#vs hollyhock

[starfacedstudio]

ID: A lineup of some original characters drawn as Among Us beans. They have been stylized to have differing body types and they have tails instead of backpacks. Some sketches appear showing who in the group would be an 'impostor' by showing their spiky mouths. End ID.

not necessarily hard to find info but did you know the majority of the main cast of Visible Spectrum genuinely used to be among us characters. Yea. anyways (re-beans them)

[criticalcrusherbot]

Crushbot: This feels less like a good-faith critique and more like someone searching for a reason to hate Vivziepop and her work. The parallels between Helluva Boss and Bojack Horseman are there, sure—but reducing Stolas’s arc to a “can I copy your homework?” moment reeks of a desperate attempt to discredit the show rather than actually engaging with what it’s doing.

Parallels, Sure—But Context Matters

Let’s talk about the alleged similarities. Yes, Stolas being hated by the imps after his banishment could look like Bojack being “cancelled.” Both happen after courtroom scenes. Both involve estrangement from a younger female family member (Octavia for Stolas, Hollyhock for Bojack). That’s where the similarities end, and pretending otherwise ignores the wildly different purposes these arcs serve.

Bojack vs. Stolas

Bojack’s arc is about personal accountability and the destruction he leaves in his wake. His estrangement from Hollyhock is well-earned; she discovers the ways he’s manipulated and harmed others, and she rightfully cuts him off. The public backlash against Bojack is a direct response to his moral failings, forcing him to sit with the consequences of his actions.

Stolas, on the other hand, is being punished specifically for lending Blitz his grimoire, an illegal act that threatens the power structures of Hell. The characters in power (the Sins and the Goetia) care far more about this rule-breaking and his vague proclamation of being the "mastermind" behind some heinous plot than about his personal failings—cheating on Stella or neglecting Octavia emotionally. And they certainly don’t care about his classism or his (unintentionally) demeaning attitude towards imps.

Stolas’s punishment in Mastermind reflects Hell’s oppressive hierarchy and its misplaced priorities, rather than serving as a reckoning with his true faults. Comparing these two situations as if they’re identical flattens both narratives, ignoring the distinct ways each show explores power, accountability, and personal flaws.

The Martyr Argument

The claim that Stolas is treated like a martyr and excused for his actions is laughable. Stolas is flawed; the show never pretends otherwise. We’ve seen him struggle with his poor decisions and their consequences—particularly with Octavia. But his punishment in Mastermind isn’t about absolving him; it’s about highlighting the misdirected anger of an oppressive system.

This misdirected anger mirrors the real-world reactions of oppressed groups, who often lash out at convenient but less culpable targets when they feel powerless to confront the true source of their suffering. The hatred Stolas faces from the imp community doesn’t stem from his personal failings—it stems from the deep, systemic inequities of Hell's hierarchy, a system Stolas has long benefited from. 

The idea that Vivziepop thinks Stolas is “blameless” feels like an intentional misreading. Stolas is far from perfect, but his arc is about redemption and growth, not victimhood. If anything, the animosity he faces underscores the show’s broader themes of power dynamics and societal injustice, emphasizing how oppressive systems perpetuate cycles of blame and resentment.

“Can I Copy Your Homework?”—Lazy Critique

Sure, you can find surface-level similarities between Helluva Boss and Bojack Horseman, but that doesn’t make one a copy of the other. The thematic goals are wildly different:

Bojack Horseman is a deeply introspective, human story about accountability and the lasting damage of selfishness.

Helluva Boss is a surreal, melodramatic exploration of power, marginalization, and complicated relationships within a hellish hierarchy.

If anything, the similarities between the two are evidence of Helluva Boss drawing from familiar storytelling beats to craft something uniquely its own. Accusing it of plagiarism or lazy writing misses the point entirely. Stolas’s arc is tailored to Helluva Boss’s world—a chaotic, exaggerated, and deeply emotional sandbox that doesn’t care about “grounded realism” in the same way Bojack Horseman does.

The Real Issue

Let’s be honest: critiques like this aren’t really about writing quality or thematic depth. They’re about taking perverse joy in tearing Vivziepop down. It’s less about legitimate criticism and more about manufacturing outrage. It’s exhausting.

The truth is, Helluva Boss does what it sets out to do: deliver a visually stunning, emotionally resonant, and often absurd story in a way that resonates with its audience. If some people are so hung up on surface-level comparisons that they can’t see that, maybe they’re not the intended audience—and that’s fine. But let’s not pretend their bad-faith critiques hold any weight.

[topbottomswitchblade]

Intro To Knifeplay

I'd been wanting to make a tutorial and then @hollyhocks-hoping asked if I had any tips for getting into knifeplay so that finally motivated me enough. Gonna try to make this seem like a really know what I'm talking about and not get anyone killed.

First things first: Knifeplay is risky. It can cause actual harm. But like, so can driving a car, so we mitigate the danger with things like seat belts and drivers ed. This is drivers ed. (driver's ed? drivers' ed? hm.)

There's different ways to do knifeplay that can make it more safe or more risky, depending on what you want out of the experience and are comfortable with.

On the safest end, you can use alternatives to real/sharp knives. I'm going to give some examples but to be clear I am not vouching for any specific products because I have not used them because I skipped the safety level and went for blood. But that's just me.

