story, pulling a thread in one place unravels the garment elsewhere.

In a single episode, it encompasses everything that is wrong with the series, past and future.

0/10

Seeing Stars

To be honest, I feel Seeing Stars is most people’s worst episode due to some sense of denial when the season premiered and expected the show to at least continue with some kind of coherent story/timeline. I don’t think it would be as hated if Medrano had tightened up the narrative and made Seeing Stars connect to Ozzie’s more.

However, I would still put it at number 2, even if it had. Mainly because Seeing Stars is the worst sense of characterization and dynamics I have ever seen. And when you are trying to sell a character-driven story, some kind of consistency is required. This episode cemented Loona as being an abusive, manipulative, and entitled “bitch” of a person. Octavia is written like she is 13, not 17. Blitz and Stolas have the darkest timeline where Stolas continues to sexualize Blitz after being told off in the last episode and seemingly acknowledging that he defined the dynamic without any input from Blitz. Then forces him on stage despite Blitz being on the verge of a panic attack. But most of all, it has Stolas and Blitz both completely forget why they are even in this situation, because they are supposed to be looking for Octavia.

There was no lesson Blitz needed to learn, if anything he needed to be instilled with more self esteem where possible. And Stolas already had this story arc done much better in Loo Loo Land. His character actively regresses to redo the exact plot thread, but worse. Much like The Circus, Seeing Stars set the stage for what we could look forward to in regards to the series from here on out, and the utter disrespect leveled at the original 6 episodes.

That’s not even counting how the episode is the exact same plot and story beats as Loo Loo Land, highlighting the extent of how creatively bankrupt the series is.

.5/10

Exes and Ohs

If it comes to personal most hated episode, it would be Exes and Ohs for me. The only reason it is number 3 and not number 1 is because it is a narrative cul-de-sac where the larger story is not affected by it at all.

However, it is still an objectively awful episode. Starting with the premise. The whole plot is a stolen South Park joke. It’s the Steal underpants episode, stretched out into something longer, and not nearly as funny. If you are wholesale ripping off another show, that’s plagiarism. This episode is creatively bankrupt, shouldn’t exist, has no purpose and serves no benefit. People try to argue that it has value due to Moxxie’s backstory, but what does it even serve? Sure, I know it now, but not a single character does. Millie doesn’t even find out. Even moreso, Millie’s entire connection to Chaz goes nowhere and is for nothing. We never know how, when or why she dated Chaz, it's shown she hates him, but she doesn’t even kill him. The whole episode would have ended exactly the same with Crim killing Chaz once he realized the shark demon was lying about having money.

It’s not good when the major complaints of the episode are actually what is saving it from being the worst episode.

2/10

Musical Special

The retconning of this episode, changing who Fizz was as a child to try and justify his uselessness in Oops retroactively is beyond frustrating. There is so much I could go on about in terms of character, but just focusing on this episode.

Mainly, the mildly perturbing extent Medrano goes to hetero-normalize her queer relationships. Every single relationship in the series is stereotypically designed as “Protector” and “Protected”. Stolas, Fizzarolli, and Moxxie are all characters who require constant support and protection from other factors in the plot.

Stolas needed to be protected from Striker. Moxxie needs to be protected from most things in his plots. Season 1 it was the fish monster, Striker, the agents, and finally Ozzie and Fizz. Season 2 we have him needing to be defended from his father and Chaz.

This episode it's all about Fizzarolli and him needing to be defended from his crippling low self-esteem that is only relevant to have him needing to be saved from something. The flashback serves to further retcon Fizz’s personality because a strong and confident performer doesn’t need to be saved from anyone, and in order to have the codependent romance where Fizz needs Ozzie, we need to fundamentally weaken him as a person. It’s a special episode, so the argument that it doesn’t need to exist is rather moot. Regardless, the characters and story are worse off for its addition to the narrative.

2/10

Queen Bee

Another special episode, so the argument of narrative value is once again disregarded. I dislike this episode for how one dimensional every female character is in this story. It highlights all the ongoing issues with misogynistic writing. Loona’s character is a wildly swinging pendulum from being antagonistic towards Blitz to being endeared with little motivation and ultimately being reduced to the caretaker of men. When she and Bee get into an argument, she only deescalates when she sees Tex be uncomfortable. The initial hostility itself is founded on nothing, Loona is immediately resentful of Bee because she’s attractive and people like her, specifically Tex. And her being sweet towards Blitz is entirely based on the fact that her relationship to him makes her look good due to his accomplishment of beating Beelzebub in a drink-off. It doesn’t read sincere, but rather she would look bad if she didn’t take care of him after identifying him as her “dad” when it suited her.

This entire episode works to assassinate Loona’s character and any hope of her being likable and growing. Everything about her motivation is purely selfish and consistently reinforced in big ways, so moving forward it will be very hard to realistically prove she does anything for not her own benefit.

The song was nice for about one minute, then it became unbearably repetitive.

1.5/10

Western Energy

This episode was altered and rewritten, which doesn’t inherently make it bad. It’s just that it was changed due to fans pointing out the glaring plot hole that is why Stella would want to kill Stolas when a divorce would benefit her more. Instead of critically assessing that question and focusing more on world building to create a logical justification for Stella’s actions, the writers shrug their shoulders and just can’t think of anything. It’s a special form of fridge horror as a writer to realize the major plot that was intended to push Blitz and Stolas closer together was so underdeveloped that when at all questioned resulted in the entire plot being unwritten. It’s transparently bad writing, but worse yet is that it is lazy.

This episode is what I use to show an example of how fans inject headcannon and plot into the series that the creators have no interest in spending the energy on. This isn’t James Cameron’s Avatar where there is a massively rich world around a lackluster story that has been crafted with such detail that it feels alive. Helluva Boss, and in extension Hazbin Hotel, have no world building and resort to the most superficial answers to any narrative roadblock at the expense of the characters and understanding their motivations. It shows resentment for not just the audience, but writing as an artform.

3/10

Ozzie's (with season 2 context)

I had to put Ozzie’s on the list twice due to this episode in specific having vastly different reads and reception before and after season 2 premiered. After The Circus, the episode loses all continuity with the original season. Stolas is pining and lovesick over Blitz, he doesn’t actually care about his wife and daughter leaving him. He just wishes more than anything to have his rugged peasant return his affections.

It is a plummet of quality and character in this episode that only comes to fruition with the understanding that Stolas has had an unreciprocated crush for two and a half decades.

With the context of season 2, Stolas doesn’t actually care about his daughter and how his affair, the marriage falling apart, their status, etc. affected her and his family. He only cares about the little boy he got a crush on, who his father rented out like a Lexus and then 25 years later Stolas demanded sex from. Stolas has a complete personality change and isn’t at all who he was the entire series to this point. Everything you thought mattered to him doesn’t, the ways we have come to expect this character to react to things is suddenly entirely different. His expectations are unexplainable and so far out to left field than what we previously established. This is one of the worst written episodes based on the major retconning of a keystone character and no effort being made to connect these changes in the narrative.

This was the warning shot we didn’t know we were given.

1/10

Spring Broken

Spring Broken to Unhappy Campers are the range of utterly ambivalence I have.

The song is poorly incorporated into the episode. Verosika isn’t ever fleshed out. Tex and Loona start off cute, and you can see a starting point of a dynamic between Loona and Blitz and you want her to treat him better while also recognizing that he infantalizes her constantly and doesn’t ever treat her like the adult she is. Could have been really good writing if it went anywhere. This episode establishes Loona abuses Blitz and does so intentionally because it gets her her way. It isn’t malicious, but immature and incredibly cruel, and there is a desire to see her become a better person and grow from this point.

Too bad.

4/10

C.H.E.R.U.B

I know this episode gets a ton of criticism for being a joke/filler episode that goes too long. And that is absolutely correct. However it is still better in that being filler, it is not seeking to be anything more than it is. It is just some dumb fun with a few jokes that come anywhere close to landing. But it doesn’t harm the characters or their stories, unlike the rest of the list up to this point

3/10

Oops

This episode is a hard one to place because I consider the first 7 of this list to be bad episodes. Then 8-12 are those that aren’t good with varying scales of enjoyment on my part. However I think Oops is neither good nor enjoyable. But it has some good story ideas that deserve some credit, regardless of how the writing and pacing consistently tries to undermine them.

The scene of Blitz and Fizzarolli in the alleyway is contrived and feels confused, but it does manage to land some points such as Fizz’s insecurity of being owned by his partner (too bad that goes nowhere and is immediately ignored in favor of Fizz NEEDS Ozzie, so essentially ownership is good actually) and Fizz hanging Blitz’s insecurity and guilt over his head.

The forced engagement, rapid fire pacing, and immediate resolution thoroughly dismantles any good points the episode started to set up. I have to admit the animation is pretty solid, people worked very hard on this for less pay than this quality deserves. But this episode struggles to find a place it belongs on my list because. It almost sees the light only to bury its head in the sand writing-wise.

2/10

Unhappy Campers

Unhappy Campers sits in the same pool with Oops and how it is objectively a terrible episode, but the portions involving Blitz and Barbie are genuinely interesting and I think relatively well done when compared to the rest of the season. Millie has some fun moments herself, though the whole portion of the episode surrounding her and Moxxie could have been cut and it would only serve to elevate the material overall. So even if she is the best part of the worst portion of the story, it still isn’t something I deem worth salvaging.

It would have been an excellent 5 minute episode.

2/10

Murder Family

It’s the first episode. It did well reintroducing the characters from the pilot. It had enough intrigue to see where it would go and how it would expand the world and characters. It. Was genuinely fun and impressive for a YouTube animation, with horror notes and black comedy. There was a sense of character that we could maybe get to know over time and see them struggle and change. It started off very superficial, which was fine.

The blank canvas of what could have been.

5/10

Ozzie's (Before season 2)

Having to remember Ozzie’s premiere after an entire season of thinking we were getting to know the characters, their dynamics, personality, wants, etc. So the personality change in Stolas is given more leeway as LooLooLand set up that he really wished he could find love and his wife and daughter leaving has changed his routine to the point he is in a depression. It even seems Stella took the staff with her in the separation and he’s genuinely all alone.

So him sitting in front of a television asking why nobody will love him makes sense and doesn’t feel out of character when given the room to rationalize and try to piece together the character from past instances. Additionally, him becoming overjoyed at Blitz calling him out is just as easy to rationalize away. I recall watching the episode and interpreting that Stolas was needy, desperate and earnest, not for Blitz, but just in general. And Blitz making himself available to Stolas is why Stolas tries so hard to make this pretend date legitimate. It also explains Blitz’s own utter disinterest in the scenario.

Ironically, looking back, Blitz feels like an Audience insert with how utterly confused and dismissive he is of Stolas’ targeted affection. He sees their relationship like the audience does: one of convenience and mutual benefit. Blitz calling Stolas out is him cashin in on this messed up coercive sex deal they have. Him calling Stolas out and using him for his own gains is only seen as fair in his eyes. And Stolas’ attempts to legitimize the date is a continuation of his own hedonistic selfishness. So when Stolas tries to leave Blitz or otherwise removes himself by covering his face, Blitz’s anger and resentment is valid. Because there’s a lot of confusion taking place at the moment, but Stolas is responsible for all of it and instead runs away.

The exact same escapist behavior that ended up with him in bed with Blitz in the first place.

This is all really compelling drama and without the codependent neediness of the second season, it ties together in what feels like a real season finale for the characters. Everything up to now was a prologue, an introduction of the world, characters and conflicts. Ozzie actually took the characters and faced them off against each other directly. Showing all of their worst traits and building more intrigue to Blitz’s past and his relationships. This was an episode of great potential when it was first released.

7/10

Loo Loo Land

I’ll be honest, the more I think on this episode the more I believe its placement is more out of pettiness than actual quality. While a song that made me invested at the time, You Will Be Okay is a poorly written musical song. Specifically in how it fails to actually build on the themes we were having presented. Because if you really listen to it, the song foreshadows how little Stolas actually cares about Octavia.

The only part of the song that builds character is the one when he speaks of how his marriage is cold and loveless and how “all [his] stories have been told, except for one.” Which one would think that untold story has something to do with Octavia. He’s singing the song for her, to her. He’s presumably alluding to the fact that she’s his only joy in life.

But the very next line is talking about Armageddon. Like the end of everything, the death of the universe, some heavenly judgement. That’s why everyone and their off brand YouTube clone was talking about Stolas dying at some point in the series. Because the song fails to adequately communicate the character and his feelings and how that wraps into the plot. It’s a pretty song to the ears, but fails as a musical.

Additionally, I feel I may still have such a soft spot for this episode in how it often contradicts the current direction the story has attempted to go. Details, dialogue, timeline discrepancies, all of that has continued to hinder the second season in trying to retcon the entire story to this lesser version of itself and Loo Loo land as an episode is just so tightly written that it has become a thorn.

All the portions with Blitz and RoboFizz are great. Great character, great foreshadowing (to nothing unfortunately), great pacing. Those scenes have some legitimately funny jokes. Stolas stole the show it seems, much to the series detriment, but the real stellar parts of the episode were for once the actual main character.

6/10

Truth Seekers

This episode would have been my favorite due to Blitz’s bad trip and the animation involved throughout. However, the fact that the show has entirely dropped the relevant and interesting portions of the episode, overused and abused Stolas’ demon design since this episode, and the animators have since been confirmed to not be paid fairly for the work they do, this gets to be number 2.

Like Loo Loo Land, Truth Seekers is a primary source of contradiction in the new direction the story has gone and a constant reminder of how little work has been put into the narrative. It’s one of the strongest episodes of the series as a whole, but it has been almost entirely retconned.