Acrylic/resin knives (example 1, example 2, example 3,)

Training knives (example 1, example 2)

This is a knife you can order dull, which is kinda the same as a training knife, but I'm making a separate point to say: I have seen some people give advice on ways to dull a blade so you can use it for knifeplay and um. Don't Do That. First of all, very tedious. Second and more importantly, it's unlikely you'll get it to a safe level of dull and could end up hurting your partner/yourself worse if you get careless thinking it's low risk. And if you get cut, it won't be a clean cut. Also the one I linked it sold out sorry. But this one is a dulled bowie knife intended to be used as a paddle?

Putting a butter knife in the freezer so you get the chill of a cold blade without it being sharp. Pair it with leather gloves so the dom's hands don't get cold.

Of course, there's still risk associated with a dull or non-metal blade. If you're like "let's do a scene where I stab you to death, and baby, I'm going for an Oscar," you can still, like, stab your partner. It just won't do as much damage as a real knife would. Like, getting shot with a paintball vs a bullet. Still hurts, but it won't kill you. Don't jam it in their eyes or whatever.

Next up on the danger level: Using real knives without intending to cut your partner.

Use the spine instead of the blade.

Here's is a v simple diagram for our purposes

This comes with some risk (especially with a clip point) as the point is still sharp

But if you want to flash a real knife and hold it to their throat and whatnot, you can press the spine to their skin instead of the blade. Note: even I, as a pretty experienced knifeplayer, do not hold the blade's edge to my partner's throat. If I want to do that, I still use the spine.

You can also use the flat of the blade, which I'm going to say is a touch more risky because edge will be against their skin. Your sub will have to be good and keep still.

Next level: Making shallow cuts with the tip

What I usually do with my partner is use the back side of the knife (spine towards their skin) and make scratches and shallow cuts with the point of the blade. Keeping the blade edge turned away and only using the point gives me more control of the depth. I don't have to worry so much about actually slicing deep, but it's still sharp enough to draw a bit of blood.

Like so

It gets results like this

Pro tip: Open up shallow cuts wider (but not deeper) by paddling them afterwards 👍

I gave an example of clip and drop point above because they're the most common for folding knives, and also are featuring in my parts diagram, but for this practice I also use a karambit which looks like this

Obviously in this case I would not be facing the blade away to use the tip

Spice it up: Put the blade in your sub's mouth. But watch out!

Questionable method: Light stabbing

So. You can push the point in a bit before it breaks skin (unless it's a really sharp blade). I started incorporating this, but then one time I did break skin and it started For Real Bleeding. I staunched it with a tissue for a minute and it stopped and you couldn't even see the puncture, but uh. Probably won't do that again. Do with that what you will. Don't kill anyone; I don't want my blog to appear in court.

I don't think I should really suggest anything more extreme than that in good conscience. I'm sure there are people out there who go harder, but you'll have to find those people and ask them. Ultimately if you practice it safely and feel confident enough to experiment that is a call for you and your partner when you feel ready, just be smart about it and be prepared for do first aid in case of accidents.

Suggestions for blades:

Knives come in a wide range of types and prices, but you can find pretty good ones for like $20-30. Even name brands like Smith & Wesson can be anywhere between $15 and $160. Or if you want a really fancy one like a Benchmade they can run up to the multiple hundreds. But you don't need that.

I've gotten a few of my knives from megaknife.com

Outdoors/sporting goods stores (Cabela's, Tractor Supply Co, Dicks, etc)

Website for a specific brand (Smith & Wesson, Buck, Gerber, etc)

Exacto knives (craft or office supply stores) or scalpels if you want to do some carving. I have used an exacto knife but I prefer regular folding knives. I have not used a scalpel so proceed with caution.

Be aware of the knife laws where you live! This is more for if you're going to be carrying the knife, but still. Usually blades over 3" fall under concealed carry laws.

Safety tip: Aim for meaty parts. Avoid veins and arteries.

Sanitation:

Use alcohol wipes on the blade and skin beforehand. Wash your hands or wear gloves. Clean the cuts afterwards using a gentle soap and warm water. Do not use alcohol on the cuts afterwards. I mean, unless that's part of your pain play but I don't know if that would even be fun lol. You can use neosporin, bactine spray, etc as well.

In general, use good BDSM practices. Talk it through beforehand to establish what you and your partner are comfortable with. Use safewords, give aftercare with the first aid. Don't hesitate to check in throughout. Take it slow when you start out. Don't feel like you have to go hard and draw blood the first time you try it.

[mysterycharacterflowers]

Round 2; A bouquet of oleander, refflesia (corpse flower), trigidia, hyacinth, hollyhock, Iberis (candytuft) and orange tulip Vs A bouquet of daffodil and pansy

If you know who they are, or you are pretty sure of it, please don't tell until this poll has ended!

First, let's talk about the bouquet of oleander, refflesia (corpse flower), trigidia, hyacinth, hollyhock, Iberis (candytuft) and orange tulip

Meaning and why these flowers were chosen: Oleander, because it has a wide variety of meanings that suit him perfectly, including seduction, charm, beauty, complicated relationships, caution, and misfortune; he’s very beautiful (except when he’s not) and charismatic, he technically causes good luck but it often turns terrible due to his own mistakes so he is one hell of a misfortune upon other people, and he’s in a really funky marriage (no actual love, lots of lust, lots of annoyance, and an on-and-off alliance). Also, oleander has a legend about its name featuring a character who drowns, an association that vaguely reflects this guy’s difficult relationship with water (among other things, his spouse tried to drown him). Rafflesia (corpse flower), because it means death, artifice, temptation, and trickery. He tends to be involved in death whether he actively meant harm or not, but personally, too, he’s not above a little murder and consumption of innocent people. On the artifice and trickery side of things, he went to his marriage having put up a lot of pretenses that weren’t seen through until it was just too late, and the trend continued, but he’ll fall for the same, he’s naïve enough. Also, rafflesia exists in a symbiotic relationship with another plant, while he essentially creates magical symbiosis through deal-making (rafflesia is parasitic; he claims that he works in a more mutualistic manner, and probably means it, but it generally goes sour if it didn’t start that way). This flower also captures his rancid and wacky nature. Tigridia, because it represents cruelty; while malice isn’t his default state (self-interested amorality is), he’s plenty capable of it, and it is generally cruel for him to be in someone’s life. He also has a pragmatic side that, given what drives it, also tends toward cruelty even if it’s showing some of his better ideas. Hyacinth, because it represents playfulness; he’s excitable and will make big decisions on a whim, and likes to joke around. It also represents family togetherness, which is rather ironic for him, as someone is deliberately concealing the existence of his child from him, desperately and for as long as possible. Hollyhock, because it represents fertility and ambition; ambition is essential to his life even though it’s not usually his own. Iberis (candytuft), because it symbolizes indifference and he is an apathetic soul in that he’s not really capable of caring about others in a conventional sense and is fine living a life based solely around his own needs. No one ever got through to him that he should practice compassion long-term, or pay attention when something doesn’t directly concern him, which comes back to bite him sometimes. Iberis also symbolizes beauty and sweetness; he’s pretty, as established, but also capable of small actions that are seemingly sweet, if only he’d stick with it. Orange tulip, because it symbolizes understanding (especially in a relationship), and he does understand his spouse on a deep level, or at least some of his spouse’s feelings, though he’s woefully inadequate at figuring out what that means in practice Description: Good luck charm (derogatory/affectionate/holding back laughter). Constantly trying to explain one thing about his existence and how people don’t understand and gets told he fills his space in the world in such a way that the distinction he tries to make is without a difference. Has been on this earth for so very long and he never learns. Wildcard willing to take a stand for chaos. Loves it when people dream big dreams

Check their post here

Now, let's talk about the bouquet of daffodil and pansy

Meaning: Daffodil (forgiveness & doom) & pansy (sorrow, regret, hope) Description: Evil clone that is so pathetically bad at being evil. He got possessed and even THEN couldn’t do it right. canonical he/they icon. Was banished in a lava pit for ages. was horribly mischaracterized in their most recent appearance. started a crypto currency (the only actual evil thing he did). was a superhero sidekick for a while. (The superhero did not know he was evil despite evil being in his name.) gay for another evil clone. they have it all

Check their post here

[namedafterflowerstournament]

Botanic Tournament : Main Bracket !

Round 2 Poll U

(Buttercup and hollyhocks)

[chaifootsteps]

I still think it’s an absolute joke that viv thinks ANY of her fanficy yaoi abuse writing no deeper than a piss puddle on the pavement is comparable to Bojack Horseman at all, and I feel like Stella vs Beatrice is the perfect example of that.

In Bojack, it’s established early on that Beatrice was/is a horrible mother to Bojack, the two best examples imo being her telling Bojack as a child that he ruined her beauty and that he better make up for that sometime soon, and her phone call telling him as an adult that he was born broken. But later on in the show, with the episodes The Old Sugarman Place and especially Time’s Arrow, we learn Beatrice suffered a terrible life too, one might argue even worse than Bojack’s, and that makes us sympathize with her. It’s obviously no excuse for what she’s done, especially since she was still actively making people’s lives worse with what she pulled with Hollyhock, we understand why she became the person she is. Time’s Arrow has such a cathartic and powerful ending, I’m never going to forget Bojack choosing to end the cycle of abuse that plagued his family for decades by giving his mother, with her final semblance of lucidity, by comforting her and making her think of fond memories.

Meanwhile in Helluva Shitshow we know jack and shit about Stella other than “i ENjoY tOrMEntiNG yOu” which is just, such a dogshit line. What were her parents like? What was her childhood like? What does she think about her brother? What is her personal life like outside of her family? What are her accomplishments? Interests? Goals outside of murdering the rapey owl bastard? We’re well into season 2 and we STILL haven’t gotten even ONE interaction between Stella and Octavia, mother and daughter, like are you kidding me? I cannot prepare for Hazbin if it’s supposed to be female focused while THIS is how a female writer writes her female characters, unacceptable is it what it is.

So yea, TLDR Beatrice solos Stella and viv should’ve never written for Helluva, things people are already well aware of. Sorry for the long winded rant but I had to get this off my chest after making an essay in my head about this in the shower. Hope you’re having a good day Chai, I’m now reminded of the absolute banger that is Hi-Fi Rush because of your username, thank you

This, this, this.