I have seen some mention of the agents returning to the story and if that does come to pass, this will be hilarious in trying to reconcile what parts of Truth Seekers is canon and what isn’t any longer. And the realization that all the best parts are the ones ending up on the cutting room floor.

7/10

Harvest Moon

Striker was an intimidating figure. Genuinely. There was a real sense of weight to this episode in the animation and visual storytelling. It’s a solid episode for what it is and far and above better than even Truth Seekers because it required Medrano and her staff to actually address the episode and make obvious efforts to retcon it. That is how solid an episode this is.

Stolas is not too creepy and dominating, but nor is he seen as the delicate princess who is always crying over some guy who doesn’t return his feelings. He is fun, and it starts the nudge towards maybe something a bit more amicable on Blitz’s end.

Millie absolutely deserved more time for her character seeing as they were staying with her family and she having an episode of standing by her husband and defending her choices in who she loves would have been far more engaging than Murder Family pt. 2, Moxxie lacks confidence and self esteem forever and always.

The song was so inconsequential. It was a funny segue with Striker basically upstaging Moxxie at every turn, but that doesn’t actually go anywhere when in regards to the plot overall.

And Stella putting a hit on her husband, to his face, was hilarious and would have been so interesting to have seen it played more than a joke. Like Stolas knows she wants to kill him, and he is just vaguely fine with that. Maybe thinking his letting her try to kill him would have her stay and not file for divorce. Have it been this macabre comedic sitcom where she’s always trying to kill him and hates his guts for being a subpar husband, but he takes it as some kind of tit-for-tat and plays along with it. She gets to send assassins after him, he gets to have sex with his rugged assassin imp. It’s a ridiculous level of absurdity that still allows for all the characters to be dimensional.

That got a little away from me there. Basically, this episode was the strongest overall. Animation wise, writing wise, story potential wise. This episode is the most solid Helluva Boss episode.

7.8/10

[thisloveislikeabattle]

for no reason whatsoever my brain immediately assumed that the halloween party would happen towards the end of episode 8, or at least in the second half

the police arriving at the party and the problem with the drugs, along with all the theories about who called the cops and if anybody's gonna be arrested, feels to me like an end-of-episode moment. classic cliffhanger, right?

and maybe that's really how things are gonna happen but maybe not, because I noticed that some scenes in the preview for next ep can only make sense if we consider them happening after the party

that's way I have a little theory based on that:

1. this specific topmew scene

we can see them in their university clothes (idk how to call them, is there a better term?), in what kinda looks like a bathroom to me but that's not really important, so maybe they meet after class? I'm focusing on this because top's sentence leads me to believe this is after we get to actually see mew's bad state at the party

2. the nick and papang interaction

we don't know yet if nick's scenes with papang are actually related to nick's plan to earn boston's forgiveness, that's what the preview makes me think but the only friends previews have always been pretty deciveing on purpose. what really matters to me anyway is the shirt nick is wearing in that second scene tho, and the assumption that it also takes place after the party

3. sand starts to take some distance from ray

after the raymew dance scene, and the talk with ray outside yolo, we can see that sand is actually starting to walk away from ray– he's finally setting some boundaries, not letting ray walk all over him. those two scenes, both taking place at night, are the only sandray scenes we are shown– sand and ray are the only ones that don't have a daytime scene in the preview

now to my final theory, after considering all the above (and in case you're wondering, yes, the previous ones were points to give my main theory context and recipes) :

that sandray scene from the series' trailer

if the halloween party happens relatively early in the episode, and if the scenes we see of the guys in university are after that, we could finally have this 0:02 seconds scene from the trailer in our hands.

it all makes sense to me: ray showing how selfish and possessive he truly is as soon as he notices sand getting away, not caring at all about how he's been hurting him all this time– and we can see that from sand's expression.

also thinking about sand being like "we cannot be friends we were never friends" / "fuck it I'm gonna kiss this guy just because he's also dressed as freddie mercury" / "i'm not one of your options ray", at which point ray could start to realize sand really means it and be like "you're not going anywhere".

now, I don't know if anyone else had the same initial thought as me or if from the start it was pretty clear to everybody that some scenes are supposed to happen post-party– that wasn't my case tho so i wanted to share it even if in the end I might be totally wrong

[coffee-with-mint-syrup]

Look, I didn't want to be "that" person

who criticizes something just because "it was different in the books".

But I love PJO just way too much to not feel frustrated at the tendencies of modern adaptations that I think new series is suffering from. And I feel much more frustrated because in others aspects the new show is great.

First of all, what's with this downplayed brutality of PJO world? The moment Sally started her speech about Perseus I smelled trouble. In her story, in her reasoning she named him after Perseus because of this beautiful story where happy ending is just something that happens. While in the books thats a huge deal that Percy is named after THE ONLY HALF-BLOOD HERO that had that happy ending. That fact is supposed to highlight the mortality rates and that for most of these demigods happy ending is pretty much NOT IN PROSPECT. Like, despite that rambling post I'm usually fine with some differences that are made in adaptations, most of them I usually can understand. But why do you need change the message of "I named you that way because I hope you will live happily ever after despite being in constant danger" to "I named you that way because it's a beautiful story about a mother and a son"? Especially when they absolutely could do both?

Secondly, the Gabe issue. You see, Percy Jackson books were great because they were able to discuss with children some pretty heavy themes without downplaying them - like domestic abuse. And that scene with poker players and Gabe getting from Percy money was brilliant because it showed that Gabe was so awful that he took everything he could even from a 12 y.o. There were also heavy implications that he beat Percy. But now Gabe is just your usual jerk who is lazy and doesn't have a good relationship with his stepson and argues with his wife all the time. Look, I know, that is awful too, I know that. But the point of Gabe that he was absolutely the worst. That he's the worst of the worst that's why he smells on this metaphysical level and is able to hide Percy. That he kinda deserved what happened to him in the end. And now I sure that we won't get that end because apparently that stuff is too brutal for kids. If they're afraid that much younger audience would get shocked by it they could at least do that in hints, you know. Old shows were great with things that you didn't understand as a child and then later while rewatching them you finally could get the message.

And what's with this Grover thing? Okay, I understand they probably didn't have the time for establishing why Percy would feel betrayed by his teacher but wanted to save this "low point" for Percy's character. But why? Why? How Percy as a character and we as viewers are supposed to feel that amazing friendship if it started for us with betrayal? That just sucked.

Also, personal flaw - they really could insert "This is a pen" line when Brunner gave Percy the pen. They really could and that would be so awesome. But they didn't.