Beatrice was a masterpiece of a character. It's established very early on that she's absolutely awful, sometimes comically so and sometimes tragically, and also that she and Butterscotch are both miserable characters in a desperately unhappy marriage, and it just builds and builds from there into some of the most powerful writing on the show.

Stella is a character that's not only paper thin, but Vivzie will mock you on twitter if you like her or even attempt to sympathize with her.

[dysfunctional-family-fight]

Round Two

The Homunculi (Fullmetal Alchemist) VS The Horsemans (Bojack Horseman)

The Homunculi

Members: Father, Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Greed, Wrath, Sloth, Pride

Propaganda:

CW: Murder

"All only exist to be their Father's pawns. The eldest (Pride) has been pretending to be his youngest brother's (Wrath) son. Pride is about 400 years old while Wrath is like 60 There have been at least 2 instances where one of the hommunculi ate another. The second time it was on purpose and killed the one eaten. Greed ran away about 100 years before the plot of fma. Wrath killed all of Greed's friends and then captured him. He got submerged in some sort of molten metal but he was fine later. Then he got reabsorbed by his Father and helped to kill him. Greed was not fine this time." More propaganda here

The Horsemans

Members: Bojack, Hollyhock, Beatrice, Butterscotch, Joseph Sugarman, and Honey Sugarman

Propaganda:

CW: Car accident, lobotomy, verbal abuse

"The death of Beatrice's brother Crackerjack sent her family into a dysfunctionally horrific spiral. Honey Sugarman going into a grief fueled mania, unable to cope with the loss of her son. This lead to a car accident where Honey had 7 year old Beatrice try to drive them home, yelling about how she would do anything to feel alive. Both seriously injured, when they were sent home to Joseph he was enraged that Honey would put Beatrice in danger like that, blaming Crackerjacks death on Honey. Honey then begged Joseph to fix her. And he gave her a lobotomy. She became despondent. When Beatrice begs to know what happened, Honey says "Love does things to a person, terrible things. Promise me you'll never love anyone as much as I loved Crackerjack." and Beatrice agreed. Beatrice eventually meets her husband Butterscotch when he crashes her debutante party. They hit it off and they leave her party to well...make Bojack basically. Butterscotch and Beatrice begin to plan an idyllic idea for their future. However they begin to hate eachother, Butterscotch generally neglecting both Beatrice and Bojack. Beatrice in turn takes this out on Bojack, telling him how unlovable and awful he is as a person. Saying he is worth nothing beyond what he can do for others. Leading to the fucked up, mess of a man that is Bojack Horseman." Note: edited for length. Full submission here.

[thettrpgtournament]

Why you should vote for each of them and full art below!

Aurora Byford (by @scattereda for Monster of the Week)

(art by @rosenkranz-does-things)

Aurora is 50's america's most normalest woman who's definitely not actually a changeling eating people in the woods. She was having a great time amongus-ing the group of monster hunters she joined to stay under the radar until the world's worst man dragged her to the moon with him (which will hopefully be exploding very shortly)

Lord Tye (by @bitchyfog for Hollyhock)

(art by @reactorc0re)

Imagine the highest and mightiest elf royalty stereotype. Proud, haughty, obsessed with power and influence, attitude for days, bedecked in fine clothes and jewels. Now imagine all of that stuffed into an adorable three foot tall beanie-baby looking creature.

That's Lord Tye. An Aristocrat Guide of the Winter Court, they attend a fairy festival as an honored guest (according to them) to throw their power and influence around to try and stop a rival noble from laying claim to a small, insignificant territory for curious secret reasons. They will bribe, wheedle, and trade secrets and favors to get their way while being absolutely insufferably full of themself the entire time. Just don't ask them their true name!

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Manifesting you get a bfb Karasu equivalent soon!! Trust all these randos are just preparing you for the real deal dw dw!!! But also LOL OK that’s good I can imagine the insane lore developments that come from your hangouts LMAO expanding the miraverse irl edition

LMAOOO yk aikus hit rock bottom when he’s asking Niko of all people for advice…but y/n and snuffy having a relationship like Lorenzo and snuffy have is so cute…I stand by snuffy on top as coach though but anyways this series would actually be so hilarious

This is so funny because you take two ends of the spectrum with playboy aiku and then losers Hiori and Rin and hopefully their ideas would even out to get someone normal….but yeah there’s no way either of them would go to aiku of all people LMAO the blind leading the blind truly HAHA

Ohhh yeah that’s right…Lowk I never understood that because I wasn’t under the impression that when like his entire class confessed to him that they did so solely because of soccer? Wtv ig middle school drama or something but tbh I thought it was more of his face card pulling than anything else so uh…I need one of those goofy trivia tidbits kaneshiro please I need to know…you’re right though there’s no way karasus considered ugly since he did pull Marisa…hm….also agreed if Raichi just shut up he’d be cool so maybe he only screams on field/in soccer mode??? LMAO but those four getting zero really shocks me like…ok yeah I think Isagi is not super interesting but you’re telling me NO ONE in the bllkverse wanted your average sweet boy (ig??)??? Like I’m surprised that he pulled absolutely no one given his rather easy going personality off field…maybe everyone just thinks like us though LOL

NAGI ISAGI DUO >>> I love them too Lowk nagi has so many interesting duo combos…but KIYORA THOUGHTS I was honestly not expecting that one trust I will be giggling when I see the irl miraverse Easter eggs