And the sad part is that now I understand that there was no way they could include this important stuff in the series. Because Disney is too afraid to show domestic abuse. They afraid to show Sally Jackson that put up with heavy abuse just to keep her son safe. They afraid to show that literal children die in PJO world. That that half-blood stuff is no game - as Percy said in the very first minute of the series. For fuck's sake they didn't even mention him having ADHD! They implied that by saying that he was being weird! That was so so so so important that those things that kids with ADHD are struggling make them so special and strong in their own way. And now that message is gone too.

And all of that is because Disney doesn't have any balls left. It's like they sanitize everything they make into that 0+ versions of stories while sometimes the point of the story is in discussing something from a real, sad and unsanitized world.

The stuff I listed is just from the first episode and I don't know if the show will go that way, if this tendency of sanitizing the story will continue or not. I'm just really afraid that all of that means that they decided to leave out all the brutality that made Percy Jackson so iconic. It is like watching this new version of Harry Potter where he doesn't live under the stairs - that maybe doesn't change much story-wise but it's just not the same Harry Potter that way.

I want to like the show, I really do. Walker is so amazing is this role. Other actors are really great. I see the effort, I see how people tried to make this adaptation as close to books as they could. The show looks truly amazing. The fight with minotaur was absolutely stunning. Ending sequence is a masterpiece. I have so many good things I can say about it. But those little things they changed - they weren't little at all. A huge chunk of what made those books so special at least for me is gone (especially in comparison with Harry Potter books). And I can't help feeling sad.

[just-a-laughingstock]

People are falling for Alastor's BS

Allow me to explain.

Pretty much a person on TikTok believed that the reason Alastor fought Adam was to prove how powerful Alastor was since he could hold his own with Adam until Lucifer arrived. And I couldn't agree less.

The series makes it clear multiple times how powerful Alastor is, so it makes no sense to hammer it in. I believe it was the opposite, that it was to prove that Alastor isn't as powerful as he claims.

My main belief is that Lucifer was not meant to be there, why? Cause Charlie literally says "Alastor was supposed to handle him" in refrence to Adam. Lucifer was never meant to be there. Charlie is literally shocked when he arrives.

So did I make this whole post to bash on a random TikToker. No. It was to confront a problem I see in the Hazbin fandom and that is that a lot of people are taking Alastor to be the most powerful being in Hell. To the point that some people think he could win against Stolas or even Asmodeus.

In my opinion Alastor fits Hazbin Hotel to a T cause he's a Hazbin. He was ONCE one of the most powerful overlords but now he is washed up.

I'm gonna cut this off for people who want to scroll, but if you want to see all of my points, just do the thing.

But if you want to skip TLDR: Alastor has a superiorty complex

My point begins in "Radio killed the Video Star".

One we have the fact that Sir Pentious, a literal joke villain who is called pathetic constantly, managed to land a hit on him. If he had a power bordering the Seven Deadly Sins, that wouldn't be possible. Stolas managed to detect an imp sneaking up on him from behind. Alastor couldn't detect Sir Pentious grab his jacket when he was right in front of him.

But than we have Valentino's talk with Vox. Noteably how he says "Are you still mad he almost beat you that one time" key word "almost". Alastor didn't beat him. If you want to believe the idea that it was cause Alastor used to be friends with Vox, go ahead, but I don't. I believe he literally couldn't. He wasn't beat by Vox, but he didn't win either.

Than we have the song "Stayed Gone" itself. A lot of people in the comments praise Alastor for "tearing Vox apart" and "not even caring" but if Alastor didn't care. He wouldn't respond.

Alastor has aan Ego not confidence. And a fragile Ego at that.

Vox bashing Alastor was enough to make him begin broadcasting and ripping Vox apart. Even implying Vox shouldn't be feared cause his power comes from his connection to Val and Velvette. But in the end when he cuts the power in Pentagram City, he still feels the need to go to his demonic form and attempt to strike fear into the hearts of the other Sinners.

If he was confident in his abilities and powers, he wouldn't feel the need to remind people that they should fear him. He would simply mind his business and remind people when they mess with him. Not mock another person for just saying "he's a coward".

Than we have the distinct fact that he mocked Vox. Not attack him, he mocked him. We see with Husk that he has 0 problem killing people, but he doesn't do it. As if he knows he can't attack Vox directly.

My next point and the shortest comes with "Scrambled Eggs" specifically when he goes to the Overlord meeting. When Carmilla points out that Alastor had been gone for 7 years, he pretty much says "Oh I know. You must be so curious as to where I was" and Carmilla shuts that down. Alastor is noticeably offended that Carmilla doesn't care at all that he was gone. As if he's offended that she isn't interested at all about the fact that he left and is now back.

But in my opinion the episode with the most proof is "Dad beat Dad" when he meets Lucifer.

When they first meet and Lucifer calls him the Bellhop. Alastor ignores the comment and talks about his radio broadcast, as if fully expecting the King of Hell itself to have heard of him. And not only does Lucifer state he had never heard of him and even calls him a hazbin.

To me it seemed like Alastor seemed to immediantly try to subtly fish for a compliment. As if saying "I'm the one who came up with the name, I'm the one who deserves the praise" in which Lucifer tells him it's not clever. A comment that noticeably upsets Alastor abd causes him to cuss for the first time in the series.

This leads into "Hell's Greatest Dad", where Alastor is noticeably trying to one up Lucifer, that's the whole point of the song. But note that he never brings up his power, pretty much just saying "Well I was here first". And he gets aggressive when Lucifer keeps portraying himself as the better pick.

Only stopping when Mimzy appears. A character that pretty much kisses Alastor's ass, and makes him out to be one of the best people ever.

When Husk confronts Alastor about Mimzy, he pretty much says "he can handle whatever trouble Mimzy brings" and when Husk states that Alastor also made a contract and has his soul owned. Something that sets off Alastor so much that he threatens Husk's life.

Than when the loan sharks arrive he says that he needs to "remind people why they should fear the Radio Demon". As if upset that him simply being there, did not deter people from arriving. That they were fine fucking with the place Alastor lives if it means getting the money Mimzy owes them.

Then he cuts off Mimzy. As if upset that she purely arrived to use him as a sheild. And while he states that he's angry that she brought danger to the hotel, I don't believe that. Since he literally offers her a place to stay when she was described as pretty much being a trouble magnet. So it's weird to assume that he doesn't want her just dropping by but has no issue with her living there. I believe this was him attempting to have her show that she genuinely respects him and doesn't just view his reputation has a shield to get her out of trouble.

Pretty much, I believe that Alastor was poweful. That he was among the most powerful overlords, but now he's washed up, a hazbin. And he doesn't like that. He has a complex after all. He needs people to fear him, he needs people to view him as poweful.

That's why he breaks down after Adam beats him. He was just "killed" on live television. Live television just saw him "run with his tail between his legs" as the Vees put it. That's why he seems to be breaking down as he reads off a hypothetical headline calling him an "altruist" a person willing to die for his friends. As if upset at the thought that if he had died, people would stop fearing him. Cause he'd be seen as someone who died for the hotel, who died for his loved ones, who died for his friends. It breaks him.