Ok but the gagamaru fic was so cute??? Him running and knocking on the window scaring the shit out of reader is so on brand for him too LMAOO another Mira W

That kiyora summary line goes hard….Im not a hardcore kiyora fan but when the reader isn’t normal you know that’s when the fic is gonna serve (this is reminding me about our convo on hollyhock LOL)

- Karasu anon

LMAOO no the hangouts always go crazy…plenty of opps created and situations developed…but it is what it is 🙂‍↕️ HAHA one day we will find someone fr but until then i shall content myself w writing abt silly little fictional men 🤩

no literally like aiku’s sobbing to niko and niko is just like ??? bro i’m 15??? LMAOO that poor guy ironically i bet it’s niko’s advice that makes him realize what’s going on because if even NIKO is saying smth then yk it’s bad…like oh man even the kid realizes i’m in love w her maybe i actually am 😭 and YESSS snuffy number one coach easily (although in terms of actual player development it’s lowkey chris prince he just got stuck w reo and nagi in their emo era but he’s helped chigiri mega slay so obv he’s doing smth right) i think it would be so cute if snuffy is like her fun adopted uncle or smth like maybe she knew lorenzo beforehand so when snuffy helps lorenzo out he helps her by extension?? so when snuffy’s like hear me out this aiku kid isn’t that bad and lorenzo is like facts she’s just like umm okay ig i’ll give it a shot??

HAHAHA hiori and rin vs aiku and otoya literally two opposite ends of the spectrum…take the average and you get karasu and yukimiya (definitely d1 piners but at the same time like they’ll do what they have to and actually ask a girl out without taking ridiculous measures to do so 😭)

no literally maybe it’s just because he became so unfriendly/closed off that everyone just felt awkward around him?? like oh chigiri is the emo one so no one wanted to give him a valentine…or maybe he was actively in rehab and barely at school back then 🤔 HAHA karasu is def that guy that’s actually hot but he doesn’t realize it and thinks he’s mid just based on what we know abt him 😭 i feel like people are probably intimidated by him which is why he didn’t get that many valentines or anything…like bro is def lowkey scary even though we know he’d never be a jerk to a girl i can def see girls seeing him be his typical mischievous jackass self and just being too scared to approach him 😓 LMAOO honestly raichi is probably more chill off field/with girls so ig i can see how he got valentines?? but yeahhh idk how isagi didn’t get ANY 😰 like WE think he’s a loser but i feel like in-verse he’s quite chill and pretty tall/athletic so how did he get NO girls?? i can see why bachira didn’t since he was canonically bullied and a loner and ig i can see why nagi didn’t since he’s apparently cursed 😭⁉️ but yeah isagi not even getting one is crazy…ig bllk girls are on the miraverse wavelength in that sense (i wish it said how many chocolates barou got because i can see him getting 0 as well or getting like a fair amount there’s really no in between)

NAGI AND ISAGI >>> second selection is literally my fav because those two are sooo good together i hope they’re reunited soon i lowkey find them more fun than nagi and reo 😓 nagi and barou both make every duo they’re in actively better (which is why their duo is the best) we love them for that…pls i wasn’t expecting kiyora thoughts from a nagi + isagi edit either like it was so random??? but when inspiration strikes ig…i guess that “vague kiyora prompt” entry in my notes app got to me fr 😭 i hope the person who requested it is okay with the direction i take it?? they literally just asked for a kiyora fic which could be anything so praying they don’t hate what i do with it 😩

LMAOO it was the best way i could incorporate what they asked for while still retaining that comedic flair that i tend to use in shorter fics 😵 i feel like gagamaru is one of those characters that’s hard to keep in character because he doesn’t have much of a character in the source material so any expansion feels like i’m taking too many liberties (currently the problem i’m facing w kiyora…like i’m making this up as i go because there’s literally nothing on him even in the wiki so it feels like i’m being way too inventive with how he’d react to situations but it’s just that there isn’t much to go off of??)

I LOVEEE WRITING NOT NORMAL READERS but ik not everyone enjoys them + this reader kind of has a strong character to really play off of how i’m writing kiyora which again not everyone really likes so fingers crossed the anon isn’t like WTF is this because that would be so embarrassing…hollyhock reader is definitely a little/lot worse than this reader though she’s on another level fr 😭

[vonkarma2]

Writing Crow Armitage meta IKR I’m contributing to the problem. God as my witness I will write meta about Kaleela or someone next. But I do think it’s interesting. So with Crow something I think is interesting about his character is two seemingly  very contradictory aspects, which is his excessive humility vs his egotism like ok. He is simeltaneously convinced he can’t do anything and needs external guidance and has a low opinion of himself relative to humanity (and to the people he ranks below ie basically just Dashwood he probably does think he’s better than Hollyhock lmao) + that his own thoughts and feelings don’t matter. But at the same time. He views himself as carrying out an important purpose as part of an important legacy and is condescending to others who don’t share his views, most especially to werewolves of course but also often unintentionally to humans as well. Both above and beneath everyone else.

 I think the layers are like as a child he thought he needed to do something important to help his family. He wasn‘t malicious or anything, but he did have a very high opinion of himself at the time. Thought it was cool that he was nobility, thought he was deserving of praise for his own abilities. And I think he does still carry this to some extent to this day, even though it has been greatly complicated. I think his faith in his own control over transformation + over any dangerous situation he gets into in general can be traced back not just to his success in battle over the years, but also to this time, when he was like 15 and had the overconfidence of a high school boy lmfao. Just genuinely sincerely thought he knew better than everyone else, and had a very high opinion of both his knowledge and his ability. What a fucking loser.

Now as an adult he wants his agency taken away, as we’ve stated before, because he can’t trust himself, because if he does he’ll know he’s made a huge mistake. He is at least generally aware, even if he’s not sure why, that the initial decision to leave his family was wrong. And honestly on some level he probably *does* know specifically that what he’s doing is wrong, because of the regret he would have felt as a teenager the first time he got sent to fucking murder someone with his bare hands. He was canonically very distressed by this, he didn’t actually want to hurt anyone, they had to do a lot of heavy lifting to convince him it was justified both before and after the fact. So it’s the regret from that and the recognition of the initial decision to take the aconite in the first place as where it kind of all went wrong that he started his classic strategy of compensating for internal doubt by quadrupling down on what other people are telling him.

So that’s where you see the start of ignoring his own thoughts and beliefs and actively playing into the ideology as a way to cope with the reality of his situation. The ideology says he’s beneath humans, he’s an extension of the Equipoise’s will, he has to take orders from the Prime Gardener because he’s the one who knows what’s best to protect humanity. So of course he does, he genuinely believes in all of this, starts thinking that not only his own beliefs but also straight up his life is not valuable except with regards to being a tool of lycanthropy.

But that’s not all that other people are telling him, right. Part of the manipulation is kind of stroking his ego a little, or more so, like, exaggerating his importance. The outside world is full of heretics full of killers you’re the only thing standing between humanity and the total violence most werewolves are either actively perpetuating or want to. This idea of his own importance contributes to his conviction, right, because it adds a sense of urgency and necessity, and it also associates that with being above other werewolves. 

The commitment to all of this where the contradiction comes in, right. Because he is so completely devoted to the ideology as a way to cover up his own doubts, he can’t let other people question it or go against it either, so in a way it is like he is believing his judgment to be above questioning whereas theirs is not. He is above questioning because he’s replaced his own thoughts with other peoples’, and he sure as hell isn’t going to question them. He becomes like very condescending and very adamant about the points of view others have given him.

So it’s like both sides of the coin. He’s so convinced he’s right about everything because he knows he’s horribly wrong. 

Tangent that’s only semi-related: Another thing with him that’s kind of funny is that because he has not successfully repressed every single thought and desire he has, he becomes very adherent to the letter and not the spirit of the law, right, which you can see in the main story with taking Lennox with him on one of his missions just because he wanted to impress him, thus putting him directly in danger. He doesn’t see a problem with this because the Sanctum can’t take issue with it as long as they never find out, so he isn’t violating any orders :). This makes him a massive fucking hypocrite and an even worse person, but it’s also very funny. Do not take my word for this last paragraph though because I’m not 100% sure on all the details here. The spirit of what Im saying is correct he is a hypocritical bitch for sure

[starfacedstudio]

IDs in alt text!

ID in alt text!

Though not completely final at this point, I recently got closer to finalizing the designs of Hollyhock & Cinnamon's parents! I need to design some other family members of theirs as well at some point but these two have a much more apparent role in the story and, as such, needed more finalized designs.

Included some of the exploration and older sketches I had of them both as well :) Cardamom is a chef and Chamomile I think might work a corporate or retail job.

[thessalian]

Thess vs An Unfortunate Tuesday

There are no words for how fed up I am with today.

Started poorly in that “I woke up too early and couldn’t get back to sleep” way, but I thought, hey, I can check the bus routes and go pick up some mallet meds before I start work, since I am currently out. Except that according to the route finder on my phone, all the nearest bus stops are shut. I found out why when I went out to the corner shop - I’d forgotten they were resurfacing one of the main roads in the area. So every bus in my area that doesn’t require climbing a massive hill is diverted away for basically the whole week, and trying to cross said road is an absolute nightmare because, again, resurfacing the entire road.

(Though I have to say, while I can get away with forgetting about the signs that have been all over the place for a month talking about it because I don’t even drive or live on that road at all, I don’t understand the people who actually park their cars there. One of the things that was going on when I went to find a place to cross the road was somebody’s car getting towed. Oopsie.)

So, yeah, it’s going to be a hellish walk however I do it because such hill, and also raining. I swear, since I’m not crossing the entirety of London, I’m about half-tempted to get a taxi. Okay, more than half-tempted to get a taxi. We’ll see after my grocery order arrives, since I have to be here to pick it up. Might end up having to take a taxi anyway to get to any pharmacy that’s open. Not a problem if I go to a supermarket pharmacy counter; I kind of wanted to go to the big Tesco anyway because they have a better range of gluten-free stuff and there are some things I missed on the big shop.