I believe Season 2 will confront that fact. That all of the Pride Ring saw Alastor run from a fight. Something not even the "pathetic" Sir Pentious did. Not even Sir Pentious ran from the fight, but the "mighty" Radio Demon did. I believe the next season will have Alastor being taken down a notch.

Anyway there's my rant. Sorry if it's scattered, I tried to make it as straight forward as possible.

[anothershorthuman]

Songs That Remind Me Of You: Prologue

A series in which Jihoon realizes that he loves you a little too late.

pairings: fem!reader x jihoon, hints at fem!reader x seungcheol

word count: 2.1k

genre: angst? unrequited love, high school au to eventual college au, slice of life

chpt summary: the origins of your friendship with jihoon and the origin of his feelings for you

track 0 - Falling For U by Peachy! ft. mxmtoon

♫♪♩♫♪♩

I was hangin' with you and then I realized

I didn't think it was true, I was surprised

When I found out I've fallen for you

♫♪♩♫♪♩

I didn't wanna believe my feelings for you

I didn't wanna believe that I could lose you

If I told you just how I felt

When Jihoon first met you, he thought you were annoying. You were paired together in a chemistry class your sophomore year of high school. Working on this lab with you was torture, you’d always skip a step of the instructions or left a solution over a buntsen burner for too long. More often than not, Jihoon found himself fixing your mistakes. 

He complained to his friends about how much of a clutz you were and how he hated the teacher for pairing together. It was only a day later that you changed his mind. You were nearly late for class, rushing into your seat next to his at the last second. You slid a stack of papers stapled together across the table in his direction and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he realized that it was your lab report. 

“We were supposed to work on this together over the weekend. How’d you manage to write 10 pages on your own in one night?” He quickly scans multiple pages, all of your work was spot on. 

You pick at your nails, avoiding eye contact, “I thought I’d make up for messing up the experiment so many times. Didn’t want you to feel like you were doing all the work.”

After that, the chem teacher kept pairing the two of you together for labs, saying something about the two of you working well together. Jihoon helped you get better at staying on task and getting an experiment done while you helped him write a better conclusion to a lab. 

With time, Jihoon realized that he actually liked being around you. You never overstepped any boundaries and were hardworking. You were kind but not a push-over. And most importantly, you were the most non judgemental person he had ever met in his life.

Whenever he would tell you about the latest anime episode he had watched, you asked him questions about the lore of the show. If he complained about the band teacher wanting to give his clarinet solo to someone else, you would get annoyed too. You really were the most loyal of his friends. 

During junior year, the two of you settled in the same friend group after being put in nearly all the same classes. It wasn’t a big group of friends, there were five of you: Soonyoung (a trumpet player Jihoon met in band), Sana (your friend from middle school), Changkyun (a boy that coincidentally sat near the four of you in your calculus class), Jihoon and you.

The five of you remained a friend group during the rest of your time in high school. You all went to homecoming together, squished into Changkyun’s car. Sana, Changkyun, and you would go to every football game your team had. Not to support the football team, but to watch Jihoon and Soonyoung march during halftime. You would all go see Sana’s dance recitals. Your basement became the go-to location for any get together, any movie night or half-assed birthday parties. Once, when your parents left the state for a wedding, the five of you got drunk together for the first time, drinking a jungle juice made by Changkyuns older brother.

The point was, you were spending a lot of time with each other. And it was one of those nights, in the middle of your hangouts, that he realized he liked you a little bit more than just platonically. Or, well, your friends realized it for him.

You stood up from your seat on the couch and said that you’d be back, your parents needed help with bringing in groceries from the car. They offered to pause the movie and you said you had already seen the movie before so it didn’t matter. They paused it anyway. You disappeared after going up the stairwell.

“What are we gonna do for her birthday?” Sana asked. Your birthday was three weeks from then. Hm, what should Jihoon get you? Last year he hadn’t known you well enough to get you a present but he definitely should this year. And it had to be a good gift, something you would actually use, something that every time you looked at it, you’d think of him.

Soonyoung nudged him, “What are you getting her?” 

“I don’t really know yet.”

“Really?” Changkyun asked. “I thought you’d already have everything planned.”

Jihoon’s confused, “Why would I already have everything planned?” 

He’s taking a sip of his coke when Changkyun answers, “Well, you have a crush on her.”

Instantly, Jihoon is launched into a coughing fit, having nearly choked on his drink. He clumsily places his drink down and doubles over coughing. Soonyoung and Changkyun are falling over too, but from laughing at him.

“Come on, dude.” Sana chuckles and pats him on the back to try to help him with his coughing. “You’re so obvious about it, you didn’t really think we wouldn’t notice, did you.”

Once the burning in his throat has died down, Jihoon takes another sip of his drink, wanting to avoid talking to his teasing friends.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He mumbles.

Soonyoung snorts, “You mean you don’t look for her from the stands during every game? Or give her heart eyes when you’re in the same room as her? Or turn red when she calls you Jihoonie?”

The three of them are laughing at him again and Jihoon glances at the stairs, making sure you’re not hearing any of this conversation. 

“I'm not even joking, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

There's a beat of silence as your friends stare at Jihoon, trying to gauge how honest he’s being. A look of disbelief comes over their faces. 

“You mean,” Sana softly says, “We figured out you like her before you did?” 

Jihoon can feel his ears burning, and he rubs them self consciously. He can’t even bring himself to look at them. He’s thinking about you and how your smile makes him feel lighter and how whenever he makes a joke he’ll make sure it made you laugh. It definitely would make sense if Jihoon had a crush on you.

Suddenly, you're flying down the stairs. You fall over onto the couch between Sana and Jihoon, giggling to yourself like a maniac. You sit up turning to Sana, grabbing onto her shoulders and giving her a shake, “You’ll never believe what just happened!”

“What is it, woman?” Sana exclaims, trying to stop you from shaking her. 

“Remember Seungcheol? My neighbor?”

Immediately, the three boys are groaning in protest. Of course they know about Seungcheol, you only talk about him every single time the opportunity presents itself.

Seungcheol is a year older than you, currently the varsity captain of the wrestling team. After he moved into the house next to yours at the beginning of the year, all you ever have to say about him is oh, his muscles are so big. Jihoon, look at his hair, it looks so soft. Oh my god, I think he was looking at me. Jihoon wasn’t sure why he disliked Seungcheol when he actually was a kind person, but now he’s able to realize that it’s due to jealousy. The other boys are just sick of hearing you gush over a guy that doesn’t give you the time of day. Sana is the only one of your friends willing to hear you out on this absurd crush.

“What about Seungcheol?” Sana asks you.

“He pulled up to his house while we were unloading groceries and he came over to help–”  “So he did one nice thing.” Soonyoung interrupts you. 

“Shut up, Soon! He’s always nice, but that isn’t the point.” 

Huh, the pout on your face is sort of cute, Jihoon thinks. 

“Anyways, when we finished, he asked to talk to me outside, and he asked me out!”

You’re squealing in excitement again, oblivious to the looks of terror and sympathy that Jihoons friends are sending him. He feels his heart sink.

Maybe it was better to stay unaware of his feelings, it’s not like he had a chance anyways. Still, he put on a fake smile like the rest of his friends.

“Oh my god!” Sana says. “That's so exciting!”

Soon enough, you’re all finishing up the movie, even if he can’t seem to focus on the screen. Seungcheol was a good guy, he should be happy for you. This was something that you had been wanting for a while and it was finally happening. Jihoon refused to be the person to ruin that for you. When the movie is over and Changkyun is driving everyone else back home, there's a tense silence.

Soonyoung clears his throat, nudging Jihoons foot with his own from the backseat, “They barely know anything about each other, maybe this is just a fling. It’ll pass.”

Changkyun looks at the two from the rearview mirror, “Yea, Seungcheol barely even looked at her before this. It’s kind of weird that he just asked her out.”

“Guys stop,” Sana says. She doesn’t turn to look at the boys in the car, instead looking outside through the passenger window. “I know we feel bad for Jihoon, but that’s not fair to her. She likes Seungcheol a lot, he could be her first boyfriend. It’s a big deal, so let's not ruin it for her.”

Jihoon sighs, “Right. Up until today, I didn’t even realize how much I like her… let's just pretend that conversation didn’t happen.”

The car pulls up in front of his house. He hurriedly unbuckles his seatbelt and leaves the car. He’s sniffling when he makes it to his room, flopping onto his bed. Part of him hopes you realize Seungcheol isn’t what you thought he’d be like and you’ll forget about him, but another part of him feels disgusting for thinking that. 

A week later, you’re telling them all about how amazing your bowling date with Seungcheol went. He paid for everything and didn’t make you feel bad for being terrible at bowling. He wasn’t trying to get into your pants and was making genuine questions. He surprised you with flowers at the end of your date and asked when he could take you on another date. You went on a lot more dates after that, there was a picnic date, a trip to the movie theater, a corn maze. 

On your birthday, Sana invited him to your party. Jihoon wasn’t sure what to get you, especially now that he had realized he liked you. He ended up making you a playlist and then burning it onto a CD. But at your party, Seungcheol surprised everyone by showing up with a guitar. He sang you a sweet love song in front of everyone, winning over all of your friends. Jihoon ended up hiding his CD, now embarrassed to give it to you. He couldn’t sing you a song the way Seungcheol did. He didn’t make you hide your face timidly or smile that big. When Sana asked him what he had gotten you, Jihoon said that his gift hadn’t arrived in time and would give it to you a little later.

Now, at the end of the school year, the CD he made for you is sitting on his desk, waiting for the opportunity to give it to you without it feeling like he was trying to steal you from Seungcheol.

The five of you attend the senior graduation. You had told your friends that you were feeling insecure about your relationship, how even though it had been a couple months of going out, Seungcheol hasn't asked you to be his girlfriend. And that he probably wouldn’t since he would be leaving for college. Still, you wanted to support him, so you showed up to the graduation with gifts to give him after the ceremony. To everyone’s amazement, he was the one to surprise you by asking you to be his girlfriend during his graduation party.

As Jihoon watched the romance between you and Seungcheol develop, he couldn’t help but feel many emotions. He loved the happiness that radiated from your smile and the twinkle in your eye whenever you were with him. But at the same time, he couldn’t help the jealousy from creeping in, wishing it was him instead of Seungcheol every time he’d catch the two of you hugging or kissing. He had only recently come to terms with his feelings but had no choice but to watch from the sidelines. He wasn't even upset with Seungcheol anymore, having finally gotten the chance to know him and realizing that he really was a good boyfriend.

Jihoon was determined to be a supportive friend, even if it meant keeping his feeling hidden. He still held onto the CD he created for your birthday, a reminder of his unrequited feelings. For now, he knew the timing wasn’t right to confess his feelings. But maybe one day, the stars would align, and the right moment would present itself.

After junior year ended, and you and Seungcheol officially became a couple, Jihoon’s heart carried a bittersweet melody. The CD, filled with songs that spoke about his feelings, remained on his desk, waiting for the day he could give it to you.

[jfkonfucius]

Opinions on confucius x harriet?

Mixed bag in what it's probably intended to be, but a pretty interesting dynamic of a not-quite-healthy relationship if I rotate it in my head enough!

In source it comes across as if the two were paired as a "well, since these are the two characters left to put into a love situation... Might as well!", I don't mind it much though, it's supposed to be a simple teenage drama parody, so it fits

When I overanalyze it in a way it's probably not intended though, I can see two people who crave love and are desperate for it, to the point of falling for the first person available

Harriet got a crush on JFK after a fake kiss (and immediately lost it after a second one), and she started dating Confucius immediately after it was revealed that he was a catfish. That can't be healthy!

Confucius has had 0 irl friends and relationships for majority of his life (or at least that's what I gather), and is so insecure about himself that he resorted to using a fake identity to interact with his crush

I do think Confucius has had a crush on Harriet for a bit, as hints of it go as back as the third episode, where he's putting his hand on her shoulder

(Yes I know Cleo's hand is on JFK's shoulder so that might not mean anything . But in Confucius case it was animated so it means more to me...)

And when they finally start dating their first thought is to announce it with a party ! whar !

Later on the inevitable happens though and Confucius' nightmare comes true, he gets dumped by Harriet in the most rushed and sudden way possible because they have contrasting goals and Confucius isn't what she wants him to be

Confucius is shown to be clearly in much more distress than Harriet is during the episode

(Charming)

When at the end of the ep Harriet realizes that it wasn't a good idea (erm, I think it was a good idea...), she asks if they could get back together, and to my surprise, Confucius, despite having been so distressed over the breakup, initially has the emotional maturity to step back

[...]

Buuuut then he fell back into it after realizing that the memory wipe might save the relationship

And we don't know how that is going to go for that was the last episode of the series!

Going by the assumption that S2 and S3 have the same intro, I can sense they hint at some drrrrrrama

I'm intrigued to see where they're gonna bring this, especially considering that the show acknowledges that the relationship isn't healthy

I hope they sort it out communication style!

But Hey, if things don't work out, remember, there's plenty of fish in the sea!

(Ok well this part is kind of a joke... Making everyone gay would be too easy of a fix wouldn't it?)

[the-quiet-blogger]

"The Giggle"

You know it's been a while since I've gone truly absolutely batshit over a Doctor Who episode, but here we are. Spoilers, obviously, under the cut.