Anyway, then there was the work itself, which was its usual blend of manageable and really fucking annoying. First thing I got was "Hey, send all these reports to this person, please; the hospital numbers probably won’t be right so use the NHS numbers”. Some of them weren’t registered under NHS numbers either so I had to go by names and wanted to kick the individuals responsible for not providing dates of birth. At least none of the names I was looking for were particularly common. Anyway, point is that there were a lot of names on that list and only about two-thirds of them actually had reports on the system anywhere, so I sent what I had with an apology and effectively, “There’s this one we have no record of at all from January and the rest of them only underwent surgery on Friday so their reports might not have gone through the system yet”. The email I got back was, “Oh, yeah, I guess if you only got the samples yesterday afternoon we can’t expect an authorised report; and that other guy in January was a no-show so you won’t have his reports because there aren’t any”.

THEN WHY WAS HE ON THE LIST?!?

Anyway, after that, my laptop demanded rebooting twice in quick succession, but in between times I found that Temp was playing her usual game of leaving all the long bullshit to me. She was really blatant about it today, too. I mean, fuck’s sake. So I got a significant portion of the long and aggravating bullshit. I don’t know who got the rest but I had a look and it was not her. I swear, I’m going to have to ask Scruffman to really take a look at what she’s doing because none of this is fair, to any of us that do any typing.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, my Stuff What I Ordered arrived. So I have a new egg slicer (tougher than the last one, thank the gods), a proper salt shaker, two new window boxes, and a bunch of seeds. Hey, @fauxfire76 - I’m planting petunias! I mean, also cornflower and hollyhock and zinnia and forget-me-not and a bunch of other bee-friendly flowers, but you know. Also need to start the basil, coriander, tomatoes and probably the dill (I know I’ve still got the rescue dill but I cannot have too much dill; it is impossible). And obviously the soil to make the planting happen. I am alternately amused and bewildered at the fact that I quasi-regularly buy dirt.

So, yeah, today’s been unfortunate on a number of levels and it’s not even really over yet. Hence the wanting to go to the big Tesco for some gluten-free treat or other.

[characterswithcolorsnamesfight]

Hello, please excuse me for barging in with a relatively long text. I'm not trying to be rude, but I will probably come across as smart-ass anon. If I'm horribly wrong someone can correct me. I just want everyone to be aware and to watch out and double check when in doubt.

I think, you should be careful with characters named Aoi claiming to mean blue in Japanese. More often Aoi as a name is not blue and even some fandom wikis have it wrong.

But there is a simple rule...

Aoi written with the Kanji 葵 is not blue. It is a noun meaning hollyhock (a plant with very nice flowers!).

Aoi written with Kanji 青い is an adjective meaning blue, blue-ish. The noun for the blue, the blueness, would be Ao (青) without the "i". You can see the colour meaning with Ao (青) more in compound names like Aoyama (青山 green mountain*) or Aozora (青空 blue sky) for example.

So it might be more common to name characters and actual children after a flower. Instead of the adjective blue-ish.

Finally, there is also the Aoi who is not written in Kanji but simply with あおい or アオイ. As here no descriptive Kanji are used, the meaning is open to interpretation and what might more fitting to the character (is the character more a flowery type or a blue type due to hair or clothes? Or maybe both a flowery type with a lot of blue colour theme in the character design?).

*I use green mountain rather than blue mountain in a translation. Japanese doesn't necessarily distinguish blue and green. Ao/Aoi can indeed mean both blue and green.

This is a japanese dictionary for English: https://ejje.weblio.jp/

You can just copy paste any Kanji and it will put the English meaning. It also works the other way round.

I know it's just a fun tournament and it's not meant to be a science. I just wanted to place this here for the sake of fairness. I hope it was at least somewhat informative or worth knowing.

Hi !

As someone who tends to apologize too much in real life, please don't apologize, it wasn't necessary. It didn't sound rude or mean spirited at all and I'll never blame someone for sharing their knowledge respectfully.

I've worked on a tournament before and got more familiar with kanji (including non descriptive ones) then -I'm still not an expert but I understand the system better than I previously did-. That doesn't work that well with non descriptive kanjis but just copy-pasting kanjis in the images search engine also helps. There are two ways of writing Sakura with descriptive kanjis (one is more used in first names and means cherry blossom and I can be wrong but from memory the other one is about warehouse and help and used for surnames)

I knew for the polysemy of Aoi because you all are champions for saying "I know the original meaning isn't xxx but -" but some submitters didn't seem aware of it (well I prefer to think they weren't. This is a silly tourney and honesty is the basis of courtesy)

I didn't know about blue and green, that was very enlightening. I'm glad many more people think green and blue look quite similar (we have a family running joke about never agreeing on colors, especially not blue VS green. "Look how blue the lake is." "What are you on ? Looks green." "More black-ish imo." "Take of your sunglasses. It's blue-green you all" "What do you mean green, it's obviously teal", "Isn't teal a green shade ??" "No, it's blue" "Wait let me check with my phone")

Thank you for the Japanese dictionary, I browsed a few for tourney purpose before but didn't know how accurate they were.

I wasn't planning to accept characters with wrong kanji without and make you all decide about the ones with a good explanation on a case by case basis. I'm also putting explanations for non English names and rarer English names on all the polls. This is comforting me in my choice.

You're welcome to bang on my door and teach me more about linguistics anytime !

Thank you for your research ! Have a lovely day !