First of all: UNIT

While I'm not a huge fan of The Doctor working for/with Earth-based Space police, I think it's a great idea to have the companions in a safe environment where they have a place to use all of the knowledge they've gathered during their journey throughout the starts. They get paid to continue doing what they love and while it does set things up to have future (LIVING) companions to make little cameos (or even an option for a spin-off series, I think that it's ultimately a good choice that RTD decided to let the companions have a space where they can live, grow, and continue to help.

One problem I have with this is that this is exactly where Martha and Mickey went at the end of 10's run -- and yet absolutely 0 (zero) mention of them or their whereabouts. They're the OG companions joining UNIT, so where TF are they??

Also this guy?? The Vlinx?? I both love and hated that we didn't get much explanation for this Guy in the Chair. Just "Oh you're helping?! Sure! Absolutely no reason to think that this new alien and the weird thing that's happening are related ANYWAYS--"

A bit like Panda from JJK where it's just "yeah and this is Vlinx, it works here, moving on,"

LOVE the jab about antivaxxers using the narrative of the Zeedex. It DOES help, but since you're asking the masses (who all wholeheartedly believe that they are right and everyone else is wrong) to put this on, it becomes a bit harder -- we saw how Kate reacted the moment she willfully put it on. Also return of our #Queen for her role as the News Anchor. Glad she has a name now.

Secondly: Donna <3 my absolute beloved. She has grown so fucking much. From yelling at the world because that's the only way to be heard to quietly asking The Doctor what is wrong. She has grown into her own woman, though of course still missing a lot of main action before the metacrisis was resolved (I could write a whole other deep dive about that episode too). When she noticed that the laughter was notes -- "The Giggle" hiding behind the screen, I was so proud of her. This is why the Doctor needs an "every day" human -- and Donna is so blunt that she won't hold back on her observations, though I have to wonder if the whole recorder conversation with Rose was how she came out. I hope so, that's just so chaotic.

I've seen some people argue that there is still some TimeLord in her because of how smart she's been in these last few episodes.

To that I say

"bitch, do you not remember the bees disappearing???"

Donna Noble is a genius and an idiot. Both can exist in the same person, in the same character, and that's exactly what they proved with the previous episode.

and SPEAKING OF her being a genius

She loves The Doctor, not romantically, but in a "platonic soulmate" kind of way that makes my heart full. When she realized that The Doctor never mentioned Mel or any of their adventures, she pointed it out. Not only that, she told The Doctor point-blank that there's always something that the Time Lord seems to be running from. There's never really been a moment when he's stopped and talked about any of the shit that he's been through and she can tell that it's starting to wear on him.

"Maybe that's why your old face came back. You're wearing yourself out"

and he immediately changes the subject and charges forward despite her telling him a harsh truth. She's travelling with him again, sure, but it was supposed to be some short little trip and I think the main reason she went with him in the first place (whether or not she will admit it) is because she saw her friend in crisis and wanted to be around to help -- to figure out what exactly he needed from her. With each episode, she's tried to guess why his old face came back, but nothing stuck.

The fucking puppet show.

Now, I feel like this is a great way to catch up new fans with any old Doctor trauma that they may have missed. It was also a way to shove it into The Doctor's face just how many of his loved ones that he was responsible for killing.

Now, before I hear any one say "but what about ______??"

Rory wasn't as close to The Doctor as Amy had been. "The first face this face saw" and while they did become closer later on, he would always have a special place in his heart for Amy. He watched her die for fucks sake.

Martha wasn't mentioned because as far as he knows, she's still alive and kicking ass. That's part of the reason he will up and abandon certain companions, so he doesn't get them hurt.

The Fam - left behind and alive. Remember 2/3 of the original Fam chose to step away from the TARDIS and Yaz was left before 13 could regenerate as she "needed to do this on [her] own". While, yes, I'm sure the Doctor feels guilty about leaving them behind, it's not nearly as bad as getting them killed.

Anyone else had either survived as far as The Doctor was aware, or hadn't been as close as those particular companions. That is why those 3 were chosen.

Now, back to the puppet show

Mentioning not only the lost companions but also the Flux

God I do not have the time to go into this half-assed recreation of a tragedy trying to be as big and bad as the Time War and Gallifrey. I feel like Chris Chibnall felt snubbed with a female presenting Doctor and gave us the most half-written mediocre bull shit he could have. RTD is already having to fix it with mentioning it several times and exactly what happened in the aftermath. Just looking up "Doctor Who Flux" you get so many results that all try to "explain" it.

If your audience has to look up how your writing makes sense, you aren't smarter or cleverer than the masses, it's just shit writing.

However,

While the actual Flux episodes and following regeneration made it hard to understand not only what happened, RTD breaks it down.

There was a terrible decision to be made. The universe was dying. The Doctor had to choose and a lot of deaths now lay on the Time Lord's shoulders.

BUT! That was also the only piece of The Doctor's trauma that couldn't be waved away with

Which is when The Doctor challenged the Toymaker to a game.

Back too 2023, we get...quite honestly one of the best scenes I've seen in New Who, only rivalled by Here Come the Drums with the Master dancing along. No, Rasputin doesn't come close to this cunty rendition of Spice Up Your Life.

Amazing, cunty, terrifying, entertianing, and fun.

"I think they're still falling" -- BITCH?!?!?! Ugh. I want more of the Toymaker. What a fun villain and Neil Patrick Harris knocked it out of the goddamn park. No matter what you thought about this episode, this dance routine was a highlight.

I also love the reference to when The Doctor had tried to reason with The Master, asking to go amongst the stars with fun filled adventures, taking on the burden of being their jailer and caretaker for the rest of eternity if it meant that humanity was safe.

Of course, we all know what comes after the Toymaker refuses the call to the stars.

I immediately started crying. Before The Doctor even started with those last words, I wasn't ready to say goodbye. We went from "I don't want to go" to "allons-y". From him dying alone in his TARDIS to being immediately surrounded by loved ones

"He's not dying alone"

And he didn't have to.

I choked on my crying so hard I almost died myself. I know David Tennant had always said that he thought The Doctor was asexual to some degree, but this is just ridiculous. /pos

But, when you consider the salt line at the edge of the universe and how that myth became a reality because of The Doctor's actions -- the fact that bigeneration was once a myth and now a reality suddenly opens up a whole door of possibilities for this upcoming season with Ncuti Gawa.

Now, The Doctor(s)

14 was consistently surprised in their actions, their off-the-hand comments. Something that 10 always struggled with was saying how much people meant to them.

And one thing about 14, they are filled with love. They openly say "I love ____" whereas 10 never did.

"Rose Tyler, I--"

Having to leave those he loved behind, never wanting to admit when he cared more than he did. As long as he spun and ran away from his feelings, they could never catch up to him. Right?

14 is different, always saying "I'm here", "You're okay" and slinging around the word "love" as if they would never grow tired of it. 14, obviously, is The Doctor after Amy, Clara, Billie, and the Fam. After avoiding a family with the Ponds, losing Clara after realizing they were toxic for her, a friend who never expected anything more from them, and Yaz's fam who only wanted to be a safe space for them to be able to turn to. Yaz, the last companion that was pushed away by The Doctor, had loved them and told them so and gotten nothing in return.

And there were so many different ways that 14 showed this love. So many hugs!! So many reassurances!! And so much love that The Doctor was sharing amongst everyone who could hear them -- and yet not a drop of that love or compassion showed inwards.

I am so emotional about this hug, it's not even funny. Literally healing their younger self. The love, the understanding, the "I'm here" -- finally someone who understands literally everything 14 has gone through. The acceptance of the hug (THE TUCK INTO THE NECK?!?!?FSKFBWILDNLADN) I fell to my knees!!!!! SOBBING!!!!!!!!

BUT!!! Not only is 15 born on the battlefield, but also born surrounded by love and fun. Pants or not, 15 is ready to save the world and make it a good time for those around them. Self assured, fun, smiling, and loving-- 15 jumps into the world with a confused hug and love for their past & current self. After years of therapy, I keep hearing some of the same phrases along the lines of "you have to look to your past/younger self and let them know that it's okay, that they shouldn't have had to go through all of that alone" and this was exactly that, only on a Time Lord scale.

Now, personally, I had fun watching the game of catch with the Toymaker after 15 was introduced. I thought it was a fun way to share the spotlight with Gawa as the 15th Doctor and let the audience know some hints as to what we have to look forward to.

The terms of endearment melted my little heart. I'm always a sucker for a good nickname, both in real life and in fiction and 15 was full of them.

"Honey, sweetie, pumpkin pie, you are too traumatized to be flying the TARDIS right now, get OUT and take a NAP"

That was basically what was said, right?

And then this...home. The Doctor having a family. This is quite honestly the perfect, happiest ending that The Doctor wearing this particular face could have had. All those years running away, fighting hard, and keeping on a strong face, and this is what that was for. All that running and avoiding, and love for everyone else but themself and now they finally can take a break and focus on taking time to say "what the hell". Maybe go to therapy. There's so much fic potential for this as well, the kinds of companions they could run into casually or little every day struggles that are literally alien to them.

I've seen a lot of posts upset that this plot point seemed to be circling around two points: 1) this a repeat of the metacrisis ending and 2) not the first time The Doctor had domestic bliss.

To that, I say:

the metacrisis Doctor was half human and would be able to grow old with Rose in that parallel universe. It was also the traumatic ending of the DoctorDonna (or so we thought) and on that beach, the Doctor, the Time Lord Doctor, still couldn't say how much Rose meant to him. He also said that living life, day after day, was the one thing that he could never have.

2. On Tranzalore, The Doctor was not resting. He was taking care of the tear in the universe and defending it from the monsters that would constantly be on the attack. Every day was a fight. And when he spent those 24 years with River Song, he knew that this was the last time they would meet before her end. How can you relax when you know that these are the last moments you're going to have with your loved one. You watched them die and this is the best that you can do with them in their last days, knowing that you can't stop death from coming.

And there is something so incredibly healing about The Doctor allowing themselves to stay here, with only occasional trips to the Moon with their favorite niece. and the possibility of them perhaps becoming a Curator -- who knows!!

And now we have Ncuti Gawa's 15th Doctor to look forward to and all of time and space!! I am so incredibly excited to see where this takes us on Christmas.

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

heyyy how many episodes of jjk would. in theory. i need to watch to read sea glass gardens and understand wtf is going on. i love your writing but idk this show and based on your descriptions if i try to go in blind i'm doomed. i have a bad habit of exclusively watching shows so i can read fics about them because my taste is fucking cursed, thanks

If you're looking to just understand at a baseline level what's going on in sea glass gardens, the answer is actually zero episodes.

sea glass gardens takes place before the main series, directly after the prequel movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0. And, good news, the fic takes place entirely from the perspective of the protagonist of JJK 0 (who is not the protagonist of the main series), who is also new to the sorcerer society of the JJK universe. So the movie does a good job of explaining the premise of the world and introducing most of the people who I use as the main characters of sea glass gardens as like, new people whose entire schtick needs to be explained. There are some characters in sea glass gardens who don't appear until the main series, but they're also strangers to the narrator of sea glass gardens, so I actually introduce them to the narrator and explain who they are.

I do not do that for the panda. I assume you also know why the panda is supposed to be there. The panda is in JJK 0.

Now, just watching JJK 0 and not the main series means you won't be confused and you'll be able to enjoy what's going on in sea glass gardens, but you admittedly won't have all the relevant context. But it shouldn't make you unable to follow the plot and what's going on, you'll just miss out on a few nods to the main series. Again, the narrator is also new to the world, so if you've watched JJK 0, you have pretty much all of the same context that he has. You'll just basically be getting a different introduction to some people or concepts than you otherwise would if you had met them in canon. So basically, like Yuuta (the narrator), you'll be meeting characters like Naobito for the very first time through sea glass, whereas people who have watched all the way through will have more background knowledge from what they know of him in canon, but you don't need any of his canon appearances to understand Naobito or his role in the fic.

And anyway if you want to have like, 100% of the same knowledge of canon that I had going into writing the fic, then you need to join me in hell with a total deep dive. Some of the characters mentioned in sea glass haven't shown up in the anime yet. Some of them haven't shown up in the anime or the manga, but the mangaka referenced them as a single bullet point in a character sheet and I decided to use them. You will be totally fine without this background knowledge. It is completely useless.

The thing about sea glass gardens is that it sort of exists in this niche part of canon that canon does not. actually. care about. Its primary conflict centers around the major clans of the Jujutsu Kaisen world and the tensions between them.

And the thing is. That canon. Doesn't. Really. Talk about that. It's just the tiny irrelevant part of canon that I cared passionately about. I don't know why I'm like this.

Like, one of the most important characters in the series, Gojo Satoru, is the head of the Gojo clan. He is also the only gojo clan member that we ever meet. Canon's just got other shit going on and the clan drama is mostly a background thing. I have built my little house of a few vague, scattered lines throughout the series and then wholesale made a lot of shit up.

That being said, that means sea glass gardens should actually be intelligible even if you're bypassing the main series, because it's a terrible representation of what this series is actually about. Whatever you think the plot of JJK is after reading sea glass gardens, it isn't that. The protagonist of the actual main series will never even appear in sea glass gardens. the primary antagonists of the main series will, for the most part, not be there at all. I am playing in my little sandbox of clan political intrigue because it enthralls me.

The prequel movie is actually really well done, and it only requires under two hours of investment. If you want a slightly more comprehensive introduction to the world before reading sea glass, I'd watch the first six episodes or so of the main series as well, but it isn't mandatory to understanding the fic.

I personally stream the prequel movie off of crunchyroll. I'm not sure where else, if anywhere, it's available, but it should be fairly easy to track down and watch if you're just looking to dip your toes into the JJK world.