[werewolfstory]

BAIZE is obsessed with killing her brother after he murdered their parents, and doesn’t care who she hurts in the process. She is callous and brash because of her unprocessed grief. The plot revolves around her plan to get revenge and seize power during the eclipse

HOLLYHOCK keeps the Sanctum running smoothly for the Prime Gardener. She feels that her work is majorly under-appreciated and has a rivalry with Crow, who she believes is stealing the attention she deserves from her godfather

[mysterycharacterflowers]

Round 3; A bouquet of marigold, yellow and white zinnia, phlox, bluebells, cornflower, gladiolus, rosemary, dark crimson rose and purple cyclamen Vs A bouquet of oleander, refflesia (corpse flower), trigidia, hyacinth, hollyhock, Iberis (candytuft) and orange tulip

If you know who they are, or you are pretty sure of it, please don't tell until this poll has ended!

First, let's talk about the bouquet of marigold, yellow and white zinnia, phlox, bluebells, cornflower, gladiolus, rosemary, dark crimson rose and purple cyclamen

Meaning: Marigold - Grief Yellow and White Zinnia - Thinking (or in memory) or an absent friend Phlox - Our souls are united Bluebells - Kindness, constancy Cornflower - Hope in Misery Gladiolus - Integrity, Strength of Character Rosemary - Remembrance Dark Crimson Rose - Mourning Purple Cyclamen—Resignation and good-bye Description and why these flowers were chosen: Marigold, Yellow and White Zinnia, and Phlox: This character lost a dear friend. The loss affected him so deeply that when he laying his friend to rest, his soul fragmented and part of it remained in the resting place Bluebells and Cornflower: As a consequence, the character unknowingly granted themself immortality. He has not resigned themself to this eternal fate, though, and continue searching for a way to obtain long-deserved rest. Bluebells, Gladiolus, Rosemary, Dark Crimson Rose: The world they live in is decaying, with death but no new life. Yet, instead of letting the situation overwhelm and warp him, he chose kindness and dedication to his role. When beings who took advantage of the broken cycle of life and death in the world pass, this character is there to lay them to rest, frankly acknowledging their flaws but highlighting their good (or interesting) aspects and wishing them peace beyond life. Purple Cyclamen: Who is there to mourn him, to do for him as he did to others when he finally become whole and is able to rest? Only you.

Check their post here

Now, let's talk about the bouquet of oleander, refflesia (corpse flower), trigidia, hyacinth, hollyhock, Iberis (candytuft) and orange tulip

Meaning and why these flowers were chosen: Oleander, because it has a wide variety of meanings that suit him perfectly, including seduction, charm, beauty, complicated relationships, caution, and misfortune; he’s very beautiful (except when he’s not) and charismatic, he technically causes good luck but it often turns terrible due to his own mistakes so he is one hell of a misfortune upon other people, and he’s in a really funky marriage (no actual love, lots of lust, lots of annoyance, and an on-and-off alliance). Also, oleander has a legend about its name featuring a character who drowns, an association that vaguely reflects this guy’s difficult relationship with water (among other things, his spouse tried to drown him). Rafflesia (corpse flower), because it means death, artifice, temptation, and trickery. He tends to be involved in death whether he actively meant harm or not, but personally, too, he’s not above a little murder and consumption of innocent people. On the artifice and trickery side of things, he went to his marriage having put up a lot of pretenses that weren’t seen through until it was just too late, and the trend continued, but he’ll fall for the same, he’s naïve enough. Also, rafflesia exists in a symbiotic relationship with another plant, while he essentially creates magical symbiosis through deal-making (rafflesia is parasitic; he claims that he works in a more mutualistic manner, and probably means it, but it generally goes sour if it didn’t start that way). This flower also captures his rancid and wacky nature. Tigridia, because it represents cruelty; while malice isn’t his default state (self-interested amorality is), he’s plenty capable of it, and it is generally cruel for him to be in someone’s life. He also has a pragmatic side that, given what drives it, also tends toward cruelty even if it’s showing some of his better ideas. Hyacinth, because it represents playfulness; he’s excitable and will make big decisions on a whim, and likes to joke around. It also represents family togetherness, which is rather ironic for him, as someone is deliberately concealing the existence of his child from him, desperately and for as long as possible. Hollyhock, because it represents fertility and ambition; ambition is essential to his life even though it’s not usually his own. Iberis (candytuft), because it symbolizes indifference and he is an apathetic soul in that he’s not really capable of caring about others in a conventional sense and is fine living a life based solely around his own needs. No one ever got through to him that he should practice compassion long-term, or pay attention when something doesn’t directly concern him, which comes back to bite him sometimes. Iberis also symbolizes beauty and sweetness; he’s pretty, as established, but also capable of small actions that are seemingly sweet, if only he’d stick with it. Orange tulip, because it symbolizes understanding (especially in a relationship), and he does understand his spouse on a deep level, or at least some of his spouse’s feelings, though he’s woefully inadequate at figuring out what that means in practice Description: Good luck charm (derogatory/affectionate/holding back laughter). Constantly trying to explain one thing about his existence and how people don’t understand and gets told he fills his space in the world in such a way that the distinction he tries to make is without a difference. Has been on this earth for so very long and he never learns. Wildcard willing to take a stand for chaos. Loves it when people dream big dreams

Check their post here

[namedafterflowerstournament]

Botanic Tournament : Main Bracket !

Round 1 Poll O

Flores is Spanish for flowers

(Dandelion and hollyhocks)